Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Tamalpais High School students are safe following police action Monday afternoon involving criminals near the school, police said. All students are safe and the shelter-in-place for students and residents within a quarter-mile of the school at 700 Miller Ave. has been lifted as of 4:01 p.m. The re-relaunched Impeach-O-Meter is a wildly subjective and speculative estimate of the likelihood that Donald Trump will be removed from office by impeachment trial before the end of his first term. Donald Trumps impeachment lawyers are currently up a creek because of the New York Times Sunday report about a forthcoming book by exnational security adviser John Bolton. Drafts of the book, the Times says, state that Trump told Bolton explicitly that he would not release military aid to Ukraine until it announced investigations into the Biden family and the alleged (i.e., nonexistent) plot to frame Russia for email hacks conducted against Hillary Clinton in 2016. This is a problem for Trumps defense because he and his attorneys have repeatedly said that the aid holdup and the investigation requests were not connected, and despite the abundant evidence that Trump administration officials behaved as if they were, no one (before Bolton) had attested to having been told as much by Trump himself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republican senators would like to acquit Trump even if he did order a corrupt quid pro quo. But the GOP senators up for reelection in swing states dont want the acquittal to look too much like a cover-up, and the existence of Boltons account is inconvenient for them because it makes it tougher for them to explain why hes not being called as a witness. On Tuesday, at Trumps trial, attorney Jay Sekulow took a stab at providing cover for these purple-staters while he finished delivering the case for the defense: What we are involved in here as we conclude is perhaps the most solemn of duties under our constitutional framework: the trial of the leader of the free world and the duly elected president of the United States. It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts. Advertisement Advertisement You cannot impeach a president on an unsourced allegation, he said later, also referring disparagingly if not coherently to newspaper reports and allegations in an unsourced, maybe this isnt somebodys book whos no longer at the White House. The thing thats unsourced isnt the allegation, which (per the Times) is made by John Bolton and involves a conversation John Bolton took part in. The only sources that are anonymous are the multiple people who, in the Times telling, described the manuscript to Times reporters. Trumps lawyers want to conflate the two issues in order to make eyewitness testimony seem like rumor and innuendo. Advertisement The problem, for them, is that Boltons book is going to be released for everyone to read on March 17. If they want to hear from him before then, they could call him as a witness; hes already said hell testify if asked. Moreover, a Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday finds that 75 percent of Americans believe witnesses should be allowed to testify in the impeachment trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whether out of a genuine sense of duty, or shame, or a desire to work up a scheme to cross-examine Hunter Biden on national TV, Republican senators are reportedly preparing themselves to at least open up the question of calling witnesses, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had closed off at the trials beginning and evidently hoped to keep closed. And now that the presidents defense team has suggested theres something hazy about Boltons account, its hard to see how the Senate could turn down the chance to bring him in to clear it up. Theres still no real doubt about whats going to happen in the end, but even McConnell must be wondering whats going to happen between now and then, so the meter is going up a very tiny amount. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A pair of open-house events will seek to gather community input next week on a planned rapid-transit system in Rochester. The proposed Rochester Rapid Transit corridor runs along Second Street Southwest and South Broadway Avenue, connecting what are planned as a pair of transit hubs west and southeast of the downtown core. The city is seeking federal funding for the project, and additional assessment and analysis of the proposal is planned this summer. "This is an opportunity to develop a plan that creates transit-friendly, active, equitable places in the Second Street and Broadway corridors," Rochester City Planner Jarrett Hubbard said. "This is a key part of how we can shift travel away from reliance on cars with a single person inside." Rochester, Olmsted County and Destination Medical Center Economic Development Agency representatives will be on hand during a pair of open-house events on Feb. 4. They are: ADVERTISEMENT From 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Rochester inside the Shops at University Square at 111 S. Broadway, room 419 From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Bethel Lutheran Church, 810 Third Ave. SE. "Connecting community vision to transportation goals along the Broadway and 2nd Street corridors is vitally important. This goes beyond rapid transit. Its about creating places people want to live, work and visit," said DMC EDA Director of Economic Development and Placemaking Patrick Seeb. The open house events will feature information on the project, as well as an opportunity for community members, business owners, and community leaders to share how they move around Rochester today, and their ideas for what the Rochester Rapid Transit corridor could be in the future. The open-house events come two days before the DMC Corp. board plans to meet with members of the DMC EDA board, the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners and the Rochester City Council. The joint meeting is set for noon to 2 p.m. Feb. 6 in the suite 102 of the Mayo Civic Center. Next week's open-house events are expected to be the first of several similar events planned for the next six months, including several pop-up events held at locations throughout the community to gather feedback and explain the planning effort. The next set of open houses are expected to be held April 7 to focus on the station area plans. File image: Abhijit Banerjee Nobel laureate in Economics Abhijit Banerjee on January 28 said that the fear of any "Muslim takeover in India" was baseless and that minorities in India, much like the United States, were "not really anywhere close to being dominant". According to a report in The Times of India, Banerjee, who was speaking in Kolkata, said that minorities in India as well as US were "relatively economically and educationally deprived". He also spoke about the "fear of the Other" in sections of the population that he said might not be bigoted individually. Banerjee, who received the Nobel Prize on December 10, 2019, also alluded to the "fringes of the ruling party" in India. "There is talk about...at least from the fringes of the ruling party about the demographics of the Muslim population. These are just ways to demonise a population," Banerjee said, adding that many of these narratives did not have a real basis. "I don't think there is any real fear that there will be a Muslim takeover in India," Banerjee said, adding that he does not want to join a political party but wants to "remain useful". "Our current political positioning is well-crafted and nobody should think we are the enemy. We would like to work with whoever is doing something useful for society," Banerjee said. Earlier, after the January 5 violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), he had cautioned that the incident had "too many echoes of when Germany was moving towards Nazi rule". "I think any Indian who cares about the nations image in the world should worry. This has too many echoes of the years when Germany was moving towards Nazi rule," Banerjee had told news channel CNN News18. President Akufo-Addo has commissioned the 307 ambulances procured by the government for distribution to all constituencies in the country. The commissioning took place at the forecourt of the Black Star Square in Accra today, Tuesday, January 28, 2020. The ambulances are fitted with advanced life support equipment and tracking devices. In his address, President Akufo-Addo announced that 112 would now be the new number for all emergency services. The Police Service, the Fire Service and the National Ambulance Service all had emergency response numbers. I am happy to announce that thankfully, we have merged all emergency numbers to one number which is 112, he said. President Akufo-Addo also indicated that, 145 new ambulance stations will be created to give Ghana a total of 275 stations. In addition, the Finance Ministry has given financial clearance for the National Ambulance Service to recruit and train 1,477 emergency medical technicians. President Akufo-Addo further appealed to the public to desist from abusing the emergency service number with prank calls. Backlash over delays The first batch of ambulances arrived in the country in September 2019. During an earlier press encounter, President Nana Akufo-Addo said the distribution of the ambulances delayed because government wanted all the ambulances to be ready before distribution to avoid any accusations of bias. Government was widely criticised over the decision to postpone the commissioning date from January 6 to January 28, 2020. Ghana's 29 million population currently has only 50 functioning ambulances. The statistics indicate that one ambulance is shared by over 520,000 Ghanaians. This is well below the recommended population to ambulance ratio of one ambulance to 25,000 people. citinewsroom remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Pork is an essential food item and accounts for a large proportion in the structure of food consumption. - Photo vtv.vn Deals between domestic enterprises with strong potential will help the industry compete. Co-operation and production chains through official contracts between producers, slaughterhouses and retailers are forecast to thrive. The livestock sector is striving to achieve a production value of nearly VND9.4 trillion (US$405.2 million) this year, a growth rate of 4.5 per cent compared to last year. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the total meat produced was estimated at 5.14 million tonnes last year, down 4.1 per cent. Pork is an essential food item and accounts for a large proportion in the structure of food consumption. However, pork output decreased by 380,000 tonnes last year, equivalent to 9-10 per cent compared to 2018, which greatly influenced the domestic food market. Experts believe the development of value chains for livestock products, especially pig breeding, from production to market, with the participation of large domestic enterprises was necessary. This is key to fast and sustainable development, helping the Vietnamese livestock industry, which was facing a competitive challenge from imported meat in new-generation free trade agreements, said MARD. Hung Vuong Corporation (HVG) and Thadi Agriculture Farming Processing and Distribution Joint Stock Company, a subsidiary of Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco), signed a strategic agreement in HCM City this month. Under the agreement, Thadi would buy a 35 per cent stake in HVG. It will invest VND2 trillion ($86.3 million) to acquire a 65 per cent stake in a Thadi - HVG joint venture to raise breeding pigs in An Giang and Binh Dinh provinces, which will breed 45,000 piglets this year, with a first batch of 15,000 in March. Commenting on the co-operation between the two domestic enterprises, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said it was a good thing that the two companies focused on developing livestock products a very important component of Vietnamese food security, and together with other economic sectors, continued to focus on integrated agriculture. Frontify, a Swiss brand management platform, raised $22.3m in Series B funding. The round was led by the EQT Ventures fund with participation from existing investors Blossom Capital, Datartis Ventures and Thomas Dubendorfer, Tenderloin Ventures, and Myke Naf. The company intends to use the funds for global expansion, particularly across North America and Europe, alongside continued product innovation. Led by Founder and CEO Roger Dudler, Frontify provides a comprehensive brand management platform which enables customers to maximize their brands consistency, efficiency, and involvement through centralization. Over 2,500 companies around the world use the companys solutions including Facebook, Dyson, Centrica, Lufthansa, Vodafone, and Allianz. Frontify has 120+ employees across St. Gallen, Switzerland and New York, USA. FinSMEs 28/01/2020 They're probably the coolest-looking conference notes you'll ever read. In one, swooping lines pour forth from a map, morph into caribou and encircle a Dene drummer. Beneath them are the words: "It is more than a map, it is nature itself." In another, the shores of Great Bear Lake, N.W.T., run beneath a ribbon of words, imploring the reader to "reconnect with the land." These notes are the work of graphic artist Sam Bradd. Called "graphic recordings," the notes summarize three days of presentations on caribou harvest management in Colville Lake, N.W.T., organized by the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board. "We're trying to create a visual record," said Bradd. "This is a type of witnessing." Bradd's company, Drawing Change, employs five illustrators, including himself, who work across Canada producing visual records for conferences, board meetings, and public hearings. The results are frequently included in reports or displayed in company headquarters. One of Bradd's drawings was even given legal weight as a memorandum of understanding. John Last/CBC At the Colville Lake hearings, Bradd spent nearly 30 hours drawing, redrawing and amending, using only markers and chalk. He prepared by reading the presentations in advance, and practicing his drawings of caribou. "At the start, I was told my caribou looked like moose," he said. Bradd's records needed to be able to accommodate both the technical charts and graphs of territorial biologists and the deeply personal accounts of elders. "Sometimes it's a very in the head and cognitive approach, and sometimes it's more in the heart," he said. John Last/CBC At the end of the hearings, speakers were given time to review the drawings, and suggest any amendments. After reviewing his notes on Colville Lake's local management plan, David Codzi, who helped present the plan, suggested he reflect that the "old ways" mentioned by elders are not a thing of the past. Story continues Bradd added a bullet point reading, "OUR WAYS ARE ALIVE and MODERN today!" John Last/CBC Bradd's work made an impact on Ethel Blondin-Andrew, who represented the Indigenous Leadership Initiative at the hearings. "This form of communication works," she said. "Anyone could pick it up and look at the story of Deline, or [the] Sahtu." Blondin-Andrew suggested the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board include the drawings in their reporting on the hearings, and in educational materials for hunters and youth. "Our presentation was a complex topic, and Sam got it. If he got it, then the Dene people have it," she said. Bradd said he hopes his work helps share what was said in the hearings with those who weren't able to attend. He also hopes his images inspire people to reflect. "Art can heal us," he said. "I think art is a way into deeper conversation." Take a look at all of Bradd's notes from the session below. John Last/CBC Sam Bradd/Drawing Change Sam Bradd/Drawing Change Sam Bradd/Drawing Change Sam Bradd/Drawing Change Sam Bradd/Drawing Change Sam Bradd/Drawing Change Sam Bradd/Drawing Change Sam Bradd/Drawing Change Sam Bradd/Drawing Change Speaker of the Deputies Chamber Marcel Ciolacu, interim leader of the PSD (Social Democratic Party), on Tuesday stated it's possible the Social Democrats submit the motion of censure on Thursday, after the Government assumes responsibility for the draft law on the election of mayors in two rounds. "If it's tomorrow [the Government assuming responsibility on Wednesday - editor's note], I guess we will be able to submit the motion of censure on Thursday, because we already have it. You will see then if we have enough votes," said Ciolacu.On Wednesday, Parliament will hold an extraordinary joint session for the Government to assume responsibility for the draft law on the election of mayors in two rounds.According to the Constitution, the Government can assume responsibility in front of the joint sitting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, on a programme, a general political statement or a draft law. The government is dismissed if the censure motion, filed within 3 days from the presentation of the draft, was voted. If the Executive was not dismissed, the draft law presented, modified or supplemented, as the case may be, with amendments accepted by the Government, shall be considered adopted. More than 400 migrants pulled from the sea in recent days will be allowed to disembark in Italy, a rescue charity said on Tuesday. "Forced to risk their lives to flee across the Mediterranean, 216 men, 38 women and 149 children will soon finally reach safety," SOS Mediterranee said on Twitter, adding that they would disembark at the southern port of Taranto. The Ocean Viking ship, which is run by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, picked up the migrants in five separate operations over the past four days. Other charities have rescued around 250 migrants from the Mediterranean over the same period -- and they are now waiting for a port of entry. Italy has come under fire in the past for refusing to allow private vessels carrying migrants to dock -- former interior minister Matteo Salvini is facing a potential trial for illegally detaining migrants at sea. However, Italy has authorised the arrival of charity ships since it signed a deal with France, Germany, and Malta last September -- an agreement meant to avoid drawn-out negotiations on where migrants will be allowed to dock. The latest rescues come as fighting in Libya intensifies -- a ceasefire broke down over the weekend and weapons shipments to the conflict zone have resumed. The UN Refugee Agency's Charlie Yaxley highlighted the increase in violence on Tuesday, tweeting that unrest in Libya would lead to more migrants risking the sea journey to Europe. "Now time for a port to be assigned for speedy disembarkation," he added. Since the summer of 2018, the European Union has tasked Libya's coastguard with coordinating search and rescue operations in a vast stretch of the Mediterranean beyond their territorial waters. But human rights groups say the task is impossible because of fighting in Libya and have condemned the dangerous detention centres where rescued migrants are sent. In 2019, the International Organization for Migration recorded 1,283 deaths in the Mediterranean, the deadliest route for migrants attempting the perilous crossing from North Africa to Italy. Over the past five years, at least 19,164 migrants have died in the sea. Italy has often complained of having to take the bulk of migrantscrossing the Mediterranean -- some 600,000 reaching its coastline since 2013. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veritas Investments threatened potential legal action against a tenant organizing group over what the company called a flagrant confidentiality breach tied to its efforts to sell off 76 apartment buildings in the city. A lawyer for Veritas, one of the largest landlords in San Francisco, sent a strongly worded letter Monday to the Housing Rights Committee of San Franciscos executive director, Sarah Sherburn-Zimmer, demanding that the group surrender any confidential information about the sale of the buildings and reveal who gave it to them by 5 p.m. Tuesday. This month, the committee posted a list of addresses for the Veritas buildings up for sale on its Facebook page, but how the group got that information remains unclear. Veritas put the 76 buildings up for sale in late December, and under city law, the company had to first offer the buildings to a group of nonprofit housing organizations. San Franciscos Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, which went into effect last year, is meant to create and preserve affordable housing by giving nonprofits the first chance to buy up new buildings. In doing so, Veritas said it shared sensitive information about the tenants living in the buildings up for sale, including address, phone numbers, email addresses, the names of roommates and spouses and the amount of rent they pay. City law requires that information be kept strictly between the sellers and the interested buyers. Nonprofits have 30 days to decide whether to submit a bid for the properties, but that time elapsed, and Veritas began marketing the buildings to other buyers. Supervisor Dean Preston has asked the company to wait another 60 days to allow city officials and the nonprofits more time to consider if some buildings can be transformed into affordable housing. Veritas has said its amenable to working with the city. Sherburn-Zimmer, who could not be reached for comment Monday, told The Chronicle last week that the committee was trying to alert tenants in affected Veritas buildings and inform them of their rights as renters. There is no violation that I know of in how I got the information, she said Friday. I think its crucial that tenants have the right to protect themselves. Veritas attorney, Jonathan Sommer, wrote that it is no defense that HRC is the recipient of misappropriated information versus the leaker of that information. You knew you were aiding and abetting the unlawful disclosure of information that is confidential by law. The company, Sommer wrote, will take further action as it deems appropriate to protect its rights, the rights of its tenants and the confidential information. In addition to disclosing and returning all of the confidential information it might possess, Veritas also asked the committee to scrub any social media posts that share the information. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The Housing Rights Committee and Veritas have clashed repeatedly over the years. The committee has accused Veritas of harassing longtime tenants in an effort to boot them from their apartments in order to jack up rents. Veritas has denied those claims. A lawsuit brought by 68 Veritas tenants making similar claims was filed in 2018. A San Francisco Superior Court Judge tossed out the case for a second time last November, but gave the tenants until the end of this month to amend their complaint. Dominic Fracassa Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa Chinese tech giant Huawei is to be allowed a limited role in building the United Kingdoms next-generation 5G telecoms infrastructure, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Tuesday. Huawei, the worlds largest telecoms manufacturer, has been decried by Washington and a White House convinced that the Chinese firm could build back doors into its technology, allowing Beijing to eavesdrop on global and domestic communications. United States officials have made thinly veiled threats that foreign allies that use its equipment could be barred from intelligence-sharing programmes. Johnsons decision that high-risk vendors would be allowed into the non-sensitive parts of 5G networks capping their involvement at 35 percent has been described as one of the biggest tests of his post-Brexit foreign policy. Johnson: Huawei 5G decision will balance innovation and security US Pentagon temporarily stops clampdown on Huawei sales Boris Johnson approves limited role for Huawei 5G plan But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said intelligence sharing through the Five Eyes programme of allied nations including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US and the UK would not be jeopardised by the decision. GCHQ [Government Communications Headquarters, one of the UKs main spy agencies] have confirmed categorically that how we construct our 5G and full-fibre public telecoms networks has nothing to do with how we will share classified data, Raab told Parliament on Tuesday, referring to the British surveillance agency. Intelligence sharing will not be put at risk or would ever be put at risk by this government. Huawei is to be excluded from a sensitive core of networks, where data is processed, and banned from all critical networks and sensitive locations such as nuclear sites and military bases, the government said. World-leading technology The Chinese company, founded by a former deputy director of the Peoples Liberation Army engineering corps, cited its years of experience operating in the UK. Huawei is reassured by the UK governments confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track, the companys vice-president, Victor Zhang, said in a statement emailed to Al Jazeera. This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. It gives the UK access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market. We have supplied cutting-edge technology to telecoms operators in the UK for more than 15 years. We will build on this strong track record, supporting our customers as they invest in their 5G networks, boosting economic growth and helping the UK continue to compete globally. A senior US administration official on Tuesday expressed disappointment with the decision, telling Reuters news agency: There is no safe option for untrusted vendors to control any part of a 5G network. We look forward to working with the UK on a way forward that results in the exclusion of untrusted vendor components from 5G networks. Britain knows best? The UKs National Security Council, chaired by Johnson, met on Tuesday morning to discuss Huaweis potential role, and Raab later told MPs that Britain knew more about the firms capabilities than the US did. 200114110530343 The technical and security analysis undertaken by GCHQs National Cyber Security Centre [NCSC] is central to the conclusions of the review, he said. Thanks to their analysis we have the most detailed study of what is needed to protect 5G, anywhere in the world. And it is also because of the work of the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre Oversight Board, established by NCSC, that we know more about Huawei, and the risks it poses, than any other country in the world. The US has argued that as 5G technology evolves, the distinction between the edge and core infrastructure will blur as data is processed throughout the network, making it difficult to contain security risks. The announcement on Tuesday kicked off a lively debate in both chambers of the UK parliament. Conservative Julian Lewis, a previous chair of the defence committee, said Huawei was intimately linked with the Chinese Communist state and its deeply hostile intelligence agencies as he sought assurances over the required safeguards. Scottish National Party culture spokesman John Nicolson said: The prime minister has gone for the cheapest, least secure option. But it doesnt take a genius to work out why Huawei is so competitive in cost its the Chinese Communist Party branded as a company, and the Conservative government has chosen low cost over security. But the Labour Partys Kevan Jones, a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee in the last parliament, added: Theres nothing that Ive seen which means this decision will compromise our Five Eyes relationship or that the potential risk in terms of including Huawei in the 5G network cannot be mitigated. Labours Nick Thomas-Symonds agreed, saying: It is for ministers to make decisions in our national interest now and going forward and never to be held hostage by shifting transatlantic geopolitics. A rush by the government to throw itself into the arms of President Trump to secure a trade deal must not govern everything that it does. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. The Huawei logo is displayed on a smartphone screen, as the UK government is set to decide to what extent Chinese tech giant Huawei will be allowed to help build new 5G infrastructure. Boris Johnson has defied Donald Trump by giving the green light for Chinese firm Huawei to have a limited role in the UKs 5G network. The National Security Council, in a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister in Downing Street which lasted for less than 90 minutes, decided that high-risk vendors should be permitted to play a peripheral role in the network. But advice issued to telecoms operators by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said such vendors should be barred from all safety-related and critical networks and locations including military bases and nuclear facilities. High-risk firms will also have their presence limited to no more than 35% in the periphery of the network, known as the access network, which connects devices and equipment to mobile phone masts. The Government has promised to legislate at the earliest opportunity to put the new guidance into law. Mr Trumps administration had lobbied against the UK allowing Huawei access as the US engages in a global struggle for influence with China. Huawei Statement Regarding UK 5G Decision from Victor Zhang, Vice-President, Huawei. pic.twitter.com/PGyvJN1Vns HuaweiUK (@HuaweiUK) January 28, 2020 Washington was informed of the Governments decision only after it was announced, although Mr Johnson later spoke to Mr Trump by telephone to brief him on the move. The Prime Minister underlined the importance of like-minded countries working together to diversify the market and break the dominance of a small number of companies, a No 10 spokesman said. Senior Republicans in the US were quick to hit out at the announcement. Liz Cheney, a congresswoman and daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, said it was tragic that the Prime Minister had chosen the surveillance state over the special relationship. By allowing Huawei into U.K. 5G network, @BorisJohnson has chosen the surveillance state over the special relationship. Tragic to see our closest ally, a nation Ronald Reagan once called incandescent with courage, turn away from our alliance and the cause of freedom. @UKinUSA Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) January 28, 2020 Senator and former presidential nominee Mitt Romney said: The UKs decision to incorporate Huawei into its 5G network is a disconcerting sign. By prioritising costs, the UK is sacrificing national security and inviting the CCPs surveillance state in. I implore our British allies to reverse their decision. The UKs decision to incorporate Huawei into its 5G network is a disconcerting sign. By prioritizing costs, the UK is sacrificing national security and inviting the CCPs surveillance state in. I implore our British allies to reverse their decision. Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) January 28, 2020 Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik blasted the move as wrong, dangerous, and a grave shortsighted mistake. The US administration warned that British sovereignty would be put at risk by the move, and has issued threats over an impact on intelligence sharing due to Huaweis close ties to the Beijing government. But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told MPs there would be no impact on the Five Eyes alliance the partnership between the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. I want to be absolutely clear that nothing in this review affects this countrys ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data over highly secure networks both within the UK and with our partners including the Five Eyes, he said. GCHQ have categorically confirmed that how we construct our 5G and full fibre public telecoms network has nothing to do with how we share classified data. Huawei is reassured by the UK Governments confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on trackHuawei vice-president Victor Zhang Huawei vice-president Victor Zhang welcomed the UKs evidence-based decision. Huawei is reassured by the UK Governments confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track, he said. Culture Secretary Baroness Morgan vowed that upgrades would not be at the expense of our national security. The Government has reviewed the supply chain for telecoms networks and concluded today it is necessary to have tight restrictions on the presence of high-risk vendors, she said. This is a UK-specific solution for UK-specific reasons and the decision deals with the challenges we face right now. It not only paves the way for secure and resilient networks, with our sovereignty over data protected, but it also builds on our strategy to develop a diversity of suppliers. In its evaluation, the NCSC said that without Government intervention, commercial factors could cause the UK to become nationally dependent on Huawei within three years, which would be a significant national security risk. Insisting that the risks could be managed, it said placing backdoors in Huawei equipment would not be the lowest risk, easiest to perform or most effective means for the Chinese state to perform a major cyber attack on UK telecoms networks today. Expand Close Sir Iain Duncan Smith was among the senior Tories who spoke out against the move (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir Iain Duncan Smith was among the senior Tories who spoke out against the move (Stefan Rousseau/PA) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in London on Wednesday for talks with Mr Raab, where he is likely to voice Washingtons concerns.Mr Pompeo who will also see the Prime Minister had made a last-ditch plea to ministers to reject Huawei when making the momentous decision. Senior Tories have also hit out at the decision, with former party leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith, saying it beggars belief to allow Huawei to play a role while We have a cyber war going on with China. Senior MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the last parliament, said the decision left many concerns and does not close the UKs networks to a frequently malign international actor. 1. As the UKs 4G networks rely on Huawei, achieving zero presence today would be near impossible so the reduction to 35% is welcome. But will this reduce over time to wean operators off the Chinese provider or will 35% be an enduring figure? 2/8 Tom Tugendhat (@TomTugendhat) January 28, 2020 For Labour, shadow culture secretary Tracy Brabin said: The Tories refused to take our technological sovereignty seriously and failed to invest in home-grown alternatives to Huawei. As a result theyre in the ludicrous position of having to choose between the UKs security concerns and our infrastructure needs. But Confederation of British Industry policy director Matthew Fell said: This solution appears a sensible compromise that gives the UK access to cutting-edge technology, whilst building in appropriate checks and balances around security. The implementation of 5G is expected to bring with it download speeds 10 times faster than what 4G currently offers. In what could be the shape of things to come, Britain has refused a top Michelin-star chef permission to remain in the UK permanently. Claude Bosi, who runs the upmarket restaurant Bibendum in Chelsea says he is not welcome there anymore. Bosi says he was told he had been refused permission because had not applied for its settlement scheme designed for EU citizen's post-Brexit. The top chef, who has lived and paid taxes in Britain for 23 years had made an application for permanent residency which was rejected "because he did not provide sufficient evidence to show he met the criteria," it added. In a statement to French news agency AFP, a spokeswoman for the British Interior Ministry said they had spoken to him to help him to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme "He made an application for a permanent residence document -- something which EU citizens living in the UK are not required or encouraged to do, the spokeswoman said. Last Friday an aggrieved Bosi posted on Instagram a letter from the interior ministry detailing its refusal to grant him permanent residency. "I love Britain I considered until today like home but they just told me after 23 years of tax paid /VAT paid I'm not welcome anymore," he wrote. The renowned chef arrived in Britain in 1997, opening the award-winning restaurant Hibiscus in the West Midlands in 2000. He took over Bibendum -- which holds two Michelin stars from the famous French gastronomic guide -- in March, 2017. Bosi's wife is English and the couple have two children, aged 14 and five, who are British citizens. Britain will leave the European Union next Friday, and has vowed that all the bloc's nationals living in the country when it leaves can stay. But they have to register through an online "settlement scheme" which requires evidence of how long they have been there. (with wires) The Spanish flu, also referred to as the influenza pandemic of 1918, is one of the deadliest epidemics in recent history. The 1918 influenza pandemic was the first of the 2 pandemics involving the H1N1 Influenza-virus to attack the world. The Spanish flu infected more than half a billion people on the planet, including individuals from the remote Pacific Islands. The influenza pandemic of 1918 caused the death of over 50 million people. The Spanish flu killed more individuals in 24 weeks than HIV/AIDS did in 24 years. Over 25 million of the victims died during the first 25 weeks of the pandemic. The Spanish flu was first observed in the United States, Asia, and Europe before spreading to other parts of the planet. Since there were no effective vaccines and drugs to treat the Spanish flu, people were ordered to put on masks. The allies of the First-World-War started calling it the Spanish flu since the epidemic began receiving more press-attention after spreading to Spain. Spread Of The Disease The first wave of this pandemic occurred during the spring of 1918, and it was mild. The sick individuals experienced various symptoms, including fatigue, fever, and chills, plus most of them recovered after numerous days. The mortality rate of the first wave was quite low. The first wave resembled a normal flu epidemic, and the most affected people were the elderly and the sick. When an infected person coughed or sneezed, virus particles were spread to those near him/her. Therefore, the massive troop movement and close quarters of the First World War hastened the pandemic. World War 1 might have increased the viruss lethality. Many people speculate that the immune system of the soldiers was weakened by malnutrition. In the US, the Spanish flu was first observed in January 1918 in Kansas. Albert Gitchell was reported sick on March 4, 1918, at Fort Riley. Within few days, over 522 men at Fort Riley reported ill. By the time the second wave had started in the United States, France, and Sierra Leone in August, the H1N1 Influenza-virus had mutated. The deadliest month of this epidemic was October 1918. The fact that a huge percentage of the individuals who had recovered from the first-wave had become immune showed that it was a similar strain of flu. The immunity was illustrated in capital city of Denmark, which had a mortality rate of about 0.29%. For the other parts of the world, the second-wave was deadlier. The End Of The Spanish Flu The number of new cases started declining during the late 1918 after the second-wave struck. In Philadelphia, over 4,597people lost their lives during the week ending on October 16, 1918; however, by November 11, 1918, the pandemic had disappeared in the city. One of the primary explanations for the end of the pandemic was the fact that the doctors had learned better ways of treating and preventing pneumonia that developed after a person contracted this virus. However, Barry John claimed that the researchers did not find evidence to support this hypothesis in his book. Another hypothesis claims that the virus mutated rapidly into a non-lethal strain, which is quite common with influenza viruses. A top leader of a pro-Khalistan outfit, wanted in India, has been shot dead by two unidentified attackers outside a gurdwara near the Wagah Border, a police source said on Tuesday. Harmeet Singh alias 'Happy PhD', a leader of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), was killed on Monday near Dera Chahal Gurdwara on the outskirts of Lahore, the source said. Singh, who hailed from Amritsar and was allegedly involved in the murder of RSS leaders in Punjab in 2016-2017, was among eight Khalistan-linked terrorists against whom the Interpol had issued red notices last year. No FIR has been registered over Singh's murder. "We have been asked not to pursue this case. Therefore, no FIR has been registered in the murder of Harmeet Singh," the source told PTI. The law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area near the gurdwara in Burki since Monday and no one including journalists are allowed to visit there. The source said the body has not been shifted to any of the Lahore's morgue for autopsy. Asked about the murder, a police spokesperson, however, expressed his ignorance over it. "We have no knowledge of such incident," he said. The Pakistani media did not report a word on the killing of Singh apparently because of the sensitivity attached to the matter. There are reports that Singh was shot dead by a local gang over financial disputes related to drug smuggling. Singh had a degree of doctorate that earned him the alias PhD. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iraqi authorities have ordered the closure for a month of Al-Dijla television, which has aired intensive coverage of anti-government protests in recent months, media and police sources told AFP Tuesday. "Interior ministry forces fully shut down Al-Dijla's offices in Baghdad last night and respectfully asked the staff to leave," a source from the broadcaster told AFP. An interior ministry official confirmed that security forces had stormed the offices in the Jadiriyah neighbourhood of east Baghdad late on Monday. At least 80 employees work at the Baghdad bureau and another 50 work at the station's headquarters in Amman, from where it broadcasts. The Al-Dijla employee, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said the main office had been ordered by Jordanian authorities to stop broadcasting for a month. "The Iraqi government requested from Jordan that it halt the station's broadcasting for a month based on an Iraqi complaint," the source said. Starting Monday, the frequency on which Al-Dijla typically broadcasts has showed a still image of its logo. Al-Dijlah has provided daily coverage of the anti-government protests sweeping Baghdad and the Shiite-majority south since October 1, despite pressure on its staff. Its Baghdad office was raided in the first week of rallies and on January 10, one of its correspondents and his cameraman were gunned down in the southern city of Basra. Before he was killed, correspondent Ahmad Abdessamad, 37, said he had been threatened by Iraqi armed groups because he criticised powerful neighbour Iran in his coverage. On January 20, Al-Dijla's leading anchorman Nabil Jassem got into an on-air dispute with the prime minister's spokesman for military issues Abdelkarim Khalaf. Khalaf declined to respond to a question from Jassem about the number of casualties in protest-related violence, and the two accused each other of being disrespectful before Khalaf walked off the set. In reaction to the shutdown, Al-Dijla administrative head Jamal al-Karbuli tweeted late Monday: "Al-Dijla pays the price for truth." Haidar al-Maytham, a member of the Iraqi National Syndicate for Journalists, told AFP on Tuesday that authorities had taken issue with Al-Dijla's "politics". "There are political disagreements and differences of opinion between the channel's administration and Iraqi officials, which led to the decision (to shut it down)," Maytham said. Major powers and advocacy groups have called on Iraq to do more to ensure media freedom and protect journalists covering the protests. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI), an innovator in providing data-driven health intelligence and precision health to physicians and patients, announced today the publication of a ground-breaking study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study titled, "Precision medicine integrating whole-genome sequencing, comprehensive metabolomics, and advanced imaging," showed that by integrating whole-genome sequencing with advanced imaging and blood metabolites, clinicians identified adults at risk for key health conditions. Data from 1190 self-referred individuals evaluated with HLI's multi-modal precision health platform, Health Nucleus, show clinically significant findings associated with age-related chronic conditions including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, chronic liver disease, and neurological disorders -- leading causes of pre-mature mortality in adults. The goal of precision medicine is to provide a path to assist physicians in achieving disease prevention and implementing accurate treatment strategies. Our study showed that by employing a holistic and data-driven health assessment for each individual, we are able to achieve early disease detection in adults." C. Thomas Caskey, MD, FACP, FACMG, FRSC, chief medical officer for Human Longevity, Inc., lead author of the study, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences Study highlights include: Approximately 1 in 6 adult individuals (17.3%) had at least one pathogenic genetic variant, and when integrated with deep phenotyping (imaging, blood test, etc.), 1 in 9 (11.9%) had genotype and phenotype associations, supporting the clinical diagnosis of a genetic disorder. Additional highly actionable findings in this self-referred cohort, most of which were not previously known, include: Insulin resistance and/or impaired glucose tolerance (34.2%) Elevated liver fat (29.2%) Cardiac structure or function abnormalities such as valvular disorders (16.2%) Significant calcified coronary artery plaque (calcium score > 100) (11.4%) Elevated liver iron (9.3%) Cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation (6.1%) Cardiac conduction disorders (4.8%) Early stage tumors, most malignant (1.7%) A lack of phenotype and genotype associations were observed in 5.8% of individuals with pathogenic genetic variants, further suggesting that the identification of pathogenic genetic variant(s) by sequencing alone is not sufficient for a definitive diagnosis, highlighting the importance of a multi-modal assessment. Genomics and metabolomics associations revealed 5.1% of heterozygous carriers with phenotype manifestations, affecting serum metabolite levels, suggesting that some genetic carriers may not be completely asymptomatic. "This study shows that the definition of 'healthy' may not be what we think it is and depends upon a comprehensive health evaluation," said J. Craig Venter, PhD, founder, Human Longevity, Inc. and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. "The data underscore Human Longevity's innovative approach to helping clinicians with early detection and personalized treatments, potentially achieving better health outcomes for patients." "Our traditional approach to the annual health assessment has been very superficial and will need to be replaced by data-driven measures that will be made possible as costs continue to decline for whole- genome sequencing, advanced imaging, especially MRI, and specialized blood analytics," said David Karow, MD, PhD, president and chief innovation officer, Human Longevity, Inc. President Lyndon B. Johnson hands a pen to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after signing the historic Civil Rights Act in the East Room of the White House on July 2, 1964. (AFP/Getty Images) Retropolis The Past, Rediscovered [The stream is slated to start at 12 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] President Donald Trump is expected to unveil the administration's long-awaited Middle East peace plan on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side. The plan proposes new borders for Israel, allowing the annexation of some Palestinian territories, according to various reports. Netanyahu embraced the plan, thanking the president at a White House meeting on Monday. "Thank you for everything you've done for Israel," he said. Palestinian leadership however, has already rejected it. Upon his return last week from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump touted the plan which could allow Israel to annex parts of the West Bank, occupied by almost 3 million Palestinians. "It's a great plan. It's a plan that really would work," the president told reporters. Tuesday's meeting comes as the president's impeachment trial continues in the Senate. Meanwhile, Netanyahu was formally indicted on corruption charges Tuesday, just hours before his meeting with Trump. He faces yet another election in March, with Benny Gantz leading the opposition, after both politicians were unable to to form a new government last year. Gantz also praised Trump's plan. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. Amouda Ciment exports 3200t to Niger ICR Newsroom By 28 January 2020 In 2019 Algeria-based Amouda Ciments El Beida cement plant exported more than 3200t of cement to Niger, according to El Watan. The companys first export shipment was carried out in August, when it supplied 1400t to Niger and was followed by two deliveries of 400t each in October and November. A further 1000t was exported in December. With a total value of US$340,000, the dispatches were the first exports of the cement plant and the company expects to increase export sales in the coming year. Amouda Ciment operates a 2Mta dry-process plant in El Beida, Laghouat province. The facilitys clinker capacity is 1.6Mta. Published under A Cabinet minister today promised Britons stranded in the Chinese region at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak that we will get people home as soon as possible. An evacuation flight is expected towards the end of the week, although the details were being finalised. Evacuees are likely to undergo a health check before they board a chartered plane for Britain in an attempt to stop them bringing the killer infection back here. After arriving in the UK they will be quarantined for 14 days, the incubation period of the coronavirus. We will get people home as and when as need be, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told BBC Breakfast. Later he said that the repatriation would take place as soon as possible. He added: In terms of safety, that has to come first. Measures will be taken to ensure that people are quarantined for a period of time. He urged some 250 to 300 Britons in Hubei province to contact the consulate in Wuhan, so they could be repatriated if they wished to be. Some stranded Britons have accused the Government of acting too slowly and failing to provide enough information. Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP Japan was sending a plane from Tokyo today to bring home some of the 650 nationals who say they want to leave the city at the centre of the viral outbreak. Foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the first aircraft was set to return with about 200 people tomorrow morning. The first plane to repatriate French nationals from Wuhan will likely bring them back to Paris on Thursday, said junior transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebarri. US diplomats were expected to leave the consulate in Wuhan, along with some other US citizens, possibly as early as today. Germany today confirmed its first case of the virus, a man from Starnberg, south of Munich, who was in a clinically good condition. Coronavirus: The confirmed cases around the world German car parts supplier Webasto later said a second employee had become infected following the visit of another employee, from China, to the companys HQ in Stockdorf, Bavaria. Chinas death toll from the new viral disease rose by 25 to at least 106 today. The total includes the first death in Beijing. The number of confirmed cases in the country is now 4,515. The numbers are rising sharply from the 81 dead and 2,835 with the virus reported yesterday. A further 37 cases have been reported in 11 countries outside China, including five in the US and five in Thailand, the World Health Organisation said last night. In the UK, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has ordered Public Health England to trace 1,460 people who arrived from Wuhan in the last fortnight. (Newser) Given the secrecy around the Manhattan Project in the 1940s, American scientists and historians have never been sure how the Soviet Union managed to join the atomic age as early as it did. Four years after the US set off the first atomic bomb, the Soviets detonated a similar one. The answer might have been found. Three spies at the Los Alamos laboratorywhere the bomb was builtwere known to have given the Soviets information about that first bomb, but not enough to explain the quick progress. Last fall, a fourth spy was found to have operated at Los Alamos, but the historians' paper said they didn't know much about what secrets he'd passed on. Now, the New York Times reports, newly declassified documents show Oscar Seborer's role could have been much more damaging than those of the other three spies. "We had no idea he was that important," one of the historians said. story continues below Seborer was a pioneer in weapon miniaturization, having helped design the firing circuits for the bomb's detonators. That technology dramatically cut the amount of fuel the bomb needed and was used in developing small, lightweightbut powerfulmissile warheads, per the Times. One newly released file showed Seborer attesting to the importance of his role. After moving to the Soviet Union in 1951, he reportedly said he'd be executed if he returned to the US. Another clue to the importance of his role was provided at Seborer's funeral, per Live Science. Among the mourners was one representing the espionage agency that succeeded the KGB. (Read more atomic bomb stories.) Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi used to say that when a small group of people with strong will move ahead to achieve their goal then they can create history. Zee News is also a small group of people with strong will and we have scripted history as crores of Indians are now a part of Zee family. On Monday (January 27), Zee News informed you that though Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, has been abrogated from the region, it seems that Article 370 has now been invoked in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh. Zee News' primetime show DNA on Monday was about Shaheen Bagh and the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest which has been going on in the area for over 40 days now. This was the first occasion in the history of Indian media when two senior journalists of two important news channels of the country had come together for a common cause. On Monday (January 27), Zee News Editor-In-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary and New Nation's Consulting Editor Deepak Chaurasia had gone together to Shaheen Bagh to talk to the protesters but they were not allowed to cross the police barricade by the protesters. The brave step taken by Chaudhary and Chaurasia was lauded by people across the country and many people outside India too. Today Zee News wants to ask a question from its viewers. Can we all not get united to free Shaheen Bagh from 'Tukde Tukde gang'? In Shaheen Bagh, the members of 'Tukde Tukde' gang are raising slogans of 'Azaadi' (independence) with tricolours in their hands. Today, Zee News wants to tell its viewers 'Hum Lekar Rahenge Shaheen Bagh' (we will reclaim Shaheen Bagh'). Shaheen Bagh cannot become the hub of a people of a particular mindset because it is a part of India and every India is free to visit Shaheen Bagh. The people of India are now losing patience over the occupation of roads by the people of Shaheen Bagh in the name of anti-CAA protest and it is high time that these protesters should be forced to vacate the road and allow the people to leave peacefully. Live TV After watching the DNA programme of Zee News on Shaheen Bagh whole India is asking: When will Indians be allowed to enter Shaheen Bagh? When will Shaheen Bagh get freedom from 'Tukde Tukde' gang? Four years ago, Zee News had become the number one enemy of 'Tukde Tukde' gang and 'Afzal lover' gang and there were many designer journalists and intellectuals who were also a part of this group. Now, Shaheen Bagh protesters are considering Zee News as their biggest enemy and this is the reason why they start shouting 'Go Back' slogans after seeing the reporters of Zee News. No reporter of Zee News is allowed to cover the Shaheen Bagh protest but we consider this opposition as our medal because those who are opposing Zee News are giving proof that our journalism is going on the right path. The protesters at Shaheen Bagh are also against Zee News because we consider Afzal Guru and Burhan Wani as a terrorist and those who considers Wani as the son of a school principal are now claiming that Sharjeel Imam, who was arrested by Delhi Police on Tuesday on sedition charges, is a revolutionary. On Monday, Zee News Sudhir Chaudhary and News Nation Deepak Chaurasia displayed exemplary courage to visit Shaheen Bagh knowing fully well that they could be heckled by protesters and in worst case scenario they could be lynched by protesters. But the protesters, most of them women, did not allow Sudhir Chaudhary and Deepak Chaurasia to cross the police barricade. Sudhir Chaudhary and Deepak Chaurasia kept on urging the protesters to allow him to meet them and bring their concerns over the CAA before the government but the protesters did not accept their request. It may be recalled that Chaurasia was heckled by protesters on Friday when he had gone to Shaheen Bagh to report about the protests. Chaurasia had filed an FIR about the incident and since then journalists from across the country have extended their support to him. The anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh started on December 15, 2019, days after the passage of Citizenship Amendment Bill in both houses of Parliament. The protest site has now become the hub of political activities with leaders of several opposition parties visiting the spot to extend their solidarity with the protesting women. The protesters have captured one side of the road which connects Delhi to Noida and it has been creating lots of traffic problems for people living in Delhi and Noida. An ambulance crew member in protective gear carries a box of medical supplies in Wuhan (Chinatopix via AP) A British citizen, isolated in Wuhan, China, has said he is too afraid to leave his flat for fear of infecting his nine-month-old daughter with the deadly coronavirus. The 22-year-old from Manchester, who asked to remain anonymous, told the PA news agency: My wife is staying positive but inside I can tell shes worried, we both are. We know that if our baby got sick she wouldnt make it and thats a horrible, dreadful feeling. Neither of them have been diagnosed with the illness but fear coming into contact with anyone who may carry the deadly strain. The family have not left their flat for a week, and are now rationing food to get through the outbreak. He said: The flat bit isnt that bad, its more the paranoia every time I go out in the corridor to empty bins or something like that. My wifes family gave us a lot of leftover meat and vegetables from the New Years dinner we had. We think that will last us a few more weeks. UK citizens stranded in Wuhan are being urged to contact the British consulate as part of repatriation plans. NEW BLOG: Wuhan novel coronavirus: what you need to know https://t.co/9vOzpEOscA UK Health Security Agency (@UKHSA) January 24, 2020 Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government is working on how to bring people home from the Chinese city. However, the father-of-one said he would not be leaving the city, as his wife is a local. He did add that things seemed more positive today. He said: Theres been a lot of talk today about some positive developments in treating sick people. Chinese media reported this morning that a pregnant woman infected with the virus was successfully treated and in recovery and that the baby was doing fine. Expand Close Passengers wearing masks in the arrivals concourse at Heathrow Terminal 4 (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Passengers wearing masks in the arrivals concourse at Heathrow Terminal 4 (PA) More and more of these small victories are popping up now and thats why were a bit more optimistic. More than 100 people have now died in China, with confirmed infections rising to more than 4,500 globally. The deadly virus has now spread to at least 16 cities. Wearing face masks in public is now mandatory in some Chinese cities. On Monday, a 50-year-old man died from the virus in Beijing the first death in the Chinese capital from the virus. Wuhan Authorities Closing City Borders Until End of Month Amid Coronavirus Outbreak Sputnik News 03:49 GMT 27.01.2020(updated 07:31 GMT 27.01.2020) BEIJING (Sputnik) Chinese citizens will not be allowed to enter or leave the city of Wuhan, where the current coronavirus outbreak started, until the end of the month, the city's migration authorities said in a statement on Monday. Authorities have decided to temporarily suspend the crossing of the city border for all Chinese citizens at all border crossing points of Wuhan until 30 January, according to the statement. The travel restrictions also apply to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. All passenger transport in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei Province, was suspended last week and the city has been on virtual lockdown. On Sunday, China's National Health Commission director Ma Xiaowei told reporters that the spread of the virus appears to be accelerating despite mitigation efforts. According to the latest data from China's National Health Commission, 80 people have died from the virus in China. Over 2,700 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the country. Cases of pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus strain have been reported in other countries, including Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Macau, Nepal, France, the United States, Canada, and Australia. The unknown type of viral pneumonia was first reported in Wuhan in early January and has since been confirmed by China and the World Health Organisation to be a new strain of the coronavirus, currently labeled as 2019-nCoV or Novel Coronavirus. The symptoms of the new coronavirus are typical of common cold or flu: fever, coughing, sneezing, difficulty breathing. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address An Italian city has become the first to sell homes for just 1 after rural villages started similar schemes in a bod to get people to move to the area. Taranto has become the first large-scale area to offer run-down houses cheaply in the hope of breathing new life into the hollowed out conurbation. The remote port city in southern Italy has seen its population dwindle over the years and local authorities are hoping to boost the ailing area, including its historic centre. The council set a target of bringing 25,000 inhabitants back to the old city by selling cheap homes. During the 19th century the historic old town had a population of 40,000, but that has shrunk to just 3,000. The total population of the city today is around 200,000 residents. Taranto in southern Italy (pictured) has become the first city in the country to offer homes to new residents for 1 The Italian government has recently awarded Taranto 90 million for improvements to the historic centre, including the reconstruction of the waterfront Plans made by local authorities will see five homes initially offered for sale at the symbolic price of 1 - which is around 85p - with the hope of listinbg more properties if first batch sell successfully. The idea of the 1 homes first pioneered by the town of Gangi in Sicily in 2011, when more than 150 buildings have since been restored and newcomers have revived the Sicilian town on the edge of Palermo. Sicilian villages of Bivona, Sambuca and Mussomeli also offered homes for a euro last year. Locana in the north west of Italy even offered to pay up to 9,000 over three years for new residents to make Locana their home and start a family in the town. Borgomezzavalle on the Italian/Swiss border also offered abandoned cottages, barns and stables for just 1 with the stipulation that the crumbling buildings are refurbished within two years. These new homeowners in Taranto will also have to pay for extensive renovations that could cost hundreds of thousands of euros. They will also have to live in the properties in order to stop property developers selling them on for a profit. During the 19th century the historic old town of Taranto in southern Italy had a population of 40,000, but that has since shrunk to just 3,000 The Aragonese castle (above) in the old town of Taranto - a symbol of the city in southern Italy It comes as Taranto was earmarked today as the destination for some 400 migrants pulled from the Mediterranean sea after being rescued by a charity ship. The Ocean Viking ship, which is run by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, picked up the migrants in five separate operations over the past four days. An Italian interior ministry source said Germany and France would take in some of the 403 migrants, with Ireland and Luxembourg also expected to offer help. Francesca Viggiano, council official, said authorities had already received inquiries about their new 1 home scheme from New York, Milan and Rome. She told Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera: 'We are aiming to take measures which will result in the repopulation and development of the old city.' Steam coming out of the chimneys of the Ilva steel plant in Taranto. Local authorities plan to make the plant more environmentally friendly by 2024 Residents were said to have begun leaving the city when its buildings and narrow streets started to fall into disrepair. In 1975 a building in the old town collapsed, killing an entire family, according to local media reports. The town's polluting Ilva steel plant has also made the city a less attractive prospect for potential new homeowners. Local authorities in Taranto plan to make the plant more environmentally friendly by 2024. The Italian government has recently awarded Taranto 90 million for improvements to the historic centre, including the reconstruction of the dilapidated waterfront. EUGENE, Ore. -- Seventy-five years ago, Auschwitz was liberated by the Russian Army, and today a local historian is looking to make sure people remember the Holocaust. Nathan Fendrich has spent countless years teaching about the tragedy out of a belief that everyone needs to remember the atrocities that went on in one of the darkest times in history. By the time Auschwitz was liberated, 1.1 million people had been murdered in the camp. RELATED: EUGENE MAN'S PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOM KIPPUR WAR RESURFACE AFTER 45 YEARS "How could they do this? We are civilized educated people. How could we do anything like this?" said Fendrich. Fendrich said his stepfather's entire family was murdered by the Nazis in Latvia, and he was there when he heard the news of their deaths. "And he came in crying. I was 11 years old, and I had never seen him cry, and he said, 'My mother, they're dead, they're all dead,'" Fendrich said. Fendrich said one of the main ways the Nazis killed Jews in Auschwitz was with Zyklon B, a gas normally used to kill insects. "When they opened the door, and I have the drawings, there would be a pyramid of people, they're climbing on one another to get away from the fumes which were down low, and the children, you don't want to see it," Fendrich said. Fendrich has visited all six death camps in Europe, with Auschwitz-Birkenau being the largest. Out of approximately six million Jews that were killed in the Holocaust, 18% of them were murdered in Auschwitz. The few people that were still alive in Auschwitz were sent on a death march by the guards when they realized the Russians were closing in on them. But some of the prisoners were liberated on the march by Americans. Fendrich recounted a story from one of the survivors. "She said, 'I'm Jewish,' in German, and the American officer looked at her. He had sunglasses on, even though it was early morning, and he took them off and said, 'So am I.' Eight months later, they were married," Fendrich said. Fendrich said that even though there were some inspiring stories that came out of Auschwitz and the Holocaust, most of the stories were utterly tragic and brought tears to his and his wife's eyes. It has been almost nine years since the murder of Moammar Gaddafi. All this time, the North African country has been trying to find a foothold and overcome the chaos that followed the collapse of Gaddafi's regime. The Libyan crisis of power, with all the unpleasant consequences associated with it, bothers quite a lot of players in the arena of global politics. Regional neighbors do not feel safe because of the chaos of the Libyan civil war unfolding near their borders. Meanwhile, Europeans are concerned about the problems of Libyan refugees and illegal migrants while the world community is facing another danger spot of international terrorism in Libya. Given that up to the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime, the Libyan state was Russia's ally in the North African region, Russia has its interests in stabilizing the political situation. Moscow is trying to set the pace in resolving the Libyan issue and is guided by ideological, political, and economic factors. The ideological component is transmitted through the system of Putinism that emerged during the reign of Vladimir Putin. This construction, in accordance with which the domestic and foreign policy of Russia is being built, implies a certain position on the modern world order. In the logic of Putinism, the Libyan crisis is seen as more proof of the failure of the unipolar model. In 2011, the collective West, represented by the countries of the European Union with the support of NATO, overthrew the Gaddafi regime, offering nothing in return. As a result, Libya plunged into a state of uncontrollable chaos, which is currently aggravated by the dual claims of Khalifa Haftar and Fayez al-Sarraj. Both leaders show a weak level of negotiability, and the risks of escalating another civil war are constantly increasing. As to the political aspect, issues of world prestige are mainly addressed. Vladimir Putin contends that after the success of the Syrian case settlement, Moscow has every right to position itself as an anti-crisis manager in international politics. Libya is another geopolitical task to solve. And the Kremlin can offer its solution algorithm. Right before the Berlin Conference on Libya, the inter-Libyan negotiations involving Russia and Turkey took place in Moscow. Khalifa Haftar and Fayez al-Sarraj did not sign a formal ceasefire, but the systemic settlement process began. So Russia will certainly increase its influence on this track. The economic interests of Moscow in Libya also mean a lot. In 2008, Russia wrote off the Libyan debt of $4.5 billion in exchange for beneficial contracts for its companies. Thus, a major agreement was concluded by Russian Railways for the construction of a 500-kilometer section of the Sirt-Benghazi road. Besides that, a memorandum of cooperation was signed by the Russian Gazprom and the Libyan National Oil Corporation. Russian-Libyan agreements also included a supply of weapons, infrastructure development, and exploration of oil fields. As a result of the Libyan revolution, Russian investments happened to be under threat; most of the contracts were frozen or canceled. In fact, Russia lost a profitable partner in North Africa. Now there is a chance to take a kind of economic revenge and return the investments in exchange for efforts to settle the political situation in the country. Vladimir Putin is well aware of the geopolitical value of Libya as an ally in the Middle East. However, the ally should be legal and legitimate for the agreements to be unshakable and the investments to be reliably protected. In the near future, we will see what the Kremlin will do to uphold its interests in the North African region. Den Kalmykov, Ph.D. is an expert in economics and a contributor to American Thinker and the Liberty Nation. (Repeats Friday story without changes) * UK financial firms prepare for worst in trade talks * "Outcomes" equivalence plan draws concern * Finance regulation now politicised, retaliation feared By Sinead Cruise, Huw Jones and Andrew MacAskill LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Britain's finance sector is losing hope of securing even basic access to European Union markets from Dec. 31, as talk that the EU wants UK fishing rights in exchange draws the industry into a political struggle between the bloc and its departing member. Hopes were high that Prime Minister Boris Johnson would prioritise the financial sector -- Britain's largest export industry and biggest corporate tax generator -- in trade talks. But bank sources say a push by the EU for fishing access to UK waters and London's stance that it will diverge from EU rules are prompting them to review hard-Brexit plans that could see more jobs than anticipated move to Europe. Until now, financial firms running EU operations from Britain believed that technical assessments by EU banking, insurance and markets regulators would be enough judge UK rules 'equivalent' to those governing EU-based firms, granting them market access after December. But banking sources say the EU's executive now sees things differently. Sources from three international banks fear that access will depend on a broader trade-off such as Britain allowing fishing in its waters -- a concession they feel the government is reluctant to make. "We're now hearing very explicitly -- it's not even the rumour mill -- the European Commission has said these are politically linked to progress in phase-two negotiations," one banking source told Reuters. "As one official put it to me, if 'fish for financial services' is going badly, this will impact the Commission's willingness to grant equivalence." The fishing industry is valued at about 169 times less than financial services and official data shows it employs just 8,000 people compared to more than a million in finance. Story continues But regaining control of Britain's rich fishing waters was a totem for Brexit campaigners. A European Commission spokesman referred to a January EU document saying the bloc and Britain should endeavour to complete equivalence assessments before June 30. He declined to comment further. The EU is Britain's biggest financial services export market, worth about 26 billion pounds annually. Since the 2016 Brexit vote, the sector has reorganised to preserve a foothold in the EU, launching or beefing up subsidiaries and relocating staff and capital. Many banks and money managers are preparing for a further transfer of resources after a transition period ends in December. Consultants EY said this week that around 7,000 financial services jobs will move from Britain to staff new EU hubs. Failing to obtain equivalence could add risk-management, compliance, middle and back office roles to that figure, as well as trading and client-facing jobs, the sources said. Finance minister Sajid Javid said last week that Britain would not be a rule-taker after Brexit, even though some businesses could suffer from regulatory divergence. He wants "outcomes-based" equivalence in financial services, meaning UK rules need not be identical to those in the EU but should have the same effect. The EU updated its equivalence policy ahead of Brexit, saying third-country regimes like those in Japan and the United States do not need to be identical but must have the same "outcomes" as EU rules to give access to its markets. But it would impose tougher scrutiny of "high-impact" countries, expected to include Britain. The EU's withdrawal of share trading equivalence from Switzerland during a dispute over a partnership treaty, not because of any divergence in rules, showed how equivalence can be politicised. Britain's finance ministry had no immediate comment. COST AND SCRUTINY Bankers say jobs transferred to Europe as politicians wrangle are likely to stay there, even if equivalence is eventually granted. "The sector's approach has always been to prepare in a way for the worst," a second senior banking source said. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing recognised the risk that a trade deal would not be finalised before end-2020. He said his bank "could do everything out of Frankfurt" but that Britain would remain an important capital market. Financial lobby groups have warned that if Britain does not get equivalence, the government will lose valuable tax revenue. The bloc is the biggest customer for Britain's financial services exports, worth about 26 billion pounds annually based on unfettered access. But lawmakers from Johnson's Conservative Party say the City could cope with the fallout if negotiations turned sour. "London is a marketplace. The marketplace doesn't come to them (the EU) ... the health of the City doesn't depend nearly to the extent that is believed on having some privileged position in the EU," said Peter Lilley, who sits in parliament's upper chamber. A second Conservative lawmaker, Tim Loughton, said Johnson would not consider swapping assets such as fishing rights to cut a better deal for banks, which have struggled to rebuild their image since the 2008 financial crisis. He said the EU was bluffing and would not politicize financial services because it, too, risked losing access to the region's deepest markets. "It would be a massive exercise in cutting off your nose to spite your face," he said. (Reporting by Sinead Cruise, Huw Jones and Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Catherine Evans) Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. A new study finds that active shooter incidents off campus and politics are key factors that led state legislators to pass laws allowing concealed weapons on college and university campuses between 2004 and 2016. "We assumed that campus carry legislation might be driven by active shooter incidents in educational contexts," David R. Johnson, lead author of the research, sociologist and assistant professor of higher education leadership in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Reno, said. "Our analysis found that bill introduction is associated with active shooter incidents anywhere within a legislator's state, but not specifically those occurring at schools and universities." "The dataset we developed tracked state legislative behaviors related to concealed weapons on campus and captured key factors that may have influenced these activities," said Liang Zhang, coauthor of the research and professor of higher education at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. "We found that following a mass shooting, Republican legislatures tend to introduce and sometimes adopt legislation that would specifically allow people to bring concealed weapons onto college campuses, while Democrat-controlled legislatures do not." Johnson and Zhang's academic paper, "Intrastate and interstate influences on the introduction and enactment of campus carry legislation" was published in Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association that features the field's leading research. This is believed to be the first empirical analysis of the policy process related to campus carry legislation. As of 2018, campus carry laws have been enacted in 11 states, 16 states ban concealed weapons and in 23 states the decision to ban or allow guns at higher education institutions is left to university systems or individual schools. The analysis showed that factors unrelated to crime on school grounds led to the introduction and enactment of these bills. In addition to active shooter incidents, bill introduction is influenced by the percentage of Republicans in state government, conservative citizen political ideology and policy diffusion - the influence of neighboring states' policies on the issue. The analysis of bill enactment reveals that conservative citizen political ideology and contributions from anti-gun control interest groups are the driving forces behind policy adoption. "Other research suggests that nearly 95 percent of students and faculty at large public universities are opposed to allowing guns on school grounds," Johnson continued. "There's no clear security issue, most stakeholders don't want guns on campus, and it seems that legislators push it through to please their constituents." An active shooter incident could lead policymakers to adopt new or stronger prohibitions against concealed weapons on campus, but the chief legislative emphasis in the past two decades has been to remove prohibitions established in the 1980s and 1990s. Zhang added that these gun bills and laws are largely unfunded mandates. The legislature doesn't include funding for the implementation of the new laws, but the schools must install signs, storage lockers and hire more police. The estimates are in the millions for a state higher education system to regulate guns on campus. When considering SB1474 in 2012, the state of Arizona estimated that allowing concealed weapons would introduce $13.3 million in one-time costs and $3.1 million annually for three state universities. The bill ultimately failed. Zhang and Johnson focused on proposed bills aimed at permitting concealed weapons on campus to explain the policy process related to their introduction and either passage or failure to pass. Their work expands the empirical scope of higher education policy research by considering a social problem that is only indirectly related to student achievement but nevertheless a high priority for some state legislators. While there are some areas of gun policy that draw bipartisan support, allowing concealed carry in more places is not one of them: 68% of Republicans support increased concealed carry in more places compared to only 26% of Democrats, according to the Pew Research Center. This helps explain why the prevalence of conservative leaning citizens within a state is so influential on the policy process. In Nevada, for example, the state legislature has three times considered permitting firearms at postsecondary institutions - once in 2011 with a Democratic controlled legislature, once in 2013 with a Democratic controlled legislature and again in 2015 in a Republican controlled legislature. The 2011 and 2013 bills died without consideration. In 2015 AB148 was passed by the Assembly. The Senate never considered the bill. ### Johnson and Zhang's academic article was published this week in Educational Researcher. Kane County prosecutors claim that on Oct. 19, 2019, Hill placed her hands around the neck of a special needs student at Northern Illinois Academy in Aurora, where she works, and applied pressure, impeding his breathing. The student was younger than 13 years old. Ogra Shinn Fein, the youth wing of the party currently riding third highest in the national polls on 20% of the vote took a, possibly ill-advised, skewed stance on leader Mary Lou McDonalds strong performance during RTEs seven-way Claire Byrne Live debate on Monday night. Mary Lou putting manners on posh boys. This is why the RTE board doesnt want her on; shed make shite of them both, the grouping tweeted. As was pointed out in short order, Ms McDonald is the only one of the three main leaders to have been privately educated whilst growing up in the less than-ghetto-like Dublin suburb of Churchtown. Takeaway 2 There was a noticeable absence of Tipperarys finest, Alan Kelly, from the rostrum of Labours manifesto launch. Mr Kellys own campaign launch had taken place in Nenagh over the weekend, and he remained in situ, it seems, for a local debate on RTE radio. Still, as one of his partys strongest performers, his absence was noticeable. Then again, he and Mr Howlin have not always seen eye to eye in recent years, ever since the latter pipped Kelly to the Labour top job in 2016. Takeaway 3 Sinn Fein has faced an avalanche of criticism from all sides over the alleged nature of its governance and decision-making structures as parties queue up to say why they wont go into Government with it. Now it is even getting it in the neck from former members. Peadar Toibin, who leads Aontu after quitting Sinn Fein over its stance on abortion has claimed that individual TDs under Mary Lou McDonald are prevented from choosing their own staff members, while policy decisions are handed down to elected officials after being decided upon by six or seven people. Ms McDonald dismissed those claims as absolutely untrue. Well said It was bleak but it was a bleak time for the country. We just had to get the head down and build, build, build. Fianna Fail deputy leader Dara Calleary, tells Reuters how things are very different for his party this time around after the darkdays of 2011 and its last adventure in Government. His use of the word build may be a little unfortunate. Good day Michael Healy-Rae posted a video on Twitter in which he told the world: That feeling when your Insta is No1 in the country accompanied by a meme of him dancing, complete with a cap and a Haiwaian shirt and shorts. He wrote: Just want to thank everyone who has been following our online campaign...were embracing the digital side of things this year. Just want to thank everyone who has been following our online campaign ...we're embracing the digital side of things this year VOTE NO.1 MICHAEL HEALY-RAE #GeneralElection2020 #MichaelHealyRae #VoteNO1 #GE2020 pic.twitter.com/B3pKDRCHrU Michael Healy-Rae (@MHealyRae) January 28, 2020 Bad day Days don't come much worse than today did for Fine Gaels Catherine Noone. While her ill-advised comments about her party leader and autism may have been forgiven by Leo Varadkar following her hasty apology, the outrage over what she said is likely to linger for a few days at the very least. And at this stage of an election several days is the equivalent of several millennia. In other words, momentous events are happening, which will change the course of history, and the precise nature of them will forever be known only by those at the dinner table tonight. (This would have been more likely in the relatively surveillance-free United States of that era.) And it is killing Aaron Burr not to be there, and may well be in part what drives him to kill as well. That the song title has now been appropriated by politicians suggests just how much Hamilton has become part of the American cultural oxygen supply. And it goes beyond not only the rarefied realm of musical theater obsessives, but also partisan use. (Dont forget that Hamilton was firmly associated with the Obama White House, so much so that the Off Broadway spoof of the musical called Spamilton began by drawing parallels between the Obamas affection for Hamilton with that of the Kennedys for Camelot.) In any case, its refreshing to have a Broadway show being part of mainstream conversation again, a rarity during my tenure as theater critic. The last time I can recall anything similar happening? Well, that would have been just after Donald J. Trump had been elected president in 2016, and his vice president-elect, Mike Pence, showed up at a Broadway performance of yep, the same Hamilton. The actor Brandon Victor Dixon (who was playing Burr) stepped out at the curtain call to address Pence from the stage and asked him to keep his mind open to the breadth and value of American diversity. This in turn occasioned a tweet from the president that escalated into Well, it was among of the first of many such dramas played out on social media. There is much in Hamilton that addresses contemporary concerns and values in flux. (Insert quote in Latin about unchanging human nature.) But such a perspective coexists without all-darkening cynicism. Yes, Hamilton (based on Ron Chernows biography) understands that anyone who aspires to national office is going to require an immense ego and a hunger to rule. His heroes arent pure. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Complaints from various Louisiana state departments spurred a review of the Office of Technology Services (OTS) by the Legislative Auditor, but CIO Richard Dickie Howze feels that the audits scope was too narrow in some instances.The report, released Monday , chronicles staffing challenges brought on by retirements and vacancies; the lack of a comprehensive service catalog; and a failure to track agencies IT projects requiring varying levels of oversight; among other complaints. Auditors concluded their year-long work before the November ransomware attack that crippled some state servers and services. The authors noted that the cyberattack did not affect their findings.The 2018 survey responsible for the look into the IT agency asked 77 employees spread across 18 departments about OTS service delivery. The survey identified poor communication and a deficiency in accountability and transparency, according to the report.Performance Audit Manager Krista Baker-Hernandez said auditors wrote the report along the lines of the feedback from other departments and identified areas where OTS could improve its customer experience.There are some areas that theyre working to improve, and they have improved, Baker-Hernandez said. I think the report highlights other areas that they might not have focused on until now that they could improve upon.From the OTS perspective, Howze remarked in his written response to the audit that the full depth of this [organization's] complexity is not fully understood nor has enough credit been given for the immense progress of OTS since its inception in 2014.Speaking with, Howze said his agency has made significant strides in the past six years, including IT standardization that did not exist when agencies independently operated isolated IT divisions.I kind of equate it to putting together a number of companies creating a very large organization Having to merge together all of the people and all of the processes in order to achieve accomplishments, Howze said.A contentious recommendation was the creation of a catalog so that departments would have a better understanding of available services and costs. Baker-Hernandez said providing a catalog of information would increase OTS transparency and is a common product provided by the other state IT agencies that auditors reviewed, which included Alabama, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Texas and Utah.Howze said there are too many services for a proper catalog to be produced in a short timeframe. He expounded on this in his written response stating that a service catalog alone would not help an agency determine its overall costs, but that a thorough analysis of a departments business needs, which OTS would be a part of, should resolve transparency issues.Some of these services are handled in a different way, he said. There is a migration process to get to a more standard offering, therefore some of the items on the list are going to take a little bit longer than other ones.The goal of performance audits in Louisiana, Baker-Hernandez said, is to get to the root cause of issues negatively impacting state departments. The authors established criteria from consolidation efforts in neighboring states as well as an IT consolidation plan that Deloitte produced in 2014. She said a usual timeline for the Legislative Auditor to follow up is around three years.Howze said he appreciated the work of the auditors overall and that his agency is continually asking for feedback from its customers on avenues toward improvement.Its critical that as OTS continues to mature that we be given the latitude and understanding of the depth and breadth of this engagement, he wrote in his response. OTS has come a long way, but we recognize that there is room for improvement. West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday said she is ready for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act but the Centre has to first withdraw the contentious law. Banerjee said protesting against the decisions of the centre doesn't make opposition parties anti-national and iterated that she will not implement CAA, NRC or NPR in the state. "It is good that the prime minister is ready for talks but the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) must be revoked first. They (Centre) did not call an all-party meeting before taking a decision on Kashmir and CAA. "We are ready for talks but first withdraw this Citizenship Amendment Act," Banerjee, a staunch critic of the BJP, said addressing a protest programme against CAA through paintings. The West Bengal Assembly had on Monday passed a resolution against the CAA to become the fourth state after Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan, to do so. The state assembly had on September 6, 2019, passed a resolution against the NRC. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) TO VIEW MORE NEWS STORY, PLEASE CLICK ON NEWS TAB ON MAIN MENU BAR Godwin has his own ties to Londons National Theatre he remains an associate director there and this enduring connection helps to explain how The Amen Corner made its way into the repertory of a Washington company better known for Elizabethan tragedy and Moliere comedy. It is also the case that some concerted mission rethinking is overdue for classical theaters of Shakespeare Theatres caliber. Striving for a more diverse audience, as well as a more inclusive definition of what constitutes a classic, the company is making an admirable advance this season toward broadening its vision. A Chinese woman wears a protective mask and sunglasses as she shops for groceries at a supermarket in Beijing on Jan. 28, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) China Refused American Offer of Assistance in Studying Coronavirus Outbreak: US Health Chief The Chinese Communist Party has declined an offer by the United States to send a group of health experts to China, U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar said at a press conference on Jan. 28. The United States conveyed the offer through multiple channels, including Azar speaking to a top Chinese official, but China has so far refused to allow the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) team to assist with efforts to study the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. We do hope that the Chinese government will take us up on the offer, Azar said. CDC experts are standing by, ready to go to China. He told Chinese officials at the press conference, More cooperation and transparency are the most important steps you can take. The CDC team and experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) could help Chinese health workers answer some critical questions surrounding asymptomatic transfer of the virus, or the spread from people who dont show symptoms to other people, and the incubation period, which is so far pegged at 2 to 14 days. Officials at the press conference acknowledged Chinese officials have said that the virus spreads from people who dont show symptoms but said they havent been able to see that data. The teams would also try to obtain more live isolates to help develop therapy and vaccines. American officials are proceeding now as if theyll have to deploy a vaccine. CDC and WHO workers are the best in the world, Azar said. We basically just need the best public health people in the world working on it right now, he said. While urging the Chinese government to accept help from America, Azar noted that he lived through the SARS outbreak and said the level of cooperation and interaction between China and the rest of the world was completely different and commended them for that. The CDC has an office in China, embedded in the countrys CDC. Azar spoke shortly after the Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, spoke with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. A WHO statement said the pair agreed that WHO will send international experts to visit China as soon as possible to work with Chinese counterparts. Stopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is WHOs highest priority, said Dr. Ghebreyesus in a statement. We appreciate the seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak, especially the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated, including sharing data and genetic sequence of the virus. Passengers wear protective masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus as they arrive at Los Angeles International Airport, Calif., on Jan. 22, 2020. (Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images) Travel Restrictions Azar, meanwhile, asked about reports that the Trump administration is considering restricting travel to or from China, said it was an option that was being considered. Its important to not take anything off the table with a rapidly emerging novel infectious disease, he said. No decision on travel restrictions has been made as of yet. American experts are examining how quickly the disease can spread and verifying reports from other countries of asymptomatic transmission. The CDC and the State Department said this week that people should avoid nonessential travel to China. This warning is in response to an ongoing outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a Novel (new) Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) spreading between people in many parts of that country, the CDC said. Sustained person-to-person community spread with this virus is reportedly occurring in China, it said, adding, A number of travel-associated cases of 2019-nCoV infection also have been identified in other locations, including the United States. A battery start-up that's backed by iPod inventor and Nest founder Tony Fadell, and which claims to have found a green and scalable way to make lithium-ion batteries more efficient, on Tuesday announced that it raised $18.5 million in its Series A funding round. New Orleans-based Advano is focused on increasing batteries' energy density by replacing the graphite in the anode the battery's negative side with silicon, which is able to hold roughly ten times more lithium than graphite. Ever since Sony first commercialized the lithium-ion battery in 1991, scientists have been toiling over how to make these devices cheaper, safer and more efficient, and Advano is far from the first company to explore using silicon instead of graphite. Other companies developing these types of batteries include Sila Nanotechnologies, for example, which is valued at over $1 billion. Advano co-founder and CEO Alexander Girau said that what makes his company different is its use of recycled silicon, which cuts production costs while reducing the environmental impact, as well as the start-up's laser focus on developing solutions that are scalable. "We're not trying to make the best battery in the world and figuring out how to make trillions of them. We're trying to economically improve the trillions of batteries that will exist," Girau said to CNBC. An appeals court in Cambodias capital Phnom Penh on Tuesday rejected a request by two former RFA reporters to drop a reinvestigation into espionage charges against them, extending their two-year legal limbo, their lawyer said. Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhinwho had worked as an editor, reporter and news anchor, and a photographer and videographer for RFAs Khmer Service, respectivelywere taken into custody in November 2017. They were charged with illegally collecting information for a foreign source after RFA closed its bureau in the capital in September that year. Tuesday's ruling was delivered in a verbal statement , with a written statement to be released to the defense next week, said their lawyer, Sam Chamreoun. "I will discuss it with my clients. We have one month [to appeal.]" We are upset by the decision," said Yeang Sothearin after the brief hearing. "I think this is a political decision, not a judicial decision. I call on the court to speed up the judicial process to bring our case to trial." This strategy of dragging it out mistreats us and hurts our freedom, as we cannot do things like other normal people. We can do nothing but follow the court orders and conduct our legal fight, said Uon Chhin. We appeal to the national and international community to closely watch our case. Local and international rights groups and legal observers have long condemned the treatment of the pair in the courts as part of a wider attack on the media and civil society in Cambodia and called for the country's trade and aid partners to press for their release. Media freedom deteriorates Am Sam Ath, the deputy director of the Cambodian rights group Licadho, told RFA's Khmer Service that Tuesday's ruling was "not fair" and reinforced the notion among many Cambodians that "the justice system is biased and has lost public trust." Calling for the dismissal of the case, RFA President Bay Fang urged Cambodian authorities to "heed what the international community is telling them: This legal process is deeply unfair and undermines the principles of free expression and respect for a free press that are enshrined in Cambodias constitution." "Illegally collecting information for a foreign source, under Article 445 of the Criminal Code, is an offense punishable by a prison term of from seven to 15 years. Additional charges were added in March 2018, alleging that the two men had illegally produced pornography. On Dec. 30, the court rejected an appeal by the two reporters to halt a reinvestigation into the pornography case, allowing a new investigation into those charges to proceed. RFA closed its nearly 20-year-old bureau in Phnom Penh on Sept. 12, 2017 amid a crackdown by the government that also saw the Supreme Court dissolve the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) a month later. The move paved the way for Prime Minister Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to sweep the ballot in national elections in 2018, effectively turning Cambodia into a one-party state. Cambodian journalists working for RFA had reported over the years on corruption, illegal logging, and forced evictions, among other stories largely ignored by pro-government media, and authorities had already closed independent radio stations carrying RFA reports, using a pretext of tax and administrative violations. The arrest of Uong Chhin and Yeang Sothearin came after a warning from Cambodias Ministries of Information and Interior that any journalists still working for RFA after its office in the capital closed would be treated as spies. They were released on bail in August 2018, but were placed under court supervision, which barred them from changing their addresses or traveling abroad, and required them to check in with their local police station once a month. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders ranked Cambodia 143rd out of 180 countries in its 2019 World Press Freedom Index. Reported by RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Paul Eckert. Senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday accused opposition parties of misleading the people on the amended citizenship law, NPR and NRC, and said they should not forget their "rashtradharma". He also asserted that no one's citizenship will be taken away under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). "Some people are playing politics over the CAA, but we will not allow them to succeed," Singh said while addressing an election rally in Kondli for the February 8 Delhi assembly polls. "I want to ask them (opposition parties) that they perform the duty of an opposition. But they should also not forget their rashtradharma (duty to the nation)," the Union minister said. Singh said the opposition is misleading the people on the CAA, the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). At another rally in Trilokpuri, he asserted that the Modi government does not do politics over religion. "On the issue of CAA, they (opposition parties) are trying to write history with the ink of hatred. Protests are being held at several places. The BJP does not do politics over religion..." he said. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-27 21:13:57 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 480 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2020 / MjLink.com Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Social Life Network, Inc. (OTCQB:WDLF), is pleased to announce FluroTech Ltd. (OTCQB:FLURF)(TSX:TEST), as a Featured Presenter at their MjMicro Virtual Investor Conference hosted by MjInvest on Wednesday, January 29th at 2:30pm ET.The MjMicro Virtual Investor Conference, hosted by MjInvest.com , provides a platform for both public and private cannabis companies to pitch and present their stories to investors through an online virtual conference, while providing a unique opportunity for private and institutional investors access and deal-flow to the best-in-class cannabis companies in the world. The MjInvest digital platform also allows companies and investors the ability to communicate after the conference concludes through chat features and direct messaging capabilities.During the virtual conference, Robert Achtymichuk, Director of Capital Markets from FluroTech, will host a featured presentation to update investors and analysts. FluroTech is a technology company that is changing how people view the cannabis testing industry. FluroTech is providing cannabis cultivators with a fast, accurate and cost-effective alternative to traditional laboratory testing. Our flagship technology, CompleTestTM uses fluorescence spectroscopy technology to provide cultivators with a portable, accurate, and efficient way to measure the THC and CBD in their product.CLICK HERE to add the FluroTech online presentation to your calendar.To access FluroTech's Virtual Presentation through the MjInvest Platform, please click this link on Wednesday, January 29th, 2020 at 11:30am PST / 2:30pm EST. https://www.mjinvest.com/flurotech-presentation About MjLink.com , Inc. MjLink.com Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Social Life Network, Inc. and is a cloud-based cannabis social network and digital media company based in Denver, Colorado. MjLink operates as a multinational cannabis technology and digital media organization with four industry specific social networks: WeedLife.com , a consumer-to-consumer social network, MjLink.com , a business-to-business social network, HempTalk.com , a business-to-consumer social network, and MjInvest.com , a cannabis industry investor network that produces the MjMicro Capital Conference.For more information about Social Life Network, visit www.SocialNetwork.ai DisclaimerThis news release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to achieving corporate objectives, developing additional project interests, the company's analysis of opportunities in the acquisition and development of various project interests and certain other matters. No information in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of the Company's or MjLink's future financial results, revenues or stock price. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements contained herein.CONTACT:Investor RelationsIR@ Social-Life-Network.com 855-933-3277SOURCE: Social Life Network, Inc. EDWARDSVILLE An initiative launched by Edwardsville School District 7 on how to move forward has seen an overwhelming volume of participation, according to Jason Henderson, superintendent of Edwardsville School District 7. Henderson delivered the update about the districts recently established equity task force at a Board of Education meeting on Monday. Henderson said due to the mass support from community members, students and staff, all are not able to be a part of the force. However, Henderson and task force members came up with multiple ways to get those who were not selected to go out into the community to bring back reports to help with discussions at the task force meetings. Terri Dalla Riva, board member and equity task force member, spoke about how invaluable it has been with students on the task force. I appreciated that we had a student population that was there, Dalla Riva said. I hope they stay committed to attending these meetings, I think their voice is really important. I was lucky to sit at a table with two young women that are seniors. That made me very satisfied to see that they are there because it is their voices that will help us make so many changes, she added. According to Henderson, one item that the students have already suggested to the district is diversity in hiring teachers. We need to talk about recruiting and thats going to be one of the areas we will be talking about as well, he said. We are actually, even in this group, break into committees and work on staff training, student and parent curriculum and data and communications. The next time the equity task force will meet will be in February. The group meets on the third Tuesday of every month for the remainder of the year. The board made multiple motions, including the approval of resignations and retirements and approval of employments about employees discussed in closed session. The board approved the adoption of Policy 727: Ethics and Gift Ban and Policy 439: Workplace Harassment Prohibited. Henderson explained that both policies have been recommended by the Illinois State Board of Education for all districts to adopt and that both policies meet Illinois State Board of Educations standards. KK Modi Family Trust puts Godfrey Phillips India, other assets, on sale The KK Modi Family Trust is reported to have put its stake in Godfrey Phillips India and other family controlled businesses, including wellness brand Modicare, on sale amidst differences among trust members on future management of these assets. Key promoter entities, led by the KK Modi Family Trust, is the biggest shareholder of Godfrey Phillips India (GPI), which sells the Marlboro brand of cigarettes and is among the countrys largest tobacco product manufacturers. The K K Modi family members own 47.09 per cent stake in Marlboro maker Godfrey Phillips, while Philip Morris Global Brands, the owner of the Marlboro brand, owns 25.1 per cent. The decision was made at a meeting of trust members convened by Bina Modi, wife of late K K Modi and her sons tainted former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and Samir Modi, and daughter Charu Modi - on 30 November 2019 in Dubai, say reports. Bina Modi assumed the responsibility of managing trustee as per a provision of the trust deed executed by KK Modi in 2006. Since the meeting could not arrive at a unanimous decision on future management of the businesses, the meeting decided to initiate a process of sale of GPI and 57 other assets. Acting on behalf of the Modi family trust, Titus Advisors, a Delhi-based legal firm, is learnt to have written to investment bankers, including Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, for initiating the sale process. "There is a possibility that the Trust may consider disposal of its Trust Fund," reports quoted the letter as stating. The Trust failed to decide unanimously on the management of the trust fund which includes the family controlled business, including whether to continue to own and manage all assets of the trust fund, or sell part of the trust fund comprising of various assets, including family controlled businesses, or to sell the whole of the Trust Fund. The meeting decided to transfer all family shareholdings into the Trust. As per provisions of the Trust Deed, a meeting of the trust was required to be held within 30 days of KK Modis demise. KK Modi breathed his last on 2 November 2019. If the board of trustees is unable to take any decision as stated in clauses 4.1.1 to 4.1.3 above unanimously, then the entire trust fund including all family controlled businesses shall be sold off, the deed further said. It also said that the entire the sale has to be concluded within a period of one year and the proceeds be distributed equally between existing members of the Trust. As per the trust deed, Mrs Bina Modi shall continue to be the Managing Trustee and shall have complete authority to take all decisions on any matter relating to Trust Fund, including family controlled businesses and her decisions shall be final and binding on all the beneficiaries and Trustees provided that it has been agreed to continue to keep the Trust and not dispose of all the assets. KANSAS CITY, Mo., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Kansas City Life Insurance Company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share on January 27, 2020. The dividend will be payable on February 12, 2020 to stockholders of record on February 6, 2020. Kansas City Life Insurance Company (OTCQX: KCLI) was established in 1895 and is based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Company's primary business is providing financial protection through the sale of life insurance and annuities. The Company operates in 49 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, please visit www.kclife.com. SOURCE Kansas City Life Insurance Company Related Links http://www.kclife.com OTTAWA Manitoba MP Candice Bergen may join the race to lead the federal Conservative party after all. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Manitoba MP Candice Bergen may join the race to lead the federal Conservative party after all. Bergen seemingly disavowed the idea on Jan. 16 when she told the Free Press she would consider running, but felt the party could best use her skills in her current role as House leader, a key role in a minority parliament. Conservative MP Candice Bergen is the House leader, a key role in a minority parliament. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press files) "I can see there are some areas that I would be really able to excel and provide competent leadership for the party in the next election, but overall I want to continue as House leader, and continue leading in that capacity," she said. But according to the National Post and other Conservative sources Bergen started reconsidering a run after popular possible candidates Rona Ambrose and Pierre Poilievre bowed out last week. Bergen sat Monday in the House of Commons, but did not speak with reporters. However, her office did not dispute the National Post story. The Portage-Lisgar MP has deep roots in the party, and would be the only prairie politician, and the second female, to enter the race, noted Kelly Saunders, a political scientist at Brandon University. "But short of those things, thats certainly not enough for her to take the Conservative party to victory in a national election," Saunders said. The Conservatives will likely lean toward someone with a moderate tone after holding onto their rural base while getting virtually shut out of the vote-rich swing suburbs of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, Saunders said. "If they want to defeat the Liberals at some point in the future, they need to look at growing that base and reaching out to Ontario and Quebec, and progressive voters, perhaps soft Liberals, that they might be able to woo over with the right type of candidate," she said. Bergen made a national name for herself in the conservative movement for opposing the long-gun registry shortly after taking office in 2008. She has some social-conservative views and has supported local initiatives that try to steer women with unexpected pregnancies away from abortion. While those arent fringe views, they would pose a challenge for the party in urban ridings, Saunders said. "I think with Bergen, theyd just be shoring up their support where theyre already strong," she said. Currently, Peter McKay is the most prominent candidate. The former Nova Scotia MP represents the moderate wing of the party borne out of the previous Progressive-Conservative Party, which McKay helped merge into the existing party. MPs from Ontario and a Vancouver businessman have already announced they intend to run for leader of the party. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Candidates have one month left to officially enter the race with endorsements from at least seven provinces or territories. They have another month to raise $300,000. Saunders fears the party is setting up contradicting incentives as candidates will have to rely heavily on donors who are more likely to come from the partys social-conservative base while also appealing to a cross-country audience. Numerous sources in Ottawa and Winnipeg say Bergen has also been considering a run for provincial PC leadership when Premier Brian Pallister finishes his term, likely after he achieves his primary goal of a balanced budget. Saunders believes that would be an easier race for Bergen, who is known in the province and grew up in a Mennonite family, as that community tends to support the PC Party, which has yet to elect a female leader. "Were pretty moderate and middle-of-the-road in terms of our political culture in Manitoba, so she would have to try to walk that moderate line." dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Just when it seems like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are having the time of their lives and living their dream of having a private and independent life, there comes yet another challenge from Meghan's estranged dad. In an interview with the United Kingdom's top breakfast show, "Good Morning Britain," Thomas Markle gave a final message for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle -- as if daring a face-to-face match with his son-in-law that he has not seen or met since the royal wedding in May 2018. "Man up and fly down and see me," Thomas said during his first exclusive TV interview since his infamous 90-minute tell-all documentary called "Thomas Markle: My Story." Earlier, the 75-year-old Markle patriarch also told a newspaper from his home in Mexico that he would be happy to have a duel with the Duke of Sussex. "I'd be happy to duel with Harry anytime. One round in the chamber. Cocked. Ten steps, turn and fire. That'd settle the score, Thomas told The Sun before calling his royal son-in-law a "candy ass" and "whipped." "The way he's been acting, I think he'd crouch on the ground before he gets to 10 steps. He's a candy ass. He's whipped." Thomas explained on Good Morning Britain that he is only doing a TV interview in his attempt to reach Meghan in the hopes of talking to her and eventually reconciling. The Markle patriarch said that if he did not hear another word from his daughter in the next 30 days after the live TV interview, he would be on television once again. "30 days is enough time to get back to me. I don't want to sit in silence in my living room for the rest of my life, waiting for someone to call me back or get in touch with me," Thomas said. The estranged father also talked about being a key witness in a court case against Meghan, saying that if ever she appeared during the hearings, it would be his only chance to be in the same room with his daughter. "If it comes to meeting them in a courtroom, that's great. At least I'd finally get to see them!" Thomas said. Although he is the star witness, Thomas said that he would apologize to Meghan and try to work things out if he will be given a chance to see her one day. Thomas also revealed sending letters to Meghan, the royal family, and his ex-wife Doria Ragland in the hopes of speaking with his daughter in person. It could be recalled that Thomas' rift with his daughter started when he staged paparazzi photos of himself a few days before Meghan and Harry's wedding in the United Kingdom. He added more fuel to the fire when he gave British newspaper access to Meghan's private letter, which was sent to him after the wedding. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have then confirmed to file a lawsuit against the newspaper that published the said private letter. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi, superstar Rajinikanth is going to get featured in the upcoming episode of 'Man vs Wild'. As per media reports, the episode will be shot in the picturesque Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Karnataka. Tamil star Rajinikanth arrived in Mysore on January 26. The forest department has given permission for shooting for six hours a day. The shooting will be wrapped up on January 29. However, there is no clarity about when the episode will be aired. Also read: Man vs Wild: 'PM Modi is calm in crisis; will be seen like never before,' says show host Bear Grylls Earlier, it was reported that Rajinikanth had gone to Mysore to take part in a forest welfare event. Later it came to light that the superstar was shooting with show host Bear Grylls. PM Modi also got featured in the show on August 12, 2019, which was shot Jim Corbett Park in Uttarakhand. Also read: 'Not in my culture to kill,' says PM Modi in new video of Bear Grylls' show Man vs Wild Meanwhile, in the latest edition of National Geographic's show 'Running Wild With Bear Grylls', celebrities like Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Joel McHale, Cara Delevingne, Rob Riggle, Armie Hammer, and Dave Bautista will share the screen with Grylls. Also read: Man Vs Wild: PM Modi walks in jungles of Jim Corbett with Bear Grylls, talks about conserving nature Reacting to the comments made about him by Bihar Chief Minister and party chief Nitish Kumar, Janta Dal-United (JD-U) vice president Prashant Kishor on Tuesday said that he would "come to Bihar" to answer the party leader. "Nitishji has spoken, you should wait for my answer. I will come to Bihar to answer him," Kishor told ANI. Kishor has been publicly objecting to the JD-U supporting the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that has been dubbed by many legal experts and lawmakers as "unconstitutional" for allegedly being discriminatory on religious grounds against a particular community. Earlier, while responding to a media query on Prashant Kishor, Nitish Kumar said in Patna: "Someone (a reference to party leader Pavan Varma) wrote a letter and I replied to it. Someone is tweeting, let him tweet. What do I have to do with it? One can stay in the party as long as he/she wants. They can go if they want to." Nitish Kumar further said: "Do you know how did he (Kishor) join the party? Amit Shah had asked me to induct him." Kishor has more than once made his differences with the party known on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The JD-U supported the legislation in both Houses of Parliament. Last month, when ANI had asked Kishor about his party's support to the controversial CAA, he said that only party chief Nitish Kumar can explain as to under what circumstances the JD-U supported the Citizen (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The Congress and several other non-NDA parties opposed the Bill in Parliament that sought to give Indian citizenship to only non-Muslim people fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and who arrive in India before January 1, 2015, on the grounds that it discriminates don religious grounds wh9ich is against India's Constitution. However, the government succeeded in getting it passed with the help of various other parties, including the JD-U. Protests are raging against the new citizenship law across the country. On January 24 this year, Nitish Kumar had hit out at senior party leader and retired diplomat Pavan K Varma over a letter written by the latter to Kumar about JD-U's alliance with BJP in Delhi Assembly elections, and went on to say that Varma was free to join any party he liked. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Philip Dunne is a former Defence Minister, and is MP for Ludlow. We face a pressing climate emergency. The public quite rightly expect the Government to address the challenges we face right now. This is a huge agenda, which will be one of the defining policy areas of this Parliament. Measures to reduce consumption of fossil fuels through renewable sources to cut emissions and protect the natural world, will impact on much of how we live our lives: how we travel (public and private transport), how we live and work in buildings (heat and energy use), how much and what we consume (food, clothing, consumer and industrial goods) and how we use our land and oceans (sustainable farming, fishing and forestation). The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) scrutinises performance against this whole agenda, since it looks across government, rather than shadowing an individual department, and looks beyond to the environmental impact of public and private sectors. This is why I am standing for Chair of the EAC. I profoundly believe we have an obligation to leave our environment in a better state than we found it. My interest stems from representing the Ludlow constituency since 2005, unarguably one of the most beautiful in England, comprising 600 square miles of farmland and forestry, half in Shropshire Hills AONB. Shropshire is one of the five leading English counties generating renewable energy, and my constituency hosts one of Englands last breeding grounds for Freshwater Pearl Mussels and one of few southern breeding sites for Curlew, and is a key site for the rare Wood White butterfly, for which I am Species Champion in Parliament. Last year, I helped successfully fend off a large development of part of the Mortimer Forest near Ludlow, and I have helped deliver a community hydro-electric generation scheme in Ludlow. So my constituency has been at the heart of my environmentalism since first elected a local perspective on the international issue of climate change. I joined the EAC as a member two years ago, as my first act on ceasing to be a Minister (in Defence and then Health). Aside from Mary Creagh who was an excellent Chair in the last Parliament I had the best attendance record on the Committee since joining. I have sought to shine a light on issues profoundly impacting our environment, but not so visible to the public. I raised adaptation for climate change through better NHS preparedness for heatwaves, more transparency to encourage Green Finance and greening of UK export finance, in improving biodiversity, air, water and soil quality. I also led the EAC investigation into hand car washes, which pollute watercourses, but also revealed modern slavery in our midst. The coming task is significant. My intent, if Chair, would be to work collaboratively with colleagues to encourage individual interests of members. A focus would not just be on problems, but also on solutions: seeing how British innovators in the technologies of tomorrow can build on existing UK world leading strengths in finance, green energy and engineering. We have a huge opportunity to showcase our international leadership at the 2020 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November. I hope the EAC can push the agenda further and faster for government, local authorities, and local communities to lead the way internationally to commit to action on climate change and help the UK become one of the first countries to reach net zero emissions. Before entering Parliament I had a twenty year career in finance and business, and was a board member of various medium sized companies for 30 years. I am an experienced Chair, having chaired two public companies, and been a group leader on my local Council. So I believe I have the right experience and passion to drive forward this Committee, in scrutinising and holding the government to account for its record on the environment and climate change and hope my colleagues in the Commons will back me tomorrow to become the new EAC Chair. Thats why theyve been chanting slogans like Soleimani was a murderer and his leader [supreme leader Ali Khamenei] is a murderer and Our enemy is right here, [the regime] is lying that its the US in the January protests. Not only that, but the Peoples Mujahedin of Irans (PMOI/MEK) Resistance Units have been setting fire to posters and banners of Soleimani across the country. On January 25, they torched his banner on Niayesh highway, Tehran, during the evening rush hour, and remained on-site to film their actions. The regime had to send in firefighters, whose trucks stopped traffic and ironically allowed more people to watch the poster burn. Earlier that day, Resistance Units set fire to more posters in Tehran, Ardabil, Iranshahr, Khoy, Sabzevar, and Tabriz to show the depth of hatred Iranians feel towards the notorious terrorist Soleimani. The Resistance Units activities have set an example for rebellious youth, who are further encouraged to destroy banners of Soleimani and Khamenei during their various protests. On January 23, Resistance Units in Amol, Isfahan, Karaj, Kerman, Semnan, Tabriz, and Tehran torched banners and posters of Soleimani. (Kerman was Soleimanis birthplace and where the regime paid $600,000 for one of the terrorists funeral ceremonies for propaganda purposes.) Elsewhere, Resistance Units destroyed numerous Khamenei banners and posters, attacked an IRGC Basij base and set ablaze its sign and a Soleimani banner at the entrance, and torched an entrance of the regimes cultural foundation related to the Intelligence Ministry. One Resistance Unit member recorded his voice while burning a poster of Khamenei and regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini, saying You bloodthirsty mullahs! Wait for the day in which the PMOI/MEK topple your rule and the Iranian people get rid of bloodthirsty mullahs like you and your regimes authorities. The Resistance Units have also been installing banners of Resistance leader Massoud Rajavi in various cities, as well as writing anti-regime slogans on public property, including: The world must know that Massoud Rajavi is our leader We will take back Iran from the mullahs Massoud Rajavi: Iranian people will write Irans destiny through their efforts Worldwide protests in support of Iran peoples uprising Iranians ex-pats and supporters of the Iranian Resistance groups, the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) have gathered in various cities around the world in recent days to express their solidarity with the latest round of nationwide Iran protests. These protests took place in Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and Austria, with the participants chanting slogans in support of the Iranian people, their uprising, and their desire for regime change. In Canada, the demonstrators came out on Sunday despite the heavy snow to urge the international community, particularly Canada, to bring the mullahs to justice for their crimes against humanity and demand that all detained protesters be immediately and unconditionally released. They held up signs that read, Blacklist Irans Revolutionary Guards and Ministry of Intelligence, and, Free Political Prisoners in Iran. On Saturday, in Amsterdam, the protesters chanted slogans like We will not back down, instead of fight on for our freedom, as they paid tribute to more than 1500 killed during the November Iran protests and the 120,000 executed by the regime over the past 40 years, by installing a huge banner with pictures of the martyrs. They also put up a banner exposing the crimes of Irans so-called moderate President Hassan Rouhanis during his tenure (2013-now), which read: During Rouhanis tenure, there have been at least 4,000 executions and at least 7500 grave dwellers. That same day, in Stockholm, the protesters held up signs and chanted slogans in support of the Iranian people, while in Copenhagen, the demonstrators voiced their support for both the anti-mullah protests in Iran and Iraq. The Danish protesters even played an Arabic song belonging to the revolution Also on Saturday, protesters in Vienna joined with members of the Iraqi Diaspora to also condemn the Iranian regime for its suppression of the Iranian people and its ruthless presence in Iraq, along with human rights violations in both countries. They chanted slogans in Persian and Arabic to show solidarity with both uprisings and urge the world to support regime change in Iran. In a report on these protests, the NCRI wrote: Since the beginning of the nationwide Iran protests in November, the exiled Iranians, especially the MEK and NCRI supporters, have held various protests gatherings around the world echoing the voice of the Iranian people and their demand for regime change. They will continue doing so. : With the situation in Wuhan, the centre of the new corona virus outbreak, continuing to worsen, parents of Kerala students in the Chinese province are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that their children would reach home as early as possible. S Vijaykumar, whose daughter Akhila Jasmine is a fourth year student at Wuhan university, told PTI that though she had informed him that there was no shortage of food, he and his wife Anitha Jasmine were spending sleepless nights. There are 63 Indian students, including 34 from Kerala, at the varsity, he said. Though their examinations are over and its one month vacation now for Chinese new year,Vijaykumar said his daughter and some other students of the fourth and fifth year decided to stay back as they wanted to use the library for preparing notes for the coming semester. Vijaykumar said he spoke to his daughter on Tuesday morning and was glad to learn none of them have any health issues. "They have no health problems. But the students are worried as the situation there is worsening. They have packed their bags and are hoping to be airlifted soon", he said. Akhila and her friends have been preparing food on their own and have stocks to last a month, Vijaykumar said. The university has also provided them food articles, he said. Their hostel is located very near the Wuhan wet market (places that sell dead and live animals in the open), which is believed to be the starting point of the virus outbreak and Wuhan hospital, where thousands of the virus affected are undergoing treatment, he said. The students are not going to the hospital now and are remaining indoors. Vijaykumar, along with six other families of students from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, met here on Tuesday morning. Some of them met Health minister K K Shylaja and were assured that the state government was doing all it could to help them. The mothers of two other students--Athira and Rema,fourth and fifth year students, who hail from Thengapattanam in Kanyakumari district, said the children were facing problems. She claimed there was not enough food and the students are not eating or sleeping and wanted to be airlifted back to the state as early as possible. "My daughter was crying when I spoke to her. Please bring back our children soon", the mother said with anxiety writ large on her face as she tried to hide her tears. Five people in Kerala are still under observation in isolation wards at various hospitals across the state. A total of 436 people who returned to Kerala from China over the past few days have been kept under observation by health authorities. The number of fatalities in China from the coronavirus epidemic has risen to 106, with health authorities reporting 24 more deaths. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he accepts Catherine Noones apology for suggesting he was autistic but ruled out any sanctions for the Fine Gael senator. Mr Varadkar said he would still encourage people to vote for Ms Noone but said it was wrong Read More: Canvassing in Galway city, Mr Varadkar told reporters: "She has withdrawn her remarks and apologised and, you know, that's good enough for me. It is not about me. "I just think that we all need to be very aware and very respectful of people who have autism, people who are on the autism spectrum and we need to understand that those terms should never be used." He ruled out any sanction for the Dublin Bay North candidate and said his government has prioritised services for autism. Autism should never be used as a slur or a negative. 1 in 65 people can be on the Autistic Spectrum - including someone I know and love dearly. As a society we need to become much more aware in relation to Autism and not use casual stereotypes Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) January 28, 2020 The Minister for Health criticised Senator Noone's use of autism as a slur. "Autism should never be used as a slur or a negative," Simon Harris tweeted. "One in 65 people can be on the Autistic Spectrum - including someone I know and love dearly. As a society we need to become much more aware in relation to Autism and not use casual stereotypes." Additional reporting by Digital Desk Just who is Senator Catherine Noone? By Daniel McConnell, Political Editor This is not the first time Catherine Noone has courted controversy during her nine years in national politics. In 2015, she performed a speedy u-turn after she initially called for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to be banned, despite admitting she had never seen a fight. She later admitted, having faced some intense criticism, her comments were ill informed. In 2016, she advocated for a ban on the building or the use of a premises as a chip shop within a 500m radius of schools. We need to at least consider 'No Fry Zones', regulation of junk food vending machines, high calorie alerts on food and drink and minimum periods of PE in schools per week, she said at the time amid some stinging criticism that she was being over the top. In 2017, Noone's stand out role was when she was chair of the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment, which ultimately recommended that it be repealed. She was subjected to intense criticism from pro-life members of the committee, Ronan Mullen and Mattie McGrath over how hearings were conducted. Noone was then one of the primary members of Fine Gael who campaigned for a yes vote in the subsequent referendum of 2018, which ultimately lead to the repeal of the amendment in Ireland. In 2018, she raised eyebrows when in 2018 she made of bullying and sexism against another party member at a meeting of the Fine Gael party. Ms Noone ultimately decided against making a formal complaint after initial inquiries by Fine Gael headquarters. Noone (43) is a two-term Fine Gael senator on the Industrial and Commercial Panel. Elected first to Dublin City Council in 2009, she was first elected to the Seanad in 2011. She stood unsuccessfully in the 2016 General Election campaign in Dublin West as Leo Varadkar's running mate, winning just 1,074 first-preference votes. She was eliminated on the second count. A native of Clairemorris, Co Mayo, she is trained solicitor having studied Law and Italian at NUI Galway. Since being appointed U.S. Small Business Administration regional administrator by President Trump in January 2017, I have had the honor to be a part of one of the most successful economic development teams in government. For the first 16 months of my tenure, I had the pleasure to represent the SBA and work on policies that better serve Americas entrepreneurs. I am once again excited by the prospect of working under Jovita Carranza, an experienced business executive and public servant who was recently confirmed by the United States Senate and now serves as the 26th Administrator of the SBA. Administrator Carranza will proudly lead the SBA as the only federal agency exclusively dedicated to assisting small business owners and entrepreneurs in starting, growing, and expanding their businesses. This is Administrator Carranzas second tenure at the SBA. She served in the George W. Bush Administration as Deputy Administrator, from 2006-2009. President Trump nominated Jovita Carranza to lead the SBA while she was serving as the 44th Treasurer of the United States. Administrator Carranzas experience includes a remarkable 30-year career with United Parcel Service, where she began as an hourly dock worker, rose to oversee operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, and ultimately retired as the highest-ranking Latina in the companys history. During her testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Ms. Carranza discussed her hands-on experience in the private sector, public service and the life-changing potential of entrepreneurship. She stated that: Throughout my life as a young girl in a working-class community, as an executive leader at a global company, and as a government official Ive seen the transformative power entrepreneurship can have on individuals, communities, and the global economy. The new year brings many good changes to the SBA in both Region Eight, and across the nation. Administrator Carranza intends to put an emphasis on opening more doors for women, and entrepreneurs in underserved communities, including military families and veterans. She also plans to prioritize disaster preparedness. The Administrator will also continue to be a champion for policies such as Opportunity Zones, a powerful vehicle for bringing economic growth and job creation to the American communities that need them the most. These areas of emphasis complement the Presidents priorities of continued economic growth and prosperity. With Administrator Carranza at the helm of SBA, Im confident well be able to build on the success of the new USMCA agreement, China phase one trade deal, and the 50-year record low unemployment rate. The SBA has been very fortunate to have two highly successful women as Administrator during President Trumps first term. I am proud to serve under Administrator Carranza and look forward to implementing her policies and objectives over the coming months. Administrator Carranza welcome to the SBA! Dan Nordberg serves as the SBAs Region VIII Administrator and is based in Denver. He oversees the agencys programs and services in Colorado, Montana, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 C harges have been dismissed against five Extinction Rebellion activists after the police officer due to give evidence at the trial booked a holiday. Deputy District Judge Vincent McDade said there had been an "abject failure" by the Crown Prosecution Service as has dismissed all charges against the activists at City of London Magistrates' Court. The court heard that the officer, who was due to be a prosecution witness, was not given enough notice about the date of the trial and had booked to go away. Five suspects were facing trial for aggravated trespass: Claudia Fisher, 57, from Brighton, Phoebe Valentine, 23, from Brighton, David Lambert, 60, from Gloucestershire, Senan Clifford, 59, also from Gloucestershire, and John Burrage, 42, from West Wales. Climate change activists at Oxford Circus in April last year (file image) / AFP via Getty Images Deputy district judge McDade said: "There has been an abject failure by the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that this case has been properly managed." He said the police officer who was to appear for the prosecution was required from the outset. "Had the CPS acted efficiently and warned the witness as soon as possible after the case management hearing on November 7 this matter would proceed today with that witness giving live evidence," he said. The judge said the police officer - the officer who carried out the arrests - was considered a "vital witness to establish the lawfulness or otherwise of the arrests". Proper structures must be instituted to ... The last date for sending nominations for Sardar Patel Unity Award has been extended to April 30. The Government of India has instituted Sardar Patel Unity Award as the highest civilian award for contribution in promoting unity and integrity of the country. The award seeks to recognise the notable and inspiring contribution made by individuals or institutions or organisations in this field and reinforces the value of strong and united India. A notification in this regard was issued on September 20, 2019, calling in for nominations and recommendations for the Award, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a release. The detail in respect of award is available at www.nationalunityawards.mha.gov.in. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister, has fired Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, over his comments that Nigerians should be thankful to Buhari that bomb explosion has reduced in the country. Fani-Kayode was of the view that Femi Adesina has spoken like a true sociopath: no empathy for the suffering, no compassion, no decency and no class. He declared: the truth is that you are a desperate and insensitive clown who is simply trying to hang on to his job at all costs! Do you have to mock Nigerians like this and serve Buhari even at the expense of your self-respect, honor, dignity, reputation, family name and the cost of their lives. Fani-Kayode reminded Femi Adesina: a few months ago, you said that we should give up our land to the barbaric and bloodthirsty terrorist Fulani herdsmen or instead give up our lives and now you say this. He, then, declared: You are a sick man Femi. Depraved and degraded in every sense and way and you are clearly suffering from what is known in biblical terms as a Demastic anointing. You remember Demas in the Bible? That is who and what you are: you have sold your soul to the devil, turned your back on the path of light, abandoned the gospel, insulted and betrayed your elders and betters in the faith, sold your heritage for a pottage like Esau, fallen in love with the things of the world and opted to tread the path of darkness and evil. You were once a profoundly good man but your love and slavish devotion to your boss and the demons that have seized your mind, body, spirit and soul have utterly destroyed you. You have made your choice and you will surely live with the consequences of that decision for the rest of your life but, meanwhile, hear the following and hear it well. Whether Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen blow us up with bombs, behead us, cut us to pieces with their matchets, knives and cutlasses or shoot us in the back of the head with their AK 47s, it makes no difference because, as the Ghanaians say, all die be die. Your Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen have collectively slaughtered more Nigerians in the last four years than at any other time in our history. They are slaughtering us like flies every day and the best you can do is to mock us and say this? You deserve the worse form of divine judgement for your beastly and callous mockery of the Nigerian people. You are a dark, depraved, pernicious, specious and wicked soul who deserves no peace and the blood of all those that have been murdered by these deviant miscreants and demons from hell shall speak against you! The God of Heaven, the Ancient of Days, the Lord of Hosts and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah will surely judge both you and the Government that you serve for your obvious collusion with the forces of darkness that have plagued our people and butchered them callously and relentlessly for the last 4 years! PV: 0 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed a US peace plan for the Middle East Tuesday as a "realistic path to a durable peace" that assures Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley. "This is a historic day," Netanyahu said, speaking alongside President Donald Trump who presented the plan at a White House ceremony. "Too many plans tried to pressure Israel to withdraw from vital territory like the Jordan Valley. But you, Mr President, you recognized that Israel must have sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and other strategic areas of Judea and Samaria." Trump's proposal, Netanyahu said, would also involve the United States recognizing settlements as part of Israel. Ambassadors for the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman were in the audience but Palestinian representatives, who have denounced the plan, stayed away. Search Keywords: Short link: The rally in Sydney at 12:00 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, February 22 will be livestreamed on the SEP Australia Facebook page. The Socialist Equality Party (Australia) has organised rallies in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in February to demand the immediate and unconditional release from imprisonment of WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange and the courageous whistleblower Chelsea Manning. In New Zealand, the Socialist Equality Group (SEG) has called a demonstration in the capital Wellington on Sunday, February 23. SEP rally in Sydney on June 29, 2019 Assanges extradition hearing begins in London on February 24. The British courts will decide whether to flagrantly disregard fundamental democratic principles and dispatch him to his American state persecutors. The WikiLeaks founder is threatened with a show trial on charges of espionage and the prospect of a life sentence of 175 years for exposing American war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, global diplomatic conspiracies and human rights violations. It is the responsibility of all those who defend democratic rights to develop the campaign to win his freedom. The demonstrations will demand that the Australian government immediately intervene to prevent Assanges extradition from Britain to the United States and secure his right to return to Australia with full protection from any prosecution. Speakers will include representatives of the SEP, Doctors4Assange, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) and Assange defence groups. The Sydney rally will be held on Saturday, February 22 at 12:00 p.m. outside the Town Hall in Parramatta, one of the main centres of the citys working-class western suburbs. The Melbourne rally will take place on Sunday, February 23 at 2:00 p.m. outside the Victorian State Library and will then march to Federation Square. The Brisbane demonstration will take place in Reddacliff Place on Saturday, February 29 at 2:00 p.m. and is being organised in partnership with the Julian Assange Brisbane Group. Since last April, when he was illegally dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy where he had political asylum, Assange has been subjected to the most vindictive mistreatment. He has been imprisoned in virtual solitary confinement in the maximum-security Belmarsh Prison, with restricted access to communication, personal visitors and his lawyers. British authorities have rejected the demands by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer and over 100 eminent doctors that Assange be immediately moved to a hospital. Melzer has repeatedly warned that the medical opinion of those who have examined Assange is that his health has deteriorated to the point that he may die in prison. The threat of extradition facing Assange is the outcome of a vicious nine-year vendetta directed by successive US governmentswith the full support of successive Labor and Coalition governments in Australia. The treatment of Chelsea Manning, who was imprisoned for seven years for leaking the explosive US army documents and American diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks in 2010, has been no less brutal. Manning has been re-imprisoned since March last year for refusing to appear before a grand jury and retract the testimony she gave during her military trial that she acted alone, without any encouragement or direction from WikiLeaks. She has courageously refused to participate in the attempt to frame-up Assange and condemn him to death in a prison cell despite being imposed with crippling fines of $1000 per day. Assange and Manning are class war prisoners. Their persecution is the spearhead of an attempt to silence opposition to militarism and war, amid preparations by US imperialism for catastrophic conflicts against Iran and nuclear-armed powers such as China and Russia. It is aimed at criminalising any exposure of the criminality and corruption of governments, the military-intelligence apparatus and corporations, under conditions of a global resurgence of the workers struggles for wages, conditions, action on climate change and against war. The defence of Assange, Manning and all victims of state repression is therefore a vital part of the fight by workers and young people internationally for their social and democratic rights. The SEP rallies will demand that the Australian government end its collaboration with Washington and immediately use its undeniable legal discretion and diplomatic powers to block Assanges extradition and secure his freedom. Under both Labor and the Coalition, Assanges rights as an Australian citizen have been systematically and wilfully violated. The Greens, the trade unions, the pseudo-left groups and mainstream media have all refused to wage a campaign to defend him or the fundamental democratic rights at stake in his casedespite the overwhelming popular sympathy for Assange among ordinary people. The support of the Australian political and media establishment for the attacks against Assange flows directly from their commitment to the US alliance and to participating in all of US imperialisms wars and military preparations, including against China. The Australian ruling elite is pressing ahead with its own assault on democratic rights. After Assange was arrested, unprecedented police raids were launched last year on a News Corp journalists home and the Sydney offices of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), as part of attempts to prosecute journalists and whistleblowers for exposing Australian government and military criminality. The Australian parliamentary establishment will only fulfil its obligations to Assange if it feels compelled to do so out of fear of a powerful mass movement of the working class in Australia and internationally. Defenders of Assange, Manning and all class war prisoners must turn to the workplaces, factories, university campuses and working-class suburbs and build the greatest support for boycotts, strikes, occupations and political demonstrations to secure their freedom. The SEP rallies are part of this international perspective, which is being fought for by the World Socialist Web Site and the sections and supporters of the International Committee of the Fourth International around the world. The SEP welcomes and appeals for the participation in the rallies of all groups and individuals who are genuinely committed to the freedom of Assange and the defence of all democratic rights. Advertise the demonstrations as widely as possible, especially via social media. Organise speak-outs and other public events and campaigns to promote them. Call meetings and pass resolutions at your workplace, university or school defending Assange and Manning and committing to send delegations to the rallies. Free Assange! Free Manning! No to extradition! Sydney Saturday February 22, 12:00 p.m. Parramatta Town Hall 182 Church Street, Parramatta Melbourne Sunday February 23, 2:00 p.m. State Library of Victoria Then march to Federation Square Wellington, New Zealand Sunday, February 23, 3:00 p.m. Cuba Street (intersection with Left Bank) Wellington Brisbane Saturday February 29, 2:00 p.m. Reddacliff Place, Brisbane (corner Queen and George Street) Given that I am an immensely talented dancer, I feared a video featuring only me and my sweet and fluid moves might be overwhelming to the average viewer. So we shot the video at the Greater Chicago Food Depository and invited a group of people who work there to dance along, thus distilling my irresistible grooviness down to a safer level. Share Market Update: Domestic key indices Sensex and Nifty ended in bearish territory on Tuesday amid negative cues from overseas, backed by high selling pressure in metal, media and auto scrips. BSE S&P Sensex ended 168 points lower at 40,986 and NSE Nifty50 closed 58 points lower at 12,060. In terms of sectors, excpet realty, financial services and IT, all the other indices closed in red. Overseas, trend stayed bearish amid the coronavirus outbreak that has taken the number of the death toll to 106 globally due to the epidemic. According to analysts, volatility remained amid a global selloff triggered by concerns over the impact of rapidly-spreading coronavirus on world economies. Here's a look at the live updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today: Closing Bell 3: 45 PM Domestic key indices Sensex and Nifty ended in bearish territory on Tuesday amid negative cues from overseas, backed by high selling pressure in metal, media and auto scrips. BSE S&P Sensex ended 168 points lower at 40,986 and NSE Nifty50 closed 58 points lower at 12,060. In terms of sectors, excpet realty, financial services and IT, all the other indices closed in red. Market falls further in red 2: 20 PM Domestic key indices Sensex and Nifty fell further to trade in bearish territory on Tuesday amid negative cues from overseas, backed by high selling pressure in metal, media and auto scrips. BSE S&P Sensex traded 100 points lower at 41,060 and NSE Nifty50 traded 40 points lower at 12,075. Maruti Suzuki Q3 results out 1: 55 PM The company reported 5% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,565 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019 as against Rs 1,489 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. The company's total revenue rose 4.4% (YoY) to Rs 21,490 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 20,585 crore in the same period last financial year. Total tax expenses of Maruti registered a de-growth of 22% (YoY) at Rs 441 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, from Rs 570 crore, booked in the corresponding quarter in the previous year EBITDA came in at Rs 2,102 crore in Q3 FY20, recording a rise of 8.9% from Rs 1,931 crore in Q3 FY19. Following the earnings update, shares of Maruti fell 1.4% intraday to the low of Rs 7,040.05 on BSE today. Market turns flat 1: 45 PM Equity market indices Sensex and Nifty pared early gains to trade flat with positive bias on Tuesday, amid negative global equities, amid high selling pressure in metal stocks. BSE S&P Sensex traded flat with mere 3 points rise at 41,158 and NSE Nifty50 traded 1 point lower at 12,117. In terms of sectors, gains in pharma, realty, financial services were capped by losses in IT, media, metal and PSU Bank. Globally, markets traded lower amid fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak in China, stoking fears about more trouble for the global economy. Stocks turn volatile ahead of Q3 earnings 1: 20 PM Shares of Maruti, Tata Coffee, Cummins were trading lower on Tuesday, as they will be releasing their Q3 results today. In the meanwhile, Cummins, M&M Financial, CG Power and Solutions were trading higher ahead of the Q3 announcements. United Spirits up 12% post Q3 results 1: 05 PM United Spirits reported 15.3% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 235.30 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019 as against Rs 202.99 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. The company's Tax expenses declined 26.2%(YoY) to Rs 94.90 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 128.60 crore in the same period last financial year. Total EBITDA registered a growth of 18% (YoY) at Rs 424 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019. Following the result update, shares of United Spirits stock touched an intraday high of Rs 645.8, rising 12.16% intraday on BSE today. Airtel Africa Q3 12: 40 PM Airtel Africa's net profit rose 14.4% to USD 203 million in the Q3 FY20 on a sequntial basis, from USD 90 million in Q2 FY20. Airtel Africa's Q3 EBITDA was up 7.3% USD 399 million in Q3 FY20 from USD 372 million (QoQ) in Q3 FY19. Wabco India reports Q3 earnings 12: 30 PM The company reported 35 % decline (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 38 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019 as against Rs 59.8 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. The company's total income fell 37% (YoY) to Rs 441 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 700 crore in the same period last financial year. Total EBITDA registered a decline of 40% (YoY) at Rs 60 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, from Rs 100 crore, booked in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Godfrey Phillips falls 2.16% 12: 25 PM After rising 2.16% in the early trade, Godfrey Phillips stock earsed gains and fell to an intraday low of Rs 1,391.6, falling 3.28% on BSE. Godfrey Phillips, in a clarification note said that it has received multiple queries on rumored sale of shares by the promotersand also takes note of the recent media coverage alleging that the company 'has been put on the block by its key promoter entities'. The company clarified that it is neither engaged nor privy to any such discussions on rumored potential transaction by its promoters. The Company has also received a clarification from its significant promoter that there has been no decision to put its assets on sale, the filing added. Coal India reports coal production 12: 15 PM Coal India's production has risen 10.7% at 54.17 mt till January 27,2020. The Production growth has risen to double-digits for the first time in FY20. January month offtake was up 6.2% at 48.07 mt till January 27, 2020. FII/ DII action on Monday 11: 45 AM On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 438.85 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 10.51 crore on Monday, data available with stock exchanges showed. Independent director Sachin Bansal resigns from Ujjivan Small finance bank 11: 35 AM Sachin Bansal has resigned as independent director of Ujjivan Bank today. Company said he has confirmed that he is resigning from the Bank's Board in the interest of propriety and corporate governance as an entity owned and controlled by him has made an application to the Reserve Bank of India for a universal banking license. Market Update: Indices erase gains and turn volatile 11: 30 AM Equity market indices Sensex and Nifty pared early gains to trade flat with positive bias on Tuesday, amid negative global equities, amid high selling pressure in metal stocks. BSE S&P Sensex traded 22 points higher at 41,177 and NSE Nifty50 traded 2 points lower at 12,116. In terms of sectors, except FMCG, metal, IT and media, all the other indices traded in the green today. According to analysts, volatility remained amid a global selloff triggered by concerns over the impact of rapidly-spreading coronavirus on world economies. DHFL declines 4% 11: 20 AM Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) share price fell in early trade today after Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Kapil Wadhawan, the CMD of the crisis-hit firm in connection with its money laundering probe against the late underworld gangster and Dawood aide Iqbal Mirchi. Share price of DHFL fell over 4% to Rs 15.05 compared to the previous close of Rs 15.80 on BSE. DHFL stock has lost 92% during the last one year. Brent Crude today 11:00 AM Brent crude oil futures fell 0.61 per cent to USD 58.22 per barrel. Rupee rises 6 paise to 71.37 per dollar 10: 50 AM The Indian rupee appreciated by 6 paise to 71.37 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday tracking gains in domestic equity market and easing crude oil prices. At the interbank foreign exchange the rupee opened at 71.37, registering a rise of 6 paise over its previous close. On Monday, rupee had settled for the day at 71.43 against the US dollar. The domestic unit, however, could not hold on to the gains and was trading at 71.38 against the dollar Alembic Pharma gains over 2% 10: 45 AM Alembic Pharma shaers rose over 2% on Tuesday after the pharma major announced that it has recieved US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) nod for anti-bacterial drug, Azithromycin tablets USP, 600 mg. Azithromycin Tablets USP, 600 mg have an estimated market size of US$ 2 million for twelve months ending September 2019 according to IQVIA, the filing added. Gainers and Losers today 10: 30 AM Hero MotoCorp, M&M, Maruti, Sun Pharma, SBI, Bajaj Auto and HDFC Bank were the top gainers of Sensex pack. Top losers included PowerGrid, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, NTPC and HUL. Death toll rises to 106 from coronavirus 10: 10 AM China has reported 24 more deaths from coronavirus epidemic, taking the number of the death toll from a coronavirus outbreak to 106 while nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed, authorities said Tuesday. confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak stand at 4,515. Overseas confirmed cases have been reported in Thailand (7), Japan (3), South Korea (3), the United States (3), Vietnam (2), Singapore (4), Malaysia (3), Nepal (1), France (3), Australia (4) and Sri Lanka (1). Market Update 10: 00 AM Equity market indices Sensex and Nifty are trading bullish on Tuesday, driven by gains in index-heavyweight HDFC following strong quarterly results. Overseas, trend was bearish amid the coronavirus outbreak that has taken the number of the death toll to 106 globally due to the epidemic. Torrent Pharma declines 3.64% post Q3 result 9: 50 AM Shares of Torrent Pharma fell over 3.64% intraday to the day's low of Rs 1,953 apiece on BSE after the company posted a muted 2% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 251 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2019, as against Rs 246 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. The company's total income also fell 4.1%(YoY) to Rs 1,966 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 2,051 crore in the same period last financial year. Company's EBITDA was down 3.7% (YoY) at Rs 540 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, from Rs 561 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Shares of Torrent Pharma had closed 0.15% higher at Rs 2,039 on BSE on Monday. HDFC amongst top gainers after Q3 earnings 9: 45 AM The mortgage lender reported a 24.26% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,196 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2019, as against Rs 3,377 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income rose 17.93% (YoY) to Rs 28,966 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 24,587 crore in the same period last financial year. Company's PAT Margin grew 14.47% (YoY) during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, from 13.73% in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. HDFC 's board has approved raising up to Rs 45,000 crore through NCDs. On Tuesday, shares of HDFC traded 2.25% higher on BSE. InterGlobe Aviation Q3 9: 40 AM The company reported a 168% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 495.97 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2019, as against Rs 185.16 crore recorded in year-ago period. Total income rose 25.46% (YoY) to Rs 9,931 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 7,916 crore in the same period last financial year. PAT grew 4.49% (YoY) during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, from 2.34% in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. EBITDA stood at Rs 1,960 crore in Q3 FY20 compared to Rs 1,672.9 crore in Q3FY19. Shares of InterGlobe Aviation closed 0.54% lower at Rs 1,492 on BSE. IndiGo and HDFC gain over 2% post Q3 earnings 9: 35 AM Shares of IndiGo and HDFC were trading higher by Tuesday's opening bell today after the company posted robust figures in October-December quarter earnings. IndiGo shares gained 3.2% intraday and HDFC shares rose 2.5% on Tuesday's trade. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala summoned by SEBI over 'insider trading' charges 9: 25 AM Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is probing "insider trading" charges against billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala regarding shares of a family-owned education firm, Aptech Ltd. Apart from the ace investor, the market regulator is also investigating the role of his family members, including his brother Rajesh Kumar Jhunjhunwala and wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala, Mint reported. On Tuesday, Aptech Ltd share price was quoting at Rs 169 apiece, declining 2.54% on BSE Q3 Earnings Today 9: 20 AM Maruti Suzuki, Central Bank Of India, Tata Coffee, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, CG Power And Industrial Solutions, Maharashtra Scooters, Manappuram Finance, Cummins India, Honda Siel Power Products, Duncan Engineering, JK Lakshmi Cement, IFB Industries, Infibeam Avenues, Mastek, Ramco Systems, Sagar Cements, Swaraj Engines, Tube Investments Of India, TTK Healthcare, Wabco India, VIP Clothing among others will announce their Q3 earnings today. Opening Bell 9: 15 AM Equity market indices Sensex and Nifty have opened in the green on Tuesday despite negative cues from overseas, as investors stayed bouyed by the amid December earnings announcements by index heavyweights. BSE S&P Sensex traded 145 points higher at 41,229 and NSE Nifty50 traded 29 points higher at 12,148. Stocks in the news today 9: 10 AM Indigo, HDFC, Torrent Pharma, Dr Reddy, DCM Shriram, Wockhardt among others are the top stocks to watch out for in Tuesday 's trading session Last Close 9:00 AM On Monday, Sensex and Nifty closed 1% lower , tracking bearish trend from overseas amid the fresh concerns of the coronavirus outbreak. BSE S&P Sensex ended 458 points lower at 41,155 and NSE Nifty50 traded 129 points lower to end at 12,115. In terms of sectors, except pharma, all the other indices traded in the red today. John Bolton's former deputy thinks he should hold his tell-all book on Donald Trump's White House until after the November election as the president's allies go on the attack, calling Bolton a 'backstabber' for his tome. 'The best thing here would be Ambassador Bolton to pull this book until Mr. Trump leaves office or at least until after the election in November,' Fred Fleitz, Bolton's former chief of staff, told Fox News Monday night. 'I believe that the concept that presidents have to be able to confide in their national security advisers and be able to knock around ideas - this is extremely important. We want the president to consult the best possible advisers and know that whatever he discusses with them isn't going to appear in press or in books,' he added. And Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal attorney, blasted Bolton as a 'backstabber.' The former New York City mayor told The Washington Post he regretted recommending Bolton to President Trump for the National Security Adviser job. The president, Giuliani said, 'never really trusted the Backstabber's judgment. He was right and I was wrong because ironically I supported him for the job.' An unconcerned Bolton was seen leaving his Bethesda, Maryland, home Tuesday, while his book reached the Amazon top 10 list almost two months before its publication - suggesting the $2 million deal he struck may become a conservative estimate of his earning potential. Money in the bag? John Bolton seemed untroubled by being called a backstabber as he left his Bethesda, Maryland, home. Despite not being due out for just short of two months it is already a top 10 Amazon best-seller John Bolton's former deputy Fred Fleitz told Fox News he thinks Bolton should hold his tell-all book on Donald Trump's White House until after the November election Rudy Giuliani blasted John Bolton as a 'back stabber' The president's allies have been piling on Bolton since The New York Times revealed his memoir - 'In the Room Where It Happened' - recounts how Trump told him he was with holding U.S. aid to the Ukraine until the country agreed to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. Trump has denied the claim. Another former White House official charged Bolton with writing the book while serving in the Trump White House. 'I'm convinced he was writing all the time' he served as national security adviser, the person told The Post, describing Bolton as a workaholic who rarely socialized. Bolton was fired from the White House in September and his book is scheduled to come out on March 17, which is a fast turn around time. Adding to the piling on, Fox Business Network's Lou Dobbs criticized Bolton on his show Monday night, noting Bolton shares a literary agency - Javelin - with former FBI director James Comey, who has been critical of the president. 'As you watch what is happening here with Bolton, the 'New York Times,' their combined literary agent they share with James Comey, various attorneys and lawyers, this has been a concerto that has been put together and performed by Bolton. I never thought I would see that fella descend to this depth,' Dobbs said. 'He has decided to do a deep dive as an expedient tool of the radical Dems and the left in this country. I cannot tell you how profoundly disappointed I am to find the man's character is so shallow if not all together absent. It's just stunning to see,' Dobbs added. Lou Dobbs said John Bolton was an 'expedient tool of the radical Dem' JOHN BOLTON'S KEY REVELATIONS John Bolton makes a series of bombshell claims in his book, according to the part of the manuscript seen by the New York Times. They are: Trump told Bolton in August 2019 that he would not release military aid to the Ukraine until they investigated the Bidens and claims of trying to intervene in 2016 in favor of Hillary Clinton Mike Pompeo privately admitted that Rudy Giuliani's claims Marie Yovanovitch were corrupt were baseless - and that he suspected they were being made to help other Giuliani clients Bolton warned White House lawyers that he feared Giuliani was using his work with the president to help his private clients Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff, was present at least once when Trump and Giuliani discussed Yovanovitch. Mulvaney has told 'associates' he stepped away from such conversations Pompeo told Bill Barr that he was mentioned in the July call with Zelensky. The Justice Department claims Barr did not know until mid-August Trump railed about Ukraine trying to 'damage' him in May 2019 when he met Ron Johnson, a Republican senator who was going to Zelensky's inauguration. And Trump also mentioned the conspiracy theory that Ukraine had a hacked Democratic server Bill Barr expressed concerns about Trump doing personal favors for autocrats including China's Xi and Turkey's Erdogan when Bolton raised the issue with him Advertisement Javelin partner Matt Latimer responded to Dobbs via Twitter, writing: 'Dear @LouDobbs, you forgot to list some other notable @JavelinDC clients: Don Rumsfeld, Tucker, numerous GOP officeholders, @mikepillsbury, conservative organizations, oh, and you! Are you part of the conspiracy?' Conservatives and Trump allies have questioned the timing of the leak of the manuscript to The New York Times, which came as the president's lawyers were presenting his defense in his impeachment trial. The details from the book have restarted talk of a witness deal on Capitol Hill, where Democrats would get Bolton to testify and Republicans could call Hunter Biden. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell has pushed for a speedy trial without witnesses but Democrats need four Republicans to side with them to call witnesses and Bolton's book could swing enough votes their way. 'If we get the witnesses it will be a one for one or two for two,' Republican Sen. John Barrasso told reporters in the Capitol on Monday. Republican senators Mitt Romney and Pat Toomey have taken the lead on the talks. Democrats have wanted to hear from Bolton for months and Republicans have countered they will need to hear from Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was vice president. Trump and some of his allies have pushed the unfounded allegation that Joe Biden tried to stop an investigation of that company when he was vice president. Romney and Susan Collins - two crucial votes in the Democrats' quest to bring more witnesses in the trial - said Monday morning it's important to hear from Bolton, President Trump's former national security adviser. They also both said they have spoken with their colleagues about the topic, which could be seen as a warning to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that support is there for such a move. Democrats need four Republican senators to cross to their side and vote to subpoena witnesses. 'It's increasingly apparent that it would be important to hear from John Bolton,' Romney told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday. A one-for-one witness deal would see Hunter Biden testify ANOTHER HIT FOR THE D.C. SUPERAGENT John Bolton becoming a best-seller weeks before his book can even be bought marks another multi-million dollar success for Keith Urbahn, the Washington D.C. literary agent who has turned the Trump era into an earning opportunity for spurned insiders. His Javelin literary agency signed the biggest name to talk so far, James Comey, whose book A Higher Loyalty discussed his firing by Trump. But he also turned an unknown White House inside, Cliff Sims, into a best seller with Team of Vipers, which painted a picture of a chaotic and vindictive West Wing from inside. And the ultimate unknown insider, Anonymous, published his book A Warning through Javelin, and has still to be unmasked. Journalists have also been part of the Trump-inspired Urbahn book, with A Very Stable Genius by two Washington Post reporters currently second on the Amazon bestsellers list - with Bolton at number 10. And so too have Trump's enemies, with Joe Walsh, the one-time Tea Party congressman who is now running against the president in the Republican primaries, due to published a new book next month called F*ck Silence: Calling Trump Out for the Cultish, Moronic Authoritarian Con Man He Is. It is unlikely to win Urbahn friends in the Trump inner circle - but he may not care; as soon as any one of them decides to spill the beans, he is now Washingtonians' first call when they quit and have a story to tell. Advertisement 'I of course will make a final decision on witnesses after we hear not only from the prosecution but from the defense,' he said. 'I think at this stage its fair to say John Bolton has a relevant testimony.' He added that he expected other Republicans to join the call for Bolton to testify. 'I think it's increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton,' he said. 'I have spoken with others who have opined upon this.' Bolton has said he will testify if subpoenaed by the Senate. Collins also said she was leaning toward voting for witnesses. 'From the beginning, Ive said that in fairness to both parties the decision on whether or not to call witnesses should be made after both the House managers and the presidents attorneys have had the opportunity to present their cases. Ive always said that I was likely to vote to call witnesses just as I did in the 1999 Clinton trial,' she said in a statement Monday. 'The reports about John Boltons book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues,' she added. Other Republican senators have weighed in as lawmakers return to Washington for day two of President Trump's defense team. 'We dont know whats in there other than whats being leaked. My guess is John Bolton tells the truth,' said Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Bolton and Johnson had spoken in August - when Bolton still worked in the White House - about aid to Ukraine. Bolton urged Johnson to call President Trump directly on the matter, which the senator did. Some of the president's defenders, however, have charged Bolton with trying to sell a book. Bolton was fired from the White House in September of last year 'Truly theres nothing new here. It does seem to be an effort to sell books. I think theres going to be a new revelation every day. Todays just one more day,' said Republican Sen. John Barrasso. 'I dont think it changes any fundamental information of the basic case, that the House has to put the case together,' said Sen. Roy Blunt. But Democrats deny there was any coordination with Bolton or his team. 'We had no communication with Mr. Bolton or Mr. Bolton's lawyers,' a senior Democratic congressional staffer working on impeachment said. McConnell has said the Senate will vote on calling witnesses after opening arguments are made. That would set up a vote sometime this week. Bolton has struck a book deal worth an estimated $2 million. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Monday that Bolton's book puts increased pressure on the Senate to call witnesses. 'The eyes of America are on Republicans in the Senate,' he said. The impeachment trial was upended Sunday night when The New York Times reported on a leaked copy of an unpublished manuscript for the new book Bolton is writing. In it, Bolton wrote that the president told him he wanted to freeze military aid to Ukraine until the Eastern European nation helped with political investigations into his political rivals. Trump said those claims were 'false.' 'False,' the president said with a cringe when asked about it at the White House. He repeated: 'False.' The president also told reporters at the White House on Monday that he has not seen Bolton's manuscript. 'Well I haven't seen the manuscript. But I can tell you, nothing was ever said to John Bolton,' Trump told the press while greeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House Monday morning. 'But I have not seen a manuscript. I guess he's writing a book. I have not seen it,' he insisted. Bolton had sent it to the White House for pre-publishing clear, which is required by federal law when former government employees with security clearances are writing about their time in government service in order to assure classified information is not compromised. Sarah Tinsley, an advisor to Bolton, said in a statement: 'The ambassador's manuscript was transmitted to the White House in hard copy several weeks ago for pre-publication review by the NSC. The ambassador has not passed the draft manuscript to anyone else. Period.' (Photo: REUTERS / Kacper Pempel)A visitor walks between electric barbed-wired fences at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and former concentration camp November 18, 2013. Auschwitz-Birkenau was a place of evil in Nazi-occupied Poland where around 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were murdered in the name of an ideology of hatred. Seventy-five years after Soviet troops liberated the camps, holocaust survivors and international leaders honouring victims of the Nazis at the former Auschwitz death camp, at a time of that the world is fighting a resurgent anti-Semitism. The presidents of Israel and Poland - Reuven Rivlin and Andrzej Duda - laid wreaths together at the former camp. "The industrial mass murder of six million Jews, the worst crime in the history of humanity, it was committed by my countrymen," German president Frank Walter Steinmeier had told 40 statesmen at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel, on Jan. 23. At Auschwitz, Rivlin warned of "voices which spread hate" and threaten democracy, the BBC reported. "Our duty is to fight anti-Semitism, racism and fascist nostalgia - those sick evils," he said. He and President Duda laid wreaths at the Death Wall, where the Nazis shot thousands of prisoners. Auschwitz-Birkenau was a vast camp complex and was the Nazi regime's most notorious killing centre. Thousands of Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Gypsies (Roma) and other persecuted groups also died there. About six million Jews were murdered in Nazi's Germany's campaign to control other races and nations. RESURGENT ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACKS "Our solidarity in the face of hatred is needed today more than ever, as we see a deeply worrying resurgence in antisemitic attacks around the world, and almost unbelievable, also around us here in New York," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He said New York saw a 21 percent rise in antisemitic hate crimes in 2019, part of a trend in cities across the United States. "But, the situation for Jews in Europe is, if anything, worse," he rued. France saw a 74 percent increase in antisemitic attacks in 2018. In the United Kingdom, they rose by 16 percent to a record high. "Neo-Nazis and white supremacists are resurgent, organizing themselves and spreading their poisonous ideology and iconography online. "The internet, from social media to online gaming platforms and the dark web, is their playground and their recruiting office. They manipulate video content and poison young minds." In Geneva, the World Council of Churches joined in solemn commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. WCC moderator Dr. Agnes Abuom and general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit jointly reflected on the role this "full revelation of the extremity of human evil" has played as a driver for the drafting and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The noted present-day resurgence of anti-Semitic attacks in recent years. They stated, "We are alarmed at the dramatic increase in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents that has been reported in many countries, and at the pernicious persistence of Holocaust denial, especially online." "WCC and its member churches cherish their relations with Jewish partners in dialogue and collaborative action, and reaffirm our commitment to working with Jewish partner organizations and communities." They said this must be done to "counter the current trend towards 'normalization of hatred' against 'the other' in many parts of the world," say the two in their comment, noting ongoing efforts together with the International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations (IJCIC) to explore ways in which such joint efforts can be strengthened and implemented. They mightve appeared briefly at the Grammy Awards, but BTS is been working their way up for a while. Its been about 7 years since this boy band debuted and now, theyre making history as the first Korean act to perform at this award ceremony. What other award shows has BTS performed in? Heres a brief look at their music and history. Lil Nas X and BTS perform onstage during the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards | Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy BTS performed with Lil Nas X at the 2020 Grammy Awards Theyre one of the biggest boy bands in the world, sometimes breaking YouTube records, always sending love to their fans, and now, making history at one of the biggest nights in the music industry. In 2019, BTS made history, as the first K-pop group to present an award at the Grammys. Growing up in South Korea, we always dreamt about standing on the Grammys stage, RM said before presenting the award. Thank you to all our fans for making this dream come true, and well be back. The 2020 award ceremony proved to be even more monumental for BTS. Although it was initially reported that BTS would not perform at the Grammys, the boy band appeared alongside Lil Nas X, for his live performance of Old Town Road. (RM recorded a remix of the song with Lil Nas X earlier in 2019.) This is the first time an artist from South Korea performed on the Grammy stage, which is kind of a big deal. Additionally, BTS recently became the first Korean act to receive RIAA Platinum Album Certification. BTS perform onstage during the 2019 Billboard Music Awards | Kevin Winter/Getty Images for dcp BTS performed at the Billboard Music Awards twice The first time BTS appeared on the Billboard Music Awards was 2018, when they performed Fake Love and took home the award for Top Social Artist. They returned to the Billboard Music Award stage during 2019, for a live performance of their song Boy With Luv. Halsey even made a cameo to sing her parts of the song. As one of BTS biggest years to date, the K-pop group appeared on a number of talk shows following the release of Map of the Soul: Persona, including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. They performed on Saturday Night Live and earned a few nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards. BTS performs DNA onstage during the 2017 American Music Awards | Chris Polk/AMA2017/Getty Images for dcp BTS performed DNA at the American Music Awards With the release of songs like DNA and MIC Drop, BTS started to pick up speed during 2017. Its that year that they performed DNA at the American Music Awards, complete with their iconic choreography and colorful bomber jackets. They later went on the win multiple American Music Awards in 2019, including Favorite Duo or Group Pop/Rock, Favorite Social Artist, and Tour of the Year. Additionally, during 2017, BTS appeared on The Ellen Show, performing MIC Drop for the first time on television. This was also the year they were added to Time Magazines list of the Top 25 Most Influential People on the Internet. Music by BTS, including their 2019 album, Map of the Soul: Persona, is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and most major streaming platforms. Their 2020 album, Map of the Soul: 7, premieres during February 2020. Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Savaria Corporation (TSE:SIS) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 1 days. You will need to purchase shares before the 30th of January to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 13th of February. Savaria's next dividend payment will be CA$0.038 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of CA$0.46 per share. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Savaria has a trailing yield of approximately 3.4% on its current stock price of CA$13.43. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing. View our latest analysis for Savaria If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. It paid out 89% of its earnings as dividends last year, which is not unreasonable, but limits reinvestment in the business and leaves the dividend vulnerable to a business downturn. It could become a concern if earnings started to decline. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. Savaria paid out more free cash flow than it generated - 173%, to be precise - last year, which we think is concerningly high. We're curious about why the company paid out more cash than it generated last year, since this can be one of the early signs that a dividend may be unsustainable. While Savaria's dividends were covered by the company's reported profits, cash is somewhat more important, so it's not great to see that the company didn't generate enough cash to pay its dividend. Cash is king, as they say, and were Savaria to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign. Story continues Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends. TSX:SIS Historical Dividend Yield, January 28th 2020 Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing? Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Fortunately for readers, Savaria's earnings per share have been growing at 16% a year for the past five years. Earnings have been growing at a decent rate, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year. We'd also point out that Savaria issued a meaningful number of new shares in the past year. Trying to grow the dividend while issuing large amounts of new shares reminds us of the ancient Greek tale of Sisyphus - perpetually pushing a boulder uphill. The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, ten years ago, Savaria has lifted its dividend by approximately 31% a year on average. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years. The Bottom Line Should investors buy Savaria for the upcoming dividend? It's good to see that earnings per share are growing and that the company's payout ratio is within a normal range for most businesses. However we're somewhat concerned that it paid out 173% of its cashflow, which is uncomfortably high. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about Savaria from a dividend perspective. Ever wonder what the future holds for Savaria? See what the three analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe China's city of Tianjin will establish a dedicated hospital to treat people infected by the coronavirus as part of a "wartime mechanism" to fight the disease, a government-owned paper said, citing the local health commission. The city will move patients in the existing Haihe hospital to make 600 beds available at any time for potential patients, Reuters reported. At least 23 cases of novel coronavirus were confirmed in Tianjin as of today. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Ximen Mining Corp. (XIM.V)(1XMA.F)(XXMMF) (the "Company" or "Ximen") wishes to announce that is has increased its mineral claim holdings in Nelson and Greenwood areas in southern BC. Ximen has agreed to purchase from a private individual 100% interests in the California Gold Nelson mineral claim in the Nelson Gold Camp, and the CMM mineral claim in the Camp McKinney Gold Camp. Both claims are in good standing with the California Nelson Gold claim good to 2025. There are no underlying royalties (NSR's) on either property. Terms include cash payment of $30,000 and grant of Ximen shares equivalent to $50,000. Google Earth Image showing Ximen's Properties at Nelson The California Gold Nelson mineral claim covers the historic California mine, located 6.5 kilometres east southeast of Ximen's Kenville Gold mine. Several veins were identified on the property, including the California vein which extends over 600 metres along strike. The mine was developed on 3 levels and from 1910 to 1949 produced 2,258 ounces gold, 3,942 ounces silver, 19,5 tonnes zinc, and 8.1 tonnes lead from 1,454 tonnes mined (average mined grades of 48.3 grams per tonne gold and 84.3 grams per tonne silver). The No. 1 level (lowest) was driven along a barren vein for 366 meters and then intersected the mineralized California vein. The California vein was then followed for 91 metres where samples indicated an average grade of 29.2 grams per tonne gold over widths between 1.2 and 1.5 metres (as reported in the BC Annual Report of the Minister of Mines for 1919). The vein remains open for exploration above, below and to the west of this location (refer to the diagram below). Longitudinal section of the California vein showing target area (green outline). Google Earth Image of Camp McKinney showing new claim 1073936 At Camp McKinney, the addition of mineral claim 1073936 further consolidates Ximen's holdings surrounding the historic Caribou-Amelia gold mine. Story continues Dr. Mathew Ball, P.Geo., VP Exploration for Ximen Mining Corp. and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, approved the technical information contained in this News Release. On behalf of the Board of Directors, "Christopher R. Anderson" Christopher R. Anderson, President, CEO and Director 604 488-3900 Investor Relations: Sophy Cesar, 604-488-3900, ir@XimenMiningCorp.com About Ximen Mining Corp. Ximen Mining Corp. owns 100% interest in three of its precious metal projects located in southern BC. Ximen`s two Gold projects The Amelia Gold Mine and The Brett Epithermal Gold Project. Ximen also owns the Treasure Mountain Silver Project adjacent to the past producing Huldra Silver Mine. Currently, the Treasure Mountain Silver Project is under a option agreement. The option partner is making annual staged cash and stocks payments as well as funding the development of the project. The company has recently acquired control of the Kenville Gold mine near Nelson British Columbia which comes with surface and underground rights, buildings and equipment. Ximen is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA and WKN with the number as A2JBKL. This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval and the exercise of the Option by Ximen. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they 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, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the TSX Venture Exchange may not accept the proposed transaction in a timely manner, if at all. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Ximen Mining Corp. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/574289/Ximen-Expands-Land-Positions-in-Nelson-and-Camp-McKinney-Gold-Camps By PTI MUMBAI: Flag carrier Air India has kept one of its 423-seater jumbo plane ready in Mumbai for the evacuation of Indian citizens from Wuhan province in China in the wake of Cornovirus outbreak in the East Asian country, an official source said on Tuesday. The airline is awaiting necessary approvals from the ministries of External Affairs and Health to operate the special evacuation flight, the source said. The decision follows the government instructions to various ministries to take steps to deal with the issue. "We have kept a Boeing 747-400 ready in Mumbai to operate an evacuation flight to China whenever we get a go ahead from the government," the source said. Some 250 Indians are to be evacuated, the source said, adding, "we are awaiting clearances from Ministry of External Affairs and also from Health Ministry. The Health Ministry's nod is required because the operating crew has to fly in a virus outbreak territory." At the Cabinet Secretary meeting on Monday, the government decided that steps may be taken to prepare for the possible evacuation of Indian nationals in Wuhan. The meeting also reviewed India's preparedness to deal with coronavirus amid mounting global concern over increasing number of cases in China and several other countries. ALSO READ | Coronavirus outbreak: Death toll jumps to 106, nearly 1,300 new cases, says China government The meeting decided to take a raft of precautionary measures including screening of people at international ports having traffic from China as well as at the integrated check posts across Nepal border. "It was decided that steps may be taken to prepare for possible evacuation of Indian nationals in Wuhan. Accordingly, Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities," a government statement said. Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus in China is a novel strain and not seen before. The outbreak has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Accordingly, Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities while the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Health will make arrangements for transport and quarantine facilities respectively, an official release had said on Monday. The government also asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to issue an instruction to airlines for managing and notifying anybody reporting illness on all direct and indirect flight to China besides facilitating in-flight announcements and distribution of health cards to all flights with direct or indirect connectivity to China. ALSO READ | India, China discuss plans to evacuate Indians from coronavirus-hit Wuhan Officials said Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities for the evacuation of Indian nationals, mostly students, stuck in Wuhan city. "It was decided that steps may be taken to prepare for possible evacuation of Indian nationals in Wuhan. Accordingly, the Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities," a government statement said. Wuhan along 12 other cities have been completely sealed by the Chinese authorities to stop the virus from spreading. The death toll climbed to 80 with 2,744 confirmed cases. Over 250 to 300 Indian students are reportedly stuck in Wuhan triggering concerns over their well-being. New Mayor Thata Father Maphongo has hit the ground running with his ambitious vision to transform Gaborone into a real diamond city that is safe, clean and green with a great ambience for residents and visitors. Under his stewardship, the key words that he will apply for the council are a leading service delivery, efficiency, accountability, good governance, team work and private partnership. In an exclusive interview with Botswana Guardian Maphongo said his quest is to lead and drive Gaborone city towards attaining its status as a diamond city. We have no intention to change from that pronouncement, he said, adding there are a number of things they have identified that will eventually take them to that destination. Among the first things which is already noticeable is cleaning the city. We want a clean city that is very important to us, since Gaborone is the capital city and the first point of contact for visitors. Hence it is important to ensure that Gaborone resembles the city that we want it to be, it has to be a role model in the country it has to please the eye and be the city that everyone wants to visit. The Council has started clearing bushes around Gaborone and cutting grass. They will also mobilise the community towards cleaning the city. We will come out with a deliberate programme where we will be asking every resident of Gaborone to join us in cleaning the city. We will agree on a day or few hours on a monthly basis which will be solely dedicated for cleaning the city, said the Mayor. He said the bush clearing for visibility on the main roads leading into the city is expected to be completed by the end of February and will be followed by other roads. Rubbish Maphongo will look for funds to install receptacle bins around town especially at bus stops in order for travellers to deposit litter so that when We embark on cleaning campaigns there will be facilities where litter can be deposited. Toilets Council wants to look at erecting pay toilets in strategic areas and outsource these to disadvantaged groups like the youth to run and manage and generate income for themselves. Greenery Council has also targetted open spaces, parks, Segoditshane River for creating greenery. The plans are to clean the river and make it habitable, by clearing the bushes, creating greenery and walk paths along the river banks so that the community of Gaborone could have a place to go and relax as well as have places where they can actually take their kids during weekends and enjoy the environment. Street lights Maphongo says Council is aware that Gaborone is dark. We are working tirelessly to ensure the streets lights are operating. We are going to be installing tower lights in some areas to ensure that there is adequate lighting around the city in order to create a safe city. Similarly around Segoditshane we will create greenery in that area, we will be inviting the private sector either to take up space along the river and we would have set minimum standard of the development that we want along the river bank, this is purely to make Gaborone habitable and attractive to our visitors and residents. These strategic and deliberate projects will help Gaborone to attract investors at the end of the day. We are looking at creating more or less a semi autonomous council where financially we are more or less self-sufficient and sustaining. But who will finance the projects since government is always complaining of having no money? My view is that we should not wait for the government to have money because there is no way that the government is going to have money in any forseeable future. You will appreciate that the diamond sales have gone down and there is no main source of income. So if we are going to wait for government to have money, we are going to wait for a very long time. In that case Maphongo envisages an innovative Council that will come up with various ways of raising revenue. These include asking government to avail them part of the plastic levy and the fuel levies since Council is the responsible organ for ensuring that the city is clean. It is those plastics that are being thrown around that we will be picking, therefore it is only reasonable that the plastic levy be channelled to the council. Council also wants to benefit from the fuel levy to mitigate the costs they incur in repairing roads that are being ruined by vehicles. One can only hope that the government will be amenable to these suggestions. They will also explore newspapers. We buy them everyday and throw them away after reading and somebody has to pick those newspapers. I know the newspapers are biodegradable, but they are bio degradable after sometimes but before they get mixed with the soil somebody has to pick that litter. My thinking is to ask for, say, 25 thebe from the newspapers to be channelled to the Council. What we will raise from those channels that I have mentioned may not necessarily be enough looking at our ambition. Bonds Maphongo wonders why councils should not be allowed to raise bonds to finance projects. Why the council should not be allowed to engage the private sector and partner with them on PPP models such as Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT). Efficiencies Council needs to start looking at creating efficiencies for purposes of quickening the delivery of services and projects to the community. Maphongo has been talking to his executive team to ensure that council is customer-centric. We need to make it easy for the customer to be able to approach us and make transactions with the council easy, he said. They will also be using technology as the driver of business at council. Teams In response to complaints by the community on lack of delivery of services, slowness in terms of delivery projects, Council will divide the city into segments and come up with teams responsible for different sectors of the town. Those teams will be accountable for what happens in those areas in terms of all the service provision, the cleaning, lighting, storm water drainage and roads maintenance. There will be a leader responsible for each section that will be performance monitored on regular basis, to ensure that what is expected to happen on the ground, actually happens. I have asked the management team to make a tour on a three months basis around the city to check on those teams whether they have delivered to expectations. We are going to be holding the people accountable to the areas that they have been assigned to, issues of accountability to me are important. PPP With respect to partnering with the private sector, Council will be sensitive to issues of governance to guarantee that the funds and the processes are protected in the partnership. Catalan politician Oriol Junqueras, centre, arrives at the Parliament of Catalonia in Barcelona (Emilio Morenatti/AP) The former vice-president of Catalonia returned as a prisoner to the regional parliament in Barcelona, the first time he had been there since he was imprisoned for his role in the failed 2017 secession attempt from the rest of Spain. Oriol Junqueras and five other former Cabinet members released from prison for the occasion were greeted with applause and cheers of Liberty! by a small crowd of supporters inside the parliament building. They were not handcuffed, and no uniformed guards were escorting them, although there were police deployed outside. Regional president Quim Torra and the speaker of the house greeted them with hugs and warm handshakes on arrival. This is the first time that the six have returned to the Catalan parliament since they were taken into custody following the failed October 2017 independence bid. They and three more colleagues were convicted of sedition and misuse of public funds in October by Spains Supreme Court and given sentences of nine to 13 years. Expand Close Catalonias ex-regional vice-president Oriol Junqueras (Emilio Morenatti/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Catalonias ex-regional vice-president Oriol Junqueras (Emilio Morenatti/AP) They are serving their sentences in prisons in Catalonia. They were summoned to the regional parliament to attend a committee session addressing the consequences of the central authorities temporary takeover of the regions control at the height of the 2017 crisis. I want to begin by saying that I am very happy to be back in the parliament and to be able to talk to all of you, Mr Junqueras told the commission. I am very happy because I love the parliament and love democracy and love dialogue. Mr Junqueras then used most of this half-hour appearance to insist that he and his colleagues are unjustly imprisoned and that the solution to the political crisis provoked by the separatist movement is dialogue with Spains central government and unionist parties. Nothing we have done is a crime, because holding a referendum is never a crime, Mr Junqueras said about the independence referendum his government held before declaring independence. It is a pity that you did not come here to ask for forgivenessLorena Roldan We are convicted, we are in prison, but will continue to fight to build a better country and a society that is more just. And to do it with all the tools of our own state. Lorena Roldan, the leader of the pro-union Citizens party in the Catalan parliament, responded to Mr Junqueras by asking him to ask forgiveness for the secession attempt. You have used your appearance here only to preach to your supporters, to continue your movement, to cause more conflict, Ms Roldan said. It is a pity that you did not come here to ask for forgiveness. The return of the prisoners comes at a time when the separatist movement is struggling to maintain the unity of its three main political parties. The situation in Catalonia is Spains gravest political challenge in decades. Polls show residents in the wealthy region of 7.5 million are roughly evenly divided over the question of independence. Spains constitution states that the country is indivisible. Washington County Public Schools asking public for input on funding Washington County Public Schools is asking the public for input on how they should spend the American Rescue Plan money from the federal government. Todays Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. Email address By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) Chief Executive Officer Nasser Sultan Al Suwaidi inaugurated the induction workshop for NOGAs project with the Green Climate Fund, Enhancing Climate Resilience for the Water Sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain." The inauguration was held under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Oil and Chairman of the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) Project Implementation Committee. It was attended by undersecretaries, general managers of government, private institutions and oil companies and specialists in the environmental field. The workshop was organized by NOGA in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to discuss topics that included building different models of climate change and the impact on the water sector, scrutinizing water use, enhancing the utilization of rainwater, developing policies and measures to improve water efficiency in public buildings and building an integrated database. Al Suwaidi stressed importance of the role of government and private institutions in promoting cooperation in order to implement environmental projects that are in line with the strategy of the Government Action Plan in this regard. He noted the importance of the project, directly linked to sustainable development goals in the provision of water, sanitation, consumption, production and climate change, as well and with indirect goals such as clean energy, low prices and gender equality. Al Suwaidi said that climate change has become a vital issue associated with the oil industry because of its impact on the policies of the response measures negatively affecting the oil industry. Bahrain is a small oil-producing island country negatively affected by climate change due to the threats of flooding its low-lying coastline, which is located in most of its infrastructure, degradation of groundwater caused by the invasion of reservoirs by the sea and an increase in the frequency of dust and dust storms and lack of rainfall. This situation emphasizes the importance of working seriously to preserve the climatic environment through the implementation of several environmentally friendly projects. They include NOGA's project in this regard, which came to reduce the negative environmental impacts and to address many global challenges. The project consists of seven major initiatives aimed at enhancing climate resilience for the water sector in Bahrain. Al Suwaidi addressed the environment study prepared by NOGA that concluded that climate change and specifically the low rate of groundwater mobilization, the creeping of groundwater, and the rise of thermal contribute to the reduction of fresh water supplies in Bahrain by at least 50 to 100 million cubic meters from water annually in the short term. Water demand in the municipal, industrial and agricultural sectors is expected to rise by about 10 million cubic meters per year by 2030. Al Suwaidi said the issue of water security is a major challenge for many countries, whether in cases of human disasters such as wars and others, or causes of climate change. He pointed out that the water of Umm Rudhooma in Bahrain is one of the most important sources during the disasters is a protected layer. The oil sector plays a pivotal role in the refilling of this reservoir, but this role has been strengthened and developed through the initiative of Tatweer Petroleum Company in 2011, which invested $166 million to improve water quality before injecting it into this layer. The oil sector has boosted Bahrain's stock in Umm Rudhooma by about half million barrels of water per day, equivalent to 80,000 cubic meters of water (equivalent to 29.2 million cubic meters per year) more than is produces from the Abu Jarjour plant (60,500). Ayman Shasli, a member of the Board of Directors of the Fund and Chairman of the Arab Climate Change Negotiating Group, spoke about the importance of this project for Bahrain and the region. He highly appreciated that Bahrain under the management of Shaikh Mohammed has received an approval and an authorization from the Board of Directors of the Green Fund to finance environmental projects in Bahrain, one of the oil producing countries opening the way for other countries to benefit from the financing of environmental projects. The Oil Minister also confirmed that this project is currently the subject of attention and follow-up from all, hoping that it would be implemented as planned. "UNEP reaffirms its commitment to strengthening capacities through the provision of technical assistance in the areas of policy and legislation development, scientific capabilities, and increasing public awareness of the impact of climate change, and the creation of investment opportunities," Ataf Shahada said. "UNEP strives to have a positive and effective impact on human life in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the West Asian region in an inclusive and transparent manner". Bahrain is the first country in the region to attract the 21st Meeting of the Green Climate Change Fund established at the 16th Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2010. Its secretariat is based in Songdo, Incheon City in South Korea, where the Fund encourages a paradigm shift towards low-emission development paths capable of adapting to climate change. The Fund provides support to developing countries to reduce harmful emissions and to adapt to the effects of climate change. Projects and programmes proposed by developing countries are funded while ensuring that they are managed transparently. The funds are in their entirety contributions from developed countries as well as contributions from developing countries. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ CLEVELAND, Ohio City Council signed off Monday on Mayor Frank Jacksons plan to build a police headquarters in the Kinsman neighborhood along the so-called Opportunity Corridor. The campus-style complex, expected to cost about $60 million, would replace the departments current downtown location and would accommodate about 600 officers for the next several decades. Were trying to consolidate as much of our resources that are spread out around the city as possible, police Chief Calvin Williams told City Councils Finance Committee Monday afternoon. "Were trying to build an open, welcoming center for the public, Williams said. The mayor is expected to sign the legislation later this week. Whats the plan? The complex will be built on the Opportunity Corridor (which still is under construction) in the area where Grand Avenue and East 75th Street now intersect. The site is just up the street from Orlando Baking Co.s headquarters. Design work for the station would begin finished by sometime in 2021, said Matthew Spronz, Jacksons director of capital projects. Construction could begin by late 2021 and be complete in 2023. The roadway is to be complete by 2022. Was this the first site chosen? No. The citys original plan was to renovate the building at 1801 Superior Ave. that is home to cleveland.com. That deal fell through in 2018, and the city began looking for another site. Were there any concerns? Yes. Councilmen Brian Kazy and Mike Polensek asked about the burden on residents who have to go to the headquarters once its moved out of the downtown. Police headquarters has been based at the downtown Justice Center for more than 40 years. Kazy, from the West Side, said a resident asked him during a recent ward meeting why such an isolated location was chosen. I didnt know how to answer, Kazy said. I want you to know that this these people on the West Side feel isolated. Polensek, whose ward is based in the East Side neighborhood of Collinwood, expressed a similar concern, but said he would still vote for the plan. I dont think its the best site, but I dont have an alternative, he said. And he pledged to watchdog how the administration handles the project. What was the response? David Ebersole, the citys director of economic development, said that no affordable sites were found in the downtown area that met the needs of the department, so the city expanded its search area. The site chosen by the administration has easy access to highways via the Opportunity Corridor, which will connect Interstate 490 at East 55th Street, and streets that allow for easy north and south connections. The Opportunity Corridor will connect with University Circle. Ample on-site parking will make the location more accessible than the downtown site, he said. And, an RTA station nearby allows for access to Rapid and bus transportation, Ebersole said. Bengal in throes of third Covid wave, infections curve may rise more WBJEE 2022 application correction open: How you should do it WB: Students of Calcutta University block Guv Dhankhar from attending annual convocation India oi-Mousumi Dash Kolkata, Jan 28: The students at University of Calcutta prevented the West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar from attending the Calcutta University's annual convocation ceremony at Nazrul Mancha in Kolkata and waved black flags with the slogans of 'Governor go back' against him on Tuesday. Following the agitation the Governor had to leave the premises, he said to news agency ANI, "Uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta University without attending Convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of immense respect we have for Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on whom we are conferring honorary D Litt." West Bengal: Students at University of Calcutta block the car of Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and raise slogans of 'Governor go back' against him. He has reached the university for the convocation ceremony there. pic.twitter.com/o23JHdHNzq ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020 Some of the students were also reportedly seen holding 'No CAA' and 'No NRC' posters outside the venue. Bengal becomes 4th state to pass resolution against Citizenship Act Dhankhar left the premises around 1.30 pm, without attending the event. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News Last month, the governor had faced similar protests at Jadavpur University, where he had gone to attend the convocation ceremony. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 00:37:16|Editor: yan Video Player Close VIENTIANE, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Lao Ministry of Finance and the World Bank signed a financing agreement of 50 million U.S. dollars on Tuesday, extending support to the ongoing Lao People's Democratic Republic Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Management Project and Lao Road Sector Project II. Bounchom Ubonpaseuth, Lao Deputy Minister of Finance, and Nicola Pontara, World Bank Country Manager for Laos, signed the agreement in Lao capital Vientiane, a WB press release said. The additional financing, endorsed by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors on December 13, 2019, will support efforts to strengthen climate resilience in the waterways and road sectors. Half of the amount, 25 million U.S. dollars will improve the capacity of the Lao government to better prepare for and withstand natural disasters in waterways, while the other half will support repairs of damaged roads and the resilience of road infrastructure. "The Lao government is committed to reducing the human and economic impact of natural disasters," said Bounchanh Sinthavong, Lao minister of public works and transport at the event, adding "Scaling up the ongoing investments on climate resilience in the waterways and roads sectors will help the country to better prepare for adverse climatic events, save lives and protect the livelihoods of vulnerable populations." In 2018, Laos suffered its most costly floods in a decade. Heavy rains from two tropical cyclones affected the country and a saddle dam in Attapeu province of southern Laos collapsed, causing flash floods. The floods impacted more than 600,000 citizens, resulting in the loss of life of 64 people. The Post-Disaster Needs Assessment estimated total damages and losses of 371.5 million U.S. dollars. NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (January 28, 2020) -- Legendary heart-lung transplant surgeon, researcher, and professor Sir Magdi Habib Yacoub, MD, today was honored with the 2020 Earl Bakken Scientific Achievement Award from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons during the organization's 56th Annual Meeting. "It is our pleasure to honor Dr. Yacoub as the Earl Bakken Scientific Achievement awardee," said 2019-2020 STS President Robert S.D. Higgins, MD, MSHA. "His vision, passion, and innovations helped launch a new era of heart transplantation in the 1980s, and his pioneering surgical techniques have benefitted thousands of patients worldwide." Dr. Yacoub's commitment to cardiothoracic surgery has been lifelong, with many significant contributions throughout his career. By some accounts, he has performed more heart and lung transplants than anyone else in the world--approximately 2,500. It also is estimated that he has completed more than 20,000 heart operations. Dr. Yacoub was fascinated by science at a very young age, entering the Cairo University School of Medicine in 1950 on a full scholarship at just 15 years old. His career trajectory toward surgery was inspired by his father and uncles who were surgeons in Egypt. But even more significant was the experience of losing his 22-year-old aunt to a heart condition that could have been corrected had the latest surgical techniques been available in that country. After graduating from medical school in 1957 and completing his surgical residencies, Dr. Yacoub trained in London under Russell Brock, MD, a leading British chest and heart surgeon and one of the pioneers of modern open heart surgery. He then moved to the United States and served as an assistant professor at The University of Chicago. Dr. Yacoub eventually returned to England, where one of his first assignments was at Harefield Hospital, a small, specialty-focused facility. Dr. Yacoub embraced the opportunity, and with what his colleagues have described as "massive intellect and brilliant technical surgical talents," he transformed the modest hospital into the largest cardiothoracic surgical transplant program in Europe, performing more than 200 transplants each year. Dr. Yacoub and his team introduced advanced innovations such as the heterotopic "piggyback" heart transplantation (the recipient's heart is left in place with the donor heart connected to the right side of the chest) and the domino heart-lung/heart transplant procedure (one patient undergoes heart-lung transplantation and his/her heart is given, as part of a "domino" procedure, to a heart transplant recipient). With some interest in lung transplantation, he also was involved in the development of techniques for bronchial artery revascularization. At the same time that Dr. Yacoub was breaking new ground in transplantation, he also was pioneering new concepts and operations for congenital heart disease such as the modern arterial switch and a modified Mustard operation. He made equally impressive contributions in the treatment of valvular heart disease, developing the freestanding root operation and the first technique for valve-sparing root replacement (remodeling). In addition to these achievements, Dr. Yacoub has generously shared his knowledge and experiences with students and surgeons from all over the world, acting as a role model for many of today's leaders in cardiothoracic surgery. He currently serves as professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, as well as director of research at the Magdi Yacoub Institute (Harefield Heart Science Centre). There, he oversees more than 60 scientists and students in the areas of tissue engineering, myocardial regeneration, stem cell biology, end-stage heart failure, and transplant immunology. Dr. Yacoub also is the founder and president of the Chain of Hope charity, treating children with correctable cardiac conditions from underserved countries and establishing training and research programs in local cardiac units. As a project of the charity, he launched the Aswan Heart Centre. The underserved northern Egyptian city of Aswan was among the many places in which Dr. Yacoub's family lived during his early years. With its special significance for Dr. Yacoub, the city was a natural choice for the establishment of a cardiac research and treatment facility. The center offers state-of-the art medical services, free of charge to patients not only from the Aswan region, but also from other parts of Egypt and Africa. Considered a giant among cardiothoracic surgeons, Dr. Yacoub and his accomplishments in medicine and surgery have been recognized with a British knighthood, the Order of Merit for services to science, and several honorary degrees. He also has authored approximately 1,400 articles, mostly in peer-reviewed medical journals. Dr. Yacoub and his late wife Marianne have three children and three grandchildren. His interests include swimming, listening to classical music, and growing orchids. The Earl Bakken Scientific Achievement Award was established in 1999 through a grant from Medtronic, Inc., to honor individuals who have made outstanding scientific contributions that have enhanced the practice of cardiothoracic surgery and patients' quality of life. The award was named for Medtronic co-founder Earl Bakken. Among numerous other achievements, Bakken developed the first wearable artificial pacemaker. ### For more information, contact STS Senior Media Relations Manager Jennifer Bagley at 312-202-5865 or jbagley@sts.org. Founded in 1964, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a not-for-profit organization representing more than 7,500 cardiothoracic surgeons, researchers, and allied health care professionals worldwide who are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lung, and esophagus, as well as other surgical procedures within the chest. The Society's mission is to enhance the ability of cardiothoracic surgeons to provide the highest quality patient care through education, research, and advocacy. Back in 2013 China announced that it was investing $16 billion in an effort to fix some of its problems encountered manufacturing high-performance (as in world-class) jet engines. Although China has been working on this for over three decades, continued problems with materials durability, efficient design and quality control have prevented Chinese engines from being competitive with Western models. That large investment appears to have paid off because by 2019 all new Chinese jet fighters were entering service with one of several variants of the WS10 engine. The WS10 engine has been in development for 30 years so that it could eventually replace Russian AL31F engines used in the Russian Su-27/30 and Chinese clone (J-10/11/15/16) jet fighters. WS10 development efforts encountered one problem after another. Many Chinese engineers considered the WS10 design a superior engine to the AL31F, even though the WS10 copied a lot of Russian technology. The Chinese point out that as delivered from Russia, the AL31 is good for 900 hours of operation. Chinese engineers figured out how to tweak the design of the engine so that it lasted for 1,500 hours. While those tweaks worked on paper, the Chinese were frequently frustrated getting them to work as predicted because their Chinese suppliers could not produce key components to the needed level of quality and durability. Some of those recently invested billions were apparently spent on getting component suppliers to upgrade production techniques and product quality so that this weak link in the supply chain was no longer stalling full-scale production of the WS10. After 2000 China believed it would be free from dependence on Russia for military jet engines within the next five years. By 2010 it was clear that the within five years expectations were not happening and that was a major reason for the additional $16 billion investment. The fundamental problem was that Russia and the nations that set the world standard in military high-tech had developed high-tech infrastructures. While Chinese designers could come up with superior (on paper) designs, the technical skills required to manufacture components and fabricate the actual device were not sufficiently developed to make the Chinese designs work as intended. You needed skilled and experienced workers and managers to get it all right. Within five years China fixed that problem, mainly because many component manufacturers were close to the goal already with the extra money and attention getting them the rest of the way, and able to produce complex components to spec and do it regularly. Now there are at least seven variants of the WS10 being used in five different Chinese jet fighters. This includes the new J-20 stealth fighter where the WS10 is a placeholder engine until the more powerful WS15 shows up in five or six years. That is one reason why the J-20 is not being produced in large numbers yet. China recently received some Russian Su-35 jet fighters and their advanced Al041F1 (or 117S) engines. This purchase was made, in part, to get a close look at the high-end tech the Russians have mastered (with some difficulty) to make this engine work. China has long copied foreign technology, not always successfully. Since 2000 China has gradually put more and more money into developing a jet engine manufacturing capability. The Chinese encountered many of the same problems the Russians did when developing their own engine design and component construction skills and that two decades of escalating efforts paid off. China does have several advantages over Russia in this effort. First, they knew of the mistakes the Russians had made, and so were able to avoid many of them. Then there was the fact that China had better access to Western manufacturing technology (both legally and illegally). Finally, China was, unlike the Soviets, able to develop their engine manufacturing capabilities in a market economy. This was much more efficient than the command economy that the Soviets were saddled with for seven decades. Despite all this, China continued to encounter problems with consistent quality in manufacturing key components. China has overcome those problems and mastered Russian engine building techniques. Now they are slowly expanding the rate of production while moving to eventually surpass the Western firms who have long been the masters of this technology. In this Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 photo, ambulance crew members in protective gear get into their ambulance in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. AP-Yonhap By Zhuang Pinghui Chinese hospitals are running out of protective gear to handle the deadly coronavirus outbreak and many have appealed to the public for donations. With some factories shut down for the Lunar New Year break, hospitals including in major cities like Beijing and Guangzhou have put out the call for more supplies, even as authorities coordinate across the country to increase production to cope with the epidemic. More than 2,800 cases of the pneumonia-like virus have been confirmed on mainland China, with more than 80 deaths, since the outbreak began in Wuhan in December. In the capital on Monday, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, which specialises in cardiology, appealed to the public for protective supplies to "protect frontline medical personnel". Beijing had reported 72 confirmed cases of the disease as of Sunday. The hospital said in a statement it needed supplies to help with prevention and control of the virus, including surgical masks, medical protective masks, gowns and goggles, disinfectant wipes and chlorine. A day earlier, the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, which is also in Beijing, appealed for donations of protective gowns and masks for frontline medical staff because of "the large number of patients visiting every day, and the large number of medical staff at the hospital". In this Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 photo, medical workers in protective gear talk in an ambulance in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. AP-Yonhap Similar calls have been made over the past few days by hospitals in Chongqing, Chengdu in Sichuan province, Lanzhou in Gansu, Guilin in Guangxi, and in Shenzhen and Guangzhou including by the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, where Sars expert Zhong Nanshan works. Zhong was a pivotal figure in China's response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak 17 years ago and is now heading an expert team to deal with the newly identified virus. A staff member of the Guangzhou hospital told Pear Video that it had been designated to treat coronavirus patients, especially severe cases, in Guangdong province. "Many people have contacted us but the problem is, we can't find the supplies," the employee, who was not named, told the news website. "Many factories aren't running over the Chinese New Year holiday and we have a serious shortage of protective suits." Hospitals in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, and other cities in Hubei province asked for help from the central government last week seeking medical supplies including some 40 million medical masks, 5 million protective suits and more infrared thermometers. The government has since been coordinating efforts to ramp up production of the items. In this Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 photo, a medical worker stands in protective gear in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. AP Max Weinbach, writer for XDA-Developers has been responsible for many Samsung Galaxy S20 leaks this month. The latest report from his new source suggests the pricing and availability of both the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, and the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. Theres also some news about the Samsung Galaxy Buds+. The report suggests that the Galaxy Z Flip will officially launch on February 14 for $1,400. Theres also possibility that it would remain an AT&T exclusive, though it isnt clear if only for a period of time or indefinitely. Otherwise, an unlocked variant of the flip phone is expected to become available. Just head from a new source: Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip will likely launch on February 14th. It retails at $1400. It's possible it is an AT&T exclusive again, but this time it might be a timed exclusive. It will also be available unlocked. Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) January 27, 2020 Next, the Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra are likely to be available on March 6, the first Friday of the month. The S20 Ultra is slated to cost $1,300. All three Galaxy S20 models should be rated for IP68 water resistance (5M) and come pre-installed with screen protectors from the factory. S20, S20+, S20 Ultra will likely be available first Friday of March. S20 Ultra should retail for $1300. Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) January 27, 2020 As expected, the phones have preinstalled screen protectors. Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) January 27, 2020 Finally, Samsungs Galaxy Buds+ are expected to arrive next month. The new-generation Buds will offer double the battery life of the current Galaxy Buds (which run for about 6 hours per charge). The Buds+ will retail for $149 and will also offer improved Adavptive Noise Isolation, not to be confused with noise cancellation. I meant adaptive noise isolation, not active Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) January 27, 2020 Interestingly, the Galaxy Z Flips launch date is expected to fall on the same day as the new Motorola Razr flip phone. Pre-orders just went live today, exclusively at Verizon for a slightly higher price of $1,500. Were eager to see which one comes out on top. Laois and Offaly teachers and parents have a chance to quiz election candidates on their education policies face to face. The INTO (Irish National Teachers Organisation) has arranged a public meeting this Wednesday January 29 in Portlaoise. All of the Laois Offaly election candidates are invited to the pre election public meeting. Sharon Roche is Branch Organiser with the Portlaoise Branch INTO and also teaches locally. "Charlie Flanagan (Fine Gael) Brian Stanley (Sinn Fein) Sean Fleming (Fianna Fail) and Stephen Tynan (People Before Profit) have confirmed their attendance but we hope that many of the other candidates will also be in attendance," she said. "The purpose of the meeting is to allow the candidates to put forward their policies on education and to also be questioned on these policies.They will speak on important topics such as school funding, pupil teacher ratios, DEIS (educational disadvantage) and pay equality. "This meeting is open to all, teachers, non teachers, parents, grandparents or anyone who would like an opportunity to engage with the candidates before polling day. We strongly encourage parents to attend to send a message to our government that education is a top priority and continuing to make cuts to education will not be tolerated. Investment was promised by our outgoing government but they have failed to deliver on their promises in the past four years," Ms Roche says. She urges the public to have their say. "The General Election results will have a huge impact on the future of our children's education particularly if the issue of class size is not addressed. We have a projected drop in pupil enrolment in County Laois over the next 5 years which will result in the loss of almost 150 teaching posts in County Laois. This will have a devastating impact on schools, particularly rural schools and will lead to overcrowded classrooms. "We want to make parents aware of the meeting and to come along to put the pressure on for investment in education," the INTO rep said. The meeting is in the Midlands Park Hotel in Portlaoise at 7.30pm. REGINASaskatchewans Crown insurer says fewer people were killed on the provinces roads in 2019 than in any year since records started being kept in the 1950s. Saskatchewan Government Insurance says preliminary statistics indicate 71 people were killed in collisions down from 129 in 2018. The insurer says the 71 deaths compare with an average of nearly 140 road fatalities annually in the previous 10-year period. The province has strengthened laws in several areas since a special committee on traffic safety was formed in 2012. There are harsher penalties for impaired drivers and extreme speeders, photo speed enforcement was introduced and distracted driving laws were beefed up. Joe Hargrave, minister responsible for SGI, is encouraging drivers to bring fatality numbers even lower. Collisions are preventable and even one traffic death is too many, he said in a release Monday. We cant celebrate when people are still being killed and injured on our roads. Hargrave noted that Saskatchewan held the record not that long ago of the highest number of road fatalities in Canada. If you are one of the drivers who still chooses to take risks like texting while youre driving, driving when youre impaired or driving at unsafe speeds, you are now in the minority, added SGI president and CEO Andrew Cartmell. We ask you change your habits and become part of making this the province with the safest roads in Canada. WASHINGTON The State Department will not allow NPRs diplomatic correspondent on Secretary of State Mike Pompeos government airplane for an upcoming trip, which includes a stop in Ukraine, following the secretarys extraordinary outburst last week over being questioned about Ukraine during an interview with the network. Michele Kelemen, who has covered the State Department for nearly two decades, was scheduled to cover Mr. Pompeos official visit this week to Europe and Central Asia, traveling with the diplomatic delegation. She was told on Sunday that she would not be allowed to fly as a member of the press pool on the government airplane with Mr. Pompeo. It was not clear how long the ban on her travel with Mr. Pompeos official delegations might last. The association of journalists covering the State Department issued a statement on Monday criticizing the action as improper retaliation against NPR. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Further to the current situation of coronavirus, Central Phuket has strictly and immediately implemented measures to help prevent and intervene the possible spread of the virus. The following preventive procedures are undertaken with attention-to-details and thoroughness: 1. Central Phuket will provide infrared thermometer at the entrance and exit in order to individually scan the customers. 2. Provide hand sanitizer gel and hygienic mask, available at many spots throughout the shopping center, especially at the main entrance, and high traffic area 3. Clean up all concerning surface with antiseptic every 30 minutes 4. Clean the elevators by spraying the antiseptic every 30 minutes 5. Set up the Information Board around the mall in order to inform customers about the self-observation instruction 6. Encourage customers to wash their hands frequently and regularly. While ensuring the availability of the hand-wash gel and tissue paper supplies in the restrooms 7. Ensure readiness for transferring a customer to a hospital, if needed We are handling this situation with special care and strictly following the preventive procedures. Thank you for your trust and support. Ever since Tony Blair introduced tuition fees, successive governments of all political hues have told the tale 'there's no upfront cost to go to university'. I'm afraid that's a lie. The English system has a hidden parental contribution built into it. If you hope one day your child will go off to study it's likely you'll need to put money aside, up to a maximum of 17,500. And as the Government refuses to tell you about it, I will. In fact, today I'm launching a new free calculator to tell you exactly how much you'll need to save. Hidden cost: If you hope one day your child will go off to study it's likely you'll need to put money aside, up to a maximum of 17,500 And those savings will be needed, because while once they're 18, they are old enough to vote, marry or even risk their lives in our Armed Forces they're not seen as independent adults under our university financial system. For most under 25s an increasing amount of their maintenance loan, for living costs, is dictated by an assessment of their parents' income. And so, by definition, parents are expected to fill that gap. Yet no one is telling parents. Tuition fees are not the only problem While all the political spittle is about tuition fees. In practical financial terms, they aren't a problem for most students. For first-time English undergraduates, tuition fees are paid for them by the Student Loan Company, and they can also get the maintenance (living) loan. These loans are then added together, but they're not repaid by students. That's because they only need repaying in the April after leaving university, and, by then, students aren't students, but graduates (or university leavers). The hidden parental contribution is therefore a more immediate concern, but before I get into that, it's important you understand how the current English loan system works. For my full guide, visit my website moneysavingexpert.com/students, but here's an in-a-nutshell briefing: You repay 9 per cent of earnings above 25,725 a year (rising to 26,575 from April 2020). Earn less in a year and there is nothing to repay. The loans are wiped after 30 years. Loans are repaid via PAYE (or self-assessment), they do not go on your credit files The key thing to grab from this, is that what you earn dictates your annual repayments, not what you owe. Let me drill this in... It doesn't matter whether you owe 3,000; 30,000; or a ridiculous 3,000,000. If you earn 10,000 above the threshold (so currently 35,725) you always repay 900 a year (as that is 9 per cent of 10,000). The only thing the size of the debt (and interest) impacts is whether you'll clear it within 30 years or not. And most won't. It's currently predicted that only 17 per cent of students will mostly the highest earning graduates. The key thing to remember about student loans is that what you earn dictates your annual repayments, not what you owe It means in practical terms, for the rest, student loans don't act like normal loans. They're more like a 30-year-long 9 per cent additional tax than a debt. This isn't me saying it's cheap, it isn't, just that people panic about the size of the debt, when it's often mostly irrelevant - the cost is dictated by the repayments. Many politicians weaponise and demonise the scale of debt. However, as you'll discover by reading on, the biggest practical problem for students isn't that loans are too big, it's that they're not big enough especially as bigger debts wouldn't increase the cost for most. This is all about the loan students get (or don't) for living costs. For under 25s, in almost all circumstances the amount of living loan you get is based on an assessment of what's called your household residual income. That's defined as family income minus pension contributions and a very small reduction for other dependent children. As most students have little earnings of their own, this is a proxy for parental income. The amount of living loan starts to go down when total family residual income hits just 25,000. The maximum reduction hits for earnings over 58,000 to 70,000, depending whether your child studies at home or away from home. And while five years ago all students received at least 65 per cent of the maximum, now some get less than half. If parents are divorced it's the residual income of the household of primary residency, including a parent's partner who may live there. So, parents, if you start dating a higher earner, beware if they move in as your kids may get less money to live off at university. Parents expected to fill the gap The reduction in the loan solely depends on this parental income assessment. Therefore, it is implicit that parents are expected to fill the gap. In my view it should be explicit. We need transparency. Yet the only official guidance I've seen is a flaccid mention buried in the Student Loan Company's How You're Assessed guide, which says 'depending on their income, parents may have to contribute towards your living costs while you're studying'. I'd mandate a change, so the Student Loan Company letter says something akin to... 'Students your maintenance loan is 6,000 a year, this is less than the full loan and we expect your parents to make up at least the 3,900 difference.' Even if the loan letter just noted the full loan, and the amount the student will receive, it would help, but it doesn't. It simply details the loan that will be paid out, with no reference to the full loan or the means tested reduction. At my TV roadshows, parents often complain to me: 'It's a disgrace, the living loan isn't enough to cover my kid's rent.' Many are gobsmacked when I explain that it would be, but their child's loan is thousands smaller, due to their income. The biggest practical problem for students isn't that loans are too big, it's that they're not big enough especially as bigger debts wouldn't increase the cost for most One student, unable to find work outside course hours, desperately struggling on the minimum loan, asked what he could do. I asked if his parents could afford to help. He replied something akin to: 'Yes, but their view is now I'm at uni, I should stand on my own two feet.' They may well think that, but the system doesn't. After I explained how it worked, his surprised parents started to contribute. At the very least, if we are going to operate this system with all its holes there must be transparency and clear guidance. Lack of it causes friction between students and parents, especially from middle income backgrounds. Those on very low incomes get full loans, those on very high usually have the cashflow to easily cover the gap. It also risks leaving some students in a dire position, risking unmanageable debts from commercial lenders (or worse the payday loan vultures who prey on students) or dropping out of university over cashflow issues. Cost-up using new savings calculator The lack of knowledge around the true cost of having a child in higher education has bugged me for so long. So my team at MSE and I have done what the Government should built a calculator to tell you what you'll need to contribute. Simply type in your details at here and it'll give you an answer. It then calculates the difference between the full loan (i.e. the amount the state deems appropriate to live off) and the loan received, and gives results for those living at home, living away from home, and living away in London. For example, someone with a family income of 45,000 now, whose child may go to university in four academic years' time would need to have roughly 7,800 put aside, in real terms, for a three-year course living away from home. To save that, you'd need to put aside roughly 100 a month to have the full amount by mid-way through the course. Of course, there's no legal obligation on parents to contribute, and student offspring can't force them. Indeed, these amounts may be unaffordable to some, for example those on a middle income and on a debt management plan. Yet my hope is that by making this information available it at least provides the transparency that should be in the system. Someone with a family income of 45,000 now, whose child may go to university in four academic years' time would need to put aside roughly 7,800, in real terms, for a three-year course living away from home Why isn't the Government clearer? The lack of transparency over the parental contribution isn't new. Yet in recent years, with a significant increase in the means testing, it has become far more important. Back in 2016, I wrote to the then University Minister Jo Johnson suggesting it was time to clear it up. His disappointing and confusing response argued that just because the calculation is based on parents' income, doesn't mean parents are expected to make a contribution he suggested students can make up the difference in a variety of ways, such as from savings or part-time jobs. That's true, but that applies to all students regardless of parental income so why differentiate based on parental income at all. Why not give all students the same loan? If we don't expect parents to make up the gap, why consider their income. I've raised the same issue directly with each subsequent university minister most have been more sympathetic to the plight. Yet... they've done nowt about it. That's the reason I'm writing about it here in the Mail. Hopefully they're reading. My suspicion though is, they don't want the political risk of having to admit to Britain's middle-income parents quite how much they must cough up. Even the full loan may not be enough. If every student receives the same amount, dictated by the full loan, that would leave a level playing field. Yet that isn't the same as saying university life would then be affordable for all. For many especially in big urban centres student rents have long been rising. They can be astronomical, even for relatively poor accommodation. Due to their relatively short stays, students lack market power. There is a need for some innovative thinking or codes of practice to improve the student rental market. The Government's plan to allow different universities to compete on price for courses may have fallen flat on its bum, with most courses costing the maximum tuition fees. Yet, perversely, there is an unintended element of cost many students will need to focus on accommodation and living expenses and some will need to miss out on the course that's best for them because of it. The solution, of course, is bigger loans. Yet in our widely misunderstood system, that's a psychological deterrent to many, especially those from non-traditional university backgrounds. It's time we had proper financial information and education from the state, schools and universities, so people can understand the real costs, to be able to make a better choice. The Youngest Legal Scholar Without family near or money to spare, I brought my newborn with me to law school, placing her on my lap during class. Janes presence may have distracted other students, but it also brought them joy. (Without a dose of humanity, civil procedure can be rather dry.) Jane never cried neither in class nor as I wrote papers late into the night, waiting for my medical resident husband to come home. Now, my daughter thinks my lawyer job is boring, but her quiet patience made it all possible. Kate Vaughan By PTI KARACHI: Four boys have been arrested in Pakistan for their alleged involvement in vandalising a temple in Sindh province with a Hindu minister seeking blasphemy charges against the minors, a media report said on Tuesday. The boys, aged 15, 13, 13 and 12, have confessed to the crime and said that they carried out the act to steal money from the temple, Dawn newspaper quoted police officials as saying. The Mata Deval Bhittani temple in a village near Thar's Chhachro town in Sindh province was vandalised on Sunday night by some unidentified persons who also desecrated the idols of deities, the report said. An FIR was registered against the vandals on the directions of Thar Senior Superintendent of Police Abdullah Ahmedyar on Monday. All the four accused, who belong Chhachhro town, were arrested by the Tharparkar police on Monday for vandalising the place of worship, the report said. Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Minorities Affairs Hari Ram Kishori Lal has asked the police to register a blasphemy case against the accused, it said. According to the minorities department, Lal directed the police to conduct an investigation into the incident and arrest the miscreants. "Chhachro is known for peace, communal harmony and religious tolerance. There must be some miscreants behind the incident who want to create (communal) disturbances in the area. Such incidents are intolerable as they shock the entire Hindu community," the report quoted the minister as saying. The police had sought help from "local experts" who were examining the footprints of the miscreants to identify them, Chhachro Station House Officer Hussain Bux Rajar said. The Special Assistant to Sindh chief minister on human rights, Advocate Veerji Kolhi, said that the miscreants had meant to disturb communal peace in the area and urged people of all communities to stay calm. He promised that those responsible will be brought to justice. Hindus form the biggest minority community in Pakistan. According to official estimates, 75 lakh Hindus live in Pakistan. However, according to the community, over 90 lakh Hindus are living in the country. Majority of Pakistan's Hindu population is settled in Sindh province where they share culture, traditions and language with their Muslim fellows. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 05:58:45|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said on Tuesday that imposing any solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will not succeed. Aboul-Gheit's remarks came during his meeting in Cairo with Jibril al-Rajoub, secretary general of the central committee of Palestine's Fatah movement, according to an AL statement. He said the U.S. Middle East peace plan will be discussed during the upcoming emergency ministerial meeting of the AL council in a way that guarantees Arab and Palestinian interests. Aboul-Gheit highlighted negotiation between the Palestinians and the Israelis as the only way to achieve a real, serious and balanced peace deal. Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump revealed the details of the peace plan, also known as the Deal of the Century, at the White House along with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump said the plan recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided capital," while claiming that the Palestinians' capital will include areas of East Jerusalem. The Trump administration has postponed several times the publication of its plan for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, a proposal that has been criticized repeatedly by the Palestinians who have little engagement in it. After Trump's announcement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will change the role of the current Palestinian Authority in response to the U.S. plan. However, Abbas, who fully rejected the deal, did not give information about what the steps will be. Washington's role as an Israeli-Palestinian conflict mediator has been questioned with the Trump administration's pro-Israeli policies in the past three years such as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moving the U.S. Embassy to the city, and slashing hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. In the last 25 years of treating the toughest cases, I can honestly say that Ive never been more excited about what we can offer through our latest innovations for those living with chronic illness. For the past 25 years, Biologix Center For Optimum Health has helped over ten thousand people from around the world who had previously exhausted conventional and alternative medicine treatments with what was essentially considered incurable, or at least non-responsive chronic illness. Biologix Center specializes in treating Lyme disease, POTS, ALS, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity, histamine intolerance, mast cell activation syndrome, mold toxicity, chronic digestive issues, as well as illnesses of unknown origin. Biologix Centers founder, Dr. David Jernigan, is a published author and innovator of multiple healthcare technologies. He is also an internationally recognized leader in Biological and Bioregulatory Medicine and the treatment of chronic illness. With the precision testing he has developed, much of the guesswork common in doctoring is eliminated by enabling the doctors to essentially access the software of the body and instantly determine what is wrong and what to do about it, instead of waiting days or weeks for lab tests that are often of minimal value. The range of new innovations that power this highly-individualized and comprehensive approach often succeed where conventional medicine and pharmaceuticals fail. Dr. Jernigan states: There is so much that has gone wrong in most of our patients that our doctors spend one hour every day of the one to three-week all-inclusive programs of care, in order to work through all the systems and issues of the body within their patients, and up to another 4 hours a day are spent on supportive therapies. This is a maximum applied effort to quickly and gently restore a person to optimum health. Historically based out of Wichita, Kansas, Biologix Center is transferring its operations to a new location in Franklin, Tennessee, just minutes south of Nashville. The new Nashville location will offer Stem Cell Therapy and Induced Native Phage Therapy (INPT). When asked about the new Nashville location, Dr. Jernigan stated: In the last 25 years of treating the toughest cases, I can honestly say that Ive never been more excited about what we can offer through our latest innovations for those living with chronic illness. The new drug-free treatments are proving to be so incredibly effective that they are helping those who have previously never been helped before, by even the most well known doctors and clinics. Biologix Center is currently scheduling patients at the Nashville location, which is set to open on March 16th. The center is also hiring more DCs, MDs, nurses, and support staff. If you are interested in scheduling a treatment program or a free case review with Dr. David Jernigan, please call the Biologix Patient Care Coordinator at (855) 525-5984. If you are interested in working with the Biologix Center, please contact Michelle Pfeifer at mpfeifer@biologixcenter.com. ### Biologix Center is an internationally recognized clinical facility that uses extremely precise and scientifically advanced alternative treatments and therapies to heal people with, non-responsive chronic illness of all kinds. Biologix seeks to treat the root causes of chronic illness by promoting the functional integrity of the entire human person, thereby restoring the bodys ability to heal itself. For more information, please contact Keeley Dodd, at kdodd@biologixcenter.com , or visit https://biologixcenter.com. Dr. David Jernigan received his Bachelor's degree in Nutrition at Park University, graduating with honors, and his doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine at Cleveland University-Kansas City. He is a board-certified Doctor of Natural Medicine with an emphasis on chronic infections and chronic illness. Post-graduate studies include natural and Anthroposophical medicine in Germany and Biological/Bioregulation Medicine with the famed-father of European Biological Medicine, Dr. Thomas Rau, MD, of the Paracelsus Clinic of Switzerland. He is board-certified in Botanical Medicine through the University of Colorado, School of Pharmacy, and trains doctors in advanced homeopathy and bioenergetic medicine. Dr. Jernigan has contributed to the advancement of medical science with several exciting inventions, including BioResonance Scanning, Matrix Interface Resonance Scanning, Fractal Frequency Modulation, NeuroPhotonic Therapy, Induced Native Phage Therapy, and NeuroCardial Synchronization. New Delhi: After striking panic in China, the deadly coronoavirus has now supposedly reached India. In India, although no case has been detected so far, nearly 450 people have been kept under observation in the country, most of them in Kerala, following screening for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus. Some, who have returned from China in recent weeks, have approached medical authorities as a precautionary step. Till January 26, 29,707 passengers arriving in India in 137 flights have been screened for novel coronavirus infection symptoms and no case has so far been detected in India, PTI quoted an official saying. A Chinese national on tourist visa in Kolkata has been kept in an isolation ward at the Beleghata ID Hospital since Sunday after she complained of high fever and rashes, and officials said they are awaiting her test reports. On Monday, a girl from Bihar' Chhapra district, who had recently returned from China, was admitted to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) after symptoms similar to Coronavirus infection were found. Meanwhile, the central government has decided to take steps for the possible evacuation of over 250 Indians from Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, and announced a raft of precautionary measures to deal with suspected cases. A meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed India's preparedness to deal with the virus amid mounting global concern over increasing number of cases in China and several other countries. Wuhan along 12 other cities have been completely sealed by the Chinese authorities to stop the virus from spreading. The death toll climbed to 106 with 4,515 confirmed cases. According to the World Health Organisation, the common symptoms of the virus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. SACRAMENTO State legislators have revived a bill to ban gun shows at the Cow Palace, even though the venue ended the events last year. The bill, SB281 by Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblyman Phil Ting of San Francisco, would prohibit the sale of firearms and ammunition at the state-owned event center in Daly City, with the exception of gun buybacks hosted by police. The measure passed the Senate on Monday by a 27-11 vote and moves next to the Assembly for consideration. Unfortunately, certain advocacy groups like the NRA (National Rifle Association) are putting intense pressure on the Cow Palace board of directors to reinstate the gun shows, and we want to make sure that this ban is indeed permanent, Wiener said on the Senate floor. The surrounding community does not want these gun shows to come back. Community activists protested for years against the gun shows, which brought thousands of buyers and sellers to the Cow Palace. Three efforts to ban the events were vetoed over the past decade by former Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown. But the equation changed with the election of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called for an end to the gun shows when he was San Francisco mayor in 2007. Newsom has not taken a position on SB281. But a spokesman said last year that the governor firmly believes permitting the sale of firearms and ammunition on state-owned property sends the wrong message and only serves to perpetuate Americas gun culture. Under pressure, the Cow Palace board of directors voted in April to stop holding the events after 2019, when a contract with the exhibitor Crossroads of the West expired. The last gun show was held in November. Wiener and Ting subsequently put their bill on hold. Gun rights advocates then lobbied the Cow Palace board to reconsider its decision to end gun shows, which the directors did at their November meeting. The board upheld the ban, but the episode prompted Wiener to bring the bill back for a vote. Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Tehama, urged his colleagues Monday to stay out of what is simply a philosophic, political debate with no public safety benefits. Criminals do not go to gun shows to get their guns, folks, he said before voting against the ban. Dont be worried about that. Newsom signed a similar bill last year prohibiting firearms and ammunition sales at the state-owned Del Mar Fairgrounds near San Diego. A ban approved by the fairgrounds governing board in 2018 is tied up in court, and gun rights groups, which argue that it violates their First Amendment rights, have vowed to challenge the new state law as well. Wiener and Tings bill has been amended to remove language that would have replaced the Cow Palace board of directors, whose members are appointed by the governor, and transferred control of the property to a joint powers authority consisting of San Francisco, Daly City and San Mateo County. Under the original bill, the authority would have been charged with finding developers to build housing and stores on the venues 68 acres. The Cow Palaces parking lot has been eyed as a prime spot for development to address the Bay Areas housing shortage. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sell Itera ASA (OB:ITE), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling. Do Insider Transactions Matter? It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market. We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own companys stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'. View our latest analysis for Itera The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Itera Chief Executive Officer Arne Mjs made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for kr4.4m worth of shares at a price of kr9.10 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is kr10.60. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider purchases were made at close to current prices. While Itera insiders bought shares last year, they didn't sell. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below! Story continues OB:ITE Recent Insider Trading, January 28th 2020 There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Itera Insiders Bought Stock Recently Over the last quarter, Itera insiders have spent a meaningful amount on shares. Chief Executive Officer Arne Mjs spent kr6.9m on stock, and there wasn't any selling. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook. Insider Ownership Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Itera insiders own 34% of the company, worth about kr291m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment. So What Does This Data Suggest About Itera Insiders? The recent insider purchase is heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Itera insiders are well aligned, and quite possibly think the share price is too low. That's what I like to see! To put this in context, take a look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow. If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. A radical depression treatment derived from party drug ketamine is set to be rejected for use on the NHS. There has been months of hype over the treatment - the first antidepressant with a new mechanism of action to be licensed in 30 years. But NICE say there is not enough evidence it works long-term, and the price - which exceeds 10,000 for the average course - is too high for the NHS to fund. NHS watchdog NICE has rejected use of party drug ketamine as antidepressant despite hype over treatment Last month drugs giant Janssen - a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson - announced it had obtained a license to use 'esketamine' as an antidepressant in Europe. The drug, delivered via a nasal spray, is chemically similar to the party-drug ketamine, which itself was first developed as a horse tranquiliser. Experts greeted the licensing of the drug as a huge step for mental health because of a dearth of progress in the field in recent decades. But drugs watchdog NICE last night said in draft guidance it would not recommend the treatment for use on the NHS. It said there was not enough evidence it would work to keep depression at bay once a patient stopped taking the drug - and it is too costly. NICE said in a statement: 'The cost-effectiveness estimates for esketamine are likely to be much higher than what NICE usually considers to be a cost-effective use of NHS resources, so it cannot be recommended.' Meindert Boysen, director of the centre for health technology evaluation at NICE, added: 'Our independent committee very much recognises the impact treatment-resistant depression has on people, their families and carers, the clear need for effective alternative treatment options, and the priority of addressing mental health challenges for the NHS. 'There is a lack of evidence comparing esketamine with all relevant comparators, and the committee concluded that the estimates of cost effectiveness were likely to be much higher than what the NHS usually considers value for money.' The decision is only in draft form - and could be reversed when the NICE committee meets again in a few weeks. Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said there is a desperate need for new treatments. 'People with depression are currently relying on medications that are 30 years old,' she said. 'Although these drugs can be life-saving for some people, they can have unpleasant side-effects and do not work for everyone. 'It is therefore deeply disappointing that the first new compound that works in a fundamentally different way on the brain should not have passed this hurdle.' But Professor David Curtis, honorary professor at University College London, said: 'This new guidance from NICE seems very sensible. 'Many psychiatrists have been concerned at the lack of evidence that esketamine is really a helpful treatment for depression. 'There are also unanswered questions about the extent to which it might cause unwanted effects and how it could be safely used in practice. 'On this occasion NICE is quite correct to wait for additional information, including the results from further research, rather than allowing esketamine to be used in routine clinical practice.' Dr Paul Keedwell, consultant psychiatrist at Cardiff University, said NICE's rejection was 'disappointing'. He said: 'A substantial number of individuals suffering from major depression fail to respond to two or more conventional antidepressants. 'New approaches are required to reduce the costs to society of protracted suffering, disability and chronic health care needs. 'The NICE refusal to recommend intranasal esketamine for the management of treatment resistant depression (TRD) will thus disappoint many sufferers in the UK who have failed to respond to existing treatments. 'The committee's objection to its use in TRD appears to be largely based on cost rather than lack of effectiveness. 'While it is an expensive treatment, the additional costs incurred with any promising new medication must be compared to the financial burden of persisting depression.' Realme Indias CEO Madhav Sheth recently replied to a taunt from the rival company Xiaomi, who called it a copy-cat brand. The Chinese smartphone company blamed Realme for copying elements from other competitors in the market. Funny! A copy-cat brand mocks us. Later this brand brings ads & some ppl start blaming us. Most brands push ads but only Xiaomi is bashed. Because we've been transparent about our business model. If any journalist wants to understand our internet business, I'm happy to talk! https://t.co/FecT1c3Khl Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) January 4, 2020 Xiaomi Vice President and Xiaomi India Managing Director Manu Kumar Jain began this war of words with his tweet, where he said, Funny! A copy-cat brand mocks us. Later this brand brings ads & some ppl start blaming us. Most brands push ads but only Xiaomi is bashed. Because we've been transparent about our business model. If any journalist wants to understand our internet business, I'm happy to talk! This sparked an online debate that saw a lot of comments from users. While some users were laughing at the CEOs witty remark, there were some who were in staunch disagreement. Some even took to sarcasm to troll the Chinese phone manufacturer. Madhav Sheth responded by tweeting, A real innovative brand and market leader won't behave like that. Basic dignity and ethics should be maintained no matter how insecure you are of your competitor's growth. We will focus on making #realme the best in 2020. Rest is their choice, we don't bother. A real innovative brand and market leader won't behave like that. Basic dignity and ethics should be maintained no matter how insecure you are of your competitor's growth. We will focus on making #realme the best in 2020. Rest is their choice, we don't bother. https://t.co/ev2zhAV47Y January 28, 2020 This tussle might not have been aggressive, but it was surely entertaining for the customers and followers of these two smartphone giants. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trumps defence relies in part on arguments made in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson more than 150 years ago: that impeachment requires a crime. But most legal scholars disagree, including a law professor called by Republicans in the House investigation to argue against impeaching Trump. In 1868 a lawyer for Johnson argued in his opening statement to the Senate that Johnson could not be removed from office because he was not guilty of a crime. Johnson was acquitted by a single vote. One of Trumps lawyers, Alan Dershowitz, cited the same argument that impeachment requires criminal-like in his constitutionaldefence of the president. The idea may be attractive to Republicans seeking a legal basis to acquit Trump of having abused his power and obstructing Congress. But legal scholars dispute the idea that the Founding Fathers ever intended for impeachable offences to require proof of a crime. And historians are equally dubious that the argument from Johnsons lawyer, Benjamin Robbins Curtis, can be credited with securing Johnsons narrow acquittal. This is a way in which history is weaponized and distorted in order to give these kinds of arguments heft, said Rachel Shelden, a Penn State University history professor and Civil War-era expert. Its a way of trying to promote an understanding of the Johnson impeachment that is false, based on what historians now believe. At issue is the Constitutions standard for impeachment: treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours. Over the centuries, the threshold has been understood to encompass actual crimes judges have been impeached for sex abuse and soliciting bribes, among other offences but also noncriminal misconduct such as being drunk on the bench or favouritism in the appointment of bankruptcy receivers. Johnson was impeached over accusations that he violated the Tenure of Office Act, which barred presidents from firing certain officials without Senate approval, over his removal of War Secretary Edwin Stanton. Johnsons defence team questioned the constitutionality of that now-extinct law, and at his trial, one of his lawyers asserted in his opening argument that an impeachable offence refers to, and includes only, high criminal offences against the United States. There can be no crime, there can be no misdemeanour without a law, written or unwritten, express or implied, said Curtis, a former Supreme Court justice. There must be some law; otherwise there is no crime. My interpretation of it is that the language high crimes and misdemeanours means offences against the laws of the United States. Republican senators sitting in judgment of Trump may well embrace such an argument. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas has said that anyone charged with wrongdoing has the right to know what law or standard theyre accused of violating. This idea that you can use abuse of power as a grab bag in which to stuff all your political, policy or personal grievances I think is very dangerous, Cornyn said. But legal scholars and Democrats are decrying the claim that an impeachable offence must be an indictable crime. Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and former student of Dershowitzs at Harvard Law School, described it as rubbish. Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor who argued to the House against impeachment, later wrote in The Washington Post that such an argument was politically unwise and constitutionally shortsighted. They had to go outside the realm of constitutional lawyers and scholars to a criminal defence lawyer to make that argument because no reputable constitutional law expert would do that, California Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has said as the argument emerged. He is one of the seven Democratic managers prosecuting the impeachment case. Another naysayer is close to the president. Trumps attorney general, William Barr, wrote in a June 2018 memo before he was nominated for the Cabinet post that Congress could impeach presidents who abused their power. Democrats say Trumps abuse of power pressing Ukraine for an investigation into a Trump Democratic rival, Joe Biden, at the same time his administration withheld millions of dollars in military aid is a quintessential impeachable offence. They say the Founding Fathers intentionally created a flexible standard of bad acts that could result in impeachment, and that Trumps acts in this instance are the framers worst nightmare. Historians also point to multiple reasons for Johnsons acquittal and are skeptical that senators at the time found Curtis arguments persuasive. Had Johnson been removed from office, he would have been temporarily succeeded by Benjamin Wade, the Senate president and a radical Republican disliked by more conservative Republicans. Behind the scenes, Johnson and his allies worked to assure senators that if they voted to acquit him, he would stop interfering in Reconstruction. That was the very concern that led to Johnsons impeachment in the first place. And theres some agreement among historians that the senator who cast the deciding vote against impeachment was bribed. I dont think you can place any weight on that argument for explaining Andrew Johnsons acquittal, said Jeffrey Engel, director of Southern Methodist Universitys Center for Presidential History and co-author of Impeachment: An American History. The Constitutions framers seemed more preoccupied by the notion of a presidents faithfulness to the office than on the precise acts that would merit impeachment, said Kent Greenfield, a Boston College constitutional law professor. What that means is faithful as opposed to corrupt, faithful as opposed to self-interested, Greenfield said. Theres something like a fiduciary duty to the nation. That duty is really more than just, Dont break the law. It means, Greenfield said, putting the interests of the country above personal interests. Even if the argument that impeachment requires a crime isnt the best legal one, it may nonetheless be worth making to senators, who are not judges and may be persuaded by arguments that arent terribly good law, said David Stewart, a historian who has written a book about Johnsons impeachment. Ill be blunt: If I was the presidents lawyer, Id probably make the argument, too, Stewart said. But I dont think its very strong. ___ Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP BEIRUT - The Islamic State groups self-styled caliphate across parts of Iraq and Syria seemed largely defeated last year, with the loss of its territory, the killing of its founder in a U.S. raid and an unprecedented crackdown on its social media propaganda machine. But tensions between the United States and Iran and the resulting clash over the U.S. military presence in the region provide a comeback opportunity for the extremist group, whose remnants have been gradually building up a guerrilla campaign over the past year, experts say. American troops in Iraq had to pause their operations against IS for nearly two weeks amid the tensions. From the other side, Iranian-backed Iraqi militiamen who once focused on fighting the militants have turned their attention to evicting U.S. troops from the Middle East. In the meantime, Islamic State group sleeper cells intensified ambushes in Iraq and Syria in the past few weeks, killing and wounding dozens of their opponents in both countries. Activists and residents say the attacks have intensified since the U.S. killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a Jan. 3 drone strike at Baghdads airport. It is not clear whether the uptick is related to the repercussions that followed from the strike, and it is possible some of the attacks had been planned before Soleimanis killing. U.S. officials deny seeing any particular increase in IS activities. They havent taken advantage of it, as far as we can see, said James Jeffrey, the State Department envoy to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State. Mervan Qamishlo, a spokesman for Syrias U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force, said the intensification of IS attacks began even earlier, since October, when Turkey began a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Still, the militants clearly gained at least temporary breathing room as the killing of Soleimani, along with a senior Iraqi militia leader, brought Iran and the U.S. to the brink of all-out war and outraged Iraqis, who considered the strike a flagrant breach of sovereignty. On Jan. 5, Iraqs parliament called for the expulsion of the 5,200 U.S. troops from the country who have been there since 2014 on a mission to train Iraqi forces and assist in the fight against IS. The U.S.-led coalition then put the fight against IS on hold to focus on protecting its troops and bases. It said last week that it had resumed those operations after a 10-day halt. This tension will for sure help Daesh, as all forces fighting it become busy with other matters, warned Abdullah Suleiman Ali, a Syrian researcher who focuses on jihadi groups, using the Arabic acronym for IS. Among other things, he said Iran-U.S. tensions help give IS the opportunity to restructure as its new leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, strengthens his grip. Al-Qurayshi was announced in the post after longtime leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by a U.S. raid in Syria in October. The day the American-Iranian clash began, Daesh started intensifying its attacks, said Rami Aburrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor. On Jan. 14, IS launched a cross border attack from Syria into Iraq, killing an Iraqi officer. A day later, IS fighters attacked an Iraqi force in the central Salaheddine region, killing two soldiers and wounding five. Two days later, an Iraqi intelligence major was killed in a car bomb north of Baghdad. One of the deadliest attacks occurred in Syria on Jan. 14, when IS fighters stole some 2,000 cattle from a village near the eastern town of Mayadeen. One of the four shepherds that own the cattle informed authorities, and a Syrian government military force was sent to the area, where they were met by IS fire. As the forces returned to their base, IS gunmen laid an ambush, killing 11 troops and pro-government fighters as well as two shepherds. IS published photos showing bodies of soldiers said to have been killed in the attack, along with a destroyed armoured vehicle and an overturned truck. On the same day, seven shepherds were found shot dead west of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour. On Jan. 4, 21 shepherds were found shot in the back of their heads, their hands were tied behind their backs. Dozens of members of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian democratic Forces have been killed over the past months in attacks claimed by IS as well. With the painful strikes, IS is taking advantage to boost its influence and send a message to their supporters that they are still strong, said Omar Abu Laila, an activist from Deir el-Zour now based in Europe. Some civilians dont dare leave their homes after sunset because of fear of Daesh, Abu Laila said. The group is also trying to restore its presence on social media and the Internet a key component to its ability to raise financial support from abroad and recruit new fighters. IS members and supporters have for years sown fear and projected power with the grisly videos they released on social media showing beheadings, amputations and victims burned to death or thrown from buildings. In recent weeks, European authorities, co-ordinated by Europol, have shut down thousands of IS propaganda platforms and communication channels in an unprecedented crackdown. In particular, the crackdown forced ISs news agency and other channels off the Telegram text messaging system, the groups primary outlet since 2015. The Europol campaign of November had a massive impact on ISIS support networks on Telegram, said Amarnath Amarasingam, a terrorism researcher at Queens University in Ontario, Canada. Since then, the extremists have shifted to other messaging platforms including the Russia-based TamTam, Canada-based Hoop Messenger and BCM Messenger. They also tried to get back on Twitter using hacked accounts, Amarasingam said. So far, those efforts have not been very successful as international authorities work to chase them down on those outlets as well. None of this is really matching the presence they had on Telegram from 2015 onwards, Amarasingam said. [January 28, 2020] MTDC and WLC Execute MoU to Launch Digital Economy Platform Digitizing Malaysia and its Trade Partners Creating Millions of Jobs Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) and Ireland's semi-governmental World Logistics Council Limited (WLC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deploy the organisation's Digital Economy Platform, the Multi-Dimensional Digital Economy Application System (MDDEAS). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005775/en/ MTDC and WLC execute MoU to deploy Digital Economy Platform with world's leading technology firms digitizing Malaysia and its trade partners. (Photo: Business Wire) Through this MoU, MTDC and WLC will promote the deployment of MDDEAS, in cooperation with the world's largest technology firms, which will digitally connect businesses in Malaysia with their global trade partners and trigger enhanced efficiency and security of trade, with Malaysia serving as a benchmark for the world. MDDEAS is built based on a catalogue of product and process innovations that leverage the latest technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data Analytics, and Blockchain, mong others, to de-risk commerce, reduce costs, and create greater access to finance and insurance services globally. Dato' Norhalim Yunus, MTDC Chief Executive Officer and Captain Samuel Salloum, WLC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer signed the MoU, which was witnessed by Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat, MTDC Chairman. MTDC Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rahman said the platform will assist Malaysia connect local businesses to foreign partners and expand into global markets. "This collaboration marks another milestone for the companies in MTDC's ecosystem as MDDEAS can better connect our local SMEs to global markets through a seamless borderless digital marketplace and create tremendous market expansion opportunities. MTDC in its role as the strategic enabler for I4.0 for local SMEs will identify those SMEs who can benefit from the MDDEAS tools. It is important to do all this in a new digital format." The MoU closely aligns with the Government's Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (SPV 2030) which focuses on high-impact industries such as aerospace, digital economy and high-tech farming. WLC Chairman Captain Samuel Salloum said that MDDEAS offers "thousands" of on-demand applications that enable businesses to synchronize their logistics, insurance, financial and commerce systems with other businesses worldwide to establish a new "21st-century efficiency level". The WLC aims to enable MDDEAS users to tap into the world's business-to-business (B2B) market, currently valued at USD 150 trillion, and deliver a new USD 20.5 trillion digital services marketplace, more than ten times the size of current oil and gold production combined. Captain Salloum exclaimed, "We are pleased this initiative was pioneered by Johor Corporation, whose vision and 10 years of R&D has contributed to the Digital Economy being adopted as a key G20 Leaders' policy directive and amassing more than 150 countries, 26 IGOs/ NGOs and prominent firms to deploy the platform. With the MoU signing, MTDC will apply its technical resources and strategic alliances to commercialize the platform benefiting Malaysia, ASEAN and their trade partners worldwide." The advantage of MDDEAS over existing platforms is that it captures high quality data that is automatically cross-checked and validated by multiple organizations within the system, he said. "Through a unique balanced governance and deployment structure, the platform offsets geopolitical, monopolistic and data privacy concerns related to trade and trade data which are of national security importance." Dato' Norhalim Yunus, MTDC Chief Executive Officer elaborated, "We are delighted to be part of this global initiative that will digitise the value chains of Malaysia and its trade partners. This collaboration marks another milestone for MTDC as we will identify those companies who will benefit from the world digital market." View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005775/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The museum has not commented on the theft. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Precious coins worth more than 1 million have been stolen from the Slovak National Museum. The offenders are also said to have replaced the exhibits with imitations, the Pravda daily reported. Read also Read also Archaeologists find hundred-year-old fork Read more The police had already launched a criminal prosecution for theft and the forgery of cultural heritage items on January 13. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement They do not want to provide further information due to it being an ongoing investigation, the SITA newswire reported. It is possible that the SNM has known about the stolen exhibits for some time. However, when contacted by Pravda, it did not want to confirm that the coins have been stolen and refused to specify their value. The Culture Ministry, under which the SNM falls, said it will comment on the situation once the investigation is over. New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (January 28) accused the Narendra Modi government of tarnishing India's image as a country where peace prevailed and urged the youth not to let their voice be suppressed. The former Congress president held the BJP government responsible for creating an image for the country that deterred investors. Rahul, targetting the youth in the rally, said that the Modi government failed to deliver on its promise to create jobs. "PM Modi had promised to create two crore jobs but one crore people lost theirs last year," he said at the rally. Training his gun on the ruling government at the Centre, Rahul that "its shameful that the economic growth has dropped since UPA was in power. Modi could not understand the Goods and Service Tax." Live TV Slamming Modi government Rahul said, ''Wherever Prime Minister goes he talks of CAA, NRC but the biggest issue of unemployment is not mentioned, PM doesn`t even speak a word on it."He also invoked the issue of demonetisation in his address.'' "Even today ask an eight-year-old, did demonetisation benefit you or harm you? A child will say harm. Earlier we were competing with China but now sadly, China has left us far behind. The whole world knows if there is anyone who can rival China, it is India`s youth", added Gandhi. He urged the youth to raise issues related to the country's future saying, "Youth are India's biggest asset, country today is wasting this asset." The Jaipur public meeting was billed 'Yuva Aakrosh Rally', focusing on 'youth anger' over unemployment. At first glance, a Public Private Partnership (PPP) looks like the proverbial white knight galloping in to provide economic salvation to a city feeling the pressure of rebuilding five schools at once. These five schools are just a handful of all of the schools across Stamford that are in various stages of disrepair, all waiting for the attention to turn to them. I sympathize with the Stamford Asset Management Groups (SAMG) mammoth task to fix this problem and I commend their exploration of a different path forward. But PPPs come with far reaching implications and significant risk. Therefore, a PPP should be considered with eyes wide open. Giving up public ownership of public assets is an extreme answer to our situation here in Stamford and should only be considered when all other possible alternatives have been considered simultaneously and with great due diligence. What is it about a PPP that makes an outsider more qualified to care for our public school facilities? I will argue, nothing, except the funding to do so and the will required. Underfunded does not mean incapable In 2009 the city commissioned a facilities report in excess of 100 pages that outlined about $100,000,000 in repairs that needed to be completed in SPS to remediate mold and address underlying causes. Stamford chose poorly and decided not to fully fund the need, instead offering a mere fraction of the funds needed. This under-funding ultimately led to the 2018 mold crisis. For those who sat on the collective boards at that time and advocated into the void for more funding, it comes as no surprise that more than a decade later, we are in the situation that we are in now. One of the premises for the PPP, put forth by the SAMG, is this idea that we are not good at maintaining our schools (a paraphrased quote reiterated by City Director Mike Handler dozens of times). This is a much-used talking point of those in favor of private sector management over public assets. But you cant underfund the maintenance of public assets and then claim the public sector is incapable of managing them; this is faulty, bad faith logic. Short of being a magician, it was impossible to have maintained the facilities to the proper standard. SAMG points to the dozens of pictures posted on the website as visual evidence to demonstrate that we are bad at managing our school facilities, but this does not prove that we are bad at maintaining our schools. What it does prove is what we all know to be true: Stamfords schools are in a state of disrepair, and we have severely underfunded school facilities and have been fiscally irresponsible in doing so. Many other school districts, including Greenwich following its mold crisis a decade ago, had made similar mistakes and yet were able to find the discipline to improve at school maintenance. The sacrifices with PPP On the surface it is appealing to have someone else manage something we dont want to manage ourselves, something we find to be a burden. While there may be some advantages and some perceived relief, there are far-reaching negative implications of government partnering with the private sector that should be considered. For-profit motivations A private company is motivated by profits, not by the common good, nor the community of Stamford, nor the will of the people. These for-profit companies are investor backed and will have profits to prove at whatever cost. In an effort to maintain and increase profits, they often cut corners. Sometimes this comes in the form of paying workers less and in other scenarios, it comes in the form of reducing services provided. And in some cases these scenarios all happen at once. Lower wages There is nothing inherently better about a manager in the private sector versus one in the public sector. You can find equally qualified people in both. The allure comes in the promise of savings. But at what cost? Any cost savings found would be found through a race to the bottom in wages. This is dangerous to our community for two reasons. For one, lower wages often result in lower quality of work. In Houston, for example, a PPP in the transit sector resulted in an increase in accidents because they were no longer attracting experienced, top talent. And two, lower wages for workers pulls at our core democratic values. We must, at a bare minimum, pay people a decent living wage. Unions help to ensure this. The private sector often cuts past unions. Entering this PPP as proposed by the SAMG plan would cut some of our actual neighbors salaries, while simultaneously raising their taxes a few hundred dollars a year. We risk driving our own neighbors out of our communities, some of whom have spent their lives building and maintaining this city we love. This is not just fear-mongering. In Sacramento, Calif., as a result of entering a PPP, experienced city drivers went from earning $21 per hour to $14 per hour (an approximate loss of $10,000 per year for a full-time employee). In other municipalities, workers have actually lost their benefits through PPP. Stamford custodial staff and maintenance workers could be at risk of experiencing these same circumstances. Transparency and accountability Right now, you can go to the government website and see, line item by line item, exactly how each of your tax dollars are spent. With a PPP that transparency is lost. Unlike the government, PPPs are making profits off of your tax dollars and they arent inclined to reveal the details. And you can forget about making a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents and emails that contain critical information, such as communications between the private partner and its subcontractors that prove mold testing was completed. By relinquishing public assets to private parties, citizens hand over their power to improve or make changes through democratic accountability. Right now, you can walk downtown and tell your elected officials that you dont like whats going on. If they dont listen, your voice will be heard at the voting booth. But with PPP, if it isnt specifically written into the contract or if there is discrepancy over the interpretation of language used in said contract, you are out of luck for the duration of the contract. In the case of the PPP proposed by SAMG, the term of the contract could be 50 years, 75 years, even 90 years. In a best case scenario where changes to a contract were needed, we are looking at a taxpayer funded legal battle to attempt to remedy any contractual challenges. Again, I sympathize deeply with the extraordinary task before the SAMG and want to support efforts to remedy the state of Stamfords schools. I simply ask that we proceed cautiously and responsibly by thoroughly vetting all possible options before we dive headlong into a single option. Lets explore retaining our schools and building high-quality, low-cost facilities. Lets stop saying we are bad at maintaining our schools. Instead, lets learn how to be good at maintaining our schools. There are a dozen plus schools not mentioned in this PPP proposal that we must repair and maintain and, for the sake of our children and our neighbors, we have to get good at it. Diane Lutz, D-14, is chairwoman of the Board of Representatives Education Committee. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, January 28, 2020 13:07 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20614f05b 1 World coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Jokowi,China,Wuhan-lockdown Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo said the government was facing difficulties in helping Indonesian citizens trapped in the locked-down city of Wuhan, China, where the fast-spreading coronavirus first emerged. Some Indonesian students and other nationals are still in Wuhan. We are facing difficulties in sending logistical aid to them due to the virus outbreak, he said in Surabaya on Monday. The Indonesian Embassy in China had been trying to deliver aid to Indonesians in Wuhan and would continue to do so, but the President noted that they faced problems as ground zero of the virus was in a state of lockdown. On Thursday last week, the Chinese government shut down travel into and out of Wuhan a city of more than 11 million people in Hubei province after the novel coronavirus had spread around the world, affecting thousands of people on four continents and killing more than 100 to date. Based on data from the Wuhan branch of the Indonesian Students Association, an estimated 93 Indonesian citizens are trapped in the city a majority of whom were students. Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun said on Monday that the embassy continued to keep in touch with all Indonesian citizens living in the quarantined zone, Antara reported. Djauhari expressed concern that Wuhan might soon experience food shortages, saying he had received information that stockpiles would only last five to six days. We will continue to supply [Indonesia citizens in Wuhan] with food before they run out [of stocks], Djauhari said. The Indonesian Embassy in China had set up a special post in the city of Changsha in Hubeis neighboring Hunan province to ease the distribution of aid and supplies, he added. So far, the Chinese government has imposed lockdowns on at least 13 cities to contain the spread of the virus in Hubei province, where about 243 Indonesians currently live in the quarantined zone. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry has said that all Indonesians there are in good condition. As of Tuesday, the death toll from the novel coronavirus has risen to 106, with more than 4,000 cases confirmed in China, AFP reported. The Indonesian Embassy in China provides four hotline numbers for information on the virus: +861065325489, +8613811284505, +8613146453974 and +8613552235327. (gis) Editor's note: Paragraph 10 of this article has been edited. A newly released report says a man who was shot dead by a Hillsboro officer in the police stations parking lot in October had followed a stranger more than 30 miles from Camas, Washington and seemed fixated on the man for reasons that remain a mystery. On Monday, the Washington County District Attorneys Office issued a statement saying the officer, Bobby Voth, was justified in the shooting and it would not be investigated further. Jason Livengood, 39, was killed by a Hillsboro police officer in the West Precinct parking lot on Oct. 21. His family doesn't know why he was there, and they want answers. (Photos courtesy of Brittany McElroy) Jason Livengood, 39, left his Camas home around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 21. According to an investigation by the DAs office, Livengood began following a stranger, Flugencio Osornio-Ambriz, for 42 miles and was visibly angry and aggressively tailgating him. Osornio-Ambriz, who worked in Camas, did not know Livengood or why he was following him, but said he was afraid for his safety. Osornio-Ambriz told investigators that when he stopped to get gas in Hillsboro, Livengood parked and waited, then followed him when he left. At around 6 p.m., Osornio-Ambriz pulled his SUV into the Hillsboro Police parking lot and told two police department employees that Livengood had been following him in his car, and he was afraid. According to the report, Livengood had also pulled into the police station parking lot, parked directly behind Osornio-Ambriz, got out of his car, and stood silently, looking straight ahead. According to the report, Officer Voth came out of the police station to assist and saw a handgun tucked into the crook of Livengoods left arm. Voth told Osornio-Ambriz to move to the side of the building, and Livengood tried to follow him. Voth tried to intercept Livengood, both by telling him to stop and grabbing him. Livengood kept moving toward Osornio-Ambriz, and ignored Voths commands to drop his gun, the report says. Livengood struggled out of Voths grasp, the report says, and was holding his gun. As Livengood started toward Osornio-Ambriz, Voth fired his own gun twice, striking Livengood in the center of his back. Livengood died at the scene. Investigators found he was carrying a fully-loaded gun. Voth was wearing a body camera, which he turned on soon after he began interacting with Livengood. Tests revealed that Livengood was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but he did test positive for amphetamines, which police believe was related to Adderall use, the report says. In previous interviews with The Oregonian, members of Livengoods family described his behavior as uncharacteristic. Livengoods girlfriend told police he had recently had several family members die, and was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder from a car accident. His girlfriend told investigators that he made some delusional statements, including comments that red cars contain evil. Osornio-Ambriz was driving a red SUV. His girlfriend also said that as he left the house, Livengood told her I think its almost time for me to go home, which she interpreted as going to see God. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. RSG Information Filter by Category All Company Announcement - General Additional Listing AIM Admission AIM Notice Base Rate Change Block Listing Interim Review Capital Reorganisation Change of Name Conversion of Securities Drilling/Production Report Final Announcement Released Geographical Distribution Intention to Float Issue of Debt Issue of Equity Joint Venture Net Asset Value Portfolio Update Price Monitoring Extension Product Launch Publication of a Prospectus Publication of Final Terms Research Update Restoration Rights Issue Stabilisation Notice Statement Suspension Tender Offer Trading Statement Treasury Stock All Mergers, Acquisitions and Disposals Acquisition Merger Form 8 (DD) Form 8 (OPD) Form 8.3 Form 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI) Form 8.5 (EPT/RI) Form 8.6 Rule 2.9 Announcement Offer By Offer For Offer Update All Results and Trading Reports 1st Quarter Results 3rd Quarter Results AGM Statement Annual Report Final Results Half-year Report Notice of Results Result of AGM Result of EGM Result of Equity Issue Result of General Meeting Result of Tender Offer Syndicate Results All Dividends Dividend Declaration Dividend Currency Election All Executive Changes Directorate Change Change of Adviser Change of Registered Office All Directors' Dealings Director/PDMR Shareholding All Advance Notice of Results Notice of AGM Notice of GM Notice of EGM Notice of Results All Non-Regulatory News All Transaction in Own Shares All Holding(s) in Company Total Voting Rights Notification of Major Holdings By Xing Yi in Shanghai and Liu Kun in Wuhan ( Chinadaily.com.cn ) 10:40, January 28, 2020 A medical worker conducts testing of the novel coronavirus in Union Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province. [Photo provided to China Daily] A medical laboratory for testing the novel coronavirus was built and started running at the Union Hospital in Wuhan of Hubei province on Jan 25, testing more than 200 samples daily. Wang Lin, director of the clinical testing department of the hospital, said it takes six hours for testing results and the lab is running around the clock as staff give up their holiday and rotate between three shifts a day. The hospital is affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and the lab is using the method of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect the virus. Wang said the lab is currently studying how to shorten the testing time and further expand testing capacity. A total of 2,744 people were infected by the novel coronavirus across the country as of Sunday midnight, according to the National Health Commission. The jury trial of retired Army Maj. Gen. James Grazioplene on rape and incest charges has been postponed for eight more months. Grazioplene was scheduled to face trial Monday, but Prince William County's Circuit Court has continued the proceedings until Sept. 14, according to Christina Shaw, a deputy clerk at the Circuit Court Clerk's Office. The two-star, who retired from the Army in 2005, was arrested Dec. 7, 2018, and indicted by a Virginia grand jury on three counts of rape and three counts of incest allegedly involving his daughter between Aug. 1, 1987, and May 31, 1988, according to the Dec. 3 indictment documents. The Army charged Grazioplene in 2017 with violating Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice with six specifications of rape of a minor on multiple occasions between 1983 and 1989, The Washington Post reported. Related: Retired Army General's Trial on Rape and Incest Charges Postponed Again But the Army dismissed the case after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled there should be a five-year statute of limitations on rape charges, according to an Army Times story. The current indictments against Grazioplene do not name his victim, but The Washington Post story reported that Jennifer M. Elmore, 47, said in an interview that she first reported to the Army in 2015 that her father, Grazioplene, had sexually abused her when she was a child. When reached for comment, Elmore's attorney, Ryan Guilds, declined to comment on the case. Military.com contacted Grazioplene's attorneys -- Thomas Pavlinic and John Irving -- to find out why the trial has been continued but did not receive a response by press time. Grazioplene's trial was continued twice in 2019. His original trial date was postponed from April 29 to Sept. 3 and then continued until Jan. 27 to give his attorneys more time to locate key witnesses, according to the Defendant's Notice and Motion to Continue. Grazioplene remains in custody at the Prince William-Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center, according to an official at the jail. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Read More: Judge Denies Bail for Retired Army General Charged with Raping Daughter Harry Dunn died in a crash outside a US military base in Northamptonshire last year (Family handout/PA) Almost two thirds of Americans would support the extradition of the wife of a US intelligence official charged in connection with the death of Harry Dunn, according to a poll. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo rejected an extradition request by the UK Government for Anne Sacoolas on Thursday. That decision goes against public opinion in the US, YouGov said, with its poll showing 64% of Americans would support the suspects extradition. The breakdown was similar among both Democrats and Republicans, and of the 1,352 US adults surveyed, 9% are opposed to her extradition. The US government refuses to extradite Anne Sacoolas, a decision which flies in the face of the fact that 64% of Americans support turning her over to UK police. Dominic Raab is set to demand her return in a meeting with US counterpart Mike Pompeo tomorrowhttps://t.co/579jbrkOfH pic.twitter.com/jBZFzopcfI YouGov (@YouGov) January 28, 2020 The remaining 27% said they did not know. The survey comes just a day before Mr Pompeo is due to have a meeting with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has described the extradition request refusal as a denial of justice. Mr Dunn was killed when his motorbike collided with a car outside a US military base in Northamptonshire on August 27 last year. Mrs Sacoolas, 42, the wife of a US intelligence official based at RAF Croughton, was granted diplomatic immunity after the crash, sparking an international controversy. Earlier on Tuesday, a lawyer representing alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein said the US should help with the investigation into Mr Dunns death if it wants co-operation in its bid to quiz the Duke of York as part of its sex trafficking inquiry. Lisa Bloom, who represents five of Epsteins alleged victims, tweeted: If we want cooperation, we must cooperate in their investigations too. She spoke out after US lawyer Geoffrey Berman revealed Prince Andrew had provided zero co-operation in the Epstein investigation, despite his lawyers being contacted by prosecutors and the FBI. Sarah Wairimu Cohen was on Monday finally allowed to collect personal effects from her matrimonial home in Kitisuru, Nairobi, four months after the body of her husband, Tob Cohen, was found in a septic tank in the compound. Last week, Lady Justice Stella Mutuku allowed Wairimu to collect her clothes, shoes, handbags and grooming tools. She was, however, denied access to foods and alcohol, her car, her daughters belongings, two dogs Major and Snow, electronics, files from her office and paintings. On Monday, there was a small standoff at the Cohen residence after Sarahs lawyer Philip Murgor demanded a video recording of the exercise which DCI agents strongly objected to. Youre junior here. We can only take such restrictive instructions from your seniors. Better DCI Director George Kinoti be here, Murgor told the DCI detective as quoted by the Star. Speaking to the media after the standoff, Murgor said they resolved the issue. Kulikuwa na hali kidogo ya kutoelewana we wanted to be part of this process to see that she has only taken what the court ordered her to, he said. But we have entered into an agreement and decided that they will record a video, write an inventory on the same. Family lawyer Cliff Ombeta noted: By extension, the DPP is on the same side with the victims lawyer. We have agreed that the family enters and picks only her shoes, handbag, clothes and beauty products. Not even a knife, spoon, salt or wine. That is why we are insisting that a video must be recorded and two officers accompany her step by step. Ombeta noted they insisted that two lady officers should follow Ms Wairimu in each room. BJP president JP Nadda said on Tuesday that development of Delhi was possible only by a government led by his party and the Central government had regularised illegal colonies in Delhi despite "obstacles" by AAP government. Addressing election rallies here, Nadda attacked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and said he has not won any election since 2015. "Modiji regularised 1731 illegal colonies. Kejriwal created obstacles but could not succeed. Development of Delhi is possible only through BJP," he said. He said the AAP government had deprived poor people of Delhi of benefits of Ayushman Bharat scheme by not implementing it in Delhi. Nadda accused AAP government of failing to fulfil its promises a practising vote-bank "A chief minister takes the oath of protecting the constitution but he is not doing it. For them, the vote is first and the country afterwards," he said. He said Delhi election is an election of "patriots, it is for the country and development of Delhi". Nadda also said that controversial JNU student Sharjeel Imam, who stoked controversy with his "cut off Assam from India" remark, had been arrested by Delhi Police from Bihar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood will come out in November with her first poetry collection in over a decade, writing about bodies and minds in transition, as well as the everyday objects and rituals that embed us in the present. Titled "Dearly", the book will be published by Chatto & Windus, a part of the Vintage division of Penguin Random House UK. By turns moving, playful and wise, these poems are about absences and endings, ageing and retrospection, but also about gifts and renewals, the publisher said. Werewolves, sirens, aliens and dreams make their appearance in the poems, as do various forms of animal life and fragments of our damaged environment. Becky Hardie, deputy publishing director at Chatto & Windus, says, "Every poem in 'Dearly' rings with all Margaret Atwood's characteristic curiosity and energy. It is a pure delight which stretches heart and mind. We are so proud to welcome her to Chatto's poetry list with this new collection, and look forward to sharing it with her many fans." Hardie acquired rights for "Dearly" from Karolina Sutton at Curtis Brown and will publish simultaneously with McClelland & Stewart in Canada and Ecco in the US. Penguin Random House Canada will also be producing the audiobook of "Dearly", which will be narrated by Atwood herself and released simultaneously with the print edition. Atwood is the author of more than 50 books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. She established herself as a poet in the 1960s with two prize-winning collections, "Double Persephone" and "The Circle Game". Since then she has published a further fourteen books of poems, most recently "The Door" in 1997. The Canadian author's novels include "Cat's Eye", "The Robber Bride", "Alias Grace", "The Blind Assassin" and the "MaddAddam" trilogy. Her 1985 classic, "The Handmaid's Tale", went back into the bestseller charts with the election of Donald Trump, when the Handmaids became a symbol of resistance against the disempowerment of women, and with the 2017 release of the award-winning Channel 4 TV series. Its sequel, "The Testaments", was published in 2019 and was a global number-one bestseller and won the Booker Prize. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thiruvananthapuram, January 28 : Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday came down on the BJP-led central government, accusing it of starving the state of funds. Vijayan told reporters that the centre was unwilling to sanction funds which they owe to the state and this was causing the state to suffer a financial crunch. The centre should explain why Kerala had been denied funds even as some others states had been allocated financial aid, the chief minister said. The Marxist hardliner slammed the central government for denying the state financial relief to tide over the crisis caused by floods. The centre was also turning a deaf ear to the states request to raise its borrowing limit, he said. The country was about to witness a massive economic crisis. It would also adversely affect Kerala. If the centre continued to show neglect towards Kerala, the crisis would worsen, he said. Finance minister Thomas Isaac had also recently flayed the central government over the alleged neglect being shown towards Kerala. The centre had ignored Kerala when it recently released an aggregate sum of Rs. 5,908 crore as additional relief for states affected by floods. Kerala had been hit by devastating floods in 2018 and 2019 and was still overlooked by the central government. Isaac had also hit out at the centre for its failure to compensate states for shortfall in tax revenue on account of roll out of goods and services tax. The centre owes Kerala GST compensation dues to the tune of Rs. 1,600 crore. At the time of implementing the GST, the centre had vowed to compensate states for shortfall in tax revenue owing to the roll out of the new sweeping tax regime. Have you or your loved ones been in a car accident? Car accidents are horrible but, unfortunately, happens every day. So, your first step should be consulting a car accident lawyer. Hiring a lawyer is a smart decision; not only will he help you in getting the compensation you deserve, but he will also handle the insurance company and all the paperwork. If you are looking for a good Chicago car accident lawyer, here is what you should look for: Experience: If you want a reasonable compensation for your loss, you need a skilled and experienced lawyer who knows how to negotiate, when he should play nice or when he should be tough. You don't have to hire someone with little practical skills. Have A Clear And Engaged Conversation With You Attorney: If you want to win a case, you need to ask him a lot of questions in detail. Talk to him about his experience, his way of handling the case, his wins, his track record, his practice experience. If he does not communicate with you properly, there is an 85% chance you and your lawyer will have a communication problem later. Your car accident lawyer should provide you with clear information about his process, settlement money, and his fees. Ask For References: Request your lawyer to provide you with references, i.e., his previous client numbers, so you get more information about his way of working and other important information about him. An experienced lawyer will be happy to provide you the contacts of his previous clients. Area Of Expertise: Lawyers handle different types of cases; some handle motorcycle cases, some handle auto car accidents while others handle bus accident cases. If you want to walk with a good settlement amount, make your decision wisely. His Negotiation Skills: Insurance companies know just to make money. If you go to the company without a lawyer, the insurance company will do everything to minimize your payments. Your attorney must have strong negotiation skills so he can fight insurance companies and the responsible party efficiently. Mission Mangal director Jagan Shakti underwent a surgery on Monday and is reportedly out of danger. In a Mumbai Mirror report, his mentor director R Balki said that there was nothing to worry now. The report said, Jagan is doing well post the surgery and there is nothing to worry about now. Jagan was admitted to Kokilaben Hospital in the city after he collapsed while socialising with friends. A clot in the brain was detected for which he underwent a surgery. The report quoted actor Dalip Tahil as saying, I heard Akshay was among the first to know and got Jagan admitted, taking charge of things. Dalip was among the many who featured in Mission Mangal, including Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Nithya Menen, Taapsee Pannu and Sharman Joshi. Actor Sanjay Kapoor, who appeared in a small role as Vidya Balans husband in Mission Mangal, too expressed his concern. He was quoted as saying, He is such a fit guy. Im praying for his speedy recovery. Mission Mangal was based on real-life scientists, who contributed to Indias first interplanetary expedition, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launched by Indian Research Space Organisation (ISRO) in 2013. A film that was primarily led by a female cast crossed Rs 200 crore mark in September. Tweeting about it, Akshay had written, This is such a lovely creative Bhushan...our film, Mission Mangal just like this jigsaw puzzle came together with every piece fitting in perfectly and with your love & appreciation reached the 200 crores milestone. Also read | Grammys 2020 red carpet pics: Priyanka Chopras plunging neckline is too hot to handle, Nick Jonas is her perfect date. See best looks The film, however, had received mixed reviews. The Hindustan Times review called it an oversimplified film. It said, Indias first interplanetary mission, the Mangalyaan launch of 2013 was a triumph and made us the fourth space agency in the world to reach Mars. The facts are stupendous, but director Jagan Shakti decides to go fast and fictional, creating an underdog story that while often likeable plays out like a fable. Follow @htshowbiz for more When Yanqing Ye applied for a visa to come to the United States to conduct research at Boston University, she was asked if she planned to conduct any espionage, sabotage or any other illegal activities. Federal authorities say she flat out lied when she answered, No. Ye, according to investigators, was a lieutenant of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), the armed forces of the Peoples Republic of China and member of the Chinese Communist Party when she to the United States. Ye was charged in federal indictments Tuesday, along Dr. Charles Lieber, chairman of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, and Chinese national Zaosong Zheng, with aiding China and hiding their connections to the country. While federal officials did not say if all three cases were connected, Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said the cases are all part of Chinas ongoing campaign to siphon off U.S. technology and research. China continues to attempt to conduct a massive, long-term campaign to steal U.S. technology, authorities said. Records show during one conversation Ye had with people back in China that they even mentioned American (sic) taking precautions against us. According to federal documents, Ye was being directed by senior leaders of the PLA while conducting research at Boston University. Her supervisor was a colonel in the PLA and professor at the National University of Defense Technology, a top military academy in China directed by the countrys Central Military Commission. The colonel is not named in federal records. Another co-conspirator listed in Yes case is not named but authorities say this person was also involved with the NUDT and had worked on military research projects regarding rocket launchers. There is also a third, unnamed co-conspirator, who was a professor at NUDT. Ye applied for a J-1 visa application to conduct research at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering Center of Polymer Studies at Boston University. Her research and studies were funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council. On Aug. 4, 2017, Ye electronically signed her visa application and certified all her answers were true and correct. Ye falsely identified herself as a student and lied about her ongoing military service at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), a top military academy directed by the CCP, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. She claimed her military service ended on July 31, 2017, but it hadnt. Ye was not a student and instead was a member of the PLA and a lieutenant, records said. Yes visa was approved Sept. 5, 2017 by the U.S. Department of the State. Ye, who is in China now, studied in the United States from October 2017 to April 2019. Supervisors in China instructed Ye to conduct research, assess U.S. military websites and send U.S. documents to China. It was in April 2019 when officers from Customs and Border Protection and FBI agents interviewed Ye at Bostons Logan International Airport. Ye is accused of lying to investigators about her activities. Devices seized from Ye showed she accessed U.S. military websites, researched U.S. military projects and compiled information for the PLA on two U.S. citizens with expertise in robotics and computer science, according to federal documents. Ye used WeChat to talk to co-conspirators. During one conversation there was a discussion about a research paper focused on a risk assessment model designed to assist the PLA in deciphering data for military applications, authorities said. Ye also gave a co-conspirator her Boston University login information. The access allowed the co-conspirator to see Boston Universitys document database. During the April 2019 interview, Ye admitted she was a lieutenant in the PLA and was a member of the CCP, authorities said. Ye acted as an agent for the Chinese government, yet she never notified the Attorney General as required for agents working for a foreign government, federal records said. Ye was instructed to research a U.S. professor at the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California. The professor did work on computer security, digital forensics and computer software engineering. She was told to create a biography and send it back to China. Other conversations via WeChat involved Ye sending links about U.S. militarys surface force strategy. The co-conspirator noted the url had a .mil domain and it couldnt be accessed in China. This is probably American (sic) taking precautions against us, the co-conspirator said. Ye was also asked to compile information about a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio, records show. Ye, 29, was charged with one count each of visa fraud, making false statements, acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy. Ms. Ye left Boston University in April, 2019. We look forward to assisting the US Attorneys Office as it continues its investigation, BU spokesman Colin Riley wrote in an email to MassLive. Related Content: The immediate past House of Representatives Majority leader and member-elect for Tudun Wada/Doguwa federal constituency of Kano State, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, has said that only his colleagues in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will determine whether he would reclaim the position. Mr Doguwa who just won the rerun election conducted in his constituency stated this on Tuesday while briefing journalists after presenting his certificate of return to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Omolori. My fate is in the hands of my party and my colleagues in the APC, if they ask me to continue as the house leader, I will be grateful, he said. The Court of Appeal in Kaduna had sacked Mr Doguwa and ordered a fresh election in Doguwa and Tudun Wada, the two local governments that make up his constituency. The election was conducted last Saturday and he defeated his closest opponent with a gap of over 60,000 votes. The lawmaker while fielding questions said the APC is in absolute control and has a firm grip of Kano State. He debunked claims that the rerun elections in Kano were marred by violence and electoral malpractices. The member-elect said the election was free and fair in Kano, describing the state as a progressive state. According to him, local and foreign observers, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) certified that the elections were credible. Kano is a very progressive state, in politics, Kano leads and every other state follows; I want to assure that the APC has an absolute grip and control of Kano. Kano is the home of the APC and a key state in the North West; we will not compromise Kano at all cost, he said. Mr Doguwa who is returning to the house for the fifth time said that his constituents and indeed Nigerians in general should anticipate his full commitment to legislative activities. He said that the institution functioned effectively while he was away saying that his coming back was to contribute to nation-building which is a joint task. Mr Doguwa emerged as the house majority leader at the beginning of the ninth assembly after a consensus by the North-West caucus of the house. The APC had announced its decision to zone the position to the North-West. Mr Doguwa served as Chief Whip in the eight assembly, led by former speaker Yakubu Dogara. Before his sack, he was one of the oldest members of the house, having been elected for a fifth term. He was first elected in the short-lived Third Republic in 1993. RIBA has announced that all its prizes will now be sustainable. We are going to need a counterpoint. Prince Charles once trashed and killed a major modern building addition in London by calling it a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much loved and elegant friend." In 2006, Building Design Magazine launched the Carbuncle Cup prize, honouring "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months" as a "humorous" response to the Stirling Prize. Now the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has just announced that all entries for their awards (which include the Stirling Prize) have to be "environmentally sustainable." You don't even get considered for the shortlist if you are not. Chair of the RIBA awards group, Jo Bacon of Allies and Morrison, says: Environmental performance is no longer detached from architecture. A lot of Stirling shortlisted schemes had good sustainability metrics... We want people to demonstrate the strength of their environmental credentials. If they are not there we need to be able not to shortlist them for the highest level of awards. Just as the Stirling Prize got its humorous response with the Carbuncle Cup, and now that RIBA is honouring sustainable design, a new humorous response is needed to "celebrate" unsustainability. When I wrote a post last year suggesting that the AIA awards be dumped, Keep the AIA/COTEs, but it's time to scrap the AIA Awards, architect Elrond Burrell commented: "Perhaps a Carbon-cle Cup for the unsustainable winners!" He is right. Someone has to point out the most unsustainable buildings, now that they can't even be shortlisted for a Stirling. And because we want to nip these in the bud, unbuilt but proposed buildings should be eligible for the Carbon-cle Cup. And where the Carbuncle Cup is limited to the UK, this could be world-wide. Foster + Partners I would have the actual award modelled on Norman Foster's Tulip Tower, which is perhaps the poster child of unsustainable building, basically a glass restaurant on a stick. I wrote earlier: Foster, who famously was asked by Bucky Fuller, "How much does your building weigh?", doesn't tell us how much this tulip-shaped tourist trap weighs, or what the Upfront Carbon Emissions are. Given its function, namely building a very tall elevator with a building on top, I suspect that the UCE are really high and really pointless. It gets extra points because the architect is a signatory to Architects Declare. Union Carbide building via Fortune Magazine/via Another nominee might be 270 Park Avenue, designed by, you guessed it, Foster + Partners, which is being built on the site of a classic modernist building designed by Natalie de Blois of SOM, 2.4 million square feet of building that was renovated to LEED platinum less a decade ago. It's being demolished so that it can be replaced by Foster's slightly bigger building that you can see here on YIMBY for a company that prides itself on its sustainability. Architect and Passivhaus provocateur Bronwyn Barry thinks the AIA should follow RIBA with its awards. We agree, just to prevent the embarrassment of an AIA award winner also winning a Carbon-cle Cup at the same time. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Occasional light rain. High 44F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 26F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. 27.01.2020 LISTEN Ghanas Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is out for 2019 and by now most people know how Nana Akufo-Addos government fared. They scored 41%, the lowest in the history of Ghana. I can point out at least two things that will send NPP back to opposition: Galamsy and Corruption. Both fights, Nana Addo has woefully failed potooorrrrrr. With galamsy, my friend Solomon Owusu of Denver, Colorado, and Hon. Kennedy Agyapong have given Nana Addo, enough advice so I will not waste my time on that. I will only give a free advice to Nana Addo on how he will fight and win the war on corruption. We, as people can still do it if we have an incorruptible President and I hope we do. These are my solutions: *1* Nana Addo should immediately reduce the size of his government. With 125 Ministers and at his age, with a useless monitoring ministry, everybody knows Nana Addo has lost control of his ministers on corruption. *2* Nana Addo should stop being the clearing-agent for his corrupt ministers and refer all those he had cleared to the Special Prosecutor for prosecution. *3* Nana Addo for once, should take charge of his government and abolish the committee formed to investigate the fall of the cedi. It is a complete waste of time and resources. *4* Nana Addo should take immediate steps to transform our economy from a taxation to a production one. Was it not what we were promised? *5* Nana Addo should sack and punish all his appointees who have prevented the Special Prosecutor and Auditor-General from doing their work. *6* Nana Addo should publicly throw his unqualified support for the Auditor General. He should let Ghanaians know that he is still the President. *7* Nana Addo should resource the Office of the Special Prosecutor with personnel, money, and authority. Fellow Ghanaians, I have taken my time to give Nana Addo this free advice because I want him to start it so it will be easy for the next NDC government in 2021. I am aware HE John Mahama has already talked about plans to tackle corruption head-on by reducing the size of his government, supporting the Auditor General and resourcing fully the office of the Special Prosecutor. I cant guarantee if it will be Martin Amidu. When Nana Addo took over, the corruption index was at 48%. Within just three years, it is now at 41. Please dont vote for Nana Addo for him to do more by getting us to 20%. The image of Ghana is already low in the international community. We dont want it to get lower with Nana Addo as President. He is a disappointment, a disgrace and a failure. Lawrence Appiah-Osei 1-703-400-1621 WASHINGTON Republicans lack the votes to block witnesses at President Donald Trumps impeachment trial, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded late Tuesday, a potentially major hurdle for Trumps hopes to end the trial with a quick acquittal. Earlier, Trumps lawyers concluded his defense with a plea to move on. Even after sitting through days and late nights of argument, several Republicans apparently are ready to join Democrats in considering in-person testimony from former National Security Adviser John Bolton and perhaps others. Trumps lawyers made their closing case for a speedy acquittal Tuesday, but to no avail. McConnell told colleagues in a private meeting that he did not yet have the votes to block Democrats from summoning witnesses. That outcome would prolong an election-year trial that Trump and his legal team had hoped was on track, as one lawyer said, to end now, as soon as possible. McConnnells statement, in a closed-door meeting of senators, was an acknowledgment of the extent to which revelations from Bolton have scrambled the trials schedule and the desire for testimony. Bolton writes in a forthcoming book that Trump told him he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it helped with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. That assertion, if true, would undercut a key defense argument and go to the heart of one major article of impeachment against the president. Trump complained anew at a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, focusing on Democrats rather than Republican senators. While we are creating jobs and killing terrorists, the congressional Democrats are obsessed with demented hoaxes, crazy witch hunts and deranged partisan crusades, he said. There are still several days before any potential witness vote would be taken. A decision to call more witnesses would require 51 votes to pass. With a 53-47 majority, Republicans can only afford to lose three. If senators agree they want more witnesses they would then have to vote again on who to call. McConnell convened the private meeting shortly after Trumps legal team concluded their arguments in the trial, arguing forcefully against the relevance of testimony from Bolton and insisting that nothing Trump had done amounted to an impeachable offense. While scoffing at Boltons book manuscript, Trump and the Republicans have strongly resisted summoning him to testify in person about what he saw and heard as Trumps top national security adviser. A day after the defense team largely brushed past Bolton, attorney Jay Sekulow addressed the controversy head-on by dismissing the book said to contradict a key defense argument about Trumps dealings with Ukraine as inadmissible. It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts, Sekulow said. A night earlier Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz said that nothing in the manuscript even if true rises to the level of an impeachable offense. Sekulow also sought to undermine the credibility of Boltons book by noting that Attorney General William Barr has disputed comments attributed to him by Bolton. Senate Republicans spent considerable time in private discussing how to deal with Boltons manuscript without extending the proceedings or jeopardizing the presidents expected acquittal. Those lost steam, and Democrats showed no interest. Chuck Schumer, the Senates top Democrat, called a proposal for senators to be shown the manuscript in private, keeping Bolton out of public testimony, absurd. Were not bargaining with them. We want four witnesses, and four sets of documents, then the truth will come out, Schumer said. Senators are being warned that if they agree to call Bolton to testify or try to access his book manuscript, the White House will block him, beginning a weeks-long court battle over executive privilege and national security. That had seemed to leave the few senators, including Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who have expressed a desire to hear new testimony without strong backing. Also, other Republicans including Sen. Pat Toomey want reciprocity bring in Bolton or another Democratic witness in exchange for one from the GOP side. Some Republicans want to hear from Biden and his son, Hunter, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company when his father was vice president. The Bidens were a focus of Trump defense arguments though no evidence of wrongdoing has emerged. The lawyers also delved into areas that Democrats see as outside the scope of impeachment, chastising former FBI Director James Comey and seizing on surveillance errors the FBI has acknowledged making in its Russian election interference probe. Trumps attorneys argued that the Founding Fathers took care to make sure that impeachment was narrowly defined, with offenses clearly enumerated. The bar for impeachment cannot be set this low, Sekulow said. Danger. Danger. Danger. These articles must be rejected. The Constitution requires it. Justice demands it. Before consideration of witnesses, the case now moves toward written questions, with senators on both sides getting 16 hours to pose queries. By late in the week, they are expected to hold a vote on whether or not to hear from any witnesses. I dont know that the manuscript would make any difference in the outcome of the trial, said Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of GOP leadership. And some Republicans said they simply dont trust Boltons word. Rand Paul of Kentucky called Bolton disgruntled and seeking to make money off his time at the White house. But John Kelly, Trumps former White House chief of staff, told an audience in Sarasota, Florida, that he believes Bolton. White House officials privately acknowledge that they are essentially powerless to block the books publication, but could sue after the fact if they believe it violated the confidentiality agreement Bolton signed against disclosing classified information. Trump is charged with abusing his presidential power by asking Ukraines leader to help investigate Biden at the same time his administration was withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid. A second charge accuses Trump of obstructing Congress in its probe. Trump and his lawyers have argued repeatedly that Democrats are using impeachment to try to undo the results of the last presidential election and drive Trump from office. What they are asking you to do is to throw out a successful president on the eve of an election, with no basis, and in violation of the Constitution, said White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. Why not trust the American people with this decision? Why tear up their ballots? Democrats, meanwhile, say Trumps refusal to allow administration officials to testify only reinforces that the White House is hiding evidence. The White House has had Boltons manuscript for about a month, according to a letter from Boltons attorney. No matter the vote on witnesses, acquittal still seems likely given that Republicans hold a majority in the Senate and conviction would require a two-thirds majority against Trump. According to data compiled by C-SPAN, the House managers used just under 22 of their 24 hours over three days, while the White House team used almost 12 hours, or half their time. ___ Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Mary Clare Jalonick, Andrew Taylor, Matthew Daly, Laurie Kellman and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report. WALL, N.J., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NJFX , the only Cable Landing Station (CLS) colocation campus in the U.S offering Tier 3, carrier-neutral data center capabilities announces today that Telenor Maritime , has expanded its U.S presence at the NJFX CLS campus. Telenor Maritime is establishing a direct connection to Norway via the 7200km Havfrue subsea cable system, which traverses the North Atlantic and connects the U.S. at NJFX to mainland Northern Europe. Focused on accelerating operational efficiency and boosting marine and shore connectivity, Telenor Maritime offers ships and rigs cyber-secure digital infrastructures and the capability to wirelessly transmit enormous amounts of information. "We welcome Telenor Maritime to our growing NJFX ecosystem," comments Gil Santaliz , CEO for NJFX. "The company will be one of the first telecom operators to take advantage of Bulk Infrastructure's Nordic Gateway at NJFX. This gateway will directly connect U.S. content, cloud and service providers with the Nordics, unlocking the many capabilities related to sustainable digital services and emissions-free hydropower." Telenor Maritime, owned by Telenor Group, is the only operator at sea with a fully managed service, offering all mobile access technologies such as 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi and VSAT for ships and offshore platforms. With the goal of empowering the digital worker, Telenor Maritime is the only supplier that offers a digital platform with high-speed internet and 4G in the same ecosystem. "As the leading global communication operator at sea, Telenor Maritime is on the forefront of developing and defining secure standards for the maritime business," comments Lars-Erik Lune, CEO at Telenor Maritime. "As part of the new landing point at NJFX's carrier-neutral campus, Telenor will access the new Havfrue subsea cable and offer direct connections from the U.S east coast to the Bulk Infrastructure campus in Norway, N01, which hosts our new core site. We chose the NJFX SSAE 16/18 certified infrastructure due to its rich ecosystem of global connectivity providers and subsea cable systems, as well as for its close proximity to the Satellite Teleport in Holmdel, New Jersey. We are well on our way to unlocking the Nordics and enabling new capabilities for our clients globally." NJFX is home to four subsea cable systems and seven independent U.S. fiber-based backhaul providers, offering a marketplace rich with fiber networks and platforms providing multiple options for routes, security and diversity while creating a new model of the CLS as a hub of unprecedented capacity and connectivity. For more information, please visit www.njfx.net or contact [email protected]. About NJFX NJFX owns and operates a 64,800 square foot purpose-built Tier 3 Cable Landing Station (CLS) Colocation facility and 58-acre campus in Wall, NJ. This unique campus is the only carrier-neutral CLS colocation campus in the U.S supported by several route-independent carriers that offer direct access to multiple independent subsea cable systems interconnecting North America, Europe, South America and the Caribbean. The facility offers direct access to TGN1, TGN2, and Seabras. The building is the subsea cable landing of HAVFRUE/AEC2 this year as well as Wall-LI in the future. High and low-density colocation solutions are available with 24/7 support. For NJFX media inquiries, please contact: JSA +1.866.695.3629 ext. 13 [email protected] About Telenor Maritime Telenor Maritime has been leading the evolution of secure connectivity at sea since 2004, enabling the global maritime industry for IoT. In one digital ecosystem, we provide unique solutions permitting the same quality of experience at sea as on land, increasing profitability through operational excellence. Telenor Maritime is part of Telenor Group , one of the world's major mobile operators. Through Telenor, we have access to a broad range of competence and resources to market, product, innovation and content development. Telenor Maritime is serving more than 100 ship owners, 25 million passengers and crew on board more than 400 vessels worldwide. For more information, please visit www.telenormaritime.com For Telenor Maritime inquiries, please contact: CEO Lars Erik Lune +47 90973006 [email protected] SOURCE NJFX Related Links http://www.njfx.net This article was produced in partnership with LEGO Masters, premiering Wednesday 2/5 on FOX (9/8c). To learn more about the show, click here. There are shows about baking cakes, blowing glass, and other creative pursuits, but until now the talented LEGO builders of the world everyday people who are LEGO artists, engineers, architects, and masons at home have gone uncelebrated, at least on American television. Foxs LEGO Masters is fixing that by showcasing the talents of 20 of the best LEGO builders in the country, chosen for their expert experience, building prowess and straight up love of LEGO. Bonus: Its hosted by funnyman, dad, and, yeah, the voice of LEGO Batman Will Arnett, who no doubt has spent some time playing LEGO blocks with his two boys. The show is filmed in a workshop with over 3 million pieces where each week the pairs of contestants complete themed challenges designed to test their creativity and engineering skills, with their builds judged by professional LEGO designers. Of course, there are way more than 20 LEGO masters around. The bricks are so popular that theres probably a LEGO master in every neighborhood in America, which means there are plenty of folks out there who have unique tips, tricks, and insights for those who want to up their LEGO design and construction skills. Some of them were gracious enough to share their tips and tricks with Fatherly. The Builder: Adam Jacobs Jacobs might just be the busiest dude in Rexburg, Idaho. Hes the campaign manager for Powerblanket industrial heating, a father of three Olivia, 5, Clara, 3, and Caldera, 4 months and a contributor to The Brothers Brick, one of the most popular building blogs on the internet. He has some impressive builds under his belt and says hes learned the same lesson Will Ferrell learns at the end of The LEGO Movie: bricks are for playing with! A closeup of one of Jacobs Star Wars-themed builds. Noteworthy Builds: Last year, I built a three-by-one-foot diorama of a Star Wars-themed World War I trench battle. It was massive, involving thousands of pieces and nearly 50 Minifigures. Pet Peeves: My pet peeve is people who put their LEGO sets on a shelf and never touch them. Everything I build is playable (also known as swooshable in the LEGO community). My kids can play with them whenever they want, and because of that freedom, they handle the sets very well. The best way to engage my kids imaginations is to allow them to play. They cant do that if what they built is gathering dust on a shelf. Story continues What LEGO Family Time Looks Like: We play with LEGO bricks together nearly every day. I usually build a big spaceship, castle or city, and my kids help here and there. When its finished, they play with the whole thing as long as they like. Playing together with LEGO is a bonding opportunity for my family. We can combine our imaginations to tell stories, express emotions, and even build gifts for other people. Pro Tip: Organize your bricks: if you dont have much space, sort what you have by color. If you have a lot of space, sort bricks by size. It makes building so much easier when you only need to look in a small container for a specific piece than digging through a giant bin. The Builder: Dave Racine When Dave Racines kids Noble, 5, and Felix, 2, get into the toy room of their Milwaukee home they usually find a small LEGO surprise built and left for them by dad, like a custom-built LEGO car or truck. Racine rediscovered the joys of LEGO bricks when he had kids, and as a self-described jack of all trades, he tries to do a quick build for them nightly. For him, LEGO bricks are storytelling toys and a great way to connect with them. Noteworthy Builds: For the holidays, we custom-ordered minifigs to resemble the Racine family and over the course of three nights assembled the 1,447-piece Gingerbread House (pictured). Lessons Learned: Were lucky to have a playroom with boxes of bricks, and we often find ourselves laid out on the floor. Kids love to play on the floor, but its much harder for parents to get comfortable kneeled down for long periods. So, make sure to schedule breaks. What LEGO Family Time Looks Like: We try to keep our LEGO build projects in the playroom. Its overrun by toys of all sizes, but the carpeting is also dotted with rogue LEGO bricks, mini figureheads, hands, and torsos. Felix, the youngest, likes to disassemble things more than build things, so as a family, a few nights a week, we team up and each picks up fifteen pieces to put them into a bin. Pro Tip: Start with a story in mind. What happened during the day and whats the thing you can build quickly to be a part of that story. Did it snow? Build a snowplow. Did the kids make their own pizza for dinner? Build a pizza delivery car. Racine and Jacobs are just two of the countless LEGO masters around the world. To check out more, tune in to LEGO Masters, premiering Wednesday 2/5 on FOX (9/8c). To learn more about the show, click here. Related Articles: The post How to Take Your LEGO Building to New Heights, According to Real-Life LEGO Masters appeared first on Fatherly. A failure to include the names and addresses of residents objecting to housing in north Dublin meant their appeal against the development was invalid, the High Court ruled. Mr Justice Denis McDonald dismissed a challenge by an agent acting on behalf of residents of St Michael's Cottages in Balgriffin to An Bord Pleanala's decision last March to declare invalid an objection to Cairn Homes' plan for 64 house and 32 apartments at Parkside, west of St Michael's. It was claimed on behalf of the residents the Cairns development appeared to involve an encroachment on a number of St Michael's properties. It was also claimed a proposed entrance road would be seriously detrimental to the development potential of some of the cottages. Brendan Dalton, who described himself as "a broker advocate" exclusively advocating for the residents on development issues, lodged a submission to the original Cairns application to Dublin City Council in which he raised these concerns. He said the residents were also concerned about the proposed height of the proposed buildings. In January 2019, the council granted permission. Mr Dalton submitted an appeal to the board in which he again said the Cairns development did not consider the concerns of the residents. He also said Cairns should have given details of its plan prior to making the application "in order to encompass our client's lands as part of a wider development strategy." In February 2019, the board sent Mr Dalton a letter saying the appeal had been received and would be considered in accordance with the planning acts. However, the following month a Bord Pleanala executive officer instructed that another letter be sent to him stating the appeal was invalid because the names and addresses of the appellant residents had not been provided in the appeal documents. Mr Dalton then brought a High Court challenge claiming there had been substantial compliance with the law in the appeal. He also argued any non-compliance was of "technical or trivial nature and cannot render the appeal invalid." He also claimed he had been denied fair procedures because he should have been given an opportunity by the board to argue his case before the appeal was declared invalid. The board opposed his action. Mr Justice McDonald said the Planning and Development Act 2000 was very clear there was a straightforward requirement to state both the names and addresses of the appellant and any agent acting on their behalf. The fact that a great deal of the residents may have made submissions at the stage when the plan was being considered by the city council "does not seem to me to make any difference", the judge said. Since residents' names and addresses were not provided on the appeal documents, there was a failure to comply with statutory requirements, he said. The judge also found there was no breach of an obligation of fairness. There was no discretion under the planning legislation to allow the board to be swayed by submissions made to it in relation to invalidity. It was a straightforward legislative provision setting out the requirements for a valid appeal, he said. "Either an appeal complies with those requirements or it does not." A warning has been released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention against all nonessential travel to China. The warning comes in the light of the increasing worries about the coronavirus that has infected five people in the U.S. and has over 100 people under observation across 26 states. Chinese officials have closed transport within and out of Wuhan and other cities in the Hubei province, including buses, subways, trains and the international airport. CDC is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by coronavirus, named 2019-nCoV. A number of travel-associated cases of 2019-nCoV infection also have been identified in other locations, including the United States, said the CDC statement. In other parts of Asia, some limited person-to-person spread has been detected among close contacts of travelers returning from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, however, community spread with this virus has not been reported in locations outside China. The CDC pointed out that based on current information, the immediate health risk from 2019-nCoV to the general American public is considered low at this time. As we learn more about this new coronavirus, we will continue to update our guidance. An updated Health Alert to health care professionals and public health partners with new and updated guidance is forthcoming this week, the statement said. Experts have stated that the risk of coronavirus coming to Massachusetts is low but warns people to take precautions as they would in the flu season, by washing hands regularly and covering their mouth when sneezing. Related Content: Iain Duncan Smith accused the Prime Minister of ignoring warnings from security allies such as the US (Ben Stevens/PA) Senior Conservatives have said it beggars belief that the Government has opted to allow Huawei a role in the UKs 5G network. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith led the criticism from the Government benches, questioning Boris Johnsons decision to open the door for the Chinese tech giant to have a limited role in the 5G upgrade. The backbencher, who chaired Mr Johnsons leadership campaign, accused the Prime Minister of ignoring warnings from security allies such as the US, saying that even Vietnam does not want Huawei. Tom Tugendhat MP, who is campaigning to be re-elected foreign affairs committee chairman, said there were many unanswered questions following the move to green light Huaweis involvement. Ex-cabinet minister David Davis accused the Government of preparing to accept a bribe from the Chinese state. The National Security Council, chaired by the PM in Downing Street on Tuesday, decided that high-risk vendors should be permitted to play a peripheral role in the network, limited to no more than a 35% presence. It slightly beggars belief that...were using an organisation that itself has strong and deep connections to the government in ChinaSir Iain Duncan Smith Huawei, with its close links to the Chinese government, will also be excluded from security critical core functions and sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases. But Sir Iain said ministers should be ordering the removal of Huawei equipment from Britains communications network it already plays a part in 4G connections rather than allowing it to be rolled-out further. We have a cyber war going on with China, they are constantly trying to break into our systems, they are constantly trying to put misinformation about, he told ITV. Therefore it slightly beggars belief that, while we know they are trying to mess with our systems as a nation, why were using an organisation that itself has strong and deep connections to the government in China and therefore is involved also in their secret state apparatus. We should be taking them out of this system. Every one of our close allies across the world, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America, and now we hear Czechoslovakia (sic) even Vietnam does not want Huawei in. Expand Close David Davis believes Huawei should be gradually taken out of the 4G and 3G networks (Peter Byrne/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp David Davis believes Huawei should be gradually taken out of the 4G and 3G networks (Peter Byrne/PA) Former Brexit secretary Mr Davis said Chinese government subsidies for Huawei gave the company an unfair advantage over European rivals, such as Ericsson and Nokia, when bidding to become network vendors. The problem is it is expensive (to use alternative providers), Mr Davis told the PA news agency. The question is, are we effectively going to accept a bribe from the Chinese government to let them gain access to our communications network? Because that is what this effectively is. This is a critical and strategic industry and we shouldnt allow it to be compromised. We should be banning Huawei and it should be gradually taken out of the 4G and 3G networks. Mr Tugendhat said the decision, despite the restrictions applied by the Government, did not close the UKs networks to a frequently malign international actor. 5. The exclusion from sensitive geographic locations seems near impossible to achieve in densely populated areas and in a world of mobile devices. 7/8 Tom Tugendhat (@TomTugendhat) January 28, 2020 He tweeted that it would be near impossible to exclude Huawei equipment from areas deemed sensitive geographic locations and queried what would be defined as critical network functions that the firm would be barred from during the 5G upgrade. Joining his colleagues in criticising the announcement was former defence minister Tobias Ellwood, who accused the Chinese government of instructing companies to spy on its own people. Labour pointed the finger at the Government for having failed to invest in home-grown alternatives to Huawei following the National Security Councils announcement of a limited role for the communications firm. Shadow digital, culture and media secretary Tracy Brabin said: The Tories refused to take our technological sovereignty seriously and failed to invest in home-grown alternatives to Huawei. As a result, theyre in the ludicrous position of having to choose between the UKs security concerns and our infrastructure needs. (Photo : NASA) How to Become an Astronaut? NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir Answers Space Questions on Livestream (Photo : NASA) How to Become an Astronaut? NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir Answers Space Questions on Livestream (Photo : REUTERS) Why is SpaceX Dragon Bringing Tons of Cargo? What is NASA's Secret Mission? On Monday, Jan. 27, NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir live-streamed a group of students at her alma mater University of San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography in order to answer some of their questions about science, space, and even her personal life. Interestingly, the live forum of Meir between the students also became an inspiring talk of Meir advising the youth not to give up their dreams, especially when they're still young. Jessica Meir's Message to Youth Almost 150 students from both Fulton Middle School and Memorial Preparatory for Scholars and Athletes in San Diego were invited to talk with Dr. Meir before she aboard the International Space Station. Students were able to ask questions about Meir's experiences in space and how long did it take her to reach her ultimate dream of becoming an astronaut. This is the time when Meir revealed that she failed a few times while entering her profession today. She said, as quoted by one of the student guests, was that "... she wasn't accepted the first few times, but then she finally was after a while, so that's just her way of saying don't give up until you get what you want." Meir also explained that having a dream should also be done with hard work and identifying what your passion really is. "I think the most important thing to do is to make sure that you identify your passion and do what it is that you really care about. Once you've done that, you do have to work very hard to make those dreams come true," said Meir. After the said event, Meir was able to thank all the students and organizers that made the event possible even if she was not physically around. "It really means so much for me to be able to share my life up here with all of you," said her. READ ALSO: 3 New Astronauts Arrive At The International Space Station Who is Jessica Meir? Dr. Jessica Meir has been part of NASA after she received her Doctorate in Marine Biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She was born and raised in the most northeastern city of Caribou, Maine, in the US. Meir became the very first Swedish woman that traveled in space and had become part of history after she and her colleague NASA Astronaut Christina Koch completed the very first all-female spacewalk in the history of space. According to BBC, she and Koch spent seven hours outside the International Space Station to replace a failed power controller on the station's P6 truss structure. This mission was also one of Meir's personal achievement as she then became the 15th woman to ever walk in space. United States President Donald Trump even relied on a congratulatory message for the female astronauts that described them as "very brave and brilliant women." As of now, Meir is still traveling on space for over 17,000 miles per hour, but a lot of the youth are already inspired to be just like her. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Albany Bringing hydropower from northern Quebec to New York City would not really cut down on greenhouse gases, according to a study released this week by New York-based opponents of HydroQuebec, which is currently in talks to sell power to the city. HydroQuebec coming into New York over a new line is simply going to be a shuffling of power, said Tanya Bodell, executive director for Energyzt, a consulting firm that did the study for the Independent Power Producers of New York, a trade association of in-state power plant operators. Essentially, the study found that Hydro-Quebec, which operates large hydroelectric stations in northern Quebec, is already selling excess power but wants to tap the New York market because of the higher rates there. At the same time, they argue, the savings in carbon emissions from the hydropower would be wiped out as existing customers, such as those in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, might look to coal or oil plants if the hydropower goes south. It also would divert potential hydropower from closer markets in upstate New York. CHPE merely allows Hydro-Quebec to access a higher-priced, long-term contract with New York City instead of selling into competitive spot markets at lower, more uncertain prices, concludes the study. CHPE is the Champlain Hudson Power Express, a transmission line that TDI, an Albany-based firm, wants to build between the Canadian border and New York City. They are proposing to run most of the power line below the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he wants to buy the hydropower from HydroQuebec and may even explore a bond offering to help pay for the $3 billion line. TDI would carry the power between Quebec and New York City. From the outset, in-state power producers have opposed HydroQuebec, saying they could do a better job of selling electricity to power-hungry New York City, once there are enough transmission lines. Unions representing power plant workers and builders such as the Boilermakers, are also allied with the opponents. HydroQuebec quickly pushed back against the study, saying they have the capacity, more than 37,000 megawatts, to meet the needs of New York City and other users. Their system of reservoirs and dams, they said, is North Americas largest clean energy generator. Additionally, said Don Jessome, co-founder of TDI, the Westchester-based Indian Point nuclear plant is scheduled to close in the next few years and HydroQuebec is the cleanest replacement for that large-scale power generator. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. There are two viable options to provide this power quickly: fossil fuel-generated power; or, renewable hydro power delivered via Champlain Hudson Power Express, he said in an email. HydroQuebec also noted the study was paid for by existing power plant operators who continue to rely on fossil fuels. A number of upstate New York plants use natural gas to generate electricity. There are other concerns about HydroQuebec, though. The New York Offshore Wind Alliance, representing makers of wind turbines slated to go in the ocean off of Long Island, is also interested in competing for the New York City market, said the groups director, Joe Martens. We would have preferred a competitive process so New York- built renewables would have a chance to compete, said Martens. One of the priorities, he added, is to replace the power produced in New York City by older and dirtier fossil fuel plants. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU In a new American Banker op-ed, NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger rebuked bank lobbyists for misleading the public with their criticisms of credit union-bank mergers. Yet banking groups wont make a peep about their $21 billion tax windfall they received as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, said Berger. Nor will they openly acknowledge how nearly one-third of U.S. banks enjoy Subchapter S status, thereby allowing them to distribute untaxed profits directly to their shareholders and avoid paying federal taxes. Berger noted that in the consolidating financial services environment, over the past two years, there have only been a handful of credit union-bank mergers, compared to nearly 400 mergers between banks. While not new, there has been much discussion leading to misinformation regarding credit union-bank mergers by the banking trade associations. Berger cited several reasons that bankers arguments are misleading, including: Kelly Gale made her Victoria's Secret Fashion Show debut in 2013. And on Monday, the Swedish-Australian model, 24, posed for the lingerie brand's upcoming swimsuit catalogue in St. Barts. She looked sensational during the beach photo shoot, showing off her toned frame while striking a series of sultry poses. Taking a walk on the wild side! Victoria's Secret model Kelly Gale flaunted her incredible physique in a zebra print bikini during a beach photo shoot in St. Barts on Monday Kelly wore a zebra print bikini which drew attention to her gym-honed physique. The runway star, who recently returned from a holiday in Bali, appeared to be in her element during the photo shoot. While Kelly often favours cheeky Brazilian-cut bikini bottoms, the designs she was wearing featured more conservative briefs. Summer body: Kelly wore a zebra print bikini which drew attention to her gym-honed physique So hot she needs to cool down! Kelly used a shower to water herself down as two photographers captured the titillating moment The shoot took place aboard a hired vessel from Float & Shoot, a company Victoria's Secret has used before on location while in the Caribbean. At one stage, Kelly used a shower to water herself down as two photographers captured the titillating moment. She then offered a seductive gaze while slowly pushing her hair away from her face. Feeling hot! She offered a seductive gaze while slowly pushing her hair away from her face Dedicated: Kelly, who is dating actor Joel Kinnaman, works out six days a week for up to two hours per day to maintain her figure In another fun moment, Kelly ran and jumped off the vessel into the water below. While in the ocean, a crew member held her feet to keep her afloat as a photographer took pictures of her from above. Kelly then did her best impression of a Bond girl by walking back to the beach from the shallow water. And... jump! In another fun moment, Kelly ran and jumped off the vessel into the water below Teamwork: While in the ocean, a crew member held Kelly's feet to keep her afloat as a photographer took pictures of her from above Her makeup didn't appear to smudge at all, despite spending so much time in the water. After wrapping up the shoot, Kelly was ferried back to the shore in a small boat with several members of the crew. She later told her Instagram followers it had been 'one of the craziest shoots ever'. Wow! Her makeup didn't appear to smudge at all, despite spending so much time in the water Movie magic! Kelly then did her best impression of a Bond girl by walking back to the beach from the shallow water Big day: Kelly later told her Instagram followers it had been 'one of the craziest shoots ever' Kelly has modelled for Victoria's Secret since 2013 and has appeared in five of the annual Fashion Shows. The runway show was axed in 2019, and it's unclear if it will return in the future. Kelly, who is dating actor Joel Kinnaman, works out six days a week for up to two hours per day to maintain her figure. Runway star: Kelly has modelled for Victoria's Secret since 2013 and has appeared in five of the annual Fashion Shows Uncertain: The runway show was axed in 2019, and it's unclear if it will return in the future Published January 28, 2020. This article is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. It took 40 years and three bouts of cancer for Larry Giacalone to report his claim of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a Boston priest named Richard Donahue. Giacalone sued Donahue in 2017, alleging the priest molested him in 1976, when Giacalone was 12 and Donahue was serving at Sacred Heart Parish. The lawsuit never went to trial, but a compensation program set up by the archdiocese concluded that Giacalone suffered physical injuries and emotional injuries as a result of physical abuse and directed the archdiocese to pay him $73,000. Even after the claim was settled and the compensation paid in February 2019, however, the archdiocese didnt publish Donahues name on its list of accused priests. Nor did it three months later when Giacalones lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, criticized the church publicly for not adding Donahues name to the list. Church leaders finally added Donahue to the list last month after ProPublica asked why he hadnt been included. But that, too, sowed confusion. Despite the determination that Giacalone was entitled to compensation, Donahues name was added to a portion of the list for priests accused in cases deemed unsubstantiated where the archdiocese says it does not have sufficient evidence to determine whether the clergy member committed the alleged abuse. To award a victim a substantial amount of money, yet claim that the accused is not a pedophile, is an insult to ones intelligence, said Garabedian, who has handled hundreds of abuse cases over the last 25 years. It's a classic case of the archdiocese ducking, delaying and avoiding issues. Donahue, in an interview with ProPublica, denied the allegation by Giacalone. A photo of Richard Donahue, a Boston priest accused of sexual abuse, in the Archdiocese of Bostons 1993 Catholic Directory. Donahue has denied abuse allegations. (Archdiocese of Boston) Over the last year and a half, the majority of U.S. dioceses, as well as nearly two dozen religious orders, have released lists of abusers currently or formerly in their ranks. The revelations were no coincidence: They were spurred by a 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report, which named hundreds of priests as part of a statewide clergy abuse investigation. Nationwide, the names of more than 5,800 clergy members have been released so far, representing the most comprehensive step toward transparency yet by a Catholic Church dogged by its long history of denying and burying abuse by priests. But even as bishops have dedicated these lists to abuse victims and depicted the disclosures as a public acknowledgement of victims suffering, it has become clear that numerous alleged abusers have been omitted and that there is no standard for determining who each diocese considers credibly accused. A spokesman for the Boston Archdiocese initially said Donahue wasnt on its list of accused priests because he was still being investigated and subsequently called the delay an oversight. Even when dioceses and religious orders identify credibly accused clergy members, the information they provide about those named varies widely. Some jurisdictions turn over far more specifics about problem priests from where they worked to the number of their victims to the details of their wrongdoing than others. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, or USCCB, has issued no instructions on disclosures related to credibly accused priests, leaving individual dioceses and religious orders to decide for themselves how much or how little to publish. The USCCB says it does not have the authority to order dioceses to release names or to resolve disputes over who should be on the lists, though in 2002 after a scandal in Boston, the conference did put in place new protocols intended to ensure alleged abuse by clergy was reported and tracked. Recognizing the authority of the local bishop, and the fact that state and local laws vary, the decision of whether and how to best release lists and comply with varying civil reporting laws have been the responsibility of individual dioceses, said Chieko Noguchi, a USCCB spokeswoman. While the USCCB can propose policies for church leaders in the U.S., the bishops themselves are appointed by the pope and answer to him. ProPublica has collected the 178 lists released by U.S. dioceses and religious orders as of Jan. 20 and created a searchable database that allows users to look up clergy members by name, diocese or parish. This represents the first comprehensive picture of the information released publicly by bishops around the country. Some names appear multiple times. In many cases, that accounts for priests who were accused in more than one location. In other instances, dioceses have acknowledged when priests who served in their jurisdiction have been reported for abuse elsewhere. Kathleen McChesney, a former FBI official who helped establish a new set of child protection protocols within the USCCB in the early 2000s, has urged bishops and religious orders for nearly two decades to create a comprehensive list of accused clergy. She said our database will allow the public to better track dioceses disclosures, rather than seeing each list in isolation. People don't know where to look, McChesney said. The contribution of the one list will help a lot of people to perhaps identify someone that they believe abused them. Still, much crucial information remains missing. Despite the recent surge of releases, 41 dioceses and dozens more religious orders have yet to publish lists, including five of seven dioceses in Florida, home to more than 2 million Catholics. The database also doesnt include many accused clergy members whom bishops have yet to acknowledge, even if theyve issued lists. An organization called Bishop Accountability has long maintained its own database of publicly accused priests, drawn from court records, news articles and church documents. The organizations list includes more than 450 names connected to dioceses that have not released disclosures. Sign up for Morning Report: Investigative stories and everything else happening in Houston delivered straight to your inbox. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, an advocacy organization for victims of clergy abuse, has pushed dioceses to identify known abusers and turn over records on them for decades. This process has finally begun, but the churchs obdurate culture of concealment remains, said David Clohessy, who led the group for nearly 30 years. They continue to be as secretive as possible, parceling out the least amount of information possible and only under great duress, Clohessy said. They are absolute masters at hairsplitting always have been and still are. Do we now know the names of more predator priests than before? Yes, of course. Are we anywhere near full transparency? Absolutely not. A Lack of Standards Until recently, only a few dozen bishops had released lists of priests with credible allegations against them. Many did so only when compelled by courts, as a condition of bankruptcy proceedings. That changed after August 2018, when the Pennsylvania attorney general, Josh Shapiro, published a 900-page grand jury report detailing not only abuse but a systematic cover-up by church leaders throughout the state. The report came just weeks after the resignation of then- Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C., and one of the highest ranking Catholic leaders ever felled by abuse allegations. The overall feel was like 2002 happening all over again, Kevin Eckery, a Diocese of San Diego senior administrator, said, referring to the intense scrutiny that followed a Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation into sexual abuse by priests. You could see that there was a need for a response that was about action and not a response that was about more words. Many of the 178 dioceses that have released new or updated lists of accused clergy since last year have cited the Pennsylvania grand jury report as a reason for doing so. Still, without a consensus among church leaders on what constitutes a credible accusation, bishops have used vastly different standards to determine who should be named. The Archdiocese of Seattle, which released its list prior to the grand jury report, began by dividing allegations into three categories: cases in which priests admitted the allegations or where allegations were established by reports from multiple victims; cases that clearly could not have happened; and cases that fell into a gray area, like those that were never fully investigated at the time they were reported. The archdiocese decided it would name priests whose cases fell into the first category and leave out the second group, but it sought additional guidance on the third set of cases. There's the question of who determines it to be credible, said Mary Santi, the chancellor and chief of staff for the Archdiocese of Seattle. We decided that we couldn't be the determiners of that. The Seattle Archdiocese brought in McChesney to help choose which names to disclose. Dozens of dioceses have turned to outside advisers, hiring former judges, former local law enforcement agents and law firms while others relied on internal review boards, composed of mostly non-clergy members. Ultimately, dioceses have set different limits on what to publish. The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas disclosed the names of priests even in cases in which officials could not substantiate the allegations themselves. In New Hampshire, the Diocese of Manchesters bishop also opted for greater transparency than most, disclosing clergy members who were currently under investigation and who had died before an inquiry was complete. Other jurisdictions, however, drew tighter lines, sometimes based on idiosyncratic criteria. In Nebraska, the Archdiocese of Omaha leaves out names of seminarians with substantiated allegations of abuse against minors. In Ohio, the Diocese of Toledo did not identify priests who died before a victim came forward because they posed no threat, the dioceses website explained. SNAP leaders have pushed the diocese to publish those names, so far to no avail. Their lack of transparency is devastating to those left in their wake, Claudia Vercellotti, a SNAP leader in Toledo, said. It defies logic that even when the church leader is dead, they are still protecting them over offering healing and transparency to the victims. Many dioceses have chosen not to include members of religious orders, such as the Jesuits, who have been accused of abuse. Religious order members, who make up 30% of U.S. priests, are taught and ordained within those orders, but they often spend much of their time working in the parishes and schools of local dioceses. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee, at the direction of its court-appointed bankruptcy committee, discloses extensive information about each accused priest it names, including timelines of their careers and documentation of when and where they abused their victims. But it leaves out religious order priests and priests who died before victims reported the abuse. Names of the deceased are only added if enough victims come forward to show a trend, though the archdiocese does not define how many allegations that would require. Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said theres room for debate over which accused clergy members should be named, but each diocese has to draw the line somewhere. At some point you have to make a decision, Topczewski said. Someone's always going to say your list isn't good enough, which we have people say, Your list is incomplete. Well, I only control the list l can control and that's diocesan priests. Its impossible to know how many accused clergy members dioceses have opted not to put on their lists. Bishop Accountability applies different standards for inclusion on its list than church leaders, tracking public accusations against nuns and other clergy members often left off the official rolls. As a result, there are sometimes substantial gaps between the groups tallies and those of dioceses. The Archdiocese of Boston currently lists 171 names. Bishop Accountability lists 279, including dozens of religious order priests omitted from the official list as well as several priests who died before victims came forward. For every person who's left off a list, bishops ought to be aware that they are retraumatizing survivors and doubling the insult and doubling the pain, Terence McKiernan, the founder of Bishop Accountability, said. Lost in the Archives Over his 40-year career, Alfredo Prado was accused of abusing children repeatedly, in nearly every corner of Texas where he was assigned by his order, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Today, hes named on six separate diocesan lists of credibly accused priests. Yet each jurisdiction gives different information about him, making it difficult to piece together the arc of his career, the totality of his wrongdoing or what became of him. The year Prado was ordained is shown on one list as 1958 and on two lists as 1957. The Diocese of San Angelo and the Diocese of Victoria refer to him as Alfred rather than Alfredo. San Antonio is the only diocese that discloses the total number of children he was accused of abusing within its jurisdiction, five. His status is also characterized differently from one diocese to another. Hes described as suspended by the Diocese of Corpus Christi, dismissed from his religious order and the clerical state by the Archdiocese of San Antonio, and laicized (or returned to the lay state) by the Diocese of San Angelo. The Diocese of Amarillo adds that he fled to Costa Rica, but it doesnt say when (according to news reports, it was in the early 2000s). The Diocese of San Angelo says Prado died, but doesnt list the year. Only the Diocese of Victoria provides a complete bio for Prado, noting each time his status changed, though the list does not confirm hes dead. ProPublica contacted Prados order, which has not released its own list; an administrator said the order did not know if Prado was alive or dead. Prados story is a striking example of inconsistencies in the information that bishops disclose about accused clergy members. Perhaps most remarkable is that it happened in Texas, where church leaders have made an effort to coordinate their releases. Nationally, the disparities in disclosures are even more pronounced. At one end is the Diocese of Sacramento in California, which issues a release on each credibly accused clergy member, outlining identifying information that helps distinguish one priest from another such as their ordination dates, seminaries, birthdays and every place they served within the diocese. Leaders also disclose each accusation submitted against the clergy member, including the year it was reported, the nature of the abuse and the victims age and gender. The Diocese of Ogdensburg in upstate New York is at the other end of the spectrum. Its list provides the first and last name of accused priests, with hardly any additional information. Most disclosures fall somewhere in between. The Diocese of San Bernardino in California, for example, outlines each clergy members current status in the church, the assignments they held within the diocese, the dates of abuse and when the diocese reported the incident to law enforcement. Dioceses consistently label clergy who have died as deceased, which accounts for about half of the priests in ProPublicas database. Jurisdictions are far less uniform in giving information about living members current locations or standing in the church. Over 700 clergy members status isnt given or is marked as unknown. Details about credibly accused priests abuse are scarce. Church leaders have disclosed the number of allegations made against roughly 10% of the clergy members theyve named, according to a ProPublica data analysis. In the early 2000s, dioceses across the country filled out detailed surveys compiled by researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the first-ever nationwide study of sexual abuse by clergy. The USCCB mandated the study as one of the new safety initiatives outlined in the 2002 Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Dioceses have continued reporting new allegations annually to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. Two John Jay researchers who helped diocesan employees fill out the initial surveys say that sometimes the lack of details about abuse by priests stems from sparse recordkeeping or different ways of defining abuse, especially when it comes to older allegations. It was thought about differently, so it was recorded differently than it would be today, one of the researchers, Karen Terry, said. Still, dioceses have other information that they often do not disclose, including schools or parishes clergy members were assigned to while serving in a diocese. McChesney, whose firm, Kinsale Management Consulting, has worked with a few dozen dioceses and religious orders on their disclosures over more than a decade, says dioceses typically keep thorough records of who is serving and when. If you want to find out if somebody was baptized in 1889 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, you can find that, she said. Disclosing those details can help survivors, especially those who were young at the time of their abuse, to distinguish between clergy with common or similar names, McChesney said. Only about 58% of the clergy members listed have information about what parishes or schools they served in. Often, the assignment histories provided by dioceses list only a priests appointments within that diocese, not where they worked or what positions they held over the rest of their careers. It's so simple, McChesney said. All it takes is a good research look and frankly, if you look sometimes at websites of dioceses and universities in the area, you can put that together. Mary Gautier, a senior research associate at the Georgetown center, said smaller dioceses with limited budgets dont always have the money or staff to dig through their archives. "One thing that the church is very good at is recordkeeping ... but it's very, very time consuming and labor intensive to really go through years and years and years of personnel records and track all this out, Gautier said. And I mean doing hand searches. There's none of this computerized, of course." Decades of Rage After his years in Boston, Donahue spent much of the last 20 years of his career serving in Honduras, where he established and ran schools funded by his organization, the Olancho Aid Foundation. He was back in the United States for medical care in 2015 when he was informed of the first of two abuse allegations made against him. The second accusation, by Giacalone, came in 2017. In the interview with ProPublica, Donahue denied both mens allegations and said he assumed his accusers had confused him with someone else or were looking for a payoff from the church. One accuser says he was abused for several years, up until 1981, but Donahue noted that in 1980, he moved to another assignment, elsewhere in Massachusetts. "I never met either one of them," Donahue said in the interview at his house in Cape Cod. "From a faith perspective, I'm trying to think there's a reason I've gone through this cross, for the last three years, with these false allegations. Why me? I don't know." After the first abuse allegation, in 2015, Donahue was prohibited by the archdiocese from participating in public ministry or entering parish or school property and was barred from returning to his work in Honduras. The accuser who came forward in 2015, also represented by Garabedian, has submitted a claim through the archdioceses compensation program and is waiting for the church to decide if the claim is credible, Garabedian said. Giacalone, now 55, says Donahues abuse led to decades of rage, alcoholism and drug use. He said he started drinking the day Donahue touched him. What was I going to turn to? he told ProPublica. I thought Id get relief. The first couple times, yeah, it helped me forget. But getting stinking drunk doesnt really do anything for you. Giacalone said that he was held back in school and dropped out at one point, and that he had trouble holding down work and had run-ins with the police from an early age. In December 2010, he faced assault charges after his wife told police he had threatened and pushed her; the charges were dropped after she refused to go forward with a case. He doesnt blame the dispute with his wife or other low points in his life directly on his sexual abuse, but says it colored everything that followed. It all stems, mostly, from that incident, he said. When a reporter told Giacalone that the Boston Archdiocese had found his accusation against Donahue to be unsubstantiated, even after the decision that Giacalone had to be compensated, he shook his head. I feel bad for their parishioners, he said. They are living a lie too. Support our journalism Help our journalists uncover the big stories. Subscribe today. Katie Zavadski of ProPublica and Nicole Hensley of The Houston Chronicle contributed to this report. Design by Jasmine Goldband and Stephanie Lamm *** As the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Collins has played an integral role in defending the president in the impeachment inquiry and on television. He is expected to have the backing of Trumps most aggressive supporters in the House, which could cause problems for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which have backed Loeffler. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (January 28) granted bail to 17 convicts in the 2002 Sardarpura post-Godhra riots case in which 33 Muslims were burnt alive and asked them to relocate to Madhya Pradesh and do community service. A bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant divided the convicts in two groups and said one group would move out of Gujarat and stay at Indore in Madhya Pradesh. The other group of convicts will have to relocate themselves to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, the bench said. The convicts, who were handed down a life sentence in the Sardarpura riots case, have appealed against the Gujarat High Court order convicting them. The court said that all the convicts will have to undertake community services for six hours a week besides reporting to the local police station on a weekly basis as bail conditions. The Supreme Court has directed the District Legal Services Authorities at Indore and Jabalpur to ensure that the convicts observe bail conditions diligently. It has also directed DLSA to help the convicts in finding suitable employment for earning their livelihood. It has directed the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Service Authority to file a report after three months stating as to whether the convicts have complied with the conditions or not. Earlier the Gujarat High Court had acquitted 14 and convicted 17 in the Sardarpura post-Godhra riots case. Its business as usual in Durhams schools, even as news of two cases of novel coronavirus in Toronto and more people being monitored has some parents on edge. School boards in Durham sent letters home Monday in an effort to reassure parents. The boards says they are working closely with the Durham Region Health Department as well as provincial and federal health agencies and that they have not been directed to take any additional measures at this time. The only board in Durham that is doing anything differently, is the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board, which includes Catholic schools in Clarington. In an email to parents, the board says concerns about coronavirus combined with a higher than usual rate of absenteeism in some schools due to influenza means a proactive outbreak cleaning protocol has been initiated in all its buildings. PVNCCDSB spokesperson Galen Eagle says this includes greater emphasis on disinfecting touch points such as door handles, computer keyboards and table tops. Durhams other boards did not indicate that they have increased cleaning measures. School board officials are advising parents and students to follow general measures to reduce transmission of respiratory illness such as: washing hands frequently with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer; covering your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze; coughing or sneezing into your sleeve or arm if you dont have a tissue; and staying home and isolating yourself if you or your family members are ill. Glendene Collins, a spokesperson for Durham Region Health Department, said they are working closely with local school boards and ensuring that boards report when 10 per cent or more of their staff/student population is absent due to illness which is a regular part of monitoring potential outbreaks in institutions. At this time, no special guidance is in place for contacting families that are currently travelling, Collins said. Dr. David Williams, Ontarios chief medical officer of health, sent a letter about the coronavirus to the provinces school communities on Monday. It says students and parents should rest assured that the province is working closely with its partners in education and health care to ensure students are safe, These presumptive positive cases do not change the overall risk to Ontario, which is still considered low, Williams noted, referring to the two coronavirus cases in Toronto. For some parents in Durham, the reassurances arent enough. More than a dozen local parents contacted Torstars community newspapers in Durham to share concerns. They want to see increased disinfecting in schools, and to be notified if a student who has recently returned from China, is at school with their child. Parents are also calling for school boards to require students who have recently returned from China, to self-quarantine for 14 days, as a precaution. I think its basic common sense, says Lisa Gagnon, whose children are in Grade 9 and 11. If someone has recently been in a place where there is a huge outbreak of a virus, they shouldnt be in school a few days later. Why allow that risk? Rob Simard says he is terrified his daughter is in kindergarten and has severe asthma. I called her school to find out what is being done, and basically the answer is nothing. No extra cleaning and disinfecting, nothing. Its shocking, he says. Some GTA private schools are taking a hardline stance, requiring students who have travelled to Asia, to stay home for 15 days. As of Monday, close to 9,000 people had signed a petition titled A petition stop the potential spreading of the novel coronavirus in schools of York Region, which calls on school boards in York to keep track of students who have recently been in China, and request that they stay isolated for at least 17 days. The petition also asks that those who have recently travelled to China be required to report that to the teacher so parents of other kids in the class can decide whether to keep their children home Another petition by a University of Waterloo student has more than 28,000 signatures and calls on campuses to close or make attendance optional saying, We do not feel safe going to school and public places. Both Durham College and Ontario Tech University in Oshawa say classes are continuing as normal, and that they are monitoring the situation and will follow recommendations from public health authorities. KYODO NEWS - Jan 29, 2020 - 02:05 | All, World, Japan, Coronavirus The government confirmed Tuesday the first case of human-to-human transmission in Japan of a deadly new virus, while it also sent its first plane to repatriate citizens from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the outbreak. A Japanese bus driver in his 60s living in Nara Prefecture, western Japan, who has never been to Wuhan but had transported tourists who were from there, was among three more people found infected on Tuesday with the new coronavirus. The latest cases brought a national tally of confirmed infections to seven. A chartered plane, a wide-body Boeing 767 operated by All Nippon Airways Co., arrived in the city in Hubei Province, central China, at around 11:30 p.m. local time to evacuate some 200 Japanese nationals staying there. The government has been stepping up efforts to prevent the deadly strain of coronavirus from spreading further within Japan, classifying it as a "designated infectious disease" that allows steps to quarantine patients. Related coverage: Japan classifies new-virus pneumonia as designated infectious disease Cambodia, Sri Lanka report 1st cases of new coronavirus infection China extends holiday by 3 days in bid to battle virus (Toshimitsu Motegi speaks to the media) The infected bus driver twice this month transported tourists who were from Wuhan, health minister Katsunobu Kato said. He drove 31 passengers from Osaka to Tokyo from Jan. 8 to 11 and made the return trip from Jan. 12 to 16 with 29 passengers, an official from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said at a press conference. None of the tourists had shown clear symptoms of infection and have already returned to China, the official said. The bus driver developed symptoms including a cough on Jan. 14 and went to a hospital in Nara three days later but was not diagnosed with pneumonia until Saturday. He is currently hospitalized in stable condition. The health ministry also confirmed two more cases, a man and a woman both in their 40s and visiting from Wuhan. The man was diagnosed with pneumonia in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, while the woman was diagnosed on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido. Concerns over the virus spreading in the country have heightened during the Lunar New holiday, which is expected to bring an influx of Chinese travelers. The death toll from the new virus has topped 100 in China, local authorities said Tuesday. Globally, the pneumonia-causing virus has infected more than 4,500 people. The chartered flight will deliver 20,000 face masks and 50 sets of protective suits requested by China and return to Tokyo's Haneda airport on Wednesday morning, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters. Medical personnel boarded the plane to check on passengers, who will be being asked to stay home for two weeks and report to the nearest health center if they develop symptoms. Chinese authorities sent word that they had finished preparations to receive the plane, and arrangements have been made for Japanese nationals to travel to the airport despite the city of 11 million being on virtual lockdown since last week, Motegi said. Roughly 650 people had asked to be evacuated as of Tuesday morning, and more flights are being planned to accommodate them, he added. The dispatch comes as other countries have also been in negotiations with China to help their citizens fly out of Wuhan. A U.S. chartered flight will arrive in the city possibly Tuesday night to evacuate American diplomats and citizens, according to a U.S. government source. South Korea said it plans to send planes on Thursday and Friday. The decision by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet to classify pneumonia caused by the virus as a "designated infectious disease" will allow the compulsory hospitalization of infected patients, as well as restrict them from going to work and require disinfection of sites where the virus has been detected. Taxpayer money will be used to pay for the medical treatment of those subject to forced hospitalization. About 400 specified medical institutions across Japan will be able to provide treatment. An ordinance on the designation will be implemented on Feb. 7, according to Japanese officials. The government also said anyone traveling who is suspected of having the virus must, under the quarantine law, have a medical checkup at their point of arrival in Japan. The designation, the fifth of its kind and the first since the 2014 spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, also requires doctors to report any patients who test positive for the coronavirus. "We will take all possible measures to prevent the spread of infections," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference. The same emergency steps were also taken in the past for other infectious diseases designated by the government as Class II such as MERS and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. Under the law, infectious diseases are divided into five classes depending on their severity. As of last week, about 710 Japanese were registered as staying in Hubei Province, whose capital is Wuhan. Japanese Embassy officials have been trying to determine how many wish to return home, and the number could grow. When Mr. Trump mused about withdrawing the United States from the NATO alliance in 2018, Mr. Bolton was reportedly distressed and rallied to keep it from happening. And, in questioning fellow Republican Jon Huntsmans decision to serve as ambassador to China in President Barack Obamas administration in 2011, Mr. Bolton said, There is no patriotic obligation to help advance the career of a politician who is otherwise pursuing interests that are fundamentally antithetical to your values. In other words, Mr. Trumps frequent demeaning of the Atlantic alliance, his obtuse bromance with Putin, and his apparent acquiescence in Russian interference with the American electoral process may have persuaded Mr. Bolton to desert the president on principle. Then there are his professional principles. Mr. Bolton, unlike Mr. Trump and some of the fiercest members of his inner circle, is a seasoned government professional with an informed respect for the institutional architecture and ethos of American foreign policy. Before becoming Mr. Trumps national security adviser, Mr. Bolton served as ambassador to the United Nations, undersecretary of state, assistant secretary of state and assistant attorney general. Mr. Bolton reportedly characterized Mr. Trumps meddling with aid to Ukraine as a drug deal a crude metaphor for actions that violate his sense of foreign policy professionalism. He also disdained the presidents circumvention of normal diplomatic channels by informally enlisting Rudolph Giuliani, his personal lawyer, whom Mr. Bolton called a hand grenade whos going to blow everybody up. Separate from his sense of patriotic duty, Mr. Bolton may have felt that Mr. Trump had so demeaned the integrity of the foreign policy structure that something radical had to be done. Well, maybe. Another explanation is personal indignation and greed. Mr. Bolton spent much of his career dreaming of the national security adviser job, and reportedly lobbied the president for it for years. And, of course, his book is due to come out March 17, and these revelations are sure to make it an instant best seller (a fact not lost on the president: Mr. Trumps backers have predictably cast him as a disgruntled former employee, and Mr. Trump himself has accused him of merely trying to sell books). Lets not judge John Bolton too harshly, though. He lasted almost a year and a half in a job under a famously mercurial president, and toward the end was reportedly unhappy in it. And his book, for which he received a reported $2 million advance, didnt need this revelation to make it a hot item or line his pockets. So while Im sure Mr. Bolton doesnt mind a taste of revenge and higher book sales, in all likelihood the two more honorable factors feature more heavily in Mr. Boltons decision-making. A husband and wife from Victor were charged Monday with felonies relating to a hit-and-run crash in the Woodside area that left a man seriously injured. Jeromey Don Benton and Abigail Yvonne Benton, both 41, appeared before Ravalli County Justice Jim Bailey. The judge set bail at $5,000 each. Both were charged with felony counts of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and obstructing justice. Jeremey Benton also faces misdemeanor counts of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury, being a Montana resident operating with a foreign drivers license over 60 days, operating without liability insurance, operating a vehicle that has not been properly registered, and failure to use due care when a pedestrian is seen on a roadway. According to a charging affidavit, Montana Highway Patrol troopers investigating the hit-and-run discovered the couple had put their car in a storage unit following the incident. The investigation began after a trooper dispatched to just north of the Woodside Crossing on U.S. Highway 93 at about 10:30 p.m. Jan. 18. The trooper spoke to the brother of the 25-year-old victim. He said the two were crossing the road when his brother was struck by a southbound silver passenger car. He saw his brother get hit and fly through the air. The victim suffered a compound fracture on his lower left leg, a deep cut to his forehead and other injuries to his arms and chest. The man told the trooper he had not heard the sound of tires skidding at the time of the accident. There were no brake lights as it traveled south, according to the affidavit. While photographing the scene, the trooper found his first clue. It was a plastic, silver-colored mirror housing, which appeared to belong to the passenger side of a vehicle, near where the victim was struck. He later determined it belonged to either a Grand Am or Grand Prix. After releasing a request for information to media outlets, the Montana Highway Patrol received tips that Jeromey Benton had allegedly told two people he hit either a person or a deer near Woodside Crossing on Jan. 18. A trooper went to the Benton residence in Victor and spoke to his brother, Christopher Benton, as well as to Abigail Benton. Abigail said her husband had just left in a silver Pontiac Grand Prix, but didnt know where he was going. Christopher Benton told the trooper he had traded the car and a boat to Jeromey Benton for a red Corvette. He said he had taken the plates off the Grand Prix and put them on the Corvette. On Jan. 23, the trooper who initially investigated the accident met with the couple. He recognized Abigail Benton from Town Pump, where she was working when he went to view camera footage. He asked the woman why she didn't tell them at the time that her husband was the man they were seeking. The affidavit said Abigail Benton told the trooper she didnt put two and two together. She also told the trooper she hadnt seen the Pontiac in several days because her husband had left with a friend and she didnt know where he was. At that moment, the affidavit said, Jeromey Benton came out of another house on the property. He told the trooper he had sold the car to a lady named Sadie in Missoula and had no idea how to get in touch with her. Benton also said he had struck a deer near Bell Crossing 10 days earlier. Two days later, the trooper met with the owner of Bitterroot Sales and Storage in Victor. The owner said he rented two storage units to the Bentons. On Jan. 26, they looked at gate camera footage that showed a silver Pontiac Grand Prix drive up to the gate on Jan. 19. The affidavit said Jeromey Benton leaned out the window and entered a code at the gate. A minivan similar to the one parked at Bentons home followed the car into the lot. The camera footage showed it had an empty passenger seat when it drove in and someone sitting there when it drove out. After obtaining a search warrant, two troopers discovered the Grand Prix in a storage unit. When confronted about the discovery of the vehicle, the affidavit said Jeromey Benton began to cry and he said he thought he had hit a deer. He admitted not having insurance on the vehicle and said he lied about selling the car because he was scared he would get in trouble. When the trooper met with Abigail Benton again, she told him she didnt remember what she did on the night of Jan. 19. When the trooper said he saw a video of her driving to the storage units, she didnt say anything. When asked if she helped hide the car because she was afraid of her husband getting in trouble, she indicated yes, according to the affidavit. Both were arrested Jan. 26. Love 1 Funny 4 Wow 7 Sad 3 Angry 23 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. New Delhi: The outbreak of deadly Coronavirus has claimed first life in Beijing, said The Guardian report, adding that the US has issued a new China travel warning. The live report cited official broadcaster CGTN tweet, which said, "We are starting to get some revised figures on infections in China from coronavirus." The CGTN tweet reportedly informed 100 deaths confirmed in Hubei province, where the city of Wuhan is the epicentre, and added that there are 2,714 confirmed cases in the province with a population of about 60 million people. Meanwhile, People's Daily, China tweeted that there 4193 cases confirmed in China, 106 deaths, while 58 people recovered. #LATEST on #WuhanPneumonia: - 4193 cases confirmed in China, 106 deaths, 58 people recovered Overseas cases: - Thailand: 8 - Japan: 4 - South Korea: 4 - U.S.: 5 - Vietnam: 2 - Singapore: 5 - Malaysia: 4 - Nepal: 1 - France: 3 - Australia: 5 -Canada: 1 -Germany: 1 -Cambodia1 pic.twitter.com/WxLhBr9M82 People's Daily, China (@PDChina) January 28, 2020 The Guardian report further added "yesterday the toll was 82, so todays figures of 106 is an increase of 23%," adding that "Infections are up from 2,887 to 4,193, an increase of 31%." It further said these are still relatively small numbers of people affected relative to the population size. Indian government, however, started preparing a plan for "possible evacuation" of Indian nationals living in Wuhan area of China, amid rising number of coronavirus infection cases in its neighbouring coubtry. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) would also seek help from the Chinese authorities in evacuating Indians from Wuhan and other regions of China. On Monday, officials from India and China met to discuss plans to evacuate over 250 Indians from Wuhan city and Hubei province, which are worst hit by coronavirus outbreak, said a PTI report. Registration for the 2020-2021 school year at the South San Antonio Independent School District begins Feb. 3 and the district is focused on recruiting students from all around Bexar County. The district plans to distribute information about all the courses it has to offer students, including early college, dual credit, middle school choice academies, career and technical education, Headstart Pre-k and dual language programs. Since SSAISD re-opened three campuses during the 2019-2020 school year, efforts continue to increase student performance and enrollment at Athens Elementary, Kazen Middle School and West Campus. In the 2020-2021 school year, enrollment at West Campus is expected to increase with the addition of tenth grade classes. Testimonials and promotional videos are already featured on the districts digital and social media outlets. The district will also open its fourth Choice Academy at Kazen Middle School in Fall 2020 which will focus on architecture, construction and design. Students will learn how to design and build using state of the art technology. They will be taught general design concepts, as well as valuable skills through hands-on projects through courses including graphics, interior design and basic carpentry. The SSAISD also has three other Choice Academies. The STEM Academy at Dwight Middle School features a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in specific disciplines including technology, engineering and mathematics. The Fine Arts Academy at Shepard Middle School will provide students with skills to lay down the foundation to be an actor, entertainer or musician through the many hands-on classes offered. Zamoras Health Science Academy will prepare students for a career in a health or science related field with prep courses in the areas of emergency medical technician, licensed vocational nursing, pharmacy technician, as well as medical billing and cooking. In addition to each individual choice academy promotion effort, the district will begin a block walking campaign to distribute class information and registration assistance. Administration and district staff will visit the South San Antonio area, as well as distribute flyers at businesses. Advertising on billboards and street banners will also begin in mid-February. Efforts are underway to recruit additional district staff to assist the districts continuing push to bring qualified individuals to the South San family to continue the tradition of not only a good education, but a positive environment where students and family can continue to flourish with the many programs offered by the district. The South San ISD CARE Zone recently opened its doors to provide counseling for students and their families. Additional support agencies are also housed within the CARE Zone which provide assistance with tutoring, clothing and groceries for families trying to stay afloat while their children attend SSAISD schools. The enrollment campaign for the South San ISD doesnt stop with the students. At SSAISD, the ultimate goal is to take care of its family so that children will have career success beyond high school. For more information on the many programs offered at the district, log on to southsanisd.net. Editors Note: This content is made possible by South San ISD. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasa.com. Entrusted by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Premier Li Keqiang on Monday inspected efforts to prevent and control the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of a leading group of the CPC Central Committee on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, extended regards to the medical workers at the frontline on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. He required local authorities to spare no effort in the epidemic prevention and control work, which is of paramount importance, reducing both the incidence rate and mortality rate to safeguard people's lives and health. "Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core, we must fight resolutely to win the battle against the epidemic", Li said. Upon arriving in Wuhan, Li went to the Jinyintan Hospital which has the largest number of infected and severely ill patients. He talked to medical workers in an ICU via a video call and then chatted with doctors and nurses coming from across the country and the military, urging them to go all out in treating the patients and pay attention to their own protection. He ordered sending more medical personnel, especially nurses, and medical supplies to Wuhan. Li called for speeding up the construction of Huoshenshan Hospital, a makeshift hospital for treating patients infected with the novel coronavirus, while visiting the construction site. Li urged the workers to race against time to finish building the hospital as a "safety island" for the patients. "We must use every possible means to admit all the patients (into the hospital)," Li said, urging efforts to protect the construction workers against infection. Li also assured people in a local supermarket that the country, with its ample reserves and measures such as the "green passages," will ensure adequate market supply and stable prices in Wuhan. Visiting a lab in the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Li urged the researchers to speed up the research on the novel coronavirus. He then called a meeting to make further arrangements on the epidemic prevention and control work in a more law-based, scientific and targeted manner, saying that progress in Wuhan will give people around the country confidence. Wuhan will be assisted with additional 2,500 medical workers and 20,000 pairs of protective goggles, Li said, noting that the medical workers, especially nurses, will arrive within two days and the goggles can be expected on Monday afternoon. Relevant departments will take multiple measures to ensure the supplies of protective gowns, Li said. Days after Transparency International gave thumbs down for his governments anti-corruption efforts, President Muhammadu Buhari has rece... Days after Transparency International gave thumbs down for his governments anti-corruption efforts, President Muhammadu Buhari has received the adulation of auditors in Nigeria. At the second edition of the Conference of Auditors-General in Nigeria on Tuesday, Buhari was given the Champion of Transparency and Anti-Corruption Award, and he charged every one in not to be afraid of audit if he has done the right thing. The President, therefore, encouraged public servants to see audit as a means of improving their performance and not as a threat. Declaring open the conference, Buhari challenged auditors to adhere to the professional code of conduct guiding their operations, while ensuring timely and quality review of financial performance of public officers. He also charged Auditors-General in Nigeria to maximize the use of their constitutional powers in the fight against corruption. The President expressed concern that ineffective audits had contributed largely to governance problems over the years, urging auditors to embrace good governance, accountability and transparency, which are hallmarks of this administration. As accountability institutions in the Federal, states and local governments, and as the institutions empowered under the Constitution to review the financial performance of public officers even where there has been no petition or allegation, you are uniquely placed to tackle corrupt practices. Through your audit findings and recommendations, corrupt practices would be discovered early and loopholes blocked before they are exploited. Furthermore, you have the full range of audit tools at your disposal including financial compliance, performance and Information Technology audits. There is literally no aspect of government performance or expenditure you cannot examine. What may be missing is the will to properly deploy the powers that you have. In which case, I will remind you that under-performance by auditors, or ineffective audits, contribute largely to governance problems. Auditors therefore need to decide not to be part of the problem but the arrow to the solution, he said. Commenting on the 2016 and 2017 Annual Reports of the Auditor-General of the Federation, the President noted that the audit opinion was in line with the reality of corruption, mismanagement and misappropriation facing the nation. The President commended the Auditor-General of the Federation for his efforts, saying: I want to encourage you to continue to do your best. It is important that all Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are kept on their toes through timely and high-quality audits. President Buhari told the three-day conference that his administration was fully aware of the value that audit and scrutiny brings to the performance of governance functions. He, therefore, assured the professionals that regular and constant monitoring of performance would be prioritized as the Federal Government rolls out its Development Plan. We know that MDAs charged with delivery of activities that impact the lives of Nigerians can all monitor and report their own performance, but the most reliable measure is an accurate and independent assessment by external auditors. This is one key reason all tiers of government in Nigeria need a strong external audit function, he said. The President also used the occasion to highlight some key achievements in the fight against corruption through government anti-corruption agencies, especially the EFCC, the ICPC, the Code of Conduct Bureau and others. These successes include significant arrests, recoveries of cash and properties purchased with stolen funds and the blockage of loopholes through which people siphon public funds. You may also have noted the progress made by the Judiciary in the trials of several cases and the sanctions and sentences being handed out to offenders. You will also be aware of this administrations Financial Transparency Policy and the launch of the Open Treasury Portal at the end of 2019. This again is to improve on accountability, access to information for all citizens and the timeliness of financial information. You can see that a lot has been done, but there is so much more to do, as the cancer of corruption has deeply affected our country and our governance practices, and the fight cannot be won until all tiers of government and indeed the generality of Nigerians are determined to join the fight against corruption. Acknowledging that auditors are facing several challenges, the President noted that very few States had the operational and financial independence necessary to deliver high level performance. He assured the auditors that efforts are being made to strengthen the independence of their offices, encouraging them to strive to achieve maximum impact with the powers they currently have. My expectation for the future is to see audits conducted at all tiers of Government with more impactful findings. I expect audit institutions to be able to report the amount of financial impacts and savings they have achieved for their government, along with non-financial impacts, he said. Emphasizing the need for quality audit, President Buhari asked the conference to reflect on the following: Has any annual Financial Statements produced by any of the States received anything other than a clean audit opinion as far back as you can remember? You will admit this is strange, in view of the significant cases of misappropriation that have been uncovered, the huge balances that have been recovered and the sentences being served by convicted officials including past state governors. One can either assume the audits are not thoroughly done, the auditors have been compromised, or the auditors are constrained in some way or other. You will know best what your constraints are, but I encourage you to reflect on this issue. What will it take to do a thorough job for the sake of your Local Government, your State, Nigeria and for the sake of future generations? In his remarks, the Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr Anthony Ayine, identified the absence of an Audit Act, which is a basic requirement for Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Nigeria, as a major impediment for audit institutions in the country. Noting that the Audit Ordnance of 1958 which the country was using is no longer in the statute books of Nigeria, Ayine called for the enactment of Audit Laws to further strengthen the audit institutions to perform better. The Auditor-General pledged total support of auditors to the administrations fight against corruption, acknowledging that the presidential directive in 2015 to MDAs to ensure prompt response to audit queries has been very effective in ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of the countrys resources. Ayine also highlighted other successful initiatives of the Federal Government to promote accountability and transparency in governance including Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and other Electric platforms that ensure blockage of leakages. Former prime minister Theresa May could be seen rolling her eyes as a fellow MP criticised her decision to allow Huawei a role within the UKs 5G network. Julian Lewis, the MP for New Forest East in Hampshire, was speaking in the House of Commons shortly after Boris Johnson gave the green light for the Chinese tech giant to be involved in the networks development. May could be seen shaking her head and pulling a strained face behind the veteran Tory as he tore into her administration for defending the controversial firms involvement in the scheme. Does the government accept something I had difficulty getting its predecessor to accept, that Huawei should not be regarded as a private company because it is intimately linked with the Chinese communist state and its deeply hostile intelligence agencies? Mr Lewis said. Theresa May could be seen pulling a face behind Julian Lewis. And if it does accept that as it should, is it confident that the safeguards that will be put in place will be sufficient to guard us against a deeply hostile intelligence agency? Earlier on Tuesday, the National Security Council, in a meeting chaired by the prime minister in Downing Street which lasted for less than 90 minutes, decided that high-risk vendors should be permitted to play a peripheral role in the network. The move comes despite US president Donald Trump lobbying against the UK allowing Huawei access as the US engages in a global struggle for influence with China. READ MORE FROM YAHOO NEWS UK: The US administration warned that British sovereignty would be put at risk by the move, and has issued threats over an impact on intelligence sharing due to Huaweis close ties to the Beijing government. But foreign secretary Dominic Raab told MPs there would be no impact on the Five Eyes alliance the partnership between the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. I want to be absolutely clear that nothing in this review affects this countrys ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data over highly secure networks both within the UK and with our partners including the Five Eyes, he said. GCHQ have categorically confirmed that how we construct our 5G and full fibre public telecoms network has nothing to do with how we share classified data. When you hear the Alex Leach Band, you're hearing the sound of a new generation. A product of the rich musical heritage of Leach's native East Tennessee, his fresh take on deep Appalachian bluegrass brings the elemental drive and emotional weight of the first generation into the modern world. The authentic blend makes him and his band natural partners for Mountain Home Music Company, as they announce the signing of an exclusive artist contract. The band will begin recording at Crossroads Studios in earnest in March with award-winning Americana artist Jim Lauderdale as producer. "I can't express in words how thrilled we are to be joining the Mountain Home team. It is truly an honor and we look forward to getting into the studio soon to create some special music," says Leach. "I am also very excited to say that one of my musical heroes, Mr. Jim Lauderdale, is coming on board as producer. I'd like to thank Jim, my family, and everyone who has believed in us from day one. Look for our new music coming soon on Mountain Home!" Ty Gilpin from Mountain Home adds, "We are excited to welcome Alex and his group to the label. Alex is one of those 'real deal' artists. His steeped-in-tradition sound reminds us of why we all love first-generation bluegrass, but the originality he brings to the music makes it relatable to the current scene. Thank goodness there are young artists both preserving and giving new life to this music." Follow Alex Leach on streaming platforms to get notified when new music is released. About The Alex Leach Band Hailing from the mountains of East Tennessee, Alex Leach is no stranger to the world of music. Just 30 years old, he has already been in the business for over 2 decades, earning two "DJ of the Year" awards from the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America by the time he was 15, and appearing on CMT's "Big Ticket," the BBC, and Peter Jennings' "ABC World News Tonight." Yet even as he was building his reputation as one of the premiere radio voices in bluegrass, Alex was honing his skills as a guitarist and banjo player. He began his professional career as a musician at the age of 19, and was recruited a few years later by Ralph Stanley II, the son of iconic bluegrass pioneer, Ralph Stanley, with whom he had the opportunity to play banjo on the Grand Ole Opry in 2014. In the years that followed, he toured widely with "Two," earning critical accolades for his playing, his compelling lead and harmony vocals, and for his additions to the bluegrass canon with songs like "Mountain Heartache." In late 2019, Leach took another giant step in his career when he launched the Alex Leach Band. With influences ranging from The Stanley Brothers to The Beach Boys, and Curtis Mayfield to Porter Wagoner, Alex Leach's music is both traditional and original, nostalgic and forward-looking - the sound of a new generation of bluegrass artists Tags : Mountain Home Music Company bluegrass The Alex Leach Band The Alex Leach Band news The Fulani community in Plateau State has condemned Sundays gun attacks on a bar in Kwatas village in Bokkos LGA of the state in which 13 persons were killed and several others injured. The group also decried the burning of Fulani hamlets in reprisal attacks. The state chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) , Isa Bappa, on Tuesday, spoke through a press statement in Jos. On the same day, Governor Simon Lalong at a meeting with security officers and community leaders declared that all participants in the attacks must be brought to justice. Mr Bappa, the MACBAN leader, said: It is equally regrettable for some youth in Kwatas to launch attacks on Fulani communities as a reprisal. Both incidents are barbaric and condemnable. We call on the security agencies in the state as a matter of urgency to ensure the arrest of the perpetrators of all the attacks. However, it is unfortunate to read from the press release by the Plateau State Police Command dated January 27, 2020, that the attack was perpetrated by suspected Fulani herdsmen. Mr Bappa said the police were hasty in nailing Fulani herdsmen over the attack because there was no clear evidence that the attack was launched by them. We urge the security agencies to always do its homework before any declaration, he said. While calling on the government and the security to investigate and fish out the perpetrators to face the wrath of the law, he urged the people of the state to remain calm and embrace peace. READ ALSO: On the same development, another Fulani organisation, Gani Allah Association, said 23 houses and one mosque were burnt down in the reprisal attacks on Fulani settlements. For no reason they burnt 23 houses of the Fulani, they also burnt down a Mosque, the State Auditor of the group, Abubakar Yunus, said. In a related development, Governor Simon Lalong during a meeting with security officers and major stakeholders, insisted that perpetrators of Sunday night killings and destruction of properties must be fished out . The meeting was held at the Government House in Jos, according to a statement on Tuesday by the Director of Press and Public Affairs at Government House, Makut Macham. How can they say that people are killed and there is no arrest. Are those killing others spirits? I dont think you can kill 15 human beings and claim you are spirit and there is not arrested?, the statement quoted the governor as saying at the meeting. Commissioner of Police, you should take the community leaders and the Ardos with you so that they can tell you those behind these killings. By the time you go to the cell, you will bring out those people that are doing it. If you want to give evidence, give it to the commissioner of police. We are not afraid of criminals. He commended the efforts of community leaders. Some community leaders and Ardos have done their best but within us, there are criminals. We must expose them no matter how high. If you are one of them, you better take yourself to the police station. The Army is here, police, Civil Defence, DSS, Operation Rainbow. I want those people today. They should not sleep in their houses. By the time they are arrested, we will solve this problem, the governor said. At the meeting were heads of security agencies, traditional rulers, community leaders and Ardos representing the Fulani community. The State Commissioner of Police, Isaac Akimoyede, expressed concern over the attacks. Since I have been in the state since February, no event of this magnitude has happened. We have been investigating the incident in Mangun and then this. He told the governor that he has deployed security personnel in the troubled areas to avert the spread of the crises beyond the initial areas. Advertisements By Trend A meeting with a delegation of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) was held at the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan, Trend reports referring to the service. The CENTCOM program for the exchange of experience in combating various types of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear, was discussed at the meeting. In recent years, the White House has embarked on a rapprochement with Turkmenistan. Political consultations are held on a regular basis. Cooperation continues in such areas as the supply of agricultural machinery, the modernization of the technical fleet of civil aviation in Turkmenistan and the import of electric power equipment. The White House previously expressed its support for regional gas pipeline projects from Turkmenistan, such as TAPI and the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline through Azerbaijan and Turkey to Europe. The diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and the US were established on Feb. 19, 1992. Fotis Dulos, the man accused of murdering his estranged wife who was reported missing in Connecticut last May, was found unresponsive at his home on Tuesday after he apparently tried to kill himself, an official familiar with the case said. Multiple officials initially said that Mr. Dulos had died. But soon after, reports emerged that there were attempts to revive him and he had been taken to a hospital in critical condition. Mr. Dulos, 52, was charged early this month with the murder and kidnapping of his wife, Jennifer Dulos, 50, who vanished shortly after dropping off their five children at school on May 24. Ms. Duloss body has not been found. As of Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Dulos was being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and was in critical condition, said Lt. Timothy McKenzie, a spokesman for the Farmington police. Airbus said in two statements Tuesday it has reached agreement in principle with the investigating bodies. It said the potential settlement agreements must be approved by courts in the three countries and would provide more details once the deals have been finalized. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton has another ex-Trump official on his side. Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly spoke to a crowd in Sarasota, Florida, on Monday, where he was asked about Bolton's forthcoming book that reportedly says Trump spoke to Bolton about a Ukraine quid pro quo. "If John Bolton says that in the book, I believe John Bolton," Kelly said, per the Sarasota Herald Tribune. Kelly, a retired general, left the Trump administration more than a year ago, but a good chunk of his tenure overlapped with Bolton's. A Sunday New York Times report describes how Bolton's memoir reportedly describes how Trump told Bolton he wanted to withhold Ukraine's security aid until the country agreed to investigate his Democratic rivals. Kelly said if the reporting was true, he believed Bolton. "Every single time I was with him ... he always gave the president the unvarnished truth," Kelly said of Bolton, calling him an "honest guy." Kelly then said "half of Americans think this process is purely political and shouldn't be happening, but since it is happening," Americans should "hear the whole story." "If there are people that could contribute to this, either innocence or guilt ... I think they should be heard," Kelly continued, per the Sarasota Herald Tribune. More stories from theweek.com It's 2020 and women are exhausted The tragedy of Joe Biden John Bolton just vindicated Nancy Pelosi CAIRO - ''Three children have been killed and another wounded'' by artillery strikes in Tripoli while they were going to school, the website Libya Akhbar said Tuesday, quoting an official source of the Libyan health ministry that spoke about ''loose grenades''. A Qatari television instead claimed that at least one shot was fired by the forces of eastern Libyan strongman General Khalifa Haftar. The children died in the district of Badri, in the area of Hadaba, only 5 km south of the center of the capital. The casualties occurred ''after Haftar's militias fired a howitzer that fell in front of their home'', broadcaster Libya al-Ahrar said on its Facebook page. A statement published Monday by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) confirmed that in 2019 the conflict to take Tripoli that started last April killed ''at least 287 civilians'' while 370 others were injured, with 60% of casualties caused by air raids. HARBOR BEACH -- Professional Learning Community was the main topic for discussion at the Harbor Beach Board of Education Meeting Jan. 22, as the board listened to a detailed presentation by four teachers who are actively working with students through this useful program. This month's topic was aimed at mathematics. Representing kindergarten through second grade were Vicki Bishop and Sue Brecht, third through fifth grade was Dawn Pleiness and grades sixth through 12th was Sarah Blacker, each who gave presentations of PLC as it effects their students. Prior to the teacher's presentation, school Superintendent Shawn Bishop, told the board the idea behind this innovative learning style is that students are never finished learning. What they learn at Harbor Beach will follow them into other areas of education and throughout their lives. In addition, it also helps teachers to continue to learn. The superintendent said PLC is driven by four questions: What must kids know? What will the school do to measure this? What will the school do if students do not know these things? What will they do with students who have grasped the information and/or who are advanced? At this time, Harbor Beach is the only school system involved with PLC in the county, although Caseville Schools have visited Harbor Beach and are now looking forward to creating a similar system. During the presentations, Blacker said about half of the teachers have attended PLC training. She also said they are actively involved with Win-Time. Win-Time allows teachers to give daily tutorial to students who are struggling with the concepts and facts. Depending on the grade level, teachers have been given an additional 20-30 minutes per day to tutor these students. Later, Dawn Pleiness spoke to the Tribune to clarify some information about PLC. "PLC is beneficial to show students' success and to achieve higher learning level thinking," Pleiness said. "It also helps close the gaps for students who aren't mastering the Pirate Standards yet." She explained Pirate Standards are things students must know by the end of the school year. "Data Points are assessments of how the students are doing on the standards they must know by the end of this year," Pleiness said. Under New Business, the board has chosen to close the school's Bay Port State Bank accounts and transfer the funds to Chemical Bank, thereby keeping all of the Harbor Beach funds under one roof. Bishop went on to say the school inherited the Bay Port State Bank accounts when they took over Kipper Schools three years ago. The bank has no office in Harbor Beach and it makes more sense to bank locally. The board also accepted the resignation of teacher Janeen Hess, with regret. Donations were accepted. The Arley Mausolf Memorial Fund for elementary activities was given in the amount of $555. $500 was given to the school's Clay Target League from the Huron County Conservation Club. The board rescheduled February's first meeting to Feb. 5, 2020. On Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, they will have a training-presentation on Roles and Responsibilities, given by Scott Morrell. Former House Speaker Beth Harwell has been nominated to the TVA Board along with East Tennessee State University president Brian Noland. Senator Lamar Alexander said, I have encouraged and admired Beth Harwell and her style of leadership since she began her career in public service. Throughout her time in the Tennessee House of Representatives, and as Speaker of the House, Beth has worked with the TVA on several issues. She understands that TVAs mission is to continue to provide cheap, clean and reliable electricity throughout the Tennessee Valley, and I know her leadership will be a valuable asset to the TVA board. "I am glad President Trump nominated her, and I look forward to her confirmation by the United States Senate. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 28, 2020 | MCCRACKEN COUNTY By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 28, 2020 | 12:25 AM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY At their meeting Monday afternoon, the McCracken County Fiscal Court continued discussion on the implementation of an insurance premium tax. The Fiscal Court held their first reading of the proposed ordinance, and discussed adding an amendment to the ordinance which would set auto and life insurance to 6.9 percent for the first year, the ordinance also sets a 4.9 percent rate for casualty, fire and perils, inland marine, and all other risks. The ordinance would leave health insurance at a zero percent rate. Judge Executive Craig Clymer gave a presentation on why the county needed to implement the new taxes, mentioning that the county had spent from savings for over a decade, and the tax rate being 14 percent less than in 1990. Clymer also mentioned that comparable counties have taxed insurance for years. "We've done a lot of study and really beat this around trying to be fair and knowing we've got to have revenue." Clymer continued, "I think the answer is to enact it at a rate that we think will be comfortable for generating the amount of revenue we need." The ordinance passed, however officials reminded the public that the numbers are not final, and a workshop to get public opinion is set for next Monday. The Withdrawal Agreement which sets out how the UK leaves the EU has now passed into UK law, which, once the European Parliament has ratified it this week, means that the UK is leaving the EU with a deal on 31 January. This is very positive news for UK nationals who are resident in Spain, as the Withdrawal Agreement contains some really important protections for your rights: You will be able to continue to live and work in Spain UK state pensioners will continue to have lifelong healthcare as long as they remain living in Spain. This also applies to residents who claim a UK state pension in the future Your UK state pension will continue to be uprated You will be able to exchange your driving licence until the end of 2020 without taking a driving test and your Spanish licence will be accepted in the UK when you visit Those rights will be protected for as long as you live in Spain, provided you are legally resident here by the end of 2020. The Withdrawal Agreement also provides an Transition Period (from 31 January until 31 December) during which time nothing will change for UK Nationals in Spain. Lloyd Milen said: The approval of the Withdrawal Agreement is a very important step for UK nationals living here. It provides reassurance on key rights, such as being able to continue to live and work here, and for pensioners to have lifelong healthcare and uprated pensions. Alongside those rights, you have obligations the main one being to make sure you are registered with a green residency certificate. This remains a valid document after 31 January and we will communicate any details on future residency processes once we have them. For further information visit the Living in Spain Guide on gov.uk. To put your questions to HMA Hugh Elliott and Regional Consular Policy Adviser Lorna Geddie join our Facebook Live Q&A on Friday 31 January at midday (CET) on facebook.com/britsinspain Information for UK nationals can be found at gov.uk/livinginspain Shannon is a small town located in Western Ireland. This quiet small town in Ireland has one of the busiest airports after Dublin Airport and Cork Airport. Although this place might look quiet and peaceful, the town keeps bustling all the time and there are a number of things to do here. Also Read: Things To Do In Kilkenny: Places You Must Visit In The City When You Visit Ireland Places to visit and things to do in Shannon, Ireland Bunratty Castle and Folk Park Located closely to Shannon town and airport, County Clare is a 15th-century medieval castle. The castle got its Irish name Bunratty because the river flows alongside the castle and goes to Shannon Estuary. Right next to the castle is the Bunratty Folk park which will give you an authentic experience of the home and environment in Ireland during the time of this castle. Also Read: Bhutan: Here's How To Travel Around The 'Land Of Thunder Dragon' Cliffs of Moher Just around an hour away from Shannon airport is the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs of Moher is a sea cliff that runs 14 kilometres along the edge of Burren region in County Clare. There are two official ways to explore the cliff. One is a safe trail while the other is a seaside path which is much closer to the edge of the cliff. Inisheer If youre looking for a day trip to Ireland, do take a trip to Inisheer. From Doolin pier, you can cruise to Inisheer, one of the Aran Islands. It is a typical fish village where you will be greeted by the white sand beach and the clear turquoise water. The castle on top of the hill overlooks the entire fish village. You can enjoy traditional Irish food and music in this place. Also Read: Offbeat Beaches In Goa That Are Perfect For Travellers Who Love Tranquillity Sean Lemass Public Library The Sean Lemass Public Library is a must-visit place in Shannon. The public library is open to the public every day except on Sundays. Visitors usually spend an hour over here and the library has a collection of more than 10,000 books. People also borrow CDs and DVDs from the library. Atlantic Air Adventures Atlantic Air Adventures is just 5 kilometres away from Shannon airport. The interactive museum not only hosts fun exhibits but is also a learning hub for both adults and children. The museum offers flight simulator experiences and family aviation discovery tours. Also Read: Bird Sanctuaries In India That Are A Must-visit For All Ornithology Enthusiasts The two outfits were instrumental in mobilising protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam last December A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Madhya Pradesh on January 28 said that despite the Constitution saying that division cannot be done on the basis of religion, the country is still being divided, Times Now has reported. Narayan Tripathi, the saffron party's legislator from Maihar, said that we should follow Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution or throw it away. Tripathi's comments come against the background of the ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Speaking on NRC, Tripathi added that at a time when getting Aadhar card made is already a difficult exercise, it would be tough for people living in the rural areas and poor in urban areas to furnish documents required to prove citizenship. Going against the party line, Tripathi had voted in favour of a Bill introduced by the ruling Congress party in Madhya Pradesh last year. According to the report, Tripathi added that there is domestic strife prevalent in the country and said that in such circumstances, no colony, village or country will flourish. "Where there are internal disputes, peace cant prevail. We talk about Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) on the one hand, and on the other divide the country based on religion. The country cant be run like this," Tripathi said, according to a report by The Hindu newspaper. "Doing vote-bank politics and dividing people on religious lines is not appropriate for today. Where there is no brotherhood, there is no progress," he added, according to the newspaper. by Larissa Faw , January 28, 2020 Squarespace is marking its sixth Super Bowl spot by bringing Winona Ryder back to her hometown of Winona, Minnesota. The 30-second spot, developed in-house, features Ryder sitting beneath the "Welcome to Winona" sign while a police officer asks her what she is doing. She replies she is building a website (obviously using Squarespace) featuring lots of pictures. The ad will air between the first and second quarter. Ryders appearance kicks off the website developer and hosting companys broader Welcome to Winona initiative that also includes the introduction of the website to showcase portraits, landscapes and other photos shot by the actress. These photographs will also be turned into a book, naturally called Welcome to Winona, available for purchase on the website, with all proceeds supporting the American Indian College Fund. advertisement advertisement In addition, Squarespace is offering residents and businesses of Winona a free year of its website hosting services. Growing up in a small town, you come to value the independent businesses that make a place like Winona thrive, explains Ryder about her involvement. Winona represents a lot of small towns and cities that aren't talked about as often or don't get as much attention. Helping to give a voice and a platform through Squarespace to this town is really wonderful. Ryder also appears in a longer-form digital video to more fully showcase the town and its residents as she wanders through it. VP asks CCMB to develop Rapid DNA Testing Kits to detect genetic disorders and rare diseases The Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu has underscored the need for global cooperation for early detection of new viruses and to contain any serious fallout from outbreak of epidemics. Addressing scientists and researchers of CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad, the Vice President while referring to the newly-discovered strain of Coronavirus, said that it was spreading across the nations and causing a major concern to health authorities. He pointed out that period outbreak of epidemics and new viruses highlighted our vulnerability to diseases. Referring to the vital role of the Indian Science and Technology Innovation (STI) System in achieving national goals as India aspires for sustainable and inclusive growth, he appealed to the private sector to create a fund for financing innovative scientific projects that will address societal concerns. Observing that investment in STI plays a major role in promoting research and developing cutting edge technologies, Naidu said the funding for basic research also has to be stepped up. The Vice President also urged CCMB to develop Rapid DNA Testing Kits for detection of some of the rare diseases and many other genetic disorders. It is important to predict and prevent genetic diseases as more than 70 million Indians are estimated to be suffering from genetic disorders, according to the Organization for Rare Diseases India (ORDI), Naidu added. He also advised institutions like CCMB to take up campaigns on a massive scale to create awareness among the people about the health risks associated with consanguineous marriages, particularly those relating to congenital disorders. Content marketing is a smart strategy to grow your business. And as more businesses are embracing creating original content as a means to connect with the customers they want to reach, you'll need to work harder to ensure you produce the kinds of content that makes your brand stand out. While traditional forms of content such as blogs, podcasts, and educational videos do still work, consider adding different types of special content to your plans, as a means to differentiate your brand, and win new customers. Here are four different types of content to consider to help you get started. 1. Pop-up events When Nike launched its React running shoe, instead of just relying on traditional forms of media and content to spread the word, it included the Nike House of Go pop-up houses in select cities around the world. These fun houses helped those who visited them to experience core features and attributes of the new shoe with various experiential installations. Potential customers were even able to try on the shoes and go for a run around the block along with some of the Nike pros. I attended the House of Go in Buenos Aires with friends and was won over by the live experience -- even though I never considered myself a runner. The experience at the house was transformational, in that it got me to see myself as a runner. I ended up buying a pair of Nike running shoes a few weeks later and took up running again. Events like these help you attract customers who may have previously ignored your standard content in more traditional formats. Think about fun ways you can create a pop-up event to demonstrate the attributes of your product in unique ways. 2. Content event When actor Will Smith turned 50, instead of just hosting a big party, he took the opportunity to host a live content event, the Jump, and it was watched by millions all around the world. For the Jump, Smith bungee-jumped from a helicopter over the Grand Canyon. The event was about 90 minutes in total. Prior to the jump, there was about 60 minutes worth of content, hosted by Smith's long-time pal Alfonso Ribeiro, including interviews with Smith and his family, and experts showcasing the process behind setting up and executing such a feat. During the course of the live-streamed content event, viewers from around the world contributed funds to Smith's charity. Brainstorm ways your brand can create a one-time special event that an eager and interested audience will want to tune in and watch. The event doesn't even have to be directly related to your product or service if the goal is to introduce a new audience to your brand or to connect your existing audience to you at a deeper, more emotional level. 3. Documentaries Last year, a former client of mine launched a documentary series. I didn't work with the client on this project as a part of our engagements but was impressed by both the innovation and the reception the film received from around the industry. The documentary was unbranded, with no mention of the brand that created it. Of course, the brand received a number of accolades, as everyone knew who sponsored the film, and as spokespeople for the brand talked about it at events. As you work to achieve your business goals, consider using long-form content in the form of a documentary to tell unique and interesting stories that are relevant to your industry and the work you do. 4. Contests and charity events A while back, I hosted a pitch competition in partnership with a friend here in Buenos Aires. The competition was a way for my friend and me to use our strengths as businesswomen to give back to a city that had given us so much. Our objective for the event was to engage with and support local entrepreneurs in Buenos Aires. The competition offered cash prizes along with mentoring for the finalists. As an avid believer in content creation, I chronicled the competition with videos and photos. Consider ways you can give back to causes that are important to the communities your customers and or your company are a part of. Chronicle the events as a way to tell stories about the people you are helping, rather than placing the emphasis on you being a do-gooder. [January 28, 2020] Lavu Welcomes New General Manager of Albuquerque Lavu, a restaurant management platform, today announces the promotion of Jacquelyn Turcich to director of HR and general manager (GM) of their Albuquerque headquarters. Turcich brings a heightened level of expertise to the Lavu team with goals to better serve her community and develop the Albuquerque employees by taking over the training and HR department. As director of HR at Lavu, Turcich is responsible for overseeing all aspects of human resources. In her new role, Turcich will strategically integrate effective HR processes, programs, and practices into Lavu's daily operations, performing internal reviews and audits of current systems and policies. She will also take the lead on all HR-related projects, such as providing advice on all disciplinary review conferences and participating in the design, development, and implementation of innovative workforce retention programs. Turcich attended both high school and collee locally. She has spent her entire professional career in Albuquerque, serving as a paramedic prior to transitioning into HR. "I was attracted to Lavu because of their commitment to Albuquerque and promoting their best and brightest employees," said Turcich. "After previously working in emergency medical services, I value serving my community and will continue to do so in hopes of making Lavu one of the best places to work in Albuquerque." Lavu has been headquartered in Albuquerque since its beginning in 2010. They have since opened additional offices in Miami, FL, and Hyderabad, India which allows Turcich to tap into more diverse talent from different locations. Lavu intends to continue hiring in Albuquerque for more specialized roles. Lavu also offers opportunities for its own staff to grow in areas of interest. "At Lavu, we show our dedication to our community by valuing promotion from within," said Lavu CEO, Saleem K. Khatri. "Adding Jacquelyn to our team is a reflection of our dedication because of her familiarity with the city of Albuquerque and its people. I'm confident she will continue to foster growth in our current and future employees." Since Lavu's decision to retain and expand its headquarters in New Mexico, Lavu intends to hire more local, specialized talent. To learn more about job opportunities at Lavu in Albuquerque, please visit https://lavu.com/careers/ About Lavu: Lavu is the world's leading restaurant management platform for small and medium-sized restaurants. The company's products include an award-winning mobile point-of-sale, payment processing, and back of the house software. Used in food service establishments in more than 98 countries, Lavu is a full-featured iPad-based POS system. Lavu was the first iPad point of sale in the Apple (News - Alert) App Store and continues to offer the latest in features and functionalities. Offering flexible payment-processing solutions, an intuitive interface, and a proprietary business management suite, Lavu's restaurant management platform is ideal for all food and drink establishments. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005122/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Neither the CAA nor the proposed NRC are important enough to stake the well-being of so many or stake economic growth. Getting growth back on track is more important, notes Mahesh Vyas. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo IMAGE: A demonstration against the CAA at Jamia Nagar in New Delhi. The labour participation rate (LPR) had fallen to an all-time low of 42.4 per cent in November 2019. This, along with a host of other fast-frequency data, suggest that the Indian economy is likely slowing further in the third quarter of fiscal 2019-2020 after growth dropped to 5 per cent and then 4.5 per cent in the first and second quarters respectively. Preliminary and partial data for December indicate that labour participation is recovering from the November fall, but perhaps, not enough to make November look like an aberration. The LPR has scaled up in each of the three weeks of December. In the last week of November, the LPR was 42.21 per cent. Since then it has inched up progressively -- initially to 42.72 per cent, then 43.08 per cent and then to 43.24 per cent in the week ended December 22. The average LPR during the first three weeks of December was 43.01 per cent. The 30-day moving average of the LPR was 42.87 per cent. The LPR, which was falling for several years, had stopped its decline about a year ago. Over the past year, the LPR has mostly been range-bound between 42.5 per cent and 43 per cent. In recent months it had displayed a little tendency to rise above 43 per cent. August, September and October 2019 had seen the LPR remain persistently above the 43 per cent line. 42.5 per cent was a redline of sorts. But this was breached in November. In December, the LPR could climb out of that redline and may reach the 43 per cent mark. However, this increase in the LPR is likely to be accompanied by an increase in the unemployment rate. This averaged 8.22 per cent in the first three weeks of December compared to the 7.5 per cent pencilled in November 2019. The unemployment rate is sensitive to the labour participation rate. If the labour participation rate rises, unemployment also rises. This indicates that the Indian economy is not able to provide jobs to the additional flow of labour into the labour markets. Demand for labour in December seems to be facing two major problems. First, the economy is slowing down. Power generation was down by 12 per cent in October and down again by 6 per cent in November. Industrial production has been falling too. Automobiles and real estate are witnessing a protracted slowdown and, the kharif crop was partly but significantly damaged because of late rains. If the economic activity slowed down further in December or even it continued to remain weak, it is expected that the demand for labour would have been adversely impacted correspondingly. Any increase in labour participation rate will therefore lead to a higher unemployment rate. Second, strains in the social fabric are likely to be impacting the demand for labour in places where the tensions have spilled over into the streets. The continued effective lockdown in Kashmir puts out an estimated four million out of the labour force. Or, it constrains their effective participation in the labour force. Elsewhere in India, where law and order is disturbed, daily wage earners, small traders and street vendors are immediately pushed out of the labour markets. According to CMIE's Consumer Pyramids Household Survey, there are an estimated 88 million small traders, hawkers, street vendors and daily wage earners in India. They account for about 20 per cent of the total labour force and 22 per cent of all employed persons. These are the vulnerable people. Social unrest spread through scores of towns in December. These witnessed imposition of restrictions on assembly and in some cases even limited curfew. In such places around 20 per cent of the workforce is immediately pushed out of the labour markets. An equally vulnerable set is the 14 per cent self-employed entrepreneurs. These are shop keepers, taxi drivers, self-run barber shops, self-run gymnasiums, beauticians, tourist guides and the like. While the daily wage earners and street hawkers lose wages during civilian strife, self-employed entrepreneurs run the risk of loss of property during such times. The impact of social strife on factory workers and office goers is also increasing because the proportion of contractual workers in total employment is increasing. Often, payments to contractual workers are subject to attendance or even output. A fragile economy can ill-afford the social strife that has spread across Indian states. The relatively vulnerable sections of society -- small traders, vendors, daily wage earners -- cannot afford the effects of this strife on their economic well-being. Neither the Citizenship (Amendment) Act approved by Parliament nor the proposed National Register of Citizens are important enough to stake the well-being of so many or stake economic growth. Getting growth back on track is more important. Growth generates employment for those who are willing to work. And, good employment for those who are willing to work can motivate more to join the Indian labour force to seek employment. India needs more hands to the till to accelerate growth to reach its cherished target of becoming a $5 trillion economy. Staying focused on this target may be a good strategy. Even a partial failure in achieving this target may be better than the distractions around determination of citizenship. Mahesh Vyas is the MD & CEO, CMIE OTTAWAPrime Minister Justin Trudeau has paid tribute in the House of Commons to those who died on the Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet shot down outside Tehran earlier this month, as MPs from all parties demanded Iran bring those responsible to justice. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne introduced a motion demanding co-operation from Iran throughout the investigation into how the passenger jet was downed by Iranian surface-to-air missiles shortly after taking off, killing all 176 people on board, including dozens of Canadians. The motion called on Iran to respect the wishes of the victims families and compensate them, too. The motion, which received unanimous consent, urged Iran to conduct an independent criminal investigation and hold open and impartial judicial proceedings according to international standards. MPs agreed to stand in solidarity with those who lost loved ones on Flight PS752 and ask Canada to continue supporting them. There were 57 Canadian citizens and 29 permanent residents who died in the crash, as well as many others with connections to the country. Trudeau said the spirit and values that motivated Canadians to come together to mourn the loss and help the families shows why those who boarded the flight had chosen to come to Canada in the first place. Before any of this happened, they were not just shaping their own lives, they were building our country, building a future we all share, that is now diminished by their loss, Trudeau said in a speech to the House of Commons. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said Canada continue to fight for justice for the friends and families of those who died. We must continue to demand accountability from those responsible within the Iranian regime, he said. It was the Iranian regime and the Iranian regime alone who was responsible for this horrific crime. In the days after the Jan. 8 crash, Trudeau said in an interview with Global News that had it not been for the recently elevated tensions in the region, the Canadians who died would be home with their families. On Jan. 3, Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, was killed in a drone attack approved by U.S. President Donald Trump. On Jan. 7, Iran retaliated by firing missiles at two Iraqi military bases, where U.S. troops are based. Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said military tension was at the root of the tragedy and sustained peace would have avoided it. New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh said all MPs should acknowledge the loss by striving for peace. The loss that we witnessed is an example of the horrible cost of war, the horrible cost of the escalation of tension and of violence, Singh said in the House of Commons. Violence begets more violence. The Canadian Press has independently confirmed at least 93 victims with ties to Canada, many of them students and professors returning after spending the December break visiting relatives in Iran. Read more about: The Big Number: 9 square metres, the amount of park area per person Toronto would have without the green space offered by the citys ravine system. Toronto council will be seeing a lot of green this week. On the agenda for the meeting, which kicks off Wednesday, Mayor John Tory and city councillors will debate whether to take the next steps on Rail Deck Park. That proposal is bold, calling for a giant green space built atop the downtown GO rail corridor. It would transform the city core, replacing an ugly tangle of railway tracks with a chill place to hang out. But thats not the only green item on councils agenda. Theres also a new strategy for fixing up Torontos ravines. And I am here to tell you, while it doesnt seem as flashy, the ravine stuff is more important. Thats not to say Rail Deck Park isnt a good idea. Its just an enormously complicated and very expensive good idea. This week, council will vote on whether to authorize expropriation of air rights for a first phase of the park. Whenever that gets sorted, building over active railway tracks will require a lot of tricky coordination. The whole thing comes with an eye-popping price tag of up to $1.7 billion, but thats a very preliminary estimate, as is the phase one construction start date of 2022. Its not cynical to think this is the kind of complex project that will exceed initial budget estimates and blow past deadlines. The ravine strategy, in comparison, is simple. It offers council a chance to improve already existing assets. And if youve ever taken a walk or bike ride through Torontos ravines, you would know the ravines are one hell of an asset. Covering more than 300 kilometres, the ravine system makes up 17 per cent of all land area in Toronto and extends darn near across the entire city. But a lot of it feels like a secret. The day I first ventured down into the Don Valley and started exploring, it was a revelation. It was a portal to a whole other Toronto a peaceful one, teeming with plants and wildlife. The hidden nature of much of the ravine system comes with a downside, though. Maintenance is lacking, so litter proliferates and invasive plants have taken over large chunks of it. It can be hard to find ways in and out of the system, meaning its easy to get lost. The ravine strategy has plans to address this kind of stuff. It would create dedicated funding for ravine litter pickup. Funding for dealing with invasive plants like the colourfully named dog-strangling vine would see a big increase. Tory has pushed to accelerate annual funding for these two aspects of the plan, requiring $2.7 million, so they can start to phase in this year. Over the longer term, the ravine strategy calls for about $105 million in capital spending. That cash would go toward continued work to improve access points into the ravine system, along with better signage. Theres also a plan to complete an 81-kilometre Loop Trail in the middle of the city. The strategy is timely. If council doesnt invest in the ravine system, the effects of climate change could put pieces of it at risk due to erosion and flooding. Losing public ravine area would be a huge blow for Toronto residents searching for a little bit of nature in the city. According to the citys parkland strategy, there are about 28 square metres of park per person in Toronto today. Without ravine area, that figure would drop to about nine square metres. With Torontos population growing fast, council must be prepared to seriously invest in parks to ensure theres enough quality green space for new and existing residents. That means continuing to advance bold plans like Rail Deck Park, but it also means spending to maintain, improve and protect the green space that already exists. The ravine strategy is a chance to further reveal one of Torontos best-kept secrets. Compared to other projects, its a little money for a lot of green. Neil Woodford: There is widespread anger over his management of the equity income fund, and his decision to take some 8.6m in fees between its suspension in June and the decision to wind it up Investors in Neil Woodford's collapsed equity income fund have been told today what cash has been salvaged from some of the underlying assets, with payouts due to begin on Thursday. They will receive between 46.3633p and 58.9936p per share, depending what version or 'share class' of the fund they held. Each share was worth 1 when launched by the fund, but their value had fallen substantially by the time the fund was frozen at the start of June 2019. People who hold the Woodford fund on an investing platform or in a pension will be paid direct into their account or fund, but Link says platforms might take a few extra days to process payments, after they are made on 30 January. The money comes from a sell-off of the liquid part of the portfolio carried out by US investment bank BlackRock and is believed to represent about 70 per cent of the fund at its present value. Earlier this month, Link said that 1.9billion had been raised from the sale of 63 per cent of the fund at that point. The task of offloading the much harder to sell, more illiquid assets is being handled by specialists at Park Hill, and Link offered no update today on its progress or news on when future payments would be issued. Hundreds of thousands of people face losses following the collapse of the fund, and are waiting to get some of their money back. Today, Labour's shadow Chancellor John McDonnell repeated his call for a delay in the appointment of Andrew Bailey as governor of the Bank of England, so his role in the debacle while boss of the Financial Conduct Authority can be investigated first. Source: Link Asset Services. See below for an explanation of 'share classes' and the letters attached to them Link said in its latest bulletin to them: 'This first capital distribution will be reflected in the net asset value of the fund on the payment date, being on or around 30 January 2020. Why are investors getting different sums depending on what share class they held? Share classes are simply different versions of the same fund. We explain how they work and how to decode the abbreviations tagged to them here. 'Accumulation' means that any dividends are reinvested in the fund, and 'income' means they are paid out to investors. Hargreaves customers hold an exclusive 'Z share class' version of the Woodford fund, because it negotiated a special cut-rate deal with his fund management firm. The 'Z' version of Woodford's fund was cheaper than the 'C share class' version offered by rival fund brokers. Tilney managing director Jason Hollands explains that the differing payouts for each Woodford share class reflect the level of fees people were paying. So, Hargreaves customers are getting a slightly higher amount back because their charges were lower. You can work out how much you have lost on the sale of the liquid part of the fund portfolio, by taking the figure for your share class and multiplying by how many shares you have, and comparing with what you bought them for. This is Money has a searchable database of individual funds which includes all their various share classes here. 'This means that the number of shares that you hold in the fund will remain the same but the price per share will reduce to reflect the value paid out by way of the first capital distribution of the fund on that date. 'Link Fund Solutions Limited will write to you, under separate cover, with an explanation of how this first capital distribution has been calculated and to provide an update in relation to other matters concerning the winding up of the fund.' There is widespread anger over Woodford's management of the equity income fund, and his decision to take some 8.6million in fees between its suspension in June and the decision to wind it up. Accounts for the 2017/18 year published earlier in January showed that Woodford and his business partner Craig Newman scooped 13.8million in dividends from their investment business while it was descending into crisis, with investors already fleeing funds. His smaller Woodford Income Focus fund has been taken over by Aberdeen Standard Investments, and Woodford Patient Capital Trust by Schroders Investment Management. Labour's John McDonnell has criticised the Government for not postponing the appointment of Bailey to the Bank of England, citing 'the failure of the FCA to monitor investment fund suspensions' during his time as chief executive of regulator. He said today: 'Many small investors who were simply seeking a secure investment for their pension have been hurt by the failure of Woodford. 'This isn't just about the failure of Woodford. More importantly it's about the failure of the regulatory system and in particular the FCA. I repeat my call for a fully independent inquiry into this debacle including the role of the FCA.' Jason Hollands, managing director of Tilney, says investors who bought the fund at its launch are down 21 per cent, and those who bought in June 2017 are down 43 per cent. 'It's a dreadful outcome. It shows the importance of continuing to monitor investments,' he adds. Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at AJ Bell, says: 'In some respects, today represents the first day of closure for investors who have suffered from the terrible performance of the Woodford Equity Income fund. 'However, while this payment of the first tranche of the liquidated assets will be a relief for thousands of investors who have been trapped in the fund since June last year, there is still huge uncertainty around the money still stuck in illiquid assets. 'This payment represents just over 70 per cent of the current fund value and has been raised from the sale of the liquid element of the portfolio. 'Investors will be acutely aware that a large portion of their investment remains trapped in the illiquid, unquoted holdings that Park Hill are trying to sell. Selling the liquid holdings was the easy bit. 'For Park Hill, it is a hugely challenging task to sell the illiquid holdings in a timely fashion and investors still remain in the dark as to how long they will have to wait for the remainder of their money, and importantly, how much they are actually likely to get back.' Investors are understood to be considering legal action against online investment broker Hargreaves Lansdown, which has been heavily criticised for keeping the Woodford fund on its 'best buy' lists up until its suspension in June. A third legal firm, Nelsons, has joined Leigh Day and Slater & Gordon to confirm it is exploring action against Hargreaves. It was horrible the way we blew up the limits on donations to national parties because it allows people to buy access and influence, said Paul S. Ryan, a vice president at Common Cause, a government-watchdog group. Contrary to popular perception, the Democratic Party has long fought to loosen restrictions on money and politics, hand in hand with the Republicans. The public doesnt think that because Democrats on the stump talk about campaign finance reform. Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (19) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, speaks during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Naohiko Hatta/Pool via Reuters) World Health Organization Chief Visits China After Admitting Error in Coronavirus Risk Assessment The director-general of the United Nations health agency flew to China late Jan. 27 to meet with government officials and health experts amid the expanding 2019 Novel Coronavirus contagion. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing to discuss how to protect Chinese nationals and foreigners in areas affected by the virus as well as possible evacuation alternatives, a spokesman said. Ghebreyesus said WHO was advising against withdrawing foreign nationals from Wuhan, where the virus originated, state media reported. According to WHO, he and Xi agreed that the organization would send international experts to China as soon as possible to help Chinese scientists understand the outbreak and guide global response efforts. Stopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is WHOs highest priority, Dr. Ghebreyesus said in a statement. We appreciate the seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak, especially the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated, including sharing data and genetic sequence of the virus. Xi called the virus a devil, according to state television, before adding: We cannot let the devil hide. China will strengthen international cooperation and welcomes WHO participation in virus prevention China is confident of winning the battle against the virus, he said. A WHO panel of experts last week declined to declare an international health emergency over the coronavirus. Make no mistake. This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency, Ghebreyesus said at the time. A medical worker in a protective suit checks the body temperature of a driver at a checkpoint outside the city of Yueyang, Hunan Province, near the border to Hubei Province that is on lockdown after an outbreak of a new coronavirus, in China on Jan. 28, 2020. (Thomas Peter/Reuters) There is still a lot we dont know. We dont know the source of this virus, we dont understand how easily it spreads and we dont fully understand its clinical features or severity. We are completely committed to ending this outbreak as soon as possible. The Geneva-based agency said in a report late Sunday that the risk for coronavirus was very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level. In a footnote in the report (pdf), WHO said it incorrectly stated in its previous reports over the preceding three days that the global risk was moderate. The shift, though, did not mean the organization was declaring a global health emergency. WHO said in its Jan. 27 situation report that the visits aim was to understand the latest developments and strengthen the partnership with China, in particular for the response. The group wants to limit human-to-human transmission, identify patients and isolate them, and identify and reduce transmission from the animal source, which is still not confirmed. A security guard stands outside the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where the coronavirus was detected, in Wuhan, China on Jan. 24, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images) The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was closed on Jan. 1, but hasnt been confirmed as the source of the disease. U.S. health officials said early research on the new virus showed similarities to bat coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that infect animals and, in some cases, pass from animals to humans. Three cases of human-to-human transmission were reported on Tuesday: one each in Germany, Taiwan, and Japan. Previous cases of human-to-human transmission were confirmed but all involved relatives, including a Chinese man infecting his son in Vietnam. There are thousands of confirmed cases around the world, mostly in China, and the virus has spread to over a dozen countries, including the United States, France, Australia, and South Korea. Reuters contributed to this report. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Family, friends and sympathetic strangers will say their final goodbyes this week to Stephanie Parze, whose body was found Sunday after a months-long search for the missing 25-year-old New Jersey resident. Parzes family announced Tuesday that a viewing will take place from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday at St. Rose of Lima Chapel, located at 51 Lincoln Pl. in Freehold, N.J. The funeral will be Friday in St. Rose of Lima Church, located at 16 McLean St. in Freehold. An internment will follow at St. Rosa of Lima Cemetery. Parzes ex-boyfriend, who previously had been arrested for assaulting her, confessed to killing her in a suicide note to his parents, the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office revealed at a press conference Monday. 9 Search for Stephanie Parze on Staten Island Parzes parents said Monday they plan to start a foundation for domestic violence victims and missing people in their daughters name. The foundation, according to Edward Parze, will bring awareness to battered women and missing people, adding that domestic abuse is an epidemic. This is an extremely somber day for us, he said. Our family is devastated, our friends, our community. Our lives are never going to be the same. Police in League City say a man who impersonated a modeling agent in order to sexually assault a young child admitted to the act and is now in jail. Detectives say Joel Christopher Acuna, 27, used a social media app called LIKEE to contact the child on Dec. 8, claiming to be an agent who could help the child become a model, according to the League City Police Department. He showed up to the childs home in the 100 block of Rocky Cove Lane shortly before noon that same day, police said. (Photo : Google via Facebook) Twitter is harnessing complaints about Google Drive and the panic it has caused users. Obviously, because of the malfunction, certain necessary data cannot be accessed, and this is unacceptable, especially because people use Google Drive to store critical data in the first place. The importance of Google Drive to the modern user is quite great, which is why disappointment is very evident because of the recent crash. The Worldwide Panic by Google Drive Users Having online storage for certain sensitive files is how Google promoted their Google Drive in the first place promising users safe and easy access to the certain necessary files they wish to store away. Differentiating themselves from a hard drive, Google embeds in the minds of their users the idea of not having to carry or worry about the physical storage device but only have to worry about the security of their account, which is as easy as memorizing the username and the password. Although a simple concept, this is still not very well executed, evident to the crash users are experiencing recently. Aside from the fact that Google has crashed, another concern rises is the possible breach because of the inaccessible files. The Havoc Caused by Google Drive's Malfunction From students to professionals, everyone who is an avid user of Google Drive has started to lash out on twitter about not being able to access their presentations, projects, reports, accounting, and many other sensitive data. Certain students have even commented, "Google Drive is down and I've an entire slides presentation due for sophistication tonight and I'm screaming." The modern professional workplace usually utilizes Google Drive if they do not have a private network of their own because of its easy to use and straightforward convenience, but for those experiencing this malfunction now, it may have been better for them to invest in a private network. Imagine what would happen if the whole corporate network would crash just because the company relied solely on Google Drive. Read Also: Twitter App Version 8.28.2 bugs Cause Crashing on Launch: Twitter Vows to Fix The Reliability of Google After this Malfunction It has been quite tough a year for Google after leaks again and again, with its security reputation being the spotlight of many criticisms. Although this matter was resolved, nobody was expecting the crash that just happened, and people are going wild over it, even going to the means of once again questioning Google's ability to provide reliable services. For now, there are few to no alternatives for Google Drive, which if there were, by the tweets alone, a lot of people would have transferred. Malfunctions nowadays are unacceptable because of the importance of technology in day to day activity. The malfunction could even occur during a make or break moment, which would leave the user to suffer the havoc due to technical difficulties, which is frequently unacceptable as well. Although Google Drive is convenient, it still has ups and downs like these, which is why, at the end of the day, users still need to be responsible for their data. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. An MoU between the institute and TGI was recently signed and has identified various key areas on which this collaboration will work The George Institute for Global Health (TGI) and the Atal Bihari Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis, (IGG) a think-tank of the Government of Madhya Pradesh will work together in a number of key health areas to make health services better in the state. An MoU between the institute and TGI was recently signed and has identified various key areas on which this collaboration will work. TGI has rich experience in rapid evidence research and their experience will be used in further studies. These areas include research in non-communicable diseases, capacity building of ANM and other grassroots workers, lowering deaths due to snakebite and road traffic injuries through research-based interventions, knowledge management in the health sector, etc. The aim of the collaboration is to inform health systems and policy decision making through joint publications, forums, seminars, and other dissemination activities at both state and national levels. The MoU was signed by R Parasuram, Director-General, IGG and Amit Khanna, Director, Finance and Operations, The George Institute. Welcoming the partnership, Amit Khanna said, We at TGI look forward to collaborative work in a State that has come forward to use high-quality evidence to improve the life of its people. Through this partnership, we would endeavor to demonstrate the use of innovative approaches to create system-wide change for the people at the bottom of the pyramid. R Parasuram said, The areas to work on include working in a collaborative manner to enhance the capacity building so that the outreach of the services becomes better. There are a number of areas on which we have to work including systemic improvements. Health is a focus area in MP and an area of concern to the government. The MoU seeks to explore other opportunities where the skills and expertise of both organizations can be beneficially combined. Dr. Soumyadeep Bhaumik, research fellow, TGI added, The partnership between IGG and TGI is very exciting and I look forward to working together for policy-relevant research particularly around snakebite, and road traffic injuries in Madhya Pradesh. We also look forward to creating expertise in the area of systematic reviews and rapid evidence synthesis which can benefit policymaking in the State The function was attended by Madan Mohan Upadhyay, Principal Advisor, Social Sector and other team members from IGG and TGI. Three persons have been kept under observation at an isolation ward of RML Hospital here for a possible exposure to novel coronavirus, officials said on Tuesday. The three -- all men aged between 24 and 48 -- were admitted on Monday and their samples have been sent for testing, Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital, said. While two of the men are residents of Delhi, one hails from NCR. Till Monday, a total of 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is believed to be 'incandescent with rage' at US officials' refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas over the crash that killed Harry Dunn. Raab has been left 'furious' after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ruled Sacoolas should not have to return to Britain to face justice over the 19-year-old's death near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August last year. The Dunn Family's spokesman Radd Seiger said the Foreign Secretary was angry 'on a human level... as a parent himself' after a meeting with the family this week. Mr Seiger said Raab plans to 'demand' Sacoolas's extradition when Donald Trump's Secretary of State visits the UK this week. A new survey has today revealed 64 per cent of Americans believe the US diplomat's wife should be sent back to Britain, with just nine per cent thinking she should maintain diplomatic immunity. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (pictured in the Commons today) is believed to be 'incandescent with rage' at US officials' refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas over the crash that killed Harry Dunn Raab has been left 'furious' after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ruled Sacoolas should not have to return to Britain to face justice over Harry Dunn's death near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August last year, according to family spokesman Radd Seiger (centre today, with his mother Charlotte Charles left and father Tim Dunn right) The YouGov poll suggested the issue goes beyond politics, with 67 per cent of Democrats backing the UK's extradition request and 64 per cent of Republicans. Mr Seiger said of his meeting with Raab: 'He was incandescent with rage. On a very human level, he is a parent himself, and he made it clear that he is going to tell Pompeo that Sacoolas has to come back. 'He looked the parents in the eyes and said he was going to demand the return of Anne Sacoolas.' Yesterday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson slammed the extradition refusal as a 'denial of justice'. Today a US lawyer suggested the US could release Sacoolas for extradition if Prince Andrew agrees to cooperate with justice officials in their probe into paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's estate. A new survey has today revealed 64 per cent of Americans believe the US diplomat's wife should be sent back to Britain, with just nine per cent thinking she should maintain diplomatic immunity Lisa Bloom, an aggressive California-based lawyer who famously represented Harvey Weinstein and now represents five of Epstein's alleged victims, today suggested that US secretary of state Mike Pompeo should reconsider his decision to reject Anne Sacoolas' extradition to Britain. She has claimed America's hardline stance will hamper future 'cooperation' across the Atlantic in the future - including on Andrew - because so many believe Sacoolas should face justice for knocking down and killing Harry in a car accident last year. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday, Harry Dunn's mother Charlotte Charles echoed Mr Seiger's claims, describing their meeting with Raab: 'The meeting went really well. 'You can see the anger in their eyes, faces, expressions and body language and they are definitely not happy at all that this extradition request has been turned down. Sacoolas (left) skipped the country and claimed diplomatic immunity after knocking down and killing 19-year-old Harry (right) while driving on the wrong side of the road outside a US base in Britain last year 'They have given us concrete assurances they are looking at other ways to overcome the issue, and that they are doing the best they can to secure justice for Harry.' The Foreign Office is still looking at alternative options including a trial of Sacoolas in absentia in the UK, issuing an Interpol red notice, which would mean she would be arrested as soon as she left US soil. America and Britain have traditional agreed to extradition of people between the two countries unless there are exceptional circumstances. Sacoolas was driving when Harry Dunn's motorbike crashed outside RAF Croughton last summer. As the wife of a US diplomat she was granted diplomatic immunity and was allowed to travel back to the US. The Dunn family have campaigned tirelessly for her to face justice. File image: Twitter/@BhimArmyChief Among the snapshots of the unique protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi and other places were those of not just women and children on the streets. It was the picture of a self-styled Dalit leader on the footsteps of the imposing Jama Masjid near the Red Fort, symbolising yet another attempt to create a narrative of Dalit-Muslim unity. On focus was the so-called Bhim Army and its chief Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan who escaped detention first when violence broke out in Daryaganj areas and later showed up at the anti-CAA protest and turned himself in to the police. The drama added to his growing persona as the new face of the Dalit movement in the Hindi heartland. After being detained in TIhar jail for more than three weeks, Azad was granted bail. Following this he participated in anti-CAA protests at the Jama Masjid and at Shaheen Bagh, signalling that he was heralding a new course among the Dalits and the Muslims in opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On January 20, standing on the stone steps of the 17th century mosque Azad read out of the Constitutions Preamble to the huge crowds and vowed to carry on the fight against the CAA on behalf of the Muslims. Those impressed by his words even saw a new imam in him outclassing Jama Masjids official Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari who had defended the CAA. Azads next stop was the protest site at Shaheen Bagh, where protesters, mainly women and children, have been on a month-long sit-in protest blocking an arterial road connecting south Delhi with Faridabad and Noida in Uttar Pradesh. There, Azad said, in the next 10 days, there will be at least 5,000 Shaheen Baghs across the country. Till the Bhim Army is here, this law would not be applicable and they have to go through my corpse (to implement it). Of course, for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress, Azads shows have meant more support for them among the Dalits and the Muslims against Modi ahead of the Delhi polls on February 8. However, this is unlikely to pose a big danger to the BJP as there could not be additional loss of votes on this account. Besides, polarisation cuts both ways. As things stand today, Azad is a political novelty who is bound to make waves. For those working on a pan-India unity of the Dalits and the Muslims, Azad is someone who will take head-on the BJPs Hindu vs Muslim binary. They believe Azad has the potential in him to encroach upon the BJP vote-bank, especially among the Dalits though there is not enough evidence in this regard now. Perhaps, Azad could develop the capacity to eventually throw a spanner at the BJPs plans to work among the Dalits with initiatives such as the Ambedkar Navodaya Schools, etc. across India. Significantly, the idea of Dalit-Muslim unity has been talked about for a long time. Its proponents have held that both the Dalits and the Muslims could switch votes from one party to another forming a bloc of voters whose needs cannot be ignored. Of late, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM)s Asaduddin Owaisi has been trying to make this work. Keen to replace the influence of the so-called secular parties, Owaisi has been organising conferences to bring the Dalits and the Muslims together in areas where the Muslims dominate but need the Dalits to win assembly or Lok Sabha seats. Many feel that at the height of her popularity Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati symbolised this unity. Then, Muslims leaders were often seen in the company of emerging Dalit leaders from the BSP in Uttar Pradesh. With her decline, new Dalit icons, like Azad, hold out hope for the Muslims. In fact, in the AIMIMs slogan Jai Bhim, Jai Meem, Bhim stands for Babasaheb Ambedkar and Meem is the Urdu alphabet M for Muslim. Owaisi, who saw some success with Prakash Ambedkars Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) in Maharashtra, hopes a similar alliance with the Dalit parties and the Bhim Army can come up in Bihar. On December 29, Owaisi addressed a gathering of more than 50,000 people in Bihars Kishanganj. Back in 2015, he had pledged his resources for Dalit groups to hold protests at several places when the row over Rohith Vemula, the deceased student of University of Hyderabad, erupted all over India. Vemulas photographs recently surfaced as a face of the anti-CAA protest in an indication of attempts to forge Dalti-Muslim unity. On January 26, the tricolour was hoisted at the Shaheen Bagh by Vemulas mother, who was accompanied by the grandmothers of Shaheen Bagh and former JNU student Umar Khalid. Irrespective of whether the Saharanpur-born Azad emerges as the next big Dalit leader to replace the likes of Mayawati, the sight of a low caste Hindu sporting moustache and riding an Enfield Bullet inspires hope for Muslims leaders who are looking for new ways to jinx the BJP. NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Cold Chain Logistics Market for Pharmaceuticals Industry Market 2020-2024 The analyst has been monitoring the global cold chain logistics market for pharmaceuticals industry market and it is poised to grow by $ 9.48 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 10% during the forecast period. Our reports on cold chain logistics market for pharmaceuticals industry market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05842237/?utm_source=PRN The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by increase in global demand for pharmaceuticals. In addition, growing consolidation in global healthcare logistics market is anticipated to boost the growth of the cold chain logistics market for pharmaceuticals industry market as well. Market Segmentation The global cold chain logistics market for pharmaceuticals industry market is segmented as below: Service Warehousing and VAS Transportation Geographic segmentation North America APAC Europe South America and MEA Key Trends for cold chain logistics market for pharmaceuticals industry market growth This study identifies growing consolidation in global healthcare logistics market as the prime reasons driving the cold chain logistics market for pharmaceuticals industry market growth during the next few years. Prominent vendors in cold chain logistics market for pharmaceuticals industry market We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the cold chain logistics market for pharmaceuticals industry market, including some of the vendors such as Agility Public Warehousing Co K.S.C.P, Deutsche Post AG, FedEx Corp, JWD InfoLogistics Public Co Ltd, Kerry Logistics Network Ltd, KUEHNE + NAGEL Management AG, OOCL Logistics Ltd, SCG Logistics Management Co Ltd, United Parcel Service of America Inc and VersaCold Logistics Services . The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05842237/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com MYSURU: Tamil film star Rajinikanth reportedly suffered an 'injury' while shooting for an episode of Bear Grylls' Man vs Wild in the Bandipur forest area near ysuru on Tuesday. Bandipur deputy conservator of forests (DCF) Balachander told Deccan Chronicle it was not an injury as such but some scratches from the commonly found Lantana (Lantana camara) plant. He completed his shooting schedule unhindered. Mysuru airport sources said Rajinikanth had been scheduled to leave for Chennai on Wednesday but instead took the 8.30 pm flight on Tuesday itself. He had arrived here from Chennai on Monday and shot for the show at Bandipur. A few environmentalists opposed the permission given to Bear Grylls for shooting in Bandipur because it would affect animals. Forest officials, however, claimed that Bear Grylls had secured permission from the chief wildlife warden of the state. The shooting was permitted for six hours in the ranges of Mulleholle, Maddur and Kalkere, in mainly non-tourist zones. If permission was given for the shooting of Wild Karnataka, then this can also be permitted. Also, no tourist or regular forest patrolling activities will be affected. The shooting will be done under special forest protection and no one will be aware of the locations," a forest official was quoted as saying in a news report. Last year Bear Grylls created a splash by having prime minister Narendra Modi as his guest. The actor donned sporty clothes for the shoot: blue jacket and grey track pants with a cross-body sling bag. Videos and photographs of Rajinikanth arriving at a helipad were shared widely on social media. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 01:48:22|Editor: yan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday revealed the long-awaited political aspect of his Middle East peace plan, a proposal that has already been repeatedly refused by the Palestinians. The plan proposes a "realistic" two-state solution and recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided capital," said Trump at the White House along with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Trump administration has postponed several times the publication of its "Deal of the Century" for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority said earlier on Tuesday that the new U.S. plan aims to establish an isolated Palestinian entity in the Gaza Strip. Also on Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza against the plan. In this screenshot taken from a Senate Television webcast, Legal Counsel for President Donald Trump, Alan Dershowitz speaks during impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol on January 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Senate Television | Getty Images President Donald Trump's lawyers laid out a multi-pronged defense in the Senate impeachment trial Monday, pushing back on House Democrats' case for Trump's conviction and removal from office. The defense team sought to undermine the arguments presented last week by the House impeachment managers, while making the historical case for Trump's acquittal and rationalizing his dealings with Ukraine. They also presented expansive arguments defending Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and raising suspicions about the conduct of Hunter Biden, the son of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. But as of 8 p.m. on Monday evening, Trump's lawyers had not addressed former national security advisor John Bolton's reported claim that Trump withheld nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine in order to secure investigation into his political opponents. Trump denied Bolton's claim, reportedly made in a manuscript of his upcoming memoir. The defense team has 24 cumulative hours to present its opening statements. The lawyers kicked off their arguments in an abbreviated session Saturday morning, accusing Democrats of pursuing Trump's impeachment simply to remove him from the ballot in the 2020 presidential election. The House voted last month to impeach Trump on articles of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, both related to his dealings with Ukraine. It remains unlikely that two thirds of the Senate will vote to remove Trump, as the Constitution requires. Here are the day's biggest moments from the Senate trial: GOP senators say report on Bolton's book boosts need for witnesses in trial... The New York Times reported Sunday that Bolton's claims in an upcoming book that Trump said he wanted a military aid package to Ukraine withheld until Kyiv agreed to announce investigations into his Democratic political opponents, including the Bidens. Trump denied the reported allegations on Twitter early Monday morning. CNBC has not seen a copy of Bolton's manuscript. Democrats have held Bolton up as a key witness who must be heard in the trial. And the handful of Republicans seen as being moderate enough to side with the Democrats on witnesses appeared to be taking Bolton's reported claims seriously. U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) speaks to the media while walking towards the Senate Chamber for the Senate Impeachment Trial in Washington. Michael Brochstein | Getty Images Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told reporters Monday morning that "I think it's increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton." Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, released a statement saying the reports on Bolton's book "strengthen the case for witnesses." They "have prompted a number of conversations with my colleagues," Collins said. Collins TWEET Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska tweeted: "I stated before that I was curious as to what John Bolton might have to say. From the outset, I've worked to ensure this trial would be fair and that members would have the opportunity to weigh in after its initial phase to determine if we need more information." Murkowski TWEET Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday morning that the new reports erase even a "shred of logic left to not hear witnesses and review the documents." ...But Trump's defense sidesteps Bolton's claims The president's lawyers hammered the evidence gathered during the House impeachment inquiry from numerous current and former administration officials. They argued that nearly all of the testimony in those proceedings came from second- or third-hand sources who did not speak directly to Trump about his intentions toward Ukraine. But they didn't mention Bolton's newly reported allegations, which loomed over the impeachment proceedings Monday. "Not a single witness testified the president himself said that there was any connection between any investigation and security assistance, a presidential meeting, or anything else," Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said. In this screengrab taken from a Senate Television webcast, Legal Counsel for President Donald Trump Jay Sekulow speaks during impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol on January 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. Senate Television | Getty Images It's true that none of the witnesses in House proceedings testified that Trump himself explicitly tied the Ukraine aid to the political probes. But the White House had pressured some potential witnesses not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, and others including Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney have refused to comply. Rudy Giuliani gets a robust defense Trump's defense team offered a lengthy, rigorous defense of the president's personal lawyer, whom they argue "is the House managers' colorful distraction." "House managers would have you believe that Mr. Giuliani was at the center of this controversy," Trump lawyer Jane Raskin told senators. "If Rudy Giuliani is everything they say he is, don't you think they would have subpoenaed and pursued his testimony?" House Democrats subpoenaed documents from Giuliani in September during their investigation. But a lawyer for Giuliani told the House in October that Giuliani would not comply with the impeachment inquiry, calling it "unconstitutional, baseless, and illegitimate." Raskin, referring to Giuliani as a "minor player," said he wasn't on a "political errand" while in talks with Ukraine on digging up potentially damaging information about Joe Biden. Rather, she said, he was being a good defense lawyer for the president. "He was gathering evidence regarding Ukrainian election interference to defend his client against the false allegations being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller," Raskin said. Giuliani reacted positively to Raskin's defense of him, saying in a tweet following her arguments that he "did not dig up dirt on Joe Biden." Giuliani tweet Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Giuliani to determine whether he broke laws regulating foreign lobbying following the ouster of former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Pam Bondi argues the Bidens merit further investigation Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi took the floor Monday afternoon to argue one of the most controversial portions of Trump's defense, and one that several Republican senators still do not consider credible: The claim that former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden's activities in Ukraine were suspicious and worthy of further investigation. In this screengrab taken from a Senate Television webcast, Legal Counsel for President Donald Trump, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol on January 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Senate Television | Getty Images For more than half an hour, Bondi laid out the discredited theory that in 2014, Joe Biden had pressed for the removal of a corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor, not because the prosecutor was corrupt, but because that prosecutor had run a corruption probe of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company who employed Hunter Biden as a board member. But the timeline of this theory doesn't line up -- the investigation into Burisma was closed before Hunter Biden joined the board. Nonetheless, last summer Trump asked Ukrainian president Zelenskiy to launch a new probe of the Bidens, a request at the heart of the current impeachment case against Trump. Bondi argued Monday that Democrats "might say, without evidence, that everything we just have said has been debunked, that the evidence points entirely and equivocally in the other direction." Still, Bondi said, "all we're saying is that there was a basis to talk about [the Bidens], to raise this issue" with Zelenskiy. "And that is enough." A spokesman for Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign dismissed Bondi's argument. "Here on Planet Earth, the conspiracy theory that Bondi repeated has been conclusively refuted," said rapid response director Andrew Bates. Ken Starr, who led Clinton probe, decries "age of impeachment" Ken Starr, the former head of the Independent Counsel's Office which investigated then-President Bill Clinton's extramarital affair in the 1990's, returned to the Senate floor Monday to argue a point that few people ever expected to hear coming from Starr: Presidential impeachment has been weaponized, Starr told senators, likening the process to a "domestic war" that "divides the country like nothing else." In this screengrab taken from a Senate Television webcast, Legal Counsel for President Donald Trump Ken Starr speaks during impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol on January 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Senate Television | Getty Images STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. John Boltons bombshell has landed squarely on the desk of U.S. Senate Republicans. According to reports about Boltons upcoming book, Trump directly told Bolton, his former national security adviser, that he wanted to withhold aid from Ukraine in exchange for an investigation of Vice President Joe Biden. We dont yet know exactly what the book says, or what proof Bolton offers. Trump has already said Bolton is lying. But if Bolton testifies as much in the impeachment trial, undermining Trumps prior claims, will that that be enough for Senate Republicans to oust a sitting president of their own party, one who remains wildly popular with the GOP? If they do, the Republican Party could put itself out of business. Trump didnt get the investigation of Biden that he was looking for, and released the aid anyway. President Volodymyr Zelensky and others said they felt no pressure from Trump. This is worth ousting a duly elected president of the United States? On the other side of the ledger, Biden openly bragged that as vice president, he ordered $1 billion in aid to be withheld from Ukraine unless the country fired its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin. Shokin had been investigating the Burisma gas company that Bidens son, Hunter, had a lucrative job with. Biden and others have said that the ouster was sought because Shokin wasnt doing enough to investigate corruption, not in order to protect Bidens son. The probe, they say, had lapsed. Were not supposed to ask how Hunter Biden, with no industry experience, got a lucrative job with a Ukrainian natural gas company while his father, the vice president of the United States, was the White House point man on Ukraine. Just lucky, I guess. No Dems suggest that Joe Bidens quid pro quo behavior with Ukraine disqualifies him from the presidency, even if ousting Shokin could be seen as potentially helping to shield Bidens son from scandal, and thereby protect Biden politically as well. Its all been debunked, were told. What Bidens Ukraine bragging tells you is that political hardball like this goes on all the time. Countries want U.S. aid, they must give something in return. The bragging tells you that its business as usual (even if the business can sometimes be personal too). Trumps appeal to Zelensky is not a high crime and misdemeanor. Its not something you overturn an election over, particularly if Trump was casting a wider net in attacking corruption in Ukraine. Were a long way from Trump being convicted in the Senate. But what if? Vice President Mike Pence would assume office. But the Dems have already questioned his own involvement with Ukraine. Not hard to imagine the House impeachment inquiry beginning on day one if Pence becomes president. Dems will say we have to totally clean house. And until a new GOP vice president is in place, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be next in line. Think about that, Republicans. Dems are already trying to overturn the Electoral College, which would give big, Dem-heavy states the final say in presidential elections. Dems want to up their popular vote numbers by letting illegal immigrants vote. Democrats would be riding high for years. Conspiracy theory? More like a nightmare scenario for the GOP. And it all starts with Republicans caving on Trump. We had a similar tipping point during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. Republicans had to stand firm in the face of a fierce media bullying over the unproven sexual assault allegations against the now Supreme Court justice. Bolton is generating that kind of heat now. At least for the moment. Republicans have to decide: Let the Democrats drive your president from office over a trifle? Let Washington go back to business as usual? Let all the Ukraine murk be swept under the carpet? Limp into the election this year with no incumbent? Enough Republicans, the Mitt Romneys of the world, probably wouldnt mind going back to business as usual. Its worked fine for them in the past. They should think twice. Their voters are onto them. An Australian-style points-based immigration system would allow Britain to control the number of people coming into the country after Brexit but still welcome much needed professionals such as nurses, according to the Government. The Press Association asked Dr Alan Gamlen, an associate professor leading the human geography programme at Monash University in Melbourne and researcher at the University of Oxford's Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, how such a system could work. A multidisciplinary team of physicians and other care providers who specialize in serving patients with cleft lip, cleft palate and other craniofacial disorders has earned Cleft Palate Team Approval from the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association (ACPA). The team at Erlanger Cleft and Craniofacial Center is one of over 180 approved teams in the U.S. and Canada that have been recognized for meeting the Standards of Team Care for Cleft and Craniofacial Teams. The ACPA Team Approval process ensures that cleft and craniofacial care is provided in a coordinated and consistent manner, follows the proper sequence and takes place within the framework of the patients overall developmental, medical and psychological needs. Teams are comprised of experienced and qualified professionals who work in an interdisciplinary and coordinated system to provide strong and reliable communication between team members, families and referring providers. Erlanger Cleft and Craniofacial Center offers specially trained pediatric experts from plastic surgery, otolaryngology, primary care, speech therapy, audiology and orthodontist/dentistry who work together to create the best plan of action for pediatric patients. It helps families overcome problems with cleft palate and craniofacial issues by identifying them as early as possible, coordinating pre-birth education as soon as deformities are detected on ultrasound exams and provide education and coordinated treatment plans through every aspect of a childs care from birth to well into their adult years. As the first ACPA recognized team in Chattanooga, this is a huge stride forward for cleft care, said craniofacial, reconstructive and plastic surgeon, Todd Thurston, MS, MD. I appreciate the support Erlanger Cleft and Craniofacial Center has provided to see this process through. It has involved two years of hard work and dedication to ensure top notch cleft care in the region. 28-year-old Manzoor Pashteen is the leading exponent of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement. He is accused of sedition for criticizing violence in tribal areas, with strong Islamist infiltration. Independent research claims that at least 50,000 people have died since 2002, including civilians, militants and the army. Islamabad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Pakistani authorities have arrested the leader of the Pashtun movement on charges of sedition. Manzoor Pashteen, 28, is the leading exponent of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (Ptm), a group that defends the rights of the ethnic minority of the same name. He was arrested on the evening of January 27 in Peshawar, officially for a speech "offensive" to the state delivered on January 18. In reality, the group he leads and various non-governmental organizations believe that the arrest is a revenge by the military for the activists' criticism of the overpowering army and the forced disappearances of members of the ethnic minority. The arrest of the young charismatic leader sparked protests from civil society and organizations that share the demands for greater democracy and freedom of expression in Pakistan. According to Brad Adam, director of Asian Human Rights Watch (HRW), "the government of Pakistan must find ways to resolve political discord through dialogue, rather than through intimidation." "Peaceful dissent - he underlines - is the essence of democracy and should not be treated as sedition". On January 25, the federal government had invited Pashteen to a meeting. Defense Minister Pervez Khattak said the goal of the interview was "to bring the movement into national public discourse as the country is going through a difficult period in its history." Later the arrest was triggered under the Sedition Law (section 124A of the Criminal Code), which prohibits any word, verbal or written, visible sign or representation that may cause "hatred or contempt, arouses or attempts to cause disaffection" towards the government. The Ptm represents the tribal minority in the region known in the past as "Federally Administered Tribal Areas, FATA", later annexed to the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. In recent years, the area has experienced intense infiltration of Taliban militants from Afghanistan, the government's military counter-offensive and US drone attacks. The group organized numerous protests to denounce government responsibilities in extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and mine victims. According to independent research groups, the violence in the region has forced at least five million people to flee their homes. There are no official numbers, but for experts the number of civilians, militants and security forces who have died since 2002 exceeds 50 thousand. Activists also complain that the arrest of relatives and prominent members of the minority, such as the father of a well-known dissident, serve to perpetuate this climate of intimidation. Senate passed Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Monday passed the Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2018, which makes it mandatory for employers to grant 6-month paid maternity leave and 3-month paid paternity leave. As per the bill, the leaves policy will be applicable in both public and private establishments in the federal capital territory. The bill, presented by Senator Quratulain Marri, was passed with a majority of votes, even as government senators opposed the move. It will now be sent to the National Assembly for debate. The employees of every establishment shall be provided six-months paid maternity and three-months paternity leave as and when applied by employees, separately from their leave account, commencing from the date as applied by the applicant in the application and supported by a medical certificate, reads the bill. Besides, the bill also provides for additional three-month maternity leave and one-month paternity leave, both of which would be unpaid. The provision for paternity leave seeks to provide fathers the opportunity to be there at a crucial time without the added responsibility of the workplace, the bill states, adding that, the early close relationship between father and child has long-term implications. Addressing the session on Monday, Senator Marri lamented that female employees werent given maternity leave in the public sector. Even in the Senate, women are told not to produce so many children, she added. Not everyone was in favour of the bill, however, with government lawmakers questioning its utility, given there was already a provision for maternity leaves in the law. Throughout City So Real, another story emerges, that of a city in which half the power structure and citizenry feels a loss of control, of the way things used to work, while the other half pushes toward a change in the weather. We see then-mayor Emanuel unable to quiet down student protesters fighting a forbidding new police academy training project on the West Side. In a penthouse dinner party scene (featuring, among others, Tribune theater critic Chris Jones), ex-CEO of Playboy Enterprises and political strategist Christie Hefner convenes the sort of salon dinner that, as she puts it, wistfully, no one seems to do anymore. Closer to the ground, in an unexpectedly emotional scene with Lyft driver Tracey Champion, we hear a heart-sickening account of the racist abuse shes had to put up with ever since Trump got into office. Sharif Chacha Amidst attempts by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to communalise the ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR), Padma Shri Mohammad Sharif (Sharif Chacha)s life offers a stark contrast, one that we all can learn from. Twenty-seven years ago, in January 1992, Sharifs eldest son Raes Khan went missing after he left for Sultanpur to work as a chemist. It was the peak of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement launched by the Sangh parivar to build a Ram temple at the site where the Babri masjid once stood. Following the then BJP President LK Advanis Rath Yatra, communal fires were burning across India. For over a month the distraught Sharif looked for his son across neighbouring towns and villages. Then one day he got to know about an unclaimed body at Sultanpur which the police failed to identify. Raes body had been lying in a gunny bag by the side of a dump and had partially decomposed; the police could not trace his killers but with the help of a shirt label belonging to a tailoring shop in Faizabad they managed to hand over the body to Sharif. Shattered by the death of his son, and the manner in which his body was allowed to decompose in the absence of anybody to conduct the last rites, Sharif resolved to not let the same happen to unclaimed dead bodies in the twin-towns of Faizabad and Ayodhya. For him it was not about Hindu or Muslim, but about fundamental humanity that accords each one the right to dignity, at least in death. According to his own estimate he has done the last rites for over 5,000 bodies, but others estimate that figure to be five times more. Whatever be the actual number, what is important is that Sharif Chacha made no discrimination between unclaimed bodies on the basis of religion. Despite his belief that his sons murder was communal in nature, he did not selectively leave out the dead who were non-Muslims. Ignoring his financial limitations, every day Sharif worked hard at his bicycle repair shop and at the same time prioritised the cremations and burials of unclaimed bodies, often carrying them on his bicycle to the cemetery or the cremation grounds. At first people thought he had lost his mental balance in the wake of his sons murder and used to chide him to get over it and move on. However, in a few years, Sharif Chachas thankless persistence won the hearts of people across religious divides. Meanwhile, the communal cauldron over Babri masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi too cooled down. Over the years, from sadhus to maulvis to the police and local administration, everybody has come to virtually revere the thespian who does what most shy away from: bid adieu to the dead with respect and according to their respective religions. The governments decision to honour him with a Padma Shri is commendable and needs to be lauded by all those who believe in kindness and humanity. However, a true tribute to Sharif Chachas message of communal harmony would be for politicians to cease the communalisation of dissenters and protesters such as those in Shaheen Bagh. The numerous communally-charged statements by high functionaries of the government against the anti-CAA-NRC-NPR protesters goes against the spirit of democracy and secularism enshrined in the Constitution and exemplified by millions of ordinary Indians like Sharif Chacha. Each time he sees an unclaimed body it reminds of his son, it invokes in him a deep pain as well as empathy, but never hatred. In the age of competing narratives of persecution and hashtags of whataboutery over politics of pain, Sharif Chachas life presents us a role a model to emulate, and should inspire us to reclaim India from divisiveness and hatred. He shows us that the most important value to uphold is humanity, and not narrow identity politics based on religion, caste, region and language. We must remember that it is because Sharif Chacha believed in the oneness of all religions and humanity that he never discriminated against the dead based on their clothes, or other social or religious markers. Malaymarkit.com scored 54 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 21 Jun 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. The total number of people who shared the malaymarkit homepage on StumbleUpon. 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The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK FOUND TWITTER PAGE twitter.com/#!/MalayMarkit DESCRIPTION ACCOUNT CREATED ON LOCATION TWEETS FOLLOWERS LISTED WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned President Trump's long-awaited Mideast peace plan as a "road map to perpetual Apartheid" and an end to the national aspirations of the Palestinian people. [NOTE: Bantustans were internationally-condemned non-viable "homelands" created by Apartheid-era South Africa to deprive black citizens of their rights and to make the segregation of the races permanent.] Trump's unilateral plan, which was formulated without the input of Palestinian representatives, would allow Israeli annexation of settlement blocks on occupied land in the West Bank, sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, permanent Israeli control over Islamic holy sites, segregated transportation corridors, and would bar the return of Palestinian refugees forced from their homes in what is now Israel. It states: "There shall be no right of return by, or absorption of, any Palestinian refugee into the State of Israel." Palestinians would also be made to dismiss pending actions against Israel "before the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and all other tribunals." The plan suggests a capital of a "State of Palestine" to be located outside of Jerusalem and falsely called "Al Quds," the Arabic name for Jerusalem. An American embassy would be opened in this fake "Jerusalem." Israel would maintain overall control of the land, sea and airspace. Israel's borders could be redrawn to eliminate communities such as "Kafr Qara, Ar'ara, Baha al-Gharbiyye, Umm al Fahm, Qalansawe, Tayibe, Kafr Qasim, Tira, Kafr Bara and Jaljulia" -- with high concentrations of Palestinians, thereby achieving a longstanding Israeli goal of decreasing its Arab population. SEE: Read Full Text of Trump's Israel-Palestine Plan https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/EXT-read-full-text-of-trump-s-israel-palestine-plan-1.8466018 In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad, who is himself a Palestinian refugee, said: "This unilateral plan panders to religious extremists in a clear attempt to shore up President Trump's political support as he faces impeachment and the prospect of a presidential election. It is a road map to perpetual Apartheid in which a non-viable and non-sovereign 'State of Palestine' is in fact a new Bantustan controlled and dominated in every way by Israel and its illegal settlements. "The details of the imposed 'peace plan' if implemented would mean the end of the national aspirations of the Palestinian people, endorse the acquisition and settlement of territory by force and would overturn decades of international efforts to bring a just and comprehensive peace to the region." CAIR's mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. La mision de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprension del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos. CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected] SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Related Links http://www.cair.com UPDATE: Mark Wilburn was arrested in Fultondale, Alabama Tuesday evening. Original story below. LEBANON, Ind. (WLFI) According to the Lebanon Police Department, 53-year-old Mark Wayne Wilburn is a person of interest in the shooting of Michael Maxwell that happened Monday evening. Police said Wilburn may be driving a red in color 2013 Chevy Silverado with Indiana truck plate number TK580NOU. Officials advise if you see or have any information on Mr. Wilburns location, please contact your local Police Department or call 911. Do not attempt to approach Mr. Wilburn as he is considered to be armed and dangerous. The Lebanon Police Department was called to the 800 Block of Cohen Street in Lebanon on January 27 around 7:00 p.m. to investigate a possible shooting. Officers arrived on the scene to find 29-year-old Michael L. Maxwell with a possible gunshot wound to the chest. He was transported to an Indianapolis hospital and is currently in stable condition. Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators are continuing to investigate. By ANI KOLKATA: Majority of the people sitting in protest against the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) in Shaheen Bagh, Delhi and Park Circus, Kolkata are from Bangladesh and Pakistan, BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha said on Monday. "Most of the people sitting at Shaheen Bagh and Park Circus are infiltrators from Bangladesh and Pakistan. They are protesting by using children and women as shields. The recent video has revealed they want to divide India and break off Assam. Will the people of this country ever want to talk about dividing this country?" Sinha told ANI on Monday. "Today, I also ask the leaders who went to Shaheen Bagh, did you go there to support these elements who talk about breaking the nation?" he added. Sinha also slammed the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led government in West Bengal for passing the anti-CAA resolution in the state Assembly. "Mamata Banerjee's government is formed under the Constitution, they took an oath on it before forming the government. Today bypassing this anti-CAA resolution they have broken that oath and dishonoured the Constitution. An Act passed by the Centre cannot be challenged by the states," Sinha said. ALSO READ: Will clear Shaheen Bagh within one hour if BJP forms government in Delhi, says MP Parvesh Verma He further slammed Congress and CPM for supporting the resolution in the Assembly and added that his party will now expose the truth about these parties by visiting Hindu refugee families. "The work done by Mamata Banerjee, with the help of Congress and CPM is shameful. It has now become clear that they are anti-refugees. The three parties want to send the (Hindu) refugees away and want the illegal Muslim immigrants to settle here," Sinha said. "We will go to the Hindu refugees in West Bengal and tell them about this act by the three parties," he added. The West Bengal Assembly passed a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which was moved by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government. After Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan, West Bengal is the fourth state to pass a resolution against the CAA. The state assembly had on September 6 last year, passed a resolution against the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Two Nigerian immigrants residing in Malawi have been arrested after cocaine was allegedly found on them at Lilongwe, capital of the southern African country. According to a Monday report published by Nyasatimes, a news portal in Malawi, police operatives dealing with illegal drugs arrested Ajagu Okwuchuku, 40, and Chinomso Charles, aged 31. They were arrested on Friday at a stadium in Area 49 Gulliver. The police said the suspects hail from the South-east region of Nigeria. Mr Okwuchuku comes from Anambra State while Mr Charles is from Enugu State. The Lingadzi Police Public Relations Officer, Salome Zgambo, said intelligence was gathered after members of the public reviewed that the suspects were selling illicit drugs. She added that the suspects were found with eight cracks of drugs suspected to be cocaine concealed in black plastic bags (jumbo). READ ALSO: Ms Zgambo said Police got information from well-wishers that the suspects were selling illicit drugs. After getting the information, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) team acted swiftly and arrested the culprits. PREMIUM TIMES had reported in 2018 how the Malawian police arrested a Nigerian, Julian Ihumos, a resident of Area 47 in Lilongwe, Malawi for illegal drug possession. Nyasatimes quoted the police urging the public to refrain from drug and substance abuse and report to police any suspicious persons selling or keeping drugs. Representative Image India, like the rest of the world, is facing an unprecedented economic and humanitarian crisis caused by climate change and environmental degradation, as is evident from the increasing intensity and recurrence of floods, droughts, extreme heat and cold, cyclones, sea level rise and an erratic monsoon. According to a recent report by McKinsey Global Institute, climate change hazards such as extreme heat waves and humid conditions could potentially cause a reduction in Indias Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2.5-4.5 per cent due to decline in labour productivity and reduced working hours. The Global Climate Risk Index 2020 says India suffered an economic loss of $37 billion due to climate change in 2018. Another study by Stanford Universitys Earth System Science, measuring the effects of anthropogenic climate change on GDP per capita by country, has estimated that global warming has made the Indian economy 31 per cent smaller than it would have been otherwise. Preliminary estimates by the Government of India indicate that around $206 billion (at 2014-15 prices) would be required between 2015 and 2030 for implementing adaption actions in key areas such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, infrastructure, water resources and ecosystems. Beyond these, additional investments will be needed for strengthening resilience and disaster management, pegging the total funds requirement at $2.5 trillion for the 15 years. Unfortunately, consecutive Union Budgets since 2015, under the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, have failed to consider the real cost of climate change and environmental degradation. The 2019-20 Budget by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was hailed by the Prime Minister as a green Budget with a vision for pollution free India with green Mother earth and blue skies, but the actual budgetary allocations did not match this rhetoric, with little or no reference to climate change, mitigation, adaptation or disaster risk reduction. As she prepares the Budget for 2020-21, Sitharaman must acknowledge the undeniable fact that anthropogenic activity is eroding human capital (education and productivity) as well as produced (infrastructure and property) and natural (air and water) capital at an unprecedented pace. In this context, Sitharaman must prioritise and scale up fiscal action to address the unfolding climate crisis and environmental emergency by first and foremost bolstering allocations to the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The NAPCC was adopted in 2008 and incorporates Indias vision for ecologically sustainable development by creating eight national missions, i.e. for deploying solar energy, enhancing energy efficiency, creation of sustainable urban habitat, conserving water, sustaining fragile Himalayan ecosystems, expanding forest cover, making agriculture sustainable and creating a strategic knowledge platform to serve all the national missions. The success of these missions is key to Indias commitment to the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Another area that the minister needs to urgently look at is ways to mobilise funding for natural calamities and climate-induced disasters. Collections from the National Calamity Contingent Duty -- a major contributor to the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) -- have been declining, having fallen to Rs 3,660 crore in FY18, from Rs 6,450 crore in FY17. A panel of state finance ministers is exploring whether a disaster cess/tax should be imposed nationwide to fund the NDRF, but it is well known that a cess may not be the best way for funding disaster management. According to an Indiaspend report, just 29 per cent of the clean energy cess on coal was transferred to the National Clean Energy and Environment Fund between 2010-11 and 2016. Instead, Sitharaman must find ways of provisioning for these funds in the Budget. Finally, the finance minister must also correct the anomaly in allocation to the National Adaptation Fund. One of Indias nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement is to better adapt to climate change by enhancing investments in development programmes in sectors vulnerable to climate change, particularly agriculture, water resources, the Himalayan region, coastal regions, health, and disaster management. The allocation of Rs 100 crore, a fraction of the total budget of over Rs 2,900 crore allotted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) in 2019-20 is woefully inadequate. Mitigation of climate change depends on the international policy, but at a national level, it is critical that we invest in adaptation to prepare our most vulnerable communities to survive and thrive. Pedestrians wearing protective masks to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, walk on a street in Tokyo's Ginza area on January 25, 2020. Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura warned on Tuesday that corporate profits and factory production might take a hit from the coronavirus outbreak in China that has rattled global markets and chilled confidence. Asian stocks extended a global selloff as the outbreak in China, which has killed 106 people and spread to several countries, fueled concern over the damage to the world's second largest economy an engine of global growth. "There are concerns over the impact to the global economy from the spread of infection in China, transportation disruptions, cancellation of group tours from China and an extension in the Lunar Holiday," Nishimura told a news conference after a regular cabinet meeting. "If the situation takes longer to subside, we're concerned it could hurt Japanese exports, output and corporate profits via the impact on Chinese consumption and production," he said. China is Japan's second largest export destination and a huge market for its retailers. The Chinese make up 30% of all tourists visiting Japan and nearly 40% of the total sum foreign tourists spent last year, an industry survey showed. WASHINGTON John Bolton, the former national security adviser, privately told Attorney General William Barr last year that he had concerns that President Donald Trump was effectively granting personal favors to the autocratic leaders of Turkey and China, according to an unpublished manuscript by Bolton. Barr responded by pointing to a pair of Justice Department investigations of companies in those countries and said he was worried that Trump had created the appearance that he had undue influence over what would typically be independent inquiries, according to the manuscript. Backing up his point, Barr mentioned conversations Trump had with the leaders, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Xi Jinping of China. Boltons account underscores the fact that the unease about Trumps seeming embrace of authoritarian leaders, long expressed by experts and his opponents, also existed among some of the senior Cabinet officers entrusted by the president to carry out his foreign policy and national security agendas. Bolton recounted his discussion with Barr in a draft of an unpublished book manuscript that he submitted nearly a month ago to the White House for review. People familiar with the manuscript described its contents on the condition of anonymity. The book also contains an account of Trump telling Bolton in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations of political rivals, The New York Times reported Sunday. The matter is at the heart of the articles of impeachment against the president. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on Barrs conversations with Bolton, as did a spokesman for the National Security Council. In a statement Monday, Bolton, his publisher and his literary agency said they had not shared the manuscript with The Times. There was absolutely no coordination with The New York Times or anyone else regarding the appearance of information about his book, The Room Where It Happened, at online booksellers, Bolton, Simon & Schuster and Javelin said in a joint statement. Any assertion to the contrary is unfounded speculation. Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The Times, responded that The Times does not discuss its sources, but I should point out that no one has questioned the accuracy of our report. Bolton wrote in the manuscript that Barr singled out Trumps conversations with Xi about the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE, which agreed in 2017 to plead guilty and pay heavy fines for violating U.S. sanctions on doing business with North Korea, Iran and other countries. A year later, Trump lifted the sanctions over objections from his own advisers and Republican lawmakers. Barr also cited remarks Trump made to Erdogan in 2018 about the investigation of Halkbank, Turkeys second-largest state-owned bank. The Justice Department was scrutinizing Halkbank on fraud and money-laundering charges for helping Iran evade sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department. Erdogan had been making personal appeals to Trump to use his authority to halt any additional enforcement against the bank. In 2018, Erdogan told reporters in Turkey that Trump had promised to instruct Cabinet members to follow through on the matter. The bank had hired a top Republican fundraiser to lobby the administration on the issue. For months, it looked as if the unusual lobbying effort might succeed; but in October, the Justice Department indicted the bank for aiding Iran. The charges were seen in part as an attempt by the administration to show that it was taking a tough line on Turkey amid an outcry over Trumps endorsement of its incursions in Syria. Boltons statements in the book align with other comments he has made since leaving the White House in September. In November, he said in a private speech that none of Trumps advisers shared the presidents views on Turkey and that he believed Trump adopted a more permissive approach to the country because of his financial ties there, NBC News reported. Trumps company has a property in Turkey. Trump has repeatedly praised dictators throughout his presidency. Last year, he said, Wheres my favorite dictator? as he waited to meet with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trumps soft spot for authoritarians dates at least to his presidential campaign, when he praised Saddam Hussein for being good at killing terrorists and suggested that the world would be better off were Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the deposed Libyan dictator who was killed in a violent uprising in 2011, in charge right now. Trump then suggested the ouster of both men was ultimately worse for the Middle East because the Islamic State had filled the void. Trump declared himself a big fan of Erdogan as they sat side by side in the Oval Office last fall after Trump cleared the way for Turkish forces to invade Syria, though he warned Erdogan behind the scenes against the offensive. Of Xi, Trump has been similarly effusive. When the Chinese Communist Party eliminated term limits, allowing Xi to keep his tenure open-ended, Trump extolled the outcome. Xi had personally asked Trump to intervene to save ZTE, which was on the brink of collapse because of tough U.S. penalties for sanctions violations. Lifting the sanctions on ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications giant that also serves as a geopolitical pawn for its government, most likely helped Trump negotiate with Xi in the trade war between the two countries. But Republican lawmakers and others objected to helping a Chinese company that broke the law and has been accused of posing a national security threat. Boltons reputation for muscular foreign policy was always an odd fit with Trump, who often threatens excessive force but rarely reacts with it. Bolton was pleased when Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, that the Obama administration had entered into. Other Trump advisers had urged him against it. But Trumps lack of action after Iranian aggression against the United States rankled Bolton. Boltons book has already netted significant sales. Shortly after the disclosure of its contents Sunday night, Amazon listed the book for purchase. By Monday evening, it was No. 17 on Amazons bestseller list. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Have you missed a doctor's appointment because you forgot you scheduled it or something came up? Twenty-five percent of Americans say yes. About the same share of low-income households receiving an earned-income tax credit audit letter did not understand they were being audited by the I.R.S. 31 percent of Americans say they've done this. But if you forget to pay monthly health premium bills, you can get locked out of Medicaid coverage in several states. 26 percent of Americans say yes. But in some states, failing to open your mail and quickly respond can cost you Medicaid coverage or food assistance. Do you have paper mail you plan to read that has been unopened for more than a week? 31 percent of Americans have done this. But missing an appointment with a government office could cost you food assistance, Social Security disability or welfare benefits. In Texas, families risk losing Medicaid if they dont promptly open a letter they may not be expecting, find and copy their recent paystubs, and send them back all within 10 days of when the letter was issued. In Indiana, families who need dental care must mail a monthly premium as low as $1, less than it usually costs a state to bill and record a payment. In West Virginia, some adults who receive food assistance must document their work hours every month. These requirements were created in part to ensure that only people who truly qualify receive benefits. In some states, the rules have recently been tightened or soon could be. Yet the complexity and frequency of such tasks can mean that hurdles meant to exclude the ineligible often exclude those who are eligible but who are also disorganized or overwhelmed. Question You All Americans Have unopened mail 26% Forgotten to pay a bill 31% Got government mail didnt understand 25% Missed doctors appointment 31% Morning Consult survey of 4,400 adults We asked a national sample of 4,400 adults, across the income spectrum, whether they would struggle with these sorts of tasks. (We know that we do). In an online poll conducted this month for The Upshot by Morning Consult, some of the questions we asked correspond exactly with requirements for programs that aid the poor. Others involve similar tasks familiar to Americans with more means. We found that a substantial share of people including the wealthy, including Americans on the left and right make the kind of mistakes that could cause a loss of government benefits. Many of us sometimes fail to open mail promptly, forget to pay major bills or miss important appointments. We found that a substantial share of people including the wealthy, including Americans on the left and right, including you make mistakes that could cause a loss of government benefits. We fail to open mail, we forget to pay major bills, we miss important appointments. Most programs that make up the American social safety net have become simpler to navigate over time, with more requirements automated, eliminated or moved online. Participation rates today vary depending in part on how much work it takes to get and stay enrolled. Only about one in four qualifying families receive cash welfare, a number that has declined since work requirements were added in the 1990s, while about four in five eligible parents are enrolled in Medicaid, a program that has broadly become more accessible. Now in an era of partisan gridlock in Congress, the tasks required of participants administrative burdens embedded in each program are an increasingly critical policy lever that can raise or lower the number of poor Americans in these programs. This is a political tool that is becoming more important at the federal level because Congress isnt doing anything, said Pamela Herd, a professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University who has written a book with Donald Moynihan, also a Georgetown professor, on administrative burdens. If youre going to try to change stuff, especially in the executive branch, this is your best opportunity. The Trump administration, citing fraud and the cost of poverty programs, has encouraged states to increase scrutiny of applicants, effectively adding to the complexity of programs. The administration is trying to shape the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, to prevent states from waiving complex work requirements for some adults. The changes would mean that many more people must regularly submit proof of exactly how many hours they worked or how much time they spent attending job interviews or volunteering in exchange for help buying groceries. The administration has encouraged states to verify the incomes of Medicaid beneficiaries more often, and the added paperwork has contributed to substantial reductions in the number of children receiving government health insurance. The administration has also proposed more frequent checks on the health status of some people receiving Social Security disability, a process that requires piles of paperwork and doctors appointments. You want to reserve the public resources for the people who are truly eligible for the program, said Brian Blase, who served on the National Economic Council in the Trump administration and now runs a consulting firm. Mr. Blase has raised concerns that more ineligible people enrolled in Medicaid after the Obama administration eased the process. For some politicians and voters, the difficulty of accessing these programs is partly the point. Requirements, they believe, can be a test of personal responsibility, or even a nudge to develop it. Evidence also suggests that the public and Republicans in particular are more supportive of welfare and its recipients when they learn how hard the program is to get into. Debates about how to structure these programs have long been influenced by a related economic assumption: The more people really need a benefit, the more effort theyll put into getting it. For decades, economists had this view that burdens could quote-help separate out those that are what one calls truly disadvantaged versus those who might be more marginally needy, said Hilary Hoynes, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Our current research suggests it could be exactly the opposite. These burdens, she suggested, may instead be tripping up the worst off: hourly workers who cant shuffle their schedules for a meeting; parents dealing with domestic violence, disabilities or low literacy; families without bank accounts to automate monthly payments; households already facing unpaid bills and late notices when another urgent letter arrives in the mail. Its not prioritizing, its triaging, said Jared Call of the many demands on poor families served by his organization, California Food Policy Advocates. Brittney Buford, 26, who lives in St. Louis with her three children, says she keeps important documents like her childrens original Social Security cards under her mattress. She has had trouble applying for food assistance and Medicaid, as well as disability benefits for her daughter Kherris, who was born with heart and lung problems. She was quick to send her new address and a copy of her lease to the state Medicaid office after moving. But she has been unable to reach her former boss to get copies of her final pay stubs proving her eligibility for food assistance. And she learned her Medicaid benefits had lapsed just before her daughter was scheduled for lung surgery. She said she never received the renewal packet at her new address. Finding all my papers with a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old whos in the stages of crawling it was just a hassle, she said. Oh my goodness, you had to come with all your original copies or you would have to go and get those copies of everything you need. Youd have to sit around for hours and be sent away. Higher-income people have less contact with these kinds of government programs. But they can also buy their way out of many of lifes pesky tasks, handing them off to lawyers, accountants, apps or automated systems. The Upshots survey shows that higher-income people are more likely to have banking accounts and credit cards, as well as ready access to printers, photocopiers and scanners. Theyre less likely to have moved in the past year, meaning fewer hiccups with new addresses. Theyre more likely to have advance notice of their work schedules. And they are far more likely to have confidence they can track down the last two months of their pay stubs. Its not that the poor need so much more help its that we get so much and they dont, said Eldar Shafir, a professor of behavioral science and public policy at Princeton. Mr. Shafirs work with Sendhil Mullainathan at the University of Chicago has shown that poverty also exacts a kind of cognitive tax that can make it hard to deal with precisely these kinds of tasks. That means the poor face more of these burdens in general while also having less mental bandwidth to devote to them. The types of federal programs that benefit higher-income people, on the other hand, tend to require less paperwork and expertise. Some are simply tucked into tax return line items, like the mortgage interest deduction. It can be easier to apply for farm subsidies than it is to get SNAP benefits, said Joel Berg, a former official with the Department of Agriculture, the agency that administers both programs. Applying for practically every program that aids low-income people is harder than applying for virtually any program that benefits wealthy people, said Mr. Berg, who is now the C.E.O. of Hunger Free America, an organization that spends half its budget helping people navigate the forms and meetings necessary to get food assistance. Even the Department of Motor Vehicles, the bureaucracy unavoidable for most of the middle class, has become streamlined over time, with many states automating renewals, moving more functions online, and finding ways to cut long lines. Still, one in five adults in our survey said theyd been stymied at the D.M.V. because they did not bring all the right documents. A large body of evidence suggests that simplifying programs can raise their participation rates. One study found that students who were given personalized help with the cumbersome Free Application for Federal Student Aid (Fafsa) including automatically transferring data from their household tax returns were more likely to complete the application, enroll in college and receive financial aid. Other studies have proved the inverse: When the Social Security Administration closed field offices, making it harder to apply for disability, the number of recipients in the surrounding areas declined, with the largest effects for those with less education and lower incomes. Research on Medicaid has shown that requiring participants to pay even minimal monthly premiums reduces enrollment. And one clever study in California suggested that people are often bumped from the states food stamp rolls because they stumble over barriers to prove their continuing eligibility. The study found that people randomly assigned caseworker interviews closer to the end of the month were 20 percent more likely to lose their benefits than people given appointments early in the month possibly because they had less time to reschedule or to corral missing documents before their benefits were cut off. If these kinds of errors seem unique to the poor or unfathomable when the stakes are high other research shows middle-class people behaving similarly. White-collar workers who can enroll in retirement accounts when they start a new job often put off those decisions and paperwork, and fail to complete them. As a result, they, too, lose valuable benefits because of the pain of obtaining them. When employees are automatically enrolled in a default retirement account, participation rates and worker savings jump up. Its likely that some of the responses to the Upshot survey would differ if respondents believed that their health care or grocery budgets depended on the answers. But the struggles of higher-income people with retirement accounts and the D.M.V. or even your own daunting unopened mail stash suggest a more universal experience of administrative dread. The pile of stuff we dont want to fill out becomes symbolic of our own failure, said Mr. Moynihan, the Georgetown professor. Theres a sense of guilt about the task itself and whether it represents something deeper about our own ability to function. Photo: Contributed Vancouver police believe this man stole irreplaceable regalia belonging to members of the Lake Babine First Nation. Vancouver police have released a photo of a man suspected of stealing irreplaceable Indigenous regalia and drums in downtown Vancouver earlier this month. The stolen items belonged to members of the Lake Babine Nation, who were in Vancouver for the Gathering Wisdom Conference on Jan. 15. The groups van was in a parking lot near West Pender and Richards streets and was broken into in the early morning hours. Among the stolen items were nine pieces of Indigenous regalia, five drums, and traditional boots used during cultural ceremonial presentations. Two items have since been returned to the Carnegie Centre. The true value of this ceremonial clothing and drums is not monetary its priceless in terms of the cultural significance to the people of the Lake Babine Nation, VPD spokesperson Sgt. Aaron Roed said in a news release. Our investigators have been working diligently on this case but have been unable to locate the items. We believe that someone knows where these items are. We just want them returned. The male suspect is described as having a medium build. He was wearing a dark camouflage, hooded sweatshirt under a black puffy vest, and dark pants. He would have been pulling two dark grey suitcases containing the stolen items. The suspect left on a bus travelling east on West Hastings Street. The remaining items can be dropped off in any public place like a community centre or our community policing centres, so they can be returned to the Lake Babine Nation, Roed said. A woman who returned from China last week was admitted to a Patna hospital on Monday with symptoms similar to those of coronavirus that left 80 people dead in the neighbouring country, officials said. Patna/Chapra: A woman who returned from China last week was admitted to a Patna hospital on Monday with symptoms similar to those of coronavirus that left 80 people dead in the neighbouring country, officials said. The woman who is in her 20s returned home to Chapra, the headquarters of Saran district, from China on 22 January and she was taken to the Chapra Sadar Hospital three days later. From there, the woman who was pursuing a PhD from the Tianjin University in China, was referred to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) on Monday. "She has been kept in an isolation ward. Her blood samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune and the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences here for tests," PMCH Superintendent Dr Vimal Karak told PTI. The mode of treatment will be decided based on reports of the tests, Karak said. Asked if it is a case of Coronavirus, he said the Chapra Sadar Hospital referred her to the PMCH saying it is a suspected case of coronavirus. "I can't say anything on this until I get test reports from the NIV in this regard," the PMCH superintendent said. In view of the deadly virus spreading rapidly outside China, including Nepal, Bihar health department on January 25 had issued an 'advisory' asking district officials and hospitals to stay alert and monitor the situation. Nepal shares 729 kilometres long border with Bihar. The death toll due to coronavirus epidemic rose to 80 in China on Monday. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 03:18:30|Editor: yan Video Player Close ALGIERS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Algerian Minister of Trade Kamel Rezig announced on Tuesday a joint initiative with Libya to establish a free trade area. "The government is keen to remove all obstacles to boost trade exchange with Libya," Rezig said during the Algerian-Libyan Businessmen Forum held in the capital Algiers. The Algerian minister revealed that permanent trade exhibitions of Algerian products will be set up on border cities with Libya to give an impetus to trade exchange between the two countries. The measures are part of "Algeria's strategy aimed at boosting cooperation with Libya," he said. The Algerian-Libyan Businessmen Forum was attended by 300 businessmen including 50 from Libya, who work in trade, construction, finance, agriculture, energy, and manufacturing. P olice were today seeking witnesses after an elderly man was knocked down and killed by a car in north-west London. The victim, 74, was found with severe injuries after the crash at about 6pm last night, close to Rayners Lane Tube station. He died in hospital. Scotland Yard said his next of kin were aware and the driver of the car, a black Vauxhall Mokka, is assisting officers. Dear Amy: I work at a small law firm where we are treated more as family than employees. One of our hardest working, most dedicated, and passionate employees tried to kill himself a few days ago. We are all saddened by the news, relieved that he wasnt successful, and shocked because we had no idea he was suffering. His job here is secure, and hopefully he will be coming back. My question is selfish. What do I say to him the next time we meet? We are friendly, but not exactly close. I want to be respectful of his privacy, but I also want to let him know he is valued. Should I just pretend that nothing happened? -- Tightrope Walker Dear Walker: If your colleague returns to work, I assume that he will feel more on a tightrope than anyone. He might be most relieved to be greeted with a sincere: "Wow, we missed you. Welcome back, pal. I'm so happy you're here." After a mental health crisis, people feel on stage. It can be a relief to step back into the world and reintegrate into lifes more normal rhythms and quotidian concerns. \You want to be the person who doesnt dwell on his personal drama -- the person who will allow him to move forward, without a lot of prurient curiosity or judgment attached. Of course, if he initiates a conversation about his challenges, listen sympathetically, dont offer up any comparisons to other people or situations, dont pile on any advice, and simply -- accept him as he is. Dear Amy: Several months ago, my personal physician abruptly canceled all her appointments and was absent from the office for three months. I saw one of her partners several times in the interim, but all my inquiries about the health of my personal MD were met by shrugged shoulders -- no one in the office seemed to know what was wrong or when or if my doctor would return. Apparently, she is now back. I realize that the doctor has a right to privacy. But the abrupt nature of her departure, and the strange silence within the office as to the cause, makes me suspect that she may have been suffering from a mental health condition or perhaps drug or alcohol addiction. Obviously, this is all speculation on my part, but I would have thought if she had a serious illness -- even cancer -- that this information would have been shared with her patients. Should I continue to entrust my care to her? I dont want to judge her, but at the same time, I want a physician who is mentally astute. I know mental health and substance abuse conditions are treatable and I also know the relapse rate is high. Should I come right out and ask her? -- Concerned Patient Dear Concerned: Trust your physician. If you trusted her before, you should trust her now. She might have been absent due to a family obligation. Cancer, depression, alcoholism -- or any physical, mental or emotional malady you could imagine -- is treatable. Furthermore, your assumption that a person cannot competently work despite grappling with illness (or after recovery) is flawed. If your physician is back at work, then she is back at work. The only real issue (in my mind) would be if she had been suspended for legal or professional reasons. You can check on any possible suspensions or disciplinary actions by going to your states Health Department website and following the link for the Office of Professional Medical Conduct. If you continue to be curious about your doctors absence, you should ask. Whether she chooses to disclose the reason behind her absence, she should offer you reassurance that her abilities are not diminished. Dear Amy: The letter from Buzz Killed in Boston brought back a memory. I was a teen and was in the shop owned by a couple. The womans mother had recently died, and I expressed my sympathy. She then related the entire sequence of events, beginning to end, of her moms last moments. I listened ... it lasted for at least 20 minutes. I then gave her a hug and repeated my comment. About 10 years later, home for a visit, I met her on the street downtown. She gave me a hug, and said, I have never forgotten how you patiently listened to me back then as I unloaded on you. Thank you for that. Sometimes, a sympathetic ear is all one needs to make it one more day. -- No Regrets Dear No Regrets: Exactly. (You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.) The potential evacuation of Irish people stranded in Wuhan in China - which is at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak - is being examined by foreign affairs officials, it emerged yesterday. A small community of at least six known Irish nationals are in the coronavirus-hit city which is in lockdown to reduce the spread of the killer infection which has struck nearly 3,000 people and caused 81 deaths. If an emergency airlift goes ahead, the decision on whether to leave would be optional. A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin said: "Currently we are advising travellers against visiting the province of Hubei, if possible. "The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and our embassy in Beijing is in ongoing contact with EU member states and other relevant countries and is exploring options, including commercial options, for assisting Irish citizens to leave Hubei province if required." She said the embassy was in contact with citizens in Hubei Province "regarding their intentions". "We would encourage any other Irish citizens in Hubei province, who require assistance, to contact Ireland's embassy in Beijing," she said. The UK is one of several countries which is moving to arrange travel assistance for British nationals to leave Wuhan. If Irish nationals return here they will have to be assessed by public health officials to determine if they have the virus or may be incubating the illness. It could mean they will have to stay in isolation for up to 14 days to ensure they are not infected and at risk of spreading the infection. A Chinese student attending Waterford Institute of Technology, who arrived back in Waterford from Wuhan at the weekend, was in "self-isolation" until yesterday afternoon when he was given the all-clear by HSE public health officials. It is understood the college sought advice from the local public health department and, after the precautionary isolation, he was not deemed to be a risk. The HSE said it had not identified any possible or suspected cases of the coronavirus infection. There is "no public health requirement for isolation of any person at this point", it added. It can take up to 14 days to incubate the virus and it is believed an infected person could potentially pass it on during that time, although they may not have the symptoms of a runny nose, cough or high temperature. Hospitals, GPs and airports have been issued with guidelines on how to manage a suspected case. This would require the person being isolated and health staff wearing goggles and protective clothing. Pharmacies and other outlets selling facial masks in Dublin have reported a brisk sale in the protective gear in the past week. AL-HOL, northeast Syria Misery hangs over al-Hol, the dystopian refugee camp in northeastern Syria where tens of thousands of wives and children of Islamic State fighters are interned. On a recent morning ragged boys waded through the mud in plastic slippers waving plastic rifles at newcomers. From behind a chain fence, their mothers were watchful through the slits in their niqabs. Take your pick, said a Kurdish security guard who goes by the code name Eylul, in reference to potential interview subjects. But no Europeans or Americans, she warned. Western governments, loath to repatriate thousands of their citizens, including countless orphans stuck in al-Hol, have likely asked the Kurdish-run autonomous administration here to not allow journalists to convey their plight because of the pressure it creates. The days menu perversely, it really does feel like one is ordering at a restaurant consists of a dizzying array of other nationalities. Russians, Moroccans, Turks or Trinidadians, who would we like to speak to? It can be arranged. A young Russian woman with pale green eyes was presented to us at the gates of the notorious camp annex where the families of foreign fighters, accounting for roughly 15% of al-Hols population, are held. They briefly opened to let through a woman pushing an African child in a wheelchair. Reporters are not allowed to enter because its too dangerous, they can attack you. The Russians name is Aisha. The mother of two says she is from Surgut in Western Siberia. I came with my husband in 2014. We did it for Allah. He is now with Allah. We are Muslims. We dont regret coming here, she added, a hint of defiance creeping into her voice. Reem Soleiman, a Hindu convert from Mumbai, says she still cannot fathom how she ended up in al-Hol. A birdlike figure shrouded in black, Soleiman recounted how she met her husband, a Sunni Syrian, in Beirut where she was working at the Indian Embassy in the early 2000s. She converted from Hinduism to Islam and they moved to his native Deir Ez-Zor. When IS took over the city her husband was repeatedly beaten and jailed for smoking, she said. He begged her to go with him to Turkey with their six children. She refused. I was too scared. He eventually fled, taking three of the children. She was left with the other three two boys and a girl moving with IS as the jihadis were driven out by US coalition airstrikes from one town to the next. I need to get out of here fast. The other women here, they beat me. They say I am not Islamic enough. Please help me, I will die, Soleiman pleaded. Her story was impossible to confirm. Conditions in this sprawling camp near the Iraqi border have gotten markedly worse since Al-Monitors first visit 10 months ago. A bone-piercing cold has set in. Torrential rains have transformed the camp into a sea of brown sludge. Fierce winds have swept away more than a hundred tents. Black plastic bags caught on barbed wire penning the camp flap in the breeze, eerily evoking the jihadis flag. A humanitarian crisis looms after the UN, yielding to Russian bullying, passed a resolution halving the number of crossing points for aid deliveries to Syria from four to two. Moscows stance is in line with efforts to help reestablish Damascus sovereignty over the whole of the war-battered country. One of those axed was the al-Yarubiyah crossing from Iraq, a critical supply line through which the UN says 40% of all medical, surgical and health supplies reached the Kurdish-administered northeast, including al-Hol. We continue to remain deeply concerned about the welfare of the tens of thousands of internally displaced people at the al-Hol camp, home to over 66,000 residents, 94% of whom are women and children, said David Swanson, the UNs regional spokesperson for the Syrian crisis, in emailed comments to Al-Monitor. An essential World Health Organization delivery of medical stocks for around 400,000 people had been scheduled to arrive via al-Yarubiyah this month. The UN body worries that it won't be able to make up for the closure with supplies from alternative hubs including Damascus, in part because of bureaucratic red tape. Camp administrator Muhammad al-Bashir bemoans the lack of international support. Foreign relief organizations are very slow, he told Al-Monitor. Its been a year since the fall of [the Islamic States last stronghold] Baghouz, and there are still 400 families without tents. The roads are filled with mud. There are no bathrooms. Only toilets. People have to bathe in their tents. Illness is spreading and children are dying just from the cold. I dont know why [the international community is] ignoring us. Since the start of the year, 20 children have burned to death after their tents caught fire from the gas canisters used for cooking. The Kurdish Red Crescent recently announced that 517 people, most of them children, perished in al-Hol last year, victims of malnourishment, war wounds and disease. Some 12 of them died due to camp violence. Most are killed in beatings, by small knives or with hammers that were distributed to camp residents by the UNHCR to erect their tents, said Eylul, the security official. Girls can be murdered for refusing to cover their heads, boys for missing daily prayers. Often we see children with burns; its another form of punishment." An ad hoc Islamic police force of women and teenage boys known as Hisbah mete out such justice. Frustration and despair as much as the culture of violence ingrained by the Islamic State can drive such acts. Eylul was herself attacked twice by IS women. One came at us with karate chops. An unknown number have escaped with the help of relatives outside. They communicate by cell phones. Its near impossible to control this place its the size of a city. The strangest day is the one in which no problem occurs. Aisha, the Russian widow, said her biggest fear isnt her Kurdish captors. Its the other crazy women here. I need to speak to a psychiatrist, she said through a Russian interpreter. Women at Al-Hol camp in northeast Syria, Jan. 19, 2020 (photo by Amberin Zaman/Al-Monitor) A looming challenge is how to stop the radicalization of the camps male population. Once boys turn 16 they are sent away to different camps to prevent, among other things, sexual relations. Camp officials declined to say where the boys are sent, citing security reasons." But some older boys disguised as women slip through the cracks. We caught boys wearing burqas and niqabs. Marriages have taken place, Eylul noted. Al-Hol operates like IS headquarters, Mazlum Kobane, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the US-backed and Kurdish-led militia that waged the ground campaign against IS, told Al-Monitor in a recent interview. He aired bitterness at foreign governments refusal to politically engage with the autonomous administration to deal with their nationals in SDF custody, choosing instead to repatriate some on an ad hoc basis behind closed doors. One reason is that they dont want to antagonize Turkey. Ankara insists that the SDF and its political arm pose a threat to its national security. In October, the Turkish army and its Sunni rebel allies invaded a chunk of northeastern Syria, dealing a further blow to aid efforts. Eylul said with hospitals filled with wounded SDF fighters, serious cases at al-Hol were unable to receive treatment until a few weeks ago. Thanks in part to the steady flow of media coverage from northeast Syria, some Western governments have been shamed into stepping up. At least 17 countries, including Finland, Belgium and Kosovo, have already repatriated more than 650 children. But the actions of these countries remain the exception, rather than the norm, UNICEF said in a statement. Bashir, the camp administrator, said, Russian officials came and did DNA tests on 36 Russian orphans, but they havent taken any back. Typically, though, governments want to take back children but not their parents because of the security risk they pose. The autonomous administration is pushing back and in a recent case involving Britons said it would only let the children go if their mother was allowed to travel back with them. This month camp authorities transferred 21 foreign orphans to the smaller and better equipped Roj camp. Eylul said a seven-year-old orphan was recently found wandering in the market on his own. We asked him: who are you, where are you from? DNA testing proved that the child was American and he was repatriated to the United States. His identity, as that of other orphans, cannot be revealed for their protection. Aisha said she has no desire to go back to Russia with her children anytime soon. Even though we are surrounded by armed people here, I can practice my religion freely and wear my niqab. I have a small shop where I sell vegetables, which I buy from the camp bazaar. There is solidarity among some of us women. Others fight. Aisha drew a frail woman standing alongside her to her bosom, a fellow Russian from Daghestan called Summaya. Summaya is 27, but the expression in her eyes is that of an old woman. She lost her husband and 11-month-old baby in a US airstrike, Aisha said. Summayas remaining child, a five-year-old with a shock of blond hair, was wounded by shrapnel. He bears the scars on his face. Summaya finally breaks her silence. I feel very bad, she said, and began to weep. T he Labour Party cant get enough of elections. As well as looking for a new leader and deputy, the race is on to fill two slots on the partys ruling body, the National Executive Committee. The elections come at a critical moment, especially ahead of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) investigation into anti-Semitism. Former Labour MP for Dewsbury Paula Sherriff, who lost her seat in December, has thrown her hat in the ring as a Tribune Parliamentary group candidate. Speaking exclusively to The Londoner, she said: I was devastated to lose my seat but I want to use my experience to help Labour win again. I didnt go to university but had real-life experience under my belt before I became an MP, working in the police and then in the NHS. I brought Northern, straight-talking grit to the Commons and I can do that on the NEC. Sherriff was the first MP to say the word vagina in Parliament and won an amendment that abolished the Tampon Tax on sanitary products. She also famously challenged Boris Johnson after the Supreme Court ruling on prorogation about threats and anxiety she and other MPs were facing in light of the murder of Jo Cox which he dismissed as humbug. My constituency was next to Jos and I had received some terrible abuse. The fear that I and many female MPs felt was palpable and he didnt really care. It was all right for him. Hes a bloke with a s**t load of security. She was disappointed the Prime Minister never apologised for his comments. He never got in touch. Sometimes you have a row in the chamber but then you reach out. Claire Perry [the former Tory minister] once told me to just f*** off over Brexit, but she said sorry later and it was fine. But perhaps Sherriffs most visible commitment to the Labour Party is the fact she got a rose tattooed on her posterior for posterity around the time she became an MP. The local tattoo artist recognised me and my last boyfriend was slightly horrified. Thats dedication. -- Amber Rudd had a bold strategy for abusive members of the public when she was an MP. The former home secretary told an Edelman event in Mayfair this morning: I would call them up, introduce myself, wait for the stunned silence, and then say to them in my gentlest tone possible: You wrote this about me and I thought I should explain what I meant. Rudd added: Invariably the individual on the other end of the phone would swallow hard and say: Oh no, when I said MPs were all lying, thieving bastards, I didnt mean you. -- Armando Iannucci has another Dickens up his sleeve after David Copperfield. He is planning a stage version of The Pickwick Papers, possibly at the Bridge Theatre, he tells BA High Life. Theres a reason hes not thinking of the silver screen, though. I dont want to start, you know, the Dickens universe, a 10-feature franchise. -- Remainers were hoping to ruin Fridays Brexit day by getting EU anthem Ode to Joy to the top of the charts. But a source close to the Official Charts company tells us the Andre Rieu version is only at No 58 and needs a late surge to beat Lewis Capaldi, Eminem and Stormzy. Another broken dream... -- Gillian opens up the Zzzz-files Getty Images Dont feel guilty about going to bed early, says Gillian Anderson. It is such a gift to be able to get to a place in ones life where one can admit to oneself and to others that one is perfectly happy to be at home and maybe even in bed by nine oclock, under the covers reading a book while everyone else is out partying, she says. The actress, who is currently playing Margaret Thatcher in The Crown, tells the Ctrl Alt Delete podcast that early nights are a fabulous thing to be able to embrace. Youre winning. Ah, thats a relief. Cora's beautifully on-brand response DAME Vivienne Westwood was coy last night when we asked her what she was up to, replying only that she was working on a document to change the world. While we wait for that, The Londoner got on with enjoying the Great British Brands party at Annabels. The eco-fashion titans granddaughter, model Cora Corre, was there and in a supportive mood. Westwood gave Corre a dressing down in 2017 for not spending enough time with her, despite Westwood having helped with her modelling. Last night, though, Corre told us: I worked with my grandmas brand when I was younger and its quite an honorary thing to work with her. Westwoods clothes, she added, were beautiful. The bash also drew Rafferty Law, Bella Tilbury, Bee Beardsworth and Gala Gordon. Not at that party, but elsewhere in Annabels was Margot Robbie, who left looking the picture of A-list chic. -- SW1A Ian Murray, Labours only Scottish MP and a deputy leadership candidate, questions Rebecca Long-Baileys announcement that if elected Labour leader she would institute open selections to democratise the party. Murray tells the Remainiacs podcast: If I had a pound for every single person on the doorstep who said, Im not voting Labour because Labour doesnt have a policy of compulsory reselection for MPs, Id have less than a pound. -- Former MP and culture minister Ed Vaizey is demob happy. Its an absolute joy, he tells The Londoner of his new work as a magazine columnist. I feel like I can reach more people through my work at Country & Town House magazine. -- Lee Anderson is starstruck by his new job. The best moment was last Wednesday night, when I got invited to Downing Street, the Tory MP said. I walked through that door and there he was, the man himself Larry the Cat. -- QUOTE OF THE DAY 'I'm just Daniel, who happens to be black' A 33-year-old Indian man in Dubai was sentenced to three months of imprisonment for groping a woman in a mall, according to a media report. The incident took place on August 2 last year when the complainant, a 35-year-old Syrian woman, was shopping with her children at the mall, the Khaleej Times reported on Tuesday. The woman said she spotted the accused looking at her in a provocative way. "I got real scared of how he kept staring at my body," she was quoted as saying by the report. The man, an expat, walked very close to her near a toy store while still staring at her from behind. "I shouted at him angrily after he suddenly groped me," the woman said. Following the incident, shoppers crowded around them and the police arrived and apprehended the accused. During his interrogation and trial, the man admitted to the charge of sexual harassment. He was sentenced to three months of imprisonment and will be deported after serving his time in jail. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four ABVP members carrying black cloth were detained from JLN Road here on Tuesday, moments before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's carcade passed through the area. "They were planning to waive the pieces of black cloth at Gandhi," SHO of Jawahar circle police station Hemendra Sharma said. He added that they were later let off. The Congress leader was in Jaipur to address a youth rally. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The mother of two missing Idaho children has until Thursday to physically produce them to authorities, according to a court order served by police on Saturday. Lori Vallow, the children's mother, and her husband, Chad Daybell, were served with a search warrant after authorities found the couple in Hawaii, the Kaua'i Police Department said in a news release on Sunday. Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, who have not been seen or heard from since September, were not with the couple, and there is no evidence that they were ever in Hawaii, authorities said. Lori Vallow and Daybell fled their home in Rexburg, Idaho, in November, when authorities began searching for JJ and Tylee. It appears now that Vallow and Daybell have been staying on Kaua'i, though it is unclear how long the couple has been on the island. Rexburg police believe the couple may have information that could help locate the children, and accused them of fleeing and not cooperating with the investigation. CNN has attempted to reach Vallow and Daybell for comment. On Saturday, Kaua'i police served Vallow with a court order to produce the children to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare or Rexburg police within five days. Vallow could be subject to civil or criminal contempt of court if she doesn't comply, authorities said in a statement. Then on Sunday, Kaua'i and Rexburg police searched the couple's vehicle and their townhome in Princeville, Hawaii, according to CNN affiliate East Idaho News. Police did not say what, if any, evidence they found, and all documents related to the case are under seal, Rexburg police said in a statement. The couple has not been charged and no arrest warrants have been issued for them in Hawaii. "KPD's desire is to continue to assist the Rexburg police in whatever way we can with their efforts to locate the missing children," Kaua'i Police Chief Todd G. Raybuck said in a statement. "It's our sincere hope that the children have a safe return." Relatives urge the couple to cooperate Relatives of the couple and the children have pleaded for Vallow and Daybell to cooperate in the investigation. Earlier this month, Matt Daybell, the brother of Chad Daybell, released a statement urging his brother to "come forward and cooperate with police." JJ's biological grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, offered a $20,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of JJ or Tylee. "Please, just let us know where the kids are," Kay Woodcock said, in a plea to the children's mother. "It's not difficult. It will end all this, as far as the kids are concerned." An attorney for the family, Sean Bartholick, released a statement to East Idaho News on December 23 saying that while he is in contact with Vallow and Chad Daybell, he does not have information about the children. CNN has made multiple attempts to reach Bartholick but has not received a response. Police discovered the kids were missing in November Police determined the children were missing in late November -- four months after Vallow's estranged husband was killed in their former home state, Arizona, and shortly after she moved with the children to Idaho and remarried. Police conducted a welfare check for JJ -- Vallow's adopted son with her late husband -- on November 26 at their home in Rexburg after relatives raised concern about not hearing from him since September. During the welfare check, both Vallow and her new husband, Chad Daybell, told investigators the boy was staying with a family friend in Arizona, police said. But police determined that he wasn't staying with a family friend. When police returned November 27 to execute a search warrant, investigators determined Daybell and Vallow had fled the home. And according to authorities, they didn't appear to have taken JJ with them. Investigators also learned that Tylee hadn't been seen since September, though she'd most recently lived with Vallow and JJ in Rexburg. The family has had a complicated year The children's disappearance is part of a complex past 12 months for the family. Police have investigated two deaths in the couple's family in that time frame. One of those deaths is that of Lori Vallow's estranged husband, who was shot and killed in July during a fight with Vallow's brother in their former home state, Arizona. Details about the motive in the killing weren't immediately available. Vallow's brother was not charged in the case and died in December, according to CNN affiliate KIFI/KIDK. His cause of death has not been released, and an investigation is pending the results of an autopsy, CNN affiliate KNXV reported earlier this month. Shortly after, Vallow moved with the children to Idaho and married Chad Daybell, who had links to a religious content website. Vallow's former husband said she had "recently become infatuated and at times obsessive about near death experiences and spiritual visions," according to a petition for dissolution of marriage filed last February. The second death authorities are investigating is that of Daybell's previous wife, Tammy Daybell, in Idaho in October. Though she was originally believed to have died of natural causes, Rexburg police announced in December that it was suspicious, and her remains were exhumed. A few weeks after she died, Vallow and Daybell were married, police said. Rexburg police have said they are investigating whether the woman's death is connected to the children's disappearances. CLEVELAND, Ohio You cant buy the kind of publicity Cleveland got on The Bachelor Monday night. Actually, you can. Destination Cleveland paid The Bachelor to come to Northeast Ohio and feature numerous local destinations, including the Hilton Cleveland Downtown, FirstEnergy Stadium, the Greater Cleveland Aquarium and Cedar Point. Was it worth it? Its hard to say, because the tourism bureau wont say how much it paid to bring the show to town. We are prohibited from issuing information considered by the production company to be confidential (including the terms of any agreement) with respect to The Bachelor, said Emily Lauer, senior director of communications of Destination Cleveland. She added that the agency which receives almost all of its funding from Cuyahoga Countys tax on hotel stays is not subject to state law governing public agencies. Quite simply, as a private, nonprofit convention and visitors bureau, Destination Cleveland is not subject to Ohios Open Records Law, she said. In a similar situation, the Virginia Tourism Authority paid more than half a million dollars to feature Richmond on The Bachelorette in 2018 $300,000 for sponsor costs and $236,130.38 to help defray the costs of rooms, meals, production space, internet and parking, per the contract, according to Vulture magazine. Vulture also reported that the contract stipulated the citys LOVE sign had to appear in the episode, as well as a verbal mention of the states Virginia is for lovers slogan. The magazine filed Freedom of Information Act requests with every U.S. city that has appeared on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette (excluding the hometowns of contestants) in an effort to find out how much the communities paid to be featured. Other cities paid less than Richmond, including Fort Lauderdale ($313,000), Hilton Head ($75,000) and Deadwood, South Dakota ($50,000), according to Vulture. Lauer said Destination Cleveland was working to make the most of its investment, flooding its social media channels with mentions of The Bachelor, and hosting watch parties in Chicago and Washington, D.C. She said the agency is hoping to attract the attention of meeting planners in those cities, people who have an outsized ability to boost visitation to Cleveland. What were trying to do is change the perception of Cleveland and work on our narrative, she said. The show has 11 million viewers. We saw that opportunity there. Watch tonight as #TheBachelor gives it his all in a city that knows a thing or two about passion, grit and doing things your way, no matter what. @BachelorABC #BachelorNation #ThisisCLE #Cleveland pic.twitter.com/uF5aAeieMC DestinationCleveland (@TheCLE) January 27, 2020 Lauer said that although Destination Cleveland helped TV producers scout locations, the agency did not dictate where The Bachelor filmed or what it included in the show. They made all of the decisions, said Lauer. Its unclear whether the destinations featured in the two-hour program contributed to the costs of hosting the show. Tony Clark, a spokesman for Cedar Point, declined to say whether the park paid to host bachelor Peter Weber and his date, Victoria Fuller, who had the Sandusky amusement park all to themselves for a day of filming in October. Were unable to disclose the details of the production, but as youve seen on social, were encouraging everyone to watch! Dont let the producers fool you, Cedar Point is never a ghost town. I stand in line for 2+ hours for those rides #TheBachelorABC Carly Gose (@carlygose) January 28, 2020 A request for comment to ABC about how the show picked its filming spots in Cleveland was not answered. Donna Quadri-Felitti, the Marvin Ashner director of the School of Hospitality Management at Pennsylvania State University, described Destination Clevelands investment as an example of smart product placement with the product, in this case, being an entire city. Targeting meeting planners, she said, makes sense. Those association and meeting planners are serving clients from a broad spectrum of interests. Theyre looking for the next fun, hip place. She added, I think its a real positive opportunity for Cleveland and for Cedar Point. Its not the first time that Destination Cleveland has paid for Hollywoods help in reaching a wider audience. Last year, Destination Cleveland paid $600,000 to SoulPancake, a Los Angeles digital media firm, which produced and promoted two videos that showcase locals debating what they like best about Cleveland. Read more: New Destination Cleveland campaign features locals debating what they like best about the city Cedar Point episode of The Bachelor was a cold, blustery lesson in reality . . . and it wasnt pretty Greater Cleveland attracted a record 19.2 million visitors in 2018, outpacing Ohio and U.S. growth (Newser) Much of the second day of President Trump's impeachment defense focused not on the president's actions, but on the previous administration. In what Politico calls "an alternate-reality impeachment of his political rivals," Trump lawyers Pam Bondi and Eric Herschmann argued that former President Obama and Joe Biden should be the ones under investigation for abuse of power. They claimed that Obama had engaged in a quid pro quo with Russia under then-President Dmitry Medvedev and argued that Joe and Hunter Biden's activities in Ukraine should be the target of a corruption probe. Joe Biden led the Obama administration's Ukraine policy. More: Biden rejects "conspiracy theory." Bondi, a former Florida AG, argued that Trump had good reason to seek an investigation of the younger Biden's role on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and of his father's actions as VP during that time, the Washington Post reports. A rep for Biden, who is on the campaign trail in Iowa, said Bondi was talking about a discredited "conspiracy theory." Biden told reporters he saw no reason to testify. "The reason hes being impeached is because he tried to get a government to smear me and they wouldnt," he said. story continues below "We do not deal with speculation." While John Bolton's Ukraine claims led to renewed calls for more witnesses to be allowed, with GOP Sen. Mitt Romney calling the move increasingly likely, the Trump team dismissed them as speculation, Fox reports. "We deal with transcript evidence, we deal with publicly available information," Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow. "We do not deal with speculation, allegations that are not based on evidentiary standards at all." While John Bolton's Ukraine claims led to renewed calls for more witnesses to be allowed, with GOP Sen. Mitt Romney calling the move increasingly likely, the Trump team dismissed them as speculation, Fox reports. "We deal with transcript evidence, we deal with publicly available information," Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow. "We do not deal with speculation, allegations that are not based on evidentiary standards at all." Trump blasts Bolton . Trump's commentary on the impeachment trial Monday included retweets of remarks from Bolton critics, including this retweet from Sen. Rand Paul: "Why didnt John Bolton testify to the US House? Apparently his book wasnt quite finished yet for presales!" . Trump's commentary on the impeachment trial Monday included retweets of remarks from Bolton critics, including this retweet from Sen. Rand Paul: "Why didnt John Bolton testify to the US House? Apparently his book wasnt quite finished yet for presales!" Dershowitz condemns process . Celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz was Monday's final speaker, and he argued that "purely non-criminal conduct, including abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, are outside the range of impeachable offenses." He also addressed the Bolton issue, saying "nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense," the AP reports. . Celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz was Monday's final speaker, and he argued that "purely non-criminal conduct, including abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, are outside the range of impeachable offenses." He also addressed the Bolton issue, saying "nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense," the AP reports. Dershowitz vs. Dershowitz? Vox notes that Democrats pushing back against Republican arguments that no crimes have been committed have pointed to a Government Accountability Office decision last month that found holding up aid to Ukraine violated the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. They have also brought up some of Dershowitz's previous opinions. "It certainly doesnt have to be a crime if you have somebody who completely corrupts the office of president and who abuses trust and who poses great danger to our liberty, you dont need a technical crime," the lawyer said in 1998. He said Monday that he had changed his mind on the issue. Vox notes that Democrats pushing back against Republican arguments that no crimes have been committed have pointed to a Government Accountability Office decision last month that found holding up aid to Ukraine violated the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. They have also brought up some of Dershowitz's previous opinions. "It certainly doesnt have to be a crime if you have somebody who completely corrupts the office of president and who abuses trust and who poses great danger to our liberty, you dont need a technical crime," the lawyer said in 1998. He said Monday that he had changed his mind on the issue. What to watch for Tuesday . On the final day of Trump's defense, the president's lawyers will "seek to drive home the argument that the House made a shoddy case, and the Senate need not reach in and bolster it by hearing new evidence," the New York Times reports. . On the final day of Trump's defense, the president's lawyers will "seek to drive home the argument that the House made a shoddy case, and the Senate need not reach in and bolster it by hearing new evidence," the New York Times reports. The next step. Senators will now get a voice in the process for the first time. In a 16-hour question-and-answer session, written questions from senators from both parties will be answered by House impeachment managers and Trump's lawyers. Only one of the 150 questions in Bill Clinton's impeachment trial came from a bipartisan pair of senators and it's not clear whether there will be any at all this time, the Hill reports. (Read more Trump trial stories.) The headquarters of the German company, Webasto, in Stockdorf near Munich. Two employees of the company tested positive for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, authorities said on Jan. 28, 2020. (Michael Dalder/Reuters) Coronavirus Patient Got Virus From Human Transmission: Germany German health officials said the countrys first coronavirus patient got the virus through human transmission. The 33-year-old man, who lives near Starnberg, just south of Munich, caught the Wuhan coronavirus from a work colleague. They traveled together to a company training in the state of Bavaria last week. The colleague, a woman from Shanghai, started to feel sick on the flight home on Jan. 23, Andreas Zapf, head of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, said at a Jan. 28 press conference, reported Deutsche Welle. The woman had been visited in Shanghai recently by her parents, who live in the Wuhan area. The man caught the coronavirus from the woman in what appears to be the first known case outside of China of the infection spreading between people who arent related. Multiple cases in different countries have cropped up from transmission between family members, including a man in Singapore who flew in from China and infected his son. The virus has spread to 16 locations, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials told reporters in a call on Jan. 27. Countries with confirmed cases include the United States, Japan, and Australia. People walk toward the main entrance of Klinikum Schwabing, after Germany declared its first confirmed case of the deadly coronavirus that broke out in China, in Munich, Germany, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Ayhan Uyanik/Reuters) German officials said theyve been preparing for the virus. It was expected that the virus would come to Germany, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said in a statement on Tuesday. The case in Bavaria shows that were well prepared. Health officials said in a statement Monday that the man who contracted the virus was isolated and is being monitored. They said he was in stable condition. Infectious disease experts said the risk of the Bavarian population being infected with the new type of coronavirus is low. German officials said people should avoid unnecessary travel to China as the virus continues spreading there. The Chinese Communist Party has reported a number of cases and deaths but some experts suspect the figures are actually much higher. Germany is the second European country to confirm a coronavirus case, following France, which has now confirmed three cases. All three patients in that country had recently traveled to China, health officials said. The 2019 Novel Coronavirus broke out in Wuhan last month and has spread across Hubei province and into other parts of China. The origin of the virus still isnt known. A Chinese woman wears a protective mask and sunglasses as she shops for groceries at a supermarket in Beijing, China, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Early on, many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan, China, reportedly had some link to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. However, a growing number of patients reportedly have not had exposure to animal markets, indicating person-to-person spread is occurring, the CDC said on its website. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses in common in many different species of animals and in rare cases can infect people, such as in the cases of MERS and SARS. Person-to-person spread of those viruses were thought to have happened mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughed or sneezed. Symptoms of the 2019 coronavirus include a fever, coughing, and shortness of breath. The incubation period is believed to be 2 to 14 days. There is currently no vaccine to prevent the infection and no cure once people have the infection. Prevention includes washing hands often, avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, and staying away from people who are clearly sick. Jakarta: A group dedicated to building a memorial to victims of the Bali bombings has been told a promised $4.5 million in funding from the Australian government will be in jeopardy if a long-running dispute with owners of the proposed site cannot be settled in the coming weeks. In emails obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Bali Peace Park Association deputy chairman David Napoli warned fellow BPPA members the Morrison government could pull the funding in favour of bushfire relief if a resolution was not reached by mid-February. Last May a deal for the Perth-based Peace Park Association to buy a 700-square-metre portion of land on the site of the former Sari Club, destroyed in the 2002 Bali bombings, for about 45 billion rupiah appeared to have been finalised. The attack by Islamist extremists killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. But that deal subsequently collapsed as the land owners, including Sukamto Tjia, doubled the size of the land for sale and the asking price. During last year's federal election campaign, Mr Morrison met Mr Napoli in Perth and promised the government would contribute $4.5 million to get the project under way after more than a decade of planning. The United States has expressed concern and called for an immediate cease-fire in northwestern Syria where the combined forces of Russia, Iranian proxies, and the Syrian government are reportedly conducting an assault on the Idlib and Aleppo provinces. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on January 27 the military assault is causing a humanitarian crisis affecting hundreds of thousands of civilians in Idlib Province, the last rebel stronghold where millions have taken refuge after fleeing other parts of Syria during its nearly nine-year civil war. Pompeo said these forces are conducting indiscriminate aerial bombardment and ground attacks that have trapped thousands of civilians under bombardment in Marat an-Numan, leaving them nowhere to flee. He blamed the destabilizing actions of Russia, the Iranian regime and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for directly preventing the establishment of a cease-fire in northern Syria, as called for in a UN Security Council resolution. Assads renewed push to recapture rebel-held territory started on December 19 and his forces have regained control over 46 settlements covering 320 square kilometers. The United States condemns these unjustifiable attacks against the people of northwest Syria, Pompeo said. We call for an immediate cease-fire and full access to the affected areas by humanitarian organizations to alleviate the suffering of the hundreds of thousands that have fled the incessant bombing. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dino Patti Djalal (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, January 28, 2020 If you asked me which country Indonesia had grown closest to in the last five years, my answer would be: China. Indonesia has developed many "partnerships" with other countries -- more than a dozen of them. Yet, no matter how you label them ("strategic","special, comprehensive", "21st century" etc.), Indonesia's partnership with China is perhaps the most substantial. Indonesia trades with China almost three times more than with the United States. China's investment in Indonesia has been the fastest growing compared to other major investors. The countrys investment in Indonesia in 2017 was 17 times more than its investment in 2007. Chinese tourists visiting Indonesia today outnumber American, Australian, Japanese and Russian tourists combined. There are more Indonesian students studying in China than in the US. Both sides have announced that Indonesia's Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) and China's. Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are compatible. Jakarta supports the BRI (with certain terms) and Beijing supports GMF without qualification. Indonesia-China relations are also saturated with a multitude of ministerial mechanisms, sectoral dialogues and exchanges -- second perhaps only to Indonesia's partnership with Australia. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. By PTI RAIPUR: Slamming anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam, arrested on charges of sedition, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said his speech was "more dangerous" than that of former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. Speaking at an event here, Shah also said Sharjeel has been arrested by Delhi police and is being brought to Delhi to be put behind bars. "See his (Sharjeel's) statement. Have you seen the video of (the speech of) Sharjeel? It is more dangerous than Kanhaiya Kumar's statement," he said. "He (Sharjeel) is talking about cutting off the Chicken's Neck to disintegrate Assam from India. Even seven generations would not be able to do that," Shah said. The Chicken's Neck is a narrow stretch of land of about 22 km in West Bengal that connects the northeastern states to the rest of India, with Nepal and Bangladesh lying on either side of the corridor. Sharjeel Imam, who was on the run after sedition charges were slapped against him for allegedly making inflammatory statements, was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad district on Tuesday. A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies at the JNU. He was slapped with a sedition case after a video of his purported speech went viral on social media where he was heard speaking about "cutting off" Assam and the northeast from the rest of India. Subaru sets mid-2030s target to sell only electric vehicles - You Gotta Love It TOKYO January 2020; Reuters reported that Japans Subaru Corp (7270.T) set a target on Monday to sell only electric vehicles worldwide by the first half of the 2030s, in a move toward its long-term goal of a carbon-free society. The news comes as Subaru has strengthened capital ties with Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), in a trend of global automakers joining forces to slash development and manufacturing costs of new technology. To supplement the mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars already in its lineup, Subaru plans to develop a so-called strong hybrid vehicle using Toyota technology and intended to debut later in the decade. It is also developing an all-battery electric car with Toyota for release around the same time. Although were using Toyota technology, we want to make hybrids that are distinctly Subaru, Chief Technology Officer Tetsuo Onuki told a briefing. Its not only about reducing CO2 emissions. We need to further improve vehicle safety and the performance of our all-wheel drive. Subaru said that by 2030 at least 40% of its cars sold worldwide will comprise battery electric vehicles or hybrids. The Japanese automaker, which produces the Outback and Forester SUVs, is known for its horizontally placed boxer engines, along with its EyeSight autonomous driver assist and all-wheel-drive technologies. Car manufacturers worldwide are scrambling to chase scale, manage costs and boost development of the self-driving cars, electric vehicles and new mobility services that are upending the industry. Subarus strong commitment and dedication toward car-manufacturing that we have cultivated throughout our history remain unchanged, President Tomomi Nakamura added. Reporting for Reuters by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Clarence Fernandez Harry Dunns family have welcomed a poll showing support in the US for the extradition of Anne Sacoolas (David Mirzoeff/PA) The family of Harry Dunn have welcomed a poll showing support from the US public in their bid to have the suspect in the fatal motorcycle crash case brought back to the UK. Almost two thirds of Americans surveyed said they would support the extradition of Anne Sacoolas, who is charged in connection with the death of the 19-year-old. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo rejected an extradition request by the UK Government for Mrs Sacoolas on Thursday. Mr Dunn was killed when his motorbike collided with a car outside a US military base in Northamptonshire on August 27 last year. This poll simply proves that they and we are right, and Pompeo is just wrongFamily spokesman Radd Seiger Mrs Sacoolas, 42, the wife of a US intelligence official based at RAF Croughton, was granted diplomatic immunity after the crash, sparking an international controversy. The Dunn familys spokesman Radd Seiger said the poll results show they and we are right, and Pompeo is just wrong. In a statement to the PA news agency, Mr Seiger said: Harrys parents have been clear from the outset that you dont get to hop on a plane after you have been involved in a serious collision leading to the loss of life, whether you are a diplomat or not. That is not the way modern international society works and this was always a disgusting and grotesque attempt to abuse the Vienna Convention. Expand Close Harry Dunn was killed in a collision outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire (Family handout/PA) PA Media / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Harry Dunn was killed in a collision outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire (Family handout/PA) We have always had tremendous support from our friends right across the USA. This poll simply proves that they and we are right, and Pompeo is just wrong. The YouGov poll showed 64% of Americans would support the suspects extradition. The breakdown was similar among both Democrats and Republicans, and of the 1,352 US adults surveyed, 9% are opposed to her extradition. The US government refuses to extradite Anne Sacoolas, a decision which flies in the face of the fact that 64% of Americans support turning her over to UK police. Dominic Raab is set to demand her return in a meeting with US counterpart Mike Pompeo tomorrowhttps://t.co/579jbrkOfH pic.twitter.com/jBZFzopcfI YouGov (@YouGov) January 28, 2020 The remaining 27% said they did not know. The survey comes just a day before Mr Pompeo is due to have a meeting with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has described the extradition request refusal as a denial of justice. Earlier on Tuesday, a lawyer representing alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein said the US should help with the investigation into Mr Dunns death if it wants co-operation in its bid to quiz the Duke of York as part of its sex trafficking inquiry. Lisa Bloom, who represents five of Epsteins alleged victims, tweeted: If we want cooperation, we must cooperate in their investigations too. She spoke out after US lawyer Geoffrey Berman revealed Prince Andrew had provided zero co-operation in the Epstein investigation, despite his lawyers being contacted by prosecutors and the FBI. A Boston University researcher is also charged with not disclosing she is allegedly a member of the Chinese military. A Harvard University department chair and two Chinese nationals were charged on Tuesday in the United States for lying about their links to the Chinese government. The trio also includes researchers at Boston University and at a Boston hospital. The charges are part of an aggressive effort by US authorities to block what they say are Chinese efforts to steal US scientific and technological advances. This is a very carefully directed effort by the Chinese government to fill what it views as its own strategic gaps, said Andrew Lelling, US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, as he revealed the charges in a news conference. Prosecutors charged Charles Lieber, chair of Harvard Universitys Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, with lying about his participation in Chinas Thousand Talents Plan, which aims to attract research specialists working overseas. Two Chinese researchers Yanqing Ye and Zaosong Zheng were charged with being agents of a foreign government. Yanqing Ye is a Boston University robotics researcher. Prosecutors said Ye lied about being in the Chinese army. Prosecutors said Ye is a lieutenant in the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, which she did not disclose when she obtained a visa to enter the US. She is accused of passing information on research conducted at Boston University to Chinas government. Zaosong Zheng is a cancer researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Zheng was arrested last month at Boston Logan International Airport as he tried to leave the US with 21 vials containing sensitive biological samples in his baggage. He planned to return to China to continue his research there, prosecutors allege. Joseph Bonavolonta, who runs the FBIs Boston field office, said Lieber had received millions of dollars from the Chinese government and that he lied about that to federal investigators and officials at Harvard. According to a court filing, Lieber made materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements to the US Department of Defense about his role in the plan, and to the National Institutes of Health about that role and also his affiliation with Wuhan University of Technology in China. Lieber was charged with one count of making false statements to a US government agency, according to court records. He was not charged with anything related to traditional espionage, Bonavolonta said, adding that investigators were trying to determine if anything other than money motivated his actions. Harvard and Boston University said through spokespeople that they were cooperating with investigators. The charges brought by the US government against Professor Lieber are extremely serious, Harvard said in a statement. Professor Lieber has been placed on indefinite administrative leave. Lieber was arrested on Tuesday. Efforts to reach him were unsuccessful. Beth Israel officials could not be reached for immediate comment. Lieber, Ye, and Zheng are the latest in a series of academics the US has criminally charged for their dealings with China. In August, federal prosecutors charged a University of Kansas researcher for failing to disclose ties to a Chinese university. Almost 100 people in the UK have tested negative for coronavirus, the Department of Health and Social Care has said. The latest results show that 97 people have been given the all-clear for the virus, although scientists predict it may have entered the country. It comes as British nationals stranded in Hubei province in China were urged to contact the British consulate before 11am on Wednesday if they wish to leave. The British embassy in Beijing said transport to get UK citizens out may happen quickly and with short notice. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government is working on how to bring people home from the Chinese city. He told BBC Breakfast: For anybody who is there, one of the issues we have, working with our partners internationally on this, is actually identifying how many British citizens there are in Wuhan. One of the things were asking people to do is to contact the consulate there to make them aware. People have started to do that. We are working on arrangements as well. We are working to make an option available for British nationals to leave Hubei Province. If you are a British national in Hubei Province and require assistance please contact our 24/7 number +86 (0) 10 8529 6600 or (+44) (0)207 008 1500.#CoronaVirushttps://t.co/n7OOjdKfL8 Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) January 27, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously insisted the Government is doing everything we can to get Britons out of Hubei province, which includes Wuhan. Officials estimate up to 200 citizens currently there will want to return to the UK. Hubei province has been on lockdown for several days as China seeks to contain the illness, as have other parts of China. Hong Kong also said on Tuesday it would temporarily close some of its borders with mainland China and stop issuing travel permits to mainland Chinese tourists. More than 100 people have now died in the country, with confirmed infections surging to more than 4,500. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) The virus has spread across China and to at least 16 countries globally. On Monday, a 50-year-old man died from the virus in Beijing the first death in the Chinese capital from the virus. It comes as the UK expert developing a vaccine against coronavirus said it has a very good chance of being effective. Professor Robin Shattock, head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London, told the PA news agency he plans to start testing the vaccine on animals by the middle of February, with human studies in the summer if enough funding is secured. And he warned there could be a second wave of coronavirus next winter across the globe. On Monday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock called for people who have returned from Wuhan to self-isolate even if they have no symptoms. He said officials could not be 100% certain the virus is not spread by people who are not displaying symptoms. NEW BLOG: Wuhan novel coronavirus: what you need to know https://t.co/9vOzpEOscA UK Health Security Agency (@UKHSA) January 24, 2020 The move means more than 1,400 people who have returned from Wuhan since January 10 should isolate themselves for 14 days from the date of leaving China. Some 1,561 people are now known to have entered the UK from Wuhan since January 10, including airline crew, although some have since left again. Just 10% of these people supplied an email address to the airline and have been contacted with advice on what to do if they feel ill. Mr Hancock said Public Health England officials are trying to trace the others. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Meanwhile, reports from Japan and Germany on Tuesday suggested cases of coronavirus in people with no history of travel to Wuhan. Scientists are also working on emerging evidence which suggests the virus can be spread by people before they even develop symptoms. This could hamper efforts to contain the virus as people who have no indication they are ill go about their usual daily lives. Professor Paul Hunter, from the Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia, said: The recent reports would now bring to a total of three confirmed cases in Vietnam, Japan and Germany who have not visited China but only been in contact with cases from China. The fact that person to person transmission is occurring outside of China is not too surprising. The Vietnamese case was reported by the World Health Organisation and he was in contact with his sick father who had returned from China. The Japanese case was a tour bus driver who had driven around two groups of Chinese tourists and the German case had attended a work-based training event also attended by a woman who only became ill two days later during her return to China. The German case is most worrying because if the Chinese woman was indeed asymptomatic at the time of the training session it would confirm reports of spread before symptoms develop, making standard control strategies less effective. He said people should follow the Public Health England advice to stay indoors if they have recently returned from Wuhan. I would add that this advice should also be followed by anyone who has been to any other area in China where the infection is known to be common or if they know they have been in contact with a presumed case, he said. LONDON - Britain decided Tuesday to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to supply new high-speed network equipment, leaving Canada as the last of the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance to announce a policy on the controversial company's status. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, center left, visits the Department of Mathematics at King's Maths School, part of King's College London University, in London, Monday Jan. 27, 2020. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool via AP) LONDON - Britain decided Tuesday to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to supply new high-speed network equipment, leaving Canada as the last of the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance to announce a policy on the controversial company's status. The U.K. government said it is excluding high risk companies from supplying the sensitive core parts of the new fifth-generation, or 5G, networks. But it will allow high risk suppliers to provide up to 35 per cent of the less risky radio access network, which includes radio antenna on cellphone towers. The announcement did not mention any companies by name but said high risk vendors are those who pose greater security and resilience risks to U.K. telecoms networks" a clear reference to Huawei. The British government's decision to keep Huawei out of its core 5G wireless network is similar to the approach that Canada has taken with its 4G and 3G networks. Canada has yet to make its decision on whether Huawei should be allowed to supply 5G equipment but, like Britain, has been under pressure from the United States to ban the Chinese company as a threat to U.S. national security. The 5G technology is expected to drive the next wave of innovation, transmitting massive amounts of data from more objects and locations. It would, for example, help make possible self-driving cars or allow telemedicine, in which doctors control robots in remote surgery on patients miles away. Huawei is a top global supplier of mobile networks, with its gear often considered cost-effective and high-quality. However, it has competition from Ericsson, Nokia and a new competitor in 5G Samsung. Mobile network phone masts are visible in front of St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020.The Chinese tech firm Huawei has been designated a "high-risk vendor" but will be given the opportunity to build non-core elements of Britain's 5G network, the government has announced. The company will be banned from the "core", of the 5G network, and from operating at sensitive sites such as nuclear and military facilities, and its share of the market will be capped at 35%. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Britain's decision is the first by a major U.S. ally in Europe, and follows intense lobbying from the Trump administration and China as the two vie for technological dominance. The United States claims that China's communist leaders could, under a 2017 national intelligence law, compel Huawei to carry out cyberespionage. Huawei denies that would be possible. The 5G infrastructure program is seen as being critical to Britain's economic future as the country leaves the European Union. But the decision is fraught, as the United States objects to allowing Huawei to provide vital infrastructure and has threatened to cut off intelligence sharing with allies that do use Huawei. The British government said Tuesday after a meeting of its National Security Council that it is taking some steps that will allow it "to mitigate the potential risk posed by the supply chain and to combat the range of threats, whether cyber criminals, or state sponsored attacks.'' We would never take decisions that threaten our national security or the security of our Five Eyes partners," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, referring a security arrangement in which Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, share intelligence. We know more about Huawei and the risks that it poses than any other country in the world.'' The decision is awkward for the government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as he risks the fury of one of Britain's closest allies at just the moment it really needs Trump's administration to quickly strike a trade deal after Brexit. Britain is also loathe to insult China, which it likewise needs for future trade deals. A senior Trump administration official said the U.S. is disappointed by the decision, adding that the U.S. government would work with the U.K. on a way forward that leads to the exclusion of untrusted vendor components from 5G networks. The official was not authorized to comment on the sensitive diplomacy between longstanding allies and spoke on condition of anonymity. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to visit London on Wednesday to meet with Johnson and Raab to reaffirm the transatlantic relationship. Huawei said it was "reassured" by the British government's decision. "This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future," Vice-President Victor Zhang said. "It gives the U.K. access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market. The U.K.'s measures include keeping Huawei out of all safety related and safety critical networks" and banning it from sensitive places such as nuclear sites and military bases. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The Johnson government also said it will also encourage other suppliers such as South Korea's Samsung and Japan's NEC to enter the British market. In the meantime, the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre will issue guidance with practical steps on how to mitigate the risks to wireless operators, some of whom have already started installing Huawei 5G gear into their networks. They were reluctant to rip it out and replace it with equipment from rivals including Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson. ___ Associated Press Writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this story. With files from The Canadian Press. Follow the APs coverage of technology at: https://apnews.com/apf-technology Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The Bahamas have enjoyed renewed high-end property demand in recent years. The Out Islands have been renown as a special part of the Bahamas for many years, with natural beaches and a microcosm of native fauna and flora to discover. This luxury project will include the islands breathtaking natural environment as part of its design while providing guests and homeowners with the services and high-end services to be expected of a luxury resort. The deepwater marina will be a feature of the resort, complete with clubhouse and seaside restaurant, and guests will enjoy the islands natural attractions as part of the resorts service offering such as guided tours, bird-watching, deep sea fishing, and bone fishing, among many other attractions. The Bahamas has enjoyed renewed high-end property demand over the past several years, and combined with a sustainable electricity plan that includes the use of solar energy, this project is expected to become a premier vacation destination in the Caribbean. The method by which this environmentally-friendly hospitality project is to be funded is the brainchild of Mr Gilles Herard. Mr Herard is a seasoned merchant banker and has been in the banking industry for over 40 years. As Managing Director of Capital Corp Merchant Banking, Mr Herard has become a leading figure in international middle-market project financing and engineers all funding structures for projects at Capital Corp. Mr Herard has received numerous awards for his work and other contributions including being appointed to the Presidential Business Commission, Honorary Co-Chairman of the Business Advisory Council, nominated as Executive of the Year by the internationally acclaimed National Registers Whos Who, and having received the Senatorial Medal of Freedom, among many others. About Capital Corp Merchant Banking: Capital Corp Merchant Banking offers quality Merchant Banking services for a variety of projects worldwide. Capital Corp Merchant Banking is solution-oriented and known for being the most flexible Funding Source on the Market in creating handcrafted investment structures to meet the needs of the different constituent groups in each individual transaction, including general project funding, equity funding, debt restructuring, and real estate development. For further information, please visit our website. (Natural News) As it turns out, regularly brushing and flossing your teeth protects more than just your smile. In a new study published in the United European Gastrenterology Journal, researchers from Queens University Belfast said poor oral health may be linked to an increased risk for a specific type of liver cancer. According to Haydee WT Jordao, a researcher at the Centre of Public Health at Queens University Belfast and lead author of the study, the research team analyzed a large cohort of over 469,000 people in the UK in order to investigate the association between poor oral health conditions and the risk for a number of gastrointestinal cancers including those of the liver, colon, rectum and pancreas as there is inconsistent evidence on the association between the two. Poor oral hygiene has been previously linked to higher risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. In their study, Jordao, noted that while they did not find any significant associations between poor oral health and the risk for gastrointestinal cancers, they were able to find enough evidence linking it to a 75 percent increase in the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) the most common form of liver malignancy and a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. According to the researchers, liver cancer is currently the sixth bigger cancer killer in the European Union, with the disease claiming the lives of almost 60,000 people per year. This type of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), has two growth patterns: the first is a single tumor that grows larger and expands to other parts of the liver as it matures, while the second pattern starts from small malignant nodules that develop throughout the liver. The latter is seen in people with cirrhosis and is the most common type of HCC in the US. (Related: Milk thistle shows promise in treating liver cancer.) According to a statement by leading dental health charity Oral Health Foundation, the research should serve as a reminder to the public that the benefits of looking after your oral health go beyond a healthy mouth. Taking a relatively small amount of time each day to keep a clean and healthy mouth can make you far less likely to encounter some serious conditions in the future, Nigel Carter OBE, Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation, said. Tips on how to prevent liver cancer Despite the negative information uncovered by the new study, medical experts say liver cancer is still preventable, as its risk factors such as obesity, tobacco use, consumption of alcohol and now, poor oral health, can be easily addressed by making healthy lifestyle choices, such as: Limiting your consumption and use of alcohol and tobacco According to the ACS, these substances increase ones risk for liver cirrhosis, which can lead to the development of liver cancer. According to the ACS, these substances increase ones risk for liver cirrhosis, which can lead to the development of liver cancer. Maintaining good oral health Make it a habit to brush and floss your teeth after every meal. Make it a habit to brush and floss your teeth after every meal. Maintaining a healthy weight Numerous studies have shown that people with obesity are more likely to develop fatty liver disease or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and Type 2 diabetes, both of which are linked to liver cancer. Numerous studies have shown that people with obesity are more likely to develop fatty liver disease or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and Type 2 diabetes, both of which are linked to liver cancer. Avoiding anabolic steroids Often used by bodybuilders and professional athletes to increase their muscle mass, these synthetic hormones have been linked to a slight increase in the risk for hepatocellular cancer, as well as a host of other serious health complications. Find out more about the importance of taking care of your teeth for overall health at OralHealth.news. Sources include: ScienceDaily.com Journals.SagePub.com Cancer.org DentalHealth.org Some of these systems include setting up of anti-smuggling units at all ports of entry. Non-intrusive equipment such as scanners where both commercial and private goods go through at importation, use of sniffer dogs that are trained to use their senses to detect substances such as explosives, illegal drugs, wildlife scat, currency, blood, and contraband electronics such as illicit mobile phones. A judge has dismissed all charges against five Extinction Rebellion protesters after a police officer due to give evidence in their case went on holiday. Deputy District Judge Vincent McDade accused the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of abject failure over the blunder. City of London Magistrates' Court heard that a police officer, who was due to be a prosecution witness, was not given enough notice of the trial date and had booked a holiday. Judge McDade said the officer had arrested the five defendants and was a vital witness to establish the lawfulness or otherwise of the arrests. There has been an abject failure by the CPS to ensure that this case has been properly managed," he told the court. Had the CPS acted efficiently and warned the witness as soon as possible after the case management hearing on 7 November, this matter would proceed today with that witness giving live evidence." Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Show all 51 1 /51 Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The 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block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Angela Christofilou/The Independent Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Police officers arrest an activist at London City Airport on the fourth day of demonstrations by the climate change action group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Police officers react as an activist scales the roof above the entrance to London City Airport AFP/Getty Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Activists blockade the Docklands Light Rail (DLR) statio AFP/Getty Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Protests have been carried out in 60 cities around the world this week, with thousands taking to the streets of New Delhi, Cape Town, Paris, Vienna, Madrid, and Buenos Aires Reuters Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Extinction Rebellion is demanding that governments drastically cut carbon emissions AFP/Getty Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport AP Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Police officers detain a protestor Reuters Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport The activist gestures after scaling the roof AFP/Getty Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport Police officers detain protester Phil Kingston Reuters Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport An activist holds a placard during a 'Hong Kong style' blockage of the exit from the Docklands Light Railway to City Airport PA Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport AFP/Getty Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport AP Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport AFP/Getty Extinction Rebellion block entrance at City Airport AP The judge concluded that he had no option but to dismiss all matters against all defendants. Claudia Fisher, 57, from Brighton, Phoebe Valentine, 23, from Brighton, David Lambert, 60, from Gloucestershire, Senan Clifford, 59, also from Gloucestershire, and John Burrage, 42, from West Wales had been facing trial for aggravated trespass. They were accused of gluing themselves to the concourse between London City Airport and a DLR station in October. Before the hearing on Tuesday, a former chief government scientist said he would give evidence in their defence warning that climate change was the most important issue humanity has ever had to face. Professor Sir David King called for leadership from the very top and described Brexit as a distraction. What we are talking about is the most important issue humanity has ever had to face up to, he added. No government, including ours, is doing enough today. So what we need is much more action, much more clarity on the action that is needed, and we need it with a public voice. And that's what Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion have done. They've put it back on the front pages. Sir David, who served as the foreign secretarys Special Representative for Climate Change, described the actions of the Extinction Rebellion activists as a brave attempt to get the critically important issue into the spotlight. A CPS spokesperson said: We accept an error was made in not warning the witness sooner which meant the trial could not proceed. We apologise for this error, which led to the case being dismissed today at court. British Transport Police have not responded to The Independent's request for comment over their officer's absence. The Extinction Rebellion protest at London City Airport in October (Angela Christofilou/The Independent) Police have been heavily criticised for their response to mass Extinction Rebellion protests centred on London in April and October, where almost 3,000 arrests were made as activists blocked roads and bridges. Hundreds of demonstrators were detained after the Metropolitan Police issued an order effectively banning Extinction Rebellion protests from the whole of London in April. But the move was ruled unlawful by High Court judges and more than 100 prosecutions have subsequently been dropped. Recommended Extinction Rebellion shuts down key roads in Manchester and London A fresh uproar was caused by revelations that counterterror police in the South East had included Extinction Rebellion among other left-wing campaign groups in a document on spotting extremism. The unit responsible apologised for the error of judgement and said it does not classify the global movement as an extremist organisation. Police said the document would be recalled, but it has now emerged that it had already been circulated to government departments, five police forces and 20 local councils. The Guardian reported that the guidance was sent to bodies including the Home Office, the Department for Education, Prison Service and NHS England, who all have statutory duties to report extremism under the controversial Prevent programme. Extinction Rebellion accused police of trying to silence a peaceful, non-violent movement of people who are trying to make sure the world's children have a future. Last week, security minister Brandon Lewis told MPs that Extinction Rebellion was in no way considered an extremist group. Speaking in the House of Commons, he said: We are clear that the right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our just society and an indispensable channel of political and social expression. The police have recalled the guidance and are reviewing it, and I want to reiterate that Extinction Rebellion is in no way considered an extremist group under the 2015 definition of extremism. Additional reporting by PA Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 10:45:52|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Education (MOE) announced that the 2020 spring semester for schools will be postponed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. The MOE did not give the exact opening dates of the new semester for colleges and universities under the ministry but indicated that the decisions should be made depending on their localities, according to a circular released by the ministry late Monday. The MOE suggested that colleges and universities under the central government's other ministries or departments also postpone school semester accordingly. The new semester opening dates for universities and colleges under local authorities' administration, middle and primary schools, as well as kindergartens, should be decided by local education authorities. The ministry warned that students who had left campuses for the Spring Festival holiday should not return without approval before the new semester. All schools should guide students to stay at home, avoid gatherings and mass activities during the winter break, the ministry said, asking schools to keep those students who stay on campus away from infections. The ministry also urged schools to draw up epidemic prevention and control plans and overhaul campuses to prepare for the new semester. In China, most schools have two breaks in a year. The winter break, roughly one month, usually comes around the time of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, allowing students to return home for this most important festival for the Chinese. To control the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese government had extended the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, scheduled to end on Jan. 30, to Feb. 2. Mr. Nelson Guardia and Mrs. Juliana Liu of Panama We learned of Helen Doron while researching business opportunities in the education field and were impressed with its methodology and product offerings. We decided to buy the franchise for Panama, so as many children as possible can benefit. The Helen Doron educational franchise community recently welcomed its newest members, Mr. Nelson Guardia and Mrs. Juliana Liu of Panama. Mr. Guardia, an industrial engineer in the field of logistics and his wife, Mrs. Liu, a business and marketing professional, looked for a business which would enhance the lives of the children in their community. Juliana, a native from Brazil and Nelson, a native from Panama, met while studying in the United States. We got married there and worked in corporate jobs in New Jersey and New York, before deciding to move to Panama where we both continued working for multinational companies. Nelson recalls. We have two children now and as their parents, we have always been very involved in their education and their activities. We learned of Helen Doron while researching business opportunities in the education field and were impressed with its methodology and product offerings. We saw there was an opportunity to bring it to our market and decided to buy the franchise for Panama. He elaborates further on reasons for making this move to empower Panamas children. Unfortunately, Panama scores very low on international English assessments tests. Children receive English classes starting from elementary school, but quality varies greatly depending on the school. What is important is not only to have a basic understanding of English, but to let the children become truly comfortable with the language, so they can speak it as if it was their native language. Juliana adds: English is the global language to conduct business and Helen Doron contributes to making a difference in childrens lives by helping them grow to become skillful and successful citizens of the international future society. We believe childrens education is the most rewarding field and Helen Doron presented a proven business model in this field, that we believe fits nicely into our market. The first Helen Doron English learning centre will be launched in Panama City April 2020, and a second one is planned later that year or early 2021. Additional centres will be added in additional locations within the next five years so that as many children as possible can benefit from the Helen Doron methodology. Guardia concludes. More Than a Business. A Way of Life. Awarded as the Best Children and Education Franchise in 2019, Helen Doron Educational Group was founded in 1985 to teach children English as a Foreign Language and has more than 1,000 learning centres and kindergartens in 38 countries. Helen Dorons innovative and proven methodology is the creative inspiration behind the companys flagship franchise, Helen Doron English, together with Helen Doron Kindergartens, MathRiders, and Ready Steady Move! To date, the Group has taught nearly three million children to speak English, master maths, experience nature, and learn through movement. The network is rapidly expanding, while maintaining its core values and community spirit, combined with business success. We seek additional franchisees to penetrate new markets and business partners to expand its rich educational content and continue breaking new boundaries in childrens education. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Fresh reports claim that a 33-year-old woman has written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) alleging that Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya used to make her watch porn videos whenever she visited his office in Mumbai. In a complaint filed with the police, the woman, an assistant choreographer, has alleged that Acharya and two women assaulted her during a function of the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association (IFTCA) held in suburban Andheri on Sunday. AFP Besides Acharya, the complainant, Divya Kotian, has named Jayashree Kelkar and Preeti Lad in her complaint for assault, a police official said on Tuesday. Calls made to Acharya for his reaction remained unanswered. In her letter to the NCW, Kotian, a resident of suburban Bhayandar, claimed that Acharya forced her to watch adult videos whenever she visited his office. In her complaint with Amboli police station, Kotian alleged that Acharya was demanding a commission from her for working in the film industry. Kotian is also a member of the IFTCA. Acharya, who was elected as a general secretary of the IFTCA, used to frequently call the complainant at the office in Andheri, the police official said quoting the complaint. On January 26, when Kotian reached the IFTCA office, Acharya shouted at her and announced that she was being 'suspended', he said. Acharya grew furious after Kotian told him that she is a member of the IFTCA and allegedly asked his team member, Jayashree Kelkar, to slap her, the police official said. 'Kelkar and Preeti Lad hit me in public view which was captured on the CCTV,' the complaint stated. Police have registered a non-cognizable (NC) offense and investigation, the official added. [January 27, 2020] SHAREHOLDER ALERT: CLAIMSFILER REMINDS FSCT, MAT, MYL, TCNNF INVESTORS of Lead Plaintiff Deadline in Class Action Lawsuits NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors of pending deadlines in the following securities class action lawsuits: Mylan N.V. (MYL) Class Period: 5/9/2018 - 5/6/2019 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: February 14, 2020 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/nasdaq-myl-2 Mattel, Inc. (MAT) Class Period: 10/26/2017 - 8/8/2019 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: February 24, 2020 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/nasdaq-mat-3 TrulieveCannabis Corp. (TCNNF) Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: February 28, 2020 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-trulieve-cannabis-corp-securities-litigation Forescout Technologies, Inc. (FSCT) Class Period: 2/7/2019 - 10/9/2019 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: March 2, 2020 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-forescout-technologies-inc-securities-litigation If you purchased shares of the above companies and would like to discuss your legal rights and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact us toll-free (844) 367-9658 or visit the case links above. If you wish to serve as a Lead Plaintiff in the class action, you must petition the Court on or before the Lead Plaintiff Motion deadline. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) on Tuesday condemned the arrest of university student and anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam in a sedition case and alleged that the charge was invoked due to "other reasons". The teacher's body also attacked the Delhi Police, saying it immediately went after Imam while no arrest has been made in connection with the January 5 violence on JNU campus. "While there may be considerable scope for disagreement with the remarks allegedly made by the student, it has been persuasively argued by legal experts that these remarks do not warrant a charge of sedition and there are other reasons behind the sedition law being invoked," JNUTA said in a statement. It said the "continuation of the colonial era law on sedition on the statute books of independent India has also been subjected to widespread questioning, particularly due to its rampant misuse by governments to curb dissent". JNU has also had a direct experience of this not so long ago, it said. Imam, a PhD student at the JNU's Centre for Historical Studies, was on Tuesday arrested by Delhi Police's crime branch from Bihar's Jehanabad in a sedition case for allegedly making inflammatory speeches in Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh, officials said. However, Imam, who was among the initial organisers of the protest against the amended citizenship law at Shaheen Bagh here, claimed that he had surrendered before the police. The association also condemned the "circumstances which forced the student to surrender before the police" and said it reflects the extreme "politicisation" of the conduct of law enforcement agencies. "Unambiguously inflammatory statements have been made by several individuals in recent times, including by those holding responsible positions in government. These have invited absolutely no action. "The urgency which the Delhi Police has shown in the case of Sharjeel Imam has also been conspicuous by its absence when it comes to bringing the culprits of the January 5 criminal violence in JNU to boo," it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Major Australian businesses have ordered staff who have recently visited China to stay at home for 14 days to avoid any potential spread of the deadly coronavirus to colleagues. Several large consulting firms with offices across the country have implemented tough new rules to reduce the chances of staff being exposed to the virus, which originated in Wuhan in the Hubei province. Companies are also limiting travel to China until the outbreak subsides. Major consulting firm UBS has requested staff who have recently visited China not to return to their Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney workplaces for two weeks, and has temporarily shut the Hong Kong office. "The Hong Kong office will open as normal on Wednesday," a spokeswoman said. All of UBS' offices in mainland China are shut until February 3 in line with the extended national holiday. Outraged parents have slammed a $10million playground for being too dangerous after a boy burnt his leg on a metal slide and another child fell onto hard concrete. Hercules Street Park in Brisbane's Northshore Hamilton precinct was unveiled on January 10 after undertaking a year-long refurbishment costing $10million. Parents are now claiming it has been poorly designed and is dangerous for children. Hercules Street Park in Brisbane's Northshore Hamilton precinct was unveiled on January 10 after undertaking a year-long refurbishment, costing $10million Parents are now claiming the playground has been poorly designed and is dangerous for children Beck Stephenson, 39, told The Courier Mail her seven-year-old son Jack burnt his thigh after going down the small metal slide. Her four-year-old son Archie was nearly injured when he landed 'on his bum on the concrete' after sliding off a larger metal slide. 'The slide didn't look dangerous but he went straight up into the air and over the soft-fall as there wasn't enough [space for him to land safely],' Ms Stephenson said. That slide is now closed with barriers and rope cautioning children not to use it. Ms Stephenson is furious that $10million was spent on a play area that she says does not have adequate shade or safe landings for young kids. 'If you're going to spend $10 million, why the hell would you use metal slides and not put in proper shade or safe landings for little kids? It's a stupid waste of taxpayer dollars,' she said. Beck Stephenson, 39, told The Courier Mail her seven-year-old son Jack burnt his thigh after going down a small metal slide The 39-year-old mother said her children were hurt by the equipment, which she claims becomes 'blistering hot' in the afternoons because of the lack of shade sails. The fixed shade sails only cover half of the built playground, with no shade covering the adjacent water area. Another parent, Diane O'Reilly, said adults were left sitting in the sun while their children played. She said it was a 'shame' there was only one table undercover as the park is a 'lost opportunity to do something great'. Parents have also slammed the fact there are only six dedicated parking spaces for those who want to use the park, with limited places available in surrounding streets. The fixed shade sails only cover half of the built playground, with no shade covering the adjacent water area Architect Nina Hillenberg agreed the park was designed poorly. 'I lived at Portside for several years with high hopes my daughter could spend afternoons playing there but moved out because of its disappointing end result,' she told the publication. Minister for State Development Cameron Dick is now reviewing the park's operation after feedback from concerned parents. He said the department is working to come to solutions for the issues and plans on installing new shade structures. Trumps soft spot for authoritarians dates at least to his presidential campaign, when he praised Saddam Hussein for being good at killing terrorists and suggested that the world would be better off were Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the deposed Libyan dictator who was killed in a violent uprising in 2011, in charge right now. Trump then suggested the ouster of both men was ultimately worse for the Middle East because the Islamic State had filled the void. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-28 12:10:05 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 975 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / MOTA VENTURES CORP. (CSE:MOTA)(FSE:1WZ)(OTC:PEMTF) (the "Company" or "Mota"), an emerging vertically-integrated global CBD brand, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a licensing and royalty agreement dated January 17, 2020 (the "Licensing Agreement") with Phenome One Corporation ("Phenome"), a privately held full-service live genetic and seed preservation cannabis company. The Licensing Agreement provides the Company with full access to Canada's largest live genetic cannabis library with over 350 cultivars that have been laboratory analyzed and rigorously field-tested, as well as access to over 1,700 unique global genetics in its seed bank and Phenome's farming intellectual property ("IP").Pursuant to the Licensing Agreement, the Company will have the right to propagate, cultivate, harvest and process a minimum of 10 selected cultivars from Phenome's genetic library, and to sell products of any kind produced from the selected cultivars. The Company will also be granted unlimited access to Norstar Nutrients' ("Norstar") proprietary nutrient IP and catalogue. Under the Licensing Agreement, the Company will: (a) issue 1,000,000 common shares in the Capital of the Company ("Shares") to Phenome upon the Company's successful seed registration in Colombia; and (b) make royalty payments to Phenome each calendar quarter of five percent (5%) of gross sales of products produced from the Phenome genetics. In the event the Company is acquired by a third party or there is a material breach to the Licensing Agreement, the Company will issue 1,000,000 Shares to Phenome. Shares issued in connection with the Licensing Agreement will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws.Joel Shacker, CEO of the Company, commented, "We are excited to have finalized a licensing agreement with Phenome, as it give us access to a significant genetic cannabis library with some unique CBD strains having profiles of up to 150:1".About Phenome OnePhenome is Canada's largest live genetic cannabis library with over 350 cultivars that have been lab tested and rigorously field-tested over 30 years. Years of selecting and commercially testing the most elite genotype and phenotype expressions ensures the highest quality cultivars possible.Phenome is also a full service cannabis farming company focused on elite strain selective breeding and preservation spanning over 30 years of generational cannabis farming experience. Phenome utilizes state of the art growing systems incorporating proprietary nutrient regimes with extensive expertise in all growing mediums. From CBD dominant plants with rare terpene profiles to wet coast outdoor botrytis resistant plants and high range cold-proof varieties, Phenome has a cultivar suited for every climate. Phenome's years of outdoor testing of seeds have generated industry leading yields, quality and pathogen resistance.Phenome has generated over 1,700 unique live and seed genetics and successfully entered them into Canada's LP market by way of a safe keeping and traceability program through an exclusive licensing agreement with a licensed facility in British Columbia, Canada.Phenome's extensive hybrid line includes flagship varieties with thousands of hours of stress and stability testing under HID lighting and outdoor conditions. Unique CBD strains have profiles ranging from 1:1 up to 150:1 CBD. Phenome's flagship CBD line tests mid-twenties CBD percentages with an attractive scent and flavour for both flower and extract. The landrace and sativa lines vary from 8-20 weeks of flowering time and contain many unique recreational and medicinal effects that have been under utilized so far in today's market. The strains and varieties have undergone extensive selection work to uncover the optimal phenome expression. Phenome's extensive library of strains are well documented with video, photos and laboratory analysis for cannabinoid and terpene profiles.About Norstar NutrientsNorstar is a private label nutrient company with over a decade of formulating and nutrient line testing. Norstar offers a unique blend of macro and micro nutrients formulated for optimal essential oil production, immune system health and industry leading production. Norstar's beneficials have been formulated under a multi strain growing system which thrives with their heirloom varieties as well as modern day hybrids. Norstar's two-part nutrient system provides everything plants need in the vegetative periods, right through to the flowering stage with slight elemental ratio adjustments. The optimal flower boost provides a bump some plants may need for the mid-flower developmental phase. Norstar's raw materials are sourced globally from the highest quality providers. Since the nutrients are sourced from raw elements, formulations are produced at a fraction of the cost of other farmers nutrient programs, which offers a cost savings to the Company.Letter of Intent with Tropical Verde CoastThe Company also announces that it will not be proceeding with the proposed acquisition of Tropical Verde Coast Ltd. ("Tropical Verde"), and the letter of intent previously entered into will be allowed to lapse. No funds were advanced by the Company to Tropical Verde, and the Company has not assumed any contingent liabilities arising from the proposed acquisition.About Mota Ventures Corp.Mota Ventures is seeking to become a vertically integrated global CBD brand. Its plan is to cultivate and extract CBD into high-quality value added products from its Latin American operations and distribute it both domestically and internationally. Its existing operations in Colombia consist of a 2.5-hectare site that has optimal year-round growing conditions and access to all necessary infrastructure. Mota Ventures is also seeking to acquire revenue producing CBD brands and operations in both Europe and North America, with the goal of establishing an international distribution network for CBD products. Low cost production, coupled with international, direct to customer, sales channels will provide the foundation for the success of Mota Ventures.ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSMOTA VENTURES CORP.Joel ShackerChief Executive OfficerFor further information, readers are encouraged to contact Joel Shacker, Chief Executive Officer at 604.423.4733 or by email at IR@ motaventuresco.com or www.motaventuresco.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor (Boston)--Researchers have determined that after lungs recover from infection, alveolar macrophages (immune cells that live in the lungs and help protect the lungs against infection) are different in multiple ways and those differences persist indefinitely. How the lungs protect themselves when they are at their healthiest, like in young adult humans, is complex and only beginning to be understood. Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) propose that the new alveolar macrophage biology resulting from prior experiences with infections is one of the elements helping to protect the lungs of young adults against pneumonia. "We have determined that these immune cells have a memory of their prior experiences and that memory influences how they will respond to any subsequent challenges like later infections," explained corresponding author Joseph Mizgerd, ScD, professor of medicine, microbiology and biochemistry at BUSM. Worldwide, pneumonia remains a serious public health burden. Each year more than one million children under the age of five die from pneumonia and associated complications. In the U.S., pneumonia is the most common reason for the hospitalization of children and accounts for nearly half of the infectious disease-related hospitalizations and deaths of older adults. In this study, experimental models were infected with a bacteria called pneumococcus, which is a normal experience for humans during childhood, and then allowed to recover. Another set of models were never infected. The researchers then compared the alveolar macrophages in the lungs of these two different groups, including the receptors on the cell surfaces, the genes being expressed by these cells and the metabolites inside of these cells. The alveolar macrophages in the models which had recovered from pneumonia had a new baseline in all these read-outs. In addition, their alveolar macrophages responded differently to subsequent infections, compared to the alveolar macrophages in lungs without a history of infections. According to the researchers, young children are extremely susceptible to pneumonia, but multiple types of lung defense develop during childhood and protect against pneumonia, persisting through young adulthood. "The combination of aging, poor living habits and disease degrade these lung defenses so that pneumonia susceptibility increases again in later years," added Mizgerd. By working to elucidate the naturally acquired defenses against pneumonia in young healthy adults the researchers hope to find better ways of identifying those most at risk for developing pneumonia and to devise new strategies for preventing or curing pneumonia. ### These findings appear online in the JCI Insight. Funding for this study was provided by the US NIH (R35 HL135756, R01 AI115053, T32 HL007035, UL1 TR001430) and Bourse Mobilite (SRLF 2018). "Advocates urged the Kansas House Judiciary Committee on Monday to support House Bill 2467, which would eliminate the spousal exemption from charges of sexual battery "House Republicans shared concern said elimination of the exemption would cloud understanding of consent in the context of marriage. Rep. Emil Berquist, R-Park City, said a year ago . . . Changing the law could enable a spouse who regretted experimenting with sadomasochistic acts to accuse a husband or wife of a misdemeanor crime. "Rep. Kellie Warren, a Leawood Republican, said a year ago the bill would leave someone open to criminal prosecution because he or she was in the mood for sex while the spouse wasnt on the same page. "The offense of sexual battery is defined as unwanted contact with an intimate body part for sexual arousal, gratification or abuse." House panel advances bill ending spousal exemption to sexual battery A Kansas House committee for the second consecutive year voted to remove from state law the spousal exemption to the crime of sexual battery. The measure surfaced during the 2019 legislative session, but it was never considered by the full House. Here's the straight forward effort to update laws in the aftermath of the #MeToo era . . .. The committee voted to endorse the legislation just as it did in 2019."However, the greater context about the politics of the bedroom understands so many "shades of grey" that arise between intimate partners:Read more: Jenelle Evans, formerly of MTVs Teen Mom 2, has a complicated relationship history, to say the least. After turning over legal custody of her son, Jace, to her mom, Barbara Evans, when she was just a teen, Evans had a string of relationships with exes like fiance Gary Head, husband Courtland Rogers, boyfriend Kieffer Delp, fiance Nathan Griffith, and most recently, her soon-to-be-ex-husband David Eason. In addition to her son Jace, Evans shares five-year-old son Kaiser with Griffith and three-year-old daughter Ensley with Eason. After separating from Eason in Oct. 2019, Evans moved away from the couples land in North Carolina and down to Nashville, Tennessee, with her kids (except Jace, who remains with her mom). After the separation, rumors swirled among Teen Mom fans that Griffith and Evans might be getting back together. Friendly photos, outings, and birthday messages between the two seemed to suggest a possible reconciliation for the former couple. In a new YouTube video in which she answered fan questions, the Teen Mom 2 star even claimed that Griffith still had feelings for her. Jenelle Evans | Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic The former Teen Mom 2 star hinted that Griffith still had romantic feelings for her In her Teen Mom 2 fan Q&A video, Evans settled the rumors once and for all about her relationship with Griffith, with whom she broke up in 2015. Are you and Nathan back together? the fan asked. No, definitely not, Evans answered. Weve been co-parenting lately, and we were getting along, but now were not, because I guess were just not on the same level. The MTV star claimed that Griffith had feelings for her beyond platonic co-parenting. He likes me a lot, and I dont like him like that anymore, the mom of three claimed. So Im just trying to keep things civil and just co-parenting, thats it. After another fan asked her a similar question, Evans explained that Griffith had issues of his own to work out. Evans ex-fiance responded to her claims But Griffith, a former Marine, wasnt about to agree with Evans hints that he wanted her back. In an exclusive interview with Champion Daily, Griffith said, Yeah, Im not getting into that drama. He added that their relationship was as up and down as ever. We were getting along great but somewhere along the line there was a fall out, once again, he explained. Her continuously making ridiculous accusations and pretty much going off on me like always. The former Teen Mom 2 star claimed his ex was always playing back and forth games and that he wanted it to stop for the sake of their son. At the end of the day there is still a child involved in this mess, Griffith said, and feelings need to ALWAYS be pushed to the side for the better purpose of Kaiser. Griffith was recently arrested for an alleged DUI and hospitalized for his mental health Of course, Evans ex is no stranger to legal troubles and tumultuous relationships of his own. The bodybuilding competitor was arrested in Oct. 2019 for an alleged DUI, which would be at least his third drinking and driving offense. He has also been arrested in the past for drunk and disorderly behavior, threatening a police officer, and domestic violence against Evans and another ex-girlfriend, among other alleged offenses. The 32-year-old former Teen Mom 2 star was also hospitalized in late Jan. 2020, according to In Touch Weekly, after a fight with his mom, Doris Davidson. Griffiths mom called 911 after Griffith allegedly threatened to harm himself or others during an argument in which he locked her out of the house they share. After a mental health check, Griffith was ultimately released. Related Netanyahu says drops request for immunity from graft charges Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was Tuesday formally charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, the justice ministry said, shortly after the embattled politician dropped his request for parliamentary immunity. The indictment came as Netanyahu was in Washington for a meeting with President Donald Trump for the unveiling of a long-awaited US peace plan. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit presented the charge sheet to the Jerusalem district court, where Netanyahu will face trial for corruption over gifts and favourable media coverage received in return for regulatory and financial benefits. Mandelblit had announced his decision to charge Netanyahu in November and presented the charge sheet publicly, but had refrained from the formal move in court "to enable a debate on the prime minister's request for immunity from parliament", his office said. Hours earlier, Netanyahu issued a statement from Washington announcing he would not seek parliamentary immunity. "A few minutes ago I informed the Knesset speaker that I'm withdrawing the immunity request," Netanyahu said on Facebook. "I won't let my political opponents use this issue to disturb the historic move I'm leading." Israel's parliament had been scheduled to vote on Tuesday to convene a committee to rule on the request. "In this fateful moment for the people of Israel, while I'm in the US on a historic mission to form Israel's final borders and ensure our security for future generations, another immunity circus show is due to open at the Knesset," Netanyahu said. Netanyahu denies the charges against him and says he is the victim of a politically motivated witch-hunt. The court will now set a date for the beginning of the trial. His opponents had already mustered a majority in the legislature to deny him immunity. Labour Party leader Amir Peretz welcomed Netanyahu's announcement. "It's good the prime minister did what should have been done and gave up on his request for immunity," he told AFP. "I therefore hope that the prime minister will take the next step and decide to completely resign, go to court as a regular citizen and try to prove his innocence," he said. 'Shame Of The Century' Netanyahu's trial could even open before March 2, when he will seek re-election in a closely-fought vote pitting his rightwing Likud against the centrist Blue and White party. Likud and Blue and White were deadlocked in April and September elections, triggering a third general election within a year. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said voters should not elect a candidate too busy fighting legal battles to run the country. "Netanyahu is going on trial," he wrote on Twitter. "Israeli citizens have a clear choice: a prime minister who will work for them, or a prime minister busy with himself." Micky Zohar, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's Likud who had enthusiastically endorsed the original immunity plan, took to social media to defend his party leader's about-turn. "The PM's decision to withdraw his immunity request was necessary, given the insane, hate filled conduct of the Left, led by Blue and White," he wrote on Twitter. "Now everything is up to the court, which must do everything to bring justice to light." Netanyahu was to appear alongside Trump to make public the peace proposal, which has already been rejected by the Palestinians. Netanyahu, who also met Trump on Monday, praised the president as "the greatest friend that Israel had had in the White House" and described the peace plan as "the deal of the century". But Nitzan Horowitz, head of the leftwing opposition Meretz party, said Netanyahu was responsible for "the Shame of the Century." "The prime minister is indeed making history today... the first serving prime minister standing trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust," he said in a statement. Under Israeli law, a sitting prime minister is only required to step down once convicted of an offence and after all avenues of appeal have been exhausted. Search Keywords: Short link: Viewers tuning into a Channel 4 documentary which looked at how society views pubic hair on women have reacted angrily after some of the men featured on the show said they prefer women fuzz-free - but admitted they probably wouldn't go to the same effort themselves. Presented by activist and rising star Chidera Eggerue, the hour-long programme, Bring Back the Bush: Where Did Our Pubic Hair Go?, challenged a group of four women, including Eggerue, to stop trimming hair around their genitals for six weeks. A segment of the show that asked straight men about their pubic hair preferences on women sparked fury on social media, after one of those quizzed admitted that frequently seeing shaved genitals in pornography meant he now preferred women with 'shaven or completely bald' genitals. Viewers watching the documentary raged at his frank admission on Twitter - and looked on with glee as he then agreed to see how a waxing and shaving session on his own pubic hair felt. Scroll down for video Hairy subject: One of a group of men interviewed in Channel 4 documentary Bring Back the Bush: Where Did Our Pubic Hair Go?, which aired on Monday, admitted that he preferred women with little or no pubic hair, which sparked anger among some viewers The show's presenter, activist and author, Chidera Eggerue then challenged the same man to don a paper g-string and try having his own pubic hair waxed while on camera The volunteer winced as Eggerue ripped off the warm wax - and plenty of hair - from his genital area The show's presenter, Eggerue challenged him to don a paper g-string and try having his own pubic hair waxed while on camera. The volunteer winced in pain as Eggerue ripped off the warm wax - and plenty of hair - from his genital area. When the same group of men were also asked to shave off their pubic hair on camera in a one-off session, they admitted it was 'too much effort'. On social media, negative reaction poured forth: @IsForwards fired off: 'FFS. Nobody has any business having an opinion about anybody else's personal topiary. 'Men, if she asks you for your preference, the ONLY acceptable answer is "however makes you feel most confident".' @cosmiclandmine wrote: 'Women should not be pressured into shaving their protective pubic hair to be infantilised to stroke the oversensitive egos of fragile men.' One of the men interviewed in the show suggested that women who trimmed their pubic hair were more hygienic, which also sparked wrath. @UtterLou added: 'Imagine if men with beards were considered filthy and unmanly for not shaving. Would that be fine and dandy? Of course not.' Some men quizzed by the show said they didn't mind pubic hair on women but others admitted they found it off-putting The show challenged host Eggerue and a group of other women to let their pubic hair grow for six weeks - and the task prompted an avalanche of comments on social media The presenter posed for a selfie before letting her pubic hair grow. Her journey into how society views body hair around the genitals led her to Hollywood where she interviewed porn actors about the lack of body hair in the adult industry The women featured agreed they had different reasons for keeping their pubic hair trimmed, with one lady saying racism played a part - and that conforming to current body hair trends was 'one less thing' that she could be judged on Many suggested that shining a spotlight on the issue showed how vain we are Elsewhere on the programme, one of the women who agreed to not trim her pubic hair revealed her shock after a brand asked her to send photos of her genitals ahead of a potential job. Jessica Megan, from Hampshire, who has worked with Boohoo and The Body Shop in the past, said she 'never expected' to be asked to send photographs of her 'nether regions' to a casting director in order to be considered for a job with an unnamed brand. She went on to reveal: 'The brand that wanted to see my pubic hair prior to hiring me just never got back to me. That's the second job I've lost now as a result of growing out my pubic hair.' Jessica Megan, from Hampshire, appears on Channel 4's Bring Back the Bush: Where Did Our Pubic Hair Go?, and gives up shaving for six weeks At the end of the project, Jessica took part in a photoshoot where she revealed her pubic hair to the world (Pictured left to right: Influencer Rachel Kaitlin, presenter Chidera Eggerue and influencer Jess Bell, with model Jessica Megan) Activist Chidera Eggerue challenged Jessica, along with influencers Rachel Kaitlin and Jess Bell, to grow their pubic hair to see what happens when they bring back their bush. Jessica explained: 'There have been moments on shoots where people have gone out and bought razors and tweezers. 'In my hometown, there was a salon that was advertising getting rid of "virgin hair" for young girls from 11 or 12, [to get rid of] those first signs of pubic hair.' She goes on: 'They were saying if you get rid of that now, you'll have no problems later - "problems", as in hair growing.' On the first day of the six week challenge, she described having 'no hair at all' and said she felt like 'a hairless cat.' But it wasn't long before she started to feel self conscious and, after two weeks, Jessica said her pubic hair was 'getting ridiculous', with four weeks still to go. Later, she revealed she has been asked to send intimate photos to a brand before they would consider her for a job. The model gives up hair removal for six weeks on the programme to see what happens when she brings back her bush She said: 'I just had to take some videos and pictures of my pubes on a bus for a casting director. 'I tell you what you guys, I did not expect to be taking photos of my nether regions on a bus on the way back from Gatwick when it is full of people. 'Luckily, there's no one on the back seat so no one saw, but oh my god.' And later, she revealed that after sending them a photograph of her hair, the brand never get back in contact with her. During the six week project, the model is asked by a casting director to send photographs and video of her pubic hair After six weeks, Jessica joined the other women to take part in a final photo shoot to reveal their bushes to the world. She donned a pink frilly dress for the shoot, but posed without any underwear on to reveal fully how her pubic hair had grown throughout the project. She says it has meant more to her than throwing out the razor for six weeks, revealing: 'I believe that women's bodies need to be normalised and I'm so sick of seeing our bodies taken apart and sold in bits or sexualised against our will. 'My body becomes sexual when I say it does and not when other people say it does.' Later, when the photograph was revealed to her, she is wowed by the picture. She says: 'I'm proud of my bush. I knew I wanted to do this and now I know more than ever this is what I wanted to do. 'I'm probably just going to keep it for a bit longer because actually it's nice.' At the end of the programme, Jessica said she was determined to keep her bush, having given up shaving for good. DANBURY State police are seeking witnesses to a Friday evening roll-over crash on the Interstate 84 Exit 7 off-ramp. A 2007 Honda Pilot LX driven by 62-year-old Brookfield resident Loma Cunningham was traveling at a high rate of speed on the ramp when it veered into the left shoulder, hit a guide rail and flipped on its side, according to police. Police said Cunningham was transported to Danbury Hospital with minor injuries and her vehicle was towed from the scene. The crash happened around 7:20 p.m., and police are trying to figure out why the vehicle swerved into the shoulder. Anyone with information is urged to call State Trooper Ryan Lopez at 203-267-2200. Representative image A German man who contracted the novel strain of coronavirus was infected by a colleague visiting from China, officials said on January 28, in what appeared to be the first human-to-human transmission in Europe. Other confirmed cases in Europe of the viral outbreak have so far involved patients who had recently been to China. In this instance, the 33-year-old German attended a training session held by a visiting Chinese colleague on January 21 at the office of car parts supplier Webasto in Stockdorf, in Germany's southern Bavaria region. The Chinese woman "started to feel sick on the flight home on January 23", said Andreas Zapf, head of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety. The German man tested positive for the virus on Monday evening after reporting flu-like symptoms. He remains in hospital in an isolation ward, but Zapf said he "was doing well". COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show A spokeswoman for the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's centre for disease prevention and control, told AFP the German case appeared to be the first instance of a "human-to-human transmission" outside Asia. Vietnam and Japan have also each reported a patient testing positive for the new coronavirus without having travelled to China. The Chinese woman working for Webasto immediately sought medical attention on her return to China. She was confirmed to have caught the virus, which has spread rapidly in recent weeks after first emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The woman had recently visited her parents in the Wuhan region, Zapf said. In a statement, the Webasto company said it had halted all business travel to and from China "for at least the next two weeks". Health officials are checking some 40 people that the two infected workers have been in contact with recently, including colleagues and family members. The virus has so far killed 106 people and infected over 4,000 -- the bulk of them in and around Wuhan. Cases have also been reported in a string of other countries, including the United States, France, Australia and Japan. The Jammu and Kashmir Police has arrested a 19-year-old Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist from Baramulla district, an official said on Tuesday. Sajid Farooq Dar alias Adnan was arrested from Andergam village in Pattan area of the district during an operation on Monday, the official said. Dar, a resident of Bandipora, was affiliated with LeT,he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 24-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly abducted by armed assailants from her wedding ceremony in Pakistan's Sindh province and forcibly converted to Islam before being married off to a Muslim man, evoking a sharp reaction from India, which demanded urgent action by Islamabad to protect the minority communities in the country. Images used for representational purposes only. The All Pakistan Hindu Council on Sunday said Bharti Bai was abducted from her wedding ceremony last week from Hala town of Matiari district in Sindh province. She was then married off to a Muslim man, named Shahruk Gul, after forcibly converting her to Islam. According to local media reports, the girl was abducted by armed men, some of whom were in police uniforms. Sindh minister for minorities affairs, Hari Ram Kishori, on Tuesday took cognisance of the incident, which took place last week in Hala town of Matiari district in Sindh province, and asked for a police report. Meanwhile, Gul has posted pictures of documents on social media showing that Bharti was converted to Islam in December 2019 and had taken the name Bushra. According to documents, her conversion took place at the Jamiat-ul-Uloom Islamia in Banori town in Karachi. Police are investigating whether the girl travelled to Karachi around the dates mentioned in the certificate. Hindus, which comprise approximately 2 per cent of Pakistan's population, are mainly concentrated in Sindh province. There have been periodic reports of their forced conversion to Islam. Earlier this month, a 15-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly abducted from Jacobabad district in Sindh and forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man. The girl was later sent to a women protection centre following a court order. In a similar incident, two Hindu minor girls were reportedly abducted from a village in Sindh province on January 14. Meanwhile, India on Tuesday summoned a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and issued a strong demarche over the abduction of the Hindu girl from her wedding. India also asked the Pakistan government to investigate the matter and take urgent action for protecting and promoting the security, safety and welfare of its citizens including the minority Hindu community there. It called on Pakistan to take immediate measures to expeditiously bring the perpetrators of such despicable and heinous acts to justice. "India summoned a senior official from the Pakistan high commission and made a strong demarche against abduction of a girl from Hindu minority from her marriage ceremony on January 25, with the help of local police in Hala city of Sindh province," an official source said in New Delhi. Earlier on January 17, a senior official of the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi was summoned to lodge a strong protest over the cases of the abduction of the two Hindu minor girls in Sindh province. By PTI NEW DELHI: Seventeen convicts in the 2002 Sardarpura post-Godhra riots were on Tuesday granted bail by the Supreme Court which directed the convicts to relocate to Madhya Pradesh and do community service. 33 Muslims were burnt alive in Sardarpura town in Vijapur taluka. A bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant divided the convicts in two groups and said one group would move out of Gujarat and stay at Indore while the other group of convicts will have to relocate themselves to Jabalpur. The bench barred the men from entering Gujarat. The convicts, who were handed down life sentence in the Sardarpura riots case, have appealed against the Gujarat High Court order convicting them. The court said that all the convicts will have to undertake community services for six hours a week besides reporting to the local police station on a weekly basis as bail conditions. The Supreme Court has directed the District Legal Services Authorities at Indore and Jabalpur to ensure that the convicts observe bail conditions diligently. And also directed District Legal Services Authorities to help the convicts in finding suitable employment for earning their livelihood. The Madhya Pradesh State Legal Service Authority will have to file a report after three months stating as to whether the convicts have complied with the conditions or not, the apex court said. Bhopal tragedy: Judge recuses Supreme Court Judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat recused himself from hearing the Centres plea seeking ` 7,844 crore as additional fund from successor firms of US-based Union Carbide Corporation for giving compensation to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. A five-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra adjourned the hearing till Wednesday after Justice Bhats move. Community service The convicts will have to undertake community services for six hours a week besides reporting to the local police By VANESSA GERA Associated Press OSWIECIM, Poland (AP) Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp prayed and wept as they marked the 75th anniversary of its liberation, returning Monday to the place where they lost entire families and warning about the ominous growth of anti-Semitism and hatred in the world. "We have with us the last living survivors, the last among those who saw the Holocaust with their own eyes," Polish President Andrzej Duda told those at the commemoration, which included the German president as well as Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders. "The magnitude of the crime perpetrated in this place is terrifying, but we must not look away from it and we must never forget it," Duda said. About 200 camp survivors attended, many of them elderly Jews and non-Jews who traveled from Israel, the United States, Australia, Peru, Russia, Slovenia and elsewhere. Many lost parents and grandparents in Auschwitz or other Nazi death camps during World War II, but were joined by children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. They gathered under an enormous, heated tent straddling the train tracks that had transported people to Birkenau, the part of the vast complex where most of the murdered Jews were killed in gas chambers and then cremated. Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet army on Jan. 27, 1945. Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier lays a wreath at the Death Wall at the Auschwitz I Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Heads of State and survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp gathered Monday for commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet army's liberation of the camp, using the testimony of survivors to warn about the signs of rising anti-Semitism and hatred in the world today. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)AP Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, brought the crowd to tears with the story of a survivor who was separated from his family: The man watched his young daughter, in a red coat, walk to her death, turning into a small red dot in the distance before disappearing forever. After the end of the war, when "the world finally saw pictures of gas chambers, nobody in their right mind wanted to be associated with the Nazis," he recalled. "But now I see something I never thought I would see in my lifetime, the open and brazen spread of anti-Jewish hatred." "Do not be silent! Do not be complacent! Do not let this ever happen again to any people!" Lauder said. Marian Turski, a 93-year-old Polish Jewish survivor, said he did not expect to make it to the next commemoration and wanted to transmit a message to his grandchildren's generation: That the destruction of the Jews began with small steps that were tolerated. What began with banning Jews from sitting on benches in Berlin evolved in incremental steps to ghettos and death camps. And that such horrors could happen anywhere, even in the United States. "Auschwitz did not descend from the sky," he said, crediting those words to Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen, among those present. Calling for people to not be indifferent, he said: "Because if you are indifferent, you will not even notice it when upon your own heads, and upon the heads of your descendants, another Auschwitz descends from the sky." As a Jewish survivor recited Hebrew prayers for the dead, the crowd bowed their heads or wiped away tears. Clergymen of other faiths also prayed. Then, with the famous gate and barbed wire illuminated in the dark and cold evening, guests marched in a procession to place candles at a memorial to the victims set amid the remains of the gas chambers. People arrive for commemorations at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp gathered for commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet army's liberation of the camp, using the testimony of survivors to warn about the signs of rising anti-Semitism and hatred in the world today.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)AP Most of the 1.1 million people murdered by the Nazi German forces at the camp were Jews, but other Poles, Russians and Roma were imprisoned and killed there. World leaders gathered in Jerusalem last week to mark the anniversary in what many saw as a competing observance. Among them were Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Prince Charles. Politics intruded on that event, with Duda boycotting it in protest after Putin claimed that Poland played a role in triggering World War II. Duda had wanted a chance to speak before or after Putin to defend his nation's record in face of those false accusations, but he was not given a speaking slot in Jerusalem. Those claims comes as many Eastern European countries in recent years have been mythologizing their own people's behavior during the war and suppressing knowledge of wrongdoing, something Poland's government also has been criticized for. Duda said Monday at a news conference that he felt that in Jerusalem, "Polish participation in the epic fight against the Nazis was ignored." At the commemoration, he did not mention Russia by name. Yet he stressed how Poland was invaded and occupied, losing 6 million of its citizens in the war, half of them Jews. He recalled how Poland fought the Germans on several fronts, warned the world in vain about the genocide of the Jews, and for decades has been a responsible custodian of Auschwitz and other sites of the German atrocities. "Distorting the history of World War II, denying the crimes of genocide and negating the Holocaust as well as an instrumental use of the Auschwitz for whatever purposes is tantamount to desecration of the memory of the victims," Duda said. "Truth about the Holocaust must not die." Among others attending the observances at Auschwitz, which is located in the part of southern Poland that was occupied by Germany during the war, were German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. The U.S. was represented by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Organizers of the event in Poland, the Auschwitz-Birkenau state memorial museum and the World Jewish Congress, have sought to keep the spotlight on survivors. On the eve of the commemorations, survivors, many leaning on their children and grandchildren for support, walked through the camp where they had been brought in on cattle cars and suffered hunger and illness and came close to death. They said they were there to remember, to share their histories with others and to make a gesture of defiance toward those who had sought their destruction. "I have no graves to go to and I know my parents were murdered here and burned. So this is how I pay homage to them," said Yvonne Engelman, a 92-year-old Australian who was joined by three more generations now scattered around the globe. She recalled being brought in from a ghetto in what was then Czechoslovakia by cattle car, being stripped of her clothes, shaved and put in a gas chamber. By some miracle, the gas chamber did not work that day, and she later survived slave labor and a death march. In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron paid his respects at the city's Shoah Memorial and warned about rising hate crimes in the country, which increased 27% last year. "That anti-Semitism is coming back is not the Jewish people's problem: It's all our problem -- it's the nation's problem," Macron said. Hundreds of diplomats and guests along with several Holocaust survivors joined U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande for a ceremony at the United Nations in New York. "May we make a pledge: We stand united against hate," said Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a Holocaust survivor. "We stand united against anti-Semitism. We stand united against xenophobia and racism and any form of bigotry." Guterres said that "solidarity in the face of hatred is needed today more than ever," and that the U.N. "will stand firm every day and everywhere against anti-Semitism, bigotry and hatred of all kinds." ___ Associated Press writers Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Thomas Adamson in Paris and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this repor. ___ For more stories by The Associated Press on Auschwitz, go to https://apnews.com/Auschwitz Boltons lawyer, Charles Cooper, denied in an interview that he or his client had anything to do with the leaked portions of the book, first published Sunday by the New York Times. I can tell you unequivocally that we had nothing to do with the leak of any information concerning Johns manuscript, Cooper said. The Senate will pursue with vigour, the implementation of the Community Policing system, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said. Lawan stated this on Tuesday while welcoming his colleagues from the Christmas and New Year break. The lawmakers had earlier held a one-hour closed-session where they bemoaned the security crisis in the country and resolved to debate the issue at plenary on Wednesday (tomorrow). Lawan reiterated the readiness of the Senate to engage the executive arm of government to discuss the implementation of the recently launched National Security Strategy 2019. He said, The Senate is going to pursue the implementation of community policing vigorously. For a long time, major stakeholders in the security of our nation and police authorities appear to achieve consensus on the necessity of introduction of Community Policing in the country. To this end, the police authorities will be invited to brief and update the Senate on the progress made so far. The security situation in our country requires serious attention and due consideration by the Senate and indeed the National Assembly. Recently, the security in the country had deteriorated and the attendant loss of lives is not acceptable. We need to secure the lives and property of our citizens, as enshrined in our constitution. We all are witnesses to how our economy is also affected by the inclement security situation. Therefore, we need to speedily seek for solutions to fix the security problem bedevilling our dear country. There is an urgent need for a paradigm shift and reform of the architecture and structure of our security systems. Equally important is citizen participation and collaboration in providing security. In this regard, the Senate will engage the executive arm of government to discuss the implementation of the recently launched National Security Strategy 2019. Lawan assured Nigerians that the National Assembly would follow through the implementation of the 2020 budget for the 12 months that the budget would be implemented by the executive arm of government. He said, The oversight by the National Assembly is as important and critical as passing the budget itself. The committees of the Senate will need to carry out vigorous oversight on ministries, departments and agencies under their jurisdiction. In furtherance of this commitment, the Senate will receive and debate the reports of such oversight activities in plenary. This is with a view to ensuring that the budget is implemented fully, ensuring efficiency, economy and value for money. We expect the MDAs to be cooperative and forthcoming with necessary information whenever such are requested. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 21:16:54|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close UN special envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen (front) is seen upon his arrival in Damascus, Syria, on Jan. 28, 2020. Geir Pedersen arrived in Damascus on Tuesday to meet with Syrian officials. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua) DAMASCUS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- UN special envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen arrived in Damascus on Tuesday to meet with Syrian officials. The pro-government al-Watan newspaper said the special envoy will discuss with the Syrian officials the meeting of the constitutional committee that has been formed to amend the Syrian constitution. The newspaper said Pedersen will hear the stance of the Syrian government regarding the upcoming meeting of the constitutional committee. In October of 2019, the Syrian Constitutional Committee, made up of opposition, civil society and government delegations, began operation. The decision to establish the Syrian Constitutional Committee was adopted in Sochi, Russia, in January 2018. WA Labor is looking to a former political adviser for Victorian Premier Dan Andrews to put its election campaign back on track after the party could not agree on a local to be its state secretary. Tim Picton, a former adviser to Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, is looking set to take on the role as WA Labor's state secretary. Credit:Twitter Tim Picton, who worked as a staffer for South Australian MPs before moving to Melbourne in 2014 to advise the Victorian Labor government on transport infrastructure, has firmed as the favourite to replace outgoing state secretary Matt Dixon, who resigned in December. His brother is a state MP in South Australia. Labor's right faction and Premier Mark McGowan are understood to be backing Mr Picton over former Kalgoorlie Labor MP Megan Anwyl. After the July 25 call, Zelenskiy said he had no problem with Trumps comments on the call. But by then, Ukrainian officials were wondering why the aid was being held up. And in October, while insisting there was no pressure or blackmail from the U.S., he criticized Trump for blocking the aid and for casting his country as corrupt. The Free Software Foundation wants Microsoft to keep Windows 7 alive as a free operating system. Microsoft stopped providing free security patches and support for Windows 7 earlier this month. Although the popular operating system reached its 10th birthday last fall, some 200 million PCs around the globe still run it, according to industry estimates. Users include small business owners, some larger companies, government agencies, and hordes of consumers worldwide. Microsoft expects most Windows 7 users to migrate to Windows 10, but it continues to provide patches and support for Windows 7 Pro and Enterprise, which are eligible for extended security update support for three years, for a fee. Windows 7 Home editions and Ultimate editions are not included in the options to purchase extended support. The FSF this week launched the Upcycle Windows 7 petition. The organization is still collecting signatures, though it has surpassed its goal of getting 7,777 people to sign on to make Windows 7 available for free. The current tally is approaching 10,000. Making the OS free would allow users the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software, according to the foundation. The petition makes no reference to who would maintain the free version with necessary patchs and continued upgrades, if any. Making Windows 7 free could be viable, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. At this point, the likelihood of converting current Windows 7 users to Windows 10 seems nil. Releasing the OS could earn Microsoft the goodwill of those users, and might lead to projects that would help ensure the continuing viability and security of Windows 7, he told LinuxInsider. Not Just a Big Ask The petitions wording is to demand rather than simply ask that the company release Windows 7 as free software. The petition asserts that Microsoft ended 10 years of poisoning education, invading privacy, and threatening user security. Windows 7s end of lifecycle gives Microsoft the perfect opportunity to undo past wrongs, and to upcycle it instead, it states. A precedent for releasing some core Windows utilities as free software already exists, according to the petition. So Microsoft would lose nothing by liberating a version of their operating system that they themselves say has reached its end. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Microsoft released code for the Windows Calculator. So it can do the same for Windows 7, according to the foundation. Also, Microsoft released MS-DOS five years ago as downloadable code. However, using it is limited to the terms of a noncommercial-use license agreement. Given Microsofts growing prominence in open source, and its ownership of GitHub, releasing the Windows 7 code as open source also could be beneficial to Microsoft. It could be positioned as putting our money where our mouth is, King noted. Many in the open source community would welcome that. Divided Responses From Microsofts perspective, releasing Windows 7 might not be as straightforward as one might expect. For typical consumers, Windows 7 already was free since it came bundled with their computers. Microsoft is a for-profit company. That means it incurs costs to develop software for commercial use. The for-profit model is the foundation of the company, said Maryanne Steidinger, head of marketing for Webalo. IF they have no additional development costs services, support, troubleshooting around Windows 7, that might be a consideration to make it freeware, but then they should cut all support and let the market take the calls. I dont think anyone would want that, she told LinuxInsider. The proprietary OS still has considerable market share to consider. Win 7s market share is expected to be 35 percent in 2020 and 28 percent in 2021, Steidinger added. So that endears users to keep it and maintain it, she said. Because of the continuing market share and revenue generation for Windows 7, I think the company will say no. It would be great if Microsoft released Windows 7 as freeware, but it is not a sure bet that the company will respond favorably to the petition, said Michael Arman, economic development director for the City of Oak Hill, Florida. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Microsoft is not known for their charity, and there is plenty of code in Windows 7, which is used in 10 and in various other flavors of Microsofts software. Why should they give that away when they can sell it? he told LinuxInsider. Mixed Corporate Signals Microsoft declined our request to comment on the FSFs petition. However, over the last few years, Microsoft executives have suggested that open sourcing some of its software titles was not out of the question. A future version of Windows released as open source was definitely possible, Microsofts Mark Russinovich said at ChefConf 2015 in Santa Clara, California. Microsoft should release Windows 7 code under a free software license to prove that its love of open source software is not just a vehicle to exploit users, the foundation argues in the petition. The foundation did not respond to LinuxInsiders request for clarification on the petition. Why Keep Windows 7 Working? For government agencies, consumers, and businesses still using Windows 7, the main reason to keep Windows 7 alive is a no-brainer. It just works is the common battle cry. Upon its introduction, Windows 7 was a very good, highly stable OS that corrected most of the mistakes Microsoft made with Vista, Pund-ITs King pointed out. It still fills the bill for numerous Windows and applications, so satisfied consumers and businesses see little if any reason to change. This has been a recurring issue for past Microsoft OSes, including Windows 3.1, NT and XP, and I expect it will continue so long as Microsoft remains an OS vendor, he said. Some Windows 7 users go even further in their continued praise for the out-of-date OS. It still works with an assortment of equipment and software that may not be compatible with Windows 10. Everyone who uses it has more or less gotten it figured out and is comfortable with it, Oak Hills Arman emphasized. There is also a HUGE installed base of Windows 7 software in business applications, and in many cases drivers for custom applications to interface with Windows 10 have not been written and may never be written, he said. The ONLY thing wrong with Windows 7 is that Microsoft no longer supports it. That will make it increasingly vulnerable to malware, said Arman. If the machine is not connected to the Internet, there is NO reason to make the change, he added. Windows 7 is now effectively out of warranty, such as it was. That doesnt mean it wont work. NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The North America cannabis testing market is expected to reach US$ 1,120.51 Mn in 2025 from US$ 470.85 Mn in 2017. The market is estimated to grow with a CAGR of 11.6% from 2018-2025. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05764213/?utm_source=PRN The growth of the cannabis testing market is primarily attributed to the legalization of medical cannabis, and increasing awareness through conferences, symposia, and workshops.However, stringent regulatory framework, and dearth of trained laboratory professionals are likely to pose a negative impact on the market growth. On the other hand, mergers & acquisitions is likely to have a positive impact on the growth of the North America cannabis testing market in the coming years.The medical use of cannabis has witnessed a significant changes in this decade as many government have legalized use of cannabis. The governments of various states have attempted to spread the use of cannabis in medical industry.Due to this, various government institution have initiated the process of legalizing the use of medical cannabis and have started to place a legal framework to practice. These rapid changes in the industry have enabled medical experts and professionals to organize events and spread the use of medical cannabis. Currently, medical cannabis conferences have been taking places in various parts of the world. In US, conferences symposium and seminars take place at various states to acquaint its citizens and authorities with the use of medical marijuana and legal framework related to it. For instance, World Medical Cannabis Conference and Expo (April 2018), is one of the most popular conference in USA with participants across the world. This is the largest cannabis symposium in the world which brings all business stakeholder together. It involves over 3000 guests and 150 exhibitors. Thus, owing to rising number of conferences, expo and other awareness programs, the cannabis testing market is expected to witness rapid growth in the region. In 2017, the product segment held a largest market share of 73.7% of the cannabis testing market, by type. This segment is also expected to dominate the market in 2025 owing to increasing use of the consumables as well as capital equipment for cannabis tests. Moreover, the software segment is anticipated to witness the significant growth rate of 10.7% during the forecast period, 2018 to 2025 owing to several advantages offered by automated workflow solutions to ease the cannabis testing procedures and maintain the results. North America cannabis testing market, based on services was segmented into potency testing, microbial analysis, residual solvent screening, heavy metal testing, pesticide screening, terpene profiling, and genetic testing. The potency testing segment is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 12.7% during the forecast period. Depending on the state in which testing occurs, a sample's THC and CBD levels, along with its tetrahydrocannabinolic and cannabidolic acids are required. Other labs may opt to test samples for their CBC and CBG as well. Testing for potency involves gas or liquid chromatography for a range of matrices. The testing laboratory segment held a largest market share of 49.2% of the cannabis testing market, by end user. This segment is also expected to dominate the market in 2025 owing to rise in product testing for the bulk of the increase. Some of the major primary and secondary sources for cannabis testing included in the report are Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), German Research Foundation (DFG), European Research Area (ERA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA), Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), National Science Foundation (NSF) and others. Reasons to Buy Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the cannabis testing market. Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies. The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the global cannabis testing market, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long-term strategies. Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets. Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it. Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin security interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05764213/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com One of the officials said the call was brief. Bolton, the official said, told Barr that Giuliani was doing this foreign policy-type stuff, and warned Barr, you need to steer clear of that. The official did not recall Bolton ever bringing up the July phone call between Trump and Zelensky, and said when Barr was informed of that call weeks later, he reacted as if he was learning for the first time. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 12:20:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China will strengthen social security and ensure employment to prevent and control the spread of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus, said the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Medical and other related personnel infected for doing their jobs will be well secured, and relevant subsidy policies will be implemented, said the ministry at a meeting. The ministry will also keep a close eye on the employment situation during the period of epidemic control. In addition, the meeting called for joint efforts by technical colleges to prevent and control the spread of the virus. The colleges were urged to detect, report the epidemic situation and treat patients in a timely manner, said the ministry. Libya's Haftar marches on Misrata; truce at risk Iran Press TV Monday, 27 January 2020 6:46 AM Forces loyal to Libya's renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar advance towards the key northern city of Misrata as threats mount against a truce that was brokered between the country's warring sides earlier this month. Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) on Sunday began moving from the central city of Sirte towards Misrata, which is loyal to Libya's United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA). Fighting between the LNA and forces from Misrata was centered on the town of Abugrain, 120 kilometers (74 miles) east of Misrata, the agency cited both sides as saying. Two LNA fighters were killed and eight were wounded, an LNA source said, adding that the forces later retreated taking some prisoners. "Battles are raging on all front lines," LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari told reporters in the eastern city of Benghazi. Haftar's LNA is being backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, while the GNA receives support from Turkey. Also on Sunday, Tripoli's Mitiga airport, the capital's only functioning air terminal, was hit by two rockets, said the UN mission to Libya UNSMIL. The attack wounded two civilians and damaged the tarmac and buildings at the facility -- which is used for the launch of Ankara-supplied combat drones, it added. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, said during a visit to neighboring Algeria that Haftar could not be expected to respect the ceasefire that was brokered by Turkey and Russia in Berlin on January 12. He also claimed during a press conference with his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune that Ankara was resolutely standing by the Libyan people in their hour of need, Turkey's state news agency Anadolu reported. "We are determined to stand by our Libyan brothers," Erdogan said. The LNA spokesman, however, blamed Erdogan, who has been dispatching troops to shore up the UN-backed government, for the flare-up. The UN mission also sounded a note of caution that "over the last 10 days, numerous cargo and other flights have been observed landing at Libyan airports in the western and eastern parts of the country, providing the parties with advanced weapons, armored vehicles, advisers, and fighters." Libya has been mired in chaos since a 2011 uprising that was being backed by the Western military alliance of NATO killed longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Residents of Rayapudi village on Tuesday staged a protest against chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's plan of having three capitals for the state, by performing 'jal deeksha', in which the villagers stood chest-deep in Krishna River and raised slogans. The villagers shouted slogans like -- "Jai Amaravati, Save Andhra Pradesh." The villagers have been protesting against the state government's three-capital plan for more than 40 days now. "The government is insulting us, who asked Chief Minister Jagan for three capitals? We want Amaravati as the only capital of the state, else we will have no option but to commit suicide," said one of the villagers. The villagers called YSR Congress Party's rule as "dictatorial" and reiterated that they will continue to protest until Amaravati is declared as the only capital of the state. "It is horrible that you dissolved the Legislative Council of the state as it contradicted you (Jagan). We have never and nowhere seen such a dictatorial rule. Our fight will continue until Amaravati is declared the sole capital of the state," said the villager. The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Monday passed the state government's resolution to dissolve the Legislative Council. The state assembly has also passed the 'Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill 2020'. The Bill proposes to have a legislative capital at Amaravati, executive capital and Raj Bhavan at Visakhapatnam and judicial capital at Kurnool. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Karina M. Tehusijarana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, January 28, 2020 19:07 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2061627bb 1 World coronavirus,outbreak,Muhadjir-Effendy,Retno-Marsudi,Foreign-Affairs-Ministry Free Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy has said Indonesian citizens currently residing in Hubei province in China - the epicenter of the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak - do not need to be evacuated just yet. "The government has prepared for evacuation if it is really necessary. For now the evacuation scheme is not being carried out as it is not yet considered necessary," Muhadjir said after a joint meeting on the coronavirus at his office on Tuesday. Muhadjir's statement comes as other countries prepare to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan, which is currently under lockdown. The Straits Times reported on Tuesday that Japanese and American nationals could be flown out of the city as soon as Tuesday while the French government has confirmed that its citizens will be evacuated by midweek. According to the Foreign Ministry, 243 Indonesians are currently in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province - the majority of whom are students. Several Indonesian students there have already expressed their desire to return home. Read also: Coronavirus outbreak: Indonesians in locked-down Wuhan want to come home Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that evacuation of the Indonesians remained an "open option" but that it would not be easy because the area was under strict lockdown. "We have to speak to the Chinese authorities because there are a lot of regulations," she said after the meeting on Tuesday. She added, however, that the ministry had already made preparations for a possible evacuation including the route they would take as well as the quarantine procedures both before departure and after arrival in Indonesia. She also said that the ministry was making arrangements to send food and other logistics to the quarantined Indonesians as many stores in Hubei have closed following the outbreak. Retno also confirmed that, as of Tuesday none of the Indonesians in the region were suspected of having contracted the virus. "It's normal for [the Indonesians] to be anxious, so we are regularly communicating with them and ensuring that their daily needs are met," she said. Not only has Nigeria slipped from 144th to 146th on the pecking order of the 2019 Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index, the country fell by 26 points, a minus of one when compared to its score in 2018. According to the global anti-corruption watchdogs latest index, Nigerias latest ranking of 146 out of the 180 countries that were surveyed worldwide shows that its score of 26 is way below the global average of 43 and the 2019 average score of 32 for the sub-Saharan Africa region. Indeed, Nigeria is ranked 32 out of 49 countries in the sub-region. In the entire West African sub-region, Nigeria is ranked higher than only Guinea Bissau whose score is 18. Shots fired The report of ranking which was released on Thursday has drawn the ire of authorities in the country. The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the anti-graft agency, EFCC, have condemned the report, saying TI was obvlivious of the achievements of the Buhari-adminstration in its resolve to tackle corruption, one of its three cardinal campaign promises. Mr Malami, during an interview on Channels Televisions LunchTime Politics, on Thursday, said the facts on the ground do not correlate with the information dished out by the group. In terms of the fight against corruption, we have been doing more, we have done more, and we will continue to do more out of inherent conviction and desire on our part to fight against corruption devoid of any extraneous considerations relating to the rating by Transparency International, Mr Malami argued. On its part, the anti-graft agency EFCC in a communique on the same day, described the report as baseless and appalling. The claim and inference by TI that Nigeria ranks the fourth most corrupt country in West Africa is totally unacceptable, as it is evidently not supported by any empirical data, especially when placed side-by-side with the remarkable achievements of the Commission in the past years, the EFCC said. EFCCs sister anti-graft agency, ICPC, too has faulted the report. The Presidency also tried to ridicule the report, saying it was not based on facts, but on perception and hearsay. But what exactly does it mean for a country to ranked high or low on the index? Perception of corruption, not corruption itself Established in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is Transparency Internationals flagship research product with which it measures the glimpse of perceived corruption in the public sector of surveyed countries. Due to the fact that there is no meaningful way to assess absolute levels of corruption in countries or territories on the basis of hard empirical data, CPI reflects how a country is perceived corrupt; it doesnt measure corruption in the real sense of the word. On its frequently asked questions page, the organisation says it doesnt rely on reported cases of prosecutions or scandals due to bribery and other crimes as they only show how effective prosecutors, the courts or the media are in investigating and exposing corruption in a country. Hence, it submits, capturing perceptions of corruption of those in a position to offer assessments of public sector corruption is the most reliable method of comparing relative corruption levels across countries. Auwal Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a subsidiary of Transparency International in Nigeria, told PREMIUM TIMES that the index does not consider prosecutions made by the EFCC or ICPC. He explained that, instead, it is about the perception of Nigerians on the Immigration (Service), the Custom, the National Assembly, the judiciary, ease of doing business, getting employment, gaining admission. He added that the index examined the lack of compliance for the rule of law, public procurement and disregard for extant law in the country, especially the FOI. Until it revised its methodology to allow for comparison of scores from one year to the next using scale 0-100 in 2012, countries were ranked on the basis of scores between 0-10. Methodology For Nigeria, the CPI 2019 relies on nine different data sources from different institutions that capture perceptions of corruption within the past two years. These institutions include: African Development Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment; Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index; Economist Intelligence Unit Country Ratings; Global Insight Country Risk Guide. READ ALSO: Others are: PRS International Country Risk Guide; World Economic Forum Economic Opinion Survey; World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA); World Justice Project Rule of Law Index; and varieties of Democracy projects. Advertisements While ranking of countries is relative to the performance of other countries, the index is based on the results of surveys from these institutions. Countries are scored from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Nigerias performance over the years Over the last decade, Nigeria has scored relatively low on the ranking. Between 2011 till date, Nigerias score has varied from 24 to 28 per cent and its ranking from 136th to 148th. Since 2012 when the scale of 100 was first used, 2016 was Nigerias relatively best year. The country had a score of 28 and ranked 136 out of the 176 countries surveyed. With a score of 25, 2013 was perceived the countrys most corrupt year, when it ranked 144 out of 177 other countries. What next The Chairman, Network Against Corruption, Olanrewaju Suraj, said perception will continue to be perception but it can be real or not. He explained that the private sector is not covered by the ranking, and it means it left out a major cycle for corruption. He added that the best that can be done is for the government to take the rating on face level and improve on some of the issues raised in the report. It is not enough to say Nigeria is corrupt. Corruption is all over the world. But what stands every country out is the ability of the state to bring people to book, Mr Suraj said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Ilkin Seyfaddini Trend: Tajikistan plans to increase imports of Uzbek natural gas in 2020, First Deputy General Director of Tojiktransgaz Shavkat Shoimzoda said, Trend reports via Uzbek media. He added that it is planned to agree on the supply of up to 200 million cubic meters of Uzbek fuel to the country. Last year, 140 million cubic meters of natural gas were imported from Uzbekistan in the amount of $17.7 million. In comparison with 2018, Uzbek gas supplies to Tajikistan increased by 2.6 times. The report notes that the main consumer of Uzbek gas is the Tajik Aluminium Company. Some other enterprises, such as the Dushanbe thermal power plant, also receive gas from Uzbekistan. Natural gas supplies from Uzbekistan to Tajikistan have been restored since April 2018 after a six-year break. A prominent Muslim leader in Kerala has stated that women should keep away from public demonstrations against CAA, even as their solidarity with the stir needs to be expressed. All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama general secretary Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar made the statement that invited strong reactions from women activists. "Women should not be staging protest marches on the streets shouting slogans like men do. If their solidarity was required for any stirs, it needs to be expressed," Mr. Kanthapuram told a new channel. V P Suhara of 'Nisa', an organisation working for Muslim women's rights, said that the male leaders were concerned if the women leaders would question their wrong doings. "Leaders of many Muslim outfits were trying to silence the women in the community. Even the wife of Prophet Muhammad had participated in wars and stood with the prophet in all political struggles," she said. Kerala Women Commission chairperson M C Josephine also condemned the statement of Mr. Kanthapuram. KABUL, Jan. 27 -- The Afghan Taliban claimed Monday that its fighters shot down a U.S. forces' aircraft in eastern Ghazni province. Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, wrote on Twitter that the militants shot down an intelligence aircraft of U.S. forces in Sadokhil area, Deh Yak district of Ghazni at midday Monday. "The crash resulting in all crew and high-ranking CIA members killed. The wreckage and dead bodies laying at crash site," he said. Earlier in the day, provincial Afghan officials in Ghazni confirmed a plane crash incident in Deh Yak district but they did not provide any details about the possible casualties, saying the incident occurred in Taliban-controlled area. The NATO-led coalition forces did not release any official statement. However, they said that they are investigating the incident. In 1066, the Normans led by the then Prince William the Conqueror then known as the Duke of Normandy invaded English around the December period. The Duke who was very close to the then King Edward the confessor claimed that the latter promised him the throne of England. He went to say that King Harold usurped the throne and that he had to take what was rightfully his. William won the battle which left Harold dead. On Christmas Day that same year, he was crowned King of England. King William was a French man and the English language as a result had many borrowed words from the French language. The language of the court was French with English being relegated to the status of Pidgin which was spoken among the lowest class in the societal strata. The cultural nationalism became fervent under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I also known as the Virgin Queen. The Spanish Armada was defeated in the famous battle of 1588 and the English Navy under the leadership of Sir Francis Drake who famously sailed round the world as the first man to do so started acquiring colonial territories from all parts of the world. The likes of William Shakespeare who blossomed during that period is arguably the largest contributor to the language and it replaced French as the language of the court. The once condemned language was massively exported around the world with the English empire being the worlds largest. With the passage of time, these conquered countries began to infuse their own local dialects with the English language. This practice known as coinage was not acceptable to the Masters of the language and it was condemned as Bad English. It is gratifying to note that the current Oxford English Dictionary has infused about twenty-nine Nigerian words in the latest issue of its dictionary. Words like Buka, Put to bed, Barbing Salon, Agric, Chop, Danfo, Chop Chop, To eat money, Ember months, Gist,,Flag-off, Guber, Kannywood, K-leg, Mama Put, Next tomorrow, Qualitative, Rub minds, Sef, Send-forth, Severally, Tokunbo, Zoning. This shows that Nigeria despite her challenges is of interest to the owners of the language and can only be ignored at the peril of the erstwhile colonial masters. This is really good news as Nigerian English is now finally being exported all over the world. An age-long aphorism in the Giant of Africa goes thus: Nigeria no dey carry last. This is shown in the recent recognition by the world renowned dictionary. Professor Chinua Achebe made an assertion shortly after independence that he wasnt going to write in the vernacular but use the English language to suit himself and his readers. His assertions have now become reality as the tag Nigerian English is fast becoming diffused. The status of Pidgin English language may soon be elevated to the status of an international language given the propensity for Nigerians to travel and they are arguably the largest Africans resident in the Diaspora. The United Kingdom is fast becoming a multicultural melting point and may be pressured by the exigencies to accept Nigerian pidgin as a global tongue. This recent dictionary inclusion will make the owners of the language take more than a passing interest in Nigerian English since they now have to grapple with new words that they have never heard about before. It will be fun if one goes to the UK and asks a passerby for where he can get the nearest Okada. The look on the face of the latter will give the former to say So you dont speak Good English? A famished Nigerian will ask his or her colleague for where he can find a Buka. The surprised look on the face of the colleague will give a lot of content to the likes of Basket mouth and Bovi to dish out some rib cracking jokes. Power has indeed been shifted through the strength of globalization. We hope that more Nigerian lexicons can make its way into the foreign dictionaries especially Oxford which has pioneered this bold move. There is indeed something good to cheer about after the gloom of reading about the scandals by a few misguided citizens in the Diaspora. The commencement of this new decade has brought about some good tidings. It will only get better with the passage of time. Thumbs up Nigeria! Tony Ademiluyi writes from Lagos and edits www.africanbard.com Meghan Markle has not spoken to Kate Middleton since she and Prince Harry quit as senior members of the Royal Family, a source has claimed. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their decision to step down on January 8, and are both currently in Canada after Harry joined his wife and son there last week. Former actress Meghan has reportedly 'never been happier' since the split and is 'happy to be out out of London'. 'Kate and Meghan have not spoken since [the royal exit] happened,' the source told Us Weekly. Meghan Markle has not spoken to Kate Middleton (pictured together at Wimbledon last year) since she and Prince Harry quit as senior members of the Royal Family, a source has claimed 'Meghan feels free. She has never been happier. She's happy to be out of London.' They added: 'She was surprised at how quickly everything happened. They knew they'd have to relinquish their titles, but the pace it happened surprised everyone. 'The palace thought it would take longer, but they went with it.' FEMAIL has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment. In a statement issued on January 18, the Queen, who took control of the crisis that threatened to permanently damage the monarchy, praised Meghan for 'quickly' becoming one of the Royal Family. She thanked the couple for the work they had done, saying she was pleased they had found a constructive way to move forward. In a statement issued on January 18, the Queen, who took control of the crisis that threatened to permanently damage the monarchy, praised Meghan for 'quickly' becoming one of the Royal Family Her Majesty also expressed her desire for the family to create a 'happy and peaceful life' which the couple intend to purse in North America where they can set their own agenda and make money how they choose. Despite being surprised by Harry and Meghan's announcement on January 8 that they wished to step back as senior royals, the Queen revealed that she had been aware of the couple's unhappiness and desire to pursue a less prominent role. In the ITV documentary Harry and Meghan: An African Journey last year, Harry admitted that he and William aren't as close as they once were, and refused to deny a falling out when he was quizzed about rumours of a rift. In the ITV documentary Harry and Meghan: An African Journey last year, Harry admitted that he and William aren't as close as they once were, and refused to deny a falling out when he was quizzed about rumours of a rift. Pictured: the Sussex family in the documentary Following the bombshell summit at Sandringham to discuss the Sussexes' future, the brothers are said to have reconciled their differences, helped by the Duchess of Sussex and Duchess of Cambridge. A source told The Sun the conversations between them were 'ground-breaking' in terms of saving their bond as brothers and was 'totally driven by them'. 'But Kate and Meghan, who was in Canada, did join in with some of the talks on more than one occasion which is another sign of a real thaw in their relationship. Things are better,' they continued, adding: 'Given Harry is now permanently moving away, there was a realisation if they didn't sort things out now, they never would.' Despite patching things up with William, it is understood Harry has not made the breakthrough with father Charles. Following the bombshell summit at Sandringham to discuss the Sussexes' future, the brothers are said to have reconciled their differences, helped by the Duchess of Sussex and Duchess of Cambridge (pictured together at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London in March last year) Following Megxit, it was announced that Harry and Meghan will no longer use their HRH titles and will repay around 2.4 million of taxpayers' money spent refurbishing their Frogmore Cottage. At a charity event for his charity Sentabale, Harry spoke of his 'great sadness' at leaving the Royal Family and said he and his wife had 'no other option' than to quit senior royal duties - but vowed the couple are 'not just walking away'. Last week a friend of the duchess told DailyMail.com that Meghan had informed close friends quitting the royal family is the best thing that could ever happen to Prince Harry and said 'it was her love for him that made this possible'. 'She said that like her, his spirit was being crushed and she simply couldn't stand to see him suffer anymore,' the friend added. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been staying at an opulent $14 million Vancouver Island mansion, which they have used since Thanksgiving (pictured: Prince Harry with baby Archie in Canada) The Duke of Sussex was photographed grinning as he stepped off a plane in Vancouver on January 20, heading back to his wife and eight-month-old son Archie. Meghan herself was seen beaming while out for a walk with Archie and her two dogs that morning. The couple have been staying at an opulent $14 million Vancouver Island mansion, which they have used since Thanksgiving, and the close friend revealed the two have no plans to move out anytime soon. Meghan and Harry also have no intention of stripping the word 'royal' from their SussexRoyal website according to the insider, who added: 'Meghan says they will always be considered royalty regardless of where they live or what they do.' An astonishing new documentary airing on Channel 4 on Wednesday night aims to convey the horrors of the Holocaust in a vivid new light. Auschwitz Untold: In Colour recasts contemporary black-and-white news footage recorded after the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Red Army soldiers in January 1945 in naturalistic colour, presenting the harrowing reality of the conditions endured by Jewish and Romani captives held behind its stone walls in fresh detail. More than six million European Jews were systematically executed in camps like Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald and Dachau as part of Adolf Hitlers Final Solution before the Allied victory brought an end to Nazi tyranny. The programme was originally aired in two parts on More4 and commissioned to honour the 75th anniversary of the Auschwitz survivors deliverance. It features interviews with 15 former inmates from Germany, France, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, including a resistance fighter who lost her entire family to the camps, and is narrated by the award-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley. Remembering the Holocaust Show all 16 1 /16 Remembering the Holocaust Remembering the Holocaust 119165.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119169.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119229.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119167.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119162.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119166.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119163.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119224.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119168.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119228.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119152.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119226.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119150.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119151.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119147.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119231.bin Hannah Bills Once we entered there, we thought wed entered hell, one female survivor remembers of her ordeal in the film. Another who has never spoken out before states that it has taken them 60 years to be able to talk about what happened there. While the late French director Claude Lanzmann, who made the seminal, nine-hour Holocaust documentary Shoah (1985), was vehemently opposed to reusing archive images of the Nazi genocide on the grounds that doing so only served to freeze the atrocities of the Second World War in time rather than acknowledging their lasting legacy, more recent films from Schindlers List (1993) and Life is Beautiful (1997) to Son of Saul (2015) have used colour to illuminating effect. Series like Channel 5s World War II in Colour (2008) or Five Came Back (2017) on Netflix have both likewise used tinting and original interviews to bring the events of 1939-45 to life for a new generation. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up But perhaps the clearest model here is Peter Jacksons admired documentary They Shall Not Grow Old (2018), which colourised early footage and vintage photographs from the First World War to illustrate the experiences of young British troops in the trenches on the centenary of that brutal conflicts close. We were wearing colours, we were not all in grey, a survivor interviewed in Auschwitz Untold recalls, expressing approval of the decision to enhance the existing images. Colourisation couldnt get the image closer to what it actually was, another contributor agrees. Two boys wait after arriving at Auschwitz in cattle cars (The Auschwitz Album Serge Klarsfeld/Lily Jacob-Zelmanovic Meier) (The Auschwitz Album - Serge Klarsfeld/Lily Jacob-Zelmanovic Meier) The series Bafta-winning director David Shulman says his intention in making Auschwitz Untold was to offer as much contemporary resonance as possible. The colourisation of black-and-white archives is one aspect of making this history more accessible to a younger audience and giving greater humanity to the people seen in the footage, Shulman comments. Women and children wearing the Star of David (The Auschwitz Album Serge Klarsfeld/Lily Jacob-Zelmanovic Meier) (The Auschwitz Album - Serge Klarsfeld/Lily Jacob-Zelmanovic Meier) Also, by including a Jewish resistance fighter from Vilna and a Roma holocaust survivor from France I think Auschwitz Untold: In Colour adds unique perspectives typically overlooked by most documentaries about the Holocaust. We hope this series will help remove a barrier that separates contemporary audiences from the reality of the Holocaust so that we never ever forget the atrocities of the past, adds producer Sheldon Lazarus. Jewish captives arrive at Auschwitz-Birkenau wearing the Star of David (The Auschwitz Album Serge Klarsfeld/Lily Jacob-Zelmanovic Meier) (The Auschwitz Album - Serge Klarsfeld/Lily Jacob-Zelmanovic Meier) The programme arrives as the world observes Holocaust Memorial Day, which commemorates not just those put to death by Nazi Germany but also victims of subsequent mass exterminations in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Auschwitz Untold: In Colour is broadcast on Channel at 10.30pm on Wednesday 29 January 2020 USAID launches $7 million education program in Georgia By Nika Gamtsemlidze As the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia reports, Under the US-Georgia Partnership, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will carry out another $ 7 million 5-year large-scale project.The project Achieving Student-Centered Education for a New Tomorrow (ASCENT) aims to further develop literacy, numeracy, problem solving and critical thinking skills in all the educational institutions, as well as at the university level programs, which subsequently provides in student-centered learning environment.USAID is launching a new $7 million large-scale educational program that will support ongoing education reform in Georgia and support the introduction of a new school model, said Irine Abuladze, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport.The decision was adopted by the US State Department, at the meeting held in the framework of U.S. Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership, which was co-chaired by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Minister, Irina Abuladze, and Deputy Foreign Minister, Vakhtang Makharoblishvili.The expansion of the Fulbright program was also discussed at the US-Georgia Strategic Partnership Working Group meeting. With the initiative of the American side, within the framework of this program, the English Language Teaching Assistant (ETA) project will be implemented to support the internationalization process of regional higher education institutions.The project aims to assist in English language teaching and practice hours, professional development of a peer-to-peer, development of an English language teaching curriculum/program for higher education institutions, and improved institutional practice of higher education institutions in Georgia on the way to internationalization.The United States-Georgia Strategic Partnership affirms the importance of the relationship as friends and strategic partners. This Strategic Partnership intends to deepen the partnership to the benefit of both nations and expand the cooperation across a broad spectrum of mutual priorities.This cooperation between the two democracies is based on shared values and common interests. This includes expanding democracy and economic freedom, protecting security and territorial integrity, strengthening the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the right of dignified, secure and voluntary return of all internally displaced persons and refugees, supporting innovation and technological advances, and bolstering Eurasian energy security. The cutest escape artist in the world regularly sends her family into a panic by escaping their home any chance she get. As parents of 11 children Ben and Zoe Sullivan, from North Scotland, certainly have their hands full as it is, but their daughter Agnes, two, is determined to really keep them on their toes. The daredevil toddler and the rest of the Sullivan clan feature in tonight's episode of Me and My 10 Kids, on 5Star, where Zoe and Ben reveal how they have to watch her constantly to make sure she doesn't get out of the house. Agnes is described as an 'escape artist' by her older siblings, who have to help their parents locate her when she goes MIA Agnes is the second youngest child of the Sullivan brood, aged 14 to 11 months, which counts two sets of twins. Big sister Elizabeth is 14, followed by Olivia, 12, twins Isabelle and Charlotte, 11, brother Noah, nine, Evangeline, seven, Tobias, six, twins Leah and Eric, three, and little brother, Joseph, 11 months. From left to right: Ben Sullivan,with 11-months-old Joseph, Zoe Sullivan with two-year-old Agnes, twins Erin and Leah, three, Tobias, six, Evangeline, seven, Noah, nine, Isabelle and Charlotte, 11, Olivia, 12 and bog sister Elizabeth, 14 Military dad Ben and dedicated mother Zoe spend their days looking after their large family, with their routine involving ironing 35 shirts a week for the seven children attending school, shining shoes, bathing and mealtimes. Agnes is one of the youngest of the Sullivan kids, and she loves nothing more than giving her parents and siblings a fright. In a tense in scene in tonight's show, Ben is first to notice that his little one has gone missing during the family's closely-supervised morning routine. Once Zoe realises her daughter is not upstairs with her, both parents start to panic and look around for her. 'Agnes, she knows how to open doors. She's like an escape artist,' says Charlotte, mimicking running. 'She can escape very easily If you turn your back for, like, one second, she's out the door, she adds. Agnes loves to scare her ten siblings and her parents Ben and Zoe who call her 'Houdini' and 'Little Ninja' (the Sullivan family minus 11-months-old Joseph) 'She runs away a lot, Olivia says with a smile, 'She does't stay still, she never stays still,' she adds. Dad Ben explains Agnes is a 'little ninja' who likes to sneak out behind him whenever he goes out of the house. 'You've got to have eyes at the back of your eyes, I swear sometimes,' he says. It turns out that Agnes has escaped the house but is quickly found wandering outside by Zoe. But trying to keep her contained is no easy task, and Ben reveals that she can only go for naps strapped into her puschair because he knows she can't escape it. He affectionately says that Agnes 'drives him nuts' as he reveals how she's managed to open the front door by standing on her pushchair to unlock the chain on the door. He's since moved it much higher to put it out of her reach. 'If you hear that door chain rattling, you literally leg it to make sure she's not halfway down from the house,' he says. But once safely fastened into her buggy, her little legs tucked in, the daredevil, whom Ben calls 'Houdini' after the famous magician, eventually falls asleep. Ben and Zoe have to operate their family with military precision from morning to evening, because simple task like bathing the children and putting them to bed demand extreme logistics. Once a week, Zoe has to iron the 35 shirts seven of her brood will need for the week of school, which can take hours. The couple make it work by dividing the tasks between the two of them. While Zoe is busy ironing, Ben puts the younger ones to bed and moves on to shining their school shoes in the kitchen with his wife. Me and My 10 Kids airs on Tuesday at 9pm on 5Star. With this development, none of the units run by NTPC on its own, along with those operated by its joint ventures now faces a situation of super critical stocks, with inventories improving after a gap of almost three years. According to the Maharatna company, after months of poor sales owing to both demand and supply constraints, coal offtake reached 48.07 million tonnes (mt) on January 27, registering a 6.2 per cent growth over the same date in ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. and SAFFORD, Ariz., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Effective January 1, 2020, Legacy Home Healthcare of Southern Arizona, serving Greenlee, Graham, and Cochise Counties, has been sold to Eden Health, a 100% employee-owned home services division under the EmpRes Healthcare Family of Companies. This transition includes two Medicare-certified home health agencies located in Sierra Vista and Safford. "The acquisition of these agencies is the perfect fit into our portfolio. Legacy has been great to work with while we managed their daily operations. Staff at each location already support our core values and demonstrate the dedication to patients that Eden is known for, so the acquisition just makes sense," said Brent Weil, President and CEO of the EmpRes Healthcare Family of Companies. Both agencies will continue to offer skilled nursing, physical, speech and occupational therapy, medical social services, home health aide care, and private duty services. Over the next 12 months, Eden Health plans to invest in the growth of these agencies to service additional areas in Southern Arizona, with a focus on creating access to quality home health and hospice care for the residents in these communities. "Our organizations put quality of patient care above everything else we do. I am confident that quality will continue to be at the forefront of our strategy in these communities for years to come," said Jamie Brown, Vice President of Home Services, in a statement announcing the deal. "The acquisition of these two home health agencies will pair nicely with our existing in-home hospice presence in both markets, which will provide a seamless transition from one care setting to the next." About Eden Health Eden Health is a division of EmpRes Healthcare, a 100% Employee Owned Family of Companies providing management and consulting services to rehabilitation and post-acute care centers, assisted and independent living communities and home health, hospice and home care agencies throughout Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. To find out more about Eden Home Health, please visit www.eden-health.com. SOURCE Eden Health Related Links http://www.eden-health.com Lady Penny Mountbatten, whose ex-husband made headlines when he became the first member of the extend royal family to have a same-sex wedding, revealed she has found love with a new man 10 years on from their divorce. Lady Penny married Lord Ivar Mountbatten, son of the 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven and third cousin of the Queen, in 1994 and the couple went onto have three daughters: Ella, 23, Alix, 21 and Luli, 17, before divorcing amicably in 2011. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph today, Lady Penny, who lives in London, said she and Lord Ivar had to go their separate ways in 'order for us both to be happy'. Lady Penny Mountbatten, whose ex-husband made headlines when he became the first member of the extend royal family to have a same-sex wedding, revealed 'everything is really good' between them 10 years on from their divorce. Pictured, Lady Penny with ex-husband Lord Ivar (right) and his now husband James Coyle (left) at the family estate in Devon in 2018 Lady Penny married Lord Ivar Mountbatten, son of the 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven and third cousin of the Queen, in 1994, pictured. The couple had three daughters and divorced in 2011 However she said she now enjoys a good relationship with Lord Ivar, his husband James Coyle - and has found a new love in the father of one of her daughter's classmates. 'You know, Ivars sexuality just was what it was,' she told the newspaper. 'And in order for us both to be happy we had to go our separate ways. But its all worked out. 'It really has. Ultimately I want everyone to be happy and for the least number of people to ever be hurt. Whichever way you can navigate that, you do it.' She continued: 'Ten years [after the divorce] everything is really good and I have a very good friendship with my daughters new stepfather. And then I have a boyfriend.' Lady Penny now enjoys a good relationship with Lord Ivar, his husband James Coyle - and has found a new love in the father of one of her daughter's classmates. Pictured, Lady Penny (second from right) with Lord Ivar, Mr Coyle (centre) and their daughters in an Instagram snap Lady Penny and her new mystery man were set up by their daughters, who went to school together. Lord Ivar created a stir in 2016 when he confessed to having struggled with his sexuality throughout most of his 16-year marriage to Lady Penny. He came out as gay after finding contentment with his now husband James Coyle, whom he met in the swish Swiss ski resort of Verbier. The couple married in the private chapel on his magnificent country estate in Devon, with Lady Penny walking her ex-husband down the aisle. Lord Ivar and Lady Penny Mountbatten (right) with his brother George, the Marquess of Milford Haven, and his wife Clare (left) at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour in June 2005 Speaking to the Daily Mail at the time, Lady Penny said it was the girls' idea and that she was 'really very touched' to be asked. The former couple now co-parent their three daughters with James and the blended family share glimpses at their busy lives together on Instagram. 'I think they (the girls) like having another man in the house,' Lord Ivar said in an interview with Tatler last year. 'Better than a stepmother who could've turned out to be a step-monster.' The last time Republicans held a majority on this state's Supreme Court was in the 1920s. Its Court of Appeals has never had a Republican majority. The last time Republicans held a majority in both houses of the state Legislature at the same time was 1930. In the 89 years from 1931 to the present, Democrats have held a majority of both houses of the state Legislature for 79 of the 89 years. Since 1931, Democrats have held the governor's office for 69 of the 89 years. Even when a Republican has been governor, his powers have been greatly limited because he has never held a majority in both houses of the state legislature while in office. What state am I? If you guessed CA, IL, NY, NJ, or MA, you're wrong. If you guessed NM, go to the head of the class (here) (here). Since 1931, no other state has had single-party Dem rule at the state level as long as New Mexico. And how has New Mexico fared under the stewardship of single party Democrat rule? As we shall see, not so well. EDUCATION: By all accounts, New Mexico has one of the worst, if not the worst, K12 public education system in the country. It is a system that spends vast sums of money but has little or no accountability for the students, teachers, administrators, parents, or elected officials. Here are the sobering stats. It has recently been rated as the worst state public school system in the country. Among the country's 11,850 school districts, only one from New Mexico, Los Alamos, is rated in the top 1,000. A charity named the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy estimates that an astonishing 46% of the adults in the state are functional illiterates. Sadly, the state university system is little better. It is an example of quantity over quality. Despite its small population of 2.1 million, New Mexico has a staggering seven state-funded colleges and universities that grant four-year degrees. In contrast, neighboring Arizona with a population of 7.3 million has three. Not a single college or university in New Mexico is ranked in the nation's top 500. CRIME: New Mexico is a dangerous place to live, and a lot of judges are reluctant to lock up criminals. It is #1 in the country for per capita property crime and #2 for violent crime. Albuquerque, by far the state's largest city, has the dubious distinction of a #1 ranking for auto thefts in the entire nation. Don't expect the Chamber of Commerce or the Department of Tourism to brag about the fact that Albuquerque is ranked as the 12th most dangerous city in the U.S. Expect Albuquerque to move up on the list, as it just had a record number of homicides in 2019. JOBS/ECONOMY: New Mexico survives financially because it receives enormous sums of money from two sources: the federal government and the oil and natural gas industry. The federal government has spent a gigantic amount of money in the state since the 1940s, with the development of the bomb and all the defense spending that came afterwards. The state also receives millions of dollars each year from oil and gas revenues, especially from leases of state land. With the fracking revolution going on in the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico, the state is swimming in tax revenues and has a large budget surplus. Despite all the mentioned revenue and the production bonanza in the Permian Basin, New Mexico has one of the worst job markets in the country. It has the fourth highest unemployment rate of any state. It's the second hardest state in the country in which to find full-time employment. As one would expect of a state that has had single-party Dem rule for nearly 90 years, the state is teeming with public-sector employees and has the third highest percentage of public-sector workers in the country. The national average for public sector workers is 15.1%, while New Mexico has 22.2%. In other words, New Mexico has 47% more public sector workers than the national average. Not surprisingly, New Mexico is more dependent on federal spending than any other state and receives more in per capita federal spending than all but two states. POVERTY: Poverty among adults is usually associated with low education levels, and poverty among children is usually associated with being raised in a single-parent home. New Mexico has lots of both. As of November 2019, New Mexico had 827,269 persons receiving Medicaid, or 39% of the population and 223,116 persons receiving SNAP benefits, or 11% of the state's population. Despite the enormous amount of federal spending, oil and natural gas riches, and some of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, New Mexico is considered to be the third poorest state in the nation. DEATH SPIRAL: Several years ago, Forbes Magazine identified New Mexico as the #1 death spiral state in the country. New Mexico, with its vast public-sector work force, is on the hook for billions of dollars in defined benefit pension plan payments to retiring public employees. These defined benefit plans are so generous that private-sector businesses can no longer afford them and now offer 401(k) (defined contribution) plans instead. The public plans are woefully underfunded primarily because they assumed an unreasonably high expected annual rate of return of 7% to 8%. Assuming such high expected rates of return permitted pols to reduce annual contributions to the plans. Now, in addition to insufficient past contributions, there are not enough taxpayers to make up the funding shortfalls. New Mexico has a whopping 148 public-sector pension-takers for every 100 private-sector job-holders in the state. This is the largest imbalance of any state in the country and clearly unsustainable for the taxpayer. STAGNATION: New Mexico and Arizona share much history. The New Mexico Territory became part of the United States after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. During the Civil War, the territory was divided into the New Mexico and Arizona Territories. As recently as 1930, Arizona's population was just 12,000 larger than New Mexico's (435,000 vs 423,000). But today, Arizona's population is more than five million larger than New Mexico (7.3 million vs 2.1 million). Why did New Mexico, with its vast oil and natural gas wealth, experience such anemic population growth compared to Arizona? In most parts of the country, population growth follows job growth. The most plausible explanation of what has happened is that 90 years of single-party Dem rule in New Mexico has created a state that is deemed business-unfriendly. When the private businesses did not come, neither did the people. The state nickname for New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment. Sadly, after 90 years of single-party Democrat rule, it should probably be changed to the Land of Disenchantment. Image: Don Hankins via Flickr (cropped). A 36-year-old pedestrian was critically injured after being struck by a car while crossing Route 9 in Manalapan on Monday, authorities said. The man was hit by a northbound vehicle at the intersection of Taylors Mills Road around 9:20 p.m., according to Manalapan police. The driver, a 34-year-old Marlboro man, stopped and cooperated with police. He had a green light and was not impaired, according to police. The pedestrian was flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. Traffic was detoured for several hours Monday while police investigated. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. - President Akufo-Addo today, Tuesday, January 28, 2020, commissioned 307 ambulances procured by the government for distribution to all constituencies - This is in fulfillment of his one-constituency one-ambulance promise Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in President Akufo-Addo today, Tuesday, January 28, 2020, commissioned ambulances procured by the government for distribution to all constituencies in fulfillment of his one-constituency one-ambulance campaign promise. The event, which critics including members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) describe as a needles fanfare, will take place at the forecourt of State House in Accra at 11:00 am. Announcing the commissioning at the Sunday Meet-the Press encounter, Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah charged the National Ambulance Service to properly maintain the ambulances. READ ALSO: Election 2020: 77% of Ghanaians say they will not vote for Akufo-Addo Government expects the Ambulance Service to maintain this investment to ensure longevity. It is further expected that this injection will be put to good use to serve the good people of Ghana and add to ongoing efforts to secure livelihoods, he noted. Meanwhile, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) General Secretary, Dr. Justice Yankson, has described as unprecedented, the distribution of 307 ambulances to various communities to assist in quality health delivery. Dr. Yankson lauded the government for the initiative saying that Ghana in its history has not recorded anything close to procuring even two hundred ambulances at a go. Generally speaking, in terms of the numbers and then even in terms of the operational scope and the way it is going to be managed, I think that this is a very big improvement over the years, he said. READ ALSO: Sammy Gyamfi speaks after bail by police In other news, the Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has spoken after his release from police custody. The NDC official was arrested by the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on Monday, January 27, 2020 after a program on UTV. In his interaction with the media after he was granted bail, the outspoken NDC communicator said the office of the president (Jubilee House) was the mastermind of his arrest. READ ALSO: New Coronavirus: First person in West Africa tested for deadly virus after showing symptoms Faces of Ghana: Art is Lucrative But Not Appreciated-Ghanas Incredible 3DMotion Designer| #Yencomgh Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh SYRACUSE, N.Y. No more plastic bags at Wegmans as of Monday, change the store chose to make early ahead of the statewide ban that will be implemented March 1. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their own reusable bags. In some counties, Wegmans will charge 5 cents for paper bags, with proceeds going to a food bank in the region. Some other grocery stores, like Aldi, have already stopped using plastic bags. THREE robbers who ram-raided a petrol station are being hunted by police. The Premier petrol station on Barnsley Road, West Melton, was targeted at around 4.30am on Saturday (25). A silver hatchback drove repeatedly into the building, causing damage to the shutters, said police. Three men are then reported to have got out of the vehicle and stole items from the garage. It is not yet known what exactly has been stolen, she added. The offenders then fled in the direction of Barnsley. Information can be given to police investigating the robbery via 101 quoting incident number 154 of January 25. Patrick Hernandez is recognized for volunteering the most hours 784 last year by Berkshire Food Project Executive Director Kim McMann. PreviousNext Berkshire Food Project Recognizes Hours Put in by Volunteers Three generations of volunteers with Linda Palumbo, left, Cindy Bolte, Alicia Rondeau and Cassandra Shoestack. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Five days a week a troop volunteers helps the small staff of the Berkshire Food Project feed hundreds of people. On Monday night, the tables were turned. More than 30 volunteers and attending family members were served up a choice of beef wellington and potato, salmon and rice, or a vegetarian meal, along with appetizers, dessert and beverages. "Just from 2018 to 2019, [we served] 10,000 more meals, right, a 28 percent increase in 2019. So the numbers on the stove, same amount of counterspace. The only thing that changed is the capacity of our volunteers. So thank you, guys," said Executive Director Kim McMann. McMann said she hoped the increase wasn't an indication of need but rather that the food project has been listening to the community's needs. "What we think happens, is we're getting way better at hearing what people are telling us, and what they're asking for, and we're getting way better at being able to have it," she said. "And so we're really happy that no matter what happens when people come in, we don't turn people away ever, we're able to give people what they need to take home." That's mean making sure there were vegetarian options, and servings without onions, and the right containers for people to take home meals. "We've been working really hard to hear what people are needing and wanting and then meeting that need," McMann said. The volunteers have been crucial in making that happen, she said, and thanked them for rolling with the changes the organization has implemented some of which have worked and some that have not. She reminded them how there had been some pushback when they'd been asked to log their hours, thinking it wouldn't work. But now BFP has solid data on how many hours its volunteers are putting in more than 10,000 hours last year. "You know what that does when you're applying for a grant and they say did your community support you?" McMann said. "Oh, we have data to show! We're sure the community likes us but you know what, we have data that will tell you that every month, 800 to 1,000 hours are spent volunteering." Patrick Hernandez was recognized for putting in 784 hours last year, the most of any volunteers. McMann said he was always able and willing to help out and participate in food project activities. "I think Patrick even surprised himself when he ended up on stage at a public forum, talking about food insecurity and I was just so impressed," she said. "And so amazed that that was our Patrick up there." Hernandez said he started volunteering a few years ago. "It's good work. What I like, I think the word is camaraderie," he said, adding that there's a sense of teamwork in which volunteers are willing to pitch in and take over when they see someone else struggling. Paul King said it was different being on the other side of the serving table. "It's different, but it was very enjoyable. Really enjoyed that and the food was great," he said. "So was the company," his wife, Susan, added. "It was really lovely meeting all these people." The retired King said he was drawn to the food project about six months ago, looking for a way to give back to the community they had moved to a few years ago. "I looked up different things and found out about this food program now," he said. "I'm talking to the director and the next thing I know, I'm volunteering, so yeah, I like it. I like it lot." Volunteering is a generational tradition for Linda Palumbo's family. She put in more than 600 hours, her daughter Alicia Rondeau almost 600 and her granddaughter, Cynthia Bolte, more than 300. Palumbo's other daughter, Cassandra Shoestock, was also a more frequent volunteer but only drops in now and again since moving to Vermont. Almost in unison, they said the dinner was, "really, really good." Palumbo says she's there pretty much every day since retiring, although she still works part time. She also volunteered at a nonprofit food program in the state of Florida for four years. "People don't realize how lucky they are to have this place there," she said. "There aren't too many places like this." The guests were fed by staff and by a number of non-regular volunteers who heeded a call from McMann. They also received a letter noting the number of hours they had volunteered and a T-shirt. Hernandez also received a framed picture of his participation in the poverty forum. Board President James Mahon said the dinner was just a small way to say thank you for their efforts in serving 45,000 meals last year. He also recognized First Congregational Church, which has provided the food program a home since 1986, and its congregants who have also volunteered. The volunteers and their hours: Patrick Hernandez (784 hours) Bob Simons (696 hours) Linda Palumbo (635 hours) Alicia Rondeau (589 hours) Ralph & Geralyn Lesure (468 hours) Jeff Page (430 hours) Marianne Bailey (385 hours) Erika Uchman (385) Cindy Bolte (322 hours) Gary Cellana (322 hours) Caitlyn Johnson (304 hours) Carolyn Toomey (218 hours) Valerie Dickinson (191 hours) Kathryn Benson (177 hours) Sandra King (163 hours) Elaine Durant (156 hours) Kevin Netti (142 hours) Kenyon Brooks (140 hours) Joan Rubel (132 hours) Tom Leamon (125 hours) Chris Bonner (124 hours) Priscilla Tracy (119 hours) Bill Svrluga (115 hours) John Denley (112 hours) Jennifer Peabody (107 hours) Cassie Shoestock (106 hours) Sue Denley (102 hours) Goodveig Baarli (100 hours) Helen Fortier (100 hours) WATSONVILLE, Calif., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey of nonprofit workers in Santa Cruz County conducted by the Human Care Alliance (HCA) identifies key trends in wage inequality found in government funded and contracted nonprofit service providers. Across every survey indicator, nonprofit workers fall short in comparison to county wage data. The escalating costs of housing and persistent low wages heavily influence nonprofit workers and result in implications distinctive to this sector. According to the survey, 62% of nonprofit workers report that they must have more than one job to support their families. "I am living paycheck to paycheck. I need a second job and I am exhausted," explains a nonprofit employee. Over half (55%) of those surveyed report that their households and families are going without basic needs to survive due to financial hardship. Ironically, this wage inequality is contributing to the systems of poverty that nonprofits are working to alleviate. However, the most troubling result of wage disparity is that nonprofits must consider shifting their business models to reduce services where government funding levels do not provide enough support to serve both clients and their employees. "Government's inaction to address the growing poverty problem in Santa Cruz County is only contributing to the growing statistics," says Community Bridges' Chief Executive Officer Raymon Cancino. "As nonprofits, we have limited ways to manage this growing crisis without expansion of funding." Full survey results can be found at www.communitybridges.org/news. About HCA Wage Equity Study The Human Care Alliance (HCA), with financial support of Community Bridges and the Volunteer Center, conducted the 2019 Wage Equity survey. The survey was administered in April 2019 and includes data from 214 Santa Cruz County employees from 30 nonprofits. Survey results allow stakeholders committed to maintaining services to identify pervasive wage inequity on a broader scale and examine the significant fiscal and societal impacts on service outcomes. INTERVIEWS Interviews are available with Community Bridges CEO, Raymon Cancino and Executive Director of the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz, Karen Delany. Also available are supplementary stories from individual nonprofit workers and nonprofit program directors. ABOUT COMMUNITY BRIDGES Community Bridges envisions a thriving community where every person has the opportunity to unleash their full potential. Together, our family of 10 programs delivers essential services, provides equitable access to resources, and advocates for health and dignity across every stage of life. www.communitybridges.org. ABOUT HUMAN CARE ALLIANCE The Human Care Alliance (HCA) is a membership organization made up of nonprofit agencies that provide health and human services throughout Santa Cruz County. HCA's policy agenda centers around three primary areas; strong and safe neighborhoods throughout Santa Cruz County, economic and social justice and health equity. ABOUT VOLUNTEER CENTER The Volunteer Center connects people and partners to resources that transform our community and our lives for good. 15,000 local volunteers are connected to causes they care about each year, contributing $10 million in labor and $500,000 in crowdsourced funding each year. www.scvolunteercenter.org Contact: Amy Hanley (831) 688-8840 ext 285 [email protected] SOURCE Community Bridges It has only been a few weeks since Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry announced their resignation as senior members of the royal family. But, for many, it feels like a lifetime. The couple is lying low in Canada, away from the medias harsh glare, but the tabloids havent stopped talking ever since the big January 8th announcement. One hot topic of speculation is the effect that Meghan and Prince Harrys resignation is having on the remaining members of the royal family. Recent reports indicate Meghan has more or less stopped communicating with several members of the royal family. This includes her sister-in-law, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry broke the news prior to Kate Middletons birthday On January 8th, Prince Harry and Meghan posted on their Instagram page that they intended to step down as senior members of the royal family and that they wanted to start making their own income, independent of royal restrictions. Among other things, their announcement revealed that the couple wants to divide their time up between the United Kingdom and the United States, with the freedom to go where they choose. Meghan and Prince Harry also made mention of a brand-new charity that they intend to launch in the coming months. Needless to say, the announcement was big news all over the world, but especially in the United Kingdom. Theres also the matter of timing. The couple chose to post their announcement the day before Kates 38th birthday. While there was no word on how the Duchess of Cambridge felt about it, due to the timing of it all, the future queen consorts big day was completely overshadowed. Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton arent speaking Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle | Karwai Tang/Getty Images In light of the timing of their announcement, combined with the couples very busy schedule in recent weeks, it seems reasonable to assume that they havent spent much time with the royal family. Still, a recent report indicates that there could be some bad blood brewing between Meghan and Kate. Cosmopolitan reports Meghan and Kate havent spoken at all since the big royal split announcement on January 8th. While the sisters-in-law were never said to be terribly close, in recent months, they were seen together more, even sharing a playdate with their children while at a polo match. Whether or not the lack of communication stems from a busy schedule or something more is not known. If there is tension between the two, it is likely to be unresolved for some time, considering that Meghan is currently in Canada, lying low with baby Archie Harrison. Meanwhile, Kate is still hard at work with her royal duties in the U.K. Meghan Markle is living her best life Regardless of how things are going down within the ranks of the royal family, Meghan is living her absolute best life. According to sources, the Duchess of Sussex finally feels free now that they have taken a big step away from royal life and the many restrictions of the palace. Meghan was recently spotted in Canada, taking a low-key walk with Archie and her dogs, looking happier than she has in months. There will undoubtedly be trying times ahead for both Meghan and Prince Harry. But, for now, she certainly seems happy with the way everything has gone down. If she ever chooses to speak out about the big exit announcement, royal fans might be able to learn more about the reason for the abrupt timing. In the meantime, many will be left to wait and wonder. EDWARDSVILLE Musician 1st Class Zachary N. Ellerbrook, a 1994 graduate of Edwardsville Senior High School, has been named a 2019 Sailor of the Year (SOY) finalist for Naval Education and Training Command (NETC). Ellerbrook is the command leading petty officer, tour operations and trombone instrumentalist for Navy Band in Great Lakes, Illinois, where his mentorship resulted in 100% accountability of 30 sailors and a 94% command retention rate. As tour operations, he coordinated a tour for 10 sailors in Springfield, Missouri that reached audiences of over 10,000. As trombone instrumentalist, he contributed to the success of 113 performances for audiences exceeding 5 million. Ellerbrook was one of seven sailors who competed for the title of NETC SOY, representing the top achievers from a pool of more than 8,000 military members in MyNavy HR Force Development that spans recruiting and training Sailors in an increasingly competitive talent market. He received a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his achievements. The most rewarding experience of my career has been watching others perform and achieve based on training and leadership I can pass on that was freely given to me, said Ellerbrook. The passage in our Sailors Creed, I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those who have gone before me takes on new meaning when I see our junior sailors succeed where I have been before and also in different ways. Its the main reason why I enjoy coming to work. Ellerbrook is part of the team that takes sailors from street to fleet by transforming civilians into highly skilled, operational, and combat-ready warfighters, as well as providing the tools and opportunities for continuous learning and development. Ellerbrook earned a bachelor of music degree for jazz performance/studio music in 1999 from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and in 2013 earned a masters degree as a school educator from St. Josephs College of Maine. He is married to Susan Ellerbrook of St. Louis. Sagar (Madhya Pradesh) [India], Jan 28 (ANI): The family members of the Dalit man, who was set ablaze by his neighbours after a clash in Sagar and succumbed to his injuries last week has submitted a memorandum to the police urging them to conduct an investigation. The family of the deceased Dhan Prasad Ahirwar has alleged that during his funeral procession near Murti Nagar police station, some BJP workers attempted to create an obstruction and tried to prevent them from taking his body to the cremation ground. "The father and the brother of the Dalit man came today and submitted a memorandum that some of BJP workers tried to block their way while they were taking the body to the crematorium ground. They have demanded an investigation into the case," said Sagar SP Amit Sanghi. Ahirwar was set ablaze following a clash with his neighbours in Sagar on January 16 and passed away in New Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital on January 19, where he was receiving treatment. A case was registered under SC/ST Act in the matter. (ANI) Brad Pitt has been in a very friendly mood in the past few months as he picks up awards for his role in Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood. At the SAG awards a week ago, the 56-year-old Hollywood vet took photos with his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston and even his rumoured flame Charlize Theron. But at the Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon at the Loews Hotel in Hollywood on Monday, the single dad did not take the opportunity to mingle with fellow nominee Renee Zellweger. Didn't he see her? At the Oscars Nomineee Luncheon in Hollywood on Monday, Brad Pitt did not take the opportunity to mingle with fellow nominee Renee Zellweger The rare image may have just been a case of strange timing; they could have said hello before or after. Or perhaps they are not familiar with each other, which is hard to believe as they have attended many of the same awards shows this year. But Brad did find time to talk to plenty of other people at the splashy annual event. The Troy actor, who wore alight brown suit with a an off-white top, was seen posing next to British actress Cynthia Erivo as well as Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. Pals: The Troy actor, who wore a sharp light brown suit with a white shirt, was seen posing next to British actress Cynthia Erivo as well as Academy CEO Dawn Hudson An animated conversation: And here Pitt was seen talking with Brazilian actress/filmmaker Petra Costa; her film The Edge of Democracy has been nominated for an Oscar And another pretty pal: At one point this comely brunette helped put a tag on the ex of Angelina Jolie And the ex of Angelina Jolie was seen talking with Brazilian actress/filmmaker Petra Costa who wore a pretty sundress. Her film The Edge of Democracy has been nominated for an Oscar. Meanwhile, Renee was a social butterfly at the event. The star, who is nominated for Best Actress for Judy, about Judy Garland's later years performing in London, was seen giving music composer Diane Warren a kiss. Close: The star, who is nominated for Best Actress for Judy, about Judy Garland's later years performing in London, was seen giving music composer Diane Warren a kiss Buddies: And Zellweger said hello to Charlize Theron, who Pitt has been linked to in the past Diane is nominated for the song Chrissy Metz sang in the film Breakthrough. Profile: 'Brad Pitt. Actor in a Supporting Role, Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood,' it read And Renee also had a moment with Theron, who is nominated for her performance in Blonde Bombshell. The two looked like old pals as they chatted. Pitt got laughs on Monday for wearing his name tag to the event. 'Brad Pitt. Actor in a Supporting Role, Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood,' it read. And he also spent time talking up his OUATIH co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, Stylish: Brad wore a white button-up shirt underneath his suit for the event With other men: Even in his group shot, Pitt stayed away from the ladies The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Tuesday assured Beijing all necessary help to contain the coronavirus outbreak as he asked the global community to remain calm and not to overreact in the wake of the epidemic that has killed more than 100 people across China. China has reported 24 more deaths from coronavirus epidemic, taking the number of fatalities to 106 as the confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak stand at 4,515, the health authorities announced on Tuesday. Barring Tibet, all Chinese provinces have reported the virus cases, posing a major challenge for the health authorities to contain it. Overseas confirmed cases have been reported in Thailand (7), Japan (3), South Korea (3), the United States (3), Vietnam (2), Singapore (4), Malaysia (3), Nepal (1), France (3), Australia (4) and Sri Lanka (1). Ghebreyesus, who is visiting Beijing for talks with Chinese officials on the crisis, appreciated China's efforts in curbing the spread of pneumonia. During his meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Ghebreyesus said the WHO and the international community speak highly of and fully affirm the decisive measures the Chinese government has taken, state-run Xinhua agency reported. He said the WHO does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact. The WHO is confident in China's epidemic prevention and control ability, he said. After the virus outbreak, China identified the pathogens in record time, shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus with the WHO and other nations, and carried out a series of effective measures to curb the spread of the virus, he said, adding that the power of China's system and the effectiveness of its measures are "rarely seen in the world" and are "admirable." He said the WHO hopes to strengthen cooperation with China and is willing to provide all necessary help. Wang said China "appreciates the WHO's objective and just stance and its full recognition to China's anti-virus measures". "Your visit to China not only shows your support for China but also injects impetus into China's cooperation with the WHO," said Wang. "We have full capability, confidence and resources to overcome the epidemic at an early date," Wang said. China is willing to continuously deepen cooperation with the international community, especially the WHO, in an open and transparent manner to contribute to global public health, Wang said. On Sunday, the WHO admitted an error in its assessment of the global risk of a deadly virus in China, saying it was "high" and not "moderate", reports said. The Geneva-based health body said in its latest situation report that the risk was "very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level." The organisation attached to UN admitted that it had stated "incorrectly" in its previous reports that the global risk was "moderate". Ahead of his visit to China, Ghebreyesus said on Thursday that "this is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Perez Hilton has rubbished claims that Charlotte Crosby is being paid $1million to appear on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Australia. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the 41-year-old, who was voted out of the jungle on Monday, believes the British reality star would have taken a smaller pay packet than the home-grown stars. Perez believes the 29-year-old former Geordie Shore star may be more motivated by lifting her profile in Australia. Denied: On Tuesday, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Australia star Perez Hilton (pictured) rubbished claims that Charlotte Crosby is earning $1million to appear on the show The gossip guru told the paper on Tuesday: 'She would have taken a lot less than some of the others.' He added: 'My thinking is she wants more awareness in Australia so she would be willing to do it for less money just to have more exposure in Australia'. Perez said, 'Australians had no idea who this person is' and doubted her pay was large as a result. Local talent: Perez believes the 29-year-old former Geordie Shore star may be more motivated by lifting her profile in Australia. Pictured: Charlotte Crosby The gossip guru told the paper: 'She would have taken a lot less than some of the others. My thinking is she wants more awareness in Australia so she would be willing to do it for less money just to have more exposure in Australia' Perez added: 'Australians had no idea who this person is' and he doubts her pay was large His pick for highest paid campmate is Rhonda Burchmore, with the American star revealing: 'I would guess Rhonda is the highest paid person in that camp, even more than me'. It comes after Channel 10 has denied claims that Charlotte negotiated a '$1million contract' to appear on the jungle based show . A network spokesperson told The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday: 'That figure is ludicrous. Completely untrue.' His pick for highest paid campmate is Rhonda Burchmore (pictured) with the American star revealing: 'I would guess Rhonda is the highest paid person in that camp, even more than me' Already out: The 41-year-old gossip guru was voted out of the jungle on Monday However, Channel 10 failed to specify exactly how much the former Geordie Shore star is being paid for her stint in the jungle. Charlotte rose to fame in 2011 on MTV UK's Geordie Shore and has since starred in several reality shows including Big Brother and Just Tattoo of Us. I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! continues Wednesday 7.30pm on Channel 10 Dana Nessel, then a private attorney, in Detroit, Mich., on Oct. 16, 2013. In 2018 Nessel was elected Mich. attorney general. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) Lawsuit of Conservative Group Targeted by Southern Poverty Law Center to Go Ahead A conservative group that claims it is being targeted by Michigan authorities for its political views on the basis of controversial research by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has won a round in court, after a federal judge denied state officials request to dismiss the lawsuit. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based American Freedom Law Center (AFLC), which describes itself as a nonprofit Judeo-Christian law firm that fights for faith and freedom through litigation, education, and public policy initiatives, is suing Michigan over its decision to rely on the SPLCs research that designates it as an anti-Muslim hate group. One of the reasons the SPLC gives for the label is that AFLC authored an amicus brief in support of President Donald Trumps travel ban affecting several terrorist-prone nations, some of which were Muslim-majority countries. Critics say the well-funded Montgomery, Alabama-based SPLC, a public-interest law firm, unfairly tars conservatives as racist as a matter of policy, treating all opposition to illegal or legal immigration, open borders, and multiculturalism as hate and all political expression of those views as hate speech. In the case cited as American Freedom Law Center Inc. v. Nessel and Arbulu, government defendants asked Judge Paul L. Maloney of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan to dismiss the case. Dana Nessel is the Michigan attorney general, and Agustin Arbulu was the director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. Arbulu was fired by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission in August 2019 for his comments objectifying women, the Detroit Free Press reported at the time. In a Jan. 15 ruling, Maloney refused motions to dismiss. The case will move to the discovery stage, which is likely to make public communications between the Michigan officials and the SPLC that shed light on the officials intentions. Maloney wrote that the AFLC, which says it engages in constitutionally-protected activities, has established both a harm to its reputation and a credible fear that it will be targeted by the State of Michigan. AFLCs statement that a database being assembled by the state will not be used to track actual crimes, but incidents, is worrisome, the judge noted. So even if AFLC is never prosecuted, the group fears the information gathered through the surveillance and investigation would be recorded in the database and might be used against AFLC in other ways. Robert Muise, AFLC co-founder and lead counsel in the lawsuit, told The Epoch Times that he hopes the judges ruling sends a message to the Michigan attorney general that she will not be allowed to weaponize her office to target political opponents. Muise said it was disturbing that the top law enforcement officer for the state is relying on hate-group lists put together by the radically partisan Southern Poverty Law Center, which he described as a political propaganda machine for left-wing activists. The Constitution is triggered because Michigan is using its resources to conduct investigations based on political hyperbole. This is a page right out of George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four, he said, referring to the famous dystopian novel about a totalitarian future. Robert Weissberg, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told The Epoch Times he was delighted that the lawsuit remains alive. The war on hate is fundamental to the totalitarian assault on freedom. Disagreement has been transformed into hate and hate has been converted into the first step in genocide and the like. This intellectual transformation has been occurring for decades and, like carbon monoxide poisoning, it is barely noticed until just before death, he said. As of press time, neither the SPLC nor Nessels office had responded to requests for comment. In IRS filings for the tax year ending on Oct. 31, 2018, the SPLC reported $518 million in assets, which makes it wealthier than the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc. and Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., The Epoch Times previously reported. Correction: A previous version of this article included an incorrect headline indicating that the Southern Poverty Law Center was a party to the suit brought by the American Freedom Law Center. The Epoch Times regrets the error. One of the ancient and modern critiques of democracy is that radicals destroy norms for short-term political gain, norms that they themselves often later seek as refuge. Schadenfreude, irony, paradox, and karma are various descriptions of what happens to revolutionaries, and unfortunately the innocent, who suffer their collateral damage when radicals of any stripe use any means necessary to achieve supposedly exalted ends. Three of the most moving and terrifying passages in Greek literature involve such ironic payback. In the third book of Thucydides history, the historian relates a murderous civil war (stasis) between oligarchs and democrats on the island of Corcyra (modern Corfu). He laments how morals and laws are destroyed in a cycle of madness, all to achieve short-term gain while depriving both parties of sanctuary when the tide one day turns against them. When extremism becomes normal, there is no prior normal. In his fifth book, Thucydides describes the destruction of the small island city-state of Melos, in a riveting dialogue between the Athenian invaders and the Melian defenders. After concluding his account with the Athenians destruction of Melos, Thucydides immediately, in books six and seven, describes the Athenian catastrophe on Sicily, in which the invading and soon-to-be-trapped Athenians play a similar role to that of the doomed Melians, and the victorious Sicilians are no more magnanimous to the defeated than were the once-victorious Athenians. In the historian Xenophons second book, there is a frightening account of the destruction of the Athenian fleet at distant Aegospotami in Asia Minor. The final Athenian defeat of the Peloponnesian War robs the democracy of its last defense against an alliance of Spartans, Thebans, Persians, and Sicilians. As the terrible news arrives at the port of Piraeus, Athenians wail as they fear they are about to suffer the same atrocities at the hands of their victorious enemies that they so often inflicted on others. Story continues Once the Jacobins took over the French Revolution and instituted the Reign of Terror, few of them seriously expected that they themselves would stand convicted in show-trial courts they had helped to establish; fewer imagined they would lose their heads on the same guillotine that they had so often used to execute others. One of the most fascinating themes of Christopher Caldwells just-released The Age of Entitlement is the sad irony that 1960s federal government programs to end institutionalized racialism used the vast power of government to accentuate race and tribalism and thereby helped ensure the current toxic obsessions of race so characteristic of woke identity politics and radical diversity movements. The current white leading Democratic candidates should read Caldwells book to fathom how their own ideologies now boomerang. They might question why they and not Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Deval Patrick, or Andrew Yang are alone on the primary debate stage. Disparate impact and proportional representation were the federal governments fillips to the civil-rights movement. They were embraced by the current white Democratic front-runners, without a clue that by the logic of their own ideological zealotry, about a third of them simply would have no right to be on stage and should sacrifice themselves on the altar of government-mandated diversity. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), and Gerry Nadler (D., Calif.) are currently furious that the Republican-controlled Senate adjudicates the rules of the trial of the impeached Donald Trump. But their appeals, whatever their merit or lack of same, fall increasingly on deaf ears. One reason is that the House impeachment proceedings started out in the House basement; they were marked by unethical collusion with the so-called whistleblower to jump-start the proceedings; they relied on selective leaks and were not symmetrical in the summoning of witnesses from both sides; and the proceedings were initially outsourced to Adam Schiffs intelligence committee, by design, because of its greater power of secrecy, rather than the more appropriate House Judiciary Committee. In essence, the House impeachers are now furious that the Republican Senate might prove as partisan in exonerating Trump as the House was in impeaching him. For short-term gain, radical Democrats have now institutionalized the abnormal on the expectation that they themselves will never seek refuge in the customs and norms they have abolished. This is odd, given the lesson of the nuclear option on judges set in motion by former Senate majority leader Harry Reid: When in power, Reid destroyed the judicial filibuster, only to have this decision come back to haunt Democrats when they were in the minority and suddenly unable to stop majority-vote confirmations of a slew of conservative judges. So far, the Democrats have redefined impeachment as a no-confidence partisan vote of the opposition upon gaining control of the House, used as an election-year force-multiplier to defeat a first-term president up for reelection with no need for a special counsels findings, public support, bipartisan consensus, or specific crimes as outlined in the Constitution. The Left has recalibrated the FISA courts as political agencies that apparently will grant the FBI and DOJ whatever they wish if they can, in unspoken fashion, agree on a common political threat of the sort that Donald Trump apparently represents. There is little left to the idea of a disinterested whistleblower. From now on, they will be insider moles, leftovers from the prior administration who pop up to work with the congressional opposition, in leaking and misrepresenting administration communications to help impeach a president. The Left has no awareness that under their new protocols, Barack Obama would have been more exposed to impeachment writs than Donald Trump is today, that the next administration mole as a whistleblower might seek to take out a Democratic president, and that politicized FISA courts might just as easily fast-track the surveilling of progressive campaign aides. The ease with which Robert Mueller was speedily appointed, the hyper-partisanship (see the recent MSNBC hire of Mueller pick Andrew Weissmann) of his all-star, hunter-killer legal dream team (or so they were once heralded by a giddy Left), and the unlimited time and budget given Mueller all will likely serve as a model when the next Democratic president does an Obama-like hot-mic quid pro quo, weaponizes the IRS, orchestrates an illegal prisoner swap, stonewalls Congress over a scandal such as Fast and Furious, or bypasses the treaty-ratification rights of the U.S. Senate. Many of the current Democratic candidates have called for a court-packing scheme of increasing the Supreme Court to 15 justices in order to nullify the Trump appointees. Most also want to abolish the Electoral College. And leftist activists increasingly rail about the unfairness of the make-up of the Senate and the supposedly ossified idea that every state, however, small, has two senators. Apparently, they believe that a Democrat will never lose the popular vote and win the Electoral College, and they dont care that the solid-blue status of California, Illinois, and New York give any Democratic candidate an assured 84 electoral votes of the necessary 270 before a campaign even begins, and they forget that they once gained control of the U.S. Senate by flipping formerly small-population red states blue, such as New Mexico and Nevada. We are now in a revolutionary cycle in which existing norms are considered obstacles to equality-of-result politics. The Left believes that they will never need the institutions that they are distorting, but they will soon be the first to rue their own folly. More from National Review The Diamondbacks announced that theyve designated infielder Pat Valaika for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to new center fielder Starling Marte, whose acquisition from the Pirates has been formally announced by the team. Its the third time this winter that Valaika, 27, has been jettisoned from a 40-man roster. The former ninth-round pick began the offseason with the Rockies and was briefly property of the Orioles before being claimed off waivers by the D-backs just 11 days ago. The younger brother of former Reds, Marlins and Cubs infielder Chris Valaika, Pat has spent his entire career in the Rockies organization, appearing in the big leagues in each of the past four seasons. Hes a career .214/.256/.400 hitter who has shown plenty of pop from the right side of the dish and some infield versatility. However, the younger Valaika brother has punched out in nearly 29 percent of his trips to the plate in the big leagues and generally struggled to get on base at a passable clip. He has a minor league option remaining and a career .275/.315/.498 slash 695 Triple-A plate appearances, so its possible another club will take a look at claiming him as a depth option. If not, hell remain in the D-backs system and presumably head to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee to Major League camp. Arizona will have a week to trade Valaika, place him on outright waivers or release him. The province and the public elementary teachers union will return to the bargaining table on Wednesday. The surprise announcement came Tuesday afternoon, a day after the 83,000-member Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario said it would begin striking two days a week, starting next week, if no deal is reached. The mediator asked the union, province and school board associations to return to negotiations. ETFO president Sam Hammond said they would be open exploratory talks, but that the Ford governments negotiators must include a mandate to remove further cuts, increase supports for students with special needs, preserve the current kindergarten model with a teacher and designated early childhood educator, and maintain fair and transparent hiring practices. Education Minister Stephen Lecce said we look forward to the opportunity to negotiate to reach a voluntary settlement that ends the union-led escalation that is hurting so many students. Lecce said the governments goal has always been to reach a negotiated settlement that keeps kids in class, which we have done successfully with two education staff unions so far. Our hope is the union will come to the table with realistic proposals that prioritize student success over compensation demands. ETFO says the talks are a potentially positive development, but that strikes dates set for next week including a province-wide walkout next Thursday are still a go unless a deal is reached by this Friday. The union representing 45,000 Catholic teachers also announced that a province-wide strike is planned for next Tuesday, its second this year. Liz Stuart, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, said shes hopeful that talks with ETFO might break the impasse, but I have learned with this government to say lets wait until tomorrow. Lets wait and see what comes from this. She said OECTA has had just one day of bargaining this month, but we are happy to re-engage once it becomes a true discussion. She said her union, which represents elementary and secondary teachers, has opted for province-wide strikes as opposed to rotating strikes in order to minimize confusion among parents. Unfortunately, we felt we needed to do a second day and set up picket lines at all Catholic boards next week, Stuart said, adding Tuesday was chosen so as not to interfere with parent-teacher interviews later in the week. She said the union is mindful of the impact on families, who need to find child care, and what weve tried to do is give as much notice as we can weve given more than the five days required. So far, she added, the feedback her members have heard from parents mirrors public opinion polls, which show the Ford government plans for education to be unpopular. On Monday, the elementary teachers union announced that it would also up its job action with rotating one-day strikes to hit all of its boards next week, as well as a one-day province-wide walkout on Thursday. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation has been holding weekly, one-day rotating Wednesday walkouts, but it is taking a break this week for exams. No new dates have been announced, though they are expected. Lecce has also slammed the elementary teachers union for including teachers who work in hospitals or treatment centres with special-needs students in its upcoming walkouts. I find it particularly disturbing that ETFO has decided to withdraw services from schools in hospitals for vulnerable and sick students, he said in a statement. This isnt about politics, its about basic decency. The Ontario Principals Council has reached out to Lecce to say it is concerned about the impact the situation is having in our schools and on our students and urge negotiations to resume. They are also opposed to the provinces plans for mandatory e-learning in high schools, as are teachers, and are also seeking a commitment to the full-day kindergarten program. The teachers are also fighting larger class sizes, which will phase out thousands of teaching positions and course options for teens. A North Carolina man with a history of domestic violence shot dead his wife, their three young children and their dog before turning the gun on himself, authorities revealed. Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes provided details Monday about the deaths of the Ireland family in Vanceboro last week. The bodies were discovered on Friday after a relative told authorities that she had been unable to contact the family since Wednesday evening. Scroll down for video Authorities in North Carolina say Michael Ireland, 39, killed his sons, Michael and Bryson (pictured) He also murdered his wife April (left), and eight-month-old daughter Caroline (right) before turning gun on himself last week Family were found dead inside their home near Vanceboro (pictured) on Friday after a relative requested a welfare check 'I am at my son's house,' the caller told a 911 dispatcher. 'I have been trying to reach them. None of them are answering, the car is in the driveway. Something's wrong, and I need somebody out here to do a wellness check.' When deputies arrived at the home on Kinsaw Court, they saw a body through a partially opened curtain and forced their way into the home, Hughes said. They found the body of Michael Ireland, 39, in the master bedroom with a gunshot to the head and a revolver beside his body. The family dog, a pit bull, was dead in the same room. The bodies of his 26-year-old wife, April Ireland, and eight-month-old daughter Caroline were on a living room couch. The couple's sons, four-year-old Michael and three-year-old Bryson, were on another couch in the living room. All were dead from a single gunshot wound. Sheriff said Michael shot each of his children, his wife and the family dog once, killing them. He then took his own life in the master bedroom The sheriff said there were no signs of a struggle inside the home. Hughes said during a press conference on Monday that deputies with decades of experience told him it was one of the most horrific crime scenes they have ever seen. Officers who responded to the home are receiving counseling, reported WCTI12. According to incident reports, local law enforcement officials were familiar with the Ireland family from having been called out to their home a half-dozen times between 2015-2017. Michael Ireland, who had been working on a fishing boat, had a criminal record that included domestic violence charges, counts of assault and communicating a threat. Michael had a criminal record that included domestic violence charges dating back to 2015 April, pictured here during her most recent pregnancy, once wrote that her husband was battling depression and mental illness Neighbors reported that Michael and April frequently argued and could be heard yelling at one another, reported New Bern Sun Journal. Las August, April launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking donations for her family, writing that her husband was in the hospital from a 'self-inflicted' injury, and that 'he is very sick mentally,' including with depression. Jackie Tripp, April's mother, said the family were struggling financially, but her daughter went to great lengths to keep her children clothed and fed. 'My daughter was a brave, intelligent, beautiful person,' the heartbroken mother said. 'She loved her kids with everything she had. That's how I want her remembered.' The Dudamel/L.A. Phil recording of Andrew Normans Sustain took Best Orchestral Performance, with Caroline Shaws Orange by the Attacca Quartet winning Best Chamber/Small Ensemble Performance and the Houston Chamber Choirs all-Durufle disc receiving Best Choral Performance honors. Best Opera Recording was the Boston Modern Orchestra Projects release of Tobias Pickers Fantastic Mr. Fox, Joyce DiDonatos Songplay took Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, Nicola Benedettis rendition of Wynton Marsaliss Violin Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra won Best Classical Instrumental Solo, and the Best Contemporary Classical Composition was Jennifer Higdons Harp Concerto. Classical Music (UK) Former Seat boss Luca de Meo is set to become the CEO of French car-maker Renault. Photo: Pierre Albouy/Reuters Luca de Meo, until recently the CEO of Volkswagen-owned SEAT (VOW.DE), is set to become the chief executive of Renault (RNO.PA). Reuters reports that the French automakers board is expected to meet and confirm de Meos nomination later today. Earlier this month Milan-born De Meo resigned from Seat, which had thrived under his leadership, increasing both sales and profitability. He joined the Volkswagen Group in 2009 from Fiat, and was the marketing head for the VW brand, before becoming the board member for sales and marketing at Audi. Renault will be hoping that its new CEO can draw a line under the Carlos Ghosn scandal as well as boosting the car-makers struggling sales. Ghosn, who helmed the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, was arrested on financial misconduct allegations in Japan in November 2018. He jumped bail whilst under house arrest in Tokyo in December 2019 and fled to Beirut, Lebanon. READ MORE: Carlos Ghosn rips into Nissan and Japan's legal system comparing his arrest to 'Pearl Harbor' In a press conference earlier this month, Ghosn, formerly one of the most powerful men in the industry, accused Nissan of plotting to oust him and of colluding with the Japanese prosecutor to have him imprisoned. Ghosn said the plot was linked to Nissans (NSANY) declining performance in 2017, which he blamed on former Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa. De Meo, 52, will have the challenging task of patching up the frayed 20-year relationship between Renault and Nissan, which has been teetering on the verge of collapse. Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard recently denied media reports that Nissan was looking to extricate itself from the cost-sharing partnership with Renault. Shares in both companies have plunged amidst declining sales and ongoing rumours of a split. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 19:32:41|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TRPOLI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Forces of the UN-backed Libyan government on Tuesday announced shooting down an Emirate drone belonging to the rival eastern-based army in east of Misurata city, some 250 km east of the capital Tripoli. "Our air defenses managed to shoot down an Emirate drone belonging to the war criminal Haftar (commander of eastern-based army) east of Misurata," the UN-backed government's forces said in their official Facebook page. The UN-backed government's forces posted footage of the drone being shot down. The eastern-based army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, has been leading a military campaign since April 2019 in an attempt to take over Tripoli from the UN-backed government. Thousands of people have been killed and injured in the fighting, and more than 150,000 civilians were forced to flee their homes away from the violence. The two rival parties agreed to cease-fire on January 12, but both have been exchanging accusations for breaching the truce. Laurie Garrett was in Beijing when the Chinese authorities finally admitted the truth about the SARS virus in 2003. In an interview with NTD on Jan. 27, the journalist and health analyst who covered over 30 epidemics said that about a quarter-million people had fled the city within 48 hours, dispersing all over the country, taking a SARS virus with them. She said in the end, China had no choice but to basically put the whole nation on lockdown. Every single human being with a fever was placed in quarantine. Thats what eventually prohibited the spread of SARS since there is no vaccine or treatment available for the disease. But this time, the same approach may not work. The new coronavirus outbreak that started in Wuhan, China, has spread to at least 13 other countries or regions as of Jan 28. Chinese authorities have put over 56 million people from four entire cities under quarantine. Airports across the globe, including 20 in the United States, are screening passengers arriving from China for fever. There is one problem. Some infected patients of the new virus only show mild symptomsor no symptoms at all. They have normal body temperatures, and fever screenings would not be able to detect potential virus carriers. Chinas Health Commission said these asymptomatic patients can still be infectious, calling them walking sources of infection. Ifpeople are capable of transmitting to others before they have a fever, then a lot of these measures are kind of false assurance, Garrett said, Theyll miss huge numbers of people. Were deluding ourselves into believing that were stopping the epidemic by taking peoples temperatures, she said. The mayor of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, said that 5 million residents had fled the city before the lockdown went into effect on Jan 23. Although the number of cases confirmed outside of China grows, Garrett said it would be hard to imagine other nations implementing a similar quarantine as China did. There are a lot of economic pressures to keep the flow of humanity going, to keep trading moving, she said, Its going to be very hard to sustain over a period of time for any big quarantines. Secondary Transmission Outside of China, Phenomenally Dangerous Garrett said on Monday that she is very concerned if this spreads into secondary and tertiary transmission outside of mainland China. This may have already happened. On Tuesday, Taiwan reported its first case of domestic coronavirus transmission. The new patient, a man in his 50s, was infected by his wife after she returned from working in China before she was subsequently diagnosed. If you start to see two, three, four generations of transmission in other countries, Garrett said, then I think we could be in the kind of territory we havent seen in my lifetime. This could really be a phenomenally dangerous epidemic, she said. Another Coverup, Once Again 18 years ago, the Chinese communist regime covered up the SARS epidemic for weeks, leading to the virus global spread. Garrett said the Chinese communist regime may be concealing information once again. She said the Chinese communist regime was slow to take action in December to prevent the spread of the virus. They failed to take control measures such as issuing warnings to all Wuhan hospitals, putting out protective gear and strict protection requirements for all healthcare workers, setting up special entry procedures for people with fevers for rapid hospital access, etc. In fact, they didnt really startuntil, you know, two weeks later, she said. In an article on Foreign Policy, Garrett shared her tips on how to stay safe in the outbreak. It also has been translated into Chinese. I think were in an incredibly dangerous place right now. Because we dont know enough about the virus to make absolutely certain decisions about what action to take, she said. A "Get Ready for Brexit" ad campaign run by the British government last year did not "significantly" prepare citizens for the country's exit from the EU, according to a report published Tuesday. The campaign encouraged British citizens to take various actions, such as checking their passport's validity and buying health insurance when travelling to the EU and aimed to get EU citizens living in the U.K. to register for a settlement scheme, among other things. Adverts directed people to the gov.uk/brexit website. But the campaign could not demonstrate that it "resulted in significantly better preparedness," according to watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO). The Cabinet Office, which supports British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, spent 46 million ($59.9 million) out of a possible 100 million budget on the marketing campaign for the period September 1 to October 28. The campaign was stopped three days before October 31, after Britain agreed to delay Brexit until January 31. While 73% of people the Cabinet Office surveyed recalled the campaign when shown an advert, only 34% had looked or started to look for information, which was about the same proportion who had done so before the campaign started. The Cabinet Office surveyed around 1,000 adults in the U.K. each week for 11 weeks, starting the month before the Brexit ad campaign began. Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, praised the Cabinet Office for bringing multiple departments together and quickly launching a complex campaign, but said it did not put enough of a focus on the outcomes it needed. "If the Cabinet Office faces a similar challenge in the future, it should, from the start, focus much more on what impact is needed and how best to deliver the behaviour change required by government, targeting spending on the activities that are likely to add the greatest value," Davies said in an online statement. The U.K. will stop being a member of the EU at 11 p.m. London time on Friday. French President Emmanuel Macron drew a sharp rebuke from the country's top magistrates on Monday for criticising a court ruling on the 2017 murder of a Jewish woman in Paris. Sarah Halimi, an Orthodox Jewish woman in her sixties, died after being pushed out of the window of her Paris flat by a neighbour shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic). Her murder stoked debate over a new strain of anti-Semitism among radicalised Muslim youths in predominantly immigrant neighbourhoods. But the Court of Appeal in Paris last month concluded that the suspect, a heavy pot smoker, had succumbed to a "delirious fit" and was therefore not criminally responsible for his actions. During a visit to Israel last week Macron took issue with the finding, saying that "even if, in the end, the judge decided that there was no criminal responsibility, there is a need for a trial." His remarks drew a swift riposte from the prosecutor-general and the top judge at France's top appeals court, which will hear an appeal by Halimi's family against the lower court's insanity finding. In a statement, judge Chantal Arens of the Cour de Cassation and prosecutor Francois Molins noted that "the independence of the justice system, of which the president of the Republic is the guarantor, is an essential factor in the functioning of democracy." The judges of the Cour de Cassation, "must be able to examine all the appeals (in the Halimi case) in all serenity and independence", the two top magistrates said. The head of France's main judges' union, Katia Dubreuil, said she too was "shocked" by Macron's remarks, noting that despite his promise not to interfere in court rulings, "that's exactly what he's doing!" Macron had begun his speech in Jerusalem by saying that he could not comment on the court ruling because it was his role, as president, to ensure the independence of the judiciary. But the French leader, who was in Israel to attend events marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp, went on to comment on the case regardless in his speech to Israel's French community. Noting that a French judge had in 2018 confirmed that Halimi's murder was anti-Semitic in nature, Macron declared: "There is a need for the healing that a trial can bring." - 'Return of hatred' - France is battling a resurgence in anti-Semitism, despite a lingering sense of shame over the round-up and deportation of Jews from the country during World War II. The case of Sarah Halimi is an emotive one for the French Jewish community, which was dismayed at the initial reluctance of the judiciary to formally label her killing anti-Semitic. French Jews have been repeatedly targeted by jihadists in recent years, most notably in 2017, when an Islamist gunman shot dead three children and a teacher at a Jewish school in the southern city of Toulouse and in 2011 when a pro-Islamic State radical gunned down four people at a Jewish supermarket in Paris. The number of anti-Jewish offences reported to the police rose 74 percent in 2018. During his visit to Israel Macron railed against the rise in anti-Semitism, saying "this return of hatred haunts our present time." Light exposure regulates how two kinds of fat cells (adipocytes) work together to produce the raw materials that all other cells use for energy, according to a new study conducted in mice. Our bodies evolved over the years under the Suns light, including developing light-sensing genes called opsins, said Dr. Richard Lang, a developmental biologist at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center. But now we live so much of our days under artificial light, which does not provide the full spectrum of light we all get from the Sun. This study represents a significant change in the way we view the effects of light on our bodies. In the research, Dr. Lang and colleagues studied how mice respond when exposed to chilly temperatures about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 degrees Celsius). They already knew that mice, much like humans, use both a shivering response and an internal fat-burning response to heat themselves. Deeper analysis revealed that the internal heating process is compromised in the absence of the gene encephalopsin (OPN3) and exposure specifically to a 480-nm wavelength of blue light. This wavelength is a natural part of sunlight but occurs only in low levels in most artificial light. When the light exposure occurs, OPN3 prompts white fat cells to release fatty acids into the bloodstream. Various types of cells can use these fatty acids as energy to fuel their activities. But brown fat literally burns the fatty acids in a process called oxidation to generate heat that warms up the chilly mice. When mice were bred to lack the OPN3 gene, they failed to warm up as much as other mice when placed in chilly conditions. But surprisingly, even mice that had the correct gene failed to warm up when they exposed to light that lacked the blue wavelength. These data prompted the researchers to conclude that sunlight is required for normal energy metabolism; at least in mice. While they strongly suspect that a similar light-dependent metabolic pathway exists in humans, they need to complete another series of experiments to prove it. If the light-OPN3 adipocyte pathway exists in humans, there are potentially broad implications for human health, they said. Our modern lifestyle subjects us to unnatural lighting spectra, exposure to light at night, shift work, and jet lag, all of which result in metabolic disruption. Based on the current findings, it is possible that insufficient stimulation of the light-OPN3 adipocyte pathway is part of an explanation for the prevalence of metabolic deregulation in industrialized nations where unnatural lighting has become the norm. Someday, in theory, light therapy could become a method for preventing metabolic syndrome from developing into diabetes. Replacing indoor lights with better, full-spectrum lighting systems also could improve public health, Dr. Lang said. However, more study is needed to pin down the potential therapeutic value of light therapy. For now, however, if people want to take anything personal away from this, you likely cant go wrong by spending more time outside, Dr. Lang said. The study was published in the journal Cell Reports. _____ Gowri Nayak et al. 2020. Adaptive Thermogenesis in Mice is Enhanced by Opsin 3-Dependent Adipocyte Light Sensing. Cell Reports 30 (3): 672-686; doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.12.043 GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more I had no idea about the division of Cyprus, Mr. Yebga said on a chilly night at his temporary home, echoing dozens of others in his situation who express bafflement at the complex political situation. I just thought, I need to get to Europe, to be safe from harassment. People smugglers and individuals who present themselves as agents for private universities in Turkish-controlled Cyprus often suggest the route to potential asylum seekers, but do not explain the intricacies of the political situation on the island. Many asylum seekers arrive on Cyprus believing that it is somehow linked to mainland Europe (it is not), or that it belongs to the Schengen zone of passport-free travel (it does not). Experts say this is why Cyprus emerged as a destination only after other routes to the European Union closed. The number of asylum seekers in Cyprus was five times higher in 2019 than it was four years ago, unlike in the rest of the bloc, where those numbers have tapered off markedly since 2015. The islands budding migration crisis is a consequence of its fraught history and continuing division, which has defeated attempts at mediation for decades. Alan Joyce will front the media on Wednesday in Toowoomba as he cuts the ribbon on Qantas' new flight academy in the Queensland regional centre. Of more interest to shareholders will be whether the Qantas chief executive provides any update on the financial impacts on the airline of recent bushfires or the rapidly spreading coronavirus. Qantas has pushed back a board decision on Project Sunrise until March. Unlike several other companies whose earnings have been negatively affected, Qantas has not yet provided an update to the stock exchange on the bushfires. This suggests the impacts on the airline's profits have not been as severe as other players within the tourism industry. Coronavirus will however present a far greater financial problem for the airline. In a Tuesday note to clients, investment bank UBS put some numbers around the potential impacts on the companys earnings - using the 2003 SARS pandemic as a guideline. At present, a focus on males in basic research and clinical trials means that models of disease are also based on men. Symptoms and disease progression in male patients are therefore considered the standard, while disease manifestations that are usually observed in women are judged "atypical". Cardiology is a typical example of a medical field where treatment concepts have been geared to one specific gender, although presentation and outcomes of many cardiovascular conditions are different in women and men. Indeed, a heart attack is still considered a typical male's disease, although women encounter a heart attack just as often - but on average 10 years later than men. "It is known that women with an acute myocardial infarction report more often unspecific symptoms and, consequently, experience higher patient and system delays". says Prof. Catherine Gebhard, cardiologist at the University Hospital Zurich and program director for the new CAS in "Sex- and Gender-Specific Medicine". The opposite scenario also occurs, but much more rarely, explains Gebhard. "Management strategies for "typical" female conditions such as osteoporosis are derived from predominantly female populations and the disease is widely unrecognized and undertreated in men." There are also sex and gender differences in the efficacy of pharmaceuticals: although it is known that drug metabolism is different in the female body, women remain largely underrepresented in most clinical trials. Accordingly, the latest reports from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the period from 2004 to 2013 reveal that side effects occur 50% more frequently in women than in men. The precision medicine of the future should address each individual's specific needs, says Gebhard: "Considering sex and gender differences in patient care is an important first step." Putting insights about sex- and gender-specific differences into practice Our understanding of sex- and gender-specific aspects of medicine increases every year, aided by several thousand research publications. However, their translation into clinical practice is very slow. The inclusion of gender differences in basic medical training is still in the early stages. Therefore, Prof. Daniel Candinas, Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Bern and Clinic Director of the University Clinic for Visceral Surgery and Medicine at the Inselspital Bern, and Prof. Beatrice Beck Schimmer, Vice President Medicine (UMZH) at the University of Zurich, have launched the CAS continuing education program in "Sex- and Gender-Specific Medicine", the first of its kind in Switzerland. Unique in Europe As of May 2020, eleven modules teaching sex- and gender-specific aspects in various medical disciplines will be available. These will be taught by both national and international experts, include research topics, discuss the latest evidence and touch on the issue of knowledge gaps. In addition to the full CAS, it is also possible to attend individual modules. The further education program is aimed at medical professionals and specialists in related fields who want to broaden their knowledge of sex- and gender-specific differences in medicine and base their practices on the latest research. Organizationally, this CAS is provided by the University of Bern, but modules will be offered both at the universities of Bern and Zurich. "The CAS in Sex- and Gender-Specific Medicine is a comprehensive study program that should directly benefit the well-being of patients. It is the only one of its kind in Europe" says Prof. Daniel Candinas. "We are looking forward to this collaboration." says Prof. Beatrice Beck Schimmer. "The universities of Bern and Zurich combine their established expertise to bring insights about sex- and gender-specific medicine into Swiss practices and hospitals." ### Under fire due to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and proposed NRC agitation, the government has repeatedly drawn attention to the atrocities on Hindus in Pakistan. New Delhi: India on Tuesday summoned a senior official from the Pakistan High Commission and issued a strong demarche against abduction of a Hindu girl from her marriage ceremony on January 25, with the help of local police in Hala city of Sindh province, Indian government sources said on Tuesday. India also issued a demarche regarding the desecration of the Mata Rani Bhatiyani Temple in Tharparkar Sindh province on January 26, sources added. Sources further said, India asked the government of Pakistan to investigate and take urgent action for protecting and promoting the security, safety and welfare of its citizens including the minority Hindu community in Pakistan and take immediate measures to expeditiously bring the perpetrators of such despicable and heinous acts to justice. Under fire due to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and proposed NRC agitation, the government has repeatedly drawn attention to the atrocities on Hindus in Pakistan. LONDON Britain decided Tuesday to let Chinese tech giant Huawei have a limited role supplying new high-speed network equipment to wireless carriers, ignoring the U.S. governments warnings that it would sever intelligence sharing if the company was not banned. Britains decision is the first by a major U.S. ally in Europe, and follows intense lobbying from the Trump administration as the U.S. vies with China for technological dominance. It sets up a diplomatic clash with the Americans, who claim that British sovereignty is at risk because the company could give the Chinese government access to data, an allegation Huawei denies. We would never take decisions that threaten our national security or the security of our Five Eyes partners, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, referring to a security arrangement in which Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, share intelligence. We know more about Huawei and the risks that it poses than any other country in the world. The decision was awkward for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who risks the fury of one of Britains closest allies at just the moment it needs the Trumps administration to quickly strike a trade deal after Brexit. Britain officially leaves the European Union at the end of the week, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to pay a two-day visit starting Wednesday to meet with Johnson and Raab to reaffirm the tran-Atlantic relationship. A senior Trump administration official said the U.S. is disappointed by the decision, adding that the U.S. government would work with the U.K. on a way forward that leads to the exclusion of untrusted vendor components from 5G networks. The official was not authorized to comment on the sensitive diplomacy between longstanding allies and spoke on condition of anonymity. In its decision, the British government said it was excluding high risk companies from supplying the sensitive core parts of the new fifth-generation, or 5G, networks. The core is the brain that keeps track, among other things, of smartphones connecting to networks and helps manage data traffic. But Britain will allow high risk suppliers to provide up to 35% of a carriers less risky radio network, based on factors including the amount of data traffic and the number of base stations. The announcement did not mention any companies by name but said high risk vendors are those who pose greater security and resilience risks to U.K. telecoms networks a clear reference to Huawei. Huawei said it was reassured by the evidence-based decision, portraying it as a victory. Executives said 35% of a market would be a good result for most companies. We need to have strong competition to make sure the consumer can enjoy the best possible technologies, Vice President Victor Zhang said on a conference call with reporters. By giving Huawei limited access, Johnsons government is attempting to thread a path between the U.S. and China, analysts said. In truth the U.K. had little room to manoeuvre, said Emily Taylor, CEO of Oxford Information Labs, a cyber intelligence company. The decision seeks to carve an acceptable middle ground that will keep various contending forces happy, she said, noting that British wireless carries have already been using Huawei gear for 15 years. The 5G technology is expected to drive the next wave of innovation, transmitting massive amounts of data from more objects and locations. It would, for example, help make possible self-driving cars or remote surgery. Huawei is the top global supplier of mobile networks, and its considered a cost-effective and high-quality alternative to its main rivals, Finlands Nokia and Swedens Ericsson. The United States says that Chinas communist leaders could, under a 2017 national intelligence law, compel Huawei to carry out cyberespionage. The U.S. has threatened repeatedly to cut off intelligence sharing with allies that use Huawei. Heres the sad truth: our special relationship is less special now that the U.K. has embraced the surveillance state commies at Huawei, said U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. During the Cold War, Margaret Thatcher never contracted with the KGB to save a few pennies. With 5G, U.S. officials also worry that because the core will run extensively on software, it could be nearly impossible to spot an accidental vulnerability or a malicious backdoor among millions of lines of computer code. Huawei denies the allegations, saying theres never been any evidence it is responsible for a breach. For Britain, the 5G infrastructure program is considered critical as it leaves the EU and aims to position its economy to benefit from technological innovation. The government said Tuesday it is taking some steps that will allow it to mitigate the potential risk posed by the supply chain and to combat the range of threats, whether cyber criminals, or state sponsored attacks. The plans include encouraging smaller suppliers such as South Koreas Samsung and Japans NEC to enter the British market. The government will draft legislation to make the security requirements mandatory. In the meantime, cybersecurity officials will advise wireless carriers, some of whom have already installed Huawei 5G-capable gear that exceeds the 35% cap, on how to comply. Mobile phone companies said they were analyzing the decision. Vodafone, which uses Huawei for parts of its radio network but not in its core, said that using multiple suppliers is the best way to safeguard the delivery of services to all mobile customers. ___ Associated Press Writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this story. ___ Follow the APs coverage of technology at: https://apnews.com/apf-technology The former head of Houston's Black Elk Energy reached a deal to eventually dismiss charges that he helped run a fraudulent scheme with the company's New York hedge fund owners. Former Black Elk Chief Executive Jeff Shulse will have all of the charges dropped in January 2022 as long as he avoids other arrests as part of a deferred prosecution agreement announced Tuesday. His trial was scheduled to begin Monday in federal court in New York. Black Elk gained infamy in 2012 when an explosion killed three workers on an offshore rig it operated in the Gulf of Mexico. As the company was failing financially afterward, the majority owners at the Platinum Partners hedge fund were alleged to have run a bond scheme to raid the proceeds from the sale of Black Elk assets in 2014. Shulse was charged in 2016 with securities fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, and his defense argued for three years that he was unaware of any alleged wrongdoing orchestrated by the Platinum Partners hedge fund. The conspiracy alleged Platinum tried to sell Black Elk assets and take the money for itself, rather than pay the creditors holding Black Elk bonds. Platinum falsely inflated Black Elk's value, but still possessed valuable assets in the Gulf of Mexico. The defendants tried to sell those assets and divert proceeds to Platinum, instead of to bondholders, who should have been the first to receive the money, authorities said. Some of the managers of the now-defunct hedge fund are still facing federal charges. RELATED: The fall of Black Elk Energy Platinum installed Shulse as the new Black Elk chief executive in 2014 to supplant Black Elk founder John Hoffman, who has not faced any charges. Shulse was brought in to turn Black Elk around and he was not a party to the fraud that federal investigators allege Platinum committed, said Shulse's lawyer, F. Andino Reynal. Shulse was unaware of the alleged bond fraud, he said. This was a clear case of government overreach, Reynal said, where the prosecutors falsely assumed Shulse was an extension of the hedge fund in Houston. In an early 2019 trial, two of the Platinum executives were acquitted. A new trial is pending for Platinum founder Mark Nordlicht. Reynal credits a new prosecution team with taking a more reasoned approach with regard to his client. "No one can return to Jeff the last four years, but I know Jeff and the support he has in the community and I know that he will rebuild," Reynal said. Shulse originally headed a Black Elk subsidiary and was appointed the Black Elk chief financial officer with the plan that he would replace Hoffman. However, Hoffman accused Shulse of working behind the scenes with Platinum to oust him from the company he founded. Reynal said Shulse saw that Hoffman was running Black Elk poorly and spending lavishly. After taking the reins in September 2014, Shulse tried to turn Black Elk into a company that invested in - but didn't operate - Gulf oil and gas assets. But crude oil prices were going bust by then and he was fired in April 2015 after he opposed another bond scheme that Platinum wanted to do, Reynal said. Gorgeous Nails Salon | Photo: Stephanie Q./Yelp Wondering where to find the best nail salons near you? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top nail salons in Cambridge, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to venture next time you're in the market for nail salons. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 1. Beauty Spa Photo: chris w./Yelp First on the list is Beauty Spa. Located at 1766 Massachusetts Ave. in Peabody, the nail salon, hair removal and eyelash service spot is the highest-rated nail salon in Cambridge, boasting four stars out of 351 reviews on Yelp. 2. Harvard Beauty Spa Photo: anne l./Yelp Next up is Mid-Cambridge's Harvard Beauty Spa, situated at 997 Massachusetts Ave. With four stars out of 67 reviews on Yelp, the spot has proven to be a local favorite. 3. Gorgeous Nails Salon Photo: tanvi d./Yelp East Cambridge's Gorgeous Nails Salon, located at 435 Cambridge St., is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the nail salon and waxing spot four stars out of 219 reviews. 4. Le's beauty & Nail Photo: Le's beauty & nail/Yelp And Le's beauty & Nail, a nail salon, eyelash service and waxing spot in East Cambridge, is another go-to, with four stars out of 148 Yelp reviews. Head over to 480 Cambridge St. to see for yourself. 5. Cambridge Nails and Skin Spa Photo: cristina r./Yelp Finally, over in North Cambridge, check out Cambridge Nails and Skin Spa, which has earned four stars out of 107 reviews on Yelp. You can find the nail salon, skincare and waxing spot at 2096 Massachusetts Ave. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. [January 28, 2020] Industry Veteran Gene Todd Begins New Role Leading Business Development at Fiduciary Trust Fiduciary Trust Company International, a global wealth manager and wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, announces that Gene Todd has joined the firm as executive vice president for business development. Based in San Mateo, CA (News - Alert), where Franklin Templeton is headquartered, Mr. Todd will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of client development. "As we explore opportunities to expand and enhance our resources, services, and national footprint, Gene will work with our leaders to ensure we are well-positioned to deliver peace of mind to current and future high-net-worth clients," said John M. Dowd, chief executive officer of Fiduciary Trust Company International. "Gene's experience in solving wealthy clients' financial needs, combined with his strategic mergers and acquisitions experience, will help us as we continue to grow." In his new position, Mr. Todd will develop and implement strategies to increase Fiduciary Trust's market share, revenue, and profitability. These strategies will include initiatives for driving new business among high-net-worth individuals and families in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Todd, an executive committee member of the Bank, Insurance & Securities Association's board of directors, has more than 25 years of experience in multiple areas of the financial services industry, including wealth management, private equity, venture capital, M&A, and leveraged buyouts. He joins Fiduciary Trust Company International from First Bank, Inc., one of the country's largest family owned banks in St. Louis, where he served as executive vice president and head of the wealth management group. Mr. Todd previously served as director of sales at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, where he created a wealth management insurance platform. Prior to joining Key Private Bank, Mr. Todd was a senior managing director and head of the Equity Sponsor Group at National City Corp., now PNC (News - Alert) Bank. Prior to joining PNC, Mr. Todd was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley in New York, where he focused on M&A and capital market transactions for leveraged buyout firms. "Fiduciary Trust Company International's ongoing expansion enables more high-net-worth clients across the country, and around the world, to increase and preserve their wealth across generations," said Mr. Todd. "We are committed to making the ongoing growth of our offering and our organization as seamless as possible for clients and team members alike." Fiduciary Trust Company International has steadily bolstered its client solutions and national presence. The firm recently anounced it has agreed to acquire The Pennsylvania Trust Company, a leading wealth management practice in the Philadelphia area with about $4 billion in assets under management. Fiduciary Trust also announced an agreement to acquire Athena Capital Advisors, LLC, a Lincoln, MA-based registered investment advisor (RIA) with approximately $6 billion in assets under management. Mr. Todd earned his MBA in finance from the University of Michigan, and received his bachelor of science in finance from The Ohio State University. While living and working in St. Louis, he served on the boards of directors for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, and Loyola Academy. He is a frequent contributor to CNBC and other news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal. About Fiduciary Trust Company International Fiduciary Trust Company International, a global wealth management firm, has served individuals, families, endowments and foundations since 1931. With over $75 billion in assets under administration and management as of September 30, 2019, the firm specializes in strategic wealth planning, investment management and trust and estate services, as well as tax and custody services. The firm and its subsidiaries maintain offices in New York, NY, Coral Gables, FL, Boca Raton, FL, St. Petersburg, FL, Los Angeles, CA, San Mateo, CA, San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC, Wilmington, DE, and Arlington, VA. For more information, please visit fiduciarytrust.com, and for the latest updates, follow Fiduciary Trust on LinkedIn and Twitter (News - Alert): @FiduciaryTrust. About Franklin Resources Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton. Franklin Templeton's goal is to deliver better outcomes by providing global and domestic investment management to retail, institutional and sovereign wealth clients in over 170 countries. Through specialized teams, the Company has expertise across all asset classes, including equity, fixed income, alternatives and custom multi-asset solutions. The Company's more than 600 investment professionals are supported by its integrated, worldwide team of risk management professionals and global trading desk network. With employees in over 30 countries, the California-based company has more than 70 years of investment experience and over US$698 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2019. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com. Copyright 2020. Fiduciary Trust Company International. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005464/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Vietnamese mother who traveled to her motherland to volunteer wore a shirt with an unfortunate message, her daughter recently revealed on Facebook. On Jan. 18, Emily Le, of Vancouver, British Columbia, shared photos of her 49-year-old mother on the Facebook group page "Subtle Asian Traits." Images show the woman smiling and posing with a number of children and locals. The only issue, however, is the message on the mother's T-shirt in bold lettering, the words read, "NOT MY PROBLEM." "My mom went up to the mountains in Vietnam to help the less fortunate kids while wearing this shirt," Le posted. "She has no idea what it means (love you mom)." Emily Le's Facebook post Le's post immediately went viral as of Tuesday afternoon, it has received over 30,000 reactions and nearly 3,000 comments. "A Melania trump situation but cuter lol," one person quipped, in a possible reference to the first lady's 2018 gaffe, in which she visited a migrant children's shelter in Texas and wore a trench coat with a message that read, "I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?" "What she did was noble but everyone commenting on what's written on her shirt!" another wrote. "Wonderful." In a follow-up interview with NextShark, Le's sister Jeannine Ho confirmed the account, explaining that she and their mother traveled to Vietnam to help less fortunate children for the Lunar New Year. "We drove up the mountains in a truck, approximately 30 minutes away from Ninh Hoa," Ho explained. "My mom, aunts and I handed out rice, fish sauce, spices, dried fish, shoes, chips and goodies for the children, and enough supplies to last them throughout the following months." Ho further added that she wanted to help, in part, due to her mother's perseverance. Ho's mother reportedly raised three daughters aged 18, 21 and 25 years old all by herself. "There were times where we had to go to the food bank for dinner," Ho recalled. "I was grateful for those who helped us when we were in need. Now that we are older, my mom and I decided to help out the people who need the support of others, just like how we once were." Ho also backed her sister's claim that their mother did not intentionally wear the shirt during their trip. "I have no idea where she got that shirt from, maybe it was one of my old shirts that she threw on," Ho told NextShark. "But her English isnt fluent so she has no idea what her shirt actually means. In fact, she couldnt even understand why I was laughing so hard while taking these pictures. Luckily, the children did not understand the shirt either." The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to 17 convicts in the 2002 Sardarpura post-Godhra riots case in which 33 Muslims were burnt alive New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to 17 convicts in the 2002 Sardarpura post-Godhra riots case in which 33 Muslims were burnt alive and asked them to relocate to Madhya Pradesh and do community service. A bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant divided the convicts in two groups and said one group would move out of Gujarat and stay at Indore in Madhya Pradesh. The other group of convicts will have to relocate themselves to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, the bench said. The convicts, who were handed down life sentence in the Sardarpura riots case, have appealed against the Gujarat High Court order convicting them. The court said that all the convicts will have to undertake community services for six hours a week besides reporting to the local police station on a weekly basis as bail conditions. The Supreme Court has directed the District Legal Services Authorities at Indore and Jabalpur to ensure that the convicts observe bail conditions diligently. It has also directed DLSA to help the convicts in finding suitable employment for earning their livelihood. It has directed the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Service Authority to file a report after three months stating as to whether the convicts have complied with the conditions or not. Earlier the Gujarat High Court had acquitted 14 and convicted 17 in the Sardarpura post-Godhra riots case. UPDATE: The sentencing for Daren DeJong has been postponed. A future date has not been listed as of Feb. 2. As federal prosecutors and defense lawyers prepare for the sentencing of former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Daren DeJong, authorities are saying state police turned over boxes of records associated with Troop E. That troop was the unit DeJong was assigned to and the troop involved in the widespread overtime abuse scandal that led to several troopers charged and sentenced in either state or federal court. DeJong will appear in Boston federal court on Feb. 4 for sentencing after being found guilty, a year ago, to a charge of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds. DeJong, of Uxbridge, is one of 10 troopers charged in either state or federal court in the overtime scandal where troopers skipped shifts, created phony citations and destroyed records while they were supposed to be conducting specialized traffic enforcement on the Massachusetts Turnpike and Metropolitan Tunnel System. DeJong gave information to the Massachusetts State Attorney Generals Office investigators at one time after he was charged, but at that time declined to speak to federal investigators. In a recent sentencing memorandum, filed in preparation for sentencing, prosecutors said DeJong refused to meet with federal authorities in June and November of 2018. But in May 2019, DeJong met with federal authorities and gave the same information he disclosed to the state attorney generals office, the prosecutors wrote. DeJong gave state investigators from the state names of troopers, described their practices and provided personal cell phone numbers of the troopers, his defense lawyer said. DeJong described how troopers would skip shifts, destroy documents and conduct the ruse during AIRE (Accident and Injury Reduction Effort) patrols, which were four-hour overtime shifts created to reduce accidents, crashes and injuries on the Massachusetts Turnpike. Federal prosecutors also said that on June 4, state police contacted the U.S. Attorneys Office and reported they had recently discovered a number of boxes of materials containing records of Troop E dating from prior to 2015. The majority of accusations the troopers faced in the overtime scandal involved 2015 and 2016. Some of the discovered records involved the 2004 Democratic National Convention operational plans, a Sail Boston security plan, asset forfeiture materials, towing documents and other crash reports. There were, however, some materials related to this case, including agency (MSP) copies of citations dating back prior to 2015 which were located in several of the former Troop E barracks, including the Weston barracks, where DeJong had been assigned, prosecutors wrote. These materials contained only a fraction of the citations from those years. The federal prosecutors reviewed the documents and their requests for previously subpoenaed materials from 2013 and 2014 for DeJong. State police provided payroll records for DeJong for those years and fuel records for DeJongs cruiser dating from January 2012. State police also sent radio data for DeJongs cruiser from August 2013 to the end of 2014. Prosecutors used the information to calculate how much money was lost in 2013 and 2014 and added that to the amounts for the 2015 and 2016 overtime abuse. Prosecutors say DeJong was not present for 376 hours of AIRE overtime and 156 hours of X-Team overtime from August 2013 through December 2014. The government calculated the money lost due to DeJong skipping shifts from 2013 to 2017 to be $63,603 The government previously reported DeJong stole $14,000 by skipping shifts in 2016, but the number increased due to the review of the other years and new records. Federal prosecutors want DeJong sentenced to serve six months in prison, an agreement made with DeJong when he pleaded guilty early. The government stated it planned to abide by the plea agreement even though it has new information about theft of money. The government also wants DeJong to be on supervised released for one year and ordered to pay restitution. Defense lawyer R. Bradford Bailey wants DeJong sentenced to one year of supervised release including six months of home confinement. He said DeJongs restitution should be $14,000. In his sentencing memorandum, Bailey notes that former Mass. State Police Lt. John Giulino was sentenced in Suffolk Superior Court last month to two years of probation for his involvement in the overtime scandal. DeJong worked AIRE shifts under Giulinos supervision. DeJong would have been called as a witness for the state attorney generals office if Giulinos case went to trial in state court, Bailey wrote. One of the troopers who was charged in both state and federal court, former Lt. David Wilson, already pleaded guilty to a federal embezzlement charge, but in August rejected a plea deal in state court. Hes the only trooper to face both federal and state charges in the overtime investigation. More than 40 troopers were flagged after state police conducted an internal audit. Troop E was also dissolved. Related Content: Oklahoma City, OK, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The McDonalds Owner/Operators of Central and Western Oklahoma are teaming up with the Oklahoma City Thunder to support families with a hospitalized child through Ronald McDonald House Charities of Oklahoma City (RMHC-OKC). From January 27 February 23rd, the McDonalds of Central and Western Oklahoma will be holding an in-store fundraiser to help families stay close to their hospitalized child. All monies raised from the Thunder Up! for Ronald McDonald House Charities campaign will go directly to support families through the Ronald McDonald House and Ronald McDonald Family Room in Oklahoma City. McDonalds Customers can donate $1, $3 or $5 (or more) to be added to any order, which will be directly donated to RMHC-OKC. Customers can then put their name and a message on the Thunder Up! donation card, to be hung inside the restaurant, showing support for the affected families. About McDonald's of Oklahoma McDonalds of Oklahoma City is comprised of 104 franchised restaurants owned and operated by 20 local owner/operators. For more information visit mcdonalds.com or follow us on Twitter (@McDonalds) for updates on our business, promotions and products. Download our new App at McDApp.com. About McDonald's McDonalds USA, LLC, serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to nearly 25 million customers every day. Ninety-five percent of McDonalds 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by businessmen and women. For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com, or follow us on Twitter @McDonalds and Facebook. www.facebook.com/mcdonalds. ABOUT RONALD McDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OKLAHOMA CITY Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur was the offending leader on Monday, raising the chant while campaigning for a BJP candidate in Rithala, Delhi If senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had left us with the capacity to be shocked, we would indeed be profoundly shaken by the fact that a member of the Union Council of Ministers led a crowd he was addressing on Monday in raising a chant exhorting people to "Shoot the country's traitors". A BJP candidate for the impending Assembly election in Delhi, Kapil Mishra, led a procession on 21 December, 2019 in which an abbreviated version of this chant was also raised. He was not sanctioned, though his recidivist bouts of incitement led the Election Commission (EC) to slap him gently on the wrist banning him from campaigning for 48 hours, beginning 5 pm on Saturday (thus, expired now) for saying that the Delhi election was like a contest between India and Pakistan. Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur was the offending leader on Monday, raising the chant while campaigning for a BJP candidate in Rithala, Delhi. Considering the fact that a candidate for the elections got away practically unscathed after making incendiary statements serially, it is unclear what the EC can do to Thakur. At best, it can ban him from campaigning altogether, but that will probably neither greatly inconvenience him nor the party. Dilip Ghosh, the president of the West Bengal unit of the BJP, had made a similar statement, which he refused to retract after it provoked an outcry. He had said on 12 January that people in West Bengal who were destroying government property while protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, and the National Register of Citizens (NCR) should be shot 'like dogs' as they had been in Uttar Pradesh and Assam. He refused to recant despite criticism from members of his own party and a statement issued by the Uttar Pradesh government to the effect that it had not shot anyone. What ought to be done in such cases lies in the bailiwick of the police. This chant is clearly an incitement to violence, even murder. The police can, therefore, slap an accessory-before-the-fact charge on these leaders. The Delhi Police had actually lodged a first information report (FIR) against Mishra for the 'India-Pakistan' tweet. On the face of it, there is no reason to desist from lodging FIRs against Mishra and Thakur for the 'shoot them' slogans. Ghosh has been booked by the West Bengal Police. The larger point, however, is the phenomenon itself of senior BJP leaders making statements that do not behoove them. Take the rhetorical trajectory that began with the formulation of the dangerous, though utterly vacuous, phrase 'tukde, tukde gang'. The phrase gained currency in 2016, when then Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, along with two other students, was accused of raising 'anti-national' slogans at an event organised by them. They were charged, inter alia, with sedition. In the absence of evidence, the cases against the three former students have languished. But these two phrases 'tukde, tukde gang' and 'anti-national' have become part of the BJP's rhetorical arsenal. They are used indiscriminately to attack as unpatriotic and even traitorous anyone and everyone who does not embrace the viciously exclusivist and majoritarian ideological frame of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its parivar, which includes preeminently the BJP. Thus, a number of leaders have branded the protesters currently demonstrating peacefully at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh and scores of Shaheen Baghs all over India. It was Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who, most recently, accused the Shaheen Bagh protesters of being, by default, part of the tukde, tukde gang. A significant section of the protesters at Shaheen Bagh and elsewhere are, however, apolitical women who are participating in a protest for the first time in their lives because they genuinely fear that a toxic combination of the CAA and the NCR will rob many Muslims, alongside many poor and indigent people regardless of their denominational status, of their citizenship and wreak great damage to constitutional democracy. [January 28, 2020] Nirveda Cognition, an AI-Powered Document Intelligence Startup, Secures Investment from Mexico Ventures GLENDALE, Calif., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nirveda Cognition, a Cerracap Ventures incubated, artificial intelligence company building an enterprise document intelligence and analytics platform, announced that it has secured an investment from Mexico Ventures II Direct Fund, L.P. Mexico Ventures is a fund created to invest in leading innovation and entrepreneurial capital funds and direct co-investment opportunities within Mexico or with strong ties to Mexico. It is co-managed by Fondo de Fondos based in Mexico City and Sun Mountain Capital headquartered in Santa Fe, NM. The new funding will be used to expand Nirveda Cognition's engineering, product development, and sales teams to meet the demands of a growing global customer base. As artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly integral part of how organizations operate and make decisions, Nirveda Cognition is focused on delivering the power of AI without the associated implementation complexity. Leading organizations across the world are adopting the company's document intelligence and analytics platform to make faster, smarter, and more informed decisions to aid revenue growth, cost reduction, quality enhancement, and risk mitigation. "Nirveda offers a practical implementation path for enterprises that are looking to use AI to take advantage of new opportunities and solve pressing business problems. AI is providing value today, but implementation can often be overly complex and out of the reach of many organizations. Nirveda's platform approach and implementation expertise address this disconnct and bring practical AI within reach for most organizations," said Lee Rand, Partner at Sun Mountain Capital. According to Mani Veluthakkal, CEO of Nirveda Cognition, this funding will be used to support the company's global expansion of its sales and operations, product development, and technology roadmap. "We are very pleased to have Mexico Ventures' support as Nirveda Cognition continues to reshape the future of work by making the power of artificial intelligence accessible to every application, every business process, and every employee at organizations across the world." About Nirveda Cognition Founded in 2017, Nirveda Cognition is an artificial intelligence company developing an enterprise document intelligence and analytics platform to enable organizations to make data-driven decisions, faster and smarter. Based in Glendale, CA, Nirveda Cognition is backed by leading early-stage venture investors including Cerracap Ventures and Mexico Ventures. www.nirvedacognition.ai About Sun Mountain Capital Sun Mountain Capital Advisors, L.L.C., founded in 2006 and based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a diversified private equity investment firm with investment strategies in venture capital, growth capital and private credit. The firm focuses on investing in high potential underserved geographies both in the U.S. and abroad. www.sunmountaincapital.com About Fondo de Fondos Fondo de Fondos (FdeF), based in Mexico City, MX specializes in private equity and venture capital investment, was created combining the commitments of four large Mexico based institutions (Nacional Financiera, Focir, Banobras, and Bancomext) whose main goal is to generate attractive risk adjusted returns and support the private equity industry in Mexico. Since then, FdeF has implemented a strategic plan to manage third party resources under international best practices, creating unique databases in the industry and recruiting renowned experts to strengthen its founding team. Currently, FdeF manages commitments of more than US$1.0 billion. Contact: [email protected] Call: 949-309-8598 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nirveda-cognition-an-ai-powered-document-intelligence-startup-secures-investment-from-mexico-ventures-300994756.html SOURCE CerraCap Ventures [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Cultural Development Programme Youth Arts Jamboree This years Youth Arts Jamboree, a cultural development programme dedicated to young people, is being launched by the Gibraltar Cultural Services. The activities offered in the programme are all geared for children and young people aged between 2 and 25 years old. The Jamboree will be held from the 17th February to the 6th March 2020. Some events will continue out of this timeframe, including the Youth Open Day that has been scheduled for Sunday 17th May 2020. This years programme offers specific workshops for young people in a variety of disciplines, from creative writing and poetry, to drama, music, fine art, movement, horticulture and yoga. The aim is to invest in young people, offering opportunities for growth and development. The sessions will be fun and educational, some targeted at beginners and others more specialised and focused. Some of the events are open to the young public, with others organised with educational establishments and youth groups to maximise the benefit of the session and its reach. His Worship the Mayor, John Goncalvez MBE GMD, will once again lead visits to the historic City Hall, with GCS combining these with art tours of the Mario Finlayson Art Gallery housed within. This year these tours will not be exclusively held within the Jamboree month to allow for more visits to the Mayors Parlour. GCS are once again working on offering live chat and performance sessions with local established musicians relaying their life experiences. An opportunity to share in the joys and successes of some of Gibraltars best, an opportunity to learn from them. Hoping to invest in future skills, the programme will offer opportunities in photography, and sound and light for theatre. A few placements have been funded and made available for young people wishing to learn or further improve their skills in these areas. These programmes will be provided by the Gibraltar Photographic Society, and GCS. Other events will include the established art, dance and music competitions, Heritage Trust (WWII and Northern Defences) and Gibraltar Museum tours and the World Book Day celebrations, amongst others. The Art treasure hunt featuring Gibraltars leading art galleries has been re-vamped so that youth groups and young people and their families may appreciate the work of local artists and the interesting buildings they are housed within. The walk takes you on a journey from Casemates via Irish Town to John Mackintosh Square, incorporating some of the Street Art too. An effort has been made to introduce new sessions for different age groups, with some of the popular workshops making a return too. Innovations this year include yoga for toddlers, guitar maintenance and song writing, capoeira and stomp-like musical workshops, drama therapy, a flower arranging session, and clay workshops. The Minister for Culture, the Hon Prof Dr John Cortes MP, said: It gives me great pleasure to present the full and varied development programme that has been produced by Gibraltar Cultural Services. It is imperative that we invest in our youth so that we can have more young people in cultural activities, and in turn, we strive to produce the cultural, youth and heritage leaders of the future. We need more young people involved in all forms of activities covering the Humanities spectrum. The Government believes that this Jamboree, is a very important development programme for Gibraltar, as it will provide a platform that will contribute to our communitys cultural growth. I look forward to the participation of many of our youth in this unique Jamboree. JNU student Sharjeel Imam, who was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad by Delhi police on Tuesday, will be brought to Aligarh after the district police apply for his remand in connection with a case registered against him here, said Aligarh Police. "Due to a case lodged against the JNU student Sharjeel Imam here, he will be brought to Aligarh after applying for his remand," said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Akash Kulhari. Imam stoked a controversy with his "cut off Assam from India" remark at Shaheen Bagh protest last week. Earlier today, Jehanabad police had detained Sharjeel's younger brother Muzammil Imam. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Sunday booked Sharjeel Imam for his controversial speech that he allegedly made a few days ago. He has been slapped with charges of sedition and inciting enmity between communities under Sections 124A, 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Separately, a case has been registered against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police for another controversial speech made by Imam during the students' protest at Aligarh Muslim University against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Register of Citizens (NRC) on January 16. A series of videos have gone viral on social media in which Sharjeel Imam is heard saying: "If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannot do it permanently, then at least for one to two months, we can do this." "It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. When this happens, only then the government will listen to us," he is heard saying further in the video. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump is set to unveil his administrations much-anticipated Middle East peace plan in the latest American venture to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Odds of it taking shape, though, appear long, given the Palestinians' preemptive rejection of the plan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's shaky political standing. For both men, the White House summit looks to be a welcome diversion. Trump is expected to present the proposal alongside Netanyahu at noon Tuesday. The event comes the day Trump's impeachment trial continues in the Senate and the Israeli parliament had planned a hearing to discuss Netanyahus request for immunity from criminal corruption charges. Netanyahu withdrew that request hours before the parliamentary proceedings were set to begin, saying in a statement he had decided not to let this dirty game continue." But Israels parliament, the Knesset, is still expected to meet even after the withdrawal. The body had been set to likely vote against immunity, dealing Netanyahu a blow. The Mideast peace proposal is expected to be very favorable to Israel, and Netanyahu has hailed it as a chance to make history and define Israel's final borders. Netanyahu's political challenger Benny Gantz has spoken in glowing terms about Trump and his initiative. Trump insists it has a chance despite skepticism. "Its been worked on by everybody, and well see whether or not it catches hold. If it does, that would be great, and if it doesnt, we can live with it, too. But I think it might have a chance," Trump said alongside Netanyahu on Monday, when he also hosted Gantz at the White House. A key element will be whether the proposal includes an American approval to any Israeli annexation of the West Bank. In the run-up to Israel's March 2 election, Netanyahu has called for annexing parts of the West Bank and imposing Israeli sovereignty on all its settlements there. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Jordan Valley in particular is considered a vital security asset. Reports in Israeli media have speculated Trump's plan could include the possible annexation of large pieces of territory that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. American approval could give Netanyahu the type of cover to go ahead with a move that he's resisted taking for more than a decade in power. But Netanyahu leads a caretaker government ahead of the country's third election in less than a year, and such a far-reaching move, under the cloud of criminal corruption indictment no less, could lack public legitimacy. Such a policy shift would appeal to Netanyahu's hard-line nationalist supporters but would almost certainly torpedo the viability of an independent Palestinian state and likely infuriate neighboring Jordan. In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, the second between Israel and its Arab neighbors after Egypt. The Palestinians seek the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Trump has reversed decades of U.S. foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centerpiece of his strategy was recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the American Embassy there. He's also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programs. Those policies have proven popular among Trumps evangelical and pro-Israel supporters and could give him a much-needed boost from his base as the Senate weighs whether to remove him from office and as he gears up for a reelection battle this year. Jared Kushner, a Trump adviser and the Republican president's son-in-law, has been the architect for the plan for nearly three years. He's tried to persuade academics, lawmakers, former Mideast negotiators, Arab governments and special-interest groups not to reject his fresh approach outright. But the Palestinians refuse to even speak to Trump, calling him biased in favor of Israel, and they are calling on Arab representatives to reject the Tuesday event at the White House. The Palestinian leadership has also encouraged protests in the West Bank, raising fears that the announcement in Washington could spark a new round of violence. An eight-year-old schoolboy, who fractured his right elbow in a fall from the top of a play centre, had been offered a 15,000 settlement, a court was told today. Judge Gerard Griffen heard in the Circuit Civil Court that Kevin Dequina, of Crestfield Park, Whitehall, Dublin, had fallen from a climbing rope at the Fun Galaxy Centre, in Swords, Co Dublin, while playing there in August 2014. His mother, June Dequina, in an affidavit opened to the court, said Kevin, who is now aged 13, had made his way to the upper level of the play centre where he had been required to climb with the use of a rope while traversing the uppermost area. She said he had fallen forward off the structure and had landed down in the second level, breaking his right elbow. Kevin who, through his mother sued Fun Galaxy Ashbourne Limited, had been taken to Temple Street Childrens Hospital where the fracture had shown up on x-rays. An above elbow cast had been applied which he had to wear for six weeks. Judge Griffen, who heard that the boy had since fully recovered from his injury, said the settlement was a very good offer and approved payment of it into court on his behalf. Fun Galaxy was stated to have a registered office at Columbia House, Airside Retail Park, Swords. The settlement included the boys legal costs. It was late on Monday night but a group of housewives and young students squatting on a road in a south Mumbai locality showed no signs of fatigue, as they spiritedly raised slogans opposing the new citizenship law while hailing the Hindu-Muslim unity in the country. Photograph: Sahil Salvi/Rediff.com At least 100 women, who have been sitting on a side road in Nagpada area since January 26 night against the Citizenship Amendment Act-National Register of Citizens-National Population Register regime, on Tuesday vowed to hold their ground like their Shaheen Bagh counterparts in Delhi. Traffic in the Muslim-dominated area is not much affected, as the protesters are occupying a side road outside a hotel. Most of the women are residents of Madanpura, Jhoola Maidan, Agripada and Mumbai Central areas. Feroze Mithiborwala of 'Hum Bharat Ke Log' said that the women are firm to continue with their protests. "Women from the Muslim community have been feeling frustrated since the last six years. It is this frustration that women are coming out to protest," Mithiborwala said. One of the speakers, Nagma Siddique, told the gathering that the protest was like a "festival" for them. She criticised the Uttar Pradesh Police and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh had witnessed violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. "If anyone visits your home asking for your documents, then respond by demanding Rs 15 lakh from them," Siddiquie said in an apparent reference to the BJP's pre-2014 poll promise. One of the protesters said the women are balancing their responsibilities at home while also participating in the protest. They go to their respective homes in batches and return to the spot after dropping their children at school and completing other work, she said. Local police's efforts to break the protest are not successful yet. By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 01/27/2020 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. couple Loren Goldstone and Alexei Brovarnik have a reason to celebrate because Alexei has officially become an American citizen."THAT'S IT!!! He did it! We did it! We OFFICIALLY have a US citizen!!" Loren captioned several photos of the couple celebrating with tiny American flags in their hands outside of the USCIS Immigration Office in Oakland Park, FL, late last week."Closed this chapter and cannot wait for the next one together!!! US #teambrovarnik #soproud #thisishappilyeverafter #hardworkpaysoff #soulmates #90dayfiance #newuscitizen."The pair were all smiles, and one picture showed Alexei -- who moved to the U.S. from Israel -- smiling among his large class of other new U.S. citizens.And then one day later, Loren posted a video to her Instagram Stories of the couple that was later reposted by Instagrammer John Yates on his own Instagram account."So, big news in the Brovarnik household -- what just happened?" Loren asked in the video before panning over to her husband with the camera."I got [naturalized]!" Alexei answered while holding a collection of documents. "I got my citizenship. That's it! I am an American now!""We have a U.S. America, you guys!" Loren gushed in the video. "I'm so excited! And thank you all for following the journey with us."When John reposted the video, he captioned it, "Congratulations on your United States citizenship Alex! USUSUS #90DayFiance #90DayFianceHappilyEverAfter #90DayFiancePillowTalk."The couple announced earlier this month Alexei was in the final steps of becoming an official American citizen.Loren, who appeared on Season 3 of with Alexei followed by the first two seasons of : Happily Ever After?, took to Instagram on January 7 revealing the big news."What a busy, yet exciting day!! Our full process in its entirety has been completed," the 31-year-old pregnant reality TV star wrote at the time, sharing a picture of Alexei sleeping on a couch behind her.She added the following hashtags to her post: "#blessed #wehaveacitizen #allsmiles #teambrovarnik #babybrov #hardworkpaysoff #soproud."Loren then shared more details about Alexei's U.S. citizenship status on her Instagram Stories shortly afterwards."All smiles today! We just had Alex's citizenship interview and he passed it," Loren wrote on a photo of herself smiling, according to In Touch Weekly."After years of applications, waiting, hard work and patience, @alex_brovarnik got approved to be a U.S. citizen. 2 weeks until his swearing in ceremony!"Meanwhile, Alexei wrote on his own Instagram account at the time, "Make way for a new American, passed the citizenship test yesterday... #teambrovarnik #babybrov #citizenship #newamerican."Loren and Alexei had talked about how Alexei was in the process of obtaining his American citizenship in two episodes of : What Now?'s third season, which were released online by TLC in April 2019, along with the rest of the original digital series' 21-episode third season.The two episodes documented Loren and Alexei's life in Hollywood Beach, FL, and the topic of Alexei's citizenship came up when the pair discussed their ideal timeline for starting a family.The : What Now? episodes showed the couple disagreeing on when would be the right time to welcome a child and where it would fall in their list of priorities, especially since the lovebirds were new homeowners at the time.Loren pushed to try to get pregnant as soon as possible because she had baby fever, but in addition to the responsibilities of their new Florida condo, Alexei was going through the "long and tedious process" of obtaining his American citizenship -- but he was near the end of it.Alexei hoped to obtain his American citizenship before having a baby, telling the : What Now? cameras, "It will make me feel more comfortable with moving on with our lives and babies and next steps in our marriage."But Loren was aching for a baby, and many of her friends were already pregnant.Alexei didn't think Loren was taking into account how expensive it was going to be to renovate their home and raise a child. He didn't think they could afford to do it all at once.Alexei's original plan, as a result, was to obtain his citizenship within six to eight months, renovate their house, travel as a couple, and then get pregnant.But Loren accused her husband of using his citizenship "an excuse to delay other things" -- and she admittedly didn't "want to wait much longer" to start a family."I don't know if I'm ready for a baby right now," Alexei confessed during the show. "But I don't know if anybody is ever really ready for it... I wish I knew what being ready for a kid looks like."Alexei not only felt pressure to make Loren happy since she had envisioned having a few babies by age 30, but both of their families also wanted a baby in the picture soon.The couple therefore ultimately agreed to start trying for a child in November 2019, which would mean the baby's arrival would be in August 2020.Loren wanted to move that date up to October 2019, but Alexei wasn't willing to budge because he had a feeling Loren would get pregnant right away, which turned out to be correct!The TLC couple is currently expecting their first child together to be born in a few months.Loren and Alexei, who have been married for over four years now, announced they were expecting Baby No. 1 in late October 2019. Two months later, they shared Loren is pregnant with a baby boy and due in May."We were a smidge surprised needless to say, but we wouldn't have it any other way! And we just can't wait to meet our son this May! #teambrovarnik #babybrov #May2020 #boymom #letthebalaganbegin #blessed," Loren captioned a slideshow of photos from the couple's gender reveal party, which took place in December 2019.Loren and Alexei met on her birthright trip to Israel. She was the staff leader and Alexei was the medic, and she found him "incredibly handsome."The pair kept in touch once Loren returned to the United States, and then she visited him five times in one year -- which resulted in an engagement.Once Alexei got approved for the K-1 visa and traveled to America, the couple got married during his 90-day visit in September 2015. They also subsequently had a second ceremony in Israel in July 2016 so both of their families could celebrate.Loren and Alexei currently appear together on : Pillow Talk, which features former cast members offering commentary on the reality franchise's current episodes.The seventh season of airs on Sunday nights at 8PM ET/PT on TLC.Want more spoilers? Click here to visit our Spoilers webpage! Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell told visiting art school graduates to put false breasts in their bras at the pedophile's New Mexico ranch, one of their guests has alleged. Ursula Ruedenberg says Epstein and his girlfriend played a series of bizarre pranks on their guests which left them wondering: 'How far will they go?'. The New York Academy of Art graduate told ArtNet she went to the dinner party at the Zorro Ranch along with Epstein accuser Maria Farmer, after they were told that Epstein was a wealthy art patron who was interested in commissioning their work. Farmer said Maxwell, who denies involvement in Epstein's crimes, had been playing a 'light-hearted' role in order to 'normalize' the use of sexual objects. Pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell (right, pictured together in New York in 2005) are accused of playing a bizarre sexual game Recalling the dinner party in 1995, Ruedenberg and Farmer say they felt 'unsettled' from the moment they arrived at the Zorro Ranch with a handful of fellow graduates. Ruedenberg said that Epstein and Maxwell tried to scare them by pointing out how many rattlesnakes lived on the huge ranch. Maxwell apparently opened a cupboard with literal skeletons in it and played a succession of pranks on her guests in a bid to 'make us feel unstable'. At dinner, Epstein and Maxwell allegedly told their guests to rummage in a bag containing unknown objects. 'One was what felt like pockets of jelly; it turned out to be falsies, like you put in your bra. Then they demanded that we put them on,' Ruedenberg said. 'I knew the commission was out the window at that very moment. I could see it was a question of how far will they go? Does this person have boundaries?' The art graduate said Maxwell had treated her like a 'square' after she refused to take part in the alleged prank. Ruedenberg also described it as the 'weirdest dinner party Ive ever been to all my life', adding she had been around many rich people in New York. Epstein accuser Maria Farmer (pictured) is said to have been at the dinner party along with New York Academy of Art graduate Ursula Ruedenberg Farmer, who separately alleges that she was sexually assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell in 1996, says Maxwell's role was to 'normalize' the use of such items. Epstein would habitually play tricks such as this with sexual objects such as condoms, she claims. '[Maxwell] had a light-hearted delivery so you never felt like you're going to be kidnapped and raped. You just thought they were quirky and they love art,' Farmer said. Epstein hinted at interest in commissioning artworks, but no such offer ever materialized, the art students say. Farmer and her sister, Annie Farmer, filed a lawsuit against Epstein's estate last November. The secluded 8,000-acre Zorro Ranch includes an airstrip and a sprawling residence which Epstein began building in 1999. In a 2015 court filing in Florida, a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Epstein said she had been abused at several locations, including the New Mexico property. New Mexico officials have been in contact with the federal investigators in New York who brought sex-trafficking charges against Epstein last year. The women say went to the dinner party at Epstein's Zorro Ranch in New Mexico (pictured) after they were told that Epstein was a wealthy art patron who was interested in commissioning their work Epstein died in a Manhattan jail on August 10 while awaiting trial on the federal charges. Two correctional officers responsible for watching Epstein have since been charged with lying on prison records to make it seem as though they had checked on him. At the time of Epstein's arrest, prosecutors said they found a trove of pictures of nude and seminude young women and girls at his $77million Manhattan mansion. The billionaire financier was already a convicted pedophile after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida. However, he was jailed for only 18 months after striking a controversial plea agreement with prosecutors which was kept secret at the time. In New Mexico he was allowed to avoid registering locally as a sex offender under a state law which is now being reconsidered. Maxwell denies allegations that she took part in abuse or helped Epstein procure underage women. Epstein pleaded his Fifth Amendment rights when asked about Maxwell. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA Five cases of the novel coronavirus infection have now been confirmed in the US, while experts have warned about 100,000 people could already be infected globally. Related: Coronavirus: Britain under pressure to evacuate UK nationals More than 2,700 people have been infected in China, where the virus is believed to have originated in the city of Wuhan, and 81 people have died. Where has the virus been found in the US? The five patients with the coronavirus are based in Maricopa county, Arizona; Los Angeles county, California; Orange county, California, Snohomish county, Washington; and Chicago, Illinois. Each person had recently traveled to Wuhan, the Centers for Disease Control said. They are being kept in isolation in hospitals. About 100 Americans, in 26 states, are also being tested for the virus. How is the government responding? At some airports the CDC is conducting entry screening of passengers arriving from Wuhan. Those airports are in Atlanta , Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco . The government raised its travel alert in response to the outbreak, and is recommending that travelers avoid all non-essential travel to Hubei province, the administrative region that includes Wuhan. The CDC has developed a test which can diagnose the coronavirus, and is growing the virus so it can be studied further. Am I in danger? The immediate risk of this new virus to the American public is believed to be low at this time, the CDC says. The virus has only been identified in people who have recently traveled to Wuhan. Person-to-person spread of the coronavirus is occurring in China, but such transmission has not yet been detected in the US, although the CDC said it would not be surprising if person-to-person spread in the United States were to occur. The agency warned that more cases in the United States are likely to be identified. Older people and those with underlying health conditions are at increased risk. What should I do? Story continues Those who are traveling to Wuhan are advised to avoid contact with sick people, and avoid animals alive or dead. The CDC advises: Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available. People who have recently traveled to Wuhan are advised to seek medical care immediately if experiencing fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, the CDC says. Those individuals should avoid contact with others, and tell the doctors office or emergency room of their recent travel before they arrive. The World Health Organization recommends standard anti-infection measures: Regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. It advises to avoid contact with people showing signs of illness. 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While many loved her look on the red carpet, many also criticised the actor. While some felt it was too much, others felt it was too risque. While Priyanka herself didnt reply to the trolls, actor Suchitra Krishnamoorthi and Canadian TV actor Kaitlyn Bristowe of The Bachelorette fame gave it back to the haters on social media. Designer Wendell Rodricks had commented on Priyankas appearance on Instagram. He wrote, @priyankachopra nailed it at the Grammys 2020. Truly the bold and beautiful in this @ralphandrusso couture fringed gown where the neckline goes all the way from LA to Cuba. Love it. Suchitra Krishnamoorthi wrote a long note in response to Wendell Rodricks post about Priyankas dress. Also Watch | Grammys 2020: Priyanka Chopra, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello slay at red carpet She wrote, Was so upset to see this post on insta by Wendel Rodrigues whos work I otherwise have a modicum of respect for. I think the fact that Priyanka is not trying to hide her belly with her clutch is what makes this pic so beautiful. Makes her the rockstar she is. Her confidence an inspiration to every woman. Women have been so enslaven by mens opinion of how women should look this photograph of Priyanka to me at the worlds most publicized event is the height of liberation. You go girl and keep rocking it. I was never a fan of the lady but this pic has surely made me one. She added, So dear men. We are not ur pre pubescent hipless perverted fantasy or your teenage gay boy flat chested contortion. We are real women, we have breasts, we have fat we have water retention and we rock and roll. Because ...we are finally allowing ourselves as God intended us to be. Not how men fantasized us to be. We are flesh and blood and and glorious rolls of it. It gets even more beautiful when we have babies and the rolls grow - in direct adverse proportion to the dark areas in your primitive brain. So ***tiya ugly men get this. We are not our bodies. We are our abilities. We are our talent. We are our own rock stars. Would anybody have dared comment on a mans belly or appearance like this? God knows we see grotesque images of them everyday and all the time. More power to you #PriyankaChopra. Im going to flash my flabby baby stretch marks with confidence tomorow thanks to you. And may every girl and woman in the world grow your confidence too . Bless you. Kaitlyn responded to the trolls on People magazines social media post, which appreciated the look of the wives of the Jonas Brothers - Priyanka Chopra, Sophie Turner and Danielle Jonas at the awards ceremony. Kaitlyn wrote, Beautiful powerful women. Disgusting comments from sad women. The post had attracted negative comments from the readers who did not like Priyankas dress for the day. A troll wrote, Sophie and Danielle look amazing. Priyanka could do better, shes gorgeous, but just needs to learn to dress for her body type. Another wrote, Oh dear Lord... put them away P ... terrible dress. One more Instagram follower commented, She puts Indian women to shame such embarrassment wearing such dress. Well its just me talking. One more follower of the magazine wrote, I really hope that Priyanka fires her stylist. she is beautiful but sometimes her dresses are the worst. Another suggested, Priyanka could have used one of the other dresses. Priyanka found immediate support on Instagram as many of them showed solidarity with Kaitlyns comment. A reader wrote, yes!! They look beautiful and I agree so much with this!! Its sad to see women criticize other women so much. For what?! So many negative people out there just saying something rude on social bc they can hide behind their phones. Its sadly expected... but, gorgeous wives indeed! Also read: Grammys 2020 red carpet pics: Priyanka Chopras plunging neckline is too hot to handle, Nick Jonas is her perfect date. See best looks Priyanka had also shared a solo picture of herself on Instagram. She shared another picture of the Jonas Brothers and their wives (including herself) and captioned it, So proud of this fam. Congratulations @jonasbrothers you guys crushed it today. #grammys. But it was the couple picture of Priyanka and Nick which got the best reactions. She had captioned it, This guy. #Grammys2020. Also read: Nick Jonas performs at Grammys with spinach in his teeth and Twitters LOLing : My favourite part of whole show The Jonas Brothers sang a new song, Five More Minutes, as well as their new single What A Man Gotta Do at the event. Nick was also trolled on social media as his followers found spinach stuck in his teeth during his Grammy performance. He had even replied in humour, And at least you all know I eat my greens. Follow @htshowbiz for more by Melynda Fuller , January 27, 2020 The New Yorker is combining efforts across its print and online platforms to launch a new series called The Future of Democracy. The series, active through the 2020 presidential election in November, will explore the past and future of democracy in the U.S. Content appearing in the series will include articles, videos and audio broadcasts. Our democracy is in crisis. Many institutions of our government are dysfunctional and getting worse, New Yorker editors write in an introduction to the series. Although President Donald Trump, with his scant regard for the values of justice and the rule of law, is undeniably a leading actor in this crisis, it precedes him and seems certain to persist after his departure, whenever that may be. First up in the series in the print magazine, staff writer Jill Lepore examines the uncertainty of the future of democracy in the 1930s, due to the rise of anti-democratic, pro-authoritarian trends. Fellow staff writer Charles Bethea visits a town in North Carolina that has been without a local newspaper for the past three years for the New Yorkers website. advertisement advertisement Documentarian Astra Taylor also debuts work online with a piece examining the power of listening rather than speaking during political participation. Between now and the election in November, The New Yorker, enlisting a wide range of writers, will be exploring the past, present, and future of American democracy: tallying our problems, reckoning with their implications, and inspecting proposed solutions, write the editors. If the Trump era has proved anything, it is that American democracy, which has never been without profound flaws, cannot be taken for granted. All additions to the series will be collected on a landing page on TheNew Yorkers website . Pieces fromwriters, scholars and historians will join this first effort. The Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the city's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) against BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, his cabinet colleague Anurag Thakur and MP Parvesh Verma, accusing them of making "provocative" statements while campaigning for the February 8 Assembly polls in the national capital. These "provocative and totally baseless statements" not only "vitiate" the atmosphere and try to "polarise" the voters using lies, these might easily lead to "riots" on the streets, DMC Chairman Zafarul Islam Khan said in the complaint. "Since you are the legal authority in Delhi to check such illegal behaviour, it is our earnest request to you to take cognisance of these provocative statements and punish the culprits suitably by stopping them from campaigning, cancelling candidature of candidates and filing FIRs," the complaint read. It also named the BJP candidate from the Model Town constituency, Kapil Mishra. In the complaint, Khan said the issue of "illegal mosques" on government land, raised by Verma, was probed by an enquiry committee of the DMC and found to be false. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], Jan 28 (ANI): Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister K Rahman Khan on Tuesday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party leader MP Renukacharya for making anti-minority statements. The Congress leader also questioned whether, after Renukacharya's rant against minorities, the Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa would still permit him to continue as his political secretary. "It is very unfortunate that she has made such a statement. I want to now ask Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa if he will still allow Renukacharya to be the political secretary. Is this the policy of his government or his representatives?," the Congress leader questioned. "Will you (Karnataka Chief Minister) allow your representatives to bark like this," Khan stated. Renukacharya stoked a fresh controversy by stating that he will cut all facilities given to minorities in the Honnali Assembly constituency as they "have not voted for him in the elections". "They did not vote for me in 2018 elections and I am sure that they will not vote to me in future as well. That's why I want to find out places where they reside in the constituency and I will cut facilities given to them in Honnali," Renukacharya said at a public meeting in his constituency. (ANI) Fresh curbs to be imposed in Coimbatore following Kerala spike Coimbatore's IAF rape case: Victim subjected to 'two finger test' at academy, pressurised to withdraw complain Half kg human hair, shampoo packets removed from 13-year-old girl's stomach in Tamil Nadu India oi-Madhuri Adnal Coimbatore, Jan 28: In yet another shocking incident, a city hospital in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore removed more than half kg of human hair and several empty shampoo packets from a 13-year-old girl's stomach on Monday. The girl, who is a student of Class 7, was admitted to VGM Hospital in Coimbatore after she complained of frequent stomach pains for the past few months. During a scan, doctors found a ball-like object in her stomach and then, the doctor decided to remove it by endoscopy, hospital chairman V G Mohanprasad said. But when the Surgeon Gokul Kripashankar along with his team failed to remove the foreign particles via endoscopy, they decided to conduct the surgery and successfully extracted the hair and the empty shampoo packets from her stomach. WATCH: Hungry snake swallows itself in stomach-churning video PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News The girl had reportedly started to consume the objects after being upset due to the death of a close relative, which accumulated in the stomach and caused frequent pain. Meanwhile, as per the doctors, the girl has recovered fully and is normal. A Danish newspaper refused to apologise to China today over a satirical cartoon it ran about the deadly coronavirus that has killed more than 130 people worldwide. The cartoon, published in Jyllands-Posten on Monday, depicted a Chinese flag with the yellow stars normally found in the upper left corner exchanged for drawings of the new coronavirus. China's embassy in Denmark called the cartoon 'an insult to China' that 'hurts the feelings of the Chinese people'. So far dozens have been killed and thousands more have been infected with the new virus that originated in an animal market in Wuhan. The Chinese embassy said the Danish cartoon crossed the 'ethical boundary of free speech'. It demanded the paper and cartoonist Niels Bo Bojesen 'reproach themselves for their mistake and publicly apologise to the Chinese people'. The Chinese embassy said the cartoon (pictured above) in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper crossed the 'ethical boundary of free speech' Residents wearing face masks walk on the street in Macau, China, today as the number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to over 4000 in mainland China After breaking out in the city of Wuhan, the official number of confirmed cases of the new virus reached more than 4,000 in China as of Tuesday, with over 130 deaths. Some 50 infections have also been confirmed elsewhere in Asia, Europe and North America. But today Jyllands-Posten's chief editor Jacob Nybroe said they would not 'dream of' poking fun at the situation in China but also refused to apologise. Nybroe said: 'We cannot apologise for something we don't think is wrong. We have no intention of being demeaning or to mock, nor do we think that the drawing does. 'As far as I can see, this here is about different forms of cultural understanding.' Several Danish politicians backed the paper, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen quoted by the Politiken newspaper as saying 'we have freedom of expression in Denmark. Also to draw'. Visitors wear protective face masks at the Marina Bay waterfront in Singapore where its fourth case of coronavirus was announced Jylland-Posten is no stranger to controversy. In 2005, it published several cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, which later contributed to violent protests in some Muslim countries. The row came as President Xi Jinping said China is battling a 'demon' virus and vowed to defeat the infection that has so far spread to some 15 countries. Global fears over the virus grew today as Japan and Germany reported the first confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission outside of China. Since the outbreak started, the number of cases has soared - doubling to more than 4,500 in the past 24 hours, then hitting nearly 6,000 by Wednesday. Countries are also concerned about the fate of thousands of foreigners stuck in Wuhan, a city of 11 million that has been sealed off by Chinese authorities in a bid to contain the disease. In Washington, US health authorities said a vaccine was in the works as Australian scientists announced a breakthrough. DUBLIN, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Injectable Drug Delivery" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This seminar has been designed to provide all those working in the industry with the latest information on the next generation of injectable drugs and devices and an update on recent trends, technologies and applications. It will also be a great opportunity to meet industry leaders, as well as like-minded professionals, and share common experience and best practice. Attending this two-day seminar, presented by experts in the field, will: Give you a valuable update on the advances in injection technology and drug delivery Present you with up-to-date information on the latest market trends and opportunities for your organisation Provide you with an opportunity to develop significant business partnerships Injectable drug delivery is considered to be one of the most effective routes of administration due to the speed and effectiveness of delivery to the target, and recent developments have improved the patient experience. The global injectable drug delivery market continues to grow and technology is advancing. This, coupled with the ever-changing regulatory requirements, means that it is imperative for companies to stay abreast of the latest developments and challenges within the industry in order to remain compliant, as well as gaining a competitive edge. Agenda Programme Day One Devices, technology, and latest trends Latest developments for injectable drug delivery solutions Market overview and trends How can a science-driven CDMO help to accelerate developments for biologics? - Case study Dr Thomas Schoenknecht Recent advances in large-volume injection Large-volume autoinjectors Patch injectors Latest usability insights into autoinjector and patch injector systems Ian Thompson Discussion session Developments in technology with injectables - digitalisation and smart technology Internet of me' - connected drug delivery advances Sustainable patient engagement for better outcomes Market forces and business drivers Neil Williams Digital design in the development of injectable systems Hardware and software solutions Integration into the connected ecosystem Device management trends Markus Bauss Discussion session Case study: Connected needle-free technology Adherence to treatment in injectable therapies for chronic disease is very low Opportunities with a new form of drug delivery that is needle-free Transforming the perception and approachability of therapies based on injectable biologics Next-gen needle-free drug delivery platform that is computer-controlled - Supporting patient needs Clinical and market studies - results and findings Patrick Anquetil Patient considerations and design processes Assessing injection site pain Understanding how to measure pain and tolerability during injection and how to interpret the results Summary of recent clinical investigations Impact on the design and selection of drug delivery devices Chris Muenzer Discussion session Betwixt and between - managing the interface between PFS and autoinjector Understanding the physical interface between PFS and autoinjector A framework for ensuring compatibility across the interface Working together in harmony - the organisational interface between pharma, syringe manufacturer and device developer Dr Jeffrey Philippson Interactive panel discussion: Next-generation innovations in drug delivery Moderator: Dr Gregory Berman Panellists: Ian Thompson, Neil Williams, Markus Bauss, Dr Thomas Schoenknecht Drinks reception Programme Day Two Regulatory update and human factors The EU regulatory framework for injectable delivery systems Deciding on your regulatory strategy Implications of the Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/74 and Article 117 for drug delivery systems Classification - the importance of getting it right from the start Combination products - drug/device, device/drug? Essential considerations for injectable medicinal products Brexit implications Dr David Jefferys Human factors validation - when is usability testing not required? Overview of regulatory guidelines covering human factors for combination products - Considerations for determining if a study will be required Utilising comparative analyses Approaches to compiling supporting evidence Lee Wood Discussion session Sustainability - its impact on self-care drug delivery The circular economy Sustainability and the pharma industry Gregor Anderson Packaging and quality Extractables and leachables (E&L) in injectable drug products The ongoing evolution of thresholds for control of E&L in drug products Raphael Nudelman Discussion session Pre-filled syringes in a nutshell The components The building blocks Potential options Lure-tip syringes, dual-chamber pre-filled syringes and staked-in needles How everything comes together Dr Andreas Rothmund The relationship between the ICH guidelines for impurities and E&L thresholds ICH guidelines for impurities and non-mutagenic impurities Principles from the ICH guidelines for impurities that can be used for the risk assessment of E&L in drug products Raphael Nudelman Interactive panel discussion: The future with smart injection devices Moderator: Dr Gregory Berman Panellists: Ian Thompson and Dr Thomas Schoenknecht Chair's closing remarks For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/umvzr6 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com There is an increased risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) even from short-term exposure to low concentrations of fine particulate matter PM2.5, an international study has found, noting an association with gaseous pollutants such as those from coal burning/mining, bushfires and motor vehicles. The nationwide study of data from Japan, chosen for its superior monitoring, population density and relative air quality, is believed to be by far the largest of its kind. It provides comprehensive evidence of the relationship between PM2.5 and cardiac arrests, using a sample three times larger than all previous research combined and demonstrating the impacts on groups such as the elderly. The study led by the University of Sydney concludes that worldwide, standards should be tightened; the implications also point to the need for cleaner energy sources. The findings publish today in the high-impact journal The Lancet Planetary Health. The corresponding and senior author, from the University of Sydney School of Medicine, Professor Kazuaki Negishi, said previous research into air pollution and acute cardiac events had been inconsistent, especially at air concentrations that met or bettered the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Inconsistencies in previous data were addressed through the size and robustness of this study, which found that more than 90 percent of OHCAs occurred at PM2.5 levels lower than the WHO guideline (and Australian standard level), a daily-average of 25 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m3). As well, 98 percent of OHCAs happened at levels lower than the Japanese or American daily standard level of 35 g/m3. "Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a major medical emergency - with less than one in 10 people worldwide surviving these events - and there has been increasing evidence of an association with the more acute air pollution, or fine particulate matter such as PM2.5," said Professor Negishi, a cardiologist and Head of Medicine, Nepean Clinical School, at the Faculty of Medicine and Health. "We analysed almost a quarter of a million cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and found a clear link with acute air pollution levels. "Our study supports recent evidence that there is no safe level of air pollution - finding an increased risk of cardiac arrest despite air quality generally meeting the standards. "Given the fact that there is a tendency towards worsening air pollution - from increasing numbers of cars as well as disasters such as bushfires - the impacts on cardiovascular events, in addition to respiratory diseases and lung cancer - must be taken into account in health care responses." Professor Negishi, who previously conducted field work after the 2014 massive Hazelwood coal mine fire in Victoria, said that where cardiovascular impacts were concerned, those generally at risk were the elderly: "If you're young and healthy, there should be no immediate risk of devastating consequence." However, he highlights these findings are only in relation to the short-term and that the effects can last for up to five years. The paper concludes that there is an "urgent" need to improve air quality. "As no boundary exists in air quality among countries, a global approach to tackle this crucial health issue is necessary for our planet," the authors state. Research key findings and what it means The study drew upon data from Japan because the country keeps comprehensive records of its air pollution levels as well as a high-quality, nationwide repository of OHCA. The researchers found a 1- 4 percent increased risk associated with every 10 g/m3 increase in PM2.5. Put another way, Sydney has recently been experiencing increased air pollution because of bushfire smoke and, on its worst day PM2.5 surpassed the standard of 25 g/m3 to jump to more than 500 g/m3 in the suburb of Richmond, comparable to levels of continuous cigarette smoking. There are about 15,000 OHCAs annually in Australia so in a hypothetical situation, if there is a 10-unit increase in the daily average of PM2.5, it could lead to another 600 OHCAs resulting in 540 deaths (10% survival rate globally). The Lancet Planetary Health paper compared OHCA that occurred up to three days after the air pollution recorded; however, the effects on the heart can occur up to five-seven days after acute air pollution, Professor Negishi says, so the entire cardiovascular impacts could be worse than indicated. Also analysed were the impacts regarding sex and age. Although the impacts did not divide along gender lines, for people aged over 65, PM2.5 exposure was significantly associated with incidence of all-cause OHCA. The data revealed an association between short-term exposure to carbon monoxide, photochemical oxidants and sulphur dioxide and all-cause OHCA but not with nitrogen dioxide. Professor Negishi explains that it was likely that the levels of nitrogen dioxide, for example from car emissions, were not high enough to result in OHCA. Adding to known impacts of air pollution on cardiovascular mortality generally, this study plugs important gaps in knowledge about the effects of short-term exposure to acute air pollution on OHCA. The authors state: "Combined with air quality forecasts, our results can be used to predict this emergency condition and to allocate our resources more efficiently". Air pollution fast facts There are two main sources of PM2.5 worldwide: 1. Traffic/motor vehicles 2. Bushfires (massive annual events in California and the Amazon as well as in Australia) Both PM2.5 and PM10 cannot be seen by the human eye and increase the chances of cardiac arrest, meaning the heart stops, which if untreated tends to result in death within minutes. Particulate matter PM10 is relatively course dust, created for example from grinding operations and stirred up on roads; in comparison, PM2.5 is fine particulate matter, which can travel further into the body and stay for longer. The most dangerous air pollution is PM2.5 - fine particulate matter that measures about 3 percent the diameter of a human hair. ### This research is a collaboration between the University of Sydney, the University of Tasmania/Menzies Institute for Medical Research, Monash University, the University Centre for Rural Health in Australia and Gunma University in Japan. Public health advocates and doctors in Alberta are voicing concerns about the spread of misinformation after an anti-vaccination film was screened at public libraries and select movie theatres in the province. Princess Theatre in Edmonton and Plaza Theatre in Calgary hosted multiple screenings of the controversial film Vaxxed II: The People's Truth, a sequel to a 2016 documentary that spread the unfounded claim that vaccines are linked to autism. The anti-vaccine non-profit group Canadians for Vaccine choice has also hosted screenings at the Grande Prairie and Medicine Hat public libraries this month. "It's not scientific at all. It's total propaganda based on people's emotions," said Dr. Joan Robinson, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alberta. "I think it's very disappointing that it would be shown in a public forum, especially by the public library." The original 2016 Vaxxed documentary was directed and co-written by Andrew Wakefield, who led a now-discredited 1998 study that fuelled the claim that measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is linked to autism. The filmmakers say they connected with thousands of people eager to tell their stories in the wake of its release. Those stories form the backbone of the sequel, Vaxxed II. "There is absolutely no question in my mind after making this film that these doctors don't know what they're talking about," said director Brian Burrowes. The film leans to anecdotal evidence more than data, featuring parents emboldened by the original film sharing the belief that immunizations harmed their child. "It's untrue. It's fearmongering," said Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta. "This is not about an open debate and freedom of expression. This is really about the spreading of harmful information that can really erode public confidence in vaccines." Story continues The owner of Princess and Plaza theatres did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News. Craig Ryan/CBC Canadians for Vaccine Choice scheduled another screening of the film in Edmonton on Feb. 1, but will only disclose the location to ticket holders a day in advance. "If we really believe in science in society, then I think we should not be trying to promote something that's completely not scientific to the general public," Robinson said. Libraries defend decision The film was screened in a rented room at the Grande Prairie Public Library on Monday afternoon to about eight people, including three organizers of the event, according to library director Deb Cryderman. Cryderman justified the decision to rent the room based on the library's commitment to free expression. The rental policy simply states a library will not knowingly allow the space to be used for any illegal activity. Otherwise, anyone is welcome, says Cryderman. "Even if information is controversial or doesn't correlate with our beliefs or we don't agree with it, we can still offer a room rental," she said. Chief librarian Ken Feser of the Medicine Hat Public Library referenced a similar policy to justify the decision to rent out a room for the film on Jan. 21. But Caulfield said he feared the public libraries were offering a veneer of legitimacy to the film's misinformation. "We know that the spread of misinformation is connected to physical harm, people getting infectious diseases, and given that I think there's a justification for saying, no, we're not going to show this kind of material," he said. About a dozen people mingled in the foyer of the Princess Theatre after a Sunday matinee screening of the documentary. Luba Moe said that while she immunized her own children, she's glad her grandchildren are unvaccinated after watching the film. "If I had to do it over again, there is no way I would vaccinate them. No way," she said. 'Lambs to the slaughter' Moe teared up as she recalled the parents in the film. "These aren't tears of sadness, they're tears of passion," Moe said. "They're holding us in fear, and we've got to wake up and do our own research and not follow like a bunch of lambs to the slaughter." Gabrielle Brown/CBC The rise of the anti-vaccination movement has prompted the World Health Organization to name vaccine hesitancy a Top 10 threat to global health last year. About half of Canadians have some level of vaccine hesitancy, according to a recent survey by U.K.-based Wellcome Global Monitor that tracks global confidence in immunization. Health officials say that hesitancy is propelling some measles outbreaks in North America. But the filmmakers are pleased to know the movie is turning people away from immunization. "Anytime someone decides not to vaccinate, I'm perfectly happy with it. I'm not worried these diseases are going to come back," said film director Burrowes. The largest and most recent study looking for correlation between the MMR vaccine and autism covered roughly 650,000 children born in Denmark over 14 years and found no increased risk for autism among babies with the MMR vaccine. Measles has been virtually eliminated in Canada since the vaccine was introduced in the 1960s. At the time, there were upwards of 300,000 cases a year. Last year, there were 113 cases reported by the Public Health Agency of Canada. Another chief claim of the film is that the HPV vaccine produced serious, life-altering symptoms. But a systematic review completed for the World Health Organization found no relationship between any serious adverse event and the vaccine. On the contrary, scientists from Canada and Britain found the vaccine significantly reduced the likelihood of contracting the virus that causes a majority of cervical cancers. "I really don't see how anyone could think that's not a good thing: a vaccine for cancer," said Robinson Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks at a press conference during a break in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 23, 2020. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) Republican Senators: Witness Deal Would Be a Group of Individuals Republican senators said that a deal on witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial against President Donald Trump would be a group of individuals that would include witnesses the Republicans want to hear from. If we need to hear from more people, its going to be a group of individuals, but 51 senators will make that decision on Friday, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a top Republican in the Senate, told reporters on Jan. 27. The decision will be made after Trumps team gives another day of arguments and senators have 16 hours to submit written questions to both sides and hear answers. Another Republican said that any deal would be an even trade. We get the witnesses, itll be a one-for-one or a two-for-two, Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) (C) speaks to the media during a recess in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 27, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said while he doesnt think calling additional witnesses is necessary, the most important witness would be Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. The House impeachment managers have presented their case, and they havent come remotely close to meeting their burden of proof, said Cruz. Now that being said, if the Senate later this week, when we vote on witnesses, decides to go down the road to additional witnesses, I think at a minimum the most important witness for the Senate to hear from is Hunter Biden. Cruz said he doesnt think the Senate needs to hear from John Bolton, the former national security adviser. Former national security adviser John Bolton speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington on Jan. 28, 2019. (Holly Kellum/NTD) Details from Boltons upcoming book were leaked to the media, in which Bolton made a number of accusations that Democrats say bolsters the case to call him as a witness. House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told reporters that Bolton is apparently a direct witness to the presidents tying military aid to an investigation into the Bidens. We could not have made a more powerful case for calling him than the case the presidents lawyers just did in trying to contest that link between military aid and investigations, Schiff said. They underscored the importance of John Bolton as a witness who would corroborate the Houses case against Trump, he said. The leaked book details have caused a real shift in the positions of some Republican senators on the witness matter, Schiff said. I think its hard for them to maintain that they wanted a fair trial, wanted to know all the facts, when theres a witness who said, Im ready, I got something to say; we got an outline of what he wants to say. Its really hard to say were not going to hear that. CHICAGO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report "Smart Learning Market by Component (Hardware, Software (Integrated Solution and Standalone Solution), and Services), Learning Type (Synchronous Learning and Asynchronous Learning), End User (Academic and Enterprise), and Region - Global Forecast to 2024", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Smart Learning Market size is projected to grow from USD 23.2 billion in 2019 to USD 56.5 billion by 2024, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.5% during the forecast period. The major factors driving the growth of the Smart Learning Market include the proliferation of connected devices in the education sector, adoption of eLearning solutions, and growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in smart learning. Browse in-depth TOC on "Smart Learning Market" 107 Tables 50 Figures 170 Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=571 By component, the hardware segment to record a larger market size during the forecast period The smart learning hardware market consists of gadgets, equipment, and systems that help gain access to digital content through the internet. It includes hardware devices, such as interactive displays, interactive projectors, smart tables, and smart podiums. The advent of innovative hardware technology helps learners and teachers communicate using devices, such as tablets, smartphones, laptops, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and Notebooks. These equipment come with an incorporated platform, which helps in the collaboration of learners and tutors by connecting multiple desktops, laptops, and smartphones in any location. The use of this technology for learning purposes has sparked a knowledge evolution where students can use mobile applications to connect with faculty members and where trainers can offer instant feedback, thus reducing the learning effort. The implementation of advanced technological aids, such as interactive displays and interactive projectors, helps increase student interactivity and knowledge retention. The hardware industry for smart learning is highly competitive due to the use of developing technologies in the education segment. Educational hardware vendors provide additional software to enable effective collaboration and learning. In the hardware devices space, there exists a competition between SMART Technologies, BenQ, Huawei, Dell, Panasonic, Promethean World, Samsung, and Microsoft. By learning type, the synchronous learning segment to record a higher growth rate during the forecast period Synchronous learning is online learning, which happens in real time. In this type of learning, learners can interrupt the tutor and ask their doubts between ongoing sessions. Online communication helps learners' stay-in-touch with their teacher and fellow students. In this type of learning, one individual (instructor) takes a lead role in the learning process by giving instructions to other learners. Several corporate organizations follow the synchronous learning training process to train their employees, wherein experienced employees usually take the role of the instructor, while comparatively less experienced employees take the role of a learner. Synchronous learning has some of the benefits of asynchronous learning, such as classroom engagement, dynamic learning, and instruction depth. In the Smart Learning Market, synchronous learning is picking up the pace and growing at a higher CAGR, owing to technological enhancements enabling users to communicate in real time. Speak to Our Expert Analyst: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=571 APAC to record the highest growth during the forecast period APAC countries considerably contribute to the growth of the Smart Learning Market. The adoption of smart learning solutions has explicitly been implemented in this region to discover the power of innovative learning methodologies. Intrinsic strength and rapid economic growth make this region one of the fastest-growing education markets internationally. Countries such as Australia and Japan are expected to experience significant growth because of wider technological infrastructure. The Smart Learning Market is an upcoming segment with high growth potential in this region. The demand for custom eLearning content and technologies is one of the factors that is driving the Smart Learning Market in APAC. APAC continues to be the largest exporters and consumers of education services. APAC countries differ greatly, some being among the most technologically developed, while others still show signs of major weakness in terms of adopting the latest technologies. Lack of technological access in developing nations and lack of knowledge among end users are the key barriers that limit global educational technology providers from entering Asian countries, such as China and India. Australia and Japan have been submissive to smart learning solutions due to the emergence of innovative devices, such as interactive displays, interactive projectors, and printers. China and India, on the other hand, are now slowly becoming receptive to the incorporation of advanced technologies in sectors, such as Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI); education; retail; and government. APAC is considered to be one of the major regions for software providers, as it covers a large terrestrial area and holds significant growth in this market. APAC continues to experience rapid growth in all areas of technology. The region being broad and diverse, not all countries enjoy the same levels of technology expansion and approachability. Major vendors of Smart Learning Market include Blackboard (US), IBM (US), Samsung (South Korea), SMART Technologies (Canda), Adobe (US), Saba Software (US), Oracle (US), SAP (Germany), Microsoft (US), Cornerstone OnDemand (US), BenQ (Taiwan), Huawei (China), D2L (Canada), Newrow (US), Pearson (UK), McGraw-Hill (US), CrossKnowledge (US), Alphabet (US), Ellucian (US), Cisco (US), and UpsideLMS (India). Browse Adjacent Markets: Digitalization and Internet of Things (IoT) Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports: IoT in Education Market by Component (Hardware, Solutions & Services), End User (Academic Institutions & Corporates), Application (Learning Management, Classroom Management, Administration Management & Surveillance), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/iot-education-market-115520843.html LMS Market by Component (Solution and Services), Delivery Mode (Distance Learning, Instructor-Led Training and Blended Learning), Deployment Type, User Type (Academic and Corporate), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/learning-management-systems-market-1266.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. 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Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/smart-digital-education-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/smart-digital-education.asp SOURCE MarketsandMarkets Food insecurity affects approximately 60 percent of college-age students, making it difficult to concentrate on academics when hunger persists, said officials. In a June 2019 study by the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice showed that almost 86,000 students at 123 two- and four-year colleges had experienced food insecurity within the past 30 days. Chattanooga State began addressing this concern in 2018 by implementing the Tiger Cupboard food pantry to combat food insecurity, providing food access to Chattanooga State students in need who complete a short form available through the Student Support Center. During the summer of 2019, students enrolled in Houston Grahams HVAC/R program worked together to refurbish a refrigerated cooler, allowing the cupboard to offer fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, and other perishables. By the fall, requests for food assistance had almost doubled over the previous year. Another avenue to help students in crisis is the Chattanooga State Foundation Helping Hands Fund. The fund provides emergency support to students facing a crisis, helping them with unforeseen financial emergencies, such as a bus pass or gas card, utilities, daycare of other non-routine expenses, ensuring they stay in school and on track to graduate. #GivingTuesday, established in 2012, has grown into a global movement inspiring hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity. In December, faculty and staff were encouraged to give to the Helping Hands Fund while donating non-perishable foods to the Tiger Pantry during their annual holiday luncheon. Due to the generosity of Chattanooga State faculty and staff, $6,110 was raised on #GivingTuesday earmarked for the Helping Hands Fund. At the luncheon, 3,949 non-perishable food items were donated and $430.75 was raised for the Tiger Pantry. Overall, Chattanooga State employee giving increased from 48 percent in FY2018, with 338 employees giving $42,885, up to 52 percent in FY2019, with 374 employees giving $53,013. For more information about Chattanooga State student services, contact Sandy Rutter, Dean of Student Engagement and Support Services, at 697-4475 or email Sandy.rutter@chattanoogatate.edu. Some experts argue that the Hubei quarantine likely to be the largest in world history may not be necessary or effective, and may instead backfire by stoking public resentment. Indeed, beneath the jokes and memes this week was an undercurrent of frustration about the government. Many Chinese this week logged onto sites streaming the HBO miniseries Chernobyl and left comments drawing a connection between the late-era Soviet Union and a Chinese Communist Party also known for coverups. Tushar Burman It isnt often that Ill drag myself out of bed early to go to work, no matter how exotic the motorcycle, or car, or location. Especially when Im febrile, overworked, under-rested and hungry, and cant be bothered to chop another half hour from my sleep to get a proper breakfast. It is rarer still for me to attempt to hit an embargo and provide a timely piece about whatever device I was operating. But the KTM 390 Adventure is special, as is evident from my extended paean on tech2.com. Ill give you the summary here: I think the 390 Adventure is a bike whose time has arrived. We already have an active and growing community of riders who enjoy traveling by motorcycle, often to hard-to-reach places. It routinely surprises me just how much some of these riders are willing to endure to get their scooters/Bullets/other wildly inappropriate vehicles up Rajmachi. Add to this the generally poor (but improving) state of our roads and highways, and the case for a do-it-all, comfortable, quick and capable motorcycle is not just made -- its a requirement. What we get Since I last visited the topic of the KTM 390 Adventure, there have been some changes. At EICMA, we saw it with a full sweep of electronic aids as well as adjustable suspension at both ends. For India, the suspension has been skipped, but we get a bonus electronic quickshifter. This is in addition to the cornering traction control, cornering ABS, the colour TFT dash, Bluetooth connectivity and so forth -- all of which are present. The 390 Adventure is based on the 390 Duke, but gets a different chassis to make it suitable for the intent of the motorcycle -- touring and the occasional trail. Its a long, tall motorcycle and feels more substantial than the tiny, sharp Dukes we have in India. And yet, there is only a minor weight penalty; the Adventure weighs in at 177kg, just 14kg over the Duke. Tyres are 19 up front and 17 at the rear, affording a bit of off-road ability. Theyre cast alloys though, so theres a limit to the kind of punishment they can take. A manually-adjustable screen is present, and the 14.5l fuel tank is expected to give it 400km of range. The ride On the street, my experience with the 390 Adventure was limited to showboating for the camera, as is evident on this story page. Its comfy, light on its feet and the blocky tread on the tyres doesnt seem to force any compromises. I expect this to be a very comfortable tourer. Ergonomics also seem to be very neutral, with only a marginal bend at the knee when riding. Theres a huge grab rail out back so tying down luggage or carrying a pillion should be no problem. Considering the relative accessibility of the 390 Adventure, expect a myriad options for add-on accessories, crash bars and the like. Despite the intent of the bike and its target audience, KTM chose to throw us into the deep end with the press ride. They brought down Australian motorsports athlete and filmmaker Adam Riemann to show us the ropes on some punishing trails they had prepared at an adventure park in Aamby Valley. And by show us the ropes I mean clamber up and down rocky trails that were hard to walk on, let alone ride on. The tall Aussie made it all look like he was rolling downhill (and uphill too, if that makes any sense). We also had Ashish Raorane there, freshly returned from the Africa Eco race to put the bike through its paces and give us a few tips. It was tremendous fun and utterly humiliating. But it did throw up some answers. The KTM 390 Adventure has a smaller diameter front wheel than needed for the sort of rocky trails we rode. A 21 wheel would have been preferred with narrower tyres, say more experienced dirt riders. Nevertheless, the bike took it all in its stride and Im happy to say that there were very few mishaps in our group. I dont consider myself dumping the bike out of sheer exhaustion and frustration as a mishap, however. Ive previously been skeptical about the suitability of the high-revving, oversquare single 390 motor for off-road duty. Much as it is with 4x4 vehicles, low-end torque and the ability to crawl through punishing terrain slowly but surely is the order of the day. I did not relish the thought of spinning wheels and staying still. For the 390 Adventure, theres a minor tweak to the rear sprocket: 45 teeth instead of the Dukes 44. If youre stuck between rocks pointed uphill, youll still need some skill with the clutch to break free and get going again, but downhill, the Adventure is happy to chug along at walking pace in first gear without stalling. With traction control disabled, its more than willing to spin up the rear wheel and powerslide everywhere. The lack of adjustable suspension did not seem to worry me, and the consensus seems to be that as supplied, the suspension is very plush and quite suitable for our conditions. Of course, with any sort of pace off-road, there will be a need for more sophisticated and adjustable items. Thankfully, that is an easy (but not cheap) change to make. Ground clearance proved to be excellent., and I dont think I ground out the bike even once, despite the large rocks across the trail. I think KTM made a wise choice in deciding to keep the fancy electronics but leaving the adjustable suspension out, in order to meet a target price. You can add suspension, you cant really add traction control. The electronic package was good in that it could be turned off, as is required in off-road conditions. The Offroad ABS mode allows one to lock the rear brake but not the front, while turning traction control off allows wheelspin -- essential in these conditions. The only bugbear was that the Traction Control seemed to randomly switch on despite being turned off, and usually came on again if you restarted the bike. This can be frustrating if one is stalled on an incline and trying to get going again, only to realise that traction control isnt allowing it, and you thought you had turned it off. While I thought the ergonomics were spot-on, opinions seem mixed about the comfort of the 390 Adventure. Some riders such as Ashish Raorane found the ergonomics to be excellent, and the quickshifter useful, while others of a similar build and some experience, did not like it at all. There will be some level of customisation required for experienced riders -- bar riders for example -- to make riding standing up easier, but by and large, I believe the 390 Adventure will suit most riders. If youre more Hagrid than Dobby, the 390 Adventure will perhaps be the most comfortable and usable KTM you can buy, thanks to its more generous proportions. Should you buy it? Short answer: yes. This can be your only bike, because of the breadth of ability in a small, light, cheap to maintain package. Those who are already used to riding larger bikes with similar capabilities, the KTM 390 Adventure may not feel special enough. For lateral upgraders coming from sport bikes, other KTMs or Royal Enfields: youll be shocked at just how much you can do with this motorcycle. Its quite tough (which I tested by dropping it a couple of times), and KTM has taken special care of cooling requirements by adding an extra radiator fan. I stand by my assessment that this will likely end up being the fastest KTM you can buy in India, simply because of the practicality, suspension, ground clearance and comfort (790 notwithstanding). You wont have to stop as much for fuel, to stretch your legs, or calm yourself after the last hairy tankslapper. The world of craft beer is both a breeding ground for experimentation and a very goofy place. When you combine those two things, you end up with things like a Lucky Charms beer that ends up being a surprise hit. But all that is mere childs play compared to a colorful, candy-fueled beer from a Georgia brewery. Pontoon Brewing Company just announced the upcoming release of Rainbow Smiggles, a Berliner Weisse-style brew that already wins an award for silliest beer to order on draught. A collaboration between the Sandy Springs, Ga. brewery and Sprayberry Bottle Shop, the tastes of both Trix and Skittles are piled into Pontoons existing sour beer formula to sweeten things up and induce waves of nostalgia. Fittingly given the fruity and sugary flavors of those guilty pleasure add-ins, the beer features tasting notes of strawberries, pineapple, and vanilla. WATCH: How to Make Skittles Cake Can art is definitely a factor in getting craft beer fans to try a new brew, and Rainbow Smiggles does not disappoint. Featuring a crazed cartoon rabbit not too dissimilar from the Trix mascot at the end of a cereal and Skittles binge, the can suggests to us that such a magical beer is made by vomiting rainbows. For Pontoon, the act of literally dumping skittles into their brewerys vats is a way to keep the beer world from getting stale. "Were trying to keep the market well-provided with interesting new flavors month after month," Chris Baratz, Pontoons head brewer told Thrillist. "Because of that, we like to push the limits and go to extremes to keep the brewers and customers excited about each new sour." Though the outside world wont know how Rainbow Smiggles tastes until February 7, we can at least hope that this sweetened sour brew goes down better than spicy Skittles, intentionally bad Zombie Skittles, or yellow Skittles, everyones least favorite flavor. Soon enough, youll be able to weigh in yourself by picking up a pint (or two or six) wherever Pontoons beers are sold. Over the past weekend, the anti-government protests in Iraq reached a critical juncture, with the Shiite political elite uniting to put down this rebellion. The leaderless protest movement, its ranks made up mainly of Shiite youths, now finds itself confronting a solid block of organized political opposition. The turning point came when the volatile Shiite cleric-politician Moqtada Al-Sadr withdrew his support for the protesters, paving the way for a bloody crackdown by security forces. Since they began in early October, Al-Sadr had been trying to co-opt the protests by feigning solidarity with their anti-corruption message: his supporters joined the demonstrations in Baghdad's Tahrir Square and other Iraqi cities. This served his interests in the internecine competition within the Shiite political elite, where his main rival is the Iran-backed Hadi al-Amiri. Al-Sadr and Amiri have been locked in a contest to name Iraq's next prime minister since the resignation of Adel Abdul Mahdi. The pro-Iranian faction, targeted for special derision by the protesters, had hoped that the killing of Qassem Suleimani and other key figures in a U.S. drone strike would turn national attention away from Tahrir Square. But the protests continued, demonstrating that Iraqi youth were not about to forget their grievances against their government in favor of a campaign focused on driving U.S. forces out of the country. Al-Sadr, perhaps alarmed that his rivals were stealing his anti-American thunder, called on his followers to come out last Friday in their "millions" against the U.S. military presence. This was also calculated to show up the Tahrir Square protesters, who had planned their own demonstration that day. The crowds that came out for Al-Sadr were impressive, and they were enthusiastic in chanting anti-American slogans and hanging effigies of President Donald Trump. But on Saturday, the squares were again filled by protesters calling for the ouster of the entire political elite. Al-Sadr was alarmed to discover that he was not exempted from the list of leading "tails," the protesters' epithet for all corrupt politicians. Al-Sadr then made common cause with Amiri and ordered his followers to leave Tahrir Square and other protest venues. Some reports suggest that, in return, the pro-Iranian faction will let him pick the next prime minister. Whatever Al-Sadr's motives, his withdrawal was a signal for the government to unleash hell. This is not the first time the protesters have endured such attacks. Security forces and militias have been responsible for the deaths of at least 500 demonstrators in recent months. The killings were often targeted and tactical, with snipers picking off protest leaders while others tried to violently disrupt their logistical support network for food, water and other supplies. But the crackdown on Saturday turned up the dial several notches, attacking protesters and destroying their tents. In the southern city of Nasiriyah, several protesters were killed. If the Shiite elite now remain united and break the back of the protests, they can preserve the self-serving status quo in which they carve up government ministries amongst themselves, to plunder as they please. But if the protests persevere despite the crackdown, the political parties may eventually be compelled to make some of the demanded changes. A key role will likely be played by Iraqi President Barham Salih. The Kurdish leader is respected by all political factions; among the protesters, he may be the least-loathed of the major national figures. He also has strong ties to Washington, and a good working relationship with Tehran. The Kurds retain the swing vote in parliament, which will be crucial for the prospects of government reform. If a broader deal needs to be struck between the politicians and the protesters, Salih is one of the few who could broker one. Meanwhile, the febrile political climate poses risks for the U.S. Pro-Iranian groups, with open support from Hezbollah in Lebanon, have outlined a three-pronged approach to driving out the American military presence: political efforts in parliament, popular protests in the street and violent attacks. The rockets that struck the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Sunday will not be the last. In the absence of a new deal with the Iraqi government over the American troops, the Trump administration could return to the brinksmanship with Iran that led to the Soleimani killing. Al-Sadr's volte-face on the protests may have united the Shiite political class, but it may prove to have set Iraq on a more dangerous course. Another patient at Laguna Honda Hospital has filed a lawsuit against the San Francisco facility in the wake of a widespread patient abuse scandal, alleging misconduct by hospital staffers. The suit, filed last week in San Francisco County Superior Court, alleges that employees took photos of the plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe, while she was naked and used the photos for nonmedical purposes, distributing them among one another, exposing (her) to intentional embarrassment and ridicule. This behavior demonstrates a culture of abuse, and a lack of patient dignity, that is unacceptable at an institution entrusted to care for the elderly and disabled, plaintiffs attorneys wrote in the suit. The woman, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, wished to remain anonymous to prevent further embarrassment and humiliation, the attorneys said. Jane Does suit comes two weeks after another Laguna Honda patient, identified as John Doe, sued the hospital alleging abuse by hospital workers. John Doe claims a hospital staffer took a photograph of him receiving an enema and text messaged it to other employees. The two suits follow reports of systemic abuse at Laguna Honda disclosed last year by the city attorneys office and Department of Public Health. But Jane Does suit also suggests that the abuse included racial mistreatment months after the initial allegations came to light in June. Jane Does suit claims that in October, an employee pulled her by her shoulders across her hospital bed, causing abrasions on her buttocks, legs and left side. She goes on to say that the staffer said, We dont like n here, either immediately before or while moving her. The public, city-run facility serves as a live-in hospital, nursing home and rehabilitation center for 780 patients. Health officials said the scandal included 30 patients who lived in two wards at the city-run hospital, which primarily serves dementia patients. Six hospital employees were said to be responsible for the abuse, which occurred between 2016 and January 2019 and included chemical restraint, sexual or sexually related abuse or physical abuse. The staffers involved in the alleged abuse have been fired, and a criminal investigation is ongoing. In her lawsuit, Jane Doe said city officials made her aware of the abuse in March and August but initially did not provide details. In the fall, Grace Glenn from the San Francisco city attorneys office showed the victim numerous photos that were taken of the victim naked, and without her knowledge or consent. The plaintiff said she recalled an instance when the photos were taken. She had just returned to Laguna Honda after surgery, and was still slightly sedated and/or drowsy from pain medications. Plaintiff woke up to approximately six of defendants employees taking pictures of plaintiff while she was completely naked, the suit states. Plaintiff recalls defendants employees leaning over her and taking pictures of plaintiffs bare buttocks. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The photos were taken on staff members personal phones and text messaged to other employees for the purpose of making inappropriate and sexualized jokes, the suit alleges. The suit names City and County of San Francisco and Department of Public Health as defendants, along with Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center. Its allegations include elder or dependent adult abuse, confidentiality violations, violations of patientsrights, invasion of privacy and negligence. A spokesman from the city attorneys office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. San Franciscos Health Department and investigators with the California Department of Public Health have spent months trying to establish the scope of the abuse as they work to assure the public and regulators that the hospital is safe for patients. The city has already paid a $780,000 fine to the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid for privacy violations, and additional fines for privacy breaches could be forthcoming. California regulators confirmed this month that Laguna Honda is now in compliance with state and federal regulations for the hospitals operations. San Franciso Chronicle staff writer Dominic Fracassa contributed to this report. Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy Sen. Mitt Romney, of Utah, an occasional critic of President Donald Trump whos called it appalling that the U.S. leader pressed Ukraine and China to investigate political rivals, may soon find himself in the presidents Twitter crosshairs again. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee, pressed GOP Senate colleagues for impeachment trial witnesses during a closed-door lunch on Monday, according to multiple outlets. The meeting came a day after The New York Times revealed that a forthcoming book by John Bolton, Trumps former national security adviser, could undercut one of Trumps core defenses. Bolton says the president directly told him that he wanted military aid to Ukraine frozen unless the country committed to investigating former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump denied the claim Monday. Politico reported that multiple Republicans familiar with the meeting said Romney made a strong pitch. I think its increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton, Romney told reporters on Monday. In addition to Romney, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have expressed openness to hearing from witnesses, but at least four Republicans must vote in favor of witnesses for new testimony to come to light. The president faces charges of abusing the power of his office to aid in his re-election effort and obstructing Congress by stifling witnesses and blocking the release of documents. The defense team argues Democrats rushed their case through the House of Representatives, not citing a specific crime and jumping to impeachment before taking the White House to court over witnesses and documents. Democrats, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, have been united in calling for more witnesses and records, and Sundays Bolton revelations only fueled the fire. If the Republicans ignore it, they are telling the American people that getting to the truth in this impeachment trial doesnt matter, Sen. Ed Markey said in an interview Monday. This is the confirmation of what the House managers presented and directly contradicts the heart of the presidents case. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who was the first major Democratic candidate for president to call for Trumps impeachment, tweeted Monday that GOP senators have a choice: they can stand up & say that we need to have witnesses, or they have to admit that the Presidents whole case is based only on blocking evidence. Politico reported that Romney is effectively working against Republican leadership Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged colleagues to wait until senators go through a 16-hour question-and-answer session to decide on witnesses by urging senators to be open to hear from those directly involved in the Ukraine affair. It has been pointed out so far by both the House managers as well the defense that there has not been evidence of a direct nature of what the president may have said or what his motives were or what he did, Romney said on Monday evening, according to Politico. The article in the New York Times I think made it pretty clear that (Bolton) has some information that may be relevant. And Id like to hear relevant information before I made a final decision. Some have already bashed Romney for his push for witnesses, with Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia claiming he wants to appease the left, Politico reported. Romney is banking on a negotiation that would see the Trump team question some of the witnesses it wants as well, according to Politico. Over the last several months, Trump and Republicans have called for testimony from the whistleblower who filed an initial complaint about Trumps interactions with Ukraine and from Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman and leader of the House managers prosecuting the impeachment trial. In October, when Romney slammed Trump for his public calls for Ukraine and China to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter, the president responded by calling the senator a pompous ass. Mitt Romney never knew how to win. He is a pompous ass who has been fighting me from the beginning, except when he begged me for my endorsement for his Senate run (I gave it to him), and when he begged me to be Secretary of State (I didnt give it to him). He is so bad for Rs! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2019 The impeachment trial continues Tuesday, with Trumps defense team wrapping up oral arguments starting at 1 p.m. Related Content: Our record-breaking fundraising is another sign that the American people are fed up with Senate Republicans toeing the McConnell line, J.B. Poersch, president of Senate Majority PAC, said in a statement. We start 2020 with the momentum and resources necessary to compete deep into the Senate map, while Senate Republicans are forced to defend vulnerable incumbents who become more unpopular by the day. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 00:39:16|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Swansea Crown Court in Wales had sentenced two British drug smugglers arrested in one of Britain's biggest ever drug hauls for a total of 33 years in jail, local media reported. Hiding cocaine worth 78 million U.S. dollars on a yacht travelling from South America to Britain, 53-year-old Gary Swift and 41-year-old Scott Kilgour from Liverpool were arrested on board the yacht by border patrol officers, 800 meters off the coast of Wales last August. The court on Monday sentenced Swift and Kilgour to 19 years 6 months and 13 years 6 months respectively after they pleaded guilty to importing class A drugs into Britain. The two Britons were caught after an joint operation between Britain's National Crime Agency and Spanish National Police. Representative Image Come 2023, the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai will reduce to almost half as the central government plans to complete the flagship Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in the next three years, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said. The work on the expressway has already been started, said the minister, adding that once the work is completed, it will reduce travel time between Delhi and Mumbai from 24 hours to 13 hours. We will complete the flagship Delhi-Mumbai Express Highway in the next three years. The work will be done in 51 packages and work has already been started on 18, the minister was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The 1,320 km long stretch between Mumbai and Delhi will be India's longest expressway, said the road transport and highways minister. The greenfield alignment for the expressway has been selected in a manner to avoid habitation and optimise the cost of land acquisition. "We have saved about Rs 16,000 crore on land acquisition front alone as land could be acquired at a cost of Rs 80 lakh per hectare for the project," said Gadkari. The minister further said the expressway will unlock new economic opportunities in hinterland districts of Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. The expressway will have 43 interchanges at intersections with major national and state highways to provide connectivity to major towns, an official of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) told The Times of India. It will save nearly 1.6 hours for those who are driving from Delhi to Jaipur, said the official. Similarly, one would be able to save 3.3 hours to reach Udaipur and six hours to reach Bhopal by taking this expressway, he added. Giving more details about the expressway, the official said there will be 73 wayside amenities on the stretch. These facilities, which include restaurants, food courts, dormitories, convenience stores, petrol pumps, etc. will be at every 50-km interval so that people can find one after every 40-50 minute drive, he said. Besides convenience to travellers, the project will be a huge employment opportunity with an estimated generation of 50 lakh man-days work during construction, the official added. The daughter of the slain Iranian Commander, General Qassem Soleimani on Monday met with Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whom she had called "uncle Nasrallah" during her father's funeral in Tehran earlier in January. Since her father's death Zeinab Soleimani has become a celebrity among Iranian hardliners and apparently also Shiite's in Lebanon. She was first seen in public domain in the footage of Khamenei's visit to the Soleimani home for condolences. A few days later she delivered a speech at Soleimani's funeral in Tehran in which she called on Nasrallah, Yemeni Houthi rebel leader Abdalmalek Houthi and Syrian President Bashar Assad to take revenge for the fatal attack on her father, calling them her "uncles". This was the first time ever a woman had addressed a prayer congregation led by Khamenei. Video of meeting between Zeinab Soleimani and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Zeinab seems to have assumed the role of her slain father's ambassador to Lebanese Shiites. She delivered a speech in an event organized by Hezbollah Women's Affairs in Beirut on 23 January. Her speech in which she said the "martyrs" of Hezbollah and Iran were guardians of Khomeini and Khamenei's "values" was made in Arabic with "nearly perfect" Lebanese accent which surprised many. Soleimani's daughter has posted a professionally-made video of her Monday meeting with Nasrallah on Twitter. Her tweet is in Arabic and reads: "The spider nests of America and Zionists will collapse". In the video Zeinab and the Hezbollah leader are shown speaking in a room filled large photos of Khamenei, Khomeini, Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the leader of Iraqi Hashd who was also killed in the attack that killed the Commander of Iran's Qods (Quds) Force. Iranian state-affiliated news agencies have described the meeting as "genial". Interestingly, in the video of the meeting the camera zooms on Zeynab's hand and ring. Soleimani who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Baghdad on January 3 wore a very similar ring at the time of his death which helped identify his body. One of the fallacies of restaurant criticism is that the whole menu matters. Normal people who find a great dish at a restaurant come back and order it over and over, barely noticing that the rest of the menu exists. A restaurant critic who finds a great dish will come back and order all the other stuff. Most of the time this means eating some things that are average or slightly better, and a few that dont click, and then writing a review on the theme of inconsistency. If I were a normal person, Id go back to a two-month-old West Village restaurant called Antons every few weeks and get the spaghetti anchoiade each time. Id twirl the noodles around my fork, noticing how plain and mild they looked. Then Id start to eat. As I chewed and chewed heres a kitchen that knows what al dente means Id start to taste anchovies, as if one small piece had been pounded into invisibility and stirred with the garlic and oil. The anchovy flavor would build. It would magnify. So would my appreciation of the spaghetti. But I am not normal, and I am obliged to report that after digging around at Antons I found some, you know, inconsistency. The restaurant, the first that the chef Nick Anderer has opened since he left the velvet clutches of the Union Square Hospitality Group, is a low-key homage to old-guard New York specialties and traditions. His menu has no truck with avocado toasts, rainbow bagels and other early-21st-century ephemera. Chicken broth comes in a two-handled bouillon cup that, like many of the floral-patterned plates and bowls at Antons, looks as if it came from Grandmas china hutch. (The broth is darker than the yellow broths of Grandmas time, though, with a roasted flavor that can handle the shot of amontillado that is tipped into it at the table.) Antons occupies a squat Federal-era building on the corner of Hudson and West 11th Streets with mullioned windows and five-pointed metal stars that hold its brick facade in place. From just about anywhere in the low-ceilinged, plank-floored dining room you can look across Hudson Street and see the White Horse Tavern. It is the kind of West Village view that makes you hope for snow. Most targeted momcations come with a steep price tag, which makes them out of reach for many caregivers. But for those who can afford it, a variety of packages are now on the market. In Californias Napa Valley, the Archer Hotel has the Moms Wine Country Getaway package, which includes homemade salted caramels, a bathrobe, slippers and complimentary Wi-Fi and a flat-screen TV with premium channels plus a remote you wont have to share. At The Resort at Pelican Hill, a five-star retreat in Newport Beach, Calif., customers booking the Mom-cation package (available through May 15, 2020; prices vary depending on room) receive a $50 spa credit, a Guilt be Gone bath bomb and a branded bathrobe to take home, which they can wear while sipping on their complimentary bottle of Mom Juice (red, white or sparkling wine). Family vacations and girls weekends dont offer moms the chance to truly relax, said Robert Marusi, director of sales and marketing at Pelican Hill. Our Mom-cation is designed to offer the time and tranquillity to focus on just herself for a day or two. A review of Legal Aid Manitoba completed in March 2019 was made public late Monday, including more than a dozen recommendations to improve service at the arms-length government entity. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A review of Legal Aid Manitoba completed in March 2019 was made public late Monday, including more than a dozen recommendations to improve service at the arms-length government entity. The review, authored by Legal Aid Manitoba management council chairman Allan Fineblit, deals with structure, operations and decision-making, Justice Minister Cliff Cullen announced. Winnipeg Free Press Files "Our government is committed to modernizing Manitobas justice system, and we recognize legal aid is integral to ensuring access to justice for all," Cullen said in a news release. "This review reinforced the excellent work already being done, while also identifying some important opportunities to make improvements while continuing to deliver quality service to Manitobans who need it." Legal Aid Manitoba was created by legislation in the early 1970s, with the mandate to provide legal services to those unable to pay for themselves. It started out by hiring staff lawyers in community law centres, supplemented by the case-by-case appointment of private lawyers willing to take on the work. The last time the agency underwent review was 15 years ago; Fineblit was asked by Manitoba Justice in September 2018 to conduct the latest study. The reports 15 conclusions and recommendations include changes to how caseloads, staffing and finances are handled "while improving legal services to Manitobans and supporting the sustainability of the organization," Cullen said. Fineblit, former chief executive officer of the Law Society of Manitoba, now executive director of Legal Aid Manitoba, recommended keeping "and supporting" the mixed-delivery system of staff and private lawyers, amending the Legal Aid Act to give management council the authority to set the tariff of fees paid to private bar lawyers (rather than the government), and looking at a tariff that rewards seniority with a higher hourly rate. Fineblits review said most law firms have higher billing targets for higher-paid associates, and so should Legal Aid, with productivity targets for staff scaled to seniority. It recommended expanding eligibility guidelines to help people who are too "rich" to qualify for legal aid but too "poor" for the legal help they need especially in family court matters. "More legal aid service dollars are going to criminal and youth law, and less and less of its resources go to family law. In part, this is because criminal clients are generally poorer clients," the review said. "Its also because the criminal courts will intervene and appoint counsel at a much higher cost if legal aid doesnt step up. Whatever the reason, there is a huge disparity and a failure to provide service to those who need it in family law matters." The review also recommends the Legal Aid management council rethink who sits on its advisory committee and to ensure at least half are people without a significant self-interest at play, and at least two are clients or former clients. It calls for annual public accountability meetings where public input is sought about the work and strategic priorities of Legal Aid Manitoba. Fineblit said annual focus groups should be conducted with clients to get their input. The report also said management needs to look at hiring a "wider diversity of backgrounds and skill sets" when vacancies occur: "An organization run and governed and advised almost entirely by lawyers is at risk of focusing too heavily on the perspective of lawyers and not nearly enough on the public interest and the needs of the clients." Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The biggest shakeup to Legal Aid staff Fineblit recommended is making them all employees of Legal Aid Manitoba rather than government of Manitoba. "(It) now has a rigid salary structure that does not permit much, if any, flexibility. Good performance is not financially rewarded, and high-volume producers are paid the same as low-volume producers," the review said. "To be clear, this does not give Legal Aid a free hand to spend as it sees fit on salaries. The constraint is the global funding provided. LAM is freed up to manage those resources (something they have a good track record of doing) and using the most cost-effective delivery model they have available." Legal Aid should also look at conducting a form of tender, offering blocks of cases to lawyers willing to do them at a reduced fee, the report said. Cullen has asked the management council, which provides strategic direction and oversight to Legal Aid Manitoba, to review the reports findings. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Puro Politics is a weekly podcast hosted by columnist Gilbert Garcia, covering the drama and nuance of local government issues. Produced by Joy-Marie Scott. Listen and subscribe on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher TuneIn& RSS All Episodes Trish DeBerry made a late entrance in the 2009 mayoral contest but still managed to draw more than 22,000 votes. She finished second, more than doubling the combined vote totals for two council members in the race. That was a fairly encouraging result for a first-time candidate, but after that election, the veteran public relations and marketing consultant went a full decade before she seriously considered running for office again. When Precinct 3 County Commissioner Kevin Wolff announced last year that he wouldnt seek a fourth term, DeBerry decided to make a bid for the seat. She is one of eight GOP primary candidates competing in the overwhelmingly Republican precinct. DeBerry discussed her decision-making process on this weeks episode of the Express-News Puro Politics podcast. When I ran for mayor, just like when Im running for this office, some of it is gut, DeBerry said. You take a look at it and youre like, You know, I think I can make a difference here. Ive grown up in the precinct, spent all my life really in Precinct 3; very familiar with the issues in Precinct 3. From a timing standpoint, my kids are at an age I have a graduate senior in high school where I just thought, Im going to take a close look at this. One of the challenges she has encountered is public uncertainty about the role of Commissioners Court and the parameters of county government. On ExpressNews.com: Race to succeed Wolff will get crowded Running for mayor, people know exactly what the mayor of the city does, she said. To a person, when Im out block-walking, knocking on doors, people are like, We like you, we want to vote for you, but what does the county commissioner do? I want to educate people on the importance of county government. I want to bring transparency to county government, which I think is really, really important. Its kind of been a tomb over there for a long time. We dont know whats going on. I think the more transparent we can be about things, the better off county government is going to be. DeBerry has suggested shifting the responsibility for jail administration away from the sheriff and over to the Commissioners Court. She also has talked about examining possible reforms in the property appraisal process. DeBerry said her responsibilities, if elected, would include educating constituents about how they can contest appraisals. She added that she would seek to open up a precinct office, to enhance engagement with constituents. Kind of the difference between Kevin (Wolff) and myself: There was never a presence in the precinct, with a precinct office, she said. Theres a district office for the City Council people, but there hasnt ever been anything in the precinct. And its a big precinct. Theres half a million people that are in the precinct. Hear these and other issues discussed on this weeks edition of the Puro Politics podcast. Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin M. Taufiqurrahman (The Jakarta Post) Pittsburgh, United States Tue, January 28, 2020 12:15 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20614ab58 1 Art & Culture Andy-Warhol,Museum,pop-art,Pittsburgh Free Pop art icon Andy Warhol, born Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh in 1928, has a little bit of everything for everyone. For music fans with a voracious appetite for rock history, he was considered the grandfather of punk and glam rock, having masterminded the creation of the seminal New York band Velvet Underground, which many credited as an inspiration for rock's biggest stars, from David Bowie to Sonic Youth. The Andy Warhol Museum in downtown Pittsburgh, holds the largest collection of arts and archives from the pop-art icon. (The Jakarta Post/M. Taufiqurrahman) In 1971, Bowie wrote Andy Warhol as a tribute to the artist and included it as one of the tracks on his critically acclaimed record Hunky Dory. Warhol despised the song, though. Prior to his death in 1987, Warhol also left an indelible mark in popular music with some of his visual work adorning some of the biggest selling records in pop, from the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers to jazz guitar maestro Kenny Burrell's Vol. 2. For movie fans, Warhol will be best remembered for his difficult outputs the likes of experimental underground film Chelsea Girls, as well as the groundbreaking Screen Test, which turns the basic idea of film-making on its head. The Andy Warhol Museum in downtown Pittsburgh, holds the largest collection of arts and archives from the pop-art icon. (The Jakarta Post/M. Taufiqurrahman) Some fans of Warhol's cinematic releases went on to make their own films and won critical acclaim themselves. British director Steve McQueen said that he was most influenced by Warhol's 1964 release Couch, in which one actor lies on a couch while another lies along the top of the backrest, just staring at him. It is also difficult not to judge the merit of Hollywood director Gus Van Sant's movies without taking into account Warhol's influence. And then of course Warhol's looming presence in visual art, where he played a key role in melding the high- and the lowbrow, the sacred and the profane, while successfully predicting the social media era, when anyone can be famous for 15 minutes and when instant photography becomes the primary means of communication. If the sight of a Campbell soup can can immediately evoke Warhol's most famous work of art, then the artist reputation as the world's most famous visual artist is secure, no questions asked. So even for the most casual art fans, it would be a mistake not to visit the Andy Warhol Museum in downtown Pittsburgh if they make the trip to this industrial town. Not only does the Andy Warhol Museum hold the largest collection of the pop artist's artworks and archival materials, it is also one of the most comprehensive single artist museum in the world and the largest in America. And despite its reputation as the largest single artist museum in North America, given Warhol's voracious appetite for hoarding, some of the archival materials, especially the serial work Time Capsules, are only partially displayed to visitors. The Time Capsules, displayed on the museum's third floor, consists of 610 containers filled with ephemera documenting Warhol's life, ranging from taxidermy, copies of invitations to high-society parties to hundreds of cassettes and videotapes documenting his life and the lives of his entourage. Some of items in the Time Capsules collection could certainly give evidence to some of the quirkiest aspects in Warhol's life; the fact that he was a fan of taxidermy or that he always wanted all his celebrity friends to sign whatever gift they intended to give him. But those who are interested in wanting to know more about a more personal side of Warhol should head to the second floor, where an exhibition titled Andy Warhol: Revelation is currently ongoing. Running through Feb. 16, it is the first exhibition of its kind to examine Warhol's complex relationship with the faith of his youth, Catholicism. Being a gay man in New York and exploring the theme of sexuality for his art, Warhol had a conflicted relationship with the faith of his parents, yet religious imagery continued to feature prominently in his art. Born to a devout Byzantine Catholic family, Warhol grew up attending weekly church services at his local church with his mother Julia Warhola and throughout his life the pop art icon retained some his Catholic practices while his peers tried to distance themselves from their religious background. Besides paintings and one multimedia exhibition featuring a video of sunset over Los Angeles and sound tracked by a haunting recitation of haiku by his muse Christa Paffgen, known by her stage name Nico, is Warhol's sincere love letter to what he deemed to be a comforting myth that had shaped his childhood memories. Some of Catholicism's most well-known imagery, the scene from the Last Supper, Raphael's Madonna and Mona Lisa, are all given pop-art treatment, being reproduced, copied and splashed with a typical Warhol hue, the only tribute he knew how to do. The Andy Warhol Museum in downtown Pittsburgh, holds the largest collection of arts and archives from the pop-art icon. (The Jakarta Post/M. Taufiqurrahman) Catholicism is not the first thing that comes to mind when talking about Warhol, but soon after exiting the second floor of the museum, everyone will certainly gain a new perspective on the artist's life. "The exhibition will present a fresh perspective on the artist," chief curator Jose Carlos Diaz said. The most fascinating collection, however, is hundreds of photographs taken by Warhol throughout his lifetime, a treasure trove that could remind everyone that Warhol was indeed the prophet of our post-modern era, one who could predict our image-saturated age. Warhol took his camera everywhere he went, desperately trying to document everything and everyone around him and in the end produced nearly 130,000 images with his much-loved 35-milimeter Minox compact camera. Many others were shot on his Polaroid camera, resulting in a slightly wistful and discolored palette. Most of the photos on display at the Andy Warhol Museum are documentation of ordinary moments in the pop-art icon's life, including snapshots of members of his famous entourage in the nude. Others are photos of regular objects; bananas, eggs, coke bottles, neon signs and building facades that would not be out of place in the Instagram feeds of the social media personality of today. Yet, it was also these photos that Warhol in later years used as a foundation for his silk-screen portraits and colored ink canvases. The Andy Warhol Museum in downtown Pittsburgh, holds the largest collection of arts and archives from the pop-art icon. (The Jakarta Post/M. Taufiqurrahman) Now we can certainly believe Warhol when he said: "I didn't believe in art; I believed in photography." An Ohio woman has been charged in the 2019 death of a 3-month-old baby girl. On Friday, Amie M. Wright was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter for the January 2019 death of Annalise C. Murphy, according to a Columbus Police Department press release obtained by PEOPLE. One year earlier, on Jan. 24, 2019, Annalise died two days after being brought into a Nationwide Childrens Hospital in critical condition. Her death wouldnt be ruled a homicide by the coroner until July 3, 2019. According to her autopsy, Annalise died of blunt force injuries to the head. She also had six broken ribs that were healing at the time of her death indicating she had broken them prior to the head trauma that killed her, according to the Columbus Dispatch. [Annalise] enjoyed stroller rides, bath time hugs, kisses, and holding hands with her parents and big sister, her obituary states. During her short time here on earth she touched many lives, gave a lifetime of love and a smile that brightened the room. Love for her will last forever. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLEs free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Amie M. Wright | Fairfield County Jail Its unclear what Wrights relationship was to Annalise. Last year, Sgt. David Shimberg with the Columbus Police Department revealed there was a connection between Wrights address and Annalises parents home, the paper reports. Annalise was also taken to the hospital from that address. The investigation remains ongoing. It is unclear whether Wright has an attorney to comment on her behalf or if she has entered a plea. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477). A jury has awarded $400,000 to two Oregon dog breeders who sued the International Canine Semen Bank alleging that it mistakenly destroyed frozen dog sperm from the 1990s that could have produced hundreds of coveted, cream-of-the-crop Labrador retriever puppies. Dick Weiner and Brad Barcroft claimed the Sandy-area sperm bank negligently allowed the sperm of six prized, long-dead Labradors to thaw and become useless after a freezer mishap in 1997. Weiner and Barcroft alleged the sperm bank then hid its mistake for nearly two decades until a former employee of the company shared the news with them in 2016. Weiner, 81, has been breeding Labradors for nearly 50 years through his Salem-based company, Sunnyview Labradors. He described the loss of the bloodlines as emotionally devastating. But it is what it is, Weiner said, over his losses. And theres not much I can do about it. King was the son of San Joaquin Honcho, the 1976 National Field Champion. King was a Dual Grand Master, says Dick Weiner. Weiner froze King's semen back in the 1990s. (Courtesy of Dick Weiner) He and Barcroft filed a lawsuit in 2017 in Clackamas County Circuit Court seeking $800,000 -- an amount that includes in part their estimate of how many pups they could have sold at $2,000 to $3,000 a piece. Weiner also used to sell vials of the champion dogs semen for $3,000 a piece to buyers interested in impregnating their own female dogs. In particular, Weiner mourned the loss of progeny from an award-winning dog named King, who was the son of the legendary San Joaquin Honcho, the 1976 U.S. National Field Champion. Weiner said no one froze semen from San Joaquin Honcho when such technology was still developing and that he believes hes the only one who had the insight to collect and freeze semen from one of San Joaquin Honchos sons. His pedigree was impeccable. He was just one of the greatest Labradors who ever walked, Weiner said of San Joaquin Honcho. Weiner said King also was stunning: He was a gorgeous dog. 105 pounds. Just an outstanding animal. After a four-day trial his month, a Clackamas County Circuit Court jury found that the sperm bank had lost or damaged Weiner and Barcrofts frozen reserves of dog semen. Weiner said he still has a small amount of Kings semen left, but hell no longer sell it because he has so little of it. Defense attorneys for the semen bank contended in court papers that Weiner and Barcrofts frozen reserves could have been damaged or lost while in possession of another dog semen preservation company that has kept the reserves stored in recent years. The defense lawyers also said the allegation that the storage tank had been left open, allowing the semen to thaw, came from a fired employee who didnt witness an open tank. He had heard from his wife who heard from someone else that the tank was supposedly left open, the defense lawyers said. The trial exposed jurors to the high-stakes, sometimes precarious world of breeding elite hunting dogs. The International Canine Semen Bank was founded in 1971 by Carrol Platz, who helped develop the process of preserving canine semen for use decades later while working as a researcher at the University of Oregon, according to the business website. The company boasts that it has since expanded to more than 50 centers worldwide, including in Australia, Japan and throughout North America. For $324 in start-up costs, the company will collect and store a dogs semen for a year, then continue to store it for an annual fee of $79 after that. The sperm bank was sued under its official name registered with the state, International Animal Semen Bank. Platz headed the company until 2014 and has since retired. Platz is listed as a defendant along with the company. Weiner and Barcrofts lawsuit states that Weiner had been a customer since 1995. Barcroft said he became a customer years later, after he bought some of Weiners reserves. Weiner has mentored Barcroft, who entered the breeding business in 2011 by founding his Sublimity company, Driftcreek Labradors. Weiner and Barcroft said some customers use their dogs for competitions or recreational duck and geese hunting. Other buyers are regular folks who want a healthy, faithful family pet. These are high-quality field dogs, Barcroft said. The genetics of these dogs are really good. They dont have hip problems. They dont have bad eyes. They dont have coat problems. They are super smart, which makes them easy to train. Who wouldnt want that? A litter of Sunnyview Labradors' 5-week old puppies can be seen here prancing about. (Courtesy of Sunnyview Labradors) Animal law lawyer Geordie Duckler, who represented both men, said the dogs have the papers to back up those claims. Youre not just buying the dog because its a cool-looking dog, Duckler said. Youre buying it because its the son of a famous dog, that was a son of a famous dog. Youre buying them because of the pedigree. Jurors awarded Weiner $300,000 in economic damages and Barcroft $100,000 in economic damages. Attorney Nicholas Herman, who represented the semen bank along with Philip Griffin, said his client will be requesting a new trial based on the argument that the bank didnt receive a fair trial. We fully expect to prevail in a fair trial, and if our request for a new trial is denied, then we will appeal, and we fully expect to prevail on appeal, Herman said in an email. -- Aimee Green agreen@oregonian.com o_aimee Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday the country was waging a serious fight against the "demon" coronavirus outbreak and pledged transparency in the government's efforts to contain the disease. "The epidemic is a demon, and we cannot let this demon hide," Xi said in a meeting with the head of the World Health Organization, according to state media. "The Chinese government has always adopted an open, transparent and responsible attitude to timely release of information on the epidemic to domestic and foreign countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BELOIT, Wis., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Louis Pinkham, Chief Executive Officer of Regal Beloit Corporation (NYSE: RBC), announced that the Board of Directors, at its regular quarterly meeting held on January 25, 2020, declared a dividend of $0.30 per share. The dividend is payable on April 9, 2020, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 27, 2020. The company has paid a dividend every quarter since January 1961. Regal Beloit Corporation (NYSE: RBC) is a global leader in the engineering and manufacturing of electric motors and controls, power generation products and power transmission products serving customers throughout the world. We create a better tomorrow by developing and responsibly producing energy-efficient products and systems. Our company is comprised of three operating segments: Commercial and Industrial Systems, Climate Solutions and Power Transmission Solutions. Regal is headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin and has manufacturing, sales and service facilities worldwide. For more information, visit RegalBeloit.com. Click here to read the full article. Swedish series Caliphate begins in Syria with Pervin and other women being corralled into a square. A man is dragged to a table, his arm then stretched across it; the women are told to look away. Then a man standing beside the table produces a meat cleaver, raises it, and chops off the mans lower arm. A thriller building up to a terrorist attack in Sweden, the series turns in part on Pervin but also on The Traveller, a charming students assistant in Sweden, who recruits a team there with backup from IS in Syria, including two students, 15-year-old Sulle and friend Kerima. More from Variety Married to Raqqa-based IS member Hasum, a Muslim Swede, Pervin gets wind of the attack, is told by ambitious Swedish Intelligence Service agent Fatima that she needs to find out more about in return for a safe passage out of Syria. As she desperately attempts to do so, risking discovery, Pervins life becomes the stuff of nightmare. Produced by Filmlance (The Bridge) for Swedish broadcaster SVT, sold by Endemol Shine International and bowing Jan. 12 on SVT, Caliphate is based on an idea by Wilhelm Behrman, who created the series together with Nikolas Rockstrom. Directed by the Guldbagge-awarded director Goran Kapetanovic (My Aunt in Sarajevo), the series marks Behrman and Rockstroms follow-up to underworld crime thriller Before We Die, a big hit on SVT. Shot in Stockholm and Jordan, the eight-part thriller retains an edge-of-the-seat tension as events looks to be careering towards the terrorist attack in Sweden and Pervins plight in Syria seems ever more endangered. Variety talked to Behrman just before Caliphates premiere on Jan. 12. After Before We Die, you could have made many types of series with SVT, so why Caliphate? Story continues Just because the idea happened to come to us, and we liked it. It started with a photo in the international press of three British teenage girls running away from their families to join ISIS. I was so upset about it, maybe because I have a daughter the exact same age so I realized I had to write something about it. And Niklas agreed so we created Caliphate. Caliphate is described as showing how religious fundamentalism can seduce individuals and destroy lives. That seems a perfect structure to mix both psychological drama and a thriller edge with the series turning in Eps. 1-3 less on the logistics of the attack as the seduction of its potential female perpetrators. Thats right. We wanted the audience to get lured into the story by starting a classic terrorist plot and then let the drama about the girls be more and more dominant as the viewers get more and more emotionally engaged in them. If we had let the radicalization story dominate the first episode maybe parts of the audience would have lost interest. The series features five women. They have one thing in common: Limited life opportunities: Sulle is couped up in a misogynist Raqqa in Syria; Fatima is denied promotion at work; Sulle thinks that schools a farce when the best job devout Muslims can land in Sweden is as cleaners; Miryam, whom Ibbe also recruits for the attack, cant have children. Is this sense of limitation merely coincidental? Well, we havent thought much about that actually. So I suppose its coincidental. And Sulles limitation is a mindset more than reality, shes a bright student and has two loving parents and still regards herself as a victim. But perhaps a writer wants instinctively to make life hard for your characters because it tends to be a good starting point for storytelling. How did you research such a delicate subject as the radicalization of todays youth? There are a whole lot of scientific studies, books and articles that look into that phenomenon and we have done a lot of reading. Quite a few documentaries have been made too. But in the end youre writing about fictitious people and you have to provide them with their own individual motives. Its a lot about empathy. Some scenes are dominated by green-blue aqueous tones, and are highly claustrophobia. Are these tones and sense of enclosed space innate to the sets, lights and narrow passageways in the houses or influenced at all by the lenses used and color grading? I think they are innate to the sets. But decisions about the design of the series are not made by us. Three of the five series competing for the 2020 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize feature acts of terrorism. Do you think that this is one way Scandinavian drama is going, from Nordic Noir towards more political or broader-canvas social thrillers, shot sometimes in more than one country? I guess the timing is logical. In 2015 Northern Europe experienced a huge refugee crisis and at the same time a couple of hundred citizens of the Nordic countries joined Isis. Furthermore, terrorism became a reality by that time with deadly attacks in both Sweden, Norway and Denmark. And now, a couple of years later, we see the artistic result in the form of TV series. I dont think this will be a new wave of political or social thrillers, though. People tend to find those boring. What are you working on now? A couple of new projects. A family drama/murder history and a miniseries about a real Swedish national trauma. But most of all we long to write a romcom. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Regulatory News: Air Liquide (Paris:AI) announced today it has entered into exclusive negotiations, with Messer, regarding the divestment of its entities in Czech Republic and Slovakia. Air Liquide started operating in Slovakia in 2000 and Czech Republic in 2001. Today, both locations total 53 employees, with office locations in Prague and Trnava. This decision illustrates Air Liquide's strategy to review regularly its asset portfolio and focus its geographic expansion on key regions in order to increase density and therefore enhance performance. This transaction is subject to the final and definitive agreement between the parties, and will be carried out in the framework of the relevant social processes and ongoing dialogue with the employee representatives' bodies. A world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 80 countries with approximately 66,000 employees and serves more than 3.6 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide's scientific territory and have been at the core of the company's activities since its creation in 1902. Air Liquide's ambition is to be a leader in its industry, deliver long term performance and contribute to sustainability. The company's customer-centric transformation strategy aims at profitable growth over the long term. It relies on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation and a network organization implemented by the Group worldwide. Through the commitment and inventiveness of its people, Air Liquide leverages energy and environment transition, changes in healthcare and digitization, and delivers greater value to all its stakeholders. Air Liquide's revenue amounted to 21 billion euros in 2018 and its solutions that protect life and the environment represented more than 40% of sales. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40, EURO STOXX 50 and FTSE4Good indexes. www.airliquide.com Follow us on Twitter @airliquidegroup View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005645/en/ Contacts: Corporate Communications media@airliquide.com +33 (0)1 40 62 58 49 Air Liquide Central Europe Communications Andreas Vo, Head of Communication andreas.voss@airliquide.com +49 211 66 99 4242 Investor Relations Paris France +33 (0)1 40 62 50 87 Philadelphia USA +1 610 263 8277 Pro-Israel students from 30 university campuses across the United States and Canada gathered at Columbia University in New York City for the Students Supporting Israel conference. (JNS)-Pro-Israel students from 30 university campuses across the United States and Canada gathered last week in New York City for a three-day conference to learn about defending Israel effectively, confidently and unapologetically at their schools. The conference was hosted by Student Supporting Israel, a nonpartisan, non-Jewish campus group, and took place at Columbia University, which has been called one of the most hostile colleges for pro-Israel students. "That was why it was important for us to host our conference here," explained SSI co-founder Ilan Sinelnikov. "The most hostile place? That's where SSI will go because our activists should be able to take on any opponent, at any campus, at any time of the year. That is basically our motto at SSI." Gathered at the conference were 90 Jewish and non-Jewish pro-students from a wide range of backgrounds, including South American, Bangladeshi and South Korean. Some the activities and discussions they participated in included a mock student government lobby so participants could practice their pro-Israel arguments; hearing from SSI leaders about their experiences advocating for Israel support on campuses; asking questions to Consul General of Israel in New York Dani Dayan; practicing in a group activity how to respond to challenging questions about Israel; and they were given tips about combating BDS on campus and drafting pro-Israeli legislation. "I'm immensely grateful to be here and to be able to experience being around so many other people who are like-minded, and have so much passion for Zionism in a really authentic and original way that's individual to everyone here," said Arianna Sadikov, 20, a Jewish sophomore at California's Santa Monica College. She explained that she became religious about a year ago, and that's when she really started noticing the misinformation on campus about Israel. She saw the growing hostility of members of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at her school, and how they sometimes approach SSI members that their tabling events, yelling quotes from the Koran, saying Jews must die or screaming at them in Arabic. At the same time, Sadikov feels that pro-Israel students not doing enough to make sure people know the truth about Israel and Zionism. "I think it's important to continue focusing on promoting an accurate narrative about Zionism that doesn't leave out any part of the story," she said, adding that the lack of detail information to combat BDS was stressed during the conference, and that Jewish students seemed to leave more empowered and with more tools to tackle the problem. After Sadikov, who was one of the presenters, left the stage, "I had a lot of people came up to me asking what can I do to be able to share more accurate information about the narrative of the Diaspora and all of us as Zionists. And I think that was something that was really amazing to me-to see how everyone here is so interested and adamant about making sure that they are giving everyone the correct information. And they're willing to learn and collaborate, and it's so amazing to be here." 'More tools in your tool kit' For Dimas Guaico, a Latino junior at Bob Jones University in South Carolina who is not Jewish, his passion is to share with the Latino community Israel's many contributions to the world-historically, technologically, religiously-and to bridge SSI with the Christian college community in the United States. At the SSI conference, he connected with other pro-Israel students and traded ideas with them about how to combat anti-Semitism and misconceptions about Israel at their respective campuses. "I like how much SSI uses the passion of the actual students to move them," the 23-year-old told JNS. "There's no special incentive that they give to students; it's just using the passion that students already have to kind of drive them towards more advocacy on campus. As young college students, we want to be out there and we want to take action, but sometimes, we don't have the right direction. SSI is super crucial in channeling that passion and focusing it where it's needed the most on different campuses." Yonatan Herzfeld, 20, from Stony Brook University on Long Island, N.Y., added that "SSI really empowers student leaders to be strong in their convictions and not be on the defensive. Not be the prey. Not wait for something to happen, but actively, preemptively and pro-actively creating pro-Israel movements." At Kennesaw State University in Georgia, where 21-year-old Stephen Omorogbe, is a senior, SSI hosted a 9/11 memorial event this past semester, and a female student approached their table and started cursing them out, saying "f**k you, f**king Israel" and 'You Nazi asses need to get out of this campus." "The absolute consensus about Israel here on campus is that it's a bad force." Omorogbe, who is Nigerian, said the SSI conference taught him how to bride a divide between pro-Israel students and those who are against Israel, sometimes without even knowing much the country. He said students constantly exposed to pro-Palestinian displays on campus will have a negative opinion about Israel "almost through osmosis," and that many people form negative opinions subconsciously by seeing false information on social media and other places. "I think that subconscious twisting of the truth is what's most dangerous because it's pernicious in the sense that you don't even know that it's happening," he said. The conference has helped him become less nervous about speaking up in support of Israel. "I'd always think that maybe there's no use in me fighting, and I think after this I feel empowered because I know more information that I can point to. I have more information on my side," he said, "whereas before I was kind of hazy. I didn't really know exactly what to say, how to reach that person. But now, I feel like I can tailor my persuasion more effectively. "Having more information on your side in a sense gives you peace because you know you have more tools in your tool kit that you can pull from. And I don't feel bad for being pro-Israel anymore because it's the right thing to do. Having that information, having the truth, it eases any feeling of anxiety." 'Proactive, not just reactive' Ofir Dayan, president of SSI Columbia and daughter of the consul general, told JNS "many campuses are waiting for something to happen to wake up and do something; that's not what we do. And even when stuff happens, I believe SSI knows how to handle it better." The 25-year-old junior, who completed mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces before attending college, said her school has held "Apartheid Week" every year for a few years now, and until SSI came on campus, pro-Israel students never protested. Instead, she said, "their mindset was, 'Let's hide inside Hillel, lock the doors and wait for this to be over.' But it doesn't go away; it's anti-Semitism." As she said in 2017 in The Times of Israel, "I decided to go to college in America because, first of all, with my experience in the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, I felt that the international community and international media are not aware of Israel and its positions on many things. And I felt that this was a situation that needed to be fixed, especially in Ivy League universities." With the help of SSI, once a semester pro-Israel students organize a "Hebrew Liberation Week" timed to "Apartheid Week," where they put up displays across campus that talk about Jewish identity, Israel and the Jewish connection to the land. According to Dayan, one of the biggest problems for pro-Israel students at Columbia is also the number of openly anti-Semitic tenured professors who teach their racist views in class, such as Hamid Dabashi, who has claimed that Israel is behind "every dirty treacherous ugly and pernicious act happening in the world." "It's important to continue focusing on promoting an accurate narrative about Zionism that doesn't leave out any part of the story." "While I can confront SJP when they stand outside with a fake wall, I don't know what is being said in every moment in every class," she said. "And people in college, especially when they're in the younger side, tend to see what their professor is saying as something that is necessarily true. Even me as a student, I can be vocal, loud and everything, but when it comes to believing me or believing their professor, most students would believe their professor." SSI Founder and President Ilan Sinelnikov. Another threat is the way people talk about Israel and Zionism on campus. Being a Zionist is equated with being a Nazi and is used as a curse word, she said. "The absolute consensus about Israel here on campus is that it's a bad force. Even if people are not aware of what's happening on the ground, their first connotation of Israel is something bad." Sinelnikov said the goal of SSI is to be proactive, not just reactive, and to encourage students to not be apologetic for supporting Israel. He hopes that students at the conference learned more about Zionism and Israel, gained confidence in discussing those topics with others and took away information that will prove useful in the future. "I want students to know what Zionism is, and take it to the campus grounds and to be able to advocate for it and speak confidently about it," he said. "Sometimes, you don't need to know 100 percent the full picture, but you need to be confident enough about saying it. People will see your confidence about it, and they will join it." The John Bolton who worked in the Reagan administration probably never saw this coming. According to Fox Business' Lou Dobbs, Bolton, who has never drifted from Republican politics in his 40-plus years in Washington, D.C., is now "a tool for the left." That's what a graphic on Dobbs' show declared Monday night, while a zany web connected Bolton to "foreign policy RINO" Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and former FBI Director James Comey. Bolton was Romney's foreign policy adviser during his 2012 presidential run, and through Bolton, Romney is apparently connected to Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and his brother Col. Yevgeny Vindman, Dobbs' very simplified web map showed. Yevgeny Vindman is an attorney for the National Security Council, so Dobbs mirrored right-wing publications in alleging Vindman may have leaked the chunk of Bolton's book that reportedly implicates Trump in a Ukraine quid pro quo. Bolton also shares a book agency with Comey and fellow former Trump official Cliff Sims, which somehow apparently furthers the case that Bolton "has been reduced to a tool for the radical Dems," Dobbs said Monday. Bolton, of course, was also Dobbs' Fox colleague for more than a decade before he left the network to become Trump's national security adviser. He worked in the three prior GOP administrations before that, and as The New York Times' Maggie Haberman noted, Fox owner Rupert Murdoch helped push Bolton over the edge when Trump was considering him for the national security spot. More stories from theweek.com It's 2020 and women are exhausted John Bolton just vindicated Nancy Pelosi Trump to sign updated NAFTA pact in large White House ceremony, did not invite House Democrats By Express News Service PARADIP: As the novel Coronavirus (nCoV) spreads its tentacles beyond China, Paradip Port Trust (PPT) and the district administration have put in place preventive measures to tackle any possible threat to the port town. PPT has advised captains of all foreign vessels visiting ports of countries affected by nCoV to inform the harbour master of Paradip about crew members suspected of carrying the virus through e-mails. The district administration on Monday made elaborate arrangements at the port and State-run hospitals to deal with nCoV cases. Preparations have also been made at the port to screen passengers coming from China and Malaysia. On arrival at Paradip Sea, the captains of every vessel have been advised by the harbour master to impress upon the crew members to report for screening. The PPT has also decided to receive daily calls to enquire about the health status of the crew. Crew members have been requested to self-monitor for development of symptoms suggestive of fever and cough within 28 days from the date of departure from nCoV affected countries. In case of suspected symptoms, they have been asked to put on face mask, restrict their outdoor movement and contact their streamer agent, harbour master and deputy conservator of the port during their stay at Paradip. All stakeholders have been urged to get specific information on any person suffering from common cold like symptoms on board and pass it on to the harbour master so that necessary action can be taken as per the SOP on NCoV. On the day, Collector Sangram Keshari Mohapatra and Chief District Medical Officer Vijaya Panda visited the port, harbour and hospitals and directed officials to remain alert and report any symptoms like fever, cold, cough and pulmonary issues to the health department. Those who have visited nCoV-hit countries in the last 28 days were advised home quarantine. They will be closely monitored by the Health department, sources said.Chief Medical Officer of Port Hospital Prahllad Panda said an isolation ward has been opened at the hospital and scanners installed at harbour gates as part of the preventive measures. Indonesias gay community has struggled with abuse for years and Sinagas rape conviction has fuelled more anger. Jakarta, Indonesia Described by British prosecutors as the worst-known sex offender in the countrys history, Indonesian exchange student Reynhard Sinaga drugged and sexually assaulted nearly 200 men in Manchester over several years. But Sinaga, who was sentenced to life earlier this month, is not the only one being punished for his crimes. According to the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights, revulsion over the case has sparked a widespread homophobic backlash in his Muslim-majority Southeast Asian homeland. Some regents and mayors have set policies to discriminate against LGBT groups and violate their rights in the name of family values, Commissioner Beka Ulung Hapsara told Al Jazeera, referring to local government officials. The most high-profile example took place in Sinagas hometown, the Javanese city of Depok, where Mayor Mohammad Idris announced raids targeting the LGBT community. He also described gay people as victims and promised to open centres to rehabilitate them. Local news coverage on the Sinaga case also smeared the LGBT community, with newspapers and TV stations obsessing over his sexual orientation. They, and the public also, paid more attention to Reynhard Sinagas sexual orientation instead of focusing on the real problem, which is rape, Hapsara said. This years LGBT beauty pageant in Bali was cancelled after the organisers received violent threats on social media [Yayasan Gaya Dewata via Al Jazeera] Even Sinagas distraught mother joined the fray, saying that as Christians her family did not believe in homosexuality. Tellingly, she also said her son had rejected her appeals for him to come home from the UK because he did not believe Indonesia was a good place for him. A more tolerant past Indonesias parliament has debated introducing laws criminalising same-sex conduct on several occasions. Yet, with the exception of the autonomous, remote region of Aceh, which is governed by Islamic law, homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia. Many cultures within the archipelago were historically tolerant of LGBT people. Some groups, like the Bugis of South Sulawesi province, even revered them. Since the15th century, transgender priests called bissu crowned Bugis kings and queens and offered blessings to expectant mothers and farmers before harvest. To make ends meet, they worked in weddings as maids of honour a custom also practised in neighbouring Malaysia and Thailand. But when Indonesia gained independence in 1945, local monarchies were disbanded. The bissu were labelled un-Islamic and subsequently marginalised. Today they are a dying breed with only a handful remaining. Indonesian President Joko Widowo, popularly known as Jokowi, has taken small steps to enforce human rights, such as criminalising child marriage and pardoning a woman who was imprisoned for defaming her alleged sexual abuser. But according to Human Rights Watch 2019 World Report, harassment and discrimination of the LGBT community has increased under Jokowis tenure. Gay bars in Bali have been uncharacteristically quiet in the wake of the Sinaga rape case [Ian Neubauer/Al Jazeera] Indonesian authorities continued to fail to uphold basic rights of LGBT people, fueling a spike in the countrys HIV epidemic, the report said. Police arbitrary and unlawful raids on private LGBT gatherings, assisted by militant Islamists, has effectively derailed public health outreach efforts to vulnerable populations, the report said. HIV rates among men who have sex with men have consequently increased five-fold since 2007, from 5 to 25 percent. Crackdown on Bali As a unique Hindu-majority island in the worlds most populous Muslim country, Bali is a popular gay haven in Southeast Asia. The resort island has entire industry catering to LGBT tourists, including gay-friendly villas, tour companies and massage joints that advertise their services openly on the Internet. Camplung Tanduk Street, which boasts the liveliest gay bars and clubs, is the heart of Balis gay district in the Seminyak tourist neighbourhood. All religions are the same, they do not accept LGBT people. But Balinese Hindus are more tolerant and more accepting than people are in other parts of Indonesia, said Arya, spokesperson for Yayasan Gaya Dewata, a Balinese NGO that delivers free HIV testing, sexual health counselling and awareness campaigns on the island. I think its also because we have so much tourism. They accept what foreigners do here so long as they dont break the law, said Arya, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name. But a few days after the Sinaga case made global headlines, a villa in Seminyak was targeted by the local Public Order Agency over allegations it was marketed specifically to gay men. The Angelo Bali Gay Guesthouse has since closed and three more villas in Seminyak have also been targeted for inspections. Both the Bali Villa Association and Cultural Agency in Badung, the government body that administrates Seminyak, released statements saying such marketing practices contradicted social and religious norms. Online Hate LGBT activist Arya believes the targeting of these villas was purely coincidental and not related to the Sinaga case.The problem is they labelled themselves as gay businesses, he explains. The bars in Seminyak that are popular with LGBT people, they dont write that they are gay bars and they dont discriminate. They welcome everyone. Business has slowed at gay bars in Bali [Ian Neubauer/Al Jazeera] But Arya acknowledges Bali has not been immune to the rise of homophobia in Indonesia. LGBT life is getting harder because this country is becoming more religious, he said. In Bali, we never had problems before, but now we are seeing the rapid spread of anti-LGBT campaigns on social media. We dont know whos behind it, but they usually use religion to justify their hate. Hapsana confirmed a massive campaign on social media from conservative groups working with faith-based organisations has worsened the situation. Reports of anti-LGBT violence linked to the Sinaga case have not surfaced in Bali or anywhere in Indonesia. But violent threats made on social media forced Yayasan Gaya Dewata to cancel its annual LGBT pageant in Bali this year. Meanwhile, the gay bars in Seminyak are uncharacteristically quiet. Look around, its empty, said a Balinese cross-dresser who spoke on condition of anonymity. There are only tourists here but very few locals. I dont blame them. This is the first time I have gone out since the story about that guy in English came out. Its dangerous, he said. Places in History 112 Years On, Yangons General Post Office Still Links Myanmar With Wider World Yangons General Post Office at the corner of Bo Aung Kyaw Street and the Strand Road. Yangon The place that connected Myanmar to the rest of the world during the colonial period was the Rangoon (now Yangon) General Post Office. In pre-colonial times there were messengers who traveled on foot, horse or by boat. After the British annexation, post offices were established in most towns. The original post office opened in 1854 at the corner of the Strand Road and 32nd Street. The building was severely damaged during the 1930 earthquake and the post office moved to the current building at the corner of the Strand Road and Bo Aung Kyaw Street in 1936. The 1908 building was previously the office of Bulloch Brothers and Co., a Scottish rice milling and trading firm. The post office was dominated by British officials and Indian clerks as part of the Indian Raj. The majority of customers were British and Indian. British mail took priority. The beaux-arts iron portico, neogothic arched windows and double-winged stairways in the foyer underline the buildings architectural significance. Delivery rates were very high and the punctuality of Indian postmen was often commented on in books published at the time. The fact that lottery tickets and quinine were sold at post offices indicates the important role the postal service played for citizens. In 1938, the General Post Office worked with five airlines for express mail deliveries. Only a small proportion of the indigenous population used the postal service while even illiterate Indian migrants sent letters and remittances back to their families in India. The amount of outgoing remittances far exceeded the incoming sums. During World War II, the bomb-damaged building was repaired under Japanese rule. Postal clerks returned to work but damage to the transport network hampered efficiency. After the war, most of the British and Indian employees retired with pensions and Lieutenant Colonel U Thein became the first postmaster after independence. The independent state became a member of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1949 but the immediate start of the civil war disrupted the postal service. Express money transfers and parcel deliveries were introduced with links to more than 100 countries. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the General Post Office in 2014 and Japan has provided technical assistance. Yangon Heritage Trust installed a blue plaque on the building in 2015. Despite its turbulent history, the 112-year-old red-brick building still connects Myanmar with the outside world. You may also like these stories: Yangon Zoo, the Oldest One in Southeast Asia Independence MonumentSymbol of Myanmars Sovereignty Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 20:49:50|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MELBOURNE, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Roger Federer scraped through to an Australian Open semifinal matchup with Novak Djokovic, while Sofia Kenin and Australia's Ashleigh Barty also booked their places in the final four on day 9 of competition. Federer survived seven match points against unseeded American Tennys Sandgren 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-3, with the Swiss master proving once again that he has multiple lives at this tournament. In the previous round, Federer won six consecutive points to claim a match tiebreak against Australia's John Millman, and showed similar survival skills to walk away victorious once again. "I think I got incredibly lucky today," Federer said in a post-match interview. "I was just hoping that maybe he wasn't going to smash a winner. If he misses one or two match points, who knows what's going to happen?" Federer will be joined by defending champion Djokovic, who beat Canada's Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. It will be the 50th meeting for the two greats, with Djokovic winning 26 of their past encounters compared to Federer's 23. Meanwhile, Barty beat Czech player Petra Kvitova, 7-6 (6), 6-2, while Kenin brought an end to Tunisian Ons Jabeur's historic run, winning 6-4, 6-4. Jabeur is the first Arab woman to reach the quarterfinals of a major singles tournament, beating former Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki and China's Wang Qiang in so doing. With renewed confidence, Jabeur said she will continue to pursue her dream of one day winning a Grand Slam. "I was also looking to myself to win a Grand Slam event before, but now I think I'm closer. I think I can believe more in my dream," she said. Meanwhile, Barty's chances of winning a Grand Slam on home soil improved following a powerful performance against Kvitova. The two-time Wimbledon champion had ended Barty's run to the finals in Melbourne last year, but this time the local hero flipped the script, becoming the first local woman to earn a place in the Australian Open semifinals in 36 years. "I knew I had to bring my absolute best today against Petra," Barty said after the match. "In my eyes she's the perfect competitor, regardless of whether she wins or loses she's always got a big grin on her face. I absolutely love testing myself against her." As the Wuhan coronavirus spreads around the globe, New York Citys Chinatown remains bustling, with many giving what amounts to a collective shrug in the face of an outbreak that has health officials on high alert. On Monday, just before the US State Department pushed its travel warning for China up a notch, the streets remained filled. Shops were open, with vendors hawking knock-off Rolex watches and Gucci bags. Gleaming Peking ducks hung in the windows of restaurants, which themselves did not seem to want for customers. While some pedestrians could be seen wearing surgical masks as they went about their day, the sight is not uncommon in the busy and iconic neighbourhood in downtown Manhattan. If anything, people werent staying away amid the outbreak so much as showing their nonchalance, with one police officer overheard saying to another, Chinatown is busy today, huh? Ive been eating here since I was a baby, said Elyaher Ruiz, a 30-year-old who lives in Queens but works in the neighbourhood, told The Independent after picking up an order of duck at his favourite restaurant on Canal Street. Noting that a virus isnt the first thing he would want to ponder before eating lunch, Mr Ruiz nevertheless said he isnt too worried about a health scare that still feels half a world away: I am just going to be doing the things I always have, and that includes eating at the restaurants I like. Pedestrians pass by outside of a Chinatown fish market (Clark Mindock/The Independent) Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Show all 154 1 /154 Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Paramedics wearing personal protective equipment carry patient on a stretcher on to an ambulance in North Point district in Hong Kong, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker wearing protective gear takes a rest as he waits for ambulances carrying patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at an entrance of a hospital in Daegu, South Korea YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker sprays disinfectant on an ambulance after carrying a patient infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Daegu YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective face masks shop at a supermarket in Casalpusterlengo, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A trolley bus is disinfected amid fears over the spread of the novel coronavirus in Pyongyang, North Korea REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus in a local market in Daegu, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective facemask walks outside a nearly empty shopping mall at lunch time in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing protective facemask and gloves puts a drawing made by a girl living in the area asking residents to wear protective gear, next to a quarantine notice for people who have travelled and a notice asking people to register outside a residential compound in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman is taken into an ambulance amid a coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulances and health workers are seen outside the Padua's hospital, northern Italy EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers in coaches leave MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire after being repatriated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus in Yokohama, Japan and head to Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People rest in a temporary hospital situated in the Tazihu Gymnasium in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buddhist monks wearing protective face masks pray during a blessing ceremony for the people affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient infecting with a new coronavirus to a hospital in Chuncheon, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Soldiers in hazmat suits sanitize cargo from a China Airlines plane at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, Taiwan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Barricades are seen to block the entrance a the gate of a local mall in a nearly empty area in Beijing, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor wearing a protective facemask waits for customers at a shop in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The body temperature of an Iraqi child returning from Iran is measured upon her arrival at the Najaf International Airport AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers hand out free facemasks at a shopping district in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient suspected of contracting the new coronavirus toward an ambulance at Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker disinfects a shop at a market in Shanghai AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A restaurant worker wearing protective clothing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus passing a bag of food to a customer on the street outside their restaurant in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for "urgent operational health and safety reasons", following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas', have both been designated as "isolation" facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan Xinhua News Agency/AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China's easter Shandong province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li's hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China's Wuhan province Vsluh.ru via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman's home in Qingdao EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan Malaysia's Ministry of Health/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine Italian Defence Ministry/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A young child wears a protective mask and is covered in plastic while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK Tom Maddick / SWNS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS Chinatopix via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An Indonesian health officer points at the screen of a thermal scanner for passengers China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China's central Jiangxi province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan STR/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting Yingtan North Railway Station, China China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, uses an electronic thermometer to check the temperature of passengers arriving by plane from Wuhan The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China's northern Hebei province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff and security personnel stop patients' family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A notice for passengers from Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market Getty The Wuhan coronavirus has claimed at least 81 lives in China since December, when it appears to have began infecting people at a market in Wuhan. The outbreak has included estimates indicating that more than 2,900 people have contracted the disease worldwide, including 44 outside of China in at least four US states, France, Canada and Australia. The UK is reportedly monitoring over 1,000 people, but has so far not had a confirmed case of the virus. In the United States, one case has been confirmed in Washington State, two in California, one in Arizona and one in Illinois. In New York City, at least five people have been quarantined, with some who have recently travelled to China self-isolating, as officials have warned its only a matter of time until a confirmed case is found in the city. Its inevitable that we will have someone who is positive with coronavirus, said Dr Oxiris Barbot, the New York City health commissioner. But, in Chinatown, the vibe has remained defiant, if not indifferent. If its going to happen, Im going to take it as it comes, said Eric Lee, who lives in Chinatown. WHO say it is too early to declare coronavirus an international health emergency - January 23 Mr Lee was standing outside a drug store, which a friend of his owns. He said the owner of the shop has seen a slight increase in demand, but some nearby pharmacies had already doubled or tripled their prices for the masks, which have little scientific evidence as being effective in protecting against viruses (the shop owner himself smiled, but declined to comment for this article). Its better to be safe than sorry, Mr Lee continued, referring to the masks. But, I think its drama-driven. Several shop owners or workers interviewed by The Independent on Canal Street similarly said they werent worried. Of those who did express some concern, or who said their potential customers were worried, the threat appeared to be mild. Ray Mun, who has worked in Chinatown for about four years, was among those, saying hes a little bit worried, but motioned outside to the unending stream of people on the sidewalk. Sure, some people are scared, theyre wearing masks, Mr Mun said. But, its New York City. People are everywhere. Psychology teacher Ben Kavanagh from Kilcullen in Co. Kildare, who has been living in the Chinese city of Wuhan for almost two years, has told of his concern that if he were to leave the city he could be spreading the coronavirus. Mr Kavanagh told of how he did a big shop on Sunday morning so he has enough supplies for 10 to 14 days. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: The number of Turkish citizens looking for job in Kazakhstan increased in 2019, Trend reports referring to the Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR). The number of Turkish citizens visiting Kazakhstan to find work through ISKUR increased by 29.4 percent compared to 2018. In particular, 392 Turkish citizens visited Kazakhstan via ISKUR. In general, 19,991 Turkish citizens went abroad through ISKUR in 2019, which is 20.3 percent less compared to 2018. In 2019, over 1.4 million citizens were provided with jobs through this agency in Turkey, which is 19.5 percent more compared to 2018. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu An elderly exorcist was allegedly shot dead by an unidentified assailant in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Tuesday. Sufi Abdusalam (60), who was into exorcism for several years, died of gunshot wounds after the assailant barged into his house on Monday in Khalapar area of Kotwali police station area and fired at him from close range, they said. The senior citizen was rushed to the district hospital where he was declared dead, according to police. The body has been sent for post mortem and an investigation is underway, they said. Meanwhile, a 35-year-old man's body was retrieved from a forest range in Bibipur village under New Mandi police station area in the district on Monday. Rajiv Kumar, who was missing since January 24, was found dead with strangulation marks and an autopsy is awaited, police informed. A case has been registered against unidentified miscreants who supposedly strangled him to death with an investigation on, they added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iraqs caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi ordered a brutal crackdown on peaceful mass demonstrations that erupted on Friday. Protesters chanted get out, get out, occupier, and called for the immediate withdrawal of US troops from the country. For the last three days, security forces have fired teargas and live ammunition, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens more in the capital, Baghdad, and in the southern cities of Basra, Nasariyah, Dhi Qar and Diwaniya, in a bid to disperse the protests. Demonstrators protest US actions in Iraq (Credit: AP Photo) According to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, more than 500 people have been killed since the protests began on October 1 with several rights groups accusing security forces of using excessive force. There have been reports of kidnappings, torture, snipers on rooftops and armed gunmen in drive-by shooting of protesters. The protests, sparked by unemployment, particularly among young people, the lack of electricity and water, poor services and rampant corruption, rapidly escalated, with calls for the government to resign, a new prime minister independent of the main political blocs, fresh elections, an end to the sectarian-based political system and the prosecution of those implicated in corruption and the killing of protesters. While the protests have mainly taken place in Baghdad and nine predominantly Shia provinces, they have generally been supported by Sunni Iraqis. Most of the Sunni politicians, however, have remained silent over the protests. Although Abdul Mahdi resigned last month, he remains in office until a new prime minister is appointed. Candidates nominated by the government have been rejected by the protesters as being too close to the old corrupt setup. But a new prime minister must have the support of the largest bloc, Sairoon, led by populist Shiite cleric Muqtadr al-Sadr, as well as Hadi al-Amiris Fatah bloc that is closely linked to the Hashd al-Shabi, or Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) militia, that is aligned with Iran. These blocs fear that under a more politically independent politician, they will lose their own power and influence, not to say access to the countrys oil resources. The crackdown came just hours after Moqtada al-Sadr withdrew his support for the million strong march he had called on Friday, amid fears that the protesters might attack the presidential palace or the heavily-fortified Green Zone that houses the US embassy and other foreign missions. He said he was ending his supportalways qualifiedfor the anti-government demonstrations, as part of his bid to retain political control over the government and choice of prime minister and so avoid fresh elections. Al-Sadr has millions of supporters in Baghdads poorest neighbourhoods and the south and heads the largest political bloc in Iraqs parliament, which holds several ministerial posts. Al-Sadr, who has long sought to balance between Washington and Tehran, has found it increasingly difficult to contain his supporters hostility to the corrupt politicians that have ruled the country since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. His support for Fridays demonstration was aimed at bolstering his own support, while keeping anti-US sentiment under control. Anger was fuelled by Iraqi President Barham Salihs meeting with US President Donald Trump at Davos last week, a clear sign that Salih wants US troops to stay in the country. This flew in the face of a parliamentary vote taken in response to mass pressure for the expulsion of all US forces from Iraq in the wake of the US drone missile assassination of Irans General Qassem Suleimani, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a prominent member of the Iraqi government and leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces, the umbrella group of predominantly Shia militias funded by the Iraqi government. The US murder of Suleimani, who had been invited to Baghdad by Abdul Mahdi to discuss attempts to ease regional tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and al-Muhandis, together with eight other Iraqis and Iranians, at Baghdads international airport on January 3 was an unprovoked act of war against Iran and Iraq. It provoked furious opposition from the Iraqi people across the sectarian divide to any outside interference in Iraqwhether by the US, Iran, Israel or Saudi Arabia. Despite this, most of the leaders of the main political blocs, including the Kurds, Sunnis and Shiite leaders al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, supported Salihs meeting with Trump, who has made clear that should Iraq insist on the US leaving Iraq, then Washington will impose punishing sanctions. On Saturday, shortly after al-Sadrs announcement, his supporters, the best-organised of the anti-government demonstrators, immediately began to dismantle their tents and leave the protests in recognition that the security forces, in the absence of al-Sadrs political cover, would use it as a green light to crush their movement. Within hours, riot police tried to storm protest camps set up across the capital and in the south, removing concrete barriers near Tahrir Square where anti-government demonstrators have camped out for months, and used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the activists. This served to fuel the protests, with thousands of university and school students taking to the streets in Baghdad, Basra and Nasariyah. In Basra, protesters issued a letter circulated on social media calling on al-Sadr to reconsider his decision to withdraw his support for the demonstrations. Al-Sadrs move prompted one of his associates, Asaad Al-Nasiri, to split from the movement, announcing his support for the anti-government protesters, saying, I will take off the turban for the love of Iraq and the city of Nasiriyah and the revolutionaries, and I am with the Iraqis. On Sunday evening, there were reports that three rockets had directly hit the US embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, with one rocket hitting a cafeteria at dinner time, injuring at least three people. A further five rockets crashed into a riverbank near the embassy, without causing any injuries. This would, if confirmed, mark the third attack on the embassy or Iraqi military bases where American troops are deployed this month and the first direct hit. All the pro-Iranian militias have denied any role in this attack, claiming they did not target the embassy. Abdul Mahdi condemned the attack, saying that if such acts continued, they could drag Iraq into becoming a battlefield. The US State Department said, We call on the Government of Iraq to fulfil its obligations to protect our diplomatic facilities. Washington wants the prime minister to curb the pro-Iran militias, but he, and any candidate to succeed him, is dependent upon their political support. According to Middle East Eye, it is this mounting impatience with the Iraqi government, along with the calls for the expulsion of US troops from the country, that is behind Washingtons discussions with Sunni and Kurdish leaders about creating an autonomous Sunni region in western Iraq, similar to the Kurdish autonomous region in the north of the country. It would include Anbar province as well as the provinces of Nineveh and Salah al-Din, and part of Diyala. Its purpose would be to sever Irans land bridge through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon and the Mediterranean, a proposal was first mooted by Joe Biden, who is seeking to become the Democratic Partys presidential candidate, in 2007, as a means of limiting Irans influence in the region. It is believed to have the support of the Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday informed the Madras High Court that the consecration ceremony of the Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur would be conducted in both Sanskrit and Tamil languages. The shrine, popularly known as the Big Temple, was being consecrated after 23 years and the ceremony is being held on February 5. The preliminary poojas commenced on January 27. Petitions seeking to perform the consecration in Tamil and Sanskrit had been filed before the Madurai bench of the Madras High court. Besides, a plea seeking stay on the consecration on the ground that the Archaeological department's clearance had not been obtained, had also been filed. A PIL filed by Naam Tamizhar Katchi co-ordinator Senthil Nathan submitted that the shrine was a symbol of Tamils and hence the consecration ceremony should be held in Tamil. He recalled that the high court had earlier ordered the consecration of Sri Sundarar temple at Villupuram in Tamil. When the case came up on Tuesday, the ASI informed the court that they had given sanction for the consecration with some conditions. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department informed a division bench of the court's Madurai bench, comprising Justices M Duraiswamy and T Ravindran, that the consecration ceremony would be held in both Tamil and Sanskrit and equal importance would be given to both the languages. The bench closed all the pleas after directing the HR and CE officials to file an affidavit on the languages to be used in the consecration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two Democratic women who helped lead Kamala Harris' presidential campaign in South Carolina are now endorsing Joe Biden in the state's first-in-the-South presidential primary. Marguerite Willis and Melissa Watson told The Post and Courier on Monday they plan to support the former vice president because they see him as the candidate who can beat President Donald Trump, prioritize the needs of teachers and lead on foreign policy. Willis, a former gubernatorial candidate and Florence attorney, used a metaphor to explain her decision and compared the nation to being like a house ablaze. "If my house is on fire, I don't need someone with a plan or someone to redesign my house," Willis said, in a swipe she confirmed was directed at candidates like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others proposing major plans and visions. "Right now, I need a fireman with a hose someone who is going to come in and put out this fire, and get us to a point where we can take a breath, assess the damage done and begin to rebuild." Watson, the former Berkeley County Democratic Party chairwoman who recently stepped down to launch a congressional run in South Carolina's 7th Congressional District, said she personally met with almost all of the Democratic presidential candidates. She said Biden's response to the Jan. 3 airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani impressed her. "Foreign policy was not always something that was at the top of my list, but after that it was," she said. "I kept thinking who is the best person to handle a country in crisis? Who can comfort a nation and who can lead it?" Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Biden has been picking up endorsements from Harris backers since the California senator dropped out of the race in mid-December. Watson and Willis were among six co-chairs on Harris' South Carolina campaign. State Sen. Darrell Jackson of Hopkins, one of the co-chairs, has also endorsed Biden. Still, many key Harris supporters in South Carolina, including former state lawmaker Bakari Sellers and state Rep. JA Moore, have not declared a choice. The New York Times on Thursday reported Harris was considering endorsing Biden as a way of positioning herself as a possible vice presidential pick. Harris, in an interview on Sirius XM the next day, denied the claim and said her focus was squarely on the impeachment trial. A visiting Central team of doctors on Tuesday said there was "nothing to worry" as of now about the novel Coronavirus in Kerala where over 400 people who returned from China are under watch and expressed satisfaction with the state's preparedness. The three-member team held a meeting with Kerala Health authorities, including Principal Health Secretary Dr Rajan N Khobragade, here and discussed about the preventive measures taken in the backdrop of the Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. The team members later told reporters that that so far there was no reported case of coronavirus in the country. A thermal screening facility will be opened at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on Tuesday to scan passengers coming from the neighbouring country, they said. "A new screening facility will be opened in Thiruvananthapuram Airport where passengers from China and Hong Kong will be screened. So far, no case of coronavirus has been reported in the country. There is nothing to worry about in the state as of now," Union Health and Family Welfare Advisor Dr M K Shoukath Ali, one of the team members, said. At present, thermal screening is being done at seven designated airports -- New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi. The central team had on Monday visited Kochi airport and also the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital where two persons who recently returned from China have been kept under observation. All the medical results of those under observation have come negative, it said and expressed satisfaction on the preparedness of the state. "We are closely monitoring the situation. If needed we will provide further guidelines. Those who are coming from China must take proper precaution," the central official said. Currently, 436 people are under surveillance in Kerala. Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has so far killed 106 people and affected 4,515 in China is a novel strain and not seen before. The union health ministry has urged passengers, who have a travel history to China since January 1, 2020, to come forward for self-reporting to the nearest health facility if they experience fever, cough, respiratory distress, etc., and also inform the doctor treating them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Click here to read the full article. The only absolute in history is change, said the Victorian historian Lord Acton. He might have been talking about the streaming platforms current international strategies. Since they launched internationally, Netflix and Amazons focus and priorities have been in constant evolution. Current pressures evolving demographies, new regulation, new competition, still untapped growth mean that re-engineering wont stop any time soon. On Jan. 23, as the NATPE Miami conference wound down, Amazon Prime Video announced out of Miami four new Latin American Amazon Original series: Lucia Puenzos La Jauria (The Pack), Colonia Dignidad, produced by Diego Guebel; Daniel Burman and Sebastian Borenszteins Iosi, The Repentant Spy; and Andres Woods News of a Kidnapping. More from Variety The announcement says much about Amazon Prime Videos priorities, and the state of the streamer business in Latin America. Five takeaways: 1.Amazon Expands Production Reach Also on Jan. 23, Amazon announced its first two forays into Italian scripted: Milan-set mob drama Bang Bang Baby and comedy Life as Carlo. Last December, it unveiled its first scripted originals in Brazil: Family relationship story LOV3, action crime thriller DOM, transgender dramedy Setembro,and an untitled Marcelo D2 series. The four Latin American series mark the first ever local Amazon Originals to launch in Argentina, Chile and Colombia, Amazon announced Thursday. (FIFA Gate scandal El Presidente is presumably an international Amazon Original). To date, from May 2018s Diablo Guardian, Amazon has produced five series in Mexico. For Amazon Prime Video, the fundamental is the competitive edge in those markets and the ability to grow international subscriber base, which is of course is where Netflix is getting its growth from, said Guy Bisson, executive director, Ampere Analysis. Story continues Another factor, however, is cost, he added. Certain markets are becoming prohibitively expensive to produce in, which would include the U.S. and to a lesser extent the U.K. International productions makes a lot of sense. You can make high-quality drama for much, much lower budgets. 2.These Arent Not Just Any Old Series These Latin American titles, moreover, arent just any old series. La Jauria drew large heat off just one festival outing late last year, a screening of Ep. 1 at late Septembers Zurich Festival. The Amazon deal, for Latin America and Spain, is the first sale, and in key territories, for the series, proof of its commercial potential. Given the deal, buzz, backers and talent its showrun by Puenzo (The German Doctor), the first international series from Pablo and Juan de Dios Larrains Fabula, and the first produced with and sold by Fremantle (The Young Pope, American Gods), with whom Fabula now has a multi-year first look deal La Jauria is shaping up to become one of the highest-profile Latin American titles of 2020. Way back at the Berlin Film Festival in 2017, Daniel Burman talked up Josi to illustrate what he could bring to the table when Mediapro announced it was taking a substantial stake in his Oficina Burman production label. Colonia Dignidad turns on a community whose leader underscores a central trope of Chilean film-TV: the survival of modified facets of Pinochets dictatorship its allies, beneficiaries, criminals, arch conservatism down to this day. Accessing adaptation rights to Gabriel Garcia Marquez is like being given part of Latin Americas cultural crown-jewels. Its huge recognition for Chiles Invercine & Wood, just after its co-produced Dignity, a very early series for German OTT service Joyn, the Discovery-ProSieben joint venture. 3.The Crossover Go back to mid-last decade: Andres Wood released his international movie breakout Machuca in 2004; Daniel Burman won a double Silver Bear the Grand Jury Prize and best actor (Daniel Hendler) that same year for another movie, Lost Embrace; three years later, Lucia Puenzo took a Cannes Camera dOr its best first feature award for XXY. Sebastian Borenszteins movie break.out, Chinese Take Away, came slightly later, in 2011. Near a decade and a half later, Wood (last years Arana, Puenzo (Impactados, presented at Ventana Sur) and Borensztein (Heroic Losers) still make movies. But they and Burman, four driving forces of the modern Latin American cinema, are now also pillars of its new regional drama series scene, Argentinas Puenzo making La Jauria with Chiles Fabula and TVN and the U.K.-based Fremantle, Burman, also from Argentina, Supermax with Brazils Globo, and Wood Dignity with Germanys Joyn. Burman now serves as head of content at The Mediapro Studio; Woods Noticias de un secuestro is notably also co-produced by Lourdes Diaz and Stuart Ford at Los Angeles AGC Television, part of Fords AGC Studios a sign of just how international Latin Americas TV scene is becoming. 4. The Age of the Studios For the best part of 100 years, the same few studios dominated the content creation business- But as these studios explore direct to consumer, others are filling the gap, Bisson argues. Distributors networks, platforms, sales companies, telcos need to move ever more into production to access content. The net result is a world of new studios, says Bisson, where content powerhouses are behaving like studios. Amazons new four-pack series deal includes not just scripted series but Colonia Dignidad, a docuseries from famed Argentine TV format creator Guebel Caiga quien Caiga. In Mexico, Brazil and Italy, Amazon has moved into reality shows with LOL: Last One Laughing, Loose in Floripa, and Celebrity Hunted respectively. The strategy is always the same, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke told Variety last week, announcing its new Italian slate. We dont have any type of obligation of having a certain amount of scripted or unscripted or movies for that matter for Prime audiences, she said. Its basically about whatever comes in the door that feels inspired and driven by a strong creative vision, and that we fee like our subscribers will love. 5.The Fascination of Latin America Series Ep. 1 of La Jauria begins with a moment of excruciating ethical horror, as a near middle-aged male drama teacher, hidden out of the frame, asks one of his teen girl students to pretend shes his girlfriend. Mortified, she doesnt know where to put herself, her whole value system questioned. The first episode of La Jauria is highly informative, Olivia Fernandez (Antonia Zegers, The Club), a member of a gender-based crime specialist police unit, taking a school teacher through the psychological impact of abuse. Ultra-contemporary in its portraits of school shut-down protests, party teen sex, Internet social organization, and hacking, the drama is, however, so gripping a race against the clock to find a missing girl, raped in a video distributed online that this near manual presentation of toxic masculinity never feels labored. We are thrilled that our first project with Fabula has found a home in Latin America and Spain on Amazon, Fremantle creative director for global drama. Latin America is an exciting market for us, and working on such partnerships are key to our strategy there, he added. Part of that excitement, Vesper told Variety, is that everything that were doing in Latin America is, I think, both commercial, and has something to say about really big ideas. Equally, the other three series turn on the possible connivance of Argentinas intelligence services with acts of terrorism (Iosi), the complicity of Chiles establishment, unwitting or not, with a torture center led by a pedophile (Colonia Dignidad); and the horror of true-story-based abductions (News of a Kidnapping), as detailed by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his non-fiction book of the same title, which Wood adapts. Latin America scripted is gaining a reputation: Part of that is that it is made up by scripted series of substance. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. RAMALLAH, West Bank West Bank security services are continuing a crackdown on Hamas members, having arrested more than 200 recently in what Hamas says is a politically motivated campaign. In just one week at the beginning of 2020, Hamas said in a Jan. 13 statement, 195 Hamas members were arrested in the West Bank on political grounds. Those arrested include university students, political activists and ex-prisoners freed from Israeli prisons; most were arrested in Nablus and Hebron. The statement explained that since Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas called Sept. 26 for parliamentary and presidential elections to be held this year, Hamas activists and cadres have been targeted in the arrest campaign to give information of the movements electoral activity and candidates. It noted, The PA security services raided 144 houses and seized nearly 3,000 Israeli shekels [$867], 55 cellphones, 10 computers and dozens of banners and books. In Hamas eyes, those arrests on top of those conducted in mid-December correlate with PA attempts to obstruct the as-yet-unscheduled elections. Speaking to Al-Monitor, former Palestinian Minister of Detainees Wasfi Qabha said, These pursuits are undoubtedly linked to the elections. There is a current within the PA that does not want the elections to be held, and this current is represented by the muffling of voices. They are attempting to impose a police state on Palestinians and are behind the politically motivated harassment and pursuit of Hamas members. He added, All confidential polls and the occupation's intelligence estimates show that Hamas share in the elections if held in the West Bank will be greater than in the previous elections. This is why they are trying to hinder the elections by every means. The arrests, Qabha said, are focused on the Islamic bloc Hamas' student wing given that student action is all that remains for Hamas in the West Bank. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, but in the West Bank, where the PA makes the rules, the movement's political, charitable and syndical support has dried up. There are no precise figures on the number of Hamas detainees in the West Bank, as arrests have been ongoing. The PA is making daily arrests. There are those who were detained for one day others for a week or months. Others have been in detention for almost a year," Qabha said. I cant grasp that the Palestinians are being pursued for their organizational action, be it in the West Bank or Gaza Strip. Hamas and its rival Fatah have been exchanging accusations and criticism lately, mainly in terms of the elections. Hamas has repeatedly called on Fatah's Abbas to set an official date for the elections, but Abbas has refused until Israel agrees to let Palestinians in Jerusalem participate. On Nov. 26, Hamas handed over to Central Elections Commission Chairman Hanna Nasser its consent for elections, along with some requirements, most notable is to give free rein to Hamas political activities in the West Bank, which would mean halting the political arrests of Hamas members there. Fatah has also accused Hamas of unfounded arrests of its members in the Gaza Strip. Most recently, on Jan. 13, Hamas security services in Gaza detained Fatah spokesman Iyad Nasser, who is a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council. Speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, a Fatah official in the Gaza Strip said recently, Members of Fatah and the PA security services continue to be arrested. The Hamas prisons are filled with detainees, some of whom are incarcerated for months and severely tortured. The source added, Despite all of the arrests and pursuits by Hamas, the masses in Gaza took to the streets Jan. 1 to celebrate [the 55th anniversary of Fatah], which shows that the majority in the Gaza Strip supports Fatah, and that there is a minority in Gaza ruling and repressing a majority. According to the source, the arrests of Fatah members in the Gaza Strip can't be compared with those of Hamas members in the West Bank. Freedoms in the West Bank are greater than the freedoms in Gaza. Hamas is cracking down on Fatahs activities and allowing the influence of dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan to strike Fatah members, serving as another Hamas arm to oppress them. Khalil Assaf, chief of the Public Freedoms Committee in the West Bank, told Al-Monitor political arrests in the Gaza Strip and West Bank have never stopped, and actually increase every time Fatah and Hamas step closer to each other, "which is what happened when they agreed on holding elections. He noted that the two movements do not acknowledge that the arrests are political, except when their own members are arrested. "Political arrests will only stop when the divide is over and the rule of law truly prevails, he added. Such arrests have taken place ever since the PA was established in 1993 in accordance with the Oslo agreement, but the arrests increased significantly after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. "Mutual trust, as well as a legal and democratic environment, are necessary for the elections. These factors are, however, unavailable in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip," Assaf said. He explained that there is cynicism about whether elections are even meant to take place. One theory, embraced by Hamas and others, is that Abbas does not intend to leave office at all, and only announced that elections would be held because he expected Hamas or Israel to reject the idea, thus allowing him to blame them and avoid elections at the same time. It's no secret to anyone that the elections will not be held," Assaf said, "and that even in case they are conducted, the losers will not recognize their results. A Houston woman accused of kidnapping an Austin mother and her newborn was indicted Tuesday on a charge of capital murder in the mothers death. Magen Fieramusca was previously charged in December with kidnapping Heidi Broussard and her 3-week-old baby, Margo, and tampering with Broussards body. Prosecutors have said the two women were friends. A Travis County grand jury indicted Fieramusca in the case. Fieramusca asyphixiated Broussard with a leash and with her hands while she was in the process of kidnapping the mother and her baby, according to the indictment. FBI behavioural analysts said they believe Fieramusca was driven by a compulsive desire to have a baby. Broussard, 33, and her baby were reported missing by the Austin Police Department on Dec. 13. Her body was found on Dec. 19 stuffed into a duffel bag in the trunk of a car parked in the backyard of the house where Fieramusca, also 33, lived near Jersey Village, according to an affidavit of arrest. Margo was found safe inside the home. Fiermusca presented the baby as her own during that time, police said. She also apparently convinced Chris Green, her ex-boyfriend with whom she lived, that the child was his. Investigators said Fieramusca either lost a pregnancy or entirely fabricated one in the months leading up to Margos kidnapping. Broussards death was ruled a homicide by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. She was killed by ligature strangulation. This is a developing story. Please check back later for more details. hannah.dellinger@chron.com Senator Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Tuesday said he doesnt have the votes to block a resolution to allow witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial, according to multiple reports. McConnell made the admission in talks with Senate Republicans after President Trumps defense team concluded its arguments. If the Senate votes to summon witnesses, Democrats will likely attempt to call on former White House national security adviser John Bolton to give testimony in the trial. On Sunday the New York Times reported that Bolton wrote in the manuscript of his upcoming book that Trump had conditioned aid to Ukraine on that countrys commitment to conduct investigations into Joe and Hunter Biden. Republicans may react to a subpoena of Bolton by summoning Hunter Biden and the government whistleblower, whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry, to testify. Those are the ones that I want to call, Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said on Monday of Hunter Biden and the whistleblower, despite having told reporters on Friday that he would vote against summoning Hunter Biden. If we add to the record, we are going to do it completely. Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) concurred during an interview on Fox & Friends. My view is this if the Senate decides to call witnesses later this week . . . we need to hear from Hunter Biden, he is right at the center of this, Hawley said. What was he doing in Ukraine? What was he doing with Burisma? Hawley also wrote on Twitter, if the Senate is going to call witnesses, then I will ask to hear from Adam Schiff, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden & the whistleblower, at a minimum. More from National Review (Newser) A Connecticut man accused of murdering his wife has attempted suicide, reports CNN. Fotis Dulos was "en route to the hospital with a faint pulse," his attorney said in the immediate aftermath of the incident. Authorities conducted a welfare check at Dulos' home after he did not show up for a court hearing. Dulos, 52, is accused of killing estranged wife Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five whose body has not been found. He is currently free on $6 million bond but was due in court Tuesday because questions were raised about whether the insurance company backing that bond would continue to do so, reports the Hartford Courant. story continues below Dulos was initially reported to have died by the AP and other outlets; the AP has since withdrawn its original story. NBC Connecticut reports police found Dulos in his garage, inside a vehicle, in medical distress due to carbon monoxide poisoning. The Courant's source said that by early afternoon he remained unconscious and was on life support, not breathing on his own. Sources also say Dulos had just learned authorities were planning to revoke his bond, which was secured by significantly overvalued real estate. (Read more Fotis Dulos stories.) The first novel coronavirus patient in Vietnam is currently conscious, and can breathe by himself, eat and sleep, showed no signs of fever. One of the two Chinese nationals who were the first confirmed cases of infection by the new coronavirus in Vietnam has recovered, Zing cited the Vietnamese Ministry of Health on January 28. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on January 25 and 27 on Li Zichao, 28, was negative for the novel coronavirus which has sparked a pneumonia outbreak in Chinas Wuhan city. The isolation area where two Chinese coronavirus-infected patients are treated at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Zing Li Zichao is currently conscious, and can breathe by himself, eat and sleep, showed no signs of fever, health officials said. His father, Li Ding, 66, is still under treatment. He sleeps and eats without difficulty and his organs are functioning well, but he still needs a ventilator. The two men were Vietnam's first confirmed cases of nCoV infection after it was first detected in Wuhan in China last December. Ding arrived in Hanoi from Wuhan with his wife on January 13 before flying to Nha Trang four days later and developing a fever, according to VnExpress. Zichao, who has been living in Long An Province for the last four months, went to visit him in Nha Trang. The three then came to Ho Chi Minh city and traveled back to the neighboring province of Long An by taxi. Zichao developed a fever on January 20, three days after his father. Both were admitted to the Cho Ray Hospital on January 22. Dings wife tested negative. Since they traveled to various places in the country by plane, train and taxi, there is a chance they have spread the disease, doctors said. The virus has spread to other places across China and many other countries including the US, France, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and more. Chinese authorities said as of January 28, 106 people had died of the disease. The number of confirmed cases of individuals infected with the virus topped 4,500. In Vietnam, no locals have contracted the nCoV yet. The Vietnamese health ministry has set up an active disease surveillance system to regularly check travelers at border gates, health facilities, and in the community to prevent the spread of epidemics. Hanoitimes Anh Kiet Travel firms cancel tours to China to avoid spread of novel coronavirus Several Vietnams major tour operators have simultaneously announced a postponement of all tours to China and support for any affected customers amid the ongoing outbreak of acute pneumonia caused by a novel coronavirus (nCoV) in China. In the climactic moment in the World War I drama 1917, a British lance-corporal dodges explosions and charging soldiers as he runs across a battlefield in an attempt to deliver an order that could save hundreds of lives. When George MacKay, the actor who plays that determined soldier, first read the scene, I was completely taken by it, he said. I could see it very clearly in my mind. Yet he wasnt prepared for the scenes impact when he finally saw this best-picture contender on the big screen after months of rehearsals and two stressful days of shooting on Salisbury Plain in southern England. To be honest, I cried, MacKay said. I dont usually get that emotional watching something Ive been involved in because Im more objective, but I found it so moving. I asked the British actor to break down how he, the director, Sam Mendes, and other crew members put this sequence together. These are edited excerpts from our recent telephone conversation. The Embassy is constantly monitoring the development of the epidemiological situation in China. The Embassy of Ukraine in China has strongly recommended that Ukrainian citizens leave China over the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Read alsoChina reports 4,515 confirmed cases of new coronavirus pneumonia, 106 deaths media "The Embassy is constantly monitoring the development of the epidemiological situation in China and is maintaining contacts with the relevant authorities. All possible options are being worked out to provide assistance to fellow citizens who are located in the cities of Hubei province that are subject to quarantine restrictions. Among other things, the possibility of their evacuation is being studied in case such a decision is made by the leadership of our state," the Embassy wrote on Facebook. The Embassy advises monitoring updates on https://china.mfa.gov.ua/ and https://mfa.gov.ua/, as well as media reports and clearly follow the recommendations of the local authorities. "In case of emergency, please call the Embassy's hotline: +86 137 01230647, e-mail to [email protected]," reads the report. As UNIAN reported earlier, Chinese health authorities announced Tuesday that 4,515 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) had been reported in 30 provincial-level regions by the end of Monday. A total of 106 people died of the disease. Pit bull found dead after being left in cage on side of Kansas City road KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Kansas City Animal Control is investigating after a pit bull was found dead in a closed cage on the side of the road Monday morning. A Grandview city employee was driving to work about 7:30 a.m. when she saw the dog in a cage on the side of Longview Parkway. The new Kansas City Animal Shelter run by the KC Pet Project earnedand said they would help curb the instances of local cruelty . . . Sadly, here's another sign that their goal is unrealized. Moreover, the group has yet to live up to fundraising promises. Read more: Two construction workers, participating in the renovation of Bryant-Denny Stadium at the University of Alabama, were injured Saturday when beams fell on a piece of equipment they were operating. Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue spokeswoman Holly Whigham told news outlets that the workers were operating a manlift that was struck when the beams fell. Firefighters had to free the two workers. They were transported to DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, she said. The workers conditions were not immediately available. A workplace accident occurred at Bryant-Denny Stadium yesterday. Two workers with a subcontractor were transported to the hospital by emergency responders. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time, university spokeswoman Monica Watts wrote in an email. The university said Wallace Wade Avenue and 8th Street at 11th Avenue have been closed until further notice as a precaution. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Workers' Compensation Education Alabama Construction Universities Alexei Ratmansky walked into the studio and got out his phone. It was the first rehearsal of his latest work for New York City Ballet, and the dancers were waiting eagerly to find out what he had in mind. He pressed play, and a womans voice and a piano, mimicking her vocal intonations, filled the room. This is the music, he told the assembled dancers. We were like, what?!, the dancer Sara Mearns said. How am I going to dance to this? He also said, There is no musicality, just your own, Ms. Mearns continued after a recent rehearsal. In working with him on a whole bunch of ballets, all super connected to the music, it was the first time I had ever heard him say that. I thought, who is this person? Voices, set to Peter Ablingers Voices and Piano, which will premiere at City Ballets New Combinations evening on Thursday, is a new frontier, musically, for Mr. Ratmansky known for witty, poetic physical responses to more conventional scores and sensitive reconstructions of 19th-century classics. A correspondent for National Public Radio in the United States has been excluded from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's plane for a trip this week, after a tense exchange between him and another NPR journalist. The association that represents correspondents covering the State Department reported on Monday that Pompeo, the top US diplomat, had removed NPR's Michele Kelemen from his trip which begins Wednesday in Britain. He will also visit Ukraine and other countries. "We can only conclude that the State Department is retaliating against National Public Radio" as a result of Pompeo's exchange with the other NPR journalist, the State Department Correspondents' Association said, protesting the decision. It came after NPR journalist Mary Louise Kelly, in an interview, pressed Pompeo about the Ukraine issue at the heart of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. According to Kelly, after the interview a staffer invited Kelly to Pompeo's private living room, without her recorder. There, Pompeo "was waiting and... he shouted at me for about the same amount of time as the interview itself lasted," Kelly said. "He was not happy to have been questioned about Ukraine," Kelly said, adding that the secretary asked her, "Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?" in an exchange peppered with profane words. She said he also asked her to point to Ukraine on a map, whose countries were not labeled. Kelly said she did, but Pompeo later implied she had pointed to Bangladesh. In a statement on Sunday, Pompeo also accused Kelly of lying to him, twice. The first time was "in setting up our interview." He also alleged that the post-interview "conversation" was supposed to be off the record and therefore not reportable. The secretary did not deny making the aggressive comments reported by the journalist. Kelly said she was not told the conversation would be off the record, nor would she have agreed to those terms if she were asked. She also said Pompeo's staff were aware she'd ask about both Iran and Ukraine. Shaun Tandon, president of the State Department Correspondents' Association, called NPR reporter Kelemen "a consummate professional" with two decades' experience covering US diplomacy. "We respectfully ask the State Department to reconsider and allow Michele to travel on the plane for this trip," wrote Tandon, who is also an AFP correspondent. "The journalists who cover the State Department are dedicated to informing the public and holding this and every administration accountable by asking questions about the issues of the day," Tandon said. He added that State has defended journalists around the world, and at the same time the department's own professional ethos commits its employees to "serve with unfailing professionalism... even in the face of adversity." In a statement, NPR said Kelemen "was informed that she would not be traveling. She was not given a reason." Trump is on trial in the US Senate accused of pressuring Kiev to investigate his potential election challenger Joe Biden, and of blocking congressional efforts to probe that abuse. Pompeo, a close associate of Trump, has himself been criticized for failing to defend Marie Yovanovitch, Washington's former ambassador to Ukraine. She was abruptly called home last spring after being subjected to what she called a "smear campaign" led by Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer. The secretary was also one of the senior administration officials listening in on a phone call between Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, which is at the center of the impeachment allegations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sigrid McCawley said the Duke of York's "continued refusal to cooperate with the authorities after freely acknowledging that he would be prepared to answer enquiries raises even more questions about the role he played in the international sex trafficking ring Jeffrey Epstein and others operated." She added: "Prince Andrew should take most seriously the deeply held belief in this country that no one is above the law." Ms Guiffre, previously known as Roberts, claims she had sex with Prince Andrew three times on Epstein's request. Maxwell, Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts at Maxwells London townhouse in 2001; It comes as another lawyer representing five of Epstein's victims this morning urged the Andrew to "do the right thing" and speak to the FBI. Lisa Bloom told BBC News: "Push has come to shove. There are dozens of women who allege they were the victims of sexual assault by this predator Jeffrey Epstein. It is time for anyone with information to come forward and answer questions. Prince Andrew himself is accused of sexual misconduct and he also spent a great deal of time with Jeffrey Epstein. So, its time to stop playing games and to come forward to do the right thing and answer questions. Meanwhile Gloria Allred, who also represents five of Epsteins accusers, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: If he has done nothing wrong, which appears to be what he has claimed, then why wont he talk to law enforcement? No response is the same as zero co-operation. This is ridiculous. Its just not acceptable. Jeffrey Epstein took his own life while in prison awaiting trial / AP The comments have renewed calls for Andrew to assist authorities with their sex trafficking inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein. It comes after another of Ms Guiffre's lawyers, US Attorney Geoffrey Berman, revealed on Monday that the royal had so far provided "zero cooperation" to investigators. Speaking at a news conference outside Epsteins New York mansion, Mr Berman was asked by reporters if the FBI had reached out to Prince Andrew as part of its wider investigation into Epsteins sex trafficking case. Mr Berman said the Duke of York had been contacted but added: To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation. He was speaking at an event to promote a new law that makes it easier for victims to sue over childhood abuse. Attorney Lisa Bloom speaks to the media during a break in Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial / AP Before being asked about the Duke, Mr Berman confirmed the investigation was looking at possible conspirators who worked with Epstein. He added: Jeffrey Epstein couldnt have done what he did without the assistance of others, and I can assure you that the investigation is moving forward. A source said: This issue is being dealt with by the Duke of Yorks legal team. Buckingham Palace is not commenting on the matter. Prince Andrew stepped down from royal duties in November after a car crash interview on BBC Newsnight The Duke said: "I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency." During the interview, he was accused of lacking empathy for the disgraced financier's victims and for failing to show any regret for the friendship he shared with him. Ms Guiffre said on BBC Panorama that she was left "horrified and ashamed" after a sexual encounter with Prince Andrew in 2001. She said she had sex with the Prince three times at Epstein's request. Prince Andrew strenuously denies the allegations. New Delhi, Jan 28 : Celebrating the spirit of motoring and coupling it with India's heritage, the 21 Gun Salute Heritage Cultural Trust along with the Union Tourism Ministry is set to embark on a 23-day road trip on vintage cars from India and abroad. The Incredible India Rally will cover 17 cities, 4,000 kms and will be an ode to the global heritage motoring and historic Indian culture and would mark the beginning of a new era for patrons of heritage motoring. The rally, which will begin on February 15 at the India Gate and conclude on March 10 in Udaipur, will pass through heritage tourist spots in Haryana, UP, Rajasthan and Gujarat. It will showcase some of the finest, most incredible and rare vintage cars, like 1938 Rolls-Royce 25/30, Maserati 3500GT Vignale Syder, 1939 Buick Roadmaster Convertible, 1938 Lancia Astura Series IV, 1930 BMW 3/15 DA2 'Kabriolet', 1938 Delahaye 135 M, 1936 Rolls Royce 25/30 Gurney Nutting Coupe, 1959 Jaguar XK 150S, 1936 Rolls Royce 25/30, 1951 Bentley MK VI Freestone & Webb, 1966 Ford Mustang, 1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster and 1959 Alfa 2000. "For the past 8 years, the event has grown to become a magnificent show that attracts tourists and motoring buffs from around the world," said Madan Mohan, Chairman & Managing Trustee of the 21 Gun Salute Heritage & Cultural Trust. ISTANBUL After 819 days in pretrial detention, Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala was sent back to prison Tuesday on terrorism charges despite a Dec. 10 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights calling for his immediate release. The decision came after a tense court hearing in Silivri, in which about 50 defense lawyers staged a mass walkout in protest of the judges refusal to recuse themselves after allegations of legal misconduct. Observers said the proceedings were evidence Turkish courts lacked independence and lengthy pretrial detentions continue to be used to punish human rights defenders, journalists and political dissidents. Its shambolic. Its farcical. It would be funny if it wasnt this tragic, Milena Buyum, a Turkey campaigner for Amnesty International, told Al-Monitor after attending the trial. She added, The charge hes facing carries life imprisonment without parole and youd expect the prosecution to be rigorous and to present evidence that sustains that allegation and they have failed to do so in the indictment and they have failed to do so in all the hearings. During the fifth hearing of the Gezi trial, in which Kavala and 15 other defendants are accused of funding and organizing protests to overthrow the government in 2013, a panel of judges ruled to continue Kavalas detention for the second time since the ECHR ruled doing so was in violation of Articles 5/1, 5/4 and Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The next hearing was scheduled for Feb. 18. Prior to the hearing, Kavala released a statement saying the court was resisting the Dec. 10 ruling. It read, Under these circumstances, it is not possible for the defendants to place confidence in that the trial process is carried out according to the ECHR norms. He added the judges behavior is suggestive of serving to cover the unlawfulness of the long detention. The Turkish Ministry of Justice did not respond to requests for comment. In court proceedings that took place as the United Nations began its annual review of Turkeys human rights record, defense lawyers criticized the panel of judges for taking the testimony of a key witness, Murat Papuc, without the presence of the defense team in what they claimed was a violation of legal conduct. Papuc submitted a statement that was read at the hearing, claiming he was given gas masks to distribute at a venue affiliated with Kavala during the 2013 Gezi protests. "You received the testimony of a person of doubtful mental health in secret, while we, the defense, were absent, said Mehmet Durakoglu, president of the Istanbul Bar Association and a lawyer representing defendant Can Atalay. We wont accept such a disgrace in the history of our bar association." Atalay echoed the statements, saying, "I am worried that your panel is being tricked here, if you excuse the expression. A rejection of your panel is not enough; you must withdraw." The panel of judges rejected repeated requests by defense lawyers that three of them recuse themselves from the trial over the Papuc testimony. In response to the rejection, the defense lawyers walked out of the courtroom, drawing applause from some of the observers in attendance. The judges then requested those observers leave the courtroom as well. Kavala was then asked to respond to accusations in Papucs testimony. He declined to make statements in absence of his legal team, before reiterating that the ECHR ruling was valid and that he should be released from pretrial detention. Sezgin Tanrikulu, a member of parliament with the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), protested the questioning of Kavala without his lawyer. "You cannot hear a defendant without his lawyers. You cannot continue the hearing in this manner," Tanrikulu said before he too was removed from the courtroom on the judges orders. The prosecution maintained the ECHR judgment was not final, citing a three-month grace period in which the Turkish Ministry of Justice can refer the Dec. 10 ruling to the Grand Chamber of the European Court. If no action is taken before March 10, it might suggest the Ministry will not challenge the ruling, Buyum noted, adding the course the Turkish judiciary will take remains unclear. Still, Buyum said this should not impact lower court decisions. The referral to the Grand Chamber is done by the executive, by the Ministry of Justice, Buyum told Al-Monitor. The court is an independent court and doesnt have to wait for that. They can implement a ruling without having to refer to the executive if there is a separation of powers. Buyum said the court proceedings were comparable to those regarding the ongoing trial of Selahattin Demirtas, the imprisoned former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party. The ECHR also ruled for Demirtas immediate release in 2018. His case was then sent to the Grand Chamber, and Demirtas was later placed in detention on a separate case while still in prison. In the Gezi trial, Kavala is the only defendant that remains behind bars. The other 15 defendants include Can Dundar, Mucella Yapici, Memet Ali Alabora, Ali Hakan Altinay, Ayse Pinar Alabora, Cigdem Mater Utku, Gokce Tuyluoglu, Meltem Arikan, Hanzade Hikmet Germiyanoglu, Inanc Ekmekci, Mine Ozerden, Can Atalay, Tayfun Kahraman and Yigit Ali Ekmekci. Kavala was originally detained Oct. 18, 2017, at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport and was arrested on Nov. 1, 2017. A 657-page indictment was issued on Feb. 20, 2019, and the Gezi trial began June 24 last year. Human rights observers have repeatedly stated that no credible evidence has been presented linking the defendants in the Gezi trials to the charges lodged against them. Reflecting on the court proceedings Tuesday, Nate Schenkkan, director for special research at Freedom House, told Al-Monitor, Its another piece of evidence that the judiciary is not independent. It is not able to take decisions on important cases even when the legal case is obvious. N R Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of software giant who chairs a panel on alternate investment policy advisory, on Tuesday pitched for pension funds and banks to invest money in Indian startups. Speaking at the annual Tiecon event, Murthy said a bulk of the money which gets invested as risk capital in the upcoming is from abroad and there is a need for domestic money to play an important role in this. At the same event, Murthy's former colleague at T V Mohandas Pai, who is now associated with Ispirit, an advocacy group for startups, said only a tenth of the USD 60 billion invested into Indian startups since 2014 has come from domestic investors. Pai warned that "we risk the prospect of turning into a digital colony" by 2025, seeking to draw parallels with imperialism. He said there will be 1 lakh startups in India with a collective valuation of over USD 500 billion by 2025. There will be at least 100 unicorns among them and over 65 of them will be majorly owned by foreign investors. "This is one of the most important issues that we have been discussing (at the panel). That is, what are the policy changes that are required to make sure that there is more of Indian and domestic money coming into the startup sector because today it is by and large from abroad," Murthy said. "To do that, pension funds must be allowed, corporations must be allowed, banks must be allowed," he added. Pai sounded more disappointed with Indian billionaires who are willing to invest in real estate and even bank deposits, but have a tendency to overlook the startup sector. In an apparent reference to the spate of frauds, Pai said the billionaires also tend to pass the risk on money invested to banks. He said the biggest letdown has been from financiers in Mumbai, and asked startup entrepreneurs to educate such professionals on the need of the hour. Pai said why Indian pension funds or insurance cannot invest, questioning how in the same sector from abroad are coming in and taking interests here. Meanwhile, Murthy also clarified on a recent controversy over cutting short his speech at an event where he shared stage with American e-commerce giant Amazon's chief executive Jeff Bezos. He said Bezos had come on time to the venue, but the "indisciplined" crowd at the venue in New Delhi mobbed the entry gates which resulted in the delayed start for the event. Bezos was very understanding and smiled at the act of cutting short the speech, Murthy said, adding that this is so because the visiting honcho is himself a disciplinarian. Its almost as if the last decade never happened for Exxon Mobil Corp. shares. Once the gold-standard of Big Oil, the stock closed Monday at its lowest since October 2010, amid a slump in oil prices due to concerns about weak demand coupled with a glut. The S&P 500 also posted its worst one-day decline since October. But for Exxon, which dropped out of the indexs top 10 largest companies by market value for the first time last year, the malaise runs deeper than the state of the crude market. Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods is running a counter-cyclical strategy by plowing money in new oil and gas assets, at a time when many investors are urging energy companies to improve returns for shareholders. Some shareholders are even demanding a plan to move away from fossil fuels altogether. OFFSHORE BOON: Exxon makes new Guyana discovery, ups recoverable estimates to 8 billion barrels Exxon is betting on a windfall of cash to arrive from its investments sometime in the mid to late 2020s, said Noah Barrett, a Denver-based energy analyst at Janus Henderson, which manages $356 billion. Right now theres higher value placed on generating cash flow today. Exxon is ramping up capital spending to more than $30 billion a year, without a hard ceiling, as it develops offshore oil in Guyana, liquefied natural gas in Mozambique, chemical facilities in China and the U.S. Gulf Coast, as well as a series of refinery upgrades. Woods is convinced the world will need oil and gas for the foreseeable future and sees an opportunity for expansion while competitors shy away from such long-term investments. Most of these investments will not meaningfully begin contributing to earnings/cash flow until the 2023-2025 time frame, Scotiabank analysts led by Paul Cheng said in a Jan. 23 note, downgrading the stock to the equivalent of a sell rating from hold. We think it may be another one to two years before the market gives these efforts much credit. In the short term, one consequence of those investments is that Exxon cant fund dividend payouts with cash generated from operations, and must instead rely on asset sales and borrowing, according to Jennifer Rowland, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. Exxon is the clear outlier among Big Oil companies on that front, she said. Exxon declined to comment. Exxons current challenges stem in large part from flag-planting deals made when commodity prices peaked during the past decade. It spent $35 billion on U.S. shale gas producer XTO Energy Inc. in 2010 when shale oil promised outsize returns. It has invested $16 billion in Canadian oil sands since 2009, only to remove much of those reserves from its books. Former CEO Rex Tillersons 2013 exploration pact signed with Russia was caught behind a wall of sanctions and later abandoned. Israeli intelligence helped US assassinate top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani By Marcy Oster (JTA)Israeli intelligence reportedly helped the United States assassinate top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. NBC News reported Friday that Israeli intelligence helped the U.S. confirm a tip about when Soleimanis plane from Damascus to Baghdad took off. Soleimani was killed by a U.S. drone airstrikes on Jan. 2 while he was riding in a vehicle near Baghdad International Airport. Intelligence from Israel helped confirm the details, NBC reported. Soleimani was the head of the Iranian Quds Force, which operates a number of regional militias and is allied with terrorist groups targeting Israel, including Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran retaliated for the killing with missile strikes on two U.S. bases on Monday, with no reported American casualties. Pompeo announces intensified sanctions on Iran By Marcy Oster (JTA)The United States levied intensified sanctions on Iran, extending existing sanctions on its financial and energy sectors to its trade in metals. The sanctions announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday are in response to Irans attacks against U.S. forces and interests, and to deprive the Iranian regime of revenue to conduct its violent foreign policy, according to a statement issued by the State Department. The Treasury Department will sanction 22 companies and three ships for operating in the iron, steel, aluminum, or copper sectors of Iran, and related activities, the statement said. In addition, President Donald Trump will issue an executive order authorizing sanctions on other sectors of the Iranian economy, including construction, manufacturing, textiles and mining. This action will significantly expand the United States ability to target this regimes various revenue streams, Pompeo said. Trump reimposed sanctions on Irans energy and financial sectors after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. The statement added that our sanctions will remain until Iran changes its behavior. The civilized world must send a clear and unified message to the Iranian regime: Irans campaign of terror, murder, and mayhem will not be tolerated any longer. The sanctions also target eight senior Iranian leaders, including Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council; Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Basij; and six other senior officials who were appointed by and act on behalf of Irans Supreme Leader. These individuals have carried out Irans terror plots and campaigns of mayhem across the region and are complicit in the recent murders of around 1,500 Iranians protesting for freedom, the statement said. 4 Jewish tourists injured in brawl with locals in Uman, Ukraine By Cnaan Liphshiz (JTA)Four Jewish tourists were lightly injured in the Ukrainian city of Uman in a violent altercation with a group of non-Jewish locals. The incident happened Friday night, JewishNews.com.ua reported Sunday. Violence broke out between the four Jews and as many as 30 men, some of them wielding clubs, the report said. The incident began as a dispute between a Jewish person and a non-Jewish local. Both parties called on friends and a brawl ensued, according to the report. Police were called and arrived at the scene. The report did not say whether they made any arrests. About 40,000 Jews from Israel and beyond arrive in Uman each year in autumn for the Jewish new year. Uman is the burial place of Rabbi Nachman, an 18th-century luminary and founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement. Uman also has a permanent Jewish population of several hundred people, almost all from Israel. Larry David and Bernie Sanders appear together on the Today show By Emily Burack (JTA)With a big smile on his face, presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared alongside the man who plays him on Saturday Night Live, the comedian Larry David, on NBCs Today show Friday morning. Both Sanders and David were interviewed, and in an introductory clip, Al Roker jokingly mixes them up. If Sanders is elected, David complains, Itll be great for the country, terrible for me. Why? He would have to fly back and forth from LA to keep appearing on SNL as Sanders, something he has done since the 2016 campaign. In response, Sanders jokes, Im getting you a good job for four years and youre complaining! Theyre not related at all, Roker then quips. Hes likely joking about the fact that the two are distantly related, as was revealed on an episode of Finding Your Roots in 2017. Later on the show, David joined Roker to do the weather forecast, and David used the time to just mercilessly tease Roker about his glasses and his job. Its worth noting that David, whose HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm returns for 10th season on Jan. 19, recently got a dog and named it Bernie. EU gives $1.1 million toward preserving Jewish burial sites By Cnaan Liphshiz (JTA)The European Union has allocated $1.1 million toward mapping and preserving Jewish burial grounds. The European Commission, the executive branch of the union, announced last week its decision to extend the funding to the European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative, or ESJF. The group uses innovative tools, ranging from mapping drones to Nazi aerial photography archives, to preserve what the Council of Europe said in 2012 were vulnerable sites. Since the groups establishment in 2015 with a German government grant, it has helped protect dozens of Jewish cemeteries in seven Central and Eastern European countries. ESJF also surveyed 1,500 cemeteries and mass graves in Greece, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine and Slovakia during 2019. The new funding will allow it to survey and demarcate a further 1,500 such sites in Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, and Poland, among other countries over the coming 18 months. The project will be carried out with help from two Jewish groups, Centropa and the Foundation for Jewish Heritage, helping to enhance local engagement in our collective goal to protect this vital heritage, ESJF Chief Executive Officer Philip Carmel said in a statement. French Jews commemorate 5th anniversary of Hyper Cacher murders By Cnaan Liphshiz (JTA)Several hundred people attended a ceremony commemorating the fifth anniversary of the murder of four Jews at a Paris kosher supermarket by a jihadist. At the event Thursday outside Hyper Cacher in the Porte de Vincennes area in eastern Paris, candles were lit for each victim and the crowd sang the French national anthem. It was attended by Interior Minister Cristophe Castaner. Francis Kalifat, the president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, said that the memory of the four victims will forever be treasured by French Jewry. Kalifat devoted a significant part of his speech to criticizing the handling of another killing from 2017, in which a Muslim man beat his Jewish neighbor, Sarah Halimi, and threw her to her death from the third-story window of her apartment. In November, an appeals court ruled that the killer was found unfit to stand trial because he was high on marijuana. The work of commemorating her cannot properly take place, Kalifat said, until her killer is brought to justice. This ruling is a stain on our society because it prevents the wounds from healing, he added. The 2015 attack at Hyper Cacher was one of the most traumatic events to befall the French Jewish community in recent years. Four people died in the attackPhilippe Braham, Yohan Cohen, Yoav Hattab and Francois-Michel Saadawhich came in the wake of a shooting at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, which killed 12 people and injured 11 others. Rubio, Coons introduce bill to give $3.3 billion in annual assistance to Israel (JNS)Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced a bill on Thursday to give $3.3 billion in annual U.S. assistance to in accordance with the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States and Israel. While the Trump administration has upheld the MOUthe biggest promise of U.S. military aid made to any nationthe bill would put it into law. Rubio told Reuters the bill was crucial amid unprecedented threats, while Coons told the outlet that the events of the past few days are a stark reminder of the importance of U.S. assistance to Israels security. U.S. forces killed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a strike at Baghdad Airport on Jan. 3. Four days later, the IRGC launched missiles at the Ain Al-Asad and Irbil air bases in western Iraq, which also house U.S. soldiers. No casualties were reported. Model says Lebanese designer dropped her from Paris show because shes Israeli By Cnaan Liphshiz (JTA)An Israeli fashion model said that she was denied a job offer from a Lebanon-born French designer because of her nationality. Arbel Kynan told At magazine in Israel earlier this week that Maison Rabih Kayrouz cancelled a gig that had been lined up for her at Paris Fashion Week on Jan. 20 in Paris. She would have modeled the designers clothes in the haute couture part of the show. Kynan said her agent received an email that her invitation was canceled and that it informed her that the reason was because she is Israeli. Kynan had told employees of Kayrouzs fashion house during a photo shoot for the show that shes living in Tel Aviv. An hour ago I got an email from my agency telling me the client is Lebanese and isnt interested in having me take part in the show because I live in Tel Aviv, Israel, Kynan wrote on Instagram on Monday. Thats literally what the email said. She added that she cried after learning of the cancellation, which made her angry. But she decided to not to let it get to me. In an email replying to Ats request for a reaction to Kynans claims, Maison Rabih Kayrouz said: The photo shoot was never cancelled, thats incorrect information. At replied that the this was not the subject of their query, reiterating that they sought a reaction to claims that Kynan had been dropped from a show that the photo shoot was meant to promote. The designer did not reply to that email, At wrote. The latest made-in-China pandemic reveals Beijing's impressive capacity to learn from its errors and improve its performance in dealing with crises. It also exposes China's fatal flaws. "I was on the first team into China to try to find the source of the SARS virus in 2003 [as part of the World Health Organisation effort]," says John Mackenzie, the team leader investigating the advent of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Illustration: Dionne Gain Credit: Mackenzie, then an eminent virologist at the University of Queensland, was confronted with a dysfunctional Chinese health system. "There was very little communication between the provinces and the central government, the lab processes were very slow, the central health authorities had little control over what was done and what was announced in the provinces," he tells me. China's government was denounced at home and abroad for bungling the whole episode: the three-month delay in notifying the WHO, the attempted cover-ups, the secrecy and denial that ended with 774 people dead in 17 countries. Cannabis consumption clubs still dont have a future in Colorado Springs, despite a new law that paves the way for cities to keep allowing them. The citys existing clubs, which give people a place to use cannabis and socialize in private, have been given until March 22, 2024, to phase out operations. There are two licensed, Studio A64 and Speakeasy Vape Lounge; however, their licenses wont be valid past that deadline, and the city isnt issuing any more permits. A state law passed last year created options for local licensing systems to allow the clubs past that sunset date and permit small amounts of cannabis to be sold there. But the Colorado Springs City Council on Monday opted against further study of those alternatives. Council members Don Knight, Wayne Williams and David Geislinger said the issue isnt worth the time and effort it would take to explore, given the many council's other priorities. I dont believe thats at the top of my list as a member of City Council. I dont think its near the top, Williams said. I think theres many more important things that we should be using our resources for. Council members Richard Skorman, Jill Gaebler and Bill Murray expressed support for the clubs, saying they would provide a safe place for adult cannabis use that the city could regulate. Marijuana use "is here," Skorman said. "Its not going away. We can make it safe. We can keep people off the street driving. Or we can just put our heads in the sand and say were never never going to cross this line...Its really going to come back to bite us. The city's refusal to pursue options for cannabis clubs adds to Colorado Springs' anti-pot reputation. Under Amendment 64, passed by Colorado voters in 2012, recreational marijuana use is legal statewide. But the city banned sales under a local option contained in the state measure. In 2019, the state General Assembly passed House Bill 1230, creating licensing structures for "marijuana hospitality establishments." One permited businesses where patrons bring their own marijuana to consume but not buy or sample it as is currently the policy for Colorado Springs cannabis clubs, according to Mattie Gullixson, a senior regulatory compliance analyst for Mayor John Suther's Office. The other licensing structure allowed businesses to also sell small amounts of retail marijuana to customers to be used on the premise, Gullixson told the council at a Dec. 9 meeting. Under the law, a local jurisdiction may authorize such establishments to operate through an ordinance or ballot measure, she said. This question is going to take months before it comes to a vote, Knight said. He added that Suthers, a vocal opponent of recreational pot, would definitely veto any such ordinance. Six "yes" votes on the council would be needed to override that veto. Knight walked out of the December meeting, where cannabis club proponents urged the city to implement the new licensing structure and approve the existing clubs as marijuana hospitality and sales establishments. The councilman expressed concern that speakers represented only one side of the issue because no one who addressed the council was opposed. At Monday's meeting, Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC CEO Dirk Draper, Dr. Kenneth Finn and Coronado High School Principal Darin Smith spoke out against creating a new policy for the clubs. Finn and Smith argued that any expansion of the industry would open the door for more marijuana use by youth. "I think less access to our students be it black market, grey market or legal is better for Coronado High, Smith said. Skorman refuted the notion that cannabis clubs would lead to more kids using pot, instead arguing that they would give parents a safe place to consume cannabis away from their children. He said that the measure could save lives, and that the legislature had already done much of the vetting, saving city staff time. But Williams disagreed. I dont think this would save lives. I think it certainly has a greater likelihood of costing lives. You put people in a situation where they will be away from home, where they will be going back to, Williams said. "The fact that the legislature made a decision to permit cities to permit this does not mean all the vetting is done." Jason Warf, executive director of the Southern Colorado Cannabis Council, chalked up the arguments against cannabis clubs to the same anti-weed "propaganda" that "we've heard for 20 years" in Colorado. "Its really a matter of providing a feasible business model for these owners that have done their best to remain in good standing and provide a service to the citizens, Warf, who works with Studio A64's ownership, told The Gazette after the meeting. "If we choose not to regulate, what were really doing is opening the door for further unregulated businesses to open up." Murray expressed a similar sentiment during the meeting. "If we dont try to keep reasonable control of the situation, it will control us. And I think thats whats happening," Murray said. The citys Marijuana Working Group is looking into another new law, which took effect this month, that allows medical marijuana stores to deliver products with a local government's permission. The ongoing protests in Delhi Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) have been unprecedented in various levels. For one, this is probably for the first time the Muslim women have been at the forefront of such a massive movement and their peaceful protests have been widely appreciated. They also inspired thousands of Muslim women from other parts of the country to organize similar protests against the CAA. AFP But now a top Muslim cleric from Kerala has come out criticizing the women protesters. Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar, the head of the largest Sunni Muslim group in Kerala has said that women must not hit the roads to protest or raise slogans. Speaking to a Malayalam news channel, Kanthapuram, as he is popularly known, said Our view is that women must not hit the streets, unlike men. They must not clench their fists or raise slogans. However, when a situation arises where the support of women has to be declared, then their backing has to be proved, thats all. Otherwise, they dont need to hit the streets for protests. BCCL 88-year-old Kanthapuram was last year appointed as Indias Grand Mufti, the senior-most Islamic cleric in a country. As expected, Kanthapuram's comments have not gone down well with a large section of the community, including women who said that such dicta will only help to scuttle the voice of the community. Kanthapuram is not the first Islamic cleric from Kerala to ask Muslim women not to indulge in 'Unisalmic' protests. Last week another cleric Abdul Hameed Faizy had stocked controversy after he said that Muslim women should refrain from street protests that will expose their bodies to men other than their husbands. BCCL In a Facebook post, Faizy said he was shocked to see the visuals of Muslim women mingling with 'other men' during the protests against CAA. "There were women in the front row of the protests. How condemnable is that? This is a dangerous culture," Faizy said in an utterly misogynist and regressive Facebook post. Despite the criticism, he received Faizy is still defending his comments and claimed that his suggestions were based on Quranic verse. AFP Before that, in December the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the largest Muslim body of scholars in Kerala, has urged the Muslim women protesters not to cross the limits during protests. A joint statement of scholars which was issued on Saturday night said the participation of Muslim women in public protests and crossing limits which may lead to arrests is against Islam. Egypt has become more attractive for foreign direct investment and has the potential to attract more investments, Jonathan Cohen, US ambassador to Egypt said on Tuesday. He said that Egypt has attractive incentives, including its labour force, transportation networks, solid infrastructure, and advancements in communications, making it qualified to receive more FDI. Cohen was speaking on the sidelines of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) monthly luncheon meeting held at the Conrad Hotel. Egypt has the potential to become a regional energy hub, he added, as it has made notable achievements in the oil and gas sector over the past seven years, which has transformed it from a gas importer to a gas exporter. On Africa, Cohen asserted that Egypt has a key role to play on the continent to attract more investment to the African market. Cohen said that Egypt is a dynamic country with a complex economy and unique regional challenges, adding that he is working on dealing with these challenges, especially those faced by American companies, which benefits both sides. I will be working tirelessly to create and expand business opportunities between the US and Egypt, and working with the Egyptian government to build an environment that attracts US investment and in which a strong private sector can generate jobs and deliver the economic growth that Egypt needs, he said. He added that the US and Egypt have a great base to build on for more commercial engagement in in the coming years. Egypt is the fourth-largest export market for US goods and services in the Middle East and North Africa, he said, and the largest market for US goods and services in Africa. From 2017 to the November 2019, the total US-Egyptian bilateral trade grew by over 44 percent to $8.2 billion, while US exports to Egypt amounted to $5.2 billion, up 76 percent in two years. US food and agricultural exports to Egypt grew by 145 percent from 2017 to 2018, while Egyptian agricultural exports to US reached a record-high two years in row in 2018 and in 2019, Cohen said. The US government has invested over $80 billion in Egypt over the past 40 years, he said. Speaking about military and security issues, Cohen said that US assistance to Egypt in this regard remains a lasting testament to the historic peace treaty between the counties and totals over $50 billion since it was signed in 1979. Cohen also touched on Egypts energy sector, saying that it is not a promising sector in Egypt alone but across the whole eastern Mediterranean region, which has encouraged a number of US companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron to enter the market. Cohen said American investors are looking for clearer, more efficient regulatory structures, a streamlined and customer-focused bureaucracy, and stronger protections for intellectual property. The US embassy is working with the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council to deal with these challenges, he noted. Businesses also seek and are willing to partner to develop a more educated workforces with the technical skills needed to establish 21st century factories and production lines. They are also looking for a more open society that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship across all sectors, Cohen added. He said that US commercial, economic, and agricultural officials are advocating daily with Egypts government to reduce or remove specific barriers and improve the entire business environment. Search Keywords: Short link: A Tennessee man was immediately arrested after allegedly lighting up a joint in a court room in front of a judge. Spencer Boston, 20, was to appear in General Sessions Court in Lebanon, Tennessee, on Monday on a simple drug possession charge. He was arrested and charged with possession for a second time after deciding to use his time at the podium to allegedly smoke a joint in a push for legalization. Spencer Boston, 20, was to appear in General Sessions Court in Lebanon, Tennessee, on Monday on a simple drug possession charge when he decided to light up the joint (pictured) Spencer Boston, 20, was handed a second simple drug possession charge for allegedly starting to smoke a joint as he appeared in court on his first drug possession charge Boston is reported to have started speaking on new marijuana legislation but decided to get his point across more bluntly by sparking up. He was quickly removed from the courtroom and placed under arrest. The sheriff office's video footage of the incident shows Boston reaching the podium in front of Judge Haywood Barry and reaching into his pocket to take out what appears to be a rolled marijuana cigarette. He places the cigarette in his mouth and and lights it with a box of matches. The cigarette is reported to have given off the smell of burning marijuana and people behind Boston can be seen moving away. Boston began to speak on marijuana legislation and lit up a rolled joint to laughs from court Officers immediately arrested Boston and removed the 20-year-old from the court room Officers can also be seen quickly moving to arrest Boston and remove him from the courtroom in a joint effort through the cloud of smoke. 'One of the craziest things Ive ever seen,' Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan told WTVF, adding that many in the court burst out laughing when they saw what was happening. According to Wilson County court documents, Boston is being charged with disorderly conduct and a second charge of simple possession of marijuana, a Schedule VI drug. Boston was also hit with ten days in jail for contempt of court. His bond was set at $3,000, the New York Post reports. [January 28, 2020] WORLD PREMIERE at IPPE: Staubli Shows the Latest Evolution of Its 4-Axis Robot Range The newly developed TS2 HE line features a unique and revolutionary hygienic design for applications in humid environments that opens up a range of uses for SCARA robots in the food processing industry where there is a high risk for contamination and bacteria development. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005244/en/ Staubli is unveiling the latest evolution of its 4-axis robot range: The TS2 HE line is designed to operate in humid environments and offers the first hygienically designed SCARA robots in the world. (Photo: Business Wire) The HE version of the TS2 eliminates retention areas by draining fluids alongside its fully enclosed structure. Key elements are made of stainless steel, and a specific coating covers the arm in order to withstand the full wash down cleaning processes required in a primary processing environment. In addition, Staubli's technology inside the TS2 HE allows the use of a NSF H1 food-grade oil proprietary to the company to safely lubricate each axis without comprising performance. Theses axes are now put in motion by Staubli's proprietary JCS drive technology, which facilitates high-speed motion and high repeatability for ultra-short cycle times. "The TS2 HE is the result of the long experience of Staubi in the food processing industry, which led us to identify a true need for pick-and-place applications where 4-axis solutions are the best fit," said Sebastien Schmitt, Robotics Division Manager, Staubli North America. "The previous SCARA designs could not meet the hygienic requirements of the food industry until now. Modeled after our unique fully enclosed design developed with our 6-axis range and regular exchanges with the players of this very specific market, Staubli was able to develop this new exclusive TS2 HE line." Robots in the TS2 HE range offer a hygienic design featuring: A fully enclosed and pressurized structure to prevent microorganism penetration and avoid condensation. Smooth, rounded and tilted surfaces to eliminate liquid retention. Easy integration enabled by a small footprint and a variety of mounting options. Fully compatible with NSF H1 food-grade lubricant. Protected against low pressure jets of water (IP65) and immersion (IP67). Designed specifically for use in wet environments and full wash-down applications. Stainless steel crucial components and specific coating to ensure durability in extreme conditions. No external cables - all connections going through the base. Unique, cylindrical envelope and small footprint. Patented Staubli proprietary JCS gearbox for top-of-the-line accuracy and repeatability at high-speed. Easy maintenance with no battery located in the arm. This year's IPPE will be held Jan. 28-30, 2020, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Staubli, the global leader in robotics for sensitive environments, will have demonstrations themed around the processing of protein in booth No. B6851 including a TS2 60 HE performing primary packaging of meat. In addition, Midwest Machine LLC and JLS Automation will each offer demonstrations that will also showcase the benefits of Staubli's HE line of robots for food processing. For more information on the TS2 range, go to: Staubli TS2. About Staubli North America Staubli North America has more than 200 employees supporting Connectors, Robotics and Textiles customers. The company's North American headquarters is in Duncan, South Carolina. Staubli provides customer support through its locations in Duncan, Queretaro, Mexico, and the newest Staubli North American facility, which opened in 2018 in Novi, Michigan. In addition to 24/7 customer support, each of these facilities offer training and has dedicated on-site technical experts who can be deployed whenever needed. Staubli's North American sales force is located strategically on the West and East coasts, and also serves Canada and Puerto Rico. Worldwide, Staubli is a leading manufacturer of quick release couplings, robotics systems and textile machinery. With a workforce of over 5,000 employees, Staubli is present in 29 countries supported by a comprehensive distribution network in 50 countries worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005244/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Imperial Valley News Center Attacks on the People of Idlib Washington, DC - Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State: "The United States is monitoring with grave concern the situation in northwest Syria where the combined forces of Russia, the Iranian regime, Hizballah, and the Assad regime reportedly are conducting a large-scale assault upon the people of Idlib and western Aleppo provinces. These forces reportedly are conducting indiscriminate aerial bombardment and ground attacks that have trapped thousands of civilians under bombardment in Marat an-Numan, leaving them nowhere to flee. "In other areas, tens of thousands are reportedly fleeing from their homes. The destabilizing actions of Russia, the Iranian regime, Hizballah, and the Assad regime are directly preventing the establishment of a ceasefire in northern Syria, as called for in UNSCR 2254, and the safe return of hundreds of thousands of displaced persons in northern Syria to their homes. "The United States condemns these unjustifiable attacks against the people of northwest Syria. We call for an immediate ceasefire and full access to the affected areas by humanitarian organizations to alleviate the suffering of the hundreds of thousands that have fled the incessant bombing. The United States is prepared to take the strongest diplomatic and economic actions against the Assad regime and any state or individual that aids its brutal agenda." Sonos chief executive Patrick Spence has apologised to customers after a backlash over the company's plan to halt software updates for older products. The speaker maker last week said it would stop providing updates and new features for speakers launched in the 2000s, including the Connect, ZonePlayer, the original Play:5 and Bridge. Sonos CEO Patrick Spence says older products will continue to work past May, despite being cut off from new features. Credit:Bloomberg The company warned that even if customers only had one older speaker, their entire Sonos sound systems might lose access to services and functionality would "eventually be disrupted". It also suggested users buy new speakers with a 30 per cent credit for each legacy device traded in. Sonos devotees quickly went berserk on social media, accusing the company of purposely degrading existing hardware to spur new sales. In a statement, Sonos didn't reverse the decision to nix software updates in May but pledged to keep older speakers "updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible." The company also said it would "work to offer an alternative solution" to major issues that can't be addressed. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) Twenty-four people are closely being monitored for possible Wuhan coronavirus infection, the Department of Health said Monday. There were 27 patients initially under investigation, including 18 in Metro Manila, three in Western Visayas, three in Central Visayas, one each in Mimaropa, Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao. They all had a history of travel to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the outbreak, officials said. Three of them have been discharged after they tested negative for coronavirus infection. Among them is a five-year-old boy from Wuhan in Cebu City who initially tested positive for an unspecified coronavirus. He was eventually cleared of infection with the new strain called 2019-nCoV. It's unclear where the two other patients were monitored before their release. The DOH said it is awaiting test results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City on samples from 13 patients as well as confirmatory test results for six patients whose samples were sent to the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Australia. DOH spokesperson Eric Domingo told CNN Philippines' Politics as Usual that there is a "very strong suspicion" that the six are infected with the new coronavirus Most of the people under investigation for the new coronavirus are Chinese nationals, the DOH said. There is still no confirmed case of novel coronavirus infection in the country, health officials said. San Lazaro Hospital spokesperson Dr. Ferdinand de Guzman told CNN Philippines Newsroom Ngayon that three Chinese nationals admitted in their hospital showing symptoms of the new coronavirus infection are stable and recovering. Local testing possible soon Local health authorities are hoping to receive a primer in 48 hours which will help them diagnose cases of the new coronavirus in the country without having to send samples to Australia, as it takes a long time. Domingo explained that currently, local health officials first run a fast track diagnostic test on throat swabs and blood samples from patients for 33 pathogens, including four types of coronaviruses. If they test negative, they then run the samples through a pancoronavirus test which determines if a patient is infected with a coronavirus. If a patient tests positive for a coronavirus infection, they get tested again to check if they were infected with the coronavirus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or the one that causes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. Should they test negative for both, samples are sent to the laboratory in Australia to see if they were infected with the new strain of coronavirus that has killed at least 106 people and infected 4,515 people in China alone. So far, we really cannot say that, Wow, this is like SARS, this is like MERS-CoV, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said, stressing that the fatality rate from the new coronavirus strain is still low at below three percent. Duque, however, said the elderly population is the most vulnerable to these pathogens. READ: How to protect yourself from coronavirus The Bureau of Immigration ordered Tuesday the suspension of the issuance of visas upon arrival to Chinese nationals to slow down group tours amid fears over the new coronavirus. The DOH also advised Filipinos to avoid non-essential travel to China. Several Chinese schools in Manila have also suspended classes this week as a precautionary measure against the possible spread of the novel coronavirus, even if the DOH said class suspensions are not yet necessary. People can spread the virus before symptoms show, China's health minister said Sunday, complicating efforts to contain the outbreak. Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the World Health Organizations representative to the Philippines, said this has not yet been confirmed. Travellers wearing protective masks rest on a bench after arriving at Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing on Jan. 21, 2020. (NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images) Wuhan Mayor Admits Wrongdoing, but Pushes Blame on Beijing for Mishandling Virus Outbreak Crisis The mayor of Wuhan City, ground zero for the new coronavirus outbreak, sat down for a rare television interview in which he indirectly called out his higher-ups for mismanaging the crisis. During a news program that aired on state broadcaster CCTV on Jan. 27 evening, Zhou Xianwang said that the central government made the decision to withhold information about the outbreak. Wuhan Mayor He admitted that the city government did not publish information in time, and failed to properly contain the virus. Disclosures about the outbreak were not timely As the leader of a local government, I could only publish information after I receive permission from the authorities [central government], Zhou said during the interview. Wuhan health authorities only confirmed the outbreak on Dec. 31, 2019, though the first patient was infected on Dec. 12. After a leading expert working for the central government, Zhong Nanshan, gave a speech about the illnesss severity, Wuhan authorities began reporting more official cases of infections. Since then, every region of China except Tibet has reported infections. The deadly virus has since spread to several Asian countries, the United States, Canada, France, and Australia. Most patients have recently traveled to Wuhan. On Jan. 22, Wuhan City announced it would initiate a transportation lockdown and quarantine the city in order to prevent the disease from spreading. Zhou said during the Jan. 27 program that he believed it was the best solution. But he added that if Wuhan citizens are unhappy about the decision, he would be willing to resign. The mayor recently came under fire for saying that the city had enough medical supplies during a Jan. 26 press conference, contradicting what his boss, the Hubei governor Wang Xiaodong, said the same day: We need protective suits and masks This is the most urgent and difficult issue. Zhou also revealed that more than five million people have left Wuhan in January, leaving many Chinese worried that these people have the potential to spread the virus widely. Criticism Wang Yanhu, an editor at the Chinese state-run media outlet Beijing News, published an article on Jan. 27, in which he criticized the Wuhan government for allowing so many residents to exit the city and put the rest of the population in danger. The local government kept on delivering positive information until academician Zhong Nanshan gave a speech on Jan. 20, Wang wrote. Wang said that the majority of the five million people left Wuhan between Jan. 1 to Jan. 20. From official data, less than one percent of them traveled outside the country. Most Wuhan residents flew to Hong Kong, where there are eight confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and Bangkok, Thailand. The Southeast Asian country has also confirmed eight cases. Xi Jinping At a Saturday emergency meeting with top Party officials, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said he was concerned about the grave situation and accelerating spread of the virus. Ma Guoqiang, the Communist Party secretary and big boss of Wuhan, said at a Jan. 27 press conference that he was glad Xi paid such attention to the situation. China commentators believe that Zhous TV interview and Mas words indirectly meant that they wanted to push the responsibility of containing the virus to Xi. Its a clear message from Zhou and Ma that they wont want to take the responsibility, because theyre afraid theyll have to pay with their lives for making the wrong decisions, said Tang Jingyuan, a U.S.-based China affairs commentator in a Jan. 27 interview with The Epoch Times. Tang also believed that the Beijing News article criticizing Wuhan authorities is a sign that the central government may punish some officials in Wuhan, he said. Photograph: Handout/Reuters When Jared Kushner took on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alongside his many other official duties promoting American innovation, arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the US opioid crisis he decided to begin with a blank slate. He said flat out, dont talk to me about history, said Aaron David Miller, a US peace negotiator for previous administrations who was consulted by Kushner. He said, I told the Israelis and the Palestinians not to talk to me about history too. This was a daring approach to a conflict and region steeped in every bitter turn of history. During one of a handful of meetings, Miller reminded the presidents son-in-law of William Faulkners observation: The past is never dead. Its not even past. Kushner decided to deal with the problem of history intruding on talks by engineering a proposed settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis without negotiations or even really talking to one of the parties. Related: Trump: if Jared Kushner can't achieve peace in Middle East, 'it can't be done' I think Jared has a real conviction that hes the Frank Sinatra of the peace process. Hes going to do it his own way, said Miller. The result is the ulitmate deal, as Donald Trump described it, that the president is expected to formally present to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the White House on Tuesday. But enough details have leaked for the proposals to be widely scorned as favouring Israel by opening the door to its annexation of large parts of the occupied territories and giving it almost total control of Jerusalem. Trump appointed Kushner, a developer who is married to the presidents daughter Ivanka, to oversee the USs policy on Israel and Palestine even though he has no experience of Middle East diplomacy. A lack of experience in Middle East negotiations is not necessarily a hinderance to trying to forge a peace agreement and might be an asset compared to those who lost their way in the weeds of positioning of checkpoints and access to Gaza. George Mitchell was relatively unexperienced in Northern Ireland before playing a crucial role as the US envoy in building peace. Story continues But Kushners appointment raised eyebrows because it appeared to be based on little more than who he married, although Trump called him a natural talent. It didnt help that it wasnt even going to be his full time job but tacked on with a lot of other tasks. But perhaps the key was that Kushner has close family ties to Netanyahu who is facing an election in March. An Israeli election banner for the Likud party showing Donald Trump shaking hands with Benjamin Netanyahu hangs on a building in Jerusalem. Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images The make up of Kushners team was an early clue to where it the process was headed. It included David Friedman, a lawyer with close ties to the Jewish settler movement in the occupied territories who Trump appointed as US ambassador to Israel. Friedman has questioned the need for a Palestinian state and likened members of a liberal US Jewish group to Nazi collaborators for their criticism of the Israeli governments actions. The Trump administration then alienated the Palestinians with a series of actions in Israels favour including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and slashing funding for Palestinian refugees. Kushner toured Middle East capitals seeking to get the kings of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and Egypts authoritarian president, to pressure the Palestinian Authority into going along with the White House plan. Among those wooed by Kushner was the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, which goes some way to explain alongside arms deals why the Trump administration has let him off the hook over the murder of the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Jared has a real conviction that hes the Frank Sinatra of the peace process. Hes going to do it his own way Aaron David Miller Miller was sceptical of the process even before the administration soured relations with the Palestinians. I said to Jared youre not going to fix this because the problem is not the United States. You can make it worse but youre going to have a hard time making it better because what needs to be done cant be done by the United States. It requires fundamental decisions by the Israelis and Palestinians. Neither side is prepared to make them. They lack leaders who are capable of making them, he said. Miller, who met with Kushner a handful of times and describes him as very respectful, said the presidents son-in-law has indeed made it worse. But he concluded that the process has not been driven by a desire for a negotiated settlement so much as to bolster the prospects of Netanyahus re-election because that helps Trumps prospects of holding onto the White House. It is tethered to a set of political and personal objectives which in my judgment have little or nothing to do with creating a realistic and sustained negotiating process, he said. Miller noted that Kushner will be running Trumps re-election campaign and that a plan that helps get Netanyahu re-elected by giving Israel a green light to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank will in turn help the president not least with the Christian evangelical vote which is very supportive of the Jewish state. I told Jared youre going to put out a plan that meets the needs or requirements of only one side. And I said thats a serious problem because American credibility and integrity is also on the table. Not just American politics and re-election of Donald Trump, he said. Tuesday, three days before the scheduled date of their hanging, was the first time when families of all the four convicts of the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case came to meet them inside the prison, prison officers said. A city court had on January 20 issued a death warrant for the fourMukesh Singh (32), Pawan Kumar Gupta (25), Akshay Thakur (31) and Vinay Sharma (26)and set February 1 as the day of hanging. While Singh has filed a mercy petition, the other convicts are yet to opt for any legal remedies, such as curative petition before the Supreme Court and mercy petition before President Ram Nath Kovind. If Gupta, Thakur and Sharma do not seek legal remedy before Friday (January 31), the prison administration will proceed with the execution, prison officers said. They havent told us anything. Maybe they will use their legal remedy on the day before the hanging so the execution is postponed, a prison officer, who did not wish to be named, said adding that on Tuesday afternoon, Thakur told a jail officer that he would file a curative petition. Meanwhile, the prison administration is consulting legal experts to check if at least one of the convicts, whose has exhausted all legal options, can be hanged before the others. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court reserved its judgment in Mukesh Singhs plea seeking judicial review of the rejection of his mercy plea by President Ram Nath Kovind. On Wednesday, if the top court dismisses Singhs plea, he will have exhausted all his legal options. If that happens, Singhs legal options will be over, but with his counsel filing one review after the other, maybe they will come up with something. Meanwhile, we are consulting legal experts and preparing for any outcome, another senior prison officer said. As part of the preparation, the jail officers are regularly holding mock sessions inside Jail No. 3, where the hanging is scheduled to take place. The prison administration has bought specially prepared ropes from Bihars Buxar Jail, which will be used to hang the four on Saturday. The four are on death row for the gang rape and brutal assault of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student inside a moving bus on December 16, 2012. The young woman died in a hospital in Singapore on December 29. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A man who stole electric toothbrushes from a shop while on bail for stealing electric toothbrushes from the same shop has been ordered not to enter any Boots stores in Dublin for 12 months. Mareks Treinovskis (34) has nine previous convictions for stealing electric toothbrushes from the same cosmetics store subsequent to these latest convictions. Treinovskis with an address at Merchants Quay, Dublin, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to theft at Boots, Grafton Street, Dublin 2, on June 29, 2019 and July 22, 2019. Garda Stephen Farrelly told Fionnuala O'Sullivan BL, prosecuting, that on the date in June, the accused entered the shop and stole three electric toothbrushes with a total combined value of 1,169.97. Gda Farrelly said Treinovskis was identified via CCTV footage. He was arrested, charged with the offence and released on bail. On the date in July, Treinovskis returned to the same shop and again stole three electric toothbrushes with the same market value. Treinovskis has 64 previous convictions. He received a nine month sentence of imprisonment in June of 2018 for nine thefts of electric toothbrushes, all from the same Boots shop on Grafton Street. Ann Sheridan BL, defending, said her client was at all times under the influence of drugs when committing the offences. She said his marriage broke down as a result of his addiction difficulties. Ms Sheridan said her client was originally from Latvia and came to Ireland in 2004. She said he was homeless at the time of the offences and was stealing to feed his habit. Judge Melanie Greally said that when viewed in isolation the offences were not particularly serious, but said that the previous convictions for stealing the same thing from the same shop were very concerning. Judge Greally sentenced him to six months imprisonment for the earlier theft. She sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment for the later theft which she ordered to run consecutive to the other sentence. She then suspended the entirety of the 12 month sentence on strict conditions including that he not enter any Boots store in Dublin for any reason for a period of 12 months. Donald Trump paused touting his new vision for the Middle East on Tuesday to praise Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for dropping a series of f-bombs to an NPR reporter who had asked him about the Ukraine. 'That reporter couldn't have done too good a job on you yesterday. I think you did a good job on her, actually,' the president said, referring to Pompeo's exchange with NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly. Pompeo called Kelly into a private room to chew her out after she asked him about defending State Department employees like former Ambassador to the Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. He shouted 'do you think Americans care about Ukraine?' after his aides angrily cut off an interview she was conducting with him for All Things Considered. Pompeo was seen chuckling in the audience at the president's praise for his actions. Donald Trump praised Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - seen above at the White House Tuesday - for dropping a series of f-bombs to an NPR reporter who had asked him about the Ukraine President Trump interrupted unveiling his vision for the Middle East to praise his secretary of state Tensions between the radio network and the State Department remain high. Foggy Bottom removed NPR's diplomatic correspondent Michele Kelemen from Pompeo's trip this week, which will include his first visit to the Ukraine. Kelemen was informed Monday she did not have a seat on the plane. The State Department Correspondents' Association said it seemed like the State Department was 'retaliating' for Kelly's interview with Pompeo. President Trump also threw his support behind abolishing NPR amid the increasingly nasty public row. The president said 'A very good question!' on Monday as he retweeted Mark Levin, the conservative radio broadcaster, asking: 'Why does NPR still exist? 'We have thousands of radio stations in the U.S. Plus Satellite radio. Podcasts. Why are we paying for this big-government, Democrat Party propaganda operation.' Direct federal funding represents less than 1 per cent of NPR's budget. In their back-and-forth, Pompeo did not deny threatening Kelly, repeatedly using the f-word, and demanding she point to Ukraine on a blank map. Instead he complained that she had broken an agreement to go 'off the record,' which she said she never made, and not to ask about Ukraine, which she also said she had not agreed to. On Monday emails published by the Washington Post cast significant doubt on Pompeo's claim that Kelly had not agreed to ask about Ukraine. Furious tirade: NPR host Mary Louise Kelly revealed how the Secretary of State had her summoned to his private quarters where he shouted the f-word at her, threatened her, and demanded she point to Ukraine on a blank map Questions over account: Both allegations Mike Pompeo leveled against Kelly in his statement were disputed by her, with email suggesting there was no agreement to ignore Ukraine Emails with Katie Martin, Pompeo's press aide, showed Kelly told the State Department she was going to ask Pompeo about Ukraine The emails showed Katie Martin, a Republican operative who is Pompeo's press aide, pleading with Kelly to stick to Iran and saying: 'Know you just got back from Tehran so we would like to stick to Iran as the topic as opposed to jumping around. Is that something we can agree to?' But Kelly replied: 'I am indeed just back from Tehran and plan to start there. Also Ukraine. And who knows what the news gods will serve up overnight. I never agree to take anything off the table.' Kelly had also revealed how Pompeo demanded she point to Ukraine on a blank map - of which he apparently has a supply in his private quarters at the State Department - and he used his statement to say: 'Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine.' He appeared to imply Kelly did not know the difference between the two countries, although his statement could also suggest that he does not know the difference himself. Abolishing public funding for NPR, and its television equivalent PBS, has long been pushed by Republicans although it has never succeeded, even when the party has controlled both the House and the Senate. NPR's direct federal funding in 2018, the last year for which figures have been publishes, was $1.8 million out of total revenue of $232.7 million, but it also received grants from other federal sources, and some of the income it receives from member stations would have come from the federal government too. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds both NPR and PBS nationally, and a total of 1,406 local public radio and TV stations as well as program producers, receives $455 million annually, after the House declined the White House's request to stop all its funding and the Senate ignored it. The $455 million represents about 15% of all spending on public broadcasting, with sponsorship the largest single source. Pompeo's NPR crisis came as he heads to Ukraine this week, making his first trip to the country at the heart of President Donald Trump's impeachment. He will travel to Kiev as part of a five-nation tour of Europe and Central Asia. Since November, Pompeo has twice canceled plans to visit Ukraine, most recently just after the New Year when developments with Iran forced him to postpone the trip. Pompeo will also visit Britain, as it finalizes its divorce from the European Union, along with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Trump's impeachment on charges of abuse of office and obstruction of Congress hinges on his policy toward Ukraine. Witnesses told House investigators that Trump wanted Ukraine to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden's son in return for releasing critical military aid to Ukraine. And The New York Times received a leaked copy of an unpublished manuscript for a new book Bolton is writing, in which the former national security adviser claims the president told him he wanted to freeze military aid to Ukraine until the Eastern European nation helped with political investigations into his political rivals. Trump has denied the charge. Pompeo will meet with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky while he is in Kiev New audio appears to show Donald Trump ordering Marie Yovanovitch's firing 'I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book,' he tweeted in response. Pompeo has sought to stay above the impeachment fray and his stop in Ukraine will likely test his ability to continue to do so while leading diplomatic efforts to boost ties between Washington and Kiev that have been complicated by the process. One of the impeachment witnesses, William Taylor, was until Jan. 1 the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Pompeo had appointed Taylor to the post over the summer to take over from Marie Yovanovitch, whose tour was abruptly cut short last May after Trump's personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani made unsubstantiated allegations against her. Yovanovitch testified that Trump supporters had mounted a smear campaign against her. Audio released by an attorney for Lev Parnas, one of Giuliani's indicted sidekicks, on Saturday appears to show Trump ordering Yovanovitch's firing at the urging of Parnas, who claimed Yovanovitch was telling people Trump would be impeached. In the audio, recorded at an April 2018 fundraising dinner at the Trump Hotel in Washington D.C., Parnas appears to say, 'The biggest problem there, I think where we need to start, is we gotta get rid of the ambassador. She's still left over from the Clinton administration.' Trump then appears to say, 'Where? The ambassador to Ukraine?' Parnas replies, 'Yes. She's basically walking around telling everybody 'Wait, he's gonna get impeached, just wait'.' A few seconds later, Trump appears to say, 'Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it.' During her testimony to House investigators during the impeachment inquiry, Yovanovitch denied ever saying Trump would be impeached. Taylor departed Kiev just a day before Pompeo was to have arrived on his previously planned trip. Pompeo responded testily on Friday when asked about Ukraine and Yovanovitch by Kelly. Repeating a frequent talking point, he said the Trump administration had done more for Ukraine than President Barack Obama had done, including supplying the country with lethal defensive weaponry. 'This administration has delivered the capability for the Ukrainians to defend themselves,' he said. 'President Obama showed up with MREs, we showed up with Javelin missiles. The previous administration did nothing to take down corruption in Ukraine. We're working hard on that. We're going to continue to do it.' The Obama administration pushed Ukraine to do more to fight endemic corruption. Asked about Yovanovitch, who is still employed by the State Department, Pompeo replied: 'I'll say only this: I have defended every State Department official. We have built a great team. I have defended every single person on this team. I have done what's right for every single person on this team.' Pompeo, a West Point graduate who left the Army as a captain after a spell as a tank commander in West Germany, where he rose to squadron maintenance manager, has previously been director of the CIA before becoming Donald Trump's top diplomat. Kelly has a master's degree in European studies from Cambridge University. India is more than capable of addressing concerns of its citizens: VP Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today asserted that there was no scope for outside interference in India's internal matters even as he expressed concern over the trend of foreign bodies interfering in matters that are completely within the purview of the Indian Parliament and the Indian government. Naidu said that such efforts were totally uncalled for and unwarranted and expressed hope that they would refrain from making such statements in future. Addressing the gathering after releasing the book TRG-An Enigma in New Delhi today, Naidu said that as a mature republic and democratic polity, India is capable of addressing the concerns of its citizens and needs no advice or guidance in such matters from others. As a republic of 70 years of experience, we have successfully withstood various challenges and have overcome several challenges. We are now more united than ever before and no one should have any concerns in this regard, he said. The vice president complimented the people of the country and said the nation will always remain committed to justice, liberty and equality for all is citizens. Asserting that our polity and democracy provided enough space for expressing differences and dissent whenever warranted, the vice president said that whenever basic and fundamental rights of citizens came under threat, citizens rose in unison and defended them, as was seen against emergency. As a result, we have emerged as the most vibrant democracy in the world, he added. Lauding Tilak Raj Guptas distinguished contribution to education in India for over five long decades, the vice president said that his humane management approach, along with his love and affection for students, staff and parents made him an outstanding educator. Emphasizing that educators of the 21st century cannot merely be content with imparting knowledge, Naidu said that they must serve as true role models to children. Educators must be capable of amalgamating new technology with ancient traditions and merging new knowledge with age-old cultural values, he added. The vice president said that he had always looked upon education as a mission, something that has to be undertaken with the purest of intentions and not profit motive. He advised the best minds in each field, each discipline to turn to teaching and asked practitioners in various fields to find some time to pass on their practical experience to students. Observing that New India needed vibrant young thinkers who are willing to experiment and explore the various possibilities around them, he called upon the youth of the nation to become solution-makers. The vice president also stressed that education was meant not just to secure employment but also for enhancement of knowledge, empowerment, and enlightenment. Education is meaningful only if it can bring out the best in every person and make them more compassionate human beings. The need of the hour is to impart value-based education, he said. Referring to Indias cherished ideal of Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava, the vice president said that secularism is one of the founding principles of the nation and is a value that is ingrained in every Indian. He also said that India is one of the most vibrant, diverse and tolerant nations in the world. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 08:12:36|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close XIAMEN, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Fujian Province on China's eastern coast, which boasts traditional trade ties on the ancient Marine Silk Road, witnessed strong growth in trade with Belt and Road (B&R) countries in 2019. The trade volume between Fujian and B&R countries grew by 16.3 percent year on year in 2019, reaching 455.1 billion yuan (about 66.28 billion U.S. dollars). The amount accounted for 34.2 percent of the province's total export volume, according to Xiamen Customs. The main export goods from Fujian to B&R countries are labor-intensive products and mechanical and electrical products. The exports of textiles and garments, furniture, bags, shoes, plastic products and toys to those countries hit 111.6 billion yuan in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 27.5 percent. The exports of mechanical and electrical products to the countries soared by 18.9 percent year on year to reach 92.35 billion yuan. The Philippines, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are the top three trade partners with Fujian. Fujian's trade with the three countries reached 60.91 billion yuan, 54.25 billion yuan and 50.38 billion yuan, respectively, up 28.1 percent, 7 percent and 25 percent, according to the customs statistics. Richard Bradford is a prolific writer of biographies. His go-to studies of Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis, as well as his authorised biography of Alan Sillitoe are written with the kind of verve and insight that caused The Sunday Times to call his biography of Ernest Hemingway "a bombshell". In Orwell - A Man of Our Time, Bradford casts his critical eye on Eric Blair, the man and the writer. But rather than a warts-and-all brand of biography, Bradford reflects on the life and work of George Orwell through a determinedly contemporary lens and places his work at the centre of the current political landscape. Brexit, Boris, and Trump are regularly referred to, as is Harvey Weinstein, the Me Too movement, and many other names and trends in current affairs. Bradford makes the convincing case that Orwell is a 'foreseer', that 'Doublethink' is the forerunner to fake news, and that many of the issues he grappled with in his prose are still with us. Born in 1857, Orwell's father was an 'opium agent' in India. At Eton, Orwell was a misfit where Aldous Huxley was his teacher. He was considered intellectually gifted, if feckless. His class-consciousness begins to develop and instead of going to university which would have been expected of him, Orwell joined the Indian Imperial Police Force out of which came his novel Burmese Days, and the memorable essays, A Hanging and Shooting an Elephant. As a colonial autocrat, Orwell documents the end of Empire and returns to England where "social justice and inequality were his exclusive concerns". His parents are relieved that he assumes a pseudonym when Down and Out in Paris and London appears, a book in which Orwell makes clear that "the homeless were being treated as an inconvenience". It's at junctures like this that Bradford can be at his most scathing, bringing us from the 1824 Vagrancy Act to The Guardian's current homeless figures for London. ('According to the Combined Homeless and Information Network, 8,855 people were recorded as bedding down on London's pavements.') Again and again, Bradford brings us from Orwell's life and times to the current state of affairs. This type of contemporary contextualisation means that Orwell - A Man of Our Time is not a paean to a great writer, but a study of a writer whose influence can still be felt. Bradford does not shy away from the unpleasant side of Orwell's character either - namely his homophobia and antisemitism, but he does contend that Orwell recognised his own antisemitism and confronted its causes and even repents. There's an exploration of the Labour Party's own issues with antisemitism. How did Orwell reconcile his principles of social justice with an apparent contempt for Jews? There are no easy answers here, but Orwell tackled the issue head on in his essays Notes on Nationalism, and Antisemitism in Britain, and Bradford makes no bones that Nineteen-Eighty Four "beckons us towards the Labour Party today". Orwell's time fighting for the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War devolves into "the attraction of Islamic State for foreign born jihadists" and draws "commentators to ISIS/Spain comparisons like dim-witted moths to the flame". He cites [George] Monbiot's Guardian article from 2014 entitled, 'Orwell was hailed a hero for fighting in Spain'. Today he'd be guilty of terrorism. By 1940, after writing hundreds of articles, Orwell publishes Inside the Whale and Other Essays, where he "spares no one, aiming particular contempt against the modernists who had become obsessed with the nature of 'writing' immediately following the years when a continent had absorbed itself in an orgy of self-annihilation". Video of the Day Animal Farm appears in 1945, after being rejected by most publishers, including a ridiculously self-contradicting missive from TS Eliot at Faber and Faber. Interestingly, Cape accepts, and then rejects the manuscript after taking advice from the Ministry of Information, which Bradford astutely recognises as 'exactly the kind of political conspiracy between the political establishment and the intelligentsia that Orwell would portray in The Prevention of Literature. ' Of Nineteen-Eighty Four, Bradford writes - it "is the most important work of the past hundred years". His arguments are convincing. And on Orwell's 'List', Bradford deflates any furore. Approached by the Information Research Department, a branch of the Foreign Office primarily concerned with Soviet propaganda, Orwell was asked to recommend conscripts and the names of those whose "sympathies for the Soviet cause might bias their support of the West". Orwell did so, and despite the backlash when the list was released posthumously, Bradford lends a sensible perspective. He has written a brilliant biography of George Orwell, reminding us that his work is more relevant than ever. In his own words, "Orwell is a writer of our time because the issues he foregrounded and tackled in his work are timeless". Hard to disagree. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 05:53:45|Editor: yan Video Player Close ISTANBUL, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's eastern province of Elazig has been trying to heal its wounds amid hard winter and multiple aftershocks since a strong earthquake rocked the region on Friday. After search and rescue work was completed in the last ruins of a fully collapsed building in the city center of Elazig, it is time for most of the locals to find safe and sound refuge to spend the winter. The 6.5-magnitude tremor killed a total of 41 people, wounded 1,607 others, and caused widespread damage. Experts examined more than 13,300 buildings in five provinces in the region and reported that 378 were completely destroyed and over 3,200 heavily damaged. Over 25,000 tents suitable for families have been sent to the region which has been jolted by a total of 1,190 aftershocks so far, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said in a statement. Hot meals, breakfast, and soup are being regularly distributed to the survivors in the field, as the residents are told not to enter their buildings because of the high risk of aftershocks. Some 5,000 technical personnel and nearly 1,000 non-governmental organization members and volunteers are helping the improvement of living conditions in the area, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said at a press conference in Elazig earlier Tuesday. Meanwhile, Turkish citizens have donated nearly 9.6 million U.S. dollars in financial aid for the victims of the quake, the AFAD revealed. The temperature in the area, however, drops as low as to minus seven degrees at night, forcing locals to turn to their relatives living in other parts of the country. Many people were seen loading some of their furniture, bags, and several domestic appliances on trucks to leave the city. Those who do not have relatives in other cities said they would go to tent cities established by the AFAD. By Rodrigo Campos and Cassandra Garrison NEW YORK/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - An IMF technical team will travel to Buenos Aires in February, an important step in critical debt negotiations, after the fund held positive talks with Argentine Economy Minister Martin Guzman in New York on Tuesday. The International Monetary Fund, which extended a $57 billion (43.4 billion pounds) credit facility to the indebted South American nation in 2018 and is key its hopes of avoiding default, called the New York meeting "very productive" in a statement. Argentina is battling to restructure around $100 billion in sovereign debt after crashes in the peso currency, steep inflation and an anemic economy left the major grains exporter unable to service its public debts. "Both parties reiterated their readiness to continue their discussions in the coming weeks," the IMF said, adding that its Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva would meet Guzman on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Vatican on Feb. 5. "In addition, an IMF technical mission is expected to travel to Buenos Aires in February to continue to exchange views on macroeconomic plans and debt sustainability," it said. Guzman, in comments to journalists after Tuesday's meeting, called it "very productive" and said the focus had been on debt sustainability and Argentina's economic situation. "We are taking steps. It is part of a process to solve the crisis in a joined-up way," Guzman said. Guzman said he met with a U.S. Treasury official on Monday and was planning to meet with Georgieva in Italy next week. The two are listed as speakers at a Feb. 5 Vatican conference by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. In New York, Guzman met with Luis Cubeddu, head of the IMF mission in Argentina, and Julie Kozack, the IMF deputy director for the Western Hemisphere. Cubeddu, speaking to reporters as he left the New York meeting, said it was "extremely positive" and had lasted more than an hour. Story continues The government of Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, a center-left Peronist who took office just last month, has set a March 31 deadline for the conclusion of debt talks with creditors, including the IMF. Argentine over-the-counter bonds , which have been buffeted by uncertainties over the debt situation, closed 0.7% higher on Tuesday on average, as country risk <11EMJ> fell 26 basis points to 2,123, traders said. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York; additional reporting by Cassandra Garrison; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Giles Elgood and Tom Brown) Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Dividend paying stocks like Inchcape plc (LON:INCH) tend to be popular with investors, and for good reason - some research suggests a significant amount of all stock market returns come from reinvested dividends. Yet sometimes, investors buy a stock for its dividend and lose money because the share price falls by more than they earned in dividend payments. With a goodly-sized dividend yield despite a relatively short payment history, investors might be wondering if Inchcape is a new dividend aristocrat in the making. It sure looks interesting on these metrics - but there's always more to the story . The company also bought back stock during the year, equivalent to approximately 1.1% of the company's market capitalisation at the time. Some simple research can reduce the risk of buying Inchcape for its dividend - read on to learn more. Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Inchcape! LSE:INCH Historical Dividend Yield, January 28th 2020 Payout ratios Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Comparing dividend payments to a company's net profit after tax is a simple way of reality-checking whether a dividend is sustainable. Looking at the data, we can see that 207% of Inchcape's profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, from the perspective of an investor who hopes to own the company for many years, a payout ratio of above 100% is definitely a concern. In addition to comparing dividends against profits, we should inspect whether the company generated enough cash to pay its dividend. The company paid out 52% of its free cash flow, which is not bad per se, but does start to limit the amount of cash Inchcape has available to meet other needs. It's disappointing to see that the dividend was not covered by profits, but cash is more important from a dividend sustainability perspective, and Inchcape fortunately did generate enough cash to fund its dividend. If executives were to continue paying more in dividends than the company reported in profits, we'd view this as a warning sign. Extraordinarily few companies are capable of persistently paying a dividend that is greater than their profits. Story continues Is Inchcape's Balance Sheet Risky? As Inchcape's dividend was not well covered by earnings, we need to check its balance sheet for signs of financial distress. A quick check of its financial situation can be done with two ratios: net debt divided by EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), and net interest cover. Net debt to EBITDA is a measure of a company's total debt. Net interest cover measures the ability to meet interest payments. Essentially we check that a) the company does not have too much debt, and b) that it can afford to pay the interest. Inchcape is carrying net debt of 3.85 times its EBITDA, which is getting towards the upper limit of our comfort range on a dividend stock that the investor hopes will endure a wide range of economic circumstances. We calculated its interest cover by measuring its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), and dividing this by the company's net interest expense. With EBIT of 12.87 times its interest expense, Inchcape's interest cover is quite strong - more than enough to cover the interest expense. Consider getting our latest analysis on Inchcape's financial position here. Dividend Volatility One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. The first recorded dividend for Inchcape, in the last decade, was nine years ago. The dividend has been quite stable over the past nine years, which is great to see - although we usually like to see the dividend maintained for a decade before giving it full marks, though. During the past nine-year period, the first annual payment was UK0.066 in 2011, compared to UK0.27 last year. Dividends per share have grown at approximately 17% per year over this time. The dividend has been growing pretty quickly, which could be enough to get us interested even though the dividend history is relatively short. Further research may be warranted. Dividend Growth Potential Dividend payments have been consistent over the past few years, but we should always check if earnings per share (EPS) are growing, as this will help maintain the purchasing power of the dividend. Over the past five years, it looks as though Inchcape's EPS have declined at around 21% a year. A sharp decline in earnings per share is not great from from a dividend perspective, as even conservative payout ratios can come under pressure if earnings fall far enough. Conclusion Dividend investors should always want to know if a) a company's dividends are affordable, b) if there is a track record of consistent payments, and c) if the dividend is capable of growing. We're not keen on the fact that Inchcape paid out such a high percentage of its income, although its cashflow is in better shape. Earnings per share have been falling, and the company has a relatively short dividend history - shorter than we like, anyway. There are a few too many issues for us to get comfortable with Inchcape from a dividend perspective. Businesses can change, but we would struggle to identify why an investor should rely on this stock for their income. Given that earnings are not growing, the dividend does not look nearly so attractive. Very few businesses see earnings consistently shrink year after year in perpetuity though, and so it might be worth seeing what the 5 analysts we track are forecasting for the future. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of dividend stocks yielding above 3%. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. A patient suspected of having the new coronavirus has tested negative, New Jersey health officials said Tuesday. A day earlier, the New Jersey Department of Health said it was investigating a possible case of coronavirus, the deadly virus responsible for an outbreak in China that has spread to more than a dozen countries. But tests conducted by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention came back negative," the state Health Department said in a statement. There is no other person in New Jersey under investigation at this time, the statement said. The announcement comes just days after New Jersey health officials investigated another suspected case in the state a woman in her mid-20s who was ultimately cleared by doctors after being taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. The outbreak of the new coronavirus has infected more than 4,500 people and killed more than 100 others largely in China, where the outbreak began. There have been five confirmed cases in the U.S.: a man in Washington State; a woman in Chicago; a patient in Los Angeles County, California; a man in Orange County, California; and a patient in Arizona. More than 100 additional people in 26 states are being tested for the disease. In a joint statement on Tuesday, U.S. senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker announced Newark Liberty International Airport would be added to the list of ports of entries that are screening travelers for the coronavirus, a measure the two senators had been repeatedly pushing for. There is another suspected case in Philadelphia an exchange student from China whose test results remain pending. James Garrow, spokesman for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said in an email Monday that an exchange student being hosted at William Penn Charter School was suspected of having coronavirus. Montgomery County (where the student presented for care) submitted a sample to the State for confirmatory testing," Garrow said. "We (the state, us and Montgomery County) have not received the results yet. We were told that it would take days to get those results back. Its believed that the new form of the coronavirus spread from a seafood market in Wuhan, where live animals are often sold in close contact with others, like dogs, hares, raccoons and civets. The market was shut down Jan. 1. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. This is the 16-year-old boy who was stabbed to death by a machete-wielding attacker at a packed railway station just hours after escaping another attempt on his life. Louis Johnson was on his way home to his mother when he was attacked by a thug carrying the foot-long machete at East Croydon station in south London on Monday. A 16-year-old boy was arrested this morning over the attack, which saw commuters freeze in horror as Louis staggered along a footbridge screaming in pain before collapsing in a pool of blood. It is the ninth murder in the capital already this year and the latest example of 'Wild West Britain'. The teenage suspect was detained in Balham in connection with the murder of Mr Johnson, but details of the arrested boy's alleged involvement in the incident have not yet been disclosed. Louis Johnson, pictured, was on his way home to his mother when he was attacked by a suspect carrying a foot-long machete The scene at East Croydon railway station last night after a teenager was stabbed to death Police officers stood next to a cordon last night put in place near East Croydon railway station The number of killings in London hit a ten-year high last year following a surge in knife and gang violence. Friends paid tribute to Louis, saying he was the 'kindest, loveliest person' who just wanted to make his mother happy. They said the teenager, who was wearing a tag at the time he was killed on Monday afternoon, had once been 'badly behaved' but was getting his life back on track. But they fear he may have been caught up in a 'postcode war' among rival gangs. The first attack on Louis came at 11am. The second followed a youth offending team meeting in Battersea, where staff offered him a 50 Tesco voucher if he was home with his mother by 6pm. A heavy police presence outside East Croydon station last night after Louis Johnson was killed One witness said they saw a man with a machete and another on the floor near the ticket office Police have launched a murder investigation after Louis was stabbed to death in East Croydon A forensics officer at the scene at East Croydon station after a teenager was stabbed to death A sign at one of the entrances to East Croydon station today following the stabbing last night He reached East Croydon station at around 4.30pm and was ambushed while crossing a footbridge connecting two platforms. The 40-second attack ended with his killer vanishing into the rush-hour throng. Horrified commuters looked on as security staff comforted Louis and waited for the emergency services. A 20-year-old witness said the teenager was 'screaming out the whole time in pain' in a pool of blood. He was declared dead at the scene. It is understood that Louis and his attacker were known to each other but it had not been an arranged meeting. British Transport Police are looking for two suspects. A 16-year-old friend, who gave her name as Ashanti from Catford, said Louis had told her of the first attack, adding: 'We know he was scared for his life and he knew he was going to lose his life.' An entrance to East Croydon train station is cordoned off by tape today due to the probe WHERE THE NINE MURDERS IN LONDON DURING 2020 HAVE BEEN COMMITTED # NAME AGE DATE INCIDENT TIME STREET LOCATION 1 William Algar 53 Jan 3 4.57pm Nowell Road Barnes 2 Takieddine Boudhane 30 Jan 3 6.50pm Charteris Road Finsbury Park 3 Krasimir Kartikov 60 Jan 13 8.50am Whitehorse Road Croydon 4 Harinder Kumar 22 Jan 19 7.38pm Elmstead Road Seven Kings 5 Narinder Singh 26 Jan 19 7.38pm Elmstead Road Seven Kings 6 Baljit Singh 34 Jan 19 7.38pm Elmstead Road Seven Kings 7 Beverley Denahy 61 Jan 22 11.35pm Waverley Avenue Chingford 8 Unnamed man 60s Jan 24 11.29pm Mount Pleasant Lane Clapton 9 Louis Johnson 16 Jan 27 4.45pm East Croydon station Croydon LONDON MURDERS 2020 Where the nine murders across the capital this year have happened William Algar, 53, Jan-03, Barnes Takieddine Boudhane, 30, Jan-03, Finsbury Park Krasimir Kartikov, 60, Jan-13, Croydon Harinder Kumar, 22, Jan-19, Seven Kings Narinder Singh, 26, Jan-19, Seven Kings Baljit Singh, 34, Jan-19, Seven Kings Beverley Denahy, 61, Jan-22, Chingford Unnamed man, 60s, Jan-24, Clapton Louis Johnson, 16, Jan-27, Croydon Another friend, 16-year-old Mia from Lewisham, said: 'He had come so far. He used to be a badly behaved kid and this year was his year to step up his game and prove everyone wrong. 'He just wanted to make it in life. He liked making money in whatever ways he could. 'He just wanted to live a peaceful life. He was happy looking after his mum and [was] the kindest, loveliest person.' She added: 'It is so easy to buy a machete online in five seconds and click and collect.' Louis was not in school and instead attended a pupil referral unit, according to a charity worker who laid flower tributes by the police cordon today. Chantal Goodridge, who supports children affected by violence at Croydon-based charity Off The Record, said Louis was supposed to be getting a taxi home. She said: 'It is really sad. He was meant to be getting a cab home from Battersea but he ended up catching the train instead. 'We don't know if this was gang related at this time but one thing that is really clear is that youth related violence is a big issue at the moment. 'I did not know him personally but I know that he was not in school and he went to a PRU (pupil referral unit) in Wandsworth. 'I don't know the reason why but such units are for young people who might have been excluded from school or not have had access to a school for other reasons.' Detective Chief Inspector Sam Blackburn of British Transport Police said: 'This was a senseless killing at an extremely busy time of the day, and my thoughts are with Louis's family. 'I would like to reassure everyone that a thorough investigation is well under way.' Croydon Central Labour MP Sarah Jones, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on knife crime, tweeted: 'This brutal loss of a young life is another reminder that tackling violence must be our highest priority.' Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 20:58:52|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Nearly nine soldiers of Yemen's pro-government forces were killed on Tuesday in an airstrike launched by the Saudi-led coalition in the northern Marib province, a military official told Xinhua. The military source said on condition of anonymity that "warplanes of the Saudi-led Arab coalition mistakenly targeted a military site of the pro-government forces in Jafra area in the northern part of Marib province." He said that the airstrike occurred while fighting was taking place between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi rebels in the same area. "Nearly nine soldiers were killed and ten others injured as a result of the Saudi-led airstrike that mistakenly missed its target and hit our forces," the source said. He confirmed that the Saudi-led Arab coalition was participating in the ongoing fighting and launched a series of other airstrikes against the Houthis. On Sunday, fierce clashes and airstrikes also escalated Sunday on several fronts in Nehm district of the rebel-held Sanaa, as the Houthis seized control of mountains overlooking the roads linking Sanaa with Jawf and Marib province, according to pro-government news website al-Masdar Online. The fighting in Nehm and Jawf escalated after last week's Houthi missile attack in the adjacent Marib province killed more than 100 Yemeni government troops. The UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths has called on all Yemeni parties "to cease all military activities," warning that such escalation could fail the fragile peace process. Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of much of the country's north and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a thunderous reception when he addressed a crowd of more than 50,000 Indian-Americans in a stadium in the U.S. city of Houston last September. But four months after the event dubbed "Howdy Modi!," intended to deepen relations with the wealthy Indian-American minority which has influence in India, some members of the diaspora have been protesting against a new citizenship law. In the past month, small demonstrations from Harvard to San Francisco have underlined criticism of what detractors say are Modi's divisive identity politics. The law, which was promised by Modi before he was re-elected and was approved in December, in effect granted Indian citizenship to non-Muslim religious groups fleeing persecution from three neighbouring Muslim-majority countries. Critics say it is a prelude for the marginalisation of Muslims and an affront to India's secular constitution. "It is still only a minority, but the disenchantment (in the diaspora) is real and deep," said a 50-year-old sociologist who gave her name only as Nidhi to avoid straining relations with older relatives who attended Modi's rally in Houston. Nidhi emigrated to the United States when she was five and has taken part in demonstrations against the citizenship law in the U.S. state of Texas. "If we as Indo-Americans don't raise our voice, we are complicit," she said. The latest protests were outside Indian diplomatic missions on Sunday, India's Republic Day. A large proportion of the rallies attract student, academics and religious minorities -- groups that have long been worried by Modi's rise. Many in the diaspora cheered Hindu nationalist Modi to an election victory in 2014, convinced he would transform India into an economic powerhouse. But India's economy has been sputtering because of an ailing banking sector and tepid rural demand, while protests in India, in which at least 25 people have been killed, have revived the specter of social unrest after years of stability under Modi. Microsoft Corp's India-born CEO, Satya Nadella, told Buzzfeed News this month the citizenship law was "bad." Even so, a significant chunk of Indians abroad remain die-hard Modi supporters who have staged their own rallies in favour of the law. SOCIAL MEDIA PUSH Vijay Chauthaiwale, chief of the foreign affairs department of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said overall diaspora support was intact. "People believe in the conviction of Mr. Modi. Some transient issue will not affect his popularity," Chauthaiwale said. The BJP has launched a social media push with the diaspora, circulating testimonies from "persecuted minorities in Pakistan" who could benefit from the citizenship law. But Modi's critics say cracks are appearing in his overseas support. "Those who are educated are saying, 'Hey, this is not what we were expecting,'" said Sam Pitroda, the opposition Congress party's head of overseas affairs. Chicago-based Pitroda was unable to provide data, but said he was getting many calls from worried Indians abroad. Retired engineer Krishna Vavilala, 82, was excited by Modi's rise and recounted being photographed at "Howdy, Modi!" - which took its name from what is a popular greeting in Texas - because his beard made him look like the Indian leader. But recent developments have given him pause. He suggested that Modi, who has not answered questions at a press conference in India since coming to power six years ago, speak to more reporters. Vavilala also urged Modi to clarify "perceptions" that he wants to sideline minorities. "His heart is in the right place," said Vavilala. "But the euphoria of "Howdy, Modi!" has lost its shine." Respiratory masks are disappearing from Bay Area hardware store shelves as residents concerns mount over the spread of the new coronavirus, which has killed more than 100 people and sickened more than 4,000, mostly in China where it originated. Five cases of the virus have been confirmed in the United States but none in Northern California. Regardless, employees at two San Francisco hardware stores said they have seen an uptick in sales of N95 respirators, which look like surgical masks, likely due to people who are buying them and shipping them to both relatives and strangers in China. We dont have that many left, said Jake Lanzinger, an employee at an Ace hardware store on Market Street. As the stock gets low, we might sell one mask per person. Public health and infectious disease experts say its premature for people in the United States to be using masks of any kind to protect themselves from the new virus. At this time, the virus is not widespread in the U.S., and experts dont know how easily transmissible it is or how effective any masks would be at preventing infection. Lanzinger said the stores supply of masks was left over from overstock ordered in the last few years when fires sent noxious smoke across Northern California and air dropped to unhealthy levels. The N95 mask is the one people are searching for , Lanzinger said, adding that hes also sold some to people traveling to Australia, where fires have been raging for weeks. I dont know how effective it is, he said. It is more effective than not, I suppose. Connie Zhang, an assistant manager at a Cole Hardware near Fourth and Mission streets, said store officials have recorded an increase in sales over the last few days. She could not immediately quantify the sales but said weve sold a lot. People keep asking, Zhang said. A few masks remained on sale at the shop Tuesday morning, Zhang said, and a shipment was expected in the afternoon and another should arrive in a few days. Usually, the masks are purchased by people who need them for cleaning, painting or dusting, Zhang said. Teresita Castillo of San Francisco was wearing a white mask as she walked along Market Street Tuesday afternoon, but it was not out of fear of the coronavirus, she said. She had the flu. I wear this one so I dont infect people, Castillo said, adding that she got the mask at San Francisco General Hospital after a recent visit. Her symptoms included a bad headache, runny nose and loss of appetite. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Castillo said the rapid spread of the new coronavirus concerned her, but she was not certain how much the mask would protect her. Officials for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they had people under investigation in 26 states for possible exposure to the coronavirus. Two of the five patients in the U.S. who have the virus are in California in Orange and Los Angeles counties while Washington state, Illinois and Arizona have one patient each. No cases have been confirmed in the Bay Area, but health officials in San Francisco opened an emergency operations center Monday to respond to any potential cases. Officials must isolate patients in a private room with a surgical mask if they have a fever of more than 100.4 degrees, if they have lower respiratory symptoms, if they have had close contact with a person with the virus or if they have traveled to Wuhan, China the epicenter of the outbreak 14 days prior to their illness. Alejandro Serrano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alejandro.serrano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @serrano_alej Questions surfaced Thursday over whether Israel would immediately seek to annex parts of the West Bank, after US President Donald Trump's controversial peace plan called for extending Israeli sovereignty into the area. The plan, seen as overwhelmingly supportive of Israeli goals, has been firmly rejected by the Palestinians and triggered protests in Gaza and the West Bank, including isolated clashes with Israeli forces. Trump's proposal gives the Jewish state a US green light to annex key parts of the occupied West Bank, including in the strategic Jordan Valley. But uncertainty mounted Thursday over Israel's next moves. After Trump unveiled his long-awaited plan in Washington on Tuesday, his ambassador to Israel David Friedman said the Jewish state "does not have to wait at all". Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a staunch Trump ally, would seek cabinet approval on Sunday to annex settlements and territory that would become part of Israel under the US plan. But Jared Kushner -- Trump's adviser and son-in-law, who spearheaded the Middle East initiative -- said that Washington does not want any moves made before Israel's March 2 election. Asked about the timing of any annexations in an interview with Gzero media, Kushner said: "The hope is they will wait until after the election." "We'll start working on the technical stuff now, but I think we'd need an Israeli government in place in order to move forward," he added. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on Thursday called the plan "historic madness". He told journalists in Ramallah that president Mahmud Abbas had written to Netanyahu threatening to cut off security coordination if Trump's plan goes ahead. "We've told the Israelis the consequences of such an idea and they know it," he said. The Palestinians have made such threats multiple times before, without following through. - 'Miss of the century' - Netanyahu heads a caretaker government after failing to form a majority in coalition talks following two elections over the past year. Likud is again neck-and-neck in the polls with the centrist Blue and White alliance led by ex-military chief Benny Gantz, and it remains unclear if either bloc will be able to form a government following a new election scheduled for March. The Israeli premier also faces graft charges as he battles for re-election. Netanyahu's office declined to comment on whether the annexation issue was on the agenda for a Sunday cabinet meeting. The international community views Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank as illegal. An attempt to formally place them under Israeli sovereignty would likely trigger further global uproar. Netanyahu was however facing calls from the Israeli right to act. "Whatever will be delayed until after the election won't ever happen. Everyone understands that," Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said Wednesday. "If we delay or diminish applying sovereignty, the opportunity of the century will become the miss of the century." Netanyahu was in Moscow earlier Thursday seeking to broaden international support for Israel's ambitions. Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, who was travelling with him, told army radio that the government wanted to move on annexation "as quickly as possible, in a number of days". Netanyahu again praised Trump's initiative at the start of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader did not mention the peace plan in his public remarks. But Russian foreign spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told journalists that Moscow had only "begun to study" Trump's 180-page plan, stressing that "the decision on issues of a long-term and fair peace agreement must belong to the Palestinians and Israelis themselves." - Army presence boosted - Israel's army announced Wednesday it was deploying extra troops to the West Bank and around the Gaza Strip ahead of any further Palestinian demonstrations against the Trump plan. An Israeli military official told AFP the deployment aimed "to minimise the risk of a flareup". But protests against the plan have been relatively muted. The Palestinian Red Crescent said a total of 18 people were injured in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Hebron on Thursday during demonstrations. In Ramallah, Israeli troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse demonstrators. According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoners Club, 33 protesters have been arrested over the last 24 hours. Police said they had decided to boost their forces in and around Jerusalem ahead of Friday Muslim prayers on the volatile Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Historican Martin Cueppers points at a man, presumably former security guard John Demjanjuk, at the Nazi death camp Sobibor (Markus Schreiber/AP) Historians have presented a collection of photos kept by the deputy commander of the Nazis death camp that they say appears to include images of John Demjanjuk, the retired US car worker who was tried in Germany for his alleged time as a Sobibor guard. The collection unveiled on Tuesday at Berlins Topography Of Terror museum comprises 361 photos as well as written documents illustrating Johann Niemanns career. Niemann was the deputy commander of Sobibor from September 1942 until he was killed on October 14 1943 in an uprising by Jewish inmates. Unlike in many other cases, the photos were not destroyed after the Second World War in fear of legal proceedings, and they remained in the possession of Niemanns family. The collection is being handed over to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Experts say the collection enhances historians knowledge of what Sobibor looked like. So far, they knew of only two photos taken of the camp while it existed. The Niemann collection adds another 49. Expand Close Historican Martin Cueppers points at a man thought to be John Demjanjuk (Markus Schreiber/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Historican Martin Cueppers points at a man thought to be John Demjanjuk (Markus Schreiber/AP) Jetje Manheim, whose grandparents were murdered on arrival at Sobibor from the Netherlands in 1943, said it was very courageous of Niemanns descendants to release the photos. She said it was a breathtaking experience to see the images after frequently having seen the site. The collection may also shed more light on Demjanjuk, who was convicted in 2011 as an accessory to murder on allegations he served as a Sobibor guard. Demjanjuk always denied the accusations and died in 2012 before his appeal against the ruling by a Munich court could be heard, making the verdict not legally binding. Two photos in the collection may depict a young Iwan Demjanjuk, as he was known before anglicising his name to John, among other former prisoners of war who were trained at an SS camp and were deployed at Sobibor, according to historians. If they do, they would be the first to prove that he was at the camp. Martin Cueppers, a Holocaust historian at the University of Stuttgart, said researchers concluded that Demjanjuk is probably depicted at least in one case in conjunction with the criminal police office in Germanys Baden-Wuerttemberg state, whose biometric department agreed to examine the historical photos. But Demjanjuks son, John Demjanjuk Jr, said of the newly unveiled photos that its a baseless theory to claim they prove anything at all regarding my father. The collection as a whole is of significant historical value regarding the Holocaust and Sobibor, he said in a statement. But the photos are not proof of my father being in Sobibor and may even exculpate him once forensically examined. Gov. Noem lauds state economy, but big legislative fights are coming Noems speech flowed between business and economic development, lifestyle issues and social issues that were united by their conservative themes. January 26 kicks off National School Choice Week and it's a good time to examine school choice and its potential to close the achievement gap. Learn4Life ( www.learn4life.org ), a network of nonprofit public schools focusing on at-risk students, serves minority and low-income students at rates higher than the California state average and more of them are succeeding to help close the achievement gap. "Our minority students perform as well as white students usually better or within one to two percentage points," explained Caprice Young, national superintendent at Learn4Life. "For example, 74% of our Black students graduate with their cohort compared to 73% of white students, and our Black and Hispanic/Latino students attend school as much as or more regularly than our white students." The unique Learn4Life model helps students successfully navigate many of the challenges and distractions in their lives, such as: Teen parenting Needing to work Homelessness or foster care English learners and special education A flexible schedule, one-on-one attention, and small group learning give students the support and confidence they need to stay in school. Trauma-informed practices are important to establish trust, resiliency and self-confidence in each student. "We have a moral obligation to ensure all kids get a good education and that means changing the way we do things. One size doesn't fit all in education, which is why we need a personalized learning model for each student," added Young. Young adds that students need more than just a diploma. They need to learn life skills, be introduced to career tech education and make a four-year college education a real option. "Our elected officials need to continue to support the idea of school choice for all families no matter their socio-economic status. Students should not be forced to go to neighborhood schools if they don't meet their needs," she said. "That's a big part of what is driving the dropout crisis. Public charter schools like Learn4Life that help at-risk, poor and minority students are constantly battling to serve the very students who need options." Discover more about Learn4Life's 85 schools that have helped change the story for tens of thousands of the nation's 1.2 million high school students who drop out every year. High-res Photos Available About Learn4Life Learn4Life is a network of nonprofit public schools that provides students personalized learning, career training and life skills. Each school is locally controlled, tuition free and gives students the flexibility and one-on-one attention they need to succeed. Serving more than 49,000 students across California, we help students prepare for a future beyond high school. We are proud to be a GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency recipient for our ethical, transparent and effective organizational practices. For more information, please visit www.learn4life.org. MEDIA CONTACT Ann Abajian, Learn4Life (844) 515-8186 [email protected] SOURCE Learn4Life Related Links http://www.learn4life.org The Home Ministry is likely to announce within a week the constitution of a trust for construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya along with the offer of land for a mosque in Uttar Pradesh's temple town as mandated by the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue, officials said on Tuesday. The ministry has prepared the framework for the trust for the construction of the Ram temple and identified the land to be offered to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board. The entire proposal will be put before the Union Cabinet for its approval. The announcement of the trust's constitution as well as the offer of a 5-acre plot for the mosque will be made soon after the Union Cabinet's approval, probably within a week, an official privy to the development said. The UP Sunni Waqf Board will be offered three plots of land so that it can chose a suitable one, the official said. In its verdict on November 9, the Supreme Court had paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site at Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh. The apex court had said the trust should be formed within three months for the construction of the temple at the site where many Hindus believe Lord Ram was born. As per the Supreme Court judgment in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid matter, the central government has been directed to formulate a scheme with necessary provisions for the setting up of the trust with a board of trustees or any other appropriate body, the functioning of the trust, the powers of the trustees, transfer of land to the trust and all necessary, incidental and supplemental matters. All these matters will be put before the Union Cabinet so that a final decision can be taken, another official said. All matters concerning Ayodhya and related court judgements are being handled by a dedicated desk set up in the Union Home Ministry. The desk is handled by three officers, headed by Additional Secretary Gynesh Kumar, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Houston oil-field service company Halliburton has landed a contract for offshore natural gas wells that will feed an LNG project in Northwest Australia. In a statement released early Monday, Halliburton said it won drilling and completion services for the next phase of offshore field development in the Browse Basin off the coast of northern Australia. In one of the world's most complicated liquefied natural gas projects, Japanese oil company INPEX is developing natural gas wells about 130 miles off the Australian coast at depths of up to 885 feet. They will use a subsea pipeline to feed an onshore liquefaction plant on the coast. We are excited to win this work and to collaborate with INPEX to deliver our extensive drilling and completions services in addition to our digital capabilities in the strategically significant Browse Basin, said Jason Jeow, Hallbiburton's vice president for the Australasia region. Service Sector: Baker Hughes, McDermott land Ichthys LNG contracts The $40 billion, three-year offshore well campaign is expected to start in March. The contracts awarded include directional drilling, logging while drilling, surface data logging, drilling and completions fluids, cementing, liner hangers, coring and well-completion services. Halliburtons Western Australian facilities in Jandakot and Broome will support the project. The company expects to hire locally at its Broome facility to support the contract. The contracts come less than six months after Houston oil-field service companies Baker Hughes and McDermott International landed contracts to support other parts of the project. Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Houston, Halliburton has more than 55,000 employees in 40 nations. It's coming off a difficult 2019 in which it posted a $1.1 billion loss. Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com Journalist Mykola Semena has received court papers in Ukraine's Russia-controlled Crimea region officially confirming the termination of his probation and the expunging of his criminal record. Semena, who has contributed to RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) reporting project, was arrested by Crimea's Russia-imposed authorities in April 2016 and charged with acting against the "territorial integrity of the Russian Federation." He spoke to Krym.Realii about his four-year-long ordeal. New Delhi, Jan 28 : After setting up special wards in Delhi to treat suspected coronavirus patients and to check the spread of the contagious disease, the Centre has ordered the setting up of such quarantine wards in other states, a senior official said on Tuesday. "The Centre is taking every possible step to tackle coronavirus, for which the Health Ministry had directed all states to set up isolation wards," National Centre for Disease Control Director Sujit Kumar Singh told IANS. Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim -- adjoining Nepal -- are setting up special treatment wards, he said. These wards have been set up in such a way that the spread of the deadly virus could be curbed. The Health Ministry has directed the Director Generals of Police of these five states that no one entering India from Nepal in areas under their jurisdiction should be allowed in without proper screening. Thermal screening is being done at 10 entry points on the India-Nepal border. A meeting of Health Department officials with the Chief Secretaries and DGPs of these states was held here on Monday to discuss steps to handle suspect coronavirus cases. Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital too has set up a special ward to house suspected coronavirus cases. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington Tue, January 28, 2020 10:10 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206144f6b 2 News China,travel,coronavirus,united-states,tourism,wuhan,Wuhan-coronavirus Free The United States on Monday encouraged Americans to "reconsider" any plans to travel to China amid a deadly outbreak of a coronavirus that originated in the city of Wuhan. The US State Department also issued a stern warning for its citizens not to travel to Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. So far, 82 people have died as a result of the virus, all of them in China. The department noted that last week it ordered the departure of all non-emergency US personnel and their family members from Wuhan. Read also: Indonesia to decide on Wuhan travel warning as death toll rises "The US government has limited ability to provide emergency services to US citizens in Hubei province," the department said in a statement. A charter flight for US government personnel in Wuhan and bound for California is now scheduled for Wednesday, rather than Tuesday originally planned, the department said. "All travelers will be screened for symptoms at the airport prior to departure," the department said. Rear Admiral Rajaram Swaminathan took charge as Admiral Superintendent of Naval Dockyard (Mumbai) from Rear Admiral G Srinivasan. Commissioned into the Indian Navy on Jan 1, 1987, Rear Admiral Swaminathan is a post graduate from IIT Kharagpur and an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and National Defence College, New Delhi, a release said. In a career spanning 30 years, he has held important operational, staff and dockyard appointments in the Navy, including nine years on aircraft carrier INS Viraat in various capacities. He was also involved in the acquisition of aircraft carrier INS Vikramditya as Warship Production Superintendent in Russia and as Principal Director of Aircraft Carrier Projects at Integrated Headquarters New Delhi. His last appointment was as Assistant Chief of Materials (Dockyards and Refit) at Naval Headquarters. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [January 28, 2020] Canna Angels Manages Extraordinary Growth of Portfolio in Competitive Industry Canna Angels LLC, a dedicated angel investment consortium at the forefront of investment opportunities in the cannabis industry, announces their three year anniversary, boasting an outstanding alumni portfolio of 52 carefully curated companies as rising stars within the cannabis industry. In less than three years, Canna Angels' portfolio of companies has achieved five exits; four by acquisition and one by RTO on the Canadian exchange (CSE). Exits include the recent acquisition of Zephr by New Frontier Data and Lodestone Technologies by Yobi, another Canna Angels alum. The portfolio of 52 companies collectively have shown impressive progress and are considered industry leaders. Many are progressing throughexpansive growth and secondary raises. Canna Angels CEO, Sherri Haskell attributes much of this success to the company's focus on funding infrastructure and highly scalable technologies positioned as critical to industry success. Ms. Haskell shares, "The Canna Angels strategy, and dominant focus on technology innovators has positioned us as a draw for many of the brightest emerging leaders in the cannabis industry." Haskell opines that the technologies building and sustaining the cannabis industry will be the foundation for broader global expansions. Canna Angels is also pleased to announce the appointment of CEO Sherri Haskell to the Advisory Board of Cannabidose Medical, an exciting, visionary, Israeli company. Cannabidose, at the forefront of cannabinoid dosing solutions has accrued international patents and major contracts, including a partnership with Merck Group of Germany. Their award-winning design technology for innovative, precise, consumer delivery systems is garnering attention globally. ABOUT CANNA ANGELS, LLC. Canna Angels, a dedicated Angel-to-A investment consortium, is a proven leader at identifying and attracting exceptional investment opportunities in the cannabis industry. Our sole purpose is to provide our accredited investors with carefully vetted, high quality, emerging companies; those scalable and foundational to the industry. Our discriminating investment thesis leads the opportunity curve, providing early access to potentially lucrative investments. The Canna Angels skillful team searches for, and diligently selects the most outstanding rising stars in the cannabis industry, to present to our Investor Members. Current investors include accredited, family office, wealth managers, funds, and boutique institutions. Canna Angels' goal is to maximize the potential for both entrepreneurs and investors to succeed as partners in the complex and dynamic opportunities offered in the cannabis industry. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005202/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Research carried out at University of Limerick, Ireland has shown that life expectancy outcomes for two of the most common forms of kidney dialysis treatment are 'virtually identical' Research carried out at University of Limerick has shown that life expectancy outcomes for two of the most common forms of kidney dialysis treatment are "virtually identical". In the largest study of its kind, researchers from the Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS) at UL compared the survival of patients with kidney failure that were treated with either peritoneal dialysis (PD) or haemodialysis (HD) at a dialysis centre, two of the most common forms of available treatments. The researchers found that the survival of new patients with kidney failure was similar irrespective of treatment type - PD or in-centre HD - and have recommended that this new knowledge be incorporated into policy documents to enable patients and their providers make the best decisions on optimal treatments. Prior to the study, questions had been raised by the scientific community as to whether one form of dialysis was superior to another in terms of survival benefit. This answer to this question is of "huge significance" according to Professor Austin Stack, Foundation Chair of Medicine and Lead Investigator for the Kidney Research Consortium at UL. "There has been huge debate on this issue, as they are very different treatments for kidney failure," said Professor Stack. "Defining whether one treatment confers a survival advantage over another for patients who develop kidney failure is of utmost importance. We have shown in this study that the life expectancy was virtually identical on either of these therapies. This is hugely important as it means that patients have a choice," he added. The systematic review, a pooled meta-analysis of 17 cohort studies with over 113,000 dialysis patients between 1993 to 2014, was conducted by the research team at UL in association with the Departments of Nephrology and Internal Medicine at University Hospital Limerick, and the findings have just been published in the international journal Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation. "Prior studies on this topic have yielded conflicting results," according to Dr Mohamed Elsayed, the primary author of the study, Research Fellow and Specialist Registrar in Nephrology. "Indeed, when we looked at the available international literature, we found that the results tended to vary by country, and according to the year the study was carried out. One potential reason for this is that patients who are selected for PD differ from those who are selected for HD, and that practice patterns tend to vary across countries. "The ideal method for comparing the survival of these two treatments would be a randomised controlled clinical trial but unfortunately due to logistical challenges and recruitment difficulties investigators have failed in the past to successfully complete such trials. "The next best method is to use an approach that carefully considers the differences between PD and HD and conduct comparisons using what is called a propensity-score matched approach. Such a comparison allows us compare the treatments take into account baseline differences between the patient groups," he added. The study pooled together the results from research that used a propensity-based approach and found that patients who began dialysis either with in-centre HD or PD experienced similar survival (Hazard Ratio 1.06, 95% Confidence interval 0.99 to 1.14). The findings were remarkably similar for patients with and without diabetes and were consistent across studies that included European, North American and Asian Cohorts. Despite the overall similar survival between PD and HD, it did uncover important differences from country to country and across different time periods. Importantly, it also found that the survival of PD was better than that of HD in more recent time periods (after 2007). These research findings have important implications, according to Professor Stack, on how we manage patients with imminent kidney failure approaching dialysis. "All else being equal, both of these therapies are effective at extending patient survival, and thus the conversation with patients should revolve around which of these treatments is the most suitable treatment from a lifestyle and quality of life perspective," he explained. "Globally, the rates of use of PD are substantially lower than those of HD, with less than 10% of dialysis patients receiving PD as a maintenance treatment. In the United States, around 10% of dialysis patients are receiving PD with the majority treated with HD. Similarly, in Ireland, the rates of PD use are remarkably low, with only 9.5% of patients utilising PD leaving room for improvement. "Peritoneal dialysis is a form of dialysis that be provided in one's home, and lead to better quality of life and greater independence. Economically, PD is the cheaper form of therapy compared to in-centre HD with costs that are on average 20,000 lower. "Given that PD has at least similar survival to HD, and the fact that PD is more cost effective, and leads to better preservation of lifestyle, we advocate that PD should be encouraged as a first-line therapy for many patients with approaching kidney failure," he added. ### Professor Austin Stack is available for interview. The study - 'Propensity-score matched mortality comparisons of Peritoneal and In-Centre Haemodialysis. Systematic review and meta-analysis is published in Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation' and authored by Mohamed E Elsayed, Adam D Morris, Xia X Li, Leonard D Browne LD and Austin G Stack AG, is available online at https://academic.oup.com/ndt/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ndt/gfz278/5715958. For further information, please contact: Alan Owens Communications Officer University of Limerick +353 87 908 6633 +353 61 213000 alan.owens@ul.ie About University of Limerick: The University of Limerick is an independent, internationally focused university with 16,000 students and 1,400 staff. It is a young, energetic and enterprising university with a proud record of innovation in education and excellence in research and scholarship. More information is available at http://www.ul.ie. Tweet @UL Facebook.com/universityoflimerick LinkedIn University of Limerick Snapchat U of Limerick About the UL Kidney Health Consortium The UL Kidney Health Consortium at University Hospital Limerick and the Graduate Entry Medical School is leading a number of national and international studies to improve the outcomes for patients with kidney disease. Led by Professor Austin Stack, the team has established the Irish Kidney Disease Surveillance System (IKDSS) to under the burden and impact of kidney disease and to evaluate the impact of treatments on patient lives. The study was performed at the Graduate Entry Medical School and University of Limerick in association with the Departments of Nephrology and Internal Medicine, University Hospital Limerick. The Kidney Disease Surveillance Programme is part-funded by the Health Research Board (HRA-2013-PHR-437 and HRA-2014-PHR-685, ILP-PHR-2019-008) and the Mid-West Kidney Research and Education Foundation (MKid). https://www.ul.ie/gems/research/Principal-Investigators/prof-austin-stack https://www.ul.ie/research/content/prof-austin-stack A strong 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck between the island nations of Jamaica and Cuba on Tuesday (USGS) Major 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Near Jamaica and Cuba Police, fire department respond to calls in Miami A strong 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck between the island nations of Jamaica and Cuba on Tuesday, and it was felt as far away as Miami. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the tremor hit about 75 miles north-northwest of Lucea, Jamaica. The agency said it had a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). People as far away as Florida reported that they could feel the earthquake. Felt it in Boca Raton, FL. Small sway in on a 4th floor building for 2-3 seconds, one person wrote on Twitter. Another person said they could feel the tremor in Bonita Springs, Florida. Humongous earthquake. Between Cuba, Jamaica and the Caymans. It was so big that Miami felt it. Buildings downtown were evacuated, another person wrote on social media. The Miami Police Department said it is currently assisting the Miami Fire Department with reports of vibrations in the #Brickell and #Downtown areas. There are NO road closures at this time. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told NBC6 it responded to reports of tremors felt at high-rise structures. I cant remember in my lifetime there ever being a report of an earthquake being felt in the City of Miami, Mayor Francis Suarez said. The National Weather Service said there is no tsunami threat for the Gulf of Mexico or eastern United States from the 7.7 earthquake in the Caribbean near Cuba and Jamaica. It is unlikely the Cayman Islands will be impacted by a damaging tsunami. There is now very low risk. Information from the Tsunami Warning Center indicates the first wave would have already passed the Cayman Islands. The main threat now relates to the possibility of aftershocks, the Hazard Management Cayman Islands government agency also said in a statement minutes after it issued a tsunami alert. The quake was felt in Santiago in far-eastern Cuba, a local told The Associated Press. We were all sitting and we felt the chairs move, she said. We heard the noise of everything moving around. It felt very strong but it doesnt look like anything happened, she told AP. In the Cayman Islands, AP reported that roads cracked and sewage spilled from pipes. Photos uploaded on social media showed some damage in Jamaica. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. In 2010, a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti, killing hundreds of thousands of people while causing significant damage to Port-au-Prince, the capital city. And earlier this month, a significant earthquake hit Puerto Rico, causing injuries and serious property damage. OPEC is inclined to extend the ongoing production cuts at least through June and could discuss deeper cuts if need be, OPEC sources told Reuters on Tuesday, as oil prices continue to slide on fears that the coronavirus outbreak in China will impact oil demand. OPEC is very likely to extend until June the current cuts, which expire in March, one source in OPEC told Reuters, while another added that A further extension is a strong possibility and a deeper cut is a possibility. The cartel could also consider rolling over the cuts as-is until the end of the year, or even deepen the cuts if the demand destruction turns out to be significant, according to the sources. Even Russiawhich has always been OPECs reluctant partner agreeing to rollover of the cuts at each OPEC+ meeting at the very last moment and which is said to want out after Marchis reportedly considering staying in the pact if oil prices continue to be below $60 a barrel. Oil prices have dropped by around 10 percent since the first reports of the deadly coronavirus came out of China last week. Early on Tuesday, oil prices were on track for a sixth consecutive day of losses, with WTI Crude trading below $53 and Brent Crude barely hanging to the $58 a barrel handle. On Monday, OPECs leader Saudi Arabia tried to jawbone the market higher, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) chimed in to downplay what it called a market over-reaction over fears that the virus will erode oil demand in Chinathe worlds largest oil importer and main oil demand growth driver. Related: OPEC Considers Deeper Oil Cuts Amid Virus Market Meltdown But while the leading OPEC producers downplayed fears of crippled demand growth in an attempt to calm the oil market, the cartel was said to be considering extending the production cuts or even deepening them to stave off excessive price slides due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, an OPEC source told S&P Global Platts on Monday. OPEC and its Russia-led non-OPEC partners are meeting in early March to decide how to proceed with the cuts. OPEC members were already said to be discussing a potential extension of the oil production cuts through the end of 2020, because of the still bearish outlook on oil demand growth, an OPEC source told Russian news agency TASS last week. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Flight Evacuating US Citizens From Wuhan May Land at Ontario Airport A flight evacuating U.S. citizens from the coronavirus-stricken city of Wuhan may land at an airport in San Bernardino County, California, officials said on Jan. 27. Ontario International Airport (ONT) said it is preparing for the possibility of the flight carrying U.S. government officials and private citizens who have been in the Chinese city to arrive this week. In a statement, the airport said it is working closely with our federal, state, county, and city partners to plan for the possibility of a flight carrying U.S. government officials and private citizens returning this week from Wuhan, China. Ontario International is an official repatriation center for the West Coast and has conducted extensive training in managing situations such as this. In the event that the returning passengers do arrive at ONT, preparations are being made to ensure that proper health, safety, and security procedures are followed. In coordination with our state partners, we are aware that the Medical and Health Coordination Center (MHCC) at the state Department of Public Health in Sacramento has been activated. The MHCC is coordinating with all state health agencies and emergency services. The statement added that the airport will continue to operate as normal and that the safety and security of our facilities are of utmost importance. We are taking whatever steps are necessary to minimize the risk to our customers, our staff, and the community at large, it said. There will be around 240 passengers on the flight which will first arrive in Alaska, where they will be screened by officials before proceeding with their journey, and possibly landing at ONT. Anyone who shows symptoms of the virus, including a fever and respiratory issues, wont be allowed onto the plane. Fox News reported that those onboard consist of U.S. State Department employees, U.S. contractors who have been working in China, and other U.S. citizens as well as nine children. So far, five people in the United States have been diagnosed with coronavirus, including one in Washington, one in Illinois, one in Arizona, and two in California. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed in news reports Monday that approximately 110 people in the United States have been tested for the virus. An alert issued on Jan. 27 by the U.S. Department of State urged Americans to consider not traveling to China amid the outbreak of the potentially deadly coronavirus. A Novel (new) Coronavirus is causing an outbreak of respiratory illness that began in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province, China. This outbreak began in early December 2019 and continues to grow. Chinese health officials have reported thousands of cases throughout China, the bulletin said. The CDC also issued a Level 3 Warning: Avoid all nonessential travel to China. Chinese authorities are imposing quarantines and restricting travel throughout the country. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some of which cause the common cold. Others have evolved into more severe illnesses, such as SARS and MERS, although so far the new virus does not appear to be nearly as deadly. One public health official said as many as 100,000 people may have been infected with the coronavirus as it spreads around the globe, reaching as far as France and Germany. The virus, which has no vaccine and no known cure has killed 56 people in China, the majority of which were older patients. Connecticut lawmakers are weighing the effects of making public the list of felons whose names appear on the states secret Deadly Weapon Offender Registry. Theyll try to calculate whether the publication of the list, including photographs and addresses, should be open to full public scrutiny like the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry. And police have differing opinions over the use and effectiveness of the registry, admitting there are better ways to access a suspects criminal history. I lean toward opening it unless someone can give me a reason not to, said veteran Rep. Bob Godfrey, D-Danbury, a member of the law-writing legislative Judiciary Committee. Speaking Monday in reaction to a Hearst Connecticut Media report on the 1,875-names of criminals on the weapon registry, Godfrey noted that the criminal information, approved in the states landmark gun-safety legislation after the 2012 Newtown School shooting, is already available in other forms including the Judicial Branchs database. But it was exempted from the state Freedom of Information Act in the April, 2013 legislation. Godfrey, with 30 years of service in the House of Representatives, said that Hearsts report has prompted him to research the issue thoroughly before coming to a conclusion. In particular, as an urban lawmaker, he understands the obstacles in housing and employment that people face coming out of the prison system, even though a 2017 law prohibits prospective employers from asking applicants whether they have been arrested or convicted. But why would we prevent anyone from accessing records in general that doesnt involve trade secrets or security information? Godfrey said in a phone interview. On the Judicial Branch website people can check pending cases as well as convictions under the specific names of defendants and convicts. The Sex Offender Registry allows people to search neighborhoods and whole towns for people whose names they likely do not know. Its not the only place to get this information, Godfrey said of the weapon registry. Its the annoying thing about a bureaucracy when a department says Its my stuff and you cant touch it. I wonder how much of that attitude is involved here. Im hoping we can take a good hard look at it. I think it should be open to the public, said Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven. Every other registry is open. This isnt good public policy. If I had the opportunity to change that law, I would. State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, vice chairman of the legislative Public Safety and Security Committee, also believes the information offenders provide the registry and update annually for their first five years out of prison, should be accessible to the public. She recommended that lawmakers look closely at the circumstances around the initial arrest of sex offenders and violent felons alike. Both registries do not give all the information to people they think they may, Osten said, noting that the plea bargain process often drastically modifies details. For instance, exposing oneself is not the same thing as molestation or rape, but the offender may land on the registry, Osten said. Same thing with the Deadly Weapon Offender Registry. You dont know what the original charge was to determine how dangerous a person may be. There are 42 crimes involving knives and guns that can result in offenders being given the requirement at the time of their criminal sentencing. Also required to register when they are released from incarceration, are those who have been found not guilty of similar crimes by reasons of mental disease or defect. Osten, a former state correction officer, said the weapon offender registry was originally designed to provide additional information for law enforcement officials, but she stressed that arresting officers can easily access the original charges when encountering suspects. Meanwhile, police officials disagreed Monday over the usefulness of the weapon registry. Its not really helpful, said Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin, whose city has 28 names on the registry. A lot of times someone will get arrested with a weapon and it is pleaded down to a different charge And if it is not one of those 42 criminal charges that is appropriate for the weapons registry, they are not going to show up on the registry. As an example Conkin said if someone is caught illegally carrying a gun, they will get charged with carrying a pistol without a permit. But if the person is a first offender and is granted entrance into a court diversionary program, the registry will not contain the defendants name. He said checking someones criminal history is more effective. Running a criminal history will show more because you can see what they were arrested for and oftentimes the pleas are much different than the litany of charges they were arrested for, Conklin said. It is not something that has proven its worth so much. It is something I very infrequently use. But Lt. John Slusarz, the Greenwich police spokesman, said the registry, like other databases that local law enforcement have access to, is a valuable tool. A police officer has access to a great deal of information that isnt available to the public, so we know what were dealing with, he said. It was up to state lawmakers to set the guidelines on how those databases are managed or made available to the public, he said. All tools are good, but we always have access to someones criminal history anyway, said Danbury Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour. And we already have the ability to run a person through the law enforcement database to find out whatever we need to know beforehand. Newtown police Capt. Christopher Vanghele said he supports the registry, because, before the registry was established, the only way to know if a person was convicted of an offense involving a deadly weapon would be to somehow get a copy of the entire case file from the arresting agency and then read through it. Not exactly a timely way to get information. With the registry in place, if an officer comes across this person in the field and runs their name and DOB, an alert will come up on the search return warning the officer that the person is a File 37, meaning they are registered on the DWOR, Vanghele said. This gives the officer timely information on the possible dangers this person may present. In December, the one person living in Newtown who is on the Deadly Weapon Offender Registry was pulled over for a moving violatoin, Vanghele said. When the officer ran the plate of the vehicle, dispatch immediately warned the officer that the person who was the registered owner of the vehicle was a File 37, Vanghele said. This specific example shows that this system works in real time and is very helpful information in terms of officer safety. In New Milford, police Lt. Lee Grabner agreed that the registry is a good but rarely used tool. Our agency rarely uses the registry, but I feel that is a proactive tool to check individuals, Grabner said. The information is helpful to plan how and when a warrant may be served. Katrina Koerting, John Nickerson, Rob Ryser and Robert Marchant contributed to this report. Tensions between Egypt and Turkey have escalated with dueling statements coming from both sides after Egyptian security officials arrested four employees of Turkeys official news agency earlier this month in Cairo. Egyptian security forces stormed the office of the Turkish Anadolu Agency Jan. 14 and arrested four employees, including a Turkish national, then referred them to state security prosecution on the grounds of terrorism accusations. According to a statement issued Jan. 16 by the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, a rights organization operating in Egypt since 2014, security forces detained journalists and employees at the agency for more than seven hours. Security forces then referred them to the state security prosecution for investigation, which accused four staff members at the agency, including a Turkish citizen, of aiding a terrorist group to achieve its goals, spreading false news and funding terrorism. While the journalists have now been released, the Egyptian government has apparently not dropped charges and seems intent to see the case through. Fatima Sarraj, a defense attorney for the Anadolu Agency staff, said the state security prosecution issued a decision to release the journalists after long hours of questioning them, with bail set at 10,000 Egyptian pounds (about $633) pending further proceedings. Fatima told Al-Monitor the decision to release them does not mean the charges have been dropped. The case is ongoing, and the accusations still stand. However, incarceration is not necessary at the moment. The staff members are also banned from traveling until the case is settled. Police released the Turkish citizen shortly after his arrest. But for more than three days since the decision to release all of them was issued, the Egyptian journalists were nowhere to be seen and did not communicate with their lawyers or families before they were released. The accused journalists included Hussein al-Kabbani, brother of current detainee Hassan al-Kabbani who is being held on terrorism charges and who was the editor-in-chief of Ikhwan Online, the official website of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. In an official statement released Jan. 15, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior claimed the agency is involved in a Muslim Brotherhood plot funded and supported by Turkey against Egypt. The statement added, The cell is planning to prepare negative reports including false and fabricated information on the economic, security, political and rights situation in Egypt, and to send them to the agencys premises in Turkey to tarnish the image of the country at home and abroad. The Turkish presidency condemned the raid on the agency, considering it a clear violation of the law. Ibrahim Gulen, official spokesperson for the Turkish presidency, tweeted Jan. 15 that the Egyptian authorities raid of Anadolu Agencys offices in Cairo and their unjustified arrest of employees constitute a clear violation of the law and of human rights. We strongly condemn this act. Ahmed Hafez, spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, rejected Turkeys accusation. Hafez told Al-Monitor over the phone, All the security measures that were taken against Anadolu Agency are legal, and Turkeys allegations are not true. He added, The security investigations show the headquarters that were raided are being used by a media cell affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood to prepare false reports about Egypt and ruin its foreign reputation. Therefore, a countrys preservation of its national security and reputation is not a breach. A security source revealed to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that security forces received lists of the names of all journalists, photographers and administrative staff collaborating with Anadolu Agency after raiding its premises. The names are currently being checked to verify that they are not implicated in any acts targeting Egypts national security and reputation. For years, relations between Egypt and Turkey have been tense because of Ankaras support for the Muslim Brotherhood and its objection to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisis regime. Mahmoud Bayoumi, a political researcher at the Istanbul Aydin University who lives in Turkey, said the raid constitutes dangerous Egyptian escalation against the Turkish administration. He added, The Egyptian authorities decision to arrest employees in the agency seems like a declaration from Cairo of refusing any reconciliation with Turkey and proceeding with the escalation, after Yasin Aktay, chief adviser to the Turkish president, had called on Egypt to negotiate to solve the crises between them. On Jan. 13, Aktay called on the Egyptian government to negotiate to solve the crises and stated that cooperation with Egypt is inescapable. Bayoumi noted, Egyptian-Turkish relations will worsen after this raid, and Turkey might respond. Egyptian security forces have raided news agencies premises and detained staff on several occasions. On Nov. 24, security officers stormed the pro-opposition Mada Masr website headquarters, detained the staff for hours and confiscated their mobile phones for more than four hours. They then arrested three journalists, including the editor-in-chief, and referred them to the police, who released them immediately with no charges. Decades ago, when sparks were flying at a meeting of the City Council, one smart aleck tossed an ill-advised Thanksgiving wisecrack at Helen Dutmer, his elder colleague. I said, Granny, I guess youre going to go home and put the turkey in the oven, then-Councilman Jimmy Hasslocher remembered. And she said, Not before I skin Henry and the rest of you birds here. And when Granny spoke, everyone listened. It was one of her darling moments. Dutmer, 99, was on the council from 1977 to 1991, including years when Henry Cisneros was mayor. Later, she served three years on the Bexar County Commissioners Court. Dutmer, who still lived in the house on McKinley that she and her husband, Jack, built in 1945, died Jan. 19 of a heart attack. Throughout her political career, she did not fear taking unpopular stands, butting heads or making her thoughts known, sometimes with cutting eloquence. Goaded once to get out of the kitchen if you cant stand the heat, during a debate over another contentious issue, Dutmer responded: I can stand the heat, its the smell thats getting to me. Another time, she sarcastically remarked: There are three rules of politics: Smile a lot, tell em what they want to hear and keep everyone in a state of confusion. In her 14 years on the council, Dutmer was a fierce advocate for District 3, on the Southeast Side, where many felt that they had long been shortchanged in favor of North Side districts. She also proved a formidable foe to the Applewhite reservoir project, construction of the Alamodome and adding fluoride to the citys drinking water. She was tough and she did her homework. When she walked into that council room, she was all business. I learned a lot from her, said Hasslocher, 68, who represented the North Sides District 10 from 1981 to 1991. Born in San Antonio, she earned a degree in cosmetology from the San Antonio Vocational and Technical School in 1938. In 1944, at a USO dance, she met Jack Dutmer, an Army Air Corps pilot. They were married the next year and, after World War II, settled in San Antonio. Her grandson John Pollock said Dutmer became involved in politics when construction of Interstate 37 sliced the South Side in two and brought problems to the neighborhood. At the time, in the early 1960s, Dutmer was looking after her daughters three children while their mother worked. She started going down to the City Council to complain, and wed always pack up and go with her. Wed go down every Thursday and stay all day, Pollock said. She got extremely interested in the city government and would be a speaker about anything on the South Side. One thing led to another, and in 1977, after the city had adopted a single-member district system, she was elected to represent District 3. Also joining the council that year, and serving until 1991, was District 2 Councilman Joe Webb. He and Dutmer soon found that they had plenty in common. We both thought we had been overlooked in our districts. And when we came to the table, we came firing, said Webb, 84. We worked hand in hand. I loved her. I thought she was a great proponent for the city. Councilman Bob Thompson, who represented District 6 from 1979 to 1992, said Dutmer could be a strong ally. If you made a good case, she was level-headed about it, he said. The two backed the South Texas Nuclear Project, which others wanted to abandon because of unpopular electricity rate increases. I think time has proven it was a good decision. Its handling about 25 percent of our load right now. And she was for staying in, Thompson said. Back in 1977, the man Dutmer defeated for her first council term was incumbent Bob Billa, who she felt had slighted District 3 with a snide remark. Thus some thought it strange in 1991 when Dutmer stepped down from the council after an appointment to the Commissioners Court that she would choose Billas daughter Lynda as her successor. It was amazing. People couldnt figure out why Helen appointed me to her seat. But she was unique. It made sense to her, said Lynda Billa Burke, who went on to serve three terms. She had a vision of where she wanted the district to go. She was really a champion for women doing what needed to be done in politics, she added. A memorial service for Dutmer will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Sunset Memorial Northwest Funeral Home, 6321 Bandera Road. Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, said that resolutions against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act have been passed in States like Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal as they are ruled by one party, unlike Maharashtra. "States like Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal have passed resolutions against Citizenship (Amendment) Act. They are ruled by one party, unlike Maharashtra. Our Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray) said there should be no problem for anyone in the State due to CAA and NRC. We are of this opinion," Pawar said on Monday. The West Bengal Assembly had on Monday passed a resolution against the Citizenship Act which was moved by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government. After Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan, West Bengal is the fourth State to pass a resolution against the CAA. The State Assembly had on September 6 last year passed a resolution against the Register of Citizens (NRC). The CAA grants Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rome, Jan 28 : The United Nations World Food Programme and the Islamic Development Bank will collaborate on food security, nutrition and novel ways of development financing under a new accord, the WFP said on Tuesday. "The first agreement between the World Food Programme and the Islamic Development Bank showcases our joint commitment to help member countries achieve their development goals," WFP's Executive Director David Beasley said in a statement. Beasley, who signed the accord with IsDB president Bandar Hajjar, called it "an exciting moment". "We are joining forces to kick-start progress on the nutrition and food security agenda and pioneer new ways of financing for development," he said. Hajjar said the memorandum of understanding reflects WFP's and IsDB's commitment "to cooperate on innovative, high-impact food security and nutrition projects". The MoU "is based on principles of co-development, co-financing, and mutual benefits, making full use of our complementary strengths and expanding the role of our institution as a bank of developers," he said. Under the accord, WFP and IsDB will work together on co-financing and alternative financing mechanisms. The two organisations will also look at ways to cooperate on food security, nutrition, agriculture, rural development, human capital and institutional development, Hajjar stated. Beasely and Hajjar signed the MoU on the side-ines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, the statement said. INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Herman & Kittle Properties, Inc. is proud to announce The Vue, a brand new luxury apartment development in downtown Indianapolis, is currently taking applications for its 248 apartment homes. Vue Luxury Apartments | Apartments in Downtown Indianapolis, IN | New Luxury Apartments in Downtown Indianapolis Indiana | Apartment Interior Vue Luxury Apartments | Apartments in Downtown Indianapolis, IN | New Luxury Apartments in Downtown Indianapolis Indiana | Apartments Exterior The Vue is a band new luxury development that features 248 apartment homes and 21 distinct floor plans. This includes studio, one-, and two-bedroom units as well as executive suites ranging from 530 to 1,121 square feet. The entire project was completed in 2017 and features market rate apartment homes geared towards the growing downtown Indianapolis luxury apartment market. The Vue is conveniently located in the Southeast corner of downtown Indianapolis and is within easy walking distance of the Julia Carson Transit Center, a multi-million dollar central transit facility that links all IndyGo bus routes. The Vue is also located near a wealth of dining and night life options. Metazoa Brewing, a brewery which donates 5% of its profits to animal and wildlife organizations, is located across the street, while the popular Mass Ave District is just blocks away. Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers, and Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, are also nearby. The convenient location of the Vue also offers residents easy transportation options via bus, car, or bike. In addition to the transit center the property is located next to Interstate 65/70 in downtown Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, a $63 million bike trail that connects the entire downtown core, is less than two blocks away. Residents of The Vue can enjoy a wealth of amenities at the property. All units offer granite countertops, black appliances, washer/dryer units in each apartment, patios or balconies, and spectacular views of downtown Indianapolis. Each apartment home also has smart thermostats and ample amounts of natural light. There are several community amenities available for residents to enjoy as well. The rooftop deck offers a stunning skyline view of downtown Indianapolis and residents are encouraged to use the courtyard swimming pool. There is also a game room, theater room coffee bar, workout room, pet care studio, bicycle storage, and underground garage parking. The staff of the Vue also regularly sponsors community activities for residents each month. This includes holiday parties, movie events, and more. Residents who are interested in leasing are encouraged to visit The Vue's website or call (833) 318-9279 for information. The property is currently looking to fill open apartments and help new residents find themselves at home in downtown Indianapolis. In addition to being located near the Mass Ave district, The Vue is located near the vibrant Fountain Square section, which features numerous restaurants, bars, boutique shops, and even a duckpin bowling alley. Downtown Indianapolis also features White River State Park, which hosts a series of summer concerts and other events throughout the year. The Vue is also located just 20 miles from Indianapolis International Airport, offering flights to 50 different cities each day. For more information on the property or to schedule a time for a tour please contact the on-site staff at The Vue. Media contact: Eric Baker [email protected] 317-428-3858 SOURCE Vue Luxury Apartments By PTI FAIZABAD: Villagers allegedly chopped off the noses of a man and a woman here, accusing them of having an affair, police said. The incident allegedly took place at Kand Pipra village in the Patranga police station area of Faizabad on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. A police force has been deployed at the village to maintain peace between the Hindu and Muslim communities to which the two belonged, police said. According to police, the man (28) had visited the 35-year-old women's home when her father-in-law and other people caught them. They thrashed the duo before chopping off their noses, police said. The woman's husband wasn't at home as he worked in Saudi Arabia. Faizabad SSP Ashish Tiwari said the woman's father-in-law and others involved in the incident have been arrested. Both victims were admitted to the district hospital and their condition is stated to be stable. [January 28, 2020] Michigan Angel Fund Closes Five New Deals in 2019, Invests $1M in Michigan Startups The Michigan Angel Fund (MAF) concluded 2019 investing a total of $1,043,000 in 13 early stage Michigan-based startups, including three deals through the recently created MAF IV which opened in April and closed in December with $2 million in investment from 49 investors. "In 2011, when SPARK created an angel group, the priority was to attract high-net-worth households into the angel investment world by thinking of tech startup investments like they would any other investment classes - such as stocks, bonds, real estate and private equity," said Skip Simms, MAF manager and Ann Arbor SPARK senior vice president. "In 2019, our fourth fund closed with 16 new participants who previously have never made an angel investment." MAF remains the largest angel investor group in Michigan with a total of 156 members. In 2019, MAF was the most active group in the state with five new investments and eight follow-on investments. Notably, MAF IV made three investments before the fund had even closed. "There's a lot of great tech startups and early stage companies in our economy," added Simms. "High-potential tech startups continue to diversify the state's economy while creating disruptive technologies, services, and products in healthcare, mobility, security, software, material sciences and manufacturing. There are a lot of opportunities for investors which is why the Michigan Angel Community continues to grow." In 2019, three new angel groups formed in the state. According to Simms, many investors will participate in multiple angel groups to see more deal flow. MAF members represent 19 different communities and four states. Over the history of MAF, there have been a total of 29 company investments with more than half based in Ann Arbor. MAF IV 2019 Investments Akadeum Life Sciences: Founded in 2014, Akadeum was established to create the simplest bioseparation products and to fundamentally change the way that isolating cells and other biological targets is approached. Akadeum currently uses microbubbles for applications in cell separation and other related areas. Akadeum is located at MI-HQ on the west side of Ann Arbor (Scio Township). Ripple Science: Ripple is a web-based management solution that facilitates the recruitment and management of research participants for clinical, translational and social science studies. Initially developed at the University of Michigan by Dr. Nestor Lopez-Duran, he and co-founder Jacob Benenberger established Ripple Science in 2017. The University of Michigan announced a $750,000 investment with Ripple Science in 2019. SkySpecs: An Ann Arbor-based software company, SkySpecs develops operations and maintenance solutions for wind farms through the use of technology, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Its solutions include Horizon, a central repository for blade operations and management data, and autonomous drone inspections. This is MAF's fourth investment with SkySpecs, with the first being in 2017 as part of MAF II. ABOUT THE MICHIGAN ANGEL FUND MAF is a for-profit, pooled, and professionally managed equity fund which focuses on near- or at-revenue, Michigan-based tech companies with the ability to acquire customers, expand markets, and grow the company. For more information about the Michigan Angel Fund, visit www.miangelfund.com. ABOUT ANN ARBOR SPARK Ann Arbor SPARK, a non-profit organization, is advancing the region by encouraging and supporting business acceleration, attraction and retention. The organization identifies and meets the needs of business at every stage, from startups to large organizations. Ann Arbor SPARK collaborates with business, academic, government, and community investor partners to achieve its mission. For more information, please call (734) 761-9317 or visit www.AnnArborUSA.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005588/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Voters on Tuesday are set to decide two special election runoffs in Fort Bend and Harris counties, including one that political observers are framing as a bellwether for how Texas November elections may play out. In both races, the polls are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. In Fort Bend County, voters are deciding between Democratic educator Eliz Markowitz and Republican businessman Gary Gates, who finished first and second, respectively, when voters chose from an initial field of seven in November. The winner will finish the term of former state Rep. John Zerwas, a Richmond Republican who retired last year from his House District 28 seat. The race has drawn considerable national attention because of Democrats aggressive push to win the district, which has historically elected Republican candidates. In their bid to gain control of the Texas House in 2020, Democrats are targeting a number of suburban districts whose populations are rapidly growing. District 28 is one such. In Harris County, meanwhile, Democrat and former HISD trustee Anna Eastman and Republican power engineer Luis LaRotta are vying to replace former state Rep. Jessica Farrar, a Houston Democrat who represented House District 148 until she stepped down last year. The district is generally viewed as a safe seat for Democrats, though Republicans see an opportunity given special elections typically low turnouts. More Information Election Day voting information For a map of Election Day voting locations in House District 28, click here. A list of the 20 Fort Bend County voting centers can be found here. For a map of Election Day voting locations in House District 148, click here. A list of the 37 Harris County voting centers can be found here. For a list of acceptable identification documents, click here. See More Collapse The two elections have seen a wide disparity in turnout, with nearly 18,000 voters casting early and absentee ballots in Fort Bend County, compared to 3,116 in Harris County. The House District 28 race is likely to record the highest turnout of any special election runoff since at least 1992, surpassing the current record of nearly 22,000 votes, according to Rice University political scientist Mark Jones. House District 148 covers area north of downtown and part of the Heights, extending northwest outside Loop 610. House District 28 runs from Simonton to Mission Bend and Katy to Rosenberg. Voters in House District 148 may cast their ballot at any of the 37 locations in Harris County, while House District 28 voters may do so at any of the 20 Fort Bend County locations. Though the outcomes Tuesday will determine who finishes the current term, both winners will have to defend their seats in the March primaries and again in November. All four runoff candidates have filed to run again in their respective primary contests: Gates faces one opponent and Markowitz is unopposed; and Eastman is up against four opponents and LaRotta is unopposed. jasper.scherer@chron.com SACRAMENTO, Calif. Assemblyman James Gallagher introduced new legislation on Monday that will help expedite the construction of the Paradise Irrigation District intertie project. PID said after the Camp Fire, a rough estimate of customers lost was around 9,000, nearly its entire customer base. The District is searching for new revenue streams in order to sustain itself into the future and provide water to the Town of Paradise. This new project would allow PID to temporarily sell surface water that is otherwise stranded in two reservoirs located near a water treatment facility. Paradise cannot re-build and thrive without a functioning water district, said Gallagher. At first glance, this intertie pipeline looks like a big win-win for the Town of Paradise and the county as a whole. Once the studies are complete and if this project is determined to be feasible, AB 1957 will provide a critical tool that will speed up construction timelines and provide greater resiliency to Butte Countys groundwater basins. AB-1957 would allow PID to utilize alternative delivery methods like design-build for the construction of the intertie project. This would provide more flexibility in design and construction for the project to be done in a timely manner. North State residents need more reliable water, Senator Nielsen said. This proposal will ensure the sustainability of a water source for our community and the continued financial health of PID as the Town of Paradise rebuilds. In 2019, lawmakers in the North State secured $14 million in the state budget to keep PID operational for two years. The governors Administration asked the district to look into long term solutions like the proposed project in order to avoid future backfill requests. The benefits of the intertie project are more robust than some think, Butte County Supervisor, Doug Teeter said. For example, delivering water down the Skyway, or a closed system pumping back and forth, would provide for other opportunities. Such as the installation of fire hydrants along with the town's main evacuation route and an opportunity for power generation bringing benefit to the Countys new Community Choice Aggregation power purchase program. Simply put, this can be much more than a temporary financial solution for PID. Jaipur, Jan 29 : Terming Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Yuva Aakrosh Rally, here on Tuesday, a flop show, Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Satish Poonia said it was full of humour. Poonia said Gandhi was known for doing things differently and this time while polls were being held in Delhi he did a rally in Jaipur. "It's a matter of surprise, from where does Rahul bring such political tact," he remarked. Poonia said Gandhi entertained the public well at the famous Albert Hall, where kavi sammelan (poetry recitals) and mahamoork sammelan (fools' summit) were organised. Stating that people were forced to attend the rally, Poonia said since Monday night the business community was telling us about the police visits asking them to send all the employees to Albert Hall to hear Gandhi on Tuesday. Similarly, school and college heads under pressure from the government issued circular asking students to attend the rally, the BJP leader added. Poonia said students of Gyandeep College in Ajmer had sent him a video in which students were being forced into a bus and a voice was heard saying a minimum of 100 students needed to be sent to the rally and those who wouldn't come would have to bear the brunt and see reduced marks in practicals. The rally, named Yuva Aakrsh Rally, lacked youths and aakrosh (anger), the BJP leader said and added, the youth were waiting for the promise Rahul made during Assembly elections that they would receive Rs 3,500 unemployment allowance a month. Surprisingly, the "Crown Prince of India" said nothing on the new citizenship law (CAA) and the NRC, the BJP leader said. Citing the National Crime Bureau (NCB) report, Poonia said Rajasthan had become one of the leading crime-ridden state. "Rahulji it's your government here and Rajasthan has witnessed maximum 65 per cent crime against women. You talk about the rape capital and Rajasthan is second in number of rape cases," he said. "It's ridiculous that Rahul Gandhi during his speech thanked those who decorated the stage and praised the music band, but he could not show any achievement of the Congress government in the state," former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje tweeted. Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MP Hanuman Beniwal also termed Rahul Gandhi's Jaipur rally as "a flop show" and claimed the Congress organised it to divert public attention from the real issues of Rajasthan. Beniwal, an NDA alliance partner, at a press conference in Nagaur said, "The major objective of the Congress was to divert the public attention from major issues, like locust attack, and law and order. In fact, Gandhi didn't speak on major promises made to people of the state, including farm loan waiver and unemployment allowance for youth." The owner of the derelict Broadway Hotel in Woolloongabba has until the end of February to meet the requirements of an enforcement notice issued by Brisbane City Council. The notice, upheld by the state development tribunal in November last year, was originally to expire 60 days after the owner's appeal against it was rejected. Images of the derelict Broadway Hotel after the September 2018 fire. Credit:Jesse Harrison But a council spokeswoman said the original notice was extended "due to construction constraints over the Christmas and new-year period". The new deadline is February 29. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid tributes to one of the key leaders of the freedom struggle Lala Lajpat Rai on his birth anniversary, saying his sacrifice will continue to inspire Indians. Popularly called Punjab Kesari, Rai was born in Punjab's Moga in 1865. "Salute to the brave son of mother India, Punjab Kesari Lala Lajpat Rai on his birth anniversary.His sacrifice for the independence of the country will always inspire the countrymen," the prime minister wrote on Twitter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The World Health Organisation (WHO) has updated the global risk degree of deadly coronavirus outbreak from 'moderate' to 'high' on January 26 and also cited an error in the previous report. This comes as the novel SARS-like virus has already claimed nearly 106 lives in China with 4,515 confirmed cases as other international leaders plan to evacuate their citizens from the country. According to the National Health Commission, 976 are in serious condition. Therefore, the WHO's risk assessment for China is 'very high'. Chinese President Xi Jinping said on January 28 that the country is executing a serious fight against the 'demon' virus. Xi further pledged transparency in the government's efforts to contain the disease in the country which has claimed more than a hundred lives and more than four thousand confirmed cases. Read - UK Asks Those Returning From Wuhan To 'isolate' Themselves To Prevent Coronavirus Outbreak After Xi's meeting with the World Health Organisation, state media reported that the Chinese President said that the 'epidemic is a demon' and then added 'we cannot let this demon hide'. He also applauded his own government who has always adopted an attitude which is 'open, transparent, and responsible'. Meanwhile, Japan has confirmed a victim of Coronavirus who has never been to China on January 28. This comes as an unprecedented development in the deadly outbreak for the medical officials who had identified the epicentre of the pandemic in the Chinese city of Wuhan of 11 million people. Read - Coronavirus: Philippines To Halt Visa On Arrival Facilities For Chinese Nationals Other countries taking precautions China's immediate neighbour, Mongolia has closed all universities and educational institutes until March 2 to prevent the spread of deadly coronavirus. Citing a cabinet meeting, Mongolian state media also said that it has closed the border crossings for auto vehicles and pedestrian traffic. The US was preparing to fly their citizens out of the city as Wuhan along with other major cities is under lockdown. UK and Japan had also put forth their plans to bring their citizens 'home'. China has been trying to step-up emergency measures to contain the global spread of the pathogen. Wuhan's Mayor Zhou Xianwang has also said that the number of cases can rise by another thousand. Since the outbreak has been widely spread in China, with several confirmed cases in Beijing, the country has also extended the Lunar Year Holiday to February 2. Read - Coronavirus Outbreak Hits Singapore, Five Patients Confirmed Read - Dalai Lama Asks Devotees To Chant Mantra To Contain Spread Of Coronavirus (Image source: AP) (with inputs from agencies) African American history Regarding Honoring King, (A15, Jan. 20): This past summer, my husband and I took a road trip through Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. We visited civil rights museums along the way. The most profound images for me were in the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala. In this sacred space, I was horrified at the massive number of murders of African Americans symbolized by the sculptures and art. I was also saddened by the Texas murders represented. I am glad to know that Houston will find a place to exhibit monuments to some of the victims. Our final visit was to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson. This city, with its horrific bloody history, now has a space that left me in awe! How can Houston think of doing anything less? Honoring cemetery sites is good, but I would like to see a civil rights museum added to our list of museums. Anne Myatt, Houston Traffic fatalities Regarding Officials denounce setting of target for roadway fatalities, (A1, Jan. 22): It doesnt seem like enough is being done to stop car accidents as a whole. The same day I read the article about the target for roadway deaths I drove north on Interstate 45 at night in the rain, and one reason our roads are so dangerous became very clear: too many sections of road with lights that arent working, missing reflective squares and faded lane stripes. This was no deluge, but I wasnt the only one who had trouble staying in their lane, especially around that dreaded Shepherd Drive curve. Proper maintenance of our roads would be a great start in reducing accidents. Sally M. Hill, Spring Guns Regarding Forget the politics, gun locks save lives, (A15, Jan. 24): I wish to commend the author on a sensible and well-reasoned article on how gun owners can prevent access to unauthorized users of their firearms. Rather than the tired mantra so often heard about banning all guns, she highlights a group who sought out solutions from people who know best, actual gun owners and a representative of a gun store. As a gun owner and life member of the NRA, I can state that we all want the same thing to keep firearms out of the hands of people who should not have access to them. I had the honor to visit for almost an hour with Gyl Switzer, executive director of Texas Gun Sense, and I feel we both came away with a better understanding of each others position on gun rights and solutions to accidental shootings. The bottom line is this: No one wants to see another preventable tragedy caused by a person using a firearm irresponsibly. Gun owners, do this one thing with your firearms: Lock em up! Jeff Kesler, Sugar Land It would remove misleading, manipulated media that had been edited or synthesised in ways not apparent to an average person [to] mislead someone into thinking that a subject of the video said words they did not actually say and video that is the product of artificial intelligence or machine learning that merges, replaces or superimposes content, making it appear to be authentic. Twitter has announced a ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor VANCOUVER , BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Black Tusk Resources Inc. ("Black Tusk" or the "Company) (CSE:TUSK)(Frankfurt:0NB)(OTC PINK:BTKRF) is pleased to announce that magnetometer surveying is underway on the McKenzie East Project located 30 kilometres north of Val d'Or, Quebec. The survey is being conducted by Geophysique TMC utilizing Vision 4K unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV-drone) carrying a Scintrex Cs-Vl Cesium Vapor magnetometer. The majority of the claims will be covered at 50 metre line spacing. The magnetic survey will provide high resolution data to assist in surface exploration and target definition for eventual diamond drilling. The survey is expected to be completed within one week, with results of the "Mag-Survey" expected before the end of February. The most advanced project in the immediate area of McKenzie East Project is the McKenzie Break Project of Monarch Gold Corporation (TSX:MQR). At the McKenzie Break, gold mineralization is reported as visually distinctive 1 centimeter to 2 metre wide quartz-carbonate veins and vein complexes containing gold. Regional magnetic survey results available through Systeme d'information geominiere of Quebec (SIGEOM) indicate magnetic high features that may relate to structures hosting the mineralized zones at McKenzie Break. Similar features are evident on the McKenzie East property. The current magnetic survey is expected to map these features in greater detail for future follow-up. Black Tusk is looking forward to completing a thorough exploration program of the McKenzie East property in the following field season. The current magnetic survey will provide important data and potential drill targets for directing continued exploration. Cautionary Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions as of that date. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to exploration and development; the ability of the Company to obtain additional financing; the Company's limited operating history; the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations; fluctuations in the prices of commodities; operating hazards and risks; competition and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Prospectus dated September 8, 2017 available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions, and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. On behalf of the Board of Directors Richard Penn CEO (778) 384-8923 SOURCE: Black Tusk Resources Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574290/Black-Tusk-Resources-Inc-Commences-Magnetometer-Surveying-on-the-Mckenzie-East-Project-Val-Dor-Quebec By John O'Donnell and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi FRANKFURT/ZURICH (Reuters) - The Credit Suisse spying debacle risks tipping the bank into a crisis that could engulf its top executives. Switzerland's market supervisor is scrutinizing Credit Suisse's oversight of chief executive Tidjane Thiam and his top lieutenants as part of a probe into corporate espionage, two people with direct knowledge of the investigation said. FINMA is examining whether management control failures led to Switzerland's second-largest bank snooping on two former executives, they said. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, FINMA could order Credit Suisse to overhaul its leadership, including requesting the resignation of any executive or board member if it concluded they failed to act in a 'fit and proper' manner, the people said. They added that the probe was at an early stage and no conclusions had yet been drawn. A spokesman for FINMA declined to comment. The watchdog said in December that it would appoint an independent auditor to help with its ongoing investigations into the compliance issues raised by the surveillance. A spokesman for Credit Suisse said any suggestion that FINMA would focus on its senior management or its directors was speculation. "Such speculation is unfounded and serves only to pre-judge the outcome of what is an audit and not an enforcement action," the spokesman said. "FINMA will conduct an independent audit which is not an enforcement. The final decree has not yet been issued and an auditor has not been appointed." Credit Suisse has said Thiam was unaware of the surveillance and said former Chief Operating Officer Pierre-Olivier Bouee, a longtime confidant of Thiam, initiated it in a solo run. Bouee resigned after taking responsibility for the spying, the bank said in October. He has not commented publicly on the scandal and Reuters could not reach him for comment. Story continues FINMA's chairman, Thomas Bauer, has said that the use of external security companies is, "not a supervisory issue per se" but there were unanswered questions about governance and control arising from Credit Suisse's surveillance activities. As part of the inquiry, FINMA is investigating whether the bank's board gave Thiam free rein to run a "bank within a bank", one of the people said. Credit Suisse said the characterisation of a "bank within a bank" was "absurd". "The Chairman and the Board of Directors have regular and open conversations with the CEO on his activities and the operations of the bank," the spokesman said. "Credit Suisse is governed according to the highest international standards and to suggest otherwise is wholly incorrect." Credit Suisse could mount a legal challenge if FINMA orders it to take measures it disagrees with, a third person said. Banks typically follow FINMA's direction. In 2018, for example, Raiffeisen, Switzerland's third-largest bank, completely overhauled its board after FINMA said it needed 'fresh blood' after finding serious breaches in its supervision of a former CEO. But some of FINMA's decisions have been appealed, including last year when a court ruled it should reconsider its confiscation of 95 million Swiss francs from a small bank. The stakes are high for both parties. Credit Suisse is battling competitive headwinds and FINMA is tasked with protecting the reputation of Switzerland's multi-trillion-dollar banking industry, the world's biggest center for offshore wealth. "FINMA is under political pressure to investigate this case and corporate governance is under their remit, said Peter V. Kunz, a legal expert at the University of Bern. "But they will need to find illegal wrongdoing before they can remove the bank's management." A spokesman for Switzerland's finance ministry said FINMA was independent, declining further comment. NOT AN ISOLATED EVENT Credit Suisse has been under pressure since September when details emerged of a botched surveillance operation conducted by the bank against former wealth management chief Iqbal Khan, previously one of its most senior executives. According to the bank's own probe of the spying, carried out by Homburger, a Swiss law firm, Bouee ordered the surveillance to see if Khan was trying to poach Credit Suisse colleagues to join him at UBS. Khan had left Credit Suisse for its crosstown rival over the summer. After the spying scandal broke, details of animosity between Thiam and Khan emerged in the local media. Khan had bought the house next door to Thiam and the pair quarreled over a construction project Khan was carrying out on his property, according to a person with direct knowledge. A lawyer for Khan declined to comment. Homburger has said the relationship between Thiam and Khan was not part of its investigation and it found no evidence that the surveillance was related to their possible differences. It also said that it had access to only some private communications during the probe, while others were deleted. The firm declined to comment further to Reuters about its investigation. FINMA has said it will review the handling of information and the use of electronic communications as part of its review. Following its internal probe, Thiam called the spying an isolated event and Chairman Urs Rohner said that staff surveillance was not "part of our toolbox". Two months later, it emerged the bank had also spied on its former head of human resources, Peter Goerke, another longtime ally of Thiam. Goerke couldn't be reached for comment. Credit Suisse again publicly blamed Bouee and described a rogue operation in which all executives and directors, including Thiam, were kept in the dark. The bank said Bouee had been terminated for cause, which means his bonus and other potential compensation would be forfeited. (Writing by John O'Donnell; Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt in Zurich. Editing by Carmel Crimmins) A Delhi court on Tuesday deferred for a week the hearing of arguments on quantum of sentence of Brajesh Thakur and 18 others, convicted of sexually and physically assaulting several minor girls in a shelter home in Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Additional Sessions Judge Sudesh Kumar adjourned the hearing till February 4 as Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha, who had conducted the trial, was on leave. The court had on January 20 convicted Thakur, who once unsuccessfully contested assembly polls on Bihar People's Party (BPP) ticket, of several offences including aggravated penetrative sexual assault under section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and offences of rape and gang rape under the Indian Penal code (IPC). In its bulky judgement running into 1,546 pages, the court had also convicted Thakur of offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and abetment under IPC, section 21 (failure to report commission of an offence) of the POCSO Act section 75 (cruelty to child) of Juvenile Justice Act. The offences entail a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. It, however, acquitted one Vikki in the case for want of evidence. One of the female accused, Rosy Rani, former assistant director of child protection unit in Muzaffarpur, was convicted of offences under section 21(1) (failure to report commission of an offence) of the POCSO Act. Since the maximum punishment for the offence was six months, which she had already undergone, she was granted bail by the court. Dillip Kumar Verma, former chairman of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Muzaffarpur, child protection officer of District Child Protection Unit Ravi Roshan, member of CWC Vikas Kumar and other accused Vijay Kumar Tiwari, Guddu Patel, Kishan Kumar and Ramanuj Thakur were held guilty of the offences of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under POCSO Act, criminal conspiracy, rape, gang rape, causing hurt, abetment to rape under IPC and POCSO Act, and section 75 of the JJ Act. Two of the accused -- Rama Shankar Singh and Dr Ashwani-- were convicted of the offences of criminal conspiracy and abetment to rape. Rama was also convicted under sections 323 of IPC, 75 of JJ Act and 21 of POCSO Act. Female accused -- Shaista Praveen, Indu Kumari, Minu Devi, Manju Devi, Chanda Devi, Neha Kumari, Hema Masih, Kiran Kumari -- were held guilty of criminal conspiracy, abetment to rape, cruelty to child and failure to report commission of an offence. Advocates P K Dubey and Nishaank Mattoo, appearing for Thakur, had told reporters that they will challenge the verdict in the higher court. Advocate Gyanendra Mishra, representing Dillip, too had said there was no evidence against the accused and he will challenge the judgement in the higher court. The court had recorded the statement of 69 witnesses produced by the CBI which was represented by Public Prosecutor Amit Jindal. It had recorded the statement of 44 girls who were physically and sexually assaulted at the shelter home, of which around 13 were mentally disabled. It had examined 20 defence witnesses, said advocate Dheeraj Kumar, appearing for some of the accused. The court had on March 30, 2019, framed charges against the accused in the case in which former Bihar Social Welfare Minister and the then JD(U) leader Manju Verma also faced flak as allegations surfaced that Thakur had links with her husband. She had resigned from her post on August 8, 2018. The case was transferred on February 7, 2019 from a local court in Muzaffarpur in Bihar to a POCSO court at Saket district court complex in Delhi on the apex court's directions. The matter had come to light on May 26, 2018 after Tata Institute of Social Sciences submitted a report to the Bihar government highlighting the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls in the shelter home for the first time. The report had been submitted to the Bihar Social Welfare Department by TISS in February that year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kylie Jenner has been tirelessly plugging her new Stormi makeup line which goes on sale later this week. And on Monday evening the 22-year-old billionaire was at it again as she posted a sultry image to her Kyle Cosmetics Instagram account. The mother-of-one was seen in a plunging white gown as she laid on a bed of rocks with orchids and butterflies around her. The reality TV vet looked like a modern-day Sleeping Beauty. Like a sleeping princess: Kylie Jenner has been tirelessly plugging her new Stormi makeup line which goes on sale later this week. And on Monday evening the 22-year-old billionaire was at it again as she posted a sultry image to her Kyle Cosmetics Instagram account Sleeping Beauty is the 1959 animated film from Disney that saw Princess Aurora being cursed by Maleficent. The siren, who lives in a mansion in Hidden Hills, California, wore an off-the-shoulder white lace gown with little dots all over. The dress was cut so low her cleavage could be seen. The number also had leather straps that tied up the front for a unique look. Jenner had her eyes closed with hot pink eye shadow and mauve lipstick as well as bronze blush. Flawless: Jenner had her eyes closed with hot pink eye shadow and mauve lipstick as well as bronze blush Her inspiration? Sleeping Beauty is the 1959 animated film from Disney that saw Princess Aurora being cursed by Maleficent Her long black hair was parted in the middle and fell behind her, down her back. And she added long, light pink nails. She was laying on a boulder with butterflies on it and there were orchids around her as well as roses and chrysanthemums. This comes after she posed in the same spot for a shoot shared on Sunday. Jenner channeled the ultimate forest fairy vibes while posing in a sheer white dress on Instagram. The makeup mogul looked positively ethereal while boasting about her daughter Stormy's lavish second birthday party. Gorgeous! Jenner channeled the ultimate forest fairy vibes while posing in a sheer white dress on Instagram Sunday morning Jenner sprawled out across a lush green landscape complete with pops of color from purple and pink roses. Her see-through gown revealed just enough skin as she let her sleeve fall down her arm while resting on the moss. Kylie's glam was impeccable as always with rosy hues highlighting her big, hazel eyes, and a matching shade swiped across her lips. She posed in a nude bodysuit while her little girl wore a matching number for behind-the-scenes shots from the magical shoot. A dreamy look for winter: The high school graduate had butterflies in her hair for this shot Mommy and me: She posed in a nude bodysuit while her little girl wore a matching number for behind-the-scenes shots from the magical shoot Dreamy: Another video caught the pair in a flower storm as they sat on a large mirror and posed in matching dresses A theme: She took to Instagram on Saturday night to reveal a sneak peek of her new makeup collection in addition to a fresh manicure for Stormi's second birthday party Her long, chocolate brown hair was parted down the middle and styled in loose waves with tendrils cascading down across her back. Another video caught the pair in a flower storm as they sat on a large mirror and posed in matching dresses. She took to Instagram on Saturday night to reveal a sneak peek of her new makeup collection in addition to a fresh manicure for Stormi's second birthday party. 'Stormi collection nails for my baby girls celebration tomorrow,' she wrote with a butterfly and cloud emoji. Her announcement: She cradled her little mini me in this post where she was chatting up the Stormi Collection The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star is reportedly expected to spend a staggering $100,000 for her little one's birthday party today. Sources told TMZ that Kylie and Travis Scott will rent out a studio space to mark the celebration for Stormi after throwing an epic 'Stormi World' bash last year. The pair have been co-parenting their little girl ever since they split in November following a two-year relationship. A Co Armagh man will go on trial today for the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe seven years ago. Aaron Brady (28), of New Road, Crossmaglen, is charged with the murder of the detective at Lordship Credit Union, in Bellurgan, Co Louth, on January 25, 2013. The accused is also charged with the robbery of 7,000 in cash and cheques at the same location on the same date. Mr Brady stood up and pleaded not guilty to both charges when they were put to him by the registrar at the Central Criminal Court yesterday morning. The court heard the first count relates to the capital murder of a police officer, Det Gda Donohoe, in the course of their duty contrary to the Criminal Justice Act 1976. Justice Michael White notified the pool of prospective jurors that the trial will take up to 16 weeks and that it may run up to May 28. The trial will break for two weeks over the Easter period and will not sit on St Patrick's Day. A panel of six men and nine women - three more jurors than usually hear a case - were sworn in after midday, with the trial due to begin this morning. The jury members were warned by Mr Justice White not to go on social media or the internet to carry out research in relation to the case. The jury must, he said, concentrate solely on the evidence it hears in court. The extra jurors were there in case someone is forced to drop out through illness or any other reason. If more than 12 jurors remain at the end of the trial, there will be an open ballot to decide the final make-up of the jury, Justice White said. It took nearly two hours to swear them in, and more than 40 potential jurors were excused after pleading to the judge. A further 10 were objected to by lawyers for the defence and the prosecution. Security personnel wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in Wuhan, check the temperature of people using portable devices and an advanced thermo camera at a subway station entrance in Beijing. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP) At least 106 people have died from the virus in China, and more than 4,000 people have been infected across the nation. Cases have been identified in more than a dozen other countries, including the first confirmed patients in Canada and Sri Lanka. The United States urged its citizens to "reconsider" all travel to China and told them not to go to central Hubei province, where the pneumonia-like virus emerged. Mongolia closed its vast border to vehicles from China. In a sign of the mounting official concern, Premier Li Keqiang visited ground zero to oversee containment efforts in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the disease first appeared late last month. The government has sealed off Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, effectively trapping tens of millions of people, including thousands of foreigners, in a bid to contain the virus as the Chinese New Year holiday unfolds. China decided to extend the holiday, initially due to end on Jan 30, for three days to limit population flows and control the epidemic. US President Donald Trump said the United States has offered China "any help that is necessary" in combating the virus. The health commission in the capital said a 50 year-old-man who visited Wuhan died of respiratory failure on Monday, less than three weeks after visiting the city. More than 700 new infections were confirmed in the country, while the number of suspected cases doubled over a 24-hour period to nearly 6,000. The youngest infected patient was a nine-month-old baby being treated in Beijing. In Wuhan, AFP reporters saw construction workers labouring on one of two field hospitals that China is racing to complete by next week to relieve overcrowded facilities swamped with people waiting for medical attention. On day five under quarantine, residents shouted "Go Wuhan" from their windows, according to videos posted online, and a building lit up the night sky with the words in red. "I'm getting more concerned every day," Do Quang Duy, a 32-year-old Vietnamese masters student in Wuhan, told AFP. GLOBAL FEARS SPREAD Landlocked Mongolia - which is heavily dependent on trade with China - closed the border with its huge neighbour to cars, cancelled classes until Mar 2 and suspended large public gatherings. Malaysia banned visitors from Hubei province. Turkey and Germany advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to China altogether. A US-bound flight is scheduled to leave Wuhan on Tuesday with consular staff and some American citizens. France plans to fly citizens out of the city in the middle of this week. Japan will also bring its citizens home. Belgium, Bangladesh, India and Spain said they were working to repatriate their nationals, while Germany was considering the possibility. The World Health Organization last week stopped short of declaring the outbreak a global emergency, which could have prompted international trade or travel restrictions. But the world body said on Monday that the global risk from the deadly virus in China was "high", admitting an error in its previous reports that said it was "moderate". WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus headed to Beijing for discussions with Chinese officials. Global stock markets and oil prices plunged on Monday over coronavirus fears. CHINA SHUTS DOWN The virus is believed to have jumped to people from animals in a Wuhan market that sold a wide range of exotic wild game. China on Sunday banned all wildlife trade until the emergency subsides. The virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003 and was also traced to the wild game trade. Authorities around China have already imposed aggressive curbs on transport during the usually high-traffic Chinese New Year season to keep the virus from spreading. At Beijing's main international airport, almost all passengers wear masks. Fever checks are conducted at subway and railway stations. Typically, hundreds of millions of people criss-cross China in jam-packed buses and trains during the holiday, a time for family reunions. But the festivities have been ruined this year by the coronavirus, which can be transmitted between humans, with people told to avoid gatherings. Countless popular public attractions and seasonal festivals have been shut down. Several Beijing malls shortened their opening hours, according to state media. The nationwide measures threaten to put a dent in an economy that was already slowing down. Beijing and Shanghai were among places mandating stringent checks and 14-day observation periods for people arriving from Hubei. Wuhan's mayor Zhou Xianwang said around 5 million people had left the stricken city during the new year travel rush in January, highlighting fears the virus could spread further. An account of a Polish underground operative who infiltrated Auschwitz and spread news of the Holocaust to the Allies has been named the 2019 Costa Book of the Year. The Volunteer, by former war reporter Jack Fairweather, was announced as the winner by Costa Coffee chief executive Jill McDonald at an awards ceremony at Quaglino's in central London. The announcement came the day after the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Jack Fairweather with the front cover of his book The Volunteer Author Jack Fairweather receives Costa Book of the Year award on Tuesday evening The Volunteer tells the story of Witold Pilecki, a Polish resistance fighter during the Second World War who volunteered to be imprisoned in Auschwitz. He forged an underground army, sabotaged facilities, assassinated Nazi officers, gathered evidence of the mass murder of the Jews and spread news of the Holocaust to the Allies. The Volunteer's win, following that of The Cut Out Girl by Bart van Es last year, means that for two years in a row a biography exploring this period of history has been named Costa Book of the Year. Fairweather, a former Daily Telegraph and Washington Post war correspondent, beat Jonathan Coe and his thirteenth novel, Middle England, to win the overall prize of 30,000 at the awards ceremony Sian Williams, chairwoman of the final judges, said: 'The judges were unanimous in choosing The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather. 'It's an incredible story; pacy like a thriller, it reads like fiction and yet it's not, it is fact. 'It is a story none of us have read before this is an extraordinary and important book that people need to read.' The book is published by WH Allen. Jack Fairweather poses for photographs with his book. The Costa Book Awards is the only major UK book prize open solely to authors resident in the UK and Ireland Fairweather, a former Daily Telegraph and Washington Post war correspondent, beat Jonathan Coe and his thirteenth novel, Middle England, to win the overall prize of 30,000 at the awards ceremony. The Costa Book Awards is the only major UK book prize open solely to authors resident in the UK and Ireland, and also recognises the most enjoyable books across five categories First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book published in the last year. Anna Dempsey, an American-born writer and teacher from south-east London, won the 2019 Costa Short Story Award and 3,500 for her story, The Dedicated Dancers of The Greater Oaks Retirement Community. One in four 20-year-olds is suffering high levels of stress and potential symptoms of depression - and young women are worst affected, according to the latest findings from the national study tracking the lives of children. Overweight and obesity levels have also increased among the group since they were aged 17-18, and again, the problem is most evident among women. Insights into how 20-year-olds are faring in important areas of their lives and changes since their late teens emerge from the latest 'Growing Up in Ireland' research. It provides a picture about where they live and what they are thinking, their physical health, their emotional wellbeing and relationships, and whether they are still in education or training. One of the most concerning findings is that as many as one in three young women (32pc) and 23pc of young men presented with "clinically significant depressive symptoms", while 29pc of females and 21pc of males showed above normal stress levels. Depressive symptoms do not represent a diagnosis of depression, but the finding is based on responses to eight questions in the survey seeking to assess participants' emotional wellbeing. Expand Close Click to view full size graphic / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Click to view full size graphic One question asked how often in the previous week they had felt their life was a failure. These results broadly mirror findings in the 'My World' survey published this week, showing 26pc of 18-25-year-olds in Ireland were reporting severe anxiety. The latest 'Growing Up in Ireland' report is an analysis of responses from 5,191 20-year-olds interviewed between August 2018 and June 2019. Most are still living at home and financially dependent on their parents, especially for basic living expenses. About 8pc are experiencing financial strain with higher figures from those in the lowest-skilled social classes. Almost two in three (62pc) are in further or higher education, 6pc are in training, 21pc are working full-time, 6pc are working part-time, and 5pc are not in employment, education or training. Access to housing is the issue causing most concern to the group, and a desire for financial and employment security featured strongly in their aspirations for themselves in the next 10 years. Only a minority attach high importance to having a long-term relationship or having a child by the age of 30 - 29pc and 14pc respectively. Most reported generally positive health, but they have grown fatter since they were aged 17-18. While 27pc were overweight or obese three years earlier, it was up to 36pc by the time they were 20. The obesity rates among young women is almost double that of young men - 16pc against 9pc. And young women tend to be less physically active. About 15pc smoke daily and another 23pc smoke occasionally while almost all (93pc) drink alcohol. Nearly one quarter use cannabis occasionally or more often. While high levels of stress were reported, most use constructive strategies to cope, such as talking to friends (51pc), spending time on hobbies or listening to music (50pc) or discussing the situation with their family (37pc). 'Growing Up in Ireland' is funded by the Department of Children with a contribution from Atlantic Philanthropies. Research is overseen by the ESRI and Trinity College. Friends are Gods way of apologizing for relatives. Christopher Hitchens Theres a distinction between relatives and family, in that we cannot choose our blood, but we can always choose our family. I have two siblings, Brother X and Brother XX (or Dos Equis), and both are content that a continent separates them from the Brother they call Y Knot. But family chooses us: Uncle Jon, Aunt JJ and Crazy Mike each made a choice to be a part of the Bedlam that is the Blue Bungalow in the outer, outer, outer, outer Excelsior. Im old enough to remember when even after we chose family, we couldnt make it legal. Brian and I chose each other in 1985, but it wasnt until 2008 that we could legally wed. And its a good thing that Zane and Aidan didnt choose us much earlier because adoption for gays is not that old a thing. Youd think that someone would come up with a book of naming conventions. Take spousage. Why do we gays call each other husband but our lesbian friends, well, at least the ones we know, refer to each other as wives? Husband comes from the Norse husbondi, or master of the house, and neither one of us is gonna cede the term master to the other. I suggested wasband, but it never caught on. Or who chose the term rescue dogs? Buddyboy and Bandit rescued us, not the other way around. Zane has a biological, or logical brother, Elijah, just as Aidan has a logical, Adam. Elijah has an adopted sister, Tia, and still not finding that rule book, we decided that theyre all cousins. Zane and Aidan call Elijahs parents Uncle Ian and Aunt Jesse. But theres no 21st century term for what to call the adoptive father of the logical brother of my adoptive son. Hes not a brother-in-law, maybe more like a brother-in-arms. Kinsperson? Step-sibling? Agnate? (Thats my word wealth for the day: agnate, an exclusively male kinship.) Ians the adventurer in our family. A little over a year ago, he and his brother opened up a restaurant on the other side of Sacramento. We avoided going for 13 months because, well, its a high-class place and our family leans heavily toward Hamburger Helper and ... as regular readers know, the Fisher-Paulsons are the kiss of death for restaurants (Yet Wahs, Cable Car Joes, Bravos, Le Ptit Laurent). No cuisine is safe. So we used the excuse that it was a few hours away, and we didnt think the Kipcap could drive more than 100 miles. But this past weekend the SASBs (Stephanie Ann Schrandt Boone) lured us up to Lake Tahoe. The SASBs have also chosen us as family. Shes my little sister, and they are probably the only people who could spend a night under the same roof as us without asking, Is it always like this? On the way back down the mountain, we stopped by Grass Valley to visit Ians new bistro, Watershed at the Owl. From the minute they served the Sea Salt Parker House Rolls, we were hooked before Brian even got his Bordeaux Blanc. Nate and Ashley are inventive locavore chefs, creating new dishes so fast that the menu never catches up. As I stared at the bar, shipped over, intact, from Austria in the 1840s, Ian brought us Carta di Musica (pepper greens, ricotta and bottarga) followed by veal meatballs and seven-minute eggs (deviled eggs with aioli, chives, mustard seed and crispy chicken skin garnish). Zane and Aidan dived into the heritage pork cut. Brian went with the branzino, a Mediterranean sea bass served with beluga lentils and fennel bagnet vert. And then the kill shot: milk chocolate mousse with almond cookie butter, salted caramel, creme fraiche and cocoa crumbs. We might have even moved in at that point, had a ghost named George not sat at the next table. Its a long way from Jesse and the kids. What gets you on that long drive here week after week? I asked Ian. For a long time, I worked in a brewery, I baked pizza, but now I cook what I believe in. We collaborate with the ranchers and the farmers to serve food that we value. Its worth it, he replied. Ian has not only chosen a family, hes chosen a dream. He aint heavy. Hes my agnate. (If you want to hear about chosen family firsthand, I will be reading from my new book, How We Keep Spinning...! at 7 p.m. Feb. 11, at Napa Bookmine, 964 Pearl St., Napa.) Kevin Fisher-Paulsons column appears Wednesdays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com A Victorian woman is due to face court on Tuesday after being charged with murdering her husband who suffered serious burns in an alleged domestic altercation on Saturday night. Police were called to house at Whittington, in Geelong, and found a 36-year-old man who was badly injured and rushed him to hospital where he died on Sunday. The arson squad has charged a 33-year-old woman with murder, remanding her in custody over the weekend. Nine News identified the accused as Angela OBrien. Melbourne Magistrates Court confirmed to Yahoo News Australia that the woman has been charged under her married name, Angela Surtees, and was to appear in court on Tuesday. Angela Surtees is accused of murdering her husband Daniel Surtees who died from severe burns. Source: Facebook/Angela Surtees Police will allege that she is responsible for the death of her husband Daniel Surtees following a fire in the home. According to Nine News, it is alleged the fire began in an armchair with the network obtaining images of the badly burnt furniture. Police are reportedly investigating if there was an argument between the couple prior to the fire. A neighbour told Nine she previously heard yelling and screaming but thought nothing of it. A badly burned chair in the couple's home following the incident. Source: Nine News Ms Surtees works at the Grovedale Hotel in Geelong and runs a photography business. The manager of the hotel told Yahoo News Australia he was aware of the charges against the pubs employee but declined to offer any comment. According to the deceaseds social media, the couple have been together for about eight years and together looked after five children. 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. WASHINGTON President Trump said Monday that while the Palestinians have already rejected his proposed Mideast peace deal, he expects they ultimately will agree to the blueprint the White House plans to announce following meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief challenger Benny Gantz. The meetings come just a month before Netanyahu and Gantz are set to face off in national elections for the third time in less than a year and amid speculation over whether the plan has any chance for success. Palestinians havent been consulted about the plan and have preemptively rejected any proposal from a White House it considers biased toward Israel. But Trump said he expects that while the Palestinians will say no to the plan hes expected to release Tuesday, they will quietly be negotiating. Its something they should want, Trump said in the Oval Office with Netanyahu. They probably wont want it initially. I think in the end they will. I think in the end theyre going to want it. Its very good for them. Trump called the proposal a great opportunity but wouldnt discuss further details, noting that its release has long been delayed because of the political situation in Israel. He refused to answer questions over whether it would include Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank. The proposal is expected to be very favorable to Israel, and Netanyahu has hailed it as a chance to make history and define Israels final borders. In the run-up to the March 2 vote, Netanyahu has called for annexing parts of the West Bank and imposing Israeli sovereignty on all its settlements there. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Jordan Valley in particular is considered a vital security asset. Reports in Israeli media have speculated Trumps plan could include the possible annexation of large pieces of territory that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. American approval could give Netanyahu the type of cover to go ahead with a move that hes resisted taking for more than a decade in power. Annexing Israels settlements in the occupied West Bank would appeal to Netanyahus hard-line nationalist supporters but would almost certainly torpedo the viability of an independent Palestinian state and likely infuriate neighboring Jordan. Aron Heller and Deb Riechmann are Associated Press writers. Imran Khan to discuss measures against NCV ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed that an inter-ministerial meeting be held at the earliest to discuss preventing measures against deadly novel coronavirus (NCV) and formulate a comprehensive strategy to tackle the threat. According to a notification issued by Prime Minister Office, the meeting would be chaired by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza. It will be attended by the federal secretaries for foreign affairs, national health services, interior and aviation, provincial health secretaries, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, surgeon general of the Pakistan Army, director general of the Military Operations, director general (counter-intelligence) of the Inter-Services Intelligence, director general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority, director general of the National Institute of Health, director general of the Airport Security Force and director general for China in foreign affairs ministry. The document states that outbreak of NCV is being experienced in China. Owing to the presence of a large number of Chinese in Pakistan and frequent travel between China and Pakistan, spread of virus in Pakistan cannot be ruled out if necessary precautionary measures are not put in place. It has been directed that the outcome of the meeting along with firm recommendations shall be furnished to the PM Office within one week. Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing, in a video statement, has said that Chinese and Pakistani governments are working closely and 500 Pakistani citizens in Wuhan city of Hubei province are safe and being looked after. Both the governments are coordinating with each other, he said. Article continues after ad So far three suspicious cases in Chinese community have been reported in Pakistan, but none of them has been confirmed. We have confidence and determination that we will overcome this difficult time and will return to normal life very soon, Mr Yao added. According to Geo News, a group of Pakistani students has demanded that the government make efforts to rescue them from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan. Hafsah Tayab, one of the students stuck in Wuhan, confirmed that other countries are planning to get their citizens out of the city through airplanes. Embassies of other countries [excluding Pakistan] are rescuing their citizens. There are over 500 Pakistani students in Wuhan. If even one of them gets affected, the others will be in danger, she warned in a video message. There is a shortage of essential items and if this situation persists, we will run out of food very soon, Ms Tayab said, adding that she and her fellow students have been confined to the city. Meanwhile, the Islamabad International Airport management has sought two more virus detection scanners. A senior official requesting anonymity told Dawn that the authorities concerned had been requested to provide two more virus detection scanners which would to be used if the existing one develops some technical fault. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said the CAA had been facilitating the health department staff and had also provided an ambulance for shifting any affected person to a hospital. However, no passenger with the deadly virus has so far been detected. However, an eight-member health department team has been monitoring the passengers arriving from Beijing. All the passengers are passed through the virus detection scanners and also checked by thermal guns. Paid Search Association Logo To get the Daily PPC Links, join the Paid Search Association at https://paidsearch.org. The Paid Search Association, the first association dedicated to the paid search industry, launched a daily email newsletter and added eight leading paid search experts to its Board of Directors. The Daily PPC Links is authored by Paid Search Association President David Szetela, also author of Paid Search An Hour Per Day and host of the PPC Rockstars podcast. To get the Daily PPC Links, join the Paid Search Association at https://paidsearch.org. New Paid Search Association board members include: Andrew Goodman, Founder and President of Page Zero Media, a pioneering PPC agency that originally started in 1999. Goodman is the author of one of the first books on paid search, Winning Results With Google AdWords (McGraw-Hill, 2005, 2008). He is a frequent speaker on ppc subjects. Anders Hjorth is the author of the Search Strategies Report and the founder of Innovell, a Digital Marketing Insights consultancy researching trends in Digital Marketing. As a pioneer in SEO, one of the first Google Advertising Professionals and the co-founder of several agencies: Relevant Traffic (Search Marketing), BDBL MEDIA (Biddable Media) and AZNOS (Content Marketing). Anders was also COO for GroupM Search across EMEA William (Bill) Leake is the CEO of ApogeeResults.com, whose clients include high-growth VC-backed, Internet Retailer 500 and Inc. 5000 companies, as well as large brands like Amazon, Whole Foods, HP, IBM, and others. He is also the president of the Austin Interactive Marketing Association, and is a SEMPO board member. He has driven provable digital revenues since building the first company obtaining nine-figures of Internet-based revenue, before Amazon or eBay. Gianpaolo Lorusso AdWords trainer since 2004, he is the founder of ADworld Experience (the largest European PPC event, as well as the only one in the World based exclusively on real PPC & CRO cases). Author of the best-selling Italian book on Google Ads, Agile Google Ads. He patented in US the PPC CheckMate optimization methodology and is a frequent speaker on paid search topics. Ginny Marvin is Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. In addition, She s about digital advertising and measurement including paid search, paid social, display, mobile, with a focus on Google, Microsoft and Amazon. She is heavily involved in programming and speaking at SMX events. Christi Olson is Head of Evangelism for Search and Advertising at Microsoft, where she is responsible for increasing brand awareness and bring feedback to engineering and product teams. Olson is a frequent columnist and speaker and is also a member of SEMPOs Board of Directors. Adam Proehl is Co-founder/Partner at Nordic Click, where his primary role is to drive strategic direction and support agency teams. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and is an instructor at the Online Marketing Institute and the University of San Francisco. He has more than two decades of online marketing expertise. Purna Virji was crowned the 2019 Search Personality of the Year at the US Search Awards, Purna was also named by Adweek on their 2018 Young Influentials List, and in 2016 was named by PPC Hero as the #1 Most Influential Expert in the world. She is a keynote speaker at conferences such as AdWeek, DMEXCO, The Next Web Conference and INBOUND. Purna is a columnist on digital marketing for Search Engine Land and Moz. About the Paid Search Industry In 2019 Paid Search Advertising became a $135.9 billion industry, see https://www.statista.com/statistics/267056/paid-search-advertising-expenditure-worldwide/ About the Paid Search Association The Paid Search Association is dedicated to advancing the paid search industry by encouraging communication, learning, collaboration, diversity and high ethical and business standards among professionals and organizations involved in the paid search industry. Paid Search Association, 500 North Reo Street, Suite 300, Tampa, FL 33609 Contact: Mike Freedman (813) 368-1501 Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Even with record-setting revenue from New Mexicos oil and gas industry flowing into Santa Fe, one of the states largest business organizations is urging restraint during the ongoing legislative session. The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerces legislative agenda, which it announced Monday, includes lists of policies the chamber will support and oppose. In broad strokes, the chamber urged a more targeted approach, rather than the steep increase in spending seen during last years session. Our overall theme this year is that we think the mood of last year should stop, said Terri Cole, president and CEO of the Albuquerque chamber. For the second straight year, New Mexico has a substantial budget surplus, due largely to revenue from the ongoing oil and gas boom in the Permian Basin. During last years session, the Legislature passed a $7 billion budget, an increase of roughly 11% over the prior year. This year, the chamber of commerce is calling for a more moderate increase to spending and advocating for recurring spending growth to be capped at 6.5%. Cole said shed like to see the Legislature be less reliant on ebbs and flows to the volatile oil and gas industry, while still addressing systemic challenges like early childhood and homelessness. Were walking that important, fine line, Cole said. The chamber supports a proposal to establish a fund that would boost spending on early childhood education. Cole said the funding approach, which would allocate around $320 million from the general fund in 2020 and incorporate excess revenue from oil and gas production in the future, allows the state to take a sustainable approach to using oil and gas revenue to help solve a long-running problem in New Mexico. Early childhood programs are the foundation of so much that New Mexico is trying to achieve, Cole said. The chamber has also thrown its support behind a series of proposals designed to improve public safety across the state. Cole said the chamber has endorsed tougher criminal penalties for those who use firearms while committing a crime, and focused deterrence strategies to tackle violence from organized groups or gangs. We know that public safety is a huge challenge in Albuquerque and around the state, she said. Other proposals supported by the chamber include: Seek permanent, recurring funding for the Crime Strategies Unit in the 2nd Judicial District Attorneys office. Secure $6.7 million in capital funding for improvements for the Albuquerque Police Department Secure $14 million in state capital funding to build an around-the-clock shelter and service facility in Albuquerque for individuals experiencing homelessness For a full rundown of chambers legislative agenda, click here. US President Donald Trump has discussed developments in Syria and Libya with Turkish President Erdogan over a phone call on Monday, a White House spokesman said on Twitter. This comes two days after Erdogan accused Haftar of attacking 'with all his resources.' Read: Days After Truce Agreement, Erdogan Accuses Haftar Of Attacking 'with All His Resources' Need to eliminate foreign interference Judd Deere, a White House spokesman said the two leaders discussed the need to eliminate foreign interference and maintain the ceasefire in Libya. The leaders also agreed that looking at the violence being carried out in Idlib, Syria must stop, international media reported. A renewed drive of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to capture the rebel-held Idlib province in Syrias northwest sparked a fresh exodus of many thousand Syrian civilians towards the Turkey border on Monday. Read: Erdogan: Libya 'chaos' Threatens Whole Region On the other hand, Libyas military commander Khalifa Haftar moved forces on Sunday towards the city of Misrata, the city allied to the country internationally recognised government, officials and residents revealed. The increase in fighting came a week after Turkey, UAE, Egypt and Russia agreed with western powers in Berlin to push for ending ceasefire and upholding an arms embargo. Read: Putin And Erdogan Comment During Talks In Berlin Meanwhile, Erdogan said that Libyas eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar is continuing attacks with all his resources even after the ceasefire agreement. Erdogan, an ally of Libyas Government of National Accord (GNA), accused Haftar of betraying the superiors in the past and added that it is not possible to expect mercy and understanding from someone like him. Turkey has backed the UN-recognised government led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj and even signed a military accord recently. Speaking at Ataturk airport ahead of a visit to Algeria, Erdogan reportedly said that international support for Haftars Libyan National Army (LNA) is spoiling the military leader. However, the United Nations said that several countries have continued providing advanced weapons, armoured vehicles, violating the arms embargo agreed during an international conference in Berlin. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), in a statement, expressed regret for the continued blatant violations of the arms embargo committed during the conference on January 19. Read: Hopes Fade For Missing As Turkey Quake Toll Rises (With inputs from agencies) The logo of 3M is seen at the 3M Tilloy plant in Tilloy-Lez-Cambrai, France, on Aug. 18, 2019.(Reuters/Pascal Rossignol) 3M Stock Tumbles After Profit Slump Announcement Amid Sluggish Demand from China Shares of industrial giant 3M tumbled by over 5 percent Tuesday after the company announced lackluster corporate earnings figures that included a drop in year-on-year profits of 28.1 percent amid weak demand from China. According to 3Ms income statement (pdf) published on Jan. 28, the companys year-over-year non-adjusted earnings per share (EPS) fell by 26.9 percent. The adjusted EPS fell by 15.6 percent. The companys non-adjusted net income, or profit, fell by 28.1 percent from $1.35 billion to $969 million. The adjusted year-on-year profit fell by 15.6 percent. The company said it adjusted some of its figures for reasons that included accounting procedures related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and for impacts of significant litigation-related charges. The company recorded a $214 million write-down for litigation related to alleged discharges of waste containing potentially dangerous PFAS chemicals. Overall sales between 4Q 2018 and 4Q 2019 grew by 2.1 percent to $8.11 billion. Gross profit for the same period fell by 2.5 percent to $3.79 billion. The sales performance suggests any recovery will be gradual, Barclays analyst Julian Mitchell told Reuters. We expect investors to generally be disappointed with the print, guidance, and the new PFAS-related charges, while rapidly advancing Coronavirus concerns ultimately could pull the rug out from under the Asia recovery story, Gordon Haskett analyst John Inch told Reuters. Sluggish Start to China Sales in Asia-Pacific fell for the fifth straight quarter, hurt by sluggish demand from Chinas automotive and electronics sectors, forcing the company to cut jobs and production last year. Chinas economy grew at its slowest pace in almost three decades in 2019 amid a trade dispute that hit factory production, while auto sales slumped for the 18th straight month. 3M CEO Mike Roman said in a post-earnings call cited by Reuters that he was looking at a sluggish start in China in the first quarter, based on forecasts that the automotive business would decline. We were looking at a sluggish start to China in the first quarter based on automotive, and the build rates expected to be down mid-single digits and maybe even high single digits, Roman said. The company also disclosed it had been subpoenaed in Alabama regarding inquiries into PFAS-containing waste, which can cause health problems. 3M also said it expects 2020 earnings to be in the range of $9.30 and $9.75 per share. Reuters reported that average analysts estimate was for $9.61 per share. Coronavirus Boosts Demand For Masks Roman also said on the call that the recent coronavirus outbreak in China was causing a spike in demand for respiratory masks, which 3M produces. Later, speaking on CNBCs Squawk on the Street, he said the company was increasing the production of respiratory protection products that people wear to prevent infection by the deadly virus. We are ramping to full production. Were going 24/7, Roman said, noting that the spike in production would affect 3M plants across the board, including in both China and the United States. Coronavirus has now spread to 14 countries, with nearly 4,700 confirmed cases and over 100 deaths. Reuters contributed to this report. For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. Stormont ministers have reallocated almost 20 million to under-pressure education authorities to help them pay teachers wages. The executive has also agreed to provide 1 million to increase support payments for people in Northern Ireland impacted by the infected blood scandal. Around 1 million will also be spent implementing recommendations of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry. Almost 3 million will be used to improve street lighting and fund winter services such as gritting, while another 2 million will be invested in the new Belfast Transport Hub. More than half of the 41 million being reallocated among departments as part of the in-year budget monitoring round will go towards education provision. Expand Close Education Minister Peter Weir (Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA) PA Media / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Education Minister Peter Weir (Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA) There are three monitoring rounds every financial year, with money not spent by Stormont departments being reclaimed by the Department of Finance and redistributed to meet pressures that have emerged in other areas since the annual budget was set. With powersharing restored, this is first occasion local ministers have been involved in the process since the collapse of the Assembly. The 19 million for the Education Authority is to meet existing contractual pay costs for teachers and non-teaching staff for 2019/20, and is not related to the pay dispute that was the subject of industrial action by teaching unions. Read More The executive is also allocating 10 million to address a backlog of assessments and diagnosis for children with educational needs. In total, the Department of Finance is reallocating 35.8 million for day-to-day resource spending pressures and 5.8 for capital projects. Finance Minister Conor Murphy announced the monitoring round results in the Assembly on Monday evening. With the end of the financial year fast approaching we have a short window to spend reallocations, he said. I have therefore moved quickly to agree this monitoring round with Executive colleagues. I have allocated 10 million for children with special education needs to help address the backlog in assessment and diagnosis, and cover costs such as transport and educational support. I have provided 1 million for people affected by the contaminated blood scandal to help alleviate the financial hardship experienced by many of those affected. I have also awarded 1.1 million to help take forward the recommendations of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry. Education Minister Peter Weir said: I want to welcome this additional funding which will go some way to addressing the pressures in the current financial year. There are many challenges ahead. School budgets are under severe pressure and we need to ensure our teachers receive the level of pay they deserve. It is essential that adequate resources are made available to deal with these, and the many other issues, currently faced within the education system. Leaked excerpts from a forthcoming book by former national security advisor John Bolton have staggered the Trump White House and overshadowed the efforts by Trumps lawyers to mount a defense in the Senate impeachment trial, which has continued into its second week. The revelations seem likely to become the focal point of the trial, which is headed toward a vote Friday on whether additional witnessesfirst and foremost Boltonshould be called to testify. Former U.S. National security adviser John Bolton (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Bolton is now being embraced and celebrated by the same Senate Democrats who once blocked his nomination to become ambassador to the United Nations on the grounds that he was a dangerous warmonger. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declared that Bolton had to be allowed to testify in the Senate trial, and Republican senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney was the first of several Senate Republicans to agree. Both the White House and Senate Republican leaders have opposed allowing any additional witnesses, including the four demanded by the Democrats: Bolton, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and two other White House aides, all with direct knowledge of the decision by Trump to withhold military aid from Ukraine last summer. In the event that at least four Republicans break ranks and join the 47 Democrats to provide a majority to subpoena Bolton, other Republican senators have threatened to demand a subpoena for Hunter Biden, son of former vice president Joe Biden. Hunter Biden held a lucrative position on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma for five years, beginning during the time that his father was in charge of Ukraine policy in the Obama administration. This would escalate the political warfare in Washington to an unprecedented degree, with the Democrats seeking to remove a president only nine months before the election and the Republicans seeking to politically destroy the candidate long regarded as the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. A vote Friday on witnesses would come only three days before the February 3 Iowa caucuses, where the first actual votes will be cast for the Democratic presidential nomination, and only four days before the State of the Union speech, when Trump is to address a joint session of Congress on national television. The de facto alliance between the Democratic leadership and Boltona notorious advocate of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and a fervent supporter of war with Iranonly underscores the deeply reactionary character of the impeachment effort against Trump. The Democrats have brought charges against Trump not for his real crimes against immigrants, his attacks on democratic rights or his violations of international law, but over an issue on which he has taken a less aggressive approach than the Obama administrationUS policy towards Russia. The purpose of the nearly $400 million in US military aid, as the Democratic House impeachment managers repeatedly declared last week, was to enable Ukraine to fight Russian-backed forces on its eastern border, so we dont have to fight Russia here, in the streets of America. The Democrats seek to condition public opinion in preparation for a war between the countries that possess the two largest nuclear arsenals on the planet, a conflict that could destroy the human race. Bolton, steeped in the anticommunism of the American ultra-right, is sympathetic to the Russia-baiting of the Democrats. Not only was he one of the most aggressive warmongers among the neoconservative apparatchiks of the Bush administration, but in the Trump White House he pushed for missile strikes against Iran last summer, after Iranian air defense forces shot down an unmanned US drone, and he has called for US military intervention in Venezuela. According to the book manuscript excerpts made public, Bolton wrote that he had discussions with Trump in which the president insisted he would not allow a resumption of military aid to Ukraine until the Ukrainian government agreed to announce a corruption investigation of Joe and Hunter Biden, as well as an investigation into White House claims that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 US election in an attempt to promote the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. When the Trump legal team began presenting its defense case on Monday, it had already been overtaken by events. One Trump lawyer, Michael Purpura, spent nearly an hour making a detailed examination of the evidence presented by the House impeachment managers in order to claim that Trump had never conditioned the release of military aid on Ukraine announcing an investigation into the Bidens. But Trumps top national security aide at the time, Bolton, had demolished this account in the material published in the New York Times only hours before. As the day wore on, it became clear that the White House had made the decision not to refer to Bolton directly during the trial presentations, even though Trump tweeted incessantly on the subject, denouncing Boltons account as a lie aimed at boosting his book sales. The Trump defense team engaged in lengthy presentations on largely irrelevant topics. Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who spearheaded the politically motivated Clinton impeachment in 1998-99, bemoaned the too-frequent resort to impeachment as a weapon of political conflict in America. Both Starr and Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz advanced the dubious claim that a president can be impeached only for a criminal act, and that it was unconstitutional to impeach Trump for abuse of power, the first charge brought by the House Democrats. An entire presentation was devoted to defending former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trumps personal lawyer, who played a central role in efforts to generate investigations in Ukraine, an operation described scathingly by Bolton as a drug deal, according to testimony by Boltons former aides. Two Trump lawyers gave detailed accounts of the Hunter Biden scandal, in which the vice presidents son was put on the board of Burisma at a salary of $81,000 a month, with no visible qualifications. The details of this sordid arrangement were not new. The transparent purpose of this presentation was to carry out, for a national television audience, the political assault on Biden that Trump had sought to induce the Ukrainian government to launch. Even on the pro-Trump Fox network the efforts of his defense attorneys took second place to questions about the revelations by Boltonhimself a right-wing pundit on Fox News before his appointment by Trump in 2018 to head the National Security Council (NSC). There were furious attacks on Bolton in much of the ultra-right media that once lionized him. Breitbart News noted that he had submitted the draft manuscript to the National Security Council for review, and that the attorney in charge of such reviews was Yevgeny Vindman, twin brother of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the NSC official who testified before the impeachment inquiry about his objections to Trumps cutoff of aid to Ukraine. The strong suggestion was that Yevgeny Vindman had leaked the manuscript to the Times, but Vindman issued a statement denying any role in the review, which he said was performed by a different lawyer. The White House and the NSC both declared that the manuscript had been reviewed only within the NSC. This suggests that the NSC did not alert Trumps legal team to the substance of the manuscript and the dangers it presented to Trumps defensean indication of the deep crisis within the American state, with warring factions literally under the same roof. The Times, in an editorial published Monday night, gloated over the success of its carefully timed political bombshell directed against Trump. It wrote: Mr. Bolton, a hard-line conservative with decades of service in Republican administrations, is no anti-Trump zealot, which makes his allegations against the president that much more devastating. And his decision to tell these stories publicly nearly certainly waives any claims of executive privilege Mr. Trump might try to assert over their communications. The editorial continued, One reason good lawyers insist on deposing witnesses and subpoenaing documentary evidence is to avoid any unwelcome surprises at trial. Mr. Bolton has now provided the latest of those surprises. It is surely not the last. With Trump seeking to whip up fascist violence against his opponents, and the Democrats and the bulk of the corporate media serving as front men and attorneys for powerful factions in the military-intelligence apparatusboth sides equally hostile to the working classthere is little doubt that the prediction of more surprises will be fulfilled. QUEBEC CITY, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nemaska Lithium Inc. (Nemaska Lithium or the Corporation) announces a further reduction, today, of its workforce in connection with the ongoing process under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) and its work aimed at formalizing an eventual plan of arrangement acceptable to its creditors and the Court. The 29-employee layoff is the result of a review of the essential activities that the Corporation must carry out to ensure the development of the Whabouchi project, while preserving its cash in anticipation of the examination of available alternatives, including any refinancing to allow an orderly resumption of the project. Once the downsizing is completed, little over 30 employees will remain at the Corporations employ. It is with great sadness that we must let go our colleagues. Their hard work over the years, sometimes under challenging circumstances, allowed us to advance the Whabouchi project to the maximum while awaiting the required financing to complete it. I would like to sincerely thank them for their important contribution, said Guy Bourassa, president and chief executive officer. This difficult decision was inevitable at this point. We are offering all the support and guidance to the employees that are leaving us, and which may help them towards their next steps. We sincerely hope to have the privilege to welcome back many of them once we are able to resume the project." More information regarding the Corporations situation, decisions or actions will continue to be provided on an ongoing basis, as required by applicable law or as may be determined by the Corporation or the Court. You can also refer to the Monitors website for more information on the CCAA procedures at https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/services/insolvency-assignments/nemaska-lithium-inc.html . About Nemaska Lithium Nemaska Lithium Inc. is a developing chemical company whose activities will be vertically integrated, from spodumene mining to the commercialization of high-purity lithium hydroxide. These lithium salts are mainly destined for the fast-growing lithium-ion battery market, which is driven by the increasing demand for electric vehicles and energy storage worldwide. With its products and processes, the Corporation intends to facilitate access to green energy, for the benefit of humanity. Story continues The Corporation intends to operate the Whabouchi mine in Quebec, Canada, one of the richest lithium spodumene deposits in the world, both in volume and grade, and the spodumene concentrate to be produced thereat will thereafter be processed at the Shawinigan plant using a unique membrane electrolysis process for which the Corporation holds several patents. For more information, visit www.nemaskalithium.com . Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release including, but not limited to, those relating to the CCAA application and proceedings, the Corporations activities and its ability to meet its obligations, constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws and are based on expectations and projections as of the date of this press release. Certain important assumptions by the Corporation in making forward-looking statements include, notably but without limitation, the achievement of a Court-approved arrangement under the CCAA to allow the resumption of the project construction and engineering activities. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, notably but without limitation, those related to (i) the outcome of the CCAA proceedings, (ii) the ability of the Corporation to secure additional financing and to complete the necessary preparation to allow an orderly resumption of the project, (iii) the Corporations capacity to develop the Whabouchi project, (iv) preserving the Corporations cash, (v) the Corporation pursuing alternatives to secure the financing, (vi) the eventual return of laid off employees once the project is relaunched, and (vii) generally, the above About Nemaska Lithium paragraph which essentially describes the Corporations outlook. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the time of this press release. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Corporation as of the time of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect. In addition, there is no assurance that the Corporation will emerge from the CCAA process by completing a project refinancing, and that there will be any residual value for shareholders under the CCAA process. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can directly or indirectly affect, and could cause, actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that the Whabouchi mine and/or the electrochemical plant in Shawinigan will be commissioned and will begin production, as future events could differ materially what is currently anticipated by the Corporation. In addition, there can be no assurance that the CCAA proceedings will result in the maximization of the return in respect of the Corporations assets and those of its subsidiaries. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about managements expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important risk factors and future events could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators of Canada including, but not limited to, the cautionary statements made in the Risk Factors section of the Corporations Annual Information Form dated September 30, 2019, and the Risk Exposure and Management section of the Corporations quarterly Management Discussion & Analysis. The Corporation cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive, and new, unforeseeable risks may arise from time to time. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. Further information regarding Nemaska Lithium is available in the SEDAR database ( www.sedar.com ) and on the Corporations website at: www.nemaskalithium.com . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Gabrielle Tellier Media Relations 514 348-0466 gabrielle.tellier@nemaskalithium.com Wanda Cutler Investor Relations 416 303-6460 wanda.cutler@nemaskalithium.com This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act Attachment Sweethearts candies are returning just in time for Valentines Day but a few of your favorite sayings might be missing this year. New England Confectionery Company (NECCO), maker of the beloved Valentines Day candy, went bankrupt in 2018. The company was eventually sold to Ohio-based Spangler Candy, best known for Dum Dum lollipops. The candies werent on shelves in 2019 but were slated for a comeback in 2020. Then Spangler hit a few road bumps. The company had to move and reinstall 60 truckloads of equipment from the old Necco factory in Revere, Massachusetts to a new facility, TODAY reported. This involved cranes through its roof and several delays. There were also issues with the printers for a few of the sayings, including be my friend and you rock. The company did invest in a new printer, according to CNBC but then that printer was damaged during production. This means all the candies that shouldve had those saying will be silent this year. According to candystore.com, thats 65% of hearts left blank. Still, if you cant wait another year to satisfy those cravings, youll have to move fast. The candies will be available at drugstores like CVS and Walgreens and a few local stores will have them but overall there will be a limited supply. Based on consumer response and the technical challenges, we are not going to be able to meet all of the consumer demand for 2020, Spangler spokeswoman Diana Moore Eschhofen told CNBC. We know thats disappointing, but its a disappointment for us, too." Normal production is expected to return in 2021, CNBC reported. The final change to the candy was deliberate. Spangler is bringing back some of the hearts original flavors, including banana and wintergreen. The company found the original 118-year old recipe for Sweethearts in old paperwork, according to Time. The Spangler website says theyre working on more new flavors and sayings for the future. This year, youll just have to add a few of your own. Looking for other Valentines Day candies? Try these hearts or chocolates from Amazon. (Or maybe pickles are your thing.) Related Content: UPDATE: 3:20 PM Fotis Dulos will be transfered to hyperbaric chamber at the Jacobi Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y. He is going there because Bridgeports hyperbaric chamber is full. UPDATE: 2:52 PM Police confirm Fotis Dulos is alive and in critical condition. Farmington Police Lt. Tim McKenzie said Dulos is being treated for carbon monoxide poisioning. He was found sitting inside his Suburban vehicle in the garage showing obvious signs of medical distress. When EMS arrived they treated Dulos with chest compression and CPR. Police said they went to Dulos home for a well-being check because he did not show up in court Tuesday. McKenzie said police are planning another news conference later in the day. UPDATE: 2:48 PM Fotis Dulos will be transported to Bridgeport Hospital that has a hyperbaric chamber. According to the Mayo Clinic, hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized room or tube. In a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, the air pressure is increased to three times higher than normal air pressure. Under these conditions, your lungs can gather more oxygen than would be possible breathing pure oxygen at normal air pressure. UPDATE: 2:37 PM WFSB reports that Fotis Dulos will be transported on a LifeStar medical helicopter from the UConn Medical Center to another hospital. It reported Dolis will be transported to Bridgeport Hospital that has a hyperbaric chamber. According to the Mayo Clinic, hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized room or tube. In a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, the air pressure is increased to three times higher than normal air pressure. Under these conditions, your lungs can gather more oxygen than would be possible breathing pure oxygen at normal air pressure. UPDATE: 2:35 PM Farmington police did a well-fare check when Dulos didn't show up for court. You never see anything like this coming," said Stamford States Attorney Richard Colangelos said. UPDATE: 2:27 PM Fotis Dulos, charged with murdering his estranged and missing wife, attempted suicide Tuesday, according to multiple reports. There were conflicting reports about whether he survived. A dispatcher from the Farmington police said officers had responded to Fotis Dulos' home, but could not give any other information. Multiple news outlets, citing unnamed sources, reported that Dulos was found dead at the home. Attorney Norm Pattis initially confirmed the death to media, but later retracted that. I am told Mr. Dulos is en route to the hospital with a pulse, he said in a statement. Aerial footage of Dulos' home showed officials erecting tents in the driveway, while several people milled about. Police were expected to hold a news conference later Tuesday. UPDATE: 1:56 PM News conference by state police is delayed. No word when it will be held. UPDATE: 1:51 PM UPDATE: 1:27 PM State Police are planning a news conference at the UConn medical center in Farmington. UPDATE: 1:06 PM Dulos attorney Norm Pattis said, I am told he is enroute to the hospital with a pulse. Our thoughts and prayers are with him. Yet, multiple sources have said that Dulos had died. UPDATE: 1:03 PM Dulos, 52, was found in the garage of his home in Farmington, an official told the New York Times. It was believed he had tried to poison himself with carbon monoxide, the Times reported. UPDATE: 12:55 PM State Police sources say Fotis Dulos, who was facing charges in the murder of his estranged wife, has died at his Farmington home. No other details were available at this time. Other news outlets are reporting that efforts are still underway to revive Dulos. There are multiple emergency personnel on site at his Jefferson Crossing home. UPDATE: 12:32 PM Fotis Dulos is dead, a source close to Dulos told Hearst Connecticut Media. Police would not confirm. Drone footage captured by Eyewitness News 3 earlier today shows an unconscious man lying at the foot of Fotis Dulos home at 4 Jefferson Crossing in Farmington with three police officers around him. Police later erected two tents to cover the spot where the body was found. UPDATE: 12:26 PM WFSB reports that Fotis Dulos tried to kill himself at his home on Jefferson Crossing. Farmington police would not confirm the report. UPDATE: 12:23 PM Fotis Dulos has not appeared in court. There is a report of a medical emergency at his Farmington home. Technavio has been monitoring the agricultural tractors market, and it is poised to grow by 481.84 thousand units during 2020-2024, at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period. Request free sample pages This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005450/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled global agricultural tractors market 2020-2024. (Graphic: Business Wire) Read the 120-page report with TOC on "Agricultural Tractors Market Analysis Report by Engine Capacity (low power, mid power, and high power), product (all-wheel drive and two-wheel drive), Geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America), and the Segment Forecasts, 2020-2024." https://www.technavio.com/report/agricultural-tractors-market-industry-analysis The introduction of driverless agricultural tractors and the increasing availability of agricultural tractors with improved features is anticipated to boost the growth of the agricultural tractors market. Constant technological advances have led several players to develop various versions of driverless agricultural tractors. For instance, Yanmar, one of the leading vendors, has developed robotic tractors that are equipped with in-built sensors, which help in identifying obstacles and preventing collisions. The speed of the tractor is optimized by an engine control unit (ECU) based on the operating conditions. Thus, the development of such advanced driverless agricultural tractors will drive the growth of the agricultural tractors market during the forecast period. Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free. View market snapshot before purchasing Five Major Agricultural Tractors Market Vendor: AGCO Corp. AGCO Corp. has its business operations under four geographical divisions, which include North America, South America, Europe/Middle East, and Asia/Pacific/Africa. The company offers a wide range of high horsepower tractors, utility tractors, and compact tractors for farm applications. In March 2019, the company entered into a strategic partnership with Solinftec, a leading developer and distributor of digital agriculture solutions. Alamo Group Inc. Alamo Group Inc. operates its business through three segments, such as industrial, agricultural, and European. The company offers multifunction tractors that combine lawn mowing and snow removal. In March 2019, the company announced the completion of its acquisition of Dutch Power Company. CNH Industrial NV CNH Industrial NV has business operations under various segments, such as agricultural equipment, construction equipment, commercial vehicles, powertrain, and financial services. The company offers a wide range of tractors such as Boomer, T3F, T4 F/N/V, TD4F, and T3000 series. Deere Co. Deere Co. operates its business through various segments, which include agriculture and turf, construction and forestry, and financial services. The company offers a wide range of track tractors, compact tractors, row crop tractors, specialty tractors, and utility tractors. J.C. Bamford Excavators Ltd. J.C. Bamford Excavators Ltd. has business operations under three segments, namely construction, agriculture, and finance. The company offers a wide range of agricultural tractors, which include 4160 model, 4190 model, 4220 model, 8290 model, and 8330 model. In November 2019, the company launched a new version of the JCB 8000 Series high-speed field and haulage tractor equipped with hydraulic double-acting JCB Advanced Suspension front and rear at AGRITECHNICA 2019. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Agricultural Tractors Engine Capacity Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2020-2024) Low power Mid power High power Agricultural Tractors Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2020-2024) All-wheel drive Two-wheel drive Agricultural Tractors Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2020-2024) North America APAC Europe South America and MEA Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005450/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: mailto:media@technavio.com Website: https://www.technavio.com/ The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has warned tax evaders that they face imminent arrest as it intensifies efforts to plug Government revenue leakages, standing at $2 billion per year. Speaking at a function organised by Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) to discuss gendered corruption recently, ZACC chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo said Zimbabwe was losing about $2 billion due to revenue leakages. To that end, she said ZACC would intensify efforts to stop the leakages. ZACC is on record that those who have an affinity for either evading or avoiding tax obligations will be fully brought to account for their actions. I think from the studies carried out last year, Zimbabwe is losing $1.8 billion every year due to leakages in various sectors. We will institute thorough investigations, recover assets, arrest and hand suspects over to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for prosecution without fear or favour, Justice Matanda Moyo said. She said more property will be seized and forfeited to the State. The current commission has been in office for less than 12 months, but I can assure you that we tried our best to rejuvenate ZACC as an institution. Currently, we are running out of space to store recovered property. A number of bank accounts have been frozen but again, we are still working on the legal framework to ensure that we finalise the processes with the courts. She assured the nation that the catch and release days were now over and that the commission would not rest until there was behavioural change. Turning to the corruption perceptions Index results on gendered corruption, Justice Matanda Moyo said women should be considered for higher offices and be included in decision-making. Basing on earlier studies and reports, Justice Matanda Moyo said women have proved to be less corrupt. The gender corruption barometer is an important study. Without taking any bias, in Zimbabwe it appears as if more males are prone to corruption than females. Maybe it is time that we give women an opportunity to assume leadership positions in private and public institutions if we are to make significant progress in the anti-corruption drive. She said ZACC will continue to fight corruption until the global perception on Zimbabwe improves. Ione Brannon knows about the near-daily violence in Harrisburg schools, and during a recent visit to the high schools John Harris Campus, she said that she witnessed students fighting and disrespect firsthand. But as Brannon spoke Monday in a meeting space inside the Camp Curtin YMCA, one incident came to mind a fight between girls escalated into a larger brawl in a high school hallway. Staff members rushed in to break up the fight, and a teacher got caught up in the melee, falling to the ground before being buried in a pile of punching, kicking students, said Brannon, a parent. It was horrible, Brannon said. That school is like a zoo. It was one brawl in what community members described as a week of consistent fighting at the school, but they also pointed out that violent and disrespectful behavior is not exclusive to the high school. Its also been reported at Rowland and Camp Curtin academies and other schools districtwide. Thats why members of the Concerned About the Children of Harrisburg community group hosted a public forum at the YMCA, calling on Harrisburg adults to volunteer their time, offering supervision while supporting district leaders in an effort to curb bad behavior. Changes need to be made immediately, the community activists said, because some students are afraid to enter their school buildings. And according to school board member Jayne Buchwach, the students are not alone. Buchwach read a message that she received from a district teacher. She said, It is the worst thing that I have ever seen. I am so scared. I dont know if I have another one in me," Buchwach said. Buchwach wasnt the only school board member in attendance. Steven Williams and Gerald Welch were there, too. So was city Councilman Dave Madsen and community activists such as Ralph Rodriguez and Kevin Maxson. But CATCH member Christian Yellowdy noticed one problem with the crowd of about 20 people who gathered for the meeting: There werent enough district parents among them, she said. That point was repeated many times throughout the night by those who took to a microphone inside the meeting space, some asking what could be done to hold parents accountable for their childrens disruptive misbehavior. Others simply wondered how to get them more involved. We need to do something now, one speaker said, seeking a solution for behavior-related distractions in Harrisburg classrooms. These kids are not learning. They cant read. They cant write. Over the course of two hours, those in attendance spoke about regular fighting on buses, the destruction of school property and the arguments and bullying on social media that leads to violence in schools. They also talked about the use of cellphones in classrooms, including sometimes filming and sharing photos and videos of the violence. One parent called on the districts administrators to provide a clear update on exactly what is being done to change that behavior. The current administration largely comprised of out-of-towners from Montgomery County was put in place last June, when a Dauphin County Judge ordered that the long-failing district be placed under a three-year period of state control, which is commonly called receivership. While its the job of the out-of-town team to steer the district back to academic and financial success, Welch cautioned against relying solely on their leadership to set things right. The people that are in the administration and the receivership are leaving and we are still going to be here, Welch said, calling on parents and taxpayers to be vocal and active participants in the districts recovery by pointing out problems and suggesting solutions. Im past that point of praying, Welch said. You can pray until you faint, but when you get up, you have to do something because Gods not going to put it in your lap. Doing something was the point of Mondays meeting, with CATCH leader Charla Plaines pointing out that shes supportive of the new administration and the changes theyve made thus far, but "we also realize that our kids are still suffering. John Harris High School. April 24, 2019 Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com PENNLIVE.COMPENNLIVE.COM They are afraid. They are fighting every day. They cant do work in school, she said. There does not seem to be any type of plan or process in place to get control. Thats why members of CATCH asked adults in the community, especially men, to sign up Monday to serve as certified volunteers hopefully inside schools but at least outside during students arrivals and dismissals. The idea is that those parents can provide another layer of supervision, helping to calm the near-constant misbehavior in schools. Obviously, Plaines said, that plan will need approval from district Receiver Janet Saumeuls before it can get up and running. Thats why members of CATCH said they hope to approach her soon with a proposal. We are ready to go kick the doors down, one of the CATCH members said. We dont think our children are getting what they need. . . . We cant keep waiting. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. READ MORE: Iraqi TV station faces month-long ban after protest coverage Baghdad, Jan 28 (AFP) Jan 28, 2020 Iraqi authorities have ordered the closure for a month of Al-Dijla television, which has aired intensive coverage of anti-government protests in recent months, media and police sources told AFP Tuesday. "Interior ministry forces fully shut down Al-Dijla's offices in Baghdad last night and respectfully asked the staff to leave," a source from the broadcaster told AFP. An interior ministry official confirmed that security forces had stormed the offices in the Jadiriyah neighbourhood of east Baghdad late on Monday. At least 80 employees work at the Baghdad bureau and another 50 work at the station's headquarters in Amman, from where it broadcasts. The Al-Dijla employee, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said the main office had been ordered by Jordanian authorities to stop broadcasting for a month. "The Iraqi government requested from Jordan that it halt the station's broadcasting for a month based on an Iraqi complaint," the source said. Starting Monday, the frequency on which Al-Dijla typically broadcasts has showed a still image of its logo. Al-Dijlah has provided daily coverage of the anti-government protests sweeping Baghdad and the Shiite-majority south since October 1, despite pressure on its staff. Its Baghdad office was raided in the first week of rallies and on January 10, one of its correspondents and his cameraman were gunned down in the southern city of Basra. Before he was killed, correspondent Ahmad Abdessamad, 37, said he had been threatened by Iraqi armed groups because he criticised powerful neighbour Iran in his coverage. On January 20, Al-Dijla's leading anchorman Nabil Jassem got into an on-air dispute with the prime minister's spokesman for military issues Abdelkarim Khalaf. Khalaf declined to respond to a question from Jassem about the number of casualties in protest-related violence, and the two accused each other of being disrespectful before Khalaf walked off the set. In reaction to the shutdown, Al-Dijla administrative head Jamal al-Karbuli tweeted late Monday: "Al-Dijla pays the price for truth." Haidar al-Maytham, a member of the Iraqi National Syndicate for Journalists, told AFP on Tuesday that authorities had taken issue with Al-Dijla's "politics". "There are political disagreements and differences of opinion between the channel's administration and Iraqi officials, which led to the decision (to shut it down)," Maytham said. Major powers and advocacy groups have called on Iraq to do more to ensure media freedom and protect journalists covering the protests. Graphic Packaging to Acquire Folding Carton Facility in Nebraska from Quad/Graphics for $40 Million Jan. 28, 2020 - Graphic Packaging Holding Company today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire a folding carton facility from Quad/Graphics, Inc. for $40.0 million, subject to standard closing conditions. Graphic Packaging noted that the approximately 400,000 square foot converting facility is strategically located in Omaha, Nebraska, close to many existing food, beverage and industrial customers. The business generates approximately $75 million in revenue, consumes roughly 40,000 tons of paperboard, and is expected to generate approximately $7 million in annualized EBITDA including synergies over the next 24 months. Joel Quadracci, Chairman, President & CEO of Quad, commented, The Omaha plants focus on high-volume, low-cost converting for folding cartons is a great fit with a vertically integrated supplier like Graphic Packaging, which operates both paperboard mills and converting facilities. Graphic Packaging expects to close the deal on January 31. Graphic Packaging Holding Company, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a leading provider of packaging solutions for a wide variety of products to food, beverage and other consumer products companies. The company is one of the largest producers of folding cartons and holds a leading market position in coated-unbleached kraft and coated-recycled board. To learn more about Graphic Packaging, please visit: www.graphicpkg.com . SOURCE: Graphic Packaging Holding Company WASHINGTON Two sets of remains have been recovered at the site where an American military plane crashed in Taliban-controlled territory outside Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday, American military officials said, after a day in which United States forces struggled to get to the site. American officials had indicated on Monday that they thought the two-person crew of the plane had most likely not survived the crash, which occurred in the district of Deh Yak in Ghazni Province during a day of harsh weather. Officials in Ghazni said the effort to recover the remains had begun Monday evening, but forces had not been able to retrieve the bodies until Tuesday. Since yesterday, the area has been under the control of the foreign air force, Nasir Ahmad Faqiri, the chief of the Ghazni provincial council, said on Tuesday afternoon. An hour ago, the foreign air forces got into the incident site and took two bodies out. Be careful and be well-informed when voting. Make sure youre voting for someone with your best interest. Michael Shucoski via Facebook Galloway Council meeting heated over mayoral switch He would have been better off having it in Atlantic City. Corey Pollitt via Facebook A ticket does not guarantee you access to Trumps Wildwood rally The rest of us Americans are just coming, not affiliated with any group, proud as a peacock to have a sitting president of the United States visit our little island! Linda Aboud Protest scheduled during Trump rally in Wildwood Thankfully Woodbine is a small town. I wont go there anymore. Todd Williams via Facebook Is it just us or has Peter Webers season of The Bachelor descended into complete mayhem? The show has become less about love and more about the women feuding with one another. The drama was really brought to a head when Alayah Benavidez returned this week after being eliminated. Last week, Benavidez was sent home after multiple women claimed that she was fake and Victoria Paul told Weber that Benavidez asked her to lie about their friendship. Alayah Benavidez and Peter Weber | John Fleenor/ABC via Getty Images When Benavidez returned, she and Pauls stories were conflicting. So, whats the truth? How well do Paul and Benavidez actually know one another? Why did Alayah get sent home? Last week, the women made it a point to tell Weber how fake they thought Benavidez was. They said that she turned her personality on for the cameras and expressed concerns that the former beauty queen was not there for the right reasons. But the nail in Benavidezs coffin really came when Paul accused her of trying to lie. Its difficult for me to be in this position, but I know she asked me to not tell producers that we knew each other Looking back, she did ask me to lie and thats not who I am, Paul told Weber. Coming into this, she was really looking forward to all the opportunities to come from this even if you werent her husband, she continued. Later, Weber used this information to send Benavidez home. Do Victoria and Alayah know each other? During her conversation with Weber, Paul said that she had spoken to Benavidez for a total of about three hours throughout their entire relationship. But when she returned, Benavidez claimed that they were actually friends. The two reportedly met when competing for Miss USA together. If you go to Benavidezs Instagram, you can also see that the two went to the same Sheri Hill event in 2018. What a perfect night with all of my gorgeous @missusa sisters! I cant think of a better way to watch @missuniverse than at the @sherrihill show room with this incredible company I cant wait to take on Miss USA with all of these beauties, she wrote along with pictures of her and all of the other USA contestants in attendance. And in May of 2019, Benavidez made another post about how close she got to the other Miss USA women. Even though I did not walk away with the title of Miss USA, I walked away with 50 beautiful friendships that will last me my entire life, she wrote on Instagram. These girls are so supportive and wonderful and it never once felt like a competition with all of these beauties cheering each other on. In her confrontation with Benavidez and Weber, Paul even admitted that she and Benavidez went to Las Vegas together. So, its clear that the two were actually friends before they came into the house. Why Paul was lying about it and trying so hard to get rid of Benavidez has yet to be revealed. Hopefully, Weber can figure out how to put an end to all of this drama before the rest of the women give up on him and the experience. NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Electronics Manufacturing Services 2020-2024 The analyst has been monitoring the electronics manufacturing services and it is poised to grow by USD 118.49 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period. Our reports on electronics manufacturing services provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05483801/?utm_source=PRN The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by Increasing adoption of smart manufacturing. In addition, rising penetration of big data analytics in manufacturing industry is anticipated to boost the growth of the electronics manufacturing services as well. Market Segmentation The global electronics manufacturing services is segmented as below: End-user Computing and consumer appliances Telecommunication Industrial Automotive Healthcare End-Users Geographic segmentation APAC Europe MEA North America South America Key Trends for electronics manufacturing services growth This study identifies rising penetration of big data analytics in manufacturing industry as the prime reasons driving the electronics manufacturing services growth during the next few years. Prominent vendors in electronics manufacturing services We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the electronics manufacturing services, including some of the vendors such as Benchmark Electronics Inc., Celestica Inc., Creation Technologies LLC, ESCATEC Sdn. Bhd., Flex Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., Jabil Inc., Plexus Corp., Sanmina Corp. and Venture Corp. Ltd. The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05483801/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com Experts and stakeholders in the ICT sector stressed the importance of Tamkeens role in supporting this sector as it accelerates business, provides quality jobs for Bahrainis, and supports the process of digital transformation in Bahrain. Experts pointed out that Tamkeen's support for the ICT sector was reflected in many aspects, from the establishment of ICT support service for more than 3,000 Bahraini institutions, as well as introducing ICT professional certificates for 7,800 Bahrainis, in addition to the continuous work of Tamkeen to build an effective partnership with global technology companies such as Amazon and Microsoft to establishing technology incubators and accelerators. Strategic partnership Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH) Chairman Ubaydli Ubaydli explained that BTECH is working to keep up with the rapid developments of the ICT sector and how they can be implemented in Bahrain. Ubaydli stressed that BTECH plays a key role in bridging the gap between technology companies in the private sector and government and semi-government entities in Bahrain. He added: We see great support from those empowering the societys initiatives and projects that seek to develop the ICT sector in Bahrain, and help its companies grow, enabling them to strike fruitful partnerships with their counterparts in Bahrain, the region and the world, and to export their services and products to various markets. He pointed out that the Bahrain Economic Development Board positioned the ICT sector as one of the five main sectors targeting support and growth, and that the aspects of a national plan for the transition towards the digital economy are being planned out, considering that all of this confirms the importance of moving forward in supporting and developing this sector. Keeping up with job market needs Ahmed Al Hujairi, CEO of GFB, mentioned that the World Economic Forum indicated that more than 30% of the jobs currently known will disappear in the next 10 years, to be replaced by other jobs due to modern technologies. He also said that the need for a drivers job will gradually decrease because cars will drive themselves, depending on the Internet of Things and smart applications, and the smart interactive whiteboard will replace the school teacher, and robots will take over fire fighters. Al-Hujairi emphasised that training and qualifying more Bahrainis to learn how to use modern technologies would ensure the localisation of those applications in Bahrain. This would depend on the expertise of these Bahraini individuals,creating a national vision and leading the digital transformation of the kingdom. He also pointed out the importance of Tamkeens support for the professional certification in ICT and called for expanding this support so that professional training is not limited to those studying or graduating from colleges of information technology, but to everyone, especially as ICT has become an essential element in various business institutions. "Today we are talking about food technology, and even the taxi driver has to deal with applications such as Uber. Entrepreneurs are turning not towards investing in technology, but also developing it by building applications and information systems that help them accelerate their businesses in the industrial, commercial, or service field. Therefore, we believe that the more we can qualify Bahrainis in the ICT sector, the more we can achieve national goals in supporting the private sector and building the digital economy, said Al Hujairi. Responsibility of training centres Nawaf Abdul Rahman, Director of IT at the Mohamed bin Khalifa Specialist Cardiology Centre, explained that Tamkeen has come a long way in empowering the various sectors, particularly the emerging institutions, with special interest in ICT companies. Nawaf pointed out the importance of training centres to develop their professional certificates with Tamkeens support, offering progressive programs and opening the field to anyone interested in any specific science or specialization. "We need to urge the training centres to focus on modern technology, such as data science, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, which are the backbone of the digital economy," Nawaf added. Technology essential component CEO and Director of Etisalcom, Rashid Al-Snan said: The ICT sector has become the main driver of development. Today we see more integration of technologies in the banking sector such as financial technology (Fintech), in the logistical sector we see it via Blockchain technology, and in the tourism sector through customer service applications. Thus, investing in the development of the ICT sector is crucial to raise productivity rates and developing the national economy. Al-Snan called for directing a greater part of Tamkeen's budget to support the ICT sector in Bahrain, including Bahraini companies and individuals, ICT systems, technology applications, etc. He added: In the past, Tamkeen has played a major role in supporting this sector, and we stress today the importance of strengthening this role, especially in this era of digital transformation. Maximising Bahrainisation Tareq Fakhro, Board member of Fakhroo Information Technology Services, pointed out that Tamkeen was able to make a clear positive change in the national economy, by continuously developing its programs and services through successful strategic plans every three years, and by providing suitable services that are appropriate to the companys requirements and size. Fakhro said Tamkeen's support for the ICT sector evolves with the development of the needs of this sector. Moreover, Fakhro highlighted the importance of maximizing the percentage of Bahrainisation in this highly competitive sector. "Wherever we can build Bahraini companies that offer competitive services, products, software and information systems, we can reduce the deficit in what we might call the digital trade balance, export digital products, and raise the contribution of the technical sector to the GDP of the Kingdom of Bahrain," said Fakhro. - TradeArabia News Service 4.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Trump praised his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for screaming F-bombs at an NPR host who asked him about Ukraine during an interview. Trump said, Of course, our great Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Thats impressive. That was very impressive. That reporter couldnt have done too good of a job on you yesterday. Think you did a good job on her, actually. Video: The moment President Trump told Sec. Pompeo he "did a good job" in his interaction with NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly pic.twitter.com/s06NuXnEum Peter Stevenson (@PeterStevenson) January 28, 2020 Trump was praising Pompeo for screaming and yelling f-bombs at NPR All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly because she asked him about Ukraine during an interview. The presidents remarks reveal that he has created a culture both in the White House and the Republican Party where bullying and protecting Trumps crimes are praised and elevated. The way to win favor with Donald Trump is to be a bully and be willing to cover-up and protect this president at all costs. Competence and integrity are negatives that will be punished. Mike Pompeo disgraced the State Department and the United States government with his outburst, but he is rewarded by Trump with compliments and a pat on the back. The 2020 election isnt about issues. Its about removing a cancer of a human being from the Oval Office. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook SYRACUSE, N.Y. A New York State Police team helped search Onondaga Creek Tuesday afternoon in an effort to try to find a Syracuse University student missing for more than a week. Allan Gonzalez, 22, a senior at SU, accidentally fell into the creek, police have said, but they said environmental factors on Jan. 19 initially made searching for him difficult. It was snowing, cold and windy at times that day. Gonzalez is believed to have fallen into the creek at Walton Street shortly after 3 a.m. that Sunday. Syracuse police are getting help from the New York State Police Underwater Recovery Team, whose members could be seen on a raft temporarily tied to a Creekwalk guard railing along the creek between West Genesee Street and the Interstate 690 overpass. The state police Underwater Recovery Team could be seen along Onondaga Creek on Tuesday afternoon to help search for missing SU student Allan Gonzalez. State police spokesman Jack Keller confirmed the team was there to help the Syracuse Police Department search for Gonzalez. He did not respond to a request for comment about whether the searchers had found the missing student or recovered anything else. Syracuse police and firefighters spent nearly two hours in the early morning hours of Jan. 19 searching the chilly creek after someone called to report a male was in the creek near 340 W. Washington St., officials said. Crews continued searching that afternoon and in the days following, Syracuse police have said. Gonzalezs roommate called police Jan. 21 to report him missing, police have said. The roommate told police he thought Gonzalez was in the area of Armory Square the night of Jan. 18. Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. [January 28, 2020] Searchlight Capital Partners Hires Christophe Villemin as a Senior Advisor Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P. ("Searchlight" or "the Firm"), a leading global private investment firm, announced today the appointment of Christophe Villemin as a Senior Advisor. Mr. Villemin brings over twenty years of industry experience to his new role. Mr. Villemin's broad expertise was honed at some of the world's largest industrial companies including the successful LBO of Constellium SE. In 1994, he joined Alcan and held various management positions in packaging and aluminum conversion in Europe and the United States. In 2002, he was appointed as General Manager, Alcan Rolled Products Valais in Switzerland and in 2005, President of Alcan Engineered Aluminum Products (EP), Packaging & Automotive Rolled Products. Mr. Villemin also served as President of Rio Tinto Alcan Rolled Products until 2010 before being named President of Aerospace & Transportation at Constellium N.V., a position he held from 2011 to 2013. Mr. Villemin has been an Operating Partner at Apollo Management, L.P. since 2015. He was a Directorof Latecoere S.A. from 2015 to June 2019. In 2008, Mr. Villemin was distinguished as "Young Global Leader" of the World Economic Forum. Commenting on his new role, Mr. Villemin said: "I am delighted to join the Searchlight team. Right from the outset, the culture, flexibility and the disciplined investment approach at Searchlight has resonated with me above all else. I'm looking forward to bringing my knowledge of the US and European Industrial landscape to the firm to support its investment activity to create partnerships with management teams in this sector." Oliver Haarmann, a Founding Partner of Searchlight, added: "We are very pleased to welcome Christophe to the firm and are confident that his skill-set and expertise will be an excellent complement to our platform. Christophe's impressive track record and deep industrial knowledge will significantly strengthen our capabilities in this domain." -ENDS- About Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P. Searchlight is a global private investment firm with over $7 billion in assets under management and offices in New York, London and Toronto. Searchlight seeks to invest in businesses where its long-term capital and strategic support accelerate value creation for all stakeholders. For more information, please visit www.searchlightcap.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005084/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Exxon yesterday closed at the lowest in a decade after eight daily declines in a row, once again highlighting the new challenges the oil industry is facing. Bloomberg notes that Exxon dropped out of the S&P 500s top ten list last year. It is unlikely to return there soon in the midst of new shareholder demands and a shift in priorities. Shareholders are insisting on more returns after the 2014 price crash. But a growing number of them are also insisting that oil companies diversify away from their core business of extracting and selling fossil fuels. Even if the shareholder petitions initiated by Dutch group Share This continue to fail, they are symptomatic of a change in thinking among investors that Big Oil should have already detected. Yet instead of diversifying away from its core business, Exxon is investing heavily in new oil and gas assets, Bloombergs Kevin Crowley notes. The company was probably emboldened by one of the longest strings of oil discoveries off the coast of Guyana and this year plans to spend $30 billion on developing these and other assets, including LNG in Mozambique, with the option of spending even more than that. Yet this is problematic for shareholder returns because Exxon does not have enough cash on hand for dividends and will have to fund these from asset sales and debt, according to Edward Jones & Co analyst Jennifer Rowland, who spoke to Crowley. It is not just the difference in company and shareholder priorities, either. Most analyst seem to expect oil demand to weaken this year on the back of the China coronavirus outbreak, and with plenty of supply available, Exxons grand plans for Guyana may boomerang. The company is reporting fourth-quarter financial results this Friday and analysts expect a lower result than a year earlier. The good news is that at least they are not expecting a loss at this point. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Hi Neighbor, I place myself in great peril among a lot of our neighbors saying this, but lets be candid. Donald Trumps tweets are often so bizarre, so insulting or so infantile they barely register with me any longer. And its approaching impossible to turn on a news radio or cable talk show without the word Trump mentioned in the first 60 seconds. I apologize to Staten Islands legion of Trump Fans, but its Trump Overload. So when the Tweeter in Chief told the world that a New York seawall was waste of time and money the other day . . . well, did anyone really care? I noticed the New York Daily News did. Trump to city: If a storm comes, dont look at me, get a mop! the News headline roared. A regular reader noticed also. Her name is Lynda. Any comment on the president's recent tweet suggesting we get our mops and buckets ready as he thinks the proposed sea wall isn't attractive enough? Lynda asked. This is The Presidential Tweet to which Lynda refers. A massive 200 Billion Dollar Sea Wall, built round New York to protect it from rare storms, is a costly, foolish & environmentally unfriendly idea that, when needed, probably wont work anyway. It will also look terrible. Sorry, youll just have to get your mops & buckets ready! Again, in all candor, I might agree with the president. My gut tells me the East Coasts response to Sandy has been a huge overreaction to a single event. But I hesitate to comment because the issue is so huge and so complicated that I can offer no compelling or intelligent opinion based on any scientific evidence. Something youd hope to have in discussing something so astronomically expensive and important. But then I realized that the president doesnt seem to have any of that either, despite a host of experts at his disposal. At least he appears not to. I mean, a tweet suggesting we get mops and buckets at the ready is an intelligent response to something so potentially deadly? He also got the price wrong, by the way. The Army Corps of Engineers estimates the seawall at $119 billion. But whats an $81 billion price gap among billionaires. And by the time its done 25 years, the Army Corps suggests itll probably be more than $200 billion. Bill de Blasio reminded the president, in his own tweet, that "We lost 44 of our neighbors in Hurricane Sandy. You should know, you lived here at the time," the mayor tweeted to Sir Donald. (I read he likes to be called Sir.) More than half 24 died on Staten Island. So its an issue we should be particularly concerned with. I might not know a lot about how storm surges happen or be well-versed in the climate change debate, but I do know something about flooding. I spent my childhood, from birth to teens, in a house on Garretson Avenue in Ocean Breeze, just a block from the beach. Flood waters rushing down Garretson Avenue, and into bungalows, were nothing unusual. I once wrote about an early childhood memory my mom sitting me on a utility pole with a baby bottle tied around my neck as she and some helpful neighbors floated it to high ground. When the state showed up and took all the land between what was then Seaside Boulevard and Mason Avenue, near Hylan Boulevard, in the late 50s for a sprawling psychiatric center, we moved a couple of blocks south, to Naughton Avenue. Even closer to the water. That house had eight feet of water in it during Hurricane Sandy. Meanwhile, a house our family has on the Barnegat Bay in New Jersey was slammed by Sandy that night as well. Back in the 1950s, someone not sure if city, state or feds came up with a plan to alleviate flooding in those Staten Island beachfront bungalow neighborhoods. During the heyday of Midland and South Beaches, pre-1960, creeks meandered behind homes, connected to the ocean by a few inlets. Homeowners with creek-front properties docked boats and fished. It was really quite nice. But during severe storms, ocean water rushed up the inlets, overflowing the creeks, as well as rushing over the short beaches, and into the neighborhoods. The solution then was to close the inlets and extend the beaches by pumping sand from the bay. Meanwhile, three or four storm water outfalls were built along the Midland Beach/South Beach stretch and connected to the creeks that still meandered through the area. Naughton Avenue, for example, is actually hollow a giant storm sewer that connects a creek a few hundred feet on the upland side of Quincy Avenue, with the storm water outfall that juts into the bay. With the longer beaches, flood waters didnt rush the neighborhoods and rain water that filled the wetlands flowed into the creeks, into the storm water outfalls, and into the bay. It worked pretty well. Until developers had their way with Staten Island. Creeks were buried, as were wetlands, and houses were built willy-nilly on wetlands filled with all kinds of debris and topped by dirt before then-Assemblyman Eric Vitaliano got involved and became a critical player in developing wetlands protections. But back to todays problem. New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer seems to agree with the president that the Army Corps proposal is out of whack. Except Comptroller Stringer offers some solid ideas. I dont know whos advising him, but I like what he has to say. Offshore storm barriers simply cannot protect all of our coastal communities from the myriad challenges posed by climate change and are incompatible with a healthy, thriving New York Harbor, the comptroller told the Army. I urge the Corps to instead focus on the many benefits associated with a more integrated and holistic system of onshore resiliency projects like localized flood walls, dune and wetland restoration, living shorelines, reefs and levees, he advised. The letter went on for pages and gets pretty deep into the coastal weeds. But thats substance of it. The comptrollers plan addresses flooding something like the one 60 years ago did. A seawall might sound like a plan but on the simplest level, when a surge hits it, the water isnt going to disappear. Its going somewhere. Wheres the plan to deal with that? I can assure you this, Mr. President. A mop and a bucket wouldnt have helped during Sandy. So you might take some time and the talent that surrounds you and come up with a serious plan to address this potentially deadly situation in the America you say you love so much. And perhaps ask Comptroller Stringer to pay a visit to the White House with his plan in hand. Thats what leaders do. Brian New Delhi: India summoned a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission on Tuesday and issued a strong demarche over the abduction of a Hindu girl from her marriage ceremony on January 25 in Sindh province. India also made a demarche regarding desecration of Mata Rani Bhatiyani temple in Tharparkar Sindh province on 26 January. An official source said, ''India summoned a senior official from the Pakistan High Commission & issues a strong demarche against abduction of a girl from Hindu minority from her marriage ceremony on 25th January; India also made a demarche regarding desecration of Mata Rani Bhatiyani temple in Tharparkar Sindh province on 26 January.'' Live TV It asked Pakistan to take quick action in the matter and take immediate measures and seeked remand of the perpetrators. Demanding investigation in the matter India has asked the Pakistan government to ensure the safety and security of minorities in the country. A vacant lot now sits where buildings once stood along Jewelers' Row in Philadelphia. A Toll Brothers subsidiary is seeking to build a 24-story glass tower on the lot. Read more From the sixth floor of the Jewelry Trades Building on the 700 block of Sansom Street, Avishai Greis overlooks a Jewelers Row that is changing in front of his eyes. And its not just because of the vacant lot that now awaits a new, 24-story Toll Brothers tower. Greis, a jeweler who has occupied the storied block for nearly 45 years, said he has witnessed Jewelers Row slowly eroded by the vast world of the internet. Its now cheaper and more convenient to buy gold, silver, and diamonds online, making it harder to attract foot traffic into the mom-and-pop stores that line the street. 3D printing has complicated Greis craft, too, offering competitors a faster alternative than the meticulous jewelry casting process that he mastered decades ago. So Greis, 72, is trying to reinvent himself to stay alive on the row, dabbling in sculpture just a hobby, for now and handyman work for tenants on the block. The way shopping is being done, its impossible to survive, said Greis, who runs Aion Manufacturing Co. Toll may accelerate the speed [of decline], but this is something that will happen anyhow. Since Toll Brothers City Living made it clear 3 years ago that it was eyeing a chunk of Jewelers Row for its first Philadelphia high-rise, questions have swirled over the fate of jewelry-makers such as Greis. Indeed, the number of jewelers on the block has dwindled since its heyday during the mid-1900s with apartments and offices joining the quaint, brick-paved street. Tenants such as Greis have worried that ongoing construction for Tolls tower will push more customers away. For years, jewelers, preservation advocates, and Philadelphia residents called for city officials to intervene, pleading for them to save the street that is often considered Americas oldest diamond district. A petition generated more than 7,000 signatures. Protests were held. But in the end, the Horsham-based builder began razing five Jewelers Row properties in the last weeks of 2019. For now, the disruption seems limited to the tenants in the path of construction. Some, such as NCS Metals & Jewelry and Panepinto Jewelers, relocated on Jewelers Row. Maryanne S. Ritter Jewelers reopened in Queen Village. Its unclear where other jewelers and tenants ended up. Greis said he fears what awaits those still on the block. For example, the owner of the property he occupies, 740 Sansom St., secured a zoning permit in 2017 to build six extra stories on top. Although no other permits for the property have been issued and the buildings owner, PRDC Properties LLC, has not disclosed further plans Greis worries about how construction could affect building tenants. But until then, there is one thing giving jewelers such as Greis some hope: The Historical Commission is expected in March to decide whether Jewelers Row is a historic district. And the answer which could give the block protection from future demolition will not only end a years-long fight over the significance of Jewelers Rows past but will also forge a clearer path for its future. Leaving a block frozen in time In March 2017, months after Toll disclosed its plan for a luxury condo and retail tower, the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia nominated the block and surrounding area as a historic district. By then, it was too late to stop demolition from happening. Amid the typical rush to submit paperwork during historic preservation battles, Tolls permit to raze the buildings was issued first. Still, preservationists argued, it was important to try to save the rest of the area. At the same time, they tried everything they could to stop Toll from moving forward: The Preservation Alliance appealed the developers demolition permits. Individual historic preservation nominations were submitted for two of the properties that Toll wanted to raze. Mayor Jim Kenney called one of Tolls tower proposals deeply disturbing" and asked the developer to reconsider its plan not to preserve the facades of existing buildings. In the end, no effort to derail Toll was successful. And all the while, the nomination for a Jewelers Row historic district sat undecided before the 14-member Historical Commission. The commission has no rules dictating that preservation nominations must be processed within any time period, and the high volume of nominations coupled with the commissions other duties often means that preservation nominations are backlogged for months or years. Property owners were notified about the Jewelers Row district nomination in December 2018, roughly 21 months after the Preservation Alliance submitted the paperwork. Once property owners are notified, the buildings are treated as if they are protected until the commission makes a final designation decision. For the more than four dozen buildings in the proposed Jewelers Row historic district, that means nothing can be altered and properties cannot be demolished without the commissions approval. Those same rules would apply if the district were officially designated as historic. Immediately, dozens of property owners on the block protested the nomination and hired a lawyer, who plans to argue before the Historical Commission that a district would leave the 700 block of Sansom Street frozen in time." Since the first properties along Jewelers Row were built more than two centuries ago, the block has morphed from a residential block to a row of publishing houses and then to jewelers. Why, then, the property owners wonder, are they not allowed the same opportunity for change? The owners have this fear that they are trying to preserve something in time that naturally, as the city evolves and the [jewelry industry] evolves, is changing, said Michael Phillips, the Philadelphia lawyer representing more than two dozen property owners. By designating historic, you make it more difficult for the block to continue to evolve, Phillips continued. And if you have a lot of vacancies, it wont be the same street and have the same nostalgia for future generations. A compact haven Compared with preservation nominations for individual properties, historic districts often are more controversial and take more time to get approval. With more buildings up for consideration, more property owners typically push back. Perhaps most famously, the Overbrook Farms historic district, nominated in 2004, was not approved until last year. As a result, Philadelphia has seen only 24 historic districts passed since 1984. However, the Historical Commission has never voted to reject a proposed historic district. For Jewelers Row, that means the odds are in the Preservation Alliances favor though advocates will need to convince the commission why the properties deserve protection. In the nomination, the Preservation Alliance argued that Jewelers Row is a "compact haven of industry in the heart of the city, that reads as a catalog of Philadelphia architectural history, where remnants of Carstairs Row, the first entire block of identical, speculative rowhouses built in Philadelphia, are visible between early revivalist facades, eclectic Victorian edifices, Art Deco ornament, postwar storefronts, and modern re-facings. But for Patrick Grossi, advocacy director for the Preservation Alliance, protecting Jewelers Row is also, simply, about managing change" on a block known and celebrated for its brick paving, wide sidewalks, and old-Philadelphia charm. We hope that Jewelers Row can continue to exist, Grossi said at a recent meeting before the citys Planning Commission. But if because of larger forces it doesnt, that doesnt mean the block needs to completely not exist in the way that we experience it today. It can be another kind of row; it has demonstrated that flexibility over time. The hearing before the Historical Commission is scheduled for March 13. On Feb. 14, the commission will consider Tolls building permit application and will determine how much oversight it will have over the mixed-use towers design and construction. A spokesperson for the developer said in a statement to The Inquirer that it hopes to gear up for foundation work in the coming months. WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Consumer Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a major hearing today on the Horseracing Integrity Act (HIA) that brought together horse racing industry heavy weights and representatives from two major animal welfare groups to advocate for passage. Witnesses included Hall of Fame Jockey Chris McCarron who had 7,141 wins during his career, winning The Kentucky Derby twice and the Breeders' Cup Classic five times. He was joined on the panel by William M. Lear Jr., the vice chairman of The Jockey Club and a trustee of Keenland, one of the nation's most beloved horse racing venues. Joe De Francis, the chairman of the Humane Society's National Horse Racing Advisory Council and the former CEO of Pimlico and Laurel racetracks in Maryland, also testified. Marty Irby, the executive director of Animal Wellness Action, completed the panel and the unanimous call for reform in the industry. "There are far too many horses becoming injured," McCarron testified. "Instead of giving the animal the rest it needs, a trainer can rely on his/her veterinarian to administer a medication to mask pain by reducing inflammation caused by an injury." He added, "This bill directly addresses one of the leading causes of breakdowns." The HIA would create a private, independent national horse racing anti-doping authority to be led by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the official anti-doping agency for the U.S. Olympic, Pan American, and Paralympic sports. A new set of rules, testing procedures, and penalties would replace the current patchwork of regulatory systems that govern horse racing's 38 jurisdictions. "The bar for effectively detecting and punishing [drug] cheaters is so low that it is difficult to fail. Frankly is it more of an IQ test than a drug testeach trainer knows what they're being tested for and when they are being tested," said De Francis. "There is little, if any, out-of-competition testing, the kind of testing that has proven so effective in catching athletes who dope in Olympic sports." Lear spoke to the subcommittee about the industry's flawed medication control system, saying, "We really have no system at all. We have a patchwork, and a poor patchwork, within all of the different states." He went on to outline the national system of medication control that the bill would create and concluded by saying, "We have to do more to get the cheaters and abusers out of our sport. We have to do more to protect the athletes." The Jockey Club has long been an advocate of medication reform because the group says that performance-enhancing drugs and therapeutic drugs that mask injuries are a major contributing cause to horse injuries and deaths. "The overuse of therapeutic drugs such as powerful pain-masking agents is one area where change is desperately needed," said Irby. "Horses that need to be trained or raced under the influence of any performance-enhancing or pain-masking drugs should not be doing so and should be resting instead." The Coalition for Horse Racing Integrity represents a diverse group of racing organizations, racetracks, owner and breeder associations, and animal welfare groups that support adoption of a national, uniform standard for drug and medication rules in horse racing. For more information and to read a copy of the proposed legislation, visit horseracingintegrity.com. SOURCE The Coalition for Horse Racing Integrity Related Links http://horseracingintegrity.com . , . , , , , , , ... All religions to benefit from CAA, says PM Modi at NCC rally India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 28: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a National Cadet Corps rally at Cariappa Parade Ground in New Delhi said that the government has brought the Citizenship Amendment Act to correct "historical injustice" and to fulfil the BJP's "old promise" to religious minorities living in neighbouring countries. Speaking at the Annual Prime Minister's National Cadet Corps (NCC) Rally 2020, Modi said,''Whatever your young ideas, your young mind wanted, our Govt did. Today, in Delhi there is a National War Memorial and also a National Police Memorial.'' ''For over 30 yrs not a single next generation fighter plane was added to IAF. Old aircraft used to meet with accidents, fighter pilots used to die...Work stalled for 3 decades was cleared by us. Country, today has next generation fighter plane Rafale,'' Prime Minister said. Modi said,''Several speeches were given but when our armed forces used to ask to take action, they used to be refused. Today there is 'yuva soch', country is progressing with youthful thinking. So, it does surgical strike, airstrike & teaches lesson to terrorists after entering their house.'' Violence and weapons no solution: PM Modi in 2020's first Mann ki Baat PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News Speaking on CAA, Modi said,''Those who are fearmongering on CAA refuse to see the persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan. Shouldn't we help the persecuted? Some time back a Pakistan Army advert came out in which it was clearly written that only Non-Muslims apply for sanitation workers post.'' Modi also said the problem in Jammu and Kashmir persisted since Independence and some families and political parties kept issues in the region "alive", as a result of which terrorism thrived there. He said the present government has been trying to solve decades old problems plaguing the country. Slamming Pakistan, the prime minister said the neighbouring country has lost three wars but continues to wage proxy wars against India. Previous governments, he said, treated the problem as a law and order issue. "But even when out armies would ask for action, they would not go ahead," he said, slamming the "inaction" of previous governments at the Centre. He also said that currently, not only J&K but other parts of the country are also peaceful and the government has managed to address the aspirations of the northeast region which were neglected for decades. Listing out the achievements of the government, the PM referred to the Bodo agreement, Triple Talaq, abrogation of Section 370 in Jammu and Kashmir among them. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: As expected, the ruling TRS hit a century in the civic body polls, as it bagged 110 municipalities and 10 corporations after the elections to chairperson and mayor posts across the State on Monday. ALSO READ| Telangana's Choutuppal municipality tense as CPM 'betrays' Congress, helps TRS claim chairman post However, the Congress and the BJP joined hands in three municipalities and managed to get a total of six civic bodies, while the MIM bagged two. The mayoral election in Karimnagar, for which the counting took place on Monday, was a mere formality as the TRS got a clear majority. Addressing a press conference on Monday, TRS working president and Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao thanked the MIM for supporting the party in Nizamabad. He, however, termed the alliance between the Congress and the BJP in some municipalities as "unholy". "Despite the Congress and the BJP being national parties, they are indulging in silly politics here," Rama Rao said. ALSO READ| Following consecutive poll debacles, high command mulls total revamp of Telangana Congress He recalled that the TRS had pointed out earlier that the Congress and the BJP had a tacit understanding to win the municipal polls. Rama Rao said the Congress sailed with the TDP in the Assembly polls, and joined hands with the BJP in the civic body polls. "The BJP had termed the TRS as a Congress agent. But in the election of chairpersons, their true colours were exposed. Its better for PCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy to sport BJP kanduva now," the Minister quipped. On Monday, the election of chairpersons and mayors was held for 127 civic bodies of the total 129 civic bodies, for which elections were held on January 22. The election of chairpersons for Nereducharla and Medchal was postponed for Tuesday. ALSO READ| TRS bags 33 out of 60 divisions in Karimnagar civic polls Of the 127 civic bodies, the TRS ward/division members were elected as chairpersons and mayors in 110 municipalities and nine corporations respectively. The TRS is confident of bagging Nereducharla and Medchal too. The Congress, the BJP and the MIM had to be satisfied with single digits. They failed to come to power even in a single corporation. However, the interesting turn in the election of chairpersons was that the arch rivals, the Congress and the BJP, joined hands in four municipalities. In Makthal, the BJP got support from the Congress in chairperson election. In return, the BJP left the vice-chairperson post to Congress. In the chairperson election in Manikonda and Turkayamjal, the Congress got BJPs support. The BJP ward members were elected as vice-chairpersons in Manikonda and Turkayamjal. Though, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Nizamabad Corporation, the TRS division member was elected as mayor with the support of MIM corporators. ALSO READ| Newly-elected Nizamabad Mayor gets support of Congress, Independent winners Caste equations While declaring the chairperson/mayor candidates, the TRS followed caste equations. As many as 240 TRS ward members got chairman/vice-chairmen or mayor/deputy mayor posts. Of these, 38 OCs got chairperson posts and 46 OCs got vice-chairman posts. SCs got 17 chairperson and nine vice-chairperson posts, while STs got five chairperson posts. Minorities got three chairperson and 14 vice-chairman posts. In SCs, the most backward sub-castes like Netagani, Budga Jangalu, Kummari, Patkari, Perika, Rajakam, Vadla, Vellapu, Reddika and Avusula got important posts. ALSO READ| Kollapur municipal election: TRS victory acts as warning for party rebels For the chairperson posts, which were reserved for women (general), the TRS chose Goud, Perika, Munnuru Kapu, Padmasali and other castes in Khammam, Nalognda, and other municipalities. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 02:22:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close BUDAPEST, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Warning shots were fired early on Tuesday at the Hungary-Serbia border crossing of Roszke to push back migrants trying to cross illegally, said the Hungarian police. "A large group of migrants tried to illegally enter the territory of Hungary in Csongrad County (in southern Hungary)... An armed security guard on duty fired several warning shots," said the national police in a statement. Some 60 people were stopped from entering the country by police patrols and pushed back to Serbia, and four who managed to enter Hungary were intercepted, while the area had been closed, said the police. The Csongrad County Police Headquarters continues to apply an area closure on the site. "The border protection system worked at dawn on Tuesday when illegal immigrants tried to break through the Hungarian border at Roszke," Interior Minister Sandor Pinter said later Tuesday at a press conference in Budapest. Police posted this mocking image after the hapless thief got stuck inside the vehicle. (SWNS) A hapless thief was mocked mercilessly by police after being caught when he locked himself inside a stolen car. Officers in Newtown, Birmingham, spotted the bungling criminal acting suspiciously and ended up having to rescue him. A passer-by had reported a man acting suspiciously in the vehicle on Sunday night. Tweeting snaps of the car, police from the Force Response Unit of West Midlands Police, posted: "Absolute scenes last night for Newtown Officers. Called to a male acting suspicious in a car...arrive to find him LOCKED IN the car with no way out. Cheeky baton through window and he was again locked up..this time inside a cell as the car was stolen and on false plates." Police couldn't resist poking fun at a thief who locaked himself inside a car he was trying to steal. They had to free him by smashing thew window with a baton. (SWNS) Social media users also poked fun at the hapless crook. Twitter user Aaron1984 said: Definite future candidate for the Darwin Awards. Amazing hes made it through life this far! READ MORE FROM YAHOO UK NEWS: No one is above the law: Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein accusers tell Prince Andrew to stop playing games Climate change, heatwaves and humans are 'sparking a collapse in reefs and forests' Police officer hacked in head in brutal machete attack says a Taser saved my life Alfie Jacks tweeted: All hail Britains dumbest crook! Shame no one thought to tell him how to unlock the doors from inside. Car obviously installed with child and numpty lock technology. ---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK--- If at least four Senate Republicans decide to vote with Democrats this week to subpoena witnesses and documents in President Trump's impeachment trial, Hill Republicans fear a potential domino effect, with additional GOP senators especially those up for reelection in November falling. What they're saying: You dont want to be one of the first four. But no one gives a f*** about the fifth vote, a GOP senate aide told Axios. Especially for all of the 2020-ers. If it turns into a free vote, why wouldnt you vote for witnesses? Republicans still see the four most likely to break with the party line as Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. But Cory Gardner of Colorado, Thom Tills of North Carolina, Martha McSally of Arizona, Rob Portman of Ohio, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania would face pressure to follow. What we're hearing: Sources close to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tell Axios that, if it appears that at least 51 senators will vote for witnesses, McConnell and Schumer will likely try to hash out an agreement rather than going straight to a vote. If the Senate goes that route, Republicans are likely to demand their own list of witnesses with Joe Biden's son Hunter at the top. This has privately created a dilemma for some Democrats, who are eager for more information but recognize that a vote for witnesses could open the door for Republicans to use the impeachment stage to try to deal an insurmountable blow to the campaign of a rival thought to pose the greatest risk to Trump in the general election. They want us to become complicit in destroying the Bidens, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who says he would not support a one-for-one witness deal, told reporters. I would strongly argue against becoming co-conspirators. "To make a quid pro quo deal when the essence of the impeachment is a quid pro quo by the president why should we be compromising the truth?" Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said about a potential witness trade. But McConnell doesn't need to strike a deal with Democrats on Hunter Biden to subpoena him. Republicans would just need need 51 votes, and they currently rule the Senate with a 53-47 majority. There is zero doubt were getting witnesses. If theres witnesses, were calling witnesses. We just need 51 votes," a source close to Trump's legal team told Axios. "There's no way they're going to bring in John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney and not bring in our people, that would just be completely unfair and it would undermine their whole reason for having witnesses in the first place. The bottom line: Trump's legal team is expected to continue their defense of the president on Monday. Then a 16-hour Q&A session will begin, a crucial period that will solidify whether senators feel satisfied with the evidence they have now or if they will vote for more. A vote on witnesses will then take place at the end of this week. Go deeper: Pedestrians wear protective masks as they walk in Toronto on Jan. 27, 2020. The Canadian government is now advising citizens against all travel to a Chinese province that's at the centre of a global outbreak of a new form of coronavirus, stepping up an earlier warning about the region. (The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn) Coronavirus Outbreak: Ottawa Now Advising Canadians Not to Go to Chinas Hubei Province Coronavirus risk in Canada remains low despite second case, feds say TORONTOThe Canadian government is now advising citizens against all travel to a Chinese province thats at the centre of a global outbreak of a new form of coronavirus, stepping up an earlier warning about the region. On Monday afternoon the government updated its advice for travellers to say that Canadians shouldnt go to Hubei province at all. Avoid all travel to the province of Hubei, including the cities of Wuhan, Huanggang, and Ezhou, due to the imposition of heavy travel restrictions in order to limit the spread of a novel coronavirus, the website stated. Previously, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne had only advised Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to the region. The Chinese government cut transportation links to and from the city of Wuhan, at the centre of the outbreak, on Jan. 22 and has since expanded those controls to several nearby cities. Anyone travelling from Wuhan is required to register and quarantine themselves for 14 daysthe maximum incubation period for the virus. The Canadian travel warning followed further reassurances on Monday from the countrys top public health official that the risk from the disease remains minimal despite the discovery of a second presumptive case in Canada. Dr. Theresa Tam said the two diagnoses involve a married couple from Toronto who returned from Wuhan on Jan. 22. A man in his 50s was confirmed as Canadas first official coronavirus patient earlier in the day, while the first of two rounds of tests indicates his wife has also contracted the illness. Tam said the likely diagnosis of a second case has not changed her view that the risk of contracting the virus remains low in Canada, noting the two instances follow a reassuring pattern. Transmission of the virus is occurring among family members who have close and prolonged exposure to sick individuals, Tam said in a teleconference. Canadians should not be concerned that they can pick up the virus from an infected individual by any casual contact, such as walking through the airport or another public place. Some groups were already avoiding travel to China, with the University of Regina announcing earlier Monday that it has cancelled all China trips it had organized for the next three months due to the spread of the coronavirus. Health officials in Ontario have said both the husband and wife who were diagnosed with coronavirus wore protective masks during the journey back to Canada, a step the medical community has said can be helpful in preventing the spread of the illness. Tam said the man showed signs of a mild cough on the flight, and he and his wife both disclosed their recent travel history upon landing at Pearson International Airport. Both federal and provincial officials have said the man sought hospital treatment for deteriorating symptoms the day after returning home, prompting paramedics to arrive on scene wearing protective equipment. His status as the countrys first prospective coronavirus case was announced on the weekend but confirmed on Monday by Ontarios senior public health officials. Dr. Barbara Yaffe, the provinces associate chief medical officer of health, said the confirmation resulted from tests at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. The man initially tested positive at a provincial facility, as did his wife days later. Tam said the womans case is now awaiting confirmation at the national level, noting the lab is currently testing 25 samples from multiple provinces. The man remains at Torontos Sunnybrook Hospital receiving treatment, while his wife is in self-isolation at home, officials said. Yaffe said several other prospective patients have been tested at the provincial level in recent days, with coronavirus being eliminated in at least 15 cases. Results are still pending for 19 others, she added. The good news here is that there is ongoing, active monitoring, she said. People are self-identifying and we continue to make sure the system is working. Ontarios chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said the patients currently being tested reside throughout the province, though many are concentrated in Toronto. Mayor John Tory said hes requested that all public health information related to coronavirus be translated into languages other than English or French to ensure the citys diverse population can stay informed. Echoing public health officials who stress the risk of contracting coronavirus remains low, Tory urged residents to maintain business as usual. Be careful, be vigilant, but you dont have to change your life at the moment, he said. Federal officials said Sunday they were reaching out to passengers who travelled on the same China Southern Airlines flight with the couple and sat within two metres of them. Williams said those who are not currently exhibiting the flu-like symptoms consistent with coronavirus are likely not contagious. If somebody does not have symptoms, they usually are not shedding, he said, adding researchers are continually studying the virus and becoming more familiar with its characteristics. The new form of coronavirus, a close cousin to respiratory illnesses such as SARS and MERS, originated in China and has spread rapidly in recent weeks. Yaffe said all cases outside of China so far include a travel history to that country, adding that Ontario emergency dispatchers have now been instructed to ask about that issue while screening calls from those showing signs of a respiratory illness. Tam said a committee including officials from federal, provincial, and territorial governments will be established to help share information. By Michelle McQuigge (Bloomberg) -- In the end, the prospect of eye-watering costs and delays to the roll-out of critical technology proved more daunting for the British government than American threats. On Tuesday, the U.S. lost its long battle to persuade the U.K. to ban Chinas Huawei Technologies Co. from fifth-generation wireless networks. The decision to let Huawei build the periphery of the 5G system showed the awkward position of U.S. allies asked to choose between Washington and Beijing. It also reflects waning U.S. leverage in Europeincluding post-Brexit U.K.at a time when the transatlantic alliance is strained. President Donald Trumps administration has been clear about what it sees as the problem: a potential Chinese breach of allied national security. Its been less clear on a viable solution for countries desperate not to fall behind in the race for the infrastructure that will underpin such advances as driverless cars and automated factories. Read More: U.K. Allows Huawei to Build 5G Networks With few alternative companies able to supply the 5G market, the U.S. couldnt counter the significant added costs and delays involved in banning Huawei outright. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo arrives in London on Wednesday and its now up to the U.S. to decide whether to raise the temperature in a public dispute between close allies. The threats so far have included cuts to intelligence sharing, although that would come at significant cost to the U.S. itself and British officials dont believe it would follow through. GCHQ, the British equivalent of the U.S. National Security Agency, operates a hub for the Five Eyes membersAustralia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the U.S. But as Britain leaves the European Union on Friday, theres much more in play. The response to the Huawei decision has potential to bleed across to trade negotiations, British plans for a digital tax on tech giants and the broader post-Brexit relationship including a budding political friendship between Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Story continues Its in the U.S. gift to accept that even if we disagree in the details, we agree on the fundamentals and move on to the much more important issue of developing western vendors for 5G telecommunication networks, said Malcolm Chalmers, a former U.K. diplomat and now deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, in a briefing. QuicktakeHow Huawei Landed at the Center of a Global Tussle The EU is expected to announce on Wednesday guidelines for member states to use in deciding 5G issues, including rules that would permit, but not require, governments to restrict or ban the use of Huawei equipment. Going forward, said Chalmers, countries will need to redress the market failure at the root of the Huawei dispute: The tiny number of vendorsnone of them Americanthat are able to build 5G networks at scale. Not only does that force an over-reliance on Chinese suppliers, it also reduces options to build backups into networksa key cyber security toolso that if one manufacturers antenna stops working, anothers will continue. Britains reliance on just three suppliers, including Huawei, is crazy, according to Ian Levy, technical director at Britains National Cyber Security Centre. He made the comment in a blogpost published on Tuesday to explain how U.K. security agencies plan to protect its 5G network. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said last year it aimed to boost its share of the global telecommunications equipment market to 20% gear from less than 7%. But the hurdles to new entrants Levy checked off in his postincluding low margins, high research and development costs, patent license fees and scaleare considerable. U.S. Options This month, Thomas Donahue, a former senior director for cyber operations on the U.S. National Security Council, wrote that the federal government had three options: invest heavily in Huaweis European alternatives, Ericsson AB and Nokia Oyj, buy one of them, or massively fund the development of a U.S. competitor. The U.S. Defense Science Board recommended in June that the federal government should provide seed funding for western industrial base alternatives to Huawei. When it comes to an immediate Huawei ban, though, the U.S. has struggled to persuade European countries to follow the lead it has set with Australia, a Pacific nation that faces a more immediate security threat from China. The argument centers on whether, in the new world of 5G, risks posed by a potentially hostile equipment supplier can be managed. Britains electronic intelligence agencies appear to have rejected U.S. claims that in 5G networks the core has become virtual and so widely distributed that the distinction at the heart of Tuesdays decisionbetween a sensitive core and dumb peripheryno longer exists. The edge of a network will still face the consumer and, if hacked, give access almost exclusively to metadata, not the sensitive materials in the core, said James Sullivan, RUSIs head of cyber research. 5G networks are not revolutionary, said Sullivan, who just completed a nine-month study on the issue. They are evolutionary. Huawei has been building mobile network infrastructure in the U.K. for more than 15 years. British officials were concerned enough about the security risks involved that in 2010 they set up an inspection center to reverse engineer the companys equipment and assess it for security risks. The centers annual reports have been damning. Last years concluded that it will be difficult to appropriately risk-manage future products in the context of U.K. deployments, until the underlying defects in Huaweis software engineering and cyber security processes are remediated. It was because of the centers work that we know more about Huawei, and the risks it poses, than any other country in the world, U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told parliament on Tuesday. He also pledged to attract more 5G vendors. But if it shares U.S. concerns about Huawei, the U.K. is also in a very different starting position. To ban Huawei it would need to first rip out existing Huawei 4G hardware, causing significant costs and delays. Thats in addition to forgoing the steep price discount the company offers over competitors. In the U.S., the Chinese company has sold equipment only to some smaller rural networks. That cost raises questions about how much more secure it would be to use non-Chinese hardware, another gray area. Equipment supplied by Western companies is shot through with Chinese components, while some of the most prolific hacking is done by Russia, which does not produce any of the hardware it hacks. The initial argumentwhy would you allow a Chinese provider, a frenemy, right into the core of your networkdoes sound crazy, said Emily Taylor, chief executive of Oxford Information Labs, a cyber consultancy. But when you look at it, no piece of equipment will ever be 100% secure. To contact the author of this story: Marc Champion in London at mchampion7@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net, Rodney Jefferson For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. BEIRUT Lebanese lawmakers on Monday passed a controversial state budget for 2020 that aims to tackle the countrys crippling financial crisis, as angry protesters threw stones at security forces massed outside the Parliament. Security forces were heavily deployed during the legislative session and beat back antigovernment protesters, detaining several as well. Hundreds of soldiers, including special forces and riot police, were deployed on major roads across the capital, Beirut, and its suburbs ahead of the critical vote. They had sealed off the zone leading to Parliament to prevent protesters from barricading the lawmakers path. Lebanons protest movement broke out in October over government plans to impose new taxes. It quickly snowballed into demands for the ouster of the countrys entire ruling elite. Those elites have run the country since the end of the 1975-90 civil war, and protesters blame them for widespread corruption and mismanagement. The protesters have rejected the new 20-member government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, which was announced last week. Protesters removed barbed wire from a road leading to Parliament and were chased by riot officers, who beat them with clubs and detained about a dozen of them. The Lebanese Red Cross said at least 27 people were injured, including eight who were taken to hospitals. Over the past two weeks, Beirut witnessed riots that left more than 500 civilians and police injured. The tight security measures underscored lawmakers determination to hold the budget session. In November, thousands of protesters closed roads leading to Parliament, forcing a postponement of a legislative session after most lawmakers werent able to reach the building. Protesters, and some politicians, have described the budget session as illegitimate and unconstitutional. They say the prime ministers new government has no right to attend and discuss the budget before it wins Parliaments vote of confidence. Moreover, the budget being discussed was drafted by the previous government under former premier Saad Hariri, who resigned amid pressure from the street. Lebanon has one of the worlds highest public debts in the world, standing at more than 150% of gross domestic product. Bassem Mroue is an Associated Press writer. Mental health campaign: Paracelsus' boss Marta Ra, visited the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos last week An exclusive Swiss rehabilitation centre which has treated some of Britain's wealthiest businessmen is launching in London. Paracelsus Recovery, which charges clients 65,000 per week to treat issues ranging from depression to sex, alcohol and drug addiction, will allow clients to be visited by its team in their homes, serviced apartments, or hotels. The firm previously only operated out of two high-end apartments in Switzerland. Clients from around the world, including Hollywood A-listers, entrepreneurs and royalty, stay in the Swiss apartments for a week to several months, depending on the severity of their problems. Now demand from the UK has caused Paracelsus to replicate its model in London, where burnt-out and addiction-wracked bosses will be waited on by the clinic's team. The service includes a consultant psychiatrist, a psychologist, a live-in therapist, and a nutritionist. Clients can also choose to take sessions with a yoga therapist, massage therapist, personal trainer and acupuncturist, in an attempt to treat their mental health illnesses and addictions holistically. Paracelsus chief executive Marta Ra visited the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos last week in an effort to help remove the stigma surrounding mental illness among the world's business elite. She told the Mail: 'A lot of the time, the mental health issues our clients are experiencing are caused by loneliness. 'When people get to the top of their industry, they are under immense pressure, and they feel that they have no one around for support. We help them find ways to deal with that.' Ra, a former banker who has previously worked for Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, witnessed the effects which extreme pressure could have on senior colleagues in the finance industry. This inspired her to join Paracelsus, which was previously run by its founder Jan Gerber who launched the business in 2012. The most common clients that the clinic tends to see from the UK are entrepreneurs and senior finance industry figures, many of whom are struggling with depression, anxiety, and cocaine addiction, Ra said. Ra added: 'Everyone de-serves to be treated and cared for.' Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sara Hussein and Miwa Suzuki (Agence France-Presse) Tokyo Tue, January 28, 2020 10:27 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206145781 2 News coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,tourism,travel Free A deadly virus that has prompted travel restrictions in China is sending shockwaves through Asia's tourism industry, which has become increasingly reliant on growing numbers of Chinese visitors. At least 81 people have died since the new strain of coronavirus emerged in China's Wuhan, and millions are now under an effective quarantine, with all flights in and out of the city grounded and a ban on Chinese tour groups domestically and abroad. The measures come amid a boom in Chinese foreign travel, with the number of tourists from the country increasing nearly tenfold since 2003, according to a report by research firm Capital Economics. But businesses in destinations that rely on the huge numbers of Chinese tourists are already feeling the heat, with complaints of "deserted" beaches and shops, and concerns about the future. There will be a less immediate impact in Europe, which is currently off peak season for visitors from China. The outbreak carries echoes of the SARS crisis, which paralyzed regional travel and battered local economies from late 2002. Chinese tourist numbers then fell by around a third. "If they fell by a similar amount again, it would knock around 1.5-2.0 percentage points from (gross domestic product) in the most vulnerable countries," Capital Economics said. In Japan, the fall in Chinese visitors was already being felt in Asakusa, a popular tourist destination near the Sensoji temple. "We've definitely been seeing less people this year," said Yoshie Yoneyama, 31, manager of a shop selling traditional Japanese sweets and a rice-based drink called amazake. Beaches 'deserted' "I think there are less than half the numbers of last year or the year before," she told AFP. The number of Chinese holidaying in Japan has exploded from around 450,000 in 2003 to 8.4 million in 2018, accounting for 27 percent of all inbound tourists as Tokyo works to expand the sector. But it will now be "very difficult" for Japan to achieve its target of 40 million tourists in 2020, Yuki Takashima, an economist at Nomura Securities, told AFP. And the effects will be felt beyond hotels, restaurants and tourist sites, because many Chinese tourists visit Japan specifically to shop. The crisis has already sent Japan's key Nikkei index plunging, with stock in Shiseido -- a cosmetics brand popular with Chinese tourists -- falling more than five percent on Monday. "We can expect those stocks to continue to fall like dominoes," said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp. But he said Japan would be better placed to weather the storm than another top destination for Chinese tourists: Thailand. Tourism accounts for 18 percent of the nation's GDP, with Chinese holidaymakers making up more than a quarter of total arrivals. The country's tourism minister has already warned a crisis on the scale of SARS could cost an estimated $1.6 billion, and the effects are already clear in Phuket. 'Really serious' "For two days, the streets, the shops and the beaches have been deserted," said Claude de Crissey, who owns a 40-room hotel and a restaurant on the island. "Phuket has focused almost exclusively on Chinese tourism... if the situation continues, we will all be impacted," he told AFP. Australia too, already reeling from the effects of the bushfire crisis, is likely to feel the impact. Chinese visitor numbers doubled in the six years to June 2019, with mainlanders now accounting for 15 percent of Australia's inbound tourists. Mario Hardy, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association said it was hard to gauge how long the crisis would last. "I would suspect the impact would be between three to six months, but it will really depend on how the situation evolves in the coming few weeks," he told AFP. Read also: Governor slammed for welcoming Chinese tourists with fanfare, gifts amid coronavirus fears Off season in Europe The impact will be felt less immediately in Europe, which does not attract as many visitors from China during the winter. "We are in low season for now, but if the situation persists... the economic impact will be significant," said Jean-Pierre Mas, head of a French travel lobby group. Last year more than two million Chinese tourists visited France -- the most popular destination in Europe -- staying an average five days and spending a collective four billion euros. Swiss tourism officials said they also expected a decline in bookings from China, which makes up 4.5 percent of all hotel nights bookings. Kurt Janson, director of Britain's Tourism Alliance, said Chinese visitors to the UK represent less than two percent of the annual total "so there will not be any significant overall impact". Under the Trump administration U.S. air attacks in Afghanistan have sharply increased. But it now seems that the Taliban have acquired some means to counter them. Last year the U.S. dropped a record number of bombs on Afghanistan leading to ever increasing casualties among civilians: According to the Combined Forces Air Component Commander (CFACC) 2013-2019 Airpower Statistics released in late January, 7,423 missions flown in Afghanistan in 2019 resulted in weapons being released. There were more weapon releases in most months of the year than in any corresponding months since records were first released in 2009, with September recording the most for the year at 948. The previous annual record was 7,362 set in 2018, and the last two years together have seen more weapon releases over Afghanistan than the combined number for 2012 through to 2017. Twenty bombing strikes per day is a quite astonishing number. Many civilians get killed in this U.S. bombing campaign. The U.S. often seems not to know who it is hitting. This report from last week is typical: A drone attack carried out by U.S. forces earlier this month in western Afghanistan that apparently targeted a splinter Taliban group also killed at least 10 civilians, including three women and three children, an Afghan rights official and a council member said Wednesday. ... There was no immediate comment from the Afghan military or the U.S. forces. But Wakil Ahmad Karokhi, a provincial council member in Herat, said the Jan. 8 strike also killed the commander of a Taliban splinter group, known as Mullah Nangyalia, along with 15 other militants. ... The commanders funeral the following day was held in the Herat provincial capitals Guzargah neighborhood, and was attended by dozens of militants. Karokhi criticized the strike as huge mistake saying the commander had been a useful buffer against the Taliban in Shindand district, taking up arms with his fighters against the insurgents when no one else would do it" and leaving the areas civilians in peace. The U.S. military and its allies and Afghan proxies are not the only ones fighting. The Taliban can hit back at helicopters and planes and, judging from the number of recent air incidents, they now have found effective means to do so. Two days ago they destroyed another helicopter: Drexluddin Spiveyzai @RisboLensky - 9:44 UTC Jan 25, 2020 Helicopter hit by missile in Kajaki area of #Helmand 4 soldiers wounded via @TOLOnews #Afghanistan Its #Moldova flag. Helicopter got hit pretty bad. True miracle there are no deaths #Taliban took responsibility for shooting down of military helicopter in #Helmand #Afghanistan This is the 4th helicopter that went down in January Video from Kajaki Four helicopter losses in one month is quite significant. Earlier today there were reports that a civilian Afghan airliner had come down. Those turned out to be false. But a plane had indeed crashed in Ghazni province south of Kabul. It was a military one: Harry Boone @towersight - 12:37 UTC Jan 27, 2020 Wreck of plane crashed today in Afghanistan looks like to be a USAF Bombardier Global 6000 / E-11A "BACN" (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node) Four U.S. E-11As are assigned to the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron and operate usually from Kandahar AB. There are video of the burning and burned out plane. Our Divisions Copyright 2021-22 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. A man fixes a sign with OPEC's logo next to its headquarter's entrance before a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna By Alex Lawler, Ahmad Ghaddar and Rania El Gamal LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - OPEC wants to extend current oil output cuts until at least June from March, with the possibility of deeper reductions on the table if oil demand in China is significantly impacted by the spread of a new coronavirus, OPEC sources said. The quick slide in oil prices over the past few days has alarmed OPEC officials, the sources say, as the new virus found in China and several other countries raised concerns about a hit to economic growth and oil demand. [nL4N29V0FY] Oil futures on Tuesday broke a five-day losing streak but Brent crude stayed below $60 per barrel. On Monday it hit a three-month low of $58.50, as the virus outbreak triggered a global selloff of riskier assets. [O/R] Saudi Arabia, OPEC's de-facto leader, joined by key oil producers such as the United Arab Emirates, Algeria and Oman, sought to calm market jitters on Monday - urging caution against gloomy expectations on the impact of the virus on the global economy and oil demand. [nL8N29V0SP] But OPEC officials have also started weighing their options and intensified internal discussion on how best to respond to the price slump, the sources said. "A further extension is a strong possibility and a deeper cut is a possibility," said one OPEC source, adding that the impact of the China virus on oil demand would be clearer over the coming week. "Extension is highly possible ... until June," another source said, adding that an additional preferable option is to extend the pact until end of 2020 and that a deeper cut was "possible" if there was a need for it. A source familiar with Russian thinking, said that although Moscow had been keen earlier to exit from cuts, it would stay on board if oil prices continued to trade below $60 a barrel OPEC+, which includes Russia, has been reducing oil supply to support prices, agreeing in December to hold back 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of output until the end of March. Russia had insisted it wanted the current deal to last only until March, while Saudi Arabia has been keener for the deal to last longer, according to OPEC+ sources. Story continues This year, OPEC expects its world market share to fall further as output booms in non-OPEC rivals including the United States, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Norway and Guyana while global demand is rising. [nL8N29K3RO] Saudi Arabia's economy, the largest in the Arab world, remains dominated by hydrocarbon revenues despite plans to diversify. It has suffered in recent years because of low oil prices and austerity measures aimed at reducing a huge budget deficit. The kingdom wants high oil prices to balance its state budget. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Friday all options were open when OPEC+ meets next in Vienna in early March, when asked about the possibility of a further output reduction. [nL8N29T2ZK] (Additional reporting by Olesya Astakhova; writing by Rania El Gamal; editing by Veronica Brown and David Evans) THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) confirmed Tuesday, January 28, that several Chinese nationals have arrived in Manila on board two ships. Both ships have been cleared by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), the PCG said in a statement. One vessel is Chinese cargo ship MV Ligulao, which came from Lianyungang, Jiangsu in China, about 900 kilometers away from Wuhan City, the center of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. The ship, which is manned by 20 crew members, arrived at Pier 15, South Harbor on Monday. It is scheduled to leave on Wednesday afternoon, January 29, 2020. The second vessel is the World Dream cruise ship with 778 passengers. This ship is scheduled to leave for Subic Bay Tuesday. In a statement, the PCG said the cargo ship's crew have not left their vessel because they don't have shore passes. Passengers of the cruise ship, on the other hand, were allowed to get off the ship after they were cleared by the BOQ. Upon coordinating with the PCG port state control officers at Pier 15, they confirmed that both vessels were cleared and declared safe by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) during mandatory inspection, the PCG said in a statement. The country is on alert against the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a coronavirus strain that has killed 106 people as of Tuesday. Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday that there were 11 patients under investigation for the 2019-nCoV in the country. (SunStar Philippines) 27.01.2020 LISTEN The Receiver of the 347 Micro-finance Companies and the 23 Savings & Loans and Finance Houses whose licenses were revoked by the Bank of Ghana on 31 May 2019 and 16 August 2019 respectively, has informed the general public and affected depositors about efforts being made to expedite action on their claims and speed up payments. It would be recalled that in an interview towards the end of last year, the Receiver expressed his commitment to seeing to it that creditors claims were dealt with in a timely fashion. In a press release signed by Spokesperson Philomena Kuzoe, the Receiver unveiled a new location where Validation Teams are to be relocated. The Release announced that the Teams will be stationed at the former head office of UNICREDIT Savings and Loans, No. 3 North Ridge Lane, North Ridge, Accra, (near Accra High School) effective Monday, 27 January 2020. The Press Release, further explains that members of the validation team are to expeditiously attend to depositors regarding validation and payment of their claims. The Public have also been reminded that they may visit maintained branches of the closed Companies for loan repayments and any other inquiries relating to the receivership. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Did you know that President Donald J. Trump is Christian, believes in God, and has deep faith? Well, if you only read or watch mainstream media, you might not. Mainstream media would have you believe that unwavering support of Trump by evangelical Christians rests on politics: antiabortion, appointment of conservative judges, pro-Israel, the right to bear arms, a pledge to safeguard students and teachers First Amendment rights to pray in our schools, protection of religious free speech on campuses, or seasonal tidings of joy Merry Christmas. This list does not inspire spiritual faith. Politics and religion may share aims, but at the same time, they are worlds apart. Politics cannot penetrate the meaning of Trumps impassioned call in a Miami church: In America we dont worship government, we worship God! A Christian Charisma Trump joins evangelicals through faith. Sustained faith cannot be faked, it is based on experience, a spiritual fact. Trumps charisma in a church is not that of a visiting political potentate; he is energized by authentic Christian fire. What other major politician could speak for over an hour in an evangelical church with unscripted spontaneity, secure in Christian belief, moving in-and-out of conversation with congregants or pulling them to the pulpit as witnesses? Like his I am one of you rapport with blue collar workers based on long close contact in the construction world, when in the presence of evangelicals Trump is moved by a similar lived Christian experience that radiates from his pores. Guided Through the Church Trump acknowledges only two people in his life as mentor, his father, Fred Christ Trump Sr., and Norman Vincent Peale (18981993), pastor of the Marble Collegiate Church of New York for six decades. From late childhood into adulthood, near fifty years, Trump attended Sunday services and heard Peales sermons. Peale mesmerized Trump: Dr. Peale commanded the pulpit like no one else. He was perhaps the greatest speaker I have ever watched. I especially liked his sermons. He would instill a very positive feeling about God that also made me feel positive about myself. I would literally leave that church feeling like I could listen to another three sermons. I learned a lot from Norman Vincent Peale.... I think people are shocked when they find out that I am a Christian, that I am a religious person. They see me with all the surroundings of wealth so they sometimes dont associate that with being religious. Thats not accurate. I go to church, I love God, and I love having a relationship with Him. Ive said it before I think the Bible is the most important book ever written (2016). At his inauguration Trump swore on both the Lincoln bible and one received in childhood from his mother whose prescription for life he often quotes: Trust in God and be true to yourself. Reading Peales still popular book, The Power of Positive Thinking (1952), reveals the spiritual framework of Donald J. Trumps policies throughout his life including the presidency. A Presidential Witness The Spirit bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16) and Romans 8:15 includes an emotional cry affirming witnessing. Evangelicals do not listen to Trump with cold intellects assessing politics. Religion is under siege. The day I got sworn in the Federal war on religion came to a very abrupt end. A nation without faith cannot endure. Faith and family lead to the stability, happiness and prosperity of nations (Trump, 2020). Trumps passionate faith embraces an evangelicals ardent search for the path to salvation a witnessed faith. Responding to Trumps outsized religious fervor evangelicals are energized, joyful, and hopeful. Trumps ease of witness elicits a similar witnessing from the congregation. Trumps authentic affection for his co-religionists united in faithful belief stokes his rhetorical blaze and fosters acceptance of his words. Words are secondary. Faith is first. Trump bears witness through lifelong faithfulness. Politics while undoubtedly significant cannot explain Trumps profound appeal to those who pursue salvation. In this religious struggle of the faithful, his empathic talent to excite contagious witnessing captures the hearts of believers. How could it not! He aids and abets the salvation of their souls. Donald J. Trump has Christian charisma. Duke Energy Corporation DUK recently announced that its subsidiary Duke Energy Florida will construct two new solar power plants in Florida. The construction of the Twin Rivers Solar Power Plant in Hamilton County and the Santa Fe Solar Power Plant in Columbia County are expected start from March 2020. Both the projects, each with 74.9 megawatt (MW) solar power capacity, are expected to remove approximately 600 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year in the state after their expected completion in late 2020. Steady Solar Project Developments in Florida Duke Energy Florida is committed to provide cleaner environment to its customers in the state on a consistent basis. Florida, termed as Sunshine state, is an appropriate region for harnessing solar energy. Recently, the company completed two solar plants in the state. On Dec 9, 2019, the Lake Placid Solar Power Plant was completed in Highlands County with 45 MW solar power facilities. In Dec 18, the Trenton Solar Power Plant with 74.9 MW facilities was completed in Gilchrist County. Moreover, there are other two projects Columbia Solar Power Plant and The DeBary Solar Power Plant that are under construction and expected to begin their services from April and June, 2020, respectively. In Florida, the company is set to build up to 700 MW of solar projects by 2022. In sync with this plan, Duke Energy will invest nearly $1 billion from 2018-2022. Also, NextEra Energys NEE primary subsidiary Florida Power & Light Company announced its 30-by-30 plan to install more than 30 million solar panels in Florida by 2030. Solar Energy Portfolio Enhancement With rising environment awareness, the adoption of renewable energy has increased worldwide. Moreover, solar energy will be a vital resource when renewables become the primary source of power generation. Duke Energy is undertaking efforts to expand its renewable asset base. With respect to its commercial renewables business, the company continued to expand its wind and solar portfolio in 2018, with nearly 2,900 megawatt (MW) capacity across 14 states. The portfolio comprises 21 wind and 64 solar facilities. Along with these developments, the company is acquiring existing solar power plants. In September 2019, Duke Energy Renewables bought a Texas-based solar project Rambler from Recurrent Energy that is a subsidiary of Canadian Solar CSIQ. In January 2020, the company acquired a portfolio of nine solar projects in the state of Georgia, which comes under the Renewable Energy Development Initiative of Georgia Power a unit of The Southern Company SO. We believe that such initiatives will expand Duke Energys commercial renewables footprint and help it on its objective to cut down carbon di-oxide emission to zero level by 2050. Price Movement Story continues In a years time, shares of Duke Energy have increased 17.1% compared with the industrys 28.5% growth. Zacks Rank Duke Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) : Free Stock Analysis Report NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Southern Company (The) (SO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. (Photo: South African Council of Churches)Former South African Anglican leader, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, interviewed by South African journalist Hennie Serfontein in the 1980s. South African journalist Hennie Serfontein was a special kind of Afrikaner because he chose to turn his back on apartheid when most whites in his country found the easier option to support it or stay silent while he covered church and society, often at great risk. The veteran Afrikaans political journalist and documentary filmmaker often known as JHP Serfontein died peacefully in his sleep in Sandton near Johannesburg in South Africa on July 24. Serfontein was 83 years old. Family members said his wife for 60 years was at his side. The former journalist was best known for his exposes whilst working for South African newspapers in the mid-sixties and 1970s on the dreaded Broederbond, the secret organization of select Afrikaners who set government policy before the whites-only parliament debated it. Serfontein once said, "There is no such thing as objectivity in journalism but your facts have to be one hundred percent right." He also said, "At the end of the day it is more important to follow your own conscience than to be like a sheep and follow the flock." His patch held its dangers and the South African government of the time did not want him to report on it as he delved into the role of the churches in both supporting apartheid, and fighting it. His daughter Anli Serfontein, who lives in Berlin and is a correspondent for Ecumenical News said, "My beloved Dad followed his conscience as an Afrikaner vehemently opposing apartheid and speaking up for the truth. He did this fully knowing how bad the backlash would be, and he never wavered." As a journalist specializing on church matters, Serfontein met Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the 1970s and had close dealings with him later as secretary-general of the South African Council of Churches. At the time Tutu was in the forefront of non-violent resistance to apartheid in the country, before going on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. In 1995 Serfontein made a documentary on Tutu, visiting among other things the concentration camp in Dachau to establish a link between what happened in South Africa and what happened in Nazi Germany. RELATIONSHIP WITH BEYERS NAUDE Serfontein's relationship with the well-known Afrikaans anti-apartheid theologian Beyers Naude went back to the early 1950's in Pretoria when Serfontein was a student and a member of the Dutch Reformed Church which had supported apartheid. Serfontein got into journalism in 1963 with the Broederbond exposes the first ones were based on Naude's documents. Naude was at that point still a member of the Broederbond the ultra-secret Afrikaner organization which with its octopus-like powers that was involved in every major Cabinet and apartheid policy decision. Because of these exposes and his friendship with Naude, the Dutch Reformed Church refused to baptize his daughter in 1965. Naude founded the Christian Institute, which the government declared a banned organization in 1977, along with its founder which meant he was under virtual house arrest and unable to make contact with more than two people at a time. For European broadcasters, Serfontein recorded and illustrated the effects of the banning order on Naude, his total ostracization from his Afrikaner community and his belief in a non-racial society. After 1994 he also did portraits for the national broadcaster, the SABC. The friendship with Naude was one of the most important one's in his life, spanning five decades. Serfontein's last broadcast for IKON in 1995 was then also aptly a profile on Naude. NICO SMITH There are also unique footage of another anti-apartheid theologian, former University of Stellenbosch professor, Nico Smith a Dutch Reformed pastor who had moved to the black Mamelodi township in 1987 where he was a pastor, to live among the people he was serving. Another important aspect was recording and exposing the heartbreak caused by the stance of the Afrikaans churches to justify apartheid on the basis of the Bible and the reaction of the international Reformed church body which in 1982 in Ottawa declared that apartheid is a heresy. In in the late 1970s and 1980s Serfontien became a correspondent for the Dutch daily newspaper Trouw and the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet. He also produced films for several TV stations in The Netherlands IKON, NCRV, VARA at a time when Dutch journalists were often refused visas to enter South Africa. JHP (Hennie) Serfontein spent his formative years in Pretoria in the heart of conservative Nationalist Afrikanerdom. He was head boy of the prestigious Afrikaans Hoer Skool in Pretoria. He was also a leadership contemporary of the last apartheid president FW de Klerk and his Foreign Minister Pik Botha in the Nationalist Party Youth organisations, before turning his back on what could have been a brilliant political career and opting for journalism and exposing apartheid. Working for the (Johannesburg) Sunday Times, in the late sixties and early seventies, he made his name in his sensational exposes of the Broederbond as it was for the first time exposed to the full glare of publicity. For years Serfontein was acknowledged as the foremost writer on the National Party and Afrikaner affairs in the liberal English press. For this he was branded a traitor to the Afrikaner cause and he and his family were ostracized from the Afrikaner community. In 2015 he explained, "I'm not a church person, but I took my decision that apartheid is against the Word of God full-stop." Throughout his life he was a close confidante of Beyers Naude whom he first met in 1950 as a student and their opposition to apartheid followed the same path as of the 1960's when they often consulted each other. Jammu and Kashmir police, on Tuesday, have arrested one Lashkar-e-Taiba militant from Baramulla in north Kashmir. Sajjad Ahmad Dar, alias Adnan, a resident of Hajin in Bandipore district was arrested from Andergam village at Pattan in Baramulla, a police officer said. After his arrest, the 19-year-old militant is being interrogated by the police. Earlier on Monday, in a brief exchange of fire, a militant identified as Shahid Khar, a resident of Redwini in Kulgam was killed. The earthquake hit the eastern province of Elazig killing at least 35 people and injuring almost 2,000. Aid and rescue are haphazard with some areas getting little. Basic supplies, food and clothing are needed. Istanbul (AsiaNews) - Caritas Anatolia is standing with the Turkish communities affected by last Fridays earthquake that killed at least 35 people and injured and almost 2,000. The quake hit the eastern province of Elazig, 550 km east of the capital Ankara. Less than 24 hours after the disaster, a Caritas Anatolia representative reached the area and began looking into the situation between the cities of Malatya and Elazig. The government, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), and the Red Cross are already active in Elazig where the damage is greatest. Aid is pouring in from various municipalities and associations, but a lot of food and aid of different kind is reportedly being wasted. The representative of the Catholic charity visited some of the villages around Elazig, in particular Puturge and Doganyol, which are 1,950 metres above sea level. Here, aid was distributed and tents set up in front undamaged houses, but in some areas very little aid has arrived. Food, blankets, stoves and winter clothes are needed in the current emergency situation; diapers and special food are needed for children. An estimate US$ 3,000 are needed for food and travel to bring aid. Other villages between Malatya and Elazig are expected to be in similar conditions. January 28, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - The downed plane was the mobile CIA command for Michael D Andrea, and now, Americas most advanced spy platform and mobile command centre with all equipment and documents are in Talibans hands. De Andrea, who was responsible for the assassination of Irans top commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, was apparently among the officers on board the plane, the Veterans Today website reports, quoting Russian intelligence sources. Also known as Ayatollah Mike, DAndrea is the most prominent figure of the CIA intelligence in the region. Since 2017, D Andrea has run the CIAs false flag and assassination programs in the Middle East, allegedly responsible not only for the murder of General Soleimani but the killing of 300 Iraqi demonstrators as well. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The US military has acknowledged the loss of a Bombardier/Northrop Grumman E-11A plane in central Afghanistan. They added that they have not found any indication that the aircraft was downed. The aircraft crashed in Ghazni city area on Monday. An investigation into the incident is underway and the military will provide further information when its available, a spokesman for the US force in Afghanistan, Col. Sonny Leggett has tweeted. The official also dismissed Taliban claims that another aircraft had crashed in the country, describing them as false. Earlier in the day, the Taliban said that a military helicopter went down in the east of the country shortly after the plane crash. The militant group did not provide any details of the alleged incident, nor did they specify to whom the helicopter belonged. There has been some confusion as to whether Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for the plane crash. Their initial statement in Pushtu only stated that the plane had gone down. The Bombardier/Northrop Grumman E-11A is a surveillance and communications plane. Footage from the scene showing the wreckage has been circulating on social media, and photos that appear to show a plane with the same serial number have been unearthed. Videos showed the shell of the plane ablaze on the ground. It was largely destroyed in the fire with only its tail section surviving the crash. Journalists have made it to the scene of a plane crash in Afghanistan, snapping pictures of the wreckage and even some documents. It comes as the US Air Forces chief of staff all but confirmed the loss of the military plane. Footage from the scene shows that the aircraft burned upon the impact, with only its tail section remaining largely intact. Although I dont bother to keep track, Im pretty sure that, most days, Im getting in my 10,000 steps. How do I know? I dont drive a car. I limit my taxi use to late nights and emergencies and I try to avoid the TTC if the distance is remotely walkable. I dont even have an Uber app on my phone. These choices, borne out of a combination of fear (of driving) and love (of walking), used to raise eyebrows. Now, though, going car-free in the city is increasingly common, for financial, convenience and health reasons. Walking is good for our mood, hearts, lungs, bones, even our brains. Despite this, a lot of Canadians arent hitting their stride. According to a 2017 study, a lot of us were only walking half of the 10,000 steps our fitness apps encourage us to get. Its part of the whole sedentary behaviour syndrome, which involves screen-time and not participating in transportation in an active way, says Angelo Belcastro, professor and chair at York Universitys School of Kinesiology and Health Science. Even taking elevators and escalators contributes, since any type of physical activity, walking included, will help improve cardio and muscle tone. Belcastro, who does a 10 km walk at least three days a week, says that, even though theres no one study that pinpoints 10,000 steps a day as a magic number, its a pretty good target for adults. Kids should probably get moreand not just because itll help with childhood obesity rates. With children, theres a lot of literature on the value of physical activity, says Belcastro. And not necessarily training for a sport, just being physically active like participating in active transportation (i.e. walking to school). Children who do more of that actually score better in school grades. One of the studies that established this is Putting School Transit on the Map, a five-year-old University of Toronto paper, but thats only one of many pieces of evidence in whats becoming an open-and-shut case for the benefits of walking. British neuroscientist Shane OMara, whose book In Praise of Walking will be released in Canada in May, even refers to walking as our superpowera key adaptation in human evolution that still serves a valuable purpose in keeping our bodies and brains up to speed. As we evolved to be bi-pedal, our brains developed a sophisticated GPS system that, when used, still stimulates cognitive activity, improving our focus, memory and creative thinking. Its OMaras hope that, one day, doctors will prescribe walking instead of drugs for some health problems. Obviously the health benefits are enormous and, finally, the medical profession is recognizing that one of the best ways to handle things like stress and obesity is to just go for a walk, says Jacky Kennedy, former director of Canada Walks. And it sounds almost too simple, but I think most people who havent really walked very much quickly realize they feel much better once they start. My car-free choices are looking pretty good right now. Not everybody, however, has the same exercise options I have. Houses in my neighbourhood boast a high Walk Score (89), which means I can do almost all of my errands without a car. When I visit my in-laws in Etobicoke, there are no sidewalks in front of the houses in their mid-century neighbourhood. I looked up their Walk Score and its 18, meaning that virtually every errand requires a car. In 2018, we learned that nearly 40 per cent of the citys pedestrian deaths took place in Scarborough. Last week, two pedestrians were killed in separate collisions, one in Brampton and one at Dufferin and Steeles. Downtown, where I live, we have sidewalks everywhere and its very pleasant for walking, says Kennedy. But the city also has areas where pedestrians have to walk on arterial roads and you have to walk a long distance to cross the road because the distance between traffic lights is far too great. I think if the city could apply some of the stuff we do downtown to the suburbs that might move it forward a little bit. Theres still plenty of work to do downtown as well, of course. But now that we know that walking can make us happier, healthier and more successful (not to mention decrease pollution and save us money), its time to make sure people in every neighbourhood can make the most of their superpower. Its simple. Almost too simple. The political will to make the streets safe for people trying to become healthier is more complicated. The public health pay-off would be phenomenal thoughand there would be less traffic. If we get it right and make things safe, theres literally no downside to walking more and driving less. How many things can you say that about? [January 28, 2020] Harvard University Appoints Matt Segneri New Executive Director of I-Lab BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Matt Segneri will become the Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Executive Director of the Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab), a university-wide entity that fosters team-based and entrepreneurial activities and provides a forum for interactions among students, faculty, alumni, and the surrounding community. A first-generation college student and graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Business School (HBS), Segneri has been the director of the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative for the past five years. During that time, he served as co-lead of the HBS New Venture Competition; as an MBA Ombudsperson; and as a judge for and advisor to the President's Innovation Challenge, MassChallenge, and the MIT $100K Competition. Segneri also was instrumental in developing the proposal that established the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a collaborative effort across the Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School and an innovative example of entrepeneurship within academia. He received the Boston Business Journal's "40 Under 40" and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce "Ten Outstanding Young Leaders" awards. Segneri held previous leadership roles in organizations of different sizes and phases of development, including the City of Boston Mayor's Office, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the Monitor Group. "The i-lab has been an extraordinary success, and as we gain new neighbors in Allstonbeginning with the Science and Engineering Complex next fallit's thrilling to imagine an even greater future," said Nitin Nohria, Dean of Harvard Business School and director of the i-lab Advisory Board. "Matt's passion for innovation and entrepreneurship, his strong ties to the student and alumni communities, and his proven record of excellence make him an outstanding choice for this role." Alan M. Garber, Harvard University Provost, added, "Matt's deep understanding of undergraduate and graduate education, along with his demonstrated commitment to mentoring and helping educate the next generation of student entrepreneurs, makes him the right person to guide the i-lab in this next chapter." Since its launch in 2011, more than 38,000 students from all 12 Harvard University schools have experienced the i-lab, 1,600 ventures have been incubated, and $2.7M has been distributed in non-dilutive funding. Segneri stated he looks forward to building on the success of his predecessors, Gordon Jones and Jodi Goldstein, while exploring new opportunities and meeting new needs. "I believe that problems are solved at the intersection of ideas and disciplines. It is pure magic when you bring together people from across the University to think differently and build new things. The i-lab truly is One Harvard at its best," he said. "This is a very exciting moment in time and a way to be in service to these student entrepreneurs, the University, and the city that I love." Contact: Mark Cautela [email protected] 617-495-5143 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/harvard-university-appoints-matt-segneri-new-executive-director-of-i-lab-300994528.html SOURCE Harvard Business School [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, January 28, 2020 19:30 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206164084 1 Business Bank-BJB,Bank-Jabar-Banten,bond-issuance,debt,debt-paper,loan-disbursement,expansion Free Publicly listed Bank Pembangunan Daerah Jawa Barat dan Banten (Bank BJB) will offer Rp 500 billion (US$36.74 million) worth of bonds in this year's first quarter as the first part of its second shelf-registration subordinated bonds valued at Rp 1 trillion. The bank plans to use the proceeds to strengthen its capital structure and help expand its loan disbursement, as well as to expand the composition of the banks long-term financing, it said in a prospectus summary published in a local newspaper on Tuesday. The company has set a target to increase its loan disbursement by 10 to 11 percent this year. The subordinated bonds are set to be offered in two series, namely series A, which will be due in five years and series B, which will have a tenure of seven years. The yields, which will be paid every three months starting June 5, have yet to be determined. "The [offering] of part II of the shelf-registration subordinated bonds or the next part [if any] will be determined at a later date," the summary read. A subordinated bond is an unsecured loan or bond that ranks below other, more senior loans or securities with respect to claims on assets or earnings, according to Investopedia. The Bandung, West Java, based bank has received an idA (single A) rating from local ratings agency Pefindo for the bonds, which will be listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). It also received the full commitment of four securities firms to act as its underwriters, namely CIMB Niaga Sekuritas, Mandiri Sekuritas, RHB Sekuritas and Trimegah Sekuritas. Stocks of Bank BJB, traded at the IDX under the code BJBR, fell 0.48 percent on Tuesday and have lost almost 52 percent of their value in the last 12 months. (CNN) The British government said Tuesday that it will allow China's Huawei to help build the country's next generation of super-fast wireless networks, a decision that could undermine trade and intelligence ties with the United States. The announcement follows months of public debate in the United Kingdom over how to respond to concerns raised by the US government about potential national security risks posed by Huawei components and the threat of Chinese cyber attacks. UK mobile operators will be able to use Huawei equipment in their 5G networks but the company will be excluded from "security critical" core areas, according to a statement from the government. The Trump administration had been pressing for a total ban on Huawei products, alleging that Beijing could use the equipment for snooping. It had warned that US-UK intelligence sharing could be put at risk. Under Chinese law, Chinese companies can be ordered to act under the direction of Beijing. Huawei has consistently denied that it would help the Chinese government to spy. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come under intense pressure, including from within his party, to agree to the US demands on Huawei. He discussed the issue with President Donald Trump in a phone call on Friday. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted Sunday that Britain faced a "momentous" decision on 5G. Huawei already has a significant presence in UK wireless networks, and has been operating under supervision by government security agencies since 2003. "We've always treated them as a 'high risk vendor' and have worked to limit their use in the UK and put extra mitigations around their equipment and services," Ian Levy, technical director of the National Cyber Security Centre, said in a blog post. In a statement, the company said it was "reassured" that it would be able to continue working with its UK customers on 5G, albeit in a restricted role. "We agree a diverse vendor market and fair competition are essential for network reliability and innovation, as well as ensuring consumers have access to the best possible technology," said Victor Zhang, a vice president at Huawei. The issue demonstrates how a conflict between the United States and China over the future of technology is forcing other countries to take sides, especially when it comes to advancements that could affect national security. 5G allows greater and faster data processing, and is seen as an integral component of new interconnected technologies such as automated vehicles and smart appliances. Johnson's government has pledged to bring 5G to the entire country by 2025. Huawei, which is a leader in 5G technology and also one of the world's biggest sellers of smartphones, has seen its business targeted in a concerted campaign by the United States. But its products are often described as superior and cheaper than those sold by European rivals Nokia and Ericsson. Some experts say that Huawei owes part of its success to favorable loans from the Chinese state, an assertion the company disputes. The UK government said "high risk vendors" like Huawei will be excluded from all safety critical infrastructure, security critical "core" functions of the network and sensitive locations such as military sites and nuclear power stations. The company will also be limited to supplying 35% of network equipment and base stations, or carrying 35% of network traffic. "The government is certain that these measures, taken together, will allow us to mitigate the potential risk posed by the supply chain and to combat the range of threats, whether cyber criminals, or state sponsored attacks," the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in a statement. A spokesperson for telecom company BT, which operates networks in the United Kingdom and several other markets, said the government's decision "is an important clarification for the industry." It said it does not use Huawei equipment in its core networks. Three, another mobile network operator, said it was reviewing the announcement. O2, the UK brand of Spain's Telefonica, said that Huawei products make up less than 1% of the network infrastructure it owns. O2 said it would continued to work with its primary vendors, Nokia and Ericsson. Vodafone said it does not use Huawei equipment in core parts of its network. A spokesperson said the company would study the decision and its potential impact on the rest of its network, and work with authorities if it needs to swap out any parts. Trump administration 'disappointed' Britain, which will leave the European Union on Friday, faced a tough choice on whether to use the company's products. In recent years, it has courted investment from China, but it has a very close relationship with the United States and is banking on a new trade deal with Washington after Brexit. Allowing Huawei into its 5G networks could make such an agreement harder to get. The Trump administration said Tuesday it was "disappointed" with the decision. A senior administration official told CNN Business the United States will continue to press "all countries" to avoid using Huawei wireless gear. "There is no safe option for untrusted vendors to control any part of a 5G network," the official said. "We look forward to working with the UK on a way forward that results in the exclusion of untrusted vendor components from 5G networks." Three members of the US Senate, which plays a role in approving trade deals, made the stakes clear in a letter to Johnson on Monday. Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton and John Cornyn told Johnson that while they did not want to "threaten" a free trade deal or to review how the countries share intelligence, the facts on Huawei "are clear." "We hope that your government will make the right decision and reject Huawei's inclusion in its 5G infrastructure," the Republican senators wrote. The Trump administration did not respond Tuesday when asked whether the UK decision would affect intelligence sharing. US Senator Ben Sasse said in a statement that the Chinese Communist Party had now "infected" an intelligence alliance between the United States and its closest allies. "Here's the sad truth: our special relationship is less special now that the UK has embraced the surveillance state commies at Huawei," Sasse said. But British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, speaking to UK lawmakers, denied the decision would affect the United Kingdom's ability "to share highly sensitive intelligence data over highly secure networks, both within the UK and with our partners." Trump and Johnson spoke by phone after Tuesday's announcement. The White House said in a statement that they "discussed critical regional and bilateral issues, including telecommunications security." Brian Fung in Washington contributed to this article. This story was first published on CNN.com "UK will allow Huawei to help build its 5G network despite US pressure" "Nobody knows exactly what is going on in the mind of B. S. Yediyurappa. One thing is certain, he has decided to accommodate all those for whom he has assured a berth in the cabinet," told Karnataka BJP spokesperson G. Madhusudhana to IANS. Bengaluru, Jan 28 (IANS) Karnataka cabinet expansion can happen anytime before the start of the Assembly session on February 5 or by the end of this month, said a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state leader on Tuesday. "He will have to do it before the Assembly session starts on February 5. Before that it will definitely happen. Some are saying that by this month end it may be over. We will see what happens," he said. According to Madhusudhana, the Chief Minister has made it clear that he will accommodate only those who won in the election, implying that 11 hopefuls will be accommodated for sure. Accommodating some more BJP leaders in cabinet grade posts such as ports and corporations is also a route being explored, Madhusudhana said. "He (Yediyurappa) is the Chief Minister for the fourth term now. He has built the party from scratch. And he knows the art, science and commerce of administration. He knows how to satisfy everybody," said Madhusudhana, joking that there are thousands of hopefuls. However, the BJP spokesperson said the responsibility of taking forward the state, which had been ruined during the regime of Siddaramaiah and H. D. Kumaraswamy is more important than who becomes a minister. "So who becomes the minister does not matter to the BJP, Yediyurappa or workers like me. But what we are able to deliver to the people of Karnataka, that is important for us," he said. The BJP won 12 of the 15 Assembly seats in the bye-elections while the opposition Congress could win only two and an Independent won one. sth/dpb Hospital officials met with wounded victims of an attack at a police base in northern Afghanistan which killed at least 11 people. The officials visited Baghlan Hospital where the victims were taken following Monday's attack in Baghlan province. Taliban militants had attacked the police base and were apparently able to breach the compound with ease because a sympathetic police officer opened a door for them, according to local government officials. Those details were provided by Mabobullah Ghafari, a provincial councilman in Baghlan province where the attack took place. A local police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief reporters about the attack, also gave the same account. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Monday's attack on the outskirts of Puli Khumri, Baghlan's provincial capital. Image credit: Twitter Kolkata, Jan 28 : Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on Tuesday called on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat Nabanna and later said that the state government has a number of "interesting" schemes which he would study before taking up her offer to work together. "I had come to listen to her, to know about the interesting schemes here, and study them," he told mediapersons after meeting the Chief Minister along with his mother Nirmla, also an economist like her son. He said he was interested in working with the state government if given an opportunity. "Yes, the Chief Minister has given some offers. The state government has a number of interesting schemes. We will try to work out an arrangement. Let's see what happens," he said. However, he refused to answer any question on the National Register of Citizens or the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The U.S. Department of State urged Americans to consider not traveling to China amid the outbreak of the potentially deadly coronavirus. The Monday afternoon alert advises Americans to reconsider travel to China due to novel coronavirus and raised its travel advisory to three out of four. A level-four State Department warning calls on people to not travel at all to a countryusually reserved for countries in the midst of war or insecurity, such as Afghanistan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Yemen. An outbreak of a mysterious new strain of coronavirus has been centered around the central Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei Province. The agency warned: Do not travel to Hubei province, China or Wuhan. Chinese authorities have imposed strict travel restrictions in the area around Wuhan. Travelers should be aware that the Chinese government could prevent them from entering or exiting parts of Hubei province. Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice, according to the bulletin. The State Department noted that if one travels to China, avoid contact with visibly sick people, avoid alive or dead animals, wash hands often with soap and water, and inform a healthcare provider ahead of time. It comes after the agency announced it would charter a one-time flight from Wuhan to San Francisco to evacuate diplomats and interested private citizens amid the outbreak. The Department of State is making arrangements to relocate its personnel stationed at the U.S. Consulate General in Wuhan to the United States, the agencys statement said. We anticipate that there will be limited capacity to transport private U.S. citizens on a reimbursable basis on a single flight leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on Tuesday, Jan. 28, said the statement. First, the flight will have to make a stop at the international airport in Anchorage, Alaska, according to the governors office. Given Alaskas proximity to Asia, we have been asked to assist our federal partners in this effort to facilitate travel out of China back to the United States to bring these U.S. citizens home, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement in announcing the move. The State of Alaska, in combination with our local, federal, and Tribal partners, have been working closely to ensure the health and safety of all Alaskans while assisting with this request. So far, about five coronavirus patients have been confirmed in the United States. The latest ones were confirmed in Maricopa County, Arizona, and two in Southern California. In the Maricopa case, according to a statement released on Sunday by the Arizona Department of Health Services, the patient is a member of the Arizona State University community who does not live in university housing. The three people had recently traveled to Wuhan, officials said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed in news reports Monday that approximately 110 people in the United States have been tested for the virus. From The Epoch Times New Jersey and Pennsylvania officials pledged Monday to collaborate more closely on gun crime, after announcing that police had taken down a gun trafficking ring that sold weapons from Philadelphia to Camden. Thirty-six guns and more than 20 ounces of methamphetamine were recovered, according to authorities, including a rifle used to kill a 2-year-old girl in Philadelphia last year. Each gun thats taken off our streets, and taken out of the hands of criminals, is a life saved, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said at a Camden press conference, flanked by federal and state officials. Grewal blamed lax gun laws in other states, particularly Pennsylvania, for some of the gun violence across the Delaware River. Philadelphia Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, slammed his states Republican lawmakers for not passing stricter gun laws. Thirty-five people in Philadelphia have been shot and killed since New Years Day, he said, a sharp increase from last year. The two attorneys general said the way agencies shared information during the gun trafficking investigation would continue, dubbing their collaboration as the PA/NJ Gun Trafficking Initiative. The investigation focused on two men: Robert Crosley III, 32, and Matthew Zoba, 38, both of Philadelphia. (Crosley was also known as Zombie, and the takedown was called Operation Zombie.) They are accused of masterminding the operation. Two other people acted as straw purchasers, police said, buying guns for people banned from owning firearms. Five people in total were charged. Many of the guns seized were sold in Camden, and at least one was sold to an undercover officer, officials said. An assault rifle was priced as high as $2,200 by the group, officials said. An Uzi and a sawed-off shotgun were also recovered. All five people face charges for second-degree transporting firearms into the state for illegal sale or transfer, second-degree conspiracy in connection with the gun trafficking and fourth-degree unlawful disposition of a handgun. Each also faces a litany of other charges, according to a press release. Those with first-degree charges face at least a decade in prison. Crosley was arrested in Camden Jan. 22 and is in jail. His attorney did not immediately return a request for comment. Zoba was arrested Jan. 23 and is in jail. It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney. Also arrested were: * Victoria Zipf, 33, of Philadelphia, who was dating Zoba, police said, and worked as a straw purchaser. She was arrested Jan. 23 and later released on bail in Pennsylvania. She did not immediately return a request for comment. * Michael Snyder, 44, of Philadelphia, who worked as a straw purchaser, officials said. He has not yet been arrested. A message left for a number listed under Snyders name was not immediately returned. * Yuri Lyubinskiy, 39, of Philadelphia, who helped sell guns, police said. He has not yet been arrested, and did immediately respond to a request for comment. Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. ALBANY A year ago, lawmakers gathered on the Million Dollar Staircase in the state Capitol to celebrate the impending passage of the Child Victims Act after more than a decade of gridlock in the Legislature. The act, signed on Valentine's Day by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, would extend the statute of limitations for sex crimes involving children and open a one-year "look-back" window for survivors of all ages to file previously time-barred claims against their alleged abusers. On Tuesday, those same lawmakers, surrounded by activists and survivors, rallied in the same spot to commemorate the anniversary and to call for extending the look-back period another year. "We set off an earthquake across the state of New York a year ago today," state Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan and a sponsor of the legislation, said at a press conference hosted by the victim services organization Safe Horizon. "We gave a voice to the voiceless. So many people who were not able to have their cases heard we gave hope to the hopeless." Hoylman, along with Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, D-Manhattan, is pushing a new bill to extend the look-back period until August 2021. The window is currently set to expire on Aug. 13. Even though the look-back period has been open for almost six months, and nearly 1,500 cases have been filed statewide, there are still some survivors who are processing their trauma and have not yet come forward, Rosenthal said. Some victims have also indicated that they would like to sue their alleged abusers, but they cannot find a lawyer willing to take their case. Most lawsuits filed to date have targeted high-profile institutions, such as the Catholic Church or the Boy Scouts of America, that have large assets. Attorneys working on contingency fees meaning they receive a slice of court winnings as payment have been less likely to file cases that name poor or dead individuals. That is the case for 38-year-old Romi Schwartz, who now lives in Israel but says she was abused by her father as a teenager during a visit to New York. She has emailed about 10 lawyers hoping to pursue a case but each has responded that they are either overloaded on casework or cannot take on a case without the potential for millions of dollars in payout, Schwartz said. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "It feels like it was redemption, this one-year opportunity but now it's outrageous that, because of money, I cant get the justice," she said in an interview last week, adding that she has not yet given up hope on finding an attorney. And legislators don't want her to. Standing arm-in-arm Tuesday, four state lawmakers who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse grew emotional as they recounted their personal connection to the legislation. "I spent 20 years on and off in therapy, and there is not a moment that goes by when I can speak about what happened to me and not break down," said Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, D-Queens. "And so for those folks who spent decades not speaking about it, and this window is the first opportunity they get to actually talk about what happened we can't just give them a year. They deserve more from us. They need more from us." Trump attorney Jay Sekulow in mid-tirade. Photo: Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images Tuesdays abbreviated session for hearing the conclusion of the arguments made on the presidents behalf by his team of public and private-sector lawyers produced no bombshells or even minor revelations. It did reflect an apparent decision by Team Trump to shift from their initial he never did anything wrong! posture to So what if he did? Continuing Alan Dershowitzs argument from yesterday, the presidents attorneys mostly relied on the claim that nothing even alleged in the House record rose to the level of impeachable offenses, as evidenced by the absence of bipartisan support for the whole exercise. Jay Sekulow pounded this point home, per the Washington Post: The bar for impeachment cannot be set this low, he said. Danger, danger, danger. These articles must be rejected. The Constitution requires it. Justice demands it. Earlier, Sekulow argued that the abuse of power charge fails constitutionally. The president has constitutional authority to engage, conduct foreign policy and foreign affairs, he said. It is our position, legally, the president at all times acted with perfect legal authority, inquired of matters in our national interest. In other words, even if Trumps infamous call to Vlodymyr Zelensky wasnt perfect, his constitutional right to conduct it as he saw fit actually was. This apparent strategic shift was almost certainly in response to the threat of new testimony (or barring that, eventual revelations) from John Bolton. Even if he establishes that Trump was trying to influence Zelensky to do him a favor involving a quid-pro-quo, Trumps defenders are making it clear its just not enough to justify his removal from office. The effort to get as far away from discussion of the facts of the presidents conduct was evidenced by the arguments conclusion, which consisted of video of todays House and Senate Democrats arguing against the impeachment and removal from office of Bill Clinton as excessively lowering the standard for this dramatic act. Its unclear whether the president will be happy with this less-than-total defense or if anyone will suddenly decide Trump is a victim of partisanship thanks to two-decades-old tapes of Democrats fighting for Clinton. But it does provide a good fallback position in case Bolton testifies or his book leaks into the public domain. The continuing drama over Democrats efforts to secure four Republican votes to issue a subpoena to Bolton continued without much if any news. Writing at Intelligencer, Ben Jacobs thinks the momentum for the potential breakthrough has stalled: Though the national security advisers account still dominated the news cycle, North Carolina Representative Mark Meadows, a close Trump ally, banked on the frenetic pace of contemporary politics to blow the story over by Monday. Its the reality of Washington, D.C., he said. Were on a 24- and 48-hour news cycle and candidly theres a lot of news each and every day. To suggest that we put a lot of emphasis on one report from the New York Times would be to ignore history where we have not only news that breaks every day, but allegations that break every day that seem blockbuster at the time they are made, but yet, when they are vetted, dont pass muster. It remains to be seen if the reporting on Boltons book will pass muster, but the bet seems to be that it will fade into the ether regardless. There was another Bolton idea floating around today, from Senate Republicans, as Politico reported: [O]ne last-minute proposal from Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) backed Tuesday by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) [was] to obtain and review a copy of the book in a classified setting. Schumer quickly rejected the proposal as absurd, saying a book should not need to be kept in a secure facility and calling it an effort to deflect from Democrats demand to call witnesses. Tuesdays quick adjournment gave Democratic presidential candidates a providential opportunity to get themselves to Iowa, if they can secure transportation. But it also gave Republicans the change to gather, compare notes, count noses, and decide if theyre sure they have the votes to deny witnesses and end the trial with the expected dispatch. The next two days will be absorbed with the slow ritual of senators posing questions to the contending attorneys by written note (coordinated by the party leaders, and alternating in sequence), the practice set out in the standing Senate rules and also followed in the Clinton trial, as Adam Keiper recalls: Each side in the Clinton impeachment trial presented its case over three days. Then, on January 21 and 22, 1999, the House managers and the Clinton defense team took questions from the senators. These questions were handwritten on slips of paper that were hand-delivered to Chief Justice Rehnquist, who then read them aloud. Although it seemed like the questions might really have been coming from the senators, in fact, much of the questioning was scripted. Assuming the Senate can dispose of the planned 16 hours of questions in two days, then the big vote on witnesses will occur Friday. In theory, if the vote goes Republicans way, the verdict on Trumps removal (which everyone understands will acquit him) could happen on Saturday, and then Trump can strut his triumphant stuff at Tuesdays scheduled State of the Union Address, even as Democrats mull the results of the Iowa Caucuses and their consequences for the contest to identify a 46th president. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- At a time when it enjoys the most robust economy in its history and a thawing of relations with its Arab neighbors, Israel is increasingly treated as a pariah. Israels allies revoke the charity status of organizations that raise money for Jewish settlements. UN bodies such as the Human Rights Council focus on Israels treatment of the Palestinians, while some human-rights organizations pressure Airbnb Inc. to exclude listings from the West Bank. Goods sold abroad that originate there are labeled as such. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, when it won the territory from Jordan in the Six Day War. According to the United Nations, states that seize territory by force are not allowed to populate that territory with their own citizens. Israel has expanded Jewish settlements since 1967, on land that according to the 1993 Oslo Accords would make up most of a future Palestinian state. By most interpretations, those settlements are illegal. So are many other such occupations around the world, notes a new report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Yet when was the last time you heard about a campaign to boycott, divest or sanction Armenia for its occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan? The report examines how international law is deployed in eight frozen conflicts where one state is occupying territory belonging to another and finds a double standard when it comes to Israel. The problem is not simply that the United Nations, United States, European Union, private corporations, and NGOs act in a highly inconsistent manner, it says. It is that their policies are selective and often reveal biases that underscore deeper problems in the international system. The example of Russia is instructive. In 2020, Russia occupies Ukrainian territory in Crimea and Donbass. It occupies the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It occupies the Moldovan territory of Transnistria. Story continues But Russia is really only paying a price for its occupation and annexation of Crimea, which has caused the U.S. and its European allies to sanction sectors of the Russian economy. Russia was initially sanctioned for its occupation of Georgian territory, but those sanctions were lifted in 2009 following a flimsy cease-fire agreement that Russian-backed separatists have since violated. The EU treats Transnistrian goods as if they were Moldovan. There are no restrictions on trade from the Georgian territory that Russia occupies. The EU, the report notes, has an exceptionally incoherent approach to protracted conflicts and trade. For example, it requires all goods exported from Israeli settlements to be labeled as coming from occupied territory. But it includes the Western Sahara region, which is occupied by Morocco, as part of Moroccos free trade agreement with the EU. Europe bans all trade with Crimea, but does not regulate trade with Abkhazia, South Ossetia or Transnistria. Part of the problem, according to the report, is that states which choose to occupy territory through proxy forces, such as the Turkish regime in charge of northern Cyprus or the Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass, are rarely treated the same as states that occupy territory with their own armed forces. Another problem is that some UN institutions are composed of states that have a political interest in demonizing Israel. That said, Israel is a unique case. It won the West Bank from a UN-recognized state in a war. But no one today argues that Israel should return that land to Jordan. Rather, Israel is expected to turn over the land it won to create a new state. That is the most important way that Israels occupation is different than the other frozen conflicts that receive such scant attention. Its important to note, though, that Israels occupation is not the primary obstacle to peace in the Middle East. Palestinian leaders have rejected past offers for statehood, and still insist that any two state-solution allow for the descendants of refugees created in the 1948 war to return to their homes. During Barack Obamas presidency, Palestinian leaders refused to meet with Israels prime minister, even after a partial settlement freeze. In this sense, the double standard about Israels occupation isnt just unfair, its counterproductive. The sooner the international community lets go of the illusion that it can force the Jewish state to create a Palestinian one, the sooner the hard work of compromise and negotiation can begin. To contact the author of this story: Eli Lake at elake1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.net This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. EDITORS NOTE: On March 10, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts its first semi-annual, daylong industry conference, featuring leaders in the medical marijuana, hemp and legal cannabis industries. Early-bird tickets are now available. Those who want to snag a job in a New Jersey medical marijuana dispensary can get a leg up on the competition without heading out west for a job, thanks to a new college course. A 15-hour certificate training to become a dispensary technician will be held at Raritan Valley Community Colleges Branchburg campus beginning May 9. Sarah Trent, an attorney and chief executive of cannabis company Valley Wellness, will lead the course. Knowledge of the legalities, the states guidelines, and the medical implications of medical cannabis are key to working in a medical dispensary, Trent said. Workers do not need special certifications or college degrees to work at one the states seven medical marijuana companies, but must pass a background check and need knowledge of the industrys regulations. Nationally, though, cannabis employers have said they struggle to find employees with applicable experience in the nascent legitimate industry. While you can go to Colorado or California and get cannabis training by working in the industry, that shouldnt be necessary, Trent said. The New Jersey cannabis industry should look to train and hire from within and that is why I approached RVCC. The course will touch on the legal status of medical marijuana in New Jersey, the basics of growing, harvest and processing and the available products. It will also provide an intro to the endocannabinoid system, a bodily system that regulates processes like sleep, appetite and mood and interacts with cannabinoids (the compounds, most notably THC and CBD, found in the cannabis plant). The class isnt geared just toward those working behind the counter, but could also apply to employees in growing and processing, or anyone interested in learning more about the medical marijuana field, Trent said. Thomas Gianfagna, a Rutgers University plant biology professor and Tim Weigand, of Compassionate Care Foundation, a dispensary in Egg Harbor, will teach parts of the courses. The non-credit course is the first of its kind. Students at Stockton University can study the topic in both depth by declaring a minor in cannabis studies under a program launched last in 2018. New Jerseys medical marijuana program is only expected to grow: Five medical marijuana dispensaries granted licenses from the state Health Department will open this year. One, TerrAscend in Phillipsburg, could open to patients as early as this spring. The health department also put out a call for 24 new businesses last year that would include dispensaries and grow facilities, but two lawsuits have put the application process on hold. Trents company, Valley Wellness, applied for one of the licenses in the latest round of applications. The Raritan Valley course costs $400, but tuition waivers are available to veterans. Those who attend each class and pass a short exam at the end will receive certificates. Registration information is available here. Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The Queensland government has filed charges against a mining company over the death of a coal worker in late 2018. The charges against BMA, a joint venture between BHP and Mitsubishi, relate to the death of Allan Houston, 49, who was killed on New Year's Eve in 2018 when the bulldozer he was operating rolled at the Saraji coal mine in central Queensland. Loading Mr Houston's death was one of eight in Queensland over an 18-month period which are being investigated, a spokesperson for the Department Natural Resources, Mines and Energy said. "DNRME has filed charges in the industrial magistrates court against BMA and a BMA representative alleging breaches of statutory safety and health obligations resulting in the death of Mr Alan Houston," he said. Medical staff in protective outfits wait at the entrance of a clinic for fever patients and patients from Wuhan (Chinatopix via AP) Britons in the coronavirus-hit Chinese province of Hubei could be flown home as early as Thursday as the Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to the country. The Foreign Office has yet to confirm details, but a teacher in Wuhan city told the PA news agency that UK citizens were being given details of forthcoming flights. Those stuck in the city of Wuhan and surrounding areas have been urged to contact the British consulate before 11am on Wednesday if they wish to leave. The British embassy in Beijing has said transport to get UK citizens out may happen quickly and with short notice. Meanwhile the FCO updated its travel advice to urge UK citizens to avoid the country, adding it may become more difficult for British nationals in other provinces to leave. The Foreign Office added UK nationals in China should make decisions based on their own personal circumstances over whether to leave. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: Due to the increasing travel restrictions and the public health situation, we now advise against all but essential travel to China. We are also working urgently to finalise arrangements for an assisted departure from Hubei Province for British nationals this week, and are in contact with people in Hubei to ensure they register their interest and that we can keep them updated. #China The FCO continue to advise against all travel to Hubei Province, and now advise against all but essential travel to the rest of mainland China (not including Hong Kong and Macao). Read more: https://t.co/gHJptrPkfa pic.twitter.com/29TDUbTjYH FCDO Travel Advice (@FCDOtravelGovUK) January 28, 2020 The UK continues to be guided by the latest medical advice about the coronavirus outbreak. The safety and security of British people will always be our top priority. China has imposed travel restrictions between its major cities while the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has suspended all tour group companies activities to prevent further virus spread. The British teacher living in Wuhan, who asked not to be named, told PA she had been in contact with the British authorities who informed her that while she could return to the UK, her husband, who has a UK visa, would not be allowed to as he was a Chinese national. It is understood that this was a result of restrictions imposed by China, rather than the UK. As a result, she decided that she would remain in China with her husband. Expand Close A worker wearing a face mask sprays disinfectant along a path in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province (Arek Rataj/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A worker wearing a face mask sprays disinfectant along a path in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province (Arek Rataj/AP) She said: Its what we were expecting to be honest, as wed heard that it was like that for the American flight out. We had hoped it would be different, but oh well. If the situation stays as it is, or improves, then were fine. We just hope it wont get any more serious. She added that a number of other Britons she was in contact with had arranged to return home, with some scheduled on a flight at 7am on Thursday. The news comes as almost 100 people in the UK have tested negative for coronavirus. The Department of Health and Social Care said 97 people have been given the all-clear for the virus, although scientists predict it may have entered the country. Earlier, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government was working on how to bring people home from the Chinese city. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) He told BBC Breakfast: For anybody who is there, one of the issues we have, working with our partners internationally on this, is actually identifying how many British citizens there are in Wuhan. One of the things were asking people to do is to contact the consulate there to make them aware. People have started to do that. We are working on arrangements as well. Officials estimate up to 200 citizens currently there will want to return to the UK. Hubei province has been on lockdown for several days as China seeks to contain the illness, as have other parts of China. Hong Kong also said on Tuesday it would temporarily close some of its borders with mainland China and stop issuing travel permits to mainland Chinese tourists. More than 100 people have now died in the country, with confirmed infections surging to more than 4,500. It comes as the UK expert developing a vaccine against coronavirus said it has a very good chance of being effective. NEW BLOG: Wuhan novel coronavirus: what you need to know https://t.co/9vOzpEOscA UK Health Security Agency (@UKHSA) January 24, 2020 Professor Robin Shattock, head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London, told PA he plans to start testing the vaccine on animals by the middle of February, with human studies in the summer if enough funding is secured. He warned there could be a second wave of coronavirus next winter across the globe. On Monday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock called for people who have returned from Wuhan to self-isolate even if they have no symptoms. He said officials could not be 100% certain the virus is not spread by people who are not displaying symptoms. The move means more than 1,400 people who have returned from Wuhan since January 10 should isolate themselves for 14 days from the date of leaving China. Meanwhile, reports from Japan and Germany on Tuesday suggested cases of coronavirus in people with no history of travel to Wuhan. Scientists are also working on emerging evidence which suggests the virus can be spread by people before they even develop symptoms. This could hamper efforts to contain the virus as people who have no indication they are ill go about their usual daily lives. A day after the shocking incident of a Hindu girl's abduction in Pakistan during her wedding ceremony came to light, PTI sources informed that India has asked Pakistan to ensure the safety and security of its citizens and the minority Hindu community of the country. India asks Pak to ensure safety and security of its citizens and minority Hindu community in that country: Sources Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 28, 2020 The Indian authorities summoned a senior Pakistani high commission official and have issued a strong statement against the abduction of a girl from her marriage ceremony on January 25. READ | Another forced conversion & marriage in Pakistan: Hindu bride abducted, forcibly wed Pak Hindu Bride Abducted, Forcibly Wed A Pakistani Hindu girl named Bharti Bai was abducted during her wedding ceremony and was allegedly forcibly married off to a Muslim man after being converted. Reports claimed that she was abducted by a group of people during her marriage ceremony on Saturday in Hala, a city located in Matiari district in Sindh province. She was then married to a man named Shah Rukh Gul. As per the report, authorities have not taken any action against the abductors. Allegedly, the Police also helped the men to abduct her. READ | Temple vandalised & scriptures desecrated in Pakistan's Sindh, Imran Khan silent: SAD Forced conversion and Nankana Sahib attacked On January 3, a video emerged of a mob of 400 people pelting stones in the Nankana Sahib Gurudwara in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the main leader of the mob is the brother of Mohammed Hassan - who was accused of kidnapping and forcibly converting a Sikh girl -Jagjit Kaur. Akali Dal leader Manjinder Sirsa, in August, had shared a video of the grieving family speaking of how 18-year old Jagjit Kaur was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam in Pakistan. On September 3, 2019, the victim was reunited with her family after Pakistan faced global anger due to inaction. Pakistan had claimed that Punjab's Nankana Sahib police had arrested eight people - including Hassan, in connection with the case. Despite being rescued, reports claim that Jagjit Kaur - now known as Ayesha- refused to convert back to Sikhism. The incidents come at a time when Pakistan's persecution of its minorities is a big talking point in India, on account of the ongoing debate over the CAA. READ | Imran Khan ups rhetoric, claims 'Pakistan ready for a referendum in PoK' READ | 'If Pak serious on relations with India...': MEA takes on Imran Khan's foul cry at Davos (With inputs from agencies) The Orleans Parish Coroners Office said Tuesday it is not able to determine the cause or manner of death for a woman whose decomposed body was found on the edge of City Park last summer more than a week after she had been reported missing. Spokesman Jason Melancon said the office performed an autopsy and toxicology tests on Jessica Easterly Durning, 43. According to a report, the pathologist who performed the autopsy found evidence that Durning suffered a nose injury as well as a small linear fracture in her jaw around the time she died. But the pathologist didnt address how those wounds may have been caused, the four-page autopsy report, signed Jan. 8, showed. Additionally, a toxicology examination revealed the presence of various substances, including medications. But records dont single out any as being a driving factor in Durnings death. Body found near City Park this summer was woman who had been reported missing, NOPD says Authorities have identified a woman found dead near the edge of City Park this summer as a 43-year-old who had been reported missing days befo In general, cause of death describes the illness or injury that killed a person. Manner of death describes whether a person died naturally or as a result of a homicide, suicide or accident. Melancon said the Coroners Office ultimately classified both the cause and manner of Durnings death as undetermined. Jefferson Parish Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich, who didnt work on Durnings case, said it is not uncommon for forensic investigators to classify some deaths as undetermined in cases where there is little or conflicting evidence. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up New Orleans police have said that Durning was reported missing on Aug. 14. She had last been seen at her home in the 6000 block of Gen. Haig Street, in Lakeview. A body clad in black shoes, black shorts and a black tank top was found on Aug. 22 at Orleans Avenue and Kenilworth Street, about four blocks from her home, police said. Police said it wasnt until Nov. 12 that they received information from the Coroners Office which definitely identified the body as Durnings. Durnings sister and other relatives were the ones who found the body and then reported it to police. Durnings family has said that the lack of answers about her death has been difficult. They suspect that someone may have moved her body from another place to the spot where it was found. Durning's stepfather, Rick Schmitt, said Tuesday that his family spoke with New Orleans homicide detectives after her death had been classified as undetermined. Schmitt said the investigators assured his family that the investigation remained active. They (said they) are still dealing with some leads and are making some progress, he said. A Chinese exchange student at William Penn Charter School who fell ill does not have coronavirus, a respiratory illness that broke out in China earlier this month, but a new potential case is being investigated in Philadelphia, the citys Department of Public Health announced Tuesday. The new case reported to the city Tuesday relates to an individual who began experiencing respiratory virus symptoms after being in China and sought treatment in Philadelphia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that anyone who experiences flu-like symptoms a fever, cough, difficulty breathing after traveling to China be tested for coronavirus. The city health department could not say whether the individual was a local resident or a visitor, or give the individuals age. James Garrow, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Health, urged people to remain calm and maintain perspective about the situation. The health department feels that the risk of infection from novel coronavirus to the average Philadelphian is very low. People who have recently traveled to China are at the greatest risk, Garrow said in a statement. The United States has had about 110 possible coronavirus cases in 26 states only five of which have been confirmed. Of the 110, 32 have tested negative and the remainder have not yet been resolved, the CDC said Monday. The U.S. has not reported any deaths due to coronavirus. The influenza virus remains a much bigger threat, having killed at least 8,000 people so far this season including six in Philadelphia. Yet amid rising concern about the novel illness, Penn Charter announced Monday night it was canceling its Chinese student exchange program. The Penn Charter student who tested negative for coronavirus was among 18 who arrived at the high school last week, along with three chaperones, for a two-week exchange. The student began to feel ill late last week and was tested for possible exposure to coronavirus because the group had a connecting flight through Wuhan, where the outbreak originated. The student has been in isolation with a chaperone and is beginning to feel better, a school spokesperson said. We regret that this program has been complicated, and now terminated, because of events that were beyond the control of the people who were excited for all the learning that this cultural exchange had promised, head of school Darryl J. Ford wrote in an email to Penn Charter parents Monday night. That was just the start of the fallout from the potential coronavirus exposure. Schools canceled athletic events with Penn Charter teams, a public school bus driver tried to deny transportation to the schools students, and a medical professional canceled an appointment with a student, citing coronavirus, according to an email from Sharon Sexton, the schools director of marketing communications. The independent Quaker school, which teaches pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, was also concerned that an increase in absenteeism was disrupting students education. As the test results clearing the child of having coronavirus arrived, the exchange students were to take a bus to New York before flying home to China on Wednesday. This is not the experience we wanted for them, Ford said. Fear about coronavirus has also led to canceled Chinese New Year celebrations, including one planned by the Main Line Chinese Culture Center. The health department has made NO recommendations for folks to respond in this manner, and are acutely aware of the damage that they can do to those excluded. As part of our ongoing messaging strategy, we hope to begin to address issues of stigma and unfair exclusion, Garrow said in an email. The health department recommends getting a flu shot. That shot wont protect against the coronavirus, but the recommendations for avoiding the respiratory illness are otherwise the same as those for staying healthy during flu and cold season: wash your hands thoroughly, cover up when you cough or sneeze, avoid touching your face, avoid contact with people who are sick, and stay home if you dont feel well. What is believed to be the flight data recorder was also retrieved from the site, and the plane's remains were destroyed. The cause of the crash was still under investigation, the statement said, but "there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire." Departmental leaders are among the most qualified public servants in the Federal Government. They are dedicated to ensuring the guidance and management necessary to support the health and well-being of the nation. Learn more about the Department's leadership: Secretary and Deputy Secretary NOVI, MI / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / If you are looking for a place to vacation this summer, and a new way to get there, head to the 54th Annual Detroit RV & Camping Show at Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi February 5-9, 2020. Brought to Southeast Michigan by the Michigan Association of Recreation Vehicles and Campgrounds (MARVAC), the region's largest RV show will feature 30 MARVAC-member campgrounds from all across the state. "Camping remains one of the greatest and economical ways to unplug and have good family time together," said Darren Ing, MARVAC show director. "The great thing about RVing and camping is it offers something for all ages - from children to seniors." "People like to share their camping tales, so when you come to a MARVAC RV & Camping Show, its almost like hanging around a great big campfire," Ing said. Over 350 units are on display at the show, including popular travel trailers, truck campers, folding camping trailers, motorhomes, toy haulers, fifth wheel travel trailers and a park model. Prices range from $6,995 to more than $400,000. With 75 exhibits featuring parts and accessories, campground information, on-site RV financing and RV rentals, there is something for every level of RVer at the show. At the 54th Annual Detroit RV & Camping Show, attendees can: Register to win one of seventeen prizes through the "Enjoy Michigan, Compliments of MARVAC Giveaway!" Prizes include free camping at fantastic campgrounds all around Michigan and RV/camping lifestyle related giveaways. Take in educational seminars on all things related to Michigan and RVing, including renting an RV, staying connected via satellite and free TV, Camping 101, and accessibility in state parks. Meet Tom Daldin and Jim Edelman from "Under the Radar Michigan" on Saturday, February 8 at noon and 3 p.m. For more information, visit www.marvac.org. The 54th Annual Detroit RV & Camping Show runs February 5-9, 2020, at Suburban Collection Showplace, Novi. Suburban Collection Showplace is located on Grand River Avenue, south of I-96 between Novi Road and Beck Road. Adult admission (ages 13 and over) is $10, senior admission (ages 55 and over) is $9, and children 12 and under get in free! Parking cost not included in admission. Coupons for $1 off any adult or senior admission are available at marvac.org, Big Boy restaurants, Tubby's Sub Shops, show exhibitors and in area newspapers. Contact: Gretchen Monette, gmonette@allseasonscommunications.com All Seasons Communications Office: 586-752-6381 SOURCE: Michigan Association of Recreation Vehicles and Campgrounds View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574269/Rolling-into-the-2020-RV-Camping-Season-at-the-54th-Annual-Detroit-RV-Camping-Show Renowned Indian environmental economist and UN Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador Pavan Sukhdev has won the 2020 Tyler Prize, regarded as the "Nobel Prize for the Environment" for his groundbreaking "green economy" work. Sukhdev, 59, who will receive the award alongside conservation biologist Gretchen Daily, has been acknowledged for his work on bringing the economic consequences of environmental degradation and loss to the attention of corporate and political decision-makers. The duo will receive the award at a private ceremony on May 1 here in the presence of Tyler Prize Executive Committee and distinguished members of the international environmental community. They will each receive a gold medallion and share a USD 200,000 cash prize, it was announced on Monday. They will deliver a public presentation of their work at the New York Academy of Sciences here in April. Sukhdev was the Special Adviser and Head of UNEP's Green Economy Initiative, a major project launched by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to demonstrate that greening of economies is not a burden on growth but rather a new engine for growing wealth, increasing decent employment and reducing persistent poverty. Sukhdev was also appointed Study Leader (2008-2010) of the landmark initiative on The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity' (TEEB), a global UNEP-hosted study. The TEEB report became a foundation for the Green Economy movement - an achievement for which Sukhdev is being awarded the 2020 Tyler Prize. This award is equally a recognition of UNEP and its vibrant and active TEEB community, Sukhdev said. You don't have to be an environmentalist to care about protecting the Just ask a farmer who now must rent beehives to pollinate his crops, because there are no longer enough bees in wild nature to do the job for free. But bees don't send invoices, so the value of their services is not recognized, he said. The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is one of the oldest international environmental awards, recognizing individuals who have contributed in an outstanding manner to the scientific knowledge and public leadership to preserve and enhance the global Often described as the "Nobel Prize for the Environment', the Tyler Prize is administered by the University of Southern California. Achim Steiner, former UNEP chief, said Sukhdev and Daily have generated groundbreaking insights into the economic value of our natural environment prompting decision-makers to implement new measures to protect our planet's ecosystems and biodiversity. Having worked closely with Sukhdev over many years, Steiner, who is currently the Administrator of United Nations Development Programme, added that he considered his work on the TEEB to be truly transformative it has generated a new narrative on the economic and social importance of nature's services, and a new community of practice. Sukhdev currently serves the World Wildlife Fund as President and Chairman of the Board as well as Board Member for TEEB Advisory Board, Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex shocked the world earlier this month when they announced that they were looking to take a step back from being senior members of the royal family. The couple shared they will become financially independent as well as split their time between North America and the United Kingdom. Many people have been trying to figure out how different Prince Harry and Meghans lives will be in the future compared to now. While Meghan is accustomed to non-royal life, Prince Harry knows nothing else. But a lot of fans believe that there is really no need to worry about the Sussexes. In fact, based on what we know about their situation, fans believe the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be fine. What exactly will happen to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle now? Prince Harry | KOEN VAN WEEL/AFP via Getty Images As Prince Harry and Meghan said in their statement that was released on January 8, they will no longer be considered senior members of the royal family. The couple will lose their His/Her Royal Highness titles, but they will still be in the succession line and take on work to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. Moreover, they will take on other jobs to make money and not rely on the tax-funded Sovereign Grant any longer. But according to their FAQ page, the family will still receive money from Prince Harrys father, Prince Charles. Prince Harry and Meghan will still reportedly call Frogmore Cottage their home, though as for where in North America they will settle down in, no one knows for sure at the moment. They did spend time in Canada over Christmas and New Year, so its possible that they might buy a home there. Fans think that Prince Harry will not really lose much after Megxit Some reports surrounding the Megxit drama paint the situation out to be Prince Harry leaving the royal life that he has always known and loved. However, many fans believe that Prince Harry is actually going to benefit a lot from this in the future. As people on Reddit pointed out, he is still very much considered a royal, though he will no longer have to adhere to royal duties to represent Queen Elizabeth. Instead, he and Meghan can choose to carry out work that they truly want to do. They recently trademarked the name Sussex Royal, so the couple can easily make money from their brand. Some estimates suggest the Sussexes could be worth billions in the future. Meanwhile, some fans also noted that Prince Charles will likely slim down the monarchy when he becomes king, which means that Prince Harry and Meghan will eventually have to learn how to live without the monarchy anyway. Harry/Meghan arent being exiled or cut off from the family and are instead getting a head start on building a life for themselves now that they are pretty much dynastically irrelevant, one person said. Fans also think calling the scandal Megxit is inappropriate Megxit seems to be the most common name to use when referring to this drama. It was coined by The Sun and, of course, is a play on the word Brexit, which came about when the United Kingdom voted in favor of leaving the European Union. However, a lot of fans think that Megxit is a very inappropriate word to use, especially since it allows people to put all the blame on Meghan. Lets call it Sussexit, not Megxit, one person said on Reddit. Harry is a grown man with his own autonomy and from all that hes said, this was his decision that he pushed for, so lets not blame it all on Meghan. Vanity Fair also pointed out that Megxit was already used by online trolls when Prince Harry and Meghan married in 2018. The word was used to advocate for the royal family kicking Meghan out of the family for rather sexist and racist reasons. By Abdul Kerimkhanov Nagorno-Karabakhs Azerbaijani Community have voiced their concerns over increased Armenianization of Azerbaijans historical monuments in the region occupied by Armenian forces in the early 1990s. In a statement issued on 25 January, the community members stated that the regime set up in Nagorno-Karabakh have been conducting the Armenianization policy under the cover of restoring the historical and cultural monuments in Azerbaijans occupied territories. In particular, the community said that Armenian separatists in the region are vandalizing Shusha fortress in Nagorno-Karabakh under the guise of restoring it. The fortress was built by Panahali khan Javanshir, the founder of Karabakh Khanate in the 18th century. Earlier, the same thing happened to the Upper Govharagha mosque in Shusha considered an architectural pearl of Nagorno Karabakh which Armenians have renamed the Persian cultural center. The Community didnt rule out that in the future the same vandalism will be applied to the historical monuments situated in Aghdere and Lachin regions. "It is well known that thousands of our cultural, historical and religious monuments in Azerbaijans occupied territories have been subjected to the Armenian aggression. Some parts of these monuments have been completely erased from the earth. And the remaining monuments have been brought into unfit condition," the message reads. As noted in the statement, along with occupying Azerbaijani lands, subjecting Azerbaijani people to genocide and displacing thousands of people from their native land, Armenia also destroys Azerbaijani historical monuments. "Currently Armenia implements pseudo and false repair and rehabilitation works in order to erase this stain from itself," the statement reads. The Community reminded that all the monuments situated in occupied territories had been erected by Azerbaijanis and bear handprints of countrys ancestors. Furthermore, they called on the international organizations to take measures to stop Armenias actions that set a precedence of jeopardizing cultural-historical heritage worldwide. The community members stressed that the destruction of Azerbaijani heritage are in stark contrast with obligations undertaken by Armenia to UNESCO and are also the manifestation of this countrys attempts to deceive the international community and to give a cultural and civil veneer to its vandalism actions, the statement concluded. Histrorically, Karabakh was a part of the ancient Azerbaijan state-Caucasian Albania, which mostly consisted of Turks and Caucasian tribes. The examples of material culture, numismatic evidences discovered in Khankendi, Aghdere, Khojavend, Shusha of Upland Karabakh, Berde, Terter, Aghdam, Aghjabedi, Fizuli,Beylegan as well as Lachin and Kalbajar of Lowland Karabakh during investigations reflect thoroughly the ancient material culture of Karabakh, ethno-cultural state, social-economic standards of people, their living conditions, and generally the economic, social, and cultural history of this part of Azerbaijan. The main population of this region consisted of ethnic groups belonging to the Caucasian language group and being of Turkish origin living in the area between river Aras and Great Caucasus for thousand years by origin, language, and culture. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz : The stage is set for another possible face-off between Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the Left government on the opening day of the budget session of the Kerala assembly on Wednesday with the latter deciding not to remove reference to CAA in the policy address, against which the state was the first to pass a resolution. This is also the first time that the Opposition Congress led UDF has moved a resolution seeking recall of the Governor for "violating all democratic principles and publicly questioning the pride of the legislature". Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan told reporters on Tuesday that the UDF resolution was permissible under law. "The Opposition's resolution is permissible under law. We will take a final call in the matter after discussing it in the business advisory committee," he said. Ahead of the assembly session, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday wanted the Speaker to publish the notice of the resolution in the assembly bulletin and circulate it among the members. Khan,who has been at loggerheads with the government over not being informed before moving a petition in the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act, has also made it clear he was not a "rubber stamp" and had termed the state's act as "improper". Kerala has been in the forefront of the anti-CAA stir and was the first state to pass a resolution in the assembly seeking to scrap the new law and move the apex court against it, saying it was contradictory to Constitutional ethos. Following Kerala's footsteps, the Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal assemblies also passed similar resolutions. The state budget will be presented on February 7 and all eyes will be on Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on how he would help the cash-strapped state raise resources. The bill seeking to increase the number of wards in local bodies is expected to be tabled in the House on February 6. The government decided to take the legislative route after the Governor raised certain objections to an ordinance on the same. The opposition had also objected to the government move, alleging it was "politically motivated" as the local body polls were round the corner. Chennithala also wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday asking what wrong the two CPI(M) student activists-- Allan Shuhaib and Taha Fasal had done to be branded as Maoists and slapped with UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) in November last year. The Congress leader had also recently met the parents of the two youths at Kozhikode and promised all help to them. Fazal, a journalism student and Alan Shuhaib, studying law, in their twenties, were arrested from Kozhikode on November 2 2019 on the suspicion of having Maoist links after some pamphlets were recovered from them. The 10-day assembly session will conclude on February 12. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Euro Manganese Inc. (TSX-V/ASX: EMN) (the "Company" or "EMN"), is pleased to announce that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding ("MOU") with JFE Steel Corporation ("JFE") of Tokyo, Japan, to supply high-purity manganese products from its proposed demonstration plant at the Chvaletice Manganese Project in the Czech Republic for testing and evaluation. Approximately 10% (1,000kg) of the demonstration plant's planned production, in the form of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal ("HPEMM"), will be provided to JFE. Further, pursuant to the MOU, the Company and JFE intend to collaborate by sharing technical and other information, so that EMN's proposed Chvaletice Manganese Project plant can be designed and built to meet JFE's requirements for reliable, high-quality and environmentally-superior HPEMM for use in high-end specialty steel applications. Upon completion of testing and evaluation of the HPEMM by JFE, and subject to a production decision being made based on the results of a feasibility study which is currently underway, the parties intend to work toward establishing a non-exclusive, long-term supply arrangement of HPEMM produced at the Chvaletice Manganese Project, in accordance with conditions to be agreed. Mr. Marco Romero, President and CEO of EMN, commented: "We are pleased to have made this important first step in the development of a promising relationship with JFE Steel, one of the world's premier steel companies. Their strong focus on uncompromising quality, reliability, sustainability and impeccable provenance fits perfectly with Euro Manganese's own philosophy." About Euro Manganese: Euro Manganese Inc. is a Canadian mineral resource company, whose principal focus is advancing the development of the Chvaletice Manganese Project in the Czech Republic, in which it holds a 100% interest. The proposed Project entails the re-processing of a significant manganese deposit hosted in historic mine tailings, strategically located in the heart of Europe's major emerging electric vehicle manufacturing hub. EMN's goal is to build a leading, competitive and environmentally superior supplier of Ultra-High-Purity Manganese Products, serving the lithium-ion battery industry, as well as producers of specialty steel, high-technology chemicals and aluminum alloys. About JFE Steel: JFE Steel Corporation, one of the world's leading integrated steel producers, was established through the consolidation of NKK Corporation and Kawasaki Steel Corporation in 2003. JFE operates several steelworks in Japan and numerous branch offices and affiliates throughout the world. JFE Steel leverages world-class technologies and know-how to produce a wide range of products based on its "Only One, Number One" strategy of focusing on unique and best-in-class products. JFE reported consolidated sales of 3,900 billion yen in 2018 and consolidated crude steel output of 27.88 million tons in the fiscal year ended March 2019. Contact: Euro Manganese Inc. Marco A. Romero President & CEO (604)-681-1010 ext. 101 Fausto Taddei Vice President, Corporate Development & Corporate Secretary (604)-681-1010 ext. 105 E-mail: info@mn25.ca Website: www.mn25.ca Company Address: 1500 - 1040 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6E 4H8 Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, its projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking information or statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's intentions regarding the Chvaletice Manganese Project in the Czech Republic, including without limitation, the continued evaluation and development of the Project, the building of the demonstration plant, the production and delivery of high purity manganese products and the ability of the Company to negotiate offtake agreements with potential customers. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. Forward-looking statements and information involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or information, including, but not limited to, the factors discussed under "Risks Notice" and elsewhere in the Company's MD&A, as well as the inability to obtain regulatory approvals in a timely manner; the potential for unknown or unexpected events to cause contractual conditions to not be satisfied; unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with the company to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; and the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of the factors set forth in the "Risks Notice" section and elsewhere in the Company's MD&A for the year ended September 30, 2019 and its Annual Information Form for that year. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange), or the ASX accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Good day: A deluge of delivery vehicles is inundating the world's big cities, and urban mobility paralysis may set in unless steps are taken to manage the continued surge in last-mile deliveries resulting from e-commerce demand, according to a report published earlier this month by the World Economic Forum, consultancy McKinsey & Co., Leaseplan and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The top 100 cities will see a 36% increase in delivery trucks by 2030, the report said. This will raise emissions by 32% and congestion by more than 21%, it predicted. Add to that the projection that cities will house 60% of the world's population by 2030, and the problems appear to only get worse. More than 2 billion people worldwide will buy goods online by the end of next year, and the online share of worldwide retail sales will hit 20% by 2023. The proliferation of autonomous vehicles will add to the burden, the report said; 2024 will be the year when most Original Equipment Manufacturers will release AVs that are advanced enough to either not need a driver to operate it or not need a human in the vehicle at all. Did you know?: Two-thirds of 1,800 multi-modal shippers surveyed by less-than-truckload (LTL) and logistics provider Averitt Express expect higher volumes this year, a 3.36% drop from 2019 and the lowest level in the survey's five-year history. About 12% of respondents struggled with capacity challenges in 2019 compared to 26.05% in 2018, while 43% said that tariffs had a negative impact on their business, slightly higher than 2018. Only 5% viewed tariffs as a positive in 2019. Quotable: "I would be worried about a recession coming out of left field that hurts demand." Hamad R. Moghadam, chairman and CEO of logistics real estate titan Prologis Inc., on what could derail the eight-year bull run in the sector. Oversupply concerns are unlikely to be the cause of any broad slowdown, he said. In other news: Shrinking OEM, parts supplier margins to squeeze auto logistics operations Story continues As OEMs and automotive parts suppliers see their margins decline, cost pressures are going to increase on logistics operators, especially those supporting Tier 1 suppliers. (Automotive Logistics) FedEx warns of scam According to the company, people have been getting fraudulent text messages asking them to follow a link to set up their delivery preferences so FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) can mail them a package. The message includes a tracking number and uses target's names. Clicking the link in the message takes users to a scam website that asks people to fill out a survey. It prompts them to put in their personal and credit card information so they can be sent a free gift. (Lexington, Kentucky, Channel 18) Last Uber holdout in North America gives in The last major North American city to not allow Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) to operate, Vancouver, British Columbia, has cleared Uber and rival Lyft to do business. Both launched service on Jan. 24. (Vancouver Sun) Delaware port operator expands services Gulftainer, which manages Delaware's Port of Wilmington, has added services at the port under the Momentum Logistics brand. (Delaware Business Now!) Digital platform promises full warehouse automation A new digital platform is enabling "hands-free" visibility and automated warehouse operations, using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Cargocast pinpoints the location of each piece of cargo within a two-foot radius. Processes such as goods acceptance can then be fully automated, Cargocast said. (The Loadstar) Final thoughts: It seems as if Brad Jacobs has been in this business for decades, when in reality XPO Logistics, Inc., the company Jacobs founded, has been around for only nine years. That is the kind of imprint that Jacobs has made. As XPO plans to divest four business units, all of which are solid, established companies with combined revenue of about $13 billion, Jacobs' unique skill set deserves a mention. He is both an accomplished capital allocator and a proven operator of businesses. That is rare in any industry. For example, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett is a capital allocator extraordinaire, but he leaves the running of Berkshire's business, such as BNSF Railway, to others who Buffett knows are more capable than he in those roles. Carl C. Icahn is a brilliant investor, but his one major operating endeavor in transportation, running the old Trans World Airlines, didn't go well. Whether one likes Jacobs or agrees with his approach, his ability to successfully blend both skills and to have done it more than once (think United Rentals, Inc.) is something that should be appreciated. Hammer down, everyone! Image Sourced from Pixabay 0 See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. On Monday, Maryam Sanda was convicted of the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello. She was sentenced to death by hanging by the Federal Capital Territory High Court, over two years after she was first arraigned by the Nigerian police. Ms Sanda stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife with a clear intent to kill, Justice Yusuf Halilu said in the judgment on a two-count homicide charge brought by the police against Ms Sanda in November 2017. The prosecution had asked for the death penalty. The judge obliged by sentencing the convict to death by hanging. The convict can still appeal her conviction under the nations laws. The victim was the son of a former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Haliru Bello. READ ALSO: Lurid details of the homicide case which builds on the rising trend of domestic violence in Nigeria have grabbed public imagination since it began three years ago inspiring screaming headlines. MARYAM SANDRA TIMELINE2222 Ms Sandas trial has been dramatic and has dragged on due to delays, multiple adjournments, failure of witnesses to appear in court among other technicalities until Mondays judgment. Timeline PREMIUM TIMES brings you a timeline of her trial since she was arraigned in November 2017 culminating in her conviction on Monday. November, 23, 2017 The police file murder charges against Ms Sanda. November, 24, 2917 court sends the accused to prison denies her bail application. December, 7, 2017 The court again refuses an oral application for her bail and ordered her to be returned to prison pending her re-arraignment on December 14. December, 14, 2017 the court again refuses and dismisses her bail but granted bail to her three co-defendants. February, 7, 2018 The court again strikes out another bail application made on her behalf. March 7, 2018 Sanda granted bail on health grounds. March 19, 2018 A prosecution witness in the trial disappears after arriving in court. April 19, 2018 Witness narrates how Maryam Sanda allegedly made several attempts to stab her husband before his eventual murder. May 15, 2018 Sandas trial stalled. October 3, 2018 The lawyer representing Sanda withdraws from the trial. January 23, 2019 Sanda, reveals in a statement that nude pictures on her husbands phone led to the fight that eventually led to his killing. February 27, 2019 Court fixes date for the final address. Advertisements March 26, 2019 Court fixes date to rule on no-case submission filed by the accused. April 4, 2019 You have a case to answer, court tells Sanda. October 8, 2019 Sanda to open defence on October 16. December 2, 2019 Court to deliver final judgement on January 27, 2020. January 26, 2020 PREMIUM TIMES reports how Maryam Sandas fate will be decided on Monday. January 27, 2020 Maryam Sanda found guilty, sentenced to death by hanging. In a major development, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath announced on Monday that a grand Sita temple would be built in Sri Lanka. The construction of the temple in Sri Lanka was first ideated by then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, following the visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had visited Sanchi to lay the foundation stone of an international Buddha university. According to sources, the CMs announcement came during a meeting with a delegation of the Maha Bodhi society led by minister for public relations PC Sharma at the state secretariat. The president of Maha Bodhi Society - Banagla Uptisa - was also present at the meeting. The CM ordered the constitution of a committee comprising of officials from Madhya Pradesh and Sri Lanka, to work on the project. He instructed authorities to prepare a plan soon for construction of a Bauddh museum, study and training centre of international standard in Sanchi, the official spokesperson said. During the meeting Kamal Nath also said that a committee will monitor constantly the construction work of the temple so that the temple is constructed within the stipulated time. The design of the temple should be finalised and the necessary fund should be made available in this fiscal year itself so that the temple could be built at the earliest. Nath also directed officials to allot land in Sanchi for the construction of a Buddha museum, research and training centre of international standard. The CM also informed that Mahabodhi society president, Japan and companies of other countries have offered financial assistance for the development of Sanchi. READ: BJP & Congress in war-of-words over Sri Lanka Sita Temple's construction, Shivraj Singh Chouhan hits out at Kamal Nath's M.P Government READ: Speed up plans, allot funds for Sita temple in Lanka: MP CM Public Relation Minister's trip to Sri Lanka Furthermore, Sharma informed about his recent visit to Sri Lanka and the discussions held with officials there on the Sita temple construction. Sharma said Buddhists from Sri Lanka and other countries would arrive in large numbers in Sanchi if better air services are provided, and people from here would also be able to go to the island nation to pray at the Sita temple. READ: Grand Sita temple to be built in Pauri: Trivendra Singh Rawat READ: London Mayor extends Diwali wishes; recalls inspiring Rama-Sita story A woman who held onto her part-time job after becoming homeless has won her appeal over failure to pay her Jobseekers Allowance for several months because she did not show she was "currently residing" in the relevant social welfare catchment area. The Court of Appeal ruled that failure was outside the power of the Minister for Social Protection. It also expressed concern it had heard "nothing" from the Ministers side that addressed the simple question as to where a homeless person is meant to apply for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) in the future. Giving the three-judge court's judgment today, Mr Justice Robert Haughton said the woman is an EU citizen who came here from Latvia nine years ago and her position over the relevant months - April to September 2016 - was a sad one. In 2016, she was earning between 60-180 weekly as a sales assistant in a Dublin shop. Due to her low means, she was entitled to access social welfare payments while working her part-time job. After becoming homeless in early 2016, she resorted to couch surfing with friends in Dublin and other locations, used hostels other nights when she had money to do so and also slept rough in Dublin Airport and two rail stations. It was little wonder her mental and physical health were affected by the stress of being homeless, and it was a testament to her, during this time, she continued to work part-time. Rejecting the Ministers arguments the case was now pointless because arrears of JSA were later paid to the woman, he said the court would make declarations to ensure "all possible support" to homeless persons who have entitlements and because the woman might again find herself homeless and seeking JSA in the future. He said: It is a distressing fact that in our society, there are many homeless people, most recent published estimates suggesting in excess of 10,000. Some homeless people may find work while some working people, like this woman, might become homeless and find themselves applying for JSA when they cannot prove they are "currently residing" within the relevant catchment area. The judge said he was disposed to declare the Minister acted outside her powers in requiring the woman, when applying for JSA while homeless, to prove she was currently residing in the particular catchment area. He was also disposed to declare that, when the womans solicitor Eileen McCabe wrote to the Department on September 14, 2016, the Minister acted unlawfully in failing to have in place, or to publicise, any appropriate process for inviting, making, receiving and determining applications for JSA from a homeless person. The exact wording of the declarations will be decided later. The judge refused damages on the basis there was insufficient evidence to dispute a 2,450 sum paid to the woman after her case was initiated did not amount to full payment of JSA arrears. General damages could not be pursued because no claim for misfeasance in public office was made, he also held. Represented by Feichin McDonagh SC, with Brendan Hennessy BL, the woman appealed after losing High Court judicial review proceedings over not being paid JSA between April and September 2016. She got the allowance in January 2017, with payments back-dated to April 2016. In November 2015, she moved to shared accommodation in Clondalkin and applied to have her JSA processed by the Department's Intreo office there. She alleged delay processing her application and said she had to leave her Clondalkin accommodation in February 2016 because she could not afford the rent. She claimed the Clondalkin office told her in May 2016 it could not deal with her case because she was homeless and she should contact the Department's homeless unit which told her it did not process JSA applications. In July 2016, when she looked for housing assistance from Dublin City Council, she was referred to South Dublin County Council which referred her back to DCC who put her in emergency accommodation. Due to "open drug use" and incidents of violence, she left that to stay with friends and, if she had enough money, in hostels or elsewhere. The Department denied it "refused" JSA and argued her application was "closed" in May 2016 because she failed to provide necessary documents, including evidence she was living in the Clondalkin office's catchment area. It said it was unable to contact her and supplementary welfare payments were paid to her on various dates. PORTLAND, Oregon, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Absinthe Market by Type (Absinthe Blanche, Absinthe Amber, Absinthe Verte, Absinthe Ordinaire, Absinthe Reve Pastis, Absinthe Bohemian, Absinthe Liqueur, and Premium Absinthe), and Application (Food And Beverage Industry, Cosmetic Industry, and Medical Industry): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20192026". According to the report, the global absinthe industry was pegged at $34.1 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach $44.3 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 3.4% from 2019 to 2026. Rise in people consuming absinthe after its ban revoked in the U.S. and increase in disposable income drive the growth of the global absinthe market. However, perception regarding adverse effects of absinthe and mental instability rumors hamper the market growth. On the contrary, rise in demand for absinthe especially by artists and painters, musicians, and guitarists is expected to create lucrative opportunities in the near future. Request Sample Report at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/6246 Absinthe reve pastis segment to manifest fastest CAGR by 2026 By type, the absinthe reve pastis segment is projected to portray the fastest CAGR of 4.6% during the forecast period, owing to improvement in the taste of absinthe reve pastis due to use of newly developed ingredients. However, the absinthe bohemian segment held nearly one-fourth of the market in 2018, as the ban on the absinthe has been lifted up in many countries. Food and beverage segment dominated the market The food and beverage segment held the lion's share in 2018, contributing to nearly three-fifths of the market, owing to rise in demand of absinthe in various food & beverage products to enhance taste of the food product. However, the cosmetic segment is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 4.4% during the forecast period, due to increase in application of absinthe in several cosmetic products such as hand cream, hand wash, hand gel. North America to portray fastest growth through 2026 The market across North America is expected to portray the fastest CAGR of 4.3% through 2026, owing to the revival of usage of absinthe in food and beverage applications in the region. However, the market across Europe accounted for the largest share in 2018, contributing to more than two-fifths of the market, owing to the willingness of the consumer to try innovative tastes that offers new opportunities to invent the variety of absinthe. For Purchase Enquiry at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/6246 Major market players Pacific Distillery Duplais Verte Teichenne, S.A. Kubler Absinthe Superieure La Fee Absinthe La Clandestine Hill's Liquere North America Butterfly absinthe Doubs Mystique Milan METELKA a.s. Avenue Basic Plan | Library Access | 1 Year Subscription | Sign up for Avenue subscription to access more than 12,000+ company profiles and 2,000+ niche industry market research reports at $699 per month, per seat. For a year, the client needs to purchase minimum 2 seat plan. Avenue Library Subscription | Request for 14 days free trial of before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/avenue/trial/starter Get more information: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access Similar Reports: Cannabis Food and Beverage Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20192026 Tea Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026 Dairy Alternatives Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026 World Food Additives Market - Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 -2022 About Us Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States USA/Canada (Toll Free): +1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1(855)550-5975 [email protected] Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Follow Us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allied-market-research SOURCE Allied Market Research Angela Paljor By Express News Service JAIPUR : As the five-day-long Jaipur Literature Festival came to an end on Monday, Stephen Greenblatt, an American Shakespearean, literary historian, and author gave an interesting talk on how Lucretius was rediscovered by Poggio Bracciolini in 1417. Greenblatt took the audience on a journey of Lucretius work during a session titled The Swerve: How the Renaissance began and The World Became Modern. One day, nearly 600 years ago, Bracciolini, who was in his late 30s took a book off the shelf that he found in a monastery, probably in southern Germany. He saw a copy of a Roman poet Titus Lucretius Carus, whom he had read about but whose work no one in his world had either seen or been able to read. He knew of the poem On the Nature of Things which was written in 50 BCE, around the time of Julius Caesar, had been extravagantly mentioned by several other Roman poets. This man asked for the book to be copied. That was an extremely unnoticeable event yet it was enough to set in motion the transformation of the world whose consequences we are still facing today, said Greenblatt. The book that Bracciolini found had virtually disappeared by then, dropped out of circulation and was not part of the conversation, unlike the other works, from the ancient world like that of Aristotle and Plato. Poggio, was among those who knew that there was a chance that certain books that they didnt have a chance to read but knew of, could have a chance to survive. Poggio, who is also the hero of my book The Swerve: How The World Became Modern, was probably one of greatest of the Renaissance book hunters. The need for book hunting arose because the Roman world fell apart in fifth, sixth and seventh centuries. One major impact was that the schools got shut, education basically came to a halt and the enterprise of copying books stopped that in turn enabled the survival and distribution of text to the world. This caused a massive loss in the intellectual world. Aeschylus, the one who laid the Greek foundation of tragic playwright wrote between 80-90 plays, of which only seven survived. And there are many such instances. In Italy, in the 14 and 15 centuries, book hunters went in search of some of these lost treasures. The lost poem Bracciolini found, that was particularly hard hit in the ancient world was because of the philosophy of Epicureanism. Lucretius was the disciple of the Greek philosopher Epicurus, who wrote many works and almost none of them survived. Its this work of Lucretius that carries the full weight of Epicureanism and the reason why this philosophy was so hard hit is beyond the general historical decline. It was because none of the great religions of the ancient world liked what it had to say. So, the recovery of 7,400 lines of Epicurean verse was an extraordinary event.After the discovery of the poem, the idea of Epicureanism began to circulate repeatedly. You get glimpses of this idea in works of Galileo, subsequently in Isaac Newton and then in a massive flood in Einstein, in Darwin and Karl Marx. All their works can be traced to what Poggio Bracciolini brought into the world. The Indian government on Tuesday requested China to clear a flight that could evacuate about 300 citizens from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed 106 people and prompted the medical isolation of dozens in India, including the national capital, over suspicions of the infection. The number of confirmed cases in China surged to 4,515 as of Tuesday from 2,835 the previous day. The flu-like virus has spread overseas, but none of the 106 deaths has been beyond China, and all but six were in Wuhan. The fast-spreading infection was first reported in the capital of the central Chinese province of Hubei last month, experts said, probably from illegally traded wildlife. Hundreds of Indians are currently in Hubei, mostly in Wuhan. A large number of Indian students are based in Wuhan, though many of them recently left the city for the Chinese New Year holidays. The external affairs ministry made a formal request to China for facilitating evacuation of Indian nationals from Wuhan and the civil aviation ministry will make arrangements after approval is received from Chinese authorities, an official statement said in New Delhi. On evacuation, these individuals will be kept in quarantine for 14 days. Necessary arrangements in this regard are being made, the government note said. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also approved an Air India flight to Wuhan for evacuation as per requirement, people familiar with developments said. About 300 people, mostly students, research scholars and professionals, are expected to be evacuated from the city, they said. Another person involved in the matter said on Tuesday evening the flight was not expected to leave before Wednesday as a formal approval from Beijing was awaited. Thermal screening of passengers for possible exposure to the deadly novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection will be extended to 20 airports from the existing seven, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Tuesday and confirmed no case has been detected in India so far. He said the government has made four more laboratories functional other than National Institute of Virology-Pune (NIV-Pune) for testing samples and it will be extended to 10 labs in the coming days. Authorities in Delhi on Monday isolated three people at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital with flu-like symptoms after they returned from China. Two of these patients arrived in the last week, while the third had returned from China nearly a month ago. The results of the tests performed on the three were awaited till late on Tuesday. The three are aged 48, 34 and 24. They have been isolated, and their samples have been sent for testing to the National Centre for Disease Control, said Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, medical superintendent, RML. The Union health minister said the government was vigilant even as the three suspected cases were being monitored in Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is himself taking regular updates on the situation. All States have been directed to follow the instructions to be prepared. In 2014, we were so strict and focused that our efforts did not let Ebola virus enter India. I am also in regular touch with the WHO [World Health Organization], he said. External affairs minister S Jaishankar told reporters in Gujarat: The Indian embassy is in constant touch with the Chinese government. To evacuate students and other Indians from Wuhan, we are planning to send a plane there. Our efforts are on to bring them back. It will take some days. I urge people to trust the government on this No Indian student has been found to be affected by this virus. Parents need not worry about their children, he added. In a message circulated among Indians in Hubei, the Indian embassy said the process of evacuation had begun and that the evacuated people would be quarantined for a fortnight on return to India. Embassy of India, Beijing is in touch with the Chinese government authorities to work out date and logistics of the evacuation, said the message circulated among Indians via WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app. Please be informed that those availing of this option will have to undergo a mandatory 14-days quarantine on arrival in India, it said. The message said details regarding the date of evacuation would be communicated in due course, and asked the Indians to be patient and wait for further updates. Chief ministers of two states, Kerala and Gujarat, have appealed to the Union government to airlift Indian nationals stranded in Chinese cities. People familiar with developments in New Delhi said the Indian embassy in Beijing was ascertaining the exact number of Indians to be evacuated. They also ruled out a blanket evacuation of all Indians from across China. Known as 2019-nCoV, the newly identified coronavirus can cause pneumonia and, like other respiratory infections, it spreads between people in droplets from coughs and sneezes. Hubei and its capital city Wuhan are under an unprecedented lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus that has also infected more than 4,500 people in China. Tens of millions in Hubei are either in lockdown or facing public transport restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus. Other countries, too, were preparing to evacuate their nationals from Wuhan. Japan sent its first plane to Wuhan on Tuesday night to evacuate citizens and France said it would send a plane on Thursday to start evacuating its citizens, the first repatriations by a European country. The US government chartered a plane to fly out diplomats from the US Consulate in Wuhan, where the outbreak started, and other Americans. The plane will make a refueling stop in Alaska before flying on to Ontario, California, the US embassy said. World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing to discuss how to protect Chinese and foreigners in areas affected by the virus and possible evacuation alternatives, a WHO spokesperson said. The virus is a devil and we cannot let the devil hide, state television quoted Xi as saying. (With inputs from agencies) Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo and President Rodrigo Duterte MANILA, Philippines The scheduled televised one-on-one interview of President Rodrigo Duterte with his spokesperson Salvador Panelo has been postponed anew. In a televised advisory, Panelo said the interview with Duterte, which was supposed to be held Tuesday, will be moved to a later date because the president is feeling under the weather. Panelo said it may be rescheduled next week. The said interview was initially set on January 22 but was postponed due to pressing matters. The president conducted his first televised interview with Panelo in September 2018 where they discussed wide-ranging topics on martial law in Mindanao, reopening of Boracay Island, increasing rice prices, his critic former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, among others. RRD (with details from Correspondent Rosalie Coz) The post Duterte, Panelo one-on-one interview deferred anew appeared first on UNTV News. A group of Pakistani students stuck in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus, has requested Imran Khan government to make efforts to rescue them from the Hubei province of China, according to a media report. Wuhan has been under a virtual lockdown for days, with transport suspended and citizens told to stay home as the death toll from the viral epidemic that originated in the city soared to 106 and the the confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak stand at 4,515. Hafsah Tayab, one of the students stuck in the city of Wuhan, spoke to Geo and confirmed that other countries are planning to get their citizens out of the city through airplanes. "Embassies of other countries (excluding Pakistan) are rescuing their citizens. There are over 500 Pakistani students in Wuhan. If even one of them gets affected, the others will be in danger," she was quoted as saying by the report on Monday. "There is a shortage of essentials and if this situation persists, we will run out of food very soon," Tayab said in a video message uploaded on social media, adding that she and her fellow students have been confined to the city. New infections are being reported as many countries step up efforts to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan. The US, Germany and France are among several countries planning to take such measures. "We plead that the authorities take notice of our situation on a humanitarian basis and do something about it. We will be grateful to you all our lives," another student can be heard saying in the video. According to a student from the Wuhan University of Science and Technology, there are about 200 Pakistani students in the institute, and a total of 2,000 in other universities of the city. "A few days ago, Pakistani students stuck in Wuhan were very scared. However, the Pakistani embassy in Beijing has made efforts to provide us with what we need," Tayab was quoted as saying by the Geo "The Pakistani authorities have assured us that they will get us out of the city like other countries," Tayab added. The Foreign Office (FO) has confirmed that efforts are being made to help out the students. "The officials are in constant touch with Chinese authorities in order to make necessary arrangements for Pakistanis struck in affected areas, and a special briefing for all the embassies in Beijing has been scheduled today," Foreign Office Spokesperson Aaisha Forooqui said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National park sites in Oregon might have felt a little less crowded in 2019. Annual visitor numbers were down last year at all four park sites around the state, according to National Park Service data, though most were more crowded than when the decade began. Crater Lake National Park saw a drop in overall visitor numbers from 2018 despite a busy summer, as did the Oregon Caves and John Day Fossil Beds national monuments, and the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. But a dip isnt necessarily unwelcome, especially for park sites that have seen record-setting crowds in recent years. Visitation is just a little bit lower than last year, which is a relief to me, said Patrick Gamman, superintendent of the John Day Fossil Beds. Our visitation has gone up a lot in a decade. The last four years have been the fossil beds four busiest on record, peaking in 2017 when 214,557 people stopped by many for the total solar eclipse that crossed over central Oregon that summer. In 2019, the park site saw 197,091 visitors, marking the second straight year of decline. Gamman said park officials arent sure why the numbers have fallen, though the trend could be due to a number of factors, including the economy or changing demographics of the region. Visitors hike down the trail to Cleetwood Cove in Crater Lake National Park.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian Weather or big events can also play a role in how many people visit national parks. When the National Park Service celebrated its 100th anniversary with events across the country in 2016, most park sites saw a big bump in visitors. At Crater Lake, a record 756,344 people showed up in 2016 a 23 percent increase over the previous year. Those annual figures have steadily dropped since then, falling to 704,512 visitors in 2019. Park data over the last two years also show a seasonal migration of visitors corresponding with the severity of summer wildfires. In 2018, a year with several big fires in the region, the park saw record crowds in May and October. In 2019, when there were far fewer fires, visitors shifted back to the summer months. While the number of visitors has been impacted in 2018 and 2019 by smoke and fires, or just as importantly misinformation about the impact or scope of the fires, we expect to see a continuing trend in rising visitation over the next few years, Crater Lake superintendent Craig Ackerman said. That upward trend has been driven in part by state and regional travel organizations that featured Crater Lake and other national park sites in their marketing materials, Ackerman said. But not all national park sites in Oregon have seen a boost. A guided tour at the Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve leads through an ancient marble cave system, found beneath the Siskiyou Mountains in southwest Oregon.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian The Oregon Caves have seen annual numbers steadily decline in recent years. In 2019, the southern Oregon park site saw 65,006 visitors, the lowest number since 1956. The busiest year at the caves was back in 1972, when 197,811 people showed up. When you look at the small parks like us, the little hidden gems, our visitation is going down across the service, said George Herring, chief of interpretation at the Oregon Caves. Herring said the downward trend at the southern Oregon park site could be due to a number of factors. A big one is the temporary closure of the Oregon Caves Chateau. The only lodging and dining inside the park, the historic lodge shut down for repairs at the end of 2018. Herring also points to a change in the way the park sells tickets to its cave tours as potentially damaging visitor numbers. In 2016, tickets to cave tours became available online, allowing people to book in advance. Sometimes when visitors see that their preferred day and time is sold out, they decide not to go at all, Herring said. The reservation website doesnt clearly mention that additional tickets are available in person and that additional tours are given throughout the day a technical problem with no quick solution in sight, Herring said. Some people might be getting the impression that, Oh, they dont have any reservations today, they must be sold out, Herring said. We havent sold out nearly as often as we used to. The Oregon Caves is feeling the consequences of attracting fewer visitors. Fewer people means less money, and so far thats translated into fewer tour guides the park can employ. Herring said hes already looking to cut a few positions for 2020. While Oregon national park sites saw across-the-board decreases in 2019, the picture was just the opposite in Washington. Crowds increased last year at Olympic and North Cascades national parks, as well as at San Juan Island National Historical Park, and at Lake Roosevelt and Ross Lake national recreation areas. Ross Lake, a 23-mile-long reservoir on the Washington-Canada border, drew a record crowd of 1,088,530 visitors in 2019. The recreation site saw big crowds in all seasons, setting new monthly records in March, May, July, November and December. Mount Rainier National Park was one of the only national park sites in Washington to see a decrease in crowds last year, though just like most national park sites in Oregon it has continued to trend upward in recent years. --Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB Temperatures in the mid-teens will bring a mild end to a week that saw parts of the UK blanketed in snow, forecasters said. The mercury is forecast to rise to 15C by Friday some six degrees above average for the time of year, the Met Office said. The warmer weather is in stark contrast to the snowy conditions seen across Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Tuesday. Here's a quick look at why it's been cold of late, and where the air will come from over the coming days #weather #airmass #jetstream pic.twitter.com/Q22PZxUxba Met Office (@metoffice) January 28, 2020 Snow depths of 15cm were recorded at Tulloch Bridge in Scotland and motorists were stranded on the M74 for hours overnight into Tuesday as wintry conditions hit some areas of the country. An official snow reading of 2cm was made at Lough Fea in Northern Ireland, and snow also fell in parts of Wales and England, mostly on higher ground. The polar maritime air mass which brought freezing conditions across the UK will be replaced by a tropical air mass, leading to higher temperatures. Feeling cold today? We've got a polar maritime air mass across the UK this afternoon, but by the end of the week we'll have a tropical maritime air mass in place. Find out more about what this means and all the types of air mass that affect the UK's weather #TuesdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/KGT9YB97rx Met Office (@metoffice) January 28, 2020 Forecaster Alex Burkill said: The weather is going to be markedly milder than it has been of late. Everywhere will see a jump in temperature. Wednesday and Thursday will see rainy spells, particularly in north-western areas. When Republicans threatened to call Hunter Biden, the embattled son of former Vice President Joe Biden and walking political cautionary tale, as a witness for the impeachment trial of President Trump, at least some Democrats seemed open to the idea. So long as it meant Democrats got to hear from their dream witnesses namely, former national security adviser John Bolton it might just be worth it, they mused. Sen. Sherrod Brown said just days ago that it would be fine, if the younger Biden, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company for a reason likely rhyming with schmepotism, were called to testify because, We take the position that we want to hear from the witnesses. Well, he might just get his wish. According to a brand-new Washington Post report, Democrats are now seriously considering the trade-off: a Biden, either Hunter or even Joe, for a Bolton. The reason, like so much to do with the impeachment extravaganza, has little to do with hearing actual new evidence and more to do with politics. According to the report, these Democrats believe having either Biden testify could backfire on Trump and the GOP, giving Biden and the party a platform to strike back and paint Republicans and the White House as obsessed with trying to damage one of Trumps 2020 presidential rivals. Democrats clinging should disabuse themselves of the notion. Bringing either Biden into the Senate chamber only makes political sense for Trump. For starters, and with all due respect to Democrats, despite good intentions and mustering their entire arsenal of political tricks, this party hasnt been able to do much of anything that has backfired on Trump. From the Mueller investigation to this very impeachment effort, Trump has not only found nefarious ways to survive the attempted takedowns, but he has made the gamble that they would hurt Democrats in the end. That remains to be seen, but there is one obvious and unsubtle piece of evidence that Trump is winning: He is still president. Further, this promises to be a very, very bad exercise for the Bidens, and one in which I cant imagine either are eager to participate. For the younger, the warning signs are all around. There was his first interview, in which he managed to admit his role at Burisma was both a mistake and likely the result of his last name. There are also his latest personal scandals, which White House counsel and Republicans will undoubtedly exploit to embarrass the elder Biden. Theres also public polling that is very unsympathetic to Hunter. A majority of Americans say his role in Burisma was bad judgment, with half believing he should return the money he earned while there and 27 percent believing what he did was actually illegal. It wasnt, but politics is perception. For all these reasons, putting Joe Biden on the stand seems the safer bet. But thats just as perilous. Sen. Chris Coons, a Biden supporter, almost seemed to goad Republicans into calling him, saying, If you want to give Joe Biden an opportunity to sit in the well of the Senate and answer the question, Do you think the president acted appropriately? go right ahead. I cant imagine a person more comfortable in the well of the Senate than a man who spent 36 years here as a United States senator. Not so fast. For one, Biden will be sitting across from four of his current Democratic opponents, all of whom have their own reasons to injure the frontrunner, however stealthily. Some have already publicly criticized Hunters appointment to the board, with Amy Klobuchar the most forceful, saying, I can promise you right now my own daughter, whos only 24, does not sit on the board of a foreign company, but that is not the issue. The issue here is what the president is doing. Biden is wisely trying to keep his distance from impeachment, for all of the above reasons, but also because the Senate trial gives him a real advantage on the campaign trail. With some of his opponents sequestered for the next week or so, he gets Iowa, New Hampshire and everywhere else virtually to himself (and Mayor Pete). Why would he agree to give that up? The bigger question is what will Democrats gain? Public sentiment about impeachment is largely cemented. John Bolton is likely to do what every other witness has done and corroborate what we already know Trump did, which was to unlawfully use his office for his own personal gain. Trump has all but admitted to what he is accused of. The truth is, no matter how skillfully the Democrats try to protect either Biden in a Senate trial, theres only so much they can do to keep both from being damaged in the process. Bolton likely isnt going to be worth the trade. Democrats should keep the Bidens far away from this car wreck and accept, at long last, that the only one who can hang Trump is himself. S.E. Cupp is the host of S.E. Cupp Unfiltered on CNN. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Charges have been filed against the teen suspect in the Sunday-morning shooting of a Birmingham police officer. Jahmari Leshaun Wright, 16, is charged as an adult with attempted murder and shooting into an unoccupied vehicle. The warrants were sought by ALEAs SBI and issued by the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office. His bond is set at $200,000. As of Monday afternoon, he was awaiting transfer to the Jefferson County Jail. His mugshot was not immediately available. "Its tough,'' said District Attorney Danny Carr. It just begs the question Why? What was his mindset to shoot a police officer, and one in uniform at that? Its difficult to wrap your head around. Birmingham police will be seeking the separate robbery warrants against Wright and a 25-year-old taken into custody with the teen. Wright and the adult suspect were taken into custody in Ensley within hours of the robbery and shooting. The Birmingham Police Departments Crime Reduction Team captured the pair after the robbery victims helped track their stolen cell phones to the parking lot of the Winn Dixie on Bessemer Road in Ensley. The suspects were in a security company vehicle and the adult was wearing a security guard uniform at the time of the arrests. Court records do not show any previous arrests of either suspects. Authorities said Wright is believed to be the shooter. The ordeal began at 9:22 a.m. Birmingham police narcotics Det. John Finke was working an extra job at the Woodlawn campus of Church of the Highlands. The officer, who was in uniform but not wearing a protective vest, spotted a robbery in progress of two people reportedly heading to church. He confronted the suspects and a shootout erupted. Authorities said roughly 20 rounds were fired. Finke was struck twice in the abdomen area. He was critically injured and rushed to UAB Hospitals Trauma Center where he underwent surgery. He was listed in serious condition, according to Birmingham police. Finke has worked with the Birmingham Police Department since 2005 and has worked security at Church of the Highlands for eight years. Police officers from across the citys four precincts as well as Jefferson County sheriffs deputies descended on the scene in the 5400 block of Georgia Road. The U.S. Marshals and ATF also responded to the scene, as did SBI. A large perimeter was established but the suspects managed to escape the area. When the suspects were arrested, they were in possession of the robbery victims cell phones With the victims help, they tracked stolen cell phones taken in the robbery to the parking lot of the Winn Dixie on Bessemer Road in Ensley where the departments Crime Reduction Team took two people were taken into custody. The victims cell phones were recovered, as well as at least one handgun. Birmingham police Chief Patrick Smith said the robbery victims identified Wright as a suspect. The recovered handgun also matched the caliber of shell casings recovered at the shooting scene. Joe is an accomplished hospitality professional who will help drive operational improvement across our regional portfolio while enhancing service and profitability for our clients. Propark Mobility (Propark) has announced that Joe Caputo has joined the company as Vice President of Operations for the Southwest Region. Were excited to add Joe Caputo to our family of parking professionals as the latest member of the Propark leadership team, said John Schmid, Proparks Chief Executive Officer. Joe is an accomplished hospitality professional who will help drive operational improvement across our regional portfolio while enhancing service and profitability for our clients. With an extensive background in the parking industry, Joe joins Propark with fifteen years of expertise in hospitality management. He began his career in 2005 as a cashier and quickly moved into management, working each position along the way. Over time, Joe has built extraordinary relationships by providing service to some of the top hospitality locations throughout California. Additionally, he oversaw the successful planning for, and execution of, parking operations for both the Emmy Awards and the Academy Awards. Prior to Propark, Joe served as a Director of Operations in the Greater Los Angeles Area, overseeing sixty-plus hotel relationships and operations. "Joe is a world-class hospitality professional with an extensive and highly successful background in building large industry-leading teams, meaningful client relationships, memorable service, and growth initiatives," said Rick DiPietro, Proparks President. " He brings with him a unique awareness of the hospitality world that will harmoniously merge with our service-oriented business model, delivering exceptional results for our existing and future clients. As Propark Mobilitys Vice President of Operations, Joe will spearhead the Hospitality Division in Southern California. He will cultivate and create opportunities for the leadership team throughout Proparks Southwest Region, while providing first-class service to clients through strategic planning and partnerships. About Propark Mobility Propark Mobility is one of the countrys largest privately-owned parking companies, providing full-service parking solutions and mobility services for all business types, in over 75 cities across the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.propark.com. ELKO A safety training business owner and former Barrick employee has announced he plans to run for the Elko County Commission seat currently held by Rex Steninger. I feel I will make a good commissioner said Gary Evertsen. Steninger also intends to file for re-election to the seat he was appointed to in 2014 after the death of Grant Gerber. Filing for non-judicial offices opens March 3. Evertsen said he is a retired sergeant first class from the U.S. Army. He spent eight years on active duty from 1977 to 1985, then enlisted in the Wyoming National Guard. He joined the Nevada Guard in 1990 after moving here, and served until 2001 at which time he chose to retire. Evertsen said he also has been a police dispatcher and a volunteer firefighter. He was hired by Barrick Gold Corp. in 1990, serving in different jobs until leaving to pursue his safety training business, which focuses on Mine Safety and Health Administration regulations. I have been associated with mining since 1975 when we lived in Idaho, Evertsen said. I have a very good knowledge of public safety, material handling, and emergency response. Ive been in business for myself from 2001 to 2020, he said. If I should be elected to the commission I will forgo my salary and will serve voluntarily, seeing that the county will be having a budget shortfall. Evertsen said he also has served on a Barrick mine rescue crew and is a former member of the Spring Creek Volunteer Fire Department. My family is very active in hunting, fishing and camping, he added. Evertsen lives at South Fork. Like other residents in outlying communities, his home has a domestic water well. Im very familiar with what is taking place with water issues in the state of Nevada and Elko County, he said. Commissioners serve four-year terms. Steningers seat is one of three that will be open this election year, along with those held by Jon Karr and Demar Dahl. Karr intends to run again but Dahl has reached his term limit. Two races for district judge will also be on the ballot this fall. Elko Justice of the Peace Mason Simons and attorney John W. Muije have filed for the newly created Department 3 bench, and Public Defender Kriston Hill is running for the Department 1 seat currently held by Nancy Porter. Department 2 Judge Al Kacin will be running unopposed. Filing for judicial positions closed on Jan. 17. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 5 Sad 1 Angry 0 Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex are officially living their best lives outside of the British royal family. In early January, shortly after returning from a six-week royal hiatus on Vancouver Island, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they would be stepping down as senior members of the British royal family. Initially, the Sussexes thought they might be able to remain part-time working royals. Unfortunately, that didnt quite work out. Instead, the duo have agreed to step back from their roles completely in order to become financially independent. Since they are no longer being supported by the queen, the Sussexes will have to find a way to make money on their own. However, their move to Canada just put a massive dent in their net worth. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are happy with their new lives in Canada The Sussexes chose to walk away from their royal lives after the duchess was bullied and harassed by the British public and press. The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly, Prince Harry revealed in a candid speech.It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I havent always got it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option. Markle, in particular, is so happy with her new life. An insider explained to US Weekly, She doesnt come from millions. Shes worked hard to get to where she is today. Meghan loves the idea of being the breadwinner. She has no plans to do another show like Suits, but Harrys been encouraging her to do more voice-over work, writing, producing and directing in her free time. As for Prince Harry, Hes really excited about the next chapter in their lives. This is how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might make money moving forward Since they are no longer employees of the queen, the Sussexes will be making money on their own to support themselves. They will even pay rent for their U.K. residence, Frogmore Cottage. We could easily compare them to any former presidents, Royal commentator and author Kristen Meinzer explained to Business Insider. My mind keeps going to Barack and Michelle Obama and how [they] make money. The reason I compare the two is that theyre already friends with each other and I would put them on the same level in terms of fame. The Sussexes already have a decent net worth, to begin with. They are worth roughly $30 million together. It cost Prince Harry and Meghan Markle 300,000 to move to Canada Since they no longer have the support of The Crown, the Sussexes got their own things shipped to Canada from the U.K. Shipping company 1st Move International just calculated a quote that the Sussexes could have been given and it cost a pretty penny. Shipping household goods and personal items from Frogmore Cottage would cost somewhere around 279,000. Another 35,000 would be needed to move luggage and trunks. This is a lower cost quote presuming items were transported via water and not air. It would take over a month to transport. The couple would also need insurance for pricy items as well as duty, tax or additional storage in Vancouver. Somehow, we think the Sussexes think this hefty price tag is well worth it. Middle East Christians might shrug their shoulders. They might even fret and worry. But perhaps Qassem Soleimani got what he deserved. We regret what happened. We do not want anyone to die, because Christianity wants the good of all, said Ashty Bahro, former head of the Kurdistan Evangelical Alliance. But a person leads himself to his own destiny. Soleimani, head of Irans special operations Quds Force, was killed by a US rocket strike on January 3. It was a rapid escalation following the Iran-linked death of an American contractor, a retaliatory attack on the responsible Iraqi militia, and the storming of the US embassy in Baghdad. According to the US State Department, Soleimani, who reported directly to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, was responsible for 17 percent of American deaths in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. He also enraged Sunni Muslims by engineering the subsequent Iranian defense of Syrias regime, led by President Bashar al-Assad. With Russia and the Iran-backed military wing of Lebanons Hezbollah, the shelling of rebel-held cities resulted in the displacement of thousands during Syrias civil war. But Soleimani was also acclaimed for his role in fighting ISIS, personally directing Iraqi militias from the front lines. Thus, Middle East Christians have mixed feelings about his deathand the immediate aftermath. Some Syrian believers see no benefit to anyone. Iran was working with the US government in certain agreements. Why did you destroy them? asked Maan Bitar, pastor of the Presbyterian churches in Mhardeh and Hama, noting both the fight against ISIS and the nuclear deal. This will prompt a severe reaction that will hurt America, and others. But not Christians. The general to replace Soleimani would continue Iranian policy, said Bitar. And within this policy was a commitment to treat Christians well. Bitar believes Iran is very concerned to be viewed as an ethical people who fear God. When they made use of a deserted home, whether Muslim or Christian, he said, they left it in cleaner condition than when they entered. Bitar contributed to reconciliation efforts where the Syrian regime recaptured territory. But not everyone viewed the Iranian role as positive for Christians. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, there were 124 assaults on churches from 2011 to 2019, and 75 (60%) came from the regime. And overall, the instability of war resulted in the loss of 75 percent of Syrias Christians, according to Open Doors, which ranks the nation No. 11 on its watch list of the 50 countries where it is hardest to follow Jesus. There is an agreement between the extremist elements and the regime and the Iranian militias, Samira Moubayed, vice president of Syrian Christians for Peace, told Syria Direct. [All] aim to displace Christians and change the culture [of Syria]. Though this was not witnessed by Bitar, it was by Ashur Eskrya, president of the Assyrian Aid Society branch in Iraq. Iranian-backed Shabak Shiite militias patrol the ancient Christian homeland of Iraqs Nineveh Plains. Like in Syria, it is good propaganda to be conciliatory, he said. Iran promotes its interests through aligned Iraqi Christian militias and politicians. But the Shabak have also prevented Ninevehs Christians from returning home. If you have fighters who dont follow the rules and want to change demography, it is the same as ISIS, Eskrya said. Soleimani is not Baghdadi [the American-killed caliph of ISIS], and the Shiite way of fighting is different from jihadis. But the agenda is the same. Eskrya highlighted the Nineveh Plains city of Bartallah, whose population used to be 100-percent Syrian Orthodox. Instability during the IranIraq war resulted in the citys Shiite population growing to 10 percent. Today, the Shiite share is more than 50 percent, Eskrya said. But Christian life continues in the now-mixed Bartallah. The citys Christmas tree bore pictures of security forces who died to liberate the plains from ISIS. And local Christians expressed optimism for Iraq, due to the Shiite-led non-sectarian protests raging against corruption and foreign influence. In particular: Iranian influence. Last July, the US sanctioned two militia leadersone a Christianfor ignoring Baghdads orders to withdraw from the Nineveh Plains to facilitate refugee return. And the airstrike that killed Soleimani also killed his Iraqi right-hand man, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces. Their deaths may result in an opening for USIran negotiation, Eskrya hopes. But more likely is an increase in conflict through paramilitary retaliation. Iran is pragmatic and will not directly escalate conflict with the United States, Eskrya believes. But Bahro thinks war is likely, and that Iran has learned nothing of Americas red lines. Both call for an expanded US presence in Iraq, as international protection is the key to stability. We need a period of time for the young, educated generation to take control, said Bahro. Until then, we urge everyone to resolve differences peacefully, because the only losers are the non-militarized civilians and children, including Christians. Martin Accad, chief academic officer at Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) in Beirut, Lebanon, is categorically opposed to foreign protection. The American presence has not been constructive. But neither has Iranian interferencethough unlike others, he sees it as a mixed bag. Through Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran has helped elevate the marginalized Shiite population to balance the historically dominant Christians and Sunnis. But Hezbollahs weapons and fealty to Iran hinder Lebanon from achieving a genuine domestic pluralism. Looking back on Syria, it might be positive for Christians that the regime is still in power, Accad said. But Irans and Hezbollahs early militant defense of Assad helped kill off the original legitimate uprising. And Christians only needed rescuing in the first place because of Iranian intervention. In Iraq, Tehrans role has been the most negative, stoking sectarianism as some Shiite leaders imitate Irans theocratic ethos of government against a secular state. But killing Soleimani will likely only make things worse. Lebanons protest movement is tilting toward violence, while Hezbollah has pledged revenge against the US (exempting civilians). Iraq, ranked No. 15 on the Open Doors list, has already lost 7 out of 8 Christians since 2003. Catholics and Orthodox are trapped in a centuries-old survival mentality, while Protestants have too narrow a focus on evangelism, Accad said. We have been far too quick to accept the status quo, hoping the visa application succeeds. Instead, Arab Christians must change their mentality to view themselves as a vital part of society seeking the common good. Much of Shiite aggression is based on a narrative of victimhoodwhich followers of Jesus are uniquely positioned to address. Accad noted ABTSs efforts to promote reconciliation among Lebanons sects. Embrace the model of Christ as the wounded healer, he wrote at the seminarys blog. [Then] we can come to terms with our own woundedness, and find in it a source of healing for societies around us. Even so, there will be resistance, Accad warned. A sense of victimhood is powerful, and helps maintain loyalty. Work toward reconciliation, toward peace, and if you are wounded in the process, okay, he said. Just remember that your Master was persecuted before you, and keep working for his kingdoms values. Until then, and following an immediate retaliatory missile attack on US bases in Iraq, the region has maintained a tacit calm. Is Iran biding its time, or is another explosion coming? For now, everything is normal, said Eskrya. Tomorrow, only God knows what will happen. WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 6, the classical music lovers in Washington will have a unique opportunity to listen to one of the world's most acclaimed cellists and celebrate the centennial of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Armenia at the same time. The event is organized by pianist Anna Bekyan and economist David Grigorian and will be held at the National Press Club. The year 2020 marks the centennial of the establishment of official ties between the US and the Armenian Republic, the only South Caucasian state recognized and supported by the US at the time. On April 23, 1920, the Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby delivered a note to Armenia's representative in Washington, Armen Garo, that stated: "I am pleased to inform you, and through you, your Government, that, by direction of the President [Woodrow Wilson], the Government of the United States recognizes, as of this date, the de facto Government of the Armenian Republic." The recognition (by the executive branch) was confirmed by the US Senate on May 13, 1920, upon the unanimous recommendation of its Committee on Foreign Relations. "It is appropriate that we will celebrate this momentous occasion in the shared history between American and Armenian people by showcasing a performance of an extremely talented Armenian and American duo," said Anna Bekyan. Since winning the Cello First Prize and Gold Medal at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011 at the age of 22, cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan has inspired audiences around the world with his artistry. His prior awards included the 1st Prize in the 2006 Khachaturian International Competition in Armenia, the 1st Place in the 2006 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players in Washington, and the 1st Prize in the 2008 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. A distinguished international orchestral soloist, he has appeared with several leading symphony orchestras and collaborated with many celebrated conductors around the world. Hakhnazaryan plays on a 1707 Joseph Guarneri cello. Observing Hakhnazaryan in action, The Independent recently wrote: "Every nuance of this subtle work was lovingly observed, and when he did let rip it was with blazing virtuosity. . . He could certainly give Yo-Yo Ma a run for his money." For the program that will include works of Armenian, American, and European composers, Hakhnazaryan will be joined by an American pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera, who is among the most highly regarded and diverse chamber artists performing today. The concert is organized under the auspices of the Armenian Embassy in Washington and is open to the public. Tickets are available via Eventbrite. Place: The National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC Date: March 6, 2020 Time: 7:30 p.m. For information, contact [email protected] SOURCE Anna Bekyan and David Grigorian In The Federalist No. 78 (14th June, 1788) Alexander Hamilton explained the rationale of the people of the United States (and now by extension, we the people of India) ordaining and establishing an independent judiciary in the Constitution. He said: There is no position which depends on clearer principles, than that every act of delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do, not only what their powers do not authorise, but what they forbid. This passage is the key to understanding the role of an independent judiciary in a republican democracy. The independence of the judiciary has been sought to be compromised on several occasions in the past. But it has always bounced back. Will it do so once again? The first few years of our Republic saw the spectre of supersession in the appointment of the Chief Justice of India but the Supreme Court judges stood firm and the thought banished. Judgments were delivered declaring some laws as unconstitutional. Some of these declarations were nullified by Parliament by amending the Constitution to validate laws and regulations and, indeed, place some of them beyond judicial scrutiny by introducing the Ninth Schedule in the Constitution. The Supreme Court took this in its stride and continued to stand as a beacon of hope for many, particularly in matters relating to the recognition and enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The establishment believed, mistakenly, that by virtue of its powers, it could do not only what was not authorised but what was forbidden. The commitment of the Supreme Court to the Constitution led to the theory of committed judges. The establishment believed that the appointment of judges committed to its philosophy would be amenable to legislative changes. Matters came to a head in the early 1970s when the Supreme Court was called upon to decide whether the Constitution was plasticine in the hands of Parliament. Fortunately, the Supreme Court reminded the representatives of the people that they are not superior to the people themselves. This reminder was achieved through the judgment in Kesavananda Bharatis case which enunciated what is now part of constitutional folklore -- the basic structure doctrine. The high point of the independence of the judiciary was followed by the Emergency. During this period, the independence of the Supreme Court reached its nadir. Through its decision in the ADM Jabalpur case (Justice Khanna dissenting) the Supreme Court virtually suspended Article 32 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to move the Supreme Court by appropriate proceedings for the enforcement of fundamental rights. BR Ambedkar described this article as the soul of the Constitution and the very heart of it. Ironically, many judges in the high courts saved the day for the independence of the judiciary -- perhaps, they were made of sterner stuff. Post the Emergency and two supersessions in the appointment of the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court rebounded with constitutional justice and human rights taking centre stage. Public interest litigation made the establishment accountable as never before and the people came to appreciate that they were the principals and masters, not the deputies or servants and that they were superior to their representatives. Elected governments in the States could no longer be overthrown by the establishment by merely invoking Article 356 of the Constitution and the political executive was made to appreciate that it was prohibited from doing not only what was not authorised by the Constitution, but what was forbidden. This allowed human rights to gain considerable importance; draconian preventive detention laws were interpreted with compassion so that continued detention without trial became a rarity. All this while, the Supreme Court endeavoured to maintain its independence from the establishment and I daresay it succeeded. The second decade of the new millennium saw a renewed attempt to contain the independence of the judiciary with the passage of an amendment to the Constitution incorporating the National Judicial Appointments Commission for recommending the appointment of judges. This amendment was declared unconstitutional by a 4:1 majority by the Supreme Court on the ground of violation of the basic structure of the Constitution which recognized the independence of the judiciary. This effectively confirmed the collegium system of recommending the appointment of judges. Thats when the fire started. Over the years, we are witness to the establishment rejecting, for slim and sometimes undisclosed reasons, the recommendations made by the collegium and sometimes sitting on them. We have also seen the collegium passing resolutions that are hard to believe, let alone rationalise. There is considerable criticism of the collegium system but no one has suggested a better alternative that ensures the independence of the judiciary or suggested returning to the pre-collegium days and handing back the power of recommending and appointing judges to the establishment in consultation (not concurrence) with the Chief Justice of India. The solution today is only to tweak and strengthen the collegium system through dialogue, and this is urgent. We are also witnessing judgmental fluctuations by the Supreme Court, perceived by many as succumbing to the pressures of the establishment in its core function. What has happened to the independence of the judiciary, they ask? Is the sentinel on the qui vive surrendering its obligation to preserve and protect the rights of the people? Unfortunately, a few even recall ADM Jabalpur. Only time will tell but admittedly, recent trends are quite disturbing and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting dimmer. Unless these trends are arrested, law students of the future will be studying a different Constitution, with or without a Republic. (Madan Lokur is a retired Supreme Court judge.) E-commerce has experienced unprecedented growth over the last two decades. While much of that has occurred in developed markets with wide internet access, there is still a lot of untapped growth potential for the industry in emerging markets. The last 10 years have seen the rise of Chinese companies like JD.com and Meituan Dianping. With spreading internet penetration and a regional population of over 500 million people, Southeast Asia has an e-commerce industry that's poised to produce strong financial results for the two companies dominating the market today, Lazada and Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) Alibaba-owned Lazada Lazada was founded in 2012 by European tech conglomerate Rocket Internet to build the "Amazon of Southeast Asia." It made quite a bit of progress toward its ambitious goal as a stand-alone company before its sale to Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) in 2016 at a $2 billion valuation. Today, Lazada operates in six countries: Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines. Unlike in developed countries, a crucial barrier to e-commerce in many of these markets is the payments process, due to a large population of people with no bank accounts. Lazada has helped to solve this problem by offering an e-wallet that can be used as an online bank. The company also lets customers pay for goods with cash upon delivery or at a local convenience store serving as a distribution hub. Payment innovation has been a major driver of e-commerce adoption, and that has been picked up by Lazada's competitors as well. Lazada is also popular because of its vast inventory of foreign goods. The company has made it easier for locals to purchase goods from other Asian countries and provides affordable logistics solutions for cross-border transactions. This was made an even bigger part of the platform's story after Alibaba took control of the company and brought on many Chinese sellers. It is unclear how much money Lazada is taking in because Alibaba doesn't disclose separate financials, but it's safe to say that Lazada is a prospering marketplace. According to SimilarWeb Lazada holds the number two market position in SouthEast Asian commerce. The e-commerce market in South East Asia is a $100 billion market today and could grow to $300 billion by 2025, according to Mashable.com. It is unclear exactly how much money Lazada is making because Alibaba doesn't disclose separate financials, but based on the high-level numbers and market share data, we can conclude that Lazada is a prospering marketplace with significant growth potential. Sea Limited Sea Limited is the current e-commerce market leader in Southeast Asia. It was founded in 2009 as an online gaming company and didn't jump into e-commerce until 2015 when it launched its Shopee marketplace in Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Lazada was already a leading e-commerce platform in the region when Shopee was launched. In order to gain traction, Sea offered free shipping and didn't charge any commissions to use Shopee at first. This strategy was expensive, but it paid off. In 2018, it had 50 million active buyers on its platform and surpassed its competitors in terms of the gross merchandise value listed on its website. It has also become a leader in most of its markets in website traffic volume. Shopee can't lose money forever. The company started to monetize its platform by charging fees for value-added services such as cross-border transactions and seller services like inventory management and fulfillment. In 2019, the company introduced seller commissions in Taiwan and may roll out this fee in other markets as they mature. Shopee also sells its own products directly to consumers on its platform (similar to Amazon's private label brand). Despite not heavily monetizing its platform, Shopee generated $639 million in revenue over the last 12 months. This is up from just $47 million in 2017. This eye-popping growth is part of the reason Sea's stock price has more than doubled in the last year, but Sea has also reported strong results in its gaming segment. Sea's gaming business generates all of the company's cash flow today but likely has limited growth potential because the company hasn't been focused on developing new games. Investors today appear to be bullish on owning Sea to gain exposure to Shopee which has vast market potential despite its lack of profitability today. This isn't an unreasonable bet to make as Amazon has proven that dominant e-commerce businesses will be highly valued by the market and do not necessarily need to show healthy profit margins. Regional conglomerates versus local favorites Lazada and Shopee have taken a regional approach to Southeast Asian e-commerce, but there are many local companies in the individual countries. Tokopedia and Bukalapak are popular in Indonesia, Sendo is a leader in Vietnam, Qoo10 is big in Singapore, and Taiwan has several local companies including PCHome. Regional players like Lazada tend to focus on more cross-border transactions and international brands, while the local companies tend to sell more goods from local merchants or are focused on a specific category like electronics. The market for e-commerce in the region is growing rapidly because of high levels of overall economic growth and rising internet penetration. For now, this means there is a lot of white space for many companies to thrive. As the market matures, it will be worth tracking which companies prove to be persistent leaders. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, alleging poor infrastructure in state-run schools of the capital and said that claims of revolution have been 'exposed' during visits by Delhi BJP parliamentarians at different schools. "Arvind Kejriwal ji, you had called me to visit the schools run by the Delhi government. Yesterday, eight MPs of Delhi had toured different schools and showed the conditions. The ground situation has exposed the claims of 'revolution in education'. Now, you have to give an answer to the public of Delhi," the Union Minister said in a tweet. Shah also posted a four-minute-long video of the schools in which the eight Delhi BJP MPs, including Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel, have toured the schools outlining poor infrastructure and lack of facilities at these facilities. The eight Delhi BJP parliamentarians who visited these schools were- Dr Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel, Parvesh Sahib Singh, Meenakshi Lekhi, Gautam Gambhir, Hansraj Hans, Manoj Tiwari and Ramesh Bidhuri. Yesterday, BJP leader Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma while touring the school strongly refuted AAP's claim that Delhi state-run schools have become world-class. He visited a school in Matiala area of the capital. Verma visited school with a couple of journalists and pointed towards the cracked building and a ceiling of the classrooms. The BJP MP from West Delhi constituency also presented a letter sent by PWD to the school, warning that the school building was dangerous and could collapse anytime. The voting for Delhi Assembly elections will take place on February 8. The counting of votes will take place on February 11. In 2015 assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party had registered a landslide victory by winning 67 out of a total of 70 seats in the capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. and SPRING GREEN, Wis., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An innovative and iconic pillar in the architecture world is closing its doors. The School of Architecture at Taliesin will cease operations after this semester, after a gut-wrenching decision by its Governing Board on Saturday. The School of Architecture at Taliesin was not able to reach an agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to keep the school open. The acclaimed architecture school was established in 1932 by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The school has been integral to Wright's visionary architecture. Top architectural students from across the U.S. and the world have studied at the school. The school was previously named the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. It was renamed in 2017. Students split their time between Wright's retreats housed at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona and Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The School of Architecture at Taliesin has been a pillar both in the architecture world as well as Arizona and Wisconsin where Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife Olgivanna invited architecture students to live and work with them and immerse themselves in 'organic architecture'. That immersion evolved into the architecture school whose alumni have worked on important Frank Lloyd Wright designs including Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum. "This is a sad and somber day for our school, our students and staff and the architecture community. We are saddened we could not reach an agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to continue operating the architecture school. Our innovative school and its mission were integral to Frank Lloyd Wright's vision for connecting architecture to our natural world. Wright's legacy was not just building. It was a school to promulgate the lessons for all future generations," said Dan Schweiker, Chairperson of the Board of Governors for the School of Architecture at Taliesin. "The closure of the school is very emotional for our students, our faculty and staff and all of us who worked so hard for this one-of-a-kind institution and its important role in Frank Lloyd Wright's legacy. We did everything possible to fight for its survival but due to other forces it was not meant to be," Schweiker said. The School of Architecture at Taliesin (SOAT) will continue operating during the Spring 2020 Semester. The school will officially close by the end of June. There are approximately 30 students currently enrolled at SOAT. SOAT is working out an agreement with The Design School at Arizona State University's Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts so its students can transfer credits and complete their degree programs. The School of Architecture at Taliesin offered a unique experience for architecture apprentices and students who traveled to Wisconsin and Arizona to work with Frank Lloyd Wright and other designers. Students often design and live in their own residences at the Taliesin campuses. In Scottsdale, those designs have been aimed at living in the Sonoran Desert. Those designs are part of what made SOAT a different type of design and architectural school. Students designed more than buildings. They focus on how to change the world. The School of Architecture at Taliesin is a separate independent entity from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. SOAT is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the National Architectural Accrediting Board, the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education. The school is in good standing with accrediting agencies as well as the states of Arizona and Wisconsin. "In an age of so much turbulence, this school and its students provided so much peace. It breaks my heart that all the parties could not come together to ensure the proper legacy of this great American," said Jacki Lynn, a Member of the Board of Governors for the School of Architecture at Taliesin. For media inquiries please contact Mike Sunnucks at [email protected] or call (623) 760-5543. SOURCE The School of Architecture at Taliesin RADNOR, Pa., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LBC Credit Partners ("LBC"), a leading provider of financing solutions to middle market companies, provided a senior secured credit facility to support the acquisition of EDSCO Fasteners LLC ("EDSCO" or the "Company") by MiddleGround Capital. LBC served as Agent and Sole Lead Arranger for the senior secured credit facility. Founded in 1985, EDSCO is a leading manufacturer and distributor of anchor bolt cages for mission-critical infrastructure installations. The Company primarily serves the transmission and distribution utility market with products that support transmission towers and also supplies customers in the telecommunications and transportation markets. EDSCO's product offering includes anchor cages, 18J rebar bolts, smooth bar bolts, bolt hardware, plates, and other fabricated products. Headquartered in Denton, Texas, EDSCO has additional facilities in Utah, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Indiana. MiddleGround Capital is a private equity firm that makes control equity investments in lower middle market North American companies in the B2B industrial and specialty distribution sectors. It is currently investing out of its first fund. MiddleGround works with its portfolio companies to create value through a hands-on operational approach and partners with its management teams to support long-term growth strategies. The firm is based in Lexington, Kentucky with an office in New York City. About LBC Credit Partners LBC Credit Partners provides middle market and small-cap financing solutions supporting sponsored and non-sponsored transactions throughout the U.S. across a broad range of industries. With over $3 billion of capital commitments, we have provided in excess of $6.4 billion to over 229 issuers throughout our 15-year history. * LBC is headquartered in the Philadelphia area and has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. To learn more, visit www.lbccredit.com. *Information as of September 30, 2019 MEDIA CONTACT: Lisa Rubano-Volansky Tel 724-979-4293 Email: [email protected] SOURCE LBC Credit Partners This is a worrying and serious situation and investors must be vigilant, he added. The concern is that the fallout could create a major shock for markets, even as worries about geopolitics and global trade have eased. Many Asian stock markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, but those that were open, including Japans and South Koreas, fell and futures trading in China slumped. Money poured into safe-haven assets like gold and pushed up the value of the United States dollar. Most European markets were slightly higher. Japans minister of economic and fiscal policy said on Tuesday that the Chinese outbreak would affect the Japanese tourism industry and warned that it could also hurt exports and corporate profits. Chinese tourists traveling to Japan accounted for 30 percent of all tourists in 2019, he said at a news conference. There are concerns over the impact to the Chinese and global economy from the spread of infection in China, transportation disruptions, cancellation of group tours from China and an extension in the Lunar holiday, said the minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura. CHICAGO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The need to identify and manage cost reduction initiatives continues to be a top priority for senior financial executives in healthcare organizations, according to Kaufman Hall's new report 2020 Healthcare Financial Outlook: Performance Management Trends and Priorities. This has been an ongoing theme since the report was first introduced in 2017, and today 87% of respondents say cost reduction is among the most important financial performance activities for their organizations. Yet 76% say that resource constraints are impacting effective financial planning and analysis in their organizations, more than in 2019 (70%) or 2018 (66%). This disconnect underlines the need for a more widespread cost transformation effort. Rather than just reducing costs, however, financial executives understand that current service offerings must be delivered efficiently to preserve margins under tightening payment pressures. According to the report, achieving this level of cost transformation will free up resources for investment in new technologies, sites of care, and care delivery models while addressing changing demand and new competition within the healthcare market. Many organizations are unprepared to do so, however, as 54% of those surveyed say they have insufficient data, benchmarking and reporting tools to completely support efforts to lower costs without compromising the quality of care; an additional 15% say they currently have no tools in place. "The issue isn't a lack of data," said Kristopher Goetz, senior vice president of performance improvement at Kaufman Hall. "There is a massive amount of data flowing in from claims systems, electronic health records, cost accounting systems, patient satisfaction surveys, wearable devices and other sources. The problem is more than two-thirds of healthcare organizations don't have the analytics tools they need to use all that data to gain financial insights and inform their decision-making. This limits sustainability of high-value care delivery and long-term strategic financial viability. Healthcare financial executives recognize the risk but need support from the C-suite to take action and avoid more dire consequences. So far that hasn't happened, but we are hopeful it will change in 2020." Improving agility Another top priority identified in the report is the need for agility healthcare financial executives lack confidence in their abilities to adjust easily to changing business circumstances. Only 24% are "very confident" their teams can rapidly adjust strategies and plans to react to market changes. This number is essentially unchanged from 2019 (23%) and 2018 (25%) despite new competition from tech giants, industry behemoths and innovative healthcare providers seeking to disintermediate legacy organizations from critical shares of their business. Additionally, just 14% said they believe their current financial planning processes and tools make them "very prepared" to manage the financial impact of evolving payment and delivery models. This figure is also essentially unchanged from 2019 (13%) and 2018 (15%). At the same time, budgeting cycles continue to grow much longer, with 50% of respondents reporting that the process now lasts six months or more from initial roll-out to board presentation, up from 37% in 2019 and 27% in 2018. This continues to be a concern as longer budget cycles mean that the assumptions made in preparing the budget could be outdated by the time the fiscal year begins. The good news, however, is that 63% of financial executives will seek to improve operational budgeting and forecasting in 2020, up from 53% in 2019. Understanding the Impact of Clinical Outcomes on Financial Performance In the third major finding of the survey, 85% of respondents manage financial health as a core dimension of organizational performance. Other highly ranked core areas included quality of care and clinical outcomes (80%), patient experience (76%), and operational efficiency (75%). "These numbers indicate that most organizations understand the need to manage performance across multiple dimensions," said Kermit S. Randa, chief executive officer of Kaufman Hall Software. "Quality of care and the patient experience, in particular, will be increasingly important differentiators in a more consumer-focused, retail-oriented business model. Using data to identify opportunities for operational efficiency is critical as legacy hospitals and health systems work to reduce costs and compete on price. This data can also help drive revenue optimization and clinical quality improvement, which empowers organizations to achieve healthcare's triple aim." Still, only 14% of respondents said their organizations are "very prepared" to use clinical measures to impact financial results, which is consistent with Kaufman Hall's 2019 State of Healthcare Performance Improvement report. This must change since the types of transformation financial executives desire cannot be achieved without engaging clinicians in the effort to enhance quality and reduce costs. Using Data to Drive Action To help drive meaningful change, 69% of respondents plan to improve reporting and analysis to support decision-making in 2020 the highest-ranked option. When evaluating financial planning software to help do this, 76% say healthcare expertise and best practices built into software are important criteria, up from 60% in 2019. It was also the highest-ranked choice this year versus ranking fourth in the 2019 report. Kaufman Hall will host a webinar explaining the details of this report on Feb. 18, 2020. About Kaufman Hall Kaufman Hall provides a unique combination of software, management consulting and data solutions to help society's foundational institutions realize sustained success amid changing market conditions. Since 1985, Kaufman Hall has been a trusted advisor to boards and executive management teams, helping them incorporate proven methods, rigorous analytics and industry-leading solutions into their strategic planning and financial management processes, with a focus on achieving their most challenging goals. Kaufman Hall services use a rigorous, disciplined, and structured approach that is based on the principles of corporate finance. The breadth and integration of Kaufman Hall advisory services are unparalleled, encompassing strategy; financial and capital planning; cost transformation; treasury and capital markets management; and mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and joint ventures. Kaufman Hall software includes the Axiom Software Suite, providing sophisticated, flexible performance management solutions that empower finance professionals to analyze results, model the future, and optimize organizational decision making. Solutions for long-range planning, budgeting and forecasting, performance reporting, capital planning, and cost accounting deliver decision support, reporting, and analytics within an integrated software platform. Kaufman Hall's Clinical Analytics empower healthcare organizations with clinical benchmarks, data, and analytics to provide a higher quality of care for optimized performance and improved patient outcomes. Press Contact: Philip Anast Amendola Communications (for Kaufman Hall) Email: [email protected] Phone: 312-576-6990 SOURCE Kaufman Hall Related Links https://www.kaufmanhall.com Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has engaged as many as 200 of its parliamentarians from across the country, including 70 cabinet ministers and 11 chief ministers, in its campaign in the run up to the February 8 assembly polls in Delhi. All this, he said, is because the saffron party does not have a suitable chief minister candidate. The BJP does not have a chief ministerial face against Arvind Kejriwal. They are bringing 200 MPs, 70 ministers and 11 chief ministers because the people of Delhi did not support them. So, now, they are bringing outsiders, said Kejriwal at a road show in Gokulpur locality. They are coming to defeat your son Kejriwal. They are coming to insult all of us. They will come and say your schools are in bad condition, your mohalla clinics are in bad shapeThis fight is between the two crore people of Delhi and 200 BJP MPs. When they come, recount all the works done in the last five years and send them back to their states. Do not let them insult Delhi, he said. Many Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters participated in road shows led by the Kejriwal in northeast Delhis Karawal Nagar, and south Delhis Mehrauli and Chhatarpur assembly constituencies on Tuesday. He later addressed a public gathering in Delhi Cantonment. On Tuesday, music composer and artiste Vishal Dadlani also campaigned for the AAP in Madipur, Moti Nagar and Tilak Nagar localities. Dadlani is one of the star campaigners of the party, and this was his first public appearance in Delhi in the partys ongoing poll campaign. This is the first in recent times that the BJP is contesting a state election without a chief ministerial candidate. In the 2015 Delhi state elections, BJP had fielded former IPS officer Kiran Bedi from its stronghold of Krishna Nagar and had named her as its chief ministerial candidate. She lost to AAPs SK Bagga by 2,277 votes. In 2013, current Union health minister Harsh Vardhan had contested from the same seat and won by 43,150 votes. However, the BJP had failed to win a majority in the legislative Assembly then. During the road shows on Tuesday, Kejriwal waved at people from an open-roof vehicle, flanked by supporters on both sides who were waving flags of the AAP and brooms the partys election symbol. Loudspeakers installed in vehicles which were part of the road shows played the partys campaign song and highlighted the Delhi governments achievements in the last five years on several fronts ranging from schools and hospitals to water supply and sewer lines. A monumental decision was taken by Indias Supreme Court on Tuesday when it allowed the Centre to introduce the African Cheetah in suitable habitat in the country. The decision came almost a decade after the plan was envisaged by Jairam Ramesh, the then environment minister of India. In a country that has set exemplary examples in conserving her tigers, lions, and leopards, but lost only the Asiatic cheetah among the large carnivores, the plans of reintroduction of this charismatic species is definitely a cause of nationwide excitement and a major harbinger of hope. A Brief Story Of Indias Cheetahs The demise of the Asiatic cheetah in India can be exclusively blamed on overhunting. This carnivore was once abundant in the region that is now India with the earliest evidence of its existence dating back to 2500 BCE to 2300 BCE. A diverse range of habitats including scrubland, bushland, and arid to semiarid landscapes were home to Indias Asiatic cheetahs. During the medieval times, the Indian kings and nobles would domesticate cheetahs in large numbers and train them to hunt blackbucks and other wildlife. Unfortunately, the inability of the cheetahs to breed successfully in captivity translated to constant trapping of the species from the wild to meet the demand. During the Mughal rule, the market for captive cheetahs soared higher than ever before. However, their fate was sealed only with the arrival of the British in India. Never before had any power wanted to exterminate a species completely as did the British. They classified the cheetah as vermin and rewarded those who killed the adults and cubs of the species. An extremely unfortunate state of events for an animal that was otherwise treated as a royal pet and hunting companion in pre-British India. By the 1950s, no Asiatic cheetah was to be found in the Indian subcontinent. Learn more about the history of the Asiatic Cheetah and its demise in this World Atlas article. Plants To Reintroduce The Magnificent Cheetah Once India realized its loss following the countrys independence from British rule, it was too late. No cheetahs were left to revive. In the early 1970s, attempts were made to negotiate the import of cheetahs from Iran, the last stronghold of the Asiatic cheetah. However, even in Iran, these animals were facing extreme threats and were highly dispersed and had low numbers. The negotiations between the two countries did not bear fruit and India did not get back the species. In more recent times, conservationists in India have made several attempts to reintroduce the species in the country. This time, the strategy was different. Instead of trying to get Asiatic cheetahs from Iran whose numbers were further dwindling, they decided to bring the African cheetahs instead. Extensive surveys and plans were made for years to determine suitable habitats for the animals in the country. Progress was made in this regard with some sites in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat being identified for the purpose. Proponents of African cheetah introduction claim that if successfully introduced, the cheetahs will help revive the grassland ecosystem of India that is presently in a state of degradation. Like the tiger is for forests, cheetahs would become the symbol of hope for Indias grasslands. Overcoming Opposition To The Reintroduction Program There were, however, several opponents to the cheetah re-introduction plan as well. A section of conservationists believed that hasty decisions in this direction would only create more trouble. Cheetahs demand large tracts of livestock-free and human habitation free grasslands with a rich prey base. Such areas are hard to find in a densely populated country. Also, species reintroduction events in India's past has a chequered history. Success rates have been low. Even the apex court, the Supreme Court of India, ruled against the Centres plan of bringing African cheetahs to India in 2013 on the basis that a more detailed study was needed before introducing a foreign species in the country. Finally, after years of rigorous surveys and extensive scientific studies, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) once more presented the application for the ambitious project before the Supreme Court. This time the apex court gave a go-ahead. However, the court will continue to monitor the progress of the project and have asked the NTCA to submit reports every four months. The court has also suggested a comprehensive survey to be conducted to locate the most suitable site for the re-introduction of the species. This story was produced by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization. Get their investigations emailed to you directly by signing up at revealnews.org/newsletter. The Miami Police Department has enacted changes to how it treats immigrant victims of crime in response to an investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. The story found that dozens of law enforcement agencies across the country routinely undermine visa protections for immigrants. Miami, like other departments serving large immigrant populations, had created barriers that were never envisioned when Congress created the U visa program 20 years ago to improve trust between police and the immigrant communities they serve. Maj. Antonio Diaz, who leads the criminal investigations section, said Miami police have changed their rules to bring the department in line with Congress intention for the program. The department will vouch for all victims who are cooperative with investigators a prerequisite for beginning the U visa application process and no longer will consider whether an arrest was made or a suspect was identified before supporting a visa application, Diaz said. We want to try to encourage as many victims to come forward. When they are a victim of a crime, they need to know were going to help, he said. Were not going to be an obstacle. The policy update was welcome news for immigration lawyers in South Florida who struggled for years to obtain law enforcement certifications for victims within Miami city limits. We are relieved that the location of victimization in Miami-Dade County will no longer determine whether a victim can access humanitarian protections, said Michelle Ortiz, deputy director of the legal nonprofit Americans for Immigrant Justice. Shortly after Reveals investigation was published, Ortiz said the nonprofit received its first certification approval from Miami police in more than a year. Our clients will no longer remain unprotected solely because of their ZIP code, she added. Story continues The investigation found that police and prosecutors nationwide regularly stonewall victims from gaining protections under the U visa, which grants victims temporary status. Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina had said he would look into how his agency handles U visas following Reveals reporting. In order to apply, victims need the investigating agency to sign a certification that confirms theyre a victim of a violent crime and that they were helpful to detectives. But an analysis of policies from more than 100 agencies serving large immigrant communities found that nearly 1 of every 4 create barriers never envisioned under the U visa program. The problem was particularly acute in Miami. Officials there certified only 27 cases out of the 235 requests received between 2016 and 2018. Reveal found that the agency regularly denied requests from victims with unsolved cases even though U visa guidelines state that agencies do not have to consider whether a case resulted in an arrest. Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina acknowledged in October that his agency had a low certification-approval rate and said he would review his departments certification process. Diaz said the department began closely following federal guidelines this month following that review and he expects a high volume of certification requests will be signed in the future. Scores of other departments, from border communities in Texas to some of New Yorks biggest cities, continue to erect significant barriers for immigrant victims of crime. The U visa is meant to eliminate immigrants fears that if they interact with the government, they might get deported. A policy change is the first step, but theres other things that they can do to make it more accessible, said Maya Ibars, who worked at Catholic Legal Services in Miami until recently taking a job with California-based Al Otro Lado. She said she would like to see Miami police create a departmental order that explicitly states the agencys new guidelines. Within such a large agency, totaling 1,371 sworn personnel, unwritten changes could potentially fall through the cracks, she said. Ibars also recommended that the citys police department create an online portal for U visa requests; currently, the department accepts requests only via U.S. mail. The Miami-Dade County Police Department, for instance, allows victims and their lawyers to submit requests on its website. Among Ibars Miami clients was Nataly Alcantara, who was the victim of a home invasion robbery in November 2014. Two armed women broke into her duplex apartment, and one of the suspects pointed a gun at Alcantaras children. After the thieves ran off with $300 in cash and the familys phones, Alcantara called police from a roommates cellphone. Police reports show that she and her partner met with police at least three times, answered officers questions and reviewed mug shots. Alcantara also called her stolen cellphone the day after the robbery. When someone answered, she alerted police, who were able to use the information to track down one suspect. As the case eventually was closed without an arrest, Miami police declined to sign Alcantaras U visa certification. Colina said in October that he would look into Alcantaras certification denial. When asked last week whether her case was revisited, Diaz said it didnt come up during meetings but added that he would follow up with the chief. Ibars said she plans to refile Alcantaras case. Florida state Sen. Annette Taddeo, a Miami-Dade County Democrat, said she would introduce legislation this session to force all Florida law enforcement agencies to follow the same standards for handling these kinds of cases. Besides Miami, Reveal identified at least eight other Florida agencies that fail to follow federal guidelines. The Polk County Sheriffs Office, for instance, didnt sign a single certification request between 2016 and 2018. I dont think this is something that many people are aware of. I was not aware, Taddeo said. This is something that we can fix legislatively. Eleven other states have passed U visa certification statutes. Departments in California and Nevada, for example, are required to certify cases within 90 days and follow the federal criteria. Other laws are broader. In Connecticut and Delaware, the law instructs agencies only to assign an officer to review requests. A statewide mandate in Florida likely would face strong opposition from the Republican-controlled state Legislature, which passed a law last year that requires local law enforcement to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, but Democrats succeeded in including an amendment that protects crime victims and witnesses who come forward to police from being reported to ICE. Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani, who supported the amendment, called the disparities uncovered by Reveals investigation inhumane and un-American. One of our biggest fears always was that Senate Bill 168 would undermine the U visa system by pushing people further into the shadows, she said. It makes no one more safe, and its absolutely motivated by a political agenda that is racially fueled and based on fear mongering. This story was edited by Andrew Donohue and Esther Kaplan and copy edited by Nikki Frick. Laura C. Morel can be reached at lmorel@revealnews.org. Follow her on Twitter: @lauracmorel. A Jehanabad court on Tuesday granted Delhi Police transit remand of JNU student Sharjeel Imam who was arrested from here earlier today. "Sharjeel Imam was arrested from his village in Jehanabad at around 2 pm today. We are taking transit remand from Bihar and trying to bring him to Delhi from the shortest possible route," said Rajesh Deo, DCP Crime Branch, Delhi Police. Sharjeel was brought to the court after he was arrested by the police. A civil surgeon also reached the court for Sharjeel's medical examination. Sharjeel had stoked controversy with his "cut off Assam from India" remark. Jehanabad Police has also detained Sharjeel's younger brother Muzammil Imam in the wee hours of Tuesday. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Sunday booked Sharjeel for his controversial speech that he allegedly made a few days ago. He has been slapped with charges of sedition and inciting enmity between communities under Sections 124A, 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Separately, a case has been registered against the JNU student by the Uttar Pradesh Police for his controversial speech delivered during the students' protest at Aligarh Muslim University on January 16 against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Register of Citizens (NRC). A series of videos have gone viral on social media in which Sharjeel is heard saying: "If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannot do it permanently, then at least for one to two months, we can do this." "It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. When this happens, only then the government will listen to us," he is heard saying further in the video. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) REGINAA Saskatchewan university has cancelled all China trips it has organized for the next three months due to the spread of the coronavirus. University of Regina spokesman Paul Dederick says anyone who would have been involved in the travel has been advised. He says, effective immediately, all other travel to China by students, staff, faculty as part of student exchanges or research partnerships will require the deans approval and must include a plan on how to decrease health risks. Dederick says the measures are precautionary as the federal government has issued a travel advisory for China. Health officials in Ontario have confirmed Canadas first case of the coronavirus and believe the patients wife to be the second case. They say the risk to Canadians is low. As a precautionary measure the university is taking a pro-active approach to ensure faculty, staff and students travelling to and from China are aware of, and take steps to mitigate, their risk of contracting or spreading the virus, Dederick said in an email. China is reporting that the illness has infected more than 2,700 people and killed at least 81. Read more about: Donald Trump met with Jon Voight in the Oval Office Tuesday after the conservative actor called for 'highest prayers' for the president during his impeachment trial. President Trump spoke with Voight before he left for a campaign rally in Wildwood, N.J., with newly-minted Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew. The two men stepped out of the Oval Office and spoke outside on its colonnade for a few minutes before the president departed. Voight did not travel with President Trump. Details of their meeting were not immediately available. Donald Trump speaks with Jon Voight outside the Oval Office Tuesday Trump and Voight met before the president left for a campaign rally in New Jersey Last week Voight, one of President Trumps most vocal supporters in Hollywood, posted a video on his Twitter account blasting the Democrats for committing the crime of impeaching Trump. Voight said the Democrats who have put Trump on trial in the Senate are a group of radical left wingers who are trying to knock down a nation of Gods glory. Let us stand among the greatest statues that stand on the White House grounds, where truths were spoken long ago by our forefathers, the Oscar winner best known for his role as Joe Buck in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy said. Let us remember what this house stands for, this White House. It stands for trust, and stands for moral obligation. It stands for the safety of the United States of America. Voight, who is the father of Angelina Jolie, warned that the president is in much danger from this radical left wing group. I say radical because this group has only filthy lies and distortion of the mighty truths that have been written, he said. Jon Voight, the 81-year-old Academy Award-winning actor, posted a video on his Twitter page last Friday blasting Democrats for impeaching President Trump Voight continued: The truth, my friends, the truth that holds the greatest scripture, that is the Declaration of Independence. We as a nation have gained this back with President Trump. And what does the left want to do? To knock down a nation of Gods glory. This is a disgrace to mankind and a disgrace to the people of the United States of America. This is a crime - an impeachment to take down a nations success for their control of deceit and disgusting lies against our President Trump, who held to his promise for our country (and) his word for our country's love. Voight ended this speech by invoking religious figures, including Jesus and Moses. We call upon our highest prayers and ask Jesus, Moses, and all saints to save the truth that has been taken down by these cruel individuals of the left and ask God to place his hands upon this nation of the United States of America and bless and protect the truth for our President Donald Trump, so he can continue his legacy as one of our greatest presidents, the Varsity Blues actor said. In November, Trump awarded Voight the National Medal of Arts at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House In November, Jon Voight went with the president and first lady to Dover Air Force base to to honor two soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan Jon Voight trails behind President Trump and First Lady Melania at Andrews Air Force Base in November Trump is in route to New Jersey for his first campaign rally since his impeachment trial began. He'll also use the occasion to tout his vision for the Middle East, which he revealed at the White House on Tuesday, and push his November re-election bid. It's not Voight's first time at the White House to meet with Trump. He was at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in November to receive the prestigious National Medal of Arts when the president invited the actor to join him and first lady Melania Trump on a trip to Delaware to honor two soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Voight flew with them to Dover Air Force Base. The actor said at the time: 'I just wanted to pay my respects, say a little prayer.' British fund manager Neil Woodford is seen in this undated handout image released on 18 July, 2019. Photo: Jonathan Atkins/Reuters Around 300,000 investors who backed stock picker Neil Woodfords flagship fund are set to finally receive some money back from the frozen fund. Administrators Link Fund Solutions said in a letter sent to investors on Tuesday that the first capital distributions from the Equity Income Fund would be made this week. The Fund has been frozen since last June and Link decided to shut it in October after Woodfords investment business collapsed. Investors will get cash back on or around 30 January, Link said, and the distributions represent around 74% of the funds current 2.8bn ($3.64bn) value. 10bn was invested in the Equity Income Fund at its peak but it was worth just 3bn by the time administrators took the decision to shut the fund. Today represents the first day of closure for investors who have suffered from the terrible performance of the Woodford Equity Income fund, said Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at stockbroker AJ Bell. Investors were trapped in Neil Woodfords Equity Income Fund after the money manager was forced to suspend withdrawals last June. It came after a surge in investors pulling money that left Woodford unable to sell investments quickly enough to meet redemptions. The suspension triggered a four-month crisis that ended in the collapse of Woodfords investment business. His reputation as one of Britains most skilful stock pickers has been left in tatters. Hughes warned that investors were still in the dark about the remaining 26% of the fund, which is made up of unlisted investments that are harder to sell. While this payment of the first tranche of the liquidated assets will be a relief for thousands of investors who have been trapped in the fund since June last year, there is still huge uncertainty around the money still stuck in illiquid assets, Hughes said. Investors will be acutely aware that a large portion of their investment remains trapped in the illiquid, unquoted holdings that Park Hill are trying to sell. Story continues John McDonnell, the UKs Shadow Chancellor, repeated his calls for a full independent inquiry into the collapse of Woodfords investment businesses and the role of the regulator. This isn't just about the failure of Woodford, Labours McDonnell said. More importantly it's about the failure of the regulatory system and in particular the FCA. The regulator has been accused of failing to act quick enough despite being aware of potential problems brewing at Woodfords business. The debacle, and issues around mini-bonds, have overshadowed the appointment of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive Andrew Bailey as the next Bank of England governor. Until we have the results of such an inquiry I have recommended to the Chancellor that it is only proper that he delays the installation of Mr Bailey as the Governor of the Bank of England, McDonnell said. (Alliance News) - Botswana Diamonds PLC on Monday said it intends to raise GBP250,000 through a share placing. Shares in the diamond miner were untraded on Tuesday morning in London, last quoted at 0.68p each. It has a market capitalisation of GBP4.2 million. Botswana Diamonds will issue 41.7 million shares at 0.6 pence per share to fund ongoing exploration activities in Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa as well as to provide additional working capital for the company. The company - which is registered in Ireland - is currently exploring the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe in collaboration with Vast Resources PLC. Botswana Diamonds also is exploring the Maibwe diamonds prospects in Botswana and the Thorny River diamond dyke project in South Africa. Following admission of the placing shares, Botswana Diamond's share capital will comprise of 669.2 million shares. By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. A consequence of the long Brexit hiatus is that so many of the biggest decisions to be taken by government ended up in nowhere land. Now they are arriving at the door of 10 Downing Street in a mad rush. As part of the Johnson government's effort to speed up connectivity across the country, it wants to get 5G networks and ultra-fast broadband done. Anyone who has scanned the headlines will know the fastest way of doing this stuff is to deploy Chinese telecom whizz Huawei Technologies. On track? Among the other big decisions left hanging include HS2, the high-speed rail link between London and the North, future nuclear development and Heathrow Therein lies the problem. The US is seeking to marginalise Chinese technology on security grounds. UK security services are none too enthusiastic either. Their view is that using Huawei to build infrastructure is fine, as long as it doesn't get near the sensitive stuff. That may solve the political problem, as the UK pivots between Washington and Beijing, but may create an engineering problem. Using multiple contractors creates its own issues as on Crossrail, where the engineers who built the signalling have struggled to match their software with the advanced trains, and so postponing the start-up until at spring 2021. Other big decisions left hanging include HS2, the high-speed rail link between London and the North, future nuclear development and Heathrow. It looks as if HS2 might survive. It is worth listening to Michael Heseltine. He pressed on with the infrastructure for Canary Wharf in spite of huge opposition inside government. In the process he helped to cement Britain's place as a world centre of finance. As the National Audit Office report has found, original costings on HS2 were built on a European model which took no account of UK geography. The important thing for the future is to tighten oversight and hold management feet to the fire. Another outstanding issue is nuclear. Hinkley is under way in spite of a contentious funding model. French contractor EDF is shortly to pitch for a new super reactor on the Sizewell site using different financing, similar to the pay-as-you-go interest structure being used on the Thames Tideway. Finally, there is Heathrow. Given Boris's threat to lie in front of the bulldozers I suspect no one is holding their breath. Scam artists Britain may be the best place for committing white-collar offences. Investigations by the City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), take a lifetime. The FCA is still living with a backlog of cases dating back to the financial crisis of more than a decade ago. New high profile probes pile up, including those into Neil Woodford's fund empire and mini-bond firm London Capital & Finance. The Serious Fraud Office struggles to bring cases to a conclusion. All this at a time when financial scams proliferate. In the last few days alone, I have been subjected to two prospective scams. The first to my home phone purporting to be Mastercard. The claim was that someone had sought to make a 600 payment overseas on my card. Could I press '1' on the keypad to go through a series of checks? I chose to directly call my Mastercard provider Santander and was told it was the 'dial 1 scam' with which the bank was familiar. Why Santander hadn't chosen to communicate a warning of this to cardholders was not explained. The second scam came by letter from a purported CTBC Bank in Hong Kong. It was handling the legacy of a John Brummer they thought might be a relative. Would I consider making a claim on the $11million estate? If I chose to do so, they would split the inheritance '50/50'. As a financial journalist I found both of these approaches suspicious. But I couldn't but help think that the less knowledgeable victims of such attempted scams might easily be sucked in. The UK spends up to 1.7billion a year on enforcing regulation and financial justice. Online finance has been a gift to the crooks. Banks may regard the scams as a cost of doing business. That is no comfort to the victims and allows enforcers to pretend they are doing their job. That cannot be acceptable. Red faces More egg on face for the FCA. It has been fined 2,000 by the Pensions Regulator for poor governance of the house pension fund over its failure to provide a compliant 'chair's statement'. Whoops! Just a Minute host Nicholas Parsons has died aged 96 after a short illness, his agent has said. The broadcaster passed away this morning, surrounded by his family. His agent Jean Diamond issued a statement on behalf of his family, saying: "Nicholas passed away in the early hours of the 28th of January after a short illness at the age of 96. "He was with his beloved family who will miss him enormously and who wish to thank the wonderful staff at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital." Expand Close File photo dated 16/1/2019 of Nicholas Parsons and Ann Parsons attending the premiere of Cirque du Soleil's Totem, in support of the Sentebale charity, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The Just a Minute host has died aged 96 after a short illness, his agent said. PA Photo. Issue date: Tuesday January 28, 2020. See PA story DEATH Parsons. Photo credit should read: Ian West/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp File photo dated 16/1/2019 of Nicholas Parsons and Ann Parsons attending the premiere of Cirque du Soleil's Totem, in support of the Sentebale charity, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The Just a Minute host has died aged 96 after a short illness, his agent said. PA Photo. Issue date: Tuesday January 28, 2020. See PA story DEATH Parsons. Photo credit should read: Ian West/PA Wire Parsons was best known for Just A Minute, where panellists have to speak for one minute without hesitation, deviation or repetition. He first fronted the show on its inception in 1967. The broadcaster missed a recording of the BBC Radio 4 show for only the second time in more than 50 years last summer, due to a bad back. SANTA FE A former Espanola and Santa Fe elementary school teacher had a few extra years tacked onto an already long prison sentence Monday. Gary Gregor, 63, was sentenced to six years in prison for one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor under 13 for inappropriately touching a female student while he was a second grade teacher at Fairview Elementary School in Espanola during the 2006-07 school year. Gregor is already serving a 108-year sentence on 12 total charges of raping and kidnapping two female students while he was a fourth grade teacher at Fairview during the 2007-08 year. The victim, who was 21 when she testified at trial last year, said that Gregor kept her behind during recess and would lie on the floor with her. She said she could feel Gregors erection on her backside, but didnt tell anyone at the time because she didnt know what Gregor was doing was wrong. A letter from the victim that was read into the court record by someone else said the abuse caused her to suffer anxiety attacks. But, I wont let you or anything you have done to me ruin my life, she wrote. Gregors attorney, Shelby Bradley, asked Santa Fe District Court Judge Marlowe Sommer to run the new sentence concurrent with the old one, meaning he would only serve the 108 years he was previously given. The judge declined the request because this case had a different victim, making for a total sentence of 114 years in prison. The victim in Mondays case received a $2.5 million settlement for a lawsuit filed against Espanola Public Schools and Gregor. To date, EPS has paid $20 million to settle suits involving Gregor. Gregor received a neutral recommendation from Santa Fe Public Schools in 2004 after allegations of him behaving inappropriately with female students at Agua Fria Elementary School came to light, ensuring that future employers wouldnt hear of the allegations. The state Public Education Department gave Gregor a written reprimand after being notified of the allegations at SFPS. Documents obtained by the Journal showed that no SFPS or PED officials contacted law enforcement. Gregor did not speak at Mondays hearing. He is scheduled to undergo at least one other trial later this year for allegedly molesting girls at Agua Fria. Consumer goods manufacturer PZ Cussons says 'challenging market conditions' have caused half-year revenues to decline by 9.5million. The Imperial Leather brand owner also registered a 13 per cent fall in operating profits in the six months to 30 November 2019. It suffered a particularly bad performance in Nigeria, where it blamed a weak economy and port congestion at Lagos for causing revenues to drop 4.4 per cent. Kate Moss has promoted the tanning label St Tropez, which is owned by PZ Cussons PZ Cussons, which also owns the Original Source and St Tropez labels, reported a pre-tax profit growth of 34.5 per cent when the sale of two of its foreign brands was included in the numbers. The Greek olive oil subsidiary Minerva was sold for 41million to the Mirties Enterprises Company while its Polish personal care brand Luksja was acquired by the Athens-based Sarantis Group. Chairwomen Caroline Silver said despite testing market conditions, the firm was 'pleased to see that the performance of our Focus Brands was stable overall compared to prior year. She added: 'Our investment remains targeted towards these Focus Brands and this will continue in the second half of the year.' 'We have started to restructure our portfolio of activities, disposing of our business in Greece and agreeing the sale of our Polish brand. 'Further portfolio reshaping is underway and initiatives to improve our operating efficiency are being implemented at pace.' The Imperial Leather brand makes soaps, toiletries and other household products Decent growth was reported in Indonesia, Ghana and Kenya, with revenue growth in the Southeast Asian country partly offsetting the firm's 3.8 per cent fall in its Asia Pacific market revenues. In its outlook, the business expects stability will return to its UK, Australia and African markets in the coming six months due to marketing investment and the establishment of an eco-friendly handwash range in the UK. The published results come just three days before Alex Kannellis steps down as chief executive after 13 years in his position and over a quarter of a century at the firm. Manchester-based PZ Cussons was started in 1884 in the British colony of Sierra Leone by two Georges, Zochonis and Paterson, to trade goods between the UK and West Africa. Nigeria's importance to the company was cemented fifteen years later when it opened a branch office in the country. It followed this up nearly half a century later with a soap factory and has since gone to create the Nutricima brand to provide milk and milk powder, and a palm oil refinery. Shares in the FTSE 250 company rose 0.5 per cent today to 195.6p. CITY HALL -- After Staten Islanders and the boroughs elected officials say they were left in the dark about the citys plan for a 200-family homeless shelter at 44 Victory Blvd., two North Shore state lawmakers have introduced legislation that would increase public scrutiny of shelter developments, using the citys Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). Because homeless shelters are considered emergency resources, they currently do not face the same level of review as other types of major construction projects -- instead, the city is only required to give a community 30 days notice to voice any potential concerns about a site before it opens. Building developers, on the other hand, are forced to go through ULURP, the citys nearly year-long public review process. During that time, the proposed development is looked at by the local community board and borough president, the Planning Commission, then the City Council and ultimately is approved by City Council and the mayor; the community gets to weigh in on the proposal as it makes it way through the review process. The exemption for homeless shelters has infuriated local lawmakers and communities across the city, and has prompted two North Shore officials, State Sen. Diane Savino and Assemblyman Charles Fall, to propose a bill that would change the process. Together, they introduced legislation in the state Assembly and Senate that would amend the citys administrative code to make homeless shelters comply with the ULURP process. Under their legislation, the states Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance would put together a process for determining whether a shelter proposal should be subject to ULURP. If it is, the proposed site would have to go through the public review process. Shelters would be exempt from the proposed process under a state or local act of emergency. Before this city allows a homeless shelter to be sited on a property in a community, it should go through the ULURP process just like every other development does, Savino said. And remember, the City of New York, as big and bad as it wants to be, is still a creature of the state, Savino continued. Currently, the city selects homeless shelter sites through an open-ended request for proposal process. Through this process, social service providers submit proposals to the city only after having had discussions with a property owner about using the site for a shelter. The social services provider and property owners will then pitch that plan to the city for consideration if they come to an agreement. However, this process means only one proposal is considered and not multiple proposals like in traditional competitive bidding processes. The intent of our legislation is not to prevent homeless shelters from opening to assist women, children or men with appropriate housing. This is about government transparency when community leaders, elected officials and residents raise public safety, transportation and educational accessibility concerns with sites of homeless shelters. I plan to work with Senator Savino this session to pass this important legislation, said Fall. Savino said she expects state lawmakers that represent parts of New York City who have also been left in the dark with homeless shelters in their communities, will join her and Fall in supporting their legislation. Right now, Savino said she wants someone in the City Council, like Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore), to introduce similar legislation at the city level. Councilwoman Rose said she has no plans at the moment to introduce legislation similar to Savino and Fall, but is currently in talks with the Human Resources Administration, which oversees the Department of Homeless Services, to put requirements on shelters on its own to make shelters subject to the ULURP process. Something definitely needs to be done about the process, and the community and the legislators whose districts are impacted absolutely should have something to say about the process and about placement of homeless shelters, Rose said. CITY HALL RESPONDS City Hall said it is still reviewing the Island lawmakers legislation. Every neighborhood across New York City has a part to play in addressing this citywide challenge. We remain committed to open, ongoing engagement with communities across the five boroughs and for each of the 60-plus shelters weve sited under our Turning the Tide plan, weve notified communities ahead of the opening and engaged them directly, including to attend public meetings and respond to feedback, mayoral spokeswoman Avery Cohen said. Were confident that through collaborative support and compassion, together we will make this the best experience it can be for our neighbors in need as they get back on their feet. We are reviewing the legislation, she continued. Last year, the city confirmed plans to build a 200-family, mostly women and children homeless shelter at 44 Victory Blvd. on the North Shore in addition to a 22-bed all-female shelter at Mount Loretto on a site owned by Catholic Charities. But the site of the North Shore shelter upset many Island politicians and residents in the area. Island elected officials had sent over a list of alternative sites to the city when plans for the 200-family shelter were announced and Borough President James Oddo and Rep. Max Rose had been in discussions with the Salvation Army about potentially building the controversial shelter at its Bayley Seton Hospital campus. The city had appeared to be willing to work with elected officials in looking at alternate sites to 44 Victory Blvd., but while Oddo and Rose were still in active discussions with the Salvation Army, the city suddenly announced it would stick with the North Shore site. Though the city has been quiet about where it plans to build the boroughs next homeless shelter, City Hall recently said it plans to take the Archdiocese of New York up on its offer of giving the city shuttered parish sites on the Island and around the city to build homeless shelters on. FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER. The party has not been forgiven for the austerity measures of its coalition with Fine Gael and will struggle to hold its seven seats. It is flirting with irrelevancy, writes Gary Murphy. If a week is a long time in politics, a decade is an aeon. In the frenzy of the first 10 days of the election campaign, Labour has become an irrelevance. Ten years ago, it was all so different. In June 2010, an Ipsos/MRBI opinion poll suggested that Labour was Irelands most popular party, with 32% saying they would vote red in a general election. Three months later, the same polling company had the party up 1% and ahead of both a stagnant Fine Gael and a plummeting Fianna Fail. With a general election looming, optimism swelled through Labours ranks and the phrase Gilmore for Taoiseach was launched. While the surge in Labours support tapered off into the 20s in polls, the party entered the February general election campaign of 2011 in buoyant mood. Labour received 19.4% of the vote and won 37 seats. Both were historic highs. But there was disappointment that it was significantly adrift of Fine Gael, which won 76 seats, on 36% of the vote. Labour then took the fateful decision to enter government with Fine Gael. Nine years later, the party is on life support and the prognosis is not good. Entering government in 2011 was logical for Labour. It had been out of power since 1997. Its leading lights, Eamon Gilmore, Pat Rabbitte, Ruairi Quinn, and Joan Burton were not getting any younger and were worried that this was their last shot at power. And the country needed saving. That decision, while taken in the national interest, has doomed the party to electoral irrelevancy for a generation and more. Unmercifully attacked on its left flank by the Socialist Party People Before Profit axis, for implementing austerity (including water charges),Labour was decimated in 2016, winning just seven seats, on a paltry 6.6% of the vote. Its protestations that things would have been much worse without the party being in government fell on the deafest of ears. The party has never been forgiven for its mantra of Labours way or Frankfurts way, when the troika (European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund) came to town in 2010. It was fascinating to hear party leader, Brendan Howlin, in an interview on Thursdays Morning Ireland radio show, continually refer to the troika as the reason why Labour could do little in government, as he battled to explain why the party had changed its mind over the age for state pension entitlements. If the people, or at least some of them, have forgiven Fianna Fail for the economic crash, then they have not done the same for Labour for entering government with Fine Gael in 2011 to remedy the situation. Two episodes this week sum up Labours woes. At the macro level, it didnt feature in complaints (led by Sinn Feins Mary Lou McDonald) about the Virgin One television leadership debates being confined to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fails Micheal Martin. In 2011, the main RTE leadership debate had featured Eamon Gilmore, Micheal Martin, and Enda Kenny. And at the micro level, for the first time in the history of the State, there will be no Labour candidate in Kerry. Just over 20 years ago, the party won seats in both Kerry constituencies. There was some media excitement this week about candidates in Dun Laoghaire, when the journalist and activist, John Waters, announced he was running on the rather bizarre banner of Anti-Corruption Ireland, and the deselected Fine Gael TD, Maria Bailey, said she wasnt running as an independent. In all the punditry about who might win in Dun Laoghaire, there was no talk of Labours candidate, Councillor Juliet OConnell. This in the constituency where Eamon Gilmore won more than 20% of the vote in 2011 and was elected on the first count. Last June, in the 2019 European elections, Labour received 5.3% of the vote and all three of its candidates were wiped out. It received 5.7% in the local elections and made some gains in Dublin City, Cork City, Louth, Waterford, and Wicklow. In theory, this should have put it in with a shout to regain seats in these areas at this election. The picture is bleaker. Labour has no chance in Waterford and Wicklow and all other potential gains are, at best, a toss-up. Among its newcomers, John Maher, in Cork North Central, has the best chance of being elected. Maher, who performed reasonably well in Novembers by-election, has put himself in with a good shot of retaking Kathleen Lynchs old seat and Labour has a long and proud tradition on Corks northside. Labour has good chances with former TDs Aodhan O Riordain, in Dublin Bay North, Kevin Humphreys, in Dublin Bay South, Emmet Stagg, in Kildare North, and Ged Nash, in Louth, but none are guaranteed. Nash and O Riordain, two of the partys most impressive performers (while TDs, between 2011 and 2016; and senators, between 2016 and 2020), should win. Humphreys and Stagg are up against it. Then, there are the constituencies where the party is under pressure to hold its seats. Former leader Joan Burton, who ousted Eamon Gilmore in a putsch to supposedly save the party, after the local and European elections in 2014, faces a huge challenge from the Greens Roderic OGorman, in Dublin West. This is the Greens number-one target seat in the country and Burton seems likely to lose. Jan OSullivan, in Limerick City, equally faces a large task, but might just about hold on in a crowded field. Of its other TDs, Brendan Howlin, who has been a TD since 1987, Alan Kelly, and Sean Sherlock will be safe. Duncan Smith, who performed admirably in the recent by-election, should keep Brendan Ryans seat in Dublin Fingal, but Alan Mangan faces an almost impossible task to hold Willie Penroses seat, in Longford/Westmeath. Penrose barely held on in 2016 and has always had a strong personal vote. The party is irrelevant west of the Shannon and the loss of this seat would seal its fate in rural Ireland. Howlin believes Labour can double its seats, but this would seem fanciful. Based on this weeks Irish Times Ipsos/MRBI poll, which has the party mired at 4%, holding its seven seats will be a major achievement. Could entry into a possible coalition, after the election, save Labour? In Wednesday nights Virgin One TV debate, Mr Varadkar, on two occasions, said he would like to coalesce with Labour. Many pundits have speculated that Labour, the Greens, and the Social Democrats could go into a coalition with either Fine Gael or Fianna Fail, if such a combination could reach 80, the magic number of seats needed to form a government. Labours last experiment with coalition pushed the party perilously close to extinction and Howlin has already laid out his red lines for entering government. Yet there seems little future for it in opposition, as its destiny there is to be constantly outflanked by the radical voices of Solidarity and People Before Profit. Labour in coalition would ensure Brendan Howlin kept the leadership, but the party will not make any significant gains under his watch. Staying in opposition, with, say, Alan Kelly as leader, runs the risk of the party being drowned out by angrier voices on the left, but his energy and no-holds-barred debating style might be what Labour needs to keep it relevant in Irish politics. As of now, with two weeks to go, it is in a battle for its very survival. Gary Murphy is professor of politics at Dublin City University. Coca-Cola, Fine Hygienic Holding, Reckitt Benckiser (RB) and DHL to lead at Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion summit DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2020 Middle East Edition of Break the ceiling touch the sky - the success and leadership summit for women will be held in Dubai, UAE on April 19, 2020, House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd confirmed today. AMCHAM Dubai, AMCHAM Abu Dhabi and French Business Council Dubai & Northern Emirates are the official industry partners for the summit. Early sponsors are Coca-Cola as a World Sponsor, Fine Hygienic Holding as a Platinum Sponsor and Reckitt Benckiser (RB) and DHL as Silver sponsors. The move to bring the summit back to Dubai, UAE has been inspired by the UAE's commitment to gender diversity. Sponsorship and delegate plans are now open at www.houseofroseprofessional.com. The 2020 Middle East Edition of Break the ceiling touch the sky is an important pillar of the 2020 World Tour of the summit to the USA, Australia-New Zealand, India, Middle East, Europe, China and Singapore. This one day forum features best practices for success, leadership and diversity & inclusion (especially gender diversity) across industries. Participating Companies can access cutting-edge knowledge to inspire and enable their leaders and enhance the leadership skills of their leaders at a fraction of the cost of other expensive training programs. Liz Beneski, Executive Director , AmCham Abu Dhabi commented, "AmCham Abu Dhabi has always been a strong supporter of gender diversity. Our Women in Business Committee's mission is to empower women to be leaders in their fields, and to promote their participation in business. AmCham Abu Dhabi is glad to partner with Break the Ceiling Touch the Sky and support gender diversity which is a key business priority for the Middle East region and for our corporate members." Commented James Michael Lafferty, CEO of Fine Hygienic Holding, "In 2018 we joined the Break the ceiling touch the sky movement via a partnership with the summit in the Middle East and in Singapore. Inspired by the many sharings of success on gender diversity in particular, we have made rapid progress, going from zero women leaders on our Executive team to over 30% in under six months. Since then we have step-changed our business results. Learning and sharing across industries on Diversity & Inclusion is a critical part of our game plan for success and we are proud to be a Platinum sponsor of the 2020 Middle East Edition of the summit." Elaine Bowers Coventry, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, The Coca-Cola Company, shared, "Diversity & Inclusion is at the heart of our business. We aim to mirror the rich diversity of the marketplace we serve and be recognized for our leadership in Diversity, Inclusion and Fairness in all aspects of our business, including Workplace, Marketplace, Supplier and Community. We have seen great contributions via gender diversity. Our business is honoured to be a World sponsor of Break the ceiling touch the sky since 2018 (and a founder sponsor since 2015). The summit gives participants a tremendous opportunity to learn from others, share best practices, network with peers and chart their own individual courses for success." Commented Shahzeb Mahmood, Regional Director and GM" MENAP, Reckitt Benckiser "At RB, we actively seek to integrate diversity into our business. This is for us the most obvious continuing enabler to unlock the full potential of our people, our brands and our businesses. We believe this integral to be able to provide innovative solutions to our consumers, and positive impact in the communities we operate in. Gender diversity in particular is a stated priority for our Company and we are delighted to be one of the leading industry voices in enabling the advancement of gender diversity in the Middle East. This is important to our customers and our employees and to every one of us at RB." Concluded Anthony A. Rose, Chairman and CEO, House of Rose Professional and best-selling author of the book Break the Ceiling, Touch the Sky: success secrets of the world's most inspirational women which inspired the summit: "Break the ceiling touch the sky is a unique opportunity for Companies in the Middle East to learn from the best of the best on diversity & inclusion (especially gender diversity, a big priority for the Middle East), and unlock the full potential of their leaders and positively impact their businesses." For details please visitwww.houseofroseprofessional.com. House of Rose ProfessionalPte. Ltd. operates across the People, Public Relations and Publishing businesses. For media/sponsorship inquiries contact: Anthony A. Rose, House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd. Email: anthony@houseofroseprofessional.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) The employers of slain Filipina domestic worker Jeanelyn Villavende are now facing murder charges in Kuwait. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III in a Senate hearing on Tuesday disclosed that he has been informed of the filing of a criminal case against the Kuwaiti couple. "Just today I was informed that the employers have been formally charged with murder... Yung detention nila yung para sa mga high criminals yung tawag e," Bello said at the Senate committee on labor's hearing on the government's migration policies. He also confirmed that one of the suspects works for the Kuwait's Ministry of Interior. Earlier reports quoted Villavende's family in Norala town, South Cotabato saying they have rejected more than 50 million in blood money being offered by the Kuwaiti suspects to settle the case. Foreign Affairs Secretary Tedoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin, Jr. also reiterated that the government will never accept money in exchange for justice. "All I care about is blood for blood," he said in a tweet, which has apparently irked some Kuwaiti government officials, based on a report of state-run Kuwait News Agency. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration administrator Hans Cacdac said labor officials are heading to Kuwait this Friday to get updates on the case against Villavende's employers. He added that the government will also bring Villavende's father to Kuwait to witness the hearings once the trial starts, as requested by the family. Local autopsy showed that Villavende suffered at least five months of abuse until her death on December 28, 2019. There were clear indications of sexual abuse, said Ricardo Rodaje, chief medico legal of the National Bureau of Investigation. READ: Slain OFW in Kuwait was sexually abused, autopsy report shows He also lamented that the initial autopsy done in Kuwait seemed "roughly done" based on the autopsy incision on Villavende's head. He said autopsied bodies from the Middle East, like Villavende's, usually have missing organs when flown to the Philippines a practice that is not acceptable in the country which places high respect for the deceased. Villavende's death has resulted in a total deployment ban of Filipino workers to Kuwait. Bello said Filipinos will not be allowed to work in Kuwait unless the Gulf state would serve justice for Villavende and finally agree to implement a standard employment contract which would ensure the welfare of Filipino domestic helpers. Presidential Spokesperson Salavador Panelo welcomed the charges against Villavende's employers, but stressed that the ban stays for now. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) London Tue, January 28, 2020 07:09 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20613b235 2 Science & Tech United-Kingdom,scientists,Brexit,Visa,travel Free Britain on Sunday announced a new fast-track visa scheme for top scientists, researchers and mathematicians as it prepares a new immigration system for life outside the European Union. Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed the plan just days before Brexit finally takes place on January 31. Concerns about mass migration were a driving force in the 2016 campaign to leave the EU, and Johnson has promised to end free movement with the bloc. But he said on Sunday: "As we leave the EU, I want to send a message that the UK is open to the most talented minds in the world, and stand ready to support them to turn their ideas into reality." EU free movement will continue for 11 months after Brexit during a transition period designed to allow London and Brussels to agree a new future partnership. The government hopes to introduce a new points-based immigration system on January 1, 2021, for EU and non-EU citizens, but the details are still being worked out. Read also: Portugal to welcome British tourists post-Brexit The newly announced Global Talent visa system will come into effect from next month, to replace the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa. Only around 550 of the old visas were issued in 2018-19, well below the cap of 2,000, and officials hope the new, uncapped scheme will be more enticing. It is open to a wider range of applicants, and offers an easier route to settling in Britain. The government also unveiled an extra 300 million (356 million euros, $392 million) to fund "experimental and imaginative mathematical sciences research" over the next five years. "The UK has a proud history of scientific discovery, but to lead the field and face the challenges of the future we need to continue to invest in talent and cutting-edge research," Johnson said in a statement. The Pentagon plans a very aggressive expansion of its hypersonic weapons efforts this year, with at least four initial flight tests of prototypes for glide bombs that can fly five times the speed of sound and maneuver en route, officials said. A new Hypersonics Transition Office that Congress funded this year will also bankroll a university consortium to conduct advanced research into the weapons and develop a workforce for the new technology, the officials said. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Friday that the next Pentagon budget proposal will increase funding beyond the $5 billion provided in this years five-year budget plan for the technology that he called a key part of the great-power competition with China. We have significantly ramped up flight testing and other experimentation so that we can accelerate the delivery of this capability -- in all its forms -- to our warfighters years earlier than previously planned, Esper said. Michael Griffin, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, told a congressional committee in 2018 that China has conducted 20 times as many hypersonic tests as the US. In addition, Russia claims to have fielded a hypersonic boost-glide nuclear warhead for its SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missiles. The weapons were elevated to the Pentagons top research and development program in 2017, but until now the effort has been limited to development prior to flight testing. Lockheed, Raytheon By the end of the year we will have flown at least four times with different concepts, Mike White, the Defense Departments assistant director for hypersonics, said in an interview. This year will mark the transition of our development program as concepts have been matured through ground testing and the design process, White said. We have plans to fly prototypes for land-, sea- and air-launched concepts being developed across our portfolio. He said Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. are developing the projects as the prime contractors. We need to be flying often, added Mark Lewis, the Pentagons director of research and engineering. We need to be willing to fail and test again, learn from those experiences. He said the hypersonic weapons are hard to stop, they can maneuver, theyre unpredictable and hard to detect so you dont have a lot of time to respond. Some of the weapons may travel beyond the earths atmosphere or be sent from space after separating from a rocket launched from Earth. The Navy, Army and Air Force as well as the Pentagons advanced research agency are all developing prototype weapons. Pacific-Based Force The Army, for example, is developing a Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon that service Secretary Ryan McCarthy said might be deployed with a new Pacific-based task force capable of conducting electronic, cyber, information and missile operations against China. In addition to Lockheed and Raytheon, Northrop Grumman Corp. and closely-held Dynetics Inc. are all developing weapons or key components. The Pentagon hasnt yet committed yet to procuring their products. The Congressional Research Service has cautioned that Congress might consider a number of questions about the rationale for hypersonic weapons. The issues include their expected costs, and their implications for strategic stability and arms control, the nonpartisan agency said in September. The university consortium thats being formed will tap into universities already making some investments in hypersonics. Lewis said it could include Purdue, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and the University of Minnesota. The consortium will receive a significant portion of $100 million Congress approved this year when it created the Transition Office, White said. Landing the President of the United States as a client is usually the sort of thing that lawyers would crawl over broken glass to add to their resumes. When Bill Clinton faced a lawsuit over allegations of sexual harassment while governor of Arkansas, a long-running independent counsel investigation into his pre-White House conduct, a House impeachment inquiry and a Senate trial, the lawyers who rose in his defense had long held places in the top echelons of the Washington DC legal community. These were bold-faced figures such as Robert Bennett, former Senator Dale Bumpers, and David Kendall, who brought the resources of a top law firm, Williams and Connolly, to augment the work of Charles Ruff and Cheryl Mills in Clinton's White House Counsel's office. But since Donald Trump took office in 2017, being the president's lawyer is a gig most high-powered Washington attorneys have tried to avoid like the plague. Though he became the subject of what would be a two-year investigation conducted by former FBI Director Robert Mueller within his first six months in office, a lifetime of walking away from legal bills and disregarding legal advice meant he was unable to secure the services of any of the eminences grises of the legal establishment. Instead, the men charged with representing the president in the Trump era make up one of the motliest crews in the annals of American jurisprudence. His first personal attorney, Michael Cohen, now spends his days in a federal prison cell in upstate New York after pleading guilty to committing campaign finance crimes at Trump's behest. The man who now styles himself as Trump's personal attorney, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, is now reportedly the subject of a Justice Department investigation of his own after two associates were indicted for other campaign finance crimes. And while Trump has been able to attract some Washington legal graybeards like John Dowd and Ty Cobb to his cause, they didn't last long. Those who did, such as former White House Counsel Don McGahn, ended up leaving rather than do the "crazy s**t Trump asked of them. Fox News hosts turn on each other as top Republicans say impeachment witnesses 'highly likely' in light of Bolton book So when it came time for Trump's legal team to take to the Senate floor in his defense, the men and women who assembled at the purpose-built "impeachment table" on the Republican side of the Senate floor were more The Bad News Bears than the 1992 Dream Team. Veteran litigators say the haphazard team that the White House has assembled is in stark contrast with the arguments offered by lead House manager Adam Schiff, a former prosecutor, and his colleagues. Ted Boutrous, the Los Angeles-based co-chair of litigation at Gibson Dunn (where Schiff got his start as an attorney) told me the California congressman and his colleagues had hit the ball out of the park. "If this were a bench trial, the chief justice would rule in favor of the managers' case and against Donald Trump in a second based on this record," he said when I spoke to him after the House managers had concluded their third day of opening remarks. "I don't know how any reasonable judge or lawyer could watch that, hear the evidence, see the evidence and come out any other way," he added. Boutrous stated that he has been "enormously impressed" with the way each of the House managers have contributed to the case. By contrast, he said the president's lawyers performance on Saturday was just as "depressing and embarrassing" as the House managers' presentation was "impressive and inspiring." "From a lawyers perspective, it was so far below what you would expect of any good lawyer, let alone lawyers who are supposed to be representing us all in a sense they're supposed to represent the President of the United States," he said. "Whatever you think about the merits, at least put on a good-faith factual case that isn't filled with misstatements, follows the evidence and addresses the law." Trump's attorneys "ignored all of the damning evidence and the main allegations behind the impeachment articles and instead sought to distract with disinformation and irrelevant arguments about the Mueller report and FISA," he said, adding later that Trump's lead private counsel, Christian Advocates for Serving Evangelism founder Jay Sekulow an experienced Supreme Court litigator in his own right appeared to be acting as if the Senate proceedings were a game or a radio talk show, rather than a courtroom. "It's like there's a mania that has taken hold of some of these people, and these lawyers that are not adhering to the standards that we all have adhered to over the years. And they're doing it on the biggest stage imaginable," he said. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone fared no better in Boutrous' assessment, particularly since several statements he made in the course of his presentation on Saturday bore no relationship to reality. "Cipollone was making a ridiculously, provably false point when he said that Republicans weren't allowed into the SCIF during depositions. That will get you sanctioned," he said. Another veteran civil litigator with Supreme Court experience, who did not want to be identified for ethical reasons, had similarly harsh words for Sekulow's performance, particularly the embarrassing gaffe he committed on Tuesday when he misheard Rep. Val Demmings speak of "FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] Lawsuits" and immediately began shouting in response about "lawyer lawsuits." "That thing about the 'lawyer lawsuits' what was that? He wasn't being attentive, and then to make matters worse, he made it into a huge rhetorical yelling thing that was just wrong," the lawyer said. "Do you know how humiliating that would be? You would go home and cry yourself to sleep, but he [Sekulow] just moved on and went back in front of the cameras." "I had always thought of him [Sekulow] as sort of a clownish, weird figure," the attorney continued. "He had those cases in the Supreme Court, those religious freedom cases and he was always a bit of character, but in the Supreme Court you can't get away with not doing your homework, not being respectful, and not knowing the law or saying false things and misleading." But former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman, who is currently a partner at Dorsey and Whitney in New York, said recent reports that John Bolton, Trump's ex-national security adviser, wrote in his forthcoming book that Trump told him the release of aid to Ukraine was linked to an announcement of investigations into Joe Biden the "quid pro quo" for which Trump was impeached mean the president's lawyers may have bigger problems than simply embarrassing themselves on TV. All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Show all 6 1 /6 All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Alan Dershowitz Dershowitz is a controversial American lawyer best known for the high-profile clients he has successfully defended. Those clients have included OJ Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. One longtime Harvard Law associated told the New Yorker Dershowitz "revels in taking positions that ultimately are not just controversial but pretty close to indefensible." Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Ken Starr Starr became a household name in the 1990s as the independent counsel who led the investigation that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment. That investigation began as a look into a real estate scandal known as Whitewater, and eventually led to impeachment after Mr Clinton lied under oath about having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. AP All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Jay Sekulow Sekulow is the president's longtime personal attorney, and, now, personal lawyer in the White House. He has been accused by former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas of being "in the loop" during the Ukraine scandal. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pam Bondi Bondi is the former attorney general in Florida, and a longtime backer of the president's. She made a name for herself in Florida for taking hyper partisan stances on issues, and her penchant for publicity. She is likely to be a prominent public-facing figure during the trial. AFP/Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pat Cipollone Cipollone is the White House counsel, and leading the president's defence team. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Rudy Giuliani While not officially named as one of the president's impeachment lawyers, it is hard to ignore Giuliani's outsized role in this process. The former mayor of New York has been making headlines for months as he defends his client, and for his apparent role in the effort to compel Ukraine to launch the investigation into Joe Biden. We'll see how he figures in the actual trial, which he has said he would like to be a part of. Reuters "They are all witnesses, right in the middle of everything," Akerman said of Cipollone and his colleagues in the White House Counsel's Office. "They shouldn't even be representing Trump since they're the ones that basically are right at the core of his whole obstruction of Congress." Akerman said that if Bolton told multiple National Security Counsel staffers to "talk to the lawyers" about the "drug deal" being put together by White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, that may mean the entire counsel's office has a massive conflict. If this did indeed happen, then what is worse for them are the "knowingly false statements" made by Cipollone and others who argued in legal papers and on the Senate floor that Trump never linked the release of aid to Ukraine to investigations. "The biggest concern these guys are going to have is that their credibility is completely blown," he said. "Who is going to believe them now? They have zero credibility at this point. If you're a trial lawyer in front of a jury, and the jury believes you're a liar, you've got nowhere to go. You might as well just head for the hills." People wear masks as they wait for their train at a subway station in Shanghai By Tony Munroe and Muyu Xu BEIJING (Reuters) - President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that China was sure of defeating a "devil" coronavirus that has killed 106 people, but international alarm was rising as the outbreak spread across the world. The United States said it was expanding screening of arrivals from China from five to 20 airports and would consider imposing further travel curbs. "All options for dealing with infectious disease spread have to be on the table, including travel restrictions," said U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar. From France to Japan, governments were organising evacuations, while Hong Kong - scene of anti-China unrest for months - planned to suspend rail and ferry links with the mainland. Among countries pulling nationals out of Wuhan, the central Chinese city of 11 million where the outbreak started, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said a chartered plane would pick up its consular staff on Wednesday. The European Commission said it would help fund two aircraft to fly EU citizens home, with 250 French nationals leaving on the first flight. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Xi met in Beijing to discuss how to protect Chinese and foreigners in areas affected by the virus and possible evacuation alternatives, a WHO spokesman said. "The virus is a devil and we cannot let the devil hide," state television quoted Xi as saying. "China will strengthen international cooperation and welcomes the WHO participation in virus prevention ... China is confident of winning the battle against the virus." The UN agency said later that China had agreed that the WHO can send a team of international experts "as soon as possible" to increase understanding of the virus and guide the global response. GRAPHIC: Number of confirmed cases rockets https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH/0100B56G2WC/coronavirus.jpg PERSON-TO-PERSON SPREAD Investors are fretting about the impact of the crisis on the world's second-biggest economy, though stock markets rebounded on Tuesday following a sharp sell-off the previous day. Story continues United Airlines said it was suspending some flights between the United States and China for a week from Feb. 1 due to a "significant decline in demand", while Facebook Inc and other global companies restricted employee travel to the country. The flu-like virus has spread overseas, but none of the 106 deaths has been outside China and all but six were in Wuhan, where the virus emerged last month, probably from illegally traded wildlife. However, cases in Germany, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan where the virus has spread person-to-person - as opposed to a visitor from China arriving - have heightened concern. "The reported human-to-human transmission in Germany and Japan is unsurprising to see," said Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at Britain's University of Southampton. "We will continue to see further similar cases outside of China, but the indications are at this stage that onwards transmission will be limited, so there will likely not be too many cases for example across Europe, and on a much lesser scale than we are seeing in China." Chinese-ruled Hong Kong said high-speed rail services to the mainland would be suspended from midnight on Thursday, while the number of flights would be halved. Chinese authorities later said they would stop issuing travel permits for mainland tourists to visit Hong Kong and neighbouring Macau. Britain advised against all but essential travel to mainland China, excluding Hong Kong and Macau. Thailand confirmed six more infections among visitors from China, taking its tally to 14, the highest outside China. France had a fourth confirmed case, an elderly Chinese tourist who was said to be in a serious condition. Wuhan is under virtual quarantine, with a lockdown on transport and bans on gatherings. Tens of millions in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, live under some form of travel curb. MAP: Confirmed cases around the world https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B589312/coronavirus-map.jpg NO 'INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY', YET The number of confirmed cases in China surged to 4,515 as of Monday from 2,835 the previous day, the government said. Communist Party-ruled China has been eager to show it is transparent over this outbreak, after initially covering up the extent of the 2002-03 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that killed about 800 people globally. Known as "2019-nCoV", the newly identified coronavirus can cause pneumonia and, like other respiratory infections, it spreads between people in droplets from coughs and sneezes. It is too early to know what its death rate will be, since there are likely to be many cases of milder disease going undetected. It has an incubation of between one and 14 days. A WHO panel of 16 independent experts twice last week declined to declare an international emergency. Confirmation of any sustained human-to-human spread of the virus outside of China, as well as any documented deaths, would bolster the case for reconsidering. Tedros can reconvene the panel on very short notice as needed, the WHO said. GRAPHIC: Tracking the outbreak https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html (Reporting by Winni Zhou, Sun Yilei, Cheng Leng, David Stanway and Josh Horwitz in Shanghai; Cate Cadell, Gabriel Crossley, Tony Munroe, Muyu Xu and Yawen Chen in Beijing; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Kate Kelland in London, Ben Blanchard in Taipei, Waruna Karunatilake in Colombo, Matthias Blamont in Paris; Writing by Robert Birsel, Nick Macfie, Andrew Cawthorne and Alex Richardson; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Giles; Elgood) The head of U.S. Transportation Command says the Pentagon should seriously explore an air refueling leasing program with the defense industry while the Air Force works with Boeing Co. to fix its newest tanker, the KC-46 Pegasus. Army Gen. Stephen Lyons said Tuesday that the aerial refueling element "is the most stressed and probably the one that's pushing the red line or exceeding the red line" when it comes to the Defense Department's deploy-to-dwell targets, or the time U.S. troops spend performing their mission versus being at home. "We have to figure out a way to mitigate the delayed fielding of the KC-46," he said. Tanker leasing could reduce the load on airmen. "We are taking a look at that," Lyons said during an event hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. Related: Major Problem with New Air Force Tanker Has Been Fixed, Service Says An immediate, positive effect of leasing would be relieving the stress put on refueling operators and pilots, he said. "We wouldn't be able to employ that capability in a contested environment, but nonetheless much like we do on airlift, it would be able to take the pressure off." The effort could also include tanker leasing opportunities for the commercial airlift industry already working with TRANSCOM. Lt. Gen. Jon Thomas, deputy chief of Air Mobility Command, told Defense News last month that such a move would need to meet set parameters, such as Federal Aviation Administration standards and Defense Department certification requirements. That limits the type of refueling aircraft that can be used, such as tankers with a boom versus a hose and drogue. The officials' comments come as the Air Force tries to deal with the KC-46's problems. Earlier this month, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Goldfein sent a letter to Boeing asking it to pay close attention to the tanker even as the company deals with setbacks with its 737 Max passenger aircraft. "We require your attention and improved focus on the KC-46," Goldfein said, as first reported by Bloomberg News. "The Air Force continues to accept deliveries of a tanker incapable of performing its primary operational mission." The KC-46's many issues include problems with how its boom connects and disconnects from other aircraft; foreign object debris, such as trash, tools, nuts and bolts, found scattered inside multiple planes; a glitch in its Remote Vision System's software; and a recently rectified problem with faulty cargo locks. In September, Gen. Maryanne Miller, head of Air Mobility Command, confirmed the KC-46 isn't likely to deploy to a combat zone for at least three years given these setbacks. As a result, AMC has been weighing how to potentially slow the retirement of older KC-10 Extender and KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft, she said. Lyons on Tuesday agreed the planned retirements need to be reconsidered. "Our sizing is accurate" for the airlift requirement in an era of great power competition, he said. "[But] in the aerial refueling area, we're behind. If we're not careful, we're going to see a real dip in taskable tails for the joint force," Lyons said. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Read more: Official: Remains of 2 US Troops Recovered from Afghan Crash Site A coroner has called for changes in the standards of practice for radiologists after a Queensland woman died five days after undergoing a radiology procedure. Maria Aurelia Willersdorf, 87 years of age at the time, had the procedure at Integrated Radiology and Imaging Services at Helensvale, performed by radiologist and owner Dr Benedict Emechete. The procedure consisted of a single epidural injection on April 9, 2015. The epidural injection, as part of the procedure, was a contributing factor but not the cause of her death. Credit:Simon Schluter Shortly afterward, Ms Willersdorf became unsteady on her feet and lost consciousness twice while she was recovering in a room. When Paul and Alice Schrynemeeckers evaluated the Midtown townhome they eventually bought in 2018, they knew it wasnt exactly the style they wanted. Its previous owner was the builder, a father-son duo who had constructed two side-by-side units and picked out finishes that suited their specific tastes a variety of styles in earth tones. Think beige tile everywhere, dark wood-grain cabinets, builder grade lighting and can ceiling lights. The Schrynemeeckers wanted a more contemporary look and a cooler palette. Their approach, with the help of Lacey Michalek of Lacey Michalek Interiors, was to start with the open space on the second floor, addressing the kitchen, dining area, living room and powder bath. Other parts of the townhome would have to come later. Paul, 33, is an IT engineering consultant and Alice, 31, teaches photography at Westside High School and also is an artist. While Alice is more creative, they both understood the stay in your own lane theory and decided to hire an interior designer for help. I knew from the beginning that we needed a designer to help us, but figuring out who it would be took a lot of research on the internet, said Paul, who grew up all over the country and landed in Houston 10 years ago. Each time I talked to one, I learned better ways to ask questions. I didnt even understand what the right questions were to ask. By the time I got to Lacey, I was very direct. They started with the budget, which was increased a couple of times in the process. Michalek started with flooring and colors, settling on luxury vinyl tile that looks remarkably like wood flooring. (They also considered engineered wood, which cost nearly the same, but ultimately decided the vinyl would be easier to care for.) In the kitchen, they liked the Shaker-style cabinets, so they opted to paint them a dark gray-brown (Sherwin-Williams Urbane Bronze), contrasting them with quartz counters that look like Calacatta marble white with soft gray veining. The island got the same treatment, but they removed an odd elevated portion in the middle of it. The new backsplash is rectangular tile with a design and texture similar to that of a menswear herringbone pattern. Another cost saver, Michalek achieved the great-looking backsplash by buying 12-by-24-inch tiles and having the installer cut them down to smaller rectangles. A plain, three-light fixture over the island was replaced with three staggered cone-shaped lights with a more modern, midcentury style. Midcentury design influenced selections in the new dining area, which include a dark table with stylish chairs that have upholstered seats and wood-grain backs. The satellite-style chandelier combines brass arms with smoked-glass globes. I am a sucker for midcentury style, said Paul, an Army veteran who spent four years in active duty (including 18 months in Afghanistan) and another four in the National Guard. My grandfather was Dutch, so he was a very midcentury-modern guy. His whole home was like that. He had the Dutch accent and seemed aristocrat-cool, sitting down and listening to his classical music. I thought, man, thats style. Alices family came to the United States from Vietnam in 1993 when she was just 4 years old. Her father had been a surgeon in Vietnam but couldnt work as one here. The couple had moved to her fathers home in Chinatown when Alices mother died, and when they moved to Midtown, they brought him with them. Married seven years now, Paul and Alice met on Match.com on Christmas Day 2011, had their first date a week later and were engaged on Valentines Day 2012. Working with Michalek also made furnishing the home easier, since she could do the shopping for them, offering two or three options for different things. It was like going to the optometrist where he says which is better one or two? Which do you like better a sectional or a sofa? Paul said. For Alices part, she could identify things she liked she put images for Michalek on Houzz and Pinterest but couldnt make them work in a room, let alone the whole space. In reinventing the small powder bathroom, they kept the cabinet and the sink. Before, the cabinet was white with a rust-colored granite counter and beige walls. Its style quotient got a major boost with dark blue-gray paint on the cabinet and dramatic black-and-white wallpaper. They used white quartz for the counter and added a silver-trimmed mirror. The Schrynemeeckers bought the four-story townhome in October 2018 and moved in immediately, staying in the home during remodeling that ran May through August of 2019. My favorite thing about it is that when Im home I can relax, and I enjoy being here, Paul said. That it looks so stylish and feels so comfortable is great. And were starting to entertain more, so were enjoying that. diane.cowen@chron.com Sign up for Cowens Access Design newsletter, delivered to your inbox Tuesdays, at houstonchronicle.com/accessdesign. Ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has convened a meeting of the leaders of various political parties in the evening of January 30, while Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has convened a similar meeting at his residence on January 31. The government has also convened a meeting of the leaders of all political parties in the morning of January 30. According to sources, the meetings are aimed at ensuring that the upcoming Parliament session goes on smoothly and there are no disruptions. The leaders of various parties in the Upper House have been invited by Naidu to his residence in the evening, as well as by Birla, for separate meetings. It maybe recalled that for the first time, the Rajya Sabha witnessed a 100 per cent productivity during the last two sessions, which Naidu said was an indication of "the ship of RS passing through stormy waters being steadied". At the upcoming meeting, the Rajya Sabha chairman is likely to appeal to the leaders of various parties to continue with that positive momentum during the important Budget Session. The session will commence on January 31 with President Ram Nath Kovind's address to a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament and continue till February 11. After a break, it will again commence on March 2 and continue till April 3. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CLEVELAND, Ohio A German museum Tuesday released two photos that researchers say may identify the late John Demjanjuk, formerly of Seven Hills, as a guard in a death camp nearly 80 years ago. The Topography of Terror, a Berlin memorial museum, produced the photos as part of a 361-picture collection of the Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, its officers and guards. The photos are among the first wartime pictures of the camp, and they will be included in the book, Photos from Sobibor, which was released in Germany on Tuesday. The first photo, taken in the spring of 1943, shows a uniformed man in the center of the photo, apparently relaxing on his side, in a group of about 20 officers. Because of the mans hat and a shadow, it is difficult to get a clear image of his face. The second photograph identifies a man standing in the third row of more than 20 officers as possibly being Demjanuk. The man is too far from the camera to get a clear image of his face. All we can say is that it is very likely that it is John Demjanjuk, said Andreas Kahrs, a German historian who worked on the project, in a phone interview with The Plain Dealer. We would never say that it is 100 percent; it is just too difficult." Kahrs and a team of historians spent four years researching the collection. They gave four wartime photos of Demjanjuk to police authorities to study for facial recognition. Based on the examination, investigators suggested that Demjanjuk may be in two of the photos. U.S. judges ruled that Demjanjuk worked six months at the camp, from March through September 1943. In the 16 months that the camp was open, from May 1942 to October 1943, more than 167,000 Jews were killed there. Demjanjuks son, John Jr., dismissed the photos, saying in a statement that they are certainly not proof of my father being in Sobibor and may even exculpate him once forensically examined. Its a baseless theory to claim they prove anything at all regarding my father, the son said. Its ridiculous to now conclude anything about blurry photos showing many similar faces, and it further detracts from the totality of all the photos that are obviously of significant historical value regarding the Holocaust and the Nazi crimes committed at Sobibor, he said. Edna Friedberg, a historian at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, said the collection is much more important than just Demjanjuk. The significance of this collection is that Sobibor was the site of murder on an industrial scale, Friedberg said. The identification of Demjanjuk is a distraction of the larger issues of guilt and complicity. Whether or not it is Demjanjuk in those photos, we see some of the up to 400 auxiliary guards who also served in the extermination process. Most of their names have been lost to history. The collection of photos will be stored at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. The photos of a deputy commander Demjanjuk died at the age of 91 in 2012. His death came after nearly 35 years of fighting allegations in three countries that he worked as a concentration camp sentry. He had been convicted in Germany in 2011 of being an accessory in the deaths of 28,000 people for his role as a guard at Sobibor and sentenced to five years in prison. His case was on appeal when he died. Historican Martin Cueppers points to a man researchers say may be John Demjanjuk, formerly of Seven Hills, at the Nazi death camp Sobibor during World War II. The photo was released Tuesday during a news conference in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) His death came nearly three years after being taken from his suburban home and flown overseas, a deportation ordered after U.S. judges ruled that he lied about his Nazi past when he entered the United States in 1952. The photos had been in the collection of Johann Niemanns family for years. Niemann was the deputy commander of the Sobibor camp. He is either in the photos, or they are about something he had done. The released photos include Niemann appearing proudly on a horse dressed in his uniform; the deputy commander and two other officers sitting on a paddleboat relaxing in civilian clothes; and Niemann and other officers of the camp drinking among kitchen staff. This is very disturbing, said Martin Cueppers, who led the German research on the collection. Theyre drinking just 200 meters from the gas chambers. Niemann was a true believer in National Socialism and its crimes. Peter Black, who worked as a historian for the U.S. Justice Departments Nazi-hunting unit and later as the senior historian at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, called Niemann a brutal man who took satisfaction in his job. That Niemann sought to memorialize his work in photos shows his pride in dealing with prisoners, said Black. Niemann died in a prisoner uprising in October 1943. Prisoners lured him to a leather shop on the guise of making him a coat. They then attacked him with an ax, Black said. The case against Demjanjuk U.S. prosecutors first went after Demjanjuk in 1977, when they accused him of lying about his wartime past to get into the United States, and they sought his deportation. In 1986, he was charged in Israel as being Ivan the Terrible, a Ukrainian guard who tortured Jews at the Treblinka death camp. He was convicted and sentenced to death, but years later, in 1993, Israels Supreme Court overturned the conviction, based on new information obtained after the fall of the Soviet Union. The court, however, said the Nazis had trained him as a guard and that he served at the Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Demjanjuk returned to the United States, and a judge reinstated his citizenship. In 1999, federal prosecutors in Cleveland again sought his deportation. They said Demjanjuk worked at Sobibor and two other camps. They based their case on seven wartime documents that they said tied Demjanjuk to work as a guard. The documents included the Trawniki card, an identity card that included his photo, date of birth and birthplace. Courts have long ruled that the card linked Demjanjuk to his Nazi service. Trawniki was a training camp for guards in Nazi-occupied Poland. Then-U.S. District Judge Paul Matia in Cleveland ruled in 2002 that Demjanjuk and other Nazi guards led Jews off trains at Sobibor, stripped them and led them to the gas chambers. An immigration judge later ordered Demjanjuk deported, but no country initially would take him. That changed in 2009, when German prosecutors sought to charge him as an accessory. He eventually was taken to Germany, despite his familys protests, citing his poor health. He was convicted in 2011. But his family refused to give up. His attorneys said federal prosecutors withheld an FBI document that questioned the legitimacy of the Trawniki card. But U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster ruled the FBI document was based on speculation and mistaken beliefs. Gianna Niewel, Page Three Editor of Suddeutsche Zeitung in Munich, contributed to this story. Sobibor The extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland opened in May 1942 and closed in October 1943 outside a tiny village in eastern Poland. The camp was a main cog in Operation Reinhard, or the Third Reichs attempt to eliminate Polish Jews. It closed soon after an uprising in which prisoners attacked key leaders of the camp, including the camps deputy commander, Johann Niemann. 1.7 million: Jews killed in Operation Reinhard. 167,000: Jews killed in Sobibor in the 16 months the camp was open. 40,000: Jews killed from March to October, the period when U.S. judges ruled that John Demjanjuk of Seven Hills served at the camp. 400: Trawniki men who served at Sobibor during the camps duration. At any one time, about 100 worked at the camp.Trawniki was a training camp in Nazi-occupied Poland in which men who had been captured became German guards. Sources: Interviews, federal court documents, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. BANGKOK and HAMBURG, Germany, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Beautiful beaches, impressive temples and tropical landscapes make Thailand a vacation paradise. Millions of people travel to the Southeast Asian country every year to spend their holidays. The numerous entries and exits of people from all over the world are challenging the Thai Immigration Bureau (IB). This is why the IB has chosen the latest innovative technology from DERMALOG. Passport, fingerprints and face of each traveler are captured upon arrival and departure. The new border control system identifies a person by their biometric data to prevent any fraud attempts and identity theft. The core of DERMALOG's solution is a so-called Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS). It matches not only fingerprints but also face and optional iris, which makes the DERMALOG ABIS most accurate and reliable. The new system in Thailand takes only 0.1 seconds to identify a person through the entire database by fingerprint and face. At present, it is the world's fastest multi-biometric systems for so-called one-to-many matching. The new biometric border control system has been installed at 65 border crossings throughout Thailand, which are the 16 international airports and 49 land borders and seaports. A total of 1,020 biometric counters for entry and exit are now in operation nationwide. Since its launch in May 2019, the DERMALOG solution has already checked about 49 million travelers. Among them, the Thai Immigration Bureau identified more than 4,300 blacklisted persons and about 127,000 people who had violated visa regulations. In addition, 3,166 persons had been arrested for fraud attempts, detected by the biometric system. "We are very satisfied with the new Dermalog biometric border control system, as it has increased the rate of catching criminals at our borders tremendously," says Immigration Bureau chief Sompong Chingduang. DERMALOG's innovative biometric systems have improved border security in 16 countries already. In total, more than 240 government agencies in 90 countries are using this latest biometric technology from Germany. Picture is available at AP Images ( http://www.apimages.com ) Press contact: DERMALOG Identification Systems GmbH Sven Bockler Press Relations Phone: +49(0)4132270 [email protected] www.dermalog.com SOURCE DERMALOG Identification Systems GmbH Related Links https://www.dermalog.com/ There were no Ukrainian army casualties in the past day. Russia's hybrid military forces on Monday mounted 10 attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. Read alsoRussia-led forces attack JFO positions near Pisky in Donbas on Monday "The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire 10 times on January 27," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in a Facebook update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on January 28, 2020. The enemy opened fire from proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms near the villages of Pisky, Novotroyitske, Lebedynske, Taramchuk, Mayorske, Kindrashivka Nova, Pivdenne, Novotoshkivske, and Bohdanivka. There were no Ukrainian army casualties on that day. "Since Tuesday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions near the village of Novoluhanske, using grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns, and rifles," the update said. There have been no reports on Ukrainian army casualties for Tuesday yet. The latest revelations about a young British womans ordeal in Cyprus are fuelling a scandal that will rage for some time. It is not to prejudge her forthcoming appeal, nor any future trial of the young men who she says raped her, to ask serious questions about how seriously British and Cypriot authorities take rape complaints. You remember the horrific story. A gap-year student says that she was gang-raped in a hotel room in Ayia Napa. She goes to the police station only eventually to retract her complaint in poorly-written English after eight hours of police questioning without audio or video recording, legal advice or support. The 12 angry men are released and fly home to the mixed reception of a heroes champagne welcome by some and grave concern by others in their home country and internationally. The woman is not just disbelieved by the Cypriot police but arrested and prosecuted. She is ultimately convicted and given a four months suspended sentence, for her alleged false witness and public mischief before the extremely dubious retraction that some experts say could not have been genuinely and freely forthcoming from a British voice. We now know that during her one month imprisonment on remand pending trial, the teenager suffered chronic anxiety and depression, was heavily drugged and lost two and a half stone in weight. British teenager found guilty of lying about Cyprus gang-rape This is what we know. But what about all the unanswered questions from two governments that for now at least, remain signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)? It is worth remembering that unlike traditional English common law and that of other more antiquated systems, Human Rights Law affords positive protections to complainants and victims as well as defendants and prisoners. And few crimes are regarded as seriously as rape. Without the ECHR, some countries would not have enacted comprehensive legal protection for vulnerable rape victims. England would still allow rape with impunity within marriage, as well as the cross-examination of complainants by their assailants for days on end at the Old Bailey. Did the Cypriot police contact the British High Commission before the young woman was questioned or pressured about her complaint for eight hours? Was she offered any consular support? If the answer is no to either of these questions, why not? How much advice and support are Britons in serious trouble abroad able to expect from our government under Boris Johnson? And before we fill up too fast with righteous indignation of a nationalistic kind, how confident are we all feeling about the plight of rape complainants closer to home? In the UK, we are used to reading about disgraceful prosecution and conviction rates that many describe as effective decriminalisation. This is something we shout more about when it happens elsewhere in the world. We have heard about the digital strip-searching of complainants in the police station with no identifiable legal basis their phones taken from them so that their communications information might be trawled while their alleged assailants rightly enjoy legal protections from unjust or disproportionate fishing expeditions by police and prosecutors. But does anyone remember that BuzzFeed investigation from 2018 revealing that 200 UK women had been prosecuted for lying about being raped in the previous decade? As the young British woman will testify, it is one thing to be disbelieved by the authorities and an insult to injury when they turn and come after you. The Centre for Womens Justice expresses concern that of the rape complainants who are prosecuted for perverting the course of justice, a worrying number suffer from mental health problems. And then there are our lop-sided defamation laws that allow rich and powerful men to sue their accusers for slander or libel with no legal aid afforded to the women who have already been disbelieved once. We should all maintain our interest in this horrible case from Cyprus, even after the media circus leaves town. The many heroes of our free press might also stand to broaden their interest in the human rights of victims at home and abroad. Or should we leave them to the tender mercies of Johnson and Dominic Raab? Shami Chakrabarti is the shadow attorney general, a human rights lawyer and campaigner Conor (9), Darragh (7) and little sister Carla McGinley (3) pictured with their parents Deirdre and Andrew (Photo: McGinley family) A mother arrested last night in connection with the death of her three children has been charged and is due to appear in court. Conor (9), Darragh (7) and little sister Carla McGinley (3) were found in their home at Parsons Court, Newcastle, Co Dublin, last Friday evening. The childrens mother Deirdre Morley a Dublin-based nurse had been undergoing treatment in Tallaght hospital for a suspected overdose after she was found wandering in a disoriented state shortly before the shocking tragedy emerged. In a statement gardai said: "A female in her 40s has been charged in connection with the death of three children at a property in Parsons Court, Newcastle, Co. Dublin on 24/1/2020. She is due to appear in the Criminal Courts of Justice this afternoon at 4:30pm." In a statement earlier yesterday, the childrens father spoke of his utter devastation at their loss and has urged parents to cherish every moment with their own children. Sharing a photograph of both parents with their children for the first time, dad Andrew McGinley said every breath is a struggle following the tragedy. In a statement released through An Garda Siochana, Mr McGinley said: There are no words. There is only devastation, grief and anguish. Every breath is a struggle. Conor, Darragh and Carla are adored. They all had beautiful, bright futures ahead of them with family, friends and a community who love them. To all parents, cuddle your children whenever you get a chance, tell them how much you love them as often as you can, spend every spare minute with them reading, playing and enjoying their wonderfulness. Expand Close Conor, Darragh and Carla McGinley with their father Andrew (Family handout/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Conor, Darragh and Carla McGinley with their father Andrew (Family handout/PA) The future has now become our enemy but we will battle it every day to keep the memory of Conor, Darragh and Carla alive. He signed the statement, Andrew. Fr John Gilligan, who represents Saggart, the familys old neighbourhood, and Newcastle, said the statement released by Mr McGinley showed selfless compassion and bravery and he praised him for bringing back light into a community in darkness. The words Andrew has used when we are lost for words, have helped this community, the priest said. He and all who loved and knew the children, have suffered a great loss. They were beautiful children and little Carlas lovely smile lit up a room, Ive been told. It was remarkably brave for a father who has lost so much, whos enduring such pain, to release a statement to help all parents across Ireland reflect. Fr Gilligan said the words reminded everyone that, like all other Irish families, this father had been trying to make a living for his children. They worked hard as a family and moved from Saggart to a bigger house in Newcastle to give their children more room, to give them the best and its a reflection of all the hard work they put into the children, he said. Fr Gilligan said there are 22,000 people within the communities of Newcastle, Saggart, Rathcoole and Brittas areas which all fall under his parish. Family is everything to our communities and our community is rallying round to offer support. He is incredibly brave and his statement has taken my breath away, he added. B rexit will arrive this Friday with a red, white and blue colourwash of government buildings and a last Leave hurrah for constituencies such as Romford, where Andrew Rosindell MP is hosting an event featuring English sparkling wine, nothing French or German. Just dont call it a soiree. Impassioned Remainers are left to shrug and hope it passes quickly, or be distracted by gestural boycotts of the 50p commemorative coin. Neither side knows what impact Brexit will have on the UK, though its a safe bet that there will still be frictions in decoupling. The rupture Michel Barnier, the EU head of the task force for relations with the UK, predicted if the UK fails to agree a free-trade deal this year would be severe, whatever gains eventually emerge from deals beyond the continent. The focus on how Britain will conduct its commercial arrangements drowns out a subject just as vital the way immigration arrangements are reformed as Britain heads outside the citizens rights directive which allows EU members freedom of movement to seek work. Boris Johnson has done a quick reshuffle of immigration priorities in the form of the global talent visa, theoretically expanding the number of top scientists and mathematicians who can set up shop here. The existing quota of Tier 1 visas was never fully used, so the impact may be more symbolic than transformative. Either way, preferential policies updating Harold Wilsons white heat of technology faith need a balanced immigration system to support them. And the desire to enrich the nation with imported geniuses sits oddly with the desire to micromanage the right kind of skills the economy requires. Anne McElvoy The Government wants to deliver a result on immigration that makes the best of being outside EU rules. A battle about the impact of mandated freedom of movement on the UK became one of the formative skirmishes leading to the referendum outcome in 2016. But on migration, many countries keep open borders while limiting entitlements. Visiting a friend living close to the unmarked Swiss-French border at the weekend, I wondered what would stop someone in a poorer part of the Haute-Savoie moving to a more prosperous part of Switzerland nearby to seek work. The constraints, he replied were administrative not geographical. In other words, anyone can cross the border, but finding a job for longer than a seasonal permit, let alone a foothold in the forest of rules governing Swiss residency permits, is another matter. A place which defines its appeal by who it keeps out is not the most obvious ad for a global, trailblazing country Denmark has a centre-Left government tightening its immigration criteria, on top of tough constraints on foreigners buying property, unless they commit to a long stay exclusively in the country. The reality of arrangements in the EU is often at some distance from the sweeping claim that any EU citizen can live and work anywhere in the bloc. For decades British prime ministers have adopted the sulky stance of a teenager dealing with a demanding parent. From this weekend however, the immigration buck stops squarely with a Prime Minister who has been the main beneficiary of worries about the cultural impact of immigration and its demands on the population. On the one hand he is telling businesses to hire more British workers and perform a productivity miracle. On the other, he is the former mayor of a diverse city whose own background (via Turkish heritage, born in the US and having lived among the wine-guzzling cosmopolitans of Brussels) is an example of globalisation. To give the PM his due, he has often made a case for the Conservatives embracing broadly liberal migration policy. But the outlook is foggy indeed. Priti Patel, who looks more likely than not to remain at the Home Office, is staunch in her view that tough constraint on numbers coming into the country is essential. Australia, for all its uncompromising treatment of illegal refugees, is liberal towards economic migrants. It has twice as many foreign-born workers as the UK (29 per cent in 2018 to Britains 14 per cent). So a points system is no replacement for the more fundamental decision about how open or closed you want Britain to be. It is a sorting mechanism. A generous approach to research and student visas (and those who stay on afterwards) is an investment to be welcomed. The Economist once described Theresa Mays clampdown on the student allocations in a forlorn attempt to hit a net migration target as Britains barmiest policy. Johnson has dispensed with such nonsense. The young, well-educated and motivated are an investment for innovation and a future tax base. The trickier question is how to classify migrants without diplomas who oil the wheels of the economy. Au pairs, household helpers, plumbers, builders and those caring for the elderly are valuable, and facilitate the employment of women who would remain outside the workforce. It is not as obvious a proposition as Patel reckons that simply telling employers to use more British-born workers instead will satisfy the demands of the labour market. For all the brickbats hurled at the PM for the crime of populism, he is sensitive to the less acceptable side of national self-reliance, the slippery slope to nativism. For this reason, there is a very long arms-length relationship with Nigel Farages planned celebrations. We can look to the faces of the Conservative ranks and see that they reflect diversity. Yet that will appear hollow if the overall tone on immigration makes it sound like a problem to be solved rather than a balance of interests to be struck. Finding the right way forward is beyond the technocratic means of points systems and renamed visa tiers. It will soon mean Johnson choosing between Cabinet colleagues tussling between more or less liberal views. He might just pause to consider that a place which defines its appeal by who it manages to keep out is not the most obvious advert for the global, trailblazing country he seeks to lead. New Delhi: Shaheen Bagh's performance is becoming a gift for vehicle thieves. There are cases of theft of two-wheelers of 15 people coming from Noida and other places to work in Shaheen Bagh. They even blew the policeman's vehicle to handle the security. Due to the closure of the road, people going to work in Shaheen Bagh park their vehicles under Kalindi Kunj Metro Line and go to work. Seeing the crowd around them, they think who will do well in such an environment. When they return, the vehicle is found missing. Local police say that the theft incidents have increased due to leaving the car unattended on the closed road. Vehicle thieves have become active by taking advantage of the demonstration crowd. Resentment in Pakistan, protests in Karachi on forced conversion of Hindu girls Pradeep, working in a mobile company store in Shaheen Bagh, bought a bike to go to the job a year ago. He visits Shahin Bagh from Faridabad every day. At the same time, Pradeep had to park his bike under Kalindi Kunj Metro station due to the closure of the office due to the protest. On the complaint of which the bike was stolen last Wednesday, the police stopped. Apart from this, Shaheen Bagh from Anas Noida used to work in a restaurant. At the same time, his bike was also stolen from Kalindi Kunj. The vehicles of many other people like them also took the thief. Kejriwal's message for youth, 'You have to take the reins of the country' The police taught so many lessons of the rules to the owners of vehicles that came to the police station to register the report of these incidents, that they are forced to go to other police station areas to file a case. The police argue that when the road is closed due to the protest, why did these people park their vehicles near the barricades. Where the victims say that they had to come round for a long time. So they used to park their vehicles near the metro station. US researchers reveal, superbug genes can also spread virus Sharjeel Imam, a PhD student at Jawarharlal Nehru University who has been charged with sedition for his allegedly inflammatory remarks during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), was arrested by the Delhi Police in Bihar's Jehanabad on Tuesday afternoon. Sharjeel Imam, a PhD student at Jawarharlal Nehru University who has been charged with sedition for his allegedly inflammatory remarks during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), was arrested by the Delhi Police in Bihar's Jehanabad on Tuesday afternoon. While the police stated that Imam was arrested in a joint operation by the Delhi Police and Bihar Police, Imam said that he had surrendered and was willing to cooperate with the investigation. Imam was booked for sedition after a purported video of a speech he delivered during an anti-CAA protest at the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh on 16 January went viral. In the 40-minute long video, he can be heard as saying that if he can organise five lakh people, "it would be possible to permanently cut off Assam from the rest of India". He added, "If not permanently, then at least for a few months... only then the government will hear our voice. We can do that because the Chickens Neck corridor (connecting the North East to rest of India) is dominated by Muslims. An FIR was registered against Imam by Delhi Police reportedly on 25 January under IPC sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 A (promoting or attempting to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever) among others. While Imam clarified that he was referring to a 'chakka jam' which is the blocking of roads, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police claimed to have had launched search operations in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bihar after multiple FIRs were filed against the JNU scholar in at least five states. The police said that they are also investigating Imam for a speech made on 13 December at the Jamia Millia Islamia university and another speech on 16 January at Aligarh Muslim University. Notably, both the universities have been at the centre of the anti-CAA protests. On Tuesday, Rajesh Deo, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, said, "Two videos came to light, one was on 13 December at Jamia Milia Islamia and other was on 16 January at Aligarh, where it was noticed that Imam had delivered very inflammatory speeches in opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens and such comments can potentially affect religious harmony and weaken the unity and integrity of the country." The search, according to the police, concluded with his arrest on Tuesday, when the police took him into custody from his hometown, Koka, in the Jehanabad district. Jehanabad Superintendent of Police Manish Kumar was quoted as saying that police had raided Imam's ancestral house in Kako on 26 January, but that Imam was not found. Police officials questioned his brother, Muzzamil, and based on the information provided by him, Imam was "nabbed in a joint operation" by Bihar and Delhi Police, PTI reported. Imam was later produced in court which granted the Delhi Police his transit remand for 36 hours. According to the police, Imam was spotted in a video on 25 January attending an anti-CAA rally in Bihar. "A Crime Branch team was sent to Bihar on the same day. They were in touch with Patna and Jehanabad Police and were continuously conducting raids. On Monday, Imam's brother Muzzamil was interrogated. On the basis of the interrogation, information regarding Imam were obtained, following which he was apprehended around 2 pm on Tuesday," Deo said, adding that he would be brought to the National Capital and later produced in Saket Court. The SIT of Crime Branch, which is also investigating three cases related to clashes on 13 December and 15 December in Delhi, will analyse if his speeches had played any role in inciting the violence, the police added. However, one of Imam's lawyers, advocate Mishika Singh was quoted by PTI as saying that Imam had surrendered and was willing to cooperate in the investigation. Imam was one of the organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Delhi. Hundreds of women have conducted a sit-in against the contentious law for over a month in the Shaheen Bagh area of the National Capital, becoming one of the prominent symbols of the nationwide protests. However, the protesters distanced themselves from Imam's comments and said that no single person could be called the organiser. "The woman have led the protest and it is unfair to associate their voice with any distorted media narrative," the statement said. Imam's arrest drew several political reactions, with Home Minister Amit Shah saying that his statements on Assam were "more dangerous" than the statements made by former JNU Students Union president, Kanhaiya Kumar. Shah was referring to a 2016 case of sedition against Kumar. Speaking at an event in Chhattisgarh's Raipur, Shah also said Sharjeel has been arrested by Delhi Police and is being brought to Delhi to be put behind bars. "See his (Sharjeel's) statement. Have you seen the video of (the speech of) Sharjeel? It is more dangerous than Kanhaiya Kumar's statement," he said. "He (Sharjeel) is talking about cutting off the Chicken's Neck to disintegrate Assam from India. Even seven generations would not be able to do that," Shah said. The Chicken's Neck is a narrow stretch of land of about 22 kilometres in West Bengal that connects the northeastern states to the rest of India, with Nepal and Bangladesh lying on either side of the corridor. A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies at the JNU. With inputs from agencies During President Jair Bolsonaro's recent visit to New Delhi, India and Brazil took several steps to take the strategic partnership that they entered into in 2006 to the next level. The two sides agreed on a Strategic Action Plan to improve political and strategic coordination, and strengthen cooperation in areas including trade, civil aviation, space, consular and legal issues, etc. They signed 15 agreements relating to oil and gas, mineral resources, traditional medicine, animal husbandry, bio-energy and trade and investment. With the signing of an Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Treaty, Brazil has become among the first countries to sign a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with India. It may be recalled that in 2015, the Narendra Modi government brought in a new Model BIT. India and Brazil also set a bilateral annual trade target of $15 billion, to be reached by 2022. India and Brazil already engage in robust cooperation. They work together as part of the Brazil-RussiaIndia-China- South Africa (BRICS) initiative and are active in the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) grouping as well. Both are emerging economies that are poised to become developed countries and hence their voice and joint efforts at the global level carry significant weight. Both countries also aspire to become permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and are part of the Group of Four countriesthe other two being Japan and Germanythat are coordinating efforts to democratize the UNSC. While India-Brazil cooperation at the multi-lateral level seems impressive, it has achieved little in substantive terms. Additionally, their bilateral bonding is way below par. Bilateral trade, which was worth $1.2 billion in 2004 rose to $8.2 billion in 2018-19. Not only was the increase in trade in this period disappointing but also, Indias current trade with Brazil is a mere pittance compared to the $110 billion trade between Brazil and China. Bolsonaro was the chief guest at Indias Republic Day celebrations this year. India has generally accorded this honour to heads of state of those countries with which it is seeking enhanced cooperation. By according Bolsonaro this honour, India has signalled the priority it proposes to accord to Brazil in its foreign policy in the coming years, although critics say perceived ideological affinity between Modi and Bolsonaro had a role to play. The Ministry of External Affairs must follow up now with robust implementation of the Strategic Action Plan. A BBC opinion poll conducted in 2013 revealed that Indians and Brazilians hold rather negative perceptions of each other. This needs to change for trade and investment to grow. People-to-people contact and cultural exchanges should be encouraged to change negative stereotypes we have of each other. A diamond membership targeting Tulsa-area residents has launched to promote the diamond anniversary of Silver Dollar City, an Ozark-themed amusement park in Branson, Missouri. A limited-edition package brings together several attractions in Branson and offers special deals at Tulsas Incredible Pizza. The 60th birthday for Silver Dollar City coincides with the opening of the $23 million Mystic River Falls raft ride that claims to have the tallest drop in the Western Hemisphere. The 5-minute attraction has an 8-story lift and 4.5-story waterfall finale. The diamond membership includes unlimited visits to Silver Dollar City and White Water, guest passes to the parks, front-of-the-line pass to Mystic River Falls, a Branson Belle Cruise and discounts on the parks food and a nearby campsite. In addition, Tulsa Incredible Pizza will give members one visit per month that includes a buffet and $10 in games per visit. While she doesnt rock a suit, sunglasses and neon high tops too often anymore, Mindy Palmer still may hold the title of most recognizable Realtor in Missoula. Her mold-breaking headshot stands out from the crowd in her Berkshire Hathaway listings, and she credits the early-2000s photo shoot she still uses today with putting her on the map in Missoula real estate. About 15 years ago, I ran a billboard by the Good Food Store. One billboard. And still to this day I get people saying, 'I see your billboards all over town. Its the funniest thing. It was one billboard, 15 years ago. They tell me, We see you on the buses. But, Im not on the buses, she said. From a zany, messy-haired photo among the otherwise clean-cut airbrushed headshots in surrounding listings, its not hard to imagine that Palmers office is also not like anyone elses in Missoula. In addition to the pictures of family and the many awards hanging on the wall, she rounds out the dimly lit office with statues of frogs, Rolling Stones memorabilia and plenty of plants. It feels less like an office, and more like your hippie aunts living room, and thats the way she likes it. She wants people to feel comfortable with her as they undertake the often-arduous process of buying or selling a home in Missoula. And she thinks it's that extra effort shes made to be herself to be a Realtor for the everyday Missoulian thats kept her at the top of local polls for so long, winning the late Missoula Independent's reader's choice poll eight times between 2007 and 2017. Ive had little old ladies stop me on the street and say, I just think what youre doing is fantastic. You go, girl. And they get a kick out of it, she said. You dont want to watch the same TV program all the time. You want something bold and exciting and someone whos really going to stick their neck out, and by God, if that advertising didnt show I was willing to do that, it missed its mark. But clearly it hit a chord with the real creative, thumb-your-nose-at-conventionality Missoulians. Palmer started off in Missoula in 1988 as a student at the University of Montana, where she decided to wrap up all the various coursework shed done along the way at various schools into a liberal arts degree before going to work at Hide and Sole in the early 1990s. After being shaken by the loss of two brothers in one year, Palmer said she worked at the shop longer than she intended, but through her healing process, decided she wanted to do something more with her life. I was the hippie chick in the T-shirt and blue jeans selling and repairing Birkenstocks, she said. But people kept telling me I should go into real estate; that Id be really good at it. I thought I had to become a suit, which terrified me. But people kept saying it, it almost felt like a sign from the universe. And I just kinda said if one more person tells me this, then Ill do it. So my friend that sold us our first house, Rochelle Glasgow, she convinced me. I said, 'Wait, shes a long-haired hippie chick. They hired her, so theyll hire me.' So with the backing of $5,000 from her parents, she quit her job at the shoe store and got hired at Lambros Realty. Thankfully, she had the help from her parents, because she didnt make a sale for the first six months, which meant no paycheck. It was speed bump after speed bump for that first half of her first year, with every possible mishap coming up: a deed that had been gambled away unbeknownst to the seller, another seller without a will dying the day before closing. But through determination, mostly inspired by the fear of failure and letting her family down, she finally closed a sale, she said. Before the year was up, she had closed 17 more. All of that predates her ubiquitous headshot that made her nearly a household name in Missoula. What helped get her early career off the ground was a little something popping up around then called the internet. Her husband, Steve Palmer, who has since switched over to being her partner in real estate, worked most of his career as a programmer and built her the first real estate website in western Montana, which he still maintains for their partnership today. Looking ahead, Palmer said she predicts a bit of a slowdown in the skyrocketing residential prices, though she said what Missoula needs more than a cooler housing market is higher wages across the board. "Based on the past few years, bare-knuckling it out there, I would say inventory will continue to be low, but people are going to be cautious going into an election year, and the price increase will not be as dramatic as it has been," she said. "Because of the scarcity of land, the regulations, the red tape for the landowners, the developers etc., it complicates things. The cost of materials is going up, yes. But the crux of the problem is still, in 2020 Missoula, across the board, the pay scale is terrible. If employers could figure out how to pay higher wages, people might have a shot at affordability." Spencer Bradford, who bought his first house with Palmer's help about 15 years ago, said she brings the perfect combination of positivity, diligence and personality to her work. "She lives and breathes the market, and that's so critical, because if you snooze you lose in a business like that," Bradford said. "When you first get into real estate, it's pretty emotional. It's about your home, and it ties in a bunch of different really charged things and emotions. Mindy and Steve have been there for us more than once, more than twice, more than three times." Palmer is now on her 22nd year in the business, including a battle with breast cancer in 2006 that temporarily erased her wild curls and warranted an ad campaign of its own highlighting that bald is beautiful, too. It hasnt been easy to find a balance between being the best agent, the best daughter and the best wife she can be, though shes tried. But in the end she said its the people she works for who keep her powering through as Missoulas Realtor of the people. I know my purpose is to help people. Im not the most successful agent financially. Im never going to make the most amount of money, she said. You get a call on Christmas Eve and they say, I need you to come look at my house as soon as you can. The divorce lawyers are breathing down my neck. Can you help me? Oh, my God, of course Im going to help them. Theres a million stories out there like that, and theyre not all tragic, of course. But I think being relatable has really helped people choose me when theyre making, really, the biggest decision of their lives. This story appears in Missoula Business, a new publication that reports on emerging trends and goes beyond the numbers to look at the insights and drive of the people leading Missoula forward. Find the first issue inserted in the Sunday, Jan. 26, print Missoulian and soon in the e-edition, and read the stories on Missoulian.com. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A 50-year-old Missoula man was sentenced to a 20-year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections with 15 years suspended for causing a wreck that killed a well-known Hamilton man in 2018. Anthony Roger Montgomery had methamphetamine and amphetamine in this bloodstream when the vehicle he was driving crossed the center line on U.S. Highway 93 and crashed into a vehicle driven by Bill Neaves on Feb. 9, 2018, according to charging documents. Neaves, a musician and Hamilton businessman, was killed in the crash. Ravalli County District Judge Jennifer Lint sentenced Montgomery Monday. We believe this is the appropriate consequence for his conduct that led to Bill Neaves death, said Ravalli County Attorney Bill Fulbright. Montgomery asked the court for a fully suspended sentence. Fulbright said Montgomery said he doesnt remember the crash. Montgomery also claimed he didnt know how the methamphetamine got into his system. We dont necessarily find the second part of that statement credible, Fulbright said. This court sentence holds Mr. Montgomery accountable for the result of his conduct. The case took time to get into the court because Montgomery was severely injured as a result of the wreck. Fulbright said three of Neaves family members provided emotional statements at the sentencing hearing about Neaves being a father, grandfather and husband who was loved in the community. According to charging documents, witnesses said that Montgomerys GMC pickup was traveling southbound when it crossed into oncoming traffic. The pickup sideswiped a Honda Accord, which spun out of control, before the pickup crashing into the Chevrolet Tahoe that Neaves was driving. A Montana Highway Patrol trooper spoke to several people who knew Montgomery during the subsequent investigation. Montgomerys employer said Montgomery had broken his back in a motorcycle crash and had trouble sleeping following the incident. He told the trooper that Montgomery would often fall asleep while sitting on a stool with his head on the counter. Another man reported seeing Montgomery sleeping in the same manner. Montgomery pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and criminal endangerment as part of a plea agreement. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Supermodel Irina Shayk says there are days when she finds it hard to balance between being a single mother and being a working woman. The 34-year-old model, who co-parents her two-year-old daughter Lea De Seine with her ex-partner, Hollywood star Bradley Cooper, said she sometimes feels like everything is crumbling around her. ''It's hard to find a balance between being a single mum and being a working woman and provider. Trust me, there are days I wake up and I'm like, 'Oh my god, I don't know what to do, I'm falling apart'," Shayk told British Vogue magazine. She also opened up about her split from Cooper, whom she dated for four years before they decided to go their separate ways in 2019. Shayk said life without the actor is a "new ground" for her. ''I think in all good relationships you bring your best and your worst - it's just the nature of a human being. Two great people don't have to make a good couple. I think we've been very lucky to experience what we had with each other," she added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [January 28, 2020] The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz Announces Investigation on Behalf of 3M Company Investors (MMM) The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of 3M (News - Alert) Company ("3M" or the "Company") (NYSE: MMM) concerning whether the board breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders. If you are a shareholder, click here to participate. On April 25, 2019, 3M disclosed its first quarter 2019 financial and operating results, which fell onsiderably short of market expectations, and lowered its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $9.25 to $9.75 per share, compared to its prior outlook of $10.45 to $10.90 per share. The Company announced a $548 million charge in the quarter to resolve current and future litigation, reflecting a reserve of $235 million for "certain environmental matters and litigation" and an additional $313 million to address current and expected coal mine dust lawsuits in Kentucky and West Virginia. Moreover, the Company announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide due to a slower-than-expected 2019. Our investigation concerns whether the Company's board of directors breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders and/or grossly mismanaged the Company in connection with the foregoing accounting issues. Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert): twitter.com/FRC_LAW. If you own 3M shares and wish to discuss this matter with us, or have any questions concerning your rights and interests with regards to this matter, please contact Frank R. Cruz, of The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-914-5007, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.frankcruzlaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005834/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Im not sure Im going to make it through this without crying. So confessed an emotional Rev. Susan C. Johnson, National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), Jan. 18 in Toronto as she reinstated Rev. Ralph Carl Wushke, who had been exiled from Lutheran ministry for 30 years because he was openly gay. Tears, and applause, flowed through the standing-room-only gathering at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church near Ryerson University in downtown Toronto. Bishops and church leaders asked for forgiveness, for their treatment, not only of Pastor Wushke, but of the entire LGBTQ community formally ostracized from pastoral ministry in 1989. The Rev. Michael Blair, executive minister for the United Church of Canada also spoke. When Rev. Wushke was exiled from the Lutheran Church in 1988, the United Church later welcomed him to continue his ministry. Rev. Blair remarked that Christians are called to live by grace, not by entitlement. For Rev. Wushke, this homecoming was a joyous moment, one marked by both justice and grace. Over lunch two weeks ago he told me that when he decided to come out as a gay person, he did not want to live a life of conflicted integrity. He noted that for years, the church had used the talents of gay and lesbian persons as choristers, musicians, liturgical dancers, etc., accepting their talents but not their personhoods. His decision to leave his parish and openly declare his sexual orientation led to the Lutheran Church declaring that self-declared and practicing homosexuals would not be eligible for ordination, or if ordained, would not be eligible for parish leadership. When such a policy was shared with Rev. Wushke by the National Lutheran Bishop of the time, it was described as a prudent approach. Rev. Wushke found it oppressive. He wondered, When was Jesus ever prudent? For Rev. Wushke, Jesus was a bold advocate for justice and social compassion, not a comfortable prudence. In 1988, a group of queer Lutherans Concerned met in Toronto and created a statement about their ecclesial experiences. In the statement, they noted that despite nearly a decade and a half of dialogue with the church leadership, little had changed. They claimed many of us feel increasing frustration, growing anger, and diminishing hope. They went on to note that the dream for full and open participation in the church, remained only a dream. In a full circle moment, many parts of that statement were woven into Rev. Wushkes reinstatement liturgy. Rev. Wushke, who was a lead organizer of the 1988 conference, recalls writing in his journals that he thought it wouldnt be until the year 2033 that he and other gays and lesbians would be welcomed as Lutheran pastors. In fact, the church officially changed its policy in 2011. As Rev. Wushke remarked, The Holy Spirit pushed it along quicker than my faith thought it would. While deeply significant for the ELCIC, and personally and spiritually critical for Rev. Wushke, his recent installation and reinstatement has much wider significance. These church leaders have admitted their own fault in this, admitting blindness and injustice in denying full pastoral membership to the queer community. In so doing, they are seeking both truth and reconciliation with often maligned and marginalized members of their own community. This parallels the path of reconciliation and restitution the churches have had to walk in their dealings with Indigenous communities, whose sufferings and abuses within church-run residential schools remains a lasting societal and ecclesiastical wound. Rev. Wushkes story is not just a narrative about correcting the past, but about charting a liberative course for the future; it shows that religious institutions are not static, but dynamic. They cannot only change their minds, but can repent and ask forgiveness for their structural sins, including homophobia, colonialism, and racism. Rev. Wushkes journey is thus a hopeful story, one that points to a church embracing increasing love, tolerance, and acceptance of all members of our communities, and of graced and gracious individuals willing to re-embrace the communities that oppressed them. In a larger sense, Rev. Wushke is not coming home to the Lutheran Church; the church is coming home to him. Thank God. Imagine a pristine T&T where there are no more homeless people or animals. One where hunger has been eliminated as the relic of a bygone era. A world where pipe-borne water is delivered to every home every day, not wasted in an archaic system where significant leaks are either ignored or washed out to sea. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: The volume of exports from Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir to Azerbaijan exceeded $1.1 billion in 2019, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend. In 2019, export from Istanbul to Azerbaijan increased by 18.8 percent compared to 2018, amounting to $893.9 million. Export from Ankara to Azerbaijan increased by 36.9 percent and amounted to $194.2 million. Exports from Izmir to Azerbaijan also increased by 10.3 percent, exceeding $60 million. In December 2019, export from the above mentioned cities to Azerbaijan amounted to $148.3 million. At this time, export from Istanbul to Azerbaijan increased by 22.4 percent compared to the same month of 2018, and amounted to $77.3 million. Export from Ankara to Azerbaijan increased by 101 percent, and amounted to $64.7 million. Meanwhile, export from Izmir to Azerbaijan increased by 41 percent compared to the same period in 2018 and exceeded $6.2 million. In 2019, Turkeys total exports to Azerbaijan increased by 11.9 percent compared to 2018, amounting to $1.6 billion. In December 2019, Turkish exports to Azerbaijan increased by 38.6 percent compared to December 2018, amounting to $195 million. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Six politicians who were jailed last year for their part in the 2017 independence drive in Catalonia were taken to the regional parliament on Tuesday, where they were due to speak as part of an investigation commission covering the application of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution that year. The measure, taken by the central government in Madrid, suspended the regional powers of the Catalan government in response to the illegal referendum on secession from Spain held on October 1, 2017 and the subsequent unilateral declaration of independence passed by the parliament. Speaking in the chamber on Tuesday, the jailed head of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) party, Oriol Junqueras, reiterated his desire to hold talks with the central Spanish government about Catalonia and its place within Spain, and also argued that he did not commit any crimes in 2017. Junqueras was jailed by the Supreme Court for 13 years for the offenses of sedition and misuse of funds for his part in the secessionist drive that year. Jail is a part of the path toward freedom, it has a poetic beauty to it ERC leader Oriol Junqueras Junqueras and five other politicians were transferred early on Tuesday morning from two prisons in Catalonia to speak in the commission, which is being viewed by anti-independence parties in the parliament as a platform for pro-secessionist propaganda. We have some skepticism with the Socialists, Junqueras told the parliament. Because they have given us many reasons to [be skeptical]. But that is compatible and is not contradictory with the enthusiasm and willingness we have when it comes to talks. Jailed Catalan independence leaders Oriol Junqueras and other jailed Catalan politicians arrive at the regional parliament on Tuesday, where they are greeted by their former colleagues (Spanish captions). ERC played a key role in getting Socialist Party (PSOE) chief Pedro Sanchez voted back in as prime minister in Spains lower house of parliament, the Congress of Deputies. The pro-independence party agreed to abstain at Sanchezs investiture vote, in exchange for a commitment from the new PSOE-Unidas Podemos coalition government to enter into talks with Catalan politicians over the future of the northeastern Spanish region. It was announced on Tuesday that PM Sanchez will meet with the Catalan regional premier Quim Torra on February 6 in Barcelona as part of the promised talks. On Tuesday Torra was stripped of his role as deputy in the Catalan regional parliament while Spains Supreme Court considers his appeals against being barred from office. Torra was found guilty of disobedience for having refused to remove banners supporting the jailed politicians during an election campaign, thus violating Spains electoral law. For now, however, Torra is still serving as the regional premier but could be removed from that position depending on the top courts rulings. Regional deputies from the Catalan Socialist Party and the Popular Party did not participate in the commission The talks are a step forward, because this is the first time that the existence of a political conflict has been recognized, said Junqueras. For the ERC president, the flag of dialogue is the best thing to make the Catalan republic a reality. As for the application by the then-Popular Party (PP)-led government of Article 155 of the Constitution, Junqueras was unequivocal. It did nothing to stop us, he said. We are not scared, we never have been, and we are now less than ever. Jail is a part of the path toward freedom, it has a poetic beauty to it. He added: Those who said the most times that they had gutted us are no longer [in politics], but I am. He explained that he was referring to the then-deputy prime minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, who has since left politics to work as a lawyer, and Albert Rivera, the former leader of center-right anti-independence party Ciudadanos (Citizens), who also left politics after his party suffered a crushing loss at the November 2019 general elections. Nothing that we have done is a crime, Junqueras continued. Not holding a referendum, nor defending the republic or independence. Jailing us is unfair, he said, before adding that the judicial rulings from a number of European courts have proved us right. Regional deputies from the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) and the PP did not participate in the commission, on the basis that they considered it to be partisan. Deputies from Ciudadanos also left the chamber after their spokesperson, Lorena Roldan, had spoken . Junquerass words were received with applause from deputies belonging to the pro-independence parties Together for Catalonia, the ERC and the far-left CUP. The politicians were also warmly welcomed on their arrival at the parliament building on Tuesday morning, with crowds shouting Freedom! in Catalan. English version by Simon Hunter. Fans have been left in shock after a video of ex-Nollywood star, Ernest Asuzu, begging on Lagos streets surfaced online. Asuzu, who often starred alongside Jim Iyke, in Nollywood hits in his heyday, is currently down with stroke. He went public with the illness five years ago. The ailment is clearly exacting a heavy toll on the ailing star as he is also unable to walk. A man who identified himself as John Louis on Instagram shared a video of the actor shirtless and begging for alms on the streets of Lagos. The actor was barely recognisable in the video. Mr Louis said he found the actor begging for alms on the streets of Oke-Afa in Isolo, Lagos. The actor could also be seen in the video nodding in affirmation. Asuzu also looked dazed and disoriented in the video. So we are calling on Nollywood to come and assist their member. It is not only to act the film, but this guy also cannot even walk, Mr Louis said in the video. They need to come to his aid not when he dies they will come and do a big burial for somebody. Even the Nigerian government needs to back the guy and know what the problem is. Im directing this video to Nollywood. This is a star that everybody knows that he is in this kind of condition. We saw him at Justrite Supermarket asking men for money when he has Nollywood people doing anything they like but they dont know how to help themselves (sic) AGN reacts PREMIUM TIMES contacted the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Emeka Rollas, on Tuesday and he expressed shock at the development. I havent been really briefed about Ernests situation but I was shocked to see the video of the man hurling insults at Nollywood without really knowing how involved we have been in his case. People just act in ignorance. We have been on his case for many years now. We took him to a man of God who healed him of his ailment. He was there for months and when he was leaving he blessed him with a Prado Jeep. I am really surprised at the turn of events. I will contact his wife and get back to you. Background Also known as El Cream, Asuzu was also a rapper, producer and movie director. His career nosedived a few years ago after he came down with a stroke in 2015. He was bedridden for three years. In 2015, he announced that Jeremiah Funfeyin of Mercyland Deliverance Ministry healed him of stroke. The cleric reportedly gave him a new SUV valued at about N3.5 million and N1.5 million as startup capital to help revive his career. READ ALSO: He once revealed in an infamous interview in 2018 that he was sexually active while nursing his ailment because he feared that his wife might desert him. Asuzu began his an acting career in the 90s and rose to prominence after he stared in Another Campus Queen. He starred in over 100 movies like Royal War, Ogidan, Burning Desire, Never End, Broad DayLight, Last Wedding, Ugonna and Labista. The latter earned him the Best Supporting Actor at the African Movie Academy Awards in. See the video below Kazakhstans Energy Ministry and Belarus are discussing the issue of possible oil export via pipelines and rail, Kazakhstans First Vice Minister of Energy Murat Zhurebekov said. "We have not held negotiations with Russian party due to the fact that the idea of transporting Kazakh oil via Druzhba pipeline belongs to Belarus. We think that the issue should be discussed between Belarus and Russia," TASS cited Zhurebekov as saying. This years Padma Shri Awards have introduced people to a 64-year-old orange seller from Karnataka. Harekala Hajabba, who never received any formal education himself, won the prestigious award for building a primary school for underprivileged children in his village. A tweet about Hajabba and his efforts is also winning peoples hearts. Harekala Hajabba was in a line on a ration shop when authorities informed him that he got Padma Shri, says the tweet posted by IFS officer Parveen Kaswan. This fruit seller from Dakshin Kannada is educating poor children in his village of Newpadapu from a decade in a mosque. Doing all the efforts including spending his savings, reads the caption further. Harekala Hajabba was in a line on a ration shop when authorities informed him that he got #Padma Shri. This fruit seller from Dakshin Kannada is educating poor children in his village of Newpadapu from a decade in a mosque. Doing all the efforts including spending his savings. pic.twitter.com/rufL3RZ15o Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) January 26, 2020 Hajabba, conceived the idea of the school after feeling handicapped while speaking to some foreign tourists. The first time I felt handicapped because of my lack of education was when a foreigner asked me the price of the fruits in English. I didnt know what he meant, he told the BBC during an interview in 2012. An idea struck me to start a primary school so that the young children of my village would not go through a similar situation, he added. Hajabba was convinced he had to provide a brighter future for the children in his village who couldnt afford education. He used his earnings of 150 a day and some savings to open the school in 2000. Local authorities noticed his efforts and offered him help as well. Hajabbas unique contribution has struck a chord with people. Several people have posted comments on Twitter to celebrate Hajabbas efforts. This is the true art of giving to make education a part of their living. A real hero ramakrishna prasad (@luttufuttu) January 26, 2020 Samiksha Neetu (@SamikshaNeetu1) January 26, 2020 A selfless unsung hero served this selfish society for a decade I'm really really happy that, at last he got due recognition. I take a Bow to this Superman's Nobel deeds P R E M (@_IamPrem_) January 26, 2020 Unbelievable people living right among us undetected without anyone noticing, just doing their thing without expecting any return or anything. Great to see they are appreciated nationally. Ghaatak Force (@Captainhighbury) January 27, 2020 The Padma awards, Indias second-highest civilian honour, were announced on the eve of the 71st Republic Day. Much has been spoken and written lately regarding the evangelical community's feelings toward President Trump, especially since the Christianity Today editorial calling for his removal from office was published last month. Many evangelicals continue to support him wholeheartedly because he has proven repeatedly that he can be trusted to keep his campaign promises and to govern faithfully and conservatively. Others vow never to support him because they feel that he "embodies the anti-Christian ethic." President Trump certainly has a "colorful" past, and that is the key reason why I did not support him in the Republican presidential primary of 2016. I just couldn't imagine a man of his moral failings representing this nation and becoming the leader of the free world. However, when it ultimately came down to a choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on November 8, it was a no-brainer. I would have crawled on my hands and knees to the polls, if necessary, to vote against her. That's exactly what my vote was at that time a vote against Hillary Clinton. It turns out, however, that millions of us who held our noses and voted for Trump have been quite pleasantly surprised by his ardent support of the values and policies that we hold dear. He has been the most pro-life president in the history of our nation, and he was the first president ever to attend the annual March for Life on Capitol Hill. He has been a true friend to small businessowners; he has appointed hundreds of wonderful federal judges; he is defending religious liberty; he is improving our international trade relationships; and among many other accomplishments, he is making our military stronger and our nation safer. Despite all of these successes, many persist in demanding the removal of President Trump because they dislike how he conducts himself. For many evangelicals, the decision to vote for and to continue to support Donald Trump essentially boils down to this: he operates from the Republican Party platform, which represents life; liberty; and conservative, Judeo-Christian values. Whoever his Democrat opponent turns out to be in November, that person will stand on the Democrat Party platform, which is immoral, anti-Christian, anti-God, anti-life, and anti-freedom. Seems pretty clear and simple. My church went through a study in 2019 called OT19, in which we read much of the Old Testament together. The very same week that the Christianity Today editorial calling for Trump's removal was published, our assigned reading included Isaiah, chapters 44 and 45. In these chapters, the Israelites were captives in Babylon, and God used a non-Israelite, a Persian king named Cyrus, to free His people from captivity and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Speaking to Cyrus, God said (emphasis mine): For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know that there is none besides me. (Isaiah 45:45) I see some parallels between God's anointing of the Persian King Cyrus and the election of President Donald Trump. Cyrus clearly was not a follower of God, but God anointed him and gave him a "title of honor." Donald Trump has not historically been a follower of God, either, yet God has also bestowed on him a title of honor and given him the role of shepherding the most influential and powerful nation in the history of the world. There has been much debate about whether President Trump is truly a Christian and whether he is "morally fit" to lead our nation. He certainly has moral shortcomings, as we all have. It is true that only God can judge the hearts of men, but hundreds of trusted evangelical leaders all over the nation, who have spent time with President Trump and advised him and prayed over him, continue to defend and support him. Regardless of Trump's true spiritual condition, which none of us can know with certainty, God has shown clearly in His Word that He can and will use both people who honor and serve Him and people who do not in order to accomplish His purposes on this Earth. When God anointed the foreign, heathen Persian King Cyrus, He said about him, "He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please" (Isaiah 44:28). Cyrus was the tool that God used to bring deliverance and restoration to the Jews thousands of years ago. God has continued to use all sorts of flawed and morally deficient people Moses, Samson, Rahab, and Paul are just a few examples down through the centuries, because He is God and He knows best. God doesn't need our permission or approval to put His choice of shepherd over us to accomplish His purposes. His ways are higher than our ways, and we can't always understand with our finite minds what He is doing in this world. However, we can see when good and moral fruit is coming from the White House, as it certainly seems to be now. I, for one, am abundantly thankful for the shepherd who has been anointed to watch over our nation. Our responsibility is to continue to pray for our president to make wise decisions. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and we, like Aaron and Hur, should help to hold up his hands when he grows weary (Exodus 17:1013). Michelle Thomas is a Christ follower, wife to Trevor Thomas, and homeschooling mom of four. Her books include Lord, I Need You, Through Deep Waters, and Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World. Her website is KingdomCrossing.com, and her email is michelle@kingdomcrossing.com. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr. Israels founders advocated a universalism of complete equality, whereas its current leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, has a narrow agenda, says Mark Leonard. Looming over this years commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz, at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, were two contradictory impulses: cosmopolitanism and nationalism. These lay behind the creation of the Jewish state. A painful dialogue between these perspectives was reflected in the utterances of the who attended and the objections of those who stayed away. In opening the ceremony, Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, set the tone. He described Auschwitz as an abyss and Jerusalem as a peak, with the former representing enslavement and death and the latter epitomising freedom and life. To give meaning to the lives of those murdered in the Holocaust, he linked their deaths to Israels founding just a few years later. Rather than presenting the fate of Europes Jews as a reason to renew the struggle against hatred and genocide everywhere, he focused on the interests of the state of Israel and concluded his remarks with a battle cry against Iran. The choice between cosmopolitanism and nationalism has always been especially difficult for Jews. Historically, the exclusion of wandering Jews from official life meant that they were de facto citizens of nowhere, and thus cosmopolitan by default. Yet, precisely for this reason, many Jews went on to become ultra-nationalists in the countries where they were assimilated. A quintessential example was the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, who, when a young man, initially welcomed World War I as an opportunity to fight for his country. The same contradictory sentiments are now bound up in Israels national identity, animating an abiding tension between democracy and the desire to provide a Jewish homeland. The foreign speakers at Yad Vashem also embodied this conflict between nationalism and cosmopolitanism. Russian president, Vladimir Putin,decried the weaponisation of history, before doing exactly that, claiming (not inaccurately) that the Holocaust was carried out not just by Germans, but also by European collaborators, who were often crueller than their masters. Not surprisingly, he directed this charge at Ukraine, Lithuania, and Latvia, all countries with which Russia has a troubled relationship. But it was the Polish government that objected most strenuously to this interpretation. Having not been invited to speak, Polish president, Andrzej Duda, boycotted the ceremony. And in anticipation of Putins speech, Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, wrote a commentary for Politico, arguing that: Russia is trying to rewrite history. "Far from being a liberator, the Soviet Union was a facilitator of Nazi Germany and a perpetrator of crimes of its own before and after the liberation of Auschwitz. The official Polish response comes as no surprise. This is the same government that, in 2018, passed a law criminalising any mention of Polish complicity in the Holocaust. The contrast with the remarks of the French and German presidents could not be greater. Each reflected on his own countrys guilt, before making a case for universal human values. Those who murdered, noted German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, those who planned and helped in the murdering, the many who silently toed the line: They were Germans. Like Netanyahu, Steinmeier also focused on the theme of renewal following the Shoah, which gave way to a new order of peace, founded upon human rights and international law. But, unlike Netanyahu, Steinmeier was not triumphalist. He spoke of an issue that, in spite of decades of vergangenheitsbewaltigung (working through the past), is now afflicting Germany: the return of anti-Semitism. Likewise, French president, Emmanuel Macron, was equally brutal in his self-criticism. France has looked at its history head-on and faced up to the irreparable responsibility of the French state in the deportation of the Jews, he said. The lessons he takes from Auschwitz are universal and forward-looking. No one has the right to use the memory of the dead, he argued, to justify some kind of contemporary hatred. One wonders how Zweig would have responded to all of these speakers. Although he was a protege of Zionisms founding intellectual, Theodor Herzl, a recent biography by George Prochnik shows that Zweig became increasingly uncomfortable with nationalism. Following the rise of the Nazis, he argued that Jews had a sacred mission not to create yet another state with cannons, flags, and medals. Rather, he wanted Jews to serve as the gadfly which plagues the mangy beast of nationalism, and to work for the dissolution of nationalist tendencies. In other words, were Zweig alive today, he would sympathise more with the cosmopolitan humanism of Steinmeier and Macron than with Netanyahus ethno-nationalism. But even as they established a Jewish nation-state, David Ben-Gurion and most of Israels founders were similarly committed to a cosmopolitan and universalist vision, based on complete equality of social and political rights irrespective of religion, race, or sex. For my part, as a descendent of German Jews some of whom were exterminated I support Israels right to exist. But I also believe that Netanyahus instrumentalisation of the Holocausts victims many of whom did not share his Zionist nationalism undermines the ideals of the countrys founders. As Auschwitz passes from memory into history, it is ironic that the lessons people draw from it have become more particular, rather than more universal. Clearly, the global fight against anti-Semitism needs a new narrative for the 21st century world of hyper-fragmented and multicultural societies, where no-one knows Holocaust survivors personally. Otherwise, history will continue to be politicised and pressed into the service of nationalist agendas, rather than show the way to a more peaceful future for all. Mark Leonard is director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. The European Union has directed its member states to take steps to ensure their 5G networks are secure, but new guidelines published by the bloc on Wednesday stop well short of the blanket ban on China's Huawei sought by the United States. EU countries should 'apply relevant restrictions for suppliers considered to be high risk,' such as leaving them out of 'critical and sensitive' functions, said the European Commission. But it did not bar specific suppliers altogether. It's the second time in two days that Europe has diverged from the path of zero-tolerance for Huawei taken by the United States. The United Kingdom, which leaves the European Union this week, said Tuesday it would allow Huawei a limited and highly regulated role in its 5G networks. 'We're not picking on anybody,' European Commissioner Thierry Breton said at a press conference. 'We're not ostracizing firms.' The EU recommendations were unveiled as part of a 'toolbox' designed to help member states secure their networks, which Margrethe Vestager, another top official at the European Commission, identified as an issue of 'high strategic importance.' 5G allows greater and faster data processing, and is seen as an integral component of new interconnected technologies such as automated vehicles and smart appliances. Huawei, which is a leader in the next-generation wireless technology and also one of the world's biggest sellers of smartphones, has seen its business targeted in a concerted campaign by the United States. The Trump administration has asked allies to block Huawei from their 5G networks on national security grounds. Huawei has denied that its products pose a security risk. Huawei welcomed the EU announcement, saying it would enable the company to continue to participate in the roll-out of 5G in Europe. 'This non-biased and fact-based approach towards 5G security allows Europe to have a more secure and faster 5G network,' it said in as statement. In the United Kingdom, the company will be excluded from 'security critical' areas of the networks those that identify customers or make decisions about routing traffic. But it will be able to supply mobile operators with less sensitive products such as radio technology and base stations, so long as its market share is limited to 35%. The United Kingdom was involved in the EU risk assessment. Breton said the bloc and Britain had developed parallel policies. '[The] UK was a very active partner in the process right through to last year,' he said. Attention now shifts to Germany, which still needs to make a decision on Huawei. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been reluctant to exclude specific providers from the country's 5G networks. A teen in Texas is dead after police say she was found covered in road rash after being dragged behind a car early Sunday. When police in San Antonio responded to the scene of a crash outside a local tire shop around 3:30 a.m., they found Steven Medina, 18, passed out and extremely intoxicated, KSAT reported. He was in the drivers seat of the car, according to San Antonio Express-News. Officers found Jessica Medina, 16, outside the back passenger door with her neck and arm caught in a seat belt and road rash covering her body, according to the newspaper. Steven Medina, 18, is charged with intoxicated manslaughter after police say they found Jessica Medina, 16, apparently dragged by a car. She was pronounced dead at the scene, the Express-News reported. Police say they believe she was dragged by the car, according to KSAT. Jessicas family told WOAI she and Steven Medina were not related and that she didnt know him. Her aunt, Sarah Riojas, said Jessica and a group of girls were hanging out before meeting up with Steven, according to the outlet. She says the girls asked to get out of Stevens car when they became uncomfortable with his erratic driving, WOAI reported. The other girls were already out, and [Jessica] was getting out, Riojas said, according to the outlet. But they kept telling me, Her seat belt got stuck. Steven Medina was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter, jail records indicate. His bond was set at $75,000. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-28 14:30:25 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 424 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 KENMORE, WA / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / ReelTime Rentals, Inc. dba ReelTime Media/ReelTime VR, (OTCPINK:RLTR) has been upgraded by OTC Markets Group to "Limited Information" YIELD tier as a result of its recently filed and amended financial disclosures. The "Limited Information" tier is the second highest of all designations given by OTC Markets Group for by companies trading in the OTC:PINK markets and only companies who provide adequate information within six months of the current date may qualify for Limited Information. The Company Profile must also be verified through OTCIQ in order to qualify for this tier.Barry Henthorn CEO stated: "Receiving this upgrade is a very important step in ReelTimes' commitment to its investors to provide transparency, the most current/accurate information, as well as adhering to the most recent regulatory criteria. I want to personally thank all of those who have worked consistently to achieve this milestone and to commend their dedication to continuing in our efforts to move the company forward. We are confident that the level of disclosure and our adherence to the newest OTC Markets Pink Basic Disclosure Guidelines will be sufficient once reviewed, for ReelTime to reach the highest of all designated Pink tiers shortly." About OTC Markets Group: OTC Markets Group is an American financial market providing price and liquidity information for almost 10,000 over-the-counter securities. The group has its headquarters in New York City. OTC-traded securities are organized into three markets to inform investors of opportunities and risks: OTCQX, OTCQB, and Pink.About ReelTime Rentals, Inc. d/b/a ReelTime Media: www.reeltime.com , is a publicly-traded company based in Seattle, WA (OTCPINK:RLTR). ReelTime Media provides end to end production capabilities and discount media purchasing that is redefining how companies are evaluating and purchasing their TV, radio, print, and other new media. ReelTime is also is in the business of developing, producing and distributing Virtual Reality Content and technologies. We have an end to end production, editing, and distribution capabilities for internal and external projects. ReelTime currently produces three ongoing series and distributes them over numerous VR delivery portals including Gear VR, Oculus, Veer VR, HTC Vive, YouTube 360, Facebook, and others. ReelTime Media also publishes the book "It Was Always Me! Edward Edwards - The Most Prolific Serial Killer of All Time," which has been the subject of a cover story In People Magazine, Rolling Stone, In Touch, and a six-part series on Paramount network, www.itwasalwaysme.com CONTACT:Barry Henthornceo@ reeltime.com SOURCE: ReelTime Rentals Inc American and British teams led by Drs Kohn (University of California, Los Angeles), Malech (NIH), Williams (Boston Children's) and Trasher (Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health) published yesterday in Nature Medicine the conclusive results of a gene therapy trial conducted in the United States and Great Britain in 9 patients with X-linked Chronic Septic Granulomatosis (X-CGD), a rare and severe immune dysfunction. Six of them are free of treatment for complications generated by the disease. Genethon, which contributed to the research that led to these trials and sponsored initial clinical studies, is pleased with these results. Chronic Septic Granulomatosis is a rare genetic disease due to a mutation on the X chromosome. Boys affected by this disease have a deficient immune system that predisposes them to serious infections. Indeed, from the first years of life, the patients suffer from repeated infections, sometimes deep abscesses, atypical pneumonia but also chronic inflammation including gum or digestive tract. Each infectious episode reduces the quality of life and life expectancy of patients. Until now, only bone marrow transplants could prolong the life of patients. The gene therapy approach consists in restoring the activity of the defective NAPDH oxidase in the patient's phagocytic cells (neutrophilic polynuclear cells, monocytes/macrophages) by gene transfer using a lentiviral vector. This lentiviral vector - G1XCGD - was developed at Genethon by Dr. Anne Galy (Inserm/UMR951/Genethon, UEVE, Universite Paris Saclay), in collaboration with Dr. Adrian Thrasher of London and Prof. Manuel Grez of Frankfurt. The clinical batches were produced by YposKesi, an industrial production platform for gene therapy medicinal products created by AFM-Telethon and BPIfrance. Genethon is the promoter of the first European trial, launched in 2013, which is still in progress, the first results of which were reported yesterday in Nature Medicine. Nine patients (4 in Europe and 5 in the United States), aged 2 to 27 years, were treated in clinical trials conducted in the UK and the United States. Seven of them, followed for 12 to 36 months after treatment, did not contract any infection. Two patients died during the trial as a result of complications acquired prior to gene therapy treatment. "We are very proud of these clinical results, which once again demonstrate the unique capacity of our laboratory to develop therapeutic projects, from concept development to clinical trials by integrating manufacturing. These results are also the result of a rich collaboration with the best British and American clinical experts." said Frederic Revah, Chief Executive Officer of Genethon. "This is the first time that a sustainable treatment has been obtained by gene therapy in this disease, confirming the advantages of the lentiviral technology that has been used to treat hematopoietic stem cells," says Anne Galy, Director of the Blood and Immune System Diseases Program at Genethon. This international effort has also been supported by the European Commission through funding by the 7th Framework Programme in Health of the European project Net4CGD of which Genethon is the coordinator. These results led to a strategic alliance formed by Genethon with the British company Orchard, which has an exclusive license on G1XCGD allowing the clinical development of this gene therapy drug to continue. ### About Genethon - http://www.genethon.fr Created by the AFM-Telethon and located in Evry (France), Genethon is a non-profit research and development centre dedicated to the development of biotherapies for rare diseases, from research to clinical validation. Genethon specializes in the discovery and development of gene therapy drugs and has several ongoing clinical, preclinical and research programs for genetic diseases of muscle, blood, immune system and liver. A first product to which Genethon has contributed has obtained marketing authorization in the United States in 2019 and is currently undergoing approval in Europe for spinal muscular atrophy. 7 other products resulting from Genethon's R&D, alone or in collaboration, are currently in clinical trials, and several others are in the preparation phase for clinical trials in 2020 and 2021. Press contact: Stephanie Bardon - communication@genethon.fr - 01.69.47.12.78 After the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh on Monday announced that they will construct a grand Sita temple in Sri Lanka, BJP National Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Tuesday advised the Kamal Nath-led government to solve the matters of the state first. In his statement, Vijayvargiya said, "The Congress party and Kamal Nath should look after Madhya Pradesh and its people first before thinking about all this." READ | 'Hypocrisy,' says Subramanian Swamy as Kamal Nath moves to build Sita Mandir in Sri Lanka Sita temple in Lanka Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath announced on Monday that a grand Sita temple would be built in Sri Lanka. The construction of the temple was first proposed by then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, following the visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had visited Sanchi to lay the foundation stone of an international Buddha university. As per the sources, the Madhya Pradesh CM's announcement came during a meeting with a delegation of the Maha Bodhi society led by minister for public relations PC Sharma at the state secretariat. The president of Maha Bodhi Society - Banagla Uptisa - was also present at the meeting. The CM ordered the constitution of a committee comprising of officials from Madhya Pradesh and Sri Lanka, to work on the project. He instructed authorities to prepare a plan soon for construction of a Bauddh museum, study and training center of international standard in Sanchi, the official spokesperson said. During the meeting, Kamal Nath also stated that a committee will be formed and will consistently monitor the construction work of the temple so that the temple is constructed within the stipulated time. The design of the temple should be finalized and the necessary fund should be made available in this fiscal year itself so that the temple could be built at the earliest. 'Hypocrisy,' says Subramanian Swamy BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday reacted to the Congress' idea of building a Sita temple in Sri Lanka. In an exclusive interview with Republic TV, Swamy took a jibe at the Congress party by claiming that the party is losing power due to 'old secular fanaticism' ideology. Speaking to Republic TV, Swamy said, "The BJP did not suggest it (Sita Temple) I did. Rajapaksa is my friend and I had suggested to him that the Ram Sethu will soon be declared a historic monument and devotees will walk on it and reach the place where Sita was kept in prison and so it should be renovated for the visit." READ | BIG: Grand Sita Mandir to be built in Sri Lanka; MP CM Kamal Nath issues directions READ | Owaisi takes a dig on BJP's Kailash Vijayavargiya Poha statement, makes 'Halwa reference' READ | BJP's Kailash Vijayvargiya suspects nationality of workers over strange eating habits Slamming anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam, arrested on charges of sedition, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on January 28 said his speech was "more dangerous" than that of former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. Speaking at an event here, Shah also said Sharjeel has been arrested by Delhi police and is being brought to Delhi to be put behind bars. "See his (Sharjeel's) statement. Have you seen the video of (the speech of) Sharjeel?It is more dangerous than Kanhaiya Kumars statement," he said. "He (Sharjeel) is talking about cutting off the Chicken's Neck to disintegrate Assam from India. Even seven generations would not be able to do that," Shah said. The Chicken's Neck is a narrow stretch of land of about 22 km in West Bengal that connects the northeastern states to the rest of India, with Nepal and Bangladesh lying on either side of the corridor. Sharjeel Imam, who was on the run after sedition charges were slapped against him for allegedly making inflammatory statements, was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad district on Tuesday. A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies at the JNU. He was slapped with a sedition case after a video of his purported speech went viral on social media where he was heard speaking about "cutting off" Assam and the northeast from the rest of India. White House officials have told U.S. airlines the Trump administration is considering suspending flights from China to the U.S. amid an escalating outbreak of a new coronavirus that has infected thousands of people across the world, people familiar with the matter said. The Trump administration is looking at a variety of measures to contain the fast-spreading virus, U.S. health officials told reporters on a conference call Tuesday. White House officials called executives at major U.S. carriers on Tuesday, telling them that a temporary ban on China flights is on the table, according to people familiar with those conversations. As of Tuesday evening, the Trump administration had not taken that step and there was no guarantee that it would do so. Two of the people said the White House told them it doesn't immediately plan to ban China air travel, but administration officials are constantly evaluating the situation. United Airlines, which has the most service of the U.S. airlines to Hong Kong and mainland China with about a dozen daily flights, on Tuesday announced it would cancel dozens of flights next month to Hong Kong and mainland China as the outbreak worsens. The Chicago-based airline said it has experienced a "significant decline in demand for travel to China." United and its rivals Delta and American are waiving cancellation and change fees for travelers booked to China. The restrictions could affect flights into and out of China, as well as airports across the United States, administration officials said. They declined to be named because no final decision has been made. A senior staff meeting was held at the White House on Monday during which the restrictions were discussed. Coronavirus live updates: Outbreak has killed 106 people and infected nearly 4,700 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded its China travel warning Tuesday, now cautioning all U.S. travelers to avoid the entire country. Previously, the health agency had advised against nonessential travel to the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. The Department of Health and Human Services said the CDC is expanding screening for the virus from five to 20 U.S. airports. When asked about the potential for additional travel restrictions, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said "it's important to not take anything off the table." Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been formally indicted on corruption charges after scrapping his bid for parliamentary immunity from prosecution just hours before lawmakers were to consider the request. Benjamin Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing. Credit:European Pressphoto Agency A defeat in the parliament would have delivered an embarrassment to the embattled Prime Minister, and taken some of the gloss off a US peace plan for the Middle East released on Tuesday (Wednesday Australian time). Netanyahu said in a Facebook post that he had informed Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein of his decision. Parliament had been scheduled to decide whether to form a committee to discuss the request for immunity, which didn't appear to have enough support in the legislature. "Because I haven't been allowed a fair process," Netanyahu wrote in the post, "I have decided not to let this rigged game continue." Burma Myanmar Govt Will Extend School Year Despite Opposition From Teachers Demonstrators take to the streets on Jan. 20, 2020 in Mandalay in protest against the extension of the school year. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy NAYPYITAWThe Ministry of Education says it will continue with its plan to extend the school year by one month at basic education schools despite strong opposition from teachers and teachers-in-training. The Department of Myanmar Examinations announced on Dec. 20 that the school year will be extended through March 31 beginning with the current 2019-20 school year. Prior to the announcement, all basic education schools across Myanmar had started their academic terms in June and ended in February. The announcement drew criticism not only from teachers, but also from parents. The Myanmar Teachers Federation issued a statement on Jan. 5 expressing its disapproval of the plan. Trainees at education universities and colleges in Yangon and elsewhere in the country have been more outspoken still and launched an advocacy campaign early this month, calling for a review of the ministrys plan and using green ribbons as a symbol. We are proceeding as planned. The new system will only come into force in March. There is still time, Deputy Education Minister U Win Maw Tun told The Irrawaddy. U Win Maw Tun said the curricula for basic education schools were originally designed for a 10-month school year and that the academic year should end in March, as it starts in June. However, he said that under successive governments, the academic year was not implemented as originally designed. We are just trying to correct it, said the deputy minister. An additional month of school means students will have only two months of summer holidays. Daw Thet Ngon Pu, a teacher at a post-primary education school in Naypyitaws Pyinmana Township, said she would use the extra month to test her pupils knowledge and do some administrative work. Protesters against the plan have voiced concerns about the extra workload that teachers will have during March, when they are already burdened with preparing and supervising examinations of 5th- and 9th-grade students and matriculation students, as well as grading papers and reviewing exams. I doubt if [higher-level Education Ministry officials] have asked any teacher, face-to-face, if they agree [with the plan], said Ko Naung Htet Aung, a member of the student union of Yangon University of Education and a leader of the committee behind the green-ribbon campaign. We are speaking out against it only after consulting with teachers, the public, parents and students, he added. Many teachers have reacted angrily to the Education Ministrys claim that the one-month extension is intended to give parents more time to focus on their work, calling it a flimsy excuse. The green-ribbon campaign was launched by education students and trainee teachers at 26 universities and colleges, including members of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, and the Yangon University of Education. The Teachers Federation also said in its statement on Jan. 5 that if the government neglects their wishes, teachers will not help with any non-teaching activities during this years election. Since Myanmar reintroduced elections in 2010, teachers, mostly from basic education schools, have been assigned to help at polling stations during elections. The statement also said that teachers would step up their opposition, as permitted by the law, unless officials with the Education Ministry meet and talk with teacher organizations from the basic education sector before proceeding with the plan. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko MOT's due to take place on Tuesday have been cancelled (John Stillwell/PA). All MoT tests for cars and light vehicles have been suspended with immediate effect, the Department for Infrastructure announced last night. The shock move comes after issues were raised with vehicle lifts at test centres. Paul Duffy, chief executive of the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA), said in a statement last night that following further inspections of lift faults at MoT centres, the contractor had not provided sufficient assurances on the effectiveness of the ongoing repairs. Tests on heavy good vehicles and buses will continue. Anyone scheduled for a car or light vehicle MoT today has been told not to attend. Mr Duffy said the precautionary measure had been taken to ensure the health and safety of staff and customers. Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon held an urgent meeting with officials this evening in relation to the matter. The DVA has said that all customers, except customers with four-year-old vehicles and taxis, will be automatically issued an MoT exemption certificate and therefore can continue to drive. The exemption will be recorded in the DVA system and a hard copy will arrive by post in the coming days. Mr Duffy said: For customers with four-year-old vehicles and taxis, we are working to urgently find a solution to get these vehicles through MOT and will contact customers directly. The DVA will issue a further statement as a matter of urgency to advise these customers and those who have MoTs booked for later this week. We want to advise customers that more cancellations are very likely. The DVA recognises the considerable inconvenience and disruption this will cause for many people and sincerely apologises that it has been unable to rectify this situation more quickly. Given the urgency of this situation, we are asking the public to follow media, social media channels and nidirect for updates. Staff will also be kept fully informed by their centre managers. Earlier, Ms Mallon had refused to say if compensation will be provided to those affected by cancelled MoT tests to pay for hire cars. She was also unable to give a timeframe as to when the situation will be resolved, but said she was taking steps to ensure it would not happen again. Around 5,000 tests have already been cancelled after signs of cracking were uncovered in 48 of 55 vehicle lifts at MoT centres across Northern Ireland. Inspections and repairs are currently being carried out, with Ms Mallon issuing temporary four-month exemptions to affected drivers. Those who had an appointment cancelled will also be refunded half of the test fee and given a free test. Asked if compensation will be paid out to drivers who have to hire a car due to their MoT certificate expiring as a result of a cancelled test, the minister said she was restricted in what she could do. I have to operate within the legislation and I absolutely understand the disruption thats been caused to people. You mentioned people that are working class and are struggling to make ends meet thats why I got into politics, she told BBC Radio Ulsters Nolan Show. In term of compensation, I have to operate within the legislation, this is public money. I have considered compensation, but what are the parameters? What are the thresholds? What are the criteria? We get into a very difficult area. Ms Mallon said she first became aware of the problem last Tuesday when she was told of one faulty vehicle lift. On Wednesday she was told 48 lifts had been taken out of operation. She moved to issue exemptions within 48 hours. The exemption, however, does not apply to four-year-old cars, as they have never been issued with an MoT certificate, although they will be prioritised, alongside taxis. Im restricted in what I can do for taxi drivers, as they are subject to a PSV licence, she added. A 31-year-old man fatally stabbed an acquaintance and assaulted another person during an altercation Sunday night at a Hackensack apartment, authorities said Monday. Kelisen Brewley, of Teaneck, was charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault in the confrontation, according to the Bergen County Prosecutors Office. Police were called to a stabbing at the Anderson Street building, where they discovered 30-year-old Vanden L. Carter lying on the floor of his apartment suffering from multiple stab wounds to his torso, the prosecutors office said in a statement. Carter died shortly before 11 p.m. at a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, officers learned Brewley was being treated for stab wounds at another hospital, according to authorities. The ensuing investigation revealed that the victim and [Brewley] were acquaintances and had been together in the apartment when the two engaged in an altercation, the prosecutors office said. During the altercation, a third party attempted to intercede and was also assaulted by [Brewley] with a knife. A spokeswoman for the prosecutors office did not immediately return a message seeking more information. Officials did not publically name the third person or release that persons condition. Records show Brewley was being at the Bergen County Jail Monday evening. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Education Minister James Merlino said students who feel well should go to school, even if they had visited China. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui The Morrison and Andrews governments have both urged schools not to exclude students over the deadly coronavirus, as some private schools advise families who have visited China recently to keep their children away to avoid any risk of contagion. With the school year due to start this week, some private Melbourne schools have written to parents and students and pleaded with them to consider delaying their return if they visited China during the summer holidays. Victoria's Education Minister James Merlino said the state government had taken the advice of experts including the World Health Organisation and Australias Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy. "That advice is if you are well, if you are a staff or student, you should attend school," Mr Merlino said. The Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic joined various get-togethers across the European country to celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. At a get-together held in Chomotov city of the northern province of Ustecky of the Czech Republic The events were organised in major localities such as Prague, Ostrava and Brno, and those in the border regions. At a programme held in Chomotov city of the northern province of Ustecky, member of the Czech Senate Premysl Rabas spoke highly of the role and practical contributions by the Vietnamese community to the local socio-economic development as well as the countries friendship. Cultural activities of the community have helped people in the European country understand better about the Vietnamese culture, he added. Overseas Vietnamese in Egypt and Russia held similar events to mark the largest yearly festival of Vietnam./. VNA Theo en.vietnamplus.vn A staff member with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, talks to Sudanese people who have just arrived in Adre, Chad, as refugees. UNHCR/Aristophane Ngargoune Clashes in El Geneina, in Sudans West Darfur State, have forced more than 11,000 people to flee as refugees into neighbouring Chad since last month. Four thousand of them have fled during last week alone and it is estimated that the clashes have displaced some 46,000 inside the country. Most of them were already internally displaced people and when attacks happened in West Darfur in late December 2019, including on displacement camps, people fled and found temporary refuge in schools, mosques and other buildings in El Geneina. With El Geneina only 20 kilometers from the border, thousands of refugees crossed into Chad, a number UNHCR anticipates could reach 30,000 in the coming weeks as tensions persist. UNHCR teams on the ground are hearing accounts of people fleeing after their villages, houses and properties were attacked, many burnt to the ground. In Chad, the refugees are currently scattered in several villages along a line that spans nearly 100 kilometers near the border, around the town of Adre, in the province of Ouaddai which already hosts 128,000 Sudanese refugees. The conditions are dire. Most are staying in the open or under makeshift shelters, with little protection from the elements. Food and water are urgently needed, while health conditions are a concern. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, its Government counterpart and humanitarian partners are on the ground and coordinating the response to this emergency, registering refugees and providing lifesaving aid including food, water, relief items. Refugees needing special care, including unaccompanied children, are being identified and assisted. However, the rate of refugee arrivals risks outpacing our capacity. More resources and support will be required to bolster the response. Together with the Chadian government, UNHCR is in the process of identifying a new site further from the border, where the refugees can be relocated and receive the security and assistance they desperately need. Meanwhile in West Darfur, UNHCR and other humanitarian actors are also rushing relief items such as blankets, sleeping mats and jerry cans to assist displaced men, women and children at over three dozen gathering points. In the past week, trucks with additional relief items arrived from UNHCRs warehouses in other Darfur states, with more aid on the way. UNHCR continues to seek international communitys support for the transitional government of Sudan in addressing the root causes of the conflict in Darfur. Restoring security will be key for peacebuilding. This will also allow much needed development assistance to support sustainable solutions, including the return of Sudanese displaced inside the country and living as refugees, once conditions are conducive. For more information on this topic, please contact: Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee was on Tuesday conferred the honorary D Litt by his alma mater Calcutta University at its annual convocation here. The acclaimed economist, who was bestowed the D Litt (honoris causa) by CU Vice-chancellor Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee, said in his address "It is a moment of pride....to be bestowed the honour by this great university. I am happy to have been honoured by the 162-year old institution located in my own city". Banerjee had pursued his graduation with economics honours from the then Presidency College, now university, and secured first class first rank in Calcutta University in 1981. The VC said, "Prof Banerjee comes in a long lineage of Bengali and Indian intellectuals who have placed the ethical problem of poverty and inequality at the centre of their vision. We hope that our present and future students will carry this legacy forward to create a more equal society". Speaking at the programme, Banerjee dwelt on his economics theory 'randomised control trials' (RCT) which involves carrying out randomized field experiments to study the effectiveness of policies and programmes at improving human well-being. The objective of RCT is to see how it impacts economics and lives of the people, he said, adding the theory was put on trial in field projects in Rajasthan and Bihar in past. Eminent astrophysicist J V Narlikar was conferred Sir Asutosh Mookerjee Memorial Medal. Scientists Samir K Brahmachari, Arup Kumar Raychaudhuri and Partha Pratim Majumder were bestowed the Sir Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray Medal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The mother of the boy made famous by the success kid meme has filed a cease-and-desist letter against Iowa Rep. Steve King after learning that he had used her sons image to fundraise for his reelection campaign. Last Thursday, Media Matters reporter Eric Hananoki tweeted a photo of Kings Facebook page, which at the time included a photo of the success kid meme with the caption, QUESTION: Do you enjoy our memes? If so, please click the link below and throw us a few dollars to make sure the memes keep flowing and the Lefties stay triggered. Thank you!! The success kid meme originated in 2007, when Laney Griner posted a photo of her then 11-month-old son Samuel to Flickr. The photo became one of the Internets first viral memes, often used to celebrate an accomplishment. Griner copyrighted the image in 2012, and has thus had control of its licensing rights in the years since. Griner tells TIME that she has long opposed King, and that the moment she called her business manager and copyright attorney and asked them to help her stop King from using the image as soon as she became aware of it. The Florida resident says her lawyers sent the cease-and-desist letter to King on Monday, and that the image was later taken down from his Facebook page. (It is unclear if the image has been fully removed online.) Our client has a long-established history of licensing Success Kid to legitimate advertisers, Griners lawyers wrote. Those advertisers include stalwart American companies like Coca Cola, General Mills, Microsoft, Marriot, and many others. Unlike you and your campaign, they followed the law, gave our client the opportunity to approve or disapprove of their uses, bargained for licenses, and paid for the rights they legitimately acquired. Griner says she was especially shocked when she looked on Kings Facebook page and saw the content her sons picture was in the mix with. It was worse than I could have imagined, she says. Nothing on there is remotely positive Their whole goal is just to try to be as vitriolic and divisive as positive. Story continues The image used for the popular Griner initially spoke out last week when she first learned of Kings unauthorized use. Just so its clear I have/would never give permission for use of my sons photo to promote any agenda of this vile man or that disgusting party, Griner tweeted on Thursday. Rep. King has a long history of making comments widely criticized as racist and anti-immigrant; in 2019 he infamously questioned why the term white supremacist was offensive, and was subsequently removed from his committees by Republican House leadership. Just so its clear - I have/would never give permission for use of my sons photo to promote any agenda of this vile man or that disgusting party. https://t.co/AVdl9dxXCs Laney Griner (@laneymg) January 23, 2020 On Monday, Griner reiterated that she had not given King permission to use Samuels image. I recently learned that Iowa Representative Steve King is using my copyrighted photograph of my minor son Samuel known as Success Kid to raise money in a Fund our Memes online campaign, also implying that he has some kind of ownership in it, she wrote. She said that neither she nor her son had any affiliation with King, nor would they have ever agreed to this use. I do not endorse Representative King and, like most people, I strongly disagree with his views, she continued, adding that she has requested King remove the image from his webpage and issue a statement acknowledging that the image was taken without permission or endorsement. She also requested that King refund any money his campaign received from using the success kid meme. 4/5 was taken without our permission and endorsement, and refund the money his campaign received from misusing Success Kid. Laney Griner (@laneymg) January 27, 2020 In the cease-and-desist letter obtained by TIME, Griners attorneys wrote, From its grassroots beginnings, Success Kid became a viral sensation beloved by millions of Americans, largely due to its good-natured, neighborly message. Your use has harmed and continues to harm that well-earned goodwill. King did not respond to TIMEs request for comment. Griner also says she has not yet heard from King or his representatives. Sam is now 13, but as Griner puts it, Hes forever a baby on the internet. Griner tells TIME that she doesnt want the meme to be used to promote any negative message, regardless of its political leaning. And she says shes particularly disturbed that her son could be associated with Kings political stances. Just seeing my baby, his face, with all the other stuff thats really kind of anti-human stuck in my mind. CALGARY Erin OToole is promising a climate-change plan, vowing not to remove rights from women and the LGBTQ community, and is pledging to fight back against what he calls foreign-funded sources of influence. Hes the newest face in the federal Conservative leadership race, and on Monday OToole said hes learned from the mistakes of outgoing leader Andrew Scheer. Speaking to the Star in Calgary, OToole said that in this time of major disruption globally he plans to push back and fight against what he sees as foreign-funded interests, attacks on both traditional work and people providing for their families. His tone and comments echo statements Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has made when discussing what he says is a foreign-funded activist campaign to stymie the growth of the provinces oil and gas industry. Kenneys provincial government has set up a publicly funded corporation to the tune of $30 million a year in order to correct what it characterizes as misinformation spread by these interests. While vague on details as to what interests he was referring to, OToole similarly pledged Monday to fight back against them. His campaign announcement had been expected for some time but was finally made with a video shared online in which OToole promised to challenge attacks from cancel culture and the radical left. In a period of disruption, I think Andrew had difficulty articulating where the Conservative party needed to go and fighting back against some of the attacks. With Parliament in a minority situation, an election could be on the horizon in the near term, and the Conservatives plan to choose their new leader on June 27. This is OTooles second bid for party leadership after coming in third during the 2017 race. My biggest strength is Im not a career politician, said OToole, who served in the Canadian military and practised law before he was first elected in 2012 as the MP for Durham in Ontario, later serving in Stephen Harpers government as veterans affairs minister. After the Conservatives election loss last year, Scheer was criticized for what some said was an unclear stance on social issues and an inability to capitalize on Justin Trudeau perceived weaknesses. With the Conservatives unable to secure the support they needed in Ontario and Quebec, all eyes are currently on the new leaders ability to grow the voter base through a clear message. Watching the Conservative defeat in the most recent election taught OToole some lessons, he said. On the issue of climate change, he said, he wants the party to come out with a plan a year or more ahead of the election. Our problem is we released something a few weeks before the election, and then we never spoke about it again, he said, adding that the NDP, Green Party and Liberals were ready to hammer them on the issue among others. Knowing were going to face a multi-pronged war, we have to get out and say, This is a solid, Conservative approach to climate change, to Indigenous reconciliation. Scheer also faced criticism for not providing a clear answer on where he stood when it came to same-sex marriage and for being personally anti-abortion, despite his pledge not to reopen the abortion debate as a lawmaker. When asked about his own stance on those issues, OToole cast it as a matter of rights. I stand up for all rights, he said, adding that he doesnt want to remove any rights already granted by the courts. Thats where our party needs to go, OToole said. Not removing rights from Canadians. Should he become the leader of a Conservative government caucus and a private members bill came forward legislating around conscience rights, such as a medical practitioners right to refuse a service based on religious grounds, OToole said he would allow it. However, if a private members bill came forward explicitly restricting abortion services, OToole said, thats a line he wouldnt cross. Theres a number of other things where people can advocate for their positions, from a faith point of view on right to life and a whole range of things, that dont involve removing the rights of another Canadian, he said. I will not personally support anything that restricts rights, OToole later clarified in a followup comment to the Star, but no party leader can interfere with a members right to introduce a bill. OToole joins the front of the race alongside Peter MacKay, a former cabinet minister, long-time Conservative politician from Nova Scotia, and onetime leader of the Progressive Conservatives before they merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the modern party in 2003. In his launch video, OToole pledged to support out-of-work auto manufacturers, forestry workers and military service members. Notably absent was any mention of Albertas oil and gas workers, who were hit hard by the 2014 downturn in the provincial economy, leaving tens of thousands of workers unemployed. However, OToole said he was in Calgary for the launch of his campaign because the biggest crisis of confidence in the leadership of Trudeau is most evident in Alberta. I wanted to come here to send that message that national unity means a Conservative leader from Ontario will fight for issues here. Update, Jan. 27, 2020: The story has been updated with a later comment from OToole on his position regarding a potential abortion-related private members bill. Read more about: Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar said on Tuesday that his party would urge the Centre to drop columns pertaining to birth dates and places of parents in the National Population Register (NPR) form, since they have led to apprehensions among many. Kumar, who has been running a coalition government in the state with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the few new questions, which were recently added to the 2011 NPR exercise, will now be deleted to allay the concerns of people. It must be kept in mind that the NPR exercise has been conducted previously. Of course, there are misgivings about columns asking people to disclose the places of birth of their parents since most citizens might not be aware of the same, Kumar told reporters after presiding over a meeting of JD (U) parliamentarians, legislators and office-bearers of the partys Bihar unit. Our leaders in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will urge (the government) to drop these columns, if possible, he added. Stressing that a large number of people, particularly those belonging to the economically backward sections, do not have the proof of their parents birth dates and places, the JD(U) chief said: Even I dont recall my mothers exact date of birth. And if it is not mandatory to provide it, why it is necessary to ask for it?. Kumar, whose party voted in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament, also acknowledged that the enactment of the amended act had led to unrest across the country but hoped the misgivings would be addressed by the Supreme Court, which is hearing petitions challenging the contentious legislation. Everybody is entitled to their view. But these debates have no meaning. I appeal to all to exercise restraint as the matter has reached the apex court and it will be settled there, he said. The chief minister reiterated his opposition to the nationwide National Register of Citizens, and highlighted that the prime minister, too, has clarified that such a move is not in the offing. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Church of Sweden made an official apology to the Sami people on 24 November, just weeks after two new truth commissions were set up to inquire into historical injustices against the Sami in Sweden and Finland. Although different, these processes are related, and the challenges are similarly challenged by the very results of assimilation [] By Astri Dankertsen and Malin Arvidsson, for JusticeInfo.net be.first is a mobile app that allows you to find and share product recommendations in a single place. It's a completely free app that's built around a community of sharers and discoverers. Dishi Smit and Keri Stewart, co-founders of be.first Can you tell us a bit about be.first? When, how and why did you get started? What is the core function of be.first? What are some of the obstacles you've had to overcome since starting out? What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs? What has been your proudest achievement thus far? Weve learned to celebrate every milestone regardless of how small it may seem outwardly. Were not attached to a specific outcome, were focussed on creating value through every interaction, this has led to many achievements in our last year because of the bite-size goals we set for ourselves. What does the future of entrepreneurship look like to you? What do you think is the importance of startup accelerator/incubator programmes? What would you like to see changed in the South African startup landscape? What do you believe are the traits an entrepreneur needs in order to succeed? Tell us about your biggest struggles as an entrepreneur, as well as some major highlights. Why would you encourage someone to become an entrepreneur? Where would you like to see be.first in the next five years? Co-founded by two moms who both left the corporate world to live a more balanced life and have the flexibility to be with their young kids and at the same time pursue their dreams of creating a business that provides real value in peoples lives.We chat to Dishi Smit and Keri Stewart, co-founders of be., to find out more about the growing community who connects by celebrating, sharing and inspiring each other in a single place...be.is a way to find and share product and service recommendations in a single place. Its a completely free app aimed at helping people buy better. Real people post products and services they have had a good experience with, this then becomes an authentic and reliable way in which people can find what works. In addition, we curate current deals so that the community can easily find them on be.The idea was born in November 2018. We partnered with a development company called Open Vantage and it took only four months to build the first version of be.. After having friends and family, as well as an additional group of people, test the app, it was launched in July 2019 to the rest of the country.We took to social media initially to start creating our intention around buying better and to introduce our brand personality to our potential audience. This quickly led us see who our core users were going to be and what the acceptance of the offering would be.We love that most of our growth has been organic which means there is a real need for recommendations from real people, it confirmed that with a growing e-commerce market locally and globally, there has never been a bigger search for authenticity around purchases.One of our shared goals is to serve our community, so we sought out to create something that we knew would be helpful, something that would be a positive space where people could share what's worked for them.We knew as women that we all at some point in the day ask a colleague, a friend, a family member - where did you buy that shirt, shoes, pram, foundation from or what are you making for dinner tonight? We knew that women spend way too much time trying to find what works, how to save or where to shop. We knew that there had to be a way to share this information so that it could help more than just that one woman (or man). This is why be.was born.To help people buy better by offering real recommendations from real people as well as supplying our users with tips and tools on where, how and when to shop. Were also driving the conversation around social pressure of buying and getting to the core of why people buy what they buy.Having a limited budget, lack of capital is a startup killer. Learning how to be everything in a business is overwhelming, to say the least, weve had to adopt a test and learn culture putting us completely out of our comfort zone. Prioritising the right thing to do in terms of getting users or perfecting the product. Our culture is to have everything at once which usually robs you of a critical lesson or makes what youre offering unsustainable, its a tricky balance of being perfect or making progress.Figure out your passion, it usually leads you to your purpose. Do the groundwork to test your idea and take calculated risks along the way. Have a good support structure of people that have been through the startup journey. Read anything and everything relevant to your product, industry and from opinion leaders that resonate with you.The very launch of be.was a proud moment - often people dont start because they are too focussed on the end goal.In our line of work, were constantly exposed to mom-and-pop type establishments, in the search for authenticity we believe there will be more and more people looking to create niche products and services that will attract more and more customers. We hope the trend were seeing continues as more people look for a better work/life balance.We love that more companies are starting to see the importance of developing these programmes. Depending on where you are in your startup journey it could really fast track your business, that said choosing the right programme is as important as choosing the right business partner, make sure it aligns with where you are in your learning curve.Easier access to funding.Resilience, a love for hard work and self-belief not to mention a good understanding or willingness to learn about the industry youre in and customers youre attracting.Monetising and procuring funding for a purpose driven business. All apps start somewhere and your monetisation strategy is usually subscription, sale (of product or data) or advertising based. We chose the harder route of offering a service for free while we scale it is both the struggle and highlight. Struggle to sustain it during growth and highlight because every day we witness people buying better because of be.Having the freedom, flexibility and autonomy to create an offering and life you love. Challenging yourself (because the risks are higher) to achieve all that you set out for yourself.There are exciting plans to enhance the be.offering which includes a meaningful way to connect with brands, being rewarded for your contribution and the ability to buy directly from the app.Wed like to continue to help people buy better, be an app that people open daily, be the preferred search engine for recommendations and launch across the continent. In addition to concerns over the details of the proposal, some Arab countries were upset about how it was rolled out. An Arab official involved in previous meetings with a team led by Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner said none of the Arab representatives had been allowed to see the final version of the plan before it was unveiled. A series of calls from the White House to Arab capitals over the weekend appeared mostly aimed at persuading leaders not to dismiss the proposal out of hand, said the official, who spoke on the condition that his name and country be withheld, citing the sensitive nature of the discussions with Washington. LANSING, MI -- The Michigan Court of Appeals struck down parts of a 2018 law adding requirements to the process of gathering signatures for ballot proposals. The court ruled, in a 2-1 decision, to remove a 15% cap on signatures from each of Michigans congressional districts, a requirement for paid circulators to file an affidavit with the secretary of state and a requirement for circulators to indicate whether they are paid or volunteers. Those rules were enacted by the Republican-led Legislature and signed by former Gov. Rick Snyder a month after voters approved three ballot proposals in 2018. Judges Deborah Servitto and Michael Gadola determined the 15% cap serves to take power out of the hands of the people." The two judges said invalidating signatures that exceed the cap violates the rights of citizens whose signatures arent counted. They also argued the periodic redrawing of congressional districts would complicate the process of collecting signatures if limits for each district remain in place. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued an opinion last year which stated the three sections of law were unconstitutional. The opinion sparked a lawsuit from the League of Women Voters and three Michigan voters challenging the petition requirement. The Republican-led House and Senate intervened in the lawsuit in favor of preserving the requirements. Attorney Mark Brewer, also the former Michigan Democratic Party chairman, said the decision is a complete victory for Michigan voters," on Twitter Monday night. Mondays ruling affirms a 2019 decision by Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens, who determined two parts of the law are unconstitutional. The appeals court also invalidated the third requirement for paid petition circulators to file affidavits indicating they were hired to circulate petitions. Servitto and Gadola determined the check-box requirement discourages participation in the petition circulation process and inhibits core political speech. The judges said the state government has no reason to require this information, though proponents have said it improves transparency. The Legislature has simply not demonstrated that (the laws) check-box requirement is necessary to serve its vaguely-asserted interests, the opinion states. Judge Mark Boonstra agreed with removing both the limit on signatures from each congressional district and affidavit requirement for paid circulators. However, Boonstra disagreed with Servitto and Gadola on the check-box requirement. He said the requirement promotes full information and transparency with prospective voters and petition signers" and is in the Legislatures interests of deterring election fraud. For Republican senators jolted by a former White House official's shocking revelations about military aid to Ukraine and Donald Trump who are looking for a reason to acquit the president, his made-for-television legal team has them covered. A half dozen GOP senators responding to former national security adviser John Bolton's bombshell revelations about what Mr Trump said about a military aid package for Ukraine and investigations of US Democrats, there is no evidence any one is mulling a vote to remove the president. Several are facing tough re-election races. A few want to make sure the Senate is fulfilling its traditional role as a check on the presidency. No matter their concerns and motivations, Mr Trump's lawyers are offering them an a la carte menu from which they - eventually - will be able to pick their own reason for beating back Democrats' attempts to follow the House's party line impeachment with the removal of the 45th president. Alan Dershowtiz, a celebrity Harvard University professor whom Mr Trump recruited after watching his cable news appearances, essentially rolled an acquittal dessert cart onto the Senate floor Monday night. All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Show all 6 1 /6 All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Alan Dershowitz Dershowitz is a controversial American lawyer best known for the high-profile clients he has successfully defended. Those clients have included OJ Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. One longtime Harvard Law associated told the New Yorker Dershowitz "revels in taking positions that ultimately are not just controversial but pretty close to indefensible." Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Ken Starr Starr became a household name in the 1990s as the independent counsel who led the investigation that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment. That investigation began as a look into a real estate scandal known as Whitewater, and eventually led to impeachment after Mr Clinton lied under oath about having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. AP All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Jay Sekulow Sekulow is the president's longtime personal attorney, and, now, personal lawyer in the White House. He has been accused by former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas of being "in the loop" during the Ukraine scandal. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pam Bondi Bondi is the former attorney general in Florida, and a longtime backer of the president's. She made a name for herself in Florida for taking hyper partisan stances on issues, and her penchant for publicity. She is likely to be a prominent public-facing figure during the trial. AFP/Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pat Cipollone Cipollone is the White House counsel, and leading the president's defence team. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Rudy Giuliani While not officially named as one of the president's impeachment lawyers, it is hard to ignore Giuliani's outsized role in this process. The former mayor of New York has been making headlines for months as he defends his client, and for his apparent role in the effort to compel Ukraine to launch the investigation into Joe Biden. We'll see how he figures in the actual trial, which he has said he would like to be a part of. Reuters At one point, he told senators of Mr Trump's actions towards Ukraine's new president that nothing the US commander in chief did "would by itself constitute an abuse of power." But Mr Dershowitz, who has flip-flopped from an impeachment advocate to a staunch opponent, wasn't finished. "A quid pro quo alone is not the basis for an abuse of power," he said near the end of the defence team's second day of case-making. Translation: Mr Trump might have linked a $391m military aid package for Ukraine to investigations of the Bidens and other Democrats, but doing so is within the legal authorities of the office to which the American people voted him. Jay Sekulow, another of the president's lawyers, also served up a he-did-nothing-wrong dish earlier on Monday. "Asking a foreign leader to get to the bottom of issues of corruption is not a violation of an oath [of office]," he said. "The president was at all times acting under his constitutional authority, under his legal authority, in our national interest, and according to his oath of office." What the entire Ukraine and impeachment affair is "really about" is not any potential wrongdoing by Mr Trump, but "deep policy differences" between Republicans and Democrats, Mr Sekulow said. "But we live in a constitutional republic where you have deep policy concerns and deep differences - that should not be the basis of an impeachment." Mr Sekulow also took umbrage with House Democrats' contention and gripes that Mr Trump largely ignored US intelligence agencies over 2016 election meddling and instead listened to "people he trusted." (That includes former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, another personal Trump attorney whom he made the point person for all things Ukraine.) In short, the president did not "blindly trust" his intel services - but his lawyers argued it is not wrong for any chief executive to trust outside counsel. On the other hand, Mr Trump's legal team also offered GOP senators another rationale for voting to acquit a Republican president who remains exceedingly popular among their shared political voting base. Monday's prime example of this rationale also came from Mr Dershowitz, who waited until around 8.30pm to be the first Trump lawyer to bring up the revelations in a Sunday New York Times article that Mr Bolton's coming book will report he heard Mr Trump directly link Ukraine aid to investigations of his domestic political enemies. "If a president, any president, were to have done what the Times reported about the content of the Bolton manuscript, that would not constitute an impeachable offence," Mr Dershowtiz said in a comment that lit up Twitter. "Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level and abuse of power or an impeachable offence," he said in a remarkably candid moment. "That is clear from the history, that is clear from the language of the Constitution." If that were not a seeming acknowledgement that his client might have exceeded the traditional and legal bounds of his office, Mr Dershowitz went even further when he said "alleged political sins" do not amount to "constitutionally impeachable offences." That's a far cry from Mr Trump's declaration of innocence earlier in the day when asked to comment on Mr Bolton's allegations by a reporter in the Oval Office. "False," the president replied. A reporter sought more, asking simply, "False?" Mr Trump doubled down on his denial, saying: "Totally false." False or not, it doesn't have to matter much for Senate Republicans. Voting to allow a couple witnesses to assuage voters back home is one thing - voting to make a popular-among-GOP voters president the first to be formally ousted from his office likely is political suicide. And Sen. Joni Ernst reminded everyone that, in the words of Mr Dershowitz, impeachment is a political weapon. That's true for a president's defence team, who can use their allotted time to attack one of their client's chief Democratic rivals. "Iowa caucuses, folks. Iowa caucuses are this next Monday evening," Ernst told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday evening. "And I'm really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Democratic caucus-goers. Will they be supporting [former] Vice President [Joe] Biden at this point? Not certain about that." So, backed by the defence team's a la carte menu, acquittal still looms ahead. That means the Senate's impeachment trial essentially has become just another 2020 campaign stop. "Iowa caucus-goers take note," Mr Biden tweeted Monday night. "Joni Ernst just spilled the beans. She and Donald Trump are scared to death I'll be the nominee. On Feb. 3rd, let's make their day." They've been inseparable since December 2017. And Leonardo DiCaprio, 45, was spotted treating his actress girlfriend Camila Morrone, 22, to another date night on Monday. The Oscar winning actor took the drivers seat in his flash Audi SUV as they left Kevin Hart's comedy gig at The Peppermint in West Hollywood. Date: Leonardo DiCaprio, 45, and Camila Morrone, 22,enjoyed Kevin Hart's comedy gig at The Peppermint in West Hollywood on Monday The couple made a low-exit after the gig, driving through a side gate as security waved them through. Leonardo has been dating Camila, who is 23 years his junior, since December 2017. Camila, the stepdaughter of Leo's friend Al Pacino, is the latest in a long line of younger models that the Titanic star has dated, but it could his last. The couple have reportedly been discussing the future, including marriage and starting a family. Home driver! The Oscar winning actor took the drivers seat in his flash Audi SUV VIPs: The couple made a low-exit after the gig, driving through a side gate as security waved them through 'Cami is head over heels in love with Leo and her family loves him for her too,' a source said, in a chat with Us Weekly. 'They've definitely discussed marriage and the thought of settling down with each other excites both of them.' Another source told the site that the young model is reportedly 'thrilled' with the thought of having children with Leo, 'but she wants to get married to him first. She's very traditional in that way.' Smitten: Leonardo has been dating Camila, who is 23 years his junior, since December 2017 The 22-year-old actress talked about how being in the spotlight has affected her as she sat down with WSJ Magazine for their Young Hollywood Portfolio this month. Camila explained how she rises above the 'judgment and negativity' aimed at her to focus on the 'joy of the craft' of acting. 'More exposure leads to more judgment and negativity,' she told the magazine. Dating: Camila, the stepdaughter of Leo's friend Al Pacino, is the latest in a long line of younger models that the Titanic star has dated, but it could his last Spotlight: The 22-year-old actress talked about how being in the spotlight has affected her as she sat down with WSJ Magazine for their Young Hollywood Portfolio And Camila's certainly gotten exposure since she she was first linked to DiCaprio in 2017. 'It's a little bit of a bummer because you're really trying to do good work and be nice and be a good person, and in the meantime...people wish negative things upon you,' she went on. Still, she tries not to dwell on others' negativity, saying she'd never let the criticism 'take away the joy of the craft that I get to do.' Main man: Kevin Hart was spotted leaving his show with wife Eniko Parrish Back on stage: The comedian sported a Saint Laurent hoodie and sneakers BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: Kazakhstan has not resumed oil export to China as of Jan. 28, 2020, Kazakhstans First Vice Minister of Energy Murat Zhurebekov said, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media. According to Zhurebekov, work is currently underway and itll be known soon whether oil export may be resumed in its full volume. The export itself was not resumed yet. Today we can only talk of partial restoration of oil quality, Zhurebekov said. He also noted that starting from Jan. 22 the oil receiving from CNPC-Aktobemunaygas company was restarted. On Jan. 16, 2020, KazTransOil detected an excess of organochlorine compounds in the fractions during crude oil receiving into the trunk pipeline system from CNPC-Aktobemunauygas. KazTransOil suspended crude oil receiving from CNPC-Aktobemunaygas on the same day until the oil quality issue is resolved. As of Jan. 22, 2020, the acceptance of crude oil from CNPC-Aktobemunaygas was not restarted. Kazakhstans Ministry of Energy, given the decline in volume of oil delivery for transportation through trunk oil pipelines system, adjusted the schedule for oil transportation to the refineries of Kazakhstan and for export for Jan. 2020. In particular, the scheduled volume of export to China was reduced. The transit of Russian crude oil to China through the system of trunk oil pipelines of KazTransOil JSC is not suspended and is carried out in full compliance with contractual obligations and quality in accordance with GOST (quality standard). --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh en francais Soprotic grows its business with new strategy In Tunisia and elsewhere, it is common belief that you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes. But what exactly makes a good shoe? You need good materials, the right know-how and a flexible workforce that can adapt itself to different styles and developments, explains Lassaad Slama, CEO of shoemaker Soprotic. It is our Tunisian expertise that creates a unique product that is high-quality and beautiful to wear. Lassaad has extensive knowledge in this sector. He started his career in the shoemaking industry, working in Soprotic in the early 1990s, together with a friend, an Italian specialist in shoe modelling and production. His company initially produced upper parts of shoes and sold them on. Building a business strategy The EBRD and the European Union (EU) supported the company at a crucial stage, he explains. We did not have clearly defined objectives. We worked as sub-contractors for a while. We also started to work a bit in partnerships with others, but we did not have a clear direction. The EBRDs business advisory programme provides companies like Soprotic with the necessary know-how to grow. In Tunisia, it is funded through the European Union Initiative for Financial Inclusion.* In the case of Soprotic, the programme found an experienced expert to help the company establish a business strategy, gain additional insight into shoe modelling and improve the companys marketing and branding. We gradually developed a work programme and a roadmap, said Lassaad. We developed our partnerships with shoe sellers. We created our own brand. Right now, we are confident in our direction. We worked with shoe producer Soprotic to help the company establish a clear strategy, take full advantage of export opportunities and create its own brand. In Tunisia, our business advisory programme is supported by the European Union. More videos Creating employment opportunities The business advisory programme helps companies explore new opportunities for example by improving their marketing or accounting systems, meeting internationally recognised quality standards or exporting to new markets. At the same time, they can expand and hire new employees. Soprotic has employed 36 new team members over the last two years. Samiha has been with the company for 15 years now. Since the factory opened, many people from our neighbourhood have joined the company. I started as an apprentice and learned how to make shoes from scratch, she explains. Similarly, her colleague Khalid joined as an apprentice and has worked his way up to become a supervisor in the shoe factory. Exports to Europe Soprotic is one of many companies in Tunisia that saw a good opportunity to sell its products on the European market. The shoes are exported to various countries: every year 11,000 pairs go to France, 94,000 to Italy and 118,000 are shipped to Spain. Furthermore, the company sells more than 170,000 shoe uppers to European clients. There are many ways in which we help the economy to develop in Tunisia, explained Antoine Salle de Chou, Head of the EBRDs office in Tunisia. We provide businesses with access to finance and also with advice on how to take full advantage of export opportunities, especially on the European market. In total, our work has supported more than 1,000 businesses in the country since 2012. "Soprotic is the perfect illustration of how Tunisian companies can benefit from a privileged trade relationship, such as the one offered by the EU-Tunisia association agreement," stated Patrice Bergamini, Ambassador of the European Union in Tunisia. "By co-financing the business advisory programme implemented by the EBRD, the EU is delivering on its commitment to help Tunisian companies reap the benefits of the many business opportunities offered by an open trade relationship." With a clear vision on how to grow the business, Soprotic is now ready for the future and can take the next step to expand its activities. *The EU Initiative for Financial Inclusion is a comprehensive programme to help micro, small and medium-sized businesses in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region to become more competitive and grow. It provides finance and know-how to boost development and create jobs. "Georgia Power is proud to support Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's efforts to make a new hospital and expanded campus a reality for all children in Georgia," said Paul Bowers, Georgia Power Chairman, President and CEO. "Our focus has never wavered over the last 135 years and that is to make our communities better, stronger and safer. This hospital will be a critical cornerstone in Children's mission of providing breakthrough pediatric research and best-in-class care for our children." Located at Interstate 85 and North Druid Hills, the 70-acre campus is the largest healthcare project in Georgia's history. The project includes a pediatric hospital, attached clinic space and more than 20 acres of greenspace and miles of walking trails and paths for patients and families. The Center for Advanced Pediatrics, which opened in July 2018, was the first new structure completed at the campus. During the Hope and Will Ball, Bowers was also recognized as the honoree for his many contributions to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta through his time on both the Children's System and the Children's Foundation boards. He served as Foundation Chair from 2015 to 2018, during which time he helped grow fundraising for the hospital to an all-time high, laying critical groundwork for the expansion of the North Druid Hills campus. Today, he remains a Children's Trustee and serves on the Board's Governance & Development Committee. "Paul Bowers has been a tireless advocate of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta serving as Chairman of our Foundation Board and as a member of the System Board," said Donna Hyland, CEO of Children's. "His heart for children and our mission to make kids better today and healthier tomorrow sets an incredible example for all. We are grateful for his time, his philanthropic expertise and his compassion. We were so proud to honor him at the 2020 Hope and Will Ball and we are humbled by Georgia Power's gift of $15 million, which we know will play an important role in inspiring future corporate support for our North Druid Hills project." To learn more about Georgia Power's commitment to the community, including the company's annual citizenship report, visit GeorgiaPower.com/Community. The Georgia Power Foundation The Georgia Power Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is the fourth-largest corporate giving foundation in Georgia. The Foundation provides grants to organizations that are enriching communities across the state and is part of Georgia Power's corporate and community relations strategy focusing on Improving Education, Environmental Stewardship, Arts & Culture, and Health & Human Services. About Georgia Power Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.6 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the company is consistently recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power). SOURCE Georgia Power Related Links http://www.georgiapower.com The soon-to-be-former HRH Duke and Duchess of Sussexs much-publicised stepping back from royal duties and move to Canada has set tongues wagging. But where could the most famous of couples find sanctuary across the pond? Here are some of the best options. Tofino, Vancouver Island Tofino has a cool, surfy vibe (Getty/iStock) (Getty Images/iStockphoto) For the couple partial to long, blustery beachy walks, Tofino is just the ticket (although they may want to keep their eyes peeled for rogue paparazzo lurking behind the western red cedars). Locals here are a friendly bunch (any hint of stress being extinguished by rolling Pacific waves and the islands surfy vibe) and the teeny fishing villages that smatter the Vancouver Island coastline thrum with a cheerful energy. Over the years, Tofino itself has gone from hippy to hip, and the town draws in plenty of food-loving tourists who flit about its streets (not ideal if M&H want to stuff themselves full of seafood chowder in peace, though). If, however, theyre looking to socialise (and have bagged themselves a babysitter), Tofino Brewing Co is where its at, serving up kelp stout and coffee porter to chirpy punters. Given Harrys passion for wildlife, hell have plenty to get Attenborough about here too, whether its watching sea otters float by from the shore, or taking to a dinghy to catch black bears foraging for crabs on the coastline and grey whales bobbing about in inky inlets. Compatibility score: 6/10 Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador Megs and Harry could shack up next to Iceberg Alley (Reuters) On the salt-drenched island of Newfoundland in Canadas quirky easternmost province the wind howls like wandering ghouls and the oceans roil with the flukes of mighty humpback whales. So if remote and wind-beaten is what Meghan and Harry are gunning for, theyll certainly feel it here. Kindness is woven into the fabric of Gander, a tiny town which doubled its population by welcoming in nearly 6,700 people when the 9/11 terror attacks forced 38 planes to land there. But if the duke and duchess have their sights set on something fancier, Fogo Island Inn marooned on an island off Newfoundlands craggy Iceberg Alley is the secret holidaying spot of Barack Obama, Gwyneth Paltrow and Justin Trudeau (which would make post-dinner drinks extremely interesting). Nearby Brimstone Head, a massive rock jutting out from the islands northwest coast, has actually been designated by the eccentric Flat Earth Society as one of the four corners of the earth. A dream! Surely no one will find them here! Well, in reality, its just a short flight from the UK (around four and a half hours with the wind behind you); but that should keep royal relatives, and Harrys polo mates, happy. Compatibility score: 8/10 Toronto World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Show all 24 1 /24 World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down US World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Canada World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Italy World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down US World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Canada World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Argentina World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down US World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Belgiam World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down US World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Brazil World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Chile World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Belgiam World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Canada World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK Toronto is a gloriously diverse, friendly city, filled with world-class galleries, a buzzing LGBT+ scene and an infinite number of fantastic places to eat poutine. Plus Meghan lived in the city for six years while filming Suits, so it may have a home-from-home feel to it. But is there not something a little frying pan and fire about swapping one huge metropolis for another? Off to the Tower with them! The CN Tower, that is... (Adam Batterbee) It has, however, been posited that Harry and Meghan are set to become the worlds biggest ever Instagram influencers, and a city like Toronto offers plenty of posing and #spon opportunities, from painstakingly curated dumpling pictures in Chinatown, to carefree jumping in the air shots in Torontos many leafy parks and green spaces. Theres plenty to keep visiting (famous) friends occupied here too, from sleek martini bars and fancy cocktail lounges to stand-up paddle-boarding adventures around the Toronto Islands (for when the sporty sorts roll in). Compatibility score: 4/10 Haida Gwaii, British Columbia Haida Gwaii is working to restore its natural habitat (Getty/iStock) (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Perhaps their former royal highnesses might like to stake out the rainforests of beautiful Haida Gwaii (they may find themselves with nothing but bald eagles for company, but theres the charm). Known as Canadas answer to the Galapagos Islands, the torch-shaped archipelago, rich with First Nations history, is flung some 70 miles off the coast of British Columbia, and is reached via the choppy Hectare Strait (which should see off a fair number of unwelcome guests). The 175-mile-long island chain reaps the benefits of extreme isolation; here youll find some of the oldest spruce trees on the planet and animal subspecies that exist nowhere else on earth, such as the Haida Gwaii black bear, the cute, robin-sized hairy woodpecker and the snow-white Haida ermine. The pace of life here is luxuriously slow (if a buzzy city crash pad is what theyre after, this most certainly is not it) but the archipelago does share something special with Meg and Harry: it has a former royal moniker, and used to be known as the Queen Charlotte Islands. Match made in heaven. Compatibility score: 9/10 Quebec Cold standard: Quebec City in winter (Jean-Francois Hamelin) Rumour has it Meghan is something of a linguist (she reportedly studied French for six years), so she should be home in francophone Quebec. The province also represents the perfect blend of North American and European (handy that), from its snow-cloaked mountains to its distinctive terroir. If the couple get tired of Canadas wide open spaces (but really, why would you?), metropolitan Montreal and Quebec City are as buzzy as they come, with playful music, art and food scenes and enough culture to keep the two occupied for the rest of their days, now they are no longer required to open swimming pools and shake hands with world leaders. But should a Quebecois pied-a-terre appeal, theyll still find the great outdoors right on their doorstep, from the rugged coasts of the pristine Gaspe Peninsula (home to four national parks and the continents largest colony of seabirds), to the wind-whipped beauty of the Iles de la Madeleine, filled with lagoons, wetlands and beaches for getting away from it all. Compatibility score: 7/10 Churchill, Manitoba The royals could be jostling with polar bears in Churchill (Getty) (Getty Images) Now this would be interesting. Clinging to the windswept shores of Manitobas Hudson Bay, Churchill sits on a peninsula that cuts directly across the migration route for polar bears. This means the towns 900-odd residents share their home with hundreds of hungry apex predators. If the duke and duchess fancy a bit of a challenge, Churchill could be it. The town is starkly beautiful (in summer the fields come ablaze with a glow of amethyst-coloured fireweed) and the locals are as warm and as welcoming as they come. But signs on almost every street corner warn you that youre in bear territory (locals also leave their car and house doors unlocked, just in case they come up against a bear on the way home from the pub). Winnipeg, Manitobas capital, represents a far less toothy option, with fascinating museums, a burgeoning foodie scene and plenty of Winnie the Pooh history (which, lets be fair, is a much better sort of bear for baby Archie to be associating with). Compatibility score: 5/10 MOBILE, Ala. Senator Doug Jones of Alabama waved a stack of legal pads in the air all of them filled with his notes from the opening days of President Trumps impeachment trial and insisted he needed to hear more facts. Yesterdays evidence was pretty compelling, he said in a video posted to his Twitter feed last week. So Im anxious to see what the president will say and do. Mr. Jones has recorded five-minute segments like these every morning since the trial began to try to answer why he is still undecided on a question that most Americans resolved long ago. I caution everyone that were still in the early stages, Mr. Jones, a former trial lawyer, said in another video. Weve got to hear the other side of the story. As the lone Democrat in the Senate representing the Deep South, a region that is solidly pro-Trump, Mr. Jones is in a precarious position. Political prudence demands that he take an exceedingly measured approach to his vote on whether to remove Mr. Trump from office. The senator has spent weeks pleading for open-mindedness, even going so far as to raise doubts about the Democrats case against the president, saying last month that there are gaps. The challenge for Mr. Jones is whether voters see him as reasonable and unbiased, as he hopes, or as an appeaser of the other side. His appeals risk alienating not only the Trump-supporting Alabamians he has to answer to when he faces re-election in November, but also liberal Democrats his base some of whom he says have wanted to remove the president since the minute he took his hand off the Bible when he was sworn in. Parents and caregivers in NSW have been asked to delay their children's return to school if they have recently travelled to China amid the coronavirus outbreak. Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the request - which is voluntary - was one of the toughest calls he has ever made in government. Parents have been asked to keep their kids at home when school returns on Wednesday if their children have been in China within the past 14 days. 'It is affecting those in a country who are on high alert in any case, and most of them (parents) would be considering it a reasonable extension of the steps to protect the community,' Mr Hazzard said on Tuesday. Health Minister Brad Hazzard (pictured) asked parents to hold their children back from school if they have recently travelled to China PLC Sydney Girls (pictured) announced on Monday they are taking 'extra precautions' and have asked students to delay their return to school by 14 days if they had been to China PLC Sydney Girls announced on Monday they are taking 'extra precautions' and have asked students to delay their return to school by two weeks if they had been to China. 'I ask that all PLC Sydney students who have travelled to China, including Hong Kong, over the holidays delay their commencement of school until 14 days after the date that they landed in Australia,' Principal Paul Burgis wrote in the newsletter. 'If your daughter has had or develops any flu-like symptoms I ask that she attend a doctor and receive medical clearance. 'If your daughter develops any flu-like symptoms once school has commenced, we expect you will take her to the doctor directly and keep her home until she is not contagious. 'Our staff will be both respectful and diligent in looking out for the health of the community.' Parents received the newsletter from PLC on Monday informing them of the 'extra precautions' Passengers wearing protective masks arrive at Sydney International Airport in Sydney, Thursday, January 23 CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA NEW SOUTH WALES: 4 Four people in NSW have been diagnosed with coronavirus, including three men and one woman. January 25 Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China are confirmed to have contracted the disease. Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China. They are being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital and are in stable condition. January 27 A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW. The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms. She is being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital. VICTORIA: 4 January 25 A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia. The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19. He is now in quarantined isolation at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east. January 29 A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus. He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre. He was assessed as being well enough to stay at home. January 30 A woman in her 40s falls ill with the coronavirus. She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family. She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital. February 1 A Melbourne woman aged in her 20s is at home recovering. She returned from Wuhan on January 25 and fell ill two days later. She was not infectious on the flight, and has remained in isolation since being tested. QUEENSLAND: 2 January 29 Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national wass diagnosed with the virus. He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital. January 30 A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition. SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 2 February 1 A Chinese couple were placed in isolation in a public hospital. The man and a woman both aged 60, were from Wuhan and visiting relatives in South Australia. SA Health said the pair isolated themselves at home when they developed symptoms and awaited the results of the coronavirus test. Australia has raised the travel alert level to 'do not travel' for the city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak - and for the entire Hubei province. Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says unless people have contact with someone who is unwell and has come from that part of China, there is no need for current concern. Advertisement Private schools in Adelaide, Pembroke and Seymour College and Blackfriars Prior, have also requested parents leave their children at home if they've just returned from China. 'If you have visited the Wuhan district of China during the holidays, we ask that you refrain from sending your children to school until they have been back in Australia for at least 10 days,' Blackfriars Priory told parents on Tuesday. 'During this time, you should be on the alert for symptoms related to a fever or respiratory symptoms. These include a cough, shortness of breath, rapid breathing, a sore throat or a runny nose.' A family of four and six others who were being tested for coronavirus in NSW were on Tuesday morning cleared but six new cases are now under investigation. Mr Hazzard on Tuesday morning said 10 people under investigation on Monday had been cleared but six new potential cases were now being assessed. 'This will be, for some to come, an evolving situation,' Mr Hazzard told reporters. There have been four confirmed cases of the potentially deadly coronavirus in NSW. Blackfriars Priory (pictured) asked parents to keep their children at home if they had been to China Passengers from Wuhan China pictured on arrival into Sydney on a China Eastern airlines flight on January 23 A 21-year-old UNSW student became the fourth case in NSW and fifth in Australia after she tested positive on Monday. The woman flew into Sydney Airport on Thursday on the last Australian-bound direct flight out of the Chinese city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak. The student and three men who previously tested positive are being treated at Sydney's Westmead Hospital. All four people had either travelled to Wuhan or had contact with someone diagnosed with coronavirus in China. A Melbourne man in his 50s was also diagnosed and is being treated at the Monash Medical Centre. SA Health said that six people tested for the coronavirus in the state were still awaiting results while a seventh person tested had since been cleared. Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath. DUBLIN, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Incontinence Products - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Incontinence Products market worldwide is projected to grow by US$5.9 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 6.3%. Disposable Adult Diapers, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 6.2%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$10.6 Billion by the year 2025, Disposable Adult Diapers will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth. Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 5.7% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$225.1 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$230.4 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from the rest of the European markets. In Japan, Disposable Adult Diapers will reach a market size of US$1.8 Billion by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 10.9% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$849 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies. Competitors identified in this market include: Asaleo Care Ltd. Cardinal Health, Inc. Coloplast A/S Domtar Corporation Essity Aktiebolag (publ). Fu Burg Industrial Co., Ltd. Fujian Hengan Group Ltd. UniCharm Corporation Vinda International Holdings Ltd. and many more... Key Topics Covered I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. GLOBAL MARKET OVERVIEW Incontinence Products - A Prelude Global Incontinence Products Market to be driven by Increasing Geriatric Population Developed Regions Continue to Dominate, Developing to Grow Faster Future Growth to Emanate from Developing Countries Global Usage of Incontinence Products by Region (2018): Number of Units per Affected Elderly Population per Year for North America , Western Europe , Eastern Europe , Latin America , and Asia , , , , and Incontinence Products Market By Channel Worldwide Prevalence of Stress Urinary Incontinence among Women in the Age Group of 15 to 85+ Years for Select Geographic Regions: 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 Institutional Market Consumer Market Adult Diapers Dominate the Global Incontinence Care Market Market Thrives on Growing Prevalence of Incontinence Worldwide Prevalence (%) of Urinary Incontinence in Men and Women by Age Group Competition Global Competitor Market Shares Global Incontinence Care Products Market: Market Share Breakdown of Leading Players for 2018 and 2025 2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS 3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS MARKET TRENDS Manufacturers' Take Initiatives to Increase Awareness about Incontinence Players Improve Incontinence Products' Performance Aiding Senior Citizens to Choose the Best Diaper Targeting the Male Population Manufacturers' Use Stretchable Materials for Comfort and Discreet Fit Manufacturers Increase Investments for Research on Adult Incontinence Smart Diapers: The Latest Innovation in Adult Diapers Disposable Undergarments Witness Increased Sales Innovation - A Key to Adoption and Market Growth Expanding Product Variety Developing Incontinence Products using Advanced Designs and Technology Pull-on Pants: The Latest Fad Japanese-Style Adult Disposable Diapers to Soon Become International Standard Online Sales Offer New Avenues of Growth In-Home Care or Self-Care: Overarching Macro Trend Women Move towards Need Specific Products Non-wovens: The Time Honored Material for Adult Incontinence Care Products Market SAP Content in Select Products Adult Incontinence Products - At a Glance Developments in Airlaid Nonwovens to Help Incontinence Producers A Penchant for Thinness Foraying into Incontinence Products Market: Challenging, Despite Opportunities Product Trends in Incontinence Market Changing the Look Skin Care - The Add-On Feature Manufacturers Look to Expand Consumer Base Rising Focus on Developing Multi-Purpose Products GROWTH DRIVERS Aging Population - A Key Growth Driver Global Population Statistics for the 60+ Age Group by Region: 2017 Percentage Growth of 65+ Population in North America , Europe , Asia , and Latin America , , , and Aging Population by Age Group in More Developed Countries (1975-2050) Aging Population by Age Group in Less Developed Countries (1975-2050) Female Population Drives Demand Global Female Population by Geographic Region (2018): Percentage Breakdown for Asia-Pacific , Europe , Japan , Latin America , Middle East , South Africa , USA , and Rest of World , , , , , , , and Rest of World Female Population as a Percentage of Total Population by Country: 1960, 1980, 2000, 2010, and 2015 Longer Life Expectancy Bolsters Market Growth Life Expectancy for Select Countries in Number of Years: 2016 Rising Middle Class Population Aids Growth Global Middle Class Population (in Millions) and as a Percentage of Total Population: 2005, 2015, 2025 & 2035 Global Middle Class Spending (in US$ Trillion) by Geographic Region (2017, 2025P & 2030P) Increasing Obesity Levels Underpin Market Growth Global Obesity Epidemic: Percentage of Overweight, Obese, and Severely Obese Adults for 2014 & 2025 Severely Obese Population (in Thousands) Worldwide by Country: 2014 & 2025 Changing Demographic Pattern: An Opportunity for Adult Diapers Global Birth Rate Statistics (2017): Number of Births per 1,000 Population for Select Countries GROWTH INHIBITORS Increasing Amount of Disposable Incontinence Related Waste Competition from Substitutes and Sanitary Protection Products 4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE III. MARKET ANALYSIS IV. COMPETITION Companies Mentioned 3M Company Company 3M Australia Pty. Ltd. Australia Pty. Ltd. Abena A/S Asaleo Care Ltd. B. Braun Melsungen Ag Byram Healthcare Cardinal Health, Inc. Chiaus ( Fujian ) Industrial Development Co., Ltd. ) Industrial Development Co., Ltd. Coloplast A/S Coloplast Corporation Coloplast Ltd. Domtar Corportion Attends Healthcare Products, Inc. Laboratories Indas Sau Drylock Technologies Nv Essity Ab Fater Spa Fiberlinks Textiles, Inc. First Quality Enterprises, Inc. Fu Burg Industrial Co., Ltd. Fujian Hengan Group Ltd. Gentell Corporation Griffin Care Llc Hdis, Inc. Hisan Sa Hollister Inc. Kao Corporation Kimberly-Clark Corporation Kimberly-Clark De Mexico Sab De Cv Kleinert's Livedo Corporation Mckesson Corporation Mckesson Medical-Surgical, Inc. Mediq Bv Medline Industries, Inc. Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. Nippon Paper Crecia Co., Ltd. Nobel Hygiene Pvt., Ltd. (Friends) Northshore Care Supply Ontex Group Nv Paul Hartmann Ag Hartmann Usa, Inc. Paul Hartmann Sa Hartmann South Africa Prime Life Fibers - Wearever Principle Business Enterprises, Inc. Procter & Gamble Company, The Rely Medical Supply, Inc. Robinson Healthcare Ltd. Salk, Inc. Smith & Nephew Plc Staydry Incontinence Products Tytex A/S Tzmo Sa Unicharm Corporation Unicharm Australasia Vinda International Holdings Ltd. Woodbury Health Products For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/anz6dk Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Competition terms and conditions All entries must include: The Time of the Writer International Festival has opened entries for the Schools Short Story Competition. Hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Centre for Creative Arts (CCA), the festival has asked South African high school learners to submit their short stories by Friday, 28 February 2020.Held in conjunction with the Time of the Writer festival, the Schools Short Story Competition aims to encourage creative expression in young people while functioning as a springboard for the future writers of South Africa. Winners will be awarded cash prizes and complimentary tickets to the festival.The Time of the Writer takes place from 16 to 21 March 2020.The competition is open to all South African high school students.There is no particular topic for short stories.The short stories must be written in English or isiZulu.Illegible entries will not be considered (Typed entries preferred).Short stories are to be a maximum of 5 pages in length.Deadline for submissions is 28 February 2020 (4pm).Name of school (Contact and physical address).Name of the submitter (Grade, age and contact details).Ensure that all pages are numbered.Entries can be submitted by one of the following methods:Email: az.ca.nzku@3gedemuG Fax: 031 260 3074Hand Delivery: Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College Campus, Mazisi Kunene Avenue, Durban, 4041, South Africa ALBANY - Creating a statewide registry of properties with code violations as well as designating a state ombudsman to address lackluster local code enforcement programs are among 11 bills lawmakers have introduced to enhance code enforcement throughout New York. The slew of bills follows a state Senate investigation into housing code violations, which found multiple issues facing local code enforcement outside of New York City - from inadequate record-keeping and training of code enforcement officers, to insufficient penalties for violations and excessive delays and adjournments on cases, according to the final report by the state Senate's Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. It was one of three probes launched last year by state Sen. James Skoufis, an Orange County Democrat who took over the chamber's oversight and investigations committee at the beginning of 2019. We did a lengthy investigation and found that we need to tackle this from a whole host of angles, Skoufis said. This is exactly why we are doing these investigations, to shine a light on really important issues that may have not been looked at over the years, and ultimately compel legislation changes so New York state benefits from these inquiries. One piece of legislation would set a minimum fine for code violations, which Skoufis said right now only lays out a $1,000 maximum penalty. Most people dont come close to facing those, he said. What we see are violations open for months, sometimes years, and at the end of the process there is a $200 fine. Sen. George A. Amedore, Jr., R-Rotterdam, said he supports measures including requiring fire extinguishers in rental units, but was skeptical of a bill that would prohibit property owners from boarding up vacant buildings with plywood and other wood-based products. Amedore, who sits on the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development, said its important any legislation strikes a balance between property owners and tenants and recognizes the aging housing stock in the region. Everyone thinks that the landlord, if they own a building, they must be very wealthy and are doing well. Thats not necessarily the case, he said. What is the right remedy to bring about safety and helping the tenants, but also the difficulties for landlords to make the improvements because of the lack of resources. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Another bill that calls for a statewide registry of rental properties and the records of any building code violations could help municipalities identify property owners that hide behind limited liability corporations, said Albany Deputy Corporation Counsel Robert Magee, who testified at a recent public hearing on the legislation proposed. It will be a good source of contact information for property owners, which is something we struggle with, Magee said. It also requires that a landlord plead that they are compliant with the statewide registry when pursuing eviction, which forces landlords who want to get an eviction warrant to come into compliance. Code enforcement across the state has been scrutinized in recent years. A Times Union review of government records and interviews with building industry experts in May 2018 highlighted inadequacies within local code enforcement programs throughout the Capital Region. The review found code inspectors received low pay, sometimes were hired without any relevant experience, and could have ethical conflicts. It also found the states oversight role was lacking. A few months later, he state comptrollers office released the findings of an audit of six communities code enforcement practices, which found inspections of apartment buildings were not happening or were being done by non-certified staff. More for you Unsafe conditions: Issues plague region's building safety efforts The Georgia Department of Insurances multiple enforcement divisions worked on behalf of insurance consumers to combat fraud, return insurance premiums, and approve insurance licenses in 2019, according to a statement from GADOI. In addition, the department said it increased the number of agents licensed in the state and captive insurance companies. Commissioner John F. King released highlights from the various divisions within the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioners Office, which include: The GADOIs Consumer Services Division, which investigates policyholder complaints and responds to inquiries from the public answered 68,371 consumer phone calls, closed 10,577 cases, and recovered more than $7.9 million in 2019. The State Fire Marshals Office made the most significant updates to the Georgia State Fire Code in over a decade. Employees also completed 19,536 elevator inspections, 674 boiler inspections, 1,169 amusement ride inspections, and 889 plan reviews. The Agents Licensing Division, which grants licenses to resident and non-resident insurance agents and agencies, approved 71,966 new licenses in 2019. In addition to the new licenses that were approved, 77,391 licenses were renewed in 2019. The Criminal Investigations Division saw significant structural changes this year, from the addition of a new Director to the combining of Fire Investigations and Fraud Investigations under one roof. In 2019, Fire Investigators conducted 417 total investigations, ruling 133 fires arson and arresting 25 criminals. Fraud Investigation Agents made 53 arrests for 275 various insurance fraud and drug-related charges and assisted local jurisdictions in bringing 32 indictments to individuals arrested by the Criminal Investigations Division over the past several years. The Legal Division is tasked with investigating and making recommendations to the commissioner regarding agents license revocations, cease and desist orders, and other such matters involving the Commissioners regulatory responsibilities. In the first three quarters of 2019, the Legal Division took administrative action against 144 licensees, with 117 licenses placed on probationary status, 15 revocations, 5 consent orders, and 7 suspensions. The Insurance Product Review Life, Accident, and Sickness Section reviews, regulates, and approves all policy forms for life and health insurance used in the state. In 2019, Georgia welcomed two new health insurance carriers (CareSource and Oscar Health Plan) to the Federal ACA Exchange, providing Georgians with more options for health insurance carriers on the federal marketplace. The Premium Tax Division collected an estimated $1.2 billion in premium taxes and distributed roughly $700 million of that back to local jurisdictions. The Insurance Financial Oversight Division, responsible for the licensing of companies desiring to transact business in Georgia, licensed four new domestic life/health companies, approved 38 foreign expansion applications, and approved five new captive companies. Im proud of the men and women of this office who are hard at work every day on behalf of Georgia families, said Commissioner King. From money weve recovered for consumers to the number of insurance fraud arrests weve made over the past 12 months, this 2019 year-in-review serves to highlight this important work. Source: Georgia Department of Insurance Topics Agencies Fraud Georgia [January 28, 2020] NextGen Leads Named a Winner in 2020 San Diego's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For NextGen Leads, a top-tier Health, Medicare and Auto insurance leads company, was named a 2020 Winner for San Diego's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. The recognition honors companies that demonstrate a commitment to excellence in their human resource practices and employee enrichment. The Best and Brightest program is led by the National Association for Business Earnings. An independent research firm evaluates each nominated company, looking for companies that excel at employee relations, use innovation to motivate employees, implement creative compensation and wellness programs, and strive to make their workplaces and surrounding community healthier places to work and live. NextGen (News - Alert) Leads is an employee-focused employer and operates with a family-oriented culture. It promotes employee fulfillment through numerous staff appreciation outings and awards, including weekly and monthly individual and team recognition events that celebrate performance, ingenuity and innovation among their 100+ employees. Work-life balance is at the core of the insurance sales leads company's culture, which can be seen in its 8,000-square-foot contemporary office space in downtown San Diego, which includes an employee lounge, modern kitchen and break room, and a custom-made shuffleboard table. NextGen Leads' Point Loma-based call center also promotes teamwork, health and well-being, as well as sharedgoals for excellence. "We set out to be an employee-first company with a family-oriented culture from the beginning. We've implemented several company-wide initiatives to build an engaged workforce and promote a healthy work-life balance," said NextGen Leads Founder and CEO Chris Kelly. "We're proud of the community we've created at NextGen Leads and are honored to be recognized, with other like-minded companies, as a Best and Brightest Company to Work For in San Diego." Last year, NextGen Leads announced it has grown revenue by over 1,454% in the past three years, expanded its employee headcount to over 100, and moved its headquarters to downtown San Diego. The winners will be recognized at the San Diego's Best and Brightest Symposium and Awards Gala on Thursday, February 13 at the Farmer & the Seahorse. Tickets can be purchased here. About NextGen Leads NextGen Leads drives targeted and validated sales leads to leading carriers, insurance agencies, and independent agents in the Health, Medicare, and Auto insurance industries. With experience derived from his time at Google (News - Alert) and as past owner of an insurance agency, NextGen Leads Founder and CEO Chris Kelly and his team have developed a lead generation platform and self-serve dashboard that is flexible, easy to use, fully compliant and powered by sophisticated technology. NextGen Leads wins accolades from its customers for its transparent approach, in-house marketing and development teams, and California-based call center that work together to cost effectively deliver a high volume of high-converting sales leads daily. www.nextgenleads.com, Facebook, LinkedIn. About the Best and Brightest The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For is a program of the National Association for Business Resources, that celebrates companies that are making better business, creating richer lives and building a stronger community as a whole. The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For is a national program with annual symposium and award celebrations presented in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Houston, Milwaukee, and San Francisco. Visit www.thebestandbrightest.com to nominate a company. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005275/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Botswana government has issued a travel warning to its citizens over the growing unrest in South Africa. The attacks, targeting foreign nationals in South Africa, are likely to affect Botswana, which is dependent on its neighbor for food imports and petroleum products. Mpho Keitumetse is a cross-border trader who buys second-hand clothes in Johannesburg, for resale in her home country, Botswana. However, her business has come to a standstill since attacks targeting foreign nationals in South Africa broke out last week. Keitumetse has been forced to stay home until the situation improves. "The attacks in South Africa are really bad for business, Keitumetse said. They are affecting us all. As neighboring countries, we do business together. Ever since these attacks started, I have not been able to deliver on my business because I buy my stock from South Africa. Everything has been put on hold, for how long I don't know." While Botswana immigration officials say it has been business as usual at entry points, taxi operators are not taking chances, with some, like Mompati Kobe, grounding their fleet. Kobe argues it is too risky to drive to Johannesburg where most of the attacks have occurred. "These unrests have really affected us, Kobe said. It is now difficult to take our vehicles there because you never know, they might burn them. Some of the vehicles are not insured. For now, we have grounded our services until the situation calms down." Botswana imports two-thirds of its goods from South Africa, which includes petroleum products. While the country has allayed fears of looming fuel shortages, fuel truck drivers are not prepared to risk their lives by crossing into South Africa. Albert Phiri, a Zambian truck driver who works for a South African fuel company, has been stuck in Botswana since the start of the week, afraid of driving back to Johannesburg. "Our trucks are grounded, I have been at the border since the start of the week, Phiri said. We can't cross for fear of violence. I don't even know when I will cross to South Africa, I fear for my life, but at the same time, I still want to keep my job." Gaborone-based political analyst Lawrence Ookeditse says all affected countries should voice their concerns to the South African government and bring back their emissaries if necessary. "In the event that the South Africans are not responding adequately, then they (affected countries) need to immediately consider all options, and all options including recalling their envoys or ambassadors, Ookeditse said. While Botswana issued a warning to citizens about traveling to South Africa, the country's president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, flew to Cape Town on Tuesday for the World Economic Forum on Africa. Leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Rwanda have pulled out of the meeting, amid concerns over the deteriorating situation. India on Tuesday summoned a senior official of the Pakistan high commission and registered a strong protest over the alleged abduction of a woman from the Hindu minority during her wedding ceremony, people familiar with developments said. The family of Bharti Bai, a 24-year-old Hindu woman from Hala in Pakistans Sindh province, has alleged she was kidnapped by unidentified people when she was set to be married to a Hindu man. A Muslim man has claimed she converted to Islam and married him last December. The people cited above said the official of the Pakistan high commission was summoned to the external affairs ministry and served a strong demarche or a formal diplomatic correspondence against the alleged abduction of the Hindu woman from her marriage ceremony on January 25 with the help of police in Hala city. India also served the Pakistani official a separate demarche regarding the desecration of Mata Rani Bhatiyani temple at Tharparkar in Sindh on January 26. The Indian side asked the Pakistan government to investigate these incidents and take urgent action for protecting and promoting the security, safety and welfare of its citizens, including the minority Hindu community in Pakistan, said a person who declined to be identified. The Pakistani side was also asked to take immediate measures to expeditiously bring the perpetrators of such despicable and heinous acts to justice, the person said. Kishore Das, the father of Bharti Bai, said his daughters marriage was underway when the alleged kidnapper, Shah Rukh Gul, came with several men and policemen and took her away. Later, a picture showing Bharti Bai with documents regarding her conversion to Islam and marriage to Shah Rukh went viral on social media. The documents purportedly showed she had converted to Islam on December 1 last year. The Jamiat-ul-Uloom Islamia, located at Banuri town in Karachi, issued the certificate of conversion. A first information report (FIR) was registered on Monday against four people for vandalising Mata Rani Bhatiyani temple in a village near Chhachro town. According to the FIR, the temple was desecrated by four unidentified people on Sunday night. India and Pakistan have traded angry charges in recent weeks over the treatment of minorities against the backdrop of heightened tensions and the deterioration of bilateral relations over several issues. A mine worker has died after an accident at Gina Rinehart's (pictured) Roy Hill iron ore project in Western Australia A mine worker has died after an accident at Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill iron ore project in Western Australia. The 64-year-old man suffered serious injuries at the site, 115km north of Newman and 340km south-east of Port Hedland, early Monday morning. He was flown to hospital but died overnight. The man had been working for the subsidiary DIAB Engineering. 'We are devastated by the loss of our colleague and extend our sincerest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues,' NRW said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday. '(We) extend our sincerest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues,' the statement said. 'NRW's number one priority is the safety and well-being of our workforce. 'Support has been extended to the worker's family and his colleagues.' The mine, owned by Australia's richest woman, is one of the largest privately owned mine's in Australia. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- What was it like when the first international students from the People's Republic of China came to the United States 40 years ago? Dr. Thomas Fingar, who oversaw receiving overseas students at that time, discusses with People's Daily Online West USA what these first experiences were like. Dr. Fingar oversaw receiving the first group of PRC students to the US Dr. Thomas Fingar is a professor at Stanford University. In 2005, he moved to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis and concurrently served as the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council until December 2008. He was charged with receiving the first group of PRC students in the U.S. While the Chinese and the American governments were busily negotiating the establishment of diplomatic relations 40 years ago, the efforts to resume people-to-people academic exchanges between the two countries were also underway. Commissioned by the White House, Stanford University sent a team of experts to China to contribute to the normalization of U.S.-China relations. Dr. Thomas Fingar was one of the U.S. representatives at the time. In October 1978, he made a second visit to China and signed an academic exchange and cooperation agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences on behalf of Stanford University. He spearheaded the negotiations, signed a cooperation agreement, and participated in interviews of the first group of Chinese students to study abroad. On Nov. 12, 1978, the first Chinese students arrived at Stanford, and one and a half months later, China and the U.S. formally established diplomatic relations. In the documentary, A Story Spanning 40 Years of People's Daily Online West USA, "weird" is the word used to describe the first group of Chinese students who came to Stanford from the People's Republic of China. How weird were these students? In the documentary, Dr. Thomas Fingar describes many details of that time. 40 years later, there are around 900 Chinese students at Stanford University. What is their current situation? In the documentary, we will hear Dr. Thomas Fingar talk about the changes seen in these students. Wei Deng Phone: 669.900.2566 Email: [email protected] Related Images charles-thomas-fingar.jpg Charles Thomas Fingar Dr. Fingar oversaw receiving the first group of PRC students to the US Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OCKRjGPQ14 SOURCE People's Daily Online West USA Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order regarding measures to renovate roads in the city of Sumgayit. Under the presidential order, 6.4 million manat is allocated to the Azerbaijan Highway State Agency for the renovation of the roads in the city. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The West Bengal unit of Shiv Sena on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the state human rights commission against Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) state chief Dilip Ghosh for threatening to kill those protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Dilip Ghosh cannot say that those who burnt trains etc should be shot dead because there is law in the country that says offenders should be booked and tried, Ashok Sarkar, Shiv Senas general secretary in Bengal said after lodging a complaint. I accuse Dilip Ghosh of intimidation and threatening. I fear that he being a Member of Parliament and a senior leader of the ruling party, has all the means to carry out his threat in practice. Therefore, as a member of West Bengal Shiv Sena, a party that has been opposing the CAA along with many others, I fear for my life and that of my fellow activists and supporters, Sarkar wrote in his letter to the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBSHRC), according to ANI. Ghosh who has made a series of bizarre statements recently, said he did not care about such complaints because the police have already named him in dozens of cases across the state. Relations between former allies Shiv Sena and the BJP have soured after the Maharashtra assembly elections last year over government formation. On January 12, Dilip Ghosh had warned that people damaging public property during anti-CAA protests should shot like dogs. They burnt down trains and buses. Government properties worth Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore have been damaged in West Bengal. But the police neither opened fire nor baton-charged the protesters or file FIRs against them. Didis police didnt arrest anyone. Why? This is a waste of public money. This is your money and my money, Ghosh said while addressing BJP supporters at Ranaghat in Nadia district. Just look at Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Our governments there killed these devils with bullets. They were killed like dogs, he added Ghosh who has not expressed any remorse for his remarks was re-elected as the BJP state chief on January 16 for a second consecutive term. Protests have been raging in various parts of the country including Bengal for more than a month against the CAA that grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslims refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Donald Trump bashed his favorite news channel Tuesday claiming that it will be the 'beginning of the end' for Fox News if they continue to bring Democrats on the network and instead touted getting news from social media. 'Really pathetic how @FoxNews is trying to be so politically correct by loading the airwaves with Democrats like Chris Van Hollen, the no name Senator from Maryland,' Trump tweeted Tuesday morning, specifically calling out one of the Democratic senators hearing the impeachment trial. 'He has been on forever playing up the Impeachment Hoax.' 'Dems wouldn't even give Fox their low ratings debates,' he continued in the duo of tweets, referencing the fact that the Democratic National Committee won't let Fox News host a primary presidential debate. 'So, what the hell has happened to @FoxNews. Only I know!' he lamented, claiming the change in the network is the fault of more moderate or Democrat anchors and hosts. 'Chris Wallace and others should be on Fake News CNN or MSDNC,' Trump tweeted. 'How's Shep Smith doing? Watch, this will be the beginning of the end for Fox, just like the other two which are dying in the ratings. Social Media is great!' In a tweet thread Monday, Trump bashed his favorite news network, asking 'what the hell has happened to Fox News.' He said it is 'pathetic' that the outlet is trying to be 'politically correct' by interview Democrats during the impeachment trial Trump's preferred network along with conservative One America news is Fox news. He often touts the outlet as an outlier to the other 'fake news,' which he says is CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times and The Washington Post One criticism Trump has for Fox is that they host Democrats, as well as Republicans, on their shows. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen is a frequent guest Trump also said Fox News host Chris Wallace, a Democrat, is bringing down the network and should move to CNN or MSNBC Trump has a nickname for the left-leaning network MSNBC. He instead calls it MSDNC, playing on the network's name and the initials for the Democratic Party. Chris Wallace, who has worked at Fox since 2003 and hosts Fox News Sunday, is a Democrat. Shep Smith worked at Fox since it first broadcast in 1996, but the openly-gay Trump critic abruptly announced on the October 11, 2019 episode of his show, Shepard Smith Reporting, that he was leaving the network. Smith hasn't done much publicly since leaving Fox, but did deliver a speech at the 2019 International Press Freedom Awards in November where he said governments were making it more dangerous for journalists to do their jobs. Trump often has high accolades for Fox his preferred news network along with conservative One America News while he criticizes all other outlets as 'fake news.' He specifically calls out CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times and The Washington Post at campaign rallies, on Twitter and on a daily basis when answer reporters' questions he has even called the press the 'enemy of the people.' His recent ire at Fox comes as it continues to interview both Democrats and Republicans as the impeachment trial in the Senate reached its seventh day Tuesday. Senator Chris Van Hollen is frequent Democratic guest on the right-leaning network. Most recently, Van Hollen appeared on America's Newsroom Tuesday morning in an interview with Fox News hosts Sandra Smith and Ed Henry to discuss Trump's impeachment trial. Wallace has held several town halls with Democratic presidential candidates, including with former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg Sunday night. The town halls are to combat the DNC, which will not allow Fox News to host a Democratic primary debate Vocal Trump critic Shep Smith, who was with Fox News since its first broadcast in 1996, abruptly announced his departure during his show on October 11, 2019 He specifically was addressing the new report that revealed John Bolton details in an upcoming book that Trump directly informed him that he was holding military aid in exchange for Ukraine announcing an investigation into political rival Joe Biden. Democrats, Van Hollen revealed, plan to use this information as a strategy to get the GOP to allow them to call witnesses in the trial, including former Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser. 'It really becomes impossible for any senators who say they're seeking the truth in this trial to not call John Bolton as a witness,' Van Hollen said in the Fox appearance. Wallace has held several town hall events with Democratic candidates, including with former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Sunday. The town halls have been a substitution after DNC Chairman Tom Perez blocked Fox News from hosting any of the primary debates. Trump says Wallace should instead seek an employer change and go to CNN or MSNBC. I Hunger for You seeks to identify where this broad idea of faith resides within the body. What are the impulses, grounded in personal beliefs, that compel a person to move? The result is a highly physical, guttural, sweaty and quite dark endeavor, as emotionally taxing for the cast as it is physically exhausting. Bartosik positions several audience members on stage a congregation of sorts that forms a container to hold the energetic intensity of such a collective experience. Dahlia will be part of that congregation. Bartosik said, as she was making the piece, that it felt heavy and depressing. The presence of a child bearing witness lifts some of that heaviness. It was the most instinctual decision Ive ever made, she said. Dowling recovering at home after long hospital stay State Rep. Matthew Dowling has returned home after suffering a one-vehicle crash in October. Dowling represents parts of Somerset County. T he Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to mainland China amid the coronavirus outbreak . The updated travel advice for China from the Government says: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all travel to Hubei Province due to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak. If youre in this area and able to leave, you should do so. The FCO advise against all but essential travel to the rest of mainland China (not including Hong Kong and Macao). The Chinese government continue to impose further restrictions on movement within China in response to the coronavirus outbreak. "It may become harder over the coming weeks for those who wish to leave China to do so. If you feel that you may want to leave China soon, you should consider making plans to do so before any further restrictions may be imposed. Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP It comes as Britons in the coronavirus-hit Chinese province of Hubei are expected to be flown home as early as Thursday. A teacher in Wuhan has said that UK citizens were being given details of forthcoming flights. Those stuck in the city of Wuhan and surrounding areas have been urged to contact the British consulate before 11am on Wednesday if they wish to leave. The British embassy in Beijing has said transport to get UK citizens out may happen quickly and with short notice. A passenger wears swimming goggles and a facemask as he waits inside the high-speed train station connecting Hong Kong to mainland China / AFP via Getty Images The British teacher living in Wuhan, who asked not to be named, said she had been in contact with the British authorities who informed her that while she could return to the UK, her husband, who has a UK visa, would not be allowed to as he was a Chinese national. It is understood that this was a result of restrictions imposed by China, rather than the UK. As a result, she decided that she would remain in China with her husband. She said: Its what we were expecting to be honest, as wed heard that it was like that for the American flight out. We had hoped it would be different, but oh well. If the situation stays as it is, or improves, then were fine. We just hope it wont get any more serious. She added that a number of other Britons she was in contact with had arranged to return home, with some scheduled on a flight at 7am on Thursday. The news comes as almost 100 people in the UK have tested negative for coronavirus. On Tuesday it was reported three more people in the southern German state of Bavaria had been infected. The Department of Health and Social Care said 97 people have been given the all-clear for the virus, although scientists predict it may have entered the country. Earlier, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government was working on how to bring people home from the Chinese city. A medical worker in protective suit checks the body temperature of car passenger at a checkpoint near the border to Hubei Province / REUTERS He told BBC Breakfast: For anybody who is there, one of the issues we have, working with our partners internationally on this, is actually identifying how many British citizens there are in Wuhan. One of the things were asking people to do is to contact the consulate there to make them aware. People have started to do that. We are working on arrangements as well. Hubei province has been on lockdown for several days as China seeks to contain the illness, as have other parts of China. Shoppers wearing facemasks in Beijing to stop the spread of the virus / AFP via Getty Images Hong Kong also said on Tuesday it would temporarily close some of its borders with mainland China and stop issuing travel permits to mainland Chinese tourists. More than 100 people have now died in the country, with confirmed infections surging to more than 4,500. It comes as the UK expert developing a vaccine against coronavirus said it has a very good chance of being effective. Professor Robin Shattock, head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London, told PA he plans to start testing the vaccine on animals by the middle of February, with human studies in the summer if enough funding is secured. He warned there could be a second wave of coronavirus next winter across the globe. He said officials could not be 100% certain the virus is not spread by people who are not displaying symptoms. The move means more than 1,400 people who have returned from Wuhan since January 10 should isolate themselves for 14 days from the date of leaving China. Meanwhile, reports from Japan and Germany on Tuesday suggested cases of coronavirus in people with no history of travel to Wuhan. Scientists are also working on emerging evidence which suggests the virus can be spread by people before they even develop symptoms. President Trump, reportedly, wanted a telegenic team to make the case for him at his impeachment trial. But the biggest star in the Senate chamber on the first full day of his defense on Monday was The Man Who Wasnt There. On Sunday, a report in The New York Times about a book manuscript from the former national security adviser John Bolton upended the trial. As Mr. Bolton tells it, Mr. Trump said directly that he wanted to freeze aid to Ukraine until the country helped with investigations into the Bidens a central charge in the trial. But though the news hooked jumper cables to the days TV coverage raising the possibility of an extended trial with witnesses you wouldnt have known it from the speakers at the podium. As Jake Tapper put it on CNN, the presidents defense seemed determined to ignore the giant white mustache in the room. There has been a tension, from the beginning, between the telephile presidents desire for a showy, made-for-broadcast defense and his defenders wish to get the trial over as quickly and quietly as possible. Political leaders should listen to public outcries about financial struggle The Lunar New Year holiday is over. If one were to sum up the public sentiment during the four-day holiday into a couple of words, it could be "tightening belts." Most working-class families will agree. The Bank of Korea has said the economy grew 2 percent last year, the lowest increase in a decade, and comparable to the Asian currency crisis of 1998 and the global financial turmoil in 2008. Already, concerns are mounting over whether Korea will be able to hit the government's target growth rate of 2.4 percent for this year. For ordinary people who are feeling increasingly worse off, the administration's announcement of improving headline figures appears to be but stories of faraway lands. Working households are aggravated, and the middle class has a severe distrust of politicians on the whole. During the recent holiday period, well-wishing remarks among relatives did not last long and were replaced by economic complaints. The panic of the new coronavirus from China also spread rapidly, putting aside even the most pending issues of prosecutorial and electoral reform. Even amid such a troubled situation, however, the political parties were hell-bent only on the April 15 general election instead of joining forces to revive the economy and improving people's livelihoods. Voters are more concerned about dwindling jobs and sluggish income growth than the upcoming elections. Rep. Lee In-young, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, said, "In short, voters were urging politicians to put the people's livelihood ahead of all else." He then proposed to hold an extraordinary National Assembly session to pass bills related to bread-and-butter issues. The opposition parties should positively consider accepting the proposal. This year's Lunar New Year holiday came with the parliamentary elections less than three months away. That means conversation during family meals will exert considerable influence on the election outcome. A legislator whose constituency is in the southwestern region said he could feel that "self-employed, small business owners and younger generations were especially upset." The ruling party should heed these complaints. The opposition parties are no better, mired in partisan bickering. Politicians should start with the correct reading of people's desires. Parties that listen to voters' disappointment and offer actual solutions will be laughing in three months time. The day the world was stunned by the fiery explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger, President Ronald Reagan said, We mourn seven heroes. Just 73 seconds into its mission on Jan. 28, 1986, the shuttle was violently torn apart, sending the crew to their death - Francis R. Scobee, mission commander; Gregory Jarvis, payload specialist; Judith A. Resnik, mission specialist; Ronald E. McNair, mission specialist; Mike J. Smith, pilot; Ellison S. Onizuka, mission specialist; and Christa McAuliffe, teacher in space and payload specialist. Reagan said, For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy. They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us. Helicopters, ships and planes started a recovery mission after debris stopped falling for the sky, which took about 15 minutes. I regret that I have to report that based on very preliminary searches of the ocean where Challenger impacted this morning, these searches have not revealed any evidence that the crew of Challenger survived, said Jesse Moore, NASA associate administrator. The Associated Press reported, The accident defied quick explanation, though a slow-motion replay seemed to show an initial problem with one of two peel-away rocket boosters followed by detonation of the shuttles huge external fuel tank. The exploding tank destroyed Challenger high above the Atlantic while crew families and NASA officials watched in despair from the Cape. McAuliffe was to be the first teacher in space. Some students, including McAuliffes, were watching the liftoff live on TV. Eighteen students were in the audience at Cape Canaveral along with McAuliffes family. Within seconds, a party died in silence as hundreds of Christa McAuliffes friends, students and colleagues watched the shuttle Challenger blast off yesterday and then explode, the Associated Press reported from Concord, N.H. Addressing students, Reagan said, And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them. Challenger's mission lasted just 1 minute and 13 seconds. It traveled 18 miles. Challenger disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla. The breakup was blamed on failed O-ring seals in the right rocket booster. The seal had become brittle because of the cold temperature that morning. From history.com, It was later determined that two rubber O-rings, which had been designed to separate the sections of the rocket booster, had failed due to cold temperatures on the morning of the launch. The tragedy and its aftermath received extensive media coverage and prompted NASA to temporarily suspend all shuttle missions. The morning of January 28 was unusually cold, and engineers warned their superiors that certain components particularly the rubber O-rings that sealed the joints of the shuttles solid rocket boosters were vulnerable to failure at low temperatures. However, these warnings went unheeded, and at 11:39 a.m. Challenger lifted off. Several crew members are known to have survived the initial breakup - four "Personal Egress Air Packs" were found to have been activated. But, the impact of the crew cabin - 2 minutes and 45 seconds after launch - with the surface of the ocean was not survivable. Divers from the USS Preserver found the crew compartment on the ocean floor on March 7. The remains of the seven crew members were found in the compartment. The "Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident" on the cause of the accident said this, "The consensus of the Commission and participating investigative agencies is that the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger was caused by a failure in the joint between the two lower segments of the right Solid Rocket Motor. The specific failure was the destruction of the seals that are intended to prevent hot gases from leaking through the joint during the propellant burn of the rocket motor. The evidence assembled by the Commission indicates that no other element of the Space Shuttle system contributed to this failure." Reagan concluded his address by saying, The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Mayank Singh By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday reiterated government's stand that with Pakistan 'talks and terror cannot go together'. Rajnath Singh asked Pakistan to take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India from its soil. Rajnath Singh while addressing the 12th South Asia Conference on 'Indias Neighbourhood First Policy: Regional Perceptions' said, 'With the exception of Pakistan, the SAARC countries have adhered to the principles of non-interference in each others internal affairs and not supporting cross-border terrorism.' Pointing to SAARC unable to realise its full potential Rajanth Singh did not take name of Pakistan but said, 'Full potential of SAARC has not been realized due to the behaviour and policies of a single country.' Adding further he said, use of terror as an instrument of its foreign and security policy has promoted radicalism and terrorism in the region and posed critical challenges to security of all states. Rajnath Singh quoted the example of the Easter Bomb attacks in Sri Lanka in April 2019 as the latest instance of how dangerous such a policy has been for the region and beyond. 'Terror attacks in Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama in India were grim reminders of state-sponsored terrorism by a neighbouring country.' he stressed. Quoting Indian response to terror attacks Rajnath Singh said India is fully capable of giving a firm response to cross-border terrorism, and strikes against terrorist attacks in 2016 and 2019 have demonstrated the nation's firm resolve to defeat terrorism. Explaining the essential contours of the Government's Neighbourhood First Policy (NFP), Minister said that the Government has recognised the neighbourhood as the most important foreign policy priority. Defence Minister informed that the Government has committed about 13.14 billion US dollars in credit-lines and about 4 billion US dollars in assistance in the neighbourhood over the last decade. Talking about the conference Defence Minister said that such events by the civil society can influence governments through their proactive efforts and added that regional civil society of South Asia has a duty to encourage efforts like this. The South Asia Conference is flagship programme of Indias premier think tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and is being organized since 2007 in New Delhi. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A proposed city law would let city inspectors test every rental property in Syracuse for lead paint. The law would allow city code inspectors to test for lead paint dust and cite it as a code violation. That -- in tandem with a series of more aggressive codes regulations passed in recent years -- would make it much more difficult for landlords to ignore lead paint in the citys aging houses. Currently, inspectors can only cite chipped or cracked paint, but cannot test for lead. Mayor Ben Walsh announced the new law at his State of the City address earlier this month. Monday, the Common Council approved the first step toward implementing the law. Under the proposed legislation, the city will identify high risk areas for lead exposure, allowing our inspectors to take dust swipe samples even in properties where deteriorated paint is not visible, Walsh said. Working together, we will wipe out the threat of lead to our children once and for all." Hundreds of children in Syracuse are poisoned by lead paint every year -- an epidemic thats led to development issues in whole generations of city kids. A syracuse.com report in 2017 revealed 11 percent of children in the city had elevated levels of lead in their blood. That new law comes about seven months after a grand jury recommended letting Syracuse code inspectors test for lead. The jury had just brought criminal charges against seven landlords for ignoring lead paint violations. They likened the current lead paint prevention system to a canary in a coal mine. The law requires an environmental impact statement, which assesses the potential impacts of the change. A draft of that statement was recently completed and the Common Council voted Monday to oversee the review. The next step is a 30-day public comment period, which begins next Wednesday, Feb. 5. As the public comment period begins, the Central New York Community Foundation, one of the areas largest charities, plans to publicly back the law. Its a rare move for an agency that has never made such an endorsement on a local policy initiative. Peter Dunn, CEO of the Central New York Community Foundation, said there have been positive efforts to eliminate lead poisoning, but the laws need to catch up to those efforts. Weve seen a lot of positive movement on lead poisoning in the last year or two, Dunn said. Folks are rowing in the same direction, but the policy framework doesnt support it. Dunn said the city of Rochester adopted a similar law and dramatically reduced the rate of lead paint poisoning among children. According to a report from the Democrat and Chronicle, lead poisoning in Rochester has dropped by 90 percent since 2001. The new Syracuse law would help connect several other pieces of legislation related to code enforcement that were passed in recent years. In 2018, the city created the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication, which allows an appointed judge to deal with day-to-day code violations. The state also passed a law that year allowing Syracuse to add unpaid code violations to a property owners tax bill. If those bills go unpaid, the city can seize the property and transfer it to the Land Bank. Also in 2018, the Common Council approved a more robust rental registry program that mandates inspections on all one- and two-family rental properties. Last year, Onondaga County added to the fight by agreeing to withhold rental assistance to landlords who ignore lead paint violations. The district attorney also successfully prosecuted landlords who willfully ignored lead paint violations. The newest law would be the final piece of legislation to connect all those prior efforts, Dunn said. By authorizing city code inspectors to test for lead dust in paint, the city is effectively mandating lead paint tests in every rental property in the city. Those inspections will take place every three years. Common Councilor Joe Driscoll sponsored the legislation. Hes made lead paint abatement a priority in his first two years on the council, along with Council President Helen Hudson. The council will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 233 E. Washington St. The draft statement was funded through a grant from the New York State Department of Health at no cost to the city. Correction: An earlier version of this story said the lead program will be paid for by the state. It was the draft environmental impact statement that was funded by the state. The mother of a girl who said she was harassed and abused for being white has received a $70,000 settlement in a discrimination suit against the school district. The settlement was approved last month, resolving the sixth-grade girl's lawsuit against the New Hanover School District in Burlington County, New Jersey. The girl, who enrolled in the school in 2013 as a third-grader, is identified in the lawsuit only by her initials, M.S. According to the suit, from the time M.S. started at the school through the sixth grade, she was perpetually physically attacked by classmates, and called 'whitey', 'white b***h' and 'lesbian'. The lawsuit claims that a white girl was subjected to racial abuse and bullying at the New Hannover Township School in Burlington County, New Jersey. The alleged abuse continued until M.S. 'was forced to leave school and begin homsechooling in June of 2017.' Other incidents described in the lawsuit include classmates hitting M.S. in the face with a water bottle and a ball, as well as kicking her in the stomach and threatening to beat her up. In May 2017, other students allegedly told M.S. that the playground was now a 'punching ground' and that they were going to beat up the little girl. M.S.'s mother says that one bully's own mom came to her home and called her a 'white b***h' and 'white trash' after she complained about the schoolyard bullying. The suit also claims that a teacher, Ms. Peterla, told M.S.'s mother: 'If your daughter would just keep her mouth shut, we could avoid all of these problems.' The mother of M.S. says that she repeatedly met with the principal, Scott Larkin, over the years in question, but that nothing was ever done about the bullying. The suit claims that Larkin told the mother that she should just 'shut up and let us deal with the problem.' Larkin said in a statement to DailyMail.com: 'At this time, we're happy the matter has been resolved and we can move forward. Our goal remains providing our students with a world class education in a safe and nurturing environment.' The suit accuses Principal Scott Larkin (above) of failing to stop the racial abuse An attorney for M.S., Drake P. Bearden Jr, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to state data, the New Hannover School District is 33 percent white, with the rest of the student body classified as black, Hispanic, or other races. The settlement was first reported by NJ Civil Settlements, a blog that tracks settlements paid by government agencies. 'Settlement agreements typically state that payment does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by any of the defendants,' wrote watchdog blogger John Paff. 'All that is known for sure is that the New Hanover school district or its insurer, for whatever reason, decided that it would rather pay M.S. $70,000 than take the matter to trial,' he continued. 'This is the problem when cases resolve before trial--it is impossible to know the truth of what really happened.' As the sun filtered through drenched streets, a small crowd of mourners and friends gathered in front of the southeast Houston home of Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle. At 5 p.m. they stepped through the soggy yard and hung a wreath of white roses at the entrance of the home. A year has passed since police crashed into this small home looking for heroin; a year since the gun battle that followed, which claimed Tuttles and Nicholas lives and left five officers injured and the Houston Police Department on the defensive, grappling with the worst scandal it has faced in a generation. On Tuesday evening, however, Esmeralda Becera wasnt thinking about that -- she just wanted to remember her friends. She was like a sister to me, Becera said, as her four grandchildren milled about in the wet leaves at 7815 Harding St. We really miss her, said her 12-year-old granddaughter Delilah, twisting her fingers nervously as she stared at the group gathered outside of the small house. Rhogena sometimes picked her and her sisters up from school; she babysat for them; she let them play with her dog, and she cooked dinner for them. Its just weird she died because she was an awesome and great person that we knew, she said. And I dont want anything like this to happen again to other people. Hours before Becera and her children and other Houston residents gathered at the vigil, attorneys for the slain couple filed legal paperwork Tuesday to preserve evidence in a recently settled lawsuit stemming from a fatal 2014 HPD shooting. CHRONICLE INVESTIGATION: HPD records show misconduct in narcotics division beyond cops at center of botched raid Lawyers for the family of Nicholas asked U.S. District Judge Sim Lake to let them intervene in a case the city of Houston settled in the 2014 shooting death of Jordan Baker by Juventino Castro . They are seeking to modify a protective order demanded by the city that allows it to keep evidence from the public, including records of internal investigations, depositions under oath, and other materials that reveal the practices of HPD and the City in investigating shootings by officers. Were committing to finding justice and to helping prevent other families from going through terrible ordeals like this one, said John Nicholas, Rhogenas brother. Members of HPDs Narcotics Squad 15 burst into Nicholas home on Harding Street looking for heroin. The raid devolved into a firefight, killing Nicholas and Tuttle. Police didnt find any heroin, only small amounts of cocaine and marijuana, and relatives and neighbors disputed that the two individuals had dealt drugs. In the weeks that followed, Police Chief Art Acevedo said Gerald Goines, the officer who had investigated the case and led the operation, had lied about the drug buy used to justify the raid on 7815 Harding St. The police department, the Harris County District Attorneys Office and the FBI all launched investigations into the incident. In the midst of the scandal, prosecutors dismissed dozens of active criminal cases and announced a review of more than 14,000 past cases Goines and other members of his squad had worked on. INMATE CHALLENGES: More challenges filed on cases handled by ex-Houston officer Gerald Goines Goines was charged with murder and other crimes, and accused of a raft of misconduct, including having sex with a confidential informant, keeping loose drugs in his car, and lying about casework. His former partner, Steven Bryant, has been charged with tampering with a government record. Both officers retired from the department and have pleaded not guilty. In an emailed statement, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg promised her department was continuing to investigate the incident. Two consecutive grand juries will hear additional evidence and determine if anyone else needs to be charged regarding the Harding St. Raid or while acting in Narcotics Squad 15, she said. We will get to the truth behind what was happening inside the Houston Police Department. In the aftermath of the raid, Police Chief Art Acevedo halted the use of no-knock raids; ordered narcotics officers to wear body cameras; and created a new unit to carry out high-risk warrants. He has yet to divulge the results of his departments internal investigation into the raid, a fact that rankled community leaders. I like Acevedo but I think hes mishandling this one, said James Douglas, president of the Houston chapter of the NAACP. He should be more forthcoming. Asked about the delay, the chief on Monday promised to release the results of his investigation in the next week or two. We have taken quite a few steps and lessons learned from that incident to address our own internal processes, he said. Others said that despite the developments of the past year, more is needed. We cannot allow public servants to use the courts to dupe judges with lies and fabricated evidence, or use the courts to obstruct justice and cover-up police misconduct, said Hai Bui, of We the People Organize, a local civil rights group formed in response to the raid. At Harding Street, the crowd began to disperse in the waning light. Sarah Sanchez, who lives a few doors down, remained a little longer. Boards lay strewn across the yard, along with dead leaves and some overgrown shrubbery. Below the wreath sat a small table adorned with statues of the Virgin Mary and of two small West Highland Terriers, surrounded by several faded American flags. Board still cover the door and windows, and two signs proclaimed Justice for the Tuttles, and Houston loves the Tuttles! As she took it all in, the raid felt just like yesterday. The only good thing is they acknowledge it was their wrongdoing, she said, of the police department, and the charges against Goines and Bryant. She thinks of her last call with Rhogena, which came just a half hour before the raid. If Id known, I would say so much more. st.john.smith@chron.com twitter.com/stjbs BRIDGEPORT Three men in their 20s who police say are persons of interest in the Monday afternoon shooting outside a city courthouse were charged with various unrelated offenses, officials said Tuesday. The men were taken into custody Monday. By Tuesday, the trio had made bond and were released. Asante Gaines, 23, was charged with breach of peace and interfering with police. His bond was set at $5,000. Destine Calderon, 25, was charged with motor vehicle violations and interfering with police. His bond was set at $50,000. Marquis Israel,23, was charged with drug offenses and interfering with police. His bond was set at $50,000. All three remain persons of interest in the shooting outside the courthouse pending further investigation, said Capt. Brian Fitzgerald, head of the Detective Bureau. Shortly after noon Monday, at least 20 gunshots hit a car idling outside the Golden Hill Street courthouse. The four people in the car, who bailed when bullets flew, were wounded; three made it inside the court building, a fourth lay on the sidewalk. A vehicle parked near the courthouse before the bullets were fired took off. Police and city officials said investigators are pursuing the possibility that Mondays shooting was linked to Sundays killing of 18-year-old Myreke Kenion and the wounding of a companion near the Greene Homes housing complex. Officials said Mondays shooting was not a random act, but rather that those shot were targeted. During a news conference Tuesday where officials announced a youth curfew for city residents Fitzgerald said two of the victims of Mondays shooting suffered serious injuries while two others had less serious injuries. Anyone with information about Mondays shooting or Sundays deadly shooting is asked to call the Bridgeport police tip line at 203-576-TIPS. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-28 13:00:20 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 410 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Quebec Precious Metals Corporation (TSXV:CJC)(FSE:YXEP)(OTC Pink:CJCFF) ("QPM" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the acquisition, by map designation, of 100% interest in a new project, designated "Elmer East", with strong gold potential totalling 368 claims (193 km2, see Figure 1). This project is located along trend from the recent Patwon prospect gold discovery made by Azimut Exploration Inc. ("Azimut") on its Elmer project located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory, Quebec. The Elmer East project includes the adjacent 100% owned Annabelle and Opinaca Gold West projects (561 claims, 295 km2). The western part of the Elmer East project is contiguous to Azimut's project.Azimut recently announced several significant gold-bearing drill intercepts at the Patwon prospect, namely 3.15 g/t Au over 102.0 m, including 10.1 g/t Au over 20.5 m (press release by Azimut dated January 14, 2020). The western part of Elmer East, located closest to the Patwon discovery, shows a geological setting favorable to gold mineralization. It is to be noted that gold mineralization occurring at the Patwon prospect is not necessarily representative of mineralization that may be found on the Elmer East project. The 368 claims are currently being processed by the Quebec Ministry of Energy and Natural resources. They will be recorded soon as 100% held by QPM.The project will be the focus of a geological compilation and a surface exploration program which will be carried out in 2020.Qualified PersonsNormand Champigny, Eng., Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and Jean-Sebastien Lavallee (OGQ #773), geologist, Vice-President Exploration, director and shareholder of the Company, both Qualified Persons under NI 43- 101 on standards of disclosure for mineral projects, have prepared and approved the technical content of this release.About Quebec Precious Metals CorporationQPM 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 this project to advance it to the mineral resource estimate stage.For more information please contact:Jean-Francois MeilleurPresidentTel.: 514 951-2730jfmeilleur@ qpmcorp.ca Normand ChampignyChief Executive OfficerTel.: 514 979-4746nchampigny@ qpmcorp.ca Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE: Quebec Precious Metals Corporation OTTAWAThe federal government is weighing how to help Canadians stuck in China amid a deadly coronavirus outbreak, as other countries prepare to repatriate their citizens and the Conservative Opposition in Parliament questions Ottawas response. Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Monday that the government has measures in place that can support Canadians who want to leave China, and that were continuing to work out those details. Earlier in the day, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said anything is possible when it comes to supporting Canadians amidst travel restrictions imposed by Chinese authorities in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. As of Monday evening, 168 Canadians in the affected region had registered with Global Affairs Canada. Champagne said eight of them have asked for specific help from the federal government. He did not rule out the possibility of an evacuation, and said Canada is consulting international partners about their options. The Japanese government said Monday that flights are ready to remove more than 500 of its citizens from the region as soon as possible, while The Associated Press reported the United States and France are preparing to repatriate affected citizens later this week. I can assure you we will provide all the consular assistance that Canadians may need during the crisis in China, Champagne told reporters Monday morning. Later, in the House of Commons, Conservative MPs questioned the governments response. Matt Jeneroux said there is justifiable reason to be concerned about the measures Canada is taking to prevent the spread of the virus in this country, while Todd Doherty urged the government to develop a real plan that includes an enhanced screening process, and deputy leader Leona Alleslev asked what Ottawa is doing to bring home Canadians who are quarantined in China. In an interview with the Star, Jeneroux said the Conservatives are simply pressing for more transparency. That includes the approval of a Conservative motion in the House on Monday to convene the Commons health committee to study the governments response to the outbreak, he said. Jeneroux said he wont decide whether to push for Canadians to be evacuated from China until the Conservatives are briefed by health officials about the governments response. I certainly dont want to ignite a partisan fire on this. I think most Canadians are generally concerned, said Jeneroux, the Conservatives newly named health critic. We want to be here to help the government, but also at the end of the day there is a lot of unanswered questions ... The government is just saying, trust us. Richard Fabic and Yunfei Li are among the Canadians with relatives who have been unable to leave Wuhan, the city where the outbreak started. They told the Star Monday that their 15-month-old daughter Chloe is there with her grandparents and they have contacted Canadian consular officials for help. Li, who is in Victoria, said she has been calling twice a day since providing officials with information on Saturday but has received no updates. She said she was also told that Canadas embassy in Beijing and consulate in Shanghai are closed until Feb. 2 for the Lunar New Year holiday. Were being told that because theyre on vacation ... there would be no assistance, Li said. The bottom line is, when is the government of Canada going to do something? Tom Williams is a British citizen who has been living and working in Wuhan for five years. He is quarantined in the city with his wife, Lauren, who is from Langley, B.C., and his two-and-a-half-year-old son, James. Lauren is about 35 weeks pregnant. Were due to give birth in Wuhan. Thats becoming a little bit more risky as time goes on, Williams said. Its a changing picture. Its changing every day, new stuff and new guidelines going on. Williams said he contacted the emergency hotline for the Canadian embassy over the weekend. Staff there put him through to Ottawa, and he said he was told that he and his family should stay put. In a conference call with reporters Monday, Canadas chief public health officer said the situation in China is a serious public health threat that we must be very vigilant and prepared for. Dr. Theresa Tam would not comment on the necessity of an evacuation, but said health officials would be able to properly handle an incoming flight of citizens from the affected region. Ontario's top medical officer says the first presumptive case of the novel coronavirus reported over the weekend has now been confirmed. Dr. David Williams says a man in his 50s who recently returned from China has been officially diagnosed after a test at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg. Officials say the man's wife has also tested positive for the virus and is considered the country's second presumptive case. (The Canadian Press) Canada has added signs at airports that receive flights from China, and added screening questions for arriving passengers to flag potential cases to border agents. Tam said Monday that more public health officials are being dispatched to airports in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal to help screen passengers who travelled to the affected region of China. The important thing is to rapidly assure that a further spread doesnt happen in Canada, said Tam. As long as it doesnt spread in Canada, our current assessment is that the risk is low to the general public. With files from Margaryta Ignatenko, Osobe Waberi, and the Associated Press Ilya Banares is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @ilyaoverseas Read more about: When Sadia Gul Covert was elected in 2018 and sworn into the office of Dupage County commissioner, she took her oath on the "Quran, Torah, and the Bible," in what seemed at the time like a symbol of unity and moderation. But Covert's decision to cast her lot with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) raises questions about the extent of her moderation. Covert will be a speaker at the CAIR-Chicago 2020 Banquet fundraiser in February, among other Islamist speakers. CAIR was connected to the terrorist organization Hamas during the terror-financing trial against the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). According to the Justice Department report published in 2009, "HLF became the chief fundraising arm for the Palestine Committee in the U.S. created by the Muslim Brotherhood to support Hamas." In 2010, former assistant attorney general Ronald Weich sent a letter to four members of Congress in which he "included trial transcripts and exhibits" "which demonstrated a relationship among CAIR, individual CAIR founders, and the Palestine Committee." In addition, Mrs. Covert is board member of the Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition that includes in its steering board Sufyan Sohel, deputy director of CAIR-Chicago, and Dr. Dilara Sayeed as board president. Sayeed had failed in her bid for the Illinois House of Representatives, District 5, in 2018. CAIR-Chicago named Sayeed as a Trailblazer and gave her the "honor" of speaking at CAIR-Chicago's 15th Annual Banquet in 2019. According to report in the Chicago Crusader, Sayeed, who "ran a campaign on integrity and transparency, hoping to connect to disillusioned Black voters in district 5," paid $10,000 to an editor in the Chicago Defender in 2017 and caused the journalist to lose her job. Fundraising for CAIR alongside Covert will be the Orland Park Prayer Center (OPPC)'s Imam Kifah Mustapha, who has a history of supporting violent anti-Semitism. In 2015, Mustapha was caught supporting the "stabbing intifada" against Israelis on Facebook, writing, "An uprising in the blessed land will reflect blessings on all the Arab revolutions, God willing." In one of the videos used as evidence during the HLF trial, Mustapha chants in Arabic: "O mother, Hamas for Jihad. Over mosques' loudspeakers, with freedom. Every day it resists with stones and the dagger. Tomorrow, with God's help, it will be with a machine gun and a rifle." Covert is not the only local government official who will be promoting CAIR. Two Virginia politicians, Virginia state delegate Dr. Ibraheem Samirah and Fairfax County school board member Abrar Omeish, will also be speaking. Both have documented ties to Islamist groups. Samirah is a member of Virginia's House of Delegates, who has a history of anti-Semitism and supports the Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement. In one of his social media posts, Samira said that "sending [U.S.] money to Israel is worse than the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)." Also, Samirah is the son of Dr. Sabri Samirah, a well known Islamist who was banned from entering the U.S. for ten years and was considered a "security threat." The elder Samirah "was a board member and Chairman of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which also conducted its activities as the American Muslim Society (AMS) ... [and] according to court records and terrorism experts, the IAP provided both propaganda and fundraising services to Hamas," according to a website set up by Virginia activists critical of Samirah's Islamist ties. In the case of Samirah Junior, the apple did not fall far from the tree. The Virginia delegate expressed the same Islamist position of his father in a Facebook post: My father is my role model. I can only dream of living up to the moral standards he exemplifies. I pray that I make him proud, as always I pray that I quickly find full stability and raise my future son, Sabri, to be like him and better. I would not have dedicated myself to the Palestinian human rights' cause without him. I am forever grateful to all he has given me. The other Virginia Islamist fundraising for CAIR-Chicago is Abrar Omeish, who served as the M.C. for a memorial event for Jamal Khashoggi, the late Washington Post columnist with ties to Islamist groups who was killed in 2019 by Saudi agents in Turkey. Omeish's father is Dr. Esam Omeish, a former president of the Muslim American Society (MAS), another Brotherhood affiliate and organization that supports Hamas. Dr. Omeish had been identified as having ties to terrorism by a security committee of the Libyan government. The Clarion Project reported that Ms. Omeish, In 2014, led a campaign to silence Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born American feminist who was the victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somalia and now advocates for women's and children's rights. Covert's, Samirah's, and Omeish's presence at the CAIR-Chicago fundraiser is a reflection of the growing importance Islamists are placing on local politics. While CAIR has faced scrutiny for its efforts to woo federal legislators, local media rarely identify local politicians for their relationships with an extremist group. Hesham Shehab is the Chicago associate of the Counter-Islamist Grid (CIG). Image: Sadia Covert via YouTube. Two adults are being tested for coronavirus infection in New Yorks Southern Tier, according to the Broome County Health Department. The cases have not been confirmed, and the department told WBNG-TV that testing is currently underway at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta with results expected in a couple of days. Both patients recently returned from China, and presented at local medical facilities with respiratory symptoms, according to WBNG. Binghamton University Health Services put out an alert this week, notifying students and staff that it is carefully monitoring the coronavirus outbreak. Any student who has been in Wuhan, China, in the last 14 days and has fever, cough or shortness of breath is asked to call the office (607-777-2221) before arriving for clinical care, the statement instructed. Coronavirus causes fever, difficulty breathing, fatigue and coughing, and has killed more than 50 people and sickened more than 2,000 more around the world, especially in China. In the United States, 110 people are being monitored for the virus across 26 states. Five cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in California, Arizona, Illinois and Washington. New York had previously announced that four patients had been isolated for testing. Their identities were not revealed, and it is not clear whether the two residents in Broome County were among the four announced on Monday. The incubation period for the virus is anywhere from two to 14 days, and there is no evidence to suggest that people can be infected without symptoms showing. Broome County told WBNG that both patients were released to their homes for isolation, and said there is no health risk to the general public. The department said it will provide an update on the results of the coronavirus tests once they are available. The CDC has already begun screening people who travel from Wuhan to the U.S. for fevers and other signs of illness at airports in Atlanta (ATL), Chicago (ORD), San Francisco (SFO), New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX). This is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation and CDC will provide updated information as it becomes available, in addition to updated guidance, the CDC website states. CDC is closely monitoring this situation and is working with World Health Organisation. Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Christian Eriksen on Tuesday made a move to Inter Milan on a permanent deal from Tottenham. Eriksen signed a contract that will last until June 30, 2024. The 27-year-old said that he cannot wait to join Inter Milan. "I couldn't wait to join. It's wonderful to be here and I'm happy to be a new Inter player. I'm very excited and can't wait to introduce myself to the fans. I've already experienced their warmth, it's been a fantastic welcome. I feel great," Inter Milan's official website quoted Eriksen as saying. For the Danish National team, he has made 95 appearances and scored 31 goals for them so far. Eriksen, who is arriving at Inter Milan following seven years in England, has some impressive numbers but he insisted that he does not give any importance to statistics. "I'm not really someone who places great importance on statistics but I know that there are people who like talking about this. The numbers say that I did really well in England. It's now time to start a new challenge, I'm really happy to have the opportunity to play in Serie A for a big team. Inter is a fantastic Club," he said. Inter Milan currently hold the second spot in Serie A table with 48 points, three points behind the table topper, Juventus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted that the government brought the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to fulfill the decades-old promises and solve the problems, adding that some opposition parties are giving it a political colour and turning it into a vote bank matter. Addressing a NCC rally, PM Modi questioned as to why these parties don't see the atrocities--rape, torture--inflicted on minorities in Pakistan. "Our govt is solving problems that have languished for decades. The country knows the true face of the people who are applying a communal colour to it. The country is silent but it understands," added PM Modi. Live TV Recalling partition, PM Modi said that since independence, leaders had promised the minorities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh that they can come back to India if they are persecuted, adding that even Mahatma Gandhi wanted it. "This was the same emotion behind the Nehru-Liaquat Pact. It was India's responsibility to protect these people who were continuously persecuted on religious grounds," said PM Modi. "India is moving ahead with a young approach and carries out surgical strikes & airstrikes to fight back terrorism. Not only J&K, but the entire country is witnessing new dawn of peace. We're moving ahead swiftly in fighting separatism and will defeat it completely," said PM. Hitting out at those opposing the CAA, PM Modi said, "People who are protesting against the CAA, are the same that protested against the Enemy Property Act as well. After Partition, India and Bangladesh have shared some issues about the border as well. No major steps were taken to solve these issues." Citing an advertisement by the Pakistani Army on the minorities, PM Modi said, " Some time ago, Pakistan's Army had put out an advertisement. It was an ad for cleaning workers. It said that only non-Muslims could apply for the post. That means it was for these Dalits and other minorities." It was bizarre. The deafening bagpipes ceased as an actor wasnt he in Braveheart? began frantically stabbing what looked like a pillow encased in plastic. Its gray gut spilled out, and the thespian, dressed in a tartan skirt and woolly socks, made terrifying noises, very occasionally spitting out a phrase or two in English (something about gushing entrails). As if this werent unnerving enough, the stage prop a haggis turned out to be edible: dinner, in fact, served alongside mushed turnips and mashed potatoes. . . . This is how I imagined the uninitiated to be experiencing the evening. Complete with complimentary glasses of Aberlour whisky (too much of the honey-colored one and youll knock yourself out), a live ceilidh band, and yes the guy from Braveheart, Burns Night at the Harvard Club was just one of countless suppers happening around the world to commemorate the life and work of Scotlands national poet. To nonnatives, perhaps it seems ridiculous, but its not. Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759, in Ayrshire and died in 1796 in Dumfries. He was the son of a farmer, and his formal education was limited. He grew up reading Shakespeare, Milton, and Dryden and listening to Scottish folklore. A Romantic and a revolutionary, Burns won many enemies as well as friends in his lifetime. His poetry exhibited extraordinary range and depth, from biting political satire to the heartfelt sincerity of country folk. For anyone growing up in Scotland, its impossible to avoid Burns. At elementary school, there were yearly competitions for those able to memorize his poems and sing his tunes by heart. And in the English department at the University of St Andrews, I studied under the tutelage of his biographer Robert Crawford. Which is why it seems to me as though one evening a year of Burns only scratches the surface. As with all Scots, Burnss sensibilities were informed by the landscapes he grew up in. He was a Romantic, so he revered the natural world. He was also extremely class-conscious, always siding with the underdog. This is evident even in his rustic and rural poems. Like To a Mouse (more on that here), written in the Scots dialect in which a ploughman who accidentally turns up a mouses nest experiences pity for the wee, sleeket, cowran, timrous beastie, prompting him to contemplate natures social union, i.e., mortality: Story continues But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o Mice an Men Gang aft agley, An leae us nought but grief an pain, For promisd joy! [Emphasis added] (American readers will of course recognize the emphasized lines from John Steinbecks novel of the same name.) Burns was a songwriter as well as a poet. Which is hardly surprising given the innate lyricism of his verses. His Auld Lang Syne is the most sung song in the English language other than Happy Birthday. In the years before his death, he collected and wrote the lyrics to traditional Scottish airs, many of which can be found in two collections: Johnsons The Scots Musical Museum (17871803) and the first five volumes of Thomsons A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice (17931818). My personal favorite is A Red, Red Rose. O my Luve is like a red, red rose Thats newly sprung in June; O my Luve is like the melody Thats sweetly played in tune. This also happens to be the favorite of Bob Dylan, who cited the poem as having had the greatest influence of any work on his own songwriting. Though he wrote well about love, Burns himself was a cruel and faithless lover. So much so that in recent years hes come under (anachronistic) fire from the Me Too movement. Burns was a deeply political thinker. His Scots Wha Hae [Scots Who Have] served as Scotlands unofficial national anthem for years and stands as a defiant statement against English tyranny. After William Wallace led the Scots to an incredible victory at the battle of Stirling Bridge, he was eventually captured and excruciatingly executed. The king of England, Edward I, then abolished the kingdom of Scotland in 1305. But the Scots had other ideas. Undeterred, they crowned Robert Bruce king of Scotland in 1307, who then led them into the battle of Bannockburn: By oppressions woes and pains! By your sons in servile chains! We will drain our dearest veins, But they shall be free! Lay the proud usurpers low! Tyrants fall in every foe! Libertys in every blow! Let us do or die! Burns initially sent the song to his publisher, George Thomas, at the end of August 1793, with the title Robert Bruces March to Bannockburn, and attributing it to Bruces glorious struggle for Freedom, associated with the glowing ideas of some other struggles of the same nature, not quite so ancient. This is thought by interpreters to be a covert expression of his sympathies for the French Revolution. Burnss sympathies for the American Revolution certainly help explain his legacy here. In the United States, there are more statures of Burns than there are of any American poet. Abraham Lincoln could recite much of his work from memory. And Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated that Burns has made that Lowland Scotch a Doric dialect of fame. It is the only example in history of a language made classic by the genius of a single man. So why engage in bizarre traditions honoring a dead poet? It might seem trite, but the character John Keating in Dead Poets Society was more or less right when he said, No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world. Even hundreds of years after the fact. Besides, who doesnt like haggis? More from National Review Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. The Beaumont ISD is looking for a few good teachers. Apply tonight for details. Thats the short version of the Grow Our Own information session at 6 p.m. at the BISD Administration Building at 3395 Harrison Ave. Its not the usual kind of teacher drive in that this event is funded by federal aid. Anyone who has a bachelors degree can apply for the special program, and the district guarantees a job to those who complete the course. They fill out an application process with us, and they have to complete an essay about why they want to work for BISD, and they have to attend an informational session, said Jenny Angelo, BISDs executive director of instruction and curriculum. And then if we accept them they go through the Region V teacher certification program. The program includes night and weekend classes to accommodate the work schedules of various applicants, and it can fit different skill-levels. This is a good opportunity for college-educated people in Southeast Texas who are between jobs right now or stuck in a job they dont like. Teaching pay fairly well and the benefits are good too. Having 2 months off in the summer is another plus that other jobs cant match. The status of the BISD is no secret: It was taken over by the state in 2014 but is getting back to complete local control. Programs like this complement that effort, since the district had to cut 200 teaching positions when its finances were in disarray. Once the district gets fully staffed with all the teachers it needs, it will be in a better position to tackle longstanding problems like low test scores at some campuses and discipline problems. In turn, that makes teacher recruitment easier and encourages teachers on staff to stay in the district instead of leave for another one. Other districts have the same kinds of students the BISD has. Many come from single-parent homes or low-income neighborhoods, but their parents can educate their children. The BISD can, too, and it starts with having enough teachers in the classrooms, teachers who are ready for this challenge and embrace it. Any district that has too many full-time vacancies or substitute teachers is going to have a hard time meeting expectations. School ratings are not permanent. They can go up just as they might have gone down. All it takes is a group of committed teachers and administrators who know what must be done and dont accept any excuses for lack of success. BISD has a lot of good teachers, a core group of experienced and savvy educators, many of whom bravely hung on during the toughest times. But the district needs more of them, and tonight is a good time to start adding to their numbers. Anyone who is curious should drop in tonight; this could be the job youve been looking for. An "Arabian night" plays a significant role in Middle Eastern culture. "One Thousand and One Nights" is a collection of folk tales compiled during the Islamic Golden Age; the first English language edition of that work loosely translates to "Arabian Nights." Museum of Fine Arts Houston Director Gary Tinterow noted that distinction during Friday evening's Art of the Islamic Worlds Gala. Fitting, as a projection of the night sky and a prominent moon - which transitioned from full to crescent throughout - provided a stunning, interstellar backdrop for the biennial "Under One Moon"-themed soiree. It's an occasion worth waiting and gussying up for. And some 375 guests did just that. Ruffled, velvet and embellished ensembles stunned at every turn. Leading the charge were executive committee members-turned-gala hosts Rania Daniel, Zeina Fares, Vahid Kooros, Sima Ladjevardian, Sultana Mangalji, Franci Neely, Cenk Ozdogan, Sabiha Rehmatulla, Aliyya Stude and Monsour Taghdisi. During Tinterow's brief remarks, he also acknowledged the Honorable and Mrs. Hushang Ansary. As premier underwriters, the couple made a $500,000 contribution. Dinner service followed. As City Kitchen's three-course feast circled the ballroom setup in Cullinan Hall, patrons got down to the business of selecting which objects would be acquired for MFAH's permanent collection. Six items were up for consideration. In a surprise announcement to gala-goers, Tinterow revealed that an early 19th century embroidery from Ottoman Turkish lands had been purchased by the MFAH Guild in honor of the volunteer organization's 40th anniversary. Between rounds of salad with spiced goat cheese fritter, grilled lamb and sea bass, and a dessert trio, diners also voted for the acquisition of two Bidriware pieces: a mid-17th century Huqqa Base with Landscape Scene and a Huqqa Base with Floral Design, both inlaid with silver and brass from the Deccan Plateau in India. Later, Sufi dance artist Ziya Azazi: Dervish in Progress gave a special performance. Attendees followed suit and hit the dance floor once DJ Senega started his set. In total, the shindig raised $945,000. So now the countdown is on. Only 730 days until the next opportunity to party on the moon. Kitchenware chain Sur La Table is closing its Freehold Raceway Mall location, its store manager told NJ Advance Media. The store is inside the mall, which is located at 3710 Route 9 in Freehold. The manager at Sur La Table said an exact closing date has not yet been determined, but liquidation sales are currently ongoing. The Freehold closing leaves just three Sur La Table locations in New Jersey Lawrenceville, Marlton and Paramus according to the stores website. Managers at each of those three stores said they will remain in operation. Sur La Table is just another chain in a long list of stores to be hit by the retail apocalypse. Among the more recent ones: Gap is closing dozens of stores, Express announced the closure of up to 100 locations, Pier 1 Imports will shutter up to 450 spots and Bose will close all its stores, too. Known for its cookware, Sur La Table also offers cooking classes. It was founded in 1972 in Seattle and now operates over 125 locations nationwide. Nicolette Accardi can be reached at naccardi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @N_Accardi. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips MORE RETAIL AND SHOPPING COVERAGE: Express to shutter about 100 stores over the next 2 years Here are some of the best deals from Mondays online flash sales Amazon joins the wireless earbud craze with Echo Buds The sit-in protests, mainly led by women, at South East Delhi's Shaheen Bagh have been held for more than a month in opposition to the CAA which will grant citizenship to all non-Muslim refugees from three neighbouring countries the NRC and the National Population Register (NPR). West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma on Monday delivered a speech expressing his opposition those protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). The parliamentarian asserted that protests at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh will be "cleared" within an hour of the BJP coming to power in the forthcoming Delhi Assembly election on 8 February. Verma added that all the existing mosques built on government land will be demolished if the BJP formed government in Delhi on 11 February. "This is not just another election. It is an election to decide the unity of a nation. If the BJP comes to power on 11 February, you will not find a single protester within an hour. And within a month, we will not spare a single mosque built on government land," Parvesh Verma said, appealing to Delhi voters. He was addressing a crowd at a community centre in Ranhoula village which falls under the Vikaspuri Assembly constituency in West Delhi, News18 reported. Elaborating his remarks to news agency ANI on Tuesday, he said, "Lakhs of people gather there (Shaheen Bagh)... They'll enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them. There's time today, [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi ji and Amit Shah won't come to save you tomorrow." Verma's speech comes after Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur raised an an incendiary slogan "traitors should be shot" against anti-CAA protestors on Monday. The Union minister addressing the meeting in support of BJP candidate from Rithala, Manish Chaudhary. The incident, where Thakur shouted "desh ke gaddaron ko" to which the crowd responded "goli maro sa*** ko" (shoot down the traitors), triggered a row with the Delhi Chief Election Officer seeking a report from the North West district's election officer. The sit-in protests, mainly led by women, at South East Delhi's Shaheen Bagh have been held for more than a month in opposition to the CAA which will grant citizenship to all non-Muslim refugees from three neighbouring countries the NRC and the National Population Register (NPR). However, the road blockage due to the demonstrations have led to a tussle between the Delhi Police and the protesters, as its disrupts traffic movement between Delhi and Noida. According to some media reports, the BJP, which is facing flak over the contentious law, might hinge its Delhi election campaign on the Shaheen Bagh protests. Using the the Shaheen Bagh blitz, the saffron party leaders are under the assumption of isolating Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress. A BJP leader was quoted by NDTV as saying, "It will be difficult for them to support the traffic nightmare in surrounding areas like Sarita Vihar, children not going to school, shops not opening." exceptional talent. specialized solutions. We are now able to bring even deeper subject matter expertise and experience to the table we offer a true turnkey service in the wireless space. April Metivier, COO of MOUNTAIN, LTD. System One division MOUNTAIN, LTD., an engineering services provider to the telecommunications industry, today announced it acquired Level 5 Consulting Engineers, a wireless telecommunication architecture and engineering services provider. This acquisition enhances MOUNTAINs core capabilities, adding the ability to deliver structural engineering services with Professional Engineering licenses nationwide. We remain enthusiastic in our support of upgrades and maintenance to telecommunication infrastructure nationwide, particularly the rollout of 5G technologies, said Troy Gregory, President and CEO of System One. MOUNTAIN offers a full range of support solutions to help their clients successfully plan, deploy, and maintain both wireless and broadband telecommunications projects. Providing scalability, reliability, quality engineering, and on-time service delivery to their clients, MOUNTAIN delivers rapid implementation while maintaining high quality standards and data integrity. With these added capabilities, MOUNTAIN is now able to provide a full in-house turnkey solution to its wireless telecommunication clients in preparation for the oncoming massive rollout of 5G technologies. The acquisition will allow MOUNTAIN to provide custom solutions in small-cell technology, site modifications, and new site builds that enhance network capacity and coverage range, under one umbrella. The wholly-owned subsidiary will operate as MOUNTAIN, LTD. Engineering with offices in New Braunfels, TX and Houston, TX. Our integration into MOUNTAIN provides opportunity for us to expand our reach into the wireless market. With MOUNTAIN supporting us, well be able to provide our clients with greater resources, scalability, and expertise, said Tony Huebel and Chris Neumann, founding owners of Level 5 Consulting Engineers. Our core values of professionalism, balance, flexibility, solution-mindedness, and empathy are embodied daily in MOUNTAINs culture we look forward to growing with them. By acquiring Level 5 Consulting Engineers, our team now offers architecture and structural engineering services, complementing the site acquisition services provided by our previous acquisition, NTP Wireless, said April Metivier, COO of MOUNTAIN. We are now able to bring even deeper subject matter expertise and experience to the table we offer a true turnkey service in the wireless space. # # # About Level 5 Consulting Engineers Level 5 Consulting Engineers provides Architecture & Engineering services nationwide for the telecommunications, utility, and energy industries. We have an in-house team of engineering staff that provides technical expertise on telecommunication infrastructure engineering. Level 5 currently maintains professional licenses in 25+ states and is rapidly growing. About MOUNTAIN MOUNTAIN, LTD. is a global engineering services provider specializing in the telecommunications industry. With nearly 40 years of industry expertise and a national footprint, MOUNTAIN offers rapid deployment of end-to-end, scalable solutions in OSP, ISP, and Wireless engineering without compromising quality and security. MOUNTAIN is a System One division. About System One System One delivers specialized workforce solutions and integrated services. We help clients get work done more efficiently and economically, without compromising quality. For more than 40 years, weve built our reputation on exceptional talent, flexible delivery, and full accountability. System Ones national network spans energy, engineering, IT, commercial, scientific & clinical, legal, marketing, and beyond. System One is based in Pittsburgh, PA. World's Largest Cruise Industry Event Returns to Miami Beach Convention Center 20-23 April 2020 NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020, the cruise industry's leading annual business-to-business event, announces its 2020 State of the Global Cruise Industry Keynote lineup - launching its 35th anniversary edition opening session on 21 April 2020 with dynamic dialogue and executive leaders from the largest and most luxurious cruise lines. Sponsored by the Hong Kong Tourism Board and presented in partnership with Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the event kicks off with the State of the Global Cruise Industry panel, an exclusive round-table discussion joining senior leadership representing the world's four largest cruise lines. The second panel, The Future of Luxury Cruising, will bring together five leaders in luxury liners to discuss the rapid growth and increasing demand for living the highlife on the high sea. "Our keynote opening session sets the tone for Seatrade Cruise Global 2020, welcoming attendees with a multifaceted dialogue reflective of our educational programming," says Chiara Giorgi, Global Brand and Event Director for Seatrade Cruise. "As a marquee start of the conference, the State of the Global Cruise Industry panel will highlight the latest and greatest advancements and forward-thinking in the world of cruising." Lucy Hockings, BBC World News broadcast journalist, is the returning keynote panel moderator at Seatrade Cruise Global 2020. "Cruising continues to gain popularity for leisure travelers, with more than 30 million guests expected to sail this year," says Hockings. "Our discussions will take a deeper dive into how the industry is reimagining ships and partnering with destinations to embrace these changes and evolve the cruise experience for years ahead." KEYNOTE DISCUSSION | Overtourism Case Study: A Partnership Approach? Mato Francovic, Mayor of Dubrovnik, and Adam Goldstein, Vice Chairman, Royal Caribbean Cruises and CLIA Global Chair, join Seatrade Cruise News Editor Anne Kalosh to discuss how the city of Dubrovnik partnered with CLIA to tackle overtourism while establishing the city as a bellwether for destination-cruise line partnerships. KEYNOTE PANEL | State of the Global Cruise Industry Insights, expertise and perspectives on the future of cruising - touching on themes such as innovations on land and at sea, technology's role in transforming customer experience, development on environmental improvements, collaborations for sustainable tourism and exciting new ship launches for 2020. Panelists include: Frank Del Rio , President & CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings , President & CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Arnold Donald , President & CEO, Carnival Corporation & PLC , President & CEO, Carnival Corporation & PLC Richard Fain , Chairman & CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. , Chairman & CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises KEYNOTE PANEL | The Future of Luxury Cruising The demand for luxury cruising is on a rapid upward trajectory, with the market projected to more than double its capacity over the next decade. Cruise lines are making strides to offer unprecedented luxury at sea - from reaching uncharted destinations through adventurous expedition cruising to dishing out five-star dining experiences with onboard celebrity chefs. Leaders from today's luxury liners will engage the audience in an insightful discussion exploring the new wave of advancements in this growing market and how to create distinct experiences that continue to charm discerning travelers. 2020 Registration Now Open Seatrade Cruise Global offers flexible attendee registration options. Those who register by 21 February 2020, can take advantage of Early Bird pricing - savings as much as $400. For pricing options and to register, CLICK HERE . Press registration information can be found at seatradecruiseglobal.com/press-registration . To learn more about Seatrade Cruise Global, visit seatradecruiseglobal.com . Follow Seatrade Cruise Global on social media: @SeatradeCruise on Twitter and @SeatradeCruiseEvents on Facebook and Instagram . STCGlobal About Seatrade Cruise Global Seatrade Cruise Global 2020 is taking place 20-23 April 2020 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The exhibition is the leading annual global B2B event for the cruise industry. Bringing together buyers and suppliers for a four-day conference and three-day exhibition, the gathering draws more than 13,000 registered attendees, over 700 exhibiting companies from 140 countries and more than 300 international journalists to become the cruise industry's epicenter of ideas, products and services. Movers and shakers of the industry participate in a comprehensive panel of discussions featuring experts, leaders and thought-makers including the State of the Global Cruise Industry Keynote with the chief executives of the world's largest cruise companies. Seatrade is organized by Informa Markets, a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B Events organizer in the world. To learn more and for the latest news and information, visit www.informarkets.com . MEDIA CONTACT: FINN Partners Virginia Sheridan / Luz Castillo 954-765-3636 seatrade@finnpartners.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cb7d03eb-cb92-4f26-a3ad-05bd03779e8c https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5cf92605-f0f0-4090-a4d7-94af5e8590fe NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Have you found the economy of today to be very confusing? Do the nuances of the ins and outs of the finance world tend to fly over your head? Do you or the people around you struggle to understand the best strategies for accumulating and maintaining wealth in your lives? Look no further, because we have found the easiest solution to all of your problems. Meet Rebecca Walser, tax attorney. A TOP 100 Advisor specializing in challenging financial convention, a #1 Bestselling Author, and an expert media commentator, Rebecca works in wealth strategies and financial consulting. Currently a resident of Tampa, Florida, Walser received her JD and LLC (Doctor of Law and Masters of Law) certifications from the University of Florida and New York University shortly after obtaining a bachelor's in Business Finance from the University of South Florida. Well educated and ready for the complicated financial world, Walser has dedicated her life to not only improving her own status but helping other people improve theirs. She shared "I value the freedom that we have in the American economy to access upward social mobility, and I work every day to help my clients and the general public utilize this opportunity." In 2014, Rebecca started her practice, Walser Wealth Management, a company and consulting agency specializing in shaping strategies to maximize their clients' lifetime wealth while also minimizing their taxes. Through years of dedication and careful planning, Rebecca has been able to grow this national advisory wealth practice, "under the overall umbrella of understanding coming taxation and where wealth should be built." The tag line of Walser Wealth Management is Challenging the Wisdom of Convention, which perfectly describes what Rebecca strives to do every day. On top of her own company, Walser also does good work to help the general public through a variety of mediums. Her social media pages are home to over 100,000 followers, fans, and people eager to learn from her, and she has very quickly become an Instagram staple for working-class women everywhere. And more tangibly, Walser has gained enormous credibility in the working world. She is a trusted advisor and financial, tax, and market expert commentator for media outlets as big as Fox Business and Yahoo Finance, so don't be surprised if you spot her giving her advice on your television. Also very important to her field, Rebecca was granted a high honor in her niche - making the Investopedia 2018 and 2019 list of TOP 100 Most Influential Advisors in America. And while all of this may seem like too much to handle for one person, Rebecca doesn't stop there. Her first book, "Wealth Unbroken: Growing Wealth Uninterrupted by Market Crashes, Taxes, and Even Death" was released in 2018 and has since hit #1 bestseller level on Amazon in more than one category. Calling it a "new refreshing approach to a critical subject" and a "roadmap to financial success," critics and fans alike know that what Walser has written is authentic and important. Rebecca Walser is the answer to anyone's financial or economic needs. A top tier wealth-builder and advisor, she will be your go-to and mentor and is happy to do so. For more information email alexmccurryo@gmail.com. SOURCE: Rebecca Walser View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574383/Rebecca-Walser-One-of-the-Top-Tier-Tax-Attorneys-of-Today Mr. Gantzs political stagecraft was put together quickly after the White House extended an invitation to both men last week, while Vice President Mike Pence was visiting Jerusalem. The invitation the timing of which was seen as Mr. Trumps latest attempt to distract from the impeachment trial in the Senate also roiled the political landscape in Israel, where Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gantz are locked in a political stalemate. Mr. Gantz immediately accepted the invitation from the White House. But he reconsidered after seeing Israeli news reports that Mr. Netanyahu was taking credit for inviting him. The invitation was seen by Mr. Gantz and his advisers as a political trap. Declining to go would hurt him politically in a country where Mr. Trump is viewed overwhelmingly favorably. But accepting would force him to be a bystander as Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump participated in bilateral talks. From Friday morning until late Saturday, Mr. Gantz and his aides debated whether he should attend. But Mr. Gantz and his team, who have been working for months behind the scenes with Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law, and David M. Friedman, the ambassador to Israel, ultimately landed on a face-saving middle ground. By quietly arranging a one-on-one meeting with Mr. Trump, Mr. Gantz demonstrated out-of-character shrewdness for a man who entered politics only a year ago and whose appearances without a teleprompter have included enough deer-in-the-headlights interviews that Mr. Netanyahu tried to paint him as unstable and more recently mocked him as a stutterer. The meeting also showed how eager the White House is to show off a broad Israeli consensus in favor of its plan. The Supervisory Board of real estate management company Real I.S. AG has appointed Dr Pamela Hoerr as a member of the companys Board of Management. Hoerr assumed her new role on 1 January 2020, having joined Real I.S. AG from Luxembourg fund company Patrizia AG where she served as Managing Photos: Real I.S. AG [] Appointment 28 January 2020 Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre is delighted to announce the appointment of Mr. Fino Babu as its new General Manager. Fino has been part of the IHG family for more than two years, having previously carried out the role of Executive Assistant Manager. Ever since he has been employed in this hotel, Fino has demonstrated leadership and efficacious, structured management in all aspects of the hotel's functions. His strength lies in being able to manage a team consisting of diverse departments and he possesses the mental alertness to find solutions to issues in diverse nature. With considerable experience and a healthy forward vision Fino can bring a big change for Crowne Plaza Pune City Center. His new role encompasses responsibility for the entire hotel operations and will center on contributing calculated input to attain the deep rooted goals for the hotel. Fino is known for his unique style of managing people and his ability to motivate his team to deliver the IHG commitment of true hospitality to all guests. With an experience of two decades in hotel operations he is well versed with the F&B market, sales and revenue strategies, resource utilization and guest experience enhancement. Fino has guided his team with exceptional vigor and dedication to ensure that Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre further enhances its image as one of the best hospitality brands in Pune. Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre takes pride in providing long lasting memorable experiences for all its esteemed patrons, with quality service that increases brand value ten-fold. Before joining Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre, Fino has worked with renowned brands like Marriott, Le Meridien, and Sheraton Grand. Catalonia's parliament on January 27 stripped Quim Torra, the head of the pro-independence government of his rights as a regional lawmaker. According to international media reports, Torra will now be unable to vote in parliament, however, he will still remain the head of the Catalan government. The parliament's speaker, Roger Torrent also reportedly said that he will be seeking ways to overturn the decision made by the Spanish court. Many of Torra's supporters were angered by the announcement. Several even scuffed with the police outside the assembly. However, there have been no reported arrests or injuries during the protests. Several hundred people waved Catalan flags to protest the decision on the strip of Torra of his rights as a lawmaker. READ: Catalonia Protests Continue In Spain The decision to strip Torra's rights came after a Catalan court barred him last month from public office for 18 months for disobedience. According to reports, he was found guilty of refusing to remove the yellow ribbons (used by separatists calling for the Spanish government to free several imprisoned politicians and activists) from public buildings. The symbols had been reportedly displayed during Spain's general election in April, which violated the country's strict rules on campaigning. Catalonia unilaterally declared its independence from Spain in 2017 following a referendum which reportedly prompted the Spanish government to impose direct rule from Madrid. After the imposition, new elections were held in which pro-independence parties won a majority in the parliament. Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez is yet to attend a meeting in Barcelona to set the agenda for negotiations to address Catalonia's independence drive. READ: Spain Votes In Repeat General Election Amid Catalonia Tensions Former Catalan Police goes on trial Josep Lluis Trapero, former police chief of Catalonia on January 20 also went on trial over his role in the region's failed independence bid in 2017. Reports suggest that shortly after the October 27 referendum was passed in the Catalan Parliament in 2017, Trapero was dismissed along with the Catalan government and direct rule was imposed from the central government in Madrid. According to reports, Josep, who was the head of Mossos d'Esquadra regional police force at the time of 2017 protests is accused of "total passivity" by state prosecutors. Prosecutors have said that during the October 1 independence referendum, Mossos under Trapero's watch did not respond while Spain's national police led the violent crackdown to stop voters. (With inputs from agencies) READ: WATCH: Catalonia Pro-Independence Supporters Block Diagonal Avenue READ: Catalonia Witnesses More Than 50 People Being Arrested Amid Protests Romania has a privileged place in terms of visibility at La Biennale di Venezia (Venice Biennale), Romanian Culture Minister Bogdan Gheorghiu said on Tuesday. "Here, I have two arguments. One would be the visitor inflow, which is a huge one. For instance, last year over 600,000 people visited the Arts Biennale, and two years ago, almost 300,000 persons visited the Architecture Biennale. We are the only state that has two exhibition areas at the Biennale: Romania's Pavilion, bought and built with personal efforts by Nicolae Iorga, in 1940, and the New Gallery of the Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research of Venice," Gheorghiu said at the National Library.The Culture Minister participated in the press conference devoted to the presentation of the Fading Borders project, designated as the winner of the national contest for Romania's representation in the 17th edition of the International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia.He noted that "each time, Romania's projects have been well thought by their authors, well chosen by the contest juries, closely monitored by Commissioner Attila Kim and well received by the critics and the wide public.""This year, the Culture Ministry has worked closely with the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Union of Romanian Architects, to make sure that the project that will represent us for six months will be supported both institutionally and financially," the minister pointed out.He brought to mind in context the increase in the financial aid of the ministry for this project.Interim head of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) Mirel Talos showed that this year as well ICR is a partner at the Architecture Biennale "through several support corridors.""We have also enhanced our funding to 200,000 lei. This does not include the costs from the ICR Venice budget that are allotted to the Biennale, only those earmarked directly from Bucharest. We have supported, through honoraria, the jury of this Biennale, we support promotion on the spot, the accommodation of the artists and other logistics matters," Talos said.He highlighted the advantage Romania has through the existence of the exhibition space within ICR Venice's New Gallery. "It is a preview of what happens in the actual pavilion and we believe that we are truly making a notable difference through this," Mirel Talos mentioned.In turn, chair of the Union of Romanian Architects Ileana Tureanu maintained that "in Venice we do not deal with a competition of architecture projects, but with the largest worldwide debate about acute problems humankind is facing." "Therefore, each comes with a point of view. For six months there is an opinion exchange, there are debates, exhibitions are mounted, press conferences are held and each one comes with the opinion of his or her country," Tureanu said.The architect voiced her optimism in respect to the project presented by the Romanian team. "I believe that the pavilion you will make will truly represent Romania and, regardless of the final result, it must show that there is an energy here that we support and wish for. I have the entire confidence that this year will turn out very well," Ileana Tureanu added.Architects Irina Melita and Stefan Simion, authors of the Fading Borders project, and architect Ilinca Paun Constantinescu, representative of the Shrinking cities in Romania project, presented the characteristics of the Romanian proposal."The answer to the Biennale theme 'How will we live together?' seemed obvious, because it is clear that this migration phenomenon will grow, which does not only represent Romania. Moreover, we don't want this phenomenon to be seen just from Romania's point of view. Of course Romania is entitled to ask itself this question, however what we wish for, and this is what I would like to emphasise besides this mirror brought by the two projects that we shall present at the Pavilion, what we want is to open an international discussion between architects and urban planners, but not only, about this migration phenomenon on a global and European level and this mirrored phenomenon of the shrinking cities," Irina Melita said.The Fading Borders project responds to the theme of the 17th edition of the Architecture Biennale - 'How will we live together?', having chosen as topic the over 3.4 million citizens who left Romania in the period 2007 - 2019. It documents this reality bringing together two research projects: Gone - which analyses the complex phenomenon of the Romanian emigrants living within various local communities in Europe, and Shrinking Cities - which talks about the decline and contraction of Romanian cities, seen as a wide phenomenon.The Architecture Biennale of Venice is a prestigious international event illustrating a wide cultural dialogue among the world's countries. This year's edition takes place 23 May - 29 November.The organisers of Romania's representation to this event are: the Culture Ministry, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Romanian Cultural Institute and the Union of Romanian Architects. Russian gas giant Gazprom plans to maintain gas exports to non-CIS countries at the level of previous years, head of Gazprom Export, Elena Burmistrova said, speaking at the European Gas Conference. She said that Gazproms export to non-CIS countries last year amounted to 199.3 bln cubic meters of gas, taking into account 382 mln cubic meters delivered to new destination - China. "One thing is clear - Gazprom was and remains the largest exporter of natural gas in Europe and the world. In the mid-term, we expect export to Europe to remain at the level that has been achieved over the past years with adjustments that are related to weather conditions," TASS cited Burmistrova as saying. The UAE aviation sector is expected to achieve a robust growth of 170% by 2037 thanks to the great priority given by UAE leaders to this sector, said Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy and Chairman of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). He was speaking after opening the second edition of the Global Investment in Aviation Summit (GIAS 2020) in Dubai, organised by GCAA under the theme Enabling global aviation growth through fundraising and key partnerships. The three-day event is participated by the largest gathering of aviation ministers and heads of civil aviation authorities from around the world. A galaxy of leading aviation companies, airlines, aircraft operators and investors, as well as a large number of visitors from more than 57 countries are also taking part. Al Mansouri, quoting a recent report issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said the ongoing prioritisation of aviation as a key strategic asset could generate an additional 620,000 jobs in the UAE. The industry currently supports nearly 800,000 jobs and pumps $47.4 billion into the UAE economy, accounting for 13.3% of the UAEs GDP. The minister stressed that the government would continue to pursue a positive agenda for aviation, and based on this, the UAEs aviation market will grow by 170% by 2037, supporting 1.4 million jobs and injecting $128 billion into the national economy. The GIAS 2020 aims to offer a platform for stakeholders to share insights, experiences and expertise, as well as discuss latest aviation trends, with an ultimate goal of laying out strategies and mechanisms that help channel more investment into the aviation sector and consequently boost the growth and sustainability of global economy. Al Mansouri welcomed participating guests and said: On behalf of the UAE Government, it is a great honour for me to welcome you at the opening of the second edition of the summit. The GIAS 2020 aims to highlight promising investment opportunities in the aviation sector, especially in light of the giant infrastructure projects being implemented in the UAE and worldwide as part of international efforts to advance the aviation industry, as a locomotive of global economy and one of its main drivers. Al Mansouri underlined the importance of holding such global economic events that reflects the leaderships forward-thinking vision for developing proactive plans necessary for shaping the future of the country in the next five decades, across all economic sectors, notably the aviation industry, which is a main driver of economic development in the UAE. The minister noted that this vision is clearly exemplified in the implementation of many giant development projects and airport expansion plans, most noteworthy the new Abu Dhabi Airport and the expansion of the Dubai International Airport and the establishment of Dubai World Central (Al Maktoum International Airport), among others. According to a recent report issued by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the aviation sector contributes $2.7 trillion to global GDP, and is expected to create 65.5 million new jobs globally by 2035. The report also indicates that the sector is projected to see an annual growth of 4.3% in passenger transport, and 3.9 per cent in the freight sector. Al Mansouri also highlighted the important role SMEs play in boosting the national economy, enhancing its competitiveness and promoting sustainable economic development in the country as well as across the world, where the UAE is taking lead in this regard to offer the best economic, social, environmental, and political framework to support and promote this crucial sector. Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director General of GCAA, stressed that GIAS has become an iconic platform that connects investors, industry experts and professionals, financial institutions and suppliers to familiarize them with aviation projects, and allow them the chance to assess successful investment experiences and conclude deals that would drive aviation to grow further. Through GIAS, we provide a unique platform for all stakeholders in industry to network and exchange knowledge and expertise. We also look to raise the awareness of investors and industry professionals about the importance of this sector, which has witnessed rapid growth over the last 10 years. We aimed through GIAS to showcase the promising investment opportunities aviation offers to investors, Al Suwaidi said. - TradeArabia News Service UPSC Recruitment 2022: One day left to apply for several vacancies at upsc.gov.in, here's direct link Coronavirus: Three kept in observation at RML Hospital in Delhi India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 28: Three persons have been kept under observation at an isolation ward of RML Hospital for possible exposure to novel coronavirus, officials said on Tuesday. The three -- all men aged between 24 and 48 -- were admitted on Monday and their samples have been sent for testing, Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital, said. While two of the men are residents of Delhi, one hails from NCR. Coronavirus: Death toll climbs to 106 in China, 24 deaths in Hubei province overnight PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News Till Monday, a total of 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened. The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the government to introduce the African cheetah to a suitable habitat in India on an experimental basis to see whether it can adapt to Indian conditions. Stating that the rare Indian cheetah is almost extinct in the country, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had sought the court's permission to relocate the African cheetah from Namibia. The court set up a three-member committee, comprising former director of Wildlife of India Ranjit Singh, DG of Wildlife of India Dhananjay Mohan, and DIG, Wildlife, Ministry of and Forests to guide the NTCA in taking a decision on the matter. A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant said the apex court will monitor the project and the committee will submit its report before it every four months. The court also said the decision for relocation of the African cheetah will be taken after a proper survey and the action of introduction of the animal will be left to NTCA's discretion. It said NCTA will be guided by the committee of experts who will carry out a survey for the "carefully chosen location on viability of doing it on a larger scale." "In case of any difficulty, location would be changed to more habitable one," the apex court said. It was submitted before the apex court that the African cheetah will be introduced on an experimental basis in the best suitable habitat to see whether it can adapt to Indian conditions. The bench in its order noted that the apex court in 2013 had turned down the plea for relocation of African cheetah at Kunho National Park in Madhya Pradesh. "We find that in 2013, this court struck down an order by MoEF on the ground that it had not conducted any detailed study for introducing foreign species of cheetah to India, this application presumably remedied the defect," the bench said. Advocate A D N Rao, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae, explained the reasons for resistance of the African cheetah in the Indian condition. However the bench, after hearing the former Wildlife of India director, said since it was a pilot project, there should not be any opposition. Singh told the bench that African cheetah would be brought to the country on an experiment basis. In 2018, the NTCA informed the Supreme Court that the International Union for Conservation of Nature has given approval for translocation of cheetahs in India from Namibia in Africa. NTCA said IUCN, which provides inputs to governments and institutions on biodiversity, climate change and sustainable development, has stated it would co-operate with India in translocation of cheetahs. NTCA told the court they have complied with IUCN's requirements for re-location of cheetahs here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) While many companies are scrambling to stay afloat amid Turkeys economic crisis, the Turkish militarys pension fund, OYAK, is poised for a major acquisition in the fuel distribution sector, a move that reflects its growing economic might and influence in critical sectors. The fund, which entered talks to buy the fuel and autogas operations of Demiroren Holding in November, has agreed to pay about $450 million for the Turkish branch of Total Oil and M Oil, which are currently part of Demiroren, a financially strained conglomerate close to the government. Under the agreement, reported by the daily Haberturk last week, OYAK would pay some $360 million and $90 million respectively for Total Oil and M Oil, which are operating about 900 gas stations across the country. OYAKs economic operations have often come under fire under the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has actively sought to undo the political clout of the Turkish military. Intriguingly, however, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refrained from undoing the funds economic autonomy, even in the aftermath of the botched coup attempt in July 2016, which saw the upending of various military institutions. OYAK is Turkeys largest pension fund, serving also as a credit aid fund, which all officers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) of the Turkish military are obliged to join. About 10% of the monthly salaries of 250,000 OYAK members are automatically deducted as contributions to the fund, generating a monthly cash flow of around $35 million. This has made OYAK one of the biggest domestic investor holdings in Turkey, which has been in the grips of major economic woes since last year. Although junior officers are generally unhappy with the compulsory reduction in their disposable incomes, they realize how beneficial it could be as their retirement age approaches. OYAK members are entitled to a substantial retirement bonus from the fund, in addition to their regular retirement benefits from the state pension fund. For example, a four-star general with 40 years of service gets about $150,000 retirement bonus from OYAK, while a colonel with a 30-year-service gets $100,000 and an NCO about $70,000. OYAK is a major player with multibillion-dollar investments in various sectors such as iron, steel and cement manufacturing, car making, construction, mining, energy, finance, chemicals, logistics services and seaport management. In some fields, it has even grown into a dominant force. OYAK enterprises contribute 25% of Turkeys industrial steel production and control 20% of the car-making industry in the country. Standing out among them are the iron and steel factories in Eregli and Iskenderun and the Renault OYAK plants in Bursa. The funds cement plants also make a significant contribution to the national economy. More than 32,000 people are employed in OYAKs 60 companies, which operate in 21 countries. As of 2015, OYAKs total economic worth was estimated at $25 billion, with exports reaching $4.7 billion in 2018. All those figures show that OYAK is not merely a credit union for Turkish military personnel, but also a bulky, powerful and prospering conglomerate in the Turkish economy. After the AKP came to power in 2002, critics often lashed out at OYAK, urging the military to stay out of both politics and the economy. AKP elites slammed OYAKs investments and acquisitions, arguing that the funds economic clout stood in the way of democratic civilian oversight of the army and compounded the militarys political tutelage. After the 2016 coup attempt, the government embarked on a vengeful campaign to dismantle an array of military institutions. Many believed that OYAK, too, was on the line, facing the fate of companies linked to the Gulenist network, which Ankara held responsible for the putsch. In other words, they expected the government to seize OYAK companies and then dissolve them or hand them over to businesses close to the AKP. Yet this scenario did not materialize. Erdogans government kept OYAK intact. Its only move was to remove old managers and replace them with civilian figures close to the government. Remarkably, OYAKs economic autonomy was respected and the fund was kept aloof from the political controversies that simmered in the wake of the putsch. Why was OYAK spared? Two main reasons appear to have helped the fund survive. First, the aftermath of the coup attempt saw Erdogan seek an alliance with the military following massive purges of soldiers suspected of Gulenist links. OYAK is a major symbol of this new understanding, being an entity that bears directly on the economic interests, morale and motivation of 250,000 soldiers on active duty and employs the majority of retired generals, either as regular staff or on a contractual basis. Erdogans reliance on the army has increased in the past several years, both in terms of anti-terror efforts at home and military operations abroad, which has kept him from targeting OYAK and thus antagonizing the military. The second factor is economic. Erdogans government is grappling with serious financial woes amid plunging foreign investments, a recession in the construction sector which was the engine of economic growth in previous years and waning resources to distribute to court political support. OYAK, for its part, has been seeking strategic investments to turn the crisis into an opportunity. Targeting the fund in the current environment would be akin to killing the goose that lays golden eggs. Thus, Erdogan seems to have no interest in going after OYAK at present. Moreover, OYAK, which is not fully politicized yet and remains under rational management observing free-market conditions, could function as a sort of wreck cleaner, rescuing the troubled investments of companies close to Erdogan. Hence, the significance of OYAKs acquisition of the two Demiroren companies. The handover would place OYAK among the five largest players in the fuel distribution and engine oil sector, with a market share of 8% and some 150,000 employees. Fuel distribution is a very profitable sector in Turkey that directly affects over 30 other main sectors. Demiroren had bought the Turkish branch of Total Oil in 2015 for 325 million euros ($358.3 million). Another sector on OYAKs radar is the defense industry, namely the production of armor steel for mine-resistant vehicles and the Altay tank. Turkeys foreign reliance in this critical area is as much as about 90%. Finnish and US manufacturers have been the main armor steel suppliers of Turkish companies, but this collaboration has hit trouble amid international reactions over Operation Peace Spring, which Turkey launched in early October in northeastern Syria. Also, the United States is said to be considering a steel embargo for Turkish companies. In August, Ataer Holding, an OYAK subsidiary, entered talks to acquire British Steel, the United Kingdoms No. 2 steelmaker, but the effort was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, OYAKs rise and acquisitions in key sectors of the Turkish economy are bound to continue. Intriguingly, this will draw the Turkish military further into the economy. OYAKs increasing visibility and clout in critical sectors such as the defense industry and energy will, no doubt, irk the big conglomerates close to Erdogan. Will Erdogan continue to acquiesce to OYAKs rise to keep the military by his side? Or will he lend an ear to the grumbles and move to curb OYAKs growth? How Erdogan answers these questions in the coming months will bear not only on the economy but also on the presidents relationship with the military. D onald Trumps lawyers have argued forcefully against the relevance of John Boltons testimony as they concluded the defence in the presidents impeachment trial. The Senate is now braced for debate on whether to summon Mr Bolton, the US leaders former national security advisor, and other witnesses to the ongoing proceedings. Mr Trump was painted as a victim as his legal team capped a defence presentation on Tuesday, ahead of a decision being made on whether or not to hear from any witnesses. White House counsel Pat Cipollone declared: "This should end now, as quickly as possible," and took dismissive swipes at Mr Bolton, the potential witness who has scrambled Republican hopes for a swift end to the trial. Donald Trump's personal attorney Jay Sekulow and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone arrive at the Capitol for the president's Senate impeachment trial / REUTERS A day after the defence team largely brushed past Mr Bolton, lawyer Jay Sekulow addressed the controversy head-on by dismissing his manuscript - said to contradict a key defence argument about Mr Trump's dealings with Ukraine - as "inadmissible". The argument was meant to dissuade Republicans from pursuing witnesses including Mr Bolton, who writes in a forthcoming book that Mr Trump told him he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it helped with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton / REUTERS "It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts," Mr Sekulow said. The argument built on a separate one on Monday night from Mr Trumps lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who said that nothing in the manuscript - even if true - rises to the level of an impeachable offence. Mr Sekulow also sought to undermine the credibility of Mr Bolton's book by noting that Attorney General William Barr has disputed comments attributed to him by Mr Bolton. The legal team, in hours of arguments, delved into areas that Democrats see as outside the scope of impeachment, alleging law enforcement bias and seizing on surveillance errors the FBI has acknowledged making in its Russian election interference probe. House Democratic impeachment managers Val Demings, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff / AP Mr Trump's lawyers also argued that the Founding Fathers took care to make sure that impeachment was narrowly defined, with offences clearly enumerated. "The bar for impeachment cannot be set this low," Mr Sekulow said. "Danger. Danger. Danger. These articles must be rejected. The Constitution requires it. Justice demands it." The case now moves towards written questions, with senators on both sides getting 16 hours to pose queries. By late in the week, they are expected to hold a vote on whether or not to hear from any witnesses. While scoffing at the manuscript, Mr Trump and the Republicans have strongly resisted summoning Mr Bolton to testify in person about what he saw and heard as Mr Trump's top national security adviser. Senate Republicans spent two days behind closed doors discussing ideas to satisfy those who want to hear more testimony without prolonging the proceedings - or jeopardising the president's expected acquittal. The ideas appear to be losing steam as quickly as they emerge. One Republican, Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, was floating an idea backed by Senator Lindsey Graham to subpoena Mr Bolton's book manuscript so senators can see the evidence themselves - in private. However, Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, called the proposal, which would keep Mr Bolton out of public testimony, "absurd". "We're not bargaining with them. We want four witnesses, and four sets of documents, then the truth will come out," Mr Schumer said. Representative Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee and the lead Democratic prosecutor in the trial, added: "I don't see how the oath of impartiality can be interpreted in any other way than demanding a fair trial that includes witnesses and documents." Other Republicans including Senator Pat Toomey want reciprocity - bring in Mr Bolton or another Democratic witness in exchange for one from the Republican side. Some Republicans want to hear from the Bidens. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gathered Republican senators again late on Tuesday to consider next steps. The Republican leader is encouraging senators not to become tangled in such questions that could delay things. He wants a quick finish without new witnesses or testimony. Sri Lankan health authorities on Monday said the country has its first confirmed case of of a person infected with the new virus from China Colombo: Sri Lanka suspended its policy of granting visa on arrival for Chinese travellers on Tuesday, a day after the health authorities detected the country's first coronavirus infection. Sudath Suraweera, the chief epidemiologist of the country's health ministry, said on Monday that a 40-year-old Chinese woman was found positive for the virus. "She arrived on January 19 and was tested positive for the virus when she was leaving the airport on January 25. She was admitted to the infectious diseases hospital," he said. The woman was suffering from a fever when she was admitted on Saturday to the island nation's Infectious Disease Hospital, a state-run facility that treats people suffering from potentially deadly infectious diseases. She came to Sri Lanka from China's Hubei Province. Following the first detection of the coronavirus case, the Sri Lankan health authorities ordered the suspension of the on arrival visa policy for the Chinese nationals. Travellers from China must apply for visa via the online portal, the authorities said. The officials at Colombo international airport said the entry to airport's arrival and departure terminals had been restricted to passengers only. Some 65 Sri Lankan students in China returned by Monday. Another flight to evacuate students is due to leave on Tuesday. A total of 204 students have been evacuated in the last three days. The government has said that it has completed the collection of information on students in China. A National Action Committee to prevent the spreading of coronavirus was convened on Monday. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed the committee comprising health experts. Sri Lanka has become a major travel destination for Chinese tourists. Many Chinese nationals also work on Chinese-funded infrastructure projects - including a sea port, port city and highways. The death toll in China's deadly coronavirus epidemic has crossed the 100 mark while the confirmed cases have gone up to 4200. In April last year, Sri Lanka suspended its plans to grant visas on arrival for citizens of 39 countries after the devastating Easter suicide bombings that killed nearly 360 people. The story behind the German Jewish war hero honored on both sides of the Atlantic, decades apart By James M. Dorsey Last month's Islamic summit in Malaysia failed to challenge with a bang Saudi influence in the Islamic world and Muslim silence about repression of adherents to the faith in countries like China and India. Yet, it has produced ripples that spotlight the risks and fragility of opportunistic acquiescence. "Despite failing to achieve its immediate objective, the Kuala Lumpur summit has galvanized a stronger response by the OIC and the Gulf Arab states on issues affecting Muslims in India and, to a lesser extent, China," said Hasan AlHasan, a scholar who focuses on Gulf-South Asia relations, referring by its initials to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates successfully pressured Muslim countries like Pakistan and Indonesia to boycott the Kuala Lumpur gathering because it was organized beyond the auspices of the Saudi-dominated, Riyadh-based OIC, the usual organizer of Islamic summits. The Gulf states also feared that the gathering, called to draw attention to the plight of persecuted Muslim minorities, threatened to embarrass Saudi Arabia, the UAE and others who have endorsed the brutal repression of Turkic Muslims in China's troubled northwestern province of Xinjiang and remained silent about mounting discrimination of the world's largest Muslim minority in India so as not to jeopardize economic relations. The Gulf states were also worried that expressions of concern about the plight of Chinese Muslims would spotlight their adoption of aspects of China's developing Orwellian surveillance state that has been most comprehensive in the crackdown in Xinjiang. More fundamentally, the Kuala Lumpur summit, supported by countries like Turkey, Iran and Qatar as well as Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, highlighted the struggle for leadership of the Islamic world as well as Malaysia's strained ties with key Gulf states. Breaches in Saudi and UAE-led efforts to prevent the plight of their co-religionists from disrupting relations with India and China are however emerging and could be widened by a suggestion by India's top military commander that Kashmiris be interned in "de-radicalization camps" after Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew Kashmir's status as the country's only Muslim state and imposed harsh security measures. General Bipin Rawat's suggestion raised the specter of India emulating China's system of re-education camps in Xinjiang in which at least one million Turkic Muslims are believed to have been incarcerated in an effort to get them to accept that President Xi Jinping's thoughts supersede precepts of Islam. General Rawat's suggestion came on the back of an amended Indian citizenship law that made religion a criterion for refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh but excluded Muslims as well as a Supreme Court decision that was widely seen as favoring Hindus in a dispute over the site of a destroyed mosque in Ajodhya in Uttar Pradesh that Hindus believe was the birthplace of one of their most revered deities. If implemented, General Rawat's suggestion would make it more difficult for Muslim states to not only turn a blind eye to what is happening in India but also to the crackdown in China. Acquiescent Muslim states are already under pressure from Pakistan that is seeking to extract a price for dropping its original support of the Kuala Lumpur summit by pushing the Islamic world to speak out about Kashmir, popular pressure in some Gulf states, and mounting anti-Chinese sentiment in various Central Asian nations. Pakistan was awarded with the OIC criticizing the amended citizenship law and the court decision and agreeing to discuss Kashmir at a meeting in April although it was unclear at what level. Similarly, the UAE appeared to be acknowledging Indonesia's decision not to send Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, a senior member of Nahdlatul Ulema, the world's largest Muslim organization with 50 million followers, to Kuala Lumpur with pledges of $23 billion in investments. Efforts by a majority of Muslim states to ignore the plight of their co-religionists may however be built on ice that is melting beyond the OIC concession to discuss Kashmir. Last month, Nahdlatul Ulema, as well as Muhammadiyah, another major Indonesian Muslim organization with 30 million followers, issued statements condemning the crackdown in Xinjiang. At the same time, Muhyiddin Junaidi of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, the country's top clerical body and one of a number of Muslim leaders invited by China to Xinjiang in a bid to convince them that reports of a crackdown were inaccurate, called on the government to more openly denounce Chinese policy. Standing up for endangered and disenfranchised Muslim and non-Muslim minorities is a litmus test for Nahdlatul Ulema, which has launched a global effort to promote a recontextualization of Islam as well as a humanitarian interpretation of the faith that emphasizes human rights. Kuwaiti lawmakers last month petitioned the government to speak out about the plight of Muslims in China and India while Bahrain's Council of Representatives welcomed the new year with a statement describing India's amended citizenship law as discriminatory and urging "the international community to save the lives of innocent Uighur Muslims" in China. Pressure to speak out about anti-Muslim policies in China and India could put steps by various Gulf and Central Asian nations to adopt aspects of the surveillance system adopted by China in the firing line. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been accused of deploying surveillance software to monitor the communications of regime critics in country and abroad as well as activists and journalists. Central Asian nations such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, where anti-Chinese sentiment is simmering, are about to test China's Orwellian citizen scoring system that is being introduced to score a person's trustworthiness. The system would determine what benefits a citizen is entitled to, including access to credit, high speed internet service and fast-tracked visas for travel based on data garnered from millions of cameras in public places, social media and online shopping data as well as scanning of irises and content on mobile phones at random police checks. China has already begun to make deployment of its intrusive surveillance systems a precondition for investment in Central Asia. In some cases, China appears willing to supply the infrastructure at no cost as part of a Smart City project developed by controversial telecom giant Huawei for initial roll-out in former Soviet states. Liu Jiaxing, head of Huawei's representative office in Uzbekistan, disclosed China's insistence on adopting its surveillance approach in an interview with an Uzbek news outlet. "Investors will only go where the situation is stable. In view of this, the implementation of the Safe City project is very important for Uzbekistan as it will help the country develop its investment potential," Liu said. Dr. James M. Dorsey (jmd@jmdonline.org) is a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg's Institute of Fan Culture. Former Vice President Joe Biden called out Sen. Joni Ernst for saying his role in President Trump's impeachment trial will hurt his chances next week with Iowa caucus-goers. 'Did anyone see what Sen. Joni Ernst said yesterday?' Biden asked a crowd Tuesday in Muscatine, Iowa. 'She spilled the beans.' Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, is being criticized by Democrats for comments she made Monday after the president's attorney Pam Bondi went after Biden and his son Hunter on the Senate floor. Former Vice President Joe Biden said Sen. Joni Ernst 'spilled the beans' when she happily talked about how President Trump's impeachment trial - and Pam Bondi's presentation in the Senate Monday - would hurt Biden's chances with Iowa caucus voters Former Vice President Joe Biden made the comments Tuesday morning during a campaign stop in Muscatine, Iowa. He's spending the week before the caucuses on a bus tour of Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst (right) pointed out Monday that the Iowa caucuses were in one week's time and asked if Democratic voters would still be supportive of former Vice President Joe Biden after Pam Bondi linked he and his son to Ukraine corrupion. ' The impeachment centers on Trump pressuring Ukraine's president - holding up $400 in Congressionally-approved military aid - to announce he was opening an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden. Joe Biden is a top 2020 Democratic contender. 'Iowa caucuses, folks,' Ernst said as she stood alongside Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, in the Senate subway's hallway. 'Iowa caucuses are this next Monday evening and I'm really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, the Democratic caucus-goers.' 'Will they be supporting Vice President Biden at this point?' she mused. 'Not sure about that,' she quipped. Critics were quick to point out the similarities between what Ernst said and what now House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy uttered in Septemer 2015, linking Republicans' endless Benghazi probes into hurting Hillary Clinton at the polls. 'Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee. A select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she's untrustable,' McCarthy said. 'But no one would have known that any of that had happened had we not fought to make that happen.' Biden has been trying to use his supporting role in the impeachment saga to his political advantage with Iowa voters. On Monday night at an event at the University of Iowa, Biden said it was like being 'Alice in Wonderland.' 'This is crazy, just think about it,' Biden said, explaining that Trump was getting impeached 'for trying to get a foreign leader to say something against an opponent.' He didn't name himself as said opponent, but he brought up how his son was targeted by Bondi on the Senate floor several minutes later. 'These guys are attacking me and my family,' he said. 'The press corps with me, they're all good people following me, they keep asking, "oh, they brought up your son Hunter and they're doing this and that and the other thing.'" Biden then told the audience he wasn't holding a grudge. 'Well, guess what, I don't hold grudges because presidents can't hold grudges,' Biden said, adding that president's 'have to be healers.' Biden boasted at the Iowa debate earlier this month that his poll numbers have only gone up since impeachment. 'I have been the object of his affection now more than anybody else on this stage,' Biden said motioning to his fellow Democrats. 'I've taken all the hits he can deliver and I'm getting better,' he said of his standing in the polls. Biden remains No. 1 in national polls, including a new survey this week from Morning Consult, but some fresh polling from Iowa and New Hampshire show Sen. Bernie Sanders ahead. As part of a new development strategy, Lukoil plans to invest more than US$100 billion in various projects, primarily in Russia, Vagit Alekperov, the chief executive of Russias second-largest oil producer, told President Vladimir Putin during a meeting on Tuesday. Lukoil is preparing a new strategy and will start actively working in the Baltic shelf, Alekperov told Putin in a meeting to discuss the companys 2019 performance and plans for the future. Outside Russia, the privately owned Russian oil producer sees development and investment opportunities in West Africa, which is one of the most promising markets, Alekperov said. Lukoil is already present in three countries in West Africa, while another four countries in the region offer the Russian company joint development work, the manager told Putin. Russian oil companies are encouraged to work in West Africa after a Russia-Africa summit which Putin hosted in October. Lukoil is looking at joint oil and gas opportunities with Saudi Aramco in Africa, Alekperov said at the Russia-Africa forum in October. Lukoil and the Saudi oil giant are in good relations and constantly exploring joint opportunities in third countries, including in Africa, the Russian manager said. Now Russian companies, including Lukoil, are looking for deals in West Africa. In Russia, Lukoil expects that total Russian crude oil and condensate production could rise to more than 12 million bpd by 2035, if global demand for liquid hydrocarbons continues to grow, the company said in a new forecast last month. Currently, Russia pumps around 11.2 million bpd of oil and condensate. Referring to the U.S. sanctions on Russias oil industry, Lukoil said that although these restrictions are unlikely to impact domestic production in the near term, they will have a significant impact in the long term. Commenting on the OPEC+ deal, which Russian firms have criticized, Lukoil said in December after the OPEC+ meeting that We expect that Russia will remain a party to the OPEC+ Agreement for a long time, coordinating its activities with other oil-producing nations. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jon Afrizal, Apriadi Gunawan and N. Adri (The Jakarta Post) Jambi, Medan and Balikpapan Wed, January 29, 2020 08:45 714 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206164a5d 1 National coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,Jambi,Balikpapan,Nunukan,North-Sumatra Free As cases of infection and deaths from the coronavirus originating from the Chinese city of Wuhan hit a new high, Indonesia was still reporting no confirmed cases by Tuesday, although suspected cases continued to be recorded across the archipelago. At least eight patients across the country two in Bandung, West Java, one in Sorong, West Papua, one in Sidoarjo, East Java and four in Central Java were still under observation after being admitted to hospitals for suspected coronavirus infection as of Tuesday. Meanwhile, Indonesian authorities claimed that so far, at least 12 patients mostly tourists from China were clear of the coronavirus after being suspected of getting infected. One such patient was WDZ, 26, who was admitted to Raden Mattaher Hospital in Jambi on Saturday and had been receiving treatment in the hospital's isolation room as she showed signs of breathing difficulties and a fever. She was in Wuhan the epicenter of the coronavirus from Dec. 20 to 27, 2019. Medianto, one of two lung specialists on the case, said that the patient, who was in stable condition as of Monday, was only suffering from a respiratory ailment. He added that her phlegm sample would be sent to the Health Ministrys laboratory. Raden Mattaher Hospital service deputy director Dewi Lestari said the hospital has prepared an isolation room that could hold up to three patients suspected to have contracted the coronavirus for observation. "We are only treating their clinical conditions," she said. Health Ministry expert staffer Kuwat Sri Hudoyo confirmed on Tuesday that Jambi province was, therefore, still free of the virus. "Coronavirus is not our enemy. Our current enemy is information that makes the public anxious," Kuwat said in Jambi city on Tuesday. Read also: [UPDATED]: Suspected Wuhan coronavirus in Indonesia: What we know so far The new strain of coronavirus, which attack the person's respiratory system as the virus bears similarities to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), has killed 107 people in China and infected almost 4,500 people globally to date, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Sciences and Engineering. Indonesia's neighboring countries have reported confirmed coronavirus infection cases: Thailand reported eight, Australia and Singapore reported five each, Malaysia reported four, Vietnam two and Cambodia one, Reuters reported. North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi said on Tuesday that the province was still safe from the coronavirus. "Thank God, we are still safe from that virus spread. To anticipate it, we must move fast to create a team to coordinate, especially on North Sumatra ports of entry, such as airports, where we must increase security," Edy said. He called for the province's residents to remain calm and not to trust unverified news about the coronavirus. "People should not be worried. The government will provide prevention steps so we will not be infected by the deadly virus." The head of the North Sumatra Health Agency, Alwi Mujahit Hasibuan, said that the agency similar to authorities in provinces across the country was currently focused on supervising foreigners in the province, especially those coming from China, by using thermal scanners and microbolometers that can measure small particulates by detecting infrared radiation. Alwi said that with the two devices authorities would be able to detect those infected by the virus. Bahrullah, an official of the Tunin Taka Port health office (KKP) in Nunukan, North Kalimantan, said that so far no one who had entered the port had been detected or indicated having contracted the virus. Read also: Experts warn against complacency as Indonesia reports zero cases of coronavirus Authorities have installed thermal scanners at the port which is commonly used by travelers to cross to and from Tawau city in Sabah, Malaysia to detect anyone with a body temperature of more than 37 degrees Celsius to be treated by health officers. "We are checking everyone, Indonesians and foreigners, who arrived at this Tunon Taka Port using the thermal scanner," Bahrullah said. In Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, similar procedures are also being done at the Sepinggan Airport where international flight passengers must pass by a special area to be scanned using a thermal scanner. "Inside the airplanes, passengers must file [health statement] forms and in the airport they must pass by a thermal scanner. If there is a suspect we will follow it up. Currently, the Kanunoso Djatibowo hospital is ready for that," Balikpapan Health Agency head Andi Sri Juliarty said. All health workers were also required to wear N95 masks to protect their respiratory systems. Balikpapan deputy mayor Rizal Effendi also advised residents to refrain from going abroad in the meantime, especially to China, because some countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Australia have also reported confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Indonesia issued on Tuesday a travel warning for citizens intending to visit China's Hubei province, where currently at least 13 cities, including Wuhan, are in lockdown as Chinese authorities attempt to contain the viral outbreak. According to the Foreign Ministry, 243 Indonesians currently live in the quarantined zone; all are in good condition so far. (ami) Outbreak of the deadly coronavirus may be linked to Chinas covert biological weapons programme, an Israeli biological warfare analyst claims. The animal-borne disease, which is spreading globally, may have originated in a Wuhan-based laboratory. These allegations were made by Dany Shoham, who is a former Israeli military intelligence officer. He has studied Chinese biological warfare and alleges that Wuhan Institute of Virology may be the culprit behind the virus outbreak. As per reports, it is the only official laboratory in China that can work with deadly viruses. Dany Shoham told The Washington Times, Certain laboratories in the institute have probably been engaged, in terms of research and development, in Chinese [biological weapons], at least collaterally, yet not as a principal facility of the Chinese BW alignment. He later added in an email that biological weapons research is conducted as part of dual civilian-military research and is 'definitely covert'. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The coronavirus is an animal-born virus with symptoms resembling pneumonia. It is said to have originated from the Hunan Seafood Market, which is known to sell live animals and fish. China has quarantined the Wuhan district and has halted all travel to and from the city to contain the spreading of the virus. This has affected 11 million people who are residents of the district. Mixing drinking water with chlorine, the United States' most common method of disinfecting drinking water, creates previously unidentified toxic byproducts, says Carsten Prasse from Johns Hopkins University and his collaborators from the University of California, Berkeley and Switzerland. The researchers' findings were published this past week in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. "There's no doubt that chlorine is beneficial; chlorination has saved millions of lives worldwide from diseases such as typhoid and cholera since its arrival in the early 20th century," says Prasse, an assistant professor of Environmental Health and Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University and the paper's lead author. "But that process of killing potentially fatal bacteria and viruses comes with unintended consequences. The discovery of these previously unknown, highly toxic byproducts, raises the question how much chlorination is really necessary." Phenols, which are chemical compounds that occur naturally in the environment and are abundant in personal care products and pharmaceuticals, are commonly found in drinking water. When these phenols mix with chlorine, the process creates a large number of byproducts. Current analytical chemistry methods, however, are unable to detect and identify all of these byproducts, some which may be harmful and can cause long-term health consequences, says Prasse. In this study, Prasse and colleagues employed a technique commonly used in the field of toxicology to identify compounds based on their reaction with biomolecules like DNA and proteins. They added N--acetyl-lysine, which is almost identical to the amino acid lysine that makes up many proteins in our bodies, to detect reactive electrophiles. Previous studies show that electrophiles are harmful compounds which have been linked to a variety of diseases. The researchers first chlorinated water using the same methods used commercially for drinking water; this included adding excess chlorine, which ensures sufficient disinfection but also eliminates harmless smell and taste compounds that consumers often complain about. After that, the team added the aforementioned amino acid, let the water incubate for one day and used mass spectrometry, a method of analyzing chemicals, to detect the electrophiles that reacted with the amino acid. Their experiment found the compounds 2-butene-1,4-dial (BDA) and chloro-2-butene-1,4-dial (or BDA with chlorine attached). BDA is a very toxic compound and a known carcinogen that, until this study, scientists had not detected in chlorinated water before, says Prasse. While Prasse stresses that this is a lab-based study and the presence of these novel byproducts in real drinking water has not been evaluated, the findings also raise the question about the use of alternative methods to disinfect drinking water, including the use of ozone, UV treatment or simple filtration. "In other countries, especially in Europe, chlorination is not used as frequently, and the water is still safe from waterborne illnesses. In my opinion, we need to evaluate when chlorination is really necessary for the protection of human health and when alternative approaches might be better," says Prasse. "Our study also clearly emphasizes the need for the development of new analytical techniques that allow us to evaluate the formation of toxic disinfection by-products when chlorine or other disinfectants are being used. One reason regulators and utilities are not monitoring these compounds is that they don't have the tools to find them." ### Other authors on this study include Urs von Gunten of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology and David L. Sedlak of The University of California, Berkeley. Funding for this study was provided by the U.S. National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program (Grant P42 ES004705) at the University of California, Berkeley and internal funding from Johns Hopkins University. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger expressed outrage at the U.S. Supreme Court's sharply divided decision to lift a nationwide injunction blocking implementation of the "Public Charge Rule" while its legal fate remains under consideration by lower federal courts. MAZON President & CEO Abby Leibman said, "Such an action by the Court undermines precisely why courts are asked to issue such injunctions in the first place: without them, legally questionable policies become law subjecting vulnerable Americans to rules and decisions that may ultimately prove to be unlawful. At best, this creates confusion and fear; at worst, it will result in America turning its back on immigrants who heretofore would have been welcome in our country." The Trump Administration's public charge rule seeks to deny lawful permanent residency status to immigrants who have utilized public benefits, including food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Leibman said, "It is unconscionable that immigrants will now be presumed to be a public charge because they have participated in programs like SNAP, creating unprecedented policies that are discriminatory and unjust." MAZON joined with other concerned organizations in filing an amicus brief in opposition to the public charge rule on September 11, 2019 in the Northern District of California. Last year when the Administration proposed this rule change, MAZON's formal comments to the Department of Homeland Security highlighted that an estimated one-third of U.S. citizens 107 million people would fail to meet the revised public charge standards. Leibman said, "As a Jewish, anti-hunger organization, this cruel policy runs contrary to our deeply held belief that everyone deserves access to the resources they need to feed themselves and their families. Wealth testing as a precondition for immigrating to the U.S. is ludicrous and insulting. We stand resolved in our commitment to continue to fight against this unreasonable and vindictive policy." About MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger: Inspired by Jewish values and ideals, MAZON is a national advocacy organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel. For more information on MAZON, please visit mazon.org. Contact: Julia Natasha Watthey, MBA Director of Communications [email protected] | (424) 208-7203 SOURCE MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger Related Links http://www.mazon.org Identity and access management in 2022 - what will the future look like? As we enter into 2022, there is still a level of uncertainty in place. Its unclear what the future holds, as companies around the world still contend with the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote working has been encouraged by most organisations and the move to a hybrid working system has become business as usual, for the majority of businesses. Some have reduced their office space or done away with their locations altogether. Following best security practices With all this change in place, there are problems to deal with. According to research, 32.7% of IT admins say they are concerned about employees using unsecured networks to carry out that work. Alongside this, 74% of IT admins thought that remote work makes it harder for employees to follow best security practices. This need to manage security around remote work is no longer temporary. Instead, companies have to build permanent strategies around remote work and security. The coming year will also create a different landscape for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Here are some key predictions for next year and what to start preparing for in 2022: The reality of SMB spending around security will hit home SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working, especially in comparison to their size. They had to undertake significant digital transformation projects that made it possible to deliver services remotely, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weve seen a shift in mindset for these companies, which are now more tech-focused in their approach to problem solving. According to our research, 45% of SMBs plan to increase their spending towards IT services in 2022. Around half of all organisations think their IT budgets are adequate for their needs, while 14.5% of those surveyed believe they will need more, to cover all that needs to be done. Identity management spending to support remote work For others, the COVID-19 pandemic led to over-spending, just to get ahead of things and they will spend in 2022, looking at what they should keep and what they can reduce their spending on. Areas like identity management will stay in place, as companies struggle to support remote work and security, without this in place. However, on-premise IT spending will be reduced or cut, as those solutions are not relevant for the new work model. Services that rely on on-premise IT will be cut or replaced. The device will lead the way for security We rely on our phones to work and to communicate. In 2022, they will become central to how we manage access, to all our assets and locations, IT and physical. When employees can use company devices and their own phones for work, security is more difficult. IT teams have to ensure that theyre prepared for this, by making sure that these devices can be trusted. Wide use of digital certificates and strong MFA factors Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication There are multiple ways that companies can achieve this, for example - By using digital certificates to identify company devices as trusted, an agent, or strong MFA factors, like a FIDO security key or mobile push authentication. Whichever approach you choose, this can prevent unauthorised access to IT assets and applications, and these same devices can be used for authentication into physical locations too. Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication. Understanding human behaviour Alongside this, it is important to understand human behaviour. Anything that introduces an extra step for authentication can lead to employees taking workarounds. To stop this, it is important to put an employee education process in place, in order to emphasize on the importance of security. The next step is to think about adopting passwordless security, to further reduce friction and increase adoption. Lastly, as devices become the starting point for security and trust, remote device management will be needed too. More companies will need to manage devices remotely, from wiping an asset remotely if it gets lost or stolen, through to de-provisioning users easily and removing their access rights, when they leave the company. Identity will be a layer cake Zero Trust approaches to security Identity management relies on being able to trust that someone is who they say they are. Zero Trust approaches to security can support this effectively, particularly when aligned with least privilege access models. In order to turn theory into practical easy-to-deploy steps, companies need to use contextual access, as part of their identity management strategy. This involves looking at the context that employees will work in and putting together the right management approach for those circumstances. For typical employee behaviour, using two factor authentication might be enough to help them work, without security getting in the way. How enterprises manage, access and store identity data There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time For areas where security is more important, additional security policies can be put over the top, to ensure that only the right people have access. A step-up in authentication can be added, based on the sensitivity of resources or risk-based adaptive authentication policies might be needed. There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time, so that it aligns more closely with those use cases. Identity management critical to secure assets in 2022 There are bigger conversations taking place around digital identity for citizenship, as more services move online as well. Any moves that take place in this arena will affect how businesses think about their identity management processes too, encouraging them to look at their requirements in more detail. Overall, 2022 will be the year when identity will be critical to how companies keep their assets secure and their employees productive. With employees working remotely and businesses becoming decentralised, identity strategies will have to take the same approach. This will put the emphasis on strong identity management as the starting point for all security planning. United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) chief Paresh Barua said on Tuesday that the banned outfit would join talks with the Centre only if sovereignty is the main agenda. In a telephonic interview to a local news channel in Guwahati, Baruah said the outfit would join talks only if there are no formalities, talks are held in an atmosphere of trust and sovereignty was the one-point agenda on the table. His statement comes a day after Centre signed a peace accord with all four factions of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), raising hopes of permanent peace in Bodo-dominated areas of Assam, and after an invitation for talks by the Assam government. We are demanding sovereignty and that is the one point agenda for us. It should be on the negotiating table. There is no need to go to Delhi for discussions, we would want the talks to be held in Assam, he said. Formed in 1979 with the aim of creating a sovereign Assam, ULFA is the biggest militant outfit in Assam. A faction led by former ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa joined the peace process in 2011, but Baruah who renamed his faction as ULFA (Independent) has rebuffed all offers of talks till date. In the interview Baruah made it clear that while the NDFBs main agenda was creation of a separate state, it is different for ULFA, which is seeking sovereignty and hence both demands shouldnt be seen in the same context. We will never join talks which binds us in formalities. We want talks in a positive atmosphere with one point agenda. The government should be sincere. We are always positive but have doubts about Centres motives, said Baruah. If we are able to discuss about a sovereign and independent Assam and come to a conclusion on this issue, we would definitely sign such a deal, said the militant chief believed to be in hiding either in Myanmar or China. On Monday, union home minister Amit Shah had said after signing of the Bodo Accord in New Delhi that remaining militant outfits in northeast including ULFA-I are welcome to join peace talks. I would like to appeal to commander-in-chief of United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) Paresh Baruah to come to the talks so that there can be permanent peace in Assam like it happened in Bodo-dominated areas with signing of Mondays accord, senior Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in Guwahati on Tuesday. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A man who had been charged with selling a Middletown woman the illegal drugs that killed her avoided more prison time Tuesday on his guilty pleas to lesser criminal counts. Joseph Tozer wasnt spared the wrath of Carla Nelsons family, though. Tozer, 33, of Columbia, was arrested a week after Nelson, 47, died in her home from an overdose last March. His initial charges included a count of drug delivery resulting in death. However, there were evidentiary issues with the drug death count, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Cooper told Dauphin County Judge Deborah E. Curcillo. The drug delivery death charge was withdrawn. In November, Tozer pleaded guilty to lesser drug delivery charges. Public Defender Joseph Hartye asked for a rehabilitative sentence for Tozer with no more prison time. He noted Tozer, a mechanic and a father of three, spent seven months in county prison after his arrest. My client did admit to selling (Nelson) cocaine, Hartye said. Nelsons niece, Jessica Shumaker, railed at Tozer when Curcillo gave her the chance. You knew my aunt. She was the nicest person, Shumaker said. You destroyed my family. Horribly. Shumakers fiancee, Dustin Jones, asked Curcillo to impose a stiffer punishment that would deter Toizer from selling any more illegal drugs. Tozer apologized and told the judge his drug dealing days are over. I have plans to stick just to mechanic work, he said. Im staying home, being with my kids. Thats what Im doing. Curcillo asked how often he sold drugs to Nelson. It was may times, Tozer replied. Curcillo sentenced Tozer to 5 years of intermediate punishment. That includes the 7 months she credited him for his prison stay and another 4 months he must spend on house arrest, followed by probation. The judge warned Tozer that if he doesnt stay away from illegal drugs, you go to state prison. Students are set to lose access to their mobile phones at during class hours at most Australian public schools this term. Public school students in Victoria and Western Australia will be banned from using their phones at any time during school hours in an effort to reduce distractions in the classroom, prevent cyber bullying and anti-social behaviour. New South Wales primary schools will restrict the use of phones during breaks and classes after trialing restrictions at 22 schools in 2019, with primary schools having a one-year grace period to revise measures if they are ineffective. Tasmania will enforce a complete ban on phone use during school hours for primary and secondary school students starting in term two. Public schools in Western Australia and Victoria have banned all mobile phone use during class time, with other states including New South Wales restricting the use of devices at school (stock image) SCHOOL MOBILE PHONE BANS ACROSS AUSTRALIA VICTORIA: Students have to switch off their phones and store them in lockers during school hours until the final bell. In the case of an emergency, parents or guardians can reach their child by calling the school. Potential exemptions for educational purposes or children with medical conditions. WA: Pupils from kindergarten to Year 6 will not be permitted to have mobile phones in their possession at all, while students from Years 7 to 12 must have them turned off and out of sight. Smart watches must be set to airplane mode. Potential exemptions for educational purposes or children with medical conditions. NSW: The use of digital devices by primary school students must be restricted during class, at recess and at lunch. Potential exemptions for educational purposes or children with medical conditions. Primary schools are also being given a one-year grace period to revise how they run the ban if certain measures are not working. TASMANIA: From Term 2 of 2020, students from primary school to Year 12 will be required to have their phones 'off and away' all day. Year 11 and 12 students are able to opt out, subject to approval from their school association. Potential exemptions for educational purposes or children with medical conditions. Source: AAP Advertisement Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews believes his state is ready for the measures, even if they are not universally popular. 'We want our kids focused on learning, not on snapchatting and texting and whatever else you might do on a mobile device,' he said on Monday. 'This is a pretty simple thing. It's something parents have called for, many teachers have called for.' Many high schools and private schools around the country have already placed their own bans including Newington College in Sydney's inner-west, The King's School in Parramatta, and Wenona Girls School in North Sydney. Medical exemptions may be made for students with existing conditions, with extra measures being taken for smart watches and other wearable devices, such as removing them during exams to avoid cheating or plagiarising. Some parents have bought their children wearable devices to avoid mobile phone bans in their children's schools, with Melbourne's McKinnon Secondary College principal Pitsa Binnon telling the Australian Financial Review that parents can be the problem in needing to know where the child is at all times. 'The reality is we need to be able to create a haven for students,' Ms McKinnon said. 'They need to not communicate with their parents. And their parents need to not communicate with them. And some parents found it very challenging.' 'I think it's really important for kids to come to school and be in this bubble for the period of the school day. I'm sure kids will survive till they get home to find out what's for dinner.' Some smart watch brands such as Spacetalk offer 'school mode' in their watch settings, which makes the watch works as a regular watch before school finishes, allowing students to communicate with parents after class. Spacetalk released a survey of 1000 parents of primary school aged students and found that 72 per cent believe their children should be able to wear smartwatches. Kylie Crawford from the NSW northern beaches says her eight-year-old daughter Samaya wears a watch in 'school mode' all day, and after 3pm receives messages from her parents with her school pick up details. Ms Crawford says she hopes schools do not crack down on these devices in classrooms. 'A ban on them bringing them to school would not be beneficial to families, Ms Crawford said. Weve all seen it: an electric scooter zipping by on the sidewalk, weaving through pedestrians. In California, this is illegal. The sidewalk riding ban has been a point of tension among scooter companies, local governments and riders as everyone points fingers about whos to blame for breaking the law and who should enforce it. Now, one San Francisco company says it has a solution. Lime, which has scooters across the Bay Area, is introducing technology, which may be the first of its kind, to detect sidewalk riding. Its based on the assumption that sidewalks with evenly spaced grooves between concrete slabs have a predictably different surface than roads. The company says its in-app software, which The Chronicle viewed a demonstration of prior to the companys planned announcement on Tuesday, can judge based on vibration data at timed intervals whether the scooter is on a sidewalk with up to 95% confidence. Scooter riders who spend more than half of their trip on what appears to be the sidewalk will get a notification and a map in the app saying that their activity was illegal. The company will follow up with an email. There are no penalties, at least not yet: the company says the pilot program is about educating riders. The technology will come to Limes 1,200 scooters currently in downtown San Jose (its permitted for 2,300) in coming weeks. Thats an easier testing ground than the congested streets and bumpy sidewalks of San Francisco or Oakland, where Lime hopes to expand the sidewalk-detection pilot, but doesnt have a timeline. I think every mayor in this country knows that you could deploy a police officer to every corner and you still wouldnt be able to stop folks from riding scooters on sidewalks, San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo said. We clearly need to find a technological solution. EV Ellington, Limes Northern California general manager, said in a statement, We may have finally cracked the code on this issue and developed a technology that is effective and scalable. For more than a year, Lime tried out other technological solutions, but found that GPS wasnt accurate enough to identify sidewalks, and if technology caused a scooter to suddenly slow down when crossing a curb, it could be unsafe. Adding cameras and storing video data was costly. Bay Area cities have been scrambling to regulate scooters since they popped up in spring 2018. Part of San Joses permit pushed companies to develop sidewalk riding detection technology and prove its effectiveness by Friday. If they fail to do so, San Jose could penalize them by limiting scooters or issuing fines. Ultimately, the primary responsibility of any city is for the safety of its residents, Liccardo said. We recognize there are disruptive technologies that are challenging to regulate. Then we need to put it on the companies to utilize their technology to help us make the industry safer. San Jose is meeting with the five other scooter companies (Bird, Lyft, Spin, Gruv and Razor) this month to review plans. Some locals questioned whether rider education without penalties will make a difference. Itll be ignored like it currently is, said Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association. People dont feel safe in the bike lane or the road, and theyre going to ride on the sidewalk and going to whiz past pedestrians. ... As people get fed up with it, its going to end up falling mostly on the companies and the public sector. Technically, its the citys responsibility to enforce laws, but theres much higher priorities, Knies said. Thats not what the community is clamoring for in terms of police time. He believed that ultimately, if companies receive enough backlash, they will have to come up with innovative enforcement like Lime is doing. Assaf Biderman, associate director of MIT research organization Senseable City Lab and CEO of scooter designer Superpedestrian, said its fairly simple to count lines on the sidewalk, but it isnt foolproof because not all surfaces are the same. We can make improvements, but we dont yet have a 100% detection method thats deployable at the moment to detect sidewalks, Biderman said, adding its difficult to detect immediately. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Superpedestrians scooters can enforce rules, by for example automatically slowing down incrementally in an area where technology has indicated that its necessary, in less than a second. Limes technology detects sidewalk patterns after a few seconds. Lime said it would be extremely rare if someone was falsely notified that they were riding on the sidewalk. If that happened, the rider wouldnt suffer any consequences and could just let the company know. The company intends to collect data on riders using sidewalks and give that to San Jose to help the city decide which streets could use more protected bike lanes, a move that the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition applauded for safety. A recent UCSF study found scooter-related injuries resulting in hospitalization more than tripled over five years nationwide. Another San Francisco scooter company, Jump, owned by Uber, previously said it was developing sidewalk riding detection technology, but declined to comment for this story. Bird, which owns Scoot, a company that operates in San Francisco, had no updates to share on similar technology. A spokeswoman for Spin, which is owned by Ford and has scooters in San Francisco, said in an email that the company has technology that virtually blocks off certain areas, but when it comes to the issue of sidewalk riding, we cant expect riders to change their behavior if they dont feel safe riding in our streets. For now, the company provides in-app and in-person education to ensure riders understand the rules. Knies said scooters were initially disruptive, blocking sidewalks and endangering pedestrians. Hes now accepted that theyre a part of the city, although problems persist. Its going to take a village to get this right, he said. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described how San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo offered his comments. It was a telephone interview. As Pelham recounts in 1843 magazine's cover story, he was never charged or put in prison. In fact he was free to explore the city without a minder. As he spent his days and evenings travelling around Tehran, he gained a rare insight into life in the city. He attended subversive plays, concerts, parties and ecstatic religious ceremonies, and found a home away from home, of sorts, in Tehran's surprisingly upbeat Jewish community. "The more I delved into Tehran life the more colourful I found it. I felt I was looking through a keyhole and seeing a world beyond. I also knew my situation could change at any time. On a whim I could have been locked up," said Pelham. Nicolas Pelham is The Economist's Middle East correspondent. He started work in Cairo as editor of the Middle East Times and has spent 30 years studying, travelling and writing in the region. He is the author of "A New Muslim Order" (2008), "A History of the Middle East" with Peter Mansfield (2019) and "Holy Lands" (2016) which explores the region's pluralist past. Taking occasional breaks from journalism, he has worked as a Middle East analyst for the International Crisis Group, the United Nations and the Royal Institute of International Affairs. In 2017 he won the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Journalism. He has written for The Economist since 1998. He is British, and speaks Arabic and Hebrew and during his time in Tehran improved his rudimentary Farsi. "Trapped in Iran: my summer as a guest of the Revolutionary Guards" is the cover story in the February/March 2020 issue of 1843 magazine, sister publication to The Economist, out now. To read the full story, please visit: https://www.1843magazine.com/features/trapped-in-iran About 1843 1843 is a bi-monthly magazine published by The Economist and named for the year The Economist was https://www.1843magazine.com/features/trapped-in-iran founded. Published in print six times a year, 1843 is The Economist's award-winning magazine of long-form narrative journalism. It covers style and design, travel and food, as well as the enduring stories of our age. 1843 was launched in April 2016 and has a circulation of 360,000 worldwide. For more information go to 1843magazine.com SOURCE 1843 Related Links https://www.1843magazine.com Expands Further into the EMEA Market COLUMBIA, Maryland, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Accounting Seed, a top-rated accounting platform powered by Salesforce, opens a second location in Reading, UK, to better serve customers and expand their footprint in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) market. Having accomplished double-digit year-over-year growth for the last 10 years, Accounting Seed is both poised for continual growth and able to offer its accounting solution in the EMEA market with features such as multi-currency, multi-entity, and VAT reporting. "Now that the key features needed for the EMEA market have been tested and used by the current customer base, we are excited to open a London office and dive deeper into the EMEA market," said Tony Zorc, founder and chief executive officer. The software company hired Shane Deacon, vice president of EMEA, to manage their new office. Deacon brings 14 years of experience in the Salesforce ecosystem, having most recently worked for InvoiceIT/SteelBrick (which is now referred to as Salesforce's CPQ & Billing) and Kaptio. "My goal is to use my knowledge of Salesforce to sell this robust product to organizations that are not only on Salesforce, but also those that don't realize this kind of transformative accounting technology is out there," said Deacon. In order to support EMEA prospects already in the pipeline for Accounting Seed, Zorc's goal is to fill the UK office with more solution engineers and account executives in the next 12 months. "This new office is key to our ability to service our customers. I cannot wait to bring our product to more companies across the globe and watch as it transforms their businesses for the better," said Zorc. Accounting Seed's open architecture allows customers to run their accounting their way, a necessity for customers in different industries and countries. "Our solution is optimized for requirements specific to the UK area. Essentially, anything that has been outlined by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), can be done in Accounting Seed," said Deacon. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/928686/Accounting_Seed_Logo.jpg By ERIC TUCKER, ZEKE MILLER and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON President Donald Trumps legal team neared the end of his impeachment trial defense Tuesday, painting him and his aides as hounded by investigation and taking a dismissive swipe at an unpublished book by John Bolton that is said to contradict a key defense argument. It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts," said Trump attorney Jay Sekulow. That's politics, unfortunately." He was referring to reports of a forthcoming book by former Trump's former national security adviser, who writes that Trump told him that he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it helped with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. Trump and his lawyers have repeatedly insisted he never tied the security aid to political investigations. While scoffing at the manuscript, Trump and the Republicans have strongly resisted summoning Bolton to testify in person about what he saw and heard as Trump's top national security adviser. One of the president's lawyers, Deputy White House Counsel Pat Philbin, told the senators that America's Founding Fathers took care to make sure that impeachment was narrowly defined, with impeachable offenses clearly enumerated. There has to be a defined offense in advance," Philbin said. FILE - In this July 8, 2019, file photo, national security adviser John Bolton speaks at the Christians United for Israel's annual summit, in Washington. A single paper copy in a nondescript envelope arrived at the White House on Dec. 30. Four weeks later, news of John Boltons book manuscript about his time as President Donald Trumps national security adviser has exploded into public view, sending a jolt through the presidents impeachment trial. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)AP News of the Boltons manuscript clouded White House hopes for a big finish Tuesday as well as a swift end to the impeachment trial. Democrats are demanding witnesses, and some Republicans are expressing openness to the idea. One Republican, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, is floating an idea to subpoena Boltons book manuscript so senators can see the evidence themselves but only in private. It's an idea that may be gaining traction even as other Republicans have warned against a protracted legal dispute with the White House, which has tried to block administration officials. GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter that he totally supports Lankford's proposal. Graham, a key Trump ally, said the Bolton document should be made available to the Senate, in a classified setting, where each Senator has the opportunity to review the manuscript and make their own determination. However, Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, called the proposal, which would keep Bolton out of public testimony, absurd." We're not bargaining with them. We want four witnesses, and four sets of documents, then the truth will come out," Schumer said. Senate Republicans were to meet behind closed doors to consider next steps. The Bolton revelations distracted from hours of arguments Monday by Trump's lawyers, who declared anew that no witness has testified to direct knowledge that Trump's delivery of aid was contingent on investigations into Democrats. Bolton appeared poised to say exactly that if summoned by the Senate. We deal with transcript evidence, we deal with publicly available information," Trump attorney Jay Sekulow said. We do not deal with speculation." Trump is charged with abusing his presidential power by asking Ukraine's leader to help investigate Biden at the same time his administration was withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid. A second charge accuses Trump of obstructing Congress in its probe. In this image from video, Ken Starr, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks during the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Senate Television via AP)AP On Monday, Trumps attorneys, including high-profile lawyers Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz, launched a historical, legal and political attack on the entire impeachment process. They said there was no basis to remove Trump from office, defended his actions as appropriate and assailed Biden, who is campaigning for the Democratic nomination to oppose Trump in November. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi devoted her presentation to Biden and his son Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukraine gas company when his father was leading the Obama administrations diplomatic dealings with Kyiv. The legal team argued that Trump had legitimate reasons to be suspicious of the younger Biden's business dealings and concerned about corruption in Ukraine and that, in any event, he ultimately released the aid without Ukraine committing to investigations the Republican president wanted. Trump has sought, without providing evidence, to implicate the Bidens in the kind of corruption that has long plagued Ukraine. Though anti-corruption advocates have raised concerns, there has been no evidence of wrongdoing by either the former vice president or his son. Democrats say Trump released the money only after a whistleblower submitted a complaint about the situation. Starr, whose independent counsel investigation resulted in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton he was acquitted by the Senate bemoaned what he said was an age of impeachment." Impeachment, he said, requires an actual crime and a genuine national consensus" that the president must go. Neither exists here, Starr said. It's filled with acrimony and it divides the country like nothing else," Starr said of impeachment. Those of us who lived through the Clinton impeachment understand that in a deep and personal way." Dershowitz, the final speaker of the evening, argued that impeachable offenses require criminal-like conduct a view largely rejected by legal scholars. He said nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense." Purely non-criminal conduct, including abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, are outside the range of impeachable offenses," Dershowitz said. Even as defense lawyers laid out their case as planned, it was clear Bolton's book had scrambled the debate over whether to seek witnesses. Trump's legal team has rejected Bolton's account, and Trump himself denied it. I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens," Trump tweeted. "If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. Republican senators face a pivotal moment. Pressure is mounting for at least four to buck GOP leaders and form a bipartisan majority to force the issue. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, departs the Senate following defense arguments by the Republicans in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. Collins, a moderate up for re-election, has said she is "likely" to want to hear from witnesses in the impeachment trial, a move which would put her at odds with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)AP John Boltons relevance to our decision has become increasingly clear, GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told reporters. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she has always wanted the opportunity for witnesses and the report about Boltons book strengthens the case. At a private GOP lunch, Romney made the case for calling Bolton, according to a person unauthorized to discuss the meeting and granted anonymity. Other Republicans, including Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, said if Bolton is called, they will demand reciprocity to hear from at least one of their witnesses. Some Republicans want to call the Bidens. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hadn't known know about Boltons book, his office said. But the GOP leader appeared unmoved by news of the book. His message at the lunch, said Indiana GOP Sen. Mike Braun, was, Take a deep breath, and lets take one step at a time. Once the presidents team wraps up its arguments, senators have 16 hours for written questions to both sides. By late in the week, they are expected to hold a vote on whether or not to hear from any witnesses. Trump and his lawyers have argued repeatedly that Democrats are using impeachment to try to undo the results of the last presidential election and drive Trump from office. Democrats, meanwhile, say Trump's refusal to allow administration officials to testify only reinforces that the White House is hiding evidence. The White House has had Bolton's manuscript for about a month, according to a letter from Bolton's attorney. ___ Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Mary Clare Jalonick, Andrew Taylor, Matthew Daly, Laurie Kellman and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report. Shay, Jim ANSONIA - Police are investigating a shooting that happened near the corner of Clarkson and Holbrook streets early Tuesday morning. Lt. Patrick Lynch said police received several 911 calls shortly after 1 a.m. reporting gunshots in the area of Wakelee Avenue and Clarkson Street. The EU will not ban Chinese telecom giant Huawei in Europe, a top official said on Tuesday, despite intense pressure from Washington to shun the company over spying fears. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, will officially unveil its recommendations on Wednesday, but commissioner Thierry Breton told MEPs that Brussels will choose tight scrutiny over any blanket ban. "It is not a question of discrimination it is a question of laying down rules. They will be strict, they will be demanding and of course we will welcome in Europe all operators who are willing to apply them," he said. Aveiro Portugal "If you had a chance to move someplace, why wouldnt you opt for someplace with weather you actually liked? Thats a subjective judgement everybody likes different weather. Which is why several countries near the top of the Global Retirement Index dont offer only year-around tropical weather." Climate is one of the most important considerations for retirees choosing where to settle overseas. In International Livings Annual Global Retirement Index 2020, the countries that claim the best climates in the world all offer a variety of optionsfrom warm beach areas to higher-altitude regions that offer year-round spring-like temperatures. In this category, International Living rates the climate of each country, considering factors like amount of rainfall, average temperatures, and levels of humidity. Rankings favor places that offer a variety of climates, providing greater choice for retirees. Climate and weather are a hugely important considerations for retirees and expats moving abroad, says Dan Prescher, Senior Editor for International Living. Think about it. If you had a chance to move someplace, why wouldnt you opt for someplace with weather you actually liked? Thats a subjective judgement everybody likes different weather. Which is why several countries near the top of the Global Retirement Index dont offer only year-around tropical weatherthey have different climate zones, allowing retirees to choose a spot to match their preferences. An advantage to a mild climateneither too hot nor too coldis that it can be a place where cooling and heating costs are low to non-existent, which can have a huge positive effect on a monthly budget and bottom line. The point is that people thinking about retiring abroad can use the Index to actually sort locations by which weather and utility budget combination suits them best." The five countries that scored the highest marks for Best Climate in the World in this years Annual Global Retirement Index 2020 are... #1 Portugal Portugal, the winner of International Livings Annual Global Retirement Index 2020, takes the top spot in the Climate category this year scoring 88 out of 100. Portugals climate is a mix of temperate in the north to Mediterranean heading south, making it ideal in that it offers so much to so many in a space so compact, says Tricia Pimental, International living Portugal Correspondent. The north, where Porto is located, is breezy, beautiful, and sunny in summer, with daytime highs 80 F and above. Winter brings chilly, gray, and rainy days and an average 20 degree drop in the temperature, day and night. Moderated temperatures and precipitation are as you would expect in the shoulder seasons of autumn and spring. Heading south through the central region, including locations such as the University town of Coimbra, temperatures are a few degrees warmer each season, with less rain (35 inches per year compared to Portos 49). Inland in the central region youll find the Serra da Estrella mountain range. So, if youre not 100% sold on giving up winter weather, this is where to come to skior just have a good old-fashioned snowball fight. Still farther south, in the capital of Lisbon, the progression continues, with slightly warmer seasonal temperatures and a still dryer climate, with an average rainfall of 25 inches per year. The southernmost region of the Algarve is predictable, given the pattern Ive outlined: Its the warmest, driest area of the country (with 20 inches of annual precipitation). Summer temperatures range from 84 F in the daytime to 64 F at night, and in winter, daytime highs are in the low 60s, slipping to the mid-to-upper 40s. Winds off the Atlantic Ocean from north to south along the coastline have varying effects, from creating a colder atmosphere in winter to refreshing, cooling, breezes in warmer weather. The eastern Algarve is protected from the Atlantic currents, and in fact experiences winds from Africa, making this area near the Spanish border highly desirable for those seeking a warm and pleasant climate. Having said all this, its important to know that theres no guarantee you wont experience some extremes in temperature. In the Alentejo (roughly south of central and east on the border with Spain), the mercury can rise to 90 F and beyond in summer, and dip below freezing in winter. (Colombia, Ecuador and Peru are all tied for second place in the Annual Global Retirement Index 2020 Climate Category with a score of 87.) #2 Colombia I will admit that the perfect year-round, spring-like weather was the first thing that drew me to retire to Medellin, Colombia, says Nancy Kiernan, International Living Colombia Correspondent. I had lived my whole life in the north-eastern section of the U.S., and I never wanted to see or shovel snow again. But Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world, so you can find whatever climate and environment that suits your taste. If you want hot and tropical, then I think you should consider retiring to the lovely Caribbean coastal cities of Santa Marta or Cartagena where crystal-clear, blue water laps against warm, sandy beaches. For those who prefer more temperate climates, then I suggest my adopted mountain city of Medellin or anywhere in the coffee triangle of Pereira, Armenia and Manizales where youd be surrounded by lush green mountain scenery. #2 Ecuador Climate in Ecuador varies by altitude, not latitude, says Sean Keenan, International Living Editor. That's significant here, of all places, because the equator runs right through the country. In fact, Ecuador was named after it. What that means is that days and nights are evenly spaced at 12 hours each, and temperatures can get exceedingly hot. However, in towns and cities such as Quito, Cuenca, or Vilcabamba, the high temperatures are moderated by altitude, meaning that in the right spot, expats can live in year-round spring-like temperatures, with near constant sun. At sea level, and on the coast, the dynamics are slightly different. You can expect hot, sunny weather with temperatures in the 80s F for half the year, and milder temperatures with cloud cover in the wet season from May to October. Even so, with such an indented coastline, microclimates offer a range of options to choose from, including cloud forest, tropical jungle, and dry scrub landscapes. Sometimes the microclimates are separated by less than 10 miles. And with some of the highest mountains on the planet, suffice to say, you'll find snow-covered peaks year-round too. Essentially, pick your climate, and you'll find it somewhere in Ecuador. #2 Peru After living abroad for over a decade in several locations I think we have found our perfect weather, says Steven LePoidevin, International Living Peru Correspondent who lives in Huanchaco, a northern surfing and fishing village located just 20 minutes from the larger city of Trujillo. With 28 of the worlds 32 climates stretching from the Pacific to the Amazon, thats easy enough to do in this country. The temperatures here in Huanchaco range from the low 60s during the coldest part of the year to the high 70s during the summer months. With a light breeze and no bugs, we leave our doors and windows open for much of the year. No AC or heating is ever needed. And here, we get less than an inch of rain a year. The southern half of the coast is warm and dry during the summer months but tends to be foggy and cool during the winter. While in the mountains, it is the opposite with rain and cooler weather prevailing during the winter months and dry sunny days during July and August. #3 Mexico As many as 1 million U.S. and Canadian citizens already call Mexico home, with more joining them all the time. Thanks to Mexicos large size, varied geography, and affordable real estate, prospective residents are spoiled for choice among colonial towns, fishing villages, beach retreats, and cosmopolitan cities. Mexico is a big countryabout three times the size of Texas, says Jason Holland, International Living Roving Latin America Editor. And that means it has a wide variety of climatesthere really is something for everybody. You have the spring-like year-round climate of Colonial Highlands towns like San Miguel de Allende. In beach towns like Puerto Vallarta and Playa del Carmen its always warm and humid too, although sea breezes help. For a more dry heat, head to arid Los Cabos. Further up on the Baja Peninsula you have towns like Rosarito, with a nearly identical climate to Southern California. Winter is actually one of the best times of year, weather-wise, to visit Mexicos Caribbean and mainland Pacific beaches because its the coolest (highs in the lows 80s F) and least humid time of year. More details on the top six countries in the Climate category of International Livings Annual Global Retirement Index 2020 can be found here: The World Best Climate 2020 Editor's Note: Members of the media have permission to republish the article linked above once credit is given to Internationalliving.com Further information, as well as interviews with expert authors for radio, TV or print, is available on request. Photos are also available. For information about InternationalLiving.com content republishing, source material or to book an interview with one of our experts, contact PR Managing Editor, Marita Kelly, +001 667 312 3532, mkelly@internationalliving.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/internationalliving/ Twitter: @inliving https://twitter.com/inliving?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/International.Living/ About International Living Since 1979, InternationalLiving.com has been the leading authority for anyone looking for global retirement or relocation opportunities. Through its monthly magazine and related e-letters, extensive website, podcasts, online bookstore, and events held around the world, InternationalLiving.com provides information and services to help its readers live better, travel farther, have more fun, save more money, and find better business opportunities when they expand their world beyond their own shores. InternationalLiving.com has contributors traveling the globe, investigating the best opportunities for travel, retirement, real estate, and investment. Boltons knowledge of Trumps conduct is looming over the impeachment trial. Photo: The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Images Throughout the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump, there has been a contrast between the formal arguments of the two parties and the underlying issue of whether additional evidence blocked by the White House during the House proceedings would be admitted by the Senate. In particular, former Trump national-security adviser and conservative icon John Boltons apparent willingness to testify has been the key pressure point, and the contingency Mitch McConnell and the White House have sought to head off, recognizing that four Republican senators joining the 47 Democratic senators could make it happen. On the eve of the first full day of the presidents defense presentation, accounts of what Bolton has alleged in his upcoming book raised the tension between the official proceedings and the intrigue in the background to a taut high wire. By plan or circumstance, the tone of Trumps defense became sharper and more aggressive, ranging from the whataboutism of a major attack on the Bidens to a regularly repeated claim that no matter what Bolton or anyone else has to say, the impeachment effort is tainted fatally by the evil intent and flawed proceedings of House Democrats. As Politico suggested, the Bolton bombshell had a big impact on the debate behind the debate: Within just 24 hours, White House officials went from feeling self-assured about the speediness of the Senate impeachment trial to scrambling to squash John Boltons bombshell allegation. Now, White House officials and Trump lawyers are preparing for the possibility that the Senate impeachment trial will summon witnesses dragging out the trial for days or weeks, cutting into plans for the State of the Union address and delaying Trumps pivot to his reelection campaign. Calling witnesses would make the trial much more unpredictable for the White House and Republican Senate leadership, which was caught by surprise by the revelations in Boltons book manuscript. The book draft says Trump told Bolton to keep withholding military aid to Ukraine until officials there agreed to investigate his political rivals, a statement that undercuts a key element of the Trumps [sic] legal defense. It became more and more apparent throughout the day that Senators Collins and Romney were pretty much on board with the idea of calling Bolton, and rumors abounded that others might eventually follow. One GOP senator, Pat Toomey, revived the idea of a deal to allow House Democrats to call Bolton and then let the presidents team call a witness of its own upsetting Mitch McConnells plan for a brief trial with no witnesses. Presumably, McConnell & Co. worked hard today to put the genie back into the bottle perhaps fighting a two-front war against Trump partisans who relished the idea of publicly dragging a Biden or two through the mud. In the meantime, a sizable number of Trump attorneys made arguments that suggested there is no factual situation that would save the impeachment-and-removal effort from its terrifying character as a partisan coup. Trumps two celebrity attorneys bookended the argument with particularly categorical claims that Trump simply could not be removed from office under the articles of impeachment the House adopted. Ken Starr, who probably had more to do with Bill Clintons impeachment than any other individual, closely approached but did not offer an apology for that effort in promoting the Rodino Rules (named for Peter Rodino, the House Judiciary Committee chairman during the Nixon impeachment proceedings) that, among other things, ruled out any proceedings that arent bipartisan. Alan Dershowitz, like other Trump attorneys, claimed that any impeachment that did not allege either violation of a criminal statute or misconduct involving treason and bribery could not be valid (a decidedly shaky argument, according to most legal analysts, as Dershowitz himself acknowledged). Starr and Dershowitz (and their colleagues throughout the day) were conveniently arguing that Bolton couldnt repair a constitutionally flawed effort to remove Trump from office no matter what he or Trump said to each other. Dershowitz was explicit about the irrelevance of any Bolton testimony. Between these two efforts to wave off the need for additional evidence, Team Trump (beginning with former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi) went after Joe and Hunter Biden and their alleged corruption. Ostensibly, the idea was to show how justified Trump was in pressuring Ukraine to clean up its act. More subtly, it was a warning to Senate Democrats that if they persist in promoting a long trial with witnesses, there will be collateral damage. This dual purpose was even more obvious in a presentation by Trump private attorney Eric Herschmann, who went after Barack Obama as being more complicit in abuses of power than is Trump. Herschmann even tried to put the spotlight on Mitt Romney to make it clear he had no reason to betray his party to side with Democrats, as Politico reported: Herschmann played a clip of Obama debating Romney then the GOP nominee for president in 2012. In the clip, Obama mocked Romney for saying Russia was Americas top geopolitical foe. Herschmann made eye contact with Romney, whose seat is in the back corner of the chamber, several times while he repeatedly invoked his name. Romney visibly smirked while his colleagues turned to face him. The shift in mood surrounding the trial has led Trumps defense team to abandon earlier talk of giving up its right to another day of argument. Now it appears the key vote on witnesses will likely happen on Friday, after two days devoted to written questioning of the two sides by senators. But the backstage drama behind the drama in the Senate chamber may matter most. A Surya Prakash By The continued opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) passed by Parliament and the preparation of the National Population Register (NPR) by several state governments that are antagonistic to the present dispensation at the Centre and their threatening postures towards the Union government do not augur well for our Republic and constitutional well-being. The CAA, which is now the law of the land, has amended the Citizenship Act to provide succour to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who, because of religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, crossed over to India before 31 December 2014 and are living in our country without any legal status. These nations are Islamic states, meaning Islam is the state religion there. Thus, automatically, unlike in India, adherents of all religions other than Islam, are second- or third-class citizens. Therefore, all non-Muslims are constitutionally inferior and this has conditioned the majority to ill-treat the religious minorities in these nations. Since Partition, Hindus and other minorities have been subjected to all forms of harassment and cruelty in these nations, forcing them to either convert to Islam or flee. As a result, the population of Hindus in undivided Pakistan, which was around 24% in the mid-1940s, has crashed to just 1.7%. Similarly, in Bangladesh, which was earlier East Pakistan, the percentage of Hindus has crashed from 30% to about 7%. This should also answer the question as to why the Muslims are left out of the list of persecuted minorities under the CAA. First of all, they are not minorities and secondly, it is laughable to say that Muslims are persecuted by an Islamic state. The CAA seeks to offer some help to these subjugated minorities and to only those who entered India before the cut-off date. In other words, this is not an open-ended scheme to allow for future migrants from these nations. Nor does it have anything to do with citizens of India, whether Hindu or Muslim. Given this reality, the attempt by the Communists, Congress and others opposed to the BJP to spread the word that the CAA is against the Muslim citizens of India is blatantly false. This Act seeks to provide succour to persecuted religious minorities in Islamic states and this is in line with Bharatiya dharma and our constitutional dharma as well. Those opposing this are abetting the non-secular, non-democratic behaviour of the citizens of Islamic nations across Indias border, and will thereby lose the moral right to talk about these values in India. The Communists and Congress are also spreading canards about the NPR, the compilation of which is critical for policy formulation in the country. Both these parties have been roundly rejected in the last parliamentary election in May 2019. In fact, although the Communists hog 30-40% of the airtime on television debates, public support for these parties has fallen dramatically. In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, the two main Communist parties had a combined vote share of 7.07%. In 2014, this was down to 4.07%, and in 2019, it crashed to 2.36%. So, it appears JNU is their last bastion, and in combination with the Congress, these two parties are seeking to avenge their electoral humiliation by whipping up passions against the government that has received overwhelming public support. Meanwhile, the Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan Assemblies have all passed resolutions asking Parliament to repeal the CAA.Three other developments in recent weeks are extremely worrying. One, several chief ministers have declared that they will not implement the CAA in their states; two, the disgraceful decision to bring children to protest sites and to get them to raise foul, abusive slogans against a duly elected prime minister; and three, telling the Muslims not to respond to queries from enumerators who are tasked to prepare the NPR. Every chief minister and politician in the country who has declared that CAA will not be implemented in his or her state must immediately withdraw that statement, because it will amount to challenging the supremacy of the Constitution. Parliament is empowered to make laws regarding citizenship, naturalisation and aliens under item 17 in the Union List and no state or individual has the right to say that the law made by Parliament will not be implemented. If the CMs persist with this line, it will amount to a constitutional breakdown and the consequences will be terrible because the overwhelming majority in this country swears by the Constitution and will not allow a few malcontents in our politics to disturb its rhythm and balance. Secondly, the decision by protestors to bring kids to protest sites and to get them to hurl abuses at PM Narendra Modi is another act of brinkmanship which no reasonable person will support. Lastly, asking Muslims to boycott the NPR is equally risky, because any attempt to stymie the working of a duly elected government at the federal level will have its own implications. Those who are encouraging such tendencies are treading a dangerous path. It is indeed unfortunate that one has to make such a gloomy prognosis about what lies ahead, around the time the nation is celebrating Republic Day. The majority has to be alert to ensure that the Constitution and the democratic way of life remain undisturbed. The Nigerian government has appealed the ruling of the Federal High Court in Lagos on the collection and remittance of the Combined Expatriate and Residence Permit Aliens Card (CERPAC) fees. The appeal was filed by the Ministry of Interior and Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the court presided by Justice Rilwanu Aikawa in his ruling in November 2019, nullified the review by Nigerias interior ministry, nearly one year after it increased CERPAC fee. Justice Aikawa also declared as unconstitutional the contract between the interior ministry and Continental Transfert Technique Ltd, or Contec, for the collection of the CERPAC fee. The judge ruled that only the Nigeria Immigration Service is lawfully empowered to collect such fees. While Section 102 of the Immigration Act provides for private sector participation in the development and provision of infrastructure, there is no provision as far as I can discern which allows for the participation of the private sector in the collection of residence permit or visa fees, the judge held. In Nigeria, CERPAC is mandatory for expatriates. It allows them to live and work in the country. It is renewable annually or every two years, depending on the validity of the period given. The interior ministry, under former minister Abdurahman Dambazau, reviewed the fees for the card from $1,000 to $2,000 on December 13, 2018, following a request by Contec two days earlier. That was without a prior warning to foreign nationals and, as such, many of them were reportedly surprised at the banks they had visited to pay for renewals. Also in December 2018, the ministry and the company reviewed the sharing formula for the collected revenues: 55 per cent to the company, 33 per cent to the federal government, five per cent to the ministry of interior and seven per cent to the NIS. But following the reviews, Mr Falana sued the company, interior ministry and the immigration service after nothing came of his petition to the finance ministry. The judge upheld Mr Falanas position that the minister lacked the power whatsoever to increase the fee without a money bill presented by the president and passed by the National Assembly. Although Section of the Immigration Act gives the minister the power to review the visa fees without the legislature, the judge noted that it runs contrary to Section 59 of the Constitution. Any law, a statute or provision thereof that runs riot and violent to the provision of the Constitution or is in conflict with the Constitutional is null and void to the extent of the inconsistency, the judge held. He further declared that all fees collected from expatriates in Nigeria shall be paid into Federation Account in line with the provision of Section 162 of the Constitution. The appeal But in a motion on notice filed at the Court of Appeal, the ministry is asking for a stay of execution of the ruling of the Federal High Court. A stay of execution is a court order to temporarily suspend the execution of a court judgment or other court order. In its motion dated January 24, the ministry said the order for the stay of execution on the judgment comes into force pending its determination by the Court of Appeal. According to the ministry, the grounds for the objection bordered on the appeal by the defendants challenging the courts jurisdiction to have entertained Mr Falanas suit. The Director of Legal Services in the Ministry, B.E Jeddy-Agba, in support for the motion of stay of execution, said the ministry is dissatisfied and aggrieved by the judgment and inevitably had to appeal the judgment. The ministry said the appeal of the respondents has a strong likelihood of success at the Court of Appeal and that it will be in the interest of justice to grant the application for stay of execution of the judgment among others. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Move over, gyros. Here comes pizza. Starting Monday, Sophia and Dimitri Georgiopoulos upped their food game at How Greek It Is in Grant City to include a full line of pies and dough-driven specialties. People were asking for it, explained server Nicole Salvatore, the Georgiopoulos daughter-in-law. Plus, the brick oven has been a fixture in the place since the restaurants former rendition, Ciminna Cafe. In addition to spanakopita and pita, the equipment will roast chicken and eggplant rolls, calzones, stromboli and novelties like the Upside Down Sicilian, a crunchy, thick-crusted square with fresh mozzarella beneath chunky tomato sauce, parmesan cheese and a healthy sprinkling of oregano. Dimitri Georgiopoulos Steve Trana is the pizzaiolo crafting the dough and pulling the pies from the oven. Staten Islanders might recognize him from Cafe Del Mondo, a long-time Italian restaurant formerly of Willowbrook. He builds a variety of pizzas like a cracker-thin Margarita topped with torn fresh basil leaves and a vodka version with a delicate sauce and fresh mozzarella. The pizza comes in the midst of some major changes for the Georgiopoulos. They closed their Castleton Corners restaurant, How Greek It Is Too, just before Christmas. Having the two operations was a feat for the couple, both battling cancer. Hes here every single day. Hardest-working man I ever met -- he never gives up," said Salvatore. Her mother-in-law Sophia is just as tenacious. She just had surgery last week and couldnt make the pizzas debut day. But she said in a phone call that the restaurant is in good hands. Were like family, said Salvatore, as she hugged fellow waitress, Mindy Roth. Mindy Roth, left, and Nicole Salvatore, servers at How Greek It Is. As Trano turns out his pizzas, the kitchen also sticks to its Greek theme. Sophia Georgiopoulos said she is particularly proud of her sugar-dusted nut cookies and Dimitris homemade falafal. She makes pastitsio layered with bechamel when in the restaurant along with pastries -- a nut-filled kataifi wrapped in an angel hair-like pastry fluff -- plus baklava triangles drizzled with a honey and lemon mixture steeped with cloves and peppercorns. Steve Trana, the pizzaiolo How Greek It Is serves lunch, dinner and breakfast items throughout the day. Wine and beer are served as well. How Greek It Is will soon undergo a cosmetic change, as the strip mall in which it is housed will undergo an overhaul. The restaurant has lived in Grant City since 2015. It was formerly in West Brighton as Dimitris Gyro Joint -- but the Georgiopoulos moved their Hellenic eatery to be closer to their South Shore home. Also at the time the new spot was a good fit for Sophia, whose father, Jimmy Georgiou, owned the former Park Diner on nearby New Dorp Lane. How Greek It Is is located at 2224 Hylan Blvd., Grant City; 718-273-3200. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Delivery is offered to locations within four miles of the restaurant. A Margarita pie with fresh basil Kataifi is made at How Greek It Is Pizza is a novel item at the Grant City establishment but gyros and Greek fare is how the restaurant earned its reputation. David Whitaker, Choose Chicago president and CEO, spoke about the organization and the impact of the event on the restaurant community. Choose Chicago is a marketing organization charged with promoting Chicago as a convention and tourism destination, and one of the most popular parts of selling Chicago is our cuisine reputation, he said. Bon Appetit magazine named Chicago Best Restaurant City in 2018, and even though theres a lot of great food cities, our dining scene is definitely one of our sweet spots. ... First Bites Bash gives our restaurants a chance to showcase the diversity of our neighborhoods and cultures. SNOWBIRD, Utah and SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Adit Ventures, a leading late stage venture capital investment firm, is proud to be attending the 2020 Strata Fund Solutions Annual Ski-PE event in Snowbird, February 3-5 followed by the AFOS Winter Innovation Summit in Salt Lake City February 5-7. Founder Dan McCooey will be in attendance of both events. About Adit Ventures: Adit Ventures is a late-stage venture capital firm with offices in NYC and California. An "Adit" is an entrance to a mine and serves as an anagram for the firm's services, since it provides Access, Diligence, Insight and works with Trusted partners across the United States and around the world. Its business model focuses on purchasing shares from early-stage investors or employees seeking liquidity before the company has a liquidity event. Adit's investment objective is 3x return of capital within a 3-5-year time frame. Adit buys both primary and secondary shares on behalf of investors from a global network of relationships cultivated over their 100 years of principal investing experience. Adit seeks to capitalize on long-term secular trends in the global economy where they see dynamic areas of growth. It is in these sectors Adit sees the best opportunities for long term capital appreciation and to make a positive impact on the world by improving quality of life, while generating a healthy return on our invested capital in alignment with their investors & principles. Current sectors of interest include AI & Machine Learning, Big Data, Cybersecurity, Defense, Educational Technology, FinTech, Health Tech, IoT, Life Sciences, Media, Shared Economy and Space. Portfolio companies include Airbnb, Cohesity, Decision Sciences International Corporation, Flexport, Klarna, Palantir, SpaceX and Turo among others. Please visit www.aditventures.com for further information. Adit Ventures uses a 10-step investment process incorporating its proprietary research on both quantitative and qualitative factors. Quantitative: -Valuation at entry is a critical discipline, as this is one thing we control. -Revenue growth rate drives future valuation, so is a key element to Adit. -Margins and cash flows are vital to an enterprise's success, and drive valuation. -Scalability of business across various markets is a big factor in the valuation of any business. -Profitability: A clear path to profitability is essential to any investment. Qualitative: -Is it a good business model, in a good sector with long term secular tends driving it? -Is there a good management team, with depth and experience in meeting challenges, competitive threats and executing its goals? -Does it have a good capital base, board of directors/investors and well-regarded savvy Venture Sponsors? -Does the business adhere to fundamental ESG principles with character and integrity in its practice? -Will the business make a difference by adding value for its customers, it's employees and the community it serves, as well as its shareholders? Adit has invested in some of the world's leading companies with exits in GoPro, Spotify, Snap and Lyft. Contact: Julie Klugman [email protected] www.aditventures.com SOURCE Adit Ventures Related Links https://www.aditventures.vc The Wuhan Coronavirus appears to be the first major health crisis of 2020. China's Health Minister reports that the virus is increasing in virulence and people could be infected without knowing. Fear is spreading across the globe faster than the virus itself. Little more than a century ago, the world faced a similar situation. As World War I raged in Europe, the Spanish flu rampaged with it -- and across the rest of the planet. By the time the flu disappeared, some 500 million people had been infected and at least 50 million had died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 1918-1919 pandemic was the deadliest and most widespread in recorded history. What was truly remarkable about that virus was that it was able to more easily kill otherwise healthy adults, especially the fighting men in the trenches of the Great War -- more than children or the elderly. Usually, influenza works the other way around. Much of the virus' spread could be attributed to crowded military encampments and war-related transportation, meaning the war directly affected more than half a billion people around the world. It's said that, for every American service member killed in the trenches, another 12 fell to disease, much of that caused by the Spanish flu. Influenza and pneumonia killed more Americans during the war than the German military. Why were able-bodied troops so susceptible to the virus? According to a 2009 study by Emily Breidbart, then a fourth-year medical student at NYU School of Medicine, the answer is counterintuitive. She says the troops' strong immune systems were to blame. Influenza is usually killed off long before it enters the lungs, but not so with the Spanish Flu. Instead, the virus made its way into the respiratory system, where it dug in and faced the inevitable onslaught of T-cells sent to kill it by the body's immune system. The study says people's immune systems went over the top in response to the virus. "The capillaries surrounding the alveoli dilated and poured out fluid composed of white blood cells, antibodies, and cytokines. Cytokines and enzymes effaced the capillaries. More fluid poured into the lung. The cells lining the alveoli were damaged, and hyaline membranes formed. Surfactant production ceased. The body produced fibrous connective tissue, entangling the lung in debris, fibrin, and collagen... continued exudation of fluid in areas where blocking of smaller bronchi had occurred would produce eventually airless regions." Nurses During the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. (Library of Congress) Essentially, the body would drown itself trying to kill the virus. So the stronger and more able the immune system, the more liquid the body could produce, killing itself faster than someone with a weaker immune response. Army pathologists have studied remains of soldiers killed by the Spanish flu, buried in the permafrosts of Alaska, and found the signs of this sequence of events in those bodies. The self-destructive behavior is now known as a "cytokine storm." Doctors have long since learned that previous exposure to flu viruses decreases the effectiveness of new strains on the body. New Army recruits during the Great War were more likely to suffer the effects of the disease and die from it than veterans who had been previously infected with other strains. But the most vital lessons learned during that long-ago pandemic were the importance of handwashing and vaccines for flu prevention. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. Want to Learn More About Military Life? Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for post-military careers or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox. Attorney General Bill Barr was said to have voiced concerns that Donald Trump was doing favors for the leaders of China and Turkey, according to John Bolton's bombshell new book. The former national security adviser privately told Barr last year about concerns that the president was essentially granting favors to autocrats, The New York Times reported Monday. According to the Times' latest report, the Attorney General responded to Bolton's concerns by pointing to Justice Department investigations of companies in Turkey and China. Barr said he himself was worried it appeared Trump had undue influence over what would normally be independent inquiries, Bolton's manuscript said. Bolton wrote that Barr singled out the president's conversations with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping about the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE. Trump personally intervened in May 2018 to order his Commerce Department to ease penalties against ZTE that had pushed it to the verge of collapse. US officials had accused the company of violating sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Barr also cited remarks Trump made to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2018 about the US investigation of a Turkish bank, the Times report said. Attorney General William Barr, pictured, was said to have voiced concerns that Donald Trump was doing favors for the leaders of China and Turkey, The New York Times reported Monday John Bolton, pictured, is said to have privately told Barr last year about concerns that the president was essentially granting favors to autocrats The Department of Justice issued a strong rebuke of the report early on Tuesday, saying the account 'grossly mischaracterizes what Attorney General Barr and Mr Bolton discussed'. In a statement posted to Twitter, spokeswoman Kerri Kupec wrote: 'While the Department of Justice has not reviewed Mr Bolton's manuscript, the New York Times' account of this conversation grossly mischaracterizes what Attorney General Barr and Mr Bolton discussed. 'There was no discussion of 'personal favors' or 'undue influence' on investigations nor did Attorney General Barr state that the president's conversations with foreign leaders was improper. 'If this is truly what Mr Bolton has written, then it seems he is attributing to Attorney General Barr his own current views - views with which Attorney General Barr does not agree. ' Trump tweeted Sunday: 'If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book.' The fresh revelations come in an unpublished book manuscript by Bolton which has already rocked Trump's impeachment trial that is ongoing in the US Senate. The same manuscript says Trump told Bolton that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security aid to Ukraine until officials there helped to investigate his political rivals, the Times previously reported. President Trump tweeted Sunday: 'If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book' Trump has shown a preference for authoritarian leaders over Washington's traditional Western allies, a situation underscored by his warm welcomes for Erdogan and Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House. Pressure has mounted on Republicans to call Bolton as a witness at Trump's impeachment trial since the Times reported Sunday on his revelations about the Ukraine aid. Democrats accuse Trump of abuse of power in withholding the military assistance to Ukraine to push that country to mount investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukraine gas company, Burisma, while his father was in office. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told Fox Business Network on Monday night that Bolton was 'clearly... trying to sell a book.' Trump fired Bolton last September. Bolton's strident opposition to Trump's negotiating with Iran, North Korea and the Taliban eventually forced his ouster - though he insists he resigned. Bolton wrote that Barr singled out the president's conversations with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, left, about the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE. Barr also cited remarks Trump made to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, in 2018 about the US investigation of a Turkish bank, the Times report said Critics accused Bolton of leaking the manuscript to drum up sales, pointing out that the Times report came on the same day that pre-orders for the book went live on Amazon. But in a joint statement, Simon & Schuster, Bolton and his literary agency Javelin rejected the White House claims. 'Ambassador John Bolton, Simon & Schuster, and Javelin Literary categorically state that there was absolutely no coordination with the New York Times or anyone else regarding the appearance of information about his book, THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED, at online booksellers,' they said. 'Any assertion to the contrary is unfounded speculation.' Interagency collaboration identifies recommended improvements to the Draft EIS VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Midas Gold Corp. (MAX:TSX / MDRPF:OTCQX, Midas Gold or the Company) today announced, on behalf of its subsidiary Midas Gold Idaho, Inc. (Midas Gold Idaho), the United States Forest Service (USFS) and other regulators working on the Stibnite Gold Project (Project) have, following internal reviews, identified a number of recommended improvements to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) that is being prepared by the USFS as the lead agency. These recommended improvements to the Draft EIS will ultimately support a complete record of decision (ROD) at the conclusion of the permitting process. In order to meet this objective, Midas Gold Idaho has been advised by the USFS that it will be allocating additional expertise and resources from the region and other parts of the USFS to complete the Draft EIS in a timely and comprehensive manner. Midas Gold wants to ensure that the USFS releases the best plan possible for the redevelopment and restoration of the historical Stibnite Mining District and continues to promptly respond to regulators requests, so the USFS can incorporate these improvements into the Draft EIS in a timely and efficient manner. The USFS advised that it will update the release date for the Draft EIS in early February 2020 and will provide the revised project schedule in its quarterly Schedule of Proposed Actions update to be published on April 1, 2020. We are committed to ensuring that the public has access to the most accurate and complete information and analysis possible, including comprehensive discussion of the mitigation and restoration plans proposed by Midas Gold Idaho for this heavily impacted historic mine site. This will ensure that the public, agency, tribes and other stakeholder reviews and comments are well informed. A robust Draft EIS will allow the balance of the regulatory review to be completed in a timely and efficient manner, said Stephen Quin, President & CEO of Midas Gold Corp. Our team has always been committed to designing the best project possible and that is what needs to be reflected in the Draft EIS when it is released. Midas Gold Idaho expects to see the Draft EIS released by the USFS within two to three months, subject to the USFS, which is preparing the Draft EIS, and concurrence of the cooperating agencies. Story continues Joint Review Process Seven federal, state and local agencies involved in permitting the Project signed the Stibnite Joint Review Process Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2017, committing to work together to evaluate the Plan of Restoration and Operations (PRO) for the Stibnite Gold Project under NEPA. The MOU was designed so agencies could collaborate in the review and preparation of the EIS, meet the requirements of the public process and follow a mutually agreed upon schedule. Agency cooperation and collaboration remain key to the timeliness and completeness of the process. Next Steps in the Regulatory Process Once the Draft EIS is released, there will be a minimum of a 45-day public comment period as required by NEPA. Immediately following the public comment period, the USFS and cooperating agencies will respond to all comments and produce the final EIS and a draft ROD. Upon publication of the final EIS, there would be a period for objections and resolution before a final ROD is published. A positive final decision would allow Midas Gold Idaho to seek the issuance of the final permits that are dependent on the ROD being issued. Early Actions for Environmental Improvements The Stibnite Mining District has been heavily impacted by past mining activities over a span of almost 100 years. Most of the legacy impacts at site occurred during World War II, when the site was a critical supplier of strategic metals needed for the war effort, and well before environmental legislation existed. Notwithstanding that it has not operated on the site and is not responsible for the sites legacy impacts, Midas Gold Idahos plan of restoration and operations incorporates a comprehensive view of what it will take to restore and redevelop the site and leave behind a functional ecosystem fully and permanently supportive of enhanced fish populations and cleaner water. For the past two years, Midas Gold Idaho began working with regulators to develop a framework under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to address historical legacy impacts at the site. Midas Gold Idaho is proposing some cleanup actions that, upon approval, could take place as early as this year that are designed to immediately improve water quality in a number of areas on the site while longer-term actions are being evaluated through the NEPA process. Such early actions would take place under a voluntary administrative order on consent (AOC) under CERCLA that would afford legal certainty for Midas Gold Idaho in performing any approved actions. Pursuant to a process that was agreed to late last year, drafts of the AOC and work plans for such early actions are currently under review by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ), Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and USFS. An ancillary outcome of the AOC would be the opportunity to request the court for a stay, or to dismiss, the Clean Water Act litigation (see news release dated December 4, 2019). Under CERCLA and case law precedent, a Federal court has no jurisdiction over a pending Clean Water Act case where an AOC addresses both the same site and the same goals of the pending lawsuit. Midas Gold Idaho continues to believe that the optimum solution for the site is for all stakeholders to work together to implement the comprehensive and permanent reclamation and restoration of the numerous legacy issues around the site, funded through cash flow from the redevelopment of the site as a modern mining operation. These early actions offer a concrete example of what such collaborative discussions can yield. Stibnite Gold Project Permitting Background A detailed presentation on the PRO can be found at www.midasgoldcorp.com . Details of previous news releases and technical studies can be found filed under Midas Golds profile on SEDAR ( www.sedar.com ) or at www.midasgoldcorp.com . For further information about Midas Gold Corp., please contact: Liz Monger -- Manager, Investor Relations (t): 778.724.4704 (e): info@midasgoldcorp.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/midasgoldidaho Twitter: @MidasIdaho Website: www.midasgoldcorp.com About Midas Gold and the Stibnite Gold Project Midas Gold Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is focused on the exploration and, if warranted, site restoration and development of gold-antimony-silver deposits in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine district of central Idaho that are encompassed by its Stibnite Gold Project. Forward-Looking Information Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events, next steps and courses of action including actions to be taken by the USFS, EPA, IDEQ, the State of Idaho, tribes and other state, federal and local government agencies and regulatory bodies; the timing and procedure for (i) incorporation of improvements into the Draft EIS, (ii) the joint review process, (iii) the CERCLA AOC and work plans with the EPA; and the actions to be taken with respect to litigation under the Clean Water Act, including its potential dismissal pursuant to a completed AOC. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and phrases or variations of such words and phrases or statements such as "anticipates", "targeted", "complete", "comprehensive", "defensible", "ensure", "potential" and "robust", in relation to certain actions, events or results "could", "may", "will", "would", be achieved. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this news release, Midas Gold has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions that the current objectives concerning the Stibnite Gold Project can be achieved and that its other corporate activities will proceed as expected; that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; that the formal review process under NEPA (including a joint review process involving the USFS, the State of Idaho and other state, federal and local agencies and regulatory bodies) as well as the public comment period, EIS and ROD will proceed in a timely manner and as expected; that agency engagement, cooperation and collaboration as contemplated under the MOU will follow the mutually agreed upon schedule set out therein and proceed as expected and that all requisite information will be available in a timely manner. Forward-Looking Information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Midas Gold to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, changes in laws and regulations and changes in the application of standards pursuant to existing laws and regulations which may result in unforeseen results in the review process under NEPA; uncertainty surrounding input to be received pursuant to the public comment period; risks related to dependence on key personnel; risks related to unforeseen delays in the review process including availability of personnel from the USFS, State of Idaho and other stated, federal and local agencies and regulatory bodies (including, but not limited to, future US government shutdowns); risks related to opposition to the Project including litigation involving the Nez Perce Tribe; risks related to the outcome of litigation and potential for delay of the Project, as well as those factors discussed in Midas Gold's public disclosure record. Although Midas Gold has attempted to identify important factors that could affect Midas Gold and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as required by law, Midas Gold does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.. Farmers looking to improve the quality of their soil as a result of the new Agriculture Bill will benefit from a bespoke tool which helps analyse soil quality. The bill, which has now been introduced to parliament, promises to incentivise farmers to do more protect the soil, recognising the need to regenerate it for future generations. A new soils matrix has now been developed by property consultancy Fisher German and agronomists Indigro to make it far easier for farmers to assess their soils health. The matrix assesses several factors relating to soil quality and combines them into a simple score. The higher the score, the better the soil. Factors which affect soil quality, such as soil type, drainage, pH and levels of elements like magnesium and potassium are all considered when calculating the score. The matrix can be used to advise farmers on what can be done to improve the soils quality, and whether the treatment needed would be cost-effective. Robert Knight, of Fisher German, said he was pleased the government had recognised the importance of soil quality in the Agriculture Bill. He said: Farmers and landowners now have more reasons than ever to improve their soil quality not only to improve their productivity and help the environment, but to implement good practice to maximise opportunity to receive future grants from the government too. We have already been helping farmers improve their soil through the use of our soils matrix before the bill was introduced to parliament. The matrix combines several different factors relating to soil quality to create a simple score - and can accurately assess how much money would be needed to improve quality. Mr Knight said: While we do not yet know the exact details of how farmers will be rewarded for improving soil quality and what farming practices will be required, we are confident that, once more details emerge, we are best-placed to advise farmers on how to earn them. Although many farmers will now look to create better soil thanks to the incentives arising from the Agriculture Bill, we can help them do this in the most cost-effective way. Its a win-win situation good soil quality will not only help the environment and earn farmers grants, but will also boost their productivity and yields anyway. London, Jan 28 : A man has been charged following the deaths of three Sikh men who were stabbed in a street fight in London, a media report said on Tuesday. The victims, Harinder Kumar (22), Narinder Singh (26), and Baljit Singh (34) were stabbed near the Seven Kings station in Ilford on the night of January 19. On Monday night, the Metropolitan Police announced that Sandeep Singh (29) has been charged with conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) and causing GBH with intent, the BBC said in a report. The Met Police believes that those involved were from Sikh and Hindu communities and known to each other. Meanwhile, Gurjeet Singh (29) was charged on January 21 with possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. He appeared at Redbridge Magistrates' Court on January 22 and remains under investigation in connection with the deaths. A second man arrested over the deaths has since been eliminated from the investigation, the BBC report added. According to reports, the three men were killed in the fight allegedly sparked by a dispute over money owed for construction work. The White House on Tuesday threatened to veto legislation proposed by Democrats that would limit President Trumps military options and require him to seek congressional authorization before taking military action against Iran, saying the proposed constraints would embolden our enemies. The measures would repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which authorized the war in Iraq, and block funding for further military operations in Iran that are not approved by Congress. The House is set to vote on the proposals this week. The 2002 AUMF has long been understood to authorize the use of force for, among other purposes, addressing threats emanating from Iraq, including threats such as ISIS a group whose objectives have included establishing an Islamic state in Iraq and using that state to support terrorism against the United States as well as threats directed by Iran, the White House said. This legislation would undermine the Administrations reestablishment of deterrence with Iran, which could perversely make violent conflict with Iran more likely, the administration added. The administration incurred the ire of Democrats and some Republicans earlier this month when the U.S. military carried out the assassination of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, critics of the move saying it tempted war with Iran. The drone strike that killed Soleimani, the head of Irans elite Quds Force, came after several attacks by Iranian-backed forces in Iraq on U.S. troops, one of which killed an American contractor. The Pentagon claimed Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack Americans at the time of his death, although officials have declined to produce specific evidence to that point. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said earlier this month that the Senate has the votes to pass a measure to limit Trumps military power in Iran after at least four Republicans said they would support it. More from National Review A Met Office warning for wintry showers and ice could lead to disruption throughout the morning rush hour today. Covering all of Northern Ireland, most of Scotland and Wales, and northern England, today's yellow weather warning marks the first Arctic blast of the winter season here. In place until around 10am this morning, the unsettled weather will see showers of rain mixed with some hail and sleet falling on already frozen ground. This will lead to potentially hazardous ice on untreated roads and pavements, with commuters advised to take extra care on their journey to work and school. Country roads and cycle paths are likely to be most treacherous, with the Met Office advising that rain throughout the morning could likely wash away some of the grit on the worst surfaces. The Met Office confirmed that temperatures today are likely to be no higher than 4C and some hill snow is likely, with flakes of sleet and snow not ruled out at lower levels throughout the day. The main impact of the snow is likely to be restricted to areas of high ground above 200m where a few centimetres may settle. Coming on the back of a period of milder weather, John Griffiths from the Met Office explained that the cause is due to Northern Ireland being in the midst of a colder air mass. "Temperatures are a little below average for this time of year in Northern Ireland," he said. "Colder temperatures are driving into these showers causing the wintry conditions." "There will be a few untreated stretches for a short time this morning before gritters are able to finish their routes. Through the early hours of the morning there might be a few more showers. We will still see some wintry showers throughout Tuesday and into Tuesday night." Thankfully the icy blast is set to be a relatively short one. According to the forecasters, tomorrow is expected to bring some milder conditions, with temperatures up to around 8C. However, it is expected to remain quite unsettled, with wet and windy conditions throughout much of the day. Thursday is expected to hold on to the milder temperatures of around 7C. Last night saw some of the coldest temperatures of winter so far around the rest of the UK, with minus 10C in some areas of Scotland overnight. Cybereason, creators of the leading Cyber Defense Platform, today announced that its Nocturnus researchers have made available a Free Emotet-Locker Tool to help organizations defend against a surge in Emotet malware attacks. The Emotet-Locker tool can be downloaded here:Cybr.ly/emotet. Emotet-Locker will prevent certain variants of Emotet on Windows machines. According to DHSs Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Emotet infections can cost local and state governments up to $1 million per incident in remediation costs. Cyberscoop reported on Monday that Berlins highest court was recently victimized by an Emotet attack with lasting damage and a recommendation that the court rebuild its entire network. Emotet Malware Explanation Emotet was first identified as early as 2014 as a trojan used to steal banking credentials. Since then, its capabilities have evolved significantly into a type of modular malware. Because of its modular nature and the practicality of Emotets distribution features, it is often used by attackers to gain a foothold in a target environment. Emotets main infection vector is through phishing attacks, which use email with malicious links, attached PDFs, or Macro-embedded Microsoft Word files to spread. Once deployed, Emotet can launch different malware payloads based on the target machine and its goal. In recent years, it has become one of the most commonly employed commodity malware. Cybereasons Nocturnus researchers recently released the Triple Threat research report with details of a nefarious campaign combining Emotet, TrickBot, and Ryuk that poses significant risk for victims. It shows how attackers are becoming more daring and opting to combine multiple types of malware to achieve maximum damage. This campaign again originates from a phishing attack. The use of phishing to perpetrate a widespread attack continues to be a leading issue. This will continue to be an effective attack vector until we are able to prevent human manipulation in phishing attacks. About Cybereason Cybereason, creators of the leading Cyber Defense Platform, gives the advantage back to the defender through a completely new approach to cybersecurity. Cybereason offers endpoint prevention, detection and response and active monitoring. The solution delivers multi-layered endpoint prevention by leveraging signature and signatureless techniques to prevent known and unknown threats in conjunction with behavioral and deception techniques to prevent ransomware and fileless attacks. Cybereason is privately held and is headquartered in Boston, with offices in London, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Asia-Pacific and continental Europe. Learn more: https://www.cybereason.com/ Follow us: Blog | Twitter | Facebook Media Contact: Bill Keeler Senior Director, Global Public Relations Cybereason bill.keeler@cybereason.com (929) 259-3261 An independent expert panel tasked by the UK government to assess how a post-Brexit immigration system would work on Tuesday called for a drop in the salary cap imposed on professionals, majority of them from India, applying for a skilled worker visa. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) called for the current salary threshold of 30,000 pounds on such workers, a large chunk of whom are Indians, to be cut down to 25,600 pounds to bring it in line with pay levels in specific occupations. "Indian nationals accounted for 39 per cent alone, with Australia and the United States both accounting for 9 per cent each, Pakistan 7 per cent and South Africa, Nigeria and New Zealand 5 per cent each, notes the MAC report, in reference to workers accessing the Tier 1 (General) high-skilled category of UK visas so far. The ambition behind programmes like the HSMP (now-defunct highly-skilled migrant programme) is often to recruit global talent'. Yet the successful applicants tend to be drawn from a relatively small number of countries 42 per cent from India, 9.9 per cent from Pakistan, 8.8 per cent from Australia, 6.8 per cent from Nigeria and 4.5 per cent from New Zealand over 70 per cent of applicants came from just five countries, it adds, as a criticism of the UK's current visa regime. In its research-based report, which is expected to form the blueprint for a post-Brexit visa and immigration system once the European Union (EU) freedom of movement rules cease to apply to the UK as a non-member, MAC also cautions Prime Minister Boris Johnson against implementing a full-fledged Australian-style points-based system as he has repeatedly pledged. Instead, it proposes a more hybrid system where a minimum salary threshold would apply for applicants coming to the UK with a job offer, and a points-based system for those coming to the UK without a pre-arranged job. "The current packaging as a PBS (points-based system) is, forgive the pun, pointless and could be eliminated, notes Professor Alan Manning, chair of the committee, as he warns of reduced economic growth under a future full-fledged points-based system. "There are trade-offs and no perfect system exists The government should ensure that the mistakes of previous UK points-based systems are not repeated, he said. The Committee says that the changes it has recommended will very slightly increase GDP per capita, productivity and improve public finances. Its proposed changes are also expected to reduce pressures on the state-funded National Health Service (NHS), schools and on social housing, though they will increase pressure on social care. The government is not obliged to accept all the recommendations but the MAC report is likely to form the basis of the new visa regime to be put in place for once the UK has formally left the EU later this week. The government will introduce a firmer and fairer points-based immigration system from 2021 that welcomes talent from around the world while reducing low-skilled migrants and bringing overall numbers down. We will carefully consider the report before setting out further details on the new system, a Downing Street spokesperson said. A new Australian-style immigration system had been a central election promise during last month's General Election, which handed Boris Johnson a thumping majority. The system awards points to applicants based on their various qualifications including English language skills. While dropping predecessor Theresa May's pledge to bring immigration down to the tens of thousands, Johnson holds on to the Conservative Party's wider commitment to curb the numbers coming into the country an issue seen as a dominating factor in the UK's vote in favour of Brexit in June 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) No coronavirus cases have been reported in Ukraine as of January 28. Starting February 3, Ukraine will suspend all direct flights connecting the country with China, the Health Ministry says, A Ukrainian carrier is suspending "the only direct connection with China" until "the situation changes," director-general of the Directorate of Public Health at the Ministry of Health, Andriy Skipalsky, told a Kyiv briefing on Tuesday, January 28, an UNIAN correspondent reports. "Starting February 3, we will have no direct connection [with China via air]," Skipalsky said. As UNIAN reported earlier, 4,474 confirmed coronavirus cases were officially reported worldwide. Read alsoUkraine's Embassy asks Ukrainians to leave China over coronavirus outbreak As of the morning of January 28, a total 4,535 cases were reported in China. The deadly virus has already taken 106 lives, while 60 patients have been cured. An outbreak of pneumonia of unknown origin in China's Wuhan was announced in late December 2019. It was established that the agent of a new type of coronavirus, 2019-nCoV. The virus is transmitted from person to person. The incubation period lasts from two to 12 days. Coronavirus cases have already been recorded in other countries. According to the Ministry of Health, no patients carrying the new coronavirus have been reported in Ukraine. State Auto Property and Casualty Insurance Co. is liable for the cost of replacing a computer server that was damaged and perhaps permanently compromised by a ransomware attack despite the carriers argument that the business owner did not suffer a direct physical loss, a federal judge in Maryland ruled. State Auto denied a claim filed by National Ink & Stitch, a screen printing and embroidery business, for the cost of replacing its computer system after suffering a ransomware attack in December 2016. State Auto argued the business did not suffer a direct physical loss of or damage to the computer system. National Ink filed suit and filed a motion asking the court to issue summary judgment in its favor. U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher granted that motion on Thursday. Gallaghers written opinion notes that National Ink paid the Bitcoin demanded by the hackers who implanted ransomware on its computer system, but the system moved more slowly afterward because of new protective measures that were put in place. Also, the art files that had been stored on the server could not be assessed. Computer experts testified that there were likely dormant remnants of the ransomware virus in the system. National Inks only options were to wipe the entire system and reinstall the software and data or purchase a new server and components, according to the opinion. The State Auto businessowners policy included electronic media and records (including software) as covered items. State Farm argued that it was not liable because the company lost only data, which is an intangible asset; it could still use the computer system to operate its business. National Ink countered that its businessowners policy contemplates computer data and software to be subject to direct physical loss under the terms of the policy. Judge Gallagher said while Maryland courts have not addressed the question of whether data or software can be susceptible to physical loss or damage, other courts have addressed the question. The Texas Court of Appeal, in Lambrecht & Assocs. Inc. v. State Farm Lloyds, ruled in 2003 that the insurer was liable for the cost of replace a computer server that had been infected with a virus. The court reasoned that the server falls within the definition of electronic media and records as defined in the policy, according to Gallaghers opinion. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals also addressed the question in 2003, in a case titled NMS Servs. Inc. v. The Hartford. A former employee had erased computer files that were essential for the operation of the companys sales, manufacturing and administrative system. The 4th Circuit found that NMS policy covered resulting losses because the company has suffered a direct physical loss as defined in the policy. Indeed, a computer stores information by the rearrangement of the atoms or molecules of a disc or tape to effect the formation of a particular order of magnetic impulses, and a meaningful sequence of magnetic impulses cannot float in space, the opinion states, citing the 4th Circuits ruling. Gallagher found that National Inks policy did not require a total loss of function of the computer system to merit coverage. Because the plain language of the policy provides coverage for such losses and damage, summary judgment will be granted in favor of plaintiffs interpretation of the policy terms, the judge concluded. Saif Ali Khan, who is gearing up for his upcoming film, Jawaani Jaaneman, talks about raising his children and how different it is bringing up Taimur Ali Khan from Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan. While speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Saif said, "I sometimes call Taimur Ibrahim or Sara; love is a funny thing with your children because, on one hand you can't differentiate between them and on the other, you can't replace one with the other." "Even if one is being annoying, the other can't really make you feel better. They are all individuals in their heart and head. The difference, I suppose, is that I'm a little more patient now, whereas when Sara and Ibrahim were young, I was busy trying to build my career." Saif also added that he didn't really know what he wanted and he was a bit more selfish when it came to giving Sara and Ibrahim more time. Saif also said that he is still a bit selfish with his time, but he is much more patient than he was. Saif Ali Khan Says Doing Jawaani Jaaneman With Sara Ali Khan Would Have Been Complicated In the same interview, Saif also said that he never considered himself as an absentee father. "I may not have been responsible at various times while in my 20s, but I've always been there and ready to do the best that I can do at that time for my kids. I have never felt like an absentee father," said the Hum Tum actor. Coming back to Jawaani Jaaneman, the film is directed by Nitin Kakkar and also marks the debut of Alaya F. The film is slated to hit the theatres on February 7, 2020. Head of the Georgian Intelligence Service and the Secretary of the National Security Council Levan Izoria has resigned, becoming the countrys new ambassador to Germany. Izoaria, who was appointed as the head of the Intelligence Service in September 2019, previously served as the country's defence minister and as deputy interior minister and deputy head of the State Security Service. "Being the countrys new ambassador to Germany is a new challenge, honour and a big responsibility for me," Agenda.ge cited Izoria as saying. Elguja Khokrishvili served as an ambassador to Germany since 2017. CIOs at large enterprises are quick to blame Silicon Valley stalwarts and startups for why they struggle to lure top tech talent. But that narrative doesnt sit well with Tassilo Festetics, vice president of global solutions for $132 billion brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), who believes its incumbent on IT leaders to change the narrative. In his view, the uphill battles facing enterprises that werent born digital present technologists an opportunity to burnish their resumes. AB InBev, which formed in 2008 from a three-way merger between Interbrew, AmBev and Anheuser-Busch, offers data scientists a trove of real-life data sets they couldnt tap into elsewhere. We offer a lot that tech companies dont have today, in terms of opportunity to solve business challenges, Festetics tells CIO.com. On that score, AB InBev, whose flagship Anheuser-Busch brand launched in 1852, is mining decades worth of data while leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and blockchain to propel its business into the future. Drinking the digital Kool-Aid The track record for legacy companies reinventing themselves as digital leaders isnt great. Emboldened by the idea of transforming itself as a digital industrial company, General Electric lured techies from the likes of Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and Google, only to watch its aspirations fizzle out in recent years. Nike, Ford and Procter & Gamble experienced fits and starts and reshuffled management teams in pursuit of shiny tech products and services, according to Harvard Business Review. Its too early to say whether AB InBev will suffer the same fate, though Festetics remains committed. Under his direction, the company has reversed course on a long-standing model of outsourcing tech development by developing applications in-house, while shifting more compute requirements from its datacenters to cloud infrastructure hosted by Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Google. Anheuser-Busch InBev Tassilo Festetics, vice president of global solutions, Anheuser-Busch InBev Its hard for me to operate if I dont own, develop and retain IP for digital products, Festetics says. AB InBev created B2B, an application that allows operators of the companys more than 4 million mom-and-pop store partners replenish orders digitally. B2B, which uses algorithms to make replenishment suggestions, saves ABs sales staff the trouble of traveling to stores to gauge inventory levels and log orders and allows them to spend time discussing new brands and products with store owners. It creates a very different relationship between the store owner and sales representative, Festetics says. Tech engineering hubs in Israel, Brazil and Bangalore support AB InBevs newly-minted insourcing model, but emerging tech flourishes in the Beer Garage, its Silicon Valley-based tech innovation lab. There technologists and business staff use AI, machine learning, IoT, augmented reality and blockchain among other capabilities to create better experiences. Sensors and AI at more than 350 breweries help monitor the quantity, quality, temperature and other traits in each batch of brew, and help anticipate when growlers and other machines might require maintenance. Another AI project helps the company score the creditworthiness of distributors. AB InBev also partnered with blockchain software maker BanQU, whose platform allows the brewing giant to track products as they wend their way from cassava and barley farmers in Zambia and Uganda, to aggregated buyers to retailers. Every drop of [beer] gets validated by us, Festetics says. By recording each transaction in the digital ledger, AB InBev ensures that its supply chain is operating properly. And farmers get paid digitally on time. One challenge is remaining focused on serving the consumers and retail partners rather than getting wrapped up in the latest and greatest tools. Its about transforming the business, not adopting technology for the sake of technology, Festetics says. Dirty data muddies the waters Festetics owns to some early missteps. For example, as he began building out AB InBevs data analytics capabilities two years ago, he hired more than 100 data scientists to create use cases that solve business problems, adding data engineers a year later. The problem? The data scientists spent far too much time cleansing and munging the data during the first year just to make it ready for analysis. If he could go back in time, Festetics says, he would have hired data engineers first to get the companys data in order. Today, AB InBevs data foundation is in much better shape, thanks in large part to Harinder Singh, global director of data strategy and solution architecture, who joined in 2017 from Walmarts ecommerce business. The companys data was lodged in more than 100 source systems, including Salesforce.com, 15 SAP systems and 27 ERP systems, and the company relied on 23 separate ETL (extract, transform and load) tools to move data from one database to the next. Singh constructed a data lake as a single repository from which staff can extract information and generate insights about sales, supply chain, marketing, human resources and other business lines. AB InBev also collects and aggregates consumer data from market surveys and social media to analyze trends and deliver the right beers and more highly targeted marketing campaigns, including coupons tailored to consumers at the point of purchase. AB InBev can also identify the best location in the store to sell beers, as well as how to create real-time events to drive more conversion. Festetics goal going forward is aping the accelerated operating model with which tech companies build new digital products and services at AB InBev. Hiring more staff from tech companies such as Google, Facebook and Uber will help, he says. And as AB InBev brings more and more people on board, they will see were serious about what were doing, Festetics says. We will start to attract talent that never before would have considered working with us. The boards next meeting is Feb 14 and trustees are expected to get an update on finalists for the job, Harrell said. The university has said it expects to have a new president in place by sometime in June. So, here's something incidental, or we feel it is. We have Indian politicians and former veteran actors now participating in Bear Grylls' Man vs Wild, and we're not quite sure how they're doing their jobs if they are busy learning survival tactics in...quite literally...the wild! After Narendra Modi's stint in the show in August last year, where he did everything from braving torrential rains to protecting himself from tigers in the Jim Corbett National Park, we have with us another fair contender this year to endure similar adventures with Mr Grylls. A new episode of Man vs Wild featuring veteran actor Rajinikanth is being shot at Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka and this one is something we can't really wait for. Twitter The duo have already started filming at the Tiger reserve and we're wondering how're they going to go around the national park, trying to survive, with tigers all around them. According to T Balachandra, the director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Rajinikanth arrived on Tuesday, the 28th of January and is expected to leave the following day, after a day of shooting. We're not quite sure of Mr. Grylls' itinerary yet. While we're sure they have limited permission to shoot throughout the park, we know for a fact, that there will be some exciting bits added. The crew is only permitted the use of cameras and a few equipment required for shooting wildlife documentaries and there won't be any use of loud and noisy generators on heavy vehicles that are normally carried on film sets (phew!). Most of the sequences will be shot along the highway, while one entails crossing the water body by using a coracle. While Rajini will be shooting on the 28th of January, on the 30th, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar will also be seen at Bandipur for a shoot. "Permission for the shooting has been given for Sultan Batteri highway and ranges of Mulleholle, Maddur and Kalkere ranges. They will be shooting in the non-tourism zones. If permission was given to Wild Karnataka shooting, then this is also permitted and besides chief wildlife warden has given permission. Also, no tourism or regular forest patrolling and fire line creation activities will be affected. The shooting will be done under special forest protection and no one will be aware of the locations," Mr Balachandra assured, while in an interview with a popular new publication. Discovery Channel While we're sitting at the end of our seats to see actor Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar team up with the man from the wild, Bear Grylls, there have been legitimate concerns cropping up about the preservation of the national park, alongside a strenuous shoot. A lot of conservationists are questioning the aspect of man-animal conflict, that gets highlighted each time humans encroach upon animal territory. Even though Bear Grylls has the infrastructural knowledge of the entire eco-system of a national park, there is always a chance to disturb the life living in peace within the confines of the park. We do hope we get to see an absolutely new avatar of Rajinikanth in the next installment of Man vs Wild and also pray everything is done keeping the sanctity and order of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in mind. Editor: In 2018, the state House, in a 48-19 vote, and the Senate, in a 30-4 vote, passed a bill to require a very small fee of pet-food companies who sold products in New Mexico earmarked to provide spay and neuter services to those who cannot afford the surgery for their pets. Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed this bill. Three states have passed similar legislation: Maine, Maryland and West Virginia. They report no adverse effects regarding pet food availability, and huge positive affects with reductions in pet euthanasia. These are common sense bills (Senate Bill 367 and House Bill 53). Please ask your elected House and Senate members to support these simple bills that will do so much to stop the killing of unwanted animals. Nancy E. Yarmac Rio Rancho live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Nandish Shah In the last technical column on January 13, we had predicted that one should focus on mid and small-cap stocks to make money. Our view is vindicated as during the last fortnight, Nifty Midcap100 and Smallcap100 outperformed with a gain of 4.3 percent and 3.80 percent, respectively, while Nifty declined by 1.7 percent. We stick to our belief that 2020 will belong to the mid and the small-cap stocks as they vie for investor attention while large-caps consolidate. Of the 22 sessions in the current January series, the mid-cap index has beaten Nifty in 18 out of 22 sessions and Nifty Smallcap100 in 20 out of 22 days. Nifty Midcap100 and Smallcap100 indices have risen by 8.5 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively, in the series till now. Nifty Smallcap index saw a fall of 47 percent from the all-time high registered in January 2018 to the bottom seen in August 2019. From that bottom, Nifty Smallcap index has risen 24 percent but it is still down by 34 percent from the all-time high. Nifty Smallcap Index has not even retraced 38.2 percent of the entire fall of 47 percent seen from January 2018 to August 2019. This observation becomes important especially when the benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex are hovering around their all-time highs. So, to narrow down the performance gap and for reaching its historical mean, Smallcap Index has to at least retrace 50 percent to 61.8 percent, which are placed 8 percent and 16 percent higher from the current levels and benchmarks should consolidate in some range. Coming to Nifty, it snapped its two-day winning streak on the back of weak global cues to close with a loss of 129 points at 12,119. Last week, Nifty found support in the gap, formed on January 9 between 12,045 and 12,132. This range is expected to act as a support for Nifty. Nifty has also reached to the upward sloping trendline support, adjoining the lows of October 9, January 8 and January 23. In the derivatives segment, We have seen put writing at 12,000-12,100 strike prices, indicating that 12,000-12,100 level will act as strong supports going forward. Considering the technical and derivatives evidences discussed above, we believe that 12,000-12,100 is strong support for Nifty and unless that level is breached, the trend for the market would be considered bullish. Therefore, our advice would be to accumulate longs in Nifty with a stop loss of 12,000. Immediate resistance is seen in the range of 12,350-12,400 where calls have been written. Bank Nifty is trading in the broadening formation and it still seems to have not ended the short-term downtrend. A strict stop loss should be maintained at 30,500 for longs and pull back rally should be utilised to lighten the long commitments. Bank Nifty needs to close above 31,400 to negate the bearish setup. We continue to believe that mid-cap & small-cap stocks which have already started outperforming the benchmark Indices will continue their outperformance for the coming days. Here are three buy calls for the next 3-4 weeks: Pfizer | Buy | LTP: Rs 4,360.10 | Target: Rs 4,700 | Stop loss: Rs 4,150 | Upside: 8% The stock has broken out on the daily charts by closing above the resistance level of Rs 4,280 to close at the highest level since December 17. Volumes were sharply higher as compared to the last 10-day average, suggesting strength in the breakout. The stock price has also broken out from the downward sloping trendline, adjoining the high of December 4 and December 17. Max India | Buy | LTP: Rs 91 | Target: Rs 100 | Stop loss: Rs 86 | Upside: 10% The stock has broken out on the weekly chart last week to close at an eighteen-month high level with a sharp rise in volumes. The primary trend of the stock is positive where stock is trading above its 20, 50 and 200-day simple moving average. Oscillators and momentum Indicators like RSI and MACD have turned bullish for the stock on the daily and weekly charts. Hindustan Oil Exploration Company | Buy | LTP: Rs 104.80 | Target: Rs 115 | Stop loss: Rs 99 | Upside: 10% The stock has broken out on the daily charts by closing above the resistance level of Rs 104 to close at its four months high. Oscillators and momentum Indicators are showing strength in the stock on the daily and weekly charts. After forming multiple lows around Rs 82 during the last month, the stock price reversed northwards with a sharp rise in volumes. The short-term trend in the stock is positive where the stock price is trading above its 5 and 20-day simple moving averages. (The author is Senior Technical & Derivatives Analyst at HDFC Securities) Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 18:57:37|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Somali and the United States forces killed an al-Shabab terrorist in a new airstrike conducted in the militants' stronghold in southern Somalia on Monday. The U.S. Africa Command(AFRICOM) which has in the past conducted counterterrorism strikes against the terror group in Somalia said the latest airstrike was carried out in collaboration with the Somali forces in the vicinity of Jilib. "We currently assess no civilians were injured or killed as a result of this airstrike," said AFRICOM. The latest airstrike comes after the Somali government vowed to intensify military operations against the al-Shabab militant group which it said has weakened. Government spokesman Ismael Mukhtar Omar said on Saturday the operations which are being carried out in collaboration with troops from the African peacekeeping mission and the U.S., highlights the increasing capability of the government security forces to secure the nation. Ismael said the loss of cities as towns in Lower Shabelle in the southern region has significantly reduced al-Shabab's influence and forced them to rely on terrorist attacks such as the Dec. 28, 2019 bombing of innocent civilians in Mogadishu to remain relevant and generate fear amongst the local populace. However, MLA's domestic market manager Graeme Yardy said the last few weeks haven't been the right time for the launch, as the national bushfire crisis spread across the nation affecting the livelihoods of sheep farmers. When it launched, television co-host Karl Stefanovic described the campaign as the "worst lamb ad I have ever seen". The authority, which usually releases its summer advertisement ahead of Australia Day, has been hit with criticism online for postponing the launch of this year's advertisement until January 27. "We wanted to make sure that people were ready to consume a lamb ad in the way it was intended. The idea or concept didnt change, but it was a sombre mood and we wanted to give it more time before we went out there," Mr Yardy said. We know that there has been some livestock losses and that is absolutely devastating to the industry, but it has been in isolated pockets. The challenges will be rebuilding infrastructure - fences damage, lost sheds - some of those things are really difficult for farmers because you need to get the labour. Thats time taken away from the production of quality product." This year's advertisement is a move away from previous efforts by the MLA. Created by advertising agency The Monkeys, the four-week campaign is inspired by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which involved the illegal harvesting of data from millions of Facebook profiles without consent. The ads features "Lambalytica" researchers who are mining data to detect people who need to get back to real life. Anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam, who was on the run after sedition charges were slapped against him for allegedly making inflammatory statements, was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad district on Tuesday, state's police chief Gupteshwar Pandey said. The JNU scholar was wanted by police of several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi. "Sharjeel Imam has been arrested from his native Kako village in Jehanabad," Bihar's Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey said. Earlier in the day, a brother of Sharjeel Imam was picked up by police in a fresh attempt to trace the anti-CAA activist. Police had raided his ancestral home also on Sunday as it went hunting for him but Imam eluded the dragnet. He is likely to be produced before a Bihar court where police will seek his remand for questioning. It is not yet clear whether he will be questioned in Bihar or taken to the national capital. A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies at the JNU. He was slapped with a sedition case after a video of his purported speech went viral on social media where he was heard speaking about "cutting off" Assam and the northeast from the rest of India. "If five lakh people are organised, we can cut off the northeast and India permanently. If not, at least for a month or half a month. Throw as much 'mawad' (variously described as pus or rubbish) on rail tracks and roads that it takes the Air Force one month to clear it. "Cutting off Assam (from India) is our responsibility, only then they (the government) will listen to us. We know the condition of Muslims in Assam....they are being put into detention camps," he was shown in the video as saying. Meanwhile, reacting to Imam's arrest, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said people have the right to protest but nobody can talk about the country's disintegration. Kumar told reporters that police must have acted in accordance with law in arresting Imam and now the courts will take appropriate action. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prince Andrew could be subpoenaed if he continues to be uncooperative with authorities in their investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking inquiry, according to a lawyer representing the billionaire paedophile's accusers. Lisa Bloom and Gloria Allred, who each represent five alleged victims, urged the Duke of York to do the right thing in assisting with the investigation. The calls come after US attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a news conference the duke had given zero cooperation despite his lawyers being contacted by prosecutors and the FBI. Prince Andrew himself is accused of sexual misconduct and he also spent a great deal of time with Jeffrey Epstein, Ms Bloom told BBC News on Tuesday. So its time to stop playing games and to come forward to do the right thing and answer questions. Scandal-hit Prince Andrew to step down as UK trade envoy emissary Show all 5 1 /5 Scandal-hit Prince Andrew to step down as UK trade envoy emissary Scandal-hit Prince Andrew to step down as UK trade envoy emissary 626841.bin GETTY IMAGES Scandal-hit Prince Andrew to step down as UK trade envoy emissary 626842.bin REX FEATURES Scandal-hit Prince Andrew to step down as UK trade envoy emissary 626843.bin ITAR-TASS / Anatoly Ustinenko Scandal-hit Prince Andrew to step down as UK trade envoy emissary 626844.bin REUTERS Scandal-hit Prince Andrew to step down as UK trade envoy emissary 626845.bin She added the victims were outraged that Andrew has not been assisting the US authorities, which he said he would do in his BBC interview with Newsnight in November. At the time, he said he was willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency following his announcement he was stepping back from royal duties for the foreseeable future. Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, Ms Allred said: No response is the same as zero cooperation. This is ridiculous. Its just not acceptable. Prince Andrew has a moral obligation to volunteer to speak to law enforcement thats what he said he would do. We could, also, in our civil lawsuit, seek to subpoena Prince Andrew, Ms Allred added. Certainly, if he ever came back to the United States that would be one of the first things that Im sure a lot of lawyers, including me, would want to do. Mr Berman did not go into detail on what information prosecutors were seeking from Andrew, but said Epstein "couldn't have done what he did without the assistance of others". One of Epsteins alleged victims, Virginia Guiffre, said in an interview with the BBC's Panorama programme that she had a sexual encounter with Andrew in London in 2001 when she was 17 years old that left her horrified and ashamed. Virginia Giuffre claims she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and forced to have sex with his friends (PA) Her lawyer, David Boise, told ABC News: Prince Andrews continued refusal to cooperate with authorities after freely acknowledging that he would be prepared to answer enquiries raises even more questions about the role he played in the international sex trafficking ring Jeffrey Epstein and other operated. Prince Andrew should take most seriously the deeply held belief in this country that no one is above the law. Andrew categorically denies he had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre. Additional reporting by agencies FARMINGTON Fotis Dulos was clinging to life late Tuesday at a New York hospital after police say he was found unresponsive at his home when he missed an emergency bond hearing where a judge could have sent him back to jail. Fotis Dulos, 52, accused of killing his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, was flown in critical condition to Jacobi Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y., after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning in an apparent suicide attempt in his garage. Initial reports indicated Fotis Dulos had died, and state police even notified his relatives in Greece and Jennifer Dulos family of his death, sources confirmed. Carrie Luft, a spokeswoman for Jennifer Dulos family, said late Tuesday that it would not be appropriate for us to comment at this time. Fotis Dulos went into the garage after a woman who had been at his house left to get groceries Tuesday morning, a source close to Dulos said. According to the source, Fotis Dulos sounded disoriented when he answered a call from a bail bondsman at 10:34 a.m. Tuesday. Farmington police officers discovered Fotis Dulos inside a running car in his garage around noon Tuesday when they conducted a welfare check because he was not at the bond hearing in Stamford. An issue with the insurance on his $6 million bond was likely going to send him back to jail until it was sorted out, sources close to his case said. "The officers could see Mr. Dulos in his garage and could see that he was in medical distress," Farmington police Lt. Tim McKenzie said. Officers forced entry into the vehicle by breaking the windows and began life-saving measures, including CPR, McKenzie said. McKenzie declined to comment on whether his medical condition was related to a suicide attempt, but confirmed carbon monoxide was involved. Fotis Dulos was taken to the UConn Health center in Farmington, where he remained for several hours before being flown late Tuesday afternoon to New York where he was on life support, sources said. At Jacobi Medical Center, a hyperbaric chamber, where air pressure is increased to three times higher than normal air pressure, will be used to pump oxygen into Fotis Dulos body, particularly his brain. This is a shocking and truly sad day, his criminal defense attorney Norm Pattis said. My heart goes out to his children and his family. Its just a horrible day. Fotis Dulos was alone at the property at 4 Jefferson Crossing when he was found, according to police, who declined to comment if a note was found. "You never see anything like this coming," said States Attorney Richard Colangelo, who is prosecuting the Dulos case. Attorney William Murray, who represents Fotis Dulos in the $2.5 million lawsuits filed by his mother-in-law, said he was shocked and saddened by Tuesdays events. "From our conversations day to day, from what I know, he's a fighter," Murray said. "It's very unfortunate. It does give you some idea of what the stress of going through something like this can do to a person." Murray had only known Fotis Dulos for about 10 months, but the attorney said he was surprised that his client "would put himself in that place." "I am very saddened, because at the end of the day, everyone deserves their day in court," Murray said. The bond hearing was postponed to 2 p.m. Wednesday in state Superior Court in Stamford. According to sources, the insurance company, Palmetto Surety Corporation, might not be able to support the high bond for murder, felony murder and first-degree kidnapping charges in the May 24 death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos. Last week, Judge Gary White ordered Fotis Dulos to be on strict home confinement after Colangelo said he removed items from a memorial for his estranged wife that was set up near his home. White, who was filling in for Judge John Blawie, threatened to double the bond amount if Fotis Dulos violated the terms of his release again, pointing out he was previously warned about the battery running too low on the electronic device that is monitoring his movements. This month, 469 pages of search warrants in the case were unsealed for the first time since the investigation began eight months ago. The documents outline how police believe Fotis Dulos and his former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 45, and his close friend and former lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, 54, allegedly conspired to kill Jennifer Dulos and clean up the crime. Fotis Dulos and Troconis were charged last year with two counts of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. On the same day Fotis Dulos was charged with murder this month, Troconis and Mawhinney were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Troconis has been released on house arrest on $1.5 million bond, while Mawhinney remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bond. According to arrest warrants, Jennifer Dulos was last seen on a neighbors security camera at 8:05 a.m. May 24, returning to her Welles Lane home after dropping off her children at a nearby school. Police believe Fotis Dulos was lying in wait and attacked her in the garage, the warrants indicate. Fotis Dulos and Troconis were caught on video that night in Hartford dumping bags that were later determined to contain Jennifer Dulos blood and clothing, according to arrest warrants. Jennifer Dulos blood was also found on the seat of a pickup truck belonging to an employee of Fotis Dulos, according to arrest warrants. Police say Fotis Dulos used the truck on the day his wife was killed, arrest warrants said. The search warrants revealed that Fotis Dulos 2015 black Chevrolet Suburban was was spotted on a residential security camera parked on Thurton Drive, a dead-end street about 600 feet from the backyard of Jennifer Dulos home. Police took 19 swabs from that vehicle, including ones from what appeared to be bloodlike stains, the warrants said. Troconis and Mawhinney are each due in court on Feb. 20. Attorney Andrew Bowman, who represents Troconis, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Lee Gold, who represents Mawhinney, also could not be reached. US President Donald Trump's lawyers on Monday defended his request that Ukraine investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, arguing at his Senate impeachment trial that it was motivated by concerns about corruption. Pam Bondi, the Republican former attorney general of Florida, and another Trump lawyer, Eric Herschmann, launched a concerted attack on the Bidens as they sought to defend the president's actions to the 100 senators who will decide his fate. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives impeached Trump on December 18 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for withholding military aid to Ukraine to pressure Kiev to open a probe into the Bidens. During a July 25 phone call, Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to "look into" Joe Biden, his potential November election rival, and Hunter Biden, who served on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. Democratic prosecutors said the request by the president was not motivated by concern about corruption but rather was designed to smear a political rival and allow him to win re-election. Displaying bank records, Bondi said Hunter Biden had been paid "millions" of dollars to serve on the Burisma board while his father was Barack Obama's vice president. "If your last name wasn't Biden do you think you would have been asked to be on the board of Burisma?" she asked. "I don't know, probably not." She cited remarks from a State Department official who expressed concerns in 2015, when Biden was vice president, that the appointment could create the "perception of a conflict of interest." Bondi also noted that Burisma had been the target of persistent corruption allegations. She said Trump was within his rights to raise his concerns and that the House Democratic prosecutors known as managers had declined to present all of the facts surrounding Burisma and the Bidens. "You've heard from the House managers they do not believe that there was any concern to raise here, that all of this was baseless," Bondi said. "And all we are saying is that there was a basis to talk about this, to raise this issue." - 'No expertise or experience' - Like Bondi, Herschmann attacked Hunter Biden's credentials for serving on the Burisma board. "He had no expertise or experience in the natural gas industry," Herschmann said. "He had no known expertise in corporate governance, nor any expertise in Ukrainian law. "So why did Burisma want Hunter Biden on its board?" he asked. "Well, he did have one qualification -- he was the son of the man in charge of the Ukrainian portfolio." There have been no accusations of criminal wrongdoing against the Bidens and Hunter Biden defended his appointment to the Burisma board in an interview last year with ABC News. "I was vice chairman of the board of Amtrak for five years," he said of the US railroad company. "I was the chairman of the board of the UN World Food Program. I was a lawyer for Boies Schiller Flexner, one of the most prestigious law firms in the world." Hunter Biden did acknowledge, however, that taking the Burisma position may have been a mistake. "In retrospect, look, I think that it was poor judgment on my part," he said. "I gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father." Former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi attacked the Bidens during her defense of President Donald Trump at his Senate impeachment trial LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - When the leading Democratic presidential candidates marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day by linking arms and marching through South Carolinas capital, Michael Bloomberg was nowhere near the early primary state. The former New York mayor was instead in Arkansas, tossing out candy at a King Day parade and enjoying his status as the only presidential hopeful in town. Mike Boomerang? a woman asked, as the billionaire businessman walked by. Mike Bloomberg, a supporter clarified. Hes running for president. Bloomberg is running, but hes on his own track, essentially creating a parallel race to the nomination with no precedent. While his competitors are hunkered down in the four states with the earliest primaries, Bloomberg is almost everywhere else a Minnesota farm, a Utah co-working space, an office opening in Maine. Hes staked his hopes on states like Texas, California and Arkansas that vote on March 3, aiming to disrupt the Democratic primary right around the time its typically settling on a front-runner. Or, should Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, be that front-runner, Bloomberg could be a backstop to Democrats still looking for a moderate choice. Skipping the early voting states and banking on success in later delegate-rich contests has never been done successfully. But no candidate has ever brought the financial firepower that Bloomberg can he is worth an estimated $60 billion and has already spent more than $200 million building a campaign in more than two dozen states, taking him well past Super Tuesday. Every other campaign thinks about this as a sequential set of contests. They spend time in Iowa and New Hampshire ... hoping that theyll (get a) momentum bounce from one to the next, said Dan Kanninen, Bloombergs states director. Were thinking about this as a national conversation. Theres little public polling available to measure Bloombergs progress. National polls show his support in the mid-single to low-double digits, similar to that of former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. But interviews with voters and party officials across the Super Tuesday states show Bloomberg is still just starting to make an impression. While officials marveled at the inescapable ambition of Bloombergs advertising, many voters still do not know who he is, or know only what theyve seen on television. Others noted they were interested but were still waiting to see who emerged as a clear leader in earlier contests. Ive been trying to read up on him to figure out if hes going to be my key player, said Cassandra Barbee, a hotel worker who watched Bloomberg in the Arkansas parade. She said his ads about helping people access health care appeal to her. Bloomberg isnt the sole candidate campaigning beyond the first four states. Elizabeth Warrens campaign said it has more than 1,000 staffers, the same number Bloomberg has been touting, across 31 states. All the major campaigns have operations in California, the biggest delegate prize, and several are up and running in states like Texas and North Carolina. But no candidates reach matches Bloombergs. He had spent more than $225 million on television and digital advertisements as of mid-January, according to the tracking firm Advertising Analytics, and hes run television ads in at least 27 states. Thats 10 times what each of the other leading candidates has spent, according to the firms tracking. Bloomberg has already campaigned in every Super Tuesday state, in addition to states like Florida, Michigan, and Ohio, which vote later but are major general election battleground states where Bloomberg thinks his message will resonate. Meanwhile, his campaign pushes out a steady stream of endorsements, policy plans and ads that keep him in the headlines as Iowas caucuses near. Hes definitely piquing my interest, said Erica Moore, a guidance counsellor at Little Rock schools. Moore said shes aware of Bloomberg because his ads air constantly but said she wasnt sure whether shed vote for him. How exactly Bloomberg plans to win enough delegates to capture the nomination is unclear. The campaign acknowledges public polls show he hasnt hit the 15% threshold he will need to win delegates, which are awarded proportionally statewide and by congressional district. Kanninen would not set hard targets for what success looks like on Super Tuesday, when a third of all delegates are awarded. Bloomberg needs to win some delegates, Kanninen said, but regardless of performance, were prepared to move on and compete vigorously. But winning a share of delegates isnt enough, said Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who argued that Bloomberg needs to win several Super Tuesday states to be credible. And Bloombergs anti-Trump advertising may not move voters his way in the primary, Carrick said. I think that people are going to separate out whether they want him to have a robust effort in the general election taking on Trump versus him being the candidate, he said. The best boost to Bloombergs chances may be what happens in the weeks leading up to Super Tuesday. As national and early state polls show Sanders in a strong position, Bloomberg could emerge as a moderate alternative should former Vice-President Joe Biden or other candidates look weak. While Bloomberg has said he would support Sanders if he were the nominee, the two differ sharply on policy. Winning the primary isnt Bloombergs only aim. He hopes his ads and organizing soften the ground for whomever Democrats pick to challenge Trump and help Democrats in down-ticket races. Bloomberg has committed to continue to spend millions keeping offices and organizers in battleground states regardless of whether he is the nominee. One of those states is North Carolina, where the campaign announced this week it had more than 100 paid employees. Thats a staffing benchmark more typical for a general election campaign. Hardly a local newscast or game show passes by in a major TV market that a Bloomberg commercial isnt airing. Hes really giving North Carolina Democrats the chance to fight in the general election by running ads now, said Justin Vollmer, a top Bloomberg adviser in the state. Those ads tout his record on issues like health care and gun control and attack Trump, branding him a dangerous demagogue and calling for his removal from office. Mike will get it done is the former mayors slogan. A former Republican and a businessman, Bloomberg believes hell appeal to moderates and conservatives frustrated with the president. But he has clear competition on that argument from both Biden and Buttigieg. Judy Eason McIntyre, 74, who attended a Bloomberg speech last week in Tulsa, Oklahoma, thinks he would match up well against Trump, but thats not enough to win her vote. Im one of those older black folks thats going to stick with Biden, said McIntyre, a former state senator and longtime Democratic Party activist. But out of the candidates I see, being practical, he and Michael Bloomberg are the ones who could beat Trump, and thats what Im after. Bloombergs campaign says its not focused on comparison with other Democrats. Were not really running against the field were running against Donald Trump, Kanninen said. Bloomberg recently brought his anti-Trump message to Utah, where Democratic presidential primary ads are relatively unheard of, said Jeff Merchant, chair of the Utah Democratic Party. Speaking in Salt Lake City last week, Bloomberg appealed to left-leaning voters who feel overlooked in a state that hasnt supported a Democrat for president since 1964. We shouldnt be writing off any state no matter how red people think it is, Bloomberg said while speaking at a modern co-working space. In some Super Tuesday states, Bloomberg is coming with a history that wont necessarily help him court moderates and disaffected Republicans. In Virginia, which offers the third-most Super Tuesday delegates, he helped Democrats win full control of the state legislature for the first time in a generation last year through spending by his gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety. Democrats are now set to pass a slate of gun control measures, prompting the National Rifle Association to put Bloombergs face on a billboard. Such notoriety could serve to bolster his credentials with Democrats but turn off voters in gun-friendly southern states. Perhaps the biggest question of Bloombergs candidacy is whether an ad blitz is enough to win over primary voters. In California, Republican businesswoman Meg Whitman lost statewide in 2010 after spending nearly $100 million, losing to the better-known Democrat Jerry Brown. And in Texas, it wasnt a barrage of TV ads that laid the groundwork for Democrat Beto ORourke to nearly win a Senate seat in 2018. It was his up-close-and-personal campaign that took him to every single county that captured voters attention. A couple of former Texas officials former Houston Mayor Bill White and former El Paso Mayor John Cook endorsed Bloomberg after he finished a five-city bus tour through the state earlier this month, according to The Blast, a newsletter from The Texas Tribune. Garry Mauro, who was the Texas chairman for both Clintons presidential campaigns, sees Bloombergs strategy as sensible. Mauro, who supports Biden, says no candidate but Bloomberg has the money to saturate Texas many television markets, and theres no guarantee that a clear front-runner will emerge before Super Tuesday. Hes betting on nobodys getting the momentum, and he can get his own momentum on TV, he said. Thats a totally different approach than what weve ever seen before. ___ Ronayne reported from Sacramento, California. Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City; Alan Suderman in Richmond, Va.; Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, N.C.; Nicholas Riccardi in Denver; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; Sean Murphy in Tulsa, Okla.; and Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report. ___ Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game. A Chinese travel presenter has apologised to the public after a video of her eating a bat in 2016 went viral amid the coronavirus outbreak. Wang Mengyun, who has gathered a massive following through her online travel show, is seen in the programme ripping apart the animal with her hands before eating it. The three-year-old clip became widely shared on social media after the health crisis broke out in China, sparking an uproar from web users. In a post last week, the globetrotter begged the public for forgiveness, calling herself 'ignorant'. She wrote: 'I am sorry, everyone. I should not have eaten a bat.' Wang Mengyun is seen displaying a bat which she is about to eat in an old episode of her travel programme. The video, filmed in 2016, has drawn widespread criticism to her amid an outbreak of the novel coronavirus which has killed at least 106 and infected some 4,590 Ms Wang has gathered a massive following through her online travel show Dream Runner. The programme is released through various social media channels, gaining her millions of fans The controversy occurred as the province of Hubei in central China is ravaged by the novel coronavirus after it first emerged in the city of Wuhan late last month. The coronavirus has killed at least 106 people - all in China - and sickened more than 4,588 worldwide. The intensifying outbreak has led the authorities to quarantine at least 56 million people living in central China's Hubei Province, including Wuhan, and cancel Lunar New Year festivities around the country. The virus, which can cause pneumonia, is poorly understood. Scientists now fear it may have spread to humans from snakes or bats. In the controversial episode, Ms Wang informed her audience that bats tasted like chickens and that their meat was very 'nutritious'. She is seen holding a bat in the show filmed in Palau The episode then shows Ms Wang pulling the bat apart with her hands. In an apology letter last week, the influential blogger wrote: 'I am sorry, everyone. I should not have eaten a bat' 'There are so many nutrients in it,' Ms Wang said before putting part of the bat into her mouth Ms Wang started producing her travel show, Dream Runner, five years ago. THE KILLER VIRUS MAY HAVE COME FROM BATS, SCIENTISTS SAY The killer coronavirus sweeping across the world may have come from bats, scientists have said. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the People's Liberation Army and Institut Pasteur of Shanghai came to the conclusion. In a statement, the team said: 'The Wuhan coronavirus' natural host could be bats but between bats and humans there may be an unknown intermediate. Tests of the virus, which has yet to be named, have revealed it targets a protein called ACE2 just like its cousin SARS, the South China Morning Post reported. Tracing the evolution of the virus, the team of experts found it belonged to betacoronavirus, making it structurally similar to SARS. Authorities have pointed the blame on food markets in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak that scientists are scrambling to contain. Rodents and bats among other animals are slaughtered and sold in traditional 'wet markets', which tourists flock to see the 'real' side of the country. Advertisement The programme is released through various social media channels, including YouTube, Weibo and Douyin, gaining her millions of fans. In 2018, Ms Wang, who was then 28, was selected as one of the 30 most successful Chinese entrepreneurs under the age of 30 by Forbes. The episode that drew her widespread criticism was filmed in Palau, an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean, and broadcast in 2016, Ms Wang said. She ate bat soup in order to introduce the local lifestyle to the audience and the soup was a 'common dish' for the locals, the presenter explained in an apology letter posted last Wednesday. In the viral video, Ms Wang can be seen holding what she called a fruit bat in her hand. She described of the soup: 'The soup we just had was very delicious and had a fruity flavour.' She then held the bat closer to the camera and gushed: 'Doesn't it look like a mini wolfdog?' Afterwards, she informed her audience that bats tasted like chickens and that their meat was very 'nutritious'. At last, she started to tear the bat apart with her hands, dipped part of it in a sauce and then put it into her mouth. 'There are so many nutrients in it,' she said before eating the dish. While the video has brought her waves of criticism, some of her supporters argued that trying out new things was part of the presenter's job. Ms Wang published an apology letter on January 22 on her Weibo account. But the post has been removed for unspecified reasons The video was dug up by Chinese web users and shared online after the nation was rocked by the coronavirus outbreak. Many web users condemned Ms Wang for eating exotic animals. One such person said: 'Even if it is a local specialty, how could you eat it? [You] dare to eat anything.' Another Weibo user wrote: 'I cannot understand why she wanted to eat that.' There were also supporters, such as one fan who argued: 'She is a travel blogger. This is her job. Whatever you don't recognise is not necessarily wrong.' Faced with the outrage, Ms Wang published an apology letter on January 22 on her Weibo account, which is followed by 2.2 million people. However, the post has since been taken down for unspecified reasons. THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS OF CORONAVIRUS Russia has closed its border with China in the east, in the regions of Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Khabarovsk and Amur Hong Kong will halve the number of flights to mainland China and stop its high-speed rail service and ferries. It has urged citizens to return home from the mainland and stay at home for 14 days Japan has declared its first case of coronavirus in someone with no connection to Wuhan More than 500,000 South Koreans have signed a petition calling for travellers from China to be turned away at the border Japan, South Korea and France have all planned charter flights to pull their citizens out of Wuhan later this week World Health Organisation chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was happy with China's efforts to contain the outbreak after visiting with politicians in Beijing yesterday. He urged the world to stay calm Advertisement In the letter, Ms Wang claimed to be a victim of online trolls following the outbreak because 'there was not so much footage of eating wildlife online'. She said that the programme was recorded long before the emergence of the coronavirus and she was not aware of the risks of eating bats at the time. 'When I filmed the video, I honestly did not know there would be a virus. My ignorance is to blame.' She added that the bat she ate was from a farm, not the wild, adding 'many countries in the world eat [bat soup], it is a daily dish'. Ms Wang's video appeared online at the same time videos purporting to show Chinese diners eating bat soup went viral. Viral footage purports to show a fashionable Chinese young woman biting one of the wings of a cooked bat at a fancy restaurant. The deadly coronavirus could come from the animal Pictures emerging on Twitter shows soup cooked with a bat. Bats are used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a series of illness, including coughing, malaria and gonorrhea One clip appears to show a Chinese woman eating a whole bat at a fancy restaurant while another video seemly shows Cantonese-speaking diners preparing to eat soup made with the nocturnal animal. MailOnline cannot independently verify the clips. Bats are used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a series of illnesses, including coughing, malaria and gonorrhea. The animal's faeces is also believed to be able to cure eye diseases, according to ancient Chinese medical masterpiece Ben Cao Gang Mu. The deadly Chinese coronavirus outbreak began at a wholesale animal market in Wuhan city, experts have confirmed. Scientists from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said tests proved humans caught it from animals at the Huanan Seafood Wholesales Market. It is not clear which animal was carrying the pneumonia-like illness but the market was home to stalls trading dozens of different species, including rats and wolf cubs. The coronavirus epidemic has killed at least 106 people - all in China - and sickened more than 4,585 worldwide as of today. In the picture above, a medical worker (right) rests in a chair next to a patient at a hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province on January 23 The intensifying health crisis has led the authorities to quarantine at least 56 million people living in central China's Hubei Province. In the picture above, people wearing face masks to avoid the disease queue to take a taxi at the Beijing railway station on January 27 Prince Charles and Prince William are reportedly growing even more worried about Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex hoped to live a quieter life in Canada after stepping down as senior members of the royal family, but the media has proven just as invasive across the pond. Things have gotten arguably worse without the royal familys protection, which has prompted Prince Charles and Prince William to reach out with love and support. Prince Harry, Prince Charles, and Prince William | John Stillwell WPA Pool/Getty images Prince Charles and Prince William in contact with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Harry and Meghan have allegedly found it more difficult dealing with the media in Canada without the protection of the royal family. Their decision to step down has made the situation even worse, as the paparazzi are looking for every opportunity to catch the couple in public. According to Express, Charles and William have grown very concerned about Harry and Meghans well-being and have reached out in a show of support. A source claims that Prince Charles and Prince William have told the Sussexes that they are welcome to return to the U.K. and will not be forced to take on any royal responsibilities. They are also preparing for the worst and are setting up a plan to get Harry and Meghan back if things turn south quickly. Harry and Meghan announced their plan to away from the royal family earlier this month. As part of their new deal, the couple plans on splitting their time between the U.K. and Canada, though there has been some doubt about them ever returning to the U.K. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle continue to be harassed by the media One reason Harry and Meghan decided to step down was to live a quieter life outside of the public eye. While they enjoyed a quieter life in Canada over the holidays, things have reached a tipping point since their announcement. Harry and Meghan, for example, issued a statement warning the media against intruding on their private lives after the Duke of Sussex reunited with his family in Canada last week. Before the announcement, cameras caught Meghan hiding behind a row of bushes while she walked her son, Archie Harrison, and their two pets. Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, and the UK medias vicious racism @MayaGoodfellow https://t.co/xOFzvJm7UH Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) January 26, 2020 In light of the situation, palace courtiers say that the royal family is worried about Harry and Meghans safety. Although they dont expect the couple to return to the U.K. in the near future, they are making plans in the event that their stay in Canada turns bad. The palace is very worried about the Sussexes, because they are vulnerable outside the embrace of the family, the insider shared. They are making contingency plans in case the Sussexes suddenly turn round and say: Can we come back under your wing? The insider added that the plans are for the future and that Prince Charles and Prince William are not setting up a timeline. They just believe that Prince Harry and Meghans situation is very fragile and could get out of control quickly. Inside Megxit A few weeks ago, Harry and Meghan announced that they are no longer going to be senior members of the royal family. Aside from living part of the year in Canada, they revealed that they want to become financially independent from the crown. Prince Harry met with Prince Charles, Prince William, and Queen Elizabeth in the days following his stunning announcement. Following the meetings, the royals revealed that Harry and Meghan will no longer be using their HRH titles. The couple also plans to pay back the money that was used to renovate Frogmore Cottage, which was around $2.5 million. It is unclear how Meghan and Harry plan on funding their yearly endeavors, but they certainly have a lot of options to explore. Is Canada better for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? If what the sources say is true, then moving to Canada might not be in the best interest of Meghan and Harry. Although Meghan lived in Toronto while filming Suits, it is a completely different ball game now that she is a member of the royal family. The biggest issue with relocating to Canada is the media. The press is Canada enjoys more freedom of expression than their British counterparts, which could create a lot of problems for the couple down the road. Whether you love the Royals, loathe them or feel indifferent, Harry and Meghan are boosting Canada's brand value just by being here. https://t.co/EKlz3LQV07 CBC British Columbia (@cbcnewsbc) January 26, 2020 If they do get tired of living in Canada, sources say the royals will welcome them back with open arms. Prince Charles has not commented on Prince Harry and Meghans decision. Advertisement Smitten Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez were spotted arm in arm playing tourists in New York City Monday after it emerged she told her brother of their extramarital affair before he eventually sold the story to the National Enquirer. The two lovebirds were seen grabbing lunch at Friedmans, a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. Sanchez arrived at the restaurant with her security detail around 2.15pm followed by Bezos who was seen pulling up to the eatery around 30 minutes later. He met Sanchez and her two children, who were waiting inside. Friedman's is a restaurant that has several locations in New York. It specializes in gluten-free foods that include pancakes, waffles, and fried chicken. The restaurant, which bills itself as a 'family-run business,' says it offers a menu that includes meat which is free of antibiotics as well as locally grown vegetables. Twenty minutes later, Bezos, Sanchez and the children went to Hudson Yards, where they climbed the new public art installation the Vessel. It is a 150ft tall spiral staircase comprised of 2,500 steps covering 154 flights of stairs and offers views across New York City Scroll down for video Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos (right) is seen with his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez (left), in New York City on Monday The couple appears to be very much in love despite recent headlines about how the National Enquirer got word of their extramarital affair Sanchez (left) and Bezos (right) appear wary of heights as they look down from the top of the Vessel Sanchez appears quite impressed with the height as she takes in the sight at Hudson Yards The 'Vessel' is a public art structure on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in Hudson Yards, New York After spending some time at the top of the structure, Bezos and Sanches walked arm in arm toward their awaiting SUVs and drove off - accompanied by their security detail. Bezos, the 56-year-old Amazon founder and world's richest man, and the former broadcast news anchor Sanchez were seen getting off a helicopter and into a dark SUV Sunday. Sanchez followed behind him with her daughter Eleanor, who she shares with her ex Patrick Whitesell. Later that night, the smitten pair were seen heading to a performance of West Side Story on Broadway, as a dapper Bezos tenderly held onto both Sanchez's arm and hand. The couple were fresh in from Washington D.C., where they held a bash the night before at Bezos' new $23 million mansion, which was attended by Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Bill Gates and Ben Stiller. The New York trip comes after federal prosecutors said they obtained evidence that proved Sanchez's brother Michael had sold texts Sanchez had sent him containing her intimate conversations with Bezos to the National Enquirer for $200,000. Sanchez was spotted entering Friedman's restaurant in Midtown Manhattan at around 2.15pm Sanchez was accompanied by her security detail as she entered the restaurant around half an hour before Bezos arrived Thirty minutes later, Bezos walked into the restaurant to join his date and her children The Amazon chief was seen talking on his cell phone as he walked into the restaurant The couple did not seem to be rocked by the revelation, as Bezos and Sanchez looked smitten as ever as they left the Broadway show and as they strolled around the city Monday. Bezos dressed in a gray suit and Sanchez sported aviator glasses, a blue printed skirt and a long sleeved black top. Sanchez's daughter Eleanor held her mother's hand as they left the theater. Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported prosecutors in NYC obtained documents including a May 10, 2018 text message sent from Sanchez's phone to her brother Michael, containing her intimate texts with Bezos. The Journal said it had reviewed the text messages as well as a $200,000 payment Michael received from the Enquirer under an October 2018 contract. On Sunday, Bezos was seen in New York City with Sanchez, exclusive DailyMail.com photos show, days after it was reported she was the one who disclosed their affair to her brother, who then sold the story to the National Enquirer - not Saudi Arabia . Pictured: Bezos, Sanchez and her daughter Eleanor The smitten pair were seen heading to a performance of West Side Story on Broadway, as a dapper Bezos tenderly held onto both Sanchez's arm and hand Bezos dressed in a gray suit and Sanchez sported aviator glasses, a blue printed skirt and a black long sleeved top. Sanchez's daughter Eleanor held her hand as they left the theater The sighting comes after federal prosecutors said they obtained evidence that proved Sanchez's brother Michael (left) had sold texts Sanchez had sent him containing her intimate conversations with Bezos (right) to the National Enquirer for $200,000 Prosecutors obtained the documents in an ongoing investigation into Bezos' allegation that the Enquirer tried to extort him by threatening to publish his nude pictures, as well as whether his phone was hacked. Bezos himself has long pushed the suggestion that Saudi Arabia was involved as the Enquirer's source. Last week, Bezos' investigators, endorsed by U.N. officials, indicated that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia had sent malicious code in a WhatsApp message that compromised Bezos' cell phone. Saudi Arabia denies hacking Bezos' phone. The Enquirer claims that Michael was their source for the bombshell story that revealed Bezos' affair, while Michael denies he had anything to do with it. 'In September of 2018, Michael Sanchez began providing all materials and information to our reporters,' a spokesman for American Media told the Journal. The spokesman said that any suggestion that a third party, such as Saudi Arabia, 'was involved in or in any way influenced our reporting is false.' The couple arrived to the city via helicopter on Sunday. Last week, Bezos' investigators, endorsed by U.N. officials, indicated that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia had sent malicious code in a WhatsApp message that compromised Bezos' cell phone Saudi Arabia denies hacking Bezos' phone. The Enquirer claims that Michael was their source for the bombshell story that revealed Bezos' affair, while Michael denies he had anything to do with it. The couple are seen arriving in NYC Sunday Included in the tabloid's expose was a quote from the Bezos text message that the Journal says Lauren Sanchez had sent to her brother in May 2018 Michael told the Journal in an emailed statement: 'With spoon-fed lies and half-truths, Wall Street Journal keeps getting it wrong.' In January 2019, the Enquirer exposed Bezos' extramarital affair with Sanchez. The same week he abruptly announced a separation from his wife of 26 years, and has been romantically linked with Sanchez ever since. Included in the tabloid's expose was a quote from a text message from Bezos that the Journal says Lauren had sent to her brother in May 2018. Another text message sent from Sanchez's phone to her brother's on July 3, 2018 includes a photo of a shirtless Bezos, according to the Journal. Despite the ongoing drama, Bezos and Sanchez have put on an united front, recently seen on a trip to India and on Saturday night thew a lavish party at Bezos' new Washington D.C. home. The Amazon founder purchased the $23 million mansion in 2016 and it underwent three years of renovations and construction. Despite the ongoing drama, Bezos and Sanchez have put on an united front, recently going on a trip to India together and on Saturday night thew a lavish party at Bezos' new Washington D.C. home (pictured) Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared walked out hand in hand from Alfafa Dinner on Saturday night to attend a grand welcoming party at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' new Washington DC mansion Microsoft founder and fellow tech genius Bill Gates was spotted at the elegant affair on Saturday to welcome Bezos into Washington DC society Actor Ben Stiller, who was Sen. Mitt Romney's guest at the dinner, was seen in good spirits arriving to the sprawling mansion on Saturday Bezos rubbed shoulders with his political friends inviting Senator Mitt Romney to the party with his wife Ann White House Adviser Kellyanne Conway also attended sporting an elegant black halter dress for the occasion The 27,000-square-foot home is tucked in the city's wealthy Kalorama district near the residences of former President Barack Obama and the Trump-Kushner family. Bezos invited his high-flying friends to his home after they attended the annual, exclusive Alfalfa Club Dinner in DC. The Alfalfa Club holds an annual black tie banquet and political roast on the last Saturday of January every year. The event is only open to the 200 members of the club and has an invitation system. The exclusive event is not open to the press. Guests arrived in elegant suits and floor-length dresses for the swanky affair, but Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez were nowhere to be seen at the entrance to the 11-bedroom, 25-bathroom grand mansion. Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared seemed loved up as they arrived to the mansion. Senator Mitt Romney, who was the keynote speaker at the dinner, was also dressed in a smart suit and bowtie with his wife Ann, who wore a gray satin ensemble. White House Adviser Kellyanne Conway attended in an elegant black halter dress. Not only did Bezos expand his political circle, but he also invited Microsoft founder Bill Gates to the event as well as actor Ben Stiller, who was Senator Romney's guest. Many guests were seen wearing a special gold medallions around their neck designating them as Alfalfa Club members. While several presidents have been members and former presidents including George W Bush and Barack Obama spoke at the Alfalfa banquets in the past, Donald Trump is yet to be invited. WATERLOO A bid to overturn the citys controversial ban the box ordinance was met with silence. Waterloo City Councilwoman Margaret Klein failed Monday to get support from other council members to reconsider the measure, which has generated a lawsuit against the city and prompted action in the Legislature. Her motion to rescind the ordinance was not seconded by any of the other six council members, which prevented any vote. Klein said a council member backed out of an earlier commitment to second her request for discussion. I thought that this person stepped out of politics for a moment and did the right thing to allow us a chance to discuss it and for the public to discuss it, she said. The fair chance initiative adopted in November and set to take effect July 1 prevents employers from asking about a job applicants criminal history until the end of the hiring process. Klein, who opposed ordinance and believes it violates state law, had sought to rescind the measure and avoid the potential litigation costs facing taxpayers. The Iowa Association of Business and Industry filed an action in Black Hawk County District Court seeking an injunction to block the city from enforcing the ordinance. The organization believes it violates a 2017 state law prohibiting cities from adopting ordinances that exceed or conflict with the requirements of federal or state law relating to hiring practices. Leaders of the Iowa House and Senate also are looking at bills to prevent local governments from adopting ban the box ordinances. Councilman Pat Morrissey objected when Klein suggested her colleagues should at least allow more debate. Morrissey said he wasnt shown common decency two years ago when Klein and three other council members refused to second his request to reconsider their decision to reject a mechanic being hired in the city garage. Staffer Tim Jamisons most memorable 2019 stories: Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 6 Each year, more than 100 million newborns around the world receive vaccinations against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, or TB, which infects about one-quarter of the worlds population. Facilities across the world produce several different formulations of these vaccines, known as Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccines. These are given interchangeably, yet new research from the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Childrens Hospital calls that practice into question. The study, published in the journal Vaccine, shows that BCG vaccines vary widely in their characteristics, including their ability to activate cytokines, potent elements of the immune system response. We found that licensed BCG vaccines differ dramatically, raising fundamental questions about whether the quality of these vaccines are equivalent and should be considered interchangeable, explains co-senior investigator Ofer Levy, MD, PhD, director of the Precision Vaccines Program. A global health threat According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 10 million people, including nearly 1.1 million children, became ill from TB in 2018, and nearly 1.5 million people died from it. TB infection in babies is particularly serious, often causing sepsis, meningitis, and, frequently, death. For that reason, many newborns receive TB vaccination in areas where the disease is common. Vaccines against TB were first introduced in 1921. Today, more than 14 different BCG vaccine formulations are used, with five WHO-approved products dominating globally. All BCG vaccines use live, but altered or attenuated, Mycobacterium bovis (a bacterium related to TB) to spark the immune system to protect against TB. BCG vaccines strengthen overall immune response Previous research has shown that BCG vaccination not only protects against TB, but boosts the overall immune system, in what is called an off-target effect. BCG vaccine is a very interesting vaccine because it has been found to boost protection against other infections, bacterial and viral, that are very common in newborns and young infants, says Asimenia Angelidou, MD, PhD, a neonatologist at Boston Childrens and the studys first author. And it may be doing that by revving up the innate immune system. One recent study from the Precision Vaccines Program found that injecting BCG along with the hepatitis B vaccine strengthened the immune response to hepatitis B. But until now, we have not directly compared these BCG vaccine formulations side-by-side for any standard measures of immunity or protection against TB, says Levy. Comparing BCG vaccines The new study looked at several formulations of the most commonly used licensed BCG vaccines: BCG-Denmark, BCG-India, BCG-Bulgaria, BCG-Japan, and BCG-USA (sourced from the Boston Childrens Hospital pharmacy). The researchers compared several different vials from different manufactured lots of each formulation. They measured how each grew in culture and how many live bacteria each vaccine contained. The data consistently shows that the Indian and Bulgarian formulations, both derived from the same mother BCG strain (BCG Russia), have more than 1,000-fold lower growth and fewer live bacteria compared to the others, says Angelidou. This is pertinent clinically because there are numerous studies showing that live mycobacteria trigger the immune system in a different way compared to dead mycobacteria; they activate different downstream pathways. Cytokines vary by vaccine The team measured numerous cytokine proteins released from immune cells to fight infection after vaccination, including IL1 beta and interferon gamma (the latter is especially important for TB protection). We found differences in terms of the cytokine responses each vaccine triggered, says Angelidou. In particular, BCG-India induced significantly less interferon gamma compared to the rest of the strains. The team also found that concentrations of the IL1 beta cytokine, which is heavily involved in boosting overall immunity after BCG vaccination, correlate with the amount of live bacteria contained in the BCG vaccine. Upon recognition of a pathogen or vaccine, newborn immune cells are often less able to produce certain cytokines, such as interferon gamma, that are important for an immune response against TB, says Simon van Haren, PhD, co-senior investigator on this study. Comparing the ability of each BCG formulation to induce interferon gamma production in newborn immune cells was therefore very important. All vaccines not equal Our findings raise really fundamental questions about whether these BCG vaccines should be considered interchangeable and whether the quality is equivalent because of differences in viability and in the numbers and kind of cytokines induced. The differences between the strains produced in different parts of the world are mainly due to manufacturing practices. The mycobacteria in general are very sensitive to environmental conditions, says Angelidou, so any environmental changes in their manufacturing process can really affect the growth of the mycobacteria. In their study, the researchers grew the mycobacterium cultures from each vaccine under the same environmental conditions. This is key, as it is the first study that directly compares clinically relevant BCG vaccine strains used today in the same lab under the same conditions to see how many bacteria will grow and how they induce immune responses from human newborn white blood cells, adds Levy. Large comparative clinical trial needed This study shows significant differences between the BCG formulations when tested under very controlled conditions. But does it correlate with differences one might see clinically in real world situations? We have not proven conclusively which BCG formulation is most effective, says Levy. Rather, we present compelling evidence that head to head clinical trials of these very different BCG formulations are urgently needed to define which is most effective. ### Simon van Haren from Boston Childrens Hospital is co-senior investigator on this study. Other Boston Childrens Hospital co-authors include Maria-Giulia Conti, Joann Diray-Arce, Mark Liu, Lakshmi Prasad Potluri, Guzman Sanchez-Schmitz, Robert Husson, and Al Ozonoff. Christine Benn from the University of Southern Denmark, Frank Shann from the University of Melbourne, Mihai Netea from the Radboud University, The Netherlands, and Beate Kampmann from the London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine are also co-authors. This work was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), including those on Molecular Mechanisms of Combination Adjuvants, and the Human Immunology Project Consortium. Support was also provided by the Danish National Research Foundation, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, and a grant from the UK Research and Innovation. One of the first two new coronavirus-infected patients confirmed in Vietnam last week has recovered, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on January 25 and 27 showed Chinese Li Zichao, 28, clear of a new coronavirus which has sparked a pneumonia outbreak in Chinas Wuhan City. The epidemic caused by a new strain of the coronavirus family that caused SARS and MERS first surfaced in Hubeis capital city in December 2019. The virus has spread to other places across China and many other countries including the U.S., France, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and more. Li Zichao can currently breathe himself, be conscious, eat and sleep well, get rid of fever, and be capable of performing daily activities, health officials said. Li, who has lived in the Mekong Delta province of Long An for the past four months, got the disease from his father, Li Ding, who visited him from Wuhan. Li Ding and his wife arrived in Hanoi from Wuhan on January 13, before taking a domestic flight to Nha Trang City in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, where they met their son who came there to see them. The family stayed at a hotel in Nha Trang from January 17 to 19 before traveling to Ho Chi Minh City by train. They continued to travel by taxi to Long An on January 20. During their trip, the father started to have a fever on January 17, while his son developed similar symptoms on January 20. Two days later, they were admitted to Binh Chanh District Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, and later to the higher-level Cho Ray Hospital in the southern metropolis. The father and son were confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus the next day, becoming the first infections in Vietnam. Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son (C) works with doctors at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on January 23. Photo: Tuoi Tre / Thien Chuong While the son is said to have already recovered, the father has also been conscious, able to breathe smoothly with the assistance of an oxygen ventilator, and had steady blood pressure. The 66-year-old patient with many background diseases has been free from fever since January 25, as well as eating and sleeping well. X-ray films showed his lungs injuries have no longer progressed. Doctors are waiting for the patients latest test to conclude if he has been cured. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A woman wearing a face mask travels in the subway, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China January 26, 2020. (Photo : REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins) Scientists are urgently seeking information to resolve one critically essential aspect of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 50 people and infected at least 1,000, since the disease emerged in Wuhan, China. Researchers say they desperately want to find out whether most cases have been caused by the repeated spillover of the virus from animals to people, or whether most instances were caused by human-to-human transmission. Trevor Bedford, an evolutionary geneticist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, told the journal Nature, the situation is a big epidemiological goal for everyone at the moment. There's a prospect that the new epidemic could peter out fairly quickly if most instances detected so far were as a result of direct infections from animals. However, the chances that a first worldwide epidemic is now underway that dramatically if new instances currently transmit through human-to-human transmission. Chinese president Xi Jinping has already warned that the spread of the lethal new virus is "accelerating." ALSO READ: Chinese President Xi Warns Public on 'Grave Situation' Caused by 'Accelerating' Spread of Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a big family of viruses, several of which cause respiratory illnesses - including the common cold. Others have advanced into more severe illnesses, which include severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers-CoV). Analyses by using scientists along with Bedford have to find out the genetic sequences of the numerous strains of 2019-nCoV - the previously unknown coronavirus that is inflicting the current outbreak - which isolated the patients and suspected cases. The lack of genetic diversity of this new virus suggests the common ancestor of these one-of-a-kind strain only emerged recently in late 2019. However, studies do not yet say whether or not the recent rapid growth of the virus came about in humans or in an animal reservoir. Prof. Jonathan Ball, of Nottingham University, said the scientists need to gain a higher understanding of what is taking place in China. The specialists mainly want to know how the virus unfolds, whether or not people with slight or no signs can transmit the virus, and where the virus originated. Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief scientific officer, warned that there had been a "fair chance" circumstances that would emerge in Britain as the overall number of cases around the world climbed to almost 1,400. Researchers revealed info of analyses of the first 41 patients admitted to hospitals with confirmed cases of the virus in a research published in the Lancet. Two-thirds had been in no small seafood market in Wuhan that also offered wild animals for meat and is thought to be the place the virus started from an animal source to humans. Most cases - with 49 as the median age - had pneumonia. Some had flu, cough, and fatigue. Few of them had headaches and diarrhea. The examined patients were healthy until they incurred the virus. Scientists, in another Lancet paper, reported the results of a study of five patients in a family cluster who had currently traveled to Wuhan and had shriveled the virus. Alarmingly, one baby with the virus did not have any symptoms. Until then, the health government had said that humans with the virus all showed signs and symptoms of fevers and coughs. An asymptomatic infection, however, changes that picture dramatically. Research leader Dr. Kwok-Yung Yuen of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital explained that controlling the epidemic will additionally rely on isolating patients, tracing and quarantining contacts as early as possible, educating the public on both food and personal hygiene, and ensuring healthcare people comply with contamination control because asymptomatic contamination of the virus seems possible. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Biologist Benjamin Mayne certainly generated a lot of media attention with his research showing that the natural human lifespan is 38 years. If hes right, then the implications are huge for starters, we would have to rethink our entire health care system. That system is based on the (perhaps unrealistic) assumption that deaths not attributable to accident or violence are due to disease, and that all diseases can be conquered with enough medical research. What if, instead, were programmed to die before were even old enough for a midlife crisis? Not so fast. The 38-year limit comes from a system Mayne and his colleagues created to apply across vertebrates, from the live-fast-die-young forest shrew (2.1 years) to the slow-lane Greenland shark (400 years). The researchers calibrated their aging clock using animals that have been kept in captivity and whose maximum lifespans are recorded in a database. Humans have a maximum known lifespan of about 120 years, but this was excluded from their calibration data for being too much of an outlier. According to the paper, which was published in Nature Scientific Reports, this does not reflect the variability [of] the true global average lifespan (60.986.3 years). So if we have a record of 120, and true global average of 61-86, how could we have a natural lifespan of 38? In some ways, that number makes sense, given that our closest relative, the chimpanzee, lives to 37 years. But still, it doesnt square with observations. Captive chimps with good healthcare dont ever live to 80 or beyond, while people routinely do and did so long before there was anything like modern medicine. Socrates was 70 when he died, and was still so vigorous that his enemies had to do him in with poison. Benjamin Franklin, who had pointed out that 18th century medicine did more harm than good, managed to live to 84. Historical records show that the pace of human aging has been the same for 2,000 years. Story continues People sometimes confuse death from old age with life expectancy, which was quite low for humans for a very long time. Remember, life expectancy is an average, and for centuries it included a disproportionate number of infants. Before modern medicine, infants and children often did die from infections, malnutrition, or birth defects, and newborns as well as young women died from childbirth complications. Life expectancy was just 46 in 1907, but that was because it was routine for kids to die not because anyone died of old age at 46. People who survived the dangers of childhood were pretty likely to live to a ripe old age. And modern life seems to be as much a killer as a savior. The diseases that kill most people over 55 are heart disease and cancer, both of which, we are told, would be less rampant if people got more exercise, avoided cigarettes and ate less processed food, sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Even agriculture seems to have been a mixed blessing: Medical archaeologists have found that compared to their foraging ancestors, ancient people from farming societies were shorter and more likely to be diseased or undernourished. Dr. Mayne, who works at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia, says that his system relies on a well-known marker of aging called DNA methylation a change in the material that gloms onto your DNA. It doesnt affect the actual code, though it affects how the code is read and expressed. Over time, our cells accumulate methylation much the way our arteries pick up plaque or our teeth start to decay. DNA of different species varies in the number of sites prone to methylation the more sites, the faster the aging clock ticks. Moreover, Mayne explains, the aging clocks of animals are tied to their reproductive clocks. It tends to be the long-lived, slow-to-reproduce animals that are more vulnerable to extinction. I ran this by S. Jay Olshansky, an expert on aging from the University of Chicago. He says its important to understand that were not programmed to die at a certain age. Our selfish genes are under evolutionary pressure to maximize their own propagation which means youre programmed to live long enough to care for your offspring until they are reasonably self-sufficient. After that, nature becomes indifferent and you are left to the capricious ravages of entropy. If youre lucky, and take good care of yourself, you can coast for a few decades after that. The slower an animals reproductive cycle, the longer it takes before this coasting stage begins. If youre a mouse or a forest shrew, surrounded by predators, natural selection favors those who reproduce early within about a month of being born. A tough animal like the Greenland shark can afford to put off childbearing till around 150. Humans are all coasting by 50 thats when CDC data start showing degenerative diseases going from rare to common but when this phase begins for us isnt clear. Olshansky doesnt think its crazy to conclude that the coasting phase could start around age 38. Healthcare is a way to help those who lose in that coasting lottery. Its also a way to alleviate suffering which can linger for years in people with degenerative diseases. Since age is a risk factor for so many terrible diseases, and we cant quit aging the way we can quit soda drinking or smoking, scientists should keep trying to understand how aging works and whether theres any way to slow it down. And thats where those long-lived, slow-reproducing animals clearly have something to teach us. To contact the author of this story: Faye Flam at fflam1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sarah Green Carmichael at sgreencarmic@bloomberg.net This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. Faye Flam is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She has written for the Economist, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Psychology Today, Science and other publications. She has a degree in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Until Tuesday, all reported cases in more than a dozen countries had involved people who had been in or around Wuhan. In a development that could cause more jitters abroad, Japan and Germany reported the first confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission outside of China. WUHAN: China is battling a demon virus that has so far killed more than 100 people, President Xi Jinping said Tuesday, as nations readied planes to airlift foreigners trapped at the epicentre of the outbreak. Mr Xi made his remarks during talks with the head of the World Health Organisation in Beijing amid growing global concerns about a novel coronavirus that has infected thousands in China and reached more than a dozen other countries. In a development that could cause more jitters abroad, Japan and Germany reported the first confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission outside of China. The infection is believed to have originated in a wild animal market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where it jumped to humans before spreading rapidly across the country, prompting authorities to enact drastic nationwide travel restrictions in recent days. Countries are also concerned about the fate of thousands of foreigners stuck in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people that has been sealed off by Chinese authorities in a bid to contain the disease. Tokyo deployed a plane to the virus-stricken metropolis late on Tuesday that was scheduled to repatriate Japanese nationals on Wednesday, the same day that a US aircraft is expected to bring American citizens back to their homeland. France and South Korea are also planning to fly out their citizens later this week, and several other countries, including Germany, were considering doing the same. Chinese people are currently engaged in a serious struggle against an epidemic of a new type of coronavirus infection, Xi told WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The epidemic is a demon, and we cannot let this demon hide, the Chinese leader said, pledging that the government would be transparent and release information in a timely manner. His comments came after anger simmered on Chinese social media over the handling of the health emergency by local officials in central Hubei province. Some experts have praised Beijing for being more reactive and open about this crisis as compared to its handling of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic of 2002-2003. But others say local cadres were more focused on projecting stability earlier in January than adequately responding to the outbreak during regional political meetings. Since then, the number of cases has soared doubling to more than 4,500 in the past 24 hours. The WHO last week stopped short of declaring the outbreak a global emergency, which could have prompted a more aggressive international response such as travel restrictions. Until Tuesday, all reported cases in more than a dozen countries had involved people who had been in or around Wuhan. But in Japan, a man in his 60s apparently contracted the virus after driving two groups of tourists from the city earlier in January, the health ministry said. And a 33-year-old German man contracted the disease from a Chinese colleague from Shanghai who visited Germany last week, according to health officials. Vietnam has been investigating a possible case of human-to-human transmission. The development came after countries including Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the Philippines announced tighter visa restrictions for people coming from China. China has taken its own drastic steps to stop the virus, which health officials say is passed on between people through sneezing or coughing, and possibly through physical contact. Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at Chinas National Health Commission, told the official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday that the outbreak could peak in a week or 10 days. Authorities initially sealed off Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province late last week, trapping more than 50 million people. China has since extended the Lunar New Year holiday to keep people indoors as much as possible, and suspended a wide range of train services. On Tuesday, authorities urged Chinese citizens to delay any foreign travel to protect the health and safety of Chinese and foreign people. Wuhan, meanwhile, has been turned into a near ghost-town under a lockdown that has largely confined the industrial hubs residents to their homes. With a ban on car traffic, the streets were nearly deserted apart from the occasional ambulance although the citys hospitals are overwhelmed. Everyone goes out wearing masks and they are worried about the infection, said David, a Chinese man who works in Shanghai but ended up trapped in Wuhan after it was put under quarantine. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the head of the militarys Africa Command, or Africom, is expected to face tough questioning on Thursday, when he is scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Any drawdown of our troops would be shortsighted, could cripple Africoms ability to execute its mission and, as a result, would harm national security, Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, the committees chairman, said in a statement this month. As the Pentagon weighs its options, the Kremlin continues to press ahead on the continent. Ultimately, great power competition translates to the United States attempts to leverage its weight as a military and economic superpower, albeit one that sometimes operates with bureaucratic sluggishness, against the ability of China and Russia to send money, troops and materiel with speed and little, if any, oversight. China has vastly increased its commercial investments in Africa in recent years, building factories and railroads, and it operates a major port in Djibouti. The Chinese military is also eyeing the construction of a new port in Senegal under the guise of assisting the Senegalese Navy, according to a United States military official. Russian officials are eyeing the port of Berbera as a location for their base on the coast of Somaliland, a self-declared state within Somalia on the Gulf of Aden, according to Defense Department officials. Both China and the United States, with military bases in Djibouti, share the same coastline as the potential Russian port. Russia has also expressed interest in building a naval logistics center in Eritrea, but it is unclear how far along those negotiations are, American officials said. About 1,500 miles south, down the eastern coast of Africa, Russian military transport planes landed last summer in Cabo Delgado Province in northern Mozambique and, according to American officials, deployed about 160 personnel belonging to the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor. TOLEDO, Ohio A 2-year-old boy had to be rushed to a hospital and revived with Narcan after overdose on methadone, according to reports. The Blade reports that police believe the boy climbed onto a toilet in the bathroom of his residence on Sunday and found the methadone pills in a cabinet. Methadone can be used to help people combat addiction to drugs such as heroin. The boy swallowed an unknown number of the pills, police tell the Blade. He took the bottle to his father, who tells police that it took him about an hour to get to Toledo Hospital, WTVG Channel 13 reports. The father first texted the boys mother, who was at work at the time of the incident, and she urged him to quickly get to a hospital, reports say. The Blade reports the father again texted saying the boy was OK and that hospital workers had pumped his stomach and induced vomiting. However, the boy was unresponsive when he arrived at the emergency room, according to WTOL Channel 11. The Blade reports that hospital workers told police that they did not pump the boys stomach and instead gave him Narcan. WTOL reports hospital workers gave the boy three doses of Narcan to revive him. He is recovering in the pediatric unit in the hospital. No charges have been filed, but police continue to investigate. Lucas County Childrens Services also is investigating, WTOL reports. To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comments page. Read more crime stories: Feds arrest suspect accused of shooting man in face in Cleveland 70-year-old Cleveland veteran killed man who took him in off the streets, family says 70-year-old shoots man to death, takes his own life while holding child hostage in Cleveland apartment, police say Watch the full video of Cleveland Browns RB Kareem Hunts traffic stop in suburban Cleveland St. Edward High School teacher accused of trying to meet teen for sex pleads guilty to felony charge Man shot during attempted robbery near Cleveland bus stop, records say The CPI(M) on Tuesday said the citizenship law will continue to face opposition on the streets despite Parliament's approval, just like the Emergency was opposed notwithstanding its passage in both Houses. In a series of tweets, CPI(M) general secretary said those arguing that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act cannot be questioned because it has been passed by Parliament must also remember that Emergency was also cleared by Parliament. "While we opposed it, fought and restored democracy, some belonging to the present ruling party also joined. Were they wrong then? Government must listen to the people and take back CAA, NRC & NPR. "We opposed CAA in Parliament. We moved for saying yes to persecuted persons, from all neighbouring countries, of any religion. What we opposed in Parliament will also be opposed on the streets. That's democracy," he said. Yechury added that the "divide and rule" police practised by the BJP and the RSS is aimed at dividing Indians on the basis of clothes, food, gender, faith and other faultlines they create. "But what unites India more now is the damaged economy: BJP's assault on Lives and livelihoods,' he said. Speaking on electoral bonds, the Left leader said his party has opposed it from day one, and also filed a challenge in the Supreme Court. "... (the) whole scheme is the root of high-level corruption in this government. It has to be scrapped and details of funding so far made public," he said. Chinese visitors wear protective masks as they tour the Temple of Heaven, which remained open during the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival holiday in Beijing, China, on Jan. 27, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) China Underreporting True Scale of Deadly Virus Outbreak, Expert Says The Chinese regime is likely underreporting the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a Harvard epidemiologist. Fears of a rampant epidemic are mounting after the infectious disease hit most parts of China and have spread to over a dozen countries globally. Official figures record the pneumonia-like virus infecting thousands and killing scores, although experts say the total number of infections is vastly greater than that reported by the communist regime. In a recent study by Imperial College London, the researchers found that self-sustaining human-to-human transmission is the only plausible explanation of the scale of the outbreak in Wuhan. Researchers said that each infected individual could infect 2.6 others, on average, and the authorities would need to block transmission of more than 60 percent of the cases to contain the outbreak. Another study that U.K. and U.S. experts released on Jan. 23, currently in preprint, put the reproduction number at around 3.8, although this was later revised to 2.5. With a reproduction number of 3.8, China would need to control 72 percent to 75 percent of the transmissions to prevent the virus spreadan almost impossible task, by locking up the entire city, said Michael Lai, a U.S.-based molecular biologist with Taiwans Academia Sinica. China has quarantined 17 cities, postponed school openings, and extended the week-long national Lunar New Year holiday to Feb. 2, in an attempt to curb the diseases spread. Despite such efforts, 5 million people left the virus epicenter of Wuhan before the lockdown took effect on Jan. 23. The experts of the preprint study estimated that less than 10 percent of infections have been identified in Wuhan so far. Should the epidemic continue unabated in Wuhan, we predict the epidemic in Wuhan will be substantially larger by [Feb. 4], the researchers wrote, projecting more than 190,000 infections to occur by then in the city alone. It said that large outbreaks could also develop in major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Chengdu. Guangdongs Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 25 put the reproduction number at 2.9, saying the disease may have a higher pandemic risk than SARSa large outbreak originating from southern China from 2002 to 2003, which officially killed about 800 worldwide. A young Chinese visitor wears a protective mask as she tours the nearly empty grounds of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China on Jan. 27, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Pandemic Risk I would say there is a very high pandemic risk, said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist at Harvard University, citing conclusions in the Chinese CDC report. He said the risk was exacerbated as a result of asymptomatic patients spreading the virus unknowingly. Chinas health minister, Ma Xiaowei, told reporters on Jan. 26 that the coronavirus, unlike SARS, is infectious during its incubation period, which can last up to 14 daysmeaning it can be transmitted even when the infected person exhibits no symptoms. A Jan. 24 study in The Lancet identified a coronavirus patient, aged 10, who didnt exhibit any symptoms prior to a medical inspection. Two other patients in the same study didnt have signs of fever. Such findings have raised fears that current screening measures, which check body temperature, are not effective in detecting the disease. Recently, two patients from Wuhan passed screening checks in France and didnt show signs of infection until one and five days later, respectively. Feigl-Ding said this trait of the coronavirus makes containment much more difficult than in the case of SARS, which was not infectious during incubation. He also suggested that a lot of the official figures on the infections and deaths are based on data that is not up-to-date, due to there likely being an administrative backlog. Between Jan. 25 and 26, the reported number of patients jumped by 50 percent, from around 2,000 to roughly 3,000. There have been a number of occasions where the deaths were not reported until at least a day later, making it difficult for those on the outside to gauge the true situation, he said. The large backlog in cases awaiting testing suggests theres lots of suspected cases [that] are not confirmed, Feigl-Ding said. When theres a backlog of testing, everythings delayed, which affects everyones prediction model. He said that he expected the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global emergency over the situation very soon. Last week, WHO stopped short of labeling the outbreak a global health emergency. The organization on Jan. 26 assessed the outbreaks risk level as very high within China and also high on an international scale. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 27 has recommended that travelers avoid any non-essential travel to China. Chinese travelers wear protective masks as they wait before boarding a train before the annual Spring Festival at a Beijing railway station in Beijing, China, on Jan. 23, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Tough Virus Chinese authorities have detected four generations of spread of the virus in Wuhanmeaning a person who contracted the virus from its original non-human source infected a person, who infected another person, who then infected a third person. Second-generation cases have also been detected outside of Wuhan. This phenomenon indicates that the virus is tough, according to Lai. As a virus replicates in a new host, it typically weakens, therefore to see it survive through to the fourth generation suggests the Wuhan coronavirus has adapted well in humans, Lai said. According to Lai, RNA virusesviruses that have RNA as their genetic material rather than DNAsuch as the Wuhan coronavirus and SARS, have a high mutation rate, which allows it to change properties very quickly. As an example, in the Lancet study, the RNA sequences isolated from 6 patients from the same household are different from each other, he noted. Lai said he observed in his previous research the frequent occurrence of RNA recombination between different coronavirus strains, a sign of the virus evolving. Such news may not be so good to the ear; it suggests the difficulty of containing this virus, Lai said. An earlier version of this article misstated Eric Dings title. The Epoch Times regrets the error. "We've had no cases in Scott County, we don't have any cases in Iowa, we don't even have any cases that are under investigation," she said. If a person has symptoms and has been to China in the past few weeks, Hill said they should call their physician, who will recommend a trip to the emergency room or an office visit. That physician would inform the Rock Island County Health Department, which would submit it to the state health department, who in turn would inform the CDC. "It's important for the patient to disclose that they possibly could have a travel-related case," Hill said. Taylor said if a case is confirmed in Iowa, they'll consult with the Iowa Department of Public Health. Depending on how ill the patient is, they would have to be in isolation in a hospital. "We would be monitoring their household contacts or any outside contacts they may have had," she said. Those people would receive information on signs and symptoms of the virus during an incubation period of two to 16 days. Hill and Taylor said people are much more likely to get sick from the general flu. They recommended a flu shot, for those not previously vaccinated for the season. "If you're sick, stay home. Wash hands often," Taylor said. "But right now, the general public is at a very low risk of getting the coronavirus." Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Palestinians take to social media to react, denounce and mock Trumps Middle East plan. US President Donald Trump unveiled his long-delayed Middle East plan on Tuesday in front of a pro-Israel audience at the White House with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, prompting Palestinians to express outrage and mock the proposal online. Palestinian leaders who were absent during the announcement, rejected the proposal even before its release, accusing Trump of being biased in favour of Israel. Trump called his plan a historic opportunity for Palestinians to achieve an independent state of their own by doubling the territory currently under their control. But under the plan, the United States would recognise Israeli sovereignty over illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and called for Jerusalem to remain the undivided capital of Israel. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh sitting during a speech following the unveiling of President Donald Trumps Middle East peace plan, in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank [Raneen Sawafta/Reuters] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Trumps Middle East peace plan a conspiracy, saying his peoples rights are not for sale. I say to Trump and Netanyahu: Jerusalem is not for sale, all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain. And your deal, the conspiracy, will not pass, Abbas said in a televised address from Ramallah. After the announcement, Palestinians took to social media to react, comment and at times mock the plan. Often dubbed the deal of the century Palestinians referred to it as the the slap of the century. The hashtags #NoToTrumpPlan and #No4DealOfCentury trended on Twitter. It is a slap and not a deal, wrote one Twitter user, down with the slap of the century and long live a free Palestine. Ib RA hiM (@IbrahimEssam72) January 28, 2020 PALESTINE IS NOT FOR SALE! read another tweet, referring to Trump administrations $50bn economic revival plan announced last June. https://twitter.com/wnPKbLhv2GhR409/status/1222227801681670144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Translation: No to the deal of the century. Another tweet showed the Palestinian iconic character of Handala, created by the late cartoonist Naji al Ali, writing Palestine is not for sale. Trump cant decide the fate of Palestinians. This Middle East Plan is meant to demean Palestinians right to exist in their homeland, read another tweet, he has violated international law. #Trump can't decide the fate of Palestinians. This Middle East Plan is meant to demean the Palestinians' right to exist in their own homeland. He has violated International law.#No4DealOfCentury #NoToTrumpPlan Afshan Khan (@AfshanKhanSahil) January 28, 2020 Another user denounced the map that Trump tweeted showing the borders of the proposed future State of Palestine. This is what the map of Palestine will look like according to #dealofthecentury. #NoToTrumpPlan #No4DealOfCentury pic.twitter.com/7B5FGHTqq7 Said Shoaib (@saidshouib) January 28, 2020 An Arabic meme circulated on Facebook, mocked the plan after Netanyahu said the US peace plan proposes that the Palestinian capital be located in Abu Dis, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The meme showed a man in the past saying, Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine, in the present, East Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and in the future, Jerusalem restaurant is the capital of Palestine. President Trump described his long-awaited Middle East peace plan as a "realistic two-state solution," but it's being hailed as a victory by Israel and emphatically rejected by the Palestinians. The state of play: As the plan was released publicly, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman told reporters that the areas of the West Bank envisioned as Israeli territory can be immediately annexed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already called on his Cabinet to endorse annexation plans this Sunday. Catch up quick: Palestinian leaders have boycotted this multiyear process and preemptively rejected Trump's plan. Netanyahu has embraced it. He applauded along with Trump's remarks today before describing him as easily "the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House." Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, said in a statement that "Jerusalem is not for sale, all our rights are not for sale" and Trump's deal "will not pass." What he's saying: Trump said his plan would create a Palestinian state with a capital in parts of eastern Jerusalem. It also calls for a four-year freeze on Israeli settlements, while recognizing existing settlements in the West Bank. "I have done a lot for Israel," Trump said. "It is reasonable that I have to do a lot for the Palestinians, or it just wouldn't be fair." He said no one on either side of the border would be "uprooted from their homes." The president added this could be "the last opportunity" for a Palestinian state. His explanation was that he had put together a strong team "who love the United States and they love Israel." Trump's conditions for a Palestinian state include that Hamas will disarm and the new state will recognize Israel as a Jewish state while granting Israel full security control of the West Bank and Jerusalem, per the Telegraph's Raf Sanchez. The plan also rejects the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees. Analysts quickly dismissed Trump's plan as unworkable from the Palestinian perspective. What to watch: The big question beyond the details of the plan was what the Arab reaction would be. Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates attended Trump's remarks an indication they're not rejecting the plan entirely. But Jordan's foreign minister has warned that Israeli annexations in the West Bank could have drastic consequences. Friedman said Israel "does not have to wait at all" to move ahead with annexations, adding: "The waiting period would be the time it takes for them to obtain internal approvals." The big picture: Recent administrations have seen their role as facilitating dialogue between Israel and Palestine and setting parameters for a potential agreement. Trump made a radical departure by choosing to release a detailed plan that only one party supports. Netanyahu emphasized Israel's gains under Trump's plan, including areas previously declared "illegally occupied." Past peace plans, he said, "failed because they did not strike the right balance between Israel's vital security and national interests and the Palestinians' aspirations for self-determination." Between the lines: There are domestic political upsides here for both Trump and Netanyahu, but no one expects a deal on these terms any time soon. Dennis Ross, Bill Clinton's Middle East envoy, told reporters ahead of the plan's release that reaction from around the region will determine whether it goes nowhere or serves as a basis for future negotiations. The backdrop: Netanyahu is fighting for his political life and seemed to relish the opportunity to stand alongside Trump at the press conference and follow him at the podium. Earlier today, he surrendered his immunity from prosecution over three corruption indictments before it could be revoked by a parliamentary committee. The peace plan and the charges against him will both be central to the election on March 2, Israel's third in a year. Netanyahu's political rival, Benny Gantz, met with Trump yesterday and said he supports the plan, though he believes no steps should be taken to implement it until after the election. Go deeper: AUSTIN TOWNSHIP Because the future operation of the Bingham Township Ambulance Service is uncertain, Austin Township officials in Sanilac County took matters into their own hands. The Austin Township Board of Trustees voted to go with the Sanilac EMS for medical needs and the Argyle Fire Department for Medical First Responder needs. Fire service protecting will gradually shift to the Argyle Fire Department. Click here to read the full article. Theres a reason why, over the course of a career that has spanned nearly six decades, Joan Didions remarkable body of work has received the film adaptation treatment just twice. In 1972, Didion and her husband John Gregory Dunne wrote the screenplay for Frank Perrys big-screen take on her novel Play It As It Lays, a celluloid turn that Didion followed up with various contributions to other scripts unrelated to her own books (including the 1976 A Star Is Born remake). Despite mostly good reviews for the Perry film, even Didion seemed to quickly get hip to the fact that her work isnt necessarily translatable to other mediums. Others surely got the memo, too, with almost a half a century going by before anyone else tried to turn Didions gimlet-eyed writings into a movie. And time has not been kind to the endeavor: and even less by an array of miscast stars and baffling narrative choices. More from IndieWire Some of that is baked into Didions original novel, often deemed one of her more spare and less personal works, and one that hinges on outrageous coincidences and thin characters that drives a wonky political plot. Its not an obvious choice for the Pariah and Mudbound filmmaker, though Rees interest in dialing in on the storys fraught familial bonds provides something of a window into what might have appealed to her about the project. In both of her earlier features, Rees was working with characters defined by their families and their (often unhealthy) relationships with each other, in The Last Thing He Wanted, a similar dynamic unfolds. Story continues Initially introduced as a dogged, daring reporter who does her best work while in the line of (often quite literal) fire, Hathaways Elena McMahon has been hacking away at a story about revolution and violence in 80s-era Nicaragua alongside her dedicated photographer (Rosie Perez) before it all goes topside. Years later, the pair are still stuck back in D.C. while their newspaper freezes any and all Central America jobs, keeping Elena from further cracking the kinds of stories that drive her. Its not the only thing going on in her life, as Rees and co-writer Marco Villalobos move freight-train-fast through other complications: her dead mother, her lonely teen daughter, a divorce, a cross-country move, a brush with breast cancer, and the sudden reappearance of her swaggering father Dick (Willem Dafoe). When Dick falls ill in Florida, Elena ditches her lackluster gig on the campaign trail following Ronald Reagan as he guns for a second term, all the better to help her deteriorating dad and to, well, what exactly? Ditch the job she loves (even if her current assignment is lacking), piss off her already unhappy editor, forget about the tantalizing packet of photos that ended up in her hotel bed? All of that, and more. Eventually, The Last Thing He Wanted will aim to make the case that all of this her bad job, her sick dad, the photos are intimately connected, and yet nothing coalesces into a coherent narrative, let alone one built on a series of linked machinations that reach the upper echelons of various governments and military bodies. Dicks illness undoes everything weve already learned about Elena, from her dedication to her job to her hardened self-determination. Netflixs official synopsis says that Elena loses the thread of her narrative as the film unfolds, but its really The Last Thing He Wanted that loses its thread, its narrative, and all of its control. Hopscotching from Miami to Nicagaura to Costa Rica and onward, Elena finds herself caught in a bizarre web that stems from her fathers insistence that she carry out one last job for him, earning him one last score before he dies or totally loses his mind. Despite the fact that Elena is a whipsmart reporter eager to unearth the misdeeds of war pigs scattered around Central America, she takes on the favor, which requires nothing less than her stepping into her dads shoes. Oh, Dicks job? Illegal gun runner, selling to the very people Elena has been trying expose. Its a big enough ask on paper, but filtered through a film thats both sprawling and thin, it becomes incomprehensible. Cheesy flashbacks and callbacks and voiceovers attempt to paper over certain particularly messy sequences, but the film remains incomprehensible. At nearly two hours long, The Last Thing He Wanted still feels as if every other scene was left on the editing room floor, perhaps in an attempt to echo the looser style of Didions novel. Nothing connects, nothing gels, and every thread is lost. Hathaway tries her damnedest to keep Elena on track through an increasingly bizarre journey, but her characters shifting priorities and motivations never allow the actress to sink into Elena. Theres a sense that the character herself floats through the proceedings, her steely resolve crumbling in the face of so many double-crosses and complications. Its a potentially compelling idea, but thats erased by a jarring return to Elena, Hardened War Reporter. For a seasoned stringer with nerves of steel, shes terrible at reading people, remembering details, and acting with any regard for safety. Shes the kind of gal who goes on the run in a strange city and doesnt bother to lock her shady hotel room door behind her. Joining her are a motley crew of miscast stars who dont appear to exist inside the same film. Ben Affleck is there, too, in fits and starts (perhaps his contract only demanded four days of work from the ostensible co-lead?) as a government heavy who is either helping Elena or hurting her, pulling the strings to use her or going out on a limb to rescue her, fucking her or fucking her. Defoe is electric as her rangy dad, but he and Hathaway never wrangle believable familial chemistry, instead scanning as bemused adversaries expected to out-act each other for the hell of it. Edi Gathegi appears as yet another friend-or-foe who arrives and disappears at random, a bizarrely plotted character arc that only gets the barest of conclusions during a truncated end scene thats nothing more than prologue. And thats before Toby Jones shows up, doing a limp approximation of his own Truman Capote, and long before David Arquette appears as the younger version of a character apparently so important that he gets a flashback self just as anyone (Elena, the audience) is bothering to learn his name for the first time. And yet for all the illogical plotting and bewildering character work of The Last Thing He Wanted, other facets of Rees craftsmanship are often on display. Set mostly in the mid-80s in such varied locations as the red-white-and-blue campaign trail, a rebel training camp in the middle of nowhere, and a dilapidated beach resort on the edge of the world, the period-appropriate elements are immaculate. From costumes to production design, its all a wholly believable world (aside from the fact that, narratively, absolutely none of it is believable). Rees artfully crafted shots elevate even the wackiest scenes, and an early dolly shot that takes us (and Hathaway and Perez) literally through an airport is a stunner. The rest of it, though? Its the last thing any Didion fan would want, any Hathaway fan, any Rees fan. Didions work is brilliant as prose, but makes for awkward screenplays; this is a misfire that should have stayed on the page. Grade: C- The Last Thing He Wanted premiered in the Premieres section of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Netflix will release it on February 21. Launch Gallery: Sundance 2020 Lineup Gallery: New Films From Festival Favorites and Many More Best of IndieWire Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery complex in South Philadelphia, before the June fire. Former CEO Philip Rinaldi and labor union leaders are pushing Peter Navarro, the assistant to the president for trade and manufacturing policy, to put the Trump Administrations weight behind a bid to keep the refinery operating. Read more The bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil-refinery complex, where fuels have been produced for 150 years, is not dead yet. Even the White House has become involved in efforts to maintain the site as a petroleum processing facility. Industrial Realty Group, the spurned bidder for the company that shut down after a devastating June fire, has teamed up with former refinery chief executive Philip Rinaldi to try to upstage a bankruptcy court sale to rival Hilco Redevelopment. Hilcos bid in a recent bankruptcy auction was $25 million less than IRGs, but Hilco was selected as the winner, according to a court filing. We think we offer a superior solution from every single aspect that you can think of, Rinaldi, whose company is called Philadelphia Energy Industries, said in an interview Tuesday. We think its a better solution for the estate. Its a better solution for Philadelphia. Its a better solution for the region. Rinaldi and labor union leaders have pressed Peter Navarro, the assistant to the president for trade and manufacturing policy, to put the Trump administrations weight behind a bid to keep the 335,000-barrel-per-day refinery operating. They argue that more than a thousand jobs and national security interests would be affected by the closure of the East Coasts largest oil refinery and make the Northeast too dependent upon fuel imports. Look, these are great jobs for Philly," Navarro said in a phone interview Tuesday. "This is a way to advance the energy-policy agenda, the economic-policy agenda, and the national-security agenda. So wed love to see that remain as a refinery. READ MORE: Their timeline is aggressive: Hilco plans to clean up polluted South Philly refinery site, city says Its unclear what type of influence the White House could bring to bear on a bankruptcy process that is scheduled to be decided at a Feb. 6 confirmation hearing in Wilmington. But the union leaders suggested the administration might send a signal to the bidders, who will eventually require approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to either operate a refinery or to clean up the heavily contaminated site for a new occupant. The EPA would have to get involved -- its going to take millions upon millions of dollars to clean the place up, said Jim Snell, business manager of Steamfitters Local 420 and one of four labor leaders who met Thursday with Navarro. It was the second White House visit for the union entourage, which was led by John J. Dougherty, business manager of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, who is also under indictment on federal corruption charges. The other union leaders who made the trip to Washington were Steven F. Pettit, business manager of Insulators Local 14, and John Bland, business manager of Boilermakers Union Local 13. Snell said that President Donald Trumps trade adviser was well-versed on the refinerys status but made no promises. Rinaldi said he met separately with Navarro over the refinerys closure, and previously, when he was chief executive, he met with Trump to discuss federal ethanol mandates issues. But he has not discussed the refinerys bankruptcy directly with the president. Rinaldi noted that it is not unusual for the White House to be involved in issues related to refineries and fuel markets -- the Obama White Houses support eight years ago was critical to securing investors for a previous rescue of the Philadelphia refinery . The restoration of an oil refinery, though strongly advocated by business and labor interests, will raise objections from environmental and community activists who had rejoiced when Hilco was selected after a Jan. 17 closed-door auction. City officials said that Hilco does not intend to restart the refinery, and instead plans a multi-use development after the polluted property is restored. I hope that Hilco is the winner and works with unions, nearby neighbors and environmentalists on how best to use the property, Joseph Otis Minott, executive director of the Clean Air Council, said in an e-mail Tuesday. From an environmental health perspective a refinery does not belong at that site. The refinery was the citys largest stationary source of air pollution, and the dramatic June 21 fire and explosion that launched multi-ton pieces of steel several thousand feet only reinforced fears that it is a dangerous facility to operate in an urban area. PES, in its organization plan, said Hilcos $240 million bid was chosen after the Jan. 17 auction, and it named Industrial Realty Group (IRG), of Santa Monica, Calif., as the backup bidder. READ MORE: Hilcos $240 million bid for South Philly refinery wasnt the highest offer, aggrieved creditors say The committee of unsecured creditors last week recommended its members vote against the reorganization plan because IRG, the runner-up, actually offered $265 million, or $25 million more than Hilco. IRG 's bid left open the possibility of maintaining the property as a refinery, which appealed to the unsecured creditors, whose members include contractors and unionized employees. In recent days, attorneys for the unsecured creditors have barraged Hilco, PES, and its investment bankers with subpoenas and deposition requests that explore Hilcos selection over IRG, suggesting the committee plans to formally object to the reorganization plan by a Feb. 3 deadline. Rinaldi, 73, retired from PES at the end of 2017, just months before the company declared bankruptcy for the first time. He has expressed a desire to return to the business to complete a turnaround that he began in 2012. If IRG and Philadelphia Energy Industries are selected as the buyer -- and Rinaldi said he is confident his group will prevail -- Rinaldi said he intends to restart the parts of the complex that were undamaged after the June 21 explosion and fire. The fire destroyed one of the refinerys two alkylation units, which produce a blending agent that makes high-octane fuel. Rinaldi said that IRG plans to develop other unused parts of the 1,300-acre PES site. Rinaldis firm had been a bidder on its own for PES, but was not among the finalists in the auction. He said that he and IRG had teamed up after Hilco was selected in the Jan. 17 auction. A spokesperson for IRG did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Snell, the business manager of the steamfitters, said the union leaders firmly support IRG and Rinaldi and a restoration of the refinery, which they say provide better-paying jobs than warehouses and distribution centers contemplated to replace the facility. "We feel strongly that they have what it takes to secure this site and get everybody back to work, he said. He also expressed scorn for elected officials who he said were eager to help the refinery in the past but now call for its closure as a public menace. These are the same politicians that come to people like myself, come to the building trade unions, begging for money to pay off campaign debt and whatnot, he said. But now when we want to talk to these politicians about helping our families, a lot of these politicians have buried their heads in the sand. One thing I can guarantee: There are certain groups of politicians, and I wont be answering the phone anymore when they call looking for campaign contributions, thats for sure," said Snell. Geneva/IBNS: In a shift from its half-a-century old foreign policy, Saudi Arabia is planning to stop funding mosques in foreign countries, a Wion report said today. Wion, quoting a Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche, said a mosque in Geneva is being handed over to the Swiss administrative council which will elect a cleric to ensure the mosque falls in safe hands. Saudi Arabia's former minister of justice Mohammed Bin Abdul-Karim Issa has said the same measure will be taken for mosques across the world. A local board of administration set up in coordination with the national authorities will be set up in the mosques, he said, adding that after the measure Saudi Arabia will not intervene in the matters of the mosques it funded for decades. By 2007, Saudi Arabia had spent close to $2 billion annually on promoting Wahabi Islam across the world, Wion news said. The change in Saudi Arabia's religious funding policy is being viewed as Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's efforts to modernise Saudi Arabia by separating politics and religion. The Rajasthan BJP on Tuesday termed Rahul Gandhi's rally in Jaipur a "flop show" and also picked on the apparent omission of the CAA in his speech. "Rahul Gandhi did not say anything about the CAA and the NRC in his speech and what he said was untrue. The rally was more of a drama and full of humour," said state BJP president Satish Poonia here. Gandhi did not make any direct reference to the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens in his 'Yuva Aakrosh Rally'. But he had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of talking about them in his speeches instead of mentioning "real issues" like unemployment. Poonia also accused the government of forcing employees of trade unions and students to participate in the rally. "There was neither any youth nor outrage (aakrosh)," he said. Responding to Rahul Gandhi's remark that India was known as the rape capital, Poonia said Rajasthan under the Congress government had become one of the leading crime-ridden states in India as per the NCRB report. The highest number of crimes against women have occurred in the Congress tenure and the state ranks second in rape cases, he said. He further said Rahul Gandhi did not mention promises made to farmers and the loss they suffered due to the locust attack. Unemployment allowance and law and order problems were also not part of his speech, the BJP chief said. Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje too tweeted, "It is ridiculous that Rahul Gandhi during his speech in the rally in Jaipur thanks those who decorated the stage. He praised the music band but he could not show any achievement of the Congress government in the state." Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Rajendra Rathore termed the rally a "flop show", saying it is regrettable Rahul Gandhi could not announce any programme for Rajasthan. Former Minister of State for Education Vasudev Devnani termed the rally a complete failure, saying that the youth of the state have rejected Rahul Gandhi and the Youth Congress outrightly. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a ruling that clarifies how state correctional officers carry out medical parole, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court sided with terminally ill incarcerated prisoners who sought to be released on medical parole but were denied because their petitions were considered incomplete. The states high court ruled that a written petition for medical parole must be considered by a jail superintendent or sheriff, even if it appears incomplete, and that the superintendent not the inmate bears the burden of preparing a medical parole plan, according to a decision released Tuesday morning. The preparation of a medical parole plan, as defined in the statute, would be a formidable task for even a young and healthy prisoner, given a prisoners limited access to the world outside prison, the states high court wrote in its decision. For a prisoner whose condition meets the definition of physical incapacitation or terminal illness, the preparation of a medical parole plan would be nearly impossible without substantial assistance from an attorney or relative." Yet, the ruling continues, prisoners who are incapacitated and terminally ill likely cant afford an attorney to help and might not have relatives willing to take on the task. Under the ruling, the commissioner of correction and the superintendent, once they receive the petition, do not have to provide the prisoner with the recommendation, but they do have to provide supporting documents that are submitted by the superintendent or sheriff that accompanied the recommendation. A spokeswoman said the Department of Corrections spokeswoman is reviewing the decision. Before the criminal justice reform law of 2018, Massachusetts was among a handful of states that did not offer a form of compassionate release to prisoners who were terminally ill and no longer posed a threat to public safety. The only way a dying prisoner could be released was to get executive clemency from the governor, which could be granted on the basis of a terminal illness or a severe and chronic debilitating medical condition, according to court documents. Under the law, prisoners may be eligible for medical parole due to a terminal illness or permanent incapacitation. In both cases, the illness or disability must be so debilitating that the prisoner does not pose a public safety risk. But attorneys representing two plaintiffs, Joseph Buckman and Peter Cruz, took their requests to court in early 2019 after their petitions were rejected as incomplete. Both plaintiffs, Joseph Buckman and Peter Cruz, are serving life sentences for murder. Buckman, 73, is an inmate at MCI-Norfolk. He has metastatic lung cancer and suffers from Crohns Disease, congestive heart failure and recurrent kidney failure, among other illnesses. A petition he filed in January was rejected because he did not name specific medical specialists who would treat him and plans for wheelchair accessibility, though he explained where he planned to live and how his medical expenses would be covered. Cruz was an inmate at MCI-Shirley. He had end-stage renal disease and remained on dialysis for 11 years. A petition he filed in January was rejected as incomplete because it didnt Include a written diagnosis or proof that medical providers would provide the exact services he would need. Cruz died on Sept. 9 while the case was on appeal. He was 61 years old. The inmates had challenged the actions in county court, arguing that a superintendent has to accept a written petition for medical parole and make a recommendation within 21 days, even if the superintendent believes the petition is incomplete. The Massachusetts Department of Correction argued that a jail superintendent has the authority to return an incomplete application and request more information. They argued it is up to the prisoner to develop a medical parole plan because a prisoner would know best the medical, family and community resources available to the individual. Prisoner rights advocates argued the Department of Correction has interpreted the criminal justice law too narrowly, making it difficult for prisoners to receive medical parole even though they may qualify for the relief. The Department of Corrections regulations require that a prisoner submit petition with a medical parole plan, a written diagnosis signed by a licensed physician, a release form to allow the release of the petition and certain information release forms. Tuesdays decision deems those regulations void. In its decision, the SJC noted the Legislatures creation of a medical parole program was in response to the growth of older inmates and the increased costs in caring for the aging population. In 2016, 24.5% of that population was age 50 or older. That percentage grew to 25.8% in 2017 and 26.6% in 2018. The SJC noted that the cost to care fo an inmate at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Correctional Unit in Boston averaged roughly $320,000 per year, while the cost to hold an inmate at MCI-Norfolk, for example, averaged $51,811 per year. The Legislature had the aging prison population, rising cost of health care and the idea that sick prisoners are the least likely to re-offend when released when they passed criminal justice reform, the SJC wrote: The Legislature intended to make the petition process as accessible as possible and to prevent superintendents from refusing to accept petitions based on form over substance." The process of developing new drugs is both difficult and costly. It is estimated that of all the drug candidates which start out on their testing journey, less than 14% actually make it to the clinical scene and receive approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Animal studies are not only extremely cost-heavy and time-consuming on the drug development scale but are also becoming increasingly controversial as animal rights activists become more militant. These issues have made it a matter of great importance to find replacements for animal models. One area of drug development that absolutely demands preclinical testing in animals is the study of the drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) within the body. This is called pharmacokinetics and is responsible for the final concentration of the drug in the body. Drug metabolism is affected by the signaling pathways between a host of organs through the vascular channels containing blood. Animal testing is also essential for the study of drug pharmacodynamics (PD) where the effects of the drug on various organs are revealed. This area is important because it is responsible for the mechanism of action of the drug and the side effects. New research out of Harvards Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering reports significant progress in shifting to a more ethical testing procedure while still maintaining reliability.Two back-to-back publications in Nature Biomedical Engineering, describe the Wyss teams research in full. In this graphic, the Wyss Institute's human Body-on-Chip system is layered on top of Leonardo da Vinci's ink drawing of the "Vitruvian Man", which represents ideal human body proportions. The researchers used a computational scaling method to translate data obtained from drug experiments in the human Body-on-Chip to the organ dimensions of the real human body. Image Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University Organ chips An organ chip is a device that is designed for microfluidic culture. Built of clear flexible polymer, it is only as big as a USB drive, and consists of two channels running down its length in parallel, with a porous membrane partition between them. On one side, the channel contains cells from a specific organ. On the other side, there are vascular endothelial cells that grow in the embryonic pattern to recreate a blood vessel. Each channel is bathed with a medium specific for its cell type. The presence of the porous partition allows signaling between compartments. Moreover, molecules like cytokines, growth factors, drug molecules and drug metabolites are all able to pass through, as they are formed during the specific metabolic activities that occur in each different organ. The first organ chip, which was popularly called by the catchier slogan Organ on a Chip, was developed in 2010. This model recreated the normal functioning of the lung as well as the disease process, with incredible accuracy. The body-on-chip concept The current body-on-chip concept was proposed by study author Donald Ingber in 2011, based on the presence of the vascular endothelium-lined channel. The basic assumption was that if the working of one organ could be recreated, so could the entire body, by interlinking the vascular channels between multiple types of organ chips in the same way the organs in the body are connected through one common circulatory system. This would make it possible to evaluate both pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics across the miniature body-mimicking system rather than on different types of cells in vitro, which fall far short of the actual physiological arrangement. This concept gained power from the realization of the many shortcomings of the experimental animal models of today, including the delay involved, in a situation where biological agents of many different types pose a great threat to global health, requiring immediate response. The reality This enabled the project to obtain a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) the next year for an extremely ambitious DARPA-dictated undertaking. This was nothing less than to create an artificial body-on-chip, consisting of 10 different human organs linked by an automated fluidic instrument. Exploiting the power of computational modeling, the scientists were expected to analyze the data obtained from this platform to predict how a given drug would affect the body and what level it would achieve in various dosages. The success of the team in overcoming this major challenge and coming out with accurate results is described in two consecutive papers in the journal. The platform In the first paper, the modular body-on-chips platform is described. It centers on an ingenious interrogator device capable of culturing up to 10 different organ chips as well as robotically directed sequential fluid transfer between the endothelium-lined vascular channels, all linked to simulate the bodys pattern. The perfusion medium was a customized blood substitute. The system could keep the tissues viable and functional for more than 21 days. The scientists could follow the drug distribution across the whole system. The interrogator can robotically add or sample the medium. The system is completely programmable. Moreover, an inbuilt microscope allows each tissue to be examined for viability and health. The researchers found that The experiments The first experiment was designed to test drug effects on 2 different networks of 3 organ chips (gut- liver-kidney in one, and liver-kidney-bone marrow in the second) linked by a fluidic network. This system also had a central reservoir where the arterial and venous blood was mixed. This helped to recreate the physiological situation where substances, including drugs, are exchanged in the blood, between various organs. It was also a convenient way to draw blood from sampling as if from a peripheral vein in the real body. The computational results The second paper describes a new computational scaling technique to derive dynamic changes in drug levels over time, and the adverse effects on various organs. The computation shows what would happen if the organ was of the size that is typical of the average human body. This technique also adjusts for physical adsorption of the drug into materials in the experimental system. With the first system, the researchers added nicotine to the intestine chip, to simulate oral nicotine, often used as a gum to help smokers quit, but recently also for inflammatory bowel disease and degenerative diseases of the nervous system, on an experimental basis. The drug levels at various points were measured using mass spectrometry. Interrogator: Human Organ-on-Chips Play Interrogator: Human Organ-on-Chips from Wyss Institute on Vimeo. With the second, the researchers explored drug distribution and effects following intravenous administration of the commonly used chemotherapy drug cisplatin. They found the same ability to accurately predict its pharmacodynamic effects, and also its clearance in the liver. This will facilitate a more detailed understanding of its pharmacokinetics. This is the first time that it has become possible to artificially and accurately predict dynamically what will happen to drug levels in the blood, and to provide a model for pharmacokinetics. Says co-researcher Ben Maoz, The resulting calculated maximum nicotine concentrations, the time needed for nicotine to reach the different tissue compartments, and the clearance rates in the Liver Chips in our in vitro-based in silico model mirrored closely what had been measured previously in patients. Another researcher Anna Harland, echoes, Our analysis recapitulates the pharmacodynamic effects of cisplatin in patients, including a decrease in numbers of different blood cell types and an increase in markers of kidney injury. Significance and implications Of course, DARPA is well aware that its goals are often over the top, but its objective is to drive research to unprecedented levels of achievement. Researcher Donald Ingber says, We were very proud to obtain major funding support from DARPA to take on this challenge, and we are now even more proud that we have successfully met their goal, which would not have been possible without the exceptional talents, interdisciplinary spirit, and monumental team effort at the Wyss Institute. The project involved specialists from a host of fields, including engineering, microfabrication, pharmacology, computation, industrial modeling and physiology. Ingber sums up: "This is what we love to do at the Wyss Institute: make science fiction into science fact. And we hope our demonstration that this level of biomimicry is possible using Organ Chip technology will garner even greater interest from the pharmaceutical industry so that animal testing can be progressively reduced over time. Google App Maker was officially launched in 2018 when it was taken out of beta as a low-code application development environment. However, it seems like it did not pick up enough users as Google has announced it is shutting down App Maker due to low usage by January 19, 2021. The App Maker was originally launched in 2016 as a beta and was taken out of it in 2018. It was designed to be a low code, drag and drop app building environment. However, the interest in simple app building solutions have died over the years as Google has decided to shut down the service due to low usage. For the shut down, Google has announced a timeline that is listed below: Starting today, existing apps continue to work. Though App Maker is no longer under active development, the service will continue to be maintained. Starting April 15, 2020, users will no longer be able to create new App Maker apps. But they can still edit and deploy existing apps. Starting January 19, 2021, existing App Maker apps will stop working and users will no longer have access to them. App maker data stored in Cloud SQL will remain unchanged and continue to follow the policies established by their Google Cloud Platform (GCP) account. Google has also offered alternatives to the App Maker service depending on the use case: Using App Maker to automate business processes: Use AppSheet which supports Cloud SQL databases. This allows users to build an application on the existing database tied to your App Maker app. Using App Maker to develop apps: Use App Engine to build and deploy applications on a fully managed platform. App Maker data is stored in Cloud SQL, allowing users to build an App Engine application on the existing Cloud SQL database tied to their App Maker app. If you use App Maker for data collection: Use Google Forms, which has many new features that were not available when App Maker launched. Source It's award season, alright. And Houstonians aren't restricted to Hollywood red carpets to get their gown fix. As illustrated on Friday at Hilton Americas-Houston during the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's 2020 Winter Ball, the Bayou City's most fashionable and philanthropic residents know how to turn up the heat. As is tradition, ABC-13 tapped 10 humanitarians-about-town for this year's class of Women of Distinction. Among them, honorees Brigitte Kalai and Kelley Lubanko turned to Tootsies for their show-stopping gowns, by Pamella Roland and Carolina Herrera respectively. Fellow honorees Cheryl Byington and Mary Tere Peresquia turned heads, too, in custom looks by local talent David Peck; Peresquia's pink confection was whipped to such perfection that a number of gala-goers mistakenly guessed it was also a Carolina Herrera design. Betty Hrncir, the evening's ambassador, also opted for a bespoke Peck creation. Zane Carruth, Theresa Chang, Elsie Eckert, Myrtle Jones, Joy McCormack and Hannah McNair rounded out the runway's honored guests. Each paraded stunning eveningwear as their contributions to the community were read aloud by emcee and ABC-13 anchor Tom Koch. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the Coronavirus outbreak, The Center for Disease Control has issued a Level 3 Warning and the U.S. Department of State has issued a travel advisory for the affected destinations. Travel insurance comparison site, Squaremouth, reports an influx of calls from current policyholders wanting to cancel trips to affected destinations, as well as travelers now wanting to purchase a travel insurance policy. As the situation progresses, Squaremouth explains travel insurance coverage for the Coronavirus outbreak. Travelers who have already purchased a policy: Unfortunately, there is limited cancellation coverage under most standard travel insurance policies. Travel Warnings for China Don't Activate Cancellation Coverage Virus outbreaks do not fall under the standard cancellation reasons on most travel insurance policies. While travelers are advised not to visit affected destinations, they are not prevented from doing so. In simple terms, travel insurance cancellation benefits are designed to reimburse travelers who are preventing from traveling due to a specific list of reasons, like weather or an illness. Popular Attraction Closures Not Covered Reason to Cancel Travelers with visits planned to unaffected areas in China may still feel the effects of the outbreak, due to many popular tourist attractions closing in efforts to stop the spread of the virus. While the closure of portions of the Great Wall of China, Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland may be an inconvenience to travelers, it isn't enough to trigger cancellation benefits. Benefits Available If Traveler Contracts Coronavirus If a policyholder contracts the virus before their departure, they may be covered to cancel their trip entirely under a standard policy. In addition, if a traveler falls ill with the coronavirus while on their trip, they can be refunded for medical expenses and, if medically necessary, be covered to end their trip early and return home. Travelers looking to purchase a policy now: Travelers looking to purchase now may need upgraded coverage. Coronavirus Considered Foreseen Any time an event becomes expected and commonly known about, insurance providers can restrict coverage for that event. Some travel insurance providers are now excluding the Coronavirus outright, meaning there are no cancellation or medical benefits available for policies purchased after their defined "cut-off date". According to Squaremouth, this is as early as January 21st, depending on the provider. Cancel for Any Reason Upgrade Best Option for Future Trips Travelers still planning their trips, or who booked within the past 3 weeks, may be able to purchase a policy with the Cancel for Any Reason upgrade. While this time sensitive benefit only reimburses a portion of the trip cost, it is the best option for travelers who have concerns that a standard policy doesn't cover, including fear of traveling. Squaremouth recently launched the China - Coronavirus Outbreak Travel Insurance Information Center to explain coverage for the virus outbreak. This page is regularly updated by Squaremouth's travel insurance experts, and includes answers to frequently asked questions and official statements from providers. ABOUT SQUAREMOUTH SQUAREMOUTH compares travel insurance policies from every major travel insurance provider in the United States. Using Squaremouth's comparison engine and third-party customer reviews, travelers can research and compare travel insurance policies side-by-side . More information can be found at www.squaremouth.com . Available Topic Expert: Kasara Barto [email protected] SOURCE Squaremouth Related Links http://www.squaremouth.com Its easy to forget what the Senate impeachment trial is supposed to be about. Its not a fight over whether the Senate will call a couple of witnesses that the House couldnt, or didnt bother to, obtain on its own. The underlying question is whether the United States Senate will impose the most severe sanction it has ever inflicted on any chief executive, voting to remove a president for the first time in the history of the country and doing it about 10 months from his reelection bid. This is a truly radical step that, if it ever came about, would do more damage to the legitimacy of our political system than President Donald Trumps underlying offense. If Trump were actually convicted, the 2020 election would proceed under a cloud of illegitimacy. Tens of millions of Trump voters wouldnt accept the result. Theyd see it as an inside job to deny the incumbent president a chance to run for reelection, without a single voter having a direct say. The GOP would be brought to its knees by internal bloodletting, a prospect that Democrats surely would welcome, especially given that it would deliver them the presidency. Republicans would be out for revenge, and instead of a halcyon return to normalcy, our politics would be even more poisonous than before. Whats the countervailing upside? Democrats say that it is holding Trump accountable. But removal from office isnt required for that. Congressional oversight itself is, normally, thought of as a form of accountability. The House has held hearings that exposed, sometimes in vivid fashion, the Trump-Giuliani Ukraine scheme. Trump has seen officials working in his own government publicly criticize his conduct, and polls show that most of the public believe he did something wrong. Democrats argue that Trump cant stay in office because hes such a threat to the integrity of our elections. But the portrayal of Trumps Ukraine scheme as election interference, as the Democrats always say, is tendentious and inapt. If the Ukrainians had complied with the Trump teams pressure to announce an investigation of the energy company Burisma, it wouldnt have changed one vote in 2020, even if former Vice President Joe Biden eventually is the Democratic nominee. Trump would have trumpeted such an investigation as proof of Biden corruption, but its not clear that this would have added anything material to his already fulsome allegations of Biden corruption. The fact is that impeachment, as my colleague Ramesh Ponnuru points out, is a weak check on the presidency. It requires a supermajority of the country to remove a president and one of the political parties being willing to nullify the choice of its own voters for president and an election he won. Both the Trump and Clinton impeachments show that this is a hateful prospect for the presidents party. The best case for what the Democrats are doing now is that Republicans impeached Clinton in the 1990s with little or no hope for conviction in the Senate, and turnabout is fair play. But its time to conclude that this is a failed model of impeachment. It constitutes a censure with bells and whistles, yet depends on a process that diverts the time and energy of the nations political institutions as if the survival of a presidency is at stake, even when everyone knows it isnt. Congress can hold hearings on a presidents conduct, subpoena witnesses and documents and fight the executive with full force if they arent produced, hold officials in contempt, produce reports, withhold funding, deny the executive traditional forms of interbranch comity and, if it wants to put down a long-lasting marker, censure the president. But it neednt drag the country through a melodrama based on the fiction that any president who hasnt crashed to, say, a 25 percent approval rating is going to be removed by his own party in other words, exactly what Adam Schiff and his managers are doing now. @RichLowry Mumbai, Jan 28 : A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team, camping in Pune since Monday morning, was not handed over the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon-Bhima case files as the relevant orders from the Centre had reportedly not been received. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said here on Tuesday he would comment only after receiving the orders for transferring the politically-sensitive case from the Pune Police to the NIA. A three-member NIA team reached the Pune Police headquarters on Monday and handed over a letter seeking to take over the case. But the Pune Police refused to oblige since there were no orders either from the Centre or the state government. Though the NIA team was shown the case papers, it was asked to follow due procedure and route for taking over the case through the DGP office, to avoid any legal issues at later stage. Earlier during the day, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray convened a meeting of Director-General of Police S.K. Jaiswal and other top officers to discuss the issue. Minorities Affairs Minister Nawab Malik termed the case "totally fabricated" and intended to defame Dalit and human rights activists. His remark came after former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar hinted that if the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government refused to cooperate with the NIA, "the government could be dismissed". Daring the central government to sack the state government, Malik said it would be "murder of democracy" which the people of Maharashtra would never forgive. The tussle begun on Friday, when the Centre decided to shift the case to the NIA, sparking a furore in Maharashtra political circles. The Centre's move stemmed from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar's letter to the state government seeking re-investigation into the case by a special investigation team (SIT). "Prima facie, it seems they (Pune Police) misused their power. The NIA may have taken over the probe, but it's necessary for the state government to investigate lapses by the Pune Police or whether they misused powers to frame activists," Pawar said last week. He said the fresh probe was necessary as the move to hand over the case to the NIA had "aroused suspicions" and the re-investigation would expose the previous BJP government and its hand-picked officials. On December 31, 2017, an Elgar Parishad, organised in Pune's Shaniwar Wada, was addressed by leaders of the Left, social and Dalit intellectual, the Kabir Kala Manch, the banned CPI(Maoist) and its frontal organisations, which allegedly triggered violence the next day in Koregaon-Bhima. On January 1, 2018, caste riots erupted when over 1,00,000 Dalits converged to celebrate the January 1, 1818 victory of a 800-member force of the Mahar caste of the Bombay Native Infantry of the East India Company over a 28,000-member strong army of the Peshwa Bajirao-II in Koregaon-Bhima after a 12-hour battle. Later, in June and August 2018, many prominent Dalit and Leftist activists and intellectuals were arrested in a nationwide swoop by the Pune Police. The Pune Police's contention was that the persons/groups supported, funded and organised the Elgar Parishad as part of a conspiracy to create social and political unrest in the country, assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wage a war against the country and overthrow the democratically-elected government. KYODO NEWS - Jan 28, 2020 - 13:03 | All, World, Japan, Coronavirus BREAKING NEWS: About 650 Japanese in Wuhan want to return home: foreign minister Motegi BREAKING NEWS: Japan to send charter flight for Japanese in Wuhan later Tuesday; flight to return to Tokyo on Wed. BREAKING NEWS: Death toll in China from coronavirus reaches 106, over 4,000 infected: media Japan on Tuesday classified pneumonia caused by a new deadly coronavirus that originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan as a "designated infectious disease" that legally allows compulsory hospitalization amid a steep rise in overseas infections. The designation approved by the Cabinet will also restrict infected patients from going to work and require disinfection of sites where the virus has been detected. The government will use public money to pay for the medical treatment of those subject to forced hospitalization. About 400 specified medical institutions across Japan will be able to provide treatment. An ordinance on the designation will be implemented on Feb. 7, according to Japanese officials. The government also said anyone travelling who is suspected of having the virus must, under the quarantine law, have a medical checkup at their point of arrival in Japan. Japan is stepping up quarantine and other preventive efforts to prevent the spread of the virus in the country, one of the major destinations for Chinese travelers during the Lunar New Year holiday. The death toll from the new virus topped 100 in China, local media said Tuesday. Globally, the pneumonia-causing virus has infected more than 4,500, with four confirmed in Japan. The designation, the fifth of its kind and the first since the 2014 spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, also requires doctors to report any patients who test positive for the coronavirus. "We will take all possible measures to prevent the spread of infections," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference. The same emergency steps were also taken in the past for other infectious diseases designated by the government as Class II such as MERS and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. Under the law, infectious diseases are divided into five classes depending on their severity. The government is also arranging charter flights for Japanese nationals who wish to return home from Wuhan, a city of 11 million that has been on a virtual lockdown since last week. "We are ready to go if we can get approval from Chinese authorities," Suga said, adding that Tokyo is also considering sending necessary supplies to Wuhan such as masks and protective clothing. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said a charter plane will leave Japan on Tuesday night. As of last week, about 710 Japanese were registered as staying in Hubei Province, whose capital is Wuhan. Japanese embassy officials have been trying to determine the number of Japanese citizens wishing to return home. Once they board a charter plane, a doctor, two nurses and a quarantine officer plan to conduct an in-flight check for symptoms such as fever and cough, according to the Japanese health ministry. The passengers will be asked to monitor their health condition for two weeks after their return to Japan and report to the nearest public health center if they develop symptoms of the new coronavirus. (Chinese tourists shop for face masks at a store in Tokyo) Related coverage: Japan to repatriate citizens from virus-hit Wuhan in chartered planes China extends holiday by 3 days in bid to battle virus Cambodia reports 1st case of new coronavirus infection Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 07:15:32|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations spokesman said Monday that the organization remains deeply concerned about the safety of over 4 million civilians in northwest Syria. "The UN remains deeply concerned about the safety of over 4 million civilians in northwest Syria, over half of whom are internally displaced, following reports of ongoing airstrikes and shelling over the weekend," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at the daily news briefing. "The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that over 1,500 civilians in the northwest of Syria have been killed since April, when the current military escalations began, including over 430 children and 290 women," he said. "Since December 1, an estimated 389,000 people have been displaced. That's an increase of more than 30,000 since last week. The vast majority, about 80 percent of those people who are being displaced, are women and children," the spokesman added. The latest displacement compounds an already dire humanitarian situation on the ground in Idlib, where more than 400,000 people were displaced between the end of April and the end of August, many of them multiple times, added Dujarric. "We continue to call for a cessation of hostilities and urge all parties, and those with influence over the parties, to ensure the protection of civilians, the protection of civilian infrastructure, and that's in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law," he noted. NPRs Mary Louise Kelly says Pompeo shouted at, cursed and called her a liar after a contentious interview. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his handling of a National Public Radio reporter whom Pompeo shouted at, cursed, and called a liar after a contentious interview. That reporter couldnt have done too good a job on you yesterday, Trump said to Pompeo, the chief US diplomat, during a presentation of his Middle East proposal, prompting laughter from the crowd of officials and dignitaries gathered at the White House. I think you did a good job on her, actually, he added. Pompeo was interviewed on Friday by NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly, and was asked repeatedly about Ukraine and how he had supported former US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch to Kyiv during a testy nine-minute exchange. Following the interview, Kelly said Pompeo cursed at her and repeatedly used the F-word and asked her: Do you think Americans care about Ukraine? In a statement on Saturday, Pompeo said the reporter had lied in setting up the interview and in agreeing to conduct the post-interview conversation off the record. His statement did not dispute what she said about the content of the post-interview encounter. Kelly said Pompeos staff did not stipulate that the post-interview meeting was to be off the record. The US State Department on Monday removed another NPR reporter from the press pool for Pompeos upcoming foreign trip, a move the State Department Correspondents Association (SDCA) said could only be seen as retaliation for the colleagues interview. Trump was slammed online for his remarks on Tuesday, with many calling his comments and Pompeos actions unacceptable. Trumps good job on her comment and Pompeos action towards a NPR reporter must be rebuked by Republicans. This is so far below the line of what is acceptable! tweeted activist Amy Siskind. Trumps good job on her comment and Pompeos action towards a NPR reporter must be rebuked by Republicans. This is so far below the line of what is acceptable! Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) January 28, 2020 Trump just praise Pompeo for the job he did on her meaning NPR reporter who Pompeo mistreated. The latest case of Trump celebrating poor treatment of the media, tweeted Michael Barbaro, host of the New York Times podcast the Daily. David McIntosh, a father, grandfather, and retired master sergeant with over twenty-five years of service with Army Military Intelligence specializing in ground and airborne electronic warfare equipment and operation currently traveling around the country in his motor home with his wife and German Shepherd, has completed his new book Chain of Deceit: a spellbinding tale of patriotism, greed, and the long arm of justice. Chain of Deceit Book 1 is a story that starts in the later years of World War II with mission to end World War II. The plan was to drop the first atomic bomb on Berlin. Moving the first untested atomic bomb across the Atlantic Ocean during a war was not going to be easy and had to remain completely secret; not even the crew or Marines guarding the bomb knew what was in the crates. Little did they know that two crates were the bomb and two more were loaded with gold bullion. The captain of the Liberty ship hated the war and had his own idea as to how to end it. But the best-laid plans go to hell when the shooting starts, as they say. The war made it easy for a group of ruthless men to create a black-market ring and sell stolen military hardware and supplies. Davin Pierce, exArmy first sergeant and now Marine insurance investigator, is assigned to investigate why military hardware is in a warehouse in New Orleans and not at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean as reported. This is the start of a series that touches on many aspects of our lives, military, politics, love, hate, greed, deceit, and much more. Published by Page Publishing, David McIntoshs engrossing book is a fast-paced and suspenseful novel that keeps the pages turning until the satisfying conclusion. Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase Chain of Deceit at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. The Duchess of Cambridge revealed she and Prince William had spoken to their children about the Holocaust. Kate, 38, told Bergen-Belsen survivor Mala Tribich that she felt it was important to educate Prince George, six, Princess Charlotte, four, and one-year-old Prince Louis about the atrocities once they are old enough to understand. 'We were talking to the children about it earlier today,' Kate told Ms Tribich, 89, at a Holocaust Memorial Day event in London yesterday, according to Hello. 'But we have to be, you know, for a six year old the interpretation...' Scroll down for video The Duchess of Cambridge revealed she and William had spoken to their children about the Holocaust at an event mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz yesterday. Pictured, The couple with Olivia Marks-Woldman, CEO Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Kate told Bergen-Belsen survivor Mala Tribich that she felt it was important to educate Prince George, six, Princess Charlotte, four, and one-year-old Prince Louis about the atrocities once they are old enough to understand. Pictured, as a family on the first day of school last year Ms Tribich, who was born in Poland and forced into a ghetto before being sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp and then Bergen-Belsen, shared her story at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz at Central Hall in Westminster yesterday. She met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge following the hour-long service. Speaking after the encounter, Ms Tribich said: 'She [the Duchess of Cambridge] said "Well I have told my children, Ive made them aware". 'I suppose she tells it in the measure that is applicable because young children, its very tricky (to tell them about it).' Ms Tribich, who was born in Poland and forced into a ghetto before being sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp and then Bergen-Belsen, shared her story at the event yesterday. Pictured, Ms Tribich speaking with the Duchess of Cambridge following the service The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge lit candles during the service and William, 37, read a letter in praise of his great-grandmother Princess Alice, who saved a Jewish family from persecution. Kate appeared emotional as he read: 'When the persecution of the Jews by the Germans began, Princess Alice asked to be informed about the fate of the Cohen family. 'Having been informed by friends and by her lady in waiting about the plight of Mrs Cohen and her young daughter, the Princess decided to offer her hospitality to the two ladies; in fact to hide them in her home despite the danger this entailed. 'The Princess put a small two-room apartment on the third floor at the disposal of Mrs. Cohen and her daughter. It was thanks to the courageous rescue of Princess Alice that the members of the Cohen family were saved. Kate lit a candle in memory of those killed in genocides and will then meet survivors following the ceremony at Central Hall in Westminster Kate laughs with Holocaust survivor Yvonne Bernstein, who she photographed as part of her personal portraits of Holocaust survivors, after the service marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Prince William is pictured shaking hands with Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg as Britain marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz William read an extract from a letter written by a friend of his great-grandmother Princess Alice - famed for saving a Jewish family from the Holocaust - about her good deeds 'The members of the Cohen family left the residence three weeks after liberation, aware that by virtue of the Princess's generosity and bravery had spared them from the Nazis. 'The great-granddaughter of Rachel Cohen, Evy Cohen, said this two years ago: 'My family would not exist without the courageous act of Princess Alice. Her story of incredible courage must keep being told in her memory. 'My generation, the past generation and the future generation are, and will eternally be, grateful to his great-grandmother Princess Alice for the great act of bravery, risking her own life to take in a family in need.' The duchess, who said it was 'our privilege' to meet survivors, described the ceremony as 'very poignant'. Education Trends What to Expect on Student Privacy for 2020 Even though the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a workshop last October to examine "the future of the COPPA rule," we probably shouldn't expect any changes to it in 2020, according to the Future of Privacy Forum. In a December press briefing, Amelia Vance, the director of youth and education privacy projects, suggested that the process for updating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which was legislated in 1998 and went into effect in 2000, could require more time to sort out than the current FTC commission has depending on how the presidential election swings in November. Where COPPA Might Be Heading The COPPA rule gives parents control over what information websites and online services can collect from their kids under the age of 13. The purpose: to protect children's privacy and safety and secure the personally identifiable information collected from children online without their parents' permission. The last time COPPA was amended was in 2013, when the FTC updated the definition of personal information to incorporate geolocation information along with photos, videos and audio files that contain a child's image or voice. Those changes also regulated the use of persistent identifiers that can recognize users over time and across different websites and online services and explicitly referenced sites and services that relied on outside services linked in through plug-ins and advertising networks that could also be collecting data for behavioral advertising. According to Vance, the October workshop sought input on whether to update COPPA yet again to encompass new online changes, such as the growth in the use of Internet of Things devices, social media, educational technology and a continued proliferation of websites hosting third-party "child-directed content." The FTC also asked for public comments beginning in July 2019, generating some 66,000 comments by the time the comment period had closed in December. Now, explained Vance, the process has to unfold. That means the Commission will have to look at those comments and put together a report that summarizes them, make the case for changes to the Rule, take additional comments on the report and then put out its own set of draft comments "at which point, politically, we're likely near the presidential election, and you may have some turnover as a result of that election with commissioners and others." Even as that process advances at a glacial pace, Vance suggested that we might see "potential federal amendments to COPPA" from Congress as an alternative. One model is coming from California, which recently enacted its own Consumer Privacy Act. That went into effect this month. According to Stacey Gray, FPF's senior counsel, "It's the first state to pass a comprehensive privacy law," she said, adding that because California has the fifth largest economy in the world, "it becomes our de facto national law." The California law "not only expands privacy protections to minors under the age of 13 but also creates additional protections for children aged 13 through 16, who must affirmatively consent rather than opt out of the sale of their personal information," explained Vance. She cited Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which extended its privacy protections for children to the age of 16, and the United Kingdom, which required its Information Commissioner's Office to create an "age-appropriate design code," which would have applications to youth up to the age of 18." "There's definitely a lot of forward momentum to change...child privacy, and we're likely to continue to see calls for increased privacy protection in the US and abroad," Vance said. Facial Recognition Backlash Over the last five years, 40 states have already passed more than 130 laws regarding student privacy. So, it's unlikely that "we'll see too many new student privacy bills in 2020," said Vance. However, she does expect the 10 states without such regulations "to at least introduce legislation" and some that do such as New York and Ohio to expand their laws. Vance also predicted a rise in the attention of state legislators regarding the use of facial recognition in schools. As one case, the New York Assembly passed a bill in 2019 that would have put a moratorium on all data collected in schools largely prompted by the ensuing backlash experienced at Lockport City School District when it began its implementation of AEGIS, an object and facial recognition technology. That bill "didn't have time to get through senate approval," Vance noted. She predicted that the same legislation would surface again this year, "and possibly come up in multiple states as more and more districts are adopting facial recognition and parents are reacting, often negatively." More broadly, Vance said, there was an increase in state safety legislation in 2019 that mandated the use of technology for school safety, including surveillance technologies like facial recognition. "Unfortunately," she pointed out, "most of those bills don't include privacy guardrails." As a result, she would expect lawmakers to continue finessing their rules as schools adopt technologies pushed in those state safety bills. At least 11 people, including two women and minors, were killed in a fire caused by an explosion in a gas cylinder at a perfume factory here on Tuesday, according to media reports. Two others were critically injured in the incident that took place in Shahdara area of Lahore, the Dawn newspaper reported. The fire that engulfed the whole building caused its roof to collapse and damaged the structure located adjacent to it, the report said. At least 15 people were inside the factory at the time of the incident, the report said. However, residents of the area expressed ignorance at the presence of perfume factory inside the building and had earlier thought it to be a textile manufacturing unit. "We only got to know about the presence of perfume and other chemicals after the fire broke out," one of the residents was quoted as saying in the report. According to a report in Geo News, ten firefighting vehicles were pressed into service to extinguish the fire. The fire has been brought under control and the cooling process is underway, rescue officials were quoted as saying in the report. So far, five deceased- Jameel (37), Zahid (65), his wife Rashida bibi, Areeba (6)and Moosa (9)- have been identified, the Dawn report said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kodandera Madappa Cariappa aka K. M. Cariappa who was the first Field Marshal of the Indian Army and a legend who inspired many. Despite being the most decorated General of the Indian Army, few Indians know about the legendary Field Marshal whose heroism and patriotism blazed a trail in the Indian Armed Forces. So, heres the story of Field Marshal K. M Cariappa, a man who would invariably become the first in many cases. Early life: Wikipedia Born on January 28, 1899, Cariappa was one of the six children of an official in the British administration of India. His father, Madappa, worked with the revenue department Cariappa was the second child in a family of six children, four sons and two daughters. He has spent his childhood days in a beautiful place Coorg, a beautiful district of Karnataka and grew up listening to the stories of World War I veterans. It was not long after the young Cariappa was day dreaming of becoming an officer himself. After completing his education at Central High School at Madikeri, he joined Presidency College in Madras for higher education. It was here that he learnt that Indians were being recruited into the Army as officers and that they were trained in India. Career: Acheive.india.gov.in After this, he learnt that Cadet College was indeed being set up in Indore, Cariappa applied immediately to the college with 70 other applicants and he became one of the 42 to get admitted into the training programme. As he was very hardworking and dedicated he became one of the best cadets in the batch, excelling in subjects such as military strategy, leadership techniques and administrative skills. His superiors from the college sent him for further training to the prestigious Royal Military College in Sandhurst, Cariappa was made Second Lieutenant in 1919. He was posted first to the Second Battalion of the Carnatic Infantry, and later to the Napiers Rifles and Rajpat Light Infantry. In the year 1933, K.M. Cariappa got through the Quetta Staff Colleges entrance examination in the first attempt. He became the first Indian military officer to attend the course. In 1942, he became the commanding officer of an army unit, the first Indian officer to have British officers serving under him. Four years later, in 1946, Cariappa was promoted to Brigadier post of the Frontier Brigade Group. In these years, Colonel Ayub Khan-who would later become the President of Pakistan served under his command. During the years of his serving in the British Indian Army, Cariappa was acclaimed for his treatment of the Indian National Armys prisoners. When he visited a camp that held the INA prisoners he was moved to see them in this condition and immediately wrote a letter to the British Adjutant General recommending that steps be taken to immediately improve their living conditions. He also suggested and recommended pardoning those who were not guilty, rightly pointing out that many of these prisoners have considerable goodwill among the Indian masses and may well lead the country after its Independence. British were convinced that his letter did release most of the INA prisoners. In February 2019, Snyder filed a motion for a new trial and acquittal on the two counts because of alleged prosecutorial misconduct related to the soliciting bribes count and the Government failed to present sufficient evidence from which a rational jury could find the defendant guilty regarding corruptly interfering with the administration of the Internal Revenue Service laws, according to the order. Half of Americans plan to escape to warm weather this winter, according to new research. A poll of 2,000 Americans found that 35% typically travel to a warm vacation destination during the winter months as an attempt to escape the winter blues. People are escaping the brutal cold in search of more tropical weather for a little mood boost. A whopping 88% think traveling to a warm destination during the winter boosts their mood. The study conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with Apple Vacations looked at the weather dilemmas and vacation habits of 2,000 Americans and discovered 93% consider the weather of travel destinations when planning their trips and vacations. Over the course of the entire winter season, 72% tend to get sad with those aged 36-48 more likely to feel down this time of year. Which is why a staggering 91% feel like traveling somewhere warm during the cold winter months. In fact, those surveyed admit to enduring A LOT just so they can have the opportunity to travel to a warm locale as the temperatures begin to dip below freezing. Forty-eight percent would be willing to stand in line at the DMV just to escape the brutal cold and head somewhere warm while a further 44% would happily sit in eight solid hours of traffic if it meant they could get to a tropical, warm destination and away from the frigid weather. But, that isn't all that those studied would endure to guarantee a warm winter vacation. Thirty-nine percent would get a root canal for the chance at a warm getaway while another 38% would give up caffeine for a trip somewhere warm and tropical in the winter. "Offering over 1,000 miles of coastline, luxurious lodging, incredible cuisine and action-packed excursions, Dominican Republic's year-round perfect and ease of accessibility makes planning a winter escape to paradise look like a walk in the park," said Lucien Echevarria, New York executive director for the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism. Story continues Americans are turning to warm travel destinations because they are tired of what the brutal winter weather brings. Thirty-five percent of those studied say having their umbrella break during a heavy rainstorm and getting to work soaking wet are the worst things about winter. Thirty-three percent dislike that winter brings dark mornings and another third similarly agree that never seeing daylight is a winter dislike. From colds and flu (31%) and stepping into puddles (31%) to black ice (29%) and icy sidewalks (31%) there are a lot of drawbacks to being in a cold climate during the winter months. Over a quarter (26%) of those studied reveal runny noses are something they hate when it comes to winter while a further 23% get annoyed by the wind chill factor in their area. When planning these winter trips, Americans have a lot to consider during the planning process. In fact, the number one thing Americans are most concerned about when planning a vacation is the safety of the location. A whopping 56% of those studied reveal they look for safety of their destination and location when planning their trip. Other factors Americans consider when planning their getaway include: weather (56%), hotel/accommodation amenities (54%), length of travel (50%), and price of tickets/accommodations (45%). Results also reveal 73% opt to take these excursions away from the brutal cold with their spouse or significant other while a further 61% bring their kids along for the adventure. From Aruba and the Dominican Republic to Costa Rica and Belize, Americans have or plan to travel to a variety of warm-weather destinations this winter. One in five have already traveled or plan to travel to the Dominican Republic to escape the bitter cold this winter. "From the sunny shores of Punta Cana to the colorful charming streets of Puerto Plata and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic's hospitable people, lively culture and pristine landscapes help solidify our country as the premier Caribbean destination to recharge from the winter cold," said Echevarria. New Delhi [India], Jan 28 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday fixed a 10-day period for concluding the hearing on the petition seeking women's entry into Sabarimala temple, mosques, and Parsi Agiyari. A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde, was hearing the petitions pertaining to the discrimination against women at places of worship. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter before the top court and said that all the lawyers from various parties in the case sat together and discussed the issue but could not reach a consensus on the matter, which is to be heard by a 9-judge constitution bench. The Supreme Court had on January 13 said that it will only hear the questions referred to in the review order passed by it in November last year in the Sabarimala temple case, which allowed women and girls of all age groups to visit the shrine in Kerala. The top court had in November last year, observed that the entry of women into places of worship is not just limited to the Sabarimala temple but also includes issues like allowing Muslim and Parsi women to enter religious practice. The court is hearing a clutch of petitions seeking reconsideration of its September 2018 judgment that lifted the bar on menstruating women from worshipping in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. The apex court in a landmark 4:1 ruling had set aside decades-old restrictions on the entry of women of menstruating age inside the temple. The verdict had sparked a series of protests across the state, which eventually led to the filing of several petitions seeking review of the top court's order challenging the authority of the court to intervene in a belief of the people. (ANI) US president Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu have released details of their Middle East peace plan, despite a boycott from Palestinian leaders. Sending the room into a standing ovation with loud applause, Mr Trump praised Mr Netanyahu for his courage to take this bold step forward. Crucially, under this White House plan, Jerusalem would be under total Israeli control, which denies Palestinians their aspiration to have the whole of east Jerusalem as their capital. But thats no big deal, Mr Trump joked, because I already did that for you." In this new plan, the Palestinians would have their capital within east Jerusalem - though it remains unclear what territory this would include. We will never ask Israel to compromise its security, he continued. Cant do that. Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Show all 18 1 /18 Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian protesters burn pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a demonstration in the West Bank against the expected peace plan proposal AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan US President and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announce Trump's Middle East peace plan in the White House AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Reuters Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Reuters Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan EPA Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan EPA Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan EPA Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan EPA Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan EPA Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan AP In a nod to his re-election bid, Mr Trump boasted: Ive done a lot for Israel. He ticked off several things, including withdrawing the US from a nuclear accord with Iran. The room again erupted in applause - but it fell silent as Mr Trump declared he wants his plan also to do great things for the Palestinians. Mr Trump predicted the plan would create 1m new Palestinian jobs and wipe out poverty in the groups areas. He asked the Palestinians to meet the challenges of peaceful coexistence, including cracking down on the actions of and financing for groups like Hamas. Mr Netanyahu meanwhile lauded the plan as a reasonable path to a sustainable peace," saying it was the first plan to fully recognise Israel's need for security. Previous plans, he said, failed to strike the right balance. For instance, those plans proposed an Israeli exit from the Jordanian Valley. Presence in those areas allows Israeli to defend itself, by itself, he said, in his usual booming cadence. Mr Netanyahu heaped praise on Mr Trump for being the first world leader to recognise Israels sovereignty over all its settlements of the occupied West Bank. Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law. Israeli must have sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and other strategic areas of the [West Bank], Mr Netanyahu continued, saying it was a vital to our security. The Israeli premier said he acknowledged it might take the Palestinian side a very long time to arrive at the start of a path to peace, but said if and when they do, Israel will be there. In addition to the status of Jerusalem, another key barrier to Palestinians accepting this plan is the denial of their right to return to homelands lost in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The plan makes clear that the Palestinian refugee problem must be solved outside the state of Israel, Mr Netanyahu said. A senior Hamas official however said the group rejects the "conspiracies" announced in the deal and that "all options are open" in terms of responding. "We are certain that our Palestinian people will not let these conspiracies pass. So, all options are open. The (Israeli) occupation and the U.S. administration will bear the responsibility for what they did," senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said as he participated in one of several protests that broke out across the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The UK government meanwhile said it supports the plan, describing it as "a positive step forwards." The American president also noted that ambassadors from Oman, UAE and Bahrain were present. Ending the Erasmus programme and other initiatives that tie the UK to Europe will be detrimental to future generations. When European educators started lobbying for the creation of a student exchange programme in the 1980s, they chose to name it after Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536), a Dutch Renaissance humanist who promoted religious tolerance and progressive thought some 500 years ago. Since its launch in 1987, this scheme has become one of the most progressive achievements of the European integration process, sending millions of European students and teachers to study, train, work and volunteer abroad. It helped build a peaceful environment, promote transnational values, and, above all, strengthen a sense of a shared European identity. I was a beneficiary of the programme. In 1999, Erasmus gave me the chance to study European politics at the University of Bath, a magnificent city in southwestern England with a spectacular ancient Roman heritage. This period of my life shaped my beliefs and perspective on Europe. Today, I am who I am a convinced and committed European, believing in the existence of a collective European soul not just because I was born in Europe and speak European languages, but also because I was part of the Erasmus programme. I am a member of the Erasmus generation. I embraced the idea of Erasmus and later in my career I ended up overseeing many excellent Erasmus British students studying in Europe. I settled outside my country in Britain, where I teach European history at Royal Holloway, University of London and enjoy the wonderful foreign artistic influences and the continental European flavour of its main building. It was, therefore, with great pain that I heard the news earlier this month that the British Parliament had struck down a proposed clause in the Brexit bill that would have made negotiating to maintain UK membership of the Erasmus programme after Brexit a priority. Last week the queen signed the Brexit bill into law. Although this still does not automatically mean that the Erasmus programme will be scrapped in the United Kingdom, it does demonstrate that the new Conservative government has no desire or motivation to do anything to preserve it. This is hardly surprising. After all, the pan-European spirit and values of Erasmus contradict those of Brexit and the concerted effort by many conservatives and Eurosceptics to establish a divided and isolated ultra-nationalist society in the UK. They dismiss people like me, members of the Erasmus generation and believers in a united Europe as elitists who are unable to understand the lower classes and their concerns (although many of us hail from that social strata). But it is not only transnational education that isolationists are trying to dismantle. The parliament also voted against granting an automatic residency status for European Union citizens living in the UK after Brexit and allowing unaccompanied refugee children to reunite with their families. Erasmus, as well as the rights of EU migrants and child refugees, are now on the line and their fate will be determined by a Conservative government bent on exiting Europe at any cost. There are people in the UK who still see the value of Erasmus and who have called for its preservation. Universities UK, the representative organisation for British academic institutions, launched a campaign called #SupportStudyAbroad, calling on the public to help pressure the government into keeping the membership of the programme. A petition started shortly after the parliamentary vote has already gotten more than 44,000 signatures. These efforts are all welcome, but will they be enough to stand up to the isolationist fever that has swept the UK? Perhaps not. The December national election gave the Conservatives a mandate to pull Brexit through. They will use it, however, to push the country into a new era of demagogic nationalism. This will cost the UK dearly and the Conservatives know it, but they carry on with their fantasies about a bright, post-EU future. Conservative Member of the European Parliament, Daniel Hannan, for example, recently declared that Britain is no longer a supplicant under Prime Minister Boris Johnsons leadership and it will be able to strike a good economic deal not just with the EU, but also with Washington, Wellington, Canberra, Singapore and Tokyo. Hannan and his peers clearly dream of a return to the glorious colonial past through a reunited white Commonwealth. The problem is that neither the Commonwealth nor the EU is particularly keen on striking deals that favour British interests. Brussels has signalled that it may offer the British government a much worse deal than it did other trade partners, while Canberra recently snubbed London by ruling out a visa-free regime between the two countries. Yet the Conservatives refuse to see the reality. They continue to whitewash the disturbing wave of xenophobia and racism sweeping through the nation. Dont believe the doom-mongers, warned pundit Matthew Goodwin, as Britain prepares to Brexit it is a happier, more positive and more welcoming place. Home Secretary Priti Patel conferred: I think we live in a great country, a great society, full of opportunity, where people of any background can get on in life. The problem is that there are no clear indicators or concrete analyses suggesting the UK is heading for economic prosperity after leaving the EU or better social harmony. It is quite telling that the only cheerleader of what is happening right now in the UK is Hungarys Viktor Orban, who thinks Brexit is a fantastic opportunity and Boris Johnson one of the bravest European politicians. But as activist Gina Miller has pointed out, one has to wonder how the British people will be able to preserve Britain as a tolerant place when they dont have Europe to blame for their problems any more. The fallout of Brexit, however, will not be limited to the UK. This wave of isolationism, Euroscepticism and the continuous attacks on the EU can also undermine the very foundations of pluralism and democracy in Europe. Although no other countries are realistically undertaking to leave the union, ultra-nationalist projects across the old continent are resurrecting the myth of the nation-state and distorting the values of national traditions and community. They encourage the toxic rhetoric of us vs them, the perceptions of pure nations threatened by the dangerous other. For decades the idea of European unity, promoted through free movement, equal rights of EU citizens and initiatives like the Erasmus programme, worked to counter this language of hate and promote tolerance, understanding and common European values. Dismantling such achievements comes with huge risks. The rejection of cultural mixing, cosmopolitanism and ethnic diversity led to nothing good in Europes past and it does not bode well for its future. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. By Trend Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission (CEC) has considered the appeals of organizations wishing to conduct exit-polls in the early parliamentary elections to be held in the country on Feb. 9, Trend reports. The appeals of the Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates organization and Azerbaijan's Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League were considered. CEC Deputy Chairman Rovzat Gasimov noted that these organizations conducted exit-polls at the previous elections in Azerbaijan and this time the organizations will study the opinions of voters in 1,053 polling stations. Gasimov emphasized that it is planned to involve 2,106 respondents and 47 supervisors in the process. The appeal was accepted after voting. A man has been hospitalised in Goa as a precautionary measure for possible exposure to the novel Coronavirus during his recent visit to China, a senior official said on Tuesday. The man was admitted in the isolation ward of the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) with symptoms similar to novel coronavirus, officially called the 2019-nCoV, infection, he added. "The patient had travelled to China in the recent past and had complained of a sore throat since his return. We admitted him in an isolation ward as a precautionary measure. His samples have been to Pune for further tests," he said. This is the first such move in the state since the nCoV illness broke out in China, the official added. A task force has been formed in Goa to tackle any possible case of the virus, he said. Chinese health officials on Tuesday said 106 people have been killed so far due to the virus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [January 28, 2020] Sun BioPharma, Inc. Initiates Search for CEO MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sun BioPharma, Inc. (OTCQB: SNBP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing disruptive therapeutics for the treatment of people with pancreatic cancer, today announced the initiation of a search for a Chief Executive Officer to succeed Dr. Michael T. Cullen, MD, MBA. Dr. Cullen will remain Executive Chairman of Sun BioPharmas Board of Directors and has committed to continue to serve as President and CEO of the Company to facilitate a successful transition. Dr. Cullen, a 32-year biopharmaceutical industry veteran, co-founded the Company in 2011 and has continuously served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer of Sun BioPharma from 2011 to 2015, and assumed responsibility as President and CEO in November 2018, following the departure of the prior President and CEO. During his time as CEO, Sun BioPharma has raised more than $5 million of capital and advanced the clinical program for SBP-101 in patients with previously untreated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. We are grateful for Dr. Cullens leadership, and we are excited to renew his focus on the science, said Paul Schaffer, director of Sun BioPharma. In addition to his many years of service on our Board, Dr. Cullens knowledge of the biopharmaceutical industry and oncology clinical development experience is invaluable as we continue to advance SBP-101. I look forward to working closely with the rest of our management team and our Board to identify the Companys next CEO, said Dr. Cullen. I am proud of the work we have done in advancing SBP-101, and I look forward to continuing to work with the team with renewed focus as we advance new treatment options for patients with pancreatic cancer. About Sun BioPharma Sun BioPharma Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing disruptive therapeutics for urgent unmet medical needs. Sun BioPharmas development program is currently tareting pancreatic cancer; its initial product candidate is SBP-101 for the potential treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. SBP-101 was invented by Raymond Bergeron, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida. Sun BioPharma has scientific collaborations with pancreatic disease experts at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the University of Rochester in New York, Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center in San Diego, California, the University of Florida, the Austin Health Cancer Trials Centre in Melbourne, Australia, the Ashford Cancer Centre in Adelaide, Australia, The Blacktown Cancer and Haemotology Centre in Sydney, Australia and the John Flynn Private Hospital in Tugun, Queensland, Australia. Sun BioPharmas independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) is Chaired by James Abbruzzese, MD, Professor of Medicine, and Chief, Division of Medical Oncology at Duke University School of Medicine. Professor David Goldstein, FRACP, Senior Staff Specialist at the Prince Henry & Prince of Wales Hospital / Cancer Care Centre in Sydney, Australia is Co-Chair of the DSMB. Further information can be found at: www.sunbiopharma.com. Sun BioPharmas common stock is currently quoted on the OTCQB tier of the over-the-counter markets administered by the OTC Markets Group, Inc. under the symbol SNBP. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: believes, may, expects, or plans. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding plans to advance SBP-101 in clinical trials and initiate a search for a new CEO. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. As with any pharmaceutical product like SBP-101, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the process of development and commercialization. There can be no guarantees that this treatment will receive regulatory approval or, if approved, will achieve the intended benefits or become commercially successful. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially and adversely from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: (i) the anticipated timing of first patient enrollment, (ii) our need to obtain additional capital, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, (iii) risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, and (iv) uncertainty in the results or timing of clinical trials or regulatory approvals. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement or reasons why actual results would differ from those anticipated in any such forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Contact Information: Investor & Media Contact Tammy Groene Sun BioPharma, Inc. 952-479-1196 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Last Saturday, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan presented 100 facts about New Armenia at the press conference in Kapan. He reported about the increase in tax revenues to the state budget and highlighted good rates of economic growth. Head of the government answered almost all questions of the journalists, including the most unpleasant ones associated with the Karabakh conflict settlement. Although Prime Minister was in good mood, his rhetoric indicated that significant and qualitative changes in the negotiation process shouldn't be expected in the near future. One of the features of Pashinyans policy is that there's almost no transparency in his negotiations on resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It's extremely difficult to obtain reliable information about the course of negotiations, or at least about discussion of the Karabakh conflict, since Prime Ministers office prevents any information leaks. Any "revolution" needs an incentive that will push people to action or even attract huge interest. A year and a half ago, Pashinyan promised to revolutionize negotiation process, and the lack of progress was stably associated with stagnant policy of the previous regime. Right now Pashinyan prefers to focus public attention on the will of Armenian community of Karabakh, and also tirelessly emphasizes his non-interference in the political processes of the self-proclaimed regime. Armenian Prime Minister doesn't have a clear program which he could use to restart negotiation process and at the same time protect himself from criticism. Pashinyan cannot boast of any achievements in the conflict resolution, so now he is trying once again to criticize previous administration. However, the peculiarity of Nikol Pashinyan's current rhetoric is that he merges criticism of Serzh Sargsyan with criticism of imperfection of generally accepted principles of the Karabakh conflict peaceful settlement, which Pashinyan has already actively criticized in November-December of last year. It's symbolic that in his criticism Pashinyan uses the term heritage, meaning problems that, in his opinion, present-day Armenia and Karabakh faced in the process of legitimizing occupation, and the figure of Serzh Sargsyan becomes synonymous with these problems. Pashinyan creates new antagonistic images, through which he tries to provoke the elite of the occupation regime to abandon the diplomatic "heritage" of Sargsyan, thereby leading her to the "necessary" conclusion. In Karabakh, elections of the head of the occupation regime will be held this year. Pashinyan actually sets the guidelines for cooperation between him and the future local elite during the upcoming change of generations of the occupying power. By the way, two current and most likely candidates for the post of head of the self-proclaimed Karabakh, ex-"prime minister" of the unrecognized republic Araik Harutyunyan and "minister of foreign affairs" of the occupation regime Masis Mayilyan, have already responded to the peculiar appeal of Pashinyan. Like the previous political elite of Armenia, Pashinyan does not hesitate to deliberately excite society, inspiring him with fear of the so-called surrender of territories. The authorities are trying to convince the Armenian public that maintaining the occupation of the territories around Karabakh is a matter of national security, which for a quarter of a century has been no less significant task than overcoming the economic blockade. But the blockade is caused just by the ultimatum position of the Armenian side. Despite the fact that the occupation did not provide Armenia with any economic development opportunities, with the exception of a number of business projects of certain oligarchic circles of the republic, it is still used as an ideological marker, thanks to which Armenian politicians determine who is their own and who is not. The current, as well as the previous, political elite does not pay attention to the fact that its tribune rhetoric can be very different from that which is heard during official meetings as part of the negotiation process. That is enough for the current regime that the bottom line of the Armenian inhabitants is a feeling of insecurity, danger and helplessness, which is offset by confidence in the legality of the occupation. Pashinyan fears an escalation of the conflict, since his position among the ruling elite of the occupation regime is extremely precarious. The prime minister cannot boldly rely on the military of the occupation regime like Sargsyan. He does not have a strong position among the Armenian security forces. Prime Minister still has a lengthy trial with the leaders of the Karabakh clan, Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharian, as well as the growing confrontation with the Chairman of the Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia Hrayr Tovmasyan. It is not known whether the Armenian Prime Minister will have the strength to cope with his counterparties. But it is obvious that Pashinyan will continue to try to nullify the negotiation process, hoping that neither Azerbaijan nor the OSCE Minsk Group will agree to this. For political maneuvering, the prime minister needs time, which he most likely does not have. Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) The Philippine Immigration Bureau on Tuesday ordered the suspension of "visa upon arrival" or VUA issuance to Chinese nationals amid the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus worldwide. "We are now temporarily suspending the issuance of VUA for Chinese nationals to slow down the influx of group tours," Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement. The new order only affects five percent of Chinese nationals who visit in the country as 95 percent of the Chinese tourists who arrive have already secured their entry visa from their foreign posts, Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said. The VUA is granted to tour groups under Department of Tourism-accredited operators, qualified businessmen, athletes, and convention or exhibit delegates. The Immigration Bureau clarified there is no order stopping Chinese nationals from entering the country, adding there is no directive from the national government. Senator Risa Hontiveros has urged the government to impose a temporary ban on all individuals who have passed through China's Wuhan City the epicenter of the deadly novel coronavirus or 2019 n-CoV. The virus has claimed the lives of 106 people and infected over 4,500 in mainland China. It continues to spread worldwide with over 50 cases in 14 countries. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised its travel precautions for China to the highest level, advising its citizens to "avoid nonessential travel" to the country. To serve alongside him on the Executive Board Driscoll appointed Robert Arnold, former National Director of Apprenticeship and Training at the International Masonry Training and Education Foundation (IMTEF), as Secretary-Treasurer. Driscoll said of Arnold's appointment: "I have worked closely with Bob for many years on projects vital to the future of this Union. Bob's enthusiasm for education and training, his track record of welcoming innovation and promoting members from underrepresented backgrounds, and his overall dedication to BAC's members make him uniquely qualified for this moment in our Union's history." IMTEF, together with Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committees (JATCs) across the U.S. and Canada, provides apprenticeship training and lifelong learning in the trowel trades to BAC members. Effective February 1, 2020, IMTEF welcomes Anthony DiPerna, President of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) Local 3 New York, as National Director of Apprenticeship and Training. BAC President Driscoll said "We are excited to welcome Brother DiPerna to this critical leadership role for our industry. I have every confidence that Tony's years of experience as a craftworker, supervisor, local union officer, and Chair of his local JATC have uniquely positioned him to lead BAC's training and education programs in the coming decade and beyond." For in-depth releases on BAC's new Executive Leadership and IMTEF's National Director of Apprenticeship and Training, see Driscoll to Become President of Bricklayer's Union as Boland Announces Retirement and International Masonry Training and Education Foundation Announces DiPerna as National Director of Apprenticeship and Training. The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest continuous union in North America and represents roughly 75,000 skilled masonry-trowel trades craftworkers in the United States and Canada, including bricklayers, tile setters, cement masons, plasterers, stone masons, marble masons, restoration workers, PCC and finishers, and terrazzo and mosaic workers. The International Masonry Training and Education Foundation, together with Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committees (JATCs) across the U.S. and Canada, provides apprenticeship training and lifelong learning in the trowel trades to members of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) to help them advance their skills and careers. SOURCE International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers; International Masonry Training and Education Foundation Delhi Police has seized the pistol which was brandished by a person who had gone to Shaheen Bagh to talk to the protestors. The pistol belongs to Mohammad Luqmaan, who claims to be a property dealer. However, the weapon was brandished by another person, police stated. Further investigation in the matter is underway. Protests have been going on at Shaheen Bagh since December 15 last year against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). A petition was filed in the Supreme Court last week seeking appropriate directions to the police to open the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch contending that the road closure is causing huge inconvenience to people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senegalese President Macky Sall on Tuesday said the African Union should be part of efforts to resolve the Libyan conflict as he warned that arms from the North African country could flood into the war-torn Sahel Dakar, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Jan, 2020 ) :Senegalese President Macky Sall on Tuesday said the African Union should be part of efforts to resolve the Libyan conflict as he warned that arms from the North African country could flood into the war-torn Sahel. "The whole African continent is worried about the consequences of what is happening in Libya," he said during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Senegalese capital Dakar. Libya has been mired in chaos since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with two rival administrations vying for power. Eastern Libyan forces under strongman Khalifa Haftar have been battling since April to seize the capital Tripoli from the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), which is supported by Turkey. Sall said his wish "above all, (is) to involve the African Union in any search for a solution" to the conflict, adding that there can only be a political solution to the violence. Leaders of the 55-country bloc are due to meet in the Republic of Congo, also called Congo-Brazzaville, on Thursday. "Africa's worry is that there's a risk that all these weapons (from Libya) will transit through the Sahel," the Senegalese president said. South of Libya, local and foreign troops have been struggling to quell jihadist violence which is raging across Sahel states Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. On Tuesday, Erdogan said Haftar had "no political recognition" either in Libya or abroad. Turkey's parliament has approved a bill approving a military deployment to Libya to shore up the UN-backed government. However, the Turkish president said in Algeria on Sunday that the conflict in Libya cannot be solved by military means. Erdogan was speaking Tuesday on the final leg of a whistle-stop tour through Algeria, The Gambia and Senegal. "We consider the peoples of Africa as brothers and sisters with whom we share the same destiny," he said in Dakar on Tuesday. The Supreme Court has directed the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) to dilute "adverse observations" in a November 2019 order wherein it had cast aspersions on markets regulator Sebi. The tribunal's order, dated November 14, 2019, had come in a case related to investor complaints that were not resolved. Sebi had moved the court against the order, which had come on an appeal filed by Ashok Dayabhai Shah and others. "May be there was some remiss on the part of Sebi to act as a regulator, but casting aspersion was not warranted in the facts and circumstances of the case. As such, the adverse observations... are hereby diluted," the apex court said in its order dated January 27. Citing observations of the tribunal, the apex court said that "we are of the opinion certain observations made in ... the impugned order were not called for." The court's order has been uploaded on the Sebi website. Passing the order in the matter last year, the tribunal said "such computer generated disposal of a serious complaint speaks volume on the conduct of the respondents". Sebi, National Stock Exchange and Calcutta Stock Exchange, were among the respondents. Further, the tribunal had said it "fails to fathom as to why the complaint could not have been decided unless Sebi officials had a vested interest in not deciding the matter". Referring to the tribunal's observations, the court said, "we are of the opinion that certain observations made in... the impugned order were not called for, such as 'the computer generated disposal of a serious complaint speaks volume on the conduct of the respondents' as well as the part of the order relating to 'vested interest in not deciding the matter' were not at all called for". In the January 27 order, the court has also asked Sebi to to deal with the complaints positively and objectively within four months from today. Ashok Dayabhai Shah and others had moved Sebi seeking action against certain alleged violations by Bharat Nidhi Ltd, PNB Finance and Industries Ltd and Camac Commercial Company Ltd. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Nigerian actor and film director, Pius Okaba has emerged one of the toasts of European film market. The Berlin, Germany-based thespian has over his 10-year career in the film and television industry worked in various fields such as Format Buying, On-Air Image Design, Content Acquisition, Content Development/Management, Airtime Sales, Directing and Production for both the film and television industries. Pius Okaba is an alumnus of The New York Film Academy (NYFA) where he studied acting and he holds a Master of Arts Degree in Film Directing from the prestigious University of West London. He is currently pursuing a second Masters Degree (MFA) in motion pictures and is a residence lecturer at the Prague Film Institute in Czech Republic. His controversial film AYE, released in 2019 sees a wide acceptance across the European film industry. AYE won the award for Best Short Film at the Africa In Diaspora Cinema Festival in Florence, Italy and was nominated and screened at I Will Tell International Film Festival, London, United Kingdom, Black Star International Film Festival, Accra Ghana, The South African International Film Festival, Johannesburg, South Africa, Africa international Film Festival, Lagos Nigeria, and Inshort Film Festival, also in Lagos, Nigeria. Pius role as a witch hunter in the most anticipated Czech fairy tail film of all time, Princezna Zakleta V Case (Princess Lost In Time) which is expected to be released in cinemas across Europe in March 2020 has made him a household name in the acting scene in Europe. Although, his appearance on Berlin Tag Und Nacht, a daily series on German television RTL II was a highlight of his acting career in Germany. He is currently working on his latest film which will be released in the fall of 2021. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Filipinos flock to Manilas Chinatown to celebrate Chinese New Year on January 25, 2020 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippines announced Tuesday it will temporarily suspend issuing visas upon arrival (VUA) for Chinese nationals amid concerns of a coronavirus outbreak. "We are now temporarily suspending the issuance of VUA for Chinese nationals to slow down the influx of group tours," Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a press release dated Tuesday. Morente said the measure was taken to "slow down travel" and potentially aid in preventing the entry of the virus. Still, he clarified that there is no order barring Chinese nationals from entering the Philippines. The decision comes amid an outbreak that Chinese officials said has already claimed more than 100 lives in China and infected more than 4,500 in the country. Multiple cases of the virus have been confirmed in Hong Kong, Macao, Taipei, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, France and the United States. On Monday, local authorities in Germany confirmed the country's first case. Nepal has confirmed one case. Cambodia confirmed its first case on Monday, according to Reuters, citing Health Minister Mam Bunheng. Sri Lanka also confirmed its first case on Monday, Reuters reported. Paul Tambyah, professor at the Department of Medicine at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Tuesday that the situation was "advancing pretty rapidly." "We do have to wait a while to see the impact of the public health interventions but right now, I think it's something that's focused the attention of public health authorities all over the world," he said. CNBC's Berkeley Lovelace Jr., William Feuer and Christine Wang contributed to this report. Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more Motorola on Monday began taking orders for its US$1,499 Razr foldable smartphone. Units are expected to start shipping on Feb. 6. Motorola made its mark on the mobile handset business with the original Razr, introduced in 2004, which ushered in the era of flip phones. The new Razr is a flip phone, too, but with a foldable display. The 6.2-inch OLED screen folds in half to create a compact package that comfortably fits in a shirt pocket. Thats a departure from the recent crop of foldable phones that expand from phones to tablets. A strong point of the Razr is that its actually a folding phone, said Frank E. Gillett, principal analyst at Forrester Research, a market research company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its a phone that shrinks in size when you fold it, he told TechNewsWorld. Many of the competitors are really folding tablets that shrink to phone size when you fold them. Fragile Screen In addition to its foldable screen, the new Razr, which comes with Android 9 Pie, has a second, 2.7-inch, glass-covered OLED screen on the outside of the phone. That display shows notifications and music controls, and has access to a selfie mode. A concern about foldable phones has been fragility especially after Samsung had to halt shipments of its Galaxy Fold last spring, after reviewers reported issues with its display. Motorola expressed confidence about the Razrs screen, though, asserting it will last for the average lifespan of any smartphone. Nevertheless, it has warned consumers not to get the phone too wet even though it has an internal nano-coating for splash resistance. If it does get wet, it should be dried immediately with a soft cloth. Its not clear why individual users or larger markets will really want the Razr, especially since it will require them to adopt new habits and concerns, mainly related to the foldable display, observed Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT,a technology advisory firm in Hayward, California. 5G Razr Coming? While the Razrs screen is flagship phone caliber, other components are less so. For example, it runs on a Snapdragon 710 processor, not the top of the line 855, and it has a 16-megapixel camera with neither a zoom or ultra-wide lens. The Razr is not about whats inside, said Jack E. Gold, principal analyst at J.Gold Associates, an IT advisory company in Northborough, Massachusetts. Theyre also not offering a 5G version, which will hurt them a bit, he told TechNewsWorld. If youre spending $1,500 for a phone, you want to keep it for a while, he continued. Two years from now you want it to still be pertinent. However, there are reports that Motorola plans to launch a 5G version later this year. Thats not all thats coming down the foldable pike. Samsung is expected to announce its own flip foldable, the Galaxy Z Flip, on Feb. 11. Samsungs offering is expected to be the first phone to use bendable glass, and to be priced below the Razr with higher-grade components. In Search of Old Glory The Razr is a unique mix of classic and current handset designs that utilizes thoroughly modern materials, Pund-ITs King told TechNewsWorld. It also demonstrates that Motorola isnt afraid to take risks and stand apart from the crowd, he added. One of the challenges facing Motorola is that its not a well-known brand in smartphones, Forresters Gillett pointed out. They arent one of the big brands in phones as they were before the rise of smartphones. Part of the new Razrs appeal is its connection to the old Razr. Motorola is trying to get to a place where the market is looking at the company as it did in the old days as an innovator, rather than part of a large Chinese commodity phone maker, Gold explained. In the last few years, Motorola has almost been invisible, he continued. They havent had anything that people would write home about. They became like BlackBerry irrelevant in the market place. Playing to Elitists The Razr is likely to appeal to a limited market. Given its premium price, Motorola is going after high-end users who want to be seen using something new and different young urban professionals and wannabees, King said. This isnt for Joe and Jane Smith on Main Street, USA, said Ramon T. Llamas, senior research analyst at IDC, a market research company, in Framingham, Massachusetts. Its for people with high disposable income who embrace technology, are Android users, and are willing to take a chance on being the first to own anything, he told TechNewsWorld. The Razr is not meant to be a mass market device, added Gold. This is for the elites. This is for folks who want to take something out of their pocket or handbag and say, I have something that you dont,' he said. Thats a good strategy for Motorola to reestablish the brand, Gold maintained. Market Impact The new Razr will help advance the foldable phone market. It always helps to advance the market when you have more players entering with their own devices, IDCs Llamas noted. However, this is a new kind of usage paradigm. People have to wrap their brains around it. A change like this is going to take awhile to percolate and to get accepted, he added. This phone is just one of many folding phone experiments in the market right now, said Forresters Gillett. It should help consumers understand that there are really two kinds of folding phones those that are phones and shrink in size when you fold them, and those that are really tablets that shrink to phone size, he added. By joining the foldable fold, Motorola could catch the next big trend in smartphones. If the Razr succeeds, it could signal that larger groups of consumers are ready for something other than slab-of-glass smartphones, King suggested. Thats a high hill to climb, but Motorola deserves kudos for taking a shot. Property resales remained a profitable venture for many Australian homeowners during the September 2019 quarter, with almost nine in 10 resales selling for more than their previous price, according to CoreLogic's latest Pain and Gain report. The report, which analysed the performance of property resales across Australia, found that gross profits for resellers increased by $2.4bn over the quarter to $18.7bn. Of all states, Hobart recorded the most substantial gains, with 98.1% of properties selling for a profit. Victoria and Tasmania followed, with 96.6% and 96.4% properties resold for profit. "Hobart has experienced particularly large capital gains over the past five years, and this has translated into exceptionally strong results for resellers of both houses and apartments during the past quarter," said Eliza Owen, head of residential research at CoreLogic. The robust market conditions in Hobart and regional Tasmania were favourable to investors. In fact, 98.8% of investment properties resold in Hobart were profitable compared to 98% of owner-occupied dwellings. "When it comes to generating a profit for the seller, owner-occupied properties have outperformed investment properties in all markets except for Hobart and Regional Tasmania," Owen said. Across Australia, 88.9% of owner-occupied properties resold for a profit compared to 83.4% of investor-owned properties. Regional Tasmania was one proof of regional markets' appeal. During the quarter, regional sellers made a profit from 88% of resales, higher than the 87.1% in state capitals. Sellers in two state capitals, Perth and Darwin, felt the greatest pain, according to the report. In Perth, only 63.6% of properties were sold for a gross profit, while in Darwin, just over half turned positive. This means that sellers in these two state capitals need to hold their dwelling for longer to increase their chances of making a profit. The median hold periods for profitable house sales are 13.5 years in Darwin and 13.1 years in Perth. The lowest hold periods were in Hobart at 9.2 years and Sydney at 9.5 years. In terms of dwelling types, houses were more likely to record gains than units. Nine in 10 detached houses sold for more than their previous purchase price compared to just eight in 10 units. In some states, however, the gap between the gains of houses and units were more noticeable. For instance, units in Brisbane and Canberra were more 6.8 times more likely to sell for a loss than houses. This could be due to the oversupply of units that made acquiring units cheaper for resellers. "In recent years, there has been a relatively high level of newly constructed apartments in state capitals, especially across Brisbane and the ACT. This oversupply, which contributes to lower prices and higher vacancies, has impacted returns for unit resellers," Owen said. The CRPF has "changed" its tactics and bettered its security drills after the Pulwama terror attack on its convoy that took place almost a year ago, the chief of the force said on Tuesday. CRPF Director General (DG) A P Maheshwari said no one can guarantee that such incidents will not take place in the future owing to the dynamic nature of counter-terror operations. However, his force can assure and "guarantee" that terror elements will not have it easy if they have an engagement with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that has deployed over 70,000 troops for counter-terror operations in the Kashmir valley. "We are a fighting force. We have bettered our security drills, we have bettered our capability for training, we have bettered in terms of equipment, tactics, mobility and navigation," Maheshwari told reporters at a force camp here. "We have improved. We believe that we learn from setbacks and these should take us towards success. Whatever successes have been there, have emerged out of failure," he said. When asked what measures has the CRPF taken over the last year, Maheshwari said the "adversary keeps trying as also the security forces." "I do not say that such incidents will not take place. No body can guarantee that and let us understand that," he said. Someone who has done operations knows that guarantee can't be given (against Pulwama type attacks) but we will give guarantee that the possibility that they (terrorists) hit us will not be there and if they even succeed, they will not go alive or we will track their footprints and end the source, the DG said. He said security forces like the CRPF, Jammu and Kashmir Police, National Investigation Agency, Enforcement Directorate and others are working in an "integrated" manner in the Kashmir valley to hit at the financial, infrastructure and other roots of terrorist elements. "So, we all work in an ecosystem... It is not one agency or force that sees a setback or success. It is a holistic perspective," he said. "After the experience of this (Pulwama attack) incident, we have changed our tactics and have changed our capabilities in terms of equipment, training and strategy and consciousness... We have bettered and we will keep doing that," the DG said. Forty CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist rammed his explosives-laden vehicle in a convoy of the force on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Pulwama on February 14 last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, came to Greta Thunberg's defense after her husband told the teen climate activist to get a degree. During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mnuchin dismissed Thunbergs suggestion that governments and companies cut back dramatically on fossil fuels. "Is she the chief economist? Who is she? Im confused," he said. Then, following a brief pause, he said it was "a joke." "After she goes and studies economics in college, she can come back and explain that to us," he added. People on social media then went after Linton, who quickly shut them down, saying she stands with the 17-year-old. In a screenshot from a now-deleted Instagram post shared on Twitter by CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski, Linton made an apparent jab at her husband. "I stand with Greta on this issue. (I don't have a degree in economics either)," the post said. "We need to drastically reduce our fossil fuels. Keep up the fight @gretathunberg." In another post shared on her Instagram story, Linton shared her response to a person who messaged her with harsh words about her husband, who the person said was "bullying" the teen activist. "I am not my husband," she wrote in response. "I happen to love Greta. Whatever he says has nothing to do with my views or opinions and what you just did was bully me, unjustly." Thunberg, who has been the target of many members of the Trump administration, including the president himself, has brushed off the mockery. The comments have "of course no effect" on her and fellow campaigners, she said. Schools across the tricity celebrated Republic Day on January 26 to mark the date on which the constitution of India came into effect 70 years ago. Ashmah Intl School Mohali : To sensitise students onthe importance of the day, various activities were organised at Ashmah International, Sector 70. Teachers told students about the significance of the national flag. An art workshop was conducted on campus. Students took part in a flag-making activity. They also made tri-coloured bands and presented folk songs and dances. A fancy dress competition was held as well. Students wore colourful dresses depicting different cultures and traditions of India. Shemrock School Mohali : A special programme was organised at Shemrock Senior Secondary School, Sector 69. Children came dressed as Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Bhagat Singh. The programme commenced with a special prayer followed by a welcome song. Students recited patriotic poems. Aanchal Intl School Chandigarh : The function at Aanchal International School commenced with a march past led by the school captain. Students gave speeches based on the significance of the day. A play on fundamental rights and duties was also performed. At the end, sweets were distributed among students and their parents. Holy Wonder School Mohali : A special assembly was held in Holy Wonder Smart School. The theme for the day was save the girl child. Students spread awareness about fundamental rights and duties through dance and music performances. They presented a skit on saving the girl child. AKSIPS 65 Mohali : A Hindi patriotic poetry contest was organised for students of classes 3 to 5 at Ajit Karam Singh International School, Sector 65. Associate director Parnika Singh and principal Rajminder Kaur Jaitla unfurled the national flag. Students pledged to become responsible, productive citizens. Scholars Junior Mohali : A colouring contest was organised at Scholars Junior School, Zirakpur. Children sang patriotic songs and presented a dance performance. Head Monica Chopra distributed gifts among students. The programme concluded with the national anthem. St Annes Convent Chandigarh : The celebration at St Annes Convent School commenced with the unfurling of the national flag. A prize distribution ceremony was held to honour the students who had excelled in various cultural, sports and literary activities throughout the year. Principal Shyni Paul congratulated the winners . Bar Louie, a restaurant and bar chain that was founded in Chicago in 1990, has announced that it has closed its San Antonio location in Stone Oak near U.S. 281 on the far North Side. The company that owns the business, which is now based in Addison, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has closed several of its properties throughout the country. Saturday was the final day of business in Stone Oak, according to a post made on social media. HOUSTON - (Jan. 28, 2020) - Who -- or what -- is to blame for the xenophobia, political intolerance and radical political parties spreading through Germany and the rest of Europe? A new study from Rice University and Washington University in St. Louis shows a major factor is people's proximity to former Nazi concentration camps. "Legacies of the Third Reich: Concentration Camps and Outgroup Intolerance" will appear in an upcoming edition of the journal American Political Science Review. Lead author Jonathan Homola, an assistant professor at Rice, and fellow authors Miguel Pereira and Margit Tavits of Washington University were interested in understanding why some Europeans are more xenophobic, less accepting of "outgroups" and more supportive of radical right-wing political parties. The researchers focused closely on Germany but also examined other parts of Europe. They looked at survey responses from the European Values Study and the German General Social Survey as well as recent electoral results. They were especially interested in explaining intolerance toward Jews, Muslims and foreigners and support for radical right-wing parties. The researchers also used census data, information on the location of Third Reich concentration camps and historical election results. The researchers found consistent evidence that present-day Germans who live closer to concentration camp sites are more xenophobic; less tolerant of Jews, Muslims and immigrants; and more likely to support extreme right-wing political parties. They also found preliminary evidence of this behavior in other parts of Europe. "We believe that individuals living near concentration camps during World War II were more likely to conform to the beliefs system of the regime," Homola said. "And we think this was because of cognitive dissonance." Cognitive dissonance is the process of people justifying new information and beliefs that don't necessarily align their values in order to eliminate feelings of guilt or psychological discomfort. In the case of the Holocaust, these beliefs were passed down from generation to generation, Homola and his fellow authors said. "While the causes of the Holocaust have attracted ample scholarly attention, its long-term sociopolitical consequences are less understood," Homola said. "Our evidence proves that when it comes to political attitudes, these consequences are real and measurable even today. The prejudice that this racist and inhumane institution instilled in the local population is hard to erase even after the institution itself is long gone." Homola said prior research in the U.S. has established a similar link between extreme political beliefs or racism and proximity to areas that once were home to a large number of slaves. These historical explanations for present-day prejudice are especially timely, he said, as political developments in the U.S. and Europe have brought intolerance toward marginalized groups back into the limelight. "It is important to understand both contemporary factors and historical legacies that make exclusionary political appeals attractive," he said. ### The study was funded by Washington University's Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy and is available online at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review. This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews Related materials: Jonathan Homola bio: https://politicalscience.rice.edu/jonathan-homola Images for download: https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2020/01/85149904_l.jpg https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2020/01/180712_Jonathan_Homola-0019-copy_0.jpg 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 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 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. 4 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. For this special paranormal issue, weve seen your fashion future and its looking ultra-sleek. Here are the wardrobe heroes that will change your life THE CROPPED JEANS: Score style and sustainability points by picking an on-trend pale denim pair thats planet friendly to boot. These are from John Lewiss And/Or collection, which boasts mostly low environmental-impact pieces. JEANS Jeans, 89, And/Or, johnlewis.com DAY Blazer, 460, nanushka.com T-shirt, 24, thewhitecompany.com Earrings, 195, dinnyhall.com Sandals, 95, dunelondon.com EVENING Shirt, 286, lagence.com Boots, 135, stories.com Bag, 275, apedemod.com Ring, 69, missoma.com *available from February 4th* THE PRINTED MIDI: From Ghost, the go-to for go-anywhere dresses, this is a reworking of last seasons Luella design, which flew off the shelves thanks to its easygoing glamour and versatility. Dont let this one get away! DRESS Dress, 120, ghost.co.uk DAY Sunglasses, 98, aceandtate.com Jacket, 119, whistles.com Sandals, 325, joseph-fashion.com Bag, 175, cosstores.com EVENING Blazer, 260, samsoe.com Bag, 95, isabellefox.com Hairclip, 25, missoma.com *available from February 4th* Sandals, 30, next.co.uk THE MULES: Mules were a big hit on the spring 2020 catwalks, so its no surprise that Topshop has invested in nine styles for the coming season and theyre already bestsellers. MULES Mules, 65, topshop.com DAY Sunglasses, 120, rag-bone.com Bag, 17.99, shop.mango.com Trousers, 25, marksandspencer.com Jacket, 150, Mix/Second Female, Label/Mix, next.co.uk EVENING Dress, 795, joseph-fashion.com Bag, 475, rejinapyo.com Hairband, 8, jonrichard.com Ring, 120, otiumberg.com THE LEATHER DRESS: A sleek investment piece that will work all winter and for seasons to come, this is part of H&Ms Premium Quality collection. It drops tomorrow online and in selected stores dont miss out! DRESS Dress 229.99, hm.com DAY Top, 18, weekday.com Bracelet, 295, monicavinader.com Boots, 710, dearfrances.com Bag, 320, elleme.com EVENING Shoes, 49, charleskeith.co.uk Earrings, 10, accessorize.com Bag, 95, lkbennett.com Ring, 60, pandora.net THE FRINGED COAT: An innovative take on a classic style, this cover-up has already caused a social media sensation and will no doubt sell out as it hits the stores. Grab it fast and update your wardrobe now. COAT Coat, 90, riverisland.com DAY Dress, 125, kitristudio.com Boots, 50, asos.com Bag, 69, arket.com Belt, 75, reiss.com EVENING Shirt, 69, Autograph, marksandspencer.com Earrings, 60, shop-daphine.com Skirt, 89, cosstores.com Sandals, 25.99, zara.com THE COLOUR-POP TROUSERS: After the Duchess of Cambridge was seen in a navy pair of these LK Bennett trousers, they sold out straight away, and no doubt this head-turning red version will follow suit. Flattering and elegant, theyll multitask for you from morning till night. TROUSERS Trousers, 150, lkbennett.com DAY Sunglasses, 119, MaxMara, fashioneyewear.co.uk Bag, 325, russellandbromley.co.uk Jumper, 29.99, zara.com Trainers, 110, jigsaw-online.com EVENING Bag, 69, johnlewis.com Bracelet, 18, orelia.co.uk Shirt, 69, stories.com Sandals, 305, Souliers Martinez, net-a-porter.com A factional Pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere on Tuesday described Amotekun Security outfit as a battle won against the imperial Federal Government by the strong will of West and freedom-loving friends across Nigeria. Besides,the group in a communique after its regular meeting held in Sure, the Ondo state capital expressed disgust with the Nigerian Police Force(NPF) that almost seven months after the murder of its Leaders daughter,Late Funke Olakunrin, the police has stopped any form of investigation into the dastardly act without any briefing to the family. It said We are left with no option at this stage than to conclude that she was a victim of political assassination necessitating state cover-up. Afenifere challenged the police to do its job on the matter in spite of their disappointment with them. The group also invoked her spirit to remain restless until the killers and masterminds of her death are exposed and brought before the temple of Justice. The meeting noted that but for the depth of despair unitary rule has sunk Nigeria, States having security guards should not have been any issue as the 1999 constitution recognizes the right of state to protect lives and property and State does not mean only Federal Government but states and Local Governments. According to the communique, only carpenters posing as lawyers would ever say that security is on any exclusive list as there is no law that stops individuals from securing their premises talk less of state actors. The jejune argument by spokesmen of our tormentors that the Federal Government has failed to protect us against, that having a security outfit that cuts across states is unacceptable was seen as a non-sequitur as Yoruba are a homogenous group once under a region before Nigeria broke into states. The group pointed out that Yoruba would find it hard to oppose Amotekun in any other part of Nigeria if it owns Hisbah, Lafiya Dole and harbors Boko Haram and Miyetti Allah that are tormenting the country and making President Trump to consider placing Nigeria on travel ban. It rejected any attempt to subsume Amotekun under the Community Policing scheme of the Federal Government which the group claimed was just being informants to the Nigerian police. Afenifere maintained that Amotekun should be independent in carrying out the security of residents of South West with defined operational cooperation with the police but not its subordinate. While Amotekun has now come to stay there must be no let or hindrance in the pursuit of a federal Nigeria so we can revert to the multi-level policing status of Nigeria of the past which saw the Nigerian Railway corporation having its own police. In this regard, we are happy with the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan declaration of support for issues in Federalism especially multi-level policing and we enjoin the National Assembly to see it as the urgent business of now The group hailed the South West Governors for standing firm on Yoruba consensus on Amotekun without blinking. It equally appreciated other groups such as Ohaneze, PANDEF and Middle Belt Forum for standing solidly with the project as well as Prof Wole Soyinka,Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, Prof Itse Sagay(SAN), Femi Falana, and others. The communique also condemned in the strongest terms the lawlessness in Oyo State over local council dissolution. The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Joi Nunieh has ordered the Directorate of Planning, Research and Statistics to treat budgetary implementation requests (Recurrent and Capital from the various Directorates, Departments, Units and State Offices for the year 2020. The Directorate of Planning, Research and Statistics is hereby directed to treat budgetary implementation requests (Recurrent and Capital from the various Directorates, Departments, Units and State Offices for the year 2020. The Senate in November 2019 barred the Interim Management of the Commission from defending the agencys 2020 budget. The Intervention Agency chief executive officer in a memo dated 15th January, 2020 said the sum of N80, 881,610,074 was appropriated to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in the countrys 2020 Budget. Please recall that the President and Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari (CCFR) has signed into law the Federations 2020 Budget (Appropriation Act). Also in the approved Budget, the sum of N80,881,610,074 only has been appropriated to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2019 sent the 2019 and 2020 budget estimates of the agency to the National Assembly for the approval of the federal lawmakers. The National Assembly is yet to pass the 2019 budget of the commission. Titled: Implementation of NDDC Budget, Joi Nunieh ordered the Directorate of Planning, Research and Statistics to comply. It is pertinent to state here that the Commission is an Intervention Agency whose activities are predominantly in the Niger Delta Region with a peculiar and harsh geographical terrain and is greatly influenced by the weather conditions. NAPLES, Florida, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthLynked Corp. (OTCQB: HLYK), a nationwide healthcare network focused on care management of its members and a provider of healthcare technologies that connect doctors, patients and medical data, today announced that it has released its national healthcare pricing tool, "Cost Lynk." The Cost Lynk allows patients to compare pricing of healthcare services from their local market to other locations across the nation. The Pricing tool provides national averages for hospital procedures as well as doctor visits. The Cost Lynk tool can be accessed on the HealthLynked website at: https://www.healthlynked.com/estimator/. Healthcare pricing has long been a problem for patients who are not provided pricing for expensive procedures from hospitals and are often left with sticker shock weeks later when faced with large medical bills. Hospitals have been resistant to provide pricing for medical procedures, but recent legislation has required this information to become available to patients. Healthcare price transparency goes well beyond meeting federal compliance rules, it's about giving patients what they really wantaccurate out-of-pocket costs. By providing accurate estimates prior to service, our healthcare cost transparency solution allows patients to self-estimate their out-of-pocket costs. The Cost Lynk pricing tool offers: National average costs for procedures Local average costs for procedures Average costs by hospital for comparison Commonly grouped procedures What to expect from procedures How to prepare for the procedures Questions to ask your healthcare provider regarding specific procedures More than most other industries, healthcare is known for its lack of price transparency. While patients generally know how much their co-pays are, they are poorly informed about what their final bill might be. Few hospitals and practices publish their costs for services prior to those services being provided. This puts consumers at a serious disadvantage since they are not provided an option to shop around. In recent legislation, the State of Florida passed a bill that will require licensed healthcare facilities to not only provide a "good faith estimate of anticipated charges" but also to make available on their website pricing data or tools that will allow policy holders to make estimates of costs and charges. The federal government is confident that the new requirements will increase competition in the healthcare industry, reduce prices and support greater innovation throughout the healthcare sector. In November 2019, Alex Azar, the HHS Secretary, said, "President Trump has promised American patients' A+ healthcare transparency, but right now our system probably deserves an F on transparency. President Trump is going to change that, with what will be revolutionary changes for our healthcare system. Today's transparency announcement may be a more significant change to American healthcare markets than any other single thing we've done, by shining light on the costs of our shadowy system and finally putting the American patient in control." The final rule on healthcare transparency is expected to go into effect on January 1, 2021. Under the hospital price transparency rule, hospitals must publish their standard charges online in a machine-readable format. They will need to create at least 300 "shoppable" services, including 70 selected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS. Dr. Michael Dent CEO of HealthLynked, stated: "It is more important than ever for patients to know exactly what they are paying for healthcare services as costs continue to rise. HealthLynked is one of the first companies to provide a national pricing tool for healthcare procedures. Currently, we have more hospital pricing data for our Florida members, but as other states pass legislation that make pricing information available, we will continue to update and expand our data." "I am confident the Cost Lynk tool will empower our members with the ability to determine pricing for routine procedures and allow them to decide which facility and provider is the best fit for their needs," concluded Dr. Dent. About HealthLynked Corp. HealthLynked Corp. provides a solution for both patient members and providers to improve healthcare through the efficient exchange of medical information. The HealthLynked Network is a cloud-based platform that allows members to connect with their healthcare providers and take more control of their healthcare. Members enter their medical information, including medications, allergies, past surgeries and personal health records, in one convenient online and secure location, free of charge. Participating healthcare providers can connect with their current and future patients through the system. Benefits to in-network providers include the ability to utilize the HealthLynked patent pending patient access hub "PAH" for patient analytics. Other benefits for preferred providers include HLYK marketing tools to connect with their active and inactive patients to improve patient retention, access more accurate and current patient information, provide more efficient online scheduling and to fill last minute cancelations using our "real time appointment scheduling" all within our mobile application. Preferred providers pay a monthly fee to access these HealthLynked services. For additional information about HealthLynked Corp. visit www.healthlynked.com and connect with HealthLynked on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Forward Looking Statements Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Our actual results, including as a result of any acquisitions, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by our management, and us are inherently uncertain. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable laws. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. Certain risks and uncertainties applicable to our operations and us are described in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other filings we have made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are available at www.sec.gov. Contact: George O'Leary Chief Financial Officer [email protected] +1-(800)-928-7144, ext. 99 Investor Relations Contacts: Stephanie Prince PCG Advisory Group [email protected] +1-646-762-4518 Jim Hock Hanover International Inc. [email protected] +1-760-564-7400 SOURCE HealthLynked Corp. Related Links https://www.healthlynked.com [January 28, 2020] Babson College Graduate Jamie Siminoff, Founder and Chief Inventor at Ring, Honored as 2020 AACSB Influential Leader WELLESLEY, Mass., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Babson College announces that Jamie Siminoff '99, Founder and Chief Inventor at Ring, is one of 25 business school graduates honored by AACSB International (AACSB)the world's largest business education allianceas the 2020 Class of Influential Leaders. The annual challenge recognizes notable alumni from AACSB-accredited schools whose inspiring work serves as a model for the next generation of business leaders. "Jamie sees the world in bigger frames. He has the unique ability to find a market entry point that allows him to grow and achieve his vision of solving big problems. He is driven without hubris," said Babson President Stephen Spinelli Jr., PhD, MBA'92. "Jamie represents himself, his wonderful family, Ring, and Babson College with panache. I look forward to seeing the social and economic value that he will create over his lifetime." "It's an honor to be recognized by the AACSB for this achievement. I am thrilled to not only to receive this recognition, but to be in the company of these many influential leaders working to leave a lasting mark on society," said Siminoff. "For as long as I can remember, it's been a passin of mine to invent, build and bring new solutions to all, and I hope to continue making an impact with this work." "AACSB is honored to recognize Jamie Siminoff and applauds his achievements at Ring as a leading example of business education as a force for good in the world," said Tom Robinson, AACSB president and CEO. "The diversity of backgrounds, industries, and career paths of the 2020 Class of Influential Leaders demonstrates that AACSB-accredited schools are preparing graduates to succeed wherever their passions may take them." Now in its fifth year, the Influential Leaders challenge has recognized more than 200 business school graduates for creating lasting impact in business and society. All honorees have earned an undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral degree from one of the more than 850 AACSB-accredited business schools worldwide. For more information on the Influential Leaders challenge, and to view a full list of honorees, visit aacsb.edu/influential-leaders. About AACSB International Established in 1916, AACSB International (AACSB) is the world's largest business education alliance, connecting educators, learners, and business to create the next generation of great leaders. With a presence in more than 100 countries and territories, AACSB fosters engagement, accelerates innovation, and amplifies impact in business education. Learn how AACSB is transforming business education for a better society at aacsb.edu. About Ring Since its founding in 2013, Ring has been on a mission to make neighborhoods safer. From the video doorbell, to Ring Alarm, which was named #1 in Customer Satisfaction for DIY Home Security Systems by J.D. Power, Ring's smart home security product line, as well as the Neighbors app, offer users affordable whole-home and neighborhood security. At Ring, we are committed to making home and neighborhood security accessible and effective for everyone -- while working hard to bring communities together. Ring is an Amazon company. For more information, visit www.ring.com. With Ring, you're always home. About Babson College Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader of Entrepreneurship of All Kinds . The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/babson-college-graduate-jamie-siminoff-founder-and-chief-inventor-at-ring-honored-as-2020-aacsb-influential-leader-300994732.html SOURCE Babson College [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Chinese authorities have found a probable source of coronavirus contamination- wild animals sold at the Wuhan market. Now China has temporarily banned the raw material sale. The ban is based on the experts statement that snakes and bats could be the source of the disease. Chinese cuisine varies depending on the region, and in some places, there are dishes unusual for Europeans. Sadpanda.cn shares 11 delicacies, the preparation of which will shock susceptible people. Do not watch the photos if you are not confident in your reaction. 1. Monkey brain First, a live monkey is served, then its skull is broken and finally, you can regale yourself with its brains while the animal is screaming in pain. Due to incredible cruelty, we are not showing enlarged photos. 2. Feng Gan Ji Literally, Feng Gan Ji means wind-dried chicken. The chickens entrails are taken out while it is still alive, then seasonings are inserted and then the animal is hanged in the wind by the paws to be prepared. The dish originated in Tibet. 3. Long Xu Feng Zhao The delicacy consists of the barbels of live carp fish (Long Xu) and a piece of meat between the chickens paw (Feng Zhao). 4. Roasted duck claws The duck is placed on a hot iron plate, it begins to jump because of the temperatures. In the process of such a dance, the duck dies, and the legs are getting prepared. An unforgettable aroma of paws is achieved due to a soy sauce poured into the ducks throat. 5. Turtle soup A live turtle is placed in a pan with water and seasonings and hit slowly. The turtle begins to drink soup to cool itself, thereby soaking the inside with seasonings. As the temperatures rise, the turtle dies in agony. 6. Huo Jiao Lu Huo Jiao Lu Literally means fresh donkey. The animal is tied, the chef begins to cut its raw meat and serve it at once. By the way, such atrocities are criticized in Mo Yans novel The Republic of Wine. 7. San Zhi Er Three squeaks. A gourmet is served with a newborn mouse and a plate of sauce. The mouse squeaks for the first time when it is taken with chopsticks. Then, it squeaks when it is dipped in the sauce. For the third time, the animal squeaks when it is eaten. 8. Zui Xia Live shrimps in alcohol. Shrimps are placed in a strong liquor so they get drunk, then they are eaten alive. 9. Crispy goose gut First, a circle is cut with a knife around the animals anus (Indians took scalps in such a manner), then an index finger inserted into the gooses anus, thus, the animal is being rotated and then cooked. 10. Grilled lamb A parturient sheep is being spit-roasted. The lamb inside is also being roasted. It is considered to be a delicacy to cut the sheeps stomach and try the cooked mutton. 11. Shark fin soup Shark fin soup closes the culinary trash-rating. In China, shark fin soup is considered a delicacy. A 450-gram fin costs $ 500. Count on the picture, how many sharks were killed. Vietnam should take advantage of Industry 4.0 if it wants to reach sustainable development goals The Vietnamese economy has performed relatively well in the past decade, being one of the worlds fastest-growing economies. With an impressive economic growth rate at 6.2 per cent over 2010-2018 period, the country has lifted itself out of poverty and reached lower-middle-income status. Doan Ha, economist from the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia GDP per capita for 2018 stood at $1,964, a 1.5 times increase compared to 2010. Adjusted for purchasing power, the number more than tripled at $6,600. Even amidst global economic turbulence, the country still managed to achieve a growth rate of 7.02 per cent in 2019, exceeding growth projections from both national and international think tanks. Notably, Vietnam has also been able to grow in an equitable and inclusive manner. The poverty rate is among the lowest in ASEAN countries, at 2 per cent in 2016, while the GINI index, a measure of economic equality, was 35.3 in 2016, the most recent year for which data is available and has been relatively stable since 2012. This compares with 36.9 in Thailand, 44.4 in the Philippines, and 38.6 in China. Institutional reforms have been among key instruments to create a business-friendly environment to enhance growth. Institutional reforms target at strengthening macro- and micro-economic foundation to improve the business environment; reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens to reduce the cost of doing business and create a level playing field for all economic agents; and amending and supplementing existing regulations and issuance of new laws or regulations towards a market economy and international standards. These sustained efforts have resulted in solid improvement of the business environment. The World Banks Ease of Doing Business report placed Vietnam at 70th out of 190 economies included in 2019, an encouraging progress from rank 90th in 2010. Trade liberalisation has provided a substantial boost for Vietnams economic growth. Trade openness, measured as the ratio of import plus export over GDP, has been rising steadily, reaching over 200 per cent last year, higher than most ASEAN countries except Singapore. The country has also proved to be one of the most attractive foreign direct investment (FDI) destinations in the region. FDI accounts for approximately 50 per cent of output and 70 per cent of exports in manufacturing. The share of FDI in gross investment has also risen from 14.9 per cent in 2007 to 23.4 per cent in 2018. Aside from domestic reforms, continuous efforts to engage in regional and international trade arrangements have contributed significantly to the increasing openness. According to the Asian Development Banks free trade agreements (FTA) database, the country has signed 13 FTAs, while 12 others are either under consultation or negotiation. The scope of FTAs has also deepened, from shallow integration mostly dealing with tariff reduction, to more advanced FTAs which cover a broad range of issues beyond tariffs. The scope expansion promises to bring about opportunities and pressure for more comprehensive reforms. Challenges remain Overall, key economic indicators remain healthy and give rise to optimism. The National Centre for Socio-Economic Information and Forecast has constructed two growth scenarios for the 2021-2025 period. If the country succeeds in taking advantage of Industry 4.0, annual GDP growth can be as high as 7.5 per cent, implying that Vietnam will achieve the goal of becoming an industrial nation in 2030 and avoid the middle-income trap. In a less optimistic scenario, GDP growth is still impressive at 7 per cent per year, with labour productivity growth being 6.3 per cent annually. However, Vietnam does face challenges that need to be tackled seriously to bring about sustainable growth. One such challenge is the issue of low productivity, particularly for micro and small businesses, and the increasing productivity gap among businesses. A study by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia shows that total factor productivity (TFP) growth rate of the service sector has been trending downward since 2009, and agriculture has experienced both constantly low and slow growth TFP. Particularly, small businesses, which account for the majority of the business community, have experienced stagnant productivity growth. Moreover, the widening productivity gap between large and small businesses suggests potential resource misallocation and can impede aggregate productivity growth. In the manufacturing sector, despite the strong presence of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) and the exponential rise in the number of private local businesses, interactions between these two players are weak. Only a half of FDI intermediate inputs are purchased domestically. Out of these, most are sourced from other FIEs. Domestic private businesses, particularly manufacturing ones, lack sufficient absorptive capacity to benefit from FDI spillovers. Innovation by this sector is limited. International engagement of domestic businesses is also small, since they lack the resources to go global. In addition, the countrys position in global value chains is still limited to labour-intensive tasks with little domestic value added. That is, the country produces and exports low value-added manufacturing products that require low-skilled work. While low domestic value-added is not necessarily a material problem in the short run, in the long run it affects a countrys competitiveness and impedes industrial upgrading. Innovation, one key instrument for development in the digital age, needs a further boost. Innovation-related statistics show that Vietnam is still in a catching-up phase but considerable progress has been made in recent years. Research and development intensity in the country is still low at 0.44 per cent of GDP. This ratio is below those of the countrys developing counterparts (for example, Malaysia a 1.3 per cent and Thailand at 0.78 per cent), and much lower than that of developed countries. The WIPO Global Innovation Index 2018 (a composite index attempting to capture some aspects related to innovation performance in a country) sees Vietnam positioned closely to Thailand, Russia, and Chile, and behind Malaysia, but ahead of the Philippines and Indonesia. In addition, an effective national innovation system which could attach businesses to R&D is not yet in place. Other obstacles to be tackled include the need to upgrade industry so that higher value-added activities can be developed and expanded, the strengthening of institutions, and improvements to public services and soft and hard infrastructure. Overall, improvement of the above-mentioned aspects would also enhance resilience to cope with external shocks in the context of rising global uncertainty and the return to protectionism. Enhancing competitiveness In June 2019, the prime minister enacted Decision No.681/QD-TTg setting a roadmap to achieve the countrys sustainable development goals through 2030. Targeted GDP growth rate will be maintained at 5-6 per cent in the 2020-2030 period. Average GDP per capita will increase 4-4.5 per cent yearly. Labour productivity growth rate will be kept at 5 per cent annually. The digital transformation and Industry 4.0 will accelerate in the coming decades. The increasing global uncertainty emphasises the importance of inclusiveness in the growth agenda. These are vital factors to be incorporated into the development strategy toward 2030. Vietnam has made significant improvements in recent years in reforming and improving the business environment. It is crucial that these reforms continue. In terms of economic integration, accelerating digital trade facilitation, for example, implementation of electronic documentation, electronic payment and national single window enhances transparency and efficiency, and contributes to trade cost reduction. Streamlining regulations and harmonising standards, in particular, improve products competitiveness, reduces procedural costs, and provides better market access to businesses. Second, productivity in the private sector, where companies are small and financially-constrained, could also be improved. Vietnam has been successful in attracting FDI, and increased technology spillover from this is the next step to work towards, as is the need to boost the countrys ability to absorb technological knowledge. Third, reform of the educational system, with more emphasis placed on technical training and practical skills, especially in the era of the digital economy, is also important. Development of educational system that could equip workers with appropriate skill sets for the new era is crucial. Availability of a skilled labour pool is imperative for both domestic businesses, which would eventually rely on self-innovation and technology adoption for survival and growth, and international investors, who find hiring low-skilled workers less attractive as wages rise. The shows curators, Nicholas Dagen Bloom, a scholar and advocate of public housing, and Matthias Altwicker, a Brooklyn architect, document the various ways midcentury public housing reformers replaced slum tenements mostly with far less dense forms of urbanism. All those high-rise slab buildings and H-, Y- and T-shaped housing complexes were designed to provide tenants with more light, air and open space. They were about replacing slum tenements with quasi-suburban developments. The same approach defined middle-class projects like Co-op City in the Bronx. Low density was the point of building towers in the park. So while the notorious Lower East Side tenements described by Jacob Riis in How the Other Half Lives packed in some 1,100 people per acre, leaving only 13 percent of the tenement blocks as open space, Queensbridge Houses in Queens, from 1939 one of the largest public housing complexes in North America was built for 245 people per acre. Three-quarters of the site remained open space. Public housing was designed to take people out of the city, Mr. Freemark said, but denser urban neighborhoods are where people with choice have almost always preferred to live. He cited Chicago, where the densest neighborhoods are mostly on the wealthier North Side. In New York, the largely well-to-do Upper West Side is one of the densest neighborhoods in the city; underserved East New York, in Brooklyn, is one of the least dense. Few buildings in New York are more densely populated than London Terrace, in Chelsea. Designed around the same time as Tudor City, its a 22-story behemoth with some 1,600 apartments. To build it, Henry Mandel, Frenchs rival, demolished rowhouses along West 23rd Street between Ninth and 10th Avenues. While Mandel imagined working-class tenants occupying London Terrace, over the years John OHara, Nicole Kidman and Debbie Harry moved into the building. In 2013, the television producer David Chase bought Susan Sontags penthouse at London Terrace for $9.65 million. London Terrace was built to house 931 people per acre. Its nearly four times as densely populated as Queensbridge, 18 times as dense as Co-op City, closer to the density of city centers in Paris and Barcelona. "Consumers are always looking for a wider variety of ethically sourced meats, and we like to be at the forefront of what's new and innovative in the market," says Josh Solovy, President, Golden West Food Group. "We align with Cooks Venture's philosophy that better animal husbandry yields higher quality, great tasting and better for you foods. That's why we invested in Cooks Venture and believe they, in short time, will be a market leader for pasture-raised, heirloom and heritage bred, regenerative poultry in the US." Agrawal is joining Cooks Venture at a time of rapid expansion. Fresh off the heels of raising $12 million in secured financing, the company is working to advance the capacity and reach of regenerative farming nationwide. Agrawal will apply his deep financial knowledge to lead the company's sustainable growth, building new investor partnerships and establishing core processes. Cooks Venture - founded by Matthew Wadiak, former COO and founder of Blue Apron - is establishing regenerative agriculture systems through a combination of crop science, animal breeding and husbandry and long-term data monitoring. The company's first offering is pasture-raised, slow-growth, heirloom chicken raised on their 800-acre farm, hatchery and breeding facility in Northwest Arkansas. Cooks Venture's breeding program is redefining AgTech for poultry. "I have raised and breed animals for food for five decades and am painfully aware of industrial poultry production," says Bill Niman, animal welfare expert. "Cooks Venture's unique breed, the "Pioneer," is the product of over a decade of research into better, slower growing genetics and is the best tasting chicken I have ever had. Finally, we have a scaled humanely raised, slower growing, affordable and delicious alternative that doesn't torture the animals, farmers, consumers or the environment." As a member of the leadership team, Agrawal reports directly to Wadiak. "As Cooks Venture continues to expand, it is critical that we add trusted executives to our team, who can help grow the business. I look forward to seeing what Ankur can do for the company as we look to our second year," Wadiak said. "Matt is committed to making a positive, long-lasting impact on the agriculture and food systems," said Agrawal. "Cooks Venture provides a unique opportunity to combine my passion for heathy food and food systems, reversing climate change and building strong businesses." Agrawal has worked in a variety of finance roles including FP&A, innovation finance, investor relations and corporate development. Most recently, Agrawal served as the VP of Finance at SeatGeek. Agrawal first met Wadiak at Blue Apron, where he worked for over three years. Prior to Blue Apron, Ankur worked at Pepsico in a variety of Finance roles. He began his career in investment banking with a focus on food and agriculture clients. As a result, Agrawal became passionate about making good food accessible while building financially stable businesses. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Yale University and a Bachelor's Degree from New York University. Cooks Venture's mission seeks to improve and bring innovation to the American food system. They are redefining how agriculture technology and genetics for monogastric animals interact in developing better practices to create economies of scale for farmers which in turn provide profitable returns for farmers and private business. In conjunction with Cooks Venture leadership, Ivan Saval of National Securities Corporation acted as an advisor in brokering the deal. To learn more about Cooks Venture, visit cooksventure.com. About Cooks Venture Cooks Venture is a next generation AgTech company committed to regenerative agriculture and a truly transparent supply chain for the future. Founded by Matthew Wadiak, the company is built on the well-documented scientific principle that sequestering 1% more carbon into the soil on agricultural lands could help mitigate climate change. Cooks Venture aims to improve the overall agricultural supply chain, while promoting regenerative agriculture at all levels, providing consumers with responsible food choices that are exceptional in quality and taste while also being completely transparent in process. Cooks Venture is Certified Humane and a Global Animal Partnership Step 4 certified company, which is the leading animal welfare certification recognized by the ASPCA Shop With Your Heart program. Media Contact: Elizabeth Matthews [email protected] 646-284-7923 SOURCE Cooks Venture Related Links https://cooksventure.com/ 27.01.2020 LISTEN The chick that will grow into a hen can be spotted the very day it hatches...this was Okonkwos fear with the arrival of the Europeans in Nigeria in the late Nineteenth Century as captured in the Novel, Things Fall Apart. The cry of Okonkwo was borne out of the conspicuous danger the African Culture was due to suffer from the imposition of the White mans culture and religion on the African. Its much the same way the actions of the Nana Addo led government and the growing levels of impunity today are a reflection of what was shown the Ghanaian people when NPP was in opposition and immediately they assume power in 2017. The formation of militant groups (invincible forces, delta forces, etc) to serve as parallel forces of the security agencies in Ghana while in opposition is a sign that with state power to control and expend resources, they can do anything to anybody and still call the bluff of the Ghanaian people. After testing their two fingers in our mouths and never got bitten, they will surely put the five fingers in our rectum and play with our intestines and lungs. Once nobody got fired and nobody saw the need to apologize and take responsibility for stealing parts of speeches of three Presidents for Nana Addo to read to the Ghanaian people and the world, we were being told to prepare for their worse. The embarrassment that greeted us with this incident is still fresh in our minds. That was the beginning of the test of the patience and tolerance of the people. The NDC and the Ghanaian people should never expect President Nana Addo and his NPP to do anything better than the display of arrogance, vindictiveness, abuse of power, broad day robbery from the public purse, harassment of dissenting voices, intimidation and the return of culture of silence among others. The show of excessive forms of tolerance to the above serves as a fertile ground for them to firm their grips and beat the hell out of us. To my NDC comrades and the genuine dissenting voices, get prepared for the worse. The harassment of John Mahama out of his official bungalow with the excuse that Dr Bawumia (VEEP) was homeless but finally got the Senior Minister to occupy the same bungalow should have signaled us that this battle wont be cool. They are currently chasing Chairman Ofosu Ampofo around over leaked tape while the real threats to the peace of this country are serving in sensitive positions in government. All these are testimonies to the fact that we the flies who chant around without any grounding can easily be crushed without stress. So what surprises you when Sammy Gyamfi got ambushed and ultimately arrested after a TV Program? If we didnt see this coming then, we are some jokers in this redefined democracy of Akufo-Addo. The beating of ACP Nanka Bruce at the seat of government by the militants of the NPP was a message to the police force that the invincible forces now have power over them once Nana Addo is President of Ghana. The Ayawaso West Wuogon show at the by-election was an equally a message to the Ghanaian that the 2020 election might be a battle of the strong and not ideas. Today, Double and his gang of militants operating as National Security Operatives are paid with our taxes after the government threw the Emile Shorts recommendations to the bin. Do we have a National Peace Council? The disruption of court proceedings in Kumasi by the Delta Forces and the subsequent filing of no case by government should have told the Judiciary that contempt of court was being redefined by the NPP and applied as they defined. Those Delta Force Militants are walking free and living at the expense of the taxpayer while an arrest warrant is served on Kelvin Taylor by a Judge. The open attacks of Hon Kennedy Agyapong on the Military for refusing to employ his over 100 NPP boys into the service without following the recruitment procedure is a clear indication that the respect for the barracks is about to be waived. Who doesnt fear and respect the military uniform? The killing of Ahmed Hussein-Suale and its attended challenges; the threats on the head of Anas Aremeyaw Anas, the Internationally Celebrated Investigative Journalist; the threats on Manasseh and his subsequent exile; the threats on Edward Adeti for exposing corruption in NPP government and the several cases of intimidation and open attacks on Journalists and media houses for doing less of what they did to the Mahama administration marks the return of the culture of silence in multitudes. Is it the case that the media is enjoying this and are only interested in reviewing Ananse stories on their shows, interviewing Fake Prophets and not the protection of its members? Once Kennedy Agyapong and the NPP succeeded in deliberately denting the image of an award Winning Investigative Journalist like Anas, the rest of the media men and women are just like carrots who can be chewed without boiling. As businesses are struggling to break even; as importers are struggling with rising BPs because of the depreciation of the cedi and ever increasing port charges; as the trotro driver is making up with the unannounced increases in prices of petroleum products; as the banking sub-sector is sinking and employment shrinking in alongside; and as the suffering Ghanaian continue to suffer in solitude, the Electoral Commission of Ghana is bent on blowing several millions of dollars on a register almost 40 CSOs, several political parties and majority of Ghanaians said they dont need. Even when their lame explanations and ever-changing narratives are further exposing the selfish intentions, the NPPs General Secretary, Mr John Boadu came to announce the date for the commencement of the exercise. The worse scenario is even that the Emile Short led Eminent Advisory Committees request for a meeting with EC and the IPAC has angered the EC to come out to corroborate the announcement made by John Boadu on the date for the said exercise. If this is not arrogance, if this is not abuse of power, if this is not disrespecting, if this is not insensitivity, then I am still looking around to find any reasonable but sound description of the ECs actions. Ambulances are parked for close to 5 months because the President want to cut a tape in a ceremony organize with taxes, and not even the noise from the Ghanaian would get the government sensitive. An innocent medical student had to suffer arrest for a harmless protest before the University of Ghana Medical Centre got partially operationalized. As we speak, the Ghana Maritime Authority and the Bank of Ghana Hospitals are locked up without explanation. Are we contend with the no bed syndrome and the pain and frustration many a pregnant woman go through in Korle Bu and 37? Several hospital projects have been abandoned and not even the call from chiefs will sound any meaning in the ears of the President and his appointees. Some selected road projects which were ongoing have been suspended with the excuse that some auditing were being done and for three years now, no audit report has been published and work on those roads have not commenced. Is the Ghanaian this tolerant or Mahama was just not lucky? Appointees who hitherto were ordinary dependents are now overnight rich men who call all the shocks in towns and villages. Their flamboyance and opulence are put on stages without fear. The President is flying private jets at a cost to the taxpayer and his cousin is directing government agenda out of government. The NPP senior members are openly declaring their intention to steal the 2020 elections on talk shows and not at cabinet meetings. All these have passed the test for the real show in December 2020. Perhaps, the show put out by the NPP militants at Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election and the statement by the majority leader in Parliament to the effect that with the compilation of the new register, the NDC will never win an election in this country might just be as dangerous as the operations of terrorists groups in Somalia. And this must be worrying to the Ghanaian than the so called leak tape from Chairman Ofosu or some so called cyber crimes by Sammy Gyamfi. To my NDC comrades, no amount of press conferences or releases from our council of elders will get the NPP to be democratic and sincere during election 2020. No amount of exposing corruption in this government will stop them from engaging in same acts now and forever. The language the NPP understands is different from the language the NDC is speaking now. Why not stiff boycotts? Why not simultaneous peaceful demonstrations across regions? Beware! The second coming of Nana Addo will witness the highest form of impunity in Ghana. If we are lucky, they will only chase all of us into exile and sell this country to the Danquahs so we can serve as refugees in other countries in peace. Get down from your gentle horses and act as citizens. I know the NDC love this country, and I know the NDC will be the last to pray for any instability, but that shouldnt serve as our weaknesses. We need to rescue this country and this must be a civic duty to all of us. I am a patriotic citizen! Shalom! Stuff reports: New Zealands gaming industry says it is being disadvantaged by old-fashioned systems that give subsidies to films but not interactive media. Since 2014, the New Zealand Screen Production Grant for International productions has offered a cash rebate for qualifying New Zealand production expenditure. That means, in many cases, film production companies can access rebates of about 20 per cent of their budget for international productions. Domestic productions can access up to 40 per cent. But games developers say they are often competing for talent with companies that work on those film productions such as Weta but that they do not have access to the same financial support. Its not really comparing apples with apples. Yes they both employ skilled IT people, but a typical film or TV series will employ hundreds and hundreds of people while the typical game will be I suspect less than 10. The reason for the film subsidy is because bringing the production of films to NZ results in a huge amount of spending (increasing GST etc). Her organisations research showed that while New Zealands games industry earned over $143 million in 2018, the global market was worth $258b. Gaining 1 per cent of the global video games market would generate $258m in new exports. The sector has grown 39 per cent annually for the last six years, and if an industry plan and Government support maintained this growth rate, the industry would be worth $1b in 2024. A 39% growth rate is superb, and we have a great gaming industry who produce many popular games. But past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Based on the data above, the industry has gone from $20 million six years ago to $143 million today, which is excellent. But an increase of $120 million is way different from saving you will grow a further $850 million. Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford agreed that, with more Government support, gaming development could be a $1b industry. Its the kind of industry we want to foster, its big on exporting, job rich, with skilled jobs that are well-paid, its carbon free it ticks all the boxes. He said the Government was working through industry transformation plans, including one for the digital sector, which was already under way, and one for the creative sector later this year. The support we want to give to the interactive media industry will be considered within the creative sector industry transformation plan. He said gaming had really bright prospects. I agree it has bright prospects, and there is a role for Government in assisting the industry. But not through huge subsidies. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr Most of you will be aware of the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that hit eastern Turkey on Friday evening (24 January 2020) killing 38 people and injuring over 1,600 (as reported by Turkeys Disaster and Relief Agency AFAD on Sunday). Whilst it may not be the biggest or most devastating earthquake that has hit Turkey, it has still led to loss of life, injury and damage to property. It also serves as a salutatory reminder to people in Turkey that they live in an earthquake zone. Seismic map of Turkey Fethiye, a small coastal town-population 3,000 Fethiye was a small coastal town in 1957 with a population of around 3,000. This quiet world abruptly changed on the evening of the 24 April 1957 when, following a series of earth tremors, residents were told to leave their homes and not return. As a result, when a 6.2 quake hit the town at 21:17 followed by a 7.1 quake at 04:28 on 25th April, there was far less loss of life than would have otherwise resulted. The earthquake destroyed many buildings, but as a result of the foresight of Fethiyes governor, Kamil Nezih Okus, only 19 people were killed. Fethiyes governor, Kamil Nezih Okus. The following photographs were taken by the official photographer from HMS Dainty, a British Royal Navy D-Class destroyer which arrived from its base in Cyprus three days after the quake, bringing tents, blankets, water purification tablets and medical supplies. HMS Dainty Fethiye municipality use the collection of photographs from time to time as part of an informative programme to reinforce the importance of being prepared, should there be another earthquake. Be prepared On 16 November 2019, AKUT Search and Rescue Association, held an earthquake awareness presentation that covered what you should know and do before, during and after an earthquake. Please take time to click on the link below, read the article and make sure youre prepared. AKUT Earthquake Awareness Presentation what you need to know about earthquakes Other resources When The Earth Moves An Earthquake Survival Guide Thank you to Greg Geilman of RE/MAX Estate Properties in Los Angeles, California for sharing the following resource with us. Be Prepared: Household Earthquake Safety Tips and Helpful Home Modifications to Consider The resurfacing of the M4 motorway between Kilcock and Lucan could start as early as March. Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said a Low Noise Surface will be installed to reduce traffic sound levels for nearby residents and businesses. The issue of noise from the motorway has been raised with local politicians in recent years. The TII also said bus lane is now being considered between Maynooth and Lucan. Local Fianna Fail TD Frank O'Rourke said: The TII has informed me that phase one of the resurfacing works, with a low noise surface, between Kilcock and Maynooth is set to commence in March/April which is very positive news. "The TII are now considering my proposal to provide a Bus Lane between Maynooth and Lucan, which would improve the travel time for our bus service. This bus lane could be included in the next phase of the M4 resurfacing works. He added: We should provide a bus lane from Maynooth to the city centre. This will improve the bus service for Maynooth and Kilcock Bus Commuters. I am delighted that my proposal is now being considered by the TII and Kildare Co Council." President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as National Security Adviser John Bolton listens in the Oval Office of the White House on Aug. 20, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Bolton Book Claims Shift the Tide on Calling Witnesses as Trump, Mulvaney Deny Claims The allegations from an upcoming book by former national security adviser John Bolton may have altered the trajectory on the question of whether the Senate will call on additional witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Two swing-vote Republicans have now indicated that they and some of their colleagues are considering joining the Democrats in calling on Bolton to testify. As Democrats on Jan. 27 renewed their calls for additional witnesses in the Senate, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) both suggested that the report about Boltons book should warrant calling witnesses. The Democrats will need four Republican senators to side with them when the question of calling for additional witnesses comes before the Senate. The reports about John Boltons book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues, Collins said in a statement. Romney, considered another possible swing-vote who has been an outspoken critic of Trump within the Republican Party, told reporters Jan. 27 that it is increasingly apparent that it would be important to hear from John Bolton before adding that it is increasingly likely other Republican senators would join in too. The New York Times reported on details from Boltons book on Jan. 26 without quoting any of the books content. According to the newspaper, Trump told Bolton during a meeting in August that he preferred sending no assistance to Ukraine until officials had turned over all materials they had about the Russia investigation that related to Mr. Biden and supporters of Mrs. Clinton in Ukraine. Trump disputed Boltons reported claims and noted that the House lawmakers never called on Bolton to testify during the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry. Notably, the description of Boltons account specifically makes references to materials tied to the Russia investigation rather than the new inquiries Trump brought up during his call with Zelensky. I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens, Trump wrote on Twitter. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. In the book, Bolton also reportedly claims that he warned White House lawyers that Trumps personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, may have used his work for the president to help his private clients. Bolton reportedly brought his concerns about Giuliani to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after Trumps July 26 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Pompeo disputed Boltons account through a spokesperson. Bolton also reportedly claimed that acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney was present when Trump spoke with Giuliani about former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Democrats say that Yovanovitchs firing is linked to an alleged scheme to pressure Ukraine to open investigations into Trumps political rivals, namely, former Vice President Joe Biden. A lawyer for Mulvaney pushed back against reports that his client was involved in discussions about holding aid to Ukraine in exchange for investigations. John Bolton never informed Mick Mulvaney of any concerns surrounding Boltons purported August conversation with the president, Mulvaney lawyer Bob Driscoll said in a statement on Jan. 27. Nor did Mr. Mulvaney ever have a conversation with the president or anyone else indicating that Ukrainian military aid was withheld in exchange for a Ukrainian investigation of Burisma, the Bidens, or the 2016 election. Burisma is a Ukrainian gas company in which Bidens son Hunter held a paid position from 2014 to 2019. The statement said that the latest story from The New York Times, coordinated with a book launch, has more to do with publicity than the truth. Shortly after leaked details of the book were published, Amazon.com opened pre-orders for Boltons book with a release date set for March 17. The sales page describes the book as a memoir of Boltons 519 days serving as Trumps national security adviser. John Bolton served as National Security Adviser to President Donald Trump for 519 days, the description says. A seasoned public servant who had previously worked for Presidents Reagan, Bush #41, and Bush #43, Bolton brought to the administration 30 years of experience in international issues and a reputation for tough, blunt talk. In his memoir, he offers a substantive and factual account of his time in the room where it happened. A spokesperson for Bolton denied allegations that he collaborated with The New York Times. Ambassador John Bolton, Simon & Schuster, and Javelin Literary categorically state that there was absolutely no coordination with The New York Times or anyone else regarding the appearance of information about his book, The Room Where It Happened, at online booksellers. Any assertion to the contrary is unfounded speculation, Bolton aide Sarah Tinsley said in a statement on Jan. 27. The reported details from Boltons book add a twist to the Senate trial, which, until now, has chugged along without any major surprises. The New York Times published its story about the book as Trumps attorneys prepared to present a second day of defense arguments. During the first day of arguments, the defense team exposed what they described as omissions in the narrative presented by the Democratic impeachment managers. Bolton reportedly distributed drafts of the book to close associates and sent a copy to the White House for review of classified material. The former national security advisers lawyer accused the White House of leaking the details of the book. Democrats subsequently renewed calls for Bolton to testify in the Senate impeachment trial of Trump. Senators should insist that Mr. Bolton be called as a witness, and provide his notes and other relevant documents, House impeachment managers said in a statement on Jan. 26. The Senate trial must seek the full truth and Mr. Bolton has vital information to provide. There is no defensible reason to wait until his book is published, when the information he has to offer is critical to the most important decision Senators must now makewhether to convict the President of impeachable offenses. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) shared on social media one of the reports about Boltons book and said it suggests multiple top Trump Admin officials knew the facts and deliberately misled Congress and the American people. A massive White House cover-up. All we need is four Republican Senators to get the truth, Schumer said. Trumps attorneys made their case against the presidents removal as Boltons reported claims reverberated through Washington. Top Republican senators on Jan. 27 dismissed the leaked Bolton claims, saying the allegations were nothing new. Theres nothing new here. It does seem to be an effort to sell books, said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 Republican in the Senate. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the No. 4 GOP member in the Senate, said: The basic dynamic of the obligation of the House to take the time they have to put a case together doesnt change. I dont think it changes any fundamental information, nor does it change the basic case that the House has to put the case together. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said during an appearance on the Hugh Hewitt Show on Jan. 27 that the House could have called Bolton but didnt, and that the Senate shouldnt do the Houses work for them. They want us to do the investigative work, Ernst, the vice chairwoman of the Senate Republican Conference, said. And thats not the job of the Senate. OSWIECIM, Poland Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp gathered Monday for commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of its liberation, returning to the place where they lost entire families and warning about the ominous growth of anti-Semitism and hatred in the world. In all, some 200 survivors of the camp were expected, many of them elderly Jews and non-Jews who have traveled from Israel, the United States, Australia, Peru, Russia, Slovenia and elsewhere. Many lost parents and grandparents in Auschwitz or other Nazi death camps, but were being joined by children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. When asked by reporters for their reflections, they were eager to share their stories, hopeful that their message will spread. We would like that the next generation know what we went through, and it should never happen again, said 91-year-old David Marks, his voice cracking. He lost 35 members of his extended family after they all arrived in Auschwitz from their village in Romania. Most of the 1.1 million people murdered by the Nazi German forces at the camp were Jewish, but other Poles, Russians and Roma, or Gypsies, were imprisoned there. Some of the Polish survivors walked with Polish President Andrzej Duda through the camps gate Monday wearing striped scarves that recalled the prison garb they wore more than 75 years ago. Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet army on Jan. 27, 1945. Among those attending Mondays observances at Auschwitz, which is located in southern Poland, a region under German occupation during the war, were German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. Rivlin recalled the strong connection that Israel shares with Poland, which welcomed Jews for centuries. It became home to Europes largest population of Jews and later the center of Germanys destruction of that community. The glorious history of the Jews in Poland, the prosperity of which the Jewish community has enjoyed throughout history, along with the difficult events that have taken place on this earth, connect the Jewish people and the State of Israel, inextricably, with Poland and the Polish people, Rivlin said. Organizers of the event in Poland, the Auschwitz-Birkenau state memorial museum and the World Jewish Congress, have sought to keep the spotlight on survivors. On the eve of the commemorations, survivors, many leaning on their children and grandchildren for support, walked through the place where they had been brought in cattle cars and suffered hunger and illness and came close to death. They said they were there to remember, to share their histories with others, and to make a gesture of defiance toward those who had sought their destruction. Vanessa Gera is an Associated Press writer. Authorities in Hong Kong on shut down rail connections from mainland China on as the number of deaths in the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic passed 100. Trains are no longer running on express routes connecting Hong Kong to neighboring cities in mainland China, nor on the high-speed rail line to West Kowloon station, the city's government told a news conference. Flights coming in from mainland Chinese cities will be cut by around half, while all cross-boundary ferry services between Hong Kong and mainland China are suspended, it said. The number of confirmed cases of illness caused by the novel coronavirus, officially termed nCoV-2019 (Wuhan) by the World Health Organization (WHO), rose to 4,409 in China on , with the majority still clustered in Hubei, according to a website set up by researchers at Johns Hopkins University to track the epidemic. The number of deaths in the epidemic rose to 107, with a handful of confirmed cases reported in Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, the United States, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. Bus services plying cross-border routes including across the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will be reduced, in a bid to "significantly reduce the flow of people" coming from mainland China into Hong Kong, chief executive Carrie Lam told reporters. The ruling Chinese Communist Party said it would no longer issue visitor passes to Chinese nationals wishing to visit Hong Kong. While post-handover Hong Kong was promised control of its own borders under the terms of the "one country, two systems" framework, commentators have noted that it has no meaningful way to refuse entry to residents of mainland China once a permit has been issued. Government hospitals in the city will also start charging people full treatment fees if they don't have residency status or a valid employment visa, the government said, in a bid to discourage healthcare tourism by people infected with the Wuhan coronavirus. Residents of the central Chinese province of Hubei, whose capital Wuhan has been at the epicenter of the epidemic, have been restricted from entering Hong Kong since Jan. 27, although hundreds are believed to have already done so, and will likely be contacted for checkups by hospitals. No need for a total closure of Hong Kong But Lam said there was no need for a total closure of the city's borders. "The number of visitors from mainland China has greatly reduced, and 70 percent of those going through immigration control are Hong Kong residents," Lam said. "Why then would we shut down the borders and prevent Hongkongers from coming and going?" "There are a lot of Hong Kong people in mainland China or other places right now: should we close the borders and tell them they're not welcome to come here?" Lam said the government had dropped plans to use a newly built public housing project as a quarantine site for people who had been in contacted with known cases of the Wuhan virus, but denied it was in response to an arson attack on the empty building by protesters from nearby residential areas, who said it was an inappropriate site for a quarantine camp. The Hong Kong authorities are concerned over a shortage of surgical masks, and are trying to source more supplies internationally, she said. Hong Kong has eight confirmed cases to date, with the same number reported in Thailand. France has reported three known cases and Vietnam two, while single cases have been confirmed in Cambodia, Canada, Germany, the Ivory Coast, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The WHO has revised its assessment of the level of threat posed by the coronavirus outbreak from medium to high for the Asia Pacific region, and maintained its assessment of "very high" for China. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on to discuss ways to manage the epidemic. 'We cannot let the devil hide' Xi told Tedros: "The virus is a devil and we cannot let the devil hide," according to state broadcaster CCTV. "China will strengthen international cooperation and welcomes the WHO participation in virus prevention ... We believe that the WHO an international community will give a calm, objective and rational assessment of the virus and China is confident of winning the battle against the virus," Xi was quoted as saying. A month into the coronavirus epidemic, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has sparked an unprecedented level of public criticism on the country's tightly controlled internet over its handling of the biggest public health crisis since the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic left hundreds dead in 2002-2003. A resident of Wuhan who gave only his surname Ding said the local government hadn't taken enough steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including warning local residents about a public health emergency in their backyard. He said local residents also have no way of informing the authorities of the situation on the ground in a quarantined city of 11 million. "I tried calling the mayor's helpline but I couldn't get through; there was just a computerized message, no member of staff," Ding said. "If you try calling 110 for an ambulance you can't get through either." "You can't get through on any of the numbers listed for supermarkets online even if you can find them, so actually we have no way to tell anybody anything," he said. "The government isn't doing anything." "They didn't hand out face masks [as promised] ... and you can't get the good ones anywhere," Ding said. "You can only find the regular ones." "We're all going crazy because all we can do when we've ... finished work is to go home," he said. Wuhan resident Li Yuqin said many people were sick in her district, but were turned away from overwhelmed hospitals, and are left to fend for themselves in the community, with no treatment or testing for the coronavirus. "They tried a bunch of hospitals a few times, including Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan People's Hospital, and No. 4 Hospital, but they all said there were no beds," Li told RFA. 'Marginalization of officials with know-how' A video circulating on social media showed a woman in Wuhan calling the hospital to pick up a 62-year-old patient Zhou Jiqing who was diagnosed with the coronavirus but had been turned away by the hospital. "There are a lot of these cases now, and there aren't any [beds]," a member of staff at one hospital is heard telling the woman in the video clip. Wu Qiang, former politics lecturer at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, said a taskforce set up to manage the epidemic under premier Li Keqiang was unlikely to be able to achieve much. "Can this small committee fully mobilize everyone do a professional job of containing the epidemic? I doubt it," Wu told RFA. "They are mainly party officials and bureaucrats, and they are not led by public health experts." "The key thing to note about this committee is the lack of public health technicians." Chinese dissident Wang Aizhong said China doesn't lack public health expertise, but the political environment has skewed sharply away from technical know-how since Xi Jinping came to power. "[We see instead] an emphasis on political priorities and the marginalization of officials with know-how," Wang said. "We can see the consequences of this in the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic." "It shows a lack of professionalism and confusion, [which] is obviously the inevitable result of the current political climate," Wang said. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Gao Feng for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Islamabad: Khalistani leader Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD, who has been in Pakistan for a long time under the leadership of intelligence agency ISI, has been shot dead near a gurdwara in Lahore after fleeing from Punjab in India. It is being told that some of Pakistan's local gangs are responsible for Happy's murder. Lahore police informed the local media that Harmeet Singh alias Happy has been killed due to a dispute over the money of drugs supply. Harmeet Singh is included in the most wanted list of Punjab Police. He is accused of being involved in the conspiracy of hand grenade attack in Amritsar and the assassination of Rashtriya Sevak Sangh (RSS) and Shiv Sena leaders in Punjab. He was the mastermind of the conspiracy to supply drugs in India and the sleeper cells and terrorist models of pro-Khalistan terrorists while sitting in Pakistan. As of now, the Punjab Police has not given any official response to the killing of Khalistani leader Harmeet Singh. Let me tell you that Harmeet Singh has been describing himself as the Chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force. Also Read: Coronavirus wreaks havoc in China, America alerts its citizens Attack on another temple in Pakistan, idol and sacred book destroyed 6 haunted places thatll scare the hell out of you US researchers reveal, superbug genes can also spread virus An intellectually disabled man prevented by court order from entering into a civil legal marriage has initiated a legal challenge aimed at having the High Court's entire wardship jurisdiction struck down as unconstitutional. The man, aged in his forties, objects to being taken into wardship and to the ban on his marriage. He is challenging two Acts - the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland Act 1871, which regulates the High Court's wardship procedure, and the Marriage of Lunatics Act 1811, under which any marriage entered into by a ward of court is automatically void. It is claimed both are unconstitutional and/or incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. He also wants declarations aimed at securing commencement of provisions of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015, which provides for replacement of the existing wards of court system and introduction of a new system of supported decision-making. The man's siblings and a charity providing residential and other services for him support wardship for reasons including six medical reports have all found he lacks capacity to make decisions about managing himself and his finances, which include a substantial inheritance. His intended bride, who has an intellectual disability but is high functioning and not subject of any court order, also claims the order banning their marriage last summer breaches her rights. The two have been in a relationship for more than 15 years. When the wardship matter was mentioned today before High Court president Mr Justice Peter Kelly, who manages the wards of court list, he was asked by Frank Callanan SC, for the man, to adjourn the wardship hearing pending clarification of issues concerning the constitutional challenge. Those issues include whether the State will effectively immunise the man from any legal costs orders should he lose the challenge. Having heard the sides, the judge said he will rule next week whether to grant the adjournment or proceed with the wardship inquiry. In seeking the adjournment, Mr Callanan, with Patricia Brazil BL, instructed by the Free Legal Advice Centres, said the constitutional proceedings, initiated last month, oppose the man being taken into wardship, maintain he has a right to marry, and challenge the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871 and Marriage of Lunatics Act 1811. His side had sought an undertaking from the State not to seek costs if the man loses that case but the Chief State Solicitor had indicated the undertaking application was premature. As a result, an application for a protective costs has been returned to next month, counsel said. That order was sought because of concerns the man lacked capacity to understand the costs consequences should he lose the case. If the costs order was refused, the constitutional case was unlikely to proceed, he indicated. Ciaran Craven SC, for the intended bride, said she has important constitutional rights affected by the marriage ban. Because the man's constitutional case may decide many of the issues, they would await the outcome of Mr Callanan's adjournment application. Felix McEnroy SC, for the charity, said four consultant psychiatrists and two consultant psychologists have all reported the man meets the criteria for wardship in that he lacks capacity to manage himself and his finances. Rights depend on the reality of an individual's circumstances and there is no dispute this man is a vulnerable adult with disabilities who requires a high degree of protection, he said. If the constitutional challenge proceeds, it will take a long time and the man's welfare should not sit in this "litigation vacuum" pending the outcome, he added. The man's sister said she has known him for some 40 years and, while Flac say they are representing him, they are in "no way representing his views". She said he dislikes conflict and needs the protection of the court. In reply, Mr Callanan said the charity appeared to have arrogated to itself a "remarkable" role seeking to stop the man pursuing the legal action he has initiated and also appeared to be seeking to diminish the gravity of the issues raised. His side have a doctor's report concluding the man has capacity to marry but not to manage his personal property, counsel added. The on Tuesday granted bail to 15 life term convicts in a 2002 post-Godhra riots case pending their appeal against their conviction on the condition they stay outside Gujarat and do community service in Madhya Pradesh. The 15 men are serving life term in connection with the massacre in Ode town in Anand district in which 23 Muslims were burnt alive. The court order was earlier in the day reported to be in connection with the massacre in Sardarpura village of Mehsana district in which 33 members of the minority community were burnt alive. But a court official in the evening clarified that the order related to the Ode case since a lawyer appearing for some of the convicts erroneously mentioned during the hearing that the matter concerned the Sardarpura massacre. The 15 men, who got bail, have been in jail since their conviction in 2012 and were granted bail as their appeal against the Gujarat high court verdict is pending in the top court. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde gave its order after taking note of the four petitions on behalf of the 15 life term convicts. The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, split the 15 convicts into two groups -- sending one to Indore and the other to Jabalpur and ordered they will all have to regularly report to police stations there. "They will not be living together there. They will have to do community services six hours per week as a condition of the bail," the bench said, adding they will have to produce a certificate to District Legal Services Authority of Indore and Jabalpur about their engagement in social service. Senior advocate P S Patwalia, appearing for some of the convicts, said they can be asked to do social service either in hospitals or in temples or Gurudwaras. He also submitted that since some of them are very poor they be asked to relocate themselves either to neighbouring Maharashtra or Rajasthan. "Don't tell all this. They will have to go to Madhya Pradesh," the bench responded, adding that one batch of six convicts would go to Indore. "Can we have some method, on experiment basis, to ask District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to help them (convicts) in getting some kind of employment," the bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who welcomed the suggestion. It then asked DLSA of Indore and Jabalpur respectively to assist the convicts in getting suitable employment there. The bench also directed the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Service Authority to file a report after three months stating as to whether the convicts have complied with the conditions or not. The Gujarat High Court had earlier upheld the conviction and the life term of 19 persons in the Ode massacre case. The top court, in one of its earlier orders, said the trial court should adhere to the "two-witness" test in prosecuting the accused in the riots case. As per this test, there should be at least two witnesses testifying against an accused before the court convicts an accused. The 15 convicts, who have been granted bail on furnishing of Rs 25,000 as bond on Tuesday, are -- Prahladbhai Jagabhai Patel, Parshottambhai, Vijaybhai Ravjibhai Patel, Jayendrabhai Satabhai Patel, Sureshbhai Bhailabhai Patel, Dilipbhai Ranchhodbhai Patel, Dharmeshkumar Nathubhai Patel, Previnbhai Mangalbhai Patel, Dilipbhai Vinubhai Patel, Paresbhai Ranchodbhai Patel, Arvindbhai Ravjibhai Patel, Hemantbhai Satabhai Patel, Santhakumar Ranchodbhai Patel, Vinubhai Shanabhai Patel and Vinubhai Bhibhubhai Patel. NIA files chargesheet against 7 Khalistani terrorists in case of extortion in Punjab How this ISIS operative from Mangaluru lured her victims and converted them to Islam NIA team takes over probe into Bhima Koregaon case India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 28: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team arrived in Pune and started the process of formally taking over probe into the Koregaon-Bhima- Elgar Parishad case, police officials said here. The three-member team of the central agency landed on Monday morning and later met officials of the city police handling the sensitive case, which has triggered a new round of war of words between ruling and opposition parties in Maharashtra, the sources said. The case, in which human rights activists have been arrested, pertains to caste violence that took place near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune district on January 1, 2018, following alleged provocative speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave held the previous day. Centre should mind its job: Ajit Pawar on NIA probing Elgaar case A top official said the NIA team, led by a Superintendent of Police-rank officer, met senior police officials, including the investigation officer, and handed them a letter, informing that the case has been entrusted to the central agency and they will take over it. He said relevant authorities in the state government have been informed about the move. The NIA team also took a review of the case from officials concerned. Another official associated with the probe said they have already informed the DGP office in Mumbai about the developments related to the NIA starting the process to formally take charge of the case. "Once the DGP office orders us to handover case- related documents and evidence, we will do so," he said. Earlier in the day, the special court in Pune hearing the Elgar case maintained it has not yet received any formal communication from the Centre about its decision to transfer the matter to the NIA. A lawyer representing one of the accused said that on raising in the court the issue of the central agency taking over the case, the prosecution and the judge informed him they have not received any official communication about it. The NIA matter was raised in the court during a regular hearing regarding handing over of 'cloned copies' of electronic evidence to accused. The case was transferred by the Centre from the Pune police to the NIA, an agency that handles terror-related matters, on Friday, a move criticised by the three-party ruling coalition in the state. Explained: What the Bhima Koregaon case that the NIA is taking over Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had on Friday night condemned the Centre's decision to transfer the case to the NIA without consent of the state government. The NCP minister had termed the move as unconstitutional. The opposition BJP, however, welcomed the move. The Pune police have claimed speeches delivered at the conclave, held on December 31, 2017, led to the violence at Koregaon Bhima the next day. The police have claimed the conclave was organised by people having Maoist links. During the probe into the violence, police arrested human rights activists and intellectuals Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao for alleged Maoist links. They were booked under relevant sections of the IPC and also UAPA, an anti-terror law. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 8:13 [IST] Even as the Narendra Modi government refuses to back down on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) despite protests nationwide, a BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh has taken a different stand, saying the law was creating a 'civil war-like situation in every street' Bhopal: Even as the Narendra Modi government refuses to back down on Citizenship (Amendment) Act despite protests nationwide, a BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh has taken a different stand, saying the law was creating a "civil war-like situation in every street". BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi said though the CAA was not beneficial to the country, the controversial measure would consolidate the saffron party's vote-bank. He said the BJP should either follow Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution or "tear and throw it away", as it is clear that the nation cannot be divided on religious lines. "There is civil war-like situation in every street, which is fatal for our country. We cannot imagine development in civil war-like situation. I opposed it (CAA) when I became aware of such a situation. Not only in my constituency Maihar, but similar situation prevails in other places," he said. "We should either run the country according to the Constitution or the BJP should come up with one of its own and tear and throw away BR Ambedkar's Constitution which says all the people, irrespective of religion, will live together. "The country cannot be divided on the basis of religion," the Maihar MLA said while speaking to reporters here. The MLA, however, was quick to add that his outburst against CAA did not signal his willingness to join the Congress, which has been critical of the new law and held protests against it. "I am not willing to join the Congress, neither (am I) leaving the BJP. The CAA was enacted only for vote-bank, which is benefiting the BJP. This is not going to benefit the country," he said, adding it was his personal opinion based on "feelings and experience". Tripathi said a family of Hindu priests, whose members are BJP supporters, in his Assembly segment had told him that Muslims had started ignoring them. "Something is wrong in villages when BJP supporters and priests are feeling so," he added. Tripathi also opposed any proposal for a National Register of Citizens exercise across the country claiming "people in villages won't be able to prove their citizenship". "When villagers struggle to get a ration card, how will they be able to prove their citizenship? You (BJP) talk of unity and integrity but inflame passions," Tripathi said. This is not the first time the MLA has gone against the party line. Tripathi, along with party colleague and Beohari MLA Sharad Kol, had voted in favour of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government on the Criminal Law Amendment Bill tabled in the MP Assembly in July last year. Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - Mauritius will host, on 30 and 31 January 2020, an Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Experts Meeting which aims at enhancing intra-regional trade and investment, PANA learnt on Tuesday from the Government Information Services (GIS) in the Mauritian capital But many of the people who cause problems are likely the ones who could benefit from a long-term city partnership with a mental health service provider. This photo from the U.S. 7th fleet website shows an MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) landing at Andersen Air Force Base for deployment as part of an early operational capability, Sunday (local time). Yonhap By Jung Da-min The U.S. Navy has deployed its first MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) to its Guam military bases, according to the U.S. 7th fleet headquartered in Yokosuka, Japan. It said two of the aircraft arrived at the Andersen Air Force Base, Sunday (local time). This is the first time the UASs have been assigned to the command of U.S. 7th fleet, which military watchers see as a move to strengthen its information power in the Western Pacific and, in particular, China and North Korea. According to the fleet, the U.S. Unmanned Patrol Squadron (VUP)-19, the country's first Triton UAS squadron, will operate and maintain two of the aircraft to improve its early operational, high-altitude, and long-endurance system capabilities in the maritime domain. The U.S. Commander Task Force (CTF) 72, the U.S. Navy's maritime patrol aircraft wing located at Misawa Air Base in Japan, will be leading the patrol, reconnaissance and surveillance forces in the 7th Fleet, the fleet said. "The introduction of MQ-4C Triton to the Seventh Fleet area of operations expands the reach of the U.S. Navy's maritime patrol and reconnaissance force in the Western Pacific," said Capt. Matt Rutherford, commander of CTF-72. The fleet said it will operate four air vehicles including the MQ-4C Triton, anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8 Poseidon and P-3 Orion and EP-3, the signals reconnaissance version of P-3 Orion, for the fleet's initial operational capability to support 24/7 operations. "Coupling the capabilities of the MQ-4C with the proven performance of P-8, P-3 and EP-3 will enable improved maritime domain awareness in support of regional and national security objectives," Capt. Rutherford said. The MQ-4C, in particular, will conduct "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions that will complement the P-8A Poseidon and will bring increased persistence, capability and capacity through its multi-sensor mission payload," read the fleet's statement. As a remodeled version of U.S. aerospace giant Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude remotely-piloted surveillance aircraft, the MQ-4C is equipped with long-range electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors like the RQ-4, providing imagery intelligence of potential threats. According to the Northrop Grumman, the MQ-4C can fly over 24 hours at a time, at altitudes higher than 10 miles, with an operational range of 8,200 miles. With its autonomous high-altitude long-endurance mission capabilities, the aircraft supports P-8 Poseidon's anti-submarine missions. Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said the initial deployment of the MQ-4C to Guam shows that the U.S. wants to strengthen its intelligence capability of the fleet in the Pacific region. "The capabilities of MQ-4C and Global Hawk are almost same. What matters is that the U.S. has deployed the MQ-4C aircraft to Guam for the first time," Shin said. He said this could indicate that the U.S. wants to strengthen its surveillance over maritime activities of China and North Korea. The forward-deployment of MA-4C to Guam came amid the stalemated denuclearization negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea. Meanwhile, South Korea has also received its first RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk aircraft at the end of December last year, among the four it has purchased from the U.S. The deployment of the spy aircraft is expected to strengthen South Korea's surveillance capabilities on the peninsula. Chairman of the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) Abdel Moneim el Terras Tuesday discussed with US Ambassador to Egypt Jonathan Cohen means of boosting cooperation with US firms. They also discussed prospects of exchanging visits to get first hand information about the potentials and needs of both sides in various industrial fields. The US ambassador hailed Egypt's efforts, under President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, in all development fields as well as progress achieved by the country in establishing national projects. He described relations between Egypt and the US as distinguished. Cohen affirmed his country's eagerness to open new vistas of cooperation and boost mutual manufacturing with Egypt. The US diplomat praised the manufacturing and technical capabilities of the AOI, its diversified products and competent human cadres as well. Terras, meanwhile, underscored the necessity of promoting cooperation, tapping modern technologies and exchanging the know-how with the US. Th AOI head highlighted the long-term cooperation maintained between his organization and mega US companies in many industrial domains, noting that the meeting tackled cooperation in producing rail locomotives and tractors in compliance with the international quality standards. Search Keywords: Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 02:18:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close MUMBAI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a state transport bus accident on Tuesday afternoon in India's state of Maharashtra rose to 20, with 30 other injured passengers admitted to the hospital, local police said. The accident happened when the driver of the state transport bus lost control after one of the tyres burst and it collided with a three-wheeler auto and fell into a 70-foot well at Malegaon, 271 km northeast of Mumbai. The well near the highway was close to an open-air laundromat or lavoir. The bus was travelling toward Nasik city while the three-wheeler vehicle had around seven passengers, local police said. The death toll could rise further as it could not be ascertained whether any passengers were still stuck inside the bus and rescue operations were underway. The state government has announced a monetary compensation for the dead and would bear the entire medical costs of injured victims. Malegaon is a textile hub in India's southwestern state of Maharashtra. VANCOUVERFor Susan Sorrenti, the introduction of a new coronavirus to Canada is a stark reminder of the deadly virus outbreak that could have been prevented in Ontario, but instead threatened her life. After all, of the health care staff who handled SARS patients on the other side of the country, only one got the virus. When a pneumonia patient was transferred to the hospital where Sorrenti worked as an intensive care nurse in 2003, she recalled being assured that the patient did not have the mysterious new SARS virus. Unprotected by a respirator mask and suit, she was among the first of 146 health care workers to contract the virus that made her feel sicker than shed ever felt before, and fear for the health of her family. Almost 20 years later, nurses have been kind of waiting for the next pandemic, Sorrenti said. These mistakes that we made thats on us for that period of time in history. Now, we dont have any kind of excuse. In Toronto, SARS spread mainly through health care workers like Sorrenti, or hospital visitors. In the aftermath of the SARS crisis, public health experts agreed that hospital transmissions are preventable, and officials from the Public Health Agency of Canada and local health authorities are assuring the public that the hard learned lessons of SARS have been ingrained in hospitals across the country. Those lessons in pandemic preparation are now being tested, as the Wuhan coronavirus a virus causing serious pneumonia that has killed more than 80 people in China has come to Canada with two confirmed cases in Toronto. Its not the first time a pandemic plan centred on the safety of health care workers will be tested in Canada. In 2003, such a plan was already in place in British Columbia, where SARS was mostly contained. But across the country, there was no such plan in Ontario, and the virus quickly spread throughout Toronto. On the same day in March 2003, two patients infected with what we now know was SARS checked into two Canadian hospitals 4,500 kilometres apart. In Toronto, an outbreak followed that killed 44 and sent almost 250 to hospitals. In Vancouver, only four people became infected, and just one died. The first Vancouver patient was immediately isolated, and within 15 minutes, all hospital staff were ordered to use protective N95 masks and stay back from the patient when caring for him. Within two and a half hours of being admitted, he was in a special isolation room. In Toronto, the patient was admitted to Scarborough Grace hospital and it took 21 hours before he was placed in similar isolation. The doctor who treated him became infected. The Ontario SARS Commission, tasked with getting to the bottom of what went wrong during the outbreak released its final report in 2007. It concluded that part of the reason SARS never exploded in Vancouver the way it did in Ontario involved an element of luck that the first patient went directly from the airport to his doctor, limiting how many others were exposed to the virus. It also concluded that, compared to Ontario, B.C. was much better prepared for a pandemic, especially in protocols to protect health care workers. Only one health care worker in B.C., a nurse, was ever confirmed to have SARS. The reason we fared so much better in Vancouver was because of the preparedness that was there, but also because we had a very strong occupational health system because the unions had been very active on occupational health, said Doctor Annalee Yassi, who at the time of SARS headed the Occupational Health and Safety Agency of B.C., a joint union-government initiative to promote health care worker safety. The key to stopping an outbreak is precisely isolation of the infected individuals, Yassi said. All the people caring for that individual have to be protected or theyre at risk of perpetuating the epidemic. Its like the warning you get when you board an airplane, she said. Put on your oxygen mask before assisting others: Thats the best way for everyone to be protected. Prior to SARS, B.C. health authorities had already developed a pandemic plan out of concern for influenza strains originating in Asia in the 1990s. Hospital staff were trained on fitting N95 respirator masks and other protective gear, and hospitals had the equipment on hand. By the time the doctors at Vancouver General got news of SARS, they were on alert for the symptoms and knew the response protocol. WorkSafeBC, the occupational health and safety arm of the ministry of labour, disseminated detailed directions on how to deal with infected patients safely, and began conducting proactive inspections of health care facilities to make sure they were following the rules. Not everyone agreed with the cautious approach, Yassi recalled. There were some people who may have thought in the early days that using N95 respirators was too expensive ... WorkSafeBC is a very strong agency and played a good role in saying you cant cut corners in protecting health care workers, she said. In Ontario, using protective equipment like N95 masks properly took much longer, partly because the province didnt have a pandemic plan in place prior to 2003, the SARS commission found. Unlike in B.C., ministry of labour officials charged with making sure workers were safe were sidelined during the crisis as the health ministry took the lead on SARS. Labour officials were not notified about SARS cases at first, and didnt conduct workplace inspections in hospitals with SARS patients until June 2003. At the time, the province came under fire from the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA), which accused public sector health care employers of being inadequately prepared for SARS, and failing to heed nurses own warnings about a lack of protective equipment. The aftermath of SARS contributed to Ontarios ministry of labour hiring 100 more inspectors for its occupational health and safety branch, bringing the total number up to 330. There are currently 445 field inspectors in the provinces health and safety branch. As of Monday, Ontario government representatives could not say how involved those inspectors are in the prevention of coronavirus. Staff at the ministry of labour referred the Star to the ministry of health when asked if occupational health and safety teams were involved in the coronavirus preparation and containment strategy. A spokesperson for the ministry of health said they had no information to pass along that day. Workplace transmissions turned out to be a defining feature of Torontos SARS crisis: 190 of the 247 likely cases were transmitted to either health care workers or visitors in hospitals. The ensuing public health crisis brought Ontario to its knees, reads a portion of the SARS commission report. The province ended up with 247 probable cases. Almost half were nurses... or other health care workers. Vicki McKenna, a registered nurse who is now president of the ONA, remembers that moment of reckoning clearly. She said there are thousands of nurses still working in Ontarios health care system who were impacted by SARS, many of whom came away from that crisis with ongoing trauma. In Sorrentis case, she was separated from her family, learning about the rising death toll of SARS from her own quarantine bed. I was the sickest Id ever been but I wasnt the sickest SARS patient, she said of the experience. She went back to work three months after contracting SARS. She was 40, and the primary income earner for her family. But the worry lingered. My anxiety was overwhelming, she said. Sorrentis experience was not unique. The ONA surveyed hundreds of nurses shortly after SARS and the resulting report contains harrowing feedback from workers who continued to struggle with anxiety even after the outbreak was over, and whose families were ostracized during the crisis because friends and relatives feared coming into indirect contact with a SARS nurse. One nurse quoted in the survey report stated simply: I no longer felt safe going to work. But McKenna is hopeful the provinces health care system is better prepared for a pandemic now. She said there have been daily calls between stakeholders, including the ministry of health and the ministry of labour, to discuss the handling of the coronavirus. What I say to the government and what I say to employers is: If the nurses are safe then our patients and residents will be safe, she said. This is about the people they care for and so we need to make sure were erring on the side of safety. Read more about: Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 17:44:29|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SHANGHAI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The project for the development of an mRNA vaccine targeting the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has been urgently approved, said Shanghai East Hospital of Tongji University. The vaccine will be co-developed by the hospital and Stermirna Therapeutics Co., Ltd. Li Hangwen, CEO of Stermirna Therapeutics, said no more than 40 days will be needed to manufacture the vaccine samples based on the new generation of mRNA technology and some preliminary procedures. The samples will be sent for tests and brought to clinics as soon as possible. The production cycle of traditional vaccines can be as long as five to six months, whereas the mRNA vaccine has the advantage of a shorter development and production cycle. As a society, we are committed to advancing the best science and promote the best outcomes for patients, so we have a responsibility and obligation to further the careers and promote to leadership positions the best and brightest in our profession, said SITC President Mario Sznol, MD. The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) is pleased to announce the return of a successful initiative focused on women in the field. The Women in Cancer Immunotherapy Network (WIN) Leadership Institute returns this summer, and will grow to two programs, in Seattle (July 1314) and Chicago (Aug. 34). The one-and-a-half day programs celebrate and empower emerging women leaders in the cancer immunotherapy field. The WIN Leadership Institute provides a forum for women scientists and clinicians to network with accomplished investigators in the field while exploring topics particularly relevant to them in the workplace, including negotiation techniques, breaking through the glass ceiling, conflict resolution strategies and public speaking. The programs, which include an application process, will be free for accepted applicants to attend. Applicants will be selected to attend one of the two locations being offered this summer. As a society, we are committed to advancing the best science and promote the best outcomes for patients, so we have a responsibility and obligation to further the careers and promote to leadership positions the best and brightest in our profession. said SITC President Mario Sznol, MD. In 2019, there was an overwhelming number of applicants for this program more than three times that of the available positions, underscoring the demand for this type of training opportunity. SITC is proud to offer this program for women as part of an overall effort to continue developing future leaders in cancer immunotherapy. Championed by SITC Immediate Past President Lisa H. Butterfield, PhD, the Women in Cancer Immunotherapy Network (WIN) is a SITC initiative launched in 2017 that has included annual receptions celebrating women in cancer immunotherapy. The discussions at these receptions have identified strategies to elevate the status of women, both within the society through general leadership roles and faculty opportunities, as well as the field in general. During my term as our societys first female President, one of my primary goals was giving prominence to the contributions women have made, and continue to make, in cancer immunotherapy and tumor immunology research. I remain passionate about this commitment, said Dr. Butterfield. The level of demand by women in the field seeking professional development opportunities is substantial, and the Leadership Institute will feature timely presentations and group discussions on topics integral to the advancement of women working in the lab and the clinic to support the next generation of female leaders. Women interested in applying for an opportunity to attend one of the WIN Leadership Institute programs are encouraged to submit an application by March 9 at 11:59 p.m. EST. About SITC Established in 1984, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) is a nonprofit organization of medical professionals dedicated to improving cancer patient outcomes by advancing the development, science and application of cancer immunotherapy and tumor immunology. SITC is comprised of influential basic and translational scientists, practitioners, health care professionals, government leaders and industry professionals around the globe. Through educational initiatives that foster scientific exchange and collaboration among leaders in the field, SITC aims to one day make the word cure a reality for cancer patients everywhere. Learn more about SITC, our educational offerings and other resources at http://www.sitcancer.org and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. Many companies are working on foldable devices, and that includes Nokia. According to the news piece of info, Nokia could announce its first foldable smartphone by the end of 2020. The very first foldable smartphone from Nokia may arrive by the end of this year This information comes from Nokiamob, who reports that the device is expected to launch in late 2020 or early 2021. That phone will be announced by HMD Global under Nokias brand, of course. Earlier this month, Nokia anew shared some info regarding the companys device as well. The tipster said that the companys smartphone with a foldable display is ready. If thats the case, we dont understand why wait until late 2020 or early 2021. Advertisement Perhaps its hardware is ready, but Nokia has plenty of work to do on the software and optimization. We can only guess at this point. Still, if this information is accurate, and Nokia really did finish up the design of that device, that means we may get a sneak peek soon. Will Nokia bring its foldable smartphone to MWC 2020? Well, anything is possible. The device almost certainly will not become official at MWC 2020, or anything of the sort. The company may, however, privately or publicly share some info about the device, and maybe even show off its design. Advertisement The Nokia 9.2 (PureView) is rumored to arrive after June 20 Another piece of info that the source shared regards the Nokia 9.2. According to the provided info, HMD Global may have trashed the Nokia 9.1 development, and jumped straight to the Nokia 9.2. Why? Well, it seems like the SoC is getting an upgrade from the Snapdragon 855+, to the Snapdragon 865. That makes sense, as Nokia already made a mistake by releasing a flagship phone with a dated SoC, well that happened several times. In order for a device to be a true flagship in 2020, it should have a true flagship processor. According to the provided information, the phones display may be bezel-less, and a front-facing camera is also getting an upgrade from 32-megapixel to a 48-megapixel sensor. Advertisement There is still no info on rear-facing cameras, though. A 3.5mm headphone jack will not be a part of the package this time around. Some of you are probably wondering when will the Nokia 9.2 arrive, well if the provided info is to be believed, it will launch sometime after June 20. That means were in for quite a wait. HMD Global may once again be late to the party with its new Nokia flagship. The Nokia 9.2 will probably have that PureView branding as well, and lets hope it will be a better overall package than the Nokia 9 PureView. The Congress on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to take note of union minister Anurag Thakur's provocative slogans at a poll rally in Delhi. Triggering a row, Thakur had egged on participants in an election rally in Rithala here to raise an incendiary slogan that "traitors should be shot at", after he lashed out at anti-CAA protesters. Slamming Thakur, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram. asked, "Will the Election Commission of India wake up from its slumber". Noting that the minister had exhorted people to respond with goli maaro" slogans, he asked, "Will it not amount to inciting and encouraging violence against a section of the people?" "As every day passes, the rhetoric of the BJPreminds one of Germany in the 1930s," Chidambaram tweeted. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said he was deeply saddened by Anurag Thakur's conduct. "Saw a remote ray of hope of sanity in him, only to realise today that ministerial posts and uprightness make strange bedfellows," he tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Even before the presidential plane of Russian leader Vladimir Putin landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Jan. 23, everyone in Israel knew he was the most powerful and influential leader invited to attend the stately event to mark 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp by the Russian Red Army. It was no wonder that as far as Israelis were concerned, Putin overshadowed any other leader to grace the Fifth World Holocaust Forum with his presence. Everyone knew that Putin not only holds the key to the fate of the young Israeli Naama Issachar, who received a disproportionate prison sentence in Russia for smuggling drugs. He also has a say in Israels activity in the skies over Syria. Nevertheless, very few Israelis were aware of or had dwelt on one important point: Putin had come to Israel to participate in an event initiated, funded and produced by his close friend and confidante Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor, a Russian Jewish oligarch and chairman of the European Jewish Congress. Nothing about this event, which could easily be called a Russian event, happened by chance. Every year on Jan. 27, the international anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland hosts memorial events that include Holocaust survivors, dignitaries, world leaders and senior delegations from Israel. In 2014, for example, four years before the so-called Holocaust Law sparked controversy in Israel and Poland by making it a criminal offense to accuse Poland of complicity in Nazi war crimes, an Israeli delegation of 60 Knesset members and dozens of Holocaust survivors had taken part in a ceremony in Auschwitz. The two countries have had a rocky relationship since then because of the problematic law as well as a series of statements by senior Polish and Israeli officials. Similarly, the relationship between Poland and Russia devolved to a low point as a result of a dispute between the two countries' leaders over their historical narratives of World War II. In January 2015, when the World Jewish Congress, then headed by Ron Lauder, held an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the Russian president did not participate. His office claimed that he had not been invited. At around the same time as the event at the death camp, the European Jewish Congress, led by Kantor, held an alternative event also devoted to liberation, but few national leaders took part. By 2020, lessons had been learned, and the event held in Israel, initiated by Kantor, was an overwhelming success. In actuality, it can be said that Israel served as the platform for the war of narratives on very different scales: internationally, with the involvement of Russian and the European nations, and via the international Jewish community, with the heads of competing Jewish organizations shaping narratives of their own and influencing global political arenas. Skilled politicians are well aware of how to exploit painful events, such as terrorist and anti-Semitic incidents, to push a political message. Thus, after the 2015 attack on the Hypercacher supermarket in France, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his hope that French Jews would immigrate to Israel. His remarks evoked angry responses in France. One year later, Putin suggested that the Jews of Europe should leave their homes due to increasing anti-Semitism and immigrate to Russia. The more anti-Semitic events in France, Belgium, Germany or Ukraine, the more extensive and in-depth coverage they receive by Russian media. Kantor refers to this frequently, when he quotes disturbing figures from Anti-Semitism Worldwide, the annual report produced by the Kantor Center for the Study of Modern European Jewry at Tel Aviv University in conjunction with the European Jewish Congress. On many occasions, Kantor will emphasize that the situation in Russia is so much better, while his personal website features the 2017 article There Is No Anti-Semitism in Russia. In contrast, surveys conducted by the Anti-Defamation League actually show that there has been a rise in anti-Semitism in several countries in Europe, including Russia. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that anti-Semitic remarks by senior officials, Jewish jokes frequently heard in the Russian media and conspiracy theories about Jewish plots to conquer the world pale in comparison to terrorist attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions in Europe and the United States. Herein lies the source of an effort to exploit the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe in general and Ukraine in particular. It plays into Russias hands, especially when Ukraine names the main squares of its cities after historical figures involved in the massacre of Jews or other anti-Semitic actions in the war of narratives. In many ways, the Red Armys victory over Nazi German and the enormous sacrifice of the Soviet Union, which paid for that victory with 27 million lives, including some 2 million Jews, continue to define modern Russia. After the Soviet Union broke apart, the new Russia needed an ideology to replace communism. The church failed to rise to the occasion and reclaim the prestige it had enjoyed until the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. In the 29 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, only one banner has been found to rally and unite the people: The great victory over Germany still beats proudly in the hearts of everyone who lives in Russia or who emigrated from the former Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States. There is not a single family that escaped suffering during that war. Not one family avoided paying for that victory with the blood of its loved ones, whether they marched on Berlin, died on the battlefields of Kursk and Stalingrad, burned together with their villages or died of starvation during the terrible siege of Leningrad. The issue is an emotional one. It is also significant. That is why it plays such an important role in the ideology of modern Russia. It is easy to appeal to the emotions of the masses, when Europe is destroying monuments to the troops who fought in the Red Army, when Hollywood ignores the achievements and heroism of those same troops, when European leaders declare that it was Ukrainian and not Russian soldiers who liberated Auschwitz even though there is no historical basis for that claim. Russia is trying to impose the lessons of the past those learned during the Great Patriotic War and the Red Armys tremendous victory on what is happening in Europe today. In the Russian version of events, its a battle pitting good against evil, the people who fought against fascism against the heirs of the Nazi legacy and the defenders of minorities against anti-Semitism. That is the source of Russias desire to mark the liberation of Auschwitz on its own terms and not those of the hated Poles. It wants to celebrate the establishment of a monument in Jerusalem to commemorate the victims of the siege of Leningrad the only such monument outside the borders of the former Soviet Union without the criticism and icy glares of those who critique Russias policies night and day. Israel was a convenient platform for this. Not only had Netanyahu recognized Russias longing for recognition and its desire to promote its own narrative, he had even marched with Putin in Red Square during the 2016 Victory Day parade. The event to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz constituted the continuation of the march those two leaders began together at that time. Military spokesman said the jet, believed to be E-11A aircraft, crashed in Ghazni, killing two people aboard. The US military has confirmed one of its planes crashed in the eastern Afghan province of Ghazni on Monday, but disputed claim that the aircraft had been brought down by the enemy fire. While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire, US military spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett said in a statement. They were the only two people aboard the Air Force E-11A electronic surveillance aircraft when it went down on Monday, the official said, speaking Tuesday on the condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement of the recovery. The identities of the two have not been publicly announced, pending notification of their relatives. Afghan forces were sent to the site immediately after receiving the report of the crash in the Deh Yak district, but were ambushed by Taliban fighters, Ghazni provincial police chief Khalid Wardak told Reuters. Wardak said the forces subsequently received an order to retreat and airborne action is to be taken instead. Confirming the reports of clashes, Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said Afghan forces backed by US military had tried to capture the area around the crashed aircraft. He told Reuters that the Taliban would allow a rescue team access to recover bodies from the crash site. Taliban fighters on the ground counted six bodies at the site of the US plane crash, Mujahid said. The US military has confirmed one of its planes crashed in the eastern Afghan province of Ghazni on Monday [Saifullah Maftoon/AP Photo] Taliban claims plane brought down The Taliban, which currently controls or holds sway over around half the country, earlier claimed the plane was brought down. The plane, which was on an intelligence mission, was brought down in Sado Khel area of Deh Yak district of Ghazni province, said Taliban spokesman Mujahid in a statement. He did not say how the fighters had brought down the plane, which was used to provide communication capabilities in remote locations. Mujahid said the crew on board included high-ranking officers from the United States, but a senior US defence official denied that senior American officers were involved. The armed group, which has been waging a war against the US-led forces since 2001, often exaggerates enemy casualty figures. Local Afghan officials had said earlier on Monday that a passenger plane from the state-owned Ariana Airlines had crashed in the Taliban-held area. However, the airline denied initial reports that it was the owner of the plane. It does not belong to Ariana because the two flights managed by Ariana today, from Herat to Kabul and Herat to Delhi, are safe, acting CEO Mirwais Mirzakwal told Reuters. Two officials from Ghazni province said the crashed aircraft appeared to belong to a foreign company. There is no exact information on casualties and the name of the airline, Ghazni Provincial Governor Wahidullah Kaleemzai told private broadcaster Tolo News earlier on Monday. The crash comes as the Taliban and the US have been in talks on ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan. Taliban has been waging an armed rebellion since it was toppled from power following the September 2001 attacks in the US. Negotiations between the two sides began last year in Doha but have been interrupted at least twice after Taliban attacks on US military personnel in September and December. Last week, another round of talks kicked off with the US Special Representative on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, meeting repeatedly the Talibans chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Palestinians launched protests Tuesday against US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, hours before it was to be unveiled in Washington. Thousands demonstrated in Gaza, burning pictures of Trump and the American flag, while further rallies were planned for the coming days. Details of the initiative remained under wraps, but the Palestinians fear it will heavily favour Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to attend the White House event. Jewish settlers, for their part, also raised concern, fearing the initiative would support the formation of a Palestinian state. In a rare event, rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah were set to meet in the West Bank city of Ramallah to discuss a response to Trump. "We invited the Hamas movement to attend the emergency meeting of the leadership and they will take part," said senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed. The Islamist rulers of Gaza have been at odds with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement for years, with Hamas rarely taking part in meetings of the West Bank-based Palestinian leadership. Trump was due to release his plan, in preparation since 2017, at the White House together with his close ally Netanyahu, who is battling corruption charges which he denies and campaigning for March 2 elections. The Palestinians, who accuse Trump of pro-Israel bias, were not taking part in the US event, despite assurances from Trump that the plan might "have a chance." "It's very good for them, in fact it's overly good for them," the president told reporters on Monday. "We think we will have ultimately the support of the Palestinians." But the Palestinians have urged world powers to reject Trump's proposal, predicting it would amount to a violation of international law. Trump's administration has already recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which the Jewish state captured from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and stopped referring to the West Bank as "occupied" territory. It also no longer considers Israeli settlements there as inconsistent with international law, and most analysts expect Trump's peace proposal to reaffirm his administration's positions. The plan also may give Israel the green light from Washington to annex the Jordan Valley, a strategic area along the border with Jordan that constitutes around 30 percent of the West Bank. The Israeli army announced Tuesday it was beefing up forces in the area. "The army and forces on the ground are ready for any scenario," Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said after conducting an assessment of the West Bank with military commanders. "We're facing decisive days of defining borders and implementing sovereignty," he added. "Palestinian threats won't deter us." The Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing Jewish settlers living in the West Bank, had initially been upbeat about Trump's proposals. But council leaders then said they had been briefed by US officials on the details, leaving them "very concerned". "We can't agree to a plan that includes forming a Palestinian state, which will constitute a threat to Israel and a great danger to the future," said council head David Elhayani. Israeli Transport Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the far-right Yemina union stressed in an interview with army radio that his party "won't under any conditions agree to recognition, whether explicit or implicit, of a Palestinian state." The release of the plan comes as Trump faces impeachment hearings over abuse of office. Netanyahu is facing imminent trial proceedings, after dropping his request for parliamentary immunity from corruption charges in a surprise move Tuesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) He also reacted to his name being mentioned in Parnas-Lutsenko communications. Head of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine Nazar Kholodnytsky has played down to a joke his response to a question about his possible involvement in the alleged surveillance of Marie Yovanovitch at the time when she held a top post at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine. "I wasn't following Yovanovitch, that's for sure," Kholodnytsky said, laughing, that's according to NV. The official was also asked to comment on his name being mentioned in communications between Rudy Giuliani's associate Lev Parnas and the then-Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko. "And Nazar is waiting. I explained everything. He's ready to tell you about the bias," Lutsenko wrote Parnas as public has learned after Giuliani's aide handed his electronic communications, including with Ukrainian officials, to U.S. investigators probing his case. The head of the SAPO noted that the bit concerned his "general" interview with The Hill about corruption and developments in Ukraine, which "for some reason never worked out". Also, the official clarified that he didn't know whether it was about Marie Yovanovitch, claiming he does not remember the "specifics of wording." Read also"I don't trust any word he is now saying": FM Prystaiko on Giuliani associate's statements on Ukraine As UNIAN reported earlier, the National Police of Ukraine launched criminal proceedings after the U.S. House Intelligence Committee published documents claiming that during her service in Ukraine, U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch could be under illegal surveillance, while her electronic gadgets could be penetrated by certain individuals upon requests of U.S. citizens. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the Department of State would do everything necessary to find out whether there was a threat in Ukraine to former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. U.S. State Department investigators this week interviewed hundreds of diplomats and employees at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine as part of an investigation into the alleged surveillance of former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch by associates of Rudy Giuliani, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the investigation told BuzzFeed News. The US State Department has encouraged Americans to "reconsider" any plans to travel to China amid a deadly outbreak of a coronavirus that originated in the city of Wuhan. The State Department also issued a stern warning for its citizens not to travel to Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. So far, 82 people have died as a result of the virus, all of them in China. The department noted that last week it ordered the departure of all non-emergency US personnel and their family members from Wuhan. "The US government has limited ability to provide emergency services to US citizens in Hubei province," the department said in a statement on Monday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DUBLIN, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Electronic Resistors - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Electronic Resistors market worldwide is projected to grow by US$2.4 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 5.8%. Semi-Fixed Variable Resistors, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 7.2%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$642.6 Million by the year 2025, Semi-Fixed Variable Resistors will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth. Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 4.9% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$86.2 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$73.7 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from the rest of the European markets. In Japan, Semi-Fixed Variable Resistors will reach a market size of US$10.8 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 8.6% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$666.3 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies. Competitors identified in this market include: AVX Corporation Bourns Inc. Cosonic Enterprise Corporation CTS Corporation Elecsound Electronics Co. Ltd. Faithful Link Industrial Corporation Hokuriku Electric Industry Co. Ltd. Jackcon Capacitor Electronics Co. Ltd. KOA Corporation Koa Speer Electronics Inc. Liket Corporation Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Panasonic Corporation ROHM Co. Ltd. TT Electronics PLC Yageo Corporation Zonkas Electronic Co. Ltd. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/oj3442 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Hyderabad: The police after a night-long drama dropped Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad at the RGI Airport and forced him to leave Hyderabad. He left for Delhi by an early morning flight with a promise to return soon. Azad was arrested by the Habeebnagar police from Mallepally, kept in a car and driven around. At midnight he was taken to the Bolaram police station for an hour. When police officials tried to serve him notice under Section 41 of the CrPC, he refused to accept it. Azad contended that he was arrested by the Hyderabad police and the Bolaram police was not part of the commissionerate. Section 41 allows the arrest, without a warrant, of anyone who obstructs a police officer from performing his duty. Later, the police offered him a room in a guest home situated in Hitec City, which Azad turned down. He was shifted to Hotel Golkonda at 1.30 am where a room was booked for him. He took dinner. In the morning, the police escorted him to the airport at 5 am from where he left for Delhi along with his advocate Mahmood Pracha and his colleagues. Azad asserted that he will return to Hyderabad very soon. Tanashahi is at its peak in Telangana. The peoples right to protest has been seized, he said. First our people were thrashed with sticks and then I was arrested. Bahujan Samaj wont forget this humiliation, Mr Azad said. Students from various universities demonstrated against the arrest of Mr Azad. A complaint was lodged by Sujit Ravan against the Hyderabad police before the State Human Rights Commission. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - Canadian Palladium Resources Inc. (CSE:BULL) (OTCQB:DCNNF) ("Canadian Palladium" or the "Company") announces that, further to its press release dated January 24, 2020, the Company is providing further disclosure of current material agreements at the request of IIROC. Market One Media Group Inc. was engaged in a one-year agreement expiring April 23, 2020 to provide marketing services including social media campaigns, online articles and banner ads, and broadcast interviews on Market One Minute to be distributed on BNN Bloomberg Investment Trends Section. In exchange for these marketing services, the Company paid Market One Media Group total fees of $150,000. Venture Financial Group d/b/a Venture Ad Network Ltd. was engaged on a one-year agreement expiring March 19, 2020 to create and manage targeted ad campaigns for the Company in exchange for total fees of $100,000. Struthers Consulting and Market Report was engaged in a one-year agreement expiring January 8, 2021 to be featured on their website and in the Struthers Report for public awareness. In exchange for these features the Company paid Struthers Consulting and Market Report total fees of $10,000. About Canadian Palladium Resources Inc. Canadian Palladium Resources Inc. is focusing its exploration efforts on the East Bull Palladium Project ~90km west of Sudbury Ontario. East Bull has a NI 43-101 Pit Constrained Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 11.1 million tonnes grading 1.46 grams per tonne Palladium Equivalent (PdEq) for a total of 523,000 ounces of PdEq. The project benefits from previous drilling, surface, trenching and geophysics identifying significant precious and base metal mineralization in a number of zones. For additional information please contact: Canadian Palladium Resources Inc. Wayne Tisdale, President and CEO T: (604) 639-4472 Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider 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/51901 GR1T Information Filter by Category All Company Announcement - General Additional Listing AIM Admission AIM Notice Base Rate Change Block Listing Interim Review Capital Reorganisation Change of Name Conversion of Securities Drilling/Production Report Final Announcement Released Geographical Distribution Intention to Float Issue of Debt Issue of Equity Joint Venture Net Asset Value Portfolio Update Price Monitoring Extension Product Launch Publication of a Prospectus Publication of Final Terms Research Update Restoration Rights Issue Stabilisation Notice Statement Suspension Tender Offer Trading Statement Treasury Stock All Mergers, Acquisitions and Disposals Acquisition Merger Form 8 (DD) Form 8 (OPD) Form 8.3 Form 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI) Form 8.5 (EPT/RI) Form 8.6 Rule 2.9 Announcement Offer By Offer For Offer Update All Results and Trading Reports 1st Quarter Results 3rd Quarter Results AGM Statement Annual Report Final Results Half-year Report Notice of Results Result of AGM Result of EGM Result of Equity Issue Result of General Meeting Result of Tender Offer Syndicate Results All Dividends Dividend Declaration Dividend Currency Election All Executive Changes Directorate Change Change of Adviser Change of Registered Office All Directors' Dealings Director/PDMR Shareholding All Advance Notice of Results Notice of AGM Notice of GM Notice of EGM Notice of Results All Non-Regulatory News All Transaction in Own Shares All Holding(s) in Company Total Voting Rights Notification of Major Holdings The eldest daughter of the Tamil asylum seekers being held alone on Christmas Island is due to start pre-school in the company of armed guards, according to a friend of the family. Nadesalingam and Priya Murugappan, as well as their Australian-born daughters Kopika, four, and Tharunicaa, two, were moved to Christmas Island in August following last-minute injunctions that prevented their deportation to Sri Lanka. The Tamil family are the only people being held on Christmas Island, as they wait for a court to determine whether Tharunicaa is owed protection by the Australian government. Her parents and sibling have already been denied refugee status. If Tharunicaa is found to be owed protection and granted a visa, the government has no power to remove her and her family from Australia. A Senate estimates hearing in October last year found that the government was spending $20,000 a day to keep the family on Christmas Island. Now a family friend has revealed Kopika is due to start school next Monday surrounded by armed guards - and only one of her parents will be allowed to accompany her on the big day. A recent photo of Kopika (right) and Tharunicaa (left) as they are being held at the detention centre on Christmas Island Nadesalingam and Priya Murugappan, and their Australian-born daughters Kopika, four, and Tharunicaa, two, were moved to Christmas Island in August A friend of the family, Angela Fredericks, told The Gladstone Observer the four-year-old was 'very excited' about starting school. But to get there she will be accompanied by guards, with only one parent allowed at drop-off. Ms Fredericks said Kopika's mother, Priya, had mixed emotions about the girl's first day of school. 'I know Priya is starting to feel some fear, while at the same time she is really excited to see her little girl start at a safe school,' she said. Kopika's father, Nades, will be with her and the guards next Monday as authorities have only allowed one parent to attend the school. Ms Fredericks said not being able to live in the regional Queensland community the family has called home for several years has been heartbreaking. 'I think that's what hurts us so much, that the girls have been taken away from all of that,' she said. Ms Fredericks said the family have been suffering since they have been on Christmas Island, with Kopika having an allergic reaction to mosquitoes. 'Her whole body was breaking out in welts,' she said. The family is facing deportation and awaiting Federal Court dates on February 21 and 25, hoping Tharunicaa will be able to apply for a protection visa. As they are being held on the island Kopika (pictured right) is due to start school next Monday surrounded by armed guards The family now cannot be deported by the Australian government until the matter is decided through the court system The Tamil family will remain in legal limbo on Christmas Island (pictured) for the foreseeable future, with their deportation case now hinging on an upcoming court battle In March 2018, immigration officials went to the family's home in Biloela, central Queensland, and took them to the Melbourne centre. In late August the family were in the process of being deported when a Federal Court judge granted a last-minute injunction forcing a plane en-route to Sri Lanka to land in Darwin. The family was moved from Darwin to Christmas Island and subsequent injunctions meant the family has remained there. Nadesalingam and Priya arrived in Australia from Sri Lanka separately by boat in 2012 and 2013. Their two daughters were born in Australia. The family, whose case rests on their Australia-born two-year-old daughter and her right to apply for a protection visa, cannot be deported by the Australian government until the matter is decided through the court system. The rest of the family members have had their claims for refugee status rejected. Australia's immigration laws preclude boat arrivals from applying for refugee status while on Australian soil, to discourage people from taking the life-threatening journey in boats organized by people smugglers. Family lawyer Carina Ford in December said it is important for Australians to remember the family are the only people being held on Christmas Island. The family had settled in the Queensland township of Biloela before being taken into detention, with Tharunicaa's (pictured front right) parents and sister (pictured left and back right) already refused refugee status in Australia 'The frustrating part is, in most cases when you're running litigation in Australia you are not required to remain in detention, you live in the community, you contribute to the community, as they were doing before,' Ms Ford said at the time. 'Why can't they be in the community while this is going on? There's really no logical reason that they can't be.' Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been adamant the family will be leaving Australia. He expressed his frustration that the case was dragging on, labelling it 'infuriating', particularly due to the costs to Australian taxpayers. While protests have rallied behind the family, Dutton had accused the family of dragging their children through the legal system and using them as 'anchor babies' to try to gain visas via the back door. Prime Minister Scott Morrison backed Mr Dutton's position, warning that making an exception to immigration law for one family would trigger a wave of boats of illegal migrants hoping for the same. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Home Affairs for comment. An ambulance technician has shared stories of some of his most devastating call-outs in a new book documenting the reality as an emergency services worker. Dan Farnworth, 33, from Bolton, has been working as an emergency medical technician for more than 15 years, after joining the North West ambulance service in the North of England aged 18. In 999: My Life on the Frontline of the Ambulance Service, Mr Farnworth recalls how he was once called to treat a mother found dead in a pool of her own blood, and rushed to help a baby who had been accidentally suffocated by his father as he slept. Dan Farnworth, 33, centre, from Bolton, shares his experiences in a new book. His work campaigning for better mental health support has led to him meeting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, pictured at an event in October 2016 He also touches on an incident that left him suffering with PTSD. Mr Farnworth responded to a 2014 call-out where he was handed the body of a two-year-old girl who had been severely beaten by her father and later died of her injuries. Mr Farnworth, pictured, recalls the incident that left him suffering with PTSD The ambulance technician, himself a father-of-four, now campaigns for better mental health support for emergency service workers. Toddler girl whose bruised face left him with PTSD In the book, Dan touches on the case which left him with crippling PTSD in 2014 and led him to heavy drinking, pushing him to campaign with the mental health charity later on. He recalls answering a call and driving up to an address, only to be handed a bruised and injured two-year-old girl by her father. He said he could immediately tell something was amiss, writing: 'Her face is black and blue, as are her legs. Her eyes are half closed, her pupils dilated and her breathing is noisy and slow, which is a bad sign,' he writes. A clicking noise coming from the girl's body also suggested to the pair of first responders that she had broken bones. The poor girl died of her injuries and the man, who admitted he had shaken her in a fit of anger, was arrested. Baby boy accidentally suffocated by his father 'We heard a woman screaming, My baby! My baby! I grab everything we might need: the defibrillator, an ALS (advanced life support) bag, oxygen, drugs,' Dan wrote. In a gut-wrenching moment, the emergency technician revealed the baby was 'white, floppy and bleeding from the nose' as his panicked dad attempted CPR. The boy had been accidentally suffocated by his father, who had fallen asleep next to the infant and rolled over. Dan recalled telling the hospital, located three minutes away, that their staff only had 60 seconds to get ready while he drove the baby to their services as soon as possible. The baby later died. Advertisement The story, however, did not leave Dan's mind, and he internalised his feelings, 'descending to the bottom of a dark hole.' 'Unless I made a concerted effort to concentrate, all I could see was the face of that poor battered girl,' he recalled. Recalling that he felt like he was sleep-walking through life after the traumatic event, Dan explains in the book that he turned to the drink to cope with the haunting images of the child. Dan, who said he thought he was immune to mental health issues before the call about the two-year-old, was diagnosed with PTSD, which changed his outlook on life. 'It wasnt really until I was diagnosed with PTSD that I realised I was vulnerable. Having made that discovery, I wanted people to know that no one is immune to mental-health problems and that it is OK to have one,' he wrote in the book. After his diagnosis, Dan wrote a blog post that went viral about mental health in the ambulance service, and has since then become a campaigner, raising awareness on the issue. Dan has worked with the mental charity Mind. Woman beaten to death and left in a pool of blood Mr Farnworth once answered a call to investigate a 'female covered with bruises and blood'. Horrifically, the woman had been beaten to death and was lying in a pool of her own blood while her son, who had found her, was trying to 'keep it together.' Man who died trying to escape a house fire Dan remembered how he once 'failed' to save a man who had died in a house fire. The man had his door keys in his hands when he was dragged out. 'He'd obviously been trying to get to the door when he was overcome and was only a few feet from making it,' Dan wrote. Advertisement Dan remembered how, when the woman's other son arrived at the scene with his girlfriend, his first instinct was to break the news to them in a room as far as possible from the scene - and sat them down on a sofa. To his horror, Dan soon realised that the sofa they were sitting on was drenched in blood, meaning the woman was stabbed and killed on the sofa and then dragged across the flat. This meant he had unintentionally tampered with a murder scene. 'I can feel my trousers getting wet with what I assume his blood,' he recollected in his book. He added that the policemen who arrived on the scene were not too pleased with the 'idiot' ambulancemen, who compromised evidence, and recalled how he kept the son and girlfriend inside to shelter them from the curious looks of neighbours. 999: My Life on the Frontline of the Ambulance Service by Dan Farnworth is published by Simon & Schuster. After the interview, an aide to Pompeo beckoned Kelly to join Pompeo in the sitting room of his outer office. The aide specified to Kelly to leave her tape recorder behind. Kelly said she was not told explicitly that the conversation would be off the record. She later reported that Pompeo had launched into an expletive-filled rant against her and demanded she point to Ukraine on a map with no borders or country names on it. Open Educational Resources Missed Opportunity in UNESCO's Recommendation on OER? Even though UNESCO adopted a recommendation on OER, American open educational resources advocate David Wiley backed away from his initial support and recently referred to the final version of the work as "eviscerated." In a post on his blog, "Iterating toward openness," Wiley said he was "losing sleep" over changes made between the time the original proposal appeared in May 2019 and the time members voted their approve in November. The General Conference brings together all 193 Member States of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization once every two years. UNESCO is responsible for coordinating the international community's actions to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4): "quality education for all." The OER recommendation was part of a broader set of recommendations on all aspects of UNESCO that was approved at the General Conference. These recommendations are intended to set international standards in all kinds of areas and push policy-making at the national level. Wiley's concern: That the version of the OER recommendation adopted by UNESCO doesn't allow for users of that content to make copies. As Wiley explained, the definition of OER included in the draft recommendation covered what he refers to as the "five Rs": the "free and perpetual permissions" to retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute content made available under open copyright licenses. What's missing in the approved version of the recommendation is specifically "the right to create, own and control copies of the content." "Retain" has been downgraded to "access," he explained. Does it make a difference? Wiley offered the example of Great Minds, which had contracts with New York State in 2012 to create OER K-12 curriculum materials. "Because the terms of the contract were underspecified, Great Minds was able to license the OER they produced with public funds under a CC license bearing the [non-commercial] condition," he explained. When educators attempted to make copies of the content at their local Office Depot and FedEx shops for distribution, Great Minds began suing. So far, Great Minds has lost those lawsuits. However, that example hints at what could happen were a national or state government try to "operate an OER funding program under the framework of the OER Recommendation," Wiley predicted. "Some organization who won a bid would create a textbook and then license it with the following custom license: 'You are expressly prohibited from copying this resource in full or in part. You are expressly permitted to re-use, re-purpose, adapt and redistribute this resource in any manner that does not require you to first make a copy.'" Along with that change, the approved recommendation has also eliminated any reference to an open license being "free and perpetual," Wiley pointed out. "I have no idea what kind of opportunity there is to fix the Recommendation. Particularly now that it's been unanimously adopted by the member states. And it breaks my heart," Wiley concluded. "We've missed a huge opportunity here." The complete explanation is openly available on Wiley's blog. With resolutions being moved in the European Parliament against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, a senior Israeli diplomat said on Tuesday that the issue is India's internal matter. CAA and Article 370 (that was scrapped) are internal matters of India, which has every right to take a decision about its citizens, Consul General of Israel to South India Dana Kursh told reporters. Replying to a specific question on Israel's stand on European Union Parliament's resolutions, she said that every country has the right to take decisions about its citizens. "India has also taken such decision and EU has issues beyond these and no nation should act in any biased manner," she said. India has supported Israel in such crises from other nations, Kursh said. Kursh, here to participate in the two-day Indo-Israel Joint Conference on Sustainable Cities at Kumaraguru College of Technology, said both the countries have tie-up in all three major sectors of academia, industry and government. Tamil Nadu has many successful partnerships with Israel, she said and cited the seawater desalination and waste water treatment plants at Chennai. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Youd be forgiven for not knowing Gareth Bromell's name just yet. Heidi Klum does. And so do Michelle Williams, Dakota Johnson and Bella Hadid. Taylor Swift definitely does after he gave her that headline-making post-breakup haircut in 2016 when she split from Tom Hiddleston. He is a big deal in Hollywood and yet, he doesn't have the same mainstream recognition as some of his peers but, of course, that's about to change. Until he shaped Swift's blonde bob into a shag and fringe - which she wore for two more years - he had been an in-demand editorial and celebrity hairstylist, but the Swift effect catapulted him to superstardom. Bromell (38), from Castleconnell, Co Limerick, left Ireland at the age of 20, bursting with ambition and confidence, with the skills to back it up. He left school at 15, originally with the aim of becoming a chef but when that plan didnt come to fruition, his mother introduced him to her hairdresser at the Hugh Campbell Hair Group, which gave him a taste for the career which would afford him so much long-term success. Expand Close Celebrity hairstylist, originally from Limerick, Gareth Bromell / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Celebrity hairstylist, originally from Limerick, Gareth Bromell First off, I wanted to be a chef. Being a hairdresser never entered my mind, he tells Independent.ie Style. I left school when I was quite young. When being a chef didnt work out for me, I didnt want to go back to school, so my mother introduced me to her hairdresser and thats where the career started. I wanted to get involved more creatively, so after that, I started working for Toni & Guy, then I moved to Dublin and followed an opportunity to work in London when I was 20. The harder you work, the luckier you get, and Gareth was working his socks off. His end goal was to work in fashion - although he even says himself he couldnt have dreamt up the success he enjoys in the industry today - and strategically carved out a career that would allow him the opportunities to pursue that. I got offered a job with Daniel Hersheson [an iconic British hairdresser] and thats where my career really took off. From them on, I started assisting Paul Hanlon on Gucci campaigns and I worked with him for a few years. Then I started working with the royal families of Saudi Arabia, the British royal family, celebrities and runway shows in London. Pretty soon, he was established all his own and his work assisting two of the UKs top hair talents led to him creating a name for himself, one which would allow him the chance to travel stateside and take his already thriving career up another notch. I wanted to go to New York. I was offered a job but he pulled out a month before we were due to move but I couldnt afford to move on my own, and I ended up getting offered a job with a guy in LA who Id met previously. It was a weird way to approach the fashion industry because the fashion industry wasnt there yet, he says. The success started to manifest in Los Angeles after Id gotten through the tough times of the first couple of years. I was offered representation and the celebrity work started to come in - everyone like Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr - they were all recommended to me by mutual friends. It happened very organically. Expand Close The interior of Henshin Beauty in Limerick. Picture: Awake and Dreaming Photography / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The interior of Henshin Beauty in Limerick. Picture: Awake and Dreaming Photography Video of the Day He has agencies in Paris, New York, London and Los Angeles. And he is bringing this wealth of experience back to his native Limerick with the launch of a new concept beauty bar under his brand Henshin at Castletroy Town Centre. He and makeup artist Mandy OLoughlin have launched the two-pronged business which gives women the opportunity to enjoy both sides of the beauty coin, and for affordable pricing (each service takes 30 minutes and costs 35 each). Im a big lover of where I come from and so the right choice was to have our flagship in Limerick, he says. Ive been away for 17 years and I work on all the shows in New York, Milan, Paris, Ive worked with A-list clients; I shoot for Vogue, Elle, etc. Its where Im from. I love where Im from. I love that Im from Ireland. I haven't lived here for a long time, but I still have my accent and this is who I am. I want to make a change wen it becomes to the beauty industry and move Ireland a step forward with it as well, using my experience. I saw an opening in the market when it came to hairstyling and how the industry was missing the wearability factor when it came to hair in Ireland. Weve got a curated menu of 10 hair and nine makeup looks. Everything is tailored to the individual in consultation - we work with what the client wants. What Ive noticed in Ireland recently is that for an updo, they tell you to wash your hair the night before and youre coming in the next day paying 80 for an updo and they dont provide a full service. I want to give a full service to my client like I give my clients globally," he adds. Big product and service launches tend to remain in Dublin and the outskirts and smaller cities around the country tend to get ignored, which was one of the deciding factors to return focus on his home city. Thats why we did the first flagship in Limerick, were expanding this year to Cork and Dublin as well. Its very exciting. Were very talented as a nation. Theres so much talent that comes from Ireland. Thats why, for me, Im still global and work on a global level but I want to bring it back to ireland. I want to make Ireland relevant globally in beauty. For me, you can do anything once you put your mind to it. Thats why its happening here. The Henshin property aligns with its ethos: its built using reclaimed wood and recycled materials, complementing the all-natural approach to it service and products. They only use vegan friendly, sulphate and paraben free products and want to enhance the clients natural beauty and makeup is anti-Instagram. His attitude towards clients is one rooted in respect and self-acceptance, he wants women to feel good in their skin and is investing in this belief on a larger scale, starting from his locale with global aspirations. "When Im asked by beauty press about 'whats the trend'. I say the trend is the inidivual. The trend is the embracing what you have and everything that you have." New Delhi, Jan 28 : A Supreme Court judge on Tuesday recused from hearing the Centre's plea seeking Rs 7,844 crore as additional funds from the firms succeeding US-based Union Carbide Corporation, currently owned by Dow Chemicals, to disburse as compensation to victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. The matter was adjourned for further hearing on Wednesday. A five-judge bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M.R. Shah and S. Ravindra Bhat was set up to conduct the hearing on the curative petition seeking increased compensation for the victims. During the brief hearing, Justice Mishra said Justice S. Ravindra Bhat has "some difficulty" in hearing the matter. Justice Bhat said that he had appeared for the Union of India in the matter when it sought review. The court said the Chief Justice will take a call on re-constituting the bench. However, as per list of business for Wednesday, uploaded on the apex court's website, the matter is listed before the same bench. The Centre is seeking directions to Union Carbide and other firms to pay an additional amount of Rs 7,844 crore, which is over and above the earlier settlement amount of $470 million in 1989, as compensation. Since 1984, the victims have been fighting a long battle for adequate compensation and proper medical treatment for ailments caused due to the gas leak. In December 2010, the Centre had filed the curative petition in the apex court. In June 2010, a Bhopal court had convicted seven executives of Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) and sentenced them to two years imprisonment. Warren Anderson, then UCC Chairman, was the key accused, but he never appeared for the trial. In 1992, the court had declared him an absconder and twice issued non-bailable warrants him in 1992 and 2009. Anderson died in September 2014. The toxic gas leak from the Union Carbide factory on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984 killed over 3,000 people, affecting 1.02 lakh more. A Monmouth County committeeman is under fire after the country prosecutor called into question thousands of dollars the town paid his construction company for home repairs. At issue is a $10,000 check Committeeman Thomas Critellis construction company received in 2013 for home repairs as a result of Hurricane Irene damage. The Monmouth County Prosecutors Office was informed of the payment, prompting it to initiate an investigation. The findings of the investigation were detailed in a Jan. 21 letter to Holmdel Mayor Gregory Buontempo. The letter does not state when the prosecutors office received the tip and how long the investigation took. In the three-page letter, the prosecutors office conceded it didnt have enough evidence to file criminal charges against Critelli, but it said the office found irregularities of how the check was issued. In a statement to NJ Advance Media, Critelli denied any intentional wrongdoing and called this an obvious pursuit of a political vendetta by other elected officials. He said he looks forward to being exonerated." Prior to becoming a committeeman in Holmdel, Thomas Critellis home on Heyward Hills Drive was damaged from flooding during Hurricane Irene in 2011. He filed a notice of his intent to sue the township for $80,000 in damages, alleging the flooding was a result of a backed-up township sewer, according to the prosecutors letter. Critelli provided an email to NJ Advance Media from him to Mayor Patrick Impreveduto on Jan. 2012 that shows he would be willing to settle for $40,000. In April 2012, Critelli settled with the Township for $30,000, which was paid out by the insurance company. As part of the settlement, the letter states, Critelli agreed to release the township from any further liability. But behind closed doors, the prosecutor alleges, discussions on the settlement amount continued. Our investigation revealed that there were continued negotiations involving former Mayor Impreveduto and Councilman Hinds to pay Critelli an additional $10,000, the letter states. This appeared to be an off-the-record negotiation. In an interview, Impreveduto denied those allegations, emphasizing there were no behind the scenes negotiations. Acting on the advice of the township administrator, he said, the township agreed to give Critelli an additional $10,000 to get this done. The process started when Critelli was a private citizen and dragged on, finalizing after he became a committeeman in 2013, Impreveduto said. Theres no nefarious stuff going on, he said. According to the prosecutors letter, within a month of being sworn-in, Critelli, on behalf of his construction company, Danitom Development, submitted an invoice to the township for $9,872 for the clean-up of flood damage to Mr. Critellis property due to Hurricane Irene. On Feb. 5, 2013, Critelli and three other council members Eric Hinds, Joseph Ponisi and Impreveduto voted to approve the payment to Danitom Development. Ponisi and Hinds could not be reached for comment. Buontempo was absent for the vote. Everyone on the committee at the time was a Republican, including Critelli. By voting aye, Mr Critelli voted for a check to be issued to his own company, which is a clear conflict of interest, the letter said. Mr. Critelli should have recused himself from the vote. In a statement, Critelli said he was unaware that the payment to his company was among well over 120 other bills payable on the consent agenda and called it a harmless error. He said the township administrator had recently resigned and that he relied on his guidance on when to recuse himself from a vote. The vote was for all bills payable and not each one individually, Critelli said. Without such advisement, I apparently voted in favor of the items included in the consent agenda, Critelli said. Had I been made aware of this being an issue, I now know that the procedure is to simply ask that the one item be pulled from the consent agenda and then abstain from voting on it. The prosecutors office also lambasted the township for discussing the payment of the check and settlement behind closed doors without notifying the public. It also didnt disclose those payments to the public afterward, the prosecutors office said. This isnt the first time Critellis has been accused of having a conflict of interest with the Township. In 2018, Critelli was decried for owning a housing property under his company and then including it in discussions for the Townships affordable housing plan, according to a report from the Two River Times. You bought the property in 2015, and sold it in 2016, thats an entire year you had that property and were possibly involved in (affordable housing planning ) discussions as a committee member, Lea Shave, a candidate for township committee, said at the time. I dont see that as a rookie mistake. I see that as someone who was possibly taking advantage of development. Critelli denied any wrongdoing, saying he had no financial interest in the property. The prosecutors office letter will be discussed at Tuesday nights committee meeting. The Committee will then vote to decide if the letter should be sent to the state Department of Community Affairs Local Finance Board, which oversees fiscal rules and regulations of local municipalities. In his statement, Critelli said he welcomes the referral of the matter to the Local Finance Board. Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani at the Mar-a-Lago resort: Reuters Donald Trumps defence team has denied Rudy Giuliani was sent to Ukraine to do a political errand for the president, arguing the former New York mayor was spot on about corruption there and at home. The omission of any mention of Mr Giuliani as the Trump team spoke on Saturday for three hours, and then during its first two hours on Monday, was striking given the former New York City mayors major role in the White Houses Ukraine policy push. It fell to Jane Raskin, a lawyer who also represented Mr Trump during former Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia election meddling investigation, to try to convince senators that Mr Giuliani was not sent to the Eastern European country to dig up dirt on US Democrats, including the Bidens. He was doing what good defence attorneys do, Ms Raskin said. He was following a lead ... He was gathering evidence regarding Ukrainian election interference to defend his client against false allegations being investigated by Special Counsel Mueller. It had nothing to do with the 2020 election, Ms Raskin said, contending Mr Giuliani was acting as Mr Trumps personal attorney as he investigated corruption the Trump camp believed existed during the last US presidential cycle. She noted Mr Trump hired the man known as Americas mayor six months before former vice president Joe Biden announced his intention to seek the White House for a third time. Ms Raskin criticised the seven House Democratic managers for mischaracterising Mr Giulianis role and intent during their three days of case-making. She accused them of bias and taking a purely political view of the entire Ukraine affair. The House managers may not like his style. You may not like his style, Ms Raskin said, describing Giuliani as everything ... a defence lawyer must be: outrageous, irreverent, blasphemous, a rogue, a renegade. Ticking off a list things Republicans say the Mueller investigation and probes by Justice Department internal watchdogs show internal bias against Mr Trump, she declared Mr. Giuliani was spot on. Story continues And in a line that surely pleased her client, she declared the score is Mr. Giuliani-4, Mr. Schiff-0, referring to one of Mr Trumps leading Democratic foils, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff of California, his partys lead impeachment manager. In this trial, Ms Raskin said in between audible sighs, Mr. Giuliani is just a minor player. House Democrats, however, have a very different view. As he closed the Democrats case on Thursday night, Mr Schiff said: This is why he needs to be removed: Donald Trump chose Rudy Giuliani over his own intelligence [agencies]. He chose Rudy Giuliani over his own FBI director. He chose Rudy Giuliani over his own national security advisers. When all of them were telling him this Ukraine 2016 stuff is kooky crazy Russian propaganda, he chose not to believe them. He chose to believe Rudy Giuliani. That makes him dangerous. Read more Trump lawyer claims impeachment is tantamount to domestic war Just as it seemed there might be some thawing in the trade relationships between the US and Europe new sources of friction are threatening to create fresh sinkholes in the path towards any resolution. After Davos, where Donald Trump waxed between the conciliatory tone he struck after his first meeting with new European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and his more normal threats of punitive tariffs, it appeared there was some prospect the threat of a trade war might be averted. A full-blown trade war between the US and EU would be more complicated, and more damaging to both, than the US stoush with China. Credit:Patrick Semansky The prospect of something similar to the limited and conditional "Phase One agreement with China seemed promising, with von der Leyen talking about a deal within weeks, not months. Even a low-level deal, one that doesnt directly address a core US aspiration of opening up the EU agricultural markets, however, looks problematic. Three cases involving a Harvard University professor and two Chinese nationals who allegedly hid their ties to the country while conducting research in Massachusetts highlight the ongoing threat" of Chinas economic espionage campaign and research theft, prosecutors said. Dr. Charles Lieber, chairman of the colleges chemistry and chemical biology department, was arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Chinese university and concealing his work for the schools government-run program that aims to lure scientists in other countries to share their expertise and research with China, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lellings office said in a statement. The case emphasizes the dangers of Chinese counterintelligence, according to the U.S. attorney. Lelling noted how U.S. Attorney General William Barr recently called China the biggest rival" to the United States. Chemistry, nano technology, polymer studies, robotics, computer science, biomedical research this is not an accident or a coincidence, Lelling said in a press conference broadcast by WCVB. This is a small sample of Chinas ongoing campaign to syphon off American technology and know-how for Chinese gain. Yanqing Ye, a lieutenant of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army and member of the countrys communist party, was also indicted on charges of visa fraud, making false statements, acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy, Lellings office said in its statement. The 29-year-old, who is now in China, is accused of falsely identifying herself as a student on her J-1 visa application and lying about her ongoing military service at the National University of Defense Technology, a military academy directed by the Chinese Communist Party, according to the statement. Ye is accused of working as a PLA lieutenant from 2017 to 2019. During that time, she allegedly used U.S. military websites, sent American documents and information to China and compiled information for the PLA on two American scientists with expertise in robotics and computer science, the statement said. Our community benefits greatly from the diversity and talent of international visitors and our partnerships with foreign institutions, Lelling said in his press conference. But Chinese economic espionage and theft is a real and daily occurrence that we must begin to confront. Zaosong Zheng, another Chinese national, was arrested in early December at Bostons Logan International Airport. The 30-year-old was charged with attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological research to China. Prosecutors alleged Zheng admitted that he had stolen the vials from a laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and that he sought to bring the vials to China to use them to conduct research in his own laboratory. He has been detained since Dec. 30, according to the statement from Lellings office. As demonstrated by these cases, on the academic side, the Chinese government uses partnerships and exchanges with U.S. schools and research institutions to access cutting-edge research and equipment, Lelling said. "Obviously, most visiting Chinese academics and researchers are here to work in good faith in U.S. institutions. But some of them are not. Some number have been incentivized by the Chinese government, either through the use of money or other means, to gather U.S. research and smuggle it back to China. Lieber, principal investigator of the Lieber Research Group at Harvard, became a strategic scientist at Wuhan University of Technology in China in 2011. Unknown to Harvard, from around 2012 to 2017, the 60-year-old was contracted to work in the countrys Thousand Talents Plan, a prominent Chinese initiative that seeks to recruit high-level scientific talent" to further the countrys "scientific development, economic prosperity and national security, Lellings office said in its statement. The 60-year-old was allegedly paid $50,000 a month and nearly $160,000 for living expenses by WUT. Lieber was also given more than $1.5 million to create a research laboratory at the Chinese university and was obligated to work at WUT no less than nine months a year, prosecutors said. The Harvard professor allegedly lied from 2018 to 2019 about his involvement with the Thousand Talents Plan and WUT. In interview with investigators in April 2018, Lieber is accused of saying he was never asked to participate in the Chinese recruitment program but that he was unsure how China categorized him, Lellings office said in its statement. Lieber received more than $15 million in grant money from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense during his time at Harvard. The funds require the disclosure of significant foreign financial conflicts of interest, according to Lellings office. Prosecutors said the professor failed to disclose his relationship with the Chinese university to NIH in November 2018, though, causing Harvard to falsely tell the agency that Lieber had no formal association with WUT after 2012. Lieber was charged with making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement, and he was expected to appear Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Boston, Lellings office said in its statement. The three cases fall under the U.S. Department of Justices China Initiative, which seeks to counter security threats posed by China, including trade secret theft, hacking and economic espionage, according to the statement. The initiative will increase efforts to protect our critical infrastructure against external threats including foreign direct investment, supply chain threats and the foreign agents seeking to influence the American public and policymakers without proper registration, the statement said. Related Content: PHILIPSBURG:--- As the world is on high alert because of the Coronavirus outbreak, so is the Management of the Princess Juliana International Airport SXM. A series of emergency preparedness meetings convened during the course of last week to guarantee the SXM Airports Pandemic plan goes into full effect, to foster awareness and responsiveness for good hygiene practices to prevent the Norvel Coronavirus. Furthermore, following collaborative meetings with the pertinent members of the Government of St. Maarten and sector heads, the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Brian Mingo announced that it was established that the goal is not to generate panic in our low-risk area but to be accountable for the management of the risk of communicable diseases at airports, which rests primarily with the local public health authority. On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause, which was detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. On January 13, 2020, the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, reported the first imported case of lab-confirmed novel coronavirus also from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. Since then, there have been more worldwide confirmed cases on the gradual rise through travel. The plan of action for the SXM Airport includes the installation and strategic placement of additional hand sanitizer units and the pandemic plan which now includes an update on the coronavirus. According to the Chief Operations Officer, COO, Michel Hyman, the implementation of the public and airport awareness campaign has begun and serves to bring awareness to our passengers, staff and airport stakeholders. We are taking all the necessary precautionary measures and have established an action plan in the event a case may arise at the SXM Airport, concluded Mr. Hyman. According to the Airport Council International (ACI), together with the local authorities, each airport operator should play its part towards achieving greater coordination of preparedness measures. ACI further states that our airport preparedness plan should also address aspects such as screening logistics, equipment, entry/exit controls, and coordination with the local/regional/national public health authority. Furthermore, the International Health Regulations (2005) refers to the role of competent authorities at airports with respect to ensuring that facilities for travelers are maintained in a sanitary condition and that goods being transported through airports are kept free of sources of infection or contamination; it concludes. A key Alabama legislator is sponsoring a bill that would allow voters to decide whether to establish a state lottery, something they havent had a chance to do since 1999. Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, chairman of the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee, is introducing a lottery bill that would direct half the revenues to Alabamas prekindergarten program and the other half to needs-based college scholarships. If Clouses bill passed the House and Senate with support of at least three-fifths of the members, it would go on the ballot for voters, who last voted on a lottery plan with Don Siegelman was governor. That plan was rejected. Mississippi is the most recent of Alabamas neighbors to start a lottery and will begin selling tickets for the multi-state Powerball lottery this week, Clouse said. Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee also have lotteries, as do a total of 45 states. Were surrounded and its to the point now where its ridiculous that we dont have a chance to let our constituents vote on this issue, Clouse said. Alabama lawmakers have considered lottery bills several times in recent years, including last year, when a bill passed the Senate but died in the House. That lottery bill would have directed most of the money to the states General Fund, not education. I just think the general sentiment is that it needs to go to education, Clouse said. All of the states around us have theirs dedicated to education except Mississippi. Theirs is going to roads and bridges. Alabamas prekindergarten program, called First Class, has won recognition for its quality for more than a decade but needs additional funding to be available statewide. Clouse said the college scholarship program would be available to students after they had applied for other scholarships and grants. He said his intent would be to focus on career tech scholarships to meet the states workforce needs. The legislative session begins next Tuesday. In a first since at least Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans jail made it through the 2019 calendar year without an inmates death. The ability to keep inmates alive while in custody, among a jailer's most basic responsibilities, has long been a challenge in Orleans Parish. But the 2019 achievement nevertheless offered one of several signs of recent, meaningful improvement at a lockup still under federal oversight because of dangerous conditions, court monitors said last week. In their latest report on Jan. 19, the monitors said the safety, medical and mental health care, and environment conditions of inmates have made meaningful and noteworthy improvement over the past 10 months. The jail has come into compliance with 103 of the 174 provisions of the reform plan enacted seven years ago, the monitors said. While jail inmates are safer and receive better medical care, both they and overworked guards still encounter regular violence. The monitors also warned that the jail will face new challenges in April as dozens of mentally ill male inmates are returned to New Orleans from a state prison. A federal judge has watched over the jails conditions since 2013, when Sheriff Marlin Gusman agreed to a wide-reaching reform plan in response to a lawsuit from advocates for the inmates. For years even after the construction of a new main jail building on Perdido Street the monitors who were appointed by U.S. District Judge Lance Africk said progress was slow. +4 New Orleans City Council approves use of temporary jail building, creates new inmate cap The New Orleans City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a zoning change that will allow the Orleans Parish Sheriffs Office to use a tem But in March 2019, monitors said the jail had made headway under Darnley Hodge, a former Virginia jail administrator selected to manage jail operations on behalf of Gusman, who has been sidelined from overseeing the jail under a 2016 agreement with the court. Some of the improvements noted in the most recent report came in the area of mental health care, which the jail has contracted out to physicians from Tulane University. The Sheriffs Office has long struggled to provide psychiatric help to its inmates, and it still lacks a dedicated facility for those with the most serious problems. In April, the jail plans to open a renovated section of the Temporary Detention Center to house men with severe mental health problems who will be evicted that month from a state prison in St. Gabriel. The monitors warned that despite having Tulane doctors on hand, the jail still needs to conduct extensive training of its staff to ensure the transition from the state prison to Perdido Street is successful. The monitors also praised the jails effort to write new policies and train its employees on how to follow them. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Short staffing and violence are still major obstacles to the jails turnaround effort, however. The monitors said there is an average of 36 fights or altercations between inmates per month, and almost 10 attacks a month on jail employees. Last year, jail guards also continued to dispense violence themselves: There was a 37% increase in reports that guards used force on inmates. In its latest update to the court, the Sheriffs Office said that it saw a net gain of 86 employees during 2019, an improvement over prior years that saw the staff headcount tumble. But entire tiers of the jail still are sometimes left unmanned, including supposedly mandatory guard posts overseeing high-risk inmates, according to the monitors. In response, the jail continues to rely heavily on overtime. For example, an overworked division thats supposed to separate inmates who cant be mixed with each other, like warring gang members, has resorted to having its employees pick up an average of 42 hours of overtime a month. The monitors briefly noted that last year came and went without an inmates death in custody. That significant development is a first since at least 2003, said Andrea Armstrong, a Loyola University law professor who has compiled an inmate death database. +2 New Orleans inmate's fentanyl overdose sparks lawsuit against Sheriff Gusman: 'This is a pattern' New Orleanians have become all too familiar with the toll of the opioid epidemic, which in recent years has claimed more lives in the city tha Armstrong theorized that in addition to better conditions, one explanation might be the jails declining number of inmates, which means fewer people are at risk. City leaders, including former Mayor Mitch Landrieu and current Mayor LaToya Cantrell, have mounted a long-running effort to reduce the jail population. Last year, there were 1,043 inmates in Sheriffs Office custody on the day with the lowest population, as compared to 1,975 when the consent decree began in 2013. Often teachers working in government-run schools are assigned duties other than teaching children. However, this one time it has turned rather bizarre as some of these women who were asked to turn beauticians overnight had no clue about makeup, they said. Lucknow, Jan 28 (IANS) Government school teachers in Uttar Pradesh Minister Satish Dwiwedi's constituency were asked to prepare the brides for a mass wedding organised on Tuesday. An order issued by a block education officer (BEO) in Siddharthanagar district assigned 20 women teachers to do the make up of the brides at the marriage ceremony, however, when the news went viral on the social media on Monday night, the directive was quickly withdrawn. Later Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) of Siddharthanagar, Surya Kant Tripathi, issued the order cancelling the earlier order, and also directed an inquiry into the matter. According to reports, the BEO of Naugarh, Dhruv Prasad, on Monday issued the order asking 20 government primary teachers of his block to help the brides get ready for their wedding in the Yogi Adityanath government's mass wedding programme. The teachers were asked to reach the venue of the wedding on Tuesday morning. The BSA initially defended the decision but when trouble started, he ordered the withdrawal. Sushil Pandey, state president of Uttar Pradesh Primary Teachers' Association, said: "Such decisions are completely unacceptable. Teachers should be treated with respect and not asked to do jobs that are not a part of their duty. A teacher who was assigned the duty said: "I have never applied make up on my face and I do not even know the basic of the art. If anything goes wrong, I will have to face the consequences." Another teacher said: "The government makes us do such jobs and then they blame us for the poor quality of education in government schools." A government teacher in Lucknow seemed equally upset with the order and said: "Next, they (government) will ask us to cook meals for official events. We are expected to do everything except what we are paid for --teaching." The incident has taken place in the constituency of the state's Basic Education Minister (state minister with independent charge) Satish Dwiwedi. amita/in An employee from a nationwide international tours operator said packages to China (Shanghai and Shenzen mostly) and Hong Kong were still available to customers but people are choosing to stay away. (AP) Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad: Tour operators and travel agents from the city said there is very little interest among the public to go to Hong Kong and China. Over the past few days, bookings have gradually come down to almost nil. They said this could be because of the coronavirus scare that has affected parts of China and southeast Asia. An employee from a nationwide international tours operator said packages to China (Shanghai and Shenzen mostly) and Hong Kong were still available to customers but people are choosing to stay away. As of now, we are asking our customers to wait before making bookings to China, he said. He added that he could still suggest tour packages to Hong Kong. A small-time operator from the city said, There hasnt really been a lot of interest in going to China. Bookings are never too many. But of late, they have dried up completely. Another local operator had similar views, claiming that bookings to China were almost nil. However, I am not sure this is because of the coronavirus scare. Many people dont even know about it, he said. A report from Visakhapatnam said the threat of coronavirus had resulted in some people cancelling or postponing their tours to China and even Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macau. This will come at a cost. Those who booked tickets on low-cost airlines will not get any refund. Tourists in the economy package tours mostly fly by low-cost airlines. On Tuesday, four persons from Vizag cancelled their tickets to Singapore and Scoot Airlines refused to refund their fare. They lost Rs 2 lakh. People in AP mostly travel to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in this period which is considered the peak season in Southeast Asia. Chinese comprise 80 per cent of the travellers to these three countries in January. AP tourists fear that the Chinese tourists could spread the virus and as a precautionary measure cancelled their travel plan, said vice-president of Tours and Travels Association of Andhra Pradesh Dheeraj P. He told this correspondent Tuesday that 10,000 to 12,000 people from AP travel to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand every year and 20 to 30 per cent are traders. Only 300 people mostly businessmen travel to China. All the tickets to China have been cancelled and no fresh itinerary has been made by the frequent travellers, said another operator. He said if the situation showed no improvement, the travellers from AP would also cancel their plans in summer. People from this region travel either during Sankranthi holidays or during summer vacation. - Justin Amoafo, a young Ghanaian man has shared graduation photos with his ''Chinese queen'' - One of the photos show Amoafo styled in his graduation gown while his Chinese girlfriend rocked Ghana kente - The photos have attracted some reactions Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Having successfully attained a significant milestone in his life, a young Ghanaian man in an interracial relationship shared cute moments with his ''Chinese queen'' during his graduation ceremony. Justin Amoafo with Twitter name, @justinamoafo, shared adorable photos of himself with his Chinese girlfriend styled in the finest Ghanaian Kente. The proud young man who appears to be caught up in a loved-up romance with his girlfriend posted photos showing him in his graduation gown while he hugging his girlfriend in one of the images. READ ALSO: Rahim Banda: Free SHS ambassador donates books to support Otumfuo Education Foundation (photos) Another image showed Justin Amoafo and his Chinese girlfriend dashing with smiles as they posed for the camera. Amoafo celebrated his remarkable feat in colourful Kente and had his would-be wife also style in the rich Ghanaian cloth. ''My Chinese Queen & i pulled up to graduation in the finest Kente cloth from Ghana. to me, this photo is deeper than just a cute moment. it represents two cultures coming together as one in love & understanding,'' Justin Amoafo said along stunning photos in a Tweet. The proud Ghanaian young man's post attracted some interest reactions on Twitter. ''Ow nice. Ma man eating some Chinese Distin !!! ,'' Duke Boateng said in resposne to the photos. ''Congrats homie! doing big things,'' Andre Wagner wrote. In other stories, YEN.com.gh reported a proud son with Twitter name @Mubarhiq has stirred pleasant remarks from some Twitter deities after he shared an awe-inspiring story following his graduation. After years of hard work in school to obtain a certificate as a tertiary graduate, Mubarhiq had hoped that he could share his remarkable accomplishment with his mother. However, the young graduate noted in a tweet that his mother could not travel from Tamale in the Northern region to witness one of the important days of his life to capture moments and history together. Despite the considerable setback, @Mubarhiq sat through the graduation ceremony with his colleagues to own their years of sleepless nights as it came in a certificate. READ ALSO: Rahim Banda: Free SHS ambassador donates books to support Otumfuo Education Foundation (photos) Ghanaian Traders Share Thoughts on Sales During Christmas | #Yencomgh Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Photo: The Canadian Press Labatt Breweries of Canada has acquired a Delta, B.C.-based distillery known for its ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages a growing segment in a struggling beer market. Labatt says it has acquired Goodridge & Williams Distillery, which makes the Nutrl vodka and vodka soda drinks, along with several other spirits and ready-to-drink canned cocktails. Labatt says the distillery will continue to operate under the leadership of founder Paul Meehan and his team, and they will work to create new products. Labatt hopes to capitalize on its distribution channels to grow G&W brands, among other things. The companies say industry data shows the ready-to-drink alcohol segment is growing, with no signs of slowing down. Meanwhile, beer sales and consumption have been declining, according to trade association Beer Canada. Labatt, which is part of global brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, did not disclose financial terms of the acquisition. The battle lines are already been drawn by the EU in preparation for Brexit trade talks, according to reports (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA) A Brexit trade row is brewing as Britain is only days away from its European Union exit, according to reports. The Times reports that Brussels will attempt to gain the upper hand before trade talks start late next month by insisting European judges continue to hold sway in Britain after Brexit. The UK will leave the European Union on Friday, with the country entering a transition period where relations with the bloc will largely stay the same while negotiators look to thrash out a trade deal before the end of the year. According to the Times, a leaked diplomatic document suggests the EU is preparing to demand that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is able to enforce rules on trade, fishing and security even after Britain is classified as a third country. A document seen by the paper reportedly states that having a defined role for the Luxembourg court, which adjudicates on EU laws, would ensure consistent interpretation of the agreement between the UK and EU. Downing Street has been contacted for comment about the alleged demands. It comes as the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the UKs insistence on moving away from Brussels-made laws and the scrutiny of its judges meant trade without some form of customs checks was impossible. Speaking in Belfast, he said: The UK has chosen to become a third country, to leave the single market and the customs union, to leave behind the EUs framework of common rules, common supervision and common Court of Justice. You may have to make concessions in areas like fishing in order to get concessions from us in areas like financial servicesLeo Varadkar It has chosen to create two regulatory spaces. This makes frictionless trade impossible. It makes checks indispensable. In further comments that will be set to worry Brexiteers, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also indicated that Brussels would look for concessions on fishing in exchange for the UKs financial services industry to have better access to the European single market. The Vote Leave campaign vowed that Britain would be able to have control of who fishes in UK territorial waters upon leaving the EU and the common fisheries policy (CFP). At present, the CFP dictates how much British fishermen can catch and where, and fishermen have often complained they do not get a fair share of what is caught in UK waters. The Taoiseach told the BBC: What happens in these things is trade offs. You may have to make concessions in areas like fishing in order to get concessions from us in areas like financial services. Responding to the comments, Prime Minister Boris Johnsons official spokesman said: We are going to be taking control of our fishing waters. We have been clear on that. Not only will Britain cease to be a member of the EU after 11pm on January 31 but the Brexit department will also be abolished. A new taskforce will lead the UKs trade negotiations rather than the Department for Exiting the European Union (Dexeu), the Government has confirmed. The Taskforce Europe Team within Number 10 will be headed by Mr Johnsons chief Europe adviser, David Frost, and will report directly to the PM, Downing Street said. Number 10 said that Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay would cease to be a Cabinet minister after the Dexeu is disbanded at the end of the month. Trump denies telling Bolton Ukraine aid was tied to investigations Iran Press TV Monday, 27 January 2020 8:28 AM US President Donald Trump has denied he told former national security adviser John Bolton that unless Ukraine investigated his political rivals, military aid to Kiev would be frozen. According to a New York Times report on Sunday, Bolton writes in his forthcoming book that Trump said he wanted to keep frozen $391 million in aid to Ukraine, until Kiev officials helped with a probe into his Democratic rival Joe Biden. Trump, however, denied wrongdoing in a trio of tweets early on Monday, saying, "I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens." "In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book," Trump said. Democrats in the US House of Representatives opened an impeachment inquiry in late September after a whistleblower complaint filed to Congress claimed that Trump had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25 phone call to investigate Biden, and his son, Hunter, who had business interests in Ukraine. Trump is currently facing an impeachment trial over charges of abusing power and obstruction of Congress. On Monday, the president claimed he had released the military aid to Ukraine "without any conditions or investigations - and far ahead of schedule." The aid, however, was not released until after news reports came out describing the freeze, and that not all of the $391 million was distributed before the end of the fiscal year. In his tweets, the president also pointed to his administration providing Ukraine with anti-tank Javelin missiles and an afterward meeting he had with Zelensky at the United Nations. "I also allowed Ukraine to purchase Javelin anti-tank missiles. My Administration has done far more than the previous Administration." Ukraine ordered the purchase of the weapons a couple of weeks before the controversial phone call between Zelensky and Trump. On October 3, the US State Department approved the possible military sale to Ukraine of 150 Javelin anti-tank missiles and two additional missile launchers, worth approximately $39.2 million. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 01:51:23|Editor: zh Video Player Close Chinese painters Sun Jiujiang (2nd R) and Wang Yu (1st L) attend the opening ceremony of a touring exhibition entitled "Instant, Insight, Inscape" in Leicester, Britain, Jan. 27, 2020. Organized by the Confucius Institute at De Montfort University (DMU), the exhibition featuring Chinese paintings has opened in Leicester, around 160 kilometers away from London. Coinciding with the Chinese Spring Festival, the exhibition brought over 30 works of two Chinese renowned painters -- Sun Jiujiang, known for landscape painting, and Wang Yu, good at flower and bird painting -- and will last till Feb. 29. (Xinhua/Han Yan) LONDON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Organized by the Confucius Institute at De Montfort University (DMU), a touring exhibition entitled "Instant, Insight, Inscape" featuring Chinese paintings has opened in Leicester, around 160 km away from London. Coinciding with the Chinese Spring Festival, the exhibition brought over 30 works of two Chinese renowned painters -- Sun Jiujiang, known for landscape painting, and Wang Yu, good at flower and bird painting -- and will last till Feb. 29. At the opening ceremony on Monday, Simon Bradbury, pro vice-chancellor of the DMU, extended a warm welcome to the two artists and thanked everyone for their dedication to the exhibition. Ruan Shao, representative of the Chinese embassy in Britain, fully affirmed the efforts of the Confucius Institute for cultural exchanges between China and the West. Starting from the DMU, the exhibition will later travel to Newcastle University, University of Sheffield and Coventry University, where the two painters will deliver lectures and workshops to promote cultural exchanges between the East and the West. Adding a taste of elegance to the Chinese New Year celebrations in the Leicester area, the exhibition offered local residents a unique chance for close contact with Chinese traditional paintings, facilitating a better understanding of Chinese culture and fine arts during the Spring Festival. ALTON In the generations of a historic line of Bemis family chiropractors, for the first time a Bemis daughter has taken the helm of one of the Riverbends Bemis practices, that of Dr. Frank C. Bemis, who now works part time. In passing the torch to his daughter, Dr. Kristina E. Bemis Tupman, she is joined by her husband, Dr. Stephen P. Tupman, at Bemis Tupman Chiropractic, formerly Dr. Frank C. Bemis & Associates Chiropractors, at 4105 Humbert Road suite 101, Alton. The Alton couple married in 2017 and became the owners of Bemis Tupman Chiropractic this past December. Drs. Tupman both are 2015 graduates of Palmer College of Chiropractic, in Davenport, Iowa, where Dr. Bemis Tupman followed in her fathers footsteps, as he did his fathers and grandfathers. Dr. Bemis Tupman did so not only by becoming a doctor of chiropractic, but she also graduated from the same college as they did. Her great grandfather, Dr. Francis Edward Bemis, a chiropractic pioneer, entered the field of chiropractic at its veritable infancy. He obtained the first practitioner license in the state of Vermont and then then practiced in New York for 52 years. His great granddaughter is the ninth Bemis, fourth generation and first female in the family to carry on the chiropractic legacy established when Dr. Bemis graduated from Palmer more than 100 years ago. The native New Englander graduated in 1915, returning East, from where Dr. Tupman also comes from Concord, New Hampshire. Dr. Frank C. Bemis son, Dr. Ryan Bemis, also graduated from Palmer and practices chiropractic in Alton at his own business, Bemis Family Chiropractic, 230 Regional Drive, which won the title Best Chiropractor in 2019 Best of the Best of Riverbend & Madison County, powered by The Telegraph and The Intelligencer. The next Bemis to graduate from Palmer was Dr. Bemis Tupmans grandfather, Frank E. Bemis. He and his wife, Dorothy, settled in Alton when their son, Frank C. Bemis, was just 3 years old. Likewise, Frank and his younger brother, Gerald, also graduated from Palmer and both returned to Alton to join their fathers practice. Today there are seven Bemis chiropractors who practice in Alton. More Information Meet Dr. Stephen P. Tupman Dr. Stephen P. Tupman, born and raised in Concord, New Hampshire, studied biology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell before starting his chiropractic journey to Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, from where he graduated in 2015. As a chiropractic student, he worked in the college's anatomy laboratory for seven of his 10 trimesters in order to further expand his knowledge and understanding of human anatomy. He completed more than 150 extracurricular hours of study to earn Certified Chiropractic Extremity Practitioner Certification (CCEP). Dr. Tupman spent his tenth Palmer trimester as an intern at Dr. Frank C. Bemis & Associates. After graduation, he practiced in Missouri for more than one year until he joined the Bemis team in 2017 as a full-time chiropractor. See More Collapse Dr. Frank C. Bemis youngest child explained to The Telegraph how she shared her decision to join the family practice. I sat my parents down when I was seven years old, and told them I was going far away for college, Dr. Bemis Tupman said. I said Id be a dancer and then come home and be a chiropractor. And thats what she did. Dance has been a part of Dr. Bemis Tupmans life almost as long as chiropractic. She began dance lessons when she was 3; went on a two-week tour, when she was 14, to different venues, including Disney World; became part of a touring professional troupe in high school; and, performed at the Pro Bowl in 2000, along with 98 Degrees. She made dance a permanent part of her life through education and an early career. She still keeps one foot on the stage participating in Alton Little Theater productions. In 2007, Dr. Bemis Tupman received a bachelors in dance with a minor in natural sciences from Los Angeles Loyola Marymount University. Eventually, she knew, shed join the family ranks as a chiropractor, but she had one more level to reach in dance. She landed her first professional job in L.A. and continued her dance career in St. Louis when she moved back home to Alton in 2008, continuing this career until she moved in 2012 to attend Palmer. And then, eventually, she did become a chiropractor. She graduated from Palmer exactly 100 years after her great grandfather; 74 years after her grandfather; and, 50 years after her father, who was the commencement speaker at his daughters Palmer graduation in 2015. Dr. Bemis Tupman began practicing at her dads office the same year. He began practicing in in Alton in 1966 and opened his own business at Bemis Tupman Chiropractics current location July Fourth weekend of 1986. Dr. Bemis Tupman chose to attend Palmer College of Chiropractic not only because of her family history there, but because that is where chiropractic started, she explained. The person who discovered chiropractic, D.D. Palmer, restored a mans hearing by adjusting him in 1895, she explained, and the Palmer School of Chiropractic was started just two years later, in 1897. Bemis Tupman Chiropractics care is family-based, treating a range of ages, from infants to those in their 90s. The variety of techniques that the Bemis Tupman Chiropractic team uses are suitable for many different conditions. These techniques include both manual and instrument-based adjusting and are gentle and specific. Bemis Tupman Chiropractic also is the only Alton practice using the ProAdjuster, a sophisticated type of technology that allows for gentle, safe manipulation without any sudden movements. Dr. Bemis Tupmans patients include some of her fathers former longtime patients. As it turned out, her knowledge of dance, as well now of Pilates, has helped her in practicing chiropractic. She did her undergraduate senior thesis about Pilates, earned Pilates teaching certification and, while working in L.A., gained more hands-on Pilates knowledge. Pilates and dance complemented each other, she noted, and, likewise, to chiropractic. Dr. Bemis Tupman also is certified in the Webster technique, a specific sacral chiropractic adjustment to help facilitate a pregnant patients pelvic alignment and nerve system function. This in turn balances pelvic muscles and ligaments, reduces torsion to the uterus and gives the greatest potential for optimal fetal positioning. The Webster technique is particularly helpful to pre- and post-natal women, but can be used on all weight-bearing individuals for various symptoms, including low back pain and sciatic neuralgia. Today, Bemis is a respected name in the world of chiropractic academia. And, on June 18, 2019, Drs. Tupman welcomed their first child, Paris Elayne Tupman, another Bemis female who might become a chiropractor, eventually. Follow Bemis Tupman Chiropractic on Facebook, visit www.bemischiropractic.com or call 618-463-1600 for more information and business hours. Reach Jill Moon at (618) 208-6448 and Twitter @jill_moon. Greyhound Australia has announced it will not sign a contract extension with mining giant Adani, a day before activists were set to launch a protest campaign against the bus company's work at the Carmichael mine in central Queensland. The company drew ire from mine opponents after signing a three-month contract with construction firm BMD, which is building a railway from the Galilee Basin to Abbot Point. Greyhound Australia has ruled out any further deal to transport Adani workers. Credit:Wikimedia Commons Greyhound said in a statement it would complete the services it was contractually obliged to deliver until March 31 this year and no more, after pressure from anti-Adani campaigners. "Greyhound Australia has received numerous messages, emails and phone calls from people expressing their thoughts both for and against the Carmichael Rail Network and Adani Carmichael project," the statement said. Research have consistently found overwhelming support for the Democratic Party over the Republican Party among college and university faculty. (Chris Dorney/Shutterstock) College Professors 95 Times More Likely to Donate to Democrats Than Republicans: Study A recent study found that college professors across the United States are overwhelmingly in favor of Democrats over Republicans when it comes to making political donations. The study, conducted by Heterodox Academy Director of Research Sean Stevens and Brooklyn College Professor Mitchell Langbert and published by non-profit organization National Association of Scholars, showed that political contributions made by college faculty members were almost exclusively to Democratic candidates and committees. Upon their analysis of Federal Elections Commissions voter registration and political donation data of some 12,300 college professors at universities in 31 states and the District of Columbia during the past two election cycles in 2015-16 and 2017-18, the two researchers found that professors donated to Democrats more than Republicans by a 95:1 ratio. Nearly half of those professors are registered Democrats, while only 5.7 percent are registered Republicans. In terms of academic fields, the study found that economic professors have the lowest DemocratRepublican (DR) donor ratio at 17:1. The three academic fields with the highest DR donor ratio are English (244:1), Anthropology (214:1), and Psychology (184.1). Sociology professors, although having a high DR registration ratio at 27:1, have a disproportionately low DR donor ratio (31:1). When it comes to gender differences, the DR donation ratio for female professors (216.0:1) was considerably higher than the DR donation ratio among male professors (67.5:1). The two authors also highlighted a series of limitations in their research. For example, a good number of college professors are not registered as a member of either major political party. Many professors arent even registered to vote. Registration data is also unavailable for those who are not U.S. citizens, and those based in nonU.S. universities. More importantly, 20 states deny public access to the registration data or simply do not collect it at all. The liberal-conservative gap in college professors suggested by Stevens and Langberts study echoes the results of a Harvard youth poll last year. The poll, conducted by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University, found that only 35 percent of Republicans between the ages of 18 and 29 felt comfortable sharing their political opinions with their college professors. By contrast, 54 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of Independents reported they felt comfortable sharing political views with educators. An earlier online poll conducted by College Pulse for a conservative campus-news website The College Fix yielded similar results. More than two-thirds of 1,000 Republican and Republican-leaning college students who took the survey reported that they had hidden their political views in the classroom, out of fear that expressing those views could negatively impact their grades. The Rajasthan Police arrested a notorious criminal carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 from Telangana's Hyderabad, an official said here on Tuesday. Vikram Gujar, alias Laden, was wanted in cases of murder, firing and arson among others in Alwar and was on the run since November last year. Three firearms and seven live cartridges were recovered from him, police said. A special team from Bhilwadi (Alwar district) traced Gurjar, a hardcore criminal, to Telangana. He was brought to Bhiwadi on Monday night, a senior police official said. SP Bhiwadi Amandeep Singh Kapoor said Laden was the main accused in the murder case of Jasram Gurjar, who had contested the last assembly elections. Jasram was shot dead in broad daylight on July 29 last year at Alwar's Jenpurbas village. The accused was allegedly involved in 22 cases of murder, attempt to murder, loot, dacoity, extortion and kidnapping in Bhilwadi, Alwar and Jaipur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As Virginia's new Democratic majority ushers through a raft of proposals on everything from gun control to abortion, West Virginia's governor is making an unusual proposal to disgruntled Virginians: Break away. Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, on Tuesday endorsed a plan for conservatives unhappy with the new direction of their state legislature to demand ballot referendums in their cities and counties this November, through which they could express their desire for their county to leave Virginia and join West Virginia instead. West Virginia was formed when a set of counties did just that during the Civil War, leaving Virginia after it left the United States of America. Those counties seceded from the secessionist state, forming the new U.S. state of West Virginia. "West Virginia is an incredible state... We've got great people. We've got four incredible seasons," Justice said in his speech wooing wayward Virginians. "We're a loving, good people. Faith-based people. People that really know the difference between right and wrong.... If you're not truly happy where you are, we stand with open arms to take you from Virginia." University of Virginia constitutional law professor Richard Schragger said a county may leave one state and join another with the majority vote of both states' legislatures and the U.S. Congress, accordingto the U.S. Constitution. Schragger predicted that while West Virginia's legislature might welcome Justice's proposal, Virginia's remaining Republican lawmakers would be loathe to let conservative counties break away. Virginia's Democrats would probably oppose the secession also, he said, "as a mater of pride and... a sense of historic integrity of the state." Schragger said the proposal, while constitutional, was unimaginable: "not in a million years." Justice was accompanied during his speech by evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Virginia's Liberty University, who laid out details of the plan while Justice spoke in broad strokes about West Virginia's welcome to all. Falwell said he would vote for Liberty's hometown of Lynchburg to leave Virginia, although the city is about 100 miles away from the West Virginia border, for the purpose of "escaping the barbaric, totalitarian and corrupt Democratic regime in Richmond." "The threat from the radical left is real and spreading across the country. We have a rare opportunity to make history in our time by pushing back against tyranny," Falwell said. He recalled that Kentucky was once part of Virginia and became its own state shortly after the American Revolution, and that West Virginia broke away from Virginia. "I hope history will also record, one day, how Virginia divided once again in our day." Falwell also proposed a more extreme alternative, which he said he has floated to "high-level folks in the federal government" but knows is unfeasible: disenfranchising an enormous swath of northern Virginia, by making any area where federal workers or contractors reside part of the District of Columbia instead of Virginia. The federal district with no vote in Congress or a state legislature, he said, should be "10 times" larger than just Alexandria and Arlington, which a Republican state legislator recently proposed should be part of the District of Columbia rather than vote in Virginia, although the jurisdictions form a significant part of Virginia's tax base. "You have people intended by the founders to be in a federal district and not voting in any state, because they had a conflict of interest, voting in Virginia. That's really what's taken control of Virginia over from its residents," Falwell said. At least 100 students from Gujarat staying in China had expressed their desire to return home due to the outbreak of novel Coronavirus in Wuhan and some of them are coming back from Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has said. Rupani has instructed state chief secretary Anil Mukim to collect all the information about the students stranded in China and provide them necessary assistance if they want to return, an official release stated on Tuesday. "Around 100 students from Gujarat had expressed their desire to come back from China. Some of them are coming back from Beijing today while remaining students would return tomorrow. We are working in coordination with Indian as well as Chinese government over the issue," the CM told reporters in Gandhinagar. He said the students will be screened upon their arrival in Gujarat. The work to collect information on the students from Gujarat stuck in China will be carried out at the district level by the State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA) and state Relief Commissioner's office. The CM directed the state administration to remain in touch with the Central government and the Ministry of External Affairs to extend help to the students willing to return from China, the release stated. In a precautionary measure, Vadodara's Sir Sayajirao General Hospital has created a special isolation ward to admit any person showing symptoms of the novel Coronavirus. However, no such case has been reported in Gujarat till now. "We have alerted all the major government hospitals and medical colleges in the state. We have enough stock of medicines for patients and that of high quality masks and protective dresses for doctors and staff. We urge people to remain alert but desist from creating any unnecessary panic," Jayanti Ravi, Principal Secretary in the state Health and Family Welfare Department, told reporters. Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the current deadly strain of virus was not seen before. It has emerged from a seafood and animal market in China's Wuhan, and is suspected to have spread to as far as the United States. According to the World Health Organisation, the common symptoms of the novel coronavirus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Global crumbled on Monday as market participants remained wary of the scope of outbreak in China. As such, investors back home are likely to remain cautious in today's session as they assess the impact of the virus on China's and the global economy. Apart from that, corporate results and pre-Budget newsflow will give direction to the today. Investors will first react to major results announced post market hours yesterday. HDFCs Q3 results beat the Streets expectations on most operating parameters. The company clocked over 3 times year-on-year jump in its profit before tax to Rs 9,143 crore, while its assets under management grew 14 per cent. One-time gains of Rs 9,019 crore on account of stake sale in Gruh Finance fueled HDFC's profits. IndiGo airline's parent company, InterGlobe Aviation, reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 496 crore during the December quarter of FY20. On the sales front, IndiGo clocked Rs 10,330 crore during the recently concluded quarter. Today, a total of 65 companies including Maruti Suzuki, Manappuram Finance, and Century Textile, are scheduled to announce their December quarter results. Apart from that, investors will also track stock-specific action, oil price movement, and the Rupee's trajectory. In the global markets, Asian shares slipped again on Tuesday as China took more drastic steps to combat the MSCIs broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.4 per cent lower in early Asian trading on Tuesday. Australian shares stumbled nearly 1 per cent. On Monday, key indexes for British, French and German equity slid more than 2 per cent, as did pan-European markets on worries about the potential economic impact from the deadly virus. Stocks on Wall Street fell more than 1 per cent. The SGX Nifty is indicating a flat to negative start for the domestic indices. In commodities, oil prices slumped a further 2 per cent to multi-month lows on Monday as the rising number of cases of the new China virus and city lockdowns deepened concerns about demand for crude. Back home, dropped to its lowest level in a month yesterday and closed 458 points down at 41,155. Nifty finished with a loss of 129 points at 12,119. Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty More than 200 Republican members of Congress are on record asking the Supreme Court to reconsider and overturn, if appropriate, Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision that legalized abortion and ignited a culture war that continues to animate both major political parties almost half a century later. Two conservative Democrats joined 168 House Republicans and 39 GOP senators, almost all men (97 percent of the signatories), in signing an amicus brief in a Louisiana case arguing for restrictions that would leave the state with just one abortion provider. Its not unusual for lawmakers on both sides of the abortion debate to file an amicus brief. But four years ago, in an almost identical case out of Texas, Republican senators did not ask the Supreme Court to overturn Roe. Now theyre making that ask, says Nan Aron, founder and president of Alliance for Justice, a liberal advocacy group. Whats changed? Two new justices, she adds. Thats what changed. What the brief indicates is that anti-abortion advocates are no longer pretending they respect the precedent of Roe, and a subsequent decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, that upheld Roe. Emboldened by the increased conservative strength on the Court, the long-held goal of overturning Roe is within reach. Aron is not that afraid, though. Not that I think theyre going to do it, Aron hastens to add. This is a court thats very mindful of the polls and public opinion. Seventy-seven percent of the population doesnt want Roe overturned. Its unlikely the court would put in motion such a controversial debate before the election. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in March in the Louisiana case, called June Medical Services v. Gee, and issue its ruling by June. The assessment of legal analysts, experts, and activists is that while the court is unlikely to overturn Roe in the middle of an election, the newly energized 5-4 conservative majority is likely to flex its muscle by upholding as constitutional the same regulations in Louisiana that it overturned in Texas. Story continues Otherwise, why did it even decide to take the case? Because of those two new justices, says Kathryn Kolbert, who argued Casey before the court. Arguing before the Supreme Court is a lot like Sesame Street, she told the Daily Beast. You have to learn to count. And now they have five votes. There are any number of ways this court could have avoided taking this case, but they chose not to, Kolbert continued, noting that it takes four justices to agree to take a case, five to win. Most legal prognosticators believe that at a minimum the court will uphold the Louisiana provisions and seriously undermine its ruling in the Texas case just two years earlier. Others of us think the court could go much further, says Kolbert. Aron believes Chief Justice John Roberts would like to see Roes demisethat he thinks the opinion was wrongly decided. But she cites his unexpected vote to uphold Obamacare in 2012, avoiding the unknown bombshell consequences of delivering an incendiary decision five months before an election. All eyes will be on Brett Kavanaugh, the newest justice, when the Louisiana ruling is handed down in June just as the Democratic primaries are concluding. Kavanaugh dissented from a temporary decision that put the Louisiana restrictions on hold while the case was pending, strongly suggesting that he will come down in favor of the tougher restrictions. The Louisiana case is nearly identical to the 2016 Texas caseWhole Womans Health v Hellerstedtthat the court struck down as unconstitutional. Both cases maintain that doctors who perform abortions must have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. In the Texas case, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Kavanaughs predecessor, joined the liberal justices in declaring that the regulations would place an undue burden on women. In the Louisiana case, the 5-4 conservative court, bolstered by the addition of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, is likely to uphold stricter regulations that the 2016 court rejected in the Texas case as an undue burden. Requiring doctors to have hospital admitting privileges for a procedure that very rarely requires hospitalization would result in a drastic reduction of licensed abortion providers, in effect denying women access through an unnecessary and burdensome regulation. Its not what theyre going to do, its how and when they do it, Florida State University law professor Mary Ziegler told the Daily Beast. She reasons that since Kavanaugh told pro-choice Republican Senator Susan Collins that Roe is settled law and a super precedent, assurances that won her vote for his Senate confirmation, that he wouldnt jeopardize her re-election in 2020 by totally abandoning that position. From Alabama to Washington: The Road Map to Roes Reversal Likewise, Chief Justice Roberts talks a great deal about how the court is above politics, and a 5-4 decision on such an explosive cultural issue would undermine his argument. That doesnt mean they wont do it anyway, says Ziegler, author of several books on the history of abortion in America, but if they did, they would want to make the case legitimately, to do it over a longer period of time and after a series of cases. Kolbert told the Daily Beast, Its very unlikely Kavanaugh will not support the restrictions before the court. He is the fifth vote to overturn Roe. The only question is before or after the election, whether it helps them or wakes the sleeping giant of women before the election. Kolbert continued: Lawyers are very good at confusing people. They dont need to say, Were overturning Roe. They give states more latitude with restrictions, and they bar doctors and providers from suing on behalf of womenthats the functional equivalent of overturning. In her view, it comes down to optics and politics. Shes 67, shell be 68 in April. New York state legalized abortion in 1970, 50 years ago. Anybody younger than me for the most part has lived in a time when abortion is safe and legalat least two generations of women, Kolbert says. Its hard for the youngest women of childbearing age to even fathom they couldnt have a safe and legal abortion. Expectations are very different. Imagining how the justices weigh these considerations, assuming they do, Kolbert points to the late Justice Harry Blackmuns papers that were made public after his death in 1999. Blackmun had written the majority opinion for Roe in 1973 and worked to uphold it with Casey in 1992. When an initial vote among the justices showed a 5-4 majority to overturn Roe, then Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote a draft opinion saying that anything to protect fetal life is a rational reason to criminalize abortion. Thats when Justice Sandra Day OConnor, the only woman on the court, stepped in to save the day with the undue burden rationale that prompted Justice Kennedy to switch his vote and uphold Roe. The undue burden test ended up having more teeth than anyone imagined at the time. Its preservationeven more than Roeis now on the line. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Just Eat has struck a deal with McDonald's to become its 'second exclusive delivery partner' in the UK after Uber Eats. The move follows a similar deal with Greggs announced last week as the delivery group ramps up its growth plans and targets the biggest names in fast food. 'We are delighted to announce that we have agreed to partner in the UK and Ireland with McDonald's,' said Just Eat's interim chief executive Peter Duffy. Deal: Just Eat has struck a deal with McDonald's to become its second delivery partner 'This partnership, along with our recently announced relationship with Greggs, will require significant investment but will accelerate our growth ambitions and enhance our market position by offering our customers the widest choice available.' Just Eat, which is set to merge with rival service Takeaway.com, revealed the deal as it reported trading has been in line with expectations for the past year. It expects underlying earnings for 2019 to be around 200million, towards the top of the guidance of 185million to 205million. Group orders are expected to be around 254million and revenue of approximately 1billion. Just Eat saw UK sales jump 8 per cent during the year as it secured more branded delivery partners, including KFC and Burger King, after previously focusing on independent takeaway operators. It comes following news the 6billion merger could be delayed because of a surprise competition probe by regulators. Last week, the Competition and Markets Authority said it was examining the company's tie-up with Dutch rival Takeaway.com, despite previously indicating it posed no concern. The inquiry is looking at whether Takeaway.com would have re-entered the UK food delivery market were it not for the deal. Cat Rock Capital, a major investor in Just Eat, called the investigation 'shocking and clearly unwarranted'. The recently discovered Snake Ransomware has been targeting processes and files associated with industrial control systems (ICS). Security experts from SentinelOne reported that the recently discovered Snake Ransomware has been targeting processes and files associated with industrial control systems (ICS). The Snake ransomware is written in the Golang programming language and has been used in targeted attacks against businesses worldwide. Snake Ransomware was first detected by researchers from MalwareHunterTeam last week and analyzed it with the support of the popular malware analysts Vitali Kremez. The ransomware is heavily obfuscated and it is designed to target the entire network rather than individual computers or servers. The ransomware contains a level of routine obfuscation not previously and typically seen coupled with the targeted approach, Kremez, Head of SentinelLabs, told BleepingComputer. Like other ransomware, upon execution Snake will remove the computers Shadow Volume Copies, it also kills numerous processes related to SCADA systems, virtual machines, industrial control systems, remote management tools, network management software, and more. Then the malware encrypts the files on the system, skipping Windows system files and folders. The SNAKE ransomware appends a ransom 5 character string to the files extension (i.e. a file named invoice.doc is encrypted and renamed like invoice.docIksrt. The experts noticed that the malware appends the EKANS file marker to each encrypted file. Once the encryption process is completed the ransomware will create a ransom note (named Fix-Your-Files.txt) in the C:\Users\Public\Desktop folder that contains the email address (bapcocrypt@ctemplar.com) to contact to receive the payment instructions. SentinelLabs has observed the Snake ransomware in targeted campaigns over the last month. While it contains all the hallmarks of standard ransomware, there are a few traits that make it stand out as more aggressive and more complex. reads the report published by SentinelOne. Snake is written in Golang , which has been seen in many recent ransomware families. Golang is an open-source programming language, with a degree of cross-platform support. It is for these same reasons that some RaaS (Ransomware as a Service) offerings utilize the language as well. One such example would be Project Root. The Snake ransomware targets files associated with SCADA platforms, enterprise management tools, and system utilities. Experts noticed that some specifically targeted applications include VMware Tools, Microsoft System Center Operations Manager, N imbus, Honeywell HMIWeb, and FLEXnet. According to SentinelLabs, most of the ICS processes targeted by Snake are associated with products made by GE. The Israeli cybersecurity firm Otorio said the Snake ransomware has been created by Iran and was designed to target industrial control systems. OTORIO confirms that the Snake ransomware terminates a critical p for the GE Digital Proficy server, which is used to connect to the Proficy HMI/SCADA, Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), and Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI) systems. Experts warn that terminating this p rocess could have a serious impact on operational teams. Deleting or locking targeted ICS processes would prohibit manufacturing teams from accessing vital production-related processes including analytics, configuration and control, reads the report published by Otorio . This is the equivalent of both blindfolding a driver and then taking away the steering wheel. In addition, Snake stops a critical networking process in the GE Digital Proficy server. This industrial gateway enables the connectivity to Proficy HMI/SCADA, MES, and EMI. Without it, operational teams would not just be driving blind theyd also be deaf and dumb. GE is aware of reports of a ransomware family with an industrial control system specific functionality. Based on our understanding, the ransomware is not exclusively targeting GEs ICS products, and it does not target a specific vulnerability in GEs ICS products. reads a statement from a General Electric representative. Experts pointed out that the ransom instructs victims to contact email address bapcocrypt@ctemplar.com, where bapcocrypt may refer to the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), which was recently targeted by attackers using a piece of malware named Dustman. Saudi Arabias National Cybersecurity Authority linked Dustman to the ZeroCleare wiper that has been used in highly targeted attacks aimed at energy and industrial organizations in the Middle East. ZeroCleare is classified as a destructive wiper that experts linked to Iran-linked APT groups, according to the experts, the campaign they have monitored may have been the first in which the malware was involved. Recently it was reported that Iranian state-sponsored hackers have deployed a data-wiping malware dubbed Dustman on BAPCOs network. Its no coincidence that these two attacks come in short proximity to one another. concludes OTORIO. Using an already proven malware (i.e. MegaCortex ) and honing it (to target ICSs) is a hallmark of the operation methods of Iranian hackers (see our most recent blog: Why We Need to Prepare for an Iranian Attack on ICS). This makes Iran not only the immediate suspect but a highly likely one as well. Pierluigi Paganini In a setback to the Bharat Singh Chauhan faction, the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed that the All India Chess Federation (AICF) elections be held here on February 10. As originally announced by president P R Venket Rama Raja, the court said that the AICF general body meeting will be held on February 10 for the purpose of electing new office-bearers. Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy gave the order while disposing off an application filed by the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association for an interim injunction to restrain AICF secretary Chauhan from convening the special meeting of the general body on February 9 in Ahmedabad. The judge said "once a special meeting has to be convened by the President in accordance with law, prima facie, there is no scope for a requisitioned meeting to be held. In other words, such requisitioned meetings are to be held when the office-bearers of the company or society refuse to convene a meeting in spite of being requisitioned to do so". "It is also evident that AICF cannot have two meetings on February 9 and February 10 to transact the same business. For all these reasons, I find that the applicant has made out a strong prima facie case for the grant of an interim injunction to restrain the conduct of the special meeting of the general body on February 9 to elect the office-bearers," he added. The judge also called for conduct of the general body meeting on February 10 as per the earlier notice of the president dated December 18, 2019 and restrained him from appointing the returning officer. The two factions had approached the court, claiming the decisions taken at the respective general body meetings were valid. The federation president and secretary have been at loggerheads over various issues. While the Raja faction had held a meeting in Chennai in December last and decided to call for the special general body meeting here on February 10, the Chauhan group's meet in Bhopal had called for the elections on February 9 in Ahmedabad. The two factions have been making allegations against each other on various issues including the controversy in the Bengal Chess Association. FIDE Zone 3.7 president R M Dongre, who belongs to the Raja camp and would contest for the post of AICF secretary, told PTI that it was a victory for the president's camp and a setback for Chauhan. "Delegates of 19 State associations are supporting Raja," he added. Retired Supreme Court judge Justice F M Ibrahim Kalifullah will be the returning officer for the elections, Dongre said. With the High Court having announced the date of the elections in Chennai, he said there should not be any hurdles in conduct of the polls. The two factions have put up their respective voter lists on the AICF website. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In October last year, Channel 10 announced that MasterChef Australia was getting three new judges for 2020. And now that filming is underway, a network executive has described Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo as the 'shot in the arm' the cooking show needed. Channel 10's head of programming, Daniel Monaghan, told TV Tonight the trio have been 'a breath of fresh air' after a decade with original judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston. New blood: Now that filming of MasterChef 2020 is underway, a network executive has claimed that Andy Allen (left), Melissa Leong (centre) and Jock Zonfrillo (right) are the 'shot in the arm' the cooking show needed 'Andy, Jock and Mel are really a breath of fresh air into the series and having all those ex-contestants genuinely back to win you'd think it might be a bit of a celebrity version, but it is not. They are there to win,' he said. While the judges might be new, the 24 contestants on the upcoming series have all made it to the top 10 in past seasons of MasterChef. 'We've started filming it, and it's very strong. The new judges are really settling in very well,' Monaghan added. Done and dusted: Gary Mehigan (left), George Calombaris (right) and Matt Preston (centre) had been with MasterChef since its debut in 2009, but they left last year after Channel 10 refused to meet their salary demands 'Whatever happened with the old MasterChef, we'll let bygones be bygones but this is the shot in the arm the show needed.' Matt, Gary and George had been with the show since its debut in 2009, but they left last year after Channel 10 refused to meet their salary demands. At the time, George was also facing controversy for underpaying his restaurant staff by nearly $8million between 2011 and 2017. Controversy: At the time, George (pictured) was also facing controversy for underpaying his restaurant staff by nearly $8million between 2011 and 2017 In July, the embattled chef was hit with a $200,000 fine, with many viewers calling for him to be dumped from MasterChef. After months of anticipation, Channel 10 announced the new judges in October. Andy Allen won season four of the competitive cooking show in 2012, beating Audra Morrice and Julia Taylor in the finale. New kid on the block: After months of anticipation, Channel 10 announced the new judges in October. Andy Allen (pictured) won season four of the competitive cooking show in 2012, beating Audra Morrice and Julia Taylor in the finale Taking home the $250,000 prize money, Andy travelled the world with fellow contestant Ben Milbourne. The pair later starred in their own SBS cooking show, Andy & Ben Eat Australia. The former electrician now works as the head chef at Sydney's Three Blue Ducks, which he also co-owns. Fashionable foodie: Melissa Leong is an esteemed food writer, media consultant, radio and television presenter, MC and cookbook editor Melissa Leong is an esteemed food writer, media consultant, radio and television presenter, MC and cookbook editor. The first generation Singaporean Australian is no stranger to the world of cooking competitions, having previously appeared as a judge on SBS's The Chefs' Line alongside Dan Hong and Mark Olive. Rounding out the judging panel is Jock Zonfrillo, a Scottish-born restaurateur who owns Restaurant Orana and Bistro Blackwood in Adelaide. Scottish roots: Rounding out the judging panel is Jock Zonfrillo, a Scottish-born restaurateur who owns Restaurant Orana and Bistro Blackwood in Adelaide He is familiar with high-stress kitchens, having trained under Marco Pierre White. Jock has also hosted several cooking shows, including Nomad Chef, Restaurant Revolution and Chef Exchange. MasterChef Australia will return to screens later in the year. [January 28, 2020] Lift & Co. Announces Date for its Third Quarter Fiscal 2020 Financial Results Conference Call TORONTO, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lift & Co. Corp. (Lift & Co. or the Company) is pleased to announce that it will report its financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019 on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 after market close. The Company will subsequently hold a conference call on Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 9:00 am Eastern Time hosted by Matei Olaru, Chief Executive Officer, and Kasia Malz, Chief Financial Officer. A question and answer session will follow. Conference Call Details: Date: Wednesday, February 5, 2020 Time: 9:00 AM Eastern Time Participant Dial-in Numbers: Local - (+1) 866-211-3050 International - (+1) 647-689-6572 Conference ID: 3789264 Local - (+1) 416-621-4642 Toll Free - (+1) 800-585-8367 Expiry Date: March 5, 2020 11:59 PM ABOUT LIFT & CO. Lift & Co. (TSXV: LIFT) is a publicly traded technology company modernizing the cannabis industry. SOURCE Lift & Co. Corp. Contact information: Lift & Co.: Nikki Laoutaris Communications Manager 647-464-0148 [email protected] Kasia Malz Chief Financial Officer 416-953-6657 [email protected] Investor Relations: Thesis Capital Prit Singh 905-510-7636 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The allegations in John Boltons unpublished book could disrupt what was seen as a predetermined outcome. A moment of uncertainty has entered the Trump impeachment proceedings. There is now a witness. It is Trumps former national security adviser, John Bolton. He has a book coming out in March, outlines of which were leaked to The New York Times. President Trump told his national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens, said the NYT report. You could call it extortion, a demand for a bribe, or a quid pro quo. In this context, Bolton is an extraordinarily credible witness. Previously, he was a neo-con hero to I-want-more-war Republicans, and a dangerous right-wing loon to Democrats. It is relatively hard for Republicans to attack him, though they have already started and will continue to do so. Boltons claim directly undercuts Trumps defence. At least as to what actually happened. His book also depicts acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Attorney General William Barr as all telling lies about what they knew and when they knew it. Until this moment it seemed absolutely certain that the Senate Republicans would not vote to find Trump guilty and would not vote to remove him from office, that they would not even allow additional witnesses and documents and would do all they could to get it over with as quickly as possible. That was settled a long time ago. In November, a group of Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, and John Kennedy (of Louisiana, no relation to the Massachusetts Kennedys) went to the White House to meet with Pat Cipollone, Trumps White House lawyer, Mick Mulvaney, Jared Kushner, Kellyanne Conway and others. What they discussed was how soon the trial part of impeachment in the Senate could be dismissed. Back in mid-December, before it even came to the Senate, Lindsey Graham said I have made up my mind. Im not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here. [its] just a partisan nonsense. this thing will come to the Senate and it will die quickly and I will do everything I can to make it die quickly. Mitch McConnell announced publicly that the fix is in. Im coordinating with White House counsel. There will be no difference between the presidents position and our position. No embarrassment, no shame, about it. The facts were not supposed to matter. Their defence does not seek to refute the prosecutions facts. It seeks to dismiss the prosecution as illegitimate, to complain that the Democrats held secret hearings even though Republicans were there, and to maintain that they did not permit the president to cross-examine those witnesses, even though his Republican defenders could do so on his behalf. It seeks to assert that the blanket refusal of the White House to supply documents and its order to all members of the executive branch not to testify were a carefully considered legal examination applied issue by issue. In their universe, the desire of the Democrats to get Trump completely erases the significance of whether there are acts for which Trump should be gotten, while Republican righteousness in defending Trump is so great that right or wrong, it is always right. The idea that there are actual moderate Republicans like Dwight Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, George H W Bush, or even John McCain is a fantasy. To claim that Trump has changed the Republican Party is an excuse. All that he has done is allow them to come out of the closet as nakedly concerned about keeping power and cutting taxes for the rich and not have to bother with dressing up as thoughtful, sensible servants of the public. Pundits, commentators and editorial writers in search of drama have been pushing the story that there are four or possibly more Republicans who could switch and vote in favour of subpoenas for witnesses and documents. Four names were usually floated: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Lamar Alexander, and Mitt Romney. Until Bolton, that had to be considered a sad, even pathetic fantasy. Now, Collins and Romney have stepped up. Collins said the reports strengthen the case for witnesses. Romney said, I think its increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton. The knowledge that there is an extremely credible first-hand witness waiting and willing to testify just outside the room should change things. Now that the whole world (of those who pay attention) knows that he will say that Trump engaged in an extortion scheme (though he might not use that word), we will also know that senators who refuse to let him testify will be engaging in an actual cover-up. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Stratus Energy Inc. (TSX.V - NSE) (New Stratus or the Corporation) announces the re-pricing of its non-brokered private placement of units of the Corporation ("Units") for total gross proceeds of up to $2,250,000 previously announced on November 12, 2019 (the Offering). The Units have been priced at $0.20 per Unit (down from $0.30 per Unit), with each Unit being comprised of one common share of the Corporation (Common Share) and one common share purchase warrant (Warrant). Each Warrant will be exercisable for one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.30 per Common Share for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance of the Warrant. The Corporation may pay finders a finders fee of up to 3.0% of the gross proceeds of the Offering payable in Common Shares at a price of $0.20 per Common Share. The net proceeds from the Offering will be used for exploration activities in its block VMM-18 and general corporate purposes. The Common Shares and the Warrants issued pursuant to the Offering, and any Common Shares issued upon the exercise of Warrants, will be subject to a hold period of four months plus one day from the date of closing of the Offering, except as permitted by applicable securities legislation and the rules of the TSXV. The Offering is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. Contact Information: Jose Francisco Arata Chief Executive Officer jfarata@newstratus.energy PH: +1-929-433-8849 Forward-Looking Information and Reader Advisory Certain information set out in this news release constitutes forward-looking information, including information relating to the Offering and the use of process therefrom. Forward-looking statements (often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as expect, may, could, anticipate or will and similar expressions) may describe expectations, opinions or guidance that are not statements of fact and which may be based upon information provided by third parties. Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions, expectations and estimates of management of the Corporation as at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or outcomes to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. In light of the risks and uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking information. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements set out in this news release, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. The forward-looking statements of the Corporation contained in this news release are expressly qualified, in their entirety, by this cautionary statement. Story continues This news release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States or to or for the account or benefit of U.S. persons (as such terms are defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act)), absent registration or an exemption from registration. The securities offered have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any state securities laws and, therefore, may not be offered for sale in the United States, except in transactions exempt from registration under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. 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 Sunday in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, Anglicans around the world will be praying for the Anglican Church of Burundi. Here, the Anglican Communion News Service introduces the Province and suggests items for prayer. There are a reported 900,000 Anglicans out of an estimated population of just over nine million in Burundi. The Anglican Church of Burundi has nine dioceses and is present throughout the country. The primate of the Anglican Church of Burundi is Archbishop Martin Blaise Nyaboho, who is also Bishop of Makamba. An Anglican presence was established through the work of the Church Mission Society (CMS) in the 1930s. It grew rapidly as a result of the East African Revival. The former Ruanda Mission set up its first mission stations at Buhiga and Matana in 1935, and Buye in 1936. The first national bishop was consecrated in 1965, and the Anglican Church of Burundi has existed as a province since 1992. A priest from the Diocese of Matana, Salvator Nkorerimana, recently spoke to CMS about young people leading the way in Burundi for an article published in their newsletter, The Call. He explained that though young people are burdened by the lack of opportunities for them in the country, he is excited about what God is doing through the delivery of CMS-Africas youth discipleship training. The focus of the training is to help young people discover and develop their talents and use them for the benefit of their community and church, as well as themselves. When the training was introduced in 2016, the youth responded en masse with 300 young people taking part in the six-month programme. Salvator plans to extend the CMS-Africa programmes across the province. He said: I have decided to not go too quickly. I have asked the bishops to give me a person in mission in each diocese as a contact. That way we can plan the activity for each year together. My vision is to finish getting the training materials translated into Kirundi, to train more trainers and to extend the programmes across the dioceses. Please pray for CMS-Africa and for the youth in Burundi. Last year, the Bishop of Matana, Seth Ndayirukiye, wrote a profile of the Anglican Church of Burundi which was published by the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC). The article details the provinces history and key activities. Please pray for the following areas of work in the Anglican Church of Burundi: Preaching the Word of God Prayer and Witness Good works in the community Contribution to reconciliation Empowering women More information about the Anglican Church of Burundi is available on their website: anglicanburundi.org. Police are reportedly testing hairs found on a hat believed to belong to missing backpacker Theo Hayez. The hat was found by a member of the public in the same area where the last 'ping' from Theo's phone was recorded on June 1 around the Cape Byron Lighthouse. Theo's family is certain the hat is his - but DNA testing on the material was inconclusive. Police are reportedly testing hairs found on a hat believed to belong to missing backpacker Theo Hayez (pictured wearing the hat) The hat (pictured) was found by a member of the public in the same area where the last 'ping' from Theo's phone was recorded on June 1 around the Cape Byron Lighthouse Now detectives are testing two hairs found on the hat to see if they match Theo, according to his godfather Jean-Philippe Pector. 'Apparently they only decided to test the hairs because they couldn't get any match with the cap itself,' Mr Pector told The Australian. 'I was surprised it's something that hasn't been done straight away. It seems so strange they didn't test those hairs at the same time as the other tests they did.' The backpacker's disappearance remains a mystery. The leading theory is that he fell while trying to climb cliffs and his body washed away. Theo was travelling Australia on a gap year after finishing school in Belgium. The 18-year-old was last seen on CCTV walking through Byron Bay after leaving the Cheeky Monkey's bar about 11pm on May 31. Police began a land, sea and air search when they were alerted to his disappearance by staff at the Wake Up! Hostel in Byron Bay on June 6. The 18-year-old backpacker was last seen on CCTV (above) walking through Byron Bay after leaving the Cheeky Monkey's bar about 11pm on May 31, 2019 The hostel staff raise the alarm after finding his belongings, including his passport, left there untouched. Theo's father, Laurent Hayez, flew into Australia that month and made an emotional public appeal to help find his son. 'I promised Theo's little brother that I would bring his brother home. Please, help me keep my promise to him,' he told reporters through tears at Tweed Heads Police Station. Theo's disappearance made headlines around the world and several volunteer groups formed to search for him. The case has been referred to the NSW coroner. The meeting is expected to deal with the mechanism for settling disputes related to changes in the annual flood, among other technical points Khartoum is set to host the penultimate meeting in the latest round of negotiations on the filling and operation process of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on Wednesday and Thursday. Last week, ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan convened in Washington, where they reached a consensus on some technical points regarding the dam's filling and operation. They also agreed to reconvene on 28-29 January in the US capital to finalise the agreement after holding technical and legal discussions in the interim period. Unlike the previous rounds which were conducted at the ministerial level, only legal and technical delegations will take part in the two-day meetings, the spokesman for Egypts irrigation ministry, Mohamed El-Sebaie, told Ahram Online. El-Sebaie said that there will not be any other meetings before the final Washington gathering. He added that the talks aim to forge a draft agreement on the giant hydropower dam, which would then be finalised at the subsequent American meeting. According to Egypt's irrigation ministry, the next meeting is expected to cover points including cooperation on the rules of operating the dam, the mechanism for settling disputes that may stem from re-setting the operation policy owing to changes in the annual Nile flood from year to year, and to review of all the details that have been agreed upon previously. The ministry stressed the significance of the meeting for solving outstanding matters and reaching a comprehensive agreement before the Washington meeting. The US stepped up to host negotiations in November after the three countries announced that talks had reached a dead-end, and after Egypt called for an international mediator. Two meetings have been held in Washington so far, and four others in the three countries' capitals, as a part of the roadmap agreed upon during the first US-brokered meetings in Washington in November. Ethiopia hopes that the mega-dam, which is 70 percent complete and set to be fully operational by 2022, will allow it to become Africas biggest power exporter. Egypt, which is downstream from the dam, fears that it will diminish its share of Nile water, on which it is almost entirely reliant for its freshwater. Search Keywords: Short link: WASHINGTONJohn Bolton, the former national security adviser, privately told Attorney General William Barr last year that he had concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump was effectively granting personal favours to the autocratic leaders of Turkey and China, according to an unpublished manuscript by Bolton. Barr responded by pointing to a pair of Justice Department investigations of companies in those countries and said he was worried that Trump had created the appearance that he had undue influence over what would typically be independent inquiries, according to the manuscript. Backing up his point, Barr mentioned conversations Trump had with the leaders, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Xi Jinping of China. Boltons account underscores the fact that the unease about Trumps seeming embrace of authoritarian leaders, long expressed by experts and his opponents, also existed among some of the senior Cabinet officers entrusted by the president to carry out his foreign policy and national security agendas. Bolton recounted his discussion with Barr in a draft of an unpublished book manuscript that he submitted nearly a month ago to the White House for review. People familiar with the manuscript described its contents on the condition of anonymity. The book also contains an account of Trump telling Bolton in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million (U.S.) in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations of political rivals, The New York Times reported Sunday. The matter is at the heart of the articles of impeachment against the president. Early Tuesday, the Justice Departments spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, posted a statement on Twitter disputing aspects of Boltons account. There was no discussion of personal favours or undue influence on investigations, nor did Attorney General Barr state that the Presidents conversations with foreign leaders was improper, the statement said. If this is truly what Mr. Bolton has written, then it seems he is attributing to Attorney General Barr his own current views views with which Attorney General Barr does not agree. A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment on Barrs conversations with Bolton. In a statement on Monday, Bolton, his publisher and his literary agency said they had not shared the manuscript with The Times. There was absolutely no coordination with The New York Times or anyone else regarding the appearance of information about his book, The Room Where It Happened, at online booksellers, Bolton, Simon & Schuster and Javelin said in a joint statement. Any assertion to the contrary is unfounded speculation. Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The Times, responded that The Times does not discuss its sources, but I should point out that no one has questioned the accuracy of our report. Bolton wrote in the manuscript that Barr singled out Trumps conversations with Xi about the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE, which agreed in 2017 to plead guilty and pay heavy fines for violating U.S. sanctions on doing business with North Korea, Iran and other countries. A year later, Trump lifted the sanctions over objections from his own advisers and Republican lawmakers. Barr also cited remarks Trump made to Erdogan in 2018 about the investigation of Halkbank, Turkeys second-largest state-owned bank. The Justice Department was scrutinizing Halkbank on fraud and money-laundering charges for helping Iran evade sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department. Erdogan had been making personal appeals to Trump to use his authority to halt any additional enforcement against the bank. In 2018, Erdogan told reporters in Turkey that Trump had promised to instruct Cabinet members to follow through on the matter. The bank had hired a top Republican fundraiser to lobby the administration on the issue. For months, it looked as if the unusual lobbying effort might succeed; but in October, the Justice Department indicted the bank for aiding Iran. The charges were seen in part as an attempt by the administration to show that it was taking a tough line on Turkey amid an outcry over Trumps endorsement of its incursions in Syria. Boltons statements in the book align with other comments he has made since leaving the White House in September. In November, he said in a private speech that none of Trumps advisers shared the presidents views on Turkey and that he believed Trump adopted a more permissive approach to the country because of his financial ties there, NBC News reported. Trumps company has a property in Turkey. Trump has repeatedly praised dictators throughout his presidency. Last year, he said, Wheres my favourite dictator? as he waited to meet with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trumps soft spot for authoritarians dates at least to his presidential campaign, when he praised Saddam Hussein for being good at killing terrorists and suggested that the world would be better off were Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the deposed Libyan dictator who was killed in a violent uprising in 2011, in charge right now. Trump then suggested the ouster of both men was ultimately worse for the Middle East because the Islamic State had filled the void. Trump declared himself a big fan of Erdogan as they sat side by side in the Oval Office last fall after Trump cleared the way for Turkish forces to invade Syria, though he warned Erdogan behind the scenes against the offensive. Of Xi, Trump has been similarly effusive. When the Chinese Communist Party eliminated term limits, allowing Xi to keep his tenure open-ended, Trump extolled the outcome. Xi had personally asked Trump to intervene to save ZTE, which was on the brink of collapse because of tough U.S. penalties for sanctions violations. Lifting the sanctions on ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications giant that also serves as a geopolitical pawn for its government, most likely helped Trump negotiate with Xi in the trade war between the two countries. But Republican lawmakers and others objected to helping a Chinese company that broke the law and has been accused of posing a national security threat. Boltons reputation for muscular foreign policy was always an odd fit with Trump, who often threatens excessive force but rarely reacts with it. Bolton was pleased when Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, that the Obama administration had entered into. Other Trump advisers had urged him against it. But Trumps lack of action after Iranian aggression against the United States rankled Bolton. Boltons book has already netted significant sales. Shortly after the disclosure of its contents Sunday night, Amazon listed the book for purchase. By Monday evening, it was No. 17 on Amazons bestseller list. Read more about: Patna: After evading arrest for almost a week, activist and JNU student Sharjeel Imam was arrested from Bihars Jehanabad on Tuesday. The Delhi Police had earlier detained his younger brother Muzammil and three of his associates for questioning. Sources, however, said that Sharjeel Imam was picked up from Kako locality in Jehanabad during a raid on Tuesday. A joint police team from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh with logistic support from Bihar police had earlier conducted multiple raids across the state including his ancestral home at Kako in Jehanabad and Patna to trace his whereabouts. Bihar police provided all kind of support to Delhi Police team which had arrived here to arrest Sharjeel Imam. After all legal formalities he will be handed over to Delhi Police team and they can take him to Delhi for further investigation, ADG -headquarters Jitendra Kumar told reporters. Reacting on Sharjeel Imams arrest, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told reporters in Patna that, nobody should be allowed to speak or do anything against the interest of our country. The matter is being investigated by the police and the court will decide on the issue. Sharjeel Imam, a post-graduate in computer science from IIT Mumbai is currently doing research in Modern India history at JNU. A day earlier his mother and uncle had called him innocent and claimed that cases registered against him were politically motivated. His father who passed away a few years ago was associated with JD(U) and had also unsuccessfully contested 2005 Assembly polls from Jehanabad against the RJD. He was concerned about CAA and NRC but I dont think he gave the speech to provoke people. Our family believes in the Constitution and has full faith in the law of the land. His speeches have been twisted for political gains, Sharjeel Imams uncle had said after police raided his ancestral house on Monday. Sharjeel Imam was slapped with charges of sedition and inciting enmity between communities under section 124A, 153A and 505 of the IPC. The Delhi and UP police had booked him after his alleged speech went viral on the social media recently. The JNU scholar was wanted by police of several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi. He was slapped with a sedition case after a video of his purported speech went viral on social media where he was heard speaking about cutting off Assam and the northeast from the rest of India. If five lakh people are organised, we can cut off the North-East from India permanently. If not, at least for a month or half a month. Throw as much mawad (variously described as pus or rubbish) on rail tracks and roads that it takes the Air Force one month to clear it. Cutting off Assam (from India) is our responsibility, only then they (the government) will listen to us. We know the condition of Muslims in Assam....they are being put into detention camps, he was seen in the video as saying. Meanwhile, the lawyer of Sharjeel Imam claimed that the anti-CAA activist had surrendered before the police. Adv. Mishika Singh told reporters that Imam was willing to cooperate in the investigation. Whereas, on his Twitter account, Imam said, I have surrendered to the Delhi Police on 28. 1. 2020 at 3 PM. I am ready and willing to operate with the investigation. I have full faith in due process of law. My safety and security are now in the hand of Delhi Police. Let peace prevail. Royal Bahrain Hospital (RBH) announced expanding its home healthcare services through its brand Health at Home with a wide range of medical, nursing and rehabilitation services. Health at Home is a division of Royal Bahrain hospital that has been leading the home healthcare services sector since 2014. Health at Home, RBH said, has served hundreds of patients and has emerged as a trusted partner in providing a range of medical, nursing and rehabilitation care and support services at home through well trained and licensed medical staff. Highlighting Health at Homes distinctiveness, Dr Sheriff Sahadulla, Group Chief Executive Officer at KIMS Healthcare Group, says: Advancements in medical technology have enabled many medical procedures to be done at home that were previously limited to hospitals. Home healthcare is also a cost-effective and convenient alternative to hospital stay that allows a patient to recover at home and receive individualized care. Home healthcare services are typically beneficial for patients returning from a hospital stay, recovering from surgery or illness, needing injections or IV therapy at home or are bedridden and need care for feeding tube, catheter care etc. Also, Rehabilitation/ Physiotherapy at home can benefit patients recovering from surgeries, injuries, post a stroke or even bedridden patients who can benefit by Chest and limb physiotherapy, RBH statement said. Key services offered by Health at Home include Medical Consultations by General Practitioner whereby doctors bring in the clinical expertise to your home. Nursing Services provide intermittent skilled nursing care by licenced and trained nurses. Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation is manned by a team of qualified, experienced and licensed Physiotherapists who provided patients with multidisciplinary, integrated care and a personalized one-on-one approach. New Programmes cater to a specific patient population. For instance, the Bedridden Care program is designed to assist caregivers of bedridden patients who need medical care at home after being discharged from the hospital. The Chronic Disease monitoring programme has been created to serve the needs of patients diagnosed with Diabetes or Hypertension and often encourages a collaborative effort between patients primary care physician and medical team, resulting in improved care for the patient. All images credit Hotel Proverbs Taipei is a fascinating city wrapped in a patina of history and culture left behind by the Dutch, Japanese and then Chinese occupations. Urban explorers will find a vibrant city that, a la New York, never seems to sleep with bustling street markets to the highbrow luxury shops along the Zhongxiao East Road, Taipeis equivalent to the Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills. Just a few blocks away is where youll find Taipeis most trendy and stylish design hotel, the Hotel Proverbs Taipei. Taipei is a thrilling city with neighborhoods that range from the working class to Park Avenue. The Hotel Proverbs is located in the Daan district and the cosmopolitan center capital city. Zhongxiao East Road is filled with upscale shops, malls and department stores. In contrast, for a real local experience nearby, visit the buzzing Linjiang Street Night Market for some delish street food and the must have Taiwanese treat, bubble tea. For the unaware, there is a subculture known as Steampunk whose followers embrace retro-futuristic design and fashion inspired by the 19th-century steam and industrial era. One cannot pass through the hotel and take in its Avant guard decor without making the connection. Its as if it was designed with the hipster in mind with a chic dark interior interrupted by pops of color, copper paneled corridors and retro light fixtures. The hotel oozes an ultra-contemporary style and is the antithesis of your typical boring corporate hotel. Rightfully so, Hotel Proverbs is a member of the Design Hotels and happens to be the only one in Taiwan. Its also part of Marriott so you can add to your Bon Voy account during your stay. The quaint boutique hotel has only 42 rooms as well as a first-rate restaurant and one of the few rooftop pools in Taipei. The decadent decor continues on the third floor of the hotel with its hipster hangout, The East End Bar. This is more than a bar, its a cosmopolitan social hangout for the Taipei after-work crowd as well as hotel guests looking to bend the elbow after a long day of meetings or sightseeing. The bar definitely has a saloon esthetic with a long white marble bar, rustic plank wood floor, copper retro light fixtures, and 100-year-old tin decorative wall plates salvaged from a Parisian theater. The star of the venue is the equally cool and tattooed bartenders who are wizards behind the bar concocting all types of potent potions and presenting their best of Taiwans cocktail culture which has earned them the accolade of being one of Asia's 50 best bars. The bar bites are not to be overlooked as well with gourmet gastro pub food enjoyed by Taipeis in-crowd. The 42 rooms feature an industrial chic design with real walnut plank wood floors, leather furnishings, copper-covered cabinets and a full-sized crystal chandelier adjacent to the bed. The floor plan is open with spaces that comfortably move from living space to sleeping area to bath. The marble-walled bathrooms are made for escaping the hustle and bustle just beyond your door with oversized white soaking tubs, rain forest showers with designer tile surfaces. There are several categories of room all of which are quite spacious and with a separate couch and sitting area and custom-made work desks. Accommodations also feature a balcony as well to take in the sights and sounds of the city. The amenities and special touches complete the experience with complimentary movies, portable Wi-Fi devices, shoe shine as well as an included mini-bar with beer and soft drinks snacks replenished daily. Beyond the accommodations, the first floor of the property is where youll find their sublime steakhouse, TKs. This is a fine dining restaurant is a popular haunt for Taipeis affluent society as well as hotel guests. The ambiance is opulent with white linen-covered tables, two-story mirror-lined ceilings dripping with a gaggle of sparkling chandeliers. The focal point is the bustling open kitchen with a sizzling Josper charcoal oven and staff that works like a finely tuned machine turning out mouthwatering dish after dish. The farm and harbor-to-table options include fresh-caught seafood, fresh vegetables from the restaurants own farm outside of town. The star of the menu is their 7 day, 21 days, 90 days, dry-aged Australian and US steaks. The six-course degustation menu is a culinary feast of lobster with truffle dressing, king prawn ravioli, fish of the day with leek and truffle cream and the 90-day dry-aged USDA prime grain-fed T-bone steak. Taipei is a thrilling destination for the urban explorer and makes the ideal base to check out Taiwan. For arguably the countrys coolest hotel, look no further than the Hotel Proverbs Taipei. It is all part of a plan to tamp down the frenzy from revelations disclosed in an unpublished manuscript by the presidents former national security adviser, John R. Bolton. As pressure intensified on Republicans, Trumps lawyer confronted the Bolton book allegations. For the first time since details from Mr. Boltons manuscript were disclosed by The New York Times on Sunday, the presidents defense took direct aim at the allegations in the book that have racked Republicans. Jay Sekulow, one of Mr. Trumps lawyers, spent a significant amount of the defenses final session arguing that these accounts should be disregarded. You cannot impeach a president on an unsourced allegation, Mr. Sekulow said. Republicans have been in damage-control mode as more details surfaced from the book by Mr. Bolton, which he said he shared with the National Security Council at the end of last year. It is standard practice for manuscripts like Mr. Boltons to go through a review process to protect against the disclosure of classified information. On Monday before the start of the trial, Republicans were so concerned about the potential fallout from the Bolton disclosures that the majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, told them to take a deep breath at a private lunch before the trial resumed. Details about Mr. Trumps motivations regarding Ukraine, described in the manuscript, have undercut one of the defenses key arguments. Another account described anxiety among some of the presidents closest advisers over concerns that Mr. Trump was granting personal favors to foreign autocrats. All of which piled on pressure for the Senate to allow new witnesses into the trial. Poland's President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda, Holocaust survivor Marian Turski, King Philippe of Belgium, King Felipe of Spain walk with candles to light them at the Monument to the Victims at the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau, during ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camp and International Holocaust Victims Remembrance Day, in Brzezinka near Oswiecim, Poland, on Jan. 27, 2020. (Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters) Poland, Israel Condemn Resurgent Anti-Semitism at Auschwitz Commemoration OSWIECIM, PolandThe presidents of Israel and Poland called for greater efforts on Jan. 27 to combat anti-Semitism as the world marked 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp amid concerns over a resurgence of anti-Jewish prejudice. More than 1.1 million people, most of them Jews, perished in the camps gas chambers or from starvation, cold, and disease. Our duty is to fight anti-Semitism, racism and fascist nostalgia, those sick evils that threaten to eat away at the foundations of our democracies, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said at a venue near the former camp, which is now a museum. Polish President Andrzej Duda, who didnt attend Israels national Holocaust Memorial on Jan. 23 because he wasnt allowed to speak, thanked Rivlin for his presence at Auschwitz. This presence is a sign of remembrance, it is a visible sign of opposition to inhuman treatment, hatred, against all forms of hate, especially racist hate, Duda said. Set up by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland in 1940, at first to house Polish political prisoners, Auschwitz became the largest of the extermination centers where Adolf Hitlers plan to kill all Jewsthe Final Solutionwas put into practice. It was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. Returning to the site where her relatives were murdered, 92-year-old Holocaust survivor Yvonne Engelman, who now lives in Australia, recalled the horrors of the camp. We could hear children coughing, crying, choking from the gas and also the smell of human flesh and the great fear we experienced that maybe you will be the next victim, she said. During a somber ceremony at the gate to the camp, Duda spoke of the chilling efficiency of the Nazis genocidal plan, which included vast crematoria to burn the bodies of victims. For years the factory of death operated at full capacity. Smoke was rising from the chimneys, the transports were rolling. People walked and walked in their thousands. To meet their death, Duda told a gathering that included several dozen survivors, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. Diginitaries arrive to put candles at a memorial site at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, on Jan. 27, 2020. (Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo) Pernicious Attitudes Studies show that anti-Semitic sentiment persists, especially in Europe, despite the scale of the Nazi atrocities, the powerful testimony of survivors, and the number of films, books, and exhibitions chronicling the Holocaust. A 2019 survey by the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League showed that about 1 in 4 Europeans harbor pernicious and pervasive attitudes toward Jews, compared with 19 percent of North Americans. In Germany, 42 percent agreed that Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust, it stated. Two people were killed in a shooting near a synagogue in eastern Germany in October 2019, in what officials called an anti-Semitic attack. Despite the joint message on anti-Semitism, the Jan. 27 event highlighted tensions between Poland and Israel over Holocaust remembrance. Rivlin called on Poland not to politicize the history of the Holocaust, a reference to the insistence of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government that Poles had behaved entirely honorably during World War II. As part of a broader policy of historical revisionism, PiS seeks to highlight Polands own suffering in the war, when some 6 million Poles, including 3 million Polish Jews, were killed, and Warsaw was razed to the ground. While celebrating the thousands of Poles who risked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust, PiS ignores others who helped the Germans and killed Jews. We shall forever hold sacred and cherish the courage of the thousands of Poles, Rivlin said. We remember that during the war the Polish nation fought with great courage but we remember too that there were not a few in the Polish nation who stood by and even contributed to the murder of Jews. In addition to Jews, more than 70,000 Poles were deported to Auschwitz, as well as 21,000 Roma, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and several thousand other people. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the State Department would contribute an additional $2 million to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. Two years ago, its director, Piotr Cywinski, appealed to donor countries for more support. Germany was until now the only country to respond, although the United States and Poland had previously been donors. By Joanna Plucinska & Maayan Lubell The company says it plans mass protests if unlawful pressure from NABU does not stop. The National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) accuses VAB Bank's ex-owner and current owner of Ukraine's agricultural giant, UkrLandFarming, Oleg Bakhmatyuk of not building factories in Khmelnytsky and Kherson regions, which yet were built, opened in 2013 and annually produce about 3.5 billion eggs. Bakhmatyuk and the personnel of the Avangard and UkrLandFarming Group of companies appealed to the Ukrainian president to stop NABU, saying mass protests are possible if the pressure on the company does not stop. In late December last year, upon the request from NABU, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) reopened two two- and three-year-old cases against the Avangard company, which were investigated by NABU and then closed, according to the appeal published on the Group's official website. "In 2013, we built Eurasia's two largest full-cycle egg production complexes, namely Avis in Khmelnytsky region and Chernobaevska in Kherson region, but we are accused of not being there, which is absurd and complete nonsense. Such accusations demonstrate the complete incompetence of the persons who opened these cases," the appeal says. These are cases No. 52016000000000112 of April 20, 2016 and No. 52017000000000362 of June 1, 2017, which were closed by the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine on December 6, 2017 and the Main Investigation Department of the National Police on June 20, 2018, respectively. In fact, the factories referred to in open criminal cases, the Avis and Chernobaevska full-cycle egg production facilities with a capacity of 11.2 million laying hens, were built back in 2013. The Avis poultry complex in Khmelnytsky region has an annual production capacity of 1.616 billion eggs, and the Chernobaevska poultry complex in Kherson region produces 1.865 billion eggs per year. Meanwhile, the appeal says these cases are used to put pressure on the company along with the cases against VAB Bank, interrogations of 10,000 UkrLandFarming employees by NABU officers, and raids on the enterprises. The appeal says 27,000 people, i.e. employees of the company, are hostages of such actions. "We remind you of over UAH 2.5 billion (US$101.6 million) that the company pays the state as taxes, of about UAH 3 billion (US$121.9 million) that the company pays as wages. We remind you that NABU, which consumes a large part of taxpayer money, actually destroys those who pay it these funds through filling the budget. And the person who heads this agency, being guided by personal revenge, as he did more than once with other people, uses NABU to destroy a large company that is important to the Ukrainian economy. And we are aware that this person will not stop. Therefore, we are addressing you, Mr. President, as the guarantor of the Constitution, the guarantor of our rights, the guarantor of the country's economic security: stop [NABU Director] Mr. Sytnyk, who has crossed the boundaries of common sense in the blind desire for revenge, who manipulates and uses the power structure for personal purposes, which is contrary to economic interests of our state." The company also says it plans to stage mass protests if the unlawful pressure from NABU does not stop: "We will fight for our rights. We will be forced to invite people to the protests. We will knock on all doors so that we could be heard. It's difficult for us to fight the system, but we can't just sit and watch how our company is being destroyed. And we hope that, guided by the interests of the state, you will stop NABU and its leader who went in revenge beyond all common sense." As was reported, NABU on January 16 began interrogating 10,000 employees of Bakhmatyuk's agrarian companies. According to the agricultural holding's press service, the cause was a conflict of interests of NABU Director Artem Sytnyk he was found guilty of corruption by the court and included in the register of corrupt officials. He is facing the loss of his post. The main witness for the prosecution in that case was the adviser to Oleg Bakhmatyuk's sister. Anthropology student receives Gilman International Scholarship Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020 Kya Crocker, junior in anthropology at Kansas State University, has received a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study in the Czech Republic for summer 2020. | Download this photo. MANHATTAN A Kansas State University student has received a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad in summer 2020. Kya Crocker, junior in anthropology, Derby, will receive up to $5,000 to study in the Czech Republic where she will attend Charles University in Prague and teach English. Congressionally funded and established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000, the Gilman Scholarship Program helps U.S. undergraduate students at two-year or four-year colleges or universities participate in study abroad programs worldwide. "Linguistics and culture are my main areas of interest and I will have plenty of opportunities to learn about the Czech language and culture," Crocker said. "The rich history of Prague has enticed me since I am definitely a history buff. All in all, this program has every attribute that I could look for in a study abroad program, and I'm so excited." As an undergraduate researcher, Crocker analyzed archaeological evidence such as stone tools, hominid migration patterns and geographic/geological evidence to interpret how early the Philippines were occupied by early hominids about 700,000 years ago. She also is working on a secondary major in international studies and a minor in political science. In addition to the Gilman, she has received the Gilman-McCain Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State, as well as the Marching Pride Scholarship, Jack and Hilda Dunlap Memorial Scholarship and Medallion Scholarship. She also earned semester honors for the fall 2018, spring 2019 and fall 2019 semesters. Crocker is a member of Tau Beta Sigma honorary band sorority, K-State Marching Band and K-State Cat Band. She is a teaching assistant for Intro to Biological Anthropology, the curatorial assistant in the university's archaeology lab, a student ambassador for anthropology club and a student intern at the Riley County Historical Museum. A graduate of Derby High School, she is the daughter of Willie Crocker II, Italy, and Cherrie Rattana, Derby. The next Gilman Scholarship application deadline is March 3. K-State will host several upcoming events to give students more information and assistance with applying for the Gilman. The Gilman Scholarship Information Session and Alumni Panel is at 4 p.m. Jan. 30 in Room 207 of the K-State Student Union; the Gilman Scholarship Workshop is at 4 p.m. Feb.4 in the Room 206 of the K-State Student Union; and Gilman Drop-In Advising is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 14 in 304 Fairchild Hall. Students may also email Sara Boro, education abroad advisor, at seboro@k-state.edu. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) The government has already prepared two charter planes to fly to Hubei province in China to bring Filipinos home amid the novel coronavirus outbreak in the East Asian country, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday. "[Secretary for Foreign Affairs] @teddyboylocsin directed our consulate in Shanghai, China to immediately start processing Filipinos in Hubei Province who wish to be repatriated to PH," said DFA Undersecretary Bridigo Dulay on Twitter. He added that "2 private charter airlines are on standby to fly to Hubei to bring our people home upon clearance by Chinese authorities." Earlier, Philippine Ambassador to China Chito Sta. Romana said there are about 30 to 50 Filipinos from Hubei who raised that they wanted to evacuate the province. Sta. Romana said there are 300 Filipinos in Hubei, half of which are in Wuhan -- the city which sits at the center of the virus outbreak. "This is before any decision was made today, about 30 to 50 indicated that they are willing to be evacuated...We have to ask them to consider everything and whether they are determined to be evacuated so we can make the final plans," Sta. Romana told CNN Philippines' Politics As Usual. The ambassador said the repatriated Filipinos would have to agree, as part of the government's protocol, to be quarantined for two weeks to ensure that the virus would not spread in the Philippines. He added that the Filipinos there would also risk exposure to the virus during the actual repatriation, from leaving their homes to meeting the driver and interpreter who will bring them to their planes. Dulay also assured that the quarantine plan is also ready for the repatriates. This comes a few hours after Malacanang said it would do more harm than good to repatriate Filipinos in Wuhan. "Kung 'yun ang rekomendasyon ng DOH (Department of Health), the President will consider it... Kung kukunin din natin (sila) at papapasukin dito, baka naman mag-spread dito sa atin. We have to be very cautious," Panelo said during a briefing in Malacanang. [Translation: If the DOH recommends to repatriate Filipinos in Wuhan, the President will consider it... But if we get them and bring them home, the virus might spread here. We have to be very cautious.] Panelo initially said the Palace will be waiting for the recommendation of the Department of Health before it pursues any plans to pluck these Filipinos out of Wuhan. However, he added that travel restrictions put in place by the Chinese government to contain the disease could also hamper recovery efforts. Since last week, Wuhan and two other cities have been under lockdown as Chinese authorities race to contain a deadly virus that has reached parts Asia, Europe, and the United States. "That can be threshed out in formal talks, but we must consider the health issue. Ano bang mas makakabuti [What's better for them] stay there for a while until the crisis is over, or we'll get them and bring them here and open the possibility of spreading it here," the official added. Panelo said the decision of the Bureau of Immigration to suspend the issuance of visa upon arrival for Chinese tourists would do. He added that President Rodrigo Duterte has not made it permanent yet. Flights from Wuhan have also been restricted. There are no confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus in the Philippines. China tallied 106 deaths from the virus as of Tuesday afternoon, with 4,515 cases confirmed in the mainland, CNN reported. READ: How the coronavirus is already hurting global business READ: PH closely monitoring 24 people for possible Wuhan coronavirus infection CNN Philippines' Melissa Luz Lopez and Janine Peralta contributed to this report (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson risked a rift with President Donald Trump as he gave Huawei Technologies Co. the green light to help develop Britains next-generation broadband networks. While the U.K. government announced it will keep what it calls high-risk vendors such as Huawei out of the most sensitive core parts of its 5G mobile networks, the company will be able to supply other equipment that is critical to the roll-out of broadband such as antennas and base stations. That is a blow to the Trump administration, which wanted Johnson to impose an outright ban on the Shenzhen-based tech giant, citing concerns that its gear could be vulnerable to infiltration by Chinese spies. The two men spoke about the U.K. decision on Tuesday, according to Johnsons office. American officials had warned the U.S. may be forced to hold back secret intelligence from the U.K. in future, if Johnson pressed ahead with giving Huawei a role. The company has always denied it poses any security risk. A key pillar of Johnsons vision for a future outside the worlds richest single market is a trade deal with the U.S. and the Huawei license risks setting up a clash with Trump. On their call on Tuesday, Johnson underlined the importance of like-minded countries working together to diversify the market and break the dominance of a small number of companies, his office said. The initial reaction from Washington was muted. A senior U.S. administration official expressed disappointment at Johnsons decision, but also hope that the U.S. and the U.K. could still find some way to exclude components from untrusted vendors in 5G systems in future. Trump himself has yet to comment, and is preparing to announce his Middle East peace plan later Tuesday. Read More: U.K. Still Wary of China Hacking Threat After Limiting Huawei Reactions from Congress were more critical. Heres the sad truth: our special relationship is less special now that the U.K. has embraced the surveillance state commies at Huawei, said Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska. Story continues Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee suggested curtailing intelligence-sharing with any allies whose networks run on the equipment of untrusted vendors. If we have exhausted our carrots with the Brits, it may be time to use a stick, Blackburn said in a statement. Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, in a reference to Brexit, said: I fear London has freed itself from Brussels only to cede sovereignty to Beijing. Allowing Huawei to build the U.K.s 5G networks today is like allowing the KGB to build its telephone network during the Cold War. In London, too, senior members of Johnsons ruling Conservative Party expressed dismay at his decision. Former party leader Iain Duncan Smith, and ex-cabinet minister David Davis warned of the security risks the Chinese company posed. The size and complexity, the problem we are trying to protect against, is enormous, Davis told the House of Commons. Huawei should be banned from our networks. The widely-expected announcement by Johnsons government is a compromise between the outright ban on Huawei sought by the U.S. and the access sought by telecommunication companies. While it ends months of political wrangling in the U.K., the process remains fraught with peril for Johnson as he prepares to end Britains 47 years of European Union membership and plans to negotiate a new trade deal with the U.S. Market Share Under the U.K.s policy, a cap of up to 35% will be imposed on Huaweis share of the non-sensitive parts of the next-generation networks, such as antennas, masts and even fixed-line fiber-to-the-home components. High risk vendors, a category which would also include Chinas ZTE, which is already banned from the U.K., are also to be excluded from sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases. The 35% cap will be kept under review and could reduce over time, the government said. The cap is roughly in line with Huaweis current overall market share in 4G, and Huawei said it was expected and reasonable. U.K. officials said the cap could be reduced over time, and the aim is to work with allies to help develop alternatives and get to a stage where the country doesnt need to rely on high-risk vendors at all. However, the cap may mean that phone carriers like BT Group Plcs EE, Vodafone Group Plc and Three have to rejig their 5G plans to comply. Three, a unit of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., had been depending on Huawei to deliver the entirety of its 5G radio-access network, with Nokia chosen to provide the core. Dave Dyson, chief executive officer of Three U.K., said in a statement: We note the governments announcement and are reviewing the detail. Ericsson AB and Nokia Oyj are the primary Huawei rivals in networking equipment now, but the U.K. decision may help create more options for certain segments of wireless networks. Cisco Systems Inc., Juniper Networks Inc., Ciena Corp. and Infinera Corp. may benefit as wireless operators look for alternative suppliers, said Woo Jin Ho, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. Huawei Reassured In a statement, Huawei Vice-President Victor Zhang said it was reassured that the U.K. will let the company keep working with carriers on 5G. This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future, he said, committing to build on Huaweis more than 15 years supplying U.K. telecom operators. The Confederation of British Industry, the leading business lobby in the country, said this solution appears a sensible compromise that gives the U.K. access to cutting-edge technology, whilst building in appropriate checks and balances around security. Vodafone, which uses Huawei in its U.K. radio network, said we aim to keep any potential disruption to customers to a minimum. By curbing Huaweis access but still allowing the supplier to play a role in 5G, British officials are betting they can manage any security risks at home and still maintain intelligence-sharing ties with the U.S. and other allies. Johnson discussed Huawei in a phone call with Trump on Friday, and clearly wasnt swayed by the push for a total ban. The prime minister said the U.K. could have the best of both worlds: retaining access to the best technology while protecting the data of consumers. British security services deem the risks manageable. For the U.K. timing of its announcement is particularly sensitive. U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, who had warned Johnsons predecessor not to wobble on the issue, is due to visit on Wednesday. Huawei has been a key supplier to the U.K. and many other European phone networks for over a decade so this decision will be closely watched by others. In fact, many European nations are leaning in the same direction as the U.K. QuickTake: Can a 70-Year-Old Spy Alliance Endure in Era of 5G? The EU will publish its own guidelines on Wednesday which give leeway to member states to restrict or ban Huawei without forcing them to do so. According to a draft of the document seen by Bloomberg, countries should consider banning suppliers based in countries with insufficient democratic checks and balances from core 5G components. Canada has also indicated interest in a similarly split decision -- allowing Huawei while also pledging to contain any security risk. A key concern of the U.S. is that other countries will copy-and-paste the U.K.s solution, relying on its regulatory system and high level of access to Huawei technology. The U.K. model isnt easily replicated, warned Ian Levy, technical director of the National Cyber Security Centre, in a blog published alongside the decision. The approach weve come up with for the U.K. is specific to the U.K. context. Others shouldnt assume theyre getting the same level of protection for modern networks if they do similar things without performing their own analysis. The market is broken, he added, because its not commercially attractive to build good security into networks. (Updates with Huawei alternatives in 16th paragraph) --With assistance from Olivia Konotey-Ahulu, Josh Wingrove and Kevin Cirilli. To contact the reporters on this story: Thomas Seal in London at tseal@bloomberg.net;Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Tim Ross, Rebecca Penty For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Governor Bill Lee announced that he will deliver his second State of the State address to the General Assembly and fellow Tennesseans next Monday at 6 p.m. CST. The joint session will be aired statewide and take place in the House Chamber in the Tennessee State Capitol. Im looking forward to sharing my vision for the future of Tennessee, including my legislative and budget priorities for this year, said Governor Lee. We have made remarkable progress during my first year in office, and thanks to the support of the General Assembly, I believe we will continue to make our state a leader in the nation and create a brighter future for those who call Tennessee home. In an effort to continue reaching Tennesseans outside of the state capitol, Governor Lee will also deliver addresses in East and West Tennessee. This will mark the Governors second time delivering his State of the State address in each of Tennessees Grand Divisions. Details for the State of East Tennessee address and the State of West Tennessee address are listed below. These events are free and open to the public with tickets available here. State of East Tennessee Thursday, February 6, 2020 Doors open at 5 p.m. EST Governors Remarks to begin at 6:00 p.m. EST ETSU Millennium Center 2001 Millennium Pl Johnson City, TN 37604 State of West Tennessee Thursday, February 13, 2020 Doors open at 5 p.m. CST Governors Remarks to begin at 6:00 p.m. CST Lane College, Chambers-McClure Academic Center 545 Lane Ave Jackson, TN 38301 In the year ahead, Russias new cabinet faces difficult decisions on energy-industry development versus increased spending on social services and infrastructure. Lower taxes will give the oil and gas industries more capital for expansion, but the government less revenue to help the population President Vladimir Putins surprise cabinet reshuffle at the start of the year raised at least two important questions pertaining to the Russian hydrocarbon sector: who would be named the next energy minister, and what policies the new government would pursue to maintain Russias position as a leading oil and natural gas exporter. Specifically when it comes to petroleum production and trade, whoever would receive the Ministry of Energy portfolio would need to continue to work closely with inter alia Igor Sechin, the head of the state-owned oil company Rosneft and a longtime Putin confidant. On January 15, the Russian president announced the resignation of the cabinet and named the heretofore tax administration chief, Mikhail Mishustin, as the new prime minister, while reappointing the former head of governmenthis longtime loyal subordinate Dmitry Medvedevto a newly created post of deputy chair of the Security Council. But it took almost a week for most of the other members of Mishustins cabinet to be revealed. And among the 12 ministers reappointed to their previous positions, Alexander Novak will be holding on to his post as minister of energy. Novak had served in this role since 2012. Sechins enduring high-level influence suggests that the broad parameters of Moscows oil-sector policies will continue this year. But a key issue will be whether the new-old Energy Minister Novak will be able to keep Russia in the OPEC+ oil-price-boosting arrangement with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)an agreement the Rosneft head opposes. Putin himself has directed Russian energy policy since returning to the presidency eight years ago. That is not expected to change, particularly since Mishustin has no oil and gas background. Sechin, meanwhile, has repeatedly chafed at the OPEC+ agreements production quotas, instead wanting Russia to pump as much crude as possible. However, the Kremlin leader opted last year to keep Russia in the OPEC+ arrangement over Sechins objections; and that decision has helped keep global oil prices high enough to generate an extra $100 billion in revenue for the country in 2019 alone. Throughout his two decades in power, Putin has overseen a massive growth in the countrys oil and gas industries. And this month (January 2020), Russia broke the Soviet Unions oil-production record by pumping 11.26 million barrels a day from its fields. Another milestone on Putins watch was Rosneft surpassing Saudi Arabia to become Chinas largest oil supplier in the first half of 2019. Meanwhile, Gazprom continues to be Europes biggest natural gas supplier, despite growing competition for that market. Russian hydrocarbon-sector accomplishments have come despite the United States and the European Unions sanctions for Russias seizure of Crimea. Although his countrys oil and gas picture looks favorable at the moment, Energy Minister Novak faces a number of formidable challenges going into the new year. One is the fact that many of the oil fields Russia has yet to develop are located in eastern Siberia and the Arctic, where the weather is harsh and geological conditions difficult. Rosneft, Surgutneftegaz and other Russian hydrocarbon extraction companies need both Western technology and investment for these projects, but US and European sanctions have eliminated both. Another challenge for Novaks Ministry of Energy will be resolving an oil-tax feud that has pitted Russian exporters against domestic producers. In January 2019, the government shifted the tax burden from companies that sell oil overseas to those that pump it out of the ground. The government changed the tax structure to obtain more money so it could implement Putins pledges of higher spending on social services and infrastructure in the next six years. The shift led to $15 billion more a year in producer expenses at a time when Russias commitment to OPEC+ forced the companies to limit output. Producers such as Sechins Rosneft have demanded rebates to offset their tax hikes. The Rosneft-led campaign led to clashes with the Ministry of Finance, which opposed losing the new revenue for the state budget. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov (who has also been reappointed to the same post in the Mishustin government) and the head of the Russian parliaments financial authority, Alexei Kudrin, persuaded Putin to slap a moratorium on rebates in July 2019but lobbying for that moratorium to be dropped is unlikely to let up in 2020. One of Sechins arguments in favor of the rebates is that producers need those lost revenues to develop fields in eastern Siberia and the Arctic. Another is that the industry needs the money to meet Putins demand that it continues developing the Northern Sea Route to accommodate 100 million tons of oil shipments a year. Sechins latest plea for financial allowances came on January 9, just a week before the government resigned, in a letter to thenprime minister Medvedev. He called for 2.6 trillion rubles ($30 billion) worth of tax relief. Tellingly, one of Medvedevs last acts as head of government was granting state subsidies to another Sechin-owned companythe Zvezda shipyard. Whether Sechin ultimately prevails in his campaign for oil-producer rebates will likely depend on the relative resolve of the ministers of energy, finance, development in the Far East and the Arctic, and economic developmentand whether or not the Kremlin ultimately comes out in favor of the domestic oil producers. A wild card is whether the regional governments in the Far East and the Arctic gain more independence from Moscow under Putins constitutional reform plan. If they do, they are likely to themselves pass a regional tax on oil, gas and minerals. Such levies would provide much-needed financial relief to those economically troubled regions; but they would not be looked upon kindly by powerful, politically connected energy-sector players like Sechins Rosneft. In the year ahead, Russias new cabinet faces difficult decisions on energy-industry development versus increased spending on social services and infrastructure. Lower taxes will give the oil and gas industries more capital for expansion, but the government less revenue to help the population. A fight over the proper balance between these largely diverging policy interests will almost certainly be intense. Hillary Clinton has returned to the political stage at the Sundance film festival and says she believes she could beat Donald Trump if she were to run again in November. In a wide-ranging interview with Variety about her new Hulu docu-series she was asked if she felt the urge to beat the president. 'Yeah. I certainly feel the urge because I feel the 2016 election was a really odd time and an odd outcome,' Clinton replied. Scroll down for video Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton believes she could win against President Donald Trump were she to run in November's election. She is pictured during an interview with Variety 'The more we learn, the more that seems to be the case. But I'm going to support the people who are running now and do everything I can to help elect the Democratic nominee.' Clinton also addressed the blistering remarks she made about Bernie Sanders when she said 'nobody likes him' in the docu-series and said she was not addressing the election when she made the remarks. 'I think we did that interview about a year and a half ago. I wasn't thinking about the election by any means. I've said I'm going to support the nominee. But I do think it's important to look at somebody's record and look at what they've gotten done and see whether you agree with that or not. I think that's what every voter paying attention should do.' In the clip from the Hulu series, which is due to be released on March 6, she says: 'Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. 'It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.' She said that she did not feel much support from Sanders after his own primary challenge failed in 2016 and encouraged voters to examine the Vermont senator's record. She believes Trump's 'broken promises and the failed actions of this current administration' should ensure the Democrats have a path to victory As she promotes the show, Clinton has managed to keep her focus on Trump, whose shock victory a little over three years ago cut short her seemingly unstoppable political ascent. 'I just think we have to win. I don't think we can afford another four years by the current incumbent,' Clinton said. 'I think that would be absolutely dangerous to our democracy, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure the Democrats win this time,' she continued. 'We have to be better than the other side, because they are highly organized and incredibly well funded, and they have foreign help,' she told reporters, vowing to work to defeat her Republican antagonist Donald Trump in November. 'We should win, because I think people can see the broken promises and the failed actions of this current administration and so we should win, but we're gonna have to overcome all of the obstacles they are throwing our way,' she said. Clinton remarked during an interview for documentary, Bernie Sanders had been in Congress for years but 'nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done'. Clinton has said she was not thinking about the 2020 Democratic primary or the effect on voters criticizing Sen. Bernie Sanders. She is pictured here on the 2016 campaign trail Hillary Clinton unloaded on Bernie Sanders in new documentary due out in March Clinton, who beat Trump in the popular vote, favors the abolition of the Electoral College. 'The person who gets the most votes should win,' she said. 'The Electoral College is an anachronism that foils the rights of the majority of Americans to choose our leaders.' Clinton also cited the role of social media platforms and, in particular, Facebook, in a potential repeat of Russian interference. 'The attacks on the fundamental right to vote and run our elections free from illegal, unconstitutional and certainly foreign interference is going to be even more sophisticated today than it was four years ago,' Clinton said. But Clinton does think some things have changed in the last four years, especially for Trump. Her interview indicates bitterness left from the 2016 campaign - the two are seen above on the campaign trail in 2015 - has not healed 'I think there's a story now to be told. Before he was a blank slate. He was a guy that people saw on their TVs. As you know, he was a reality TV star,' Clinton said. 'Now I think theres a record that hes going to have to be held accountable for. Hillary, a documentary about the former Democratic standard bearer, was screened at the prestigious festival Saturday ahead of its world premier. Clinton has said that 'nothing was off limits' with regards to the Hulu series and revealed she sat for around 35 hours of interviews for the series. 'The point of the documentary is what a polarizing figure Secretary Clinton is,' Nanette Burstein, who directed the film told AFP. Hillary Clinton is pictured with Nanette Burstein, the director of Hillary - a look into the former Secretary of State's life and her bid for the presidency in 2016 'She is both admired and vilified, and the whole top line of it is to break that down. So I had no illusions that in the reaction to this piece, it would be the same thing,' she said. The Hillary project began as a behind-the-scenes look at the candidate's 2016 campaign, relying on some 1,700 hours of footage taken by Burstein's team. But as it progressed, the documentary's producers changed tack. 'They came back and they said, 'You know, there's a bigger story here, and we want to tell your life, and we want to talk about the arc of women's lives and politics,' Clinton said. 'I said, 'Sure, let's do it.'' 'I figured, let's tell our story, because we've got to do more to get people to understand what's going on in our country and the world, and if this can contribute to that, I'll be very happy,' she said. The documentary examines how Clinton became at once one of the most admired and vilified women in the world. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are pictured By ANI BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government has announced the construction of a grand Sita temple in Sri Lanka, apart from an international level Buddha Museum in Sanchi according to Chief Minister Kamal Nath. The Chief Minister made the announcement on Monday in a meeting held with the delegation of Mahabodhi society, led by Banagla Uptisa, and Public Relations Minister in the MP Cabinet, PC Sharma. According to a press release, the chief minister has asked for the formation of a committee, which will have representatives from MP and Sri Lanka government along with members of the Mahabodhi society, to oversee the construction of the Sita temple in a time-bound manner. During the course of the meeting, Kamal Nath asked for expedited approval for land to construct the Buddha Museum-cum-training and education centre in Sanchi. PC Sharma also informed the chief minister about his interactions regarding the temple with the Sri Lanka government during his recent visit to the island nation. Kolkata: A students protest forced West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to leave the Calcutta University (CU) before the beginning of the varsitys annual convocation on Tuesday. Dhankhar had to leave the Jadavpur University in similar circumstances last month when he had gone there to preside over its convocation. Students at CU carrying posters against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens waved black flags at Dhankhar and raised go back slogans as soon as he arrived at the convocation venue. Dhankhar met Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee, upon whom the CU on Tuesday conferred honorary D Litt (honoris causa), before another group of students took the stage, raised slogans against Dhankhar and prompted the governor to leave the venue minutes before the convocation started. The protesters kept insisting that Dhankhar does not deserve to be on the dais for the CUs convocation as he is the Centres representative. They accused him of using his position to help the Bharatiya Janata Partys agenda and showing disrespect to teachers and students. CU vice chancellor (VC), Sonali Chakravarty Bandhopadhyay, unsuccessfully tried to convince the students to end their protests. VC sought permission from Chancellor to proceed with the Convocation. In view of the enormous respect I have for Abhijit Banerjee and mindful of the reputation of the iconic Calcutta University, I accorded the same, tweeted Dhankhar, who is also the CUs chancellor. Those who compromised culture and decorum need to be in a reflective mode. Since the governor had not signed the DLitt certificate to be handed over to Banerjee, students allowed Dhankhar to reach the CU auditoriums green room. Dhankhar signed the certificate in the green room and left as the students vowed not to allow him to take the dais. There was no clarity until Sunday whether Dhankhar would be invited for the convocation, especially because education minister, Partha Chatterjee, had earlier said it could happen without the governor. A CU official, who did not want to be named, said an invitation was sent to Dhankhar on Monday primarily because he had not signed Banerjees certificate even though he had approved the decision to confer the DLitt upon him. Dhankhar tweeted his pictures with Banerjee and said, The actions of those who created or stage managed unseemly spectacle would resonate for long in the ears of the cultured people of WB [West Bengal]. Dhankhar praised Banerjee and called him a man of sterling qualities and disarming grace. He added he was greatly touched by his modest approach and depth. The West Bengal government in December curtailed the governors powers as the chancellor of universities by notifying a set of new rules governing his interaction with VCs. The chancellor cannot now have a say in the day-to-day affairs of universities, nor can advice university officials directly. All communication between the chancellor and senior university officials will also have to be routed through the states higher education department. Reacting to the incident, state education minister Partha Chatterjee said that the governor needed to introspect why he was constantly facing student agitations. Maintaining the sanctity of a chair is the responsibility of the person occupying it, Chatterjee said. BJP state unit president Dilip Ghosh, however, sought Chatterjees resignation. Anarchy has gripped campuses of all colleges and universities in the state. Why is the education minister still holding on to his chair? said Ghosh. In a separate incident, Trinamool Congress minister Nirmal Maji faced agitation during the foundation day celebration of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. (With agency inputs) MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Quebec Precious Metals Corporation (TSXV:CJC)(FSE:YXEP)(OTC Pink:CJCFF) ("QPM" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the acquisition, by map designation, of 100% interest in a new project, designated "Elmer East", with strong gold potential totalling 368 claims (193 km2, see Figure 1 ). This project is located along trend from the recent Patwon prospect gold discovery made by Azimut Exploration Inc. ("Azimut") on its Elmer project located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory, Quebec. The Elmer East project includes the adjacent 100% owned Annabelle and Opinaca Gold West projects (561 claims, 295 km2). The western part of the Elmer East project is contiguous to Azimut's project. Azimut recently announced several significant gold-bearing drill intercepts at the Patwon prospect, namely 3.15 g/t Au over 102.0 m, including 10.1 g/t Au over 20.5 m (press release by Azimut dated January 14, 2020). The western part of Elmer East, located closest to the Patwon discovery, shows a geological setting favorable to gold mineralization. It is to be noted that gold mineralization occurring at the Patwon prospect is not necessarily representative of mineralization that may be found on the Elmer East project. The 368 claims are currently being processed by the Quebec Ministry of Energy and Natural resources. They will be recorded soon as 100% held by QPM. The project will be the focus of a geological compilation and a surface exploration program which will be carried out in 2020. Qualified Persons Normand Champigny, Eng., Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and Jean-Sebastien Lavallee (OGQ #773), geologist, Vice-President Exploration, director and shareholder of the Company, both Qualified Persons under NI 43- 101 on standards of disclosure for mineral projects, have prepared and approved the technical content of this release. 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 this project to advance it to the mineral resource estimate stage. For more information please contact: Jean-Francois Meilleur President Tel.: 514 951-2730 jfmeilleur@qpmcorp.ca Normand Champigny Chief Executive Officer Tel.: 514 979-4746 nchampigny@qpmcorp.ca Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Quebec Precious Metals Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574210/Quebec-Precious-Metals-Generates-the-Elmer-East-Project-Along-Trend-with-Azimuts-Gold-Discovery-James-Bay-Quebec Marc Uyttendaele, Ms. Boels lawyer, said on Tuesday that she was relieved to be considered as a legitimate child because it would put an end to the social exclusion that she was subjected to and will prevent her children from having to bear this burden. But Mr. Uyttendaele added that she had been hurt by the coldness of the kings statement. In it, the kings lawyers said that he had never been involved with any family, social or educative decision whatsoever regarding Madame Delphine Boel and that it was Ms. Boel who, 40 years later, had decided to change families through a long and painful lawsuit. The attitude taken by Albert II yesterday does not foretell the opening of a dialogue between his daughter and him, Mr. Uyttendaele said. For her part, she is open to this dialogue, but without much hope. King Albert II was a second son and, as such, was not expected to succeed to the throne. Instead, he enjoyed a lavish lifestyle of parties and travel, and when Ms. Boel was born in 1968, the prince privately recognized her as his daughter and cared for her, according to her lawyer. But Alberts elder brother, King Baudouin, died suddenly of heart failure in 1993, leaving no children, meaning Albert became king. According to Ms. Boel, that is when her biological father, seeking to avoid a scandal, cut all ties. Ms. Boel will not enter the royal line of succession, but she will be in line to inherit some part of the kings private fortune. Her lawyer, however, stressed that she had filed the suit for emotional reasons, not financial ones, noting that Jacques Boel, who raised Ms. Boel as his only daughter, was a wealthy man. Her motives were therefore in no way profit-seeking quite the opposite, Mr. Uyttendaele said. Amid increasing controversy over the anti citizenship amendment protest taking place at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, West Bengal BJP leader Rahul Sinha has said that all those who are protesting are Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. This comes days after BJP leader Kailash Vijayavargiya made bizarre remarks that labourers working at his home may be Bangladeshis as they ate "Poha". While speaking at an event, Rahul Sinha said: "All those who are protesting in Shaheen Bagh are from Bangladesh and Pakistan." He claimed that the anti-CAA resolution of the West Bengal government is unconstitutional. "Opposition making failed attempts": BJP's Rahul Sinha on Mamata Banerjee's anti-CAA rally Shaheen Bagh protests The Parliament on December 11 passed the contentious citizenship amendment act. The act seeks to grant citizenship to Sikhs, Parsis, Hindus, Jains, Christians, Buddhists from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The exclusion of Muslims from the act prompted a nationwide protest. After the violence in Jamia Millia Islamia University, Shaheen Bagh protest started spearheaded mostly by women. The 24x7 movement on Road No. 13A the 2.5km-long stretch connecting Delhi and Noida, has been closed since December 15 as the protestors demand a full withdrawal of the amended act. However, Republic TV's investigation revealed that it was organised by ex-JNU student and Shaheen Bagh Coordination Committee chief, Sharjeel Imam. He also said that they planned roadblock to attract the western media. Imam claimed that 60-70 students distributed pamphlets around Delhi, especially in the Muslim-dominated area. He also said that he called off the protest after Congress took over it. Later, many Congress' bigwigs visited the protest, like Mani Shankar Aiyar. Meanwhile, addressing a rally on January 26, ahead of Delhi polls, Home Minister Amit Shah, in a vote appeal asked people to 'press the voting button with so much anger, that the current is felt in Shaheen Bagh.' "Narendra Modi has changed the entire country, now he wants to change Delhi. This time, press the button of the voting machine with so much anger, that it is pressed in your area but the current is felt in Shaheen Bagh," Shah said. On Saturday, Amit Shah, in a similar assertation had said that there should be "no Shaheen Bagh" and asked people to vote for 'lotus' to get rid of the agitators by February 11, the day when the results are declared. BJP's Rahul Sinha on State Assembly being adjourned for two days in West Bengal Anti-CAA resolution The West Bengal Assembly on Monday passed a resolution against CAA brought by the state government. West Bengal became the fourth state to pass such a resolution after Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab. The resolution demanded that the contentious citizenship law be repealed forthwith and NPR and the proposed NRC be withdrawn. The state assembly had earlier passed a resolution against NRC in September 2019. Speaking on the resolution, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Citizenship Amendment Act is "against the Constitution and humanity. She added: "We want this law to be repealed immediately. We want NPR to be also repealed." The resolution was supported by both the opposition parties Congress and the CPI(M) led Left Front. Rahul Sinha takes a jibe at CM, says 'damage-relief funds are ways to loot Centre' Rahul Sinha criticizes Mamata Banerjee during pro-CAA rally The wife of Canadas first confirmed patient with the fast-spreading Wuhan coronavirus also has tested positive for it at an Ontario laboratory, and 19 other suspected cases in Canada are under investigation Toronto: The wife of Canadas first confirmed patient with the fast-spreading Wuhan coronavirus also has tested positive for it at an Ontario laboratory, and 19 other suspected cases in Canada are under investigation, public health officials said on Monday. Canadas second patient with the novel coronavirus is in her 50s and currently showing no symptoms, Ontarios Chief Medical Officer of Health David Williams said at a news conference. She has been in self-isolation and is being monitored by health officials. Given the fact that she has been in self-isolation, the risk to Ontarians remains low, said Williams in a release earlier in the day. Her husband had been confirmed to have the virus by a national laboratory in Winnipeg, according to the release. He is currently stable at a hospital in Toronto. The man had mild symptoms while on a flight to Toronto from Guangzhou, China, Canadas chief health officer Theresa Tam told reporters on Sunday. The couple arrived in Toronto on 22 January after visiting Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus outbreak. There are no other members of their household, said Toronto medical officer Eileen de Villa. Williams said the couple were wearing masks on their flight from Guangzhou and had taken their own transportation home from the airport. From what we know, Wuhan novel coronavirus transmits through close contact - and theres no closer contact than a husband and wife, said Ontarios health minister Christine Elliott in a tweet. The new coronavirus has infected more than 2,800 people in China, with 106 dead, and has spread to several countries. There are still many unknowns surrounding the virus, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases. The Canadian government on Monday advised its citizens to avoid all travel to Chinas Hubei province, citing the imposition of heavy travel restrictions in order to limit the spread of novel coronavirus. Officials have contacted passengers who were in close contact to the infected couple while on the same flight to Toronto, Williams said. He did not specify how many people were contacted. The passengers were told to follow up with health officials should they develop signs and symptoms of the disease. The flu-like symptoms include fever, cough and breathing difficulty. Williams added that some of the 19 suspected cases being investigated by health officials are from Toronto. To be under investigation, patients have to have relevant symptoms and a history of travel to Wuhan or surrounding areas within 14 days, officials said. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pipeliner CRM today announced that they have been recognized as one of the four finalists for the Stevie Awards Ethics in Sales award. Pipeliner CRM today announced that they have been recognized as one of the four finalists for the Stevie Awards Ethics in Sales award. Pipeliner's salespreneur initiative came from Kimla's idea that salespeople are entrepreneurs within the enterprise. The Sales Partnerships Award for Ethics in Sales has acknowledged outstanding examples of ethical sales practices since July 1, 2018. Sales Partnerships, Inc. is a sponsor of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service program for the fourth consecutive year. The Sales Partnerships Award for Ethics in Sales recognizes companies which understand that being the best performing salesforce also means having an uncompromising focus on selling in an ethical fashion. The Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie placements will be revealed during a gala banquet on Friday, February 28th, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. More than 2,600 nominations from organizations of all sizes, in virtually every industry, in 48 nations were evaluated in this year's competition. "It is a great honor to be recognized as one of the finalists for the Ethics in Sales award," says Nikolaus Kimla, CEO of Pipeliner CRM. "At Pipeliner we are dedicated to creating an environmentally-friendly and life-enhancing business model that influences and empowers the salespeople of the future." Pipeliner is leading the way with its products in the CRM space and is also pioneering a new state of mind for entrepreneurs. Pipeliner is breaking away from the outdated, traditional models of adding more physical space as the company grows and instead dedicated to connecting the greatest minds together, from wherever they are located, to build a model for the virtual company of the future to help make the world a more peaceful and prosperous place. Pipeliner's salespreneur initiative came from Kimla's idea that salespeople are entrepreneurs within the enterprise. A core part of Pipeliner's mission is to help empower entrepreneurs and encourage additional sales capabilities such as fostering long-term connections, gathering and receiving feedback, looking for new opportunities, envisioning every opportunity as a win-win and succeeding through altruism. It is the only company in the CRM space that has such a deep and passionate mission to truly influence this core group of people the sales professional. It is this commitment that led the Center for Sales Leadership (CSL) at DePaul University to partner with Pipeliner and offer their CRM system as a fundamental component of the Center's Sales Strategy & Technology course. Pipeliner also has their own multimedia digital magazine platform, SalesPOP, that gives empowered leaders online content and tools. SalesPOP is the only effective sales content platform and has almost 1,000 contributors, more than 1,700 articles, hundreds of e-books, a podcast and television channel. A full list of finalists can be found on the Stevie Awards website: https://stevieawards.com/sales/2020-stevie%C2%AE-award-winners#Ethics About Pipeliner CRM Pipeliner The Better CRM is built by salespeople and used by salespeople. For more information on Pipeliner CRM software or to take a 14-day free trial visit our website . Pipeliner is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Please engage with us on Facebook , LinkedIn , and @PipelinerCRM . Media Contact: Nicole Boyd Firecracker PR (888) 317-4687, ext. 702 [email protected] SOURCE Pipeliner CRM NEW HAVEN Darnell Goldson, who won a second four-year term to the Board of Education in November and served two years as president of the board, said Monday he will run for the 10th District state Senate seat. I think thats where the decisions are made, Goldson said. Goldson said he intends to make an official announcement in about two weeks. The 10th District seat currently is held by state Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, who first won his seat in 2014. That year, Goldson him expressed an interest in running, but did not challenge Winfield. Goldsons education platform was pro-reform and he suggested vouchers be used as a means of breaking up the public education monopoly. I look at all of these things the same way: he has a right to run. Itll be a race where hell talk about the ideas he has and Ill talk about the record I have, Winfield said Tuesday. I believe Ive done a lot of work thats important to New Haven in the state. Goldson, a former Ward 30 alder, said he has been toying with the decision for the last month or two and recently finalized his decision. He said his decision was motivated by looking at the school districts finances and realizing that additional state and local money does not cover increasing fixed costs such as personnel and utilities. Goldson began publicly discussing the budget issue around October, after about four years on the board. At the start of Mondays school board meeting, Goldson announced he would not be seeking another term as board president. I have decided there is a better way I could serve this Board of Education, he said. Goldson said he would continue to serve on the school board as he campaigns. During Mondays meeting, Goldson raised issues with three personnel changes proposed by interim Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey; when two of his proposed amendments to the personnel report went to a vote, there was a 4-3 split, with Goldson in the minority both times. Goldson said that this split between himself, Tamiko Jackson-McArthur and Larry Conaway and newly-seated Mayor Justin Elicker, Ed Joyner, Matt Wilcox and newly elected board President Yesenia Rivera was not indicative of new alliances on the board or did not influence his decision not to seek another term as president. Wilcox and Joyner, who joined Rivera and Elicker in the majority of those votes, were elected vice president and secretary, respectively. Were going to have disagreements, Goldson said. Winfield, now in his fourth term, previously served three terms in the state House of Representatives and is known for his advocacy of social justice. He said he believes his record is among the most progressive, not just in ideology, but in accomplishments. Im going to focus on judiciary related things, because thats where I chair, he said. That means police accountability measures, clean slate legislation and more work around legal cannabis. Winfield said New Havens delegation has worked diligently to get more funding from the state. I think the New Haven delegation has continuously made efforts to increase the amount of money and rejigger formulas in favor of New Haven, and Ive been part of that effort, he said. No individual legislator just increases the amount of money. The question is whether or not you can be part of a conversation and advocate for what your city or town wants. This story has been updated to reflect that Darnell Goldson did not run for state office in 2014. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com In 2005, Google made an acquisition that few people expected and one I'd argue might well turn out to be the smartest purchase made by any tech company ever. Google paid $50 million for Android, an open-source operating system for mobile devices. The hottest things on the mobile phone market back then were flip phones. The first iPhone was still two years away. Google at the time was famous only for its search engine and the clever way the company had monetized those searches. But instead of licensing Android to phone makers and recouping its costs, Google gave its purchase away for free. Anyone who made a mobile phone could install the software without paying and save themselves millions on development costs. The reason for that $50 million generosity has now become clear. In May 2019, Android announced that its software had been installed on 2.5 billion devices. Estimates of its market share range from around 75 percent to as high as 87 percent, with iOS making up most of the difference. That means that about eight mobile phones out of 10 are telling Google where their users are, who they know, who they talk to, where they've been, what they search, what they browse, what they listen to, which websites they visit, and what events they have marked on their calendar. Almost everyone else is handing over the same information to Apple. Our private lives have been turned into data, and that data is now owned by a handful of large tech companies: by Google, by Apple, and by Facebook. They sell that data to advertisers or use it to refine their products, and they make a lot more than the $50 million that Google spent on Android. Google is cagey about revenue derived from Android, but in a 2016 court case, Oracle claimed that the OS had given Google $31 billion in revenue and $22 billion in profits over the previous eight years. Facebook made $17.65 billion in the third quarter of 2019 alone. None of that money, though, goes back to the people--the average consumers--who created that data. While tech companies ask us whether we agree to share personal information before we use an application or a device, how many of us really understand what we're giving to the tech companies? Increasingly, however, people are expressing concern about how their private information is being taken, stored, and used. Europe has responded with tighter regulations to govern data processing. The U.S. has a mixture of different rules and agencies that determine how data is collected and used: the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act protects health information; the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act protects financial information; the Federal Trade Commission is responsible for applying privacy policies and ensuring that companies implement data security. But I'd argue that none of this is enough. What's really needed is an entirely new approach to personal data, the commercial value of which is being taken entirely by tech firms. We need an approach that assumes that personal information stays with the individual, and rewards those individuals as they choose to share it. We're seeing the start of that transformation. In November 2019, Brave, a technology company founded in 2015 by Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript and former CEO of the Mozilla Foundation, launched a stable version of a new kind of browser with eight million users already in place. In August 2019, it was the most downloaded browser in Japan, but it works very differently from Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Instead of taking your browser data, Brave leaves all of that information on your devices. Instead of regular website ads, you can choose to view special ads that match the data you hold, and receive in return Basic Attention Tokens, a kind of cryptocurrency. You can convert that cryptocurrency into paper money or you can use it to reward your favorite websites on the basis of how often you visit them and how long you stay. LBRY, a decentralized video hosting service and application that describes itself as a "new and freer internet protocol," is trying to do something similar for audio and video content. Instead of placing ads targeted by user data and taking the lion's share of the advertising revenue, as Google's YouTube does, it cuts the advertising altogether and lets users tip their favorite creators. Both these services are taking an entirely new approach toward user data. Instead of assuming that users are willing to hand over data in return for free services and advertising, they assume that the public now wants a better deal. They believe that users increasingly want to hold on to their data and make tech companies pay to access it. They may be right. The rapid success of Brave and the growing controversies surrounding data leaks suggest increasing concern among users about how their data is being used. For entrepreneurs in general, and for internet entrepreneurs in particular, that's a warning. Patricia Ford, Lady Fisher, who succeeded her father as the first woman MP in Northern Ireland. The family of Bear Grylls and Northern Ireland's first woman MP are to lay a wreath at the MV Princess Victoria ferry disaster memorial service in Larne to remember a family member who died in the tragedy Lady Sarah Grylls, mother to Bear, will be at the service on Chaine Memorial Road on January 31, 67 years after the tragedy. Her daughter Lara Fawcett and grandson Bevan Fawcett will also be at the service to commemorate Sir Walter Smiles, a Westminster MP in 1945, who was one of 135 people who died in the 1953 disaster. The family lived in Donaghadee until 1980 and said they were "honoured and privileged" to be invited to the service. It also gives them the opportunity to remember Lady Grylls' mother Patricia Ford, Lady Fisher, who succeeded her father as an MP, becoming the first female Westminster representative in Northern Ireland. "I was only 11 years of age when this tragedy happened but I can remember it as if it were yesterday. It is a great privilege for me and my daughter and grandson to be invited to Larne to lay a wreath to commemorate the tragic loss of so many lives 67 years ago," said Lady Sarah Grylls. Lady Fisher was the founder of the Women Caring Trust which helped young people from disadvantaged areas in Northern Ireland, and died in 1995. Her ashes were scatted at sea at the place where the wreck of the Princesss Victoria lies. "This visit is an opportunity to remember my grandfather, who I adored, and also my mother who was a wonderful lady," said Lady Grylls. Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Cllr Maureen Morrow, said: "I would like to take this opportunity to welcome some members of the Grylls family to the borough, albeit for a very poignant occasion. "The Princess Victoria disaster affected people both in Larne and further afield. It was an incredibly difficult time for the area and generations later people are still affected from the tragedy. "I am glad the Grylls family could come to Larne to share their memories of their grand-father and great-grandfather." The memorial service will take place at 11am on Friday. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 21:33:56|Editor: ZD Video Player Close LONDON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The British government on Tuesday approved a restricted role for Huawei in building the country's 5G network. Huawei, the Shenzhen-based networking and telecommunications equipment and services supplier, said that it is reassured by the British government's confirmation that it can continue working with the customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track. "The evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future," Victor Zhang, vice-president of Huawei, said. The latest decision came nearly a year after the British government said it would mull whether to allow Huawei infrastructure kit on the nation's 5G mobile network. Other European countries, including Germany, are also expected to make decisions on the Chinese tech giant. European leaders have said that building 5G network could be costlier and slower without Huawei equipment. "I think that decision for the UK could have ramifications into the decisions in other markets as well," Kester Mann, director of consumer and connectivity from CCS Insight, told Xinhua. "If Huawei is banned from some countries, I think it's to no one's real benefit," Mann said. CCS Insight is a research and advisory company focused on the mobile communications sector. "Huawei's technology is already deeply embedded in the global standards that underpin 5G," said University of Cambridge Judge Business School Professor Peter Williamson. "The costs to the UK of excluding Huawei would be huge and complete exclusion is virtually impossible." Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming has earlier warned that banning Huawei could mean back-pedalling for Britain, which would leave it trailing behind on technology. His concerns are shared by several British telecommunications operators, which have admitted that banning Huawei equipment would delay Britain's 5G roll-out. Huawei UK "has created huge job opportunities for the local community, contributed to the telecommunications sector in the UK and played a positive part in the economic and social progress here in this country," Liu said at an event in London on Monday night. Critics have said that the U.S. government is fabricating "Huawei risk" in the name of "national security." The Science and Technology Select Committee of the British House of Commons has concluded that there are no technical grounds for excluding Huawei entirely from Britain's 5G or other telecommunications networks. China has repeatedly stressed that it had never and will never ask companies or individuals to collect data, information or intelligence in others countries by illegal means. Statistics showed that from 2012 to 2017, Huawei brought 2 billion pounds (about 2.6 billion U.S. dollars) to Britain through investment and procurement, and created 26,000 jobs. In early 2018, the company pledged to invest a further 3 billion pounds (about 3.9 billion dollars) in the country over the next five years. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam was arrested Tuesday from his native village in Bihars Jehanabad by a joint team of Delhi and Bihar police. The arrest was made three days after a case of sedition was registered against him in Delhi for his allegedly inflammatory and instigating speech. He had reportedly delivered this speech outside the Jamia Millia Islamia during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest on December 13, 2019, 42 days before the FIR was filed. After arresting Imam, the Delhi Police, in a press conference held in the national capital, said they will also probe his role in the three cases registered at Jamia Nagar and New Friends Colony (NFC) police stations in connection with the violence and vandalism at Jamia university and NFC on December 13 and 15. Interrogating Imam, whose research topic at the JNUs Centre for Historical Studies is Riot, will throw fresh light on his activities, the police said. During preliminary interrogation, Imam, who has a degree in five-year integrated course from IIT-Bombay, said the viral video was not of any public or political programme. It was a speech to a select audience of 30-35 persons in a room. However, it went viral and later many people started calling me for public speeches, though I never considered myself a good speaker, a policeman quoted him as saying. Imam told the police that he was not aware his speech would create such hue and cry. I will keep myself away from the media and strive not to be provocative, he told the police. After Imams arrest, a tweet from his Twitter handle was posted at 4.26pm. I have surrendered to the Delhi Police on 28 1 2020 at 3pm. I am ready and willing to operate (read cooperate) with the investigation. I have full faith in due process of law. My safety and security are now in the hand of Delhi Police. Let peace prevail (sic), the tweet read. Responding to the tweet, DCPsaid, We arrested him from outside his home. Its not that he was in any court or police station where he came to surrender. Apart from Delhi, cases were also registered against Imam in Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur after two separate videos, in which he is seen making the alleged inflammatory and instigating speechsurfaced on the social media. Imam went into hiding as soon as the cases were registered and a search was launched by police teams from all the six states. The Delhi Police crime branch, which booked Imam under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code, dispatched three teams on Saturday to carry out raids in Patna and Mumbai. Two more teams were conducting raids at Imams possible hideouts in Delhi, said deputy commissioner of police (crime branch) Rajesh Deo. The DCP said their team reached Patna on January 26 as Imam was last seen participating in a protest rally in Phulwari Sharif (in Patna) on January 25. It was also learnt that Imam originally belonged to Malik Tola village at Kako in Jehanabad, which is around 50km from Patna. Our team got in touch with Patna and Jehanabad police and conducted joint raids. On Monday (January 27), Imams brother Muzammil was questioned about the formers whereabouts. Muzammil gave us some vital clues and Imam was arrested from outside his family home around 2pm, the DCP said, adding that Imans transit remand was sought from court and that he was being brought to Delhi. Meanwhile, a verbal dual had ensued between the Delhi and Jehanabad police officials over which team would get Imams custody first. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said the Bihar police would cooperate with the Delhi police. If somebody does something wrong, action will be taken. Police and court will decide on the action, Nitish told reporters. The Bihar police offered active support to the Delhi police personnel in arresting Imam, ADG (headquarters) Jitendra Kumar said. Following Imams arrest, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association expressed its concern. .. while there may be considerable scope for disagreement with the remarks allegedly made by the student, it has been persuasively argued by legal experts that these remarks do not warrant a charge of sedition and there are other reasons behind the sedition law being invoked, read a part of the statement issued by the association. The association also said that more than three weeks have passed since teachers and students were attacked by a masked mob, but not a single arrest has been made so far. A statement was also issued by JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh. While there may be scope of difference always, what is to be noted is how the sedition law of the colonial era has been used time and again to target and witch-hunt political voicesmain agenda is to delegitimise the democratic protests going on throughout the country led by women and youth against CAA-NPR-NRCThe urgency shown by Delhi Police on this matter and being totally absent during the 5th January shows clearly on whose line the police are working, the statement read. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON DALLAS, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alternet Systems, Inc. (USOTC: ALYI) today announced meetings in Malta this week with local legal representatives, crypto strategy experts and African electric vehicle partners to coordinate the launch of new business entity domiciled in Malta. The new Malta business is the target organization intended to launch a $100 million initial coin offering (ICO) to fund infrastructure for electric vehicle production in Africa. The company plans to release a summary of the meetings that conclude this Friday on Monday, February 2nd. ALYI African Crypto Strategy Highlights The firm, IW Global (www.IW-Global.com) has proposed launching and managing an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) on ALYI's behalf specifically targeted at raising $100 million to fund infrastructure for electric vehicle production in Africa. ALYI has partnered with IW Global and ALYI's production and marketing partners in Kenya to form a new company (NewCo) with the specific focus of building a new, state of the art electric vehicle production plant. This NewCo will be a separate company apart from ALYI but exclusively contracted by ALYI for producing ALYI designed vehicles. The NewCo is the business entity that would initiate the proposed ICO. The funds would be dedicated to 1. Building the plant and 2. Funding the production of ALYI's vehicles. A successful ICO would permit ALYI to substantially accelerate and expand upon its existing $300 million in electric vehicle projects. Malta has been selected as the domicile for the NewCo. Malta is credited as the first country to create Cryptocurrency regulations. ALYI Institutional Commitment ALYI recently announced securing institutional commitment to support an annual African electric mobility technology conference and symposium to advance the deployment of electric powered transportation solutions specific to Africa. The focus includes environmental sustainability but also overall transportation efficiency applicable to the African transportation infrastructure, economy, and consumer. ALYI CEO, Dr. Randell Torno, contends that the immediate opportunity for electric powered transportation growth in Africa by far exceeds the electric powered transportation opportunity anywhere else in the world and that the electric mobility technology innovations that will be developed for Africa will ultimately form the foundation of commercial electric powered transportation everywhere. In short, Africa is the global proving ground for electric powered transportation. In December, Dr. Torno concluded meetings in London where he secured institutional brand name commitment that will serve as the anchor event and attraction at the annual African electric mobility technology conference and symposium. The planed conference and symposium location is Nairobi, Kenya. For more information, please visit: http://www.alternetsystemsinc.com Disclaimer/Safe Harbor: This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. The statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Among others, these risks include the expectation that any of the companies mentioned herein will achieve significant sales, the failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of the companies' contracts, the companies' liquidity position, the companies' ability to obtain new contracts, the emergence of competitors with greater financial resources and the impact of competitive pricing. In the light of these uncertainties, the forward-looking events referred to in this release might not occur. Alternet Systems, Inc. Contact: Randell Torno [email protected] +1-800-713-0297 SOURCE Alternet Systems, Inc. Related Links https://www.alternetsystemsinc.com/ Visva-Bharati University authorities on Tuesday expelled a student from its hostel for shooting and circulating a video of a speech by vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty in which he was seen referring to the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) while addressing students after hoisting the tricolour on Republic Day. Bijju Sarkar, a second-year undergraduate student of history and resident of Purbapalli Senior Boys Hostel, was served the eviction notice on Monday, giving him 24 hours to vacate the hostel. Though Visva Bharati Students Unity Forum had announced Monday night that the eviction would be resisted, Sarkar left the campus early Tuesday morning. In the eviction notice, proctor Sankar Majumdar wrote, that the video was disruptive and defamatory and used to defame the vice-chancellor on social media. The notice mentions that Sarkar confessed to shooting the video on his phone. VB public relations officer Anirban Sarkar said that the student had deliberately circulated an edited version of the speech to malign the V-C by distorting his statement. The video clip that VB students shared on social media triggered a controversy, as in it Chakrabarty was heard saying, Those opposing CAA are reading out the Preamble. But this Constitution was given its shape with minority votes. 293 persons created it sitting in the Constituent Assembly. If you go through the papers of that time, we will find that many had disliked it. But today it is being treated like the Veda. The Preamble has turned into Veda. But if we dislike, we, the voters who form the Parliament, we will change it. However, creating a hullabaloo and exchanging abuses is not the way to go about the change. Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA) condemned the authoritys decision. In a statement issued on Tuesday, VBUFA president Sudipta Bhattacharya said, In the said video nothing was added over and above VCs speech. If there is some disruptive and defamatory content in it, VC himself is responsible...VBUFA strongly demands that the order may be immediately withdrawn and the student is reinstated in the hostel. Students threatened to continue their protests after Saraswati Puja (January 29). The authorities are taking one step after another to take away the democratic space of the students but our movement seeking the VCs resignation will continue. He is directly involved in implementing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s designs on the campus, said Somnath Sow, a leader of VB Students Unity Forum (VBSUF), a platform of various Leftwing student organisations spearheading the agitation. This is the second video clip surfacing within a week that has drawn the VC into controversy. A video clip that came into circulation on January 24 purportedly showed the VC instructing some students to gather bike bahini (motorcycle army) and give a dose to those planning to disrupt Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasguptas scheduled lecture on CAA on the campus on January 8. Students have lodged a complaint at Bolpur police station submitting a copy of the video clip. While VB public relations officer Sarkar has said that the voice in the January 7 video did not match that of Chakrabarti, VBUFA took a resolution on Monday night, urging the PRO to refrain from making such remarks at a time the police were investigating into the allegations. Indicating that the trouble is going to continue, VBSUF and VBUFA have also opposed the three-member probe panel, headed by former Calcutta high court chief justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya, which VB authorities formed to investigate into the January 8 agitation during Dasguptas speech and the January 15 attack on Leftist students inside the campus. Students and teachers demanded the removal of the two other members of the probe panel - VB executive council members Dulal Chandra Ghosh and Manjumohan Mukhopadhyay arguing that Ghosh has publicly said that he believed the January 15 attack was a Left-Trinamool Congress (TMC) joint ploy to defame Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and that Mukhopadhay has publicly expressed his support for CAA. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON (Newser) President Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan Tuesday, calling for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in portions of east Jerusalem. He declared it a "win-win" opportunity for both Israel and the Palestinians. The plan ends speculation as to whether his administration, in preparing a proposal without input from Palestinian leaders, would abandon a "two-state resolution" to the conflict. Trump, releasing the plan before a pro-Israel audience at the White House with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he also wanted the deal to be a "great deal for the Palestinians" and characterized it as a "historic opportunity" for Palestinians to achieve an independent state of their own. Details from the AP: story continues below The plan more than doubles the territory currently under Palestinian control, although it also recognizes Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank, something to which the Palestinians will almost certainly object. The Palestinians have already rejected the proposal, accusing Trump of being biased in favor of Israel. The plan does call for a four-year freeze in new Israeli settlement construction, during which time details of a comprehensive agreement would be negotiated. It was not immediately clear if the freeze could be extended if a final deal is not concluded in the four years. The 50-page political outline goes further in concessions to the Palestinians than many analysts had believed was likely. However, it would require them to accept conditions they have been previously unwilling to consider, such as accepting West Bank settlements. It builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. Under the terms of the peace vision" that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, the future Palestinian state would consist of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of above-ground roads and tunnels, according to the officials. Both Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. Security responsibility for the Jordan Valley would remain in Israel's hands for the foreseeable future but could be scaled back as the nascent Palestinian state builds its capacity, under the terms of the plan, which says that statehood will be contingent on the Palestinians meeting international governance criteria. US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the plan's release, said they expected negative responses from the Palestinians, as well as Turkey and Iran, but were hopeful that Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab nations to have peace treaties with Israel, would not reject it outright. The officials said they expected Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others to cautiously welcome the plan. The reaction of Jordan, which would retain its responsibilities over Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque under the plan, will be particularly significant, according to the officials, who said Kushner and others were reaching out to Arab leaders ahead of the rollout. (Read more President Trump stories.) This investment is a testament to the deep commitment of Bank of America to invest in the remarkable upside of the fastest-growing entrepreneurial segment in the country, Latinx businesses. The Latino Business Action Network (LBAN) today announced it has been awarded $250,000 from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation to help more Latinx-owned businesses from across the country scale their business through the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Education-Scaling Program. LBAN collaborates with Stanford Graduate School of Business to champion the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative. Bank of Americas quarter-million dollar investment will help educate more Latinx business owners on how to access capital and business growth resources, closing the opportunity gaps identified in the 2018 State of Latino entrepreneurship research by the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative. That study found that while Latinos launch more businesses than any other group, their companies often start small and stay small, making up 12% of all U.S. firms, but only 6% of all employer businesses and only 3% of employer businesses with over $1 million in annual gross revenue. If the current number of Latino-owned businesses grew to match the size of their non-Latino counterparts, it would add 5.3 million new jobs and $1.5 trillion to the U.S. economy. As the nations leading small business lender, Bank of America also conducts a national survey of Latino entrepreneurs, with its 2019 Hispanic Small Business Owner Report finding that Hispanic business owners far outpace their non-Hispanic counterparts in planning for business expansion over the next five years, 79% to 55% respectively. Energized, grateful and inspired are words that come to mind with our new game-changing partnership with Bank of America, said Mark Madrid, LBAN CEO. This investment is a testament to the deep commitment of Bank of America to invest in the remarkable upside of the fastest-growing entrepreneurial segment in the country, Latinx businesses. Irrevocably, this is an American economic imperative. Hispanic businesses are an important segment of Americas economy and jobs engine, said Raquel Gonzalez, Bank of America Silicon Valley market president and executive for Hispanic/Latino Strategy and Initiatives. LBAN has already played a critical role in bridging the opportunity gap for many Hispanic-owned businesses through its education and mentoring program, and its research validates what Bank of America has found with its own sizable client base of Hispanic entrepreneurs: they are establishing business success and are ready to grow, but they just need to get plugged into resources to help them scale. Our quarter million dollar grant can help more of these entrepreneurs experience catalytic expansion. The Stanford scaling program, offered twice per year, attracts approximately 250 applicants and admits 80 per cohort (160 annually). To qualify, a Latinx entrepreneur must generate over $1 Million in annual gross revenues and/or must have raised over $500,000 in external sources of funds. To date, through eight cohorts, 584 scaled Latinx entrepreneurs have completed the program. They originate from 31 different states and Puerto Rico, employ over 30,000 and generate over $3.02 Billion in combined annual gross revenues. Apply here for the program. LBAN is proud to continue to fund the most comprehensive research on U.S. Latinx entrepreneurship in the country, stated Madrid. The State of Latino Entrepreneurship research provides valuable insights that motivate institutions like Bank of America to contribute towards solutions. The next State of Latino Entrepreneurship research report will be released January 31, 2020 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. suspended its policy of granting visa on arrival for Chinese travellers on Tuesday, a day after the health authorities detected the country's first infection. Sudath Suraweera, the chief epidemiologist of the country's health ministry, said on Monday that a 40-year-old Chinese woman was found positive for the virus. "She arrived on January 19 and was tested positive for the virus when she was leaving the airport on January 25. She was admitted to the infectious diseases hospital," he said. Following the first detection of the case, the Sri Lankan health authorities ordered the suspension of the on arrival visa policy for the Chinese nationals. Travellers from China must apply for visa via the online portal, the authorities said. The officials at Colombo airport said the entry to airport's arrival and departure terminals had been restricted to passengers only. Some 65 Sri Lankan students in China returned by Monday. Another flight to evacuate students is due to leave on Tuesday. A total of 204 students have been evacuated in the last three days. The government has said that it has completed the collection of information on students in China. A National Action Committee to prevent the spreading of was convened on Monday. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed the committee comprising health experts. has become a major travel destination for Chinese tourists. Many Chinese nationals also work on Chinese-funded infrastructure projects - including a sea port, port city and highways. The death toll in China's deadly coronavirus epidemic has crossed the 100 mark while the confirmed cases have gone up to 4200. In April last year, suspended its plans to grant visas on arrival for citizens of 39 countries after the devastating Easter suicide bombings that killed nearly 360 people. The Economic Times: What are your views on resolutions in EP on what is essentially an internal matter for India. Jean Asselborn: First of all, I would like thank my friend Dr. Jaishankar for the warm welcome to India. This is my fourth visit and I am very pleased to be here. I had the great pleasure to welcome his predecessor, the late Sushma Swaraj, in Luxembourg for a two-day visit in June 2018. Luxembourg and India share a strong support to the rules-based multilateral order with the UN and the WTO at its core. We have worked extensively together with India during Luxembourg's tenure of its non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council in 2013-14 and we are glad to support each other in the future on UN matters. India and EU are the biggest parliamentarian democracies in the world. Like in all democracies, the European Parliament has the right do debate on the issues it chooses and it does so every day and even questions its own EU Member States onthe rule of law or political solidarity, like it did for instance for Poland and Hungary. There is indeed a separation of powers between the EU institutions. I want to underline that at the last Foreign Affairs Council we clearly stated our wish to strengthen our political and economic links with your great country. In my opinion, India is a fascinating country with many faiths, languages and cultures. This multicultural approach is a unique advantage, which we Europeans know how to appreciate. The Economic Times: What are your expectations from forthcoming India-EU summit in Brussels? Jean Asselborn: Luxembourg, as one of the 6 founding members of the European Union, attaches a great importance to the strategic partnership between India and EU, which is reflected in the 2018 EU strategy on India. The next EU-India summit, which is scheduled to take place in Brussels on 13 March 2020, will be the opportunity to jointly agree on our cooperation priorities for the coming years and take our strategic partnership forward. The EU and India have developed excellent sectoral cooperation in the fields of digital economy, research and innovation, transport, environment, energy and climate change. The EU is India's largest trading partner, accounting for 92 billion euros worth of trade in goods in 2018 or 12,9% of total Indian trade, ahead of China (10,9%) and the US (10,1%). The EU is also the leading destination for Indian exports, almost 18% of the total. The Economic Times: What are your views on slowdown in Indian economy and how can Luxembourg assist in boosting Indian economy through investments Jean Asselborn: As India is currently the 5th biggest economy in the world, we are of course following the economic developments in India. Despite a relative slowdown, India's economic growth is still high compared to other regions. India represents a sizeable and dynamic market and is an important player in global economic governance and as such an important trade and investment partner for the EU and Luxembourg. A number of Luxembourgish companies have invested into India for more than two decades and participate in the "Make in India initiative. The Luxembourgish engineering company Paul Wurth has been present in India for more than 25 years and has equipped some of the largest blast furnaces. Ceratizit, which has been developing and producing sophisticated hard material cutting and wear protection solutions, has production sites in West Bengal and Karnataka. Amer-Sil, which manufactures gauntlets for the automotive industry, has a Joint Venture with its Indian counterpart Ketex and is also based in West Bengal. The world's largest steel producer Arcelor Mittal is based in Luxembourg since its merger in 2006 and has recently concluded the takeover of Essar Steel, for which it will bring new investments to India. The Economic Times: How can Luxembourg assist India in harnessing technology and finance from EU (as well as in migration)? Jean Asselborn: Luxembourg continues to invest substantially in new promising technologies and there is a big potential to develop more cooperation with India. Following the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange launched a Green exchange, a platform that is entirely dedicated to sustainable finance and currently hosts more than 50% of all Green Bonds listed around the world. This could be interesting for India to attract investment into green and sustainable technologies like solar and wind power. Luxembourg and India also intensified their cooperation between Universities and research institutes. Indian students have started coming to Luxembourg for research and post-doctoral studies, and we are currently relaunching our MoU'swith the Indian Institutes of Technologies of Kanpur, Bombay and Madras, among others. There is also a lot of cooperation between IT companies in Luxembourg and India. This is one of the reasons why we have an increasing Indian diaspora living and working in Luxembourg. The number of highly skilled workers and their families moving to Luxembourg has increased substantially over the last 5 years and they contribute to our multicultural society. We even have Diwali celebrations in Luxembourg. The Economic Times: What are plans for expansion in sector of space cooperation. Jean Asselborn: The Luxembourg headquartered and world-leading satellite operator, Societe europeenne des satellites (SES), currently has 6 satellites operating over India through ISRO. Based on the experience we have with SES and other companies in the space sector, we have further developed the ecosystem of the space industry in my country. In 2017, Luxembourg became the first European country to develop a legal framework that allows private companies to invest into space ventures. Luxembourg is interested to work more with India, which is one of the leading countries in this dynamic sector. "Later Wednesday night, they (the children) were again woken up to help mom put Randy's (Allen) body in a tote," the charges read. "(One of the children) stated that he saw Randy's legs were cut off at that point and saw his mother had put Randy's legs in a plastic bag." Judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat on Tuesday recused himself from hearing the Centre's plea seeking Rs 7,844 crore as additional fund from successor firms of US-based Union Carbide Corporation for giving compensation to the victims of the 1984 A five-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra adjourned the hearing till Wednesday and said Chief Justice of India S A Bobde would take a call on composition of the bench to hear the matter. "We will not take it up today. We are waiting for CJI's order," said the bench also comprising justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran and M R Shah. Expressing his unwillingness to be part of the bench to hear the matter, Justice Bhat said, "I had appeared for the union of India in the matter when union had sought review." The Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), now owned by Dow Chemicals, gave a compensation of $470 million (Rs 715 crore at the time of settlement) after the toxic gas leak from the Union Carbide factory on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984 killed over 3,000 people and affected 1.02 lakh more. The bench was scheduled to hear the curative petition filed by the Centre seeking a direction to Union Carbide and other firms for Rs 7844 crore for additional funds over and above the earlier settlement amount of $470 million in 1989 for paying compensation to the victims. Over 3,000 people had died in the tragedy due to release of methyl isocyanate gas. At the outset, when the bench assembled, Justice Mishra said that Justice Bhat has a difficulty in hearing the matter. "Let's wait till evening today. Let us wait for the CJI's order on whether we will hear it in some other combination. We will get to know," Justice Mishra said. The bench asked the parties to come on Wednesday before it at 10.30 am. The survivors of the 1984 tragedy have been fighting for long for adequate compensation and proper medical treatment for ailments caused by the toxic leak. The Centre had filed the curative petition in the apex court in December 2010 for enhanced compensation. On June 7, 2010, a Bhopal court had convicted seven executives of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) to two years' imprisonment in connection with the incident. Then UCC chairman Warren Anderson was the prime accused in the case but did not appear for the trial. On February 1, 1992, the Bhopal CJM court had declared him an absconder. The courts in Bhopal had issued non-bailable warrants against Anderson twice -- in 1992 and 2009. Anderson died in September 2014. A crackdown on protection visas has led to a huge increase in the number of people refused entry to Australia - with some booted off flights or stopped at international airports. Australian Border Force officials and the Department of Home Affairs have used improved systems, the cancellation of 'non-genuine visas' and intelligence to stop 1,730 people from entering Australia in the last six months. Data showed 387 people were stopped at airports in the 2018-19 financial year compared to just 205 in the previous 12 months, according to The Australian. Australian Border Force officials and the Department of Home Affairs have used improved systems, the cancellation of 'non genuine visas' and intelligence to stop 1,730 people from entering Australia in the last six months (stock image) That amounts to an increase of 89 per cent. Meanwhile, 1,343 people were removed from planes due to advice from the ABF in 2018-19, compared to just 555 in the previous financial year. Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge said many people have tried to take advantage of Australia's 'generous humanitarian program'. WHAT IS A PROTECTION VISA? A protection visa allows the applicant to live, work and study in Australia, as well as sponsor other family members to arrive in Australia. To be eligible for the visa you or a family member must have entered the country on a valid visa. Besides security requirements an applicant must meet the definition of a refugee. The definition of a refugee means a person is outside of their own country because of a 'well-founded fear of persecution'. Source: Department of Home Affairs Advertisement 'We settle thousands of people in desperate need every year,' Mr Tudge said. 'Some people unfortunately seek to exploit our international obligations by lodging protection claims onshore which have no foundation this issue is not new and is not unique to Australia. 'These individuals use our legal system to deliberately prolong their stay in Australia even when they have no prospects of success.' Officials said there was a dramatic drop in people from Malaysia and China applying for protection visas. Other countries with a drop in applications include Vietnam, India, Thailand, Pakistan and the Philippines. Countries granted the most protection orders by citizenship include Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Malaysia. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Australian Border Force and the Department of Home Affairs for comment. The Supreme Court Tuesday granted bail to 15 convicts, serving life term in the 2002 Sardarpura post-Godhra riots case in which 33 Muslims were burnt alive and asked them to stay outside Gujarat, in two cities of Madhya Pradesh, and do community service. Rioters had set ablaze a home at Sardarpura village of Mehsana district in which 33 members of the minority community had taken shelter on the night of February 28, 2002 following Godhra train carnage in which 51 'karsevaks' were killed during their return from Ayodhya. All the 33 people, including 22 women, were killed in the attack. The rioters have been in jail since their conviction in 2012 and have been granted bail as their appeal against the high court verdict is pending in the top court. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde took note of four petitions on behalf of 15 life term convicts in the case and granted bail to them after putting several conditions, including that they will remain out of Gujarat and will have to relocate themselves in Indore and Jabalpur cities of Madhya Pradesh. The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, split the 15 convicts into two groups -- sending one to Indore and the other to Jabalpur. They will all have to regularly report to police stations there. "They will not be living together there. They will have to do community services six hours per week as a condition of the bail," the bench said, adding that they will have to produce a certificate to District Legal Services Authority of Indore and Jabalpur about their engagement in social services. Senior advocate P S Patwalia, appearing for the convicts, said that the convicts can be asked to do social service either in hospitals or in temples or Gurudwara. He also urged the court that some of them are very poor and they be asked to relocate themselves either to neighbouring Maharashtra or Rajasthan. "Don't tell all this. They will have to go to Madhya Pradesh," the bench said, adding that one batch of six convicts would go to Indore. "Can we have some method, on experiment basis, to ask District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to help them (convicts) in getting some kind of employment," the bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who welcomed the suggestion. It then asked DLSA of Indore and Jabalpur respectively to assist convicts in getting suitable employment there. The bench also directed the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Service Authority to file a report after three months stating as to whether the convicts have complied with the conditions or not. Earlier, the Gujarat High Court had upheld the conviction of 17 persons in the case and acquitted 14 others for want of evidence. Prior to this, a special trial court had convicted 31 people in 2012. The top court, in one of its earlier orders, had said that the trial court should adhere to the "two-witness" test in prosecuting the accused in the riots case. As per this test, there should be at least two witnesses testifying against an accused before the court convict an accused. The Supreme Court-mandated Special Investigation Team had arrested 76 people in this case and charges were framed against 73 in June 2009. The 15 convicts, who have been granted bail on furnishing of Rs 25,000 as bond on Tuesday, are -- Prahladbhai Jagabhai Patel, Parshottambhai, Vijaybhai Ravjibhai Patel, Jayendrabhai Satabhai Patel, Sureshbhai Bhailabhai Patel, Dilipbhai Ranchhodbhai Patel, Dharmeshkumar Nathubhai Patel, Previnbhai Mangalbhai Patel, Dilipbhai Vinubhai Patel, Paresbhai Ranchodbhai Patel, Arvindbhai Ravjibhai Patel, Hemantbhai Satabhai Patel, Santhakumar Ranchodbhai Patel, Vinubhai Shanabhai Patel and Vinubhai Bhibhubhai Patel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supervisory Board of the Oltenia Energy Complex decided to replace the director general of the company, Sorin Boza, due to the prejudice brought to the company and the fact that he was selected illegally, the Minister of Economy, Energy and the Business Environment, Virgil Popescu told AGERPRES on Tuesday. "Yesterday [e.n. - Monday] there was a rather long meeting of the Supervisory Board [CS] of the Oltenia Energy Complex that took all day, and there was a discussion of the report that I sent, of the Energy Minister's control body that remained definitive following the decision of the High Court of Cassation and Justice in December and I also sent them the report of the Prime Minister's control body, which I received in December, drawn up in 2018, which had not been sent to the Board until now," the minister said.According to Popescu, these controls revealed prejudices worth 600 million RON following improper management."Measures should have been taken, because the targeted period included the current leadership. The report of the Prime Minister's Control Body showed that there were also irregularities in the way the members of the Directorate were selected. Until now nobody has said anything. That a director general was not selected, but a directorate and, from that directorate, by the Supervisory Board a director general was elected, but was not chosen from the short list, but from outside it. This is referring to Mr. Sorin Boza. All of these corroborated, and the CS probably drew the conclusion it would be better to change him," the minister continued.Popescu also said he is convinced the coal energy producer will be able to pay the carbon dioxide certificates for last year, which have to be settled until April."We have that memorandum that we approved in Government with the bailout worth 1.2 million lei. We sent for opinion on the ordinance that enforces that memorandum, with a standstill clause that it enters into force upon approval by the European Commission of the state aid and we will continue with what we've established in that memorandum, that if they don't return it, it becomes restructuring aid, and some units in Craiova and Turceni will be transformed in gas units and the solar park will be carried out, that is we continue with to the provisions of the memorandum," Popescu maintained.He voiced his optimism that this aid will be approved by the European Commission and added that he will personally go to Brussels to explain that Romania's energy system cannot function without the Oltenia Energy Complex. AGERPRES "By extending iland services into Canada, we can better serve new customers and partners who seek the benefits of cloud computing, but must also meet Canadas data sovereignty requirements." - Brian Ussher, iland president and co-founder. iland, an industry-leading provider of secure application and data protection cloud services built on proven VMware technology, today announced a new cloud region in Canada with the opening of its new data center facility in Toronto, Ontario, joining nine other cloud regions in Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington, D.C., London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney. The new iland cloud region provides access to the companys full suite of secure cloud services built on ilands Secure Cloud Platform, including Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Backup as a Service (BaaS), and backup services for Office 365, in addition to Cloud Object Storage available later in the year. The Toronto facility is ilands first cloud region in Canada with plans for an additional Canadian location later this year. With this new cloud region, iland is offering additional opportunities to its existing North American channel partners and is actively engaging new partners in the region, especially those with customers using VMware and Veeam solutions. By extending iland services into Canada, we can better serve new customers and partners who seek the benefits of cloud computing, but must also meet Canadas data sovereignty requirements, said iland President and Co-founder Brian Ussher. Many of our North American customers and partners have operations that span across the United States and Canada border. Meeting the security and environmental standards of both sides will give them the peace of mind that their data and workloads are both proximal and secure. Secure Inside and Out Expansion into Canada provides unmatched cloud services to customers in North America, while meeting the stringent demands of Canadian data security and privacy regulations. The new 242,000 square-foot facility includes security officers working 24 hours a day, seven days a week; provides numerous physical security measures; and it meets the certification requirements of ISO 9001, ISO 27001, CSA STAR and BS 10012. Designed Green ilands new cloud region is designed green to meet environmental demands of Canadian consumers and regulations, earning it a Gold level for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The building includes granular-temperature and optimized-lighting controls, a rainwater capture irrigation system, cold aisle containment and high-efficiency-Turbocor chillers. The opening of ilands 10th cloud region is the first major announcement of this year, coming off a highly successful 2019, which included the following accomplishments: About iland iland is a global cloud service provider of secure and compliant hosting for infrastructure (IaaS), disaster recovery (DRaaS) and backup as a service (BaaS). They are recognized by industry analysts as a leader in disaster recovery. The award-winning iland Secure Cloud Console natively combines deep layered security, predictive analytics and compliance to deliver unmatched visibility and ease of management for all of ilands cloud services. Headquartered in Houston, Texas and London, UK, iland delivers cloud services from its cloud regions throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Learn more at http://www.iland.com. Stepping up its preparation to fight the threat of a potential coronavirus outbreak, the Indian government on Tuesday said that screening of passengers would be expanded to 20 airports along with adding new laboratories to test the virus. So far 35,000 passengers have been screened in India. Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan held a review meeting on Tuesday to take stock of the situation. The minister said that in the next one or two days, passenger screening would be expanded to 20 airports, from the current seven. At present, thermal screening of passengers coming ... After JNU student Sharjeel Imam was arrested by a team of Delhi Police on Tuesday, Bihar Chief Minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar said that nobody should do anything that is not in the interest of the nation. "Nobody should do anything that is not in the interest of the nation. The accusations and the arrest ... The court will decide on the matter," said Kumar while speaking to the reporters here. Speaking about the Register of Citizens (NRC), the Chie Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already said that there have been no talks about it. "We have said it earlier too. The question over NRC does not arise. The Prime Minister has also said there have been no talks over it. The Population Register (NPR) has been there since 2011. It is not a new thing," he said. He, however, admitted that new questions added to the NPR are likely to create confusion. The controversial JNU student Sharjeel, who stoked controversy with his "cut off Assam from India" remark, was arrested by a team of Delhi Police from Bihar's Jehanabad on Tuesday. Earlier today, Jehanabad Police had detained Sharjeel's younger brother Muzammil Imam in the wee hours. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Sunday booked Sharjeel for his controversial speech that he allegedly made a few days ago. He has been slapped with charges of sedition and inciting enmity between communities under Sections 124A, 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A case has also been registered against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police for his controversial speech delivered during the students' protest at Aligarh Muslim University on January 16 against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Register of Citizens (NRC). A series of videos have gone viral on social media in which Sharjeel Imam is heard saying: "If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannot do it permanently, then at least for one to two months, we can do this." "It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. When this happens, only then the government will listen to us," he is heard saying further in the video. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Given the number of aircraft owned by Air India and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express, a buyer can recover a major portion of the investment by adopting sale and lease back of airplanes The proposed Air India deal offered by the government is sweeter than expected, said a senior executive of a private airline. He said that given the number of aircraft owned by Air India and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express, a buyer can recover a major portion of the investment by adopting the sale and leaseback of airplanes, according to an IANS report. Global aviation consultancy firm CAPA on Monday termed the government's decision to sell 100 percent stake in Air India a "bold reform" and said it expects "significant" response from the prospective bidders. "The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) expects significant response (to Air India's stake sale) as the offer structured by the government is attractive," CAPA India chief Kapil Kaul told PTI. He said the time given for due diligence and submitting bids is also reasonable. "Clean exit by the government and entire non-aircraft-related debts taken out of AI (Air India) balance sheet, particularly as entire debt excluding aircraft is taken out and this signals a determined effort to exit Air India to allow taxpayers funds to be utilised for social agenda of the government," he said. The government said on Monday it plans to sell its entire stake in Air India, in a revised push to sell its national carrier after an initial attempt to sell a majority stake in the airline failed to draw a single bid in 2018. As part of the strategic disinvestment, Air India would also sell 100 percent stake in low-cost airline Air India Express and 50 percent shareholding in joint venture AISATS, as per bid document issued on Monday. AISATS is an equal joint venture between Air India and Singapore Airlines. It offers ground handling services. Management control of the airline would also be transferred to the successful bidder. The document set 17 March as the deadline for submissions of initial expressions of interest and said any bidder would have to agree to assume roughly $3.26 billion in debt, along with other liabilities, according to a Reuters report. Under the popular sale and leaseback arrangement, an airline acquires the aircraft at an attractive price and sells the aircraft to a lessor at a profit. It then leases it back for its own use. As per the bid document, Air India has an aircraft fleet of 121 aircraft (excluding 4 B747-400 aircraft) as on November 2019, mainly comprising Airbus and Boeing aircraft, out of which 65 are owned or on finance lease. Air India''s low-cost subsidiary Air India Express has a total of 25 Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft of which 10 are owned and 7 on finance lease. The remaining 8 are on dry lease. "The government has addressed most of the issues taking feedback from prospective investors during roadshows. The debt issue has been addressed to the extent that it may raise eyebrows," a top government source said. Following the release of the bid document, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said that debt on the books of Air India at the time of transaction would be frozen at Rs 23,286.5 crore which is equivalent to the written-down value of the combined assets of Air India and Air India Express. While many industry experts described the bid terms as a bold move by the government, concerns remain over substantial interest from private parties to bid for the state-owned airline which has many legacy issues. "As far as the interest level of private parties is concerned only time will tell. There are many factors which will decide this. If external factors turn adverse then participation may not be as expected," said an industry insider. Hindujas, Tatas may buy national airline? Multiple sources said that Tatas and Hindujas could evince interest in buying the carrier. IndiGo remains a strong contender but sources pointed out that the airline has reasonably expanded its network internationally and hence may not acquire an entity that is completely different in terms of aircraft type and functioning. The Hinduja Group and Interups , the US-based fund, have decided to join the race to acquire Air India, even as the central government prepares the bid document for the loss-making airlines sale, according to a Business Standard report. Acquisition of Air India would help the Tatas scale its aviation business. The group has two joint venturesone a full-service airline with Singapore Airlines (SIA) to operate Vistara, and a second with budget carrier AirAsia. Combined, they made a loss of over Rs 1,500 crore in fiscal 2019, a report in The Economic Times said. Foreign airlines such as Etihad and Qatar Airways could tie-up with local players to place their joint bid to buy out the public sector carrier. The Narendra Modi government's move to sell Air India and its subsidiaries had failed in 2018 as not a single private party evinced interest. While it had earlier offered 76 percent stake in the airline along with management control, the government has offered to sell its entire stake in the airline this time. As the government proposed to hold 24 percent stake in the company and corresponding rights, many prospective buyers had apprehensions about interference and hence stayed away from the bid process. A high amount of debt and adverse macro-environment such as high fuel prices were cited as major reasons for the no-show. "This time the government is willing to go the extra mile to ensure whatever the buyer wants they will probably agree to it," said Rajan Mehra, CEO of Club One Air and former India head of Qatar Airways suggesting that there would be enormous interest from private companies to buy Air India. Air India has about 9,400 permanent employees and 3,600 fixed-term contract staff - including 1,850 pilots and 4,600 cabin crew - with benefits such as discounted air tickets and pensions. Its employees protested against the 2018 sale attempt, and it was not immediately clear if they would also resist the latest effort. The government said it would provide details on safeguarding employee interests in its final bid document. Air India has a debt burden of Rs 55,000 crore. In November last year, a ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had approved transferring Rs 29,000 crore debt to a special purpose vehicle (SPV)-- Air India Asset Holding Company. "We are eyeing $1 billion from the sale of Air India," the official had then told PTI. According to the document, debt of Rs 23,286.5 crore would remain with Air India and Air India Express at the time of closing of the disinvestment The remaining debt would be allocated to Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL). EY is the transaction adviser for Air India disinvestment process. --With inputs from agencies Firms which refurbished Grenfell Tower appeared to know two years before the disaster that a new cladding system would fail if exposed to fire, emails disclosed to the public inquiry suggest. Internal messages dated from March 2015 suggest designers, contractors and fire safety consultants responsible for the blocks revamp all foresaw the risk the new material created, the hearing was told. Seventy-two residents died when a blaze tore through the 25-storey tower in west London in June 2017. Four companies involved have already delivered opening statements which the inquirys chief lawyer has said are intended to distance them from blame. They are Rydon, the main contractor; Harley Facades, its cladding subcontractor; Studio E, the refurbishment architects; and fire safety inspectors Exova. Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Campaign group Grenfell United project a message on to the side of a tower block in Newcastle ahead of the second anniversary of the Grenfell fire to highlight the number of blocks that are still covered in flammable cladding, despite the role that it played in the fire PA Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures People release balloons in front of the Grenfell Tower during a vigil to mark the second anniversary of the fire (Peter Summers/Getty Images) Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Downing Street is illuminated green to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell fire EPA Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Kensington Palace is illuminated green to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell fire Getty Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Campaign group Grenfell United project a message on to the side of a tower block in Salford ahead of the second anniversary of the Grenfell fire to highlight the number of blocks that are still covered in flammable cladding, despite the role that it played in the fire PA Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Campaign group Grenfell United project a message on to the side of a tower block in by the Grenfell Tower ahead of the second anniversary of the fire to highlight the number of blocks that are still covered in flammable cladding, despite the role that it played in the fire PA Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Cards bearing names of victims of the Grenfell fire are attached to a railing nearby to the tower Getty Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures People obersve a memorial during a vigil to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell fire Getty Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Campaign group Grenfell United project a message on to the side of a tower block in Salford ahead of the second anniversary of the Grenfell fire to highlight the number of blocks that are still covered in flammable cladding, despite the role that it played in the fire PA Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures The Grenfell Tower is illuminated green to mark the second anniversary of the fire Getty Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Kensington Palace is illuminated green to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell fire Getty Grenfell fire remembered two years on: In pictures Downing Street is illuminated green to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell fire EPA But the email exchange introduced to the hearing on Tuesday appears to contradict their claims they could not have been aware of any risks. The messages reveal debates with building control officials about whether cavity barriers or fire-stops were required during the refurbishment. In an internal Exova email on 31 March, a Mr Pearson told a Mr Ashton: If significant flames are ejected from the windows, this would lead to failure of the cladding system, with the external surface falling away and exposing the cavity, eliminating the potential for unseen fire spread. In another message on the same day, a Mr Crawford of Studio E was told by Mr Ashton of Exova: It is difficult to see how a fire-stop would stay in place in the event of a fire where external flaming occurred as this would cause the zinc cladding to fail. In his reply Mr Crawford said: This was my point as well metal cladding always burns and falls off, hence fire-stopping is usually just to the back of the cladding line. Several days earlier, in an email sent to Harley managing director Ray Bailey, Daniel Anketell-Jones, also of that company, wrote: There is no point in fire stopping, as we all know; the ACM [aluminium composite material] will be gone rather quickly in a fire! The email exchanges were introduced to the inquiry by Craig Orr QC, counsel for Celotex, which supplied the insulation used in the Grenfell refurbishment between 2012 and 2016. He said: Whilst expressed in slightly different terms, the substance of what each of Harley, Studio E, Exova and Rydon was openly acknowledging in the above emails, was that the cladding would fail in the event of a fire with external flaming. This email exchange is also directly relevant to the claim made by Harley yesterday, that they had no idea and no reason to believe that the primary materials used on the cladding facade would behave as they did on the night of the fire. Harley, it appears, knew that the cladding would fail, indeed would fail rather quickly. Both the cladding panels and insulation were combustible and found to be a key factor in the fires rapid spread. The hearing continues. Additional reporting by PA BRIDGEPORT A judge rejected a 45-year plea offer from the man accused of shooting a Bethel woman at the Bridgeport boat ramp after a dozen of the victims friends and family told her he should serve the rest of his life in prison instead. However, Judge Joan Alexander told them she didnt think that sentence would be appropriate, either. She said she would continue the case for six weeks to present 27-year-old Brandon Roberts with her own plea offer, as required by law. You can decide if you want to accept the courts offer or if you want to have a trial, Alexander told Roberts. Roberts is charged with murder, felony murder, first-degree robbery and carrying a pistol without a permit in the Dec. 8, 2018, killing of 25-year-old Emily Todd. The judges comments came after an hour of emotional testimony from those who knew Todd, many of whom expressed anger that the court was willing to consider letting him plead guilty and serve 45 years in prison. The thought of him having one ounce of hope that he could possibly set foot outside the prison walls is sickening and so unfair to me, Robin Delaney, an aunt of Todds, said. Please your honor, I beg you, no deals. The judge said that Roberts lawyer, Joseph Bruckmann, was obligated to relay his clients plea offer to her and she was obligated to consider it after inviting their comments, per the states victims bill of rights. More News Murder victims family upset accused killer allowed to plead guilty That was not the courts offer, that was not the states offer, that was the defendants offer, Alexander said. I was willing to listen to your offer, the judge told Roberts. Im willing to listen to the victims family, who certainly want a much more substantial sentence. In the end, the court does not believe that either your offer or, Ill be candid, the victims (familys) request for life without release is the appropriate sentence. Roberts, who has been held on $2.5 million bond since his arrest in the case, is scheduled to return to court March 11, when he will hear Alexanders offer. Todds mother, Jennifer Lawlor, said after the hearing that her family left the courthouse having honored my child and not having a confessed killer in charge of his consequences. And we hope that when we come back, theres something much more firm being given, Lawlor said. Asked what she hopes the judges offer will be, Lawlor said, We are not comfortable living our lives with anything less than 60 years. That to me feels like an exceptional deal compared to mine, she said. Todd, a therapist at a Danbury senior center, was found lying face down in the sand along the shore in the morning of Dec. 9. She had been shot in the back of the head and a single spent bullet shell casing was found near her feet. Police said Todds mother later told detectives that her daughter had met Roberts, who was staying with relatives at a Stratford hotel, on an online dating app. After several dates, police said Todd called off the relationship. But, they said, Roberts convinced her to meet him one more time, luring her to the area of the boat ramp. On Dec. 14, police arrested Roberts at his fathers home in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and charged him with Todds murder. While being questioned in the Shaker Heights police station, police said Roberts told Bridgeport Police Lt. Chris LaMaine that he had killed Todd and shot another woman near Washington Park a year earlier. I dont know why I did it. I had a lot of hate in me, man, Roberts told police. He was also accused of shooting another woman June 9, 2017, near the intersection of Kossuth and Maple streets in Bridgeport. The 43-year-old woman was taken to Bridgeport Hospital with a bullet wound in her right shoulder. Roberts is charged in that case with attempted murder, first-degree assault and gun charges. Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, is all set to launch daily direct flights between Bhubaneswar and Varanasi from January 31, an official said. The airline has deployed a 70-seater aircraft on this sector, V V Rao, the Director of Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) said here on Tuesday. Alliance Air flight 91-747 will depart from Bhubaneswar at 12.15pm and reach Varanasi at 2.05pm, an official of the airline said. Similarly, flight 91-748 will depart from Varanasi at 2.30pm and land in Bhubaneswar at 4.20pm, the airline official said. The all-inclusive one-way fare between the two cities will be Rs 3,470 per person. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi: The nation on Tuesday (January 28) celebrates the 121st birth anniversary of Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, who was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Army. Cariappa led Indian forces on the Western Front during the 1947 Indo-Pakistani War, also received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award. Born on January 28, 1899, in the Coorg district of Mysore (now Kodagu district in Karnataka), Cariappa is one of the two Indian Army officers to have been decorated with the five-star rank of Field Marshal. He was also appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army in 1949. He breathed his last on May 15, 1993, at the age of 94. Live TV Notably, Field Marshal KM Cariappa's son Air Marshal KC Cariappa was also a Squadron Leader during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War. KM Criappa is the second General of the Indian Army to have been conferred the rank of Field Marshal in 1986, after Sam Manekshaw. The day Field Marshal Cariappa took command of the Army on January 15, 1949, is celebrated as Army Day in India. After completing his education from the Presidency College in Madras (now Chennai), Cariappa received military training during World War I (191418) but did not serve any active duty. As the war ended, Indian politicians demanded that the British should start incorporating Indian officers into their military. In 1919, Cariappa became the part of the first group of Indian candidates to be selected. After completing his training at Indore, he was commissioned into the Carnatic Infantry at Bombay. Under the British regime, Cariappa was promoted to Lieutenant in 1923, Captain in 1927, Major in 1938, Lieutenant Colonel by 1942, and then Brigadier in 1946. He also got the opportunity to serve in a variety of posts, including the Middle East (194142) and Burma (now Myanmar) from 1943 to 1944. Cariappa also earned the distinction of being the first Indian officer to be given command of a unit in 1942. Ahead of the end of World War II, he was inducted into the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his service. When the Indian subcontinent was partitioned in 1947, Cariappa also oversaw the difficult task of dividing the Indian military establishment between Pakistan and India. In view of his contribution to the Indian Army, the then Army Chief General Bipin Rawat in 2017 said that it is time to recommend late Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa for Bharat Ratna. General Rawat made this recommendation while unveiling the statues of Field Marshal KM Cariappa, at Cauvery College in Karnataka`s Kodagu district. "If others can get it (Bharat Ratna), I see no reason why he (Field Marshal KM Cariappa) shouldn`t be a deserving personality for the same," General Bipin Rawat, who is now the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of Indian armed forces, had added. JERSEYVILLE Felony charges recently filed by the Jersey County States Attorneys Office include: Chad E. Martin, 41, of Jerseyville, was charged Jan. 21 with unlawful possession of controlled substance, a Class 4 felony. According to court documents on Jan. 19 Martin was found to be in possession of less than 15 grams of Alprazolam. Bail was set at $5,000. H olly Willoughby stole the show on the National Television Awards red carpet in a princess-style gown. The This Morning presenter wore a lilac gown with a pale blue tulle underskirt for the annual awards. Willoughby and her co-host Phillip Schofield are up for the Live Magazine Show trophy at tonight's ceremony. The fairytale-worthy dress, which featured an unusual crossover front, was designed by Peter Langner. Fairytale: Willoughby wowed in a princess-style dress / Dave Benett Love Island stars Maura Higgins and Curtis Pritchard were among the first celebrities to arrive on the red carpet.. Higgins, 29, looked sensational in a semi-sheer dressed covered in intricate lilac beading, with feathered sleeves. Her boyfriend, who she met while taking part in the fifth series of the ITV dating show last year, looked smart in a tuxedo and bow tie, with a purple handkerchief to complement Higgins' outfit. Higgins is currently competing in Dancing On Ice, while Pritchard has joined BBC One's The Greatest Dancer. Showstopper: Higgins stole the show in a barely-there dress / PA The pair stopped to pose for selfies with fans ahead of the event, which takes place at London's O2 Arena. I'm A Celebrity star Caitlyn Jenner made her debut at the 25th annual television awards in a shimmering silver wrap dress. Debut: Jenner attended the annual bash for the very first time / Dave Benett The reality star paired her dazzling outfit with similarly shimmering make up and a pair of jewel-encrusted high heels. The U.S. Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for one of President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies, allowing his administration to implement a rule denying legal permanent residency to certain immigrants deemed likely to require government assistance in the future. The justices, on a 5-4 vote, granted the administration's request to lift a lower court's injunction that had blocked the so-called public charge policy while litigation over its legality continues. The rule has been criticized by immigrant rights advocates as a "wealth test" that would disproportionately keep out non-white immigrants. The court's five conservative justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts and two justices appointed by Trump, carried the day. The court's four liberal justices said they would have denied the administration's request. The action was announced even as Roberts sat as the presiding officer in Trump's impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate. Lawsuits aiming to block the policy were filed against the administration by the states of New York, Connecticut and Vermont as well as by New York City and several nonprofit organizations. In imposing an injunction blocking it, Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge George Daniels on Oct. 11 called the rule "repugnant to the American Dream" and a "policy of exclusion in search of a justification." The administration asked the high court to let the rule go into effect even before the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on Trump's appeal of the injunction. The 2nd Circuit is considering the matter on an expedited basis, with legal papers to be submitted by Feb. 14 and arguments expected soon afterward.A The administration can now enforce the rule nationwide except in Illinois, where a lower court has blocked its implementation. Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), praised the high court. "It is very clear the U.S. Supreme Court is fed up with these national injunctions by judges who are trying to impose their policy preferences instead of enforcing the law," Cuccinelli told reporters. GREEN CARDS At issue is which immigrants will be granted legal permanent residency, known as a "green card." Under Trump's policy, immigration officers would consider factors such as age, educational level and English proficiency to decide whether an immigrant would likely become a "public charge" who would receive government benefits such as the Medicaid health insurance programme for the poor. The administration has said the new rule is necessary to better ensure that immigrants will be self-sufficient. Critics have said the rule would disproportionately bar low-income people from developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia from permanent residency. "Limiting legal immigration based on an applicant's wealth is shameful and entirely un-American," Democratic Senator Dick Durbin wrote on Twitter. A spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that processes visa applications, said it would "determine the most appropriate method to implement the public charge rule" and would release additional information soon. Trump has made his tough immigration stance a hallmark of his presidency and 2020 re-election campaign. U.S. immigration law has long required officials to exclude people likely to become a "public charge" from permanent residency. U.S. guidelines in place for the past two decades had said immigrants likely to become primarily dependent on direct cash assistance or long-term institutionalisation, in a nursing home for example, at public expense would be barred. The new rule expands the "public charge" bar to anyone deemed likely to receive a much wider range of public benefits for more than an aggregate of 12 months over any 36-month period including healthcare, housing and food assistance. The vast majority of people seeking permanent residency are not eligible for public benefits themselves. A 2019 Urban Institute survey found that the administration's rule was already deterring people from seeking benefits for U.S. citizen children for fear of harming their own future immigration status. Benefits for family members are not considered under the rule. Claudia Center, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the rule targets disabled people applying for green cards and "enshrines the false stereotype that people with disabilities do not contribute to our society." The high court could give Trump more victories on immigration policy. The conservative justices signalled support in November for Trump's bid to kill a program that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants - dubbed "Dreamers" - who entered the United States illegally as children. A ruling is due by the end of June. The court in 2018 upheld Trump's "travel ban" targeting people from several Muslim-majority countries. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee who voted to lift the injunction, issued an opinion criticizing lower courts' "increasingly common" use of nationwide injunctions to halt government policies. Gorsuch urged the court to confront the issue. "What in this gamesmanship and chaos can we be proud of?" Gorsuch asked. Two other federal appeals courts previously lifted nationwide injunctions ordered by lower courts blocking the rule. Hot dish, the Minnesota-specific church-supper stalwart that cooks in other parts of the country might mistake for a casserole, is no stranger to hard work. Early versions of the dish traditionally a mix of protein, starch and vegetables held together with a creamy sauce baked until it bubbles helped conserve meat during World War I and fed farm families during the Depression. Topped with Tater Tots or mixed with rice, more modern renditions offer working parents an inexpensive way to get dinner on the table after a long day. Now, hot dish has been conscripted to help Amy Klobuchar, the senator from Minnesota, win the Democratic nomination for president. In a series of events that began in New Hampshire last summer and continued this month in Iowa, Ms. Klobuchar has been feeding her recipe, blanketed in Tater Tots, to voters at gatherings the campaign calls Hot Dish House Parties. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: BIRMINGHAM, Ala. and IOWA CITY, Iowa, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC) and the University of Iowa Health System, the nonprofit corporation that supports the clinical, academic and research programs of University of Iowa Health Care, today announced they have entered into an agreement to jointly own a 40-bed, freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital currently under construction in Coralville, Iowa. The hospital, which was announced by Encompass Health in early 2019, will be located near the southwest corner of Oakdale Boulevard and Coral Court in Coralville and is expected to open in the second quarter of 2020. It will be called University of Iowa Health Network Rehabilitation Hospital, a venture with Encompass Health. "The university and Encompass Health share a mission of making a difference in lives of the patients we serve through high-quality, patient-centered care that is delivered in a multi-disciplinary setting," said Troy DeDecker, president of Encompass Health's central region. "This joint venture will allow Encompass Health to become a part of the well-known and highly respected healthcare services already being provided by the university, which will greatly benefit our future patients." "This collaboration with Encompass Health is good for Iowans who need an inpatient rehabilitation level of care," says Brooks Jackson, M.D., M.B.A., University of Iowa Health Care Vice President for Medical Affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean, Carver College of Medicine. "It means more patient care at the right place at the right time, and for the right cost, to achieve the right outcome." Complementing local acute care services like those provided by the university, the future hospital will serve patients recovering from a variety of debilitating illnesses and injuries including strokes and other neurological disorders, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and complex orthopedic conditions. It offers physical, occupational and speech therapies as well as 24-hour nursing care that aim to restore functional ability and quality of life. The formation of the joint venture is subject to customary closing conditions, and the joint venture's operation of the future hospital is subject to regulatory approvals. About University of Iowa Health Care University of Iowa Health Care is the state's only comprehensive academic medical center, dedicated to providing world-class health care and health-related outreach services to all Iowans. Based in Iowa City, UI Health Care includes University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, and University of Iowa Physicians, the state's most comprehensive multi-specialty physician group practice. About Encompass Health As a national leader in integrated healthcare services, Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) offers both facility-based and home-based patient care through its network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies and hospice agencies. With a national footprint that includes 133 hospitals, 245 home health locations, and 83 hospice locations in 37 states and Puerto Rico, the Company is committed to delivering high-quality, cost-effective, integrated care across the healthcare continuum. Encompass Health is ranked as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit encompasshealth.com, or follow us on our newsroom, Twitter and Facebook. Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts, such as those relating to the likelihood, timing and effects of the completion of this hospital project, are forward-looking statements. In addition, Encompass Health may from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning the matters described herein. All such estimates, projections, and forward-looking information speak only as of the date hereof, and Encompass Health undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Encompass Health's actual results or events may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. While it is impossible to identify all such factors, factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated include, but are not limited to, the regulatory review and approval process, any adverse outcome of various lawsuits, claims, and legal or regulatory proceedings that may be brought by or against the Company; the possibility this project will experience unexpected delays; the ability to successfully complete and integrate this project consistent with Encompass Health's growth strategy, including realization of anticipated revenues, and avoidance of unforeseen exposure to liabilities; changes in the regulation of the healthcare industry at either or both of the federal and state levels; competitive pressures in the healthcare industry and Encompass Health's response thereto; the hospital's ability to maintain proper local, state and federal licensing; potential disruptions, breaches, or other incidents affecting the proper operation, availability, or security of Encompass Health's information systems; Encompass Health's ability to attract and retain nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals in a highly competitive environment with often severe staffing shortages and the impact on Encompass Health's labor expenses from potential union activity and staffing shortages; changes, delays in (including in connection with resolution of Medicare payment reviews or appeals), or suspension of reimbursement for Encompass Health's services by governmental or private payors; general conditions in the economy and capital markets; and other factors which may be identified from time to time in Encompass Health's SEC filings and other public announcements, including Encompass Health's Form 10 K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and Form 10-Q for the quarters ended Sept. 30, 2019, June 30, 2019 and March 31, 2019. Encompass Health contacts: Media: Hillary Carnel | 205 970-5912 [email protected] Investor Relations: Crissy Carlisle | 205 970-5860 [email protected] UI Health System contact: Media: Tom Moore | 319 356-3945 [email protected] SOURCE Encompass Health Corp. Related Links http://www.encompasshealth.com Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended their losses into the second consecutive session as they ended lower after a volatile session on January 28. Major stock markets across the globe remained under pressure due to reports related to coronavirus emanating from China. Back home, investors also turned cautious ahead of the Union Budget on February 1. Sensex closed the day below 42,000-mark at 40,966.86, losing 188 points or 0.46 percent from the previous day's close. Nifty finished with a loss of 63 points, or 0.52 percent, at 12,055.80. We have collated 15 data points to help you spot profitable trades: Key support and resistance level for Nifty According to the pivot charts, the key support level for Nifty is placed at 11,999.03, followed by 11,942.27. If the index moves up, key resistance levels to watch out for are 12,138.03 and 12,220.27. Nifty Bank Nifty Bank closed 0.25 percent down at 30,761.40. The important pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 30,595.67, followed by 30,429.93. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 30,987.77 and 31,214.13. Call options data Maximum call open interest (OI) of 61.48 lakh contracts was seen at the 12,200 strike price. It will act as a crucial resistance level in the January series. This is followed by 12,300 strike price, which holds 45.6 lakh contracts in open interest, and 12,500, which has accumulated 40.6 lakh contracts in open interest. Significant call writing was seen at the 12,100 strike price, which added 22.51 lakh contracts, followed by 12,200 strike price that added 6.33 lakh contracts and 12,300 strike that added 3.69 lakh contracts. Call unwinding was witnessed at 12,600 strike price, which shed 1.93 lakh contracts, followed by 12,400 which shed 1.33 lakh contracts. Put options data Maximum put open interest of 40.4 lakh contracts was seen at 12,000 strike price, which will act as crucial support in the January series. This is followed by 11,800 strike price, which holds 25.06 lakh contracts in open interest, and 12,200 strike price, which has accumulated 23.3 lakh contracts in open interest. Put writing was seen at the 11,800 strike price, which added 1.87 lakh contracts, followed by 11,600 strike, which added 1.05 lakh contracts. Put unwinding was seen at 12,200 strike price, which shed 4.75 lakh contracts, followed by 12,300 strike which shed 4.46 lakh contracts and 12,100 strike which shed 2.45 lakh contracts. Stocks with a high delivery percentage A high delivery percentage suggests that investors are showing interest in these stocks. 27 stocks saw long build-up Based on open interest (OI) future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which long build-up was seen. 54 stock saw long unwinding Based on open interest (OI) future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which long unwinding was seen. 46 stocks saw short build-up An increase in open interest, along with a decrease in price, mostly indicates a build-up of short positions. Based on open interest (OI) future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which short build-up was seen. 20 stocks witnessed short-covering A decrease in open interest, along with an increase in price, mostly indicates a short-covering. Based on open interest (OI) future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which short-covering was seen. Bulk deals (For more bulk deals, click here) Upcoming analyst or board meetings/briefings Jonjua Overseas: The board of the company will meet on January 29 for general purposes. Kabra Drugs: The board will meet on January 29 for general purposes. KPIT Technologies: The board will meet on January 29 to consider and approve interim dividend and quarterly results. NIIT Technologies: The board will meet on January 29 to consider and approve interim dividend and quarterly results. PVV Infra: The board will meet on January 29 for general purposes. Transport Corporation of India: The company's board will meet on January 29 to consider and approve interim dividend and quarterly results. Stocks in news: Earnings: Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Bharat Gears, Birla Corporation, Cholamandalam Financial Holdings, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Escorts, Garware Polyester, Godrej Consumer Products, IDFC First Bank, Jubilant FoodWorks, Tata Power, NIIT Technologies, KPIT Technologies and West Leisure Resorts are among the companies that will release their December quarter earnings on January 29. M&M Financial Services: Q3 profit rose 14.6 percent to Rs 365.3 cr, revenue jumped 15.7 percent to Rs 2,580.6 cr YoY. JK Lakshmi Cement: Q3 standalone profit jumped 233 percent to Rs 49.2 cr, revenue rose 7.5 percent to Rs 1,004.9 cr YoY. IFB Industries: Q3 profit dipped 18.2 percent to Rs 14.8 cr, revenue rose 2.7 percent to Rs 39.7 cr YoY. HFCL: Company will buy a 47.9 percent stake in Bigcat Wireless for Rs 22.5 cr. FII and DII data Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,357.56 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares of worth Rs 711.7 crore in the Indian equity market on January 28, provisional data available on the NSE showed. Fund flow Stock under F&O ban on NSE No security is under the F&O ban for January 29. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit. The UK government has approved the inclusion of Huawei technology in the UK's 5G network, with a host of caveats. It is a decision that could make a substantial if initially subtle difference to the millions of people who use mobile networks across the country. In the short term, most phone users will probably not see a significant difference in the way they use their phone: 5G is still a long way from being universally available, and almost every phone does not support it. Even when it arrives, normal users are unlikely to see any indication that their connection is being powered by Huawei technology. But some privacy activists are concerned that it could make a difference in more hidden, but important ways. Critics argue that Huawei's involvement could allow for snooping on communications and cyber attacks both of which would clearly be significant events for the way people use their phone, but which the UK government says should be stopped from happening. The US and critics within the UK parliament argued that Huawei should be kept out of building the UK's 5G infrastructure, citing fears about the Chinese company's alleged links to its government among other concerns. Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty But the UK government was apparently satisfied that the limits it will impose on Huawei's involvement with 5G will be enough to keep citizens safe as they use their phone. The decision has a significant impact on the future of phone networks and the infrastructure companies that run them in the UK. It could also have consequences for the relationship between the UK and US. But away from those large-scale concerns, it will make a small change to the way that everyone across the country uses their phone. The first major difference is that the UK will press ahead with the introduction of 5G as planned. The UK government argued that banning Huawei from the network would lead to a delay and more costs in rolling out the faster internet and more reliable connections that are promised with the technology and so among the consequences of today's decision is the fact that 5G is still to happen. But far more important to the conversation about Huawei is the fact that consumers could be under threat of surveillance. That is the suggestion that has been made by the US and critics in the UK, who say that the company could intercept communications on behalf of China. Huawei has always denied that this is the case, promising that there would be no backdoor in the UK's 5G network that would enable it to see messages. While there is no way of knowing for sure whether that will definitively not happened, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre noted that using "backdoors" would not be the "lowest risk, easiest to perform or most effective means for the Chinese state to perform a major cyber attack on UK telecoms networks", in an assessment of the safety of the deal. Another concern is that the UK's use of a Chinese company could allow the country to become "nationally dependant" on the firm. The NCSC said that could happen in three years and would pose a "significant national security risk". The UK government has argued that the restrictions placed on Huawei will limit those dangers. "Ministers today determined that UK operators should put in place additional safeguards and exclude high-risk vendors from parts of the telecoms network that are critical to security," the government said when it announced its decision. "High-risk vendors are those who pose greater security and resilience risks to UK telecoms networks." There are four main restrictions on the role of companies such as Huawei in the 5G network. They will not be allowed to be involved in "safety related and safety critical networks"; they will not be allowed to be involved in the "core", or most sensitive, part of the network; they will be banned from sensitive places such as "nuclear sites and military bases"; and their involvement will be limited to less than 35 per cent of the network, ensuring they keep a minority presence. Huawei said it was pleased by the decision, noting that it has supplied equipment to UK telecoms firms for more than 15 years. "Huawei is reassured by the UK governments confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track," the company said. "This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. It gives the UK access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market." On January 28, 2020, the sixth meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council chaired by Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk will be held in Brussels, the Kingdom of Belgium. This will be the first sitting with the new composition of the Ukrainian Government and the new composition of the European Commission, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reported. The agenda includes the discussion of the security situation in eastern Ukraine in the context of countering Russian aggression and implementing the Minsk Agreements, as well as the current situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea. During the meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council, the sides will analyze the progress achieved in the implementation of the Association Agreement and discuss the state of bilateral trade, ways to deepen economic and sectoral cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union, cooperation in the field of justice, freedom and security. The delegation of the Ukrainian Government will be led by Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk. The EU delegation will be chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell. The meeting will also be attended by EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Oliver Varhelyi. In addition, PM Honcharuk will hold bilateral meetings with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Charles Michel, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis as well as with Belgian business representatives. Following the results of the sixth meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council, a joint press conference will be held by Oleksiy Honcharuk and Josep Borrell at 6:15 pm (local time). ish "Swedish Match has remained committed to operating with sustainability as a key pillar of our business throughout its history," according to Jason Walker, Assistant Brand Manager, Swedish Match. "We're thrilled to take our contributions toward a sustainable future one step further with the introduction of the Trailkeepers Project. Through this initiative, General will donate over $50,000 to Leave No Trace to support wildlife, protect our environment and promote conservation efforts. We're proud to enter 2020 in strong partnership with such an upstanding organization." Now through March 2020, consumers can participate in the Trailkeepers Project by visiting the General Snus website to learn more about three Leave No Trace initiatives eligible for receiving the brand's donation. Users are encouraged to vote for either the Respect Wildlife, Minimize Wildfires or Pack It In, Pack It Out programs. Each of these programs address a variety of environmental challenges. Participants have the opportunity to vote daily for the cause they feel most passionate about during the promotional period. Beginning in April, General plans to further elevate the Trailkeepers Project and the brand's contributions to the environment by asking consumers to commit to a conservation protection pledge on the General Snus website. Consumers will be encouraged to share that pledge on Facebook. General will donate $5 to Leave No Trace for each pledge commitment, and another $5 to the organization for each Facebook share, up to $100,000. Results achieved through the Trailkeepers Project will be revealed in October 2020. The Trailkeepers Project will be supported by additional marketing materials, including special packaging, point of sale, direct mail, email and more. All collateral will direct consumers to the General Snus website where they can vote to fund their favorite environmental cause. Visit generalsnus.com to learn more about the Trailkeepers Project and to vote for select Leave No Trace initiatives. About Swedish Match: Swedish Match develops, manufactures, and sells quality products with market-leading brands in the product areas Snus and moist snuff, Other tobacco products (pouches, cigars and chewing tobacco), and Lights (matches, lighters, and complementary products). Production is located in six countries, with sales concentrated in Scandinavia and the US. Contact: Sandy Fowler-Jones Swedish Match North America [email protected] 804-787-5132 SOURCE Swedish Match Related Links http://generalsnus.com Photo: The Canadian Press At times sobbing, former Project Runway production assistant Mimi Haleyi told jurors Monday at Harvey Weinstein's rape trial how she tried to fight off the disgraced movie mogul and told him no, no, no while he sexually assaulted her. As one of two women whose assault claims led to Weinstein's charges, Haleyi took the stand and detailed her allegation that he forcibly performed oral sex on her at his New York City apartment in 2006. I did reject him, but he insisted. Every time I tried to get off the bed, he would push me back and hold me down," she testified Monday, adding that she told him she was menstruating in an attempt to deter him. Haleyi, now 42, testified she thought, Im being raped, and considered different options. If I scream rape, will someone hear me? she wondered. I checked out and decided to endure it," she said. "That was the safest thing I could do. Weinstein, 67, is charged with sexual assaulting Haleyi and raping an aspiring actress in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013. He insists any sexual encounters were consensual. Haleyi also described a second encounter a few weeks after the alleged assault in a Tribeca hotel room where she said she went numb as he took her hand, pulled her toward the bed and had intercourse with her. Haleyi said she just felt like an idiot for letting Weinstein convince her to meet again, but thought seeing him could help her regain power as she tried to make sense of the alleged assault. Asked if she wanted to have sex with Weinstein that night, she said, no. She said she didnt call the police because she was working in the U.S. on a tourist visa and was scared of Weinsteins power, telling jurors: Obviously, Mr. Weinstein has a lot more power and resources and connections and so forth. I didnt think Id stand a chance. The government is being encouraged to open up existing medical schools and also take advantage of modern technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI) to accommodate the rising number of medical students throughout the country. Dr. Fred Bedzrah who made the appeal lamented that the medical schools can only take a few qualified students at a time and are currently overstretched; a situation that forces many students to travel outside Ghana for medical education. He believes this phenomenon is costing the country a lot in foreign exchange and advised the Government to expand existing medical schools and also build new ones across the country to satisfy the countrys need for medical Doctors. He spoke when his year group (2009) donated four 65-inch flatscreen television monitors to the KNUST School of Medicine and Dentistry. He said it was part of activities to mark their 11th year of completion of the medical school and explained that the gesture was only the first in a series of activities aimed to improve the relationship between the school and the 2009 year group. The Vice Dean of the KNUST School of Medicine and Dentistry; Prof. Chrissie Stansie Abaidoo who led a group of lecturers from the Medical School to receive the items was grateful for the gesture and called on other year groups to emulate the gesture. She explained that the university was doing a lot to expand infrastructure in the Medical School in order to admit more medical students and train the comfortable in a world-class environment. She also hinted that the university has received clearance to employ more lecturers; a situation that will definitely inure to the benefit of the Medical School New Delhi: India said on Monday it plans to sell its entire interest in Air India Ltd, making a renewed push to sell the flag carrier after it drew no bids in an effort to auction a majority stake almost two years ago. A document released on Monday showed March 17 as the deadline for submission of initial expressions of interest, and that any bidder must assume liabilities, including debt of 232.87 billion rupees (USD 3.28 billion). Substantial ownership and effective control of the airline must remain with an Indian entity, the government added. The potential sale of an airline kept aloft by a USD 4.2 billion 10-year bailout in 2012 comes as the government divests money-losing assets to manage the fiscal deficit. The latest offer should garner significant response partly because it involves a clean exit by the government, said CAPA aviation consultancy India head Kapil Kaul. As the entire debt excluding aircraft debt is taken out of the deal, it signals a very determined effort to exit Air India, to allow taxpayers funds be utilized for the governments social agenda, said Kaul. Indian business house Hinduja Group and US-based fund Interups have expressed interest in buying the airline, the Business Standard daily said. It quoted Laxmi Prasad, the chairman and chief business architect of Interups, as saying the fund had initiated talks with the government and would like to make a case for certain aspects of the airlines business to be included in the deal. The government in 2018 here tried to sell 76 per cent of Air India and offload about USD 5.1 billion of its debt, with terms including the retention of all employees. InterGlobe Aviation Ltds IndiGo and Jet Airways Ltd - which has since collapsed - initially showed interest, but opted out after the terms were disclosed. Steel-to-autos conglomerate Tata Group, widely viewed as a potential suitor for Air India, also decided not to bid after deeming the terms too onerous, sources told Reuters at the time. On Monday, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the government was open to suggestions and altering some provisions if the changes helped to find a buyer. We have gone into this exercise, months of planning and preparation have gone into it and this is not the final, final. The bidders are going to get 45 days, they are going to come back to us. It is an interactive process, Puri told reporters. We are open to revising, refining and tweaking our views. A successful bidder would win control of Air Indias 4,400 domestic and 1,800 international landing and parking slots at domestic airports, as well as 900 slots at airports overseas. It would also get 100% of low-cost arm Air India Express and 50% of AISATS, which provides cargo and ground handling services at major Indian airports, the bid document showed. The buyer would also have to provide 3 per cent of the value of the airlines equity as stock options for permanent employees. Air India has about 9,400 permanent employees and 3,600 fixed-term contract staff - including 1,850 pilots and 4,600 cabin crew - with benefits such as discounted air tickets and pensions. Its employees protested against the 2018 sale attempt, and it was not immediately clear if they would also resist the latest effort. The government said it would provide details on safeguarding employee interests in its final bid document. A spokesman for the employee union did not have immediate comment. The governments divestment plan could also face opposition from within, with Subramanian Swamy, an MP from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), threatening legal action against the sale. This deal is wholly anti-national and I will (be) forced to go to court. We cannot sell our family silver, Swamy said on Twitter. (Newser) On the heels of US prosecutors' Monday revelation that Prince Andrew has "provided zero cooperation" in their Jeffrey Epstein investigation despite repeated requests to his lawyers, lawyers for Epstein's accusers are speaking out. Lisa Bloom, who represents five of them, told the BBC, "I'm glad that [prosecutor] Geoffrey Berman has gone public to try to embarrass Prince Andrew, who made one statement and then behind closed doors is doing something very different. ... Stop playing games and ... come forward," she admonished him. That "one statement" was an apparent reference to the prince's own November BBC interview, in which he said he was "willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency." story continues below The Guardian quotes Bloom as saying that Berman "doesnt have the power to subpoena Prince Andrew as part of the criminal investigation, so what else can he do except use the power of the press." But someone does theoretically have subpoena power. In her own comments, attorney Gloria Allred warned that, should he choose to travel to the US, the prince could be subpoenaed in connection with the civil lawsuit against Epstein. The Telegraph has her comments to the BBC: "Certainly, if he ever came back to the United States[subpoenaing the prince] would be one of the first things that I'm sure a lot of lawyers, including me, would want to do." (Read more Prince Andrew stories.) Waste from a homeless encampment along San Lorenzo Creek in Castro Valley, Calif. Local residents are paying the bill to clean it up after authorities cleared out the camp's inhabitants. (Courtesy of Alameda County) Homeowners Hit With $20,000 Bill to Clean Up Homeless Camp A small group of homeowners in Castro Valley, California, arent happy that theyre being billed for the cleanup of an abandoned homeless encampment in their neighborhood. Alameda County has demanded that Walsh Property Management pay about $20,000 to clean up the mess left by the homeless because part of the camp was on land the company oversees. To cover the bill, Walsh charged each of the 75 homeowners in its local Lakewood Home Owners Association (HOA) about $300 for the removal of garbage and hazardous waste in the San Lorenzo Creek ravine. Many of the homeowners arent happy the cost has fallen to them, since they reported the homeless presence to Walsh Property Management a few years agobefore much of the mess had accumulated. Waste from a homeless encampment along San Lorenzo Creek in Castro Valley, Calif. Local residents are paying the bill to clean it up after authorities cleared out the camps inhabitants. (Courtesy of Alameda County) The residents alerted Walsh Property [Management] and they didnt do anything about it, said Paul Sanftner, a spokesman for Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, whose district includes Castro Valley. The authorities didnt know about it. But, according to owner Ed Walsh, the company was informed there were homeless people in the area, but not that there was an encampment along the creek bed. We were told of homeless in the areano encampment was noted, Walsh said in an email to The Epoch Times. The HOA was not certain an encampment was on their property until August 2019. They then informed the county of the problem. Thats when the county cleared out the inhabitants and told the HOA that it would be held responsible for the cleanup. Meanwhile, some frustrated homeowners contend Walsh should have known the encampment was on HOA property and that his company should pay at least part, if not all, of the bill. While Walsh told The Epoch Times on Jan. 28 that hes been advised not to speak further with third parties about the issue, he had earlier told KPIX News he was uncertain about the property lines. There are no fences and such that would mark where the property line ended, so we were kind of hoping that it was someone elses responsibility, Walsh told KPIX. Unfortunately, this one happened to be on the associations property. Doretta Carbone, one of the homeowners, said, To me, its inexcusable to let anything go that long, especially since we all know homeless encampments are out of control. Carbone said one of her neighbors grew concerned when a homeless man stood watching his daughter for a while. She emailed Harriet Walsh, Eds wife, on July 26, 2018, asking her what she intended to do about the homeless problem. According to Carbone, email exchanges followed, including HOA board members, over the next year. Three agencies told [Harriet], This is your property. This is HOA. The county is not going to clean it up. Its not their job. Its not public works and its not the sheriffs responsibility, Carbone said. The county isnt liable for the cleanup costs, Sanftner said. Legally, its the HOA. Its the members who own the 75 homes. But the 75 homeowners are upset because they werent notified until a few weeks ago, when they received a letter from Walsh stating that each resident had to pay $300, Sanftner said. So, it was a communication breakdown. The HOA is responsible for the common area of land where part of the homeless camp was located, and the property management company didnt do its due diligence in policing the open space and alerting residents, Sanftner said. There are some residents who want the county to pay but it would be a gift of public funds, he said. Its a sticky situation, because weve had people who would dump stolen cars on private property, and its up to the private property owner to remove them. The cleanup is expected to be completed by mid-February. As Californias homeless crisis continues to grow, so does the pressure on local and state leaders to do something about the resulting garbage. Hazardous waste, such as spent needles and human feces, is often scattered among the trash in homeless camps. Homelessness is a statewide issue, Sanftner said. This isnt just specific to Alameda County or to the East Bay of San Francisco. Its a statewide issue, and people have their assumptions on why its so bad. The county holds meetings about the homeless crisis several times a month, he said. We hired someone full-time just to handle homeless cases. Its so bad. Its an issue theres a lot of concern about. Before Matt Horn served his first plate of smoked brisket and ribs out of an old service station at 17th and Center Streets in West Oakland on Saturday afternoon, more than 100 people were outside the building waiting to order. The scene was like a musical festival and Horns popup was the headlining act. Ive waited two hours before for his barbecue, said a young woman who was eating a bag of chips near the back of the line. Its always worth it. An older man ahead of her called Horns food the best barbecue in America. The sentiment was echoed by others, and some would end up waiting two hours to get to the front of the line. It was Horns first popup since announcing he would be opening a brick-and-mortar version of the business in Tanya Hollands former Brown Sugar Kitchen space in West Oakland. The restaurant, called Horn Barbecue, has a tentative opening date set for late March or early April. Over the last two years, Horn has been profiled in numerous national publications, including Food & Wine magazine, hosted exclusive dinners with barbecue legends like Adam Perry Lang, and headlined food festivals in Texas and Los Angeles. Never has a Bay Area barbecue pop-up garnered the same level of attention in the same amount of time as Horn Barbecue, which hosted its first Oakland pop-up in 2016. The Chronicle called Horn the future of Bay Area barbecue in 2019 for his skill with brisket, which he serves tender and buttery, similar to what folks can find in East Texas. The brisket is also why Horn was named a Rising Star Chef by The Chronicle that same year. Justin Phillips / The Chronicle Horn said the restaurant project is mired in permitting red tape but hes content with the progress that has been made over the last few months. Hosting the pop-up was a chance to take a break from the construction and reconnect with the people, Horn said. The Chronicle recently had a candid conversation with Horn about his forthcoming restaurant and what customers can expect. (The interview has been edited for clarity.) Justin Phillips / The Chronicle On why theres a giant mural of a cow on the side of the building: Beef is king. Some people down South say barbecue is basically just pork, and that its all about cooking the whole hog. But in Texas, its all about the beef. I just wanted to show that message to people as soon as they get here...In this kitchen, we appreciate the beef. We appreciate the cows and where the beef we eat comes from. On what people can expect on the restaurant menu that may differ from the pop-up: Were definitely going to be doing our oxtails...We are going to be doing lamb as well. Were also going to be doing the tri-tip. Its easy for us to do ribs and pulled pork, so we wanted to do more than that. On what menu item he takes the most pride in: One of the challenges Ive had to face in developing my product is getting that brisket right...It took a lot of trial and error...The Horn house was built on our brisket at this point. But earlier on, when we were doing our pop-ups, I was only doing ribs, pulled pork and chicken. There was no brisket. But now Ive gotten the brisket to the point where its consistent. Matt Horn On how an American flag hanging in the dining room has deep roots in the world of barbecue: Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. That flag used to hang in front of Louie Mueller Barbecue (in Texas). They call Louie Mueller Barbecue The Cathedral since so many people have gone there and had this epiphany of what they want to do in their life, including (famous pitmaster) Billy Durney, who said he went there and thats what made him decide to start doing barbecue. Wayne Mueller (Louie Mueller Barbecue owner and pitmaster) gave it to me as a gift. I wanted to do right by it. On why he kept the diner-style seats of Brown Sugar Kitchen but covered them in cowhide: I wanted to stay in the realm of barbecue with the look but also have that old, family diner feel as well. So we thought it would be cool to have the cow hides, which are shipped in from Wyoming, on the seats. It all plays along with the story of barbecue and what it represents. Plus the look is beautiful, and thats what we wanted to do, put something beautiful here in West Oakland. Matt Horn Horn Barbecue. Opens March or April. 2534 Mandela Parkway, Oakland. Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @justMrPhillips The teacher then struck the 13-year-old, and told him: "You're not laughing now." He had been told by the student that he had a moustache "like a paedophile would". After being charged with assault and referred to New Zealands Teaching Council Disciplinary Tribunal, his actions were deemed "serious misconduct". The unnamed teacher said in a statement that he was annoyed at being called a paedophile, and was frustrated by the 13-year-olds cheekiness. The tribunal said in its verdict: "Punching a child's head is a very serious matter. "[His] behaviour was totally unacceptable and set a very poor example to the student, not to mention that it could have had some very serious physical consequences for the boy." The tribunal ordered a penalty of censure - which lets a teacher know their behaviour has been deemed unacceptable. A massive gamble on beef prices is playing out in the country's marts as farmers, dealers and feedlot buyers have ignored stagnant factory quotes to push the cattle trade to a new high this winter. Finished bullocks are making up to 2.20/kg in the marts, which equates to a factory price of 4.10-4.15/kg for R-grade animals. However, quotes in the slaughter plants remain rooted at 3.60-3.70/kg for bullocks and heifers. The disparity between the mart and factory prices has fuelled rumours in the industry of 'sweetheart' deals being on offer. Buoyant demand in the marts this week for all classes of stock resulted in exceptional prices being paid for cows, as well as for forward store bullocks and heifers. This week's Ringside figures show that up to 2.20-2.40/kg was paid in the marts for good-quality forward store bullocks and heifers. "A rip-roaring trade" is how Roscommon Mart manager Maura Quigley described last week's sale, with over 2.30/kg being paid for top quality forward stores. "When the bit of grass comes, who knows what cattle will make?" she said. It was a similar story in New Ross on Saturday, where 2.25-2.35/kg was paid for forward store bullocks in what auctioneer Jim Bushe said was "unbelievable trade". Finishers maintain that there is a shortage of finished cattle in the pipeline, particularly bulls. They argue that this is reflected in a significant drop in beef ration sales this winter, which are running 20pc below last year's levels. "Farmers believe the factories will have to pay a lot more for cattle over the next few months. The lift must be very close," one mart manager maintained. However, while slaughter plants have been more willing to pay transport this week, and to pay the likes of the Angus bonus on non-certified stock, factory agents insisted that any move on base prices will be kept to a minimum. Factory buyers pointed out that the quality assurance bonus has moved from 12c/kg to 20c/kg as part of the Beef Taskforce agreement. With a top of 3.70/kg being paid for heifers this week, factory agents claimed that returns to farmers have already hit a high of 3.90-4.00/kg when all bonuses and benefits are taken into account. However, keeping a lid on quotes for bullocks and heifers is unlikely to hold given the pressure for stock. ICSA president, Edmond Graham, said there is a lot of factory activity in marts and that agents were anxious for fit cattle. Surprise! There is an all-new Eternals comic available now from Marvel A globe-trotting story about the Eternals vs. Deviants in the 500 Year War Loathed Karen Matthews has been told 'Pack your bags and you leave NOW' in a second mystery letter offering her 50,000 to quit Britain. The mum-of-seven, bride-to-be is convinced the notes are genuine and she is desperate to get her hands on the cash as quickly as possible. It comes after the 44-year-old - dubbed Britain's worst mum - got the first one a fortnight ago. Matthews is engaged to convicted child abuser Paul Saunders, 57. The paedophile, from Blackbird Leys, Oxford, was jailed five years for abusing a vulnerable girl over three years. Matthews was jailed in 2008 for staging her daughter Shannon's abduction in a bid to obtain the reward money. Loathed Karen Matthews has been told 'Pack your bags and you leave NOW' in a second mystery letter offering her 50,000 to quit Britain Karen Matthews is pictured spending Saturday afternoon with her convicted fiancee Paul Saunders, 57 The figure offered is the same amount she tried to get in reward money for faking her daughter Shannon's kidnap. A source said she is now trying to think of ways to hoodwink the mystery donor to convince them she is off. The second note - in the same handwriting - also accuses Matthews of being a 'lying cow.' It comes after reports she wants to have a baby with her new fiancee. The letter reads: 'By hand (its ok). Dear Karen, again you give falseness and false stories!!! 'Stop f*****g lying to me, us and everyone.' Matthews and Saunders pictured on Saturday afternoon. Matthews was jailed in 2008 for staging her daughter Shannon's abduction in a bid to pocket reward money It continues: 'I know of your so called 'boyfriend' and he's said no such f*****g things you lying cow!! Babies??? B******s!!!! 'Pack your bags and you leave NOW. 'Run a story proving you're leaving and you'll get paid. Bye.' A source said: 'Karen is just hellbent on getting hands on the money. 'She can't stop thinking about anything else. 'She is trying to think of ways she can get the cash without having to leave straight away or at all. 'If she got the 50,000 through her letterbox she would move out that day.' Matthews has angered locals in the town in the south of the country where she moved to after she was released from prison. Neighbours are annoyed because she deems herself a celebrity after getting engaged to handyman Saunders, 57. The first note - dated January 11 - reads: 'By hand. Don't panic. 'Dear Miss Karen or whatever you call yourself now. 'I speak on behalf of many people. 'I will happily give you 50k you still seem to be searching for... In return I require you shut the f**k up and leave the country!! 'No f**king kidding. Think hard on this. I'll be in touch. Bye.' Matthews got engaged with a charity shop ring over Christmas and is planning a make-over - including weight loss and having her teeth done - before the wedding. She has piled on two stone after getting hooked on Haribo sweets. Matthews and Saunders pictured on Saturday afternoon. Matthews got engaged with a charity shop ring over Christmas and is planning a make-over - including weight loss and having her teeth done - before the wedding Matthews pictured on Saturday afternoon. Matthews and her then-partner's uncle Michael Donovan were jailed for staging her daughter Shannon's abduction in a bid to pocket reward money 12 years ago She is worried about her hair falling out due to stress and after dying it for years to hide her identity. She is hoping to get a celebrity agent too before her nuptials. Convicted paedophile Saunders was jailed for five years in 2010 for sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl. He was arrested on suspicion of breaching his parole terms two weeks ago but was later released. Cops were called to her home last Wednesday over reports of a row between the couple. Matthews and her then-partner's uncle Michael Donovan were jailed for staging her daughter Shannon's abduction in a bid to pocket reward money 12 years ago. Donovan, now 51, kept the youngster drugged in his flat in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, for 24 days. Police then raided it and found her hidden inside a divan bed base. The pair were each jailed for eight years after being convicted of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting justice. Matthews was freed in 2012 after doing just four years. SAUQUOIT, N.Y. -- Sauquoit Valley Central School District is putting on a performance of Into the Woods this weekend. The performances will be held on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 30-31, at 7 p.m., and on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 2 p.m. The show will be held in the high school auditorium, which is brand new. This is the first musical in the new auditorium, so its going to be nice, said Ryan Decker, music teacher at the school district. Tickets are $8, or $6 for seniors over 65 and children under 12. For more information, or to reserve tickets, call 315-839-6316. President Muhammadu Buhari will recompose the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and send to the Senate for confirmation. He made this known via a letter to the Senate which was read out by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, at the start of plenary on Tuesday. The Senate may wish to note that after the dissolution of the board of the NDDC, an interim management team was set up to manage the affairs of the commission before a new board was composed and sent for Senate confirmation. The Senate is invited to note that while the composition and Senate confirmation of the appointment of the board was ongoing, I had directed that the forensic audit of the Commission be carried out which is being overseen by the constituted interim management team. Based on this and in order to allow for uninterrupted process of the forensic investigation, the board appointment confirmed by the Senate had to be put on hold to allow the interim team continue to manage the commission pending the outcome of the forensic audit. Thereafter, a new board of the commission will be recomposed for the confirmation by the Senate, the letter reads. The Senate had in November 2019, confirmed the 15 nominees sent by the president as NDDC board members. Mr Buhari had sent the names of the nominees led by an Edo State politician, Pius Odubu, to the Senate in October. The president, however, refused to inaugurate the nominees, following the clearance by the Senate. During the confirmation process, the president ordered a forensic audit of the operations of the organisation from 2001 to 2019. Also, before the nominees where cleared by the Senate, the Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, named an interim management committee for the NDDC. The lawmakers had said there was no need for the interim committee and that they would not recognise them. They are, however, compelled to screen and confirm the recomposed board nominees. Mr Akpabio has, since assuming office, lamented the level of corruption at the NDDC, describing the place as an ATM where officials looted government funds at will. A U.S. Joint Forces bearer team carries the casket of Harry Reid into the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. (AP) The former Senate majority leader was remembered as a pragmatic dealmaker who became a political force across two presidencies. Customers across Alberta who used a Calgary shipping company to send packages home to the Philippines say they're still waiting for their boxes to turn up many months after they were due to be delivered. It's a tradition for many Filipinos who live in other countries to send home Christmas packages full of clothes, food, gifts and other treats to share with friends and families. Many Filipinos from all over Alberta sent boxes to addresses in the Philippines last summer through Jenrich Fast Cargo in southeast Calgary, but say the boxes never arrived. The company which has since closed its offices isn't responding to emails and phone calls, according to customers who each paid hundreds of dollars for boxes to be shipped. The offices of the Filipino-owned company are now empty and have "For Lease" signs in the window. As well, their Facebook page now includes multiple comments from customers all searching for updates and answers. "I sent boxes for my Mum for Christmas and her birthday in August last year and they haven't arrived yet. My husband sent a box too, and my brother in Medicine Hat. All in all there were five boxes," said Valentina Lorenzo, one of the many customers left wondering where their boxes are. Lorenzo says they paid Jenrich Fast Cargo more than $500 to send their boxes which were due to arrive in November each one containing hundreds of dollars worth of gifts. She says in her case, the Christmas boxes made it as far as Manila in the Philippines, but can't be released from storage until the company pays outstanding customs fees. Dan McGarvey/CBC "I was really pissed off and really mad and it's not just us, it's a lot of Filipino people who send boxes for Christmas," said Lorenzo. "I feel sad and mad. We don't know if these boxes will ever make it to our families," she said. Lorenzo says her boxes included items like canned goods, chocolates, clothes, shoes and bags. Story continues She says she just wants some straight answers from the man behind the shipping company, Ricky Butron. She says she initially received some updates with promises to make it right but to no avail. "Now he doesn't reply to emails and phone calls anymore. The office is closed. Where can we find him? I don't know him," Lorenzo said. "He needs to do his job and pay his dues in order for these boxes to arrive with our families," she said. "It's a lot of people in Alberta and I'm really, really mad." 'No one's answering' Lorie Mutuc and her family in Edmonton used Jenrich Fast Cargo to send her mother's belongings back to relatives in the Philippines after she passed away last year. "We tried to call the numbers on the receipt and back in the Philippines but no one's answering at all," said Mutuc, who sent four boxes in August at a cost of $75 per box. It should have taken two months but it's now been nearly six months with no answers or contact with the company. "Nobody's answering the phone number in the Philippines. My friend who recommended the company are not getting any response too," Mutuc said. "It's my Mum's personal stuff. Clothes, all her stuff," she said. Mutuc is hoping another cargo company will step in and help resolve the situation by picking up remaining boxes from a Calgary warehouse and get them to their destinations. "I just want to know what's going on. What happened to our boxes? And give us some explanation and what they're going to do about it," said Mutuc. "It's not about the money for us, it's about what's inside the boxes," Mutuc added. Dan McGarvey/CBC Ralyn Sillaba from Lethbridge sent two boxes for $125 each for Christmas in July 2019. They still haven't arrived after being told by the company it would only take two months. She has no idea what happened to them. "I tried contacting them. October passed, November, then there's no answer no more," said Sillaba, who visited the Calgary office to find it closed. "The only thing I care about is getting my boxes to my family. We expected him to do what he said he would do," she said. Sillaba says some of the items in the boxes were for her daughter's wedding this summer. "I'm not the only one. I have a friend here in Lethbridge that did the same. If he can't do this business anymore then stop, but get these boxes that already left to the families," said Sillaba. Owner admits financial problems CBC contacted Ricky Butron, the man behind Jenrich Fast Cargo, via email. Butron replied, admitting that his business hit financial problems in 2019 and he had been losing thousands of dollars per month. "We are losing money since day one," said Butron in his reply. "I have faith in myself that I can grow this business but it doesn't happen because my overhead is very high. I lost $3,000 to $5,000 a month," he said. Butron said he applied for a loan in the Philippines last year so he would have money in the bank to pay fees for containers still arriving, but says he's still waiting for that money to be released. Butron didn't offer any update on any containers or boxes stuck in limbo and didn't respond to requests for an interview to answer questions. Customers now face working out how to pay the customs fees themselves. Others whose boxes didn't make it out of Alberta say they hope to get their boxes back from the company so they can make other arrangements to ship them. As we begin 2020, patients and health care providers anxiously await the outcome of a critical issue that will impact the availability of health care for all Pennsylvanians. Pennsylvanias Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) is expected to issue a report any day now on the impact of a proposed change to where doctors and hospitals can be sued in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in 2003, adopted an important reform that prevented legal venue shopping. Prior to this rule change, attorneys would file medical liability cases in Philadelphia and other high verdict locations where jackpot verdicts are often awarded. The legislature and the court recognized that the heavy influx of cases to Philadelphia and the outlandish verdicts that followed, was a significant factor in the medical liability crisis. This crisis in the early 2000s, prevented patients from accessing certain specialists who could no longer continue practicing medicine due to crushing medical liability premiums. Maternity wards closed and other medical services were curtailed. Earlier in 2019, a committee of the Supreme Court began considering a new rule that would allow harmful venue shopping by attorneys to return. In a wise move, the court delayed action on this rule change until the LBFC could study and report on the impact such a change will have. It is not in the best interest of patients to have their access to quality health care threatened again by rising medical liability premiums that force doctors to stop practicing and hospitals to curtail services. This is especially true in many parts of rural Pennsylvania, where access to healthcare is already limited. Yet this is exactly what will happen if venue shopping is allowed to return, especially in light of recent reports that malpractice insurance is rising once again after many years of stability. Policymakers and our courts, which interpret laws governing health care liability, need to understand that their actions have profound, real-world consequences on the delivery and access to health care. Changes to the liability system must be carefully considered to ensure patients are not harmed in the process. A balanced liability system will compensate the injured but will not enrich attorneys at the cost of the availability of medical services to patients who need them. Curt Schroder is executive director of the PA Coalition of Civil Justice Reform. A British tourist has undergone medical treatment after he ripped his penis during a ferocious sex session with a Thai prostitute. The unnamed holidaymaker in his 30s called emergency services while yelling incoherently down the phone on Saturday night. Paramedics rushed to the hotel in the notorious red-light city Pattaya in eastern Thailand amid fears there had been a murder or an attack. When they arrived the man was wearing shorts and there was a Thai prostitute in the room with him. The British tourist, pictured on Sunday, called emergency services in the notorious red-light city of Pattaya in Thailand after he ripped his penis while having sex with an escort The white bed sheets were covered with a large amount of fresh blood. The panic-stricken man explained to the team that he was having sex so hard that his frenulum - a small piece of skin that connects the foreskin to the penis - had ripped. Rescue volunteers gave him first aid at the scene after he refused to go to the hospital because he was so embarrassed by the injury. One of the volunteers who attended the scene said they first thought they had arrived at a crime scene because the man was screaming so loudly and there was a large pool of blood. A 2013 file photo shows young Thai girls in cosplay uniforms standing outside the brothels of Walking Street in the notorious red-light city of Pattaya Khun Tumrin said: 'I picked up the phone and heard he was screaming so loudly. I only understood that he wanted us to go there as soon as we could. 'When I entered the room and saw the bed sheet I first thought there had been a stabbing. 'It was a big relief when we realised what had actually happened. He explained it was because he was having sex too hard with his escort for the evening. 'He was in a lot of pain but we thought it was very funny.' President Trumps defenders before and within the Senate are making increasingly heroic efforts to ignore the elephant not in the room: John Bolton, the former national security adviser. Even as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell strove to keep his narrow Republican majority unified against allowing testimony in Trumps continuing impeachment trial, new revelations from Boltons forthcoming book made his pertinence to the proceedings as obvious as his mustache. The New York Times reported Sunday that Boltons manuscript offers firsthand confirmation of what sworn witnesses and reliable reports have uniformly indicated: that the president withheld nearly $400 million in security assistance from Ukraine as part of a campaign to force the country to smear his political enemies. Its been clear for some time that Bolton could provide more damning information about the Ukraine affair. One of his subordinates, former National Security Council official Fiona Hill, testified before House committees that Bolton had angrily disavowed what he called a drug deal trading U.S. assistance for investigations that would help re-elect Trump. Boltons former proximity to the president threatens to puncture the thin defense that most of the Houses witnesses did not communicate directly with Trump, albeit mainly because the White House blocked testimony by senior officials. And the former national security adviser is a hard-line conservative who cant be accused of partisan motives or a rush to testify against Trump. Bolton declined a House invitation to appear, saying he would abide by a court ruling on another potential witness, and announced his willingness to speak to the Senate only after that case was dismissed. True to form, the presidents attorneys pressed on with their defense, which entered its second day Monday, as if none of this were happening, failing to mention Bolton over hours of argument. They even continued to maintain that the aid blockade was not related to Trumps specific request that his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, launch investigations of the 2016 election and of 2020 contender Joe Biden. Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow told senators Monday that the president simply wanted Zelensky to get to the bottom of issues of corruption. That contradicts not only Boltons reported account but also all the available evidence, from notes of Trumps conversations with Zelensky to the presidents firing of an anti-corruption ambassador to Ukraine to the accounts of administration officials such as Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff. The president and his emissaries hardly addressed Ukrainian corruption writ large except as code for the political investigations. And they worked against the countrys anti-Russian reformers by muddling official U.S. policy and withholding assistance in a war with Kremlin proxies. The arguably illegal delay of those funds was only the most egregious instrument of the presidents plot. The administration also withheld a White House meeting between Trump and Zelensky and canceled Vice President Mike Pences scheduled appearance at his inauguration. Even in the absence of a quid pro quo, the presidents demand for specious political probes by a vulnerable ally inappropriately leveraged U.S. power to induce foreign election interference on his behalf. A Senate vote to ignore Boltons story would debunk every Republican complaint about the strength of the Houses case or the extent of the misconduct alleged, laying bare the partys determination to defend the president over the Constitution. This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters. Chinese military monitored a U.S. warship that entered Chinese territorial waters without permission and warned it to leave on Saturday, senior colonel Li Huamin, spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, said in a statement on Tuesday. In response, the PLA organized naval and air forces to track, verify, identify, and warn the ships away, noted Li. "The Chinese military is determined to safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, no matter what tricks are played by U.S. ships," added the spokesperson. China reports more deaths and more infections as scientists work to try and understand new virus and how it spreads. The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China soared to 106 on Tuesday with 1,771 new cases confirmed, authorities said, as the infection that emerged in the central province of Hubei late last year continued to spread. The health commission in Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, said 24 more people had died from the virus and 1,291 more had been infected, raising the total number of infections there to 2,714. At least 4,515 people have now been infected in China and cases have been confirmed elsewhere in Asia, as well as in Europe and North America, among people who had recently been in Wuhan. The Chinese government has sealed off entire cities in Hubei, isolating some 50 million people in a vast quarantine it hopes will curb the spread of the disease. Long-distance buses and some public transport networks have also been shut down elsewhere in the country. Al Jazeeras Scott Heidler, reporting from Beijing, said scientists were trying to find out more about the new virus, which is thought to have originated in wild animals. Whats really concerning about this virus and there are so many layers to it, is how quickly and this is coming from health officials here it has spread, he said. Every morning we wake up and the numbers have increased dramatically so that is the focus. Trying to understand this virus (and) how it spreads. There is still a lot that is not known about it. A transmission electron microscopy image of the first isolated case of the coronavirus, obtained by Reuters [Courtesy of IVDC, China CDC via GISAID via Reuters] The US Consulate in Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, was preparing to fly its diplomats and some other Americans out of the country. Japan, Mongolia, France and other governments are also preparing evacuations. School return postponed China has extended the Lunar New Year holiday until Sunday; on Tuesday it was announced that the start of the next semester for schools and universities across the country would be postponed. The education ministry did not provide a date for teaching to resume. But a statement from the ministry said teaching institutions would reopen on a case-by-case basis. People at Beijings railway station as the countrys biggest national holiday was extended to buy time in the fight against the virus [Nicolas Asfouri/AFP] School administrators had been instructed to require students not to go out, not to gather, and not to hold or participate in centralised activities, the statement added. In Cape Towns Phillipi township, one woman is fighting to secure nationality for herself and her child. In the final instalment of a four-part series on stateless children in South Africa, one woman explains how statelessness has a knock-on effect which spans generations. Luthando*, 28: I went to court and I won the case but I am still stateless It has taken years for Luthando, 28, to be recognised as a South African citizen, even though she believes she was born here, albeit to undocumented migrant parents. The law in South Africa states that if you are born in South Africa and you have no other nationality, then you are South African. In practice, however, it does not always work this way. Furthermore, even though Lawyers for Human Rights, which has been fighting cases on behalf of migrants and refugees in South Africa for the past 30 years, won an important victory when the courts recognised Luthando as South African several months ago, she has yet to receive her much-needed documents or those for her one-year-old son, Bandile*. Luthando cannot be certain where her parents came from. Her mother, whose nationality she does not know, died when she was five years old. My dad told me that they came in from Zimbabwe, she says. After he died in 2010, when she was still a teenager, she was unable to complete her schooling because she did not have a birth certificate. When I later did research about my surname, I found that it actually belongs to Swaziland, she explains. Luthando sits on the double bed that fills the small outbuilding in Cape Towns Phillipi township where she lives. She moves a stuffed animal out of the way with her foot. Since her case was first lodged five years ago, she has had a baby of her own. Her son has inherited his mothers statelessness; without a nationality, she cannot pass a nationality onto her child. I want my son to have a better life. He mustn't suffer like I did Without any documentation, it was difficult for Luthando to find work, but she found many people who wanted to exploit her. When you dont have documents and you are looking for a job, other people want to make you a sex slave. She shudders despite the heat and rubs her shoulder. I remember the day this white guy here in Cape Town promised he was going to give me R1000 (about $70) and then take me overseas, to Europe. This, she says, is how many women like her fall victim to human trafficking and drug smuggling. Behind her, Bandile waddles in the sun and the dust. Phillipi is considered one of the most dangerous townships in the country, with high unemployment adding fuel to the fire of widespread violent crime and gang-related activities. Luthando cannot wait to leave this place. She lived on the streets of Johannesburg after the death of her father, and says she misses the hustle and bustle of the urban metro. Cape Town is so slow, she laughs. She picks her son up and places him on her lap, feeding him formula from a bottle. He is so big, she laments, and he eats so much. This formula is expensive. When he has had his fill, she reaches into a plastic bag and brings out a small bottle of calamine lotion, applying the pink mixture sparingly to his skin. His body is covered with raised bumps that are starting to scab over. His skin is pink in places where he has scratched the scabs off. When he became ill just over a week ago, Luthando managed to collect R230 ($16) to pay a private doctor to see him. Despite the letter from the court, public clinics still will not assist them, she says. The doctor told her that Bandile is suffering from a viral infection, but did not say which one. Because of their lack of documentation, her son has not been immunised against any of the common childhood diseases. She cannot afford the private fees to have him vaccinated. Luthando and her son were verified as South African citizens by Pretoria High Court order, but despite this, they have still not received the necessary documentation so remain stateless [Yeshiel Panchia/Al Jazeera] Im stateless. I dont have documents. I went to court and I won the case but I am still stateless, Luthando says. The first thing she wants to do when she receives her South African identity document is to enrol in school. I must start at Grade 11, and do two years to finish. Its going to make such a big difference because then I can pursue my dreams. She smiles. I want to be a pilot. She used to watch planes passing overhead when she was younger and knew that one day she wanted to fly. We would see the people who fly planes, they were educated and I liked that. I used to think that us black people, were not involved in many things. Especially women, because its rare to see a black woman in that industry. She becomes animated as she talks about how she once heard on the news that South Africa had the first black female fighter pilot on the continent. This, she says, gives her hope that she can achieve her dreams too. Achieving her goals is important, not just for herself. I want my son to have a better life. He mustnt suffer like I did. A broken system Liesl Miller is the attorney who heads up the statelessness project at Lawyers for Human Rights. She says statelessness is much more common than most people realise. I would say that we dont have a lot of people in South Africa who should be stateless in terms of the law, because the law is very good, she says, sitting in her office in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. The law makes provision for most people to get nationality if they are stateless in South Africa. The problem in South Africa is that there is not proper administrative justice. The system, she says, is broken. Thats always the issue with South Africa. We have wonderful laws and our laws are well written and in line with international laws but we dont implement them. Many of her clients are children, and many were even born to South African parents in South Africa. Despite this, it often takes years and costs millions of rand in legal fees for them to be recognised and protected by law. Lawyers for Human Rights has seen only 10 cases where stateless people have been granted nationality over the past seven years. It is nearly impossible to estimate how many people in South Africa are stateless, because as Miller says: By the very nature of it all, undocumented people are invisible. The numbers are high though, and her three-person team sees over 700 cases a year. Earlier this year, she assisted the ABBA Childrens Home in Pretoria to get the births of 33 foundling children registered after the Department of Home Affairs refused to register more than two children for the home per month. The home receives very young children who have been abandoned, and before the child can be put on the register to be considered for adoption, that child needs a birth certificate. Many of the babies had been abandoned or placed in baby bins special receiving containers where women can leave babies they are not able to care for, knowing they will be safe. The children are usually less than a week old, and almost nothing is known about their parents or their circumstances. Miller lodged an urgent court case to force the department to prioritise vulnerable cases. Once the case was filed, the department offered to settle and registered all 33 children within the space of a month, which shows you that they can do it, but by that stage, I had also spent a lot of our funds on paying the sheriff, paying the council, printing , she says. So it was completely useless and totally unnecessary. On the walls behind her are pictures scribbled by young artists, notes of thanks from former clients, and bookshelves lined with numbered files filled with case after case that she has fought over the past seven years. Making sure that your population is documented and has access to nationality and a state is something that is crucial to your developments in your country. It is also crucial for peace, she adds. *Name changed to protect identity This reporting was supported by Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) as part of the Isu Elihle Awards. The gold award for the Excellence in Technology Claims category went to WINT's artificial-intelligence-powered solution, which lets insurers, facilities managers and construction and building services contractors reduce water damage risk and claims. WINT Water Intelligence, a leader in water management, analysis and leak prevention, picked up the award alongside one of their U.K. partners Aqualytics, which provides on-the-ground customer service for WINT technology. WINT's technology helps construction projects, existing buildings and estates and newly built facilities to avoid water damage-related claims by identifying anomalies, leaks and waste at the source, alerting facilities managers and shutting off water supplies when necessary. The U.K. Society of Claims Professionals states in "Escape of Water - Good Practice Guide for Claims Professionals" (January 2019) that "escape of water" has become a common and significant issue. According to the Association of British Insurers, the total cost of escape of water claims has increased year on year by 28%, and insurers are paying out nearly $5.1 million per day on claims in the U.K. alone. The Excellence in Technology Claims category recognizes solutions that improve internal and external operational and administrative claims processes in the insurance market. The Judges, made up of some of the most respected leaders in the insurance market, were looking for tangible evidence that technology has improved operational efficiencies, claims processes, customer services, and business administration. The judges described WINT as "a cool product honest, clear and knows the market. We need something like this in our businesses." WINT uses artificial intelligence and pattern matching to detect water leaks and waste. It continuously learns and adapts to a building's water network to ensure detection and prevention are optimized for each site. WINT devices are fully autonomous and will continue to operate even regardless of network coverage. In addition to preventing water leak damage, WINT also detects and alerts staff of ongoing waste, from such sources as malfunctioning devices and unnoticed non-damaging leaks. Organizations that use WINT report savings of 20% to 25% of their ongoing water consumption, helping them reduce their environmental footprint and improve their sustainability stance. "The insurance sector has been suffering a massive financial impact from the rise in water damage claims," said Alon Geva, CEO of WINT. "We're proud to be recognized by Insurance Times as a leader in helping the industry reduce this tremendous source of risk with innovation and smart technology." WINT solutions are successfully deployed at thousands of locations worldwide. Reducing the risk of major property damage from burst pipes and undetected leaks has enabled organizations to avoid costly water damage, lost productivity, and increased insurance premiums while reducing their ongoing water consumption and environmental footprint. For more information about WINT Water Intelligence, watch this video, visit www.wint.ai or email [email protected]. About WINT Water Intelligence WINT is passionate about helping the world conserve one of its most precious resources, and the company is dedicated to helping businesses prevent the hazards, costs and waste associated with water leaks. Utilizing the power of artificial intelligence, the convenience of high-speed cellular data connections and smart shut-off valves, Water Intelligence units provide an all-in-one solution for commercial facilities management teams looking to eliminate the fear of water-leak disasters and ongoing water waste. For more information, please visit www.wint.ai or email [email protected] . About Aqualytics Aqualytics bring years of experience designing, leading, and evaluating initiatives that engage individuals, households, and employees in sustainable living, and that motivate pro-environmental change. Aqualytics focus purely on sustainable water use and efficiency. Aqualytics facilitate the dual approach of "behaviour change" harnessed with advanced disruptive technology to achieve the goals of meeting water and carbon footprint reduction targets. As Distributors of WINT in the UK, Aqualytics ensure excellent customer service enabling clients to monitor their water use in real time, empowering them to save water by introducing efficiencies and most importantly preventing and detecting escape of water and leaks offering ultimate 24/7 water protection to the client's property/workplace. For more information, please contact Harvey Djanogly at [email protected] Notes to Editors: Representatives from WINT Water Intelligence are available for media interviews and speaking opportunities. For more information or to arrange an interview contact: U.K.: Kirstie Colledge SMPR (Simply Marcomms Limited) The Wolston Priory, Priory Road, Wolston, Warwickshire CV8 3FX Tel: 024 7590 1075 [email protected] U.S.: Heather Ripley Ripley PR 865-977-1973 [email protected] SOURCE WINT Water Intelligence "Project Blue Book," the hit television docudrama about the U.S. military's investigations into aliens more than 50 years ago, is back for Season 2. The History Channel series runs on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST and PST check your local listings to confirm the time in your viewing area. The next episode is tonight (Jan. 28). The series shares the same name as the real-life U.S. Air Force investigation into unidentified flying objects (UFOs), which was called Project Blue Book. That investigation launched in 1952 and continued until 1969. Experts examined more than 12,000 UFO sightings (of which more than 700 are still unexplained), according to series creator and executive producer David O'Leary. Related: Top-Secret UFO Program Revealed in TV's 'Project Blue Book' "For me, UFOs have been a lifelong obsession," he told Space.com. "I have always been fascinated by the question [of] 'Are we alone in the universe? And I never felt you could honestly answer that question without examining the UFO issue." O'Leary said through his research on Project Blue Book, he became convinced that there "really is a phenomenon" of UFOs, even though experts often debunk the purported sightings, or say that the existence of UFOs doesn't necessarily mean that aliens are in our airspace. "Once I learned the chief of scientific consultants for the U.S. Air Force [J. Allen Hynek] and the first director of that program [Edward J. Ruppelt] both became convinced through this program that UFOs are real and represent a true scientific mystery and worthy of true scientific study, something clicked for me. This is unbelievable. So this is a drama series that examines this program through the eyes of these two men." O'Leary has spent many hours reading the first-hand research from both Blue Book, via the declassified documents in Hynek's book "The UFO Experience" (Regnery, 1972), and from independent UFO historians. The producer also interviewed the last living director of Blue Book Robert J. Friend, who died in June 2019 at age 99. Friend not only provided details of the investigations, but also discussed matters such as what the project's offices looked like. His testimony helped with the sets on the show, O'Leary said. Some of the more famous examples of Blue Book investigations include the Roswell incident (in which a purported UFO crashed near Roswell, N.M.) and Area 51, Nev., a top-secret military testing ground that some people say is linked to alien research. Neal McDonough as General James Harding in The History Channel's "Project Blue Book." (Image credit: Eduardo Araquel/History) Season 1 of Project Blue Book ran between January and March 2019, with 10 episodes each one examining a UFO conspiracy in detail. Some of the stories examined include: A reported UFO "dogfight" over Fargo, N.D.,, in 1948, which some say was a weather balloon although O'Leary's research indicated that there was a more ambiguous explanation. "It's a pretty intense and incredible sequence, where the pilot engages with this aircraft that seems to maneuver like nothing he's ever seen before," O'Leary said. A discussion about "foo fighters," or strange aerial phenomena that Allied aircraft pilots reported during the Second World War . Theories about these sightings range from aerial phenomena to fighter pilot fatigue. That said, Friend was a former foo fighter and O'Leary said that the old pilot genuinely believed that he saw something in the sky. The "Washington Merry-Go-Round" incident in 1952, when something breached restricted air space in Washington, D.C., two weekends in a row, sparking President Harry Truman's administration to scramble fighter jets, O'Leary said. "We still have no idea what they were. O'Leary added that the show tries not to show the same kind of UFO sightings in each episode; some have focused on matters such as an "X-Files"-like chase of something in the forest, people who felt that they made telepathic connections with aliens, and a Kentucky family reporting an alien home invasion. While a Season 3 hasn't been confirmed yet, O'Leary said the show's team would be interested in producing more episodes. "We have a lot of new ideas, and areas to explore," he said, again pointing to the hundreds of unresolved cases under Project Blue Book. Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. We are a stones throw from Troms, north of the Arctic Circle. To be precise, we are in Kvalya, Whale Island, which six years ago saw the death of its last musk ox, a descendant of a species that had rubbed shoulders with mammoths and had taken refuge in the Arctic because of global warming 2000 years ago, already. It was a female musk ox, who died from swallowing the plastic rings of a six-pack of beer. Norwegianization killed her but gave her an autopsy and a name: Alma. Per Kittis reindeer could soon disappear too, according to him. At 71, this traditional Sami herder is himself a survivor on the island, which has now become civilized with its roads, electricity, and its tens of thousands of beer-loving inhabitants descended from the Vikings. As night falls, Kitti welcomes us to his rectangular wooden cabin. An all-in-one room with a high ceiling, containing a kitchen, sleeping bench and dining table. Around it, over the decades, a suburban city has encircled the sedentary nomad. Slowly, the small, bright-eyed man serves us coffee, rolls a cigarette and fetches from a shelf a photo album, which he looks at sadly. There are pictures of mutilated reindeer, killed by the dogs of other island inhabitants. After me, reindeer husbandry will die out here, he says. The next day, with a little luck and a lot of patience, we see his reindeer on a green pasture at the foot of the snowy Kvalya foothills. As an airplane passes by, the oldest of the herd raises its antlers as it chews. Brutal Norwegianization at school Per Kittis big-headed grandmother was one of the first Sami to demand money for the reindeer skins that the Norwegians bartered for cheap goods. Franck Petit Reindeer husbandry, which occupies less than one Sami in five today, remains a strong marker of identity for Europes last great indigenous people. The Sami are estimated to number between 80,000 and 100,000 living across Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia. The coastal Sami also live off fishing. But most of them have mixed with the majority populations, whether by force or willingly. When Kitti was born in 1948, Kvalya was still a terminus of the annual migration of Sami herders from Sweden seeking the relative warmth of the fjords. These ancestral movements were stopped, for the most part, by borders and the policy of Norwegianization. It was my grandmother who decided to settle on this island after the Second World War, says Kitti. Her portrait on the wall of the cabin suggests a strong, pipe-smoking individual. Family legend has it that she was the first to demand money on the market for the skins that Norwegians traded for alcohol and glassware. This is why Kitti could be an edifying witness for the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which is charged with investigating the Norwegianization policy and injustices committed against the Sami and Kven / Finnish Norwegian peoples from 1800 to the present day. The commission is based in Troms, on the other side of a road bridge that did not exist when Kitti was a child. The young Sami used to go by boat to school, where he faced hatred and racism, he says. I was beaten, called a Lap [a derogatory term for Sami]. It was very hard. Then Kitti did his military service, again being bullied because of his ethnicity. Assimilation, however, was really not for him. I have to be a Norwegian, he says, but inside I am a Sami. The reindeer herder shows the areas of the island where the administration recently tried to contain his reindeer. Franck Petit Norwegian law smacks of racism Today racism continues in a softer, less open way, says Kitti, through laws and the Public Office in charge of reindeer husbandry. That makes him angry. The herdsman unfolds a map of Kvalya, showing areas of the island where the Office recently tried to contain his reindeer. The government people came with a contract, with my name at the bottom. I refused to sign it. This was an insult to nature for this man, who has himself been unable to adopt certain Norwegian customs like keeping an appointment with a time and place. Were the ones who follow the reindeer. Theyre wild animals, you cant do that! The incident reminds him of various measures taken in the 20th century to control the reindeer and the indigenous people. Kitti folds up his map, shaking. Forcing reindeer herding into special zones is racism. The officials are against us. Norwegian law smacks of racism. He states firmly that the Truth Commission must examine the laws and their stupidity. He has already talked to them on the phone. But it is a Norwegian institution and he doesnt trust it. They took my testimony but they didnt listen to me, he says, looking blackly at his old Nokia phone charging next to his radio and a pile of newspapers. The Truth Commission has not dampened his anger. Recommended reading Finland to set up Truth Commission for the Sami people Twenty years after royal apologies On the other side of the bridge, the TRC is slowly starting its work. Its secretariat is at the Arctic University of Norway (UiT) in Troms. This town nicknamed the Paris of the North, which made its fortune on cod and whale fishing, has become a big cultural and tourism hub of the Far North, a bridgehead for the Norwegian civilization in the vast land. It takes as much time to fly from Paris to Oslo, the capital city, as from Troms to Oslo, where the Norwegian Parliament decided in June 2017 to set up this truth commission, going against the will of the conservative government at that time. This came 20 years after official apologies to the Sami people by Norwegian king Harald V. The commission took another year to get its 11 commissioners and chairperson appointed, and nearly a year for the inauguration of its secretariat. At the end of 2019, it had collected only 75 individual testimonies. But its final report is not due until 1 September 2022. The commission has time. The Norwegian truth commissions mandate is primarily to document and analyse history. Its main task is to carry out a historic mapping of policies implemented against three indigenous peoples of northern Norway the Sami, the Kven and the Skogfinn (meaning Finns of the forest in Norwegian) from around 1800 until today. Its second task is to examine repercussions of the Norwegian policy today and investigate hate crimes and racism against these populations. Its third task is to recommend in its final report to Parliament measures for continued reconciliation () that can create greater equality between the majority and minority population. Getting people to talk The TRCs first meeting with the public was in September 2019 in Bugynes, a small fishing village near the Russian border. The Commission still has to make itself known to the majority population and overcome the scepticism of the minorities. But given its university link, its work seems to be supported and studied at the UiT in Troms and beyond by numerous academics. Among them is Gunn-Tove Minde, a UiT professor specializing in health issues. Herself a Sami, she is developing programmes on the ground with indigenous people. She says this population has a need for expanded help with psychosocial problems, low self-esteem and identity dilemmas. She thinks a big challenge for the Commission will be getting them to talk, when the norm is not to tell everything in Sami culture. Although the Commission is partly composed of people from the communities who speak their languages, Minde wonders how the Commission will be able to collect stories that are kept silent even within families, and how it will then recount them from a Sami perspective.One of the challenges of this commission will be to document stories about boarding schools that are not even shared within the community, Norwegian film maker Jens Ivar Nergard told a UiT seminar in October. The more tensed the experience was the less people talk about it. Its a long way to get it to the surface. A commission of experts with a Nordic method Kitti wonders why no big Sami leader is in the commission. It is chaired by Norwegian politician Dagfinn Hybraten, former head of the Christian Democrat party. However, a Sami does head the secretariat: Liss-Ellen Ramstad, who has worked for the Norwegian administration and as an advisor to the Norwegian Sami Parliament set up in 1989. It has been a very public debate about who is going to be in the commission and what kind of commission it should be, explains Ramstad. In the end, the Norwegian Parliament decided that it was to be an expert commission. They were chosen because they were leading in their different fields. They had a lot of knowledge about Sami or Kven societies or language or culture. She adds that the initiative was first submitted to the three Sami Parliaments of Norway, Finland and Sweden in 2014. They all wanted a truth commission with a Nordic dimension. But the process went faster in Norway, which is ahead of the other countries. We dont have a model. But we have taken inspiration from previous commission work, especially Canada, on ways of reaching out to people for instance, she says. But Canada was very much driven about the compensation part. And that is not a part of our mandate at all. We have also been looking at Greenland. We have similarities. But it was an internal process in Greenland. Our commission is about the whole Sami Kven societies and it was a decision from the Norwegian parliament to go ahead with such work. Thats the biggest difference. Finally, she says that we have developed a Nordic method on how we conduct such work in Norway, that suits our communities. The process is relevant for the whole nation, not just Kven, Sami and forest Finn societies. There is a common history to render visible in Norway. Recommended reading Jean-Pierre Massias: The Canadian commission is a new model for transitional justice Overcoming shame for reconciliation The commissioners are continuing their jobs and are not full time. Nevertheless, the TRC has gone several times since September to meet the people in the big towns of the Far North and also in Oslo. Victims are not invited to testify publicly during these meetings but in written form or audio and video recordings including of direct individual interviews. They can say whether or not they agree to have their testimonies made public. Sami or Kven associations are invited to speak during these meetings and journalists may attend. The public is not yet turning out in large numbers, with some 80 people coming on average. But we get a lot of invitations from all over the country, says Ramstad, Programmes in the communities, language centres, Sami or Kven institution and festivals. Reconciliation between majority and minority populations is the Commissions stated ultimate goal. We are lucky, says Ande Somby, a Sami lawyer, artist and activist. The reconciliation concept is a gift to future generations. It is our contribution to make the world more civil. Before an audience of academics in a debate at the UIT, he recalls that Norwegians became aware of the violations caused to indigenous people by the policy of Norwegianization with hunger strikes organized in Oslo in 1979 against the construction of the Alta hydroelectric dam. Forty years later, however, the shame is still there. For indigenous people shame can be connected to language, to clothing, to food, then it can become shameful to be shameful, he says. On the majority side, it has also something to do with shame and often the ignorant person is shameful to be ignorant. We have to find constructive ways to deal with collective responsibility. By Dan Williams and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Washington visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a long-awaited Middle East peace plan lent a surprise boost on Monday to his main political rival, who secured a separate meeting with U.S. By Dan Williams and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Washington visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a long-awaited Middle East peace plan lent a surprise boost on Monday to his main political rival, who secured a separate meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. Ex-general Benny Gantz deadlocked with Netanyahu in two elections last year, triggering another ballot for March. Both men were invited to the unveiling, scheduled for Tuesday, of Trump's blueprint for Israeli-Palestinian peace. A U.S. official said Netanyahu had wanted Gantz to escort him to the White House, telegraphing to many Israelis the challenger's subordination to the four-term conservative Likud party incumbent. Netanyahu "would have preferred to have Gantz down in the audience" as the prime minister stands alongside Trump during the peace plan's announcement on Tuesday, the official said. Instead, Gantz came separately, meeting Trump on Monday after Netanyahu held preparatory talks with the U.S. president. Gantz planned to skip Tuesday's ceremony, returning to Israel to vote against Netanyahu's bid to win parliamentary immunity from prosecution on corruption charges. Netanyahu denies the allegations against him. Trump seemed to have granted his right-wing ally Netanyahu the greater public relations boost. He appeared before the news cameras with the prime minister, while keeping reporters away from his session with Gantz. Still, Gantz's centrist Blue and White party gloried in his face-time with Trump. "The president and the next prime minister. Get used to it," party No. 2 Yair Lapid tweeted as a caption to a picture of Trump shaking hands with Gantz in the Oval Office. A White House official said Trump's meeting with Gantz was "good" and that the president enjoyed talking to him. Gantz deemed the meeting "important and exceptional" and "superb". Trump's aides had apparently helped the president, who was previously unfamiliar with Gantz, warm to the towering Israeli challenger. Trump was told in advance that Gantz was "a war hero who is new to politics," one U.S. official said. Trump was a political newcomer when he was elected in 2016, and the White House introduction to Gantz seemed a far cry from Netanyahu's attempts to cast his former military chief domestically as a "weak leftist" devoid of diplomatic pedigree. Netanyahu did not immediately comment on Gantz's visit. Meeting Trump, the prime minister was lauded by the president as "a great friend of mine and a great friend of our country." But Trump, alongside Netanyahu, also spoke of the incumbent and Gantz as "two good competitors. They are fighting it out." Yohanan Plesner, president of the non-partisan Israel Democracy Institute, said the Washington visit was a chance for Israelis to "see Netanyahu as the statesman as opposed to Netanyahu the defendant" - to Likud's electoral advantage. But he added: "Gantz mitigated some of the potential damage by being invited for his own meeting with the president." Lacking Netanyahu's English fluency and polish, Gantz opted for man-of-the-people optics in Washington. Arriving on a commercial flight, he eschewed the VIP exit at the airport. He went for a morning jog on the Washington Mall before donning spectacles and a suit and assuming a more diplomatic style for his White House visit. Before leaving, Gantz delivered a televised statement in praise of Trump's peacemaking efforts - with the caveat the Blue and White would commit to the diplomatic drive after the ballot. He included a parting shot at his political rival in Hebrew that he did not repeat in his English translation of the statement: "Netanyahu cannot manage both a country and a trial." (Reporting by Dan Williams and Steve Holland; editing by Grant McCool) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Solar panels and windmills Many renewable energy stocks experienced a solid year during 2019 with many making solid gains and outperforming the broader TSX. The second-largest renewable energy exchange-traded fund (ETF), iShares Global Clean Energy ETF, gained a very respectable 36.5% during 2019. Industry-leading globally diversified clean energy utility Brookfield Renewable Partners was one of the best performers in the sector, rallying by a stunning 66%, excluding dividends, which was more than three times greater than the S&P/TSX Composite Indexs 19%. One renewable energy utility that many investors overlook is micro-cap Polaris Infrastructure (TSX:PIF). It surprised many by gaining a healthy 23% during 2019, despite higher geopolitical and economic risk in Nicaragua. While this is only a modest 4% greater than the broader Canadian bourse, there are signs of further gains ahead in 2020. Transformative acquisition In late 2018, Polaris completed the transformative acquisition of Union Energy, which added one functional run of river five-megawatt (MW) hydro facility to its portfolio and three additional projects with a combined capacity of 48 MW. This reduced its dependence on Nicaragua, which, since early 2018, has been rocked by civil unrest in opposition to pension and other economic reforms. That turmoil, along with U.S. sanctions against Nicaragua and the government of President Ortega, saw the Latin American countrys 2019 gross domestic product contract by 5% compared to a year earlier. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that Nicaraguas economy will contract by 0.5% during 2020 before returning to growth in 2022. This sparked considerable concern that Polaris would be able to continue delivering value for shareholders because of the direct correlation between economic growth and greater consumption of electricity. For these reasons, the Union Energy deal was an extremely positive development for Polaris. Not only did it reduce the renewable electric utilitys dependence on Nicaragua, but it gives Polaris a presence in one of Latin Americas fastest-growing economies, Peru, which is expected to grow by 3.6% in 2020 and a notable 4% in 2021. Story continues In an important development, Polaris recently announced that construction of the 20-MW 8 de Agosto hydro facility had been completed, and the plant had commenced commercial operations at the end of 2019. This, along with the Carmen facility, which was completed at the end of November 2019, added 28 MW to Polariss installed capacity. Those facilities are expected to add US$7 million to US$9 million of EBITDA to Polariss financial results and are estimated to have added US$65 million to US$80 million to the utilitys assets. Polaris anticipates that power generation at the San Jacinto plant in Nicaragua will grow, because it completed a series of new wells during the first half of 2018, which are still being stabilized, and by the end of the third quarter 2019, it had not reached full capacity. The company is also in the process of evaluating the sustainability of the San Jacinto facility and planning various ways to boost electricity production at the plant. San Jacintos growing electricity output will further boost Polariss earnings. Foolish takeaway There is plenty of upside ahead for Polaris, particularly now that it has successfully commenced commercial operations at its Carmen and 8 de Agosto facilities in Peru. They have added 28 MW of installed capacity, which will give Polariss earnings a solid boost, lifting its market value. Patient investors will be rewarded by the utilitys sustainable dividend yielding a juicy 5.5%. More reading Fool contributor Matt Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Polaris Infrastructure Inc. The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020 A court in Bulgaria has arrested Oleksiy Moskalenko (aka Levin), a suspect in the case on the murder of activist Kateryna Handziuk, for 40 days, according to Bulgarian news site Flagman. "Burgas Regional Court has imprisoned the foreigner for 40 days," the report reads. Levin asked the court to place him under house arrest with the obligation to wear an ankle bracelet due to serious heart disease after four operations. Oleksiy Moskalenko (aka Levin), who was wanted on suspicion of involvement in the attack on activist Kateryna Handziuk, was arrested in Bulgaria on January 24. He was identified on the basis of fingerprints as he changed his appearance and gait. An acid attack was committed on activist Kateryna Handziuk near the entrance to her house in Kherson on July 31, 2018. Burns covered 40 percent of her body. She underwent several operations but died on November 4, 2018. Five people were detained on suspicion of involvement in her murder. Ihor Pavlovsky, a former aide to MP Mykola Palamarchuk, was arrested on November 12, 2018. op A British expat trapped in the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak with his eight-month pregnant wife and toddler son today issued an urgent plea for rescue. Tom Williams, deputy head of the Wuhan Yangtze International School, said it was almost impossible to follow official advice to leave the locked-down city without diplomatic assistance on the ground. His wife Lauren is due to give birth next month and he begged for help from either the UK or Canada, where she is a citizen, in an open letter posted on Twitter. Mr Williams, who is from Cheltenham and has been based in the province for five years, wrote: My wife is 35 weeks pregnant. We are quarantined in the city. Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP Roads have been closed which is making getting to maternity hospital uncertain. He said the couple and their two-year-old son James were safe and have stocked up on food but called for assistance in evacuating before his wife gives birth. Women of the Bodo community dance during a welcome ceremony for their leaders who returned home after signing the Bodo Peace Accord 2020 between the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, the Assam government and the Central government in Delhi on Monday. (PTI Photo) GUWAHATI: A day after the Union government signed an accord with Bodo militant groups, Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday talked it up as historic and a great template for similar deals with militant groups in Assam an Manipur. He also went a step further held out an olive branch in particular to Paresh Baruahs anti-talks faction of the Ulfa-I. New Delhi is now willing to negotiate with it to bring permanent peace in the Northeast. Sarma said Union home minister Amit Shah too had much the same thing on Monday. This is the first time that this government is making a public appeal to Ulfa (I) for a dialogue. If they are willing, the Centre will reciprocate," he said. To Baruah, the top insurgent leader in the region, Sarma held out the example of the "historic accord" signed on Monday with all factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in presence of all the stakeholders. "In this context, I would like to request Paresh Barua and his anti-talks faction to consider engaging in a productive dialogue. The Centre and the state government want peace in the region," he said. Sarma said the pro-talks faction of Ulfa led by Arabinda Rajkhowa was already engaged in a dialogue with the Centre but for peace to have a chance in the entire region, it was necessary that all factions came to the negotiating table. Sarma, convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), extended the peace offer to militant outfits in Manipur as well. He claimed that peace has dawned on states in the Northeast such as Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland; only Assam and Manipur were still restive. So, if militant outfits in Manipur and Assam come forward for talks, it will help establishing lasting peace in the region. The Assam government is planning a celebration of the Bodo accord in Kokrajhar on February 7 to which it has Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Announcements on constitutional safeguards for the indigenous people of Assam will be made during the forthcoming Rongali Bihu celebrations. Bodo leaders who returned to Guwahati after signing the accord in New Delhi were given a grand felicitation by civil society groups in Chirang district on Tuesday. All signatories to the deal, including Pramod Boro, president of the All Bodo Students Union, were there. US president Donald Trump has unveiled his long-awaited Middle East plan, winning immediate praise from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu but a swift rejection from the Palestinians, who called it nonsense. Mr Trumps plan calls for the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, but it falls far short of minimal Palestinian demands and would leave sizable chunks of the occupied West Bank in Israeli hands. Mr Netanyahu said he would move forward on Sunday and ask his Cabinet to approve plans to annex West Bank territory an explosive move that is likely to be met with harsh international reaction. Mr Trump called his plan a win-win for both Israel and the Palestinians, and Mr Netanyahu called it a great plan for Israel. This is what a future State of Palestine can look like, with a capital in parts of East Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/39vw3pPrAL Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020 At a speech in the West Bank, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as nonsense. We say 1,000 noes to the deal of the century, Mr Abbas said, using a nickname for Mr Trumps proposal. We will not kneel and we will not surrender, he said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through peaceful, popular means. With Mr Netanyahu standing beside him, Mr Trump presented the plan at a White House ceremony filled with other Israeli officials and allies. The ceremony came amid Mr Trumps impeachment trial and a US election year, and after Mr Netanyahu was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three separate cases. Benjamin Netanyahu called it a great plan for Israel (Alex Brandon/AP) The longtime Israeli leader, who denies any wrongdoing, also faces a March 2 parliamentary election, Israels third in less than a year. Story continues The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war for an independent state and the removal of more than 700,000 Israeli settlers from these areas. Under the terms of the peace vision that Mr Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, all settlers would remain in place, and Israel would retain sovereignty over all of its settlements as well as the strategic Jordan Valley. The proposed Palestinian state would also include more than a dozen Israeli enclaves with the entitys borders monitored by Israel. Mr Trump acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a great deal for the Palestinians. He said his vision gives the Palestinians the time needed for them to meet the challenges of statehood. Protesters wave their national flag while burning tyres during a protest against the US peace plan (Adel Hana/AP) The only concession the plan appears to demand of Israel is a four-year freeze on the establishment of new Israeli settlements in certain areas of the West Bank. But Mr Netanyahu clarified later that this only applied to areas where there are no settlements and Israel has no immediate plans to annex, and that he considered the plan to impose no limitations on construction. Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza City ahead of the announcement, burning pictures of Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu and raising a banner reading Palestine is not for sale. Mr Trump said he sent a letter to Mr Abbas to tell him that the territory that the plan has set aside for a new Palestinian state will remain open and undeveloped for four years. President Abbas, I want you to know, that if you chose the path to peace, America and many other countries we will be there to help you in so many different ways. And we will be there every step of the way, Mr Trump said. The 50-page plan builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. The plan envisions a future Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of roads and tunnels. It also would give small areas of southern Israel to the Palestinians as compensation for lost West Bank land. But the many caveats, and ultimate overall Israeli control, made the deal a non-starter for the Palestinians. Mr Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. Mr President, because of this historic recognition and because I believe your peace plan strikes the right balance where other plans have failed, Mr Netanyahu said. Ive agreed to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of your peace plan. Its a great plan for Israel. Its a great plan for peace. Jordan gave the plan a cool reaction, saying it remained committed to a two-state solution based on Israels pre-1967 lines. It also said it rejected any unilateral move by Israel, referring to the annexation plan. Egypt, the first Arab country to reach a peace deal with Israel, urged Israelis and Palestinians to carefully study the plan. The European Union also said it needed to study it more closely. Officials said they expected Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others to cautiously welcome the plan. Arab League chief, Ahmed Abuel-Gheit said the Palestinian reaction would define the Arab response. He spoke after meeting with Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo. The reaction of Jordan, which would retain its responsibilities over Jerusalems al-Aqsa Mosque under the plan, is particularly significant, according to officials, who said Mr Kushner and others were reaching out to Arab leaders ahead of the rollout. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- In 2019, Chinese automaker BYD saw its full-year auto sales slide 11.39% year on year with both NEV and oil-fueled vehicle businesses hit by decrease. Photo source: BYD's WeChat account) Although the automaker failed to gain sales growth, it put forth great efforts to enrich its product lineup, beef up battery production capacity, cement outward cooperation and fortify overseas market expansion. Let's review the top stories of the leading Chinese NEV manufacturer in 2019. BYD increases registered capital of BYD-Daimler NEV JV by RMB200 million BYD Company Limited announced on February 1 that its board of directors agreed a proposal that allowed BYD Auto Industry Company Limited, its wholly-owned subsidiary, to inject an additional RMB 200 million as registered capital into Shenzhen DENZA New Energy Automotive Co., Ltd. (DENZA), a joint venture in partnership with Daimler. BYD Auto Industry Company Limited's equity in DENZA would remain at 50% after the compleion of capital increase. The BYD's subsidiary had added RMB500 million in DENZA as early as May, 2017, which was mainly used as operational capital for the joint venture in order to alleviated the pressure of extended cycle to receive subsidy over the DENZA's business operation caused by the adjustment of national new energy vehicle (NEV) subsidy policy. 2019 BYD Yuan EV360 goes on sale with prices starting at RMB89,900 after subsidy The Yuan EV360 is a small-sized all-electric SUV launched by BYD in May, 2018. On March 9, its all-new version hit the market with 3 variants priced between RMB 89,900 and RMB109,900 after subsidy. The new model measures 4,360mm long, 1,785mm wide and 1,690mm tall, the same as the outgoing model. Wheelbase for the all-new BEV is 2,535mm. Configurators were upgraded over the older version. The entire model series comes standard with aluminum alloy rims, leather-covered seats, anti-lock braking system, automatic air-conditioner and tire pressure monitor system, etc. Besides, the mid-spec version carries such facilities as in-car infotainment system dubbed CarPad, panoramic sunroof, automotive backup camera, event data recorder and PM2.5 filter. The top-spec version boasts 360-degree holographic display, side curtain air bags as well as anti-pinch windows. BYD takes wrap off all-new e series focusing on new smart mobility life On March 21, Chinese automaker BYD officially launched the all-new "e" product series, which would be operated parallel with the "Dynasty" series. There are three sedan models and two SUV models under the "e" series to be rolled out in 2019. Besides, the automaker will start to accept orders of the BYD e1, the first model for the new series, on April 1. According to BYD's planning, the "e" series is positioned as a provider of smart BEVs, focusing on quality, cost performance and new intelligent mobility life, and the "Dynasty" matrix, designed to be a forward-looking leader for the BEV era, more highlights technology guidance, car performance and experience. BYD partners with Huawei for ICV, autonomous driving, smart monorail On March 25, BYD signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Huawei, a Chinese multinational provider of ICT infrastructure and smart devices, to co-boost the innovation of automobile and rail transit, and digital transformation of automotive industry. Under the agreement, both parties were ready to carry out in-depth exchange and cooperation in such areas as automobile intelligent connectivity, autonomous driving, smart monorail and smart industrial park. Huawei would exercise its technology advantages in AI, 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and big data to intelligentize and upgrade the mobility service industry and promote companies digital transformation by teaming up with BYD, who boasts rich technical resources of NEV and rail transit. BYD E-SEED GT roadster concept makes world's debut at Auto Shanghai 2019 BYD brought the E-SEED GT Concept to the stage of the Auto Shanghai 2019. Reportedly, the new vehicle was expected to hit the market in 2020. Adopting BYD's latest Dragon Face 2.0 design language, the E-SEED GT boasts a rather sporty front face with an eye-catching U-shaped silver trim that penetrates into headlights. The unmistakable side bulges lower the visual center of gravity, accentuating the personality of a supercar with confident proportion. Although the concept looks quite low, it accommodates four seats in two rows. Huge butterfly doors are pretty impressive when they are entirely opened. BYD reports an EV fire incident while battery pack remains intact BYD announced via its official Sina Weibo account that a BYD e5 car caught fire on April 24 in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province. After receiving the news, BYD dispatched staff members to the scene immediately. Through an initial investigation, we found out that the fire source is located at the trunk, while the battery pack at the bottom still remained intact. We will further investigate the incident in cooperation with relevant departments until get final results, said the automaker. The company also exposed the photos of the damaged car. In the comments, some netizens gave thumbs up to the unharmed battery pack after suffering a fire lasting half an hour. BYD to set up new energy PV base in Changzhou with expected annual capacity of 400,000 units BYD inked a strategic cooperation agreement with Changzhou municipal government on April 25 to build a new energy passenger vehicle (PV) and core auto parts industrial park in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. The industrial park, located at Changzhou National Hi-Tech District, would involve a planned investment of RMB10 billion. After the program completes, it is expected to have an annual capacity of 400,000 vehicles and output a total value of over RMB50 billion per year. The Changzhou base is designed to manufacture 10 models of BYD's Dynasty and e product series with segments ranging from mini-sized to large-sized vehicles. Besides, BYD also plans to establish a R&D center in this city. Nobina increases BYD eBus orders to 138 Nobina, Sweden's and the Nordic region's largest bus operator, has added a further 20 eBuses to its growing intake of orders from world-leading electric bus manufacturer, BYD. Deliveries of the 18.0-metre articulated K11 eBus model would commence at the end of 2019, BYD announced on May 6. Two separate deliveries of this latest BYD eBus order would be made, with four vehicles destined for the Barkarby district of Stockholm, and 16 for the city of Linkoping. BYD delivers 15 eBuses to Badajoz, Spain In May, BYD delivered 15 pure electric 12-metre eBuses to Spain's southwest city of Badajoz one of the largest eBus orders for BYD in the country. Public transport operator, TUBASA (Transportes Urbanos de Badajoz, SA), part of Grupo Ruiz and one of Spain'sprincipal road passenger transport groups, had already put the vehicles into service. The zero emission BYD eBuses were delivered as fleet replacements for TUBASA and were already returning substantial savings when compared to the company'sprevious diesel-powered buses. BYD says newly received RMB3.458 billion state's NEV subsidy helps improve cash flow BYD said on May 22 that its subsidiary BYD Auto Industry Company Limited had received the states subsidy on new energy vehicle promotion amounting to RMB3.458 billion from Shenzhen Pingshan District Finance Bureau. Of that, RMB3.126 billion and RMB332 million worth of funds were allocated to liquidate the subsidies that were supposed to be given in 2016 and 2017 respectively. BYD said the newly-received state's NEV subsidy would help the company improve its cash flow, decrease the interest and financial expenses. Besides, it would also generate a positive effect on lowering the automaker's debt-to-assets ratio. BYD delivers Argentina's first ever pure electric bus fleet A fleet of 12 BYD K9 pure electric buses bound for the city of Mendoza, Argentina, arrived at the port of San Antonio in Chile on May 20. These electric buses represent the first fleet of its kind in Argentina, signifying a major milestone in the electrification of public transportation in the South American country. This project, the result of combined efforts between the local government of Mendoza, Argentinian bus company Andesmar, local bus operator STM and BYD, is a cleaner and quieter transport alternative that also improves the quality of local transport services. The 12 electric buses arrived in the city of Mendoza on May 23 and would undergo a final check before entering into operation. BYD begins construction of a new power battery base in Ningxiang, Hunan Province BYD on May 28 launched the construction of its power battery production base at Ningxiang Hi-tech Zone in Chinas Hunan Province. Involving a total investment of RMB5 billion and covering an area of 640mu (around 426 thousand square meters), the first phase of the new base was expected to generate an annual sales of roughly RMB10 billion and offer 2,000 posts for local residents. The Ningxiang factory was designed to manufacture such core products as power battery cells and modules, and also develop relevant supporting businesses. BYD S2 all-electric SUV priced starting RMB89,800 after subsidy BYD saw the all-electric SUV S2 hit the market on June 17. Positioned below the models under BYD's Dynasty Series, the BYD S2 was offered in four variants with prices ranging between RMB89,800 and RMB109,800 after subsidy. Powering the vehicle is a 70kW/180Nm permanent magnet motor paired with a 40.62kWh ternary-lithium battery pack. Using such powertrain, the vehicle features a combined NEDC-rated range of 305km and can run at a top speed of 101km/h. The vehicle is able to use fast charging mode to complete a charge within only 1.1 hours. BYD to add another 183 pure electric buses to Chile's fleet The Chilean Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Gloria Hutt, announced in June a new order for 183 pure electric buses for the Chilean capital of Santiago, due to arrive in August of this year. The 183 units of BYD pure electric buses would join the 100 electric buses that BYD and local partner Enel brought into Santiago last December, giving BYD a dominant share of more than 60% in the capital's promising electric bus market. They would be integrated during the last quarter into the existing Metbus fleet to operate the popular Avenida Grecia route, becoming the first route operated by only electric buses in Latin America. Metbus is also one of the largest pure electric bus fleet operators in the Americas. BYD's black crystal global design hub completed on June 25 BYD held on June 25 a ceremony to celebrate the completion of its all-new global design hub in Shenzhen, the headquarters of the automaker. A design team led by three prominent designers--Wolfgang Egger, JuanMa Lopez and Michele Jauch-Paganetti would work at the new building. According to local media outlets, the Shenzhen-based design center would output design works covering PVs, CVs as well as such rail transit solutions as SkyRail and SkyShuttle. Wrapped by black glass, the new global design center looks like a huge black crystal. It seemed that the automaker want to use the most mysterious and inclusive color to express its eagerness to converge originality and inspiration of car design from the whole world, so as to trigger the powerful energy for exploring future traffic system design. BYD, Toyota enter agreement to jointly develop battery electric vehicles BYD and Toyota announced on July 19 that they had signed an agreement for the joint development of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The two parties would jointly develop sedans and low-floor SUVs as well as the onboard batteries for these vehicles and others with the aim to launch them in the Chinese market under the Toyota brand in the first half of the 2020s. Going forward, BYD and Toyota would make use of the electrified vehicles, and battery development technologies they have acquired through their market introductions and would work together to further develop BEVs that are attractive to customers and in further promoting their widespread adoption. BYD scheduled to spin off auto battery arm as independent listed company around 2022 BYD was scheduled to finish spinning off its automotive battery arm, which was ready to go public around 2020, the automaker revealed on August 7 in response to a netizen's question at a platform Shenzhen Stock Exchange sets up for the communication between investors and listed companies. The spin-off of the battery business division and relevant preparation for going public were being steadily advanced for now, the automaker said. "BYD is scheduled to spin off its battery division into a separate entity, which is expected to be listed by 2022," said Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, in an interview with Bloomberg News in December 2018. The schedule for separating the automobile battery business would depend on the production and operating capability of the division, Wang added. BYD enriches e lineup with e2 BEV hitting the market BYD's all-new BEV model, the e2, hit the market on September 2 with its four trim levels priced from RMB89,800 to RMB119,800, further enriching the e lineup after BYD closing the first seven months with an outstanding growth in NEV sales. The e2 was first seen that the Auto Shanghai 2019 in April and rolled off the production line at the Changsha plant in early June. The BYD e2 retains BYD's signature Dragon Face design with an unmistakable massive grille flanked by slim headlights. On the upper edge of the grille, there is a blue nameplate with BYD lettering in the exact middle, which is different from the Chinese characters adopted for that of BYD's Dynasty Series. BYD's first German order helps electrify Ruhr region In September, BYD secured a big order to deliver 22 fully electric 12-meter eBuses in Germany. With the purchase of these eBuses, Bogestra and HCR would make a significant contribution to the electrification of public transport and the improvement of air quality in the Ruhr Metropolitan Region. It was BYD's first order for zero emission buses in Germany. The order for 22 new and 100% electric buses was part of many successes in BYD's long history of public transport electrification. The first electric buses will arrive in the summer of 2020 and run on route 354 in Bochum, route 380 in Gelsenkirchen, and in Herne. BYD, property developer Vanke to co-invest in tech & logistics fund BYD announced on October 8 its cooperation with China Vanke Co.,Ltd, a leading property developer in China, for a joint investment in a technology and logistics fund. According to the announcement, BYD Auto Industry Company Limited, a subsidiary of BYD, entered into an agreement with Chengdu Vanke Real Estate Co., Ltd. and a Tianjin-based investment management service provider to co-invest in a limited partnership fund. In this transaction, BYD's and Vanke's subsidiaries would act as the fund's limited partners. BYD said the fund is to earn long-term investment returns for its partners through acquisition, possession and disposal of invested projects. BYD puts e series' fourth model e3 onto the market On October 24, the fourth model of BYD's e series, the BYD e3, officially hit the market following the e1, the S2 and the e2. Offered in three variants, the new BEV model is priced between RMB103,800 and RMB119,800 after green-car subsidies. The e3, positioned as an economic all-electric sedan, is built on BYD e platform. At the first glance of the car, you will notice its much resemblance to the e2, whereas the e2 is a hatchback instead of a sedan. Thanks to the lightweight body design and the coupe-level drag coefficient of 0.28Cd, the e3 is able to sprint from 0 to 50km/h within only 3.9 seconds. BYD, Toyota agree to establish joint company for BEV R&D BYD Company Ltd. (BYD) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announced on November 7 that they had signed an agreement to establish a joint company to research and development for battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The new R&D company, which would work on designing and developing BEVs (including platform) and its related parts, was anticipated to be established in China in 2020, with BYD and Toyota to evenly share 50% of the total capital needed. Additionally, BYD and Toyota planned to staff the new company by transferring engineers and the jobs currently involved in related R&D from their respective companies. BYD announces badge of all-new series Han In November, BYD, the automaker which names its mainstay models after ancient Chinese dynasties, announced the badge of its all-new model series dubbed Han, joining a string of Dynasty series that has already contained Qin, Tang, Song and Yuan. The simplified Chinese character Han on the badge is written in the elegant small seal script that fostered the sharing of culture and literature from the Qin to the end of Western Han Dynasty. The format integrating both traditional and modern elements embodies BYDs wish to pass on achievements from old days and create a better future with the Han as a new outset. BYD simultaneously sets up three subsidiaries BYD established three subsidiaries in late December, each of which has a registered capital of RMB100 million, according to Qichacha, an information inquiry platform about China-based companies. They, whose names have the same partFudi () in Chinese, were built to work on developing mould, automotive technologies and power tech respectively. Wang Chuanfu, founder and chairman of BYD, said publicly that the Shenzhen-based company will become a standard provider of hardware platform for intelligent vehicles. He also indicated that the company would be significantly restructured to break through the boundaries among different business units. In the future, each business division of BYD would operate independently or even go public separately, he said. Pakistan: Govt to give 80pc subsidy on fish farming: Chief Minister January 28,2020 | Source: The International News A meeting held under the chair of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar reviewed development projects relating to Wildlife and Fisheries Department. Formal approval was given for setting up fish markets throughout the province. The chief minister said that the Punjab government will provide 80 per cent subsidy for promoting fish farming. While approving saline water aquaculture research centre in Muzaffargarh, he said five thousand cages will be placed for fisheries at different barrages including Chashma, Taunsa barrages and Head Panjnad. It was also decided in principle to launch the cage fish culture cluster development programme for the promotion of fisheries. He said that capacity building training will be provided to 750 fish farmers. Soon, the hatchery project will be inaugurated in Fazilpur, he added. He said that three fish nursery units are being built-in Darama, Gujja and Jampur. Tilapia fish farm is being set up in Muzaffargarh as well, he added. Farms would be set up at 2.5 thousand acres under shrimp farming cluster development project. A programme of producing three thousand metric ton prawns annually is being started in Punjab which will provide job opportunities to more than two thousand people. He directed for completing projects as soon as possible for promoting fisheries. Minister for Forest, Wildlife and Fisheries Asad Khokhar, Secretary Finance, Secretary Forests, Wildlife & Fisheries, DG Fisheries and others attended the meeting. Theres nothing normal about how the Duggar family lives in the world. The main reason this larger-than-average family got a television show in the first place was that theyre so far outside the mainstream that fans are fascinated to watch their every move. Fans of 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On are constantly coming up with new, sometimes wild, theories about the Duggar women. But this latest one is just too weird not to mention. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar | Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images The Duggars follow all sorts of rules Most of the Duggars home traditions are based on their religious beliefs. As strict followers of their independent Baptist Christian faith, the Duggar family rejects listening to secular music, watching television, and dating anyone they dont intend to marry. The women of the family never wear pants or shorts. Wives stay home and tend to children while the husbands go to work outside the home. Its an extremely unique way of life compared to most of the Western world. While the Duggars have never said that women are less important than men, there is a clear understanding that families follow a patriarchal structure with the man as the head of the household and primary breadwinner. This kind of explains this one weird thing all Duggar women do. Duggar wives gaze lovingly at their husbands while theyre speaking Only true Counting On fans will have noticed this common phenomenon. But like so many things, once you see it, you cant unsee it. Nicki Swift pointed out that during couple interviews on the show, the wives in the family such as Joy-Anna Forsyth, Jessa Seewald, and Jinger Vuolo stare lovingly at their husbands whenever they are speaking instead of looking at the camera. And the weirder part? The men dont reciprocate the same move when their wives are taking their turns to speak. Plus, fans think they know exactly where this common habit came from. Michelle Duggar believes in fully respecting her husband Its not too shocking to see all the Duggar daughters gazing at their husbands with love after all, theyve been watching their mother do it for all their lives. Michelle Duggar is notorious for staring intently at her head of household, Jim Bob, whenever hes speaking. And her personal writing confirms the idea that she fully honors and respects her spouse. For example, Michelle gave her daughter Jill the following advice in 2015 right before she married Derick Dillard. Ill share this advice with Jill so she knows that shes got to be a wife first and then later, Lord willing, shell be a mother, she wrote on her blog. Her responsibility before God and Derick needs to come first. Its not just me and the Lord; its me and the Lord and my husband, Michelle continued. Jill Dillard is just like her mom, Michelle Clearly, Jill took the advice to heart. Shes no longer on the show Counting On after Derick was banned from the series due to controversial comments he made about other TLC stars. Even in the face of adversity, Jill is always on her husbands side. Michelle must be so proud that all her daughters are following her advice to respect their husbands so faithfully. Jill might not be gazing at Derick on camera anymore. But shes probably still doing it just the same. The European Commission (EU) signed four guarantee agreements worth 216 million that will help unlock 2 billion to be invested in renewables, urban infrastructure and start-ups in Africa and the EU Neighborhood. The guarantees were signed with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the German KfW Group and the Spanish development cooperation agency, Agencia Espanola de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), at the 4th Strategic Board meeting of the External Investment Plan (EIP), last week. These guarantees will significantly boost investment in renewable energy (50 million); support investment in sustainable energy (46 million); increase access to finance for small businesses (MSMEs/ 20 million); and improve investment in urban infrastructure and services in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the EU Neighborhood, through the Resilient City Development or RECIDE (100 million), the European commission said in a press release. Commenting on these financial guarantees, Jutta Urpilainen, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, said, these guarantees share in the risk and help mobilize and attract public and private investments. They will help boost the supply of renewable energy to communities and businesses in Africa and the EU Neighborhood, help small businesses invest and create jobs, and make African cities more resilient to growing populations and the effects of climate change, the commissioner said, adding this is an example of how the EUs new Green Deal initiative benefits citizens of partner countries outside the EU. Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said the EU wants to ensure an investment boost that will drive forward growth and provide concrete benefits and opportunities to the people, for example when it comes to big infrastructure projects or the support to young entrepreneurs. The direct support to investment is a key element, but so are good governance and a conducive business environment that helps attracting investment, both domestic and foreign, he added. By Douglas Busvine BERLIN (Reuters) - Britain's decision on whether to allow Huawei to supply equipment for 5G mobile networks comes at a delicate time, with debate raging in European capitals over the security implications of reliance on Chinese technology. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's preference for applying the same rules to all equipment vendors faces growing resistance from lawmakers in her own party, who back U.S By Douglas Busvine BERLIN (Reuters) - Britain's decision on whether to allow Huawei to supply equipment for 5G mobile networks comes at a delicate time, with debate raging in European capitals over the security implications of reliance on Chinese technology. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's preference for applying the same rules to all equipment vendors faces growing resistance from lawmakers in her own party, who back U.S. calls to ban Huawei outright. Even as Britain prepares to quit the European Union, the finishing touches are still being put on a bloc-wide framework to address risks in networks that will become faster and more ubiquitous in the 5G era. Europe's leading telecoms operators, who are all Huawei customers, are lobbying against an outright ban. At the same time, they are removing the Chinese company's gear from the "core" of their networks. The core routes traffic and manages data and is thus more sensitive than the peripheral radio network. Here's an explainer on the current state of play: GERMAN BACKLASH In Germany, lawmakers across party lines are challenging Merkel's pragmatism. They agree with the Donald Trump administration's arguments that Huawei can't be trusted because it is beholden to the Chinese government. Huawei denies this. Merkel has called for a time-out on the domestic debate ahead of a March EU summit, reinforcing a feedback loop that Brussels sources say has already slowed efforts to reach a bloc-wide consensus and delayed the 5G framework, dubbed the toolbox. Concerns expressed by Germany's powerful car industry that a Huawei ban could provoke trade retaliation from China - its largest export market - have influenced the thinking of Merkel and senior aides. WHAT'S AT STAKE? Operators Deutsche Telekom , Vodafone and Telefonica are all Huawei clients. They warn that replacing its kit could cost billions of euros, on top of heavy outlays for German 5G spectrum at auction last year. More broadly, Europe has emerged as a battleground in the technology 'Cold War' playing out between China and Washington. Huawei's European competitors, Ericsson and Nokia , would become a supplier duopoly should the Chinese company be shut out. Huawei leads the global telecoms equipment market with a 28% share, according to U.S. consultancy Dell'Oro. Nokia is second on 16% and Ericsson third with 13%. Its share is higher in Europe and it is banned in the United States. WHAT ABOUT THE TOOLBOX? The proposed toolbox, due out this week, will create a framework to analyse and address network security but it will go only as far as making recommendations because EU rules stipulate that security policy is a matter for national governments. There would be no up-front bans, but European Commissioner Thierry Breton, of France, has made it clear - in a coded message to Huawei - that the EU will assert its status as a sovereign space when it comes to telecoms networks. EU countries should assess the risk profile of suppliers on a national or EU level and apply restrictions to high-risk suppliers including necessary exclusions to effectively mitigate risks for key assets, the draft document says. THE FRENCH EXCEPTION In France, market leader Orange , which is partly state owned, does not use Huawei for its domestic network. It does, however, rely on Huawei in Spain and Poland. Rivals Bouygues Telecom and Altice Europe's SFR are both Huawei customers, which raises potential uncertainty as France prepares to sell 5G spectrum early this year. PRAGMATISTS AND SCEPTICS Across the EU, no government has yet imposed an outright ban on Huawei. Attitudes range from welcoming to sceptical, reflecting diverging risk perceptions and attitudes towards Washington and Beijing. At the friendly end of the spectrum, there has been scant debate in Spain about any risks that Huawei might pose. Hungary has welcomed Huawei, saying it sees no evidence to support U.S. claims about security risks. Among the sceptics, the Czech Republic's cyber-security watchdog has issued a warning to all critical network companies, identifying risks of equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and the smaller ZTE. Elsewhere, the Netherlands and Italy have talked about retroactive mechanisms for removing Chinese equipment should it be found wanting. Poland might impose stricter security requirements on elements of the network core that route traffic and handle sensitive information. Taken as a whole, Europe appears to lack the appetite for outright bans, and any consensus reached on a standards-based toolbox would represent a big win for Huawei. That would not, however, eliminate the risk that it is kicked out of individual markets at a later stage. (Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Additional reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Elvira Pollina, Isla Binnie, Toby Sterling, Anna Koper, Jan Lopatka, Gergely Szakacs and Radu Marina; Editing by David Goodman) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Man giving up sons at Moscow airport surrenders to law enforcement flickr.com/ Yazan Badran 12:58 28/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 28 (RAPSI) A resident of Russias Khabarovsk Krai, who had given two his sons up at Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport, turned himself in one of the Investigative Committees units. He is now being questioned, the Investigative Committees press service reports. Two boys born 2011 and 2014 were found in the airports building on Sunday. Their documents and fathers letter asking to temporarily place the children in an orphanage because of his financial problems were found in the minors bags. According to investigators, the boys father departed for the city of Rostov. The case is opened against him over child endangerment. Investigation is ongoing. Thomas Markle has said his daughter Meghan has not been subjected to racism in Britain. In an interview with ITVs Good Morning Britain on Monday, Mr Markle criticised her and Prince Harry for deciding to break from the Royal Family. Asked by presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid about alleged racist coverage of Ms Markle, her father replied: Im having trouble buying that. Theres never been a problem in terms of race with Meghan at her school or at any place and I havent noticed it in England at all. Thomas Markle has given an interview to Good Morning Britain. (GMB/ITV) I think England is even far more liberal than the United States when it comes to races. So I dont think that she is being bullied in any way or any shape because of racism. In a controversial move, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have decided to step back from royal duties and divide their time between the UK and Canada. In a TV interview last week, Mr Markle said Harry and Meghan wont see him again until hes lowered into the ground. Mr Markle, right, was interviewed by Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid. (GMB/ITV) Mr Markle has said he is willing to testify against his daughter in her legal action against three newspapers. In the interview, Ms Markles estranged father told Prince Harry to man up and meet him in an effort to repair his relationship with his daughter. He said he is "really disappointed" he has not seen his grandson Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, adding: "And I really miss my daughter." He said his message to Harry is: "Man up and fly down to see me. And we'll talk." Read more: What a paparazzo thinks will happen to Harry and Meghan's privacy after the royal split Hillary Clinton quotes Meghan Markle on Instagram Canada monarchists aflutter over Prince Harry and Meghan's move Asked what he would say to Meghan, he told the programme: "I'd say: 'I love you', and: 'Let's sit down and work this out.' She was the closest thing to me for years and years and years, until she went off to college and even then. "This is ridiculous. We should get together. I dont think that she is being bullied in any way or any shape because of racism. Thomas Markle says the negative coverage of his daughter Meghan is not racism. pic.twitter.com/AFEV10J8zf Good Morning Britain (@GMB) January 27, 2020 Asked what he would say to people who are critical of him doing TV interviews, Mr Markle said: "I would tell them to try being in my position for a while and see what it's like have a family member ghost you and not speak to you, and see how you feel. Story continues "It's something that stays with you 24/7 every day, and it never goes away. "It's always on your mind. You wake up with it. You go to sleep with it. It's very hard to deal with." Asked about how he is trying to contact his daughter, he said: "For me, there is no other way to reach them. I pretty much will give an interview and wait for 30 days for some kind of answer back. "If I don't get one back then I'll try another interview." Last week, Mr Markle admitted to lying to Harry about a series of staged photos in the run-up to the couples wedding in 2018. Mr Markle is the main witness for Associated Newspapers, owner of the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, in its response to Meghan's legal action over an article featuring parts of a handwritten letter to her father. Meghan and Prince Harry have decided to stop being senior royals. (Reuters) The duchess's defence is seeking damages from the publisher for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act. Asked about the possibility of meeting Meghan and Harry at court as part of the legal action, Mr Markle told Good Morning Britain: "If it comes to meeting them in a courtroom, that's great. At least I'd finally get to see them." He went on to say he did not want a "battle". Speaking about the couple's decision to step back as senior members of the Royal Family, Mr Markle said it is "never going to work", adding: "I think they've hurt the Queen. I think they've hurt the royals." He said: "I'm a little embarrassed for them, and feeling very sorry for the Queen." Burma China Nixes Myanmars Plan to Evacuate 60 Students From Virus-Hit Wuhan Chinese medical officials monitor a thermal scanner as passengers arrive at the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, on Jan. 27, 2020. / REUTERS YANGONIt is not currently possible to evacuate 60 Myanmar students from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Chinas Hubei Province, as planned by the Myanmar government, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The Myanmar Embassy in Beijing announced on Sunday that the students request to return to Myanmar had been granted. It planned to evacuate them by bus to Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, which is 350 kilometers from Wuhan and outside an exclusion zone in which local governments are trying to halt the spread of the contagious disease. However, it was announced at a special briefing on the outbreak of the virus held at the Chinese Foreign Ministry that the evacuation of foreigners living in Wuhan via neighboring provinces would be very difficult. They [Chinese officials] dont expect to arrange it, the Myanmar Embassy in Beijing said in a statement on Monday. It quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry officials at the briefing as saying that universities and schools in the affected areas are providing emergency health services and food. The officials said no country had arranged charter flights to evacuate their citizens, and insisted the situation was not yet so grave as to warrant such action. The embassy urged students in Wuhan not to panic and to strictly follow the preventive measures against the virus announced by local authorities. China said on Tuesday that 106 people had died from the new coronavirus that is spreading across the country, up from the previous toll of 81, Reuters reported. The number of total confirmed cases in China rose to 4,515 as of Jan. 27, the countrys National Health Commission said in a statement, up from 2,835 reported a day earlier. You may also like these stories: China Virus Death Toll Passes 100 as US, Canada Issue Travel Warnings Cambodia, Sri Lanka Report 1st Cases of New Coronavirus Infection Wild Elephant Found Skinned in Myanmar Forest Reserve; Poachers Flee Scene New Delhi, Jan 28 : AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that the February Assembly elections are a fight between two crore people of Delhi and 200 BJP MPs, as he urged people to vote for AAP. "This fight is between two crore people of Delhi and 200 BJP MPs. When they come, count the number of works done in five years and send them back to their states. Do not let them insult Delhi," he said while addressing the public during his roadshow here. Kejriwal referred to the BJP bringing in 200 party MPs, 70 ministers and 11 Chief Ministers to Delhi for campaigning. "They are coming here to defeat you, your son Kejriwal, to defeat and insult the work that we have done in five years. Now they will come and insult and find faults in our schools, Mohalla Clinics, electricity, water, etc. I want to ask the people, will you remain quiet and bear the insult?" he asked. Soon after, several AAP leaders tweeted that the entire BJP was pitted against Kejriwal. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Members of the CCSU in a statement issued Monday, January 27, 2020, made it clear that they are not in agreement with the draft Pension Reform Legislation for civil servants and announce that no consensus was reached between the CCSU and Government as to the way forward after the draft Pension Reform legislation was sent back to the Central Committee of Parliament. The Members have made this known to Government and to all three Ministers of General Affairs that have held the office in the last six months. In 2016, outside the body GOA/CCSU, the unions, the representatives of the Government and APS jointly signed a covenant, that expressed parties intention to jointly work on a new Pension Legislation for civil servants. This was done under the assumption that the APS fund would no longer be sustainable if reforms to the legislation were not implemented. Late 2018, under assurances from Government that all agreements established in the workgroup had been incorporated in the draft legislation, the Members of the CCSU signed a letter approving the draft Pension Reform Legislation. Despite the Members of the CCSU not having reviewed the contents of the draft legislation because Members were constantly discouraged to initiate a review as it would be too technical for the Members to understand. It is only during the Central Committee meetings in Parliament that the Members of the CCSU and by extension their union members discovered that the draft legislation being presented did not properly incorporate their concerns and that by implementation other critical issues arose for which no remedy was provided for. In the Public Meeting of May 23, 2019, Parliament instructed the then Minister of General Affairs to go back to the platform of the CCSU and seek consensus as to a new way forward based on the concerns of both the unions and Parliament. As a result, a Consultation meeting was held on July 5, 2019, between representatives of the Minister of General Affairs and the Members of the CCSU. Unfortunately, no consensus could be reached as to how to proceed. A report of the Consultation meeting and a proposed way forward was submitted by the CCSU on Friday, August 30, 2019, and carbon copies of said documents were sent to the Secretary-General of General Affairs and the Head of the Department of Personnel. These documents were also sent to the Caretaker Minister of General Affairs. Since then, several requests for a response to the letter submitted on August 30, 2019, and or a meeting to discuss the matter, have been sent to the two former and current Minister of General affairs. It is for this reason that the Members of the CCSU were taken aback by statements made in the media by APS about the position of the CCSU on this matter and also statements made on the floor of Parliament in the Public Meeting of Thursday, January 23, 2020. During this meeting, reference was made to a recap of the meeting that was not taken from the report of the Consultation meeting submitted by the CCSU. More importantly, the recap was not shared with the CCSU before the meeting and contained many inaccuracies. The Members of the CCSU urge both the Government of Sint Maarten and APS to refrain from sharing any inaccurate information on the position of the CCSU to Parliament, civil servants or the general public. The Members remain firm in their resolve that they are not in agreement with current draft Pension Reform legislation based on the negative effects it would have on civil servants and their members when implemented and executed. Israel's Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit filed an indictment on Tuesday charging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in three corruption cases. It came after the embattled leader withdrew a request for parliamentary immunity from prosecution on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in connection with three separate cases, according to Jerusalem Post. Mandelblit had announced his final indictment last November, but could not file it until the prime minister's immunity request process was concluded. Netanyahu, however, has denied any wrongdoing in the cases. "In accordance with the provisions of the Knesset Immunity Law, their rights and obligations, the indictment was not submitted to the court, in order to allow a hearing on the PM's request for immunity," the indictment stated. "Following the Prime Minister's announcement today that he is withdrawing his request for immunity from the Knesset, we are updating that the indictment was filed shortly before the Jerusalem District Court, as required by law," it added. Netanyahu withdrew his request for immunity from prosecution just hours before the Knesset, or the Israeli parliament was scheduled to hold a vote on the request. Tuesday's filing could impact the upcoming parliamentary election scheduled to be held on March 2 -- the third in less than a year -- and change the course of negotiations over forming the new government and also who will become the new prime minister. Netanyahu, who is visiting Washington ahead of the launch of President Donald Trump's long-anticipated Middle East peace plan, said in a statement that he "decided not to let this dirty game continue". Netanyahu and Trump are scheduled to meet on Tuesday afternoon at the White House for the peace plan's announcement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Netflix has signed a multi-year agreement with animation studio Titmouse for the production of original adult animated series. Netflix said in a press release that as per the deal, it will also have a first look at adult animated series developed and created at Titmouse. The two companies have already partnered on a number of adult animated series, including critically-acclaimed and Emmy nominated 'Big Mouth' from Brutus Pink and upcoming series 'The Midnight Gospel' from Pendleton Ward and Duncan Trussell. 'This new and exciting relationship will help quench our relentless thirst for producing animated cartoons,' said Chris Prynoski, president and founder of Titmouse. 'We're thrilled to expand our collaboration with Chris, Shannon, and the entire team at Titmouse as we continue to develop and produce bold original animation together,' said Mike Moon, Head of adult animation for Netflix. Titmouse is an award-winning animation production company based in Los Angeles with artist-run studios there, in New York City, and Vancouver. Titmouse has been at the forefront of the evolving animation industry and produced a variety of projects. Netflix is the world's leading media-services provider and production company streaming TV series, documentaries and feature films in a wide variety of genres and languages. Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, Netflix has 167 million paid memberships in more than 190 countries. 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. Speaking on this, Mr Mungantiwar said that the NIA had been formed during the Congress regime for inter-state affairs. Mumbai: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sudhir Mungantiwar has created a flutter by warning that the Maharashtra government could be dismissed for intransigence if it fails to cooperate with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the Bhima Koregaon case. The Centres decision to transfer the Bhima Koregaon case to the NIA has not gone down well with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Home minister Amit Deshmukh has said that the state government has not received any communication for the transfer of the case to the NIA. The Pune police has reportedly denied access to documents relating to the case to the NIA, saying that they did not get any instructions from the state police chiefs office. Speaking on this, Mr Mungantiwar said that the NIA had been formed during the Congress regime for inter-state affairs. If any state is encouraging destructive activities, the law will take its own course, he said. If the state government is acting against the Centres decision, there could be a constitutional logjam. The governor will have to look into this issue. We all know that during the tenure of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, state governments were dissolved as many as 97 times. When the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government came to power, the law was amended to ensure that state governments were not easily dismissed easily. Even so, our existing law says that if states are acting against constitutional provisions, the Centre can intervene, said Mr Mungantiwar. Congress leader and PWD minister Ashok Chavan slammed Mr Mungantiwars comments, stating that there was no reason for the Centre to hand over the case to the NIA in the first place. They needed to take the consent of the state government while handing over the case to the central agency. It is interference by the Centre in state affairs, he alleged. NCP minister Nawab Malik dared the Centre to dissolve the MVA government in the state. The NIA took over the Bhima Koregaon case Friday in which several activists were booked for making provocative speeches at the Elgaar Parishad event organised at Shaniwar Wada in Pune on 31 December 2017, which then allegedly escalated tensions leading to riots in Pune and Mumbai. The activists were arrested and booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Following the information that the NIA has taken over the case, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh called a meeting of police officials involved in the investigation of the case along with the DGP to understand the extent of the probe. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) Senate Committee on Agriculture Chairman Cynthia Villar blamed the Philippine Carabao Center, an attached agency of the Agriculture Department, for the poor performance of children in school. Villar, during the panel hearing on Monday, said teachers are not solely to blame for Filipino childrens poor performance in school but also the lack of proper nutrition. She explained many poor children are not able to drink milk because of the countrys minuscule dairy production. Villar noted the country's farmers can only produce one percent of the demand for dairy through carabao milk. 99 percent of the dairy Filipinos consume are imported, with supplies coming from New Zealand, United States, and Australia. "Ang sinasabi ko, hindi lang DepEd ang partly to blame but also iyong inability natin to provide good nutrition to our children," she said in an interview after the hearing. [Translation: The blame is not solely on the Department of Education, but also in our inability to prove good nutrition to our children.] Villar reprimanded the DA's attached agency Philippine Carabao Center, whose mandate is to promote the Carabao as a source of milk and meat. She claimed that instead of boosting the country's dairy production, the agency is using its budget to buy vehicles. "Siyempre 'pag mahirap ang bata kaya ba bumili ng imported? Eh di hindi. So wala nang nagd-drink na milk na mahihirap na bata kaya partly to blame kayo sa kabobohan ng bata," she said. [Translation: Can poor children afford to buy imported milk? They can't so they can't drink milk. So you are partly to blame for the stupidity of the children.] The senator added, "Kung maliit ang production ng dairy, hindi na iinom ang mga bata ng milk. More or less, affected din and development ng kanilang mental ability." [Translation: If the dairy production is low, children won't drink milk. This will affect the development of their mental ability. A global survey in December 2018 showed the Philippines is ranked the lowest in reading comprehension and second lowest in science and mathematics among 79 countries. Villar said she hopes her criticisms against Philippine Carabao Center would lead them to improve their performance. Hours after senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said he didn't receive any money from the Popular Front of India (PFI), he made a U-turn and accepted receiving Rs 77 lakh as litigation fee for appearing in the Supreme Court between August 2017 to March 2018 for Hadiya in a case related to her marriage with Shafiya Jahan. On March 8, 2018, the Supreme Court overruled a Kerala High Court order that had annulled the marriage of 22-year-old Hadiya to Shafin Jahan, on a petition filed by her father. Hadiya, born a Hindu and named Akhila Asokan, had married Shefin, a Muslim man, in 2016. Sibal's remarks came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED), here on Monday, said it had identified the PFI and the Rehab Foundation India (RFI) for providing over Rs 120 crore for the protests over the new citizenship law (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). According to the ED, Rs 77 lakh was paid to Sibal, Rs 4 lakh to senior advocate Indira Jaising, Rs 11 lakh to senior lawyer Dushyant Dave and Rs 3.10 lakh to person named Abdul Samad, who is also named in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) charge-sheet. Refuting the claims Sibal had said, "The ED has released a statement analysing the PFI's bank accounts in which my name has been mentioned as a recipient for funding the anti-CAA agitations." Sibal said the CAA became law only in December, 2019. "In all matters in which I have appeared in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the CAA, I have not raised, till date, any invoice," he said. Accepting receiving Rs 77 lakh from the PFI, Sibal said, "The statement that I was paid Rs 77 lakh is with respect to a litigation in the special leave petition titled 'Shafin Jahan versus Asokan K.M. and others. This is related to Hadiya's marriage to Shafin Jahan, which was challenged right up to the Supreme Court with the NIA and the father of Hadiya being parties." In that, Sibal said he represented Hadiya, the wife, and ultimately the marriage was upheld and Hadiya was given the liberty to live with her husband Shafin. "For my appearances, I raised invoices and received payments thereon, through cheques from August 4, 2017 till March 8, 2018 from the PFI's Syndicate Bank account in Kerala's Kozhikode," he said. Sibal said he had raised the invoices on his advocate on record Haris Beerab for each of the appearances. Seven cheques were received in his office and were deposited in the bank by his staff, he added. "I was paid for professional services rendered and for nothing else. Any insinuations made to besmirch my name and defame me will be taken seriously," he said. Earlier in the day, Sibal refuted receiving payments from the PFI. "I have never received any amount from any organisation except for litigation. I don't even remember. Give me the dates of the receipt and I shall find out and let you know," Sibal told IANS. "If I would have received the payment then it must be a cheque payment, as I don't take cash," the senior lawyer said. "If this amount has come to me through bank transfer then I must have raised a bill. If that amount is paid for legal services then what's wrong?" he said. Sibal also said he never appeared for any one linked to the CAA protests. "I have not represented any of the PFI cases and also not of the CAA protesters. The PFI has never paid me," he said. An ED source told IANS, "While keeping a tab on the PFI, we identified 73 bank accounts. Following the money trail, we came to know about the RFI, which provided over Rs 120 crore for the CAA and the NRC protests." Stating that bank accounts with huge transactions were detected in the last two months, the source said, "The ED has been keeping a tab on the PFI's 27 and the RFI's nine bank accounts, and accounts of 37 individuals and entities in 17 different banks." "During the probe it was found the money transferred into these accounts were either cash deposits or made through NEFT/RTGS/IMPS. The amounts were withdrawn either the same day or within two-three days, leaving only minimal money in these accounts," the source said. From the PFI's Syndicate Bank accounts in Nehru Place (New Delhi) and western UP districts, like Hapur, Shamli, Bahraich, Bijnor and Dasna, branches Rs 41.5 crore was deposited. According to the source, Rs 27 crore cash was deposited in 27 bank accounts. Rs 1.04 crore was deposited in 15 bank accounts of the PFI in 10 banks and the RFI (five banks) between December 4, 2019 and January 6, 2020. He said the deposits were in the forms of IMPS using mobile and amounts varied from Rs 5,000 to Rs 49,000. The deposit was kept below Rs 50,000 to prevent disclosure of the depositor's identity. According to the source, nine offices of the PFI and related organisations have been opened in the Shaheen Bagh area to fund the protests. Reacting to the ED documents pertaining to payments for the CAA protests, PFI General Secretary Mohammed Ali Jinnah said, "The PFI strongly condemns the news reports broadcast by news channels regarding PFI's financial links to instigate the CAA protest. "First, the news channels have attributed the report to the ED through some 'unnamed sources', but the ED has not contacted our organisation, nor issued any official statement regarding allegations," he said. Stating that the PFI fully complied with the law of the land, Jinnah said, "the allegation of Rs 120 crore transferred from its accounts just before the CAA protest is baseless and the people who are levelling these allegations should prove these claims." He said few news channels were also broadcasting that funds transferred from the Kerala state PFI accounts were for advocates, like Sibal, Dave and Jaising. "It exposes the intention of the vested interests who are keen to blame the PFI for everything that is happening in India. The truth is transfers were made in 2017 as lawyer fees in the Hadiya Case. Attributing a fee transfer in 2017 as a funding for 2019 CAA protest is absurd and exposes the intention to defame the PFI," he said. "We challenge the so-called unnamed sources to prove that there is any wing of the PFI working in Kashmir," Jinnah said. The World Health Organization warns the evacuation of nationals from China to their home countries carries the risk of spreading the deadly coronavirus. The WHO reports 4,428 cases of the disease in China, including 106 deaths. Another 45 cases are confirmed in 13 countries. WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is wrapping up several days of talks with Chinas President Xi Jinping and other high-level officials in Beijing. They have been discussing measures to protect the health of Chinese citizens and foreigners during the coronavirus outbreak. WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier says officials also have considered possible alternatives to the evacuation of foreigners from China to ensure no infections are imported back to their home countries. He calls that a real possibility as the incubation period of the coronavirus is between one and 14 days. That means people can transmit the virus during that period. "There are possibilities that also asymptomatic people, people showing no symptoms at all, could be infectious, are definitely interesting and concerning and have to be closer looked at," he said. "That is all I can say so far It is one of the big unknowns about this virus, which has to be solved. Lindmeier tells VOA that the WHO does not yet have a position on the pros and cons of quarantining nationals upon their return. He says the WHO is waiting for clarification on the dangers of transmitting the disease during the incubation period before issuing advice. "Closely monitoring or even isolating people who are coming back might be a measure yet if we see symptoms," he said. "Monitoring, closely monitoring or, as some countries refer to isolating them even for a certain amount of time is a measure possible. It could help the scenario prevent the further spread of the virus. The good news says Lindmeier is that there has not been any major spread of the infection outside of China. The WHOs latest risk assessment of the coronavirus rates the regional and global risk level as high, and that of China as very high. While the virus is not rapidly spreading outside of China, the WHO urges countries to remain vigilant and be prepared. I sraels attorney general has filed a formal indictment in court against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It comes after Mr Netanyahu withdrew his request for parliamentary immunity from prosecution on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in connection with three separate cases. He has denied any wrongdoing. The Prime Minister was visiting Washington ahead of the release of US President Donald Trumps long-delayed Israel-Palestinian peace plan when the charges were filed in a Jerusalem court. The Israeli parliament had been due to debate on the immunity request on Tuesday but Mr Netanyahu said he would not have got a fair hearing. He also criticised opponents for going ahead with the debate as the peace plan was due to be unveiled. In a statement issued on his official Facebook page, Mr Netanyahu, said he decided not to let this dirty game continue. He continued: In this fateful hour for the people of Israel, when I am in the United States on a historic mission to design the permanent borders of Israel and ensure our security for decades to come, the Knesset is expected to open another exhibition in the circus of removing immunity. Hours after the announcement, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit filed a 78-page indictment to the Jerusalem District Court. It is the first time a serving Israeli prime minister has been formally charged with criminal offences. The court will now set a date for the start of Mr Netanyahu's trial. Even if convicted, Mr Netanyahu would not be required to step down as prime minister until the appeals process was exhausted. If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Popular club manager, Cubana Chief Priest, has reacted to the sudden death of Imo state senatorial candidate, Ndubuisi Emenike, who was mistakenly shot dead by an operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) attached to him for security, yesterday January 26th. Ndubuisi was at the home of a politician celebrating an election victory when he was shot dead by the NSCDC official who was amongst his security escorts. Read Also: I Am A Sign Of End Time: Cubana Chief Priest In his post, Cubana Priest claimed that Ndubuisis killer was paid to cut short his life. I Still Cant Believe It, My Brother, Friend Customer N Presido Is Gone, I Cant Sleep They Killed Him, They Paid A Nobody To Kill Him, Adieu Brother Thank You For Teaching Me Charity Thank You For Always Supporting My Activities, Functions N Brand, You Made Me Do My First Carnival For My Okabia People You Will Forever Be Remembered, The Tussle For Okigwe Zone Senator Has Claimed Two lifes, Sen. Benjamin Is Gone Now Emenike, What A Black Sunday Your Killers Will Suffer Eternal Misfortune Iseeeeeeh #CubanaChiefPriest #CelebrityBarMan, he wrote. Never heard of mourvedre? You might want to develop a taste for the rustic, full-bodied red wine because it could be crowding out such other wines as pinot noir on the shelves in coming decades due to climate change, a new study suggests. Some of the most suitable regions of the world for wine grape growing could shrink by more than half if temperatures keep rising, and local regions wouldnt be spared, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Although the study did not look specifically at the impact in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, both states could be affected through different aspects of climate change such as extreme weather events. The authors of the study say growers can significantly reduce the decline by planting different grape varieties. So the more heat-loving mourvedre could replace cooler-loving pinot noir in Frances Burgundy region, for example. The international team of researchers was led by Ignacio Morales-Castilla at the University of Alcala in Spain and Elizabeth Wolkovich at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. The team examined 11 varieties of wine grape: cabernet sauvignon, chasselas, chardonnay, grenache, merlot, monastrell, pinot noir, riesling, sauvignon blanc, syrah and ugni blanc. They studied the potential impact of temperature increases of 0, 2, and 4 degrees Celsius. They chose to use wine grapes as a barometer of the effects of climate change because detailed growing records stretch back hundreds of years. Wine grapes also are acutely sensitive to changes in weather. The scientists looked at the impact that warming would have on the plants developmental stages, such as when they bud and mature. The team estimated that regions of the world suitable for growing wine grapes could shrink by as much as 56% under an increase of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Further, 85% of those lands would no longer be able to produce good wines under an increase of 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 F). Though losses were unavoidable in either warming scenario, the scientists say changing the growing locations of certain varieties could reduce the losses by half under the 2-degree Celsius rise, possible by 2040 under their modeling. In some ways, wine is like the canary in the coal mine for climate change impacts on agriculture, because these grapes are so climate-sensitive, said study co-author Benjamin Cook from Columbia Universitys Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The cooler regions of Germany and the U.S. Pacific Northwest would mostly escape losses under a 2-degree scenario. In addition, they could even become suitable for growing merlot and grenache. Wine-growing regions that are hot now such as Italy, Spain, and Australia faced the largest losses, because they are already limited to planting the most heat-tolerant varieties. Switching varieties, however, could be met with cultural and gastronomic resistance. Conversations in Europe have already begun about new legislation to make it easier for major regions to change the varieties they grow, said Wolkovich at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. But growers still must learn to grow these new varieties. Thats a big hurdle in some regions that have grown the same varieties for hundreds and hundreds of years, and they need consumers who are willing to accept different varieties from their favorite regions. What about locally? The wine scenes in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey have boomed with the establishment of wine trails and more farmers learning that vineyards and tasting rooms provide new income. Lead author Morales-Castilla wrote in an email that some parts of the Eastern U.S. would lose at least some suitability for growing certain varieties of grapes. I think it is safe to say that under warming scenarios, climate conditions to grow those varieties are expected to change significantly, he wrote. Dan Ward, director of Rutgers Universitys Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Cumberland County, said that a few degrees of warming in the region wont have the same economic impact on grape growers as in the well-established global markets of Europe and elsewhere. Ward was not affiliated with the study and said he could not address its methods and findings. But he noted that New Jersey with its nascent market can be more flexible than tradition-bound European growers, so temperature change would not be as disruptive. Rather, Ward said the bigger local concern is the extreme weather events farmers are already experiencing due to climate change. Storms, wind, sodden ground, and sudden shifts in temperature can wipe out entire plantings. So thats more damaging than a few degrees of heat, Ward said. A severe rainstorm can eliminate an entire years crop. A severe change in weather can kill vines. Those kinds of extreme events are increasing in frequency, and that is a huge threat. Sri Lanka on Tuesday suspended its visa on arrival facility for travellers from China, its third largest tourism source market, a day after authorities here detected the country's first coronavirus infection. Sudath Suraweera, the chief epidemiologist of the country's health ministry, said on Monday that a 40-year-old Chinese woman was found positive for the virus. "She arrived on January 19 and was tested positive for the virus when she was leaving the airport on January 25. She was admitted to the infectious diseases hospital," he said. Following the first detection of the coronavirus case, the Sri Lankan health authorities ordered the suspension of the on arrival visa policy for Chinese nationals. Travellers from China must apply for visa via the online portal, the authorities said. Sri Lanka has become a major travel destination for Chinese tourists. Many Chinese nationals also work on Chinese-funded infrastructure projects - including a sea port, port city and highways. China was Sri Lanka's third largest tourism source market with 167,863 arrivals last year. The highest Chinese tourist arrivals were recorded in January and February during the peak Lunar New Year season. The officials at Colombo international airport said the entry to airport's arrival and departure terminals had been restricted to passengers only. Some 65 Sri Lankan students in China returned by Monday. Another flight to evacuate students is due to leave on Tuesday. A total of 204 students have been evacuated in the last three days. The government has said that it has completed the collection of information on students in China. A National Action Committee to prevent the spreading of coronavirus was convened on Monday. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed the committee comprising health experts. The death toll in China's deadly coronavirus epidemic has crossed the 100 mark while the confirmed cases have gone up to 4,200. In April last year, Sri Lanka suspended its plans to grant visas on arrival for citizens of 39 countries after the devastating Easter suicide bombings that killed nearly 360 people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Since 2015 a Chinese firm (Norinco) has been offering for export the AH4 155mm towed howitzer. This weapon was basically a copy of the older British M777, but can be lighter and always cheaper. AH4 was designed to use all the same Western ammo the M777 does. There is a lighter (3.4 ton combat weight) AHS4 mountain gun version for moving around in rough terrain. The AH4, at 4.5 tons when combat ready, is only 3.3 tons for the weapon itself, is too heavy for that. China also offers a GP6 laser guided shell that has a range of 25 kilometers and requires someone near the target (on the ground or in the air) to aim a laser at the target so the shell can home in on the reflected laser light. The U.S. developed this sort of thing in the 1980s (Copperhead) and found there was little demand for it on the battlefield. But other nations have fewer guided weapons available and China sells a lot of GP6 shells. The AH4 has a longer barrel, which helps a bit with range and accuracy. The M777 has a 155mm/32 barrel. That means the barrel length is 32 times 155mm or 5.1 meters (16.7 feet) long. The AH4 has a 155mm/39 barrel that is six meters (19.5 feet) long. Normal AH4 range is 25 kilometers but with rocket-assisted rounds it is 40 kilometers. The M777 has proved more useful, especially when using the GPS guided Excalibur or M1156 (ATK fuze) shells. The M777 is also very much combat proven. For example, a U.S. Marine artillery battalion fired 35,000 shells in five months while in Syria (June-October 2017) supporting Kurdish forces that captured the ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) capital city of Raqqa. The individual marine 155mm howitzers also fired more rounds per gun and fired the largest number of GPS guided rounds per gun in one campaign. Moreover, there were never more than six of the marine 155mm howitzers in action at any one time. The marines rotated artillery batteries in and out of Syria to allow for maintenance on the guns and rest for the crews. Thus each of the marine 155mm guns averaged 39 155mm rounds a day. But the marine 155mm howitzers fired over a hundred rounds on some days and only a few on others, usually on days they were changing position to keep up with the Syrian rebels. The marines fired a lot of M1156 GPS guided shells and often did so at extreme ranges. The M777 has also been used in Afghanistan and that combat record has made it difficult for China to obtain export orders for the AH4. There have been two export customers, both in the Middle East. Kuwait said it evaluated the M777 and the AH4 before choosing the Chinese howitzer. Details of the evaluation were not revealed but it may have come down to price and diplomacy (buying Chinese weapons is considered a friendly gesture towards China.) China is increasingly eager to compete with the most popular Russian and Western weapons. China has already taken much of Russias traditional low-end market and is now moving on to the more complex, expensive and effective Western designs. China often uses stolen tech and the Russians never really had the clout to stop China from stealing tech. But the West is different and better able to strike back, at least in theory. The Chinese are putting that to the test. BAE (a major British arms manufacturer) developed the M777 155mm towed howitzer, which entered service in 2005 and is now mainly manufactured in the United States because the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are major customers. The M777 is a lightweight (3.4 ton for just the gun, 4.2 tons combat ready) howitzer that currently costs from three to six million dollars each. The lightweight means the M777 can be moved slung under a helicopter and thus quickly moved to otherwise inaccessible areas. The M777 is the lightest 155mm towed howitzer ever fielded. M777 fire control is handled by a computerized system that allows faster response time and more accurate shooting. The M777 can use all current 155mm ammunition, including the Swedish/American GPS guided Excalibur shell or the even cheaper M1156, which is a large fuze containing the GPS and guidance system. The guided round cuts ammo use enormously because one guided round will often get the job done quicker and with less collateral damage that dozens of unguided rounds. The Americans began replacing their 1980s vintage M198s with M777s in 2007. Until then the M198 was the standard towed 155mm howitzer for the United States and many NATO counties. M198s weighs eight tons and can fire conventional rounds as far as 22.4 kilometers. For rocket-assisted projectiles (RAP) the range is 30 kilometers. These unguided shells land anywhere within a 200 meter circle. That's at 25 kilometers range. Accuracy gets worse at longer ranges. It takes 12 minutes for the M198 to be ready to fire after the truck towing it stops. It can pack up and move again in about 4 minutes. Using GPS the M198 can be in position to fire in less than ten minutes and shift to another target in about 8 minutes. So far the U.S. has ordered over a thousand M777s. The manufacturer has also received a contract to refurbish 33 M777s that returned from service in Afghanistan. This cost $91,000 per howitzer. The M777 is also used by Canada and Britain. The U.S. Army uses M777s in airborne and Stryker brigades. A five ton truck is used to tow the guns, but a special, 4.5 ton LWPM (Lightweight Prime Mover) is available to do that as well. The 4.2 ton M777 is much lighter than the M198 it replaces mainly because it (like the AH4) makes extensive use of titanium, and new design techniques. It fires shells with a maximum range of 40 kilometers (using RAP, or rocket assisted projectile, ammo). A crew of five operates the gun, which can be ready to fire in under three minutes, and ready to move in under two minutes. The M777 is light enough to be moved (via a sling) by CH-53E and CH-47D helicopters. Its sustained rate of fire is two rounds a minute, with four rounds a minute for short periods. The AH4 uses a crew of seven and has similar ready times and rates of fire. A Vietnamese mother who traveled to her motherland to volunteer wore a shirt with an unfortunate message, her daughter recently revealed on Facebook. On Jan. 18, Emily Le, of Vancouver, British Columbia, shared photos of her 49-year-old mother on the Facebook group page "Subtle Asian Traits." Images show the woman smiling and posing with a number of children and locals. The only issue, however, is the message on the mother's T-shirt in bold lettering, the words read, "NOT MY PROBLEM." "My mom went up to the mountains in Vietnam to help the less fortunate kids while wearing this shirt," Le posted. "She has no idea what it means (love you mom)." Le's post immediately went viral as of Tuesday afternoon, it has received over 30,000 reactions and nearly 3,000 comments. "A Melania trump situation but cuter lol," one person quipped, in a possible reference to the first lady's 2018 gaffe, in which she visited a migrant children's shelter in Texas and wore a trench coat with a message that read, "I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?" "What she did was noble but everyone commenting on what's written on her shirt!" another wrote. "Wonderful." In a follow-up interview with NextShark, Le's sister Jeannine Ho confirmed the account, explaining that she and their mother traveled to Vietnam to help less fortunate children for the Lunar New Year. "We drove up the mountains in a truck, approximately 30 minutes away from Ninh Hoa," Ho explained. "My mom, aunts and I handed out rice, fish sauce, spices, dried fish, shoes, chips and goodies for the children, and enough supplies to last them throughout the following months." Ho further added that she wanted to help, in part, due to her mother's perseverance. Ho's mother reportedly raised three daughters aged 18, 21 and 25 years old all by herself. "There were times where we had to go to the food bank for dinner," Ho recalled. "I was grateful for those who helped us when we were in need. Now that we are older, my mom and I decided to help out the people who need the support of others, just like how we once were." Ho also backed her sister's claim that their mother did not intentionally wear the shirt during their trip. "I have no idea where she got that shirt from, maybe it was one of my old shirts that she threw on," Ho told NextShark. "But her English isnt fluent so she has no idea what her shirt actually means. In fact, she couldnt even understand why I was laughing so hard while taking these pictures. Luckily, the children did not understand the shirt either." OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been warned that more than 200 senior jobs need filling across the federal government, including dozens in key leadership and oversight roles in different Crown corporations, commissions, agencies and embassies. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons Monday, January 27, 2020 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been warned that more than 200 senior jobs need filling across the federal government, including dozens in key leadership and oversight roles in different Crown corporations, commissions, agencies and embassies. In a memo to Trudeau shortly after the Liberals won re-election last fall, government officials said there were 220 so-called governor-in-council appointments that needed to be made immediately and another 360 that are set to expire by the end of 2020. The memo was released to The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act. The federal government has about 3,600 governor-in-council positions, including nearly 2,000 that are full-time jobs. They are, for all intents and purposes, appointed by either the prime minister or his cabinet. Federal records show Trudeau's cabinet has appointed or reappointed people to at least 16 such positions since the election, including renewing the terms of six Bank of Canada governors and the head of the Canadian Commercial Corporation. They have also appointed several ambassadors. Several others have expired since the memo was written. The list of empty seats includes Canada's ambassador to the U.S. and the auditor general. Canada has been without an ambassador in Washington since David MacNaughton resigned last August. Meanwhile, Sylvain Ricard has been serving as interim auditor general since Michael Ferguson died of cancer in February 2019. Officials specifically told Trudeau he needed to decide on a process for selecting a new auditor general as the government must consult every recognized party in the House of Commons and Senate and get both chambers to adopt a resolution approving the eventual appointment. The auditor general's office actually raised concerns in December about delays in key appointments, noting the government had failed to name new directors to the boards of more than a dozen Crown corporations. Such boards are essential for providing oversight and direction to taxpayer-funded corporations, the auditor general wrote in a report tabled with Parliament, adding: "Delays in appointments affect the board's ability to fulfil its important governance role." The reasons for the governor-in-council vacancies are not identified in the memo, though it does note that in 2016, the Liberal government expanded a merit-based selection process originally implemented in 2009 for leadership positions to include all such appointments. The current appointment process is "transparent and merit-based, strives for gender parity and seeks to ensure that Indigenous Peoples and people of diverse backgrounds are properly represented in positions of leadership," said Trudeau's spokeswoman, Ann-Clara Vaillancourt. The memo echoes that assertion, but does not indicate whether the change has been successful in meeting those goals. It does say the number of non-judicial appointments fell to 599 in 2018-19 from 784 in 2016-17. The number of judicial appointments increased to 191 from 137. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Penny Collenette, who was former prime minister Jean Chretien's director of appointments for four years, said several factors may have contributed to the number of vacancies and expiring terms, including the election. There is also the possibility of a logjam within the Prime Minister's Office and the Privy Council Office that supports it, where the appointment process has been centralized for several years, she said. "It's not necessarily surprising, but it's not ideal," Collenette said of the vacancies. "Without these appointments, the machinery of government will not operate." The federal New Democrats blasted the government for the vacancies and expired terms. "We're talking about positions that exist to keep the government honest and deliver services, protect the rights, and ensure the safety of Canadians," said NDP public services critic Matthew Green. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2020. SAN DIEGO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA) (the "Company"), the first-ever publicly traded cannabis company in the United States that launched the world's first-ever cannabis-derived nutraceutical products, brands and supply chain, announced today that its subsidiary Kannaway is now available in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Kannaway was the first direct selling company to offer hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products in both the U.S. and Europe. The Company currently ships its products to over 30 countries in Europe and throughout the United States. In June 2019, Kannaway announced its expansion into the Asian market and this expansion into Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is part of the Company's aggressive international expansion plans. "Kannaway has pioneered direct selling hemp-derived CBD in the U.S. and Europe and has been rapidly expanding as consumers in new markets are eager to try our products," said Medical Marijuana, Inc. CEO Dr. Stuart Titus. "We believe that people around the world, no matter their geographic location, should have access to CBD products and we're here to educate them on why it is so vital to everyday wellness." Kannaway Brand Ambassadors in these countries can now set up their back-office Kannaway accounts as well as gain access to all the Kannaway website assets in their native tongue, including blog posts, news, event pages, marketing tools, and the Kannaway Online Store. "Our expansion into Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is an amazing example of Kannaway continuing to blaze a trail in opening up and developing new foreign markets," said Kannaway CEO Blake Schroeder. "Each new market we enter allows us to offer our products to consumers in need while growing our share of the global $17.4 billion CBD nutraceuticals market." To learn more about Kannaway, please visit https://kannaway.com/ . About Kannaway Kannaway is a network sales and marketing company specializing in the sales and marketing of hemp-based botanical products. Kannaway currently hosts weekly online sales meetings and conferences across the United States, offering unique insight and opportunity to sales professionals who are desirous of becoming successful leaders in the sale and marketing of hemp-based botanical products. About Medical Marijuana, Inc. We are a company of firsts . Medical Marijuana, Inc. ( MJNA ) is a cannabis company with three distinct business units in the non-psychoactive cannabinoid space: a global portfolio of cannabinoid-based nutraceutical brands led by Kannaway and HempMeds ; a pioneer in sourcing the highest-quality legal non-psychoactive cannabis products derived from industrial hemp; and a cannabinoid-based clinical research and botanical drug development sector led by its internal R&D and scientific team and its pharmaceutical investment companies and partners including AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc. and Kannalife, Inc . Medical Marijuana, Inc. was named a top CBD producer by CNBC . Medical Marijuana, Inc. was also the first company to receive historic import permits for CBD products from the governments of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Paraguay and is a leader in the development of international markets. Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s headquarters is in San Diego, California, and additional information is available at OTCMarkets.com or by visiting www.medicalmarijuanainc.com . To see Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s corporate video, click here . Shareholders and consumers are also encouraged to buy CBD oil and other products at Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s shop. FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined 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. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Medical Marijuana, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) DISCLOSURE These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. LEGAL DISCLOSURE Medical Marijuana, Inc. does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act. CONTACT: Public Relations Contact: Andrew Hard Chief Executive Officer CMW Media P. 858-264-6600 [email protected] www.cmwmedia.com Investor Relations Contact: P. (858) 283-4016 [email protected] SOURCE Medical Marijuana, Inc. Related Links http://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com Britain's Prince Andrew has given the FBI "zero co-operation" following its requests for an interview about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, it was claimed last night. Geoffrey Berman, a US attorney, said federal prosecutors and the FBI had asked to interview Andrew about the late paedophile billionaire, but had been met with a wall of silence despite the prince previously saying he would talk to investigators if required. "The Southern District of New York and the FBI have contacted Prince Andrew's attorneys and requested to interview him, and to date he has provided zero co-operation," he said. Buckingham Palace declined to comment. A source said the issue was being dealt with by the prince's legal team. Prince Andrew (59) was removed from public duties in November after a disastrous TV interview focusing on claims he slept with a teenager who was trafficked to London by Epstein. Virginia Roberts Giuffre has alleged that she had sex with the prince three times at Epstein's request, including once in London in 2001 at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell, a close friend of both Epstein and the prince. Andrew vehemently denied the claim and said he had no recollection of meeting her. But the BBC 'Newsnight' interview backfired when he failed to show empathy for the late financier's victims or regret over their friendship. He insisted he would need to take legal advice before agreeing to give a statement under oath and that only "if push came to shove and the legal advice was to do so" would he be willing to give testimony to US authorities. But following days of intense criticism, he backtracked and confirmed that he was "willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required". Mr Berman, who is leading an investigation into Epstein's possible co-conspirators, was speaking at the disgraced billionaire's former New York home at an event to promote a law that makes it easier for victims to sue over childhood abuse. Before being asked if he had "reached out" to Prince Andrew, he confirmed the investigation was looking at possible "conspirators" who had worked with Epstein, who killed himself in prison aged 66 last August. "Jeffrey Epstein couldn't have done what he did without the assistance of others, and I can assure you that the investigation is moving forward," he said. He said he had decided to speak out about the prince's failure to co-operate to date because he had "publicly offered" to assist the investigation. A New York judge is considering whether to unseal a tranche of documents containing new allegations against Epstein. Prince Andrew is thought to be named in the documents, which include depositions from 29 people, including new witnesses and Epstein himself. Hundreds of people named in the files were expected to have been formally notified by the end of last year to give them a chance to respond. The evidence is part of a defamation lawsuit filed in 2015 by Ms Giuffre against Ms Maxwell, Epstein's alleged former "madam". Ms Maxwell has written a letter to the court to try to persuade the judge to keep the documents sealed. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Khamenei and the inevitable risk The disqualification of 90 incumbent members of parliament (Majlis) for the next parliamentary elections to be held on February 22 in Iran indicates the intention of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to consolidate his regime so he can thwart the crises that have been plaguing it. The disqualified parliamentarians belong to groups other than Khamenei's inner circle and were disqualified by the unelected Guardian Council, which is entirely and exclusively under the direct control of Khamenei. The supreme leader, however, knows better than anyone else what kind of risks such purging of current M.P.s and other candidates poses. But what other option is left for Iran's religious dictatorship? In a country rich in natural resources, where more than two thirds of the population is living below the poverty line, unemployment is raging among the younger generation, especially the most educated, who cry freedom and democracy and a decent life, reflected in the November uprisings, when that segment of the population took the streets against fascism. Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian regime president, has presented his next year's budget, which is far from practical. Iran's oil exports have suffered significant setbacks since the imposition of United States sanctions. The budget is based on the daily export of 1 million barrels of oil, which is undoubtedly far-fetched. After killing more than 1,500 people and incarcerating 12,000 more during the last November's uprisings, and at a time when the ruling clerics are facing a deep legitimacy crisis, they can hang on to power only by resorting to sheer repression. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the regime's main force for imposing the repression in the country, is facing defections due to increased isolation after the events of the last few months. During the uprising last November, a popular outcry in January over the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, slogans chanted by people targeted Khamenei. The elimination of Qassem Soleimani, among the regime's most powerful figures, also struck an irreparable blow to the regime. The supreme leader, under such circumstances, has to consolidate his position. The regime's infighting and rivalries Suffice it to say that resorting to the policy of eliminating the rival faction in the upcoming elections will create a lot of tension, even at the top of the system. Regarding this, a state-run newspaper wrote on January 20 that the disqualification and unipolarization of the parliamentary elections have become a battleground among the country's leaders. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting on January 22, Hassan Rouhani referred to the extensive disqualifications of his inner circle by the Guardian Council: "The goal is to get a decisive majority to participate in the election. Elections can take place, as in some countries, with the participation of 15% of the population, but this would not be desirable. We have never wanted an election with such a low participation level." Rouhani's speech was undoubtedly aimed at Ali Khamenei. Rouhani threatened the regime's leader by saying that if his inner circle candidates are removed, Khamenei shouldn't expect any cooperation to create the usual fake statistics of all past elections, such as multiplying the number of electoral votes by a certain coefficient in a so-called "compilation room." This is the method by which the regime has presented the election results. Dangerous occurrence In order to deal with the upcoming crisis, Khamenei has no option but to resort to such a risky gamble. His close associates have already warned him about this dangerous policy. The so-called reformist, Mousavi Laari, for instance, was quoted as saying: "In most provinces, they (the Guardian Council) have rejected the valuable candidates from the race, hence turning the elections into a space of elimination. This is a dangerous development for Iran's today and tomorrow" (Arman newspaper, January 10, 2020). Laari warned against a kind of an unannounced boycotting of the election by those who have been disqualified: "People tend to vote for the person they believe and endorse; otherwise, they will not participate in the election." Myth or reality in ambush To sum up, one could argue that following the nature and ferocity of the recent uprisings, the overthrow of the clerical regime is no longer a myth. Rather, it is a reality, which the supreme leader knows quite well, as some analysts say the regime is on its last legs. The leader of the Iranian opposition defined this year as "the year of downfall." By adopting the policy of consolidating its regime, Ali Khamenei endorses these analysis and speculations. The Washington Post suspended one of its reporters, Felicia Sonmez, after she posted tweets Sunday about Kobe Bryant in the hours after his death The Washington Post suspended one of its reporters, Felicia Sonmez, after she posted tweets Sunday about Kobe Bryant in the hours after his death. More than 100 Post journalists criticised the papers decision on Monday. Sonmez on Sunday posted a link on Twitter to a 2016 Daily Beast article that detailed an allegation of sexual assault made against Bryant in 2003. Her tweet appeared amid a flood of public tributes to the retired Los Angeles Lakers star, who died earlier that day in a helicopter crash at age 41. Sonmez received an email from The Posts executive editor, Martin Baron, at 5.38 pm, before she was told that she would be placed on leave. The reporter shared the three-sentence email with The New York Times. Felicia, Baron wrote. A real lack of judgment to tweet this. Please stop. Youre hurting this institution by doing this. The text of Barons email was attached to a screen shot of Sonmezs tweet linking to the Daily Beast article. A spokeswoman for The Post and Baron did not reply to requests for comment on the email. Bryant was arrested in 2003 after a complaint by a hotel employee in Colorado. A charge of felony sexual assault was dropped in 2005, and Bryant settled with his accuser out of court, saying in a statement that he believed the encounter with the woman was consensual, although he had come to understand that she did not see it the same way. Sonmezs tweet drew a swift backlash from other Twitter users. She followed it with a post about the negative responses she had received. Well, THAT was eye-opening, she wrote. To the 10,000 people (literally) who have commented and emailed me with abuse and death threats, please take a moment and read the story which was written (more than three) years ago, and not by me. Sonmez also posted what appeared to be a screenshot of an email she had received that used offensive language, called her a lewd name and displayed the senders full name. She deleted the three tweets after being told to do so by Tracy Grant, the newspapers managing editor, but not before other journalists captured them in screen shots. The Post confirmed the paid suspension Monday, but didnt specify which of the tweets had prompted it to take action. National political reporter Felicia Sonmez was placed on administrative leave while The Post reviews whether tweets about the death of Kobe Bryant violated the Post newsrooms social media policy, Grant said in a statement. The tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues. After Sonmez deleted the tweets Sunday, she received an email from Grant acknowledging the threats she had received. Thank you for deleting the tweets, Grant wrote to her in an email that Sonmez shared with The Times. You might want to consider a hotel or a friends place for this evening. The reaction among Sonmezs colleagues started to emerge Monday with a post on Erik Wemple Blog, The Posts media criticism column, and in a letter that was organised by the NewsGuild, the union that represents Post journalists, and signed by more than 130 staff members, including the papers most prominent reporters. In his post, Wemple called the suspension misguided. The letter signed by Post journalists, which was addressed to Baron and Grant, criticised how the paper handled the matter. Felicia received an onslaught of violent messages, including threats that contained her home address, in the wake of a tweet Sunday regarding Kobe Bryant, the letter said. Instead of protecting and supporting a reporter in the face of abuse, The Post placed her on administrative leave while newsroom leaders review whether she violated the social media policy. While acknowledging the tragedy of Bryants death, the letter went on to note that we believe it is our responsibility as a news organisation to tell the public the whole truth as we know it about figures and institutions both popular and unpopular, at moments timely and untimely. Sonmez said in an interview that she did not add any commentary of her own to the tweet that included a link to the Daily Beast article. Because The Post does have policies governing these things, all I did was tweet out a link to the story, she said. I didnt think it was my place to provide any further commentary. When others on social media started sending her messages that called her rude names and made death threats and rape threats, she followed The Posts security protocol by contacting Grant. Grant wrote back, telling her to delete the tweets on Bryant. By then, Sonmez said, someone had posted her home address online. In the many emails she received Sunday, Sonmez said she had missed the one from Baron, adding that she did not read it until the next afternoon. The debate over when it is appropriate to note the flaws and mistakes of prominent people in the immediate aftermath of their deaths is common on social media. The reaction against Sonmezs tweets seemed fueled by how the #MeToo movement has complicated the legacies of artists, actors, athletes and other popular figures who have been accused of sexual misconduct. Bryant reached a settlement with his accuser in 2005, more than a decade before powerful men including the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, the CBS anchor Charlie Rose and the CBS Corp chief executive Leslie Moonves left their posts or were ousted from their roles after allegations were made against them. Sonmez said she was in The Posts newsroom at the time of her tweets. I expected to get some blowback, she said. I can understand that it would be difficult for people to read that, but its also difficult, I imagine, for all of the survivors in the country to see these allegations essentially be erased, which is how I felt in those couple of hours in the newsroom. Sonmez was one of two women who accused Jonathan Kaiman, a Beijing bureau chief of The Los Angeles Times, of sexual misconduct. After The Los Angeles Times conducted an investigation in 2018, Kaiman resigned. Journalist Emily Yoffe wrote an article last year on the accusations against Kaiman and their repercussions for Reason, a magazine published by the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank. Sonmez criticised the article for what she described as its omissions and basic factual errors. Reason updated the article and appended a note at the end of it to address what it called three minor matters of fact. Sonmez posted some of her criticisms on Twitter. The NewsGuild and The Posts journalists referred to the reporters personal history in their letter Monday. This is not the first time that The Post has sought to control how Felicia speaks on matters of sexual violence, the letter said. Felicia herself is a survivor of assault who bravely came forward with her story two years ago. After saying that The Post had shown an utter disregard for best practices in supporting survivors of sexual violence, the letter called the papers social media policy arbitrary and overbroad, adding, We have repeatedly seen colleagues including members of management share contentious opinions on social media platforms without sanction. But here a valued colleague is being censured for making a statement of fact. Rachel Abrams c.2020 The New York Times Company The slides arrived in what looked to be a handmade wooden box labeled, "Yosemite 1903." Inside lay a total of 120 slides depicting life in Yosemite National Park in the early 1900s at iconic locations like Half Dome, Nevada Falls and El Capitan. Yosemite had become only the third national park in the United States just 13 years before, and a man by the name of Charles F. Oehler set about taking photos of the park, which were passed on through the generations of Oehler's family and donated by his grandsons. About 89 of the slides were original photos taken by Oehler, with each painstakingly painted to add details like a multi-hued sunset or a rainbow curving over Bridal Veil Falls. Also known as lantern slides, each individual slide is a photo negative pressed between two pieces of glass and used in a projector known as a magic lantern, which could then be shown to groups of people. READ ALSO: Where San Francisco hid its speakeasies during Prohibition Amy McKinney, the Archives Technician with Yosemite National Park who is working with the lantern slides, remarked on the unique character and details of the slides. "The methods are so different of how they're capturing photography... and then someone [took] the time to go back in and hand draw in the little rainbows and sunset." McKinney's team meticulously scanned and documented each slide from the donation and is working to place the photos online as part of the park's online digital archives. (Other slides in the collection include photos of Yosemite Park made by other photographers from the same time period.) "It's really fun to see how things are very similar to what they looked like a hundred years ago," McKinney said of the images. Take a look back in time at a small selection of the slides made by Oehler in the slideshow above, and explore more of Yosemite's photo archives here. Dianne de Guzman is a Digital Editor at SFGATE. Email: dianne.deguzman@sfgate.com Stepping up attack on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah dared the AAP chief to visit the anti-CAA protest site at Shaheen Bagh so that the people of Delhi can decide whom to vote for in the assembly election. Addressing a rally in Rithala in northwest Delhi, Shah said Kejriwal and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were against the construction of Ram temple, the scrapping of provisions of Article 370 and not bothered about the country's image and soldiers. The opposition fears that they will upset their vote bank, he said and asked, "Are you their vote bank? Where is their vote bank?" To this, the crowd replied, "Shaheen Bagh". The BJP leader claimed the Delhi Police has booked Sharjeel Imam, a JNU student, on the charge of sedition for his comment of "trying to cut chicken's neck" and breaking the North East from the rest of the country. "I want to ask Kejriwal whether he is in favour of apprehending Sharjeel Imam or not? Whether you are with the people of Shaheen Bagh or not, please tell the people of Delhi," Shah said. Imam was one of the initial organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protest. Hitting back at the BJP, Kejriwal alleged that the saffron party does not want to open the Shaheen Bagh stretch of the Kalindi Kunj road as it is doing "dirty politics" over it. He said law and order in the national capital lies entirely with the Centre and "if they are saying that they need permission from me, I am giving them permission, open the road in one hour". "I can give it to you in writing, the BJP does not want to open the route in Shaheen Bagh. The Shaheen Bagh route will remain closed till February 8 (election day) and it will open February 9," Kejriwal told reporters. Calling Kejriwal a member of the 'tukde tukde' gang, a term used by the BJP to attack groups it accuses of working to promote violent leftists and separatism, Shah sought to return fire and said the protesters of Shaheen Bagh will not listen to his party. "They will not listen to us. You people (AAP leaders) say that you are with Shaheen Bagh, if you have the guts then go and sit with them and let Delhi decide," Shah said. At another election rally in Janakpuri, Shah accused Gandhi and Kejriwal of doing politics of "vote bank" on national issues and "supporting" the protest at Shaheen Bagh while instigating riots and vandalism. "The Modi government will not spare anti-national elements," he warned. Upon mentioning the recent Supreme Court judgment on Ayodhya, Shah was greeted with cheers and chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'. The home minister further said that this was the first Republic Day in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the tricolour was unfurled there with enthusiasm and without any bloodshed. The former BJP president also attacked the Kejriwal government for not fulfilling promises like regularising temporary employees, providing free wifi, opening new schools and colleges, constructing roads and cleaning the Yamuna. "Kejriwal government is in power since five years but till today there is no clean drinking water in the city. There are no good schools or hospitals as claimed by him. When I visited a Delhi government school, I saw that it was operating from a building that was illegally built and falls in the list of those that to be erased," Shah said. He claimed that Kejriwal came to power with the help of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement but "completely changed" later on. "He had said that he would not take any government accommodation or vehicles and other facilities but after becoming chief minister he availed all these facilities," Shah said. He also slammed the Delhi government for not sanctioning the prosecution of former JNU students' union leader Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case. Shah said if the national capital comes under the leadership of Modi, it will become the best city in the world. The BJP has a vision for development of Delhi and cleaning the Yamuna river will be on top of our agenda, he said. "Yamuna river is still dirty as against his (Kejriwal) claims of cleaning the river... Modi and Yogi (Adityanath) have cleaned Ganga river as promised. We will make Yamuna Riverfront like Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad," Shah said. However, a sizeable majority of those present at the public meeting was not convinced by the claims and promises made by Shah. Bablu Yadav, a migrant and resident of Janakpuri said, "Shah and Modi can only talk but Kejriwal knows how to perform. They keep raking up issues like Ayodhya, Kashmir, Muslims and Pakistan... what are they waiting for if they want to attack Pakistan? They are in power, so why don't they destroy it instead of telling us how wrong Pakistan is?" Another local Deepak Shrivastava who attended the Janakpuri meeting said, "All we hear from Modi and Shah are pep talks. I am an engineer from BHU and searching for a job. This government has failed the country's youth." "Now, they have a problem with protests in universities but it is the same youth who brought them to power in 2014. The same youth will ensure their defeat," he added. The public meeting in Janakpuri witnessed two incidents of pick-pocketing as the thieves managed to steal Rs 37,500 in cash and a mobile phone, police said. A new CEO is taking the reins at a Rochester computer maker. LiquidCool Solutions , previously called Hardcore Computing , named Steve Hallandas its new chief executive officer on Jan. 9. The announcement said the change was "effective immediately." He took over for Darwin Kauffman, a former Seagate Technologyexecutive, who had been CEO since 2017. The business is based at 2717 U.S. Highway 14 West. LiquidCool makes data-center servers and other computers that use immersion in coolant liquid to cool the technology and improve efficiency. The company was founded in 2007 by Chad Attlesey , Daren Klum and Scott Littmanunder the original name of Hardcore Computing. In the early days, it was led by CEO Al Berning . The company began by making custom desktop computers for video gamers, with aggressive names such as "Reactor" and "Detonator," but that never really caught on with customers. ADVERTISEMENT Halland is leading a very different company that is described as a "technology development firm with edge/fog and data center hardware... Its proprietary rack-based, single-phase immersion cooling eliminates fans and substantially reduces the amount of energy needed to cool IT components." Halland is the managing partner of Halland Group, a private equity consulting practice. He was previously vice president/general manager with NComputing. Halland has also served in leadership positions with Wyse Technology, Acer America, Technology Integration Groupand Ingram Micro. "LiquidCool Solutions is at a pivotal point where it has the opportunity to provide its total liquid submersion edge, fog, and data center technology to enterprise companies in a meaningful and disruptive way," Halland stated in the announcement of his hiring. Hallands appointment comes on the heels of a partnership with MIRIS, a Norway-based company that works in "green real estate technology." That deal gives MIRIS the exclusive right to distribute LCS technology in the "Nordic and Baltic countries." Biz buzz It looks like change is in the air at Fuji Sushi & Asian Bistro in downtown Rochester. The two-story restaurant in the 101-year-old Olmsted County Bank and Trustbuilding at 7 2nd St. SW recently closed for "restructuring." Now a sign has gone up offering space for lease. While no official confirmation was available yet, the unofficial buzz is that the second floor might be leased out to another restaurant or business. ADVERTISEMENT Fuji owner Yong Hao Liu, who also owns Rochesters two popular Ichi Tokyo sushi restaurants, might be considering relaunching the main-level restaurant as a different concept other than a sushi place. I'll keep checking on this to see what's on the menu for the future. (Refiles to fix typo in headline) CAIRO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Egypt has signed two deals with Exxon Mobil for oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean, the petroleum ministry said on Tuesday. The exploration deals include a minimum investment of $332 million, the ministry said in a statement. (Reporting by Ehab Farouk Writing by Aidan Lewis Editing by Louise Heavens) G raham Norton and Neil Gaiman are among those who have paid tribute to broadcaster Nicholas Parsons, who has died at the age of 96. Parsons, host of BBC Radio 4's Just a Minute, was surrounded by his family when he died in the early hours of Tuesday, his agent confirmed in a statement. TV host Graham Norton tweeted: The sound of the final whistle. Nicholas Parsons was truly the kindest and most generous person Ive ever worked with. His continued delight at being a part of show business should be an inspiration to us all! Huge love to his wife Annie and his whole family. Good Omens writer Neil Gaiman tweeted: Heartbroken. I was thrilled to have been able to work with Nicholas Parsons on Good Omens. I sort of directed him, but the direction was basically Youre Nicholas Parsons so do that. Kind and professional and a pleasure to work with. So sad. Parsons played Dagon, Lord of the Files in the 2019 TV mini-series adaptation of Gaiman and Terry Pratchetts book. Gaiman also shared a picture of himself with Parsons, tweeting: Im so proud to be in this photo working with someone Id respected and admired through Just A Minute for most of a lifetime. (Favourite acting role was his evil quizshow host in Time Bandits.) RIP Nicholas Parsons. You were an inspiration. Thank you for being part of #GoodOmens. Dame Esther Rantzen also paid tribute to Parsons, telling the PA news agency: Nicholas was a miracle of broadcasting talent at an age when many people would have gratefully retired. His mental and verbal agility kept the iconic radio 4 programme Just A Minute going from the time he chaired the pilot, through to today. He overcame a stammer, he was extraordinarily versatile, being the perfect straight man for famous comics to appearing in black suspenders in the Rocky Horror Show to delighting full houses at the Edinburgh Festival to his most recent role as King Rat of the Water Rats charity. Nicholas Parsons hosted Just a Minute from its inception in 1967. (PA ) / PA His huge contribution to Childline and The Silver Line has made a huge difference transforming the lives of children and older people, and he has been a valued supporter for the Lords Taverners and many other charities. The only mystery is why he was never knighted but friends and admirers like me always thought of him as Sir Nicholas Parsons. As a friend of his for many years I will miss him desperately and I know his millions of fans will feel the same. Actor Stephen Fry tweeted: Oh no. Nicholas Parsons gone? He ruled Just a Minute for Just a Lifetime. A stunning achievement: never scripted, always immaculate. From comedians sidekick to great institution, via Sale of the Century & much more. Unrivalled continuity, professionalism & commitment. Farewell x. Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan tweeted: RIP Nicholas Parsons, 96. A wonderful man who brought so much fun, charm, wit & pleasure to so many millions of people over so many decades. What a life. Comedian Rachel Parris tweeted an anecdote about Parsons from the Chortle comedy awards in 2016. The room was cacophonous, everyone was talking over the winners as usual, all night, until Nicholas Parsons won an award, and a reverent hush fell over the whole room followed by a thunderous standing ovation. Even drunk comics know true quality. Others who shared tributes included actor Richard E. Grant, comedian Chris Addison, and writer/broadcaster Gyles Brandreth. Parsons first fronted Just a Minute, where panellists have to speak for one minute without hesitation, from its inception in 1967. BBC Director-General Tony Hall said: Very few people have done so much to entertain audiences over the decades, and no one deserves to be called a broadcasting legend more than Nicholas Parsons. His charm, inventive intellect and ability to create laughs were unsurpassed. Our thoughts are with his family and all who knew him. Mohit Bakaya, controller of BBC Radio 4, said: Nicholas Parsons was one of the greats, a first class broadcaster and an icon in the world of British comedy. Nicholas always brought his sharp wit, brilliant poise and warmth to everything he did but particularly as host of Just a Minute where his excellence shone in each episode without hesitation, deviation or repetition. He was that rare beast a presenter whose appeal spread right across the generations and he was a unique member of the Radio 4 family. He will be greatly missed by us all, as well as the many, many listeners who he entertained so brilliantly. We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sell Nevada Energy Metals Inc. (CVE:BFF), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling. What Is Insider Buying? Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information. Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own companys stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'. View our latest analysis for Nevada Energy Metals Nevada Energy Metals Insider Transactions Over The Last Year insider Ron Loewen made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$75k worth of shares at a price of CA$0.075 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of CA$0.12. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices. Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 1.32m shares worth CA$99k. On the other hand they divested 229000 shares, for CA$31k. In total, Nevada Energy Metals insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! Story continues TSXV:BFF Recent Insider Trading, January 28th 2020 Nevada Energy Metals is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying. Are Nevada Energy Metals Insiders Buying Or Selling? We have seen a bit of insider selling at Nevada Energy Metals, over the last three months. insider Ron Loewen only netted CA$8.7k selling shares, in that period. Neither the lack of buying nor the presence of selling is heartening. But the selling simply isn't sufficiently substantial to be of much use as a signal. Insider Ownership of Nevada Energy Metals Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. From our data, it seems that Nevada Energy Metals insiders own 5.6% of the company, worth about CA$71k. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing! So What Does This Data Suggest About Nevada Energy Metals Insiders? While there has not been any insider buying in the last three months, there has been selling. But the sales were small, so we're not concerned. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. We'd like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we don't see anything to make us think Nevada Energy Metals insiders are doubting the company. To put this in context, take a look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow. But note: Nevada Energy Metals may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Reaction to Boltons book President Trump and his allies are moving to undermine the credibility of former national security adviser John Bolton, while also preparing to fight his ability to testify during the Senate impeachment trial, according to White House aides and outside advisers familiar with the strategy. As the presidents lawyers were defending his actions toward Ukraine on the Senate floor on Monday, Trump aides and allies were privately girding for the growing possibility that multiple witnesses will be allowed to appear. They scrambled to determine which testimony they could block and which witnesses they should potentially call, the aides said. The shift in the White Houses impeachment strategy comes after news emerged Sunday evening that a book by Bolton alleges that the president directly tied the holdup of nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine to investigations into former vice president Joe Biden a potential 2020 rival and his son Hunter Biden. (Washington Post) Featured stories In this image from video, Ken Starr, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks on Monday during the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Senate Television via AP)AP Impeachment trial: Trump team presents defense as pressure builds for new witnesses (CBS News) Analysis: John Boltons account upends Trumps denials, but will it upend Trump? (New York Times) 3 things you should know after Mondays impeachment trial proceedings (ABC News) Senate should remove Trump, majority of independent voters say in Fox News poll (USA Today) Chinas Hubei province says 100 dead, 2,714 total cases in virus outbreak (Reuters) CDC, State Department warn against any travel to China (The Hill) National news The Pistons honor Kobe Bryant prior to a game against the Cavaliers on Monday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. (Photo by Chris Schwegler, NBAE via Getty Images)NBAE via Getty Images LeBron James breaks silence on Kobe Bryants death, promises to continue Bryants legacy (cleveland.com) Today really hurts: Families, friends remember those who died in Kobe Bryant crash (NBC News) Kobe Bryants unexpected death leaves the world grieving, searching for answers (ABC News) In 5-4 ruling, Supreme Court allows Trump plan to deny green cards to those who may need government aid (NBC News) Democrats rally in support of bill to repeal Trump travel ban (The Hill) State Department removes NPR reporter from Pompeo trip (The Hill) Focus on Avenatti, U.S. judge says, as Trump critics Nike extortion trial begins (Reuters) Alabama boat dock fire: 8 dead, 7 rescued at Scottsboro marina (al.com) An Iranian with a student visa was detained at the Detroit airport. His lawyer says he gave up after hours of questioning (CNN) Sandy Hook shooting conspiracy theorist arrested after tormenting families of victims: Police (ABC News) Mississippi governor calls for Parchman Unit 29 cell block to close: Ive seen enough (CBS News) World news Trumps Middle East peace plan expected to offer Palestinians conditional statehood (Washington Post) Prince Andrew has not cooperated with attempts to interview him about Jeffrey Epstein, U.S. Attorney says (CNN) U.S. military aircraft crashes in Afghanistan (ABC News) Saudi Arabia wants U.S. troops to stay in Iraq, top official says (CNN) Violence escalates in Iraq as government pushes to end protests (Reuters) Auschwitz survivors warn of rising anti-Semitism 75 years on (Associated Press) Thousands flee northwest Syria as Assad pushes closer to Idlib city (Reuters) Iranian aircraft slides onto highway after pilot misses runway (BBC) A British man has died while locked up in a US immigration detention centre, the Foreign Office has confirmed. The 39-year-old-man died on Saturday at a facility in Florida, a source told BuzzFeed News. In a statement from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the man was identified as Ben James Owen. The preliminary cause of death is reported to be "self-inflicted strangulation". A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Our staff are in contact with the US authorities following the death of a British man in Florida. In 2019, 510, 854 people were detained by ICE / Getty Images It is understood the UK authorities are in contact with the deceased man's wife. In the US, authorities have begun an investigation into the circumstances of the death. The man was being detained by the country's border agency, known as ICE custody, at the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny awaiting deportation proceedings. Officials said Owen came to the US on a temporary visa in July and was later arrested on suspicion of felony aggravated stalking, felony false imprisonment, domestic assault, and violating the conditions of his pre-trial release. People are put on ICE hold when removal proceedings against them begin. Many are entitled to be released after a removal hearing takes place and individuals can pay a bond in order to be released. The number of people kept in ICE custody has soared under Donald Trump's administration. Last year, 510,854 people were detained by ICE compared to 396,448 in 2018. There has also been an increase in the use of detention facilities, many of them springing up in the south. The facilities, often run by private security firms, have been heavily criticised for their medical provision and mental health care. There has been a spate of high-profile deaths and the latest marks the fifth person to die in ICE custody since October. Eight people in total have died in ICE custody during the 2019 fiscal year, reports said. Students who have travelled to China in the last two weeks have been asked to stay home from schools, early childhood centres and TAFE until after the 14-day incubation period for coronavirus ends. Following sustained concern from parents, the NSW government on Tuesday afternoon changed their advice that students who had travelled to China but not been in contact with an infected person could go back to school on Wednesday. NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said they would be "asking parents to keep their children at home" if they had been to any part of China in the last two weeks, and the same advice would apply to teachers. "Many in the community have been wanting to see this. I think it is important we are taking this precautionary measure in line with community sentiment," she said. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Adcore Inc. (the "Corporation" or "Adcore") (TSXV:ADCO), a leading provider of machine-learning powered advertising technologies used by digital agencies and advertisers to enhance and maximize Search Engine Marketing ("SEM"), announced today that Donville Kent Asset Management Inc. ("Donville Kent"), a Toronto based North American equity fund, has selected Adcore as one of the twelve stocks to own in the next decade in the January 2020 edition of its ROE Reporter publication. In the January 2020 issue, Donville Kent selected companies they think "will become the big winners in the next decade". In this report, Donville Kent stated that the sector they think will produce a disproportionate number of winners over the next decade is the Canadian software industry, a sector which Adcore is a proud member of. Furthermore, Donville Kent added that "the big winners in the coming decades will likely come from companies with market caps of less than a billion dollars, that trade on reasonable valuations, and have relatively high margins". Adcore's Chief Executive Officer, Omri Brill, commented on the news, "Being on this exclusive list of twelve stocks to own in the next decade is a great honor for Adcore". Mr. Brill continued, "We are very lucky to be part of the fast-growing Canadian software sector, comprised of companies with high returns on equity and profit margins. Adcore definitely checks all the boxes in Donville Kent's requirements list for the next decade's big winners. Adcore is starting this decade with a relatively modest market cap but is in an excellent position to rapidly grow and is just getting started on its journey as a Canadian public company." Click here for Donville Kent's full report or by visiting https://donvillekent.com/about/ ABOUT ADCORE Adcore is a leading provider of machine-learning powered advertising technologies. Adcore's suite of solutions empowers digital advertisers with automated solutions to enhance and maximize their Search Engine Marketing ("SEM"). Adcore's technologies are designed for in-house marketing professionals, freelancers and advertising agencies to scale their SEM activity and maximize their ROI. By combining extensive industry knowledge and experience with its proprietary artificial intelligence ("AI") engine, Adcore offers a unique SEM platform. In addition to being named numerous times on Deloitte's Fast 50 Technology list, Adcore is a certified Google Premier Partner and Microsoft Partner. Adcore serves hundreds of clients worldwide including: Digital Marketing Agencies, e-Commerce Businesses, Travel, Financial Technology and Gaming Companies and its strength as an agile and leading player in the industry has led to winning the largest online tender to date in Israel, a co-managed 5-year $125 million contract with the Israel Government Advertising Agency. Established in 2006 and majority-owned by its founder and CEO, Mr. Omri Brill, the Corporation and its subsidiaries employs over thirty people in its headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel and satellite offices in Melbourne, Australia, Toronto, Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba. For more information about Adcore, please visit https://www.adcore.com/investor FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements about the Corporation. Wherever possible, words such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict" or "potential" or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management as at the date hereof. Forward-looking statements involve significant risk, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Corporation cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and the Corporation assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law. For further information please contact: ADCORE INC. Omri Brill, CEO Telephone: 647-497-5337 Email: info@adcore.com Website: www.adcore.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 the accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Adcore Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574361/Adcore-Picked-as-One-of-the-Dozen-Stocks-to-Own-in-the-Next-Decade Offering an Easy, Secure Private Way to Pay Curve, the Over-The-Top banking platform that consolidates multiple cards and accounts into one smart card and even smarter app, today brings its customers Apple Pay, which is transforming payments with an easy, secure and private way to pay. With Apple Pay on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac, customers can make fast and convenient purchases in stores, in apps and on websites. Curve simplifies and unifies the money management experience for customers with its unique ability to consolidate all bank cards into a single card and transfer transactions up to two weeks after a purchase was made with its go-back-in-time functionality. As soon as a customer sets up their Curve Mastercard with Apple Pay, it will work instantly with all cardholders' bank and cards linked to their Curve app. The launch of Curve for Apple Pay means that customers can now leave their wallet behind, spend more freely without any limit on most in-store transactions and still benefit from Curve's unique supercharged features, such as 1% instant cashback, the ability to travel in time and change the account that you spent with, and great foreign exchange rates at millions of places around the world. Security and privacy are at the core of Apple Pay. When you use a credit or debit card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element on your device. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique dynamic security code. "We are thrilled to announce Apple Pay is here for all European Curve customers," said Diego Rivas, Curve's Head of Product-OS. "Curve's integration with Apple Pay is a magnificent addition to Curve's unique money management features, superbly complimenting Curve's commitment to simplifying and unifying people's financial lives and enabling even more ways for customers to pay with one of the most rewarding and feature-packed personal finance products on the market," added Rivas. Apple Pay is easy to set up and users will continue to receive all of the rewards and benefits offered by Curve. With iPhone and Apple Watch, customers can pay with Apple Pay in stores, restaurants, taxis, vending machines and many more places. When shopping in apps or on the web in Safari with Apple Pay, there's no need to manually fill out lengthy account forms or repeatedly type in shipping and billing information. Every Apple Pay purchase is authenticated with just a glance or a touch with Face ID or Touch ID, or a device's passcode. 2019 was a pivotal year for Curve, in which it closed its series B funding round in July, valuing the business at a quarter of a billion dollars. The all-your-cards-in-one business also broke records in September, becoming the fastest UK startup in history to raise 4M in crowdfunding on Crowdcube. After initially smashing its 1M target in under five minutes it closed out the record breaking round at just under 6M. The Curve card is issued by Wirecard. For more information on Apple Pay, visit: http://www.apple.com/uk/apple-pay About Curve Curve is an over-the-top banking platform, consolidating all your cards and accounts into one smart card and even smarter app. The unique Curve card, issued by Wirecard, allows customers to supercharge their legacy banks to the 21st century without leaving their bank or topping-up. Curve offers a host of benefits to its customers; it makes all your cards fee-free when spending abroad, you get instant notifications and categorisation of spend, you can earn instant 1% cashback at the likes of Amazon, Uber, Netflix and Sainsbury's and Time Travel enables customers to swap spend to a different card in the app for up to two weeks after the purchase was made. For more information go to www.curve.app, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @imaginecurve and Instagram @imaginecurve. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. The Card is issued by Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd ("WDCS") pursuant to license by Mastercard International Inc. WDCS is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to conduct electronic money service activities under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (Ref: 900051) View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005315/en/ Contacts: For media enquiries Tom Farthing PR Manager +44 (0) 7931176282 Tom.Farthing@imaginecurve.com The Election Commission issued a show-cause notice to Union minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday for his "desh ke gaddaron ko" slogan at a poll meeting here, saying prima facie the remarks had the "potential of disturbing communal harmony" and the BJP MP had violated the election code and electoral law. Photograph: Anurag Thakur/Facebook Thakur has been asked to respond to the notice before 12 noon on January 30 (Thursday), "failing which the commission shall take a decision without any reference to you". In the show-cause notice, the EC referred to section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, dealing with attempts to promote enmity or hatred between different classes of citizens on the grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language. The notice also said the EC received a report from the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer on Tuesday, which said Thakur chanted "desh ke gaddaron ko" and the crowd responded, saying "goli maro sa*** ko" (shoot down the traitors) several times, while addressing a public meeting in Delhi's Rithala assembly constituency on Monday. It said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leader also made "certain other objectionable statements" at the meeting. The Delhi CEO Office on Tuesday said it had submitted a report to the EC on the "provocative" language used by Thakur while canvassing for BJP candidates contesting the February 8 Delhi assembly polls. At the Rithala rally, the MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh had egged on the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan -- "shoot the traitors" -- after lashing out at anti-CAA protesters. :Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday urged youth not to support those encouraging violence as such elements were anti-people working against the interests of the nation. Speaking at 'Kalams Convention -2020' organised by the Kalams Institute of Youth Excellence here, the Vice- President said peace was the prerequisite for development of the country. He said there was no scope for violence in a democracy wherein the ballot was more powerful than the bullet. Observing that the youth were the future of the country, the Vice-President urged them to always protect the country's rich cultural heritage, tradition and age-old civilisational values. He wanted the youth to show empathy and concern for the less privileged by adopting Indias core philosophy of share and care. Stressing the need to re-orient the educational system to nurture children to be creative, imaginative and innovative, Naidu called for revisiting the history textbooks to highlight the sacrifices and contributions made by freedom fighters. He called upon the youth to develop a positive outlook and strive to build a 'New India' free of poverty, discrimination, inequality, corruption and hunger. Talking about the need for ethics in public life, the Vice-President urged people to elect representatives who possess character, good conduct, capacity and calibre and not the other four Cs - caste, community, cash and criminality. Paying rich tribute to former President A P J Abdul Kalam, the Vice-President said Kalam was a shining example of human beings shaping their lives through will, persistence, hardwork, discipline, dedication, courage and perseverance. He (Kalam) dreamt of building a developed India and took up a mission to ignite the young minds for national development by meeting the students across the country, Naidu said. He said Kalam was an extraordinary scientist, visionary, passionate teacher and a compassionate human being, who inspired the youth to aim high, dream big and work hard to achieve their goals. Naidu asked the youth to fight against caste and gender discrimination and take the lead in protecting the environment and nature. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Franklin Graham Preaches Gospel in UK at 3-Day 'Festival of Hope' Amid LGBT Protests Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment LGBT activists and protesters displayed rainbow flags in the city of Blackpool to protest American evangelist Franklin Graham and the three-day "Festival of Hope." "I'm glad to be in Blackpool, England, to preach the Gospel at the invitation of 200 area churches. This morning I went down to the historic Blackpool Tower where my father Billy Graham stood back in 1982 when he came here to preach," Graham wrote on Facebook Thursday, ahead of the first day of the evangelistic event. "Will you pray this weekend, that many will turn to Jesus Christ and find the hope and peace that only He can give?" he asked. Some LGBT and Muslims groups, along with a few Christian churches and local politicians in Blackpool, have spoken out against Graham this past year, arguing that he has preached messages on same-sex marriage and Islam that they find offensive. The Guardian reported that the Blackpool Tower, mentioned by Graham, will be lit up in rainbow colors and will fly an LGBT flag in opposition to the conservative Christian evangelist. "The council is a strong supporter of all equalities issues and we use the rainbow flag and its derivatives on a regular basis to demonstrate that support across the whole year," a council spokesperson said. Some politicians, such as Gordon Marsden, the Labor MP for Blackpool South, had even asked the U.K. home secretary to revoke any visa granted to Graham due to what he said is the latter's "inflammatory views" toward Muslims and LGBT people. In July, LGBT activists pressured Blackpool Transport to pull bus ads promoting the "Festival of Hope." Jane Cole, managing director at Blackpool Transport, apologized for ever allowing the ads in the first place. "Blackpool Transport is a proud ongoing supporter of the Pride and LGBT+ communities and in no way did we intend to cause any distress or upset," Cole said at the time. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, of which Franklin Graham is president, acknowledged the controversy in an article about the "Festival of Hope" on Friday. It said that no matter the "hostility" that Graham is facing, hope remains that "God will move greatly during the evangelistic event." "My message will be the simple Gospel message: a timeless message of God's hope, love and redemption for all people," Graham said. "Regardless of the hostility, I plan to preach the Word of God in Blackpool." The BGEA urged people to pray that there is "no more opposition to the Gospel message and the festival's success," and asked that the negative media attention does not prevent people from coming to the Sept. 2123 events. Slamming JNU student Sharjeel Imam, who was booked under the charge of sedition and arrested earlier today from Bihar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Imam is more dangerous than Kanhaiya Kumar, former JNU Students Union president who also spent time in jail over sedition charge. Shah was addressing party workers and intellectuals at the party headquarters Kushabhau Thakre Parisar in Boriya-Kala area after chairing the Central Zonal Council meeting in Raipur. Have you seen the video of Sharjeel? It is more dangerous than Kanhaiya Kumars statement. He is talking about cutting chicken neck ( a reference to the Siliguri Corridor) to disintegrate Assam from India Seven generations will not be able to do that, said Shah, adding that he will be sent to jail. Sharjeel Imam was wanted by the police in national capital Delhi on a charge of sedition for his speech last week where he was heard calling for cutting off Assam from the rest of India by blocking the chickens neck the part which connects West Bengal with northeastern states of the country. That speech led to registration of cases against him in five states, including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It also led to a fiery exchange between the BJP and the AAP over the students arrest. Shah further said that Muslims born and living in the country will not lose their citizenship due to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and it is opposition which is misleading the country over the act. The minister accused the Congress of misleading people and instigating riots in the country. I am assuring that Muslims born and living in the country will not lose their citizenship due to this legislation. This act is meant to grant citizenship not to snatch it... But they (Congress and other opposition parties) are spreading apprehensions, provoking a minority and instigating riots over CAA by lying to them that they will lose their citizenship, Shah said. Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Shah asked the Congress leader to let him know if there is any provision in the act that talks about taking away anyones citizenship. In response, the Congress said that the BJP is rattled because of protests going on in the country and hence they are misleading people. The CAA is a dividing act and any law which spreads hatred will not be encouraged in the peaceful state of Chhattisgarh, said Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, senior Congress leader and spokesperson. Attacking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Shah said, Kejriwal says BJP has love for Pakistan. I want to tell him dont teach us patriotism. Two years back slogans were raised breaking India Immediately, Modi decided to put Kanhaiya Kumar and company in jail..It has been one and half years and sanction to prosecute them is still pending before the Kejriwal government. They should be ashamed of it, Shah said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON At least 11 people, including two women and minors, were killed in a fire caused by an explosion in a gas cylinder at a perfume factory in Lahore on Tuesday, according to media reports. Two others were critically injured in the incident that took place in Shahdara area of Lahore, the Dawn newspaper reported. The fire that engulfed the whole building caused its roof to collapse and damaged the structure located adjacent to it, the report said. At least 15 people were inside the factory at the time of the incident, the report said. However, residents of the area expressed ignorance at the presence of perfume factory inside the building and had earlier thought it to be a textile manufacturing unit. READ | At Least 8 Die In Marina Boat Dock Fire In Alabama "We only got to know about the presence of perfume and other chemicals after the fire broke out," one of the residents was quoted as saying in the report. According to a report in Geo News, ten firefighting vehicles were pressed into service to extinguish the fire. The fire has been brought under control and the cooling process is underway, rescue officials were quoted as saying in the report. So far, five deceased- Jameel (37), Zahid (65), his wife Rashida bibi, Areeba (6)and Moosa (9)- have been identified, the Dawn report said. READ | Fire Breaks Out In A Warehouse In Delhi's Aya Nagar READ | Fire Breaks Out At BSNL Store In Uttar Pradesh Australian scientists have become the first outside China to grow the Wuhan coronavirus, in a breakthrough that is hoped will speed up diagnosis and aid in the development of a vaccine. Scientists from Melbourne's Doherty Institute used a patient sample that arrived at Royal Melbourne Hospital on Friday to successfully grow the virus, announcing their "game-changing" development on Wednesday morning. Doherty Institute screengrab of coronavirus and medical workers in Wuhan. Credit:Doherty Institute, AP Julian Druce, head of the Doherty Institute's virus identification lab, said up to now health authorities have been using the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus to identify cases. "Having the real virus means we now have the ability to actually validate and verify all test methods, and compare their sensitivities and specificities. It will be a game-changer for diagnosis," he said. Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], Jan 28 (ANI): Scores of students at Calcutta University blocked the car of West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday morning. The Governor had come to attend the convocation ceremony at the University. The students with placards also raised slogans like 'Governor Go Back". Some of them also marked their protest against the National Register of Citizens (NRC), National Population Register (NPR) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). (ANI) An Algerian military jet crashed late on Monday in the Oum El Bouaghi province during a routine drill. Unconfirmed reports suggested that the crashed plane was an SU-30 bomber belonging to the 121st Fighter Squadron, Trend reports citing Sputnik. There has been no official statement issued regarding the incident. At least two servicemen are said to have been killed. Netizens have shared footage from the alleged wreckage site. The cause of the crash is unknown. Local rescue teams have responded to the wreckage site. The Su-30 fighter is a Russian-made two-seat derivative of the earlier Su-27 Flanker, with an extended operating range, capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground strikes and equipped with a wide variety of precision-guided munitions. Strengthened 5-year action plan on gender adopted at COP25 January 28,2020 | Source: UNFCCC At the UN Climate Conference, COP 25, in Madrid last December, countries took steps to accelerate a more gender-responsive approach to climate action by adopting a comprehensive enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender (LWPG) and Gender Action Plan (GAP) which lays out the actions countries and the international community at large can and will take to achieve this goal. Climate change has a greater impact on people who have the least capacity to respond to natural hazards, such as droughts, landslides, floods and hurricanes. Women commonly face higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change in situations of poverty, and the majority of the worlds poor are women. It is therefore critical that climate plans and actions are inclusive and participatory to ensure that the needs, perspectives and ideas of all of humanity are addressed in order to limit temperature rise to 1.5C in line with the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The positive outcome on the GAP was complemented by the growing visibility of the subject of gender at the Conference. Numerous side events and a dedicated Gender Day, held on 10 December, with a programme that included technical workshops on integrating gender in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Technology Needs Assessments (TNAs), a special event showcasing the Women for Results winners of the UN Climate Action awards, and a high-level event provided ample evidence of the benefits and need for gender-responsive climate policy and action. Countries are for example taking gender into account to build climate resilient energy systems and to improve coastal resilience. At the high-level event organized by the COP Presidency and Germany, ministerial representatives from Costa Rica, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain, moderated by a former President of Ireland, reinforced the urgency for governments to agree on an ambitious enhanced GAP. Time for action is not a slogan. Its a decision. Its a moral imperative. For that it is urgent to incorporate gender approaches in climate change policies, said COP President Carolina Schmidt during the event. Meanwhile, the technical workshops and Women for Results event demonstrated the huge potential impact of gender-responsive climate action to address the climate crisis. The success of the previous LWPG and its GAP also became apparent as gender was visible in reporting by constituted bodies to the governing bodies on their work in 2019. . A synthesis report on progress in integrating a gender perspective in constituted body processes - was also presented at COP 25, further demonstrating increased engagement on gender across UNFCCC processes. New five-year plan on ambitious gender-responsive climate action The enhanced LWPG and GAP acknowledge that there is further need for mainstreaming gender throughout the Convention and that this will contribute to increasing effectiveness, fairness and sustainability of climate policy and action. It also reflects the acknowledgement by governments that gender considerations are changeable over time (based on changes in laws, customs norms and institutions) and determined through multidimensional factors (such as age, race, ethnicity, class, etc.). And the importance of human rights and a just transition of the work force when acting on the climate emergency was further reinforced. The enhanced five-year GAP is focused on implementation and affirms that action by all stakeholders - public and private - towards gender-responsiveness and implementation of gender-related activities is critical. The GAP includes 20 activities grouped under the priority areas: a) capacity-building, knowledge management and communication; b) gender balance, participation and womens leadership; c) coherence; d) gender-responsive implementation and means of implementation; e) monitoring and reporting. These activitiesdescribe concrete actions and outputs such as the call for submissions in which governments and Observers are invited to share lessons learned on mainstreaming gender into national climate policy and action and a workshop on this topic at SB52. Other activities are ongoing and call on governments and relevant organizations to act at the international, regional and national level. These include enhanced availability of sex-disaggregated data, the organization of expert group meetings on gender budgeting, deployment of gender-responsive technological solutions to address climate change and fostering womens and girls full participation and leadership in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as research and development. These positive steps forward on gender indicate the political willingness to make a difference. 2020 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Theme(s): Others. The third-level sector is currently underfunded, and a system of student loans should not be introduced, each of the major parties' spokespeople on education agree. However, the parties remain divided on how best to address such a funding deficit, identified in the landmark Cassells report, first published in 2016. At a debate at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) ahead of the general election, TCD Provost Patrick Prendergast said the future of funding Irish higher education and research should be an electoral priority for all political parties. "Students, academics and researchers are at one on this issue: there is a crisis," he said. "The crisis was spelled out in the Cassells report four years ago. A number of recommendations were made, which have not been acted on. We are sitting on a timebomb, and when I say we, I don't just mean the higher education sector. I mean, we the country. "It depends on cutting-edge research and groundbreaking innovation. The country, and our economic prosperity, depends on an educated and talented workforce." The Cassells report found that by next year an extra 600 million annually will be needed to sustain the third-level sector, rising to 1 billion annually by 2030. This shortfall should be addressed either by students, public finances or through a mixture of both, the report recommended. However, a decision on its recommendations has yet to be made. The European Commission is currently carrying out an economic analysis of the options it put forward after the report was referred by the Department of Education. Universities, Institutes of Technology and students recently united to call on the next government to address what they describe as an urgent funding crisis in the the higher education sector. This marks the first time the Irish Universities Association (IUA), the Technological Higher Education Association (THEA) and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) have joined forces under the same cause. Minister of State for higher education, Mary Mitchell OConnor, denied kicking a decision on the Cassells report down the road. Weve now sent it to Europe to have a look at it, and let me tell you it's not just all about higher education. It's about further education. It's about apprenticeships. We can have all the drama we like but we need to know where is the money coming from, and where are we going to cut if we are going to put more money into higher education? She then clarified her comments, saying what Im really saying is the money has to be found somewhere. Everyone talks about [the Cassells report]. It's like the Bible, but nobody has read it," she added. International students, who bring in 400 million in revenue annually, were not factored into the Cassells report, she added. Meanwhile, University College Dublin (UCD) students' union has penned a letter to general election candidates, calling on them to listen to the concerns of students. This includes addressing the housing crisis, ending direct provision, starting a radical green transition and stopping the commercialisation of higher education. Perez Hilton has revealed the real reason behind his controversial exit on Monday's episode of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! The 41-year-old gossip blogger told 10 Daily after his elimination: 'I could not run faster out of there!' Perez said that his extreme hunger was the reason why he didn't waste any time leaving the camp. 'I lost 10lbs in eight days!' Perez Hilton said that his extreme hunger in the camp was the reason why he was so elated to leave I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! 'I was melting down because my brain is thinking it's starving, and I was! I lost 10lbs in eight days,' he added. Perez had started experiencing 'headaches and nausea' from the lack of food, so he was more than happy to be voted out of the jungle. As he sprinted out of the camp on Monday, the American socialite told his co-stars: 'Adios. It was a pleasure meeting most of you. Bye-bye!' 'So rude!' I'm a Celebrity viewers slammed Perez on Monday night, after he said it was a pleasure meeting 'most' of his campmates after being eliminated Viewers branded Perez 'rude' and 'disrespectful' in a series of tweets soon after. 'Jeez. What a poor sport, good riddance Perez,' one wrote. 'So bloody ungrateful and disrespectful,' was another comment, as well as 'that was plain rude'. Ouch! Wasting no time in exiting the South African jungle, the American gossip guru said to his campmates: 'Adios. It was a pleasure meeting most of you. Bye-bye!' Online: Viewers branded Perez 'rude' and 'disrespectful' in a series of Tweets soon after One even went so far as to label Perez 'a sore loser' with 'anger management issues'. During his exit interview with hosts Dr Chris Brown and Julia Morris, Perez urged Australia to crown Miguel Maestre King of The Jungle. 'He can do everything, not just cook, but he can do everything,' he said. 'He can make fire appear, he is an inspiring business person. 'He is a great father and he was home to me. He reminded me so much of my family, and he is the winner. Please, Australia. I beg of you, do not get it wrong.' 'He reminded me so much of my family': During his exit interview with hosts Dr Chris Brown and Julia Morris, Perez urged Australia to crown Miguel King of The Jungle Meanwhile, on Sunday night's episode, Perez certainly ruffled a few feathers among the camp. The father-of-three got into a screaming match over how to divide up sliced banana. Perez accused Ryan Gallagher and Charlotte Crosby of 'disrespecting' and 'attacking' Miguel, who took it upon himself to cut up the fruit. It all began when Ryan suggested Charlotte should get one whole banana as she doesn't eat oats. Drama ensued when others deemed it unfair for one person to get extra servings. Bizarre meltdown: On Sunday night's episode, Perez got into a screaming match with his campmates over how to divide up sliced banana Watching it unfold, Perez stormed over and demanded Ryan and Charlotte respect the Spanish chef. 'You're being so disrespectful to him. The way you were talking to him was not caring.' After Ryan suggested Perez was creating drama just for headlines, he continued: 'I'm not going to do a blog. I reacted the way I did because this man has done so much for you. Speaking to Myf Warhurst, Charlotte accused Perez of 'jumping in' and 'screaming like a banshee'. North Iowa is extremely fortunate to have NIACC (North Iowa Area Community College) for a multitude of reasons. It provided education to our great-grandparents, our grandparents, parents, us, our children and our grandchildren. NIACC, the oldest community college in Iowa, just celebrated its 100th anniversary and not once during those 100 years has it asked us for a bond issue unlike other Iowa community colleges. Why a bond issue now? We are all aware of the rapid rate of technological changes and related costs educating current and future students and area employees so we can keep people and jobs here (80% of NIACC graduates stay in Iowa). There is a need to update and maintain facilities for todays standards and energy efficiency. There is an obligation to make the campus safer with items like lighting. NIACC is remarkable and it is our responsibility to keep it that way. The cost is minimal, only 85 cents per month on a home assessed at $100,000. The cost not to support NIACC and the bond issue is much higher. There are obvious savings in attending NIACC whether as a high school student, regular college student, night classes, certifications or learning new skills for a current job or a new job. But there are hidden savings to you as a taxpayer by keeping companies, jobs and people here to spread the tax load. NIACC delivered over $37.5 million in training to companies like Sukup Manufacturing, Stellar Industries, Grain Millers, Mercy Hospital and more keeping people and jobs here. Having worked to recruit business and industry to the area, I can speak directly to how vital NIACC is to all of our futures. NIACC is crucial to all of us. Vote YES on March 3 and invest in North Iowa today and in the future. Ruth Miller, Mason City Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Health Minister, Jens Spahn (CDU) and President of the Robert Koch Institute, Professor Lothar H. Wieler give a statement on coronavirus in Berlin, Germany January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi Germany has declared its first confirmed case of the coronavirus after a 33-year-old man contracted it from a colleague visiting his workplace from Shanghai, in one of the first cases of person-to-person transmission outside China. The case raises concerns about the spread of the flu-like virus that broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of last year and has killed 106 people and infected more than 2,800 people. It spreads in droplets from coughs and sneezes and has an incubation period of 1-14 days. Bavaria's health ministry said late on Monday that a man in the southern German state was suffering from the virus and was in "good condition" while isolated under medical observation. German car parts supplier Webasto on Tuesday said an employee at its headquarters in Stockdorf, Bavaria, had become infected following the visit of an employee from China. A day earlier it said an employee from Shanghai tested positive for the virus upon returning to China. Confirmation of any sustained human-to-human spread of the virus outside of China, as well as any documented deaths, would bolster the case for reconvening the World Health Organisation's Emergency Committee to consider again whether to declare a public health emergency of international concern. The independent panel last week twice declined to declare an international emergency. In response to the episode, Germany plans to require travellers arriving from China to provide airlines with contact details, including where they are staying while in the country, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Tuesday. The step will ensure the authorities can get in touch with people who may have come into contact with infected people. Airlines will need to keep the details for 30 days, he said. Outside of China there have now been 45 confirmed cases in 13 countries, with no deaths so far, the WHO's spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday. The WHO said a case in Vietnam involved human-to-human transmission outside China and a Japanese official has said there was a suspected case of human-to-human transmission there too. Andreas Zapf, president of Bavaria's office for health and food safety, said on Tuesday the person infected was 33 years old, lived in the district of Landsberg about 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of Munich and had come into contact with a Chinese woman on Jan 21. Zapf said the Chinese woman was from Shanghai but her parents, who are from the Wuhan region, had visited her a few days earlier. He added that she had arrived in Germany on Jan. 19, appearing not to have any symptoms, but began to feel ill on her flight home on Jan. 23. She sought medical treatment after landing and tested positive for coronavirus. When that information was relayed back to the German company, a male employee said he felt like he had flu over the weekend and was on Monday advised to get medical treatment. The head doctor at the clinic where the man is being treated told a news conference the patient was awake and responsive and he did not think the man's life was at risk. Martin Hoch, the head of an infectiology taskforce, said the man had been in close contact with at least 40 colleagues and family members, adding that number could rise. Bavaria's health ministry said people who had been in contact with the man had been informed of possible symptoms, hygiene measures and transmission channels. Germany's Spahn said the risk to people's health in Germany from the coronavirus remained low. Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service PATNA: Janata Dal-United (JDU) vice-president and poll strategist Prashant Kishor gave a stinging reply to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's claim that he was inducted into the party on the recommendation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Prashant Kishor declared the statement of Nitish Kumar saying he was inducted into the party because Amit Shah asked was a 'lie'. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, without naming Kishor, made a statement saying 'Someone wrote a letter I replied to it. Someone is tweeting, let him tweet. What do I've to do with it? One can stay in the party (JD-U) till he wants. He can go if he wants...Do you know how did he join the party? Amit Shah asked me to induct him,' on Tuesday. ALSO READ | Amit Shah asked me to induct Prashant Kishor into JDU: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Hitting out at the Nitish Kumar, Prashant Kishor tweeted 'what a fall for you to lie about how and why you made me join JD-U!!Poor attempt on your part to try and make my colour same as yours!'. Kishor further attacked Bihar CM saying 'And if you are telling the truth who would believe that you still have courage not to listen to someone recommended by@amitShah?' .@NitishKumar what a fall for you to lie about how and why you made me join JDU!! Poor attempt on your part to try and make my colour same as yours! And if you are telling the truth who would believe that you still have courage not to listen to someone recommended by @AmitShah? Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) January 28, 2020 Prashant Kishor has more than once made his differences with the party known on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). On December 19, he had publicly objected to JD-U supporting the contentious CAA that has been dubbed as 'unconstitutional' for allegedly being discriminatory on religious grounds against a particular community. He had also said that 'JD-U leadership should spare a moment for all those who reposed their faith and trust in it in 2015.' Kishor's tweet created a flutter in the JD-U and party sources said that 'Kishor's good senses had died before tweeting in such a way.' The airline is in the process of replacing the engines in its affected fleet of over 100 planes. New Delhi: IndiGo, Indias biggest airline, cut its estimates for capacity growth for a second straight quarter on Monday, to rein in maintenance costs and improve aircraft utilisation amid a spate of groundings. IndiGo has been forced to ground several of its Airbus A320neo planes fitted with Pratt & Whitey engines, which have been linked to in-flight engine shutdowns. The airline is in the process of replacing the engines in its affected fleet of over 100 planes. Low aircraft utilisation and delivery delays from Airbus were the driving factors behind the cut, Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta told analysts during a post-earnings call, adding that IndiGo aimed to raise utilisation to about 13 hours a day from the current 12.2 hours. The engine changes have also contributed to lower aircraft utilisation, Dutta said. The airlines owner, Interglobe Aviation Ltd, now expects capacity expansion for 2019-20 of 23%, down from its earlier forecast of 25 per cent. In September, IndiGo had brought down its estimates from 30%, blaming a 3-4 month delay in aircraft deliveries by Airbus. IndiGos profit rose to 4.90 billion rupees (USD 68.95 million), from 1.91 billion rupees a year ago, helped by cheaper fuel and higher unit revenue. Fuel typically accounts for almost a third of all airlines operating costs. At IndiGo, those costs fell 2 per cent to 33.42 billion rupees and revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK), a measure of profitability, rose 5.6 per cent in the quarter. However, total expenses surged 21.5 per cent due to higher maintenance cost of its older A320ceo planes. Interglobe said it expects the unit maintenance cost at IndiGo to improve starting fiscal 2021. INTERNATIONAL GROWTH Indigo, which dominates the domestic market and operates a large fleet of narrowbody, all economy-class aircraft, said it plans to deploy half its planes on international routes as growth from flights between major Indian cities comes under pressure due to aggressive competition. Overall strength in metro to metro markets is weak because of the new competition we are facing in these markets, Dutta said. In November, IndiGo signed a one-way codeshare agreement with Qatar Airways. Earlier on Monday, India announced plans to sell its entire interest in Air India Ltd, making a renewed push after a failed attempt two years ago. At that time, IndiGo had initially shown interest in the flag carriers international operations. Dutta declined to comment on whether IndiGo would be interested in bidding for Air India. A FILE is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions following an incident during which a man was chased from his home by another man who was brandishing a chainsaw. Adam Keane, 41, of St Itas Street, St Marys Park was granted bail when he appeared before Limerick District Court after he was charged in connection with the incident which occurred on January 18, last. He is accused of producing a chainsaw and an axe during a dispute which is alleged to have occurred at Island View Terrace shortly after 11.30pm. Opposing bail, Garda Aoife Keane said it will be alleged the defendant was observed holding an axe shortly after gardai responded to reports of an abusive male in the area. She told Judge Marian OLeary that CCTV footage which was subsequently obtained by gardai shows a male brandishing a chainsaw during an altercation with another man prior to the arrival of gardai. While no formal complaint has been made, it is the State case that the male who can be seen brandishing the chainsaw and the axe is the defendant. He entered the house and came out with a chainsaw in his hand and ran down the road after him (the alleged injured party), said Sergeant Sean Murray. Objecting to bail, Garda Keane expressed concern Mr Keane would not appear in court if released and that he would commit further serious offences. However, solicitor Tom Kiely moved to dismiss her concerns and submitted the State had not reached to the necessary threshold in its objection to bail. There has been no complaint in relation to a dispute, he said adding his client gave an explanation when questioned by gardai. The solicitor said he was quite surprised that gardai were objecting to bail and he urged the court to release his client and not to deprive him of his liberty. He denies any dispute, he has given an explanation, he said. Having considered the matter, Judge OLeary said she was willing to grant bail subject to Mr Keane complying with strict conditions. He must live at his home address and sign on at a garda station every Monday and Friday. The defendant was also ordered to stay away from the location where the offences are alleged to have occurred. A file is being prepared for DPP and directions are awaited. Harvey Weinstein "got offended" when his repeated advances were rebuffed, Mimi Haleyi testified yesterday when she took the witness stand as one of the key accusers whose allegations of sexual assault led to charges and the trial of the former movie mogul. Former production assistant Ms Haleyi testified that before the alleged assault, Mr Weinstein showed up at her apartment and begged her to join him a trip to Paris for a fashion show. She said he wouldn't take no for an answer. "At one point, because I just didn't know how to shut it down, so to speak...So I said, 'You know you have a terrible reputation with women, I've heard'," Haleyi (42) said. The Hollywood producer "got offended", she said. "He stepped back and said, 'What have you heard?'" Asked by prosecutor Meghan Hast if she had any romantic or sexual interest in Mr Weinstein, Ms Haleyi firmly answered: "Not at all, no." Mr Weinstein (67) is charged with forcibly performing oral sex on Ms Haleyi in his New York City apartment in 2006 and raping another woman, an aspiring actress, in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013. He insists any sexual encounters were consensual. Ms Haleyi, whose legal name is Miriam Haley, is the first of the two women whose accusations are at the heart of the charges against Mr Weinstein to take the stand at the #MeToo-era trial, which is in its fourth day of testimony. Last week, 'Sopranos' actress Annabella Sciorra testified that Mr Weinstein overpowered and raped her after barging into her apartment in the mid-1990s. While outside the statute of limitations for criminal charges, Ms Sciorra's allegations could be a factor as prosecutors look to prove Mr Weinstein has engaged in a pattern of predatory behaviour. Ms Haleyi went public with her allegations in 2017, appearing alongside lawyer Gloria Allred, who also represents Ms Sciorra and other Weinstein accusers. Ms Haleyi, born in England and raised in Sweden, said she met Mr Weinstein at the 2004 London premiere of the Leonardo DiCaprio film 'The Aviator'. He later secured her a job on the set of 'Project Runway'. The alleged assault occurred at Mr Weinstein's Soho apartment after he sent a car to pick Ms Haleyi up for what she thought was a meeting about her career, she said at the 2017 news conference. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Matanat Nasibova - Trend: Chairman of State Seed Fund under Azerbaijans Agriculture Ministry Emin Aliyev in an interview with Trend spoke about the work carried out by the fund last year in the field of import and production of new seeds in Azerbaijan, as well as about plans for this year. Agricultural indicators for 2019 Last year was quite successful in various sectors of the economy, including the agricultural sector, Aliyev said. The growth in the agricultural sector for the reporting period amounted to approximately 7 percent. Some 3.5 million tons of products were manufactured in grain growing sector, which makes up the bulk of the sowing balance, and this is 6.9 percent more compared to the previous year. Wheat yield amounted to approximately 32.4 centners per hectare, which is an increase of about 2 centners or 7.6 percent compared to the previous year, the chairman noted. Harvest growth in cotton production as a whole amounted to 26.4 percent, and productivity increased by 67.6 percent. In addition, sunflower production increased by 43.3 percent, potato production - by 11.7 percent, production of vegetables - by 12.1 percent, melons - by 11.4 percent, fruits and vegetables - by 8.8 percent. Regarding the growth in livestock production, meat production in live weight increased by 3 percent, milk - by 2.4 percent, eggs - by 9 percent, wool - by 1.6 percent, silkworm cocoon - by 25.3 percent, Aliyev added. Growth was high in crop production - more than 10 percent. It is possible to talk at length about the success achieved in 2019, but on the whole, it is obvious that last year iss remembered by the significant development of the agricultural sector. Seed processing volumes in Azerbaijans Sheki and Khachmaz districts In addition to imports, the State Seed Fund, with the launch of new seed processing plants in 2019 in Khachmaz and Sheki districts, has stepped up the work to increase domestic seed production, said the funds chairman. About 5,000 tons of seeds were processed by the newly built seed processing plants of the State Seed Fund in Khachmaz and Sheki districts so far, Aliyev noted. According to the technological process of production, plants process seed material, carry out its processing, sterilization and packaging, in order to ultimately obtain seeds of the required quality from the seed material. The enterprises are equipped with the most advanced Turkish-made equipment manufactured by AKYUREK company and are able to process five tons of seeds per hour. In addition, the bunkers installed at the plants (the volume of which is 1,500 tons) serve for the safe storage of imported and processed seeds. The State Seed Fund intensifies its work with the Center for Agrarian Development in order to study the needs of the domestic market for one or another type of agricultural product, focuses on the production of highly profitable products, for the establishment of seed production and exports outside the country," Emin Aliyev said. Importing new types of seeds "Last year, two types of seeds of Russian wheat varieties were imported from Russia through the State Seed Fund to Azerbaijan. These are the seeds of varieties Grom (Thunder) in the amount of 140 tons and Tanya in the amount of 200 tons. In the reported period, these varieties provided a high yield of 55 centners per hectare, which is a fairly good result. Before importing any kind of seeds to Azerbaijan, the State Seed Fund conducts the annual analysis of the local market and collects information on the needs of Azerbaijani farmers for various types of agricultural products. Currently, the fund, being in touch with farmers, conducts market analysis for 2020 in almost all regions of the country. According to the results of surveys, the level of demand for different varieties of seeds of agricultural products that are most in demand on the local market is determined. This year it is planned to expand the assortment of cereal seeds and to closely engage in the import of seeds of new varieties of legumes, including peas, beans, soy, as well as potatoes, eggplants and others. Last year, the Udacha (Luck) variety of potato seeds, popular in Russia, was also brought to Azerbaijan through the State Seed Fund. The volume of imports of seeds of this type of agricultural products amounted to about 39 tons. In a short time, seeds were acquired by local farmers. The yield of this variety was 32 tons per hectare, which is considered a fairly good result. The specialists forecasts on the reproduction and economic feasibility of this type of seed came true, Aliyev said. Presently, Azerbaijan imports over 98 percent of potato seeds. At the same time, despite potatoes are one of the strategic types of food products, above 1.7 percent of potato seeds are produced in Azerbaijan. This variety of potato seeds was included into the State Register in 2017. Later, in 2018, Rosara and Vineta varieties were also included into it. "TOXUMART" chain stores are expanding "The State Seed Fund operating in Azerbaijan has several stores under the TOXUMART brand. Similar stores are also planned to open this year," said the fund's chairman adding that presently, such stores operate in Khachmaz, Zagatala and Jalilabad districts of the country. Three more stores are planned to be opened in Barda, Shamkir and Sabirabad districts in 2020. The stores sell various seeds and the related products for them. This is beneficial for farmers to be able to buy various seeds at any time. "While creating the stores, we set out to support farmers in the purchase of seeds. These stores sell seeds of wheat, potato and esparcet imported by the Fund, as well as hybrid seeds of tomato, cucumber, watermelon and corn purchased from importers," Emin Aliyev said. Production of new types of seeds "Presently, the work is underway to produce seeds that are more resistant to viruses, drought and diseases, the head of the fund said. The issue is the production of seeds of virus-free potatoes to create a healthy seed base for this crop domestically and to some extent reduce the dependence of the local market on import. In accordance with our calculations, the production of such seeds will begin soon. The State Seed Fund was established under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Agriculture upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs order due to the countrys growing need for new high-yielding and drought-resistant types of seeds, and for strengthening food security in Azerbaijan. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 21 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Jan. 28, Trend reports. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Fotis Dulos, the Connecticut husband awaiting trial for the murder of his estranged wife Jennifer, is in a 'perilous condition' after attempting to kill himself in his garage by carbon monoxide poisoning. His lawyer, Norm Pattis, told media before he made the trip to Jacobi Medical Center in The Bronx on Tuesday night, that Fotis had 'very high carbon monoxide levels in his body'. Sources told DailyMail.com that Fotis was 'losing his mind' over the prospect of going to jail, sources told DailyMail.com. Dulos, 52, had been on strict house arrest since last Thursday and could only leave his mansion to see a lawyer, a doctor or attend a religious service. He faced the prospect of having his $6m bond revoked at emergency court hearing Tuesday over doubts over the equity of the real estate assets he put up as security. Pattis said that the potential for bond revocation was 'devastating'. Fotis was due in court at noon on Tuesday, but when he failed to show up, police were asked to check on him at his home. They arrived and saw him through a window, sitting in his vehicle in the garage, showing 'obvious signs of medical distress'. They broke into the car to drag him out into the fresh air and perform CPR. He was then taken to UConn Health via ambulance where he remains in a critical condition. He was airlifted to the hospital in the Bronx to have treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, later in the afternoon. Fotis Dulos is transported into Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx on Tuesday after attempting to kill himself with carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage in Connecticut before a court appearance Fotis is filmed being put into a helicopter at UConn Health in Connecticut on Tuesday Fotis Dulos was found in his home in Connecticut on Tuesday where he attempted suicide. He was awaiting trial for murdering his wife Jennifer. Prosecutors repeatedly asked for him to be denied bail as recently as last week, but the judge allowed him to remain on house arrest Emergency workers are shown trying to revive Fotis Dulos at his home in Farmington, Connecticut, on Tuesday. Officials said he died after trying to poison himself with carbon monoxide in his garage Fotis was found in his car inside his garage. The exhaust pipe he used to try to kill himself is shown attached to his vehicle Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy is used to raise the level of oxygen in a patient's blood and to reduce carbon dioxide levels as quickly as possible in cases of acute carbon monoxide poisoning. The patient typically lies down on a stretcher before being slid into a giant acrylic tube before the pressure is raised and oxygen is pumped inside. Medics say serious carbon monoxide poisoning can lead to severe long-term cognitive damage, raising the prospect that Fotis could have suffered irreparable brain damage. 'There's a real possibility of permanent brain damage and damage to the heart. He may never be the same again,' a friend told DailyMail.com. 'Of course that raises the question of whether he will ever be fit to stand trial or provide answers about Jennifer's death. It's a tragedy for both families.' Pattis told NBC that his main concern for his client is that he may never recover. 'Not once did I consider he was at risk of suicide,' he said. 'He was held up to the world as a man who murdered his wife... I think the weight of it is difficult to bear. I don't think that people who haven't been accused can understand the savageness of the criminal justice system. 'People have a presumption of innocence in this country for a reason and all the folks who harped on Mr Dulos can take some grim satisfaction from today's event. My message to each and every one of them is - shame on you.' Dulos is shown being wheeled into Jacobi Medical Center after the air ambulance on Tuesday He is expected to be put in a hyperbaric chamber to increase the oxygen levels in his blood and decrease the amount of carbon monoxide in his system A woman, who has not been named publicly but has been identified by local outlets as a friend of Fotis and local businesswoman whose signature is on his bond, went to the house at 11.18am. It is unclear if she got inside or if she spoke to him. The call to police for a wellness check did not come in until 11.54am. It is unclear if she has any significant role in what happened on Tuesday. Friends told DailyMail.com that Fotis had 'lost his mind' on house arrest. 'Fotis was calling people up and telling them he was losing his mind being stuck at home,' a friend told DailyMail.com. Police are refusing to confirm whether or not Dulos left a suicide note. 'He was so desperate to get out of the house he even tried to schedule an impromptu meeting with his legal team just as excuse. 'He was told in no uncertain terms that it would be a violation of his house arrest unless he had permission. 'The prospect of having his bond revoked and being locked up again would have sent him completely off the rails.' The friend added, ominously: 'If he tried to kill himself once, he will try it again. As far as Fotis is concerned, he definitely isn't going to jail. 'He gives the impression he's in control and that he's a tough guy but he's terrified of being locked up.' There was initial confusion over Dulos' condition. When he was found, multiple media sources reported he was dead. Doctors shielded Dulos behind a sheet as he was stretchered onto a chopper to be taken to a different hospital Dulos is shown being removed from the ambulance and wheeled towards the air ambulance Jennifer's family are also believed to have been told that he was dead after he tried to kill himself. Fotis faced the prospect of going to jail on Tuesday. The company which insured his $6million murder bond, Palmetto Surety Company of Columbia, South Carolina, had expressed doubt over some of the collateral he offered and they wanted to revoke it. DailyMail.com understands that on Tuesday morning, New York bail bondsman Ira Judelson was asked by Fotis' team if he would step in to replace Palmetto should they back out. Judelson said he'd agreed but was then blind-sided by news of Fotis' apparent suicide attempt. Fotis was awaiting trial on murder charges for the death of his wife Jennifer, who vanished last May after dropping their five kids off at school. Fotis and Jennifer were in the middle of a contentious divorce and custody battle when she vanished and Fotis was swimming in debt. TIMELINE OF THE FOTIS DULOS CASE 2004: Fotis Dulos and Jennifer Farber get married. It is his second marriage In the same year, her father Hilliard starts loaning him money for his property business, Fore Group. 2015: Fotis and Michelle Troconis start taking trips he paid for which he claimed were for business. They later start an affair. January 2017: Hilliard Farber dies March 2017: Gloria Farber takes over his estate June 2017: Jennifer files for divorce, saying she is afraid of her husband February 2018: Gloria Farber sues Fotis Dulos for unpaid loans May 24 2019: Jennifer vanishes after dropping off her five children at school June 2019: Fotis and Michelle Troconis are arrested for evidence tampering Gloria Farber files an order for custody of the children. August 2019: Troconis 'turns' on Dulos in police interviews, admits she lied when she said she had an alibi for him September 2019: Fotis is arrested again for evidence tampering January 2020: Dulos and Troconis are charged with murder January 28: Dulos is found unresponsive at his Farmington home Advertisement He always denied having anything to do with his wife's death and vowed to fight the charges. Prosecutors repeatedly asked for him to be denied bail including as recently as last week, but the judge allowed him to remain on house arrest. He was accused of attacking Jennifer in the garage of her rented home in New Canaan in May after she returned from dropping their five kids off at school. Police never found her body, but they did find pools of blood in her garage which someone had attempted to mop up and clean. They also found traces of her blood in her car - which was later found abandoned in a parking lot - and in the vehicle Jennifer was driving on the day she vanished. Fotis and his then girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, were also allegedly filmed on surveillance footage dumping trash bags at various locations in Connecticut which were later found to contain traces of Jennifer's blood. Troconis initially gave her boyfriend an alibi and said they had been together all morning. She then flipped her story in a second interview with police and, according to arrest affidavits, said he'd given her an 'alibi script'. Fotis maintained that he was innocent. He said police had no evidence against him and at one stage, his lawyer Norm Pattis suggested Jennifer had killed herself in a Gone Girl-style plot to exact revenge on him. The suggestion sickened her friends and family who said she was afraid of him. In their divorce papers, Jennifer said she was afraid her husband would hurt her. She described him as a brutally strict parent to their children. It has since emerged in unsealed arrest affidavits and search warrants that their nanny described seeing him chase her through their home. The nanny also said Jennifer once told her Fotis had tried to run her over. It was Fotis' second marriage. A Greek native and competitive wake boarder, the pair got married in 2004. The scene outside Dulos' home in Farmington, Connecticut, where he is believed to have tried to take his own life by inhaling carbon monoxide in his garage before a court date which could have sent him to jail The scene in Dulos' garage on Tuesday after he was found in his car having tried to kill himself Cop cars were seen parked outside the mansion in the hours after he tried to take his own life Jennifer came from a wealthy family and her parents, Hilliard and Gloria, embraced him. After they got married, Hilliard started giving Fotis loans to bolster his real estate development business. Hilliard put up the cash for him to buy properties and flip them. When he sold them for a profit, he repaid his father-in-law the loan plus interest. Their marriage started to disintegrate in 2017 when, according to court papers, Dulos had an affair with Troconis. Michelle Troconis, Fotis' live-in girlfriend, is also awaiting trial for murder She filed for divorce and sought immediate custody of all five kids. He disagreed and they were granted shared custody until the end of the divorce proceedings. 'I am afraid of my Husband. I know that filing for divorce, and filing this Motion will enrage him. 'I know he will retaliate by trying to harm me in some way,' she said. He was still allowed to keep seeing them under supervision, however. In February 2018, Jennifer's mother Gloria filed a lawsuit seeking $2.5million from her estranged son-in-law. She said he owed it to her family's estate in unpaid loans from her late husband, who by that point had died. Fotis fought it. He moved Michelle Troconis into his palatial mansion in Farmington, one of many homes he owned under his property company. On May 24, a week after an unsuccessful attempt by Fotis to have unsupervised visits with his children, Jennifer vanished without a trace. She dropped the kids off in the morning but then missed several appointments in New York City which raised the alarm with friends and family. Her car, a Chevrolet Suburban, was found not far from her home, abandoned in a parking lot. They found her phone there but there was no sign of her. Police combed surveillance footage and phone records from the state and, specifically, from where Fotis had been. It revealed crucial gaps in the timeline of the morning Jennifer vanished. Dulos phone remained in the area of Farmington throughout the day. Financial decline: $7m in debit and funneling insurance payments The desperate state of Fotis' finances were revealed in court documents after he was charged. He was $7 million in debt, was lapsing on loan interest payments and funneling money from his and his wife's joint checking account into his own personal account. By the end of May 2019, at the time Jennifer disappeared, Fotis' total outstanding debts at added up to $4.5 million, in addition to mortgages taken out on his various properties, the documents say. Fotis and Jennifer were married between 2004 and 2017 He also faced lawsuits from Jennifer's own mother, Gloria Farber, who accused him of failing to pay back various loans. Fotis had claimed they were gifts that he wasn't obliged to repay. In early 2019, Fotis began scrambling to inject cash into the main bank account of his business Fore Group. He opened a new line of credit with People's United Bank as he maxed out an existing credit line with the Savings Bank of Danbury, investigators say. In March, April and May, he missed interest payments on the People's United Bank loan, which totaled about $530,000, according to documents. Then in April 2019, he received a wire for $149,500 from a cash advance operation based in Utah the type of high-interest loan that businesses turn to in moments of desperation. It was during this time period that Fotis received three checks from Chubb Insurance Group totaling $193,610.50 and made out to 'Fotis and Jennifer Dulos.' Bank records show that all three checks were deposited into a joint checking account held by Fotis and Jennifer, but that Jennifer did not sign any of the checks. Following each deposit, the funds were immediately withdrawn and deposited into Fotis' personal bank account, some of which was then transferred to the Fore Group account, according to investigators. None of the insurance money went to Jennifer. Investigators say that each of the Dulos' five children had a trust fund established by Gloria and her late husband, Hilliard Farber. 'In the event of Jennifer's disappearance, and in the subsequent event that Dulos gained custody of his children, Dulos would have expected some level of access to the children's trust funds,' cops wrote in the warrant affidavit. Divorce turns ugly as they battle for custody of children Fotis met Jennifer when they were students at Brown University, and the couple married in 2004. He went on to complete an MBA in finance at Columbia University, and worked as a builder and developer of luxury homes in Connecticut's Farmington Valley. The couple raised their five children in a massive $4.2 million mansion in Farmington - a palatial 15,000-square-foot residence with six bedrooms and 7.5 baths. But investigators say that behind the opulent facade lurked dark secrets. Jennifer had filed for divorce in 2017 and moved out of the Farmington mansion. The divorce battle turned ugly as the pair battled for custody of their children. Court documents filed in the divorce case say Jennifer feared Dulos would harm her in some way in retaliation and she noted he had a gun. Jennifer's rented home in New Canaan where she vanished on May 24 Jennifer had primary custody of the children with their father getting to see them every other weekend. After Jennifer went missing, Dulos asked the divorce case judge to grant him custody of the children. Jennifer's mother Gloria filed a custody motion on the same day Fotis was arrested for evidence tampering and hindering prosecution in relation to her disappearance. Her mother was given full custody and continues to care for them in her Upper East Side apartment on Fifth Avenue. At one point, Garber's apartment was being guarded by armed security. Dulos had attempted to visit his children on the weekend that his estranged wife went missing but was turned away by the private security. Extensive search for Jennifer's body and the explosive evidence against Dulos Despite extensive searches, Jennifer's body has never been found after she was last seen dropping the children off at school in May. Investigators are convinced that she is deceased. It emerged in court documents that Chief Medical Examiner James Gill had determined that Jennifer likely was killed by 'some combination of traumatic, blunt-force injuries such as a bludgeoning/beating, and/or sharp-force injuries such as a stabbing/slashing.' Gill concluded there was so much blood loss - evidenced by bloodstains at her home, apparent cleanup efforts and blood spatter analysis - that there was no way Jennifer would have survived without medical treatment. Fotis Dulos in his first mugshot (left) and Michelle in hers (right) It took eight months for murder charges to be brought against Fotis in his estranged wife's case. His arrest warrants listed a wealth of physical evidence, including trash bags and zip ties covered in Jennifer's DNA. The warrants also reveal why investigators are so convinced that Jennifer is dead -including a complete lack of financial and cell phone activity following her disappearance and extensive blood stains discovered in her Land Rover and home. Police say they have surveillance video from Hartford allegedly showing Dulos in a pickup truck with girlfriend Troconis disposing of garbage bags of items, some of which were later recovered and found to be stained with Jennifer's blood. Sources told the Hartford Courant that police later recovered blood-soaked sponges and a Vineyard Vines shirt that Jennifer was wearing when she went missing. They also have traffic and school bus camera footage of a man they believe was Dulos driving a pickup truck to New Canaan on the morning Jennifer disappeared; surveillance video of Dulos getting the truck washed and detailed days after she vanished; and evidence that Jennifer's DNA was found on the truck's passenger seat, according to the warrant. A page from the hundreds of warrants show the list of the blood stains found inside Jennifer's garage Dulos is shown on May 29 withdrawing $500 cash before visiting a car wash to clean his employee's car on the day Jennifer vanished Surveillance footage (pictured) shows the last known images of Jennifer driving home, where police say Dulos 'lay in wait', after she dropped her children at school at around 8am on May 24 State's Attorney Richard Colangelo Jr. said in court last year that Jennifer's blood also was found mixed with Dulos' DNA on the kitchen sink faucet of her home in New Canaan. In the warrant, authorities alleged that Dulos drove an employee's red Toyota Tacoma truck to New Canaan, lay in wait for Jennifer to return home from the school run and later drove her body away. Shortly after 8am, Jennifer was pictured arriving home from the school run. 'This photograph is the last known photograph of Jennifer alive,' the warrant states. Sometime in the next two hours police say 'the crime and clean up' takes place. At around 10.20am, Jennifer's SUV was seen leaving her house but police claim that Dulos was driving the car. It is unclear where the Toyota Tacoma was at this stage. Dulos was then allegedly picked back up by surveillance cameras at 11.20am, in the Tacoma again, making his way back to Farmington. He is not thought to have gone home, instead driving to a property which he owned. He then had lunch with Troconis at 1.30pm. The most explosive claims in the warrant came from Pawel Gumienny, the employee whose Toyota Tacoma truck Dulos allegedly used. Gumienny told police that on May 24 he drove one of Dulos' cars - a Ford Raptor - to New Canaan for a job. It was common for him to use his boss's vehicles, he said. His car, the red Toyota Tacoma, was at Dulos' home in Farmington. Gumienny said that at 2.30pm, he received a text from Dulos asking when he would be returning to 'the office' and he responded 4.30pm. When he arrived at Dulos' home, his boss was not there. He then found Dulos, Troconis and his truck at a different property where they appeared to be 'cleaning'. Dulos asked him to help him shuttle some other vehicles there back to his home. By the time Gumienny got back to the property for his Tacoma truck, Troconis had vanished with the keys, he said. Dulos, he says, then urged him to keep his Raptor for several more days but Gumienny declined, saying he wanted the Tacoma back. Five days later on May 29, Gumienny was surprised to learn that Dulos and Troconis had taken his Tacoma truck to be washed without his knowledge. Over the course of the following days, Dulos urged Gumienny to remove the Tacoma's seats and replace them. He described Dulos as insistent and 'pushy', to the point of Dulos growing angry that he had not yet changed out the seats. In future conversations, Dulos, he said, referred to the seats as hardware. The tribute outside Fotis home in Farmington to Jennifer, the wife he is accused of murdering By May 31, when police first encountered Gumienny at Dulos' home, he had switched out the backseat of his truck with seats from a Porsche, which belonged to Jennifer. When interviewed, Gumienny said that Dulos instructed him to do it and that he also instructed him to get rid of the Tacoma's seats. Gumienny told police that when he asked Dulos why he was so adamant about changing or getting rid of the truck, Dulos provided a story that on May 12, Mother's Day, he hugged Jennifer during a visit to her home. Dulos claimed that because his estranged wife had been missing for days and no suspects were named, he was worried police might find a 'hair' in the backseat and try to link him to her disappearance. Suspicious, Gumienny said he decided to keep the Tacoma's original seats and gave police permission to test them. Police said they found a 'bloodlike substance' containing Jennifer's DNA, despite Dulos' alleged attempts at cleaning the car as seen in surveillance video from Russell Speeders Car Wash. Fotis and his attorneys, however, have previously argued that Jennifer is not really dead. They have argued she likely faked her own death and planted blood in an attempt to frame her estranged husband for murder. The ex-girlfriend and a civil attorney: The other two charged in Jennifer's disappearance Kent Mawhinney, Dulos' civil attorney Dulos' girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, and his friend and civil attorney, Kent Douglas Mawhinney, are charged with conspiracy to murder for their alleged roles in plotting and covering up Jennifer's death. Dulos and Troconis had previously been charged with evidence tampering and obstruction in Jennifer's disappearance. Dulos' criminal attorney has previously proposed that Mawhinney could provide an alibi that cleared him of wrongdoing. Troconis is accused of helping him dispose of evidence on the day of Jennifer's disappearance. They were both captured on surveillance disposing of the items that tested positive for Jennifer's blood. Mawhinney is accused of digging a grave and stocking it with lime before she disappeared. The grave was later discovered and found not to have been used. According to arrest warrants, Mawhinney had a prearranged meeting with Dulos on the morning of his wife's disappearance, was at Dulos's office and had his cellphone with him. He also was mentioned in what police described as 'alibi notes' found in the trash at Dulos' business, according to the warrants. Mawhinney once represented Dulos in lawsuits filed by Jennifer's mother, who claims Dulos never repaid her late husband for about $3 million in loans he gave Dulos to develop expensive homes. Mawhinney is charged in another case with sexually assaulting his estranged wife in South Windsor last year and violating a protective order. He has pleaded not guilty. In court documents in those cases, Jennifer told authorities she believed Mawhinney was plotting to have her killed and Dulos made contact with her as part of the plot. We're a family of seven living in Georgia where Andrew's working as a professor at GSU. You can read more about us here The Centre will soon set up a commission to allow non-Bodo villages within Assams Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) to opt-out of its jurisdiction and other contiguous areas with majority Bodo or tribal population to become its part, state minister Himata Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday. The announcement came a day after the government signed an accord with the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)s four factions and two other influential regional outfits to end a decades-old armed movement for a separate state. For the first time, non-Bodos have the option to move out... while Bodo villages outside the council can be included, he said. He added a neutral person will head the panel and have representation for all stakeholders. Sarma said the Centre will constitute it for the BTRs demarcation and reorganisation. The commission will also have a re-look into the powers of the BTR, whose functioning would be streamlined as per the agreement. The commission will suggest measures to safeguard land rights of tribals and to protect/promote the identity of Bodo people. There was a social conflict in the BTR due to political reasons but the accord has addressed the concerns of both Bodos and non-Bodos residing there and we are sure that this will usher in peace and development in the region, said Sarma. Sarma said over 1,500 cadres of the four NDFB factions will lay down arms at a function to be held either in Guwahati or Udalguri. ...I request all the remaining militant outfits of Assam and Manipur to give up arms and take part in peace talks, Sarma said. Sarma asked Paresh Baruah-led United Liberation Front of Assam or ULFA (Independent), the only group not engaged in talks with the Centre, to come forward for negotiations. The other ULFA faction led by Arabinda Rajkhowa joined the peace process in 2011. Baruah later in the day told a local TV channel that his outfit would join the talks only if there are no formalities and are held in an atmosphere of trust. He added sovereignty will be the one-point agenda on the table. We are demanding sovereignty and that is the one point agenda for us. It should be on the negotiating table. There is no need to go to Delhi for discussions. We would want the talks to be held in Assam, said Baruah. Sarma said for the first time, all those seeking a separate Bodoland clearly indicated that Assams territorial integrity will be preserved. From now the demand for Bodoland or a separate state will officially cease. The accord maintains it is the final and comprehensive solution to the Bodo demands. Sarma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah are expected to visit Assam next month to take part in an event to celebrate the peace accord at Kokrajhar on February 7. He added said Modi may come to Kokrajhar, address a public rally and depart the same evening. There is no confirmation yet, but we are hopeful he will attend. Modi was earlier scheduled to visit Assam for an annual summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Guwahati in December. But the summit was postponed due to protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Assam. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Utpal Parashar Utpal is an assistant editor based in Guwahati. He covers all eight states of North-East and was previously based in Kathmandu, Dehradun and Delhi with Hindustan Times . ...view detail As every investor would know, not every swing hits the sweet spot. But you want to avoid the really big losses like the plague. So consider, for a moment, the misfortune of Wanjia Group Holdings Limited (HKG:401) investors who have held the stock for three years as it declined a whopping 95%. That would certainly shake our confidence in the decision to own the stock. The more recent news is of little comfort, with the share price down 65% in a year. Furthermore, it's down 18% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn't as important as health and happiness. View our latest analysis for Wanjia Group Holdings Because Wanjia Group Holdings made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size. Over the last three years, Wanjia Group Holdings's revenue dropped 74% per year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. The swift share price decline at an annual compound rate of 63%, reflects this weak fundamental performance. Never forget that loss making companies with falling revenue can and do cause losses for everyday investors. It's worth remembering that investors call buying a steeply falling share price 'catching a falling knife' because it is a dangerous pass time. The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers). SEHK:401 Income Statement, January 28th 2020 Balance sheet strength is crucial. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time. A Different Perspective While the broader market gained around 3.2% in the last year, Wanjia Group Holdings shareholders lost 65%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 40% over the last half decade. We realise that Buffett has said investors should 'buy when there is blood on the streets', but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Wanjia Group Holdings (1 is significant) that you should be aware of. Story continues We will like Wanjia Group Holdings better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Bill Ray, who as one of the last staff photographers for the weekly Life magazine shot images of Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy, the battleship Oklahomas guns firing on the Vietcong, and Elvis Presley as a US Army private, died on Jan. 9 at his home in Manhattan, notes The New York Times. He was 83. Ray turned down a job with National Geographic in 1957 to be a freelance photographer for Life and joined its staff in 1964. Over 15 years, he captured movie stars, politicians, homesteaders and more. (Newser) Raise your hand if you read through all the fine print of Uber's "terms and conditions" when downloading the app. Somewhere in there is a clause stipulating that you won't sue and must instead settle any dispute through binding arbitration, notes the Philadelphia Inquirer. But a Philly judge has just sided with a passenger and allowed her to sue over an accident in which she suffered a fractured spine. Jillian Kemenosh was sitting in the back seat when her Uber driver ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle, the newspaper reports. She sued the company and the driver, preferring that a jury determine what she is owed. Uber then argued that she had forfeited her right to sue, but a common pleas judge disagreed. story continues below The judge noted that Uber didn't require Kemonosh to click a box saying she had, in fact, read the terms and conditions. Therefore, it couldn't prove she was made aware of them. Nor did Uber email her a copy of the legalities. Either of those things might have swayed judge Abbe Fletman, but "Uber took none of these steps," Fletman wrote. Uber has another week to appeal the ruling. For the record, that fine print runs more than 5,500 words, notes Fox 17. (The company has to pay $4.4 million over sexual harassment allegations by female employees.) [January 28, 2020] Global Cloud Identity Access Management Market is Expected to Reach US$ 8,147.87 Million by 2027, Growing at an Estimated Cagr Of 15.9% Over the Forecast Period Due to Rise in Awareness About Compliance Management, Says Absolute Markets Insights PUNE, India, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rise in awareness towards compliance management is driving the growth of cloud identity access management market. Looking at high severity of threats and huge financial harms, governments and regulatory bodies such as the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council introduced an assortment of mandatory guidelines and protocols for security and privacy of business data. Regulatory acts such as Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act", and "Personal Information Protection and Electronics Document Act" and standards such as "Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standard" and "Sarbanes-Oxley Act" necessitate businesses to fulfill various data standard. Request a [email protected] https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/request_sample.php?id=353 A most recent regulation that is "General Data Protection Regulation" requires strong security and user access controls. The state of New York's Department of Financial Services recently implemented new cybersecurity regulations that present various guidelines and frameworks for the secure operations of financial service enterprises that operate in New York. Such initiatives will drive organizations across multiple verticals to adopt identity access management solutions. Cyber Attack is another factor fuelling the cloud identity access management market. In coming years, the market would witness rise in adoption of cloud based solutions which is notably low in the present scenario. This is primarily due to inclination of business enterprises towards adoption of cloud architecture in their overall process. The detailed research study provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of cloud identity access management market. The market has been analyzed from demand as well as supply side. The demand side analysis covers market revenue across regions and further across all the major countries. The supply side analysis covers the major market players and their regional presence and strategies. The geographical analysis done emphasizes on each of the major region across the globe. Enquiry Before [email protected] https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/enquiry_before_buyng.php?id=353 Key Findings of the Report: In terms of revenue, global cloud identity access management market is expected to reach US$ 8,147.87 million by 2027. by 2027. User life cycle management solution held the largest share of about US$ 743.15 million in 2019 and is expected to continue the same trend over the forecast period. in 2019 and is expected to continue the same trend over the forecast period. On the basis of industry vertical, BSFI held the largest share of about US$ 528.57 million in 2019 and is anticipated to exhibit the highest CAGR of 17.9% over the next eight years. in 2019 and is anticipated to exhibit the highest CAGR of 17.9% over the next eight years. Some of the players operating in the cloud identity access management market are Auth0 Inc., Broadcom, Gemalto NV, Google LLC, Hitachi ID Systems, Inc. IAM Technology Group Ltd, IBM CORPORATION., IDaptive, LLC, IDMWORKS, Micro Focus International plc, OneLogin Inc. amongst others. Request for [email protected] https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/request_for_customization.php?id=353 Global Cloud Identity Access Management Market By Solution Multifactor Authentication Single Sign On (SSO) User Lifecycle Management Compliance and Regulation Directory Management Others By Industry Vertical BFSI Healthcare and Life sciences IT & Telecommunication Energy & Utilities Manufacturing Education Government Organizations Others By Geography North America U.S. Canada Mexico Rest of North America Europe France The UK Spain Germany Italy Nordic Countries Denmark Finland Iceland Norway Sweden Benelux Union Belgium The Netherlands Luxemburg Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India New Zealand Australia South Korea Southeast Asia Indonesia Thailand Malaysia Singapore Rest of Southeast Asia Rest of Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa & Saudi Arabia UAE Egypt Kuwait South Africa Rest of Middle East & Africa & Latin America Brazil Argentina Rest of Latin America Get Full Information of this premium [email protected] https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/reports/Global-Cloud-Identity-Access-Management-Market-2019-2027-353 About Us: Absolute Markets Insights assists in providing accurate and latest trends related to consumer demand, consumer behavior, sales, and growth opportunities, for the better understanding of the market, thus helping in product designing, featuring, and demanding forecasts. Our experts provide you the end-products that can provide transparency, actionable data, cross-channel deployment program, performance, accurate testing capabilities and the ability to promote ongoing optimization. From the in-depth analysis and segregation, we serve our clients to fulfill their immediate as well as ongoing research requirements. Minute analysis impact large decisions and thereby the source of business intelligence (BI) plays an important role, which keeps us upgraded with current and upcoming market scenarios. Contact Us: Company: Absolute Markets Insights Email id: [email protected] Phone: +91-740-024-2424 Contact Name: Shreyas Tanna The Work Lab, Model Colony, Shivajinagar, Pune, MH, 411016 Website: https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/ View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-cloud-identity-access-management-market-is-expected-to-reach-us-8-147-87-million-by-2027--growing-at-an-estimated-cagr-of-15-9-over-the-forecast-period-due-to-rise-in-awareness-about-compliance-management-says-absolute-m-300994339.html SOURCE Absolute Market Insights [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Appointed Republican Senator and suspected moderate Kelly Loeffler. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images If there was any collegial friendship likely to blossom when Kelly Loeffler was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, it was with Utahs Mitt Romney. After all, according to a 2013 interview with Atlanta magazine, Loefflers husband Jeff Sprecher had very warm things to say of Mitt by way of explaining the couples combined $1.6 million contribution to Romneys 2012 presidential effort: Sprecher: [W]e met Mitt Romney and got to know him personally many, many years ago, when he was trying to run in the primaries against John McCain [in 2008]. We met him at a neighbors house here in Atlanta when people didnt really know who he was and he was just exploring whether he could even run. We got to know him and his wife, and have been to his house many times and theyve been to our house. Taking politics off the table, the Romneys are really lovely people, and well intended. Wed never known anybody that was running for president and actually had a friendship with them! And so it was easy to support a friend. [Turns to Loeffler] Is that fair? Loeffler: Sure. So its a bit eyebrow-raising that Loeffler went after that lovely person today after Mitt expressed an interest in hearing what John Bolton had to say about President Trump and Ukraine: After 2 weeks, its clear that Democrats have no case for impeachment. Sadly, my colleague @SenatorRomney wants to appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @realDonaldTrump during their 15 minutes of fame. The circus is over. Its time to move on! #gapol Senator Kelly Loeffler (@SenatorLoeffler) January 27, 2020 Appease the left? Romney wants to hear testimony from a famously right-wing Republican foreign policy expert who occupied high-ranking positions in the administrations of three Republican presidents. I have no doubt that if Mitt had won in 2012, Bolton would have been in another high-ranking position (he joined Loeffler in endorsing Romneys candidacy after mulling his own that year). And the idea that Utahs junior senator needs to appease the left for purposes of being reelected back home is hilarious on multiple counts. If theres any appeasement going on, its part of Loefflers ongoing effort to rebrand herself from a self-funding moderate that Governor Kemp hoped would appeal to suburban women to a wild partisan of the presidents. And its clear why this is happening, too: Loeffler faces a potential 2020 special jungle-primary election in which congressman Doug Collins one of Trumps favorite House impeachment pit bulls, and the Senate aspirant Trump pushed Kemp to appoint before he picked Loeffler is considering a run with loud MAGA backing. In fact, Collinss allies in Georgia are sponsoring legislation to force Loeffler to run in a regular Republican primary in May, which would not give the little-known, first-time candidate much time to build her ideological street cred. So Loeffler is fighting the clock to get right with the GOPs warrior-king so he doesnt noisily back (or encourage his fans to noisily back) a challenge to her. And if that means shivving old friend Mitt Romney, well, thats just a token of her understanding that Donald Trump is a jealous god who accepts no competing loyalties. Representative image Canadian health authorities confirmed the country's first case of a deadly coronavirus that originated in China and said the patient's wife had also tested positive. The woman's case is still listed as "presumptive," pending final confirmation by a national lab in Winnipeg, officials said. Nearly 20 people are being monitored. The patient confirmed to have the virus -- a man in his 50s who arrived in Toronto on January 22 from Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic -- is being treated in isolation in a hospital there. His wife, who traveled with him, also is believed to have contracted the virus and is in self-isolation, David Williams, Ontario province's chief medical officer, said in a statement. He qualified the risk to others in Ontario as "low," given that the woman has been in self-isolation. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show "We also have 19 persons under investigation for whom results are pending," Barbara Yaffe, the province's associate chief medical officer, told reporters. "And we have ruled out about 15 or 16 as well." In the initial case, the man's symptoms did not manifest when he disembarked from the plane. He only then called emergency services and disclosed his travel to Wuhan. Health authorities had him transported to a Toronto hospital and placed in isolation, Theresa Tam, head of Canada's public health agency, said Sunday. She said passengers who sat near the man on a China Southern Airlines flight were being contacted, adding that those more than two meters (yards) away from him have no reason to be concerned. Late Monday Canada's foreign ministry issued a warning to "avoid all travel" to China's Hubei province, which includes Wuhan. The United State has issued a similar advisory. In China, the toll taken by the new virus jumped to 106 dead, and more than 4,000 confirmed cases, according to the latest official report. The Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has again given assurance that the South-west geopolitical zone had no plans to secede from Nigeria by the launch of the regional security outfit, named Amotekun. He said the region remains a part of Nigeria, and would continue to be a part of Nigeria. According to him, the region is committed to the nations indivisibility and unity. Mr Fayemi gave the assurance on Monday when he hosted a pan-Yoruba development interest group, the Oodua Progressive Union (OPU) Worldwide, who were led to his office by the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams. Represented by the Deputy Governor, Bisi Egbeyemi, Mr Fayemi said nobody should entertain any fear of secession by the South-west over the launch of Amotekun which he said was meant to protect all Nigerians resident in the region. He explained that governors in the South-west decided to establish Amotekun to tackle criminal activities like armed robbery, kidnapping, destruction of lives and property and give assurance of safety to all residents. Amotekun is not political, it was established for the protection of our people and stem the tide of armed robbery, kidnapping, illegal destruction of lives and property, he said. This is the first time that the region is united on the need to raise a security platform to complement the existing security agencies to protect the lives and property of our people which is our constitutional duty. I also want to say that the South-west is not seceding from Nigeria. The zone remains part of Nigeria and it will remain committed to a united and indivisible Nigerian federation. Long road The assurance from Mr Fayemi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, is coming as the governors of the six South-west states and the federal government found a middle ground last week, to douse the tensions raised since the launch of Amotekun. Also speaking on Amotekun, Mr Adams welcomed the agreement reached between the Federal Government and the governors saying it is for the progress of the country. It is necessary for our governors to have our own security network code-named Amotekun. Life is precious. You dont politicise the issue of security, he said. READ ALSO: Anything that affects Ekiti State affects the entire country and if Ekiti State is safe, the entire Nigeria is safe. If the South-west is safe, the entire Nigeria is safe. So, I think the President should compliment the initiative of Amotekun by the South-west Governors. He should even add it to their books so that the economic nerve of the nation can be safe in terms of life and property. OPU Meanwhile, Mr Fayemi also commended OPU for promoting the culture of the Yoruba all over the world saying his administration fully supported the sustenance of culture and using it to drive social integration, create jobs and boost tourism. We are happy that we have this type of organisation during your (Adams) time because we believe it will cater to the interest of the Yoruba all over the world, he said. The Yoruba are all over the world and they are doing fine in many fields of human endeavour. Interest groups like this are needed for them not to forget their culture. Earlier, Mr Adams hinted that OPU was formed in 2011 in Mumbai, India and was set up to organise an annual interface for delegates from all over the world on issues bordering on the sustenance of the Yoruba culture. Mr Adams was in Ado Ekiti to attend the Annual World Conference of the OPU which was scheduled for Ekiti State. He was accompanied to the Governors Office by OPU chieftains led by their President, Olawale Ayinla; culture icon, Jimoh Aliu; Director General, Ekiti State Bureau of Arts and Culture, Wale Ojo-Lanre and officials of various pan-Yoruba groups. Advertisements Nirbhaya: Still sad, but at peace knowing that justice has been delivered Nirbhaya: Plea that Mukesh was ill-treated in prison cannot be ground for mercy, Centre tells SC India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 28: The Supreme Court will on Wednesday pronounce its judgement on Nirbhaya case convict Mukesh Singh's plea challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 17. Appearing for Singh, senior advocate Anjana Prakash referred to judgements on death sentence and the power of the president to grant mercy. Reading out the statement Prakash said, "You have to apply your mind at each and every step. You are playing with somebody's life (on powers conferred to the President with regard to mercy plea). I (Mukesh) was beaten mercilessly after coming to jail." Prakash asserts that no opinion was given. Also submits that the prisoner was sexually abused in jail. Prakash has told the apex court that Mukesh, his brother Ram Singh were sexually abused in Tihar Jail. Ram Singh didn't commit suicide inside the prison but was murdered. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News Through senior lawyer Anjana Prakash, Mukesh levels serious accusations against Tihar Jail authorities. He claims he was forced to have sex with Akshay, another accused in the Nirbhaya case. Mukesh has also claimed he was put in solitary confinement. The Solicitor General said that the allegations that he was sexually abused, ill-treated in jail, cannot be ground for mercy. SG Tushar Mehta intervenes and objects to this submission and said that plea that Mukesh was ill-treated in prison cannot be ground for mercy to one who has committed a heinous crime. The trial court has issued black warrants for the execution of all the four convicts -- Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Kumar Sharma and Akshay Kumar -- at 6 am on February 1. The four convicted men are Mukesh (29), Pawan (22), Vinay Sharma (23) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31). A fifth accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail in March in 2013 and the sixth, a convicted juvenile was sentenced three years of punishment in a reform home, and released in 2015. The six men had assaulted Jyoti Pandey, the 23-year-old paramedic student, and a male friend in a moving bus as it drove through the streets of New Delhi. She was thrown out of the bus -so grievously injured that her insides were spilling out - along with her male friend near the airport. A fortnight later, on December 29, 2012, she succumbed in a Singapore hospital. The Environment Minister has ruled out a public inquiry into the circumstances behind a huge illegal dump on the outskirts of Derry. The dump at Mobuoy near Maydown is believed to contain up to one million tonnes of waste. News of its discovery first emerged in 2014. An criminal investigation into the dump is continuing. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs commissioned an independent report from Chris Mills, the former Director of the Welsh Environment Agency, to carry out a review of waste disposal at the Mobuoy site and the lessons learnt for future regulation of the waste industry. However, there have been calls for a public inquiry into how the dump went unnoticed for so long. Councillors in Derry last week urged the Northern Ireland Executive to launch such an inquiry. The calls were made at a meeting at which the Northern Ireland Environment Agency outlined plans on how to deal with the waste. However, it today emerged that the Environment Minister, Edwin Poots, has ruled out a public inquiry into the Mobuoy dump. In an answer to an Assembly question from Grenn Party MLA Rachel Woods, Mr Poots said that since 2014 there have been 'significant improvements' to the management and regulation of the waste sector following the Mills review. I will not initiate a public inquiry but instead focus resources on ensuring the improvements emanating from the Mills review are built upon, added the Minister. New Delhi, Jan 28 : India on Tuesday summoned a senior official from the Pakistan High Commission and protested strongly against the abduction of a Hindu girl from her marriage ceremony in connivance with the local police in Sindh province. Aarti Tikoo Singh New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) India on Tuesday summoned a senior official from the Pakistan High Commission and protested strongly against the abduction of a Hindu girl from her marriage ceremony in connivance with the local police in Sindh province. Official sources said India summoned a senior official from the Pakistan High Commission and made a strong demarche against the abduction of the girl on January 25, with the help of local police in Hala city of Sindh province. The government also made a demarche against the desecration of Mata Rani Bhatiyani temple in Tharparkar Sindh province on January 26, sources said. India asked the Pakistani government to investigate the two cases of persecution of the Hindu minority community members. Sources said Islamabad was also asked to take urgent action for protecting and promoting the security, safety and welfare of its citizens including the minority Hindu community. While describing the incidents as "despicable" and "heinous", the government has asked Pakistan to take immediate measures to expeditiously bring the perpetrators to justice. [January 27, 2020] Public Policy And ICT: Industry Experts To Discuss At BICSI Winter Conference TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BICSI, the association advancing the information and communications technology (ICT) community, has announced the details of its Opening Keynote session, which will be taking place during the 2020 BICSI Winter Conference & Exhibition, 9-13 February at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, FL. The Keynote will take the form of a Panel Discussion, titled "Public Policy in a Changing WorldHow Will It Impact the ICT Professional?" The year 2019 saw an alarming uptick in proposed legislation to address the changing ICT industry and 2020 is promising to have even more activity. Technology, safety and the human element are often at odds with each other. Rapidly advancing technology continues to change the ways we work and live. The panel will discuss key topics facing ICT professionals, including low-voltage licensing; O*NET industry classifications and code assignments; and public work development initiatives. In addition, a focus will be placed on the landscape and some of the challenges and opportunities, as well as the importance in implementing new strategies and defending competency-based programs for the design, installation and integration of ICT fields. Moderating the panel is Charles Wilson, Executive Director of the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA), a not-for-profit association representing the connected technologies industry. He currently sits on numerous industry boards and councils and often speaks on emerging technologies, innovation, code and standards, and regulatory issues, as well as legislative and industry advocacy concerns. Joining Charles on the panel are: Joseph Lee | Senior Manager, State and Local Government Affairs | Cisco Systems Joseph covers the entire country and monitors state legislation that ranges from cloud computing, Power over Ethernet, cybersecurity and procurement. Before Cisco, he was a Manager of State Government Affairs at RELX (LexisNexis and Elsevier). Joseph has worked in state government public policy for 13 years. Joseph covers the entire country and monitors state legislation that ranges from cloud computing, Power over Ethernet, cybersecurity and procurement. Before Cisco, he was a Manager of State Government Affairs at RELX (LexisNexis and Elsevier). Joseph has worked in state government public policy for 13 years. Pat McMurray , RCDD, DCDC, NTS, OSP, PMP | President | T&R Communications, Inc. Pat joined T&R Communications, Inc. in 1985 and was made a partner shortly after, managing the technical portion of the business. Today Pat is President of T&R Communications and serves as the BICSI Western Region Director. He is also active with Northern California IBEW-NECA. Pat joined T&R Communications, Inc. in 1985 and was made a partner shortly after, managing the technical portion of the business. Today Pat is President of T&R Communications and serves as the BICSI Western Region Director. He is also active with Northern California IBEW-NECA. Ron Tellas , BSEE, MSEE, MBA | Technology and Applications Manager, Enterprise Networks | Belden Ron joined Belden in 2016 to help define the roadmap of technology and applications in the enterprise. He is a subject-matter expert in RF design and Electromagnetic Propagation. He represents Belden in the ISO WG3 committee, TIA TR42 Premises Cabling Standards and IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group. The Opening Keynote will take place on Tuesday, 11 February, from 8:45-9:30 a.m. in the West Hall at the Tampa Convention Center. BICSI's Winter Conference program also includes dozens of technical sessions covering topics such as 5G systems; the Internet of Things (IoT); smart cities and intelligent buildings; data centers; Power over Ethernet (PoE); and more. In addition, the Conference hosts a large exhibition featuring more than 150 companies featuring their latest ICT products and services, as well as the all-new PoE Lighting Pavilion, an impressive area dedicated to exhibitors that thrive on the business of delivering data and power over a single Ethernet cable. More information and registration for the BICSI Winter Conference can be found at bicsi.org/winter. About BICSI BICSI is a professional association supporting the advancement of the information and communications technology (ICT) community and currently serves more than 26,000 memberships and credentials. BICSI is the preeminent global resource for ICT credentials, standards, knowledge transfer and career development. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, USA, BICSI membership spans nearly 100 countries. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/public-policy-and-ict-industry-experts-to-discuss-at-bicsi-winter-conference-300993797.html SOURCE BICSI [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The normally bustling supermarket in Wuhan was deserted, looking more foreign than ever. Khamis Hassan Bakari walked the aisles and saw just two other shoppers, and fear sank in. "Everybody is scared. Scared of seeing anyone," the 39-year-old Tanzanian doctor said, as authorities around the world scramble to contain the new virus that began in the industrial Chinese city of 11 million. "You don't even want the supermarket to touch the products you buy." Bakari spoke with The Associated Press this week from his university housing in Wuhan as China's astonishing lockdown of more than 50 million people continues. Transport links have been cut. Streets are largely empty. Lunar New Year festivities have fallen flat. With thousands of foreigners stranded in Wuhan, and with richer countries like the United States and Japan preparing to evacuate some citizens, the PhD student has become a leader for hundreds of African peers with little chance of a similar escape. "I'm feeling like I'm trapped here," said one Ethiopian student at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, who gave only his first name, Abel. He, like other students, cited worries that angering Chinese or their country's authorities could lead to retaliation, like loss of scholarships. Beijing's push to expand its influence on the youthful African continent means Africans now make up the second-largest population of foreign students in China, behind those from elsewhere in Asia, according to China's ministry. In 2018 African students numbered more than 80,000. More than 4,000 are estimated to be in Wuhan alone. None of them expected this. No one knows how long the lockdown will last, or all the ways the virus can spread. The southern African nation of Botswana has openly worried about its students' supplies of water and food. So Bakari and a small committee of fellow doctors from his East African country regularly send updates on social media about the outbreak to the more than 400 Tanzanian students in Wuhan, as well as hundreds of countrymen elsewhere in China. "They don't have a clue what is going on," Bakari said. And, because the updates are largely in Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa, many beyond his country can follow them, too. "Together we are one family," the association tweeted Tuesday, encouraging fellow Africans to follow precautionary measures. The concerns are real. Even Africa's most developed economy, South Africa, has signalled it will not evacuate citizens. On Sunday it told students in China to adhere to university instructions, warning that leaving without permission "can have far-reaching consequences". Speaking by phone, Bakari sounded remarkably relaxed, even chuckling, as he described life under lockdown. "For me as a doctor, I know how to cope with the stress," the specialist in nuclear medicine said. "So we have initiated a way of going through this ordeal." To help keep people calm, the Tanzanian committee has recommended this: Exercise at least 20 minutes a day and don't spend too much time online. The committee looked into an online video showing an ill Congolese student at a Chinese hospital that quickly led to fears he had the virus. "But that guy, he actually had kidney stones," Bakari said. "We don't have a foreign student here in Wuhan suffering from the virus, we haven't heard of any case." A Ghanaian student said campus authorities at Wuhan University of Science and Technology had warned students against sharing videos, photos or messages about the virus on WeChat, the popular Chinese messaging app, threatening to cut their WiFi connections if they do. Students were only trying to learn about the situation, said the student, adding that he wants to leave China the moment transport links are restored. "This is not the time to be adventurous," Ghana's ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, has warned. "Let's not panic in the process." The African diplomatic corps in Beijing has been exploring options to help students, reaching out to the UN migration agency and others. Another Tanzanian on the grassroots committee, Dr Hilal Kizwi, described a situation "full of panic" especially for newer African students who don't yet speak Chinese. The new virus started out like a flu, he said. Then authorities told him and others doing their residency at a local hospital to be careful and cover their mouths. Patients started dying, and the number of patients soared. Supplies of masks and other items ran low. Finally, students were told to no longer report to work. "It's like I'm locked up in a cell," Kizwi said shortly after his evening prayers. "The only thing I have is to talk to my family: 'I'm safe, I'm doing fine.'" And he was, until he heard a local doctor had died of the virus. When he ventured outside after the death, he wore two face masks instead of one. Students have reached out to Tanzania's embassy about leaving Wuhan and were told authorities were working on it, Kizwi said. "But I don't expect it." There is little to do. Police are constantly monitoring people who are out and about, his countryman Bakari said. Most supermarkets and pharmacies are closed. The one shop at his and Kizwi's school, Tongji Medical College, quickly sells out every day. Bakari said the Tanzanian committee has begun collecting phone numbers of international representatives for all universities in Wuhan so students can report on any shortages or which campuses are being especially helpful. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lawyers defending U.S. President Donald Trump in the U.S. Senate concluded their three-day opening argument, urging senators to acquit him of two articles of impeachment and rejecting as "inadmissible" explosive allegations reportedly made in a new book by former national-security adviser John Bolton. Trump's lawyers said in the Senate chamber on January 28 that voters, not Congress, should decide the fate of the president, who has been charged with two articles of impeachment by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. "The election is only months away. The American people are entitled to choose their president," White House Counsel Pat Cipollone told the Senate. "Overturning past elections and massively interfering with the upcoming one would cause serious and lasting damage to the people of the United States and to our great country. The Senate cannot allow this to happen," he added. "It is time for this to end, here and now. So we urge the Senate to reject these articles of impeachment." His comments came on the third and final day of the Trump legal team's presentation to the Senate. Democratic House managers completed their three allocated days of statements prior to the president's lawyers' arguments. Republicans control the 100-seat chamber with 53 seats, meaning it is almost certain Trump will be acquitted. Conviction and removal from office requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate. But press reports of explosive comments to be published in an upcoming book by Bolton, the president's former top security official, have shaken the proceedings. The New York Times reported that Bolton wrote in August that Trump told him he wanted to withhold $391 million in military aid to Ukraine until Kyiv helped by launching investigations into Democrats, including his potential election opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, and son Hunter Biden. Trump has repeatedly denied he attempted to pressure Kyiv by withholding the aid until it announced an investigation into the Bidens. On the final day of arguments, Trump personal lawyer Jay Sekulow told senators that "you cannot impeach a president on an unsourced allegation," referring to the unpublished book manuscript. He added, though, that, even if what Bolton says is true, it would not represent impeachable conduct. Some Republican senators proposed that Bolton's book manuscript be reviewed on a closed, classified basis, but top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer rejected the suggestion. Democrats want Bolton and other administration officials to be called to testify in the trial, but Trump's team -- supported by most Republican senators -- oppose the issuance of any such subpoenas. Democrats have hoped that at least four Republican senators will support them in a vote to allow witnesses. If no witnesses are allowed, senators will next have the opportunity to ask questions of Democrat managers and Trump's defense team in the trial, which is only the third presidential impeachment case to reach the Senate in U.S. history. The other two ended in acquittals. With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters A 33-year-old wedding photographer has been charged with the murder of her husband after he died from severe burns allegedly sustained at the family home in the state's south west. Mother-of-five Angela Surtees fronted Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday with a heavily bandaged left arm, accused of killing her husband Daniel, at Whittington in Geelong, on Saturday night. Daniel and Angela Surtees. Credit:Facebook He was taken to hospital but died the following day. During Mrs Surtees brief court appearance on Tuesday, she sat silently in the dock flanked by three female security officers. Sharon Stone was seen having a run-in with the police during a drive in Paris on Tuesday. The actress, 61, was seen having a chat with a police officer while being driven through the French city, leaning out of a back window and taking snaps. The Basic Instinct star smiled at the policewoman as she appeared to take a photo of her while the car stopped on the Alexander III Bridge. Traffic police: Sharon Stone was seen having a run-in with the police during a drive in Paris on Tuesday Smile: The actress, 61, was seen having a chat with a police officer while being driven through the French city, leaning out of a back window and taking snaps Sharon was in good spirits as she chatted with the officer before giving a thumbs up as she drove off. The actress was later seen visiting French designer Stephane Rolland's office building, leaving with a gift. The star looked effortlessly chic in a long sweeping coat with a pair of slim fit leather trousers. Sharon added a touch of French glamour with a neck bow and a knitted jumper with the country's tricolour on it, completing her look with a pair of studded boots. Thumbs up: Sharon looked in good spirits as she gave the thumbs up at the officer Candid: The Basic Instinct star smiled at the policewoman as she appeared to take a photo of her while the car stopped on the Alexander III Bridge Chat: Sharon looked cheery as she spoke with the officer and checked something on her phone Stepping out: Sharon rocked a cool all black outfit as she strutted through the streets She completed her cool look with a pair of round sunglasses and wore her blonde hair down loose. The twice-divorced showbiz legend, who also wrapped up warm with a scarf, was earlier seen leaning out of car window, snapping the sights of the French capital along the banks of the Seine. That was before she was warmly greeted at Yves Saint Laurent HQ, leaving with a Stephanie Pollard bag. Sharon was recently interviewed for the Age Issue of Allure and discussed her iconic 1992 erotic thriller Basic Instinct. Directed by Paul Verhoeven, the movie stars Sharon opposite Michael Douglas in a sexually-charged game of cat and mouse. 'I think Basic Instinct was made at the exact right moment in history because it captured all our fears and doubts and the moment of change of power for women. Present: The actress waved at the cameras as she visited French designer Stephane Rolland's office building, leaving with a gift Style icon: Sharon added a touch of French glamour with a shimmering neck bow and a knitted jumper with the country's tricolour on it, completing her look with a pair of studded boots The Casino bombshell revealed 'I like my body so much more,' nowadays than at the age of 34, when she was in Basic Instinct. 'I'm so grateful to my body. When I was younger, everybody was telling me what was wrong with my body - too this, too that. 'When I got on Basic Instinct, they hired a makeup artist that put on pounds of makeup every day, and every day I went to my trailer and took the makeup off, but I wasn't allowed to choose my makeup artist, nor was my name [above the title] on the poster.' The star also recently took to Twitter to bemoan the fact that she had been kicked off dating app Bumble because they didn't think it was really her. At the end of last year, the mother-of-three made a public plea to the company to reinstate her account as she quipped, 'Dont shut me out of the hive'. Revealing that she had been reported by users who assumed she was running a fake account, Sharon shared: 'I went on the @bumble dating sight and they closed my account. Some users reported that it couldnt possibly be me! 'Hey @bumble, is being me exclusionary ? Dont shut me out of the hive [sic]'. Nine hours after Sharon announced her account had been suspended, a spokesperson for Bumble told MailOnline it was back up and running again. They said: 'Sharon Stone is back on Bumble! Our apologies for the confusion as we're so honoured that Ms. Stone wants to be a part of the Hive. 'However, being the icon that she is, we can understand how so many of our users felt it was too good to be true once they noticed her profile wasnt photo verified. 'Photo verification is just one of the many ways to connect with confidence on Bumble. 'In light of our mix-up with Sharon Stone, we'd like to extend an invitation for her to come to Austin and allow us to host her at the hive for a few hours of profile prep and great food!' Buzzworthy: Taking to Twitter in December, the Golden Globe winner pleaded with the company to reinstate her account as she quipped, 'Dont shut me out of the hive' New Delhi, Jan 28 : Soon after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal threw an invite to Amit Shah to visit Delhi government run schools and witness them first hand, the Union Home Minister has taken him head on. In a tweet Shah said: Arvind Kejriwal ji you called me to see a school run by the Delhi government. Yesterday, the eight MPs of Delhi BJP went to different schools and see how they are. Their plight exposed the claims of your 'education revolution'." Putting the ball back to Kejriwal's court, Shah added: "Now you have to answer to the people of Delhi." A day earlier, BJP MPs from Delhi, took to social media to state their experience of visiting Delhi schools. Taking on the AAP, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari tweeted pictures of a school in bad condition and a videos of students standing outside the school. The classes at the school were conducted only for two hours, which included the lunch break, Tiwari alleged. "Increasing the world class school of the Delhi government giving education to students for only 2 hours a day...what a shame, @AamAadmiParty spent crores on the advertisement and look at the school infrastructure," Tiwari had tweeted. Meanwhile, Parvesh Singh, MP from West Delhi, visited a government school in Matiala and showcased a PWD's letter, written to the government four months ago, which warned that the school building was dangerous and could collapse anytime. Despite such a warning, children were being made to study in the building, he said and alleged to have found a dead rat next to a classroom. Another BJP MP Gautam Gambhir released a 55-second video of the Government Secondary School in Khichadipur, showing broken toilets and poor infrastructure. The BJP has sharpened attack on the AAP over government schools after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday accused it of "making education a part of dirty politics". "Don't make education a part of your dirty politics. Please take out time and come with me to visit government schools. You are surrounded by negativity the whole day. Meet our students and you will get some positivity. Do positive politics over education," Kejriwal said. Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel visited a government school in Mustafabad, which has been running without a principal for the past several years. Goel released photos of the school and said: "Delhi government makes big claims about schools, photo of Mustafabad school is in front of you. 2,000 children are studying in one school and due to lack of space the school is running in 4 shifts with much difficulty. The children here are studying in 2-2 hours shifts and there is no principal in the school for years. " Similarly, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan exposed the plight of Prem Nagar's Government Children Higher Secondary School, MP Ramesh Bidhuri put up pictures from a school in the Railway Colony from his Lok Sabha constituency Tughlakabad and Meenakshi Lekhi, Lok Sabha MP took stock of the Patel Nagar Government School. All BJP MPs have released videos of their interaction with the children and teachers, and the photographs of the various schools, raising questions over Kejriwal's claim that the Aam Aadmi Party government has improved the condition of government schools in Delhi. B2Broker's customised version of Devexperts dxTrade combined with its technology and deep liquidity has culminated in an unmatchable offering in the industry. B2Broker, a leading liquidity and technology provider of solutions to the Forex and crypto industry, has signed an agreement with Devexperts, a financial software developer, to license their dxTrade platform. dxTrade is a multi-asset trading solution for brokers which, unlike other existing OTC trading platforms, supports the entire spectrum of assets. This feature will allow B2Broker to become the leading Prime of Prime liquidity provider in the industry. This press release features multimedia. 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Evgeny Sorokin, SVP of Software Engineering, Devexperts added: "We are pleased that B2Broker has chosen our modular multi-asset trading platform. dxTrade can be configured to serve different clients in different markets and I am certain that our technology will assist B2Broker with their expansion." About B2Broker B2Broker is a liquidity and technology provider of solutions for the crypto and foreign exchange industry. The company specialises in the sphere of B2B services and products, catering for a wide range of clients including large licensed brokers, crypto exchanges, crypto brokers, forex brokers, hedge and crypto funds and professional managers. B2Broker's advanced base of ready to use technical solutions enable brokers to save time and money on consuming infrastructure projects and focus on enlarging their client base and increasing their revenues. About Devexperts Devexperts specializes in the development of tailored software solutions for the Capital Markets industry with clients including retail and institutional brokerage houses, exchanges, and wealth management firms. Devexperts are the developers of the thinkorswim platform and numerous recognized and reliable financial applications, with millions of traders using their technology daily. The services from Devexperts include low-latency market data feeds, AR/VR data visualization, AI digital assistants, deep learning, and market analysis. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005354/en/ Contacts: B2Broker Rosemary Barnes Head of PR Marketing pr@b2broker.net Devexperts Alex Kariagin Chief Marketing Officer akariagin@devexperts.com Tel: +49 (89) 262-077-352 Tenants at a Toronto rooming house who are concerned about being evicted from their downtown building say they plan to keep fighting for a roof over their heads. Joseph Da Silva, a tenant at the Inglewood Arms, 295 Jarvis St., north of Dundas Street East, told reporters at a news conference on Monday that the tenants are feeling pressured to move out of their units. A developer wants to tear down the building and build a 36-storey condo tower on the site. Da Silva said the tenants want guaranteed places to live in the proposed condo, with rent comparable to what they pay now and compensation for being displaced. The rezoning application by Minto Communities Canada, a real estate company based in Ottawa, has not yet been approved by the city. "We're not trying to halt development in the city," said Da Silva, who pays about $925 a month in rent. "We simply want to want to find our place in the city. We don't believe that it's to anybody's benefit that we be tossed out on the streets," he said. "We believe we have something to contribute to the city and that the society will be better with us in it than by excluding us and moving us to the outskirts." The Inglewood Arms, a licensed rooming house, has about 100 tenants, many of whom are low income and have lived there a long time. Da Silva, who has lived there for more than 10 years, said its tenants pay anywhere from $800 to $1,300 a month. He said the building is safe. "This is our home," he added. He said the tenants have been told they would be given notice and an organization would help them move to another location. CBC "What we seek is to return to the new building," he said. "A great many people in the Inglewood Arms are incredibly sick. A lot of us are on long-term disability. Some will not make the new building. And some have been forgotten," he said. "We are asking the city to help us." Da Silva said members of his family and doctors are in the area and that's why he wants to stay. Story continues According to the rezoning application, filed in May 2018, the condo would contain 351 apartment units and five levels of below-grade parking. In June 2019, the city adopted a policy, known as the Official Planning Amendment 453, that protects rooming house residents in case of evictions. The policy enables the city to preserve rooming house stock. A month later, a group of developers, including Minto Communities Canada, appealed the rooming house protection policy to the provincial Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), which held a hearing on the challenge on Monday. CBC Da Silva won "party standing" at that hearing, which means he has the right to call witnesses and experts, cross-examine, move motions and make arguments, according to Brendan Jowett, a staff lawyer at Neighbourhood Legal Services, a community legal clinic. A second hearing is scheduled for May 29. Jowett told CBC Toronto that party standing gives tenants "a seat at the table" and it is better than participant status because it enables tenants to do more than make written submissions. "Our goal is to get Joseph's story before the tribunal," Jowett said. Jowett said the policy is important because rooming houses are "almost exclusively" affordable housing and they house low-income, vulnerable people. "It says these people have a place in our community ... and it basically ensures that folks aren't just getting tossed to the street," he said. Minto says application predates policy In a statement to CBC Toronto, Minto Communities Canada said it formally advised the tribunal that it is not opposed to requests for party or participant status from members of the public. The company also notes that it is not the only landowner involved in the appeal of the policy. CBC "With regard to the proposed dwelling room replacement policies, the Official Plan Amendment ("OPA") 453 is currently in proceedings in front of the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal ("LPAT") and is being appealed by multiple Land Owners, the University of Toronto and others," the statement reads. "Minto Communities' rezoning application for 295 Jarvis, submitted in May 2018, predates the enactment of OPA 453 and as a result, consistent with past City and LPAT practices and precedent, Minto Communities is taking the position that OPA 453 does not apply to the 295 Jarvis rezoning application," it continues. Minto also says it's in settlement discussions with the city and is prepared to compensate "any existing long term occupants of the Inglewood Arms Hotel in excess of what the law currently requires, subject to City and LPAT approval." Local councillor supports tenants in their fight Kristyn Wong-Tam, councillor for Ward 13, Toronto Centre, said in a post on Twitter that she supports the tenants and she is opposed to the condo development. She said she also opposes the legal challenge of the city's rooming house protection policy by the landowners. "If Minto win their appeal, it will be a signal to developers that they can evict rooming house tenants, without consequence, and replace our most deeply affordable housing with luxury condos," she said. "I support their fight and my sincere hope that the Tribunal will ultimately favour the human right to affordable housing, over profit for a wealthy developer." The tenants also want Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board to affirm that the provincial Residential Tenancies Act applies to them. Their landlord, a numbered company, 462226 Ontario Ltd., has asked the board to rule that the act does not cover rooming house tenants. A hearing at the board on the issue has been scheduled for March 11. A spokesperson for 462226 Ontario Ltd. was not available to comment on Monday. Iran is said to have given more than 1,000 licenses to cryptocurrency miners in the country. The licenses have been issued by Irans Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, local news outlet Financial Tribune reported Friday, citing an official from ICT Guild Organization - an Iranian NGO representing information and communications technology (ICT) sector. The official, Amir Hossein Saeedi Naeini, said crypto mining industry has the potential to add $8.5 billion to Irans economy. Iran legalized crypto mining last June; the country has long been attractive to miners due to cheap power. Miners are charged 4,800 Iranian rials (~$0.11) for one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy. During the peak summer season (June to September), however, the charges are higher at 19,300 Iranian rials (~$0.46) per kWh. High electricity tariffs plus stringent regulations have made the crypto mining sector less appealing for small investors," according to Naeini. Therefore, a limited number of authorized mining farms are currently active in Iran, per the report. Iran finalized the power tariffs in November, as subsidized energy previously put pressure on Irans national grid, causing a 7% increase in energy consumption in the country. Notably, Iran does not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender. It came amid renewed attention over his friendship with Epstein, and a woman's claim that she had sex with the prince several times starting when she was 17 Andrew released a public statement in November saying he was 'willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations' into Epstein Prosecutors said they contacted Prince Andrew's attorneys but have not received a response - much like Allred and her client On Monday, a federal prosecutor stood on the doorstep of Epstein's NYC home and publicly shamed Prince Andrew for not cooperating in their investigation Allred was told to send the letter directly to the royal, but she never heard back Allred sent the letter to the Duke of York's lawyers in the UK back in December, saying his testimony could help the victim find 'peace' Prince Andrew 'ignored' a letter sent to his home from Jeffrey Epstein's victim Jane Doe 15 who begged him to speak to the FBI Prince Andrew ignored a letter sent to his home from one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims who begged him to speak to the FBI 'in the interests of justice', according to a lawyer for one of the victims. Gloria Allred represents Jane Doe 15, who claims she was abused by Epstein when she was 15 years old, and sent the letter on her behalf to the Duke of York saying his testimony could help her find 'peace'. Allred said that at first, she sent it to Andrew's lawyers in the UK back in December. But when his lawyers told her to send it directly to Prince Andrew, she never got a response - despite a FedEx delivery receipt confirming the royal had received it. The revelation comes after federal prosecutor Geoffrey Berman stood on the doorstep of Epstein's New York City mansion on Monday and shamed Prince Andrew for not cooperating, despite the royal saying he was willing to assist with the investigations into Epstein and his associates back in November. The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York said prosecutors contacted Prince Andrew's attorneys but hadn't received a response - much like Allred and her client. Prince Andrew ignored a letter sent to his home from one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims who begged him to speak to the FBI 'in the interests of justice'. Gloria Allred represents Jane Doe 15 (pictured together in November) who was abused by Epstein when she was 15 years old and sent the letter to the Duke of York, saying his testimony could help her find 'peace' Allred said that at first, she sent it to Andrew's lawyers in the UK back in December. But when his lawyers told her to send it directly to Prince Andrew, she never got a response, despite a FedEx delivery receipt confirming the royal had received the letter Allred's letter to Prince Andrew included a copy of Jane Doe 15's civil complaint that was filed to the New York Supreme Court. It also included the statement she read out at an emotional press conference in November. The letter read in part: 'Your Royal Highness, I write on behalf of my client Jane Doe 15. 'We write to seek your cooperation and assistance in helping Jane Doe 15 and the other women who Epstein abused to bring out the truth about his predatory behavior. 'You are no doubt aware by now that Epstein was a skilled manipulator and abuser of minor girls. A central element of that predatory behavior was to present himself as having immense wealth and connections to the world's most powerful people. 'After Epstein sexually assaulted Jane Doe 15, his representative contacted her again to attempt to lure her to Epstein's private island. In trying to persuade her to fly there he conveyed to Jane Doe 15 that Epstein was close to you, that you would be among the guests on the private island and that she would have an opportunity to meet you. 'In other words, your prestige and reputation were directly touted in his attempts to engage in further harm'. The letter added: 'By virtue of your many visits to Epstein's homes and your familiarity with him personally you undoubtedly have relevant knowledge of the manner Epstein's operated during the period he abused Jane Doe 15 and scores of other girls'. The letter concludes that Prince Andrew should submit to an interview with the FBI and a deposition in Jane Doe 15's lawsuit 'in the interests of serving justice and helping the victims of Epstein to find peace'. Jane Doe 15 (left and right as a teen) was just aged 15 when a female associate of Epstein's began grooming her for sex with Epstein by gifting her an iPod. The associate then sexually assaulted her at Epstein's New Mexico ranch before passing her off to the millionaire, according to her statement The letter concludes that Prince Andrew should submit to an interview with the FBI and a deposition in Jane Doe 15's lawsuit 'in the interests of serving justice and helping the victims of Epstein to find peace'. Epstein killed himself in his NYC prison cell in August 2019 Allred said normally in circumstances such as this, the FBI has a liaison officer in London who arranges for people to be interviewed but 'that hasn't worked out in this case'. She said if Prince Andrew ever set foot in the US, she would serve him for a deposition as part of her civil lawsuit brought by Jane Doe 15 against Epstein's estate. Speaking outside the Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesdya, where she was attending the trial of Harvey Weinstein, Allred said: 'What's it going to take? Just because he's a Prince doesn't mean he shouldn't provide the relevant information. 'It's not enough to be sympathetic when you are dealing with underage girls'. Allred added: 'Prince Andrew does not have to force everybody to jump through legal hoops in order to secure his testimony. 'He could simply authorize his lawyers to accept our lawsuit and everyone else's lawsuit rather than go through a long drawn out process where we end up serving him. My clients have voluntarily spoken to law enforcement. They didn't need a subpoena to compel them'. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew is facing heat from US federal prosecutors, who are pointing to his November statement where he said he was willing to help in their investigation. 'Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required,' Prince Andrew said in a statement soon after being grilled about his ties to the disgraced financier in a TV interview. Prosecutor George Berman made his latest remarks on Monday about the Epstein case during a joint appearance with members of Safe Horizon, a nonprofit victim services agency, to discuss a new New York law that makes it easier for people to sue over childhood sexual abuse. The attorney wouldn't discuss the investigation in detail, but did confirm that prosecutors are looking at possible 'conspirators' who worked with Epstein. Prince Andrew is pictured with Epstein in Central Park in New York in February 2011 Meanwhile, Prince Andrew is facing heat from US federal prosecutors, who are pointing to his November statement saying he was willing to help in their investigation. Speaking to reporters outside Epstein's Manhattan mansion on Monday, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman said that prosecutors have contacted Prince Andrew's attorneys but have not received a response 'Jeffrey Epstein couldn't have done what he did without the assistance of others, and I can assure you that the investigation is moving forward,' Berman said. The attorney declined to comment when asked if Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's accused madam, is cooperating with investigators. Before responding to a reporter's question about Andrew's involvement in the investigation, Berman acknowledged that his office typically doesn't comment on whether a particular individual is cooperating. 'However, in Prince Andrew's case, he publicly offered, indeed in a press release, offered to cooperate with law enforcement investigating the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators,' Berman said. Buckingham Palace is not commenting on the matter. A source told DailyMail.com: 'This issue is being dealt with by the Duke of York's legal team.' After Berman's announcement, a lawyer for Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an Epstein accuser who claims she slept with Andrew, issued the following statement to The Daily Mail: 'Prince Andrew's continued refusal to cooperate with the authorities after freely acknowledging that he would be prepared to answer enquiries raises even more questions about the role he played in the international sex trafficking ring Jeffrey Epstein and others operated. 'Prince Andrew should take most seriously the deeply held belief in this country that no one is above the law.' Andrew has categorically denied having any knowledge that Epstein was sexually abusing teenage girls. The prince announced that he was withdrawing from his royal duties late last year amid renewed attention over his friendship with Epstein, and Giuffre's claim that she had several sexual encounters with the prince, starting when she was just 17. Berman declined comment when asked if Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's accused madam, is cooperating with investigators. Epstein and Maxwell are pictured in 2005 Giuffre says that after meeting her in Florida in 2000, Epstein flew her around the world and pressured her into having sex with numerous older men, including Andrew, two senior US politicians, a noted academic, wealthy financiers and the attorney Alan Dershowitz, who is now part of President Donald Trump's impeachment defense team. All of those men have denied the allegations. Giuffre has said she had sex with Andrew three times at Epstein's request, including once in London in 2001 at the home of Epstein's girlfriend, Maxwell. Andrew has maintained that he does not recall ever meeting Giuffre - even though there is a photograph apparently showing him with his arm around the then-17-year-old on the night she says she first slept with him. In the November TV interview with the BBC, Andrew insisted he did not spend time with Giuffre at Tramp Nightclub in London on March 10, 2001, after which she claims the pair first had sex. The duke denied he slept with her on three separate occasions, saying the encounter in 2001 did not happen as he had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to Pizza Express in Woking for a party, and they spent the rest of the day together. Giuffre has previously described their alleged time together in London in vivid detail, claiming that Andrew had been 'sweating' as they danced together in the London nightclub. Andrew disputed that detail, saying he has a 'peculiar medical condition which is that I don't sweat or I didn't sweat at the time'. He also said that her story didn't make sense because he didn't know where the bar in Tramp Nightclub is. 'I don't drink, I don't think I've ever bought a drink in Tramps whenever I was there,' he said. Virginia Roberts, who claims that Prince Andrew had sex with her after Epstein trafficked her to London, is pictured with the Duke of York in 2001 In a November TV interview, Andrew maintained that he does not recall meeting Giuffre Questioned about the photo of him and Giuffre together, which friends of the Duke have said could have been faked, Andrew said that public displays of affection are 'not something he would do' but refused to reveal whether he thought the image was doctored. He said: 'Oh it's definitely me, I mean that's a picture of me. I don't believe it's a picture of me in London because when I go out in London I wear a suit and a tie. 'That's what I would describe as my travelling clothes if I'm going to go overseas. There's plenty of photographs of me dressed in that sort of kit but not there.' US Attorney General William Barr has vowed to aggressively investigate and bring charges against anyone who may have helped Epstein, who killed himself in his jail cell last summer while he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The case brought renewed scrutiny to Epstein's many high-profile associates, including Andrew, who says he met the financier in 1999. The pair maintained their friendship even after Epstein served 13 months in a Florida county jail after pleading guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution in 2008. Andrew came under fire in 2010 after it was revealed that he stayed at Epstein's Manhattan home following his release from jail. Asked during the November interview whether he regretted continuing his friendship with Epstein, Andrew said: 'Do I regret the fact that he has quite obviously conducted himself in a manner unbecoming? Yes.' The BBC interviewer replied: 'Unbecoming? He was a sex offender.' Andrew then apologized, saying: 'I'm being polite, I mean in the sense that he was a sex offender. 'But no, was I right in having him as a friend? At the time, bearing in mind this was some years before he was accused of being a sex offender. 'I don't there was anything wrong then, the problem was the fact that once he had been convicted I stayed with him and that's the bit that, as it were, I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that.' A man who was earlier convicted of child rape will be back in Judge Barry Steelmans Criminal Court in late February after one of his cases was upheld in the Tennessee Supreme Court. Judge Barry Steelman had sentenced Jaime Zarate to 30 years in state prison at 100 percent after the conviction. The case was upheld by the State Court of Criminal Appeals and the State Supreme Court. The case involves multiple counts of sexual misconduct involving a child younger than 13 and with the production of child pornography. He had a previous case that hes been found guilty and took to the court of appeals and the supreme court, said his attorney, Marty Lasley. Its going to stand guilty as charged and sentenced. So theres one case of his that is completely over, and we were waiting to see the results of that before we proceeded to the second case. One of those motions will be a motion to suppress. If the court finds that a warrant was not issued properly, then the defense can have any evidence procured by the warrant omitted during any hearings or trials. Today was just a review date to possibly set it for trial, said attorney Lasley. We decided there were some motions that needed to be heard, so the state and I agreed to get a date on Feb. 27 for motions. At that point, the case may be the position to be resolved. Zarate faces two counts of rape of a child, three counts of aggravated sexual battery, and five counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor. According to the true bill, on Sept. 1, 2011, Jamie Zarate did unlawfully and knowingly promote, employ, use, assist, transport, or permit a minor, to wit: (VICTIM) who was less than 18 years of age at the time of the offense, to participate in the performance or in the production of material which included the said (VICTIM) engaging in sexual activity or simulated sexual activity. Name tags for three students at the University of Richmond students were defaced, and a Muslim advocacy group on Monday called for a hate crime investigation into one of the instances. The Council on American Islamic Relations said in an email that it asked the school to look into an incident in which racist graffiti was written on the door of an African American student. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the residence hall name tags of three students were defaced last week in what university president Ronald Crutcher called acts of racism. Crutcher sent a campus-wide email Jan. 24, after a black students door was defaced. The next day, Chief of Police Dave McCoy wrote to say there had been three incidents, apparently motivated by intimidation with a racial and national origin basis. The president described the initial act as a disturbing racial epithet in his Friday morning message to students. He called the incident disgusting. An act of racism against any of us on this campus is an act that affronts all of us, and everything we are committed to as a University community, Crutcher said. We will not tolerate members of our community being targeted for harassment based on their identities. Cynthia Price, a university spokeswoman, said the vandalism was anonymously reported. McCoy said two of the incidents happened in the Marsh residence hall, but that police havent determined where the third reported incident took place. The university has not revealed what the graffiti said. 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. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. (JTA)South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed an executive order on Tuesday prohibiting state offices from doing business with companies that boycott Israel. South Dakota is the 28th state to have enacted an anti-Israel boycott executive order or legislation. Its measure requires vendors who want to contract with South Dakota agencies, authorities, commissions, departments or institutions not to work with companies that participate in boycotts of Israel. It applies to companies or contractors with more than five employees and on contracts of $100,000 or more. Noem signed the order in the capitol Rotunda in Pierre an hour before her State of the State address, which marked the beginning of the state Legislatures 2020 session. She visited Israel in 2013 while serving as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Posted on: January 24, 2020 9:58 AM [ACNS, by Staff Writer] St Georges College, an Anglican centre for pilgrimage, hospitality, study and reconciliation in Jerusalem, has celebrated its 100th anniversary with a special service in the neighbouring St Georges Cathedral. The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, preached at the service, which was presided over by the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani. In a post on its Facebook Page, the College said that for the first decades of its life it was more of an idea than a reality although in the 1930s summer schools were run for Church of England clergy. College buildings were first constructed in 1962 and then year-round courses started to be run. Today we are a thriving centre for pilgrimage, study, hospitality and reconciliation. Speaking to ACNS, the Dean of St Georges College, Canon Richard Sewell, said: we receive pilgrims from all over the world who come for a period of a week or two weeks to see the holy sites and to learn about the issues contemporary and historical in this incredible country. The college was founded in 1920 by the then-Bishop of Jerusalem, Rennie MacInnes, who had a vision of training local people to be priests in the newly formed Diocese of Jerusalem; and so originally it was going to be a seminary, Richard Sewell said. But that never quite came to fruition . . . although plans were being put in place and the foundation of the name was 1920. Today, the college runs pilgrimages and short courses for Anglicans from across the Anglican Communion a ministry which dates back, Richard Sewell said, to those 1930s summer schools. Local Ordinands receive their training at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon; and the Virginia Theological Seminary in the United States. Our most popular study pilgrimages are The Footsteps of Jesus that would be a very traditional [way to] see the main holy sites here in Jerusalem [and] up in the Galilee. We also do one called the Palestine of Jesus, and that looks a little bit more widely at the archaeology. We also do specialist courses like Women in the Bible. We do a very important interfaith course once a year for Christians, Jews and Muslims to come and visit each others holy sites and then dialogue about that experience. Many of the course participants come from the Church of England and the US-based Episcopal Church. One of Richard Sewells priorities is to expand the take-up from Churches in Africa, Asia and South America in particular. Thats one of the big challenges, he said, how to attract people coming from countries who have no tradition of coming to St Georges: that will make us a resource for the whole Anglican Communion. The Welsh Assembly has voted to introduce a smacking ban in Wales. Assembly Members voted 36 to 14 in the Senedd on Tuesday in favour of the Welsh Government bill, which sees the country join 58 other nations including Scotland to end the physical punishment of children. Ministers say the legislation will come into force in 2022 after gaining Royal Assent, but opponents of the new law say it will criminalise parents and increase pressure on already-stretched social services. The public have been promised an extensive awareness campaign before the implementation of the law. First Minister Mark Drakeford said times had changed and physically disciplining children was no longer a part of modern society. Today Wales has joined more than 58 other nations across the world to legally end the physical punishment of children. Over the next two years we will run an awareness-raising campaign to inform the public of the new law, which will come into force in 2022.#ChildrenWalesBill pic.twitter.com/e1r6E7SzNw WGDep_Health (@wgdep_health) January 28, 2020 He said: Im proud Wales has taken this step and once again put childrens rights at the heart of what we do here in Wales. Protecting children and giving them the best start in life should always be our priority. Times have changed and there is no place in a modern society for the physical punishment of children. Wales joins Scotland in being the first parts of the UK to see through a positive change to this key piece of legislation. The law change will remove the common law defence of reasonable punishment which is currently available to parental figures if accused of assault or battery against a child. It is the first divergence of core criminal law between Wales and England, where parents would still be able to legally physically punish a child as long as it is deemed reasonable. Excellent debate for the last stage of the Bill to give children equal protection from physical punishment in the Senedd. Thanks so much to @wgdep_health @HelenMaryCymru @lynne_neagle for putting childrens rights at the centre of superb speeches Sally Holland (@childcomwales) January 28, 2020 The Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill was led by Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services Julie Morgan, who said there was no such thing as a loving smack. She said: Physical punishment has no place here in Wales there is no such thing as a loving smack and no justifiable reason for a big person to hit a little person. Im delighted we have voted to change the law to help protect our children and future generations. She added: The change in law will bring clarity for parents, professionals and children that physically punishing a child is not acceptable in Wales. Professor Sally Holland, Childrens Commissioner for Wales, said: Im so pleased, delighted and proud that Wales has joined dozens of other countries around the world to give children the same protection from physical punishment that adults enjoy. Its never OK to hit a child congratulations to the Welsh Government and to members of the Senedd who have prioritised childrens rights by passing this legislation. But opponents of the law change said it would do nothing to help children at risk of being abused and would have a negative impact on families. Dr Ashley Frawley, a sociologist at Swansea University and spokeswoman for the Be Reasonable Wales campaign, said: The smacking ban bill is simply bad policy. The campaign is far from over. To keep informed about the smacking ban, sign a petition, and learn how to take action, visit our website https://t.co/PdQqhTRj3S Be Reasonable (@reasonablewales) January 28, 2020 It will result in highly negative intervention in good families, increased pressure on beleaguered social services departments and will do nothing to help children who are genuinely at risk of abuse. The Government has chosen to ignore a plethora of concerns about this legislation. Sadly, it seems the negative impact of the smacking ban will only be realised when it has come into force. A letter from a group made up of individuals from the fields of sociology, criminology, child psychology and parenting had earlier urged AMs to oppose a change in the law, describing it as a dangerous experiment. Welsh Conservative AM Janet Finch-Saunders said last year the ban could deter parents from England from holidaying in Wales. She said: I have concerns about raising awareness. I dont want people to be thinking, Im not going to Wales as Im unclear about the law and I cant reasonably parent my children. We dont want reports of people coming on holiday to Llandudno and suddenly getting a knock on the door of their hotel, where somebody has accused them of smacking their child and theyre completely oblivious to this. Kilmarnock group land Capaldi support gig A band from Kilmarnock has landed a prestige supporting slot on the upcoming tour of Europe by one of the rising stars on the UK pop scene. Lewis Capaldi has seen both his first single, Someone You Loved, and his debut full-length album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, hit number one during the past year. Now he is embarking on his first big tour of Europe and has chosen the Kilmarnock band Fatherson to be the support group on the bill. They will be playing dates in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Germany during the tour. Fatherson consists of vocalist and guitarist Ross Leighton, bass player Marc Strain and drummer Greg Walkinshaw. The three are all former pupils at Kilmarnock Academy and Loanhead Primary, which is where they met each other. Local print shops that can provide flyer printing are sometimes useful as a promotional aid for bands when they are starting out. According to the Daily Record, the group announced the news to their fans via their official Facebook page, stating: Were chuffed to be invited out on tour with Lewis Capaldi at the start of next month, hitting some of our favourite spots in Europe! Father Son was a name suggested by the groups producer, but they combined the words to make online searching easier. Previously they went by the name of Energy! Updated: Residents in Newcastle have set up a GoFundMe campaign to support the McGinley family. It has been established by a member of Newcastle Community, along with the ReNewcastle Community Group. They say they are in touch with the family, who are aware of the campaign and are "very thankful". As of 4.30pm today, more than 5,700 euro has been raised. According to the group, Andrew McGinley's employer SODEXO is covering the funeral costs. Earlier - 'Every breath is a struggle': Father speaks of 'devastation' after discovering his children were dead 'There are no words, only devastation.' These were the words of heartbroken Andrew McGinley, whose three young children were found dead at the family home last Friday evening. In a statement issued this morning, Mr McGinley also released a family photograph, including his wife, Deirdre Morley. She remains in hospital after being found in a collapsed state at the time her husband discovered the children's bodies at their home in Newcastle, west Dublin at around 7.45pm. The results of toxicology tests on Conor, aged nine, Darragh, aged seven, and their little sister, Carla, aged three, are expected later in the week. Together with inconclusive findings from the post mortem, gardai hope the results will explain how the children died. In a moving statement issued through Garda HQ, Mr McGinley said: "There are no words. There is only devastation, grief and anguish. Every breath is a struggle." Conor, Darragh and Carla are adored. They all had beautiful, bright futures ahead of them with family, friends and a community who love them. He had this message to parents: To all parents, cuddle your children whenever you get a chance, tell them how much you love them as often as you can, spend every spare minute with them reading, playing and enjoying their wonderfulness. He added: The future has now become our enemy but we will battle it every day to keep the memory of Conor, Darragh and Carla alive. Andrew. Accompanying his statement, the father released a family photograph, comprising himself, his three children and his wife. Ms Morley had been found in a disorientated state near her home by a taxi driver at around 7.30pm. The driver brought her home, but her condition deteriorated on the way and he had to ring 999. A garda patrol was in the area on a separate matter when they saw ambulance staff tending to a person outside a house and went to see if any assistance was needed. By that stage, Mr McGinley had arrived home. It is understood that when he saw his wife being cared for outside the house he went inside to see if his children were okay. When gardai heard the father's anguish they went into the house, followed by paramedics. It is thought one of the children was downstairs and the two others were upstairs. It is understood two notes were found inside the house, one of them inside the door, asking the reader to ring 999 and not to go upstairs. Both notes are being forensically examined. The Technical Bureau has conducted a detailed examination of the house. Ms Morley, a nurse, was described as being in a critical condition when she was brought to Tallaght Hospital. She is thought to have stabilised over the weekend, but is still in a serious condition. Sources said doctors will need to be satisfied that she is both medically and psychologically able to speak to gardai before giving detectives the all-clear. The children's bodies have not yet been released to their father. 'Cuddle your children whenever you get a chance': Andrew McGinley describes grief after childrens' death Conor, Darragh, and Carla pictured with their dad, Andrew McGinley. Photo provided by Andrew McGinley/An Garda Siochana The father of three children who were found dead in a house in Dublin last week has described his "devastation" following their deaths. The bodies of nine-year-old Conor McGinley, his brother Darragh who was seven, and their sister Carla, who was three, were discovered in a house in Newcastle on Friday evening. Post-mortem examinations were carried out on their bodies but gardai say they will not be releasing the results for operational purposes. Gardai say it could be up to a week before the results of toxicology tests are known. Andrew McGinley, father of Conor, Darragh and Carla, has urged parents to spend more time with their children. "There are no words. There is only devastation, grief and anguish. Every breath is a struggle," he said in a statement released through the Garda press office. "Conor, Darragh and Carla are adored. They all had beautiful, bright futures ahead of them with family, friends and a community who love them. "To all parents, cuddle your children whenever you get a chance, tell them how much you love them as often as you can, spend every spare minute with them reading, playing and enjoying their wonderfulness. The future has now become our enemy but we will battle it every day to keep the memory of Conor, Darragh and Carla alive. Gardai are still waiting to interview the mother of the three children, who is aged in her 40s and currently in a serious condition in hospital. A family liaison officer had been appointed and is in contact with the father and the extended family. - Original reporting by Digital Desk For many, the main point of investing is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But the main game is to find enough winners to more than offset the losers At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE:PEB), since the last five years saw the share price fall 49%. More recently, the share price has dropped a further 11% in a month. See our latest analysis for Pebblebrook Hotel Trust While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Over five years Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's earnings per share dropped significantly, falling to a loss, with the share price also lower. The recent extraordinary items contributed to this situation. At present it's hard to make valid comparisons between EPS and the share price. However, we can say we'd expect to see a falling share price in this scenario. The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image). NYSE:PEB Past and Future Earnings, January 28th 2020 It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's earnings, revenue and cash flow. What About Dividends? When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's TSR for the last 5 years was -35%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return. Story continues A Different Perspective Investors in Pebblebrook Hotel Trust had a tough year, with a total loss of 19% (including dividends) , against a market gain of about 24%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 8.4% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (including 2 which is shouldn't be ignored) . Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota's "Uncertain Journey" is currently on view at the Busan Museum of Art through April 19. Courtesy of Busan Museum of Art By Kwon Mee-yoo BUSAN Artist Chiharu Shiota is often compared to a "human spider" as the artist weaves webs around objects and bodies. Her life-size installations engulf the space and the viewer, stirring up sensations of both uneasiness as well as coziness. The 47-year-old Japanese artist unraveled her life's path ridden with pain and uncertainty at "Shiota Chiharu: The Soul Trembles" at the Busan Museum of Art in Korea's southern port city. The exhibit, originally presented at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan last year, is one of the largest solo exhibitions of the artist to date. The Busan edition features four large installations as well as sculptures, drawings, photographs and videos of performances. Unfortunately, "Where Are We Going?," a cluster of boats suspended from the ceiling above the Mori Art Museum's iconic entrance, couldn't come to Busan, but still this marks the largest exhibition of the artist in Korea. Born in Osaka, Japan, Shiota is now based in Berlin. Busan holds a special place in Shiota's heart as the port city is her husband's hometown. She was worried that the touring exhibition might fall through amid souring relations between Korea and Japan, but art won over politics and "The Soul Trembles" was able to successfully open in Busan. Chiharu Shiota's "In Silence" is currently on view at the Busan Museum of Art through April 19. Courtesy of Busan Museum of Art The most significant event in Shiota's life that had a profound impact on her personal and artistic career was being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005 and again in 2017. Battling with cancer brought death to the artist's foreground. "Death forms a part of my work. I view it not as an end, but rather as a new beginning. For me, death represents a new state of existence within the cycle of life. Death is a state that moves towards a larger universe," Shiota said. For Shiota, creating works out of her passion and love is the only thing she could live for. "Helpless conflicts of minds, uncommunicable emotions and my inexplicable existence; these feelings give all my works form and shape. The year before last, I was diagnosed with cancer again after 12 years, but it struck me that perhaps the painful treatment along with the confrontation with death is a tribulation to create honest works... It is a dialogue with my unveiled, naked soul," the artist said. Upon entering "Uncertain Journey," viewers will encounter bare boat frames and red threads covering the space and the unseaworthy vessels. The experience of walking into the maze of red threads is immersive and awe-inspiring. The bright red threads sprawling from the boats resemble blood vessels as well as the Red Thread of Fate, an imaginary thread that connects from one's pinky finger to one's future lover. Over 280 kilometers of thread was used for this installation. This is an the extension of "The Key in the Hand," a site-specific installation of two Venetian boats and hundreds of keys weaved through red threads Shiota created for the Japan Pavilion during the Venice Biennale in 2015. The keys are gone and the shape of the boats has become more abstract, but the artist still explores the same theme of expedition, insecurity and relations. "The interconnectivity of threads represents relationships among people. A ship is an unstable object that could capsize in the sea, but they are weaved with the thread. The ship has become a recurring motif in my works as I think they are connected and can go anywhere," Shiota said. "In Silence" consists of a blackened piano and burnt audience chairs covered in webs of black threads. The piece was inspired by Shiota's childhood memory of a fire at a neighbor's house in the middle of the night. "When I was nine, there was a fire at the house next to ours. The next day, there was a piano sitting outside the house. Scorched until it was jet black, it seemed an even more beautiful symbol than before," Shiota explained. "There are things that sink deep into the recesses of my mind and others that fail to take either a physical or verbal form, no matter how hard you try. But they exist as souls without a tangible form." Chiharu Shiota's "Out of My Body" is currently on view at the Busan Museum of Art through April 19. Courtesy of Busan Museum of Art "Out of My Body" is one of the latest works she created for "The Soul Trembles." As she was diagnosed with a recurrence of ovarian cancer while preparing for this exhibit, Shiota went through surgeries and chemotherapy which she described as a "mechanical" procedure. She felt like a product on a conveyer belt. She interpreted her struggles against the cancer with sculptures of severed body parts such as arms, hands, legs and feet scattered under shredded red cowhide. While her large-scale installations immediately draw the attention of visitors, the exhibit sheds light on various aspects of the 25 years of Shiota's artistic career from her early works to her stage designs. "Try and Go Home" is a 1998 video Shiota created while trained by renowned performance artist Marina Abramovic, in which Shiota climbs up and tumbles down a muddy hill repeatedly. The endurance shown in the video is one of the elements that shapes Shiota's iconic style visualizing the unseen. Shiota also has designed stage sets of a number of dance and opera productions, including "All Alone," "Tattoo," "Oedipus Rex" and "Tristan and Isolde." Her signature style "web of threads" and suspended objects can be seen on stage as well and is shown in this exhibit through archival photographs and scale models. The exhibit runs through April 19. After Busan, Shiota's retrospective will tour Australia and Indonesia. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said five banks are willing to provide Rs 2.5 lakh crore for highway projects, and stressed on the need for insurance of infrastructure projects. The road transport minister also said the government is contemplating to create a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund for hit and run cases. "About five banks are willing to give us around Rs 2.5 lakh crore in our projects. Our projects are economically viable," Gadkari said while addressing a workshop on Motor Vehicle Insurance and Road Safety here. He said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has 480 bankable projects and its toll operate and transfer (TOT) model has been a success. Gadkari also highlighted the need for including road projects in the country into the ambit of insurance. "Several countries in the world are following the practice of insuring infrastructure projects. These include Canada, Australia, USA, South Africa and UK," he said. The minister said that the Supreme Court has made it mandatory for all new two wheelers to have a five-year third party insurance. Similarly, for cars and commercial vehicles, it is mandatory to have a three-year third party insurance. In case of default, there is a provision of fine up to Rs 2,000. Under the third party insurance, the responsibility of compensating an accident victim shifts from the vehicle owner to insurance company. Underlining the importance of insurance, Gadkari said that with a little procedural change in insurance practices, the death rate due to road accidents can be brought down significantly. He said the ministry is considering forming a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, which will compensate in hit and run cases. The Fund will also be used for medical treatment of accident victims. He said, the compensation amount in hit and run cases has been increased to Rs 2 lakh, while for the injured people in such cases, it is now Rs 50,000. The minister said provision has been made in the Motor Vehicles Act to protect those helping the accident victims. The government is also contemplating making provision to protect doctors, nurses and other medical staff from hassles in such cases, he said. Two special booklets titled Road Safety Guide for Children' and Road Safety and Safe Driving' were released on the occasion. Expressing concern over high number of 5 lakh road accidents per year in which 1.5 lakh people are killed, the minister said that those behind faulty DPRs (detailed project report) will not be spared and FIRs could also be lodged against them. At the same time, he warned that non-performing officials will be shown the exit door. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - Petrox Resources Ltd. (TSXV: PTC) ("Petrox") is pleased to announce that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent effective January 26, 2020 (the "LOI") with Good Time Mega International Trade Limited, a private company with limited liability organized under the laws of Hong Kong ("Good Time"). The LOI outlines the general terms and conditions pursuant to which Petrox and Good Time would be willing to complete a transaction that would result in a reverse take-over of Petrox by the securityholders of Good Time (the "Transaction"). The Transaction, if approved, would constitute a Reverse Takeover transaction and a Change of Business under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") and the company will continue as an Industrial Issuer under the policies of the TSXV. The Transaction is an Arm's Length Transaction (as defined in the policies of the TSXV). No Non-Arm's Length Parties (as defined in the policies of the TSXV) of Petrox have any interest in Good Time or the assets of Good Time and no Non-Arm's Length Parties of Good Time have an interest in Petrox or its assets. The LOI provides that pursuant to the Transaction, Petrox will complete a 10:1 consolidation of its common shares and that Petrox will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Good Time from the existing shareholders of Good Time in exchange for 35,325,484 post-consolidation shares of Petrox at a deemed price of $0.05 per share for a total deemed price of $1,766,274.20. The LOI provides that if the consolidation is completed other than on a 10:1 basis, the number of Petrox shares that will be issued in exchange for the Good Time shares will be adjusted accordingly. If the issuance of the 35,325,484 common shares would result in the public float (as defined in TSXV policies) of common shares of Petrox being less than 20% of the total issued common shares of Petrox after the Transaction, then Petrox shall issue a combination of common shares and preferred shares convertible into common shares on a one for one basis, such that the number of common shares issued under the Transaction shall equal 20% of the total issued common shares of Petrox and the remainder shall be convertible preferred shares. No finder's fee is payable in respect of the transaction. It is not anticipated that a financing or private placement will be completed in connection with the Transaction. The transaction will be structured by way of a plan of arrangement, amalgamation, takeover bid, reorganization or other similar form of transaction, as determined following a review of all relevant legal, regulatory and tax matters. The LOI contemplates Petrox and Good Time entering into a definitive agreement with respect to the Transaction prior to or on March 31, 2020 or such other date as may be agreed upon by the parties, failing which the LOI will be terminated. In connection with the Transaction, it is contemplated that Petrox will change its name to "Good Time Mega Trading International Limited" or such other name as may be requested by Good Time and accepted by Alberta Registries and the TSXV. It is also contemplated that the then current directors of Petrox will resign and be replaced by nominees of Good Time. Once the proposed director nominees are identified, Petrox will issue a subsequent press release providing their names and biographies as well as those of any other persons who will be insiders of Petrox post-Transaction. Additionally, concurrently with the completion of the Transaction, it is intended that all of the oil and gas assets and liabilities of Petrox held just prior to the closing of the Transaction will be transferred to a newly created wholly-owned subsidiary of Petrox and that all of the shares of the subsidiary will be distributed by Petrox to all of shareholders of Petrox of record at the time of the distribution (the "Spin-Out Transaction"). The Spin-Out Transaction will be completed by way of a plan of arrangement or other form of transaction to be approved by the shareholders of Petrox and, if applicable, by the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. The LOI provides that completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions including the approval from the Petrox shareholders of the proposed consolidation and name change, approval from the Good Time shareholders of the Transaction and approvals from the TSXV, securities regulators and third parties as may be required. About Petrox Petrox is a public Canadian junior oil and gas company engaged in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources in the Western Canadian Basin. Petrox owns a production property in Fletwode, Saskatchewan that produces approximately 25 boe/d. Petrox currently has 55,132,258 common shares outstanding. As at September 30, 2019, Petrox had current assets of CA$324,054 and current liabilities of $22,556, and had non-current assets of CA$413,890 (consisting of property and equipment) and non-current liabilities of CA$369,460 (consisting of decommissioning obligations). About Good Time Good Time is an apparel trading company based in Hong Kong. It primarily sources its products from manufacturers from China and sells them to clients throughout the world. Based on Good Time's audited financial statements, as at December 31, 2018, Good Time had assets of HK$9,332,440 ((approx. CA$ 1,567,850) (of which HK$9,032,440 (approx. CA$1,517,450) were current assets), and liabilities of HK$3,092,456 (approx. CA$ 519,533) (all of which were current liabilities), sales revenue of HK$40,838,630 (approx. CA$6,860,890) and operating profit of HK$7,744,259 (approx. CA$1,301,035) in its 2018 fiscal year (based on a HK$:CA$ conversion rate of 0.1680). Additional information regarding Good Time will be provided in a subsequent press release. Sponsorship Sponsorship will be required by the TSXV unless exempt in accordance with TSXV policies. Petrox is currently reviewing the requirements for sponsorship. Petrox intends to include any additional information regarding sponsorship in a subsequent press release. All information contained in this news release with respect to Petrox and Good Time was supplied by the parties respectively, for inclusion herein, and each party and its directors and officers have relied on the other party for any information concerning the other party. Trading of Petrox Shares Pursuant to the policies of the TSXV, trading of the shares of Petrox has been halted on the TSXV and will remain halted until the conditions of the TSXV for the resumption of trading have been met. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Edwin Tam, Chief Executive Officer and Director; or Alan Chan, Chief Financial Officer and Director (403) 270 - 2290 Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, Exchange acceptance and if applicable, disinterested shareholder approval. Where applicable, the transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Petrox Resources Corp. should be considered highly speculative. 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 news release. 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. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's expectations regarding future growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects of Petrox and Good Time. These forward-looking statements may relate to, among other things, forecasts or expectations regarding business outlook for Petrox and Good Time, and may also include other statements that are predictive in nature, or that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and can generally be identified by words such as "may", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "guidance" or similar expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Petrox and Good Time. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Although such information is considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, it may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Petrox and Good Time do not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by securities law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51902 American Movil has been issued a $68.8 million (1.3 billion pesos) fine by Mexicos regulator for failing to share information about its infrastructure. The Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) argued that America Movil was legally required to provide information relating to the availability, set-up and location of its infrastructure. The operator has hit back, claiming that the investigation into its subsidiary Telephones del Noroeste was unlawful and querying the size of the fine, which amounts to 6% of the units annual revenues. In a statement made to Reuters, America Movil said: This arbitrary, illegal and disproportionate fine affects certainty in a sector that requires significant investments for its development and evolution. To comply with Mexicos anti-monopoly regulation, America Movil is obliged to allow its competitors access to its infrastructure, thereby fostering competition by increasing service availability and driving down consumer tariffs. IFT argues that Noroeste had failed to submit requested information on infrastructure, including poles and wells, by the deadline of 30th September 2017. America Movil is the largest operator in Mexico, with 75 million subscribers. Second and third placed operators Movistar (operated by Telefonica) and AT&T Mexico respectively have 25.8 million and 12.5 million subscribers. The smaller operators last year entered a network sharing arrangement to compete more effectively with America Movil. My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Things Fall Apart Things Fall Apart Everything Good Will Come by Sefi Atta Everything Good Will Come Everything Good Will Come Everything Good Will Come Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Half of a Yellow Sun The Famished Road by Ben Okri Famished Road Midnight's Children One Hundred Years of Solitude Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta Under the Udala Trees Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin The Secret Lives of Babi Segis Wives The Secret Lives of Baba Segis Wive Jay-Zs cousin may be in Nigeria discovering new musical talent, but you dont have to move to discover the countrys vibrant literary talents. For February, lets read a book by a Nigerian author or set in Nigeria. Here are 10 suggested titles from me andif you're still looking for something to read for the month. Feel free to recommend any others, and discuss what you're planning on reading!When Korede's dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what's expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This'll be the third boyfriend Ayoola's dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede's long been in love with him, and isn't prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other...tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around Okonkwo, a strong man of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The first of these stories traces Okonkwo's fall from grace with the tribal world in which he lives, and in its classical purity of line and economical beauty it provides us with a powerful fable about the immemorial conflict between the individual and society.The second story, which is as modern as the first is ancient, and which elevates the book to a tragic plane, concerns the clash of cultures and the destruction of Okonkwo's world through the arrival of aggressive, proselytizing European missionaries. These twin dramas are perfectly harmonized, and they are modulated by an awareness capable of encompassing at once the life of nature, human history, and the mysterious compulsions of the soul.is the most illuminating and permanent monument we have to the modern African experience as seen from within.It is 1971, a year after the Biafran War, and Nigeria is under military rulethough the politics of the state matter less than those of her home to Enitan Taiwo, an eleven-year-old girl tired of waiting for school to start. Will her mother, who has become deeply religious since the death of Taiwo's brother, allow her friendship with the new girl next door, the brash and beautiful Sheri Bakare?charts the fate of these two African girls, one born of privilege and the other, a lower class "half-caste"; one who is prepared to manipulate the traditional system while the other attempts to defy it.Written in the voice of Enitan, the novel traces this unusual friendship into their adult lives, against the backdrop of tragedy, family strife, and a war-torn Nigeria. In the end,is Enitan's story; one of a fiercely intelligent, strong young woman coming of age in a culture that still insists on feminine submission. Enitan bucks the familial and political systems until she is confronted with the one desire too precious to forfeit in the name of personal freedom: her desire for a child.evokes the sights and smells of Africa while imparting a wise and universal story of love, friendship, prejudice, survival, politics, and the cost of divided loyalties.With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professors beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olannas twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized,is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and raceand the ways in which love can complicate them all. Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise and the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place, bringing us one of the most powerful, dramatic, and intensely emotional pictures of modern Africa that we have ever had.In the decade since it won the Booker Prize, Ben Okri'shas become a classic. Like Salman Rushdie'sor Gabriel Garcia Marquez's, it combines brilliant narrative technique with a fresh vision to create an essential work of world literature.The narrator, Azaro, is an abiku, a spirit child, who in the Yoruba tradition of Nigeria exists between life and death. The life he foresees for himself and the tale he tells is full of sadness and tragedy, but inexplicably he is born with a smile on his face. Nearly called back to the land of the dead, he is resurrected. But in their efforts to save their child, Azaro's loving parents are made destitute. The tension between the land of the living, with its violence and political struggles, and the temptations of the carefree kingdom of the spirits propels this latter-day Lazarus's story.Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is eleven when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child and they, star-crossed, fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls.When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.As Edwidge Danticat has made personal the legacy of Haiti's political coming of age, Okparanta'suses one woman's lifetime to examine the ways in which Nigerians continue to struggle toward selfhood. Even as their nation contends with and recovers from the effects of war and division, Nigerian lives are also wrecked and lost from taboo and prejudice. This story offers a glimmer of hope a future where a woman might just be able to shape her life around truth and love.Ada begins her life in the south of Nigeria as a troubled baby and a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents, Saul and Saachi, successfully prayed her into existence, but as she grows into a volatile and splintered child, it becomes clear that something went terribly awry. When Ada comes of age and moves to America for college, the group of selves within her grows in power and agency. A traumatic assault leads to a crystallization of her alternate selves: Asughara and Saint Vincent. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these selves--now protective, now hedonistic--move into control, Ada's life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction.Narrated by the various selves within Ada and based in the author's realities, Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.This celebrated, unforgettable first novel, shortlisted for the prestigious Women's Prize for Fiction and set in Nigeria, gives voice to both husband and wife as they tell the story of their marriage--and the forces that threaten to tear it apart.Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage--after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures--Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time--until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant, which, finally, she does--but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine. An electrifying novel of enormous emotional power, Stay With Me asks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.In a small town in western Nigeria, four young brothers take advantage of their strict father's absence from home to go fishing at a forbidden local river. They encounter a dangerous local madman who predicts that the oldest boy will be killed by one of his brothers. This prophecy unleashes a tragic chain of events of almost mythic proportions.African-born poet Lola Shoneyin makes her fiction debut with, a perceptive, entertaining, and eye-opening novel of polygamy in modern-day Nigeria. The struggles, rivalries, intricate family politics, and the interplay of personalities and relationships within the complex private world of a polygamous union come to life insBig Love and The 19th Wife set against a contemporary African background. Turkey: Cavusoglu urges EU to relaunch adhesion process Letter to Brussels, talks need to be 'sustainable, credible' (ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, JANUARY 28 - The European Union needs to revise its enlargement policies to ensure that Turkey's adhesion process, which started in 2005 but has long stalled, is conducted in a ''sustainable, credible, just and flexible'' way, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a letter sent to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the commissioner for enlargement Oliver Varhelyi and the foreign minister of Croatia, which holds the Union's rotating presidency, Gordan Grlic-Radman. Anadolu news agency reported that Cavusoglu criticized the ''politically motivated obstacles'' posed to Ankara's adhesion process and stressed the importance of valorizing the reciprocal interests of Turkey and the EU rather than those of single member States. (ANSAmed) I P S Grover, ex-Director of Quality Assurance at Ranbaxy, was looking for investment options post his retirement when an insurance agent told him about a one-time premium payment policy that he claimed would offer better returns than fixed deposits. Grover bought four such policies of Rs 1 lakh premium each. "Later I realised it was not a one-time payment policy. I approached the insurer but they were non-cooperative," Grover said. Grover then approached Insurance Samadhan, a Delhi-based grievance redressal start-up, which helped him draft formal complaint, communicated on his behalf with the insurance company and managed to get 100 per cent money back. This is one among 13,000 complaints that the Insurance Samadhan has resolved so far over the last 18 months. "We don't work on each complaint but only take forward the ones that we know are genuine. On an average we only select three-four cases out of 100," says Deepak Bhuvneshwari Uniyal, co-founder & CEO. Sharing another fraud case, Shilpa Arora, co-founder and COO of the firm says, once a customer was promised Rs 10 lakh loan if he bought a policy of Rs 1 lakh premium per annum with a period of 10 years. "After that person submitted Rs 1 lakh, the agent kept delaying the policy document. So, the free look period of 15 days got over. Needless to say, the person didn't receive any loan and in fact lost Rs 1 lakh," she says. Life insurance with free health insurance is another way in which fraudsters are conning people. "The agents claim to represent insurers that have life and general both verticals, so it all seems credible," Arora says. Insurance Samadhan writes blogs, creates videos and shares those on social media to educate customers to avoid getting duped. Although there is a standard procedure to make a complaint against an insurer, often in the want of time or lack of knowledge, aggrieved policyholders accept insurance company's rejection of their claim. According to Uniyal, it's important to keep emotions aside and communicate in clear legal terminology with insurance companies. "When customers talk to them (insurance companies), they speak with emotions. We communicate with them in legal language. Legal articulation helps in putting forth a clear point of view," says Uniyal. How to file a complaint? If you have a complaint against an insurer, the first step is to approach the insurer via mail or letter with supporting documents and get an acknowledgment of the same. The insurance company is required to address the complaint within 15 days of its receipt. If it doesn't, or if you are not satisfied with the response, you can lodge a complaint with the insurance regulator IRDAI. You can either approach IRDAI's grievance redressal cell of the consumer affairs department (complaints@irda. gov.in) or by calling on 155255 (or) 1800 4254 732, or fill in the complaint via IRDAI's integrated grievance management system (IGMS) - igms.irda.gov.in. As per IRDAI's annual report for financial year 2018-19, IRDA is swamped with customer complaints. Over 2 lakh complaints were filed in 2018-19 compared to 19,83,62 in 2017-18, a jump of 4 per cent or 7,663 complaints. Notably, even after IRDAI's intervention, if the insurer rejects your claim specifying the reason for it, the insurance regulator treats your complaint as resolved. But, if you are still unsatisfied, you can approach the insurance ombudsman. Ombudsman's word is binding on the insurer. If it still doesn't settle your claim, you can approach a consumer court. Although the mechanism is available, policyholders find it difficult to use it due to lack of awareness and financial literacy. "Even complaint registration on IGMS or approaching Ombudsman need guidance and hand-holding," says co-founder Shailesh Kumar. "Insurance companies do have right intentions to resolve cases if those are represented well as per terms of the policy contract. However, complaints are presented emotionally rather objectively. We address this problem by providing end-to-end techno legal support," he adds. Insurance Samadhan charges Rs 500 registration fee, which is valid for each member of the family. Post the resolution of the complaint, the start-up takes 9 per cent share in the claims amount that has been resolved. "Our success rate is 99 per cent. We manage to resolve 90 per cent cases at the insurance company level. Very few go to ombudsman or consumer court level," says Sanjay Aggarwal, Co-Founder & Legal Expert. Also Read: Tata Nexon EV launched at starting price of Rs 14 lakh; can charge from zero to 80% in 1 hour Also Read: Pre-Budget scramble for revenue? Govt blocks IGST refund worth Rs 40,000 crore to exporters Also Read: Sebi summons Rakesh Jhujhunwala over alleged 'insider trading' charges Egypt's foreign ministry affirmed in a brief statement on Monday that it would keep an eye on the situation in cooperation with the Egyptian diplomatic mission in China Egypt's foreign ministry has called on all Egyptian expats in China to contact the Consulate General of the country in Shanghai following the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China in December. The ministry affirmed in a brief statement on Monday that it would keep an eye on the situation in cooperation with the Egyptian diplomatic mission in China. The ministry said that the consulate can be contacted through landlines (00862164330622 00862164330502 00862164331020), fax (00862164330049) or a 24/7 hotline (008615801758947). Expats also can reach out to the consulate via an e-mail to [email protected] The Egyptian embassy in China had urged Egyptian citizens living in or visiting the country to adhere to health protection measures issued by Chinese authorities. It called on Egyptian citizens in China to avoid crowded places or direct contact with people infected with the virus. The newly-discovered corona virus first surfaced last month in Wuhan province, according to the Chinese government. Chinese authorities have enforced a partial lockdown on traffic in and out of the central city of Wuhan and nearby Huanggang, aiming to disrupting the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak has killed 106 people and infected 4,515, while 60 people have been discharged after treatment. The virus has spread to other countries including the US, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, and others. Search Keywords: Short link: Beijing: The death toll in mainland China from the outbreak of the new coronavirus has risen to 132, with a total of 5974 cases reported, authorities said on Wednesday. The increase came as Chinese President Xi Jinping described the virus as "a devil" that cannot be allowed to hide. The figures cover the previous 24 hours and represent a rise of 26 in the number of deaths 25 of which were in the epicentre of Hubei province and its capital Wuhan and a rise of 1459 in the number of cases. Dozens of cases have been confirmed outside mainland China as well. Ambulance crew members in at a community health station in Wuhan. Credit:AP The update came shortly after a plane carrying Americans caught in Wuhan departed on its way to Anchorage, Alaska, where the travellers will be re-screened for the virus. Hospitals are prepared to treat or quarantine people who may be infected. Then the plane is scheduled to fly to Ontario, California. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Kornelius Purba (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, January 28, 2020 08:56 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20614040f 1 Opinion #commentary,commentary,Sunda-Empire,sunda-empire-group,Jokowi-administration,keraton-agung-sejagat Free The ridiculous, if amusing, claims of the self-appointed Grand Prime Minister of the Sunda Empire-Earth Empire in Bandung, West Java, and the King of the Keraton Agung Sejagat (world empire) in Purworejo, Central Java, have led them to becoming laughing stocks over the past few weeks. But compare these members of royalty to President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who has seriously promised the nation that Indonesia will become the worlds fourth-largest economy in 2045. While many Indonesians might be extremely skeptical, they will also view it simply as a politicians pledge. However, a leading global institution has wholeheartedly supported Jokowis confidence. Please dont get mad at me when I say that the newly emerging emperors are possibly not very different from Jokowi. The President is just luckier because many of us will unlikely be able to wait for the pledge to materialize in 2045, while the two other men have clearly been ludicrous from the start. I have no academic arguments. But as a victim of the false promises of a beautiful death and peace of mind made by one of the countrys now practically defunct insurance firms, I prefer nonsense from the very beginning. The prospect of death hovers amid reports about the new coronavirus. The virus, which has spread from China, has sparked global fear, including in Indonesia, as there is still no vaccine available to stop its spread. Having just recently returned from Tokyo, and having met many Chinese tourists, I felt nervous when I felt signs of influenza upon my return. What if I die from this disease? I cursed the life insurance company Bumiputera 1912. As an Indonesian of Batak ethnicity, I hope my funeral service will follow our strict traditions, as well as those of my Catholic faith. That would be costly, but Bumiputera had promised to guarantee that my wishes would be met. I settled my premium obligations a few years ago. The firm guaranteed that my wife or my three children would get Rp 200 million (US$14,500) as soon I stopped breathing. But my insurance firm committed virtual suicide not long after my premium settlement. It is still alive, but it could easily evade its obligations to me, maybe by citing bankruptcy. Millions of customers may feel depressed as the government has said almost nothing meaningful about the fate of their insurance policies with state-owned Jiwasraya Life Insurance, privately owned Bumiputera and Asabri, the insurance agency that administers the pensions and life insurance of military and police personnel. They were victims of amazing insurance promises, although the companies apparently knew early on that it would be impossible for them to meet their financial commitments. Back to Grand Prime Minister Nasri Banks, his aide Rangga Sasana, King Toto Santoso and Queen Fanni Aminadia. The Bandung and Earth Empire leaders claim at least four unbelievable things. First, many countries will meet the 2020 deadline for membership registration. So far, 54 countries have registered, including the United States, they say. And defiant states will be condemned to endless trouble! Second, the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were born in Bandung, West Javas capital. Third, the Empire has the capacity to control any nuclear weapons, clearly including the nuclear threat of North Koreas King Jong-un. Fourth, world class billionaires Jack Ma and Bill Gates will join the empire. Jokowi had earlier expressed an interest in appointing Ma and Gates as his personal advisers. Meanwhile, King Toto and Queen Fanni claim their kingdom is the successor of the Majapahit Kingdom that ruled Java, many parts of Indonesia and neighboring territories such as Singapore and Malaysia. They have collected money from people who want to be registered as members of the supposed royal family for which they have been arrested for fraud. In March 2017, President Joko Jokowi Widodo assured us that Indonesia, according to experts, would become the worlds fourth-largest economy by 2045, when the country celebrates its centenary. With a population of 309 million people, economic growth of 6 percent and gross domestic product of US$9.1 trillion, income per capita will be no less than $29,000. One month earlier, in its report titled The long view: How will the global economic order change by 2050?, one of the worlds largest professional services firms, PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC), predicted Indonesia would rank fourth after China, India and the US by 2050. In achieving this goal, PwC said structural reforms were needed to improve macroeconomic stability, diversify [the economy] away from undue reliance on natural resources [] and develop more effective political and legal institutions. I fear the promises of the three insurance companies will be no different from Jokowis pledge. But we must wait 25 years for concrete evidence. By 2045, my granddaughter may visit my cemetery to tell me, You were absolutely right Opung [Grandpa]. The royal rulers have provided us with some light relief. But they have been followed by thousands of Indonesians, who have high expectations from their new messiahs. You can laugh at them, but they may also laugh at you! They are at least more honest than the insurance firms,. To me they are all equally sensible, but please dont demand any arguments from me! The ban on scaling Uluru has left the local tourism industry reeling and forced some hotels to cut their prices by up to 40 per cent. Tourism operators and hoteliers have reported almost having to halve their rates since the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park stopped people from climbing the famous Northern Territory monolith in October. The downturn comes as the bushfire crisis is estimated to have cost the industry nationally $4.5billion by the end of 2020 and bookings drop by as much as 20 per cent. A tourist is pictured admiring the view of Uluru in the week before a climbing ban was put in place on the rock. Hotels have been forced to cut their prices by as much as 40 per cent in the wake of the ban The fires have already cost $2billion and the Australian Tourism Industry Council have called this season the 'worst summer on record'. Indigenous tourism provider Voyages and luxury lodge company Baillie Lodges both reported a drop-off in business from their hotels near Uluru since the closure. Some providers are reporting a 10 per cent reduction in bookings for accommodation, The Australian reported. 'We have certainly noticed the peak demand prior to the rock closing dropping off,' the owner of Baillie Lodges James Baillie said. The company's collection of lodges set in wilderness across Australia includes the Southern Ocean Lodge on South Australia's Kangaroo Island - which was destroyed after bushfire ripped through on January 3. Baillie Lodges also owns Longitude 131, which has a direct view of Uluru and costs $1,600 for a minimum two-night stay per person. Voyages chief executive Grant Hunt said 40C-plus summers naturally made summers lighter for tourist numbers. A firefighter works on a blaze on Putty Road north of Sydney on November 14. Bushfires are meanwhile believed to have cost the Australian tourist industry $4.5billion by the end of 2020 Luxury lodge Longitude 131 - which has a direct view of Uluru - has reported a drop-off in bookings over the summer since the closure of the ancient monolith Longitude 131 costs $1,600 for a minimum two-night stay per person. The owner of Baillie Lodges James Baillie said peak demand had fallen since the rock's closure But he added there was 'no doubt we are having a soft summer'. Voyages, which is owned by the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation, have dropped their rates to $1099 from $2105 for their five-star Sails in the Desert hotel. Earlier this month, the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) revealed the number of overseas tourists booking holidays Down Under is down 10 to 20 per cent. Tourists line up to climb Uluru on October 13 - less than two weeks before climbing was banned by the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board on October 26 70 per cent of its 850 members have received cancellations ranging from $5,000 to $500,000 due to bushfires. ATEC Managing Director Peter Shelley gave a 'conservative' estimate of $4.5 billion in lost profits for the tourism industry in 2020. 'ATEC's focus is on international arrivals, and we're seeing a lot of cancellations from our big key markets America, Britain and China,' Mr Shelley told the Australian Financial Review. Ministry of Commerce has blacklisted Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel for failing to meet export obligations. Reports suggest that the Directorate General of Foreign Trade which falls under the ministry has put the telecom operator under 'Denied Entry List' after it could not fulfil export obligations under Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme. Companies put under the Denied Entry List lose their import licence, and so has Airtel. The company will no longer be able to avail any export benefit or licence from Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The action against Airtel was taken as the company did fulfil its obligations against getting Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) authorisation ALSO READ: Reliance Jio the largest telecom player by revenue and subscriber base, says Report The EPCG scheme allows import of capital goods at zero customs duty for manufacturing quality goods and services. The companies that get this authorisation have an export obligation equivalent to 6 times of duty saved on the capital goods. Meanwhile, Airtel said that it has applied for closure of all past licences and had not taken any new licences since April 2018. "Airtel has not taken any such licence since April 2018 as there is no operational requirement. In fact, the company has already applied for the closure of all past licences that were due and is awaiting approval from the authorities," sources in the company said. ALSO READ: India Ratings downgrades Vodafone Idea's Rs 3,500 crore debentures The Bombay Stock Exchange has sought clarification from the company regarding media reports stating that it has been blacklisted by the DGFT. The telecom operator has not responded yet. The Bharti Airtel stock closed 23.40 points, or 4.55 per cent, lower at 490.90 at end of trade on Tuesday. (With agencies' input) ALSO READ: Bharti Airtel's Chief Regulatory Officer Ravi Gandhi resigns Leah Sharibu's family responds to reports that she gave birth to Boko Haram commander's son Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The family of abducted Nigerian Christian teenager Leah Sharibu has spoken out after reports published over the weekend suggested that their daughter has given birth to the son of a Boko Haram commander and that she was forced to accept Islam. A source close to the Borno-based Islamic extremist group told Sahara Reporters that Sharibu has given birth to a baby boy after she was forced to accept Islam and forcefully married to an unnamed Boko Haram commander. Dr. Gloria Puldu, a spokesperson for the family and a lecturer at the University of Jos, considered the reports to be nothing more than rumors. I have seen reports that Leah had a baby boy. That is just a rumor as far as we are concerned, Puldu told The Punch. What we even desire is to see a proof-of-life so that we see Leah by ourselves. If they are able to have Leah safe, we will understand. Sharibu was kidnapped along with over 110 other schoolgirls taken from a school in Dapchi in February 2018. Although about girls five died and all others were eventually released, Sharibu continues to be held by Boko Haram, which is known for its kidnappings and killings across the Lake Chad region. Sharibu was reportedly held back by the terrorist group because she refused to renounce her faith in Christ. Puldu stressed that the most important thing to the Sharibu family is to have their daughter back alive with or without the rumored child. And if she is alive, we will praise God for that, Puldu said. They should release her, despite whatever condition she is in. That is all. It doesnt matter whether she is pregnant or with a baby. Is it not better to have your child alive? So it doesnt matter; all we are interested in is her life and safety. Puldu spoke with one woman who escaped from Boko Haram captivity last week. I was able to speak with her one-on-one and she told us that she did not see Leah in captivity, but she was with Alison Gada, who informed her that Leah was alive, healthy and not dead," Puldu said. Sharibus father, Nathan, told the Hausa service of Voice of America that he has not been contacted by authorities with an update on his daughter and was not sure of the credibility of the recent reports. Nigerian investigative journalist Ahmed Salkida, who regularly breaks news related to Boko Haram, offered his confirmation that Sharibu gave birth to a child. Why, I wonder, do we pretend that leaving Leah behind won't result in pregnancy? Salkida wrote in a tweet. Since the terror group announced condemning her to slavery, is there any step or collective focus on preventing similar occurrences? She's a mother, but I don't know about the gender of the baby. Dede Laugeson, the executive director of the U.S.-based nongovernmental organization Save the Persecuted Christians, told The Christian Post in a statement that Sharibus life is in a constant horrific state of terror, violence, mental anguish, and rape. Save the Persecuted Christians collaborated with the International Committee on Nigeria and the Leah Foundation to bring Sharibus mother, Rebecca, to Washington, D.C., last June to advocate for her daughters release. The story of Leah, and the missing Chibok girls, and the Christian girls of Pakistan, Egypt, Syria and Iraq who are taken, tortured, and killed, cannot be forgotten, Laugeson emphasized. Christians who defend life must defend it even for the least of these mothers no matter how they came to be mothers. Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst country in the world for Christian persecution on Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List. Although there were fewer Christians killed in Nigeria in 2020, Open Doors USA notes that it is because of a change of tactic by Boko Haram to focus on more kidnappings. They have gone from assassination and these kinds of things to roadside assaults on Christians and kidnappings, Open Doors USA CEO David Curry said earlier this month. Last week, Boko Haram executed Rev. Lawan Andimi, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigerias chapter in the Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State. Andimi was taken captive by the group on Jan. 3. The Christian Association of Nigeria called for three days of prayer and fasting following the news of Andimis killing. There are only four cases reported on the continent, but with no vaccine, health experts are racing to prepare for more. Europes health infrastructure is well prepared to fight the spread of a new coronavirus that has already spread to 17 countries worldwide, medical experts told Al Jazeera. The virus, named as 2019-nCoV, was first detected in December and has infected more than 4,500 people globally and killed 106. All deaths so far have been in China, with most around the southern city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. So far, only four cases of the coronavirus have been detected in Europe, three in France and one in Germany. While those in France had recently travelled to Wuhan, German health officials confirmed that a man in the southern city of Starnberg is the continents first reported case of human-to-human transmission. The 33-year-old man in Germany, who contracted the coronavirus from a Chinese colleague visiting from Shanghai, tested positive on Monday but remains in good condition in hospital. Jens Spahn, health minister, said despite the case, the risk to the German public is low and the country was well prepared. France has announced plans to evacuate up to 1,000 of its citizens from Wuhan, and Germany around 90. The UK has also said it will offer evacuation to up to 300 British citizens in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital. The European Commission is planning a meeting of health ministers to coordinate a response to the potential spread of the disease. Information in German, English and Chinese languages about the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV is on display at the Tegel airport in Berlin on January 26, 2020 [Andreas Gora/dpa/AFP] Weve had two similar diseases over the last 20 years weve had SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome), which came from China, and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), which comes from the Middle East, which are both coronaviruses, Paul Hunter, a professor at Norwich Medical School, told Al Jazeera. So we know a lot about how this type of infection spreads. Weve got experience in managing it so that the patients are more likely to survive and also less likely to infect others, especially healthcare workers, nurses and doctors. SARS, another flu-like virus which also originated in China, infected almost 8,000 people across 17 countries in late 2002 and early 2003, killing nearly 800 people. The spread was largely confined to Asia, with only 34 cases confirmed in Europe. MERS was deadlier but did not have a global outbreak. While with SARS and MERS, carriers showed symptoms, reports suggest that the new coronavirus can be passed on by people who have not yet shown signs of infection, complicating efforts to limit the spread of the disease. We've completed one clinical trial with a MERS vaccine and we have started the second one in Saudi Arabia, and so we're using that technology to make a novel coronavirus vaccine. Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute at Oxford University The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the global risk of the new virus as high but stopped short of designating it a public health emergency of international concern, a term reserved for only the most severe outbreaks. If the virus comes to Europe and spreads, we need to trace the carriers, we need to test them and if they are positive they need to be quarantined. So in that case, we need rapid diagnostic tests, said Herman Goossens, director of the Platform for European Preparedness Against (Re-)emerging Epidemics (PREPARE), an EU-funded network that supports clinical research to address the outbreak of infectious diseases. PREPARE works with more than 1,000 hospitals and labs across 42 European countries to ensure clinical trials for new diseases are rolled out quickly, so countries can begin to detect and treat patients with speed. It is currently circulating standardised case report forms to gather case information and assisting diagnostic labs with developing tests for the coronavirus. What we are doing now is to devise the protocol, prepare the hospitals, prepare the contracts and get ethical approval and then we would start the trial immediately as the number of cases are increasing it depends on the number of cases in Europe, Goossens told Al Jazeera. Early signs of this outbreak suggest it will not be as dangerous as SARS, according to Goossens, who said the current two to three percent mortality rate would drop as more, previously-unreported cases emerge. There are a lot of cases outside of hospitals that are not in the statistics, he said. So I think thats where mortality will be below one percent. It will be much, much less violent or aggressive than the SARS virus. Chinese researchers published the 2019-nCoV sequence on a public database earlier this month, launching an immediate race to develop a vaccine. [Unlike with Ebola in 2014,] nobodys got a vaccine ready to test against novel coronavirus because weve never seen it before, Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, told Al Jazeera. Its going to be a minimum of three months before anybody is ready to start doing the first clinical testing. Vaccines typically take so long to develop that epidemics have mostly subsided before they are widely available, but that may begin to change with the use of vaccine platforms. This new technology allows immunologists to develop new vaccines from older, proven models, rather than starting from scratch each time. Experts can now react much quicker to outbreaks of infectious diseases, said Gilbert, whose own lab has already started research using this approach. Weve completed one clinical trial with a MERS vaccine and we have started the second one in Saudi Arabia, and so were using that technology to make a novel coronavirus vaccine. Because we got good immunogenicity results, good strong immune responses in our MERS vaccine trial, we would expect to do the same again with the novel coronavirus. These advances in medical technology could produce a vaccine in a fraction of the time older methods require sometimes up to 10 years but would still require a minimum of one year before it could be used on a large scale, meaning public health approaches focused on detection and containment will remain vital until then. Its going to take months to contain the outbreak initially, and we may then see small clusters of cases coming up in various different places, said Gilbert. At that point, if we then have a vaccine ready to us, that will be very helpful in finally wrapping up the outbreak. A worker weighs a package of dried marijuana at the Canopy Growth Corporation facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, January 4, 2018. Picture taken January 4, 2018. To match Insight CANADA-MARIJUANA/INNOVATION REUTERS/Chris Wattie Canopy Growth (WEED.TO)(CGC) is selling more pot products consumers actually want to buy, prompting stronger sales to the provinces, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets who upgraded the companys stock on Tuesday. Tamy Chen and Peter Sklar say a shift in investor sentiment may be on the horizon if the Smiths Falls, Ont.-based cannabis producer can deliver even a modest beat when the company reports its latest quarterly results. We believe there is potential upside to street expectations for the fiscal third quarter of 2020 driven by the company's pivot into a recreational product mix that should now be better aligned with demand, Chen and Sklar wrote in a research note on Tuesday. Canopy Growth took a $32.7 million hit in the quarter ending Sept. 30 from product returns and pricing changes. The charges were primarily linked to the weak sales of its oil and soft-gel capsules. The company also recorded a $15.9 million inventory charge in the quarter to rationalize product assortment and introduce new retail pricing. While we believe the sector experienced some sequential increase in provincial buy-in calendar Q4 2019. We believe value-priced brands experienced stronger sell-in, Chen and Sklar wrote. They said Canopy Growth is among the companies offering cheaper cannabis, drawing sales away from pricier products. The value trend has been adopted by several licenced producers as they attempt to divert sales away from the far less expensive illegal market. Canopy is not the only LP in our coverage with value-priced products, but we believe the stock at current levels offers a better relative return profile considering that a number of other LPs with value-priced brands will likely continue to be at risk of requiring additional financings, Chen and Sklar wrote. While value-priced products are lower margin, we believe this should be largely offset by further reduction in costs from underutilized assets. The pair upgraded Toronto-listed shares of Canopy Growth to speculative outperform from speculative market perform, and raised their price target to $40 from $25. The stock climbed 8.14 per cent to $30.75 at 10:23 a.m. ET. Story continues Toronto-listed shares of Canopy Growth trade on the TSX on Jan. 28, 2019. (Yahoo Finance Canada) Shares have lifted from their lows in mid-November, climbing more than eight per cent year-to-date, even as the company missed its stated launch date for cannabis beverages without a fulsome explanation. Canopy Growth said it plans to provide an update on its drinks portfolio when it reports third quarter earnings. Chen and Sklar expect the company to report revenue of $108 million, up from their previous estimate of $102 million. Afghan officials say at least 20 people have been wounded after unknown assailants threw grenades at a wedding party in the southestern province of Khost. Investigation are under way into the incident that occurred in the town of Alishir, provincial government spokesman Talib Mangal said on January 26. The motive behind the attack is not yet known, Mangal added. There was no immediate responsibility for the attack, which happened late on January 25. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a bystander was killed and four other civilians were wounded when a police vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in the capital, Kabul, police said on January 26. The vehicle was destroyed in the blast, which occurred on the evening of January 25, Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban often targets Afghan security forces. With reporting by tolonews.com and RFE/RLs Radio Free Afghanistan Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday hit out at the Congress, accusing it of "instigating and misleading" Muslims over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) whose passage in Parliament last month triggered protests across the country. He clarified that there is no question of snatching citizenship of any Muslim born in India. Shah, who stepped down as BJP president a few days ago, was addressing a gathering of party workers and intellectuals at the partys state office Kushabhau Thakre Parisar here. They (the Congress & company) are stoking fear, provoking minorities and instigating riots. To further politics of appeasement, they are spreading falsehood that Muslim will lose their citizenship (under CAA)," Shah said. There is no question of Muslims born and living in India losing their citizenship due to this Act which is meant to grant citizenship (to minority refugees from three neighbouring countries) not snatching away anyone's citizenship," the BJP leader said. Attacking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shah challenged him to point out any provision in the controversial law that talks about taking away anyone's nationality. "Rahul Baba let me know if there is even a single provision in the Act regarding forfeiting anyone's citizenship," he said. The CAA promises Indian citizenship to persecuted non- Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. CAA's critics say the law is discriminatory and violates the core values of the Constitution. Attacking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Shah said, Kejriwal says the BJP has love for Pakistan. He should not teach the BJP patriotism. "Two years back Modi ji put behind bars Kanhaiya (student leader Kanhaiya Kumar) and company after they raised slogans at the JNU calling for vivisection of India." Speaking further, Shah asked party workers in Chhattisgarh not to get disheartened by the party's debacle in the November 2018 Assembly elections. The setback was short-lived as six months later the BJP bounced back and did well in the Lok Sabha elections in the Congress-ruled state, he said. The BJP, after losing the 2018 assembly polls, won nine of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 in Chhattisgarh, where the saffron outfit was in power for 15 years. "Some people seem worried due to the BJP's loss in the state. They say our government has gone in the state. They look disappointed with this but they should not be disheartened," Shah said, giving a pep talk to party workers. He said "BJP workers bloom more when they are in the opposition. People have given us mandate to sit in the opposition this time in Chhattisgarh. We should respect their mandate, but continue our fight for their rights, he said. Shah said the BJP is a party driven by ideology. "The BJP is the only party which has entered politics for ideology. Except Communists, most parties have become family parties which have nothing to do with ideology, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UAE and Kazakhstan have embarked on an ambitious plan to implement joint projects worth $11 billion mainly in the oil and gas and petrochemical sectors, said the president of the former Soviet republic. The two countries have maintained exemplary relations and co-operation in many respects, stated Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, while giving a keynote speech at the UAE-Kazakhstan business meeting in Abu Dhabi, which was organised by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry. "I am very pleased to visit your beautiful country. It can be said with confidence that over 28 years we have established exemplary relations between our states and our people. Regular and comprehensive dialogue at the highest level has served as a solid foundation for our relations," he stated. "In this context, I would like to particularly emphasise warm and trusting relations between the First President of Kazakhstan N Nazarbayev and HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces," he added. According to him, the two-way trade grew by 10 per cent from January to November 2019 compared to the analogous period of 2018. "The UAE is our key trade and economic partner in the region. During the nine months of 2019 mutual trade increased by more than 10% compared with the same period of 2018. Total amount is half a billion dollars," remarked Tokayev. The stock of direct investment from the UAE to Kazakhstan amounted to $2.1 billion while the Kazakhstan to UAE investments reached $1 billion. Close to 350 legal entities, branches and representative offices from UAE are successfully operating in Kazakhstan, he added. President Tokayev pointed out that the UAE was among the top five attractive destinations for tourists from Kazakhstan. "Every year around 100,000 Kazakh citizens visit the UAE," he added. On the industrial front, Tokayev said that despite the large number of developed deposits of solid minerals such as gold, copper, lead, zinc, iron, manganese, the subsoil of Kazakhstan still has large undiscovered reserves. "We are currently negotiating with Mubadala Investment Company to implement a $6.6 billion petrochemical project for polyethylene production in the west of Kazakhstan," he added. The meeting was attended by Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Industry, Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Global Market, ADGM, heads of the UAE chambers, government representatives and Emirati and Kazakh business owners. In his address, Al Sayegh said the two-way trade between the two countries had witnessed a significant rise from $273 million in 2015 to $415 million in 2018. "The UAE is currently investing over $2 billion in Kazakhstan, which makes it one of the top sources for Foreign Direct Investments." He also referred to the partnership with Digital Spring Ventures, ADGM's first approved growth equity fund manager from Kazakhstan. The meeting saw three agreements signed between the Emirtati and Kazakh sides, spanning educational, agricultural and logistics sectors.-TradeArabia News Service It is a rather trivial statement: if you want to enter the house through a door, it is best to take a key in your hand, open and go inside. But if you have no idea what the key looks like or where it is hidden - under the doormat, on the basement stairs? - it becomes much more difficult. It is similar in biology. It goes without saying that there are doors that connect the interior of cells to the exterior. One of these doors, however, still puzzles scientists: so-called "lipid rafts". These are certain areas in the cell membrane in which lipids, which are important for the signal transmission of cells, accumulate. These are platform enriched with cholesterol that looks like rafts, these areas "float" through the cell membrane. Across lipid rafts, molecules can also enter and get out of the cell. In particular, scientists suspect that these "lipid rafts" are also contributing to diseases such as Parkinson, Alzheimer or HiV infection, whose pathogens enter the cells via these lipid raft. An understanding of this mechanism is therefore fundamental to the emergence of such diseases. However, no one has been able to fully characterize "lipid rafts" in living cells, so far their size and lifetime are still subject to vigorous debates. Only in model membranes have the "rafts" been observed and fully characterize but "these models were not very well transmissible to real cells", explains Dr. Jean-Baptiste Fleury (Saarland University). The expert in microfluidics explains why this is the reason: "On the one hand, previous experiments were very large, namely in the micrometer range. At the cell level, however, the processes take place at the nanometer level, i.e. again by a factor of 1000 below. In addition, the lipid rafts in the experiment have been much more short-lived than in real cells", Fleury explains. Instead of between one and 15 milliseconds, the previous experimental lipid rafts existed only for about 10 nanoseconds, i.e. about one millionth of the natural lipid rafts. Jean-Baptiste Fleury has now developed an experiment system that brings both the size scale, the temporal dimension of these lipid rafts much closer to the natural conditions than has been the case up to now. To do this, he placed around 10 nanometer long carbon nanotubes, as a replacement of an artificial transmembranar protein, inside the model membrane to trigger the formation of ultra-small cholesterol region around this carbon nanotube. He was able to observe that the cholesterol concentration plays a decisive role in whether the nanotubes got through the cell or whether they remained trapped in the cell membrane. "We found that nanotubes in presence of high cholesterol concentrations can spontaneously emerge from the bilayer within a few milliseconds while remaining trapped in the membrane if the bilayer does not contain cholesterol." Theoretical physicists from the University of Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona (Spain) and the Nanjing University in China developed the basis for this. In months of computer simulations, they calculated the behavior of the nanotubes and cholesterol and then used the Saarland expertise of Jean-Baptiste Fleury as an experimental physicist to check the theoretical knowledge in the experiment. In this way, the international research team has developed fundamental new approaches to researching lipid raft, so that the development of diseases and the cellular processes may also be better understood. They published their findings in the renowned journal "Physical Review Letters". Meaning of Sexual Immorality and Definition As defined in Baker's Evangelical Dictionary, Sexual Immorality is... "Interpersonal activity involving sex organs that does not conform to God's revealed laws governing sexuality. The account of creation (Gen 1:1-28) includes reproductive activity as an essential part of the developmental scheme. This important function is given special prominence in the narrative describing the creation of woman (Gen 2:21-24). In a process cloaked in mystery, God takes an aspect of Adam and fashions it into a genetic counterpart that is specifically female, and which matches Adam's maleness for purposes of reproducing the species. Adam and Eve are thus equal and complementary to one another, of the same physical and genetic composition apart from the slight difference that governs the characteristic nature of male and female fetuses. God tells them to "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill all the earth and subdue it" (Gen 1:28)." C.S. Lewis, many years ago in his book Mere Christianity, described our contemporary struggle with human sexuality in the following words: The Christian idea of marriage is based on Christs words that a man and wife are to be regarded as a single organismfor that is what the words one flesh would be in modern English. And the Christians believe that when He said this He was not expressing a sentiment but stating a fact-just as one is stating a fact when one says that a lock and its key are one mechanism, or that a violin and a bow are one musical instrument. The inventor of the human machine was telling us that its two halves, the male and the female, were made to be combined together in pairs, not simply on the sexual level, but totally combined. The monstrosity of sexual intercourse outside marriage is that those who indulge in it are trying to isolate one kind of union (the sexual) from all the other kinds of union which was intended to go along with it and make up the total union. The Christian attitude does not mean that there is anything wrong about sexual pleasure, any more than about the pleasure of eating. It means that you must not isolate that pleasure and try to get it by itself, any more than you ought to try to get the pleasures of taste without swallowing and digesting, by chewing things and spitting them out again... In simple terms, sexual immorality is essentially the engagement in sexual acts outside of the sanctity of marriage, the divine union of creating and fostering life. Continue reading to learn the practical and spiritual consequences of becoming a slave to your passions when succumbing to the temptation of sexual immorality. Sexual Immorality and Biblical Teachings You and I cant read a newspaper, open a magazine, turn on a TV or go to a movie without being barraged with sex. We cannot avoid this topic, and fortunately, God gives us the content for our conversation. God, through the inspiration of His Holy Spirit, addresses this issue time after time in His Word, all the way from Genesis to Revelation. He does it in a way that is primarily positive if we take the time to hear what He is really telling us. The apostle Paul confronts the issue head-on, as he writes to a church made up of men and women living in a society every bit as sexually distorted as ours, if not more so. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body (1 Cor. 6:18-20). Three action principles leap out of this biblical passage. Action Principle #1: Face the reality of your own sexuality and your vulnerability to its distortion. A lot of trouble comes when we repress our sexual feelings. They are there. All of us have them. Some of us let them run free rein, getting ourselves into trouble. Some of us deny we have those feelings, pushing them down underneath the surface, only to find that they pop up at strange moments when we least expect them. Paul doesnt beat around the bush. He keeps bringing up this topic because he knows both the positive and negative realities of our human sexuality. We are all vulnerable. This fact has been driven home to me as I have observed several close friends in the ministry who have stumbled into sexual immorality, with the results being catastrophic for their personal and professional lives. Fortunately, the gospel is one of healing and restoration. In a couple of these situations, the marriages have survived and even been strengthened. But the pain and the ongoing side effects continue to be felt, both within their nuclear families and in the extended family, the Church of Jesus Christ. Fortunately, I was raised in an environment that talked freely about ones sexual vulnerability. I made some early commitments as a teenager to live according to biblical teachings. Although it was a struggle at points, I found the Holy Spirit was capable of empowerment. You and I must be aware of our own vulnerability. The posture of self-righteousness that looks down at others who have stumbled into sexual sin is the epitome of spiritual arrogance and, frankly, sets us up for a fall. I urge you to face the reality of your own sexuality and your own vulnerability to its distortion. It is important that we look at ourselves in the mirror and see ourselves as we are, created by God as sexual persons, healthy, vital, alive, but also engaged in spiritual warfare in which that sexuality can quickly become distorted. Action Principle #2: Deal honestly with the biblical theology of your sexuality. Paul wrestles with this as he writes, All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power (1 Corinthians 6:12-14). This is saying that you and I are more than animals. We are not just made up of body parts and nerve endings. You and I have the freedom to do things, not just the way they come naturally, but the way you and I were created by God to do things. Far from being negative, the apostle Paul was a proponent of freedom in Jesus Christ. Throughout his missionary journeys, as he established churches, he had to struggle with legalistic Judaizers who wanted to tie up the new believers in Christ into knots of Levitical laws. Paul was a proponent of freedom in Christ. He continually articulated what was the essence of the Old Testament teachings. His theme was that God had designed us to be fully human. We are more than animals. We have the privilege of living at a much higher level of existence. At the same time, Paul was very aware that this teaching of Christian freedom could be distorted, so he quotes a saying: All things are lawful for me. Then he adds a new dimension. He states, ...but not all things are beneficial. He then rearticulates the statement, All things are lawful for me. But then he states, ...but I will not be dominated by anything. Do you catch the delicate balance of this? Freedom can be distorted into a license. A license can then be distorted into the destruction of others and ones own self-destruction. One of the greatest New Testament teachings on Christian freedom is Pauls letter to the church at Galatia. In it, Paul urges the believers to not again submit themselves to a yoke of slavery. He begs them not to step back into a religion defined by dos and donts, void of a personal relationship with the Lord. He exhorts them to freedom, not to a freedom that is a license. He writes, For you were called to freedom, brothers, and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another (Galatians 5:13-15). Action Principle #3: Sexual sin destroys. Flee from it! Paul writes, Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against the body itself (1 Corinthians 6:18). Sexual sin, by its very definition and reality, is dehumanizing. You become an animal. You declare yourself to be nothing but body parts and nerve endings. It destroys you, and it destroys others. Why would God be so strict? Is He an angry old grandfather somewhere up in the sky who wants to destroy our fun in life? Not for a moment! He created sex. He gave it to us as a positive, fulfilling activity. He wants it to be channeled for your very best interest. Far from His commands being negative and inhibiting, they are guides to the healthiest kind of sexual living possible. In fact, even if one is not a Christian and has no respect for biblical teaching, there are some good, common-sense reasons for avoiding premarital or extramarital intercourse. 7 Reasons to Avoid Sexual Immorality One reason to avoid premarital or extramarital intercourse is the possibility of pregnancy. Yes, even with the pill, the frequency of unwanted pregnancies continues to increase. What is more tragic than for a child to be brought into this world unwanted? I have watched young couples, who once thought they were in love, struggle with the decision of whether or not to marry. There is no foolproof method of contraception. Many couples are not well enough informed. Sometimes romantic feelings prevent necessary precautions. Although the pill is considered by most doctors to be foolproof, persons taking it are not. Either because of simple forgetfulness or some deep-seated inner motivation to conceive in order to hold on to that fellow, a woman who thinks shes safe may become pregnant. The second reason for avoiding premarital or extramarital intercourse is the danger of disease. Venereal disease has not been checked by modern medicine. The increased incidence of sexual promiscuity has brought about a tragic soaring incidence of this. Venereal disease is exponential in its increase, as society is less and less careful about sexual behavior. And we have not even mentioned to this point the topic of AIDS and the havoc of death that it is bringing throughout the world, in both the homosexual and heterosexual communities. The fact is that AIDS, genital herpes, syphilis, hepatitis, and pelvic inflammatory disease are tragic realities in our world. And if you want to read a tragic story of what venereal disease can do to a person, read William Manchesters biography of Winston Churchill, in which he describes how Churchills father, Lord Randolph Churchill, contracted syphilis through premarital sexual involvement. He describes how this promising British politician gradually eroded in the very public eye and, over a period of years, self-destructed and died. You read a few stories like that from secular biographies, and they make you think that Gods ways, far from being negative, are positive. A third reason to avoid premarital or extramarital intercourse is that many men are driven to sexual conquests to prove their masculinity. I pity the woman who gets trapped in this false situation. If only the average young woman could listen in for a few moments to the conversation in a mens locker room, she would take much less seriously the romantic pleadings, If you really love me, you wouldnt say no. And now the stereotypical view of men being more interested in sex than women is no longer the case. How often we read about women who, having no desire for a love relationship and marriage, are simply on the market looking for the ideal male by whom they can become pregnant. The fourth reason for avoiding premarital and extramarital intercourse is that it can be personally destructive, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. Premarital and extramarital sex is habit-forming. In most cases, it is not something a couple does once or twice and quits doing. It develops a personal interdependence wherein no real ultimate commitment has been agreed upon. It is an agonizing experience for a pastor to deal with the emotional, psychological and spiritual fragmentation, which so often is the experience of the man or woman who then gets jilted. I would be the first to acknowledge that sometimes people seem to walk through the maze of various sexual relationships seemingly unhurt, settling down in marriage, having children and appearing to live happily ever after. But as a pastor, I more often see the casualties of a person who invested themselves in that other person, taking the relationship more seriously, believing that it had a future, and ends up in deep depression, often spiraling into other addictive behaviors. Sex is much more serious a matter than some of us would be willing to admit. It is symbolic of commitment, even when that commitment is not really there. The fifth reason to avoid premarital or extramarital intercourse is that it is not a reliable test of sexual compatibility. Many a man has told me, I would never marry a woman without trying her out first. He might just be surprised to find that theres a major difference between sex outside and inside marriage. The secrecy surrounding premarital sex often heightens ones excitement. Needless to say, both will be on their very best behavior, knowing that their failure to perform could lead to the end of their relationship. How different is sex in a marriage where both have the security of ultimate commitment? Sex is not geared to ones having to meet a particular standard. It is meant to share in the most intimate way possible a way which will procreate and also bring personal fulfillment. A normal healthy man and a normal healthy woman, from both a psychological and physiological standpoint, should be able to find sexual compatibility. Premarital experimentation will not necessarily assure it. In fact, it is more likely to injure or at least detract from ultimate sexual compatibility. A sixth reason to avoid premarital or extramarital intercourse is that it often creates an obsessive interest in sex. Ive talked with couples who have slipped into this relationship before marriage to find that sex is about all they think about. Whereas they used to have fun dating and being with other people, their life is now geared toward sex. This is no way to live. A happily married couple spends a very small fraction of their time having sex compared to all the other activities that fill their lives. Obsessive interest in sex is abnormal. And a seventh reason to avoid premarital or extramarital sex is that it can have a marring and spoiling effect on later marriage. What I mean by this is that it can breed a later misunderstanding between two people who were weak before marriage, giving in to their impulses. There is always uncertainty. You know that your partner could once again be weak and move into an extramarital affair. The Consequences of Sexual Immorality Yes, sexual sin destroys. Claim the help of the Holy Spirit to flee from it, to shun it. You cant play with fire without being burned. It is difficult to go right up to the line without stepping over it. Those lingering lunches with someone other than your husband or your wife can begin to set a chain of events into motion for destruction. Pray about how you act, how you dress, the signals you send and the signals you receive. Dedicate yourself to God in a way in which you claim His wisdom and sensitivity to that which would hurt another and hurt yourself. Two Old Testament biographies come to mind. One was a man who played with his sexuality and that of others like a cat plays with catnip. His name was Samson. Read his biographysuch a gifted man with so much potential. What he didnt do was flee, shun immorality. Look at the price he paid. Another was Joseph. Alienated from his own family, a slave in a foreign country, he stayed close to God. He knew the standard God set sexually. When his employer Potiphar was out of town on business, Potiphars wife made her move. On previous occasions, she had flirted with Joseph. This time, she attempted an all-out seduction. What did Joseph do? He literally fled from her presence, ran away from her. No one gave him the Moral Man of the Year Award in Egypt. In fact, he went to prison, accused by her of rape. So angered was this rejected woman that she fabricated a story. But God honored Josephs faithfulness. What is the intention of this message? Its twofold. One, it is to faithfully portray Gods view of what He created you to be as a sexual human being in a way that does not push you toward asceticism on the one extreme or sexual anarchy at the other extreme. It is to challenge you to claim the help of the Holy Spirit to keep yourself faithful to Jesus Christ and, in the process, be faithful to yourself and others, urging you to flee fornication, remembering that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Two, it is to minister a word of Gods grace if you have cut corners. God is in the business of welcoming you home if youre willing to repent. To you, God offers His good news of forgiveness. He accepts you as you are. He gives you a clean slate. You may bear the scars on your memory of actions and thoughts that countered His will. Yet He is willing and He yearns to transform you into a right relationship with Him. He promises to remove your sins as far as the east is from the west and to give you a brand-new beginning. He wants to lift you out of that grocery list of brokenness, which Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 when he writes, Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers-none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. Find inspiration with 15 Bible Verses Every Christian Should Know By Heart HERE for you to download or share with loved ones! Excerpts for this Article were used from Sexual Immorality: Beyond Body Parts & Nerve Endings by John A. Huffman Jr. Photo credit: GettyImages/Rawpixel This article is part of our Christian Terms catalog exploring words and phrases of Christian theology and history. Here are some of our most popular articles covering Christian terms to help your journey of knowledge and faith: The Full Armor of God The Meaning of "Selah" What is a "Concubine"? Christian Meaning of Humility Who are Gentiles? Biblical Meaning What is Fornication? Meaning of Shekinah Glory The difference between Grace and Mercy There hasnt been any phone apart from the Galaxy Note series that has support for stylus on smartphones. This category of smartphones that can also be used with a stylus has so far been dominated by Samsung. However, a new leak via Evan Blass on Twitter shows that we may have a new smartphone that will use a stylus like the S Pen on Galaxy Note smartphones. Twitter/Evan Blass This smartphone is allegedly being developed by Motorola and the company is looking to launch it sometime in 2020. Motorola has already built some hype around its brand, thanks to the reveal of the foldable Motorola Razr that appeals not to not only nostalgic fans of the classic phone but also people who like to get new innovative smartphones. While this new leak shows off a smartphone that supports a stylus, it remains to be seen how it will function. Samsungs S Pen has exclusive features that lets users control various aspects of the smartphone. For example, the S Pen can be used to take pictures, play/pause videos or give presentations, thanks to the button on the stylus. Apart from the traditional uses, the stylus can also be used for editing videos or creating artwork. Samsung In Motorolas case, the stylus has two buttons near the top and has a soft rounded tip that can be used for scrolling and swiping. The smartphone also has a storage slot for the stylus similar to what we can find on the Galaxy Note smartphones. It would be interesting to see how Motorola implements the stylus feature and whether it can match up with Samsungs offering. There is no news when the smartphone is expected to launch but there is a possibility that it may be unveiled at Mobile World Conference next month. Its Super Bowl time again, this year in Miami, and as pretty much everyone who's been following the news for years must know by now, despite the fact that virtually NO sex trafficking goes on during that time period, nonetheless, hundreds of sex workers in Miami will be arrested, simply for engaging in consensual sex with clients. But this year, the Woodhull Freedom Foundation is partnering with SWOP Behind Bars and the LGBTQ Freedom Fund to fight back, by raising bail for as many arrested sex workers as they can. Bail bonds will run in amounts ranging from $200 to $500 for a "soliciting prostitution" offense. SWOP Behind Bars will be posting bonds after sex workers make their first appearance in court, many times after which they are released on their own recognizance. The Community Support Line will be open 24 hours and will be staffed with volunteers who are prepared to get as many people released as possible. According to Woodhull President/CEO Ricci Levy, if everyone who reads this were to donate just $25, this ad hoc consortium would be able to bail out 175 sex workers. Supporters of sex workers are asked to chip in anywhere from $5 up to $100 or more to the bailout fund. Donations can be made by clicking here. Car break-ins are down slightly down overall in San Francisco, but at least one neighborhood is bucking the trend. New data from the San Francisco Police Department shows that smash-and-grabs have surged over the last year at the Diamond Heights Shopping Center and in the roughly 1,000-foot-wide area surrounding it, according to published reports. In 2018, the neighborhood experienced only 17 auto burglaries, but that number jumped to 77 the following year, most of them in the center's parking lot. Despite the 350-percent increase, 77 break-ins are a drop in the bucket compared to the 31,000 reported to police citywide in 2017. Nonetheless, an unusually brazen theft described on Nextdoor caught the attention of District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and prompted him to call a town meeting at SFPD's police academy. Hundreds of people packed the building Monday night. ABC 7 KGO and Fox 2 KTVU reported that over the holidays two thieves smashed the rear window of a SUV parked in the Diamond Heights Safeway parking lot while its owner, Rod Suzuki, and his family were in the car. Undeterred by the family's presence, the burglars helped themselves to items placed in the back of the vehicle. "It was really quick. It was maybe three seconds, 'Boom!,'" said Suzuki, who added that the thieves' faces were hidden. San Francisco's new district attorney, Chesa Boudin, who attended the meeting, said he will prosecute auto burglaries as felonies and go after organized crime. He has previously stated his intention to crack down on sophisticated criminal networks with fencing operations in the state. One strategy proposed is to leave GPS-equipped bait cars parked in high-break-in areas. RELATED: Car break-ins double at Golden Gate Bridge parking lot The owner of the Diamond Heights center says the facility is upgrading surveillance cameras and lighting. Police say there are no suspects in the Suzuki case. Across the city, smash-and-grabs declined by 2 percent from 2018 to 2019, police say. --- Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused BJP of taking "revenge" from the poor in the city and urged the saffron party to stop indulging in such malicious actions. His tweet came in response to a news which says an auto driver was challaned for Rs 10,000 for writing "I Love Kejriwal" on his auto. Responding to the news, Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi: "BJP is using its police for wrong challans of poor auto drivers. The only mistake of the auto driver was that he had written "I love Kejriwal". Such maliciousness against the poor is not right. I appeal to the BJP to stop taking revenge from the poor." The 'I Love Kejriwal' campaign was started by the auto drivers in Delhi. According to AAP, they were writing 'I love Kejriwal' on the autos "to express their allegiance for the Chief Minister". Judge Victor Zuniga from the Fourth National Preparatory Investigation Court Specialized in Organized Crime and Corruption by Officials declared well founded the Public Ministry's petition that served to request 18 months and two days in prison for the former Congresswoman (2006-2011) and First Lady (1994-2000). In Peru, the Public Ministry is independent from the Executive Branch. The session for the reading of the verdict began after 09:00 a.m. and came to an end at 05:59 p.m. (local time). The TC declared well founded a habeas corpus request submitted by Sachi Fujimori in favor of her sister. #Ultimo. Juez Victor Zuniga, titular del Cuarto Juzgado de Investigacion Preparatoria Nacional Especializado en Delitos de Crimen Organizado, impone 15 meses de prision preventiva contra #KeikoFujimori, investigada por lavado de activos y otros delitos. pic.twitter.com/hyKk6gqSrP New Delhi: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that the Delhi assembly election is a fight between two crore people of Delhi and the 200 BJP MPs and their star campaigners. Addressing a roadshow in Delhi's Mehrauli constituency Kejriwal said, ''BJP is calling leaders from other states to campaign for them in Delhi, now the delhi assembly election is a fight between 200 BJP MPs, 70 Union Ministers, 11 Chief Ministers, 40 star-campaigners vs the people of Delhi.'' AAP also shared the video of Kejriwal with the hashtag 'Kejriwal versus entire BJP'. 200 MPs, 70 Union Ministers, 11 Chief Ministers vs 1 AAM AADMI#KejriwalvsEntireBJP pic.twitter.com/8RQVSqhENQ AAP (@AamAadmiParty) January 28, 2020 Lauding his governments work Kejriwal added, ''When they come, count the number of works done in five years and send them back to their states. Do not let them insult Delhi." "They are coming here to defeat you, your son Kejriwal, to defeat and insult the work that we have done in five years. Now they will come and insult and find faults in our schools, Mohalla Clinics, electricity, water, etc. I want to ask the people, will you remain quiet and bear the insult?" he asked. Kejriwal is conduction back to back roadshow in parts of Delhi to woo the voters here. Delhi will be go to polls on Feburary 8 and the results will be declared on Feburary 11. One of the most enlightening moments of Seethal Bency's life came when she realised she didn't have to wait for the world to change: she could use her own struggle with depression to shape action. Bency is one of five youth activists who will share their message of grassroots revolution at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, at Sydney Town Hall in April, joining Generation Z leaders Daisy Jeffrey, Audrey Mason-Hyde, Dujuan Hoosan, and Dylan Storer. Climate activist Daisy Jeffrey is one of four Australian youth leaders who will be speaking at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer In their session, Unforgivable, audience members will choose the ticket price, an attempt to remove the price bar for those with low incomes but also a provocation to assess how much the public is willing to listen and support these youth leaders. "I just knew that doing nothing wasnt an option," Bency says. "The first time I spoke at a high school about my story was nerve-wracking and raw and I didnt know if anyone would care what I had to say but I was determined to try. Beethoven 2020: The New Complete Edition DG/Decca, out now Rating: Beethoven: Complete Edition Naxos, out now Rating: Beethoven: The Complete Works Warner, out now Rating: For many classical music lovers, myself included, Beethoven is the greatest. Even for those who dont rate him the best, its hard to imagine any but the cloth-eared failing to rank him with Bach, Mozart and Wagner. So the 250th anniversary of Beethovens birth is a big deal for the record companies. Three of them have brought out complete sets: DG/Decca on 118 CDs, with much else besides, for 220; Warner on 80 CDs at 75; Naxos on 90 CDs, available for 110. All are good and offer real value. I would put Warner in third place because its box with its tatty liner booklet could, and should, have been much better. Warner now owns the EMI archive so, for instance, why has the Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Chamber Orchestra of Europe symphony set been chosen? For many classical music lovers, myself included, Beethoven is the greatest so the 250th anniversary of his birth is a big deal for the record companies Perhaps Warner, as a French company, prefers an original Erato issue to all the gems on EMI from the likes of Daniel Barenboim, Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, Simon Rattle and Wolfgang Sawallisch, to name but a few. The DG/Decca offering covers almost the entire range of its Beethoven archive, but Warner plainly didnt want to devote the same kind of time to this project as DG/Decca. The piano concertos are entrusted to Andras Schiff and Bernard Haitink, and the piano sonatas to Stephen Kovacevich, while Klemperer gets a look-in with both the Missa Solemnis and Fidelio, both best-in-class issues. Three of them have brought out complete sets but it's the DG/Decca box which is the one to have boasting 118 CDs, three Blue-ray audio discs, two DVDs and a 275-page, hardcover book Naxos gets the silver medal with a more complete box. The artists may not be top drawer but are all highly capable. The Hungarian pianist Jeno Jando, responsible for almost all the music requiring a piano, is a charismatic virtuoso. The excellent Fidelio is another recording from Budapest. Only the 20-year-old, Budapest-sourced complete symphonies disappoint a surprising inclusion, given that Naxos has recently issued the Danish Chamber Orchestra set under Adam Fischer, who has also recorded the complete symphonies of Haydn and Mozart. Naxos gets the silver medal: the artists may not be top drawer but are all highly capable. Sadly the Warner box with its tatty liner booklet could, and should, have been much better But this set is formidable value. It will give great pleasure to those unable, or unwilling, to pay twice as much for the comprehensive DG/Decca box, which includes a complete set of traditionally performed symphonies, an original instrument set, and one specially sourced from the Vienna Philharmonic. By the same token, the 32 piano sonatas are performed by 11 different pianists. In addition, there are three Blu-ray audio discs, two DVDs and a 275-page, hardcover book, containing much about Beethovens turbulent life. This is the set to have. I do have a complaint, though. They should have thrown in a body-building course, because it weighs in at 16 lb a lot for old codgers like me to lug around! Customers wearing masks shop at a discount store in Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap By Kim Jae-heun The potentially deadly coronavirus crisis is expected to drag on for some time and affect Korea's retail and distribution industry. There had been rumors that Chinese President Xi Jinping would visit Korea and finally lift the restrictions on Chinese tourists' travel to Seoul. Since 2016, the Chinese government has been restricting group tours to Seoul as an act of economic retaliation following Seoul's decision to deploy an American missile defense system. The Korea Tourism Organization predicted some 130,000 Chinese tourists would visit Korea during the Lunar New Year between Jan. 24 to 30, which is an 18.1 percent increase from the same period last year. In fact, the growth rate of purchases made by Chinese visitors at Shinsegae Department Stores increased by 13.9 percent in November, 23 percent in December and 46.5 percent from January 1 to 16. But the sudden outbreak of the deadly virus that originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan has raised concerns here, which could affect retailers much like the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that swept the country in 2015. Sales at local department stores and major discount stores decreased by 11.9 percent and 10.2 percent respectively due to the MERS incident in June five years ago. In an attempt to quell customer fears in the face of the coronavirus, the two biggest department store franchises Lotte Department Store and Shinsegae Department Store have installed hand sanitizers at every door while providing masks for employees to wear. Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast A former House information-technology staffer who became the center of fevered right-wing conspiracy theories about espionage and extortion filed a lawsuit Tuesday against The Daily Caller, alleging the conservative website defamed him and his relatives. The 23-page complaint from former Democratic IT staffer Imran Awan was filed Tuesday afternoon in D.C. Superior Court. Awan and the other plaintiffshis wife, two of his brothers, and a friend, all of whom worked with Awan in Democratic House IT servicesnamed as defendants The Daily Caller, the nonprofit Daily Caller News Foundation, DCNF reporter Luke Rosiak, and conservative publisher Regnery, which published a 2019 book Rosiak wrote about Awan. The Daily Caller was founded in 2010 by Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The Awans lawsuit accused the defendants of both defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, subjecting them to a relentless, xenophobic campaign of defamatory attacks. The Awans lawyer, Deepak Gupta, told The Daily Beast that the heart of the complaint lies in the notion that the victims of fake news and right wing conspiracies are not just our politics and our discourseits also real people, whose lives can be ruined. The state of our politics is so polarized and so combative that people can forget that there are real people who might find themselves in the crosshairs, Gupta said. Thats what happened here. The Awans claimed that they received death threats, were forced to move, and their children were forced to change schools as a result of The Daily Caller stories. One of the plaintiffs attempted suicide, according to the complaint. Its hard to overstate the degree to which this has ruined their lives, Gupta said. They lost their jobs. Their children were targeted. This all put a strain on Imran and Hinas marriage, he added. Awan immigrated to the United States from Pakistan as a teenager, and his relatives were thrust into pro-Trump conspiracy theories after the House Inspector General investigated their use of House servers and adherence to technology procurement rules. That investigation prompted conservative media outlets like The Daily Caller to portray the Awans as somehow subversive elements within the House, with one story written by Rosiak in 2017 declaring that representatives had been compromised by rogue IT staff. Story continues Other outlets piled on, no doubt aware that a national security scandal involving Pakistani-born Muslims would find a predisposed audience, the lawsuit alleged. Reporting from The Daily Caller and other conservative outlets fueled speculation on the right-wing internet about the Awans, including claims that they worked for the Pakistani intelligence service or the Muslim Brotherhood. Other outlets seized on the baseless claimed that the Awans, not Russian hackers, were behind the 2016 Democratic National Committee email hacks. The Daily Callers reporting was also picked up by President Donald Trump, who called Awan a Pakistani fraudster and a Pakistani mystery man in tweets. The president even discussed Awan during a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2018. What happened to the servers of the Pakistani gentleman that worked on the DNC? Trump said. The Awans eventually lost their jobs amid the heightened scrutiny. The House Inspector General report found only that they had shared login credentials, inappropriately used government servers for personal use, and structured some technology purchases to avoid inventory reporting rules. (The Awans lawsuit alleged the purchases were made with approval from the Democratic representatives who employed them.) Imran Awan eventually pleaded guilty to making a false statement on a home loan, which was sparked by a Department of Justice bank fraud investigation his lawyers claim was the result of political pressure from the highest levels of the Trump Administration. Awan was charged after falsely claiming a property as his primary residence in an attempt to secure what his lawyers describe as money for his ailing father. He was sentenced to time served in the case after prosecutors sought no jail time in the case and federal Judge Tanya Chutkan blasted scurrilous media attention leveled against him and his family. The stories about Awan and his associates prompted an unusual statement from the Department of Justice in Awans plea deal, which disproved speculation about him. The Government has uncovered no evidence that your client violated federal law with respect to the House computer systems, read the plea agreement. Particularly, the Government has found no evidence that your client illegally removed House data from the House network or from House Members offices, stole the House Democratic Caucus Server, stole or destroyed House information technology equipment, or improperly accessed or transferred government information, including classified or sensitive information. Despite that, Rosiak kept up his criticisms of the Awan family after the Justice Department statement, according to the complaint, claiming the Awans were involved in blackmail and receiving money from Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. Rosiak and Regnery published a book in early 2019 about Awan, Obstruction of Justice: How the Deep State Risked National Security to Protect the Democrats, that quickly rose up the Amazon book sales ranks and earned blurbs from Carlson and fellow Fox News host Sean Hannity. People who were not public figureswho were just doing their jobs and living quiet liveswere targeted because of their race and their religion and thrust into the spotlight with a series of conspiracy theories and attacks, Gupta told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. Those claims were amplified on every possible mass communications platform. Feds Debunk Right-Wing Conspiracy Theory Pakistani Mystery Man Leaked DNC Emails The Awans lawsuit alleges that Rosiaks book is riddled with outrageous, false, and defamatory attacks against the Awans, including claims that he hacked the House, solicited a cash bribe, and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in government equipment. Awans attorneys say Rosiak even claimed that Awan boasted about having his enemies tortured in Pakistan. Imran Awan is basically an attempted murderer, an extortionist, a blackmail artist, a con man, Rosiak said in a July 2019 interview with right-wing newspaper The Epoch Times. In an appearance on Lou Dobbss Fox Business show, Rosiak allegedly implied that the Awans had stolen millions from the U.S. government. These guys are out free, probably running around in Pakistan with the millions of dollars that they funneled from Congress over to Pakistan, Rosiak said, according to the lawsuit. Gupta said the Awans now just want to clear their names and move on. Theyre looking for an end to this campaign of lies against them, he said. Its very important that nothing like this be allowed to happen to other people like them. The Awans lawsuit marks the latest complaint filed by the targets of right-wing conspiracy theories. Their legal team includes two Texas lawyers who have sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his InfoWars website on behalf of families whose children were killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting. Rosiak, The Daily Caller, and Regnery did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Beast on Tuesday. Editors note: This story has been updated to reflect that Hina and Imrans marriage was not ended by the conflict described in the lawsuit, as Gupta first stated erroneously. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Retired Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher on Monday attacked his former comrades in arms who testified against him as cowards, calling troops out by name in a video he posted to his social media accounts. In a three-minute video Gallagher posted on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, both of which have tens of thousands of followers, the former chief special operator, 40, included names and photos of specific troops as well as the duty status and current units of those still who are still active. Gallagher was charged in 2018 with war crimes, including that he stabbed and killed an injured and sedated teenage ISIS prisoner and afterwards posed with the body for a photo. His fellow Navy SEAL snipers also accused him of shooting several civilians during his 2017 deployment to Iraq. He was acquitted in July after a highly-publicized court-martial of all charges except one, that of posing with the ISIS teenagers corpse. His Navy rank was reduced, his pay cut, and he was sentenced to four months of confinement. During the trial President Trump requested that Gallagher not be held in a Navy brig but be transferred to house arrest. Later, the president also reversed Gallaghers demotion by the Navy. Now, Gallagher says he is in a fight to clear my name. For my entire adult life, Ive had the honor and privilege of fighting for this country and your freedom, Gallagher said in the video. Even though I went to trial and exposed all the lies that were said about me by certain cowards in my platoon and found not guilty, there are those to this day who refuse to accept that fact. Some in the Navy criticized Gallaghers decision to post the video exposing information about specific troops, saying it puts them in danger. Attempting to call attention to (those SEALs) status in the way its been done does not serve the mission or the interests of the Navy, David Shaw, a former petty officer 1st class told Task and Purpose. To attempt to out (their) status raises questions about the decision to do so. Story continues Each and every one of the guys who came forward were performers of the highest caliber and people of the highest reputations within the platoon, Shaw added. Since being pardoned by President Trump, Gallagher has launched a Navy Seal-themed lifestyle brands, hawking health and fitness products and clothing on social media. More from National Review Cheyenne O'Connor said her phone and computers were taken by officers. (SWNS) A paedophile hunter who poses as a child online to snare sexual predators has had her devices seized by police. Cheyenne OConnor, 27, claims to have secured 25 convictions through her work, and police data shows she has contributed to eight cases in the past year. She was arrested in December over one contempt of court allegation and another of harassing a convicted paedophile by pursuing him for a photo. Her mobile phone and laptop have been taken away by police while she is on bail. Cheyenne, who started her campaign in attempt to catch paedophiles living on Jersey, said she has now been blocked from doing her job. She claims the investigation into her has put three current cases she was hoping to bring to court into doubt. Ms O'Connor has reportedly helped convict five paedophiles in the past. (SWNS) "I can't carry on what I have been doing as they have got all my devices - my decoy is logged into the phones they have and I have no way of getting into the decoy accounts, she said. "They take months to set up and I had three cases pending. They kept saying, where do you get you info and how do you find out this stuff? "They think there is something on there and I have someone high up giving me information. It is understood the contempt of court claim surrounds Miss O'Connor publishing the details of a convicted sex offender on her Facebook account. The judge at the Royal Court ruled he shouldn't be named in any coverage relating to his application, as publicity created difficulties for himself and his wife and raised concerns about vigilantism. The harassment allegation is in relation to another convicted paedophile who Cheyenne also publicised on her page upon his release from prison. Cheyenne initially took on her one-woman role to rid Jersey of paedophiles as she felt victims were being let down by the authorities. READ MORE FROM YAHOO NEWS UK: Story continues Jersey was subject to a wide-ranging investigation into historic sex abuse on the island in 2008. Cheyenne said courts were still failing victims of sexual abuse and havent moved on in tackling the perception of the Jersey Way since the damning inquiry report. The States of Jersey Police said they don't condone the work of paedophile hunters in general and won't work proactively with them. A spokesperson said: We do understand the publics desire to keep children safe and protect them from harm and we also understand the temptation to take matters into their own hands, but vigilante activity in this area carries high risk. Investigations can be undermined, forensic and other opportunities can be lost, with often the quality of information passed onto police being low. "Techniques used by vigilantes may not always be acceptable police investigative tactics and in some cases may involve criminality. There is also an absence of any governance or control for their actions nor any way of safeguarding child victims. There is no way of controlling the risk that vigilante activity might disrupt covert law enforcement activity, given that both will seek to target the same types of offender. Proper standards of victim care, or indeed managing the welfare of people exposing themselves to child abuse material, will largely be absent and cannot be assured in any case. "The risk to individuals who are exposed in this way whether accurately or not from themselves or others is generally not anticipated, assessed or cared about. There is also a risk to vigilantes themselves, often with little consideration given to the exposure of this type of activity may bring. One of the shipping industrys great hopes for improving its environmental performance -- engines powered by liquefied natural gas -- wont offer the benefits that many vessel owners are hoping for. Thats the conclusion of a nonprofit that analyzed the emissions from different types of vessels that use the fuel. Some types of LNG-powered ships leak so much methane -- a contributor to global heating -- that the environmental damage they cause over a 20-year period is far more acute than equivalent vessels run on conventional fuels. The criticism is a brickbat for LNG, a fuel thats long been viewed as means of helping industries to cut carbon emissions and hit climate goals. The two-decade timeline matters because the most ambitious global climate target is to reach net zero emissions by 2050 in order to keep a temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times. Switching ships to LNG is worse than doing nothing, said Kendra Ulrich, senior shipping campaigner at Stand.earth. This should serve as an alarming wake-up call for the International Maritime Organization the UN agency that oversees the industrys emissions. The study was carried out by the International Council on Clean Transportation and referenced in documents submitted to the IMO by the Clean Shipping Coalition, Pacific Environment, Greenpeace International and the WWF. In the longer run, the LNG-powered ships in question can become less damaging relative to carriers running on conventional fuels because the leaked methane degrades over time. Burning LNG produces about 25% less carbon dioxide per unit of energy than todays typical oil-based marine fuels. It also emits very low quantities of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, both of which have negative implications for human health. The methane leak ultimately makes its greenhouse gas impact worse for the planet than todays oil-based propellants in most cases, at least in the short term, the ICCT report says. LNG mainly consists of methane, which traps 86 times more heat than the same amount of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. While only a sliver of todays merchant fleet runs on LNG, its becoming increasingly popular among newbuild vessels and often on the agenda when shippers discuss future fuels in the context of industry climate change targets. While the report doesnt apply to all LNG-powered ships, it shows that the most popular type of vessels running on LNG today have a particularly high level of methane slippage. The carriers in question are those that have low-pressure injection engines. Anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam, on the run after sedition charges were slapped against him for allegedly making inflammatory speeches, was on Tuesday arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad district where a court handed him over to a Delhi police team on transit remand. The JNU scholar was wanted by police of several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi. Jehanabad Superintendent of Police Manish Kumar said Imam, who was arrested from a place in Kako police station area, was produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate R K Rajak where he was handed over to a Delhi police team on transit remand for 36 hours. The Delhi police team subsequently left this central Bihar district and Imam is expected to be taken to the national capital, he added. According to the SP, Sharjeel Imam was arrested in the afternoon from a place close to his ancestral house, hours after his younger brother Muzzamil Imam was picked up for questioning and grilled by police. The officer did not disclose further details though unconfirmed reports said that the JNU scholar, who had arrived in his native district the previous night, was hiding in a mosque to which he was guided by a close relative. Police had earlier raided his ancestral home on Sunday when it went hunting for him but Imam eluded the dragnet. A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies at the JNU. He was slapped with a sedition case after a video of his purported speech went viral on social media where he was heard speaking about "cutting off" Assam and the northeast from the rest of India. "If five lakh people are organised, we can cut off the northeast and India permanently. If not, at least for a month or half a month. Throw as much 'mawad' (variously described as pus or rubbish) on rail tracks and roads as it would take the Air Force one month to clear it. "Cutting off Assam (from India) is our responsibility, only then they (the government) will listen to us. We know the condition of Muslims in Assam....they are being put into detention camps," he was shown in the video as saying. Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar reacted to the development, saying the arrested student activist "ought to have an understanding of the countrys Constitution and the law....if anybody talks about India's disintegration, who is going to accept this". Kumar also stressed that people like Sharjeel were "exceptions" and did not represent "views held by a large section of people". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on January 21, 2020 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images The easy policies of the Federal Reserve and other central banks are already providing a backstop that could lessen the impact of the coronavirus on financial markets. Some analysts say the sell-off, which started last week, could be 5% to 10%. But others don't even expect it to be that much for U.S. stocks, which had been setting record after record before investors got spooked by the virus the week of Jan. 20. "I don't think it's going to be 5%, 10%. We don't have enough information. Is it containment or is it contagion?" said Joseph Quinlan, head of CIO market strategy for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank. "Does China contain it? I think it will, or is it contagion, and it really hits the global economy and pulls it down? I think it's the former. They're going to act very aggressively to offset any hit to to growth they see in Q1. We're not changing anything or doing anything dramatic in the portfolio." The S&P 500 was down 2.6% in the five sessions through Monday. The Dow was down 2.8%, with a 1.6% decline Monday to 28,535, its worst one-day loss since October. It is now negative year-to-date. Treasury yields, which move opposite price, have fallen sharply as investors sought safety. The 10-year was at 1.60% Monday. Futures pointed to a rebound on Tuesday with an implied open for the Dow of more than 100 points higher. "They're overdoing it on the expectation of weaker than expected growth. The world is reflating. We had 64 central banks cutting rates," said Quinlan. Fed meeting beginning The Fed cut rates for the third and final time in October, before stepping to the sidelines. It is also purchasing Treasury bills to expand its balance sheet, a move strategists say has added to liquidity and potentially risk taking in both stocks and credit markets. The Fed meets Tuesday and Wednesday, and is unlikely to change either policy for now, though traders expect it to sound vigilant regarding the uncertainties facing the global economy. Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC, said she has been expecting a pullback, and besides the coronavirus, the market is beginning to get nervous about the U.S. presidential election. The Iowa caucuses are Feb. 3, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is polling well in Iowa. "I've been sort of banging the drum calling for a pullback for a long time. My view has been valuations are stretched and ripe for a pullback," she said. "It's always a mystery with these things what are the catalysts going to be. I's interesting its a virus in China." Investors seem to be slightly less certain than before that President Donald Trump will win re-election as impeachment proceedings progress, but they are most worried the Democratic candidate will be Sanders, who is viewed as negative for the stock market. "They were thinking it would be Trump or you would get a market friendly Democrat on the nomination side," said Calvasina. "This is all in the context of historical positioning and extreme highs in valuation. To a certain extent, maybe the virus is just the straw that broke the camel's back. Or maybe the election is. I don't dispute the virus has most of the responsibility here, but I think there's a kernel in it that's election-related." Calvasina said she expects the recent decline in health care stocks could be related to the rise of Sanders, who supports Medicare for all. The S&P health care sector was down 0.7% Monday. A new New York Times/Siena College poll showed Sanders commanding 25% of the vote in Iowa, up six points since October and ahead of other candidates. Online betting market PredictIt shows Sanders' odds of winning the Democratic nomination at 39%, 3 points above Joe Biden. Buying opportunity? Education is everything; it is the way of out poverty and the path to freedom. My father repeated this message every day. He was right. It did pull us out of poverty and, it took us up the economic ladder. Like millions of other immigrants, a publicly funded education and hard work allowed us to attain the American Dream. I could not have ever imagined from my seat at the back of an elementary classroom, not comprehending a word of English, that I would one day serve as a Board of Education chairman, state Board of Education member and a leader on Connecticut House and Senate Education Committees. What I learned is that education policy is a very serious matter that should be guided by teachers and parents. They know students best and are passionate about the education they receive. Last year at this time state senate leaders tried to pass a bill that would force school systems under a certain number to merge. They used cost and not educational quality to justify their drive to push this initiative through the legislature. Parents quickly realized that using cost savings was just a smoke screen for an education take over and the first move to create county governments. A 2018 report by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving (K-12 Regionalization Report in Connecticut) challenges the premise that quality education would be preserved, or costs contained through consolidation. Contemporary consolidation suggests that new consolidation is likely to result in neither greater efficiency nor better instructional outcome. Instead, they report that deconsolidation of large districts may actually save costs. In some cases, reductions in K-12 costs might be obtained by deconsolidation breaking up large districts. Education is delivered best locally and as close to students and their communities as possible. My experience with county government in another state showed that school systems can become highly politicized. Resources were often directed to areas that had the most political influence rather than where the resources were most needed. The focus was on political posturing and attention taken away from those most affected by their decisions. Headlines are now consumed by protests of tolls, grocery/prepared meals tax, job losses, budget deficits, home values tanking, legalizing recreational pot, expanding affordable housing mandates and the mess in D.C. Our elected representatives must not revisit their deep-seated desire to merge local school districts. With many of our schools in the top 100 nationally, education is the one thing that still gives Connecticut an advantage. Just as enacting a state income tax stopped the influx of jobs and corporations here. Removing local control could be the undoing of the one thing that still works in our state. But knowing the system as I do, the impulse to mettle is endemic. All children have the potential to learn and achieve. And, no matter the background or circumstances, all parents want a good education for their children, whether they are a hedge fund CEO in Westport or an incarcerated single mother in Niantic. But you cannot fix our intercity schools by dismantling local schools that work. Raising up underperforming schools should be the goal. Policy makers must focus on them and leave high performing schools alone. Instead of tampering with what works, efforts should be directed at giving schools more flexibility, not less. School districts could better contain costs and achieve greater efficiencies if legislators provide for more flexible cooperative agreements, and reductions in red tape and unfunded mandates. Parents rose up in anger and protested last year when legislators thought they knew what would be better for their children. It was not the first-time regionalization has been proposed. My fear is that it will not be the last. If there are more attempts to regionalize our schools using the guise of budget efficiencies, enraged parents will rise again. And, I will be among them helping to leading the charge. It could make the toll protests look minuscule by comparison. Elected policy decision makers who lack relevant experience are often placed in important decision-making positions. Next time someone in Hartford gets a big idea on how schools should be run, they should ask the experts, those closest to children educators and parents. Toni Boucher, a Wilton resident, is a Connecticut businesswoman, former teacher, state Board of Education member, ranking member of the Education Committee of the Connecticut House of Representatives and Senate. A teacher punched a student in the face after he taunted him for having a 'moustache like a paedophile'. The 13-year-old boy had been sitting on the sidelines watching the teacher play social rugby at 7.30pm on February 7, 2018 when he made the comment. The New Zealand teacher, whose name has been suppressed, walked over to the boy and asked him 'if he wanted a smack'. A teacher punched a student in the face after he taunted him for having a 'moustache like a paedophile' (stock image pictured) 'The student pointed to his cheek and said, ''Yes right here'',' a report by the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal said. The teacher then punched the student once with a closed fist on his right cheek. 'After punching the student, the respondent initially walked away before walking back and saying, ''You're not laughing now'',' the report said. Earlier in the day the student had made another comment about the moustache. The teacher told the tribunal he was 'frustrated' that the student had continued to give him 'cheek' about his moustache. He had been taking medication to treat depression and anxiety and said he felt the Lorazepam he had been prescribed may have played into his behaviour. The teacher wrote a letter of apology to the student. He remained employed at the school until proceedings with the tribunal were resolved. He was also charged with assault but was granted police diversion in March 2018. The tribunal has found a rehabilitative approach was appropriate. 'We suggest that the respondent might benefit from further counselling to manage his stress but we do not direct any further counselling or an anger management course. 'We do think that some mentorship would help the respondent, as suggested in the area of student management, and including exploration of the respondent's emotional triggers and reactions to provocative behaviour.' The teacher was censured and will have to be mentored by a colleague for a year. He must also disclose the tribunal's decision to any future employer in the next two years, and to pay $3397.52 in costs. This couple retired at 32 using the FIRE method. Here's how they did it originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com As early as Jillian Johnsrud could remember, putting her money into savings was something she knew she had to do to gain financial freedom. Growing up under challenging circumstances, Johnsrud started saving to have options and to do the things she wanted to. It didnt feel like we had any options, Johnsrud told Good Morning America. So I started saving money and started working side jobs after school. MORE: A zero based budget helped this woman pay off $215k worth of student loan debt in 4 years As a teen in high school, Johnsrud said she was able to save $5 to $20 dollars at a time and that it amounted to $8,000 by the time she graduated. It was almost as much as what my parents made in a year, she said. It's like almost a whole year salary. By the time she married her husband, Adam Johnsrud, at 19, in 2002, the two shared common goals: adopt children and pay off their debt. They were able to do both after learning how to flex their finances and save. Extreme trade-offs Between the two, the couple had $55,000 worth of debt from having two loans, credit cards and medical bills. I really liked the idea of paying off our debt, said Jillian Johnsrud. I really wanted to have more financial freedom. And that was just a really simple rule. I think the logic at the time was if we decided to have kids or if one of us wanted to stay home at some point, well just have more flexibility. MORE: How this family paid off $266K debt in 33 months So, as a team, Jillian and Adam Johnsrud started making some serious trade offs to cut back on spending and save money. In the first year of their financial journey, the Johnsruds were in their early 20s and still in their first year of college. Instead of paying for student housing, the couple opted for a camper. Story continues After college graduation, Adam Johnsrud joined the military and they moved to Washington, D.C. During this time, Jillian was also working different types of retail jobs. The couple, who had two kids at the time, shared a home with a housemate to cut back on living expenses, which ultimately helped them save an extra $25,000 during the time they lived there. The Johnsruds drove an old Honda Civic that they bought from a friend who didnt want it anymore. In terms of food, they developed "Rice and Bean Monday," which involved learning a new rice and bean dish. In the end, Jillian Johnsrud said she came up with about 100 recipes. MORE: Debt Diaries: She paid off a $102K student loan and bought a house in the same month Jillian and Adam Johnsrud also employed a dollar-a-pound rule, meaning they leaned heavily on foods that cost a dollar or less per pound. We had to be really, really mindful about what was important to us, said Jillian. We asked ourselves what we really cared about and what we really valued. At the time, Jillian and Adam Johnsrud were doing what many who follow the FIRE method do today to gain financial freedom. The method, which stands for "Financial Independence, Retire Early," works by maximizing savings and generating passive income so that your money works for you. The goal is to save and invest very aggressively, which is what the Johnsruds did in all aspects of living. For those who follow the practice, it all comes down to what you can save. One of the ways the Johnsruds were able to do that was by automating savings and setting savings goals. Keeping each other in line Jillian and Adam Johnsruds strict savings didnt come without its challenges. Family and friends questioned if their decision was the best move for their family, Jllian Johnsrud said. MORE: How a 40-something couple paid off $109K in debt in just 50 month It was subtle teasing, she said. We werent buying new cars, we werent going out to eat for lunch and nobody understood. Nobody got it. Nobody saw the kind of vision that we had. But despite the criticism, Jillian and Adam Johnsrud constantly reminded each other about their ultimate financial goals and looked toward the bigger picture. It was really an intentional practice of casting a vision of what we really wanted life to look like. What was our ideal day, who did we want to be as people, what kinds of things did we want to do, what did we want our legacy to feel like, Jillian Johnsrud explained. In the end, the Johnsruds disciplined financial mindset paid off. They not only paid off all their debt but they saved thousands of dollars, growing their savings from $10,000 to $100,000 in just a few years. Jillian Johnsrud said reaching this goal meant a lot considering her financial background when she was younger. Saving our first $100,000 blew my mind, said Jillian Johnsrud. That was so much more money than I had ever [had] growing up. Paying off debt was amazing and that first $100,000 was just life changing. That was the options and the freedom that I really craved when I was in junior high. That moment felt like it had come to fruition and that I had done it. I had given myself freedom, options and security. With the money that they had saved and the debt they had paid off, the Johnsruds were also able to retire early when Jillian Johnsrud became pregnant with her fifth child at 32. With their assets, which included Adam's military pension, stocks, retirement accounts and rental income, the couple decided to experiment and ended up taking a year off work. Now, between the both of them, theyre able to pursue what they want due to financial independence. Jillian Johnsrud, now 37, writes during her spare time and their family is able to go on the trips theyve dreamed of. "To me, financial independence means you can sustain (this lifestyle) 90 years and beyond. For the rest of our life, we should be financially independent and that's through our investments," said Jillian. Jillian Johnsrud helps others attain a financially independent life with her website. One of the reasons that Im really passionate about sharing our story and giving people more examples and context is because I just didnt have that, she said. If I could have convinced all of my friends when I was 20 to go down the same path, all of my friends would be financially independent and we could also do these fun, crazy adventures together. MORE: This couple retired in their early 40s using the FIRE method Want to follow Jillian Johnsrud's footsteps to financial independence? She breaks it down in 3 easy steps: 1. Figure out your gap number Jillian Johnsrud explains that your gap number is calculated by how much you are earning and how much you are spending. In other words, its the gap between your calculated expenses in retirement and the amount you expect to earn through your fixed income. On her website, Jillian Johnsrud breaks it down with several examples -- one being that if you earn $4,000 a month and spend about $3,800 in either rent, groceries or other expenses each month, then you have a $200 gap. The goal is to increase that number. 2. Grow the gap Once that number is generated, try to grow that gap number every month by figuring out the opportunities that you have to expand it. Do things like renegotiating your cell phone bill or eating more low-cost meals. It can also mean negotiating a raise or taking on extra hours at work. On her website, Jillian Johnsrud said that she was able to grow her gap number by cutting back on fixed expenses like renegotiating her gym membership, reducing costs on groceries and even trying to live without a cellphone. Other ways to do it would also be to make payments toward any debt you have like medical bills or credit cards. Just focus on that one number, whether its a hundred bucks a month or 1,000 or 10,000, explained Jillian Johnsrud. Just focus every single month on trying to grow that number. 3. Guard the gap The final step from Jillian Johnsrud is to guard that gap number, which she describes as the challenging part and will take emotional strength and vision. Ways to guard that gap number include putting it toward a high interest debt or starting to invest in stock index funds or real estate to help grow future income. Another way to guard the gap is to build an emergency fund or save for large purchases. MORE: How reframing your approach to finances can alleviate stress and help with self-care Libya is facing the risk of its oil production grinding to near full stop if a blockade of its export terminals and several fields continues, the chairman of the countrys troubled National Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanalla, told Bloomberg. A group of paramilitary formations affiliated with General Khalifa Haftars Libyan National Army occupied the export terminals last week along with pipelines and fields. The blockade came amid continued fighting between the LNA, which is loyal to the eastern Libyan government and the forces loyal to the Government of National Accord, which is recognized by the United Nations. Soon after the blockade, NOC declared force majeure on oil exports, with Sanalla warning that the blockade could end up costing Libya $55 million daily. At the time, the losses in production were estimated at between 500,000 bpd and 800,000 bpd. Now, Libyas production is around 300,000 bpd but Sanalla told Bloomberg it could go as low as 72,000 bpd. Thats down from over 1.2 million bpd before the blockade. So far, according to NOCs chairman, the blockade has cost Libya $318 million but it has also cost NOC a budget that the GNA had previously approved to pursue oil production growth. Plans were to boost the daily average to 2.1 million bpd by 2024. Losses will continue accumulating until the situation is resolved quickly as Libya does not have storage capacity for whatever oil is still being produced. In this context, there might even be a possibility for a complete halt of oil production. Meanwhile, things are not looking up. At a round of peace talks in Germany last weekend that continued in Moscow on Monday, General Haftar refused to even meet the Prime Minister of the GNA, Fayez al-Serraj, let alone accept a peace deal. Instead, the LNA launched an attack on the city of Misrata, which is loyal to the GNA. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: LAS VEGAS - The international union representing hotel and casino workers said Tuesday that it will not endorse a candidate in the Democratic presidential primary, casting doubt as to whether its influential Nevada local will follow suit ahead of the states caucuses. A statement from Unite Here, the parent of the large Nevada union representing hotel and casino workers, did not indicate whether the Culinary Union, the unions largest local, would issue its own endorsement before Nevadas Feb. 22 caucuses. The Culinary Union, a 60,000-member group made up of housekeepers, bartenders, porters and others who work in the casino resorts, is considered one of the more influential forces in Democratic politics in the state. Democratic candidates have been aggressive in courting the groups support. Nationally, many unions have stayed on the sidelines in the primary, wary of lining up behind a candidate in the absence of a clear front-runner. Compounding the anxiety is bad blood over 2016, when several unions endorsed Hillary Clinton early in the Democratic presidential contest only to see Bernie Sanders surge and hear complaints from members. The Culinary Union sat out the 2016 Democratic primary after a divisive endorsement eight years earlier undermined its image as a well-oiled political machine. With Unite Heres International Union deciding to stay neutral, the Las Vegas-based Culinary Union, its most closely aligned local, may follow its lead and sit out again. D. Taylor, the international president of Unite Here, is the former head of the Culinary Union and is still a fixture at the Las Vegas locals events. In Nevada, the third state to cast votes in the presidential contest, a lack of a signal from the Culinary Union in 2020 would likely leave no clear front-runner in the race. The union doesnt have a timeline for when it will make a decision on whether to get into the race. The closer to Nevadas caucuses that any support is announced, the power of an endorsement and the organizing strength that comes with it would be diminished. In 2008, the Culinary Union waited until 10 days before the Nevada caucuses to announce it was backing Barack Obama over Clinton. The decision was a boon to Obama, but it caused division among the unions ranks and had a muted impact on the vote. Clinton won the popular vote in the state and had a strong showing at the at-large caucus sites dominated by Culinary members working on the Las Vegas Strip. The leadership of the international union made the decision Tuesday during a meeting in Atlanta, according to spokeswoman Annemarie Strassel. In a statement, Unite Here said, Any local endorsing in the primary will be weighing the candidates positions on the key economic justice issues for our Union, such as supporting the right to organize unions, immigration reform, criminal justice reform and reining in the price of healthcare. The unions decision to stay out likely reflects strong divisions within its ranks for who is the best candidate. Unions now find themselves in a similar role to the broader Democratic electorate, still undecided between many options. As evidence of that, one Unite Here affiliate issued its own endorsement Tuesday ahead of the international unions statement. Unite Here Local 11 out of Southern California jointly endorsed Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, saying the two liberal candidates have a track record of standing with Local 11 members in their fights against corporate power. It was not the first Unite Here affiliate to wade into the presidential race. The unions New York affiliate, the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, issued an endorsement in June 2019 of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who later dropped out of the presidential race. Without results from the first votes being cast, many unions and Democratic voters still seem to be weighing their options before aligning with a candidate. Theres excitement about this election among the labour movement, and were taking a close look at all of the candidates and all of the plans and raising the bar really high, said Tim Schlittner, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO, which hasnt made an endorsement and doesnt know if it will. The Service Employees International Union is also still holding its fire. The overwhelming majority of SEIU members are still undecided about who will best address their demands that the next president move power away from corporations and back towards working people, its president, Mary Kay Henry, said. Just like voters across the country, they want to hear who is going to fight to ensure all families, no matter the colour of their skin or where they were born, can thrive. Eddie Vale, a Democratic operative who has long worked in the labour movement, said unions may be hesitating because of an embarrassment of riches for labour. In contrast to past cycles, the Democratic contenders have gone out of their way to tout their friendliness to unions. Labor doesnt have to put all of their hopes and support into one candidate, and membership support is divided up between a lot of people, so the incentives push against endorsement, Vale said. The exceptions have been the few international unions with long-standing ties to candidates who have endorsed, such as the International Association of Fire Fighters, which backed former Vice-President Joe Biden, or the National Nurses United, a longtime supporter of Sanders that also endorsed him in 2016. ___ Riccardi reported from Denver. ___ Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 16:44:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China is mobilizing a nationwide response to prevent and control the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. Measures are rapid, strong and effective, all because they enjoy wide support from the people. China has taken many unprecedented moves, including extending the Spring Festival holiday, postponing the spring semesters of schools and universities, and adopting transport restrictions in various areas. Wuhan, a central Chinese city of 11 million people and the center of the outbreak, has even suspended all of its public transportation, including outbound channels at airports and railway stations. All these decisions were made quickly, some almost overnight, and were implemented immediately following their announcement. Some measures will inconvenience the lives of the people, but authorities have every reason to be decisive, because a national consensus has been fortified: containing the epidemic is of paramount importance, and any difficulties must be overcome in the fight against the virus. China has many advantages in fighting the current arduous battle: its huge mobilization capacity, higher technology and improved response mechanism. But most importantly, the nation's strength and confidence come from the steadfast practice of the principle that protecting the people's interests is the highest priority. When people are put first, they can be relied on. In a country of 1.4 billion people, all sectors of society are now on the move. Doctors and nurses across the country rush to Wuhan. Civilian and military medical materials have been sent to disease-hit regions and more resources are on the way. Despite the Spring Festival holiday, factories race against time to produce masks and protective clothing. In Wuhan, constructors have mobilized all the workers left in the city to build two makeshift hospitals to treat pneumonia patients. Round-the-clock construction is underway to make the miracle happen. The two "safety islands" -- one with a capacity of 700 to 1,000 beds, and the other with 1,300 to 1,500 beds -- will be put into use on Feb. 3 and Feb. 5, respectively. Residents also have a role to play. People have postponed their travel plans, staying at home to guard against potential infection. Grassroots communities are fully mobilized in personnel tracking and body temperature monitoring. Online platforms are promoting tips for virus prevention. All these measures show the sound interaction between the government and the public. Relying on the people also means being open to the people and respecting their right to know the truth. The spread of panic can be more dangerous than the spread of the infection itself. Only by being open can panic be minimized. The timely, accurate and authoritative publication of information related to the epidemic is an important method to prevent the spillover of the epidemic. Authorities have warned that whoever values his own interests more than the interests of the people sins against the Communist Party of China and the people. A health official in Yueyang City in central China's Hunan Province has been investigated for untimely reporting of information relating to epidemic prevention, the latest evidence that the redline of information transparency cannot be crossed. Disease respects no borders. Because of the way it spreads, it takes unified, nationwide efforts to stop it, as China is doing now. It is a war of the people and by the people. When the whole nation stands together, with scientific prevention and cures, and precise policies, victory for the people is assured. US President Donald Trump's special envoy for talks between Balkan rivals Serbia and Kosovo on Thursday called on Pristina's political leaders to lift a 100% tariff on Serb goods and allow a final reconciliation agreement to proceed. Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany and nominated as Trump's special envoy in October, met Kosovo's nominated Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his coalition partner Isa Mustafa, who still have disagreements over who will fill the posts of president and parliamentary speaker. Grenell said "I'm trying to ignore the political fights, concentrate on economic development." The purpose of his visit, he said, is to emulate America's "really vibrant economy" in Kosovo and Serbia, adding, "I think the Trump administration does that really well. And we're going to bring some of those ideas here." The dialogue between the two countries mediated by the European Union, which started in 2011, stalled in November 2018 after Kosovo set a 100% tariff on Serbia's goods and services. Belgrade said no dialogue will take place until Kosovo lifts or suspends the tariff. "I asked Mr Kurti, I'm going to ask every single political leader here that it's very important if we want to move forward on economic development that the 100 percent tariffs be dropped," he said, adding that "at the same time that the de-recognition campaign in Serbia should also be dropped." Grenell said he would send the same message to Belgrade too. Kosovo's 2008 independence has been recognised by about 100 countries but not by Serbia. (Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. started restricting employee travel to China as the deadly coronavirus continues to spread across the worlds most populous country, according to people familiar with the decision. The limits, which went into effect Monday, halt non-essential travel to China by all Facebook employees. If workers have to visit the country, they need specific approval. Facebook staff based in China, and those who recently returned from trips to the country, are also being told to work from home, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private communications. The company declined to comment. Honda Evacuates, Starbucks Stores Shut: Virus Impact on Business The travel restrictions at the social media company are likely to impact its hardware division, which sells devices such as the Portal video chat hub and Oculus virtual reality headsets. Hardware requires frequent travel from the companys Silicon Valley offices to China, where engineers and managers oversee product development, meet with suppliers and transport prototypes. Facebooks current products likely wont be impacted, but the move could cause engineering delays on future devices, one of the people said. The company is looking to other facilities that it has in Vietnam to pick up any work that cant be done in China, the person added. While Facebook is one of the smaller hardware makers among the U.S. technology giants, its plight underscores the potential impact of the virus on the industry. The majority of Apple Inc.s vast supply chain is in China and other parts of Asia. Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.s Google also make their devices in the region. To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Gurman in Los Angeles at mgurman1@bloomberg.net;Kurt Wagner in San Francisco at kwagner71@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. (TNS) The recent cyberattack that targeted the computer system in Dunwoody, Ga., cost the city at least $80,000, officials estimate.Dunwoody said earlier this month that no data was compromised during the ransomware attack, which was detected on Christmas Eve.The intrusion into the computer system was identified by staff, which worked with the citys computer security contractors at InterDev to shut down servers and disconnect computers in order to limit the impact of the attack.Assistant City Manager Jay Vinicki wrote in a memo to the City Council that the attack cost the city $79,853 in additional payments to InterDev. Vinicki asked the elected officials to approve a $125,000 payment to the contractor at Mondays council meeting, to cover any unforeseen expenses related to the cyberattack.As we are just at the beginning of the fiscal year, staff will actively manage the budget of IT and try to pay for this increase within existing funding, Vinicki wrote.Dunwoody police Chief Billy Grogan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this month that the attackers demanded a ransom be paid in bitcoin, a digital currency. He declined to reveal the amount requested but said the city did not pay.A handful of computers and servers had to be wiped clean and it was a few days before the citys full computer network was back up and running, Grogan said.As soon as we detected a problem, we took immediate steps to protect the citys infrastructure, Ashley Smith, InterDevs director of government services, said in a news release at the time. Data back-ups were used to fully restore systems with no loss.In the meantime, the police department had to revert back to the analog days, writing tickets and reports by hand and relying radio communications instead of email.The attack made Dunwoody just the last metro Atlanta government to be targeted by cyberattackers in recent years.The city of Atlantas system was attacked in March 2018, crippling the network for days . In that attack, the city refused to pay a $51,000 ransom reportedly demanded by Iranian hackers . One internal report that surfaced in August 2018 estimated the damage to the city could cost up to $17 million.Last July brought a series of other cyberattacks: first on the Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts , then the Lawrenceville Police Department, the Henry County government and the Georgia Department of Public Safety Following the successful surgery of a Wilsonville teen cancer patient, the Department of Human Services said its employees had received threats related to their involvement with the case which has become a flashpoint over a parents right to refuse established medical advice. Kylee Dixon, 13, had surgery last week to remove a tumor on her liver. Dixon has been in DHS care since last summer when her mother, Christina Dixon, defied court orders to deliver her daughter to state care citing her desire to treat her daughters tumor with CBD oil instead of surgery. On Monday, days after Kylee Dixon had surgery, DHS said in a statement that they wanted to clarify that they were still Dixons legal guardians, and that her mother was being provided with regular updates on her progress. DHS said Dixon and her mother have been in touch with each other since the surgery, both in person and over phone and video chat. DHS is in agreement with providing ongoing contact and visits between Kylee and Ms. Dixon as allowed by the orders of the criminal court and Kylees medical team, said the statement. DHS is not solely responsible for determining the amount of contact between Kylee and her mother. The statement noted Christina Dixons criminal charges related to her daughters case. Last summer, Christina Dixon was charged with custodial interference and criminal mistreatment after she fled with Kylee Dixon to Las Vegas. That case remains open. Christina Dixon previously claimed that the CBD oil she gave her daughter shrunk the cancerous tumor by 90 percent, but doctors have not publicly verified that claim. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. [January 28, 2020] Trustgrid Selects William Mills Agency for Public Relations Services William Mills Agency, an independent public relations and marketing firm specializing in the financial industry, has been chosen to provide public relations services for Trustgrid, a pioneer and leader in connecting centralized applications to distributed data sets. For fintech companies and other enterprise software providers challenged with integrating applications to core banking data held in customer's on-premise environments, Trustgrid solves the challenges of securely connecting, maintaining, supporting and deploying access to that data. Trustgrid's Data Mesh Platform takes a multidisciplinary approach that combines secure software-defined networking, management and automation tools, allowing software providers to focus on delivering software, not IT infrastructure. "William Mills Agency has extensive knowledge of the fintech industry which is critical for helping our company achieve its strategic objectives," said Mark Stavrou, CEO of Trustgrid. "Partnering wit WMA makes sense, and we look forward to growing our business with the support of this relationship." "We have the privilege of representing a number of outstanding technology companies in the financial industry, and Trustgrid is the only company with the software that helps fintechs quickly and easily 'spin up' their applications to the cloud," said William Mills, CEO of William Mills Agency. "Fintech companies that are operating in the cloud, or plan to migrate, need to take a good look at Trustgrid. They will find proven, unique technology that will save them enormous amounts of time and money." About Trustgrid Trustgrid enables cloud applications to access, analyze and integrate data from siloed, on-premise data sources. The company's Data Mesh Platform uniquely addresses the needs of application providers by combining cloud-to-edge networking with simplified deployment, management and automation features. For more information, please visit www.trustgrid.io. About William Mills Agency William Mills Agency is the nation's largest public relations and marketing firm serving the financial industry with an emphasis on fintech related tech technologies. The agency has established its reputation through the successful execution of media relations, marketing services and crisis communications programs. The company serves clients ranging in size from small start-ups to large, publicly traded companies. For more information, please visit www.williammills.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005544/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Muslim Fulani herdsmen kill 16 Christians in Nigeria; gov't condemned for inaction Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed 16 Christians in separate attacks in Plateau state this month amid a spate of violence carried out by various groups against believers in Nigeria. Herdsmen invaded Torok village in Riyom County on Jan. 20, killing Reuben Bulus, a 25-year-old member of the Church of Christ in Nations, said Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, a human rights activist with the Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria, to Morning Star News. Just two days earlier, 13 COCIN members were slain in Plateau states Kulben village, Mangu County, in an attack carried out by about 20 herdsmen who also wounded three others. In Gako village, near Rim in Riyom County, another COCIN member, Ngam Stephen Dachung, was shot and killed by herdsmen on Jan. 1, Mwantiri said. In December, herdsmen killed a Christian woman, Mary Machief, and her baby daughter in Plateau states Bokkos County. A relative told the outlet Machief was not killed instantly but died later from her wounds. We all prayed for God to give her quick healing, but God deemed it fit to take her to eternal home, he said. Christians in the northern region and in the Middle Belt have experienced an uptick in violence at the hands of radical Islamic groups, such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Muslim Fulani herdsmen in recent years. A 2018 report from the Combatting Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point suggested there could be as many as 6,000 Islamic State-aligned militants spread over nine different cells in Africa. Last week, it was reported that the Rev. Lawan Andimi, a Nigerian pastor who made headlines for praising God in a ransom video, had been executed by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria. That video followed another video released by the extremist faction last month purporting to show the killing of 11 Christian aid workers in Nigeria. Additionally, the Islamic State recently published a video showing a child soldier killing a Christian man in Nigeria. The child is seen declaring that [w]e won't stop until we take revenge for all the blood that was spilled. Faith McDonnell, the director of religious liberty programs at the U.S.-based think tank Institute on Religion & Democracy, responded to the news of Andimis murder by condemning the Nigerian governments inaction. It is obvious that the president of Nigeria will do nothing to stop this without pressure from the West, she wrote on Facebook. We need President Trump to appoint a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the region soon. At a news conference this month, Open Doors CEO David Curry also criticized Nigerias government for its inability to control the violence perpetrated by terrorist groups across the country. The great tragedy of Nigerias ineffectual response to Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen is now parts of Cameroon and those other areas like Burkina Faso are greatly affected, Curry said. Curry said Nigeria still represents the most violent country in the world for Christians as far as Open Doors USAs data can track. The persecution watchdog ranks Nigeria at No. 12 on its 2020 World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Notes Open Doors: "The violence against Christians by militant Islamic groups in the north often ends in loss of life and physical injury as well as loss of property. Pray for those dealing with the effects of recent violence against them. Please pray for the Lords provision in all their physical and spiritual needs." In December, Nigeria was placed for the first time on the U.S. State Departments Special Watch List for countries in which severe religious freedom violations are tolerated. VANCOUVER, Jan. 28, 2020 - Blue Sky Uranium Corp. (TSX-V: BSK, FSE: MAL2; OTC: BKUCF), ("Blue Sky" or the "Company") announces the approval and adoption by its Board of Directors of an advance notice policy (the "Policy"). The purpose of the Policy is to provide shareholders, directors and management of the Company with a clear framework for nominating directors. The Company is committed to: (i) facilitating an orderly and efficient process for the election of directors at annual general and special meetings; (ii) ensuring that all shareholders receive adequate notice of the director nominations and sufficient information regarding all director nominees; and (iii) allowing shareholders to register an informed vote after having been afforded reasonable time for appropriate deliberation. The Policy is intended to further these objectives. The Policy, among other things, includes a provision that requires advance notice to the Company in certain circumstances where nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors are made by shareholders of the Company. The Policy fixes a deadline by which director nominations must be submitted to the Company prior to any annual or special meeting of shareholders and sets forth the information that must be included in the notice to the Company. No person will be eligible for election as a director of the Company unless nominated in accordance with the Policy. In the case of an annual general meeting of shareholders, notice to the Company must be made not less than 30 days and not more than 65 days prior to the date of the annual general meeting, provided, however, that, in the event that the annual general meeting is to be held on a date that is less than 50 days after the date on which the first public announcement of the date of the annual meeting was made, notice may be made not later than the close of business on the 10th day following such public announcement. In the case of a special meeting of shareholders called for the purpose of electing directors (whether or not called for other purposes), notice to the Company must be made not later than the close of business on the 15th day following the day on which the first public announcement of the date of the special meeting was made. The full text of the Policy is available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. The Policy is effective as of the date it was approved. Pursuant to the terms of the Policy, the Company will seek shareholder ratification of the Policy at its next annual general meeting of shareholders in 2020. About Blue Sky Uranium Corp. Blue Sky Uranium Corp. is a leader in uranium discovery in Argentina. The Company's objective is to deliver exceptional returns to shareholders by rapidly advancing a portfolio of surficial uranium deposits into low-cost producers, while respecting the environment, the communities, and the cultures in all the areas in which we work. Blue Sky has the exclusive right to properties in two provinces in Argentina. The Company's flagship Amarillo Grande Project was an in-house discovery of a new district that has the potential to be both a leading domestic supplier of uranium to the growing Argentine market and a new international market supplier. The Company is a member of the Grosso Group, a resource management group that has pioneered exploration in Argentina since 1993. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Nikolaos Cacos" Nikolaos Cacos, President, CEO and Director 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. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Readers are encouraged to refer to the Company's public disclosure documents for a more detailed discussion of factors that may impact expected future results. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties. SOURCE Blue Sky Uranium Corp. Contact Blue Sky Uranium Corp. Corporate Communications Tel: 1-604-687-1828, Toll-Free: 1-800-901-0058 Email: info@blueskyuranium.com Protests erupted in two interior villages of Manipur demanding electrification of the areas reeling under darkness since Independence. Residents of Lungthulien and Senvon villagers, bordering Mizoram, took out rallies on Monday to get the promised power supply. "When Power Department officials came to our area last year, we offered our help hoping our village to be electrified by Christmas as promised. We have not heard from them since then," said Pastor Rolawm, a villager from Senvon, who took part in the protest. However, Deputy Commissioner of Pherzawl district Mannuamching told PTI over phone that work is underway to provide power supply to the villages. Hluna Hrangchal, the District Manager of Manipur State Power Distribution Company Limited told PTI that the Power Department is "doing its best" to provide electricity connections to the two villages. "Lack of manpower and vehicles, difficulty in reaching the remote villages due to bad condition of roads, and topography of the terrain have hindered progress of the work," he said. "Such is the state of affairs that our students are dependent on kerosene lamps or solar lamps for studying at night while many families rely on firewood to cook and finish their family chores," a protester said. Power officials based in Pherzawl confirmed that many villages in the district were yet to be electrified. Interestingly, Leisang village in Kangpokpi district of the state was declared the country's "last village to be electrified" in April 2018. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 22:15:00|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close DUBLIN, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The total number of overseas visitors to Ireland reached over 10.8 million in 2019, up by 1.8 percent over 2018, according to data released by the country's Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Tuesday. In 2019, visitors from European countries other than Britain accounted for over 3.91 million, making up 36.18 percent of all the overseas visitors to the country, followed by Britain (over 3.78 million or 35.04 percent), the United States and Canada (over 2.41 million or 22.32 percent), and other areas (over 697,000 or 6.46 percent), showed the CSO figures. Last year the biggest growth was seen in the number of visitors from other areas, which went up by 5.5 percent year-on-year, whereas the smallest growth was recorded in the number of visitors from Britain, which inched up by 0.8 percent over a year ago, said the CSO. In 2019, the number of visitors from other European countries increased by 2.6 percent compared with a year ago whereas the number of visitors from the United States and Canada increased by 1.2 percent year-on-year, it said. The CSO figures also showed that in 2019 Irish residents made a total number of 8.8 million overseas trips, up by 6.5 percent compared with the previous year. Tourism Ireland, an agency responsible for attracting overseas visitors to the island of Ireland, said in a recent statement posted on its website that an estimated 100,000 Chinese people visited the island of Ireland in 2019 and it plans to increase the figure to 200,000 by the year 2025. DALLAS, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- European Wax Center (EWC), a leading beauty lifestyle brand providing guests with a modern environment for comfortable and luxurious waxing experiences announced it recently ranked as the lead wax brand in Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500, the world's first, best and most comprehensive franchise ranking. Placement in the Franchise 500 is a highly sought-after honor in the franchise industry, making it one of the company's most competitive rankings ever. Recognized as an invaluable resource for potential franchisees, the Franchise 500 ranks European Wax Center as no. 56 on the list of 500 for its outstanding performance in areas including unit growth, financial strength, stability, and brand power. European Wax Center's vision is Revealing Beautiful Skin, through exceptional services by professionally trained and certified waxing experts. Along with award winning and exceptional services they also have a proprietary line of products designed to complement the waxing services provided for the body and face categories. The Entrepreneur ranking exemplifies the exceptional and unique franchise experience European Wax Center offers through brand affinity, proven concept, world class support, developed leadership and a simplistic business model. This strong network includes over 700 centers spanning over 40 states in the U.S. In 2019, EWC announced its selection of Plano, Texas for its new corporate headquarters as well as the brand's launch of an accelerated growth plan, which included expanding executive leadership and bringing more than 100 jobs to the greater Dallas area. "The acknowledgment of being selected as the lead wax franchise in this highly competitive category is an honor that solidifies our belief in what we're working towards and the measures we've taken as we continue to expand our brand," said David Berg, chief executive officer of EWC. Over its 41 years in existence, the Franchise 500 has become both a dominant competitive measure for franchisors and a primary research tool for potential franchisees. The key factors that go into the evaluation include costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. Each franchise is given a cumulative score based on an analysis of more than 150 data points, and the 500 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500 in ranking order. European Wax Center's position on the ranking is a testament to its strength as a franchise opportunity. To view European Wax Center in the full ranking, visit www.entrepreneur.com/franchise500 . Results can also be seen in the January/February 2020 issue of Entrepreneur, available on newsstands. About European Wax Center European Wax Center (EWC), a leading beauty lifestyle brand franchise founded in 2004 by the Coba brothers, offers guests a full suite of waxing services, as well as a proprietary line of beauty products in the skincare, body, and brow categories. EWC provides guests with a modern environment for comfortable and luxurious experiences, which is focused on EWC's vision of Revealing Beautiful Skin, through exceptional services by professionally trained and certified waxing experts. So confident in the EWC experience, the first wax is always complimentary (brows, underarms, bikini line for women, and nose, ears, and brows for men). The company operates a unique franchise business model, and its network now includes over 700 centers across the U.S. For more, visit www.waxcenter.com . SOURCE European Wax Center Related Links http://www.waxcenter.com The military's most elite command wrapped up a months-long sweeping review, after a string of bad behavior incidents, that found the command favors combat missions over leadership development and training. The military has leaned heavily on special operators to combat violent extremism around the world, states a new 69-page report released on U.S. Special Operations Command's comprehensive review. Unrelenting demand -- along with SOCOM's willingness to take on the missions -- have taken a toll across the chain of command. The command's culture, which emphasizes deployments above most anything, is harming leadership, discipline and accountability, the review found. "The continuous global demand for SOF capabilities, combined with a SOF culture focused on force employment and mission accomplishment, has led to a sustained high operational tempo which challenges unit integrity and leader development, and erodes readiness," the report states. Related: Head of Navy SEALs Says 'We Have a Problem' Following High-Profile Scandals The review of the community's culture and ethics was directed by Army Gen. Richard Clarke, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, in August. Clarke's directive followed several prominent and embarrassing events within the command, which he said threatened the trust Americans place in its special operators. "I ordered this review to keep faith with the American people and our policy leaders regarding the good order and accountability of SOF," Clarke said in a statement last week. "Maintaining your trust and confidence is critically important." The review did not look at any specific incidents, he added, but was meant to identify organizational challenges that could make the command better. Some of the high-profile incidents that led to the review included a Navy SEAL platoon being kicked out of the war zone over allegations of rape and drinking, a hazing attempt that led to a soldier's death, and troops inappropriately posing for a photo with an enemy combatant. Clarke stressed that the command does not have a systematic ethical behavioral problem. "The vast majority of our people maintain the highest standards of conduct every single day," he said, "and they do so in some of the most challenging conditions around the globe." The review did find, however, that the command is, at times, setting conditions "favorable for inappropriate behavior," he said. The review found the command's culture emphasizes deployments and mission accomplishment, which is contributing to the "detriment of leadership, discipline and accountability." That has allowed "for misconduct and unethical behavior to develop within the SOF enterprise," the report states. "The Review Team uncovered not only potential cracks in the SOF foundations at the individual and team level, but also through the chain of command, specifically in the core [tenets] of discipline and accountability," it adds. The report notes a perception among operators that deploying to combat zones is valued above professional development. From accession pipelines to their first units, SOF personnel are encouraged to emulate those who have tactical deployment experience -- regardless of whether those troops uphold positive or negative standards, the report states. "Deployments forward, specifically to locations where combat is a possibility, are valued above all other things, and perceived as the ultimate expression of competence," it says. That drive often leaves individuals and small teams being unpredictably pulled from their day-to-day duties, leaving units displaced and without commanders and senior enlisted leaders to teach, train, mentor and hold them accountable. "[This kind of leadership] did not appear to be happening as regularly as it should -- or at least with a level of professionalism required to maintain good order, discipline and accountability," the report states. It was often clear which units had present and engaged leaders, the review found, as opposed to teams that are fractured or out of balance. "Normalized unit disaggregation contributes to the erosion of leadership, discipline and accountability," the report states. "... The habitual disaggregation of SOF units to meet global demands strains effective present and engaged leadership." The community's already high operational tempo to fight terrorism and violent extremism around the world could only get more intense as the Defense Department shifts its focus toward taking on great power, the report warns. Fixing the Culture Two teams examined the command's culture as part of the review. One team was made up of former senior military leaders and academic experts. They provided insight and external critique to SOCOM leaders and the second team, which included 20 active-duty officers and enlisted troops, along with civilians. That team, which was led by a SOCOM general officer, canvassed more than 2,000 personnel across the special operations community. That included engagements with SOCOM headquarters, its service-specific components, and theater special operations commands. The review assessed five areas: force employment, force accountability, leader development, force structure, and assessment and selection. As early as entry-level training, some future operators develop an "unhealthy sense of entitlement" because they're separated from other trainees and get special treatment and access to different facilities. The review teams made 16 recommendations for action. Correcting those problems, they wrote, "will have cascading effects." Recommendations include restoring structure and emphasis on leadership development. "Insufficient junior leader development, an unbalanced approach to professional military education (PME), and non-codified officer and enlisted career milestone requirements have weakened leadership, discipline and accountability practices within the USSOCOM enterprise," the report states. The teams recommended a joint in-residence special operations junior officer course; empowering leaders to fix problems before they get too advanced "with the potential to manifest into individual and group misconduct and tragic incidents on the battlefield;" and incentivizing troops to fill leadership and management gaps. Troops from across the force were honest in describing shortfalls and offering individual solutions, the report states. But, as the report notes, it's not the first time the command has completed this type of review. Other attempts to fix similar problems in the special operations community have had varying degrees of success, the report states. That includes a 2011 Press on the Force and Families Task Force, which found the special operations force "fatigued, worn and frayed around the edges." The review teams warned that the results of this effort must be acted on, or leaders risk grave results. "If left unaddressed, the conditions outlined in the [comprehensive review's] findings will continue to create the conditions and contexts, where unethical behavior and misconduct place both the assigned SOF mission as well as the safety and well-being of service members at risk," they wrote. In his statement, Clarke stressed that the command's work on this review won't end with the report. "I am forming an implementation team that will follow through on these findings and recommendations, assess results, and refine our policies accordingly," he said. In a letter to the force, Clarke added that culture does not tend itself. "Only active, consistent engagement from leaders at every level will make us better," he said. "... You have our full support as we get after this together." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Read more: SOCOM Must Make These Changes as it Reviews Ethics Problems, Operators and Experts Say The Chinese bank poised to buy Goodbody Stockbrokers has been fined 3.9m by French prosecutors for failing to prevent money laundering and for allowing tax fraud. The Bloomberg news agency reported on Tuesday that Bank of China Ltd had agreed to pay 3.9m in fines and tax contributions to end the criminal prosecution in the case, citing a statement from the office of Paris prosecutor Remi Heitz. Under the terms of the settlement Bank of China acknowledged the facts of the case but did not plead guilty. Charges against the bank have been dropped as part of the settlement. Bank of China is the parent company of Bank of China UK which is in the process of buying Irelands second biggest stock broker Goodbody for 155m. The Irish takeover has been approved by competition authorities but is still awaiting authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland. In France, the Chinese state-owned bank had been charged with aggravated money laundering over the transfer of suspect funds worth nearly 40m to 168 Bank of China accounts mostly in Chinas Zhejiang province between 2012 and 2014. The money was moved through accounts in a number of European countries before being sent to China. The French prosecutors office said cases will continue against 28 business owners and intermediaries involved in transferring funds to China. Bloomberg reported that the probe began after a routine check when French anti-money laundering body, known as Tracfin, noticed a very unusual increase over a few months in the revenue of a Paris-based shop that specialized in urgent locksmith and plumbing repairs. North Korea has boosted surveillance equipment on the west coast near South Korea's northwesternmost islands. The South Korean military believes the new equipment is not only for surveillance but also for offensive purposes. The fortification comes despite the South Korean Defense Ministry's pledge in a briefing to President Moon Jae-in to "discuss creating a peace zone in the West Sea with the North." "The North has recently installed surveillance equipment near the northwesternmost islands," a military source here said. "It seems to be part of an overall strategy to improve military capabilities there." Most of the North's surveillance activities used to rely on the naked eye, but the new equipment can be used from inside bunkers. In contrast, South Korea's surveillance drone Heron, which used to be deployed in that area, has been grounded since it crashed in February 2018. "We'll be able to resume drone operations next month," a military spokesman said. It is, very candidly, the biggest mystery of my life. I am at a place where I am able to figure a lot of things out, even trying to find reason in insanity, but ever since I was in high school, I have been staggered by the fact one man was able to turn an entire nation into willing henchmen that would massacre millions of innocents. Such evil has been unfathomable to me. Yesterday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and it also marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The notorious death camp was actually in German-occupied Poland but the only thing that matters is that 1.1 million men, women and children were wantonly murdered there. As we study history, Mao Zedong, chairman of the Communist Party of China, is credited with the deaths of 30 million to 80 million through starvation, persecution, prison labor and mass executions. The second mass murderer was Joseph Stalin, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It is proven he oversaw 9 million deaths (just between 1937 and 1938 the count was 681,692) but it is believed the actual number is much higher. What is interesting if you combine the mass killings of Chairman Mao and the repugnant Stalin, that great number would neither exonerate nor deflect from the most loathsome man the world has ever known Adolph Hitler. As famed historian Ian Kershaw once wrote, "Never in history has such ruinationphysical and moralbeen associated with the name of one man." From Wikipedia: Hitler's policies inflicted human suffering on an unprecedented scale; according to R.J. Rummel, the Nazi regime was responsible for the democidal killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European Theatre of World War II. Further, the number of civilians killed during the Second World War was unprecedented in the history of warfare. I can now understand that. But where I can find no answer is that once we acknowledge Hitler was evil incarnate, why did so many others join him in such a moralistic debauchery. My question comes after a snippet reads, The SS officer grabbed the baby from her mothers arms and then, repeatedly, bashed the infant into a wall where the childs head soon caved it. The SS then took the mother inside where she was repeatedly raped until she was strangulated. What in the name of Christ enabled Hitler to take such a command over otherwise good people and evoke a horror such as that? It was commonplace, especially in the death camps, where once-decent German citizens watched, allowed, and condoned such barbary. Ive read a dozen accounts, where some rigidly subscribing in old archives that an ethnic cleansing would pay off in the long run. Ive read where the Jews were a minority that was defenseless, no more than a scapegoat. After all, the Jews have been outsiders since the Bible was written this before the creation of Israel but I can neither fathom nor grasp how any civilized society can make a horrific mockery of Gods Children. Not now, maybe not ever, can I understand how a country such as Germany would follow a madman like Hitler. As I revisited the Holocaust and the events it included, my notion is renewed that Hitler and his Nazis illustrated the very filth of humanity at his lowest level. Now lets visit another place: The United States of America. On January 15 two weeks ago Jonathan Greenblatt, who heads the Anti-Defamation League, addressed Congress and told our lawmakers that there were 1,879 documented acts against Jews in 2018. Thats the third-highest number in the last 40 years. According to records kept by the New York Police Department, in 2019 there were more anti-Jewish attacks than all other hate crimes put together. But it is a lot deeper than that. "Its also the kids who snap a Heil Hitler salute for a gag, the swastikas scrawled on a garage door, the college campuses where Jewish students are ostracized for supporting Israel," Greenblatt told Congress. "This moment is about women wearing wigs harassed as they ride the subway or men wearing black hats assaulted as they cross the street. Its the idea that a person isnt safe in their supermarket, in their synagogue, or in their home just because they are Jewish." The big anti-Semitism terrorist acts get the headlines the attack on the Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 a similar mix of guns and hatred at Poway near San Diego, and horror at a kosher market in New Jersey just last month. All combined? 15 people were left dead. Steven Katz, a professor of religion and an expert on the Holocaust, explains the undercurrent of the anti-Jew mindset. Anti-Semitism has been called the worlds longest hatred and it has a peculiar shape. We see it in America today, Katz said. Why does someone go into a synagogue in Pittsburgh and shoot people? This is a very, very deep-rooted issue in Western society. That anti-Semitism is sort of part of the bloodline, and its very hard to expunge the virus. Get this: The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., received more than 1.6 million visitors in 2018 and, of that plausible number, over 90 percent of the visitors were non-Jewish. At the same time, the museum had over 20 million visits to its website. The writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel said that the opposite of love is not hate, its indifference, said Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress. And what Ive seen more and more is governments talking about it, but there seems to be a lack of action, he added. What were seeing is the same drip, drip method used in the 1930s and 40s to whip up hatred. Eventually, with this growth of anti-semitism, there will be another, maybe not Hitler, but another leader like him, and we must do something now to stop that. Lauder admitted the last survivors of the death camps are dying away, and he believes that now in their final days, these survivors, at the very least, are owed reassurance that their children and grandchildren could live in safety, he said. We owe them a major debt. They should be filled with hate and wanting to take revenge, but they rebuilt their lives. They and their children and grandchildren should not have to live through what theyve had to live through. We are letting them down, because theyre seeing again the ugly head of anti-semitism. * * * In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply cant build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again. Anne Frank * * * BAND OF BROTHERS (Episode 9) In 2001 a 10-part TV mini-series was shown on HBO and, with directors Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks, it was sensational. A Band of Brothers focused on Easy Company from the 101st Airborne, and in the 9th episode, titled Why We Fight, the men of Easy Company, upon entering Germany, find a concentration camp. This clip has been seen over 2 million times. To watch, CLICK HERE. ----- royexum@aol.com On Jan. 27, a Russian delegation composed of President Vladimir Putins special envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin and unnamed high-level military officials visited Damascus for talks with President Bashar al-Assad. Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. Both events focused on the situation in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, where government forces on Jan. 26 reached the outskirts of Maaret al-Numan, a town controlled by the opposition. It is a strategic settlement that a major highway linking Damascus to Aleppo passes through. The Syrian army also reportedly wrestled control of 22 towns. The offensive was backed by Russian airstrikes that the Turkish side views as a violation of the cease-fire mediated between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Jan. 12. During the first week of this month, Putin left Damascus for Istanbul, reportedly leaving Assad with a sour message. The Syrian army was strongly advised to halt its offensive on Idlib to allow Turkey to relocate some of the opposition groups to Libya and pressure others to break with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group. This is how Moscow interprets the commitment Erdogan assumed in the Russian resort of Sochi in September 2018 as part of the Russian-Turkish deal over Idlib. Policymakers with knowledge of the situation who spoke with Al-Monitor not for attribution said the Syrian president didnt like what Putin had to say. The Syrian army, backed by Russian air power, was seizing control of several towns in Idlib and didnt want to lose its momentum. Yet Assad had to concede to Putins advice some may say demand since the initiative was part of a bigger package of the Russian-Turkish deal over Libya and bilateral agreements. Almost three weeks in, the situation in Idlib didnt appear to have turned for the better, with occasional violations of the cease-fire on both sides and the Syrian army intent to move deeper into the area. The new push triggered a fresh surge of displacements, with thousands reported to be fleeing toward Syrias border with Turkey. On Jan. 24, the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, was in Moscow and raised the issue of the severe humanitarian crisis in Idlib and other parts of Syria with Lavrov. During the meeting, the need for the safe and voluntary return of refugees and the internally displaced to their home areas was addressed. Ever since weve had the deal with Turkey over Idlib, the issue of separating the moderate opposition from the radicals hasnt been completed. Its been almost a year and a half. We concede its not easy, but this was Ankaras commitment and weve expected them to deliver on it. We cant just sit on our hands as the terrorist nest thrives there and the Syrian government has no control over it, a senior Russian military official told Al-Monitor, asking not to be named as he was not authorized to comment to the media. The argument that its the last rebel-held area is bogus otherwise what would you call the area east of the Euphrates, isnt it opposition-held as well? But most importantly, there are no adequate opposition groups left there anymore. Those who wanted to negotiate or depart the area did so, those who stayed are terrorists, mostly HTS [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham], and theres only one way to deal with one, the military official said. Russias grievances over Turkeys inability to separate the opposition groups resemble Moscows storyline on working with the Americans over Aleppo. In the fall of 2016 Russia accused the United States of having failed to deliver on its promise to separate the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly branded as Jabhat al-Nusra, and other extremist groups from more moderate opposition forces. At the time the United States countered the narrative in two ways. First, it said the American military had not targeted Jabhat al-Nusra because it had become "intermingled" both with civilians and other groups. Second, it argued that Moscow itself was driving the moderates into joining the extremists by massive shelling and airstrikes on Aleppo and neighboring towns. Unlike in Aleppo, which was severely hit by Russian airstrikes, in Idlib Russia opted for a softer scenario. First, it allowed Turkey to deal with the opposition issue on its own and then, when that didnt work out , Russia moved to occasionally pressuring Ankara into taking action through Syrian army offensives and Russias own airstrikes, gradually taking over parts of greater Idlib. Turkey may not use variations of either of the two points the Americans used to argue with Moscow over Idlib, but Ankara does seem to have a challenge in separating opposition groups from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, in resolving Turkey's own interest in stay in the Idlib area to project power and influence over Assad and, broadly, the rest of Syria, and in dealing with a legitimate concern about a new influx of Syrian refugees into Turkey. In the phone conversation with Cavusoglu on Jan. 27, Lavrov seemingly tried to embrace the issues that are critical to Turkey but indicated that Russia was not going to yield any longer in the face of the security challenges coming from the Idlib area. Moscow found there to be violations of the cease-fire on the opposition side. The parties gave an overview to the practical aspects of joint efforts to effectively counter the terrorist threat and secure the de-escalation regime in the Idlib zone in accordance to the Russian-Turkish memorandum of Sept.17, 2018, the readout of the talks said, suggesting that Russia is still interested in co-opting Turkey rather than confronting it. The Russian party listed the instances of the cease-fire violations by the radicals sitting in Idlib. It also stressed the need to separate the opposition from the terrorists. Close contacts of the military agencies will be continued. Both committed to continue to support the work of the Constitutional Committee, the press release ends. Metin Gurcan of Al-Monitors Turkey Pulse reported earlier about the Russia-brokered meeting between the Turkish and Syrian intelligence chiefs in Moscow on Jan. 13. Idlib took center stage of the discussion, with the two parties clearly defining their ultimate goals vis-a-vis the issue. Meanwhile, Putins messengers in Damascus spoke with Assad about the need to clamp down on the remaining pockets of terrorism and to set tasks to ensure Syrias long-term security, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement. Perhaps, under the international pressure, including after Pedersens visit, the Syrian government was encouraged to offer what the ministry called "comprehensive humanitarian aid to all those in need across the country. Given that Lavrentiev and Vershin, accompanied by the military, make personal trips to Damascus as well as to Ankara and Tehran for that matter only to convey a big-time decision made in Moscow or on the verge of the time such a decision is be implemented, some fresh dynamics on the issue are likely to be expected rather soon. This may be the last act of the yearslong saga of the siege of Idlib. Advertisement Fighting broke out between riot police and firefighters who were trying to break down security screens during anti-government protests in Paris today. Videos of the astonishing violence were posted online during demonstrations close to the centre of the capital. They clearly show baton-wielding CRS (Republican Security Companies) officers involved in bitter fighting with firefighters, who were demanding better pay and conditions. 'The firefighters were very militant, and at one stage tried to push down police barriers,' said an eyewitness. Firefighters can be seen clashing with police officers in Paris this afternoon during protests against pension reforms Firefighters are pictured waving burning torches through the streets of Paris in a demonstration against pension reforms on Tuesday Thousands of firefighters demonstrated against the pension reforms in Paris today by setting themselves on fire Some firefighters with their face painted with the movie character 'Joker' theme, participate in a demonstration against the pension reforms and for better work conditions in Paris today Firefighters can be seen clashing with police officers in Paris this afternoon during protests against pension reforms Firefighters can be seen clashing with police officers in Paris this afternoon during protests against pension reforms 'The police responded with tear gas, and then went in with their batons. The fighting got very ugly.' The worst trouble took place soon after 4pm in the Avenue de la Republique, between Republique and Nation squares. The fire fighters had tried to tear down the barriers close to the Paris ring road, because they wanted to expand their marching route. Unions organised the Paris protest for fire service workers all over the country. They set off noisy firecrackers in the capital's Place de la Republique to bring attention to their cause. A firefighter sets alight another one as they take part in a demonstration to protest against French government's plan to overhaul the country's retirement system Firefighters can be seen clashing with police officers in Paris this afternoon during protests against pension reforms Firefighters can be seen clashing with police officers in Paris this afternoon during protests against pension reforms Firefighters can be seen clashing with police officers in Paris this afternoon during protests against pension reforms Participants want a raise in risk pay from 19 per cent to 25 per cent to fulfill their missions - which they say reductions in personnel have made increasingly difficult. They say attacks against them are also on the rise. A spokesman for the Paris prefecture said: 'It was unacceptable blocking of the ring road by certain professional firefighters who do not respect the declared route [of their protest march].' A French CRS riot policeman helps a colleague during a demonstration by French firefighters to protest against working conditions, in Paris today French police clash with firefighters protesting over pension reforms and for better working conditions in Paris, France, 28 January 2020 Firefighters set themselves alight during protests against President Emmanuel Macron's planned pension reforms in Paris today Firefighters set themselves alight as they take part in a demonstration to protest against French government's plan to overhaul the country's retirement system in Paris today Firefighters brandish flares as they climb on the Statue of Republic Triumph at Nation square during a demonstration to protest against French government's plan to overhaul the country's retirement system in Paris today French CRS riot police take position as French firefighters attend a demonstration to protest against working conditions, in Paris today As night fell over Paris this evening the protests continued, causing havoc in the city Paris police said firefighters who tried to break down or scale fencing near the Nation area of Paris were dispersed by water cannon. Some of the protesting firemen even set their uniforms on fire while they were wearing them, although they were clearly taking safety measures. There have been continual street protests and strikes in France for the past six weeks in protests against new pension reforms being introduced by President Emmanuel Macron's government. Firefighters brandish flares as they take part in a demonstration to protest against French government's plan to overhaul the country's retirement system in Paris today Some firefighters with their face painted with the movie character 'Joker' theme, participate in a demonstration against the pension reforms and for better work conditions in Paris today Firefighters hold flares as they take part in a demonstration to protest against French government's plan to overhaul the country's retirement system in Paris today Firefighters march during a demonstration Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020 in Paris. Participants want a raise in risk pay from 19 per cent to 25 per cent to fulfill their missions, which they say reductions in personnel have made increasingly difficult French police clash with firefighters protesting over pension reforms and for better working conditions in Paris today Firefighters march during a demonstration today in Paris, before the violence broke out Firefighters take part in a demonstration to protest against French government's plan to overhaul the country's retirement system in Paris today So-called Yellow Vests, demonstrators named after their trademark fluorescent motoring jackets, have also been on the street since November 2018. They started off complaining about rising fuel charges, but are now a mass movement who want Mr Macron to resign. The independent Mr Macron came to power in 2017, pledging to shrink France's public services, and to make the private sector more competitive. French firefighters simulate setting themselves on fire during a demonstration to protest against working conditions, in Paris, France today French firefighters simulate setting themselves on fire during a demonstration to protest against working conditions, in Paris today housands of firefighters participate in a demonstration against the pension reforms and for better work conditions in Paris, France, 28 January 2020 Firefighters push a kart representing a firefighter truck as they take part in a demonstration at Republic Square to protest against French government's plan to overhaul the country's retirement system in Paris, on January 28, 2020 Firefighters light smoke grenades at the Republique square during a demonstration against the pension reforms and for better work conditions in Paris today But the former merchant banker is now frequently referred to as the 'President of the Rich' who is mainly on the side of big business. Firefighters previously demonstrated in October - marked by clashes with the police. One protester in the southern city of Dijon was seriously hit in the eye and has still not recovered his vision. CNNs Don Lemon is facing serious backlash on Twitter, including from the president himself, after a segment on depicting Trumps voters as rubes. Don Lemon, the dumbest man on television (with terrible ratings!), wrote Trump on Twitter after the Daily Caller posted a clip of the Saturday segment, telling readers this is what Lemon thinks of Americans. During his show Saturday night, Lemon laughed as former GOP strategist Rick Wilson criticized reports that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had angrily challenged a reporter to find Ukraine on an unmarked map. He also knows deep within his heart that Donald Trump couldnt find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter U and a picture of an actual, physical crane next to it, Wilson said. He knows that this is, you know, an administration defined by ignorance of the world and so thats partly him playing to the base and playing to their audience, you know, the credulous boomer rube demo that backs Donald Trump. Also Read: Mike Pompeo Doubles Down on NPR Reporter Attack, Radio Network Defends Her 'Utmost Integrity' From there, Wilson put on a Southern accent to imitate someone in what he called the credulous boomer rube demographic: Donald Trump is the smart one. Yall elitists are dumb. You elitists with your geography and your maps and your spelling, added New York Times columnist Wajahat Ali as Wilson chimed back in, And your readin! And your reading, agreed Ali. Your geography, knowin other countries, sippin your latte. All those lines on the map! said Wilson while Lemon laughed loudly. Also Read: MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Brands Trump's Defense Team a 'Confederacy of Dunces' Only elitists know where Ukraine is, said Ali, suddenly giving up the act and saying, Im sorry. I apologize. But it was Ricks fault. I blame Rick. That was good, Lemon said, before trying to get the panel back on track. Not everyone agreed with him, however. Story continues The arrogance, the dismissiveness, the smug cackling, the accents, wrote Steve Krakauer, formerly of CNN and TheBlaze, when he posted the clip on Monday. If Donald Trump wins re-election this year, Ill remember this brief CNN segment late one Saturday night in January as the perfect encapsulation for why it happened. A representative for CNN did not immediately return a request for comment. Read original story Trump Attacks CNNs Don Lemon for Segment Calling His Voters Rubes At TheWrap PubGuru Ad Inspector has been such a big part of MonetizeMores ad optimization success, that we couldnt possibly continue to keep it a secret any longer... Google left a big gap in the market for digital publishers when they stopped supporting their Publisher Toolbar in 2018. Leaving non-technical users with little to no suitable replacements for running on-page diagnostics on their sites. Many of the solutions that have popped up since then use estimated numbers to make their analysis and publishers cant make real decisions with unreliable data. Frustrated with unreliable tools, the MonetizeMore team decided to scratch their own itch by building a tool to help empower their ad optimization teams. After years of use and hundreds of conversations with other publishers they realized it would be a disservice to the ad tech industry to keep the tool only within the confines of MonetizeMore. That is why MonetizeMore decided to make the PubGuru Ad Inspector Chrome Extension completely free to use! https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pubguru-ad-inspector/nnoilpdinmjmdfpkdkbbkajejflbkoma A global technology company since 2010, with over 140 team members across North America, Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia & Africa. MonetizeMores divisions have grown to fuel a $20 million dollar enterprise from its core offering of ad operation services in 2010 to the addition of owned & operated publishing properties and now the proprietary ad tech suite under the PubGuru brand. As an early pioneer of the ad optimization model, MonetizeMore has partnered to monetize over 3 billion monthly pageviews with hundreds of media companies across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa & Latin America to deliver millions of dollars of growth for its partners. PubGuru Ad Inspectors core mission is to empower publishers to take control of their advertising revenue. There has been a large gap in the market since Google stopped supporting their Publisher Toolbar. On-page analysis is a huge part of the daily ad operation tasks for major publishers. With PubGuru Ad Inspector publishers can dive into the performance of their various ad units, demand partner bid times, GDPR & CCPA compliance and more. With more than 1,100 downloads the PubGuru Ad Inspector Chrome Extension is now widely available in the Chrome Store for all users. Publishers can download the Chrome Extension today and immediately start receiving smart notifications for their site. The smart notification engine helps publishers work through the analysis & troubleshooting phases of their job with an ever-expanding library of recommendations to make sure their sites advertising setup is working correctly. Kean Graham, CEO & Founder of MonetizeMore, has built the company by nurturing the ad monetized publisher community at its core. PubGuru Ad Inspector (PGAI) has been such a big part of MonetizeMores ad optimization success, that we couldnt possibly continue to keep it a secret. Ad operations are tough enough as is. We owed it to each person that works in ad ops to release PGAI publically and for free. People shouldnt have to deal manually with such aggravating ad tech issues. There is a better way! Empower your in-house ad optimization teams and download PubGuru Ad Inspector from the Chrome Store. Visit our website https://www.PubGuru.com for more information. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pubguru-ad-inspector/nnoilpdinmjmdfpkdkbbkajejflbkoma MonetizeMore - Realize your ad revenue potential 770 Fisgard St, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8W 0B8 Contact for quote: Brandon Gains, Vice President of Marketing brandon@monetizemore.com 1-250-216-5013 (Alliance News) - Grit Real Estate Income Ltd said Tuesday it has made solid progress on several acquisitions in its pipeline, including the completion of the purchase of Club Med Cap Skirring Hotel in Senegal. The acquisition of the hotel resort for a total of EUR16.2 million was first announced in July. The initial price was EUR11.6 million, however the final consideration includes the conversion of a EUR4.0 million loan into equity, and a pre-development expense incurred by seller Club Med SAS. Subject to development and regulatory approvals, Grit expects to start with the renovation and development works at the resort by the end of the first quarter of 2020, with a capped cost of EUR28.0 million. In addition, Grit said it is continuing its work to meet conditions for the development funding and acquisition of the St Helene and Coromandel hospitals in Mauritius, and still expects to close the transaction by the end of March. For the acquisition of Orbit Africa warehouse in Nairobi, Kenya, the company still expects to finish the acquisition by the end of March. Meanwhile, for the purchase of a 50% stake in the PwC and Huawei head office in Accra, Ghana, Grit said the completion date has been extended to the end of February from the end of December. Looking ahead, Grit said it is continuing to explore financing options to fund its acquisition pipeline. "Concluding this first transaction with Club Med is a significant milestone and I look forward to progressing a number of the other opportunities with them across Africa, delivering real estate solutions and creating further value for Grit's shareholders and for Club Med," said Chief Executive Bronwyn Corbett. "I am also pleased to report that the company's cost of debt continues to decline, helped by reductions in LIBOR. Furthermore, the group's high-quality diversified portfolio and strong multi-national tenant base leave us confident of providing shareholders with strong and sustainable income, with the potential for income and capital growth," Corbett added. Shares in Grit Real Estate Income - which is based in Grand Baie, Mauritius - were untraded in London at USD1.19, while its Johannesburg shares were also last quoted at ZAR16.50 on Tuesday. By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. [January 28, 2020] Gemini Appoints U.K. and European Money Laundering Reporting Officer Blair Halliday tapped to oversee compliance and anti-money laundering program in fast-growing United Kingdom and European market NEW YORK and LONDON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Gemini Europe, Ltd., the U.K. and European affiliate of Gemini Trust Company, LLC (collectively, Gemini), a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian, today announced the appointment of Blair Halliday as Chief Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer. Halliday will oversee the strategic direction of Gemini's compliance program in the U.K. and Europe, an emerging region for the company. He will be responsible for managing day-to-day regulatory relationships and requirements while ensuring Gemini's continued commitment to adhering to all relevant regulatory guidelines. He will be based in London and report directly to Gemini's Managing Director of the U.K. and Europe. Halliday brings decades of experience in regulation and compliance with some of the leading financial services companies. Halliday joins Gemini from cryptocurrency platform Circle, where he served as the company's Chief Compliance Officer for the EMEA region. In this role, he led the remediation and renewal of the company's global anti-money laundering (AML) program. He was also tasked with driving key changes to strengthen Circle's AML regime ahead of product launches and new market entry. Prior to Circle, Halliday served as Executive Director of Financial Crime and Compliance at CashFlows as well as Chief Compliance Officer at the International Currency Exchange (ICE). He began his career at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), where he spent 14 years in various financial crime roles. "As we build our team, Gemini is primed for significant growth in Europe this year. As we continuously iterate on our technology and offering, maintaining compliance and operating within, not around, all relevant legal frameworks will always be our top priority," said Julian Sawyer, Gemini's Managing Director of U.K. and Europe. "Blair's deep domain expertise makes him uniquely poised to drive Gemini's compliance efforts in the U.K. His leadership will be critical in our mission to work with regulators to promote smat frameworks that encourage growth in the crypto industry." Halliday joins Gemini's growing European operation on the heels of Sawyer being named Managing Director of the U.K. and Europe. Other recent hires include Noah Perlman as Chief Compliance Officer, David Damato as Chief Security Officer, Sydney Schaub as General Counsel, Jeanine Hightower-Sellitto as Managing Director, Operations, and Robert Cornish as Chief Technology Officer. With more than 250 employees, Gemini is ramping up its global footprint and continuing to build its team. Outside of the U.S., Gemini is available in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Australia. Join Gemini's U.K. and Europe waiting list for updates. For more information on Gemini, visit our website https://gemini.com/ . About Gemini Trust Company, LLC: Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini) is a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that allows customers to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, litecoin, and Zcash. Gemini is a New York trust company that is subject to the capital reserve requirements, cybersecurity requirements, and banking compliance standards set forth by the New York State Department of Financial Services and the New York Banking Law. Gemini was founded in 2014 by twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to empower the individual through crypto. Contact Carolyn Vadino Head of Communications, Gemini [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/930231/Gemini___Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Picnic Hill Market Cafes grocery section features California wines, fresh cheeses, cans of seafood soup, creative mustard sauces, even small jars of valuable truffles. Everything you would need to put on a classy dinner party. The new Shaker Heights market opens to the public today at 20621 Fairmount Blvd. Co-owners Shawn Brown and Michael Miller say they have been dreaming of owning their own store for years. We worked a lot and when we did cook, we would have people come to dinner parties, Brown said. We are somewhat ambitious cooks when we do cook, so we would always have these ingredients that we needed to find. Beyond the stores stock of gourmet offerings, the cafe also serves up bites to eat on site or take away. Picnic Hill will also soon serve food and drinks at a full-service bar, set to open soon after the markets grand opening event. Every offering from Picnic Hill has been hand-picked by the co-owners, along with the help of other market and bodega owners that the two befriended over the years. Many of Picnic Hills goods reflect the lives of Brown and Miller, who have lived in many different cities. There are cocktails that are from different periods in our lives and theyre either things that we drank in that period, or theyre all named after cities or addresses that we had, Brown said. Even the name of the business -- Picnic Hill -- harks back to Millers childhood town in Kentucky. In the past seven years, Brown and Miller have lived in Chicago, Oakland and Sacramento. They frequented local bodegas, especially Comptons Market in Sacramento. While they were in California, the two decided they wanted to open their own version of a specialty market, filled with gourmet food options. But they faced financial challenges. Brown, who had grown up in Cleveland Heights and had family in the area, was alerted that Northeast Ohio could be an opportunity for business. My aunt mentioned to us that we could probably afford it and that it sounded like it would work really well in Cleveland, Brown said. It was the perfect neighborhood, to come home and build this market and try to create the same sort of community feel that Comptons had where it was. In November of 2018, Brown and Miller moved to Northeast Ohio and got to work renovating the space, which was formerly a yoga studio. They added unique seating areas with about half the space dedicated to a market. Picnic Hill features some local selections, too, from Carusos Coffee at the cafe to frozen meals created by Chardon-based gluten-free company Minus G. Geneva producers supply maple syrup, bacon and charcuterie meats, and Mitchells chocolates can be spotted on the shelves. Since settling into Fairmount Boulevard, the local community has taken notice. This is such a walkable neighborhood, so people are very familiar, Miller said. People started coming in and actually telling us how much they appreciated the work, that we've taken this vacant space and we've turned it into something that they feel fits the neighborhood and is bringing new life to the circle. In the future, Miller and Brown both hope to incorporate brunches, live music performances and community dinners into Picnic Hills offerings; they plan to announce events on the shops Facebook page. You can find more information about Picnic Hill and its opening day at the markets Facebook page. For photos and videos on the extraordinary food and drinking scenes in Northeast Ohio, follow @DineDrinkCLE on Instagram. Read more recent entertainment stories: U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar warned Tuesday that the coronavirus raging across mainland China is a "potentially very serious public health threat," saying that the Trump administration is expanding screening for the virus from five to 20 U.S. airports. "We are constantly preparing for the possibility that the situation could worsen," Azar said during a press briefing on the nation's response to the coronavirus, which has killed 106 people in mainland China and infected nearly 4,700 worldwide, including in the United States. "Americans should not worry about their own safety," Azar said. "Part of the risk we face is we don't know everything we need to know about this virus ... That does not prevent us from preparing and responding." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier in the day advised Americans to avoid all non-essential travel to China, expanding its travel warning from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, to the entire country. Passengers at LAX after arriving from Shanghai, China, after a positive case of the coronavirus was announced in the Orange County suburb of Los Angeles, January 26, 2020. Ringo Chiu | Reuters "To better protect the health of the American public during the emergence of this novel coronavirus and based on the evolving information from China, CDC has reassessed its entry strategy," CDC Director Robert Redfield said at the press briefing. CDC officials said the screenings will focus on identifying ill patients as well as educating travelers so they can help contain the disease. [WATCH: the HHS press briefing here.] Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that usually infect animals but can sometimes evolve and spread to humans. Symptoms in humans include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, which can progress to pneumonia. U.S. health officials said Tuesday that they are still determining the real speed and spread of the disease and whether it can infect people prior to symptoms. Azar said the so-called R naught, a mathematical equation that shows how many people will get an illness from each infected person, appears to be somewhere around 1.5 to 3. Azar said symptoms from the new virus, temporarily named 2019-nCoV, may take up to 14 days to appear. Azar said he offered to send CDC officials to China to assist public health officials there. "We are urging China [to act] with more cooperation and transparency," he said. Africa is on the frontlineof climate change, and it is crucial to listen to voices from the continent in global discussions about the crisis, Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate told AFP Tuesday. Nakate was at the heart of a viral debate that erupted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week after she was cropped out of a photo of a young activists, including Greta Thunberg, taken after a press conference. Nakate, a 23-year-old graduate in business administration, was the only black person and only African in the photo shoot and accused the Associated Press news agency of racism in cropping her out. The agency said the photographer had cropped the photo for composition purposes. However in an article on Monday AP said the incident had prompted "soul-searching" on the issues of racial sensitivity and inclusion. Famous activists such as Thunberg are from first-world countries which are often blamed for being behind global warming, whose effects are worst felt in poor nations, with countries in Africa at highest risk from climate extremes. "It wasn't just about the photo because I read the article first. They quoted the various activists but I wasn't there," Nakate told AFP in an interview in Kampala. Nakate found out about the Fridays for Future youth protests in early 2019 and was inspired, alongside her brother, to protest once a week at a neighbourhood market in Kampala. She was invited by activist group Arctic Basecamp to deliver hard truths to world leaders gathered at Davos. Africa has been ravaged by the affects of climate change. By Guillem Sartorio (AFP/File) "There was no message that I had spoken at the conference ... It is dangerous (for African voices to be excluded from the debate) because many people are ignorant about the climate crisis in Africa and most of the activists feel unheard," said Nakate. "If their voices are silenced it means they won't be able to explain to the people that we are facing a climate crisis. It's important for every voice to be listened to no matter where they come from." Africa 'most vulnerable' Experts say Africa is the most vulnerable to climate shocks, with more frequent droughts and floods stretching people to their limits as farmers and herders get no time to recover. East Africa is currently facing its worst locust invasion in decades after one of the wettest seasons in 40 years came on the back of a drought -- a situation scientists say is becoming the new normal. "Uganda mainly depends on agriculture and we're really affected by climate change, for example by extreme weather conditions -- droughts in some places, floods in other places -- that means food prices are affected and only the more privileged can get something to eat and the less privileged are left with nothing," said Nakate. Cyclone Kenneth hit northern Mozambique last year. By EMIDIO JOZINE (AFP/File) "They literally lose everything after these climate disasters." She said that messages of support after the scandal, including from others inspired to join climate activism, had "motivated me and encouraged me so I came out stronger." A package with scientific lab equipment shipped from Mexico to North Carolina raised flags for federal agents, and it turns out the device included a stash of heroin worth more than a million dollars, according to the Harnett County Sheriffs Office. Homeland Security agents last week contacted the sheriffs office in North Carolina about the package, according to a news release. Heroin was hidden in scientific lab equipment shipped to North Carolina in the white cylinders in the photograph. The shipment hid 1.8 pounds of heroin in white cylinders that appeared to be part of the equipment, the sheriffs office said. Deputies and state investigators made a controlled delivery to a house in Angier and arrested two men in the sting operation, the sheriffs office said. Police arrested Angier Brian Lee Stephenson, 45, for trafficking heroin and conspiracy to traffic, the release said. He is in the Harnett County Detention Center under a $250,000 bond. They also arrested Rayshone Shone McNeill, 33, of Willow Springs and charged him with conspiracy to traffic heroin. He is being held on a $150,000 bond. Investigators put the estimated street value of the drugs at $1.6 million. Harnett County is about 40 miles south of Raleigh. [January 28, 2020] CorelCAD 2020 Accelerates the 2D Drawing and 3D Modeling Experience with Precision and Control ?OTTAWA, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CorelCAD 2020 is the professional and affordable CAD solution that streamlines 2D drawing, 3D modeling, and 3D printing processes. New Lasso Selection and Layer group filters enable users to work more efficiently; while enhanced MultiLeader and Dimension tools, Custom Blocks, and 3D capabilities offer even greater control. Available for Windows and macOS, CorelCAD 2020 enhances efficiency across a full spectrum of design, architecture, and engineering projects. CorelCAD 2020 offers users a complete CAD application thats more powerful and intuitive, enabling them to achieve exceptional results faster, said Klaus Vossen, Senior Product Manager, CorelDRAW. This smart and affordable solution increases productivity and boosts performance across the entire 2D and 3D technical design workflow. Work faster with new Layer group filters and enhanced Custom Blocks Even when working with complex files that may have hundreds of layers, new Layer group filters enable users to group referenced layers together to gain quick and easy access to specific areas of a drawing. Improvements to Custom Blocks include a new Save option for easy sharing, plus a new Test mode to evaluate block behavior, ensuring specifications are met without having to exit the block editor. Experience a more intuitive 2D drafting workflow The new Lasso Selection Tool and enhanced drawing constraint features enable users to precisely specify the object to be selected and how dimensional constraints are displayed. The new Pattern option offers improvements to the Copy tool, making it simple to duplicate objects along a path in a variety of shapes and create a specified number of copies in a linear pattern. User-favorite tools, including hatch, dimension, and rotate are fine-tuned to be more intuitive. Do more with advancements to 3D modeling commands The enhanced Sweep tool provides a new Bank option to design advanced 3D shapes that rotate along the specified sweep path. New Offset edges and Convert edges commands allow users to easily create 2D wireframe objects from the edges of 3D solids or surfaces. Maximize productivity with enhanced PDF output Ensure CAD designs can be viewed with full detail by creating layers in PDF files that reflect the layers in the original DWG file. Project efficiency is improved with the ability to batch print multiple drawing files into a single PDF. Save time with the New Data Extraction Wizard (Windows version) CorelCAD 2020 users on Windows can now specify and extract a set of object and/or block attributes which can be displayed in a table on the drawing or saved in an external file for easy sharing. The Wizard enables users to extract data directly from the technical drawing, producing a table-type sheet to automate the creation of BOMs, parts catalogs, order lists, and more. Pricing and Availability CorelCAD 2020 is available in English, German, Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Pricing is US$699 / 829.99 / 799.99 for the full version and US$199 / 239.99 / 232.99 for the upgrade. Education and volume licenses are also available. GBP and EUR prices include VAT. About CorelCAD CorelCAD is an affordable and powerful CAD software solution for precise 2D drafting and 3D design. With industry-standard CAD features and advanced DWG support, it is a true CAD solution for architectural and mechanical needs. For more information, please visit www.coreldraw.com/corelcad . About Corel Corel products enable millions of connected knowledge workers around the world to do great work faster. Offering some of the industry's best-known software brands, we give individuals and teams the power to create, collaborate, and deliver impressive results. Our success is driven by an unwavering commitment to deliver a broad portfolio of innovative applications including CorelDRAW, ClearSlide, MindManager, Parallels, and WinZip to inspire users and help them achieve their goals. To learn more about Corel, please visit www.corel.com . 2020 Corel Corporation. Corel, CorelCAD, CorelDRAW, MindManager, and WinZip are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. ClearSlide is a trademark or registered trademark of ClearSlide Inc., in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. Parallels is a trademark or registered trademark of Parallels International GmbH in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. Patents: www.corel.com/patent . Media Contact: Saeed Ismail Saeed Corel PR [email protected] www.coreldraw.com/corelcad Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c25bf3de-d0df-497f-9df6-1f1e9019c97b https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/db8b5c0e-722d-4dad-b2e9-b4b95ed9938d https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ccb9a3d8-9584-4d28-985f-658e21f9d2ae https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0ce315af-71b2-45c4-b4af-c444e75f0105 A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c9895d4c-daa5-4e90-8681-961c8f26796a [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday advocated for completion of probe into all cases of sexual offence against children within two months. At the 22nd meeting of the central zonal council here, Shah exhorted the state governments to expeditiously resolve the issues relating to forest clearance and provide "brick-and-mortar" banking facility within five km radius in each village particularly in Naxal-hit areas. The home minister called upon the states to adhere to the timeline of two months for completion of investigation of heinous offences under POCSO Act, which deals with cases related to sexual violence against children. Shah suggested that there should be in-depth scrutiny of issues related to Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, especially in Left Wing Extremism affected areas. Shah visualised that this would be a fruitful meeting where all the issues having Centre-State and inter-state ramifications will be resolved with consensus. He emphasised on the need of regular meetings of the zonal council and assured all chief ministers that the issues raised by them would be suitably addressed by the central government within the Constitutional framework and administrative feasibility. He also reminded the states to send suggestions for comprehensive amendments of CrPC and IPC, for which he has already written to all the chief ministers. He further called for prompt payment to farmers and assured the states in the region that their issues relating to procurement of grains and their disposal would be resolved quickly and informed that a high level committee was already seized of the matter. The meeting was also attended by the chief ministers of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and various ministers from these states. The council deliberated upon various issues including acceptance of procured coarse grain under Price Support Scheme (PSS) and revision of "state cap" fixed for the implementation of NSAP (Pension) Scheme. Issues like holding inter-state coordination meeting to take prompt action against criminals, Amendment in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) guidelines, amendment in Section 78 of the Information Technology Act and declaration of certain castes and tribes as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were also discussed. The council takes up issues concerning the centre and member-states of the zone. The zonal councils are thus an effective platform for the resolution of inter-state disputes as well as irritants between the centre and member-states. The zonal councils discuss a broad range of issues which include boundary-related disputes, security, infrastructure-related matters like roads, transport, water, industries and power etc. The states have been divided into five zones and each zone has its council comprising the chief minister, two ministers and the chief secretary of each state. The zonal councils are headed by the Union home minister and each zone nominates one chief minister as its vice chairman on rotation basis. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Rasana Gasimova The US-based rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has forecasted Azerbaijans GDP to increase by 2.3 percent in 2020-2023. Real GDP growth in Azerbaijan will amount to 1.7 percent in 2020, 3.2 percent in 2021, and stabilize at 2.2 per year in 2022-2023, according to the information published by the agency, The agency forecasts the countrys nominal GDP to be $46 billion in 2020, $46 billion in 2021, $48 billion in 2022, and $50 billion in 2023. The volume of GDP per capita will grow from $4,700 to $4,900 per person with an average annual increase of 1.5 percent. At the same time, the growth of real GDP per capita according to the forecasts of the agency in 2020-2023 will also show growth, having slowed down up to 0.9 percent in 2020, will jump up to 2.4 percent in 2021 and then reach 1.4 percent. The volume of external liquid assets will exceed the volume of external debt by 105 percent of payments on the current account in 2020 and on average by 112 percent in 2021-2023. Revenues obtained from the current account remain stably high at 51+ percent of Azerbaijans GDP. The governments net assets for the next four years will average 55 percent of Azerbaijans GDP. The governments expanded debt as a percentage of GDP will remain stable at an average of less than 33 percent of GDP in 2020-2023. The agency also predicts gradual strengthening of the Azerbaijani financial system amid increasing economic growth rates and the development of political institutions. S&P has also affirmed its long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Azerbaijan at 'BB+/B', while maintaining a stable outlook. The ratings reflect significant foreign assets accumulated in the sovereign wealth fund, the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), as well as still-weak institutional effectiveness, monetary policy flexibility, and strong fiscal and external net asset positions. The agency expects that the diversification of Azerbaijans economy will take place at a limited pace, which will lead to moderate economic growth following relatively low oil prices. The S&P noted that it could consider an upgrade of the rating, if external surpluses were higher than base-line projections, resulting in a faster accumulation of government fiscal assets. This could happen, for example, if hydrocarbon prices markedly increased in contrast to our assumptions, and we expected the increase to not be temporary, the report reads. Increase in currency reserves The S&P also forecasts an increase in the currency reserves of the Azerbaijans Central Bank (CBA) in 2023 to $7 billion 521 million. In 2019, the CBA's foreign exchange reserves amounted to $6 billion 258 million. Thus, in 2020-2023, the banks currency reserves will increase by 20.2 percent. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz MANILA, Philippines The Duterte administration admits that the lockdown of Wuhan City in China will make the repatriation of Filipinos difficult. Along with the lockdown are the travel restrictions that the Chinese authorities are implementing in Wuhan City the epicenter of the deadly 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) wherein the government controls the entry and exit of people from Hubei province. Mahirap din yung repatriation, kasi ang Chinese government, di nila pinapaalis ang mga tao doon. Mayroon na nga silang stopping certain flights. [] even if we want to repatriate them, if there is travel restriction there, what can we do?, said Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sec. Salvador Panelo. The official added that the Philippine government is being prudent in coming up with a decision regarding the matter to avoid possible spread of the disease. But should there be any other possible means, Panelo said, the government is willing to repatriate the Filipinos in Wuhan City. If we can bring them here, then we can bring them here. Well have to do some protocols to make sure that if they have the disease, they will not spread them, he said. Meanwhile, Panelo said that if it were up to the Palace, it is no longer allowing any government official to travel to China due to the increasing number of cases of the deadly 2019-nCoV. Eh kung pagpunta mo doon you will be opening yourself to the virus, bakit ka pa pupunta roon? And those who are intending to go there should think of their own safety, Panelo said. (from the report of Rosalie Coz) /mbmf The post Malacanang admits lockdown in Wuhan City makes repatriation of Filipinos difficult appeared first on UNTV News. Flyers are expected to proceed towards boarding gates after check-ins at airports on their own and there is no obligation of airlines to escort every passenger, the said on Tuesday. The top court said that if a passenger encounters difficulty to report at the boarding gate, she or he should seek assistance of the ground staff. A bench comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said if such request is made, there is no reason to presume that the ground staff of the concerned airline will not extend logistical assistance to facilitate the passenger for reporting at the boarding gate in time. "After boarding pass is issued, the passenger is expected to proceed towards security channel area and head towards specified boarding gate on his own. There is no contractual obligation on the airlines to escort every passenger, after the boarding pass is issued to him at the check-in counter, up to the boarding gate," the bench said. "Further, the airlines issuing boarding passes cannot be made liable for the misdeeds, inaction or so to say misunderstanding caused to the passengers, until assistance is sought from the ground staff of the airlines at the airport well in time," it said. The judgement came on an appeal challenging an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). NCDRC, while hearing a review plea of the airlines against the Tripura state commission's order, had asked Indigo to pay Rs 20,000 to Kalpana Rani Debbarma and her family. Debbarma, her husband and her two minor sons were travelling from Kolkata to Agartala availing Indigo flight services in 2017. The airline had issued boarding passes to all of them. Debbarma claimed in her plea that the airline left her family at the Kolkata Airport without informing them despite their being in the airport premises. She also claimed that the airport staff snatched away the tickets from her when she went to the office staff to file a written complaint. The family had to stay in a hotel and purchase new tickets the next day. The airline had contended that numerous announcements were made at regular intervals and that the passengers did not report at the boarding gate on time. The apex court refused to agree with the observations of the State Consumer Commission that after issuing boarding pass, it is the duty of the airlines' authority to help the passengers so that they can board the flight well in time on completion of the security check. "This is a sweeping observation. We do not agree with the same. We have already taken the view that there is no obligation on the airlines to escort every passenger after issuing him/her a boarding pass at the check-in counter until he/she reaches the boarding gate. That would be a very tall claim to make. Indeed, in a given case, if the passenger encounters difficulty or impediment to report at the boarding gate, he/she is expected to seek assistance of the ground staff of the concerned airlines well in time," the bench said. The top court said that if such request is made, there is no reason to presume that the ground staff of the concerned airlines will not extend logistical assistance to facilitate the passenger for reporting at the boarding gate in time. "That, however, would be a matter to be enquired into on case to case basis. That question does not arise in the present case, as no such plea has been taken in the complaint or the evidence given on behalf of the respondents," it said. The apex court said the approach of the consumer fora is in complete disregard of the principles of pleadings and burden of proof. "First, the material facts constituting deficiency in service are blissfully absent in the complaint as filed. Second, the initial onus to substantiate the factum of deficiency in service committed by the ground staff of the airlines at the airport after issuing boarding passes was primarily on the respondents. "That has not been discharged by them. The consumer fora, however, went on to unjustly shift the onus on the appellants because of their failure to produce any evidence. In law, the burden of proof would shift on the appellants only after the respondents/complainants had discharged their initial burden in establishing the factum of deficiency in service," it said. The bench also refused to issue direction on the suggestion of senior advocate Rajiv Dutta, appointed amicus curiae in the case, for issuing directions to all the airlines to abide by uniform practice. "We refrain from doing so and leave that to the competent authority (DGCA) to consider the same and after interacting with all the stakeholders, take appropriate decision and issue instructions in that behalf, as may be advised. The competent authority (DGCA) may do so within a reasonable time, preferably within six months from receipt of a copy of this judgment or any representation in that behalf," it said. The court set aside the judgments and orders passed by the District Forum, State Commission and the National Commission saying it cannot be sustained. It held that the complainants were not accommodated in the next flight for Agartala without payment of airfare cannot be regarded as deficiency in service in relation to the contract which stood discharged and accomplished after 'Gate No Show'. Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices ended lower on Tuesday (January 28) with the Sensex closing down 188.26 points or 0.46% at 40966.86, while Nifty settled down 63.20 points or 0.52% at 12055.80. Major gainers on the Nifty were BPCL, HDFC, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma and Bajaj Finserv, while Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and JSW Steel became top losers. About 985 shares advanced, 1511 shares declined, while 165 shares remained unchanged. During early hours on Tuesday, equity benchmark indices were flat as investors globally grappled to assess the economic impact of China`s new coronavirus. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 21 points to 41,174 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 3 points at 12,116. Live TV At the National Stock Exchange, sectoral indices were mixed with Nifty IT, FMCG, and metal in the red. Among stocks, HDFC gained by 2.8 per cent to Rs 2,463 per share after reporting a four-fold jump in its Q3 net profit at Rs 8.372 crore due to the one-time gain from the merger of Bandhan Bank with Gruh Finance. The other prominent gainers were Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra & Mahindra and UPL. However, Power Grid Corporation, Nestle India, Vedanta, JSW Steel, and Coal India were in the negative terrain. Meanwhile, Asian stocks extended a global selloff as China took more drastic steps to combat a deadly coronavirus. As the death toll reached 106 in China, some health experts questioned whether Beijing can contain the virus which has spread to more than 10 countries. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan slumped by 1 per cent in early trading. Japan`s Nikkei was 0.9 per cent down while South Korea`s Kospi index skidded by 3 per cent. With Chinese markets shut investors were selling the offshore yuan and the Australian dollar as a proxy for risk. Oil was also under pressure as fears about the wider fallout from the virus mounted. Analysts said travel and tourism would be the hardest-hit sectors together with retail and liquor sales though healthcare and online shopping were seen as likely outperformers. Australian and New Zealand bonds, however, gained on Tuesday as did Japanese government bonds (JGB) with yields on 10-year JGBs set for their fourth straight day of losses. The yen, which has been rising for the past five sessions, dipped slightly to 108.98 per dollar. In commodities, Brent crude was off 27 cents at $59.05 while U.S. crude eased 22 cents to $52.92. Spot gold was flat at $1,581.60. (With Agency Inputs) An Iranian military-type drone has crashed in the southwest of the country on Tuesday, near the town of Mollasani in the oil-rich Khuzestan province. There are no reports of collateral damage on the ground according to the local governor and the cause of the incident is not clear. Irans Tasnim news agency close to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) says the drone was a Shahed 129 and there is some damage to the body of the aircraft. The Shahed 129 drone was unveiled in 2014 by the former IRGC commander Aziz Jafari. In recent years, Iran has made notable progress in manufacturing large drones for military use. This type of drone reportedly has a range 1,700-1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) and can fly at a maximum altitude of 24,000 feet. BERLIN - A German court on Tuesday dismissed a legal bid to prevent the closure of a hostel located on the grounds of the North Korean embassy in Berlin that was said to have been a significant source of foreign income for the East Asian country. The ruling by a Berlin regional court was welcomed by lawyers for the family of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American student who died shortly after being returned by North Korea to the U.S. in a vegetative state in 2017. His parents say their son was tortured by North Korea after being convicted of trying to steal a propaganda poster and imprisoned for months. Judges at the capitals administrative court ruled that city authorities were justified in ordering the closure of the City Hostel Berlin, which was opened in 2007 next to the North Korean embassy and close to landmarks such as the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie. The hostel offers beds for less than 13 euros ($14.30) a night in shared rooms and has in the past been popular with school groups visiting the capital. City officials had argued that the rent the operators pay the embassy estimated at 38,000 euros ($42,000) a month breaches U.N. Security Council sanctions and European Union regulations intended to stop the flow of hard currency to North Korea. The hostels operators claimed they stopped paying rent to the embassy in April 2017, but the court noted that an EU directive from 2017 forbids any use of North Korean territory other than for diplomatic or consular purposes. Judges said Berlin authorities in fact had no choice but to close the hostel as North Korea represents a threat to world peace due to its nuclear weapons program. The court ruled that the verdict cannot be appealed, but lawyers for the hostel operator can challenge that decision. Lothar Harings, a German lawyer representing the Warmbier family, said he hoped the ruling would send a signal for commercial entities operating on North Korean territory in other European cities. We and the Warmbiers will now demand that the ruling is implemented, Harings told The Associated Press. We want to hold the regime in North Korea to account for its actions, for the torture and murder of (the Warmbiers) son. In 2018, a U.S. federal judge held North Korea liable in Warmbiers death and awarded more than $500 million in damages in the wrongful death suit filed by his parents. North Korea hadnt responded to any of the allegations in court and theres no practical mechanism to enforce the judgement. Its hard for the Warmbiers to accept that diplomatic embassies are being used to earn money that flows to the regime in North Korea and thereby toward the manufacture of nuclear weapons, said Harings. Tom Schreiber, a lawmaker in the Berlin regional assembly, said it was important for Germany not to be complicit in the illicit acquisition of funds for North Korea, but acknowledged that the ruling might draw a sharp response from Pyongyang I expect North Korea will react to this, he said. Representatives for the hostel operator and the North Korean embassy couldnt immediately be reached for comment. TORONTO - The mayors of cities across the Toronto area provided a laundry list of wishes to the federal government on Tuesday, including action at the border, in a joint effort aimed at curbing a rise in gun violence. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Police display guns seized during a series of raids at a press conference in Toronto on Friday, June 14, 2013. Mayors and police chiefs from the Toronto area are meeting today to discuss a recent spike in gun violence throughout the region. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young TORONTO - The mayors of cities across the Toronto area provided a laundry list of wishes to the federal government on Tuesday, including action at the border, in a joint effort aimed at curbing a rise in gun violence. The municipal leaders, along with police chiefs and Ontario's solicitor general, met with a representative from the federal government at Toronto City Hall, and much of the discussion focused on the smuggling of guns into the province. "There's a real job to do at the border," Toronto Mayor John Tory, who hosted the meeting, told reporters afterward. A presentation Toronto police made to municipal leaders at the meeting shows an estimated 73 per cent of guns seized in 2019 that could be traced had come across the border. A significant number of guns the force seizes every year cannot be traced. Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said the percentage of smuggled guns is even greater across Ontario. "Our provincial numbers show 84 per cent are illegal guns that come across the borders," she said. "We need to actually crack down on that because that ultimately will keep our community safer." Police forces also want more information from the Canada Border Services Agency, Tory said, and have asked for a meeting with the border guards. "There haven't been granular, specific-focused discussions between local police forces and the border authorities about how these guns are coming across," Tory said. Joel Lightbound, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, said the federal government is listening. "We need to share the intelligence better with local law enforcement that's something that came up from this meeting," he said. "What we're going to be looking at is making sure (border guards) and local law enforcement collaborate more efficiently when it comes to operational capacities." The municipal leaders and the province also continued their call for tougher bail for those accused of gun-related offences, and longer sentences for those convicted. The group also pushed for expanded use of electronic monitoring bracelets for those who get bail. Mississauga, Ont., Mayor Bonnie Crombie also highlighted the backlog in the courts, and the need for more judges and justices of the peace, as further problems plaguing the justice system. Tory said co-operation among all levels of government will be necessary to address gun violence, which has spiked throughout the GTA. In Toronto, for instance, police figures show shootings rose from 288 incidents in 2015 to 492 last year. "We need the support of ... these other governments to continue to try and attack this menace that poses such a threat to safety in our communities," Tory said. "Far too many neighbourhoods in all of the regions and cities represented today have been terrorized by gun violence, and I think people should not have to endure that." Last August, Tory requested additional resources after a spate of shootings that police said were largely related to street gangs. The resulting program, dubbed Project Community Space and funded by all three levels of government, was lauded by Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders, who said in his end-of-year address that the city was moving in the right direction in its approach to fighting gun and gang violence This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Jan. 28, 2020. Congressional Republicans have twisted themselves into all sorts of knots in an effort to defend President Donald Trump's conduct with Ukraine. But on Sunday, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford dipped to a new low. Appearing on ABC's "This Week," the Republican senator was asked by host George Stephanopoulos whether he believed it was acceptable for a president to ask a foreign country to investigate one of his potential political opponents -- citing not just the much-disputed July 25, 2019 call between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, but also Trump's comments on October 3, 2019, in which he urged Ukraine and China to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. Here's the exchange: STEPHANOPOULOS: He's asking the Chinese, he's asking the Ukrainians to investigate the Bidens. Do you think that's appropriate? LANKFORD: Well what the President's trying to express there is his frustration that no one's paying attention to what is potential corruption with the Bidens in the past, that everyone seems to be focused on him, that he's been through two-and-a-half years of investigation in the Mueller report, everyone's been focused on him but no one seems to want to even ask the question about was there potential corruption here -- STEPHANOPOULOS: No, he's asking the Ukrainians -- and the Chinese, do you think that's appropriate? LANKFORD: I think he is asking for an investigation, as you would with anyone else with any other American. It is a unique thing, obviously, that this is a person running for political office as well but it's not new, as the House manager said that this only started after Biden announced his investigation. This was a consistent theme for the President to say everyone should be able to be looked at in this process. The logic here is truly astounding: Trump is just fine to ask Ukraine and China to look into Joe Biden because he is frustrated that "no one's paying attention to what is potential corruption with the Bidens in the past." Except that no one -- outside of hardcore GOP partisans -- are alleging that Joe Biden did anything wrong in his public statements in 2016 calling for the resignation of Ukraine's top prosecutor. In fact, Biden was acting as part of an international coalition aimed at rooting out corruption in Ukraine. As for Hunter Biden and his seat on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company, there's also no allegation of any wrongdoing there although, admittedly, Hunter Biden's lack of clear credentials for such a well-paying gig don't look great. The other ridiculous fallacy in Lankford's argument is that Trump asking for Ukraine and China to investigate US citizens is super normal stuff. It's not. The investigatory arm in the United States for American citizens is the Justice Department, not a foreign country. That Trump is requesting two foreign governments investigate his leading Democratic rival for the presidency makes this claim by Lankford all the more outlandish. What's on very clear display here is that in service of protecting the political interests of Trump (and the broader Republican Party) the likes of even Lankford -- a respected conservative voice -- are willing to say and do things that just make no logical sense. The idea that it's just fine for a President of the United States to ask for foreign countries to investigate a political rival because he's, uh, frustrated, is laughable. Imagine if a Democratic president asked Ukraine and China to look into their strongest potential Republican rival. Do you think Lankford would have the same view? When partisanship overwhelms intellectual honesty, we are in a bad place as a country. And we are in that bad place right now. Centres arms open if militant faction of Ulfa(I) comes to the table to talk peace, says Himanta Biswa Sarma Women of the Bodo community dance during a welcome ceremony for their leaders who returned home after signing the Bodo Peace Accord 2020 between the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, the Assam government and the Central government in Delhi on Monday. (PTI Photo) GUWAHATI: A day after the Union government signed an accord with Bodo militant groups, Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday talked it up as historic and a great template for similar deals with militant groups in Assam an Manipur. He also went a step further held out an olive branch in particular to Paresh Baruahs anti-talks faction of the Ulfa-I. New Delhi is now willing to negotiate with it to bring permanent peace in the Northeast. Sarma said Union home minister Amit Shah too had much the same thing on Monday. This is the first time that this government is making a public appeal to Ulfa (I) for a dialogue. If they are willing, the Centre will reciprocate," he said. To Baruah, the top insurgent leader in the region, Sarma held out the example of the "historic accord" signed on Monday with all factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in presence of all the stakeholders. "In this context, I would like to request Paresh Barua and his anti-talks faction to consider engaging in a productive dialogue. The Centre and the state government want peace in the region," he said. Sarma said the pro-talks faction of Ulfa led by Arabinda Rajkhowa was already engaged in a dialogue with the Centre but for peace to have a chance in the entire region, it was necessary that all factions came to the negotiating table. Sarma, convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), extended the peace offer to militant outfits in Manipur as well. He claimed that peace has dawned on states in the Northeast such as Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland; only Assam and Manipur were still restive. So, if militant outfits in Manipur and Assam come forward for talks, it will help establishing lasting peace in the region. The Assam government is planning a celebration of the Bodo accord in Kokrajhar on February 7 to which it has Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Announcements on constitutional safeguards for the indigenous people of Assam will be made during the forthcoming Rongali Bihu celebrations. Bodo leaders who returned to Guwahati after signing the accord in New Delhi were given a grand felicitation by civil society groups in Chirang district on Tuesday. All signatories to the deal, including Pramod Boro, president of the All Bodo Students Union, were there. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said it has begun the process to prepare for the evacuation of Indian nationals from Wuhan, the epicentre of deadly SARS-like coronavirus outbreak that has already killed more than 50 people in China and infected more than thousands. "We have begun the process to prepare for the evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Twitter. "Our @EOIBeijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese govt. authorities and our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates," he added. China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year. Health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a global pandemic as the virus continues to spread, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and seven Asian countries besides China. India's Civil Aviation Ministry has also opened health camps at seven Indian airports across the country to screen passengers arriving from China as well as Hong Kong. However, the World Health Organisation has acknowledged that the respiratory illness, which has been traced to the city of Wuhan, is an emergency in China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Washington The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with plans to deny green cards to immigrants who are thought to be likely to make even occasional and minor use of public benefits like Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers. The vote was 5-4, with the court's conservative justices in the majority. The court's brief order gave no reasons for lifting preliminary injunctions that had blocked the new program. Challenges to the program will continue to move forward in courts around the nation. The administration announced in August that it would revise the so-called public charge rule, which allows officials to deny permanent legal status, also known as a green card, to immigrants who are likely to need public assistance. In the past, only substantial and sustained monetary help or long-term institutionalization counted, and fewer than 1% of applicants were disqualified on public-charge grounds. The administration's revised rule broadened the criteria to include "noncash benefits providing for basic needs such as housing or food" used in any 12 months in a 36-month period. Use of two kinds of benefits in a single month counts as two months, and so on. The new rule was challenged in courts around the country, and five trial judges entered injunctions blocking it. The Supreme Court considered two cases brought in New York, one by groups that provide services to immigrants and the other by New York, Connecticut, Vermont and New York City. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Manhattan, denied the administration's request for a stay of two nationwide injunctions issued by a trial judge, and it scheduled arguments in the first week of March. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, issued Monday a concurring opinion addressing what they said was the growing problem of nationwide injunctions. A FATHER-of-four who became embroiled in a fight outside a fast food restaurant on St Patricks Day was fined 300 for public order offences. Dermot Quilligan, 40, of Assumpta Park, Newcastle West was before Newcastle West relating to an incident which occurred at The Square in the town at around 9.45pm on March 17, 2018. Inspector Andrew Lacey told Judge Mary Larkin when gardai responded to reports of a large row they encountered the defendant who, he said, was observed throwing punches. He said Mr Quilligan, who has 48 previous convictions in Ireland and abroad, was asked to stop and was arrested when he failed to do so. Read also: Judge refuses bail in alleged burglary case from county Limerick Solicitor John Cussen said his client, who is not currently working, accepts his has a patchy record and wished to apologise for his behaviour on the night. He had a few drinks - he was drowning the shamrock as they say, he added. Noting the defendants age, Judge Larkin commented that it is time for him to quieten down. She fined him 300. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 23:17:07|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close A destroyed vehicle is seen in the city of Maarat al-Numan in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, on Jan. 28, 2020. The Syrian army entered the key rebel-held city of Maarat al-Numan in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported. (Xinhua) DAMASCUS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army entered the key rebel-held city of Maarat al-Numan in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported. The entering was made after the army enveloped the city from three directions earlier on Tuesday. The army is now combing the city after cutting off the rebels' supply routes, according to the report. The report said the army liberated most of the neighborhoods in the city. The opposition activists said intense battles are raging inside the city between the rebels and the army forces. Capturing Maarat al-Numan will enable the Syrian army to secure the Hama-Aleppo road as part of an agreement reached in Russia's Sochi in 2018 that aims to secure the official road to Aleppo, which extends all the way south to the capital Damascus. Since the road is under the rebel control, people have traveled to Aleppo through another extension of the road. The army prioritizes the recapture of the Hama-Aleppo road, which will enable the transportation between Damascus and Aleppo to return to the pre-war conditions. CONCORD, N.H. - Supporters of a regional pact that would tackle transportation emissions are struggling to win over several New England governors concerned that the climate change initiative will increase gas prices. After the Transportation and Climate Initiative was announced last month, New Hampshires Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said the state wont join, citing fears of a gas price hike. Vermonts Republican Gov. Phil Scott said he couldnt support the initiative if it amounts to a tax on carbon. A spokesman for Maines Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said states like Maine have unique transportation issues and will be appropriately cautious. The initiative is aimed at a dozen Northeast and mid-Atlantic states and would take effect in 2022. It would address pollution from transportation which represents 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in the region, the largest source of emissions. The area has tens of millions of registered vehicles. New Jersey has not committed to implementing the initiative while a spokesman for Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said his administration was still examining it. Virginia is also reviewing the draft memorandum. I am happy to see that other Governors are following my lead in rightfully sounding the alarm on this new gas tax, Sununu said in a statement. New Hampshire is proof that the best environmental stewardship can be achieved without massive tax schemes. Many of the states are already part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which covers 10 states in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic and targets emissions from the power sector. Under the Transportation and Climate Initiative, wholesale fuel companies would be required to purchase pollution allowances at auction. The sale of those allowances could generate billions for states to invest in carbon-reducing transportation options like electric buses, electric car charging stations, bike lanes and sidewalks. The initiative could lead to emissions reductions in the region by as much as 25% by 2032. But the opposition appears be around a potential gas price hike. If fuel companies pass the cost of the allowances onto consumers, the price of gas in the region could climb by five cents to 17 cents per gallon in 2022, when the pact would take effect. Among the pacts opponents is Americans for Prosperity, the advocacy group founded by the billionaire Koch brothers. The groups New Hampshire chapter came out against the TCI the same day as Sununu, calling the initiative a top-down government mandate that would punish hardworking Granite Staters. Supporters of the initiative said the fears over gas prices are overblown and ignore the agreements potential benefits. Personally I think this is political grandstanding, said Timmons Roberts, a professor of environmental studies at Brown University. This is the incremental change, it would be over 12 years. This is just using a well-meaning effort as a whipping boy. But Roberts and others acknowledge that the pact needs to address the concerns of low-income and working families who must drive long distances for work or school. Some people positively opt into this lifestyle, but many dont. They live where they live because of family, lack of economic mobility, or other factors, said Jason Veysey, the deputy director for the Stockholm Environment Institutes energy modeling program. People who have to drive may be negatively affected by an increase in fuel prices, he said. However, its worth underlining that TCI is supposed to be a cap-and-dividend program, in which higher costs for the most vulnerable are mitigated by the dividends. The pact has been praised by many of the regions business, health and environmental leaders, including Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker. He touted the pact in his State of the Commonwealth address last week as part of his plan for the state to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Other governors also appear supportive. J.J. Abbott, press secretary for Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, said the state was committed to being a part of the TCI conversations, but would make no decision on joining until the program is fully designed. Josh Block, a spokesman for Rhode Islands Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo, said she is fully committed to the goals of the Transportation Climate Initiative, but that the specific statutory and regulatory changes needed to meet those goals will be the source of public discussion and input over the coming year. Jordan Stutt, the carbon programs director of the Acadia Center, an environmental research and advocacy non-profit, said states understand the need to address transport emissions. The initiative could also help improve air quality, boost economies and improve transport, especially in rural areas, he said. According to information on the TCI website, modeling has showing public health benefits of as much as $10 billion annually by 2032, including over 1,000 fewer premature deaths. It would also generate up to $7 billion annually that could be invested into expanding transport choices for rural, urban and suburban communities. Without any viable alternative to this program, the states will not be able to achieve their climate goals, Stutt said. ___ Associated Press writers David Sharp in Maine, Wilson Ring in Vermont, Michael Catalini in New Jersey, Mark Scolforo in Pennsylvania and Susan Haigh in Connecticut contributed to this report. The 2018 wedding cost 2m, ($2.7m), with additional security costs that were massive: Getty Prince Harry and Meghan Markle should return the 5m ($6.5m) British taxpayers paid for the cost of their wedding and private accommodation if they want a more peaceful life away from the royal family, say activists. The 35-year-old prince announced this month he and Ms Markle had no option but to renounce some of their royal titles and public funding, if they were to live the peaceful life they sought. As agreed in this new arrangement, they understand that they are required to step back from royal duties, including official military appointments. They will no longer receive public funds for royal duties, Buckingham Palace said in a statement. The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the royal family. But campaigners pushing for the abolition of the monarchy and for Britain to have an elected head of state, say the couple should immediately pay back the money spent of their blockbuster 2018 wedding at Windsor Castle, and money spent to refurbish Frogmore Cottage, their residence on the Windsor estate. I think they made a pretty big mistake by making a lot of assumptions bout keeping titles and cottages and police protection. I think the public reaction has been pretty difficult for them, Graham Smith, CEO of the group Republic, told The Independent. The bottom line is they need to decide whether they want to be pubic officials or private citizens, and they cant have it both ways. They really ought to be abandoning their clams on any royal titles, and living their own lives at their own expense. He said it seemed clear the public would continue to meet some of their costs, while cashing in on the official titles given to them by the state. Its less then two years that we spent millions on their wedding.We spend two-and-a-half million on that house, and given then extra status with these titles, he added. Eighteen months later, they are running away and abandoning all responsibilities. I think we should be getting millions back, and they should stop spending our money as quickly as possible. Story continues For the the last few months, Prince Harry and Ms Markle, 38, have been staying at a large mansion on a secluded cove in North Saanich, on Canadas Victoria Island. The couple say they intend to split their time between the UK and Canada, a member of the Commonwealth, and where Ms Markle lived for a number of years while filming the TV legal drama Suits. But while they have been welcomed in North Saanich by local residents who have sought to help protect their privacy, the issue of who should pay for their security costs has sparked controversy. A petition urging prime minister Justin Trudeau not to permit Canada to pay any expenses, has received more than 100,000 signatures. Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a campaign group dedicated to lower taxes, less waste and accountable government, said there was no personal animosity directed towards the royal couple. Rather, he said Canadians should not be paying the costs. Many in the area agree with such a position. I think the point is, they are either private citizens or members of the royal family, said Bruce Welsh, 70, a radio show host in Sidney. If they are private citizens, they should not need security guards. Either way, Canada should not be paying. The couple have said they intend to pay for the costs of refurbishing their Windsor home. This week it was reported in the British media that an unnamed source said the couple also intended to meet any costs incurred by their stay in Vancouver Island. In a statement on their website, signed as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, names they will apparently keep even after giving the HRH titles this spending, the couple wrote: After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as senior members of the Royal Family, and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. A separate statement issued by Buckingham Palace said the couple had shared their wish to repayexpenditure for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home. A poll carried out by YouGov in 2018 suggested 70 per cent of Britons wanted to retain the royal family as head of state. Yet Mr Smith, whose orgsanisation suggests the British royal family is undemocratic and costs the public 200m annually, said the Prince and Meghans announcement they were leaving the royal family underscored how unsustainable the institution was in a modern era. The Queen and Prince Charles appear comfortable with all the trappings and formality of royal duties, but its increasingly clear that the younger generations are not so keen he said. This is going to be a very difficult decade for them. The Queen is 94 in April. They face the prospect of King Charles. I think a lot of people are going to be talking about an alternative, and were going to be spoiled for choice of who might be head of state. Read more Canadians call for Harry and Meghan to pay for own security costs Beatrice and Eugenie likely to take over Harry and Meghans roles Meghan and Prince Harry praise spirit of those affected by wildfires Can Prince Harry and Meghan Markle still use the Sussex Royal brand? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fail in bid to trademark Sussex Royal VANCOUVER - A former member of an anti-racism committee at the United Nations says she stands by its statement in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary clan chiefs. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (714 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. VANCOUVER - A former member of an anti-racism committee at the United Nations says she stands by its statement in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary clan chiefs. Gay McDougall was vice-chair of the United Nations Committee to End Racial Discrimination when it called for three major resource projects in British Columbia to be halted until the free, prior and informed consent of all affected Indigenous groups was granted. UN special writer on racism Doudou Dine, right, and Gay McDougall, UN Supervisor of Global Rights, are seen before a private meeting in Santo Domingo, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007. McDougall, a former member of an anti-racism committee at the United Nations, says she stands by its statement in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary clan chiefs. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Ramon Espinosa Those resource projects included the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the Site C hydroelectric dam and the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline. "This question of the right of Indigenous people to make decisions according to their own laws, customs and traditions, has to be respected by the state authority," McDougall, whose term on the committee ended Jan. 19, said in an interview from New York. The First Nations LNG Alliance issued open letters to both the United Nations committee and the B.C. human rights commissioner last week accusing them of failing to do their research before taking a position. CEO Karen Ogen-Toews, a former elected chief of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation, says in the letter that the committee should have been aware that 20 First Nations governments negotiated agreements with Coastal GasLink following five years of consultation. She accuses the committee of issuing a decision without investigation, research or due diligence, and says the statement was ignorant of Canadian laws and regulatory procedures. The letter references a comment made by the committee's chair to a media outlet after the statement was issued that he did not know the project had support from Indigenous groups and that the committee does not conduct investigations. "The UN committee's statement and recommendations should simply and immediately be withdrawn, along with an apology to the 20 nations," the letter says. McDougall said more work went into the statement than the comments by the chairman suggest and she believes the chairman was surprised by the question. McDougall was part of the committee's working group that spent six months researching the issues in Canada before the statement. "This was not an ill-considered position that we had," said McDougall, who is also a human rights lawyer. She visited British Columbia and spent time with the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, an Indigenous advocacy group that has issued statements in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose the pipeline. Through the union, she said she met both elected and hereditary chiefs from several First Nations, including some who said they were in favour of the project. "We do a lot of work on issues relating to Indigenous Peoples, their land and natural resources, which are under threat in various places around the world. So this issue of the Indigenous Peoples not being a monolith is not new to us," she said. In 2017, she said at least one Wet'suwet'en leader spoke to the committee in Geneva. A Wet'suwet'en news release says Na'moks, who also goes by John Ridsdale, appeared as a witness and submitted a discrimination complaint to the UN over Canada's environmental assessment process. The visit by Na'moks and two other First Nation leaders came on the heels of the approval then cancellation of plans by Petronas to build a massive pipeline and LNG plant in the Skeena River estuary of northern B.C. It's McDougall's understanding, as hereditary clan chiefs say, that they have authority over the broader 22,000 square kilometres of traditional territory, while the elected band councils administer smaller reserves, she said. Kasari Govender, B.C.'s human rights commissioner, issued a letter Thursday in response to the First Nations LNG Alliance saying she is aware that 20 First Nations support the project but that human rights is not a numbers game. "Just as these bands have the right to give their consent, other Indigenous rights holding groups impacted by resource projects proposed on their territories also have the right to withhold their consent," she says in the letter. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2020. Nobel Peace Prize winner and veteran of South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle Desmond Tutu has been admitted to hospital for the treatment of an infection, his office said yesterday. "The archbishop has been hospitalised several times over the past few years for treatment of a similar condition," the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said in a statement, without providing further details. The 88-year-old, who as Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town used the pulpit to preach against the injustices of white minority rule during the apartheid era, has battled prostate cancer for years and has largely withdrawn from public life. Archbishop Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his non-violent opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa and led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which investigated the atrocities of apartheid. Slamming anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam, arrested on charges of sedition, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said his speech was "more dangerous" than that of former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. Speaking at an event here, Shah also said Sharjeel has been arrested by Delhi police and is being brought to Delhi to be put behind bars. "See his (Sharjeel's) statement. Have you seen the video of (the speech of) Sharjeel?It is more dangerous than Kanhaiya Kumars statement," he said. "He (Sharjeel) is talking about cutting off the Chicken's Neck to disintegrate Assam from India. Even seven generations would not be able to do that," Shah said. The Chicken's Neck is a narrow stretch of land of about 22 km in West Bengal that connects the northeastern states to the rest of India, with Nepal and Bangladesh lying on either side of the corridor. Sharjeel Imam, who was on the run after sedition charges were slapped against him for allegedly making inflammatory statements, was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad district on Tuesday. A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies at the JNU. He was slapped with a sedition case after a video of his purported speech went viral on social media where he was heard speaking about "cutting off" Assam and the northeast from the rest of India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kolkata, Jan 28 : Nobel laureate and economist Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee has suggested re-introduction of the wealth tax, and said the government should give priority to re-financing the banking sector and improve infrastructure, while lauding the NDA regime's commitment to a host of welfare measures. "Given the amount of inequality we now have, a wealth tax is completely sensible. In general, more redistribution makes perfect sense to me," Banerjee said at the epilogue session of the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here on Monday evening. However, Banerjee said he did not expect wealth tax to be introduced right now. "Do I expect it to happen right now? I suspect not. All the vibes I hear are about tax cuts for the middle classes. I really think that's not where the leverage points are," he said. A year after coming to office, the Narendra Modi government abolished the wealth tax in 2015 on account of a high cost of collections and a low yield. Banerjee, who won the Nobel prize in Economics with fellow economists Esther Duflo (Banerjee's wife) and Michael Kreme, said he was less worried about budget deficit and commented: "It (deficit) has never been what it claims to be". The Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology did not agree that the union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wasn't "doing anything for the poor". "This government roughly has been as welfarist as the previous government. It advertises itself as a free market government, but It has brought very expensive new welfare schemes. This government has been committed to a host of welfare undertakings," he said. Banerjee conceded that the NDA government has cut back in some of the areas, but said it was "not surprising" as the budget was not in good shape. "But it has not been particularly cheap on welfare schemes," he said, referring to the (Pradhan Mantri) Ujjwala Yojana, Swachha Bharat and Ayushman Bharat. "So it is not that they aren't doing anything for the poor". Asked to spell out the priority for the government he said: "We must find the money to refinance the banking sector, which is in deep doldrums and will take a long time to revive, if no money is put in from outside." "We also need to improve infrastructure. Those are the two priorities, I wish they don't come up with giveaways to the corporate sector". On narrowing the rich-poor gap, he said: "Our first reaction to our economic problem, that looked very much like a Keynesian demand slowdown, was to cut corporate taxes. To me it is a time warp. We don't see where we are." "The corporate sector is sitting on cash, and not doing much with it. And that's because there is no demand. Somehow we have a mindset of making policies which are based on some models of economics where all the dynamism is provided by the rich. "But it doesn't seem to be true. I think there are obvious things we could do differently," he added. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called the coronavirus a "demon" which should be brought under control as he met the World Health Organisation chief who assured all necessary help to contain the virus outbreak that has killed 106 people and infected over 4,500 others. IMAGE: A worker in protective suit uses a thermometer to check the temperature of a man while he enters the Xizhimen subway station, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China. Photograph: Carlos Garcia Rawlins Under stress in dealing with the spiralling coronavirus which virtually brought the whole country to a grinding halt, Xi on Tuesday got the crucial support from WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who said the UN health body "does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact." Ghebreyesus' remarks came as India and several other countries were preparing to evacuate their citizens from the Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus outbreak. China has reported 24 more deaths from coronavirus, taking the number of fatalities to 106, health authorities announced on Tuesday. A total of 4,515 cumulative confirmed cases of the new pneumonia had been reported in Hubei, while 2,567 patients are hospitalised, with 563 in severe conditions and 127 in critical conditions, the Hubei Provincial Health Commission said. Barring Tibet, all Chinese provinces have reported the virus cases, posing a major challenge for the health authorities to contain the outbreak. The virus, which emerged last month in Wuhan, has created a war-like situation in China, which analysts say is far worse than during the SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak that had claimed over 800 lives in 2003. "Chinese people are currently engaged in a serious struggle against an epidemic of a new type of coronavirus infection," Xi said. "The epidemic is a demon, and we cannot let this demon hide," Xi told Ghebreyesus. "And for the Chinese government, this is something that we take very seriously, because in our view, nothing matters more than people's safety and health for us," Xi said. Ghebreyesus assured Xi all necessary help to contain the virus outbreak as he asked the global community to remain calm and not to overreact. From January 23, Wuhan and 17 other cities with a population over 40 million have been virtually shut with suspension of all public transport to prevent the virus from spreading to other parts of the country. The government is also mobilising thousands of doctors and medical staff including the army medics to cope up with the increasing rush of cases in which there is no definitive cure yet to treat the patients. China has full confidence and capability to win the battle against the outbreak of pneumonia caused by novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), he said. WHO's support at this juncture is crucial for China as few days ago the global health body considered an option of declaring the virus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), like Ebola and Swine flu. Such designation would have had seriously dented China's image and ability as the world's second largest economy. The WHO, after a lot of discussion, termed the risk of the virus as "very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level." The virus has spread across China and to at least 16 countries globally with over 37 cases, according to the official media here. Ghebreyesus, who is visiting Beijing for talks with Chinese officials on the crisis, appreciated China's efforts in curbing the spread of pneumonia. During his meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Ghebreyesus said the WHO and the international community speak highly of and fully affirm the decisive measures China has taken. Crucially from China's point of view, he said the WHO "does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact," according to state-run Xinhua news agency. The WHO chief also praised China's system and the effectiveness of its measures "rarely seen in the world" and are "admirable." Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations appreciates China's effort, has full confidence in China's ability to control the outbreak, and stands ready to provide any support and assistance. Guterres made the remarks after he was briefed about the virus control measures by China's Permanent Representative to the UN Zhang Jun on Monday at the UN headquarters in New York. China is also refurbishing a hospital in Beijing built during the 2003 outbreak to prepare for larger number of cases after the capital city of 20 million people reported its first death on Monday. Chinese experts say the incubation period of the new virus was on average three to seven days, with the longest being no more than 14 days. The National Health Commission said the coronavirus strain was 85 per cent similar to SARS. Talking to the media here on Tuesday, Jiao Yahui, the deputy head of the NHC's medical administration bureau, said the shortage of medical supplies was a major constraint in China's efforts to contain the virus outbreak. A risk assessment report based on the analysis of 2,744 infections recorded up to Sunday by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said the main route of transmission was respiratory droplets and close physical contact. "It is very difficult to estimate when the outbreak reaches its peak. But I think in one week or about 10 days, it will reach the climax and then there will be no large-scale increases," respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan told official media. A new hospital in China to combat the coronavirus is taking shape after just four days, as the fourth case of the virus was confirmed in Europe. The building in Wuhan, where the outbreak began, is already nearing completion as the Chinese death toll from the virus went past 100 and it claimed its first victim in Beijing. Germany confirmed its first case of the coronavirus, while Britons stranded in Wuhan have been urged to contact the UK consulate. China has taken just days to almost complete a new hospital to deal with the coronavirus outbreak (Pictures: Getty) Almost 100 people in the UK have now tested negative for coronavirus, the Department of Health and Social Care has said. The latest results show that 97 people have been given the all-clear for the virus, although scientists predict it may well have already entered the country. Construction teams have worked tirelessly to build the 1,000-bed hospital in Wuhan and expect to finish the building by the end of the week. A new hospital in Wuhan to deal with the coronavirus is taking shape after just four days' construction (Picture: AFP/Getty) Dozens of diggers began working at the site of the new hospital on Sunday (Picture: Getty) Diggers at the site of the new hospital in Wuhan built to deal with the coronavirus outbreak (Picture: Getty) It will be named Huoshenshan, meaning Fire God Mountain Hospital. It is expected to take its first patients on February 3. China is building four new hospitals to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. On Tuesday, the countrys National Health Commission said the death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 106. Read more Dramatic images show how Shanghai has turned into a 'ghost town' amid coronavirus outbreak Riot police deployed in Hong Kong as coronavirus as 73 people in UK are tested for coronavirus Deadly coronavirus outbreak 'getting stronger', Chinese health minister admits Authorities reported 25 deaths on Tuesday, with all but one in Hubei province, where the virus is believed to have originated. A 50-year-old man in Beijing was among the victims - the first death in the Chinese capital from the coronavirus. Workers carry materials at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan (Picture: AFP/Getty) The hospital is expected to receive its first patients on February 3 (Picture: AFP/Getty) Picture: PA The number of confirmed cases in China has now reached 4,515, up from 2,835 a day earlier. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the UK government is working on how to bring Britons home from Wuhan, but that it is difficult to know how many are in the Chinese city. Story continues He told BBC Breakfast: "For anybody who is there, one of the issues we have, working with our partners internationally on this, is actually identifying how many British citizens there are in Wuhan. "One of the things we're asking people to do is to contact the consulate there to make them aware. People have started to do that. Picture: PA An estimated 200 UK citizens are thought to be in Wuhan wishing to return to the UK. China has locked down cities across the province, isolating some 50 million people in a sweeping anti-disease effort. China has extended the end of this week's Lunar New Year holiday, the country's busiest travel season, by three days to Sunday to keep the public at home and reduce the risk infection will spread. Public schools and universities have been ordered to postpone reopening following the Lunar New Year holiday until further notice. The main entrance of the Klinikum Schwabing hospital in Munich, after Germany confirmed its first case of the coronavirus (Picture: Reuters) Officers wearing face masks stand guard at the Tiananmen Gate, Beijing, China (Picture: Reuters) More than 40 cases have been confirmed elsewhere in the world, almost all involving Chinese tourists or people who visited Wuhan. Germany confirmed its first case on Monday night. The health ministry in the southern state of Bavaria said the man from Starnberg, south of Munich, is "in a clinically good condition". Officials said the man is being medically isolated, and people who were in close contact with him are being informed about possible symptoms and hygiene measures. ---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK--- Bengaluru, Jan 28 : Tamil superstar Rajinikanth suffered no injuries during the shoot of Discovery Channel's popular programme 'Man vs Wild' in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, an official said on Tuesday. "It is all false. As per the screenplay, there was a shot in which Rajinikanth had to fall, so while getting down from the rope, he just fell down and everybody rushed. It was all in the screenplay," T. Balachandra, the reserve's director and conservator of forests, told IANS. Later, Rajnikanth got up, completed the shoot and left for Chennai, said Balachandra. According to the Bandipur Tiger Reserve director, the Tamil superstar was fine and did not suffer any injury. "He was fine. That shot was from the Mysuru airport," Balachandra said, referring to a video which went viral, showing Rajinikanth walking to the airport in Mysuru. Balachandra dismissed the news of Rajinikanth's injury as fake news. Earlier on Tuesday, Rajinikanth visited Karnataka's Bandipur Tiger Reserve to shoot an episode of 'Man vs Wild' with host Bear Grylls. "We gave permission for 6-8 hours to Discovery Channel to shoot in Bandipur Tiger Reserve," said Balachandra. He said the one-day shoot began at 11 a.m. on Tuesday and ended by 4 p.m. "They paid as per the norms. Per day they have to pay documentary fee, vehicle fee and others. For four days, they paid Rs 10 lakh," Balachandra said. Balachandra said Rajinikanth spent five hours in the forest and will not return as his shoot was only for one day. Bandipur Tiger Reserve, an 874 sq km national park, was formed by integrating most of the forest areas of erstwhile Venugopala Wildlife Park established in 1941, and later enlarged to its current state in Chamarajanagar district, about 220 km southwest of Bengaluru. The tiger reserve lists 28 species of mammals to be present in the forest, including royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, common leopard, bonnet macaque, Indian pipestrelle and barking deer, among others. Meanwhile, the state's chief wildlife warden Sanjay Mohan said that this was not the first time a Discovery Channel documentary was shot in the reserve. "Lot of documentaries were shot in Bandipur. I have urged Discovery Channel that they must show the efforts being made by the Karnataka forest department day and night in saving the forest wildlife," Mohan told IANS. The chief wildlife warden is looking forward to a good name for the tiger reserve and recognition to the forest staff with this programme. In August 2019, Grylls had hosted Prime Minister Modi in the show, which was shot at the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand in February last year. In 'Man vs Wild', former British serviceman Grylls showcases survival strategies in extreme challenging conditions in the most remote locations around the world. However, Discovery Channel's India spokesperson Krapika Singh Jat told IANS that the channel had nothing to say when asked about Rajinikanth shooting for Man vs Wild with Grylls in Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston The City Council will next take up a proposed zoning overlay that would accommodate new uses such as live/work spaces on Tyler Street. Pittsfield Panel Recommends New Tyler Street Zoning PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Community Development Board has recommended the Tyler Street zoning amendment back to City Council. The board was again presented last Tuesday with the proposed overlay amendment that would modernize zoning in the area that stretches from First Street to Woodlawn Avenue. "This is the same presentation that you saw last month there is nothing new," City Planner CJ Hoss said. "Nothing has changed." The board acted as petitioner and last year recommended the overlay to City Council, which volleyed it back to the board. The amendment would accommodate modern uses such as shared work spaces, live/work spaces, and other mixed uses. Also the southeast area would be rezoned from Commercial, Warehouse and Storage to General Business aligning with the current use that is mostly residential at the moment. The amendment also sets up the framework for the development of three-family dwellings and aligns parking standards with the rest of the downtown, making it easier for businesses to move in. The board heard from an attorney Michael MacDonald, representing the owners of Patriot Car Wash on Tyler Street who want to slightly extend the General Business zoning so it covers their entire property. Currently the business is a pre-existing nonconfomring use and this would continue with the new zoning. A portion of the property currently zoned Multifamily and Commercial/Warehouse would be rezoned Multifamily. Multifamily does not allow car washes. The board then heard from attorney Bill Martin, representing the owner of the land on which Patriot Car Wash is located. He requested that the board not make any last-minute changes to the zoning because his client just became aware of the proposed change. He said although he saw the logic behind the General Business extension, his client wanted time to study the change to see if it will affect the lease agreement. The board tended to agree with Martin and did not want to alter plans with the two parties not in consensus. Hoss said there are a number of businesses on Tyler Street that are or now will be split zoned. He said the original drafts of the overlay tried to accommodate all of these businesses but it became too cumbersome. "We decided it was too complicated and there were issues just working that out with the individual property owners," he said. "We reverted back to where the district lines stand now." Hoss added that the amendment will go to City Council, then to Ordinance & Rules, and then back to council so there is still about a month left in the process, giving the two time to work out the changes. The board members agreed and noted although they were in favor of eliminating split zones where possible, they were OK leaving the overlay as is. "I don't have any specific comments I just want to say this project has been a long time coming and I think it will bring some great opportunities to Tyler Street," board member Gary Levante said. "I want to thank everybody involved." Hoss said if the zoning amendment passes without changes, Patriot Car wash can still petition the City Council to make this zoning change so there is always a path forward. In other business, the board voted to eliminate an order that Proprietor's Lodge hire a uniformed police officer to monitor parking for events with more than 150 attendees. "I think that the owners have done a great job at addressing the concerns and it seems to be successful," board member Elizabeth Herland said. "I think there were a lot of growing pains. This was new, and I think you worked through a lot of the issues." Neighbors of Proprietor's Lodge, the former Itam Lodge, vocalized their concerns about the now active establishment. Most notably neighbors complained about noise and patrons parking on along the neighborhood's narrow streets. Mandates were attached to the lodge's special permit and the board modified their parking management plan for a probationary period, giving them time to work out the kinks in their new business. Owner Eric Taylor said now that they have quite a few events "under their belt" they are more savvy to parking issues. He said it really is dependent on how many people drive individually to events. Herland still urged Taylor to consider hiring a uniformed officer for large events that could create a noisy chaotic parking lot. Taylor also asked that the board remove a second order that forced Proprietor's Lodge to close the restaurant except to those with reservations if they had an event with more than 200 attendees. He wanted this number to return 250. The board agreed to his terms and although hesitant, Herland said if an issue arises they will be called back. "I am a little reluctant but on the other hand if they don't manage it well, then you are going to get complaints from the neighbors," she said. "So it is their best interest to manage it well and I don't know if we need to micromanage at that level." The board will still monitor Proprietor's Lodge and reserve the right to alter the Parking Management Plan. Except. Aside from the attack on Sanders for being too old, his campaign will probably welcome the Club for Growth ad, which accuses him of wanting to give government health insurance to everyone and calls his Green New Deal even bigger than the New Deal. Members of the Sanders campaign were quick to seize on the ad. His speechwriter David Sirota went so far as to call it a positive. But the Club for Growth said it wasnt concerned about how the ad might be construed. The potential for a radical socialist as the Democratic nominee has never been more real, said David McIntosh, the president of Club for Growth Action. Women win After months of tiptoeing around the issue, Warren is embracing her standing as the lone woman in the top tier of Democratic presidential candidates. She is structuring her final pitch to Iowa voters around that identity, summed up in a single pithy line: Women win. The latest example was a campaign video tweeted out Monday morning: In it, Warren answers a questioner who is deciding whether to support her. Warren cites her first election victory, in 2012, when she defeated a Republican incumbent, and describes what she sees as the reasons female candidates have outperformed men nationwide since Trumps election. In mentioning her gender, she is also flicking at the back-and-forth she had with Sanders, whom she accused of telling her in 2018 that a woman could not win the presidency. A teenager locked up for buying a knife that killed schoolboy Yousef Makki has lost his High Court bid to keep his identity secret today - but the judge who dismissed the claim says he still cannot be named until his appeal is heard. Yousef Makki, 17, was stabbed in the heart by his friend Joshua Molnar, now 18, during a fight in Hale Barns, Cheshire, on March 2, 2019. Molnar was cleared of the murder and manslaughter of the teenager, who had won a scholarship to the 12,000 per year Manchester Grammar School after a four-week trial. Also standing trial was Boy B, then 17, who was acquitted of perverting the course of justice. He was given a four-month detention order after admitting possession of a flick knife. Boy B, whose anonymity expired after he turned 18 on January 24, asked the High Court to extend it until he finishes his education on November 2021. But Mrs Justice Karen Steyn ruled that he should be named, saying that his right to privacy was outweighed by 'a powerful public interest in open justice'. However, he will be allowed to remain anonymous until his appeal against the decision is heard. Yousef Makki (pictured), 17, was stabbed in the heart by his friend Joshua Molnar, now 18, during a fight in Hale Barns, Cheshire, on March 2 2019 He admitted possession of a knife that he had ordered online from China under a fake name and was given a four-month detention order. The anonymous teenager and Molnar were cleared of conspiracy to commit robbery. Molnar told a Manchester Crown Court jury that Yousef had pulled a knife on him and that he had acted in self-defence. He admitted possession of a knife and perverting the course of justice and was jailed for 16 months. Boy B's lawyers now have 14 days to appeal Justice Steyn's decision before a temporary order expires and he can be named. The judge added that though there had been 'a very significant level of press coverage' of the case, Boy B's notoriety could not be compared 'uniquely notorious' cases like John Venables. 'The extent to which press reports have stated or conveyed that both 'Boy A' and 'Boy B' killed Yousef and were charged with and acquitted of his murder and manslaughter is not insignificant,' added the judge. Joshua Molnar (pictured) stood trial alongside a 17-year-old known as 'Boy B', who was cleared of perverting the course of justice but admitted possession of a flick knife and was given a four-month detention order Counsel for the youth told the High Court that the 17 year old suffers post traumatic stress and anxiety and fears 'trial by social media' if his name is made public Mrs Justice Steyn said she accepted the evidence of Boy B's headteacher that identification would lead to 'fear, suspicion, tension and hostile comments' in his school, but it would not be likely to lead to his losing his place. 'The most pronounced risk is that if the claimant is faced with hostile and suspicious peers at school he may isolate himself further and his anxiety and depression may worsen. 'In addition, bearing in mind he is suffering from PSTD, the claimant may find any questioning to which he may be subjected to if his identity is made known, very difficult to bear,' added the judge. 'The prospect of being named in court with the accompanying disgrace, is a powerful deterrent and the naming of a defendant in this context serves as a deterrent to others. 'Those deterrents are proper objectives for the court to seek. 'In addition there is an important public interest in understanding the prevalence of knife crime. 'Such understanding depends, at least in part, on knowing who is committing these crimes.' The judge did not make a costs order, saying that doing so in case involving reporting restrictions would have a 'chilling effect' on the media Adam Wolanski QC, representing Boy B, told the court that that identification would pose a significant risk' to the mental health of his client. Referring to the earlier evidence of two mental health professionals, Mr Wolanski said this could cause 'significant exacerbation' of Boy B's depression and anxiety. 'Identification could cause significant harm,' he continued He further argued that publicity had a real risk of 'undermining the rehabilitation' of his client. '[We disagree] that the risks that we did identify to the claimant's mental health were mitigated by the fact he has in place support mechanisms,' said Mr Wolanski. 'Your ladyship was wrong that those were factors mitigating the risk.' Mr Wolanski that another risk of naming his client is the loss of his place in his school. 'You concluded that it was unlikely he lose his place in the school,' he told the judge. 'The school was really best placed to assess that risk.' Mr Wolanski said the Editors' Code of Practice (IPSO) would not protect his client from the potential harm of publicity. 'There is a wide-spread and embedded assumption he was one of Yousef Maki's killers,' said Mr Wolanski. He added that some of the coverage had led to the false impression that Boy B had killed Yousef and been 'wrongly acquitted'. 'It is about people being misinformed by inaccurate reporting,' he added. Neanderthals were once widespread across Europe and western Asia. They also penetrated into the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, but the geographical origin of these populations and the timing of their dispersal remain elusive. Archaeologists excavating Chagyrskaya Cave in the Altai foothills have found 90,000 stone artifacts, numerous bone tools, 74 Neanderthal fossils, and animal and plant remains in 59,000- to 49,000-year-old deposits. The Chagyrskaya Neanderthals made distinctive stone tools that bear a striking similarity to Neanderthal artifacts from eastern Europe, whereas other Altai sites occupied by earlier Neanderthal populations lack such artifacts. This suggests at least two dispersals of Neanderthals into southern Siberia, with the likely ancestral homeland of the Chagyrskaya toolmakers located 3,000 to 4,000 km (1,900-2,500 miles) to the west. The most surprising discovery was how closely the Chagyrskaya stone tools resemble Micoquian tools from archaeological sites in central and eastern Europe, said Dr. Kseniya Kolobova, a researcher in the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in Novosibirsk, Siberia. Using a variety of statistical tests, Dr. Kolobova and her colleagues from Australia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany and Canada compared the distinctive stone tools found at Chagyrskaya Cave with those recovered from Micoquian sites in Europe and central Asia. They identified the region between the Crimea and the northern Caucasus as the likely ancestral homeland of the Chagyrskaya toolmakers. This part of eastern Europe is 3,000 to 4,000 km from Chagyrskaya Cave, the equivalent of walking from Sydney to Perth or from New York to Los Angeles a truly epic journey, said Professor Richard Bert Roberts, a geochronologist in the Centre for Archaeological Science at the University of Wollongong. The analyses of animal and plant remains extracted from the Chagyrskaya Cave deposits showed that the Neanderthals were skilled at hunting bison and horses in the cold, dry and treeless environment, while microscopic study of the sediments yielded additional clues about the living conditions they had to endure. Neanderthals were supremely adapted to life on steppe and tundra-steppe landscapes, and could have reached the Altai Mountains from eastern Europe by going around the Caspian Sea and then east along the steppe belt, said Dr. Maciej Krajcarz, a geoarchaeologist in the Institute of Geological Sciences in the Polish Academy of Sciences. The new archaeological evidence indicates at least two separate migrations of Neanderthals into southern Siberia, and is independently supported by whole-genome studies of ancient DNA obtained from Neanderthal fossils. The first migration occurred more than 100,000 years ago, blazing a trail to the nearby site of Denisova Cave famous as the home of the enigmatic Denisovans, a sister group to Neanderthals, who also occupied the cave at times. A more recent migration event originating in eastern Europe possibly about 60,000 years ago led to the arrival of Neanderthals at Chagysrkaya Cave, armed with their distinctive Micoquian toolkit. DNA studies confirm a link between Neanderthals living in Europe and at Chagyrskaya Cave after 100,000 years ago. Despite the geographic proximity of Chagyrskaya and Denisova Caves, the Chagyrskaya Neanderthal genome is more similar to those of European Neanderthals than it is to the 110,000 year-old Neanderthal from Denisova Cave. By combining these new insights from archaeology and genetics, we can start to piece together the intriguing story of the easternmost Neanderthals and the events that shaped the history of our ancient human relatives, Dr. Kolobova said. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. _____ Kseniya A. Kolobova et al. Archaeological evidence for two separate dispersals of Neanderthals into southern Siberia. PNAS, published online January 27, 2020; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1918047117 Hot flushes are a common symptom of the menopause. [Photo: Getty] A new procedure claims to delay a womans menopause by up to two decades. The private clinic ProFam in Birmingham offers surgery that removes a fraction of a womans ovarian tissue while she is still young. READ MORE: Vaginal dryness causes menopausal women to give up on a sex life, TV doctor warns The menopause comes about due to falling levels of the hormone oestrogen, produced in the ovaries. Young women can have a small piece of their healthy ovarian tissue removed and frozen. As they approach the change in later life, the tissue is thawed and grafted into the body, reintroducing hormones that ward off the menopause. ProFam claims the procedure allows women to maintain their pre-menopausal state of health and wellbeing for an additional 10 or 20 years. Nine women are said to have had the operation, the BBC reported. Critics argue there is no evidence the surgery, which costs at least 6,000 ($7,803), is effective at postponing the menopause. READ MORE: Early menopause 'triples a woman's risk of multiple health issues' The change occurs when a woman stops having periods and can no longer become pregnant naturally, according to the NHS. A normal part of ageing, most go through it between the ages of 45 and 55, with 51 being average in the UK and US. Falling oestrogen levels can trigger everything from hot flushes and night sweats to mood swings and insomnia. Some turn to the controversial hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to help combat symptoms. Although extremely effective, it has been linked to an increased risk of blood clots and breast cancer in some patients. According to ProFam, women are living around 30-to-40 years after the menopause, leaving them with decades of issues. When it comes to the age a woman should be when she has the procedure, it adds the younger the better!, with only patients up to 40 years being considered. As they approach the change, their frozen ovarian tissue is thawed and grafted into an area with good blood supply, typically the armpit, the BBC reported. Story continues The same procedure may also help women who prefer to become mothers later in life by preserving the eggs, ProFam claims. Once a woman is ready to have a child, her thawed tissue can be reinserted near the fallopian tube. READ MORE: Ulrika Jonsson shares relatable message about menopause The brains behind the procedure admit it is experimental, but add freezing, storing and transplanting ovarian tissue has been going on for over 20 years in patients who are at risk of losing their fertility due to cancer or benign disease. With the technology the same for delaying menopause, they add we believe we are now in a position to offer the opportunity to postpone the change. Dr Melanie Davies, who chairs Fertility Preservation UK, cautions against healthy women going through surgery that would not otherwise be needed...in the hope of preserving future fertility and hormone replacement. While similar approaches help restore fertility in some female cancer survivors no healthy women have gone through this yet and there is no evidence that graft will last more than 10 years, she said. It will be of limited help for hormone replacement, Dr Davies added. Dr Simon Fisher, founder and president of ProFam, called Dr Davies argument rather strange. When they [the women] went through the grafting (say after surviving cancer treatment) they were healthy, unless they had, say endometriosis and would we describe them as unhealthy?, he told Yahoo UK. Stating that a graft could last up to 10 years is exactly our point as we plan to be able to do episodic, up to three, grafting procedures if needed. So even if the graft lasted five years that could be 15 years of hormonal replacement. According to ProFam, there is a 5%-to-10% risk the tissue will not survive after transferring it back. It adds, however, much of this information is based on patients who already had health risks; not young, healthy patients. Dr Davies urges women hoping to have a baby later in life to consider egg freezing rather than this unproven technique. Dr Fisher argued claiming egg freezing is a far better established procedure is disingenuous. Established research has demonstrated the procedure requires at least 20 eggs in bank, which often means two-to-three rounds of the procedure, that requires hormonal stimulation then two-to-three egg recovery procedures, he said. So neither cheap or non-invasive compared to ovarian tissue freezing that does not require up to two weeks of hormone injections before egg retrieval. Removing part of the ovaries could in theory trigger the change, however, ProFam claims even taking out a whole ovary did not reveal any significant increase in the risk of early menopause in large studies. HRT aside, the NHS recommends women cope with hot flushes and night sweats by wearing light clothes, keeping the house cool, having a cold shower, using fans and avoiding triggers, like spicy food. Mood changes can be eased via exercise, therapy or medication. Find out more about the menopause and its treatments on the NHS website. Photo: Blue Willow Bookshop announced Tuesday that it will cancel an appearance by Jeanine Cummins, author of American Dirt, amid controversy about cultural appropriation and stereotypes in the book. She was set to appear at the shop on Memorial on Monday, Feb. 3. After much consideration and discussion with the books publisher, our event with Jeanine Cummins has been canceled, the bookstore tweeted. It was our hope to have a deep and meaningful conversation with her about the topics in American Dirt. Over the last several days, it became clear to us that we could not deliver the event we had envisioned. For those of you who do not know, there has been a growing controversy about this book, focusing on cultural appropriation and stereotypes. Everything looked great for Cummins book before its launch last week. Oprah gave it her coveted seal of approval, and Stephen King wrote a blurb for it. PREVIEW: American Dirt is about Mexicans by an author who isnt. Is that OK? I did not breathe for the whole first chapter, Blue Willow owner Valerie Koehler told us ahead of the book launch. The run for the border is hellish, and the timeliness of the border situation makes it a must-read. But once the book was published on Jan. 21, readers began to take issue with the story. Something that, apparently, Cummins had suspected might happen. In a note at the books end, Cummins wrote, I wished someone slightly browner than me would write it. But then I thought, if youre a person who has the capacity to be a bridge, why not be a bridge? So I began. To many, this felt like an excuse for cultural appropriation, and a product of a publishing industry that does not reflect the nations diverse population. At Blue Willow, the news of the cancellation came with a request from the shops owners to seek out a deeper conversation about how this controversy came about, and what it means. We hope that you will visit us and engage us in conversation about this and other important topics, the shop posted on its website and social media. We are listening. Farmers need a clear view of their field ROI, and the new labor and equipment features improve that level of detail. Granular, the leading farm management software platform, announced new functionality designed to help farmers easily assess the impact of labor and equipment on their profitability across the operation, down to the field level. This new functionality builds on existing features, enabling farmers to more efficiently manage team productivity and coordination across tasks. Equipment cost analysis can be customized to evaluate such items as fuel expenses, machine wear-and-tear, and payment data. On average, labor and equipment expenses account for up to 25 percent of a farms budget. Yet farmers often struggle in-season to quickly pinpoint true costs and productivity differences for their work crew and equipment fleet. Granulars new features can collect detailed labor and equipment costs based on actual work completed in the field. Granular has talked with growers who understand the importance of analyzing their utilization of labor and equipment, in order to support hiring decisions, equipment purchases, and efficient time management. Granulars new functionality will help farmers analyze these costs, while supporting growth during challenging economic times, and ultimately boosting their bottom line. "I spend a lot less time on the phone now, said Steve Frank, partner at Frank Ag in Johnstown, Colorado. Granular Business helps our operation by tracking everything, including fuel costs, tractors, and labor costs. Now we have a lot more information on where were adding to our farm and what our costs are. It saves us a lot of time and money. Farmers need a clear view of their field ROI, and the new labor and equipment features improve that level of detail, said Andrew Meyers, Vice President of Product at Granular. As farmers manage rent negotiations, implement crop plans, and consider expansion, they must have an accurate view of their financials to make the best decisions for their operation. This added functionality provides a clear view of field-level profitability. To learn more about Granular and how we help farmers manage their labor and equipment costs, visit https://g.granular.ag/update. Granular Granular is an agriculture software company dedicated to building stronger and more profitable farms. With web and mobile apps grounded in advanced data science, Granular helps farmers make data-driven, real-time business and agronomic decisions with greater confidence. Granular is an independent, wholly-owned subsidiary of Corteva Agriscience (NYSE:CTVA). , TM, SM Trademarks and service marks of Dow AgroSciences, DuPont or Pioneer, and their affiliated companies or their respective owners. FILE PHOTO: Freeport-McMoran CEO, Richard Adkerson poses for a picture during an interview with Reuters at the CRU's World Copper Conference in Santiago By Ernest Scheyder (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoran Inc , the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, would consider acquisitions, mergers or other deals once three ongoing expansion projects finish by 2022, Chief Executive Richard Adkerson said in an interview on Tuesday. Demand for copper is projected to surge this decade because of the rising popularity of electric vehicles, which use twice as much copper as internal combustion engines. That, in turn, is expected to fuel an M&A wave across the sector. Despite that, Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport's shares are worth half what they were in 2010, dragged down by uncertainty over the company's stake in a major Indonesian mine and debt from an ill-fated oil and gas venture. But those issues are largely behind the company, which is about to open a copper mine in the United States, is expanding Indonesia's Grasberg mine and has launched an analytics program to boost production in Peru. Those projects should double the company's cash flow and boost the company's stock price, giving the company ammunition to consider deals, Adkerson told Reuters. "I'm looking forward to having a new experience in my career toward accessing alternatives and deciding which way we go," said Adkerson, an accountant by training who became CEO in 2003. Those alternatives could include buying part or all of another company, building new mines or other deals, he said. "We don't have a clear directive now on what that direction could be, but we will be attractively situated and will have an opportunity to add value through investments," said Adkerson. According to recent news reports, Barrick Gold Corp CEO Mark Bristow has spoken favorably of Freeport's assets and a potential combination. Adkerson declined to comment. A Barrick spokeswoman declined to comment. Adkerson, 73, said he has no plans to retire and is in good health. Story continues "This is not a time that I'm thinking about walking away," he said. Adkerson called the outbreak of a deadly coronavirus in China a "real black swan event." The term is a reference to the book "Black Swan," which looks at the potentially catastrophic effects of unpredictable events. Copper prices have dropped more than 10% this month on concerns the virus could affect the global economy. Copper prices are closely linked to global economic health because the metal is used for construction and manufacturing. Freeport's stock dropped more than 9% last Thursday due in part to virus concerns even as the company posted better-than-expected quarterly results. Its shares were 2.5% higher at $11.175 in afternoon trading, along with a broad rally in global equity markets as investors took a less pessimistic view of the potential economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Marguerita Choy) Andy Street: The Government is providing the investment we need to make our communities safer Andy Street is Mayor of the West Midlands, and is a former Managing Director of John Lewis. At a recent event in Birmingham, hundreds of young people from the Second City revealed just how concerned they are about spiralling crime rates. The findings of the Brum Youth Trends Summit, organised by a social enterprise, revealed that 64 per cent of young people feel either unsafe or that the police dont protect them, an increase of almost 20 per cent from the previous year. The findings came as young people face growing threats to their safety, such as rising knife crime and homelessness. This was not surprising, given that there were 84,039 violent crimes recorded by West Midlands Police in the year to September 2019, a 27 per cent rise in a year, from 65,914 a year before. The summits findings showed, however, that fear of crime in the West Midlands affects all generations, young and old, in all of our communities. Crime, anti-social behaviour, and resourcing our police force are key concerns right across the conurbation, from leafy Sutton Coldfield to the urban Black Country. As Mayor, oversight of policing does not sit with me only Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan have that responsibility in Manchester and London. Yet I know that residents expect their Mayor to have an opinion on the matters they care the most about and I fully understand their concerns over crime. Since December 2017 I have been lobbying the Government to provide more resources for West Midlands Police, who protect and serve 2.9million inhabitants across Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton England and Waless second biggest police force behind the Met. Now things are changing. The new Government is delivering that investment in spades, in a new era for policing that began here in the West Midlands. It was in Edgbaston, Birmingham that Boris Johnson in one of his first acts as Prime Minister -announced that an extra 20,000 new police officers were to be recruited. Since then, the Government has been decisive in addressing the police funding issue. Last week, West Midlands Police were handed an 8.7 per cent increase in funding, the third highest in the country. Across the UK the amount of funding available to the policing system for 2020 to 2021 will increase by 1.1 billion, totalling 15.2 billion and will build on a number of existing government commitments to tackle crime. In the West Midlands, that equates to an extra 49.6million for local policing. By next March, 6,000 of the 20,000 additional police will be out working in communities with at least 366 of those new recruits hitting the streets of the West Midlands. Our region will also benefit from a share of 39 million ring-fenced nationally to tackle serious violence. Another 20 million has been set aside to deal with county lines drug dealing. Birmingham was recently identified as one of the UKs three hotspots for this scourge of 21st Century life. This is not a simple tweak to a funding formula. This is a bold and significant change which will provide very considerable resources to our police going forward. However, there is scope to get even more from this investment locally, by making better use of the resources we have at our disposal and taking a more collaborative, practical approach to crime and policing. After all, whenever the Government releases money to the regions, it is our duty to ensure that every penny is well spent. In May, there will be an election to select a new Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands. So far, the position has always been Labour-held, and their record has not been good. As we enter this new era of police funding, this role provides the opportunity to direct resources to deal with the real priorities identified by local people. That means bolstering community policing and ensuring a visible and tangible police presence in local communities, providing reassurance for local people and a deterrent to the criminal element. In Jay Singh-Sohal, the Conservatives have a candidate who will do that. A Brummie born and bred, Jay not only grasps the complexities of policing one of the most densely populated areas in Europe, he also understands the concerns of local people, and the priorities they expect to see put at the forefront of crime fighting. As a serving Captain in the Army Reserve, he also has the organisational drive and clear vision to get his message across to communities across the conurbation. A Sikh raised in Handsworth, Jay is the epitome of the new brand of urban Conservatism we are successfully building here in the West Midlands. He has never stood for public office before, but his grounding in business, media and the armed services have shaped a driven individual who will tackle the challenges of policing in a business-like way. He is already committed to a new plan that will make visible, local police presence the centrepiece of his term as PCC. For a start, that means halting Labours planned closure of police stations in communities across the region, for a period of reassessment. And crucially, just as the Mayors office has been successful by bringing together the communities and agencies of the West Midlands, Jay understands that collaborative working is the secret to tackling crime in such a large and diverse region. The Government is showing the way on policing. We need a PCC locally who can be rigorous in ensuring that every pound is spent effectively, on frontline resource to reduce crime and serve communities. We also need a PCC who can work with Government to make the case for our police to get even more resources. The role of West Midlands Mayor has shown that with a single accountable person working positively with government, investment can be brought in. Finally, we need a PCC who can work with local councils to lever in their support for tackling crime like Dudley Council, which has sought to progress match funding for PCSO officers in the borough. This is not about posturing, its about delivering. Jays priority will be police, not politics. Its about providing real change on the ground. The extra firepower we have been given by Government in this funding round will make this possible. For those who havent had enough of elections, 7th May will bring three in the West Midlands. Local people will not only be choosing their local councillors, the candidates for Mayor and PCC will be on the ballot papers too. There are few issues more important than crime, and we must engage with this election both locally and nationally to deliver a Conservative PCC for the West Midlands. The Government is providing the resources to kick-start a new era in policing its up to us in the regions to grasp the opportunity to make our citizens lives safer and happier. The former vice-president of Catalonia returned as a prisoner to the regional parliament in Barcelona, the first time he had been there since he was imprisoned for his role in the failed 2017 secession attempt from the rest of Spain. Oriol Junqueras and five other former Cabinet members released from prison for the occasion were greeted with applause and cheers of Liberty! by a small crowd of supporters inside the parliament building. They were not handcuffed, and no uniformed guards were escorting them, although there were police deployed outside. Regional president Quim Torra and the speaker of the house greeted them with hugs and warm handshakes on arrival. This is the first time that the six have returned to the Catalan parliament since they were taken into custody following the failed October 2017 independence bid. They and three more colleagues were convicted of sedition and misuse of public funds in October by Spains Supreme Court and given sentences of nine to 13 years. Catalonias ex-regional vice-president Oriol Junqueras (Emilio Morenatti/AP) They are serving their sentences in prisons in Catalonia. They were summoned to the regional parliament to attend a committee session addressing the consequences of the central authorities temporary takeover of the regions control at the height of the 2017 crisis. I want to begin by saying that I am very happy to be back in the parliament and to be able to talk to all of you, Mr Junqueras told the commission. I am very happy because I love the parliament and love democracy and love dialogue. Mr Junqueras then used most of this half-hour appearance to insist that he and his colleagues are unjustly imprisoned and that the solution to the political crisis provoked by the separatist movement is dialogue with Spains central government and unionist parties. Nothing we have done is a crime, because holding a referendum is never a crime, Mr Junqueras said about the independence referendum his government held before declaring independence. Story continues We are convicted, we are in prison, but will continue to fight to build a better country and a society that is more just. And to do it with all the tools of our own state. Lorena Roldan, the leader of the pro-union Citizens party in the Catalan parliament, responded to Mr Junqueras by asking him to ask forgiveness for the secession attempt. You have used your appearance here only to preach to your supporters, to continue your movement, to cause more conflict, Ms Roldan said. It is a pity that you did not come here to ask for forgiveness. The return of the prisoners comes at a time when the separatist movement is struggling to maintain the unity of its three main political parties. The situation in Catalonia is Spains gravest political challenge in decades. Polls show residents in the wealthy region of 7.5 million are roughly evenly divided over the question of independence. Spains constitution states that the country is indivisible. The Agriculture Bill, which has now been introduced to Parliament, promises to incentivise farmers and landowners to do more protect the soil, recognising the need to regenerate it for future generations. Leading property consultancy Fisher German, in partnership with agronomists Indigro, has already developed a new soils matrix to make it far easier for farmers to assess their soils health. The matrix assesses several factors relating to soil quality and combines them into a simple score. The higher the score, the better the soil. Factors which affect soil quality, such as soil type, drainage, pH and levels of elements like magnesium and potassium are all considered when calculating the score. Fisher German can use the matrix to advise farmers on what can be done to improve the soils quality, and whether the treatment needed would be cost-effective. Robert Knight, Senior Associate at Fisher German, was very pleased the government had recognised the importance of soil quality in the Agriculture Bill. He said: Farmers and landowners now have more reasons than ever to improve their soil quality not only to improve their productivity and help the environment, but to implement good practice to maximise opportunity to receive future grants from the government too. Fisher German is ahead of the curve in this regard we have already been helping farmers improve their soil through the use of our soils matrix before the Bill was introduced to Parliament. Lola Gomez, MBO / Associated Press Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is returning to Texas for another campaign push through the Lone Star State that will include stops in Houston and El Paso on Wednesday. While other White House contenders have focused on the traditional early voting states Iowa and New Hampshire, Bloomberg has bet big on Texas and other Super Tuesday states that vote on March 3. Bloomberg has already visited Texas four times since getting into the race in late November and is advertising big on television here. The search for Alexander Holden the missing 25-year-old man who vanished without a trace on New Years Eve in California has ended in tragedy. On Monday, the Sacramento Police revealed a body had been found in the American River on Sunday at 3 p.m., explaining the remains have since been identified by the coroner as belonging to Alexander, the son of two Missouri judges Calvin Holden and Margaret Palmietto. Calvin and Palmietto did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment. This is never the outcome we want from any missing person case, our hope is that this may provide some closure for the family, Sacramento Police added in the statement on Twitter. Alexanders father Calvin confirmed the news in a text message to the Springfield News-Leader, saying, Yes, it is true. A Facebook page, which was created in hopes of bringing Alexander to safety, also shared the news. Alexander Holden | Sacramento Police Department Thank you everyone for your help and support in helping to find Alex. This isnt the outcome we had hoped for, as we received devastating news this evening. With heavy hearts we have learned Alex was found deceased today at 3:00 p.m. on the American River Bike trail. Law enforcement has indicated that no foul play was involved. Please keep everyone close to Alex in your prayers, the post read. Alexanders cause of death is not known at this time. RELATED: Man, 25, Goes Missing on New Years Eve in Calif.: He Had No History of Disappearing, Dad Says Alexander, who was also the nephew of a former Missouri governor, disappeared around 2 or 3 a.m. on Tuesday and was last seen in downtown Sacramento, police told NBC News. His girlfriend, Kennedi Perri, first noticed that Holden had gone missing. My sons girlfriend called me because she hadnt been able to contact him and asked me to try and contact him and I couldnt either, Palmietto, Holdens mother, told KCRA. Story continues Update, today the Sac County Coroner has identified the body located yesterday at 3:00PM in the American River as missing person Alex Holden. This is never the outcome we want from any missing person case, our hope is that this may provide some closure for the family https://t.co/IIMxX5nSaw Sacramento Police (@SacPolice) January 28, 2020 According to Palmietto, Holden and Perri had plans for New Years Eve that night, and when Holden didnt show, Perri began to worry. They had plans that evening with a bunch of friends and it was really out of character for him to be absent for something like that, Palmietto told the outlet. Holdens father reiterated to the Springfield News-Leader that his son had no history of disappearing and he remains very concerned. The Sacramento Police shared an attempt to locate missing person to their Twitter account Wednesday, urging for help from the community. The Sacramento Police Department is asking for the communitys assistance in helping us locate a missing person. 25 year old Alexander Holden was last seen on December 31, 2019. He is 6 foot 1 and 190 LBS with brown hair and brown eyes, the post read. In a follow-up tweet, the department added, He was last seen wearing a tan pullover as pictured below in the first picture. He was last seen in the Downtown Sacramento area. Holdens disappearance is uncharacteristic and family is concerned for his welfare. If you have any info on Holdens whereabouts please call 911. RELATED: Police Find Body of Paighton Houston Who Went Missing After Leaving Bar and Texting I Feel in Trouble Perri also spread the word of her missing boyfriend on Facebook with a series of posts about the situation. Alex, we will not give up. I will not give up. We love you so so much, and will do anything to have you home soon, safe and sound. You mean the world to so so many people, and we are all praying and praying for your safe return. Please. I love you so much, she wrote on Saturday. Sales of $533 million, down 7% versus prior-year quarter Net income of $32 million, or $0.53 per diluted share Income from continuing operations of $34 million, or $0.56 per diluted share Adjusted income from continuing operations of $8 million, or $0.13 per diluted share Adjusted EBITDA of $88 million WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (ASH) today announced preliminary1 financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 ended December 31, 2019. The global specialty materials company serves customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets. Sales were $533 million, down 7 percent versus the prior-year quarter, driven primarily by weaker demand in consumer end markets, the impact of the prior-year business loss at Pharmachem, and weaker demand in industrial end markets. Net income was $32 million compared to a loss of $48 million in the prior-year quarter. Income from continuing operations was $34 million compared to a loss of $71 million in the prior-year quarter, or $0.56 per diluted share compared to a loss of $1.14 in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted income from continuing operations was $8 million, down from $9 million in the prior-year quarter, or $0.13 per diluted share, down from $0.14 the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $88 million, down from $100 million in the prior-year quarter due primarily to lower sales in Specialty Ingredients and higher plant-turnaround costs in Intermediates & Solvents. As expected, results in the quarter were challenged by market weakness and the impact of business loss that occurred last year, said Guillermo Novo, Ashlands chairman and chief executive officer. The combination of actions we are taking internally plus the prospect for less global uncertainty in the coming quarters should support our momentum for steadily improving results during fiscal year 2020. We took important steps over the past few months in realigning the Specialty Ingredients business by adding new leadership, beginning the process to empower the business units to drive success in their businesses, and starting some cost-improvement activities, added Novo. I look forward to sharing additional thoughts on our plans and the progress we have made on the conference call with securities analysts tomorrow morning. Story continues Reportable Segment Performance To aid in the understanding of Ashlands ongoing business performance, the results of Ashlands reportable segments are described below on an adjusted basis. In addition, EBITDA, or adjusted EBITDA, is reconciled to operating income in Table 5, free cash flow and adjusted operating income are reconciled in Table 7, and adjusted income from continuing operations and adjusted diluted earnings per share are reconciled in Table 8 of this news release. These adjusted results are considered non-GAAP financial measures. For a full description of the non-GAAP financial measures used, see the Use of Non-GAAP Measures section that further describes these adjustments below. Specialty Ingredients Sales were $505 million, down 9 percent from the prior-year quarter, due primarily to weaker demand in consumer end markets, the impact of the prior-year business loss at Pharmachem, and weaker demand in industrial end markets. Unfavorable foreign currency reduced sales by 1 percent. Operating income was $44 million, down 19 percent compared to the prior-year quarter on an adjusted basis. Adjusted EBITDA was $102 million, down 9 percent from the prior-year quarter, as lower sales and gross profit were partially offset by lower selling, general and administrative (SG&A) costs. Intermediates & Solvents Sales were $28 million, up 22 percent from the prior-year quarter, as sales in the prior-year quarter were weaker than normal. Operating income was a loss of $12 million, down from zero in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $9 million, down from $3 million in the prior-year quarter, as the previously-disclosed planned catalyst changeover plus the unexpected maintenance work at the Lima, Ohio facility resulted in $12 million of additional costs versus the prior year. Unallocated & Other Unallocated and other expense was $15 million, compared to $33 million in the prior-year quarter, primarily due to lower restructuring-related expenses and the elimination of stranded costs. Adjusted unallocated and other expense was $8 million, compared to $16 million in the prior-year quarter, primarily due to the elimination of stranded costs. Outlook Chairman and CEO Guillermo Novo will provide commentary on the outlook for Ashland during the conference call with securities analysts on Tuesday, January 28, 2020. Conference Call Webcast Ashland will host a live webcast of its first-quarter conference call with securities analysts at 9 a.m. EST Tuesday, January 28, 2020. The webcast will be accessible through Ashlands website at http://investor.ashland.com and will include a slide presentation. Following the live event, an archived version of the webcast and supporting materials will be available for 12 months. Use of Non-GAAP Measures Ashland believes that by removing the impact of depreciation and amortization and excluding certain non-cash charges, amounts spent on interest and taxes and certain other charges that are highly variable from year to year, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, EBITDA margin and adjusted EBITDA margin provide Ashlands investors with performance measures that reflect the impact to operations from trends in changes in sales, margin and operating expenses, providing a perspective not immediately apparent from net income, operating income, net income margin and operating income margin. The adjustments Ashland makes to derive the non-GAAP measures of EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, EBITDA margin and adjusted EBITDA margin exclude items which may cause short-term fluctuations in net income and operating income and which Ashland does not consider to be the fundamental attributes or primary drivers of its business. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, EBITDA margin and adjusted EBITDA margin provide disclosure on the same basis as that used by Ashlands management to evaluate financial performance on a consolidated and reportable segment basis and provide consistency in our financial reporting, facilitate internal and external comparisons of Ashlands historical operating performance and its business units and provide continuity to investors for comparability purposes. EBITDA margin and adjusted EBITDA margin are defined as EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA divided by sales for the corresponding period. Key items, which are set forth on Table 8 of this release, are defined as financial effects from significant transactions that, either by their nature or amount, have caused short-term fluctuations in net income and/or operating income which Ashland does not consider to most accurately reflect Ashlands underlying business performance and trends. Further, Ashland believes that providing supplemental information that excludes the financial effects of these items in the financial results will enhance the investors ability to compare financial performance between reporting periods. Tax-specific key items, which are set forth on Table 8 of this release, are defined as financial transactions, tax law changes or other matters that fall within the definition of key items as described above. These items relate solely to tax matters and would only be recorded within the income tax caption of the Statement of Consolidated Income. As with all key items, due to their nature, Ashland does not consider the financial effects of these tax-specific key items on net income to be the most accurate reflection of Ashlands underlying business performance and trends. The free cash flow metric enables Ashland to provide a better indication of the ongoing cash being generated that is ultimately available for both debt and equity holders as well as other investment opportunities. Unlike cash flow provided by operating activities, free cash flow includes the impact of capital expenditures from continuing operations, providing a more complete picture of cash generation. Free cash flow has certain limitations, including that it does not reflect adjustment for certain non-discretionary cash flows such as mandatory debt repayments. The amount of mandatory versus discretionary expenditures can vary significantly between periods. Adjusted diluted earnings per share is a performance measure used by Ashland and is defined by Ashland as earnings (loss) from continuing operations, adjusted for identified key items and divided by the number of outstanding diluted shares of common stock. Ashland believes this measure provides investors additional insights into operational performance by providing earnings and diluted earnings per share metrics that exclude the effect of the identified key items and tax specific key items. About Ashland Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (ASH) is a premier global specialty materials company serving customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets, including adhesives, architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care and pharmaceutical. At Ashland, we are approximately 4,700 passionate, tenacious solvers from renowned scientists and research chemists to talented engineers and plant operators who thrive on developing practical, innovative and elegant solutions to complex problems for customers in more than 100 countries. Visit ashland.com to learn more. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains 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. Ashland has identified some of these forward-looking statements with words such as anticipates, believes, expects, estimates, is likely, predicts, projects, forecasts, objectives, may, will, should, plans and intends and the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. Ashland may from time to time make forward-looking statements in its annual reports, quarterly reports and other filings with the SEC, news releases and other written and oral communications. These forward-looking statements are based on Ashlands expectations and assumptions, as of the date such statements are made, regarding Ashlands future operating performance and financial condition, as well as the economy and other future events or circumstances. These statements include but may not be limited to Ashlands expectations regarding its ability to drive sales and earnings growth and realize further cost reductions. Ashlands expectations and assumptions include, without limitation, internal forecasts and analyses of current and future market conditions and trends, management plans and strategies, operating efficiencies and economic conditions (such as prices, supply and demand, cost of raw materials, and the ability to recover raw-material cost increases through price increases), and risks and uncertainties associated with the following: the impact of acquisitions and/or divestitures Ashland has made or may make (including the possibility that Ashland may not realize the anticipated benefits from such transactions); Ashlands substantial indebtedness (including the possibility that such indebtedness and related restrictive covenants may adversely affect Ashlands future cash flows, results of operations, financial condition and its ability to repay debt); severe weather, natural disasters, cyber events and legal proceedings and claims (including product recalls, environmental and asbestos matters); and without limitation, risks and uncertainties affecting Ashland that are described in Ashlands most recent Form 10-K (including Item 1A Risk Factors) filed with the SEC, which is available on Ashlands website at http://investor.ashland.com or on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov. Various risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from those stated, projected or implied by any forward-looking statements. Ashland believes its expectations and assumptions are reasonable, but there can be no assurance that the expectations reflected herein will be achieved. Unless legally required, Ashland undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 1Financial results are preliminary until Ashlands Form 10-Q is filed with the SEC Trademark, Ashland or its subsidiaries, registered in various countries. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Investor Relations: Media Relations: Seth A. Mrozek Carolmarie C. Brown +1 (302) 594-5010 +1 (302) 258-5549 samrozek@ashland.com c cbrown@ashland.com Attachment As I get older I find I am less drawn to climbing the pyramids when I travel, and more inclined to planning my trips around whats to eat there? After having decided on Madrid as our next destination, my wife Tip and I booked a cooking course at Alambique before Id even finalized the hotel arrangements. Spanish food? Im all in. Chef, author, and instructor Maria Jimenez-Latorre, with Kevin Revolinski. (Kevin Revolinski) Alambique is a veritable institution. In 1974, Clara-Maria Gonzalez de Amezua, a 40-something mother of eight children, attended a bread-baking class at a kitchenware store while on a trip to New York City. As the participants waited for the dough to rise, the owner of the school excused herself to go pick up her kids from school. Clara-Maria had been looking for a business idea that could survive even tough times, something that patrons would need no matter what. Everyones got to eat, after all, so she focused on one of her passions: cooking. The instructor shows the difference between the male and female partridges, an important matter for cooking times. (Kevin Revolinski) Conveniently, she was friends with American celebrity chef Julia Child as well as Elizabeth David, an accomplished British cookery author and big promoter of home cooking in the UK. After consulting with David, who had a kitchenware store that also offered cooking courses, Clara-Maria partnered with three friends in 1975 to open one of her own: Alambique, a shop filled with wares for the aspiring cookmany of them at that time imported, hard-to-find items such as garlic pressesand a kitchen area set aside for instruction. Pisto, Spains answer to ratatouille. (Kevin Revolinski) The Second Generation Clara-Maria would go on to receive national honors for her efforts to promote Spanish cuisine, even traveling the world as an ambassador for Spanish extra-virgin olive oil. In 2006, she also won the Silver Spoon Award from the James Beard Foundation in the United States. Her creation is the original, the longest operating kitchenware store and cooking school in Spain. Now in its second generationowned and managed by her daughter Maria LlamasAlambique continues to promote a passion for good food, home cooking, and the character of the Spanish kitchen. At the school we dont believe that one size fits all, so we collaborate with carefully selected chefs, expert home cooks and specialists for different topics, says Maria Llamas, carrying on her mothers mission. Browning the partridges before cooking them in a pressure cooker. (Kevin Revolinski) Cooking With the 5 Senses We encourage our students to learn to cook using the five senses, so where possible we include trips to the market and as often as possible we make classes hands-on. Cooking is part of culture, so we also seek to convey the context and history of the recipes being taught. We found the shop on a corner in the old city, not far from the Royal Palace. Our instructor that day was Maria Jimenez-Latorre, an accomplished chef whose first lesson, she says, was in Alambique when she was 2. Her mother and Clara-Maria were friends, and Maria herself was a childhood friend of Maria Llamas, Clara-Marias daughter. Maria is the author of Magias en la Cocina (Magic in the Kitchenher husband is an actual magician), a cookbook designed for teenagers with dishes one can cook in 50 minutes, recipes for hosting guests, and 24 different ways to cook eggs. We are all children when we are moved outside our kitchens, outside our cookingand eatingcomfort zones, she said. Bunuelos de Viento or Wind Puffs, sprinkled with powdered sugarmoments before magically disappearing. (Kevin Revolinski) Getting Down to Cooking Thats what I was thinking when Maria started us on our first dish: partridge with chocolate sauce. These werent from the market; Maria had gone to Toledo for free-range, hunted birds, cleaned and plucked that morning. Alambique offers scheduled classes as well as special private events for groups or individuals. (Kevin Revolinski) You have to try the real product. The taste is different from farm-raised, she said. She showed us how to identify the males by the espolon (a spur) on their legs. This was important, because it takes more time to cook the leaner muscular males. She showed us how tender the skin was as we tied the wings to the body of each. If the skin breaks too much, they are not for cooking, she warned, then make pate. An hour-long class wasnt enough time to slow-cook them, so we used a pressure cooker. Maria noticed my cringe at cutting the legs off the partridge. A group of foreign students once told me, We want the real paella, with escargot and rabbit. They were not going to eat it. I knew! So I brought a rabbit and a chicken. And I showed them the rabbit, and they started to cry. She laughs. A rabbit is a pet, you know? We have a lot of dishes with calamari ink. But we dont eat black food. But everything in gastronomy is education. If you are not used to eating it, you dont want to. Under Marias careful and patient tutelage, we browned the partridges in a pan and prepared the other ingredients, which included freshly grated nutmeg, peppers, tomatoes, and Jerez wine, before placing everything in the pressure cooker. Two cubes of chocolate were set aside for the final turn of the sauce in a pan just before serving. While the partridges cooked, we diced vegetables to make pisto, Spains answer to ratatouille: a traditional dish that varies from region to region, but is most strongly associated with La Mancha, a plains region to the south of Madrid, known in part for the windmills Don Quixote chases in the classic Cervantes novel. Maria Jimenez-Latorre adds chocolate to the sauce for the partridge. (Kevin Revolinski) Maria teased me as the onions bring tears to my eyes. Its not about the rabbits, I assured her. As we chopped (and cried), Maria sang us the praises of Spanish olive oil. In an industry rife with fraud, finding pure, high-quality extra-virgin olive oil can be a challenge, but it makes all the difference in cooking. Spain produces some of the finest oil but many still associate the product primarily with Italy or Greece. Ending on a Sweet Note Our final dish was dessert: Bunuelos de Viento or Wind Puffs, fried-dough balls traditionally made for All Saints Day. The wind in the name comes from air pockets, which double the volume of the tiny pastries when they hit the fry oil. They may be served sprinkled with sugar or even a squirt of filling. It is easy to make them, she says. It is our grandmothers recipe. Some recipes call for water, others only milk, while still others use a blend of the two. Some add vanilla, lemon, or cinnamon. Try it a different way each time, she suggested. It depends on your grandmother! All of them are right. We dropped spoonfuls of batter into hot oil and got a plateful, which we served in varying styles. A few of mine looked a little wonky, but all were delicious. I tested them all to be sure. So often our studies end with final examinations, but in cooking classes, thats a good thing. We fried eggs in oil to place upon the pisto, plated the partridge and its luxurious sauce, and sprinkled the bunuelos with powdered sugar. Maria poured us some wine and we graduates had our first self-cooked Spanish meal. If You Go Alambique class schedules and programs vary from season to season, and the courses, typically 2 to 3 hours long, are scheduled for afternoons and early evenings as well as Saturday mornings. Skill levels range from absolute beginners to master chef, and are either demonstrations or hands-on cooking experiences. Spanish language is typical, but both resident and visiting chefs offer courses in other languages and even other cuisines. Prices start around 50 euros per person ($55), and there are also multi-session package courses, all listed on the website. Private options, either personal or for larger groups, can also be arranged in Spanish, French, or English. Kevin Revolinski is an avid traveler and the author of 15 books, including The Yogurt Man Cometh: Tales of an American Teacher in Turkey and several outdoor and brewery guidebooks. He is based in Madison, Wis., and his website is TheMadTraveler.com Portions of this trip were sponsored by the Madrid Tourist Board. A life prison sentence over a $30 marijuana sale appeared a bit too much for at least a few Louisiana Supreme Court justices to swallow on Monday during oral arguments over the fate of an Abbeville man who landed on the wrong end of the states habitual offender law. Chief Justice Bernette Johnson and Justice Scott Crichton were the most vocal in questioning a Vermilion Parish judges claim, when he handed Derek Harris a life sentence in 2012, that he had no other choice. During oral arguments that drew a spillover crowd to Tulane Law School on Monday afternoon, the states highest court grappled with Harris legal dilemma -- having failed to challenge the constitutionality of his terminal sentence, due to what he argues was fatally bad lawyering. A state court precedent more than two decades old says convicts cant challenge their sentences after they've exhausted their direct appeals. Louisiana Supreme Court to review life sentence over $30 marijuana sale at Tulane hearing The weight of marijuana in a typical joint is what Derek Harris handed an undercover agent who knocked on his door in Abbeville in 2008. Harris trial attorney never brought up an earlier Supreme Court ruling that says judges can override minimum mandatory sentences if they find that the punishment so far outweighs the crime as to shock the conscience. If there was a case that warranted mention of that ruling, Harris' case might have been it. Harris, an Army veteran said to have served honorably in Operation Desert Storm, offered up .69 grams of the drug to an undercover agent who knocked on his door in 2008. Four years later, 15th Judicial District Judge Durwood Conque found Harris guilty of marijuana distribution, a Vermilion Parish prosecutor invoked the states habitual-offender law, and Conque sentenced Harris to life as a four-time loser. Harris prior convictions dated back to a 1991 conviction for dealing cocaine, according to court filings. He was subsequently convicted of simple robbery in 1992 and 1993, simple burglary in 1997 and theft under $500 in 2005, said Cormac Boyle, an attorney with the Promise of Justice Initiative who argued Harris case Monday. Boyle said ample evidence suggests a struggle with mental illness linked to his military service, not a penchant for criminality behind his rap sheet. But that mitigating evidence never came up as Conque dealt Harris a life sentence with no shot at parole under a habitual-offender law that gives prosecutors broad discretion. Courts have a duty to make sure the punishment fits the crime. That didnt happen here, Boyle argued Monday. This court has always retained the right to say a sentence is excessive. Dale Lee, an attorney for the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, countered that the court would open the door to thousands of sentencing challenges if it broke with 24 years of precedent and allowed Harris a new hearing at this stage. 'It means the world for him': New Orleans man serving life for pot possession gets lighter term A New Orleans man who was ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison for marijuana possession as a habitual offender will instead walk fr He said the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal long ago dismissed an appeal that included a challenge to Harris' sentence, a decision the Louisiana Supreme Court declined to upset. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Johnson, the chief justice, was the most vocal in casting doubt on that argument, and whether Conque even knew he could deem a life sentence for Harris unconstitutional and settle on a lower prison term. Harris attorney never brought it up. Mandatory life for the smallest amount of marijuana. Does it violate the 8th Amendment? Is it excessive? Thats what were talking about, Johnson said. Law students and others filled the hall for the hearing, and more filled a side classroom where they watched on a screen. Johnson offered a nod to the large student turnout, and the topic at hand. Were talking about .69 grams. Most students understand its legal in many states, Johnson said. We wont ask who smokes it. The comment drew laughter. Crichton, a more conservative jurist, pointed to what appeared to be a lack of mitigating evidence presented to the judge to argue for a lower sentence during the habitual offender proceedings. We depend on the lawyers to provide us with aggravating factors as well as mitigating factors, Crichton said. Crichton also noted no evidence in the court record that the judge considered much of that, if any, when he handed Harris a life sentence. Conque told Harris at his initial sentencing -- before the multiple-bill hearing -- that he didnt think a 30-year maximum sentence was warranted. Instead, he handed Harris 15 years. But after prosecutors invoked the habitual-offender law, the judge said he had no choice. I agree that youre not what we would think of as a drug dealer, so far as I can tell, he told Harris. But you are a four-time felon, and that presents problems that I cant overcome for you no matter how much I would want to. Kristen Wenstrom, an attorney arguing on Harris behalf for the Louisiana Public Defender Board, said the way the law has been interpreted, convicts like Harris are in what Justice John Weimer described as a trick bag, with no good option to argue that their lawyers failed them at sentencing. Its clear he received ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing, Wenstrom argued. When thats violated, we need a remedy. Former Bihar Minister and RJD MLA Abdul Gafoor died at a hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday, family sources said. He was 60 and is survived by wife, three sons and three daughters. Gafoor, who represents Mahishi assembly constituency in Bihar Assembly, was suffering from liver ailment for past quite some time and was admitted to the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), Delhi a week ago. He breathed his last this morning at the ILBS hospital. His body will be brought to Patna by this evening and he will be buried on Wednesday at his native Boharba village in Saharsa district, family sources said. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed profound grief over Gafoor's death and announced that his funeral rites (burial) will be carried out with full state honours, an official release said. In his condolence message, Kumar said that Gafoor was an efficient politician and noted social worker. He was a soft spoken and simple person. Kumar prayed to almighty to give strength and courage to the family members to bear the loss, it said. Information and Public Relations Department Minister Neeraj Kumar also condoled the death of Gafoor and said that his untimely death has caused irreparable loss to the public life. Former Bihar CM and RJD president Lalu Prasad, his wife and former CM Rabri Devi, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and a host of leaders of RJD and other political parties condoled the death of Gafoor and said that the entire RJD family is pained today as it has lost its one of the most committed party leaders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to promote cooperation in exchange of best practices, Trend reports with reference to Astana International Finance Center (AIFC). Within the framework of the official visit of Kazakhstans President Kassym Jomart Tokayev to the UAE, which started on Jan. 27, the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding. The parties agreed to promote cooperation in exchange of best practices, holding of mutual consultations, discussion of laws applicable in both jurisdictions, sharing of information between CBUAE and AFSA in performance of regulatory and supervisory functions in relations to cross-border establishments in their respective jurisdictions. CBUAE is the Banking Supervisory and Monetary Authority of the UAE. AFSA is the independent regulator of AIFC, which is established in accordance with the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan On the Astana International Financial Center for the purposes of regulating activities related to financial services in AIFC. As such, AFSA administers the AIFC Regulations and Rules, which provides, among other things, for the authorization, registration, recognition and supervision of financial firms and market institutions. --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh Washington Senators faced mounting pressure Monday to summon John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial even as Trump's lawyers brushed past extraordinary new allegations from Trump's former national security adviser and focused instead on corruption in Ukraine and historical arguments for acquittal. Outside the Senate chamber, Republicans grappled with claims in a forthcoming book from Bolton that Trump had wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it committed to helping with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. That assertion could undercut a key defense argument that Trump never tied the suspension of security aid to political investigations. The revelation clouded White House hopes for a swift end to the impeachment trial, fueling Democratic demands for witnesses and possibly pushing more Republican lawmakers to agree. It also distracted from hours of arguments from Trump's lawyers, who declared anew that no witness has testified to direct knowledge that Trump's delivery of aid was contingent on investigations into Democrats. Bolton appeared poised to say exactly that if called on by the Senate to appear. "We deal with transcript evidence; we deal with publicly available information," attorney Jay Sekulow said. "We do not deal with speculation." Trump is charged with abusing his presidential power by asking Ukraine's leader to help investigate Biden at the same time Trump was ordering that millions of dollars in aid be withheld. A second charge accuses Trump of obstructing Congress in its probe. Trump's legal team on Monday launched a wide-ranging attack on the entire impeachment process. They said there was no basis to remove Trump from office, defended his actions as appropriate and assailed Biden, who is campaigning for the Democratic nomination to oppose Trump in November. The lawyers focused particular attention on Biden and his son Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukraine gas company at the same time his father was leading the Obama administration's diplomatic dealings with Kyiv. They argued that Trump had legitimate reasons to be suspicious of the younger Biden's business dealings and concerned about corruption in Ukraine and that, in any event, he ultimately released the aid without Ukraine committing to investigations the president wanted. Democrats point out that Trump did so only after a whistleblower submitted a complaint about the situation. Trump has sought, without providing evidence, to implicate the Bidens in the kind of corruption that has long plagued Ukraine. Ken Starr, whose independent counsel investigation into President Bill Clinton resulted in his impeachment Clinton was acquitted by the Senate bemoaned what he said was an "age of impeachment." Impeachment, he said, requires both an actual crime and a "genuine national consensus" that the president must go. Neither exists here, Starr said. "It's filled with acrimony and it divides the country like nothing else," Starr said of impeachment. "Those of us who lived through the Clinton impeachment understand that in a deep and personal way." Even as defense lawyers laid out their case as planned, it was clear that Bolton's book had scrambled the debate over whether to seek witnesses. Bolton writes that Trump told him he wanted to withhold security aid from Ukraine until the country helped him with investigations. Trump's legal team has insisted otherwise, and Trump tweeted Monday that he never told Bolton such a thing. Republican senators face a pivotal moment. Pressure is mounting for at least four to buck GOP leaders and form a bipartisan majority to force the issue. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. "John Bolton's relevance to our decision has become increasingly clear," GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told reporters. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said that she has always wanted "the opportunity for witnesses" and that the report about Bolton's book "strengthens the case." At a private GOP lunch, Romney made the case for calling Bolton, according to a person unauthorized to discuss the meeting and granted anonymity. Other Republicans, including Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, said if Trump's former national security adviser is called they will demand reciprocity to hear from at least one of their witnesses. Some Republicans want to call the Bidens. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared unmoved by news of the Bolton book. His message at the lunch, said Indiana GOP Sen. Mike Braun, was, "Take a deep breath, and let's take one step at a time." Once the president's team wraps its arguments no later than Tuesday, senators have 16 hours for questions to both sides. By late in the week, they are expected to hold a vote on whether to hear from any witnesses. While Democrats say Bolton's revelations are reminiscent of the Watergate drip of new information, Republicans are counting on concerns subsiding by the time senators are asked to vote. They are being told that if there is agreement to summon Bolton, the White House will resist, claiming executive privilege. That would launch a weeks-long court battle that could drag out the impeachment trial, a scenario some GOP senators would rather avoid. Trump and his lawyers have argued repeatedly that Democrats are using impeachment to try to undo the results of the last presidential election and drive Trump from office. Trump tweeted for viewers to tune in to the "hoax," advertising the trial's start time. Some in the White House had hoped the legal team would steer away from the Bidens but acknowledged the Bolton revelations contributed to the decision to stay focused on the family. They worry about squandering what good will they've earned with the Senate, where Biden served for decades. Democrats, meanwhile, say Trump's refusal to allow administration officials to testify only reinforces that the White House is hiding evidence. The White House has had Bolton's manuscript for about a month, according to a letter from Bolton's attorney. Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer said: "We're all staring a White House cover-up in the face." Rep. Adam Schiff, who leads the House prosecution team, called Bolton's account a test for the senators sitting as jurors. "I don't know how you can explain that you wanted a search for the truth in this trial and say you don't want to hear from a witness who had a direct conversation about the central allegation in the articles of impeachment," Schiff said on CNN. Bolton's account was first reported by The New York Times and was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the manuscript on the condition of anonymity. "The Room Where It Happened; A White House Memoir" is to be released March 17. Joe Biden, campaigning in Iowa, said he sees no reason for testimony by him or his son. "I have nothing to defend. This is all a game, even if they bring me up," he told reporters. "What is there to defend? This is all the reason he's being impeached is because he tried to get a government to smear me and they wouldn't. Come on." Trump said people could look at transcripts of his call with Ukrainian President Zelinskiy to see there was no pressure for investigations to get the aid. In that call, Trump asked Zelinskiy to "do us a favor" with the investigations as he was withholding nearly $400 million in military aid to the U.S. ally at war with Russia. Trump falsely claimed Monday that the Democrat-controlled House "never even asked John Bolton to testify." Democrats did ask Bolton to testify, but he didn't show up for his deposition. They later declined to subpoena Bolton, as they had others, because he threatened to sue, which could have led to a prolonged court battle. Eventual acquittal is likely in a Senate where a two-thirds majority vote would be needed for conviction. Democrats argued their side of the impeachment case for three days last week, contending that Trump will persist in endangering American democracy unless Congress intervenes to remove him before the 2020 election. Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the National Cadet Corps Rally in Delhi, he slammed all those opposing the recently amended citizenship act. In an all blown attack on the Congress and the opposition ahead of the Delhi polls, the Prime Minister said that leaders who were part of the Independence movement had also promised to help the minorities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. He alleged that political parties opposing CAA are doing it to secure their vote bank. Repeating his sensational claims that he had made while kickstarting the Delhi assembly election campaign on December 22, Prime Minister slammed those who are trying to make the anti-CAA protest a "Dalit protest." He said that "most of the refugees from Pakistan are Dalits." PM said: "Since Independence, leaders who had helped Partition had promised the minorities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh that they can come back if they are persecuted. Gandhi Ji had the same wish as well. This was the same emotion behind the Nehru-Liaquat Pact. It was India's responsibility to protect these people who were continuously persecuted on religious grounds. Now that our Govt has brought the Citizenship Amendment Act, some political parties are holding on to their vote-banks." 'Do not commit such blunder': Rajnath on anti-CAA resolutions passed by non-BJP states PM Modi slammed the opposers of CAA saying: "Why can't they see such persecution in Pakistan? They need to answer these questions. Some of them are trying to become the voice of Dalits. These are the same people who can't see the persecution of Dalits in Pakistan. They need to understand that the refugees that have come in, most of them, are Dalits." PM Modi sets the record straight over CAA, adds 'NRC was drafted by Congress' Quoting an advertisement by Pakistan army, PM Modi said that they had specified that only "non-Muslims" can apply. "It was an ad for cleaning workers. It said that only non-Muslims could apply for the post. That means it was for minorities. This is shocking." Citing Adnan Sami's case, BSP urges Centre to bring oppressed Muslims into CAA ambit What PM Modi said in Ram Lila Maidan on Dec 22? Kickstarting BJP's campaign in the national capital, PM Modi made clarifications about that the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying it has nothing to do with Indian citizens. PM Modi claimed that Congress and other opposition have resorted to divide and rule. He urged people to read the NRC document and Citizenship act. He also said that his government has never discussed NRC and that it was brought under Congress' regime. This despite Home Minister Amit Shah speaking about a pan-India NRC at several occasions, including the Republic Summit 2019. The Prime Minister also pointed out that the majority of the refugees who had come to Pakistan were Dalits. Moreover, the PM also mentioned that the girls belonging to the minority community in Pakistan faced forcible marriage and conversion. He also observed that the refugees from countries such as Pakistan had been staying in India for many years. Researchers from Lucknow get mistaken for 'NRC surveyors' in Bihar; handed over to police Rev. Lee Hong-jung, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea, poses during an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Park Ji-won NCCK leader vows churches' role for social inclusion, peace By Park Ji-won Gay and lesbian rights are a thorny issue for churches all around the world. As can be expected from members of conservative circles, there are vocal critics of sexual minorities. Still, considering the sensitivity of the issue, it is no surprise that many Korean churches either remain silent or hesitant to make their stances about the issue public. But a group of Korean churches have defied the norm and openly support gay and lesbian rights, saying sexual identity is a basic human right and thus claim they need to be respected. The group at the center of public attention is the National Council of Churches in Korea, a coalition of Korea's oldest churches better known by the acronym NCCK. Rev. Lee Hong-jung, general secretary of the NCCK, reiterated that there has been no change in the church group's position on gay and lesbian rights, although their stance has invited a slew of criticism from many Korean churches. "When we see people in difficult situations, even though they had past criminal records, it is natural for we Christians to help them," he said during a recent Korea Times interview at his office in Seoul. "Of course, homosexuality is not a crime. What the NCCK is trying to say is that people's basic human rights should be respected including sexual identity. It is all about human rights." Rev. Lee serves as the de facto representative of the coalition, participating in various international meetings including one for the World Council of Churches. The NCCK has been an active supporter of the proposed anti-discrimination act, which has yet to be introduced largely due to fierce opposition from conservative Christians. He noted sexual minorities need to be dealt with in an ethical manner, but also from the perspective of God's love. A Christian activist holds a banner urging the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to take down the rainbow flag in this May 27, 2019 file photo. The U.S. Embassy raised it ahead of the Queer Culture Festival in central Seoul in June last year. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Who thinks life in the military is boring? D.A. Wells proves his readers wrong as he narrates his story in his debut book The PFC (published by AuthorHouse). The author met his friend who writes articles for a local newspaper and urged him to write a book. Because his life in the military contains stories that are worth telling, he decided to pen his story. Many strange things occurred during Wells two-year military stint. These events were described as funny, weird and unexplainable. Wells narrates his adventures through a series of short stories. These stories include his experience during his basic training, his encounter with a certain Miss Italy, his short-lived love story with the colonels daughter and his stay at Trieste. Visit https://www.amazon.com/Pfc-Duane-Wells/dp/1728329051/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=9781728329055&qid=1577425868&s=books&sr=1-1 to know more about his story. Wells invites readers to laugh as he offers them a series of entertaining stories of the things that can happen even when an enlisted soldier is not in combat. Here is an excerpt taken from the book: One day while waiting at Camp Kilmer to go overseas, a friend and I were heading toward the gate to go off camp for the afternoon that weekend. About a block before the gate, a Chevy hardtop with a light blue and white paint job stopped beside us and a captain jumped out and started raking us over the coals for not saluting him. When in his car we could not see his rank, but this guy was what we call a Chicken-Shit Officer. The PFC By D. A. Wells Softcover | 5x8 in | 112 pages | ISBN 9781728329055 E-Book | 112 pages | ISBN 9781728329048 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble About the Author D. A. Wells is a first-time writer who, in his former vocation, wrote instructions to assemble weldments and for other types of assemblies. He also wrote research papers about biblical facts that showed some religions who have some facts incorrect from what they preach. AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industrys only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse celebrates over 23 years of service to authors. For more information or to publish a book visit authorhouse.com or call 1-888-519-5121. The International Monetary Fund makes regular estimates of worldwide subsidies to fossil fuels subsidies that partly take the form of tax breaks and outright cash grants, but mainly involve not holding the industry accountable for the indirect costs it imposes. In 2017 it put these subsidies at $5.2 trillion; yes, thats trillion with a T. For the U.S., the subsidies amounted to $649 billion, which is about $3 million for every worker employed in the extraction of coal, oil and gas. The Qimam Fellowship program of Saudi Arabia said that applications are now open for the third edition of the highly selective leadership development program. Students from across Saudi Arabia participating in bachelors and masters programs in the kingdom or abroad are eligible to apply. The application period will last from January 28 to February 27. Fifty successful applicants will be notified by March 31 and the two-week intensive program will take place from June 2 and conclude on June 13. The Qimam Fellowship program was founded by McKinsey & Company and Dr Annas Abedin, a McKinsey Alumnus and entrepreneur, on the premise that Saudi is rich with untapped local talent with great potential to contribute to the Kingdoms ambitious transformation. Qimam was launched to identify, equip and empower the most promising university students in the country with advanced skillsets needed to lead in todays ever complex world. The program has seen tremendous growth since its inception in 2018, beginning with 13,000 applicants in the first year and growing to 18,000 applicants in 2019. Last year, 50% of the 50 candidates selected were women. The program provides fellows with one-on-one mentorship from senior public and private sector leaders, leadership training by industry experts and professionals, and visits to the Saudi Arabian offices of top national and international companies. Selected candidates also gain exclusive membership in the Qimam Alumni Network as well as award for their distinctiveness upon completion of the program during a widely attended, high-profile ceremony. Abdullah Saidan, associate partner at McKinsey Middle East said: Given the vast pool of intellectually-curious, emerging talent in Saudi Arabia, the countrys youth has immense potential to have a direct impact on the transformations underway. Strategic initiatives like the Qimam Fellowship have highlighted the many reasons the nation should be optimistic for its future, as the Program has gone from strength to strength. Nurturing young talent in the Kingdom is an obligation we take to heart. And its why it makes me proud to be able to contribute and give back in a way that matters so much to the future of our country. Dr Annas Abedin, co-founder of Qimam, said: Qimam offers high-potential university students access to some of the Kingdoms most prominent industry leaders. The one-to-one mentorship, counsel and professional advice they receive will give them unique perspectives and opportunities to achieve on their tremendous potential. The program targets bachelors and masters students at any Saudi university, as well as Saudi nationals studying for a bachelors or masters degree at universities abroad. Fellows will be selected based on their academic achievements, their level of initiative-taking outside of the classroom, and their efforts or ideas related to social responsibility. The application form and more details about the Qimam Fellowship can be found on qimam.com In its 2020 edition, Qimam has partnered with 30 local and international companies who are working together with Qimam to empower promising university graduates and student leaders in Saudi Arabia. TradeArabia News Service A man from Birmingham who has recently returned from virus-hit Wuhan has said he remains in isolation as a video showing paramedics wearing hazmat suits escorting a person into the back of an ambulance in the city sparked fears. In the footage, shared on social media, a man wearing a face mask and black hoodie is escorted out of a home on a residential street in Harborne and into a waiting ambulance. Paramedics, wearing protective clothing including a white hazmat suit, gloves and a mask with a visor, follow the patient into the cab. There were also two paramedics not in protective clothing. The man, who BirminghamLive named as Drew Bennett, recently returned from Wuhan on December 31 and soon began suffering from flu-like symptoms. "When I went to the GP on Monday and he asked as a precaution if I had been to China, he seemed really concerned," he told BirminghamLive. "I was sent home and before I knew it, ambulances and people in hazmat suits had turned up. "I'm now in isolation at the QE and just waiting to get my blood test results." A spokesman for the Department for Health said they were unable to comment on individual cases at this current time. However, when asked about coronavirus, the spokesman added: "We can't rule it out until tests are completed which will happen later today. "If people are reporting cases and people who have flown back from Wuhan, they will be tested and given appropriate clinical care." As of yesterday, no one in the UK tested for the virus had been confirmed as having it. "I'm sure that will be the situation for this one," the DfH spokesman added. The Standard understands that the West Midlands Ambulance Service are aware of the incident but have been advised not to comment by the government Department for Health and Social Care. The virus strain has so far killed 106 people and has spread across China and 17 countries across the world. German officials confirmed the country's first case of the virus on Monday night, making it one of the first human transmission of the illness to reach Europe. The US, Canada, Australia and France confirmed cases in their nations last week. [January 28, 2020] CloudGenix Modernizes Nation's Oldest Caterpillar Dealer's Branch Office Infrastructure SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CloudGenix, the category leader in enterprise SD-WAN, today announced it has been selected by Yancey Bros. Co., the nations oldest Caterpillar dealer, to update the companys remote office needs with CloudGenix Autonomous SD-WAN. After implementation, the increased availability and uptime will save Yancey Bros. more than $150K per year. Tweet this: Nations oldest Caterpillar dealer modernizes IT with @CloudGenix cloud-delivered branch and #SD-WAN Yancey Bros. Co. | From Caterpillars to Blue Birds Open for business in Georgia since 1914, Yancey Bros. continues to serve its customers in construction, roadbuilding, mining, agriculture, and more by providing them with quality diesel engine products, parts and service. Today, the companys divisions include machine, engine, rental engineered solutions, and bus sales and service as the Blue Bird Corp. dealership across Georgia. Blog post: How the nations oldest Caterpillar dealer modernized with cloud-delivered branch The companys IT team of 12 supports over 30 remote office sites and 1500 employees. There are no tech employees at the remote sites. It is crucial for Yancey Bros. business that each remote office has reliable network, security, voice, performance management, operational manageability, and that the companys tech team understands the network traffic. As the company grows -- acquiring, leasing, or constructing branch offices -- the network gets more complicated. According to Steve Seidner, CIO of Yancey Bros, When we acquire a branch, we likely will deal with a new network provider. In rural Georgia, for example, we may have to custom run our own fiber. CloudGenix SD-WAN simplifies a complex and costly network As an offering through their telco provider, Seidners team had been using SD-WAN from VeloCloud. The bundled package meant that the telco handled configuration which created problems when a VeloCloud-related outage occurred. To better handle their network complexity and improve quality of service, Seidner started looking at other SD-WAN providers. With continued growth, they needed flexibility, reliability, and to move from expensive MPLS and one provider to multiple partners for backup redundancyand low-cost connectivity. During this process, several partners and companies recommended CloudGenix SD-WAN to Seidner based on their own recent implementations. As a family-owned company and one that promotes a positive family culture, the technical team needed an SD-WAN partner who not only could deliver the technical components but understood these specific company values. According to Seidner, We dug into the weeds and thoroughly vetted CloudGenix. During initial discussions, the team really liked the CloudGenix team and the approachability of the CEO. We felt a real partnership from the beginning and decided to move forward together. Easy implementation and management Seidner noted the implementation with CloudGenix was very clean. The process started in one branch to unravel the SD-WAN that was in place. Implementation was completed in a few weeks, and after one branch was complete and the template built, the team easily replicated the process across the remaining 30 branches. Yancey Bros. is now able to work with three cable providers and three major telcos. Seidners team manages all branches easier and if a line goes down, business does not stop. After a little over a year with CloudGenix, our uptime has increased significantly, and we have more control. They have proven to understand voice and application behavior and are able to adapt to changing network conditions. We have achieved our goal of not being limited to one provider. We needed high availability more than anything else, and CloudGenix has given us the secondary benefits of increasing speed and lowering cost we have realized more than $150,000 savings moving to SD-WAN with CloudGenix," added Seidner. Seidner and his team have future plans to work with CloudGenix and its cloud-based security products ecosystem where apps can be shared and protected at the cloud level. We are continuing to execute on our vision of delivering Autonomous SD-WAN to our customers, enabling them to specify application policies aligned to their business and letting the infrastructure choreograph itself. We value Yancey Bros. and engaging with them for Autonomous SD-WAN. We couldnt be more thankful to Yancey Bros. and look forward to continuing to work with them, said Kumar Ramachandran, Founder and CEO, CloudGenix. CloudGenix makes the cloud-delivered branch possible by providing an Autonomous SD-WAN. Enterprises gain cloud-scale economics for the branch with the freedom to use any WAN, any cloud, and any best-of-breed infrastructure service. CloudGenix Autonomous SD-WAN uses global intelligence to deliver performance and security SLAs for all applications over any WAN-type. By providing app-policies aligned to business intent, direct access to multi-cloud and dev-ops frameworks, the Autonomous WAN delivers unparalleled productivity gains and cost-savings compared to gen-1 SD-WAN alternatives. Fortune 1000 companies, including those in healthcare, retail, manufacturing, finance, banking, hi-tech and hospitality have selected CloudGenix for their remote office WAN needs across six continents, hundreds of countries and tens of thousands of locations. The true beauty of CloudGenix is their excellent customer support and Kumar, the CEO, was personally involved the whole way. People arent numbers. When you get this level of attention and commitment from a partner, who works to understand what you need, this helps a lot. We want to know everything we can about our network data so we can adjust policies and route appropriately if needed. Understanding whats going across the network helps overall business. CloudGenix just makes it all work smoothly, said Seidner. Resources Video Yancey Bros. CIO Yancey Bros. Case Study Connect with CloudGenix Twitter LinkedIn YouTube CloudGenix Blog About CloudGenix CloudGenix makes the Cloud-delivered Branch possible by providing an Autonomous SD-WAN and the Cloud-Blades platform. Enterprises gain cloud-scale economics for the branch with the freedom to use any WAN, any cloud, and any best-of-breed infrastructure service. Founded in 2013 by a team that has delivered industry-leading products in networking, SDN, cloud, security and web-scale applications, CloudGenix serves world-class financial services, legal, retail and technology organizations. Press inquiries: Jin Woo 280blue, Inc. [email protected] (510) 691-8862 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Tamkeen Labour Fund has announced its strategic partnership with Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH) to support the MEET ICT & BITEX 2020, the leading ICT event in Bahrain. Held under the patronage of Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, the event will take place from March 24 to 26, 2020 at the Gulf Convention Centre. The tenth edition of the gala event is jointly organised by BTECH and WorkSmart for events management under the theme Leading the Way to a Digital Economy. Dr Ebrahim Janahi, CEO of Tamkeen, stressed the importance of Tamkeens support towards such initiatives and projects since theyre aimed at accelerating Bahrains economic and knowledge growth as it is aligned with the Kingdoms vision towards building a digital economy. Supporting initiatives and events like MEET ICT & BITEX aims to increase the contribution of technology companies in the private sector, enhance their competitiveness, develop their business which will in turn contribute to our society, as well as encourage them to further improve the rendering of their services and innovations, Dr. Janahi added. For his part, the chairman of BTECH Ubaidly Ubaidly said that MEET ICT & BITEX is being held for the tenth consecutive year to shed light on the importance of the ICT sector to accelerate and boost the transition towards digital economy, allowing us to take advantage of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, block chain, the Internet of things, robots, etc. Chairman of BTECH stated: It has been our passion contributing to the ICT industry in Bahrain as it enables us to understand the current situation of our economy and how Digital Transformation has an impact on it. We know that the partnership and Tamkeens generous support will help us accomplish a positive change locally and regionally. Ubaidly said that BTECH constantly strives towards contributing in enhancing the ICT field in Bahrain while looking into various ways to accelerate the kingdoms transformation towards digital transformation. As such, BTECH calls on all ICT companies and organisations to take this opportunity of aligning their objectives through this event. MEET ICT Conference will host numerous activities catered towards growing business and ICT professionals, including seminars, workshops, a virtual reality and game center, demo space, and a special robot and media corner. During the conference, specialised workshops and discussion sessions will be organised, in addition to meetings and networking sessions for emerging companies and technical and educational institutions. Meanwhile the exhibition will include pavilions for participating countries, and a display area for entrepreneurs and student projects in the ICT field, as well as a video space and innovative games.-- Tradearabia News Service New Delhi, Jan 28 : The Congress has alleged that the man who brandished pistol at the Shaheen Bagh protest site on Tuesday is a Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) worker and he did it on behest of his party. When IANS traced the man in the video, named Haji Lukman, a resident of Shaheen Bagh, he said he had gone there with some other residents of the area and asked the protestors to leave one side of road for convenience of people. When they didn't respond, I took out my licensed pistol in agitation, he added. On why he carried his pistol, the Haji said, "It's my fault. I forgot to deposit it with the authorities as per the election norm." Depositing a weapon during elections is mandatory. The non-deposit also raises question on the efficacy of the local police. While Lukman said he was not a AAP worker, Okhla Congress head Parvez Alam Khan said the Haji was the right hand man of local MLA Amanatullah. The police should take action against him for trying to create disturbance during a peaceful protest, Khan added. It was chaos at the Shaheen Bagh protest site earlier during the day when protesters overpowered a man with the firearm. It's seen in the video of the incident that went viral on social media. The man initially kept the pistol hidden as he shouted at protestors to leave the site. But as the protestors started pushing him out of the site, he pulled his shirt up and flashed the firearm. For a brief the protestors were terror-struck, but they soon recovered their senses and overpowered the man and made him to leave the venue, instead of handing him to the police. They have also not filed any complaints against him. Protestors stood strong and continued their sit-in on Monday night and Tuesday morning despite rain. Shaheen Bagh protest is continuing for over 40 days now. A tsunami warning was issued after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck south of Cuba and north-west of Jamaica. The US Tsunami Warning Centres issued the warning for Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands after the earthquake struck on Tuesday. Evacuations were under way as far away as Miami, Florida, in the aftermath of the tremors. The US Geological Survey said it was centred 117km (73 miles) north-west of Lucea. There were no immediate reports of casualties. At 3pm (8pm UK time) the warning was revised to say the threat of a Tsunami had passed. The quake struck at a depth of around six miles, which means the range of the quake's impact is likely to be limited. The International Tsunami Information Centre said: "Hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within 300 km (186 miles) of the epicenter along the coasts of Jamaica... Cayman Islands and Cuba." Several South Florida buildings were evacuated as a precaution, according to city of Miami and Miami-Dade County officials. In the Cayman Islands, the quake left cracked roads and what appeared to be sewage spilling from split mains. Video emerging on social media appeared to show huge sinkholes had also opened up. A spokeswoman for Cayman Islands Disaster Management Agency said there had been no reports of injuries or fatalities nor conclusive reports of damage to buildings. On Twitter, the agency urged people to move away from coastal areas and said that those in low-lying areas should "evacuate vertically" in strong multi-story buildings. It added a wave of between one and three feet "may have been generated". Kevin Morales, editor-in-chief of the Cayman Compass newspaper, said his newsroom had been puzzled when it first hit because the islands see so few earthquakes. "'It was just like a big dump truck was rolling past,"' Morales said. "Then it continued and got more intense." Mikhail Campbell, a police media relations officer on the islands, told Reuters he was not immediately aware of any reports of serious damage. In Santiago, the largest far-eastern Cuban city, local Belkis Guerrero told the Associated Press the quake was felt strongly there. "We were all sitting and we felt the chairs move," she said. "We heard the noise of everything moving around." She said there was no apparent damage in the heart of the colonial city. "It felt very strong but it doesn't look like anything happened," she added. File image: Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi Mukesh Singh, one of the four persons convicted in the macabre Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case that rattled the country, has claimed he was sexually abused inside jail multiple times. His lawyer Anjana Prakash raised the point again, days before his execution on February 1, to challenge the rejection of his mercy plea. Questioning the grounds on which the clemency plea was rejected, his lawyer has accused President Ram Nath Kovind of non-application of mind. Arguing before the Supreme Court, which will be deciding on the convicts plea on January 29, the convicts lawyer also alleged that all the records of the torture Mukesh was subject to were not sent to the President. Therefore, the lawyer argued, his decision to reject the mercy plea was arbitrary and malafide. Meanwhile, the apex court has turned down the convicts plea to show documents to President Kovind to prove he was abused and assaulted in prison, reported NDTV. Unhappy with the decision, when Prakash said: you are playing with somebodys life, the court pointed out that the President is not required to look into every document to make a decision. The SC also questioned the lawyer on what basis she is claiming that the facts to back their claims of sexual abuse did not reach the President and on what grounds she is claiming that President did not apply his mind. Besides, responding to Mukesh Singhs claim that he was beaten up in jail and also kept in solitary confinement, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is representing the police, said it is common to suffer in prison. He added: Sufferings in prison cant be a ground for mercy and junked the allegation that the convict was kept in solitary confinement. He explained that keeping a convict in a separate single cell is not the same as keeping someone in solitary confinement. Notably, Mukesh Singh, Vinay Kumar Sharma, Pawan Gupta, and Akshay Kumar will be hanged on February 1, 2020, at 6 am. They were found guilty of gangraping and assaulting a 23-year-old paramedical student inside a moving bus in South Delhi on December 16, 2012. While receiving treatment at a Singapore hospital, she succumbed to her injuries. Portland transportation officials want to renew a 10-cent-per-gallon gas tax approved by voters in 2016. Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, who oversees the transportation bureau, said last year that she would send the gas tax back to voters this May. The City Council will be briefed on the plan Feb. 6 and decide whether to refer the tax to the ballot on the same day. The likely referral means Portland voters will have two transportation funding packages on their ballot this year. Metro plans to send a region-wide transportation package to voters in November. A gas tax is not expected to be one of the funding mechanisms included in its $7 billion package (which would raise $4.22 billion locally for projects and programs and leverage those projects to bring in $2.2 billion from federal and state sources). When it pitched the gas tax to voters in 2016, Portland proposed $64 million worth of projects, but gas tax revenue outpaced initial estimates. The 10-cent tax was approved by 52 percent of Portland voters in 2016, and it came on the heels of a protracted street funding discussion launched by then-Mayor Charlie Hales and then City Commissioner Steve Novick. The city has since branded its gas tax campaign Fixing our Streets. We have spent the last few months talking with leading Portland organizations, advocates and committees as we developed our project list, Hannah Schafer, a city transportation spokeswoman said in a statement. The new Fixing Our Streets list includes $74.5 million in street repair and traffic safety projects and services. According to city documents, Portland estimates a $13 million gas tax surplus by the end of the current year. City Council will hear a progress report Feb. 6 on the current tax, and there is still much work to finish by the end of 2020. Schafer said the city expected to complete all of the dozens of projects still unfinished from safety projects on Southeast Division street to paving a swatch of Southwest Naito Parkway to paving on Northeast Alberta in 2020. According to a 2019 city audit, the transportation bureau had failed to provide annual audits or updates to City Council on the gas tax and provided incomplete, inconsistent, and outdated information to a citizen group tasked with monitoring the projects. Auditors found the citys progress on the tax was a mixed bag. The watchdogs said there were considerable delays in getting some projects out the door, and confusion on how much of the gas tax was being spent on paving or maintenance work versus safety projects. Schafer said the transportation bureau heard those critiques. A lot of the things that we saw in the audit we took very much to heart, she said. The new four-year spending plan includes $25 million for paving, $5 million for new traffic signals, $4.5 million for sidewalks, and $4.5 million for street lighting. The remainder includes a variety of safety projects citywide and near schools. The city briefed the citizen task force charged with overseeing projects this month. According to documents presented to that committee, a draft project list could include paving a lengthy stretch of Northeast Killingsworth, Southeast 122nd Avenue and Southeast 45th Avenue in some stretches. Portland said it won endorsements from several business and nonprofit advocacy groups to move forward with the gas tax proposal, citing 1000 Friends of Oregon, The Street Trust and Rosewood Initiative, among others. The city council will also decide whether to renew the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax, which charges trucks an additional tax for their activity in the city. The Feb. 6 meeting is just a first reading on that ordinance and that measure doesnt go to voters for approval. -- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. U.S. President Donald Trump meets Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on January 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Kobi Gideon | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images President Trump is rolling out his long-awaited peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians today, entitled "Deal of the Century," which has been simultaneously praised and sarcastically derided. But the deal is no joke. Here are three things all Americans should know about the plan and the circumstances surrounding it: Why Now? With Israel's politicians failing to form a new government after the September elections, consensus was that the Trump administration would wait until after the 2020 U.S. elections to release the peace plan. The idea was that it would be too risky to meddle in Israel's upcoming "do over" election this March. But then two things changed. The biggest development was the decision by Israel's top opposition party to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call to annex or extend official Israeli sovereignty over areas in the West Bank with established Jewish populations. Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz not only promised to pursue that policy, but he promised to do it more effectively than Netanyahu and his Likud Party. Gantz and his party have long been trying to pick off some of the right-wing voters who traditionally support Likud. Announcing that policy is seen as a way to do it. Gantz probably didn't intend for this campaign move to affect the peace plan, but it did. It removed a key partisan barrier the Trump team did not want to cross. If only one major party in Israel supported the annexation idea the Trump plan has long been reported to include, the White House risked being accused of interfering in Israel's election process. But with the main opposition party also in favor of the West Bank plan, this can now be pushed as a bipartisan idea. As a result, Gantz was also invited to the White House this week where he not only strongly praised the Trump peace plan but also heaped praise on Trump himself. Another change in recent weeks is the Trump re-election campaign's new focus on getting decent voter turnout in the early Republican caucuses and primaries. No, Trump is not facing any serious GOP challenger for the nomination. But the campaign believes a good turnout, especially in the Iowa caucuses next week, is an important way to show the president's strength among his base. That base includes Zionist evangelical Christian voters, who will likely show strong support for the peace plan that Israel sees as extremely favorable to the Jewish state. In Iowa, evangelical voters make up the most important block of GOP support. The Palestinians won't take the deal but they should The two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, have said for more than a year that they reject the Trump peace plan sight unseen. That's even though this plan includes a path to Palestinian statehood and requires Israel to recognize that state. The Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority and P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas have called for "days of rage" to protest the plan, raising fears of more violence and terrorism. This foolhardy rejectionism is par for the course, as the Palestinians have rejected every statehood and path-to-statehood offer from Britain, the United Nations, and the U.S. for more than 80 years. Perhaps the best offer came from then-President Bill Clinton in 2000, when he and then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed to turning over Gaza, 94 percent of the West Bank, and key areas of Jerusalem to Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians. But Arafat rejected the offer, and he too called for violent uprisings instead. It was a sad turn of events President Clinton bemoans to this day. The fact is that no matter what parts of this deal the Palestinians find objectionable, history shows us that every time the Palestinians reject statehood things usually end up getting worse for them. On top of that, the subsequent offers turn out to be not as favorable to Palestinians on borders and sovereignty. Of course, the Palestinians don't have to forget whatever aspects of this deal they don't like. But they should follow the examples of India, Pakistan, and Israel itself as nations that all accepted far less than perfect statehood offers instead of risking losing their chance at independence forever. Don't call it a "Middle East" peace plan Patty brings an exceptional set of skills and knowledge of the workers compensation industry and a proven record in driving new business growth to our team Orchid Medical (Orchid), one of the fastest-growing providers of ancillary medical management solutions in the workers compensation industry, today announced the expansion of its sales leadership team with the addition of Patty Mendez as vice president of national sales. A veteran in the workers compensation industry, Mendez is responsible for driving new program sales and leading organizational growth in the western United States. Mendez brings over 25 years of expertise in ancillary services cost containment and sales leadership. Her sales career began at an ancillary services pioneer, Medical Services Company (MSC), where her vast product knowledge and results-oriented approach catalyzed her leadership opportunities, resulting in her rise to leading a sales team. Mendez then began her tenure with PMSI, where she served as vice president of sales, successfully increasing the organizations client base and driving top line revenue. Patty brings an exceptional set of skills and knowledge of the workers compensation industry and a proven record in driving new business growth to our team, said Tim Howlin, chief sales officer of Orchid Medical. Patty now has a vital role in expanding our ancillary services footprint and I believe her drive and skill set will prove instrumental in our expansion throughout the Western United States and Orchids continued success. After the acquisition of PMSI to Optum, Mendez served as the vice president of corporate sales for Optum Workers Compensation Services and most recently, vice president of corporate sales at Rising Medical Solutions. About Orchid Medical Orchid Medical (Orchid) is a leading, nationwide provider of integrated ancillary and surgical cost containment solutions for the workers compensation industry. Orchid works collaboratively with claims professionals and medical providers to cost-effectively manage and deliver the appropriate care and services injured workers need to recover. The companys medical management solutions include Surgical Cost Containment Program (SCCP), DME and supplies, orthotics and prosthetics, home health and complex care, home and vehicle modifications, diagnostic imaging, physical medicine, transportation and language, and urine drug monitoring services. For more information, visit http://www.ORCHIDmedical.com. Opinion Article 28 January 2020 In our December HNN column, "Foresight is 20/20," we identified 2020's top travel and hotel industry trends. One major development we recognized was sustainability. Advertisements Whether you believe in the Green New Deal or believe climate change is overstated, sustainability is on the minds of our guests and is economically practical to implement. According to the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, tourism contributes about 5% of global greenhouse gas emissionsa figure they expect to grow by 130% by 2035. Today, Marriott International requires all hotels maintain a Carbon Footprint & RFP Reporting tool that captures and calculates carbon, energy, water, and waste consumption and spend. Hilton's Travel with Purpose goals launched in 2018 was reportedly the first major hotel company to set science-based targets to reduce its carbon emissions. Hoteliers and industry leaders don't just want to know what's beneficial for the earth, but what's truly feasible in today's tourism economy. Climate change myths include the ideas that green operation is more expensive and that guests are not interested in sustainability. Yet research and studies have proven otherwise. In this article, we aim to debunk these anti-environmental myths and highlight key initiatives hoteliers can implement to feasibly mitigate their environmental impacts. Sustainable cost savings Cost is always a driving factor and reducing operating costs provides a compelling incentive for hoteliers. Investing in energy and water-saving technologies can greatly reduce both energy and water consumption, which can mean lower operational costs. Recent advances in technology related to renewable sources of energy (solar, geothermal, wind, etc.) have improved the economics of using these kinds of alternative energies at the property level. Many hoteliers now employ a variety of strategies to reduce, reuse and recycle waste. Kudadoo, a private resort island in the Maldives, became the first fully energy sustainable property there, using solar panels designed into the roof of its main building. This energy source is able to fully power the island. Solmar Hotels and Resorts in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, heats water (including in its pools) using photo-thermal panels. The Spectator Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, recently established a food waste diversion program where half-eaten food items such as fruit and pastries are put into a digester that turns them into reusable water. These grand initiatives eventually generate significant savings, but require a lot of time and energy to implement. Additionally, there are expected inherent costs that are associated with these types of large-scale projects. So here are some simple, reasonable practices that can help every hotelier meet their 2020 sustainability goals. Swapping out standard incandescent light bulbs with high-efficiency LED bulbs can help our hotels save on electricity costs in the long term. Standard incandescent light bulbs use 60 watts of electricity, while LED light bulbs use just 6 to 8 watts of power. LED bulbs can also last up to 25 times longer than standard light bulbs even while emitting the same amount of light. As for reducing water consumption, many hotels are now implementing water conservation programs. Installing low-flow faucets and aerated shower heads, an employee education program, a towel reuse program and installation of water-saving laundry equipment have been shown to greatly reduce water costs. The U.S. government has enacted a variety of economic incentives to encourage the construction and remodeling of "green" hotels. These benefits include tax write-offs, financial grants, insurance premium discounts and expedited regulatory permitting. The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency is a helpful tool to find policies and incentives by state. Promoting sustainability Travelers are more eco-conscious than ever, so hotels that make sustainable efforts will attract more guests, generating more bookings and revenue. According to a survey done in July 2019 of 72,000 Hilton guests, about 33% said they prefer hotels with environmental and social programs. Among guests younger than 25, that number jumped to 44%. When our hotels apply green practices, our values will align with many of our guests' ideals, which can lead to a number of loyal brand advocates. If hotels want guests to truly feel the value of their choice to stay in a sustainable hotel, it is important for the property's management to successfully communicate to them what sustainable choices were made around the property and how the guests can participate in creating a more efficient experience. According to a study by Harvard Business School, businesses that employ environmental, social and governance policies perform better than those that don't have these policies in place. The bottom line is employing green practices will save our hotels money, generate more bookings from eco-conscious customers, and help make the planet a better place for future generations. A simple mantra for sustainability is "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future." A US military source today said there were no CIA staff on a jet which crashed in Afghanistan on Monday after Iranian media claimed the officer behind Qassem Soleimani's death was among those killed. The source told the MailOnline the wild claim that Michael D'Andrea was aboard the jet which crashed in Dih Yak, or indeed that any CIA members had been killed, was absurd. A US official earlier confirmed the bodies of two American personnel had been recovered from the crash site while denying Taliban claims the E-11A communications jet containing 'high ranking officers' had been shot down. Iranian media had amplified the Taliban narrative, claiming that D'Andrea - who played 'a pivotal role in many acts of terror, including the assassination of IRGC Quds Force commander Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani' - had been killed. Iranian state TV even broadcast a photograph of Hollywood star Fredric Lehne - who played a CIA operative in the movie 'Zero Dark Thirty' - asserting that the actor was D'Andrea. A US military source today said there were no CIA staff on the jet (pictured) which crashed in Afghanistan on Monday after Iranian media claimed the officer behind Qassem Soleimani's death was among those killed The Taliban said it was responsible for shooting down the aircraft, a Bombardier E-11A which is used by the US Air Force to carry out surveillance missions. The terror group further claimed they ambushed US and Afghan personnel arriving on the scene, however the US official today said the military were not met with resistance Iranian media and Kremlin-linked news sites have claimed that among the dead was Michael D'Andrea, a CIA chief credited with hunting down Osama bin Laden known as the 'Dark Prince' Among other spurious reports across Farsi channels was that up to 100 had died amid fanatical claims of retribution for the US strike on Soleimani in Baghdad earlier this month. Iranian propaganda agency, Mehr News, cited the pro-Kremlin website Veterans Today, which quoted Russian intelligence sources claiming D'Andrea had been killed and vital intelligence aboard the jet seized. It claimed that the jet was not a standard US communications plane, but D'Andrea's mobile command centre and was also carrying other high-ranking operatives. D'Andrea's name began to crop up frequently across Farsi news sites in the wake of the US drone strike which killed Soleimani. According to Iran's Tasnim agency - which has strong links to the IRGC - 'D'Andrea is the most prominent figure in the US CIA in the Middle East.' The wreckage of a US Bombardier E-11A jet is seen on Tuesday after it crashed in a mountainous territory of Deh Yak district in Ghazni Province The rear of a US Bombardier E-11A jet is seen on Tuesday after it crashed in a mountainous territory of Deh Yak district in Ghazni Province The wrecked fuselage of a US Bombardier E-11A jet is seen on Tuesday after it crashed in a mountainous territory of Deh Yak district in Ghazni Province Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, claimed yesterday that several high-ranking American officers were among the dead after the plane came down at 1.10pm local time. He also claimed that Taliban forces had ambushed Afghan forces backed by U.S. military who had been sent to secure the crash site. However, a US official speaking today said the American recovery teams met no Taliban resistance in reaching the crash site. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement on the crash. Monday's plane crash is not expected to derail U.S.-Taliban peace talks if the crash investigation determines, as expected, that it was not the result of hostile action. Images from the scene showed what appeared to be burned paperwork from inside the aircraft, along with the crest of US Air Combat Command Monday's plane crash is not expected to derail U.S.-Taliban peace talks if the crash investigation determines, as expected, that it was not the result of hostile action It comes after footage was posted online by a Taliban-affiliated journalist showed wreckage of the plane with a US Air Force symbol on the side. Footage taken by journalist Tariq Ghazniwal shows the burning remains of a jet lying in the snow as several people stand around filming. Security forces were sent to the site immediately after receiving a report of the crash, but were ambushed by Taliban fighters, Ghazni provincial police chief Khalid Wardak told Reuters. The jet appeared to be one of four modified civilian Bombardier aircraft used by the USAF to link together communication equipment in order to support troops on the ground (file) Taliban spokesman Mujahid said Afghan forces (on the scene yesterday) backed by U.S. military support had tried to capture the area around the crashed aircraft and clashed with fighters of the Islamist militant group. A US official denied that claim today The plane came down in the Dih Yak region, around 80 miles south of Kabul, which is controlled by the Taliban 'As per our information, there are four bodies and two onboard were alive and they are missing,' Wardak said, adding that the forces subsequently received an order to retreat and airborne action is to be taken instead. Taliban spokesman Mujahid said Afghan forces backed by U.S. military support had tried to capture the area around the crashed aircraft and clashed with fighters of the Islamist militant group. The attempt was repelled, however, he told Reuters, but added that the Taliban would allow a rescue team access to recover bodies from the crash site. 'Taliban fighters on the ground counted six bodies at the site of the U.S. airplane crash,' he said, adding that while there could have been more, the militant group could not be certain, as fire had reduced everything to ashes. Speaking on condition of anonymity, U.S. officials said yesterday the plane was carrying fewer than five when it crashed, with one official saying initial information showed there were at least two. The site has not been visited by U.S. officials or any other members of the international force in Afghanistan, but the Taliban claim to have brought down the plane is misleading, a U.S. defence official told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that a preliminary probe showed there was a mechanical error. The crashed aircraft, built by Bombardier Inc, is used to provide communication capabilities in remote locations. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. It seems like a no-brainer: If city officials want to put a homeless shelter in your neighborhood, they should get community input. They should let you know that the project is a possibility before the final paperwork is signed. There should be an open debate about the pros and cons. Community residents should have their say. But thats not the way it works in New York City. Shelters are considered emergency facilities, so all neighborhood residents get is 30 days notice in order to voice their concerns. We saw how this operates in real terms with the homeless shelter thats coming to 44 Victory Blvd. in Tompkinsville. One day, we simply learned that what had long been a vacant piece of property was now going to be a shelter for homeless women and their children. There would be around 500 people living in a five-story building near the corner of Victory Boulevard. Elected officials were taken by surprise. So were the community board and local neighborhood groups. The project was announced, and there was no opportunity for input. There were meetings, but the deal was done. Its not the way to engender trust. Its not transparent. Its not the way that government should engage with its citizens. Two lawmakers, state Sen. Diane Savino and Assemblyman Charles Fall, both Democrats on the North Shore, have introduced legislation to change how thats done. Under the law, the states Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance would put together a process for determining whether a shelter proposal should be subject to the citys land use review process, known as ULURP. Shelters would be exempt from the proposed process under a state or local act of emergency. Its a start, even if it doesnt mandate outright that all shelter projects must automatically go through ULURP. And even if it opens the door to possible bickering between the city and the state over a particular project. After all, theres always politics in the mix with these things. Its at least an acknowledgment that the process needs to change. Even if the outcome is eventually the same, elected officials and the public should be given a chance to have their say. Its not going to change what happened at 44 Victory Blvd., which was a perfect example of what not to do. But it might help in the future, including when the city looks to cite a promised homeless shelter in the Mid-Island, or if any of our Catholic Church properties are re-purposed as homeless facilities. The city and the homeless service providers are usually painted as the bad folks in these situations, so I can see it from their perspective. They know that homeless shelters are unpopular facilities. They know shelters are not welcomed with open arms in any community. So its almost futile to debate. I get that. The city knows that whenever they announce a shelter project, there will be a negative outcry. I cant blame them if they think a drawn-out public review process would be useless. The city sees a homeless crisis and must address it. Thats what government is for. Theyll take the heat from communities that feel blindsided in order to serve a greater good. But thats not the way government should operate. Big projects can have big impacts on transportation and schools and infrastructure. Thats why there are review processes, so that the possible impacts can be parsed out before a shovel goes in the ground. The proposed law is a good first step. But more needs to be done. The city and providers need to be willing to engage the community more on the front end. And, given that engagement, communities need to be more open-minded. No law can guarantee any of that. LONDON Since becoming Britains prime minister six months ago, Boris Johnson has managed to strike a delicate balance in his relationship with President Trump, keeping him at a distance during Britains election while more recently showing sympathy for his pressure tactics against Iran. On Tuesday, however, Mr. Johnson was confronted with a stark choice: In deciding to give the Chinese telecommunications giant, Huawei, limited access to Britains new high-speed broadband network, he broke abruptly with the president who once praised him as a really good man and a British version of himself. That risks opening a rift between Mr. Johnson and Mr. Trump at the very moment Britain is leaving the European Union. It could also jeopardize efforts to negotiate a trans-Atlantic trade agreement that Mr. Johnson has promoted as one of the prizes of Britains newly independent status. The Trump administration put heavy pressure on Mr. Johnsons government to rule against Huawei, dispatching a high-level delegation to London two weeks ago to warn of the risks of opening up fifth-generation, or 5G, networks to a firm that they assert has ties to Chinese security agencies and the Peoples Liberation Army. Health Workers in Wuhan Under Growing Risk as Medical Supplies Run Low By Joyce Huang January 27, 2020 Hospitals in and around the center of China's coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan say they are running so low on medical supplies that doctors and nurses have been asked to wear substandard masks or diapers so that they wouldn't have to change protective suits so frequently. That has put the health of many of the country's frontline medical care providers at great risk. "Due to undersupply of protective suits, many of our doctors here have to share one suit. Some of them even have to wear diapers so that they don't have to change the suits so frequently for fear of running out of them," a staff surnamed Xiao at Wuhan Puren Hospital told VOA on Monday. "We face a terrible shortage of protective suits," she added. Shortage of medical supplies The hospital in Hubei province is in desperate need of 5,000 protective goggles, 20,000 N95 masks and as many protective suits as possible as it consumes 1,000 goggles and up to 3,000 masks a day, according to Xiao. It is one of some 24 hospitals which have formally asked for donations of medical supplies from the general public including N95 and surgical masks, protective suits and hand sanitizers. But results in the past few days have been far from satisfying since most of those private donations are of little use as they fail to live up to medical standards, many of the hospitals said. "Alas, we are running short of lots of supplies. If you can donate. But the problem is that most [of the general public's] donated supplies are not helpful. They do not live up to our higher medical standards," a staff, also surnamed Xiao, from Wuhan No.1 Hospital told VOA. "We're trying all other possible avenues to replenish our supplies," she added. Pop-up hospitals While tackling a shortage of medical supplies, authorities in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, are also rushing to build two emergency hospitals, one of which is planned to contain 1,000 beds and be up and running by Feb. 3. According to state media reports, the city's second such 'pop-up' hospital will offer an additional 1,300 beds in two weeks in order to treat more patients suspected of contracting the deadly pneumonia-like virus. The move appears to signal an uphill battle for China to contain the spread of the virus. A city health official pledged to include more hospitals to join the fight if the number of patients rise, state media reported. The death toll for China's worst public health crisis since SARS in 2003 has risen to 81 people, including a 9-month-old baby, with more than 3,000 confirmed cases worldwide. Emotional breakdowns Under tremendous pressure, some medical providers working at the frontline have experienced emotional breakdowns. A video clip circulating online showed a Chinese doctor crying over concerns of lack of hospital resources to treat patients while, in another video clip, a nurse said that she hasn't called her loved ones during the New Year holidays for fear of bursting into tears. More importantly, she said she doesn't want her family to worry about her safety. Medical staff, exposed to the patients but given insufficient protection, say they are growing uneasy after the first Chinese doctor reportedly died of exposure to patients on Saturday. A staff member at Wuhan Jinyintang Hospital told VOA on Monday that the hospital has run short of surgical masks, and that some of their nurses can do nothing but hope that wearing multiple non-surgical facial masks can provide them enough protection while caring for the highly contagious patients. Thanks to campaigns via GoFundMe, Weibo and WeChat, medical supplies reportedly are being sent to Hubei province, although almost all are directed to Wuhan. A hospital at the neighboring city of Huanggang said it is hoping its pressure of being equally under-resourced can be relieved when donated supplies arrive later. "Because those masks and protective suits are for one-time use, we've recently begun to ask for donated supplies. We've only received a very small portion of the delivery, most of which is probably still on the way. We are not sure how many more supplies we will have," said a staff member surnamed Yang from the Huanggang Central Hospital. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address BELGRADE - A group of 60 migrants on Tuesday morning tried to storm a protective barrier erected by Hungarian authorities in 2015 at the border between Serbia and Hungary in an attempt to illegally cross into the country, according to local media reports quoting Hungarian police spokesperson Silvia Sabo. The spokeswoman said the officers fired three warning shots in the air and the migrants withdrew. Only four crossed into Hungarian territory and were blocked and arrested. Nobody was injured, according to the reports. The incident occurred at around 5:30 am local time at the border crossing of Horgos-Reske 2, which was closed to traffic. Over the past few months the number of migrants using the Balkan route and trying to illegally travel from Serbia to Hungary, an EU member, has grown. The same situation was registered in northwestern Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the number of refugees trying to reach Croatia, also an EU member, is on the rise. The Serbian-Hungarian crossing of Horgos-Reske, where today's incident occurred, was at the center of violent clashes between migrants and Hungarian police at the peak of the migration crisis in 2015, when hundreds of thousands of refugees tried to reach the European Union through the Balkan route. In order to counter the migrant flow, Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban decided to build the barbed wire fence along the entire border line with Serbia. By Arinaitwe Rugyendo History is awash with examples of great men and women whose acts shaped the world around them and territories beyond their enclaves. In the field of science for example, the Italian physicist, Gallieo (1564 1642), is recognized as the father of modern astronomy and physics for his discovery of the Galilean moons, changing the course of astronomy, as we know it today, for good. In politics, around 525BC in ancient Athens, Greek Philosopher, Cleisthenes invented modern democracy, a form of government that has endured for over 2,500 years! In Medicine, Hippocrates who born around 460 BC became known as the founder of modern medicine. In the military sphere, Gen. Sun Tzu (544-496 BC) is known as the father of Eastern military strategy and greatly influenced Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and even, remotely here, the National Resistance Army (NRA) historical and modern war tactics and of its successor, the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF). In the energy, Michael Faraday (1791-1867), is acclaimed for self- taught science that enabled him to excel and become the father of electricity. In transport, George Cayley didnt live to see his goal but his contributions to aviation were acknowledged by the Wright Brothers as directly contributing to and influencing their own momentous achievements. George Cayley was first referred to as The Father of the Aeroplane in 1846. In the religious sphere, one notable individual, Jesus Christ, who lived up to 33AD, introduced Christianity that has shaped global events in 2020 years. His ideology was kicked off with 12 people but his movement has grown to over 5 billion followers today! Blacks such as Lewis Howard Latimer (1848 1928) invented and patented the light bulb and the telephone. In the modern era of information technology, Scientists such as Robert Elliot Khan (81) and Vinton Gray Cerf (76), are recognized as the fathers of the internet. Their work has revolutionised the way we perceive communication today and its offshoots such as social media have completely altered and improved journalism, communication, advertising, marketing and democracy! In the same era, Marty Cooper, is famed for inventing the modern building the first mobile cell phone and made the first cell-phone call around 1973. He is widely regarded as the father of the cellular phone. The Seven M7 Stories: The above introduction into the world of change makers, serves to set the pace of this story as the country marks 34 years since the NRM Revolution announced its capture of power on January 26, 1986. Although it is worth to note that this was a joint effort, its followers somewhat admit that at its heart was one glue whose vision determined its course and kept it stable to what it is now. That glue was Yoweri Museveni! This observation is supported by what you have encountered in the introduction of this article; being that it takes individual agency to change the course of events. This view has been tasted since the very individualized story of creation. Therefore, in synch with todays theme, Celebrating NRM/NRA Patriotic Struggle that Ushered in National Unity and Social Economic Transformation, I present what I consider to be the top Seven Museveni Stories that have reshaped Uganda and the region for good. When the leaders at the Uganda Media Centre requested me to write something for todays occasion, this is what came to my head! 1: Project NRM Following the political turmoil of the 1960s through to the 70s and 80s, the ideology of the National Resistance Movement, or what many prefer to call the Movement System, was born and seemed to me to have been a rare invention in the political discourse and moreover, from a remote Africa. There was no such a time when Ugandans put aside their differences to work together than during the first ten years of NRM. During this same period, Uganda experienced a double digit rate of growth. Scholars thronged the country to study this no- party system. However, resources and ideological differences between the West and Eastern blocs ensured it had a rough path to fruition. Around 2005, out of pressure, Museveni abandoned the system for multipartism (not me!). Notwithstanding the new dispensation, Uganda remained a multiparty system in form but Movement in character and substance, up to today and probably, for the foreseeable future, confirming his 1986 view that what Ugandans had seen was a fundamental change in the politics of the country. 2: End of UPC/ DP & the Rise of the rest The period between 1952 and 1986 was characterised by what the Movementists called sectarian-laced political parties. Indeed, the country was politically divided along the lines of, especially, religion, with the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party synonymous with Anglicanism and the Democratic Party (DP) synonymous with Catholicism. Around 1986, through legal Notice Number 1, President Museveni announced the ban of all political party in the country arguing that a class- less, agrarian, peasant society like Uganda had no business organising around political parties. Such a society, he argued, needed to first morph into classes in order to politically organise around interests and not around sectarian tendencies. He was not understood. But the rise of the rest, 34 years, of political groupings such as FDC, ANT, Labour Party, National Democrats Forum, Peoples Progressive Party, Peoples Development Party, Uganda Socialist Green Party and lately, the People Power pressure group, that project a national character beyond tribe and religion, are the thesis of the Museveni view of letting political parties emerge out of class interests. I therefore, predict that in the coming years, we shall see the emergence of the parties of the future, organised around issues like education, farming, workers, trade, investment and the digital economy; not around Baganda, Basoga, Banyakitara, Luo, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Pentecostals. 3: UPDF & the Karamoja Question The past 34 years have bequeathed Uganda a disciplined military never seen before since independence. A military most educated, focused on the mission of peace and stability, and above all, most humble. The Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) and its precursor, the NRA, is arguably the most organised state institution in Uganda today. Their efforts both at home and abroad, have built a transcending peace dividend that Uganda is now a destination for the worlds largest number of refuges. Its capital city and the residents are the most freewheelers in the region. The UPDF, having subdued over 30 rebellions, its last internal effort saw the rise of Karamoja from the ashes of political abandonment, neglect and condemnation to self-destruction. These are things that are irreversible. The freedom of worship, media and political tolerance of divergent views, though with a few hiccups here and there, have set the pace for future political engagements outside the gun. Uganda has no political prisoners in its cells. Neither does it have its citizens in involuntary political exile. There has been a line drawn beyond which Ugandans will not allow anybody to reverse this. 4: Restoration of Traditional Rulers Against the overwhelming advice by the NRA High Command in sitting in Gulu District, around 1992, President Museveni refused to listen and ordered that the traditional kingdom of Buganda which had been abolished together with others 28 years earlier, must be restored. A lot more cultural institutions have been restored since Buganda in 1993. Everyone agrees that there is no other way of ensuring sustainable social structural unity in Uganda without healthy cultural institutions. That single-minded decision by Museveni altered the narrative of a disunited Uganda forever and it might be very difficult for any future leader to reverse this. Empowered well, cultural institutions might be the antidote for any potential future instability in Uganda, a thing probably Museveni could never have imagined. 5: Rewriting the GLR Political Book One of the items in the Ten Point Programme of the NRM, was regional integration and Pan Africanism. The NRA struggle that started with only 27 guns has spread far and wide and influenced the economic, social, political and military architecture of the Great Lakes Region (GLR). Countries such as Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, South Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, etc, have had a direct contact with Musevenis regional dynamism and integration efforts. Future observers of this region might one day document the fact the Great Lakes Region was reshaped by a man who singly elected to rewrite the regional political book in the dying moments of the 20th Century. At one point, DP President Norbert Mao was one of the first astute politicians to pick this signal when he coined the K- Factor label to refer to Kaguta, Kagame, Kabila and Kiir to refer to a thread of connection between presidents of Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and South Sudan. The ramifications of this regionalism by Museveni, good and bad, will be felt in this region of Africa for more than a century from now. 6: UPE & the Youth Time Bomb In 1996, during his first presidential campaign since the bush war, President Museveni announced that all children would start attending primary school education, free of charge. He argued that it was useless to continue leading a country where a few educated Ugandans were surrounded by a sea of backwardness. He complimented this with a massive immunisation campaign and an aggressive anti- HIV/AIDS programme. 24 years later, the country has the highest rate of young people on the continent and probably, the whole world. Around 70% of the Ugandan population is below 35 years of age. They are either going to school or have completed with no jobs in their bags. This has not clearly presented the president with an opportunity. It has brought with it a negative consequence that his decision probably never predicted. This is the Ticking Youth Time Bomb. These children, whom he calls his grandchildren, or Bazzukulu,have generally rebelled against him and his system. They accuse him of being out touch with their reality and see a future without him as the only possibility for them to prosper. But unknown to them, this group is the real product of the NRM struggle. They are the only generation in the history of Uganda that are hippy, highly connected, extremely educated, have generally never experienced any hardships, are more urbanised and have grown up in probably, the best moments that many people who are their dads and moms dreamt to be in. Museveni might not have expected this. But his single idea has produced it. It is this group to make or break his legacy, depending on how it is handled! After all, like we saw in the introduction to this article, many great men and women who invented certain things, never imagined that some of their inventions like the aeroplane would probably have also turned out to be killing transport machines! 7#: Museveni- The Infrastructure President Exactly 34 years ago, Ugandas public road network stood at 987 kilometres. Today, that road network- both tarmacked and paved- stands at approximately 140,000 kilometres. This is a minuscule part of Ugandas infrastructure story of the last 34 years; for it also includes 50 new bridges, over 100 kilometres of expressways, bypasses and about 400 kilometres of new roads expected to be constructed by close of the year 2021. Half of the last 34 years in Uganda have seen a country almost turned into massive construction site for power dams, electric cables and high/low voltage lines as well as the internet cable extension to the deep villages. This is because Museveni understood that the only way to make the nation easily accessible, internally navigable and reachable, and whose production corners are opened up to different sets of markets, where ideas travel from one corner of the country to another, where different tribal enclaves would mix and mingle, we needed a robust infrastructural network. From a simple elementary S.3 Commerce lesson, infrastructure in form of transport is an aids to trade. For the foreseeable future, both here and in the region, the advent of a deliberate policy on building infrastructure, a sector with the largest budget almost doubling that of Defence, Museveni has set the country on an irreversible economic path that even if successive governments were to change, the idea that roads and railways transcend political, tribal and religious affiliations in bringing meaningful intra-ethnic integration and balanced development, would remain constant. THAT thought will stick and wont leave any budding future leader for now and in the future. The Writer can be reached on WhatsApp 075 266 778 and Twitter: @RugyendoQuotes Related Belgium is a constitutional monarchy in which the king has little formal power. But in a society that is riven between ethnic and linguistic groups the country is split between the French-speaking Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemish, and few people describe themselves as Belgian the king is one of the few truly Belgian symbols. Thousands in Australia Urge Government to Ban Students From Classes as They Return From China UPDATE: The New South Wales (NSW) state government has changed its advice for students who have returned home from traveling in China. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said he was requesting, but not requiring, that staff and students who had returned to Australia from China for less than 14 days to stay away from NSW schools. Were going to ask parents, I stress ask those parents, to do what every what everybody else has been doing so well in this difficult time. That is to support the community by holding back your children from going to each one of those facilities, he said. NSW education minister Sarah Mitchell said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, We know that many in the community have been wanting to see this. I think it is important we are taking this precautionary measure in line with community sentiment but also knowing we are doing everything we can even though the risk is low, to ensure the safety in that school environment. Thousands of anxious Australian residents and members of Sydneys Chinese community are calling on the New South Wales state government to ban students who may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus while on holidays in China. Several online petitions in favor of the government placing students who traveled to China under quarantine have gathered mass support, as Australia on Monday confirmed its fifth case of the new virus. The latest case involved a 21-year-old woman who was on the last flight out of the Chinese city of Wuhanthe epicenter of the outbreakto Sydney before China imposed a travel ban. She arrived into Sydney Airport on Jan. 23 and on Monday afternoon tested positive for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), NSW Health confirmed. The case takes NSWs total number of known cases to four, with a further six under investigation, according to a NSW Health spokesperson. An online petition on change.org, which urged the NSW government to ask parents to keep their children at home for 14 days if they had recently returned from China, received over 17,500 signatures. The fact that a vast amount of Chinese residents are returning to Australia prior to school start[ing] next week is highly concerning to all the children and staff amongst all Australian schools, the petition read, adding that the proposed measures will greatly benefit the prevention of this deadly virus spreading into the most vulnerable community members of all. A separate and ongoing change.org petition with similar demands, meanwhile, attracted some 7,100 signatures. For the safety of the wider community, I would like to ask the NSW government (Health and Education Department[s]) to enforce a strict restriction for all families who have recently returned from China to keep their sons/daughter[s] at home for 2 weeks before attending school, kindergarten, and daycare, the petition said, signed off by Parents from Sydney. Australias first four cases were confirmed on Saturday, with one in Melbourne and three in Sydney. Health officials have said that they are expecting more cases given the volume of travel between Australia and China. In a statement, the NSW government instructed students who have had contact with infected individuals to remain at home for two weeks after the last contact with the infected person, in line with the diseases incubation period. After this time, the child is considered not to be at risk of infection, said NSW Chief Health Officer Dr. Kerry Chant. The release added that students who had travelled to Wuhan and Hubei province during the school holidays may return to class, but that they must be monitored for symptoms of coronavirus infection. The most common symptom of the virus is a high fever. However, infected persons can be contagious while not showing any symptoms, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed. Other symptoms include breathlessness, a sore throat, and a cough. According to the WHO, severe cases of infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death. Meanwhile, three private schoolsThe Scots College, Kambala School, and Newington Collegecontacted parents on Monday to ask them to ensure their children had been medically examined by a doctor before returning to classes if they had visited China, reported Australias national broadcaster the ABC. Australias federal education minister Dan Tehan told ABC radio that schools should be following the advice of the health department. Individual schools make their own decisions but the advice from the Australian government is to follow our medical advice, Tehan said. Obviously, in the end, they will have to answer to their parents, but also they will have to answer to state and territory governments, who have responsibility for schools. Australian officials also said Monday that they are working with Chinese authorities on how to evacuate around 100 Australian children and young people out of the locked-down city of Wuhan. A Dubai-based Indian expat was sentenced to three months in prison for groping a woman in a mall, it was reported on Tuesday. According to Dubai public prosecution, the 33-year-old Indian man groped the 35-year-old Syrian woman intentionally, reports the Khaleej Times. The defendant was found guilty of sexual harassment and will be deported after serving his time in jail. The incident took place on August 2, 2019. The complainant said she was with her children and mother at the mall when she spotted the accused looking at her. She was surprised when he walked very close to her while still staring at her from behind. I shouted at him after he suddenly groped me, the woman added. CCTV footage showed the man groping the woman. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Washington, Jan 29 : US President Donald Trump on Tuesday presented his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, envisaging a two-state solution but keeping Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital. He said said no Israelis or Palestinians would be uprooted from their homes under the plan, the BBC reported. Announcing the plan from the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing next to him, Trump said his plan "could be the last opportunity" for Palestinians, which, he said, "are in poverty and violence, exploited by those seeking to use them as pawns to advance terrorism and extremism". "They deserve a far better life," he said. Palestinians have already all but rejected the leaked proposals. The blueprint, which has been shrouded in secrecy, was drafted under the stewardship of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Thousands of Palestinians protested in the Gaza Strip earlier on Tuesday, while the Israeli military deployed reinforcements in the occupied West Bank. Trump said it was the first time that Israel had authorised "the release of a conceptual map illustrating the territorial compromises it is willing to make for the cause of peace", adding the map would more than double the Palestinian territory and provide them a capital in eastern Jerusalem "where America will proudly open an embassy". "We will form a joint committee with Israel to convert the conceptual map into a more detailed and calibrated rendering so that recognition can be immediately be achieved." The Embassy of Ukraine in Italy has published an official letter to the local RAI channel in connection with the offensive statements of the host of the show L'Eredita. "In connection with the incorrect and even insulting statement of the host of the leading Italian show L'Eredita on the RAI channel (on January 26, 2020) that 'Little Russia is the second name of Ukraine,' the embassy's leadership was immediately informed of the embassy's firm position on the necessity to correct such actions. Taking into account that so far no response has been received from the RAI channel, a decision has been made to give publicity to such diplomatic steps and to post a letter on the embassy's official page," the message says. In the published text of the letter, the embassy explained the origin of the name "Little Russia" and the insult of its use in relation to Ukraine, which suffers from Russian aggression. A Chinese researcher has been accused of trying to smuggle vials of biological materials out of the country that authorities allege he stole from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The U.S. Attorney announced Tuesday that Zaosong Zheng, a 30-year-old Chinese citizen is being charged with making a false, fictitious and fraudulent statement after being stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Logan International Airport on Dec. 10 as he was preparing to board a flight for Beijing, China. The announcement was one of three cases the U.S. Attorneys office said were just the latest in a massive, long-term campaign to steal U.S. technology. According to court documents, U.S. Customs agents identified Zheng as at high risk for possibly exporting undeclared biological materials. Agents accessed Zhengs luggage and discovered 21 vials wrapped in plastic bags and concealed in a sock, records state. The vials contained brown liquid and included hand-written labels and notes. Zheng is accused of taking the vials from the medical center on Dec. 9. Agents intercepted Zheng before he boarded the plane and asked him if he was carrying any biological materials, which court documents say Zheng repeatedly denied. Once agents escorted him to the baggage area and had him identify his luggage, special agent Kara Spice reported Zheng said he had not identified them because they were unimportant and not part of his research. Instead, he said, they had been given to him by a friend, Zhang Tao. Spices report states Zheng was then brought to an interview room where he confessed he had stolen the vials from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and that no one was aware of this. According to Spice, Zheng said he spent two to three months replicating the research of Zhang Tao and that hed also replicated 11 vials of Taos research. He stated that the hospital was unaware. Spices report alleges Zheng told agents he intended to bring the materials back to his lab at Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital in China for further analysis and that if the research was successful he had planned to publish a paper in his own name. The biological materials were seized and were being investigated as to their contents. We are deeply proud of the breadth and depth of our research programs," said Jennifer Kritz, senior director of communications for Beth Israel in a released statement. "Any efforts to compromise research undermine the hard work of our faculty and staff to advance patient care. We are grateful for the diligence and professionalism of federal law enforcement in this case and are fully cooperating with the governments ongoing investigation of this matter. Zheng was arrested on Dec. 10 and has been detained since Dec. 30, 2019. Related Content: The World Health Organization (WHO) admitted on Jan. 26 it made an error in its risk assessment of the new strain of coronavirus which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The U.N. agency admitted its mistake in a footnote (pdf) of a situation report Sunday, in which it said it incorrectly summarized the risk for global level to be moderate in three situation reports published on Jan. 23, 24, and 25. Note: Error in situation reports published on 23, 24, and 25 January as originally published, which incorrectly summarized the risk for global level to be moderate, it read. In fact, the risk was very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level, the situation report states. The Geneva-based agency added that its correction of the global risk assessment does not mean that it would be declaring an international health emergency. The WHO had been scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Jan. 22 to discuss the virus and whether to declare a public health emergency of international concern, but it postponed making the call saying physicians need more information. At the time, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asked his committee to reconvene the following day, telling reporters the decision is one he takes extremely seriously and it would only be made after appropriate consideration of all the evidence. In outbreaks of other #coronaviruses (MERS & SARS), person-to-person transmission occurred through droplets, contact and fomites, suggesting that the transmission mode of the 2019-nCoV can be similar WHO Situation Report 27 January 2020 https://t.co/l1vODXEyD3 pic.twitter.com/vuNl64gZnm World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 27, 2020 He later announced on Sunday he was en route to Beijing to meet with Chinese officials and health experts for a meeting on the coronavirus response so far. I am on my way to Beijing to meet with the government & health experts supporting the [coronavirus] response. My [WHO] colleagues & I would like to understand the latest developments & strengthen our partnership with [China] in providing further protection against the outbreak, he wrote in a Twitter post. We are working 24/7 to support [China] & its people during this difficult time & remain in close contact with affected countries, with our regional & country offices deeply involved. [WHO] is updating all countries on the situation & providing specific guidance on what to do to respond. The WHO, however, has not declared the 2019-nCoV outbreak a global health emergency. A WHO spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email that there had only been an error in the wording of the situation reports. As explained in the footnote, it was an error in the wording in the situation reports dated 23, 24 and 25 January, and we corrected it yesterday with a footnote explanation, the spokesperson said. It should read in the sitreps 23, 24, 25 January that the Risk assessment is VERY High in China, High at the regional level, and HIGH at the global level (and not MODERATE) at the global level. On Tuesday the United States and other governments prepared to fly their citizens out of the locked-down city of Wuhanthe epicenter of the outbreak. The Associated Press contributed to this report. China is battling a "demon" virus that has so far killed more than 100 people, President Xi Jinping said Tuesday, as foreign nations prepared to evacuate their citizens and the US said it was developing a vaccine. Xi made his remarks during talks with the head of the World Health Organization in Beijing amid growing global concerns about a novel coronavirus that has infected thousands in China and reached more than a dozen other countries. In a development that could cause more jitters abroad, Japan and Germany reported the first confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission outside of China. World markets outside Asia nevertheless rebounded following a global sell-off fuelled by the spread of the virus. The infection is believed to have originated in a wild-animal market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where it jumped to humans before spreading rapidly across the country, prompting authorities to enact drastic nationwide travel restrictions in recent days. Countries are also concerned about the fate of thousands of foreigners stuck in Wuhan, a city of 11 million that has been sealed off by Chinese authorities in a bid to contain the disease. A plane sent by Tokyo landed in the virus-stricken metropolis late Tuesday and was scheduled to repatriate Japanese nationals on Wednesday, the same day that a US aircraft is expected to bring American citizens back to their homeland. The European Union will fly its citizens out aboard two French planes this week, and South Korea was due to do the same. Several other countries were assessing their options. "Chinese people are currently engaged in a serious struggle against an epidemic of a new type of coronavirus infection," Xi told WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing. "The epidemic is a demon, and we cannot let this demon hide," the Chinese leader said, pledging that the government would be transparent and release information in a "timely" manner. His comments came as anger simmered on Chinese social media over the handling of the health emergency by local officials in central Hubei province. Some experts have praised Beijing for being more reactive and open about this crisis than it was during the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic of 2002-2003. But others say local cadres were more focused on projecting stability earlier in January than in adequately responding to the outbreak during regional political meetings. Since then, the number of cases has soared -- doubling to more than 4,500 in the past 24 hours. In Washington, US health authorities said a vaccine was in the works but would take months to develop. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar called on Beijing to show "more cooperation and transparency," saying the US had offered its help three times -- so far without success. - Contagion abroad - The WHO last week stopped short of declaring the outbreak a global emergency, which could have prompted a more aggressive international response, such as travel restrictions. Following the high-level talks with Xi in Beijing, the WHO said the two sides had agreed to send international experts to China "as soon as possible... to guide global response efforts." "Stopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is WHO's highest priority," Tedros said. Until Tuesday, all reported cases in more than a dozen countries had involved people who had been in or around Wuhan. But in Japan, a man in his 60s apparently contracted the virus after driving two groups of tourists visiting from the city earlier in January, the health ministry said. And a 33-year-old German man contracted the disease from a Chinese colleague from Shanghai who visited Germany last week, according to health officials. Vietnam has been investigating a possible case of human-to-human transmission. The development came after countries including Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the Philippines announced tighter visa restrictions for people coming from China. China has taken its own drastic steps to stop the virus, which health officials say is passed between people through sneezing or coughing, and possibly through physical contact. Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at China's National Health Commission, told the official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday that the outbreak could peak in a week or 10 days. Authorities sealed off Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province late last week, trapping more than 50 million people. China has since extended the Lunar New Year holiday to keep people indoors as much as possible, and suspended a wide range of train services. On Tuesday, authorities urged Chinese citizens to delay any foreign travel "to protect the health and safety of Chinese and foreign people." - Ghost town - Wuhan, meanwhile, has been turned into a near ghost town under a lockdown that has largely confined the industrial hub's residents to their homes. With a ban on car traffic, the streets were nearly deserted apart from the occasional ambulance -- although the city's hospitals are overwhelmed. "Everyone goes out wearing masks and they are worried about the infection," said David, a Chinese man who works in Shanghai but found himself trapped in Wuhan after it was put under quarantine. He declined to give his family name. burs-lth-gle/sst/bbk Attorneys for two indicted associates of President Donald Trumps personal attorney Rudy Giuliani are quarreling over a decision by one of the defendants to turn over reams of emails, correspondence and other data to a House committee, newly released court records show. The unusual decision by Lev Parnas to cooperate with House investigators despite pending criminal campaign-finance charges against him appears to be grating on his co-defendant, Igor Fruman, letters sent to the federal judge handling their case indicate. Frumans attorney Todd Blanche complained to U.S. Circuit Court Judge Paul Oetken, of the Southern District of New York, that some of the large volume of material Parnas sent to the House Intelligence Committee contained attorney-client privileged communications that Parnas did not have the right to share with the House and should have been shielded from prosecutors assigned to the criminal case. Blanche also threw some shade at Parnas and his attorney Joseph Bondy over their recent high-profile media outings , which rocked the Trump impeachment trial with claims that the president was well aware of Giulianis efforts to instigate investigations in Ukraine that could be damaging to former Vice President Joe Biden. My obvious concern is that Mr. Bondys hasty efforts to find a forum (beyond MSNBC and CNN) for someone anyone to listen to his clients version of events caused him to irresponsibly produce privileged material to the House panel, Blanche wrote in a Jan. 22 letter made public by the court on Tuesday. Blanche said in a follow-up letter on Monday that he was not aware of precisely what documents Parnas had or what hed turned over, but that some of the information might include attorney-client communications related to a Federal Election Commission investigation into a company that Parnas and Fruman co-owned, Global Energy Producers. Blanche also said other Parnas records might be entitled to confidentiality, including any relating to work he did as a translator for lawyers Joseph DiGenova and Victoria Toensing as they tried to quash a separate U.S. prosecution of the Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash. Story continues Mr. Fruman is not the only one whose privileged information is at risk, Blanche wrote as he raised the Firtash example, while adding, That privilege would be held by Mr. Firtash, the client, not Mr. Parnas. FILE - In a Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 file photo, Igor Fruman arrives for his arraignment, in New York. Andrew Favorov, the No. 2 at Ukraines state-run gas company Naftogaz, says he sat on the red leather banquette and listened wide-eyed as the men boasted of their connections to President Donald Trump and proposed selling large quantities of liquified natural gas from Texas to Ukraine. The gas deal never came to pass, but its now the subject of a U.S. federal criminal investigation of the two men, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, and their close associate, Rudy Giuliani. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) Blanche asked that any privileged documents be clawed back from the House panel and that the judge deny Parnas permission to share anything further until a thorough privilege review was complete. Bondy, Parnas lawyer, said the House does not recognize attorney-client privilege as a basis for withholding subpoenaed records. He also said Congress needed Parnas materials quickly because of the ongoing impeachment proceedings, which left no time to sift through the records for privileged material The reality of this case is that a Congressional committee investigating the Presidents impeachment required the information contained in Mr. Parnas iPhone 11, sooner rather than later, and that civil and criminal enforcement and third-party material filtration processes did not allow for such production with alacrity, Bondy wrote, before suggesting that Blanches complaint might be aimed at benefiting Trump. Mr. Blanches request, if granted, would have the effect of suppressing the flow of materials to Congress that are detrimental to the President and his attorneys. Oetken, the judge, has scheduled a hearing on the matter for Thursday afternoon. Parnas and Fruman were arrested at Dulles International Airport outside Washington in October on charges they orchestrated illegal contributions to U.S. political committees and a former congressional candidates campaign as part of an effort to wield influence on behalf of a Ukrainian government official and a Russian businessman. Both men have pleaded not guilty, as have two other defendants charged with related offenses. Giuliani has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged in the case, although POLITICO and other news outlets have reported that his activities with Parnas and Fruman have come under investigation by federal prosecutors in New York and Washington. Prosecutors did not object to Parnas earlier disclosures to the House, but are opposing a new request because they say it goes beyond records Parnas had access to at the time of his arrest. Blanche noted in one letter that some of the information Parnas turned over to the House was unknown to prosecutors in the case at the time, but might now be known as a result of the records being sent to Congress. KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban said it had shot down a U.S. military plane in the central Afghan province of Ghazni on Monday, killing all personnel on board. "The plane, which was on an intelligence mission, was brought down in Sado Khel area of Deh Yak district of Ghazni province," Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said in a statement, adding that everyone on board, including high ranking officers, had been killed. A senior defense official investigating the crash said no senior U.S. official was killed and added that they were still investigating the cause of the crash. No one from the U.S. military was immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi; Editing by Euan Rocha and Alex Richardson) U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Kiev and Minsk later in the month. Both Ukraine and Belarus make no secret of their enthusiasm - the guest is extraordinary, and they eagerly await him. The former Soviet republics have generally similar hopes of Pompeo helping them in confronting (Ukraine) and resolving the contradictions (Belarus) with Russia. Washington has one main goal - reducing Russia's influence globally as much as possible, strengthening the U.S. position where possible and as much as possible. Mike Pompeo will arrive in Ukraine on January 30. He was scheduled to arrive on January 3, but for some reason the visit was postponed. The Secretary of State will meet with President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaiko and Defence Minister Andriy Zagorodniuk. They are expected to discuss Donbass, Ukrainian-Russian relations and reforms in Ukraine. The Ukrainian side does not hide that it wants to discuss with the guest possible changes in the Minsk agreements. Kiev's line is simple: the implementation of Donbass political agreements (amnesty, local elections, expanding the competencies of the local authorities) must be preceded by the implementation of agreements guaranteeing stability in this region - the withdrawal of non-Ukrainian military units, control of the Russian-Ukrainian section of the state border by at least impartial forces. That is there's nothing new. This is what Petro Poroshenko wanted when he was president. That's what Vladimir Zelensky tries to achieve. But here comes the paradox, what the former and current presidents tried to achieve, made Ukraine's law enforcement agencies suspicious, so that they summoned Poroshenko for questioning. After interrogation, the ex-president said that he did not understand what was happening, the investigators asked him some meaningless questions, so he concluded: the new government "put a hit out" on the previous one, so the political lynching is coming. But that's a primitive explanation for what's going on, although it cannot be called groundless. The new power's pressure on the former one may well take place. Moreover, it may have a logical explanation. Zelensky and his team are under pressure. They continue to receive questions like where is the promised normalization of the Donbass situation. But attempts to get things moving by some kind of "compromise", for example, giving consent to hold the local elections, are smashed by the rejection of this compromise by those asking about the progress in the settlement. The opposition, with Poroshenkos team first in line, warned the authorities: attempts to do something in the Donbass before implementing part of the plan for guaranteeing security and stability will provoke such a reaction in society that Zelensky will have a hard time. That is, Poroshenko and his team do not let Zelensky do what they themselves signed back then. Now, the authorities are interested in the circumstances of that signing. Perhaps they themselves suspected something, and perhaps on the tip from the current government, which was trying to untie its hands and make progress towards a settlement of the Donbass conflict. It is clear that while not free in making decisions, Ukraine needs Mike Pompeo's visit. The former government, which hopes that the secretary of state will return them a more comfortable political environment that is not interrupted by questioning, needs it either. A new government, hoping to implement its plans with the U.S. game changer's approval, also needs it. In any case, one should not expect that this topic will be much talked of. Moreover, it will be discussed behind the scenes, and the agreements reached can be judged as the situation develops. On the eve of his visit, Mike Pompeo announced that he will visit Kiev to express support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, remembering that this state renounced its own possession of nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees and obligations from the U.S. to provide all possible assistance in order to ensure peace and stability. The Secretary of State emphasized that Kiev was under powerful pressure from Moscow under President Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump has to correct the situation, doing what the former president should have done, but didn't. According to Pompeo, Washington has already provided defensive weapons to Ukraine to strengthen its defense capabilities and will continue to assist President Zelensky in implementing his program to combat corruption and strengthen democracy. There is a slightly different agenda in Minsk, although it is also based on contradictions with Russia. Contrary to all predictions, the protracted oil conflict is far from over. During a recent meeting with employees of one of the local enterprises, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that he still hopes to find a solution during negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But at the same time, according to him, a positive solution to the issue also depends on many people related to oil supplies to Belarus, who were so interested in this so much that due to their so-called interest Russian oil could be exported to Belarus at prices above world market levels. Lukashenko noted that when Putin learned about this at the end of last year, he was outraged, but "apparently, something happened and the situation is still far from being resolved." The Belarusian leader made it clear that Russia's reluctance to meet Belarus' needs is pressure on integration issues, but "I can't betray you and dissolve Belarus, even in the brotherly Russia." Lukashenko has already shown what hes going to do if Moscow continues to persist. According to him, Minsk has three options: switching to alternative supplies - Belarus received the first batch of Norwegian oil via the Baltic ports and by rail; obtaining oil from Poland by using the Druzhba pipeline in reverse, which will simultaneously reduce the volume of Russian oil exports; using Ukraine's Odessa-Brody pipeline to supply oil from the world market - this could be oil from Arab countries, which are ready, according to Lukashenko, to deliver as much as Minsk wants. The Belarusian leader also reported on countermeasures, which he is ready to use if Russia forgets about their allied relations. He can introduce an environmental tax on Russian oil transit or raise rent prices for Russia's military facilities on Belarusian territory. It seems that Lukashenko is ready to use Pompeo's upcoming visit to push his interests. He has already turned to the United States with a proposal to establish energy cooperation. In other words, he suggested Washington to supply oil to Belarus. The move seems to be a win-win. Washington may agree on an oil partnership on Minsk conditions, keeping in mind the diminishing Russia's influence and the strengthening of its own positions. In this case, Moscow, according to the Belarusian president's plan, will think twice. But if Washington is guided primarily by economic considerations in this matter, then Lukashenko will be able to gain political points - after listening to the West's another criticism of violations of democratic standards in Belarus, he may talk about the West's indecision or inability to help, and that there's no one-way relations in politics. 27.01.2020 LISTEN The National Vice-Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Alhaji Said Sinare, has said that the basis for the arrest of the communications officer of the party is not substantive, at least not enough to taint Sammy Gyamfi's reputation. He said security agencies who gave no firm basis for Sammy Gyamfis arrest will be bound to release him at the end of the day. I was in there but hes giving his statement at the moment and very soon hell be outat the end of the day whether they like it or not Sammy Gyamfi will be released no matter what. He said. Some reports earlier indicated that Mr Gyamfis arrest came as a result of his failure to honour a police invitation. But the partys Vice Chairman dispelled such reports saying no, he has not been invited, this is the first invitation. This very case is pending before the court so what right does the police have to arrest himAt the end of the day, Ive been telling people that this case wont go anywhere Sammy Gyamfi was picked up by the officers at the premises of Despite Media, after making an appearance on UTVs morning show. The NDC member was whisked away by the officers in a pickup. It will be recalled that in December last year, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service extended an invitation to Sammy Gyamfi after a report was made against him by the Jubilee House on allegations of forgery and false publication. In this regard, the NDC communicator filed a lawsuit at the Accra High Court, demanding an injunction on an earlier court warrant by the Kaneshi District Court for the seizure of his electronic gadgets. ---Japhet TV SALINE, MI - Saline Area Schools has denounced racist comments made by high school students in a social media chat group. Saline Superintendent Scot Graden said in a letter to parents the incident was brought to the districts attention Monday, Jan. 27. Administrators conducted an investigation and determined the incident represents an act of racism that created harm to all of our students, especially students of color," Graden wrote. Our School and our District find the words used in these posts to be deplorable and we strongly denounce the actions and words of these students, Graden said in the letter. "The Saline Board of Education and administration take these issues seriously as we strive to ensure a welcoming, inclusive, and safe environment for all students, regardless of their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or any other identity. This is an opportunity for us - the staff, students, and community of Saline Area Schools - to stand for anti-racism, respect, and inclusion of all students. In addition, we recognize that harm has been done to students of color in Saline who saw the post. Additional efforts must be made to repair the damage from this situation. The messages, which were provided to The Ann Arbor News/MLive, took place in a previously existing Snapchat group. The groups history showed several students were added to the group prior to a number of racist messages being exchanged in a lengthy and somewhat incoherent chat primarily between two individuals. New members were introduced to the group with one individual posting My ni****, followed by another individual who wrote Sup n***. The name of the group also was changed to Racist," featuring two gorilla emojis. The same two individuals continued to share messages with the group, with one individual posting messages including WHITE POWER and THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN." Several individuals who were either members of the chat or who were invited into the chat left the group after the racist messages were shared. However, two members of the group continued in the chat with one addressing the other (name redacted) we are slowly loosing (sic) numbers if ya know what I mean. Graden responded via email to a phone call from the Ann Arbor News seeking additional comment. In the email, he said he would not provide further details, including whether any students had been disciplined. Pittsfield Township Public Safety Lt. Sean McCormick said the department is aware of the incident and its resource officer who patrols Saline High School is working with the high school regarding the incident. It is not investigating the incident criminally. Graden noted in his letter to the district that Saline uses a process known as restorative practices - or restorative justice - where in conjunction with clear discipline for infraction of school rules, the district works with students who caused harm as well as those who were harmed to repair the damage. Saline Area Schools is committed to creating and sustaining a culturally proficient and inclusive learning environment where EVERY member of the community is valued and respected, he wrote. In addition to the above noted measures, our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee will continue to work on methods to help educate all students and staff regarding the ways that language and behavior can harm groups of people who have been historically marginalized. Graden said the district will continue working to ensure its schools provide a safe and inviting environment void of these types of despicable words and actions. Toy Story-themed homecoming float draws criticism for alleged racial overtones Mayor condemns racist graffiti found on Ann Arbor home Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Tuesday slammed the Home Ministry for not taking any action against MoS Finance Anurag Thakur for his alleged hate speech at a rally for the upcoming Delhi election. Sibal said that the BJP does not follow Gandhi's ideology. He also mentioned that the country is at a crossroads and one needs to choose their stand of either violence or saving the country. "Today India is not Gandhi India. BJP, HM does not follow Gandhi ideology. Those who raise slogans like "Bharat ke Gaddaro ko" knows what answer will come from the front. What is meant by Goli maro?. I am surprised that no action is taken by Delhi police, EC or courts," Sibal said. He continued, "Even PM is silent on this. It is an IPC offense. But since it's coming from govt and BJP no action is being taken. If such is the state of affairs when those voicing against hatred are termed as Gaddar. The country is at a crossroad where we have two ways, either to stand with violence and hatred or come forward to save the country. We have to choose our way." READ | Delhi CEO Seeks Report On MoS Anurag Thakur's 'shoot Traitors' Slogan At Poll Rally In a shocking video that has surfaced on Monday, Anurag Thakur was seen chanting inflammatory slogans in a BJP election rally in Delhi. The video shows the Union Minister shouting 'Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maron salon ko' (Shoot all traitors of the country) while campaigning for the BJP candidate for Rithala Assembly constituency - Manish Chaudhari. This incident took place days after an FIR was filed against BJP's Kapil Mishra for his tweet equating the Delhi polls with an India-Pakistan match. Later, the Election Commission imposed a 48-hour campaigning ban. The poll body also directed Twitter to take down the tweet. Earlier on December 20, BJP leader Kapil Mishra had led a pro-CAA rally in Delhi where he had raised the same slogan. After videos surfaced showing Mishra shouting 'Desh ke gaddaron ko goli maron', BJP distanced itself from the incident. Mishra is already been slapped with a 48-hour campaigning ban after he compared the Delhi elections to India vs Pakistan in a tweet. READ | SHOCKING: MoS Finance Anurag Thakur Raises 'shoot Traitors' Slogan At Delhi Election Rally Delhi CEO asks for a report The Delhi Chief Election Officer (CEO) has sought a report from the North West district's election officer after Union Minister Anurag Thakur's inflammatory slogans in a BJP election rally in Delhi on Monday. According to news agency PTI, an official said, "We have taken cognisance of the incident and have sought a report from the district election officer. However, we have not received any complaint so far." READ | Another Forced Conversion & Marriage In Pakistan: Hindu Bride Abducted, Forcibly Wed READ | Kangana Ranaut Celebrates Padma Shri Win With 'Thalaivi Team In Chennai, See Pics Armenia has banned the import of animal products and raw materials from China, as well as animal products produced in other countries with raw materials of Chinese origin, Public Radio of Armenia reported. The decision is effective from January 26, the State Service for Food Safety informs. The basis for the ban is the information published on the official website of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on coronavirus registered in China. The ban will remain in effect until OIE and WTO officially declare China is free from coronavirus. The Incentive Research Foundation is pleased to announce the release of its signature study, The IRF 2020 Trends Report. The report highlights key trends that will affect organizations, their products and services, and the workforce in 2020. The IRF 2020 Trends Report clearly demonstrates that professionals in the non-cash rewards industry continue to experience a tremendous amount of change, said IRF President Stephanie Harris. The report provides actionable suggestions on how embrace these changes to enhance the design, measurement, and analysis of incentive programs. The top trends for incentive travel, reward, and recognition programs in 2020 include: Reporting and Analysis are Growing: Corporate users conducting analysis on how programs change behavior increased to 44%, compared to 25% in 2019. Participant Satisfaction is the New Top Metric: Participant satisfaction was ranked as the most important metric to demonstrate the value of an incentive travel program to senior management. Wider Reach is More Impactful than Exclusivity: In order to motivate and engage a larger number of program participants, designers are structuring programs with a wider reach, with the goal of each participant receiving recognition or rewards. Gift Cards Are Easy to Give and Make a Lasting Impression: Program awardees categorize gift card gifts as fun money, and employers find them easy to give and to administer compared to choosing specific tangible gifts or rewards. Long Haul Destinations Are Becoming More In-Demand: In order to offer participants new and unique experiences, planners are expanding their searches to second- or third-tier destinations, with interest in Oceania, Southeast Asia, and Central America. One Size Does Not Fit All Personalization is Key: Using participant data, gift card and merchandise options are customized so that the program participants reward aligns with their interests and viewed as a valuable reward. To view or download a copy of the full report, please visit: https://theirf.org/research/the-irf-2020-trends-report/2720/ The IRF 2020 Trends Report was supported by IRF Research Advocacy Partner Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. About the IRF: The Incentive Research Foundation (TheIRF.org) funds and promotes research to advance the science and enhance the awareness and appropriate application of motivation and incentives in business and industry globally. The goal is to increase the understanding, effective use, and resultant benefits of incentives to businesses that currently use incentives, as well as businesses interested in improved performance. A father and son have been found dead while camping north of Perth in Western Australia. Police were called about 10.50am (local time) on Monday regarding a situation involving a boy who was not breathing on a beach area eight kilometres south of the Wedge Island access road. A woman, who was the mans wife, was also found in need of urgent medical assistance. An RAC (Royal Automobile Club) Rescue helicopter flew the woman to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. A man and a child have died on Wedge Island. Pictured are emergency services at the scene. Source: Nine She remains in hospital in a stable condition, a WA Police spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia. Police and St John Ambulance staff also attended the scene. A St John Ambulance spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia the woman was taken to hospital in a serious condition with a combination of suspected gas inhalation and hypothermia. The spokesperson also confirmed a dog was found dead. The states police minister Michelle Roberts said it was believed the tragedy unfolded after a fridge leaked gas, according to the ABC. Premier Mark McGowan said the deaths were very, very sad and very tragic. The man's wife is in a serious condition. For everyone involved it is a shocking situation, he said. The deaths of the man and the boy, reported to be 11 years old by the ABC, are not being treated as suspicious, police said. Initial investigation at the scene suggests there may have been a fault with an item of camping equipment located inside the tent the family were sleeping in, a statement from WA Police said. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services were on the scene to help with the safe removal of the camping equipment. Investigations into the two deaths are ongoing and a report will be prepared for the coroner. 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 government of Sierra Leone has been asked to lift a ban that stops pregnant students from attending school - The issue was sent to court by groups including Women Against Violence and Exploitation in Society (Waves) - According to the Ecowas court that heard the case, the policy is discriminatory and the ban must be lifted immediately Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in The government of Sierra Leone has been forced by an Ecowas (The Economic Community of West African States) court to lift a ban that prevents pregnant school children from going to classes. Face2FaceAfrica.com reports that the Ecowas court called the policy discriminatory and directed that the government abolishes it with immediate effect. It is indicated that the policy being abolished has been in existence in Sierra Leone since 2015. It was established because the government viewed the mingling of pregnant students with peers as a factor of bad influence. READ ALSO: Meet the all-deaf staff who run top restaurant together (Video) The idea was that the students who get pregnant would be enrolled in a separate institution where they would be taught a version of the curriculum that is not as intense as the regular one. Reports show that one of the groups that stood sternly for the policy to be removed because of its perceived negative consequences is Women Against Violence and Exploitation in Society (Waves). Speaking about the court's ruling, the executive director of Waves, Hannah Yambasu, said excitedly that: READ ALSO: 19-year-old girl becomes 1st woman in history to win Grammy for Best Reggae Album This victory belongs to the girls in Sierra Leone who have been degraded and dehumanized because of their status since 2014." In other news, a Black woman from Detroit by name Annetta Powell who has been imprisoned for 24 months at the Alderson Federal Prison in West Virginia, known as 'Camp Cupcake' has made a huge comeback in the real estate industry since she was released in 2016. Blackenterprise.com reports that her business in real estate started as far back as 2002 when the brilliant woman started making progress. She leveraged her industry knowledge, published her first real estate book, and started conducting training seminars in 2007. Life took a U-turn for the passionate entrepreneur just the following year as she was investigated for real estate fraud and later indicted in 2011 for mortgage fraud. Enjoy reading our stories? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Ghanaian Traders Share Thoughts on Sales During Christmas | #Yencomgh Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh In the middle of Times Square, surrounded by Broadway theaters and Michelin-starred restaurants, sits an unassertive vegan restaurant that glows with pink neon lights above a marble bar. P.S. Kitchen is known for its splashy cocktails and upscale vegan fare, but more quietly, it is working to change lives. Every business owner wants to achieve maximum return on investment (ROI), but maybe not in quite the same way as Graham Smith and April Tam Smith pursue it. Theyve borrowed tips and tricks from socially conscious business ventures and combined them artfully into one restaurant where every aspect of the business has a higher purposefrom the environmentally conscious fare to the intention with which they hire each cook or server. The founders say that the restaurants revenue goes straight to organizations like ethical apparel brand Share Hope, antihuman trafficking nonprofit Restore NYC, and Justice Rising, which works to bring peace through education in war-torn countries. As a plant-based restaurant, the cuisine aims to be environmentally friendly and healthy. And, as a socially conscious restaurant, management hires people who struggle to stay gainfully employed. These three missions are what they call, as noted on the bottom corner of the menu, the three PSs. It's like the end of an email, April Tam Smith said. I want to make sure people want to come because they find the food delicious and they love being here. Its simply, by the way, we also do all of these other things. Like, oh, PS, we also give away all the profits. And whats really cool about the three PSs is that [every employee is] really passionate about one of them. The restaurant is a brick-and-mortar representation of the Smiths life philosophy. While April is a friendly whirlwind of generosity and grandiose ideas, Graham Smith is the quieter, more measured partner. We joke that Im the gas pedal and hes the brakes, April said, laughing, about her husband. The two met at a Bible study with their previous church, Redeemer Presbyterian, back when Tim Keller was pastoring the multicampus church. Graham and April, the daughter of immigrants from Hong Kong, were working in investment banking and bonded immediately over their pull toward radical generosity. Now, the Smiths lifestyle and budget fit almost into what some refer to as reverse tithing giving away the bulk of their income while living off of a more modest sum. Following the Old Testament example of tithing as first mentioned in Genesis 14:20, many churches encourage their congregations to give away 10 percent of their income. But the concept of reverse tithing (giving away around 90 percent of your income) was made popular by Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren, whose best-selling Purpose-Driven Life allowed him and his wife to give away vast amounts of money. Although he hadnt heard of Warrens personal challenge to live generously, Graham had been living similarly when he first moved to the city. One of his professors at Wheaton College, David Sveen, had warned his entrepreneurship students against golden handcuffs, the idea that becoming attached to a lavish lifestyle or luxurious company perks can enslave the individual to a high-paying and demanding career. It made an impact on Graham. Fresh from spending two months in Kampala, Uganda, Graham arrived in New York to work for Credit Suisse, determined to live modestly. While excelling in his career, he slept on a bunk bed, shared a two-bedroom apartment with four other roommates, and relied on public transportation. I saw finance not as a way of accumulating, but as distributing, Graham said. The excess income he began to build early in his career he started to give away, a habit that drew him to April and that they have continued throughout their marriage. Article continues below For example, while their combined income (Graham now works in venture capital) would allow for many luxuries, the two have chosen to live in Harlem, a more affordable neighborhood in the city. And for their whole marriage, theyve lived with roommates, whose rent payment is either nonexistent or given away to charity, according to the Smiths. Weve had three roommates in five years, Graham said. We do community with them. That has been interesting and challenging at times. Most notably, the couplealong with the investment of their two other business partnerspoured two years of post-tax income into building P.S. Kitchen and getting it off the ground, collaborating with industry experts Craig Cochran and Jeffrey LaPadula. Three months after getting married, they signed a 15-year lease in Times Square. Since they are donating the proceeds, they are currently not making money from the restaurant, the Smiths said. I think being in New York, theres a lot of comparison and fear of missing out, Graham told the Crazy Good Turns podcast last year. Theres a type of anxiety that lives in New York City I like to think of the phrase, The secret to living is giving. So really getting outside of yourself. April also sits on five nonprofit boards (her main hobby is volunteering, she said). As she was serving around the city, April said she was struck by how difficult it was for some people from disadvantaged backgrounds to land a job. One of the goals of P.S. Kitchen is to offer employment opportunities to those who were previously incarcerated or disadvantaged for other reasons. In the past two years, theyve offered jobs to more than 50 people who needed a second chance, they said. Their first graduate of P.S. Kitchen recently moved on to culinary school after working for the restaurant. While their profit is small, the P.S. Kitchen donor-advised fund has given away over $130,000 to different nonprofits since opening in 2017. But the vegan, plant-based fare also attracts a different type of buy-infrom animal-rights advocates and environmental activists. The restaurant has garnered attention and visits from all kinds of visitors, from Oprah to the cast of Hamilton to members of the New York Knicks. We wanted to start a place that had a maximum ROI in terms of return on impact, April said. We view working here as a mission, and not just a joband that really changed things. Similarly, Grahams former professor, Sveen, believes that whats equally important as a Christian witness in the Smiths enterprise is not just the financial givingits also how they run their business. Are they kind to their employees and treat them as equals; do they pay them a fair wage and care about their families? The generous giving is fantastic, but theres more that is important, Sveen said. Its not just financial, its environmental, relational factors that should testify to Graham and Aprils belief that Jesus is who he claims to be and are going to live that out in their economic enterprise. Graham, who graduated from Wheaton in 2012, recently won the Young Alumni Award from the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), an annual recognition presented to unusually successful alumni who have graduated within the past decade. The award is decided by committee after the schools nominate a star graduate. Article continues below He will be presented with the award on January 29 at the CCCUs annual Presidents Conference for Christian college leaders. Past recipients of the 5-year-old awarda strategy for the council of 180 institutions to amplify positive achievements by Christian institutionsinclude Jacob Atem, a former Lost Boy of Sudan and co-founder of the Southern Sudan Healthcare Organization; and Angie Thomas, author of the New York Times best-seller The Hate U Give. We think [Smith] represents a Christian college gradhes got an extraordinary job in finance and is competing with best and brightest, CCCU president Shirley Hoogstra told CT. He has decided to organize his life where pursuing his vocation as a businessperson and finance person is good in the eyes of God as a vocation, and then also pursuing a social enterprise that allows for a imperative. You can feed the hungry and you can visit those in prison in a lot of different ways. Hes taking Matthew 25 and hes actually putting it into a 2020 context. Thats a remarkable thing. Extreme generosity can look different according to each persons resources and abilities. Not everyone can live on 10 percent of their income. But financial giving tends to be higher among evangelical Christians than among the general population. A 2013 Barna Group poll found that 5 percent of American adults tithe (give 10 percent or more) to a church or charitable organization, while 12 percent of evangelical Christians tithe. Predictably, while two-thirds of American adults with a household income of $60,000 or more said they donated money, only 45 percent of American adults who made less than $40,000 gave money away. But for the Smiths, generosity is a fundamental conviction. Theyre not living like Mother Teresa, April is quick to clarify. But in a city known for income disparity, their lifestyle is a radical witness. Graham said he wanted to marry somebody who would give our lives away together, April said. And thats why its so much more than the money or the way we volunteer. Everything we have is Gods. Kara Bettis is an associate features editor with Christianity Today . WASHINGTON If a voter accidentally casts a ballot in the wrong precinct, should it be counted? Should early voters be able to give their sealed ballots to someone else to drop in the mail or deliver to a polling place? In Arizona, the answer to both questions has been a resounding no until this week. On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that those restrictions, in a state with some of the nations more stringent voting rules, should no longer stand. The result? In Arizona, which is seen as a battleground in the presidential race this fall, many voters will find their ballots considerably easier to cast and less likely to be excluded from election-night tallies. In the past, Arizona voters who cast ballots in the wrong precinct had their votes thrown out. And since 2016, the state has outlawed a popular voting aid letting campaign workers and other outsiders collect voters early ballots for delivery to polling places. Democrats and voting rights advocates had argued that the rules made voting too hard, especially for minorities. But the Republican-controlled State Legislature, which had put the strict rules in place, said they kept elections free of fraud. The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the Midnapore district sessions court to conclude within a year the trial of all accused persons in the killing of 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) jawans at a camp of the state armed police force in Silda area in 2010. A division bench comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and Suvra Ghosh passed the direction, while granting bail to one of the accused and rejecting it to two others. The court also directed the director general (DG) of the West Bengal Police to provide assistance to the prosecution to ensure fast completion of the trial, which, it ruled, should be completed within a year. The bench had on January 14 directed the CID to submit a report on the complicity of the three petitioners in the attack, evidence found against them and progress of trial. The petitioners' lawyer claimed before the court that the case against one of the petitioners, Indrajit Karmakar, was the same as that against Arnab Dam, who was granted bail by the court in April, 2019. Arnab Dam, alias Bikram, was in custody for over seven years for his alleged involvement in the February 15, 2010 attack on the EFR camp -- considered to be the biggest strike by the Maoists in the state. Opposing the bail prayer, prosecution lawyer Arun Maity submitted that several witnesses have already been examined before the sessions trial court and speedy hearing was underway in the case. After perusing the report submitted by the CID and hearing both the parties, the bench allowed bail to Karmakar, who was arrested in February, 2013. The court, however, rejected the bail prayers of Tara Hembram and Sanatan Soren for their alleged direct involvement in the killing of the jawans and loot of arms and ammunition from the Silda camp. The three persons, apparently members of a Maoist action squad, have been accused of waging war against the country, committing murder and booked under sections of the Arms Act. Suspected Maoists, armed with weapons, had arrived on motorcycles and four-wheelers, exploded landmines near the Silda camp of the EFR -- a part of the West Bengal Police -- on February 15, 2010 before barging inside. At least 24 personnel were killed in the attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, a sovereign city state located on the French Riviera in Western Europe, has unveiled its new pavilion for the upcoming Expo 2020 in Dubai. One of the most densely populated sovereign states in the world, Monaco will showcase itself at Expo 2020 Dubai through its world renowned areas of expertise: art, gastronomy, hospitality, research, industry, new technologies and the luxury sector. The Monegasque pavilion will express its identity and engage its visitors through an exciting activity programme, including shows, conferences and exhibitions throughout the six-month duration of the Expo. Albert Croesi, the managing director of Monaco Inter Expo (MIE), presented the Monaco Pavilion to partners and stakeholders from the worlds of politics, the economy and culture who will be visiting Dubai between October 20 and April 10 next year. Several leading personalities including Mireille Pettiti, president of Monaco Inter Expo, attended the roundtable which provided an opportunity to get an update on the progress of construction work at the pavilion and the stages that are yet to come. Dubai 2020 is now just around the corner, stressed the General Commissioner, encouraging participants to work very quickly to set the agenda for the pavilion. Giving an update on the project schedule, Croesi said the solar panels will be commissioned in April, followed by the interior fittings work in June and the test day with visitors in mid-October 2020. The Monaco Pavilion construction project will involve: *More than 100 workers a day, with 22,000 hours worked so far *108 cu m of concrete paving *180 days of construction *300 sq m of solar panels producing installed capacity of 51 kWp The Monaco Pavilion is made up of various stations: Penguins, Digital Transition, Portier Cove, Explorations, Tropical Corals, Interactive Bench and Art & Culture. It also hosts a temporary exhibition space that is open to public organisations and private companies. "This space has been designed to allow them to present displays to thousands of visitors," stated Croesi. "Were talking about 50,000 visitors a week thats 1.25 million people expected to attend during the course of the Expo," he added.-TradeArabia News Service The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, has been secretly working on a project commemorating the lives of Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives in Great Britain after the warand two photos she took for it were released on Sunday night. The picturespart of an exhibition of 75 images of survivors and their familieswere revealed on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the notorious Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, where a million Jews were put to death during World War II. The project was unveiled after Kates father-in-law Prince Charles returned from a three-day visit to Jerusalem for international ceremonies memorializing the end of the war, and one day before his wife, Camilla, will represent Britain at the central event at the Auschwitz camp in Poland. The initiative is a joint collaboration between the Jewish News, the Royal Photographic Society, and Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Kate told the Jewish News that Yvonne Bernstein and Steven Frank, the British survivors she photographed with their grandchildren in a two-hour session at Kensington Palace, are among the most life-affirming people Ive ever met. Steven Frank The Duchess of Cambridge Four portraits were released today in London, the two taken by the duchess and two others taken by the British photographers Jillian Edelstein and Frederic Aranda. Frank, 84, survived numerous concentration camps as a child, and lost his father at Auschwitz. He was photographed with granddaughters Maggie Fleet 15, and Trixie Fleet, 13. Kate said she was inspired by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in taking a photograph with personal items, including a pan which Franks mother managed to keep throughout the war. German-born Bernstein, 83, who survived the Holocaust as a hidden child in France, was photographed alongside her 11-year-old granddaughter, Chloe Wright. Yvonne Bernstein The Duchess of Cambridge Aranda photographed Joan Salter, 79, who fled the Nazis as a young child, with her husband Martin and daughter Shelley. Story continues Joan Slater Frederic Aranda Edelstein photographed John Hajdu, 82, who survived the ghetto of Budapest. He was photographed with his grandson Zac, aged 4. John Hajdu Jillian Edelstein The rest of the 75 photos will be taken by Royal Society fellows over the coming months, ahead of the planned exhibition later this year. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Students have their own meal account with the school system and can add money to that account or pay their debt down at any time. A regular meal at elementary schools in the district costs $2.80 and consists of three items, including a meat/entree, and a beverage. Students can add items for an additional cost or buy less than $2.80 worth of food. Campbell also said that WS/FCS Child Nutrition Services never turns students away from lunch, regardless of their ability to pay. The free meal that students receive if they have a negative meal balance or dont have money to pay is not the same as the regular school meal. The free meal does not include a meat or entree; rather it consists of a hot vegetable, two rolls and milk. Students who have not been approved as meeting the guidelines for free and reduced lunch, can accrue negative balances on their meal accounts, Campbell said. While the circumstances vary as to why a student may not have money in their account, we never deny a student lunch. We always provide a hot, nutritious meal. Campbell said community groups have helped in various ways to pay off negative balances throughout the district. The way to get that has everything to do with connecting the energy on the ground to a different vision for our society one that has housing justice, equity and housing security at the heart of it. The resources and the money are there, but theres a lack of political will from the unfortunate millionaire class that dominates our politics. The only way our desires become legible and visible is through grassroots organizing and activism, and that is a calculus that has never changed. The Congress on Monday decided to corner the government on the issues of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) in the upcoming budget session of Parliament apart from the economic slowdown, price rise, unemployment and the alleged assault on students. A Congress leader familiar with the development said the party will also seek answers from the government on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of internet shutdown and the move to take a foreign delegation to the valley while denying permission to the opposition leaders to go there. The partys strategy for the budget session, beginning January 31, was formulated at a meeting chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday. Congress leaders suggested that the party should keep up the attack on the government over CAA, NRC and NPR in view of the protests spreading across the country over these issues. However, they also insisted that the party should also corner the government on the current state of economy, price rise, agrarian crisis and rising unemployment. There is also a need to keep the narrative focused on the economic slowdown and jobs as the government is doing everything to divert the attention from economy and rising unemployment, said the leader quoted above. New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (Jnauary 28) dismissed as not maintainable two pleas, filed by several independent candidates, challenging rejection of their nomination for contesting polls in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said that under the Representation of People Act only an election petition was permissible and it would have to be filed after results were declared. The court said the law laid down by the Parliament, and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, was clear that only an election petition was permissible and therefore, it "has to be respected". It said that the apex court had also held that right to contest in an election was "not a civil right but a creature of statute". A third petition filed by another candidate whose nomination was rejected was dismissed as withdrawn after the lawyer for that petitioner said he wishes to withdraw the plea and file an election petition. Medical staff and a cured patient pose for a photo at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Jan. 27, 2020. The patient of the novel coronavirus pneumonia has been cured and discharged from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University on Monday. He is the first coronavirus-infected patient that was cured in Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi) NANCHANG, Jan. 27 -- A patient diagnosed with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia was discharged from a hospital in east China's Jiangxi Province on Monday, marking the first cured patient in the province. The 38-year-old male from Xingan county drove a friend to the city of Honghu in Hubei Province on Jan. 3 and returned to Xingan on Jan. 5. Soon after, he developed symptoms including fever, cough and chest tightness. He was diagnosed with novel coronavirus pneumonia and transferred to the provincial-level designated hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, on Jan. 23. The patient was in critical condition when he was first transferred to the hospital, said Xu Fei, deputy director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of the hospital. His condition improved significantly after treatment and met the standards for de-segregation and discharge of confirmed cases of pneumonitis infected with novel coronavirus of the National Health Commission, according to Xu. There are at least five confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus in the US, a number the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts will continue to climb. The novel coronavirus, which has sickened thousands and killed more than 100 people in China, belongs to a large family of viruses that mostly sicken animals. But this coronavirus, like SARS and MERS, 'jumped the species barrier' to infect people on a large scale, the CDC said. Despite its impact in China, the CDC maintains that the risk to Americans is low. But there's still a lot about the virus, its symptoms and how easily it spreads that health officials don't know. The CDC raised the travel precautions to China to its highest of three levels, meaning travelers are advised to 'avoid nonessential travel' to the country. 'We need to be preparing as if this is a pandemic, but I continue to hope that it is not,' said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The five patients who've been confirmed had all recently returned from Wuhan, the CDC said. Washington state The first confirmed coronavirus patient in the US, a man in his 30s, sought treatment at an urgent care center in the state after returning from Wuhan. The urgent care center sent his samples to the CDC, which confirmed he had the coronavirus. He entered isolated care at a hospital in Everett, about 30 miles north of Seattle, on January 23. He's receiving treatment in an isolated gurney designed for patients with highly contagious diseases, and a robot takes his vitals. He's in stable condition, said Dr. George Diaz, the man's physician and an infectious disease expert. He'll undergo additional testing until he's no longer contagious. Illinois A woman in her 60s in Chicago was diagnosed a few days after she returned from Wuhan on January 13. She's in stable condition and 'doing well' after undergoing treatment, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwardy said. She'll stay in the hospital to control the infection. California There are two patients in California: One in Los Angeles County and another in Orange County. Details are sparse about the Los Angeles county patient. They're currently being treated at a local hospital, though the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health didn't disclose how long they sought treatment after exposure to the virus. The risk to Los Angeles County is low, the department said. An Orange County man in his 50s flew into Los Angeles International Airport in Wuhan earlier this month. The county found out January 23, and the CDC confirmed his results on Saturday. He's in a local hospital. Arizona The state health department confirmed the patient is an 'adult member' of the Arizona State University community, though it didn't release the patient's age or gender. The patient called their healthcare provider when they began to experience mild respiratory symptoms. The CDC confirmed the coronavirus on Sunday. The patient isn't hospitalized, but is self-isolated at home, the department said. Who's still at risk The CDC is monitoring at least 100 people in 26 states for coronavirus. About 25 of them were found not to have it. Washington state health officials are monitoring 50 people who came in close contact with the state's patient. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is monitoring two potential cases of coronavirus. Two people in the state recently traveled to Wuhan City, China, and developed respiratory symptoms and are currently undergoing testing for the virus, according to a DHHS statement. Samples have been sent to the CDC for testing and the individuals will remain isolated until test results are available, the statement said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed the state, which hasn't seen any confirmed cases yet, sent seven possible cases to the CDC for testing. Of those, four people remain in isolation while their results are pending. The travelers had just returned to the US from Lunar New Year celebrations in China. The Georgia Department of Public Health is working with the CDC to evaluate patient information received from healthcare providers about potential coronavirus cases, said health department spokesperson Nancy Nydam. 'To date, DPH has not confirmed any cases of coronavirus in Georgia, however the situation could change as additional patients are evaluated,' Nydam said. A total of four people in Virginia, Oklahoma and Maryland are also being tested for coronavirus. A Chinese exchange student whose flight connected in Wuhan is also being tested in Philadelphia, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Other coronavirus cases have been confirmed in several Asian countries, including Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. Patients have also been reported in France and Australia, and on Monday, Ontario public health officials confirmed two cases, a husband and wife, had the virus. What's being done The CDC is screening travelers from Wuhan at several US airports, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport began screenings last week. Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that the CDC is conducting screenings at 20 American airports that receive 90% of all passengers from China. The CDC advises Americans to avoid unnecessary travel to Hubei Province. Three dozen US diplomats and their families in Wuhan will evacuate the region to return to the US early this week. The Canadian government has issued a travel advisory, urging citizens to avoid all travel to the Hubei Province of China. The advisory includes the cities of Wuhan, Huanggang and Ezhou. The northern Chinese city of Tangshan also suspended all local public transportation services to curb the spread of the virus. Otherwise, the CDC encourages people to follow flu season protocol: Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, avoid ill people and stay home and avoid public situations if they're ill. A coronavirus vaccine would take at least a year to reach the public. After visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland today, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would advocate for a domestic terrorism law in New York and require schools to teach more about diversity, tolerance and religious freedom. Every single New Yorker must learn the lesson of Auschwitz, so that we never allow such hatred to rise again, Cuomo said after visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi concentration and extermination camp in Poland. More than 1 million people were killed there. Most were Jews. Cuomo went to Poland for the 75th anniversary commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Owicim. We placed stones from the NYS Capitol at Auschwitz as a token of New York's support for the Jewish community and as a symbol of our pledge to #NeverForget. We will remember the stories of Holocaust survivors in New York and elsewhere. We will, as Elie Wiesel said, bear witness. pic.twitter.com/f32ZQy4ewu Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 27, 2020 The governor also announced he plans to hold an international conference in May in an effort to recover property stolen during the Nazi prosecution. The state has a Holocaust Claims Processing Office that already has provided $178 million in restitution involving bank accounts, insurance policies and other losses. The office also has resolved cases involving more than 160 pieces of art. The message of the Holocaust survivors rings especially powerful today, Cuomo said as he departed for Poland on Sunday. 2018, the FBI says, had the highest record of hate crimes in the United States of America. Cuomo said last year there were 189 hate crimes reported in New York. Most of them anti-Semitic, the governor said. Frictional Games, the minds behind the existential horror masterpiece Soma and livestream favorite Amnesia: The Dark Descent, have a new project in the works. How do we know? Well, visit nextfrictionalgame.com to find out. The domain has been in Frictionals possession for over 10 years, updating and changing to reflect each of their releases, using it to tease Penumbra follow-up Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Amnesias sequel A Machine for Pigs, and Soma. About two years ago, the company announced they had two projects in the works, with one in the midst of full production. As it stands, the site simply displays a black background and a dull-grey pulsating something. Honestly, it kind of looks like a fetus, or the empty phantasm shell from Bloodborne (which, by the way, is also pretty gross). If their previous work is any indication, its sure to be of embryonic proportions, given Frictional consistently provides visceral depictions of terror and offers a philosophical approach to their unique, cerebral brand of horror. If you scroll, youll find a social media bar complete with an odd eyeball symbol. Scrolling over it reveals the ending of a YouTube URL, and upon inputting it, it takes you to a short unlisted video posted by Frictional themselves. Its a short video depicting heavily edited live-action footage of some rocks. The description reads Video Cassette 16/2/83, copy from a private collection. Marked Shetpe, KSSR, referencing the country of Kazakhstan (or Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, circa 1983). Shetpe is a real village in Kazakhstan. Theres also a second hidden URL. It leads to another unlisted video posted by Frictional, which features no visual footagejust cavernous screaming. Its captioned Artefact 1/7/115, marked Triple Crown. Video unrecoverable, Audio track fragment reconstructed, denoised. Its all a little SCP Foundation, if you ask us, what with the partial success experiments. Stay tuned for any further updates as Frictional continues to tease and confuse their audience. With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle officially free from their royal duties, many are wondering what happens to the Royal Family following their unprecedented move. According to one royal expert, those senior roles might be given to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Royal biographer Robert Lacey told Hello! he believes sisters Beatrice, 31, and Eugenie, 29, could be asked to take over positions held by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie attend the 90th birthday celebrations for the Queen in June 2016 / Getty Images It's quite clear that one of the consequences is that Beatrice and Eugenie will now be brought forward - if they're willing to be brought forward, said Lacey, who also serves as the historical consultant for the Netflix series, The Crown. If two go out, two have got to come in, and those two have got to be Beatrice and Eugenie, he went on to say. Lacey didnt seem to think that their father, Prince Andrew, and his own recent ousting from royal duties following his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein would prevent the sisters from being offered the roles. Princess Beatrice attends the 2018 Met Gala in New York City / Neilson Barnard/Getty Images I'm sure they will step forward and be greatly welcomed. It's what the family needs as it's another 15 years before Prince George's generation steps up. Harry and Meghan announced their decision to step down as senior royals earlier in January, and the Queen released an official statement on what exactly that means for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on January 18. Since Harry joined Meghan and baby Archie in Canada last week, details regarding how their decision affects the rest of the Royal Family have yet to be released. Should Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie take over for Harry and Meghan, it will mean some pretty big changes for the two, as presently, they do not work as full-time royals and have no obligation to attend public engagements on behalf of the Queen (although they do, of course, attend events like Royal Ascot). Princess Eugenie attends Royal Ascot in June 2019 / PA Description GIS - 28 January, 2020: The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Jagutpal, chaired a coordination meeting, this afternoon, on the situation of the coronavirus with stakeholders from the port, airport and tourism sector. The stakeholders were Air Mauritius, Airports of Mauritius Ltd, Airport Terminal Operations Ltd, Passport and Immigration Office, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, Mauritius Police Force, Mauritius Ports Authority, Association des Hoteliers et Restaurateurs de Maurice (AHRIM), and Emirates. Minister Jagutpal pointed out that all passengers will have to provide a valid address in order to facilitate screening of symptomatic cases by Health inspectors. So far, he said there have been nine symptomatic cases, two people who have returned to China and the other seven have been put in the Quarantine Ward of the Souillac hospital. He confirmed that these people do not suffer from coronavirus. The minister announced that both arriving and departing passengers will pass through manual and electronic temperature screening at the airport so as to determine any case of fever. He underlined that the Ministry has put in place the protocol and the measures recommended by the World Health Organisation and indicated that several protective equipment, including medical masks N 95, have already been made available to health personnel at the airport. He appealed to all stakeholders to collaborate closely while adding that the support of each and everyone is needed to raise awareness on the coronavirus. Sorry to this man. Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images At 8:36 p.m. on Monday night, President Trumps lawyers finally said John Boltons name. The pronouncement came the day after the New York Times reported that the former national security adviser accused Trump of tying congressionally-authorized aid to Ukraine to investigations into Joe Biden in a draft of his memoir a point that is more or less publicly accepted, if politically denied by a majority of senators. The manuscript, submitted to the White House in December, has proven to be the most explosive development to-date in the Senate impeachment trial. Democrats have spent weeks pushing for Bolton and other administration officials to be subpoenaed as witnesses by the Senate, only to be denied by a party line vote at the beginning of the trial, when Republican senators prevented any witnesses from being called. Democrats still have tied their hopes up to four Republicans changing their minds on a procedural vote scheduled for later this week, but even after the Bolton revelation, it seems unlikely that enough Republicans will break ranks so that witnesses will be called. Alan Dershowitz delivered the core argument in the first full day of opening statements, habitually referencing constitutional law and name-dropping historical figures in his primetime slot. Speaking from typed notes, but not looking at the two aged leather books he brought to the podium with him, he invoked Boltons name and dismissed him simultaneously: Nothing in Boltons revelations even if true would rise to the level of abuse of power or an impeachable offense. Earlier in the day, Democrats had expressed the hope that the bombshell revelations would move the requisite number of Republicans to call for witnesses: I think therell be more than four, Angus King, the Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats, told NPR. My bold prediction will be five or 10. However, King conceded to reporters later that was a supposition that it would be very hard to vote no. Republicans eventually got into lockstep, denying the need to hear Boltons testimony. When asked by New York if he thought Bolton would add anything relevant to the case, North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer said, I dont I want to acquit the president and move on. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin cited Dershowitz in his argument dismissing the former national security adviser: No matter what John Bolton says, it shouldnt affect the outcome here. We shouldnt be here. It should have never risen to impeachable offense or an impeachment trial. Johnson added of Bolton: I dont see that there is going to be anything to change my mind that this shouldnt rise to the level of impeachment. Democrats had a different response, bristling at the celebrity lawyers comments. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine told reporters that when [Dershowitz] stands up and tells us there is nothing that John Bolton can say I disagree with you. You cant tell me that. You dont know what John Bolton is going to say. In fact, Kaine insisted doing so would violate his duty as a juror in the trial: Ive taken an oath to do impartial justice. Im not going to concede you telling me that the testimony isnt going to be probative or significant. I want to hear the testimony. Partisan battle lines grew even sharper during the day on the issue; at least one Republican attacked a colleague for expressing openness towards calling Bolton. Kelly Loeffler, the newly appointed senator from Georgia went after Mitt Romney, whom she once described as a friend after submitting major donations to both of his presidential campaigns: After 2 weeks, its clear that Democrats have no case for impeachment. Sadly, my colleague @SenatorRomney wants to appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @realDonaldTrump during their 15 minutes of fame. The circus is over. Its time to move on! #gapol Senator Kelly Loeffler (@SenatorLoeffler) January 27, 2020 The drama over Bolton overshadowed a day where Trumps lawyers threw out a variety of disconnected arguments before closing with Dershowitz. Ken Starr, the independent counsel who oversaw the Whitewater probe of Bill Clinton, opened the day bemoaning the age of impeachment. At times, he seemed like he was narrating a Ken Burns documentary, speaking in his warm, avuncular voice about the impeachment of Andrew Johnson; to complete the effect, all he needed was a vague hint of Ashokan Farewell playing in the background. Much of the day was devoted to less high-brow arguments: Trump lawyers attacked Joe Biden and offered a defense of Rudy Giuliani, who they antithetically described as both a minor player and an American hero an internationally recognized expert on fighting corruption. These were long-expected arguments from the Trump defense that served an additional timely purpose, forcing reporters to find at least a few headlines that had nothing to do with John Bolton. Though the national security advisers account still dominated the news cycle, North Carolina Representative Mark Meadows, a close Trump ally, banked on the frenetic pace of contemporary politics to blow the story over by Monday. Its the reality of Washington, D.C., he said. Were on a 24- and 48-hour news cycle and candidly theres a lot of news each and every day. To suggest that we put a lot of emphasis on one report from the New York Times would be to ignore history where we have not only news that breaks every day, but allegations that break every day that seem blockbuster at the time they are made, but yet, when they are vetted, dont pass muster. It remains to be seen if the reporting on Boltons book will pass muster, but the bet seems to be that it will fade into the ether regardless. A staffer at Hana Tour, Korea's largest travel agency, said Monday, "Around 20 percent of reservations to China during January and February have been canceled." Rival Mode Tour is giving full refunds on all travel bookings to China except Hainan and Hong Kong until the end of this month. Korean businesses are bracing for the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, making plans to evacuate expats based in China and canceling business trips there. The travel industry here is being hit particularly hard, with trips to and from China canceled every minute. With several Chinese cities in lockdown, hotels and retailers here are bracing themselves for massive lost business. Lotte Hotel in Jamsil, Seoul alone has had cancellations from around 50 Chinese guests and has set up thermal cameras to detect guests who have a fever. Korean businesses with offices in China have gone into emergency mode. SK Global Chemical, which has an ethylene manufacturing plant in Wuhan, evacuated 10 of its staff there and temporarily halted business trips to the region. SK also distributed masks and hand sanitizers to the 3,000 Chinese workers at the plant and shut down its cafeteria, while ordering staff not to hold meetings or other gatherings for the time being. POSCO, which runs an automobile steel plant in Wuhan, said it is shutting down the factory until Feb. 2. It will decide whether to evacuate four of its Korean staff there depending on what measures the government here takes. Businesses are also asking staff to refrain from traveling to other parts of the world. Hyundai, whose affiliate Kia operates a car plant in China's Jiangsu Province, has told staff there to stay indoors and told all workers to refrain from overseas travel and maintain emergency contact with global offices to check up on their health. LG also told all workers not to travel to China. "Many business trips to Beijing and Shanghai were planned, but we ordered staff in those regions to return to Seoul as soon as possible to prevent the spread of the virus," a company spokesman said. LG Display, which was set to launch an OLED manufacturing plant in Guangzhou, is banning staff from traveling there unless absolutely necessary, while those returning from the region must be checked for fever and other symptoms. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines made all of their flight crew wear masks starting last weekend. They had earlier been told not to wear masks for fear of stoking the panic. Dias breaking down while speaking at the climate emergency session, brings home internet trolls by the hundreds. All was well at the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) till Dia Mirza decided to get in touch with the empath in herand break down in tears right there on the stage. Dont hold back from being an empath, she stuttered as she held the mic close to her as the host sitting close by consoled her. Dont be afraid of shedding your tears. Feel it. Feel the extent of everything! Its good. Its good. It gives us strength, Dia continued. It does. And this is not a performance. Just then, someone came up on stage to offer Dia some tissues. She turned to look at him and smiled, saying, Thank you. I dont need paper. While that statement drew her a loud applause from her audience, her fans and followers on the internet were not as kind. The video that went viral on Twitter brought her some rude backlash. Someone called Samir Saini (@IndusEyes) said in a comment, The SASTI Greta says I dont need paper Coz fake tears wont appear again if wiped once. Another user, Vikrant (@vikrantkumar), said, Own big SUVs (sic), travel by flight to Jaipur, Attend an event primarily for Book & News Paper.....Cry for the environment & Refuse a Tissue how to become an environmental activist. Yet another user, FPL WarrioR (@FPLWarrioR), posted a picture of Dia getting out of an SUV, with the caption I am here to save the environment. Not the best day or place for the usually dignified actress to shed a tear, we think. Scale Microgrid Solutions ("SMS"), a leading distributed clean energy and microgrid platform, today (1/27) announced that it has secured an equity commitment of up to $300 million from Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing. Founded in 2016, SMS is a vertically integrated distributed energy company focused on delivering fully financed cleaner, cheaper and more reliable power solutions to commercial and industrial ("C&I") customers throughout North America. The company will help accelerate the deployment of distributed energy assets through its unique microgrid product and fully financed solution, while leveraging its long standing partnerships with industry leading companies. In 2020, the company will be particularly focused on growing their Rapid Response Modular Microgrid ("R2M2") offering, a technology that was developed and deployed to help California businesses deal with the growing threat of wildfires and public safety power shutoffs. The management team is led by Chief Executive Officer, Ryan Goodman, who most recently served as the President of ENER-G Rudox, a distributed energy company, which Centrica acquired in 2016. Ryan is joined by a senior team with extensive distributed energy and microgrid experience, including Chief Operating Officer, Tim Hade, and Chief Technology Officer, Howard Goodman, both of whom worked closely with Ryan as part of the senior leadership team at ENER-G Rudox. "North America needs to rebuild its energy infrastructure in a far more sustainable way, which requires flexible and reliable behind-the-meter power solutions and access to efficient financing for customers. This is particularly timely in regions like California and the Pacific Northwest, but is also relevant in the Northeast, as C&I customers demand more reliable, cheaper and cleaner energy solutions. Our focus on deploying fully financed distributed energy solutions and microgrids will position us well to capitalize on this next wave of growth," said Ryan Goodman, CEO, Scale Microgrid Solutions. "Warburg Pincus' deep experience in the energy, technology and financial services sectors, paired with their strong track record in supporting management teams to build businesses of scale, will be invaluable as we pursue our vision to make distributed energy solutions more accessible," added Tim Hade, COO, Scale Microgrid Solutions. Peter Kagan, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus, commented, "Scale Microgrid Solutions represents an important investment in the next wave of power infrastructure. The Company will provide developers and customers a one-stop shop for distributed energy solutions and manage everything from deployment to financing. We look forward to partnering with Ryan and his team and strongly believe that SMS is well-positioned to capitalize on the growth and demand for cleaner, cheaper and more reliable power." About Scale Microgrid Solutions Scale Microgrid Solutions designs, builds, operates, and finances cutting-edge on-site power systems for commercial and industrial facilities throughout North America . The Company's proprietary microgrid modules enable their customers to reap the benefits of the world's most innovative distributed energy technologies while eliminating the anxieties associated with the traditional microgrid development process. SMS is building the backbone of the 21st century electric grid, at scale. Learn more by visiting us at: www.scalemicrogridsolutions.com About Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $58 billion in private equity assets under management. The firm's active portfolio of more than 190 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 19 private equity funds, which have invested more than $81 billion in over 890 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information please visit www.warburgpincus.com. England pacer Stuart Broad was fined 15 per cent of his match fee on Tuesday for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the fourth Test against South Africa. Broad breached Article 2.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct Players and Player Support Personnel which relates to the "use of an audible obscenity during an international match." The incident took place on Monday during the fourth day of the match when Broad approached South Africa captain Faf du Plessis and used inappropriate language. Also, one demerit point has been added to the disciplinary record of Broad, for whom it was the second offence in a 24-month period, taking his demerit points to two. On-field umpires Rod Tucker and Joel Wilson, third umpire Bruce Oxenford and fourth official Allahdien Palekar levelled the charges. England secured a massive 191-run victory over South Africa in the match and won the four-match Test series by 3-1. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, "tech for good" was one of the key themes on the agenda. Big Tech companies like Microsoft and Google used their airtime to call for more regulation, particularly in the area of artificial intelligence (AI). It's a broad term that applies to a set of different technologies such as facial recognition. Over the past couple of years, discussion at Davos has really focused on what impact AI and increasing automation might have on jobs, society, and privacy. Everyone, from governments to tech leaders agree that the development of AI needs to be done responsibly and carefully. And they agree it needs to be regulated. Those calls for regulation are coming from technology giants believe it or not. IBM CEO Ginni Rometty told CNBC at Davos that she backs AI regulation on "how the technology is used," but not necessarily the technology itself. Google CEO Sundar Pichai called for "sensible regulation" and Satya Nadella, the boss of Microsoft, called for global rules around A.I. He also backed regulation around the "time of use" of AI, like facial recognition. So why is Big Tech pushing so hard for more regulation? Firstly they want to appear like they are benevolent forces using technology for good. And they want to make it seem like they are ready to work with governments around the world. But I would say they actually see regulation as a chance to increase their dominance. There have been calls for the breaking up of big technology firms in the U.S. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator, is perhaps the best-known proponent. The argument is that these firms have become too dominant. In the EU, the argument around regulation of big tech firms, is that they have become too powerful and have stifled competition. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) brought in stringent rules around the handling of people's personal information and data. It was designed to make sure there was no misuse for data. But the cost of complying with it was so high, it only helped Google and Facebook consolidate their dominance of the European advertising market. A similar trend could happen if more and more regulation is brought in, particularly around AI. Big Tech will be able to afford the lawyers and compliance costs while start-ups could be left behind. With AI being seen as such a critical technology, Big Tech's power could be stronger than ever. That's why the bosses of these firms want more rules. Kolkata, Jan 28 : The talk from the "fringes of the ruling party" about the demographics of the Muslim population is just a way to 'demonise' a community, Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee said here, asserting that there is no real fear of Muslim takeover in India. "India and the US are similar in one very important way. The minorities are actually minorities. They are not anywhere close to being dominant," Banerjee said at the epilogue session of the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet on Monday evening. "So the sense that we need to be mindful of the minorities - this talk about that you hear at least from the fringes of the ruling party about the demographics of the Muslim population - this is really just ways to demonise a population," he said during the session, that centred around the book 'Good Economics for Hard Times', which the eminent economist has co-authored with fellow Nobel laureate and his wife Esther Duflo. Banerjee said like the African Americans and Mexicans in the US, the minorities - "you can say the entire group of minorities - they are relatively economically and educationally deprived, and small group, with a very powerful and economically much better-of majority". The Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said whenever these fears are stoked, one could imagine a context where these are two equal groups. "An you worry about the other group becoming too powerful. But this is just not realistic here. And in that sense I feel that all the reference to that is a bit of a... it is constructing a narrative that has no basis in reality. I don't think there is any real fear that there is going to be a Muslim takeover of India," he said during the interaction on the Grand Steps of the iconic Victoria Memorial Hall. Ruling out any future political role that he sees for himself, Banerjee said Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) - the organisation he has set up with Esther and Sendhil Mullainathan - was committed to work with anybody who wanted to do something useful. Becoming political wouldn't be helpful in that context, he remarked. "I think I believe that what is most useful is the work that our organisation Poverty Action Lab does. We are mostly committed to working with anyone who wants to do something useful. "People react to things... We are better off mostly putting our head down, try to help the poorest people. That is still a very real option," he said. According to Banerjee, despite bad politics in both countries, "that you may worry about", state governments, including those of the BJP, have worked with their organisation. "We have often found them very responsive to sensible things," he said, referring to the project on reducing industrial pollutants in which J-PAL worked with the Gujarat government when current prime minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of the state. "We did it with Modi in Gujarat. It is now a policy in Gujarat," he said. Photo: GALVESTON If the right people are at the table, a poker game can change the course of history. The new film Quezons Game, opening Friday, uses poker (and copious cigars) to dramatize one of the most remarkable, and still largely unsung, episodes of World War II history: the resettlement of roughly 1,200 Jewish refugees from Europe which was quickly falling under the Nazis thumb, if not there already to the Philippines in the late 1930s. Seated around the table at Manilas Malacanang Palace most nights were Manuel Quezon, the then-U.S. territorys president; Paul McNutt, the top U.S. official in the Philippines; Alex Frieder, a Jewish cigar merchant from Cincinnati; and Dwight D. Eisenhower, the future Supreme Allied Commander and 34th president of the United States, then a military attache assigned to the Philippines. I think thats how they got to know each other, yes, says Dr. Barbara Sasser, Alex Frieders granddaughter and Galveston resident. I think it built a mutual respect among all these people. These mens task was about as difficult as it sounds. For their plan to work, they had to find people willing to relocate to the other side of the world, which they did by placing ads in European newspapers; convince the Germans to grant them exit visas (which, according to Quezons Game, was surprisingly easy); and then perform diplomatic somersaults in order to get the visas approved by a State Department riddled with anti-Semites. They did what they did because they thought it was the right thing to do, says Sasser. They were in a place where they had some influence and they could talk to the right people. Were a very hospitable people and we had experienced exile and imprisonment during the Spanish colonization and the early American occupation, so someone of my grandfathers generation would have been conscious of the plight of refugees, Quezons grandson and namesake, Manuel Quezon III, told The New York Times. A pretty good story Quezons Game makes a similar point when one of Quezons aides must use a segregated bathroom while on a trip to Washington, D.C. The younger Quezon, a writer, was speaking at a reunion of the refugees and the Frieders descendants held in Cincinnati in February 2005. The Filipino people are the kindest, most generous people, Sasser says. Theyre always in a good mood, theyre always smiling; they always say yes. Theyre just kind and compassionate people. Quezons Game, directed by British-born Filipino filmmaker Matthew Rosen, opens in Houston Friday after a successful run in the Philippines last year and screening at several festivals. At Houstons WorldFest last spring, it won four awards including best director and best foreign feature. Apart from the inevitable dramatic license, Sasser believes the film represents her grandfather rather well. Its not a documentary, but its a pretty good story, she adds. And she ought to know. Several years ago, Sasser and her cousin, another of Alex Frieders grandchildren, produced Rescue in the Philippines: Refuge From the Holocaust. The 60-minute documentary aired on PBS and impressed New York Times reviewer Nicole Harrington, who noted in telling their stories, the former refugees and the proud descendants of the leaders involved can finally publicly express their enduring sense of gratitude and faith in humanity. Although there is no official connection between the two films they contacted me and gave me an early script, and asked for comments, explains Sasser; later she sent Rosen a family photo seen in the new films credits Sasser says shes glad to see Quezons Game come along all the same. Very few people know the story, she says. A lot more people know since we did our documentary, but we did the documentary on public television, not in movie theaters, and Im really glad theres a chance for a greater audience to see the film. Comparisons to Schindlers List The parallels between this story and Schindlers List are unmistakeable, and indeed practically leap out of the Quezons Game press kit. The main difference, reckons Sasser, is that one story is well-known; the other, not so much. I made the connection that there were approximately the same number of lives saved from this rescue in the Philippines as Schindler had saved with his Jews in Germany, and the reason people knew about Schindler was a film, she explains. According to Sasser, her ancestors moved to the Philippines, which had been under American control since the Spanish-American War ended in 1898, around 1920. They might have taken to Manila because, she figures, the capital city was laid out by Americans around the time another prominent American from Cincinnati, William Howard Taft, occupied the White House. The brothers built a cigar factory there that, according to a 2005 article in Cigar Aficionado magazine, once produced up to 250 million cigars a year. Alex and three of his four other brothers took turns supervising the familys Philippines operation in two-year intervals. The brothers were very close, and the families were very close, Sasser says. In the Philippines as they rotated in and out they all lived in the same house, and they would always go over there and sort of have a two-week time together before the departing family left. The Frieders left the Philippines shortly before the Japanese invaded the islands in December 1941. They eventually moved their cigar operation to Philadelphia and in due course Alexs nephew, Sam, took over. Every so often Sam would field a curious request from his uncle: so-and-sos gonna come by and you should be nice to em or give them a discount. Sam speculates that [this person] was a refugee, Sasser explains. Alex Frieder, though, wound up back in Cincinnati, where he became a leader in the Jewish community. Sasser also grew up in Ohios Queen City, and remembers visiting her grandfather at the local Jewish country club and at his house. Although they didnt talk much about the rescue operation she was fairly young; Frieder died in 1968 he was still playing poker. I remember visiting him in the card room, Sasser says. We would celebrate Passover at his house sometimes. He was a very jovial, outgoing, gregarious guy. The family remained friendly with the Eisenhowers. Ike thoughtfully sent Alex a condolence letter when Sassers grandmother died shortly before the Normandy invasion. Alex became co-chairman of Democrats for Eisenhowers Ohio chapter. After Ike won, the Frieders happily sent cigars to the White House; they were rewarded with invites to the inauguration. They stayed friends for a long time, Sasser affirms. Quezon honored As for Quezon, he led the Philippines from exile in upstate New York until dying from tuberculosis in 1944. The Philippines became an independent nation two years later. Today signs of his legacy are everywhere his likeness is on the twenty-peso note, while many locales across the Philippines bear his name. Quezon City, created in 1939 and the nations most populous city with around three million people, is more or less the size of Houston. He is known as the first elected president; he is also known as the commonwealth president and as the president that brought back their national language, Sasser says. This story is a very small part of his presidency. However, she adds, any Filipino that I know that sees the [documentary] is very proud of this story, and very proud that their country acted that way; it makes them proud to be a Filipino. Theyre very glad to learn about it. In the Israeli city of Rishon LeZion, just south of Tel Aviv, the 23-foot Open Doors Monument honors Quezon and the others who helped the Jewish WWII refugees. The activities center in Manilas lone Jewish temple is lined with plaques telling their story. The way Sasser sees it, the Filipino president was simply a man of faith who decided to lead by example. He was a good Catholic, she says, and he thought the most unreligious thing he could think of was to think badly of the people who gave them their savior. Chris Gray is a Houston-based writer. Quezons Game When: Opens Friday Where: Cinemark Tinseltown 290, 12920 Northwest Fwy. Details: 713-329-9402; quezonsgame.com VANCOUVERBritish Columbia and Ontario are both on high alert to identify more cases of the novel coronavirus that has claimed more than 100 lives and infected more than 4,000 people, now that the first positive cases have been found in each province. B.C.s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced Tuesday that a resident of the Vancouver Coastal Health region is the first person in her province to be found sick with the virus and Henry said shed be suprised if more cases arent found. News of the B.C. case follows two cases of the virus being identified in Toronto earlier this week a husband and wife who had also recently returned from China. Airport screening, awareness and safety procedures for hospital staff, and a stockpile of protective equipment have B.C. well prepared to identify more coronavirus cases as they come, and to contain them, Henry said. This first case is not unexpected to us. We know we have quite a lot of travel between China and Vancouver, Henry said. We have been on high alert for a number of weeks now and we have established our emergency response structure so we can maintain that. The sick B.C. man is in his 40s and frequently travels to China. He recently returned to B.C. from Wuhan, where he stayed home until he developed symptoms. He called a clinic ahead and tested positive for the coronavirus, Henry told a news conference. A sample was being sent to a lab in Winnipeg for secondary confirmation that the virus is the same coronavirus that was first found in Wuhan, a city of about 11 million people in China. He is currently doing well, Henry said, and does not require hospitalization. He had a small number of family contacts while in isolation at home. The Toronto couple, meanwhile, tested positive for the virus at Ontarios public health laboratory. The husbands symptoms became severe enough to require medical care. Both were wearing face masks on their flight home to Toronto after travelling in the affected area, officials say. That means cases of the virus have now been found in two of the three Canadian cities the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) identified as priorities to screen for the virus, because they each have direct flights from China. The third is Montreal. Though the cases did not come as a surprise to public health authorities in either Ontario or B.C., the precautions set out to contain the virus in each province will now be put to the test. B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix voiced confidence in B.C.s public health capacity Tuesday, praising the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (CDC) for quickly testing the coronavirus patient. Dix called B.C. a national leader in pandemic response, referring to B.C.s pandemic planning prior to 2003, which made the province more prepared for the introduction of SARS than Ontario. The Ontario SARS Commission, tasked with getting to the bottom of what went wrong during the outbreak released its final report in 2007. It concluded that part of the reason SARS never exploded in Vancouver the way it did in Ontario involved an element of luck that the first patient went directly from the airport to his doctor, limiting how many others were exposed to the virus. With a file from Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie Read more about: To commemorate 80 years since the Battle of Britain, the Royal Air Force Museum has launched the Hurricane 80K Challenge, encouraging keen runners and novices alike, to run 80K in 80 days. The Hurricane 80K Challenge is a virtual race that commences on 21 April 2020 and runners have exactly 80 days to run, walk, swim or bike 80K in a location of their choice. Participants will have access to a downloadable log sheet to record their 80K before being rewarded with a bespoke, commemorative 80K Challenge medal. As a virtual race, the 80K challenge can be completed anywhere in the world. Online registration is now open and runners from across the UK and as far as Germany and Norway have already signed up. Participants have 80 days until 10 July, poignantly the start of the Battle of Britain, to complete the challenge. Entry costs 20 per person and all proceeds from the Hurricane 80K Challenge will go towards the RAF Museum, registered charity 244708. Limited edition Hurricane 80K Challenge t-shirts are also available to purchase when registering online. RAF Museum London Public Events Manager, Ella Hewitt said: The Hurricane 80K Challenge is an opportunity for people across the globe to challenge themselves and pay respect to The Few who served and lost their lives during the Battle of Britain 80 years ago. 80K in 80 days is quite a task, but it can be completed anytime, anywhere, and weve already had lots of interest from abroad and RAF bases across the UK. Its great to see people getting behind the challenge. The Hurricane, often overshadowed by the Spitfire, was the number one fighter plane during the Battle of Britain, inflicting the most losses and causing the most amount of damage to the Luftwaffe during the engagement. Having fought in all major theatres of the Second World War and playing a crucial role in protecting Britain during the summer of 1940, the Hurricane 80K Challenge is giving the aircraft the spotlight it deserves. To register for the Hurricane 80K Challenge, please visit rafmuseum.org. Entry costs 20 per person, or 32 per person with the souvenir t-shirt. Additional booking and postage charges apply for overseas participants. All proceeds will go towards the RAF Museum to enable us to continue telling the story of the RAF and the thousands of service men and women who served in it. The annual Spitfire 10K will also be returning to the RAF Museum London on 29 August and RAF Museum Cosford on 30 August 2020. All runners will be given the name of a Battle of Britain RAF pilot to wear with their race number, in memory of those who defended our skies during the summer of 1940. Spaces are limited and filling up fast. For further details or to register you place visit rafmuseum.org. WASHINGTON - Former national security adviser John Bolton took centre stage at President Donald Trumps impeachment trial even though he was nowhere near the Capitol. Boltons claims in a forthcoming book that Trump told him he wanted to withhold security aid from Ukraine until it launched investigations into political rival Joe Biden ramped up pressure on GOP senators to call him to testify. Trumps legal team has repeatedly insisted there was no linkage, and Trump tweeted on Monday that he never told Bolton such a thing. Bidens son Hunter also came under scrutiny as Trumps lawyers focused on his high-paying job with a Ukrainian energy company when his father was vice-president. Highlights of Mondays session and whats ahead as senators conduct just the third impeachment trial of a president. A BOLT FROM BOLTON Boltons testimony has been the subject of fierce debate for months, but it leaped to the forefront as news leaked of his claims in a forthcoming book. Bolton writes that Trump told him he wanted to withhold security aid from Ukraine until it helped him with investigations into Biden. Boltons written account, first reported by The New York Times, was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the manuscript on the condition of anonymity. The revelation increases pressure on Republican senators to call Bolton and perhaps other witnesses, a push they have so far resisted. At least four senators would need to buck GOP leaders and form a bipartisan majority to call Bolton or other witnesses. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said the report about Boltons book strengthens the case for witnesses, while Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said its increasingly clear that what John Bolton would have to say would be important for those of us asked to render impartial justice. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a key Republican moderate, said she has long been curious about what Bolton might have to say, adding that Im still curious. A PRESIDENTIAL DENIAL Trump denied Boltons claims in tweets early Monday. I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens, Trump wrote. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. Trump said people could look at rough transcripts of his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy to see there was no pressure for such investigations to get the aid. In that July 25 call, Trump asked Zelinskiy to do us a favour with the investigations as he was withholding nearly $400 million in military aid to the U.S. ally at war with Russia. Trump falsely claimed Monday that the Democrat-controlled House never even asked John Bolton to testify. Democrats asked Bolton to testify, but he didnt show up for his deposition. They later declined to subpoena Bolton, as they had others, because he threatened to sue, which could have led to a prolonged court battle. BIDENS AND BURISMA While the news media focused on Bolton, White House lawyers sought to turn scrutiny to Hunter Biden, who served on the board of Burisma, one of Ukraines largest natural gas companies. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, representing the White House, said Burisma was known to be corrupt and that Hunter Biden served on the board at the same time his father was leading the Obama administrations anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine. Bondi offered no evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden, but said Democrats had improperly tried to dismiss questions raised by the younger Bidens role with Burisma. Their case crumbles if theres something worth investigating about the company and Hunter Bidens role, she said. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. said Bondis complaint about the appearance of a conflict of interest was as hypocritical as it is irrelevant to the serious evidence before the Senate. NOTHING TO DEFEND Joe Biden, campaigning in Iowa, said he saw no reason for him or his son to testify. I have nothing to defend, Biden told reporters. This is all a game. No one has said Ive done anything that was wrong, period. ... The reason hes being impeached is because he tried to get a government to smear me and they wouldnt. Come on. BACK TO SCHOOL The evening livened up when law professor turned Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz unloaded his bag of dusty law books at the podium to lecture senators on impeachment and how, in his view, a crime was required. Dershowitz drew wide smiles from Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and rolling eyes from Democrats. The Harvard Law professor acknowledged his own changed views of impeachment law, and that he voted for Hillary Clinton. The presentation capped a long day that started with another star-turn attorney, Ken Starr, the prosecutor in Bill Clintons impeachment, defending Trump. When Dershowitz was done, Republican senators lined up to shake his hand, as did a Democrat, West Virginias Joe Manchin. One of the House Democratic lawyers, Norm Eisen, a Harvard Law alum, walked over from the prosecutors table and gave the professor a bear hug. WHATS AHEAD The White House legal team is set to wrap up its case Tuesday. Senators are expected to submit written questions to the prosecution and defence later in the week before a vote on whether to call new witnesses or admit new documents. ___ Associated Press writer Bill Barrow in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, contributed to this report. American Intermodal Management (AIM), a U.S.-based marine chassis lessor and a portfolio company of I Squared Capital, has signed an agreement to merge with FlexiVan Leasing, the third largest marine chassis provider in the U.S., owned by Castle & Cooke. I Squared Capital will assume a controlling interest in FlexiVan with Castle & Cooke maintaining a minority interest in the combined business. FlexiVan is one of the three leading companies in the sector with over 60 years of operating history, 300 employees, over 120,000 chassis and an expansive nationwide footprint that will open AIMs technology-enabled products to new customers across the U.S. I Squared Capital is expanding its global presence across the transportation and logistics value chain with approximately $2.2 billion of equity capital committed across North America, Europe and Asia. We are now a leader in trailer and chassis leasing across Europe, Canada and the U.S. as well as the largest private owner of highways in India, said Adil Rahmathulla, Chairman of the AIM Board and Managing Partner of I Squared Capital. This is our fifth acquisition in the transport and logistics sector in the last six months and a key milestone as we expand our presence in the U.S. market. Formed as a logistics platform by I Squared Capital in 2016, AIM has grown into a leading chassis lessor providing GPS-enabled services to retailers, logistics companies and shipping lines in the U.S. intermodal supply chain. AIMs innovative technology solutions complement the deep experience and relationships that FlexiVan has established over many years. The combination will allow AIM to deploy its innovative, technology-enabled model on a national scale while maintaining FlexiVans established offerings and levels of service. Evercore served as the financial advisor and White & Case served as legal counsel to I Squared Capital. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and MUFG Union Bank, N.A. are providing financing. About FlexiVan Leasing, Inc. FlexiVan has been a leader in intermodal chassis leasing services in North America since mid-1960s. It manages over 120,000 units in over 100 active locations across the country and has nine owned and operated service centers providing easy access to chassis maintenance services. Leasing options range from chassis pool user agreements and managed fleets, to short- and long-term contracts with motor carriers, logistics providers, ocean carriers and beneficial cargo owners. Meanwhile, to facilitate the daily leasing and dispatching process, FlexiVan per diem rentals are supported by FlexiVans streamlined ChassisNow.com booking system. Professional, reliable and cost-effective transportation solutions - Experience Delivered. www.FlexiVan.com About American Intermodal Management, LLC. AIM is a chassis leasing platform that owns and leases marine chassis to customers that transport marine containers between ports, rail ramps, and distribution centers in the United States. AIM was formed in June 2016 in response to strong industry demand desiring alternatives for chassis provisioning, and asset management across the U.S. The AIM business model combines integrity, proactive-disciplined management processes, high quality assets, innovative technology application, and a passion for excellence to achieve maximum value creation. AIM has experienced significant growth since inception with a fleet of more than 12,000 new chassis equipped with GPS and led by industry veterans. www.AIMChassis.com About I Squared Capital: I Squared Capital is an independent global infrastructure investment manager focusing on energy, utilities, telecom, transport and social infrastructure in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The firm has offices in Hong Kong, London, Miami, New Delhi, New York and Singapore. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200127005431/en/ Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lobbed a rare direct rebuke at the rulers of Abu Dhabi over their backing of Khalifa Haftar and the Russian mercenaries fighting on his behalf in Libya. Erdogan said that the emirate is bankrolling thousands of Russian fighters who support the forces controlled by the Libyan general, whom he derided as a "desert lord." Turkey has responded to the Russian deployment by providing military support to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli. The Turkish president's criticism comes as a truce agreed this month appeared to be under severe strain with each side accusing the other of violations. A conference convened by Germany days after the cease-fire was struck had sought a cessation of hostilities to pave the way for an end to the civil war in the North African country. "Haftar is, at the moment, like a desert lord in Libya," Erdogan told reporters during a flight from Algeria to Gambia, according to a transcript of his remarks published by his office. "He has control in desert areas but not in populated regions." In fact, Haftar holds sway over the country's east and many Libyan cities as well as most of its key oil installations. This month, his forces also took the city of Sirte. Turkey is currently monitoring Haftar's "ugly attempts" to grab more land but will do whatever is necessary to stop him, Erdogan said. The United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry and the Abu Dhabi executive council, the sheikhdom's top decision-making body, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Erdogan's remarks. The direct criticism once more lays bare tensions between Turkey and Abu Dhabi. The oil-rich Gulf emirate has turned into a regional rival in recent years as Erdogan supported Islamist political movements seen as a threat by Mohammed bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and de-facto leader of the U.A.E. Russian mercenaries back Haftar's forces, officials have told Bloomberg, and he also has support from Egypt and the U.A.E., who see him as a bulwark against Islamic extremists. Turkish soldiers are training forces loyal to Libya's internationally recognized Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have also joined the conflict. Western officials say more than 1,400 fighters with the Russian Wagner group, headed by a confidant of President Vladimir Putin, have arrived since September to back Haftar's Libyan National Army in its offensive to capture Tripoli. Meanwhile, Erdogan's government has dispatched military advisers, armed drones and Syrian militiamen in support of the Government of National Accord in the Libyan capital. Despite the Berlin accord, foreign backers of both sides have sent in fighters and advanced weapons, the United Nations mission in Libya said late Saturday. Such moves raise questions over their commitment to halting the oil producer's latest war, which began when the eastern-based Haftar ordered his forces to march on the capital in April. When asked this month about Russian mercenaries operating in Libya, Putin didn't explicitly deny their presence but wouldn't specify their number and said they receive no financing from Russia itself. "If there are any Russian citizens there, they neither represent the interests of the Russian state, nor receive funding from the Russian state," Putin said Jan. 11 after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Moscow. This article was updated on Jan. 29. WASHINGTON Representative Doug Collins, one of the faces of President Trumps impeachment defense, said Wednesday that he would challenge Senator Kelly Loeffler in this falls special election for one of Georgias Senate seats. Mr. Collinss long-expected decision sets the stage for a brutal Republican-on-Republican fight that will put a prominent House conservative known for his defenses of Mr. Trump against a wealthy businesswoman appointed in recent weeks to fill the states vacant Senate seat. Democrats also see the contest as a potential opportunity to pick up a seat in November. After days of speculation, Mr. Collins confirmed Wednesday morning that he was indeed running, saying in a tweet: For months, I have given serious deliberation to the role I should serve that would best benefit GA, the country and @realDonaldTrump. Today, I have officially launched my campaign for Senate to do just that. Were in for the Georgia Senate race, he told Fox News Wednesday morning. He enters the race with widespread name recognition on the right, having served as the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee during its impeachment proceedings and now as a member of Mr. Trumps impeachment defense team. Dr. Jennifer Winward celebrates academic growth and success with high school seniors in Newark, New Jersey "Our students deserve the best, and we must stay constantly committed to strategies that improve experiences both inside and outside the classroom for students, for teachers, and for families."-Jennifer Winward, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Winward Academy Interviewed by Entrepreneur magazine, Dr. Jennifer Winward, founder and CEO of Winward Academy, was featured as an educational leader presenting ideas to improve the national educational landscape. When asked for her general thoughts on the U.S. education system, Winward notes, it is important to recognize and appreciate what is going well and continue to explore and nurture these strengths as we also recognize areas for growth and improvement. The national dialogue is currently focused on education equity, which will continue to move us in the right direction. Asked to identify five strategies to improve classrooms, Winward advocated the following: Recognize the issue: to improve outcomes, people must first recognize the well-researched disparities that exist in access to resources. Use the most effective research-based learning strategies: students need to be encouraged to learn from their mistakes and to paraphrase what they learn into their own words. Use thoughtful technology to aid students academics and to ease workload of teachers: ed-tech solutions should be the student-centric application of technology to education, not vice versa. Track outcomes: any additional resources incorporated into a classroom environment must be measured to ensure empirical success. Embrace personalization: students need immediate personalized feedback on all questions based on their unique learning needs. To respond to these strategies for improvement, Winward spoke to specific actions to be taken: Develop a formalized way to connect schools with documented needs to individuals, organizations, and philanthropists providing resources. Establish a well-defined, fact-based methodology for determining resources needed by schools. Provide better training, better recognition, and better pay for excellent teachers. Develop programs that help students determine the best path after high school - whether its college, trade school, junior college or the military. Work with students to improve their writing skills. Winward concludes, these changes are critical to bring growth to our students skills, content knowledge and confidence. Our students deserve the best, and we must stay constantly committed to strategies that improve experiences both inside and outside the classroom for students, for teachers, and for families. The full article can be found at entrepreneur.com. ### About Winward Academy Test success, college success, and life success they all begin at Winward Academy, a research-based, student-centered learning platform for the ACT, SAT, math class, and college applications. Winward Academy applies a scientific approach to customize learning for each student, enabling growth for students of all levels and learning styles. Winward Academy is a team of passionate adolescent learning researchers committed to thoughtfully developing curriculum that improves learning, retention, and test performance building confidence for life. Winward Academy curriculum is used by students at home, by teachers in the classroom, and by charities in after-school and summer programs. For more information on Winward Academy, see winwardacademy.com or follow the company on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Allcargo Logistics, the largest player in the private sector logistics space, has acquired an additional 7.5 per cent stake in Gati, becoming the single largest shareholder in the express logistics company with 20.8 per cent stake. It can be noted that late last November the Shashi Kiran Shetty-led company had announced plans to buy 44.5 per cent in Gati for Rs 416 crore in a three-way deal. The latest stake purchase comes even as Allcargo is awaiting Sebi nod to begin an open offer for picking up an additional 26 per cent in the Hyderabad-based company. The latest share purchase is done through a preferential allotment in line with the Gati's shareholders at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on January 7, as well as open market purchases aggregating to an additional 91 lakh shares. While Gati promoter sold 5.16 per cent stake to Allcargo pursuant to the share purchase agreement, another 2.31 per cent was bought from the open market on Tuesday, Allcargo said in a statement. The company did not disclose the price at which the shares were bought on Tuesday. While Gati shares closed 0.73 per cent up at Rs 69.40 on the BSE, the Allcargo counter closed 1.1 per cent down at Rs 117.05. It can be noted that Allcargo had acquired close to 13 per cent stake on January 21 and 8.5 per cent early December. "Allcargo is on course to complete the transaction to acquire 44.5 per cent stake in Gati. We are abiding by the regulatory and compliance norms while carrying out this transaction," Shetty, chairman of Allcargo, was quoted as saying in the statement. He further said on completion of the deal, Allcargo will gain a leadership position in the domestic express logistics segment and develop capabilities to offer end-to-end services to its customers. The recent share purchase from the promoters marks the end of the second phase of a three-way deal that Allcargo intends to complete in due course. It can be noted that on January 8, more than 87 per cent of Gati shareholders had voted for the sale of the company to Allcargo despite a concerted bid by the estranged family of Gati promoters to scuttle the deal. Gati founder Mahendra Agarwal's wife Neera and sons Dhruv and Manish had in December approached regulator Sebi to stall the open offer from Allcargo, citing various court cases against Agarwal and a Hyderabad court order to attach his 1.6 million shares. Earlier this month, global private equity major Blackstone had agreed to pump Rs 380 crore into an Allcargo arm engaged in warehousing through a combination of equity and debentures worth up to Rs 380 crore, Allcargo had said on January 13. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an effort to boost environmental protection, Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya has launched a series of sustainability initiatives in the property. The hotel has successfully abolished single-use plastic in its heart-of-house by introducing reusable water bottles amongst over 300 employees. Additionally, in their approach to protect the planet, the property has taken measures to reduce their energy consumption by five per cent during the first quarter of 2020. These new initiatives represent a significant step in Hyatts global sustainability program, underscoring its landmarks of wellbeing Feel, Fuel, and Function and its values of care. In addition to the recent contribution by introducing reusable water bottles among colleagues, Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya has launched the following initiatives to contribute to the wellbeing of the community: Reducing 200,000 plastic bottles a year by distributing reusable water bottles to colleagues and clients Reducing energy usage by five per cent by enhancing the propertys chiller unit Eliminating plastic straws entirely from the rooms and restaurants In the planning phase for replacing single-use plastic bottles with glass bottles in public and event spaces and expecting to reduce 1.5 million single-use plastic. According to Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is utilising its investment power to create a more diverse and sustainable economy. As we are a part of this community, protecting our environment has never been more important for Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya. At Hyatt, we care for people so they can be their best. This purpose guides every aspect of our business. We always listen to understand the challenges faced by our guests, associates, and the environment we live in, and are constantly creating solutions to bring a positive impact, said Walid El Awadly, general manager, Hyatt Regency Riyadh-Olaya. The biggest environmental challenges cannot be solved alone. Hence, we are involving our guests and clients to contribute towards a common goal: preserving our environment. - Tradearabia News Service The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought response of the AAP government, police and Election Commission on a plea challenging a Rs 10,000 challan issued to an auto driver for displaying "I love Kejriwal" message on his three-wheeler. Justice Navin Chawla issued notice to the Delhi government, police and EC seeking their stand on the plea by the auto driver who claimed the action stemmed from "political malice". The lawyer for the Delhi government and police told the court that time was required to examine why the challan for Rs 10,000 was issued and said a status report would be filed. The counsel for the Election Commission said the action was probably taken for violation of the model code of conduct (MCC) during which period political advertisements are prohibited. The EC's submission was opposed by the auto driver's lawyer who contended that firstly it was not a political advertisement and even if it was, it would not be prohibited as it was displayed at the petitioner's expense and not by a political party. He said the MCC does not talk of political advertisement out of an individual's own funds. He also said that political advertisements were permitted on the rear, right and left sides of public service vehicles, including autos, under guidelines regarding this issued by the Delhi government in 2018. After hearing brief arguments by all sides, the court asked them to file their respective replies before the next date of hearing on March 3. According to the petition, the petitioner had displayed "I love Kejriwal" and "sirf Kejriwal" messages on his auto. It has claimed that the action was taken without any advance notice by any government department prohibiting such a display. It has also claimed the petitionerwas "illegally" challaned under various provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act for allegedly violating conditions of his permit to operate an auto. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ARDEN HILLS, Minn. Lance the Cavalier King Charles spaniel was never the same after his "great escape" from his Eden Prairie yard. When owners Mike and Maggie Diede found their 12-year-old dog, he was limping badly, having torn a muscle in his hind leg. "He wasnt using his leg at all," Maggie Diede said. "He was kind of hopping around on three legs." The couple didnt want to shell out $3,000 for surgery and werent sure a dog of his age would tolerate the recovery well. They didnt want to put him down, either. They needed another option. They found it in an Arden Hills company that has found a niche market for animal owners in just such a predicament. The company takes established orthopedic equipment used for people and modifies it for animal use. ADVERTISEMENT Animal Planet fame Animal Ortho Care, which falls under its umbrella company Caerus Corp., prescribed a $650 custom-made brace that helped Lance run on all four legs again. "It really comes down to helping the owner with affordability," said Caerus CEO Fariborz Boor Boor. "I believe we are the only company in the country and probably the world where we have every type of bracing an animal would need." Animal Ortho Care was founded by Derrick Campana, an orthotist who originally worked with prosthetics and braces for people until a veterinarian brought her dog, a black Labrador named Charles, into his office for help. Campana switched to animals and has found fame on the television show Animal Planet and a digital media brand The Dodo. For Animal Planet, he once traveled to Botswana to make a massive brace for an elephant named Jabu with an injured leg. He has helped make braces or prosthetics for over 20,000 animals, including gazelles, camels, sheep, deer, goat, llamas, turtles, a bald eagle and, of course, lots of dogs. Building the business In 2016, Campana sold the business to Caerus, but he retains a special working relationship with the company, fashioning custom items and drawing attention to this emerging market. In 2017 Caerus acquired another brace company called Lil Back Bracer, a company that makes body braces for dogs like dachshunds who have trouble with intervertebral disc disease. Boor Boor, who has degrees in chemistry and business administration, had grown several other companies before Caerus, one being Visiled Inc. which developed the first LED-based surgical headlight system. With Caerus, which is named for the Greek god of opportunity, he hopes to build a major global veterinary medical rehabilitation company for animals and keep it headquartered in Minnesota. ADVERTISEMENT "We love Minnesota," he said. "We want to expand this business to help as many animals as we can and grow this business to as big as it can be." Dogs are family too The company sells directly to consumers through its online store and has seen increasing interest in its products as dogs have moved from the barn to the basement to the bedroom. "Animals, especially dogs and cats, have become members of the family," he said. "If one of the members of your family got ill, you would do anything to help them." Consumers often take to Google to see if there are other options to help their pet, and thats where they find Animal Ortho Care, he said. Custom-made braces So, how does it work? With the current technology, owners must first buy a casting kit, which consists of a roll of gauze-like tape that when put in water becomes flexible. They put a cloth "sock" on the dogs injured leg and then wrap it in the tape, which dries and becomes firm. Consumers send the cast into Animal Ortho Care and the company makes a plaster mold from it that is used to custom-fit a brace. The process can take three weeks. Glenn Meidl, vice president of sales for the company, sees that technology changing in the near future. Consumers soon will only need to measure the dogs leg and a 3D computer program will create the dimensions needed for the brace. That would cut out the cast kit completely and winnow the process down to little over one week, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Besides offering custom and adjustable braces, the company recently has adapted Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy to help animals manage pain without drugs. The plastic disk easily attaches to a brace or blanket with Velcro and sends a radio wave into the soft tissue, increasing the nitric oxide in the cells, which helps reduce swelling and pain. Animal lovers want options Meidl is quick to point out that Animal Ortho Care is not anti-surgery; its simply providing another option that makes sense for the pet owner. For Lance, only surgery would have repaired his torn muscle. But since the Diedes felt that was not reasonable for their situation, Lance likely will wear his brace for the rest of his life. The brace, Meidl explained, doesnt necessarily heal the injury; it provides support so the injured muscle can either heal itself or at least allow the animal to walk on it as it did before the injury. Without the brace, Lance wouldnt climb stairs and didnt run. With the brace, he does both and does not seem to be in pain. The brace also prevented him from overusing his other hind leg, which could have resulted in a second injury, Meidl said. While Caerus may have mastered the brace market for animals, Boor Boor believes its just the beginning for the company as word spreads and human orthopedic methods are adapted. "The company has literally been growing from zero revenue on a 45-degree slope," Boor Boor said. "I wont give you the exact dollars, but they are substantial." The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman of Bono Region, Kwame Baffoe popularly known as Abronye DC has said although the John Mahama-led administration spent over $450 million on non-existent cocoa roads in the country, the Akufo-Addo-led government is bent on fixing them. He claimed that former state officials under the former government, who introduced the cocoa roads project, used it (project) to steal from the public purse. Chairman Abronye was speaking at the commissioning of a 6-unit classroom block at Akwasua in the Sunyani West Municipality which was engineered by the Member of Parliament for the area, Hon. Ignatius Baffour Awuah. Reacting on the construction of rural roads, he said government upon detecting fraudulent contracts awarded under strange circumstances had to suspend the project in order to ensure value for money. He said COCOBOD had to announced the suspension of the cocoa roads projects after an interim audit had revealed a lot of discrepancies in the actual amounts of money spent on the entire projects but recently roads constructions in the country have seen a tremendous increase. According to him, President Akufo-Addo stands for truth, accountability, transparency and above all value for money and therefore Ghanaians should renew their trust in him coming 2020 elections. The controversial Chairman emphasised that government was working assiduously to fix the bad roads in the country but may need ample time which requires that Akufo-Addo and the NPP be given another chance to serve Ghanaians. Just hours after withdrawing his request for immunity from prosecution earlier today Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was formally charged in a Jerusalem court on allegations of graft. An indictment was filed at the Jerusalem District Court by Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit this morning against the prime minister on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The court will now set a date for the beginning of the trial. Netanyahu, who was visiting Washington ahead of the launch of President Donald Trump's long-anticipated peace plan, dropped his immunity request this morning, deciding 'not to let this dirty game continue,' in a statement issued on his official Facebook page. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pictured as he chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on Sunday. Netanyahu withdrew his request for immunity from prosecution on graft charges this morning, hours before discussions were to begin Israel's parliament, the Knesset, was set to convene to discuss the formation of a committee to debate the prime minister's immunity request. It's still expected to meet even after the withdrawal. The Knesset was widely expected to reject Netanyahu's immunity request, which would have dealt a massive blow to the prime minister ahead of the 2 March parliamentary elections - the third in less than a year. Netanyahu's Likud party was planning to boycott Tuesday's Knesset session. Netanyahu's was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in November in three separate cases. He has denied any wrongdoing. 'In this fateful hour for the people of Israel, when I am in the United States on a historic mission to design the permanent borders of Israel and ensure our security for decades to come, the Knesset is expected to start another spectacle in the circus of removing immunity,' Netanyahu wrote. Trump, himself under the cloud of his impeachment trial in the Senate, appears poised to offer Netanyahu some needed help in the form of the most generous American peace proposal ever. The prime minister has sought to portray himself as a global statesman uniquely qualified to lead Israel through difficult times. He has tried to use his close friendship with Trump as a strategic asset to stay in power. Israel Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's primary competitor in upcoming elections, speaks during a news conference in Washington yesterday, just after meeting with US President Donald Trump US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media with Netanyahu outside of the White House yesterday Netanyahu's chief political opponent, Benny Gantz, who leads the Blue and White party, said in a statement that 'Netanyahu is going to trial - we must go forward.' 'Nobody could run a country and simultaneously manage three serious criminal charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust,' Gantz added. Netanyahu and Gantz are set to face off in a third round of national elections after two inconclusive elections in 2019. Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List of Arab parties in the Israeli parliament, said 'the path to trial is paved and no diplomatic public relations stunt in the world' would prevent him from being brought to justice. Netanyahu and Trump were scheduled to meet later Tuesday at the White House for the peace plan's announcement. Likud and Blue and White were deadlocked in April and September elections, triggering a third general election within a year. Netanyahu is to appear alongside Trump to make public the plan to resolve the dispute with the Palestinians, although they say they have not taken part in its drafting and they have fiercely condemned it in advance. Netanyahu, who also had a meeting with Trump on Monday, praised the president as 'the greatest friend that Israel had had in the White House,' and described the peace plan as 'the deal of the century'. Nitzan Horowitz, head of the left-wing opposition Meretz party, said Netanyahu's impending trial was 'the shame of the century'. 'The prime minister is indeed making history today, and is accountable for the Shame of the Century - the first serving prime minister standing trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust,' he said in a statement. Under Israeli law, a sitting prime minister is only required to step down once convicted of an offence and after all avenues of appeal have been exhausted. (Sharecast News) - Middle East and North Africa-focussed oil and gas company SDX Energy announced on Tuesday that the OYF-2 well in Morocco, where it has a 75% working interest, has been drilled to a measured depth of 1,210 meters, and had encountered commercial quantities of gas in excess of pre-drill estimates. The AIM-traded firm said the discovery also confirmed that its core productive area now extended to the north. Both the Upper and Lower Guebbas targets in OYF-2 were encountered, and reservoir thickness and quality were better than pre-drill expectations, the board reported. It said the Upper Guebbas was encountered at a measured depth of 1,001 meters, while the Lower Guebbas was penetrated at a measured depth of 1,120 meters. Management estimated that around 1.3 billion to 1.9 billion cubic feet of gas was recoverable from the horizons encountered by the OYF-2 well, which would be tested in February. The discovery would be tied into the company's infrastructure when required, at an estimated cost of around $2m net to SDX. Additionally, the firm said the discovery had de-risked a further 0.5 billion to one billion cubic feet of prospective resources in the western compartment of the Lower Guebbas target, which SDX said it expected to recover with a single development well in the future. The rig had now moved to the BMK-1 location, which is about 11 kilometres to the north of OYF-2. BMK-1 would again test the extent of the northern expansion of the company's core productive area and, if successful, could de-risk a number of similar close-by prospects. After BMK-1, one more close-to-infrastructure well and two other potentially play-opening wells in Lalla Mimouna would be drilled to complete the campaign in March. In Egypt, at South Disouq where the company has a working Interest of 55%, SDX said preparations were continuing for two exploration wells targeting gross unrisked P50 volumes of up to 104 billion cubic feet from the same horizons encountered in its four discoveries to date. The first well, Salah, which was expected to spud in mid-to-late February and complete in April, was targeting a gross unrisked P50 prospect of 71 billion cubic feet equivalent. SDX said the second well, Sobhi, which was expected to spud in late April or early May and complete in early June, was targeting a gross unrisked P50 prospect of 33 billion cubic feet equivalent. If successful, those two wells would require short, eight kilometre and 5.8 kilometre tie-ins to the South Disouq Central Processing Facility, with SDX's share of the tie-in cost estimated at $2.5m and $1.9m, respectively. Finally, at West Gharib where SDX has a working interest of 50%, it said that in early February it was planning to spud an appraisal and development well in the Rabul area of the concession. If successful, that well could add approximately 200 to 300 barrels per day of production. "We have a particularly busy year ahead with the drill bit, giving us the opportunity to increase significantly the company's reserves life," said chief executive officer Mark Reid. "OYF-2 in Morocco is a very positive start, a discovery which is larger than pre drill expectations, and confirmation that our core productive area extends to the north. "With the planned follow on development well, we now have the potential to increase our total reserves in Morocco to approximately three to four years of customer demand with our gas being sold under five and ten year fixed priced contracts at an average gas price of circa $11 per million cubic feet." Reid said that, with the imminent commencement of drilling campaigns in South Disouq and West Gharib in Egypt, together with the ongoing drilling campaign in Morocco, SDX had a "very busy period" of activity ahead of it, with three rigs drilling simultaneously. "I look forward to providing further updates on these campaigns in due course." At 1229 GMT, shares in SDX Energy were down 0.48% at 25.88p. Paying from your own pockets for minor damage is something quite usual. Always asking for financial compensation for scratches or dents will make car insurance more expensive, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. Compare-autoinsurance.org has released a new blog post that explains if drivers should file in car insurance claims for minor accidents or should they pay from their own pockets. For more info and free car insurance quotes online, visit http://compare-autoinsurance.org/does-it-really-make-sense-to-fill-in-small-claims/ Car insurance is supposed to provide financial support whenever the vehicle is damaged by covered events (collision, vandalism, animal attacks or extreme weather). But does it really worth the money to fill claims for minor damage? Find out more and get the best coverage deals from http://compare-autoinsurance.org. When a serious accident happens and the car is seriously damaged, the driver should immediately contact the insurance company and file a claim. But what happens if the car is just scratched or the paint is damaged a bit? Does it make sense to contact the insurer and ask for reimbursement? It all resumes to basic math. How much does it cost to fix the damage without involving the insurance company? If repairs are more expensive than the deductible? Will the premium increase be more expensive than the repair? If all it takes to fix a scratch is something around $100-$150 at a repair shop, filling a claim may not be advantageous. The insurance company will slowly increase the rates and will recover those $100 in 6 months or a year. But what is more important, the claim will be recorded. Filing multiple claims for minor damage or in a relatively short time will heavily impact the premiums. Keep in mind that auto insurance is based on the risk of making a claim. Plus, it will affect future bonuses, like no-claim discounts. Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. For more information, please visit http://compare-autoinsurance.org. In the Djalalabad region of Southern Kyrgyzstan, at the foot of the Babash Ata Mountain, lies the village of Arslanbob surrounded by an enormous walnut grovethe worlds largest. For centuries, this grove has been providing for the residents of this ancient village, now numbering some 13,000. Every autumn, nearly three thousand families that make up Arslanbob leave their homes and head into the mountains south-facing slopes where walnut trees grow. For the next two months, this forest becomes their home. Living in makeshift shelters each and every able member of the family, young and old, engage themselves to the task of collecting walnuts, only returning every few days to deposit their harvest and restock provisions. The whole event has a carnival-like feel, with people sharing food and gathering around campfires to sing and share stories. The walnut grove in Arslanbob. Photo: Teow Cek Chuan/Shutterstock.com Arslanbob grove produces between 1,000 to 1,500 tons of walnuts each year, making it the largest single natural source of walnuts on earth. Renowned for their dark kernels and rich flavor, Arlanbobs walnuts are regarded as some of the worlds best, and are very popular among buyers in Europe and across Asia. The walnut tree has a life span of about 1,000 years and yields large amount of fruits. Walnut trees also make fine wood for furniture. Legend has it that the seeds that gave rise to this wonderful resource was planted by a disciple of Prophet Mohamed, to whom the Prophet had entrusted the responsibility of finding a suitable place to plant a forest. After travelling far and wide, the trusted disciple reached Arslanbob, where he decided to scatter the seeds. A different legend associate the grove to Alexander the Great. According to this story, Alexander was on his way to East Asia when he decided to take shelter in the valley. Wounded and weary, Alexanders army rested and hunted in these forests before resuming their long journey back to Europe, with their pockets filled with walnuts. Greece's first walnut forests is said to have sprung from these walnuts. Harvest season begins in late September or early October, with families moving into the mountain groves along with their cattle. The grove is sprawled over an area of roughly 27,000 acres. This is divided into plots of several hectares each, which the families rent from the local forest department. Within this area the family can gather walnuts. Harvesting walnuts from trees. Photo: Andrea Kirkby/Flickr A family in front of their temporary shelter in the walnut forest. A walnut tree can grow up to a hundred feet tall and trunks up to 6 feet thick. The men of the family including young boys climb the trees and vigorously shake the branches, while the women and children collect the fallen nuts. On a good year one family can harvest two to three tons. But over the years, Arslanbobs walnut harvest has fallen due to a combination of factors such as climate change, soil erosion from the overgrazing of cattle and unseasonal rains and snow. The collection of nuts is a very unreliable income. In 10 years, there will probably only be three or four good walnut crops, a former forester from Arslanbob told Outpost Magazine. The breakup of the Soviet Union 20 years ago has greatly reduced employment opportunities in the region, he explains. Nothing was left, other than to go to the woods and fields to take care of the families. Looking for walnuts. A temporary dwelling in the forest. Summer pastures of Arslanbob. Photo: Sathish J/Flickr References: # BBC, http://www.bbc.com/travel/gallery/20191126-the-worlds-largest-walnut-harvest # Outpost Magazine, https://outpostmagazine.com/kyrgyzstan-arslanbob-forest-walnuts-way-life/ # Roads and Kingdoms, https://roadsandkingdoms.com/2017/inside-the-worlds-largest-walnut-forest/ # Lonely Planet, https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/life-among-walnuts-the-ancient-forests-of-kyrgyzstan Sarma, who is also the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), appealed to the militant outfits in Manipur to come forward for talks. Guwahati: A day after the Bodo peace accord was signed, Assam finance minister Himanata Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the Narendra Modi government was willing to hold talks with the anti-talk faction of Ulfa-I led by Paresh Baruah if they are keen to hold talks for a permanent peace in the Northeast. Expressing his happiness over an inclusive Bodo peace accord that will ensure the territorial integrity of Assam, Mr Sarma extended an olive branch to the anti-talk group of Ulfa (Independent), while making an appealing to its leader Paresh Baruah to come to the negotiating table for the sake of permanent peace in the region. Mr Sarma said that Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday had also announced that if the Ulfa(I) faction is ready for negotiations, New Delhi was more than willing to hold talks with them. This is for the first time that this government is making a public appeal to Ulfa (I) for dialogue. If they are willing for negotiations, the Centre will reciprocate with equal strength and willingness for ushering in permanent peace in Assam and the Northeast, he said. Referring to the success of the Bodo pact, Mr Sarma said that a historic accord was signed on Monday with all the factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in the presence of all stakeholders. In this context, I would like to request Paresh Baruah and his anti-talk faction to consider engaging in a productive dialogue. The Centre and state government want peace in the region, he said. Mr Sarma, asking the top insurgent leader to avail of the opportunity by responding to the peace initiative of New Delhi, said: The pro-talk faction of Ulfa, led by Arabinda Rajkhowa, is already engaging in a dialogue with the Centre and this will continue, but for permanent peace to prevail, it is necessary that all the factions come to the negotiating table. Mr Sarma, who is also the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), appealed to the militant outfits in Manipur to come forward for talks. Some militant activities have been reported only in Assam and Manipur. So we are requesting them (insurgents) to join the mainstream and hold discussions with the Centre for durable peace, Mr Sarma said. Other states of the Northeast, like Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, have become peaceful. If the militant outfits in Manipur and Assam come forward for talks, it will help establishing a lasting peace in the region, he said. The minister said the Assam government had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to visit Kokrajhar on February 7 to celebrate the signing of historic Bodo Accord 2020. Saying that announcements on constitutional safeguards for Assams indigenous people will be made during the forthcoming Rongali Bihu celebrations, Mr Sarma said the Centre has been pursuing the Clause 6 Committee and exploring the possibilities in this regard. Meanwhile, Bodo leaders, who arrived here on Tuesday after signing the historic Bodo accord in New Delhi, were accorded a grand felicitation by civil society in Chirang district on Tuesday, where All Bodo Students Union president Pramod Boro and all the signatories of the Bodo accord were present. REUTERS US secretary of state Mike Pompeo is due to meet with Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev this Thursday as part of a five-country tour that includes neighbouring Belarus. The trip is significant on account of it being the first official contact a senior Trump official has made with Ukraine since the impeachment inquiry began in September. But it takes on additional piquancy on the back of scandal In Washington. On Friday, Mr Pompeo was reported to have shouted at an NPR journalist after she questioned him on Ukraine. He is then alleged to have snapped: Do you think Americans care about Ukraine, using an expletive somewhere in the sentence. A day later, the secretary of state accused the journalist of lying, but did not actually dispute the substance of what she reported. For Ukraine, the views of a man considered to be president Trumps closest lieutenant are not entirely unexpected. But they come as a body blow to the Ukrainian leadership, which has spent much of the last four months contorting itself to accommodate the Trump administration in the impeachment scandal. President Zelensky is one of several Ukrainian officials to deny Mr Trump offered an explicit quid pro quo an investigation into rival Joe Biden in exchange for military aid even though evidence suggests the contrary. In a now infamous telephone call on 25 July, Mr Trump asked Mr Zelensky to do us a favour, before mentioning the desirability of investigating a bogus conspiracy theory involving Mr Biden and Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company that employed Mr Biden's son from 2014. As The Independent has previously reported, Mr Zelenskys officials knew about vital military aid being stopped before the news went public in August. For his part, president Trump has denied that a freeze of $391 of military assistance was tied to the premise of an investigation into his rival. This weekend, that already tenuous argument was made even less respectable with the publication of extracts of new book by former security advisor John Bolton. Story continues The advisor, who fell out with Mr Trump and resigned in the summer, said the president made such a link clear and explicit. He also suggested that Secretary of State Mr Pompeo recalled Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch while knowing that there was no basis to criticism against her. Ms Yovanovitch was ousted following pressure from Rudolf Giuliani, the presidents personal lawyer, and a man who increasingly seems to be his main point man on Ukraine. Ahead of Mr Pompeos trip, speculation has centred on what message the Secretary of State may deliver from Trump when he meets with Mr Zelensky, ministers and other civic society leaders. According to state department briefings, Mr Pompeo is expected to re-affirm US commitment to Ukraine. Beyond that, all the traditional themes will be on the table: progress in war-and-peace negotiations with Russia; the domestic reform agenda; energy and military cooperation. It remains to be seen whether the scandals over impeachment will be touched in any significant way. It is difficult to imagine Pompeo bringing up the issue given the current atmosphere, said Volodymyr Fesenko, an independent political analysis in Kiev. Perhaps he will pass a message from Trump in a tete-a-tete scenario with Zelensky, but it would be too risky while other staff are around. Kiev certainly wont be bringing up the NPR scandal. Since being caught up in the US political storm, Ukraine has maintained a position of increasingly strained neutrality. There is certainly little affection inside the Ukrainian elite for an American president who has sided with Moscow on many key foreign policy issues. But there is also growing acceptance that Mr Trump will weather the impeachment inquiry, and is well placed to win a second term. The leadership understands they will likely have to deal with this administration for another four years, said David Marples, a professor at the University of Alberta, Canada. All they can do is smile, and hope that the US continues to give them weapons. The mantra is dont argue with Trump,' agreed Mr Fesenko. The more pragmatic among Ukraines leaders suspect the impeachment scandal could eventually play out in Kievs favour so long as they avoid making concrete commitments. There is a sense that because of the growing scandal, Ukraine is protected against the most outrageous of Trumps wheezes, said Nataliya Gumenyuk, commentator and founder of Hromadske.tv, a prominent news outlet in Kiev. Trump cant openly go against Ukraine. He cant freeze aid. So while Thursday is likely to bring little in the way of progress, it also wont be awful. One thing that may be also finally be put on the table is visit to the White House. Evidence released during the impeachment inquiry suggested carrot was repeatedly dangled in front of the new Zelensky administration as part of a quid pro quo. For a long time, Kievs new leadership was very keen on the idea. A visit to Washington would have been a key endorsement for the war-torn country, especially in light of tired alliances in Europe. Now, with Kiev keen to limit exposure to the impeachment scandal and an American election campaign, the calculus has changed. A visit would arguably serve only Trumps interest. But if a White House visit was offered, Mr Zelensky would surely find it very difficult to refuse. One party enjoying the increasingly entangled and complex state of US-Ukrainian relations is Russia. . All they can do is smile, and hope that the US continues to give them weapons. David Marples, University of Alberta Since becoming public on Friday, Pompeos comments have been cycled on state propaganda networks. Alexei Pushkov, an influential senator and former head of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, took particular delight in noting how quickly the United States was ready to dispense of an ally. Pompeo asked if Americans f*****g cared about Ukraine, and basically admitted that Ukraine means nothing for US national interests, he wrote. It is the invented priority of a ruling elite. Others suggested that Moscow was less focused on US relations with Ukraine, as it was on Mr Pompeos intentions for the next stop of his itinerary. After leaving Kiev on Friday, the secretary of state is scheduled to make a short stopover in Belarus.The trip is the highest level visit since president Bill Clinton visited in 1994, and it comes amid growing tensions between the Russian and Belarusian leaderships. For the time being, Vladimir Putins attempts to bring Minsk into an ever closer union with Moscow appear to have reached a dead end. The Belarusian president is meanwhile desperately looking for new leverage in its negotiations with Russia, especially for discounted energy products. That, perhaps, is where the United States comes in and much to the chagrin of Moscow. We frankly dont f*****g care about Pompeos visit to Kiev, said Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat. But we really do f*****g care about Minsk. Read more With few options between Trump and Europe, Ukraine fights for survival Alabama Mobile: A new project at the states main seaport will open the facility to the shipment of finished automobiles. The Alabama State Port Authority says it has signed a deal to build a $60 million automotive terminal in Mobile. Its supposed to be ready early next year and will allow for vehicles to roll on and off ships. The 57-acre terminal will be able to handle 150,000 vehicles annually with connections to rail service and highways, officials say. Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Honda currently make cars in the state, and Mazda-Toyota is building a factory in north Alabama. A docks official says the new terminal will open a new business stream for the docks. The project is a joint venture between Terminal Zarate, S.A., a Grupo Murchison company based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Neltume Ports, based in Santiago, Chile. Alaska Anchorage: Legislators have proposed changes to key elements of the states Village Public Safety Officer Program. About 1 in 3 communities in the state has no police of any kind, Anchorage Daily News reported last week in partnership with ProPublica. The Department of Justice subsequently declared the public safety gap a federal emergency, officials said. The 40-year-old program uses state money to train and pay officers working in remote villages, but the number of officers fell to a record-low 38 compared to the more than 100 in 2012, legislators in the working group said. The working group spent five months seeking ways to fix the program, which includes placing more certified officers in rural Alaska, increasing morale among current officers and retaining village-based first responders who know their communities best, legislators said. Arizona The CAP Canal heads towards a neighborhood in Phoenix. Queen Creek: A companys proposal to take water from farmland along the Colorado River and sell it to this growing Phoenix suburb has provoked a heated debate, and some Arizona legislators are trying to block the deal with a bill that would prohibit the transfer. The legislation introduced by Rep. Regina Cobb would bar landowners who hold fourth-priority water entitlements from transferring Colorado River water away from communities near the river. Cobb said this water was supposed to be used for agriculture, and diverting it elsewhere would harm farming communities along the river. We just needed to get ahead of it and let them know that were not for this, said Cobb, R-Kingman. Cobb said without legislation, shes concerned hedge funds will try to make more deals to use farmlands for selling off water. Story continues Arkansas Mountain Home: Forrest L. Wood, who created one of the top brands in the boating industry and was a pioneer of bass tournament fishing, has died at age 87. Wood, born in Flippin, Arkansas, founded the company Ranger Boats in 1968 with his wife, Nina. The business quickly grew and became a household name among fisherman around the U.S. He sold the company in 1987. Wood was known as the father of the modern bass boat. Keith Daffron, his grandson, said in a Facebook post that Wood died Saturday surrounded by his family, after a brief illness. In a statement, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Woods death is a deeply sad moment for our entire state. Former President Bill Clinton said in a statement that Wood was ambitious and determined and Arkansas is a better place because he fully invested his time and his talents right here. California Sacramento: Former Gov. Jerry Brown wants to know who is trying to sell his fathers memorabilia related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Private letters and other items that had belonged to Edmund G. Pat Brown when he was governor are being offered by the auction house Sothebys, which estimates the value at $20,000 to $30,000. Sothebys says the seller wants to remain anonymous. The elder Brown, who died in 1996, was Californias top elected official from 1959 to 1967, and eight years later his son started the first of his record four terms as governor. Jerry Brown says he was not consulted or informed of the sale and believes the items should instead reside at the University of California, Berkeley, with the rest of my fathers papers. Sothebys touts Browns materials for sale as unique because it comes from a single source and chronicles a country in mourning. The auction opened Monday. Colorado Denver: The states seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped to 2.5% in December, the lowest level in at least 44 years. An unemployment rate of 2.6% in October and November tied the previous record-low rate in early 2017. The lowest rate before that, 2.7%, occurred in 2000, The Denver Post reports. Yuma and Kiowa counties in northeastern Colorado had the nations lowest seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate of 1.1% in December. Low unemployment is better than high unemployment but can make it hard for employers to find workers, economist Gary Horvath said. We are in uncharted territory, Horvath said. Im baffled by how companies are making this work. Colorado has averaged about 84,000 job openings a month since 2001. Colorado had about 150,000 openings in September but only 85,000 people unemployed and seeking work, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates. Connecticut Hartford: Voters who are registered with one party but want to vote in a different partys presidential primary are facing a key deadline. Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said those voters must change their registration by Tuesday. Voters can look up and check their current registration status online and make any changes at myvote.ct.gov/register. Unaffiliated voters, the states largest block of voters, have until April 23 to register with a party online, by mail or at the Department of Motor Vehicles if they want to participate in that partys presidential primary. They have until April 27 to register in person. Connecticuts Democratic and Republican presidential primary elections are scheduled for April 28. There are currently 2,192,828 active voters registered in Connecticut. Of those, 895,218 are registered as unaffiliated, 803,802 as Democrats, 459,403 as Republicans and 34,405 in some other party. Delaware Rehoboth Beach: This tiny coastal towns environment committee held its first discussion last week on ways to reduce plastic intake. Committee members are in the early stages of suggesting various restrictions on plastic, from banning materials outright to putting a fee on others. Along with Wilmington and Newark, Rehoboth is the farthest along in reducing plastic use, like charging a fee for single-use bags, says Dee Durham, president of Plastic Free Delaware. The environment committee is eyeing single-use plastic bags, plastic straws and polystyrene, which Durham calls the low-hanging fruit of plastic products, meaning they are typically easier to restrict. Last year, state lawmakers chose to ban single-use plastic bags at large retailers. That law, which goes into effect in 2021, doesnt really impact Rehoboth Beach because it generally applies only to stores 7,000 square feet or bigger or ones with three or more Delaware locations at least 3,000 square feet. District of Columbia Luke, a 35-year-old harbor seal at the National Zoo's American Trail exhibit, has died after outliving his life expectancy. Washington: A male harbor seal considered geriatric for his species has died at the Smithsonians National Zoo. Luke, 35, was humanely euthanized last week, according to a statement. The zoo said he outlived the median life expectancy for his species 25 years in the wild and 30 years in human care. Luke had been experiencing ocular discomfort and had trouble orienting himself recently, according to the zoos statement. He had also experienced a loss of appetite and an unusual lack of interest in training with keepers and socializing with other animals. Animal care staff decided to euthanize him after trying several methods to treat his symptoms. Luke was born June 17, 1984, at New York Aquarium in Brooklyn, and he came to the nations capital in 2011, the statement said. He didnt father any pups, according to news outlets, but lived at the zoos American Trail habitat with another male harbor seal and a gray seal colony. Florida Naples: Residents in an upscale community are seeing red over a paint job on a half-million-dollar home. The home was painted in large patches of extremely bright primary colors with random splatters throughout. The home in the Il Regalo Circle Community in Naples resembles a preschool play toy or cartoon home. Even the trees, lawn and mailbox were splattered with paint. Neighbors said the paint job got worse over the course of a week. WBBH News reports that Collier County Code Enforcement are investigating the paint job. Jeffrey Leibman, 40, is listed as the owner of the home, according to property appraiser records. Neighbors said he painted it, but the management company for the neighborhood said he no longer lives there. The company estimated that reversing the paint job could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Georgia Atlanta: Gov. Brian Kemp is proposing that the state borrow nearly $900 million for construction projects and equipment next year, an amount likely to rise before lawmakers get done with the budget. Key projects in the Republican governors plan include $70 million to expand the state-owned convention center in Savannah and $55 million to build a new headquarters for the Department of Public Safety in Atlanta. Lawmakers authorized borrowing of nearly $1.1 billion last year. The agency that forecasts Georgias borrowing said the state could issue up to $1.2 billion in bonds this year. In one shift, Kemp wants to move more funding to aid school construction from districts statewide to those that have small property tax bases. Kemp would borrow $155 million for construction in such low-wealth districts, up from $44 million this year. Hawaii Honolulu: State lawmakers have proposed initiatives to help reduce the number of traffic-related fatalities after transportation officials confirmed more than 100 deaths in the past year. Those initiatives include installing traffic cameras to capture drivers running red lights, and enforcing zero-tolerance policies for drinking and driving, Hawaii News Now reports. Every year, you hear of a horrific pedestrian accident thats occurring at an intersection because someone did not stop at a red light, state House Speaker Scott Saiki said. The cameras would automatically record anyone who runs a red light, and a ticket would then be mailed to the address associated with the license plate number, officials said. There could potentially be a bench warrant for someone who doesnt appear or who doesnt respond to the ticket, Saiki said. And if you have a bench warrant, potentially there could be some jail time. Idaho Boise: Two environmental groups have given notice that they intend to file a lawsuit to stop a proposed underground natural gas pipeline from Idaho to Wyoming that the groups say will harm protected grizzly bears and other wildlife. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Yellowstone to Uintas Connection sent a required 60-day notice to sue to the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week. The groups contend the Forest Services approval of the pipeline project in November violated the Endangered Species Act. The groups also say the 18-mile portion of the 50-mile pipeline would cut a corridor through the Caribou-Targhee National Forest and create a road through six Inventoried Roadless Areas. The 2001 Roadless Rule prevents road construction and timber harvest in designated roadless areas, which are typically 5,000 acres or larger. Illinois Springfield: The story of a boy who grew up across the street from Abraham Lincolns family and later presided over one the nations larger retailers will be told in the annual George L. Painter Looking for Lincoln Lecture. Julius Rosenwald spent his formative years in the shadow of the future president and grew up to be president of Sears, Roebuck & Co. He used the fortune he amassed to help those who faced racial injustices. His life will be recalled as part of the annual lecture series at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 12 at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Its presented with the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, which preserves the history of the central Illinois communities touched by Lincolns life. The Rosenwald home, part of the Lincoln historic site, will be renamed in his honor and an exhibit panel about his life and legacy unveiled. Indiana Jasper: A one-room schoolhouse where the last lessons were taught in early 1950s has been dismantled after efforts to find a buyer for the small building failed. The Dick School had educated generations of Dubois County residents in rural Jasper from 1892 to 1951. But a few weeks ago, the shed-like building was taken down piece by piece in the city about 40 miles northeast of Evansville. The weatherboard structure with a tin roof was moved to a new location after it was closed, and it had remained in good shape. Robin Pate, the current owner of the property on which it stood, had advertised the old schoolhouse and reached out to the Dubois County Historical Society. But Pate couldnt find any takers for the school, which had been the regions last functioning one-room schoolhouse, The (Jasper) Herald reports. Shes selling the 2-acre site on which the building stood. Iowa Waterloo: The leaking inflatable dam on the Cedar River in downtown Waterloo has been fixed, officials said. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports contractors found a slit in the half-inch-thick rubber and repaired it. Associate city engineer Wayne Castle said the final cost of the project will be significantly below the original $388,350 contract approved in November with J.F. Brennan Co., of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Were not completely done yet, but we should be just under $220,000, Castle said. A major reason for the lower cost was that a marine contractor was able to use divers to inspect the riverbed on the downstream side of the dam, Castle said. The original contract anticipated the contractor building a more expensive wall around the inspection area. The city has inflated the bladder dam since 2009, raising the Cedar River level by about 4 feet to enhance boating. Its usually inflated in June and deflated in October. Kansas Lawrence: An effort is underway to more fully tell the story of a boulder that was a sacred prayer rock for a Native American tribe before it was moved to Lawrence and inscribed with the names of the citys founders. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Pauline Eads Sharp, who serves as secretary and treasurer of the Kanza Heritage Society, and Lawrence artist Dave Loewenstein are leading a wide-ranging team of people, including historians, geologists, artists and filmmakers, to increase interest in the 23-ton red quartzite Shunganunga boulder. At issue is that there currently is no mention on the boulder-turned-monument of the Kanza tribe, which was forcibly removed to Oklahoma in 1873. The approximately yearlong project, called Between the Rock and a Hard Place, will include research, community workshops and the creation of a documentary film and book. Kentucky Commonwealth's Attorney Rick Boling Hopkinsville: A prosecutor has been absent from court in the weeks following the release of the letter in which he asked former Gov. Matt Bevin to pardon a man convicted of sexual abuse. Two judges in Christian County said there is an agreement between them and Commonwealths Attorney Rick Boling that he remain absent from their courtrooms for the foreseeable future, The Kentucky New Era reports. Dayton Jones was granted a commutation by Bevin on Dec. 9. The letter Boling wrote on official letterhead Dec. 7 asking the former governor to pardon Jones was released Jan. 9. Boling apologized after it was released. Jones pleaded guilty in 2016 to sodomy, wanton endangerment and distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor. Boling wrote in his letter to Bevin that the prosecution of Jones was politically motivated. He said the case involved intoxicated teenagers and people in their early 20s being stupid and immature. Louisiana Baton Rouge: Fans of the late Louisiana author Ernest J. Gaines, who wrote such storied works as A Lesson Before Dying and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, are gathering to remember his work as part of Black History Month celebrations. The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana is hosting the discussion Feb. 19, according to a news release from Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser. Gaines died Nov. 5, 2019. He grew up on a small Louisiana plantation, experiences that later translated into his rich literary characters. A Lesson Before Dying, published in 1993, was an acclaimed classic. Both The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971) and A Gathering of Old Men (1984) became honored television movies. The program will be hosted by Darrell Bourque, who is a two-time Louisiana poet laureate, a close friend of Gaines and a member of the Ernest J. Gaines Center. Maine Portland: The Finance Authority of Maines board on Monday approved loan guarantees and a loan necessary for a Boston investment group to proceed with purchasing Saddleback Mountain and reopening the area to skiers next winter. The board unanimously approved $2.5 million in loan insurance on a $12.5 million loan, which was smaller than the original request, along with a $1 million direct loan. Arctaris Impact Fund also raised private funds and received a separate $1 million loan through the Maine Rural Development Association. The finance authority and rural development funds will be part of a $23.5 million funding package that includes private equity, new market tax credits, community loans, and community grants for the purchase of Saddleback, officials said. Bruce Wagner, CEO of FAME, said the agency is pleased to help restart this historic and beloved Maine ski mountain. Maryland CeCe Peniston created one of the biggest-selling dance hits ever with "Finally." Salisbury: Singer and recording artist CeCe Peniston who released her signature dance hit, Finally, in 1991 will be the headline entertainer and grand marshal for the citys first organized LGBTQ+ pride celebration, according to Salisburys branch of PFLAG, the United States first and largest LGBTQ+ ally organization. The city made the announcement in a video on Facebook. The lovably corny clip features Mayor Jake Day vibing to Penistons Finally in the city government offices. Peniston rose to fame in the early 1990s, when she rapidly become one of the most successful dance club artists in the history of the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play Charts, according to her official website. Salisbury PFLAG announced the citys inaugural Pride Parade and Festival on National Coming Out Day last October. The event is set for 11 a.m. Sunday, June 7. Massachusetts Boston: The state has received more than $160 million from federal immigration authorities since 2012, most of which went to four county jails in exchange for housing and transporting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, according to a report in The Boston Sunday Globe that cited documents obtained through a public records request. Advocates and immigration attorneys oppose the agreements with the jails. They say the payments are a waste of taxpayer money, and there are better alternatives to deal with people facing federal immigration charges. The sheriffs offices for Plymouth, Bristol, Franklin, and Suffolk counties that run the jails have defended the arrangements, with at least two saying their relationship with ICE has made Massachusetts safer. But Matt Cameron, a Boston-based immigration lawyer, said there was no good public safety justification for local sheriffs departments to house ICE detainees. Michigan Detroit: Home values are projected to increase by an average of 20% across most of the citys neighborhoods, according to Mayor Mike Duggan. Residential assessments for 2020 also show that property values are up 30% in several parts of the city. The city said that the figures are based on two years of actual market sales and that homeowners are protected by a 2% cap on property tax increases as long as ownership has not changed. Property owners can appeal assessments until Feb. 22. Detroit residential property values rose an average of 13% last year. This is great news for Detroit homeowners, particularly those who held on to their properties and stayed in the city, Duggan said. Home values in nearly every neighborhood are rising and helping to build new wealth, without significant tax increases. This shows as clearly as anything that the citys revitalization has reached nearly every corner of our city. Minnesota Minneapolis: The city has planted hundreds of trees in the past few years in an effort to green up downtown, but many arent surviving past their first year. City staff have been trying to figure out why, and they think they might have found the culprit: salt. Soil tests show that salinity levels in some of the planting spots are much higher than whats ideal for trees to thrive, said Ben Shardlow, director of urban design for the Minneapolis Downtown Council and the Downtown Improvement District. Salt is used liberally in downtown Minneapolis to keep sidewalks and parking lots clear of ice. After the ice melts, the extra salt left behind piles up or gets pushed to the side sometimes directly into the places where the trees are trying to grow. For three years in a row, a tree census showed only half of the trees the city planted had survived, Shardlow told Minnesota Public Radio News. Mississippi Fannie Lou Hamer, a leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, speaks before the credentials committee of the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City in 1964 in an effort to win accreditation for the largely African American group as Mississippi's delegation to the convention, instead of the all-white state delegation. Indianola: A historical marker will commemorate the legacy of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Research for the project was led by a Mississippi Valley State University student and professor, the Greenwood Commonwealth reports. C. Sade Turnipseed is an associate professor of history, and 17-year-old Nigerian native Brian Diyaolu took her public history course during the fall semester. They recently received approval from the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors to place the Hamer sign in front of the county courthouse. It will be unveiled during a ceremony March 27. Students in Turnipseeds course are assigned a historical topic, and Diyaolus was Hamer. He said he wrote three drafts of the historical markers narrative before pitching the idea to the supervisors. He said other students helped him edit the narrative and prepare the presentation. Hamer was born to sharecroppers in Montgomery County on Oct. 6, 1917. Missouri Creve Coeur: The St. Louis Holocaust Museum & Learning Center will triple in size with an $18 million expansion as officials seek to reach even deeper into issues of bias, bigotry and hate. Details about the expansion were announced Monday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Officials hope to make the building more visible and accessible. The museum, in the suburb of Creve Coeur and operated by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, draws 30,000 annual visitors, about two-thirds of whom are students. Admission is free. Museum officials are in touch with about 30 Holocaust survivors who live in the St. Louis area. Mondays announcement came on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The museums new executive director, Sandra Harris, says groundbreaking will be in May, and the goal is to finish by the end of 2021. Montana Ismay: U.S. Postal Service officials say mail service will resume in this town where a fire destroyed the post office. The fire in early January has prompted some residents of Ismay to worry about their mail. Since the fire, theyve taken turns dropping off and picking up mail in a town almost 20 miles away. Postal officials plan to put a mailbox in a community center in tiny Ismay, population 20, Postal Service spokesman James Boxrud says. Meanwhile, property owners Rita and Gene Nimitz tell the Billings Gazette theyre making tentative plans to rebuild the post office, which dated to the 1920s. A faulty furnace or electrical wiring is believed to have started the blaze. Nebraska Lincoln: The citys school district is about to take a major step in the recovery from a fire that destroyed the district office more than eight years ago. The school board is expected to vote next month on a nearly $1.15 million construction project agreement to build a backup data center, the Lincoln Journal Star reports. Itll be constructed in the basement of the building built to replace the office burned in May 2011. The blaze was started by a disgruntled teacher who was later sentenced to prison for arson. The fire wiped out nearly everything in the building, including severely damaging the computer system that held email servers, grades, payroll and other records. District officials worked with University of Nebraska-Lincoln information technology staff to get the data system back online. The district built an off-site data center near Lincoln High School about a year later. The district wants the backup data center finished this summer. Nevada On Sunday night, several Las Vegas resorts showed these messages: L.A., OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO YOU and #RIPKOBE. Las Vegas: Local tourism officials have canceled several activities tied to the launch of a new city slogan in the wake of basketball star Kobe Bryants death. A 60-second spot touting the what happens here, only happens here campaign aired during the Grammy Awards as planned Sunday night, but other plans were postponed. The new slogan is a play on the longtime saying that What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. The city had intended to display the new slogan on more than two dozen hotel and casino marquees on and around the Strip. Instead, most resorts showed messages of grief. They included L.A., OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO YOU and #RIPKOBE. Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said all the planned activities will take place at a future date. But Bryant, his daughter and the other lives lost in a helicopter crash were too much on everyones minds. New Hampshire Concord: State health officials are seeking input on whether the state needs a residential treatment facility for youth with mental health and addiction issues. The Department of Health and Human Services has issued a request for information about the opportunities and challenges associated with establishing a psychiatric facility that would provide the highest level of care next to an acute psychiatric hospital. The states only youth drug and alcohol treatment center closed last month after a spate of nonfatal overdoses. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu says a new facility would ensure that young people struggling with addiction, mental illness or both get the right level of care in a safe environment. The deadline for submitting information is Feb. 24. New Jersey Galloway Township: Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a sweeping energy plan Monday that sets goals for shifting the state to 100% clean energy by 2050. The first-term Democratic governor announced the plan at Stockton University alongside two Cabinet officials who will be carrying the plan out, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Catherine McCabe and Board of Public Utilities President Joe Fiordaliso. Murphy cast climate change as an urgent concern and pointed to a Rutgers study that indicated the state could see 1 foot of sea level rise in the next decade. Quite frankly it will be hard for future generations to create their Jersey Shore memories if the Jersey Shore is only a memory, Murphy said. The plan calls for reducing the use of fossil fuels while increasing renewable sources of energy. New Jersey currently gets 94% of its electricity from natural gas and nuclear plants, according to the U.S. Energy Department. New Mexico An emu spotted on the loose in a Dona Ana County gated neighborhood, Grey Fox subdivision. Las Cruces: A former state lawmakers emu that has been missing since Thanksgiving is safely back at its home near the city. Former state Rep. Brad Cates learned his emu had resurfaced last week thanks to a barrage of images people shared on social media. Pictures of the large bird around a subdivision near Cates home prompted inquiries from a state livestock inspector and a game warden. Later Sunday, Cates with some help corralled the 150-pound emu named Hey You! Cates was also the Republican nominee for Dona Ana County district attorney in 2016. He lost to Mark DAntonio. New York Albany: State taxpayers could decide to contribute to a fund that helps pay for abortions under a proposed bill. State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi and Assemblymember Karines Reyes say their bill would create an abortion access fund to which taxpayers could voluntarily contribute when they file their personal income tax returns. The Democrats say the funds money would go to not-for-profit groups that provide financial and logical assistance to individuals seeking abortion care. The Legislature passed a sweeping law last year to protect a right to abortion care in New York in case of changes on the federal level. Lawmakers could consider passing the latest bill this year before they depart in early June. The bill would also require a report to lawmakers and the governor about the amount of money deposited in the abortion access fund and how it was spent. The state wouldnt be able to request the names of anyone who sought money from the fund. North Carolina Winston-Salem: Three months after a set of anonymous, threatening, racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic emails sent a wave of fear through the sociology department at Wake Forest University, the department chairman says hes still waiting for university leaders to announce a meaningful response. The emails to faculty in sociology and two other departments called for a purge of minorities and the LGBTQ community. Alarmed by what he deemed white supremacist terrorism, chairman Joseph Soares canceled sociology classes for a week. When they resumed, Wake Forest police officers were stationed outside classrooms and the building itself. Doors normally open were closed and locked. Even a study lounge was locked. It was the most stressful experience of my academic life, said Soares, who began his college teaching career in 1991 and has taught at Wake Forest since 2003. My faculty were afraid. North Dakota Bismarck: A massive 1984 diesel spill in Mandan, North Dakota, has finally been cleaned up. State officials said the cleanup at a rail yard in downtown Mandan was complicated because of limited access to the affected area, the Bismarck Tribune reports. Workers collected about 770,000 gallons of fuel over the years, said Dave Glatt, director of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. Its pretty much gone, Glatt said at a Wednesday meeting. It seems like a long time, but when you look at, in a downtown area where access is limited, we had 4 to 6 feet on top of the groundwater in some areas. This is a success. Burlington Northern ran the rail yard when the spill was found in 1984, but BNSF Railway runs it now. Ohio Donni chases a lure at Mast Farms in Clermont County, Ohio, in 2017. He and the Cincinnati Zoo's other cheetahs will soon have a new space to run at Bowyer Farm in Warren County. Cincinnati: Cheetahs from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will have about 5 acres of open terrain where they can run at a facility anticipated to be completed this summer. The cheetahs will be transported from the zoo in suburban Cincinnati in custom, built-in van crates to the Cheetah Run at the zoos Bowyer Farm in Warren County. The animals will have the space to run but will not be required to do so, said zoo spokeswoman Michelle Curley. Zoning records indicate some residents raised safety concerns, but the Warren County Board of Zoning and Appeals approved the plan last year. The tree-lined Cheetah Run project will be enclosed by a fence. Zoo officials have no safety concerns, said Mark Fischer, vice president of facilities, planning and stability for the zoo. He said the cheetahs, raised by humans and dogs, are docile and timid. Fisher said the run will be fun for the cheetahs Tommy, Nia, Savanna, Donni, Cathryn, Willow, Redd, and Kris and give them space to stretch their legs. Oklahoma Oklahoma City: A prosecutor has been arrested, accused of domestic abuse. Robert McClatchie, an Oklahoma County assistant district attorney, was booked into Oklahoma County jail about 4 a.m. Saturday on complaints of domestic abuse by strangulation and domestic abuse in the presence of a minor child. Jail records also did not list an attorney for him. District Attorney David Prater said in a statement that McClatchie will remain in jail until he is released by a judge or when his bond is posted after a judge sets his bond, like any other person arrested on a domestic abuse charge. Prater said hes not intervening in this matter in any way. He said the case will be assigned by the attorney general to another district attorney to assist Oklahoma City police in their investigation and ultimately, make a charging decision. Oregon Pendleton: Local police now have an extra set of eyes with them. Each of Pendletons 24 sworn police officers has been equipped with body cameras that will record each call of service to which they respond, the East Oregonian reports. Certainly, the preservation of evidence in real time is something you cant replace, Police Chief Stuart Roberts said. The cameras are located on the officers left breast pocket and attached using a magnetic plate. Officers must double tap the camera to activate it when responding to a call. The program joins Pendleton police with departments in Boardman and Hermiston as the only agencies with body cameras in Northeast Oregon. All footage collected by the department will be held for a minimum of 180 days, and anything that is a part of an investigation or court case will be held for an additional 30 months, officials said. Pennsylvania Harrisburg: Former Mayor Stephen Reed, who served for almost three decades but was later sentenced to probation for accumulating Wild West artifacts he bought with public money for a museum that was never built, has died. He was 70. A statement from the family reported by PennLive.com said Reed died Saturday surrounded by his family. Reed was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006 and fought it courageously, the statement said. Reed served seven terms but lost the 2009 primary amid criticism over the millions of dollars he had spent on museum-related items. He and city officials scoured the country for artifacts that would stock the museum, which he had called part of a wider plan to make the city a museum destination for tourists. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to 20 counts of receiving stolen property and was sentenced to two years of probation. Reed apologized and told the judge he took responsibility for his actions, calling his prosecution a gut-wrenchingly humiliating process. Rhode Island Providence: Gov. Gina Raimondo wants to reform the states criminal justice system through a series of proposals in her budget and administrative actions. The Democratic governor released a nearly $10.2 billion state budget plan this month. The Legislature will review the proposals and present its plan before the 2021 fiscal year begins in July. The budget includes recommendations from Raimondos working group on criminal and juvenile justice. Among them, the proposal seeks to improve discharge planning, shift staffing to improve access to health care, update the parole statute to include geriatric parole and provide incestives for work release programs. Raimondo is also looking to bring her signature workforce training program to prisons. South Carolina Columbia: Residents who want to vote in the states Democratic presidential primary next month face a deadline to register this week. The State Election Commission said all voters for the Feb. 29 primary must be registered by Thursday. The first-in-the-South presidential primary is open, which means a voter does not have to be a registered Democrat to cast a ballot. People who are 17 years old can vote in the primary as long as they will be 18 by Election Day on Nov. 3. Registration forms can be downloaded at scvotes.org, and residents can also check to see if their South Carolina registration is current. Voters can also register at their county registration offices. Republicans will not have a presidential primary in South Carolina as President Donald Trump runs for reelection. South Dakota Custer State Park: After the near-decimation of the Custer State Park bighorn sheep herd, wildlife managers are now seeing the group as a success story, the Black Hills Pioneer reports. In 2004 the herd was 200-plus animals strong when members contracted mycoplasma ovipneumoiae, a pneumonia-causing bacteria that killed 70-80% of the animals. Since that time, the adults in the herd obtained an immunity to the bacteria, but the lambs suffered most died from the disease within months, and on a good year, one would survive. Some wildlife managers even began discussions about destroying the remaining 20-25 animals and starting over with disease-free sheep. Then, three years ago, biologists discovered that only three of the bighorns shed the pathogens responsible for the die-off. Those were removed from the herd, and the population rebound began. The first lambing year, eight of the nine born in the park survived. Tennessee Memphis: A new $200 million Amazon distribution center in the citys Raleigh neighborhood will employ 1,000 workers and should be up and running in time for this years holiday season, officials said Monday. With the buildings skeleton and yellow bulldozers in the background, Amazon officials and state and local politicians gathered at the busy construction site in north Memphis to provide details about the project. Workers will make at least $15 per hour as they pack and ship books, electronics and other consumer goods alongside Amazons robots, officials said. At 855,000 square feet the equivalent of 14 football fields the order fulfillment center will be Amazons third in Memphis. The company employs about 6,500 people in Tennessee, Amazon officials said. Texas Austin: Local police are inviting people to drop off their unwanted firearms and ammunition, with no questions asked, Tuesday at an East Austin police substation. This is the first of several gun surrender events this year, police said. On Tuesday, people can drop off these items from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Robert T. Martinez Central East Substation. No questions asked means police will not attempt to identify those who drop off guns, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said. We merely want to get weapons that are no longer wanted off the streets, out of homes, and destroyed so they dont end up potentially in the wrong hands if there was to be a burglary, Manley said. This is a service we want to provide for the community. Austin police will host similar programs throughout the year on April 28, July 28 and Oct. 27. Utah Logan: An event straight out of the Old West is attracting more people with its mountain-man appeal, organizers said. About 50 people gathered in Blacksmith Fork Canyon to compete in the state-organized biathlon an event combining cross-country skiing and sharpshooting that features muzzleloader guns, the Herald Journal reports. Many wore traditional mountain-man gear to the event this month dubbed Willy Wapitis Smoke Pole Biathlon at Hardware Ranch, which is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and populated by hundreds of elk. Shooters raced along a snowy trail, with or without snowshoes, to five separate shooting stations. Prizes like electronic earmuffs, knives and fire starters were given to the best score out of 10, said Rachael Tuckett, a wildlife recreation specialist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, which organized the event. Prizes also are given for the best mountain man outfit. The event has grown by 40% since last year. Vermont Montpelier: The completion of a 93-mile rail trail across northern Vermont would help link an ever-expanding network of recreation trails across New England and beyond, advocates say. The effort got a big boost last week when Republican Gov. Phil Scott asked lawmakers to approve $2.8 million as the states share of the estimated $14.1 million cost of completing the remaining 60 miles of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. It runs from Swanton, near the Canadian border, to St. Johnsbury, not far from the Connecticut River border with New Hampshire. The 30-mile section of the trail currently open is already benefiting businesses and the communities that people visit so they can use it, officials say. Trail advocates say completing one section of the trail boosts other nearby trails. Virginia Ryan Keith Cox was one of 12 killed at Virginia Beach Municipal Center on May 31, 2019. Virginia Beach: The post office where survivors reunited after a mass shooting in a government office building now is named after the man who gave his own life for his co-workers. A plaque was unveiled Friday honoring Ryan Keith Cox at the post office that now bears his name, The Virginian-Pilot reports. Cox was one of 12 people who died in the mass shooting last May 31 at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center. We are a city of heroes, and Keith is a perfect example of one of them, Mayor Bobby Dyer said during the ceremony. In interviews, Coxs co-workers have said he ushered women into a room and told them to barricade the door. Cox then left to see if anyone else needed help. The gunman and shot and killed him soon after that. Cox, 50, had been an account clerk in Virginia Beachs public utilities department for 12 years. Washington Tacoma: A school district has warned parents about a potentially dangerous penny challenge spreading on social media. The Tacoma School District said a middle school student in the district took part in the online trend last week, KOMO-TV reports. The school district provided a photo of a burned electrical wall outlet resulting from the penny challenge. No injuries were reported. Social media users are challenged to record a video of themselves sliding a penny between a partially plugged-in cellphone charger and a wall outlet, officials said. Users are asked to film and post the results on the TikTok video-sharing channel. Placing a penny across an active electrical connection will create sparks that can damage the outlet and potentially start a fire and cause injury, officials said. West Virginia Charleston: Projects involving sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places are eligible to apply for historic preservation development grants through the West Virginia Historic Preservation Office. Projects should involve the restoration, rehabilitation or archaeological development of historic sites, the state Department of Arts, Culture and History said in a news release. Approximately $369,000 is expected to be available for the grants, depending on appropriations from Congress or the Legislature. Privately owned properties are only eligible where there is evidence of public support or public benefit, the release said. Governmental properties that arent accessible to the public are not eligible for funding. Applications must be postmarked by March 31. Wisconsin La Crosse: For nearly a century and a half, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have said prayers every hour of every day in their chapel in La Crosse. But next month that practice will be coming to an end. The sisters have announced that after a dozen years of study and reflection, they will begin to cut back their prayer ritual, which began in 1878, to 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily. In 1997, prayer partners were invited to take the daytime hours while sisters living at St. Rose Convent continued the night hours. As demographics continued changing in the early 2000s, the sisters began studying the future of the practice. Our thoughtful study over the years has included a growing understanding of a modern way to live in adoration through our prayer lives and actions, no matter where we are, said FSPA President Eileen McKenzie. Wyoming Cheyenne: The citys police dont have the authority to enforce the new federal law that increased the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21, the agency says. Officers can only legally enforce state laws and Cheyenne city ordinances, spokesman David Inman says. He says city officials posted the clarification on Facebook because theyd been receiving calls from residents and local businesses. Nonetheless, its still illegal for someone under the age of 21 to purchase products containing tobacco or nicotine, including vaping products. The Legislature is expected to consider a bill that would change state law to match the new federal law on tobacco sales. If it passes, Inman said the city would likely pass a similar ordinance, and then police would have the power to enforce it. From USA TODAY Network and wire reports This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cheetah run, mountain-man biathlon: News from around our 50 states Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shocked the world when they decided to take step back from their royal duties. They wanted a life outside of the spotlight, but fans around the world are divided about it. Many have applauded the couple for being brave enough to turn their back on their "royal life" of privileges. After being under the scrutiny of the British media and constant public commentaries, the couple continues to fight for their love and what they believe in. However, there are also those who think it was an insult to the royal family. Prince Harry and Meghan's Announcement Following their extended vacation from royal duties towards the end of 2019, the Sussexes came back with a life-changing announcement. They dropped the bombshell when made a lengthy social media post about their decision. "After months of reflection and internal discussions, we have decided to make this year our transition year in carving out a progressive new role in the royal family. We intend to step back as senior members of the royal family and live financially independent. We continue to support the Queen and all her endeavors," their statement reads. Queen Elizabeth II, who was not consulted about the decision, called for a family meeting at the Sandringham Estate. They discussed the next steps and other details of the decision. After the crisis meeting, the Queen issued a statement to show support to the couple's decision. She also announced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer use their HRH titles. Hurtful And Insulting Among the many experts that weighed in on the now infamous Megxit is Ulrika Jonsson, who used to date Prince Edward back in the 80s. She shared her personal opinion in a piece for The Sun. While she admitted that she got enthusiastic and at the same time emotional when Prince Harry married Meghan Markle, Jonsson wrote that 18 months down the line, she could only imagine how the population felt when they found out about the Sussexes' decision. Jonsson expressed her disappointment and felt that the royal couple has turned their backs on the United Kingdom. "It feels like it was a kick in the teeth," she added. Jonsson continued by saying that it would have been understandable if it came with a long-term plan. "How it looks like now is that Meghan re-read the membership rules and decided that it cramped her style," Jonsson said. Furthermore, she shared that it was as if Meghan had second thoughts about her exposure to being a royal because she did not expect it to come with so much responsibility. Meghan's exposure as a member of the royal family has given her access to significant humanitarian work. At the same time, it has given her fame on a level that would have been impossible to achieve even if she remained in Hollywood. In Jonsson's opinion, Meghan's initial sense of charitable ambition and goodwill were overtaken by her refusal to take on critique and opinion. The cost of being in the limelight can be blinding. Jonsson asserted that by trying out to be contented, finding a niche life for themselves, the Sussexes have guaranteed a lifetime of critique and judgment. PPL Corporation, its employees and its retirees joined forces to raise more than $4.3 million during the company's annual United Way campaign in 2019. The funds will support ongoing efforts throughout central and eastern Pennsylvania to help children learn, grow and succeed; to create more opportunities for those less fortunate; to improve the quality of life for seniors; to provide emergency services to victims of violence and natural disasters; and to battle hunger in our communities. "Since its founding a century ago, PPL has always had a strong connection to the communities it serves," said William H. Spence, PPL chairman and chief executive officer. "Generations of employees have strived to make a difference in people's lives through their work to provide electricity safely and reliably. And these same employees, together with our retirees, have joined forces to strengthen local communities through their gifts of time and money. "We're proud of their shared commitment and pleased to support the United Way and so many local nonprofit agencies working to expand opportunities for others and to improve life for all who call central and eastern Pennsylvania home." The company's annual United Way campaign included more than $2.1 million in contributions from employees and retirees. In addition, the PPL Foundation provided more than $2.1 million in a dollar-for-dollar match of all employee and retiree giving to the United Way. As part of the corporate campaign, PPL's subsidiary company, Safari Energy in New York City, held its first-ever United Way campaign to benefit the United Way of New York City. Since 2009, PPL Corporation's United Way campaigns have raised more than $28 million through employee and retiree donations, event fundraisers and support from the PPL Foundation. For further information: Janice Osborne, 610-774-5997 A Huawei logo is pictured at their store at Vina del Mar, Chile July 18, 2019. Rodrigo Garrido | Reuters Britain will allow Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to play a limited role in its next generation 5G mobile networks. The U.K. government said that Huawei will be restricted from being involved in "sensitive functions" in a network of features labeled as "core." There is also a limit in place on how much equipment networks can buy from one "high risk vendor" for a particular part of the infrastructure known as the Radio Access Network (RAN). This is essentially the part of the network that hooks up your devices with the actual 5G signal. So Huawei can participate in the RAN, but no more than 35% of a single vendor's equipment in this part of the network can come from Huawei. "The cap at 35% ensures the U.K. will not become nationally dependent on a high risk vendor while retaining competition in the market and allowing operators to continue to use two Radio Access Network (RAN) vendors," the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre said in its review of the country's telecommunications supply chain on Tuesday. The move could strain relations between the U.K. and U.S. following a campaign by Washington to have the Chinese firm blocked from as many markets as possible. The U.S. claims Huawei poses a national security risk because its equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage. Politicians have also raised concerns about Huawei's links to the Chinese Communist Party. Huawei has repeatedly denied these claims and any link to China's government. Huawei: Cap is a 'significant limitation' Huawei, which has already been blocked in other key markets including Australia and Japan, gave a measured response to the decision. "Huawei is reassured by the U.K. government's confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track. This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. It gives the U.K. access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market," Victor Zhang, vice president at Huawei, said in a statement. Andy Purdy, the U.S. chief security officer at Huawei, said the U.K.'s decision was not necessarily a big win for the company, as the U.K. has always taken a measured approach since it began operating in the country over 15 years ago. "Frankly, we don't really see this as a win per se, this is a very small step and a process that began 15 years ago with the U.K., they have taken a very measured, a very somber approach to risk mitigation so they can get the benefits of technology," Purdy told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday. Purdy did say that the 35% cap is a "very significant limitation." US pressure In the lead up to the decision, U.S. politicians pressured the U.K. to outright ban Huawei. Over the weekend, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Britain had a "momentous decision ahead on 5G" replying to British Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, who said: "The truth is that only nations able to protect their data will be sovereign." And there is also a risk that the intelligence sharing relationship between the U.S. and Britain is under threat. Earlier this month, a U.S. lawmaker has introduced a bill that would stop the United States from sharing intelligence with countries that use Huawei equipment for their 5G networks. That bill is not yet law. 5G technology is more than just faster download speeds on mobile devices. It promises to be able to underpin other new technologies like driverless cars for example. That's why it's viewed as being so crucial because it could be the backbone for critical infrastructure in the future. Some lawmakers in the Conservative government's own party sent warnings to U.K. Prime Minster Boris Johnson. "The danger is that you allow China leverage into your system, into your critical national infrastructure if you allow Huawei in," Conservative lawmaker Bob Seely, told BBC Radio 4's "Today" show on Tuesday. Telcos assessing impact The top Republicans on the House and Senate foreign affairs committees today expressed concern over a possible Pentagon plan to draw down US troops in Africa, which could impact plans to fight terror in Tunisia and Morocco. Partner militaries are underfunded and ill-equipped to respond to this drastic increase in violence, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch of Idaho and the ranking minority member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul of Texas, said in a letter sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. That is why our limited, yet focused presence across Africa, is so important. US forces train and advise partner nations and support improved intelligence collection, building their capacity to ultimately defend their own countries. Why it matters: The Pentagons review of its posture, which aligns with Espers overall goal of sending more US troops to counter Chinas rising influence in the Asia-Pacific, will eventually extend to Africa and the Middle East, where the United States has added 10,000 troops since the new year to deal with tensions with Iran. House and Senate leaders are pushing back hard, and are likely to use a Thursday posture hearing with US Africa Command chief Gen. Stephen Townsend to air their protests in public. Rising tide: Risch and McCaul join a high-profile chorus of congressional voices that have already pushed back on whispers of troop cuts in Africa. A decrease in our investment now may result in the need for the United States to reinvest at many more times the cost down the road, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash, and the committees top Republican, Mac Thornberry of Texas, said in a letter to Esper earlier this month. Trump ally Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware are among other members of Congress to raise concerns. Whats next: The Pentagons budget release is tentatively slated for Feb. 10, according to Defense News. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is slated to host the massive 2,500-troop African Lion exercise in Morocco in March. Know more: Read Jack Detschs coverage of the Armys struggles to handle training in Africa. If youve tuned out on yet another social media application that youre never going to use, its time to take a look at TikTok. TikTok is used to create and share short-form videos. Owned by a Beijing-based parent company ByteDance, it was launched in 2016 and has become wildly popular among users, including celebrities, with more than 1.3 billion downloads worldwide. TikToks popularity is fueled by the fear of missing out and what seems to be an insatiable desire to be seen, to have an audience, if only for a moment. TikTok promises that you can watch endless videos customized specifically for you. A personalized video feed based on your preferences. But incidents over the past year have caused privacy experts to question how data from TikTok is being collected and used, and whether its being censored by the Chinese government. Theres that data thing again In TikToks case, youre sharing data with the Chinese government, and thats the problem. I just looked at the privacy policy, and right up front, I see that Im volunteering: My age, username and password, language, and email and phone number. If you choose to find other users through your social network contacts (which of course you willthats what social network is all about), they will collect your public profile information, plus names and profiles of your social network contacts. Theres more, but you get the idea As a consequence, in a December message to all military branches, the Pentagon said there was a potential risk associated with using the TikTok app. It advised employees to take precautions to safeguard personal information. U.S. military branches now have banned TikTok on government-issued smartphones in an effort to secure and defend their networks. Despite the ban, troops continue to use TikTok on their personal devices According to cybersecurity experts, this poses many of the same security threats that were present when the app was being used on government phones. Spies could use video metadata to track the movements of U.S. personnel, potentially exposing a secret mission or endangering the lives of deployed troops. Phone hacking could expose personal finances, relationships or sexting that makes them susceptible to blackmail. A loosely defined policy about social media usage Policy is loose; it advises personnel not to do anything that disrespects the Army. As long as theyre not promoting products in uniform, theyre operating within the law. More education on TikToks risks Michael Nowatkowski, an associate professor of cyber sciences at Augusta University and senior research fellow at the Army Cyber Institute, said TikTok poses a greater risks than other social-media companies because of ByteDances Chinese ownership. He didnt believe the military had the resources to enforce an outright ban on personal devices. Instead, Nowatkowski said the military should educate troops on the risks of downloading TikTok on their personal devices. To that point, all Department of Defense personnel take annual cyber-awareness training about the threats that social media can pose. It may or may not be enough. Contact Janet at 510-292-1843 or jpeischel@top-mindmarketing.com. In a world where junk removal is often considered an unpleasant undertaking, one brand is determined to transform the process into a positive and customer-friendly experience. 1-800-JUNKPRO, an emerging, family-owned franchise, offers both junk removal and dumpster rentals, in addition to signature friendly customer service, making it a standout in the $50 billion junk removal industry. 1-800-JUNKPRO currently has five locations in Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Oklahoma, with a sixth location set to open in Austin in 2020. The brand is looking for new franchisees to grow in major metropolitan areas throughout the United States, particularly in the Texas markets of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, and would like to add at least six more locations in 2020. 1-800-JUNKPRO got its start in Wichita in 1999, when CEO and President Mike Davis and his wife, Misty, the companys CFO (or Chief Fun Officer, as she prefers), started a junk removal company called Better Hauling Company as a way to earn extra income. They started the business with just one pick-up truck and a trailer, and by 2007, Mike had quit his corporate job and devoted himself to the business full time. In 2007, the Davises took the next step with their business and hired a local manufacturer to customize a truck to elevate the brands ability to service customers. Three years later, the Davises rebranded the company to 1-800-JUNKPRO, and awarded the first franchise in 2016 in Kansas City. Today, 1-800-JUNKPRO removes more than 350,000 pounds of junk per week with its five locations, and plans to expand across the country. 1-800-JUNKPRO stands out from the competition in several major ways. For one, 1-800-JUNKPRO franchisees benefit from a simple business model with two different investment options: the Small Market Franchise, which has a territory population of less than 500,000 with the initial investment ranging from $73,850 to $206,099 and the Standard Market Franchise, which has a territory population of 500,000 or more with an initial investment ranging from $117,950 to $217,200. One single person can run a Small Market Franchise, while larger territories only require four to 10 people to start. The brand also offers both junk removal and dumpster rental, which means customers can work with the same trusted brand should they need both services, and franchisees benefit from having more than one revenue stream. Whats more, 1-800-JUNKPRO offers an environmentally friendly business opportunity, as the business partners with companies and organizations who help recycle and donate a large percentage of items that customers no longer want or need. If an item cannot be donated or recycled, it is disposed of responsibly. The need for junk removal services will never go away, Mike Davis said. People are always going to throw things away and get rid of old things. When the economy is good, people remodel their homeswhich leads to debris they need to get rid of, and people purchase new thingswhich leads to the need to discard the old. In bad times, we help people downsize and we get hired by banks due to foreclosure cleanouts. When the recession hit, and hurt many other business types, it fueled our business from another angle, because customers had foreclosures and needed help cleaning out their homes. A lot of brands market themselves as recession-proof. 1-800-JUNKPRO is as close to recession-proof as you can get. Once a franchisee signs on with 1-800-JUNKPRO, they benefit from a robust corporate support system that sets them up for success before they open and on an ongoing basis. Before the franchisees grand opening, the corporate team invites the franchisee back to headquarters for additional training and support. Plus, 1-800-JUNKPRO has a proprietary technology platform, JunkConnect, that helps streamline the business operations by allowing franchisees to dispatch jobs and do inventory management, and customers to book appointments. JunkConnect also ensures there is no double-booking of dumpsters or trucks, making life even more seamless for franchisees. Above all, what sets 1-800-JUNKPRO apart from the competition is its focus on providing warm and friendly customer service in an industry that doesnt typically see such behavior. This is where 1-800-JUNKPRO franchisees have a chance to stand out in their markets. Our industry is full of grumpy people, Davis said. When you call around for service, you usually get a grumpy person on the other end of the line. Here at 1-800-JUNKPRO, we are very focused on customer service. Thats won us more business than anything. Our team knows from day one that we are not in the trash hauling business, we are in the customer service business, and providing the-best-customer-service-on-the-planet is our Mission. 1-800-JUNKPRO seeks to partner with franchisees with prior management experience who are growth-focused and want to be an active owner. Franchisees should also pass what Davis calls The Cornhole Test. If a prospective franchisee can open up a bit and be easy to talk to, the way you would while playing a game of Cornhole with a friend, then thats a strong indicator theyll be a good culture fit for 1-800-JUNKPRO, Davis said. Thats really important to us. A fun personality, a solid business background and a willingness to follow our proven system are really what were looking for. ABOUT 1-800-JUNKPRO 1-800-JUNKPRO is a leading junk removal and dumpster rental company headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. The company was first founded as Better Hauling Company in 1999 by husband-and-wife team Mike and Misty Davis as a way to earn some extra money. By 2007, the business was doing so well that Mike quit his corporate job and devoted himself full time to the business. In 2010, the Davises rebranded the company as 1-800-JUNKPRO and sold the first franchise in 2016 in Kansas City. Today, 1-800-JUNKPRO is a family affair, with Mike as CEO, Misty as CFO (Chief Fun Officer) and their daughter Brittany serving as Chief Experience Officer. The brand stands out in the industry by offering a simple, customer-centric business model that offers both junk removal and dumpster rental. Today, 1-800-JUNKPRO has five open locations and is on track to double in size in 2020 by targeting expansion in major metropolitan areas throughout the United States, particularly the Texas markets of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. To learn more about franchising with 1-800-JUNKPRO, visit https://1-800-junkpro.com/franchise/. - The DP is said to have diverted the main water pipeline that serves Mata village into his farm. - This has denied over 300 households water, and further affected schools and health facilities. - The county government has moved to court seeking orders allowing police officers access the farm. - The farms manager was last year arrested by police after he stormed the local mosque armed with a rifle over noise. Deputy President William Ruto has been caught up in yet another controversy, with residents of a village in Taita Taveta County accusing him of diverting their public water to his expansive ranch. And so serious is the tussle that the Taita Taveta county government has moved to court, protesting that residents depend on the water for domestic use and irrigation, and thus seeking orders allowing its officials and police officers to access the farm. READ ALSO: Suspected coronavirus patient quarantined at KNH Deputy President William Ruto bought the land from former MP Basil Criticos. Photo: William Ruto Source: UGC READ ALSO: Mombasa: Kanisa ambamo pasta alimuua mkewe labomolewa According to Daily Nation, efforts to engage the farms management have been futile despite social amenities like schools and health facilities also being affected. The DP is said to have bought the vast, which is about 1,000 acres, from former MP Basil Criticos. The farm is located on the Taveta-Jipe Road, bordering the vast Criticos ranch and neighbouring Lake Jipe to the South. Upon acquisition, Ruto first fortified the farm by erecting an electric fence to keep off squatters before embarking on livestock farming and planting pasture for the animals. Plans to venture into large-scale crop production are underway. READ ALSO: Kobe Bryant: Video of Kobe Bryant saying he bought helicopter to create family time emerges But the DP is said to have diverted the main water pipeline that serves the location to his farm, denying over 300 households water and forcing them to for walk long distances in search of the commodity. It moved to the Taveta Law Courts seeking orders allowing its officials and police officers to access the farm, saying residents depend on the water for both domestic use and irrigation. The police are now seeking to arrest the farm's managing director, Arie Dempers, over the matter. Senior officials from the water department, police officers and residents were denied on Thursday last week access to the farm by the manager. The land was acquired from former Taveta MP Basil Criticos. Photo: The Standard Source: UGC READ ALSO: Lebron James pays tribute to LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant Yet this is not the first time the ranch is courting trouble with the locals, with Dempers repeatedly accused of harassing the residents. Last year, the South African national was arrested by police after he stormed a mosque armed with a rifle. He is reported to have demanded that the worshippers stop praying, which he deemed as noise, walking straight to the public address equipment system and disconnecting it. Dempers is facing charges for creating a disturbance. When contacted, Rutos communications secretary David Mugonyi said he was not aware of any land the DP owns in the county. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly Source: TUKO.co.ke U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a joint statement in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 28, 2020. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images) Trump Releases His Mideast Peace Plan, Calling It a Realistic Two-State Solution WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump revealed on Jan. 28 the details of his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, more than two years after his administration began drafting the blueprint, aimed at resolving the decades-long IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Trump said the 80-page plan represented his vision for peace, prosperity, and a brighter future for Israelis and Palestinians. He said its fundamentally different from past proposals. This is an unprecedented and highly significant development, he said at a White House event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the past, even the most well-intentioned plans were light on factual details and heavy on conceptual frameworks, he said. My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two-state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood to Israels security. The plan is only the first step for progress toward peace and includes a conceptual map outlining the two states. According to the plan released by the White House, Israel has agreed to a four-year land freeze to secure the possibility of a two-state solution. Jerusalem will stay united and remain the capital of Israel, while the capital of the State of Palestine will be Al-Quds and include areas of East Jerusalem, the plan states. Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem. This is what a future State of Palestine can look like, with a capital in parts of East Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/39vw3pPrAL Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020 This map will more than double the Palestinian territory and provide a Palestinian capital in eastern Jerusalem where America will proudly open an embassy, Trump said. After the meeting, Trump posted a map on Twitter showing the future of the Palestinian state. Greatest Friend of Israel Speaking at the event, Netanyahu praised Trump, calling him the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House. While many past plans tried to pressure Israel to withdraw from vital territory, he said, Trumps blueprint recognized Israeli sovereignty in disputed territories, including the Jordan Valley and other Jewish settlements in the West Bank in the areas known as Judea and Samaria. According to the plan, nearly 30 percent of the West Bank would be allocated to Israel, which is the territory that Israel seized from Jordan in the 1967 ArabIsraeli war. The proposal gives Palestinians a path to a future state that will cover the remaining 70 percent of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It also provides for a high-speed rail connection between Gaza and the West Bank, as both are geographically separated, David Friedman, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, told reporters. The plan also calls for Hamas to be disarmed and for Gaza to be demilitarized. Regardless of the Palestinian decision, Israel will preserve the path of peace in the coming years, Netanyahu said. At the same time, Israel will apply its laws to the Jordan Valley, to all the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and to other areas that the plan designates as part of Israel, he said. The Palestinian leadership, which had earlier rejected the plan, was not invited to Washington. Palestinians earlier made clear that they would reject Washingtons role as mediator in the conflict. Trump, Jerusalem is not for sale. Our rights are not for sale. Your conspiracy deal will not pass, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Jan. 28 in response to Trumps proposal, according to Israels daily newspaper Haaretz. After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand nos to the Deal of The Century, he said. Trump and Netanyahu declared the slap of the century, not the deal. And we will respond with slaps. Palestinians earlier described the plan as the plot of the century to liquidate the Palestinian cause and threatened to withdraw from the 1993 Oslo Accords, which sought to construct peaceful IsraeliPalestinian relations. Palestinians have been accusing Trump of siding with Israel after Washington recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital and moved the U.S. Embassy there. Trump also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington in September 2018, citing the failure of the Palestinians to enter into negotiations with the Israelis. The Trump administration also slashed funding to Palestinian aid programs in August 2018, with one of the main reasons being concern over the terror group Hamas ruling Gaza. The plan will eventually erode the viability of the two-state solution, according to Kaleigh Thomas, a research associate at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank. While President Trump would love to have another big deal under his belt, hes unlikely to expend the political capital necessary to get negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians started, she said in an email. Instead, hell simply not bat an eye as Israel starts to take unilateral action based on the proposed plan, such as potentially annexing the Jordan River Valley, which will erode the viability of the two-state solution. Kushner-Led Peace Plan A team led by Trumps son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner was in charge of crafting the peace plan. Kushner last year revealed the economic portion of the peace plan, promising to invest $50 billion to help Palestinians and neighboring Arab states if a peace deal with Israel was accepted. David Makovsky, a former State Department adviser on IsraeliPalestinian negotiations and senior fellow at The Washington Institute said that the Trump plan would fall considerably short of Palestinian expectations. If Trump is reelected, the administration believes the Palestinian Authority would need to swallow its defiance and reconcile itself to this new political reality, he wrote on Jan. 24 in a report. Before the event, Trump invited both Netanyahu and Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz to the White House. He held separate meetings on Jan. 27 with each leader to disclose the details of his plan and discuss major bilateral issues between the United States and Israel. The separate meetings with Netanyahu and his main rival Gantz reflected Israels upcoming tense election. Having failed to form a majority coalition in Parliament after two general elections in 2019, Israel is heading to an unprecedented third election on March 2. Trump said that he received backing for his plan from both leaders, adding that peace transcends politics by any measure. Susan & Allan Parker/Alamy At the time the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant crashed on Sunday, the weather conditions were so bad that both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department had grounded their helicopters. The weather situation did not meet our minimum standards for flying, police department spokesman Josh Rubenstein said. Humidity in the area reached 100 percent, indicating a fog dense enough to severely limit a pilots visibility. CNN reported Monday that, according to a website that monitors air traffic control conversations, LiveATC.net, the pilot was not operating under the visual flight rules, VFR, that require good enough visibility to see terrain and position, but under special visual flight rules, SVFR, allowing them to remain in the air when others had decided not to fly. In a press conference later Monday, the National Transportation Safety Boards Jennifer Homendy told reporters that the pilot had to circle in the air for 12 minutes before obtaining approval to fly in controlled airspace. She also said the helicopter crashed shortly after the pilot informed air traffic control that the aircraft would be climbing to avoid fog. When the pilot was asked what his plan was, Homendy said there was no response. A radar record of the helicopters route, provided by FlightRadar24, showed it flying a constant northern course from where it took off, John Wayne Airport in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, until it reached Glendale, where it then appeared to circle in a holding pattern, before continuing northwest across the San Fernando Valley, following the route of Interstate 5, and then breaking away to the south. A helicopter pilot familiar with the area told CNN on Sunday that there are often sudden changes in visibility on this route, from clear skies to heavy mists and fog. This pilot said that, when weather closes in, it is customary to use Pacific Coast Highway 101, the main coastal route from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, as a navigational guide. Story continues Before Highway 101 reaches the coast, it runs westward across the southern end of the San Fernando Valley. The FlightRadar24 tracking suggested that in the final minutes of the flight the pilot was heading for that highway, precisely where it follows a valley directly to the destination, Thousand Oaks. But, instead of following the line of the highway and the valley through the hills, the helicopter seemed to veer south, where it crashed in the hills near Calabasas. But even if the weather was a plausible (at least partial) cause, it could have combined with other factors to prove fatal to the flight. Kobe Bryants Brilliant, Flawed, Maddeningly Driven Genius There is a question, for example, about whether the pilot would have been dependent on visual flight rules alone rather than in combination with a ground proximity warning system that is normally part of its instruments. Any one of a number of technical problems, from a systems failure to engine trouble, could have created a distraction. The helicopter involved, a Sikorsky S-76, was nearly 30 years old, and investigators will be closely examining its maintenance record to see if there were any recent mechanical problems. The Sikorsky S-76 is produced by a company with a storied history as a pioneer of helicopter technology and a record of attention to safety. According to a Los Angeles Times analysis of National Transportation Safety Board accident reports, between 2006 and 2016, the Sikorsky S-76 had the lowest rate of fatal accidents of all the helicopters in civilian use in the United States. To those who never fly in helicopterswhich statistically means most peoplethey may seem particularly prone to crashes. That is misleading. Civilian helicopter accidents have a distinct demographic of their own that makes them newsworthy. There are basically three groups of people who most frequently fly by helicopter: The rich, powerful, and famous; sightseeing tourists; and those who fly for emergency services and law enforcement. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, since 2006, the worldwide helicopter fleet has grown by 30 percent but the number of accidents has decreased by between 30 and 50 percent. Another body, the International Helicopter Safety Team, surveyed the record in 49 countries and found that between 2013 and 2017 fatal helicopter accidents fell by 17 percent. The highest risk for helicopter crashes is for those used by emergency medical services. An analysis carried out of NTSB helicopter crash reports between 1983 and 2005 showed that of 182 accidents during that period, 39 percent were fatal. The deaths in those crashes included 45 percent of patients and 32 percent of crew-members. One reason given was the need to fly often at night and in all weathers. Survivability concerns in a helicopter crash are compounded compared to those in traditional airplane travel. Many civilian helicopters are, where possible, routed over water to conform with noise regulations over populated areas. This means that the ability to get out of a ditched helicopter before it sinks is vital. In 2018, five people died after a sightseeing helicopter crashed in New Yorks East River. It had flotation devices that might have prevented it from sinking, but they reportedly failed to properly deploy. While the pilot was able to escape, the passengers drowned because they were still strapped in their safety harnesses. Still, corporate titans continued to commute from East River helicopter pads to the Hamptons every weekend of the summer season with an insouciance suggesting that, for those with means, there was little fear of flying without wings. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Air Force One landed at Atlantic City Airport Tuesday and President Donald Trump headed to the Wildwoods Convention Center for a campaign rally and an endorsement of party-switching U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew. The plane arrived at 5:45 p.m., according to White House pool reports. Van Drew was on board. The president waved as he came down the stairs and boarded the Marine One helicopter to Cape May County Airport. He then will motorcade to the arena. He was met by Col. Bradford Everman, commander of the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard, according to the White House. Heading to New Jersey. Big Rally, in fact, Really Big Rally! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020 He did not say anything to assembled reporters when he left the White House. Spotted with the president were White House aides Kellyanne Conway, Dan Scavino and Stephen Miller, according to pool reports. But he did tweet about impeachment as his lawyers wrapped up three days of arguments before the Senate. Its amazing what Ive done, the most of any President in the first three years (by far), considering that for three years Ive been under phony political investigations and the Impeachment Hoax! KEEP AMERICA GREAT! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020 The president agreed to come to Van Drews district when the two men met at the White House last month, after the congressman was one of only two Democrats to vote against both articles of impeachment. Van Drew then switched to the Republican Party. Trump flew to Jersey after presenting a Middle East peace plan at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The peace plan would give Israel permanent control over much of the West Bank and over all of Jerusalem, while offering the Palestinians a $50 billion economic package and an opportunity to negotiate for a state of their own if they meet certain milestones. The Palestinians immediately rejected the proposal. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Risk Strategies, a Boston, Mass.-based, privately held national insurance brokerage and risk management firm, has promoted Tracy Hoffman and Matthew Smith as executive vice presidents of its National Health Care Practice. Previously, both Hoffman and Smith served as senior vice presidents within the organization. In addition to her current responsibilities, Hoffman will work with Managing Director Riggs Stephenson. Together, they will spearhead strategies that respond to the needs of todays health care organizations. Hoffman has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, with a focus on health care organizations. She has experience in health care brokerage and underwriting. In addition to his current responsibilities, Smith will be working closely with Managing Director Tony Plampton to grow the companys life, accident and health reinsurance business nationally. Smith has been working in the insurance and reinsurance industry for more than 20 years, primarily focused in the life, disability, accident and health markets. Source: Risk Strategies Topics Massachusetts Flag carrier Air India has kept one of its 423-seater jumbo plane ready in Mumbai for the evacuation of Indian citizens from Wuhan province in China in the wake of Cornovirus outbreak in the East Asian country, an official source said on Tuesday. The airline is awaiting necessary approvals from the ministries of External Affairs and Health to operate the special evacuation flight, the source said. The decision follows the government instructions to various ministries to take steps to deal with the issue. "We have kept a Boeing 747-400 ready in Mumbai to operate an evacuation flight to China whenever we get a go ahead from the government," the source said. Some 250 Indians are to be evacuated, the source said, adding, "we are awaiting clearances from Ministry of External Affairs and also from Health Ministry. The Health Ministry's nod is required because the operating crew has to fly in a virus outbreak territory." At the Cabinet Secretary meeting on Monday, the government decided that steps may be taken to prepare for the possible evacuation of Indian nationals in Wuhan. Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus in China is a novel strain and not seen before. The outbreak has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Accordingly, Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities while the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Health will make arrangements for transport and quarantine facilities respectively, an official release had said on Monday. Government also asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to issue instruction to airlines for managing and notifying anybody reporting illness on all direct and indirect flight to China besides facilitating in-flight announcements and distribution of health cards to all flights with direct or indirect connectivity to China. Officials said Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities for evacuation of Indian nationals, mostly students, stuck in Wuhan city. "It was decided that steps may be taken to prepare for possible evacuation of Indian nationals in Wuhan. Accordingly, Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities," a government statement said. Wuhan along 12 other cities have been completely sealed by the Chinese authorities to stop the virus from spreading. The death toll climbed to 80 with 2,744 confirmed cases. Over 250 to 300 Indian students are reportedly stuck in Wuhan triggering concerns over their well-being. ED arrests DHFL boss Kapil Wadhawan in Iqbal Mirchi money laundering case Buyer won't be allowed to change Air India's brand name A new spacecraft is journeying to the Sun to snap the first pictures of the Sun's north and south poles. Solar Orbiter, a collaboration between the European Space Agency, or ESA, and NASA, will have its first opportunity to launch from Cape Canaveral on Feb. 7, 2020, at 11:15 p.m. EST. Launching on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the spacecraft will use Venus's and Earth's gravity to swing itself out of the ecliptic plane -- the swath of space, roughly aligned with the Sun's equator, where all planets orbit. From there, Solar Orbiter's bird's eye view will give it the first-ever look at the Sun's poles. "Up until Solar Orbiter, all solar imaging instruments have been within the ecliptic plane or very close to it," said Russell Howard, space scientist at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C. and principal investigator for one of Solar Orbiter's ten instruments. "Now, we'll be able to look down on the Sun from above." "It will be terra incognita," said Daniel Muller, ESA project scientist for the mission at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands. "This is really exploratory science." The Sun plays a central role in shaping space around us. Its massive magnetic field stretches far beyond Pluto, paving a superhighway for charged solar particles known as the solar wind. When bursts of solar wind hit Earth, they can spark space weather storms that interfere with our GPS and communications satellites -- at their worst, they can even threaten astronauts. To prepare for arriving solar storms, scientists monitor the Sun's magnetic field. But their techniques work best with a straight-on view; the steeper the viewing angle, the noisier the data. The sidelong glimpse we get of the Sun's poles from within the ecliptic plane leaves major gaps in the data. "The poles are particularly important for us to be able to model more accurately," said Holly Gilbert, NASA project scientist for the mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "For forecasting space weather events, we need a pretty accurate model of the global magnetic field of the Sun." The Sun's poles may also explain centuries-old observations. In 1843, German astronomer Samuel Heinrich Schwabe discovered that the number of sunspots -- dark blotches on the Sun's surface marking strong magnetic fields -- waxes and wanes in a repeating pattern. Today, we know it as the approximately-11-year solar cycle in which the Sun transitions between solar maximum, when sunspots proliferate and the Sun is active and turbulent, and solar minimum, when they're fewer and it's calmer. "But we don't understand why it's 11 years, or why some solar maximums are stronger than others," Gilbert said. Observing the changing magnetic fields of the poles could offer an answer. The only prior spacecraft to fly over the Sun's poles was also a joint ESA/NASA venture. Launched in 1990, the Ulysses spacecraft made three passes around our star before it was decommissioned in 2009. But Ulysses never got closer than Earth-distance to the Sun, and only carried what's known as in situ instruments -- like the sense of touch, they measure the space environment immediately around the spacecraft. Solar Orbiter, on the other hand, will pass inside the orbit of Mercury carrying four in situ instruments and six remote-sensing imagers, which see the Sun from afar. "We are going to be able to map what we 'touch' with the in situ instruments and what we 'see' with remote sensing," said Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla, NASA deputy project scientist for the mission. After years of technology development, it will be the closest any Sun-facing cameras have ever gotten to the Sun. "You can't really get much closer than Solar Orbiter is going and still look at the Sun," Muller said. Over the mission's seven year lifetime, Solar Orbiter will reach an inclination of 24 degrees above the Sun's equator, increasing to 33 degrees with an additional three years of extended mission operations. At closest approach the spacecraft will pass within 26 million miles of the Sun. To beat the heat, Solar Orbiter has a custom-designed titanium heat shield with a calcium phosphate coating that withstands temperatures over 900 degrees Fahrenheit -- thirteen times the solar heating faced by spacecraft in Earth orbit. Five of the remote-sensing instruments look at the Sun through peepholes in that heat shield; one observes the solar wind out to the side. Solar Orbiter will be NASA's second major mission to the inner solar system in recent years, following on August 2018's launch of Parker Solar Probe. Parker has completed four close solar passes and will fly within four million miles of the Sun at closest approach. The two spacecraft will work together: As Parker samples solar particles up close, Solar Orbiter will capture imagery from farther away, contextualizing the observations. The two spacecraft will also occasionally align to measure the same magnetic field lines or streams of solar wind at different times. "We are learning a lot with Parker, and adding Solar Orbiter to the equation will only bring even more knowledge," said Nieves-Chinchilla. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between the European Space Agency and NASA. ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in The Netherlands manages the development effort. The European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Germany will operate Solar Orbiter after launch. Solar Orbiter was built by Airbus Defense and Space, and contains 10 instruments: nine provided by ESA member states and ESA. NASA provided one instrument suite, SoloHI and provided detectors and hardware for three other instruments. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. With almost two decades at a host of top-tier wholesale brokerages to his name, Christopher Bromiley (pictured) will now be looking to turn that extensive experience into positive results for AmWINS Brokerage. Bromiley has been revealed as the firms new vice president and casualty broker, joining the companys California arm in Los Angeles. He is set to focus on primary and excess placements bringing with him experience from the likes of RT Specialty and CRC Insurance where he was noted for his success with OCIP/CCIP placements, practice policies and rolling programs. [January 28, 2020] Boardwalktech Announces Further Debt Reduction and Provides Corporate Update Pipeline increases 35% to $7.1M, plus progress on $1.2M of savings towards positive Adjusted EBITDA CUPERTINO, CA, Jan. 28, 2020 /CNW/ - (TSXV:BWLK, OTCQB:BWLKF) - Boardwalktech Software Corp ("Boardwalktech") announced that it continues to decrease its aggregate debt with an approximate US$500,000 reduction of principal owed to SQN Venture Income Fund LP ("SQN"). The outstanding liability on the debt held by SQN now totals approximately USD$4.4 million with the Company targeting further reductions over the course of 2020, including the pending close of its previous announced conversion of approximately USD $1 million. In addition, the Company announced further financial developments supporting its previously outlined strategy of achieving profitability in fiscal year 2020. "SQN's long-term relationship began in early 2016, as both a debt provider of growth capital and equity investor to Boardwalktech," said Ryan McCalley, Managing Partner and Founder of SQN Venture Partners. "The company under Mr. Duncan's management has done a tremendous job managing growth and expenses as a newly publicly listed company, all while continuing to innovate its core enterprise software platform to meet the needs and demands of its impressive customer base, with net positive year over year revenue contribution. As a long-term financial partner to Boardwalktech, we look forward to the continued and forthcoming successes and are finalizing the debt for shares conversion to further support the Company's path to achieving profitability." In other news, Boardwalktech continues to see better visibility given increased demand for its proprietary digital ledger platform, with a growing list of prospective enterprise clients posed to close new platform licenses and applications. The Company's corporate six-month pipeline (new projects and licenses anticipated to close over the next six months) has increased 35% to USD$7.1 million, from a USD$5.3 million level at the time the Company reported its last interim financial report in November, 2019. Lastly, given the business growth and continued expense controls, the Company continues to track to achieving positive EBITDA this Spring and profitability shortly thereafter. As previously disclosed, the Company continues to implement a program to realize approximately USD$1.2 million of annual cost savings, through a reduction of consultants, lower professional fees, better vendor pricing, and reduction of fixed salaries plus deferred compensation by senior management (of which a portion will be converted into equity upon achieving certain cash, profitability, and project objectives). The Company plans to provide more detail when it announces its third-quarter interim results (for the quarter ending December 31, 2019) in February. "SQN remains a trusted capital source and partner for Boardwalktech, as we continue to see expansion of our customer base," said Andrew T. Duncan, Chief Executive Officer of Boardwalktech Software orp. "Our goal is to continue to reduce our debt as we achieve profitability. We appreciate the support of SQN as we work toward this milestone as well as their participation in our most recent round of financing." Mr. Duncan continued, "The increase in pipeline to $7.1 million reflects growing recognition and adoption of our proprietary Digital Ledger Platform, as we are seeing both untapped large enterprises and existing clients seek out Boardwalktech to explore how our Digital Ledger can improve the efficiency of their day to day operations. We are also making good progress on our previously announced goal for at least $1.2 million in annual operating savings, which in conjunction with the business growth, should allow us to achieve Adjusted EBITDA breakeven by the end of fiscal year 2020 and become profitable going forward. This will be a major milestone for Boardwalktech, and we are proud of the work and dedication of the entire team to get to this point. As the enterprise migration toward Digital Transformation accelerates, Boardwalktech is in a prime position to capitalize on this opportunity, and we are excited about what that means for our company and its investors in the months and years to come." About Boardwalktech: Boardwalktech has developed a patented Digital Ledger Technology Platform that is in use today by 27 of the Fortune 500 running over 100 live mission-critical applications world-wide. This enterprise platform allows for multi-party collaboration, provenance, verification, and blockchain immutable transactions on a trusted, shared, and secured private permissioned digital ledger cloud service. The Boardwalktech platform allows rapid application development on any device or user interface and full integration with enterprise systems of record. Forward-Looking Information and Statements This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information contained in this press release includes information relating to the reduction of the Company's debt in 2020, the conversion of outstanding debt into equity of the Company, the projected corporate six-month pipeline and the ability of the Company to achieve profitability in the future. By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Company is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. An investment in securities of the Company is speculative and subject to several risks including, without limitation, the risks discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's filing statement dated May 30, 2018. 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 and forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. In connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward- looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice. 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. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boardwalktech-announces-further-debt-reduction-and-provides-corporate-update-300994392.html SOURCE BoardwalkTech [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Something to look forward to: We know that Samsung will unveil its Galaxy S20 line and the Galaxy Z Flipassuming thats its nameat an Unpacked event on February 11. The devices launch dates are still unknown, but a new leak could have revealed when well get our hands on them. The information comes from XDA Developers Max Weinbach, whos been responsible for a number of leaks regarding Samsungs upcoming phones. He tweeted that a new source told him the successor to the Galaxy Fold, the Galaxy Z Flip (previously thought to be called the Galaxy Bloom) will likely launch on February 14. The foldable device will cost $1,400. Thats a lot cheaper than the Galaxy Folds near $2,000 launch price, though the successor is said to be more of a mid-range offering. Its also $100 cheaper than the Motorola Razr, which looks to be a direct competitor to Samsungs phone. Weinbach added that the Z Flip might be an AT&T timed exclusive and could be available unlocked. S20, S20+, S20 Ultra will likely be available first Friday of March. S20 Ultra should retail for $1300. Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) 27 January 2020 As for the S20 line, Weinbach believes the S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra will likely be available the first Friday of March, which is March 6thats 24 days after the Unpacked event. He adds that the S20 Ultra should retail for around $1,300. Elsewhere, the writer claims that the Galaxy Buds+ will cost $149.99 and have double the battery life of their predecessors, along with improved Active Noise Isolation, not noise cancelation. The S20 phones, meanwhile, will have IP68 at around 5 meters and come with pre-installed screen protectors. The most surprising thing about the leak is that the Z Flip could launch weeks before the S20. The Galaxy Fold was scheduled to launch later than the S10, and its technical problems pushed the release date back even further. You can see more leaked details about the Galaxy S20+ here. Advertisement An out-of-control bushfire is threatening homes and lives in Canberra with locals being told it's too late to leave and to take shelter. An emergency-level fire burning in Namadgi National Park, 40km south of the capital, has been travelling east and northeast and growing at a rate of 400 hectares per hour. The blaze is threatening properties in the small rural village of Tharwa as well as those on Boboyan, Apollo and Top Naas roads. Residents in Canberra's southern suburbs were warned the spot fires could get within one kilometre of the far southern suburb of banks. 'Helicopters and large air tankers are water-bombing, establishing containment lines and undertaking aerial surveillance,' Canberra's emergency services said in a notice. 'The fire may pose threats to all lives directly in its path,' Emergency Services Agency Commissioner Georgeina Whelan told reporters. 'Firefighters may be unable to prevent a fire from reaching your property. You should not expect a firefighter on your door.' Smoke rises from the Namadgi National Park fire burning south of Canberra. Residents of the small rural village of Tharwa have been told that it's too late to leave Residents Canberra's southern suburbs were warned the spot fires could get within one kilometre of the far southern suburb of banks The 8,000-hectare blaze has been travelling east and northeast towards Tharwa, and growing at a rate of 400 hectares per hour The blaze is threatening properties in Tharwa as well as properties on Boboyan, Apollo and Top Naas roads Winds of 5km/h had reached gusts as high as 40km/h, she said, fanning the blaze and worsening conditions. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology and firefighting services were predicting temperatures to top 40C over the weekend. 'Worsening conditions are forecast for later the week so prepare now,' the NSW RFS said on Twitter. People should clear their properties of any flammable vegetation, while any broken roof tiles should be repaired to protect houses from airborne embers, it said. Chief minister Andrew Barr told reporters on Tuesday the blaze is the most serious Canberra has faced since the deadly 2003 fires. Operation Bushfire Relief's Lieutenant General Greg Bilton revealed a defence reconnaissance helicopter was behind the blaze. He said the heat of the landing light likely started a grass fire under the chopper when it landed in the park, with the fire growing rapidly and damaging the craft before it took off. Lt Gen Bilton said defence would be further investigating the cause of the fire but had ceased use of that type of landing light in the meantime. Meanwhile, an evacuation centre has been set up at Erindale College in the Canberra suburb of Wanniassa. Caloola Farm manager Ralph Hurst-Meyers was desperately trying to convince three men still on the farm near the blaze to leave as they planned to defend the property. 'It just looks like a dragon, it's unbelievable. It's like a mushroom cloud with a red eye,' Mr Hurst-Meyers told AAP on Tuesday. He said firefighters had told him the farm would become a trap if the fire reached there and said it was too dangerous to defend it. Wildfire smoke billows behind a mountain range on Tuesday, jan. 28, 2020, close to Canberra's southern outskirts An evacuation centre has been set up at Erindale College in the Canberra suburb of Wanniassa. Pictured: The Namadgi National Park fire Caloola Farm manager Ralph Hurst-Meyers said smoke billowing from the mountains looked like a 'dragon mushroom cloud' Fires cloaked Canberra in thick, hazardous smoke on Tuesday Mr Hurst-Meyers said he had been in Canberra for the catastrophic 2003 bushfire and he'd learned it wasn't worth holding your ground. 'I know what the beast looks like. I've seen this before. This is a shocker,' he said. At a Tharwa community meeting earlier on Tuesday, ACT Rural Fire Service chief officer Joe Murphy told residents it would be a lengthy campaign to get the fire under control. 'In all likelihood our worst day this week will be Saturday,' he said. 'We have some pretty ordinary weather this week.' The nation's capital is seen in the foreground with the raging Namadgi National Park fire behind A bushfire burns on January 23, 2020 in Canberra, Australia ACT Emergency Services Commissioner Georgeina Whelan said ACT Fire and Rescue as well as ACT RFS personnel had all been recalled to help fight the fire. 'The fire is not contained. This fire will burn for several weeks,' Ms Whelan said. She said hot, dry weather and enormous fuel loads were making it difficult to fight the blaze. 'The heat and the erratic winds will only make the situation worse,' she said. Emergency services have 27 vehicles, five helicopters, three small planes, two large air tankers and one very large air tanker fighting the fire. Defence personnel have been deployed to help build containment lines and assist in operations. Ms Whelan said some residents in Tharwa had told emergency services personnel they would stay to defend their properties if the fire came close. A truck drives past charred trees burnt during the recent wildfires near Batemans Bay, New South Wales, Australia, on Jan. 22, 2020. (Loren Elliott/Reuters) Australia Battles New Wildfire Threat as Smoke Cloaks Capital Australian officials warned communities in wildfire-ravaged eastern states to strengthen fire defense on Jan. 28 amid forecasts of soaring temperatures and strong winds, as one approaching blaze cloaked the capital in thick smoke. Wildfires have killed 33 people and about 1 billion animals since September, while 2,500 homes and an area the size of Greece have been destroyed. In a timed-exposure image, firefighters hose down trees as they battle wildfires around the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales on Dec. 31, 2019. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images) Firefighters have used several days of cooler, damper weather across much of the continent to try to gain control of more than 100 blazes still burning before temperatures rise again from mid-week. One blaze in a national park south of Canberra was upgraded to the emergency warning level, as the emergency services chief told residents to stay on alert, given that rising winds could spark spot fires in the suburbs. People in some areas near in Namadgi National Park were told it was too late to leave. Helicopters and large air tankers are water-bombing, establishing containment lines and undertaking aerial surveillance, Canberras emergency services said in a notice. The fire may pose threats to all lives directly in its path, Emergency Services Agency Commissioner Georgeina Whelan told reporters. Firefighters may be unable to prevent a fire from reaching your property. You should not expect a firefighter on your door. Sheep graze in a field shrouded with smoke haze near Burragate, Australia, on Jan. 11, 2020. (Rick Rycroft/AP Photo) Winds of 3.1 mph had reached gusts as high as 25 mph, she said, fanning the blaze and worsening conditions. Australias Bureau of Meteorology and firefighting services were predicting temperatures to top 104 degrees Fahrenheit over the weekend. Worsening conditions are forecast for later the week, so prepare now, the New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service said on Twitter. People should clear their properties of any flammable vegetation, while any broken roof tiles should be repaired to protect houses from airborne embers, it said. Here are key events in the wildfire crisis for Jan. 28: NSW firefighters were tackling 60 fires. Only one fire is at the watch and act warning level, meaning there was no immediate danger. The rest are at lower warning levels. In Victoria state, there were 16 warnings in place, none of which was deemed an immediate threat to property. A high pressure weather pattern is set to move across Australias east coast later this week, bring soaring temperatures over the weekend. Fires cloaked Canberra in thick, hazardous smoke on Jan. 28. Researchers from the University of Sydney on Jan. 28 released a report that found that just three days of low-level wildfire smoke exposure increased the threat of cardiac arrest, with people over 65 at higher risk. By Colin Packham, Additional reporting by Melanie Burton LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Knoze Jr Corp releases the study that led to the development of AllerPops, a prebiotic lollipop that gives people lasting allergy relief. The theory proposed in the article explains not only why we have allergies but also how the immune system starts to fight cancer after an infection, which leads to the rare natural cancer regressions. This understanding makes it possible to develop a novel immune therapy that is inexpensive and without dangerous side effects. When cancer goes away on its own, it's so rare that people often say it's a miracle. Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton performed her cancer cure miracle 130 years after her death. Restoring the natural peace between the immune system and our microbiota is the secret of AllerPops for a lasting allergy relief. Breaking the peace is the key to initiate a good fight for cancer. Peregrine Laziosi (12601345) is the patron saint of cancer patients. When he was in his sixties, he developed bone cancer and his only option was to have his leg amputated. The cancer swelled his bone so much that it broke through the skin and it became infected and gave a stinky smell. Miraculously, by the time of his scheduled operation, the doctor found his cancer completely disappeared. Saint Peregrine lived another 20 years before he died at age of eighty-five years old.1 A more recent miracle was used as evidence for the canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) in 1975. In 1952, Anne Theresa, who was 4, was dying of leukemia. A relic, a cloth touched to Mother Seton's remains, was pinned to the child's gown. Anne almost immediately recovered, and her leukemia was completely healed. 2 The record also shows that just before her recovery, Anne Theresa had severe chickenpox with high fever and nutritionally, she could only tolerate sips of Coca-Cola. 2 Is there a medical explanation for these miracles? Cliff Han is the founder of Knoze Jr Corp, a startup firm located in Los Alamos, NM, and inventor of AllerPops. When he reviewed the cases of these cancer miracles, he wanted to find a medical explanation for these acts of God. "In the two miracles, the people who experienced a natural cancer regression had a serious infection right before the miracle occurred," said Han. "Other than the fact that their immune systems were stimulated by the infections, we still do not know the mechanism leading to the cancer regression." His study that led to the development of AllerPops, may shed some light on the matter. AllerPops are prebiotic lollipops that give people lasting allergy relief by targeting the root cause of allergies, a lack of friendly bacteria in the oral cavity. But what do allergies have to do with cancer? Han's Theory of Negative Trigger (TNT), developed to explain why we have allergies, can also elucidate how an infection initiate the immune system to fight for cancer. "If we know how these cancers went away miraculously, we can lead the way for these types of miracles to happen to more people more often," said Han. TNT describes the relationship between our microbiota and immune systems. Briefly, our immune system is like a car with an accelerator to speed it up and brakes to slow it down. Pathogens acts as an accelerator, stimulating the immune system so it can protect us from infectious diseases. Probiotics (friendly bacteria) act as brakes, slowing it down when there is no infection. Like the car, our immune system is designed to be parked most of the time by the brakes our probiotics. Our immune system operates in the gut (70%), airway (25%) and under our skin. Different probiotics live in these biological niches and send signals to pacify our immune system. These interactions are primarily local and limited by space and time. The peace agreement between probiotics and the immune system makes it possible for us to live peacefully in the environment. Read the article that explains TNT here, https://allerpops.com/oral-probiotic-deficiency-may-cause-common-allergies/ How can you stimulate the immune system so it's ready to fight off cancer? According to Han, a biologist worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for 22 years, two things must happen so that our immune system can be ready to go into battle with cancer. Remove the brakes/probiotics from the gut and airway where the immune system concentrates. Stimulate the immune system with pathogens/vaccines. Both conditions can be automatically fulfilled when a natural infection takes place. A high fever will remove the probiotics that live in the mouth and airway. Diarrhea will remove probiotics in the gut. Reduced appetites will also starve the probiotics in the gut. Pathogens and the damage they cause stimulate the immune system. For example, in the miracle of Anne Theresa described above, the chickenpox infection stimulated Anne's immune system. She had a high fever which inhibited the growth of probiotics in the airway. Drinking only Coca-Cola provided no fiber (food) to the gut probiotics. Without those probiotics, her immune system mobilized at a high level so it could fight the chickenpox virus and the leukemia cells without reservation. Cancer miracles may happen more frequently if we do these things intentionally. Stimulating the immune system and removing brakes (the friendly bacteria) are both necessary to kick-start the immune system. How to remove probiotics from your system Probiotics need food to survive, and so you can slow down their growth by not giving them food. Han said, "I personally did a liquid-only fast (two cups cranberry juice, about 200 calories each day) for a week together with intensified oral hygiene." How do you activate the immune system? Recent studies of germ-free mice tested in a sterilized environment where there are no pathogens or probiotics3 indirectly show that removal of probiotics by itself will not activate the immune system. Some cancer may stimulate the immune system, while most do not. Therefore, in most cases, one will need vaccines or pathogens to stimulate the immune system. Currently, it is not known how strong the stimulation should be. Stimulation from common cold virus might be too weak. Can controlled chickenpox infection be applied? Only future study will tell. A bio-firm is developing cancer treatment with Dengue virus stimulating an immune response.4 It is not certain if they included any procedure to remove the brakes. Instead of using real pathogens/vaccines, controlled infusion of a proper combination of cytokines may be another way to stimulate the immune system.5 The stimulation of the immune system should be done the same time as removing the probiotics in both the airway and gut. Repetitive stimulation may be needed. This method can work alone or be used to improve the performance of modern immune therapy such as PD-1 blocker. In addition to the explanation of the cancer miracle, the TNT theory suggests other beneficial health practices as well, such as how to prevent allergies, how to recover from a cold faster and why you should keep a fever. Please check related blogs at allerpops.com/blogs/. Contact: Cliff Han Founder of AllerPops and owner of Knoze Jr 505-695-4236 [email protected] https://www.allerpops.com References: SOURCE Knoze Jr Corp Related Links https://www.allerpops.com The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) has announced protests across the world after the arrest of its leader Manzoor Pashteen on Monday. According to the PTM, rallies are being organised in countries such as the US, Afghanistan, and Belgium. Besides this, major cities of Pakistan such as Karachi, Islamabad, Quetta, Mardan, Peshawar will also witness protests. On Monday, a local court in Peshawar sent him to judicial custody for 14 days. He has been booked under stringent provisions such as sedition. Meanwhile, section 144 has been imposed in Balochistan ahead of the protests. Read: EXCLUSIVE: Massive Protest Erupts In Pakistan, Atrocities Inflicted By Pak Army Exposed Read the full schedule of the PTM rallies here: Massive protest Thousands of Pakistanis gathered in Bannu city of Khyber Pakthunkhwa province on January 12 demanding an end to the atrocities committed by the Pakistani Army. The rally organised by PTM also demonstrated against the Imran Khan-led government. Alleging that the Pakistani Army treated the Pashtuns as third-class citizens, the protesters also revealed that the former indulged in torture and killings. They also pointed out the lack of development in the areas where the Pashtuns lived. Read: UNBELIEVABLE: Pak PM Imran Khan's Nephew Abuses Driver & Kicks His Car In Road Rage Video The origin of PTM Occupying the north-western territory of the country, Pashtuns are the second-largest ethnic group in Pakistan, representing approximately 15.42% of the population. Despite having a huge representation in the Pakistani Army, they have consistently suffered discrimination at the hands of the authorities. The killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young Pashtun in Karachi on January 13, 2018, led to the advent of the PTM led by Manzoor Pashteen. Since then, the PTM organized massive rallies in major cities of Pakistan such as Lahore, Karachi, Swat, Peshawar, and Quetta seeking justice for the death of innocent Pashtuns. As the ire of the protesters was directed at the Pakistani Army, the latter started propaganda about a foreign conspiracy. Despite the oppositions charge of massive rigging in the 2019 General Election in Pakistan, the Army was unable to prevent the election of PTM members Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir. Read: Temple Vandalised & Scriptures Desecrated In Pakistan's Sindh, Imran Khan Silent: SAD Earlier attempts to curb the influence Both the Pakistani government as well as the Army has done everything possible to crush the spirit of the PTM. For instance, parliamentarians Dawar and Wazir were arrested on charges of terrorism after a clash between PTM activists and Army troops at a security post in May 2018. They languished in jail for 4 months before being granted bail. Read: Crestfallen Imran Khan Blames Corruption For Pak Cricket's Fall, Claims He "Quashed" All An artificial neural network has identified a square structure within a triangular one in a crater on the dwarf planet Ceres, with several people agreeing on this perception. The result of this intriguing visual experiment, carried out by a Spanish neuropsychologist, calls into question the application of artificial intelligence to the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI). Ceres, although the largest object in the main asteroid belt, is a dwarf planet. It became famous a few years ago for one of its craters: Occator, where some bright spots were observed, leading to all manner of speculations. The mystery was solved when NASA's Dawn probe came close enough to discover that these bright spots originated from volcanic ice and salt emissions. Now researchers from the University of Cadiz (Spain) have looked at one of these spots, called Vinalia Faculae, and have been struck by an area where geometric shapes are ostensibly observable. This peculiarity has served them to propose a curious experiment: to compare how human beings and machines recognize planetary images. The ultimate goal was to analyse whether artificial intelligence (AI) can help discover 'technosignatures' of possible extra-terrestrial civilizations. "We weren't alone in this, some people seemed to discern a square shape in Vinalia Faculae, so we saw it as an opportunity to confront human intelligence with artificial intelligence in a cognitive task of visual perception, not just a routine task, but a challenging one with implications bearing on the search for extraterrestrial life (SETI), no longer based solely on radio waves," explains Gabriel G. De la Torre. The team of this neuropsychologist from the University of Cadiz, who has already studied the problem of undetected non terrestrial intelligent signals (the cosmic gorilla effect), now brought together 163 volunteers with no training in astronomy to determine what they saw in the images of Occator. They then did the same with an artificial vision system based on convolutional neural networks (CNN), previously trained with thousands of images of squares and triangles so as to be able to identify them. "Both people and artificial intelligence detected a square structure in the images, but the AI also identified a triangle," notes De la Torre, "and when the triangular option was shown to humans, the percentage of persons claiming to see it also increased significantly." The square seemed to be inscribed in the triangle. These results, published in the Acta Astronautica journal, have allowed researchers to draw several conclusions: "On the one hand, despite being fashionable and having a multitude of applications, artificial intelligence could confuse us and tell us that it has detected impossible or false things," says De la Torre, "and this therefore compromises its usefulness in tasks such as the search for extra-terrestrial technosignatures in some cases. We must be careful with its implementation and use in SETI." "On the other hand," he adds, "if AI identifies something our mind cannot understand or accept, could it in the future go beyond our level of consciousness and open doors to reality for which we are not prepared? What if the square and triangle of Vinalia Faculae in Ceres were artificial structures?" Finally, the neuropsychologist points out that AI systems suffer from the same problems as their creators: "The implications of biases in their development should be further studied while they are being supervised by humans." De la Torre concludes by acknowledging that, in reality, "we don't know what it is, but what artificial intelligence has detected in Vinalia Faculae is most probably just a play of light and shadow." ### References: Gabriel G. De la Torre. "Does artificial intelligence dream of non-terrestrial techno-signatures?" Acta Astronautica 167: 280-285, February 2020. For those of us working for human rights in Iran, the news of recent months has brought mixed emotions. The death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, a domestic and regional terrorist organization, was not a cause for griefparticularly in the midst of a crackdown in which as many as 1,500 Iranians had been killed, and thousands more detained since the outbreak of protests in Iran in mid-November. The international media focused more on the masses of Iranians that came out to mourn for Soleimanis death. Indeed, many did set out in the streets to engage in state-sponsored mourning ceremonies, not dissimilar to what many of us recall from Ayatollah Khomeinis death in 1989.* Nevertheless, many Iranians stayed at home and did not participate because they did not consider him a hero of any kind. Soleimani, whom even many of his critics considered a military genius, was arguably the most integral figure behind the Islamic Republic of Irans Shia expansionist military operations in the Middle East, most importantly Syria and Iraq. Domestically, many speculated that he may have had the highest chance of becoming the next supreme leader, given his relatively young age, his influence and the trust and admiration of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But regardless of where they stand on the question of whether Soleimani was a hero or a villain, Iranians, including me, fear the possibility of a war with the U.S. The fact that the United States took the liberty to kill him in Iraq increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran and created fear of an imminent war, the outbreak of which would be a historic catastrophe. This is the tension we constantly facehow to keep international pressure on a murderous regime without endorsing aggressive policies from the Trump administration which could only make the situation worse. Just as Soleimanis life resulted in death for so many in the region, his own death killed still more. First, 56 Iranians died in the national mourning demonstrations held to honor his life and achievements. Then, 176 lives were lost when Iran shot down a Ukrainian passenger flight departing from Tehran on Jan. 8. The government has not offered an official apology to the families of any of these victims. Instead, it is reportedly harassing the families of Iranian, dual-national Iranians and non-Iranian victims to keep them from speaking with the media or making too much noise about the incident. Justice has not been served for those responsible for the catastrophe and most likely wont be. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement None of this is surprising to those of us whove lived under this governments repression. The scale of the crackdown beginning in November may have been unprecedented in terms of the number of victims. But the Islamic Republic of Iran has been one of the most persistent and brutal violators of human rights worldwide for decades. To take just a couple recent examples: in August 2019, Reporters Without Borders declared Iran as the top jailer of female journalists; as of 2018, Iran executes more people than any country except China. Iran has a long history of harassing and arresting journalists, lawyers, members of ethnic and religious minorities, LGBTQ+ persons, women who dont abide by the standards of mandatory veil, human rights defenders and civil society activists, labor rights activists, artists, university students and so on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With or without the Trump administration, the Iranian human rights community has always worked hard to persuade the international community to pressure Iran to stop its grave violations of human rights. We understand well that the regime would only be more violent in the absence of international attention and pressure regarding its misuse of power. Therefore, at least in my circles of human rights defenders, there is no doubt whatsoever that we need the international communitys support in order to hold the Islamic Republic of Iran accountable, and to somehow minimize and ultimately stop the regimes disregard for human rights. Advertisement Advertisement The current U.S. administration, and Donald Trump himself, are certainly vocal about human rights in Iran. For instance, on Jan. 12 the president tweeted a message directed at the leaders of Iran as protests erupted following the shooting down of the airline: [T]he USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people! But while Iranian protests and human rights defenders need the support of the world to overcome the atrocities committed by Irans government, this administrations approach hardly puts us at ease. Advertisement Advertisement First, the current administration brought the U.S. and Iran to the edge of a war. As someone who grew up in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, I do not believe that another devastating military conflict can help the country. During the war, while it sent children and youth to die at the frontline, the Islamic Republic of Iran established its dictatorial authority and justified its grave violations of human rights for many years to come. This is the kind of regime that thrives on war. Outright military conflict with the United States will give it a new life. Even if the regime is ousted, its most hardline supporters will emerge as highly destructive nonstate actors, making a transition to stable democracy impossible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Second, human rights defenders cannot defend the suffering caused by U.S. economic sanctions. It may be true that these sanctions are only partially responsible for the countrys economic crisis, which is mainly the result of the widespread economic mismanagement and corruption of the ruling elite. But still, we cannot endorse sanctions that make the already difficult lives of ordinary citizens even more difficult. Third, Trumps unpredictable policies could also mean that one day we will wake up to the US and Iran negotiating over various key matters for the U.S. including a new nuclear agreement and limiting Irans meddling in the region. As with Trumps approach to North Korea, this is likely to be done with complete disregard for the many atrocities committed and being committed by Iran domestically, since highlighting those would no longer serve U.S. interests. Advertisement Fourth, Iranians are among the most vocal immigrants in the U.S., and globally. Given the limited opportunities and the disregard of the Iranian regime for human rights and the human dignity of women, youth, minorities and others, many Iranians, including myself, have had to find a way out, and now live as immigrants abroad. This has resulted in one of the worst brain drains in the world. Therefore, the anti-immigrant policies of this administration, and especially the Travel Ban which appears to target Iranians categorically, has made many Iranian-American citizens feel unwelcome and unappreciated in their second home, the United States. This was a strategic mistake on the part of the Trump administration, and one that deepened a sense of distrust in the diaspora community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But still, this does not mean we should hope for a pacifist U.S. administration with cultural relativist mentality and a high level of tolerance for human rights violations in countries like Iran. Whether or not we like to admit it, we still live in a world where the disregard of the U.S. and the EU and other powerful democracies for human rights violations in various countries in the Middle East is considered a win for the perpetrators. Advertisement Advertisement Many of Trumps opponents, especially those consumed by U.S.s domestic partisan politics do not seem to truly understand what is at stake for Iranians in their home. It sometimes appears as though the only way to oppose Trump is to offer the exact opposite of the current administrations approach toward the Islamic Republic of Iran. If not carefully crafted, a reversal of Trumps maximum pressure could turn into an apologetic set of policies toward a government that does not shy away from harassing, detaining, torturing and killing its own citizens. Advertisement What we need instead is bipartisan and consistently assertivebut not war-likerhetoric highlighting the regimes abuses, along with instruments of diplomatic pressure that are less directly harmful to the people than the current economic sanctions. Advertisement To date, no U.S. administration has managed to find this balance, whether Democrat or Republican. In the end, justice will ultimately have to prevail, and the countrys authorities will have to be held accountable. Iranians will one day overcome a regime that has questioned and violated their dignity for decades. It is just that no one knows how and when. My hope is that, as we are busy analyzing the role of the U.S. in all this, young, grassroots Iranian leaders are quietly emerging. These ordinary individuals standing up not only for their own rights, but the rights of their neighbors and fellow Iranians across the country, will be the real leaders of the future of Iran. Only they have the legitimacy and the ability to take Iran through a peaceful transition towards justice and democratic values. In this struggle, foreign observers must support them without taking advantage of them for their own purposes. The commerce ministry has put Bharti Airtel in denied entry list for non-fulfilment of export obligation under an export promotion scheme, sources said New Delhi: The commerce ministry has put Bharti Airtel in denied entry list for non-fulfilment of export obligation under an export promotion scheme, sources said. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), which is under the ministry, has put the company under this list which is commonly known as blacklist for non-fulfilment of export obligation in respect of certain EPCG authorisation issued to them, they said. Airtel sources said, "Airtel has not taken any such licence since April 2018, as there is no operational requirement. In fact, the company has already applied for the closure of all past licences that were due and is awaiting approval from the authorities." An e-mail send to the company did not elicit any immediate response. Due to this, the company will not be able to avail any export benefit or licence from the DGFT. The Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) is an export promotion scheme. Under this, import of capital goods are allowed at zero customs duty for manufacturing quality goods and services. Under the scheme, capital goods imported at zero duty must fulfil EPCG export obligation equivalent to 6 times of duty saved on the capital goods. Renaults board is set to meet later on Tuesday to approve the nomination of Luca de Meo, the former head of Volkswagens Seat brand, as its next chief executive, two sources familiar with the matter said, Trend with reference to Reuters reports. The Italian-born executive, who stepped down from Seat earlier this month, is not due to take up his post at the French carmaker until toward July, due to negotiations around his contract, according to one of the sources. Renault declined to comment. De Meo is not expected to face any last minute hurdles in his nomination, and has already won tacit backing from parties including the French government, a Renault shareholder. His appointment fills one of the major gaps left at the firm as it tries to move past a year of turmoil following the 2018 arrest in Tokyo of former boss-turned-fugitive Carlos Ghosn, and reset its strained alliance with Japans Nissan. Ghosn, who forged and oversaw the Renault-Nissan partnership for almost two decades, has since fled Japan and resettled in Lebanon, from where he has contested the financial misconduct charges against him and said the alliance was at risk of collapse. De Meo, along with Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, brought in last January from tire maker Michelin, will have his work cut out to turn around the firm. Like rivals, Renault is grappling with a downturn in demand, and has said it expects a slight decline in the car market in Europe, Russia and China this year. The firm has also presented 2020 as a make-or-break year for the alliance with Nissan and is under pressure to deliver on cost savings and joint industrial projects. Automakers face pressure to meet stringent new emissions targets with less polluting models, and are also competing to produce innovations such as self-driving cars, which require large investments. De Meo, who speaks French, will be one of a growing handful of outsiders in senior company jobs in France. The 52-year-old started his career at Renault and has worked at Fiat and Audi among other brands. He is credited with revitalizing sales at Barcelona-based Seat, imbuing it with a more sporty image, though his portfolio will be markedly larger at Renault, whose brands include Dacia and Lada. Renaults finance chief Clotilde Delbos has been CEO on an interim basis since last October, when Thierry Bollore, a former Ghosn ally, was ousted by the board. Zakharchenkos suit against detention authorities set for February RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 13:55 28/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 28 (RAPSI) Moscows Lefortovsky District Court has scheduled a lawsuit filed by the convicted former anti-corruption official of the Interior Ministry Dmitry Zakharchenko against a detention facility administration over posting to the preventive accounts for February 19, RAPSI reports from the courtroom. Zakharchenko asks the court to declare the detention commissions decision saying that he has a tendency towards escape and violence against law enforcement illegal. According to lawyer Alexander Gorbatenko, on November 7, 2019, his client and he were given the relevant commissions report based on the comments of other inmates. The lawyer said that Zakharchenko was not involved in violations and incidents when being held in detention. Ex-Russian anti-corruption official Zakharchenko was arrested on September 8, 2016. During searches at his sisters apartment law enforcement officers found around 9 billion rubles ($140 million). He denied any relation to the seized funds. In June, Moscows Presnensky District Court sentenced Zakharchenko to 13 years in high-security prison for 3-million-ruble corruption crimes and obstruction of the investigation. Additionally, the defendant was ordered to pay a 117-million-ruble fine ($1.8 million), stripped of his police colonel rank and prohibited from holding law enforcement posts for 2 years. However, the court acquitted him of a $500,000 bribery count. The defendant pleaded not guilty. Quest Diagnostics, one of the nations largest medical lab testing services, will take over operations of Houston-based Memorial Hermanns diagnostic and testing labs this year. The hospital said Monday it would transfer the ownership and management of nearly 30 standalone lab centers and nearly 60 lab sites located within physicians offices to Quest. Memorial Hermann will still own the diagnostic labs located within their hospitals, but Quest will provide lab management services. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, were not disclosed. After the deal is finalized, Quest will also become the preferred provider for lab services for the hospitals health insurance plan, Memorial Hermann Health Plan. As part of Memorial Hermanns commitment to lower the cost of care, the system intends to utilize Quests expertise and scale to improve cost-efficiencies while maintaining the high quality services and comprehensive resources needed to make Houston healthier, now and for generations to come, Dr. David Callender, president and CEO of Memorial Hermann, said in a statement. Callender said in a recent interview with the Chronicle that the hospital system wants to drive down cost and improve efficiency. More hospitals are turning to Quest and other large services to run or outsource their testing, slashing costs as health care providers feel pressure from insurers to stop raising prices. Insurance companies have fought with hospitals for years about how much they charge for their lab services, especially compared to what insurance companies and other payers can get from Quest, said Ken Janda, an adjunct professor in health care management at Rice University. Other Houston hospitals havent gone down that path because lab services are profitable for many, Janda said. The acquisition is the latest move by Secaucus, N.J.-based Quest to expand into the Houston market. Quest owns seven testing labs and offers services at several other independent testing locations in Houston. Randalls began offering Quests in-store testing services at some locations in 2017 through a national partnership with the grocers parent company, Albertsons. This relationship will also strengthen our laboratory and service network in Greater Houston, which in turn will empower more patients and providers in the area to access quality, cost effective service at the Quest Diagnostics location most convenient for them, Steve Rusckowski, Quests president and CEO, said in a statement. The company works with about half of U.S. doctors and hospitals. gwendolyn.wu@chron.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu Two students from the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School are facing charges after authorities say they damaged several outlets in the school by doing the TikTok outlet challenge, according to authorities. Superintendent Jeffrey Szymaniak and Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch said the two male students, ages 15 and 16, will both be charged with attempting to burn a public building and malicious destruction of property. They are accused of damaging several electrical outlets in the school by following instructions in the viral video. The students will be issued summonses to appear in juvenile court and will be subject to the school districts student code of conduct policies. Hanson police were called to the school at 600 Franklin St. on Jan. 23 for a report that two students caused damage to several electrical outlets, police said. The outlets were scorched and appeared to have short-circuited. It was later determined that the damaged outlets were the result of a viral video trend on the popular video app TikTok, authorities said. In total, there were eight electrical outlets that had been damaged throughout the school. The two students are believed to have caused damage to most, if not all, of the outlets. No one was injured. This is not just a harmless prank that kids are doing, Miksch said. Causing an outlet to short circuit this way can cause serious injury and could potentially start a fire. Not to mention the damage it can do to a buildings electrical system, along with hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of damage. We are taking this issue seriously and anyone identified doing this will be charged criminally. Whitman-Hanson High Principal Christopher Jones then sent a letter home to parents notifying them of the incidents and warned of the dangers of this viral trend. The challenge has also caused incidents in Holden, Westford and Plymouth and prompted Massachusetts Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey to alert departments statewide about the latest social media craze. The outlet challenge involves using the plug of a phone charger. It is partially inserted in an outlet and a penny is slid down between the outlet and the charger prongs. We have had two incidents in Massachusetts that we are aware of: one in Holden where a concerned mother sent a photo of a scorched outlet ... and one at a Westford High School, which the Department of Fire Services investigated. The student(s) responsible for starting the fire at the Westford Academy will face charges, said Ostroskey in a Jan. 21 letter to fire districts statewide. The school in Hanson had power outages because of the incidents. New Delhi [India], Jan 28 (ANI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said Pakistan must take demonstrable steps against terror groups, which are responsible for launching various attacks on India from its soil. Addressing the 12th South Asia conference with the theme 'India's 'Neighbourhood First' Policy: Regional Perceptions' Singh said: "We have made it clear that talks and terror cannot go together and that Pakistan must take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India from its soil." "It (Pakistan) has preferred to use terrorism as a state policy towards India, rather than a peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue. Use of terror as an instrument of its foreign and security policy has promoted radicalism and terrorism in the region," he said. The Defence Minister said it is important to unite in efforts to defeat terrorism and it is essential that terrorists and their ideological and financial networks are cut off and that they do not receive state support. Cornering the neighbouring country, he said: "With the exception of Pakistan our region has adhered to these principles." Stressing that India has always made efforts to share its prosperity with its neighbourhood, he said, "India has committed about 13.14 billion US dollars in credit-lines and about 4 billion US dollars in assistance in the neighbourhood over the last decade." "On the developmental front, there is an emphasis on greater connectivity, including energy, road and rail, port and waterways, space and digital connectivity, and making resources available to the neighbours to build necessary infrastructure in this regard," he said. The Union Minister opined that under the Neighbourhood First Policy, intensifying bilateral developmental partnership with countries in the region may create the necessary impulse for regional cooperation in South Asia in the long run. (ANI) Passengers in Malaysia wait for thermal checks (Photo: freemalaysiatoday) After an urgent meeting on January 26th, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Azizah Wan Ismail affirmed that the coronavirus in Malaysia was still under control. The countrys Health Ministry was cooperating closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the health ministries of neighbouring countries on current developments. Malaysia has the capacity to deal with the 2019 n-CoV situation, she said, adding that Malaysians need to closely follow instructions by medical agencies and not to spread untrue or unverified information related to the disease. The Malaysian Health Ministry has also presented preparatory measures and responses in the face of the spread of the disease cluster, including detailed screening at all international entry points and closely monitoring at all coordinating levels, she said. Meanwhile, Health Minister of Cambodia Mam Bunheng confirmed that the country has reported no n-CoV infection case so far. Cambodias relevant agencies have bolstered preventive measures at airports and border gates. For its part, Singapore announced a series of precautionary measures on January 27th to contain the spread of the novel virus. Students and teachers travelling to China recently are asked to stay at home for two weeks. Besides, people are advised to refrain from unnecessary travel to China, while passengers taking flights from China to Singapore will undergo thermal checks. Singaporean Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said the countrys economy will definitely be impacted by the outbreak, with the tourism-related sectors being of immediate concern. The government is considering support measures for hard-hit sectors like tourism which could include property tax, rebates and worker levy cuts, he added. In Thailand, four C130 planes with medic teams have been put on standby in case the country decides to airlift its citizens from Wuhan. Local media quoted Thai air force chief Maanat Wongwat as saying that the transport aircraft and medic teams are ready to take off to the Chinese city as soon as the government gives the green light to the evacuation plan. Deputy PM of Thailand Prawit Wongsuwon on January 2nd said the government was considering a plan to help Thai citizens in Wuhan, the epicentre of the n-CoV outbreak. A total of 64 Thais, including 54 students and 10 workers, are in the capital of Chinas Hubei province, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry. Thailands evacuation plan will be clearer when the Rapid Response Centre comprising of officials from several agencies holds talks on January 27th. At eight, Thailand has the highest number of infected people after China. By the end of January 26th, 80 deaths from the nCoV-caused disease and 2,744 infected cases had been reported in China. The virus has spread to more than 10 countries around the world./. Drew "Binsky" Goldberg, seen here in Kerala, India, makes a living traveling the world and posting about it on social media. By Josefin Dolsten (JTA)-In 2012, Drew Goldberg spent part of his junior year of college studying abroad in Prague. It was only his second time leaving the United States-the other time was for Birthright, the free Israel trip for Jewish young adults. The trip to the Czech capital was life-changing, literally. Goldberg spent the next five months balancing his studies with traveling, managing to visit more than 20 countries. After that he was hooked. Now he's closing in on a goal inspired by the Prague trip-visiting each of the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations. In just a few months, the 28-year-old will have done it. He's managed the feat by making traveling his job. Goldberg, who goes by the name Drew Binsky online, posts daily videos of his travel adventures and earns $5,000 to $30,000 each month through ad revenue and sponsorships. His videos include everything from learning what it's like to live in North Korea, discussing race in South Africa and talking to Syrians who fled their homes due to war. Goldberg has 4 million followers on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. He also holds two Guinness World Records-for visiting the most UNESCO heritage sites in 24 hours (12) and for fastest time to pack a suitcase (35.59 seconds). "I haven't stayed in one place longer than two weeks in eight years," he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a video interview from Manila, where he shares an apartment with his Philippines-born girlfriend Deanna. This spring, Goldberg will embark on the last leg of his eight-year trip, traveling to the five countries he has yet to visit: Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Jamaica and Palau. He will bring along a film crew and hopes to make a documentary of the visit. "It's surreal," he said. "I've been working with this goal for eight years." Goldberg grew up in a Jewish family in Scottsdale, Arizona. He attended Temple Chai, a Reform congregation, where he had his bar mitzvah. After graduating with an economics degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Goldberg tookt a job teaching English in South Korea. He created a travel blog to document his experience traveling throughout Asia over the next 18 months. Goldberg makes a point of visiting Jewish communities in the countries he visits, and he says traveling has helped him connect with his Jewish identity. He has visited Jewish communities in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Ethiopia and the Philippines. "I feel more connected with the religion from a global perspective because I've really gone in the houses of Jews around the world," he said. Though he says he has been well-received as a Jewish person, it helps that he publishes under the name Binsky, his childhood nickname, which is less obviously Jewish than Goldberg. "I think it's not the worst thing in the world to have an alter ego, especially when I'm traveling to countries like Syria and Libya and stuff," he said. "It's not the best to rep Goldberg." Goldberg says he enjoys teaching people about Judaism in areas of the world where there are few Jews. "In general I think I'm in a very good position to promote Judaism to Muslims and to people who aren't familiar with the religion," he said. Goldberg generally feels safe while traveling and says he wasn't worried visiting North Korea since he was on an organized tour. Still, there have been some scary moments, such as falling asleep to the sound of bombs raining down just miles from his hotel in Libya, and missing a car explosion by only an hour in Yemen. On a recent trip to Syria, he had to lie about having visited Israel to enter the country. "I had to hide all my videos about Israel on my website," he said. Goldberg says he won't stop traveling once he has hit his goal, but will shift his focus to longer-form content and post less frequently. He also hopes to get a travel show like Anthony Bourdain, the late food travel personality who Goldberg considers an idol. "It's so cool to be able to take people along with me and inspire them and teach them about the world," he said. "And I get more satisfaction out of doing that than experiencing it myself." The U.S. Attorneys Office announced Tuesday cases against three individuals accused of concealing ties to the Peoples Republic of China while conducting research in Massachusetts. Charles Lieber, chairman of the department of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University, was arrested Tuesday on charges of making false statements. Authorities say he failed to disclose ties to a Chinese government-run program setup to entice scientists and researchers in the U.S. to share their expertise and research with China. Lieber will appear Tuesday afternoon before judge Marianne B. Bowler in federal court in Boston. He is on paid administrative leave from Harvard and will not have access to the campus nor will be be able to continue in his teaching and research roles. In a separate case, the Department of Justice said Yanqing Ye, a lieutenant in the Peoples Liberation Army had gained a non-immigrant visa to conduct studies at Boston University. According to court documents, Ye was conducting research in the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering at the Center of Polymer Studies at Boston University. Authorities say on Yes visa application she misrepresented her foreign military service to gain entry to the U.S. United States Attorney Andrew Lelling said in a press conference at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse Tuesday that Ye was working as an unregistered agent of the Peoples Republic of China and concealed her military connections while working as a researcher. A colonel in the Peoples Republic of China gave Ye numerous assignments while she was in the United States, such as assessing U.S. military websites, Lelling said. She lied about her involvement with Chinese military projects. Court documents also allege Ye sent U.S. documents and information to China. A third person, a 29-year-old Chinese national Zaosong Zheng, was charged with attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological materials out of the country in a sock. According to court documents, officers for Customs and Border Patrol stopped Zheng as he was boarding a flight to China from Boston Logan International Airport. Agents searched Zhengs luggage and found the vials in plastic bags and placed in a sock. Authorities allege after initially denying that he had any biological materials, then saying that they were given to him by a friend. Zheng later confessed to having stolen the vials from Beth Israel Hospital, according to authorities. This is not an accident or coincidence, Lelling said, of the three cases. This is a small sample of Chinas ongoing campaign to siphon off U.S. technology and research. Officials would not say if the three cases were connected other than involving attempts by China to conduct a massive, long-term campaign to steal U.S. technology. In Liebers case, officials say the Harvard professor was paid more than a million over the years to share research with China. Unlike the U.S., where private companies are not required to share research and information with the government, officials said in China sharing with Chinese entities does not carry the same relationship. That research and expertise is now at the disposal of the Chinese government, Lelling said. Ye is charged with visa fraud, making false statements and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government and conspiracy. Lieber is charged with making a false, fictitious and fraudulent statement. Zheng is also charged with making a false, fictitious and fraudulent statement. _____ Related Content: EASTHAMPTON A Hartford man faces attempted murder and other charges after he allegedly stabbed his 41-year-old girlfriend in the kitchen of her East Street home Saturday night. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported police were summoned to the home about 6:50 p.m. for a reported stabbing. The suspect answered the door and police found the woman slumped over the kitchen table with a severe laceration to her arm She was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. George Archer, 42, of Hartford, was arrested at the scene. During his arraignment Monday in Northampton District Court, a judge ordered that he be held pending a dangerousness hearing on Friday. He is charged with attempted murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a family or household member, threat to commit murder, strangulation or suffocation, assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and intimidation of a witness. The Gazette, citing police complaints, reported the victim told officers the stabbing occurred after Archer grabbed her by the neck during an argument over his use of her car. When she picked up a butter knife to defend herself, Archer allegedly stabbed her in the arm with another knife. Archer was belligerent and uncooperative at the scene and a bail clerk ordered that he be held without bail when he refused to cooperate during his booking at the station, according to the news report. Some people do accept the burdens of mutual dependence and the risks of local leadership because they have needs, desires and fears that community helps them address; others choose to stay home, out of the fray. The spiritual-but-not religious identifier and the political hobbyist share a mentality that is deliberately powerless, rejecting community to avoid the hassle and to avoid getting burned. At times, religious and political hobbyists can feel connected to community even when they arent pitching in to one: perhaps finding a spiritual connection in the charm of the twinkling lights of December or a sense of solidarity in an uplifting moment for their political allies. But in the gloom of late January, when the holiday parties are over, and in the darkness of political defeat when their preferred presidential candidate is no longer in the running or the impeachment trial isnt going how they dreamed it would the now-melancholy religious and political hobbyists lack any communal routine to motivate them. The regular churchgoers still have their community, and the active local political organizations have their regular meetings. Churchgoing Republicans, for instance, can still leverage the power of community even when their leader is flawed or they feel down. Many on the religious right are pained by President Trumps behavior but believe him to be the best available vehicle for their political goals. So they persist. The increasingly nonreligious Democratic Party may continue to stay away from religious communities, even though research has found that religious participation, no matter the orthodoxy of beliefs, corresponds to greater involvement in civic and charitable work, and to higher degrees of happiness, and it also generates the social capital that can be leveraged for political activism. But if liberals also shy away from face-to-face political communities, choosing to spend their free hours as at-home hobbyists rather than participating in weekly political meetings and canvasses, they should expect to reap as little as they sow. Politics is about getting power to enact an agenda. Its about working in groups to turn one vote into more than one vote, one voice into more than one voice, by getting others on board with you. If you arent doing that, you arent doing politics. But hey, congratulations on your interesting hobby. Across the country, I have studied local political organizations on the left and in the center where neighbors take care of one another just as they would in a congregation, and through this mutual aid and support, they find strength to accomplish not just psychic and social goals but political goals, too. But to unseat an incumbent president or to make progress on policies they care about, a lot more people will have to abandon the mind-set of leaderless and powerless hobbyism. Without buying into real communities and putting faith in local leaders, there can be no redemption. Eitan D. Hersh, an associate professor at Tufts University, is the author of Politics Is for Power. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi met her husband Lalu Prasad at Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) on Monday, her first meeting with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief in Ranchi since December 2017 when he was awarded the jail sentence. The former CM, who was accompanied by her elder daughter Misa Bharti, also paid a courtesy visit to Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren at the state secretariat before leaving for Patna. Rabri landed at Birsa Munda Airport here around 10.30 am straight from New Delhi where she recently underwent cataract surgery. She came to RIMS around 12.25 pm to see her ailing husband and spent more than two hours at the hospital. Rabri and Lalu were seen talking at the corridor on the hospitals first floor. She left for Jharkhand secretariat around 2.45 pm. Associate professor, RIMS, DK Jha, who is treating Prasad, said that Rabri Devi enquired from him about the health of her husband, apart from his usual activities. Sources in the RIMS said Prasad demonstrated unusual agility in receiving his wife, who he was meeting after 621 days. Both of them had met last in May 2018 during the marriage of Tej Pratap in Patna. Contrary to his late routine, Prasad got up quite early, had bath and breakfast before she landed in Ranchi. Both of them looked quite happy with smile on their faces till the moment of Rabris departure, said a constable guarding the cottage, adding that Rabri Devi inspected the premises where Prasad lived and the kitchen were Prasads food is cooked. His condition is stable now. His problem is chronic, not critical, Dr Jha said on Lalu Prasads health. At the state secretariat, Rabri Devi told media, I met Lalu ji at the hospital. He is fine health-wise. On meeting Soren, she said it was just a courtesy visit and she wanted to congratulate him on becoming the chief minister. I gave him blessings to run the government successfully. Abhay Singh, state RJD chief who accompanied the former chief minister, said, There was merely a discussion about Lalu jis health. No other discussion was held. Although it is not known what exactly transpired in their meeting, as they spent most of the time alone, it is believed Rabri Devi must have talked about the crisis the family is facing due to break-up of their son Tej Prataps marriage with Aishwaraya.Tej Prataps in-laws had also filed dowry and domestic violence cases against Rabri Devi and others. Political observer L K Kundan, who teaches political science at Ranchi University, said, It was not a normal visit. Lalus sons and daughters have been meeting him on regular basis. But she came for the first time. I believe family dispute and Bihar politics must have been discussed between them. Besides, she also met Hemant Soren, which, I think, was an attempt to explore JMMs contribution to Bihar politics. Prasad has been serving jail term since December 23, 2017, after his conviction in three separate fodder scam cases one after another. Two months after his sentencing, he developed health complications. Prasad was first shifted to RIMS and then to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. He was sent back to RIMS after AIIMS declared him fit in May 2018. Soon, Prasad got parole to attend his elder sons wedding. He was then released on provisional bail granted by the high court for advance treatment at a Mumbai hospital. He returned to RIMS in the end of August 2018. Since then, he is under treatment at RIMS where he is admitted to the paying ward which is equipped with air conditioner and other facilities. Though Prasad has been suffering from many diseases, the primary concern is his type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Belgium's former King Albert II has finally admitted that a well-known sculptor is his illegitimate daughter - putting an end to a seven-year legal battle. The 85-year-old royal made the admission on Monday in an attempt to end 'painful' proceedings 'with dignity', after submitting to a court-ordered DNA test last year. The move makes 51-year-old Delphine Boel a princess, puts her 15th in line to the Belgian throne, and entitles her to a share of Albert's estate when he dies. While Albert did not confirm the exact circumstances of Ms Boel's birth, she is thought to be the result of an 18-year affair between the former monarch and Belgian aristocrat Sybille de Selys Longchamps that began in the 1960s. Delphine Boel, now 51 (pictured in Paris in 1999) has been recognised as the illegitimate lovechild of Albert II, former King of Beligum, after a seven-year legal battle Albert confirmed his paternity on Monday following a court-ordered DNA last year. While he did not outline the circumstances of Delphine's birth, she is thought to have been the product of an 18-year affair between him and Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps (right, in 1998) For years Albert lived apart from his wife, Italian aristocrat Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria (pictured together in 1965 in Italy), who is thought to have disliked being in Belgium That affair is believed to have begun in 1966 when Albert was not yet king but was married to Italian aristocrat Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria, whom he wed in 1959. The couple lived apart for a large part of their early marriage, amid rumours that she disliked living in Belgium, finding it too cold and rainy. Delphine was born in 1968, and the affair is thought to have ended in 1984. Albert's legitimate children - Philippe, now King of Belgium, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent - were born in 1960, 1962 and 1963 respectively. Albert ascended the throne in 1993, following the death of his elder brother, King Baudouin, from heart failure. Delphine - an aristocrat in her own right and an artist - first said in 1999 that she believes she is Albert's child. Her statement was made shortly after the publication of an unofficial biography of Queen Paola which alluded to an affair the King had which produced a lovechild. Albert acknowledged problems with his marriage in his Christmas speech the same year, referring to a 'crisis' which nearly ended his marriage 30 years before, but said he and his wife 'surpassed those difficulties to find a deep understanding love'. But Albert never addressed the issue of a child, and for years the palace neither confirmed nor denied the reports, merely saying that it was a 'private matter'. Despite years of private lobbying, Ms Boel was unable to get Albert to recognise her true identity. In 2005 she claimed she called the palace to try and get help for her mother who was being harassed by journalists. She said she spoke to Albert, who told her: 'You are not my daughter.' Delphine (pictured outside court in 2017) first Delphine (left, with her mother in 2000) first claimed to be Albert's lovechild in 1999, after an unofficial biography of the Queen claimed he had an affair and a child born out of wedlock Albert is thought to have started an affair with Baroness Longchamps in 1966 (pictured in 1965), before he became king but after he got married Ms Boel claims that questions over her lineage led to her and her mother being put on a 'high risk' list by financial institutions, which led to Royal Bank of Scotland abruptly closing both of their bank accounts in 2012. She said her 11-year-old son was also put on the register, limiting his access to financial institutions. Ms Boel was told she would have to publicly denounce claims that Albert was her father in order to have their names removed. 'I refuse to sign such a lie,' she told German newspaper Die Welt. Those difficulties prompted her to go to the courts in 2013 in an attempt to prove her biological father was Albert. The same year the legal case began, Albert abdicated for 'health reasons', passing the throne to son Philippe - Ms Boel's half-brother. After several early setbacks, the breakthrough for Ms Boel came in November last year when a court ruled that Albert must provide a DNA sample for testing. Failure to comply would result in a 5,000 fine for each day the sample was missing. Albert is thought to have undergone the DNA test shortly afterwards, which proved he is Ms Boel's father. The royal then issued a statement on Monday confirming the paternity. Six years ago, Ms Boel, who bears a striking resemblance to some members of the royal family, opened court proceedings to prove that Albert was her father Lawyer Alain Berenboom then issued a statement which said: 'Even though there are legal arguments and objections that show that legal paternity is not necessarily a reflection of biological paternity and that the procedure followed can be disputed, King Albert has decided to put an end to this painful procedure in good conscience.' Mr Yves-Henri Leleu, lawyer for Ms Boel, told MailOnline: She feels good. She is very, very happy. A 20-year problem is at the point of being solved. Maybe she will have a party Belgians are very big fans of champagne. However, the lawyer says her joy at the outcome was tinged with sadness over her fathers reluctance to cooperate during her long paternity battle. If you carefully read the communique of the King you will find a lot of statements to show he is very reluctant, her lawyer said. It is not an elegant communique. It is not very fair, very noble. Ms Boel never believed she would be able to forge a relationship with King Albert, he added, and her legal action was intended purely to make peace with her heritage. It is not a question of having a father like when you are a little child, Mr Leleu said. She does not have expectations about fatherhood in the strict meaning of the word. It is a question of personal identity, it is a question of genealogy, it is a question of public recognition. Ms Boel, who has two children with Irish-American construction boss James O'Hare. She has always insisted that, as a wealthy woman in her own right, her court action was not motivated by money but her desire for her children to know their grandfather. Albert (right) has alluded to problems with his marriage to Paola, former Queen of Beligum, in the past but has refused to admit Ms Boel is his daughter until now A flight carrying passengers from Wuhan, China to San Francisco will not land at San Francisco International Airport amid concerns over the coronavirus, airport officials confirmed Monday. During a news conference at the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, airport officials joined city officials, including Mayor London Breed, to provide an update on the virus. SFO Airport Director Ivar Satero said while a direct flight from Wuhan to SFO was recently canceled, the airport is continuing to work with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to screen any lingering passengers arriving into the airport whose itinerary might have included Wuhan. The San Francisco Police Officers Association is calling for federal intervention to prosecute a man shot by police last month after the San Francisco District Attorney's Office declined to file charges against him last week. Jamaica Hampton, 24, had been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, assault upon a peace officer with force likely to cause great bodily injury, threatening an officer and vandalism. As of Friday, prosecutors withdrew the charges pending further investigation. The charges stemmed from a Dec. 7 burglary call, which resulted in an altercation between two police officers and Hampton near Mission and 23rd streets in the city's Mission District. During the confrontation, the officers shot Hampton, who was allegedly armed with a glass bottle, three times. The shooting was captured on the officers' body-worn cameras. A man is in critical condition after he was apparently targeted and shot while traveling in a car on Interstate Highway 580 in Oakland on Monday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol. The man was seated in the right front passenger seat of a white Infiniti four-door sedan when he was struck by gunfire while traveling on eastbound Highway 580 near Keller Avenue at 9:53 a.m. Monday, CHP officials said. He was taken to a hospital to be treated for his injuries. The woman driving the Infiniti and two young girls, ages 1 and 4, traveling as passengers weren't injured in the shooting. The CHP said the shooting appears to have been targeted and the suspects are described as two masked individuals who were in a white SUV hatchback. Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley is locked down Monday afternoon because of police action involving criminals in the area, police said. All students are safe, but residents within a half-mile of the school at 700 Miller Ave. should shelter in place, police said. Mill Valley police issued an alert about the police action and school lockdown at 2:33 p.m. A Tesla Model S driver who died after apparently losing control and hitting a traffic signal pole and cement wall in Pleasanton earlier this month has been identified by the Alameda County coroner's bureau as Pleasanton attorney Joseph Freschi, 58. Police said the crash was reported in the intersection of West Las Positas Boulevard and Hacienda Drive just before 6 p.m. on Jan. 18 and the car was on fire when officers arrived. Police said shortly after the crash that they were still investigating the matter and it wasn't immediately determined whether alcohol or drugs were factors. A police spokesman wasn't immediately available on Monday morning to provide an update on the investigation. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office has identified a driver who died in a collision involving an alleged drunk driver near Sonoma on Sunday as Jamie Narkunski, 35, of Sausalito. The California Highway Patrol said Abdulhadi Awad, 36, of Vallejo, was driving a 2008 BMW south on Eighth Street East near Napa Road around 12:20 p.m. Awad failed to stop at a red light at the intersection with Napa Road and collided with a 2013 Subaru driven by Narkunski, according to the CHP. Narkunski died at the scene. Natalie Weiss, 34, of Sausalito, a passenger in the Subaru, suffered major injuries and was taken to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa. Awad suffered moderate injuries and went to Queen of the Valley as well. He was determined to be under the influence and was arrested, according to the CHP. A federal appeals court in San Francisco on Monday struck down two Arizona election laws, saying that they discriminated against Native American, Hispanic and African-American voters. An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the laws by a 7-4 vote, ruling in a lawsuit filed against state officials by the Democratic National Committee and the Arizona Democratic Party. One of the laws required county officials to discard entirely any ballots cast in the wrong precinct, rather than partially counting the ballots by considering votes for statewide or regional offices or issues not tied to the precinct in question. The other law prohibited the collection of vote-by-mail ballots by third party volunteers. The court majority said both laws had the effect of burdening the voting rights of minority voters. One person was taken to a hospital with burn injuries after a fire at a home in the unincorporated area of Bradley in southern Monterey County late Sunday night, according to Cal Fire. Firefighters responded at 11:03 p.m. to a report of a fire at a single-family home on Dixie Street just east of U.S. Highway 101. Crews arrived to find the home engulfed in flames. It was extinguished within an hour, although crews remained at the scene for several more hours to make sure flames didn't spark back up, Cal Fire officials said. The person burned was taken by medical helicopter to a burn center in Fresno. An update on their condition was not immediately available Monday. No one else was injured in the blaze, according to Cal Fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Eugene Huff has been named as the interim chancellor of the Contra Costa Community College District, the district governing board announced Friday. Huff's contract began Thursday and will run through the end of the year, or until a permanent chancellor is selected. He succeeds Fred Wood, who served as chancellor since 2017 of the three-campus district, which is headquartered in Martinez. Huff has been with the district since 2001, starting in human resources and advancing to vice chancellor of human resources in 2004, serving as the district's chief negotiator. He was promoted to executive vice chancellor of administrative services in 2013. The district is conducting a national search for a permanent chancellor, with a goal of completing the search by April and naming a replacement by the end of June. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. President Donald Trump, left, walks with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as he arrives to view the casket of Justice John Paul Stevens at the Supreme Court, Monday, July 22, 2019. Alex Brandon/AP Images The defining battle in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial concerns whether the Senate will hear from key witnesses, including some of Trump's closest advisers. Senate Democrats have said they want four key witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton, and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, to testify in the trial. But it's unclear whether Democrats can convince at least four Republican senators to defect from their party and vote to include witnesses. Some legal experts are calling on Chief Justice John Roberts, who's presiding over the Senate trial, to issue subpoenas himself if the Senate refuses to. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The defining battle in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial concerns whether the Senate will hear from key witnesses, including some of Trump's closest advisers. On Sunday, the dynamics of that fight changed. The New York Times reported that Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton wrote in his upcoming book that Trump told him last year he would withhold military aid to Ukraine until the Ukrainian president acceded to his demands for investigations into his political rivals. The bombshell report has all but shattered Trump's impeachment defense and intensified pressure on GOP senators to call Bolton to testify, something he's already said he'd do if subpoenaed. It's also provoked some legal experts to call on Chief Justice John Roberts, who's presiding over the Senate trial, to issue subpoenas himself if the Senate refuses to. Neal Katyal, the former solicitor general under President Barack Obama, Georgetown Law School professor Joshua Geltzer, and former GOP congressman Mickey Edwards, argued in a Monday New York Times op-ed that, under the 1868 Senate impeachment rules, Roberts has full authority to subpoenas witnesses and documents in the impeachment trial. Story continues "The Democrats' impeachment managers should immediately ask the chief justice to issue subpoenas for key witnesses and documents, insisting that the Senate rules make him and him alone the decision maker about whether to 'make and enforce' those subpoenas," they wrote. While they conceded that the vote of a majority of senators is necessary to decide evidence questions, including whether to compel a witness to answer a specific question or whether to enter a document into the record, the lawyers argued it's Roberts' "prerogative" and "responsibility" to ensure the evidence is available to be debated by the Senate. Senate Democrats want at least four key witnesses, including Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, to testify. Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have so far remained staunchly opposed. CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, a former prosecutor, argued Roberts is facing "a legacy-defining moment of truth." He tweeted, "Will he aspire to the Rehnquist model of proudly doing nothing, or will he fulfill the Constitution's directive that he "shall preside" in some meaningful way?" Some Democrats have similarly voiced support for a Roberts intervention. "Despite the Jury foreman McConnell's best attempt to rig the trial for the defendant, the judge should make sure all the facts are entered into evidence and the witnesses are heard," Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist and former spokesman for Hillary Clinton, told Insider. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a top 2020 Democrat, weighed in last week, arguing that Roberts should step in to allow witnesses. Bernie Sanders Brian Snyder/Reuters "I think it would be appropriate for the chief justice to do what I think should be done, and that is to allow witnesses to testify," Sanders said. But other legal experts say Roberts doesn't have the authority to overrule a majority of the Senate under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's rules. And even if Roberts does believe he has such authority, he wouldn't risk politicizing himself by acting on it. Frank Bowman, a constitutional-law professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, called the argument articulated in Monday's Times op-ed "crazy" and said it's "vanishingly unlikely" that Roberts decides to "step in the middle of this incredible snarling axe fight and pick a side." "I don't think there's any pressure on Roberts to do anything I think that's a figment of the frenzied imaginations of the commentariat," Bowman told Insider. "The Constitution says the Senate has the sole power to try impeachments and, regardless of what some old rule may say, the bottom line is 51 senators win." Republicans insist the senators themselves should determine the rules of the trial. GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a key moderate who says she's "curious" to hear Bolton's testimony, told The Hill last week that she doesn't believe Roberts has the authority to break a tie in a Senate vote on the rules. lisa murkowski Jacquelyn Martin/AP Murkowski is one of just a few Republican senators who've expressed openness to admitting new evidence and witnesses into the trial. On Monday, Sens. Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, both Republicans who've been critical of the president, said they're leaning towards voting in favor of calling witnesses. But Democrats would need at least four Republicans to defect in order to reach the necessary 51-majority vote. GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak also said Roberts is "unlikely" to overrule a Senate vote on the issue. "He won't want to insert himself," he told Insider. "He will let the will of the majority of the Senate work, likely on Friday." Notably, a CNN poll published last week found that a large majority of Americans 69% think the Senate should call new witnesses to testify during the trial a key issue which Democrats strongly favor and most Congressional Republicans reject. Republican voters are divided on the issue with 48% in favor of calling new witnesses and 44% opposed to hearing new witnesses. Read the original article on Business Insider Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) Scores of tourists from Hong Kong and a ship crew from China arrived in Manila City this week amid the spread of novel coronavirus in several areas around the world. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Tuesday said the passengers onboard two ships were declared safe by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), which is why they were allowed to alight and go around the city. The World Dream Cruise Ship, carrying 778 passengers from Hong Kong, arrived in Pier 15 of South Harbor in the Port Area Tuesday morning. PCG spokesperson Captain Armand Balilo said the tourists were authorized to travel, with clearance from the BOQ. The ship was scheduled to leave Manila for Subic Tuesday night, but the PCG said the trip has been cut short it will head back to Hong Kong instead. The PCG did not disclose why, but Subic Mayor Jonathan Khonghun earlier asked the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority to temporarily stop accepting cruise ships until the coronavirus threat has been "totally managed and controlled." Meanwhile, the second ship "MV Ligulao" from Lianyungang, Jiangsu in China arrived on Monday and was set to leave Tuesday afternoon. Lianyungang is around 900 kilometers from Wuhan the ground zero for novel coronavirus. Balilo said the crew of MV Ligulao didn't alight the cargo vessel. "Upon coordinating with the PCG port state control officers at Pier 15, they confirmed that both vessels were cleared and declared safe by the Bureau of Quarantine during mandatory inspections," the PCG spokesman said. The Mayor of Olongapo also appealed to the SBMA to temporarily stop accepting cruise ships "until the threat has been controlled." Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. said various cities worldwide have implemented similar lockdowns in response to the disease. "Let us please err in the side of caution and put primacy in the health and safety of the residents and workers of Subic Bay Freeport Zone and the city and municipalities surrounding it," he said in a letter to SMBA Chair Wilma Eisma on Tuesday. SBMA earlier said it was not advised by Health Secretary Francisco Duque to stop the entry of the ships, especially because a heightened alert status was placed in sea ports and airport in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, which regularly hosts cruise ships plying the Southeast Asian route. Health Undersecretary and Spokesperson Eric Domingo said there is strict screening of all passengers before they board and en route to the Philippines. He said the tourists will be screened again when they arrive in Subic. "Ang okay sa cruise ship, before sila umalis ng Hong Kong, na-screen ang mga pasahero. While they're en route to the Philippines may quarantine officer on board, chinecheck sila isa-isa. Kung may sakit, hindi naman sila pabababain ng barko and they will only be cleared if everybody is healthy," he said. The deadly new coronavirus has claimed the lives of 106 people and infected over 4,500 in mainland China less than a month after it was discovered in Wuhan. There are now eight recorded cases in Hong Kong. The Philippine Immigration Bureau on Tuesday ordered the suspension of "visa upon arrival" issuance to Chinese nationals amid the spread of the novel coronavirus in other parts of the world. However, it clarified there is no order stopping Chinese nationals from entering the country. There are no confirmed cases of the fast-spreading novel coronavirus in the Philippines. Photo: The Canadian Press A girl wearing a mask skips rope at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, Monday. Business around the world that have grown increasingly reliant on big-spending tourists from China are taking a heavy hit, with tens of millions of Chinese residents restricted from leaving their country as the coronavirus spreads. Hotels, airlines, casinos and cruise operators were among the industries suffering the most immediate repercussions, especially with the outbreak occurring during the Lunar New Year, one of the biggest travel season in Asia. What happens in China means a lot more to the world economy than it did when the SARS outbreak struck nearly two decades ago. In 2003, China accounted for 4.3% of world economic output. Last year, it accounted for 16.3%, according to the International Monetary Fund. Tourism from China was already down before the virus hit due in part to the Hong Kong protests and the trade dispute between Beijing and Washington. But about 134 million Chinese travelled abroad in 2019, up 4.5% from a year earlier, according to official figures. Before the outbreak, the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute predicted some 7 million Chinese would travel abroad for the Lunar New Year this year, up from 6.3 million in 2019. Hong Hong, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam were top destinations, but Chinese tourists are big spenders in cities like London, Milan, Paris and New York. Economist and tourism industry officials said the biggest threat so far is to China's closest neighbours, with the U.S. and Europe likely to face major repercussions only if the coronavirus outbreak proves long-lived. In Thailand, a favourite destination for Lunar New Year travel, officials estimate potential lost revenue at 50 billion baht ($1.6 billion). Many drugstores in Bangkok ran out of surgical masks and the number of Chinese tourists appeared to be much smaller than usual for the Lunar New Year. The government announced it was handing out masks, and that the airport rail link would be disinfected. Spillover is also probable in Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines, said Tommy Wu and Priyanka Kishore, of Oxford Economics. Hong Kong is especially vulnerable because its economy and its appeal to tourists have already been weakened by months of sometimes-violent political protest. By November, inbound tourism to Hong Kong was already down 56% from a year earlier. Visitors from mainland China to the autonomous Chinese gambling capital of Macau were down 80% on Sunday from a year earlier, a threat to a regional government that depends on gaming revenue. Gaming and lodging operators in Macau reported higher-than expected cancellations over the weekend as the death toll from coronavirus rose and the Chinese government extended travel restrictions, according to Instinet analyst Harry Curtis. Cancellations soared across all of the properties we contacted, Curtis said in a note. Pessimism rose on how long it could take for business to recover. Shares of Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International which all have operations in Macau have declined 18.3%, 14.6% and 12.1% since Jan. 17, respectively. But analysts said it was too soon to tell how deeply their finances would be affected. Adding to the uncertainty was the possibility that Macau's government could shut down all casinos. WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SeaLights, the Quality Intelligence Platform, announced today that it has raised $8.6 million in new funding, in a round led by Cisco with participation of a new investor: Wipro Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Wipro Limited. SeaLights will use the funding to expand its sales and engineering initiatives, as well as to enrich the platform with new features. As enterprises transform their IT estates and adopt DevOps to stay competitive, achieving quality at speed becomes a major challenge. SeaLights' AI-driven platform is helping software engineering teams meet this challenge head-on by helping them increase their release quality and velocity through the application of advanced analytics across the entire software development and testing life cycle, identifying quality risks and allowing teams to release with confidence. "Wipro is excited to partner with SeaLights because their 'Quality Intelligence Platform' accelerates a customer's journey from Quality Assurance to Quality Engineering and empowers organizations to achieve higher quality at faster speed," said Arun Melkote, Vice President of Wipro's Application Engineering and Modernization Practice. "Wipro enabled a leading Global Electronics Manufacturer to adopt the SeaLights platform in its digital transformation initiatives, which resulted in improved release quality and zero defects in production, while reducing test efforts by 60%." SeaLights was awarded Gartner Cool Vendor status for Application Development and Platforms in May 2019. Gartner said, "Application leaders who are struggling with growing cycle times due to expanded test automation should definitely consider SeaLights." The company has acquired a robust base of enterprise customers including Fortune 500 companies across the banking, insurance, retail, telco, health, cyber security and media sectors. SeaLights recently launched Intelligent Test Execution . This product automatically identifies and executes only the exact subset of tests needed to validate the latest code changes. The cutting-edge technology can increase the release speed by more than 90 percent, because the test and build cycles are significantly reduced. This enables DevOps teams to achieve true Continuous Delivery (CD) at enterprise scale. "Over the past few years, IT enterprises have invested heavily in Digital Transformation and Cloud initiatives to support increased release velocity. Yet, the challenge of balancing release speed and completing long testing processes remains a bottleneck," said SeaLights' CEO and Co-Founder, Eran Sher. "We are very excited about Cisco's investment and we are positive our solution will add significant value to IT enterprises." "Modern organizations increasingly need to monitor their IT environments through the development and test stages, in addition to the production environment," said Adam Leftik, vice president of Enterprise Architecture and Strategy for Cisco's AppDynamics. "SeaLights' focus on an intelligence platform that overarches and monitors the test environment can help customers achieve more agility and faster release times by revealing the risks being introduced into the production environment." About SeaLights: SeaLights Quality Intelligence Platform brings AI to software development and delivery, accelerating quality and speed. Our Intelligent Test Execution, Quality Risk and Release Analytics enable dev teams to solve their testing bottlenecks at the speed of DevOps within their existing workflows. With SeaLights, agile teams and organizations deliver better software, faster. SOURCE SeaLights Related Links sealights.io Roy Moore is seeking more than $40 million in a lawsuit he filed Monday against a Washington magazine, three of its writers, its editors and owners over a series of what he describes as fake news attacks stemming from accusations he faced while a U.S. Senate candidate in 2017. Moore, who is again running for the Senate, filed the lawsuit in federal court against the Washington Examiner publishing company and ownership and five employees. It's the sixth lawsuit Moore has filed relating to the allegations that he made unwanted sexual and romantic advances to teen girls when he was in his 30s. Moore has repeatedly denied all allegations. In the latest lawsuit, Moore said writers for the Examiner acted with malice in writing stories about him and disregarded a demand for a retraction following the first story. The lawsuit includes two counts of defamation and one count of intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit seeks $10 million for damages to Moore's reputation and emotional distress and more than $30 million in punitive damages. Melissa Isaak, who is representing Moore in other lawsuits, filed the suit. Like the people of Alabama, I am sick and tired of fake news by media organizations which pretend to print the truth but in reality, are politically and philosophically motivated to distort the true facts for their own ends," Moore said in a statement Monday. "Unlike some who choose to suffer in silence, I have decided to fight back! The writers named in the lawsuit are Tiana Lowe, Jerry Dunleavy and Brad Polumbo. Acting executive editor-in-chief Phillip Klein and commentary editor Timothy Carney are also named as defendants along with Washington Newspaper Publishing Company, Clarity Media Group, subsidiary Media D.C. and Clarity owner Philip Anschutz. According to the lawsuit, Moore's issue with the Examiner began with an article written by Lowe that published on May 28, 2019. The lawsuit said that in the article, Lowe wrote, "Roy Moore, famous for being banned from a mall because he sexually preyed on underage girls and losing a Senate race in an R+14 state, apparently wants another round at the rodeo. In that article she referred to the Plaintiff as an accused sexual assailant and pedophile" as well as a comic book villain and a skunk. Less than a week later, the lawsuit said, Moore "gave notice" that Lowe's article "was highly defamatory and filled with 'factual inaccuracies' and 'outright falsehoods' to include accusations of attempted 'rape,' 'picking up teen girls,' a 'mall ban,' and that a 'handful of other women independently alleged having intimate relationships with Moore in their teens.' Subsequent articles in the Examiner written by Lowe, Dunleavy and Polumbo made similar accusations against Moore for which he said there was no foundation. (Moore) has been materially detrimented by defendants actions, the lawsuit said. He has suffered losses of speaking engagements resulting in a loss of income, losses of invitations to events, losses of job opportunities, personal and professional embarrassment, mental anguish and emotional distress. The two outfits were instrumental in mobilising protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam last December School authorities in Karnataka's Bidar district were slapped with sedition charges on January 28 after its students performed a play against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on January 26, CNN News18 has reported. The management of the Shaheen Education Institute was booked under sections 124A (sedition), 504 (provoke breach of peace), 505(2) (statements promoting enmity), 153A (promoting communal hatred) and 34 (act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The First Information Report (FIR) has named the head of the school and the management as the accused, according to the report. The report states that another person, named Mohammed Yousuf Rahim, has also been booked for allegedly sharing a video of the skit on social media. According to the complaint, lodged by a social activist named Nilesh Rakshyal, minor children were made to stage the play which reportedly showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a "bad light". According to the report, Rakshyal also claimed that the play sent a message that people of one community would have to leave the country if CAA and NRC are brought into force. Rakshyal said the skit, also shared on social media, can disturb peace in society and send out a wrong message about the government and its policies. Local reports also said Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student body of the Rashtriya Swaymsevak Sangh (RSS), also staged a protest against the institute and submitted a memorandum to Home Minister Amit Shah. Defendify Co-Founders, Andrew Rinaldi and Rob Simopoulos have raised a total of $3.6 million, added thousands of users and doubled its employee count in the last 18 months. This new round of capital will enable us to scale Defendify even faster to help the millions of SMBs who need to improve their cybersecurity posture and want an easy and flexible solution that will grow with their business. Defendify, an all-in-one SaaS cybersecurity platform developer, announced today that is has closed its $2 million seed round. Existing investor 3dot6 Ventures doubled down and led the round with participation from York IE, Maine Technology Institute (MTI), Maine Venture Fund (MVF), FreshTracks Capital, and Wasabi Ventures. In the last 18 months, Defendify has raised a total of $3.6 million, added thousands of users and doubled its employee count. As the company continues to experience rapid growth, the $2 million round will be used to expand its core product, invest in sales and marketing, and make strategic hires. The Defendify team has demonstrated strong leadership, capital efficiency, and impressive progress to-date, said Norman Menz, Managing Director at 3dot6 Ventures. 3dot6 is thrilled to continue to have the company in our portfolio as we work together to transform cybersecurity for small businesses. The Defendify platform offers small businesses and channel partners a cybersecurity solution thats simple, affordable, flexible, scalable and aligns with regulatory needs. Unlike any other product in the market, Defendify features a single pane of glass and multiple layers of ongoing protection to continuously improve security posture. As small businesses grow and threats continue to evolve, Defendify scales easily. Considering more than half of small businesses suffered a data breach in the last year, cybersecurity is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have for the millions of small businesses in the U.S., said Kyle York, CEO & Managing Partner at York IE. Defendify provides a holistic solution at a reasonable price point for SMBsmaking cybersecurity accessible to all small businesses and not just large-scale enterprises. According to Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2019, on average, cyberattacks cost companies $200,000. In addition to these staggering costs, SMBs are at risk for losing customers or being issued fines for not being compliant with third-party cybersecurity risk assessments. The high costs associated with these matters can be devastating to a small business. Defendifys goal is to simplify cybersecurity for busy SMBs. They cant afford to not have the right strategies and risk data breaches or customer losses over third-party risk assessments, said Rob Simopoulos, Co-Founder of Defendify. Defendify provides peace of mind, ensuring SMBs have an appropriate cybersecurity program in place to help protect against cyberattacks and meet the requirements of third-party risk assessments. This new round of capital will enable us to scale Defendify even faster to help the millions of SMBs who need to improve their cybersecurity posture and want an easy and flexible solution that will grow with their business. If your organization would like to improve its cybersecurityinternally or to provide as a solution to your customersvisit http://www.defendify.io to learn more and request a free demo. About Defendify: Defendify is an all-in-one SaaS cybersecurity platform designed specifically for small businesses. Defendify offers SMBs, IT professionals, and reseller organizations a holistic solution thats easy, affordable, flexible, and scalable. With its mission to help secure small businesses from existing and evolving threats, the team works tirelessly to make cybersecurity simple for small businesses and channel providers alike. For media inquiries: media@defendify.io About 3dot6 Ventures: 3dot6 Ventures is a boutique investment firm dedicated to bridging the financing gap between Seed and Series rounds for early-stage, SaaS-enabled cybersecurity startups. The 3dot6 founders are entrepreneurs and industry leaders in information security and cybersecurity. This unique background allows 3dot6 to provide operational experience, as well as capital to emerging cybersecurity companies. The firm offers industry knowledge, startup expertise and operational resources to lay a strong foundation that will ensure scalability and rapid growth for each portfolio company partnership. About York IE: York IE (Investment Enterprise) is a hybrid strategic advisory, investment, and operational growth firm focused on scaling innovative, creative and impactful companies via several unique engagements and vehicles. York IE invests capital, expertise, and passion, builds products, and creates content to support ambitious entrepreneurs and angel investors on their quest to scale startups and disrupt markets. Hey, its good to see you! You too, man. A few minutes before midnight Saturday night they began to show up, bundled against the chill, some favoring parkas and boots and watch caps, others in ballcaps and jeans. Not your typical IT crew, unless youre operating computers in outdoor weather in Butte, Montana. They greeted each other quietly but warmly. The computer techs of FX Solutions were in a good mood. They had jobs again. In about an hour, power was scheduled to begin flowing to the 35,525 Bitcoin-mining servers arranged in floor-to-ceiling racks in seven buildings on the CryptoWatt site. As they had been for nearly two months, the computers and the buildings that held them were dark, quiet and cold. * CryptoWatts majority owner, Matt Goettsche of Lafayette, Colo., was indicted Dec. 5 in what federal prosecutors call a $722 million Ponzi scheme. While the scheme itself was unconnected to CryptoWatt, Goettsches incarceration paralyzed the company financially. The huge plant was shut down. Civil lawsuits were filed against Goettsche by Rick Tabish, who supervised the construction and management of the plant, and by Kevin Washington, who holds a minority ownership stake in the Bitcoin-mining facility. After some legal maneuvering, Tabish and Washington asked Federal District Judge Brian M. Morris to appoint a receiver to run the companys affairs. Morris named fellow Butte native Jeremiah Lynch, a longtime federal magistrate judge, as receiver. Washington and Tabish were fighting the clock. If they didnt get the power bill paid quickly and get the plant up and running, it would lose its right to the 65 megawatts of power it needs to run. Then it would cease to be a gigantic money factory, employing more than 30 people and creating thousands of dollars a day in wealth, and start being seven buildings full of scrap metal. And a Butte business with skys-the-limit potential would give up the ghost. A week before Christmas, of all times, Rick Tabish had been forced to call his FX Solutions team together and break the news to them: He was going to have to lay them off for awhile. He told us that he and Kevin would do everything in their power to get the plant going again, said Matt Dunne, one of the half-dozen techs who were standing by, a little nervously, waiting for the witching hour at 1 a.m. Monday morning when they would try to bring the plant back to life. They kept their word. Peter Banks nodded. This is a great place to work, he said quietly. Its like family. Banks, slim with pale-blond hair falling to his shoulders, retired after 28 years at Butte Central, teaching religion and handling the schools IT needs. He said that family feeling makes work into not work if you know what I mean. you enjoy showing up each night. He and the others on the graveyard shift at CryptoWatt kept in touch while they were out of work. We were all missing it, he said. One of those was John de Muary, who works as kitchen manager at the Derby Steak House, then turns graveyard shifts at CryptoWatt. He was rocking ear studs, tattoos, a flashy gold watch and a big grin. Its great to be back, he said. Tom Burkhart, a mechanical engineer who, Tabish says, came with the building when CryptoWatt purchased the old MSE site, is glad, this evening, to see some reinforcements. He has been doing his best to keep the site in good order during the shutdown. He is limping a little the result of his foot recently losing an argument with a steel bar but he is in good spirits too. Ive gotta call NorthWestern Energy, he tells Sean Gauvreau, the plants security manager, and Blake Hempstead, an FX Solutions supervisor, at 12:30 a.m. Remind em were about to start pulling power. In a few moments, he returns. All set, he says. Theyre expecting us. * Despite the assurances Tabish made to his employees, getting to this point was far from certain. Its been quite a ride, Tabish had said on Friday as he strode into Building 50 at CryptoWatt, directly in front of the substation his crew built to handle the huge power load, his long black topcoat flapping over jeans and an open-necked shirt making him look a little Faginesque. I tell you this: Kevin Washington is a stellar human being, and so is Jeremiah Lynch. Suddenly, he turns left and walks into a freight elevator. We go up, emerge into a room full of electrical and computer spare parts, and then turn into a short corridor, through a door and into a man cave? Actually, its a full-on bar, completely incongruous in this metal industrial building. Big windows overlook the substation. Tables and chairs are grouped for conversation in front of a sleek copper-topped bar, very Butte, all lit by an eerie neon somewhere between blue and purple. This is my bar, he cracks. Goettsche never paid me for building it, so I reckon its mine. Kevin and I anted up, he said. Mostly him, he should get the credit for this. He deserves it. We got the power bill paid, then I negotiated a new power contract. I actually got a rate that was about 25 percent positive to what we had before, he says with a smile. We couldnt have picked a better startup time, we hit the market just right. When youre running an electric money factory, the cost of power is everything. Everything we did every step we took was with the approval and at the direction of Jerry Lynch. He has been absolutely fantastic. Anybody would be legitimately leery about this, he said. But my money is legit, Kevins money is legit. And Lynch has clarified things for everybody Butte-Silver Bow, energy companies, NorthWestern Energy, banks, everybody. My hats off to him. No way could we have done this without him. Lynch, who was at the plant earlier Friday, had said only, Things are going pretty well. Weve gotten a lot done. The next big step for Tabish and Washington will be raising about $45 million to refit the entire plant with more efficient and productive servers. It must be done within the next few months. In May, the halving event written into Bitcoins underlying code means cryptocurrency production will automatically be cut by 50 percent. It will be a key moment in the crypto world, and it will wash out a lot of smaller, less sophisticated miners. Because of its superior infrastructure, though, CryptoWatt will have a big advantage if it can get the new servers bought and installed. Weve got this, Tabish said. On Friday, Tabishs thoughts were shorter-term. He was clearly worried about the moment of truth when the power would be switched on. He would not be present; his wife and young children had seen very little of him recently, and he was determined to spend the weekend at home with them in Arizona. Were not going to know for an hour or two how those machines will respond, he said. * It is now 12:45 a.m., and the easy, joking chatter between the techs dies out and a palpable tension fills the headquarters building. Everybody is glad theyre about to turn it on. But nobody knows what will happen when they do. Its a little hard to know what to expect, Hempstead says quietly. These machines have never been down for this long before. Were thinking we could have as high as 15 percent failure rate. And thats if there isnt a major problem of some kind. Al Edwards, VP of Technical Operations for FX Solutions, is a little edgy. Hes a key player; hes the guy who has reprogrammed the servers to redirect the produced Bitcoin away from Goettsches wallet and into one controlled by Lynch. Sometime over the past two months, passwords have been changed, and its an issue he has to deal with. Quickly. As he dashes off to try to solve the problem, Burkhart looks at his watch. We start paying for power at 1 a.m., he says. Its 12:52. Als got eight minutes to fix this. He didnt need that long. At 12:55 he returns, and calls the tech team together. Okay, he said. Were all set. Burkhart provides some words of caution. Dont fire everything up at once, he says. Do one panel, then skip two, then do another. Make three passes through each building to get everything going. That way there wont be too much load all at once. And dont worry about the fans right away, he said, referring to the huge exhaust fans that move hot air from the machines out and cold air in. Lets let a little heat build up first. Those belts are cold and we dont want them to break; let them soften up a little. David Lull of Peterson Electric, the Anaconda company that installed the plants components to exacting specs, steps forward and speaks up. Dont stand in front of the breakers as you flip them, stand to the side, he said. And if you see any sign of spark or electrical fault whatsoever, get me on the radio. The techs listen, and nod. Lets go get after it, says Edwards. In the building next to the headquarters, tech Martique Kraus moves, a little tentatively, toward the first breaker panel. She begins to flip switches, and behind her, row after row of the little miners glows green. Suddenly, there is noise. First a hum, then a whine, then a full-on roar. Hempstead walks into the cavernous room, glances at the server lights winking on, points to his ears and grins. Thats the sound of money, he says. The great reawakening of CryptoWatt goes far better than anyone expected. By Sunday afternoon, the plant is hashing somewhere north of 560, Hempstead reports. (Thats 560 petahash per second. A hash is part of a calculation that is needed to verify a Bitcoin transaction. A petahash is a quadrillion thats 15 zeroes hashes.) That is close to the plants full production capacity with its present equipment. Once again, it appears, mining has been saved in Butte. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Bexar County election offices will be open this weekend to accept last-minute voter applications for the March 3 primary contests. Races showcasing a slew of candidates seeking federal, state and local offices are at stake in the Democratic and Republican primaries, with contests for president and a U.S. Senate seat topping the Super Tuesday ballots. But in order to vote, eligible applicants must submit paperwork or have it postmarked in the mail by Monday. Election officials so far have tracked a 15 percent rise in voter registration in Bexar County since the last presidential primary in 2016, one of the largest primaries weve had in years, Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said. She said theyve been getting thousands of new applications in the mail on a daily basis. To prepare for the final wave of applicants, her staff will be on duty from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the county elections offices, 1103 S. Frio St. On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County voters will have more places to cast ballots The office will open as usual at 8 a.m. Monday but stay open an extra two hours, closing at 7 p.m., in anticipation of a huge uptick of people trying to make the deadline, Callanen said. The county had 976,842 registered voters in the 2016 primary. That number grew by about 96,500 in the two years that followed, then another 53,500 since the 2018 primary. This year, its just been exploding for us, Callanen said. The extended registration hours follow the countys purchase last year of a $12.6 million ExpressVote system that produces a paper record for use in a recount. Another advantage of the new system is that it allows voters to cast a ballot at any polling site in the county on election day. Election officials plan to have 38 early voting sites operating Feb. 18 to Feb. 28, and 280 sites open March 3. Bexar County residents can go to the Texas Secretary of States website to download and complete a voter registration application, then submit it or mail it to the county elections office. The county then has 30 days to send applicants a voter registration card. On ExpressNews.com: New vote systems touted as best of both worlds Because Texas has an open primary, applicants do not register by party, Callanen said. Voters will have their card stamped Democrat or Republican to indicate which primary they participated in. If they dont have a voter card, election officials will give them a paper record documenting their party affiliation. Voters will need a photo ID at the polls. Voters can opt not to cast a ballot in the primary. If they dont, maybe theyll sign a petition for someone who is running as an independent or someone who is running on the Green Party, Callanen said. But in Texas you have that choice, and youre affiliated with the party for that two-year period when voting in a primary, she said. Thats why we mail out the new cards, so that the process starts over again when its time for that next primary. Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA Adelaide has the second lowest rate of childhood immunisation anywhere in Australia behind the traditional anti-vaxxer hotspot of Byron Bay according to shocking new data. Two in 10 toddlers in the South Australian city do not have the proper jabs, making it one of the country's anti-vaxxer capitals. This is despite grave warnings about the dangers of not protecting children from deadly diseases including measles, rubella and whooping cough. Richmond Valley Coastal in New South Wales, which includes Byron Bay, fares the worst in the country, with just 78 per cent of two year olds being fully immunised. This is compared to 91.4 per cent nationally, as vaccination becomes an increasingly contentious topic for some parents after a flurry of controversial claims. Adelaide City (pictured) is the second worst area for immunisation rates among toddlers, with just 80.9 per cent of 24-27 months having the correct jabs Adelaide City is the second worst area for immunisation rates, with just 80.9 per cent of 24-27 month olds having the recommended jabs, data from the Department of Health showed. Tasmania has the best immunisation rates as a state, with 95.9 per cent of five year olds having all the correct jabs, closely followed by Victoria at 95.7 per cent. The third lowest rates of vaccination in Australia are found in Gold Coast Hinterland just 82.7 per cent, while Melbourne has the fourth lowest at 84.4 per cent. Noosa on the Queensland coast is fifth on the list with 85.1 per cent of toddlers having the right jabs. The area of Richmond Valley Coastal, which includes Byron Bay (pictured) has the lowest immunisation rates in the country for toddlers aged 24-27 months It is followed by Gascoyne in Western Australia at 85.5 per cent and Huon and Bruny Island in Tasmania, where 85.7 per cent of toddlers are fully immunised. The Department of Health said vaccinations protect more than 95 per cent of children from measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, polio and Hib, given they finish their courses. It comes three years after the federal government introduced its 'No jab, No pay' policy was introduced, as Australia sought to get tough on vaccination. Melbourne (pictured) is fourth on the list with just 84.4 per cent of 24-27 month olds being fully immunised Parents who choose not to immunise their children could lose welfare benefits of up to $15,000 a year per child. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was social service minister at the time, scrapped the provision that allowed parents who don't vaccinate their children to claim welfare benefits. This included the Family Tax Benefit A, $7,500-a-year from the now defunct childcare subsidy and $200-a-week from the childcare benefit scheme. Under the old rules, parents could avoid losing their benefits by signing a form that says they object to immunisation based on 'personal, philosophical or religious' reasons. But government officials said the rules needed to be tightened, and that immunising children against deadly diseases protects society at large. Noosa (pictured) has the fifth worst rate for jabs, with just 85.1 per cent of toddlers having the correct immunisations 'We've got to think about the health and well-being of all the other children that are put at risk, and it's their health that also matters,' Mr Morrison said at the time. 'And in fact, you know, those parents have taken decisions to immunise their children, and that's obviously the sensible thing to do. 'We're a free country, and we're for free society, but that doesn't mean you get to take taxpayers' money if you don't want to go along with the rules.' Parents can check if their child is fully immunised by looking on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). A similar 'No Jab No Play' rule exists in several states. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia children are banned from attending day care if they are not fully immunised. No such rules exists in Australia Capital Territory, Tasmania, South Australia or Northern Territory. ANTI-VAXXER CAPITALS BY STATE NEW SOUTH WALES Richmond Valley Coastal: 78.4% Merrylands, Guildford: 85.8% Sydney - Inner City: 86.5% Upper Hunter - 87.5% Mount Druitt - 87.9% VICTORIA Melbourne City: 84.4% Stonnington West: 86% Port Phillip: 89.2% Manningham West: 89.3% Heathcote: 89.4% AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY South Canberra: 89.1% Woden: 90.7% North Canberra: 91.3% Belconnen: 93.6% Gungahlin: 93.7% TASMANIA Huon - Bruny Island: 85.7% Meander Valley - West Tamar: 89.6% Hobart Inner: 90.7% South East Coast: 90.1% Hobart South and West: 91.1% NORTHERN TERRITORY Alice Springs: 87.1% Daly: 89.9% Katherine: 89.4% Litchfield: 90.4% Darwin Suburbs: 91.6% SOUTH AUSTRALIA Adelaide City: 80.9% Holdfast Bay: 86% Adelaide Hills: 89.4% Outback North and East: 90% Lower North: 90.1% QUEENSLAND Gold Coast Hinterland: 82.7% Tableland East: 83.4% Noosa: 85.1% Brisbane Inner: 86.3% Port Douglas - Daintree: 86.8% WESTERN AUSTRALIA Gascoyne: 85.5% Mundaring: 85.7% Augusta - Margaret River: 85.8% Manjimup: 86.5% Fremantle: 87.1% Source: Department of Health, data from September 2019 showing immunisation rates for children aged 24-27 months Advertisement Last week, a controversial anti-vaccination political group attempted to change its name to the Informed Medical Options Party. Currently called the Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party, they campaign against vaccinations and fluoride. IMMUNISATION RATES BY STATE Australian Capital Territory: 94.84% New South Wales: 94.64% Victoria: 95.69% Queensland: 94.54% South Australia: 94.95% Western Australia: 93.67% Tasmania: 95.91% Northern Territory: 93.97% Average across Australia: 94.82% Source: Department of Health, data from September 2019 showing immunisation rates for five year olds Advertisement The Australian Medical Association has slammed the move as 'fraudulent' amid fears it could mislead voters at the 2021 Western Australia state election. 'IMOP believes that the medical freedoms of Australians are at risk like never before in history,' the controversial group's website reads. 'IMOP will protect the rights of Australians to refuse any medical procedure or product, without being subjected to any form of coercion.' Australian Medical Association President Andrew Miller said there was no 'truth' in the political party's proposed new name. 'They are neither informed nor medical. This is a party for people who want to support disease and anti-health propaganda based on internet conspiracy theories,' he told The West Australian. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 17:21:27|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ISTANBUL, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed regional issues, "particularly the situations in Syria and Libya" on a phone conversation, Turkey's Directorate of Communications said on Tuesday. The two leaders also exchanged views on bilateral relations, the directorate said at a written statement. Earlier, Erdogan urged the international community to impose significant pressure on the Syrian regime to stop its "brutality" in the northern province of Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria. He said over 400,000 people from Idlib have started moving toward Turkey's border to flee hostility in the region. Erdogan recently has also expressed his concerns that the civil war in Libya would create circumstances for the rise of terror groups like the Islamic State and Al-Qaida. Libya has been torn by a raging civil war between the UN-recognized Government of National Accord and the Libyan National Army, as the world leaders have been trying to force the warring parties to compromise on a permanent cease-fire. Trump, meanwhile, has offered condolences to the Turkish leader over Friday's deadly earthquake that rocked Turkey's eastern province of Elazig, the statement noted. A total of 41 people were killed, and 1,607 others wounded at the 6.5-magnitude tremor on the Richer scale, according to official reports. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Ilkin Seyfaddini Trend: Chinese Embassy in Tashkent organized a meeting of Commercial Counsellor of Chinese Embassy Ms. Jin Yulong with managers of Uzbek's "Uztextilprom" Association, Trend reports referring to press service of the association. During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, the results of joint activities in 2019, the current state of ongoing projects and prospects for expanding cooperation in 2020. Ms. Yulong noted the results achieved in textile industry development in Uzbekistan and Central Asia, as well as a significant increase in exports of Uzbek textile products to the Chinese market and investment activities of Chinese companies in the textile industry of Uzbekistan. Over 33 enterprises of textile industry with the participation of Chinese investments are operating in Uzbekistan. A number of projects worth more than $130 million are currently being implemented in the country together with Chinese Jinsheng Group, Nanyang M&F Industrial Co Ltd, and Shanghai Marjan Industrial Co Ltd. The Chinese companies have also provided assistance in the professional development of more than 20 representatives of the countrys textile industry. Uzbekistan is one of the few countries that have established textile exports to China. In 2019, the amount of textile products exports made up about $400,000. New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - GenTech Holdings, Inc. (OTC Pink: GTEH) ("GenTech" or the "Company"), an emerging leader in the high-end CBD food and drinks marketplace, Nespresso compatible CBD-infused & non-CBD-infused premium coffees, which will augment and complement the Company's existing "Secret Javas" subscription package offering. "This is a potentially game-changing product," commented David Lovatt, CEO of GenTech. "There's really nothing out there that can compete with our upcoming offering in terms of the consumer experience. We are responding to our research in this space - and we think we understand infused premium coffees as well as or better than just about anyone else out there. We plan on rolling out some spectacular flavor themes, including seasonal flavor specials. Imagine 'Pumpkin Coffee Blend' at Halloween, or Summer Fruit Teas during the summertime." As recently announced, GenTech is augmenting its new "Secret Javas" high-end subscription package, with a Nespresso compatible version that will include a promotional campaign in which the first 500 customers to sign up and pay for an annual subscription plan for GenTech's Secret Javas Nespresso package will each receive a free Nespresso compatible coffee machine. The overall plan for this version is the same as the Company originally announced: The "Secret Javas" high-end coffee subscription package comes in both CBD and non-CBD versions of each delicious flavor. Otherwise, the package includes a supply of three (3) pounds of coffee each month. Two of the coffees will be selected by the customer, who is invited to mix and match blends from a menu of top-quality roasts, including standard roast, dark roast, CBD, and non-CBD types. In addition to these, the Company will select and ship a third coffee variety for the customer each month from its "Secret Javas" list. "We are positioned at the intersection of two very significant trends with this package offering," continued Lovatt. "The CBD market is still booming, with experts predicting another year of triple digit expansion. And the Global Coffee Pod and Capsule itself is projected to double over coming years according to the research we receive. We are talking about two different but highly compatible multi-billion dollar markets with very little competitive overlap. And these are both markets where we feel we have in-house knowledge capital that represents a strong competitive edge." The Company currently plans to fully launch this product offering in early March 2020. About GenTech Holdings, Inc. GenTech Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded company under the symbol GTEH. The company is creating a national chain of Hemp Centric Coffee Shop Retail Spaces where patrons can relax, drink CBD infused Teas and Coffees, try various own-brand products and experience holistic education and classes. The company is also building an extensive outreach program working with medical practitioners across the country in their own locations to educate their patients and increase awareness of the benefits of THC free CBD Products. All of this is offered under the brand 'The Healthy Leaf'. The Healthy Leaf logo Cannot view this image? Visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6713/51864_healthleaf.jpg Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about management's view of GenTech, Inc.'s future expectations, plans and prospects. In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," or "may," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Any statements made in this news release other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the results of GenTech, its subsidiaries and concepts to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. Unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on GenTech's future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. GenTech cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, GenTech undertakes no obligation to update these statements after the date of this release, except as required by law, and also takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that are not paid for by GenTech. Corporate Contact: invest@gentech.group www.gentechholdings.com Press & Media Inquiries: EHC Branding Agency Info@EHCBrandingAgency.Com (626) MJ-BRAND To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51864 Gardai investigating the discovery of the bodies of three children in Co. Dublin have arrested a woman in her 40s on suspicion of murder. She is being held at Clondalkin Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. Two allegations of harassment at the state Capitol have led some to question if Lansing is having a #MeToo reckoning. And what goes on at the Capitol - and the culture that is created by the lawmakers there - affect people across Michigan. Recently, two allegations of misconduct were reported against the same sitting state senator. Allison Donahue, a reporter for the Michigan Advance, published a first-person account stating that Sen. Pete Lucido, R-Shelby Township, told her that a group of high school boys could have a lot of fun" with her. Donahue said she approached Lucido to ask him for a comment on a story she was working on about Lucidos involvement with a now deleted Facebook group. Lucido was with an all-boys group of students from De La Salle Collegiate, a Catholic high school in Warren. Listen to Cheyna Roth and Jake Nehers full conversation and an additional interview with MLives Emily Lawler above. Initially, Lucido did not dispute the comments, saying in a statement: I apologize for the misunderstanding yesterday and for offending Allison Donahue. But he later told multiple outlets that was misquoted and that what happened was unfortunate. The Senate Business Office is now investigating the claim. Following Donahues account, other women came forward on social media to call out the boys club culture at the state Capitol. Then, a Democratic senator came forward with her own claims against Lucido. Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, said Lucido made her feel like a piece of meat" at a Senate orientation event in November. McMorrow said that Lucido held his hand on her lower back while speaking with her for an extended period of time. McMorrow said when she told Lucido she beat her male opponent he looked her up and down and said, I can see why. She then submitted a formal complaint with the Senate Business Office. Lucido has denied the allegations. When word of the allegations surfaced, several current and former women of the state Capitol took to social media to share their own experiences with problematic behavior at the Capitol. I wish I could say I'd never heard of anything like this happening. But unfortunately it's a glimpse into an undercurrent of capitol culture, and I'm sorry @donahual had to experience it. https://t.co/NNTRrtKRtl Emily Lawler (@emilyjanelawler) January 15, 2020 MLives Emily Lawler, a veteran Capitol reporter and current lead reporter for MLives Public Interest Team did an extended interview with MichMash for the podcast. She explained that when allegations of a boys club came out about the Capitol, she wasnt surprised. I think unfortunately the boys club and even some of the comments that people came forward with are sort of this undercurrent of Capitol culture, she said. There are a lot of really fun parts of being part of the Capitol culture and, frankly, as a woman thats not one of them but unfortunately I think it does exist. While the Capitol isnt a traditional workplace - there are unique and sometimes very late hours, people are coming and going to meetings and session and hearings a lot - its still a workplace. And its a workplace that impacts every single person in the state because it is the job of the elected officials to craft policy on behalf of their constituents. McMorrow said that she initially didnt come forward with her allegation because she worried that it would impact her ability to do her job: I knew I had to build relationships with my colleagues to be effective in my job, to pass bills, to serve the people that I was elected to represent," she said. "So at the time it was one of those things, and women and minorities and people in lower positions of power make these calculations every day when things happen. I was speaking to a woman yesterday who said, you know, if we sounded the alarm every time somebody did something untoward to us, women wouldnt have any jobs to go to, McMorrow said. Allegations of harassment aside, these are questions of power dynamics. Lawler explained that between the different tiers of people inside the Capitol - from elected lawmakers to their staff members to lobbyists - it becomes difficult to figure out what can even be done if complaints are made public. This is a workplace and some of the people at the Capitol are the hardest workers Ive ever met," Lawler said. "Theyre there, theyre sometimes not in a 9-to-5 situation, theyre working for long hours and putting in a lot of work and obviously they should be able to do that without fear that this culture could interrupt this line of work. For More Reading on the Issue: Michigan senator criticized for telling reporter a group of high school boys could have fun with her Michigan senator being investigated for sexual harassment now alleging report was inaccurate Michigan senator hopes filing sexual harassment complaint against her colleague will change this culture Featuring an Extensive Network of Networks, Speedcast's Cellular Service is a Cost-Effective Way to Expand Connectivity MIAMI, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Speedcast, the world's most trusted provider of remote communications and IT services (ASX: SDA), announced today that is has been awarded a 12-month contract with the second largest mobile operator in Mexico. Speedcast's fully managed, end-to-end cellular backhaul solution will help the mobile operator expand its network and provide connectivity to sites where other type of communication is unavailable. "We are extending a long-standing partnership with one of the top U.S. mobile operators into this new market," said Erwan Emilian, EVP Enterprise & Emerging Markets, at Speedcast. "Cellular service is an excellent way to reach remote and rural populations, and we look forward to empowering one of the leading operators in the Mexican market with our highly reliable backhaul service." Using Speedcast's cellular backhaul service, the operator will have access to an extensive network of networks that includes terrestrial MPLS, LTE, 5G and the largest portfolio of satellite capacity in the world. Offering a flexible pay-as-you-grow business model, Speedcast's backhaul service will help the operator cost-effectively expand its mobile coverage into new markets and grow its revenue. Speedcast's 24/7 design, installation, and engineering support will ensure a smooth deployment. About Speedcast International Limited Speedcast International Ltd (ASX: SDA) is the world's largest remote communications and IT services provider. The company delivers critical communications solutions through its multi-access technology, multi-band and multi-orbit network of 80+ satellites and an interconnecting global terrestrial network, bolstered by extensive local support from 40+ countries. Speedcast is uniquely positioned as a strategic partner, tailoring communications, IT and digital solutions to meet customer needs and enable business transformation. The company provides managed information services with differentiated technology offerings, including cybersecurity, crew welfare, content solutions, data and voice applications, IoT solutions and network systems integration services. With a passionate customer focus and a strong safety culture, Speedcast serves more than 3,200 customers in over 140 countries in sectors such as Maritime, Energy, Mining, Enterprise, Media, Cruise, Humanitarian and Government. Learn more at www.speedcast.com. Speedcast is a trademark and registered trademark of Speedcast International Limited. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective owners. 2020 Speedcast International Limited. All rights reserved. Speedcast Contact Peggy Stalhut Global Marketing Director Tel: +1 631 457 1198 Email: peggy.stalhut@speedcast.com Agency Contact Netra Ghosh 202 Communications Tel: +1 801 349 2840 Email: netra@202comms.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/610079/Speedcast_International_Ltd_Logo.jpg Before the opening bell on Tuesday, shares of industrial giant 3M Co. (NYSE:MMM) fell after reporting lower-than-expected fourth-quarter 2019 sales and providing a disappointing profit outlook for 2020. The St. Paul, Minnesota-based company, which manufactures everything from adhesive tape and Post-it Notes to air filters, posted adjusted earnings of $2.15 per share for the quarter, topping Refinitiv's estimates of $2.10. Revenue grew 2.1% from the prior-year quarter to $8.11 billion, but missed expectations of $8.12 billion by a hair. For the full year, 3M recorded adjusted earnings of $9.10 per share on $32.1 billion in revenue, which declined 1.9% from 2018. 31ccfc7ad2c7e7e9a74463670a1f7067.png Weighed down by the trade war and sluggish demand in China, the company noted sales in the Asia-Pacific region declined for the fifth straight quarter. Revenue fell 1.7% in the region, while sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa decreased 2%. In contrast, sales in the U.S. climbed 7.4% and grew 1.2% in Latin America and Canada. By segment, the safety and industrial and transportation and electronics businesses saw sales declines of 4.8% and 6.2% for the quarter, while the health care division recorded 25.4% revenue growth and the consumer segment's sales were flat. In a statement, Chairman and CEO Mike Roman said 3M's results were in line with its own forecasts. "While we continued to manage challenges in certain key end markets, we generated solid underlying margins and robust free cash flow," he added. Looking ahead to fiscal 2020, 3M said it anticipates earnings to be between $9.30 and $9.75 per share. The midpoint of that range is below analysts' projections of $9.61 per share. Roman also announced the company is taking the next step in its "transformation journey," which includes a new global operating model and streamlining its organizational structure. Story continues "As a result of our actions, we are well positioned to improve our performance, return to growth and deliver a successful 2020," Roman said. In a separate announcement, 3M said it will also be eliminating 1,500 jobs around the world as part of this restructuring initiative. With a market cap of $96.42 billion, shares of 3M were down 4.52% at $167.70 on Tuesday morning. Having declined nearly 10% in 2019, GuruFocus estimates the stock has fallen another 0.5% year to date. f258ccc2be62d1b2ef4c6d11856726fd.png According to GuruFocus' Industry Overview page, 3M is the third-largest producer of industrial products in the U.S., behind Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) and General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE). Of the gurus invested in the company, First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio), Mairs and Power (Trades, Portfolio) and Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio) have the largest stakes with 0.82%, 0.33% and 0.30% of outstanding shares. Disclosure: No positions. Read more here: 4 Transportation Companies to Consider as Coronavirus Outbreak Intensifies Boyar Value Group's 'Forgotten 40' for 2020 Southwest Posts 4th-Quarter Earnings Miss as Boeing Issues Continue Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. A Michigan woman caught on surveillance footage fatally shooting her 43-year-old partner at an indoor trampoline park wont be charged after prosecutors determined she had reason to fear he would kill her 14-year-old son. The incident took place on January 18 at Planet 3 Air Park in Flint Township. The 39-year-old woman, whose identity is not being revealed by authorities because she is a victim of domestic violence and because she hasnt been charged with a crime, shot and killed Damon Darnell Hodges. Hodges and the woman who shot him were alone inside her SUV in the parking lot after her 14-year-old son and two other children went inside the building, according to prosecutors. Damon Darnell Hodges, 43, was fatally shot at a trampoline park in Flint Township, Michigan, on January 18 Authorities say Hodges was engaged in a violent argument with his partner, a 39-year-old woman, and her 14-year-old son Surveillance footage from the incident shows Hodges (in the dark-colored shirt) beating up his partner's 14-year-old son (seen in the light-colored shirt on the ground). The mother is seen above standing just a few feet away The mother is then seen on surveillance footage taking out a pistol and shooting Hodges The two had been arguing all day over a domestic dispute, according to prosecutors. They argued over his refusal to remove the snow from her car and his failure to get a job, said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. It got physical. He put his arm around her neck and strangled her while sitting in the car. She managed to get the drivers side door open and kicked it out several times, knocking it into a car parked into the adjacent parking space. The driver of the parked car then told police he heard the woman telling someone to call 911, though he wasnt sure if she was talking to him or someone inside the SUV. Leyton said the woman and Hodges then got out of the SUV and made their way inside the building. Surveillance footage from inside the trampoline park shows the woman, Hodges, and the womans son get into an altercation. The 14-year-old son noticed that his mother suffered injuries from her encounter with Hodges in the SUV, according to authorities. The footage shows the boy removing his jacket and throwing a punch at Hodges. The altercation began earlier on January 18 when Hodges (left) and his partner's son (right) were arguing The 14-year-old boy took off his jacket and began arguing with Hodges after he noticed his mother's injuries from her earlier encounter with Hodges Hodges and the woman's son began fighting inside the trampoline park Hodges gained the upper hand on the boy, pushing him against the wall and hitting him repeatedly The mother then steps in between Hodges and her son. Hodges then hits the mother and shoves her out of the way so that he can have a go at the boy. Hodges is then seen beating up the boy, slamming him into a wall, and hitting him repeatedly. Hodges then threw her son to the ground and continued hitting him. Video shows the woman run over and pull out her gun. She then aims the gun at Hodges. The video does not show the woman pull the trigger. She shot Hodges twice. He was pronounced dead a short time later. After the shooting, the woman went outside and reported the incident to police. Leyton said the woman had a license to carry a gun and that the weapon was registered. Hodges eventually pushed the boy to the ground and continued to beat him as his mother looked on Prosecutors ruled that the mother was reasonably fearful that her son's life was in danger Planet 3 does prohibit handguns inside the premises, but prosecutors said that that the state does not have a legal right to prosecute a violator of the policy of the individual business. According to prosecutors, Hodges was accused of punching the 14-year-old in the stomach and attempting to strangle him with a belt, according to previous complaints that the woman had filed with police. Genesee County prosecutors said on Monday that Hodges has a violent criminal history dating back to 1993. Nine different people have alleged they were the victims of domestic violence at the hands of Hodges, WJRT-TV is reporting. Hodges criminal history includes a 13-year prison stint for child abuse. According to MLive.com, Hodges was charged in 1995 with assaulting his 16-month-old daughter, leaving her with brain damage, deafness, and vision impairment. He was eventually released in August 2008. Hodges also has a history of choking women. Danny is online weekly to chat live with readers. Heres an edited transcript of this weeks chat. Q. Dads friend peed in my bathtub: I live with my aging and ailing father. He recently invited his old college roommate to visit and discuss doing some renovations on our home (his friend is a contractor). I found him to be a pleasant enough man, but grew concerned after a couple of days over a strangeand disgustinghabit I noticed. Advertisement My fathers friend seems to have been using the bathtub in the shared bathroom as a urinal to relieve himself at night. I started to suspect as much when I would think I would hear him getting up in the middle of the night and not hear the toilet flush. I was absolutely certain when I would find urine splashes in the bottom of the tub in the morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I spoke to his friend and asked him to please stop doing this, that there was absolutely no reason to. I then had to leave for the weekend for a work trip. I came back after he had left, and discovered not only had he continued, but that there was evidence that he was using it as more than just a urinal. I was HORRIFIED. After using a ton of bleach and power tools outfitted with scrub brushes, I have told my father his friends are not welcome until they are housebroken. He does not see the big deal. How can I get him to see my side of this? Advertisement Advertisement A: The good news is you dont really need to get him to see your side as long as youre able to enforce the no-houseguests-who-have-shit-in-our-tub policy, and I think you can take even begrudging, eye-rolling agreement as a win. Dont let that guy back in your house. How to Get Advice From Prudie: Send questions for publication to prudence@slate.com. (Questions may be edited.) Join the live chat Mondays at noon. Submit your questions and comments here before or during the discussion. Call the voicemail of the Dear Prudence podcast at 401-371-DEAR (3327) to hear your question answered on a future episode of the show. Q. Sexually aggressive friend: One of my husbands closest friends has a history of behaving inappropriately with women. Were talking aggressive, sexualized dancing in party situations, not groping or assaulting. Hes an alcoholic and has a history of abuse. I feel bad for him, and he has been an important support for my husband over a long friendship. But heres the thing: He did it to me too, in front of my husband, who didnt intervene until after it had been going on for a couple of minutes, which felt like an eternity to me. My husband knows I am a sexual assault survivor, and what his friend did caused me to freeze and have a panic attack. Ive been working through it in therapy and am feeling much better. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive said I will never be in the same room as this guy again. I wish my husband would just get rid of him entirelybut he reminds me that this guy had a tough life and says he didnt mean anything by it, its just something he does, and that some women respond positively to it and end up going home with him. Then he says that hes loyal to this guy, hes not a predator, and there is so much more to him than this. It honestly drives me crazy that he still sees this guy. Im not in danger, but it feels like a slap in the face every time. Im not prepared to make this a marriage-ending issue, as my husband is a wonderful guy and I love all his other friends. Is it too much to insist that he just has to drop this one person, whatever the history is? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A: Its not too much to insist, but I hope you can find the support you need elsewhere if you do make that request and your husband declines to drop him, as I fear will be the case. I know you say you dont want to end your marriage over this, but your husband watched this man grind on you for minutesknowing about your own history with sexual assaultand not only did nothing, but dismissed your fear and distress with Well, sometimes other women like it. Thats absolutely horrifying and says a lot about your husbands character. If another man were to put you in even more danger in front of him, what would his response be? This guy probably doesnt mean anything by it? What does that phrase even mean? Is he trying to suggest that his friend accidentally wrapped himself around you? Of course he meant to do it. You say that youre not in danger, but I do believe youre with a man whos made it really clear that he doesnt care about your autonomy, physical boundaries, or safety, and who is more loyal to his buddies than he is to youthats closer to danger than I want you to be. Im glad youll never be in a room with that guy again, but if hes one of your husbands closest friends, and this has been going on for years, I think the two of them have too much in common. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Q. Some people suck at arguing: Whenever my husband and I argue, I feel extreme frustration. Hes unfair if were having a heated discussion, and it makes it impossible to resolve anything. For example, today we were discussing his relationship with his office manager, which I think is inappropriate. Im not saying theyre having a physical affair, but I find the way they talk to be inappropriately intimate (I overheard him talking to her this weekend, and he was talking about an acquaintance they both know, and my husband told her, You know he likes to f*ck women hard!). At any rate, when I talked to my husband about my concerns, he retorted, Well, I got up this morning, went grocery shopping, and stopped to get fresh bagels on the way home! Many women would love such a husband! I didnt know how to respond because a) we werent discussing his contribution as a shopper, and b) it implies hes always keeping score of the nice things he does as a husband. When I tried to steer the conversation back to the issue we were discussing, he responded by saying, Youre making me crazy! Stop beating me up! My stomach hurts, and my eye is starting to twitch It makes it pointless to bring up any issue because he will start to list the things he does that are nice and then moan about the stress I am causing him. I have no idea how to resolve anything with him when his response rarely has anything to do with the issue Im talking about. His relationship with his office manager makes me uncomfortable, and he refuses to address it in a direct and honest way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week I sent his office manager a friendly email that I thought shed find funny, and I laughingly said to my husband, She must wonder why Im sending her messages! and my husband replied, No, she knows youre lonely and sad. I was upset that he described me to his office manager in such an unflattering (and untrue) way and that he has such a close relationship with her. There are other instances that make me wonder about their relationship, but the main point of my letter is how do I get him to address my concerns without referencing his past good deeds and then claiming stomachaches? I have no idea how to get to the bottom of the issue at hand. He says things like Women are crazy dont you get crazy, please please please! and it makes me feel like just talking to him about my concerns is off-limits, or he questions my mental health. He has had affairs with his office managers in the past, he has cheated on his past wife, and numerous things about his relationship with his current office manager make me uncomfortablewhy can I not discuss this with him? He has a short fuse and seems to think that because hes overall a good husband (employed, helps grocery-shop and cook, etc.), he is exempt from criticism. Please suggest a helpful way to communicate! I am frustrated and tired of each argument turning into being about something completely different than the issue I have. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A: I really dont want this column to always be the leave your husband hour. Often I think there are options besides leaving ones husband, and whenever I think a marriage has potential, even if I personally wouldnt want to be in it, I want to try to steer my letter writer in a useful direction. But please leave your husband. Why are you asking me for helpful ways to communicate with a guy who regularly cheats on you with his office managers, believes himself to be exempt from criticism because he helps make the food you both need to eat in order to survive, calls all women crazy, interrupts you when youre trying to talk about your feelings because he picked up some bagels yesterday, refuses to be honest with you, says youre beating him up when you ask him not to sexually harass his employees, calls you lonely and sad, and refuses to acknowledge you as a sane, reasonable person with real emotional needs? Advertisement I dont say this to make you feel worse about yourselfI think your husband has been trying to whittle down your self-esteem and self-respect for years so he can get away with bulldozing you. But there are no helpful tips that will make healthy communication possible between the two of you. Your husband doesnt like you, love you, or respect you, and Im so sorry youve had to live with him for this long. You deserve better. Hes not going to change. Theres a reason every argument ends this way, and thats because your husband wants them all to end this way. Advertisement Advertisement Q. My neighbor is a nut who wont let my kid play: Our son is 3 years old, and we live in a townhouse complex in Los Angeles. We are lucky to have found this place eight years ago, and lucky to keep it in the housing crisis that L.A. is experiencing. However, our next-door neighbor is totally out of it. If we so much as sneeze, she knocks on the wall. Its been like this for years. But now our baby wants to play and have fun, and she knocks on the door and screams at us for being loud. I recently wrote her a note explaining that she is ruining my kids childhood because hes not allowed to make any noise. Weve tried discussing it, and it ended with her apologizing, but then the next night she was back at it. I dont really want to involve our management because being kicked out is a real fear in L.A. I think its time for my neighbor to move out; she has lived there for 20-plus years, and her husband died there. I dont know what to do besides continue to write her notes asking her to stop and telling her maybe she has outgrown the place and its time to move somewhere where shell be happy. Thoughts? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A: Im open to hearing from readers on this one, but my inclination is that the management isnt likely to jump straightaway to evicting someone whos been an otherwise good tenant for over 20 years. You can at least consider asking them to say something to her, I think, without worrying that theyre immediately going to throw her out just because you say shes knocking on your door too often. Generally, though, I think its easier to decide to move yourself than to try to convince someone else they have to move (and I really dont think reminding her that her husband died in that house is going to make her more likely to want to leave it). Are there any explicitly child-friendly complexes in your part of town that encourage young families and the noise levels they bring with them? I get that you dont want to move either and that finding another place isnt easy, but it might be worth keeping your eyes out for an opportunity in case mediation through management doesnt work. Advertisement In the meantime, Ill take your word for it that youre not being inappropriately loud and that you try to keep your kid subdued when he wants to run around screaming his head off. I think your best bet is to ignore her when she knocks on the door and ask management to speak to her. But Im open to running other suggestions if anyone has any! Advertisement Advertisement Q. Should I invite my racist, transphobic aunt to my lesbian wedding? I proposed to my girlfriend of almost 10 years recently, and we are thrilled to plan our big lesbian wedding. But I am very conflicted about inviting my moms only sister. Though she has been kind and supportive to me and my partner over the years, her Facebook page is FILLED with vile, hateful, and misinformed posts targeting people of color, trans people, immigrants, lib-tards, and basically anyone else whos not like her. Though I doubt any of this hateful rhetoric would surface during our wedding, I feel ill at the thought of having someone who so openly and virulently professes these opinions at our celebration. We are both very outspoken in support of all marginalized communities and see our wedding as a celebration of our union and shared values. Not inviting my aunt will undoubtedly infuriate her (she has a hot temper and a short fuse) and further the troubled relationship she has with my mom. I also dont want to hurt my mom. Do you think I should just suck it up and invite her, or handle the fallout for my mom and myself thats sure to extend far into the future? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A: Handle the fallout! You know whats kind of great about having someone who is racist, xenophobic, transphobic, etc. be angry with you? You dont value their judgment, so their bad opinion doesnt carry much real weight. Her ability to make polite conversation in front of you and your partner doesnt mitigate the fact that she clearly dedicates most of her free time to ranting about the evils of people like you. And why would you want someone at your wedding who you were only pretty sure was going to be able to restrain her internal racist monologue until she could get home and post it to Facebook? Dont invite her, tell her why, and encourage her to reevaluate her choices. If she gets mad at you and your motherthere are some things worth fighting over, and this seems pretty straightforwardly one of those things. Advertisement Q. Boyfriend-friend drama: My boyfriend is super shy. Hes met my friends and spends time with us, but my friends can be intense and loud, which he finds overwhelming. My friends have started commenting on how little time he spends with them, which Ive tried to explain is just his shyness, but they seem to be taking it personally and insisting he spend more time with them. They want to hang out every weekend, but he can do maybe once a month. The issue is I used to be very much engaged in the group, but over time Ive taken a step back to deal with my own mental health issues (yes, Im in therapy). My friends ARE overwhelming, and while I love them, I cant spend every weekend with them either. How do I express that to them without them thinking Im choosing him over them? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A: I dont think you have boyfriend-friend dramaI think you sort of dont like your friends. If your attitude toward your entire group of friends is I cant spend every weekend with them (not just that you enjoy varying your weekend plans or need your alone time, but that you genuinely find the thought of seeing them more than once a month exhausting), then thats a sign that you need to, at the very least, start broadening your social circle. If youve never told any of your friends even once that you find their constant interruptions/shouting/whatever other personality traits make it difficult for you to have a sustained, pleasant conversation with them, then its no surprise to me that youve felt it necessary to step back and get your emotional needs tended to elsewhere. That doesnt mean you have to have a come-to-Jesus moment with everyone, but I do think its time to at least consider speaking up when something bothers you, unapologetically telling them youre not available every weekend, and seeking out new friends whose company you enjoy a little better. Advertisement Q. Dog walker walked off with my heart: I currently work as an exec assistant. My boss brings her dog to work every day, and because of that, she has a walker come and walk the dog twice a day. I book the walks for her (via an app), and we always use the same walker. I have a total crush on the walker. The walker is so remarkably kind and funny and friendly, and seeing the walker is the highlight of my day. We have a great rapport and similar beliefs and always share laughs. He has also told me a couple of times I look pretty, and touches my shoulder not infrequently. He also went out of his way to help me do a huge favor for a friend in crisis, which was one of the kindest gestures Ive ever observed from anyone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He does not technically work for my company, and I do not want to cross any lines, but man, do I want to date him. He has always been incredibly respectful and has never crossed a line with me. I am hypervigilant about workplace appropriateness and sexual harassment, and I never, ever, ever want to make anyone uncomfortable, let alone more than that. Is it ever OK to date a kinda-sorta co-worker? Or should I just stop pursuing cause I have to see him twice a day (SUPER awkward if it flops)? A: An executive assistant asking out a dog walker who periodically stops by the office does not constitute sexual harassment. You dont have any supervisory authority over this guy, nor he over you, and you just want to ask him out on a dateyoure not following him around and dropping constant hints that he should take his shirt off. I think hes given you enough promising signals that, even if he doesnt want to go out, he wont be shocked if you ask. Be polite, ask casually but be clear, and if he doesnt go for it, smile and continue to be welcoming and easygoing whenever he visits the office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By the wayand Im not trying to endorse the practice across the board, just hoping to contextualize your nervousnesspeople date their co-workers a lot. Like, all the time. That doesnt mean you shouldnt try to be respectful and polite and err on the side of caution, but its not at all unusual. Q. Transphobic or trans? I am transmasculine and nonbinary and have been on testosterone for almost seven months. My mom (who is not straight) says she supports me, but struggles with my pronouns and bristles when I bring up my medical transition with her or other family. When I confront her about this, she says that not only does she support me, but she doesnt feel like a woman herself, and if hormone replacement therapy were more readily available when she was my age, she probably would have done it too. Obviously I empathize, but she only brings it up when I ask her to be more sensitive to my situation. How do I respond to this without downplaying her feelings/identity? Advertisement Advertisement A: Being trans, or possibly trans, or hypothetically trans 30 years ago, doesnt excuse or mitigate transphobia (or even make transphobia impossible!), so the good news is that your mothers identity truly doesnt matter in this case. You still get to address her present transphobia without accepting her justification that, since she thinks she would probably have started T as a young person if shed known it was available, shes therefore presently entitled to treat you disrespectfully and dismissively. Advertisement For what its worth, its not at all uncommon for people to justify their present transphobia with some version of Why, I myself might have transitioned when I was your age. It is, in fact, more than a bit of a cliche. The implications are 1) Luckily I didnt transition when I was your age, and Im now a shining example of how great being cis is. You are young and foolish and heedless and have missed the opportunity to grow up to be like me. Young people everywhere are inclined to chase transition like a shiny bauble that will solve all their problems, but people who decline to transition are wise and adult and well-rounded; and 2) Your present actual transition is less important than my past hypothetical transition. By making a choice I believe I could not have pursued (even though people did transition 30 years ago), youre throwing my own life into a bad light, and its your fault if I feel bad about it. I dont say this to dismiss the very real pain that people may experience upon coming to acknowledge just how much they wished theyd been able to pursue transition 10 or 20 or 50 years sooner. But I do mean to dismiss anyone using that past pain as an excuse to mistreat and manipulate trans people in the present. She is still capable of treating you with respect regardless of her past, and you are not asking too much of her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Q. Re: My neighbor is a nut who wont let my kid play: I think its time for my neighbor to move out; she has lived there for 20-plus years, and her husband died there. There is a very unkind undercurrent here. Being snippy and telling your neighbor to go ahead and move into a retirement home already isnt going to help you. She may be an annoying neighbor, but thats part of apartment living. My advice would be to just ignore herbut if you cant you may have to move. A: Oh gosh, I didnt even realize that go find a retirement home was the implication in that sentence, but I agree that it was ungenerous and uncalled for. Another reader pointed out that saying someone is ruining your kids childhood is an overstatement and not a great way to de-escalate, and I completely agree. Someone elses bad behavior cant be used to justify overreaction or rudeness. Even if she is very annoying and unreasonable, having a crotchety neighbor is not going to ruin your kids experience being a kid. If your complex has an HOA and youre complying with the reasonable noise level/quiet hours, shes going to have to get a grip, another reader wrote in, and its at that point I think you should start roping in the management. (Otherwise she may start reporting you first.) Advertisement Advertisement Q. Re: My neighbor wont let my kid play: Did you even read the letter? We are very lucky to have a nice home we can afford in Los Angeles and are terrified of involving management because we cannot afford any similar housing if we are evicted. Your response: I dont think your planthat I 100 percent made up in my headof getting management to evict her will work. So you should just find a mythical child friendly, affordable apartment in a city with a massive housing shortage! Easy peasy! Advertisement A: I did read the letter; I think the letter writer does not have the most accurate sense of scale here, as evidenced by their note claiming youre ruining my kids life. Im not inclined to agree that the management will immediately evict a good, long-standing tenant over a single neighborly disagreement. Nor do I believe that finding a new child-friendly complex will be an immediate, easily-achievable goal, but I think its a good idea to start that process now, just in case things deteriorate here, because finding a place to live in LA (as you well know!) can be very challenging. It doesnt hurt to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Q. Re: Prudie Pod: The Not My Best Side Edition: Listened to the episode this a.m. about the friend who took a photo of the letter writer in a coma. I am a registered health information technician who works with electronic health records and protected health information daily. I would have to dispute the idea that letter writer has no legal recourse. Patient privacy is ALWAYS of prime importance. That doesnt stop because a friend or relative violates this. HIPAA or privacy laws may have been and probably were violated here. Its not just hospitals and doctors on the hook to respect patient privacy. This also includes other employees or others with access, and I think the letter writer has a legal basis for concern. Advertisement Where have the pictures been posted? Did the friend take other pictures? Did she disrobe the letter writer? This friend may have even sold these images. I think for the letter writers safety and peace of mind, she should consult an attorney who specializes in privacy laws. They can advise on how to stop further spread of these images and how to deal with the actions of her friend. Im so sorry this happened to the letter writer. In my field this is a very serious violation of a patient who had no capacity to give consent. Advertisement A: This is really helpful, practical advice. Thank you so much for letting us know the letter writer may have more legal protection than Id initially thought. Advertisement Danny M. Lavery: Sorry to end with Dads friend peed in my bathtub, which is a question designed for reader responses if there ever was one. But Im sure Ill get a chance to run a few of your thoughts about it next weekuntil then! If you missed Part 1 of this weeks chat, click here to read it. Discuss this column on our Facebook page! From How to Do It Q. I suspect theres an unhealthy reason Im only attracted to older women Im a cis lesbian in my mid-20s with no sexual experience. I want to get out there and try hooking up, but I feel like Im not into women my ageor at least women who look my age. I feel crazy, but I swear, people in my age group all have baby faces. I frequently get asked if Im a teen, so Im absolutely included in this, but I still find people who look mature sexy in ways that I dont if someone looks young. I appreciate that older women tend to have more stable lifestyles, which is also really attractive to me, but its primarily just a physical-appearance thing. I have a fair bit of trauma and baggage from my upbringing, so Im paranoid that this is an unhealthy fixation. Am I OK to set my filter to 30-plus? Read more and see what Rich Juzwiak had to say. Hazardous conditions are on the cards due to snow an ice which has caused Met Eireann to issue a Status Yellow snow ice weather warning for Ireland. The warning says that hazardous conditions are expevted in places overnight and Tuesday morning due to compacted snow and ice. Further snow showers also, heaviest in the southwest, west and north. The warning is valid from 10pm on Monday 27 to noon on Tuesday. The Met Eireann says there will be widespread wintry showers tonight with a continued risk of hail and thunder. It says there will be more snow leading to icy stretches on roads and paths with some accumulations, especially in the north, west and southwest. Lowest temperatures will dip to of -2 in a widespread frost. Tuesday will start cold and frosty with icy stretches on untreated surfaces and some lying snow. There will be a mix of sunshine and scattered wintry showers, frequent in the west with a risk of hail and thunder there. MORE BELOW TWEETS. Status Yellow Snow/Ice Warning for Ireland. Valid 2200 Monday to 1200 Tuesday.https://t.co/ozrQHtoOkt pic.twitter.com/60lhGmr58L Met Eireann (@MetEireann) January 27, 2020 A weather advisory for wintry weather remains in effect tonight. Widespread wintry showers with a continued risk of hail and thunder. Further falls of snow leading to icy stretches on roads & paths and some accumulations, especially in Connacht and Ulster. Lows of -2 to +2C. pic.twitter.com/7VdDombDp1 Met Eireann (@MetEireann) January 27, 2020 Met Eireann forecast issued at 10.15 pm on January 27 TONIGHT Widespread wintry showers tonight with a continued risk of hail and thunder. Further falls of snow leading to icy stretches on roads and paths with some accumulations, especially in the north, west and southwest. Lowest temperatures of -2 to +2 degrees in fresh southwest to west breezes with a widespread frost. TOMORROW - TUESDAY 28TH JANUARY Tuesday will start cold and frosty with icy stretches on untreated surfaces and some lying snow. There will be a mix of sunshine and scattered wintry showers, the showers frequent over the western half of the country with a risk of hail and thunder there. Highest temperatures of 4 to 7 degrees in fresh and gusty westerly winds, strong along Atlantic coasts. NATIONAL OUTLOOK The outlook for Tuesday night is for a mostly moderate west to southwest wind, temperatures of between zero and plus 2 degrees and mainly dry conditions for much of the country while showers continue in Ulster. On Wednesday there'll be showery rain for a time, mostly through the northern and northeastern parts of the country, with mostly dry but cloudy conditions elsewhere. Temperatures will be between 7 and 9 degrees and winds will be moderate to fresh southwest to west. It'll be mainly cloudy over night keeping temperatures at around 3 or 4 degrees in the air. Thursday will see rain move from the southwest to the northeast during the morning, clearing quickly to showers, with drier weather already establishing itself in the afternoon. Temperatures in the north will still be on the cold side but there'll be a recovery to slightly higher temperatures in Munster and south Leinster. It'll be mostly dry overnight although there's a risk of rain along western and northwestern areas. On Friday there'll be outbreaks of rain in the morning, clearing to give mostly dry conditions for a time. Current indications suggest the start of the weekend will be breezy at times with a spell of wet weather, particularly across the northern half of the country, clearing with drier, brighter and milder conditions moving in later. A postal worker convicted of accepting money from a drug dealer to funnel packages of marijuana to drug dealer has been sentenced to three years of probation. Fred Rivers, 48, of Newark, also received one year of home confinement, according to court records. The sentence was handed down Thursday in federal court by Judge Ester Salas. Rivers, who was fired by the U.S. Postal Service, will be allowed to leave his home to report to his new job at an acute nursing and rehabilitation center, according to his attorney Brooke Barnett. Mr. Rivers accepts full responsibility and acknowledges that however small his role may have been in this underlying scheme, there are consequences," Barnett said in a statement. "In light of it all he will not allow this to define him and will continue to give back to his community. Rivers worked for the postal service for nearly 30 years and previously was honorably discharged from the U.S National Guard, the lawyer added. The marijuana was mailed from California and Nevada to New Jersey where it was intercepted at the Springfield station in Newark, officials said. Rivers removed the packages which were addressed to fake names, but real addresses in Newark and gave them to Glenn Blackstone in the employee parking lot of the post office and other spots. The drug dealer gave Rivers about $100 each time they met between October 2016 to September 2017. Rivers used a scanner to make it appear the packages had been delivered to the addresses on the labels. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available A joint task force of hardy US and UK-based scientists has ventured to one of the world's most remote regions in a bid to conduct crucial research intended to prevent catastrophic sea level rises. The so-called Thwaites 'doomsday glacier' in Western Antarctica is the size of Britain and is known to be melting at an alarming rate. If it was to collapse, it would lead to a significant increase in sea levels of around two feet (65cm). The impact on coastal communities around the world would be catastrophic. And scientists have now finally conducted fieldwork in the region for the first time, which involves the first ever drilling done on the frozen tundra. Scroll down for video Scientists have finally conducted fieldwork in the region which involves the first ever drilling conducted in the frozen tundra (pictured) At one of the drill sites on the Antarctic glacier, a series of instruments were fed through the borehole including the small yellow under-ice robot, Icefin (pictured). In mid- January, it swam nearly up to the Thwaites grounding zone to collect data on how the ice shelf is melting A study claims Thwaites Glacier is heading towards an 'instability' which could see the entire icy contents float out into the sea within 150 years as it melts from underneath (pictured) A submersible yellow submarine-like robot capable of navigating the sub-zero waters was fed through one borehole to study how the glacier is melting. Nicknamed Icefin, it swam more than a mile to the site where the glacier meets the sea at the grounding site where most melting is thought to be occurring. It measured, imaged and mapped the process causing melting at this critical part of the glacier. Five dedicated teams of scientists and engineers have been working on Thwaites Glacier for the last two months in below freezing temperatures and extreme winds. Two of these teams have used hot water to drill between 1,000 and 2,300 feet (300 and 700 metres) through the ice to the ocean and sediment beneath. The goal is to investigate the history of Thwaites and see what is causing melting and find what can be done to stabilise the vast ice sheet. If Thwaites was to collapse, it would lead to a significant increase in sea levels of around 65cm (25 inches). The impact on coastal communities around the world would be catastrophic THE RETREAT OF THE THWAITES GLACIER The Thwaites glacier is slightly smaller than the total size of the UK, approximately the same size as the state of Washington, and is located in the Amundsen Sea. It is up to 4,000 metres (13,100 feet thick) and is considered a key in making projections of global sea level rise. The glacier is retreating in the face of the warming ocean and is thought to be unstable because its interior lies more than two kilometres (1.2 miles) below sea level while, at the coast, the bottom of the glacier is quite shallow. The Thwaites glacier is the size of Florida and is located in the Amundsen Sea. It is up to 4,000 meters thick and is considered a key in making projections of global sea level rise The Thwaites glacier has experienced significant flow acceleration since the 1970s. From 1992 to 2011, the centre of the Thwaites grounding line retreated by nearly 14 kilometres (nine miles). Annual ice discharge from this region as a whole has increased 77 percent since 1973. Because its interior connects to the vast portion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet that lies deeply below sea level, the glacier is considered a gateway to the majority of West Antarcticas potential sea level contribution. The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier would cause an increase of global sea level of between one and two metres (three and six feet), with the potential for more than twice that from the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Advertisement Hot water drilling requires the team to melt snow in large rubber tanks, pictured. One team, called MELT, focused on what was happening where the glacier meets the sea. Two places were drilled here using hot water One team, called MELT, focused on what was happening where the glacier meets the sea. Two places were drilled here using hot water. Another team, called TARSAN, ventured 18miles (30km) further out on the floating shelf to explore what was happening under the ice. And the so-called GHC team drilled four bedrock cores using a Winkie drill. Lead scientist for Icefin, Dr Britney Schmidt from Georgia Institute of Technology, said: 'We designed Icefin to be able to access the grounding zones of glaciers, places where observations have been nearly impossible, but where rapid change is taking place. 'To have the chance to do this at Thwaites Glacier, which is such a critical hinge point in West Antarctica, is a dream come true for me and my team. 'The data couldn't be more exciting.' Dr Keith Nicholls, an oceanographer from British Antarctic Survey and the UK lead on the MELT team that unleashed Icefin, said: 'We know that warmer ocean waters are eroding many of West Antarctica's glaciers, but we're particularly concerned about Thwaites. 'This new data will provide a new perspective of the processes taking place so we can predict future change with more certainty.' UK Science Minister Chris Skidmore praised the researchers and says the UK is 'leading the fight' against climate change'. Reliance Jio is now the largest telecom player both in terms of revenue and market. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has acquired subscribers at a great pace and become the largest player in terms of wireless subscriber market share, broadband subscriber base and revenue. According to an India Ratings report, Jio's subscriber base has massively increased in the last two years owing to a consistent decline in the subscriber base of Vodafone Idea Ltd. The ratings agency also went onto say that the revenue market share of Jio grew to 34.9 per cent in the second quarter of FY20. This is also the highest when compared to other players. India Ratings also stated that the telco sector is showing signs of improvement. This is due to the improvement in the Average Revenue per User (ARPU) reported by telecom companies over the last two to three quarters. Also, the recent hike in tariffs by telco companies in the range of 25-35 per cent is expected to support the increase in ARPU over the next few quarters. The share of broadband subscribers in the overall subscriber base has also been on a rise. According to the report, "the rising share of data subscribers along with growing data traffic and stabilising data tariffs augurs well for revenue growth in our view." The ratings agency also went onto state in its report that a TRAI releasing a consultation paper to consider setting a floor price for tariffs is a welcome step. Apart from this, the extension of the implementation of zero internconnect usage charge regime by a year was also a big sigh of relief for the telecom companies according to the agency. Also read: Telcos likely to miss AGR deadline; may ask DoT to wait till SC hearing next week Also read: India Ratings downgrades Vodafone Idea's Rs 3,500 crore debentures Australian Labor Party (ALP) education spokesperson and aspiring party leader Tanya Plibersek delivered a jingoistic speech on Saturday demanding that children in schools recite a pledge of allegiance to the country. Plibersek issued the proposal on the Australia Day national holiday, held annually on January 26 to mark the beginning of British colonial rule in 1788. Every year the political and media establishment devotes considerable resources towards whipping up Aussie nationalism, featuring ludicrous paeans to the supposedly unique Australian qualities of mateship and the fair go, while the reality of a country riven by enormous class divisions is suppressed. Pliberseks speech, delivered at a Sydney Opera House ceremony for new citizens, aimed to position the Labor Party at the forefront of promoting Australian nationalism. After describing the response of volunteer firefighters and other working people to the bushfire crisis, the Labor politician declared: Moments like this make me reflect on the nature of patriotism and citizenship. On what it means to truly love your country. She continued that every Australian school student should learn the citizenship pledge, which reads: From this time forward, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey. Plibersek added: Patriotism, like mateship, is about solidarity. Its about what we owe each other as citizens. Patriotism is the knowledge that were not alone in this life; that our neighbours are there to share our struggles; that we have 25 million people in our corner when we need it. Who does Plibersek think shes kidding? Australias wealthiest 200 individuals (0.0008 per cent of the population) have a combined fortune of $350 billion, accumulated, for the most part, through parasitic activities including property speculation, financial wheeling and dealing, and mining exploitation. At the same time the poorest 40 percent of the population own less than 3 percent of total household wealth, while more than 3 million people live in poverty. The ultra-wealthy oligarchy in no way share the struggles of the working class, and ordinary people have no experience of such layers being in our corner when we need it. Pliberseks appeal was warmly welcomed by the Murdoch press and right-wing radio broadcasts. Many working people, in contrast, derided and denounced the proposed pledge of allegiance. On social media, thousands of comments challenged Pliberseks speech. Many older people recalled the previous oaths sworn to the Queen of Great Britain. One Twitter comment read: I attended primary school in the 1950s. Every assembly we recited some meaningless allegiance to the Queen & country etc. What a load of crap it was then & is now. Nationalistic crap-a-do. Some commenters raised the worsening social crisis in Australia such as Meanwhile 17.3% of Australian children live in poverty: Others expressed anti-nationalist and internationalist sentiments. One wrote: What the heck is meant by patriotism? Surely it has become a destructive concept to artificially reduce the diverse life that is still evolving within this planets thin crust and air into separate political tribes of humans? Those countries are run like amoral businesses. Plibersek, a member of the so-called left faction of the Labor Party, delivered her Australia Day speech in the context of the oppositions determined lurch to the right since its federal election defeat in May last year. Labors promotion of Australian nationalism, however, is tied to far reaching political calculations, beyond the electoral cycle. The Australian Labor Party is the countrys oldest bourgeois party. Its racialist and divisive founding ideology of White Australia nationalism formed the political basis of the federated Australian state that was formed in 1901. In every period of economic, social, and geopolitical crisis since, the ruling class has relied upon the ALP to utilise nationalism as a means of subordinating the working class to the capitalist state. From the 1970s, the explicitly racist elements of this agenda were jettisoned in favour of a new multicultural nationalism (hence Pliberseks references to diversity and solidarity), but the political class logic remains the same. An unprecedented world crisis of the capitalist system now exists. In Australia, as in every advanced capitalist country, there is enormous social inequality. The parliamentary apparatus is widely discredited, as the mass hostility towards the government over its inaction on the bushfire and climate crisis again demonstrated. Labors renewed promotion of Australian nationalism is a conscious appeal to finance capital and big business. Plibersek has raised the pledge of allegiance idea several times over the last decade, and while her earlier calls did not attract as much public attention as her Australia Day speech, reviewing her comments makes clear the connection between Labors promotion of nationalism and its commitment to anti-working class austerity programs at home and militarism abroad. In 2011, when Labor was in office and Plibersek was the minister for Human Services and Social Inclusion, she delivered a speech to the right-wing Sydney Institute think tank. At the same time as she urged the country to emulate American classroom pledges of allegiance, Plibersek aggressively declared that she made no apology for imposing draconian income management programs that restricted Aboriginal and other targeted welfare recipients from being able to choose how to spend their incomes. Standing by and allowing people to blow their money instead of feeding their kids or paying the rent is not doing anyone any favours, she stated. In 2017, Plibersek delivered another speech titled, Inclusive Citizenship: A Labor Agenda, which reiterated the call for a pledge of allegiance. She hailed the supposed democratic values upheld by the Australian parliamentary apparatus, saying nothing about either the scaffolding of a police-state by successive Labor and Liberal governments or the ruthless US-led persecution of Australian journalist and WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. The Labor parliamentarian, however, denounced China and Russia, the two primary targets of US imperialism, for their authoritarian forms of government. Moscow was accused in the speech of seeking to expand its influence in Europe and the Middle Eastand even in the Pacific, while Beijing was alleged to have shown a willingness to export its political model to developing countries. Video by Lee Min-youngArticle By Lee Gyu-leeScott Harrison was the life of the party in New York in the late 1990s. As promoter for the Big Apple's 40-plus nightclubs, he was paid good money for drinking brand vodkas and was always part of good-looking crowds.That was until the day he decided to bring clean drinking water to those who could not get it. Now as CEO and founder of the non-profit organization, Charity: water, he looks back, telling himself and others that his two seemingly contrasting lives come down to the same principle sort of."The act of promoting never stopped," Harrison told The Korea Times, Friday. "I just started promoting something wildly different, the idea of humanitarian service."#FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/culture/2020/01/142_282524.html Delta has been fined $50,000 after the federal Transportation Department found that it discriminated against three Muslim passengers who had been cleared by the airlines security but were barred from flights, according to a consent order. The airline was also mandated to make some flight crews and customer service representatives attend civil rights training as part of the departments order, which was issued on Friday. The passengers had filed complaints against Delta with the agency. The order addressed two episodes that took place in July 2016, and involved flights from Paris to Cincinnati and from Amsterdam to New York. In both instances, the captain of the flight overruled Delta security officials, who had said the passengers passed background checks, agency officials said. In both cases, Transportation Department officials said, Delta crews failed to follow the security protocol and their decisions to bar the passengers from the flights were discriminatory. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-28 18:20:58 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 956 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Guyana Goldstrike Inc. (the "Company" or "Guyana Goldstrike") (TSXV:GYA, OTC PINK:GYNAF, FSE:1ZT) is pleased to announce the Company has signed a definitive gold forward purchase agreement (the "Agreement"), dated January 24, 2020, with an arms-length investor (the "Investor") for proceeds of up to US$9,000,000, for the Marudi Gold Project ("Marudi" or the "Property", or the "Project") located in Guyana, South America.Under the terms of the Agreement, the Investor will make an initial payment of US$2,000,000 on or before April 14, 2020. Thereafter, a second payment of US$7,000,000 will be advanced within thirty days of a royalty interest in the Project in favour of the Investor having been registered.The Agreement is non-dilutive to the Company's current share structure as no shares or warrants will be issued to the Investor. The proceeds will enable the Company to finalize its purchase of the Project and further explore and develop the resource potential of the Property.In consideration for providing funding, the Company has agreed to deliver 30,000 ounces of gold, representing approximately 10% of the Project's current mineral resource estimate (please see "Mineral Resource Estimates" below). Deliveries will commence within 120 days of a declaration of commercial production from the Project, or within 36 months of the initial funding under the Agreement, whichever the earlier, with an annual delivery schedule of 3,000 ounces. The Company has also agreed to grant the Investor a right of first refusal to acquire a further 30,000 ounces of gold, on terms to be negotiated between the parties.The delivery obligation of the Company will be secured by a 12.5% net smelter returns royalty in favour of the Investor, to be registered against the Project. The royalty will not be payable while the Company meets the deliver schedule and will expire once all delivery obligations under the Agreement have been satisfied.Mineral Resource EstimatesThe Mazoa Hill Zone contains the Company's current mineral resource estimate. Data analyzed suggests that the mineralized zone is open in several directions including at depth.243,300 indicated gold ounces within 3,637,000 tonnes grading 2.1 g/t;78,800 inferred gold ounces within 1,278,000 tonnes grading 1.9 g/tFor further information concerning the Mazoa Hill Zone Resource Estimate, readers are encouraged to review "Technical Report: Marudi Property Mazoa Hill Mineral Resource Estimate", a technical report prepared for the Company by Global Mineral Resource Services and is available at: GYA Mazoa Hill Zone 43-101, at the Company's website www.guyanagoldstrike.com and under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com Readers are cautioned that although the Project has a mineral resource estimate and a mining license a production decision has not been reached by the Company in respect of the Project, nor has a feasibility study been completed to assess the economic viability of commercial production at the Project. Also note, mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.About Guyana Goldstrike Inc.The Company is developing the Marudi Gold Project, which has a 17-year mining license and is located in Guyana, South America. Historic diamond drilling completed on the Project by prior operators have delineated two zones of gold mineralization: Mazoa Hill and Marudi North zones. A mineral resource estimate has been completed on the Mazoa Hill Zone. Data analyzed suggests the zone is open to mineralization in multiple directions and at depth.Through the recent exploration program, the Company has discovered a third mineralized zone, called Toucan Ridge, which is situated approximately 1000 metres to the northeast of the Mazoa Hill Zone. In addition to the known gold zones and the new Toucan Ridge zone, the Company has over 45 sq. kms of underexplored land and believes the greater land position has excellent upside potential for the discovery of new mineralized zones through the development of previously and newly identified mineralized bedrock targets on the Project.About GuyanaThe Republic of Guyana is located in South America adjacent to Suriname. The country is English speaking and its legal system is based on British common law with a democratically elected government. It has an established mining act and a rich history of gold production. The Fraser Institute's 2016 Annual Survey of Mining listed Guyana as the third best mining jurisdiction with regards to investment attractiveness in the Latin America and Caribbean Basin sub-group. The Guiana Shield is the geographic gold-hosting region and is world-recognized as a premier gold region that is highly prospective, under-explored and has geological continuity with West Africa. Barrick has recently announced that the Giuana Shield will be their priority region for discovery opportunities and early stage exploration.* Exxon Recently announced the discovery of 6 billion barrels of offshore oil with production scheduled for first quarter of 2020. This discovery will designate Guyana as having the fastest growing GPD in 2020, estimated to be 86%.**** https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-02/meet-the-economy-that-the-imf-sees-growing-86-in-2020 Qualified PersonLocke Goldsmith, M.Sc., P. Eng, P. Geo, Chief Geologist and Exploration Manager for the Company, is a Qualified Person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Goldsmith has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content of this news release.On behalf of the Board of Directors ofGUYANA GOLDSTRIKE INC.Peter BerduscoPresident and Chief Executive OfficerNeither 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 certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, th The United States, Japan and other countries are sending planes to evacuate their citizens out of the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the global coronavirus outbreak that has now killed 106 people. Japan is sending a chartered jet to Wuhan Tuesday to evacuate about 200 of the 650 Japanese nationals in the city. The United States is preparing to fly staff from its consulate in Wuhan, along with some American citizens, sometime this week. France and other nations have also announced plans to evacuate their citizens out of Wuhan. Chinese health authorities announced an additional 25 deaths on Tuesday, including the first fatality reported in the capital city of Beijing. The total number of confirmed cases in China now stands at well over 4,500. Authorities have imposed a virtual quarantine on Wuhan, banning people from traveling in and out of the city, while several other cities in Hubei province are facing heavy restrictions on movement. Authorities in Wuhan are racing to complete two new field hospitals to treat the growing number of patients. Cases have also been reported in Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. The World Health Organization says most of those are people who had a travel history in Wuhan, with several others having contact with someone who traveled there. There have been no reported deaths linked to the virus outside of China. U.S. President Donald Trump has offered China any help needed to combat the deadly coronavirus. In a Monday tweet, Trump said, "We are in very close communication with China concerning the virus," adding, "We have offered China and President Xi (Jinping) any help that is necessary. Our experts are extraordinary!" Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the city of Wuhan on Monday to meet with health officials and examine the response to the outbreak. WHITEHALL - A Washington County high school principal was placed on administrative leave Monday for what Whitehall Central School District Superintendent Patrick M. Dee described as serious concerns about a situation. A letter sent out to district parents and students Monday announced that 7-12 principal Jeff Keller was placed on administrative leave following an investigation into allegations that prompted Dee to contact the State Education Department and James Dexter, district superintendent of the regions BOCES. Dee did not elaborate on the concerns in the letter released Monday. I am not in a position that I can share any additional information with you, except to say that our investigation is still underway, and that I continue to work with our school attorney, Mr. Dexter from BOCES and the State Education Department to ensure that our investigation is full and complete, he wrote. According to the Post-Star, the districts English test scores for grades seven and eight were invalidated by the state in 2016 because school officials improperly photocopied the test booklets. Dee would not respond to the newspaper regarding rumors that Kellers leave had something to do with test cheating or irregularities. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. While there are many rumors out in the community right now, I am unable to discuss the specifics of the investigation. I am not intentionally being vague, rather, as there is an open investigation, I cannot interfere by sharing specifics, he said in an email to the newspaper. The Whitehall Board of Education is meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the junior-senior high school, according to the Post-Star. TEHRAN, Iran, Jan.28 Trend: Iran's export foreign currency revenue return was $20 billion that include two third of revenues from export, said Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade. "The production in past ten months of current Iranian year (started March 21, 2019) had considerable growth," said Reza Rahmani, Trend reports citing IRNA. The Central Bank of Iran(CBI) policy to create balance in foreign currency market has obligated countrys exporters to return their foreign currency revenues into NIMA system (Iran's Forex Management Integrated System) and the countrys economy. "The production of clothing sector increased 20 percent, while food industries and medicine increased 15 and 31 percent," Rahmani said. "Production of steel products in past nine months have increase 6 percent comparing to last Iranian year (started March 21, 2018) while production of raw steel had 6.5 percent growth," the minister said. "Production of vegetable oil in current Iranian year increased 9 percent, and cement had 11 percent growth," Rahman added. "Despite re-impose of sanction against graphite electrode, Iran steel sector has reached self-sufficiency and is ready to operate graphite electrode montage production line," he said. "The country has increased domestic production of heavy tires from 30 to 55 percent, while it plans to construct 4 production units that would create surplus production," said the minister. Living in a tourist mecca certainly comes with its share of gripes; then again, millions of visitors to the city each year means we have ample places to stay. You know what this means: ample hotel bars. From modern-minimalist boutique stays to hyper-luxe big name brands, there are many weird, wonderful, welcoming hotel bars here to host our after-work happy hours, private parties, and clandestine rendezvous. Narrowing this list to the seven best was no small task, and there are many runners-up worthy of note: among them, Hotel Zelos' Dirty Habit, a rooftop hideaway where you might catch the occasional outdoor flick; Marriott Marquis' View Lounge, great for the you-know-what; and the sumptuous lobby lounges of the St. Regis and Ritz-Carlton, where we'd happily enjoy a glass of bubbly any day of the week. In the list below, you'll find our absolute favorite San Francisco hotel bars, each of them wholly unique. Among them, you can also taste some of the city's most iconic cocktailsthree of these bars made our 2019 Big Drink. Salud! Charmaine's at Proper Hotel SF: Fire Pits and Rooftop Views See on Instagram What's not to love about the Kelly Wearstlerdesigned San Francisco Proper Hotel? In transitional Mid-Market, the refurbished architectural gem is a bright spota haven for eclectic art, vintage and modern furnishings, and a pair of terrific haunts for food and drink. While the lobby restaurant Villon is great for date night, as bars go, Charmaine's is tops. The rooftop cocktail lounge is plushly kitted out with upholstered armchairs and love seats from which to order thoughtful tipples, such as Songs from the Brill Building (Larceny bourbon, Benedictine, Lustau amontillado sherry, cherry heering, ginger bitters) and Let Me Touch Your Mind, an uncanny marriage of a pina colada and a negroni. Snacks including spiced nuts and furikake popcorn. But the real selling point here are the fire pits on the terrace with downtown city views. Get there early to claim your seat. // Proper Hotel, 1100 Market St. (Mid-Market), properhotel.com Everdene at Virgin Hotel: Pretty Party People See on Instagram Just when we thought Charmaine's had the whole best-rooftop-bar deal clinched, the Virgin Hotel landed in SoMa. Crowning the stylish new stay is Everdene which, like Charmaine's, promises plush seating and Instagram-worthy views. This, combined with its newness and a lineup of DJs and parties, has so far guaranteed that the place stays packed with revelers like a can of drunken sardines. Order up the Atomic Blonde (Aviation gin, Lo-Fi sweet vermouth, Lillet Blanc, and orange bitters). Arrive early (before 7:30pm) or make a reservation. // 250 4th St. (SoMa), virginhotels.com Redwood Room at the Clift: Classic Luxury See on Instagram In a metropolis consumed by trendsnot to mention the ever-closing doors of the city's longstanding landmarksold favorites are something to celebrate. The Clift Hotel's Redwood Room, which unveiled a refresh this January, has special occasion written all over it. To say there's history here would be an understatement: The cocktail lounge takes its name from the 800-year-old redwood tree that panels its walls, columns, and back of the Art Decostyle bar. An ambient glow comes courtesy of Deco pendant lighting; new geometric carpeting picks up the theme; and the menu features twists on the classics. Toast to longevity with the Redwood Room martini (Botanist gin, dry vermouth, and blue cheese olives). // Clift Hotel, 495 Geary St. (TenderNob), redwoodroomsf.com Marianne's at Hotel Zetta: A Little Bit Rock and Roll See on Instagram A pair of hot pink doors on Jessie Street alongside SoMa's Hotel Zetta are the giveaway to Marianne's, the once-private now reservations-only backroom lounge inspired by the rock-and-roll glamour of '60s icon Marianne Faithfull. Accessible during dinner hours through British-style It restaurant The Cavalierfrom Big Night Restaurant Group, helmed by Anna Weinberg and chef Jennifer PuccioMarianne's was designed by team Ken Fulk to encourage laid-back imbibing and overindulgence. When it's not reserved for the posh private parties of San Francisco's society and tech elite, the bar takes ressies for 60 to 90 minutes for couples and small groups. Light nibbles come courtesy of The Cavalier. // Hotel Zetta, 360 Jessie (SoMa), mariannessf.com Benjamin Cooper at Hotel G: High Mixology, Low Key Space See on Instagram Local cocktail enthusiasts who remember the Tenderloin's tiny but mighty bar Big (RIP) happily followed the spot's co-owners and booze slingers, Brian Felley and Mo Hodges, over to Benjamin Cooper. Tucked up a back flight of stairs off Mason Street at the modern-minimalist Hotel G, the dark hideout is a favorite among industry types who sidle in for a late night glug and some oysters. Named after a 19th century Russian-Jewish whiskey aficionado and barkeep from the Bronx, Benjamin Cooper offers a wide selection of spirit-forward drinks that are some of the best in downtown SF. Try the Member Tom Green (singani, sotol, green tomato, vermouth, anisette, lime, and soda). // Hotel G, 398 Geary St. (TenderNob), benjamincoopersf.com Gibson at Hotel Bijou: Cocktail Carts + Deco Glamour See on Instagram Art Deco styling, a sultry ceiling mural, tufted leather booths, and warm golden light add a touch of glamour to Hotel Bijou's Gibson, which is in fact is an unpretentious environment to clink glasses of exceptional cocktails paired with New American cuisine cooked by live fire in the open kitchen. Dim sumstyle cocktail carts are on the move to provide tableside service of drinks garnished with locally foraged and house-pickled things. We like the innovative clear bloody mary (tomato water, oak-aged vodka, shochu, shoyu, fish sauce, and shichimi togarashi)a 2019 Big Drink pickand the signature Sea Gibson (Sonoma nori gin, liquid kelp, sake, sea salt, and pickled Sea Bean 14). Pair your aperitif with a starter of white sturgeon caviar. // 111 Mason St. (Tenderloin), gibsonsf.com The Supreme Court Tuesday adjourned for Wednesday the hearing on Centre's plea, seeking Rs 7,844 crore as additional fund from successor firms of US-based Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) for giving compensation to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, after one of the judges offered to recuse himself from dealing with the issue. The matter came up for hearing before a five-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra who said that Justice S Ravindra Bhat has "some difficulty" in hearing the matter. Expressing his unwillingness to be part of the bench to hear the matter, Justice Bhat said, "I had appeared for the Union of India in the matter when Union had sought review." The bench, also comprising justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran and M R Shah, said that Chief Justice of India S A Bobde would take a call on the composition of the bench to hear the matter. "We will not take it up today. We are waiting for CJI's order," the bench said, adding, "He (Justice Bhat) has some difficulty. Let us wait till evening today". The counsel appearing in the matter told the bench that they have no difficulty if Justice Bhat would be part of the bench. However, as per list of business for Wednesday, which was uploaded on the apex court's website, the matter has been listed for hearing before the same bench. The UCC, now owned by Dow Chemicals, gave a compensation of USD 470 million (Rs 715 crore at the time of settlement in 1989) after the toxic gas leak from the Union Carbide factory on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984 killed over 3,000 people and affected 1.02 lakh more. The bench was scheduled to hear the curative petition filed by the Centre seeking a direction to Union Carbide and other firms for Rs 7,844 crore for additional funds over and above the earlier settlement amount of USD 470 million for paying compensation to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy victims. Over 3,000 people had died in the tragedy due to release of methyl isocyanate gas. At the outset, when the bench assembled, Justice Mishra said that Justice Bhat has a difficulty in hearing the matter. "Let's wait till evening today. Let us wait for the CJI's order on whether we will hear it in some other combination. We will get to know," Justice Mishra said. The bench asked the parties to come on Wednesday before it at 10.30 am. The survivors of the 1984 tragedy have been fighting for long for adequate compensation and proper medical treatment for ailments caused by the toxic leak. The Centre had filed the curative petition in the apex court in December 2010 for enhanced compensation. On June 7, 2010, a Bhopal court had convicted seven executives of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) to two years' imprisonment in connection with the incident. The then UCC chairman Warren Anderson was the prime accused in the case but did not appear for the trial. On February 1, 1992, the Bhopal CJM court had declared him an absconder. The courts in Bhopal had issued non-bailable warrants against Anderson twice -- in 1992 and 2009. Anderson died in September 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mayank Singh By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Indian Navy on Tuesday launched Operation Vanilla in a bid to support the people of island nation Madagascar in the face of a natural disaster. Indian Navy said, 'As the first respondent, Indian Navy Ship Airavat, which was en-route to Seychelles has been diverted to Madagascar for rendering assistance.' The ship is carrying victualing, clothing and stores along with medicines. The ship is scheduled to reach Madagascar by 30 January 2020. As per the Navy 'The ship will be able to provide clothing, emergency food, medical assistance, diving and communication assistance and undertake transportation and evacuation of personnel using its four large and two medium-sized boats.' INS Airavat is an amphibious assault ship and its missions also include humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). Madagascar has been hit by a Cyclone and there has been heavy flooding and landslides since last week causing loss of lives and displacement of a number of people. Indias assistance to Madagascar is in consonance with Indian Navys Foreign Cooperation initiatives in line with Prime Minister's vision of 'Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR)'. In March 2018, President Ram Nath Kovind became the first Indian President to visit Madagascar. India and Madagascar signed a defence cooperation agreement during the visit of the Indian President. Madagascar is also a member of inter-governmental organisation Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). There are about 15,000 persons of India origin in Madagascar, including approximately 2500 Indian passport holders. PLA gives full support to civil efforts to win anti-virus battle PLA Daily Source: China Military Online Editor: Ouyang 2020-01-27 19:07:52 WUHAN, Jan.27 -- A train loaded with the first batch of emergency medical supplies allocated by the Chinese military from Shenyang of Liaoning Province and Heze of Shandong Province arrived at the Hankou railway station in Wuhan, Hubei Province on Sunday morning. These emergency medical supplies included 10000 sets of class-C protective clothing and 3760 bottles of ethyl alcohol. With the coordination of the PLA's forward commanding and coordinating group, the handover of the medical supplies was successfully conducted between the military and civil sides and all the supplies have been sent to the frontline hospitals. Since the outbreak of pneumonia epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus infection in Wuhan, Hubei province, the Central Military Commission has paid high attention to the situation and held in the first time a teleconference to make overall deployment of military's epidemic prevention and control work. The military joint prevention and control working system of responding to public health emergencies jointly form by the CMC organs, the Joint Logistics Support Force, the Armed Police Force and the Academy of Military Sciences has also been established in the first place. All military hospitals have made preparedness in various aspects including medical workers, beds, medicines, equipments and protective articles so as to undertake tasks of medical rescue and prevention and control support at any time. The General Hospital of the PLA's Central Theater Command located in Wuhan has changed its internal medicine inpatient department into the inpatient ward with more than 500 beds for receiving and treating patients contracting new coronavirus pneumonia, which will be a great help to relieve the pressure of civil hospitals in Wuhan. Approved by the CMC, three medical teams formed by military medics respectively from the military medical universities of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force left for Wuhan on Jan. 24 by taking air force transport planes and went to the Jinyintan Hospital, the Hankou Hospital and the Wuchang Hospital to support the epidemic prevention and control and patient rescue in the three designated hospitals. As of Monday morning, all the 450 medics in the three military medical teams had been assigned to different posts in the frontline of rescuing lives of patients. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hundreds of young women are taking up roles at construction sites where they earn well over $100,000 to hold up a sign - four times more than some teachers and nurses. Among the tradies, the rubble, and the work vans across Australia are women who are raking the cash as traffic controllers or 'lollipop ladies'. Workers on the Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel sites in Melbourne are on at least $105,000 a year amid ballooning project costs. Others in Sydney said they earned $130,000 a year and some patrolling the lonely outback highways of the Northern Territory almost as much. Infrastructure booms across the country created unprecedented demand for construction workers - and high salaries to attract them. More than 12,000 people are now working on Melbourne's major government projects, and thousands more in other cities. The best paid workers are tunnellers who can rake in up to $263,000 due to the danger involved in the work. Crane operators get $122 an hour on the Melbourne projects, while borehead operators are paid $118 and riggers and pipe layers $107. Builders often blame cost blowouts on huge wages and allowances built into union contracts, with five per cent wage rises built into the awards. However, unions say wages are just a fraction of the cost and they are deserved because workers do long hours in dangerous conditions. Dozens of women are standing guard along fenced area on Sydney's George Street, where hundreds of tradies are working no the light rail network It's all about girl power at Trafficwerx NT, where its traffic controllers are predominately female Working as a traffic controller might not be every girl's dream but the job is a great way to get your foot in the door, Altus Traffic events general manger Bethany Lilford said. Ms Lilford began working as a traffic controller when she was studying psychology and needed flexible hours and good pay. She has worked her way up over the years and now organises major events for the company. She is encouraging young women to take the plunge and give the job a chance. 'To anybody that does want to be in the industry, I would tell them not be scared. There is a little bit of a stigma, but that bridge is closing in.' Dozens of women are standing guard along fenced area on Sydney's George Street, where hundreds of tradies are working no the light rail network. Women in Sydney said they earned $130,000 a year and some patrolling the lonely outback highways of the Northern Territory almost as much Unions say wages are just a fraction of the cost and they are deserved because workers do long hours in dangerous conditions These women are pocketing a hefty pay packet, earning up to $60 an hour depending on the day and the time they work. One woman Daily Mail Australia spoke to had ditched her job as a teacher to become a traffic controller. 'I was looking for a change of lifestyle. I was working as a teacher but this pays a lot more.' One 'lollipop lady', Amy Dowsett, has raked in $130,000 a year since joining the trade. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union member earns over $40 an hour and also receives a $45 per day travel allowance and a $22 meal allowance. Depending on the size of the project, she is also paid a site allowance of between $2.10 and $3.95 per hour. Pay varies from state to state but workers can pocket about $26 an hour to $55 an hour depending on the job, according to online job site Indeed. The jobs usually include penalty rates, allowances and superannuation And if she works more than 10 hours at her Penrith building site, she receives double time. Pay varies from state to state but workers can pocket about $26 an hour to $55 an hour depending on the job, according to online job site Indeed. The jobs usually include penalty rates, allowances and superannuation. One job advertisement included a company vehicle. The salary is justified though, industry insiders say, as traffic controllers have to stand outside in all weather and they generally cop abuse from the public. (Newser) The arguments in President Trump's impeachment trial are over, even as the debate on whether John Bolton should be called as a witness rages on. Trump's defense team wrapped up its three days of arguments Tuesday; next up, senators will be allowed to ask the House managers and Trump's legal team questions for a total of 16 hours. That will take place during two sessions Wednesday and Thursday during which "the questions alternate between the majority and minority sides for up to eight hours," Mitch McConnell announced before adjourning the trial until 1pm Wednesday. Questions must be submitted in writing in advance to Chief Justice John Roberts, who will ask them; five minutes will be allowed per answer. Tuesday's big developments, including an update on page 2 regarding the vote on whether witnesses will be allowed, below. Bad precedent? This is "the trial of the leader of the free world and the duly elected president of the United States," said Trump attorney Jay Sekulow, per the Washington Post. "It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts. ... To lower the bar of impeachment based on these articles of impeachment would impact the functioning of our constitutional republic and the framework of that Constitution for generations." This is "the trial of the leader of the free world and the duly elected president of the United States," said Trump attorney Jay Sekulow, per the Washington Post. "It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts. ... To lower the bar of impeachment based on these articles of impeachment would impact the functioning of our constitutional republic and the framework of that Constitution for generations." Defend the Constitution: White House Counsel Pat Cipollone wrapped up the defense team's arguments with a call to senators: "What they are asking you to do is to throw out a successful president on the eve of an election with no basis and in violation of the Constitution. It would dangerously change our country and ... weaken forever all of our democratic institutions. You all know that's not in the interests of the American people. Why not trust the American people with this decision. Why tear up their ballots, why tear up every ballot across this country. You can't do that. You know you can't do that. So I ask you to defend our Constitution, to defend fundamental fairness, to defend basic due process rights, but most importantlymost importantly, to respect and defend the sacred right of every American to vote and to choose their president." story continues below Bolton book: Sekulow downplayed the significance of the Bolton book, referring to "an unpublished manuscript that maybe some reporters have an idea of maybe what it says." The resulting evidence, "if you want to call that evidence," is "inadmissible," he added. Sekulow downplayed the significance of the Bolton book, referring to "an unpublished manuscript that maybe some reporters have an idea of maybe what it says." The resulting evidence, "if you want to call that evidence," is "inadmissible," he added. Bolton testimony: There is no resolution yet on whether Trump's former national security adviser will be called to testify about Trump's Ukraine dealings. On Tuesday, Trump ally Lindsey Graham backed the idea of senators reading Bolton's manuscript in a classified setting, reports Mediaite. Democrats want Bolton to testify publicly instead. There is no resolution yet on whether Trump's former national security adviser will be called to testify about Trump's Ukraine dealings. On Tuesday, Trump ally Lindsey Graham backed the idea of senators reading Bolton's manuscript in a classified setting, reports Mediaite. Democrats want Bolton to testify publicly instead. Hypocritical? Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said the GOP idea to read Bolton's manuscript privately is a "laugh out loud" one: "They spent days criticizing us going into a secret bunker, and now they want to take a public document and put it in a secret bunker? Whiff of desperation is what I'll call it." Adam Schiff echoed that: "After all the complaints they made about the depositions, it's very ironic that they're making such a strong case" for a closed-door deposition with Bolton, he said. Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said the GOP idea to read Bolton's manuscript privately is a "laugh out loud" one: "They spent days criticizing us going into a secret bunker, and now they want to take a public document and put it in a secret bunker? Whiff of desperation is what I'll call it." Adam Schiff echoed that: "After all the complaints they made about the depositions, it's very ironic that they're making such a strong case" for a closed-door deposition with Bolton, he said. The decision: When the senators' 16-hour question period ends, the chamber will have up to four hours of debate on whether to call witnesses, reports NBC News. Senate Republicans met after Tuesday's session adjourned to discuss the issue internally. Just four Republicans could give Democrats the votes they need for witnesses to be called. When the senators' 16-hour question period ends, the chamber will have up to four hours of debate on whether to call witnesses, reports NBC News. Senate Republicans met after Tuesday's session adjourned to discuss the issue internally. Just four Republicans could give Democrats the votes they need for witnesses to be called. Speaking of those votes: Late Tuesday afternoon, news broke that during that closed-door meeting, McConnell told GOP senators they do not yet have the votes to block witnesses. That doesn't mean they won't have them by the time the vote takes place, as several senators are still undecided. Late Tuesday afternoon, news broke that during that closed-door meeting, McConnell told GOP senators they do not yet have the votes to block witnesses. That doesn't mean they won't have them by the time the vote takes place, as several senators are still undecided. A slight shift: CNN notes that since Bolton's upcoming book started making headlines (it reportedly reveals that Trump told Bolton he was indeed withholding military aid from Ukraine until the country announced an investigation of the Bidens), Republicans are increasingly acknowledging the president may indeed have leveraged the aidbut that doing so is not impeachable, and that the Bolton revelation does not require witness testimony since it simply confirms what has already been established. It also doesn't change the fact that Democrats don't have the votes to remove the president from office. CNN notes that since Bolton's upcoming book started making headlines (it reportedly reveals that Trump told Bolton he was indeed withholding military aid from Ukraine until the country announced an investigation of the Bidens), Republicans are increasingly acknowledging the president may indeed have leveraged the aidbut that doing so is not impeachable, and that the Bolton revelation does not require witness testimony since it simply confirms what has already been established. It also doesn't change the fact that Democrats don't have the votes to remove the president from office. A challenge: On Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted a criticism of Fox News for giving air time to Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen. The Maryland senator responded via Twitter himself: "Glad you tuned in, Mr. President," he wrote. "Now that I have your attention, how about coming down to the Senate to share your side of the story under penalty of perjury?" (Read more Trump impeachment stories.) D onald Trump has unveiled a long-awaited Middle East peace plan which calls for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in portions of east Jerusalem. The plan unveiled on Tuesday more than doubles the territory currently under Palestinian control, although it also recognises Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank, something to which the Palestinians will almost certainly object. The Palestinians have already rejected the proposal, accusing Mr Trump of being biased in favour of Israel as he has adopted policies that bolster Israel at their expense. The plan does call for a four-year freeze in new Israeli settlement construction, during which time details of a comprehensive agreement would be negotiated, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of Mr Trumps announcement. Donald Trump listens to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu / REUTERS However, it was not immediately clear if the freeze could be extended if a final deal is not concluded in the four years. The 50-page political outline goes further in concessions to the Palestinians than many analysts had believed was likely. However, it would require them to accept conditions they have been previously unwilling to consider, such as accepting West Bank settlements. It builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. Under the terms of the peace vision that Mr Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, the future Palestinian state would consist of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of above-ground roads and tunnels, according to the officials. Palestinian demonstrators burn illustrations of a US dollar banknote / REUTERS The officials said that both Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. Mr Netanyahu was beside Mr Trump as he unveiled the plan at the White House. The event cames as Mr Trumps impeachment trial continues in the Senate and Israels parliament had planned a hearing to discuss Mr Netanyahus request for immunity from criminal corruption charges. Mr Netanyahu withdrew that request hours before the proceedings were to begin, but Israels parliament, the Knesset, is still expected to meet. The body had been likely to vote against immunity, dealing Mr Netanyahu a blow. In the run-up to the March 2 election, Mr Netanyahu has called for annexing parts of the West Bank and imposing Israeli sovereignty on all its settlements there. White House senior advisor Jared Kushner / REUTERS Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Jordan Valley in particular is considered a vital security asset. Security responsibility for the Jordan Valley would remain in Israels hands for the foreseeable but could be scaled back as the nascent Palestinian state builds its capacity, under the terms of the plan, which says that statehood will be contingent on the Palestinians meeting international governance criteria. The officials said they expected negative responses from the Palestinians, as well as Turkey and Iran, but were hopeful that Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab nations to have peace treaties with Israel, would not reject it outright. The officials said they expected Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others to cautiously welcome the plan. The reaction of Jordan, which would retain its responsibilities over Jerusalems al-Aqsa Mosque under the plan, will be particularly significant, according to the officials, who said Mr Kushner and others were reaching out to Arab leaders ahead of the rollout. The Palestinians see the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Mr Trump has reversed decades of US foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centrepiece of his strategy was recognising Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the American Embassy there. US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu / AFP via Getty Images He has also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programmes. Those policies have proven popular among Trumps evangelical and pro-Israel supporters and could give him a much-needed boost from his base as he gears up for a reelection battle this year. But the Palestinians refuse to even speak to Mr Trump and they are calling on support from Arab leaders. The Palestinian leadership also has encouraged protests in the West Bank, raising fears that the announcement in Washington could spark a new round of violence. By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Europe's luxury brands want EU regulators to take a tougher line against online retailing giants like Amazon and Alibaba on issues like data protection and counterfeiting, the head of a leading industry group said. The call by Andreas Kaufmann, president of the European Cultural and Creative Industries Alliance (ECCIA) and chairman of Germany's Leica Camera AG, comes as the European Commission overhauls its regulatory and policy approach to tech companies. "The internet at the beginning was free for anyone. It's not now, it's driven by market power, it has to be regulated," Kaufmann told Reuters in an interview. Europe's luxury brands contribute about 800 billion euros ($887.5 billion) in revenue annually to the economy, accounting for 4% of its gross domestic product, and employ over 2 million people. They have long complained about tech companies free-riding on their investments and tarnishing their image. The ECCIA, which represents over 600 brands and cultural bodies, wants regulators to strengthen measures against big tech companies on issues like intellectual property rights and data protection. "The existing framework doesn't reflect what is best for our brands. Amazon for example gets information which we are not allowed to give to our distributors. Amazon collects and decides," Kaufmann said. The alliance, which is made up of groups in the cultural and creative industries in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, is hoping the Commission will take its views into account as it drafts rules known as the digital services act (DSA). "A well-functioning single market for digital services helps provide new opportunities for many traditional companies (in particular small or new companies)", a Commission document seen by Reuters said. The European Union should also focus on reducing tariffs in China, the United States, South America and India, Kaufmann said. ($1 = 0.9014 euros) (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Jan Harvey) A Chinese woman puts a protective mask on a young girl as they tour the grounds of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China, which remained open during the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival holiday on Jan. 27, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Philippines Halts Tourist Visas to Chinese Nationals The 2019 Novel Coronavirus, or the Wuhan coronavirus, has spread from China to 14 countries, including the United States, France, and Japan. Check back for updates. Philippines Halts Tourist Visas to Chinese Nationals The Philippines Bureau of Immigration said on Tuesday it will halt the issuing of tourist visas to Chinese nationals who arrive in the country to help stop the spread of 2019-nCoV. We are taking this proactive measure to slow down travel, and possibly help prevent the entry of the 2019-nCov, bureau commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement. Malaysia on Monday suspended issuing visas to Chinese nationals traveling from Hubei Province. Details About First Potential Super Spreader of Coronavirus Come to Light Details about the first potential super spreader of the Wuhan coronavirus have come to light. Some doctors who operated on a 69-year-old male patient, Zhao Junshi, on Jan. 7 contracted the coronavirus from human-to-human contact. They were unaware that Zhao was carrying the virus at the time of his operation. Zhao and the doctors who developed a fever a few days after the operation have been sent to Wuhan Union Hospital for isolation and treatment. Read more here. Japan Warns About Risks to Economy From Outbreak Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura warned on Tuesday that corporate profits and factory production might take a hit from the coronavirus outbreak in China that has rattled global markets and chilled confidence. Asian stocks extended a global selloff as the outbreak in China fueled concern over the damage to the worlds second largest economy. There are concerns over the impact to the global economy from the spread of infection in China, transportation disruptions, cancellation of group tours from China, and an extension in the Lunar Holiday, Nishimura told a news conference after a regular cabinet meeting. China is Japans second largest export destination and a huge market for its retailers. The Chinese make up 30 percent of all tourists visiting Japan and nearly 40 percent of the total sum foreign tourists spent last year, an industry survey showed. The outbreak could hit Japanese department stores, retailers, and hotels, which count on a boost to sales from an inflow of Chinese tourists visiting during the Lunar Holiday. Were worried that sales and the number of shoppers could fall if the outbreak persists, said a public relations official at Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, a major Japanese department store operator. Its not just about Chinese tourists. Were also worried that concern over the outbreak may keep Japanese shoppers home. Facebook, Others Restrict Business Travel to China as Warnings Grow Facebook Inc. and other global companies including LG Electronics Inc. and Standard Chartered Plc. announced they are restricting travel to China on Tuesday. Airlines are also cancelling flights and adjusting schedules as a growing number of countries raise travel warnings to not just Hubei province where the new coronavirus broke out, but also to the rest of mainland China. The United States warned on Monday that Americans should reconsider visiting all of China, while South Korea elevated its travel warning on Tuesday, advising its citizens to refrain from visiting China. South Korean home appliances maker LG has put a complete ban on travel to China and has advised employees on business trips in the country to return home as quickly as possible, a company spokeswoman said. South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. said it was urging employees to avoid all non-essential travel to China, while banking group Standard Chartered restricted travel to both mainland China and Hong Kong. In Germany, auto supplier Webasto, which has 11 sites in China, including in Wuhan, has halted all corporate travel to and from China following the virus and the infection of an employee. Japans Honda Motor Co Ltd. said it recommended employees avoid travel to China, while Nissan Motor Co. said it plans to evacuate its Japanese staff and their families in Wuhan via a government-chartered flight. As companies reassessed the risk of travel to China, some airlines said demand for flights was falling and they were adjusting schedules. Private Charities Banned From Lending Aid in Hubei Province Beijing has banned private charities and volunteers from entering Hubei Province, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, or sending materials to hospitals directly. Meanwhile, Chinese netizens complained on social media that officially sanctioned charity organizations were complicated and slow in their processing, delaying shipments to hospitals in Hubei. Its unclear why authorities made the decision. Read more here. Tibet Tourism Sites Closed to Prevent Virus Spread: State Media Chinas Tibet region has temporarily closed all tourist sites starting on Monday to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, official news agency Xinhua reported. Potala Palace in Tibet in a file photo. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images) Tianjin Says Will Set Up Dedicated Hospital to Treat Coronavirus Patients The city of Tianjin in northern China has said it will establish a dedicated hospital to treat people infected by the coronavirus as part of a wartime mechanism to fight the disease, a government-owned paper said on Tuesday, citing the local health commission. The city will move patients in the existing Haihe hospital to make 600 beds available at any time for potential patients. Wuhan Mayor Admits Mishandling of Crisis, Pushes Blame on Beijing The mayor of Wuhan City, Zhou Xianwang, admitted on Jan. 27 that the city government did not publish information in time and failed to properly contain the virus during a news segment on state broadcaster CCTV. Wuhan health authorities only confirmed the outbreak on Dec. 31, 2019, though the first patient was infected on Dec. 12. Zhou also revealed that more than five million people have left Wuhan in January, leaving many Chinese worried that these people have the potential to spread the virus widely. Read more here. Harvard Epidemiologist Says Chinese Regime Likely Underreporting Coronavirus Cases The Chinese regime is likely underreporting the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak, a Harvard epidemiologist has said in a recent study. Researchers found that self-sustaining human-to-human transmission is the only plausible explanation of the scale of the outbreak in Wuhan. Read more here. Insider Says Coronavirus Figures Much Higher Than Chinas Official Numbers The Wuhan coronavirus outbreak is far bigger than the official figures released by Chinese public health authorities are indicating, according to an insider and an independent journalist. The insider says that the true severity of the crisis has been covered up by a limited number of diagnosis kits available to Wuhan hospitals. Read more here. China Encourages People to Reconsider Timing of Overseas Travel to Curb Virus Spread Chinas National Immigration Administration encouraged citizens to reconsider the timing of overseas travel to reduce cross-border movement to help contain the new coronavirus, it said in a statement published on its official WeChat account on Tuesday. With reporting from Reuters. Semena received a copy of the ruling on January 28 and is now considered totally free. An RFE/RL contributor in Ukraine's Russia-controlled Crimea region has received court papers officially confirming the termination of his probation and the expunging of his criminal record. A court in Crimea's capital, Simferopol, on January 14 ruled to prematurely terminate the probation period and expunge the criminal record of Mykola Semena, who had been convicted of separatism on the peninsula, RFE/RL's Crimea Desk said. Read alsoRFE/RL: Russia bans Ukrainian journalist from entering Russian-occupied Crimea until 2054 Semena received a copy of the ruling on January 28 and is now considered totally free. Semena, who has contributed to RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) reporting project, was arrested by Crimea's Russia-imposed authorities in April 2016 and charged with acting against the "territorial integrity of the Russian Federation." He says the accusation was politically motivated and violated fundamental freedoms of expression and that Russian authorities based their case on an inaccurate translation of one of his stories from Ukrainian into Russian. In September 2017, a court convicted him and gave Semena a 2 1/2-year suspended sentence and banned him from "public activity" for three years. Three months later, a court that Russia calls the Supreme Court of Crimea upheld his conviction. The United States, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and international media watchdogs all condemned the trial and verdict. In December, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine asked President Volodymyr Zelensky to include the native Crimean journalist and five other colleagues on the list of people held captive in occupied territories for a prisoner exchange and be released to mainland Ukraine. New Delhi: In the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case on Tuesday (January 28), the Supreme Court will hear the plea of one of the death row convicts, Mukesh Kumar Singh, who on Monday moved the top court seeking urgent hearing on his plea against the dismissal of his mercy petition by President Ram Nath Kovind. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and comprising Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant said, "If somebody is going to be hanged, then nothing can be more urgent than this." Later in the day, the mentioning officer considered the urgency of Mukesh Singh`s plea and listed it before a three-judge bench comprising Justices R Bhanumathi, Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna. The plea will be heard at 12.30 pm on Tuesday. Live TV The court had asked Mukesh Singh's counsel to approach the mentioning officer as the hanging is scheduled on February 1. Mukesh Singh had moved the mercy petition before the President after the apex court had dismissed his curative petition against his death sentence. The court had also dismissed the curative petition of another death row convict, Akshay Thakur. The lower court has issued the warrant for the execution of death sentence for the convicts in the case that has been fixed for February 1 at 6 a.m. The other two convicts, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma, are yet to file curative petitions before the Supreme Court. A 23-year-old paramedical student was brutally gang-raped by six men (including a juvenile) in a moving bus in the national capital on a chilly night on December 16, 2012. One of the accused, out of five adults, Ram Singh, had committed suicide in the Tihar Jail during the trial of the case. The other three death row convicts, against whom the death warrants have already been issued are Pawan Kumar Gupta, Vinay Kumar Sharma, and Akshay Kumar Singh. (With Agency Inputs) Martin McVicar walks quickly along one of the four moving assembly lines at Combilift's vast factory in Monaghan, where one in 10 staff travel across the border from Northern Ireland to work. He stops for a quick chat here and to answer a query from a staff member there. "They grab me when they see me because I can be hard to get hold of," says the Combilift co-founder and managing director, as he zigzags through the 11 acres of internal space at the two-year-old 50m (42m) factory. At least 20 uncompleted forklift vehicles inch slowly but continuously along each one of four assembly lines that run across one part of the facility. "Here's one going to Australia, somewhere in the Sydney area," says Mr McVicar, pointing to one that is little more than a chassis. "This one's going to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to a company that does long laminate pieces of engineered wood. "The wheels on these vehicles are multi-directional so it allows them to move wide loads by turning them into long loads." Each forklift sells for about 40,000 to 50,000 (33,000 to 42,000). Last year, the company produced 6,850 forklifts for export to more than 85 countries. "I was in Egypt back in November. It's a very new market for us and I'm spending a lot more of my time in the developing countries, looking for new business. Next week, I'm in India," says Mr McVicar. The company's business plan sees it doubling every five years, so Mr McVicar fully expects turnover - 97% of which is generated from exports - to go from 300m (253m) in 2019 to 600m (506m) in five years, and to double every five years from any given point in time. "We're always planning five years ahead," he says. "I have to be realistic. There are always going to be unforeseen shocks and a five-year growth plan cannot take account of them. But if there are no major economic shocks, we could be hitting the billion (mark)within 10 years." The plant in Monaghan town opened in April 2018 to enable this ambition, and he proudly shows it off like a new homeowner would show off their dream house. "Our production output is about 50% higher now than it was two years ago when we moved in here. So we're on track," he notes. Mr McVicar is completely at home in the middle of all this machinery. He grew up on a family farm tucked in against the border close to Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone. "I had a real interest in farming but particularly the farm machinery," he says. He and Robert Moffett established Combilift, which was spun out of roles at Moffett Engineering, in 1998. The pair still own 50% of the company apiece. "Forklifts was all I knew from the age of 17, but we knew that we couldn't survive or progress just making normal forklifts. "It had to be something unique. And Robert had signed a non-compete agreement so we couldn't do truck-mounted forklifts," Mr McVicar recalls. As part of his Moffett role, Mr McVicar had been travelling the world, seeing all sorts of factories and warehouses. "It was plain to be seen that there were always space constraints in yards and warehouses, and that we should develop a forklift that could save space," he says. From that came the Combilift multi-directional forklift, which uses hydraulic wheels and a unique design to allow it to go forward, back, left and right, without the need to turn, allowing customers to handle long loads in small areas. "It was a narrow niche to focus on, but it allowed us to get established," says Mr McVicar. In its first year in business, Combilift sold 18 forklifts, 17 of them for export to Belgium, France and Norway. By year two, that had grown to 130 forklifts. It has steadily grown every year, with the exception of the global downturn in 2008-09, when it dropped 26%. Between 2009 and 2019, the company's production output quadrupled, helped by its move two years ago. The Monaghan plant employs more than 650 people, with a further 100 people employed overseas, and 280 people employed by supplier companies doing direct work for Combilift across Monaghan, Cavan and further afield. "Our vision is to double the size of the company every five years. We probably will need to expand the building over the next five years but, for now, we are still only operating a single shift, so there is plenty of room for growth." He says: "We have built this factory up so that we can mass-produce customised products. "For example, this one has a wider hydraulic fork position. The client wanted it for carrying a wider load, maybe roof trusses for example. We would have developed that customisation here in-house. "When we're selling these options, the key thing for us is to sell the vehicle. "Try it yourself," he says, jumping down off the vehicle. A minute and a quick lesson later, the extra-wide forklift is driving around the busy factory floor under unsteady but relatively calm control as Combilift workers look on, keeping a wary distance. "Park it over there," says Mr McVicar, not fazed in the slightest. "We can teach anyone to drive one of these; that's the secret." Tuy Sros, 34, was one of the hundreds of people at a land protest in late December last year, in the northwestern border province of Banteay Meanchey. The dispute was similar to other land conflicts in the country; villagers had been displaced from land they were living on and the authorities claimed they were illegally occupying the land. Most of the land disputants left the site of the protest, the provincial hall, after they were scattered away by military police personnel following two days of protests. But five protestors were arrested on the second day, December 28, and taken to the military police provincial office just next door. Four days later, Tuy Sros was pronounced dead and officials were quickly putting forward claims that he had been sick before his arrest and that he was an alcoholic. But two of the four people arrested with Tuy Sros told VOA Khmer they saw military police personnel beat up the farmer mercilessly, then continued to hit him later and refused to acknowledge his pleas for help or treatment. Domestic and international human rights NGOs have long decried the frequent use of torture as an interrogation technique in Cambodia, which has led to custodial deaths, severe abuse, and beatings in police stations and prisons. An Ruon, a rice farmer and one of the five arrested villagers, said he saw military police personnel kick Tuy Sros on his torso several times and that the beatings continued day and night for the four days they were in custody, mostly at the provincial military police office. The 59-year-old villager said even the military police officials noticed that Tuy Sros was potentially showing signs of traumatic brain injury, with a military police boss allegedly asking his officials to continue the beatings and that he would manage the situation if Tuy Sros died. The guard said that he [Tuy Sros] shouted, made noises and ran awkwardly, said An Ruon. The boss said to beat him and beat him to death. The allegations against the military police and the alleged impunity mirror incidents reported in the past. Last year, Preah Vihear resident and Sum Moeun disappeared for two months after he was arrested in January 2019 and beaten severely. A photograph of Sum Moeun, following his arrest, appears to show his face swollen and bruised. In 2017, three police officers from Kandal province were fired after severely beating two men during a traffic spat, leading to the death of one of the men. Back in Banteay Meanchey, Him Kiri, 45, said he too was beaten repeatedly and was only sent to the local hospital after vomiting blood. He said Tuy Sros seemed gripped with terror and out of control after the repeated beatings, exhibiting behaviors linked to severe trauma. He ran around awkwardly, looked through the door [of the cell], he was terrified, and shouted, Him Kiri said. This only resulted in another beating from the military police officials, Him Kiri said, adding that Tuy Sros then began crying out for his mother. He shouted for his mother to help and then was unconscious, Him Kiri said. He was unconscious three times. He was severely beaten on the stomach. All four villagers arrested with Tuy Sros maintained that he was beaten over and over again, even after officials noticed signs of severe trauma. But, provincial authorities and military police were quick to release a statement on January 2, blaming the death on Tuy Sros alleged alcoholism and his deteriorating health prior to the arrest on December 28. His wife, Buy Kimlak, said her husband did drink but was not an alcoholic, and that he had no pre-existing health problems. She added that it wasnt hard to ascertain the cause of death with all the bruising on his body. When my husband left home, he was fine. His body is normally strong like others, said Buy Kimlak, 35. His dead body had several bruises and on his face, as well. Buy Kimlak is the mother of 14-year-old Sros Vorleak and earns an income by producing and selling charcoal, and buying poultry from local villagers to sell at the market. Tuy Sros was part of a group of villagers that had occupied the contested land before they were informed that it was privately owned. They wanted provincial authorities to find them alternative land, which was rejected by local officials, leading to the heated protest. Buy Kimlak said that they were first unaware the land belonged to a private owner and they only wanted an alternative piece of land to farm on. We are poor that is why I went to occupy the land, she said. Despite the contentious nature of land protests in Cambodia and the constant volley of accusations, there has been sustained outcry surrounding Tuy Sros death. Especially, given that the European Commission is expected to issues its final decision on whether to suspend trade privileges on account of Cambodias deteriorating human rights record. The case, unusually, even garnered the attention of Prime Minister Hun Sen who on January 14 ordered an investigation into the death, adding that torture was unacceptable. If [the torture] is true, those who caused that death will be punished and cant be forgiven, Hun Sen said, during an annual gathering with Cambodian journalists. I already told people in the land dispute that they cant be detained if they dont violate any crimes, he added. A prominent Aboriginal businesswoman has been removed from the government's Indigenous advisory group after allegedly providing a contentious letter to prominent News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt. Aboriginal businesswoman Josephine Cashman. Credit:Justin McManus In a blog post, Bolt cited the letter as being authored by Yolngu elder Terry Yumbulul, in which he appeared to denounce Aboriginal historian Bruce Pascoe and his bestselling book, Dark Emu. Mr Yumbulul has denied writing the letter, which purported to argue against Mr Pascoe's claims that Indigenous Australians had their own systems of food production, agriculture and land management prior to colonisation. There are no ancient creation stories in our heritage about Aboriginal settlements and there is no evidence of it in our art, languages or songlines, read the 1400-word letter, published by Bolt on January 26. Drawing on their passion for technology and programming, two students from Vietnam National University have succeeded in creating a Magic Spoon which can help people with tremors or Parkinsons disease. Dang Hai Ninh, 21, and Nguyen Duc Kien, 20, from the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), incorporated engineering, Internet of Things, data analysis and machine learning in their special utensil. Dang Hai Ninh (first, left) and Nguyen Duc Kien, (second, right) from the University of Engineering and Technology under Vietnam National University won first prize at the Hackathon 2019, an annual science and technology competition for students from Southeast Asian countries The invention helped them win first prize at the IEEE SEACAS Hackathon 2019 an annual science and technology competition organised by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - Circuits and Systems Society (IEEE CAS) for students, trainees and graduate students from Southeast Asian countries. The competition was jointly held by the IEEE CAS and the Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing with the participation of groups of students from Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam in December last year. "At first, we came to Malaysia with the idea of making equipment to monitor heart rate and check the health of the elderly, Kien told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. However, after a day of testing, the jury said the competitions main topic was helping the elderly in daily activities, including bathing, personal hygiene and mobility. The pair stayed up until 2am the next day. They even phoned tutors, seeking guidance. Then Ninh suggested making a magic spoon so that people with tremors and Parkinsons disease could pick up food and eat more easily. Its hard for people with tremors and Parkinson's disease to feed themselves. With this special spoon they will be able to eat without support from others," Ninh said. The theme of this year's competition was looking towards a smart society and the goal of sustainable development by 2030. Specifically, elderly citizens are a concern for researchers. Participants were asked to study and develop products which help the elderly in daily activities. They had three days to brainstorm ideas, develop and build their products. Then they presented their ideas and a product demo before an international jury board. Kien said although he has a lot of experience speaking before the public, he was nervous as it took 15-20 minutes for the board to question other teams but only 10 minutes for him. "At that time, I was very worried. The jury normally asked a lot of questions. However, when it was my turn, they didnt ask any more questions. They just listened to my explanation. Then the head of the jury board a French man nodded and gave us the score, he said. According to Kien, the "Magic Spoon" identifies the tremors in older people based on multi-dimensional sensors. Instead of conventional control techniques, they use artificial intelligence to aid its response to movements. Hand vibrations are recorded and kept in a database and displayed on mobile phones. As a result, doctors and family members can monitor and recommend appropriate measures. The Magic Spoon was appreciated by IEEE CASs experts for its creativity. Kien said the product was being finalised for a follow-up contest, adding that they have been invited to participate in the IEEE CAS student design competition held in Seville, Spain in May 2020. VNS The White House disclosed on Jan. 28 details of a call between President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, noting the two leaders discussed a wide array of contentious issues troubling the two NATO allies. Erdogans office issued its own readout of the call, framing it as a courtesy call in the wake of the earthquake that struck eastern Turkey over the weekend. The Turkish statement downplayed the geopolitical issues the White House said Trump raised, ranging from Libya to tensions in the eastern Mediterranean to Syria. Why it matters: White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said that Trump and Erdogan discussed the need to eliminate foreign interference and maintain the cease-fire in Libya. Erdogan announced earlier this month that Turkish troops are deploying to Libya to support the internationally recognized government based in Tripoli as it fends off an assault from Khalifa Hifter, a warlord backing a rival government in the east. Ankara has also deployed some 2,000 Syrian rebel fighters to Libya to push back against Hifter, who enjoys military backing from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia. The United States recognizes the embattled United Nations-backed government but opposes Turkeys military buildup in the volatile country. And Trump lauded Hifters significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libyas oil resources in a phone call last year, shortly after the eastern warlord began the Tripoli offensive. Deere said that Trump also highlighted the importance of Turkey and Greece resolving their disagreements in the eastern Mediterranean. The president signed a law last month sidelining Turkey in its maritime dispute with Cyprus as Ankara drills for natural gas off the coast of the disputed island. The White House did stress one point of consensus between the two allies, as the leaders agreed that the violence being carried out in Idlib, Syria, must stop. Turkish-backed rebels are fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia in their ongoing offensive on Idlib, which has killed more than 1,000 civilians and displaced some 40,000 others. Whats next: The United States and Turkey must still contend with myriad contentious issues, including Ankaras purchase and testing of the Russian S-400 missile defense system against US-made aircraft. Know more: Follow Al-Monitor to stay abreast of the escalating foreign military buildup in Libya. Egypt has recently redeployed its aerial assets closer to the Libyan border in an apparent response to Turkeys deployments. Al-Monitor has the story here. PREM Information Filter by Category All Company Announcement - General Additional Listing AIM Admission AIM Notice Base Rate Change Block Listing Interim Review Capital Reorganisation Change of Name Conversion of Securities Drilling/Production Report Final Announcement Released Geographical Distribution Intention to Float Issue of Debt Issue of Equity Joint Venture Net Asset Value Portfolio Update Price Monitoring Extension Product Launch Publication of a Prospectus Publication of Final Terms Research Update Restoration Rights Issue Stabilisation Notice Statement Suspension Tender Offer Trading Statement Treasury Stock All Mergers, Acquisitions and Disposals Acquisition Merger Form 8 (DD) Form 8 (OPD) Form 8.3 Form 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI) Form 8.5 (EPT/RI) Form 8.6 Rule 2.9 Announcement Offer By Offer For Offer Update All Results and Trading Reports 1st Quarter Results 3rd Quarter Results AGM Statement Annual Report Final Results Half-year Report Notice of Results Result of AGM Result of EGM Result of Equity Issue Result of General Meeting Result of Tender Offer Syndicate Results All Dividends Dividend Declaration Dividend Currency Election All Executive Changes Directorate Change Change of Adviser Change of Registered Office All Directors' Dealings Director/PDMR Shareholding All Advance Notice of Results Notice of AGM Notice of GM Notice of EGM Notice of Results All Non-Regulatory News All Transaction in Own Shares All Holding(s) in Company Total Voting Rights Notification of Major Holdings MILL VALLEY (BCN) A report about a person wearing a black mask and possibly carrying a rifle behind Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley caused a lockdown and shelter in place Monday afternoon, police said. Officers responded around 1:50 p.m. to a report about a possible gunman wearing black clothes on Almonte Boulevard around 1:50 p.m. Another person reported seeing a suspect wearing a mask and similar clothing near parked vehicles but a gun was not seen, police said. Police and Marin County sheriff's deputies checked the area for a gunman and a white car, and authorities issued a shelter in place order that included a lockdown of the high school and Mill Valley Middle School. Law enforcement agencies throughout the county searched the high school and surrounding area, and witnesses confirmed the suspect and vehicle left the area, police said. Mill Valley Middle School students were released at their regular 2:30 p.m. time, and after an extensive search of the high school, the lockdown and shelter in place was lifted there, police said. Police said the suspicious person was not identified or located, and rumors about an associated armed bank robbery were unfounded. The Marin County Sheriff's Office is investigating the case. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Chinese travelers wear protective masks as they wait before boarding a train before the annual Spring Festival at a Beijing railway station on Jan. 23, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Is the New Coronavirus the Black Swan of 2020? The economic impact of the fast-spreading virus may be worldwide Commentary Is it too early to start thinking about how the global outbreak of the new coronavirus will affect the worlds economy? With the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 454 pointsa 1.6 percent declineon Jan. 27, its reasonable to think that more disruptions could be on the way. And though we dont know yet the scale or duration of this deadly disease, if the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak is any indication, then economic stresses are unavoidable. The question is, how bad could it get? Coronavirus Is Salt in Chinas Wounded Economy As China enforces the biggest quarantine in history, with 17 cities at a standstill, such a massive event cant help but influence economic metrics. Mandating millions of people to stay home as a way to prevent further spread of the virus means that people arent working or out shopping. Thats adding salt to an already wounded Chinese economy. Furthermore, although millions of people have taken the week off for the Chinese New Year celebrations, Chinese authorities are extending the time of absence to Feb. 9. Schools will remain closed for even longer, with sporting and religious events canceled. Nobody in those cities is going anywhere. Of course, the virus two-week incubation period, when it is also contagious, makes a delayed return to work a sensible precaution. Thats a big factor, too, because the SARS virus was not contagious during its incubation period. At the very least, China should expect a contraction in its consumer spending from these actions. The economic damage could be as much as a 1 percent drop in Chinas 2020 GDP, according to Economist Business Intelligence Unit figures. But that estimate is based on the effect that the SARS virus outbreak had on a much smaller Chinese economy. Chinas economy is much larger today, but then, the new coronavirus is bigger, too. Will the New Coronavirus Be Worse Than SARS? The current situation may, in fact, have the potential to become much worse than the SARS episode. For one, its virulence is accelerating as it mutates to become more adaptable to human beings. No one yet knows how much that will raise its level of contagion or danger to human life. Secondly, as noted above, its contagious during its two-week incubation period. And, according to Yi Guan, Chinas most celebrated virologist, they have already missed the golden window of containment for the new coronavirus. Containing it will come at a much higher cost and could take much longer. Third, China is working around the clock to add or free up 100,000 hospital beds in Hubei Provincewhich is ground zero for the outbreakto address the anticipated need. None of these factors bode well for a quick resolution. Indeed, some are already saying that the spread of the new coronavirus may lead to a worldwide recession. Big Questions Need to Be Answered That could be the case, although it seems premature to be calling it a certainty. One of the reasons we dont know is that China hasnt been forthcoming in providing critical information. For example, they have yet to divulge the actual number of infected people and how many have actually died from the new virus. There are other big questions that need answers. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has yet to provide the world with a credible source of the virus. Was it from the close proximity of multiple species of wild animals in the large, open market in Wuhan, or the Level 4 bio-weapons lab 20 miles away? Regional Economies Affected by Negative News At the same time, other regional economies dependent on China will likely feel the economic pain from the outbreak. Some are already feeling it. Unfortunately, the positive news of Chinas phase one trade agreement with the United States is already forgotten, overshadowed by this evolving health crisis. If the crisis continues to expand, the phase one deal may be over before it even begins. The positive impact of the relocation of supply chains out of China into neighboring countries has also been undercut by the emergence of the coronavirus contagion. With the confirmation of cases in Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea, travel and trade levels are shrinking a bit in the region. A Black Swan Event? At the outset, I mentioned the 1.6 percent drop in the Dow as a potential precursor of things to come. That could well be. The outbreak may just be the last and unforeseen brick that breaks the backor just the confidenceof the global economy. Were not there yet, but perhaps on the way. Were seeing global capital markets spooked, travel restrictions being put in place, and information being withheld, especially from China. Uncertainty grows in such a climate. And as the virus continues to gain strength, cases appear in more countries, and nations evacuate their people from infected areas, todays trading partners may not be partners tomorrow. That isnt a positive global economic climate in which to promote growth. In such instances, fearwell-founded or notoverrides greed, and that means a slowing global economy could be just ahead. No one saw this coming, and at this stage, no one sees it ending, either. For China, if not the rest of the world, the Year of the Rat may well turn out to be the Year of the Black Swan. James Gorrie is a writer and speaker based in Southern California. He is the author of The China Crisis. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. What may come as a disappointment for many, actor David Schwimmer has brushed aside the speculation about the reunion of the original cast from the highly celebrated -- Friends -- TV series. Instead, Schwimmer insisted upon a reboot that would include a new and more diverse lineup of actors, reported Fox News. The 53-year-old actor, who played the character of Ross Geller in the sitcom for 10 seasons often, gets bugged about getting the whole crew together for a 'Friends' rehash, quite similar to NBC's 'Will & Grace'. According to Fox News, the actor told The Guardian that he sees no valid reason to resurrect the 90s TV series. He told the outlet that "I just don't think it's possible, given everyone's different career trajectories." "I think everyone feels the same: Why mess with what felt like the right way to end the series? I don't want to do anything for the money. It would have to make sense creatively and nothing I've heard so far presented to us makes sense," Schwimmer further said. The actor doesn't feel the need for a 'Friends' reboot to catch up with his former fellow actors as long as they continue meeting up every now and then. Schwimmer rooted for diversity and inclusiveness even back in the days when he was filming for the series. Hence he expects to see the same if a 'Friends' revival does come to fruition. Elaborating upon his push for a diverse cast, Schwimmer said: "Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends. But I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of colour. One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Words by David Hughes A network of drone R&D sites in the USA being led from Alaska is developing the technologies to enable the next generation of drone operations. ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> If you want to prove your drone can inspect a bridge in the middle of nowhere, fly hundreds of pounds of supplies into a remote airport, search for wildlife, inspect a pipeline, look for a missing boy or survey a wildfire, where do you go? The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) had already been testing drones for civil aviation use for 12 years when the FAA selected it as one of its UAS test sites in 2013. Recently, Alaska became the site for the first FAA-approved flight of a civil drone beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) without human observers on the ground. During the flight test on July 31 this year, operators flew a Skyfront Perimeter Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) quadcopter about six kilometers for 30 minutes along the Alyeska trans-Alaska pipeline. During the flight operators used onboard and ground-based detection systems to avoid other aircraft. BVLOS operation is the holy grail for the development of small drones. Once it can be achieved safely, drones can carry out inspections or deliver packages to homes remotely and autonomously even at night or while flying over people. This requires detect and avoid technology (D&A). The drone industry and the FAA are working to come up with a technical means for a drone to detect and avoid other drones and aircraft without being piloted by a human. Data vision sources The Perimeter UAV used for the first FAA-approved BVLOS flight was equipped with an Iris Automation Casia electro-optical sensor that can see and identify a Cessna at two kilometers. It uses an off-the-shelf camera and computer vision software. Alexander Harmsen, the CEO of Casia, the Silicon Valley start-up that invented the sensor, says it has already showed its superiority over human vision during a different exercise in Alaska. In that test, it detected a Cessna converging on a drone at low altitude from different angles 95% of the time before human observers on the aircraft spotted the Cessna. For the BVLOS test, UAF researchers mounted Echodyne phased array radars on the ground as backup sensors. Echodyne makes a compact, solid-state, beam-steering radar sensor using Metamaterial Electronically Scanning Array (MESA) technology. Metamaterials are composites made using printed circuit board manufacturing processes with materials like plastic and metal to produce geometric properties that can manipulate electromagnetic waves. Echodyne is a four-year old startup based in the Seattle area backed by Bill Gates and other investors. The radar can detect a Cessna at three kilometers and a small drone at nearly a kilometer. And then while tracking a target, or as many as 15, it can scan for other targets using multiple beams. The 1.25kg unit measures 20.3 x 16.3 x 4cm and provides coverage of 120 in azimuth and 80 in elevation. Echodyne is marketing the ground version for infrastructure security applications. It has also developed a smaller airborne version that can see weather as well as aircraft. Drones can also be equipped with small ADS-B In receivers to detect any manned aircraft broadcasting on ADS-B Out. Or they can be equipped with ADS-B Out so the flight test team on the ground can easily track the whereabouts of the drones. These ADS-B components are becoming smaller. Montana, USA-based startup uAvionix makes ADS-B equipment the size of a US postage stamp, 63cm thick. The miniaturization of drone avionics and sensors is being driven in part by the military, which wants to put increasingly advanced capabilities on drones, including electronic warfare tasks. The founder of uAvionix has lots of electronics miniaturization experience from his time as a chief technology at a Silicon Valley chip manufacturer. Drone sensing Each drone expert interviewed for this article agreed that an effective detect and avoid system in a UAV requires more than one sensor and that there will be no single solution. We know the FAA likes redundancy, says Cathy Cahill from UAF, who directed the research team that conducted the recent BVLOS pipeline flight test. The test team deployed eight Echodyne radars on the ground, four of them owned by the university. Everybody knows that safety is paramount and flight test organizations cannot afford to have drones interfere with or collide with manned aircraft if the BVLOS tests are to continue. The drone in the pipeline test had to stay just 400ft above the pipeline and flew up and down hills maintaining the correct altitude. When it took off at the start, the drone immediately disappeared over the lip of a ridge to follow the pipeline descending a hillside. One additional challenge of testing in Alaska is that pilots often fly below 400ft and think pipelines are something to follow. In addition, pilots, such as hunters may also choose to not turn ADS-B Out on when they are scouting. According to Cahill, scud running at low level below clouds is a problem and is why a lot of accidents occur in Alaska. Up here, IFR stands for I Follow Rivers not for Instrument Flight Rules, she says. The university is also part of the FAAs UAS Center for Excellence program. The universitys Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI), which is run by Cahill, was also picked for a new FAA-led project called the Integration Pilot Program (IPP). The IPP was formed in 2017 to help the FAA devise new rules, policy and guidance for low-altitude UAV operations. ACUASI also leads the Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex (PPUTRC), a partnership of test ranges and experts in the USA, including sites in Oregon and Hawaii also known as the Pan-Pacific Partnership. Alaskan applications Alaska has one of the greatest needs for drone operations to take over hazardous duty from manned aircraft in the USA. As is the case elsewhere in the USA. there is a pilot shortage in Alaska as older, experienced pilots in the state retire. And Cahill notes, every now and then Alaska loses a pilot and a wildlife biologist on a wildlife counting mission that could just as easily be done by a drone if only the BVLOS problem is solved. The FAA has not established rules and regulations yet for BVLOS even though it allows a few programs with waivers. Every test of D&A technology and techniques in Alaska and at the other FAA sites and tests contribute data to understanding what suite of sensors can do the job to help drones avoid collisions. The ultimate goal in Alaska that may take a decade or more to solve is for drones to serve remote villages with deliveries rather than manned aircraft. More than 80% of Alaskas communities cant be reached by road and 169 of them depend entirely on aircraft for the delivery of goods and services. Many of these communities are poor, but the cost of air shipment on manned aircraft means a gallon of milk costs US$12. Jimmy Parrish, business director for ACUASI says, One of our big goals up here is large scale cargo delivery. We see small package delivery as a novelty. Most of these remote communities depend on air taxi and commuter aircraft operating under FAA Part 135 rules. A string of accidents during the summer prompted the NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt to hold a safety roundtable with 100 aircraft operators, safety experts, industry associations and tribal leaders at the University of Alaska Anchorage in September. By that point Alaska had experienced one of its worst air safety years ever with 63 accidents and 32 deaths. The number of Part 135 fatal accidents in Alaska is troubling, he said at the event, noting the difficult terrain, bad weather and limited infrastructure. Its easy to say Alaska is different, but that doesnt excuse it, Sumwalt added. We need to do better. Between January 2008 and June 2019, 80 people died in 207 accidents involving Part 135 operations in the state. The effect of the accidents is to create more urgency in Alaska to progress the use of unmanned aircraft, especially for hazardous missions such as flying over frigid oceans that border the state to count endangered whales. If an aircraft goes down in the ocean, the chances of the pilot surviving are not good. The whole UAV movement is being held up by some of the BVLOS limitations, says Cahill, who hopes that progress is made soon by the FAA in defining how this can and should be done in routine operations. We need to break through on BVLOS to enable longer range and duration missions, she adds. Alternate test ranges Alaska already has plenty of wide-open spaces, rugged terrain, mountains and extreme weather conditions where the flight tests can be conducted. But developers and operators may need more than the few hours of sunlight a day that Alaska offers during winter to test their drones. As the leader of the Pan-Pacific Partnership, Cahill can refer drone operators and related manufacturers to her colleagues in Hawaii. For example, HAPSMobile, a joint venture of AeroVironment and Japans Softbank, plans to fly its HAWK30 solar powered unmanned aircraft into the stratosphere. What better place to launch the HAWK30 with its impressive 79.2m wingspan than from a grass field on the Hawaiian Island of Lanai. The site used to be a pineapple field. The electric HAWK30 is powered by solar panels on top of its wings. Hawaii UAS Test Ranger director Ted Ralston said the purpose of the planned HAWK30 flight tests starting next year will be to check airworthiness, solar performance, system reliability, communications payload functionality and certification parameters. The mission of HAWK30 is to serve as a high altitude pseudo-satellite to provide 5G connectivity by flying in the stratosphere at around 65,000ft for missions lasting several months. Ralston says the Alaska test teams experience with air traffic compliance, operations management and aviations Safety Management System discipline is helping his Hawaiian team with drone testing. He adds that the entire drone community needs to embrace this type of aerospace discipline and the use of metrics to get everything to work correctly. At another FAA test site at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, engineering manager Henry Cathey says he often works with the Alaska test site on cooperative efforts such as testing detect and avoid capabilities. The university affiliated New Mexico UAS Flight Test Center has a 15,000ft2 hangar at Las Cruces International Airport supporting UAV testing with drones flying over 15,000 square miles of southwestern New Mexico at altitudes of up to 19,999ft. The Alaska and New Mexico test sites complement one another by allowing drone operators to conduct flights in the middle of the summer in New Mexico and the middle of winter in Alaska. So if drone developers want to experience fire and ice the Pan-Pacific partnership is the place to be. This is how Alaska and its team members are making important contributions to the testing of drones as the FAA tries to enable the future with the many benefits of widespread commercial operations. From the pre-2002 days (before power distribution was privatised) when there were frequent power cuts in Delhi to the current 24X7 supply scenario, electricity supply and bills have always been an election issue in Delhi. In 2013, when the Aam Aadmi Party emerged on Delhis political horizon, one of the most enduring images was that of Arvind Kejriwal climbing a ladder to connect power supply of those who had participated in his partys power satyagraha against the then Sheila Dikshit government. On AAPs call, hundreds, mostly in working class neighbourhoods, had refused to pay power bills, alleging they were inflated to help power discoms. Cracking down, the companies had disconnected the supply to their houses. Power has topped the election agenda in Delhi ever since. Riding on the promise of bijli half, paani maaf, AAP stormed to power in 2015, winning 67 of the 70 seats. In 2020, the AAP has upped its game. Six months ago, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced free electricity to those consuming either up to 200 units or getting a bill of up to Rs 800 a month. For those consuming between 201-400 units, the government announced a discount of up to Rs 800 on every domestic connection bill. In the last four and a half years of AAP government, an average 4.2 million households have benefited from the power subsidy scheme. This means nearly 80% of the total 5.2 million domestic consumers in Delhi had availed the 50% subsidy. This has forced the AAP rivals -- the BJP and the Congress, who had been criticising the power and water subsidies as freebies being doled out by the Delhi government, to announce the extension of these benefits, if they are voted to power. The revised subsidy costs the Delhi government Rs 2,250 crore a year. But, it has increased the coverage of beneficiaries from about 80% of the total domestic consumers to 90%. In the month of December (when air-conditioners are switched off), it even touched about 95%, said Satyendar Jain, Delhis power minister. Political experts say seeing the number of families benefiting from the scheme, it will be a big risk for other political parties to talk of discontinuing such a scheme. The AAP has set a precedent with such a populist move and no party can risk not offering the same if voted to power. Perhaps that is why we can even see a gradual shift in the poll narrative set by the BJP and the Congress. From being dismissive about such polices by calling it freebies, they are now talking about offering more than what Kejriwal is giving, said Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). Unlike the AAP, the BJP has been speaking in different voices on power subsidy. While Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari had said that the party will give five times more benefits than what the AAP government is promising, Union minister Prakash Javadekar, in-charge of Delhi elections, was quick to dismiss it. The partys national general secretary Anil Jain had targeted the AAP for freebies and said that the party will soon launch a campaign -- Dilli ka Swabhiman. The party had planned to go with the line Dilli bikau nahi hai (Delhiites are not for sale). Other senior leaders and Delhi MPs such as Parvesh Verma have suggested that a token amount of Re 1 be levied on those getting power and water free so that the self respect of consumers is not hurt. While the BJP is yet to clear its stand on power subsidy, the party in its 2013 assembly election manifesto had promised 30% reduction in power tariff. The Congress, on the other hand, has announced it will increase the cap on the consumption-based subsidy from the existing 400 units to 600 units. NOT JUST FOR THE POOR The revised power subsidy scheme has enabled the AAP government to benefit a wider section of the consumers, which now also include affluent colonies. In upscale colonies such Greater Kailash-I, Panchsheel Enclave, Vasant Kunj and Jangpura one can find many families, mostly those having a maximum of three members, who have either received a bill of Rs 0 or discounts of up to Rs 800. Rama Gupta, 66, a resident of S-Block, GK-I, rushed to her bedroom to get her mobile phone when asked about the power bill of her house. See the net payable amount here. It reads Rs 0.35. The units used were 178. This is my bill of November, 2019. For December also, our bill was similar. This has never happened before, she said showing the bills on her phone. Gupta and her husband have been living in the neighbourhood for more than five decades now. In November 2018, she said her bill was Rs 1,300 for nearly the same units used. I feel even well-to-do families deserve such subsidies because we all pay so much in taxes, she said. But, her brother-in-law who lives with his wife a floor above disagreed and demanded that the Delhi government launch a scheme where the subsidised amount can be surrendered back. A scheme similar to the Central governments LPG surrender scheme should be introduced. We are willing to pay our full bill. The subsidy should go to those for whom saving of even 500 matters , said MK Gupta resident of S-block who got a subsidy of over 700 last month. Further South, Bimla, 61, a resident of Ambedkar Camp slum in Ambedkar Nagar whose daughter works as a domestic help in the area, said the savings from their power bills have helped them get more aata (wheat flour) and also some onions this time. Atta 2 kilo, aur thoda pyaaz le aaye, she said. PROBLEM FOR TENANTS On September 25 last year, Kejriwal announced the Mukhyamantri Kirayedaar Bijli Meter Yojna that allowed tenants to avail of the governments power bill waivers and subsidies by applying for prepaid meters. But even after four months since the scheme was introduced, only 240 households living on rent have availed it, data from the three major power distribution companies (BRPL, BYPL and TPDDL) in Delhi stated. Deepak Rastogi, 32, a resident of Patparganj, said he had applied for the prepaid meter under the scheme but the process did not come through for inadequate documentation. I provided an ID proof of my old address. To avail the scheme they need an ID of the new address, he said. Under the scheme, instead of providing an NOC from the house owner, the tenants are required to produce an identification document having that address and a rent agreement or receipt. Like Rastogi, several other residents said providing an ID proof having the same address (where the prepaid meter is to be installed) is turning out to be a problem. Earlier, there was a provision for tenants to get separate meters and avail the subsidy schemes. But, that would require acquiring a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the landlord, which was often denied for fear of alleged encroachment of the properties. LOWER FIXED CHARGES Pramod Deo, former chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and expert on the matter, explained how even households having higher consumption are now getting discounted bills. All households are getting reduced power bills also because the fixed charges for those consuming up to 1,200 units were reduced by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission in July last year, he said. Deo, however, said continuing subsidies for long could negatively impact the regulatory assets of the discoms. Regulatory asset is the gap between the expenses shown by the discoms and the revenue from consumers through electricity bills. The subsidy money is being paid to them (discoms) upfront by the government. But, the regulatory assets for Delhi discoms are still pegged at over 8,000 crore. So, it has to be seen how long such subsidies can last, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A very sad announcement... Walter "Sky" Goldstein one of the staff of the Jewish Pavilion, beloved by all, has passed away. He touched so many people's hearts. He surely will be missed. Before he past, he made it known that he wanted no tears but he wanted to be remembered for his gift of song. We will keep Sky and his family in our prayers. He will never be forgotten. A deserving honor... I read this just weeks ago in the World Jewry Digest and pass it along in part: WJC President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER honored the chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, ANGELA MERKEL, with the organization's 2019 Theodore Herzl Award, which recognizes outstanding individuals who work to promote Herzl's ideals for a safer, more tolerant world for the Jewish people. The award ceremony took place at the Jewish community center in Munich, co-hosted by the Jewish Community of Munich and upper Bavaria and WJC Commissioner for Holocaust Memory, Dr. CHARLOTTE KNOBLOCH. Chancellor Merkel expressed gratitude for the honor, saying "It is humbling that I, as a German chancellor, can receive the Theodor Herzl Award. Jewish life in Germany must be supported and protected." Recalling the attack on the synagogue in Halle over Yom Kippur and calling it a "heinous crime that fills us with utmost shame," Chancellor Merkel said, "These are deeply troubling developments; they are directed at Jews in our country, but by no means only them. Because they attack us all: Jews and non-Jews alike, everything that our country stands on, our values and our freedoms. They hit at the core of our shared existence, because they flow from a deep hatred of democracy. We must never accept the fact that people in Germany must live in fear because of their religious convictions. We must do everything in our power to make sure they can live their lives free and safe. Anti-Semitism and racism do not begin with violent acts; it is much subtler. We must make sure not to wake up only after words have become deeds." In presenting the award, Ambassador Lauder underscored the progress made in post-war Germany to rebuild itself and eradicate its dark past. "You, Chancellor Merkel, are the icon of this incredible success. You are the symbol of all that is good in post-war Germany. You are the guartdian of democracy, the guardian of civilization and the guardian of Europe... you have always supported the Jewish community in this country. You have always stood by Israel." But amid this great progress, Lauder added that "the ancient hate against the Jews is rearing its ugly head again all over Europe," at violent levels unprecedented since 1945." He continued, "We must stand united against anti-Semitism, racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia and homophobia. We must fight the haters of every people and of all people. And it's up to all of us to take action now." Oy vay! Now I'm so depressed... (I must change the subject!) Recently I had a chance meeting at TooJay's Restaurant. I overheard a conversation complaining about the high caloried, sumptuous cheesecake the man at the next table was devouring. That man was ROBERT GELLER, a charming and fun-loving gentleman. The cheesecake was returned to the head chef and all the calories were removed! (Sure,Sure!) Robert was business partners with the late, wonderful Joe Wittenstein. They were the first Jewish CPA firm in Central Florida. Robert's wife also passed away after a loving 70-year marriage. We spoke for a while and I found out that he also grew up in Brooklyn. Although in his 90s, Robert keeps active and busy. (Maybe that's why he looks so young!) We also have things in common, mainly the love of jazz. (A music lover! YES!!) And speaking of music... On Sunday, Jan. 26th, fabulous talent, DAN JORDAN will be featured at the Altamonte Jazz Chapel, 825 Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs. The music begins at 12:30 and goes to 2:30 p.m. Our own ALAN ROCK is host. (My absolute favorite, Brazilian music will be featured! My agent is Brazilian and always books me there. I absolutely love the country, the people and THE MUSIC!) A reminder about an event too good to miss... On Thursday, Jan. 30th, there will be a one-woman show featuring the magnificent Dr. RUTH WESTHEIMER. It is titled "Becoming Dr. Ruth." It will be held at the Orlando Shakes Theater, 812 East Rollins Street, Orlando beginning at 7:30 p.m. (To tour the theater, arrive at 6:30 p.m.) For tickets and other information, phone the Jewish Federation, 407-645-5933. Winter Park Playhouse... The Main Stage Series features the off-Broadway 60's musical "Beehive." It will be performed through Feb. 22nd at the Winter Park Playhouse, 711 N. Orange Avenue, Winter Park. For information, phone the theater at 407-645-0145 JCC39ers Cinema Sundays... On Sunday, Jan. 26th at 2 p.m. in the Senior Lounge of the Maitland JCC, the featured film will be "The Leisure Seekers," starring Helen Mirren. Refreshments will be available. JCC39ers Game Day Tuesdays... At 1 p.m. in the Maitland JCC Senior Lounge, folks get together to play many games, Mahjong, Dominoes, Canasta, Pinochle and Bridge. (What? No Poker? That's the only game I know how to play!) But I'm told anyone is welcome to get a game together and join in! Jewish Community Center, Maitland... For "Get Fit At The J" you can check their website for current schedule. One for the road... Rivkah, a very attractive and shapely 18-year-old, is in the local surgery waiting to see Doctor Myers. Her elderly bubbeh is with her. When Rivkah's name is called, they go into the doctor's office. Robert Geller "And how can I help you today, Rivkah?" asks Doctor Myers. "We've come in for an examination, doctor," she replies. "OK, Rivkah," says the now smiling Doctor Myers, "could you please go behind the curtain over there, take off your clothes and lie down on the bed. Then I'll be over to examine you." "Oh no doctor," says Rivkah, "you've got it wrong. It's not me that needs to be examined. It's my bubbeh here who does." The smile on Doctor Myers face dissolves as he says to the bubbeh, "Oh, OK then. Please come over here, stick out your tongue and say ahhhh." (This reminds me of one year ago when I went to the hospital and wanted a face lift. I was given a heart valve instead!) Ring Facebook/Ring An Amazon software engineer named Max Eliaser said the home-security company Ring should be "shut down immediately." "The privacy issues are not fixable with regulation and there is no balance that can be struck," Eliaser said. Eliaser's comments were part of a post in which hundreds of Amazon employees shared their views on various company policies and products. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. An Amazon engineer criticized the home-security camera company Ring, saying it should be "shut down immediately." "The deployment of connected home security cameras that allow footage to be queried centrally are simply not compatible with a free society," Max Eliaser, an Amazon software-development engineer, said in a post published on Medium on Sunday. "The privacy issues are not fixable with regulation and there is no balance that can be struck. Ring should be shut down immediately and not brought back." Eliaser's comments are striking because Ring is owned by Amazon, whose corporate employees rarely speak out against the company. (Amazon bars employees from speaking about the company without prior approval.) Amazon and Ring did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Amazon acquired Ring, which makes video doorbells and home security cameras, in 2018. The camera company has recently faced scrutiny over privacy issues, mostly around its agreements with law-enforcement agencies and problems with hackers accessing the devices. Some of Ring's own employees have also abused access to customer feeds, the company told lawmakers recently. The Medium post quoting Eliaser included critical comments from hundreds of Amazon employees about various Amazon policies and products. It was published Sunday by the advocacy group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice and meant to protest the company's external-communications policy. Read the original article on Business Insider The Odisha state government on Tuesday organised an investment conclave here to showcase opportunities in various sectors like electronics, information technology and startups. "Bhubaneswar will be the next Bengaluru with six lakh highly-qualified, white-collar professionals," said Nitin B Jawale, Managing Director of Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (IPICOL). "With 18 per cent of total investments of India, our target is to attract Rs 2.5 lakh crore of investments by 2025 offering over 30 lakh jobs in the state," he said. The investment meet is part of Odisha state government's initiative to connect with potential investors in the lead up to third edition of the biennial investment conclave 'Make in Odisha' scheduled from November 30 to December 4. According to a recent report by NITI Aayog, Odisha is the second-fastest mover state with a score of 58. The year 2019 witnessed Odisha gaining nine points as its score moved up from 51 in 2018. Hemant Sharma, Secretary for Industries MSMEs, said Odisha is among the few states to get the top four IT companies for setting up their centres -- Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra "Our next phase is to ramp-up information technology (IT) and ITes (IT-enabled services)," he said in a statement. "The state offers industry-friendly policies with tax reimbursement benefits besides modern infrastructure. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A brother of Sharjeel Imam was picked up by police here early Tuesday in fresh attempts to trace the anti-CAA activist, who has been slapped with sedition cases lodged across several states for his alleged "inflammatory" speeches. Police officials were tight-lipped about the issue and Superintendent of Police, Jehanabad, Manish Kumar said, when approached with queries, "There are some developments taking place and we will give details at an appropriate time." However, residents of Malik Tola locality in Kako police station area of the district, where Imams ancestral house is situated, claimed that a heavy police contingent had raided the premises at about 4 am from where they took into custody Muzammil Imam younger brother of the JNU research scholar and another person, who have been taken to an undisclosed destination for questioning. The police had raided Imam's ancestral home on Sunday night after "help was sought by central agencies". Said to be in his early 30s, Sharjeel Imam has a degree from IIT Mumbai and later moved to Delhi for pursuing research at JNUs Centre for Historical Studies. He had been involved in organizing the protests at Shaheen Bagh but came into limelight after a video clip went viral wherein he could be heard making some disturbing comments while addressing a gathering at Aligarh Muslim University, following which he was booked under sedition charge in the UP town. The Delhi police claimed he had given an "inflammatory" speech earlier on the Jamia Milia Islamia campus and lodged an FIR against him in the national capital. Besides, another case was lodged under the stringent anti-terror law against him in Assam, taking cognisance of Imams remark that Assam could be "severed from India, even if for a few months" as a result of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)._ Police in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh had also lodged FIRs against the JNU scholar, over his speech in which he threatened to "cut off" Assam and the northeast from the rest of the country. His mother had appeared before the media and claimed that her son was "not a law-breaker and would surrender to the investigating agencies" and that he had been in favour of "calling off" the agitation at Shaheen Bagh, which has been in for 24X7 protest, mostly by women. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking a dig at the ruling BJP for delay in Ministry expansion, senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday alleged that Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa was being controlled by the party's high command and not being allowed to function independently. Speaking to reporters at Hubballi, Siddaramaiah claimed there was no internal democracy in the BJP and the Chief Minister has no freedom to exercise his powers. "The cabinet expansion is Chief Minister's prerogative. The BJP (high command) has not given permission to Yediyurappa (to expand ministry), they have not even given him appointment for meeting," Siddaramaiah, who is leader of the opposition in the state assembly, said. "Yediyurappa had promised them (defectors) money and power, now he has to fulfill it," he said, expressing pity about Yediyurappa, who is "struggling in hardship." His statement comes even as Yediyurappa recently indicated that he will expand his cabinet by this month end. However, lack of clarity on the high commands approval on the matter, amid reports that the Chief Minister may travel to New Delhi to meet BJP national president J P Nadda on Thursday to discuss the matter, has added to speculation. Further alleging that the state government was facing fund crunch, Siddaramaiah wanted to know if Yediyurappa knew magic to set things right in budget. For every issue, Yediyurappa says watch out for the budget; I don't know what he will do, whether he will do any magic or does he have any magic stick?" Siddaramaiah pointed out that it is during the December-March period that 75 per cent of developmental works get implemented and if the government does not give the money now, how will the work take place. "If they are unable to give the money now, it is clear that they don't have the money. They have not got money from the centre, they have not got money under NREGS, grants have not come, our share of tax money hasn't come-centre has not given money," he claimed. Yediyurappa, who also hold the Finance portfolio, is scheduled to present the state budget on March 5. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Reuters) Tokyo Tue, January 28, 2020 12:11 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20614aa57 2 Business coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Japan,economic-growth,China,tourism,retail,exports,imports,Honda-Motor,Olympics Free Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Tuesday warned that corporate profits and factory production might take a hit from the coronavirus outbreak in China that has rattled global markets and chilled confidence. Asian stocks extended a global selloff as the outbreak in China, which has killed 106 people and spread to many countries, fueled concern over the damage to the worlds second largest economy - an engine of global growth. There are concerns over the impact to the global economy from the spread of infection in China, transportation disruptions, cancellation of group tours from China and an extension in the Lunar Holiday, Nishimura told a news conference after a regular cabinet meeting. If the situation takes longer to subside, were concerned it could hurt Japanese exports, output and corporate profits via the impact on Chinese consumption and production, he said. Read also: Stocks crumble as China virus toll mounts, safe havens in demand China is Japans second largest export destination and a huge market for its retailers. The Chinese make up 30 percent of all tourists visiting Japan and spent nearly 40 percent of the total sum foreign tourists used last year, an industry survey showed. The outbreak could hit Japanese department stores, retailers and hotels, which count on a boost to sales from an inflow of Chinese tourists visiting during the Lunar Holiday. Automaker Honda Motor, which has three plants in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and the epicenter of the outbreak, plans to evacuate some staff. Aeon will close its shopping malls in the city until Thursday. Economists at SMBC Nikko Securities estimate that if a ban China has imposed on overseas group tours lasts another six months, it could hurt Japans economic growth by 0.05 percent. Some expect the potential damage could be much worse. Read also: Indonesia tourism, trade prone to Wuhan coronavirus impact Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said the decline in tourists from China could hurt Japans GDP growth by up to 0.2 percent. The biggest worry is the risk the negative impact from the outbreak persists and hits (the economy) during the Tokyo Olympic Games, when a huge number of Chinese tourists are expected to visit Japan, he said. If the number of visitors decrease rather than increase, the hit to Japans consumer industry will be quite large. Japan will host the 2020 Olympics in July and August. The Collegiate Hunger Challenge is Hosted by Food Lion Feeds and N.C. Campus Compact SALISBURY, N.C., Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North Carolina College students committed to fighting hunger on and around their campuses are participating in an innovative competition created by Food Lion Feeds and North Carolina Campus Compact, a collaborative network of colleges and universities committed to educating students for civic and social responsibility. A study released last year found that 45 percent of students who participated in the survey of more than 100 institutions said they had gone hungry in the last 30 days, providing even more evidence that food insecurity among college students must be addressed. Now in its second year, the 2020 Collegiate Hunger Challenge features 12 North Carolina colleges and universities competing with each other to win up to $22,000 to help fight hunger on and around campus. Throughout the competition, which runs from January 26 April 25, 2020, the participating colleges and universities will earn points based on several activities the school participates in, all centered around collecting and donating food for neighbors in need or driving awareness on the issue of hunger. We partnered with North Carolina Campus Compact to create the Collegiate Hunger Challenge because we know that students cant learn when they are hungry, said Emma Inman, director of External Communications and Community Relations for Food Lion. Food Lion has been joining with our communities to fight hunger for many years. Its important to us to involve our next generation of leaders to help find solutions to eliminate the difficult choices many of our neighbors have to make between textbooks and groceries, or dinner and rent. Were excited to see the results of this years competition and wish all the participating schools the best of luck as they create new and unique ways to fight hunger in the towns and cities we serve. Story continues It is a privilege to partner again with Food Lion to raise awareness of student hunger and to leverage higher education resources to address food insecurity both on campus and in local communities, added Leslie Garvin, executive director of North Carolina Campus Compact. We were blown away by the passion and commitment the student leaders demonstrated last year and are looking forward to seeing what they accomplish this spring. We remain inspired by Food Lions focused commitment to address hunger in North Carolina. The 2020 Collegiate Hunger Challenge participating schools are: Alamance Community College (Graham, N.C.) Campbell University (Buies Creek, N.C.) Central Piedmont Community College (Charlotte, N.C.) Elizabeth City State University (Elizabeth City, N.C.) Lenoir-Rhyne University (Hickory, N.C.) N.C. A&T State University (Greensboro, N.C.) N.C. State University (Raleigh, N.C.) Piedmont Community College (Yanceyville, N.C.) UNC Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.) UNC Greensboro (Greensboro, N.C.) UNC Pembroke (Pembroke, N.C.) Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, N.C.) Updates from the Collegiate Hunger Challenge will be shared on Food Lions Twitter and Instagram accounts. To learn more about the Food Lion Feeds hunger relief initiative, visit www.foodlion.com/feeds. About Food Lion Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, has more than 1,000 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 63,000 associates. By leveraging its longstanding heritage of low prices and convenient locations, Food Lion is working to own the easiest full shop grocery experience in the Southeast, anchored by a strong commitment to affordability, freshness and the communities it serves. Through Food Lion Feeds, the company has committed to provide 500 million meals to individuals and families in need by the end of 2020. Food Lion is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Royal Ahold Delhaize Group. For more information, visit www.foodlion.com CONTACT: Matt Harakal 704-245-3317 matthew.harakal@foodlion.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3d554442-9e81-409f-b4aa-19f5ad67d51a STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Following a year of a repeated tragedy, NYPD personnel received their latest anti-suicide training Monday in Manhattan. The department welcomed the American Association of Suicidology at NYPD headquarters for the second of two Law Enforcement Psychological Autopsy trainings on the warning signs of suicide, and how LEPA can be applied when investigating an NYPD members death by suicide. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the the program had given both uniformed and civilian personnel a deeper understanding of the issue, and helped the department identify prevention methods. If a member of our NYPD family dies by suicide, it is vital that we do absolutely everything we can to understand why, Shea said. According to the non-profit organization Blue HELP, at least 228 police officers died by suicide across the country in 2019, and at least 10 were members of the NYPD. On Staten Island, at least three current and former NYPD officers took their own lives last year, and a retired officer named Gunther Schauer, 78, died by suicide inside his Graniteville home on Jan. 2 of this year. Former Commissioner James ONeill said in a June written statement that the department was in a mental health crisis after 29-year-old Michael Caddy killed himself in a car behind the 121st Precinct stationhouse in Graniteville. LEPA was developed in the 1960s as a way to identify risk factors contributing to a persons suicide. Colleen Creighton, CEO of AAS, said her organization was honored to partner with the NYPD to bring department personnel the training. We highly value the work and dedication of those on the force, and they absolutely deserve to receive all the tools they can to empower each other and to help save the lives of their fellow officers, she said. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said the Central government is planning to send a plane to Wuhan in China to evacuate Indians stuck there due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. He also said that no student from India has been found to be affected by the virus till date. Indian Embassy is in constant touch with the Chinese government. To evacuate students and other Indians from Wuhan, we are planning to send a plane there. Our efforts are on to bring them back. It will take some days. I urge people to trust the government on this, Jaishankar told reporters on his arrival at the Vadodara airport in Gujarat. No Indian student has been found to be affected by this virus. Parents need not worry about their children, he said before leaving for Kevadiya by road. Jaishankar, a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, is on a two-day visit to Kevadiya, the site of the Statue of Unity and Rajpipla town in neighbouring Narmada district. The inclusion of three questions when and where your parents were born, your mother tongue and where were you living in the past in the National Population Register (NPR), a biometric database, has left many wondering and states are suspicious about the intent of Centre. The NPR will be plinth for building a National Register of Citizens (NRC). The apprehension is as wide as it is deep. Even before the final schedule of questions in the NPR has been notified, states have objected. Kerala and West Bengal have already put the process on a temporary hold, Rajasthan, Maharashtra among others have objected to the inclusion of these questions and also to NPR. The government has said that updating the NPR database is necessary for better policy framing, preventing leakages and ensuring those who need help are easier to identify. NPR indeed has been used by the states who today are opposing NPR. How valid are the objections raised by the states? Language data is collected in the census. Language data of Census 2011 was released recently. The house-listing phase of Census 2021 the first of the two-phase process and NPR is being conducted together. Census data is, however, protected and cannot be shared, unlike the NPR data. The census data that is released is aggregated to the block and tehsil level. Including language in the NPR would allow the government to know exactly who or how many are speaking what languages in particular area. Does the government have other plans? For instance, target a particular language-speaking community, for instance, the Bangla or Urdu or Gujarati speaking people? The governments counter; language data will help in framing curriculums in schools doesnt wash. The census language data is enough for such initiatives. Similarly, for the question of where you were living in the past? Census also comes up with migration data. And, importantly how is where you were living in the past going to help policy initiatives or frame developmental schemes better? And likewise, how can when and where your parents were born going to change policy intended to make your life easier? Drafting better developmental policy, therefore, isnt the sole purpose of updating the NPR in 2020. The inclusion of these questions clearly indicates that groundwork is being laid for building an NRC. The NPR database was built in 2010 and updated in 2015. The Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) stopped short of weeding out citizens from illegal migrants building an NCR because a pilot conducted showed women, landless labourers and the elderly had very poor documentation base and were likely to suffer the most. This government, however, thinks differently. And it has openly said as much. Amit Shah, the current Union home minister, in the run-up to the 2019 general elections called illegal immigrants termites and promised to throw them into the Bay of Bengal. An NRC database was built in Assam as per the commitment in the 1985 Assam accord. About 1.9 million were prima-facie rendered non-citizens or aliens. Those left out, however, can challenge the decision before a tribunal and then before the court. Who are aliens? The construction of the Great Wall of China was started in the seventh century BC to control immigration. It was subsequently extended. The United States of America is building one today. Addressing the same question - who is an alien? at an equally critical juncture of Indias history, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1916 had said, I dont call Muhammedans aliens The children of him who wishes to live in India, also wish to live in India. Let them remain I do not consider him an alien who wishes to make an arrangement whereby that country in which he has to live, his children have to live and his future generations have to live, may see good days and be benefitted. In equally lucid terms, Tilak defines an alien, The kings duty is to do all those things whereby the nation may become eminent, be benefitted and become equal of other nations He is to be considered alien who does not do this duty, but looks only to his benefit, to benefit his own race We are extremely excited to announce the acquisition of Arundel Machine Tool, and we welcome all Arundel colleagues and customers to the ARCH family of companies ... ARCH Global Precision (ARCH) has acquired Arundel Machine Tool (Arundel), located in Arundel, Maine. Arundel manufactures high-precision components and assemblies primarily for the aerospace and defense market, as well as the semiconductor and oil and gas industries. Arundel will join the ARCH Precision Components Segment and will add scale to ARCHs leading position as an important and growing supplier to the global aerospace and defense markets. Arundel has an impressive breadth of core competencies, including high-precision complex machining of nickel alloys, stainless steel and aluminum; utilizing cutting-edge multi-axis CNC machining centers; and expertise in ultra-high-precision grinding. These advanced competencies are highly complementary to the existing high-precision machining capabilities at ARCH Precision Components locations across the country. We are extremely excited to announce the acquisition of Arundel Machine Tool, and we welcome all Arundel colleagues and customers to the ARCH family of companies, said Andy Spiering, Divisional President of ARCH Precision Components. This acquisition is strategically important for two reasons: It will significantly broaden our exposure to attractive aerospace and defense customers and programs. In addition, it expands our capabilities, and the soon-to-be-completed expansion at the Arundel facility will provide increased capacity to support the growing needs of our customers. I truly believe from the bottom of my heart this is the right thing to do for Arundel Machine Tool and, more importantly, for all of our employees and our loyal customers, said Marcel Bertrand, the former principal owner and CEO of Arundel. ARCH holds true to the same set of core values that we live by every day at Arundel. This is an exciting new chapter for Arundel Machine Tool and an opportunity to grow with a family of companies that shares our vision of precision manufacturing in America. About ARCH ARCH, a Jordan Company platform company based in metro Detroit, manufactures high-quality cutting tools, medical instruments and implants, and precision-machined components for a range of critical applications. ARCH has dozens of facilities strategically located across the country serving the medical, aerospace, defense, and progressive industrial markets. The teams at ARCH are metalworking professionals with industry-leading tight-tolerance manufacturing expertise. ARCH provides innovative and practical solutions to the complex manufacturing challenges of its customers. Visit ARCH at http://www.archgp.com Concurs repetat pentru selectarea unei companii sociologice, care sa efectueze un studiu tematic "Barometrul opiniei publice in domeniul schimbarilor climatice" Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra was suspended from flying by IndiGo and Air India on Tuesday after he allegedly heckled journalist Arnab Goswami aboard a Mumbai-Lucknow plane of the private airline. Photograph: Courtesy Kunal Kamra/Facebook While IndiGo suspended Kamra from flying with it for a period of six months, Air India banned him until further notice. Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri took notice of the incident and "advised" other airlines in India to impose similar restrictions on Kamra, stating "offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers". Following the minister's remarks, Vistara said it will "review and follow due process in such cases". Kamra allegedly heckled Goswami, the editor of Republic TV, on IndiGo's Mumbai-Lucknow (6E5317) flight on Tuesday. "In light of the recent incident on board 6E 5317 from Mumbai to Lucknow, we wish to inform that we are suspending Mr Kunal Kamra from flying with IndiGo for a period of six months, as his conduct onboard was unacceptable behaviour," IndiGo tweeted in the evening. "Hereby, we wish to advise our passengers to refrain from indulging in personal slander whilst onboard, as this can potentially compromise the safety of fellow passengers," it added. In a video clip posted by Kamra on his Twitter handle, he is seen asking Goswami if he is a "coward or a journalist". While Goswami can be seen sitting in the plane and watching something on his laptop with his earphones plugged in, Kamra is heard as telling him, "Viewers want to know if Arnab today is a coward or a nationalist. Arnab, this is for national interest. I am part of the tukde-tukde narrative. You should deflate me. You should take the enemy of the states down. You should make sure that the country is in safe hands of Narendra Modi." "You should fight against dynasts like Rahul Gandhi, who I support, on 10 Tughlaq Lane. Arnab, you should have a reply, Arnab. Arnab, are you a coward or are you a journalist? Are you a coward or are you a journalist or a nationalist? Who are you, Arnab? Who are you?" Kamra can be heard as saying in the video clip. "You know, you do not deserve my politeness. This is not for you. This is for Rohith Vemula's mother whose caste you were discussing on your...show. I know this is not allowed. This is fine. It's fine if it is not allowed. I'd go to jail for this. "But this is for Rohith's mother. And go...find time and read that 10-page suicide letter that Rohith wrote so that you have some emotion or some heart or you just become human. Do that. Do that you in your free time. You nationalist." Kamra can be heard as saying. After IndiGo announced its decision to ban Kamra, Aviation minister said on Twitter,"We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned". Queries sent by PTI to three Indian airlines -- AirAsia India, SpiceJet and GoAir -- on whether they are taking similar action against Kamra remained unanswered. A Vistara spokesperson told PTI, "Vistara stands firm with its zero-tolerance policy against any behaviour or act that compromises the safety, security and dignity of its customers and staff. We will review and follow due process in such cases". In a statement, Air India said,"In view of the incident onboard @IndiGo6E, Air India wishes to inform that conduct of Person concerned is unacceptable.With a view to discourage such behaviour onboard flts, Mr Kunal Kamra is suspended from flying on any Air India flt until further notice". On IndiGo's decision to suspend him for six months, Kamra said on Twitter, "Thank you IndiGo. A six month suspension is honestly very kind of you. Modiji might be suspending Air India forever". Vemula was a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad. His suicide on the campus on January 17, 2016, had sparked a wide outrage. Opposition parties had blamed his alleged harassment by groups affiliated to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for his suicide, and had launched protests against the saffron party. The BJP on its part had accused the Opposition of deceiving and exploiting the sentiments of Vemula's mother for petty political gains. Congress leaders criticised the airlines for banning Kamra. "Wish @IndiGo6E concentrated more on addressing mid air engine shutdowns, engine vibrations, loss of cabin pressure, suspected oil leak, stalled engine, cargo smoke indication, engine damage reports compromising passenger safety then acting at the behest of powers that are!" Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Soorjewala said on Twitter. Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also weighed in on the video and said, "The truth is that it was time someone gave him (Goswami) a taste of his own medicine". "These are the words he regularly uses to berate his innocent victims, except he does so in a hectoring, bullying manner & at higher volume & pitch than Kunal Kamra does in this video," Tharoor tweeted. When a Twitter user alleged that Tharoor was endorsing public heckling and forced debates, he responded by saying, "On the contrary: I deplore & condemn what was done to me & therefore approve of teaching the incorrigible what it feels like to be treated that way." "His (Goswami's) goons, armed with cameras and mics as their weapons, have done exactly the same thing to me, in almost exactly the same words, on two separate flights until asked to desist by air crew," Tharoor alleged. In 2017, Diwakar Reddy, who was then a Telugu Desam Party MP from Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh, was banned from flying by all six major airlines after his unruly behaviour with an IndiGo staffer at Vishakhapatnam airport. The ban was lifted within a month. In the same year, Ravindra Gaikwad, the then Shiv Sena MP from Osmanabad in Maharashtra, was banned from flying by all major airlines after he slapped an Air India ground staff at Pune airport. NORWALK, Conn., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Media Network (HMN), a leading and trusted OOH/Digital Point of Care media company, is pleased to announce that Carlo DiMarco will be joining the company in the new role of EVP, Corporate Development and Pete Thomas will be joining in the role of SVP, PetCareTV Sales. In addition to new hires, Bhandhavi Sangaru will be stepping up to the new role of Director, Data Analytics and Ann Brown will be taking over all marketing duties for HMN brands. For more information, visit: https://www.hmnads.com/blog/health-media-network-expands-leadership-team/ About Health Media Network (HMN), & PetCareTV (PCTV) Health Media Network (HMN) and PetCareTV (PCTV) provide targeted health and wellness focused programming, custom published resources and a mobile network for Physician & Veterinarian Waiting Rooms. With a combined national footprint in the top 204 DMA's, HMN & PCTV generate over 325 MM+ annual impressions across all media platforms including the most robust mobile network in the marketplace. Share this: Twitter: @HMN Useful links: Health Media Network: HMNads.com HMN Twitter: twitter.com/HMN_ads Media Contact Ann Brown Executive Vice President, Marketing 212-358-4043 [email protected] SOURCE Health Media Network Related Links http://www.hmnads.com In the immediate aftermath of being voted the nations best small airport, Huntsville International Airport focused its attention in one direction: Southwest Airlines. The airport over the weekend did some heavy duty social media flirting with Southwest, the nation's largest low-cost carrier that does not operate in Huntsville. Just call it a modern-day love story. 18 days from today will be the Day of Love -- Valentines Day, the airport tweeted from its account Monday afternoon. All the hearts, all the love and all the kisses but @FlyHSV doesnt want to wait another minute to show @SouthwestAir what you could mean to us ... we have so much LUV to give. #HSVWantsSouthwest #NeverGiveUpOnLUV. 18 days from today will be the Day of Love- Valentine's Day. All the hearts, all the hugs and all the kisses, but @FlyHSV doesn't want to wait another minute to show @SouthwestAir what you could mean to us... We have so much LUV to give. #HSVWantsSouthwest #NeverGiveUpOnLUV pic.twitter.com/Bn4krH29m4 HSV (@FlyHSV) January 27, 2020 Make no mistake. Hearts are pounding at Huntsville International for Southwest Airlines to start operations at the states second-busiest airport. In a public pursuit to grab Southwests attention, the airport is planning a wave of social media messages. In fact, Mondays message is the first of a series of messages targeting Southwest leading up to Valentines Day. Yes, a modern-day cyber love story. It started Sunday night. You know what Weve decided that from now until Valentines Day at least once per day we are going to be showing @SouthwestAir how much we could LUV them. And among the hashtags included in the tweet: #HSVWantsSouthwest. You know what... Weve decided that from now until Valentines Day at least once per day we are going to be showing @SouthwestAir how much we could LUV them. #TheGrassIsGreener #SleepingToDreamAboutYou #HSVWantsSouthwest pic.twitter.com/QczGI2UAM8 HSV (@FlyHSV) January 27, 2020 Its an effort for the airport to ride a wave of momentum it perhaps has never seen being voted the best small airport at a time when Huntsville is experiencing dizzying growth. And there was a certain symmetry as well as Southwest was voted the nations best airline in the USA Today online polls that spotlighted the airline industry. Which the Better Business Bureau of North Alabama noticed. @SouthwestAir youre an Accredited Business, @FlyHSV is an Accredited Business AND both you secured #1 spots from @USATODAY. We think the signs are pretty obvious, dont you!? pic.twitter.com/UIKSlj6egz BBB of North Alabama (@BBBNorthAlabama) January 26, 2020 Of course, any airport's recruitment of Southwest or any other carrier would be far more sophisticated that bombarding its social media timelines. But it's also a public tap on the shoulder, a flirtation, that could lead to that magical spark. Thats reflected in the airports social media timeline being bombarded itself over the weekend with calls for bringing Southwest to Huntsville. And the airports Twitter account only fanned the flames of flirtation with Southwest. Yes, Hello there- May we please speak to @SouthwestAir. Yes, wed love to leave a message... https://t.co/q4GAwPHbkT pic.twitter.com/YkQmE8vAat HSV (@FlyHSV) January 26, 2020 For its part, Southwest responded to a couple of messages about Huntsville to its Twitter account over the weekend: "Hey, Ricky! While we don't currently have plans to offer service to Huntsville, you never know what the future holds! Still, we'll be glad to welcome you onboard when your travel includes the cities we serve." Hey, Ricky! While we don't currently have plans to offer service to Huntsville, you never know what the future holds! Still, we'll be glad to welcome you onboard when your travel includes the cities we serve. -Tayler Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) January 26, 2020 Hey Chante - We don't have plans to offer service to Huntsville, but we'd still love to welcome you onboard soon! -Kayla Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) January 26, 2020 The biggest issue for Huntsville and Southwest, perhaps, are Birmingham and Nashville. Birminghams airport about 95 miles to the south and Nashvilles airport about 124 miles to the north are already homes to Southwest. The airline also operates out of Memphis to the west and Atlanta to the east. The key to overcoming that issue, the airport said, is to #StopTheDrive. That translates to a call to Huntsville-area travelers to stop flying Southwest out of Birmingham and Nashville and, if the airline sees the decline in customer ZIP codes from the Huntsville area, that could lure them to Huntsville International. Then again, to look at the map of cities where Southwest operates is to see an airline not necessarily concerned with what appears to be overlapping service areas. Still, the online vote has catapulted Huntsville International into a spotlight that would not have been available if not for its successful social media campaign that pushed it into the top spot. "Just getting the word out among the community and everybody energized about the airport helped us out," said Rick Tucker, the airport's CEO. "There was a lot of communication there helping people understand what it takes to get more service, lower the fares, and so it was a good education piece. It was good educationally for our community to learn more about us. "At the same time, we're getting the word out. We all know what kind of growth we're seeing economically here and it's this is another way to let the nation and world know what a great place our region is to do business." And as for potentially capturing the attention of airlines that don't currently operate at Huntsville International? Im confident, Tucker said, that our marketing people who work daily with all of the airlines that currently serve us, the ones were trying to attract, Im sure theyve already sent this out to them to let them know that were No. 1. It was designed by Mandy Moore's interior designer. Its pretty common for buzzy products like celebrity-loved skincare and ultra comfy shoes to sell out quickly. But its rarer when a retailer cant keep an area rug in stock because of its popularityand thats exactly whats happening at Lulu & Georgia. Shoppers cant get enough of the Iconic Stripe Rug from Sarah Sherman Samuel, an interior designer known for working with A-list clients like Mandy Moore. The last time the Moroccan-inspired rug was available, it sold out in an hour flat, and when Lulu & Georgia listed it once again for pre-order, it sold out in just three days. Lucky for you, the furniture and home decor retailer finally just restocked the super popular rug. Made of viscose, wool, and cotton, each rug is handwoven in India, which may help explain the high demand and long waitlists. Along with a few neutral-colored thin horizontal stripes, the off-white rug features short fringed edges for a casual touch of texture and a few sporadically placed symbols. It feels modern, though its clearly inspired by more traditional rugs. Style it in a room with earthy colors and natural accentslike rattan and woodto achieve that quintessential California cool aesthetic. When it comes to caring for the rug, you can expect a bit of shedding that will diminish over time with regular vacuuming. Youll also want to avoid placing it in direct sunlight, since this can fade its color over time. But if you do style it in a bright room, just be sure to rotate the rug occasionally. Prices range from $98 to $1,387 depending on what size you choose. The seven available sizes include a small 2-by-3-foot carpet, a long 2-by-8-foot runner, and a larger 8-by-10-foot area rug. However, sizes are sure to go quickly, just as they have in the past. Head to Lulu & Georgia now to shop this in-demand rug in the size thats best for your spacealong with other best sellers from Sherman Samuels, like the Stripe Break Rug and the Moroccoan Flatweavebefore theyre gone.

Iconic Stripe Rug By Sarah Sherman Samuel

To buy: From $98; luluandgeorgia.com Boris Johnson was fighting to contain a ferocious backlash at home and abroad last night after giving Huawei the green light to take part in the rollout of the 5G network. After months of Cabinet wrangling, the Prime Minister yesterday announced the controversial Chinese tech giant will be permitted a role despite pressure from the US and Tory MPs to ban the firm. Under the compromise solution, Huawei equipment can be used in 'non-core' parts of the network. But its market share will be capped at 35 per cent. And Downing Street said it would work with allies to find alternatives in the hope of driving down the firm's share over time. Promoters display Huawei's Ascend P1 (left) and D1 (right) smartphones at the CommunicAsia telecom expo and conference in Singapore Boris Johnson (pictured on Monday) was fighting to contain a ferocious backlash at home and abroad last night after giving Huawei the green light to take part in the rollout of the 5G network Officials had warned that banning Huawei could slow down the rollout of 5G and full-fibre broadband by up to three years and cost the economy tens of billions of pounds in lost competitiveness. Britain's security services classified Huawei as a 'high-risk vendor' because of its close links with the oppressive Chinese state. But GCHQ and other spy agencies advised the PM that the risk could be contained provided Huawei remains banned from core functions. Donald Trump, who has urged the UK to ban Huawei completely, made no public comment on Tuesday night after being talked through the decision by Mr Johnson in a tense phone call. An engineer from EE checks 5G masts and Huawei Technologies Co. 5G equipment in March 2019 A UK security source also played down the risk of losing intelligence sharing with 'Five Eyes' partners in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The source said: 'There have been no threats of withdrawal of intelligence sharing.' But ministers are braced for a potential row with the US administration today when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in London for a two-day visit. One source said Mr Pompeo was 'at the hawkish end' of the issue. Senior US politicians in Congress reacted with fury. Republican Senator Tom Cotton called for a review of US intelligence sharing with the UK, and likened the decision to 'allowing the KGB to build its telephone network during the Cold War'. He added: 'I fear London has freed itself from Brussels only to cede sovereign to Beijing.' Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney urged the PM to reverse the 'disconcerting' decision, saying: 'By prioritising costs the UK is sacrificing national security and inviting the Chinese communist party's surveillance state in.' At Westminster, Mr Johnson faced the first Tory mutiny of the new government, with a string of MPs questioning the decision. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the decision 'beggars belief', and questioned why the UK was allowing a hostile state such as China any role in the UK's telecoms network. Sir Iain said China was 'a threat to us in cyber-security' and he was 'deeply disappointed' by the decision. Former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt described the decision as 'regrettable'. The scale of the rebellion prompted fears among Tory whips that the legislation could face problems when it reaches the Commons, even with Mr Johnson's 80-seat majority. Outside Huawei's main UK offices in Reading The rollout of the super-fast 5G network is seen as vital to improving the UK's productivity and meeting the PM's pledge to bring greater prosperity to the regions. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said 'market failure' meant the UK had little choice but to use Huawei unless it was willing to accept long delays and higher costs. Huawei says it would ever act as an agent of the Chinese state, but security officials confirmed they considered the firm 'high risk'. The designation means the firm will be banned from involvement in the 'core' of the network, which has access to the most sensitive data. But it will be permitted to supply masts, antennae and cables except close to sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases. Yesterday's decision followed a 90-minute meeting of the National Security Council. Several ministers, including Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel, are known to have concerns about Huawei but accepted the risks could be managed for now. Government sources said they hoped to reduce Huawei's market share over time by working with Western allies to bring new entrants into the market. But sources predicted this process would take two to three years, and said the UK could not afford to wait before getting on with 5G. Former prime minister Theresa May was among those who welcomed the decision, saying it 'protects our national security, but also recognises the interests of our economy'. The pros and cons... What are the risks of using Huawei? The US says Huawei could be used as a back door for spying by the Chinese state. Critics have also warned China could use its access to Britain's data network to shut down critical national infrastructure. There are fears the UK could lose its intelligence sharing relationship with countries such as the US and Australia, who have warned against allowing Huawei anywhere near their networks. Members of the US Congress have also threatened to block a post-Brexit trade deal if the UK pushed ahead with using Huawei. But the downside of banning the Chinese? It would reduce the number of companies supplying 5G, decreasing competition and leading to a rise in costs for consumers. Whitehall officials have also said it could cost the UK economy tens of billions of pounds in the coming years, from the lost opportunity of the productive gains of using 5G. There would also be a cost to companies who have started to roll it out across the country. Officials have warned such a move could slow down the rollout of 5G by up to three years. It would likely damage relations with China, where Britain is also seeking to strike a trade deal. Advertisement Now you tell us! British intelligence experts have 'never' trusted Huawei and fear firm will be ordered by China to damage UK, dossier reveals British intelligence officials have 'never trusted' Huawei and believe the firm could be ordered by the Chinese state to harm the UK, according to a bombshell dossier. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) also warned ministers that the Chinese state has carried out and 'will continue to carry out cyber attacks' against the UK. But in an analysis of Huawei's potential involvement in the UK's 5G network, it concluded that the risk of the tech giant being used as a 'Trojan horse' for Chinese intelligence services was 'manageable'. It said the Chinese state could find easier and more effective ways to launch a cyber-attack than exploiting any 'back door' via Huawei's equipment. The UK ruled yesterday that Huawei can be rolled out in its 5G networks, but with restrictions imposed, including only being allowed to account for 35 per cent of the kit in a network's periphery. In an assessment prepared ahead of the decision, the NCSC warned that any market share higher than that could lead to the UK becoming nationally dependent on the 'high-risk' firm and this would lead to an 'unacceptable' threat to security. NCSC technical director Dr Ian Levy said Huawei had always been treated as a high-risk vendor and the authorities had 'worked to limit their use in the UK'. He said: 'We've never 'trusted' Huawei and the artefacts you can see... exist because we treat them differently to other vendors. 'We ask operators to use Huawei in a limited way so we can collectively manage the risk and NCSC put in place a wider mitigation strategy.' The Chinese firm's activities in the UK have been overseen by arrangements including the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC). The NCSC report said: 'Due to the UK's mitigation strategy, which includes HCSEC as an essential component, our assessment is that the risk of trojan functionality in Huawei equipment remains manageable. 'Placing 'back doors' in any Huawei equipment supplied into the UK is not the lowest risk, easiest to perform or most effective means for the Chinese state to perform a major cyber-attack on UK telecoms networks today.' The NCSC added: 'It is important to avoid the situation in which the UK becomes nationally dependent on a particular supplier. Once established, a dependence will take time to correct, potentially years, assuming viable alternatives exist.' The NCSC guidance said Huawei was considered to be a high-risk vendor because 'under China's National Intelligence Law of 2017, it could be ordered to act in a way that is harmful to the UK'. 28.01.2020 LISTEN A Tamale Magistrate Court has remanded into prison custody, five accused persons who were arrested in Kpatinga in the Gushegu District of the Northern Region for formenting trouble in a chieftaincy dispute. The clash between two factions backing the enskinment of their favourites as chiefs led to the death of one person. Several others were also injured while over 20 houses were burnt. The five persons have been charged on separate counts, including possession of firearms without authority, rioting with weapons and conspiracy to cause damage. Counsel for the accused persons prayed the court to grant the suspects bail but the court declined his plea indicating it has no jurisdiction to grant bail, under section 192 of the Criminal Offences Act. The court presided over by His Worship Amadu Yussif remanded four of the suspects. They are to reappear on February 11, 2020. Mahamadu Dogurugu, the fifth accused person will, however, reappear on February 6, 2020, on health grounds. The court also asked the prosecution to provide an exit plan on the case since it has no jurisdiction. citinewsroom For any museum, there are two worst-case scenarios: that a priceless work of art is stolen, and that a once priceless work of art is deemed worthless. The latter, unfortunately, has befallen the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. For those who have visited the museum, there's a good chance they studied Head With Horns. Enclosed in its own glass compartment in the middle of a room, the sculpture is made of sandalwood with traces of polychromy on a lacewood base. More important, it was created by the famous French artist Paul Gauguin. That is, until it wasn't. It was reported that the museum changed the attribution of the sculpture Head With Horns to "unknown." "This decision was based on scholarly research over recent years by Getty professionals and other experts in the field, including significant new evidence that was not available at the time of its acquisition," a Getty spokeswoman told The Art Newspaper. Head with Horns (Lucifer or the Devil) by Paul Gauguin Photo: Getty Images/Fine Art The carved wooden head includes human facial features and devil-like horns. The work was believed to have been completed sometime between 1895 and 1897, coinciding with the time the artist was living in Tahiti. For decades, no one knew of the sculpture's whereabouts, until 1997, when it appeared at an exhibition, the work on loan from a private collector in the U.S. Several years later, the Getty paid a sum between $3 million and $5 million for it (the Getty does not disclose prices for acquisitions bought privately). Never before has this amount been paid for a statue by Gauguin. The record sum was mainly due to the fact that sculptures by Paul Gauguin are rare. Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) french painter here in Copenhague in march 1891 with a breton cardigan, with his children Emil and Aline before going in Tahiti Photo: Getty Images News that a multimillion-dollar painting or sculpture has been deemed fake is nothing new to the art world. Modigliani, Degas, Picasso, and Matisse all have had their works purchased as "originals" only to later be discovered as fake. What makes the Head With Horns different, however, is that it wasn't created by a fraud trying to trick the public about his or her work. When the sculpture reappeared at the end of the 20th century, scholars looked at Gauguin's notebook to see pasted images that mirrored the Head With Horns. It wasn't until 2015 that a new album of photographs from the era was introduced, throwing the true creator of the work into question. It was there that another picture of the Head With Horns appears from 1894, a year before Gauguin left Paris for Tahiti. Story continues Catala: Familia tahitiana (foto), espectres (aquarella) i escultura d'un idol (fotos), Album Noa Noa, foli 30 verso Francais : Famille tahitienne, spectres et idoles, Album Noa Noa, folio 30 verso . between 1896 and 1900. Gauguin Album Noa Noa 30 verso Photo: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo Head With Horns has since been taken off display at the Getty. It currently remains in the museum's storage facility. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest A man whose erratic, violent outburst near a Southeast Portland middle school last year generated local headlines was killed by police in Arizona last week during a similar confrontation. The Sedona Police Department said a pair of veteran officers fatally shot Jonathan David Messare, 41, during a Jan. 20 encounter in the desert town, which is about 120 miles north of Phoenix. Messare was yelling and screaming while brandishing a machete on a residential street when the officers arrived, police said. Three minutes later, the officers fired, killing the man. The Arizona Department of Public Safety will investigate the fatal shooting, according to authorities. Police said Messare had recently moved to Arizona from Oregon, where records show he had a pair of outstanding warrants. Portland police arrested Messare in March after they said he showed up outside Hosford Middle School armed with a hatchet and other weapons, stripped off all of his clothes and later stabbed a responding officer in the hand with a knife. Portland police arrested Jonathan Messare in March after they said he showed up outside Hosford Middle School armed with a hatchet and other weapons, stripped off all of his clothes and later stabbed a responding officer in the hand with a knife. Messare also was accused of illegally stockpiling guns and ammunition at his Southeast Division Street apartment and violating a restraining order, the Portland Police Bureau said at the time. Four months later, in July, Messare was taken into custody on the Oregon coast after police said he grabbed a hatchet and barricaded himself in a Tillamook storage unit. Prosecutors never filed criminal charges in that case. A Multnomah County judge issued two bench warrants for Messares arrest after he failed to appear in court on separate cases in December, records show. One of them stemmed from his arrest in March, the other from an unlawful possession of a firearm charge filed in May. In social media posts, Messare had written that he had served in the military and was seriously injured while fighting in Iraq. He also said he had increasingly struggled with his mental health after becoming estranged from his wife and children. I miss you all so much, Messare wrote in a Facebook post published hours before he was killed. This has been a hard time. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632 Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. TORRINGTON After his arraignment was postponed twice last week, New Milfords former information technology director now has a plea hearing scheduled in two weeks. Kendrick Protzmann, 52, is facing eight counts of third-degree computer crime and 41 counts of fifth-degree computer crime for allegedly hacking town officials emails last year. He was originally scheduled for arraignment at state Superior Court in Torrington on Thursday, but that was pushed to the next day. It was then postponed a second time to Feb. 28. The reason for each continuance was not clear. On Monday, a plea hearing was scheduled in the case for Feb. 11. Protzmann is accused of accessing the town of New Milfords email archive system without authorization 49 times between June 10 and Sept. 9, 2019, while on administrative leave. [I] wanted to see what was going on around town, Protzmann told police, according to the arrest warrant affidavit obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media. Protzmann served as New Milfords IT director from 2002 to 2019. On June 10, Mayor Pete Bass presented him with a termination letter, indicating Protzmann was being fired due to unsatisfactory work performance and failure to follow directions, according to the affidavit. After Protzmann hired an attorney to dispute the towns decision, a settlement agreement was negotiated July 2, placed him on paid administrative leave until Sept. 3, according to the police affidavit. His access into the email archive system should have been revoked after his termination, but police said that didnt appear to happen. New Milford officials discovered unauthorized access had been gained into the email server this past fall and contacted police, who launched an investigation Oct. 4. The gains of unauthorized access were traced back to Protzmann, who admitted to accessing the email server to feed his curiosity habit from his home in Thomaston, his vacation home in Old Lyme and while performing consulting work in Ansonia, according to police. The company for which Protzmann did the consulting work was Yucatech the same company that hosts New Milfords town email server, according to the warrant. Protzmann allegedly downloaded 35 emails to and from high-ranking officials in town, including Bass and Bollaro. Eight of the emails appeared to be noteworthy because of the private personal data they contained, police said. Many of them involved Protzmann and his separation from the town but one also looked at information regarding the lawsuit former police chief Shawn Boyne has filed with the town over wrongful termination, as well as letters and employment offers to two new hires. The towns IT department determined that the emails had been downloaded, but Protzmann denied downloading any of them and police were not able to find any of them on Protzmanns personal computer, according to the affidavit. Bass declined to comment on Protzmann reading his emails because of the pending case. According to police, Bollaro found the situation highly concerning as he receives and sends very sensitive information in his emails related to personnel matters, employees confidential information and other labor-related issues. Protzmann turned himself in to police last Friday after learning there was a warrant out for his arrest. He is being represented in court by New Haven-based attorney William F. Dow. By ANI NEW DELHI: Terrorist launch-pads have been reoccupied and camps activated across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, said Army Vice Chief Lt Gen SK Saini on Tuesday adding that his force is ready to meet these challenges. "The situation in Jammu and Kashmir on both LoC and the hinterland is under control. We are fully geared up to meet challenges that come across," Army Vice Chief Lt Gen Saini said. "The launch pads have been reoccupied and terrorist camps are active in PoK. Ceasefire violations have gone up last year," he added. Saini was responding to ANI's questions soon after receiving a guard of honour on his appointment as the Vice Chief of Army. In the last few weeks, there have been reports of heightened terrorist activities in PoK backed by the Pakistan Army. Asked to comment on his priorities as Vice Chief, he said: "Removing hollowness in terms of critical deficiencies of equipment, ammunition, etc, capability development along the Northern borders." The hollowness in preparedness was first highlighted a few years ago when it was brought to attention by the then Army Chief General VK Singh that the Army was facing a critical shortage of ammunition and weapon systems required for fighting wars. Saini also stressed that he would work towards aligning the Army Headquarters with the newly created Department of Military Affairs under Chief of Defence Staff. He said he would work towards bringing in more jointness into the working of the Army with the newly created structures. Married at First Sight Nine, 7.30pm In the 1998 poker film Rounders, Matt Damon's card player observes that, "If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker." Is it the same for Married at First Sight contestants? If you're standing there during the first episode as the love-starved singles are introduced and you can't figure out who's the screw loose, wine thrower and f-bomb mortar in the mix, does that mean you are? That high-octane antagonism is what Australia's top reality show let that sink in promises with every rancorous season, and this will be no different. It's noticeable that the default setting for the women is being hopeful of finding romance, while the men are up for an adventure, and it would be interesting if the edit pushed more of the entry storylines out of conventional confines. Still, we have Michael, a 28-year-old company director who is already having an affair with his watch collection. "I'd rather cry in a Ferrari than a Datsun," he succinctly observes, and if he's not setting off alarm bells then you obviously haven't watched MAFS before. More of a worry, 27-year-old retail assistant Connie, who's been alone for five years and appears to be quite emotionally fragile it's one thing to put narcissists and tough nuts on this show, but please spare the vulnerable. The fact that Connie "believes in the science" behind this ratings juggernaut is a real worry, since it's fairly well established that the only applicable formula here is mismatched pairings x questionable morals x explosive tempers (thanks, Sir Isaac Newton). This debut episode is long on pretend reasoning, white gowns, and wedding frowns, but the ructions are never too far away. "Pray for me," declares a nervous Aleks on opening night, and frankly the sentiment should be mutual. it would be interesting if the edit pushed more of the entry storylines out of conventional confines. Credit:NINE With the tempo of a thriller, Ambulance Australia is gripping viewing. Photo: Network 10 By Jung Min-ho Air Seoul, a Korean budget carrier, said Tuesday it will suspend all flights to China due to the spread of the deadly coronavirus in the country. Air Seoul, which operates the Zhangjiajie and Liny routes from Incheon, said it made the decision amid growing fears of the virus that has so far killed 106 people in China and infected more than 4,500 around the world. Customers who have bought tickets to either of the destinations since Jan. 24 can cancel their trips without additional charge, the company said. "We have received a lot of calls since the outbreak of the disease," an Air Seoul official said. Other Korean airlines are suspending services to China. Jeju Air said it will halt the Busan-Zhangjiajie and Muan-Zhangjiajie services later this week. Eastar Jet will also stop servicing the Cheongju-Zhangjiajie route from Thursday for a month. The company said it is mulling whether it should suspend flights to other Chinese cities. German state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn refused delivery of 25 double-deck trains built by the Canadian group Bombardier owing to "manufacturing defects", a spokesman told AFP Tuesday. "We have refused to take on 25 Intercity 2 trains from the manufacturer," but "expect them to quickly rectify the faults," he said. Citing internal DB documents, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the main problems were with the on-board computers' operating system, which was said to "crash regularly". The rail operator had ordered 42 Intercity 2 trains from Bombardier, which makes them at sites around Germany, to replace ageing rolling stock on several lines. Their double-deck carriages are designed to improve capacity, and said to make trips more comfortable for passengers. Germany plans to pump 62 billion euros ($68 billion) of taxpayer cash and 24 billion of DB money into revamping the railways this decade. Slashing carbon emissions in the transport sector, including with electric-powered trains, is a priority for Berlin as it ups its climate protection ambitions. Transport is the only area where no improvement has been achieved in the past 30 years. Overall, Germany aims by 2030 to have reduced greenhouse emissions by 55 percent compared with 1990 levels. Bombardier did not immediately comment on Deutsche Bahn turning down the latest train delivery. French national rail operator SNCF also rejected a delivery early last year of Bombardier regional trains, saying they were of "unacceptably low quality". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A year after his wife left him and during their custody battle, Mohammed Hakimzadah hired a hit man. He wanted her dead. And her family court lawyer, too. Fortunately, that hit man was an undercover cop wearing a wire. On Monday morning, Hakimzadah was half-carried, half-dragged into a downtown Toronto courtroom by three court officers and put into the prisoners box, where he lay down on the bench. He did not move or respond as Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein found him guilty on five counts of counselling to commit an indictable offence. According to a series of November 2016 conversations in several Toronto locations, including a Scarborough Tim Hortons, Hakimzadah arranged for his wife and her family lawyer to be murdered by Marc, a hit man he believed to be a Hells Angel member from Quebec. The price for each murder was set at $50,000, Goldstein said in his ruling. Hakimzadah, 55, was paranoid about being recorded so he would write down the most incriminating parts: I dont want her alive, he wrote of his wife at one point, according to the testimony of the undercover officer, whose identity is under a publication ban. Hakimzadah wanted the murder to look like an accident, not a suicide, the officer testified. The Toronto taxi driver also provided the apparent hit man with the name and address of the family lawyer. So that lawyer is to be gone, he said, according to the recording. The hit man Googled her while in the car with Hakimzadah and he confirmed what she looked like. Hakimzadah suggested she be shot while going to the downtown courthouse at 393 University Ave, where the custody case was being heard. Do like this and finish her, he said, according to the recording the undercover officer made. At another point, Hakimzadah made a motion as if slicing his own throat, in reference to the family lawyer. The only issue of dispute between him and the hit man, Goldstein said, was whether the family lawyer should disappear or if her murder should end up in the news. Hakimzadah later changed the plan, putting the murders on hold, to first frame his then-wife by having Marc put a loaded gun and cocaine in her car and then calling the police. He said he wanted to her to be put in jail for no reason, like he felt he had been for a week after he was charged with threatening one of his children and violating a court order. Those charges were withdrawn by the Crown as the more serious criminal charges proceeded. It is clear that Hakimzadahs state of mind was extremely hostile to women generally and to his wife in particular, Goldstein said. There was overwhelming evidence he intended for (the undercover officer) to carry out the crimes, and never abandoned that position even when he saw what he believed to be the actual gun and drugs. Hakimzadah was arrested shortly after the undercover officer showed him drugs and a replica gun in the parking lot of a Chapters bookstore on Nov. 17, 2016. Hakimzadah was introduced to the undercover officer because his desire to hire someone to kill his wife and daughter was reported to police by a man who had ridden in his taxi Steven Portelance was picked up by Hakimzadah, who owned a cab company, after grocery shopping in October 2016. During the ride, Hakimzadah said he wanted to get revenge on his wife and daughter for the harm he believed theyd caused him, and wanted to kill them, Portelance testified. Portelance, who has a long history of minor crimes, said he initially planned to rip off Hakimzadah and pretended he knew a hit man who was a Hells Angel from Quebec. But he got worried Hakimzadah would actually go through with it, and went to the police. Portelance agreed to introduce the hit man to Hakimzadah; the undercover officer told him he could manage human resources problems. Hakimzadahs wife testified that she went to visit him while he was in custody to understand why he wanted to kill her. I built a hole for you and I fell in, she said he told her, which she understood to mean he wanted to kill and bury her. Hakimzadah was not represented by a lawyer during his trial, despite numerous adjournments and his assurances that he would get one. An amicus, a lawyer who can offer assistance to the court about issues relevant to Hakimzadahs defence, was eventually appointed. Goldstein said he has ongoing concerns about Hakimzadahs mental health, noting a physical and mental deterioration in Hakimzadah over his three years in custody. During the trial, Goldstein ordered that Hakimzadah have a mental health assessment and he was found fit to stand trial. Hakimzadah maintained that the police had altered the recordings to frame him and that hed done nothing wrong. Goldstein said there was no evidence at all to support the claim that the recordings had been interfered with. Research has found womens risk of violence from a male partner is highly elevated during and after separation, a period which factored in two-thirds of domestic homicides in Ontario over 14 years. Isabel Grant, a law professor at the University of British Columbia who researches intimate partner violence, said the facts sound like a very typical scenario in a femicide case. Thank heavens for the victim here that it was an undercover officer. It is difficult to know how often a woman is almost killed by her current or former partner just from looking at criminal charges, like attempted murder, Grant said. The facts of a near-fatal attack often end up being covered by a range of charges like assault or aggravated assault or, as in this case, counselling to commit an offence in part because attempted murder is very difficult to prove. We need to take a step back and look at how much danger women are in when they leave these relationships, she said, noting that domestic violence can destroy lives in many ways, including criminal harassment. A sentencing date for Hakimzadah has not yet been set. If you or someone you know need help, you can call the Assaulted Womens Helpline at 1-866-863-0511 (Toll Free), 1-866-863-7868 (TTY) or 416-863-0511 (Toronto). BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jelani Cobb, author and New Yorker staff writer will deliver the keynote address at the Power of Narrative Conference at Boston University March 20-22, 2020. Cobb writes frequently about race, politics, history, and culture. His most recent book is The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress. Boston University's Sumner M. Redstone Professor of Narrative Studies, Mitchell Zuckoff said of Cobb: "Our attendees will undoubtedly learn an enormous amount from Jelani Cobb, who is not only a masterful reporter and historian, but also the public intellectual and moralist we need in our troubled times. Jelani joins almost 40 other accomplished speakers at the vanguard of the storytelling craft all of whom are inviting, accessible, and eager to engage with our attendees." The conference features established authors, journalists, editors and more in large keynote addresses, and small panels and sessions. "We're an ideal size conference, large enough to attract A-list journalists, but still small enough for our attendees to have the chance to meet our presenters." said Sarah Kess, Assistant Director of the conference. The audience is a mix of veteran practitioners engaged in narrative journalism careers, early career professionals hoping to build narrative skills, and students. Attendees identify as writers, visual media creators, and audio journalists. They work on every imaginable platform, from newspapers to magazines, books to the web, podcasts to multimedia, sometimes pushing the boundaries with innovative start-ups. The conference, now in its 22nd year is held on the campus of Boston University. Registration is currently open and organizers expect the conference to sell out. Early registration is encouraged. More details, a complete list of presenters, the daily schedule and online registration are on the website: bu.edu/com/narrative SOURCE Boston University College of Communication India slams EU move to question Indian Parliament's rights India on Sunday criticised the European Union Parliaments move to introduce resolutions against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by Indian Parliament, saying such moves, without an accurate assessment of facts, will only harm relations between EU and India. We are informed that some members of the EU Parliament intend to move a draft resolution on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The CAA is a matter that is entirely internal to India. This legislation has been adopted by due process and through democratic means after a public debate in both Houses of Parliament, the government is reported to have stated. The government expressed hope that as fellow democracies, the EU Parliament would not take any action that calls into question the rights of democratically elected legislatures. The legislation that accords citizenship rights to persecuted people belonging to minority religions in Islamic nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan post-partition, is purely an internal matter of India, the government said, adding that even European societies in the past had followed this approach. India, with its 1.3 billion population, cannot give refuge to all persecuted people from around the world and an open invitation will flood India with more refugees than the whole of Europe presently caters to. Instead of passing resolutions, the government said, it would be better for the EU to engage India to get a full and accurate assessment of the facts before taking any further moves. CAA, the government emphasised, is not discriminatory against any religion and is a one-time measure to empower refugees who have been living in this country for years without any rights. The resolution, to be tabled by European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group, believed to be supporters of jihadi groups, is set to be debated on Wednesday and voted upon the day after. The resolution make a reference to the United Nations Charter, Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the India-EU Strategic Partnership Joint Action Plan signed in November 2005, and to the EU-India Thematic Dialogue on Human Rights. Out of 751 members of the EU Parliament, 626 have moved six resolutions on the twin issues of CAA and reorganisation of J&K, as per an IANS report. The CAA marks a dangerous shift in the way citizenship will be determined in India, the resolution said. Instead of addressing concerns, offering corrective action, calling for security forces to act with restraint and ensuring accountability, many government leaders have been engaging in efforts to discredit, rebuke and threaten the protesters, it said. ANSAmed - Today's events in the Mediterranean (ANSAmed) - ROME, JANUARY 28 - These are the main events scheduled for today in the Euro-Mediterranean area: MADRID - The 40th edition of the international tourism fair (Fitur) continues (to February 26). TEL AVIV - The Knesset discusses the immunity asked by Prime Minister Netanyahu for his indictment in three judicial investigations. BRUSSELS - EU, visit by Italian Minister for European Affairs Vincenzo Amendola, who will meet with Commissioner Johannes Hahn. BRUSSELS - EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen receives Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. WASHINGTON - Presentation of the 'Agreement of the century', the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan developed by the Trump administration. PALESTINE - 'Day of rage' against the 'Agreement of the century'. BRUSSELS - EU, High-level public conference on European Climate Law with European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans. (ANSAmed). Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 03:23:31|Editor: yan Video Player Close GAZA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement, ruler of the Gaza Strip, rejected on Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump's announced peace plan for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, saying Jerusalem must be the capital of the future Palestinian state. "The Deal of the Century is nonsense trivia. It is a hostile deal. The Palestinians will exert all possible efforts, and use all means to confront it until it is toppled," said Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader, in a statement to Doha-based Al-Jazeera news channel. "Trump is forging the reality and the history," said al-Hayya, accusing Trump of attempting to rescue Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from corruption charges ahead of the upcoming Israeli elections. Earlier, Hamas said in a statement that the Palestinian unity is essential at this stage and that Hamas is ready to work with all factions to topple the plan. The internal Palestinian division between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party has continued since Hamas violently took over the Gaza Strip from Abbas' security forces in the summer of 2007. Chinese officials have identified a novel coronavirus which belongs to a family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases. Countries across the world have heightened their disease surveillance systems and, in some cases, issued travel advisories. The Conversation Africa asked experts from Ghana and Kenya about their preparedness. What measures need to be put in place to contain the virus? Abdhalah Ziraba, Kenya: Public health education, particularly for travellers and airport public health staff, is critical. National newspapers and broadcast channels, as well as various social media outlets, should be used. People in all countries, not just Kenya, need to be made aware of the symptoms which include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, sneezing, and body aches. The other important intervention is to maintain vigilance at entry ports to screen for fever and vet travel histories, particularly incoming flights from China and the region. Kenya has announced that it will screen all passengers arriving from China and increased the levels of vigilance at all entry points. All suspected cases need to be assessed further. A major consideration will be whether someone has a history of travelling from Wuhan, the Chinese epicentre of the outbreak, and other cities that have reported cases or being in contact with a person suspected of having the disease. After being assessed, any suspected cases should be reported to the country's health authorities immediately, and the subjects isolated and managed as per protocol. Peter Kojo Quashie, Ghana: A number of measures need to be put in place. Due of the previous and ongoing response to Ebola, some measures are already in place. Arriving passengers need to be screened for elevated temperatures. Those with high ones need to be quarantined travel history needs to be established Secure quarantine areas at airports and selected hospitals Rapid testing protocols must be put in place Port and airport health officials and everyone who will get in contact with travellers should be properly educated on how to behave and what personal protective equipment (PPE) is required. On top of these, additional steps should include: Routing passengers arriving from China and other South East Asian countries to another terminal or section, and screening them individually. Continuous monitoring of passengers from China and South East Asia for at least a month as was done in some countries for people who returned from Ebola endemic regions. These travellers should be counselled on the need to avoid large crowds and non-essential contact with people. It is important to establish health support for Ghanaians in China, especially in Wuhan. It is also imperative to keep track of Ghanaians in China, providing them support as well as knowing when they return. What systems, already in place to deal with Ebola, will come in handy? What more needs to be done? Abdhalah Ziraba, Kenya: Airport public health officials have got better at screening at ports of entry, especially for international arrivals. Basic screening is done using thermal cameras to detect fever. Kenyan officials have the equipment in hand and the trained personnel to swing into action fast. Public health officials need to vigilant and have a high index of suspicion to be able to identify potential cases. They will then be able to flag travellers who seem unwell, more so if they have a matching travel history. To support their work, public health authorities also need to mobilise a rapid surveillance and response team so that they can manage any suspected cases- including taking samples, isolation and reporting on developments. Peter Kojo Quashie, Ghana: Temperature screening protocols have been in place since the onset of the 2014 Ebola crisis. I believe they need to be revisited to screen at a lower threshold (for example temperature > 37.5C) to avoid missing patients who are just beginning to show signs of the disease. Scientists in the national influenza control lab at the University of Ghana have written standard operating procedures and testing protocols to allow for rapid laboratory detection of this new virus. This effort, in collaboration with Ghana Health Service, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the West African Health Organisation, has been ongoing since the virus was first detected. Steps that were effective during the Ebola crisis and helped reduce the spread of the virus included hand washing, as well as educating the public about what precautions they have to take for their personal and public health. What lessons can African countries bring to bear given their experience of handling outbreaks like Ebola? Abdhalah Ziraba, Kenya: Many countries are now readying themselves to mount a response bringing together specialists and other players from different sectors with centralised coordinating. Several countries also have epidemic outbreak response plans in place, as well as resources and facilities to deal with situations like this. But the comprehensiveness of these varies greatly. Finally, with lessons from the Ebola, SAR and MERS outbreaks, there is a greater ability to coordinate a response and to keep the public accurately informed. This prevents a panic situation that often fuels the spread of outbreaks. Public health authorities are now more likely to avoid knee jerk interventions not supported by evidence. These can often be counterproductive, as was the case with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Peter Kojo Quashie, Ghana: There are significant differences between the Ebola virus and this coronavirus. First, the spread of Ebola was limited to villagers who crossed border freely, health workers, and a few immigrants who visited their villages and then returned. Second, it is transmissible by bodily fluids, and requires direct contact with an infected individual or surface. If the latest coronavirus virus is transmitted like MERS or SARS, then it transmits like a the common cold. It is therefore likely to be much more infectious than Ebola. Fortunately, the preparedness of most African countries were not tested during the West African Ebola epidemic. Unfortunately, that means infection control protocols were never challenged. In terms of a rapid laboratory diagnosis, we have protocols in place and skilled laboratory personnel. But we have to effectively isolate the risk. That's the part that must continuously be worked on and reworked. We should look at how countries like Canada managed to track down infected people and keep the SARS epidemic in check in 2003. In addition, the WHO protocols published in 2004 for SARS will be more effective than protocols for Ebola. Lessons learned from the still ongoing MERS epidemic would be useful, as well as understanding the issues of stigma and cultural issues that are the main challenges of the response to Ebola in Africa. Other things to consider are the fact that, unlike SARS and unlike Ebola, there are reports that patients infected with 2019-nCoV are infectious even during the incubation period, before they get a fever. This would mean that temperature screening won't work. What would be required is stronger, and different, terminal and individualised screening. But there are a few recommendations for personal safety that were effective during the SARS and Ebola outbreak. These included avoiding large crowds and stuffy areas as well as not shaking hands. Health sector workers should used enhanced personal protective equipment and change gloves regularly. Finally, masks can help. But they should be changed regularly and disposed of safely. Lastly, if you have cold or flu-like symptoms and have been in contact with travellers from China, alert public health officials and avoid non-essential contact with others. The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. By Abdhalah Ziraba, Associate Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center And Peter Kojo Quashie, Senior Research Fellow,West African Institute for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, University of Ghana The NSW Greens have vowed to introduce a bill this year to decriminalise illicit drug use across the state, as the Berejiklian government considers the recommendations of a landmark inquiry into ice and other amphetamine-style drugs. The head of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug 'Ice', Dan Howard, SC, delivered his final report to the government on Tuesday but Premier Gladys Berejiklian has yet to release it publicly. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has yet to release the final report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug "Ice". Credit:Shannon Morris While his findings are not yet known, counsel assisting the inquiry had urged Professor Howard to recommend the use and possession of ice and other illicit drugs be decriminalised in NSW under a public health-focused drug policy aimed at minimising harm. Under the plan, drug users would be referred to an "appropriately tailored health intervention" and criminal sanctions would remain in place for drug supply. A 20-year-old woman in Uttar Pradeshs Unnao district attacked a man with acid on Tuesday morning for allegedly stalking her police said. The 24-year-old man sustained burn injuries on his nape, back, chest and left shoulder in the acid attack in Godamau village under Morawan police station. The police sent him to a hospital in state capital Lucknow after primary treatment in Unnao. Prima facie it is a case of one-sided love as the girl was not reciprocating the boys overtures. The boy had reportedly been stalking her, Rajendra Rajawat, the station officer (SO) of Morawan police station, said. So far, there is no complaint from the victims side. After a complaint and investigations, we might make an arrest (of the attacker), Rajawat added. According to reports, Rohit Yadav was attacked by the woman at the dairy in Bhawaniganj village where he works as a cleaner. They said the woman was hiding in the dairy since the morning. People present at the scene called the police emergency number and rushed him to a hospital in Unnao. Forty cases of acid attacks, mostly on women, were reported in Uttar Pradesh in 2018 after West Bengal, which has recorded the highest number at 50, according to the National Crime Records Bureaus (NRCB) latest report released earlier in January. The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court had earlier this month sought a reply from the central and state governments on a plea pertaining to compliance of the directions issued by the Supreme Court to regulate the sale and distribution of acid. The order was passed by a division bench comprising chief justice Govind Mathur and justice Chandra Dhari Singh on January 10 on a PIL filed by Chhanv Foundation through its director Ashish Shukla. The court had directed the respondents states chief secretary, principal secretary (home), central secretary for home and central secretary for medical health to file counter-affidavits (reply) at the earliest, listing the case for January 31. The court directed the respondents to ensure compliance of the directions issued by the governments. NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jumptuit Health, Inc. announced today that Dr. M. Narendra Kini, MD, MHA, will join the Board of Directors. Jumptuit Health is a vertical affiliate of Jumptuit, Inc. and part of the Jumptuit Group. Dr. Kini is the former President & CEO of Miami Children's Health System and Nicklaus Children's Hospital, a 289-bed, nationally recognized pediatric specialty hospital in Miami-Dade County with nine pediatric outpatient centers located throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Dr. Kini was instrumental in widening the system's footprint beyond the region, developing a global telemedicine effort that expanded to South America, the Caribbean and many other nations. Before joining Miami Children's Health System, Dr. Kini served as Executive Vice President for Clinical and Physician Services at Trinity Health, the fourth largest Catholic health system in the United States. He was responsible for physician relations/outreach, clinical informatics, patient safety, comprehensive tertiary care and pharmacy operations for the $5.7 billion health system. Prior to Trinity Health, Dr. Kini held various positions related to information technology at GE Medical Systems, the latest as Director of the GE Healthcare Leadership Institute. Earlier in his career, Dr. Kini served as Ancillary and Support Vice President at the Children's Health System in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and held the rank of Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Kini is a Board Certified practicing pediatric emergency physician, receiving his Medical Doctor Degree in 1985 from the Medical College of Wisconsin and Master's degree in Hospital and Health Administration in 1988 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "We are honored to have someone with Narendra's incredible energy, intellect and vision join the Jumptuit Team," said Donald Leka, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jumptuit, Inc." Understanding the interplay between genetic predispositions and factors in the physical environment is a mission and passion that the Jumptuit Health Team and its newest Board member, Dr. Narendra Kini, are deeply committed to." "Jumptuit is on the verge of creating the next generation of empowered consumers by providing streaming intelligent data. This will change society as we know it," said Dr. Kini. "I am happy to support Don's vision and excited to be part of the journey." Jumptuit Editorial Contact: Drew De Risi Jumptuit 917.650.1359 [email protected] SOURCE Jumptuit Any people driving between Billings and Hardin who passed the rest stop at mile marker 474 and the Fly Creek exit between 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on New Year's Day are asked to call the tip line at 406-665-9800. Selena Shelley Faye Not Afraid was last seen about 2 p.m. on New Year's Day at the rest stop. "The lesson I got from Jon is we're allowed to take up space with our stories," Miranda said. "He used his post-"Crazy Rich Asians" capital to say, 'No, we get to take a big swing.' This story, which could very easily have been this indie tiny musical about this neighborhood, [he] was like, 'This deserves a big swing. And this deserves to be as big as any of the other movies out there.'" - "Asian stocks tumble as the death toll from the Coronavirus rises and US and Canada warn against travelling to China. Shares in South Korea, Singapore and Australia all fell as these markets returned from holidays, whilst markets in mainland China do not return from the lunar new year holiday until next Monday" Barclays Data Overshadowed by the Coronavirus, but Still Relevant in the Bigger Picture Short-term market direction is being driven by fears over the coronavirus in China. Yet currencies remain calm and more focused on domestic data. Data out this week tells us the eurozone is struggling to recover. The BoE rate decision on Thursday is the focal point for GBP traders, but opinion is mixed as to what the bank will do. The coronavirus outbreak in China continues to dominate the headlines and market narrative. Mondays heavy falls in stock indices continued into the close and despite several attempts at staging a recovery, they remain near the lows. Chinese stock markets were the hardest hit but the FTSE in the UK was also particularly affected and is trading at around 7400 after a higher of 7690 made just a week ago. The news out of China is not getting any better and it seems no-one quite knows how bad the situation can get as estimates on the number affected vary wildly. The official number of confirmed cases has now passed 4,500. Hong Kong medical experts cast doubt on the official numbers, though, and estimate that the number in Wuhan alone had reached 43,590 by Saturday, including those in the incubation stage of the virus, explains Danske Bank. The death toll is creeping higher and has exceeded 100, with the first death reported in Beijing. We are yet to see any deaths outside of China but if this does come then we can expect another plunge in risk markets. Back to the Data With a backdrop of panic, data is taking a back seat. Yet while individual releases may not have large a large effect over global markets, currencies especially are focused on each release and what it says about the bigger picture. Eurozone data keeps threatening to pick up, but for every strong spot there seems to be something equally as weak. This was true again on Monday as German Ifo disappointed. January Ifo figures ticked in a bit disappointing yesterday following the positive momentum in the PMIs and ZEW last week. While there was further progress in the current situation assessment, business expectations eased again slightlyOverall, PMI and Ifo agree that the German manufacturing recession is easing in early 2020, while signals on the services activity are contrasting somewhat (with PMIs signalling increased momentum vs. Ifo signalling unchanged momentum). Meanwhile, construction activity is slowing. In sum: Germany is not out of the woods, reported Danske Bank. The Euro continues to trade a slow range, keeping EUR/GBP exchange rate in the 0.84-0.85 area. Yet this could change later this week as the much anticipated Bank of England meeting should spark some GBP activity on Thursday. This is especially true as it is not at all clear what the bank will actually do. As ING explain, Thursdays Bank of England meeting is a close one to call. Markets reckon theres a 60% chance of easing, but were less convinced. While we are likely to get three, or maybe even four, external monetary policy committee (MPC) members voting for a rate cut at this meeting, its not clear that the other five internal members - including Governor Carney - have been convinced. We expect the committee as a whole to vote to keep rates on hold this week. If data was weak enough, the odds for a rate cut would be over 90%, but a slight pic- up in data since the election ensures no-one quite knows what will happen. From the Markit PMIs to the Banks own surveys, sentiment indicators have picked up following Decembers election. And despite some disappointing hard data points, we dont think the growth story has materially changed since the Bank opted to remain on hold in November and December, continue ING. Pound Sterling has been on the weak side since the election but in context of the H2 19 rally it could just be taking a well earned rest. A rate hold could ignite the next leg higher. Alan Dershowitz, a member of President Trumps legal team, told the Senate during arguments Monday that even if President Trump explicitly orchestrated a quid pro quo by dangling Ukrainian military aid, as alleged in a leaked excerpt of John Boltons book, that would still not constitute an impeachable offense. The New York Times reported Sunday that in his upcoming book, former national security adviser John Bolton says President Trump told him personally in August that the provision of military aid to Ukraine was contingent on the opening of an investigation into Joe Biden. Even if a president, any president, were to demand a quid pro quo as a condition to sending aid to a foreign country, obviously a highly disputed manner in this case, that would not by itself constitute an abuse of power, Dershowitz said. Quid pro quo alone is not a basis for abuse of power, the former Harvard law professor continued. Its part of the way that foreign policy has been operated by presidents since the beginning of time. The claim that foreign policy decisions can be deemed abuses of power based on subjective opinions about mixed or sole motives, that the president was interested only in helping himself, demonstrates the dangers of employing the vague subjective and malleable phrase of abuse of power as a constitutional criteria for the removal of a president. Based on this reasoning, the new information the Times said appears in Boltons book would not constitute an impeachable offense, Dershowitz said. More from National Review (JNS)-Rightly or wrongly, the first thing that comes to mind when most Americans think of Idaho is potatoes. Yet the northwestern state, which is also known for vast natural beauty and resources, is also home an emerging pro-Israel leader in Congress. "It's not typically the rallying cry when it comes to campaigns," Idaho Republican Rep. Russ Fulcher told JNS about support for Israel in his state. "The people in the state of Idaho are generally very pro-Israel, and that's just part of our culture, part of our conservative nature. We grow up in a culture that appreciates Israel and that values its contributions" to the United States. That may come as a surprise to many, considering that the Jewish community in Idaho numbers less than 1 percent of the state's estimated 1.8 million people. Nevertheless, Fulcher, 57, who was first elected to Congress in 2018, said that many of his constituents have reacted "very positively" to his strong support of Israel in Congress, which has included supporting numerous bills and resolutions since he was sworn in more than a year ago. Bills include the "Never Again Education Act," which would create a grant program at the U.S. Department of Education to enable teachers across the United States the resources and training necessary to teach students about the Holocaust and its lessons; "Strengthening America's Security in the Middle East Act of 2019," which would impose fresh sanctions on Syria, boost security cooperation with Israel and Jordan, and allow state and local governments the right to punish state or local contractors from engaging in boycotting Israel. Fulcher remarked that the BDS movement harms not only Israelis but Palestinians as well. He mentioned that the "Never Again Education Act" has yet to be discussed in the House Labor and Education Committee on which he serves. Meanwhile, he has backed resolutions such as one to condemn the worldwide persecution of Christians; one "rejecting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hatred in the United States and around the world"; one "condemning Iranian state-sponsored terrorism and expressing support for the Iranian people's desire for a democratic, secular and non-nuclear republic of Iran"; and one "opposing the lifting of sanctions imposed with respect to Iran without addressing Iran's nuclear program, ballistic-missile development, support for terrorism and other destabilizing activities." 'Harsh sanctions are the right action on Iran' Fulcher has supported U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-Israel agenda. Trump's mantra of "America First," according to Fulcher, "includes Israeli interests." That has included, most recently, signing an executive order addressing anti-Semitism at the federal level, especially on college campuses nationwide-an action that was, according to the congressman, a "good move." "He throws the spotlight back on [the issue], and sometimes, if you got cockroaches, you got to throw a light on it," he said, adding that the move was timely given the recent shooting inside the JC Kosher Supermarket in Jersey City, which resulted in the deaths of three civilians and one police detective. "Every time it rears its head, we've got to shut it down," he said, adding that universities have to "take some ownership" of anti-Semitism on their campuses. Fulcher has also supported the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran since withdrawing the United States in May 2018 from the 2015 nuclear deal. "Harsh sanctions are currently the right action on Iran," said Fulcher, who said that if the United States were to retaliate militarily, "it could have generated more support for Iran from neighboring interests more than choking off the economic channel." He also approved the U.S. recent killing of the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. He recalled at the first Republican congressional meeting after the strike being surprised that the Democrats had issues over the assassination of a man responsible for the deaths of so many across the Middle East and the world. "To me, it validates the fact that it wasn't about taking out Soleimani," he said. "It was the fact that Trump was associated with it." 'Israel is a very special place' While Fulcher's support for Trump's pro-Israel policies is no surprise given that Idaho has long been a conservative red state, the congressman says that his faith as an evangelical Christian is what really informs him on his pro-Israel support. "In my faith, Israel is a very special place," he said. "I found the business community culture and the people to be incredibly fruitful, fair, hard negotiators, but culturally productive, culturally fair, and I was impressed by that, especially given the region that the Israeli community operates in." Despite the Jewish community's tiny size in his state, Fulcher has gotten to know Rabbi Mendel Lifshitz of Chabad Lubavitch of Idaho in the capital of Boise. "He is kind enough to invite me to participate in their celebrations," said Fulcher. "I happily do so. We've struck up a friendship as a result of that." Although he has yet to go to Israel in his congressional role, he has been to the Jewish state twice so far-once for business and another time as part of a biblical tour. He said his visit to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem in 1997 also helped shape his current perspectives. "I ran out the back door and threw up because what took place. I don't have one close relative, one close friend that I even know was part of that directly, but I do know this: That was evil manifested," he said. "If we tolerate that with any segment of humanity, we are condoning evil at its absolute worst," he affirmed. "As long as I am in a leadership role-and even when I'm not-I'm going to do everything I can to prevent that type of thing from ever happening again. And I won't shut up." INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting this month, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) will donate at least 200,000 KwikPens to three relief organizations Americares, Direct Relief and Dispensary of Hope to stock insulin at nearly 200 U.S. free clinics through 2022. These donations will directly support lower-income people living with diabetes who qualify for free clinic services. Separately, Lilly is providing $2 million to fund grants that relief agencies will distribute to a wide range of eligible free clinics. The grants will fund programs intended to help people with diabetes understand and access resources that can help them obtain medicine and supplies, medical care, insurance coverage and more. The insulin donations include KwikPens of Humalog (insulin lispro injection 100 units/mL), Humalog Mix75/25 (insulin lispro protamine and insulin lispro injectable suspension), and Basaglar (insulin glargine injection 100 units/mL). Shipments to relief agencies have already started, giving lower-income people another option for accessing insulin. "Dispensary of Hope is excited to expand the ongoing effort with Lilly's insulin donation program," said Chris Palombo, Dispensary of Hope CEO. "Insulin saves lives, and the addition of donated Humalog and Basaglar KwikPens is important for the nation's uninsured, low-income community." In 2018, Lilly announced plans to donate insulin vials to stock approximately 150 U.S. free clinics. Since then, Lilly has donated 120,000 vials that have been used by people who qualify for free clinic services. Lilly is now sending KwikPens to the relief agencies for distribution to nearly 200 free clinics. "This donation of KwikPens will help many people across the U.S. get the treatment they need," said Mike Mason, president, Lilly Diabetes. "With the help of the relief agencies, Lilly insulin will now be available in many free clinics that are equipped to properly store it. These clinics help people find comprehensive care such as medicine, devices, and physician support, and are very important to people who live with diabetes and use these services. We will continue to evaluate the needs of these communities and enhance our insulin donations as necessary. "Lilly is committed to offering the broadest suite of solutions for people who need help affording their insulin," Mason continued. "But real change to our reimbursement system is needed. Insurance coverage should ensure no one with diabetes is forced to ration or skip doses for financial reasons." These donations are part of a broader suite of solutions that Lilly is providing to people who need help affording their insulin. These options include lower-priced versions of branded insulins, out-of-pocket price caps at pharmacies for people with commercial insurance plans and help for people with immediate needs. Anyone who uses a Lilly insulin can call the Lilly Diabetes Solution Center at (833) 808-1234 (9 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST Monday through Friday) to see whether there is an option that reduces their out-of-pocket costs, including information about how to receive free insulin through a free clinic if they meet income requirements. More information about the grants that relief agencies will receive can be found on our blog. Important Safety Information for Basaglar, Humalog (Humalog U-100 and Humalog U-200), Insulin Lispro Injection, Humalog Mix75/25, and Humalog Mix50/50 Contraindications Basaglar, Humalog (Humalog U-100 and Humalog U-200), Insulin Lispro Injection, Humalog Mix50/50, and Humalog Mix75/25 are contraindicated during episodes of hypoglycemia and in patients with hypersensitivity to insulin glargine, insulin lispro, or any of their excipients. Warnings and Precautions Never share a prefilled pen, cartridge, reusable pen compatible with Lilly 3 mL cartridges, or syringe between patients, even if the needle is changed. Patients using vials must never share needles or syringes with another person. Sharing poses a risk for transmission of blood-borne pathogens. Changes in insulin strength, manufacturer, type, injection site, or method of administration may affect glycemic control and predispose to hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. Any changes in insulin regimen should be made cautiously and only under close medical supervision, and the frequency of blood glucose monitoring should be increased. Due to reports of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, advise patients who repeatedly inject into areas of lipodystrophy or localized cutaneous amyloidosis to change the injection site to the unaffected areas and to closely monitor blood glucose. For patients with type 2 diabetes, dosage adjustments of concomitant anti-diabetic products may be needed. Hypoglycemia is the most common adverse reaction associated with insulins, including Basaglar, Humalog, Insulin Lispro Injection, Humalog Mix75/25, and Humalog Mix50/50. Severe hypoglycemia can cause seizures, may be life threatening, or cause death. Accidental mix-ups between insulin glargine (100 units/mL), basal insulin products, Humalog Mix75/25, Humalog Mix50/50, and other insulins, particularly rapid-acting insulins, have been reported. To avoid medication errors between insulins, instruct patients to always check the insulin label before each injection to confirm that the correct insulin is injected, including the correct insulin brand and concentration. Do not transfer concentrated insulins (Humalog U-200) from the KwikPen to any syringe as overdosage and severe hypoglycemia can occur. Severe, life-threatening, generalized allergy, including anaphylaxis, can occur with insulin products, including Basaglar, Humalog, Insulin Lispro Injection, Humalog Mix75/25, and Humalog Mix50/50. If hypersensitivity reactions occur, discontinue use; treat per standard of care and monitor until symptoms and signs resolve. All insulin products, including Basaglar, Humalog, Insulin Lispro Injection, Humalog Mix75/25, and Humalog Mix50/50, cause a shift in potassium from the extracellular to intracellular space, possibly leading to hypokalemia. Untreated hypokalemia may cause respiratory paralysis, ventricular arrhythmia, and death. Monitor potassium levels in patients at risk for hypokalemia if indicated. Thiazolidinediones (TZDs), which are peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma agonists, can cause dose-related fluid retention, particularly when used in combination with insulin. Fluid retention may lead to or exacerbate heart failure. Patients treated with insulin, including Basaglar, Humalog, Insulin Lispro Injection, Humalog Mix75/25, or Humalog Mix50/50, and a PPAR-gamma agonist should be observed for signs and symptoms of heart failure. If heart failure develops, dosage reduction or discontinuation of TZD must be considered. Malfunction of an insulin pump device, infusion set, or insulin degradation can rapidly lead to hyperglycemia and ketoacidosis. Patients using Humalog U-100 or Insulin Lispro Injection in subcutaneous insulin infusion pumps must be trained to administer insulin by injection and have alternate insulin therapy available in case of pump failure. Adverse Reactions Adverse reactions commonly associated with insulin glargine products, Humalog, Insulin Lispro Injection, Humalog Mix75/25, and Humalog Mix50/50 are hypoglycemia, allergic reactions, injection site reactions, lipodystrophy, pruritus, and rash. Other adverse reactions commonly associated with insulin glargine products, Humalog Mix75/25, and Humalog Mix50/50 are weight gain and edema. Drug Interactions Certain drugs may affect glucose metabolism, requiring insulin dose adjustment and close monitoring of blood glucose. The signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia may be blunted when beta-blockers, clonidine, guanethidine, and reserpine are co-administered with Basaglar, Humalog, Insulin Lispro Injection, Humalog Mix75/25, or Humalog Mix50/50. Click to access Basaglar Full Prescribing Information, Humalog Full Prescribing Information, Insulin Lispro Injection Full Prescribing Information, Humalog Mix75/25 Full Prescribing Information and Humalog Mix50/50 Full Prescribing Information. See Instructions for Use provided with pen/vial/syringe. BV HI BOI SP HCP ISI NOV2019 About Diabetes Approximately 30 million Americans1 and an estimated 463 million adults worldwide have diabetes.2 Type 2 diabetes is the most common type internationally, accounting for an estimated 90 to 95 percent of all diabetes cases in the United States alone.1 Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the body does not properly produce or use the hormone insulin. About Lilly Diabetes Lilly has been a global leader in diabetes care since 1923, when we introduced the world's first commercial insulin. Today we are building upon this heritage by working to meet the diverse needs of people with diabetes and those who care for them. Through research, collaboration and quality manufacturing we strive to make life better for people affected by diabetes. We offer a wide range of therapies and a continued determination to provide real solutionsfrom medicines and technologies to support programs and more. For the latest updates, visit lillydiabetes.com or follow us on Twitter: @LillyDiabetes and Facebook: LillyDiabetesUS. About Eli Lilly and Company Lilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at lilly.com and lilly.com/newsroom. P-LLY This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about Humalog (insulin lispro injection 100 units/mL), Basaglar (insulin glargine injection 100 units/mL), and Humalog Mix75/25 (insulin lispro protamin and insulin lispro injectable suspension) as a treatment for patients with diabetes and reflects Lilly's current belief. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see Lilly's most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017. Atlanta, GA : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services; 2017. International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas, 9th edn. Brussels, Belgium : International Diabetes Federation, 2019. http://www.diabetesatlas.org. PP-DB-US-0697 1/2020 Lilly USA, LLC 2020. All rights reserved. SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company Related Links http://www.lilly.com FRANKFORT, Ind. (WLFI) - Frankfort Mayor Chris McBarnes will be resigning for a position in Wyoming. In an open letter sent out Tuesday afternoon, McBarnes said he would be leaving his role on Feb. 28. A Frankfort Republican precinct committeeman will select his replacement. McBarnes said he has accepted a new role as the executive director of The WYldlife Fund in Wyoming. He said he is an outdoor enthusiast and said protecting wildlife is one of his great passions. McBarnes grew up in Frankfort before attending Butler University. He was elected mayor at 23-years-old. In May 2019, he won the Republican nomination for mayor, which at the time he held for eight years. McBarnes ran unopposed in November. "I believe that you and I have shown the rest of the State of Indiana what Frankfort is capable of and what all of us can accomplish together," said McBarnes. "We now boast the largest Frito Lay site in the world. Our downtown is coming to life. Frankfort has smoother roads with more on the way. We rose to being recognized as one of the safest communities in Indiana. We unlocked the potential of public-private partnerships by raising millions of dollars to build a beautiful Ivy Tech campus and the soon-to-be completed Prairie Creek Park." OTTAWAThe federal prosecution service says a senior RCMP official faces three new charges for alleged secrecy breaches. Cameron Jay Ortis, director general of the RCMPs National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre, was arrested in September for allegedly handing secrets to an unnamed recipient and planning to give additional classified information to an unspecified foreign entity. The Public Prosecution Service of Canada says Ortis faces three new charges under the Security of Information Act, in addition to five earlier ones. These charges will proceed in Ontario Superior Court by way of direct indictment, meaning there will be no preliminary inquiry. Ortis also faces two Criminal Code charges, including breach of trust, in the Ontario Court of Justice. He is due back in court on Tuesday. OPTI Information Filter by Category All Company Announcement - General Additional Listing AIM Admission AIM Notice Base Rate Change Block Listing Interim Review Capital Reorganisation Change of Name Conversion of Securities Drilling/Production Report Final Announcement Released Geographical Distribution Intention to Float Issue of Debt Issue of Equity Joint Venture Net Asset Value Portfolio Update Price Monitoring Extension Product Launch Publication of a Prospectus Publication of Final Terms Research Update Restoration Rights Issue Stabilisation Notice Statement Suspension Tender Offer Trading Statement Treasury Stock All Mergers, Acquisitions and Disposals Acquisition Merger Form 8 (DD) Form 8 (OPD) Form 8.3 Form 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI) Form 8.5 (EPT/RI) Form 8.6 Rule 2.9 Announcement Offer By Offer For Offer Update All Results and Trading Reports 1st Quarter Results 3rd Quarter Results AGM Statement Annual Report Final Results Half-year Report Notice of Results Result of AGM Result of EGM Result of Equity Issue Result of General Meeting Result of Tender Offer Syndicate Results All Dividends Dividend Declaration Dividend Currency Election All Executive Changes Directorate Change Change of Adviser Change of Registered Office All Directors' Dealings Director/PDMR Shareholding All Advance Notice of Results Notice of AGM Notice of GM Notice of EGM Notice of Results All Non-Regulatory News All Transaction in Own Shares All Holding(s) in Company Total Voting Rights Notification of Major Holdings Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hengky Ola Sura (The Jakarta Post) Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara Tue, January 28, 2020 14:26 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206154acb 1 Business kelimutu,Kelimutu-lake,Flores,East-Nusa-Tenggara,NTT,tourism Free Kelimutu National Park on Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara, contributed more than Rp 3 billion (US$220,456) to national nontax revenue in 2019, surpassing the Rp 2.8 billion target. The popular tourist destination, famous for its three volcanic crater lakes of different colors, recorded 86,439 visitors throughout last year, 15,255 of whom were foreigners. Kelimutu National Park Center head Agus Sitepu said that, despite the parks overall positive financial performance, the number of tourist arrivals last year was down by around 1,000 visitors from the previous year. He attributed the slight decline in visitors to limited flights to Ende city in Ende regency, especially from Labuan Bajo in West Manggarai regency. The decline in foreign tourist arrivals has affected the regions revenue, he said. Our revenue surpassed the governments Rp 2.8 billion target last year, but it still fell short of the profit we booked in the previous year by almost 20 percent due to the decline in foreign tourist arrivals, Agus said. View on volcanic crater lakes of different colors in Kelimutu National Park in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (Courtesy of Kelimutu National Park/-) He went on to say the government had set a Rp 3 billion target for the parks contribution to national nontax revenue this year. In accordance with the prevailing government regulation the entrance fee to the park remains at Rp 5,000 per domestic visitor and Rp 150,000 per international tourist. Kelimutu is located around 450 kilometers from Labuan Bajo, a popular tourist destination -- also on Flores Island that has been designated by the government as one of the country's five super-priority destinations. The government is developing the new destinations as it strives to make tourism one of Indonesia's new economic growth drivers amid plunging investment and exports. Agus said the Kelimutu National Park Center would focus on improving facilities and amenities to ensure a quality experience for tourists throughout the year. Not only is the Kelimutu National Park home to the colorful [Triwarna Lakes], but it also boasts a wide variety of natural beauty, such as the protected Flores eagle and the garugiwa bird, which is the icon of Kelimutu, he said. (rfa) Sweet Soulfood. | Photo: Alesia A./Yelp Looking to uncover all that Bayou St. John has to offer? Get to know this New Orleans neighborhood by browsing its most popular local businesses, from a tavern to a bakery. Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top places to visit in Bayou St. John, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of neighborhood businesses. Read on for the results. 1. Parkway Bakery & Tavern Photo: nelson b./Yelp Topping the list is Parkway Bakery & Tavern, a spot to score sandwiches, seafood and desserts. Located at 538 Hagan Ave., it's the most popular business in the neighborhood, boasting 4.5 stars out of 1,927 reviews on Yelp. This family-run spot has been serving Bayou St. John for more than 100 years (except for one small hiatus). On the menu, look for classic New Orleans cuisine like po'boys, alligator sausage and stewed turkey gumbo. Also look for the charbroiled hamburger, classic grilled Reuben, chicken and smoked ham. (Find the entire menu here.) 2. Sweet Soulfood Photo: steph g./Yelp Next up is vegan spot Sweet Soulfood, which offers soul food and more, situated at 1025 N. Broad St. With 4.5 stars out of 287 reviews on Yelp, it's proven to be a local favorite. According to the business's Yelp page, Sweet Soulfood is "an all plant-based restaurant. We offer Creole New Orleans style Soulfood. We also have a salad bar and our sweet spot the ice cream bar!" The eatery offers different entrees every day of the week. (Find the full menu here.) 3. Lola's Photo: cynthia c./Yelp Tapas bar and Spanish spot Lola's is another top choice. Yelpers give the business, located at 3312 Esplanade Ave., four stars out of 308 reviews. Lola's serves up tapas starters like garlic shrimp and ceviche. Main course options include paella, fideua, seafood, roasted duck and caldereta. (Explore the entire menu here.) 4. Mayhew Bakery Photo: kelly m./Yelp Mayhew Bakery, a bakery that offers coffee and tea and custom cakes, is another much-loved neighborhood go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 11 Yelp reviews. Head over to 3201 Orleans Ave. to see for yourself. Story continues According to the business's Yelp page, the bakery "focuses on small-batch handmade sourdough breads! We source organic flours and local products from the markets." On the menu, look for baguettes, biscuits, pastries, cookies and cakes. The lunchtime crowd may also opt to order ham and grilled cheese sandwiches. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. DULLES, Va., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) will help the U.S. Air Force modernize its missile warning architecture with a new system that will collect and fuse data from an array of sensors to provide a comprehensive picture of launch activity under a 5-year, $197 million contract. To help with this mission, Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services has developed a completely open framework which the Air Force calls the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) Mission Data Processing Application Framework (MDPAF) that will be capable of processing Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) satellite data from both the U.S. Air Force's evolving Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) constellation and the future Next Gen OPIR constellation, as well as be capable of processing data from other civil and environmental sensors. "The U.S. government's global satellite network produces a constant flood of data petabytes and petabytes of it every day," said Dave Wajsgras, president of Raytheon IIS. "The Air Force wants to open that network up so they can use as much of that data as possible. That's a huge transformation not just for the service, but for the whole government." This is a significant departure from previous satellite ground control programs. Typically, companies would develop a system that collects and exploits data from specific types of satellites or sensors. FORGE changes this model as it's able to collect data from nearly any type of satellite or sensor, and then helps operators make sense of that data quickly. "Essentially, this is a smartphone model," said Wajsgras. "We've built an operating system that everyone can build applications for from Raytheon to the Air Force to universities to small companies. These applications allow the system to process specific types of data." One of the key benefits of incorporating new applications is that the system can be used beyond its intended mission. For example, an application could be built that would allow civil agencies to use the same satellite data to help detect forest fires, volcanic activity, agricultural changes, even surges in electric power consumption. Further departing from the traditional ground control development model, Raytheon built the prototype system in less than a year and it's capable of processing real data today. The company leveraged development work on several past programs, especially its Advanced Weather Integrated Processing System, to design the framework. Raytheon also incorporated its deep experience developing applications using DevSecOps and Agile software development processes to dramatically speed development. Raytheon will work with the Air Force over the upcoming years to further evolve and prove the framework's capabilities. About Raytheon Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 97 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I products and services, sensing, effects and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Follow us on Twitter. Media Contact Raytheon Chris Johnson 202-384-2474 [email protected] SOURCE Raytheon Company Related Links http://www.raytheon.com Federal authorities charged San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and high-profile restaurateur Nick Bovis with fraud Tuesday following a public corruption probe. The schemes involved an envelope of cash, fraudulent city contracts, improper gifts from a Chinese developer and a $2,000 bottle of wine, according to authorities. FBI agents on Monday arrested Nuru, 57, and Bovis, 56, at their Bay Area homes before unsealing a federal complaint Tuesday for one charge of wire fraud. Nuru is separately charged with lying to the FBI after initially being arrested on Jan. 21 and being told to keep quiet about the investigation. The complaint alleges corruption pouring into San Francisco from around the world, said David Anderson, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, at a news conference Tuesday. Anderson accused Nuru of corruption, bribery kickbacks and side deals by one of San Franciscos highest-ranking public employees. Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Both men face up to 20 years in prison on the fraud charge. They were arraigned Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco. Mohammed Nuru ... has been a dedicated public servant in San Francisco for decades. Mr. Nuru welcomes and looks forward to addressing these charges in court, Nurus attorney, Ismail Ramsey, said in an email. Bovis attorney did not return phone calls. The charges stunned San Francisco, with city officials expressing shock over the alleged schemes that took place between 2018 and 2019. Mayor London Breed vowed to cooperate fully with any investigation and placed Nuru on paid leave while the city finds an interim replacement. Nuru is a visible department head whos been at the post for nearly two decades and is deeply intertwined in San Franciscos so-called city family, which includes former Mayors Willie Brown, Gavin Newsom and Ed Lee and current Mayor Breed. As head of the DPW, Nuru, known in City Hall as Mr. Clean, was continually struggling with the citys quality-of-life challenges like sprawling homeless encampments and filthy streets. Bovis who was sentenced to five years in state prison for robbery in the 1990s is owner of famed bar and restaurant Lefty ODouls and was the public face of its annual Christmas toy drive. But while Nuru and Bovis projected one image to the public, the FBI alleges the two were quietly involved in a number of fraud schemes involving city resources. FBI Special Agent James Folger outlined the allegations in a federal complaint unsealed Tuesday following the arraignments. Starting in January 2018, Nuru and Bovis began scheming to win a contract for a restaurant lease at San Francisco International Airport by bribing an unnamed airport commissioner, the FBI said. Nuru and Bovis plotted to give the commissioner $5,000 cash, along with a free trip, in exchange for voting for the lease, authorities said. The airport commissioner, though, declined to take the cash, authorities said, and the scheme fell apart after Bovis and others got suspicious that the undercover agent was working for the FBI. Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle 2018 Nuru was separately using his position in city government to work with an unnamed billionaire developer in China who was putting together a multimillion-dollar project in San Francisco, authorities said. In exchange for travel, lodging, high-end booze including a $2,070 bottle of French wine and other gifts, Nuru pledged to manipulate the building and inspection process for the developer, authorities said. Nuru and Bovis relationship involved schemes across multiple government agencies, authorities said. Nuru allegedly tried to get Bovis a lease for retail space at the Transbay transit center, by circumventing the traditional process, authorities said. Nuru chairs the Board of Directors for the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, which operates the center. Nuru also provided Bovis inside information on specifications for public toilets and homeless shelters so he would have the jump when the contracts went to bid, according to the FBI. In 2017, Bovis company Tiny Potties provided design and manufacturing work for a DPW portable toilet project that looked like the Painted Ladies Victorian homes near Alamo Square. Nuru is also accused of receiving free and discounted materials along with a John Deere tractor at his Stonyford (Colusa County) vacation home. For years, Nuru has presided over DPW, which is responsible for construction management, maintaining public buildings and caring for street trees. With a $500 million budget, DPW has a roughly 1,600-person workforce. He drew a $273,400 salary last year, not including benefits. Nuru was made the permanent head of DPW by then-Mayor Ed Lee in 2012. Prior to his appointment, Nuru worked for 11 years as the departments deputy director for operations and was long considered a protege of former Mayor Willie Brown. Federal officials informed Breed about the arrest at about 3:30 p.m. Monday, shortly before FBI agents executed a search warrant for Nurus office. Nothing matters more than the public trust, and each and every one of us who works for the city must hold ourselves to the highest standard, Breed said in a statement. I accept nothing less for myself or for those who serve in this administration. Breed asked City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Controller Ben Rosenfield on Monday to begin reviewing any city contract that might be connected with Nurus alleged scheme to ensure that they comply with city law and procedures and meet our highest standard of integrity. City Administrator Naomi Kelly, who oversees Nuru, said Tuesday that she had named City Purchaser Alaric Degrafinried as acting director of the department. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. This is not the first time Nuru has found himself at the heart of a city scandal. In the early 2000s, DPW whistle-blowers alleged Nuru misappropriated public funds and replaced city workers with employees from a nonprofit he previously led, among other allegations. Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle Following Nurus appointment, Herrera, who was running for mayor against Lee, slammed the decision as nothing more than cronyism, politics and bad judgment. Herrera led a 2004 investigation into reports that Nuru, while working for DPW, improperly directed employees of the nonprofit he had formerly led to campaign for Newsom, who was making his first run for mayor. Bovis came into the public spotlight during his bitter dispute over Lefty ODouls with the buildings landlord three years ago. The famed baseball-themed bar and restaurant, known for its corned beef, cabbage and Bloody Marys, was a Union Square landmark since 1958, but was forced to move to a less-prestigious location at Fishermans Wharf in 2018. Bovis who also owns the once-popular and now closed Gold Dust Lounge in San Francisco and Broadway Grill in Burlingame welcomed patrons into Lefty ODouls during an emotional farewell in February 2017 attended by local news and city dignitaries, including the mayor. The high-profile business owner, though, had a criminal past that never came to light during the property dispute, The Chronicle has learned. Bovis was arrested in 1993 in Santa Clara County and charged with second-degree robbery and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. He ultimately was found guilty of a single count of second-degree robbery in 1996 and sentenced to five years in state prison, records show. Bovis had enough credits for time served in county jail and was released without serving time in state prison, according to Santa Clara County Superior Court records. News of Nurus arrest jolted much of City Hall Tuesday. Its a shock. I think that department has been run like a one-person fiefdom for a long time, said Supervisor Matt Haney, who sparred often with DPW over a number of issues. Theres an understanding that, everything goes through Mohammed, and if you piss him off, theres retribution. I think there needs to be an overhaul of that department. Evan Sernoffsky and Dominic Fracassa are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @evansernoffsky, @dominicfracassa A Florida pastor and longtime spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump says she was speaking in metaphor when she recently prayed in a sermon for all "satanic pregnancies" to end in miscarriage. In video of the Jan. 5 sermon, posted by the liberal advocacy group Right Wing Watch, televangelist pastor Paula White breathlessly calls on Jesus Christ to "command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now." "We declare that anything that's been conceived in satanic wombs, that it will miscarry, it will not be able to carry forth any plan of destruction, any plan of harm," White said before an auditorium of congregants. As of Sunday morning, the clip, which was just under two minutes long, had been viewed more than 2.5 million times. White's words are largely being interpreted literally - that she wishes for evil women to have miscarriages - but she shared a rare response to the criticism in which she explained that she was speaking in metaphor, praying for evil plans to be foiled in her congregants' lives. "I don't normally respond but clearly this has been taken out of context," White tweeted Sunday. "I was praying (Ephesians) 6:12 that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Anything that has been conceived by demonic plans, for it to be cancelled and not prevail in your life ..." Ephesians 6:12, according to the King James Bible translation, reads: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." After watching the clip, Andre Gagne, a theological studies professor at Concordia University and expert on the Christian right, said White was probably speaking in metaphor when she called for the miscarriages. He pointed to a book by Nigerian evangelist D.K. Olukoya that describes "satanic pregnancies" as "the plans that Satan has against a person's life." According to Gagne, "White is commanding that Satan's plans be aborted." Still, many observers recoiled at White's remarks. "So Paula White wants everyone at @WhiteHouse to know she is praying for abortion," tweeted Jennifer Gunter, an obstetrician and gynecologist who writes a column on women's reproductive health for the New York Times. "No pregnancies are satanic. Every child is a gift from God," tweeted James Martin, a prominent Jesuit priest. "No one should ever pray for any woman to miscarry. No one should ever pray for evil or harm to befall another person. Jesus asked us to pray for our persecutors, not to curse them. To love our neighbors as ourselves." White did not respond to a request for comment sent Sunday morning. The 53-year-old megachurch pastor, who recently joined the White House Office of Public Liaison as a religious adviser, delivered the remarks during a sermon in which she inveighed against a variety of forces, including anyone who sought to harm Trump. "We come against the marine kingdom, we come against the animal kingdom," said White, eyes closed. "We declare that any strange winds - any strange winds that have been sent to hurt the church, sent against this nation, sent against our president, sent against myself, sent against others - we break it by the superior blood of Jesus right now." She also condemned "any hex, any spell, any witchcraft, any spirit of control, any Jezebel," and "anything that the enemy desires through spells," according to the footage. Impassioned rhetoric is one of White's calling cards. She has used the same type of language in numerous rallies and public events, including a re-election rally for Trump in June. But it is almost unheard of for a leader of an evangelical church to call for the death of unborn babies in any context. The belief in the right to life and opposition to abortion rights are paramount political issues for religious conservatives, and defections from those stances are rare, even in metaphor. An October 2018 article from Christianity Today, the country's flagship evangelical magazine, offered a list of recommendations for pastors to help grieving couples cope with the loss of a baby. "Grieving parents need to know that their friends and church family care about them," the article read. A post last year on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website also offers supportive words for mothers who have miscarried. Miscarriages are the most common type of pregnancy loss, occurring in 10 to 20 percent of all pregnancies. The causes can vary: chromosomal abnormalities, infections, substance abuse. In the United States, medical professionals define a miscarriage as the death of an embryo or fetus before the 20th week of pregnancy. The loss of a baby after the 20th week is a stillbirth. White has been in Trump's orbit for years, sticking close to him as he has embraced the evangelical movement, an essential part of his support base. The pair first spoke in the early 2000s when Trump called her with glowing reviews of her televised sermon, The Washington Post Magazine has reported. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson later credited White as having "personally led (Trump) to Christ." White said she was aware of Trump's presidential ambitions long before he ran. She told The Washington Post in 2017 that Trump reached out to her in 2011 for advice on a White House bid. "I don't feel it's the right timing," she said she told him. When he did decide to run, White was involved with the campaign, at one point helping orchestrate a meeting with hundreds of evangelical leaders. And when Trump was inaugurated, White was one of six clergy members who spoke at the ceremony. In October, she joined the White House in an official capacity, advising the president's Faith and Opportunity Initiative and handling outreach to religious groups. The Gambia: Police close down two radio stations and arrest four journalists Two private radio stations in Gambia, King FM and Home Digital FM, were taken off air on the orders of the Gambian police which raided their studios on Sunday and arrested four journalists amid rising tension in the lead up to Presidential elections. Protesters take part in a demonstration against Gambian President, in Banjul, Gambia, on December 16, 2019. Credits: Romain CHANSON / AFP. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Gambia Press Union (GPU) condemn this blatant attack on press freedom and demand the immediate release of the arrested journalists and the reopening of both radio stations. Around a dozen armed personnel of the Gambian police stormed the two media offices and forced their shut down over accusations of spreading "incendiary messages" and "inciting violence". The manager of Home Digital FM, Pa Modou Bojang, and the director of King FM, Gibbi Jallow, were arrested along with two other journalists. The GPU claimed that the closure of the radio stations was arbitrary and unlawful. "We demand for their unconditional release and return all the confiscated materials them," the GPU added. In addition to this incident, the GPU denounced the attack on journalist Sankulleh Janko by a group of protesters while he was covering the demonstrations of the Three Years Jotna Movement, demanding the resignation of President Adama Barrow. His equipment and telephone were violently taken away from him. "The past 24 hours witnessed the most aggressive attack on press freedom since the new government assumed office in 2017," the GPU said in a press conference held on Monday. The General Secretary of the IFJ, Anthony Bellanger, said: These blatant attacks against media freedom and journalists are unacceptable in a democratic society. They also violate international conventions on freedom of expression and media freedom that the Gambia had signed and ratified. We urge the Gambian government to comply with the international laws and end the crackdown on media. After Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.s surprising early exit from the 2021 mayoral race, New York City political observers are gaming out how this could reshape the Democratic primary. One possible beneficiary is Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who is black and has been pitching himself to New Yorkers feeling threatened by gentrification. People of color in the city will lean toward the person of color. Thats just natural, political strategist Patrick Jenkins told City & State. Jenkins, whos black and is friends with Diaz, who is Puerto Rican, said that theres always been a black and Latino electoral coalition in the city, even if the degree of political alignment varies year to year. With someone of color dropping out, he said, that would help the remaining candidate of color in the race. The other two leading candidates in the race are white men from Manhattan, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. Other candidates with less political power and name recognition include Loree Sutton, former New York City veterans affairs commissioner, and Dianne Morales, the former CEO of a social service nonprofit who, like Diaz, is of Puerto Rican descent. Diazs exit could help spur further growth in the mayoral field. Ive got to believe more people are going to jump in, said Rebecca Katz, a political consultant with New Deal Strategies. Diazs exit, she said, shows that the race for mayor is wide open. Eric Koch, a consultant with Precision Strategies agreed. The field is not even close to set, he said. Well definitely see other serious people jump in for sure. It doesnt seem like Christine Quinn, the former New York City Council speaker and a 2013 mayoral candidate will be among them. I am really busy being the president and CEO of WIN, a homeless services nonprofit, she told City & State Monday, after praising Diaz as a terrific elected official and public servant. Other rumored Democratic candidates include Shaun Donovan, former director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Barack Obama and a former HPD commissioner under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Maya Wiley, a New School professor and former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio. Citigroup Vice Chairman Ray McGuire, also a Democrat, is publicly a weighing a campaign, as is Republican real estate developer John Catsimatidis. Koch said that the New York City Campaign Finance Boards public matching funds program levels the playing field for whoever may run. By matching certain contributions 8-to-1 and capping the amount of money candidates can raise and spend overall, it means that all the top candidates are going to end up in the same ballpark financially. Diazs fundraising had slowed down significantly in the past six months, but that may be a symptom, more than a cause, of Diazs lack of enthusiasm for the mayoral campaign. He just doesnt want to do this anymore, Diazs communications director John DeSio told City & State. It would be unfair to try to be mayor of the city of New York when your hearts not in it. Diaz plans to return all of his contributions more than $1 million to donors, and he doesnt have any job offers. He expects to finish his term, DeSio said. But come 2021, Diaz will be in high demand for a certain job: endorser and campaign surrogate. Diaz immediately becomes someone who other candidates are looking to, both for his endorsement, and also for the operation and the ability to have volunteers in the Bronx, Koch said. Thats because a Diaz endorsement is likely to be paired with the backing of the Bronx Democratic machine, which was previously all in on the candidacy of their local champion. The Bronx Dems certainly dont guarantee a win Diaz and the party backed Bill Thompson in 2013, and he lost both the borough and the city to de Blasio but its still a sought-after endorsement. Out of the current field, Adams seems like the most likely to get the Bronxs backing. While its early in their campaigns, he and Diaz had both been staking out more moderate, pro-growth positions, unlike Stringer and Johnson who have shared some skepticism of capitalism and are cutting a more progressive path. At this point in the 2021 race, however, the dynamics could change dramatically before Election Day. After the 2017 election, then-Public Advocate Letitia James and then-Queens Borough President Melinda Katz were considered to be among the top contenders, alongside Diaz. Now James is state attorney general, Katz is Queens district attorney and Diaz plans to leave public life. There are other unknowns for the mayoral race as well, like who will win the presidential election in 2020. Candidates pitches to voters could be completely different, depending on whether President Donald Trump or a newly elected Democrat is in the White House. And at least one candidate seems to be hoping for a coat-tail effect Stringer has endorsed Elizabeth Warren for president. Another complicating factor is that the 2021 primary will be the first election where New York City uses ranked-choice voting. Democrats will be able to rank candidates in order of preference, and in whats likely to be a crowded field, it has the potential to throw all previous political strategy out the window. The team that unlocks just what ranked-choice voting means is going to be the team that wins, Koch said. Its such a wild card, and its never been done on a scale like New York City before. Some experts think ranked-choice voting will result in less vicious campaigns, since candidates have less of an incentive to alienate others supporters. If so, Adams reaction to Diaz dropping out may just be a preview of the coming 2021 lovefest. Diaz has been a tremendous voice for the Bronx and a great leader for this city, Adams said in a statement emailed to City & State. Not only do I like him as a colleague, I love him as a friend. Adds to its Growing list of Assets SACRAMENTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Eco-Growth Strategies, f/k/a Falcon Technologies, Inc. (the "Company" or "Eco-Growth Strategies") (OTC PINK:ECGS), a nutraceutical company developing a variety of premium CBD-based products specializing in sourcing and extraction of trusted North American hemp, today announced that the company has formally entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire an ultra-premium hemp-based CBD company that focuses on athletes, fitness minded individuals as well as the general population. The handcrafted catalog of products contains no THC and are produced with the highest quality CBD. The ultra-premium hemp-based CBD company has projected 150% YoY growth, 70% repeat customer rate and has generated $354,000 of revenue in the last fourteen months. The acquisition will be folded into the already existing assets of Eco-Growth Strategies. "While terms are still being finalized, we cannot offer many specifics, but we are excited to formally acquire a company that has firmly established a niche within the CBD space. Adding a quality, revenue generating asset to our organization is in-line with our business model that involves a bolt on strategy for existing companies that we feel benefit Eco-Growth's business channel within the CBD industry, says William Delgado, Chairman and CEO of Eco-Growth Strategies. While we intend to grow a portion of our company organically, we will seize opportunities like this when they make sense," added Delgado. "We feel the synergies between the two companies will create an even larger presence for Eco-Growth and its subsidiaries, but more importantly, increase both the awareness in quality of our CBD products and create a competitive advantage within the massive non-THC cannabinoids with major focus on the CBD segment. It takes our company one step closer towards streamlining vertical integration." says Alan Lien" President of XTRACTIONONE PLUS. The company intends to provide specific information upon the company formally closing the sale in the future. About Eco-Growth Strategies, Inc. A/K/A Falcon Technologies, Inc. Eco-Growth Strategies, Inc. is a nutraceutical and processing company developing a range of CBD-based products. The company's mission is to employ best practice science to source, manufacture, and package the process all of its CBD products from within the United States. The company performs farm and manufacturing site visits and sources its products from only the highest quality hemp farms in North America. CBD Disclaimer The statements made regarding CBD products including our future products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these products and the testimonials made has not been confirmed by FDA- approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All information presented here is not meant as a substitute for or alternative to information from healthcare practitioners. Please consult your healthcare professional about potential interactions or other possible complications before using any product. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires this notice. SAFE HARBOR ACT Forward-Looking Statements are included within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategy, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, including words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements and involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. We are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact: Richard Brown rbrown@nesscc.com 978-767-0048 https://ecogrowthstrategies.com/our-team/ SOURCE: Eco-Growth Strategies View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574293/Eco-Growth-Strategies-Announces-Letter-of-Intent-to-Acquire-Specialty-CBD-Company Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on corruption charges Jan. 28, just before the premier was set to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House for the unveiling of the long-awaited US peace plan. Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit filed the indictment against Netanyahu in three cases involving corruption, breach of trust and fraud. The formal charges were submitted to the Jerusalem District Court mere hours after Netanyahu announced from Washington, DC, that he was withdrawing a request for the Knesset to grant him immunity. His decision came after it became clear he would lose the vote and not receive immunity. The move launches the process for a trial against the leader that will likely start in a few weeks, shortly before or after the March legislative elections. Why it matters: The trial will have a direct impact on Israeli politics, which has been facing a deadlock since the country has failed to produce a government following two consecutive legislative elections. In both polls, Netanyahus Likud, along with its right-wing bloc, has earned roughly the same number of seats as the Blue and White party headed by former army chief Benny Gantz. Netanyahu claims he is on a mission to bring security to Israel, with Trumps peace plan often referred to as the deal of the century giving Israel the option to annex West Bank settlements. That plan is his proof of the need to establish a unity government that will be able to approve the deal with a wide majority. Timing is everything: Netanyahu is furious with the attorney generals rush to submit the indictment with the courts while he is getting ready for what he believes is his biggest achievement as Israels premier: the Trump plan. The latter is considered the best deal ever offered to Israel by any American president. The timetable is now in the hands of the court, and the big question will be if the trial will formally start before the elections. What's next: Netanyahus opponents, headed by Blue and White, will use the trial as proof that the prime minister does not deserve another term and that he cannot function as an effective leader for the country while fighting in court. Netanyahu and the Likud, meanwhile, will claim that the indictment is a political step by a corrupt judicial system, a claim popular among Netanyahus right-wing supporters. Nevertheless, all polls indicate the political deadlock is likely to remain after the March elections. Read more: Check out Akiva Eldars take on why the Trump plan is mostly propaganda as well as Yossi Beilins analysis on how the plan could impact elections. The Indian Embassy in Beijing has set up a dedicated email service for those Indians living in China who wish to get in touch with the Mission, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The outbreak of the virus has already claimed the lives of 106 people till Tuesday. This email ID, helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in, comes on the heels of the two hotlines--+8618-612083629 and +8618-612083617--that were started by the Embassy on January 23. It had asked all to also keep track of Embassy's social media accounts (Twitter: @EolBeijing and Facebook: India in China) for updates on this ongoing emergency. Taking to the micro-blogging site, Twitter, the Indian Embassy in Beijing, China, tweeted, "In addition to the three hotlines (+8618610952903, +8618612083629, +8618612083617) India in China has also opened a dedicated email ID helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in to deal with the ongoing emergency. All are requested to address their emails to helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in only so that they are promptly responded to." In India, although no case has been detected so far, nearly 450 people have been kept under observation in the country, most of them in Kerala, following screening for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus. Some, who have returned from China in recent weeks, have approached medical authorities as a precautionary step. Till January 26, 29,707 passengers arriving in India in 137 flights have been screened for novel coronavirus infection symptoms and no case has so far been detected in India, PTI quoted an official saying. The central government has decided to take steps for the possible evacuation of over 250 Indians from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, and announced a raft of precautionary measures to deal with suspected cases. A meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed India's preparedness to deal with the virus amid mounting global concern over the increasing number of cases in China and several other countries. By PTI NEW DELHI: Three persons with a travel history to China have been kept under observation at an isolation ward of the RML Hospital here for a possible exposure to novel coronavirus, officials said on Tuesday. The three -- all men aged between 24 and 48 -- were admitted on Monday and their samples have been sent for testing to ICMR-NIV Pune laboratory, Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital, said. While two of the men are residents of Delhi, one hails from NCR. All the three patients have respiratory problems like cold and cough along with fever and they self-reported at the designated health facility to deal with such cases. According to Bhardwaj, two of the patients had returned from China about a week ago while the other about a month back. Till Monday, a total of 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened. As per data received on Jan 14, a total of 17 samples have been received by the ICMR-NIV Pune Lab, out of which 14 have been already been tested and found negative. Several people have been kept under observation in several states including Kerala, Kolkata and Maharashtra following screening for a possible exposure to respiratory virus, which has spread in China. The Centre has stepped up vigil in areas bordering Nepal in view of a confirmed case of nCoV detected there. The Prime Minister's Office on Saturday reviewed India's preparedness to deal with any situation amid mounting global concerns over rising cases in China. ALSO READ | Coronavirus outbreak: Air India ready for evacuation of Indians from Wuhan, says source A 24x7 NCDC Call Centre (+91-11-23978046) has been made operational to monitor the list of contacts furnished by the Ministry of External Affairs, provide details of district and state surveillance officers to those who seek them, and in case of any clinical query, direct the concerned to the relevant Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officer. Thermal screening is being done at seven designated airports -- New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi. Vardhan, who held a review meeting to analyse the preparedness for prevention and management of nCoV in India, also spoke to the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on Saturday and assured him of all support for screening at the border with Nepal. ALSO READ | Coronavirus: States on Nepal border to ask travellers to report flu symptoms The health ministry has urged passengers, who have a travel history to China since January 1, 2020, to come forward for self-reporting to the nearest health facility if they experience any symptoms such as fever, cough, respiratory distress, etc, and also inform the doctor treating them. On Saturday, the Union Health Ministry also issued a fresh advisory asking passengers to follow certain dos and don'ts if they are in China or if they are travelling or returning from China. The advisory stated that during their stay in China, if they feel sick and have fever and cough, then they should cover their mouth while coughing and sneezing, seek medical attention promptly and report to the Indian Embassy in China. The advisory also said that if they feel sick on flight, while travelling back to India from China, they should inform the airline crew about their illness, seek mask and self-reporting format from the airline crew, avoid close contact with family members or fellow travellers and follow other directions of crew and airport health officer. Six persons under observation in Mumbai and Pune A man was hospitalised in Pune on suspicion of possible exposure to the novel coronavirus during his recent visit to China, taking the total number of such admissions to six in Maharashtra so far, a senior official said on Tuesday. The man was admitted in the isolation ward of the Naidu Hospital on Monday night for the symptoms similar to the novel coronavirus infection, Dr Pradeep Awate, Maharashtra state Disease Surveillance Officer, told PTI. ALSO READ | Amid coronavirus, Bihar Girl admitted to Patna Medical College and Hospital with fever "The number of the persons under observation in hospitals in Maharashtra has now gone up to six," he said. Four of the six persons are currently under observation in Mumbai while two in Pune, Dr Awate said. He said blood samples of none of them has tested positive to the virus so far. ALSO READ | Coronavirus outbreak: Death toll jumps to 106, nearly 1,300 new cases, says China government No case of coronavirus infection has been found in Maharashtra yet. A Health department official had said on Monday that the Maharashtra government will prepare a list of passengers who have returned to Mumbai from China, especially from the Wuhan region, since January 1 this year, and will enquire about their health condition. As many as 3,756 passengers arriving from China were screened for the coronavirus at the Mumbai international airport between January 18 and 26, but no confirmed case of the deadly disease has been found so far in Mumbai. First suspected case in Punjab, Haryana region A 28-year-old Mohali resident, who returned from China recently, has been admitted to the isolation ward of PGIMER here after showing novel coronavirus-like symptoms, an official said on Tuesday. This is the first suspected case of novel coronavirus in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh region. The patient, who hails from Uttar Pradesh but lives in Punjab's Mohali, had returned from China last week. The patient complained of fever and respiratory discomfort, said Dr Gagandeep Singh, State programme officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, Punjab, on Tuesday. The patient, who is said to be a banker, himself went to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), for treatment in Chandigarh, official said. The patient has been kept in an isolation ward and is under observation, the official said, adding his samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology Pune. The family of the patient has been contacted by Mohali heath authorities, the official said, adding they have not shown any such symptoms. Indian student from Wuhan, mother admitted in Ujjain hospital A woman and her son, who recently returned from Wuhan in China, were admitted in a hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain for possible exposure to novel Coronavirus, prompting the state government to step up vigil. According to officials of the Health Department, the duo included the medical student who had returned to India from Wuhan, suspected to be the epicentre of the virus and his mother who lives in Ujjain. "I have instructed all top officials of my department, including the Principal Secretary and Commissioner, Health Department, to monitor the situation in the entire state and step up the vigil after two persons with suspected Coronavirus infection are found in Ujjain," Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Tulsi Silawat said here on Tuesday. The Nokia 8.2 4G variant has reportedly been cancelled. The Nokia 8.2 5G is said to be priced under the $500 mark in international markets. The Nokia 8.2 5G may come with a 64MP primary camera. HMD Global has been taking the stage on Mobile World Congress (MWC) for two years now. The company unveils new devices each at the exhibition each year. This year is expected to be no different as the company is expected to announce multiple devices like the Nokia 1.3, Nokia 5.2 and Nokia 8.2 5G at the MWC 2020. The report also claims that Nokia will announce an original series device alongside the upgrades. According to a report from Nokiamob.net, the 4G edition of the Nokia 8.2 has been cancelled. As for the 5G variant, it is said to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 SoC. The design could be similar to that of the Nokia 7.2 phone from 2019. Earlier reports have claimed that the smartphone could sport a 64MP primary camera and a 32-megapixel selfie camera. It may have 6GB and 8GB RAM variants. The device is rumoured to come equipped with 128GB of internal storage. The Nokia 8.2 5G may come with a 32MP selfie shooter. It is said that the phone could be coming with a pOLED or LCD screen and a side-mounted fingerprint reader. While the smartphone was rumoured to feature a curved display, the new report claims that it has been found to be incorrect. The device is tipped to pack a 3500mAh battery. It may also support fast charging. The Nokia 8.2 5G is said to lack support for wireless charging and a breathing light notification. It is expected to come equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack though. The Nokia 8.2 5G is said to be priced under the $500 mark in international markets. There is no word on the availability of the Nokia 8.2 5G in India yet. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn and discussed a host of issues to strengthen bilateral ties. The two leaders met over breakfast and exchanged views on issues of mutual interest. The meeting comes in the backdrop of six resolutions being tabled by groups within the European Union against India's new citizenship law, which it alleged marks a "dangerous shift" in the country's citizenship regime. Luxembourg is part of the European Union. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oil (UK) Ltd, the firm that owns and operates the Stanlow refinery, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Mark Wilson as its new Chief Executive Officer. "He will be based at the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in the UK and succeed S Thangapandian, who informed the Board of his intention to return to India after almost three years in the UK," the company said in a statement. An experienced energy professional, Wilson was previously with BP plc of the UK where he held a number of senior leadership positions. Prashant Ruia, Non-Executive Chairman, Oil UK said: "Mark has successfully led major international businesses and I am delighted that he is joining us as our new Chief Executive Officer. Our UK operations remain central to the Group's strategic plans and we will continue to invest to further our growth ambitions here." Wilson said UK has adapted extremely well to a fast-changing market since taking over the Stanlow Refinery in 2011. "I am looking forward to leading the highly capable team in the next stage of the company's development to ensure that we secure our future as a key supplier of the energy and petrochemicals products the UK needs," he said. Stanlow produces 16 per cent of UK road transport fuels, including 3 billion litres of petrol, 4.4 billion litres of diesel and 2.1 billion litres of jet fuel per year. The refinery processes 10 million tonne of crude and feedstocks annually. Since acquiring Stanlow in 2011, Essar has invested USD 1 billion in the UK business, including the USD 258 million spent in 2017-18 to deliver a major margin booster project, together with the site's largest-ever turnaround. "The successful delivery of this project increased annual throughput capacity from 68 million to 75 million barrels, as well as improving yields and driving revenues," the statement said. Over the last three years, UK has broadened its downstream integration, with an entry into the fuel retail market. It already has 73 petrol pumps across England and Wales and has plans to grow the retail network within the UK market to 400 sites over the next five years. The company is also a major player in the wholesale supply of Jet A-1 to a number of major UK airports. Chanting, Love, not hate, makes America great, opponents of President Donald Trump were gathering Tuesday in Wildwood in the hours leading up to the Keep America Great rally at the Wildwoods Convention Center on Tuesday. At least 150 Trump protesters had arrived by 3 p.m., and about a dozen miniature versions of the Baby Trump balloon were aloft. Some were chanting Lock him up, a play on what Trump supporters have sometimes said about Hillary Clinton, and other opponents of the president. Lock him up chants have now started at the protest #Wildwood pic.twitter.com/YOxeSNBMRl Chris Franklin (@cfranklinnews) January 28, 2020 Martha Friend, of Lawrence, was in the group of protesters. You have to show up and shine the light on the hate that has been dominating this presidency, Friend told NJ Advance Media, citing, as an example, Trumps views on immigration. Trump supporters in lines waiting to get into the convention center responded to the protesters with their own demonstration, shouting out Trump 2020 and other rebuttals. Both sides were assembling by Bennett Avenue, down the street from where Trump will be speaking at the Wildwoods Convention Center. Trump supporters are trying to drown out sound of protesters #wildwood pic.twitter.com/N0bQ4Hmrs1 Chris Franklin (@cfranklinnews) January 28, 2020 There were loud cheers when Trumps plane passed over Fox Park around 6:15 p.m. One Trump supporter was yelling that protesters are baby killing Nazis," while a protester - who identified himself as a U.S. veteran - was dressed as Trump in a prison outfit. Jack Gavin said he traveled from West Caldwell to join the Trump protest, where he was handing out copies of the U.S. Constitution and facts matter buttons. Its so important to be a voice for the people who have no voice. I would feel terrible if I did nothing and we still had the result, Gavin said. Ana Lara of Dennisville, originally from Mexico, said he was attending the protest to represent the dreamers, or those brought to the U.S. before reaching adulthood. Were not criminals. Were equal as everybody here, said Lara, 23. It scares me every minute thinking hes going to be re-elected. Hes destroying families," Lara addd. Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews or on Facebook. Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A teachers union is suing U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for the repealing of Obama administration rules withdrawing federal funds from private, for-profit vocational schools whose graduates could not find work that enabled them to repay their student loans. The gainful-employment rule took effect in 2015 and was intended to deny funding for federal loans and Pell grants to vocational schools, or some of their programs, if large numbers of recent graduates were not earning enough in their first three years to meet repayment schedules. A 1965 federal law had directed those schools to prepare their students for gainful employment to keep their federal funding, but the 2015 rule was the first to set standards for income and debt levels. DeVos, President Trumps education secretary who supports private schools, put the rule on hold in 2017, prompting a lawsuit from California and 17 other states that is still pending in a federal court in Washington, D.C. The repeal is due to take effect in July, a year after it was announced. Meanwhile, no schools have lost federal funding under the three-year timeline set in 2015. In a suit filed last week in federal court in San Francisco, the American Federation of Teachers and its California affiliate said the rollback was irrational, contrary to congressional intent, and harmful to students, graduates and taxpayers. DeVos department has admitted that it has a stated policy of ignoring this congressional mandate requiring schools covered by the law to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation, the suit said. It said the department has acknowledged that the repeal could make it harder for students to repay loans because of enrollment in sub-optimal programs that led to lower-paying jobs. The department also said the rollback would cost taxpayers $6.2 million over 10 years. And by repealing requirements that the schools disclose their performance records, and any government warnings of violations, the department is depriving current and future students of critical information about the programs they are attending or considering, the suit said. DeVos department has argued that the Obama administration rule had a disproportionate impact on proprietary (private) institutions and the students these institutions serve. Of about 8,000 programs nationwide covered by the rule, the department said, more than 5,600 were private, for-profit schools, while the rest were non-degree vocational programs in public colleges. And of the more than 800 programs that failed the rules accountability standards in 2017, with large numbers of graduates whose loan payments were more than 12% of their overall earnings, 98% were in private, for-profit schools, the department said. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. The numbers show only that the rule was working as intended, the teachers union said in its lawsuit. The rule does not discriminate between for-profit and other schools but applies the same standards to all of them, the suit said. If the impact was greater on private schools, the suit said, that was a product of their performance. DeVos has drawn other legal challenges for her support of private schools. In March, a federal magistrate in San Francisco held her in contempt of court and fined her $100,000 for violating a court order by continuing to collect debts from more than 16,000 former students of Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit chain that folded in 2014. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko The family of a garda murdered by a republican from Northern Ireland is to receive compensation totalling 1.4m (1.2m) after the settlement was approved in Dublin's High Court. Siobhan Phelan SC, for the family of Tony Golden, told the court it had been agreed that Nicola Golden, the late garda's widow, would receive 961,000 (811,360) with 439,000 (370,642) being divided among the couple's three children Andrew, Lucy and Alexandra. Ms Phelan said Lucy (10) would receive 137,000 for mental distress and loss of dependency; Alexandra (8) would receive 146,000 and Andrew (6) would receive 156,000. The money will be lodged to their benefit in court until they are 18, but an application for interim payouts on their behalf may be made to the court. Micheal O'Scanaill SC, for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, told Mr Justice Michael Twomey that the parties had agreed to mediation, had met in Dundalk on Friday and had finalised all issues. He said a global figure of 1.4m had been agreed and details of how much would be received by each dependant would be outlined to the court by Ms Phelan. Judge Twomey, sympathising with the family while approving the settlements, complimented all parties involved in the mediation on the basis that it had prevented the family from the stress of a full trial to measure compensation. Ms Golden was a nurse at the time of the murder of her husband. She had not worked since and, the court heard previously, could no longer work in the position. Mr Golden was 36 when he was shot dead after responding to a domestic violence complaint in Omeath, Co Louth on October 11, 2015. He was shot five times and killed in a shocking murder-suicide attack. In uniform and unarmed, he had accompanied Siobhan Philips (23) to the house she shared with her physically abusive partner Adrian Crevan Mackin only to be brutally killed by him. Mackin was a known dissident republican originally from Newry who had been released on bail on a charge of membership of the IRA. He had previously been given a three-year suspended sentence on firearms charges in Northern Ireland. After shooting Mr Golden, Mackin shot his partner four times, including one bullet to her head, before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life. Ms Philips, who survived her injuries, is living in Co Down. The former king of Belgium has finally admitted he is the father of a woman who had claimed she was born as a result of an extra-marital affair with her mother. Albert II, who abdicated in 2013 for health reasons, had never publicly denied the claims of artist and sculptor Delphine Boel, 51, but had for years battled to avoid a DNA test. He finally gave in last year after an order from the Brussels Appeals court. In a statement by the 85-year-old's lawyers they said he admitted paternity as "scientific conclusions indicate that he is the biological father of Mrs Delphine Boel". On Monday Albert II said that he had decided to "to end with dignity this painful procedure". Ms Boel's lawyer Marc Uyttendaele said that "her reaction was one of relief, emotion but also shows a wound that will not heal". Rumours about Albert and Ms Boel's mother, Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, had been around for years, but the news that the king may have had a child with her broke into the open when a biography of Albert's wife, Queen Paola, was published in 1999. In his Christmas message to the nation that year, he alluded to a past infidelity and said he and Queen Paola lived through a "crisis" in the late 1960s that almost wrecked their marriage, but they overcame their marital problems "a long while ago". Albert II acceded to the Belgian throne in 1993 on the death of his older brother. He stepped down in July 2013 and automatically lost his immunity from prosecution. a privilege enjoyed by the reigning monarch. The following year Ms Boel, who bears a striking resemblance to some members of the royal family, opened court proceedings to prove that Albert was her father. She has always said she brought the paternity case due to anger since she was being cold-shouldered by the royal family. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is telling members of his conference there aren't currently the votes to block witnesses in the president's impeachment trial as a number of influential Republicans diminished the importance of revelations in John Bolton's book manuscript. McConnell's warning came immediately after Donald Trump's lawyers rested their defense, as party leaders stood firm on the question of keeping out impeachment trial witnesses. His acknowledgement came during a closed-door meeting with senators Tuesday after Trump's lawyers ended their defense, and was reported by the Wall Street Journal. Senate Republicans huddled after Trump's lawyers made their final arguments that the president's conduct wasn't impeachable using only half their allotted time in a chamber the GOP controls with a 53-vote majority. Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota said Bolton's revelations which prompted a political battle over whether he should be believed don't matter. In this image from video, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks during the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Later, he told fellow Republicans the votes 'I don't think anything he says changes the facts,' Thune said. 'Were kind of confident' the Trump impeachment trial won't extend beyond Friday, he added. 'The consensus is that weve heard enough and its time to go to a final judgement,' Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming told The Hill. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney says he wants to hear what Bolton has to say, and Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have said they want to hear from witnesses. A small number of Republicans have either expressed potential support for hearing from witnesses, or said they were holding out until the end of the week. McConnell's comments is certain to focus minds and potentially bring more outside pressure from President Trump, who has called the trial a hoax and wants it to end. Senators acknowledge there is no deal yet on how to proceed, after Bolton's revelations prompted a series of potential proposals including deals to pair witnesses for each party, or efforts to subpoena his manuscript without putting the witness himself under oath. But with several key holdouts saying they are still waiting to make up their minds, Senate Majority Mitch McConnell is telling colleagues he doesn't have the votes to dispense with witnesses. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, told Capitol reporters he won't make up his mind until the Senate spends Wednesday and Thursday taking written questions from senators. 'Then I'll make a decision about whether we need more evidence,' he said. One Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, appeared to hedge on whether she wold vote to remove Trump from office, only to issue a clarification via Twitter. Trump's defense team concluded its opening arguments Tuesday by taking a hit at Bolton's upcoming book, claiming it is 'unsourced' and insisting the manuscript of the memoir would not be admissible in the trial. 'What we are involved in here, as we conclude, is perhaps the most solemn of duties under our constitutional framework. The trial of the leader of the free world, and the duly elected president of the United States. It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts,' attorney Alan Dershowitz said during the final day of the defense's opening arguments against the president's removal. In the shortest day of the Senate impeachment so far, Trump's lawyers closed their opening defense arguing against the articles of impeachment abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate convened at 1:00 p.m. and the defense wrapped less than two hours later, only presenting the closing remarks of their opening arguments. Dershowitz, along with the other all-star team of lawyers, including Ken Starr, Jay Sekulow and Pat Cipollone, asserted that the articles being levied against the president are not actually impeachable offenses according to the Constitution. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton is writing a book, and in a leaked manuscript it was revealed that he detailed a conversation where he said Trump directly linked the freeze in millions of military aid to Ukraine to an investigation into his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son Hunter. Donald Trump's defense team, including White House Counsel Pat Cipollone (right) and the president's personal attorney Jay Sekulow (left) concluded their opening arguments Tuesday against removing Trump. They only spoke for about two hours, marking the shortest day, by far, of the trial since it began last Tuesday Attorney Alan Dershowitz, who is part of Donald Trump's defense team, said John Bolton's forthcoming book is 'unsourced' and would be 'inadmissible' in the trial Ousted National Security Advisor John Bolton is writing a book, set for release in mid-March and senators cited revelations from the upcoming book as reasons they want to hear from him. He detailed a first-hand account of a conversation where he said Trump linked Ukraine aid to an investigation into the Bidens The two-day question period for Trump's impeachment that forces senators to put their queries in writing Now that President Trump's lawyers have rested their defense, the Senate enters two consecutive days of question time where lawyers will spar over questions that senators must submit in writing. The period represents the first opportunity for individual senators to shape the debate, outside of the Capitol hallways where only a fraction of them have been addressing reporters who have been assembled in pens during the impeachment trial. Sen. Mitch McConnell The rules only define how the general outlines of how the action will proceed. There are no limits on the topics that the senators may choose although in practice leadership has the ability to screen and order the questions. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell addressed the outlines of the process for the first time after Trump's lawyers wrapped up their defense Tuesday. 'I remind senators that their questions must be in writing and be submitted to the chief justice. During the question period of the Clinton trial, senators were thoughtful and brief with their questions and the managers and counsel were succinct in their answers. I hope we can follow both of these examples during this time,' said McConnell. Notably, he said he worked out the basics with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer. The two men did not negotiate over the rules for the trial, which Republicans passed on a party-line vote. Chief Justice John Roberts addressed the Clinton impeachment where 100 senators from both sides had reached agreement on the rules. 'Chief Justice Rehnquist advised counsel, quote: 'Counsel on both sides, that the chair will operate on a rebuttable presumption that each question can be fully and fairly answered in five minutes or less,' Roberts said. 'The transcript indicates that the statement was met with quote laughter, end quote,' he noted. He said the Rehnquist limit 'was a good one and [he] would ask both sides to abide by it.' During the Senate's Clinton trial in 1999, then majority leader Trent Lott of Mississippi described how he and minority leader Tom Daschle would work to divide time evenly between the two parties. Lott took the prerogative to deliver the first question, which a Senate staffer delivered then to Roberts. 'Senator Daschle and I will try to make sure that the time stays pretty even as we go through the day,' said Lott. He said Rehnquist would make sure that 'deliberations and the answers are fair' indicating the chief justice had a role in seeing how the debate went forward. McConnell said there would be second eight-hour session on Thursday, as laid out in the rules. Advertisement Dershowitz claimed the information detailed in the book would not be admissible, attempting to deter Democrats for subpoenaing a copy of the unpublished manuscript. 'The vice president's chief of staff issued a statement,' Dershowitz said, then quoted: 'In every conversation with the president and the vice president, in preparation for our trip to Poland,' remember that was the trip that was being planned for the meeting with President Zelensky 'the president consistently expresses frustration that the United States was bearing the lion's share of responsibility for aid to Ukraine and that European nations weren't doing their part. The president also expressed concerns about corruption in Ukraine, and at no time did I hear him tie Ukraine aid to investigations into the Biden family or Burisma.' 'That was the response,' Dershowitz continued. 'Responding to an unpublished manuscript that may be, some reporters have an idea of what it maybe says. That is what the evidence if you want to call that evidence, I don't know what you would call it. I would call it inadmissible, but that's what it is.' 'To argue that the president is not acting in our national interest and is violating his oath of office which the managers have put forward is wrong based on the facts in the way the Constitution designed,' he continued. Immediately following the conclusion of opening arguments Tuesday, the seven Democratic impeachment managers, who presented the prosecution last week, held a press conference on the House side of the Capitol. Schiff called the ending to the defense 'abrupt' and said Trump's team of lawyers were still shaken up from the revelations in Bolton's book. 'I want to begin this afternoon with a few observations on the rather abrupt end to the president's case. It's clear today, I think, that they are still reeling from the revelation of John Bolton's book and what he has to say,' leade impeachment manager Adam Schiff said. H added that Bolton's testimony would be 'relevant' to the case. He also referenced that Trump's former Chief of Staff John Kelly came out Tuesday claiming he believed Bolton's account of his interaction with the president. 'As I'm sure you've seen, the president's own former chief of staff, General Kelly, has stated that he believes John Bolton, and more importantly and that is extraordinary in and of itself, that the president's own former chief of staff believes John Bolton, and by implication does not believe the President of the United States that he worked closely with for such a long time. But more importantly he also recognizes the importance of calling John Bolton as a witness,' Schiff said. The next step following the conclusion of opening statements if that the Senate will spend the next two days on the questioning period, including a resolution on whether to allow the defense and prosecution to call new witnesses to testify in the trial. The president's defense presented a case against the articles abuse of power and obstruction of Congress claiming they are not actually impeachable offenses, according to the Constitution. Trump's legal team opened up an all-out attack on Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joe Biden's son, on the second day of its defense Monday, unleashing White House advisor Pam Bondi to accuse him of cashing in on his powerful father. 'We would prefer not to be talking about this,' Bondi said of the Bidens in the trial where primarily the Democrats and prosecution brought up the father-son duo to make the case that Trump held up millions in security aide to Ukraine to get an investigation of his political rival. 'We would prefer not to be discussing this,' the former Florida attorney general continued in her argument on the Senate floor Monday. 'But the House managers have placed this squarely at issue, so we must address it.' She then opened up an attack on Hunter, whose personal struggles have drawn headlines amid disclosures about his work for the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. Dershowitz, and the rest of the defense team, also argued that the articles abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are not impeachable offenses as outlined by the Constitution Herschmann suggested that it could have been used to impeach Obama then read his version of the first article of impeachment - abuse of power - changing Trump's name for Obama's and the Ukraine aid allegations for what Obama said. Bondi described how Hunter Biden joined the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings as a board member even after warning signs about it, and chose not to relinquish his role amid cautions from his business partners. 'Remember, this is just one month after the United Kingdom serious fraud office opened a money laundering case into Burisma, Hunter Biden joins their board,' said Bondi. Democrats argued during their opening last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani had a key role in the events that led to the impeachment inquiry. But the defense pushed back on this claim Monday, insisting that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was only a 'minor player' and a 'distraction' from the real issues at hand the Bidens potential corruption. Jane Raskin, one of Trump's defense lawyers, downplayed Giuliani's role as an unofficial presidential envoy to the Ukraine government, and lauded him as a 'national hero' for his leadership of New York City after 9/11. 'In this trial, in this moment, Mr. Giuliani is just a minor player, that shiny object designed to distract you,' Raskin said on the Senate floor. 'Senators, I urge you most respectfully, do not be distracted.' Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi defended Donald Trump during the sixth day of impeachment proceedings Monday, tearing into Hunter and Joe Biden. 'We would prefer not to be discussing this,' Bondi said of the Bidens. 'But the House managers have placed this squarely at issue, so we must address it' The defense wants to call Joe (left) and Hunter Biden (right) to testify if witnesses are permitted in the Senate impeachment trial claiming their 'corruption' in Ukraine is at the center of the proceedings Giuliani, Democrats charge, engaged in shadow diplomacy in Ukraine, including corresponding with President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation into Hunter's role at Burisma. The defense also found itself having to address Monday a bombshell report that emerged over the weekend revealing Trump's former National Security Advisor John Bolton details in a new book his first-hand account of the president linking Ukraine military aid to a probe into the Bidens. Alan Dershowitz, a liberal Democrat lawyer brought on to engage in opening arguments against Trump's removal, told senators in a prime-time law lecture Monday that Bolton's revelations about a quid pro quo 'even if true' must not be used to remove Trump from office. Despite the defense's dismissal of the revelations that emerged from the leaked Bolton manuscript, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested the upcoming book just helps the prosecution's case in demanding new witnesses. 'The New York Times reported on several stunning chapters from Ambassador Bolton's book,' Schumer said during a press conference Tuesday morning. 'The same New York Times story places Mick Mulvaney at the center of this plot. He's more important, probably, than Bolton. And the emails from Duffey and Blair the two other witnesses we seek are even more relevant as this information comes out,' Schumer continued. 'So I understand why Leader McConnell and President Trump wanted a very short, incredibly rushed trial: because they longer it goes on, the more likely that new evidence, and more new evidence will comes out that further implicates the president,' he told reporters at the Capitol. Democrats in the Senate want to hear from witnesses they say are relevant: Bolton, acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, his senior advisor Robert Blair and associate director of the Office of Management and Budget's National Security Program, Michael Duffey. Blair was in the room when Trump held the infamous July 25 phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart and Duffey was given authority by the White House to freeze millions in military aid to the Eastern European nation. Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor and former O.J. Simpson attorney, made the impassioned plea as the headliner at Monday's impeachment trial, appearing after numerous other Trump lawyers at the end of the second-day of Trump's defense. He revisited his controversial argument that 'Abuse of Power' does not constitute an impeachable offense, telling senators that the Founders specifically rejected such vague terms when hashing out the Constitution in Philadelphia. Dershowitz said Monday that even if the allegations in the book were true, they could not be used to remove the president READ THE ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST DONALD TRUMP In 1,414 words, the articles of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives lay out two charges against President Donald Trump. Article I: Abuse of Power Using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election. He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage. President Trump also sought to pressure the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by conditioning official United States Government acts of significant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the investigations. President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of personal political benefit. In so doing, President Trump used the powers of the Presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process.' Article II: Obstruction of Congress As part of this impeachment inquiry, the Committees undertaking the investigation served subpoenas seeking documents and testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various Executive Branch agencies and offices, and current and former officials. In response, without lawful cause or excuse, President Trump directed Executive Branch agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, and assumed to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the 'sole Power of Impeachment' vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives. In the history of the Republic, no President has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate 'high Crimes and Misdemeanors.'' This abuse of office served to cover up the President's own repeated misconduct and to seize and control the power of impeachment -- and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the House of Representatives. Advertisement He counted it among the 'vague, open-ended, and subjective terms that the framers feared and rejected.' 'Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense,' said Dershowitz, who has been a strong defender of the president's on Fox news and in other venues. 'If a president, any president, were to have done what the [New York] Times reported about the contact of the Bolton manuscript, that would not constitute and impeachable offense,' Dershowitz intoned. 'It is inconceivable that the framers would have intended so politically loaded and promiscuously deployed a term as abuse of power to be weaponized as a tool of impeachment,' he said. At one point he turned to opposing Democratic lawyers, and said: 'I'm sorry, House managers, you just picked the wrong criteria. You picked the most dangerous possible criteria to serve as a precedent for with you we supervise future presidents.' After dissing the language they chose for the name of the articles, he acknowledged that they were not 'saved' by the inclusion of 'somewhat more specific but still non criminal-type conduct.' Among the disclosures reported about from the Bolton manuscript is that Trump told him in August 2019 that he wouldn't release millions in frozen military aid to Ukraine unless it publicly announced it was investigating the Bidens. Democratic impeachment members have repeatedly alleged the episode as part of their case for abuse of power, and demanded the Senate hear from Bolton as a witness under oath. Trump's team resumed its efforts to blast the case against him and defend the president's interactions with Ukraine with Independent Counsel Ken Starr taking making the case that impeachment is invoked 'all too frequently.' Starr, who led the impeachment case in the same chamber in 1999, bemoaned the arrival of an 'age of impeachment' without sufficient justification. 'Like war, impeachment is hell. Or at least, presidential impeachment is hell,' said Starr. Starr began his remarks hours after bombshell revelations in a new book manuscript claimed the president personally tied millions in military aide to Biden investigations. Starr began his remarks not by pointing to fights over Trump's July 25 call with the president of Ukraine or the murky way a whistleblower came to light but with a history lesson that referenced the Nixon impeachment, Iran Contra, and other partisan clashes then went back to the British parliament of the 19th Century. 'Instead of a once in a century phenomenon, which it had been, presidential impeachment has become a weapon,' he said. Democrats included an 'Obstruction of Congress' article after the administration refused to provide documents or make witnesses available for the impeachment inquiry in the House. Republicans senators are saying it's increasingly likely there will be witnesses called in Donald Trump 's impeachment trial in the wake of revelations from John Bolton's forth coming book. 'Like war, impeachment is hell,' former Independent Counsel Ken Starr told senators as a member of President Donald Trump's impeachment defense LEGAL SHOWDOWN AT THE CAPITOL: Trump impeachment attorney Kenneth Starr arrives at the U.S. Capitol on the sixth day of the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, in Washington, DC, Monday, January 27, 2020 Ken Starr, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks during the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020 Mitt Romney and Susan Collins said it's increasingly likely witnesses will be called in Donald Trump's impeachment trial JOHN BOLTON'S KEY REVELATIONS John Bolton makes a series of bombshell claims in his book, according to the part of the manuscript seen by the New York Times. They are: Trump told Bolton in August 2019 that he would not release military aid to the Ukraine until they investigated the Bidens and claims of trying to intervene in 2016 in favor of Hillary Clinton Mike Pompeo privately admitted that Rudy Giuliani's claims Marie Yovanovitch were corrupt were baseless - and that he suspected they were being made to help other Giuliani clients Bolton warned White House lawyers that he feared Giuliani was using his work with the president to help his private clients Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff, was present at least once when Trump and Giuliani discussed Yovanovitch. Mulvaney has told 'associates' he stepped away from such conversations Pompeo told Bill Barr that he was mentioned in the July call with Zelensky. The Justice Department claims Barr did not know until mid-August Trump railed about Ukraine trying to 'damage' him in May 2019 when he met Ron Johnson, a Republican senator who was going to Zelensky's inauguration. And Trump also mentioned the conspiracy theory that Ukraine had a hacked Democratic server Bill Barr expressed concerns about Trump doing personal favors for autocrats including China's Xi and Turkey's Erdogan when Bolton raised the issue with him Advertisement Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins - two crucial votes in the Democrats' quest to bring more witnesses in the trial - said it's important to hear from the former national security adviser. They also both said they have spoken with their colleagues about the topic, which could be seen as a warning to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that support is there for such a move. Democrats need four Republican senators to cross to their side and vote to subpoena witnesses. 'It's increasingly apparent that it would be important to hear from John Bolton,' Romney told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday. 'I of course will make a final decision on witnesses after we hear not only from the prosecution but from the defense,' he said. 'I think at this stage it's fair to say John Bolton has a relevant testimony.' Bolton has said he will testify if subpoenaed by the Senate. Some of the president's defenders, however, have charged Bolton with trying to sell a book. Bolton was fired from the White House in September of last year. 'Truly there's nothing new here. It does seem to be an effort to sell books. I think there's going to be a new revelation every day. Today's just one more day,' said Republican Sen. John Barrasso. 'I don't think it changes any fundamental information of the basic case, that the House has to put the case together,' said Sen. Roy Blunt. McConnell has said the Senate will vote on calling witnesses after opening arguments are made. That would set up a vote sometime this week. President Trump denied the charges in Bolton's book The impeachment trial was upended Sunday night when The New York Times reported on a leaked copy of an unpublished manuscript for the new book Bolton is writing. 'The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,' is scheduled to be published March 17. In it, Bolton wrote that the president told him he wanted to freeze military aid to Ukraine until the Eastern European nation helped with political investigations into his political rivals. Trump has denied the charge. 'I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book,' he tweeted in response. The president also told reporters at the White House on Monday that he has not seen Bolton's manuscript. Bolton had sent it to the White House for pre-publishing clear, which is required by federal law when former government employees with security clearances are writing about their time in government service in order to assure classified information is not compromised. Sarah Tinsley, an advisor to Bolton, said in a statement: 'The ambassador's manuscript was transmitted to the White House in hard copy several weeks ago for pre-publication review by the NSC. The ambassador has not passed the draft manuscript to anyone else. Period.' PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Absentee balloting is underway as three men are squaring off to fill the vacant Mayor of Pascagoula post. The mayors position was left vacant after Dane Maxwell was elected to the Mississippi Public Service Commission. State law requires a municipality to schedule a special election within 10 days of the office being vacated (in this case Jan. 2) and to hold that election with 45 days. The Pascagoula City Council complied, setting the special election for Feb. 11. Three candidates filed the qualifying paperwork by the Jan. 21 deadline: former Pascagoula councilman Burt Hill; Dr. Steve Demetropoulos, a family physician with Singing River Health System; and Chris Grace, an inside sales representative who serves on the Citys Recreation Commission. Registered Pascagoula voters wishing to vote absentee can do so at City Hall Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.; and on Saturday, Feb. 1 and Saturday, Feb. 8, from 8 a.m. to noon both days. Voters will be required to provide a valid form of identification. The deadline for absentee voting is noon on Feb. 8. The three candidates will be presented in a mayoral forum on Feb. 6 at 8 a.m. at the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce office at 720 Krebs Ave. Special elections are bipartisan, meaning candidates to not have to declare party affiliation. If none of the three candidates reaches the required 50 percent-plus one threshold to win the election outright, a runoff between the two top vote-getters would be held March 3. Whoever emerges as the new Mayor of Pascagoula would serve the remainder of Maxwells term, which ends June 30, 2021. In the city manager form of government, which Pascagoula utilizes, the mayors post is considered a part-time position. The Pascagoula mayor earns a salary of $16,910. Harry Benson is Research Director for the Marriage Foundation and co-author of What Mums Want (and Dads Need to Know). A friend of ours is an amazing woman who has brought up her now teenage children on her own, having split from the father soon after their youngest was born. Her children are polite, motivated, sociable, intelligent and a credit to her. With limited resources, and not much encouragement from her own family, she has struggled through. She has depended almost entirely on housing and other benefits, surviving from hand to mouth just above the poverty line. Escaping the dual poverty trap where every pound earned meant the loss of most of a pound of tax credits and benefits was a deliberate choice. But for her own sanity and well-being, she persevered despite earning little more. Now in a secure full-time job, she is largely free of the welfare system. Hers is a great success story because she leaned on the state for the time she needed it before becoming independent and self-reliant on the other side. But could a more stability-focused family policy have improved her odds of avoiding the split in the first place? If ministers are ever asked to explain their family policy, they might talk about general services such as health, education, welfare, childcare, mental health and Surestart Childrens Centres. Or they might refer to more specific services that deal with the consequences of family breakdown and dysfunction such as the criminal justice and care systems, and Troubled Families programme. These are all important aspects of family policy. But the question that is rarely, if ever, asked is how and whether family policy can limit or reduce the scale of family breakdown. This is a massive social justice issue simply because of the consequences for children. For much of the past two decades, Britain has been at or near the top of the Western European league table for family breakdown. (Having been top in 2012, we are now fifth due to falling divorce rates, though not government policy.) According to the Relationships Foundation, the taxpayer spends 51 billion per year in picking up the pieces. Nobody disputes that some relationships are best ended. But when the majority of break-ups occur out of the blue, with no obvious evidence of serious conflict or unhappiness, it makes sense to ask why we do so badly and how policy could reduce its prevalence. First, a genuine family policy needs to be rooted in robust evidence. There is already a huge body of research that has identified factors associated with a higher risk of breakdown and explored the consequences of breakdown. Some of these factors are general mothers education, age, ethnicity. But others offer the potential for specific policy initiatives marital status, parental happiness with the relationship, parental well-being. However, the UK research base into family stability is almost non-existent. The vast majority of what we know about relationships and their outcomes comes from US research and journals. Cambridge University has a world class Centre for Family Research, though their focus is new family forms who probably represent around two per cent of families. With rare exceptions (e.g here, here, and here), what UK research there is for the other 98 per cent tends to come from a handful of think tanks such as the Marriage Foundation, Centre for Social Justice and CARE. A Number 10 Family Policy Unit should encourage the development of UK research into mainstream family stability, instability, and its consequences. Second, government policy itself can and does influence the decisions couples make. Most couples start off wanting and seeking reliable love. The odds of achieving it improve massively if they make a clear formal commitment together. And staying together improves the likely outcomes for their children. The absence of a father from the home, for example, is one of the biggest predictors of teenage mental health problems. This finding in no way undermines the heroic efforts of lone parents like my friend. But it would be odd if the cut in resources from two pairs to one pair of hands had no effect whatsoever. Anything the state can do to improve the way couples commit will help maintain their resources. The government was right, therefore, to extend civil partnerships to heterosexual couples because, like marriage, it requires clarity of decision and commitment. But it would be wrong to extend marriage-like rights to unmarried cohabiting couples because it negates the need for a clear mutual decision. And it is bordering on the obscene that couples are paid thousands more in benefits and tax credits to live apart or pretend to rather than to formalise their relationship and live together. A marriage allowance of a couple of hundred quid cant compete with the scale of this couple penalty bribe, although it might if it were better targeted. No wonder half of all family breakdown takes place among unmarried parents either during pregnancy or in the first two years of their childs life. A Number 10 Family Policy Unit should be looking at how government policy encourages or discourages couples to make clear decisions about their future and to formalise those decisions. Third, policymakers need the confidence to base their public policy on the same principles most of them apply in private. Politicians clearly understand the importance of personal commitment in their own lives. The vast majority are married. This is a good decision because, across all backgrounds, couples who marry are generally much more likely to stay together. Yet few ministers are willing to stick their head above the parapet and say this. The policy signals they send out are that marriage doesnt matter. The tragedy is that those with fewest financial resources are listening. Nine of ten parents in the top income quintile with young children are married. In the lowest quintile, just a quarter are married. Pile relational ambiguity on top of low income and a system that bribes you to live apart, and you have the perfect recipe for family instability. It used to be thought that unmarried cohabitation would look increasingly like marriage as it became more widespread. In fact the gap is widening. Todays marriages are more stable than any since the 1960s. Divorce rates have plummeted because those who choose to marry really embrace their commitment to one another. And yet the UK continues to languish near the top of the family breakdown table because unmarried breakdown rates are typically three times higher. Theres an important lesson here about commitment and stability. Few businesses succeed without making a clearly agreed plan that everyone understands. This is why todays marriages are doing so well and todays cohabitees so badly. My friend never married. Would she and her partner have stuck at it had they made a more explicit commitment in the first place? Who knows. But had the policy signals been more encouraging, a clearer plan might have shifted the odds in their favour. A Number 10 Family Policy Unit should have the key role of giving senior ministers the confidence to promote clarity of commitment and therefore marriage and civil partnerships as the centrepiece of a bold new family policy that boosts the odds of stability. There is a hidden agenda of the Sangh Parivar behind the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens, former Karnataka minister and Congress leader U T Khader said on Tuesday. Addressing reporters here, he said the people are being kept in the dark about the details on the CAA to execute the hidden agenda. People all over the country are protesting the CAA as it is against the basic tenets of the Constitution, he alleged. The confusion over CAA within the government is clear from the varying statements of different Union ministers, the congress leader said. "We want explanation on the CAA from the Prime Minister and Home Minister, not the Defence Minister," he said referring to BJPs pro-CAA rally held here on Monday in which Rajnath Singh took part. He said any law should be for uniting the people and not to scare them or create a divide among communities. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given citizenship for refugees, but did not differentiate them on the basis of religion and caste. The Centre should come clear on the implementation of CAA and NRC, he said. Congratulating Harekala Hajabba for the Padma Shri award received by him, he said even the Padma Shri awardee may not be having documents to prove his lineage. "Will they also make him stand in the queue?" Khader asked. To a question on a video clipping with death threat to him going viral on social media, Khader said he had not taken it seriously. "Even the youths shouting against me in the video will turn against the BJP when they are asked to provide documents to prove their grandparents' religion," he said. In the video, some youths are seen raising threatening slogans against Khader during the pro-CAA rally in the city. Khader said he did not file a complaint as he had concern for their families. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration on Monday said that registration of students until February 3 shall be carried out without any late fine. The announcement, made by the University Registrar Dr Pramod Kumar comes following the Delhi High Court order of January 24. Amidst the ongoing protests against the fee hike, the Delhi High Court granted relief to the JNU students last week allowing them to register for the next semester as per the old hostel manual within one week. Many students have not yet been able to register for the winter session. The registrar also mentioned that students registering during the given period would not have to pay the revised room rent. In addition, the students registering from January 24 to February 3 will not be charged the revised room rent of the hostels, the statement added. Justice Rajiv Shakdher directed that no late fee should be imposed on students for late registrations. The plea filed by JNU Students Union president Aishi Ghosh and others sought the direction of the court to restrain the JNU administration from imposing late fees on students for registrations during the winter semester-2020. The plea also sought directions to the university to restrain them from taking any action, which would give effect to the draft hostel manual. The next hearing in the court is scheduled for February 28. The varsity has been in news for months now over the fee hike issue. A mob attack injuring students and teachers within the university also caused huge uproar across the country. The Delhi Police followed it up with multiple interrogations but are yet to make any arrest in relation to the case. [ Read an excerpt from Why Were Polarized. ] Klein describes neatly and concisely what has changed in our electoral politics, using political science research from scholars like Alan Abramowitz and Steven Webster of Emory. In the 1970s, voters tended to split tickets between, say, congressional and presidential races; in that decade the correlation of the two votes was 0.54. In the 1980s it rose to 0.65. Now it is 0.97! Just as stunning, another researcher, the political scientist Corwin Smidt, found that todays self-proclaimed independents vote more predictably for one party over another than yesteryears partisans. The key here, however, is what Abramowitz and Webster call negative partisanship that people are now more motivated by their antipathy for the other party than by affinity for their own. The willingness of ardent Trump supporters to stick with him through scandal, outrage and actions that may damage their own economic standing becomes more understandable criticizing him or seeing him suffer a defeat means that the evil enemy has gained a victory. What Klein adds especially to our understanding of how we got here why Trump is more a vessel for our division than the cause, and why his departure will not provide any magical cure is represented in his overall thesis: There is a logic to our polarization. It has become a kind of loop. As the public has polarized, in part because of the behavior of political actors and institutions (including media), the actors and institutions respond by behaving in more polarized ways which further polarizes the public, and so on and so on. Klein focuses on political identity, noting that the phrase identity politics has become a weapon used by one group to diminish the legitimacy of others, but that there is a better way to use the term: not as a blade, he says, but as a lens. Of course, we all have many identities. We have family ones, community ones, ethnic and racial ones, religious ones, hobby-related ones and so many more. In October, one of my core identities was as a fan of the Washington Nationals and to see the exultation of more than 40,000 fans at Nationals Park when they won the National League pennant, morphing into ecstasy for hundreds of thousands when they won the World Series, underscored how an identity that should not be core can animate people. But sport fandom aside, America has gone from people having overlapping and intersecting identities to where there is now a set of political mega-identities. Klein writes that these identities are now stacked on top of one another so that challenging one of them challenges all of them. The merging of the identities means when you activate one you often activate all, and each time theyre activated, they strengthen. He quotes the scholar Lilliana Mason: The crisis emerges when partisan identities fall into alignment with other social identities, stoking our intolerance of each other to levels that are unsupported by our degrees of political disagreement. As Klein digs more deeply into this, the results become unrelentingly depressing. He draws on a slew of studies to show that when we are presented with evidence contradicting our beliefs, the strong reaction is to discount it and look for evidence that confirms our beliefs. Persuasive studies show that if you take people who are deeply into their political identities and make them watch, listen to and read those who have opposite views, it causes them to dig even more deeply into their core identities, not alter them or soften their views of the enemy. And the impact of all this is greater on those who pay the most attention to issues and politics than it is on the more disengaged! As opposition leader Kem Sokhas treason trial enters its third week, observers and political analysts say even the commencement of the trial, setting aside questions about the charges, signals a further deterioration in Cambodias more than two-year long democratic backslide. The trial for Kem Sokha commenced on January 15, with a senior court official confirming that the trial would take at least three months to conclude. This time frame takes the trail well past the European Commissions February 12 deadline to issue its final findings on whether to suspend Cambodias access to trade privileges. The trial has already seen its fair share of criticism with opposition supporters calling its a show trial and ruling party officials, saying it was part of the judicial process. Additionally, the court prevented independent journalists and NGOs from entering the trial for the first week, despite accounts from attendees suggesting there were vacant seats in court. But, observers said the optics of having a trial would reflect negatively for the government, but that it should not rule out the potential for a negotiated political deal, if it benefitted the governments standing with EU. Ear Sophal, an associate professor on Diplomacy and World Affairs at the Occidental College in Los Angeles, said the show trial was based on domestic political calculations to benefit the CPPs elites. It means tormenting the man [Kem Sokha] yet again, for no reason other than political benefit by the ruling party and its leadership, Ear Sophal said in an email. Three United Nations special rapporteurs issued a statement on January 17 calling the trial tainted by irregularities, referring to Kem Sokha arrest in September 2017 and the entire judicial process till the start of the trial. We have strong grounds to believe that the treason charge against Mr. Sokha is politically motivated and forms part of a larger pattern of the misapplication of laws to target political opponents and critics of the Government, the experts said in the statement. Author Sebastian Strangio said the ruling party was keeping in mind the political implication of releasing Kem Sokha now potentially more popular than before or even allowing him to revive the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party. This consideration, he said, would decide the outcome of the trial and Kem Sokhas political future. The CPP is still clearly concerned about the potential for Kem Sokha to rally opposition against its rule, said Strangio, who is the author of Hun Sens Cambodia. If allowed full freedom of action, Sokha and a reinvigorated CNRP could well pose an existential threat to the CPP government at the next election in 2023, he wrote in an email. Irrespective of the trials outcome, Kem Sokha is still banned from political activity on account of a 2017 Supreme Court ruling that dissolved the CNRP and banned its senior members from the political arena. Both Ear Sophal and Strangio pointed out that the trials outcome was closely linked to the EUs assessment of Cambodias human rights record and its potential impact on trade privileges. Strangio said the Cambodian government would once again engage in the complex political dance with the Western democracies by linking the trials outcome to the EUs next move on Everything But Arms trade privileges. Based on past precedent, the government is probably hoping to use the trial as an opportunity to smooth Sokhas return to political life (even if he is found guilty), in return for a renewal of its EBA privileges, he said in the email. But, Justice Ministry spokesperson Chin Malin said that the court would not be swayed by political tendencies of commentators, but also de-linked the trial from the EBA review. This is what they understood based on their political tendencies he said. For EBA, its a different story that the government is still negotiating with the European Union. Ear Sophal, however, pointed out that the compromise would be one of the following: dismissal of the charges, which was the best case scenario, an expedited trial or less ideally conviction on a lesser charge, with no additional jail time. Last scenario is conviction but then immediate pardon. [Here] everyone "saves" face but opposition is still destroyed. EBA could then in theory be "saved," he wrote. A LAWYER and his driver were killed in a shooting incident in Sta. Rita, Pampanga on Tuesday morning, January 28. The Sta. Rita Police said in a report that lawyer Anselmo Carlos and his driver Marcial Mendoza were shot in front of the San Vicente Chapel along the Porac-Guagua Road in Barangay San Vicente at around 9:10 a.m. Tuesday. Both died instantaneously from several gunshot wounds to their heads and bodies. The assailants fled on board a motorcycle. Carlos was reportedly a prospective mayoralty candidate for Floridablanca town in 2013. He figured prominently in several land dispute cases in Central Luzon region. He was allegedly a lawyer for LLL Holdings in the Hacienda Dolores land dispute in 2013. Police said Carlos and Mendoza had come from a court hearing at the Hall of Justice in nearby Guagua town. They were on their way home when they were attacked. When they reached the chapel, three men approached their vehicle on foot, knocked on the window and fired at them. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) was quick to condemn the murder of the said lawyer. We are shocked and saddened that one of our members has been added to the growing number of lawyers falling victim to senseless killings. Once again, rule of law has been attacked. We call on law enforcement authorities to make a swift action to bring to justice the perpetrators of this dastardly act and to exert all efforts in trying to put a stop to the killing of lawyers, the group said in a statement posted on their website. Recovered from the crime scene were empty bullet shells from caliber .45 pistols. Investigators are looking into the motive behind the killing. (SunStar Philippines) A man who had previously eluded Coconino County Sheriffs and a northern Arizona SWAT team during a search last week was arrested early Saturday morning. Jason Gonnie, who is 18 years old, was booked into the Coconino County Detention Facility on charges including kidnapping, sexual assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, second degree burglary and three counts of endangerment, according to a media release. Gonnie was arrested at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday by County Sheriffs deputies and Flagstaff Police officers a during a traffic stop at Fourth Street and Highway 66. Gonnie is accused of sexually assaulting a resident of Kachina Village south of Flagstaff after breaking into the victims home Wednesday night. Gonnie allegedly also threatened both the victim, whom Gonnie knew, and the victims children, preventing the family from leaving until they escaped around 1 p.m. on Thursday. Sheriffs deputies surrounded and searched the residence Thursday evening but to no avail. Gonnie currently has a $150,000 bond. Adrian Skabelund can be reached at the office at askabelund@azdailysun.com, by phone at (928) 556-2261 or on Twitter @AdrianSkabelund. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 1 Veteran Bitcoin Core Developer Jimmy Song added to this year's impressive speaker line-up HONG KONG, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TOKEN2049 , the premier crypto conference in Asia, will be returning to Hong Kong this year on 17-18 March 2020 at Shangri-La's Kerry Hotel . As the flagship event of Asia Crypto Week , TOKEN2049 will bring together leading projects as well as key decision makers and thought leaders throughout the blockchain space. Christopher Strauch, Co-Host of TOKEN2049 said, "With crypto running full steam ahead, we're continuing to see meaningful progress across the space, be it in scalability for real-world usability to mainstream enterprise players joining the decentralised revolution. At this year's TOKEN2049, attendees can expect to see prominent industry practitioners shedding light and providing an all-encompassing perspective on the major developments we've seen thus far across the blockchain ecosystem." This year's conference will explore a broad range of industry trends spanning privacy-oriented solutions, the ongoing rise of decentralised finance, as well as wider investment trends and the institutionalisation of crypto. Featuring a host of presentations, panel discussions, and workshops, this year's conference is envisaged to shed light on notable technical milestones and regulatory progress, and how this is expected to impact the future of the sector at large. "It's crucial that we continue to reflect on what we've achieved as a collective industry thus far. Bitcoin has seen a great deal of progress in the past few years and I am thrilled to see what this new decade will bring. With that in mind, I believe that TOKEN2049 is a crucial driver of progress, adoption, and education for the Bitcoin community. With some of the industry's brightest minds gathering to stand together at the forefront of the Bitcoin revolution, I look forward to sharing and gaining insights about where the future is headed," said Jimmy Song, Bitcoin Fellow at Blockchain Capital. Selected as one of this year's speakers, Jimmy Song brings over 20 years of deep technical expertise, programming and development experience. Having worked as both a developer and programmer at numerous startups, Jimmy is known for being an open source contributor to various Bitcoin projects, and has held roles at Paxos and Armory Technologies. At present, he splits his time between consulting, advising, lecturing, and writing books and articles on Bitcoin and blockchain technology. Alongside Jimmy, other speakers participating in this year's conference include Muneeb Ali, CEO of Blockstack, a decentralised computing platform that was the first to receive Regulation A approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission for its token sale; Justin Sun, Founder of TRON; Bill Barhydt, CEO and Founder of Abra; Mance Harmon, CEO of Hedera Hashgraph; Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX; Kyle Samani, Managing Partner of Multicoin Capital; Su Zhu, CIO and CEO of Three Arrows Capital; and Willy Woo, Partner at Adaptive Capital. More speakers are expected to be announced over the coming weeks. Coming off the back of the success of 2019's edition, this year's event is expected to see thousands of participants and industry leaders in attendance. As Asia Crypto Week's flagship event, blockchain enthusiasts and executives will have the opportunity to attend a whole host of industry-focused side events and networking opportunities throughout the week. In 2019, Asia Crypto Week hosted over 40 side events and community meet-ups organised by prominent projects such as Ethereum, Litecoin, Huobi, and many more, in order to support Hong Kong's burgeoning crypto ecosystem. For more information on TOKEN2049, visit: https://www.token2049.com/ . Raphael Strauch and Christopher Strauch, Co-Hosts of TOKEN2049 are available for interview. About TOKEN2049 TOKEN2049 is the premier event for decision makers in the global crypto ecosystem to connect, exchange ideas, and shape the industry. Attendees will gain valuable insight into the global crypto ecosystem, with a chance to exchange ideas with an established list of thought leaders, by learning about the future of the token-based economy and the possible impacts on industry and society while being the first to know about market-moving news, partnerships, and product launches. TOKEN2049 is an unrivaled global meeting place for like-minded entrepreneurs, industry insiders, investors, and those interested in how the token economy will transform their businesses and lives. Media Contact: Alex Sheehan Director Wachsman E: alex@wachsman.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1083006/TOKEN2049_Crypto.jpg Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade has spoken publicly for the first time over the continuous detention of Agba Jalingo, a journalist standing trial for criticising him. Mr Jalingo, publisher of CrossRiverWatch, was arrested on August 22 over a report he published, alleging that Mr Ayade diverted N500 million belonging to the state. The journalist has been in prison since Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court in Calabar denied him bail twice. Speaking after a long silence on the matter, Governor Ayade said Mr Jalingo was detained because he tried to overthrow the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. The governor stated this while answering questions from journalists at the presidential villa, shortly after meeting with President Buhari on Monday, January 27, 2020. Governor Ayade said the case in court is between the Federal Government versus Agba Jalingo and not Cross River State government. He noted that Agba was charged for treason and the state does not have powers to try anybody for treason as such it couldnt have been him who is detaining Mr Jalingo. In court, it is Federal Government versus Agba Jalingo, not Cross River State. Hes in court for treason, a state does not have power to try anyone for treason, its not me, he said. Speaking further, Ayade disclosed that Mr. Jalingo is not a journalist rather the Chairman of a political party whose presidential candidate tried to topple President Buharis led Federal Government with the assistance of Agba Jalingo who is a state chairman of the party. You are seeing him as a journalist, but hes not, hes the chairman of Sowores party in Cross River State so hes a politician. He has a primary calling, which is journalism.. Mr Ayade said the journalists arrest and trial is in connection with Omoyele Sowores #RevolutionNow protest. On his Facebook page, he sent pictures where he was being teargassed at the revolution march in Lagos. His own pictures, posted by himself and when Sowore was being arrested, he went back to his Facebook to post that the revolution has just started, we will continue this battle until revolution works. He admitted this in Court, Ayade said. Once he started the campaign to overthrow the government of President Buhari, he ceased to be seen from the point of journalist because he has become the state chairman of a party. Governor Ayade, however, says he has been working for Mr Jalingos release from Calabar prison where he has been incarcerated. I am of the opinion that Agba should be released because I think he was just youthfully excited. If you ask Agba Jalingo today, Im the one working with his lawyers for his freedom, Im the one sustaining him and sending upkeeps, he said. Mr. Ayade also cleared the air that he is not behind the Incarceration of Jalingo, stating that his intellectual background as a professor wont let him prosecute a journalist. I have an intellectual background as a professor, I will stand with journalists at all times and I will never prosecute somebody. Speaking further, Ayade said, Jalingo is his not just from the same home town with him, but he is his brother and he has assisted Jalingo severally only for Jalingo to turn back against him in betrayal and blackmail. The governor narrated instances where he assisted the Journalist in setting up the various businesses he is involved with, but will rather be blackmailed for personal issues. Please dont get it wrong, Agba Jalingo is not just from Cross River State, hes not just from Obudu, where I also come from, hes my brother. Please ask Agba Jalingo, that CrossRiverWatch, the first person to give him money to set up the office was myself. His official vehicle, it was me. I dont have to list all of these, he knows that I have funded and supported him, but journalism stops where blackmail becomes part of your strategy. Today you need something, then Ayade is a good man and you start writing all the good things, but if I take my phone and show you our WhatsApp communication, you will call me a godly man. Today I need money to set up a computer school, tomorrow I need money to feed my birds, the other day I need to be INNOSONs sole distributor in Cross River State, I do all that. But when I dont get a thing right you go to the social media and write something as careless as Governor Ayade has taken N500 million to Russia. You impugned my fathers name, my character, my family name, for just a personal request that Ive not met, out of many that I have met. Please for once, put yourselves in my shoes. All I simply did was to stay out of the issue, the governor said. The governor reiterated that he has been working for Mr. Jalingos release from Calabar prison where he has been incarcerated. Former TalkTalk programme director Rebecca Burke is pictured today outside Central London Employment Tribunal where she is claiming unfair dismissal and unequal pay against the firm A former TalkTalk director who claimed she was paid 40 per cent less than her male colleagues has told an employment tribunal her dismissal was a 'sham'. Rebecca Burke, 43, of Yately, Hampshire, has brought the telecommunications giant to an employment tribunal claiming sex discrimination and unfair dismissal. The former programme director said her 110,000 salary was 40 per cent below the pay of three of her male colleagues, Daniel Rynehart, Jonathan Ellison and Daniel Richardson, who had the same job titles and responsibilities. A central London employment tribunal heard Mrs Burke was hired by TalkTalk in April 2015 to lead the 30 million pilot 'Lightning' project, to install broadband to tens of thousands of homes in York. However, after a massive data breach of customers' details that October, that saw the firm suffer 77million in lost business affecting 150,000 customers, she stepped in as the programme director for the TalkTalk's Cyber Security Programme. Mrs Burke also said she was unfairly made redundant in May 2017, in a 'predetermined' decision when her team was restructured, which she argued was considered as early as that March. The 43-year-old raised an equal pay complaint with TalkTalk three months later after details about her colleagues' pay emerged during the redundancy appeal. In her witness statement Mrs Burke said: 'I believe that my redundancy was a sham. 'It was clear to me that the work required... was being artificially and rigidly divided in order to contrive a reason for my redundancy. 'I had not, previously to the redundancy process, appreciated that my colleagues were regarded as more senior and paid more than me. 'It certainly did not reflect what I saw as the reality of the situation.' Mrs Burke added her male colleagues had the same job titles and responsibilities across the four programmes. The tribunal heard that when her team was restructured, Mrs Burke was not given the opportunity to apply for other roles at TalkTalk and said she felt bullied by the redundancy process. Sheila Aly, representing Mrs Burke, told the tribunal: 'When she was first told she wasn't given that opportunity to give suggestions or input, her job was redundant. 'She should have been notified.' She said her three colleagues earned 50 per cent more in bonuses during her time at the company, and had the option to receive a bonus up to the value of their six-figure salaries. Between 2018 and 2019, TalkTalk reported a mean pay gap of 19.1 per cent and a mean bonus gap of 30.7 per cent. TalkTalk has an average gender pay gap of 14.6 per cent and an average bonus gap of 31.6 per cent, according to the firm's 2018 Gender Pay Report. Pictured: Its offices in London in 2017 Mrs Burke previously appeared before an employment tribunal in December 2018 which was later postponed. She has been supported by a number of equal pay campaigners including former BBC China editor Carrie Gracie. In a statement Ms Gracie said: 'Rebecca has been through a long ordeal and I hope it's nearly over. I believe all women owe a debt of gratitude to those who are determined enough to call out unequal pay and take their cases before a judge.' The tribunal heard Mrs Burke was in a lower salary banding when compared with the three male colleagues who worked in different fields. Court documents show Mrs Burke was entitled to a 29,263 bonus in her contract. TalkTalk deny the claims and say the 40 per cent figure was in comparison to one colleague. In court documents the firm argues all three men had different salaries in previous roles, different comparative experiences, skills and capabilities. A TalkTalk spokesman said: 'We strongly refute these claims and we do not tolerate gender discrimination of any sort, including with regards to pay. 'This is an on-going case so we cannot comment any further, however we're committed to treating all our employees fairly and we are confident there is no disparity in pay between genders.' The tribunal heard how York was a flagship project for a fibre optic network TalkTalk hoped to then roll out across the UK. Ms Burke was responsible for managing projects as well as achieving corporate objectives at Talk Talk alongside Daniel Rynehart, Jonathan Ellison and Daniel Richardson. Ms Burke was set specific tasks, including achieving 80% customer satisfaction. In 2015 the newly appointed' Group Change Director, Tom Webber, explained they would be working in an 'agile way to enable the quick deployment of resources into TalkTalk's priority programme areas'. Ms Burke said in her statement: 'I did discuss some concerns that I had around the redeployment to shared services with Tom Webber at the time. 'I was concerned that I would be moved from the Lightning Programme whilst it was waiting for funding, but I was told that the rationale for the shared services was so that project staff could be deployed between projects according to business priority.' 'The programme was a success, reaching 3 million households despite competition from larger competitors, my outstanding leadership of this programme was placed onto TalkTalk's Executive Incentive Scheme.' In December 2015 Mr Webber recruited Ms Burke onto the Cyber Security Programme which she worked on alongside Lightning, taking up her evening and weekends. Ms Burke said she had taken on this role without additional pay, except for a 5,000 discretionary bonus after an annual review with Mr Webber. 'I have come to learn that particular team members spoke about me in very critical and offensive terms,' Ms Burke said. 'I was unaware of their views of me until I saw the respondent's disclosure and certainly no such criticisms were ever shared with me during my appraisals or my 1-2-1 meetings. 'In January 2017 (the) security programme was no longer considered TalkTalk's highest priority, and therefore would no longer require a programme director to oversee its delivery. 'In the proceeding months I worked to handover to Derek Cheng, the new Chief Security Officer and Scott Traynor who was a Change Manager (who sat below the Programme Directors in the structure) who had been awarded a temporary promotion to 'Portfolio Manager'. 'Tom announced the decision regarding Scott's appointment and my continuing work in Lightning in an email on 16 January 2018.' The email read: 'Since we launched our Security priority last year, it has been supported by Rebecca Burke who very admirably stepped in to fill the role immediately after the Data Breach at the end of 2015. 'Rebecca has been fundamentally involved in shaping the portfolio and supporting the early stages of its delivery as well as keeping the Lightning pilot in York running at the same time!' Dido Harding (above) was chief executive of TalkTalk at the time of the data breach in 2015, a scandal which cost the firm up to 77million in lost business affecting 150,000 customers Ms Burke was taken off the security project and returned to the Lightning project in York but described clashing with another staff member, John Rees, in March 2017. 'In March 2017 difficulties arose again between me and John Rees. 'My line manager at the time Richard Sinclair spoke to John about his disruptive behaviour. John was widely known in the organisation as being difficult and he also had a reputation for sexist attitudes towards women. 'I believe that this was the reason why John clashed with me as much as he did. 'I was not alone in my views. In the investigation notes to my grievance appeal I note that Tom Webber acknowledged that there may have been undertones of chauvinistic behaviour by John. Ms Burke was made redundant not long after this. 'I was told that the scope of the Lightning programme had been reduced, and a Programme Director was no longer necessary to run this programme,' she said. 'This was simply not true. 'I was also told that until my redundancy was confirmed it was expected that I would work within the business as usual and agree my work priorities with Richard. 'I felt that I was getting very mixed messages from this email. 'On one hand it was clear from the email that confirming my redundancy was simply going to be a formality and that the outcome had been decided, however on the other hand I was to continue with business and planning my priorities as usual, despite being told that the need for my role no longer existed.' On 23 May 2017 Ms Burke emailed Mark Lewis in HR asking why she had not been considered for one of several suitable roles, since other Programme Directors had been given other roles. Ms Burke's voiced concerns about her surprise redundancy to Mr Webber on 22 June 2017. 'At this meeting I was advised by Tom Webber that I was not pooled with the other programme directors as they were in a higher banding than me and had larger portfolios than me,' she wrote. 'I had understood that all the programme directors were on the same banding level. I asked that this was investigated further particularly as the other programme directors were all male. 'This was the first time I became aware that I may be being treated differently in terms of my pay, benefits and grading as my male peers. 'Two weeks before I was placed at risk of redundancy I was asked to hand over all the Future Cities work to Nick Dale and Phil Eayres. 'The reason I was given by Tom was that Future Cities had been removed from the programmes scope. 'It is clear from the Respondent's annual reports that the work on Future Cities continued in earnest and has now led to the award of and an initial 250m investment to create a new Infrastructure Company to deliver the FTTP product to 3m homes.' Ms Burke then voiced her grievances with TalkTalk at a redundancy appeal hearing on 29 June 2017 only to learn her appeal had been rejected three weeks later. TalkTalk has denied they discriminated against a female former director by revealing they paid a man less than her for doing a similar job. And the British company has denied sex discrimination claiming there is no glass ceiling at the company, citing a lower gender pay gap in comparison with other companies and that a woman, the CEO, is the highest paid person. Rebecca Burke, 43, has said she believes her 110,000 salary was underpaid in comparison to other programme directors at the telecommunications giant. At a central London employment tribunal, Ms Burke was being questioned on her time at the company in between 2015 and 2017. She also claims unfair dismissal. After she left the 30 million pilot Lightning project, a trial to install fibreoptic broadband to tens of thousands of homes in York, she was replaced by a junior programming manager Scott Traynor. It emerged the role had been rebranded after a majority of the budget had been outsourced to a subcontracting company. Claire McCann, representing TalkTalk, asked: 'A male employee took over, named Scott Traynor, to complete the Lightning project. 'Were you aware, even though he was in the same band, he was paid less than you?' Ms Burke said she was unaware of this. In an email sent by Tom Webber, Group Change Director, he privately said to other senior managers: 'The biggest chunk [of the Lightning project] is being delivered by a third party and doesn't require programme management but strong management - which is not a change activity. 'If I look at the remaining activities, they don't justify a resource at her level and as of such, I intend to remove the role from the structure and it will be managed by a more junior Programme Manager going forward. 'This unfortunately means she will no longer be required, we can look at alternate roles but if not successful, she will leave by reason of redundancy.' But Ms Burke asserts her role was more aligned with three other male colleagues, who headed up projects surrounding consumers, mobile operations and technology respectively. She cited a grievance letter written in August 2017 in which she said: 'It was certainly my understanding that the Programme Directors would be interchangeable on projects. 'We all had the same job title and accountabilities. I am aware of other instances in which Programme Directors, have been shifted from project to project. 'I had thought, because of the way the shared service structure was presented, and because of what (Group Change Director Tom Webber) had said about pay and grading, that we were all on the same or very similar levels of pay and grading. 'I was therefore very surprised to find out that I was paid not only at a lower rate than my male colleagues but at apparently a substantially lower salary and grading.' Ms McCann said: 'The delivery of the Lightning programme continued successfully without a senior programme director.' Ms Burke responded: 'I am unable to comment on what happened after I left the company.' As part of her claim, which Ms Burke cites as part of her PhD in equal pay, she says TalkTalk had a pay gap of 19.1 per cent and a mean bonus gap of 30.7 per cent. Ms McCann for TalkTalk said: 'If executive director enumeration was included in the analysis, that would have lowered the pay gap. Executive directors were not included in the analysis as they sit in a non-qualifying employing entity. The addition of executive directors reduces the mean pay gap to 13.3%. 'It means there are women earning a lot of money at the company. Speaking historically, the pay gap would have been far wider if executive directors were included in the analysis. 'You were one of very few senior directors, one of 29 in the top 100 of the workforce. 29 per cent is the same as the overall women, as 33 per cent of the total workforce is female. 'Women are in fact represented well in the higher echelons. Historically there's often a ceiling they might hit, the higher echelons there's a disproportionate number of men, but that is not the picture that we see for TalkTalk. 'Instead of being one of few seniors, you were one of 29. Would you accept that TalkTalk is favourable compared to the rest of the technology sector?' Ms McCann also said: 'Despite the evident difficulties in the technology industry and girls doing STEM subjects which leads to these types of roles, TalkTalk is one of only six companies on the FTSE 250 that has a female CEO. They have also had two female CEOs in a row.' Ms Burke responded: 'Yes, I see TalkTalk is better than the average.' The hearing at the Central London Employment Tribunal took place the day the Equal Pay Bill was published. Sponsored by Baroness Margaret Prosser and to be put forward to the House of Lords, the bill would demand companies be transparent on salaries in an attempt to close the gender pay gap. New Delhi, Jan 28 : The proposed sale of cigarette-to-retail major Godfrey Phillips India has uncovered a messy family dispute as Lalit Modi, one of key members in the family-run trust that controls the company, coming out in the open in the favour of asset sale and going against his mother Bina Modi's appointment as President and Managing Director of the entity. On Tuesday, a day after reports said that Godfrey Phillips India would be put on the block, the company clarified that there has not been any discussion on the sale of the company. Terming the reports as rumours, the company, in a regulatory filing, said that it has also received a clarification from its "significant promoter" that there has been no decision to put its assets on sale. "It is neither engaged nor privy to any such discussions on rumoured potential transaction by its promoters. The company has also received a clarification from its significant promoter that there has been no decision to put its assets on sale," it said. On Monday, reports surfaced that the Indian promoters of the tobacco-retail major would sell their stake in the company. Lalit Modi, of the IPL fame but out of the country for the last few years, differs on the issue and has been open about the his support for and the likelihood of the company's sale. In fact, he has even tweeted that not just Godfrey Philips India, but every other asset of the K.K. Modi Family Trust would be up for sale. "Unfortunately I have decided post the passing away of my #father that all #assets owned by our #family should be sold in its entirety," said one of his tweets. The latest addition to the long list of family feuds in mega Indian business houses comes against the backdrop of the death of K.K. Modi's death in November last year. Post his death, his wife Bina Modi was appointed as the President and Managing Director of the company. In 2014, she joined the company as an independent director. K.K. Modi, the patriarch of one of the country's oldest and significant business houses left behind a trust deed, few clauses of which have triggered the likelihood of asset sale by the family. Letters written by Lalit Modi to the board of directors of Godfrey Philips of India says that the trust deed states that the entire assets of the family will be sold if there is no unanimous decision among all the trustees on whether to partially or fully sell the family business. However, the other three trustees, Bina Modi, Samir Modi and Charu Modi, were opposed to the proposed sale. The copy of a consent letter, tweeted by Lalit Modi who is currently in London, said: "We, Bina Modi, the Managing Trustee and Charu Modi, Lalit Kumar Modi and Samir Kumar Modi being the trustees under the trst deed have decided to sell whole of the trust fund comprising of various assets including the family controlled businesses in accordance with clause 11 of the trust deed". However, the consent letter dated November 30, 2019 was signed by only Lalit Modi. The four trustees met in Dubai on November 30 to consider the clauses in the deed relating to sale of the assets. According to Lalit Modi, no trustee can now stop the sale and even the required time period to halt the triggered process has passed. "It is not up to any trustee to say no sale. Only unanimous vote could have resulted in no sale that too in first 30 days. Post there is no provision to avoid it," Modi said in a one of his tweets on Tuesday. "All companies/land /investments in any other companies - and assets listed on http://modi.com will be on sale except - colorbar/ego/Beacon Travels and education businesses. Which will be retained to be run by Samir / BINA / Charu. Rest on sale. Including indofil." Going a step further, Lalit Modi also said that he was opposed to the appointment of his mother at the top. "I did not approve #Binamodi to run the #empire as she is not qualified to run such large corporation and will dilute our value. Thus the sale of all companies, properties etc,has been approved at the first trust meeting on 30/11/2019. The full sale must be completed by 29/11/2020." Apart from manufacturing its own cigarrete brands including 'Four Square', Godfrey Philips also produces the 'Marlboro' in India. It also runds '24SEVEN', India's first twenty-four hours convenience store chain, among other brands. The holding of Indian promoters in the company is 47 per cent, which largely includes that of the family trust and related people and companies. Philip Morris Global Brands Inc, the maker of the world famous Marlboro, also is a promoter and holds 25 per cent stake. The market capitalisation of the company as of Tuesday is Rs 7,137.47 crore, which makes the valuation of the Indian promoters stake at close to Rs 3,500 crore. Apart from Godfrey Phillips India, the other companies, run by the trust include Modicare and Indofil Industries Ltd, which Lalit Modi says, would also be up for sale. Latest updates on IPL 2020 US military confirms plane crash in Afghanistan Iran Press TV Monday, 27 January 2020 3:22 PM A spokesperson for US Forces in Afghanistan has confirmed that an American military plane crashed in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, south of the capital. An investigation was underway to determine what caused the military aircraft to crash in Ghazni province Monday, Col. Sonny Leggett said, claiming that there is "no indication" the plane was downed by enemy fire. "A U.S. Bombardier E-11A crashed today in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire. We will provide additional information as it becomes available," he said in a tweet. "Taliban claims that additional aircraft have crashed are false," he added. The Taliban earlier said they shot down the plane carrying US military personnel, adding that everyone on board was killed, including high-ranking officials. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board the plane. Ariana Afghan Airlines denied reports that it was one of its passenger jets that had come down. Photos and video from the scene showed what appeared to be a U.S. E-11A military aircraft and what looked like a US military insignia on the plane, according to images of the site analyzed by NBC News. According to videos posted online, the plane was probably the US Air Force E-11A aircraft assigned to 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron. E-11A is the military variant of the civil Bombardier BD-700 Global Express for use as overhead communications-relay platform in southwest Asia. According an unverified report the officers killed in the crash belonged to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The cause of the crash remains unclear, and no details about casualties have been given. "An aircraft of American occupiers has crashed in Ghazni province," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a Pashto-language statement, adding that all the crewmembers on board have been killed, AFP reported. Initially Afghan government officials suggested that a Boeing plane belonging to the Ariana Afghan Airlines had crashed and exploded into flames. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The people of Libya under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi were virtually provided with everything that makes life worth living, except that comparatively with other countries of the world, they enjoyed less democracy. Libyans under Gaddafi enjoyed free and quality medical care, free education, free electricity, free housing, marriage allowance, car allowance for all citizens, next to zero cost of fuel, free land and farming equipment for citizens that voluntarily ventured into farming etc. Libyans under Muammar Gaddafi enjoyed better quality of life than most European countries. Insatiable as human beings are, Libyans were not content with the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi who provided them with everything they needed but restricted some of their rights. It appears though that Libyans were presented with two options; one was to accept the dictatorship of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and enjoy quality life in peace or join the Arab Spring that fought against dictatorship in North Africa and the Middle East and embrace an uncertain future. As history and memory recalls, Libyans chose the latter and indeed the future of that country remains uncertain and at best bleak. If I may put it bluntly, the enemies of Libya who for long have fought against their progress, in the guise of promoting good governance, became allies with some disgruntled, selfish and less patriotic Libyan power brokers whom they used to cause internal disaffection and foiled hatred for the Gaddafi regime. It was hard for them to actually perceive the real intentions of the external forces that backed them to overthrow their government. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in the bloody civil war that erupted against his government and indeed, he died violently in the struggle. It is almost a decade now since Libyans saw the back of Gaddafi, who I believe is resting in peace but Libya remains at war. Libyans are still paying for overthrowing and murdering the man that gave them everything they needed. There is no peace in Libya neither to talk of democracy. Instead of the robust economy and infrastructure that prevailed under Gaddafi, Libya now has a weak economy and a completely broken infrastructure. Social service like free and constant electricity that every ordinary Libyan enjoyed eludes even rich Libyans now. Did Libyans go, or did they come? Your answer is as good as mine. I want my people, particularly Nalerigu-Gambaga constituency to take lessons from the Libyan experience. Some of the lessons we should learn are: Hon. Hajia Alima Mahama is our best Member of Parliament ever. She, just like Gaddafi, has been laying a very solid foundation for the rapid development of the constituency. She is the only Member of Parliament in Ghanas recent history that has built four functioning Senior High Schools (Gambaga, Langbinsi, Sakogu and Gbintiri) in her constituency in less than two full terms as MP. She has brought people out from poverty and/or unemployment and thereby reducing the dependency ratio among her constituents. Many more young men and women have become breadwinners of families because of the jobs she has given them. Like Gaddafi, she is empowering many women groups in the constituency for them to expand their businesses and become self-reliant one at a time. I know of several young men and women who are pursuing tertiary education thanks to her benevolence. The sweet fragrance of Hajia Alima can be smelt in every nook and cranny of the Nalerigu-Gambaga constituency. She has extended electricity to a whooping twenty-four communities already and many more communities will be hooked onto the national grid soon by courtesy of her efforts. Basic schools, health facilities and markets are being constructed or expanded to ease the burden of her constituents. Gambaga and Nalerigu township roads are being tarred and many feeder roads are under construction. A multi-million dollar township water system in Nalerigu and Gambaga is in advance stages of completion which will be extended to cover Langbinsi, Gbintri, Sakogu and Nagboo soon. All these she has done and continue to do is aimed at making life comfortable for her constituents. Others before her couldnt achieve a fraction of that and it is hard to believe anyone can better her performancet at this juncture. The enemies of Libya wouldnt have succeeded in turning the country upside down if they were not helped from the inside. That goes to prove the Biblical saying that a house divided against itself cannot stand. The lesson here is meant solely for members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). That is to say that the enemies of NPP, and for that matter Hon. Hajia Alima Mahama cannot succeed if we remain united and dont get deceived by the opposition who now pretend to love us. In the Libyan case study, where can we find the external forces that provided weapons to some disgruntled Libyans to overthrow their own government? I bet they have achieved their aim and now care less whatever happens to them. Libya today is in turmoil and they are back to their peaceful soil. It is impossible to satisfy everyone in politics, much less so within such a short time. It is therefore understandable that there will be some disgruntled members. However, that should not tempt us into joining forces with the known enemy (NDC) that pretends to love us. What you cannot sip deep, you dont taste. We will bite our fingers with regret if we allow our emotions and personal interests to control our decision making. We have a diamond (Hajia Alima), who, with all her human fallibilities have proven that she is trustworthy of our mandate, very hardworking and the bringer of unprecedented development. The final and most important lesson is that no politician, and indeed no human being has it all. Muammar Gaddafi despite his love for Libyans, couldnt satisfy a section of them in terms of good governance. Similarly, it is possible that despite the stellar and gracious performance of Hon. Hajia Alima Mahama as Member of Parliament, she could have performed better in other aspects. I have heard people say that although her performance is unrivalled, she could still do better with how she relates with people. This has always been the accusation leveled against most politicians especially of the female kind. Without rejecting or affirming it, I can only say that if Im presented with a choice between an MP who will call me every morning to say sweet things to my ears but does nothing to alleviate my plight and an MP who will give me schools to attend, better roads to access, electricity with which to start my business, portable drinking water etc but will not recognize or greet me, I will choose the latter a hundred and one times. God created everyone with a unique weakness, which is why no man is perfect. Very few people knows and understand honorable Hajia Alima Mahama than I do. She admits her weaknesses and improves upon them everyday. Sometimes we are just too much consumed with cynicism to notice the changes in her. Had Libyans allowed Muammar Gaddafi to continue, they would probably have had the natural turn of events where he probably would have peacefully handed over power because he was becoming advanced in age or he would have continued as President but with the introduction of reforms to give Libyans more of the freedoms they asked for. Almost a decade has passed since the ouster of Gaddafi but Libya is only better than worse. Some of his fiercest critics have regretted and the so-called lovers of the Libyan people have soon left them to their faith. There is no functioning government today and they still dont have democracy and rule of law. The rebels who fought Gaddafi and claimed to do so for the Libyan masses are currently busy fighting among themselves for power, long after the demise of Gaddafi. If it was possible to resurrect Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Libyans would have done so just to hand over the country back to him. With the knowledge of that recent history, constituents of Nalerigu-Gambaga should be guided and make no mistake in contemplating a change in leadership. Hon. Hajia Alima Mahama remains the greatest asset and political leader in the constituency. Once she has shown interest in going for a final term in parliament, I believe it is our civic responsibility to support her bid in order for her to continue to bring face-lifting developmental projects to the constituency. We cannot afford to regret like the Libyans because they didnt have the knowledge of history that we do now. Even if they had knowledge of history, they were not guided by it; we cannot tow that path because similar consequences awaits us if we do. That being said, I remain convinced that Hon. Hajia Alima Mahama will smoothly ride back to parliament after the 2020 elections. We all know she is the best! #4More4HajiaAlima #4More4Nana BY Simon Suayam File Photo: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. (Karl Norman Alonzo/Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP) By Andreo Calonzo, Claire Jiao and Ditas Lopez President Rodrigo Duterte is cracking down on some of the Philippines biggest businesses, pushing a populist agenda thats endearing him to his supporters while putting off investors. The nations stock market has dropped as much as 11% from its 2019 peak and valuation has fallen to its lowest since 2011 relative to peers as Duterte stepped up his attacks last month. The 74-year-old leader whose drug war has killed thousands saw his popularity hit a new high last quarter. Scrutinizing contracts and forcing concessions for taxpayers, as Duterte is doing with water companies, bolsters his appeal to his support base, said Calixto Chikiamco, a director of the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis in Manila. He could ratchet up those attacks even more to warn businesses not to back politicians going against his bet in the 2022 presidential vote. Here are some of Dutertes tirades against big business: (Source: Bloomberg) Ayala Corp. An arbitration victory requiring the government to reimburse Manila Water Co. 7.39 billion pesos ($145 million) for delayed tariff increases was the start of Ayala Corp.s recent nightmares. Duterte last month ordered the renegotiation of the contracts of Ayalas Manila Water Co. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. which were extended by a previous administration until 2037. Since Dutertes attacks, Manila Waters market value has shrunk to nearly half its size as of Monday, even as it dropped the arbitration award and promised not to increase the rate this year. Those concessions didnt appease Duterte, nor his spokesman Salvador Panelo, who on Jan. 19 said he will look into a land lease contract of Ayala Land Inc. with state-run University of the Philippines. The property company lost 61.1 billion pesos in market capitalization in three days after Panelos comments. Ayala and Pangilinan Duterte recently attacked Ayala and businessman Manuel Pangilinan, chairman of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. which is the biggest shareholder of Maynilad, which provides water services to half the capital Manila, and PLDT Inc. Story continues Shares of Metro Pacific and Ayala Corp. sank further after Duterte said on Jan. 17 their ventures elevated mass transit contract would be reviewed next. The Philippines has been gravely fooled by the rich people in the Philippines. Just like Ayala and Pangilinan who own Globe and Smart, Duterte said on Jan. 23. referring to Globe Telecom Inc. and PLDTs Smart Communications Inc. They are all thieves, those sons of b******, according to the official transcript of his speech. Panelo said contracts would be respected except for those disadvantageous to the public. Since Dutertes censure of the water contracts in early December, Metro Pacific has lost 36.3 billion pesos in market capitalization and Ayala Corp. has given up 59.2 billion pesos as of Monday. Even before assuming the presidency, Duterte in June 2016 already asked telecommunications provider PLDT and Globe to improve their service or face foreign rivals. In 2018, a venture of China Telecommunications Corp. and Duterte-allied businessman Dennis Uy won the bid for the Philippines third mobile-phone license. PLDT Duterte renewed his attacks on PLDT in February 2018, when he threatened to audit the company if it didnt surrender frequencies without any cost to the government. The company, which was supposed to get 3 billion pesos for the frequencies, eventually waived its rights to the band that ended up with the third player. In February 2019, Duterte threatened to shut PLDT if it didnt address frequently busy lines on the governments complaint hotline -- causing its stocks to sink to a 15-year low. Shortly after Dutertes tirade, PLDTs Pangilinan apologized and said the company will add more lines to the complaint call center. DMCI Holdings Duterte warned DMCI Holdings Inc. Chairman Isidro Consunji to prioritize safety standards or face a ban after a residential condominium that his family built in Davao City suffered major cracks following a series of strong earthquakes. A settlement has been reached with over 20% of Ecoland 4000 residents and talks are ongoing with the others, the company said. DMCI also owns a stake in water provider Maynilad. ABS-CBN Duterte has been criticizing ABS-CBN Corp. since 2017, alleging that it didnt air his campaign advertisement and accusing it of unfair reporting. The president has also repeatedly threatened to block the renewal of the companys franchise expiring in March -- causing its shares to drop. ABS-CBN, in a 2016 statement before Duterte took office, said it believes the government will uphold freedom of speech in its franchise renewal. Duterte in late December said the renewal was uncertain and urged its owners to sell before the permit expires. The president has also targeted privately-owned Philippine Daily Inquirer and Rappler Holdings Corp. Philippine Airlines Duterte hit the airline owned by billionaire Lucio Tans PAL Holdings Inc. in September 2017 with over 6.9 billion pesos in unpaid fees to government. Tan agreed to pay 6 billion pesos worth of dues. PhilWeb Months after getting elected in mid-2016, Duterte singled out then PhilWeb Corp. Chairman Roberto Ongpin in his campaign to end the influence of big businesses on the government. I was hit by a lightning, Ongpin, a trade minister under former president Ferdinand Marcos and one of the countrys most prominent tycoons, said at the time. Ongpin was later forced to step down and sell his gaming assets after Duterte targeted him in his bid to shutdown online gambling in the country. PhilWeb is less than a third of its size by market capitalization as of Jan. 27 compared to before it was attacked by Duterte. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Jim Price, a Mississippi native who grew up in the Jim Crow South and later became the first African American to serve on the Rochester School Board, died last Friday after a lengthy illness. Price, 85, died of brain cancer, said Doris, his wife of 32 years. Price was a pastor at Rochester Community Baptist Church. He served on the Rochester School Board from 1991 to 2000 and was believed to be among the first African Americans in Minnesota to serve as a school board president. The Rochester board had several heavy hitters at the time a future judge, a Mayo Clinic doctor and Price was one of them. "Jim Price was a very principled (leader)," said Carol Carryer, a former board member who served alongside him. "We always thought of Jim as our North Star. He kept us looking at the principle of issues." ADVERTISEMENT Price's service on the board coincided with a turbulent time educationally. The community was sundered by a teachers' strike in the early part of the decade. There were two failed bond referendums before passage of a measure that led to the building of Century High School. The 1990s also saw the rise of a conservative challenge to the board in response to outcome-based education and other education reforms. It was these choppy political waters that Price and other board members had to navigate. As the board's first black representative, Price brought a perspective and viewpoint that the board had always lacked. Rochester Mayor Kim Norton served as campaign chairwoman for Price's second run for school board. The campaign brought together other black leaders in the Rochester community, including Barbara Porter as campaign co-chairwoman and George Gibbs as treasurer. Price was an advocate of political leaders getting out of their offices and boardrooms and meeting people where they lived and went to church. He would tell people that if leaders wanted to understand the struggles and life experiences of black parents, they needed to get out and talk to them. His advocacy gave voice to elements of the community that often didn't have any, Norton said. "It really helped me understand and be a better leader," she said. It was during his time on that board that Price suffered a shattering personal loss. In July 1997, Price's 7-year-old daughter, Alicia, died in a vehicle accident in Vicksburg, Miss., during a visit Price made to his native state. ADVERTISEMENT Price's own life encompassed a period of rapid social change. Price grew up poor in Mississippi, in the segregated South. He would walk to school while white students rode the bus. Black students used hand-me-down textbooks and were taught in inferior facilities. As a board member, Price recognized the value of building alliances, using humor to drive home his points. Calling her "Sister Carryer," Price told Carryer that she could be a more effective advocate on some issues vital to African Americans because he as a black man could be expected to raise those issues. After resigning from the board, Price returned with his family to his native Mississippi. "He loved the job," his wife, Doris, said about his time on the board. "He loved being in the community in general." Price is survived by his wife and his children, Jerica Lynn Price and Calvin Price Jr., and a stepson, Douglas Pittman Jr. The Supreme Court Tuesday reserved verdict on a plea of one of the four death row convicts in the Delhi gang rape case. The apex court will now decide on Wednesday Mukesh Singhs plea challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by the President. President Ram Nath Kovind had rejected the mercy petition of Singh on January 17. Mukesh Singh and his three other accomplices, who were convicted for the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old in 2012, were sentenced to death. Earlier this month, a Delhi court ordered the four of them to be executed on February 1. Mukesh Singhs lawyers also complained that he had been sent to solitary confinement even before his mercy plea was rejected, which was a violation of norms and the humiliation that he was subjected to. Courts only sentenced me to death..was I sentenced to be sexually abused?, said the lawyer representing Mukesh Singh. Rebecca John, who also represented Mukesh Singh, pointed to the pace at which the President rejected his mercy plea. Tushar Mehta, the Centres second most-senior law officer, countered Mukesh Singhs submissions, arguing that it was strange that questions about sanctity of life are being raised by the convict. The mercy plea was, once filed by Mukesh Singh, processed quickly and sent with the recommendations in line with the rules. The President was not sitting in appeal over the judicial decision of courts, Mehta said. The default assumption should therefore be that they all perform the jobs they were sent to Washington to do. The idea that we expect (or hope) just four Republicans to rise to the occasion and that the burden is on Democrats to coax these four into doing so is astonishing. Representative image Odisha's ruling BJD will object in Parliament to the provision seeking information about birthplace of parents of individuals for updating the NPR and also demand mention of caste of the people belonging to OBCs in the 2021 census, a party leader said on January 28. These decisions were taken at the BJD parliamentary party meeting, chaired by its president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. "We are opposed to the clause 13(2) of the National Population Register (NPR) format, 2020 that seeks details about birthplace of parents of individuals, though the Centre has said it is optional," Pinaki Mishra, the BJD's Leader of Parliament in Lok Sabha, told reporters here. Though the party had supported the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, it opposed to the National Register of Citizens, Mishra said. He said the BJD MPs will also demand "enumeration of the people belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) along with SCs and STs in the 2021 census". "We need the know the number of people belonging to OBCs in the state in order to provide targeted benefit to them," he said. During the meeting held at Naveen Niwas here, BJD MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha finalised the party's agenda for the ensuing budget session, starting from January 31. Claiming that the BJD was committed to fight for the interest of Odisha people in Parliament, Mishra said: "We have been directed by the party president to raise the issues such as share of the clean energy cess, coal royalty revision and timely payment of the GST compensation to the state." He said the party MPs will also raise the issues relating to the inter-state water disputes like Mahanadi water sharing with Chhattishgarh and Polavaram project with Andhra Pradesh. Responding to a query on the proposed formation of a legislative council in the state, the BJD leader said, "Odisha Assembly has passed a resolution in this regard." He said opposition Congress and BJP have supported the resolution to form a legislative council in the state. (Natural News) The communist Chinese government is keeping the official tally of infected coronavirus patients artificially low by limiting the supply of diagnostic testing kits, warns an independent journalist in China, who leaked the information to The Epoch Times. The outbreak of Wuhan coronavirus is far bigger than the official figures released by Chinese public health authorities who cover up the severity by limiting the number of diagnosis kits to Wuhan hospitals, reports the independent news publisher: The insider and the independent journalist both say that diagnosis kits are only provided to certain qualifying hospitals and in very limited quantities. Medical personnel at these hospitals have said that the number of kits they are supplied is less than 10 percent of what they need to test patients. The means the official numbers from the Chinese government are likely just one-tenth the actual numbers. The current government figures claim 4,607 infected patients in mainland China, but if diagnostic testing kits are being artificially limited to just ten percent of the demand, the real number of infected patients may be something closer to 46,000. Interestingly, a team of researchers from Hong Kong University recently announced that, according to their research, at least 44,000 infected patients already exist in China. Further, they estimate the number of cases is doubling roughly every seven days. By early May, they predict China will be seeing 150,000 new cases each day, obviously overwhelming every laboratory, hospital and health care clinic in the entire country. China has already ordered schools closed until March, underscoring the urgency of the effort to try to bring this outbreak under control. Meanwhile, human-to-human transmission has already been observed in Canada, and now Taiwan is reporting the same thing. The official Chinese government figures have now reached 4,682 infected, a jump of nearly 50% from the day before. This means that even according to the Chinese government, coronavirus infections exploded nearly 50% in one day: The United States is also covering up the truth about coronavirus Its not just China thats covering up the truth about the coronavirus pandemic: the United States is also covering up the truth about this pandemic. Thats because Trump needs the stock market to remain propped up by irrational exuberance, and fear is what brings down bubble markets. Thus, the truth about the coronavirus spreading in the Untied States can never be acknowledged, or theres a risk the stock market bubble will collapse once peoples overzealous faith in the bubble is shattered. Both China and the United States have the means and motive to bury the truth about this, ultimately placing over a billion lives at risk in order to control the narrative. Listen to my critical update on coronavirus below: Brighteon.com/ee8790ee-49bf-403d-bff0-f4442ec09b82 ANN ARBOR, MI -- An Ann Arbor-area family that owns three South University Avenue businesses is shutting down two of them and moving the third to make way for a high-rise. Rendezvous Hookah Lounge closed its doors Jan 11. South U Pizza shut down in December and Oasis Grill is moving across the street to a space where China Gate previously operated. The three businesses were renting space in a pair of buildings on South University between Church Street and E. University Avenue, where the 13-story Vic Village South is set to be developed by Hughes Properties. The existing buildings are expected to be demolished. Adjacent businesses Cantina and Good Time Charleys are expected to remain. Rendezvous Hookah Lounge owner Maher El-Awar lamented the changing landscape in downtown Ann Arbor, the construction of more high-rises and the effect its had uprooting family-owned businesses. I grew up in Ann Arbor my whole life, said El-Awar. The city I grew up in is not the city I currently live in. He credits his father, Nizar El-Awar, for launching the familys entrepreneurial spirit decades ago as an immigrant from Lebanon. He is my biggest inspiration for running this place because he came with nothing and built the Rendezvous empire," Maher El-Awar said. Nizar El-Awar came to the U.S. in the late 1970s to visit his brother at the University of Michigan. He soon decided to stay, eventually opening Oasis Deli in 1986, his son said. The restaurant is now known as Oasis Grill. With the business thriving, Nizar El-Awar expanded into the space next door, establishing Rendezvous Cafe in 1991, offering coffee from around the world, along with crepes. A hookah menu was introduced on the second floor of Rendezvous Cafe in 2003, Maher El-Awar said. The cafe was later converted to South U Pizza, with Rendezvous Lounge on the second floor. Maher El-Awar said his father asked him to help with the hookah lounge in 2009, when the Michigans Smoke-Free Air Law was enacted. Obtaining the necessary exemptions to remain open and adhering to new and changing regulations has been a challenge, he said. The family sought to maintain a quieter vibe at the lounge, where students could smoke and study in an atmosphere that was similar to cafes in the familys native Lebanon, El-Awar said. About 30 former employees and customers of the lounge met their spouses at Rendezvous, he said. One of those couples chose to get married inside the lounge, and El-Awar was ordained as an Dudeist minister so he could officiate the wedding. In recent years, the business was met with another challenge in the rise of vaping, El-Awar said. The hookah business as a whole wasnt the same after that, he said. We started seeing a drop in sales. Then, Ann Arbor in 2016 raised the local tobacco purchasing age to 21, further narrowing the business client base. City Council approved plans for Vic Village South last year, sealing the fate of the hookah lounge. Anticipating closure, El-Awar said he notified his employees in Aug. 2019. The lounge closed its doors on Jan. 11. It is sad for us to say, but today is our last day of business," El-Awar announced on the company Facebook page. "Its been a great decade of serving hookah in Ann Arbor. Thank you to every person that has spent their nights studying, smoking, and spending their time at our hookah lounge over the years. It was a pleasure serving you all. El-Awar said the challenges of running the business led El-Awar to go to college and study cybersecurity. He now works in data protection at Barracuda Networks. Renault's board is set to meet on Tuesday to approve naming Luca de Meo, formerly the head of Volkswagen's Seat brand, as its next chief executive, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Monday. Renault declined to comment. The board had not yet been called, according to a source close to the matter, who declined to be named as the timing is still confidential. But De Meo's nomination is widely expected to take place any day now. De Meo, who stepped down from Seat earlier this month, will not take up his post at Renault until closer to July, the source added. Italian-born De Meo had been hotly tipped for the job for several weeks but faced wrangles over his contract and a stringent noncompete clause, which had to be negotiated between Renault and Volkswagen, sources previously told Reuters. The delay in his arrival comes at a delicate time for Renault, which is trying to reboot its alliance with Japan's Nissan Motor Co Ltd after the partnership's former boss, Carlos Ghosn, was arrested in Tokyo in 2018. Ghosn, who has repeatedly denied the financial misconduct charges he was accused of, slipped out of Japan and fled to Lebanon at the end of 2019. Renault's board ousted its former CEO and longstanding Ghosn ally Thierry Bollore last October, as part of efforts to clean the decks and reset the alliance, and the job has been occupied in the interim by financial chief Clotilde Delbos. Doctors have been left stumped by the sudden death of a healthy Victorian father who succumbed to a rare undiagnosed infection. Jackson Burke collapsed in his home in Geelong on Saturday and was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital for emergency treatment. The 37-year-old father-of-two was put on life support suffering from extreme cranial swelling and placed in an induced coma. An MRI scan found the virus had cut off blood supply to his brain, and he passed away surrounded by his family on Monday. Mr Burke's sister-in-law Kari Burke told The Geelong Advertiser that doctors were at a loss to explain what happened. 'Doctors are still unsure what exactly has caused it and theyre very stumped at this stage, they just cant explain it,' Mrs Burke said. Doctors can't explain why fit and healthy Jackson Burke, 37 (pictured with his wife Anita) died suddenly from a rare, undiagnosed infection Shattered friends and family have remembered Mr Burke as a loyal family man who was always there for his loved ones. 'For people he cared about he was extremely loyal too, no more so than Anita who he had been with since he was 15 years old and his two girls, who were his world,' Mrs Burke said. 'He had a lot of family and workmates that loved him, he was an extremely lovable guy.' Mr Burke was the sole provider for his wife Anita and two children Lilly, 6, and Maddie, 3, and a GoFundMe has been set up to help the young family's finances after Mr Burke's sudden passing. 'Most who know Jack know him for his massive heart and infectious smile while being the biggest man in the room,' the description reads. 'Those that knew Jackson understood that a better father you could not find and his girls were his world.' The fundraiser has raised more than $29,000 for the Burke family. How do you prepare for truly unknown cyberattacks or threats to physical security? Its a question that we all have to ask in the aftermath of the missile strikes exchanged with Iran. As many are (rightly) concerned with the possibility of a traditional war starting in the Middle East, it is likely that retaliation will happen over cyberspace, putting all our networks and infrastructure at risk. Whats most worrisome about these initial strikes is the lack of transparency. Most members of Congress had no idea the attack was imminent, and when they were briefed, many complained that their questions went unanswered. If Congress isnt being told what is happening, you can be sure the CISOs of major corporations arent being told or aware of any incidents that could have life-altering physical and cyber consequences. So with no possible coordination, how can you possibly be prepared? Anticipating from the already known The easy answer is to always be prepared for anything. But an act of cyberwar requires a higher-than-usual state of alertness, one that many organizations may not be able to afford in both human, or financial resources. The next best thing is to use historical data as the base-level of preparedness. We already know that Iran is one of the top nation-states in cyber expertise in hacking proficiency. Irans digital fingerprints are on past attacks against critical infrastructures, such as a dam in New York State and more recently, Iranian malware discovered on a Saudi Arabian oil companys network. They also launched physical attacks on Saudi oil fields. These are attacks theyve conducted without major provocation. This history, combined with the most recent action in Iran, should be a warning to CISOs to ensure they have the right systems in place to guard against a potential attack made as an act of cyberwar. But if you werent sure if you should do anything, the Department of Homeland Security is advising US companies to be prepared, the first time such an alert has been issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which operates under DHS. But thats just threats from Iran. We also know that Russia, China, Ukraine, and other countries have used cyberattacks against US entities. As we are focused on what Iran might do, these other countries may see an opening to launch an attack against us. And not only might other countries see a more vulnerable America, they may use Iran as a shield for their attacks. For example, the Financial Times reported in October of a Russian cyber espionage team that first hacked Iranian hackers, and then under that pretext went on to attack more than 30 countries. Both the US National Security Agency and the UK National Cyber Security Centre, which collaboratively uncovered the attack method, warned that this was a new tactic, used to create a sense of confusion and lead high-profile victims to shift the blame to other known bad actors. It would be very easy for cyber espionage groups from Russia, China and other cyber adversary nation-states to use a similar form of attack against US entities, making it look like Iran is the aggressor, which would escalate tensions with Iran, and the whole cyberwar cycle begins. How can you prepare for the unknown attack? This may have been the first such alert, but certainly it wont be the last. When there is a conflict of government on government, the path of revenge is more likely to be government on corporation. CISOs need to ensure their security teams are prepared for a nation-state cyberattack and be able to react in a split second. The processes and technologies in place need to be those that assume the worst is going to happen at every second. These attacks are no longer about financial gain. They are designed for business-value destruction, whether it is destroying an oil field or taking down a financial giant. Nation-state attacks are conducted with a much higher level of sophistication than that of a cybercrime ring. These are military-grade attacks opposed to mob-grade attacks for which most organizations have defenses in place. Whats needed are systems that are resilient and adaptable to these more sophisticated threats. Technologies like AI will play a huge role in this level of preparedness and will allow for a quicker recovery of systems if the worst does happen. In this new reality, organizations need to be more accepting of the idea that their business could be a casualty of war. The Iran attacks were a warning that we need to come up with ways to be better prepared from the unknown. I hope this state of heightened alert isnt the new normal, but we have to accept that it could be. With the start of 2020, CISOs and their teams need to be armed and ready with every tool in their arsenal to face more sophisticated attacks. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A woman was shot near the former site of the Candlestick Park stadium in San Francisco on Monday afternoon, according to police. The shooting was reported around 1 p.m. at the site near the southeastern edge of the city. The woman was treated at a hospital for gunshot wounds that are not considered life-threatening, police said. No arrest has been made in connection with the shooting and no suspect information was immediately available. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Modern farming has evolved by adopting technical advances such as machines for ploughing and harvesting, controlled irrigation, fertilisers, pesticides, crop breeding and genetics research. These have helped farmers to produce large crops of a good quality in a fairly predictable way. But there's still progress to be made in getting the best possible yields from different kinds of soils. And big losses still occur especially during and after harvest where monitoring and handling of produce isn't done well. The industry needs smart and precise solutions and these are becoming available through new technology. Smart farming aims to use modern technology to improve yield and product quality. One example is precision agriculture, a site specific crop management concept that uses a decision support system based on monitoring, measuring and responding to inter and intra-field variability in crops. This allows farmers to optimise their returns and preserve resources. Such monitoring solutions can be achieved by integrating electronic sensing devices that record data in soil, the environment or crops. The data can then provide useful information for decision-making, through a process called data analytics. The goal is to make the best possible use of soil in a particular field, control crop care and make informed decisions about handling produce after harvest. We've been involved in the development and use of sensors to help establish the quality of a wide range of horticultural products, including fruits. We used computer intelligence methods to detect defects and predict the quality of fruit. Our latest research found that data-driven solutions have a number of benefits. For instance, they can help reduce the loss of fruit and vegetables along the supply chain from farm to being consumed. The problem Fruits and vegetables can be damaged before, during and after harvest as well as in storage. This is wasteful. Some decay and spoilage is caused by viruses, fungi, bacteria or microbial pathogens. Products that are tightly packed or bruised are more vulnerable to infections and don't last as long. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, around 14% of the world's food is lost after harvest and before reaching shops and markets. And about one-third of the world's food is lost or wasted. Minimising food loss and waste is critical to creating a Zero Hunger world where more than 821 million people are already suffering from hunger. Our research involved reviewing the role that data analytics can play in the detection of defects in fruit and vegetables. We found that machine learning the ability of computers to find patterns in data, make predictions and propose decisions without being explicitly programmed far surpasses traditional methods for classifying produce. Machine learning has made great achievements in detecting plant diseases and fruit. These could be extended to monitoring the quality of fruit and other foods. Sensors can be used to detect insects and diseases in fruits and vegetables, acting as electronic noses or tongues and measuring chemical composition. They can also measure physical properties, such as firmness and acidity, to determine product quality. The products' acceptability depends on colour, shape, size, sweetness, and not having defects such as bruises and insect infestations. This is important for customer satisfaction and for the returns that producers and suppliers make. Sensing devices can supply data about these characteristics to computer algorithms for analysis. These new developments in machine learning allow for fast and effective quality determination and prediction in fresh produce. For example, imaging techniques have been coupled with machine learning algorithms to detect bruises, cold injury and browning in fruit such as apples, pears and citrus, and to detect various defects in tomatoes. Smartphone-based applications are being developed for use in quality recognition for small berry fruits. Machine learning reduces losses There's a current global research trend aimed at integrating sensing devices along the food chain to continuously monitor and control the quality indicators. We reviewed this research and found stages where such solutions are used in the food chain. These include: Crop monitoring Sensors can be used to measure properties of fruit and vegetables while they are growing, such as colour, size and shape. Such information helps control the growth conditions, such as water supply, and accurately determines the best harvest date. This reduces losses at harvest. For example, some smallholder farmers in Germany have been using smartphones to check the quality of their crops by sending crop images to be processed by experts through machine learning models; feedback is then sent to the farmers. Companies are developing models to track environmental factors such as weather changes and predict how these factors affect crop yield. This kind of support is aimed particularly at farmers in developing countries. Post-harvest quality monitoring In packhouses, products must be graded and sorted according to quality standards to determine their suitability for different consumer destinations. Export products need to keep well during long distance transport and on the shelf. For local markets, where travel time is shorter, the quality requirements could be of a different standard. To determine whether a product is suitable for animal feed or human consumption, specialised sensors take measurements and generate data to classify, grade and sort the products into categories. Market quality monitoring Sensors can even be integrated into packaging materials that continuously monitor and report on the status of the product in real time. These sensors can be enabled to communicate and send data to a centre of command. Monitoring, detecting and segregating food products like fresh fruit to classify and remove unsafe products to meet market demand is crucial to ensure profitability and maintain market share. With the increasing world population, which is expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050, food and nutrition security is set to become an even bigger challenge, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Data-driven automation can contribute to the solution. Jean Frederic Isingizwe Nturambirwe receives funding from National Research Foundation. Umezuruike Linus Opara receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation. By Jean Frederic Isingizwe Nturambirwe, Postdoctoral research fellow at the Research Laboratory for Postharvest Technology / SARChI, Stellenbosch University And Umezuruike Linus Opara, Distinguished Professor and DST-NRF South African Chair in Postharvest Technology, Stellenbosch University Imo State Police Command have confirmed the arrest of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) official, Sydney Ogudoro, who killed the Action Alliance (AA) Senatorial Candidate for Okigwe Senatorial District in the 2019 elections, Hon Ndubuisi Emenike. KanyiDaily had reported that Honourable Ndubisi was allegedly shot dead by Mr Ogudoro while celebrating the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Okigwe North federal constituency in Imo State, Princess Mariam Onuoha. Addressing newsmen on Monday, January 27, 2020, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Orlando Ikeokwu, confirmed the arrest of Ogudoro. Ikeokwu, who spoke on behalf of the Commissioner of Police in the state, Fafowora Olaniyi, said that the killer corps was arrested after credible information confirmed that Ogudoro fired gunshot at Emenike on Sunday. The command hereby confirm the arrest and detention of Sydney Ogudoro, a two star officer of the NSCDC, who allegedly shot and killed the AA senatorial candidate for Imo north in the 2019 elections, Chief Ndubuisi Emenike. We are currently carrying out a joint investigation alongside the NSCDC in some areas of operation and prosecution will follow if necessary. We also appeal to the good people of Isiala Mbano to remain law abiding and trust the police to fully carry out its constitutional responsibility of bringing culprits to book and toeing the path of justice and fairness. We will leave no stone unturned, he said. Hon. Ndubuisi Emenikes killing is coming less than two months, his fellow contender in the 2019 election, Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu slumped and died while taking his bath at his Abuja residence. According to Roman Truba, his dismissal was a political decision, which 'appeared as a result of the implementation of the scenarios of different groups' Roman Truba, the Director of State Bureau of Investigation Liga.net Former Head of the State Investigation Bureau (SIB) Roman Truba appealed his dismissal from the post in the Supreme Court as he reported on Telegram. I filed the lawsuit to the Supreme Court on the recognition as illegal of the order of the president of Ukraine on the early stop of authorities of the director of the State Investigation Bureau, Truba wrote. According to him, the dismissal was the political decision, which "appeared in the result of the implementation of the scenarios of different groups." Currently, the SIB became the top of my professional career that is why I believe that the early stop of the authorities at the post of the director should get, besides the political, the legal assessment, Truba added. Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Roman Truba from the post of the Director of the State Investigation Bureau (SIB). Iryna Venediktova became the Acting Director of the State Investigation Bureau. Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine initiated a criminal case against Roman Truba, the former Director of the State Bureau of Investigation. Sri Lankan Health officials on Monday confirmed the first case of coronavirus, involving a 43-year-old Chinese woman, local media reported. The woman, who hails from the Chinese Province of Hubei, had arrived in Sri Lanka as a tourist on January 19, Sudath Samaraweera, the Chief Epidemiologist with the Ministry of Health, said. "The first test on the patient was positive for the virus. We have sent a second sample to the Medical Research Institute at Borella for further examination. In the meantime, we will continue to treat her as a patient positive for new coronavirus at the IDH," Samaraweera told the Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). The woman was admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) in Angoda town on December 25 after she developed symptoms of fever. The virus, which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has killed more than 80 people in that country alone, while more than a dozen other countries have reported cases so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Holidaymakers planning a trip to Bali can have their children stay and fly for free with Jetstar's latest travel deal. Australian families with children under 11 can choose from 12 of the Indonesian island's most luxurious resorts. The airline's 'Kids Fly And Stay Free' deal allows one child per adult to travel and stay for free for up to seven nights. Families can now travel to Bali with their children for free after Jetstar's latest travel deal (file image) The sales are on offer from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Darwin and Adelaide and are based on families of four. Travellers can fly from Sydney and stay at Bali's lavish Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort for just $853 per adult for five nights in a two-bed room. Those making their way from Melbourne can spend five nights at the Mercure Bali Legian for as low as $899. Families from Darwin can enjoy five nights at the Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort for $618 or five nights at the Hard Rock Hotel Bali for just $817. The deal will end of February 5 and is available for holidays to Bali between April this year and March 2021 The Bali Dynasty Resort will welcome travellers from Perth for five days of luxury starting at just $869 and a five day stay at the Hilton Bali Resort for $976 per adult. Families from Perth can also stay at the Sheraton for just $646 per adult. The sales are for trips between April this year and March 2021. The prices exclude baggage. The sale ends on February 5. Those making their way from Melbourne can spend five nights at the Mercure Bali Legian (pictured) for as low as $899 Its been called the forever chemical and public advocacy groups, government agencies and lawmakers are paying attention. PFAS or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been around since the 1950s and have been used in Teflon, Gore-Tex, Scotchgard, microwave popcorn bags, firefighting foams, non-stick cookware, surgical gowns, electronic devices and even dental floss. These chemicals, which are present in all of our lives, are now known to pose a danger and are starting to show up in our water. In Westfield, at Barnes Regional Airport, the U.S. National Guard is suspected of contaminating private and public wells with PFAS due to the use of a firefighting foam Consistent exposure to PFAS have been linked to a variety of issues including cancer, decreased fertility, thyroid issues, ulcerative colitis and high cholesterol. PFAS have been detected throughout the state. But advocacy groups and government agencies are stepping up. On the Federal level, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield has recently offered support for the PFAS Action Act. Neal said on the House floor, This legislation will significantly help communities around the country that have contaminated water supplies due to these PFAS chemicals. Westfield has been particularly affected by these substances. For years, cities and towns around the nation have been trying to resolve this problem with very little help from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The bill was passed on Jan. 10. On the state level, the Baker administration and the Department of Environmental Protection are committed to filing regulations that mandate cleanups by parties responsible and establish limits and standards specifically for water and soil contamination. Kathleen A. Theoarides, Massachusetts secretary of energy and environmental affairs said, This is a challenge and will take significant investment and attention across communities, and the Baker administration is proposing state funding for testing and offering grants for filtration systems." Grass root efforts have also helped bring awareness. At an open meeting hosted by MassDEP, Kristen Mello, at-large member of the Westfield City Council and member of the advocacy group, Westfield Residents Advocating for themselves (WRAFT) said the standards set by state is a very important first step, to begin the legal framework for getting a handle on taking care of this contamination. Its encouraging to see grassroots organizations, working with federal, state and local officials, to help design standards and cleanup operations to identify these chemicals and work together to come up with solutions to address the dangers of this forever chemical. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 02:55:28|Editor: yan Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed on Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, saying his government will act to annex parts of the Israel-occupied West Bank. Speaking alongside Trump at the White House, Netanyahu said the announcement of the plan marks "a historic day." Although Trump provided few details about the proposed plan, Netanyahu said the plan allows the Israeli government to apply Israeli law in the Jordan Valley and the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Israel's Channel 12 TV news reported that the Israeli government is expected to formally approve the annexation within a week. "Israel will apply its laws to the Jordan Valley, to all the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (the Israeli term for West Bank) and to other areas that your plan designates as part of Israel and which the United States has agreed to recognize as part of Israel," Netanyahu said at the White House. Trump said the plan calls for four years of Israeli-Palestinian talks ahead of the establishment of a Palestinian state if the Palestinians will ensure the security of Israel. Netanyahu said he is ready to start negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of the plan. Trump's peace plan, also known as the Deal of the Century, was announced without the presence of Palestinian officials who were not invited. The Palestinians, who were not involved in drafting the plan, have rejected it as biased in favor of Israel. The Jewish settlements are located in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which were seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war along with the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians wish to build their future state along the 1967 pre-war border with East Jerusalem as its capital. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 00:26:05|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- More medical teams are rushing to central China's Hubei Province to aid the coronavirus control there. A team of 136 medical workers from 12 hospital run by the Beijing municipal health commission flew to Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, on Monday, to join the fight against the coronavirus epidemic. By Sunday, a total of 1,423 cumulative confirmed cases of new pneumonia had been reported in Hubei, with 76 deaths and 221 cases in severe condition. "There are many unknown risks ahead, but the hospitals provide us with the best medical protection," said Li Tianshui, a team member from the Beijing Jishuitan Hospital. "We have the capability and also confidence in winning the battle against the epidemic as soon as possible." Shanghai sent another 50 medical workers to Wuhan by train on Monday night after sending a first batch of 136 medical workers three days ago on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The country's southern-most island province of Hainan dispatched a team of 42 medical workers to Wuhan, the center of the coronavirus epidemic. The southeastern province of Fujian also sent a team of 135 doctors and nurses to Wuhan on Monday. The team arrived at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport at noon, and soon joined the thousands of medical staff from all over the country to fight against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). "Daddy is going to fight the monster. Take care of yourself and your grandparents," Wu Wenwei, a doctor of Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, told his 5-year-old daughter before leaving for Hubei. The 46-year-old team leader once served in the rescue work during the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 that left more than 80,000 people dead. Wu went to college in Wuhan, where many of his friends of good old days are working around the clock to treat patients of the novel coronavirus. In the last 20 years in Bollywood, few actors have shown consummate skill as actors as Tabu has. The actor will be seen on the big screen when Jawaani Jaaneman releases later this week. Before that, heres a look at what separates Tabu from the rest. Tabu has never been the conventional Bollywood heroine too tall, pretty but hardly a stunner and not blessed with good dancing skills. Yet, few actors have had a grip on the collective consciousness of the nation as she has had. Starting her career as a child actor, she started her innings as a lead heroine with films like Coolie No 1 (with Govinda) and later Vijaypath, opposite Ajay Devgn, actors she would go on to star with in many films. While the latter, a regular potboiler, did little to advance her career, it was a modest hit. She followed it up with many forgettable films before Gulzars Maachis came her way. Tabu gave a stellar performance as the beloved of a militant. The pathos she projected were moving; it showed what conflict did to innocence. The year was 1996. It isnt surprising that it fetched her a National Award. Saif Ali Khan, Alaya F and Tabu in a scene from Jaawani Jaaneman. She followed it up with two commercial successes Saajan Chale Sasural (with Govinda and Karisma Kapoor) and the more nuanced Viraasat, with Anil Kapoor and Pooja Batra. While the films showed her acting abilities, she couldnt really seal her position as a bankable commercial heroine. In the years to follow, her status as the most hard-hitting actor of the left-of-centre films would be cast in stone. With stellar performances in films like Astitva, Madhur Bhandarkars Chandni Bar and Vishal Bhardwajs Maqbool, India didnt know what hit it. The emotional strength with which she powered these roles, no other actor could come close. In Astitva, she played a housewife who has an affair with her music teacher and gets pregnant. On her husbands return (from tour) she tries to tell him the truth but cant. Several years later, when her son is a grown-up man, it is revealed that her music teacher has willed his entire property to her. What follows is humiliation, both from her husband and her son. Her husband, even after he is reminded of his own sins, refuses to accept his wifes indiscretion. Her son too shockingly displays male chauvinism in admonishing his mother. Finally, Tabus character, aptly aided by her sons fiance (who breaks off her engagement with him) walks out on both her husband and her son. Jaawani Jaaneman explores unusual relationships. Tabu in Chandni Bar. In Chandni Bar, Tabus portrayal of Mumtaz, a woman from rural India and a communal riot victim, was absolutely compelling. As a young woman, we see her escape communal riots and is brought by her uncle to Mumbai. Struggling to find work, she eventually joins a dance bar. It is in the dance bar that she meets a client and future lover, a don (played by Atul Kulkarni). Despite opposition, she being a Muslim and he a Hindu, they marry. But there is never a kind moment for Mumtaz as she suddenly finds her life turning into a living hell when he gets killed. Now, she has additional responsibility of two children, a son and daughter. Through all this, it is her job at the dance bar that helps her survive and fend for her children. With exceptional courage, she managed to give her children a modicum of decent upbringing by keep them away from the world of crime. Just when she begins to think that while her life had been pathetic, her childrens wont be, the predictable happens like her husband, her teenage son gets sucked into the world of crime and her daughter ends up becoming a bar dancer, like her. Needless to say, it brought her another National Award. Also read | Grammys 2020 red carpet pics: Priyanka Chopras plunging neckline is too hot to handle, Nick Jonas is her perfect date. See best looks In Vishal Bhardwaj directorial Maqbool, a retelling of William Shakespeares Macbeth, Tabu was cast in the role of Nimmi (Lady Macbeth), the mistress of don Jahangir Khan who is secretly in love with his right hand man, Maqbool (Macbeth), played by Irrfan Khan. Playing the guilt-ridden Nimmi who instigates Maqbool to murder his father-figure (Jehangir Khan), Tabu was captivating. Clearly evil yet tossing in guilt and self doubt, only Tabu could have pulled off a role like that. These three significant films fell into her lap in the period of 2000 to 2003. Soon, it was time for Tabu to go international she starred in Mira Nairs adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiris The Namesake in 2006. While the film didnt do well in India, it did win her international recognition. At the home front, she starred in a quirky romantic comedy, R Balkis Cheeni Kum in 2007. Playing a young woman who falls in love with a much older man, played by Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu was refreshing in this rather light-hearted romance. Given her proclivity to intense roles, this film certainly showcased another side of her personality. It is not that Tabu hadnt done comedies and rom coms Sanjan Chale Sasural, Biwi No 1 and Hum Saath Saath Hain, Hera Pheri easily fall in these brackets. However, these films didnt little even to showcase the lighter side of her personality. Barring the last film, the others were too loud or too mushy for her sensibilities. From 2007 onwards, Tabu briefly disappeared from the horizon. Yes, she did appear in a bit role in Ang Lees Life of Pi (2012) but she had to wait till Haider arrived in 2014, to get fresh start. Forming the third part of his Shakespeare trilogy (Maqbool , Omkara and Haider inspired from Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet), Vishal Bhardhwaj cast her as Gertrude (Ghazal Meer) to Shahid Kapoors Hamlet (Haider). Her Ghazala Meer is easily the heart and soul of the film; reflecting a conundrum of emotions, the complexity of the ground realities and the tragedy of Kashmir. Tabu was revetting; not once could one take ones eyes off her. However, this too was cast in the stereotype she had come to associated with intense and complex. In 2015, the actor returned in the Hindi remake of Malayalam director Jeethu Josephs Drishyam. A taut crime drama, it pitted Ajay Devgn as a deceiving cable TV owner in a small village in Goa, content in life but caught in a tricky situation, against a tough-to-crack female cop, played by Tabu. As a cop, ironically investigating her own sons disappearance and with Ajay and his family as the prime suspects, the duo was perfectly cast in a cat-and-mouse game. Tabu plays her tough cookie role to the hilt recall the scene where she looks on as her deputies torture Ajays wife and daughter to psychologically influence his younger daughter to relent and you will know. Tabus cop is bereft of any compassion in her pursuance of the truth. The film, in many ways, paved the way for Ayushmann Khurrana starrer Andhadhun. Yet again, Tabu was excellent as a morally dubious woman, who will kill at the drop of a hat to further her cause. Tabu with Amitabh Bachchan in Cheeni Kum. Not just thriller, the Tabu version 2.0 has been a revelation, even in comedies and rom-coms. What changed? Well, simply that she is now using her serious image to tell both comic and romantic stories. In Golmaal Again, Tabu is Anna Matthew, with a unique gift of seeing ghosts. Tabu used her deadpan expressions to make the all matters ghost-like eerier. In last years De De Pyaar De, Tabu was cast as the ex-wife of Ajay Devgn, with the latter in love with a young woman. Tabu plays it tough, when Ajays character returns home to seek approval from his family, comprising Tabu, a grownup daughter, a teenaged son and aging parents. The comedy of errors works only as Tabu aces as an unrelenting ex-wife to a hapless Ajay, trying hard to win his familys approval. In Jaawani Jaaneman, Tabu will be seen in the role of a mother of a teenage daughter, who is out to seek her biological father, played by Saif Ali Khan. While little is known of the plot, what one sees in the trailer is an unconventional woman who breaks every stereotype of a mother she doesnt even think it important to tell Saifs character that they have a daughter. Reason? Well, as she says, She hates phone calls. Playing what Saif dubs as hippy, Tabu will surely be in a very different zone with this film. From what we gather watching the trailer, neither of the parents know that the girl is their offspring; it is the daughter who gets a DNA test done to ascertain her biological parents! Given how Tabu is capable of making her characters believable, irrespective of the films fortunes, do expect a credible performance from this acting ace. Follow @htshowbiz for more Author tweets @mniveditatweets The EU will not ban Chinese telecom giant Huawei or any other company in Europe, a top official said on Tuesday, despite intense pressure from Washington to shun the firm over spying fears. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, will officially unveil recommendations to member states on Wednesday, but commissioner Thierry Breton told MEPs that Brussels will choose tight scrutiny over any blanket ban. "It is not a question of discrimination, it is a question of laying down rules. They will be strict, they will be demanding and of course we will welcome in Europe all operators who are willing to apply them," he said. The EU, while never explicitly naming the Chinese giant, is struggling to find a middle way to balance Huawei's huge dominance in the 5G sector with security concerns pressed by Washington. The proposal is part of a so-called "toolbox" of recommendations that will guide the EU's 27 post-Brexit member states as they build crucial 5G networks. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also expected on Tuesday to risk Washington's anger with a similar decision to trust strict rules instead of a ban on Huawei. A ban on Huawei would ultimately be up to an individual member state, but the commission's middle road recommendation gives cover to European capitals to resist pleas from Washington. Huawei is one of the world's leading network technology suppliers, and one of the few -- along with European telecom companies Nokia and Ericsson -- capable of building 5G networks. The United States sees the company as a potential threat to cybersecurity and fears it would facilitate cyber espionage by the Chinese government, to which it is said to have close links. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By ANI NEW DELHI: The ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh will come to an end within one hour if BJP forms the government in Delhi, claimed BJP MP Parvesh Verma on Tuesday. "If the BJP forms government on February 11, not a single person will be found at (the protest site) Shaheen Bagh," Verma said during a meeting at Vikaspuri assembly constituency. "If our government is formed, then give me just a month after February 11, and I will remove all mosques built on government land in my Lok Sabha constituency," the BJP parliamentarian added.. #WATCH: BJP MP Parvesh Verma says, "...Lakhs of people gather there (Shaheen Bagh). People of Delhi will have to think & take a decision. They'll enter your houses, rape your sisters&daughters, kill them. There's time today, Modi ji & Amit Shah won't come to save you tomorrow..." pic.twitter.com/1G801z5ZbM ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020 "Lakhs of people gather there (Shaheen Bagh). People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, and kill them. There's time today, Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and Amit Shah will not come to save you tomorrow. It will be a whole lot better if the people of Delhi wake up today," Verma told ANI. ALSO READ: 'Goli Maro' row - Delhi CEO Office seeks report on Anurag Thakur's slogan at poll rally The BJP MP from West Delhi alleged that the Shaheen Bagh protesters could harm residents to Delhi and urged people to wake up "while there's time." "Arvind Kejriwal says he is with Shaheen Bagh and so does Manish Sisodia. The people know that a fire engulfed Kashmir in which their mothers and sisters were raped. This happened in Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad," Verma said. Protests have been ongoing in different parts of the country, including Shaheen Bagh in the national capital, against the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh if they entered India on or before December 31, 2014. Prashant Kishor in viral video: With or without Modi, BJP will be centre of Indian polity for decades 'What a fall for you to lie': Prashant Kishor's scathing attack on boss Nitish Kumar India oi-Deepika S Patna, Jan 28: Janata Dal United vice president Prashant Kishor hit back at Nitish Kumar on Tuesday for over his claim that he was inducted in the Janata Dal United through a recommendation from the BJP's all-powerful leader Amit Shah. "@NitishKumar what a fall for you to lie about how and why you made me join JDU!! Poor attempt on your part to try and make my colour same as yours! And if you are telling the truth who would believe that you still have courage not to listen to someone recommended by @AmitShah?" Kishor tweeted hours after Kumar said he was free to stay or leave the party. Earlier in the day, in a veiled reference to Kishor, Nitish Kumar said, "Someone (JDU leader Pavan Verma) wrote a letter I replied to it. Someone is tweeting, let him a tweet. What do I've to do with it? One can stay at the party till he wants. He can go if he wants...Do you know how did he join the party? Amit Shah asked me to induct him." Kishor has vocal against Nitish Kumar and party's stand on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act. The JDU supported the legislation in both Houses of Parliament. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- City Council Minority Leader Steven Matteo on Tuesday became the Islands first Republican elected official to make an endorsement of either candidate from his party in this years congressional race. I am supporting Nicole Malliotakis because I know she will do an excellent job representing Staten Island and Brooklyn in the halls of Congress, said Matteo (R-Mid-Island). Whether it is fighting for residents impacted by Superstorm Sandy, her work on behalf of seniors and veterans, or standing up for common sense policies in Albany, Nicole has proven she is the clear choice for voters this year. While local party officials have put their weight behind Malliotakis (R-East Shore/South Brooklyn), none of her fellow Republicans in office had yet to make an endorsement of the five-term assemblywoman. A campaign official for incumbent Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) declined comment, and the boroughs other Republican elected officials did not provide comment by the time of publication Tuesday. Malliotakis thanked Matteo for his endorsement, calling him a friend a partner in government, and someone she has tremendous respect for. As a state legislator, I have worked to restore bus service, improve programs for seniors, expand services for veterans and ensure our children receive a quality education, she said. I look forward to bringing my fight and passion to Washington to secure our borders, create more jobs, improve healthcare services, and deliver an infrastructure package that benefits our community, she added. Malliotakis primary opponent, former Brooklyn prosecutor Joseph Caldarera, said the only endorsement that matters to him is that of the districts voters. Steve Matteo is a fine public servant, but the only endorsement that really matters is the endorsement of the people of Staten Island and South Brooklyn, Caldarera said. Im confident Ill get that endorsement on June 23rd. Executive committees for both the Brooklyn and Staten Island Republican parties endorsed Malliotakis in early January. Both boroughs Conservative parties have also voiced their support for her. Nicole Malliotakis is a proven leader who will stand with President Trump in securing our borders, fighting the socialist, progressive policies of House Democrats, and continuing the pro-growth policies that bring jobs to Staten Islanders, Staten Island Republican Party Chairman Brendan Lantry said earlier this month. The Democratic field for state Senate District 19 officially narrowed after a judge granted a request to keep a candidate off the primary ballot over claims she did not live in the district. Civil District Judge Peter Sakai signed the order in Bexar County Presiding Court on Monday morning, granting a permanent injunction to keep Belinda Shvetzs name off the ballot in the Democratic primary, which is set for March 3. One of her rivals, Xochil Rodriguez, challenged Shvetz, claiming she did not live in the area she sought to represent. Rodriguezs attorney, Luis Roberto Vera Jr., declined to comment on the permanent injunction, but stated that Shvetz has been a loyal, faithful member of the Democratic Party for years, and shes a good lady. Reached Monday evening, Shvetz had no animosity toward Rodriguez. Xochil Rodriguez is a Democrat, and were just going to put this behind us and move forward, she said. Shvetz said her heart belongs to SD 19, and she vowed to continue doing outreach for the community there. Shvetz sought the SD 19 seat, which covers 15 counties, including portions of Bexar and Atascosa counties and currently is represented by state Sen. Pete Flores. The Republican defeated Democrat Pete Gallego in 2018 in a special election prompted by the resignation of disgraced Sen. Carlos Uresti, a Democrat who held the position for almost 12 years. Uresti had to give up his seat after a felony conviction on charges including money laundering and fraud. He is serving his sentence in federal prison. Rodriguez filed the suit in December in civil district court, claiming the Democratic Party violated state law by including Shvetz on the ballot. It also alleged she was not registered to vote in the district and does not live in the area she sought to represent. The party did not challenge the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, Shvetz provided two addresses one for an apartment in Balcones Heights on Gentleman Road, which is in SD 26, the other for a South Side tire shop on Roosevelt Avenue that rests in SD 19. She told the Express-News that she has lived in Atkins since September 2019. State law requires a candidate running for Texas Senate to have lived in Texas for the previous five years and in the district in which they seek to represent for the previous year. Rodriguez, daughter of Justice of the Peace Ciro Rodriguez, a former congressman, joins fellow lawyers Roland Gutierrez and Freddy Ramirez on the Democratic primary ballot for SD 19. The winner of that race will face Flores in the November election. He is unopposed in the Republican primary. Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 A CNBC reports claims that owners of MGM held talks with Apple as well as Netflix to gauge their interest in an acquisition. A report from last month had also claimed that Apple had held content partnership talks with MGM for Apple TV+. The report is light on other details and whether Apple showed interest in acquiring MGM or not. The latter owns the rights to the entire James Bond catalog along with many of the current hit shows like The Handmaids Tale, Live PD, and more. Even if Apple is not interested in acquiring MGM, it can do a content partnership with it which would provide it with access to MGMs content library. Right now, the biggest weakness of Apple TV+ is its limited content library. The streaming platform has fewer than 10 shows that is not enough to attract viewers. While all the shows have been originally produced by Apple, only a few of them have been praised and are worth watching. If Apple wants Apple TV+ to be taken seriously, it needs to work on improving its content library as soon as possible. Apple is currently luring viewers to Apple TV+ by offering a yearly subscription of the service free to customers who purchase an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV+, or Mac. [Via CNBC Job Title: Driver Responsible Land Policy Uganda (RELAPU) Organization: GIZ Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda Reports to: Team Leader RELAPU Re N0: GIZ-RELAPU/D/01200022 About US: Deutsche Gesellschaft fiir Internationale Zusammenareit (GIZ) GmbH is a federal Enterprise that supports the German Government in achieving its objectives international cooperation for sustainable development. GIZ offers workable, sustainable and effective solutions in political, economic and social change processes. GIZ operates in more than 120 countries worldwide. The German cooperation with Uganda started in 1964 and GIZ has been operational in several sectors since then. A bout Project: Most of GIZs work is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. In addition, GIZ Uganda works on behalf of development agencies like the European Union, DFID and USAID. The Cooperation currently focuses on Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency; Rural Development, Water and Sanitation; and Good Governance and Civil Society. in addition, GIZ provides support through the One World No Hunger initiative, specically in promotion of responsible and sustainable fisheries, nutrition sensitive potato value chains and responsible land policy in Uganda. Country wide, there are also ongoing projects in climate change mitigation, skills development as well as supporting refugee hosting districts in Northern Uganda both nationally and internationally, GIZ Uganda supports the Nile Basin initiative (NBI) In planning and coordinating sustainable management of water resources in the Nile Basin. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Safely and responsibly performing all ofcial travel using ofcial vehicles. Regularly servicing and looking after ofcial vehicles. Taking account of all available information on road conditions, accessible routes and locations. Running official errands and assisting with other office work. Strictly follows GIZ rules including GIZ safety standards. Completes the vehicle log correctly and conscientiously in accordance with GIZ standards Driving Provides passenger transport in an ofcial car for ofce, project or programme staff ofcial visitors and guests. Runs errands for the project, programme or office, e.g. sending letters and messages, paying bills and buying smaller quantities of ofce supplies. Helps with transporting goods. Completes the vehicle log correctly and conscientiously in accordance with GIZ standards. Maintenance of car Regularly cleans the interior and exterior of the vehiclels) regularly Checks oil, water, brakes and brake liquid, tyre pressure, battery levels and the entire vehicle, monthly or every 5,000 km (whichever is rst), headlights, brakes, bodywork for dents etc. Responsible for the project vehicle documents and their good condition, keeping a vehicle log and recording monthly maintenance Reports need for service and carries out minor repairs Immediately reports all involvement of the project or ofce vehicle in accidents, including minor accidents, damage, loss or theft of vehicle ttings. Monitors and reports the need to renew car insurance incl. official cars used by other programme personnel Compiles driver reports on condition of vehicle. General services Wears proper attire Serves all passengers in a friendly manner Takes team members to the eld (travelling to all regions in Uganda is necessary on a regular basis) Runs errands for the programme e.g. delivery of letters/messages, payment of bills, and makes minor purchases as directed Is responsible for ofcial documents in vehicle Is responsible for a special petty cash and submits vouchers for accounting on a monthly basis Does not use, at any time, the car for his/her own private purposes. Such misuse of the vehicle is considered a serious misconduct, and will immediately lead to a warning and may result in dismissal Knowledge management Uses all available information (including current radio news on trafc conditions) to update daily knowledge of road conditions, current passable routes and locations, and shares this information with other office drivers Other duties/additional tasks If there is no outside driving activity, s/he stands by in the office, supports other colleagues in case of need, and does other office work as assigned Reports any incident whilst off duty that may affect his/her driving licence entitlement, as well as any newly known health problems that may affect his/her ability to drive Assists in and/or carries out other activities and any tasks as assigned Undertakes further job training related to his/her position and duties, if required. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: Secondary school education/ Advanced secondary Education. Holds a valid drivers licence. Defensive Driving skill is an added advantage Good knowledge of both spoken and written English language. Discipline and punctuality. Resilience and patience. Familiarity with the respective duty station and Uganda generally. Appropriate appearance and attire (possibly uniform, friendly manner with all passengers). Ensures unrestricted availability of vehicles at all times and reports restrictions immediately. Willingness to up skill as required by the tasks to be performed and corresponding measures are agreed with management. At least 1-3 years work experience as a driver with references No major accidents in the past 3 years. How to Apply: All interested and qualified persons are strongly encouraged to apply by submitting their application and CV along with the contacts of three professional referees to The Director, Future Options Consulting ltd, by email: hr@futureoptionsug.com ; quoting the position you are applying for and the reference N0. as the subject.. Please note: This is a national position. Application and CV should be in one document and a maximum of 4 pages only. No other attachments are required at this stage. Only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We encourage women, people with disabilities and minority groups ta apply for this position. GIZ is committed to equal opportunities and diversity of perspective at the working place. Deadline: 31st January 2020 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline NORWALK Family, friends and coworkers said their final goodbyes Tuesday to Officer Cesar Ramirez, a 32-year police veteran. The hundreds who gathered at St. Matthews Church came not only to mourn the death Ramirez, 71, who died last week, but to celebrate his life. Cesar Ramirez Jr., Ramirezs second-oldest son, said you only needed to gaze across the packed church pews to get a sense of how much the Norwalk community cherished his father. These past few weeks, many people have pointed out how proud my father was of me. And I realize that despite the fact that I always told my father how much I loved him, I never told my father how proud I was of him, Cesar Jr. said. Today, I we say how proud we are of you, dad. With tears in his eyes, Norwalk Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik called Ramirez a man who walked the walk and lived steadfastly by his beliefs. He was the heart and soul of Norwalk, particularly South Norwalk, Kulhawik said. I may hold the title of chief, and Harry (Rilling) may have the official title of mayor, but we all understood that Cesar was truly the chief and the mayor of South Norwalk. Kulhawik recalled how proud Ramirez had been when he received the U.S. Attorneys award in 2016 for his achievements in community policing. Ill never forget it. He had received so many accolades over his career, but it was clear that this award meant so much. He didnt need the award to continue to do what he did each day, but I know that it meant so much to him that people recognized not only his efforts, but what his efforts meant to the community, Kulhawik said. Rilling, who served as Norwalks deputy chief when Ramirez was first hired, also recounted how important the South Norwalk community was to Ramirez. While many officers operated out of their patrol cars, Rilling said Ramirez could be found walking the streets of South Norwalk with a grin on his face and good will in his heart. There were countless times where he would buy a cup of coffee or some food for someone in need. He was the kind of guy who would strike up a conversation with a stranger in the street. He cared for people, thats just who he was, Rilling said. In honor of his lasting legacy, a full guard of Norwalk police officers escorted Ramirezs casket to his final resting place at St. Johns Cemetery. On Monday morning, students from Columbus Magnet School and Side By Side School gathered along the Concord Street to bid farewell to Ramirez, the longtime South Norwalk community police officer who watched over the two schools, as a police motorcade ushered his casket to a funeral home. He was our guardian, but now he is our guardian angel watching us from headquarters in heaven. Te amo, Cesar! wrote Columbus principal Medard Thomas on Twitter Monday. Ramirezs death came one month after he signed off from Norwalk Police Department for the final time. After he was diagnosed, Ramirez took an extended medical leave from the department that began Dec. 13, 2019. Needless to say that we are all heartbroken over his loss, Kulhawik said. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time. Norwalk police started a GoFundMe campaign earlier this month on behalf of Ramirezs wife, Ana Ramirez, to help cover medical costs. Former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has reacted to the court ruling ordering the execution by hanging of Maryam Sanda for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello. Recall that on Monday, Justice Yusuf Halilu said every available evidence had proved that Maryam fatally stabbed her husband to death in Abuja on November 19, 2017. Also Read: Solomon Buchi Blasts Men Blaming Maryam Sanda For Killing Her Husband Reacting to the ruling, the former minister expressed his sadness at the whole situation that transpired. Going further, the former described the whole situation as a tragedy, as he queried about the childrens welfare. See his tweet below: Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has urged Australians to be sceptical of what they read online as misinformation on the coronavirus outbreak spreads rapidly. An example of online disinformation related to coronavirus. Claims such as where the coronavirus can be caught from, suggestions it was deliberately released and that thousands are dropping dead are forcing social media outlets such as Facebook and Google to ramp up efforts and use third-party fact-checkers to remove misleading information. As with the recent bushfire emergency, we are seeing disinformation circulate online in relation to the coronavirus outbreak, Mr Fletcher said. When it comes to the coronavirus, legitimate and authoritative sources online include communications from the Federal Department of Healths website health.gov.au, state health department websites, the Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt and his state counterparts, as well as Australias many well-known and trusted media organisations. Ankara, Jan 28 : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to his US counterpart President Donald Trump on the phone and discussed regional issues, "particularly the situations in Syria and Libya", authorities here said on Tuesday. The Turkey's Directorate of Communications said the two leaders also exchanged views on bilateral relations, Xinhua news agency reported. Earlier, Erdogan urged the international community to impose significant pressure on the Syrian regime to stop its "brutality" in the northern province of Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria. He said over 400,000 people from Idlib have started moving toward Turkey's border to flee hostility in the region. Erdogan also expressed his concerns that the civil war in Libya would create circumstances for the rise of terror groups like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. Libya has been gripped by a raging civil war between the UN-recognized Government of National Accord and the Libyan National Army, as the world leaders have been trying to force the warring parties to compromise on a permanent ceasefire. Several weeks ago, we have looked into a very recent Russian initiative to increase their presence in the southern part of the Gulf of Guinea, encompassing a new product pipeline across the DRC, upstream interests in Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and the DRC. Although China is the prime buyer for the Congolese Djeno crude as well as for the Equatoguinean Zafiro, the future plans of Chinese companies are looking to the north of the Gulf of Guinea. Chinas latest project is the Niger-Benin crude pipeline, a 1982km conduit that would create a new shipping outlet for crude produced by Chinese companies in Niger and Chad, simultaneously linking Niger to the existing Chad-Cameroon pipeline. Chinas national oil company China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) dominates Nigers oil industry, being the only company that produces oil (currently the output hovers around the 20kbpd mark). CNPC entered Niger in 2003, taking up vast swathes of unappraised territories (the Bilma and Tenere blocks, their first in the country, amounted to more than 132 000 square kilometers). The first deliveries in the Agadem Basin have compelled CNPC to extend their reach in Niger and to link the oilfields to a refinery in Zinder, with a designated nominal capacity of 1mtpa. CNPCs relative success in shaping the contours of Nigers energy future has fueled the governments creativity, too without regard to the increasing dependence on oil revenues (already 17 percent of the African states exports and some 5 percent of GDP) it now stipulates that its long-term plan is to boost output tenfold to 200kbpd. The Niger-Benin pipeline has been in the makings since 2012, as CNPCs first discoveries have compelled the regional authorities to think big and find export outlets for any incremental volumes. The initial idea was to link oil production from the Agadem Basin to the similarly Chinese-operated oil assets in Chad, just as it is done when CNPC exports Chads flagship Doba crude. Then the idea that Nigers crude might be taken to Nigerias Kaduna Refinery in Katsina state was also flaunted yet quickly dropped due to Kadunas minimal utilization rates and Boko Haram still representing a grave threat for any investment project along Nigerias northern border. Between 2012 and 2018, Chinese officials have tried to negotiate a deal with Chad yet given the strained ties between the two (think of the 2013/2014 Deby-initiated environmental dispute) CNPC has instead opted to iron out a deal with the government of Benin. Related: As Gas Prices Crash, Will This Shale Giant Survive? Source: Africa Energy Intelligence. It took CNPC less than a year to finalize the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline (NBEP) project, with the Transportation Convention signed September 15, 2019. NBEP might seem an odd choice considering it is more than double in length to the mothballed Niger-Chad pipeline expansion and hence much more expensive to carry out the latter was estimated to cost some $1.2 billion, whilst NBEPs cost amounts to $2.5 billion. Boko Haram and an increasingly weaker state in Cameroon notwithstanding (both are perfectly legitimate reasons to shirk it), the prime reason to go for the costlier option lied in CNPC actually being able to do what it wants. Were it to opt to tie its Niger fields to the Chad-Cameroon pipeline which runs all the way to the port of Kribi, it would only have third-party access in that pipeline as it is operated by ExxonMobil, which co-owns it with Chevron and Petronas. Inasmuch as its investments bring new life into the semi-arid Sahel region, Chinas emergence as the leading oil investor into Niger is not always perceived approvingly, raising fears that the emergent industry might be prioritized over other segments of life. Much of this stems from the governments rather inept forgoing of its environment protection-related commitments in 2019 the Niger government arbitrarily moved the boundaries of the Termit and Tin Toumma nature reserves in the eastern part of the country so as to unblock territories which were included in the CNPC production-sharing agreement yet were heretofore protected by the status of Africas largest nature reserve. Related: OPEC Considers Deeper Oil Cuts Amid Virus Market Meltdown Be that as it may, the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline is expected to be commissioned by early 2022 at a total cost of $2.7 billion, linking Koulele (the nominal hub of Agadem drilling operations) with Port Seme in Benin. The pipeline shall be accessible for third parties, too Savannah Petroleum has already indicated its intent to utilize it once it is built. For the sake of Nigers diversified production portfolio, it is definitely good news that the UK-based Savannah Petroleum has made great headway in discovering new fields, finishing 2018 with a total tally of 130 MMbbl worth of oil reserves added. However, in terms of international majors the Chinese CNPC remains the only one, thus far only African companies have expressed their interest in taking up a bigger position in Africa. Now that the pipeline construction is under way, the ball is in the court of Nigers government as they now must ensure that there will be enough crude to fill it. They have tried to garner some international attention by saying that were oil investors to spend 7 billion on exploration in Niger, a total of 109 discoveries would be unearthed in a short-to-mid-term horizon, to the mutual benefit of the local populace and NOCs. Niger is without a doubt insufficiently appraised and its lacustrine sandstone layers interbedded with mudstone might be of interest to international investors, especially now that low-sulphur heavy crudes are doing well in the international markets (the crudes API density varies in the 28-31 interval). If Niger plays its cards right now, NBEP might become the start of something really worthwhile all the more so as most international oil companies (including Glencore) now seem to be intent of leaving neighboring Chad, not because the oil is lacking rather because the authoritarian style of government hinders further investment. With Nigeria ratcheting up deepwater taxes, there is certainly room for Niger to be the business-friendly country of West Africa. Especially now, when the Niger-Benin might have auxiliary consequences for the regions upstream prospects in general the authorities of both countries are actively promoting their forthcoming licensing rounds, moreover the transit fees would also provide a boost for federal revenues. By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A mother-of-two hailed as Britain's most prolific paedophile hunter claims police have foiled her latest bid to snare sex offenders by seizing her phone and computer. Cheyenne O'Connor, 27, has accumulated enough evidence to put 24 perverts behind bars by posing as young children on the internet. But the 27-year-old from Jersey says she is being prevented from doing her job after police officers confiscated her mobile devices while she is on charges for contempt of court and harassment. The contempt of court charge came after she published the details of a convicted paedophile on Facebook while he was trying to get himself removed from the sex offenders' register. The second charge relates to her allegedly following another sex offender and trying to take photos of him. She denies both allegations. Miss O'Connor was bailed for a second time on Monday for a further four weeks. Cheyenne O'Connor, 27, of Jersey, (pictured) has accumulated enough evidence to put 24 perverts behind bars by posing as young children on the internet But she says Jersey Police's investigation of her has cast doubt on her latest sting operation. She said: 'After I was arrested they came to my home and took all my electronic devices including laptops that hadn't been used in two years. 'I can't carry on what I have been doing as they have got all my devices - my decoy is logged into the phones they have and I have no way of getting into the decoy accounts. 'They take months to set up and I had three cases pending. They kept saying, where do you get your info and how do you find out this stuff? 'They think there is something on there and I have someone high up giving me information. 'The whole thing makes no sense. They know I have cases pending as they said they had already discussed that could have been a possibility when they took my phone. But the 27-year-old from Jersey says she is being prevented from doing her job after police officers confiscated her mobile devices while she is on charges for contempt of court and harassment 'But they haven't even asked about the details. I work alone and have just become good at what I do.' Miss O'Connor's contempt of court charge came despite the sex offender's details already being in the public domain. But her post was made the same week he made an unsuccessful application to the court to be removed from the sex offenders register. In a rare move, a judge at the Royal Court ruled he shouldn't be named in any coverage relating to his application, as publicity 'created difficulties for himself and his wife' and raised concerns about vigilantism. But Miss O'Connor said she wasn't aware of his appearance and said the timing was purely coincidental - and added she only made reference to his historical conviction. The harassment allegation is in relation to another convicted paedophile who Cheyenne also publicised on her page upon his release from prison. He claims she confronted him in a government building and tried to take his picture, but she denies ever meeting him and claims she has obtained CCTV that proves her point. But she said while she hopes to be cleared of wrongdoing, all the time she remains on bail she is unable to catch further paedophiles. Miss O'Connor is now on bail until March 2 and doesn't believe she will get her devices back while the case against her remains active. She added: 'I would rather they dropped it or just got on with it and charged me - it is more annoying being on bail as I am not able to do anything. The mother-of-two is currently on bail in Jersey (pictured) 'It annoys me that police take a paedophile's word over mine. In relation to the harassment allegations I have been to the building to get the CCTV that disproves it. I have the recording but the police haven't bothered to look at it. 'He claims I got in his face and was screaming at him and trying to take his picture. But I have never even seen him. 'The contempt of court allegation related to a throwback post about his conviction. I had no idea he was in court that week and that was just a pure coincidence. 'The judge granted him and his wife anonymity due to their fears over a backlash but he still lost his appeal to be taken off the sex offender's register. 'But his case is all out there and all I did was highlight his conviction. Why should that not be raised? 'I am not stupid to put up something that is contempt of court, especially as I had removed all those profiles at the request of the police beforehand.' The 27-year-old initially took on her one-woman role to rid Jersey of paedophiles as she felt victims were being let down by the authorities. Jersey was subject to a wide-ranging investigation into historic sex abuse on the island in 2008. But Miss O'Connor said courts were still failing victims of sexual abuse and 'haven't moved on' in tackling the perception of the 'Jersey Way' since the damning inquiry report. The mother-of-two, who has twice been nominated for a Pride of Jersey Award, said she has previously worked with police and had a meeting with Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull after concerns were flagged over her publishing a list of all convicted paedophiles in Jersey. They discussed her actions and she agreed to remove every person from the page unless they had been requested to stay there by victims. 'That was how we agreed to work going forward, but then this (my arrest) came completely out of the blue,' she added. 'Child abuse is a massive issue in Jersey and there is no-one else doing this but me. 'I decided to carry on based on how rubbish our justice system was and how many victims were being let down. 'The justice system is simply shocking when it comes to this.' The States of Jersey Police said they would not comment on whether Miss O'Connor was under investigation as it was unable to speak about individual cases before any charges are brought. But a spokesman said they don't condone the work of paedophile hunters in general and won't work proactively with them. They added: 'We do understand the public's desire to keep children safe and protect them from harm and we also understand the temptation to take matters into their own hands, but vigilante activity in this area carries high risk. 'Investigations can be undermined, forensic and other opportunities can be lost, with often the quality of information passed onto police being low. 'Techniques used by vigilantes may not always be acceptable police investigative tactics and in some cases may involve criminality. There is also an absence of any governance or control for their actions nor any way of safeguarding child victims. 'There is no way of controlling the risk that vigilante activity might disrupt covert law enforcement activity, given that both will seek to target the same types of offender. 'Proper standards of victim care, or indeed managing the welfare of people exposing themselves to child abuse material, will largely be absent and cannot be assured in any case. 'The risk to individuals who are 'exposed' in this way - whether accurately or not - from themselves or others is generally not anticipated, assessed or cared about. There is also a risk to vigilantes themselves, often with little consideration given to the exposure of this type of activity may bring. 'It is for these reasons we don't condone this activity or proactively work with vigilante groups, but if evidence is presented to us, we will of course act on that where it is appropriate and feasible to do so.' US President Donald Trump is set to visit India between February 21 and February 24, with a day devoted to a joint public function with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, possibly in Ahmedabad although the final programme is yet to be sealed, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials with direct knowledge of the arrangements told HT that the US government has booked Delhis ITC Maurya Hotel for the forthcoming presidential visit from Feb 21-24, including the hotels presidential suite. The ITC Maurya has hosted other US Presidents, including Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. The visit comes at a time when Pakistan is intensifying its efforts to attack India at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva from February 24 to March 30. At the session, Pakistan is expected to go beyond the nullification of Article 370, and add the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, a proposed all-India National Register of Citizens, and the National Population Register 2020 to its list of talking points to argue that Indian Muslims are under threat in the Modi regime, Indian officials said. Though Pakistans new allies Malaysia and Turkey are not part of the 47-member body, it Pakistan will try to get an Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) resolution in its favour to force a discussion in the global body, they added. While the Pakistan delegation at UNHRC is expected to be headed by foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Indian counter will be led by Secretary (West) Vikas Swarup. Officials said that the highlight of Trumps India visit is expected to be a trade deal, and the two leaders will also discuss China, the Indo-Pacific, Afghanistan, Iran and terrorism emanating from Pakistan. They added that Indias expectation from the interaction is the reinstatement of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) scheme, which allowed zero tariffs on exports worth $5.6 billion to the US. India is likely to roll back its retaliatory tariffs post the withdrawal of GSP. While US wants India to buy around USD $6 billion worth of farm goods in order to cut down the trade deficit, New Delhi would like to get assurances on oil or shale gas to strike the deal. Besides exchanging political notes on the global issues, India, the US and the ASEAN countries are looking to enforcing the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as well as the Indo-Pacific. The government officials said President Trump is also expected to share his vision on Afghanistan. Though it is unlikely that there will be any new military hardware deal during the Trump visit, India is expected to buy Apache attack helicopters, multi-purpose helicopters for the Indian Navy, and P8I multi-mission aircraft from American defence contractors. The acquisition of Predator B armed drones from the US is also on cards. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A court in Bulgaria on January 27 sent Ukrainian national Oleksiy Moskalenko (Levin) to jail for 40 days based on a red Interpol notice issued by Ukraine on suspicion of co-organizing an attack on a Ukrainian activist that led to her death. Bulgarian prosecutors the same day said they personally received the requisite documents for extradition from Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor-General Viktor Trepak. Moskalenko, 42, was detained in the Black Sea coastal city of Burgas on January 24 without resisting and was identified by his fingerprints, Bulgarian police said at a briefing. He was wearing a disguise that differed from the picture listed on the Interpol notice. Bulgarian police said the suspect crossed by foot into Bulgaria from Romania in 2018 and was living in an apartment rented by a woman from Ukraine. On July 31 of that year an assailant poured acid on Ukrainian activist Kateryna Handzyuk in Kherson, a city 560 kilometers south of Kyiv. Thirty percent of her body was burned and three months later she died of her wounds after numerous operations in Kyiv. An official in the city council and an adviser to Khersons mayor, Handzyuk often spoke out against public corruption in the city. Investigators say she was killed for accusing local politicians of stealing from the local budget and of illegal logging in the region. Five men were convicted on August 5 for carrying out the attack and given prison sentences ranging between 6 1/2 and 3 years. Moskalenko is charged with intended grievous bodily injury, which caused [the] death of the victim, according to the Interpol notice. Ukrainian prosecutors suspect Kherson regional council head Vladyslav Manher of ordering the attack on Handzyuk. Manher has denied wrongdoing and has stated that he didnt personally know the victim and wasnt involved in illegal tree felling in the region. He has been free on bail since February. The persecution of human rights and civic activists in Ukraine has become a growing concern. Last year, there were 83 documented cases of persecution, with violence being employed in the vast majority of incidents, including one murder, according to a study jointly conducted by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and groups ZMINA and Truth Hounds. With reporting by Hromadske and Ukrayinska Pravda The Ministry of External Affairs has made a formal request to China for facilitating evacuation of Indians from Wuhan, the epicentre of novel coronavirus outbreak, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The Civil Aviation Ministry will make necessary arrangements for evacuation after the approval of Chinese authorities is received, it said. The Indian embassy in Beijing is in contact with the Indian nationals. "On evacuation, these individuals will be kept in quarantine for 14 days. Necessary arrangements in this regard are being made," the statement said. It also said that Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday reviewed the preparedness to deal with the deadly virus. The meeting was informed that the Ministry of Shipping has initiated screening at all major ports. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) COOPERSTOWN, NY The Cooperstown Village Board held a public hearing Monday regarding the construction of a proposed parking that would be used by Bassett Hospital. The proposed lot would be located at the intersection of Susquehanna Avenue and Walnut Street. In order to accommodate the lot 3 houses on Riverside Drive will need to be demolished, but the hospital already owns those properties. Many of those who spoke at the hearing acknowledged the need for additional parking. Especially for the patients. The new lot were building will be used for employees, says Jonathan Flyte, Network Vice President for Bassett Medical Center. That will allow the employees to leave a lot that is adjacent to the hospital and give that lot to the hospital for patients to use. No decision on the proposal was made by the board at the meeting. A decision is expected to come sometime in February. Hospital officials say they would like to have everything completed by Hall of Fame induction weekend. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry face a great deal of uncertainty about their future, but also a literal wealth of opportunities. Will they actually settle down in Canada, or could they decide that Los Angeles is a better base for their new non-royal careers? And speaking of their careers, how will they earn a living? Could it be through lucrative speaking gigs and TV and production deals, in the style of Barack and Michelle Obama? Angelina Jolie manages to intertwine her philanthropic work, in a way that feels organic, experts say. Credit:BEN NELMS Yes, all those possibilities are on the table, according to Canadian journalist and royal expert Elaine Lui, speaking on the HeirPod podcast with Omid Scobie, ABC's royal contributor. Lui also believes that Meghan could one day become the face of a high-end fashion or perfume brand in the style of Angelina Jolie. Fears about the impact of the coronavirus on domestic and overseas companies have pushed Australia's stock market below the 7000-point mark on Tuesday, as trading resumed after the Australia Day long weekend. With negative leads from Wall Street and rising fears about the spread of the virus, local stocks plummeted at the open. While prices fell sharply, investors were actually "pretty calm," according to George Kanaan on the institutional trading desk at UBS. A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of a bank in Seoul, South Korea. Credit:AP "The market needed an excuse to be sold-off and it has, but I don't think there is any panic,'' he noted. Senior investment advisor at Shaw and Partners, Craig Sidney, said Tuesday's volumes were modest and he was not surprised by the sell-off given the 1.6 per cent decline on Wall Street's S&P 500 overnight. He has battled against the backdrop of a broken system that is wasting taxpayer money, ignoring rule-breakers and covering up bad news while one of our most valuable resources, the pastoral estate, is degraded to crisis point. But his recently published memoir, The Wooleen Way: Renewing an Australian Resource, reveals how his dream to restore the land to productivity has repeatedly brought him to the brink of financial ruin. David Pollocks decade-long sustainability project on his familys West Australian cattle station, Wooleen involving long periods of de-stocking, rehabilitation and rotational grazing has had plenty of glowing media attention. These are not the words of an unemployed drifter but perhaps Australias best-known pastoralist. Being broke is exhausting, says David Pollock. You try not to think about it but it pervades everything [you think] at least the country is improving ride it through to the end. Well find a way. Dont give up. What else are you going to do? Its turning on the computer for strictly an hour a day. Its using the evaporative air-con only if the temperature exceeds 45 degrees. Its plugging the holes in the Landcruiser with foam, buying everything from the op shop, and eating chicken-neck stew. A lot of chicken-neck stew. David and Frances Pollock know what staring into the financial abyss is like. While the rangelands are theoretically a renewable resource, overstocking by both managed and unmanaged animals has been the norm, leading to widespread degradation. Erosion and lack of biodiversity now threaten the resource's ability to renew itself, Pollock writes. Wooleen is one of 285 stations making up the Southern Rangelands, which stretch between the Pilbara, South West and desert interior, and include the Gascoyne, Murchison and Goldfields-Nullarbor regions. They cover more than 40 per cent of WA. Meanwhile, the public enjoys cheap and plentiful grass-fed beef and thinks all is well within the WA pastoral estate, which produces about $300 million worth of cattle for the states $850 million beef industry. Everybody knows about it, but its been going on for so long that everybody is used to doing nothing about it, Pollock tells WAtoday. His fellow pastoralists generally keep their heads down, try to make their living and regard him as a renegade or hopeless idealist. None of his neighbours have so much as mentioned the book to him. The average age of pastoralists is 60 and few are handing stations down to their children, who want nothing to do with a tough business proposition in a declining landscape, Pollock writes. Despite this, in 2015, 435 out of 437 WA stations had their leases renewed. The government said this was because of a high level of compliance among lessees. Pollock references a 2011 Department of Agriculture report, released under freedom of information laws in 2014, showing 70 per cent of the leases in the Southern Rangelands were considered unviable. Erosion eating into once-productive grasslands: the soil in the sweetest pasture is removed first. Credit:Wooleen Station Indeed, the damage represented by the mining scars on WAs landscape are tiny in comparison to pastoralisms death by a thousand cuts. Effectively, we have been mining our pastoral resource through erosion of the topsoil over the past 150 years, Pollock writes. Degradation began to emerge during times of drought, culminating in the outback Armageddon of the 1930s. But the land has never had time to recover, instead being subjected to sustained maximum stock levels. There is now only one staffer left on this project, Pollock writes. This required up to eight full-time agriculture department staff researching the ecosystems and mapping conditions. Most were completed in the 1970s and 1980s and revealed severe degradation and soil erosion. Most recommended reducing stock numbers. In the 1960s, growing awareness of a crisis brewing in the rangelands prompted the government to commission surveys of the baseline condition of all regions including all stations. Pastoralists therefore have no incentive to keep the land in good condition or mount a decade-long rehabilitation project; Certainly, their accountants would advise them against it, Pollock writes. It instead announced new sites would be installed and checked by pastoralists themselves, people Pollock says had a vested interest in making sure that nothing terrible was ever reported. The damning government State of the Environment report in 2007 showed the land was still declining. In response to the resulting pressure to act, regulator the Pastoral Lands Board announced the monitoring sites installed on each station in the 1990s, that were regularly checked by a team of trained and experienced agriculture department staff, were never in fact meant to be the basis for regulation, and would be scrapped. There has been no monitoring of what pastoralists are doing on 90 million hectares of Western Australia since 2008, Pollock says. Wooleen in 2004: no perennial grass, no production, no protection for the soil or native fauna. Credit:Wooleen Station There is no telling whether there will be anybody left within the Western Australian Department of Agriculture who has enough knowledge of the Southern Rangelands ecosystems to even attempt the final one, Pollock writes. It took the lone staffer 10 years to complete the second-last survey he was due to complete it in 2019 and the final one remains outstanding. He recounts the non-mandatory half-day of training conducted for pastoralists. Pastoralists, Pollock among them, were advised to buy a plant identification book that had been out of print for almost 15 years. A board member present told them to make up the names of the plants if we didnt know what they were. And that someone qualified would review the data. Pollock wondered who the qualified person might be, since the only employee left in the department who understood the pastures enough to run the workshop was about to retire and has since done so. Pollock himself wrote to the board saying it was ignoring its legislated function to develop policies to restore the rangelands. The chairmans reply told Pollock that he was correct that the board has done very little to develop policies ... I hope that over time and in the near future ... we can begin to tackle some of the big, difficult problems. It was soon after this reply the board lost its nerve and scrapped the monitoring sites altogether. Wooleen in 2014 showing minimal perennial grass, minimal production, minimal protection for the soil and native fauna. Credit:Wooleen Station Rogues can overstock 440 per cent and report themselves without fear Pollock describes an industry largely self-regulating through the Pastoral Lands Board, which he calls a lobbying arm of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association. He makes a scathing comparison between the reporting on the pastoral resource and the comparably valuable fisheries resource. The 2013/14 report on the condition of the WA fisheries resource was hundreds of pages long, for example. It described Department of Fisheries officers being at sea 90 days a year, doing regular land, sea and aerial patrols, using specially equipped 4WDs, quad bikes and vessels, sophisticated surveillance equipment, with an enforcement unit patrolling the coast from Onslow to Kalbarri. They were across valuable assets such as Ningaloo and Shark Bay Prawn Fishery and conducting catch, licence, gear and marine safety inspections. Fisheries prosecuted 450 people in the 2013/14 financial year alone for exploiting the resource. Their regulation board did not have any fishermen on it. By comparison, the 2013 report on the condition of the WA pastoral resource base was 23 pages long. It noted that in one district 61 per cent of leases were carrying more stock than the land could cope with. It cautioned that since the government withdrew staff from the monitoring sites in 2008, even these capacity estimates used for its report could not be relied on. Overseen by Emily the dog, Frances Pollock plants sedges in the Murchison riverbed to help prevent erosion. Credit:Wooleen Station One pastoralist was brazen enough to report to regulators he was carrying 4.5 times more stock than he was supposed to. But nobody has ever been prosecuted for exploiting pastoral land. Three of the six government appointees to the pastoral board are pastoralists. Current Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan has read The Wooleen Way and distributed it among senior bureaucrats. She says despite controversy in the pastoral community, there is extraordinary merit in Pollocks achievements and ideas, which have consolidated the governments thinking as it finalised a pastoral lands reform package during 2019. The Minister says the reform includes legislative change so the boards lone environmental member will be appointed by the environment minister of the day, not the lands minister. We had to persuade industry this was a good idea, she says. She says there will still be three pastoralists on the board, but they wont all be pastoralists antithetical to progress. Wooleen in 2018: profit from perennial grass, year-round protection for native species, and robust ecology. Credit:Wooleen Station The reform would also restore station monitoring sites and compel pastoralists to go through a quality assurance and monitoring program before they can renew leases. Breaches of the lease will have consequences ... it has to be a culture that we are serious about this, she says. Sustaining our meat-eating future Pollock writes that there is a great deal more at stake than livelihoods; that the current system will not ensure future food security for the planet. If a fishery is shown to be depleted, it is closed for a time to protect residual stocks, but this does not occur for grazing plants, he writes. Pollock wants a stewardship program to financially support pastoralists while they destock, to recover from historical degradation, while also creating new models to managing rangelands. Family businesses are already managing the estate and are best placed to most economically oversee the process, he says. The long-term future in a meat-eating world is likely to continue to be predominantly based on pastoralism, and stewardship programs are a necessary part of the solution. He estimates immediate destocking of the rangelands for 10 years would cost around $400 million total, $40 million a year. Each station would need a little over $100,000 per year on average for fixed costs and maintain infrastructure. And while the $400 million figure is a useful starting point for imagining a large-scale solution, partial implementation would be enough. Happy cows on the Wooleen lake. Pippa decides whether she wants to be a cattle dog. Credit:Wooleen Station It would get enough properties to shift from this path towards a more sustainable one, and get quick runs on the board. It would create properties every pastoralist could visit in their local region for a desperately needed vision for the future. The sole responsibility for fixing the problems of an area larger than France should not fall entirely on the 290 couples who happen to be managing it at this time, he writes. It would also result in something more controversial: a decrease in supply and a rise in beef prices, which would improve life for pastoralists, but might be a hard sell in the city. If it comes that we have to pay more for meat, so be it, Pollock tells WAtoday. If the debate is we dont want to pay more for meat, we prefer to degrade our resources to the point we cant use them any more, well, we make that decision all the time in other areas, he says. But eventually, the problem will get bad enough that people will say we have to do something about it now. The sooner we do it, the cheaper it will be; the longer we take, the more expensive it will get. But we need to have this conversation, and we need to have it knowing the facts. Pollock tries to pass on his passion for perennial grass to a TV film crew. Credit:Wooleen Station Minister MacTiernan says the fundamental message of what Pollock has done, to give the land a break and do radical destocking to allow regeneration, is a very important one. She acknowledges it would be very difficult for other pastoralists to replicate Pollocks results alone, and says the government is open to a stewardship program. We are absolutely taking on board the need for a destocking regime, she says. WA has requested 10 per cent of the federal governments recently announced $100 million drought relief fund for this purpose. A light ahead The days of financial desperation are over, with the publicity received to date, plus the square kilometre array being installed next door helping Wooleens tourism business thrive. Were not going broke any more, so thats good, Pollock says. Any money we do have goes back into fixing the landscape, so we are never going to make any money, but thats where we get our satisfaction from that anyway. Theyre going to have to put up with us for a long time yet. The Wooleen Way is in bookstores now. Credit:Scribe Publications And despite the outrage that fuels The Wooleen Way, there is hope at its core. Pollock writes of the heady delight of seeing grasses regenerate after destocking, and how after seeing one area recover a species long absent, he kept the cattle off another year. Loading His greed for grass outstripped his desire for the other kind of green, despite his accountants lamentations. This says something important about the human condition, and our ability to adapt, he writes, close to the end of The Wooleen Way. My point is that greed may be something that we can use to our advantage. Far from being the reason that we will never achieve something, it may be the reason that we accomplish it all the sooner. The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that its nine-judge Constitution bench would wrap up within 10 days proceedings in the matter relating to discrimination against women in various religions and at religious places including Kerala's Sabarimala Temple. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde made it clear that questions to be dealt with would be purely legal in nature and it would not take more time in concluding the hearing. "It cannot take more than 10 days. Even if someone wants more time, it cannot be given," said the bench which also comprised justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant. The observations came when Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the case before the bench, saying that in pursuance of the court's earlier direction a meeting of lawyers took place but it could not finalise the common legal questions for consideration of the nine-judge bench. "We could not finalise common questions for consideration of my lords. The Supreme Court can consider framing the questions," the law officer said. The bench then asked Mehta to furnish issues dealt by lawyers in the meeting. The court will consider issues related to entry of Muslim women into mosques, female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community and barring of Parsi women, married to non-Parsi men, from the holy fire place at Agiary. The court had on January 13 asked four senior lawyers to convene a meeting to decide on the issues to be deliberated by it in the matter. While referring the matter to a larger bench, the five-judge bench had said the debate about the constitutional validity of religious practices like bar on entry of women and girls into a place of worship was not limited to the Sabarimala case. It had said such restrictions are there with regard to entry of Muslim women into mosques and 'dargahs' and Parsi women, married to non-Parsi men, being barred from the holy fire place of an Agiary. It set out seven questions of law to be examined by the larger bench. They include interplay between freedom of religion under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution; need to delineate the expression 'constitutional morality'; the extent to which courts can enquire into particular religious practices; meaning of sections of Hindus under Article 25 and whether 'essential religious practices' of denomination or a section thereof are protected under Article 26. While the five-judge bench unanimously agreed to refer religious issues to a larger bench, it gave a 3:2 split decision on petitions seeking a review of the apex court's September 2018 decision allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala shrine in Kerala. A majority verdict by then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices A M Khanwilkar and Indu Malhotra decided to keep pending pleas seeking a review of its decision regarding entry of women into the shrine, and said restrictions on women in religious places was not restricted to Sabarimala alone and was prevalent in other religions as well. The minority verdict by Justices R F Nariman and D Y Chandrachud gave a dissenting view by dismissing all review pleas and directing compliance of its September 28 decision. The split decision came on 65 petitions -- 56 review petitions, four fresh writ petitions and five transfer pleas -- which were filed after the apex court verdict of September 28, 2018 sparked violent protests in Kerala. By a majority 4:1 verdict, the apex court had lifted the ban that prevented women and girls between the age of 10 and 50 from entering the famous Ayyappa shrine in Kerala and held that the centuries-old Hindu religious practice was illegal and unconstitutional. Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national secretary Rahul Sinha has said that most of the people sitting in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Citizenship Register (NRC) in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh and Kolkata's Park Circus are mostly Bangladeshi and Pakistani. Sinha has said, 'Most of the people sitting in Shaheen Bagh and Park Circus are infiltrators from Bangladesh and Pakistan.' Nirbhaya case: Convict Mukesh reaches Supreme Court, adopted new way to avoid hanging He has said that they are protesting using children and women as shields. Recent videos have shown that they want to divide India and cut Assam apart from India. Can people living in the country ever speak of dividing this country? He further said, 'Today I also ask the leaders who went to Shaheen Bagh, did you go there to support those elements who talk about breaking the country?' Congress will surround the government in the budget session, plan made at Sonia Gandhi's residence A video of JNU student Sharjeel Imam is getting viral on social media these days. In this video, Sharjeel is seen saying to cut Assam apart from India. After Sharjeel's statement, a big fight has arisen and people are also looking at this statement related to the ongoing protest against CAA. Maharashtra: Ashok Chavan opened the secret, told how Shiv Sena bowed down in front of Congress In a surprising development, Madhya Pradesh BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi on Tuesday (January 28) said that he was against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens, adding that it is not right to divide the country along religious lines. Either you follow the constitution or tear it off because it lays emphasis on secularism and the country cant be divided along religious lines. Yet the country is being divided along religious lines, he noted. Justifying his stand, which is set to create ripples within the BJP, the Maihar legislator said that he belongs to a village and villagers are not happy with the idea of NRC. Tripathi added that the Centre must keep in mind the fact that it is not easy for people in rural areas to get an Aadhar card and even the poor in urban areas face similar problem then how will they get the documents to prove their citizenship. When getting an Aadhar card made is difficult for people in rural areas and the poor in urban areas where will the people get all the documents to prove their citizenship, he said. Live TV Tripathi claimed that Muslims in villages are suspicious and are not interacting with people of other communities and it has created an atmosphere of gruh kalah (domestic strife) in the country. The BJP MLA asserted that the country cannot remain peaceful if such an atmosphere prevails. It is to be noted that Tripathi had supported the Congress in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on a bill in 2019 but no action was taken by the BJP against him. When he accepted the March 1995 gig, Letterman was on top of the world. He had defected to CBS after NBC chose Jay Leno as Johnny Carsons successor on The Tonight Show, and Late Show With David Letterman was beating Leno handily in the ratings. When the ABC president Ted Harbert announced Lettermans selection as Oscars host, he said hopefully, If Dave likes the experience, this could be a great answer for the show, just the way Carson did the show for many years. Carson was Lettermans hero, and stepping into his shoes (particularly after being denied Carsons desk) was certainly a factor in accepting the Oscars job. But there was more to it, Letterman told me: It was pride goeth before the fall. This was something he was expected to do, at the level of success he had achieved. I have no choice. I have to do this, he remembered thinking, adding, I cannot now say no. From the beginning, Letterman and his longtime producer, Rob Burnett, determined that the smartest strategy was to do what they did best, things that had proven successful for a number of years. So they peppered the ceremony with favorites from Lettermans late-night shows: a monologue, a Top 10 list, wry taped segments, even a Stupid Pet Trick. But for all the preparation, Letterman was also open to inspiration. Rob Burnett, who was very good at last-minute things, he says to me literally with 20 minutes to go he says, you know what you can do? You go out and you say, Oprah, Uma? Have you met Keanu? And I said, thats genius. That is genius. Im there. It was the kind of thing Letterman did on his talk shows all the time seizing on a funny turn of phrase, overselling it, then using it as a silly running gag, an oddball refrain to fill awkward pauses. Two men have been jailed after they were caught smuggling cocaine with a street value of at least 60 million into the UK on a yacht. Gary Swift, 53, and Scott Kilgour, 41, had been transporting 751 blocks of high-purity cocaine weighing one kilo each when their vessel was intercepted off the Welsh coast. On Monday a judge told the pair they took a massive gamble and lost for what the National Crime Agency described as one of the biggest drugs busts in recent years. Expand Close Scott Kilgour was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison (National Crime Agency/PA) PA Media / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Scott Kilgour was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison (National Crime Agency/PA) The men had attempted to import the drugs from Suriname in South America into the UK when their sailing yacht, Sy Atrevido, was intercepted by Border Force cutter HMC Protector about half a mile (0.8km) off the Pembrokeshire coast in the early hours of August 27 last year. The vessel was towed into Fishguard Harbour where Swift came clean to officers, telling them Its obvious Im in a lot of trouble before admitting there were 751 wrapped blocks of cocaine hidden in secret compartments on board. Following the mens arrest Craig Naylor, deputy director of investigations for the NCA, said he believed the drugs bust was their second biggest in recent history. Swansea Crown Court heard on Monday the wholesale value of the cocaine was 24 million, but its street value was worth at least 60 million, with a potential for it to increase if the cocaine was cut down. Prosecutor Paul Mitchell said: The concentrations of the cocaine was between 69 and 83% purity, which is three or four times the usual street concentration. Mr Mitchell said Swift had played the leading role in the operation, while Kilgour had payed 50,000 euro for the yacht in December 2018 from a seller in Mallorca, Spain, before being tasked with putting together a crew. Expand Close Gary Swift was sentenced to 19 years and six months in jail (National Crime Agency/PA) PA Media / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gary Swift was sentenced to 19 years and six months in jail (National Crime Agency/PA) Swift and Kilgour both pleaded guilty to importing Class A drugs. Anthony Barraclough, defending both men, said the drugs bust was quite unique in that the pair were caught with such a large quantity red-handed. He said Kilgour had not been aware of the full size and nature of the operation until on board, and described Swift as a bankrupt builder who had been talked into transporting the drugs for money by higher-ups to cover his debts. But Judge Paul Thomas QC said he believed Swift had instead eyed gaining a vast fortune from transporting the colossal quantity of cocaine, which would have been spent on luxuries including a house with a swimming pool in Suriname he had discussed in messages. The judge said: You both knew how high the risks were and what the consequences would be if caught, and set that against the money youd be making if successful. You both took a massive gamble and you lost. Swift was sentenced to 19 years and six months in jail, while Kilgour was sentenced to 13 years and six months. Following the sentence the NCA said three men aged 23, 31, 47, and a woman aged 30 who were arrested in Liverpool and Loughborough in connection with the seizure remain on bail. The SY Atrevido, as well as a second sailing yacht, the SY Mistral, believed to have also been used by the group who employed both men, have been seized, while investigators have also obtained court orders to restrain a third sailing yacht, caravans, five cars, two vans, and a house in France. Jayne Lloyd, NCA regional head of investigations, said: Its thanks to the work of the NCA, Border Force officers, and the Spanish National Police, that two highly organised criminals are behind bars and that these drugs havent made their way onto the streets. Our investigation does not stop here; we are now going after their assets to strip them of their illicit wealth and make sure they dont profit from their crimes. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked party leaders to "aggressively" raise the issue of CAA, NPR and NRC to corner the government in the Budget Session beginning January 31. Gandhi gave the directions to top Congress leaders during a meeting at her residence to discuss the party's strategy for the session. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel, Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and K Suresh were present during the meeting. The party will fight against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and raise the economic downturn and other issues concerning the common man, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told reporters after the meeting. "We will fight for the Constitution and will also fight against the CAA," he said. The Congress intends to go aggressive on the issue of CAA, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) and corner the government amid countrywide protests over these issues. The Congress and other opposition parties will also meet soon to plan a joint opposition strategy ahead of the Parliament session. UK Prime Minister says Chinese tech giant Huawei will have a limited role in building 5G mobile network, despite US objections. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has decided that Chinese tech giant Huawei will be granted a limited role in building the United Kingdoms 5G mobile network. In doing so, however, he risks the ire of US President Donald Trump, who had pressured him to keep Huawei out. The US suspects Chinas government could use Huaweis role in next-generation communications to steal secrets. Al Jazeeras Nadim Baba reports live from London. Simon Lacey, a former vice president of Huawei Technologies in Shenzhen and a lecturer in international trade at the University of Adelaide, joins us live from Adelaide via Skype to discuss the latest updates. The Congress on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to take note of union minister Anurag Thakur's provocative slogans at a poll rally in Delhi. Triggering a row, Thakur had egged on participants in an election rally in Rithala here to raise an incendiary slogan that "traitors should be shot at", after he lashed out at anti-CAA protesters. Slamming Thakur, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram. asked, "Will the Election Commission of India wake up from its slumber". Noting that the minister had exhorted people to respond with goli maaro" slogans, he asked, "Will it not amount to inciting and encouraging violence against a section of the people?" "As every day passes, the rhetoric of the BJP reminds one of Germany in the 1930s," Chidambaram tweeted. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said he was deeply saddened by Anurag Thakur's conduct. "Saw a remote ray of hope of sanity in him, only to realise today that ministerial posts and uprightness make strange bedfellows," he tweeted. NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Cannabis-Based Alcoholic Beverage Market 2020-2024 The analyst has been monitoring the global cannabis-based alcoholic beverage market and it is poised to grow by USD 155.28 mn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 19% during the forecast period. Our reports on cannabis-based alcoholic beverage market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05501584/?utm_source=PRN The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by advanced techniques used in cultivation of cannabis. In addition, increasing trend of legalization of cannabis is anticipated to boost the growth of the cannabis-based alcoholic beverage market as well. Market Segmentation The global cannabis-based alcoholic beverage market is segmented as below: Product a Cannabis-infused beers a Cannabis-infused spirits a Cannabis-infused wines Geographic segmentation a North America a APAC a Europe a South America a MEA Key Trends for cannabis-based alcoholic beverage market growth This study identifies increasing trend of legalization of cannabis as the prime reasons driving the cannabis-based alcoholic beverage market growth during the next few years. Prominent vendors in cannabis-based alcoholic beverage market We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the cannabis-based alcoholic beverage market, including some of the vendors such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, California Dreamina, CannaVines, Dutch Windmill Spirits BV, Heineken NV, Klosterbrauerei Weienohe GmbH & Co.KG, MJ Wines LLC, NABC, Inc., Rebel Coast Winery and Winabis, Wine & Cannabis. The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05501584/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com Riyadh: Mysk by Shaza took part in the Three Minute Pitch at the Saudi Arabia Hospitality Investment (TRAVPR.COM) UAE - January 26th, 2020 - Riyadh: Mysk by Shaza took part in the Three Minute Pitch at the Saudi Arabia Hospitality Investment Conference (SHIC) in Riyadh on 21 January. Noelle Homsy, Development Manager of Shaza Hotels, delivered a highly-acclaimed presentation, showcasing Mysks enriching transformational experiences infused with cultural connections. Elaborating on the concept, she stressed, Today, travellers want experiences that transform them, they want to travel to learn something new; but most importantly, they want to embrace the local culture. With Mysk, we are creating immersive experiences in extraordinary locations. We are offering travellers the opportunity to discover the local culture through intimate, holistic and authentic experiences that are tailored to their needs. A member of the Global Hotel Alliance, Shaza is becoming a leading player in transformational lodging in the Middle East. Noelle stated, We are reimagining experiences and taking them to the next level. For example, at our Kingfisher Lodge in Sharjah, guests can take part in beach-cleaning initiatives. This not only brings great satisfaction to the guests during the experience, but stimulates positive change that extends beyond their stay. The recent reforms and widespread investment in Saudi Arabias tourism sector are driving demand for a new generation of hotels and Mysk by Shaza is ideally suited for the market given its innovative concept. Noelle said, The new tourism strategy of Saudi Arabia has opened the doors for the world to discover the amazing nature and heritage of the Kingdom, and this represents a massive opportunity for us to develop transformational lodging in various areas of the country. Shaza Hotels has operated in the Kingdom with great success since the launch of the groups first 5-star property Shaza Al Madina and thereafter expanded to Makkah, Riyadh and will soon be in Jeddah. About Shaza Hotels Shaza Hotels is an international hotel management company comprising of two unique brands: Shaza in the luxury segment, and Mysk in the upscale segment. The brands are characterised by their dedication to offering true Arabian hospitality inspired by the traditions and culture of the Silk Route and reflected by a contemporary Middle Eastern style decor and serene ambiance that is appreciated by the most discerning travellers. Shaza is a member of the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA). About DISCOVERY Loyalty A memorable trip demands more than a comfortable stay. DISCOVERY, an award-winning global loyalty programme, provides 16 million members recognition and perks across over 570 hotels, resorts and palaces in 78 countries. Elite members have the opportunity to immerse themselves in local culture through Local Experiences, distinctive activities that capture an authentic taste of each destination. For more information, visit discoveryloyalty.com For media please contact: Hina Bakht Managing Director EVOPS Marketing & PR Mob: 00971 50 6975146 Tel: 00971 4 566 7355 Hina.bakht@evops-pr.com www.evops-pr.com ### This war veteran had to wait till his 100th birth anniversary for his lifes biggest surprise Explained: what is the Holocaust Memorial Day India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 28: The holocaust memorial day was observed by Jammu and Kashmir Unity Foundation (JKUF). International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 commemorates the tragedy of the Holocaust that occurred during the Second World War. It commemorates the genocide that resulted in the death of an estimated 6 million Jews. The year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Russian forces, organiser of the event Ajaat Jamwal said, adding that it was for the first time that the day was observed in Jammu. Explained: What is the Coast Guard ship, Annie Beasant Increased awareness about the genocidal war unleashed on Hindus and Sikhs during partition and on Hindus in Kashmir in 1989-90 has created an urgency among the citizens to understand human holocausts around the world and particularly the genocidal wars, Jamwal said. To commemorate the day, JKUF organised a panel discussion on 'genocides by Pakistan in J&K - 1947 and afterwards' which was attended by distinguished citizens of Jammu from various walks of life. The panellists were unanimous in highlighting the necessity of recognising genocides against Hindus of the subcontinent from time to time. These genocides have not been recognised internationally because Hindus and other patriotic citizens have chosen to be willfully blind about them, they said. Explained: How FASTag-like technology will help you avoid queues at petrol pumps? This has eventually led to the worst form of denial of genocide by successive governments since Independence as well as by the entire political establishment, they added. Advertisement NASA has selected a private company to build the first ever space hotel for tourists aboard the International Space Station. The US space agency has joined forces with Texas-based startup Axiom Space to provide a habitable module to be attached to the ISS for commercial use. Concept images from the company show that the 'Axiom Segment' will include plush crew quarters and a 360-degree Earth observatory window the largest ever constructed for space. Proposed designs for habitation modules show comfy padded interiors where members of the public will be able to enjoy panoramic views of Earth. NASA had announced plans last year for tourists to visit the ISS from 2020 onwards, as a way to commercialise low-Earth orbit. But at an eye-watering $35,000 at the very minimum, a trip to the famous space station won't come cheap. Scroll down for video The Axiom Segment will be constructed while attached to the ISS and, at the end of the ISS life, detach and operate on its own (pictured). The ISS i set to be decommissioned towards the end of this decade Don't look down: NASA says the 'space home' will allow the first ISS tourists to enjoy views from the 'largest Earth window' - a 360 degree viewing platform that protrudes from the bottom of the Axiom Segment The Axiom Segment is made up of three modules - a node module, a research and manufacturing facility and crew habitat with a large-windowed Earth observatory. The first parts of these segments will launch to the ISS in late 2024. 'The first elements of Axiom will attach to the forward node of the ISS, providing modern accommodations for more astronauts, a first-of-its-kind immersive view of our beautiful Earth, and additional research and manufacturing volume, Axiom says on its website. An animation shows how the Axiom segment will be attached to the ISS in stages: The Axiom Segment will be assembled abroad the International Space Station and then detached as a free-flying independent holiday home for space tourists with at least $35,000 to spare Axiom hired French designer Philippe Starck who designed Steve Jobs' luxury yacht Venus to map out the pods interiors. Concept images of the habitation module show walls covered with soft padding, LED lights and super-fast Wi-Fi and video screens. Axiom has also revealed images of a glass-walled cupola which the company calls the largest window observatory ever constructed for the space environment. Axiom Station crew quarters will provide a certain degree of Paris Hilton-esque bling, courtesy of French designer Philippe Starck, who designed Steve Jobs' luxury yacht the Venus The cosy nests have touchscreens embedded in the walls, as well as LED lights, mirrors and the all-important handrails for navigating one's self around in low gravity Axiom, which was founded in 2016 with the purpose of expanding human civilisation into Earth's orbit, will launch crewed flights to the Axiom complex at a rate of about two to three flights a year. Axioms work to develop a commercial destination in space is a critical step for NASA to meet its long-term needs for astronaut training, scientific research, and technology demonstrations in low-Earth orbit, said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. We are transforming the way NASA works with industry to benefit the global economy and advance space exploration.' He added that this was a 'similar partnership' to the ones NASA has with private companies SpaceX and Boeing, which this year 'will return the capability of American astronauts to launch to the space station on American rockets from American soil'. Concept shows the Axiom segment as attached to the International Space Station. The segment will detach before the ISS is decommissioned near the end of the decade Axioms space modules will initially dock on the ISS but will go on to become independent of the space station, which is due to be retired within the decade. When the ISS reaches its decommissioning date, the Axiom Segment will detach and become a free-flying, internationally available commercial space station. Our goal is to advance the state of humanity and human knowledge, said Axiom founder and executive chairman Dr Kam Ghaffarian. A commercial platform in Earth orbit is an opportunity to mark a shift in our society similar to that which astronauts undergo when they see the planet from above. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 05:41:44|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- A UN spokesman said Tuesday that the position of the United Nations on the two-state solution of Israel and Palestine has been defined, throughout the years, by relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said that the UN chief has seen the announcement of the United States plan for the Middle East. He added the United Nations remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to resolve the conflict on the basis of United Nations resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements and realizing the vision of two States living side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines. U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday revealed the long-awaited political aspect of his controversial Middle East peace plan, calling for a two-state solution while recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided capital." Also on Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza against the plan. This is the heart-melting moment a newborn gorilla snuggles up to its mother after becoming the latest birth in a breeding programme to safeguard the critically endangered species. Viringika, a western lowland gorilla, gave birth at Port Lympne animal reserve in Hythe, Kent, earlier this month and has been cradling the baby so protectively keepers have not had the chance to even check its sex. Each time Viringika ventures across the enclosure, she scoops the baby up in her tree-trunk arms and carries it close to her chest. Western lowland gorillas and their numbers have dropped by more than 60 per cent over the last 20 to 25 years, according to the WWF. Viringika, a western lowland gorilla scoops the baby up in her tree-trunk arms and carries it close to her chest The newborn snuggles up to its mother nestling in a pile of hay after becoming the 147th birth in the Aspinall Foundation's breeding programme But Aspinall Foundation's Kent wild animal parks - Port Lympne and Howletts - have steadily been fending off them being wiped out through their breeding programme. They marked their 147th birth of western lowland gorillas with an adorable video of the mother and baby cuddling. The baby's father is silverback Kouillou, with this new infant being the 18th gorilla he has sired. Phil Ridges, head of the gorilla section at Port Lympne, said: 'We are absolutely delighted. 'Viringika is proving to be a great mum, she is being very protective and as yet we have not seen if this new little one is a boy or a girl'. The Aspinall Foundation has bred and then released hundreds of animals from its animal parks back into the wild, including eight black rhino, 12 grizzled langurs, 90 ebony langurs, 33 Javan gibbons, 11 European bison and more than 70 western lowland gorillas. Because Viringika is so protective of the newborn (pictured), keepers have not been able to check the baby's sex Viringika carries the newborn close to her chest as she moves across the enclosure at Port Lympne Viringika wraps her hefty arm around the newborn as she relaxes at the Kent wildlife park Simon Jeffery, animal director at the zoo, added: 'We are known best for the western lowland gorillas, we are very proud of our breeding programme. As well as caring for gorillas at our parks we also work closely with The Aspinall Foundation to protect them in the wild, and where possible, reintroduce gorillas born at the parks back into their natural environment. Baby gorillas are born helpless and will initially be carried close to their mother's body for several month until they are old enough to be hauled on her back. Infants are usually weaned by the time they are three years old, but this can depend on the individual infant and mother. Western lowland gorillas inhabit some of the most dense and remote rainforests in Africa so it is hard to accurately record exact numbers. By Express News Service KOCHI: After facing many hurdles in life, Kerala's first openly gay married couple have embarked upon a legal battle to get married. 35-year-old PP Nikesh and 31-yar-old Sonu, residing in Kakkanad, Ernakulam sought to declare that Section of the Special Marriage Act 1954 restricting solemnisation of marriages only between a man and woman is unconstitutional. Nikesh and Sonu, a businessman and an IT professional respectively, had met each other in May 2018 and fell in love. They decided to marry after being in a relationship for several months. Having faith in God and in Hinduism, they wanted to explore the possibility of a religious marriage ceremony. They took advice from many who discouraged them. However, they went to Guruvayoor temple and got married in a secret ceremony at the car parking area of the temple on July 5 2018. According to them, the temple authorities would not solemnise their marriage or issue a certificate. All their efforts to convince people went in vain. Hence, they decided to solemnise their marriage under the special marriage Act. But the authorities are hesitant to accept this request. The petition stated that they intend to get their marriage solemnised and registered under the Special Marriage Act. 'The provisions in the Act violate the fundamental rights of the petitioners and thus are illegal.' the couple said. The petitioners pointed out that the transgenders as a third gender is recognised. But, the Supreme Court had held that gender identity is intrinsic to one's personality and the denial of the identity in which one is entitled to self-determine is a violation of dignity. The Supreme Court had also held that homosexuals are entitled to equal rights and full access to all civil liberties under the Constitution of India. Though homosexuality was decriminalised in 2018, other civil rights and liberties like marriage, adoption and insurance are still not accessible. The non-recognition of marriage among homosexuals violates the rights guaranteed under Article 15 (1) of the Constitution of India. It stated that the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. The petitioners submitted that the have the right of self-determination of one's own sexual identity, aspire to live with the partner of their choice and for the law to recognise that choice. The court on Monday issued notice to the centre and the state government and sought their view. Student faces charges of sedition; to be brought to Delhi, face Saket court today. New Delhi: In a joint operation, the Delhi police crime branch along with the Bihar police on Tuesday arrested JNU student Sharjeel Imam, booked in a sedition case, from Jahanabad area of Bihar. The Ph.D. student at Jawaharlal Nehru Universitys Centre for Historical Studies has been booked in sedition cases lodged across several states for alleged inflammatory speeches made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. We arrested Sharjeel Imam from Jahanabad, said DCP (crime branch) Rajesh Deo. Following two speeches, in which Imam (32) said to cut off Assam during the anti-CAA protests at Jamia Millia Ismalia in Delhi and Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, law enforcement agencies in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi had registered cases against Imam under various sections, including sedition. Imam was on the run since then. Imam had disappeared from the police radar on January 25 evening and he was last seen at a meeting in Phulwari Sharif, Bihar, the DCP said. Sharjeel Imams lawyers have claimed that he had surrendered to the Delhi police at 3 pm on Tuesday, after a notice under Section 160 CrPC was issued on Monday by the crime branch. One of them said: He will be brought to Delhi for production before the magistrate. He has full faith in the legal system and is fully cooperating with the investigation. The Delhi police, however, denied this, and reiterated that it had arrested Mr Imam. Sources said Sharjeel Imam will be brought to Delhi on Wednesday. A graduate in computer science from IIT Mumbai, Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies at JNU after working in a software company for almost two years. The DCP said two videos had come to light, one on December 13 at Jamia and the other on January 16 at Aligarh, and it was noticed that Sharjeel Imam had delivered very inflammatory and instigatory speeches opposing the CAA and NRC, adding that such comments can potentially affect religious harmony and weaken the unity and integrity of the country. On January 25, an FIR was lodged against the JNU student under Section 124 A (sedition), Section 153A (promoting enmity between different religious communities) and Section 505 (remarks that may lead to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code, but Iman was on the run, said the DCP. A team was dispatched to Bihar. The team was in touch with the Patna and Jahanabad police and was continuously conducting raids. On Monday, Sharjeels brother Muzmil was interrogated. On the basis of the interrogation, vital clues regarding Sharjeel were obtained and based upon the leads, the team was successful in apprehending him on Tuesday at about 2 pm, the police said. He has been arrested and his transit remand is being sought from Bihars local court. After obtaining the transit remand he will be brought to Delhi and will be produced in the Saket court, the police added. A video of Sharjeel Imam during the CAA protest at Jamia went viral on the social media. In his speech, Sharjeel said if five lakh people are organised, we can cut off the Northeast and India permanently. If not, at least for a month or half a month. Cutting off Assam (from India) is our responsibility, only then they (the government) will listen to us. We know the condition of Muslims in Assam... They are being put into detention camps, he said. WASHINGTON President Trumps defense team began its second day of arguments with a high-minded lecture from Ken Starr about the dangers of partisan impeachments, before launching scathing broadsides at one of the presidents top rivals for the presidency, Democrat Joe Biden. Starr, the independent counsel during the 1990s who investigated then-President Bill Clinton and was seen as a highly partisan figure, was the first lawyer on Monday to make the case that Trump should not be removed from office, as the presidents defense began its first full day after a shortened session on Saturday. Like war, impeachment is hell, Starr told the Senate, chastising Democrats for pursuing impeachment when there was not overwhelming public support for doing so. There is no national consensus. We might wish for one, but there isnt, Starr said. Support for Trumps impeachment divides sharply among partisan lines, with most Democrats supporting impeachment and removal from office, and most Republicans opposing it. Independents favor impeachment by just over 50 percent, but less than 50 percent of independents support Trumps removal from office, according to FiveThirtyEight. As the day progressed, Trumps team cycled through a variety of different emphases, some of which ignored the fact that Trumps former national security adviser John Bolton has written a book alleging firsthand knowledge of a push by Trump to extort a political favor from Ukraine. Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Boltons book, which leaked to the New York Times Sunday evening, made it likely that the Senate will call him to testify. Ken Starr, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden and Pam Bondi. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; screengrab via Sentate TV via Yahoo News, AP (2), Yahoo News; screengrab via Sentate TV via Yahoo News, AP (2)) But by the late afternoon, the presidents lawyers had entered into a 90-minute presentation of evidence they said justified Trumps request that the Ukrainian government look into allegations of corruption involving former Vice President Joe Biden, who is running for president against Trump. Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, gave a 30-minute presentation that consisted largely of reading media reports and playing video clips from the mainstream press, most of which looked into whether there was a conflict of interest with Biden when his son Hunter Biden was named to the board of a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings, in 2014. Story continues Then-Vice President Biden was in charge of foreign policy in Eastern Europe, and multiple press outlets reported at the time on concerns about the presence of his son on the board at Burisma, which was owned by a Ukrainian oligarch widely considered to be corrupt. But Bondis presentation was heavy on intimations that it was unseemly for Hunter Biden to make lots of money off his family connections, and thin in presenting new evidence that his father did something unethical by pressuring Ukraine to fire a top prosecutor in 2015. Bondi at one point compared Hunter Bidens monthly income, which was more than $83,000, to the average Americans annual salary, which was just over $54,000. Hunter Biden himself has admitted to showing poor judgment in his involvement with Burisma. But to the matter of Vice President Bidens pressure on Ukraine about Viktor Shokin, then the top Ukrainian prosecutor, Bondi mentioned only one news article in the Kyiv Post to support the most important allegation: that Biden was trying to help his sons company, Burisma, avoid prosecution. All other reporting and commentary out of Ukraine has concluded that Shokin was not investigating Burisma, and had in fact resisted calls from the U.S. State Department to do so. Anticorruption activists in Ukraine have said that the firing of Shokin, which happened in the early spring of 2016, actually increased the chances that Burisma be prosecuted. Attorney Ken Starr speaking at President Trump's impeachment trial. (Screengrab: Senate TV via Yahoo News) Nonetheless, the point of the Republican presentation, which included another hour of material from another attorney after Bondi, was two-fold. First, it gave Republicans the latitude to argue that Trump was pressuring Ukraine to investigate actual corruption and thus his withholding of nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine was justifiable and not an abuse of power. It would have been wrong for President Trump to have NOT been worried about the Bidens' business dealings in Ukraine after the information we heard this afternoon from the President's defense team, tweeted Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. The leading impeachment manager, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., pointed out to reporters, however, that Trump did not begin inquiring into Bidens record in Ukraine until early 2019, when Biden entered the presidential race and was shown to be beating Trump in head to head polls. The second outcome of the Republicans focus on the Bidens was that it highlighted politically embarrassing material for one of Trumps top rivals for the presidency. And Republicans on Trumps legal team and in the Senate did not even try to hide this fact. Trump attorney Eric Herschmann said that it makes no sense to argue that the president wanted Ukraine to announce an investigation into Biden in the summer or fall of 2019, reasoning that it would have been old news by the time of the 2020 election. Would anyone have remembered the announcement a year or more later? Herschmann asked. Herschmann then argued that because the House impeachment managers had addressed the Biden issue last week in their opening arguments, issuing a prebuttal to expected Republican arguments, they had made it more likely to be a 2020 election issue. And now the voters will know about it and probably will remember it, Herschmann said. He then turned and stared at Schiff, who sat just a few feet away to his right, and said, Be careful what you wish for. Harvard Law professor and Trump defender Alan Dershowitz. (Screengrab: Senate TV via Yahoo News) Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, looked gleeful as she talked about the harmful political impact the focus on Burisma could have on Bidens presidential candidacy in her home state on Feb. 3, when voters will take part in the Iowa caucuses. Im really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Democratic caucus goers. Will they be supporting Vice President Biden at this point? Ernst asked with a wide smile. Herschmann also made the case that the Democratic articles of impeachment could have been applied to former President Barack Obama, because of his promise to then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to work with the Russian government more closely on a number of complicated issues after the 2012 election. Herschmann argued that Obamas words, caught on a hot mic, amounted to an attempt to influence the 2012 election. Michael McFaul, who was Obamas ambassador to Russia at the time, called Herschmanns line of attack throwing noodles against the wall. Obama rightly said that starting that negotiations in an election year made no sense, McFaul tweeted, labeling Herschmanns comments embarrassing whataboutism. The presidents defense ended its day-long presentation with arguments from Alan Dershowitz, the well-known constitutional lawyer, who made one distinct argument: that only serious criminal behavior akin to treason and bribery is impeachable. The Democrats two articles of impeachment, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, are vague and open-ended terms, said Dershowitz, who has argued the opposite in the past. Other constitutional scholars disagree. On the basis of the testimony and the evidence before the House, President Trump has committed impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors, Harvard Law professor Noah Feldman testified before the House Judiciary Committee. But Dershowitzs speech was intended for a specific reason, based on conversations with Republican Senate staff: Many Republican senators privately understand that Trump did what Democrats accuse him of, but want to argue that his behavior doesnt rise to the level of an impeachable offense. Dershowitzs arguments were intended to give them a framework from which to do so. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: The Global Breast Cancer Therapeutics Market, which stood at US$ 17,868.8 Mn in 2018, will reach US$ 38,573.5 Mn by the end of 2026. If these figures prove true, the global breast cancer therapeutics market will rise at a CAGR of 10.2% between 2018 and 2026 The research report gives an entire study of the Breast Cancer Therapeutics Market leaders with key statistics like sales, revenue, price, product picture and specifications, contact information, cost, capacity, production and company profile. The report offers critical information at the state of the enterprise. Marketing channels and development trends of the market is also well-found inside the report, making it a valuable source of information and path for agencies and individuals. Key Stakeholders: Raw material suppliers Distributors/traders/wholesalers/suppliers Regulatory bodies, including government agencies and NGO Commercial research and development (R&D) institutions Importers and exporters Government organizations, research organizations, and consulting firms Trade associations and industry bodies End-use industries Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/breast-cancer-therapeutics-market-100163 North America to Remain Dominant on Account of Presence of Skilled Professionals The increasing number of breast cancer cases all over the world is anticipated to boost the global breast cancer therapeutics market at promising rates, finds Fortune Business Insights in a new study. The study is titled, Breast Cancer Therapeutics Market: Global Market Analysis, Insights, and Forecasts. The breast cancer treatment market in North America is currently leading the global landscape, supported by the presence of well-established healthcare infrastructure and rising uptake of advanced facilities in the region. In 2018, North America generated a revenue of US$ 8,033.8 Mn because of the increasing prevalence of breast cancer in the region. Leading Players operating in the Breast Cancer Therapeutics Market are: Genentech (F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd) Eli Lilly and Company Celgene Corporation AstraZeneca Pfizer Inc. Sanofi Eisai Co. Ltd. Kyowa Kirin Bristol Myers Squibb Mayne Pharma Group Limited Valeant Pharmaceuticals Looming Patent Expiries Fuels Demand for Generic Drugs According to the World Health Organization, in 2018, an approximate of 627,000 women, which is tantamount to 15% of all cancer deaths worldwide, succumbed to breast cancer. The rising incidence of breast cancer is one of the chief drivers of the global breast cancer therapeutics market. The global breast cancer therapeutics market is likely to witness the prevalence of high competition. According to the report, Genentech, Inc. (F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd) held the dominant share in the market in 2018. Its diverse product portfolio backs growth of the company in a targeted and chemotherapy segment. Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts:https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/breast-cancer-therapeutics-market-100163 Major Table of Content for Breast Cancer Therapeutics Market: Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Prevalence of Breast Cancer Therapeutics by Key Countries Regulatory Scenario by Key Regions Key Industry Developments Overview of Current Advances in R&D for Breast Cancer Therapeutics Global Breast Cancer Therapeutics Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast,2015-2026 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Therapy Targeted Therapy Abemaciclib Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine Everolimus Trastuzumab Ribociclib Palbociclib Pertuzumab Olaparib Others Hormonal Therapy Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERMs) Aromatase Inhibitors Estrogen Receptor Downregulators (ERDs) Chemotherapy Market Analysis,Insights and Forecast By Distribution Channel Hospital Pharmacies Retail Pharmacies Online Pharmacies Others Reasons to Purchase this Report: Tracks the developments, such as new product launches, agreements, mergers and acquisitions, geographical expansions, and joint ventures. Comprehensive analysis of the Aesthetic Implants Market growth drivers, obstacles, opportunities, and other related challenges. Identifies market restraints and boosters. Identifies all the possible segments present in the market to aid organizations in strategic business planning. Order Full Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/100163 Related Reports: Vision Care Market Global Growth, Industry Size, Demand, Regional Analysis, Share, Revenue and Forecast 2026 India Peritoneal Dialysis Market Worldwide Growth, Opportunity Assessment, Global Trends, Share, Revenue Outlook by 2025 Lactose Market 2020: Industry Analysis, Growth, Share, Global Trends and Research Report Forecast to 2026 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data. At Fortune Business Insights we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We, therefore, offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US :+1 424 253 0390 UK : +44 2071 939123 APAC : +91 744 740 1245 Email:sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Fortune Business Insights Linkedin | Twitter | BLogs Mr. John Leppler I am excited to announce this experienced addition to our Personal Injury team." - Ross W. Albers, CEO - Albers & Associates Albers & Associates is pleased to announce the addition of accomplished civil litigation attorney, Mr. John Leppler, to the firm as a Senior Attorney as of January, 2020. Mr. Leppler is licensed to practice law in Maryland. Mr. Leppler graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2014 and from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 2011 with a major in business sport management. Before joining Albers & Associates, Mr. Leppler worked in a prestigious plaintiffs personal injury law firm in Baltimore City, having represented plaintiffs who suffered soft tissue and catastrophic injuries arising out of automobile accidents, premises liability (slip and falls and negligent security), and medical malpractice. In cases involving automobile accidents, Mr. Leppler has represented over 70 plaintiffs, has taken over 100 depositions and has tried cases before a judge and a jury. I am excited to announce this experienced addition to our Personal Injury team. When you want to be recognized as a top firm, you must recruit the most experienced, and talented attorneys. Mr. Leppler is among the best, and we're excited he has decided to join our team." - Ross W. Albers, CEO of Albers & Associates. He continues We are continuing in our mission to attract and retain highly talented and motivated attorneys serving clients throughout Maryland.. About Albers & Associates Albers & Associates have offices located in Carroll, Howard, Frederick, and Baltimore Counties. The four offices represent clients throughout Maryland in a range of legal matters. Albers & Associates take a personal interest in each client. You need an attorney that will listen to you and understand your unique situation, whether it be a criminal arrest, complex divorce and custody case, drunk driving charges, or an injury caused by an automobile accident. For more information, visit http://www.rossalbers.com/. About Growth Solutions Team The Growth Solutions Team is a leading provider of Business Consulting Services including, Strategic HR, CFO Advisory, Sales & Customer Service Training, and Small Business Advisory services. Our team assists companies with growth in sales, profitability, and improved cash flows. For more information, visit the website at https://growthsolutionsteam.com. This Jan. 27, 2020, photo provided by Dr. Khamis Hassan Bakari of Tanzania, shows an empty street in Wuhan, China. Bakari is among more than 4,000 African students in the Chinese city of 11 million people, and has been sending updates on social media about the outbreak of a new virus to the more than 400 other Tanzanian students in Wuhan, as Chinas astonishing lockdown of more than 30 million people continues. (AP) MUMBAI: Flag carrier Air India has kept one of its 423-seater jumbo planes ready in Mumbai for the evacuation of Indian citizens from Wuhan in China in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in that country, an official source said on Tuesday. The United States, Japan and other nations raced Tuesday to get their citizens out of the locked-down Chinese city at ground zero of a virus epidemic, as the death toll surged to 106 and the number of confirmed infections doubled to over 4,500. Air-India sources told PTI that the airline is awaiting necessary approvals from the ministries of external affairs and health to operate the special flight, the source said. The health ministry's nod is required because the operating crew has to fly in a virus outbreak territory. "We have kept a Boeing 747-400 ready in Mumbai to operate an evacuation flight to China whenever we get a go ahead from the government," the source said. Some 250 Indians are to be evacuated. At a meeting of top secretaries called by the cabinet secretary on Monday, the government decided to be prepared for possible evacuation of Indian nationals in Wuhan. Accordingly, Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities for evacuation of Indian nationals, mostly students, stuck in Wuhan city. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Health will make arrangements for transport and quarantine facilities respectively, an official release said on Monday. Desperation in Wuhan Thousands of people from several nationalities are trapped in Wuhan and the surrounding provinces, which are under lockdown to stop the spread of the contagion. "It's deeply stressful," Joseph Pacey, a 31-year-old Briton who teaches English in Wuhan, told AFP. "The virus is scary, but the biggest fear for me is that this thing will go on for months, and it will get harder and harder to get supplies, and to live." Governments are scrambling to devise ways to safely get their citizens out of the city of 11 million. Japan announced it would send a chartered flight to Wuhan on Tuesday evening to evacuate about 200 of 650 Japanese nationals. "We will also bring with it aid supplies such as masks and protective suits for Chinese people as well as for Japanese nationals," foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in Tokyo. Motegi said the plane would leave Wuhan on Wednesday morning, and that efforts were being made to organise more flights. Flight delays The United States was also trying to organise a rescue mission. A chartered California-bound flight with limited space had been scheduled to leave Wuhan on Tuesday with consular staff and some American citizens. But the State Department said it was postponed to Wednesday, without giving a reason. France has said it intends to fly its citizens out of the city in the middle of this week. Several other countries also were working to repatriate their people, while Germany said it was considering doing so. On January 25, 1952, at the height of tensions between Egyptians and their British overseers, who had ruled or administered the country for 70 years, Brig. Kenneth Exham ordered police officers in Ismailia to hand over their weapons and vacate the citys two police stations. When the officers disobeyed the order, a massacre ensued, leaving 50 dead and 80 wounded. The event became the spark that ignited the revolution bringing an end to the monarchy on July 23 that same year. In recognition of the role the police played in Egypt's independence, the new Free Officer's government declared January 25 National Police Day and a holiday. In the decades since, however, and especially under the 30-year rule of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from 1981-2011, the image of the police as protectors of the nation also became associated with suppression and corruption. The popular uprising which led to the overthrow of Mubarak began on January 25, 2011 and so Police Day, and the anniversary of the January 25 revolution, became fused in an ironic way. The volatile history of the Egyptian police can be observed, at least in part, at the National Police Museum in Cairos Citadel. The building housing the museum dates to the Mamluk era, and accordingly a statue of a lion, a Mamluk symbol, stands in the large courtyard at the entry. The Citadel had served as the seat of Egypt's rulers from the 13th century until Khedive Ismail moved the government to Abdeen Palace in downtown Cairo in the late 19th century, at which point the building now housing the museum became a prison. Following the move, the Citadel was used primarily for military purposes, given its commanding perch above the capital. One of the buildings at the northern end of the Citadel halfway between the barracks and the mosque became a prisoner for foreigners. Previously, the legendary Ayyubid leader Salah al-Din, who ruled Cairo between 1176 and 1183, had used this part of the Citadel to hold invading crusaders captured during the Battle of Hattin. Awatef Salah, police museum curator, told Al-Monitor, After the death of Khedive Ismail, his successor, Khedive Tawfiq, issued a decree to expand the Salah al-Din prison's capacity. The prison was enlarged once more, following the 1952 revolution under the leadership of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Rasha Magdy, a tour guide, told Al-Monitor, The Salah al-Din prison was considered one of the most notorious Egyptian prisons designated for political prisoners and their torture in the 20th century. The prison contains 42 cells divided into two sections, one to the east and the other to the west, in addition to eight torture rooms, the most famous of which is the furnace room on the eastern side. At the entrance to the museum, a block of cells contains mannequins dressed as prisoners to depict scenes of events that likely occurred there, such as a guard torturing a prisoner and an inmate praying for atonement. Magdy noted that in the 1960s, pipes were installed in the cell walls to conduct hot water that produced unbearable heat so the prisons strapped to them could be tortured into quicker confessions. Flogging was common. In 1984, Mubarak decided to turn the prison into a museum with the idea of highlighting crimes against Egypt and Egyptians. In a corner devoted to assassinations, one finds photographs of the 1954 assassination attempt against Nasser by Muslim Brotherhood member Mahmoud Abdel-Latif, but none about the successful assassination of Nasser's successor, Anwar Sadat, in 1981 by Islamist extremists, who were imprisoned under that very roof. There are also photographs and memorabilia on display related to infamous criminals, most prominently Raya and Sakina, sister serial killers from the early 1900s, and pictures of their female victims, whom they drugged, robbed of their gold and then murdered until they were finally caught. The museum also showcases police uniforms and the weapons used by police forces since Muhammad Ali in the 19th century. The police force only took its modern form under the reign of this Ottoman governor, Salah said. Conspicuously missing is a wall of valor honoring officers who died in the line of duty or as targets of terrorism. The museum also makes no effort to distinguish among the different branches of the security force, such as the Central Security Force, Special Protection Group, National Security Guard, and the Intelligence Bureau, which are all part of Egyptian police history. The focus is more on the past of this controversial force, rather than the present. At a time when many people in the country are unsure of who will be granted Citizenship under the new Citizenship Amendment Act, the chief priest of Chilkur Balaji temple also known as Visa temple, CS Rangarajan, has sought citizenship for the presiding deity. He said, Give citizenship to the deity of the famous Chilkur temple Balaji Lord Venkateswara. TOI According to him every deity is considered a minor and has to be represented in court by a priest, trustee or the executive officer. Under Section 5(4) of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act a minor can obtain citizenship rights, so deities of all the temples can be given citizenship rights under this provision. Register all Hindu deities like Venkateswara Swamy in Tirumala, Ayyappa Swamy in Sabarimala, and Padmanabhaswamy in Kerala as citizens under Section 5(4) of CAA, TOI quoted Rangarajan as saying. Twitter He also said that the verdict in Sabarimala temple case proved that the secular state of India is a threat to a Hindu deitys religious freedom. Despite the constitutional provisions and judicial decisions, Hindu temples and religious and charitable institutions are routinely taken over by the secular state on the pretext of mismanagement, whereas other religious places are exclusively managed by the respective communities even though Article 26 confers Right to Equality among all sections of citizens, he said. Twitter Well, the deity might have to wait in line with a million other humans who are uncertain of things. UN Security Council ambassadors stood for a minute of silence Monday in memory of 89 soldiers killed last week during a jihadist assault on a Niger military base. The 15 members of the council "strongly condemn" the attack, said Dan Dinh Quy, the ambassador for Vietnam which holds the council's rotating presidency this month. Thursday's assault, near the Mali border, was the worst in Niger's history. The country is a member of the G5 Sahel force whose members have come under increasing attack from extremists they have been sent to fight. "Niger and West Africa need you all" in combat against against the extremists, Niger's Ambassador Abdou Abarry stressed to his partner nations on the council. Niger is a non-permanent member of the Security Council, and is joined in the G5 Sahel by Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Mauritania. The moment of silence came on the same day that French President Emmanuel Macron hosts counterparts from the five Sahel countries to reassess their joint fight against the extremists. Macron insists Sahel leaders must use the occasion to publicly reiterate their support for France's military presence. He said last month he was loathe to send soldiers to countries where they were not "clearly wanted." UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is also to attend the talks, which coincide with plans by Washington to reduce its troop presence in Africa. Some US troops provide logistical support to the French anti-jihadist operation based in Mali. VICE President Constantino Chiwenga has raised a complaint against Judge President George Chiweshe after the judgment in a child custody case was allegedly leaked to his estranged wife, Marry Mubaiwa, before being officially handed down in court. Justice Chiweshe is the head of the High Court in Zimbabwe. VP Chiwenga, through his lawyers Manase & Manase Legal Practitioners has written to Justice Chiweshe seeking an explanation as to why the judgment in the child custody case was leaked to Mubaiwa and a local newspaper, well before it was handed down in court. Last Friday, the newspaper had banners all over the streets announcing Mubaiwas victory in the childrens custody case, but the court only officially handed the judgment down after 1030 the same day. The purpose of our writing is to register our clients complaint in the manner in which the judgment in the above matter has been handled. The High Court, which is headed by yourself, may have answers to the complaints raised by our client herein, reads the letter. Mubaiwa, according to the lawyers, is related to the Judge President and the relationship was now prejudicing VP Chiwenga in the court cases involving her estranged wife. Our client advises us that you are related to the applicant Ms Marry Mubaiwa and she has made numerous bald assertions in public that you are related and have sorted and influenced all matters involving her in her favour to the prejudice of our client. We, with respect, wish to register our clients concern over allegations emanating from the said relationship with the applicant and complain over the conduct of the applicant in accessing court judgments and orders before they have been officially handed down to both litigants. These allegations are known by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the lawyers for the applicant and various other parties which we can divulge to you in confidence, the letter reads. On Friday, the letter further reads, Mubaiwa went to the childrens school as early as 8am and demanded to see the children while armed with a court order, well before judgment was handed down. The applicant in this matter attended the parties childrens school at 8am today (Friday January 24) armed with an order of this court and stated to the school authorities that she had been granted an order by the High Court to have access to the children. Our client telephoned us to inquire as to whether judgment had been handed down in the matter to which we confirmed that the matter was still pending and a diligent enquiry at the registry confirmed our position, reads the letter of complaint. We were then telephoned by the Honourable Justice Dube-Bandas clerk at 0927am advising us that the Honourable judge wished to meet parties in chambers to hand down the judgment, reads the letter. VP Chiwenga wondered how Mubaiwa got to know of the outcome before judgment hand been handed down. Could it be that there is a new system of handing down judgments wherein litigants are given court orders before official pronouncements? We also wonder why the said judgment, before it was handed down, got publicised in the Independent newspaper advising the public that Marry Mubaiwa had won the case she had filed, said VP Chiwengas lawyers. The lawyers asked for an explanation within 48 hours. They argued that handing down of the judgment at 1030 was just a formality to sanitise the illegality. The summoning of the parties at 1030am, in our respectful view, was merely a formality to sanitise the blatant illegality that had occurred, more particularly that the judgment had already been publicised in the media and that applicant had used it to facilitate the taking of children from school before it was handed down. Our client requests that you urgently revert to us within 48 hours upon receipt of this letter as he feels the system may have been compromised, reads the letter. Justice Chiweshe is yet to respond to the issues raised by the VPs lawyers. Last week, Ms Mubaiwa won her High Court appeal for custody of the couples three minor children and access to the matrimonial home. But her joy was short-lived after VP Chiwenga filed a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court, challenging the lower courts decision. The filing of a notice of appeal effectively suspends the court ruling until determination of the appeal. Justice Christopher Dube-Banda ordered that the custody of children be restored to Mubaiwa and barred the Vice President from interfering with her access to the Borrowdale Brooke house they shared before their fallout. Mubaiwa had sought the intervention of the High Court after the children were taken from her and she was barred from the Borrowdale Brooke matrimonial home following the couples fallout. The respondent is hereby ordered to restore the custody of the minor children, namely Tendai Dominique Chiwenga (born 4 November 2011), Christian Tawanazororo Chiwenga (born 15 November 2012) and Michael Alexander Chiwenga (born 13 February 2014) to the custody of the applicant within 24 hours of this order, ruled Justice Dube-Banda. The respondent is hereby ordered and restrained from interfering with applicants access to use and enjoyment of the property known as 614 Nick Price Drive, Borrowdale Brooke, Borrowdale, Harare. VP Chiwenga was also restrained from blocking Mubaiwa from accessing the vehicles. However, the VP filed a notice of appeal, outlining errors he says the High Court made in the matter. Herald The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe won't be able to argue for its gaming rights at the nation's highest court. In a January 13 order list [see top of page 5], the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant the petition in Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas v. State of Texas . The action means an appeals court ruling that went against the tribe's sovereignty will stand. But the fight for equal treatment is far from over. A bipartisan bill that recognizes the tribe's gaming rights already passed the U.S. House of Representatives and awaits movement in the U.S. Senate We are trying to get the word out, trying to tell our story, and tell how important this is to East Texas, Chairwoman Cecilia Flores told The Tyler County Booster The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe owns and operates Naskila Gaming, a Class II facility in Livingston, Texas. Photo: Naskila Gaming The bill is H.R.759 , the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas Equal and Fair Opportunity Settlement Act. It puts the the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo , also known as the Tigua Tribe, on the same footing as nearly every other Indian nation when it comes to gaming. The Democratic-controlled House passed H.R.759 under a suspension of the rules on July 24. It was considered non-controversial -- no one outright opposed it, although one Republican noted that the governor of Texas does not support the measure. As a result, the bill is being held up in the Senate, which is in Republican hands, Flores told The Booster. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has asked the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs not to move forward until the concerns of the state can be resolved, the paper reported. The state, however, didn't mention any issues with the legislation when it responded to the tribe's Supreme Court petition last month. On the contrary, it described the Congressional push as a "ready avenue" for the Alabama-Coushatta, as well as the Tigua, whose gaming rights also have been limited. "There is no need for this courts involvement to provide the gaming permission the tribe seeks," the December 9 brief reads. "The two Restoration Act tribes have a ready avenue to redress their grievances through Congress." "The House passed that bill in July with bipartisan support, and it is now awaiting Senate action," the brief continued. Read More on the Story 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision Join the Conversation Related Stories After serving the community for more than 20 years, Midland County's drain commissioner has decided not to run for reelection in November. For Doug Enos, who came into his role in Midland County 24 years ago after a 16-year career as deputy drain commissioner in Saginaw County the decision to step down was motivated by a simple factor: his age. "Well, I'm 67 (years old), and I'll be 68 by the end of the year it seems like it's time," Enos said. Among the projects Enos is most proud of from his time in Midland County is the installation of the "Ashby drain," a storm sewer along Poseyville Road and Ashby Road in Midland Township. "It was an expensive project storm sewers are usually one of the more expensive projects and also quite controversial, mostly because of the cost," Enos said. "It was a struggle to get that completed." After spending a long time going through the court, construction for the drain began in 2001, with the cost of the project totaling up to $995,000. Enos is also proud of his involvement in the 2006 development of the Little Salt Intercounty Drain, a large creek in Jasper Township that serves as an outlet for nearly a dozen other local drains, Enos said, including drainage systems in Gratiot and Isabella counties. "It was a pretty big project to do, but it's also allowed many of those tributary drains within that watershed to be cleaned out," Enos said. "It was key to getting good drainage down to the farmland in Jasper Township." While many of his job requirements have stayed consistent during his time with the county, Enos said recent years have brought about more "red tape" and environmental concerns to consider. "The job still involves maintaining and cleaning out the county drains, as well as protecting the watersheds from development or pollution-type issues that hasn't changed," Enos said. "There's more intricacies than there used to be, and of course, the costs keep going up and up, and that can be difficult to explain to property owners when we have to assess a project. Every nickel that I spend in here, I have to assess back to someone." Enos' last day will be Dec. 31, 2020. There are currently no candidates to be his successor. A 34-year-old woman and her husband were arrested for allegedly killing a man with whom she was in a relationship in Rohini's Kanjhawala area, police said on Tuesday. On January 8, a person was found dead in Kanjhawala and after checking the missing persons register, he was identified as Amar Gaud, they said. Gaud's father had lodged a missing complaint on January 7. He had said that his son was missing since 10 am on January 5, police said. Dunia Lal Mahto (38) and his wife, both residents of Madhubani district in Bihar, have been arrested, they said. The postmortem report revealed the cause of death as asphyxia due to strangulation, police said. "During investigation, police got a tip-off and apprehended Mahto and his wife from Jaipur. The rope used to strangulate Gaud to death has been recovered," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) SD Mishra said. Interrogation revealed that the woman knew Gaud for the past six months. Her husband got to know about their relationship and she decided to leave Gaud, police said. On the day of the incident, she called Gaud to her house and gave him sweets laced with sleeping pills. Later, she called her husband and they strangulated him to death, the DCP said. After killing him, they took his body in a car and dumped it at a vacant plot at Kanjhawala, police said, adding that the vehicle has also been recovered. After disposing the body, they abandoned the car near Rohtak Road and took a bus to Jaipur, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A study evaluating the effectiveness of the widely used 'Daily Mile' intervention in schools to tackle childhood obesity has found that the benefits are small, and may be greater in girls than boys. The study concludes that whilst interventions such as The Daily Mile are not going to reduce childhood obesity alone, they could be an important part of a wider population strategy to tackling this challenge. Published today (28th January, 2020) in the International Journal of Obesity, the study was funded by Birmingham City Council and carried out in collaboration with the Universities of Birmingham and Bristol, Services For Education and Sport Birmingham, with support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The Daily Mile was first launched by a school in Scotland in 2012 and sees children spending at least 15 minutes jogging or running, at their own pace, during the school day - exercise which on average equates to approximately 1-mile and is over and above the national curriculum and timetabled break times. Over 10,500 schools and nurseries world-wide have adopted the intervention, which is also recommended by the UK Government as part of its plan to tackle childhood obesity, despite no robust evidence of its benefits. In this cluster-randomised controlled trial, the largest of its kind, researchers set out to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of The Daily Mile for obesity prevention in children in comparison to schools' usual health and well-being activities. Forty state-funded Birmingham schools took part in the study, half of which were randomly chosen to implement The Daily Mile intervention, while the other half were randomly placed into a 'control group' and implemented only the school's usual health and well-being activities. At the start of the trial in April 2017, all participating children were weighed and measured, and their body mass index calculated, as well as percentage body fat. The children's health-related level of quality of life was also calculated using Quality-Adjusted-Life-Years (QALYs), a metric commonly used to judge cost-effectiveness. After four months and then again at 12 months, the researchers returned to the schools to carry out the same measurements and calculations. They found that overall The Daily Mile had more of an effect on the body mass index of children taking part after 12 months compared to those who did not, although the effect was small. Interestingly, The Daily Mile intervention seemed to have a greater effect on the body mass index of girls, compared to boys. And, overall, the study also showed that The Daily Mile is a highly cost-effective intervention for girls and not boys. Katie Breheny, of the University of Bristol who carried out the research while at the University of Birmingham, said: "There are anecdotal reports of The Daily Mile having multiple beneficial effects, based on experience in a primary school in Scotland where it was first introduced. "Another previous and small study, carried out in just two primary schools, also suggested that after introducing The Daily Mile, children became fitter and had some reduction in measures of obesity. "However, this is the first randomised trial where children in schools that do or do not offer The Daily Mile have been compared." Dr Sandra Passmore, Senior Advisor at Services For Education in Birmingham, said: "Childhood obesity is a major public health problem, and World Health Organization figures show that globally around one in five children aged five to 19 are either overweight or living with obesity. "Schools have been identified as a key place to improve physical activity levels, so it is important, that all interventions are tested to ensure the most effective - both clinically and financially - measures are in place. "This is the first major clinical trial to report on the impact of The Daily Mile in primary and junior schools within a real-world setting and provides invaluable evidence." Emma Frew, Professor in Health Economics at the University of Birmingham, said: "The potential difference we found of the effect of The Daily Mile in girls compared to boys was surprising, particularly given that most physical activity interventions are usually more effective in boys, and it raises interesting hypotheses and implications. If society is willing to pay for an intervention that is highly cost-effective in girls, but not in boys, then we suggest The Daily Mile could form part of a whole system approach to childhood obesity prevention. "Indeed, it is our hope that our research will lead to a recommendation that all primary and junior schools participate in The Daily Mile, however, we also hope this study highlights that schools alone cannot be responsible for tackling childhood obesity." Peymane Adab, Professor of Chronic Disease Epidemiology & Public Health at the University of Birmingham, said: "Now further research should be carried out to examine the effects of The Daily Mile on other subgroups of children, including any differences between age groups and children from different socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnicities. We also call for further research to explore the impact of The Daily Mile on a wider range of outcomes such as physical activity levels and academic outcomes." Cllr Kate Booth, cabinet member for children's wellbeing at Birmingham City Council, said: "It is so important that children are encouraged at an early age to be as active as possible, particularly during the school day when they will spend a lot of time sitting in classrooms. The results of this study are a really good start and it's great to see Birmingham schools taking part." For media enquiries please contact Beck Lockwood, Press Office, University of Birmingham, tel: +44 (0)121 414 2772: email: r.lockwood@bham.ac.uk Notes to Editors Breheny & Passmore et al (2019). 'Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Daily Mile on childhood weight outcomes and wellbeing: a cluster randomised controlled trial'. International Journal of Obesity. The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world's top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 6,500 international students from over 150 countries. Breheney & Passmore et al (2019). 'Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Daily Mile on childhood weight outcomes and wellbeing: a cluster randomised controlled trial'. International Journal of Obesity. Insert DOI here The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR: Funds, supports and delivers high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care Engages and involves patients, carers and the public in order to improve the reach, quality and impact of research Attracts, trains and supports the best researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future Invests in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services Partners with other public funders, charities and industry to maximise the value of research to patients and the economy The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR supports applied health research for the direct and primary benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries, using UK aid from the UK government. Services For Education is an education and training charity based in Birmingham that works with 570 schools in the city and across the region. Established in 2012, it comprises the School Support Service and the Music Service which is part-funded by the Arts Council, England. It employs 240 staff and has a combined annual income of 8m. Its School Support Service provides bespoke school improvement consultancy, essential safeguarding and curriculum training and innovative school activities that complement the curriculum and help meet national targets. Through a progressive approach to developing partnerships with Universities, Local Authorities and business, it brings nationally accredited literacy, numeracy and emotional health development programmes and resources to Birmingham as well as supporting schools in the development of the physical health of pupils, parents and the community. Its Music Service, which is one of the largest in the country, works across 384 of the city's schools, teaching music to approximately 38,000 children. It also provides 28,000 musical instruments free-of-charge. ### In a recent company training session that I had the opportunity to participate in, the following question was asked: What happens when a community loses their local newspaper? That was followed with a secondary question being asked: How would that community then get their news? As can be expected, the answers varied from things such as social media, word of mouth, friends, neighbors, to answers such as other regional outlets and so forth. All of which are correct in one way or another, but in any event, it was agreed the community would suffer from inaccurate, untimely and second-hand information. Yes, they would somehow get the latest business closings, violent crimes committed along with mostly not so pleasant news and information from social media, radio, friends, neighbors, etc. And yes, they would get a bit of regional coverage for any high profile crimes and business closings. They might even get lucky (unlucky) and have a major news outlet like the New York Times or Washington Post swoop into town to do a feature story on another dying rural American town. But who is consistently going to tell the community's feel good stories and convey all the great things happening locally to the outside world? Carrying this one step further, when potential new businesses looking to relocate to your community or that of a competing community, they will first Google's all the prospective communities or locations. What will they then find when they Google your town? They will see those business closings, crime stories, obituaries, and yes, that New York Times piece will appear at the top of their search as well. What impressions will they have of your community and what decisions do you think they will make? While I wish this was simply a "what if" situation, unfortunately, nearly 2,000 communities across the country are experiencing this exact scenario today. Local newspapers are the eyes into the soul of your community. The local newspaper is your community's ambassador to the outside world. If the local newspaper can't convey your community's positive message to the outside world, who then will be able to convey that message in a consistent and accurate fashion? Newspapers used to be the community's proverbial communication town square. In today's world of media fragmentation of potential information sources, capturing that role once again is more critical than ever. Small and mid-sized communities need every bit of help they can muster, having a local media presence is critical to the overall success and vitality of the community. A recent Notre Dame study indicated a community that loses their newspaper could expect the cost of local government to increase by 30% within five years. That doesn't mean that government is bad, it is necessary, but without oversight, they tend to spend more than they otherwise might. Regardless of the political leanings of the local newspaper, that simple act of oversight saves a community hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. Another recent poll showed most local residents believe that their local newspaper is doing fine financially. While many newspapers are doing okay, it is safe to say that most are facing challenging and potentially crippling economic headwinds. It is no surprise that communities face these same economic challenges. The media company and the community need to work together to find the synergies that can be created to mold a foundation from which to build. For both to succeed, they need each other more than ever before. When a community loses its newspaper, a part of that community dies. In addition to less civil engagement, it loses it's identity. A quote by Portland State's Lee Shaker was recently shared with me. He said in a Nieman Lab report: "If a community loses it's newspaper, it stops being it's own place. It becomes a satellite of something else, rather than having it's own core identity." A community without a newspaper becomes a rudderless ship adrift in the treacherous economic currents of life. John A. Newby is the author of the "Building Main Street, Not Wall Street" column dedicated to helping communities and local media companies to not just survive, but thrive. Newby is partnering with the Midland Daily News for this weekly column series. His email is john@360MediaAlliance.net. A lawyer for former National Security Adviser John Bolton expressed dismay Sunday night that excerpts from Bolton's upcoming book that badly undermine President Trump's impeachment defense were leaked to The New York Times, appearing to blame someone at the White House for the disclosing the damaging information. Bolton's "manuscript was transmitted to the White House for prepublication review by the [National Security Council]," said Bolton adviser Sarah Tinsley. "The ambassador has not passed the draft manuscript to anyone else. Period." Bolton's lawyer, Charles Cooper, said in a statement "it is clear, regrettably, from The New York Times article published today that the prepublication review process has been corrupted and that information has been disclosed by persons other than those properly involved in reviewing the manuscript." BREAKING: Statement from Bolton's lawyer Chuck Cooper. Story TK. pic.twitter.com/u3JOV7l5dD Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) January 27, 2020 Multiple people close to Bolton have confirmed to The Associated Press, The Washington Post, and Axios that Bolton included his recollection of Trump's Ukraine quid pro quo in his manuscript. Cooper also released a copy of the Dec. 30 letter he sent to the NSC's preclearance officials along with the manuscript. Here's Bolton's lawyer's cover letter transmitting the manuscript to the White House last month pic.twitter.com/rIQFzxVJum Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 27, 2020 It isn't clear why Bolton's team appears to believe the White House, at a key moment in Trump's impeachment trial, leaked the revelation that Bolton witnessed Trump saying he wanted to continue withholding nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine until Kyiv agreed to help investigate Trump's Democratic rivals, including Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Trump's lawyers, including White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, argued Saturday there's no evidence that Trump linked the military aid and the Biden investigations. Having access to Bolton's manuscript may have given "Trump's aides and lawyers direct insight into what Mr. Bolton would say if he were called to testify at Mr. Trump's impeachment trial," and "it also intensified concerns among some of his advisers that they needed to block Mr. Bolton from testifying," the Times reports. Meanwhile, Bolton associates tell the Times he wants to testify because "he believes he has relevant information, and he has also expressed concern that if his account of the Ukraine affair emerges only after the trial, he will be accused of holding back to increase his book sales." More stories from theweek.com Mike Pompeo is a disgrace LeBron James posts tribute to Kobe Bryant: 'I promise you I'll continue your legacy' GOP senators seemed enthralled with Dershowitz's Trump impeachment defense. Elizabeth Warren found it 'nonsensical.' Minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will have to provide proof of their religious beliefs while applying for nationality under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, two officials aware of the matter said on Monday even as the government is in the process of framing rules for the new law. They added that the applicants will also have to furnish documents to prove that they entered India before 2015. Requirement of proof of their religious beliefs and their entry date will be included in the rules, one of the officials said. This will be useful so that random persons do not apply for Indian citizenship. It was not immediately clear what the nature of the documentation required for applying for citizenship will be. The government is also likely to give a relatively smaller window of three months to those, who want to apply for citizenship in Assam under the CAA, a second official said. Some Assam-specific provisions are expected to be incorporated into the rules.The CAA came into force on January 10 and the Union home ministry is framing the rules that will govern the law. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 20:23:48|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Pal estinians shout slogans during a protest against the U.S. Mideast plan which is about to be declared by U.S. President Donald Trump, in the West Bank city of Tulkarm on Jan. 28, 2020. Palestinian factions and political powers called on Tuesday for mass protests, rallies and demonstrations to express rejection to the U.S. plan, which is scheduled to be declared later on Tuesday. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) RAMALLAH, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Tuesday called for an emergency meeting for the Arab League (AL) to discuss the U.S. Mideast peace plan, also known as the "Deal of the Century." Ahmad al-Deek, political advisor in the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the PA officially asked for holding the meeting on Saturday, adding "we are waiting for finalizing the consultations to get a response." The senior Palestinian diplomat stressed that "what is needed from the Arab states is to back the Palestinian position which rejects the Deal of the Century." Palestinian factions and political powers called on Tuesday for mass protests, rallies, and demonstrations to express rejection of the U.S. plan, which is scheduled to be declared later on Tuesday evening. President Abbas will chair an emergency meeting for the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on Tuesday evening to discuss the Palestinian mechanisms of rejecting the U.S. plan. Majid al-Fetyani, secretary general of Abbas Fatah Party Revolutionary Council, told Xinhua that President Abbas also invited leaders of the Islamic Hamas movement in the West Bank to attend the meeting. In this file photo, Councilman Kenyatta Johnson listens to business owners during a rally in support of keeping Hoa Binh Plaza in South Philadelphia. Read more UPDATE: Philadelphia City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, wife indicted on federal corruption charges DOCUMENT: Read the full indictment Philadelphia City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson said he and his wife, political consultant Dawn Chavous, expect federal prosecutors to announce charges against them as soon as Wednesday, but he vowed the couple will ultimately clear their names. In an interview Tuesday with The Inquirer, Johnson and his lawyer, Patrick Egan, said they believe the grand jury indictment will focus on the relationships among the councilmans City Hall office, Chavous consulting firm, and Universal Companies, a South Philadelphia community development nonprofit and charter-school operator founded by the music producer Kenny Gamble. Based on conversations they have had with the U.S. Attorneys Office, they anticipate that prosecutors will attempt to prove that Universal gave Chavous a consulting job in exchange for the councilmembers assistance in clearing the way for the nonprofits proposed redevelopment of the Royal Theater on South Street in 2014. Egan called that theory ridiculous and inaccurate." Johnson, a three-term Democrat whose district covers South and Southwest Philadelphia, added: I wouldnt make a foolish decision to do any type of backroom deals or engage in any kind of illegal activity. It just doesnt make sense for me to get this far in life and engage in that type of behavior. The U.S. Attorneys Office has scheduled a 10:30 a.m. news conference Wednesday to announce a major criminal indictment in a public corruption case. A spokesperson declined to comment but sources familiar with the investigation confirmed that the announcement pertains to the Johnson case. Charges against Johnson, 47, would make him the second member of Council currently fighting federal indictment a state of affairs not seen in Philadelphia since the Abscam scandal of the 1980s. That swept up three members of Council along with six congressmen and the mayor of Camden in a bribery probe involving an undercover FBI agent posing as an Arab sheikh. The case against Johnson and Chavous, 40, comes a year after federal prosecutors charged Councilmember Bobby Henon in a political bribery case involving labor leader John J. Johnny Doc Dougherty. Johnson and his attorney said they decided to make the unusual choice of speaking out before charges have been filed so they could preempt the allegations after years of staying largely silent about the prolonged investigation. Johnson said he wont step down while he waits for his day in court. Im not going to be ducking this issue at all, he said. Were going to fight because Im innocent and my wife is innocent. Johnson said he and Chavous have turned over thousands of documents to investigators, including some requested by a federal subpoena last spring that was delivered to Johnsons office on the morning of Councils weekly meeting. This has felt like consistent harassment, Johnson said. Ive been very forthright and forthcoming with the information Ive been asked to provide. More than a dozen sources familiar with the FBIs inquiry have described it as a five-year-long probe that has examined everything from Johnsons involvement in bargain-rate sales of city-owned land to Chavous work as an education consultant, campaign adviser, and advocate for charter schools. The FBI has taken particular interest in areas where Chavous business endeavors and her husbands work at City Hall overlap, said the sources. Many of them testified behind closed doors before the grand jury and agreed to describe their testimony only on the condition of anonymity. Egan said that based on conversations he has had with the U.S. Attorneys Office, he does not expect the land sales or Chavous other work to feature in any indictment. Its focus, he said, appears to be rezoning legislation Johnson put forward to help Universals ambitions in 2014, while the nonprofit was paying Chavous. But the defense lawyer likened the sprawling probe to a witch hunt, saying: Its essentially been an investigation in search of a crime. You know, bouncing from theory to theory. Johnson and Egan declined to answer questions Tuesday about the terms and dates of Chavous employment with Universal or what she did for Gambles operations, except to say her work was focused on the nonprofits charter school operations. READ MORE: Inside the FBI investigation into Philly Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, his wife, and Kenny Gambles nonprofit Chavous has run her own education consulting firm since 2011 while also serving as board chair of Sky Community Partners, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that provides scholarship money to independent schools under the states Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit program. In a statement Tuesday, she said her work experience made her eminently qualified for the job, that her hiring had nothing to do with Universals business with her husbands office, and that to suggest otherwise was demeaning. To have implied that I received any financial benefit as a result of my marriage and not my own work ethic is simply untrue, she said. It impugns my reputation, and worse, it relies on the old trope that women only owe their successes to the men in their lives. Before the passage of Johnsons 2014 ordinance for the Royal once a crown jewel of South Street that through years of neglect had become a blighted eyesore in the heart of his 2nd Council District Universal had struggled to redevelop the site as an entertainment venue for 14 years. The structure was on the verge of collapse when the nonprofit purchased the 1,200-seat theater at 15th Street and South for $250,000 in 2000. And despite receiving nearly a half-million dollars from city, state, and federal coffers between 2000 and 2011 for its rehab efforts, Universal made little progress. Then, in 2014, the nonprofit abruptly changed course, abandoned its earlier plans and began seeking approvals to turn the Royal into a mixed-use development featuring 45 apartments over 7,600 square feet of retail space. In October of that year, Johnson introduced a bill that would change the density allowable under the sites zoning restrictions. The measure passed six weeks later, allowing Universal to move forward with the most promising proposal it had put forth to date. But the nonprofits efforts never got off the ground, despite the councilmembers support. Universal sold the Royal to developer Robert Roskamp in 2015 for $3.7 million nearly 15 times what it originally paid for the site. FBI agents raided Universals offices and the home of its chief executive, Rahim Islam, in 2017. And last year, the former president of the Milwaukee school board pleaded guilty to accepting nearly $6,000 in bribes from Islam and Universals ex-chief financial officer, Shaheid Dawan, for his support of measures beneficial to two charter campuses it operated in that school district. Neither Islam nor Dawan has been charged with a crime. Both, through their lawyers, have denied wrongdoing. An attorney for Universal did not return calls for comment Tuesday. Johnson addressed his constituents directly in a statement issued after The Inquirer interview. I will keep fighting for you regardless of what happens with this federal case, it read. I will not let it stop me from keeping up the fight for our community and advancing our shared agenda. The city has paid roughly $189,000 for Johnsons legal representation to date, but will suspend those payments in line with city policy should he be charged, the city Law Department said. Burma TNLA Fighter Shoots Ex-Girlfriend Dead for Refusing to Elope in Myanmar's Shan State A photo of Lway Mya Hmwe Aung at her funeral on Jan. 25. / Helen Mai / Facebook The Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group in Shan State, says it will take action against a member of the group who allegedly killed a schoolteacher in Kutkai Township, northern Shan State, on Friday. The TNLA has detained Mai Phoe Sein, a 26-year-old member of the group, for the killing of Lway Mya Hmwe Aung, a primary school teacher in Kutkais Hwe Khot Village. We have detained him and our judicial department has begun working on a verdict for him, Major Tar Aike Kyaw, a spokesperson for the TNLA, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. Local Kutkai residents expressed outrage over the killing and have called for justice against the perpetrator. It was not good to murder a schoolteacher who was innocent and taught children. We strongly condemn this action, said U Aung Win, the victims uncle. Maj. Tar Aike Kyaw said the killing was over a personal issue, as far as he knew. Mai Phoe Sein was reportedly involved in a dispute with his ex-girlfriend, Lway Mya Hmwe Aung. Mai Phoe Sein allegedly wanted her to marry him and attempted to force her to elope with him but she refused. Lway Mya Hmwe Aung was killed at her dormitory near her school at 7 p.m. on Friday. U Aung Win said his niece was shot and died as soon as he arrived at the dormitory 10 minutes after the shooting. We want the TNLA to take full action against him to make a good example for future generations, so no one will dare to act like this anymore, said U Aung Win. If a thumb is not good, then cut it off. If a finger is not good, cut it off. This is how the TNLA must act. If not, this event will hurt the image of the whole TNLA, he added. Maj. Tar Aike Kyaw said the trial would start soon, but could not provide detailed information on how it will proceed, as the TNLAs judicial department has just begun to work on the case. The TNLA said the court will be open to the public on the day of the verdict and the victims family is welcome to attend. U Aung Win said the family plans to attend and is looking forward to seeing how the TNLA issues the punishment. The TNLA said in a statement that it will inform the public about how they intend to punish the perpetrator. They should show the public that this case was a personal case, and it was not related to the organization, said U Aung Win. You may also like these stories: Myanmars Extinct Volcano Mt Popa to be Nominated for Unesco Status Rakhine Court Releases Civilians Held for 11 Months for Ties to AA Ancient Rakhine City of Mrauk-U Proposed for UNESCO World Heritage Site By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 27, 2020 | 06:09 PM | PADUCAH According to the Paducah Police Department, 43-year-old Robert Thomas Aitken was arrested Saturday morning after allegedly hitting a pedestrian in a stolen van. Aitken was initially charged with second-degree assault, first-degree possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), possession of drug paraphernalia, second-degree fleeing or evading police, third-degree terroristic threatening, driving with a suspended or revoked license, and receiving stolen property ($10,000 or more). Detectives interviewed Aitken on Monday, where he allegedly told officers that he had intentionally hit 68-year-old James G. Cates with the van he was driving, with the goal of killing Cates or knocking him unconscious so he could rob Cates. You can see the original story at the link below. A Tennessee man is facing a charge of attempted murder after hitting a pedestrian. On the Net: John Durham speaks at the Connecticut Securities, Commodities & Investor Fraud Working Group annual conference in New Haven, Connecticut, on Sept. 20, 2018. (Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut) John Durham, Head of Probe Into Russia Investigation, Appoints New Criminal Chief Federal prosecutor John Durham, who is leading the Department of Justice probe into the origins of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, appointed a new criminal division chief on Jan. 27. Durham, a U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, said that Sarah Karwan will take the position. I am thrilled that Sarah Karwan will lead our Criminal Division. During her more than 12 years as an AUSA [assistant U.S. attorney], Sarah has done it all, prosecuting violent criminals, drug traffickers, financial fraudsters, corrupt public officials, and a wide variety of other wrongdoers, Durham said in a statement. Given the breadth of her experience and her exceptional lawyering skills, she certainly will be a standout as our new Criminal Chief. Karwan most recently was chief of the Districts Major Crimes Unit, where she supervised prosecution of cases involving matters such as immigration, human trafficking, and hate crimes. Her cases included prosecuting a Connecticut teenager who possessed a firearm with an obliterated serial number, a New Haven man who possessed heroin and crack cocaine with intent to distribute, and a Woodbury man who stole more than $1.8 million from the estate of a woman who died, according to Justice Department press releases. As an assistant U.S. attorney, Karwan served as both the districts professional responsibility officer and elections officer and was a member of the hiring committee. She also spent time as deputy chief of the Districts Financial Fraud and Public Corruption Unit and as an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force attorney. Before joining the U.S. Attorneys Office, Karwan was in private practice for about six years, specializing in securities litigation. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1997 and from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2000. Karwan replaces William Nardini, who now sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Durham was tasked with looking into the origins of the probe into possible collusion between President Donald Trumps campaign and Russia. The investigation includes looking at actions taken by private actors, Attorney General William Barr said in December 2019. Hes not just looking at the FBI, Barr said. Hes looking at other agencies and departments and also private actors. So its a much broader investigation. Durham is also looking at the FBIs use of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants and actions taken by other agencies such as the CIA. He is not just looking at the FISA aspect of it. He is looking at all the conduct both before and after the election, Barr said. In December, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz released his teams report on the FBIs use of FISA. Horowitz found that FBI officials made a slew of omissions in applying to spy on Trump campaign associate Carter Page, including purposefully omitting that Page was a CIA asset. Donald Trump's impeachment defense team on Tuesday will end its opening arguments on the seventh day of the Senate trial. After the team concludes their arguments Tuesday night, the Senate will spend the next few days casting votes on what to do next, including a resolution on whether to allow the defense and prosecution to call new witnesses to testify in the trial. The president's defense is arguing that the articles abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are not actually impeachable offenses, according to the Constitution. Trump's legal team opened up an all-out attack on Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joe Biden's son, on the second day of its defense Monday, unleashing White House advisor Pam Bondi to accuse him of cashing in on his powerful father. 'We would prefer not to be talking about this,' Bondi said of the Bidens in the trial where primarily the Democrats and prosecution brought up the father-son duo to make the case that Trump held up millions in security aide to Ukraine to get an investigation of his political rival. 'We would prefer not to be discussing this,' the former Florida attorney general continued in her argument on the Senate floor Monday. 'But the House managers have placed this squarely at issue, so we must address it.' Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi defended Donald Trump during the sixth day of impeachment proceedings Monday, tearing into Hunter and Joe Biden. 'We would prefer not to be discussing this,' Bondi said of the Bidens. 'But the House managers have placed this squarely at issue, so we must address it' The defense wants to call Joe (left) and Hunter Biden (right) to testify if witnesses are permitted in the Senate impeachment trial claiming their 'corruption' in Ukraine is at the center of the proceedings She then opened up an attack on Hunter, whose personal struggles have drawn headlines amid disclosures about his work for the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. Another one of Trump's attorneys, Eric Herschmann, suggested that then-President Barack Obama should have been impeached for saying he would have more 'flexibility' to deal with Russia after the 2012 election. Bondi described how Hunter Biden joined the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings as a board member even after warning signs about it, and chose not to relinquish his role amid cautions from his business partners. 'Remember, this is just one month after the United Kingdom serious fraud office opened a money laundering case into Burisma, Hunter Biden joins their board,' said Bondi. Democrats argued during their opening last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani had a key role in the events that led to the impeachment inquiry. But the defense pushed back on this claim Monday, insisting that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was only a 'minor player' and a 'distraction' from the real issues at hand the Bidens potential corruption. Jane Raskin, one of Trump's defense lawyers, downplayed Giuliani's role as an unofficial presidential envoy to the Ukraine government, and lauded him as a 'national hero' for his leadership of New York City after 9/11. 'In this trial, in this moment, Mr. Giuliani is just a minor player, that shiny object designed to distract you,' Raskin said on the Senate floor. 'Senators, I urge you most respectfully, do not be distracted.' Giuliani, Democrats charge, engaged in shadow diplomacy in Ukraine, including corresponding with President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation into Hunter's role at Burisma. The defense also found itself having to address Monday a bombshell report that emerged over the weekend revealing Trump's former National Security Advisor John Bolton details in a new book his first-hand account of the president linking Ukraine military aid to a probe into the Bidens. Alan Dershowitz, a liberal Democrat lawyer brought on to engage in opening arguments against Trump's removal, told senators in a prime-time law lecture Monday that Bolton's revelations about a quid pro quo 'even if true' must not be used to remove Trump from office. Despite the defense's dismissal of the revelations that emerged from the leaked Bolton manuscript, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested the upcoming book just helps the prosecution's case in demanding new witnesses. 'The New York Times reported on several stunning chapters from Ambassador Bolton's book,' Schumer said during a press conference Tuesday morning. 'The same New York Times story places Mick Mulvaney at the center of this plot. He's more important, probably, than Bolton. And the emails from Duffey and Blair the two other witnesses we seek are even more relevant as this information comes out,' Schumer continued. 'So I understand why Leader McConnell and President Trump wanted a very short, incredibly rushed trial: because they longer it goes on, the more likely that new evidence, and more new evidence will comes out that further implicates the president,' he told reporters at the Capitol. Democrats in the Senate want to hear from witnesses they say are relevant: Bolton, acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, his senior advisor Robert Blair and associate director of the Office of Management and Budget's National Security Program, Michael Duffey. Blair was in the room when Trump held the infamous July 25 phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart and Duffey was given authority by the White House to freeze millions in military aid to the Eastern European nation. Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor and former O.J. Simpson attorney, made the impassioned plea as the headliner at Monday's impeachment trial, appearing after numerous other Trump lawyers at the end of the second-day of Trump's defense. He revisited his controversial argument that 'Abuse of Power' does not constitute an impeachable offense, telling senators that the Founders specifically rejected such vague terms when hashing out the Constitution in Philadelphia. Alan Dershowitz, an attorney for President Donald Trump referenced a new book manuscript by former national security advisor John Bolton, saying it can't be used to remove Trump from office even if the claims are true He counted it among the 'vague, open-ended, and subjective terms that the framers feared and rejected.' 'Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense,' said Dershowitz, who has been a strong defender of the president's on Fox news and in other venues. 'If a president, any president, were to have done what the [New York] Times reported about the contact of the Bolton manuscript, that would not constitute and impeachable offense,' Dershowitz intoned. 'It is inconceivable that the framers would have intended so politically loaded and promiscuously deployed a term as abuse of power to be weaponized as a tool of impeachment,' he said. At one point he turned to opposing Democratic lawyers, and said: 'I'm sorry, House managers, you just picked the wrong criteria. You picked the most dangerous possible criteria to serve as a precedent for with you we supervise future presidents.' After dissing the language they chose for the name of the articles, he acknowledged that they were not 'saved' by the inclusion of 'somewhat more specific but still non criminal-type conduct.' Dershowitz spoke about himself at several junctures, noting he didn't vote for Trump and casting himself as an independent voice. He said the founders sought to wall off impeachment for the most severe crimes treason and bribery but not conduct that was 'sinful' or 'dishonest.' Among the disclosures reported about from the Bolton manuscript is that Trump told him in August 2019 that he wouldn't release millions in frozen military aid to Ukraine unless it publicly announced it was investigating the Bidens. Democratic impeachment members have repeatedly alleged the episode as part of their case for abuse of power, and demanded the Senate hear from Bolton as a witness under oath. Even as he acknowledged his view that only crime-like offenses could be subject to impeachment was a minority view in academia, Dershowitz placed the blame on the academy for that and deftly delivered his points in a time slot that was a lead-in to Fox News host Sean Hannity. Dershowitz addressed the bombshell report about John Bolton's book after its disclosure shook up the debate over allowing witnesses in the impeachment with key senators acknowledging Bolton information had an impact and even batting around proposals of a one-for-one trade for allowing witnesses. Dershowitz kept the attention of lawmakers who during prior presentations have wandered, left the room, or found ways to distract themselves. Reading from printed notes but gesticulating like the conductor of a law school seminar, he referenced U.S. and British political figures who battled over past impeachments. Bondi brought up in her arguments attacking Hunter Biden that his business partner Chris Heinz, who backed away after disclosures. 'He thought that working for Burisma was unacceptable,' she said. Bondi quoted liberally from 'public reporting' even calling up slides of publications the president regularly derides, including ABC News, which reported on potential conflicts of interest at the time Hunter landed the lucrative gig, and the Washington Post. 'It said the appointment of the vice president's son to a Ukrainian oil board looks nepotistic at best, nefarious at worst,' Bondi said. 'We would prefer not to be talking about this,' said Bondi as she brought up Hunter Biden READ THE ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST DONALD TRUMP In 1,414 words, the articles of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives lay out two charges against President Donald Trump. Article I: Abuse of Power Using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election. He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage. President Trump also sought to pressure the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by conditioning official United States Government acts of significant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the investigations. President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of personal political benefit. In so doing, President Trump used the powers of the Presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process.' Article II: Obstruction of Congress As part of this impeachment inquiry, the Committees undertaking the investigation served subpoenas seeking documents and testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various Executive Branch agencies and offices, and current and former officials. In response, without lawful cause or excuse, President Trump directed Executive Branch agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, and assumed to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the 'sole Power of Impeachment' vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives. In the history of the Republic, no President has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate 'high Crimes and Misdemeanors.'' This abuse of office served to cover up the President's own repeated misconduct and to seize and control the power of impeachment -- and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the House of Representatives. Advertisement Bondi also included video of Hunter Biden acknowledging that he 'probably' wouldn't have gotten the gig if he weren't Biden's son. Hunter Biden has not been accused of any criminal behavior connected to the deal, although company head Mykola Zlochevsky had accounts frozen during Ukrainian investigation that later got halted. 'Did Hunter Biden stop working for Burisma? No Did Vice President Biden stop leading the Obama administration's foreign policy efforts in Ukraine? No,' said Bondi. Biden's role raised concerns by State Department official George Kent, who brought the potential of a conflict of interest to higher-ups. Following Bondi's presentation, fellow Trump lawyer Eric Herschmann took up the cause, also going over Hunter Biden's Ukraine connections. He also pivoted to President Obama, recalling his hot-mic conversation with then Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who promised to transmit information to 'Vladimir' during a conversation about a missile defense treaty. Obama told Medvedev in South Korea in 2012 - who despite his title was actually junior partner to Putin - that 'this is my last election,' and said: 'After my election I have more flexibility.' Medvedev replied: 'I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.' The hot mic moment was to become a favorite Republican talking point against Obama. Herschmann suggested that it could have been used to impeach Obama then read his version of the first article of impeachment - abuse of power - changing Trump's name for Obama's and the Ukraine aid allegations for what Obama said. Inside the Senate chamber, majority of Senators from both sides of the aisle sat stony faced, listening in silence as required. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker stood leaning on his desk chair, face grim, during part of Bondi's presentation. Trump's team resumed its efforts to blast the case against him and defend the president's interactions with Ukraine with Independent Counsel Ken Starr taking making the case that impeachment is invoked 'all too frequently.' Starr, who led the impeachment case in the same chamber in 1999, bemoaned the arrival of an 'age of impeachment' without sufficient justification. 'Like war, impeachment is hell. Or at least, presidential impeachment is hell,' said Starr. Starr began his remarks hours after bombshell revelations in a new book manuscript claimed the president personally tied millions in military aide to Biden investigations. He took to the well of the Senate to attack 'a series of deficiencies' in the impeachment articles that passed the House, according to fellow Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow. 'Judge Starr is very familiar with this process,' said Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow, alluding to Starr's role leading the charge to remove President Bill Clinton from office during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Starr began his remarks not by pointing to fights over Trump's July 25 call with the president of Ukraine or the murky way a whistleblower came to light but with a history lesson that referenced the Nixon impeachment, Iran Contra, and other partisan clashes then went back to the British parliament of the 19th Century. 'Like war, impeachment is hell,' former Independent Counsel Ken Starr told senators as a member of President Donald Trump's impeachment defense 'Instead of a once in a century phenomenon, which it had been, presidential impeachment has become a weapon,' he said. As other Trump lawyers had noted, the trial occurs with an election around the corner. Adam Schiff countered this in his own arguments by arguing Trump was trying to invite interference in the election which could call it's fairness into doubt. 'There is a huge prudential factor that this trial is occurring in an election year when we the people in a matter of months will go to the polls,' Starr said. Rather than the impeachment remedy, Starr invoked the 'tradition of oversight,' which he called 'an enormous check on presidential power.' If there is a dispute over documents and witnesses, 'Then go to court. It really is as simple as that,' said Starr. Democrats included an 'Obstruction of Congress' article after the administration refused to provide documents or make witnesses available for the impeachment inquiry in the House. When Starr was done, New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was unimpressed. 'I'm not sure who he was talking to but his arguments were exceedingly thin and did not bear out,' she told DailyMail.com. On Starr's remark that impeachment is hell, she said: 'I thought that it was an absurd argument and quite rich coming from him.' Trump's high-powered legal team took to the well of the Senate Monday to resume a defense they began on Saturday, when the president complained many Americans wouldn't be tuning in due to the timing. Before the lawyers made their case, Senate Chaplain Barry Black made note of tragic news, referencing the helicopter crash that killed L.A. Lakers great Kobe Bryant. 'We think about life's brevity, uncertainty and legacy,' said Black. Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow sketched out how the day's arguments would go after Trump once again pressed his own case with Twitter attacks over the weekend. 'We do not deal with speculation, allegations that are not based on evidentiary standards at all,' said Sekulow. 'The president was all times acting under his constitutional authority, under his legal authority, in our national interest pursuant to his oath of office,' Sekulow argued. Republicans senators are saying it's increasingly likely there will be witnesses called in Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the wake of revelations from John Bolton's forth coming book. Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins - two crucial votes in the Democrats' quest to bring more witnesses in the trial - said it's important to hear from the former national security adviser. They also both said they have spoken with their colleagues about the topic, which could be seen as a warning to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that support is there for such a move. LEGAL SHOWDOWN AT THE CAPITOL: Trump impeachment attorney Kenneth Starr arrives at the U.S. Capitol on the sixth day of the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, in Washington, DC, Monday, January 27, 2020 Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr stands before a crowd of reporters and photographers outside the Justice Department and answers questions about his investigation into President Clinton and intern Monica Lewinsky, Washington DC, January 22, 1998. Clinton was acquitted in the Senate. Starr on Monday warned against partisan impeachments Ken Starr, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks during the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020 Mitt Romney and Susan Collins said it's increasingly likely witnesses will be called in Donald Trump's impeachment trial Both senators cited revelations from John Bolton's forthcoming book as reasons they want to hear from him JOHN BOLTON'S KEY REVELATIONS John Bolton makes a series of bombshell claims in his book, according to the part of the manuscript seen by the New York Times. They are: Trump told Bolton in August 2019 that he would not release military aid to the Ukraine until they investigated the Bidens and claims of trying to intervene in 2016 in favor of Hillary Clinton Mike Pompeo privately admitted that Rudy Giuliani's claims Marie Yovanovitch were corrupt were baseless - and that he suspected they were being made to help other Giuliani clients Bolton warned White House lawyers that he feared Giuliani was using his work with the president to help his private clients Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff, was present at least once when Trump and Giuliani discussed Yovanovitch. Mulvaney has told 'associates' he stepped away from such conversations Pompeo told Bill Barr that he was mentioned in the July call with Zelensky. The Justice Department claims Barr did not know until mid-August Trump railed about Ukraine trying to 'damage' him in May 2019 when he met Ron Johnson, a Republican senator who was going to Zelensky's inauguration. And Trump also mentioned the conspiracy theory that Ukraine had a hacked Democratic server Bill Barr expressed concerns about Trump doing personal favors for autocrats including China's Xi and Turkey's Erdogan when Bolton raised the issue with him Advertisement Democrats need four Republican senators to cross to their side and vote to subpoena witnesses. 'It's increasingly apparent that it would be important to hear from John Bolton,' Romney told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday. 'I of course will make a final decision on witnesses after we hear not only from the prosecution but from the defense,' he said. 'I think at this stage it's fair to say John Bolton has a relevant testimony.' He added that he expected other Republicans to join the call for Bolton to testify. 'I think it's increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton,' he said. 'I have spoken with others who have opined upon this.' A senior Democratic congressional staffer working on impeachment told DailyMail.com Monday that, 'We had no communication with Mr. Bolton or Mr. Bolton's lawyers.' Bolton has said he will testify if subpoenaed by the Senate. Collins also said she was leaning toward voting for witnesses. 'From the beginning, I've said that in fairness to both parties the decision on whether or not to call witnesses should be made after both the House managers and the president's attorneys have had the opportunity to present their cases. I've always said that I was likely to vote to call witnesses just as I did in the 1999 Clinton trial,' she said in a statement Monday. 'The reports about John Bolton's book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues,' she added. Other Republican senators have weighed in as lawmakers return to Washington for day two of President Trump's defense team. 'We don't know what's in there other than what's being leaked. My guess is John Bolton tells the truth,' said Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Bolton and Johnson had spoken in August - when Bolton still worked in the White House - about aid to Ukraine. Bolton urged Johnson to call President Trump directly on the matter, which the senator did. Some of the president's defenders, however, have charged Bolton with trying to sell a book. Bolton was fired from the White House in September of last year 'Truly there's nothing new here. It does seem to be an effort to sell books. I think there's going to be a new revelation every day. Today's just one more day,' said Republican Sen. John Barrasso. 'I don't think it changes any fundamental information of the basic case, that the House has to put the case together,' said Sen. Roy Blunt. McConnell has said the Senate will vote on calling witnesses after opening arguments are made. That would set up a vote sometime this week. President Trump denied the charges in Bolton's book Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Monday that Bolton's book puts increased pressure on the Senate to call witnesses. 'The eyes of America are on Republicans in the Senate,' he said. The impeachment trial was upended Sunday night when The New York Times reported on a leaked copy of an unpublished manuscript for the new book Bolton is writing. 'The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,' is scheduled to be published March 17. In it, Bolton wrote that the president told him he wanted to freeze military aid to Ukraine until the Eastern European nation helped with political investigations into his political rivals. Trump has denied the charge. 'I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book,' he tweeted in response. The president also told reporters at the White House on Monday that he has not seen Bolton's manuscript. Bolton had sent it to the White House for pre-publishing clear, which is required by federal law when former government employees with security clearances are writing about their time in government service in order to assure classified information is not compromised. Sarah Tinsley, an advisor to Bolton, said in a statement: 'The ambassador's manuscript was transmitted to the White House in hard copy several weeks ago for pre-publication review by the NSC. The ambassador has not passed the draft manuscript to anyone else. Period.' The head of the 3A Institute (3Ai) at the Australian National University (ANU), Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell, has been named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AC). Bell was recognised for distinguished service to education, particularly to the social sciences and cultural anthropology. Prior to joining ANU, Bell was Intels in-house cultural anthropologist. While at the chip-maker she founded its user experience group. In 2008 she was announced as an Intel Fellow for her work in the companys digital home group. In 2016 she was appointed Senior Fellow by Intel. ANU in 2017 announced that Bell would lead its new 3A Institute (Autonomy, Agency and Assurance), which takes a cross-disciplinary approach to examining artificial intelligence. It isnt just about engineering and computer science, its also about anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics, philosophy, public policy and many other disciplines you have got to put it all together to get to the best answers possible, ANU vice-chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt said at the time. Professor Bells extraordinary experience and depth of knowledge in this area will ensure Australia remains prepared to meet the big social, cultural and political questions around our technological future. Earlier this month Bell was announced as the inaugural Engelbart Distinguished Fellow by SRI International, named after computer pioneer Doug Engelbart. SRI International said that the two-year fellowship recognises visionaries who are disrupting the traditional way we interact with and view technology. Doug Engelbart is one of the founders of modern personal computing and had a profound impact on all our lives, Bell said. Doug invented the tools that helped drive one of the greatest, if not the greatest, technological revolutions the world has ever seen. It is a privilege to win this fellowship. But working in this area also brings important responsibilities and ones I dont take lightly and which this fellowship will help meet. Our world is becoming ever more intertwined and driven by the power of AI. It is permeating everything; not just computers, but cars, buildings, services and streetlights, Bell said. So it is vital that we develop the skills and knowledge for this world. So it is vital that we develop the skills and knowledge for this world. But its not just about building new technology. We have to think carefully about its impact. We shouldnt just ask can we do it; we need to ask should we do it and how can we do it in a way that benefits everyone. A 33-year-old woman associated with the film industry has written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) alleging that Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya used to make her watch porn videos whenever she visited his office in suburban Andheri. In a complaint filed with the Amboli police here, the woman, an assistant choreographer, has alleged that Acharya and two women assaulted her during a function of the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association (IFTCA) held in Andheri on Sunday. The Maharashtra State Commission for Women (MSCW) has now written to the Amboli police, asking them to submit a report in the matter within a week. Apart from Acharya (48), the assistant choreographer has named two women, Jayashree Kelkar and Preeti Lad, members of his choreography team, in her complaint for assault, a police official said on Tuesday. However, the Amboli police have also received a cross- complaint against the assistant choreographer from Lad and Kelkar, he said. Senior inspector Someshwar Kamthe said, "We have registered the cross-complaint and will be calling the woman (the assistant choreographer) to the police station as part of further probe." Calls made to Acharya for his reaction remained unanswered. In her letter to the NCW, the woman, a resident of suburban Bhayandar, claimed that Acharya forced her to watch adult videos whenever she visited his office. In her police complaint, she alleged Acharya had been also demanding commission from her for working in the film industry. The complainant is also a member of the IFTCA. Acharya, general secretary of the IFTCA, used to frequently call the complainant to his office in Andheri, the official said, quoting the complaint. On January 26, when the assistant choreographer reached the IFTCA office, Acharya shouted at her and announced that she was being "suspended", the police official said. Acharya grew furious after the woman told him that she is also an IFTCA member and allegedly asked his team member Kelkar to slap her, the official said. "Kelkar and Preeti Lad hit me in public view which was captured on the CCTV," the complainant stated. The police have registered a non-cognisable (NC) offence and are investigating the matter, the official added. NC offence refers to an offence in which the police have no authority to apprehend a person for crime on their own. Under this law, the police require a warrant to arrest an accused and a court's prior approval to begin investigation. Meanwhile, in their letter to the police, the MSCW has stated they have received a complaint from the woman, alleging she was not allowed to work in the industry and Acharya was demanding commission from her and forcing her to watch adult videos. The MSCW has asked the police to take action in the matter and submit a report within seven days, another official said. Speaking to PTI, the assistant choreographer said, "I appeared before the state commission and I will submit a fresh letter to them on Wednesday." She further alleged there are others who have been sexually assaulted by Acharya, who would pay his dancers less than standard rates and sometimes not pay them at all. Acharya is using his IFTCA post to take out his "personal grudges" on dancers and other members, she claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man was jailed Friday in the violent death of a German shepherd puppy. Joseph Dewayne Lloyd, 34, of Dayton, is being charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals, a third-degree felony. On Jan. 23, Lloyd allegedly killed the puppy through kicking and strangulation, according to court records. The defendants conduct was not generally accepted and otherwise lawful form of conduct occurring solely for the purpose of or in support of fishing, hunting, or trapping; or wildlife management, wildlife or depredation control, or shooting preserve practices as regulated by state and federal law, or animal husbandry or agriculture practice involving livestock animals, court documents state. As of Tuesday morning, Lloyd is being held at the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 bond, jail records show. According to public records, Lloyd has 13 convictions in Texas for misdemeanor offenses and one jail state felony conviction on a 2016 obstruction and retaliation charge. Lloyds arrest is at least the second in as many months for charges alleging violence towards dogs in Montgomery County. On Dec. 31, Devlin James Derek Andrews, 20, of Conroe, was taken into custody and charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals. Andrews, court records state, set a dog on fire. He is currently being held on a $30,000 bond at the Montgomery County Jail, according to jail records. In July, a 30-year-old Spring man was taken into custody and charged with stalking for allegedly threatening his ex-girlfriend with cutting her dogs throat. His trial by jury is set for April. jose.gonzalez@chron.com twitter.com/jrgzztx SAO PAULO, Brazil During the jury selection process for Harvey Weinsteins criminal trial this month, dozens of women gathered outside a Manhattan courthouse to perform a version of the dance/chant known as Un violador en tu camino, or A Rapist in Your Path. First in Spanish, then in English, they sang: Patriarchy is our judge that imprisons us at birth/And our punishment is the violence you dont see. This performance, which quickly went viral, was created last year by the feminist collective Lastesis in Valparaiso, Chile, and is based on the work of the Argentine-Brazilian anthropologist Rita Segato. The lyrics describe how the state upholds systematic violations of womens rights, through institutions such as the judiciary and the police. Its not just that members of those institutions simply disregard the complaints looking the other way, doubting the victims but that they are often the perpetrators themselves. This oppressive state is a macho rapist, the chant goes. Un violador en tu camino was first performed in front of a police station by a small group during a protest in Valparaiso on Nov. 20. It was then repeated five days later in the capital, Santiago, by hundreds of activists on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. In early December, a group of thousands sang the anthem together outside Santiagos National Stadium, which was a detention and torture center during Chiles military dictatorship. (In one verse, the song mentions the disappearance of women.) The departing boss of Sainsbury's has denied that his exit was prompted by the botched merger with Asda as he said it was 'absolutely' his choice to leave the supermarket. Mike Coupe, who was caught singing 'We're in the Money' on the day the proposed 14billion deal was announced, said last week that he would step down at the end of May after six years in charge. His decision came less than a year after the merger was blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority, which in April said prices were more likely to go up after a deal. Coupe, 59, said he always wanted to 'stop and do something different' when reaching 60 But Coupe, 59, said that had nothing to do with his departure and that he'd always wanted to stop working at 60 to 'do something different'. Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme whether he had paid the price for the failed merger, Mr Coupe said: 'No. It was absolutely my choice. 'If you looked at our annual general meeting last year, 99.5 per cent of our shareholders voted for me to carry on what I'm doing. It's absolutely my choice. 'It's something I've promised myself throughout my career, that at the age of 60 I will stop and do something different with my life.' Coupe, who has spent 15 years at Sainsbury's, said he is approaching his 60th birthday and is planning to 'take some time off and spend time with my family'. He is set to be replaced by head of retail and operations Simon Roberts, a former managing director of Boots in the UK. When asked whether the competition watchdog has now made another large merger in the supermarket sector 'impossible', Coupe said it was now 'a difficult moment' but that 'ultimately the industry will consolidate'. 'You see the amount of change that is going on in the world of retail, who knows what will happen in the next five to 10 years, but one way or another there will be a significant rationalisation of brands you have taken for granted for a generation,' he said. The comments came as the supermarket pledged 1billion towards making its operations 'net zero' carbon emissions by 2040 - a decade earlier than the UK's legal goal. Amid a heated back-and-forth over Paige Pattersons invitation to speak at a Florida church, the former Southern Baptist Convention leaders supporters and opponents seem to agree on at least one thing: The #MeToo movement is changing the way some Baptists evaluate who is eligible for public ministry. After Patterson was announced last month as a speaker at Fellowship Churchs Great Commission Weekend, fellow Southern Baptists and survivor advocates urged leaders to take him off the lineup in light of his 2018 termination from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and allegations he mishandled students sexual abuse reports at multiple SBC seminaries. Last week, SBC president J. D. Greear waded into the discussion, urging churches to consider Pattersons past before inviting him to speak. Yet, Paige Patterson and his wife, Dorothy, remain top-billed for next weekends event. Timothy Pigg, pastor of Fellowship Church, told CT the church has received dozens of emails and phone calls about Patterson. The congregations social media traffic has increased approximately tenfold since announcing Patterson as a conference speaker, and its local newspaper, the Naples Daily News, reported on criticism of the church. Two leaders with the Florida Baptist Convention were scheduled to speak at the conference but have withdrawn. Approximately 150200 people are expected to attend. Sexual abuse victims advocate Susan Codone tweeted a request that people contact the church and ask it to withdraw Pattersons invitation because the #SBC and the many harmed by the Pattersons deserve better. Among Southern Baptists, adultery and divorce used to be the only sins thought to disqualify a person from public ministry, said Barry Hankins, a Baylor University historian who has written extensively on the SBC. But now, mishandling abuse may be joining the list. Things have changed so quickly across American culture with the #MeToo movement, whether youre talking about Hollywood on one end or the Southern Baptist Convention on the other, Hankins told Christianity Today. He said that Americans moved from thinking, Lets not make a big deal out of sexual abuse, to thinking, Its a big deal, and anyone who doesnt make a big deal out of it needs to be singled out. On Friday, president Greear cautioned churches to think twice before hosting Patterson, when asked by the Houston Chronicle about this weekends conference. Trustees terminated Paige Patterson for cause, publicly disclosing that his conduct was antithetical to the core values of our faith. I advise any Southern Baptist church to consider this severe action before having Dr. Patterson preach or speak and to contact trustee officers if additional information is necessary, said Greear, who himself studied under Patterson as his doctoral advisor and long saw him as a model and mentor in ministry. Now, many Patterson supporters seem to agree with his concern, but some critics claim Greears statement violates the biblical principle of local church autonomy by attempting to govern a congregation from the outsidepushback that has followed every effort by the denomination to strengthen its response to abuse. The critics also say Patterson is not guilty of mishandling abuse. Patterson told CT, President Greear has every right to hold any opinion of my life and ministry that he wishes. While I read his persuasion with great sorrow, he has a right to publish his views as far as he wishes. If he is accurate, I deserve it. If false, I leave the matter in the hands of God confident that God will excel in mercy and justice at all times. Patterson was removed from his presidential role at Southwestern in 2018 and terminated a week later. Trustees cited information regarding Pattersons handling of an allegation of sexual abuse at another institution (presumably Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he was president from 19922003). Patterson also is being sued for allegedly mishandling a students claim of being sexually assaulted at Southwestern. Patterson has denied any wrongdoing at either seminary. Over the past year, he has continued to preach at multiple Southern Baptist churches, including Victory Baptist Church in Rowlett, Texas, where he was recently given a Defender of the Faith Award. Scott Colter, Pattersons former chief of staff at Southwestern and a fellow speaker at the Great Commission Weekend, called Greears comments about Patterson a monumental overreach and misuse of his role as SBC president. While some assume that hosting leaders surrounded in controversy will become too great a risk for churches, certain pastors now may see it instead as an opportunity to flex their independence. Colter said he heard from several pastors who responded to Greears remarks by inviting Patterson to preach. Pigg, pastor of Fellowship Church, views Pattersons appearance as a local church autonomy issue rather than a #MeToo issue. In a January 17 letter to Fellowship Church members, Pigg wrote that the allegations Patterson mishandled abuse have been dispelled and none of the actual reasons for his termination at Southwestern would disqualify him biblically from occupying our pulpit, according to a copy of the letter provided to CT. Greear told the Chronicle that local church autonomy does not negate the need to take our mutual accountability to each other more seriously than we have in the past. If our system of governance means anything, it means exercising due diligence and heeding what those whom we put in positions of trustee oversight have reported about official misconduct. Preventing and responding to sexual abuse continues to be an emphasis during the second year of Greears two-year presidency. While abuse advocates inside and outside the SBC have applauded Greears remarks, few major SBC leaders have joined him to speak out. Very grateful someone took a stand, tweeted Rachael Denhollander. Autonomy does not mean silence and lack of accountability. The most important thing we can do is speak the truth and push each other towards righteousness. May we see more of this, and deeper action still. Patterson is the first SBC entity executive to be terminated in the #MeToo era amid allegations of mishandling abuse. That has made his situation something of a new frontier for Southern Baptistsand a possible precedent for other leaders who have been fired or have stepped down over mishandling abuse allegations. Patterson got caught in doing things the old way, Hankins said. Hes an egregious offender but not singular by any means. Online chatter also has surrounded other Southern Baptists accused of abuse and mishandling abuse, especially after Greear last year publicly listed 10 churches alleged to have displayed a wanton disregard for the seriousness of abuse. As accused ministers accept speaking engagements or begin new ministry ventures, more controversy is likely to ensue. (Attention has returned to influential SBC preacher Jerry Vines, who is alleged to have concealed claims of abuse alongside Patterson, according to reporting by the Chronicle. The pastor whose abuse he is accused of covering upDarrell Gilyardrecently returned to the pulpit again.) The heighted awareness of the whole sexual assault [issue] is just radioactive right now, Hankins said. A contingent of younger Southern Baptist conservatives are saying that this old-boy, Southern Baptist way of doing things has just got to go, and the whole sexual assault scandal within the SBC has just raised the awareness. The SBC Voices blog has speculated that inviting Patterson to preach could carry consequences for a church within the broader SBC. A January 14 post by William Thornton theorized that Fellowship Church has been reported to the SBCs newly constituted Credentials Committee, which considers reports of a churchs alleged departure from Southern Baptist polity, doctrine, or practice. The Credentials Committee is charged with reporting to the SBC Executive Committee, which meets next month in Nashville, Tennessee. David Roach is a writer in Nashville, Tennessee. More Australians are choosing healthier drinks, such as kombucha, probiotic potions and fresh juices, over alcohol, indicating a shift in our attitudes towards drinking. In a new study, University of South Australia researcher Dr Rob Hallak interviewed 400 managers of pubs, restaurants and cafes to understand the impact of a growing demand for healthier options. Kombucha is replacing alcohol as a popular choice in bars as drinking habits shift towards more healthy alternatives. Credit:Fairfax Media Drink sales account for 40 per cent of the countrys $45 billion annual spend on eating out, with health drink sales reaching $2.1 billion in 2018. Kombucha sales alone have increased by more than 700 per cent in recent years. Fourteen persons convicted for killing Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat riots were granted bail by the Supreme Court on Tuesday on the condition that they engage in community service and spiritual activities. Appeals filed by them against their conviction by the Gujarat high court are pending before the apex court. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde ordered that the convicts, once released, should be split into two batches, one sent to Indore and the other to Jabalpur where they will engage in social work. The convicts should stay out of Gujarat and their conduct should be supervised and monitored by district legal services authorities, the bench ordered. The legal services authorities, the court directed, should submit periodical reports to the court regarding the conduct of the convicts. After the order was delivered by the court, there was lack of clarity on whether the case pertained to the Ode case the Sardarpura both incidents date back to March 2002 and happened after Hindu pilgrims were burnt to death in a train in Godhra . The lawyer for the petitioners told the press that the case pertained to Ode. The order of the Supreme Court was not available at the time of writing. Twenty-three Muslims lost their lives in the Ode massacre after a mob burnt down a house in which they had taken shelter in Ode village in Anand district of Gujarat. Forty-seven accused were tried and as many as 158 witnesses examined in the trial which began in 2009. The trial court, on April 12, 2012, convicted 23 people while acquitting the same number of accused. Out of the 23 who were convicted, 18 were awarded life imprisonment while five were handed seven-years imprisonment. One person died during the trial. The Gujarat high court, in appeal against the trial court verdict, confirmed the conviction of nineteen out of the twenty-three convicted by trial court. Out of the nineteen who were convicted, fourteen were given life imprisonment while five were given seven years. In the Sardarpura case, thirty-three Muslims were killed. A special court convicted thirty-one persons for the killings and awarded life imprisonment to them. The Gujarat high court on October 2016 upheld the conviction of 17, while acquitting 14. An Olmsted County District Court judge ruled Monday that a man charged with murder will be restrained in some fashion during his jury trial. More than an hours worth of arguments were made in the case of Malcolm Jammal Woods, who is representing himself. Judge Jacob Allen ruled that Woods would be restrained with a stun belt placed around his ankle during the course of the trial and questioning of potential jurors. Woods, 28, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree murder with intent in the September 2018 killing of 38-year-old Brandon Arndt. Woods also faces a charge of possession of ammunition/any firearm with a previous conviction for a crime of violence. A grand jury returned the indictments on March 14, 2019. Woods pleaded not guilty to the charges in May and has been held on $2 million unconditional bail since Oct. 1, 2018. Senior Assistant Olmsted County Attorney Erin Gustafson, who is co-counsel in the trial, requested that Woods be physically restrained during the trial over concerns for court security and safety. In most cases, criminal defendants who are incarcerated at the time of their trial are not handcuffed or shackled in front of a jury, as it is seen as prejudicial. ADVERTISEMENT During Monday mornings hearing, two sergeants with the Olmsted County Sheriffs Office answered questions about Woods behavior in the courtroom as well as during the trip from the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center to the courtroom. A total of 19 exhibits were also presented, including transcripts from five phone calls Woods made at the jail. Woods is alleged to have made threatening remarks in the phone calls, most recently one on Saturday. Woods allegedly said the only reason he was going through with the trial was so that he could "beat up someone." It is believed that the "someone" Woods was referring to in the call was codefendant Darien Kristopher Klindworth-Woods. Woods did not raise any objections to the motion. He did not speak throughout the morning and did not question the first potential juror of the afternoon. For most of the day, Woods sole interaction with the court proceedings was to stand when the first potential juror entered the courtroom. Klindworth-Woods was scheduled for trial to begin on the same day as Woods, but that trial has been scheduled for a later date. He is charged with two counts of second-degree murder charges to which he has pleaded not guilty. He has been released on bond since September 2019. Codefendant Kielah Parsons is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Jan. 30, with a trial date of Feb. 3. In November, she pleaded not guilty to two felony second-degree murder charges. Parsons has been held on $500,000 unconditional bail since her October 2018 arrest. More than 60 people were called as potential jurors for the trial, and each will be individually questioned. A total of 14 jurors are needed for trial. Jury selection is expected to continue Tuesday morning. She is currently single following her high-profile split from NRL star Sam Burgess. And on Tuesday, former WAG Phoebe Burgess showed her ex what he was missing as she flaunted her svelte frame in a leopard-print swimsuit at the beach. Posing for a candid photograph in the low-cut design, the 30-year-old captioned the snap: 'Not perfect, but it made two humans.' 'Not perfect, but it made two humans': Former WAG Phoebe Burgess showed off her svelte figure in a swimsuit at the beach this week following split from ex-husband Sam Burgess Phoebe shares two children with ex-partner and South Sydney Rabbitohs star Sam - three-year-old daughter Poppy, and son Billy, one. Enjoying a beach day with her children, the blonde was all smiles in the photograph, which highlighted her toned physique. Last week, Phoebe shared similar photos from the outing, where she wore the racy high-cut swimmers. Living her best life? The blonde mother-of-two was all smiles while she flaunted her toned physique in the animal-print swimsuit Busy mama! Phoebe shares two children with ex-partner and South Sydney Rabbitohs star Sam- three-year-old daughter Poppy, and son Billy, one 'Just a mum, standing in front of a cabana, pushing the pram... begging him to fall asleep,' she joked at the time. Phoebe was overjoyed to see that Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel, 31, had 'liked' one of her beachside snaps in the leopard-print design. 'Fan girling,' Phobe captioned a screenshot documenting Candice's 'like' on her swimsuit picture. Like Phoebe, Candice also has two children -sons Ariel,one, and Anaca, three - with an ex-partner, former fiance Hermann Nicoli. Sam first split from estranged wife Phoebe in December 2018, less than a month after their second child, son Billy, was born. After attempting to resurrect their relationship in April 2019, the pair separated for a second time in October, ending their marriage for good. Over: Phoebe split with husband Sam, 30, for a second time in October last year. They first split in December 2018, less than a month after their son Billy was born A brand new film is being hailed the scariest ghost story in years following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The buzz surrounds The Night House, a film directed by David Bruckner (The Ritual), which stars Rebecca Hall in what is said to be a towering and incredible performance. The film, which also stars Stacy Martin and Sarah Goldberg, received its world premiere at the festivals Midnight section a few days back and word-of-mouth is spreading like wildfire. The Night House tells the story of a woman who is haunted by her deceased husband in the house he built for her years before. Its said to evoke the chills of 1970s horror while also featuring jump scares akin to Ari Asters Hereditary, which was a Sundance breakout in 2018. 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Show all 37 1 /37 37 horror films that are genuinely scary 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Funny Games (1997) Directed by: Michael Haneke. Funny Games places the horror in the familiar setting of home. It follows two young men who hold a family hostage and torture them with sadistic games. The result is far scarier than anything featuring ghosts, witches or demons. Concorde-Castle Rock/Turner 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Amityville Horror (1979) Directed by: Stuart Rosenberg. The Amityville Horror is based on the true story of the Lutzes, a family who were run out of their home after being terrorised by paranormal phenomena in 1975. Just one year before, Ronald DeFeo Jr shot and killed six members of his family in the same house. James Brolin and Margot Kidder lead this film, which became one of the biggest hits of 1979. American International Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Audition (1999) Directed by: Takashi Miike . Japanese horror Audition (1999) follows a widower who meets a woman named Ayoma after staging auditions to meet a potential new partner. Soon, though, her dark past begins to surface, which equates to a pretty disturbing climax. Omega Project 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Blair Witch Project (1999) Directed by: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez . Although parodied to death, The Blair Witch Project popularised the found-footage format to terrifying degrees in 1999. People genuinely believed they were watching real clips of three student filmmakers being terrorised by a Maryland legend known as the Blair Witch. Artisan Entertainment 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) Directed by: Robert Wiene . Black-and-white silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) is considered the quintessential work of German Expressionism, but also one of the scariest films in cinema history. It follows a hypnotist (Werner Krauss) who uses a somnambulist to commit murders, and Wiene's shadowed sets and striking visual style combines to unsettle the viewer in ways most filmmakers only dream of managing. Decla-Bioscop 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Candyman (1992) Directed by: Bernard Rose. A contemporary classic of horror cinema, 1992 film Candyman which spawned two sequels and has a Jordan Peele-produced remake in the works follows a graduate student whose studies lead her to the legend of a ghost who appears when you say his name three times. TriStar Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Cannibal Holocaust (1980) Directed by: Ruggero Deodato. Extreme enough to warrant a ban in Italy and Australia, Cannibal Holocaust (1980) was one of the first films to embrace the found-footage format so much so that Deodato found himself charged with multiple counts of murder due to rumours that several of the film's death scenes were real. He was later cleared. United Artists Europa 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Descent (2005) Directed by: Neil Marshall. Released in 2005, The Descent follows six women who, upon exploring a cave, battle to survive against the creatures they find inside. It's these creatures that earn this British horror film's placement on this list. Pathe Distribution 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Exorcist (1973) Directed by: William Friedkin. One of the most controversial films of all time, The Exorcist which tells the story of the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl named Regan (Linda Blair) became the first horror to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in 1974. Warner Bros 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Halloween (1978) Directed by: John Carpenter. Sure, it may be dated, but John Carpenter's original Halloween film released in 1978 remains the daddy of all horrors. It re-defined the rule book and has been emulated in everything from Scream (1996) to Trick 'r Treat (2007). The tension, as babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) attempts to evade masked murderer Michael Myers, only heightens with every new watch. Compass International Pictures[ 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Hereditary (2018) Directed by: Ari Aster. Proving that horror is a force to be reckoned with, Hereditary became independent distributor A24's highest-grossing film around the world upon its release in 2018. It tells the story of a family who find themselves haunted after the death of their secretive grandmother and features a final act that left many of its viewers with sleepless nights. A24 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The House of the Devil (2009) Directed by: Ti West. The House of the Devil (2009) follows a student named Samantha who is hired to guard an isolated house with one rule: don't go upstairs. For most of the film's runtime, not much happens, which is what makes the action-packed final third so terrifying. Spoiler: she goes upstairs. MPI Media Group 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Innocents (1961) Directed by: Jack Clayton. Based upon Henry James' chiller The Turn of the Screw, the plot of 1961 psychological horror film The Innocents concerns a governess who watches over two children and comes to fear that their large estate is haunted by ghosts and that the youngsters are being possessed. 20th Century Fox 37 horror films that are genuinely scary It (1986) Directed by: Tommy Lee Wallace. Forget the effects-laden remake this version of It, released as a miniseries in 1986, is the most terrifying adaptation of Stephen King's beloved novel to date. It follows a shapeshifting demon who takes the form of a sadistic child-killing clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry). Lorimar Productions 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Ju-On: The Grudge (2002) Directed by: Takashi Shimizu. Japanese horror maestro Takashi Shimizu who also directed the pretty scary 2005 remake starring Sarah Michelle Gellar balances mystery with horror in Ju-On: The Grudge, a story based in a cursed house in Tokyo. Lions Gate Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Kill List (2011) Directed by: Ben Wheatley. To describe the horrors of Kill List is to ruin the film's surprises, but let's just say this: the final 20 minutes of Ben Wheatley's violent drama from 2011 features some of the most unsettling scenes in any film from this decade. Optimum Releasing 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Lake Mungo (2008) Directed by: Joel Anderson. Taking the form of a mockumentary, the little-seen Australian drama Lake Mungo may have received a limited release in 2008, but its story of a family attempting to come to terms with the drowning of their daughter stays with viewers long after. Arclight Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Martyrs (2008) Directed by: Pascal Laugier. The polarising 2008 film Martyrs, often associated with the New French Extremity movement, is the kind of horror that leaves you needing a shower once the credits roll. It follows a young woman's quest for revenge on the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child. Anchor Bay Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Night of the Living Dead (1968) Directed by: George A Romero. Younger viewers may be desensitised by the more extreme horror films to have been released in recent decades, but the scares featured in Romero's Night of the Living Dead including the young girl zombie reveal remain some of the most chilling committed to celluloid. Continental Distributing 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Nosferatu (1922) Directed by: FW Murnau. Alongside Cesare in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), the character of vampire Count Orlok in 1922 film Nosferatu played by Mac Schreck remains one of the most spine-tingling in cinema history. Film Arts Guild 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Orphanage (2007) Directed by: JA Bayona. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, this acclaimed 2007 chiller follows the disappearance of a young boy in an orphanage, which brings many of the building's terrifying secrets to the fore. Warner Bros Pictures de Espana 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Others (2001) Directed by: Alejandro Amenabar. The Others (2001) is a towering achievement for Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenabar who wrote, directed and scored this Nicole Kidman-fronted tale about a woman trying to protect her children from supernatural forces. It's perhaps the scariest 12-certificate film of all time. Warner Sogefilms 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Paranormal Activity (2009) Directed by: Oren Peli. Could Paranormal Activity be the scariest film of all time? It's certainly one of them. Just when you thought found-footage had had its day, Oren Peli's small-budgeted festival favourite became one of 2009's biggest hits. Audiences lapped up the story of a couple who capture supernatural presences on a camera in their own home. Paramount Pictures[ 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) Directed by: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman. Paranormal Activity 3 earns its place on this list for its final 10 minutes. Set 18 years prior to the events of the first two films, we see the cause of the curse that follows characters Katie and Kristi for the rest of their lives and it's down to a coven of witches led by their grandmother. Paramount Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary [REC] (2007) Directed by: Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza. Played out in real-time, the claustrophobic Spanish horror film [REC] is one of the better examples of found-footage cinema. Released in 2007, it follows a reporter and her cameraman who follow firefighters to a Barcelona building and soon find themselves locked inside with its occupants who are displaying murderous behaviour. Filmax International 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Ring (1998) Directed by: Hideo Nakata. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know the story of Ring by now: viewers of a cursed videotape die seven days after watching it. While the inevitable Hollywood remake in 2002 was better than it had any right to be, Nakata's original is as terrifying as horror films come. Toho 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Rosemary's Baby (1968) Directed by: Roman Polanski. Released in 1968, Rosemary's Baby follows a pregnant woman who suspects that an evil cult want to take her baby for use in their rituals. Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes and Ruth Gordon's performances tip this psychological chiller into classic status. Paramount Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Shining (1980) Directed by: Stanley Kubrick. Forget the iconic "Heeeeere's Johnny" or that bath scene it's the smaller moments that make Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining a terrifying watch, notably the trippy final act that sees Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) lose his mind to the Overlook Hotel. Warner Bros 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Sinister (2012) Directed by: Scott Derrickson. Of all the Blumhouse horror films, 2012 release Sinister which features the demonic character Bughuul is the spookiest of them all. It stars Ethan Hawke as a true-crime writer who discovers a box of home movies depicting grisly murders in the attic of his new house. Momentum Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Sleep Tight (2011) Directed by: Jaume Balaguero. This little-seen Spanish horror follows a concierge who, believing he was born without the ability to feel happiness, decides to make life hell for everyone around him. Filmax 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Directed by: Tobe Hooper. The fictional Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), marketed as a true story, follows a group of cannibals including Leatherface who relentlessly hunt down a group of friends. Vortex 37 horror films that are genuinely scary 28 Days Later (2002) Directed by: Danny Boyle. Many might not reflect upon 28 Days Later (2002) as one of the world's scariest horror films, but its desolate depiction of a viral outbreak seems more real than any other. When merged with the fast-paced infected and the usage of John Murphy's song "In the House In A Heartbeat", it's hard to deny it such status. Fox Searchlight Pictures 37 horror films that are genuinely scary V/H/S (2012) Directed by: Various. Directed by six filmmakers, including Adam Wingard and Ti West, 2012 anthology film V/H/S is grimy horror of the tallest order. Look no further than David Bruckner's section "Amateur Night" following three friends who meet a mysterious girl who says nothing other than three small words: "I like you." Magnet Releasing 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Wailing (2016) Directed by: Na Hong-jin. Twist-filled horror drama The Wailing follows a policeman who investigates a series of mysterious killings and illness in the mountains of South Korea. If the journey fails to scare you, its destination will leave you lying awake at night. 20th Century Fox Korea 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Wicker Man (1973) Directed by: Robin Hardy. The Wicker Man is deemed the best British horror film of all time for a reason. It tells the story of a Police Sergeant who travels to an isolated island in search of a missing girl, only to find its inhabitants practising a form of Celtic paganism. British Lion Films 37 horror films that are genuinely scary The Witch (2015) Directed by: Robert Eggers. For the most part, it's not what you see in The Witch that terrifies, it's what you don't see. Eggers unsettlingly holds his camera a fraction too long in places as he retells the story of a Separatist family who encounter supernatural forces in the woods beyond their farm. A24 37 horror films that are genuinely scary Zero Day (2003) Directed by: Ben Coccio. The horrors are all too real in Zero Day, a film inspired by the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. The majority of the film is portrayed through the video diaries of two students who are planning to attack their high school. Avatar Films According to IndieWire, the film breaks the rules of jump scares, which arrive without any warning whatsoever and are so loud that one sequence shrieks into action with a sustained jolt that seems to last for 15 seconds. David Ehrlich adds: Great horror movies should feel unsafe, but this one just leaves you feeling beaten down. The word-of-mouth has led to The Night House becoming the first film to land a major deal at this years festival: Searchlight Pictures acquired worldwide rights for $12m. There is currently no word on a UK release date. Jaipur, Jan 28 : In a big attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused him of tarnishing the pluralistic image of the nation in the world and said that the Modi does not understand economics as the Congress scion addressed the 'Yuva Aakrosh' rally here at Albert Hall. Rahul Gandhi also called upon the youth to remain unafraid and said "Together, we will change Hindustan". Gandhi said, "Around one crore youths in the nation lost their jobs, however, Prime Minister is silent on the issue. Modi gives long speeches on CAA, NRC and NPR but prefers to remain silent on the issue of unemployment," he said adding, "the growth rate during UPA tenure stood at 9 per cent which has come down to below 5 per cent despite the fact that parameters to calculate the GDP were changed. If we calculate it as per earlier parameters, it will be around 2.5 per cent." Gandhi further said that economy gets a boost when poor and farmers get money as they start purchasing. "However, Modi doesn't understand this basic fact as he does not understand/study economics, Rahul added. The former Congress president further said that Hindustan has crores of youths as its biggest resource. Even the world believes that Indian youths can change the world. Earlier, entire world used to come to invest in India as they trusted Indian youths. However in present days, they do not want to invest in India due to increasing violence. Once, Obama said that the US can't compete with China, but world knew that only India can compete China, he said. "All European countries - America, Japan, Australia, and other nations are watching China growing fast, and they know this country needs to be balanced and they know only Indian youths can compete with China. He further said that India once used to be a peaceful nation, however, now, we read in newspapers that there is violence in country and people of the same nation are fighting each other as the government is spreading violence. So investors are wary of investing in India, he added. Attacking Modi in three steps, Rahul said that first, Modi took around Rs 3.50 lakh crore from people's pocket and gave it to 15-20 rich people. Secondly, the reputation of India in the world, the image of the country known for promoting brotherhood and unity, was tarnished by Narendra Modi. Now, world considers India as a rape capital but PM never speaks on this. Thirdly, the youths' voices are suppressed when they ask PM why India's image has been tarnished in the world, why unemployment is rising in the country and what you did in last five years for youths? Challenge prime minister to go to any university and answer students' questions on unemployment and slowdown, Rahul said Modi will surely be unable to answer, but yes, he can show people fake dreams, of giving 2 crore jobs. "I am here to give you a message," he said, adding, "I want to assure you that you have that strength and vision which can change the fate of the nation. The entire world is looking at you, not only Congress but the world looks at you." "I am confident that made in India, made in Jaipur, made in Rajasthan can compete with made in China. "You should never allow your voice to be suppressed, what you speak is correct, you need not be scared, you continue asking questions on unemployment, your future and country's future." Next important thing we all should remember is that we have one flag that represents all Indians, Rahul said. Those who try to divide india, should realise that Indians can't be divided, this is an insult to this flag and it should be stopped, he said. "Our culture and history, ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, should be our ideology. When world watches us, it should know that this country can lead the world and show the way of character and morality," he said. Concluding his speech, Rahul said, "I am here to give this message to you, now it is your responsibility, you need not be scared. We have the most powerful force with us, which is Indian youths. Don't be scared as together we shall change this Hindustan." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text (@FahadShabbir) Valentina Shvartsman - Team of lawyers working on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's US extradition case in the United Kingdom has his "highest trust," Renata Avila, a member of his legal team, told Sputnik MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2020) Valentina Shvartsman - Team of lawyers working on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's US extradition case in the United Kingdom has his "highest trust," Renata Avila, a member of his legal team, told Sputnik. "[Assange] and his family are very comfortable with his team of lawyers, and he and his family respect and accept as good the defense that is going on now. To be very precise, the active team of lawyers that is dealing with the UK case is, again, part of the most trusted lawyers that Julian has," Avila said. The remarks come after the Sputnik website spoke with Aymeric Monville, the author of a book about Assange, who said that the WikiLeaks founder's defense was becoming increasingly "inaudible" and cited US investigative journalist Lucy Komisar's claims that several lawyers on the whistleblower's team were also working for the US government. Avila argued that the legal team had gained Assange's trust after working with him for a decade. She said Assange's legal team handling his UK case was a small core group of lawyers working around the clock to fend off the entire apparatus of the US Department of Justice, and therefore had little time for daily briefings. "Most of them, if not all, do not charge Julian. Not all, but most of them are doing pro bono because they like Julian and they believe in the principles and what he represents," Avila said. The lawyer said that Assange had not had a job since he was first arrested in the United Kingdom in 2010, shortly after his website leaked hundreds of thousands of secret US cables on Iraq and Afghanistan wars. His legal expenses are covered by donations to a fund that is fully transparent, she added. Assange's international team, Avila said, is made up of several sets of specialist lawyers, including attorneys with expertise in the First Amendment rights and criminal litigation in the United States, and those dealing with sexual assault charges filed against him in Sweden. Lawyers in France are trying to get him asylum and are championing his rights at the Strasbourg court. There are also teams in his native country of Australia and Iceland, where banks once refused to process payments to WikiLeaks. At some point, the team included 125 lawyers, according to Avila. Highs today ran 31-35 over the viewing area: Patchy freezing fog, some freezing drizzle & mixed snow & snow pellet showers are possible tonight with lows in the upper 20s. Watch for a few slick spots in the morning, even if the pavement just looks damp or wet. Some scattered snow showers are possible Tuesday afternoon. I cannot completely rule out localized dustings of less than 0.5". Highs will run in the low to mid 30s. A few snow showers & flurries are possible Wednesday with highs in the 30s after some patchy freezing fog & upper 20s in the morning. An area of 1-3" snow may occur from soutehrn Missouri to western Kentucky. After some patchy freezing fog in the morning, Thursday looks to have a mostly cloudy to cloudy sky with a few flurries. Note wave of snow in Iowa & northern Missouri moving into Illinois Thursday night. This should pass our area Friday morning. Very minor accumulation is possible. Mostly cloudy skies should follow with a melting of any snow with a high near 38. Storm system Saturday should bring some rain, then snow. We should reach near 40, then fall to 31 with very minor snowfall accumulation late Saturday-Saturday night. Some snow showers are possible Sunday morning as temperatures fall to 24-28. A big warm-up should occur on strong southerly winds to 35 mph Monday with highs 50-55 late in the day with mostly cloudy skies. Rain & isolated thunder are likely Tuesday, before quickly changing to brief freezing rain, sleet & then snow. The cold will come in so fast & undercut, that it looks to produce a band of this freezing rain & then sleet behind the front. Arctic air rushing in will throw wedge of warmth over the top of it, leading to the icy mix. A thin veneer of ice is possible, along with a dusting of snow. Temperatures may tank from 55-60 Tuesday to 8-12 by Wednesday morning with west wind gusts of 40-50 mph. Temperatures Wednesday may be only run around 10-15 for highs with west wind still gusting to 40 mph, though skies will clear. Wind chills may drop to -10. Increasing clouds with highs 12-18 are likely Thursday with wind gusts to 30 mph. A wave of minor accumulating snowfall is possible Thursday night-Friday morning with temperatures 15-20. Temperatures should fall Friday with blowing/drifting of the dry, powdery snow with northwest to west winds gusting to 40 mph with single digits. Wind chills may drop to -20. Multiple nights below 0 are possible after this. At this point, the time to watch for a winter storm is February 9-11 with snow, ice with a surge in temperatures to 31-35. Models are aggressive with 0.90-1.25" liquid amounts. Temperatures may drop below 0 again after the storm. India has strengthened arrangements to deal with the deadly coronavirus amid its spread to other countries and reports of more deaths and new cases related to the outbreak from China, according to officials aware of the matter. The Union health ministry has designated four more advanced laboratories for testing related to the virus along with the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV) laboratory in Pune. The ICMR-NIV is testing four to six samples daily, and the number of suspected cases is on the rise. So far ICMR-NIV has tested 20 samples of people quarantined across the country. None of the tests have been positive. There is no coronavirus positive case in the country so far. We have added four more labs for testing and will soon add five more. All our labs are state of the art, said Union health minister Harsh Vardhan. The four ICMR labs designated for testing are in Alleppey (Kerala), Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. Hundreds of Indians studying in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, have returned to India this month for the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays. The officials said a dedicated three-member central team of experts has been sent to various states to review preparedness at the ground level. Additional investigations are needed to determine how the patients were infected, the extent of human-to-human transmission, the clinical spectrum of disease, and the geographic range of infection, said ICMR in a statement. The government has also extended the screening facilities for travellers coming from China to 13 more airports. This takes the number of airports, where checking happens for symptoms of the coronavirus infection, to 20. The Union health ministry is procuring extra thermal body scanners to meet the need for more screenings. The PM [Prime Minister Narendra Modi] is personally monitoring the situation. We have put in place all the measures needed to stop the entry and spread of the infection in India. In 2014, we managed to keep the deadly Ebola infection away from India, and this time also our efforts will be to ensure the virus does not enter the country, said Vardhan. Amid the evacuation of 500-odd Indians citizens stranded in Chinas Wuhan, the ministry is also making arrangements for keeping them in isolation. These people if flown here would need to stay under quarantine to minimise the risk of infecting others. They will have to stay in isolation in a government health facility for at least 14 days even if there are no symptoms, Vardhan said. India has so far screened close to 35,000 passengers. All necessary arrangements are being made to manage the situation. There is nothing to panic so far, said Harsh Vardhan. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Russian miner Polyus said today gold output for fiscal year 2019 increased to 2.841 million ounces, compared to 2.44 million ounces in the prior year. The result was a 16% year-on-year increase. Production was 1.5% higher than the official guidance in 2019 set at 2.8 million ounces. Polyus forecasts another 2.8 million ounces of gold for 2020. In 2019, the company processed a lot more ore. Volumes of ore mined rose by 54% year-on-year to 66,095 thousand tonnes, driven by intensified mining activities at Natalka, Blagodatnoye and Olimpiada. CEO Pavel Grachev singled out Natalka operations. "In 2019, Polyus delivered solid results, surpassing production guidance for the sixth consecutive year. Natalka contributed 405,000 ounces of gold in its first year of operations following the ramp-up completion, and was a key driver behind the 16% year-on-year increase in our total gold output figure of 2,841 thousand ounces," said Grachev in a news release. Grachev lauded his company's environmental social governance work. "We are pleased that our work has been recognized with our inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index and further improved scores in sustainability ratings including SAM and Sustainalytics. For the first time, we were named Russias most transparent metals & mining company in the annual rating prepared by WWF." By Kitco News For Kitco News Follow @kitconewsnow www.kitco.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. [January 28, 2020] Apstra AOS 3.2 Redefines Network Recovery with First and Only Vendor-Agnostic Intent Time Voyager Capability Apstra Inc., the leader in Intent-Based Networking for the data center announces the latest product release, Apstra AOS 3.2, to empower IT with increased control and flexibility of their data center network operations without increasing budget or adding resources. Apstra AOS 3.2 dramatically reduces the cost of operations, prevents outages, accelerates deployments and augments existing talent for some of the largest enterprise data centers in the world. Apstra abstracts complexity with a sophisticated software layer, and full automation of network function services that adapts to real-time changes. Apstra AOS dramatically simplifies the management of data center networks, and now with AOS 3.2, the major enhancements include: Industry's First and Only Intent Time Voyager Capability to Dramatically Decrease MTTR from Network Outages Intra and Inter Data Center Scale-out Services Expanded Enterprise-Class Open Source (News - Alert) Open Compute Project SONiC Support Faster Insights into the Health and Service Assurance of Network Fabrics with Customizable Dashboards, Probes, and Widgets Industry's First and Only Intent Time Voyager Capability to Dramatically Decrease MTTR From Network Outages Apstra AOS 3.2 enables IT to recover quickly from mishaps caused by humans or machines by enabling network engineers to recover their entire data center fabric state, configuration, and real time continuous validation to a specific point in time; backward or forward with a few simple clicks. This dramatically accelerates time to recovery from network failures and brownouts. This unique Intent Time Voyager capability is enabled by the Apstra AOS single source of truth and self-documenting capability, which also provides assurance validations about the drift between the intended and operational state of the entire fabric. Intra and Inter Data Center Scale-out Services With the latest version of Apstra AOS, businesses can easily scale-out their services within the data center itself or across data centers to support increased demands, and to implement migration and disaster recovery strategies. Those scale-out services are enabled by the following new capabilities introduced in AOS 3.2: Automation of EVPN DCI to allow VXLAN Data Center Interconnect with a simple, intuitive user interface and continuous DCI state validations. Automation of EVPN VXLAN overlay across PODs in a 5-stage L3 Clos fabric, including continuous validations of BGP EVPN sessions and route expectations. Expanded Enterprise-Class Open Source SONiC Support With expanded enterprise-class open source SONiC support, Apstra AOS 3.2 increases the network engineers' choice of vendor options when designing and building cloud-scale data center networks by deploying open source platforms like SONiC, allowing for dramatically lower CapEx spend. The SONiC community release is now supported by Apstra in 3-stage, 5-stage architectures as leaf, spine or superspine data center netwoks. Service Oriented Dashboards - Enabling Faster Insights into the Health and Service Assurance of Network Fabrics AOS 3.2 helps network operators get fast insight into the health of their network fabrics. Network operators can now easily create their own dashboards, probes, and widgets to get information about a large variety of parameters - such as device health, EVPN validations, throughput health, drain validation, traffic trends, virtual infrastructure redundancy checks, and fabric health for virtual infrastructures. AOS 3.2 also provides improved visibility into the spare capacity in existing PODs, e.g. the number of racks that can still be added to existing POD - without having network operators need to manually count the remaining number of spine ports, or leaf ports for each POD. With AOS 3.2, all collected telemetry and analytics can be streamed to external data stores for further analysis. "Apstra AOS 3.2 is packed with innovative capabilities such as the industry's first and only Intent Time Voyager capability which allows you to travel through the history of your network, and bring your network back to any known state in time helping to resolve network outages," said Sean Hafeez, VP of Product at Apstra. "In addition, the latest product offers continued support for OCP (News - Alert) SONiC, which enables network engineers to safely add newer OSS offerings to their networking toolkit." "As data centers continue to play a critical role in allowing enterprises to scale to the cloud, open networks must provide a new level of control and flexibility, enable innovation and keep costs in check," said Drew Schulke, vice president, Dell EMC (News - Alert) Networking. "And given our commitment at Dell Technologies to continue to innovate and help speed up the learning curve for operations throughout the lifecycle of the network, our customers have the opportunity to take advantage of AOS and Apstra's support for SONiC to reduce their spend and serve as a catalyst to transform their industry." "As a leading global digital transformation company, we provide a broad range of services and solutions to enterprises seeking to achieve successful digital transformation initiatives to simplify data center management challenges. A key component of that success is by providing innovative, ground-breaking solutions to address data center challenges. Apstra's AOS Intent-Based Networking helps to build, operate, troubleshoot and secure the data center networks and it plays a key role in helping to achieve successful outcomes," said Jordi Benet, Infrastructure Consulting, Data Center & Cloud, Accenture (News - Alert). "Customers that want to accelerate digital transformation are looking for innovative market solutions that will give them a competitive advantage, help to improve customer experience and increase market share. Apstra's first and only Intent Time Voyager capability offers a solution that provides unique customer value and differentiation, and is key to our success as a partner. Apstra AOS is enabling customers to dramatically accelerate Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) by as much as 70%," said Khalid Laban, CEO of Oxygen, Value-Added Distributor in the META region. To read the detailed release brief on Apstra AOS 3.2 please click here Join the Webinar on AOS 3.2 on February 19: Data Center Network Automation with Intent Time Voyager About Apstra, Inc. Apstra builds, sells, and markets software solutions that simplify IT infrastructure consumption to help businesses innovate and succeed. Apstra pioneered Intent-Based Networking, vendor agnostic software that simplifies the management of the network infrastructure by abstracting network services and automating the delivery of those network services across their entire life cycle - Day 0, Day 1, and Day 2+. Apstra Intent-Based Networking for the Data Center has demonstrated 80 percent improvements in operational efficiency, 70 percent improvements in MTTR (mean-time-to-resolution), and 99 percent improvements in infrastructure agility; and allows organizations to free themselves from hardware vendor lock-in. With headquarters in Menlo Park, California and privately funded, Apstra is a Gartner (News - Alert) Cool Vendor and Best of VMworld winner. www.apstra.com Apstra Blog Twitter Tweet This: @ApstraInc AOS 3.2 redefines #Network recovery with first and only #VendorAgnostic Intent Time Voyager Capability. Learn more by reading the latest press release. #IntentBasedNetworking #Automation #DataCenter #NetworkManagement Apstra and the Apstra logos are registered trademarks of Apstra, Inc., and other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005253/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By Express News Service MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has made it clear that he has not endorsed the CAA or NRC. Last week, during a party rally after releasing a new saffron flag, Thackeray had announced a new pro-Hindutva line for the party, specifying that illegal migrants need to be sent back and his party would take out a march to push the demand. However, at a meeting on Tuesday, he made it clear that his statement at the rally was misconstrued and that he had only demanded strong and immediate action against illegal immigrants. I have never supported the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). I only said that all illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslims should be sent back immediately. It was misinterpreted as support to the CAA, Thackeray said at a meeting of party leaders at his residence. There are differences of opinion over the partys stand on CAA among party leaders. Some of them said the demand for sending back illegal migrants has sent out a wrong message that the party is now supporting the BJP. Thackeray clarified that the partys stand against illegal migrants remains unchanged but that shouldnt be misinterpreted as support for the CAA. The MNS has also announced a mega rally in Mumbai on February 9 to demand immediate action against illegal migrants in the country. Party leaders reviewed preparations for the mega rally at a meeting on Monday. Thackeray attended the meeting only briefly owing to health reasons. He also cancelled his programs today and called a meeting of party leaders at his home on Tuesday. India is not a hostel where anyone can come an live as per their will. Illegal migrant Muslims from Pakistan and Bangladesh should be driven out. Some people are taking out rallies now. They shall get a reply in our rally on February 9, Thackeray had said during a party meeting last week. TV naturalist Chris Packham has declared war against a bid to build a 111-foot Olympic climbing wall at a nature reserve as part of 2million plans he says will turn it into a 'theme park'. The 58-year-old fears the gigantic new lakeside structure will take up valuable green space at Nene Park in Peterborough and force away wildlife because of the air and light pollution brought in by cars. However, the Nene Park Trust insists the plans would have 'little impact on wildlife' because the land it will be built on has minimal 'habitat value', while the building design would reduce the amount of light pollution. The 58-year-old fears the gigantic new structure (seen here in a plan next to Gunwade Lake) will take up valuable green space at Nene Park Peterborough and force away wildlife because of the air and light pollution brought in by cars The trust's chief executive Matthew Bradbury said it would one day be 'training England's climbing stars of the future for Olympic games' and would 'put Peterborough on the map' for climbing. However, Packham argued the reserve needed 'cherishing' and wrote a letter of objection to Peterborough City Council. He wrote: 'I am opposing the proposed setting for this indoor climbing wall that will be open at night and urbanise a precious area of green open space with mature trees, oak meadow and protected rich habitat for wildlife, including bats. 'British wildlife is in serious decline due to disappearing habitats. 'Meadows and mature healthy trees need protecting - we don't have the luxury to be blase about removing any, no matter how many saplings we have planted as there are no guarantee they will survive.' However, the Nene Park Trust insists the plans would have 'little impact on wildlife' because the land it will be built on has minimal 'habitat value', while the building design would reduce the amount of light pollution Packham also pointed out that the council had declared a 'climate emergency' yet was preparing to bring in 'hundreds of cars' into an 'environmentally-sensitive area. In his objection he referred to Ferry Meadows, which is part of Nene Park. He added: 'Ferry Meadows needs cherishing as a natural place for our children to learn to appreciate nature not an urban hub/nature theme park destroying all it originally set [out] to achieve.' Packham also pointed out that the council had declared a 'climate emergency' yet was preparing to bring in 'hundreds of cars' into an 'environmentally-sensitive area The Nene Park Trust lodged the plans in March last year and so far 355 people have objected to the controversial plans whilst 1,112 objected to a petition, set up by local residents. The Olympic style climbing wall will be built next to Gunwade Lake in Ferry Meadows, Peterborough and will also include provides facilities for community use. The surrounding area includes a wide range of natural habitats including wildflower meadows, wetlands, marshes, woodlands and wet grasslands. These habitats hosts species including kingfishers, herons, otters and grass snakes, as well as over-wintering water birds such as curlew, lapwing, wigeon and gadwall. Nene Park Trust said: 'We have been aware of celebrity naturalist, Chris Packhams interest in our proposals for a new activity centre at Nene Park for some time. We take all responses on board and have considered his comments closely. 'We appreciate the great love many have for Nene Park and Ferry Meadows, particularly the nature that finds a home here and understand it is this passion that has spurred Chris to action. From the outset of this project we have considered the environment and setting of the proposals, consulting with landscape designers, ecologists and tree specialists in surveying the current environment and designing our proposals. 'These assessments have considered a wide area and this project does not stand alone but is part of a wider vision for Nene Park set out in the Nene Park Masterplan.' The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has moved the Supreme Court seeking to be made a party to a petition challenging the practices of nikah halala and polygamy that are prevalent in the Muslim community. In its plea, the AIMPLB has said the practices involve personal laws derived from religious scriptures and cannot be challenged. Polygamy is outlawed in India but an exemption has been made under the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937. The law provides for the application of Muslim personal law in matters related to marriage, succession etc. The practice of nikah halala is also permitted. In its plea submitted last week, the AIMPLB said its primary objective is to protect the Muslim personal law and prevent any interference in their observation and, as such, it should be made a party to the case. BJP functionary Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has filed the plea challenging the practices. The foundational sources of personal laws are their respective scriptural texts. The Mohammedan law is founded essentially on the Holy Koran and the Hadith [sayings] of the Prophet Mohammed and thus it cannot fall within the purview of the expression laws in force as mentioned in Article 13 of the constitution of India and hence its validity cannot be tested on a challenge based on Part III of the Constitution, the AIMPLB said in its plea. Article 13 lays down that laws in force in India shall be void to the extent they are in violation of fundamental rights under Part III of the Constitution. Upadhyays petition has challenged the practices saying they violate fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitutions Articles 14, 15 and 21. Personal laws of Muslims derive their validity from Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937. It is, therefore, a law under Article 13 and is bound by Part III. The judgment striking down Triple Talaq reaffirms this position. Same goes for practices of polygamy and nikah halala, Supreme Court advocate Sriram Parakkat told HT. A Burlington County school district will pay thousands of dollars to a mother who claimed in a lawsuit administrators didnt do anything to help her daughter while she was racially harassed by other students for years. In December, the New Hanover Township School District agreed to shell out $70,000 to a mother and daughter who said school officials were willfully indifferent to nearly five years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of her classmates. Details of the settlement were first reported on a blog by open-government advocate John Paff. The mother, identified in court documents as J.H., said students began assaulting her daughter not long after she enrolled at the district as a third-grader in 2013, according to the 2018 lawsuit. Beginning that year, students called the young girl referred to in the suit as M.S. whitey, white bitch and lesbian. M.S. was also hit in the face with a water bottle and ball, kicked in the stomach and physically dragged across the playground at recess, the lawsuit said. The harassment of plaintiff was purposeful, intentional and willful, the suit said. District representatives did not immediately return a request for comment Monday afternoon. J.H. said she spoke with the schools principal and then-superintendent about her concerns numerous times between 2014 and 2017, according to the suit. At one point, she told the principal other parents feared their children would be harassed at school as well. But none of these actions resulted in any change, the suit claimed. The bullying continued through 2016 and 2017, when a student chased M.S. outside the school and said she was going to punch her in the face. At one point in 2017, a teacher told administrators M.S. had threatened three students. The teacher allegedly told J.H., "If your daughter would just keep her mouth shut, we could avoid all of these problems. The tension came to a head in June of that year, when J.H. told the principal her children would never set foot in the school again, to which he replied shut up and let us deal with the problem. "The school district is further liable in this matter because it was notified of the harassment and failed to take prompt and effective remedial measures to correct the harassment, the suit said. M.S. and her younger sister are now being homeschooled. The New Hanover Township School educates students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Jenna Wise may be reached at jwise@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JennaRWise. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. VICTORIA, Texas, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Victoria Independent School District (VISD) has filed a lawsuit against its insurance carrier, Property Casualty Alliance of Texas (PCAT), to be compensated for extensive damage sustained by the district-wide school facilities as a result of August 2017's Hurricane Harvey. In the lawsuit, VISD seeks to recover approximately $22M in damages that the District contends should have been paid by PCAT. The District is also seeking attorney's fees in addition to the costs to repair the damaged schools and other buildings. The suit contends that PCAT did no significant investigation of the damage, relying instead on the District to submit invoices for repairs made by maintenance staff and contractors. As a result, the company's adjusters severely undervalued the claim and issued payment of only approximately $3.5 million. The District was forced to hire its own experts to inspect the properties, and actual damages were determined to be more than $26 million. When VISD sent the company a demand for the unpaid repair costs, it was ignored. The suit was filed today in Victoria County by Pearson Legal, P.C., a San Antonio-based law firm that specializes in insurance recovery litigation. "The District and the taxpayers of VISD deserve to be fully compensated by their insurance carrier for all hurricane damage," stated Matthew Pearson, Founding Partner and lead attorney for VISD. "As a good steward of public funds and a recipient of the public's trust, Victoria ISD was left with no alternative but to file this lawsuit in order to recover the insurance benefits paid for with taxpayer dollars." Quoted by Superintendent of Victoria I.S.D. Dr. Quintin Shepherd Pearson Legal's practice focuses on commercial litigation, including insurance recovery and construction defects on contingency throughout the states of Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado. The firm represents school districts as well as commercial property owners in both public and private sectors. According to Texas Lawyer, Pearson Legal is responsible for some of the largest insurance verdicts awarded in the State of Texas in recent years. Michelle E. Cruff Pearson Legal, P.C. 210-732-7766 [email protected] SOURCE Pearson Legal, P.C. Related Links http://www.pearsonlegalpc.com/ Children wearing masks return home from school on the day of reopening after a month-long winter vacation at an elementary school in Seoul, Tuesday. /Yonhap By Bahk Eun-ji Education authorities have been on high alert amid concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus and are urging certain students and teachers to refrain from attending schools. The Ministry of Education said Tuesday that it has decided to request that faculty and students who have returned to the country after visiting Wuhan, China, stay home for a minimum of 14 days from their arrival in Korea. The request applied to students and staff of kindergartens, schools and universities. For those affected, the ministry will designate a team in charge of each school to check whether or not those people show any suspicious symptoms. Angela Deem and Michael Ilesanmi, veteran stars of the TLC series 90 Day Fiance, have gotten married months after they amused the world with their love story on the reality show. Their wedding took place yesterday, January 27, along Airport road in Lagos. Shortly after Angela visited Nigeria, he had applied for an American visa for Michael to join her in America but Micheal was turned down and he broke down in tears. All that was shown in their reality tv show. Well, it seems Angela who has already met Michaels family means business, as she is again in Nigeria and this time to wed her man. All road is sure now clear for Micheal concerning his live overseas. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates A total of 633 people, who returned to Kerala from China in recent days, are under observation for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus, state Health Minister K K Shylaja said on Tuesday. Of the 633, seven are under observation in isolation wards at different hospitals, according to officials. The situation in the state was under control but the state needs to be vigilant, the minister told reporters. "A total of 633 people are under observation in the state. As of now everything is under control. But we need to remain vigilant until the World Health Organisation says its safe," the minister said. She asked those who have returned from China or other affected areas like Nepal or Sri Lanka to approach the health department without any hesitation. "Those who have returned from China should approach the health department and follow the instructions of the officials.It has been learnt that the particular virus will be inactive in the body for a few days initially. So it is better to stay under observation," the minister said. Meanwhile, a senior health official told PTI that seven people are in isolation wards. "Out of the 633 persons who reached the state, seven are in different hospitals--two in Kochi, four in Thrissur and one in Malappuram district. The rest are home quarantined," the official said. He also said of the ten samples sent for testing at the National Institute of Virology at Pune, six tested negative for the virus while results of the others are awaited. A three-member central team on Tuesday held a meeting with Kerala Health authorities, including Principal Health Secretary Dr Rajan N Khobragade, here and discussed the preventive measures taken against the backdrop of the Coronavirus outbreak in China's Wuhan province. A thermal screening facility was opened at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on Tuesday to scan passengers coming from the neighbouring country, they told reporters. "So far, no case of coronavirus has been reported in the country. There is nothing to worry about in the state as of now," Union Health and Family Welfare Adviser Dr M K Shoukath Ali, a team member, said. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed happiness at the Centre's decision to airlift Indians from Wuhan. He also said the NORKA (Non-Resident Keralites Affairs) department has been in constant touch with central government authorities and Keralites in China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSXV: MEK) (OTC: MCREF) (Metals Creek or the "company") is pleased to announce that the company has acquired through staking a 100% interest in 20 claim units totaling 500 hectares, in the River Valley area of Ontario. The newly acquired claims are located in Crerar Township approximately 70km east of Sudbury, and approximately 4.5 km west of the town of River Valley, Ontario. Year-round access to the property from Sudbury is available via Highway 17 to Warren, and Highway 539 to River Valley. New Age Metals' River Valley PGM Project is located 12 km north northwest of the claims with a June 2019 measured and indicated resource estimate of 99,255,200 tonnes @ 0.52g/t Pd (see New Age Metals news release dated June 27, 2019). Like that of the River Valley deposit, the claims are located within the layered River Valley Intrusion. Anomalous PGE concentrations were encountered in 4 diamond drill holes located on the recently staked claims. Hole MRS-01-6 intersected 0.57 grammes per tonne (g/t) 3PGE (platinum + palladium + gold) over 7 meters (m) and 1.13 g/t over 5 m including 2.78 g/t over 1.5 m. MRS-01-7 returned 0.60 g/t over 3m. MRS-01-9 and MRS-01-10 returned grades of 0.58 g/t over 3 m and 0.51 g/t over 9 m respectively. (Source: ontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/afri/data/records/41I09NE2026.html) DDH # From To Interval 3PGE (m) (m) (m) Gramme Per Tonne MRS01-06 58.00 65.00 7.00 0.57 166.00 171.00 5.00 1.13 Including 169.00 170.50 1.50 2.78 MRS01-07 86.00 89.00 3.00 0.60 MRS01-09 72.00 75.00 3.00 0.58 MRS01-10 172.00 181.00 9.00 0.51 The assays quoted above are historic in nature and have not been validated by Metals Creek. The company is currently compiling data on the property. Michael MacIsaac, P.Geo and VP Exploration for the Company and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for this release, and supervised the preparation of the information forming the basis for this release. About Metals Creek Resources Corp. Metals Creek Resources Corp. is a junior exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, is a reporting issuer in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and has its common shares listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "MEK". Metals Creek has earned a 50% interest in the Ogden Gold Property from Newmont Goldcorp, including the former Naybob Gold mine, located 6 km south of Timmins, Ontario and has an 8 km strike length of the prolific Porcupine-Destor Fault (P-DF). In addition, Metals Creek has recently signed an agreement with Newmont Goldcorp, where Metals Creek can earn a 100% interest in the past producing Dona Lake Mine project in the Pickle Lake Mining District of Ontario. Additional information concerning the Company is contained in documents filed by the Company with securities regulators, available under its profile at www.sedar.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. Alexander (Sandy) Stares, President and CEO Metals Creek Resources Corp telephone: (709)-256-6060 fax: (709)-256-6061 email: astares@metalscreek.com MetalsCreek.com Twitter.com/MetalsCreekRes Facebook.com/MetalsCreek To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51865 Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, says the South-West geopolitical zone has no plans to secede from Nigeria, adding that the newly launched South-West Security Network, code-named Amotekun was to tackle armed robbery, kidnapping, banditry and illegal destruction of lives and property. The governor said Amotekun wasnt formed so that the South-West region can secede from Nigeria as it remains an integral part of the country. Fayemi said this on Monday when he hosted a pan-Yoruba development interest group, the Oodua Progressive Union, OPU, Worldwide who were led to his office by the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Chief Gani Adams. Read Also: Amotekun Not A Form Of Regional Police: Fayemi Represented by the Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, the governor said: Amotekun is not political, it was established for the protection of our people and stem the tide of armed robbery, kidnapping, illegal destruction of lives and property. This is the first time that the region is united on the need to raise a security platform to complement the existing security agencies to protect the lives and property of our people, which is our constitutional duty. I also want to say that the South-West is not seceding from Nigeria. The South-West zone remains part of Nigeria and it will remain committed to a united and indivisible Nigerian federation. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop announced Monday that next years municipal budget will not include a tax hike and urged the Board of Education to make tough choices as the district stares down a massive shortfall in its own budget. Fulop said the City Council will review a first draft of the 2020-2021 municipal budget by next week. He expects it to be on the councils agenda as early as next month after its reviewed by auditors. We do recognize that the BOE will have a school tax increase and we are ready to work closely together with them on this front as they present their budget, Fulop said in the announcement. The proposed municipal budget has NO tax increases, but is a stripped down budget to only invest in essential services. Its unclear how much money the budget aims to save the city and whether there will be personnel cuts. A city spokeswoman did not respond to questions about Fulops announcement. The municipal tax is one of three components of a homeowners property tax bill. The others are school taxes and county taxes. The Jersey City BOE is currently tasked with filling a budget gap that could be worth more than $150 million. The district has been hit hard by a change in the state aid formula that will result in the total loss of $175 million over a seven-year period. The BOE is suing the state over that change. Working together, we will continue to consider the needs of our schools and evaluate the opportunities for us to make meaningful, long-term changes to better support the Board of Education, Fulop said. But BOE President Lorenzo Richardson said he has yet to receive a call from the mayor since he became school board president at the start of January. Its one thing to put numbers out there, its another thing to make those numbers real and to make them work, Richardson said of Fulops proposed municipal budget. We need to see what those numbers represent. New Jerseys second-largest school district, which saw its state aid cut by $27 million last year, is facing an additional $48 million reduction in state aid for 2020-2021. To help cover the budget gap, the BOE can raise the school tax levy or lay off staff. An audit of the BOEs finances released in November recommended the district cut 71 employees across nine departments, including 20 members of the special education program. It also noted that $22.7 million could be saved if the district switches its health care to a self-insured plan. The report also stated that the district is potentially losing $16.3 million per year because of inaccurate billing on tax-abated properties. The 42-page audit identified over $116 million in past financial events and proposed future financial actions targeted at the overall fiscal health of the JCBOE. In November, voters will decide whether Jersey Citys school board members, who are currently elected by the public, should instead be appointed by the mayor. Fulop cited board dysfunction, financial trouble, and the recent arrest of former BOE President Sudhan Thomas as reasons to change the school board to an appointed body. Jersey City Education Association President Ron Greco said Fulop is talking out of both ends of his mouth as he always does. As of now, there has been no coordination on City Halls part, Greco said. Just pick a town. The municipality gives money to the school district Why do you have to control the board in order to give money? New Rochelle, NY, January 28, 2020--Novel interventions using virtual reality to aid individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) handle common scenarios may include helping youngsters navigate air travel. This example and more are included in a Special Issue on Virtual Reality Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full special issue free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website through February 28, 2020. The article "Virtual Reality Air Travel Training with Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Preliminary Report" was coauthored by Ian Miller, Brenda Wiederhold, PhD, Catherine Miller, and Mark Wiederhold, MD, PhD, Interactive Media Institute (San Diego, CA), Virtual Reality Medical Center (La Jolla, CA), and Speech Tree Therapy Center (Chula Vista, CA). The researchers used an iPhone and Google Cardboard device to deliver the virtual reality intervention once a week for 3 weeks to each child with ASD. At week 4, the children went to the airport for a real-world air travel experience. Both the parents and researchers observed improvement in the children's air travel skills after the intervention and all of the children were able to navigate the real-world airport under their own power. Gregory Kuper, Kate Ksobiech, PhD, Jonathan Wickert, PhD, Frederick Leighton, and Edward Frederick, PhD coauthored the article entitled "An Exploratory Analysis of Increasing Self-Efficacy of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder Through the Use of Multimedia Training Stimuli." The researchers found significant increases in the participating adults' self-efficacy when a multimedia training approach was used - in this case, video and virtual reality - to teach them a vocational skill. The article entitled "An Auti-Sim Intervention: The Role of Perspective Taking in Combating Public Stigma with Virtual Simulations" describes a study in which a virtual reality tool is intended to reduce the stigma associated with ASD and sensory overload symptoms. Coauthors Melanie Sarge, PhD, Hark-Shin Kim, PhD, and John Velez, PhD, from Indiana University (Bloomington) and Utah Valley University (Orem) exposed a group of college students to a virtual simulation called Auti-Sim, which is intended to simulate the sensory overload of ASD. Compared to students not exposed to Auti-Sim, those that engaged with the virtual simulation showed greater perspective taking, resulting in greater emotional concern, helping intentions, and willingness to volunteer. "From education and training to treatment and assimilation, VR technologies are assisting across a range of experiences to help us better serve those with ASD. With the increasing focus on integrating a neurodiverse population into today's workforce, these new tools can assist us in achieving our inclusionary goals," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium. ### About the Journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website. About the Publisher Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Games for Health Journal, Telemedicine and e-Health, and Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 90 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website. After 38 years in the business, he's finally received his first Oscar nomination for his leading role in Pain and Glory. And Antonio Banderas couldn't help but celebrate his feat when he spoke to Good Morning America on Tuesday, calling the nomination 'a really big deal.' The 59-year-old star recalled to hosts Robin Roberts, Michael Strahan and Lara Spencer where he was the exact moment the exciting news came through. Rise to the top: Antonio Banderas couldn't help but smile when he arrived at GMA on Tuesday morning and spoke about his first Academy Award nomination Hard work: After 38 years in the business, Antonio's finally received his first Oscar nomination for his leading role in Pain and Glory (pictured with Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan) 'I was actually in a restaurant in my home town in Malaga,' he began. 'I was having lunch with the Mayor of the town for projects that I have related to the theater.' Antonio continued to confess that he was aware the nominations would be taking place at that time and had his phone out beside him just in case his name would be called. But he was shocked when he didn't receive just one message, but 300 within a matter of seconds excitedly giving him the news. Big deal! Antonio said to the hosts: 'For someone like me to get a nomination in a little movie, speaking my own language, Spanish, it's a big deal' Good day ahead: The first-time Academy Award nominee appeared in high spirits when he arrived at the show in New York City on Tuesday morning Rugged up: He kept warm in a cobalt blue leather jacket that was zipped up all the way Out and about: The 59-year-old star told GMA that he was back in Spain on a lunch date when he found out he was nominated for an Oscar '50 minutes later, 100 paparazzi's were at the door of the restaurant. Unbelievable,' he exclaimed. Antonio continued: 'For someone like me to get a nomination in a little movie, speaking my own language, Spanish, it's a big deal.' He later took to social media to share a photo with the hosts following his segment. 'Thank you so much for such a great time!' he captioned. Even ex-wife, Melanie Griffith, gave it a like. Ole! Banderas struck a dramatic pose while doing a round of promotions at SiriusXM Studios Busy man! Antonio completed his look with a pair of trousers and shoes On the mic! The Zorro alum addressed his fans from the radio station The first-time Academy Award nominee appeared in high spirits when he arrived at the show in New York City on Tuesday morning. He kept warm in a cobalt blue leather jacket that was zipped up all the way. Antonio completed his look with a pair of trousers and shoes while accessorizing with dark tinted shades. Pain and Glory is a 2019 Spanish drama that was written directed and is about Pedro Almodovar. It also stars, Penelope Cruz. Oscar nominated film: Pain and Glory is a 2019 Spanish drama that was written directed and is about Pedro Almodovar (Antonio pictured with co-star Nora Navas) Antonio has worked with the director eight times in the past four decades. This awards season the former step-dad to actress Dakota Johnson, has already won seven out of nine accolades for his role as Best Actor. If he takes home the Academy Award he will have won eight out of ten nominations. Antonio will go up against Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) and Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes). The Academy Awards will take place on Sunday 7 February, 2020, in Beverly Hills. A drunken driver who narrowly missed six oncoming cars before crashing into a nurse on Christmas Eve has been sent to jail after his fully suspended sentence was deemed too lenient. Alan Craughwell, 35, with an address at Retreat Road, Athlone, Co Westmeath, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Michelle Fallon at Taghmaconnell, Co Roscommon on December 24, 2017. He was given a wholly suspended two-and-a-half-year sentence by Judge Francis Comerford on May 8, 2019, and banned from driving for 10 years. Judge Comerford also directed that Craughwell pay 1,400 that day to the injured party or a charity of her choice. The Court of Appeal found Craughwells sentence to have been unduly lenient today, Tuesday, January 28, and he was immediately jailed for 15 months. Giving judgment, President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said it was not a case of isolated ill-judgment such as taking a bend at excessive speed or overtaking at the wrong place. It was sustained, rank bad driving by Craughwell, against the background of a heavy drinking session in the Christmas period. Gardai who came upon the scene noticed a strong smell of alcohol coming from Craughwell and he was subsequently found to have 105 mlgs of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, just over twice the legal limit. Before the collision, Mr Justice Birmingham said Craughwell narrowly missed six cars that were coming towards him. His behaviour caused another road user, a Ms Selena Harte, to pull in and call 999 to report the erratic and dangerous driving she had witnessed. A mile down the road, Ms Harte came upon the scene of the collision between Craughwells Toyota Avensis and Ms Fallons Toyota Corolla, which she had been driving with her husband and son as passengers. Ms Fallon suffered very significant injuries including fractures to both her ankles and was hospitalised for one week over the Christmas period. A nurse by profession, she had been a very active person, working full-time, raising a family and helping out on the family farm, Mr Justice Birmingham said. It took her a significant amount of time to return to work on a phased basis and the incident affected her quality of life very gravely indeed. Craughwell had been in contact with the probation service in 2003 for larceny, section 2 assault and public order offences, but the charges were dismissed under the Probation Act. In 2004 he was in contact again with the probation services for public order offences, and for further public order matters in 2008. It seemed alcohol was a factor in these court appearances, Mr Justice Birmingham said. More significantly, Craughwell was caught driving while under the influence of prescription medication in September 2017, which he linked to a back injury, prior to the present case, although the conviction was recorded after the present case. Mr Justice Birmingham said Craughwell had served as a member of the Defence Forces for 12 years. His service was just coming to an end when he appeared before the Circuit Court in relation to the present offence, and he had secured alternative employment as a sales representative, which continues to this day. He said Craughwells background was hardworking and challenging, according to a local priests testimonial, and there had been tragedy in his family. He had not driven a car since the date of the offence and he was actively addressing his problems with alcohol, attending AA meetings and a 12-week residential course in addiction treatment at Cuan Mhuire. Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cathal O Braonain BL, submitted that the headline sentence of three years was too low, and too much credit was given to Craughwell for the mitigating factors. Mr O Braonain said Craughwell made a deliberate decision to drive while having excessive alcohol in his system. It was a wet, unmarked, rural road and serious risk was caused to a large number of other road users. Mr Justice Birmingham said the sentencing judge fell into error in believing custody could be completely avoided. He said two-and-a-half years imprisonment with the final nine months suspended could not have been seen as severe. However, the Court of Appeal was conscious that sending Craughwell to prison now, having avoided custody in the Circuit Court, would be a deep disappointment to him. The court also considered his continued steps towards rehabilitation. Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, resentenced Craughwell to two-and-a-half years imprisonment with the final 15 months suspended. Craughwell was required to enter into a good behaviour bond for the suspended period, and he undertook to be so bound. His 10-year driving ban remained in place. DES MOINES Jennifer and Jason Pickering came to Andrew Yang's Fairfield Friday night town hall decked in Yang hats, pins and stickers. The married couple drove more than two hours from Ames to see Yang speak alongside Marianne Williamson. Jason Pickering used to support President Donald Trump before he found Yang. He doesn't see himself backing Trump again, but he also doesn't see himself backing any other Democrat. "He's the only one that's honest, that is actually offering solutions," Pickering said. "There's no one else in the party I would support he's the only politician I trust there." In Iowa, picking one candidate isn't necessarily enough in a Democratic caucus in Iowa. A candidate has to get at least 15% support in any given precinct to get any delegates and those without the 15% on a first vote could get it on a final alignment. A supporter of Andrew Yang, Democratic presidential candidate, cheers during a rally to kick-off his bus tour across the state on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019, on the steps of the Iowa State Capitol. That means many caucusgoers will go into their precincts Monday with a first and second-choice candidate, just in case their first choice doesn't make it through. But some diehard supporters say that if their top choice doesn't make it through the first round at their precinct, they're just going home. Jennifer Pickering, 48, said she has never voted. She's now a precinct captain for Yang, an entrepreneur who has won fans for his upbeat attitude and proposal to guarantee every adult citizen $1,000 a month. If Yang doesn't make it through the first vote, she said she won't pick a second choice on caucus night or in the November 2020 general election. "No, we'll write-in Yang," she said. "We are hardcore, only 100% Yang. We're actually trying to do this thing where we see how many people would do a signature for Yang, because we will not do anybody else." But others are ready to make second choices. Mike Poe, a 65-year-old retired factory worker in Marshalltown, said he's got two top candidates. Story continues "Ive got one I really, really like," Poe said. Poe's favorite candidate is Tom Steyer, who he's seen three times. But Poe is also aware that Steyer does not have much support in Iowa, based on recent polling. "But I dont think hes going to make it, so Ive got to get down to the person I think can actually win the deal," he said. "If it doesnt work for Steyer, Im going to go with Joe" Biden, the former vice president. "Yes, hes my second choice. ... and I may even just start out there." 2:16 p.m. Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks on Jan. 18, 2020 at Simpson College's Pfeiffer Hall. Kristi Marchesani, a 46-year-old Cedar Falls resident, attended a Joe Biden rally at the University of Iowa campus Monday sporting a Pete 2020 button. She said shes decided to caucus for the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor but is mulling over what she would do if he doesnt meet the viability threshold in her precinct. Ive thought about it a million times and I have a lot of different philosophies, she said. Biden is a possibility. Hearing him today helps me feel better about him. He definitely translates really well in person. Hes really likable. But I really like (Massachusetts U.S. Elizabeth) Warren, whos a very different candidate. So its kind of crazy to be supporting different candidates for different reasons. So those would probably be the two that I would consider on the night. Jules Bacon and Jan Belisle, while waiting for U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to speak on behalf of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in Marshalltown on Saturday, were talking about Warren's claim that Sanders told her a woman couldnt win the White House. (Sanders strongly denied the claim. He has said he had warned that a woman would face a torrent of sexist and misogynistic attacks from Trump.) Mike Posner speaks at a canvass launch event before door knocking for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, in Iowa City, Iowa. It was dirty politics from Warrens team, Bacon and Belisle agreed. Belisle dropped Warren from a No. 1 spot in favor of Sanders. But it didnt drop Warren from their radar. It felt good when they were kind of on the same page. They were friends, they were competing, but in a nice way. And then that came out and it was, 'Ooh, gross,' said Bacon, a professor at Grinnell College. But, Warren was still closest to Sanders in terms of policy. The recent dispute between the candidates made their opinions of Warren drop significantly, but both Bacon and Belisle said Warren is their second choice. Luke Rogers, a 38-year-old Fairfield resident, said he's planning to caucus for Yang and is building up the courage to go volunteer for him. He isn't ruling out caucusing for another candidate on Feb. 3 if Yang doesn't hit 15% at his precinct, but he isn't committed yet. "I would like to see Andrew get at least 15% in Iowa for the caucus," Rogers said. "So if I can help reach that goal, build that momentum for New Hampshire and all the other states, so be it. Yeah, I don't really see myself changing to Bernie, even though he's my second choice right now." Robin Opsahl covers political trends for the Register. Reach them at ropsahl@registermedia.com or 515-284-8051. Contributing: Brianne Pfannenstiel, Stephen Gruber-Miller and Nick Coltrain contributed to this story. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Election 2020: Iowa caucuses second choice candidates matter A former colleague of mine from Turkey, Oya Dursun-Ozkanca, has just published an informative monograph on "Turkey-West Relations." The author examines Turkish foreign policy since the ascendancy of Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Turkish prime minister in 2003 and as Turkish president (presumably for life) since 2014. Clearly Erdogan has become an object of irritation for the American State Department and for Congress because of his fondness for boundary-breaking. The Turkish leader increasingly acts in a way to spite the U.S. and other members of NATO. This may be partly related to Turkeys failure to enter the EU, most recently in 2014. Turks were rebuffed for varied reasons, from charges of human rights violations to the fear of increasing Turkish immigration into Europe, to Turkeys historic antagonism to Christian Europe. In 2012 Erdogan pulled Turkey into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a group dominated by Russia and China, which shares intelligence information as well as economic markets. The Turkish government gave assurances that nothing in this relation would interfere with Turkeys continued membership in NATO, a connection that the country had had since the beginnings of the Cold War. Erdogan stirred the pot even more when in 2019 he purchased an S-500 missile defense system from Russia. Presumably the necessary parts for its maintenance would come from the same country; and although the system seems to be top-of-the-line, presumably more than military protection is at stake here. Erdogan has been teasing the West by dealing with its designated adversary, even to the point of being willing to suffer the predictable consequences. Turkey has been removed from an international program to build stealth missiles (pending the cancellation of its arrangements to have the Russians install the ordered defense missile system, a process thats already begun). Dursun-Ozkanca considers the rekindled relationship between Turkey and Russia, two countries that historically have been at loggerheads, as part of the costly signaling that the Turkish government has been sending to the West. In April 2019 Vice President Mike Pence reacted by stating emphatically that Turkey was risking its membership in the most successful military alliance in history. Turkey-West Relations throws light on certain issues, which the now customary moralizing of our foreign policy establishment may not do justice to. However unpleasant Erdogans semi-dictatorial rule may be, his political behavior is totally rational, in the sense that it is systematically oriented toward a power-enhancing goal. He is pursuing his own nationalist ends and therefore performing a balancing act, between Russia and NATO, just as the Turkish head of state has played off secularist and Muslim Fundamentalists at home. Erdogan doesnt quake in reverence when he hears the word West, although the term may sometimes conjure up for him some long-ago European Christian foe of the Ottoman Empire. But like Putin, he probably views the Western world as culturally and morally decadent and currently representing such ideals as gay marriage for all members of the Western democratic community. We may also assume that he regards Western foreign policy as a product of the American state department, not exactly a distillation of the combined opinions of equally important members of an alliance system. A student of German affairs, I would certainly never view the government of Angela Merkel as an independent nationalist one. And I doubt Erdogan would. European NATO members are not, from his perspective, independent political actors whom he can play off against the American hegemon. But they did do something that deeply annoys him: they kept his country from becoming part of the EU. When Erdogan joined SCO, he presented it as a path that Turkey had chosen after being denied membership in that European fraternity. Lastly, we are not facing unprecedented Turkish conduct when we see Erdogan triangulate. The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938) deftly played off Western countries against each other in pursuing his own countrys advantage. Mustafa Kemal (later named Ataturk, Father of the Turkish nation) saved his people from extinction after they had lost the First World War, as allies of the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. After wars end, the Turkish mainland was scheduled to be partitioned under the Treaty of Sevres, which the Sultans Grand Vizier meekly signed in a Paris suburb in 1919. Mustafa Kemal, a brilliant general as well as a negotiator, saved his homeland by defeating Greek, French, and Armenian armies in a war for Turkish survival that dragged on until 1923. But what was almost as important as Kemals military skill was his ability to divide the Allied side that was occupying Turkish soil. He drove a wedge between the British and French and exploited any difference between countries that had once been united in their resolve to partition Turkey between Greeks, Armenians, and other once-subject peoples of the Ottoman Empire. Although unlike Kemal Mustafa, Erdogan is neither a brilliant commander nor state builder, his attempt to play off foreign powers is an already long-established Turkish practice. It certainly did not start with Erdogan. And it was a Turkish practice even before the Turks were kept out of the EU. The furniture retailer is opening pick-up points across Slovakia. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled As part of its expansion plans for Slovakia, the worlds largest furniture retailer, IKEA, is opening new pick-up points across the country. A similar point of delivery has been in operation in Kosice since early January. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Pick-up points enable customers to select where and when to pick up their order, said Mounia El Hilali, country retail manager at IKEA for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovakia. The fact that they will drive the product home on their own is an affordable alternative to our transport service. Related article Related article Ikea to open its pop-up store in Kosice Read more The new pick-up points will open in Nitra, Banska Bystrica and Zilina later this year. These will be operated by an external company. IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 1, 2020, TRI Pointe Homes Southern California, a premium West Coast homebuilder, will mark the Grand Opening of Rancho Soleo's twelve (12) model homes with a community-wide celebration. The farmer's market-style event will take place from 10am 2pm with food, music, and family-friendly activities. Located at 45100 Pechanga Parkway in Temecula, CA, Rancho Soleo will consist of 245 exceptional new homes and resort-style amenities for a lifestyle that is both rooted in tradition and refreshingly new. Natalie Barrios, Director of Marketing for TRI Pointe Homes, states, "Rancho Soleo's Grand Opening will offer something for every member of the family. We'll have tastings from Peltzer Winery and Temecula Olive Oil Company, live music by American Patriot Music Project, a petting zoo, food trucks, caricature artists, balloon twistersand of course, model home tours. Everyone will find something to enjoy!" Guests who RSVP to the event (click to RSVP) will receive coupons for one free food item from each food truck upon check-in at the New Home Gallery. New homes at Rancho Soleo will offer floor plans ranging from 1,372 to 2,356 square feet, in three unique home collections. Cava will have 63 two- and three-story, courtyard-style townhomes; Cerro will offer 103 two-story duplex and triplex homes with open-concept designs and private outdoor spaces; and the Cassis collection will offer 79 two-story, single-family detached homes with first-floor master suites. Designed by William Hezmalhalch Architects, Rancho Soleo is a gated community that features Casa Cielo, a central, resort-style amenity space including a pool, club room with island-centered kitchen, and media lounge. Keith Frankel, TRI Pointe Homes' Project Manager for Rancho Soleo, explains, "With Spanish influences and a modern flair, Rancho Soleo's design perfectly complements Temecula's relaxed lifestyle, vineyards, and picturesque setting." Phase 1 is estimated to be complete in May 2020. Prices are anticipated to range from the high $300,000s to the low $500,000s. To learn more about Rancho Soleo visit WelcomeToRanchoSoleo.com. About TRI Pointe Homes Southern California Based in Irvine, California, TRI Pointe Homes Southern California designs, constructs, and sells innovative, single-family homes and condominiums. TRI Pointe Homes is a member of TRI Pointe Group (NYSE: TPH), a family of regional homebuilders. For more information, please visit www.TriPointeHomes.com. Contact: Beth Binger BCIpr 619-987-6658 [email protected] SOURCE TRI Pointe Homes Related Links http://www.TriPointeHomes.com Israels attorney general has officially indicted prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the embattled leader dropped a last-ditch attempt to secure immunity from prosecution in three corruption cases. The dramatic development comes as Mr Netanyahu is in Washington for the launch of Donald Trumps long-awaited Middle East peace plan, which according to leaks in the Israeli media is expected to be the most pro-Israeli American peace proposal yet. The decision to file the indictment against the premier paves the way for a trial to continue, right before Israel is due to go to elections on 2 March. Mr Netanyahu, who is Israels longest-running prime minister, was charged with fraud, breach of trust and bribery in November in three separate cases. He has denied any wrongdoing and repeatedly dismissed the legal proceedings as a political witch hunt. He had originally sought immunity from the legal proceedings but changed his mind after it became clear Israels parliament the Knesset would convene on Tuesday to debate and ultimately reject his request. Had that happened it would have dealt a humiliating blow to the prime minister as he discusses the peace agreement with President Trump. Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Show all 20 1 /20 Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power An Israeli man holding his dog casts his ballot EPA Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Chief Rabbi of the Vizhnitz (Hasidic Dynasty) Israel Hager (left), casts his ballot AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara casts their votes AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power A man takes a selfie with his mobile phone as he casts his ballot Reuters Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Israel's former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman and his wife Ella cast their ballots AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Israeli children accompany their father during Israel's parliamentary election at a polling station AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz and his wife Revital vote AP Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin prepares to vote AP Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power A family votes in the settlement of Tekoa AP Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Ballots lies on a table AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Israel's former justice minister Ayelet greets supporters after casting her ballot AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power A mother takes a photograph of her daughter near a ballot box Reuters Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Children stand with their relative as they place his vote in a ballot box Reuters Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power A woman holds her dog's leash as she prepares to vote Reuters Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power Israel's head of the Joint List alliance Ayman Odeh casts his ballot accompanied by his family AFP/Getty Israel election 2019: Netanyahu battles to hang on to power EPA Israeli media reported that the attorney general filed the indictment at the Jerusalem District Court shortly after he withdrew his immunity bid. Earlier, Mr Netanyahu had written on Facebook: In this fateful hour for the people of Israel, when I am in the United States on a historic mission to design the permanent borders of Israel and ensure our security for decades to come, the Knesset is expected to start another spectacle in the circus of removing immunity. He added that since he was not given due process I decided not to allow this dirty game to continue. Mr Netanyahus chief elections rival, Benny Gantz, who leads the centrist Blue and White alliance, said in a statement that Netanyahu is going to trial we must go forward. Nobody could run a country and simultaneously manage three serious criminal charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Mr Gantz added. Ayman Odeh, leader of the joint list of mostly Arab parties in the Israeli parliament, said the path to trial is paved and no diplomatic public relations stunt in the world would prevent Mr Netanyahu from being brought to justice. Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans while holding portraits of Trump and Netanyahu, during a protest against Trumps expected announcement of a peace plan, in Gaza (AFP via Getty) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images) President Trump invited both Mr Gantz and Mr Netanyahu to Washington to discuss his peace plan, which has already been rejected by the Palestinians on the grounds it will shatter their hopes of statehood. Officials in Washington said Mr Trump, who is close to the Israeli premier, had invited them both to silence any suggestions he was trying to influence the outcome of Israels March election which is once again expected to be very tight. The two Israeli leaders are vying for the premiership of the country after both failed to form a ruling coalition following two inconclusive general elections in 2019. Leaks in Israeli media pointed to a US peace plan that gives Israel full control over the whole of the contested city of Jerusalem, which the Palestinians had hoped would serve as their capital. The leaks said it allows Israel to annexe nearly all of its settlements in the occupied West Bank, effectively giving them more than a third of the territory. The Israeli military announced they were reinforcing the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank with infantry troops, ahead of Trumps announcement. Some Palestinian factions have called for a day of rage in protest of the agreement. Mr Trump himself is campaigning for re-election under the cloud of his impeachment trial in the Senate. And so, some analysts have argued the timing of the release of his plan is political: both to protect him and his ally Mr Netanyahu. On Tuesday, Israels parliament was due to form a committee to debate, and likely reject, Mr Netanyahus request for immunity, which all Israeli lawmakers are permitted to apply for. Israeli analysts said Mr Netanyahus decision to drop the immunity bid was a face-saving move by his right-wing Likud party after the oltra-orthodox parties, who are the prime ministers most loyal allies, announced they were going to boycott the vote. Officials within the Likud said that if it became apparent they were going to lose the vote, they would just pull it so as not to give Blue and White a political victory, said Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute. She added the Likud had hoped the parliamentary session might be held after the elections. But that didnt work. [A rejection] would look humiliating and so now the legal proceedings can continue apace. It is unclear if Mr Netanyahu, who has sought to portray himself as a global statesman and the only Israeli politician able to negotiate with countries like the States, will gain from withdrawing his request. Israeli media reported that he had agonised over submitting the immunity bid, as it undermined his position that he is innocent. Last November, Israeli attorney general Avichai Mandelblit indicted Mr Netanyahu on corruption charges, marking the first time a serving Israeli prime minister has ever been indicted. Tuesdays announcements formalises the indictment. In Washington, Mr Netanyahu was, however, upbeat on Monday night after meeting Mr Trump who he called the greatest friend Israel has had in the White House. He travelled with an entourage including settler leaders and said the peace plan was the opportunity of the century. President Trump admitted that without [the Palestinians], we wont do the deal and thats OK. He added: I will say, many of the Arab nations have agreed to it. They like it. They think its great. Mr Trump met Mr Gantz on Monday as well. After the meeting, Mr Gantz thanked the US president for his profound support of Israels citizens and for his commitment to their security. He said immediately after the elections he would work towards implementing Mr Trumps plan from within a stable, functioning Israeli government, in tandem with the other countries in our region. The House of Representatives has lamented about the security situation in Nigeria. Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, the House spokesperson, Benjamin Kalu (Abia, APC), stated that the security situation in the country was alarming. We will look at what pains you and pains us, that is insecurity in the land; it is alarming, the lawmaker said. PREMIUM TIMES has reported on the insecurity across the nation carried out by various armed groups and individuals. Apart from the resurgent Boko Haram attacks in the North-east, there have been increased cases of killings and kidnappings across the country. In one of the latest incidents, 13 people were killed in a Plateau community. Amidst the insecurity, the presidency has said Nigerians have reasons to be grateful as the security situation is better than it was before President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office. We know what the situation was as at 2015 and we know what it is today. Despite the reversals in security, it is still not as bad as it used to be in this country, Femi Adesina, President Buharis spokesperson, said recently. Mr Kalu stated the position of the House on Tuesday while briefing journalists in the National Assembly after the lawmakers adjourned plenary to honour one of their deceased colleagues, Mohammed Fagen-Gawo. Mr Fagen-Gawo who represented Garki/Babura Federal Constituency of Jigawa State, reportedly died in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The late lawmaker was a member of the All Progressives Congress and a ranking member of the House. NEW REFORMS Mr. Kalu announced the lawmakers decision to come up with new reforms in 2020. He also said the house would consider several other national issues including constitutional amendments. There will be a couple of them this year that will reflect the desire of the people. We will look at what pains you and pains us, that is insecurity in the land; it is alarming. We can no longer discuss about it in low tones. The cries of those that have lost their lives are giving us sleepless nights and something needs to be done about it. Mr. Kalu added that the 9th Assembly is going to look at various legislative interventions with regards to insecurity in the country to ensure Nigerians are safe because it is a core mandate of every government to protect lives and property. He said the lawmakers would also assist the police to be more effective. It is the responsibility of the police to take care of internal security, a role the constitution gave them mandate to play. The recent reports we are getting shows that the police is capable of handling our internal security. We are going to use legislative intervention to support them the more, and all the other role players within the Armed Forces, he said. EBRD sets new investment record in Georgia in 2019 The EBRD has achieved a new record in Georgia in 2019 with annual investments of US$ 325 million through 21 private and public sector projects an all-time high for the Bank in the country, further deepening the impact.I am delighted with the results we achieved in Georgia last year. This is thanks to a strong team of professionals at the local office and all our partners, local entrepreneurs and international donor organisations who are passionate about furthering Georgias economic development. We remain committed to creating a brighter future for the country and making peoples lives better, enthused Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, EBRD Regional Director for the Caucasus.In the municipal infrastructure sector, the EBRD in 2019 financed the purchase of 200 modern, low-floor buses for the capital Tbilisi, as well as 175 new buses for the six cities of Gori, Kutaisi, Poti, Rustavi, Telavi and Zugdidi. The buses will offer passengers more comfort and will have considerable environmental benefits, meeting EU emission and health and safety standards.These projects are in line with the EBRDs innovative Green Cities concept, which offers a holistic, systematic approach to address the challenges of developing cities. Its main objective is the sustainability of good air quality and efficient use of resources.The EBRD trained 20 female bus drivers as part of a technical cooperation programme funded by Japan. The Bank also supported the Tbilisi Transport Company with a gender advisory services programme.In the power sector, the Bank continued to support the generation of renewable energy; an investment to rehabilitate the Enguri hydro power plant has increased efficiency and ensured the security of electricity supply.Special attention was paid to reforms in the renewables sector. The EBRD worked with the government to facilitate and diversify energy sources by leading preparatory work on an auction of the countrys solar capacity.The Bank continued to support the private sector through credit lines to local partner banks as well as through direct loans.The Bank successfully used the funds under the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) credit line with partner banks, and signed additional DCFTA credit lines with two partner banks. Thanks to the European Union (EU) as a grant provider, these on-lending facilities via local partner banks provide finance and expertise to enterprises, supporting the modernisation of their product and service standards (in accordance with Association Agreement (AA) and DCFTA requirements) and boosting trade with the EU.The EBRD promoted green financing by launching a Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF), a new and innovative product, and signing loans with three partner banks to strengthen energy efficiency. Through on-lending via local partner banks, the EBRD will continue to support corporates and households to improve industrial and residential energy efficiency.The EBRD continued its engagement with the Georgian authorities through the Investors Council to improve the investment climate and facilitate reforms.Following close cooperation with the EBRD, the Georgian parliament passed a package of laws regulating the local financial markets and amendments to capital market legislation. This is a milestone in the development of Georgias capital markets, allowing companies to safely and efficiently hedge their risk and exposure.To date, the EBRD has invested over US$ 4 billion through 249 projects in Georgia. DALLAS, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thompson & Knight LLP has expanded its Real Estate and Banking Practice as well as its New York and Houston presence with the addition of two new Partners. Michael H. Jo of New York and Doug Stewart of Houston are leading real estate practitioners and their wealth of experience and strong client relationships are a complement to the Firm's existing practice. "Michael and Doug are well respected attorneys, and we are very pleased that they chose to bring their practices to Thompson & Knight," said Gregg C. Davis, Thompson & Knight's Real Estate and Banking Practice Leader. "The real estate markets in New York and Houston are active and growing, and Michael's expertise in commercial lending and securitization and Doug's experience with large-scale and complex transactions will be a tremendous asset for our clients across the nation." "Expanding Thompson & Knight's Real Estate and Banking practice in both New York and Houston is an important part of our overall growth plan. Michael and Doug are welcomed additions to the practice, as we continue to expand and meet our client's growing needs," said Mark M. Sloan, the Firm's Managing Partner. Mr. Jo's practice focuses on counseling finance companies, REITs, and banks in negotiating, structuring, and closing complex transactions. His more than 19 years of experience includes mortgage and mezzanine financing, preferred equity and equity investing, and counseling lenders, special servicers, and investors with respect to workouts and investment management. Additionally, Mr. Jo has a deep understanding of the legal and business issues that arise at both the commercial real estate loan and securitization transaction levels, including the legal aspects of post-securitization matters that include interactions with servicers and trustees. In prior roles, Mr. Jo served as the managing director for a large bond rating agency where he managed the legal group responsible for new issuance and surveillance of commercial mortgage-backed securities and collateralized loan obligations. He also has experience leading legal departments for the commercial real estate group of a large publicly-traded REIT. Mr. Jo received his J.D. from the New York University School of Law and his B.A., summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Prior to joining Thompson & Knight, Mr. Jo practiced at the New York office of Carlton Fields. Mr. Stewart has more than 40 years of experience representing lenders, banks, developers, builders, and corporations in matters involving real estate, lending, and project finance. In addition, he has experience assisting clients in achieving lines of credit, hotel financing, and syndicated credits, as well as negotiating land acquisition and development contracts, improved property sales and financing, and lender liability issues. Mr. Stewart is a Fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and the Texas College of Real Estate Attorneys and has been consistently recognized on the lists of The Best Lawyers in America, Texas Super Lawyers, and H Texas Houston's Top Lawyers. He has served as a Director of several Houston-area financial institutions and is a member of the Texas Association of Bank Counsel. He earned his J.D., with honors, from The University of Texas School of Law, and his B.A., with highest honors, from The University of Texas. Prior to joining the Firm, he practiced at Winstead PC for ten years. About Thompson & Knight Established in 1887, Thompson & Knight is a full-service law firm with more than 300 attorneys. The Firm provides legal solutions to clients and communities around the world. Thompson & Knight has been named "Law Firm of the Year" in Natural Resources Law (2018) and in Oil & Gas Law (2011-2013, 2015, 2017) in U.S. News-Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms." For more information, visit www.tklaw.com . For additional information: Britney Henry Marketing Manager 713-951-5805 I [email protected] SOURCE Thompson & Knight LLP Related Links http://www.tklaw.com Advertisement This is the moment a suspected British coronavirus patient who had returned from Wuhan was loaded into an ambulance by a hazmat-clad paramedic - hours after being sent home by his GP. Drew Bennett, 39, is feared to have contracted the potentially deadly virus during a recent holiday to the Chinese city at the heart of the outbreak and is currently in isolation at a Birmingham hospital. The sales worker returned from Wuhan on New Years' Eve and quickly developed flu-like symptoms before becoming too unwell to leave his bed. But he revealed today that when he visited his GP on Monday he was told to go home - despite fears the highly contagious virus is poised to claim its first British victim. The advice given by his doctor contradicted health bosses' warning that suspected coronavirus patients must be 'locked in a room alone straight away'. Guidance issued to GPs by Public Health England last week ordered them to put patients in a separate room, close the door and 'don't let them touch anything or anyone'. At 4.20pm on Monday an ambulance carrying medics in hazmat suits was sent to Mr Bennett's address in Harborne, Birmingham. He was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to have blood tests, where he remains in isolation awaiting results. Video captured by a neighbour showed one medic wearing a white hazmat suit, blue apron, gloves and a mask with a visor, escorting him into the ambulance. But two West Midlands Ambulance Service crew could be seen without any protective clothing or masks - sparking fears British authorities are failing to take the threat of spreading the killer disease seriously. In other developments: Nearly 6,000 people have been struck down with the killer virus across the world as China has now recorded 131 deaths in the ever-worsening outbreak Britons stuck in coronavirus-hit Wuhan are gearing up to be flown back to the UK on Thursday via chartered planes in a landmark evacuation mission The Department of Health today confirmed almost 100 people have now been tested for the deadly coronavirus in the UK but all of them have come back as negative A German man infected with the Wuhan coronavirus has become the first European to catch the deadly illness outside of China A British-American dual national was evacuated out of Wuhan on a California-bound chartered plane organised by US officials The British expert developing a vaccine against coronavirus says it has a 'very good chance' of being effective as he claims trials will start mid-February A British citizen isolated in Wuhan has said he is too afraid to leave his flat for fear of infecting his nine-month-old daughter with the deadly coronavirus A paramedic head-to-toe in protective gear directs Drew Bennett, 39, into an ambulance on a residential street in Harborne, Birmingham Two other paramedics wearing no protective clothing appear in the video - one appears from behind the ambulance doors (left) and another stands beside the hazmat-clad woman (right) Mr Bennett travelled home from Wuhan - the outbreak's epicentre - to Harborne, Birmingham, on New Year's Eve and quickly became too unwell to leave his bed He is now in isolation at Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he is awaiting blood test results to see if he has the virus The latest video comes despite Health Secretary Matt Hancock just yesterday warning around 2,000 Britons who are thought to have returned from Wuhan since the start of the outbreak to 'self-isolate, stay indoors and avoid contact with other people' in a significant ramping up of precautions. Meanwhile in China, health workers have been hosing down streets, shops and public transport with disinfectant spray to try curb the spiralling epidemic. UK doctors were told just last week to lock suspected virus patients in a room Doctors in the UK were told to lock patients in a room and leave straight away if they suspect they have the deadly Chinese coronavirus. The extraordinary guidance was issued by Public Health England amid fears the contagious illness has already made its way into Britain. The PHE guidance, which was issued to GP practice doctors this week, reads: 'If [the Wuhan coronavirus] is considered possible when a consultation is already in progress, withdraw from the room, close the door and wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. 'Avoid physical examination of a suspected case. The patient should remain in the room with the door closed. Belongings and waste should remain in the room. 'Advise others not to enter the room. If a clinical history still needs to be obtained or completed, do this by telephone. 'The patient should not be allowed to use communal toilet facilities. 'Instruct them to not touch anything or anyone when walking to the toilet. Instruct the patient to wash their hands thoroughly after toileting.' Advertisement Coronavirus has been deemed highly contagious and can spread via a simple cough or sneeze. It has killed more than 130 people in under a month. West Midlands Ambulance Service has refused to answer any questions about why some staff were not wearing protective clothing while collecting Mr Bennett. A spokesman for the trust repeatedly told this website: 'We can't say a thing about the case.' Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Bennett told Birmingham Live: 'Once I got back I was really ill with, what I thought, was a bad case of the flu. At that stage coronavirus hadn't really been mentioned so I thought nothing of it. 'However, when I went to the GP on Monday and he asked as a precaution if I had been to China, he seemed really concerned. 'I was sent home and before I knew it, ambulances and people in hazmat suits had turned up. 'I'm now in isolation at the QE [Queen Elizabeth] and just waiting to get my blood test results.' Mr Bennett said he 'did not feel particularly unwell' now but admitted he has 'not been 100 per cent' since returning from China. The salesman was sent home from his doctor practice on Monday despite admitting he was struck down with illness after visiting disease-ridden Wuhan last month. But just last week Public Health England told doctors to lock patients in a room and leave straight away if they suspect they have coronavirus. It reiterated that there were no confirmed cases of the virus in the UK. Nearly 100 people have now been tested for the virus, but all of them have come back as negative. The extraordinary guidance read: 'If [the Wuhan coronavirus] is considered possible when a consultation is already in progress, withdraw from the room, close the door and wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. 'Avoid physical examination of a suspected case. The patient should remain in the room with the door closed. Belongings and waste should remain in the room. 'Advise others not to enter the room. If a clinical history still needs to be obtained or completed, do this by telephone. 'The patient should not be allowed to use communal toilet facilities. Instruct them to not touch anything or anyone when walking to the toilet. Instruct the patient to wash their hands thoroughly after toileting.' Christian Diaz, 32, who lives across the hallway from Mr Bennett's flat, said he is now fearful for his own health after spending so long in close proximity to him. Separate footage taken in the early hours of Monday showed an ambulance worker in a white protective suit outside an address in Spitalfields, east London Details about the video are scarce and the London Ambulance Service Trust refused to comment BRITISH TEACHER WHO LIVED NEXT TO THE SCANDAL-HIT SEAFOOD MARKET IN WUHAN FEARS HE IS SPREADING CORONAVIRUS IN THE UK A British teacher who spent the last decade in Wuhan fears he may be spreading coronavirus throughout the UK after being turned away for tests by NHS 111. David Marland, 34, lived just five minutes from the seafood market thought to be at the centre of the outbreak and walked through it nearly every day. At least one person in his apartment block has tested positive for the deadly illness that has killed 81 people in less than a month. Mr Marland, from Buckinghamshire, called the NHS helpline as soon as he stepped off a plan at Gatwick Airport from Dubai, via Hong Kong and the Chinese city of Shenzhen, last week. He expected to be hauled in immediately for tests, but was only asked if he had 'the sniffles'. Mr Marland was told to only call back if he began to feel unwell. That was despite the recent discovery that patients can be infectious without showing any symptoms. Advertisement He added: 'I was absolutely terrified when I looked out of my window and saw people walking around in Hazmat suits. It looked like something out of a movie. 'An ambulance pulled up and then he was taken out wearing a mask. It seemed very serious. We are all very worried. Nobody has let us know what is going on. 'We don't know whether the building will be put into quarantine if it turns out that he does have the infection. Obviously, we hope that he is OK, but it's concerning for everyone.' Separate footage taken in the early hours of Monday showed an ambulance worker in a white protective suit outside an address in Spitalfields, east London. Details about the video are scarce and the London Ambulance Service Trust refused to comment, saying the Department of Health (DoH) is dealing with the incident. The DoH said it would not speak on individual cases. Wuhan coronavirus is now confirmed to have infected nearly 6,000 people in 18 different countries around the world and killed 131 in China. The US, Canada, Australia and France all confirmed cases last week while Germany, Sri Lanka and Cambodia yesterday became the latest countries to declare them overnight. In a desperate attempt to prevent an outbreak on British soil, Mr Hancock begged travellers to stay indoors, avoid contact with anyone and ring NHS 111 if they have any symptoms. Officials are still desperately trying to hunt down the 2,000 people who are in the UK after landing from Wuhan in the past fortnight. Health chiefs revealed 73 people in the UK have already been tested for the never-before-seen virus but all cases have so far come back as negative. Public Health England admitted that the first UK confirmed case is likely to come from somebody already in the country. Officials have not clarified exactly how patients will be taken to hospital if they complain of symptoms. But it is thought they will be taken in an ambulance and whisked straight off to be isolated while doctors run tests. More than 2,000 people are thought to have jetted into Britain from Wuhan since cases first emerged last month. Mr Hancock's advice applies to anyone who has entered Britain since January 10. Meanwhile in China, health workers have been hosing down streets, shops and public transport with disinfectant spray to try curb the spiralling epidemic. Pictured: A worker sprays an office building in Qingdao, Shandong Province A volunteer sprays disinfectant in Qingdao's residential West Coast area Qingdao is a coastal city approximately 620miles (1,000km) away from Wuhan Mr Hancock, who said there are four centres stood up and ready should there be a need two in London, one in Liverpool and one in Newcastle, added: 'Having eliminated those who we know have since left the country, there are 1,460 people we are seeking to locate.' Meanwhile, hundreds of Britons trapped in the Chinese city at the heart of the coronavirus outbreak have been told to contact the embassy by 11am tomorrow if they want to come home. The Government is planning a landmark evacuation mission for Thursday. The UK is still thrashing out the details with Chinese officials but a chartered flight is expected to pick them up from Wuhan airport and fly directly back to Britain. Evacuees are likely to have health checks before they board any plane to the UK and they are expected to be held in quarantine for a fortnight when they return to stop the SARS-like infection which has struck down nearly 6,000 people and killed 131 spreading on British soil. The killer coronavirus outbreak has now killed 131 people and struck down nearly 6,000. Cases have been spotted in Canada, US, France and Australia Experts say the difficulty of containing the coronavirus is that so many patients have mild, cold-like symptoms and don't realise they have the infection Japanese officials prepare to load various supplies such as face masks into a charter plane bound for Wuhan at Tokyo's Haneda airport. The flight is to evacuate Japanese nationals from the Chinese city that has been hit by the outbreak of a new deadly coronavirus Passengers arriving at Nanjing Railway Station in China have their temperatures checked by staff who are looking to see if anyone has a high fever, a sign of infection Thai Airways employees are pictured disinfecting an empty plane cabin at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok today, January 28. Thailand has 14 confirmed coronavirus cases the most outside of China WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A BRITISH PATIENT CATCHES THE VIRUS? Are there any treatments for coronavirus? Experts have stressed many people with coronavirus will make a full recovery, although some people - both young and old - are being badly affected. At the moment, there is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for this strain of coronavirus infection. Patients in England with the virus will be transferred to one of four High Consequences Infectious Diseases (HCID) units in Liverpool, London or Newcastle. The units have specific areas where staff can change in and out of protective clothing and equipment, while patient isolation rooms have tightly controlled air flow and filtering. In severe cases of infection, treatment can include life support such as the use of a ventilator, dialysis to support the kidneys and artificial hydration or nutrition. What advice is being given to the NHS? Doctors in the UK have been told to leave the room straight away and shut their patient in if they think they might have the Chinese coronavirus. They should close the door and wash their hands thoroughly. PHE guidance, issued to GPs, says: 'Avoid physical examination of a suspected case. The patient should remain in the room with the door closed. Belongings and waste should remain in the room. 'Advise others not to enter the room. If a clinical history still needs to be obtained or completed, do this by telephone. The patient should not be allowed to use communal toilet facilities. 'Instruct them to not touch anything or anyone when walking to the toilet. Instruct the patient to wash their hands thoroughly after toileting.' If the patient is critically ill, they should be put into an ambulance, Public Health England said. But otherwise, a hospital should be phoned ahead and warned and the patient must be told to get there without using public transport or a taxi. Hospitals have also been urged by PHE to check their equipment, supplies and procedures. This includes checking they have respirators that staff can wear if dealing with a patient in isolation. They should also stock protective clothing such as gloves with long tight-fitting cuffs, disposable and fluid-resistant full-sleeve gowns and single-use goggles. Plenty of clinical waste bags, hand hygiene supplies and chlorine-based disinfectant solutions should also be in stock. Advertisement US officials announced a similar plan for its landmark evacuation flight this morning. Japan organised a Boeing 767 to fly out and rescue residents from Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province, which has been battered by an onslaught of cases of the coronavirus. Claims yesterday surfaced that China was blocking the emergency airlift operation, forcing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to insist the Government was doing 'everything we can'. Ex-pats stuck in Wuhan have already begged officials to 'get us out of here', with one furious Brit describing the situation as an 'utter p***take' and others accusing the Government who revealed it was drawing up plans alongside the US and other international allies of abandoning them. The development came after British ministers were accused of dithering in their response to rescuing the estimated 300 ex-pats stranded in Wuhan. A British teacher and his pregnant wife who are stuck in Wuhan begged for the Government to rescue them this afternoon. In a desperate plea for help, Tom Williams published an open letter on Twitter letter in which he explicitly states he is not telling his story to become famous. The post has attracted hundreds of likes and retweets since it was posted on Twitter last night. His wife and son are both Canadian citizens. He wrote: 'Hello, my name is Tom Williams. I am a British expat teacher who has lived and worked in Wuhan, China for five year with Canadian wife of eight years (Lauren) and son, James (two). 'My wife is currently 35 weeks pregnant and we are quarantined in the city. Local roads have been closed, which is making getting to the maternity hospital uncertain. The maternity hospital is also much closer to the initial area of the virus outbreak. 'We are safe and have enough food. Local shops are still open and are well stocked. However, we are requesting that either the Canadian or British Government looks to help evacuate us.' Mr Williams, from Cheltenham, added: 'Advice from emergency consulate assistance in both Ottawa, and London, so far is that we should leave if we can. However, they have given no practical steps for how to do that. 'Without diplomatic help, it would be almost impossible to leave. We are happy to be quarantined in Canada or the UK to guarantee the safety of citizens there, but I also want to ensure the safety of my wife, son and unborn child. If I have to stay behind so be it. My family is my number one priority.' In his final paragraph, he added: 'I am not messaging to try and become famous. I just want to try and share our story so I can try to get my wife, son and unborn child safely out of the city. Other British citizens stuck in China publicly condemned the British government for being slow to react to the crisis. Ian Thompson, a British-American dual national stranded in Wuhan, told Good Morning Britain that he would trapped if it hadn't been for his dual citizenship because the UK had made no effort to contact or evacuate him. He'll be flown out of Wuhan on a California-bound chartered plane later today along with hundreds of Americans. He is expected to be held in quarantine for a number of days when they land to stop the disease spreading on US soil. As well as the US, Japan, South Korea, France and Spain have all announced similar rescue plans but the dithering British government said it was still thrashing out options with Chinese officials to get the stranded ex-pats home 'within the next few days'. While it waits for a green-light to commence the repatriation, the Foreign Office has created a 24-hour helpline for anyone stuck in Hubei province which is now entirely on lockdown as part of a desperate attempt to contain the SARS-like infection by trapping tens of millions of people. In a desperate plea for help, Tom Williams published on open letter on Twitter to say: 'I just want to try and share our story so I can try and get my wife, son and unborn child safely out of the city (pictured with his wife Lauren and son James) Mr Williams said: 'Please read the letter below. Please help share our story. We are just an ordinary family seeking help!' (pictured with his wife) Mr Williams's open letter in which he explicitly states he is not telling his story to become famous has attracted hundreds of likes and retweets since it was posted on Twitter last night. His wife and son are both Canadian citizens Graham Hubbard, 38, is one of a group of three British scientists confined to their hotel rooms in Wuhan. He said the Foreign Office's advice had been 'confusing' and came too late for them to plan their own escape. The scientist, from Wantage, Oxfordshire, was on a working trip with colleagues when the Chinese authorities blocked transport in and out of Wuhan. His scheduled return flight home was due to take off an hour and a half after the city-wide quarantine came into force last Thursday. Mr Hubbard and his colleagues, Richard Staunton-Lambert, 49, also from Wantage, and Victoria Sullivan, from Bracknell, Berkshire, are staying at the five-star Renaissance hotel. He told The Times: 'We are trapped in our hotel rooms, surrounded by a ghost town with no idea when we can go home to our families and no practical help from our own government, who are giving us contradictory advice.' Dual national Ian Thompson told Good Morning Britain that he would 'stuck here' if it hadn't been for his US nationality, saying he is not aware of any attempts by the UK to lift some 300 British ex-pats stranded in Wuhan, described it as a 'ghost town' for its empty streets Graham Hubbard is one of a group of three British scientists confined to their hotel rooms in Wuhan. He blasted the Foreign Office for its 'confusing' advice, which came too late for them to plan their own escape The US is sending a chartered plane to Wuhan to take Americans stranded in the coronavirus-hit city to Alaska, before another plane diverts them to Ontario City in California A charter plane organised by the Japanese government to evacuate nationals from Wuhan. It is pictured leaving Tokyo's Haneda International Airport passenger terminal this evening SCIENTISTS 'TWO MONTHS AWAY' FROM HUMAN VACCINE TRIAL A scientist in the UK claims a coronavirus vaccine she is developing could be tested on humans in two months' time. Dr Kate Broderick, from Inovio Pharmaceuticals in Pennsylvania, US, thinks her team is the closest to developing a vaccine to protect against the Wuhan coronavirus, The Times reports. They are testing the jab, named INO-4800, on animals this week and hope to start human trials in eight weeks' time. Dr Broderick and colleagues have been working on the vaccine since the outbreak was announced on December 31, and they won a $9million (6.9m) research grant from a funding program backed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. They used information about the genetic code of the coronavirus, which was shared by China, to try and develop a vaccine which they knew would destroy the virus. The team believe the vaccine could be 90 per cent effective. If they're right, they will try to get emergency approval from the US's Food & Drug Administration. Independent experts said they thought the vaccine had promise. Professor Robin Shattock, from Imperial College London, said current indications were that the vaccine has 'a very good chance of being effective'. Adding that there is a global race to find a vaccine, he said: 'Having as many options available in the pipeline as possible is prudent. 'We may have a range of things with difficult levels of effectiveness.' Advertisement The initial advice from the Foreign Office was to stay put and not leave the city until after the travel ban was lifted. But at that time UK officials were not aware of the scale of the outbreak, Mr Hubbard said. He added: 'By then it was too late for us to do anything, the flights and trains were cancelled and we were trapped. 'When I spoke with the Foreign Office today I was told 'we can not guarantee anything'. It is very frustrating because we have been given contradictory advice. 'The Foreign Office website was finally updated at 9am UK time. So nothing happens all weekend until they get back to work on Monday.' Mr Hubbard had been woken up by his panicked wife at the crack of dawn last Thursday who told him about the travel restrictions. He tried to catch the high-speed train to a city three hours away to fly via a different airport, but was refused a ticket. The father then hired a taxi but the roads were so congested that by the time he got to the outskirts of the city roadblocks had been put up. Bosses in Wuhan have banned the use of cars, meaning the motorways and streets are eerily quiet. The hotel where the British scientists are staying have banned communal eating in the dining room because of the increasing risk of new infections. Guests can collect takeaway meals to eat in their own rooms or order room service. Mr Hubbard's wife Laura, 39, who is at home with their three children aged four, six and eight, had begged for the British government to help. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps this morning said the Government is 'working on' how to bring people home from the Chinese city. He told BBC Breakfast: 'For anybody who is there, one of the issues we have, working with our partners internationally on this, is actually identifying how many British citizens there are in Wuhan. 'One of the things we're asking people to do is to contact the consulate there to make them aware. People have started to do that. 'We are working on arrangements as well.' Medical workers in Guiyang, Guizhou, prepare to head into Wuhan to help with the response to the coronavirus outbreak Six villages in Hebei the province surrounding the capital Beijing, where dozens of cases have been confirmed have taken matters into their own hands and are building brick walls around their street to protect it, Sky News reports Paramedics wearing hazmat suits arrived in Broadbeach, Australia, to reports of a suspected coronavirus case on Tuesday they are pictured escorting the male patient out to an ambulance CHINA CONFIDENT IT WILL SLAY 'DEVIL VIRUS' AND SLOW THE OUTBREAK IN 10 DAYS China has been maintaining a positive front in its 'battle of Wuhan' today. President Xi Jinping said the country would defeat the 'devil virus' and a high-profile scientist said he was convinced the outbreak would peak in the next 10 days. Chinese state television quoted President Xi as saying: 'The virus is a devil and we cannot let the devil hide,' Reuters reported. 'China will strengthen international cooperation and welcomes the WHO participation in virus prevention ... China is confident of winning the battle against the virus.' And renowned scientist in China's National Health Commission, Zhong Nanshan, said he thinks the coronavirus outbreak 'will not increase at a large scale'. The number of people confirmed to have the infection has skyrocketed in the past week from 308 on January 21 to 4,592 on January 28. But Dr Zhong said: 'I believe it should reach a peak in a week or around ten days.' He added: 'The battle of Wuhan is taking place under a situation where there is no clear boundary between us and the enemy.' Other experts added that warmer weather may make it harder for the infection to spread cold and flu-like illnesses tend to spread faster in winter weather. Advertisement He added: 'If they actually contact the consulate where they are then that consulate is in fact gathering together all the information of the people who are there, in order to help repatriate where that's appropriate.' It comes after the Chinese partners of US citizens were been banned from a rescue flight to evacuate Americans from Wuhan. A charter flight is scheduled to fly from the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport to Alaska before landing in Ontario, California, where all of the evacuees will be quarantined for at least 72 hours. In other developments in the escalating crisis today, A German man has become the first person in Europe to catch the virus without even going to China. The unidentified 33-year-old caught the disease in his home country on January 21 from a colleague visiting from China and later became ill on her flight home. She was from Shanghai but had recently visited her parents in Wuhan, according to reports. The German man's case is one of four men in Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan have also been infected at home. Countries around the world are starting to cut ties with China and pull their citizens out of the crisis-hit Hubei region, where the virus emerged in the city of Wuhan. Hong Kong's leader today held a press conference during which she wore a face mask and said the city would stop all high-speed trains and ferries to the mainland. In a dramatic intervention, she also announced Hong Kong would halve the number of flights and stop giving visas to visitors from China. In Australia, paramedics wearing hazmat suits were seen at the luxury Peppers Broadbeach hotel on the Gold Coast. And a health minister in Thailand today admitted that the country is 'not able to stop' the spread of the virus there, where 14 people have been infected. But China is maintaining a solid front President Xi Jinping today said the nation would 'win the battle against the devil virus'. And a Chinese scientist said he thinks the outbreak and the 'battle of Wuhan' will peak in 10 days' time. Moreover, some of the cruelest experiments conducted in Auschwitz, on mass sterilization and the effects of starvation, were carried out by other camp physicians. Mengele was one of many among a whole corps of medical staff doctors, pharmacists, nurses, orderlies posted in the camp. Apart from the experiments, their duties consisted of what ordinary doctors regularly and legitimately do. These included responsibility for the health of SS members and camp inmates, and preventing the spread of disease (like typhus, one of Mengeles achievements). This was the larger context in which Mengele worked, enabling him to enthusiastically exercise his albeit racially perverted and ideologically inflected scientific and research interests. With its vast available human resources, Auschwitz became an ideal laboratory. No one in history, Marwell writes, had had access to the raw material that stood before him or had been so liberated from the restraints that tamed ambition and limited scientific progress. It was here that the line between being an ordinary Hippocratic doctor and a mass murderer was crossed. For physicians at Auschwitz, the informing biomedical Nazi vision that combined combating and destroying enemies of the Aryan race (above all, Jews), with positive steps to preserve and improve the German racial community, seamlessly encouraged the corruption of medical ethics, the denial of basic humanity and the practice of ruthless experimentation and medicalized killings. What particularly distinguished Mengele from other physicians was that he reveled in the culture that had been created in Auschwitz, in the opportunities and power it gave him. He saw himself as engaged in a putatively cutting edge scientific endeavor. He was quite correct when, in a remarkable letter to his son, he declared that he had not invented Auschwitz, it already existed. But it was in its unparalleled enabling culture that Mengele realized himself and, as the psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton put it, his actions so well articulated the camps essence. Throughout the postwar years he expressed no remorse and either remained oblivious to, or rationalized, the enormity of his crimes. He remained a convinced Nazi and when pushed, he resorted to the timeworn justification that he had to do his duty and carry out orders. He had never harmed anyone personally. In any case, as Rolf summarized his fathers words: He couldnt help anyone. On the platform for instance. What was he to do, when the half-dead and infected people arrived? His job was to clarify only: able to work and unable to work. He thinks he saved the lives of thousands of people in that way. He hasnt ordered the extermination and he is not responsible. Also, the twins owe their lives to him. What specifically distinguishes Marwells account from previous studies concerns his personal involvement in the Justice Departments Office of Special Investigations (O.S.I.) and the search for and identification of Mengele. Much of the volume is taken up with Mengeles escape to, and life in, various South American countries and the bungled attempts to locate and capture him. Astonishingly, Mengele was in American captivity in 1945 and the Israelis found him in 1960; for different reasons both ventures were simply dropped. Marwell comprehensively recounts this case of justice denied, and how helped by his wealthy family, loyal friends and Nazi sympathizers Mengele succeeded in evading his would-be captors. There is also highly detailed reportage regarding the seemingly endless investigations and multiple conflicts surrounding the interpretation of the medical and forensic evidence that in 1992 definitively established that Mengele had died in Brazil in 1979. Finally, in the end, Marwell writes with a certain flourish, I held his bones in my hands. When in October 1992 the O.S.I. submitted its concluding report, In the Matter of Josef Mengele, it was to the assistant attorney general for the criminal division, Robert S. Mueller III. He later handed it to his boss, the attorney general, William P. Barr. Ttymiu.jatmachinery.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 18 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the ttymiu.jatmachinery homepage on Twitter + the total number of ttymiu.jatmachinery followers (if ttymiu.jatmachinery has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the ttymiu.jatmachinery homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the ttymiu.jatmachinery homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the ttymiu.jatmachinery homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if ttymiu.jatmachinery has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the ttymiu.jatmachinery homepage on Delicious. Basic Information PAGE TITLE --wwww.hhh.com DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS com , av , wwww, com , av, av , www The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. Domain and Server DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE GBK DETECTED LANGUAGE SERVER Microsoft-IIS/6.0 (PHP/5.2.17) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Operative System running on the server. Character set and language of the site. The language of ttymiu.jatmachinery.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Type of server and offered services. Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for ttymiu.jatmachinery.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The URL of the found Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The type of Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND The Senate has said the alleged conviction of the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, by a U.S court, is not an issue of the Senate. The spokesperson, Godiya Akwashiki, said this while responding to questions from journalists on Tuesday. case of assault by Adamawa senator, Elisha Abbo. The lawmaker was asked if the Senate will probe the allegations against Mr Omo-Agege or apply the same delayed action in theby Adamawa senator, Elisha Abbo. In his response, the Senate spokesperson said the issue of Mr Omo-Agege is just as may affect any other person. He said he knew nothing about the case and only read about it on the internet. READ ALSO: I am speaking here for the ninth Senate, I am not speaking for American court or judiciary as an arm of government in Nigeria. The issue of Elisha Abbo is similar but entirely different from the issue of the Deputy Senate President. We are senators and lawmakers, so we should be seen working within the purview of the law of the land. The issue of Elisha Abbo, somebody stood up and raised a matter of public interest, we discussed it and we set up a committee. But because that matter is in the court of law, we said we should keep it in abeyance. There is nothing wrong with that. The issue of Elisha Abbo, somebody stood up and raised a matter of public interest, we discussed it and we set up a committee. But because that matter is in the court of law, we said we should keep it in abeyance. There is nothing wrong with that. The issue of DSP is not even in Nigeria. I dont know anything about it. We are senators, if somebody petitions the DSP to the committee on petition, I want to assure you, we will look into it. For now, it is not an issue of the Senate, he said. A group had alleged that Mr Omo-Agege was convicted in the United States of America by the State Bar Court of the State of California, Los Angeles in 1996. The group led by Solomon Adodo, faulted Mr Omo-Agege for allegedly refusing to notify the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigerian Senate of his conviction in the USA. Incontrovertible documentary evidence available to us reveal that sometime in April 22, 1996, Augustine O. Omo-Agege believed to be one and the same Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege was ordered to be suspended from the practice of Law following his conviction for violating California Penal Code section 470, a felony criminal offence involving moral turpitude, under the authority of subdivision (a) of rule 951, California Rules of Court. Our scrupulous findings reveal that the said Augustine O. Omo-Agege was admitted into the State Bar of California on December 14, 1992. The records reveal that on or about March 7, 1992, the said Augustine O. Omo-Agege was alleged to have committed the crime of forgery of Check-in violation of Penal code section 470, a felony. Furthermore, on or about March 7, 1993 the said Augustine O. Omo-Agege was alleged to have committed the crime of perjury-application for Drivers license in the County of Los Angeles in violation of Penal code section 118, a felony, the group said. It also asked the lawmaker to resign and called for a fresh prosecution against him. The Deputy Senate President has, however, dismissed the allegation. He said he was alleged to have broken the law in California, and tried but in the end, he was found not guilty. Mr Omo-Agege also accused the group of attempting to drag his name in the mud. He said the call for his resignation over a spurious and malicious allegation of conviction by a Californian court, was the latest act of political jobbers who were seeking to mislead gullible people with lies and propaganda. The fact is, at a point in his brilliant and bright legal career in California, USA, Senator Omo-Agege then a young attorney, was alleged to have broken the law in California but in the end, he was found not guilty. Accordingly, he was declared innocent by the honourable Lance A. Ito who presided over the popular O.J. Simpson murder trial case and G. Magnera of the Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Omo-Agege had to fight hard for his innocence and God vindicated him against the expectations of evil men like the most sadistic blackmailer in the world. Today, he remains an active member in good standing at the State of California Bar Association an impossibility if a valid and subsisting conviction were hanging on him. These are verifiable public facts and truths, a statement from his media aide, Yomi Odunuga, read. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he had dropped his request for parliamentary immunity from corruption charges. The announcement came hours before Netanyahu was to meet in the White House with President Donald Trump for the unveiling of a US peace plan. "I'm withdrawing the immunity request," he said on Facebook. "I won't let my political opponents use this issue to disturb the historic move I'm leading. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over 250 Indians, mostly students, stuck in Hubei province, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus, will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine on their arrival in India, the Indian Embassy said on January 28 as it started preparations to evacuate them. The Indian nationals, mostly students, research scholars and professionals are working in Indian and international companies in central China's Hubei province for which Wuhan is the capital. China has reported 24 more deaths from coronavirus epidemic, taking the number of fatalities to 106 as the confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak stand at 4,515, the health authorities announced on Tuesday. In a fresh communication to the stranded Indians, the Indian Embassy said, Government of India has begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of Corona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China. Embassy of India, Beijing is in touch with the Chinese government authorities to work out date and logistics of the evacuation, it said. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Please be informed that those availing of this option will have to undergo a mandatory 14 days' quarantine on arrival in India, it said. Many of the stranded Indians have been representing to the Indian government to evacuate them at the earliest. The Indian Embassy has opened three hotlines to help them and collect the details of the Indian nationals. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said the government is planning to send a plane to Wuhan in China to evacuate Indians stuck there due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Further details regarding date and logistics of the evacuation will be communicated in due course. You are requested to be patient and wait for further updates and instructions, the communication said. Thousands foreign nationals from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh besides large number of nationals from African countries were reportedly held up in the province. Chinese officials on Monday held talks with diplomats of India and other countries to discuss the evacuation arrangements. China has already permitted to evacuate US and various other countries which had Consulates in Wuhan. Barring Tibet, all Chinese provinces have reported the virus cases, posing a major challenge for the health authorities to contain it. Overseas confirmed cases have been reported in Thailand (7), Japan (3), South Korea (3), the United States (3), Vietnam (2), Singapore (4), Malaysia (3), Nepal (1), France (3), Australia (4) and Sri Lanka (1). The government's advisors issued a report on immigration. Photo: Oli Scarff/Getty Images Britain should keep a controversial salary cap on migrants arriving to fill jobs in the UK, according to a review carried out for the UK government. But the migration advisory committee urged prime minister Boris Johnsons administration to lower the minimum pay threshold from 30,000 to 25,600 for medium- and high-skilled migrants with job offers. A report published by the committee on Tuesday said a cap would stop employers hiring some migrants simply because they are cheaper, but backed lowering the threshold after lobbying by firms. It also set out how a points-based system for migrants without jobs could work. An Australia-style system was one of Johnsons key election pledges, in a bid to ease public anger over migration reflected in the Brexit vote. READ MORE: Firms still fear staff shortages and red tape despite lower salary cap A spokesman for the prime minister said he would carefully consider the report before unveiling the governments final plans. The committee warned the changes overall could hit GDP growth, but could also improve productivity and reduce pressure on the NHS, schools, and social housing. Professor Alan Manning, chair of the committee, said the reforms meant a more open system for non-EU applicants but said the biggest impact would be a more restrictive system for EU migrants. He said at a press conference in London that much of the low-skilled migration from eastern and central European countries that joined the EU in 2004 was the kind that would no longer be eligible. He admitted the risk does go up of people smuggling, after Yahoo Finance UK asked about another government advisers concerns more EU migrants could look for illegal ways to enter the UK. A 25,600 salary cap for migrants with jobs Prime minister Boris Johnson commissioned a report on Britain's immigration system. Photo: PA Dozens of UK business groups had written to the UK government last week arguing for a much lower minimum salary of around 20,000. Some firms fear staff shortages particularly in low-skilled jobs as EU free movement comes to an end, with EU nationals set to face the same entry bars as non-EU migrants. Story continues The report said most employers surveyed were opposed to salary thresholds, as it could add to costs and make running businesses harder. But the committee backed the salary rules in spite of recent government briefings suggesting they could be scrapped, and said the UK should maintain even higher thresholds for better-paid occupations. London should not have a higher threshold and there should be no regional variation, it said. READ MORE: Government tsar warns EU migration curbs could fuel people smuggling Manning wrote in the foreword: Salary thresholds prevent undercutting in the labour market, ensuring that employers are not hiring migrants simply because they are cheaper. It also said the threshold would ensure migrants paid enough taxes to improve the public finances, and would help transform the UK into a high-wage, high-skill, high-productivity economy. Teachers, skilled NHS workers, and new entrants should continue to benefit from lower salary thresholds, according to the report. But Labour shadow home secretary Diane Abbott warned: Even a lower salary cap wont help recruit the hospital staff we need, the social care workers or many of the new recruits to private businesses. A points-based system for migrants without jobs The committee also fleshed out the options for a points-based system for migrants without jobs, which Johnson had promised to introduce. It said applicants should receive more points for the types of migrants the government wants to encourage, such as those qualified in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. READ MORE: Adopt business-friendly immigration policies, businesses say It also backed points for applicants in creative fields, and said the government should reward exceptional promise and not just exceptional talent. But it said overall numbers should be capped. The points-based system should replace the current tier 1 visa for exceptional talent, the panel said, which currently set the bar far too high and had only 600 applicants last year. How it could affect the UK economy and public services NHS pressures could ease from lower migrant numbers, according to government advisers. The report said the skill threshold could have mixed impacts on the UK economy compared to continued free movement. It admitted: No system for picking winners will be perfect and there will inevitably be some admitted on those routes where promise does not deliver. Manning added that skill and salary thresholds were likely to reduce future growth of both the population and the economy. But he added: We estimate very small increases in GDP per capita and productivity, slightly improved public finances, slightly reduced pressures on the NHS, schools and on social housing, though slightly increased pressure on social care. The committee was only asked to report on a points-based system and salary cap, but said the government could separately consider a temporary work route for lower-skilled workers. Businesses had called for a two-year transition to prepare for any reforms, but the government plans to launch them in January 2021. Manning said some of the changes were deliverable by that date, but others could prove more complex. A Number 10 spokesman said: The government will introduce a firmer and fairer points-based immigration system from 2021 that welcomes talent from around the world while reducing low-skilled migrants and bringing overall numbers down. READ MORE: Attitudes to immigration change easily and rapidly among voters Most recently, he served as superintendent of the Eastern Carver County School District 112 in Chaska, Minnesota. There are so many people here that we care about both in the district and the community. Thats the hard part (of leaving), he said. Eastern Carver County Schools has been focused on personalizing learning for students, and Ive continued to develop in my own learning about how we can make that a reality for all students, and support students, staff, parents, and the community in the process," he said. "I have learned that the more you give students the opportunity to lead, and a stronger voice in their own education, the more they will rise to the occasion. Students have never failed to exceed expectations when given the opportunity and the support needed to succeed. As for Muscatine residents and families, Christopher wanted them to know that he, his wife and his three daughters are looking forward to living in the Muscatine community, meeting new people and making new friends. I know the next several months will go by very quickly. There is a lot of really important work to complete here in District 112, and also a lot to prepare for our transition to Muscatine. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. In the middle of the opiate crisis, a Silicon Valley start-up called Practice Fusion saw an opportunity. The company developed an electronic medical record system for doctors. Instead of charging for the software, like its competitors, the company generated the bulk of its revenue by advertising to doctors. And it used that advertising system to encourage physicians to prescribe opiates, according to the Department of Justice. "As part of the criminal resolution, Practice Fusion admits that it solicited and received kickbacks from a major opioid company in exchange for utilizing its EHR (electronic health record) software to influence physician prescribing of opioid pain medications," the Department of Justice news release states. Specifically, Practice Fusion solicited a payment of nearly $1 million from an opioid company to create an alert that would would encourage doctors to prescribe more extended release opioids, while in the room with a patient. These alerts are known in the industry as "clinical decision support," and are intended to guide doctors to the most appropriate care. Reuters later reported that the company paying the kickback was Purdue Pharma. Practice Fusion, which is now owned by AllScripts, a larger company in the space, agreed to pay $145 million in fines to resolve criminal and civil charges. That includes $113.4 million to the federal government, and up to $5.2 million to states, to resolve claims related to the kickbacks. The remainder of the fines are to settle other claims over how company allegedly misrepresented the capabilities of its software to get government certifiations. One of the investigators on the case described the practice as "abhorrent." "The companies illegally conspired to allow the drug company to have its thumb on the scale at precisely the moment a doctor was making incredibly intimate, personal, and important decisions about a patient's medical care, including the need for pain medication and prescription amounts," said Christina E. Nolan, U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont. Nolan said her district will not tolerate technology companies "influencing" patient treatment. Brian Farley, Allscripts' chief administrative officer and general counsel, said in a comment to CNBC that the company is "pleased" to complete the settlement and that the conduct was disclosed prior to the acquisition in January of 2018. "As a company, we are committed to maintaining the highest levels of professionalism and integrity, and since learning of this matter we have further strengthened Practice Fusion's compliance program." Farley also notes that Allscripts is using its technology to fight the opioid epidemic. "We remain committed to Practice Fusion and believe this matter should not overshadow the important and valuable work it is currently performing." Practice Fusion was once a darling of the burgeoning health-tech industry. The business was doing so well in 2015 that the New York Times reported that the company had hired banks to evaluate a 2017 IPO that would have valued the company at up to $1.5 billion. However, it ended up selling to AllScripts for $100 million -- less than the amount of venture capital it raised from investors including Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Once the company sold, most employees got nothing while the company's executives walked away with millions of dollars in a pre-arranged carve-out, CNBC previously reported. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mark Hosenball (Reuters) Washington Tue, January 28, 2020 18:01 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20615df56 2 People Prince-Andrew,Jeffrey-Epstein Free Britain's Prince Andrew has provided "zero cooperation" to US authorities probing sex trafficking allegedly carried out by deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein and co-conspirators, a prosecutor said on Monday. The FBI and US federal prosecutors contacted Prince Andrew's lawyers and requested an interview with the prince, who socialized with Epstein, Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a news conference in front of Epstein's mansion. As of Monday, "Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation," Berman said at the event hosted by Safe Horizon, a group pressing for more legal protection for abuse victims. He did not say when US authorities had requested an interview with Andrew. Buckingham Palace declined to comment. Andrew said in November he would be willing to help "any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required." The Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe is focusing on British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, and others who facilitated the wealthy financier's alleged trafficking of underage girls, law enforcement sources told Reuters in December. Maxwell has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. Epstein had socialized with Andrew and other high-profile figures including U.S. President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton, according to court filings. Epsteins suicide in August, at age 66, came a little over a month after he was arrested and charged with trafficking dozens of underage girls as young as 14 from at least 2002 to 2005. Prosecutors said he recruited girls to give him massages, which became sexual in nature. Epstein had pleaded not guilty. In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to a Florida state charge of soliciting prostitution. He completed a 13-month jail sentence that was widely criticized as too lenient. Andrew has described his association with Epstein as "ill-judged" and in November the prince stepped down from public duties as the allegations became a distraction for the royal family. Andrew, Queen Elizabeth's second son, has denied an allegation in a civil lawsuit from Virginia Giuffre, who claims she had sex with the prince when she was 17 in an encounter arranged through Epstein. Giuffre's lawsuit said Maxwell recruited her into Epstein's circle and Epstein forced her to have sex with him and friends including Andrew. Read also: Britain's Prince Andrew sparks backlash after 'disastrous' TV interview Despite Epstein's death, investigations continue into potential accomplices. In December, sources told Reuters, law enforcement did not plan at that time to interview Andrew, although the investigation was said to be at an early stage. The FBI has been following up on leads received from women who contacted a hotline the agency set up at its New York field office in the wake of Epstein's arrest in July, the sources said in December. This month, the attorney general of the US Virgin Islands sued Epstein's estate claiming he raped and trafficked dozens of young women and girls on a private island he owned in the territory. The complaint filed by Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George significantly broadened the scope of the financier's alleged misconduct, saying it spanned from 2001 to 2018 and targeted girls who appeared to be as young as 11 or 12. The Virgin Islands is seeking civil penalties plus some assets from Epstein's estimated $577.7 million estate, including the forfeiture of his two private islands, Little St. James and Great St. James. BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston-based AdmitHub, developer of a pioneering conversational AI platform now used by more than 90 institutions to help students succeed in college and beyond, today announced that it has secured investments from Salesforce Ventures and the Google Assistant Investments program. The new funding, which follows a 2018 Series A round led by education impact investor University Ventures, along with participation from Reach Capital, Relay Ventures, and Rethink, brings the company's funding total to $7.5 million over the past year. "Through our partnership with AdmitHub, we're realizing the promise of artificial intelligence and machine learning for delivering timely, personalized support to our students at scale," said Tim Renick, Senior Vice President of Student Success at Georgia State University. "The impacts have been significant, not merely boosting enrollment and retention but disproportionately benefiting underserved studentsthe students who previously struggled the most." Research suggests that up to 40% of admitted college students never make it to the first day of class, often due to the complexities of navigating the enrollment and admissions process. AdmitHub's pioneering technology was first developed to help institutions combat so-called "summer melt." According to a randomized controlled trial , the company's AI chatbot has helped Georgia State University reduce summer melt by more than 20%. "AdmitHub's commitment to developing research-driven solutions for student success has made them an exemplar in the higher education technology industry as a whole," said Troy Williams, Managing Director at University Ventures. "This investment is a reflection of their status as a leader in the application of emerging technologies to deliver real-time, individualized support to all students." Since its founding in 2014, AdmitHub has served more than 1.5 million students at hundreds of institutions across the country, by providing on-demand student assistance via text message, web chat, and social media, answering questions in real time, and connecting students to appropriate advisors and resources. Through deep partnerships with college and university leaders, the company uses AI to address the most persistent challenges in higher education access and success. "As a new generation of students arrives on campus, colleges and universities are in search of new strategies to increase enrollment, boost retention, and help students succeed at every point along their educational journey," said Drew Magliozzi, Co-Founder and CEO of AdmitHub. "This is about tapping into the power of AI, and the ambitions of institutional leaders, to provide proactive, personalized guidance at scale." About AdmitHub AdmitHub is focused on student impact. Established in 2014, AdmitHub pioneered conversational AI in higher ed and has reached over 1 million students through its mobile messaging platform. AdmitHub blends AI chatbot technology with industry expertise and research-backed conversational strategy to guide students on a personalized path to and through college. College staff can now stay one step ahead and support students at scale with an AI-powered assistant at their fingertips 24/7. Learn more and request a demo at AdmitHub.com. SOURCE AdmitHub [January 28, 2020] RSA Conference Announces Finalists for RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest 2020 RSA Conference, the world's leading information security conferences and expositions, today announced the 10 finalists for its 15th annual RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest. The competition calls on the most promising young companies in cybersecurity to showcase their transformative technologies to a panel of judges and live audience at RSA (News - Alert) Conference 2020 in San Francisco. Past winners include Imperva, Phantom, and most recently, Axonius. On Monday, February 24, the finalists will present a three-minute pitch followed by a question-and-answer round as they battle on stage for the title of "Most Innovative Startup." The renowned panel of expert judges includes Asheem Chandna, Partner, Greylock Partners; Scott Darling, President, Dell (News - Alert) Technologies Capital; Dorit Dor, VP Products, Check Point Software Technologies; Patrick Heim, Partner and CISO ClearSky; Paul Kocher, Researcher and Entrepreneur. Dr. Herbert (Hugh) Thompson, Program Committee Chair of RSA Conference, will return to host the contest. The finalists (in alphabetical order) are: AppOmni AppOmni is a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS (News - Alert)) security and management platform providing data access visibility, management, and security of SaaS solutions. AppOmni's patent-pending technology deeply scans APIs, security controls, and configuration settings to secure mission-critical and sensitive data. Blu Bracket BluBracket is an enterprise security solution for code in a software-driven world. BluBracket gives companies visibility into where source code introduces security risk while also enabling them to fully secure their code-without altering developer workflows or productivity. Elevate Security Elevate Security solves for the human element. Using data companies already have, Elevate Security scores employee risk based on their security actions, showing actionable trends while delivering personalized communications that nudge employees to better security habits. ForAllSecure AllSecure aims to secure the world's software. Using patented technology from CMU research, ForAllSecure delivers a next generation fuzzing solution to Fortune 1000 companies in telecom, aerospace, automotive and more. DARPA named ForAllSecure a Cyber Grand Challenge winner and MIT (News - Alert) Tech Review named it one of the 50 Smartest Companies. INKY Technology INKY is an industry leader in mail protection powered by unique computer vision, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. The company's flagship product, INKY Phish Fence, uses these novel techniques to "see" each email much like a human does, to block phishing attacks that get through every other system. Obsidian Security Obsidian Cloud Detection and Response delivers frictionless security for SaaS. Using a unique identity graph and machine learning, Obsidian stops the most advanced attacks in the cloud. Unified visibility across applications, users, and data provides threat detection, breach remediation, and security hardening with no production impact. SECURITI.ai SECURITI.ai is a leader in AI-powered PrivacyOps. Its PRIVACI.ai solution automates privacy compliance with patent-pending People Data Graphs and robotic automation. It enables enterprises to give rights to people on their data, comply with global privacy regulations and build trust with customers. Sqreen Sqreen is the application security platform for the modern enterprise. Organizations of all sizes trust Sqreen to protect, observe and test their software. As opposed to pattern-based approaches, Sqreen analyses in-app execution in real time to deliver more robust security without compromising performance. Tala Security Tala safeguards the modern web against client-side risk. Tala's AI-driven analytics engine continuously interrogates site architecture to work in concert with an advanced automation engine that activates standards-based security to prevent a broad range of client-side attacks like magecart, XSS, session re-directs, and client-side malware. Vulcan Cyber Vulcan is a vulnerability remediation and orchestration platform that is modernizing the way enterprises reduce cyber risk. With its remediation-driven approach, Vulcan automates and orchestrates the vulnerability remediation lifecycle, enabling security, operational and business teams to effectively remediate cyber risks at scale. "The RSAC Innovation Sandbox has catapulted young companies to success for well over a decade. In fact, the top 10 finalists have collectively seen 48 acquisitions and raised $5.2 billion in investments to-date," said Linda Gray Martin, Senior Director and General Manager, RSA Conference. "But what's really exciting is how the competition has propelled the entire cybersecurity community forward by encouraging much-needed innovation and collaboration in an industry that faces new changes, threats and challenges every day. This year's finalists will undoubtedly make for a tough decision for the judges and a must-see event for RSA Conference attendees." The contest kicks off at 1:30 p.m. PT on February 24 at the Moscone Center and winners will be announced at 4:30 p.m. that same day. For more information regarding RSA Conference 2020, visit www.rsaconference.com/usa. About RSA Conference RSA Conference is the premier series of global events and on-demand programs where the world talks security and leadership gathers, advances and emerges. Whether attending in the US, the EMEA region, the Asia-Pacific region or online, RSA Conference events are where the security industry converges to discuss current and future concerns and get access to the people, content and ideas that help enable individuals and companies to win, grow and do their best. It's about bringing all people in the cybersecurity industry together and empowering the collective "we" of the cybersecurity industry to stand against cyberthreats around the world. RSA Conference is the ultimate marketplace for the latest technologies and hands-on educational opportunities that help industry professionals discover how to make their companies more secure while showcasing the most enterprising, influential and thought-provoking thinkers and leaders in security today. For information on events, online programming and the most up-to-date news pertaining to the cybersecurity industry visit www.rsaconference.com. RSA Conference logo, RSA, Dell, EMC (News - Alert), Dell EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005226/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Democratic Gov. Tony Evers wont be in his office on Tuesday when Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to give a speech just a few feet away in the rotunda of the state Capitol, possibly the first visit by a sitting vice president or president in the buildings 103-year history. Pence, a Republican, is scheduled to give a speech at an event celebrating Wisconsins voucher school program. It is on the same floor and just around the corner from Evers office. The governor said he welcomes Pence to the state but that he wont be around to personally greet him. Evers did not say where he would be, and his spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an email asking about his schedule. When asked about the event Monday, Evers said he hoped someone would ask Pence if he agrees with Sonny Perdue, Trumps agriculture secretary, who suggested during a visit to Madison in October that Wisconsins small dairy farms need to get bigger in order to survive. Democrats have latched onto the comments in an attempt to portray Trump as being out of touch and uncaring about the plight of Wisconsins struggling dairy industry. Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp prayed and wept as they marked the 75th anniversary of its liberation, returning to the place where they lost entire families and warning about the growth of anti-Semitism around the world. We have with us the last living survivors, the last among those who saw the Holocaust with their own eyes, Polish President Andrzej Duda told those at the commemoration, which included the German president as well as Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders. The magnitude of the crime perpetrated in this place is terrifying, but we must not look away from it and we must never forget it, Mr Duda said. President Andrzej Duda joins survivors (Czarek Sokolowski/AP) About 200 camp survivors attended, many of them elderly Jews and non-Jews who had travelled from Israel, the US, Australia, Peru, Russia, Slovenia and elsewhere. Many lost parents and grandparents in Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps during the Second World War, but were joined by children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. They gathered under an enormous, heated tent straddling the train tracks that transported people to Birkenau, the part of the vast complex where most of the murdered Jews were killed in gas chambers and then cremated. Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet army on January 27 1945. Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, brought the crowd to tears with the story of a survivor who was separated from his family. The man watched watched his young daughter, in a red coat, walk to her death, turning into a small red dot in the distance before disappearing forever. Do not ever let this happen again to any people, Mr Lauder said, warning about rising anti-Semitism. After the war, when the world finally saw pictures of gas chambers, nobody in their right mind wanted to be associated with the Nazis, he recalled. But now I see something I never thought I would see in my lifetime: the open and brazen spread of anti-Jewish hatred. Story continues Germanys President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke (Markus Schreiber/AP) People stood in silence as a Jewish survivor recited Hebrew prayers for the dead, bowing their heads or wiping away tears. Clergymen of other faiths also prayed. Then, with the famous gate and barbed wire illuminated in the dark, cold evening, guests marched in a procession to place candles at a memorial to the victims set amid the remains of the gas chambers. Most of the 1.1 million people murdered by Nazi forces at the camp were Jews, but other Poles, Russians and Roma were imprisoned and killed there. World leaders gathered in Jerusalem last week to mark the anniversary in what many saw as a competing observance. Among them were Russian President Vladimir Putin, US vice president Mike Pence, French President Emmanuel Macron and the Prince of Wales. Charles in Jerusalem (Frank Augstein/AP) Politics intruded on that event, with Mr Duda boycotting it in protest after Mr Putin claimed Poland played a role in triggering the Second World War. The Polish leader had wanted a chance to speak before or after Mr Putin to defend his nations record, but he was not given a speaking slot in Jerusalem. Those claims comes as many eastern European countries in recent years have been mythologising their own peoples behaviour during the war and suppressing knowledge of wrongdoing, something Polands government has been criticised for. Among others attending the observances at Auschwitz, which is in the part of southern Poland that was occupied by Germany during the war, were German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. The US was represented by Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin. Our Cabinet is fresh from a retreat and has come out to say it has now correctly aligned priorities to get our economy back on track. The Prime Minister, Mandvulo Ambrose Dlamini, has put his head on the block to say if there was no action in 2019, then we would see plenty of it in 2020. He said performance agreements for ministers and principal secretaries had been finalised and an implementation framework for the Strategic Road map had been formulated. We trust the code of conduct for politicians forms part of this immediate to-do list given the skeletons that are falling out of his teams closets that could divert their attention from the task at hand. We also expect that this plan will dovetail with the policy directives from the Speech from the Throne when Parliament officially opens on Friday. Essentially, the PM says everybody in Cabinet and the PSs now knows exactly what needs to be done, how to do it and when it ought to be done. Monitored For this to be effectively monitored though, it has got to be a transparent process. He must present the job descriptions to the public, together with the implementation framework, so that we hold him and his team accountable to the 2020 action promises. The transparency required of their implementation plan would also help our parliamentarians carry out their oversight role more effectively because they return to work this week with their bags full of public discontent. When the PM launched the Strategic Road map last year, he noted the lack of implementation as the biggest downfall of our country which has been blessed with some of the best strategies and policies over the years. Now he has promised to show us what implementation really looks like. We cant wait. Canadian health authorities on Monday confirmed the country's first case of a deadly coronavirus that originated in China, and said the patient's wife had also tested positive. The woman's case is still listed as "presumptive," pending final confirmation by a national lab in Winnipeg, officials said. Nearly 20 people are being monitored. The patient confirmed to have the virus -- a man in his 50s who arrived in Toronto on January 22 from Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic -- is being treated in isolation in a hospital there. His wife, who traveled with him, also is believed to have contracted the virus and is in self-isolation, David Williams, Ontario province's chief medical officer, said in a statement. He qualified the risk to others in Ontario as "low," given that the woman has been in self-isolation. "We also have 19 persons under investigation for whom results are pending," Barbara Yaffe, the province's associate chief medical officer, told reporters. "And we have ruled out about 15 or 16 as well." In the initial case, the man's symptoms did not manifest when he disembarked from the plane. He only then called emergency services, and disclosed his travel to Wuhan. Health authorities had him transported to a Toronto hospital and placed in isolation, Theresa Tam, head of Canada's public health agency, said Sunday. She said passengers who sat near the man on a China Southern Airlines flight were being contacted, adding that those more than two meters (yards) away from him have no reason to be concerned. In China, the toll taken by the new virus has jumped to more than 80 dead, and over 2,700 confirmed cases, including that of a nine-month-old baby, according to the latest official report. (AFP) SCY Lawyer Alan Dershowitz told senators in a prime-time law lecture Monday that John Bolton's bombshell relations about a quid pro quo 'even if true' must not be used to remove President Trump from office. Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor and former O.J. Simpson attorney, made the impassioned plea as the headliner at Monday's impeachment trial, appearing after numerous other Trump lawyers at the end of the second-day of Trump's defense. He revisited his controversial argument that 'Abuse of Power' does not constitute an impeachable offense, telling senators that the Founders specifically rejected such vague terms when hashing out the Constitution in Philadelphia. Alan Dershowitz, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks during the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. He referenced a new book manuscript by former national security advisor John Bolton, saying it can't be used to remove Trump from office even if the claims are true He counted it among the 'vague, open-ended, and subjective terms that the framers feared and rejected.' 'Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense,' said Dershowitz, who has been a strong defender of the president's on Fox news and in other venues. 'If a president, any president, were to have done what the [New York] Times reported about the contact of the Bolton manuscript, that would not constitute and impeachable offense,' Dershowitz intoned. 'It is inconceivable that the framers would have intended so politically loaded and promiscuously deployed a term as abuse of power to be weaponized as a tool of impeachment,' he said. At one point he turned to opposing Democratic lawyers, and said: 'I'm sorry, house managers, you just picked the wrong criteria. You picked the most dangerous possible criteria to serve as a precedent for with you we supervise future presidents,' Dershowitz said. After dissing the language they chose for the name of the articles, he acknowledged that they were not 'saved' by the inclusion of 'somewhat more specific but still non criminal-type conduct.' The lawyers spoke about himself at several junctures, noting he didn't vote for Trump and casting himself as an independent voice. He said the founders sought to wall off impeachment for the most severe crimes treason and bribery but not conduct that was 'sinful' or 'dishonest.' Among the disclosures reported about the Bolton book is that Trump told him in August 2019 that he wouldn't release millions in stalled military aid to Ukraine unless it investigated the Bidens. Democratic impeachment members have repeatedly alleged the episode as part of their case for abuse of power, and demanded the Senate hear from Bolton as a witness under oath. Even as he acknowledged his view that only crime-like offenses could be subject to impeachment was a minority view in academia, Dershowitz placed the blame on the academy for that and deftly delivered his points in a time slot that was a lead-in to Fox News host Sean Hannity. Dershowitz addressed the bombshell report about John Bolton's book manuscript after its disclosure shook up the debate over allowing witnesses in the impeachment with key senators acknowledging Bolton information had an impact and even batting around proposals of a one-for-one trade for allowing witnesses. LET IT SLIDE: A quote displayed on a slide during Dershowitz' remarks quoted James Madison but showed a famous portrait of Alexander Hamilton Portrait of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, by Thomas Hamilton Crawford (Scottish, 1860 - 1948) Dershowitz kept the attention of lawmakers who during prior presentations have wandered, left the room, or found ways to distract themselves. Reading from printed notes but gesticulating like the conductor of a law school seminar, he referenced U.S. and British political figures who battled over past impeachments. He said the Founders rejected the 'vague subjective and politically malleable phrase abuse of power as a constitutionally permissible criteria for the removal of a president,' and opted to reject the British-influenced phrase 'maladministration' for use in the Constitution itself. But if the senators were dazzled by the celebrity academic and litigator for his command of precedent history, one of his slides blew a hole in his case. He showed a slide showing key Constitution drafter James Madison but the slide displayed to senators and the viewing public showed a famous portrait of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton whose relatively recent boost in public renown got its start on Broadway has been a source of contention in the impeachment, with House managers quoting his warnings about impeachment as a remedy for a tyrant, and Trump's team bringing up his belief in a strong executive. The speech came after Trump's legal legal team opened up an all-out attack on Hunter Biden on the second day of its defense of the president Monday, unleashing White House advisor Pam Bondi to accuse him of cashing in on his powerful father. Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, took to the well of the Senate following a trial where it has primarily been Democrats bringing up the Bidens to make the case that Trump held up millions in security aide to Ukraine to get an investigation of his political rival. And another Trump attorney - one from his long-time New York law firm - suggested that Barack Obama should have been impeached for saying he would have more 'flexibility' to deal with Russia after the 2012 election. After fellow attorneys Ken Starr and Patrick Philbin used their speaking time to stress sometimes arcane legal arguments, Bondi, a Trump loyalist, went for the political jugular. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. She tore into Hunter Biden for what she cast as ethical lapses during her presentation 'We would prefer not to be talking about this. We would prefer not to be discussing this. But the House managers have placed this squarely at issue, so we must address it,' she told the Senate, before opening up an attack on Hunter, whose personal struggles have drawn headlines amid disclosures about his work for the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. She described how Hunter Biden joined the firm after warning signs about it, and chose not to relinquish his role even amid cautions by his business partners. 'Remember, this is just one month after the United Kingdom serious fraud office opened a money laundering case into Burisma, Hunter Biden joins their board,' said Bondi. She brought up fellow business partner Chris Heinz, who backed away after disclosures. 'He thought that working for Burisma was unacceptable,' she said. Bondi quoted liberally from 'public reporting' even calling up slides of publications the president regularly derides, including ABC News, which reported on potential conflicts of interest at the time Hunter landed the lucrative gig, and the Washington Post. 'It said the appointment of the vice president's son to a Ukrainian oil board looks nepotistic at best, nefarious at worst,' Bondi said. 'We would prefer not to be talking about this,' said Bondi as she brought up Hunter Biden READ THE ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST DONALD TRUMP In 1,414 words, the articles of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives lay out two charges against President Donald Trump. Article I: Abuse of Power Using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election. He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage. President Trump also sought to pressure the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by conditioning official United States Government acts of significant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the investigations. President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of personal political benefit. In so doing, President Trump used the powers of the Presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process.' Article II: Obstruction of Congress As part of this impeachment inquiry, the Committees undertaking the investigation served subpoenas seeking documents and testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various Executive Branch agencies and offices, and current and former officials. In response, without lawful cause or excuse, President Trump directed Executive Branch agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, and assumed to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the 'sole Power of Impeachment' vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives. In the history of the Republic, no President has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate 'high Crimes and Misdemeanors.'' This abuse of office served to cover up the President's own repeated misconduct and to seize and control the power of impeachment -- and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the House of Representatives. Advertisement Bondi also included video of Hunter Biden acknowledging that he 'probably' wouldn't have gotten the gig if he weren't Biden's son. Bondi has herself been the subject of ethics criticism for her decision while Florida AG to decide not to join a multi-state class action lawsuit against Trump University by students alleging they got scammed. The case ultimately resulted in a settlement and a $25 million payment by the Trump Organization. Hunter Biden has not been accused of any criminal behavior connected to the deal, although company head Mykola Zlochevsky had accounts frozen during Ukrainian investigation that later got halted. 'Did Hunter Biden stop working for Burisma? No Did Vice President Biden stop leading the Obama administration's foreign policy efforts in Ukraine? No,' said Bondi. Biden's role raised concerns by State Department official George Kent, who brought the potential of a conflict of interest to higher-ups. Following Bondi's presentation, fellow Trump lawyer Eric Herschmann took up the cause, also going over Hunter Biden's Ukraine connections. He also pivoted to President Obama, recalling his hot-mic conversation with then Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who promised to transmit information to 'Vladimir' during a conversation about a missile defense treaty. Obama told Medvedev in South Korea in 2012 - who despite his title was actually junior partner to Putin - that 'this is my last election,' and said: 'After my election I have more flexibility.' Medvedev replied: 'I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.' The hot mic moment was to become a favorite Republican talking point against Obama. Herschmann suggested that it could have been used to impeach Obama then read his version of the first article of impeachment - abuse of power - changing Trump's name for Obama's and the Ukraine aid allegations for what Obama said. Inside the Senate chamber, majority of Senators from both sides of the aisle sat stony faced, listening in silence as required. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker stood leaning on his desk chair, face grim, during part of Bondis presentation. Trump's team resumed its efforts to blast the case against him and defend the president's interactions with Ukraine with Independent Counsel Ken Starr taking making the case that impeachment is invoked 'all too frequently.' Starr, who led the impeachment case in the same chamber in 1999, bemoaned the arrival of an 'age of impeachment' without sufficient justification. 'Like war, impeachment is hell. Or at least, presidential impeachment is hell,' said Starr. Starr began his remarks hours after bombshell revelations in a new book manuscript claimed the president personally tied millions in military aide to Biden investigations. He took to the well of the Senate to attack 'a series of deficiencies' in the impeachment articles that passed the House, according to fellow Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow. 'Judge Starr is very familiar with this process,' said Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow, alluding to Starr's role leading the charge to remove President Bill Clinton from office during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Starr began his remarks not by pointing to fights over Trump's July 25 call with the president of Ukraine or the murky way a whistleblower came to light but with a history lesson that referenced the Nixon impeachment, Iran Contra, and other partisan clashes then went back to the British parliament of the 19th Century. 'Like war, impeachment is hell,' former Independent Counsel Ken Starr told senators as a member of President Donald Trump's impeachment defense 'Instead of a once in a century phenomenon, which it had been, presidential impeachment has become a weapon,' he said. As other Trump lawyers had noted, the trial occurs with an election around the corner. Adam Schiff countered this in his own arguments by arguing Trump was trying to invite interference in the election which could call it's fairness into doubt. 'There is a huge prudential factor that this trial is occurring in an election year when we the people in a matter of months will go to the polls,' Starr said. Rather than the impeachment remedy, Starr invoked the 'tradition of oversight,' which he called 'an enormous check on presidential power.' If there is a dispute over documents and witnesses, 'Then go to court. It really is as simple as that,' said Starr. Democrats included an 'Obstruction of Congress' article after the administration refused to provide documents or make witnesses available for the impeachment inquiry in the House. When Starr was done, New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was unimpressed. 'Im not sure who he was talking to but his arguments were exceedingly thin and did not bear out,' she told DailyMail.com. On Starrs remark that impeachment is hell, she said: I thought that it was an absurd argument and quite rich coming from him. Trump's high-powered legal team took to the well of the Senate Monday to resume a defense they began on Saturday, when the president complained many Americans wouldn't be tuning in due to the timing. Before the lawyers made their case, Senate Chaplain Barry Black made note of tragic news, referencing the helicopter crash that killed L.A. Lakers great Kobe Bryant. 'We think about life's brevity, uncertainty and legacy,' said Black. Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow sketched out how the day's arguments would go after Trump once again pressed his own case with Twitter attacks over the weekend. 'We do not deal with speculation, allegations that are not based on evidentiary standards at all,' said Sekulow. 'The president was all times acting under his constitutional authority, under his legal authority, in our national interest pursuant to his oath of office,' Sekulow argued. Republicans senators are saying it's increasingly likely there will be witnesses called in Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the wake of revelations from John Bolton's forth coming book. Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins - two crucial votes in the Democrats' quest to bring more witnesses in the trial - said it's important to hear from the former national security adviser. They also both said they have spoken with their colleagues about the topic, which could be seen as a warning to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that support is there for such a move. LEGAL SHOWDOWN AT THE CAPITOL: Trump impeachment attorney Kenneth Starr arrives at the U.S. Capitol on the sixth day of the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, in Washington, DC, Monday, January 27, 2020 Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr stands before a crowd of reporters and photographers outside the Justice Department and answers questions about his investigation into President Clinton and intern Monica Lewinsky, Washington DC, January 22, 1998. Clinton was acquitted in the Senate. Starr on Monday warned against partisan impeachments Ken Starr, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks during the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020 Mitt Romney and Susan Collins said it's increasingly likely witnesses will be called in Donald Trump's impeachment trial Both senators cited revelations from John Bolton's forthcoming book as reasons they want to hear from him JOHN BOLTON'S KEY REVELATIONS John Bolton makes a series of bombshell claims in his book, according to the part of the manuscript seen by the New York Times. They are: Trump told Bolton in August 2019 that he would not release military aid to the Ukraine until they investigated the Bidens and claims of trying to intervene in 2016 in favor of Hillary Clinton Mike Pompeo privately admitted that Rudy Giuliani's claims Marie Yovanovitch were corrupt were baseless - and that he suspected they were being made to help other Giuliani clients Bolton warned White House lawyers that he feared Giuliani was using his work with the president to help his private clients Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff, was present at least once when Trump and Giuliani discussed Yovanovitch. Mulvaney has told 'associates' he stepped away from such conversations Pompeo told Bill Barr that he was mentioned in the July call with Zelensky. The Justice Department claims Barr did not know until mid-August Trump railed about Ukraine trying to 'damage' him in May 2019 when he met Ron Johnson, a Republican senator who was going to Zelensky's inauguration. And Trump also mentioned the conspiracy theory that Ukraine had a hacked Democratic server Bill Barr expressed concerns about Trump doing personal favors for autocrats including China's Xi and Turkey's Erdogan when Bolton raised the issue with him Advertisement Democrats need four Republican senators to cross to their side and vote to subpoena witnesses. 'It's increasingly apparent that it would be important to hear from John Bolton,' Romney told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday. 'I of course will make a final decision on witnesses after we hear not only from the prosecution but from the defense,' he said. 'I think at this stage its fair to say John Bolton has a relevant testimony.' He added that he expected other Republicans to join the call for Bolton to testify. 'I think it's increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton,' he said. 'I have spoken with others who have opined upon this.' A senior Democratic congressional staffer working on impeachment told DailyMail.com Monday that, 'We had no communication with Mr. Bolton or Mr. Boltons lawyers. Bolton has said he will testify if subpoenaed by the Senate. Collins also said she was leaning toward voting for witnesses. 'From the beginning, Ive said that in fairness to both parties the decision on whether or not to call witnesses should be made after both the House managers and the presidents attorneys have had the opportunity to present their cases. Ive always said that I was likely to vote to call witnesses just as I did in the 1999 Clinton trial,' she said in a statement Monday. 'The reports about John Boltons book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues,' she added. Other Republican senators have weighed in as lawmakers return to Washington for day two of President Trump's defense team. 'We dont know whats in there other than whats being leaked. My guess is John Bolton tells the truth,' said Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Bolton and Johnson had spoken in August - when Bolton still worked in the White House - about aid to Ukraine. Bolton urged Johnson to call President Trump directly on the matter, which the senator did. Some of the president's defenders, however, have charged Bolton with trying to sell a book. Bolton was fired from the White House in September of last year 'Truly theres nothing new here. It does seem to be an effort to sell books. I think theres going to be a new revelation every day. Todays just one more day,' said Republican Sen. John Barrasso. 'I dont think it changes any fundamental information of the basic case, that the House has to put the case together,' said Sen. Roy Blunt. McConnell has said the Senate will vote on calling witnesses after opening arguments are made. That would set up a vote sometime this week. President Trump denied the charges in Bolton's book Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Monday that Bolton's book puts increased pressure on the Senate to call witnesses. 'The eyes of America are on Republicans in the Senate,' he said. The impeachment trial was upended Sunday night when The New York Times reported on a leaked copy of an unpublished manuscript for the new book Bolton is writing. 'The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,' is scheduled to be published March 17. In it, Bolton wrote that the president told him he wanted to freeze military aid to Ukraine until the Eastern European nation helped with political investigations into his political rivals. Trump has denied the charge. 'I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book,' he tweeted in response. The president also told reporters at the White House on Monday that he has not seen Bolton's manuscript. Bolton had sent it to the White House for pre-publishing clear, which is required by federal law when former government employees with security clearances are writing about their time in government service in order to assure classified information is not compromised. Sarah Tinsley, an advisor to Bolton, said in a statement: 'The ambassador's manuscript was transmitted to the White House in hard copy several weeks ago for pre-publication review by the NSC. The ambassador has not passed the draft manuscript to anyone else. Period.' WASHINGTON - White House lawyers pleaded with senators Tuesday to acquit President Donald Trump based on "the Constitution and your common sense," concluding their defense even as Senate GOP leaders struggled to block demands for new witnesses that could throw the trial into turmoil. In a closed-door meeting following closing remarks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told colleagues he doesn't have the votes to block witnesses, according to people familiar with his remarks who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe them. Just four GOP senators would have to join with Democrats to produce the majority needed to call witnesses - an outcome McConnell has sought to avoid since it could invite new controversy and draw out the divisive proceedings. An initial vote to allow witnesses, expected Friday, doesn't ensure witnesses would actually be called, since the Senate would have to subsequently hold separate votes on summoning each individual witness. And Trump's ultimate acquittal still remains all but assured, since a two-thirds vote would be required to remove him in the GOP-run Senate. But the debate over witnesses has roiled the Senate since the emergence of revelations Sunday from an unpublished book manuscript by former national security adviser John Bolton. In the book Bolton recounts a conversation with Trump in which the president described wanting to withhold military assistance from Ukraine until Kyiv announced investigations into political rivals. That would make Bolton the first official to provide a firsthand account of the alleged quid pro quo at the heart of House Democrats' abuse of power charge against the president, one of the two articles of impeachment they approved in December. The other charged Trump with obstruction of Congress. Amid the debate over witnesses, White House lead attorney Pat Cipollone on Tuesday urged senators to bring the proceedings swiftly to a close in his final day of arguments. "Overturning the last election and massively interfering with the upcoming one would cause serious and lasting damage to the people of the United States and to our great country. The Senate cannot allow this to happen," Cipollone said. "This should end now, as quickly as possible." Since the Bolton revelations emerged, a handful of Senate GOP moderates have indicated they want to hear from him. But foreshadowing disputes to come, many other Republican lawmakers disagree, or say that they would allow testimony from Bolton only if they could also call witnesses they favor, such as Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, who served on the board of a Ukrainian energy company when his father was President Barack Obama's vice president. "All I can say, is I don't need any more evidence, but if we do call witnesses, we're not just gonna call one witness. We're gonna call a bunch of witnesses," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Democrats strongly oppose calling either of the Bidens or agreeing to any witness "trade," as suggested by some Republicans. Other plans floated by GOP senators have drawn similar Democratic resistance, including the idea of getting the White House to release Bolton's manuscript for senators to review. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called that proposal "absurd." Even before the vote on witnesses will occur, the Senate will spend 16 hours over Wednesday and Thursday engaged in what could be a revealing question-and-answer period, modeled on a procedure followed during the Clinton impeachment trial. The senators, who have been forced to remain silently in their seats throughout the eight-day trial, will be able to ask questions of the White House defense team or the House impeachment managers. The questions will have to be submitted in writing, and will be read aloud by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., who is presiding over the trial. The questions are likely to run the gamut from factual queries to potentially direct challenges aimed at lawyers on either side. Democrats intend to ask questions about the revelations from Bolton, which White House attorney Jay Sekulow attacked on the Senate floor Tuesday. Without directly disputing Bolton's claims, Sekulow read statements from Trump, the Justice Department, and a top aide to Vice President Mike Pence denying or disputing them. "That was the response, responding to an unpublished manuscript that maybe some reporters have an idea of maybe what it says," Sekulow said. "If you want to call that evidence - I don't know what you'd call that. I call it inadmissible." Sekulow also repeatedly cautioned the Senate against removing the president on what he termed flimsy grounds, arguing it would set a dangerous precedent. "Danger! Danger! Danger!" Sekulow repeatedly intoned. Trump's team wrapped up its defense, having used about 11 of its allotted 24 hours. House Democrats used about 23 hours in presenting their case last week. As Trump's lawyers were completing their remarks Tuesday, Trump himself was at the White House with Israeli leaders unveiling a new plan for Middle East peace, which critics and Palestinian leaders immediately predicted was doomed to fail. Immediately after the White House team wrapped up, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the lead House impeachment manager, held a news conference to denounce their presentation and blast the White House for refusing to allow witnesses like Bolton to testify. Schiff scoffed at some of the White House arguments, including the claim that Trump held up the Ukraine military assistance because of legitimate concerns about corruption, and released it when those worries had been addressed. "OK, no one believes that. No one believes that," Schiff said. "I'm confident there isn't anyone in that chamber, or anyone in the country, who will buy that explanation." As Schiff was railing against the White House case, Senate Republicans huddled quietly in a meeting room debating the issue of witnesses. Although McConnell told colleagues he didn't yet have the votes to defeat the initial witness vote, leaders feel they're making progress toward that goal, according to officials familiar with the discussion. A number of Republican senators up for reelection this November and facing tough campaigns indicated during the meeting that they were ready to vote against witnesses and proceed to the final vote, according to two people familiar with the discussion who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting. But in a sign of the turmoil and internal dissent produced by the issue, Republicans floated a variety of ideas, including a suggestion from Graham and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., that the White House should turn over the unpublished manuscript of Bolton's book so senators can read it and assess the need to hear from the former Trump official. One Republican encouraged Bolton to just tell his story publicly either in a congressional hearing or a media interview. "'John, if you've got something to say, I'd rather have you say it sooner rather than later,'" Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Tuesday, recalling a discussion with Bolton several weeks ago. Bolton responded by saying he would respond onlyto a Senate subpoena, Johnson said. The witness debate and the Trump team's closing arguments came as some Senate Republicans were embracing a new talking point: that Trump's actions are not impeachable even if they're proved. Trump's attorneys and GOP allies have argued for months that there was no quid pro quo, parroting the president's own impeachment mantra in arguing that Democrats have no "firsthand" witness who can testify that Trump directed such a scheme. But the Bolton revelations forced GOP lawmakers to scramble for another defense, and by Tuesday they appeared to have coalesced around a point made by defense attorney Alan Dershowitz: that Trump's actions don't rise to the level of impeachment even if they occurred as House Democrats allege. The finale to Tuesday's proceedings came so quickly that it took some senators by surprise. After a short break in the early afternoon, Cipollone announced he would be brief, but some senators missed the announcement as they were still returning from their restroom breaks, and many huddled in their respective cloakrooms, grabbing one last glimpse of their cellphones or a quick drink of coffee. Less than 10 minutes later, as Cipollone closed his binder and announced the defense complete, senators gasped. "Oh my," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., could be heard saying. The defense rested at 2:54 p.m. But a few senators lingered, and those huddles showed the tension still left in the room. In chairs in the back, reserved for staff, Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., sat with freshman Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., a moderate not prone to listening to leadership. Joe Manchin III, a Democrat always in the mix, first huddled with moderate Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, before moving on to a long one-on-one discussion with Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, another key moderate who had previously been talking with Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas. And finally Collins walked over to join a Republican scrum led by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, whose back-row desk has long been seen as a pivotal place given his Bush-lineage roots in politics. It hasn't been the best quarter for Yantai North Andre Juice Company Limited (HKG:2218) shareholders, since the share price has fallen 14% in that time. On the bright side the returns have been quite good over the last half decade. Its return of 82% has certainly bested the market return! Check out our latest analysis for Yantai North Andre Juice To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. During five years of share price growth, Yantai North Andre Juice achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 3.4% per year. This EPS growth is lower than the 13% average annual increase in the share price. This suggests that market participants hold the company in higher regard, these days. And that's hardly shocking given the track record of growth. The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail). SEHK:2218 Past and Future Earnings, January 27th 2020 We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Yantai North Andre Juice's earnings, revenue and cash flow. What About Dividends? When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Yantai North Andre Juice the TSR over the last 5 years was 100%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return. Story continues A Different Perspective Investors in Yantai North Andre Juice had a tough year, with a total loss of 8.8% (including dividends) , against a market gain of about 3.2%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 15%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Yantai North Andre Juice , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. We will like Yantai North Andre Juice better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. ALBANY While New York's county jail populations have dropped dramatically in recent months, the sheriffs who run the facilities say state regulations and other factors make it unlikely they will cut staffing even if bail legislation keeps the prisoner count low. If you have one person in a cell block or 20, you need the same number of officers to maintain security, said Peter Kehoe, director of the New York State Sheriffs Association, pointing to state staffing mandates imposed on jail administrators. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who pushed through the new bail statute in last years state budget, projects that the restrictions designed to keep poor defendants from waiting behind bars for trials will save county governments at least $200 million in short- and long-term costs. Short term local savings will come from avoiding variable costs such as overtime staffing, food and laundry, the Cuomo administration said in a briefing book accompanying the budget legislation. It added: In the longer term, local jails should be able to reduce staffing and potentially close housing units. Jail population data kept by the state shows that upstate county jails had 21.4 percent fewer inmates Dec. 31 than they had one year earlier. While the bail law took effect New Years Day the courts in many counties began abiding by it earlier to avoid a New Years Eve exodus of inmates and the possibility of litigation from defendants insisting they shouldnt be held because they could not afford bail money. One of the jails with the biggest population drops in the state is the one administered by Clinton County Sheriff David Favro. He said the jail was housing just 94 inmates Friday, the lowest number sine 2003. A year ago, the jail held 260 inmates. But Favro said he is braced for the possibility that the inmate count will spring back up as those who have been released from custody return for court dates. Any knee-jerk response to what we are experiencing now would be somewhat reckless, he said. These defendants may be out on the streets now, but a lot of them are coming back. They are not off the hook. They still have to resolve their cases. At the statehouse, the push to modify the new bail law is intensifying. Some Democrats who voted for the legislation last year now say they want amendments, though Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has argued it is too soon to undo the reforms. Prosecutors and police executives argue the new law went to far in limiting judges to use their discretion at arraignments. A poll released by Siena College Jan. 21 found a large majority of independent voters now oppose the law, though that group backed the revisions last April. JoAnne Page, director of the Fortune Society, a nonprofit group that assists ex-offenders with employment, housing and other needs, contended the bail changes have been working as advocates had hoped. Everything we know about the impact of pretrial detention is it makes communities less safe, Page said. She said the focus by critics of the law on Willie Horton moments a reference to a Massachusetts convicted murderer who went on a crime spree while free on a state-sanctioned furlough fails to take into account the benefits that flow from not jailing people who are presumed innocent until proven guilty after they were arrested for minor offenses. The debate over the state legislation has become so heated that its even spilled over to congressional races. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-North Country, called the New York law dangerous this week as she co-sponsored a measure that would spur the General Accounting Office to conduct an assessment of how individuals at the pre-trial stage of the criminal justice system are monitored at the federal, state and local levels. Cuomo has signaled he is open to revisions in the law but has yet laid out specifics on how he would revamp bail. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WEST CHESTER The criminal trial of a former Immaculata University student who has espoused anti-government views and questioned the legitimacy of the court proceedings against her opened with jury selection Monday in Chester County Common Pleas Court. Janay Rebecca Smith, 28, of Philadelphia, is accused of dragging a police officer down a street with the car she was driving following a routine traffic stop in Malvern two years ago, a felony for which she faces a possible maximum prison term of more than 90 years if convicted. The officer suffered moderate injuries in the incident. Smith, who in the past has claimed to be a member of the Moorish American movement, is representing herself in the trial before Judge Jacqueline Carroll Cody, but has found herself in repeated disputes over minor sticking points such as what her name is with the judge since she fired her previous attorney, county Assistant Public Defender Peter Jurs. She now will act as her stand-by counsel as Smith represents herself. Smith has previously questioned the legitimacy of courts in Pennsylvania and has contended that since she is a Moorish American, she cannot be judged by current authorities. But on Monday she appeared to put aside those stances, at least for the moment, as she answered Codys questions about her decision to proceed to trial without an attorney. You understand you will be totally on your own, and that I cannot assist you? the judge asked, advising her that she would be better served with a lawyer presenting her case. Yes, thats correct, Smith answered. The case is being prosecuted by Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Frei and Assistant District Attorney Miles Matteson. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a national organization that tracks fringe movements, the Moorish Americans are a collection of independent organizations and lone individuals that emerged in the early 1990s as an offshoot of the anti-government sovereign citizens movement, which believes that individual citizens hold sovereignty over, and are independent of, the authority of federal and state governments. Among other things, such individuals refuse to acknowledge the need to obtain drivers licenses, register their vehicles, or submit to traffic laws, because they contend those laws are only for conveyances that are engaged in commercial dealings. Some also contend they can copyright or trademark their names and keep others from publicly identifying them. Smith allegedly told officers the night of the incident that she did not have to show any drivers ID because she was not driving as that is an act of commerce, and she was not engaged in any such activity. She is facing charges of aggravated assault of a police officer, recklessly endangering another person, fleeing or attempting to elude, resisting arrest and related charges stemming from the Dec. 20 incident in Malvern, a few miles from the Immaculata campus, where she was registered as a student. According to a criminal complaint filed against Smith by Officer Stephan Walker of the Malvern Police Department, the incident began about 9:10 p.m. on Dec. 20 when Officer Tyler Bury saw a black Chevrolet Monte Carlo run through a stop sign on Sugartown Road near the Raintree Apartment complex. Bury followed the car and watched as the driver failed to stop at three stop signs along King Street in the borough. When the Monte Carlo turned into the Malvern Shopping Center on King Street, Bury approached and knocked on the drivers side door to get the drivers attention. The female driver rolled her window down a few inches and told Bury to wait a minute. Asked for a drivers license, she insisted she was an American National, and provided only a self-issued, non-state identification card, which listed her name as Jahnay Rebekkah Bey. Moorish American followers many times use the surname Bey, after one of the movements early leaders, Taj Tarik Bey. When Bury could find no record of a drivers license for Smith, he was joined by Officer Patrick Dougherty. They requested identification, which Smith allegedly refused to provide. When Dougherty told her she would be detained until she provided valid identification, she refused to exit the car, the officers said. The officers then both tried to forcibly remove her from the Monte Carlo, but as she struggled she was able to rev the engine and put the car in drive. It accelerated away. Dougherty, who had grasped onto Smiths arm, was dragged approximately 10 to 15 feet by the car before rolling away onto the pavement. Smith drove from the scene, but was stopped by Tredyffrin police about 30 minutes later on Route 30 and taken into custody. Dougherty missed about one week of work after being treated for his injuries at Paoli Hospital. Smith was held on bail in Chester County Prison for several days after her arrest. While there, she wrote to a judge who was to hear her bail motion that she took issue with, the jurisdiction of the courts of Pennsylvania and the United States. In the letter she argued against the notion of American citizenship, stating that she was part of the Moor nation, and questioned whether there was any justification for her being held for trial. I am jahnay rebekkah bey moorish american aboriginal and indiginous to the land, the letter reads. I am in propria persona as my self for my self free white person at law, she wrote in the three-page missive. i am not a 14th amendment construct or artificial person i am declared national i am an african descendant not us citizens as us citizen ship is unlawful pursuant to the constitution article 13. Open statements are scheduled Tuesday, with the trial expected to last at least two days. To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan, please call 610-696-1544. The Trump Administration is removing environmental protections from a large portion of the nation's wetlands, rivers and streams, marking one of the most significant rollbacks to date. The move is a giveaway to big industry, including property developers, oil and gas producers, and the agricultural industry, which have long criticized water permit requirements and restrictions on development. The action will open up vast stretches of the United States to uncontrolled pollution discharges and the decimation of wetlands. It is the latest in an unprecedented assault on environmental regulations by Trump. Over the past three years, Administration officials have finalized approximately 60 environmental rollbacks to lift restrictions on fossil fuel and mineral extraction, weaken limits on air pollution and undermine other environmental safeguards. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers announced last week the water pollution rollback, finalizing new definitions of which water bodies are covered by federal rules. The rule scales back the applicability of virtually all sections the Clean Air Act, the legal foundation for much of the nation's water pollution controls. In December the agencies rescinded the Obama Administration's definitions in the 2015 Waters of the United States rule, without offering a replacement until now. The new rule, however, goes well beyond a return to pre-2015 conditions. Some waterways covered for decades will now fall outside of the Clean Air Act's jurisdiction. Small headwaters, streams that flow intermittently, and wetlands without surface connections to larger bodies of water are now excluded from the federal regulations. In some areas of the West, the vast majority of tributaries feeding into major rivers are intermittent, running dry at some point during the year. In all, more than half of the wetlands and nearly 20 percent of the rivers and streams around the country will be exempted from pollution controls. This will be the biggest loss of clean water protection the country has ever seen, Blan Holman, a lawyer at the Southern Environmental Law Center told the New York Times. This puts drinking water for millions of Americans at risk of contamination from unregulated pollution. The EPA's scientific advisory board, packed with Trump Administration appointees, took the unusual step of criticizing the proposed rule change on the verge of its release. The panel concluded in late December that the main components of the rule were in conflict with established science... and the objectives of the Clean Water Act. The scientists insisted that the limiting applicability to wetlands adjacent to major bodies of water while ignoring the connectivity of ground water is at odds with a basic scientific understanding of watershed systems and processes. They also warned of substantial new risks to human and environmental health by removing controls on sources that are serious threats to public health. E. coli contamination of vegetables, for instance, is often traceable to polluted runoff in irrigation canals adjacent to animal feed lots. Trump promoted the rollback at the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation on January 19, referring to the Obama-era rules as one of the most ridiculous regulations of all. He added, That was a rule that basically took your property away from you. Obama's 2015 Waters of the United States rule has been a key target of the agricultural industry, despite maintaining exemptions for many polluting farming practices, because it was broad enough to interpret sources like irrigation canals in the definition of US waters. EPA chief Andrew Wheeler spoke before another key beneficiary of the rollback, the National Association of Home Builders, at their annual conference in Las Vegas last Thursday. He criticized the vagueness of Obama's clean water rule, which court rulings put on hold in 28 states, touting instead the clarity and certainty the new rule will afford real estate developers. While industries favored by the Trump Administration stand to profit from the rollback, the consequences of removing vital environmental safeguards are potentially far-reaching. Wetlands not only serve as vital habitats for a wide range of species, they are also critical natural defenses to mitigate the impact of climate change. Wetlands reduce the impact of droughts and can provide flood and shoreline protection from extreme storms. The additional pollution load from the use of previously restricted chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers reaching the country's rivers, lakes, and drinking water sources threatens to further undermine human and environmental health. According to EPA data, already more than half of all streams, 80 percent of estuaries and 90 percent of coastal waters in the US are categorized as impaired. Nearly one quarter of the US population lives in areas that failed to meet safe drinking water standards. WALTHAM, Mass., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DealerRater, the world's leading car dealer and salesperson review website, today announced the winners of its annual Dealer of the Year Award program. Award recipients are recognized at the national and state/province levels for distinction in outstanding customer service based on consumer reviews of dealership experiences shared on DealerRater.com and DealerRater.ca. Categories for scoring include customer service, quality of work, friendliness, pricing, and overall experience. "Customer satisfaction is a key differentiator in today's competitive retail market and our Dealer of the Year Award winners continue to raise the bar for best practices in our industry," said DealerRater General Manager Jamie Oldershaw. "For shoppers, the DealerRater platform makes it easy to connect with the salesperson who can best provide the car-buying experience they are looking for, while dealerships benefit from increased efficiencies and more onsite traffic to their business." DealerRater's Dealer of the Year awards are given annually to the top U.S. and Canadian car dealers based on a Bayesian algorithm called PowerScore, which considers the dealership's average DealerRater star rating as well as the total number of reviews written about the dealership during the 2019 calendar year. To qualify for the DealerRater Dealer of the Year Awards, new- and used-car dealers must have at least 25 new reviews written on DealerRater.com during 2019 and average a minimum of four out of a five-star rating. Winners selected to receive the highest level of national distinction scored at the top of the respective brand categories for U.S. and Canada. DealerRater Dealer of the Year Award winners will find customized digital assets in their Dealer Panel that allows them to showcase their exemplary customer service to shoppers. Dealers are invited to visit booth #3577C at NADA Show 2020, taking place in Las Vegas Feb. 15-17, to receive a free professional photo with the award and take advantage of social media opportunities. Listed below are the 2020 U.S. and Canadian DealerRater Dealer of the Year Award recipients within each OEM brand category: United States Acura: Crown Acura, FL Alfa Romeo : Essence Maserati Alfa Romeo, TX Aston Martin : Foreign Cars Charlotte, NC Audi : Ray Catena Audi Freehold, NJ Bentley : Euro Motorcars Bethesda, MD BMW : Flemington BMW, NJ Buick : West Point Buick GMC, TX Cadillac : Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa, FL Chevrolet : Nimnicht Chevrolet, FL Chrysler : Stockton Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, CA Dodge : Stockton Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, CA Ferrari : Boardwalk Ferrari Maserati of Plano, TX FIAT : Tom Ahl Family of Dealerships, OH Ford : Gosch Ford Temecula, CA GMC : West Point Buick GMC, TX Honda : Valley Honda, IL Hyundai : Allen Turner Hyundai, FL INFINITI : INFINITI of Sarasota, FL Jaguar : Jaguar Land Rover St. Petersburg, FL Jeep : Stockton Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, CA Kia : Summit Place Kia East, MI Lamborghini : Lamborghini Dallas, TX Land Rover : Land Rover Princeton, NJ Leasing Company : D&M Leasing - Fort Worth, TX Lexus : Jim Hudson Lexus, SC Lincoln : Klaben Ford Lincoln, OH Maserati : Maserati of the Main Line, PA Mazda : OC Mazda, CA Mercedes - Benz : Mercedes-Benz of Princeton, NJ MINI : MINI of Baltimore County, MD Mitsubishi : North End Mitsubishi, MA Nissan : Newton Nissan, TN Porsche : Jackie Cooper Imports, OK Ram : Stockton Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, CA Recreational Vehicles : Dodd RV of the Peninsula, VA smart : Jackie Cooper Imports, OK Subaru : Subaru of Jacksonville, FL Toyota : Toyota of Naperville, IL Used Car Dealer : OffLeaseOnly.com The Nation's Used Car Destination Miami, FL Volkswagen : Dirito Brothers Walnut Creek Volkswagen, CA Volvo : Smythe Volvo, NJ Canada Acura: Silverhill Acura, AB Audi: Capilano Audi, BC BMW: Parkview BMW, ON Buick: Capital GMC Buick Cadillac, SK Cadillac: Capital GMC Buick Cadillac, SK Chevrolet: Huron Motor Products, ON Chrysler: Ontario Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, ON Dodge: Grande Prairie Chrysler Jeep Dodge, AB FIAT: Columbia Chrysler, BC Ford: Erinwood Ford, ON GMC: Capital GMC Buick Cadillac, SK Honda: Maple Honda, ON Hyundai: Comox Valley Hyundai, BC INFINITI: 417 INFINITI Nissan, ON Jeep: Ontario Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, ON Kia: Georgetown Kia, ON Land Rover: Budds' Imported Cars, ON Lexus: Lexus of London, ON Lincoln: Courtesy Ford Lincoln, ON Mazda: Harris Mazda, BC Mercedes-Benz: Mercedes-Benz London, ON Nissan: Grande Prairie Nissan, AB Ram: Ontario Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, ON Recreational Vehicles : Open Road Recreation, SK Subaru: Scarboro Subaru, ON Toyota: ToyotaTown, ON Used Car Dealer: Good Fellow's Auto Wholesalers, ON Volkswagen: Bramgate Volkswagen, ON Volvo: Volvo of Unionville, ON The complete list of U.S. winners at the state level is available here: https://www.dealerrater.com/dealers/awards/winners/doty The complete list of Canada winners at the provincial level is available here: https://www.dealerrater.ca/dealers/awards/winners/doty ABOUT DEALERRATER Founded in 2002, DealerRater, a Cars.com Company, is the world's leading car dealer review website that connects consumers with the right person at the right dealership. The site offers more than 6 million sales and service reviews across 44,000 U.S. and Canadian dealerships, including a network of more than 5,000 Certified Dealers. DealerRater content has a reachable audience of more than 34 million consumers across the web each month. By offering a product suite that allows qualified dealerships to manage their reputations and achieve higher SEO rankings, DealerRater supports new customer connections by growing online presence. SOURCE DealerRater Related Links http://www.dealerrater.com Update: Louisiana State Police said the endangered alert for Amanda Morgan and her four children has been canceled. The four children and their mother were found safe in a wooded area near Highway 552 in Union Parish, Louisiana. The children were returned to the custody of their father and grandmother. **UPDATE** Level II Endangered/Missing Children, Welfare Concern Media Advisory All four children, as well as Amanda Morgan,have been located safe. The Jackson Parish Sheriffs Office is handling the investigation and we will continue to assist. LA State Police (@LAStatePolice) January 28, 2020 Earlier: Louisiana State Police have issued an endangered alert for a woman and her four children who may be headed to Alabama. The alert for Amanda Morgan, 33, of Chatham, Louisiana was issued late Monday night. Morgans children, 11-year-old Allison Morgan, 9-year-old Brayden Morgan, 8-year-old Autumn Morgan, and 4-year-old Adalynn Morgan, were last seen with their mother in a blue 2015 Ford F-150 with Texas license plate HFM2002. Officials said there is a high probability that 25-year-old Tyler Heard is with Morgan and the children. Law enforcement said her family is concerned about Morgans mental status and the safety of the children in her care. It is believed Morgan is traveling to Alabama where she has family. Anyone having any information on the whereabouts Morgan or her children should immediately contact the Jackson Parish Sheriffs Office at 318-259-9021 or dial 911. Vegangelist Lisa McDonald makes disaster aid trip Lisa McDonald Lisa McDonald, co-owner of Sanctuary Brewing Co., heads to Puerto Rico this week to aid an organization called Casa Vegana de la Comunidad with food distribution, animal rescue, trauma support and construction efforts in the aftermath of heavy earthquake damage. Ive been to Puerto Rico several times, and my heart broke when I heard about the devastation occurring there," said McDonald, who left a job as a corporate consultant to start the downtown brewery that doubles as a community event center, music venue and vegan cafe. "Its such a beautiful place in the world, and to be hit with nearly 1,000 earthquakes so far this year, I just knew I wanted to do anything I could to help. McDonald will be joined by Calen Otto, a travel blogger who recently traveled to Rwanda and Uganda for on the ground humanitarian efforts. They will be in Puerto Rico through the end of the month, and the endeavor is being completely funded by donations to her non-profit, Kindness Empire (kindnessempire.com). Donations can be made via PayPal using donate@kindnessempire.com Kindness Empire is a non-profit organization committed to enriching the lives of both humans and animals through education, kindness, and philanthropy. It is the parent non-profit to Sweet Bear Rescue Farm, an animal sanctuary on McDonald's farm in Flat Rock with 45 current residents, most rescued from severe abuse and neglect. Kindness Empire also hosts the monthly Help4Hendo event, where people can get free haircuts, clothing, toiletries and job and medical advice. For more information, contact McDonald at info@kindnessempire.com SEATTLE, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rebecca Cofinas Fox, a health care entrepreneur, executive and advisor, has been named president and chief executive officer of Northwest Kidney Centers. The Seattle-based nonprofit is the eighth-largest provider of life-sustaining kidney dialysis in the United States. It operates 19 clinics, provides treatment in local hospitals and oversees patients who give themselves dialysis treatments at home. Education and research are also integral to its mission. Rebecca Cofinas Fox Cofinas Fox began her career in health care administration in the Cook County Health Care System in Chicago. She moved to San Diego in 2001 to join Scripps Health, a $2.5 billion Fortune 500 company that operates four hospitals with 15,000 employees and 3,000 affiliated physicians. She held several leadership positions there, including corporate vice president for clinical services. More recently she built AristaMD, a health care startup, with the goal to be the market leader for e-consults. She raised more than $12 million in venture capital and built a product to replace routine in-office specialty care visits. Cofinas Fox received a master's degree in public health with high honors from Roosevelt University in Chicago, and a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Illinois in Urbana. She is a current fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and a fellow through the Advisory Board. "I've found Rebecca to be extremely insightful and an excellent communicator," said Rich Bloch, chair of Northwest Kidney Centers board of trustees. "As well, Rebecca's capacity to learn is preceded only by her deeply analytical questioning. In these times of great change within the kidney care industry, I'm grateful to have Rebecca on our team and am excited to work with her." Cofinas Fox will start work at Northwest Kidney Centers March 23. She becomes the fourth CEO in the organization's history, succeeding Joyce F. Jackson, who served in the role for 21 years. Northwest Kidney Centers ranks at the top of the industry in Medicare quality ratings for its services, earning 4.46 out of 5 stars. Founded in Seattle in 1962, Northwest Kidney Centers was the first dialysis organization in the world. Today it cares for 1,800 people with chronic kidney failure, providing 283,000 treatments each year. For more information, visit www.nwkidney.org. CONTACT: Cynthia Flash, 425-603-9520 [email protected] SOURCE Northwest Kidney Centers Bangkok faces the greatest threat of the killer coronavirus spreading there from China, scientists have warned. Academics at the University of Southampton today used travel data to work out which cities around the world are most likely to see cases in the future. Los Angeles and New York place in the top 20 and London is more at risk than any other city in Europe, researchers warned. Paris was 27th on the list and Frankfurt was 30th, despite cases having been confirmed in France and Germany already. Five people in the US are battling the virus but none have yet been confirmed in the UK. The UK's Department of Health today confirmed almost 100 people have now been tested for the deadly coronavirus. All of them have come back as negative, but Public Health England director said she believes the virus is already in the UK. So far, the virus has spread to some 17 countries or territories outside of mainland China but experts said they expect the global infections to continue. Academics at the University of Southampton today used travel data to work out which cities around the world are most likely to see cases in the future. The top 20 are ranked here Bangkok faces the greatest threat of the killer coronavirus spreading from China. One case already confirmed in the hugely populated Thai city (Pictured: A man wears a face mask in Bangkok) At least five million people are expected to have left the diseased region of Hubei in China for Lunar New Year before a travel ban was put in place. Pictured, staff disinfecting an aircraft at Thai Airways airline's hangar in Bangkok The research comes as European and American citizens stranded in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak, wait to be rescued by officials scrambling to put escape flights in motion. Wuhan has been under lockdown along with several other cities in the Hubei province for almost a week. Millions of people have been contained to try and limit the spread of the coronavirus. However, at least five million people are expected to have left the diseased region before restrictions were put in place 'too late'. In the weeks leading up to the travel ban, Chinese tourists flew across the world for Lunar New Year holidays. At the same time, the number of patients struck with the virus soared. Coronavirus is deemed highly contagious and transmitted via a simple cough or sneeze. The Thai government is meeting today to discuss how to evacuate the 70 known expats living in Wuhan, most of whom are students. European and American citizens are also waiting to be rescued by officials. Pictured, a train station in Bangkok where people are wear masks Wuhan coronavirus, also known as 2019-nCoV, is confirmed to have infected at least 5,400 people globally as of today. It's killed 131 in China in under a month. Southampton's Professor Tatem and colleagues used anonymised mobile phone and IP address data and international air travel 15 days before the annual Lunar New Year and the two and a half months following. The analysis was based on data from previous years, and did not take into account the effect of the outbreak or the travel restrictions in Hubei province implemented on January 23. However, the team highlighted that a high proportion of people typically travel before in the two weeks before Luna New Year's day, on January 25. The report by the University's WorldPop team found Bangkok in Thailand is under the biggest threat, based on the number of air travellers predicted to arrive there from the worst-affected cities in mainland China. Thailand has 14 confirmed coronavirus cases the most outside of China. The country's health minister Anutin Charnvirakul has reportedly admitted the country cannot stop the virus from spreading because there are so many Chinese travellers there. Hong Kong, in China, is second on the list, followed by Taipei, the capital of China's Taiwan, and Seoul, in South Korea. Sydney and Melbourne in Australia are 12th and 14th respectively, Los Angeles 15th, New York 16th, Dubai 17th and London 19th. London typically has more than 142,000 tourists from China over the period January to mid-March. WHICH CITIES ARE MOST AT RISK? Bangkok Hong Kong Taipei Seoul Tokyo Singapore Phuket Osaka Kuala Lumpur Macau Denpasar Bali Sydney Chiang Mai Melbourne Los Angeles New York Dubai Nha Trang, Vietnam London Ho Chi Minh City Advertisement WHICH COUNTRIES ARE MOST AT RISK? Thailand Japan Hong Kong, China Taiwan, China South Korea US Malaysia Singapore Vietnam Australia Indonesia Cambodia Macao, China Philippines Germany Canada UK United Arab Emirates Italy Russia Advertisement The most at-risk countries or regions worldwide are rank Thailand 1st, followed by Japan. US is 6th, Australia 10th and the UK 17th. Within mainland China, the cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chongqing are all identified as high-risk by the researchers, along with the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Sichuan and Henan. Andrew Tatem, director of WorldPop and professor of geography and environmental science, said: 'It's vital that we understand patterns of population movement, both within China and globally, in order to assess how this new virus might spread domestically and internationally.' The killer coronavirus outbreak has now killed 131 people and struck down more than 5,400. Cases have been spotted in Canada, US, France and Australia As of Monday, there are five confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US and 110 patients are being tested across the country Thai Airways employees are pictured disinfecting an empty plane cabin at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok today, January 28. Thailand has 14 confirmed coronavirus cases the most outside of China Security guards stand beside a disaster relief tent in Hunan province, near the border of Hubei where Wuhan is the capital. Photographed today, January 28 WHERE HAS THE WUHAN CORONAVIRUS SPREAD TO? The vast majority of confirmed infections of the Wuhan coronavirus (4,515 out of 4,585, as at 11.40am GMT on January 28) have been diagnosed in China. But 17 countries or territories outside of the mainland have also declared infections: Germany: One case confirmed, diagnosed January 27 Sri Lanka: One case, diagnosed January 27 Cambodia: One case, diagnosed January 27 Canada: Two cases confirmed, first case January 25 Australia: Five cases, first case January 25 Malaysia: Four cases, first case January 25 France: Three cases, first case January 24 Nepal: One case, first case January 24 Vietnam: Two cases, first case January 24 Singapore: Five cases, first case January 23 Macau: Five cases, first case January 22 Hong Kong: Eight cases, first case January 22 Taiwan: Eight cases, first case January 21 USA: Five cases, first case January 20 South Korea: Four cases, first case January 20 Japan: Five cases, first case January 16 Thailand: 14 cases, first case January 13 Advertisement The unexpected and sudden city lockdowns were likely put in place too late, after millions had already fled the country to celebrate Lunar New Year. Up to five million - some of which may have had symptoms - travelled at an early stage of the outbreak, before restrictions were put in place. Lead report author Dr Shengjie Lai of the University of Southampton said: 'The spread of the new coronavirus is a fast moving situation. 'We are closely monitoring the epidemic in order to provide further up-to-date analysis on the likely spread, including the effectiveness of the transport lockdown in Chinese cities and transmission by people returning from the Lunar New Year holiday, which has been extended to 2 February.' The deadly outbreak is expected to carry on for at least another six months, infecting tens of thousands of people at a minimum, according to a scientist at the University of Toronto, Canada. Professor David Fisman, who wrote a report for the International Society for Infectious Diseases, said: 'The best case scenario, you would have something... where we go through the spring into the summer, and then it dies down.' The outbreak started in December with less than 50 cases identified. Germany, Sri Lanka and Cambodia yesterday became the latest countries to declare cases. With almost 5,000 cases confirmed already in January, a further 25,000 cases may occur if the infection continues to spread at the current rate. A vaccine against the coronavirus is at least two months away from trial, researchers have warned. By that time, hundreds more could have died and numerous other countries been infected. Today's coronavirus developments include: India is preparing to evacuate all willing citizens from the Hubei citizen, of which Wuhan is capital Russia has closed its border with China in the east, in the regions of Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Khabarovsk and Amur Hong Kong will halve the number of flights to mainland China and stop its high-speed rail service and ferries. It has urged citizens to return home from the mainland and stay at home for 14 days Japan has declared a case of coronavirus in a man who didn't travel to Wuhan but met visitors from the city More than 500,000 South Koreans have signed a petition calling for travellers from China to be turned away at the border Japan, South Korea and France have all planned charter flights to pull their citizens out of Wuhan later this week World Health Organisation chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was happy with China's efforts to contain the outbreak after visiting with politicians in Beijing yesterday. He urged the world to stay calm It was initially believed infected people were not contagious until they got symptoms such as fever, coughing or pneumonia. But Chinese authorities said on Sunday they had established the opposite. There is also growing evidence that people can infect others without knowing they're ill and there are 'super-spreaders' who pass the coronavirus on to multiple people. TABLE TITLE Rank City Country Visitors over 40-day Lunar New year 1 Bangkok Thailand 1million 2 Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR, China 1million 3 Taipei Taiwan, China 860,000 4 Seoul South Korea 760,000 5 Toyko Japan 714,000 6 Singapore Singapore 570,000 7 Phuket Thailand 500,000 8 Osaka Japan 430,000 9 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 380,000 10 Macau Macau SAR, China 260,000 11 Denpasar Bali Indonesia 220,000 12 Sydney Australia 200,000 13 Chiang Mai Thailand 151,000 14 Melbourne Australia 150,000 15 Los Angeles US 150,000 16 New York US 146,000 17 Dubai United Arab Emirates 144,000 18 Nha Trang Vietnam 143,000 19 London UK 142,000 20 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 142,000 21 Nagoya Japan 140,000 22 Kota Kinabalu Malaysia 130,000 23 Phnom Penh Cambodia 127,000 24 Krabi Thailand 125,000 25 Manila Philippines 122,000 26 Siem Reap Cambodia 121,000 27 Paris France 120,000 28 Jakarta Indonesia 114,000 29 Kaohsiung Taiwan, China 114,000 30 Frankfurt Germany 103,000 Countries Rank Country Visitors over 40-day Lunar New year 1 Thailand 2million 2 Japan 1.5million 3 Hong Kong, SAR China 1million 4 Taiwan, China 979,000 5 South Korea 930,000 6 US 770,000 7 Malaysia 630,000 8 Singapore 560,000 9 Vietnam 460,000 10 Austalia 450,000 11 Indonesia 410,000 12 Cambodia 260,000 13 Macao SAR, China 260,000 14 Philippines 250,000 15 Germany 230,000 16 Canada 200,000 17 UK 190,000 18 United Arab Emirates 160,000 19 Italy 150,000 20 Russia 150,000 21 France 138,000 22 New Zealand 120,000 23 India 100,000 24 Spain 100,000 25 Turkey 66,000 26 Egypt 57,000 27 Sri Lanka 55,000 28 Maldives 50,000 29 Netherlands 45,000 30 Myanmar 43,000 The travel ban also extends to those with Chinese passports issued in Hubei, said MOH during a media conference on Tuesday. (PHOTO: Getty Images) SINGAPORE All new visitors with recent travel history to Hubei within the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter or transit through Singapore from Wednesday (29 January) 12 noon onwards, as part of new measures implemented by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday. The travel ban also extends to those with Chinese passports issued in Hubei, said MOH during a media conference on Tuesday. For this group of travellers, there will be a suspension on issuance of all new visas, previously-issued short-term and multiple-visit visas, and visa-free transit facilities. The ban applies to land, sea and air travel. At a media conference, representatives from the MOH and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority said they are working with airlines to inform passengers ahead of their flight to Singapore about the ban. The passengers who are affected by the ban and arrive in Singapore will be turned away, with their visas suspended. They will then have to make their own arrangements to fly out of Singapore. Affected passengers who give false or inaccurate information in their travel history may be subject to penalties under the Infectious Diseases Act. A person who is convicted under the Act could be jailed up to six months and/or fined up to $10,000. MOH has already started contract tracing for recent travellers to Hubei who are already in Singapore. There are an estimated 2,000 of them, with about 1,000 on short-term visas. Should they be assessed to be of high risk, they will be quarantined. Returning Singaporeans, permanent residents and long-term pass holders with travel history to Hubei in the last 14 days will be quarantined, as will returning permanent residents and long-term pass holders with Chinese passports issued in Hubei. Workers who are quarantined will have a daily allowance of $100, to be given to their employers, while those who are self-employed will receive the allowance directly. Those who violate a quarantine order could be jailed up to six months and/or fined up to $10,000 under the Act. Story continues Speaking to the media after the conference, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, said that the move to restrict travellers from Hubei was not a knee-jerk reaction, saying that the authorities have studied the available evidence and risk. I think we have to make a decision and we have to move. And because this situation is evolving so rapidly... you never know how the situation can worsen, said Wong, who co-chairs a multi-ministry task force set up to deal with Wuhan virus outbreak. On Monday, Wong cautioned against overreaction and xenophobia in a media conference, where he said that there was no need for a complete ban on travellers from China. Asked if the enhanced measure on new travellers from Hubei could be called a travel ban, Wong replied, It is what it is...Why, because there is a risk and the risk is real. While the minister recognised that there was a possibility of travellers who were dishonest in their declarations, he said there were other measures to combat this. There are medical teams deployed at the aero-bridges at the airport to pick up passengers who look unwell and there are thermal scanners in place. Immigration officers may also check the passport history of travellers and question visitors, he added. Confirmed cases at 7 as of Tuesday The new measures come as MOH confirmed another two cases of Wuhan virus on Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to seven in Singapore. All seven patients are in stable condition. One is a 56-year-old male Chinese national from Wuhan who arrived in Singapore on 19 January and developed cough symptoms on 25 January. He checked into Changi General Hospital on 26 January and was tested positive for novel coronavirus infection on Monday. Prior to his admission, he was staying with his family members in Pasir Ris Grove. The other is a 35-year-old male Chinese national, also from Wuhan. He arrived in Singapore on 23 January and developed symptoms the next day. He checked into Raffles Hospital on the same day, and was tested positive on Monday. Prior to his admission, he was staying at Marina Bay Sands. Related stories: Wuhan coronavirus outbreak: 5th case confirmed in Singapore Too early to say if Wuhan virus worse than SARS: Lawrence Wong Wuhan virus: S'pore economy will be impacted, saving jobs a priority, says Chan Chun Sing Wuhan virus: More temperature screenings at pre-schools 'Not an extended holiday': Ong Ye Kung explains leave of absence for students, MOE staff who have travelled to China Wuhan coronavirus: MOE implements leave for students, staff returning from mainland China Wuhan virus: Taxi rental to be waived for quarantined cabbies Taiwan records fourth case of new coronavirus infection ROC Central News Agency 01/27/2020 01:18 AM Taipei, Jan. 27 (CNA) A Taiwanese woman who had recently been to the Chinese city of Wuhan was diagnosed Sunday with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), the fourth such confirmed case in Taiwan. The woman, in her 50s, was traveling in Wuhan Jan. 13-15 before joining a Chinese tour group to Europe Jan. 16-25, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (). The patient, who began to have a cough Jan. 22, reported her condition to airport quarantine officials upon her return from Guangdong Saturday, Chuang said. As of 4 p.m. Sunday, 350 suspected cases of the new type of coronavirus had been reported in Taiwan, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center. While infection has been ruled out in 147 of those cases, four were confirmed as having been infected. Due to concerns over the coronavirus epidemic that originated in Wuhan, Hubei province, Taiwan's CDC has extended its highest travel warning to Hubei, urging people to avoid unnecessary travel to the destination. Also, people arriving in Taiwan who have recently been to Hubei will now be subject to compulsory home confinement for 14 days. (By Yu Hsiao-han and Y.F. Low) Enditem NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Update - January 28, 2020: 16-year-old Jamie Cooper has been located safe and well. Gardai in Cork wish to thank the public for their assistance in tracing the teenager's whereabouts. January 27, 20120: Gardai in Cork are appealing for information in locating a missing 16-year-old. Jamie Cooper is missing from Orrery Road in Gurranabraher since Friday, January 24. Jamie was last seen on Orrery Road, at around 4.30pm on Friday He is described as being 5" in height, with a slim build, brown short hair and blue eyes. When last seen he was wearing grey tracksuit pants, a black top and grey runners. Anyone who may have seen Jamie or has information on his whereabouts are asked to contact Gurranabraher Garda Station on 021-4946200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station. AUGUSTA, Maine, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Maine Association for Charter Schools will host its 10th annual celebration in the State House "Hall of Flags" during National School Choice Week. Students, teachers, and school leaders from Maine's 10 public charter schools will host displays and discuss with legislators their innovative school programs and the importance to them of public school choice. WHAT: - Charter leaders and families celebrating School Choice Week WHO: - Students, teachers, school leaders, legislators WHEN: - 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29 - 11 a.m. press conference WHERE: - Hall of Flags, State House | 210 State St. This event is organized by the Maine Association for Charter Schools. As a nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort, National School Choice Week shines a positive spotlight on effective education options for students, families, and communities around the country. From January 26 through February 1, 2020, more than 50,000 independently-planned events will be held in celebration of the Week. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week Related Links www.schoolchoiceweek.com By Trend Some 7.8 million foreign tourists visited Iran within 10 months (from March 21 through January 20) of this Iranian year (beginning on March 21, 2019), Iranian Deputy Minister of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Vali Teymuri said. Teymuri made the remark at the press-conference in Iran, Trend reports referring to Mehr. Some 7.8 million foreign tourists visited Iran last Iranian year (from March 21, 2018 through March 21, 2019), the deputy minister said. There was a 52-percent increase in the number of tourists compared to the previous year (from March 21, 2017 through March 21, 2018). The deputy minister said that a decision was made to insure tourist guides this Iranian year. The value added tax was abolished for the agencies operating in connection with the arrival of foreign tourists, the deputy minister said. As for some recent incidents, the deputy minister said that Iran is neither the first nor the last country in this sphere. For example, coronavirus in China affects tourism sector, Teymuri added. Over the past month, clashes between Iran and the US, as well as the accidental shooting of a Ukrainian passenger aircraft by Iran have greatly reduced the number of incoming tourists in Iran. 436 people who returned to Kerala from China under observation, tests negative India oi-PTI Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 28: At least 436 people, who returned to Kerala from China in recent days, are under observation for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus (nCoV), health officials said on Monday. Five people are still under observation in isolation wards at various hospitals across the state, officials said, adding, all results of blood samples sent to the National Institute of Virology at Pune have been found to be negative for the virus. While three people are in hospitals at Ernakulam, one each are in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur, officials said. Two people, admitted earlier to hospitals in Pathanamthitta and Malappuram, have been discharged. Health minister K K Shylaja said necessary steps were being taken by coordinating with district medical officers. Coronavirus: Uttarakhand on high alert "We have also opened isolation wards even though we have not received any positive cases in the state," she told the media. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrange for airlifting stranded Indians from coronavirus affected Wuhan province in China, including those from the Southern state. Sharing the concern of Kerala, Vijayan, in a letter to Modi, said the ground situation in the province has worsened and the state had information from relatives of students from Kerala studying at various Universities there that the situation there was "grave." There were also reports that Yichang area has also been affected, he said. "It may be appropriate to consider operating a special flight to Wuhan/a nearby functional airport and airlift the Indian nationals stranded there and bring them back to India," Vijayan said, days after he shot off two letters to External Affairs minister S Jaishankar. Vijayan also offered the assistance of medical professionals from Kerala in case the Indians being evacuated from Wuhan needed medical attention. He also wanted necessary instructions to be given to the Indian Embassy in China to "act proactively" and provide necessary assistance and reassurance to Indians, including Keralites stranded in Wuhan and Yichang. Indians remain stuck in Coronavirus-hit Wuhan as govt prepares to evacuate them A team of doctors deputed by the Union Health Ministry visited the Cochin International Airport and Kalamassery Medical college hospital and expressed satisfaction at the preparedness. At the CIAL airport, the doctors examined the passenger manifests and details of 178 passengers who were screened by airport health officers, a statement from the airport said. The central team also visited the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital where an isolation ward has been set up to observe patients. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 8:25 [IST] Fianna Fail General election candidates in Laois-Offaly, Barry Cowen TD and Cllr Peter Ormond, have said that protecting the employees of Bord na Mona and ESB is a top priority for the party. Deputy Cowen explained: The outgoing Fine Gael-led government have demonstrated a complete lack of urgency to help the employees, families and communities affected by the proposed closure of the ESB power stations in Lanesboro and Shannonbridge, and the further risk to hundreds of jobs at Bord na Mona. These are peoples livelihoods at stake, not to speak of the future of this economy of the Midlands. And yet, the consequences have seemed like an afterthought to the outgoing government. The speed at with which this is happening is completely disproportionate to any proposed investment in the region, the Fianna Fail Spokesperson on Public Expenditure said. Cllr Peter Ormond is Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council and Chairman of the Just Transition Committee. He commented: We have been very vocal in our support for the Bord na Mona workers and their families at a time when many have felt abandoned by the Fine Gael Government. Protecting jobs in a sustainable way is an absolute priority for us. The constituency of Laois-Offaly faces unique challenges with such a huge proportion of our workforce employed by Bord na Mona and ESB, and this must be given special consideration. The eyes of future generations are upon us. Our policies must focus on protecting and growing job opportunities here in Offaly, attracting investment to this region and maximising existing resources in a way that rewards local enterprise and innovation. Fianna Fail is committed to social proofing our environmental policies. We are committed to this region and protecting jobs here. A Just Transition must be exactly that one that is fair to all regions. There are special considerations in the Midlands and we are committed to ensuring the views of this community are represented in ongoing policies in this area. The Government announced a raft of measures to address the decarbonisation plans of Bord na Mona in the 2020 budget, including a 20 million fund to redistribute displaced workers into home retrofitting projects. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Ilhama Isabalayeva Trend: The Azerbaijani Food Safety Agency decided to impose a temporary ban on the import of livestock, animal products and seafood from China, as well as wild animals for zoos, to protect against infectious diseases that may disseminate in Azerbaijan from other countries, Trend reports on Jan. 28 referring to the Agency. To strengthen the control measures an appeal was made for the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee to take appropriate measures at customs checkpoints in connection with vehicles coming from China or transit vehicles. In accordance with the WHO information, coronavirus 2019-nCoV which has been recently revealed in China is spreading in several countries. Coronavirus was transmitted from animals to the first infected people. In this regard, WHO recommends toughening control on the import of live cattle, animal products and seafood from the countries where this virus has been revealed to other countries. Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Riaboshapka has changed the team of prosecutors on the criminal case on the murders which took place on Instytutska Street in Kyiv on February 20, 2014, the Advocacy Advisory Panel said on Facebook. "After the fake prosecutors have been recused by Sviatoshynsky District Court on January 14, 2020, the prosecutor general on January 27, 2020 ordered to restore the 'original' membership of the group of prosecutors Oleksiy Donsky, Ihor Zemsky, Yanis Symonov and strengthen the group," reads the statement. In December 2019, Riaboshapka changed the team of prosecutors on the case. Under its guidance, former officers of the Berkut riot police Oleh Yanishevsky, Serhiy Zinchenko and Pavlo Abroskin, who had been the suspects in the case on the killing of activists on Instytutska Street, as well as Serhiy Tamtura and Oleksandr Marynchenko, who had been kept under house arrest, were sent to the swap of prisoners between Ukraine and the occupied districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions on December 29, 2019. The court ruled to recuse the prosecutors on January 14, 2020. UPDATE This story has been updated to include a statement from the president of Navistar Defense. WASHINGTON The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled in favor of the U.S. Armys decision to go with only one source for its Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles for more than 10 years, denying Navistars lawsuit brought against the service and FMTV-maker Oshkosh Defense for not competitively procuring the vehicle. Following the Armys initial five-year contract to buy FMTVs from Oshkosh, the service chose a sole-source procurement route with the company, arguing it didnt have time to reopen competition because of urgent needs. Since 2009, the Army has spent more than $6 billion on FMTVs from Oshkosh. FMTVs are used for a wide variety of missions, including transporting for different cargo and missile defense radars. Navistar filed its lawsuit with the court in early August 2019. A bench trial was held Nov. 26, and a sealed decision was rendered Dec. 13. The courts decision was unsealed this month. Navistar had filed a protest over the FMTV decision with the Government Accountability Office. But Navistar decided to sue the Army after the company said it was getting nowhere in its quest to get the Army to produce documents that would show the services reasoning to continue to order more vehicles from Oshkosh without competition and without proper legal justification. The company contended that the Army did not justify and had improperly awarded its most recent sole-source FMTV procurement in 2019 to Oshkosh, and that the service failed to provide proper notice to possible competitors in accordance with federal acquisition regulations and the Competition in Contracting Act, according to an extensive review of court documents by Defense News. In addition, the Army also ignored a stop-work order, which automatically went into effect when the GAO protest was filed. Navistar filed two complaints: One that claims the Army violated the law when it continued to buy Oshkosh vehicles outside of the scope of its contract without holding a competition, and another that claims the Army illegally continued to work on production of those vehicles despite a required stop-work order that must go into effect once a protest is filed with the GAO. Story continues Navistar contended the Army had ample time to compete for follow-on FMTV orders, and that the pool was deep with companies ready to provide vehicles that met the services requirements, but the Army never did. The Army instead issued a series of justification and approvals, or J&A, to extend its original contract award, including a September 2016 J&A, which Navistar protested with the GAO. Navistar settled with the Army, which included a deal to build vehicles for Iraq. To justify its orders in 2019, the Army amended the September 2016 J&A rather than issuing an entirely new one. Navistar claimed the move was not only against the Armys previous practice but also against the rules of contract law. Whistleblower accuses Navistar of fraudulent pricing for MRAPs in newly unsealed complaint The court disagreed with Navistars argument that the Armys 2019 sole-source contracting action constituted a cardinal change to the original contract or its subsequent 2016 J&A, which extended the contract. The judge decided the Armys 2019 decision to procure an additional 1,916 vehicles did not materially depart from the scope of the original contract, which is one of the characteristics of a cardinal change. Additionally, the judge did not find any evidence that the 2019 orders fell out of the scope of the contract as modified by the Army in the 2016 J&A. The orders also fell within the terms of the contract, the judge found, which ended Aug. 25, 2019. The orders were placed between February and June of that year. The court also argued that Navistar and potential other offerors that might have participated in an FMTV competition were adequately notified of the possibility that the Army would procure additional tactical vehicles during the term of the contract. The judge found the 2016 J&A made clear the Armys plan to extend and increase the value of the contract for the purpose of adding additional vehicles and made clear its reasoning not to hold a competition. The court argued that Navistar and others should have expected the possibility the Army would decide to increase the number of vehicles it might procure. The court also noted that the Army issued an explanation again in June 2019 outlining its need to buy more vehicles to bridge a gap between the current version of the FMTV and a new variant, for which Navistar did not compete. The judge wrote that additional vehicles were justified because its well-established the Armys estimate of its requirements is not a guarantee or warranty of the exact quantity required. Judge Rules in Favor of Palantir in Lawsuit Against US Army Navistar failed to show that the 2016 J&A limited the number of vehicles the Army could procure, according to the decision. The court also noted Navistar failed to show any statute or regulation that required the Army to issue a J&A every time it needed to add more vehicles beyond original estimates. The judge argued that even though it was the Armys practice to do so when it ordered more vehicles, the absence of a complete J&A in 2019 was not against the rules. The court also found the Army had proper approval from a senior procurement official to extend its contract beyond the 10-year limit in accordance with the law. Navistar had argued the Army improperly extended the term of the contract. Additionally, the court argued that Navistars settlement agreement in 2016 following the companys GAO protest precludes the vehicle maker from raising certain claims related to the FMTV contract because it waived its rights to appeal or protest any further orders under the contract. The court agrees with the government that Navistar may not pursue claims related to the decision to extend the contract in 2016 or a challenge of the terms of the FMTV contract as they related to foreign military sales, the decision stated. The judge also decided that since Navistar voluntarily withdrew its GAO protest and wasnt successful in demonstrating the merits of its claims before the court, injunctive relief could not be provided. When issues arise that warrant review before independent government agencies and the court, we have and will continue to bring them forward for review on the merits, especially those issues that directly impact U.S. taxpayers, our company and our dedicated employees who support critical U.S. missions around the world, Kevin Thomas, Navistar Defenses president, said in a statement to Defense News. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) The Philippines is now evaluating the impact of a possible pullout from a 1998 agreement with the United States on the treatment of its military personnel, known as the Visiting Forces Agreement. This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to terminate the treaty over the US cancellation of Senator Ronald Bato dela Rosas visa, which the former top cop attributed to his role as architect of the governments war on drugs. But what is the VFA, how has it benefited or hurt the Philippines, and what will happen next if the Duterte administration decides to go full-steam ahead of the termination of the treaty? What is the VFA? The VFA is an agreement between Manila and Washington signed in February 1998 on the treatment of American military personnel when they are in the Philippines. A counterpart agreement which deals with the treatment of Filipino military personnel in the US was signed in October 1998. It is seen as an agreement that compliments the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), another agreement between the Philippines and the US which guarantees that the two countries will provide military aid to each other in case their metropolitan areas or their territories in the Pacific are attacked by a foreign force. Among the provisions of the VFA are relaxed visa and passport policies for US military personnel, tax-free importation of equipment, materials and supplies by the US government, and free entry of US military aircraft and vessels into the Philippines. The agreement also provides that the Philippines will take primary jurisdiction over US military personnel who commit or are accused of a crime in the country, unless the offense is related to US security or is only punishable under US law. On the other hand, the US takes primary jurisdiction over their personnel if they commit offenses against US property or security or against fellow US personnel and their property. They also have primary jurisdiction over their personnel in offenses committed in the performance of official duty. Both the US and the Philippines can request from each other to waive their primary jurisdiction in a particular case. In the case of the killing of transgender woman Jennifer Laude, then-Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario insisted that the Philippines would not give up its jurisdiction over US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton. While jurisdiction over US military personnel who commit crimes in the country reside in the Philippines, the US keeps custody over them. The treaty provides that the US will present its personnel in investigative and judicial proceedings for up to one year, after which Washington is relieved of any obligations to make their personnel available for proceedings. It also says that the detention or confinement of US personnel will only be in facilities agreed to by the Philippines and the US. How has it benefited the Philippines? The Department of Foreign Affairs previously said that the Philippines may not even have jurisdiction over Pemberton if it were not for the VFA. Beyond prosecuting crimes committed by US personnel in the country, the VFA also plays a crucial part in amping up the Philippines defense as it allows Filipino soldiers to train with the US military at minimal costs, like the annual Balikatan exercises. Defense expert Jose Antonio Custodio told CNN Philippines that the VFA somehow makes up for the lack of capacity building and equipment by the Philippine military. Zia Alonto Adiong, member of parliament of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, credited the VFA for the liberation of Marawi City from terrorists in 2017. "Although I do not necessarily agree on the entirety of the Visiting Forces Agreement, I likewise could not deny the fact that though it took us five long months before Marawi was finally liberated, part of it was also due to the assistance we received by virtue of this mutual defense cooperation," Adiong said. The VFA has also worked in the Philippines favor during times of calamity, as Del Rosario pointed out. He said aid from the US was swiftly sent to the country after the onslaught of Supertyphoon Yolanda due to the VFA. How has it hurt the Philippines? The VFA has had a bitter history in the country as it has been dragged in two prominent criminal cases the 2006 Subic rape case and the killing of Jennifer Laude. The US maintained custody over four of its military personnel while they were on trial for the rape of a Filipino woman in Subic, where the US military had been conducting joint drills with Philippine troops. Even after a Makati City court found Lance Corporal Daniel Smith guilty, the US still retained custody over him, keeping him in its embassy in Manila. Smith was eventually acquitted on appeal after the victim recanted her testimony. Pemberton has been detained at Camp Aguinaldo instead of the New Bilibid Prison even after his conviction for homicide. Calls to end the VFA followed these two cases, but they ultimately failed. The VFA had also been challenged twice before the Supreme Court, which upheld the constitutionality of the treaty. What happens next? Should the Philippine government decide to push through with the termination of the VFA, all it has to do is to tell the US in writing that it wants to end the treaty. The agreement will remain in force for 180 days after this notice is sent. It is still not clear whether the Senate should also concur to the termination of the treaty. The same question has been asked in petitions before the Supreme Court assailing the Philippines withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the International Criminal Court. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the Department of National Defense and the Department of Foreign Affairs should conduct a separate study on the possible effects of the termination of the VFA on the MDT and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement another deal between the Philippines and the US that allows the US military to use and control five bases in the country. Del Rosario said terminating the VFA can make the implementation of the MDT harder, as the relaxed immigration rules and waived fees for the entry of US military equipment would no longer be in place. Custodio warned that China, which has ramped up activity in the hotly-contested South China Sea, may even take advantage of the termination of the VFA. Some left-leaning lawmakers have egged on the Duterte administration to end the VFA, but for the right reasons. We challenge the President to really pursue it because it is the assertion of our national sovereignty and not just because a friend of his is disadvantaged, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said. CNN Philippines Correspondents Triciah Terada and Xianne Arcangel contributed to this report. Congressional Democrats on Monday selected Wendy Davis and Gina Ortiz Jones for a program that supports top recruits in competitive districts, further signaling the central role Texas is expected to play on the 2020 House battlefield. Davis and Jones were among 12 congressional candidates selected for the first round of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees Red to Blue program, which provides candidates with campaign resources and strategic guidance. It also gives them a leg up among some donors. No other state has two congressional candidates on the initial list. Davis, a former state senator and gubernatorial nominee, is facing Democrat Jennie Lou Leeder in the March primary for Texas' 21st Congressional District. The winner will take on U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, whose district runs from Austin to San Antonio and takes in part of the Hill Country. Jones, a former Air Force intelligence officer, faces four primary opponents in Texas 23rd Congressional District, the expansive district stretching from San Antonio to the edge of El Paso. The DCCC also added Jones to the program in 2018, when she narrowly lost to U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, a Republican from Helotes who is not seeking re-election. National Democrats are targeting both districts due to Republicans narrow margins of victory in the midterms. Roy won his seat by 2.6 percentage points, while Hurd defeated Jones by 926 votes, or less than half a percent. Eight of the 11 Democrats named to the first round of the Red to Blue program in 2018 were elected to Congress in November. That list did not include any Texas candidates. The DCCC added Davis and Jones to the program because they surpassed "aggressive goals for grassroots engagement, local support, campaign organization and fundraising," according to a statement from the organization. Republicans have already added several Texas congressional candidates to a similar Young Guns program that mentors and supports candidates in races around the country. Navy veteran Tony Gonzales, who Hurd has endorsed in the Republican primary for his seat, is in the program, along with two Republicans, Pierce Bush and Greg Hill, who are vying for the seat in Fort Bend County held by retiring U.S. Rep. Pete Olson. Republicans Wesley Hunt and Cindy Siegel, two of six GOP candidates battling to take on U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, are also in the Young Guns program. jasper.scherer@chron.com WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said he will release details of his Middle East peace plan on Tuesday, and the long-awaited package is expected to propose a dramatic remapping of the West Bank while offering Palestinians a pathway to statehood if they meet a set of tests. Trump described his proposals for Middle East peace in private meetings Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the veteran Israeli leader's challenger in upcoming elections. No Palestinians attended the White House preview of what is described as a highly detailed proposal for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that dates from Israel's founding in 1948. "In the business world, when I was back in the business world, when a deal was tough, people would jokingly refer to it as, 'This is tougher than Israel and the Palestinians getting together,' " Trump said as he welcomed Netanyahu for an Oval Office briefing on the secretive package. "And that's what I've heard all my life, and so we'll see what happens. We have something that makes a lot of sense for everybody." The package is expected to propose a redrawn border between Israel and the West Bank that would incorporate large Jewish settlements into Israel proper, while continuing some forms of Israeli security control over the territory Israel seized in 1967 and has occupied since, according to a person familiar with the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the proposal has not been released. Trump predicted that "we will ultimately have the support of the Palestinians," but he appeared to confirm expectations that the White House proposals are generous to close ally Israel. "That's a plan that Bibi, maybe, and his opponent, I must say, they have to like very much," Trump said, calling Netanyahu by his nickname. Netanyahu challenger Benny Gantz met with Trump separately at the White House as part of the Trump administration strategy to release the U.S. guidelines for a settlement before Israelis vote in March. Netanyahu and Gantz are in a dead heat after two inconclusive elections in the past year. Both have said they welcome the Trump plan. It is expected to offer limited autonomy to Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that would increase over about three years if Palestinian leadership were to undertake political changes, renounced violence and make other steps in negotiation with Israel, the person familiar with the plan said. The 50-page plan developed by Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner is expected to include proposals addressing each of the major issues that have scuttled past peace efforts, including competing land claims and administration of holy sites in Jerusalem. "There are a lot of goodies in there for the Palestinians - a lot - but by no means all of what they have long sought," said the person. "They have within their grasp a state," if they meet certain security and political benchmarks, the person said. That conditional sovereignty appears to fall far short of the long-standing international goal of a separate, fully independent Palestinian state. But it also "acknowledges reality as it is," with expanding Israeli settlements, a desperate Palestinian economy and shrinking political horizons for young people, the person said. The Kushner package essentially assesses that the Palestinian bargaining position is poor and getting worse, and it asks Palestinian leaders to negotiate for part of a loaf rather than watch the whole loaf disappear, said people who have heard Kushner and other authors describe the proposal. A White House representative declined to comment on any details of the plan. The United States cannot enforce any of the proposals on its own, but U.S. statements about what a settlement should entail have set the parameters for all recent efforts at peace. The public release planned for noon Tuesday will come amid Trump's ongoing Senate impeachment trial for alleged abuse of his office. Tuesday is also the day the Israeli Knesset is slated to being considering Netanyahu's bid for parliamentary immunity in a long-running corruption case. Kushner's nearly three-year effort was once a top priority for Trump as the former New York real estate developer sought to put his stamp on one of the world's most intractable disputes over land, sovereignty and heritage. Expectations were low at the start and sunk lower when Palestinian leaders walked away from the effort before the end of Trump's first year in office. They have not returned. Trump claimed that many Arab states have signed on to the Trump approach. "They like it. They think it's great. They think it's a big start," Trump said, without identifying any Arab states by name. "I think it's a big start too. I think it's a fantastic thing if we can pull it off. They say it's probably the most difficult deal anywhere and of any kind to make." No Arab state has endorsed the plan publicly. Palestinian leaders plan to stiff-arm the Trump plan and orchestrate a round of condemnations from Arab neighbors and other nations in the days after the plan is revealed. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will hold an emergency meeting of the PLO executive committee Tuesday. Palestinian officials have warned that if the United States proposes terms that grossly favor Israel, it will spell the end of security cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians that followed the Oslo agreement signed in Washington in 1993. "If Netanyahu begins annexation of Palestinian territory officially, this means Israel's withdrawal from Oslo accords and agreements signed," longtime Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a tweet. "It is an attempt to destroy" the idea of peace between two states. Some Palestinian factions have called on protesters to turn out for a "Day of Rage" in the territories Tuesday. A spokesman for the Israeli military said forces have elevated their state of readiness and are monitoring checkpoints and other potential protest spots. Jeremy Ben Ami, head of the U.S. pro-Israel group J Street, called the White House rollout "a blatant political stunt" meant to distract from Trump's and Netanyahu's separate political or legal problems. "This is not the day, if you are a serious policymaker, to resolve the world's most difficult conflict," he said in an interview from Israel. "The fact that they chose this day tells you everything you need to know." - - - Hendrix and Eglash reported from Jerusalem. DUBLIN, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Milk - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The milk market worldwide is projected to grow by 106.8 Million Tons, driven by a compounded growth of 1.8%. Milk, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 1.8%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over 917.2 Million Tons by the year 2025, Milk will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth. Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 1.4% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over 4.4 Million Tons to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over 3.2 Million Tons worth of projected demand in the region will come from the rest of the European markets. In Japan, Milk will reach a market size of 59.2 Million Tons by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 2.7% over the next couple of years and add approximately 28.2 Million Tons in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies. Competitors identified in this market include: Almarai Company Arla Foods Amba Armor Proteines S.A.S. Dairy Farmers of America Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd. Foremost Farms USA Glanbia PLC Groupe Lactalis Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (AMUL) Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co. Ltd. HP Hood LLC Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co. Ltd. Kerry Group PLC Lifeway Foods, Inc. MILEI GmbH Morinaga Milk Industry Co. Ltd. Namyang Dairy Products Co. Ltd. Nestle S.A. Saputo, Inc. Valio Oy Want Want China Holdings Ltd. Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Company Holdings Ltd. Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5vy0oz Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ORA) today announced the signing of two similar Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) and Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP). Under the PPAs, SVCE and MBCP will each purchase 7MW (for a total of 14 MW) of power generated by the expected 30MW Casa Diablo-IV (CD4) geothermal project located in Mammoth Lakes, California. The PPAs are for a term of 10 years and have a fixed MWh price, which includes energy, capacity, environmental attributes, and all other ancillary benefits. The remaining 16 MW of generating capacity will be sold under an additional PPA with Southern California Public Power Authority, which was signed in early 2019. The CD4 power plant is expected to be on-line by the end of 2021, will be the first geothermal power plant built within the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) balancing authority in the last 30 years and will be the first in Ormat's portfolio that will sell its output to a Community Choice Aggregator. "With these new PPAs in place, we will be offloading the full planned production capacity of the CD4 plant, further advancing Ormat's initiative to grow our geothermal business domestically," said Isaac Angel, CEO of Ormat Technologies. "We are hopeful that the contracts with Silicon Valley Clean Energy and Monterey Bay Community Power will be the first of many such contracts with rapidly growing communities in California. These two forward-thinking electricity providers are joining together to purchase electricity on behalf of their members, and we are excited to help deliver clean, renewable energy to advance that effort." "Monterey Bay Community Power looks forward to making more renewable energy available in partnership with Silicon Valley Clean Energy," said Tom Habashi, CEO of Monterey Bay Community Power. "Ormat Technologies is a great fit because their California project helps us and our community support renewable geothermal electricity that is available for customers 24 hours a day, with zero carbon emissions." "Partnering with Monterey Bay Community Power and Ormat Technologies is an outstanding collaboration that secures more clean power for our communities and advances the state's clean energy goals," said Girish Balachandran, CEO of Silicon Valley Clean Energy. "As more communities encourage electrification to meet their emission reduction targets, this partnership provides a new, baseload renewable supply that continues to move us toward the decarbonized grid of the future." ABOUT ORMAT TECHNOLOGIES With over five decades of experience, Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a leading geothermal company and the only vertically integrated company engaged in geothermal and recovered energy generation ("REG"), with the objective of becoming a leading global provider of renewable energy. The Company owns, operates, designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and REG power plants primarily based on the Ormat Energy Converter - a power generation unit that converts low-, medium- and high-temperature heat into electricity. With 77 U.S. patents, Ormat's power solutions have been refined and perfected under the most grueling environmental conditions. Ormat has 584 employees in the United States and 762 overseas. Ormat's flexible, modular solutions for geothermal power and REG are ideal for vast range of resource characteristics. The Company has engineered, manufactured and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has installed to utilities and developers worldwide, totaling over 2,900 MW of gross capacity. Ormat's current 917 MW generating portfolio is spread globally in the U.S., Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, and Guadeloupe. Ormat expanded its operations to provide energy storage and energy management solutions, by leveraging its core capabilities and global presence as well as through its Viridity Energy Solutions Inc. subsidiary. ORMAT'S SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT Information provided in this press release may contain statements relating to current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about future events that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally relate to Ormat's plans, objectives and expectations for future operations and are based upon its management's current estimates and projections of future results or trends. Actual future results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" as described in Ormat's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 1, 2019 and from time to time, in Ormat's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q that are filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Ormat Technologies Contact: Smadar Lavi VP Corporate Finance and Head of Investor Relations 775-356-9029 (ext. 65726) slavi@ormat.comInvestor Relations Agency Contact: Rob Fink FNK IR 646-809-4048 rob@fnkir.com PIERRE -- Nearly one-third of House members were not in favor of a bill that would replace statutes with rules when it comes to how the Legislature is run. HB1001 would repeal laws that determine the time and place of legislative sessions, the elective officers of the House and Senate, how to handle tie votes when organizing the House, the appointment of legislative employees and presiding officers, the assignment of interns and the administration of the intern program. Rep. Steven Haugaard R-Sioux Falls, said the time and place of legislative sessions doesnt need to be in statute because its already in the state Constitution. Rather than being placed in law, the other functions would be handled by the rule-making authority of the Legislature. Rep. Jean Hunhoff, R-Yankton, offered an amendment to strike the first five sections of the bill, leaving only the repeals dealing with the internship program. Statutes are longer lasting than rules, Hunhoff said. That is open to change by whoevers on the rules committee, Hunhoff said, speaking in favor of keeping the statutes. They have been guideposts. They have been consistent. Rep. Tim Rounds, R-Pierre, also supported the amendment. These are things a lot of people in this state revere, Rounds said, speaking of the statutes that would be repealed by HB1001. The point of this is to get the House and Senate to run our own affairs, said Haugaard, the primary House sponsor of the bill. The needs of the people are more important than changes that would allow the Legislature to govern itself by rule, according to Rep. Jess Olson, R-Rapid City. We take away some of their opportunity to comment on this, Olson said. It needs the oversight of the people of South Dakota. Haugaard argued that most of the laws being repealed in HB1001 are unconstitutional. You cant pass a law thats going to bind a future Legislature, Haugaard said. The amendment failed on a vote of 22-45. After the amendment vote, Rounds said it was easy to see which way the Legislature was leaning. That didnt stop him from asking his colleagues to defeat the bill. We need a higher bar than just a dozen people sitting around a table, Rounds said, referring to the Legislatures Executive Committee which starts the rule-making process. Haugaard asked representatives to vote for the bill and allow the Legislature to run its own business. The bill passed on a vote of 42-26. It now goes to the Senate. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 28.01.2020 LISTEN The Communications Director for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kakra Essamuah has said the arrest of the partys National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi contravenes the orders of the High Court. According to Mr. Essamuah, the arrest is tantamount to contempt, given that Sammy Gyamfi had earlier filed a suit at the High Court, barring the Police from arresting or interrogating him. Sammy Gyamfi filed a suit at the High Court in which he sought to injunct the Police from interrogating him but despite the tendency of that suit, Police went for him this morning and they granted him bail. It has not been heard of. The action of the Police is contempt. They are aware they deferred with the orders of the court and they are aware of the sort of remedies that they need to seek from the court and this act is intended to overreach the court and that is contempt, he said on Eyewitness News on Monday. Sammy Gyamfi was arrested at the premises of Accra-based UTV at Abeka Junction on Monday, January 27, 2020. He was picked up because of his alleged involvement in forgery and attempts to spread false information in the country. He was later granted bail with two sureties to be reporting once every week at the CID headquarters. ---citinewsroom For many Canadian communities on the fringes or further from this countrys largest urban centres, including many in Manitoba, broadband internet access remains an elusive goal. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion For many Canadian communities on the fringes or further from this countrys largest urban centres, including many in Manitoba, broadband internet access remains an elusive goal. The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, which represents 71 local chambers of commerce in the province, has long advocated the need for improved service in rural areas if we are to grow local economies. Sure, there are government programs to subsidize network upgrades in some areas where theres no broadband or inadequate service to connect to the increasingly digital world. But there are many smaller cities and towns that dont qualify for these taxpayer subsidies. For most communities, often the only way to ensure residents can access decent (let alone super-fast) broadband is to rely on investment by Canadas largest telecom and cable companies those with the ability, willingness and scale to build new communications networks. Flin Flon is a case in point. A northern Manitoba city of 5,000 residents some 700 kilometres from Winnipeg, Flin Flon is the kind of small Canadian community that can be difficult to serve with modern communications services. Yet Bell MTS just announced an investment in the citys infrastructure with all-fibre connections enabling Gigabit internet access. Deploying new network technology in Flin Flon is representative of what can be accomplished by large private-sector network companies with the incentive to invest. Unfortunately for many other smaller communities across Canada, Flin Flon may soon also be an exception. In August 2019, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued a decision that puts investment by Canadas leading communications companies in smaller communities and rural areas in real jeopardy. That CRTC decision, which facilities-based carriers big and small including Bell, Rogers, Eastlink and Cogeco are asking the federal cabinet to overturn, gives internet resellers companies that dont build new networks but instead resell services over other companies networks a massive discount on the wholesale prices they pay. Its significant money an estimated $325 million right up front to start that could otherwise go to capital investments in new broadband infrastructure. While it doesnt look like the CRTC decision will impact Flin Flon one assumes planning was well enough advanced other communities are unlikely to be so lucky. Canadas major cable and telecom operators have either confirmed theyre reducing network investment or indicated theyre reviewing their plans to expand to rural and remote areas. Bell, which just a year ago announced it was boosting its plans for wireless internet in rural areas from 800,000 households to 1.2 million, said it was forced to reduce that target by 200,000 in the wake of the CRTC decision. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Two hundred thousand fewer households with access to high-speed internet is many times the number of homes and businesses in Flin Flon and other much smaller Manitoba communities combined. The CRTCs national broadband speed targets are 50 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads and 10 Mbps up for uploads. While 99 per cent of Canadians in larger cities have access to those speeds or faster, six out of every 10 rural homes do not. Taxpayer subsidies may help close some of that gap. Supporting a short-sighted regulatory decision that transfers capital from companies willing and able to invest in building networks in smaller communities to those that wont will only make it worse. Better broadband for all Canadians, including those in smaller towns and rural communities, is achievable. But only if the government encourages private-sector investment wherever and whenever possible recognizing that the companies that can and will deliver better broadband are not the same as those the CRTC supported in its wholesale rate decision last August. Theres no doubt Flin Flon residents welcome the better connections that are rolling out in their community. But its also clear that many Canadians in rural areas in Manitoba and across the country are going to continue feeling left behind if the federal cabinet allows a CRTC to maintain a decision that puts the brakes on private sector broadband investment. Chuck Davidson is president and CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 21:26:56|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KAMPALA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Ugandan military helicopter on Tuesday crashed in the central Ugandan district of Gomba, killing two crew members, the military said here. Military spokesperson Brig. Richard Karemire said that the Uganda Peoples Defense Airforce Jet Ranger was on a training mission. "It had two crew members. Sadly, no one has survived. Investigation into the cause has started," Karemire said. Deo Akiki, the deputy military spokesperson told Xinhua by telephone that the crew included a pilot trainer and cadet trainee. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that she is ready for talks with Prime Minister Modi but first the PM will have to withdraw the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). "It is good that the Prime Minister is ready for talks but first take back the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). They did not call an all-party meet before taking a decision on Kashmir and CAA. NRC, NPR, and CAA these three are bad for the country. We are ready for talks but first withdraw NRC," said the chief minister. Mamata Banerjee was speaking at an event organised to protest against the CAA, through paintings. Banerjee further added she will not accept the Register of Citizens (NRC), Population Register (NPR) and CAA. "We want a united India, we want united Bengal. We are not accepting CAA, NRC and NPR," she said. The West Bengal Assembly on Monday passed a resolution against the CAA which was moved by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government. After Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan, West Bengal is the fourth state to pass a resolution against the CAA. The state assembly had on September 6 last year, passed a resolution against the NRC. Protests have been going on in different parts of the country against the CAA which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh if they entered India on or before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) OAKLAND (BCN) A man is in stable condition at a hospital after he was shot in East Oakland on Sunday evening, police said. The shooting was reported in the 1000 block of 70th Avenue, several blocks from the Oakland Coliseum, at about 7:50 p.m. Sunday, according to police. Officers who responded to the scene found a man suffering from a gunshot wound and he was transported to the hospital. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. (Newser) There's another big story out that mentions Wuhanjust one not related to the coronavirus. The chair of Harvard's chemistry department was on Tuesday charged with making false statements to the Department of Defense regarding his role in China's Thousand Talents Plan. Bloomberg explains that it and other government-run plans bestow funding on experts who are willing to work part-time in China. NBC News cites charging documents that say Charles Lieber was paid $50,000 a month in salary and got $158,000 to cover living expenses each year by the Wuhan University of Technology, as well as more than $1.5 million to set up a lab and do research there. But a 2018 US government report called such programs a way "to facilitate the legal and illicit transfer of US technology, intellectual property and know-how to China. story continues below "This is not an accident or a coincidence," said US Attorney Andrew Lelling. "This is a small sample of China's ongoing campaign to siphon off American know-how and technology for China's gain." Prosecutors allege that in lying to Harvard, Harvard then unknowingly lied to the National Institutes of Health in connection with grants that required such foreign ties to be disclosed. The 60-year-old was one of three people charged Tuesday, and the New York Times notes that his arrest "stands out among the accused scientists, because he is neither Chinese nor of Chinese descent." Harvard's take: "The charges brought by the US government against Professor Lieber are extremely serious. ... [He] has been placed on indefinite administrative leave." (Read more Harvard stories.) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranked first in the Arab world and 21st globally on the Global Labour Resilience Index 2020, which was issued in Davos, Switzerland during a special session held on the sidelines of the 50th summit meeting of the World Economic Forum in the presence of Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy, and officials and economic leaders from more than 30 countries. Following the release of the report, the UAE has officially climbed 12 places on the indexs overall rating over the past five years, up from 33 in 2015, and it is the only GCC country to rank among the top 30 countries the year. Bahrain is the nearest Gulf nation to the UAE and ranked 15 places below in 36th for the year. The Global Labor Resilience Index measures the level of future unemployment risks that countries face based on geographical disparities, structural shifts, policy and technology changes and their impact on the labor market; with the report for the current year ranking 145 countries and economies on the flexibility of their labor markets in light of the technological transformation. The index was led by Whiteshield Partners, a London-based consultancy firm that specialises in global public policy and strategy, in cooperation with the Oxford University Said Business School, ManpowerGroup, and the UK Institute for the Future of Work. During the launching session of the index on the sidelines of the Davos 2020 meetings, Al Mansoori said that the UAE has followed a development path based on the vision and directions of the nations wise leadership. He explained the country has achieved continuous development in economic policies and business sector strategies, increased the resilience of the labor market and raised its ability to adapt to economic and social changes and global transformations as a result of technological and digital revolution over the past ten years, and occupied a leading position at the regional level in this vital path that charts the future economies of the next stage. Al Mansoori added: The UAEs achievements on the Global Labour Resilience Index 2020 is a testament to the national economy as it has made great strides in enhancing its economic potential in the digital age and improving its ability to confront the widespread economic changes at international level. This includes the ability to keep pace with progress in economic complexity, and adopting a knowledge economy model that focuses on the know-how needed to produce goods and services, diversify exports, increase the diversification of the economic base and reduce dependence on oil. Al Mansoori highlighted that the Index carries great importance as it provides an invaluable tool for measuring the readiness of labor markets for the fluctuations that the world is currently experiencing or will face in the future whether due to technological transformations, economic impacts of geopolitical changes, trade disputes or economic retreats. He emphasised that the UAEs respective rankings on the index are the result of the efforts made by the country to improve its labor market capacity to adapt and respond to new economic trends; pointing out that the state has focused on stimulating innovation and creativity, supporting research and development activities, upgrading the intellectual property system, improving the business and investment environment, and enhancing its position and reputation as a global destination for talents, experiences and people with distinguished skills. He also stressed that the UAEs Government is going ahead with its development policies that stimulate further adoption of technology solutions in relation to information and communication. The Global Labour Resilience Index is divided into two main axes, each of which includes several sub-indicators. The first is the axis of structures and includes indicators related to demographics, economic development, capabilities, economic diversification and inequality. The second axis, which is the policy axis, includes indicators related to education, skills, employment, innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and statistics. Switzerland ranked first globally on the index for this year, followed by Singapore in second and the United States in third. Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany finished fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh respectively; while Finland ranked eighth, and the United Kingdom and Belgium completed the top 10 ranked countries. Guy Ryder, Director General, International Labour Organisation (ILO), said: The Global Labor Market Resilience Index highlights the importance of having appropriate policies to improve resilience. Many countries have improved their response to these policies in recent years through employment, skills development, social protection and other measures. He also pointed out that the global unemployment rate has decreased from 5.2 per cent to 4.9 per cent. He said the biggest task moving forward is to create an influx of jobs that provide favourable opportunities and increase productivity to ensure workers do not hinder their professional development in low-quality jobs; adding this will require a comprehensive approach to government and the active participation of labor market representatives and other stakeholders. Fadi Farra, Co-Founder and Partner at Whiteshield Partners who co-leads the Global Labour Resilience Index report, said: We need a new approach at the local level to engage citizens, businesses and policy makers in order to sustain flexibility throughout the labor market. According to the report, Nepal, Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt were among the five topmost countries that have a gap in labor market resilience, emphasising the difference between long-term structural characteristics, short-term policies, and the great potential of each to enhance the resiliency of its labor markets in order to enable targeted and relevant policies and reforms, economic diversification, labor policies, innovation and entrepreneurship.-- Tradearabia News Service A judge has declined to set bail for LaJeromeny Brown, the man charged with killing Huntsville policeman Billy Fred Clady III. Late Monday, just hours after hearing testimony in Browns capital murder case, Madison County District Judge Patrick Tuten denied the mans request for bail. Based upon the evidence presented at the preliminary hearing, the nature and potential punishment of the offense charged if convicted, as well as the criminal history of the defendant and the video evidence reviewed by the Court, the defendants Motion to Set Bond is hereby DENIED, Tuten wrote in an order. [Read the order here or at the bottom of this story.] Brown will remain in the Madison County jail, where hes been held without bail since Dec. 6. Prosecutors at a court hearing on Monday announced they will seek the death penalty if Brown is convicted. The only other punishment for capital murder in Alabama is life in prison without the possibility of parole. Brown is accused of killing Clardy, a drug task force agent, during a drug stakeout at a home on Levert Street Northeast on Dec. 6. At Mondays hearing, Huntsville police Investigator Chris Hines testified that lawmen were at the home for a drug buy operation, in which Brown was to deliver marijuana. Brown opened the front door, and Clardy emerged, WHNT News 19 reported, citing Hines testimony. No words were spoken before Brown fired eight shots from a modified, fully-automatic 9mm Glock pistol, Hines told the judge. Clardy, who was wearing a police vest, suffered two gunshot wounds and later died at Huntsville Hospital. Police said Brown ran from the scene but was captured nearby. Hines testified that the authorities found about 100 pounds of marijuana in Browns truck and bags that he brought to the scene. After hearing the testimony on Monday, Judge Tuten ruled prosecutors have enough evidence probable cause to take the case to a grand jury for consideration of an indictment. An indictment, which formally charges a defendant with a crime, is issued when grand jurors determine prosecutors have enough evidence to take a case to trial. Its unclear when the case will be presented to a grand jury. 6 Slain Huntsville police officer Billy Fred Clardy III Read more: Mother of slaying suspect: My heart goes out to the officers family Stolen guns used to kill 5 Alabama police officers in 2019 Community gathers to honor slain Huntsville police officer Kate Middleton revealed she and Prince William have told their children about the Holocaust at the Holocaust Memorial Day service in London on Monday. The royal mom, 38, was talking to Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich at the reception, which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, after the deeply moving ceremony. We were talking to the children about it earlier today, Kate told Tribich, who inquired about the royals family. RELATED: Kate Middleton and Prince William Arrive for Poignant Holocaust Memorial Day Service in London But we have to be, you know, for a 6-year-old the interpretation, the royal added, suggesting she had to choose her words carefully to explain the mass murder of six million Jews by the Nazis to Prince George, the oldest of their three children. The royal couple are also parents to Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince Louis, 20 months. Prince George and Princess Charlotte on Dec. 25 | Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty At the service, William and Kate met 12 survivors of genocide, including those persecuted by the Nazis and others from Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia and Darfur. The royal couple also joined survivors in the lighting of six candles on stage, which represent the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. Kate Middleton | Chris Jackson/Getty RELATED: Kate Middleton Got Behind the Camera to Take Photos of Holocaust Survivors: See the Striking Images Among the survivors on stage was Yvonne Bernstein, 82, who was one of those featured in striking portraits recently taken by Kate. After six candles were lit, William and a visibly moved Kate lit their own candle before turning and solemnly leaving the stage to rejoin the congregation floor and to start a chain of candle lighting. It was so emotional, so many moving stories, Kate told a group of people at the reception, including Tribich, who was one of the people who spoke on stage to recount her survival story at Bergen-Belsen. Kate Middleton (right) speaking with survivor Mala Tribich | Chris Jackson/Getty Chris Jackson/Getty RELATED: Prince Charles Delivers Powerful Speech at Israels Holocaust Memorial: All Humanity Must Learn Story continues You were fantastic, the mother of three continued, as she put a hand on Tribichs arm before asking how she recites her story to schoolchildren. Do your experiences resonate with them? Do they feel they can do something for their generation? The royal added, So many families are totally torn apart by the trauma and how that plays out over the generations. Cant get enough of PEOPLEs Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! Speaking with reporters later, Tribich, 89, explained how her exchange with Kate unfolded. I said I speak about it in schools and she was asking what impact it has. It brings them closer to the history, Tribich said. I told her I follow her and her lovely children in the news and she said I have told the children. They have made them aware of it (the Holocaust). I suppose she tells it in the measure that its applicable to that age. Chris Jackson/Getty When William and Kate arrived at the poignant ceremony, the two were greeted by Olivia Marks-Woldman, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Sir Ben Helfgott, honorary president and a prominent Holocaust survivor. William told them, We were talking this morning about how you carry on this message for future generations. We will do our best. Williams father, Prince Charles, delivered a powerful speech at Yad Vashem, Israels Holocaust Memorial, on Thursday, while Charles wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall represented Queen Elizabeth at the service being held at Auschwitz on Monday. New Jerseys urban centers especially ones closer to New York City kept the state growing in the past few years. Hudson, Bergen and Middlesex had the most people move into their towns, according to Census data. These counties have seen an exponential increase in residential construction that could accommodate the shift back toward the states urban core. Harrison in Hudson County issued over 1,000 permits for new home construction in 2017. From 2009 to 2011 at the height of the housing crisis the same town issued only 26 permits. In a stark contrast, Camden, Sussex and Atlantic counties lost the most people. The shrinking counties, immensely popular in the 1980s and 1990s, had one thing in common they all existed far away from New York City and surrounding areas. This is a reversal of how these regions grew from 1950 to 2000, when suburban areas experienced massive growth and urban counties languished. To make matters worse, Shore towns are still struggling to bounce back from the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Ocean County has seen some increase, but mostly due to the Lakewood boom. Population in towns without a lot of inland space have either declined or remained at the same count. Atlantic Citys casino closings and decreased revenue have not been attractive for property owners, either. These shifts are often symptomatic of lifestyle changes brought about by American millennials, who dominate the workforce today. Younger folks are popularizing urbanized communities that have walkable town centers and access to mass transit, pushing away from suburbia, Census data shows. Theyre also more open to urban apartment living, and pushing off marriage and children for longer than the generation before them. Overall, the states population grew by 186,943, from 8,721,577 in 2010 to 8,908,520 in 2018. These 10 towns gained the most people: 10. Wood-Ridge, Bergen County Population 2010: 7,572 Population 2018: 8,511 Percent change: 12.40% 9. Edgewater, Bergen County Population 2010: 10,766 Population 2018: 12,184 Percent change: 13.17% 8. Weehawken, Hudson County Population 2010: 12,605 Population 2018: 14,327 Percent change: 13.66% 7. Raritan, Somerset County Population 2010: 6,814 Population 2018: 7,797 Percent change: 14.43% 6. Lakewood, Ocean County Population 2010: 87,681 Population 2018: 100,763 Percent change: 14.92% 5. East Greenwich, Gloucester County Population 2010: 8,909 Population 2018: 10,396 Percent change: 16.69% 4. Monroe, Middlesex County Population 2010: 37,171 Population 2018: 43,828 Percent change: 17.91% 3. Harrison, Hudson County Population 2010: 13,569 Population 2018: 16,180 Percent change: 19.24% 2. Secaucus, Hudson County Population 2010: 16,008 Population 2018: 19,390 Percent change: 21.13% 1. Woolwich, Gloucester County Population 2010: 8,985 Population 2018: 12,381 Percent change: 37.80% These towns lost the most people: 10. Lebanon Township, Hunterdon County Population 2010: 6,514 Population 2018: 6,132 Percent change: -5.86% 9. Hopatcong, Sussex County Population 2010: 15,440 Population 2018: 14,362 Percent change: -6.98% 8. Union, Hunterdon County Population 2010: 6,031 Population 2018: 5,599 Percent change: -7.16% 7. Vernon, Sussex County Population 2010: 24,376 Population 2018: 22,369 Percent change: -8.23% 6. Ventnor City, Atlantic County Population 2010: 11,151 Population 2018: 10,232 Percent change: -8.24% 5. New Hanover, Burlington County Population 2010: 8,062 Population 2018: 7,366 Percent change: -8.63% 4. Ocean City, Cape May County Population 2010: 12,289 Population 2018: 11,202 Percent change: -8.85% 3. Margate, Atlantic County Population 2010: 6,763 Population 2018: 6,076 Percent change: -10.16% 2. Brigantine, Atlantic County Population 2010: 10,115 Population 2018: 8,966 Percent change: -11.36% 1. Union Beach, Monmouth County Population 2010: 6,324 Population 2018: 5,549 Percent change: -12.25% About the data: The data comes from population totals from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey. Towns with population less than 5,000 were eliminated from the analysis as they tend to have a higher margin of error and can skew the results. We removed Princeton from our list since the current-day town used to be two towns in 2010. Disha Raychaudhuri may be reached at disha@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Disha_RC. When the federal government announced it would limit green cards to immigrants who seem financially stable, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey predicted the public charge rule could have a ripple effect that deters more than 100,000 people from using benefits theyd still be entitled to despite the ruling. The Bay State will find out how large that ripple effect will be. The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-4 to stay the preliminary injunction of the governments public charge program, meaning the government can move forward with its rule while the case moves forward before the high court. This is a devastating blow to working-class immigrants, said Eva Millona, executive director of MIRA. The public charge rule is an affront to the American Dream, labeling people as undesirable if they are not wealthy, healthy and educated on arrival." Millona said the worst part is that the rule "has made many immigrant parents afraid of accessing programs that their children are entitled to, and that make our communities stronger and healthier. Sarah Sherman-Stokes, associate director of the Boston University School of Laws Immigrants Rights & Human Trafficking program, urged people who may be affected by the public charge rule to consult immigration attorneys before shying away from a public benefit because they might not know they arent affected by the policy change. we need the courts, but we can't rely on them for everything. #vote for change, #organize for change. and also, if you are an #immigrant, *please* speak to an #immigration lawyer before declining a benefit. this rule is not applicable to #refugees or #asylees, among some others https://t.co/mpar7TcmQI Sarah Sherman-Stokes (@sshermanstokes) January 27, 2020 The rule, which was first revealed in August, affects certain green card applicants who rely on benefits such as food stamps, housing vouchers and most forms of Medicaid. It expands who qualifies as a likely public charge or a foreigner who would likely need government assistance, negatively affecting green card applicants who have ever used food stamps, housing assistance and certain forms of Medicaid. An applicants age, income bracket and medical history are also factors. See who is affected in the infographic below. The then-acting director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, made national headlines when he revised the famous poem that accompanies the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island. He said, Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge. Here's acting USCIS director Ken Cuccinelli saying on NPR this morning that the Statue of Liberty plaque should be changed to read, "give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet, and who will not become a public charge." pic.twitter.com/q8OoNn3k6r Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2019 Cuccinelli has since been appointed Secretary of Homeland Security. The rule also allows USCIS to deny someone seeking to enter the country on a green card or a nonimmigrant visa if the individual has received or is likely to receive certain public benefits for more than a year. The implementation of the rule stands to prevent immigrants with legal status from bringing their family members as green card holders in certain cases, advocates say. Some forms of assistance remain unfazed by the rule: The Women, Children and Infants program, state disability insurance, the Childrens Health Insurance Program and Medicaid for pregnant women and those under age 21 are not included in the ruling. It is unclear how many immigrants or foreigners seeking to come to Massachusetts as green card holders would be affected by this ruling. Immigration advocates, however, said the rule would largely hurt a larger segment of the foreign-born population. They argued a public charge rule would create confusion and have a chilling effect that would drive families away from benefits, even those to which theyre still entitled under the rule. Massachusetts is home to roughly 500,000 non-citizens, which could include immigrants directly affected by the rule taking effect and others who might mistakenly shy away even though they or the benefits they use may not be affected. The state Attorney Generals Office estimated that the rules chilling effect could drive away between 39,600 and 92,400 MassHealth members, including up to 18,200 children, and up to 60,000 ConnectorCare enrollees. If the ripple effect is as widespread as anticipated, thousands of families in Massachusetts could forego up to $122 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or food stamps, which is supposed to be unaffected by the public charge rule. That figure is nearly 10% of the states SNAP program. The rule was set to take effect Oct. 15, but several states and immigration advocates sued, which led to federal court rulings temporarily blocking the rule. Three federal judges in different districts blocked the rule last year after it was challenged in multiple lawsuits. Massachusetts was one of 13 states that sued the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, where U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson issued a nationwide injunction. After a New York judge issued a nationwide injunction in the fall, Solicitor General Noel Francisco appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court. Francisco asked the justices to allow the rule to take effect while its legality is reviewed in court. The Supreme Court ruled along ideological lines. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas both criticized the trend of nationwide injunctions being issued by federal judges at the district court level. Rather than spending their time methodically developing arguments and evidence in cases limited to the parties at hand, both sides have been forced to rush from one preliminary injunction hearing to another, leaping from one emergency stay application to the next, each with potentially nationwide stakes, and all based on expedited briefing and little opportunity for the adversarial testing of evidence, according Gorsuch and Thomas. Cuccinelli said he was happy to see the Supreme Court respond to the nationwide injunctions. It is very clear the U.S. Supreme Court is fed up with these national injunctions by judges who are trying to impose their policy preferences instead of enforcing the law and we see this again with the Supreme Court stepping in in the way they have here and we very much appreciate it," Cuccinelli said, according to CNN. Realty major DLF Ltd on Tuesday said the company has revamped its shopping mall at Saket in the national capital with an investment of over Rs 100 crore and the retail complex will be fully functional by March. The company has done the soft launch of this shopping complex 'DLF Avenue' on Monday, which has a leasable area of 5.2 lakh sq ft. "We had shut our DLF Saket mall in February last year. We have invested over Rs 100 crore on revamping it," DLF Shopping Malls Executive Director Pushpa Bector told PTI. There are total 105 brands of which 95 are new, she said adding that the retail complex would help generate direct and indirect employment opportunities of over 1,500 people. Bector said the company has increased the space for food and beverages (F&B) to 28 per cent from 12 per cent earlier. The mall also houses 5-screen multiplex by Cinepolis and co-working facility. "The focus is on integrated experience of shopping, dining and culture making it a destination to be in for millennials and the discerning South Delhi consumers," she added. Bector said the mall is bringing together the best of Indian and international fashion and apparel brands across fast fashion, athleisure and ethnic fusion. The mall has brands like Under Armour, Go Sports, Superkicks, Nykaa Luxe, Forever 21, Uniqlo and Marks & Spencer among others. The company expects a footfall of 12 lakh per month. "We are positive that DLF Avenue will further take consumer retail experience several notches higher. At DLF we continuously explore opportunities to enhance the shopping experiences," DLF Managing Director (Rental Business) Sriram Khattar said. This mall comes under DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) which is a joint venture between DLF Ltd and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC. DLF has nearly 67 per cent stake in the DCCDL while rest is being held by the GIC. DLF has a rental portfolio of over 36 million sq ft of which 32 million sq ft is office and rest retail and it earns over Rs 3,000 crore annually through rent. DLF Mall of India in Noida, Uttar Pradesh is biggest retail asset with around 2 million sq ft of leasable area. As part of its strategy to focus on commercial real estate, DLF last week announced an investment of Rs 5,000 crore to develop large commercial project largely office in Chennai as part of its strategy to expand portfolio of rent yielding properties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) TUESDAY MORNING UPDATE: Thousands of people are in line. There was cheering, drivers honking their horns, red vuvuzelas blowing out loud, strong tones into the chilly January air, which was filled with the scent of sausage and peppers cooking on a grill. It wasnt exactly a tailgate party, but the atmosphere outside the Wildwood Convention Center 24 hours before President Donald Trumps arrival was pretty close to it. Hundreds of people stood in line or sat in their folding chairs outside Fox Park some as early as 2 p.m. Sunday waiting for the event site outside the convention center to open up so they could officially get in line to guarantee their spot inside on Tuesday for Trump's "Keep America Great Rally." Dana Capcino and her husband Vince, of North East Philadelphia, wait in line for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally," Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) As people sat in chairs, huddled inside tents, and stood while sipping coffee, tea, and other beverages to keep them warm, they conversed among each other about the Presidents policies and celebrating the event overall. Across the street from Fox Park, Rocky Granata had an RV decked out in Trump buttons, flags, and other pictures depicting Trump as movie characters such as Rocky. Playing from the speakers into the Wildwood streets were speeches Trump had given at various points of his presidency. Granata, who lives in Edison, said Tuesdays rally will be the 50th one he has attended. It is good to have the rally in the state of New Jersey, Granata said. We are going to turn it red. A lot of these Democrats hate what is happening. As we have been seeing for the past year and a half, more and more people are switching over to the Republican said. Don't Edit A man dressed as President Donald Trump drives past people in line as they wait for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally," Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Donning two Trump 2020 signs, Karen Swann of Cape May who had been outside since 12:30 p.m Monday said it shouldnt matter which side you support. This is historic, Swann said. Even if you do not support Trump, this is a historical event. But I am a Trump fan, so this is awesome. I appreciate everything he has done for us. Another person from the area, Arthur Sparks of North Cape May, was in line since 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Sparks said he was there to support Trump and Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd Congressional District) who Trump is coming to endorse and that the two are putting the country on a better path. Sparks also wanted to follow in what has become an unofficial family tradition. I thought I could not miss this because my parents both met Reagan and Clinton, Sparks said. I wanted to go along with the crowd and come here and meet Donald Trump. Don't Edit Rick Dunston, of Point Pleasant, grills while he waits in line for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally," Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) At approximately 4:30, the Wildwood Police led the people in a line through Fox Park and to the parking lot just outside the convention center. The assembled crowd began to carry their chairs and vittles to their new waiting place, a step closer to being one of the 7,500 people who will be admitted into the rally. The chairs are permitted in the line leading up to the convention center but wont be permitted inside the venue. Parked outside along the perimeter of the lines to get in were several food trucks. One of the trucks was being run by Lucky Bones, a Cape May eatery. Standing outside of the truck, Lucky Bones Erik Delinski and David Craig were looking at the nearly 1,000 people who were in line. The two had short notice to get everything together, being called on Thursday about the event, meeting with officials on Friday, and setting up shop around noon Sunday. We are here to help support the community, Delinski said. There are a lot of people coming in from everywhere. They need to eat. They need hot drinks and people supporting them. I think it was only best that we came out and offered our assistance in that. Its a great event for Cape May County and small businesses. This is a very sleepy town come January. To be able to get this kind of revenue generated before the island even opens back up is a great thing. Don't Edit Trump supporters wait for instructions as the enter the event area in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" is scheduled for Tuesday night. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Lucky Bones, with support from fellow businesses The Original Hotspot, Washington Inn, and the Cape May Winery, are banding together to help each other out. According to Craig, The Original Hotspot and Lucky Bones are donating a portion of the proceeds to Lower Cape May Regional High School and Wildwood Catholic because the schools are part of the community. It is a great boost for the area economically, Craig said. We really need a little bump in January, and it is great to have. Its going to be like a Fourth of July Weekend in January. Doors for the convention center will open at 3 p.m. and the event is expected to start inside at 7 p.m. Anyone who isnt able to get inside will be able to view it outside on screens set up in the event area. Van Drew has said 100,000 tickets for the event have been requested, however that figure could not be verified as the campaign does not disclose those numbers. Don't Edit The Wildwoods prepare for the arrive of President Donald Trump and his "Keep America Great Rally," Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit Danielle Ridorfino, of Trenton, watches people walk by as she waits in the event area of the Wildwoods Convention Center, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Trump supporters walk to the event area in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" is scheduled for Tuesday night. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit The Wildwoods prepare for the arrive of President Donald Trump and his "Keep America Great Rally," Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Shelia Albanese, of Wilmington, Delaware, stays warm inside the Oceanic Hotel bar before President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally," Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Karen Swan, of Cape May, holds up signs as she waits in line for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally," Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit The beginning of the line in the event area of the Wildwoods Convention Center, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Trump supporters cheer as a video truck drives by the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit The Wildwoods prepare for the arrive of President Donald Trump and his aKeep America Great Rally," Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Trump supporters enter the event area in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit The Wildwoods prepare for the arrive of President Donald Trump and his "Keep America Great Rally," Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit The Original Hot Spot prepares food in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" is scheduled for Tuesday night. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit The Wildwoods prepare for the arrive of President Donald Trump and his "Keep America Great Rally," Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Trump supporters walk to the event area in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" is scheduled for Tuesday night. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Trump supporters walk to the event area in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" is scheduled for Tuesday night. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Trump supporters walk to the event area in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" is scheduled for Tuesday night. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit Eric Decibus, of Stockton, greets Trump supporters dressed as Supertrump, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" is scheduled for Tuesday night. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Prince Andrew's ex-girlfriend Koo Stark is locked in a High Court battle with her former partner after bringing a claim against him in a case which is going to trial. The case in London involves American actress Miss Stark, 63, who dated the Duke of York in the 1980s, and her ex-partner Warren Walker. Today, Judge David Halpern asked journalists and members of the public to leave a courtroom in the Rolls Building shortly after the trial began. Koo Stark (left) has brought a claim against her former partner Warren Walker (right). Both are pictured today outside the High Court, where they attended a hearing at the Rolls Building Koo Stark is pictured outside the Rolls Building at the Royal Courts of Justice in London today The building hears disputes relating to business and money. The trial had been listed as taking place in public and the hearing began in open court. Judge Halpern decided to oversee the trial in private after an application from a lawyer representing Miss Stark. Miss Stark and Mr Walker were both at court. The judge said evidence which had emerged at earlier private hearings in the Family Division, some of which were centred on a child, would need to be aired at the trial. He said because of that he would oversee the trial in private. The judge said the fact that a trial was taking place could be reported and the parties involved named. A lawyer representing Mr Walker told the judge that his client was 'neutral' as to whether the trial should be in public or private. Prince Andrew and Koo Stark, who dated in the 1980s, at Spencer House in London in 1999 Prince Andrew chats to his ex Koo Stark at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1998 Judge Halpern said he would produce a public ruling. More than six years ago, Miss Stark was accused of stealing a 40,000 oil painting from Mr Walker. She returned the work by Anthonie van Borssom, which depicts a moonlit coastal landscape, before any trial was held - and she was cleared of theft. A judge at Isleworth Crown Court was told that prosecution and defence lawyers had reached an agreement under which Miss Stark would return the painting. Miss Stark dated Prince Andrew between 1982 and 1983. She married Tim Jefferies the following year, but they divorced in 1990, and she then met Walker in 1994. In 1997 she gave birth to their daughter Tatiana, whose godfather is Prince Andrew. Miss Stark was previously said to have been suing Walker for 200,000. gmatter0913 wrote: During the recent economic downturn, banks contributed to the decline by loaning less money. Prior to the downturn, regulatory standards for making bank loans were tightened. Clearly, therefore, banks will lend more money if those standards are relaxed. The argument assumes that... A. The downturn did not cause a significant decrease in the total amount of money on deposit with banks, which is the source of funds for banks to lend. B. The imposition of the tighter regulatory standards was not a cause of the economic downturn. C. The reason for tightening the regulatory standards was not arbitrary. D. No economic downturn is accompanied by a significant decrease in the amount of money loaned out by banks to individual borrowers and to businesses. E. No relaxation of standards for bank loans would compensate for the effects of the downturn defender assumption ANALYZE THE STIMULUS: The form of this question is: Two important things: main reason TIGHTEN REGULATIONS NOT economic downturn The PowerScore Critical Reasoning Bible ANALYZE EACH ANSWER: Correct. Wrong. VERY TEMPTING. economic downturn is NOT a cause of loan less money tighten regulations --> downturn --> bank lend less money. If tighten regulations --> NOT lead to downturn --> banks will NOT lend less money. For example Wrong. Wrong. TEMPTING Wrong. Hi folksThis is a LSAT critical reasoning question, which is about .Fact: Before downturn, standards for making bank loans were tighten, --> loaning less money during the downturn.Conclusion: if those standards are relaxed, banks will lend more money(1) Thethat makes banks lend less money is ,(2) The author assumes there is only one factor that make banks lend less money. That is regulatory standards. That also means there is NO OTHER reasons make banks loan less money. This is the core idea of defender assumption, which is introduced inA. The downturn did not cause a significant decrease in the total amount of money on deposit with banks, which is the source of funds for banks to lend.This is exactly a defender assumption. A says that the downturn did NOT cause a decrease in the total amount of deposit available for lending <== That could be other reason makes banks loan less money. A defends the conclusion by eliminating this probability. Thus, A is correct.B. The imposition of the tighter regulatory standards was not a cause of the economic downturn.KEY is tighter regulations ==> Loan less money. Keep in mind,. If you choose B, the logic will be:Thus, you automatically insist that only tighten regulations that lead to downturn make banks lend less money. But we're talking "tighten regulations" in GENERAL., in other periods (does not matter downturn or not downturn), in which regulations are tighten, banks face a lot rules, thus they cannot lend more money. Hence, B is not the assumption of the conclusion less regulations, banks lend more money.C. The reason for tightening the regulatory standards was not arbitrary.Out of scope. We just talk about the relationship between tighter regulations and loan less money. Arbitrary or non-arbitrary do not help to buttress the conclusion: less tighten regulations, bank can lend more money. If youre not sure, let negate C:The reason for tightening the regulatory standards WAS arbitrary. Does it help to support the conclusion above? Not at all.D. No economic downturn is accompanied by a significant decrease in the amount of money loaned out by banks to individual borrowers and to businesses.because of the wording. However, its wrong. Keep in mind, economic downturn is NOT a cause of loan less money. If you vote for D, you automatically insist that economic downturn is the main reason to make banks lend less money. But, the main reason is tighten regulations. It doesnt matter which period economic downturn or not downturn. (see example in B).E. No relaxation of standards for bank loans would compensate for the effects of the downturnSame as D. If you vote for E, you automatically insist that regualtions affect economic downturn, which would be the main reason to make banks lend less money. But, the main reason to make banks lend less money is tighten regulations. It doesnt matter which period economic downturn or not downturn. (see example in B).Hope it helps.PS: OA is A. Please see link below: General Electrics (GE) stock is capping off a 30% one-year climb as the industrial giant prepares to report earnings Wednesday morning. But the biggest GE bear on the Street says the good times wont last, in part because the return of the Boeing 737 Max could be bad news for the industrials giant. On the surface, its a head-scratcher. Economists predict the grounding of the Boeing plane in the wake of crashes and a safety review could shave 0.5% from GDP. GE produces all of the engines for the jet in cooperation with Safran of France. So in theory, the return of the 737 Max to production would benefit GE. Stephen Tusa, managing director at JPMorgan, believes that GE sells the 737 Max engines at a loss. The better profit, he explains, is in spare parts. You have a dynamic where if they are not delivering Maxes, [GE is] actually seeing a higher amount of EBIT margin dollars because they're not delivering loss-leading engines, he said in an interview with Yahoo Finances On the Move. What we believe GE has done over the last year, is that they've turned around and repurposed some of that capacity to sell into the spare engine market, and that when you sell a spare its a lot more profitable. So actually in the near term, the Max coming back in our view will be net negative for them. Tusa has had an underweight rating on GE since May 2016, with a brief reprieve Dec. 2018-March 2019, which means his bearish stance predates the 737 Max grounding. Visitors watch General Electric's turbo fan "the GEnx engine, powering Boeing 787 Dremliner, during the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Wednesday June 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) His thesis goes well beyond GEs exposure to the plane, although aviation is the companys largest source of revenue. Tusa estimates that GE generated $1.5 billion of free cash flow in 2019 far from enough to justify his peers price targets for the stock, he said. That figure would need to climb to more like $6 billion to $7 billion by 2021. Right now the average price target is $11.54, according to a Bloomberg survey. Tusas is $5. Morgan Stanley analyst Joshua Pokrzywinski just upgraded GE on Thursday, citing a budding turnaround. Hes not alone. According to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, there are 11 buys, 10 holds and 4 sells. Story continues Analysts predict the company earned 17 cents a share last quarter, as revenue dropped 22% to $25.29 billion. Julie Hyman is the co-anchor of On the Move on Yahoo Finance. Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit. Catch the sunset over a horizon of grass on the Uruguayan pampas, ride horses alongside gauchos working their herds, bed down in a rustic master bedroom, and feast on hearty meals and stories from a family that has lived off their land since the 1850s. This is not your father's dude ranch: It's a gaucho getaway deep in South America. Travelers familiar with Uruguay know it as a quick ferry ride away from Buenos Aires: a place to revel at the seaside stretches of Punta del Este or relax in the more tranquilo vibe of Jose Ignacio. But another sea awaits you in Uruguay's vast interior: rolling waves of grassland and forest where locals welcome guests to stay at their ancestral ranches, known as estancias. Though Uruguayan estancia owners have been hosting paying guests for only about 25 years, the service is a natural extension of a longtime tradition. As Marina Cantera of Estancia Los Platanos puts it, "Family and friends visit on the weekends for asados and holidays anyway, so we already had much of what we needed for other guests." And while Argentinian estancias have been in the dude ranching business a few decades longer, in Uruguay, the feeling is closer to a home stay, "When you come here, you become part of our family," she says. With only three guest rooms available at Estancia Los Platanos, it's a pretty small family, so we got plenty of personal attention when we visited. Breakfast was waiting for us each morning at our chosen hour of 8am. As we rambled into the dining room, we were greeted by a spread of hot, homemade scones served with butter, jam, and cream cheese; soft scrambled eggs straight from the frying pan; chewy, bite-sized balls of Brazilian-style pan de queso made with manioc flour; blueberry muffins stacked neatly in a glass dome next to a bowl of fresh apples, pears, peaches, and oranges; a carafe of strong coffee with warmed milk on the side; and a fresh pitcher of orange juice. Following breakfast in the dining roomthe only WiFi-equipped spot in the small compoundwe relaxed in the shade of a century-old ombu tree that reached a height of about 35 feet and sported a leafy canopy of a similar diameter. It didn't take long for Tuco, the sheep that thinks he's a dog, to wander over and butt his wooly head into our legs. He accepted a few scratches before collapsing beneath the wooden table, one front leg stretched out like a pup's, the other tucked beneath like a sheep's. Tuco the sheep is among the family members at Estancia Los Platanos. (Renee Alexander) After lounging long enough to let breakfast settle, we wandered into the kitchen for walking directions to the swimming hole. Following Marina's instructions, we strolled across a vast field of low green grass punctuated with thigh-high thistle stalks and plentiful piles of cow manure. We paused periodically to take snapshots of pint-sized armadillos called mulitas, which scurry through the brush during the daytime, foraging for food. A cluster of gnarled, stunted trees surrounded by lichen-covered boulders signaled the entrance to the section of the creek that had been dammed by hand to form a chest-deep pool. We followed an open path through the copse to find the fence Marina had told us to climb through. As a reward for our minimal efforts, we found a waterfall cascading down a rock wall into a sparkling pool of bracingly cold water. The day was humid, but not quite hot enough to counteract the chilliness of full immersion. So we settled for dipping our feet into the surface before returning to the ranch house, stomachs grumbling. The kitchen island was piled high with homemade gnocchi for lunch. Marina's 20-year-old daughter, Mikaela, set the table while her mother used a cleaver to herd the potato pasta into a beveled platter before directing it into a giant vat of boiling water. Within minutes, the whole family was gathered around the wooden dining table, discussing potential afternoon activities and already pondering dinner over steaming bowls of toothsome pastry puffs draped a rich tomato sauce studded with tender bits of lamb. In preparation for an afternoon horseback ride across the pampas, we decided to take a siesta. The estancia's 20-foot ceilings and double-walled structure (insulated with decades-old horse manure) kept our 80-square-foot room cool and comfortable during the heat of the summer-in-January day. We were lulled to sleep by an orchestra of frogs who provided a 24-hour soundtrack of mild complaints that quickly grew on us. Two blissful hours later, we rolled out of the four-poster, king-sized bed, ready to get our gaucho on. Mikaela and her father, Andres, had the horses rounded up and ready to saddle when we met them by the tack room, a stone-walled building housing all the equine riding equipment. Andres described the tools of the trade in Spanish while Mikaela translated. The lesson included the multi-layered saddling process, which starts with a wool blanket held in place by a leather belt that is looped snugly but not cinched. Next comes the saddle, a simple structure laced together with leather along the spine and sporting basic metal stirrups, but no saddle horn or straps. A thick, woolly sheep hide is placed on top of the saddle and held in place by a second, thinner belt. Andres Noblia demonstrates how to saddle a horse, gaucho-style. (Renee Alexander) The short riding lesson included how to stay in the hornless saddle by pressing your feet forward into the stirrups and out to the sidelike highway pegs on a cruiser motorcycle. Gaucho horses are neck-reined, so "steering" them is also motorcycle-like, though only the left hand is used. To turn right, lay the reins over the left side of the horse's neck and lean, slightly, into the curve. Once we'd all mounted up, we rode single file through the fence and headed across the rolling green hills to check on the cattle, a mix of white-faced, doe-eyed Herefords, shiny Black Angus, and a red-hued combination of the two. Depending on cattle prices and the abundance of grass, the family buys 200 to 300 head of cattle each spring to fatten up over the summer, selling them in the fall when their weight has doubled. They also raise sheep, maintaining a small herd that provides the primary meat source for the estancia. Marina and Andres both proclaim a preference for the Black Angus breed, pronouncing them well-suited for life on the pampas and more community-minded than the Herefords. "If a Hereford cow dies, the other mothers will ignore her orphaned calf," Marina explains. "But if we introduce that calf to the Black Angus herd, the mothers will welcome it into the community and nurse it alongside their own calves." In fact, she says, the Angus herd seems to operate its own nursery co-op, with mothers taking shifts to feed all the calves while their off-work peers graze contentedly. Mikaela pointed out bird species as we rode: the giant ravens that prey on newborn lambs, and the wrinkly red-headed turkey vultures whose circling patterns alert them to dead or injured livestock and clean the carrion from the pampas. "Those are nandu," she said, gesturing toward a trio of long-legged land birds loping across the horizon. When a curious pair of wild horses came a bit too close for comfort, Andres whipped out his fusto, a riding crop with a wrist strap on one end and a strip of leather attached to the other, and swung it in a fast circle overhead while galloping toward the duo. When they changed direction abruptly, Mikaela breathed a sigh of relief. "We never know exactly how our horses will react to the wild ones, and we don't want to take any chances with our guests." After two hours of riding, we returned to the compound, cleaned up for dinner, and tucked into a thick onion pie accompanied by a simple green salad dressed with a tangy salsa criolla. After dinner, we brought a bottle of Tannat, the country's ubiquitous deep red wine, to the front lawn to watch the technicolor sunset with Tuco. Clinking our glasses together, we toasted the remote, natural beauty of the Uruguayan interior. When the time came to leave a few days later, we were thoroughly relaxed, pleasantly stuffed with homegrown lamb, and not at all ready to return to reality. Our hosts seemed reluctant for us to leave as well. After many rounds of hugs and promises to keep in touch via email, Andres and Mikaela drove us down the mile-long dirt road to the paved, two-lane highway where we waited together in the shade of the pick-up truck until the daily bus crested the hill. Andres helped load our bags into the belly of the bus, and we waved good-bye to our temporary home on the range. Sunsets on the estancia are stunning. (Renee Alexander) Getting There Estancia los Platanos is accessible from Montevideo by bus (4.5 hours), taxi (a bit shorter), or personal pick-up by ranch owner Andres Noblia, who knows the highway and country roads like the back of his hand (2.5 hours). To reach Montevideo, you can take a two-stop flight from SFO to MVD starting around $1,000 round trip. Another option is a one or two-stop flight into Buenos Aires (AEP or EZE) for a similar price, followed by a ferry to Montevideo. We are partial to Avianca Airlines, which seems to have a better on-time record for this route than other options. Stays at Estancia los Platanos start at $55 per person per day, including meals. Horseback riding is available for $25 per person, and cooking classes are offered for $20 per person. More Estancias in Uruguay Uruguay's estancias range from kid-friendly country hotels to self-contained rustic ranches where you can help herd livestock. Given the remote locations for most estancias, it is advisable to opt for full meal service when making your reservation. San Pedro de Timote With 31 guest rooms, air conditioning, three swimming pools (one indoor), a professional chef, and the capacity to host your wedding, San Pedro is among the more luxurious choices. // Email for rates; sanpedrodetimote.com El Ceibo Only an hour's drive from the Montevideo airport, this traditional working ranch is the easiest to access. The estancia offers bicycles, horseback riding, fishing, canoeing, and hiking. // Starting at $390/day for double occupancy, including meals and horseback riding, estancia-hosteria-el-ceibo-uy Yvytu Itaty One of the most remote of the working estancias, Yvytu Itaty is a favorite among adventure travelers. Guests can help with chores around the ranch, and experienced riders are welcome to saddle up and take off alone. Water comes from a spring, wood stoves provide the heat, and electricity and internet are only available for a couple of hours each day, when the generator is fired up. // Starting at $60 per person/day for double occupancy, including meals and horseback riding, viviturismorural.com.uy La Estiria In addition to having 12 guest rooms, La Estiria offers guests who don't want to stay overnight a day package that includes two meals, tea and coffee, access to the swimming pool, and horseback riding. // Starting at $150 per person/day for double occupancy, including meals and horseback riding, laestiria.com For more info about estancias in particular and Uruguay in general, check out The Guru'Guay Guide to Uruguay: Beaches, Ranches and Wine Country. Author Karen Higgs also answers all your burning questions about this small but mighty South American country at guruguay.com. Donald Trump has released a proposed map for a peace plan between Israel and the Palestinian, which sets up a still long-shot chance for a recognised Palestinian state. The map, which the president posted on his Twitter account, would establish a country with a capital in East Jerusalem, as well as a tunnel connecting the West Bank to a separate portion of the country along the shores of the Mediterranean. Soon after the plans release, critics slammed it as enforcing apartheid in the Middle East, as the Trump administration moved forward with a plan that Palestinian leaders say they were not consulted on. This is what a future State of Palestine can look like, with a capital in parts of East Jerusalem, Mr Trump wrote in posts in English and Arabic. The plan marks the latest attempt by an American presidents administration to broker a deal in the conflict that dates back to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. The effort has been led by White house adviser Jared Kushner, who is Mr Trumps son-in-law and a former real estate magnate. UN on verge of labelling Palestine as 'non-member observer' Show all 2 1 /2 UN on verge of labelling Palestine as 'non-member observer' UN on verge of labelling Palestine as 'non-member observer' hamas.jpg Getty Images UN on verge of labelling Palestine as 'non-member observer' unations.jpg Getty Images In a live interview on Al Jazeera that was broadcast with contemporaneous translation into Arabic, Mr Kushner dodged questions about whether the plan would give the Palestinian people autonomy, saying instead that the plan gives Palestinians opportunity, should they agree to and read the plan. The status quo is broken [and] the Palestinian people are on a really bad trajectory, Mr Kushner said. He added: We have given them an opportunity, and I hope they read this plan. Mr Kushner, who is himself Jewish, had taken the responsibility on soon after Mr Trump took the Oval Office, alongside other official duties including promoting American innovation, the US opioid crisis and arms sales to Saudi Arabia. At the time of Israels creation in 1948, a large swath of the area was carved by the United Nations for what was to be designated as an Arab state, alongside a Jewish state with Tel Aviv as its capital. Technically within the borders of the Arab state, Jerusalem was then expected to be considered an international city. Since then, Israel has taken massive amounts of land, with major gains coming during the Six-Day War in 1967 when it captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula up to the Suez Canal. And, in the ensuing decades, Israel has proceeded with settlements across the West Bank even as Palestinian leaders have claimed those areas to be illegal. Under the proposed rule from the Trump administration, no Israeli or Palestinian people would be relocated, effectively legitimising those settlements that critics call illegal, but would also freeze Israeli settlement construction for at least four years. The capital of Israel would become Jerusalem which Mr Trump has pledged recently will be undivided while the potential Palestinian state would be on East Jerusalem, beyond the border. The deal has been slammed by those who see the validation of Israels settlements to be a deal-breaker, with the Palestinian envoy to the UK calling the deal a sham. This is a political circus, its a sad piece of political theatre, said Husam Zomlot, who was previously head of the Palestinian mission to Washington. Ofer Cassif, the only Jewish candidate in the Arab majority Joint List political alliance in Israel, meanwhile, reacted by warning the deal represents the imposition of an apartheid state in the Middle East. The Trump Plan is not a peace plan but a war plan, a program to commemorate the occupation and regulate apartheid, Mr Cassif said. Ignoring the Palestinians and their exclusion from the plan indicated this in the first place. Not Israels interest and certainly not the Palestinian interest are expressed in it, but rather the interest of settlers and corrupt state leaders. Ken Starr said Monday that "the rank criminality of the Nixon administration" necessitated the 37th president's impeachment. Speaking on the Senate floor in his capacity as President Donald Trump's defense lawyer, Starr held up the proceedings against Richard Nixon - not the Bill Clinton impeachment he'll always be remembered for - as the gold standard. He contrasted the House's 410-4 vote authorizing a formal impeachment inquiry against Nixon in 1974 with the fact that no Republican lawmakers supported the Trump impeachment inquiry in October or his impeachment in December. Starr quoted Peter Rodino, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee back then, saying that impeachment must be bipartisan to be accepted by the American people. Trump's emissary added that the article of impeachment charging Nixon with abuse of power laid out "a deeply troubling story of numerous crimes - not one, not two, numerous crimes - carried out at the direction of the president himself." In contrast, Starr said, the article of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power does not accuse him of breaking any specific statutes. Nixon resigned before the full House could impeach him, so he never faced a Senate trial. "Importantly, President Nixon's own party was slowly but inexorably moving toward favoring the removal of their chosen leader from the nation's highest office - who had just won reelection by a landslide," Starr told the senators in a 54-minute presentation. "It bears emphasis: This was the first presidential impeachment in over 100 years. It also bears emphasis: It was powerfully bipartisan. "Like war, impeachment is hell," he continued. "Those of us who lived through the Clinton impeachment, including members of this body, full well understand that a presidential impeachment is tantamount to domestic war. . . . But it's filled with acrimony and it divides the country like nothing else. . . . I respectfully submit that the Senate should close this chapter, this idiosyncratic chapter, on this increasingly disruptive act." Democrats have hoped this process would become a Watergate redux. Lead House impeachment manager Adam Schiff, D-Calif., has wondered aloud why GOP lawmakers aren't turning on the president. "Where," he's asked, "is Howard Baker?" Reacting to news about John Bolton's book manuscript, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declared Monday that this trial is unfolding "a little bit" like Watergate. "Every few days, there's another revelation and another revelation and another revelation, and the case gets stronger and stronger," he said during an afternoon break. Thanks partly to the influence of longtime confidants like Roger Stone - who literally has a Nixon tattoo - Trump historically has appeared to identify more with Nixon than other Republican presidents, including Ronald Reagan and both Bushes. After all, Trump paid to run full-page ads in The Washington Post attacking Reagan's foreign policy in 1987. But even the president's strongest critics in the Capitol, who argue that his alleged abuses are more egregious than Nixon's, concede privately that Trump will almost certainly be acquitted in a matter of days or weeks. I talked to several historians and veterans of that era, from the White House and Congress, about some of the differences. In addition to what Starr said, here are five other key differences between then and now: 1) Nixon didn't have Fox News. "Nixon never would have been forced to resign if you existed in your current state back in 1972, '73, '74," Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera told Fox News host Sean Hannity in 2018 amid Robert Mueller's probe. "It's too bad for Nixon because nobody like you existed then. I say that because I believe that our prime responsibility now is to unshackle the 45th president of the United States." It's a worthwhile counterfactual to consider, especially as Fox's morning show and prime-time hosts stayed almost unflappably loyal no matter how bad the news. The late Roger Ailes, who founded Fox News, was Nixon's media consultant and created the channel as an alternative to the mainstream media that he felt had been too harsh on Nixon. "There are other cultural and social factors, but our current media landscape is one of the key differences between the Nixon era and today," said New York University's Michael Koncewicz, the author of "They Said No to Nixon: Republicans Who Stood Up to the President's Abuses of Power." "Nixon always told his advisers that they needed to build a 'new establishment,' and that included media," Koncewicz explained. "For many Nixon loyalists, the lesson of Watergate was that they didn't have the media on their side. Conservative media has played a crucial role in making sure that politicians and voters are loyal to Trump." Monday night alone brought several fresh illustrations of just how much air cover Fox News provides for Trump, even after the kind of development that might have doomed previous presidents. For a moment, try to imagine the fallout if a former national security adviser in any previous White House wrote a book accusing the sitting president of linking military aid with investigations of his political challenger. At the top of his show, Hannity declared that Trump's defense team had obliterated the case against the president. "The Democrats' pathetic case is getting blown to pieces," he said. "They should be embarrassed. . . . It's time to put this to an end. It's a charade." Then House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., came on and told Hannity that no witnesses need to be called because the July 25 rough transcript totally vindicates Trump. During his show, Tucker Carlson likened Bolton to a snake for his "betrayal" of the president. "Will John Bolton testify? Who knows? Either way, it won't change the outcome: Trump will be acquitted," Carlson reassured his viewers. "It's a totally stupid sideshow. We'll be embarrassed about it later." House Intelligence Committee ranking Republican Devin Nunes told Laura Ingraham that the National Security Council staff should be "quarantined across the Potomac" until damaging leaks for the president stop. Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, told Martha McCallum earlier in the evening that Democrats impeached Trump because of his economic success. "The Five" co-host Greg Gutfeld claimed with a straight face that Bolton's book "vindicates Trump" because it shows he cares about corruption. "It's nothing," Gutfeld said of the latest bombshell. It's like this every day. There are several very serious journalists at the network, especially Chris Wallace, but they occasionally find themselves at loggerheads with pundits. Koncewicz, who previously worked for the National Archives at the Nixon presidential library, pointed to some of the modern conservative media figures, including at Fox, who have defended Nixon, including Carlson. "There's definitely a split," he said on Monday after watching Starr eviscerate Nixon. "Some are willing to throw him under the bus, but others view him as a martyr for the cause. I think a part of the conservative movement believed that Watergate was a political hit job against a president who won a landslide victory in 1972. That part of the movement has been emboldened by the similarities between Nixon and Trump." 2) Nixon didn't have an economy this strong. Ken Khachigian was a deputy special assistant to Nixon in the White House from 1970 until the end, and he stayed loyal to help the former president write his memoirs. When I asked if Nixon might have survived with Fox News, Khachigian said that's just part of the story. "You're right on point, we would have had a much better chance of survival with a different media environment," he emailed. "We were stuck, basically, with three networks, wires, newspapers, etc., with no safety valves to release our side of the story in counterpoint with any volume. If there had been the equivalent of Fox, as well as talk radio, social networking PLUS a majority in the Senate, we would have had more national leverage to get our message across. We had plenty of ammo, but fewer guns." But Khachigian noted that they had "other obstacles" - "namely poor timing by defending Israel in the Yom Kippur War, inflaming the Arab states resulting in the Arab oil embargo. Gasoline prices shot up; there were gas lines, shortages resulting in basic nightmares that affected voters every day beginning in the fall of '73 through the winter. Finally, America was exhausted after the long and divisive domestic battles over the Vietnam War - with Nixon getting the brunt. And we, in the White House -- after slogging through the culture wars defending the unpopular policies of a wartime president, faced with the recession caused by international events, topped by Watergate and impeachment -- were weary of the battle as well. Many in the staff didn't have the stomach for it, and without the proper level of legal defense, there was little hope - adding it all up - of having staying power. There's more, but that's my elevator version." The new Washington Post-ABC News poll published Monday shows Trump is in a much stronger position to get reelected than he was in the fall, and the economy is a big part of why. This president's approval rating has gone up during the impeachment process. 3) Nixon would have faced a much less loyal Senate if he had gone to trial. Republicans were in the minority, but the institution was different back then. "The rise of Fox News and its powerful hold on the Republican base is certainly an important factor in our increasingly tribal politics. But in my view, this Senate impeachment trial, and the failure of Republican senators to step up to their responsibility, reflects the long decline of the Senate, which has become an accelerating downward spiral in the last decade," said Ira Shapiro, who served 12 years in senior Democratic staff roles in the Senate before serving as a trade negotiator in the Clinton administration. "If Nixon had been impeached, his trial would have occurred in a strong Senate that operated on the basis on bipartisanship, mutual respect and trust. . . . Republicans would not have been blind defenders of the president; nor would they have simply fallen in line behind any Senate Republican leader." Shapiro wrote "The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis" about what the chamber was like in the 1970s. He said the Senate was eager to reassert its power against the "imperial presidencies" of both Lyndon Johnson and Nixon. He also notes that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell maintains much stronger control over his conference than Hugh Scott ever could have in 1974. Shapiro has been most surprised during this trial about how retiring Republican senators who will never face voters again, besides Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, have not appeared to waver thus far on voting to call witnesses. "My fear has always been that the broken Senate would weaken to the point where it could not perform its ultimate responsibility: checking a corrupt and dangerous president who threatened our constitutional system and our democracy," said Shapiro. "That nightmare scenario is upon us. It would only take a few Senate Republicans to prevent it." 4) Lordy, there aren't tapes this time. Presidential historian Tim Naftali, who as the director of the Nixon presidential library created the first objective exhibit on Watergate at the accompanying museum, said "the key variable" is the tapes. "It is the damning nature of the White House tapes," said Naftali, who wrote a chapter in "Impeachment: An American History," an excellent summary of when the process has been used. "In August [1974], after he knew he would have to turn over the June 23, 1972 tape eventually, the president still delayed his resignation on the off chance that his defenders would swallow the revelation of the 'smoking gun' tape. But they didn't. I don't see that, even if they had had a friendly outlet at their disposal, their anger at being deceived would have been any less strong. This is not to say that relentless, shameless spin doesn't matter in shaping the pressures on elected officials, but even President 'read-the-transcript' Trump knows that his defenders like to believe that their faith in him is based on something." 5) Trump's acting White House chief of staff is stonewalling to protect him. "Al Haig was not looking out for Nixon the way Mick Mulvaney is looking out for Trump," said Ray Locker, the author of "Haig's Coup" and "Nixon's Gamble." Locker says "one huge difference" is that the Trump White House is even less cooperative about requests for testimony and records than Nixon's. "The Nixon White House did a terrible job of defending him," he said. "You look at what they talked about during that time. They were not really hammering away. They made a half-hearted attempt to rebut John Dean when he testified. . . . They just weren't going after these people the way that Trump is. They cooperated more. Haig was giving them documents." In a statement Monday, the attorney for Mulvaney, Bob Driscoll, dismissed the charges in Bolton's book concerning the acting chief of staff's knowledge about alleged actions taken toward Ukraine as having "more to do with publicity than the truth." "John Bolton never informed Mick Mulvaney of any concerns surrounding Bolton's purported August conversation with the president," Driscoll claimed. "Nor did Mr. Mulvaney ever have a conversation with the president or anyone else indicating that Ukrainian military aid was withheld in exchange for a Ukrainian investigation of Burisma, the Bidens, or the 2016 election." The standoff was slated to come to a head Tuesday, with the Knesset widely expected to vote on forming the immunity committee even as Netanyahus supporters vowed to boycott the session. That schedule was suddenly called into question last week with the surprise invitation to both Netanyahu and Gantz to come to Washington for a peace plan summit on that very day. [January 27, 2020] Ralph Gagliardi Joins Company Alarm's Board of Advisors MERIDIAN, Idaho, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Company Alarm, a business identity theft protection startup, announced today that Ralph Gagliardi, the head of one of the nation's only law enforcement units dedicated to business identity theft, has joined the company's Board of Advisors. Gagliardi boasts more than 29 years of law enforcement experience. Currently, he leads a four-person team to combat business identity theft, making him one of the nation's leading experts on the topic. "Ralph is truly one ofthe most knowledgeable sources of information on business identity theft," said Company Alarm Founder Andy Pham . "His experience with this crime is not theoretic. More so than just about anyone else in this country, he has seen business identity theft up close and personal. He understands the intricacies of the scam and has seen the havoc it can wreak on businesses. We are grateful to have his guidance as we develop solutions to protect businesses from identity theft." Gagliardi is a subject matter expert in complex fraud and organized crime investigations. His current focus is on criminal activity that spans statewide, national and international jurisdictions. The unit he leads investigates crimes that include business email compromise, wire fraud and many others where technology is used in the commission of a crime. Gagliardi assists in the development of policy and legislative efforts pertaining to identity theft, fraud, and cybercrime. He is a certified fraud examiner (CFE) and a member of the National Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. "I admire what Andy is doing with Company Alarm," Gagliardi said. "As a victim himself of business identity theft, he knows what's at stake. I'm excited that he's decided to use his experiences to try to help other businesspeople avoid his fate. Business identity theft is a growing problem, but it remains largely unknown and misunderstood." About Company Alarm Company Alarm combats business identity theft by offering businesses 24-hour monitoring of their information on file with the local government. If any of that information is ever changed, which could be a sign of business identity theft, business owners receive an immediate text alerting them to exactly what changed. Company Alarm was founded by serial entrepreneur Andy Pham after a holding company he used to house a $5 million piece of land was hijacked by identity thieves. For more information, visit www.companyalarm.com . View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ralph-gagliardi-joins-company-alarms-board-of-advisors-300994013.html SOURCE Company Alarm [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The lawyer of Sharjeel Imam, who was arrested by the Delhi police on sedition charge for allegedly making inflammatory speeches, claimed on Tuesday that the anti-CAA activist had "surrendered" before the police. Advocate Mishika Singh told PTI that Imam was willing to operate with the investigation. She also said that the JNU scholar has not yet been brought to Delhi and they are in the process of figuring out details. On his Twitter account, Imam said, "I have surrendered to the Delhi Police on 28. 1. 2020 at 3 PM. I am ready and willing to to operate with the investigation. I have full faith in due process of law. My safety and security are now in the hand of Delhi Police. Let peace prevail." Officials earlier said that the Delhi Police's Crime Branch, in a joint operation with Bihar Police, on Tuesday arrested Imam from Jehanabad in Bihar where a court handed him over to a Delhi police team on transit remand. The JNU scholar was wanted by police in several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Delhi, they said. A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies at the JNU. He was slapped with a sedition case after a video of his purported speech went viral on social media where he spoke about "cutting off" Assam and the northeast from the rest of India. Imam was one of the initial organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protest here against the amended Citizenship Act. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi: Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) have been taking place in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh round-the-clock for the last one and a half months. The question which is continously being raised in the matter is who is backing this protest? In an investigation, ZEE NEWS found a list of seven pages which is being circulated on social media. The list contains all the details of the number of protest being carried out all over India, the details of places which requires police permission for protest, the deatils of organisers of the protest, etc. The requirement of blanket in Shaheen Bagh was also found mentioned in the seven page list. The list includes names of more than 50 cities, in which 23 places are alone in Delhi. Carrying out an investigation, ZEE NEWS visited four places mentioned in the list and found the reports completely true. However, the authencity of the list is still not known. There were reports that Popular Front of India (PFI) is funding the Anti-CAA protests across the country and sources further claimed that whenever protests against CAA became violent, there were large bank transaction recorded from the PFI account. It has also being said that the PFI has funded protests in Western UP and 6 money transfer address were located in Jamia and Shaheen Bagh. A team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reached at the offices of PFI at Shaheen Bagh on Tuesday evening to investigate the same matter. ED has also given notice to five people, and has summoned seven officials of PFI. It was revealed in an police investigation that the Popular Front of India was involved in the violent demonstrations on 19 December. The police had recovered a huge amount of inflammatory material from these people. Along with this, another branch of PFI, Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) is also on the radar of the police. PFI has been active in India since 2010 and is actively working in seven states of India including Uttar Pradesh. The UP government has written a letter to the Home Ministry asking to ban this organization. The UP government has also claimed that 22 members of the PFI were arrested in violent demonstrations against the citizenship law. Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) share price fell in early trade today after Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Kapil Wadhawan, the CMD of the crisis-hit firm in connection with its money laundering probe against the late underworld gangster and Dawood aide Iqbal Mirchi. Share price of DHFL fell over 4% to Rs 15.05 compared to the previous close of Rs 15.80 on BSE. DHFL stock has lost 92% during the last one year. It has declined 9.82% since the beginning of this year. Wadhawan was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as he was allegedly not cooperating in the probe, officials said. Also read: Flipkart former CEO Sachin Bansal acquires DHFL General Insurance for Rs 100 crore On Monday, Wadhawan appeared before a special PMLA court in Mumbai after ED asked the court to issue a non-bailable warrant against him and four others including Mirchi's wife Hazra, sons Junaid and Asif, and Sunny Bhatija (Kapil's brother-in-law). According to a PTI report, Wadhawan has been remanded in the ED custody till January 29. DHFL, the country's leading housing financier, has come under the scanner of ED in connection with its alleged link with global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's aide Iqbal Mirchi. ED investigations revealed that a loan of Rs 2,186 crore extended by DHFL to Sunblink Real Estate Private Limited had reached D-company in Dubai. Sunblink had facilitated routing of the amount to Mirchi. Also read: DHFL posts loss of Rs 6,641 crore in Jul-Sep period, revenue falls 39.5% By Aseem Thapliyal michael barbaro From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. [music] Today: A Times investigation reveals a firsthand account from John Bolton directly linking President Trump to the quid pro quo at the center of the impeachment. Maggie Haberman and Mike Schmidt on what that could mean for the final phase of the Senate trial. Its Tuesday, January 28. Mike, Maggie, remind us when the discussion of John Bolton as a possible witness in the impeachment process starts. michael schmidt So John Bolton left the White House in early September. Trump said he was fired. Bolton said he resigned. A week later, we learn about the whistleblowers complaint, and at that point, questions start to percolate. Why did Bolton resign, and what does he know? And in the coming weeks, as the House impeachment investigators summon White House officials to answer questions, we start to get different slivers archived recording Boltons former aide, thats Fiona Hill, testified yesterday before House impeachment investigators. michael schmidt of Boltons concerns archived recording Bolton reportedly called Giuliani, President Trumps personal attorney this a hand grenade. michael schmidt and preoccupations with what was going on inside the White House. archived recording This is something that Fiona Hill said when she was talking about John Bolton, the former national security adviser. michael schmidt We dont have a full picture, but were hearing things, like Bolton saying archived recording Basically he said, you go and tell Eisenberg that I am not part of any drug deal that Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and Mick Mulvaney are cooking up. michael schmidt I didnt want to participate in this drug deal that these administration officials were doing. archived recording The term drug deal here refers to the Ukraine probe that they were trying to initiate. michael barbaro Right, and that was his way of referring to this pressure campaign against Ukraine to start investigations into Democratic rivals. michael schmidt Correct. So were learning these different things, but were not hearing from Bolton. archived recording Let me read it one more time. Ambassador Taylor recalls that Mr. Morrison told Ambassador Taylor that I told Mr. Morrison that I conveyed this message to Mr. Yermak on September 1, 2019, in connection with Vice President michael schmidt And one of the problems with the impeachment investigation archived recording Weve got six people having four conversations in one sentence, and you just told me this is where you got your clear understanding. michael schmidt was that the House was only really talking to people who were sort of outside the presidents inner ring. archived recording Ambassador, you werent on the call, were you? You didnt listen in on President Trumps call and President Zelenskys call? archived recording (william b. taylor jr.) I did not. archived recording Youve never talked with Chief of Staff Mulvaney? archived recording (william b. taylor jr.) I never did. archived recording You never met the president? archived recording (william b. taylor jr.) Thats correct. archived recording This is what I cant believe, and youre their star witness. Youre their first witness. michael schmidt A few of the witnesses dealt with the president directly, but many of them were simply relaying what was going on inside the White House. michael barbaro So Bolton becomes an even more tantalizing figure. Hes in the center of juicy tidbits coming out of the inquiry. He may be on poor terms with the president. It all seems to make him a perfect witness. michael schmidt Hes someone who Republicans trust. He has a long history in the Republican Party, and we were hearing then that he had these concerns. So what was it that he saw? What was it that he could add? He was in the room with the president. What did the president tell him? michael barbaro So Maggie, what efforts are made by House impeachment investigators to get Bolton to testify, to get him to just spill the beans? maggie haberman They asked him, back in I believe it was October, to come testify voluntarily. He said no, and he had been ordered by the White House not to take part, but the House decided not to submit a subpoena to try to force him to testify, because michael barbaro Why not? maggie haberman Because they were concerned that it was going to be a protracted legal battle. They were very consumed with trying to wrap this all up quickly. In hindsight, a lot of Democrats say, at least privately, they think that that was a mistake. They think that they should have actually tried to get him to come there. michael barbaro Right. So he does not end up testifying before the House. maggie haberman No. Bolton never spoke before the House and didnt indicate that he really wanted to at the time. He just said that he would not cooperate with this request for testimony. So they sent over the articles of impeachment without having a witness like Bolton, somebody who had a direct conversation with the president, where the withheld military aid for Ukraine was tied to the presidents desires for investigations. There were just people who were speculating on motives or had heard things secondhand, but there was no one with a firsthand interaction with the president. michael barbaro O.K. So that brings us to November. maggie haberman Right, and so we get to November, and John Bolton is starting to make noises, like he has something to say and hes willing to share it. And we learn on November 10, that one place he might be planning to share it is in a book that hes planning to write about his time in the White House. michael schmidt So it was a pretty odd situation. You had House investigators that wanted Bolton to talk. Bolton sort of signaling that he has something to say. And then the news that hes writing a book that you presume is going to have some Ukraine details in it. So whos going to get to that information? michael barbaro Right. So in this situation, what do you two do as reporters to try to figure out what he knows and maybe what hes put in this book? maggie haberman So the House inquiry is over, but theres all this secrecy around this book. We knew it was coming. We had heard Simon & Schuster would be putting it out. They wouldnt even confirm that. We were scratching around with people who might know. And as we were trying to do this, Bolton then says, on January 6 after not complying with the House efforts to get him to testify he says that he would be willing to testify in the Senate, if there is a subpoena. It seemed like he was trying to do a dance, where he was trying not to make Senate Republicans angry at him, when hes worked with them for years. And he needs them to back him, as hes embarking on this post-White House life and trying to sell a book. But also trying to look like he was doing the right thing and not just making it about the book. And it was really hard to decipher what his motives were. michael schmidt As reporters, there is nothing that galvanizes us like a high-profile public figure in a major story saying, I have important information, but Im not going to tell. And hes essentially out there doing that putting the bait for reporters to try and get to the bottom of whats in the book. maggie haberman So we did what we normally do when we are handed some kind of bait, which is we continued to try to figure out what was there and what was in it. And whether it would include some damaging information about the president. Or whether it would include some exculpatory information and would be something that the presidents folks could even point to and say it would help him. We just, we didnt know, but we kept scratching. michael barbaro Right. If the one great unanswered question was what Bolton knew, then the most obvious thing is to find out what is inside the book. maggie haberman Thats right, and we kept scratching and looking, and then we found out what was in the book, and it was quite damaging to the president. [music] michael barbaro Well be right back. archived recording 1 Brand new reaction this morning from a bombshell New York Times report on John Boltons upcoming book. archived recording 2 A trial that seemed to be on a steady and speedy path to certain acquittal has been hit by a seismic shock. archived recording 3 Startling new report could upend the impeachment trial. According to The New York Times, former michael barbaro So what did you learn was actually in this book? maggie haberman The biggest thing that is in there is that Bolton writes about a conversation that he claims to have had with President Trump in August of 2019, where he pushed the issue of this withheld military aid with the president. And the president suggested he didnt want to end the aid freeze until Ukraine turned over materials that he wanted in connection with investigations into Democrats, who he thought had harmed him in 2016. michael barbaro So Bolton is having a conversation he recounts in this book with President Trump in which Bolton says, hey, Mr. President, I want to talk about this financial freeze on military aid to Ukraine, presumably in the context of Bolton wanting to end it. maggie haberman Bolton pushed this conversation with the president, because he, along with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, had been trying to get the president for weeks to end the freeze and turn the aid over, arguing that it was necessary for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia. And so Bolton raised this issue to test where the president was, and the president met him back by saying he didnt want to end this freeze until materials that he wanted were turned over in relation to investigations into Democrats he thought had damaged him. michael barbaro Wow. Democrats, including Joe Biden. maggie haberman Democrats, including Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. michael barbaro So Bolton is confirming in this account that President Trump articulated correct me if Im wrong a clear quid pro quo that explained why he was holding up the security aid to Ukraine. That it was in return for Ukraine investigating his Democratic rivals, like Joe Biden, and that of course is the central claim of the articles of impeachment. And what Bolton seems to be saying here is that that central claim is accurate, and theres now a firsthand account of it from the mouth of the president himself. michael schmidt But you say confirms. This is the first time that were hearing anyone say this. This is the first time that someone who was in the room, who spoke directly to the president, says, yeah, the president didnt want to release the money until he got the fruits of the investigations. This is new ground, and its significant, because the presidents lawyers have time and time again argued on the Senate floor archived recording (michael purpura) that there was no connection between security assistance and investigations. michael schmidt that the aid and the investigations were not linked. archived recording (michael purpura) the pause on security assistance was distinct and unrelated to investigations. michael barbaro So this directly contradicts the way the presidents own lawyers talk about the impeachment. maggie haberman Correct, or at least it undercuts their main argument, which is that there was not a connection between what the president wanted and releasing this aid. michael barbaro Am I right, Mike and Maggie, that this is as close to a smoking gun as it gets in a case like this? michael schmidt Maybe, but throughout the Trump presidency, weve learned similarly explosive disclosures, and the president has been able to weather them politically. So yeah, in a normal time, would the news of the presidents most recent national security adviser directly implicating him in a question that is at the center of an impeachment hearing be a smoking gun? Sure, but Trump has shown an ability to endure things like this that gives me reticence to say, yeah, thats a smoking gun. Because when you say smoking gun, built into that is an assumption that the end would be near. maggie haberman Im with Mike on that. I think that we are a ways away from knowing what this means. And as our colleague Peter Baker wrote today, it could end up being like when the Access Hollywood tape came out in 2016 in the campaign. And the big prediction was that this was going to be the end of Donald Trump, this was going to be the end of his campaign, and it obviously did not go that way. So we just dont know yet. michael barbaro Well, what has been the reaction to this reporting, especially in the Senate, where the trial is well underway and where the question of calling witnesses is very much still alive? michael schmidt So were coming into the home stretch of the trial. And the question of whether Bolton will testify has still not been resolved. michael barbaro Right. michael schmidt The story comes out, and theres increased pressure on Senate Republicans, those moderate ones who may be willing to go along with the Democrats. How much does this story move them? michael barbaro And Maggie, whats the answer? maggie haberman So far, we are seeing the same moderates who have said they want witnesses before still say they want to hear from Bolton. So thats Mitt Romney. archived recording Four of you need to say yes. Do you think there are four votes? archived recording (mitt romney) I think its increasingly likely that the other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton. And whether there are other witnesses and documents, well, thats another matter. But I think John Boltons relevance to our decision has become increasingly clear. maggie haberman Susan Collins of Maine is another person who has said this is another factor that points to why there should be witnesses. But two other possible votes for witnesses, one is Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Andother is Lamar Alexander, who the White House is watching very closely to see what hell do. They have been more circumspect about whether they think our story changes anything. And so far, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is trying to tell everybody to stay cool and just see how this plays out. michael barbaro I mean, there will be people hearing this hearing that the national security adviser to the president observed him saying something that directly implicates him in this impeachment case and will ask, why would any deliberative body sworn in as jurors not want to hear from that person? What would be the justification for not hearing from Bolton in this moment? maggie haberman So one thing that has come up from the senators in the last several hours is theyre saying, if this was so important to hear from Bolton, why didnt the House subpoena him? archived recording (john barrasso) Theres nothing new here that John Bolton didnt know before the House managers rested their case and stopped calling witnesses, and they never chose to call John Bolton. maggie haberman And youre going to hear that, I think increasingly, if you dont see a move toward witnesses. Thats going to be an argument that senators are going to point to. michael barbaro You missed your chance. maggie haberman Why are we doing your work for you? That part was in the House. michael schmidt And at another level, the reason why these senators are not going along with calling Bolton is that Trump doesnt want that to happen. And they have been in lockstep with Trump for most of this. michael barbaro So the justification is keep the president happy. maggie haberman I think the justification is you have a lot of senators who are facing elections in their own states, and the base likes Trump. And in some states, like Lamar Alexanders state, they want him to be loyal to Trump. And so those are the concerns that theyre measuring, is do they let themselves be looked back on in history as turning away from evidence, which some people will say they did. Or do they say, voters dont really want me casting that vote, and they decide to stick with the presidents desires. michael barbaro So how has all of this actually landed inside the White House? maggie haberman Well, the White House as a whole wasnt happy about hearing about this. But for at least some of them, it wasnt a surprise, because the White House had been given a draft of this manuscript about 3.5 weeks ago from John Bolton for a standard review process to look at classified information and whether there is any in the book. michael schmidt So that means at least some folks in the White House have had a sense of what Bolton would testify to in the impeachment investigation. michael barbaro If he testified. maggie haberman Correct. michael barbaro Wait. So does that mean that the presidents lawyers, including those who are currently defending him in the Senate trial, that they knew what John Bolton had written and knew what John Bolton had experienced, and then continued to make a case to the public that is quite contradictory to what Bolton is saying happened in this book? michael schmidt We dont know the extent to which the manuscript, or the details about it, were circulated. But what we do know is that in the past several weeks, there has been a concerted effort by the president to stop Bolton from testifying. Hes made public statements about this. archived recording (donald trump) The problem with John is that its a national security problem. You cant have somebody whos at national security. And if you think about it, John, he knows some of my thoughts. He knows what I think about leaders. What happens if he reveals what I think about a certain leader and its not very positive, and then I have to deal on behalf of the country? Its going to be very hard. Its going to make the job very hard. He knows other things, and I dont know if we left on the best of terms. I would say, probably not. And so you dont like people testifying when they didnt leave on good terms. And that was due to me, not due to him. And so well see what happens. michael schmidt And he has said it privately to aides. michael barbaro So my final question is, if John Bolton has something to say and it feels like he does and the world wants to hear it, senators want to hear it, House impeachment managers want to hear it, we all want to hear it. And it feels like he has an obligation to the Democratic process to say it, why doesnt he just find a way to say it? Go on Fox. Go on CNN. Have a news conference. Why hasnt he taken any of those opportunities? maggie haberman Its a great question, and theres nothing preventing him from doing so. If he wanted to issue some kind of a statement or say something publicly that didnt violate executive privilege with the president, he could do that. He has yet to do any of that, and its not really clear why. michael schmidt But you know what, if John Bolton went on television right now and said everything he would testify to, unless he was subpoenaed to appear at that trial or if the comments from him were put into evidence, then it couldnt be considered by the lawmakers. This is a trial, where evidence is brought forward. And if there is not enough votes to bring that evidence in, then it doesnt matter whether he stands out on the highest point in town and says everything he knows. It only matters whether its entered into the record in the Senate. [music] michael barbaro Maggie and Mike, thank you. maggie haberman Thank you. michael schmidt Thanks for having us. michael barbaro On Monday, a lawyer for the White House, Patrick Philbin, tried to tamp down talk of calling Bolton as a witness, saying that calling such a witness would be an effort to, quote, redo the House impeachment inquiry and would set a dangerous precedent for future impeachment trials. The record that the House Democrats collected during that process, Philbin said, shows that the president did nothing wrong. In a tweet, the president denied Boltons account of their conversation about Ukraine, writing, quote, If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. Well be right back. [music] michael barbaro Prime Minister Boris Johnson granted Huawei a limited role in Britain's 5G mobile network on Tuesday, defying U.S. pressure to exclude the Chinese company from next-generation communications over fears Beijing could use them to spy. Following is the approach to Huawei taken by other countries: UNITED STATES: Washington has piled pressure on its allies to shut out Huawei, the world's leading telecoms equipment vendor with a global market share of 28%, saying its gear contained "back doors" that would enable China to spy on other countries. President Donald Trump has not yet commented on Britain's decision. AUSTRALIA: Australia banned Huawei from supplying equipment for a 5G mobile network in 2018. Huawei had originally struck a deal to lay undersea cables to bring high-speed internet to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, but in 2018 Australia decided to fund and build the infrastructure itself. NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network together with Australia, the United States, Britain and Canada, blocked service provider Spark from using Huawei 5G equipment in 2018. Spark said last November it would not use Huawei exclusively in its 5G rollout, but would keep it on its three-company list of preferred equipment suppliers. CANADA: The government of Canada has been studying the security implications of 5G networks and is expected to pay close attention to Britain's decision. Ottawa is also locked in an ongoing bilateral dispute with Beijing after Canadian authorities arrested Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in December 2018, on a U.S. extradition request. EUROPEAN UNION: The European Union set out new guidelines last week allowing member states to restrict or exclude high-risk 5G providers, warning of security risks and the danger of depending on a single supplier. They did not single out Huawei. A potential EU-wide consensus on security standards has been dubbed the "toolbox". EU digital economy chief Margrethe Vestager is expected to announce the next steps on Jan. 29. GERMANY: In Europe's largest economy, Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked lawmakers to wait until after a March EU summit before taking a position on whether or not to exclude Huawei from Germany's 5G rollout. She favours strict security requirements for the 5G network, but opposes excluding individual companies. She faces opposition from those in her party who back U.S. calls to ban Huawei outright. POLAND: Huawei has a strong foothold in Poland but remains under scrutiny. Poland might have different security demands for the core of its 5G system and the rest of the network, its digital minister said in December. AUSTRIA: Chancellor Sebastian Kurz did not rule out deploying Huawei equipment in Austria's future 5G networks on Monday but said the country would coordinate its decisions with the rest of the EU. Search Keywords: Short link: A patient is transferred by an ambulance to the Infectious Disease Centre of Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong on Jan. 22, 2020. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images) Details About the First Known Super Spreader of Wuhan Pneumonia The day after Zhong Nanshan, lead scientist in Chinas National Health Commission, announced that the new coronavirus from Wuhan pneumonia patients was confirmed to spread by human-to-human contact, he revealed that 14 medical personnel in one hospital had been infected while treating one patient. Chinese state media finally revealed the details on Jan. 25. Zhao Junshi, 69, underwent surgery to remove a pituitary tumor at Wuhan Union Hospitals neurosurgery department on Jan. 7. No one was aware that he had Wuhan pneumonia. On Jan. 11, he suddenly developed a fever. CT scanning indicated infection in both lungs. The doctor in charge immediately reported Zhaos case to the contagious diseases department, asking experts from the department to help diagnose the cause of the illness. Doctors concluded that Zhao was infected with an unknown type of pneumonia. There was no kit to test for Wuhan pneumonia yet. The next day, Zhaos condition became very serious. His chest scan showed multiple lung shadows. Then, some of the medical personnel taking care of him developed a fever, one after another. Thats when Zhao was put in an isolation ward. On Jan. 15, Zhao was confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus, and transferred to Wuhans Jinyintan Hospital, a contagious diseases facility. The affected medical staff were also sent to Union Hospital for isolation and treatment. However, when Wuhan Health Commission issued a routine update about Wuhan pneumonia on the evening of Jan. 16, it didnt mention that medical staff had been infected. It wasnt until Jan. 20 that Zhong Nanshan admitted for the first time at a press conference that the virus can spread from human to human. The Cover-Up Lin Yu, a doctor at Wuhan Union Hospital, recalled that shortly after the first group of patients with Wuhan pneumonia were identified, local authorities insisted that hospital staff not reveal any information on social media or accept media interviews. Basically, we were forbidden to reveal any information, Lin said. There was only one thing that we could dowe told our patients, be sure to purchase a mask and wear it when you go out. We also told them, Do not shop at Huanan Seafood Market. The food sold there is not fresh. Huanan Seafood Market sells fish, shellfish, and exotic wild animals. Among the first group of Wuhan pneumonia patients, a significant percentage either worked at the market or were regular customers of the market. In addition, Lin noticed that before Jan. 20, only a few people in Wuhan were wearing masks. He asked an employee at a Wuhan subway station: Did you know that its good to wear a mask? Why dont you wear it? The person replied, Our supervisors forbade us to wear it, so as not to cause panic. That sent a chill to my heart, Lin said. If the authorities had disclosed the information explicitly, 50 to 60 percent of people would have taken precautions. The Super Spreader Some patients are more infectious than others who have the same disease. This group of people is called super-spreaders, and are a crucial factor in the accelerated spread of a contagious disease. The patient in Wuhan who infected 14 medical staff could well be a super spreader. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, a Chinese doctor at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University went to Hong Kong as a tourist. He stayed in the Metropark Hotel Kowloon for one night. Sixteen hotel guests from different countries, including Vietnam, Singapore, and Canada, were infected with SARS from this doctor, and they in turn carried the virus back to their home countries. World Health Organization later confirmed that in Singapore alone, the source of the SARS infection of 94 patients can be traced to the Metropark Hotel. The scientific community suspects that the super spreaders can carry mutated versions of the virus, or a higher viral load because the virus multiplies more quickly in their bodies due to a weakened immune system. As no one knows who will be a super spreader, there is no way to prevent the emergence of new super-spreaders. Coronavirus outbreak has killed 106 people in China and infected over 4,520 globally, most of them in the Asian country. China and countries around the world are scrambling to contain the spread of a new coronavirus that has killed at least 106 people and infected more than 4,500. Germany has reported its first case of the virus, as the United States and Canada upgraded travel warnings to advise their citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to China. More than 56 million people in almost 20 Chinese cities including Wuhan, capital of Hubei province and the epicentre of the virus have been prevented from travelling in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus during the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, traditionally Chinas busiest travel season. The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is currently in China. The agency has acknowledged the respiratory illness is an emergency in China but said last week it was too early to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. It has described the global risk from the virus as high. Here are the latest updates: Tuesday, January 28 France reports fourth coronavirus case An elderly Chinese tourist in a serious condition in a Paris hospital is Frances fourth confirmed case of the new coronavirus that has killed more than 100 people since it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Frances top health official said. The man, visiting France from the hard-hit Chinese province of Hubei, was being treated in intensive care by medical staff, health director general Jerome Salomon told reporters in the capital. China agrees to WHO sending experts to study virus China has agreed that the World Health Organization will send international experts there as soon as possible to increase understanding of a new coronavirus and guide the global response to the outbreak, the UN agency said. In a statement after a two-day visit by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who met Chinese President Xi Jinping as well as the health and foreign ministers, it said that a better understanding of the viruss ability to spread from person to person was urgently needed to advise other countries. The discussions focused on continued collaboration on containment measures in Wuhan, public health measures in other cities and provinces, conducting further studies on the severity and transmissibility of the virus, continuing to share data, and for China to share biological material with WHO, the WHO said. The two sides agreed that WHO will send international experts to visit China as soon as possible to work with Chinese counterparts on increasing understanding of the outbreak to guide global response efforts, the WHO added, without giving a timeframe. EU to evacuate hundreds of citizens from China The European Union is dispatching two flights to evacuate at least 350 healthy European citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan. The 28-nation union activated a disaster-response mechanism to organise the flights at the request of France, which has a large number of citizens in the Wuhan region. The initial flights will only carry healthy EU citizens or those without symptoms of the virus, the European Commission said in a statement. It said the EU is ready to mobilise further flights in the coming days. The first flight will carry about 250 French citizens. More than 100 other EU citizens will travel on the second flight. The EU will cofinance the flights. US prepares to airlift citizens out of Wuhan The US government chartered a plane to fly out diplomats from the US Consulate in Wuhan, where the outbreak started, along with other Americans. Four people quarantined in Ethiopia over coronavirus fears Ethiopia said it has quarantined four people suspected of contracting the novel coronavirus. The suspected cases were identified through a screening conducted at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and the four have been quarantined at the Bole Tafa centre, the Ethiopian health ministry and Public Health Institute said in a joint press statement. All four suspects came from Wuhan city in Hubei province in China where the virus is taking the biggest toll and where it was first identified, it said. The specimen[s] from the four suspects have been sent to South Africa for further examination, the statement said. US asks China for more cooperation and transparency on virus US Health Secretary Alex Azar urged China to be open and transparent about the new coronavirus that has hit the country, while also saying travel restrictions must remain an option on the table. Azar said the US was offering Beijing assistance. We are urging China: More cooperation and transparency are the most important steps you can take to a more effective response, Azar said at a press conference in Washington. German authorities expand travel measures against coronavirus Germany will introduce new reporting requirements for airlines and hospitals to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus from China, Health Minister Jens Spahn says. Pilots on flights from China will have to inform air traffic control towers about the health status of their passengers before landing at German airports. Incoming travellers from China will also be asked to fill out forms that detail how they can be reached in the 30 days after their arrival. The airlines are to keep this information on file during that time so that contact can be made in cases of infection for instance, in cases where they seek details on who was sitting next to whom. Coronavirus: How residents cope with life under lockdown in Wuhan Residents of the Chinese city of Wuhan are finding creative ways to combat the boredom of life under quarantine as the country seeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. Videos on Chinese social media give tips on how to cope indoors, which include breaking out in impromptu lion dances and fishing indoors. One couple turned their dining table into a makeshift tennis table to play ping-pong. More here. Virus in China affects sports events, Olympic qualifiers Amid growing concern over the spread of a new virus outbreak in China, international sports have been postponed and Olympic qualifying tournaments are being taken elsewhere. The decision by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to postpone Pro League games in China follows qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics scheduled in February in soccer, basketball and boxing being moved outside of China. The Chinese womens team in field hockey was due to host Belgium for two games on February 8-9 in Changzhou. Those were postponed by the FIH citing current uncertainties around the outbreak of the coronavirus in China. Japanese coach driver catches coronavirus from Wuhan tourists A Japanese coach driver has been infected with the new coronavirus after coming into contact with Chinese visitors, officials said. This was the first reported case of a possible transmission inside Japan. The man in his 60s from Nara Prefecture had contact with people from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Japans health ministry said. The Japanese driver began showing symptoms on January 14 and was hospitalised 11 days later, according to the health ministry statement. A ministry official, briefing reporters, said the driver had been in close contact with 18 people. Taiwan confirms first coronavirus patient Taiwan has reported the first case of coronavirus contracted on its soil and says it will start tracking the location of people who may have been infected with the virus. Taiwans Central Epidemic Command Centre (CECC) says a Taiwanese male in his 50s contracted the illness in Taiwan after his wife returned from a trip to the Chinese city of Wuhan. This is Taiwans first indigenous case and he was infected by a family member, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said in a televised news conference. Sri Lanka stops issuing visas on arrival to Chinese citizens Sri Lanka suspended issuing visas on arrival to Chinese tourists as a measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Speaking to reporters at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, Sri Lankan Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said the suspension would take immediate effect. Hereafter, they [Chinese nationals] have to submit their visa application while in China before arriving in Sri Lanka, Wanniarachchi said. Sri Lanka reported one confirmed case as Tuesday afternoon [Reuters] India gearing up to evacuate citizens from China Raveesh Kumar, spokesman for the Indian foreign ministry, said the country is preparing to evacuate citizens from Chinas Hubei province. Authorities were working out the logistics of moving people out of the city which is under lockdown, he said on Twitter. Local media reported earlier that an Air India plane was on standby to evacuate an estimated 250 Indians from Wuhan. #CoronaVirusOutbreak Update We have begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China. (1/2) Anurag Srivastava (@MEAIndia) January 28, 2020 German patient caught virus via human-to-human transmission Germanys first confirmed coronavirus patient caught the disease from a Chinese colleague who visited Germany last week, officials said. The Chinese employee, a woman from Shanghai, started to feel sick on the flight home on January 23, Andreas Zapf, head of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, said at a news conference. A 33-year-old German, with whom she had attended a meeting in Bavaria, tested positive for the virus on Monday evening. Read more here. Up to 1,000 French nationals currently in Wuhan: Minister French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said there were currently between 500 and 1,000 French nationals in the Chinese city that is the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak. We know our internal system has identified 500 French nationals (in Wuhan) but we think there might potentially be 500 more on the spot, she said during a news conference. They dont all want to come home. Hong Kong suspends train and ferry services to mainland Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the high-speed rail service between the city and mainland China would be on hold from January 30, and all cross-border ferry services would also be suspended in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus. Wearing a green face mask, Lam told a press briefing the number of flights to mainland China would also be halved and personal travel permits for mainland Chinese to the city would be suspended. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam wears a mask at the press briefing [Tyrone Siu/Reuters] City of Moscow takes safety measures over virus Moscow authorities have put in place special safety measures at hotels and tourist sites due to fears over the outbreak of coronavirus, Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of the Russian capital, said. We have taken special control of hotels and other places where tourists gather en masse. When alarming signs appear, emergency medical teams will be sent to carry out a thorough examination, he wrote on his website. Here is information on the situation in the countries with confirmed coronavirus cases. WHO confident in Chinas ability to contain coronavirus WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was confident in Chinas ability to control and contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to state news agency Xinhua. At a meeting with authorities in Beijing, Tedros urged calm and said he did not advocate the evacuation of foreign nationals currently in China, according to Xinhua. Turkey urges citizens to avoid travel to Hubei Turkey urged its citizens not to undertake any nonessential travel to China. In a statement, the foreign ministry warned Turkish citizens who had to travel to China to stay away from the regions where the [coronavirus] cases are seen, especially in Hubei province. It added that Turkish citizens who live in China and have to travel to other parts of the country should take health precautions. Thailand confirms six more infections, starts screening A health official in Thailand confirmed six more coronavirus infections among visitors from China, bringing the total in the southeast Asian nation to 14. Five of the six new cases aged between six and 70 years old are members of one family from Hubei, the deputy director-general of the Department of Disease Control, Tanarak Plipat, told reporters. The other patient was from Chongqing. Thailand will now scan all passengers arriving from China, said Public Health Permanent Secretary Sukhum Kanchanapimai. China urges citizens to delay foreign travel over virus fears China urged its citizens to postpone trips abroad as the country expands a massive effort to contain a viral outbreak that has killed more than 100 people nationwide. The travel recommendation was issued to protect the health and safety of Chinese and foreign people, the National Immigration Administration said in a statement. Thailand is a popular destination with tourists from China [Rungroj Yongrit/EPA] Chinese nationals took almost 150 million trips abroad in 2018, according to Xinhua. Japan to send charter flight to Wuhan to bring citizens home Japans government will send a chartered flight to Wuhan on Tuesday night to evacuate its nationals who wish to return home. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters the flight would carry approximately 200 passengers but that about 650 Japanese citizens were hoping to return to Japan. He said the government was making arrangements for additional flights that will leave for Wuhan as early as Wednesday. Asian markets fall on coronavirus worries Stockmarkets in Asia continued to fall on Tuesday, dragged down by worries the coronavirus outbreak in China could curb economic growth. Chinese markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays as stocks in Japan, Australia and South Korea dropped. China imposed travel restrictions and monitoring, including temperature checks, in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus [Thomas Peter/Reuters] While the step-up in remedial and preventive measures to curb and contain, as well as transparency, have vastly improved from SARS, fears of a global contagion are not put to bed, said Vishnu Varathan at Mizuho Bank in Singapore. SARS began in China in 2002, before spreading around the world over the following year, leaving some 800 people dead. Read more here on how the coronavirus is affecting markets and the potential consequences for the Hong Kong economy here. Philippines suspends visas on arrival for China tourists The Philippines Bureau of Immigration said on Tuesday it would temporarily stop issuing visas on arrival for tourists from mainland China. We are taking this proactive measure to slow down travel, and possibly help prevent the entry of the 2019-nCoV, Jaime Morente, the bureaus commissioner said in a statement. Facebook asks employees to put off non-essential travel to China Facebook has instructed employees to suspend nonessential travel to mainland China to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Employees who need to travel to China require special authorisation and all China-based employees as well as those recently returned from there have been urged to work from home. China virus death toll jumps to 106, nearly 1,300 new cases The death toll in China from the coronavirus outbreak has soared to 106 with nearly 1,300 new cases confirmed, authorities said on Tuesday. The health commission in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic, said 24 more people had died from the virus and 1,291 more people were infected, raising the total number of confirmed cases to at least 4,515 nationwide. Germany reports first case of coronavirus Germany has reported its first case of the novel coronavirus in the southern region of Bavaria, the Bavarian health ministry said on Monday. Paramilitary police at Tiananmen Gate in Beijing on Monday [Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo] A man in the Starnberg region has been infected with the new coronavirus, a spokesman for the ministry said, adding that he is under surveillance in an isolation ward. The ministry gave no further details on how the patient came to be infected but said he was in a medically good state. US tells citizens to avoid all nonessential travel to China, as it prepares evacuation The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday escalated its warning level for China to its highest level, 3 Avoid Nonessential Travel, because of the novel coronavirus. The CDC advised anyone who did have to travel to the country to undertake the standard precautions: avoiding sick people, keeping away from food markets and animals, and washing hands thoroughly and frequently. It added that older people and those with underlying health issues were more at risk. Beijing suspends most bus services to neighbouring Hebei Chinas Beijing Public Transport Group said it would suspend most bus services into neighbouring Hebei province from Tuesday to contain the spread of coronavirus, according to a statement on its official Weibo account. Tangshan city suspends public transit to prevent spread of coronavirus Tangshan, Chinas largest steelmaking city in northern Hebei province, announced on Tuesday morning that it was suspending all public transport within the city in an effort to prevent the further spread of the new coronavirus. South Korea going all-out to contain virus outbreak South Korea on Tuesday said it was going all-out to contain the coronavirus outbreak as it confirmed its fourth case of the infection. The government will be all-out to protect citizens and minimise its impact on the economy, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in a policy meeting in Seoul. Hong said the government will use an existing emergency fund for efforts to contain the virus. The fund is part of the existing budget, including 20.8 billion wones ($17.8m) set aside for anti-epidemic measures. Canada says to avoid all travel to Hubei province, citing travel restrictions Canada has told its citizens to avoid all travel to Chinas Hubei province, as a second person the wife of a man who was first found to have the coronavirus was diagnosed with the infection in the Canadian city of Toronto. Read updates from Monday, January 27 here. Russia will complete the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project, head of Gazprom Export Elena Burmistrova said speaking at the European Gas Conference. She stressed that the pipeline is currently 94% complete. The head of Gazprom Export also said that last year, Gazproms export to non-CIS countries amounted to 199.3 bln cubic meters of gas, including 382 mln cubic meters delivered to China. According to Burmistrova, Gazprom expect its export to Europe to remain at the level that has been achieved over the past years with adjustments that are related to weather conditions. Following the U.S. sanctions imposed on December 20, Allseas, a Swiss company laying the pipes for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, suspended its work on the project and recalled its ships. A leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund, a lecturer at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Igor Yushkov told Vestnik Kavkaza that Russia will complete the Nord Stream-2 in about a year. "Nowadays, the modernization of the Akademik Chersky ship is underway so that it can lay a pipe of the desired diameter on the bottom of the Baltic Sea," he explained. "For Russia it does not make sense to rush, because the transit contract with Ukraine has a rather strict condition on which the pumping volume is calculated daily. While we are fulfilling this agreement, there is time for competent preparation. Russia needs to assemble a full-fledged fleet of supply vessels that will haul pipes for the Akademik Chersky ship, if it is chosen to finish the laying - and expect that each such vessel will fall under sanctions," Igor Yushkov concluded. Hyderabad: Aspirants who spent large amounts of money to get elected to civic bodies, especially on the city outskirts, have unwittingly won a crown of thorns. The Municipal Act gives them very little power but loads them with responsibilities. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and municipal administration minister K.T. Rama Rao had repeatedly warned aspirants to read the municipal Act prior to filing nominations. They realised the true picture only after they were elected as mayors of municipal and chairpersons of municipalities. They cannot sign cheques for the development of their wards. Most powers rest with the municipal commissioner and district collectors. The elected representatives can be sacked at any time for issues like poor sanitation, survival rate of less than 85 per cent of saplings planted in Haritha Haaram, mosquito menace, road damage and even for erecting unauthorised hoardings. Collectors and commissioner can cancel any resolution passed by the civic body and even suspend chairpersons. Even Cabinet ministers cannot stay the orders, unlike previously. However, the party has indirectly assured them said that they could deal with real estate activity since 60 per cent of panchayats are converted into municipalities and municipal corporations. Most of the corporators are realtors. Realty is booming in the municipal corporation areas of Badangpet, Bandlaguda, Peerzadiguda, Jawahar-nagar, Meerpet, Boduppal and Nizampet on the city outskirts which are in HMDA jurisdiction. The provision in the Municipal Act to get deemed approval for buildings constructed on plots of less than 500 square metres and and constructions less than 10 metres in height without official interference is a major boost. Sources said that the Municipal Act would be would extremely useful for citizens, which gives the option of self certification for plots less than 75 square metres, online building permission, ensuring greenery for which representatives would made accountable, better sanitation and corruption at the ground level. Failte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, is bringing history to life in Tipperary Town as it launches an expansion of its Historic Towns Trail initiative. The initiative, in partnership with the Tipperary local authority and local historian Des Murnane, will showcase the stories behind the historic town of Tipperary through modern and newly updated Historic Towns Trail signage designed to share the stories that shaped the towns history with visitors. The Historic Towns Trails are designed to encourage visitors to stay longer and explore the wider region. Tipperary Town is the latest location in Irelands Ancient East to have the new signage installed with a further two towns, Fethard and Cashel set to benefit over the coming months. Working with local authorities and historians, Failte Ireland has uncovered interesting and lesser known facts and stories from each areas history. Content is displayed through wayfinding, interpretation, photography and maps at key locations across each town. Failte Irelands Justine Carey, Manager of Irelands Ancient East in Tipperary, said: History and storytelling are at the core of the Irelands Ancient East brand and the Historic Towns Trails signage unveiled in Tipperary Town will help shape a compelling and engaging visitor experience for tourists to the town. The Irelands Ancient East brand has had significant impact across the region, with visitor numbers and revenue continuing to grow at a strong rate. The aim of this initiative is to encourage tourists to explore and stay in the region for longer, increase spend and help to drive revenue for local businesses. Updated signage was installed last year in Louth, Wexford, Waterford, Carlow, Cork, Meath, Kildare and Monaghan. Jump to top Brussels is demanding its judges keep control after Britain leaves the European Union, it emerged last night. The bloc is calling for judges to have the power to rule on any post-Brexit agreement with the UK. According to an internal diplomatic document, the bloc wants the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to be able to enforce the terms of a trade, fishing and security deal. Under previous talks, negotiators insisted that the UK follows the EU's rules and regulations in areas such as state aid and environmental protection - in a bid to try and prevent unfair competition. According to an internal diplomatic document, the bloc wants the European Court of Justice (pictured) to be able to enforce the terms of a trade, fishing and security deal But new unprecedented proposals, seen by the Times, go even further. The proposals, briefed to European diplomats, insist that the ECJ must have a role in ruling whether the UK has breached any rules that it signs up to. The ECJ is based in Luxembourg and rules on matter of EU law. The leaked document states that the 'UK is a partner like no other', citing its 'geographic proximity... economic interdependence and connectedness'. The document goes beyond existing free trade agreements to 'ensure consistent interpretation of the agreement and secure the role of the (ECJ) in this respect'. It also states it is 'seeking inspiration' from the government's withdrawal treaty, which gives the ECJ a significant enforcement role. This suggests the EU will make significant demands linking Europe's markets to judicial supervision by European judges. The move - days before Brexit - was condemned by Brexiteers who called on Boris Johnson to 'walk away' from such talks. The move - days before Brexit - was condemned by Brexiteers who called on Boris Johnson to 'walk away' from such talks Former cabinet minister Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: 'We have simply got to say no,' he said. 'Nobody in their right minds would accept this and if they continue to pursue this then we simply have to walk away.' Downing Street sources also rejected the proposal. A source told the newspaper that the European court was 'by very definition not a neutral arbiter'. It comes as the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the UK's insistence on moving away from Brussels-made laws and the scrutiny of its judges meant trade without some form of customs checks was 'impossible'. Speaking in Belfast, he said: 'The UK has chosen to become a third country, to leave the single market and the customs union, to leave behind the EU's framework of common rules, common supervision and common Court of Justice. 'It has chosen to create two regulatory spaces. This makes frictionless trade impossible. It makes checks indispensable.' In further comments that will be set to worry Brexiteers, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also indicated that Brussels would look for concessions on fishing in exchange for the UK's financial services industry to have better access to the European single market. The Vote Leave campaign vowed that Britain would be able to have control of who fishes in UK territorial waters upon leaving the EU and the common fisheries policy (CFP). At present, the CFP dictates how much British fishermen can catch and where, and fishermen have often complained they do not get a fair share of what is caught in UK waters. The Taoiseach told the BBC: 'What happens in these things is trade offs. 'You may have to make concessions in areas like fishing in order to get concessions from us in areas like financial services.' Responding to the comments, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's official spokesman said: 'We are going to be taking control of our fishing waters. We have been clear on that.' Photo: CTV News UPDATE 10:50 a.m. B.C.'s provincial health officer says she would be absolutely surprised if we did not see more cases of the novel coronavirus in the province, following the announcement of the first confirmed case in B.C. During Tuesday morning's announcement, Dr. Bonnie Henry says due to the frequency of travel between China and B.C., and family connections, she expects more cases to be confirmed in B.C. in the coming weeks. Despite this, Dr. Henry says the risk of infection of the virus in B.C. is "still extremely low." The man who'd been diagnosed with the virus currently remains in isolation at home, but he is "doing well." Dr. Henry says the man was not symptomatic on his flight home, and was therefore not contagious, but officials in China have said the virus can in fact spread before a person is symptomatic. Dr. Henry said to be careful about those reports from China though. The BC Centre for Disease Control is currently testing a number of patients for the novel coronavirus, and Dr. Henry says because the number of tests conducted "changes on an hourly basis," they will be posting the number of tests completed at the end of each week. She cautioned people from getting their information on the spread of the virus from social media, pointing to rumours that can quickly spread. She says they will be immediately announcing additional positive diagnoses. More than 100 people have died from the virus in China, while more than 4,500 people have been diagnosed worldwide. UPDATE 10:25 a.m. B.C.'s Minister of Health, Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, have issued a joint statement regarding a case of a novel coronavirus: "The person is a male in his forties and a resident in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. He travels regularly to China for work and was in Wuhan city on his most recent trip. He returned to Vancouver last week and had an onset of symptoms after his return. "On Sunday, Jan. 26, he followed public health messaging, contacted a primary health-care provider to notify them that he had travelled to Wuhan city, was experiencing symptoms and would be coming for assessment and care. Following established protocols, the primary-care provider notified the Vancouver Coastal Health medical health officer and administered the diagnostic test. Late last night, the test came back positive. Public health officials are in regular contact with the individual and a small number of close contacts. He is in isolation at home." "The risk of spread of this virus within British Columbia remains low at this time. All necessary precautions are being taken to prevent the spread of infection. We have multiple systems in place to prepare for, detect and respond, in order to prevent the spread of serious infectious diseases in the province," says Henry. "It is not necessary for the general public to take special precautions beyond the usual measures recommended to prevent other common respiratory viruses during the winter period. Regular handwashing, coughing or sneezing into your elbow sleeve, disposing of tissues appropriately and avoiding contact with sick people are important ways to prevent the spread of respiratory illness generally." ORIGINAL 10:17 a.m. The first case of coronavirus in B.C has been confirmed. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry confirms B.C.'s first novel coronavirus case. A man in his 40s who lives in the Vancouver Coastal Health region recently returned from a trip to Wuhan, China. B.C.'s health minister is updating the latest information in a press conference in Vancouver right now. The case was confirmed Monday night. The unidentified male, in his 40s, is a resident of Metro Vancouver, but he travelled to Wuhan last week and was assessed on Sunday. The man put himself into voluntary self-isolation at his home after returning from China. He admits he has had a small number of contacts with immediate family and health officials are confident they've reached everyone he came into contact with. The man was not symptomatic on his return flight from Wuhan, and therefore not considered contagious. After Shaheen Bagh, a key site of the anti-CAA and NRC stir, Nizamuddin area in the national capital could become the another hotbed of protests. Around 500 people have gathered at a spot in the area, set up tents and are camping there since Sunday. It could clog the vehicular movement on the Barapullah flyover, creating traffic snarls on both sides of it. "We are protesting in a peaceful manner without causing inconvenience to anyone," is the common refrain of protestors. The protesters, mostly residents of the rural pockets of Nizamuddin, had gathered there, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), south-east, Chinmoy Biswal told IANS on Monday. Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik has been briefed about Nizamuddin protests. Since the matter is considered "sensitive", no police officer is willing to talk about it. On being asked, DCP Biswal said it was "peaceful". Around 300-400 women and children were sitting in a park, he said and added, the main road was open. The Delhi Police brass is facing a challenging task to make protesters understand that the sit-in could create traffic jams, routes diversion and closure of roads causing inconvenience to commuters. Due to the Shaheen Bagh protests, the traffic on the Noida-Delhi road that passes through Sarita Vihar, Kalindi Kunj and DND flyway has been affected. The police have put up barricades on the Noida-Kalindi Kunj-Sarita Vihar route. According to intelligence sources, the protest, in due course, may grow bigger and spill over on to roads. And if that happens, Barapullah flyover would be affected. A Nizamuddin police station officer said, "The instruction is to keep an eye on the protesters and ensure they don't get any opportunity to create disturbances." When the police on Sunday tried to prevent protesters from setting up tents, the women confronted the cops. "We are not here to cause any damage. We will just sit peacefully. Without tents, it will be difficult for us and children during the cold nights," one woman said. On Monday, despite the police objections, tents sprang up on the spot. Former prime minister Tony Abbott has called for middle class women to have more children, saying current rates of childbirth among this group were a "real problem". Mr Abbott, who tried unsuccessfully to get a generous paid parental leave scheme through Parliament, said conservative governments should try to encourage more working women to have more children. Former PM Tony Abbott said low birth rates among middle class women is "a real problem in every western country." Credit:AAP "While I'm all in favour of stay-at-home-mums if that's their choice, I do think that a properly conservative government, acknowledging that having a family is one of the most wonderful things that anyone can do, would make it easier for women in the workforce to have more kids," Mr Abbott said at the Centre for Independent Studies. "That is a real problem in every western country: middle class women do not have enough kids. Women in the welfare system have lots of kids," Mr Abbott said. "If you're very wealthy you can afford to have as many kids as you want." Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Definition: Thioglycolic Acid Market, as per the recently released study report by Market Research Future (MRFR), is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 3.8% during the forecast period. The market is primarily driven by the rising demand for high purity grade TGA in leather processing chemicals, oilfield chemicals, and PVC heat stabilizer applications. Moreover, it is also reported that the market is gaining pressing demand from the personal care and cosmetics industry. This is most likely expected to support the growth of the market in the forthcoming years. The evolving consumer lifestyle and changing perspective towards their own personal health and wellbeing is projected to spike the demand graphs for thioglycolic acid. Lastly, the booming youth demographic and the high disposable income among these consumer group is also forecasted to be a key factor positively impacting the global thioglycolic acid market in the coming years. Market Overview and Growth Factors: However, if exposed for long periods of time, certain thioglycolic acids can be fatal as they are carcinogenic in impact. The price of the product is inversely dependent upon the availability of raw materials. This is another key factor that can severely hamper the growth trajectory of the market during the forecast period. Thioglycolic acid or TGA is an organic compound that is often referred to as mercaptoacetic acid. It is a colorless liquid with a highly unpleasant odor and comprises the functional groups of thiol and carboxylic acid. Competitive Landscape: The global Thioglycolic Acid Industry is expanding with decent numbers. A major factor pushing the growth of the market is the presence of various prominent players. Some of the key players anticipated to boost the market positively are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Bruno Bock Chemische Fabrik GmbH & Co. KG, Arkema, Merck KGaA, Qingdao LNT Chemical Co. Ltd., Daicel Corporation, Tokyo Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., and others. Market Segmentation: The global Thioglycolic Acid Market segmentation is done on the basis of type and application. By type, the market segments into low purity grade, high purity grade, and technical grade. The high purity grade segment holds the maximum potential and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.06% with a projected reach of USD 56,532.2 million by the end of the forecast period. By application, the market includes PVC heat stabilizer, cosmetics, oilfield chemicals, leather processing chemicals, metals recovery, cleaning formulations, chain transfer agent, and others. The cosmetics segment is reported to garner a growth rate of 4.17% during the review period. Furthermore, the valuation of the market is expected to reach an approximate figure of USD 39,676 million by 2025. Regional Analysis: The regional segmentation of the global thioglycolic acid market covers the following regions: Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, and the Middle East & Africa. The Asia Pacific region holds the dominant share in the global market and is growing with each passing year. The region holds 42.49% market share and is expected to grow with the fastest CAGR of 4.24% during the forecast period. The region is further anticipated to reach a market valuation of USD 50,289.4 million by the end of the forecast period; strikingly higher than the other covered regions. The regional market is spearheaded by China, which contributes significantly to the overall growth and revenue generation of the Asia Pacific region. North America holds the second largest share in the global market and is expected to grow significantly in the forthcoming years of the forecast period. The valuation of the market is calculated to touch USD 25,646.8 million by the end of 2025. A monumental share of the overall North American regional market can be attributed to the US, which holds a massive potential and is anticipated to achieve USD 19,956 million by the end of the forecast period. The European market stands third in the global regional standings. However, the region is expected to significantly contribute to the overall welfare of the global market. The European region is primarily spearheaded by countries like the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and others. Among these pioneering nations, Germany hogs the spotlight with the largest market share and is forecasted to reach a valuation of USD 5,246.7 million by 2025. Access Complete Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/thioglycolic-acid-market-6453 Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, popularly known as IRCTC, is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations, which now works abroad. IRCTC Tourism offers unmatched service to people with its international tour packages. IRCTC already has tie-ups with the best hotels and guides, who know the city inside out and take you on a complete tour. Recently, IRCTC announced new travelling packages to Malaysia, Singapore and Nepal. Check out the details. Also Read | IRCTC's Course Correction: Kerala Food Items On The Menu After Passengers Complain Malaysia and Singapore Malaysia is a diverse country in terms of landscapes, culture and activities. While Malaysia is famous for Penangs UNESCO-listed George Town and Malaccas historical core, Singapore is also one of the most preferred options for travellers. From open-air building forests to housing a diverse natural habitat, Singapore has an interesting history and beauty worth checking out. IRCTC Zonal Office, Mumbai offers "Mesmerising Singapore & Malaysia", one of the most affordable all-inclusive tour packages, covering the mesmerising attractions of Singapore & Malaysia. Take a look: Also Read | Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express, IRCTC's Second Train, To Be Flagged Off On Jan 17 Package Details Package Name Mesmerizing Singapore & Malaysia Ex Mumbai Destination Covered Singapore & Malaysia Travelling Mode By Malindo Air Frequency 24.04.2020 to 30.04.2020 Available Seats 32 Hotel Name Singapore: IBIS MC Pherson/ IBIS Novena/ Aqueen Lavender/ Aqueen Jalan Besar or similar Kuala Lumpur: IBIS style F & B Park/ Hotel Pearl International/ Ancasa Hotel & Spa or similar Cost: Occupancy Prices (Per Person) Single Occupancy Rs. 103630/- Double Occupancy Rs. 87890/- Triple Occupancy Rs. 87890/- Child(05 - 11yrs) with bed Rs. 79840/- Child (02 - 11yrs) without bed Rs. 71670/- Infant (0 - 2yrs) Rs. 27390/- Kathmandu, Chitwan and Pokhara Considered as one of the most alluring places on earth, Nepal is undoubtedly blessed with natural and unsullied beauty. Unlike other hill stations in the world, the most beautiful places worth visiting in Nepal are nothing related to man-made forts and museums. Also Read | Japan's Pod Hotel Concept Coming To Indian Railways; IRCTC Picks Mumbai Central Package Details Package Name Mystical Nepal Destination Covered Kathmandu, Chitwan & Pokhara Travelling Mode Flight ex Mumbai Duration 7 Nights and 8 Days Tour Date 24.04.2020 to 01.05.2020 Meal Plan MAP (Breakfast & Dinner) Total Seats 30 Pax Cost: Occupancy Package Cost Per Person ex Mumbai Adult on Single Occupancy Rs. 57990/- Adult on Double/ Triple Occupancy Rs. 49690/- A child with Bed (5 -11 years) Rs. 48500/- Child without Bed (2 -11 years) Rs. 37890/- Infant (0 - 2 years) Rs. 14000/- Note: *Child fare of age 0-2 years would be deposit in cash by the customer at IRCTC office at the time of booking. Also Read | Wow! IRCTC To Launch Indian Railways First Pod Hotel At Mumbai Central Station By Dec 2020 (Promo Image: Shutterstock) By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 27, 2020 | 10:12 PM | PADUCAH The River Discovery Center hosted the Paducah Ambassadors, Wall to Wall Board, City officials and the Visitors Bureau to honor Gerry Montgomery during a book presentation and lots of photo taking Monday morning. Her involvement with the 24/7 art and history project from its inception and her visionary leadership through the past 25 years, made the ceremony extra meaningful. Books had been delivered to ten retail stores prior to the event. Those locations are listed on the website: Art Guild of Paducah, bbQ & More, Hank Brothers-both southside and Lone Oak locations, Maiden Alley Cinema, Midtown Market, National Quilt Museum, PAPA Art Gallery, Roof Brothers on Park Avenue and Wagner Wine and Spirits. The books sell for $10 each. All proceeds support future mural maintenance. Montgomery was surrounded by fellow Red Coats as she opened the book, signed by all who were present. She created the all-volunteer Ambassador program when she was mayor-over 30 years ago. The organization has grown through the years and is more involved than ever welcoming visitors and serving as guides, greeters and offering general hospitality during local events. "We view these murals like a beautifully illustrated diary of our past as we look forward to our future," commented Wall to Wall Board Chair Fowler Black as he presented the first book to Montgomery. Paducah native Nathan Brown is the graphic artist who photographed, designed and was the creative eye for this new book. He included a few photos from local photographers to give readers a feel of the project's beauty year round and from different perspectives. "The Paducah Wall to Wall Board was thrilled to see the new book and could not have been more pleased with the new design and content. We hope to have these in the hands of everyone interested in this magnificent project," said Ro Morse, project director. Hank Brothers True Value in Lone Oak and on the South Side and the River Discovery Center will ship the books for anyone interested in sending copies to friends and family. The Greeting the Queens mural was originally sponsored by Ambassador, Jim Grisham, who dedicated it in memory of his wife Jo Grisham. Both Jim and Jo worked tirelessly with the organization in their retirement years. The image was painted from a photo taken on July 2, 1996 when the American Queen, Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen all docked simultaneously at the Port of Paducah. Jim and Jo are the two Red Coats in the foreground on far left. The Ambassadors were on shore with their red umbrellas, waving at passengers on the steamboats. Quite the sight on Paducah's riverfront! Glen Arterburn, graphic designer and Paducah native, just launched the newly designed paducahwalltowall.com website this week. "Fantastic!" commented Gayle Frye, long-time Wall to Wall Board member. Frye was the Parks Director when the Dafford Mural project began in 1996 and has continued to serve on the board through these 25 painting seasons. "This new site has the potential to remind the world how amazing Paducah is now and has been for hundreds of years," remarked Morse. "We are delighted with this much improved creative connection to the project." Muralists Robert Dafford and Herb Roe will be in town this spring to inventory the 50+ murals in preparation for summer maintenance. There will be more celebration events planned and opportunities for book signings and time with the artists. Entering its 25th painting season, Paducah Wall to Wall celebrates with a new Dafford Murals book, dedicated to former Mayor Gerry Montgomery, and a newly designed website that includes all the images on the wall, the project's history and much more. Check it out - linked below. On the Net: BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Elnur Baghishov - Trend: As many as 100,000 tons of products worth $120 million were exported via customs of Irans Qom province during ten months (March 21-Jan. 20) of this Iranian year (began March 21, 2019), said Director General of the Qom Customs Administration Mohammad Khalili, Trend reports via IRNA. Khalili noted that the products were mainly exported to Iraq, Afghanistan, the UAE, India, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. The director general said that various pellets, footwear, lead ingots, rubber, chemical and hydrocarbon products were mainly exported. Products worth $250 million were imported from South Korea, China, India, Italy, the UAE, Turkey, Japan and other countries, Khalili added. The director general noted that 530,000 tons of products were imported in the months, such as - mainly cars, motorcycle spare parts, acrylic fibers, washing machine spare parts, etc. Customs revenues for the mentioned period amounted to 371 billion rials (about $8.8 million), the customs official noted. [January 28, 2020] Axalta's Regina M. Tracy Named One of PR News' Top Women in PR PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Axalta (NYSE: AXTA) announced that Regina M. Tracy, Head of North America Communications and Senior Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), was named one of PRNews' Top Women in PR for 2019. The annual awards ceremony, which took place today in New York City, recognizes women at the pinnacle of their PR career who have made strides in content creation, social media marketing, crisis management, brand reputation and other areas of public relations during the past year. "Being recognized alongside so many strong women and hardworking trailblazers in the PR industry is a true honor," said Regina M. Tracy, Head of North America Communications and Senior Manager of CSR. "I am thrilled to be a part of this impressive and talented group of professionals." "The impact that women have had on the public relations industry over the past several years has fundamentally changed and improved our craft," said Robert C. Ferris, Axalta Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer. "Diversity of thought makes for consistently better outcomes for companies, whether for a new product launch, a strategic business initiative or in the dialogue of a board room. Regina's knowledge, passion and dedication to Axalta makes us better, and we are proud to have her on our team." Ms. Tracy's vision and leadership have helped to drive results and further establish Axalta as a global leader in liquid and powder coatings. In 2018, she helped make history by supporting the opening of Axalta's Global Innovation Center the world's largest research and development (R&D) center dedicated to coatings. Located in Philadelphia's historic Navy Yard, the center enables collaboration among Axalta employees, partners and customers throughout the region and beyond. Passionate about corporate philanthropy, Ms. Tracy leads the company's Axalta Bright Futures CSR programming in the U.S. and Canada. Axalta Bright Futures supports science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, environmental stewardship and the well-being of the communities where the company's employees live, work and raise their families. She also leads the Axalta All-Pro Teachers program in partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles. Last year marked the fifth anniversary of a partnership that, to date, has recognized 50 teachers for their exceptional work of bringing innovative STEM education to their students and schools in the Greater Philadelphia Area. Additionally, she played a key role in helping Axalta achieve the Ducks Unlimited Corporate Conservation Achievement Award in 2019, which recognizes corporations from the U.S., Canada or Mexico that have made extraordinary contributions to wetlands conservation and environmental stewardship. Together, Axalta and Ducks Unlimited have conserved more than 13,500 acres of wetlands. Ms. Tracy served as co-chair of the Axalta's Women's Network and currently serves on Axalta's Americas Leadership Team. She is a resident of Philadelphia and an active member of her local community. About Axalta Axalta is a leading global company focused solely on coatings and providing customers with innovative, colorful, beautiful and sustainable solutions. From light OEM vehicles, commercial vehicles and refinish applications to electric motors, buildings and pipelines, our coatings are designed to prevent corrosion, increase productivity and enable the materials we coat to last longer. With more than 150 years of experience in the coatings industry, the 14,000 people of Axalta continue to find ways to serve our more than 100,000 customers in 130 countries better every day with the finest coatings, application systems and technology. For more information visit axalta.com and follow us @Axalta on Twitter and on LinkedIn. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/axaltas-regina-m-tracy-named-one-of-pr-news-top-women-in-pr-300994711.html SOURCE Axalta [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A prison is seen in Hargeisa, Somaliland, on March 29, 2011. Somaliland authorities recently sentenced journalist Abdirahman Mohamed Hiddig to 21 months in prison. (AP/Katharine Houreld) Nairobi, January 28, 2020 -- Authorities in Somaliland should immediately release journalist Abdirahman Mohamed Hiddig from prison and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 15, authorities in the town of Erigavo, in the eastern Sanaag region, detained Abdirahman, a reporter with the privately owned broadcaster Eryal TV, according to representatives of two regional press freedom groups, Yahye Mohamed, executive director of the Somaliland Journalists Association, and Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, secretary general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate, both of whom spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The arrest was sparked by a complaint from Mohamed Abdirahman Liban, the deputy manager of the breakaway region's government-owned printing press, about a post on Abdirahman's professional Facebook page, the two press groups said in separate statements. Abdirahman had previously been detained in December 2019 in connection to the same complaint, and was released on bond on January 4, Abdalle said. Following his arrest on January 15, authorities brought Abdirahman before a court where he was tried without a lawyer present and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, according to the statements by the press groups and Abdisamed Giirre, an Eryal TV journalist who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Abdisamed said he did not know what Abdirahman was charged with, and the statements do not specify any charges. CPJ was unable to determine the exact charge that Abdirahman faced. The court also fined Abdirahman 6 million Somaliland shillings ($700), according to Yahye, who told CPJ that an appeal has been filed on Abdirahman's behalf. Somaliland authorities must immediately release journalist Abdirahman Mohamed Hiddig from prison and cease jailing reporters for their work, said CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo. Sentencing a journalist to 21 months in prison after a sham trial without a lawyer present is an outrage. Abdirahman frequently posts political commentary and clips of his journalism on his public Facebook page, which has about 5,000 followers. In a December 2019 post beginning with Breaking news, Abdirahman alleged that Mohamed, the deputy manager of the printing press, did not support a peace process in El-Afwein, a town in the Sanaag region, according to the Somali Journalists Syndicate statement and a screenshot of the post, which CPJ reviewed and which has since been deleted. The journalist is being held in Erigavo district prison, Abdisamed and Yahye said. When CPJ called Mohamed Abdirahman Liban for comment yesterday, he told CPJ that he was in a meeting and said he would call back later. When CPJ called back today, he declined to comment. CPJ emailed Somaliland Attorney General Hassan Aden for comment but did not receive a response. Over the past year, Somaliland authorities have arrested journalists, shut down outlets, blocked websites, and detained reporters carrying out their work. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 Trend: Fitch Ratings has affirmed State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic's (SOCAR) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and senior unsecured rating at 'BB+'. The Outlook is Stable. SOCAR's rating is aligned with Azerbaijan's rating (BB+/Stable),Trend reports citing Fitch. SOCAR is Azerbaijan's national oil company and is fully owned by the state. SOCAR's Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) corresponds to 'b+', with high leverage the main rating constraint. The company's IDR is aligned with that of Azerbaijan in view of their strong ties based on Fitch's Government-Related Entities (GRE) Rating Criteria. The alignment is underpinned by state support provided to the company in the form of financial guarantees, cash contributions and equity injections, as well as SOCAR's social functions and its importance as a state vehicle for the development of oil and gas projects. SOCAR's rating is aligned with that of the state given their close ties. Most oil and gas projects in Azerbaijan operate as concessions, where SOCAR has a minority stake and where it also represents the state and is involved in marketing the latter's share of crude oil and gas (profit oil). In addition, SOCAR has stakes in some other major energy projects promoted by the state, such as the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC). The rating alignment is also supported by SOCAR's social role. One of its key functions is production and sale of fuel at regulated prices to the domestic market, which are enough to cover the company's operating cash costs but are lower than international prices. Also, SOCAR employs more than 50,000 people in Azerbaijan. We align SOCAR's rating with that of Azerbaijan under Fitch's GRE Rating Criteria to reflect strong ties between the two (strength of support score: 30). This approach is underpinned by SOCAR's participation in all of the largest oil and gas projects in the country and state support in the form of equity injections and guarantees. SOCAR's SCP is weaker at 'b+', with high leverage the main constraint. High leverage is typical for some national oil companies we rate in other countries, including Petroleos Mexicanos (BB+/Negative) in Mexico, JSC National Company KazMunayGas (BBB-/Stable) in Kazakhstan, and Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (BB-/Stable) in Brazil. Mukesh Singh, one of the four men convicted for the 2012 Delhi gang rape, told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the rejection of his mercy petition by the President was arbitrary and the decision taken without giving Rashtrapati Bhavan an opportunity to go through the records, including the trial case verdict. Senior lawyer Anjana Prakash, who represented Mukesh Singh before a three-judge bench led by Justice R Banumathi, has challenged the rejection of his request for a presidential pardon earlier this month. The bench later reserved its verdict to be pronounced on Wednesday. Mukesh Singh and his three other accomplices, who were convicted for the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old in 2012, were sentenced to death. Earlier this month, a Delhi court ordered the four of them to be executed on February 1. Anjana Prakash told the bench, which also comprises justices Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna, that the government should have placed all the records before the President but slipped up on this account. For instance, she said, the records that would indicate a delay in extending legal aid to the convict. Or the records that would indicate that only the DNA of two convicts, Ram Singh and Akshay Thakur, was on the rape victim. Mukesh Singhs lawyers also complained that he had been sent to solitary confinement even before his mercy plea was rejected, which was a violation of norms and the humiliation that he was subjected to. Courts only sentenced me to death..was I sentenced to be sexually abused?, said the lawyer representing Mukesh Singh. Rebecca John, who also represented Mukesh Singh, pointed to the pace at which the President rejected his mercy plea. Tushar Mehta, the Centres second most-senior law officer, countered Mukesh Singhs submissions, arguing that it was strange that questions about sanctity of life are being raised by the convict. The mercy plea was, once filed by Mukesh Singh, processed quickly and sent with the recommendations in line with the rules. The President was not sitting in appeal over the judicial decision of courts, Mehta said. On Mukesh Singhs complaint of abuse in Tihar, Tushar Mehta stressed that if there was ill-treatment in jail, the convict could raise it at an appropriate forum but it could not be a ground for mercy. This is not a luxury jurisdiction that though Im guilty of this heinous crime, since I was ill treated, I should be given mercy, the Solicitor General emphasised. Tushar Mehta also countered the complaint that the President didnt take much time to decide on his mercy plea. The quick decision taken by President is because delay in deciding mercy plea has a dehumanising effect on convict as held by Supreme Court, Mehta said. Sydney, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, the 25th edition of Paul Budde Communications annual report on Taiwan outlines the major developments and key aspects in the mobile, broadband and fixed line telecoms markets. Comprehensive data is provided on regulatory developments, spectrum assignments and licensing, subscriber statistics, penetration rates and the key market players. Read the executive summary of the report here - Taiwan - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses Taiwans leading telco expected to be challenged Taiwans leading telco Chunghwa Telecom is expected to be challenged by Taiwans cable competitors which are on track to complete technology upgrades that will significantly increase the speed of their internet services. Despite fierce competition in this market the company reported that fixed internet services increased by over 2.5% during 2019. It is expected that Taiwanese subscribers will continue to benefit from the affordable broadband prices in the local market. Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers 2009 2019 The countrys mobile market is dominated by three operators, and high penetration has resulted in intense competition to gain new subscribers. In recent years this was evidenced in the drive to develop 4G services, which were quickly embraced by consumers. The same drive is being repeated with 5G, with operators gearing up to deploy 5G services in a range of bands later in 2020. The government announced plans to provide NT$20.5 billion for the development of 5G services and applications. In addition, spectrum is to be assigned for 5G trials. Taiwan continues rank in the top 10 Asian countries for telecoms maturity according to BuddeComms Telecoms Maturity Index. Compared to other Asian nations, it has high fixed line, fixed-broadband penetration and mobile broadband penetration. Read the executive summary of the report here - Taiwan - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses Table of Contents Key statistics Telecommunications market Historical overview Market overview and analysis Market revenue Regional Asian Market Comparison Regulatory environment Regulatory authority Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) National Communications Commission (NCC) Government policies eg Telecom sector liberalisation More than 4,100 doctors from various parts of China have arrived in Wuhan, with another 1,800 expected to join on Tuesday, Efe news reported citing officials as saying. Beijing, Jan 28 (IANS) Thousands of health personnel on Tuesday arrived in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, as the death toll due to the disease has increased to 106 in the Asian giant, with 4,275 confirmed cases. "Today, 13 more teams, more than 1800 medical staff will be arriving in Wuhan," Jiao Yahui, deputy director in charge of medical affairs with the National Health Commission, told the media. Jiao added that 4,130 medical personnel have arrived in the city since January 24. The official said that some of these reinforcements will be sent to seven other cities in the province, which has been put into de facto quarantine to try to prevent the spread of the virus. Jiao added that more than 10,000 beds will "soon" be made available for patients, including those in two new hospitals that are being built in the city, one of which is expected to open on February 1 and the other within two weeks. Most of the new cases and deaths were registered in the province of Hubei, who's capital city is city Wuhan, where on Monday 892 new cases were detected and 22 deaths were confirmed. Access to and from the city has been cut off since January 23 in order to contain the spread of the virus. According to local authorities, 9 million people remain within the city. The rest of the deaths nationwide, according to CGTN, took place in the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Heilongjiang, Hainan as well as in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai. At the moment, Tibet remains the only province that has not registered any cases. Meanwhile, Thailand's Public Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Sukhum Kanchanapimai said on Tuesday that another six cases of coronavirus in Chinese nationals were in the country, bringing the total to 14 - the highest number of infections in a single nation outside of China. Five of them are from the same family - between the ages of six and 60 - who arrived in Thailand from Hubei, while the other arrived from Chongqing. All patients twice tested positive for the virus and are pending official confirmation from an expert later Tuesday. Of the first eight cases in Thailand, five have been discharged from hospital. On Monday night, respective health authorities reported first cases in Germany (a man from Starnberg in the state of Bavaria, who is said to be in good condition), Cambodia (a 60-year-old Chinese man who traveled from Wuhan to Sihanoukville who is in "normal" condition) and Sri Lanka (a 43-year-old female Chinese tourist from Hubei). Other countries with confirmed cases include Australia, Singapore, United States, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, France, Vietnam, Canada, Ivory Coast and Nepal. There are also several cases in Taiwan, although Chinese authorities consider Taiwan a province of China and therefore include it in the national count. No deaths have been reported outside of China. The Chinese government is urging citizens to avoid non-essential overseas travel and the National Immigration Administration has asked those with symptoms linked to Wuhan pneumonia such as fever, dry cough and dyspnoea to abandon their plans to leave the country. The authorities of Hubei province decided on Monday to stop issuing passports and travel permits to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Other countries have begun raising their travel warnings, including the US where the Department of State raised the warning to the maximum Level 4 (Do Not Travel) for travel to Hubei and has a Level 3 warning (Avoid Nonessential Travel) in place for China. The Philippines on Tuesday stopped issuing visas on arrival to travellers from China even though there are not yet any confirmed cases in the country. ksk/ Belle Gibson began praying at a Melbourne mosque more than a year ago, in an apparent confirmation she has converted to Islam. Daily Mail Australia has been told there is a push to ban the cancer conwoman from attending prayers at Preston Mosque in Melbourne's north. Sources claim Gibson began regularly attending prayers at the house of worship in late 2018 or early 2019 and pops in 'now and then'. But there are concerns among parishioners that the fraudster could prey upon 'trusting, kindhearted' members of the community. A headscarf-wearing Belle Gibson garnered applause during an Ethiopian community meeting in Melbourne, above Sources claimed Gibson attended the mosque regularly in late 2018 and early 2019, but has only been seen 'now and then' recently, and since At least one senior figure has spoken to Victoria Police about Gibson and some parishioners are demanding the mosque's board to tell her she's not welcome. 'I couldn't care less how much of a Muslim she is, she's just a criminal and preys on vulnerable people,' one source said. Gibson has reportedly attended the mosque solely for prayers since before the Christchurch terrorist attacks. She hasn't been seen there for several weeks. Parishioners at the mosque became aware of Gibson's identity in about the middle of last year. WhatsApp messages were sent out informing teachers who hold classes at the mosque of her identity. HOW DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA EXPOSED GIBSON'S NEW GUISE Wednesday, January 22, 2020: Daily Mail Australia reveals Belle Gibson's home has been raided by the Victorian sheriff, with officers seeking to seize and sell her assets over $500k fine Thursday, January 23: Video surfaces of Gibson speaking in the Afaan Oromo dialect, saying her name is 'Sobantu' and claiming she has been adopted by an Ethiopian ethnic group Friday, January 24: Just how Gibson wormed her way into the Oromo community is revealed - with sources detailing how attended weddings, BBQs and meetings Tuesday, January 28: Gibson is revealed to pray at a mosque in Preston, in Melbourne's north Advertisement But opinion about what to do about Gibson's attendance is split - given she is just another parishioner. A source said some members of the congregation tend to be sympathetic to mosque-goers who have copped media flak. Senior figures at the mosque want the board to make a decision about whether she is welcome or not. Prominent Muslim Keysar Trad, of the Islamic Friendship Association, warned that mosques are not in the business of blocking 'sinners' from attending. In his experience, people are only ever refused entry to a mosque if they interfere with its operations. 'If they're concerned she's breaching some of the Islamic teachings, there are a lot of Muslims who don't live up to all the teachings,' Mr Trad said. 'The mosque is in a sense a spiritual hospital. We don't kick out the sinners, we give them another chance.' A Preston Mosque spokesman was unavailable for comment. Islamic Society of Victoria president Tarek Khodr did not return calls. Victoria Police declined to comment on any advice given to the mosque. Gibson owes taxpayers more than $500,000 after the Federal Court found her guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct. She has not paid it back Gibson, left and right, at events for the Ethiopian Oromo disapora in Melbourne Gibson owes taxpayers more than $500,000 after the Federal Court found her guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct. She built her Whole Pantry business off the back of pretending to have cancer and curing it with food, and then fraudulently claimed to have donated profits to charity. Gibson has not paid back her debt and sheriff's officers last week executed a warrant on her home. Meanwhile, video has emerged of Gibson declaring she has been 'adopted' by the Melbourne's Ethiopian Oromo community. In a clip filmed by Shabo Media, the fraudster spoke the African dialect, described Ethiopia as 'home', and gave her name as 'Sobantu'. Fresh video emerged on Tuesday appearing to show Gibson speaking about the 'importance' of raising money for the Oromo ethnic group. I care about this case. I saw they needed this community to come together and stand up like weve been doing, Taylor said. In the days after the crime, Gary police questioned the boy's father, Terry L. Bethel, and named him a person of interest in the case. In July 2010, Kwana Shaw filed a civil lawsuit against Bethel and his brother Joe Noel, alleging the two caused Josiah's death. The case was set to go to trial in March 2016 but was dismissed days prior, with a settlement. Publicly available court records did not detail more about the cases disposition. The Gary city and police administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the case Tuesday. 'Always full of joy' Donna Shaw and Taylor said the prosecutors office has said for years they never received enough evidence to press charges against anyone. Since then, leads have gone cold and little has been said about the case. Prashant Kishor, the Janata Dal United leader who is seen to have turned into an in-house critic of the party after the partys support to the citizenship law, is free to stay or leave the party, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Tuesday. Kumars blunt remark about Prashant Kishor is a surprise shift, considering that the chief minister has all along been seen to have shielded the outspoken JDU leader despite hurling barbs at the party over its support to the Citizenship Amendment Act. If someone is tweeting, let him tweet. What do Ive to do with it? One can stay in the party (JD-U) till he wants Or he can go if he wants, Nitish Kumar said at a news conference on Tuesday. ALSO WATCH | Why Prashant Kishor says Rahul isnt protesting loud enough on NRC Prashant Kishor and ex-diplomat Pavan K Varma have been two sharp, and vocal critics of the amended citizenship law that have led to protests in many parts of the country. Both had publicly questioned Nitish Kumars stand on the law. Last week, Pavan K Varma wrote an open letter to the chief minister that reminded Kumar about his real opinion of the BJP, its leadership and policies. Kumar did not send him a formal reply but told reporters that he was free to leave the party. The chief minister delivered the same message to Prashant Kishor on Tuesday. Nitish Kumar, who faced a barrage of questions on Prashant Kishors acerbic attacks on the BJP and Home Minister Amit Shah, shot back that the former BJP president had played a key role in his induction into the JDU. Do you know how he (Prashant Kishor) joined the party?Amit Shah asked me to induct him, Nitish Kumar said, answering his question. Prashant Kishor, who has made a career out of strategising for political leaders and their parties to win elections, was inducted into the JDU in September 2018 and soon elevated as the Janata Dal Uniteds vice president. Prashant Kishor was initially active in party affairs but ended up rubbing some well-entrenched party leaders the wrong way and moved aside. Nitish Kumar speculated why someone who was in the party would hurls darts at his party. Prashant Kishor probably wanted to leave the party, he suggested. If he does all this, he must be wanting to go. He must want to go somewhere else, Nitish Kumar said. A Holocaust survivor who met Kate Middleton on a tour of a concentration camp in Poland has told how the duchess was 'not prepared' for the traumatic visit and 'wiped her eyes several times'. Manfred Goldberg, 89, born in Kassel, Germany, accompanied the mother-of-three, 38, and her husband Prince William, 37, as they walked through the so-called death gates on their poignant tour of the Stutthof concentration camp in July 2017. He and fellow survivor Zigi Shipper chaperoned the couple - despite him having not been there himself for 72 years. Speaking yesterday at the Holocaust Memorial Day service in London, where he and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were reunited, he said Kate was very emotional during the trip. 'I recall Princess Kate telling me that once they had decided to visit the camp, they had done a lot of Holocaust-related reading, but she said, "Nevertheless, we were not prepared for what we saw and what we heard from you two",' he told People. Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg, 89, born in Kassel, Germany, was reunited with the Duke (pictured) and Duchess of Cambridge yesterday Mr Goldberg and fellow survivor Zigi Shipper chaperoned the couple on a tour of a concentration camp in Poland in 2017, despite having not been there himself for 72 years 'Although it had been sanitised, it was still, for innocents like they were, a fairly traumatic experience. Princess Kate wiped her eyes several times.' He added that his decision to travel to the camp, where he was imprisoned at the age of 14, was 'traumatic' to make, but he felt he 'had to face it'. 'In retrospect, I feel proud to have had the opportunity of enlightening the royal couple. It was their first glimpse of a concentration camp,' Mr Goldberg said. The brave pensioner remarked that having the royal couple participating in the service yesterday made it very special and added impact. Mr Goldberg said the Cambridges' involvement in keeping the story of the Holocaust relevant today is 'priceless'. Speaking yesterday at the Holocaust Memorial Day service in London, Mr Goldberg said Kate had been very emotional during the trip Mr Goldberg said the Cambridges' involvement in keeping the story of the Holocaust relevant today is 'priceless' 'This young royal couple are held in such esteem worldwide,' he told the publication. 'People use them as their standard on how to behave and the example they are showing is priceless. Long may they will continue and I'm sure they will.' He added that they remembered his name, which Kate greeting him by saying: 'Oh, hello Manfred!' Mr Goldberg and Mr Shipper were among 110,000 prisoners from 28 countries held at the Nazi death camp, where more than 65,000 were murdered. Over a third of those victims were Jewish. Mr Goldberg recalled how for Kate, visualising each symbolic pair of shoes at the Nazi death camp meant one human being who had to walk into the gas chamber and it 'tugged her heartstrings' At the Stutthof, there were tens of thousands of pairs of shoes which have been reproduced on a smaller scale. Mr Goldberg recalled how for Kate, visualising each pair meant one human being who had to walk into the gas chamber and it 'tugged her heartstrings'. 'I saw her wiping her eyes,' he added. The friends were liberated in May 1945 by British tanks surrounding the barge on which they were about to be loaded - it was to be towed out to sea and then blown up with Jews packed into it. Mr Shipper and Mr Goldberg survived and arrived in Britain in just their clothes without speaking any English. The Duchess of Cambridge looked delighted to be reunited with Yvonne Bernstein, one of the Holocaust survivors she photographed to mark the 75th Auschwitz liberation anniversary Mr Shipper said he 'most probably' wouldn't have returned to Stutthof if it wasn't for the royal visit but said he realised how 'important' it was to come back now he has returned. He has returned to Auschwitz-Birkenau several times, where he was also held. Yesterday the Cambridges helped survivors light six candles at Westminster Abbey, which were among 75 that shone to mark the 75 years passed since Auschwitz was liberated. Mr Goldberg told the Duchess people found it hard to comprehend how six million Jewish people were killed. Kate looked resplendent in a grey round neck skater dress, cinched in at the waist with a belt, as she walked into Central Hall in Westminster with Prince William holding her umbrella to keep off the rain 'When you hear the stories of an individual it becomes easier to understand this better.' 'And it has taken a while for everybody to be able to speak,' said Kate. 'It's hard to stand up there and do that. 'I'm really interested in intergenerational trauma and how it affects a family. It's so important.' To mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Kate - who is patron of the Royal Photographic Society - photographed survivors at Kensington Palace, drawing inspiration from the Dutch artist Vermeer. A duo have become the first brother and sister team to row across the Atlantic Ocean. Cameron and Anna McLean, aged 32 and 25, completed the 3,000-mile Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge race in 43 days, 15 hours and 22 minutes. The pair, who race as The Seablings, arrived in Antigua on Sunday having left the Canary Islands on December 12. The McLeans, who were raised in Gloucestershire, were rowing to raise awareness and money for the gender equality charity UN Women UK. Expand Close The pair completed the gruelling challenge in 43 days (Ben Duffy/TWAC) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The pair completed the gruelling challenge in 43 days (Ben Duffy/TWAC) Ms McLeans love of rowing began at Cheltenham Ladies College, where she was co-captain of the rowing team before moving to the US to attend university. Her brother also started rowing while a student at Cheltenham College before he too crossed the Atlantic, moving to Miami for three years after graduating. Speaking from Antigua, Mr McLean said: Its this moment where the seemingly impossible can be achieved, when men and women come together as equal partners. Expand Close Anna McLean (Ben Duffy/TWAC) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anna McLean (Ben Duffy/TWAC) Weve just proven what we should be doing as a society striving every day to make this world a better, fairer and more equal place for everyone. Rowing the Atlantic Ocean is known as the Worlds Toughest Row, and that word tough has stuck with me as we were crossing. Tough really doesnt summarise it that well. This is an epic adventure, a challenge like no other. This is something that is terrifying and keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way. His sister said: Absolutely nothing can prepare you for the elements of the Atlantic. Expand Close (Ben Duffy/Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (Ben Duffy/Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge) It was an absolutely euphoric experience, and the one thing that kept us going was every phone call to Atlantic Campaigns and every message we received. Talisker Whisky has sponsored the Atlantic Challenge for six years and is continuing to support it for another two years. Natalia Montigny, from Talisker, added of the siblings: What they have achieved is an unbelievable achievement, unthinkable to most. We know their journey will inspire others to embrace their inner-adventurer and reconnect with nature and the things that matter most. If you own shares in Cosan Limited (NYSE:CZZ) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility of your portfolio, overall. In finance, Beta is a measure of volatility. Modern finance theory considers volatility to be a measure of risk, and there are two main types of price volatility. The first category is company specific volatility. This can be dealt with by limiting your exposure to any particular stock. The second type is the broader market volatility, which you cannot diversify away, since it arises from macroeconomic factors which directly affects all the stocks on the market. Some stocks see their prices move in concert with the market. Others tend towards stronger, gentler or unrelated price movements. Beta can be a useful tool to understand how much a stock is influenced by market risk (volatility). However, Warren Buffett said 'volatility is far from synonymous with risk' in his 2014 letter to investors. So, while useful, beta is not the only metric to consider. To use beta as an investor, you must first understand that the overall market has a beta of one. Any stock with a beta of greater than one is considered more volatile than the market, while those with a beta below one are either less volatile or poorly correlated with the market. View our latest analysis for Cosan What CZZ's beta value tells investors Given that it has a beta of 1.30, we can surmise that the Cosan share price has been fairly sensitive to market volatility (over the last 5 years). If this beta value holds true in the future, Cosan shares are likely to rise more than the market when the market is going up, but fall faster when the market is going down. Share price volatility is well worth considering, but most long term investors consider the history of revenue and earnings growth to be more important. Take a look at how Cosan fares in that regard, below. NYSE:CZZ Income Statement, January 28th 2020 Could CZZ's size cause it to be more volatile? Story continues Cosan is a fairly large company. It has a market capitalisation of US$4.8b, which means it is probably on the radar of most investors. It takes a lot of money to influence the share price of large companies like this one. That makes it interesting to note that its share price has a history of sensitivity to market volatility. There might be some aspect of the business that means profits are leveraged to the economic cycle. What this means for you: Since Cosan has a reasonably high beta, it's worth considering why it is so heavily influenced by broader market sentiment. For example, it might be a high growth stock or have a lot of operating leverage in its business model. This article aims to educate investors about beta values, but it's well worth looking at important company-specific fundamentals such as Cosans financial health and performance track record. I urge you to continue your research by taking a look at the following: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for CZZs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for CZZs outlook. Past Track Record: Has CZZ been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of CZZ's historicals for more clarity. Other Interesting Stocks: It's worth checking to see how CZZ measures up against other companies on valuation. You could start with this free list of prospective options. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Some in Taiwan may find it strange that crowds of Hongkongers flew to their island to observe the presidential poll, attend campaign rallies and join locals in celebrating the re-election of Tsai Ing-wen. But it is not all one-way traffic. In Taipei, a church, book stores and cafes are lending their support to anti-government protesters 700km away in Hong Kong. One of the movements biggest backers in Taiwan is the Chi-Nan Presbyterian Church, which has set up a Lennon Wall with a huge banner bearing the words Safeguard freedom, lets add oil with Hong Kong. Kong Chao-ksun volunteers at the Chi-Nan Presbyterian Church in Taipei, where the congregation has backed Hong Kong protesters with donations of equipment. Photo: Kimmy Chung The congregation has also sent piles of protective gear such as hard hats to demonstrators in Hong Kong which is in its eighth month of social unrest sparked by the governments now-withdrawn extradition bill and supports those protesters who have fled to Taiwan. It all started with a prayer meeting in June last year, when protests broke out in Hong Kong, said Kong Chao-ksun, a volunteer at the church. After that, many church members wanted to offer a helping hand by sending us materials, hoping we would transfer it to Hong Kong. Equipment worth about US$530,000 (HK$4.1 million) including gas masks, helmets, air filters, ice packs and alcohol wipes has been gathered by the church. At its peak, it collected 800 helmets in a single week. Some of that has been distributed by the church itself while the rest has been sent to Hong Kong through different channels. The church has also offered humanitarian assistance to 200 protesters who have fled to Taiwan, including a couple whose story has touched Kong. Fearing arrest and needing a break from the chaos in Hong Kong, they visited the self-ruled island twice, Kong recalled. We promised to keep in touch and have dinner with them when they are back in Taipei, but we lost contact with them soon after they returned to Hong Kong, said the 61-year-old volunteer, who believes they were arrested. They are just kids in their 20s. As a father, it is so heartbreaking to see them fighting so hard for their future and ideas they believe in. Story continues What started as vehement opposition to proposed changes to Hong Kongs extradition laws in June, has morphed into a wider anti-government movement focused on democratic reforms and police accountability. Equipment worth about HK$4.1 million including gas masks, helmets, air filters, ice packs and alcohol wipes has been gathered by the church. Photo: Kimmy Chung Hong Kongs protests have boosted the popularity of Tsai, head of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who used the unrest as a cautionary tale for the self-ruled island against encroachment from mainland China. She has warned Taiwans population of 23 million of being swallowed up by Beijing, which considers the island part of its territory that must one day be brought under its fold, by force if necessary. Tsai netted a historic 8.17 million votes in the January 11 election, comfortably beating her main challenger Han Kuo-yu, from the mainland-friendly Kuomintang (KMT). Kong agreed that fears Beijing would one day control Taiwan, and turn it into the next Hong Kong, had made Taiwan people feel more connected with Hong Kong protesters. Taiwan went through white terror from 1949 to 1987, when martial law was imposed by the government led by the KMT and political dissidents were suppressed. Kong, who has written a book on that era, said he believed Taiwans history had made people wary of the situation in Hong Kong. What is happening in Hong Kong is like what happened in Taiwan during the times of white terror, he said. We experienced such kinds of institutional violence 70 years ago. Kong said Hong Kong protesters who fled to Taiwan found themselves in a similar situation to that faced by dissidents during the white terror, when political persecution prevented many from returning home. Driven by those memories, he revealed the church was considering setting up a foundation or a non-governmental organisation to help Hongkongers, in a move he said would replicate American and European assistance for the islands white terror victims in the last century. Son Yu-liam, one of the founders of the Philo Cafe. Photo: Kimmy Chung On top of the churchs support, some shops in Taipei are helping people from both cities connect. Philo Cafe in Taipei, co-founded by a few local NGOs, has put up a sign at the entrance saying Stand with HK. As a cafe selling books on philosophy, social movement and justice, its owners have hosted seminars and an exhibition on Hong Kongs anti-government movement, inviting guests from the city. Son Yu-liam, a co-founders of the cafe, is also secretary general of the Taiwan Labour Front, a union founded in 1984. Son said: Most Taiwan people support the movement in Hong Kong, as we share the same faith: our belief in pursuing freedoms and democracy. From an advocacy perspective, we also hope that more locals could understand the situation in Hong Kong, as Taiwan has been facing the same pressure from Beijing. A bookstore called Poetry in Life, which is also in Taipei, has put up donation boxes to raise funds for protesters in Hong Kong. Pro-democracy banners, posters and a Lennon Wall, where messages of support for protesters are posted, can also been seen in the shop. In the past, Hong Kong was a lighthouse to us as we had no freedoms to publish certain books. But it seems the situation has reversed Liu Gi The shop was founded by Hong Kong poet Luk Wing-yu, whose husband Liu Gi, 40, is Taiwanese and works in the publishing industry. Liu said: As some Hongkongers know about my shop, they send us products supporting the movement for sale towards charity. In the past, Hong Kong was a lighthouse to us as we had no freedoms to publish certain books. But it seems the situation has reversed. Liu Gi hopes Hong Kong and Taiwan can support each other to safeguard their freedoms. Photo: Kimmy Chung He hoped the two jurisdictions could support each other and safeguard freedoms in the face of threats from China. Beijings top leaders have been wary of closer ties between Hong Kong and Taiwan, fearing connections between what they see as pro-independence forces. Son, the unionist, is not shy to admit he is supportive of separatist movements in the area. On election day earlier this month, Sons bookstore put up banners supporting independence for Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Tibet as he organised a party to witness the vote count and Tsais subsequent victory. It is expected that Beijing will smear us as Taiwans independence forces interfering with Hong Kong affairs, he said. But I still welcome more Hongkongers to come to this little cafe and brainstorm how we can resist the Chinese Communist Party. Hongkongers fight on just because Beijing has failed to give them democracy as promised. It is Beijing which has to think about that clearly. Sign up now for our 50% early bird offer from SCMP Research: China AI Report. The all new SCMP China AI Report gives you exclusive first-hand insights and analysis into the latest industry developments, and actionable and objective intelligence about China AI that you should be equipped with. More from South China Morning Post: This article The Taiwanese sending protest equipment, messages of solidarity to Hong Kong demonstrators first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. Nakira Griner broke down in tears during a recorded interview with police last year as she admitted she lied about her 23-month-old son being kidnapped. After hours of telling that story, she said the boy fell down a flight of stairs in her Bridgeton home. Hes bleeding and hes bruised and hes just laying there, she sobs in the recording. Hes breathing, hes OK, but there was blood and bruises on his face and chest. Griner, 25, is charged with first-degree murder and related offenses in Daniels February 2019 death. The childs remains were found at the Griner home after she reported that she was assaulted while walking to a store and that Daniel was abducted. The interviews Griner gave to police in the hours after she reported the abduction are the subject of a motion by her attorney to suppress those statements. The fall was an accident, Griner eventually told police, but she feared being blamed for his injuries, so she concocted the kidnapping story. She insisted through the end of the interview that she left her son alive in a stroller on a Bridgeton street in hopes that someone would find and help the child. Griner first told investigators she took her kids to the store to get Pedialyte because they were refusing to eat their usual foods and she feared they were sick. She was walking to the store with Daniel in a stroller and her infant son strapped to chest on Feb. 8, 2019, when she was attacked from behind and knocked down, she said. When she looked up, the stroller and Daniel were gone, she said. Police found the empty stroller on a nearby street. The interview video shows her taking a lie detector test, which she failed. She is asked if she physically harmed Daniel, if she knows his whereabouts and if she was lying when she said she left home with him in the stroller. She answers no to each question. After the test, which was administered by New Jersey State Police Detective George Williams, the detective sits facing Griner and leans in. Nakira, listen to me. Theres no doubt in my mind at this point that you did something to your son. I can only guess as to what happened. I think what happened here was an accident. Something happened in that house and you made a mistake. He pleads with Griner. Its cold out. Its freezing. Nobody deserves to be out there. We need to bring him home. You know what happened to him and it wasnt that some mystery men came up and grabbed him. Her story changes. I didnt take him out for Pedialyte. I took him out for medicine, Griner says as she begins to cry. He was hurt. She says she was carrying both of her kids, one in each arm, when Daniel reached for something hed just dropped. He slipped out of her grasp and fell down the stairs. When I got to the bottom of the steps, there was blood, she says. He was shivering. I panicked. The laundry basket was right there. I grabbed what was in it to clean up the blood. Daniel Griner Jr. She explains that she intended to take him to the store for medicine, but feared someone would see his injuries. I left him purposely in the stroller. I walked away hoping that somebody would find him and think that something happened other than what happened. Williams asks why she didnt just report that his fall was an accident. I came up with the elaborate story because Daniel had bruises on him prior to the fall from being smacked because he wasnt eating his food and he was telling me what he would and wouldnt do, she says. She says she smacked him on his arm, leg and buttocks. "I knew that if I brought him in in this condition that they were going to think that I did it on purpose. I didnt know what to do. Williams tries to calm her and continues asking where Daniel is now. She says she doesnt know. "We will find him, Williams tells her. As God is my witness, we will find this boy. It is freezing outside and if hes still alive hes going to freeze to death. Do you understand that? Dont make a mistake. You already made a few. Dont make a bigger one. Williams reminds here that there are surveillance cameras everywhere in Bridgeton. We will go through every single one of them, he says. And Im telling you right now, if what you are telling me does not match what we find out, do you know what youre going to look like? Youre going to look cold-hearted. She alternately sobs and speaks clearly and firmly to the detective. You can look at the cameras, she says. Youre going to see me sit that fricking stroller on the ground. I placed it on the ground and walked away. Williams doesnt buy it. Nakira, I dont believe you. If we find him and hes already passed on, his body will tell the story. You have to come clean its time. He tells her he doesnt believe Daniel was in the stroller. I think were going to find him close to home, Williams says. He wasnt in the stroller. No way. The detective pleads with her a final time. Help me find him so you cannot look like somebody who is cold-blooded. Please. Griner says theres no way of avoiding that perception. No matter what, Im going to look like somebody thats cold-blooded. Not taking my son to the hospital because of my selfishness taking him outside to leave him there. Theres no way Im not looking cold-hearted. No matter how you want to play me, theres no way that youre going to make me look anything else. Im not trying to play you, Williams responds. All I want is the truth and youre not telling it to me. Griner eventually ends the interview, saying shes done. Police did find Daniel, as the detective suspected, near the family home: burned and dismembered in a handbag and trash bags under a shed. An autopsy determined Daniel died of blunt force trauma and that he suffered multiple bone fractures. Assistant Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Schultz filed a motion to suppress statements Griner made to police before a lawyer was assigned to her case. Griner was quickly considered a suspect, Schultz argued, and should have been read her Miranda rights before any interviews began. She was advised of her rights twice during her interview with Williams as she prepared to take the polygraph. An earlier interview with Bridgeton Police was also recorded, but that recording was lost because of a technical glitch, another detective testified. Schultz also argued that Griner was in no position to knowingly waive her rights because she was going through a crisis and a clear mental break. The attorney objected to the interview videos being played in open court since much of the information presented wouldnt be admissible in a trial and accused the prosecution of trying to taint a potential jury pool. The prosecution countered that it was attempting to air a complete account of what Griner said to investigators, including the portions in which she was advised of her rights. The prosecution has since filed a brief seeking to only admit a limited portion of Griners interview with Williams as evidence. Williams and other detectives will be called back later this week to offer additional testimony in the suppression hearing. A small memorial is set outside of the Bridgeton home of 23-month-old Daniel Griner Jr.Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Russian veterans and survivors of infamous Nazi concentration camp will attend a historic event at U.N. headquarters in New York (Israel Hayom via JNS)In recent months, Israel and Russia have been forging a unique partnership at the United Nations. Amid the backdrop of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon and his Russian counterpart, Vasily Nebenzya, decided to join forces and convene a historic event to mark the liberation of the notorious Nazi death camp, to be held next week at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The event will be attended by Auschwitz survivors and Russian veterans who took part in the Soviet military campaign to liberate the camp. Also attending will be U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, other senior U.N. officials, ambassadors from across the globe, and representatives from pro-Israel organizations. Danon and Nebenzya will also inaugurate a photography exhibit about the Auschwitz liberation. Seventy-five years after the liberation of Auschwitz by the Allied forces, we will commemorate that historic event in the place where the decision was made that paved the path to the establishment of the Jewish state. This is the hour for cooperation between Israel and Russia, noted Danon. This article first appeared in Israel Hayom. Belgiums former King Albert II has been forced to confirm he fathered an illegitimate love child, after an affair he had 51 years ago. Delphine Boel made her paternity claim ten years ago, however Albert refused to take a DNA test and only did so after being ordered by a court last year to undergo the test or face a 5,000 (AUD$8171) a day fine. Albert eventually conceded to the DNA test in May last year and today announced that he now "accepts Delphine Boel becomes his fourth child". Former King Albert II Of Belgium has admitted he fathered an illegitimate love child. Photo: Getty Images In a statement released by his lawyers, Albert said he: "learnt the results of the DNA test... [and] the scientific conclusions indicate that he is the biological father of Mrs Delphine Boel". Delphine Boel's lawyer, Marc Uyttendaele, said "her life has been a long nightmare because of this quest for identity" in an interview with RTL television. "She had a biological father who brutally rejected her when this paternity [case] publicly emerged". Delphine Boel has been caught up in legal proceedings with the former king for the past ten years. Photo: Getty Images King Albert II abdicated in 2013 due to ill health and handed over his title to his son, Philippe. Delphine, who is an artist, first made her paternity claim in a 2005 interview but only launched legal proceedings in 2013, after Albert abdicated and lost his immunity. Her mum, aristocrat Sybille de Selys Longchamps, had an affair with Prince Albert from 1966 to 1984, while he was married to his wife, Queen Paola of Belgium. King Albert II abdicated in 2013 due to ill health and handed over his title to his son, Philippe. Photo: Getty Images Now that Delphine has received confirmation that Albert is her father, she is officially entitled to a princess title and a chunk of the kings estate when he dies. Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com. Taliban militants attacked a police base in northern Afghanistan, killing 11, possibly with help from at least one of the policemen inside, local government officials said Tuesday. The insurgents first overran a checkpoint near the base late Monday, and were apparently able to breach the compound with ease because a sympathetic policeman opened a door for them. These details were provided by Mabobullah Ghafari, a provincial councilman in Baghlan province where the attack took place. A local police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief reporters about the attack, also gave the same account. Insider attacks have been steady throughout Afghanistans 18-year conflict, with US and NATO troops most often targeted. But when Afghan security forces are targeted, the casualty rate is often much higher. Last July, two US service members were killed by an Afghan soldier in the southern Kandahar province. The shooter was wounded and arrested. In September, three US military personnel were wounded when an member of the Afghan Civil Order Police fired on a military convoy, also in Kandahar. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Mondays attack on the outskirts of Puli Khumri, Baghlans provincial capital. But the Taliban have a strong presence in the province and frequently target Afghan security forces in and around the city. Last September, the insurgents attacked Puli Khumri and blocked the citys main highway to the capital Kabul for more than a week. The Taliban currently control or hold sway over around half the country. The US and the Taliban are currently attempting to negotiate a reduction in hostilities or a cease-fire. That would allow a peace agreement to be signed that could bring home an estimated 13,000 American troops, and open the way to a broader post-war deal for Afghans. A group of people in New York are being hailed as heroes after they helped a woman who was trapped underneath a car following an accident. Nearly a dozen people rushed to lift the car that ran over the woman in order to help her out. A dramatic video of the rescue made its way onto Twitter and quickly went viral. Now, people cant stop praising the heroes who saved the womans life. Just now at Delancey and Norfolk in the Lower East Side an accident ran over a pedestrian trapping them under an SUV. Onlookers just lifted the SUV, dragging the victim out, Twitter user Colby Droscher wrote and shared the video on Twitter. Just now at Delancey and Norfolk in the Lower East Side an accident ran over a pedestrian trapping them under an SUV. Onlookers just lifted the SUV, dragging the victim out. pic.twitter.com/uq1IHcSJ9k help how do i change this (@colbydroscher) January 26, 2020 The video was followed by a picture of the woman lying on the street with her phone in her hand. First responders can be seen surrounding her. The woman is awake and on her phone. pic.twitter.com/BhGYSZpfn0 help how do i change this (@colbydroscher) January 26, 2020 The woman, later identified as Veronika, shared details of the incident. She told News 4 that she was on the sidewalk when the car hit her after which she got trapped underneath it. Both legs were kind of stuck under one of the wheels, she said, adding I was conscious for the entire time. I remembered seeing my groceries were all over the floor. Veronica suffered bruises but escaped the harrowing ordeal without any major injuries. She expressed gratitude to all those who helped save her. I dont know how I can ever pay that back, Im really grateful for everyone that helped, she told News 4. The driver of the car was first detained by police and later issued a ticket. Since being shared, the video of the incident has collected close to 4 million views, some 1.7 lakh likes and over 31,000 retweets. People have posted various comments about the incident. People instinctively running towards a tragedy to help. I needed to see this tonight, more than I knew, says a Twitter user. OMG. This warms my heart as all these strangers run to help, says another. California private charter jet company Xojet is moving its headquarters to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in another local corporate departure. The company, founded in Brisbane in 2006, subleased 25,775 square feet near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport for around 250 employees and plans to build a permanent 40,000-square-foot office, according to South Florida Business Journal. An additional 150 workers will be hired. Dubai aviation company Vista Global bought Xojet in 2018. Xojet did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In 2016, a plane belonging to the company was involved in a crash at Oakland International Airport. While the plane landed safely, a wheel under the planes nose subsequently buckled, an Oakland fire official said at the time. No one was hurt. Xojet joins other companies leaving Northern California. Earlier this month, robotics manufacturing startup Made in Space said it was moving its headquarters from Mountain View to Jacksonville, Fla. Charles Schwab and McKesson have also moved their headquarters out of San Francisco in the past two years. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf PERTH, Australia, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Zelira Therapeutics Limited (ASX: ZLD,OTCQB: ZLDAF) is pleased to announce a collaboration with the Parkinson's Foundation, one of the United States of America's leading communities for people living with Parkinson's disease (PD), to gather insights from people with PD about their understanding of and use of medical cannabis and hemp-derived therapies. In 2019, Zelira Therapeutics participated in the Medical Cannabis Conference organized by the Parkinson's Foundation, and is now assisting in the development of a survey to understand the current use and perceived benefits of medical cannabis among people with PD. This collaboration combines the Foundation's understanding of the underlying science of Parkinson's disease and the most prevalent symptoms impacting people with the disease with Zelira Therapeutics' extensive experience in pharmaceutical and condition-specific medical cannabis product development. As part of this collaboration, Zelira and Parkinson's Foundation will: Consult on the development of a survey tool to be sent to people with Parkinson's to understand why and how they are using medical cannabis and hemp-derived CBD products currently; Review the results as they relate to a future clinical trial on the safety and efficacy of medical cannabis use by people with Parkinson's disease; Separately, Zelira will: Incorporate survey insights to inform future development of clinically validated medical cannabis and hemp-derived CBD medicines for people with Parkinson's disease, and provide guidance to people with Parkinson's regarding various cannabinoid-based and hemp-derived CBD treatment alternatives. John Lehr, President and CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation, stated that "Many people with Parkinson's disease are seeking help with their symptoms by trying various forms of medical cannabis. The volume and frequency of questions Parkinson's Foundation receive from people with Parkinson's regarding the safety and impact of medical cannabis and CBD has led us to examine this public health issue more fully, and to seek collaborations with leaders in the field from academia, government, advocacy groups and industry to provide the most accurate information possible. Zelira Therapeutics, a leader in disease-specific medical cannabis therapeutics, has committed to helping people with Parkinson's understand the role that medical cannabis might play in managing their daily symptoms." Tom Borger, Chief Business Officer at Zelira, who participated as a thought leader in the Parkinson's Medical Cannabis Conference, observed, "The challenge for people with Parkinson's is clear, as there is a lack of definitive studies informing clinicians and patients with Parkinson's about the safety and efficacy of medical cannabis. One of the objectives of the survey and this collaboration is to provide guidance to people with Parkinson about the need for clinically validated medical marijuana and hemp-derived CBD medicines that might address their symptoms." Osagie Imasogie, Founder and Chairman of Zelira stated that "Our Zelira Board is very supportive of this collaboration with the Parkinson's Foundation which will provide us with essential insights to inform our product development to address the specific needs of people with Parkinson's disease. This effort is consistent with our focus on patients and our desire to provide them with as many treatment options as possible." Tim Slate Company Secretary About Zelira Therapeutics (www.zeliratx.com) Zelira Therapeutics Ltd is a leading global therapeutic medicinal cannabis company with access to the world's largest and fastest growing cannabis markets. Zelira owns a portfolio of proprietary revenue generating products and a pipeline of candidates undergoing clinical development that are positioned to enter global markets from 2020. The company is focused on developing branded cannabis products for the treatment of a variety of medical conditions. The Company is undertaking: Human clinical trial programs focused on insomnia, autism and opioid reduction with activities in Australia and the USA . focused on insomnia, autism and opioid reduction with activities in and the . Pre-clinical research examining the effect of cannabinoids in breast, brain and pancreatic cancer as well as research examining the potential for cannabinoids to treat diabetes-associated cognitive decline. The Company conducts this work in partnership with world-leading researchers and organizations including Complutense University in Madrid, Spain; Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia; the Telethon Kids Institute in Perth; the University of Western Australia, in Perth; St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia; and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in the United States. Zelira has also formed a strategic partnership with European medicinal cannabis group HAPA Pharm BV, to access HAPA Pharm's EU-GMP grade manufacturing capabilities and accessing its German distribution network providing a credible and rapid path to commercialization for successful clinically validated formulations. The Company has developed two proprietary formulations (HOPE) already launched and generating revenues in Pennsylvania, has laboratory capabilities to develop formulations in Pennsylvania and Louisiana with ability to conduct clinical trials and is establishing a national footprint across the US for the licensing of its products. The company also has a partnership with Ethicann for the development of a proprietary product, CAN-001, which is being developed for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), which occurs in approximately 80% of the new 23.6 million cases of cancer annually worldwide. About the Parkinson's Foundation The Parkinson's Foundation was formed by the merger of the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) and the Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF), both established in 1957, with offices in New York and Miami. The Parkinson's Foundation makes life better for people with Parkinson's disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure. In everything we do, we build on the energy, experience and passion of our global Parkinson's community. For more information, visit www.parkinson.org or call +(800) 4PD-INFO (473-4636). About Parkinson's Disease Affecting nearly one million Americans and 10 million worldwide, Parkinson's disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's and is the 14th-leading cause of death in the United States. It is associated with a progressive loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and lack of facial expression), as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety). There is no cure for Parkinson's and 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States alone. SOURCE Zelira Therapeutics Limited Related Links https://zeliratx.com A noreaster may hit Massachusetts this weekend following a period of dry weather and sunshine. The storm will gather Friday in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to move northeast, bringing with it heavy rainfall and possible flooding, AccuWeather reported. Massachusetts is expected to be impacted by the coastal storm on Saturday, though several days out uncertainty exists in regards to timing and precipitation types. The track of the storm is highly prone to shifting in the coming days, and the exact track of the storm will be a huge factor in how intense the storm will be for a given location, said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson. Leading up to this weekend, dry and seasonably moderate temperatures are in store for Massachusetts. Dry and quiet weather through much of the week with temperatures trending downward today through Thursday, the National Weather Service said. Still watching for the potential for a coastal storm which may impact the region Saturday/Sat night, through it remains far from a certainty. SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jeff Dunkel assumes the role of NuHope CEO following his position as Executive Vice President of Strategy at TITAN SPINE. NuHope is a San Antonio-based outpatient opioid and pain treatment center focused on taper effectiveness, which specifically reduces controlled substance use in those dependent on opioids. "It is exciting to take over as NuHope enters a period of rapid growth. I first learned about the innovative multi-modality, single facility, outpatient approaches at NuHope several years ago, while working with federal agencies to identify opportunities for better care for opioid dependency. We are mounting a robust challenge to the traditional models in an effort to deliver better and more sustainable outcomes for patients. NuHope offers best in class care that influences better outcomes," said Jeff Dunkel, NuHope CEO. Jeff earned an advisory role for two population health committees at the White House (including the opioid crisis) where he represented technology that was recognized for "innovation that is working in healthcare" during the White House Office of Science and Technology Annual President's Brief. Jeff volunteers with many start-up companies via pro-bono mentoring, which has been recognized by NIH. Most recently he has been nominated to the HHS Innovation Committee tasked with creating a better path for new technologies that will improve outcomes, improve safety and lower costs. Jeff actively works to influence health care policies and has been a sought-after expert to help draft language for legislation in the U.S. House and Senate. "I am committed to leading NuHope as it steps into its role as a major player in treating and managing opioid issues. We've already started meeting with members of Congress, federal agencies, major insurance carriers, and thought leaders in this space. It is wonderful to see the amount of support there is to help advance care," Dunkel concluded. About NuHope: NuHope is a unique treatment center that combines the expertise of medical doctors, physician's assistants, nurse practitioners, social workers, licensed counselors, drug counselors, certified counselors, and physical therapists to care for patients dependent on opioids. This integrated treatment addresses the physical, biological, and mental components of opioid use, including pain management, and is done in conjunction with a graduated taper of opioid medications. This protocol must be done in totality to limit or eliminate signs and symptoms of craving and withdrawal which can hinder or prevent recovery. Learn more at NuHope's website: https://nuhope.com/ SOURCE NuHope Related Links http://nuhope.com TORONTO, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fura Gems Inc. (Fura or the Company) (TSXV: FURA, OTC: FUGMF and FRA: BJ43) announces the extension of the drop dead date for the closing of the Merger of Ruby Assets Agreement dated July 14, 2018, as amended (the MRAA). In accordance with the MRAA, on January 27, 2020, the Company gave New Energy Minerals Ltd. (formerly known as Mustang Resources Ltd.) written notice to extend the drop-dead date of the MRAA from January 31, 2020 to February 29, 2020. The MRAA contemplates the purchase and sale by Fura of interests in three ruby licenses/concessions in Mozambique as follows: (i) 75% of the issued shares of Montepuez Minerals Pty Ltd., which owns a 70% interest in mining licence 5030L and an 80% interest in mining concession 8921C; and (ii) a right to earn a 65% interest in mining concession 8955C under a joint venture agreement (collectively, the New Energy Assets). Please see the Companys press release dated November 29, 2018 for further details regarding the terms of this proposed acquisition. The transaction remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. For more information about Fura Gems Inc., please contact: Fura Gems Inc. Dev Shetty President & Chief Executive Officer Tel: +971 (0) 4 240 8760 dev.shetty@furagems.com Brad Scharfe Director Investor Relations Tel: +1+(778)386-1313 brad.scharfe@furagems.com Public Relations Tavistock (UK) Jos Simson / Barney Hayward Tel: +44-207-920-3150 fura@tavistock.co.uk About Fura Gems Inc. Fura Gems Inc. is a gemstone mining and marketing company which is engaged in the mining, exploration and acquisition of gemstone licences. Furas headquarters are located in Toronto, Canada and its administrative headquarters are located in the Gold Tower, Dubai. Fura is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol FURA. Fura is engaged in the exploration of resource properties in Colombia and owns a 76% interest in the Coscuez emerald mine in Boyaca, Colombia. Fura is involved in the exploration and mining of sapphires in Australia through its 100% interest in the Licences, and rubies in Mozambique through its 80% effective interest in four ruby licences (4392L, 3868L, 3869L and 6811L) and its 100% interest in ruby licence 5572L. Regulatory Statements This press release may contain 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 Companys ability to complete the acquisition of the New Energy Assets, the mineralization and prospectivity of the New Energy Assets, the Companys exploration activities and mining activities and the Companys performance. 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. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the actual results of exploration activities; regulatory risks; risks inherent in foreign operations, legacy environmental risks, title risks and other risks of the mining industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. 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. Dublin City Council has been told to reassess plans to rezone industrial estates for housing in areas at risk of flooding. The Office of the Planning Regulator says the local authority needs to engage with the OPW on the appropriateness of the proposal. WHO chief confident of Beijings response as Singapore expert says number of cases abroad better gauge of contagion. Public health experts in Hong Kong on Monday raised alarms that there could be thousands of more carriers of a deadly new coronavirus in China and called for the enforcement of draconian travel curbs to prevent a global epidemic. As of Tuesday, China had confirmed 106 deaths, including the first death in the capital, Beijing. It also reported at least 4,515 infections, with 1,771 new confirmed cases. Several other countries including Germany, France, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, the United States, Singapore and Vietnam have also confirmed cases. As of Wednesday, at least 132 deaths have been confirmed with almost 6,000 infections reported. During their Monday briefing, the two experts from The University of Hong Kong (HKU) said that as many as 44,000 people may have already been infected with the virus that first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, adding and that the number could double by the end of this week. Gabriel Leung, the dean of HKUs department of medicine, and Joseph Wu, an expert analyst on the spread of diseases, said there could be between 25,000 and 26,000 people infected with the coronavirus, while the rest might not be showing signs despite already being infected. Leung, a Harvard-trained doctor, and Wu, an MIT graduate in chemical engineering and operations research, called for substantial, draconian measures limiting population mobility as they warned that human-to-human contagion may be already happening in other cities. We have to be prepared that this particular epidemic may be about to become a global epidemic, Leung said, noting that the quarantine measures implemented so far on tens of millions of people might have a limited effect. An estimated 56 million people have been ordered on lockdown in Hubei province, with authorities closing off almost 20 cities in efforts to contain the virus. Aside from the travel restrictions, Beijing has also ordered the construction of at least two makeshift hospitals in Wuhan, which are expected to be finished in early February. The National Health Commission announced on Tuesday that 10,000 hospital beds are being reserved for infected patients. The two HKU experts said that based on the data they have analysed, Chongqing, with a population of more than 30 million, could be the next most affected city. They also warned the infection could possibly spread further to other large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou all key transport hubs and with direct links to Wuhan. Confidence in Beijings response The findings of the HKU experts have already been submitted to the World Health Organization (WHO), as the monitoring of the spread of the virus continues. On Tuesday, following a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged calm in dealing with the outbreak, expressing confidence in Chinas ability to control and contain the virus, which emerged in late December. Dr Linfa Wang, the top infectious disease expert at Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS), said the next two weeks are very, very crucial in determining whether Chinas current response to the outbreak is working. He noted that the infections incubation period could last up to two weeks, a period that includes the conclusion of Lunar New Year celebrations which will usher in another mass movement of people either returning to their home cities or heading back abroad. A group of women wear protective masks while exercising on Monday in Wuhan [Getty Images] But Wang also cautioned against speculation about the number of infections. We should be paying more attention to cases in other countries. For me, the better indicator is overseas, he said, adding that so far he has not seen a repeat of the 2002-03 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak that killed hundreds of people. Wang said he tends to be more positive that early detection and awareness of the outbreak, as well as the response of other countries, are helping control the spread of the disease abroad. Outside of China, it is clearly working, he told Al Jazeera, adding that it is quite encouraging that the cases are largely imported from China. Passengers wearing masks are seen at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai [Aly Song/Reuters] In China, Ma Xioaowei, director of the National Health Commission, said the country is at a crucial time to prevent and control the outbreak. With strict measures taken by various localities in the country, we will be able to curb the spread of the virus with lower cost and at faster speed, Ma told reporters on Sunday. Meanwhile, in its updated report published on Saturday, the Imperial College of London said on average each case of coronavirus in Wuhan had infected 2.6 other people as of January 18. The study said in order for the Chinese government to be effective in controlling the outbreak, it needs to block more than 60 percent of all the transmissions within the country. Whether transmission is continuing at the same rate currently depends on the effectiveness of current control measures implemented in China, and the extent to which the populations of affected areas have adopted risk-reducing behaviours, the report said. Wang, the virology expert, said that Beijing is already doing the best any government can do by imposing quarantine measures, and only time can tell if that would eventually work. The worst-case scenario should be evident two to three weeks from now, Wang said. Courtesy of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce / Submitted The Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce announced the arrival of this years community magazine, The Spirit of Tomball Texas 2020 Community and Business Guide. The annual guide includes community information about topics such as area demographics, education and local businesses. The magazine is meant as a resource for anyone interested in the Tomball area, whether a resident, visitor or member of the business community. Appointment 28 January 2020 In his role, Mingozzi will uphold the hotel's F&B brand image of sustainability, also utilising the resort's farm to produce seasonal menus for guests. He will oversee the 82-villa resort's four F&B venues, along with in-room dining, events and other food-based experiences ran throughout the year. Holding more than 25 years' experience in the industry, Mingozzi has worked in the Maldives, Fiji and the Philippines. The chef has also worked across Michelin-starred restaurants across Italy, London and Dubai. Researchers will tackle the problem of gender and ethnic bias in recruitment and human resource management as part of a new 1m project Researchers will tackle the problem of gender and ethnic bias in recruitment and human resource management as part of a new 1m project. BIAS - Responsible AI for Labour Market Equality will look at how Artificial Intelligence can lead to unintentional bias in the processes of job advertising, hiring and professional networking, which are increasingly digitalised. Lancaster University will lead the three-year project, working alongside Essex University and the University of Alberta. The UK Research and Innovation/Economic and Social Research Council (UKRI/ESRC); the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC); and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) have provided funding of 987,000. The researchers will work with industrial partners to understand gender and ethnic bias within human resource processes, such as hiring and professional networking. They will analyse data from across hiring and recruitment platforms and develop new tools and protocols to mitigate and address such bias. This will allow companies, HR departments and recruitment agencies to tackle such issues in future recruitment. Professor Monideepa Tarafdar, Professor of Information Systems and Co-Director of the Centre for Technological Futures at Lancaster University Management School, will lead the research as principal investigator, working with Lancaster colleagues Dr Yang Hu, from Sociology, and Dr Bran Knowles, from the School of Computing and Communications. Professor Tarafdar said: "AI has reached the stage where the rubber is meeting the road and organisations are coming up against the road bumps. Bias is a huge one. We need to tackle labour market inequalities caused by gender and ethnic biases in hiring, job advertising and professional socialisation. They prevent equal and sustainable socio-economic development across all groups in society, and the recruitment process can often be the start of these issues. There are different causes and sources of this bias, and we want to investigate and mitigate them. "In both the UK and Canada, access and rewards to work remain shaped around social distinctions, such as gender, race, and ethnicity, and the use of Artificial Intelligence is known to exacerbate such inequalities through a perpetuation of existing gender and ethnic biases in hiring and career progression." Dr Hu added: "We want to understand these biases and develop a tool that will mitigate against them. There is no way to remove all bias, and that would not be preferable - if I'm hiring somebody, I want there to be some variations that produces the best candidate - but we want to reduce it where we can and where it is optimal." The research ties in with the UK's Industrial Strategy, which has 'putting the UK at the forefront of the AI and data revolution' as one of its grand challenges, as well as the UK's AI sector deal that aims to 'boost the UK's global position as a leader in developing AI technologies'. It also speaks directly to the Canadian SSHRC's goal of tackling persistent ethnic and gender disparities in workforce selection and development. Dr Knowles said: "We believe that our research will allow businesses and recruitment agencies to better target potential employees without unintended bias that results in women or people from certain ethnic backgrounds from even applying for positions, let alone being recruited into them." The project will look to develop a protocol for responsible and trustworthy AI that reduces labour market inequalities by tackling gender and ethnic/racial biases in job advertising, hiring and professional networking processes. ### The situation with the spreading novel coronavirus (also known as the Wuhan coronavirus) in China could very well compromise Apple's production line. Specifically, it could impact the manufacturing of the new iPhone 9 (or SE 2) and AirPods. According to a report by Nikkei Asian Review the virus has spread to the Hubei Province (with over 100 confirmed cases), which neighbors the Henan Province and is near the Guangdong Province, both hosts to major Apple production centers. Sources, quoted by a Bloomberg report (pay-walled), suggest that the upcoming iPhone 9 is likely to be impacted by the spreading virus and, specifically, by the measures by Chinese authorities to contain it. The Chinese government is urging workers to stay home in cities affected by the coronavirus and has already quarantined the entire city of Wuhan (where the virus is believed to have originated). Insiders also point to AirPods (both 2nd Gen and Pros) as likely victims of slowed production. Apple is expected to begin mass-production of the iPhone 9 in February with the intention to unveil and start selling the phone in March. The company has a dual-sourcing system in place to ensure that an issue with one factory doesn't impede the production of a device too severely so the iPhone 9 will likely launch as expected. But it could have less-than-ideal availability at first. Source Belfast, Jan 27 (AFP) The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Monday warned Britain that its departure from the bloc later this week would have "negative consequences" and only ever be an exercise in "damage limitation". In a speech at Queen's University Belfast, the Brussels diplomat charged with agreeing an EU-UK free trade deal, said nobody had yet convinced him of the "added value of Brexit". "It is absolutely clear that there will be negative consequences," Barnier said on a visit to Northern Ireland after meeting members of the devolved assembly in the city. "Whatever agreement we reach on our future relationship, Brexit will always be a matter of damage limitation." Britain will become the first country to leave the bloc at 2300 GMT on Friday, ending nearly five decades of membership. Barnier had warned earlier Monday during a visit to Dublin for talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar that London would have to "rebuild everything" in its new relationship with the EU. Picking apart some of the pro-Brexit camp's main arguments for its departure, Barnier said the bloc allowed members states "to speak with other superpowers as equals". "Brexit is meant to be about 'Global Britain'," he said, referring to a frequently used UK government phrase. "But, for us, frankly speaking, it is the EU that helps make member states more global," he said in a clear warning to other countries eyeing Brexit closely for their own futures. "There is no way that any of our countries, alone, could have the same impact." Once Britain has left the EU, it will begin an 11-month transition phase during which existing arrangements remain unchanged. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to agree the terms of the future relationship, modelled on the EU's free trade agreement with Canada, by the end of that period. Varadkar, who is fighting a general election on February 8, said at a joint press conference with Barnier that the timetable would be "very challenging". Barnier said he would present a draft negotiating mandate to the bloc's member states next Monday. EU ministers are then set to agree their joint mandate on February 25 ahead of a meeting of the European Council in March. Barnier added there was "no time to lose", warning of "the risk of a cliff edge" change in relations at the end of the year. "If we have no agreement, it will not be business as usual and the status quo. We have to face a risk of a cliff edge, in particular for trade," Barnier said. Barnier also used his Irish visit to reiterate the need for checks on some goods travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland -- which Johnson maintains will not be needed. "The UK has agreed to a system of reinforced checks and controls for goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain," he said. "I understand the fears of negative economic fallout expressed by some about these checks. But Brexit unfortunately has consequences that we must manage." Frictionless trade was "impossible" and checks were "indispensable", he said in his speech. Meanwhile, Varadkar argued the bloc was in "a very strong position" in the upcoming talks given the remaining 27 members' collective size compared to Britain. "We have a population of 450 million people and the single market is the largest economy in the world," he said. "But I don't think we have to see it as a contest." In a separate BBC television interview broadcast on Monday, the Irish leader also warned Brussels would not accept anything less than a comprehensive free trade agreement with Britain. London indicated earlier this month it could seek a piecemeal post-Brexit deal with the EU that leaves some issues unresolved but still lets it break free from the bloc at the end of the year. But Varadkar said: "That isn't something that will fly in Europe." Barnier said in Belfast there would be "no compromise on the single market for us". (AFP) SCY Calling all fashion fans: Alexa Chung is making her grand return to presenting tomorrow alongside Queer Eye's resident stylist Tan France in a new fashion competition launching on Netflix. Next in Fashion sees 18 budding fashion designers battle it out to receive $250,000 (192,000) from Net-A-Porter as well as the opportunity to retail their debut collection with the luxury e-tailer. A rotating panel of judges, including Instagram's Eva Chen, designers Tommy Hilfiger and Prabal Gurung and model Adriana Lima among others, will assess each designer's work in varying trend and design-based challenges. Unlike its American competitor Project Runway, most of the contestants on Next in Fashion have already worked for some of fashion's most revered brands, including Stella McCartney and Alexander Wang. France and Chung alongside Tommy Hilfiger / Netflix The 10-episode series has gathered talent from all over the world including designers from LA, China, Mexico, Britain, Scotland and Italy. We are delighted to work with Netflix on Next In Fashion, awarding $250,000 and the opportunity to be stocked at Net-A-Porter to an incredibly deserving talent," explained Elizabeth von der Goltz, the Global Buying Director at Net-A-Porter. "Next in Fashion further showcases our long-term support of global fashion talent. The winner of the series' collection will launch on Net-A-Porter in February 2020. 36-year-old Chung rose to fame as a model in the nineties but quickly established herself as a budding presenter before setting up her fashion label, Alexachung. While 36-year-old France previously ran his own womenswear line Kingdom & State before finding fame as one fifth of Queer Eyes Fab Five. Jon Baskin at The Point: Perhaps no figure better illustrates the style and stakes of the hatred of literature, as it has filtered from academia into contemporary literary culture, than the American author Ben Lerner. Lerner, recently described in the New York Times as the most talented writer of his generation, was known for advertising his suspicion of aesthetic experience even before he published a book called The Hatred of Poetry in 2016. I had long worried that I was incapable of having a profound experience of art, says Adam Gordon, the college-age narrator of Lerners 2011 debut novel Leaving the Atocha Station, upon encountering a man crying before a painting at a museum in Madrid, and I had trouble believing that anyone had. I was intensely suspicious of people who claimed a poem or painting or piece of music changed their life. more here. Twelve lawmakers are calling on the Department of Education to ban student seclusion nationwide. The push comes after Illinois announced it would ban the practice statewide. People are concerned the isolated time-out is being overused as a form of discipline. On Wednesday, January 15, Congress members and two senators petitioned in a letter to the Department of Education, stating: We were relieved However, that makes Illinois only the fifth state to ban seclusion. There are tens of millions of American children still at risk of experiencing this detrimental practice. A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office shows that seclusion rooms are used more often than what is reported to the Civil Rights Data Collectiona group that oversees reports, and ensures that schools are not violating students rights. The practice is meant for emergencies when students pose a safety risk to others. For example, if they get out of control and may physically harm other students or teachers. However, a November report by ProPublica Illinois revealed that sometimes the rooms were used for relatively small reasonsstudents refusing to do classwork or throwing toys. More recently, attention is being drawn to this approach, and a psychologist shares his perspective on how we can address the situation from a different angle. Dr. Jeff Gardere said, If you look at this in a more psychological and therapeutic manner as we should because were talking about children, were talking about minors. These are kids perhaps who are acting out because they cannot identify what the anxiety or the anger or the sadness or the angst that they are experiencing, and therefore, they act it out physically. He continued, This is a cry for help, and I believe, as teachers, as counselors, we should look at helping that student to do better in the classroom instead of just shunning them. Seclusion is used in various states across the nation, and now only 5 states completely ban any form of seclusion for students with disabilities. With Illinois pushing for national attention, we will see if more states ban the practice in the future. The presidents of Guatemala and El Salvador on Monday said their governments were working towards facilitating the free movement of people and goods across their mutual borders. Visiting El Salvador for the first time since taking office earlier this month, Guatemala's president Alejandro Giammattei said the changes would "become reality" in the coming months. The two leaders also decided to allow all air operations between their countries to be considered local or domestic. At a joint news conference in San Salvador, El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele said the envisaged cooperation "goes far beyond any free trade agreement". The leaders rejected claims that f free passage at the borders would encourage irregular migration. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua signed a Central American free mobility agreement in 2006, known as CA-4, which establishes free mobility among citizens of signatory countries without additional restrictions other than their national identity documents. However, passports are required for minors to prevent illegal trafficking of children. The magnitude-7.7 quake triggered a tsunami warning for Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. A powerful magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck in the sea south of Cuba on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning for Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the International Tsunami Information Center said. The epicentre of the earthquake, initially reported as magnitude 7.3 before being upgraded, was between Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Cuba, at a shallow depth of 6.2 miles (10 km). The quake was not strongly felt in the Cuban capital of Havana or Kingston, Jamaica, according to Reuters News Agency witnesses. Meanwhile, Mikhail Campbell, a police media relations officer in the Cayman Islands, said he was not immediately aware of any reports of serious damage. Tsunami warnings were quickly issued. Hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within 300 km (186 miles) of the epicentre along the coasts of Jamaica Cayman Islands and Cuba, the International Tsunami Information Center said. The disaster management agency for the Cayman Islands government on Twitter urged people to move away from coastal areas and said those in low-lying areas should evacuate vertically in strong multistorey buildings. TV, radio and newspaper personality Jon Caldara will be joining Colorado Politics and The Colorado Springs Gazette as a weekly digital and print columnist. It is an honor to advance my writing addiction to another level, joining Colorados most successful and respected publications, Caldara said. The veteran journalist hosts The Devils Advocate with Jon Caldara on Colorado Public Television, and is also president of the Independence Institute. Jon Caldara will entertain and inform a large, influential and growing statewide audience in both Colorado Politics and the Pulitzer Prize-winning pages of The Gazette, said Wayne Laugesen, editor of The Gazettes editorial pages. Jon has been a key figure in the public policy process for decades, known statewide and nationally. Colorado Politics Managing Editor Linda Shapley was also heartened by the news. Our mission is to provide the public with diverse viewpoints from the left, right and center, she said. We look forward to Jon Caldaras unique, unpredictable voice inspiring robust, respectful, civilized dialogue among people who love Colorado and value the states diverse population and perspectives. Caldara most previously wrote a column for The Denver Post, which he began in 2016. Caldaras first column will appear Sunday, Feb. 9, in The Gazette, and will also be available at Colorado Politics, both online and in its weekly print magazine. By Trend Energy Week Georgia 2020 will open in Georgia on January 28, 2020, Trend reports citing Georgian media. This international investment forum will be opened by Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Natia Turnava. The Energy Week Georgia 2020 will bring together such energy companies as Total Eren (France), Acciona Energia (Spain), NBT AS (Norway), Cal?k Enerji (Turkey), Masdar (United Arab Emirates), Scatec Solar (Norway), Grupo Cobra (Spain), GS E&C (South Korea) and others?. The opening ceremony of Georgia Energy Week 2020 to be held at the Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace Hotel will also be attended by Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, Regional Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the Caucasus. The event is organized by the consulting company Invest in Network, which is headquartered in the UK and is engaged in provision of energy consulting services in emerging markets. Within the framework of Energy Week, the participants will discuss the challenges in the energy sector of Georgia, decisions made to strengthen the country's energy security, development of renewable energy sources, energy sector reforms and major investment projects. Issues of strengthening international cooperation in the energy sector will be also on the event agenda. Karnataka: Missing fishermen of Suvarna Tribhuja - Government urged to pay more compensation January 28,2020 | Source: Daiji World Delegation led by Mangaluru MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, Udupi MP Shobha Karandlaje and Udupi MLA K Raghupati Bhat submitted an appeal to union defence minister Rajnath Singh urging him to provide more compensation to the families of fishermen of Suvarna Tribhuja boat who went missing along with the boat in deep sea while fishing in 2018. This appeal was submitted during the pro-CAA convention that was held at Mangaluru on Monday, January 27. President of Fishing Federation of undivided Dakshina Kannada district Yashpal Suvarna, leaders of fishermen community Satish Kundar, Raviraj Suvarna, Harish Kundar, Panduranga Kotian, Gopal R K and family members of the missing fishermen were present. Responding to the appeal, minister Rajnath Singh assured that suitable action will be taken after investigation. It may be recalled, on December 13, 2018, fishing boat Suvarna Tribhuja left Malpe harbour for the last time. Indian Navy found the sunken boat 33 km off the Malvan coast on May 1, 2018. However, the whereabouts of the seven fishermen on board still remains a mystery. The boat had lost contact with the harbour and other fishing boats on December 15, 2018. INS Nireekshak, with MLA Raghupati Bhat on board, started the search operation near the Malvan coast and had found the wreckage a few days later almost 60 metres underwater. Haiti - REMINDER : Japan Scholarship, for Haitian teachers The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan reminds that it opened in December 2019 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26394-haiti-notice-japan-scholarship-program-for-haitian-teachers.html a program of scholarship which is addressed to the current Haitian teachers of primary, secondary schools or of formation of teachings, with the aim of doing research on school education in Japan. Urgent : deadline for submission of applications January 31, 2020 Conditions of Applicants - Have a university or school training diploma; - Be a teacher of primary, secondary or teacher training; - Have at least five (5) years of experience as a teacher as of October 1, 2020; - Be born after April 2, 1985; - Be able to leave for Japan in September or October 2020; - Be of Haitian nationality; - Have the motivation to learn Japanese and Japanese culture; - Have a good command of English since the necks will be taught in English. Please read the necessary information on the MEXT site before applying : https://www.studyinjapan.go.jp/en/smap_stopj-applications_teacher.html Selection steps : 1. Download and complete the necessary documents in Japanese or English : APPLICATION FORM https://www.studyinjapan.go.jp/en/smap_stopj-applications_teacher.html IMPORTANT : The Japanese Embassy only accepts documents deposited at the Embassy located Hexagone 2F, Angles Rues Darguin and Clerveaux, Petion ville it does not accept applications by email. Application deadline January 31, 2020 2. Written exam at the Embassy premises (February 10 to 14, 2020) 3. Interview at the Embassy premises (end of February 2020) 4. Selection at the level of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology 5. Final result (early July to mid-August 2020) 6. Immigration to Japan (from September or October 2020) The results of file selection will generally be communicated to you by email. For your questions : Email: culture@ht.mofa.go.jp Telephone: 2256-3333 / 5885 SL/ HaitiLibre US president Donald Trump has unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, calling for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in portions of east Jerusalem. He declared it a win-win opportunity for both Israel and the Palestinians. The plan ends speculation as to whether his administration, in preparing a proposal without input from Palestinian leaders, would abandon a two-state resolution to the conflict. This is what a future State of Palestine can look like, with a capital in parts of East Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/39vw3pPrAL Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020 Mr Trump, releasing the plan before a pro-Israel audience at the White House with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a great deal for the Palestinians. Mr Trump said the deal is a historic opportunity for Palestinians to achieve an independent state of their own. But Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said a thousand noes to the plan. After the nonsense that we heard today, we say a thousand noes to the deal of the century, Mr Abbas said at a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Western-backed Palestinian Authority is headquartered. He said the Palestinians remain committed to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a state with its capital in east Jerusalem. We will not kneel and we will not surrender, Mr Abbas said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through peaceful, popular means. Protesters burn tyres during a protest against the US Middle East peace plan (Adel Hana/AP) The plan more than doubles the territory currently under Palestinian control, although it also recognises Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank. Story continues The plan does call for a four-year freeze in new Israeli settlement construction, during which time details of a comprehensive agreement would be negotiated. However, it was not immediately clear if the freeze could be extended if a final deal is not concluded in the four years. Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza City ahead of the announcement, burning pictures of Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu and raising a banner reading Palestine is not for sale. The official Wafa news agency quoted Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as calling on Palestinian factions to set their differences aside and unite against the plan. A general view of the West Bank city of Jericho (Oded Balilty/AP) The 50-page political outline goes further in concessions to the Palestinians than many analysts had believed was likely. However, it would require them to accept conditions they have been previously unwilling to consider, such as accepting West Bank settlements. It builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. Under the terms of the peace vision that Mr Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, the future Palestinian state would consist of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of above-ground roads and tunnels. Officials said that both Mr Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. Mr President, because of this historic recognition and because I believe your peace plan strikes the right balance where other plans have failed, Mr Netanyahu said. Ive agreed to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of your peace plan. Its a great plan for Israel. Its a great plan for peace. President Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for an event in the East Room of the White House (Alex Brandon/AP) The event cames as Mr Trumps impeachment trial continues in the Senate and Israels parliament had planned a hearing to discuss Mr Netanyahus request for immunity from criminal corruption charges. Mr Netanyahu withdrew that request hours before the proceedings were to begin, but Israels parliament, the Knesset, is still expected to meet. The body had been likely to vote against immunity, dealing Mr Netanyahu a blow. In the run-up to the March 2 election, Mr Netanyahu has called for annexing parts of the West Bank and imposing Israeli sovereignty on all its settlements there. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Jordan Valley in particular is considered a vital security asset. Security responsibility for the Jordan Valley would remain in Israels hands for the foreseeable future but could be scaled back as the nascent Palestinian state builds its capacity, under the terms of the plan, which says that statehood will be contingent on the Palestinians meeting international governance criteria. The Palestinians see the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Mr Trump has reversed decades of US foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centrepiece of his strategy was recognising Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the American Embassy there. Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (Adam Davy/PA) He has also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programmes. Those policies have proven popular among Mr Trumps evangelical and pro-Israel supporters and could give him a much-needed boost from his base as he gears up for a reelection battle this year. The Strokes will play a string of North American tour dates in March, hitting Vancouver on March 5, Seattle on March 9 and Los Angeles on March 13. Canadian indie-pop band Alvvays will support The Strokes at each show, with King Princess also supporting in Los Angeles. Tickets will go on sale Friday, Jan. 31, at 10 a.m. local time for the Los Angeles show, and at 12 p.m. local for the Vancouver and Seattle shows. The Strokes have not released an album since 2013s Comedown Machine, with their latest release in general being the 2016 EP Future Present Past. The Julian Casablancas-fronted quintet will headline Mexicos Tecate Pal Norte festival in March, and Atlantas Shaky Knees and Miamis III Points in May. Check out the posters for the three March concerts below, as well as the full details on the tour dates for The Strokes. The Strokes Tour Dates: March 05 Vancouver, B.C. @ Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena* 09 Seattle, Wash. @ WaMu Theater* 14 Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Forum* 20-22 Monterrey, Mexico @ Tecate Pal Norte May 01-02 Miami, Fla. @ III Points 01-03 Atlanta, Ga. @ Shaky Knees Music Festival (* with Alvvays) ( King Princess) VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Guyana Goldstrike Inc. (the "Company" or "Guyana Goldstrike") (TSXV:GYA, OTC PINK:GYNAF, FSE:1ZT) is pleased to announce the Company has signed a definitive gold forward purchase agreement (the "Agreement"), dated January 24, 2020, with an arms-length investor (the "Investor") for proceeds of up to US$9,000,000, for the Marudi Gold Project ("Marudi" or the "Property", or the "Project") located in Guyana, South America. Under the terms of the Agreement, the Investor will make an initial payment of US$2,000,000 on or before April 14, 2020. Thereafter, a second payment of US$7,000,000 will be advanced within thirty days of a royalty interest in the Project in favour of the Investor having been registered. The Agreement is non-dilutive to the Company's current share structure as no shares or warrants will be issued to the Investor. The proceeds will enable the Company to finalize its purchase of the Project and further explore and develop the resource potential of the Property. In consideration for providing funding, the Company has agreed to deliver 30,000 ounces of gold, representing approximately 10% of the Project's current mineral resource estimate (please see "Mineral Resource Estimates" below). Deliveries will commence within 120 days of a declaration of commercial production from the Project, or within 36 months of the initial funding under the Agreement, whichever the earlier, with an annual delivery schedule of 3,000 ounces. The Company has also agreed to grant the Investor a right of first refusal to acquire a further 30,000 ounces of gold, on terms to be negotiated between the parties. The delivery obligation of the Company will be secured by a 12.5% net smelter returns royalty in favour of the Investor, to be registered against the Project. The royalty will not be payable while the Company meets the deliver schedule and will expire once all delivery obligations under the Agreement have been satisfied. Mineral Resource Estimates The Mazoa Hill Zone contains the Company's current mineral resource estimate. Data analyzed suggests that the mineralized zone is open in several directions including at depth. 243,300 indicated gold ounces within 3,637,000 tonnes grading 2.1 g/t; 78,800 inferred gold ounces within 1,278,000 tonnes grading 1.9 g/t For further information concerning the Mazoa Hill Zone Resource Estimate, readers are encouraged to review "Technical Report: Marudi Property Mazoa Hill Mineral Resource Estimate", a technical report prepared for the Company by Global Mineral Resource Services and is available at: GYA Mazoa Hill Zone 43-101, at the Company's website www.guyanagoldstrike.com and under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that although the Project has a mineral resource estimate and a mining license a production decision has not been reached by the Company in respect of the Project, nor has a feasibility study been completed to assess the economic viability of commercial production at the Project. Also note, mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. About Guyana Goldstrike Inc. The Company is developing the Marudi Gold Project, which has a 17-year mining license and is located in Guyana, South America. Historic diamond drilling completed on the Project by prior operators have delineated two zones of gold mineralization: Mazoa Hill and Marudi North zones. A mineral resource estimate has been completed on the Mazoa Hill Zone. Data analyzed suggests the zone is open to mineralization in multiple directions and at depth. Through the recent exploration program, the Company has discovered a third mineralized zone, called Toucan Ridge, which is situated approximately 1000 metres to the northeast of the Mazoa Hill Zone. In addition to the known gold zones and the new Toucan Ridge zone, the Company has over 45 sq. kms of underexplored land and believes the greater land position has excellent upside potential for the discovery of new mineralized zones through the development of previously and newly identified mineralized bedrock targets on the Project. About Guyana The Republic of Guyana is located in South America adjacent to Suriname. The country is English speaking and its legal system is based on British common law with a democratically elected government. It has an established mining act and a rich history of gold production. The Fraser Institute's 2016 Annual Survey of Mining listed Guyana as the third best mining jurisdiction with regards to investment attractiveness in the Latin America and Caribbean Basin sub-group. The Guiana Shield is the geographic gold-hosting region and is world-recognized as a premier gold region that is highly prospective, under-explored and has geological continuity with West Africa. Barrick has recently announced that the Giuana Shield will be their priority region for discovery opportunities and early stage exploration.* Exxon Recently announced the discovery of 6 billion barrels of offshore oil with production scheduled for first quarter of 2020. This discovery will designate Guyana as having the fastest growing GPD in 2020, estimated to be 86%.** *https://www.reuters.com/article/us-barrick-gold-randgold-rsrcs-explorati/barrick-keen-on-guyana-shield-canada-for-exploration-executive-idUSKCN1NL276 **https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-02/meet-the-economy-that-the-imf-sees-growing-86-in-2020 Qualified Person Locke Goldsmith, M.Sc., P. Eng, P. Geo, Chief Geologist and Exploration Manager for the Company, is a Qualified Person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Goldsmith has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content of this news release. On behalf of the Board of Directors of GUYANA GOLDSTRIKE INC. Peter Berdusco President and Chief Executive Officer Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to future prices of commodities, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or government requirements or approvals, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure, fluctuations in the market for gold, changes in exploration costs and government regulation in Guyana, status of artisanal mining activities and associated rights, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations. SOURCE: Guyana Goldstrike Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574352/Guyana-Goldstrike-Signs-US9-Million-Gold-Forward-Purchase-Agreement Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday arrested a 19-year-old man, Sajid Farooq Dar affiliated with proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Dar was arrested by police from Andergam Pattan, Baramulla. Jammu and Kashmir Police: A 19-year-old man, Sajid Farooq Dar affiliated with proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was arrested by police from Andergam Pattan, Baramulla. ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020 READ | BIG WIN: Pulwama Terror Attack Conspirator Neutralised By Security Forces In Tral Encounter Jaish Commander Qari Yasir killed On January 25, in a major success for security forces in the valley, top Jaish Commander Qari Yasir has been gunned down along with his two associates, Moosa and Burhan, in an encounter in Hariparigam Tral area of Awantipora. Qari Yasir was an IED expert and was involved in recruiting militants as well as transporting them from Pakistan. Three army personnel were also injured in the shootout. They were immediately admitted to the hospital. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) had said that the police were constantly getting information about the IED attack in or around Srinagar. A Jaish module mostly foreigners was active and was planning to do something sensational on the eve of Republic day 2020. This module includes one terrorist identified as Saifullah who was killed in Khrew area of Pulwama recently, a senior officer said. READ | Awantipora: J&K Police Arrests Terrorist Who Was Threatening Locals On a credible input, a cordon and search operation was launched jointly by police and security forces in the Hariparigam Tral area of Awantipora. During the search operation, the hiding terrorists fired on the search party. The fire was retaliated leading to an encounter, read an official statement. In the ensuing encounter, three terrorists were killed and the bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. From the incriminating materials recovered at the site of encounter, the killed terrorists have been identified as Qari Yasir a self-styled Chief Commander of proscribed terror outfit JeM, Moosa Abu Usmaan both residents of Pakistan and Burhanuddin Sheikh of Hasipora Tral, it added. READ | Jaish Commander Qari Yasir, Involved In Pulwama Attack, Killed In Tral Encounter According to the police records, Qari Yasir had a history of terror crime records since 2016 and was operating as Commander of proscribed outfit JeM in the areas of South Kashmir. He was involved in many terror crimes and civilian atrocities for which several cases were registered against him. He was part of the group involved in carrying out an IED blast in Lethpora in February 2019 in which 40 CRPF personnel attained martyrdom. He was also involved in the abduction and killing of civilians Manzoor Kohli and Abdul Qadir in August 2019. Moosa Abu Usmaan and Burhanuddin Sheikh were involved in terror crimes and civilian atrocities. Terror crime cases were also registered against them. READ | 2 Terrorists Eliminated In Encounter With Security Forces In J&K; Operation Still Underway Democrats seized control of the state Legislature and passed a slew of long-stalled priorities last year, but that doesnt mean everything is hunky-dory in leftyland. Progressives sometimes pushed for more change than their moderate colleagues could bear. Suburban lawmakers occasionally broke with their urban legislators. Single-payer health care and recreational marijuana are just two issues that stalled due to intraparty disputes, but other fault lines have emerged among progressives on issues that arent so clear-cut. Here are some policies that have spurred progressive infighting. Gestational surrogacy Generally, feminist priorities go hand in hand with progressive ideals. Gestational surrogacy, however, created a schism. In New York right now, a woman cant be paid for carrying a baby to term. Many progressives wanted to change the law in order to lower barriers to parenthood for gay couples, those who cant conceive traditionally and women who cant carry children. It was touted as a major priority for the LGBT community. But several female legislators and prominent feminists came out against it. Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, the first openly gay person elected to the state Legislature, asserted that gestational surrogacy is not an issue for the LGBT community at large because it costs so much money. She and others said it commodifies women by putting a price on their wombs and bodies. State Sen. Liz Krueger, a progressive stalwart, voted against the legislation, which ultimately passed her chamber. In the Assembly, it never came to a full floor vote. The measure is expected to be taken up again this year, and it will likely continue to divide progressives. Decriminalizing sex work The topic has not yet been debated in earnest in Albany, but when the time comes, the idea of fully decriminalizing sex work will surely be a divisive issue among progressives. Proposed measures would affect not just those selling sexual services, but also those buying and promoting it. The fissures are already there, as some prominent feminists and womens organizations have come out in opposition to the full decriminalization. Proponents like democratic socialist state Sen. Julia Salazar say full decriminalization would remove the stigma around sex work and make it safer for those doing it voluntarily. Others, like National Organization for Women New York City President Sonia Ossorio, argue it would lead to an increase in sex trafficking and would protect pimps. Ossorio supports partial decriminalization that would keep buying and promoting sexual services illegal. Sex workers say this model, which is used in Norway, actually makes their work more dangerous. Plastic bag ban Environmental issues are a cornerstone for progressive lawmakers and activists, but theres not always agreement on specific measures. In New York City, efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags took years to pass, until it finally did in 2016. And the measure, which was set to impose a 5-cent fee on plastic bags, passed by just eight votes in the overwhelmingly Democratic City Council. Lawmakers like Inez Barron, a proud left-wing radical, opposed the fee over the contention it would hurt low-income New Yorkers. The city law was overturned by the state Legislature, although the fight to pass a statewide ban was fraught as well. State Sens. Brad Hoylman and Liz Krueger in 2018 introduced a bill that would ban plastic bags outright and place a fee on any other single-use carryout bags, such as paper bags. Longtime activist and The Black Institute President Bertha Lewis opposed it on the same grounds as those who opposed the city fee. Ultimately, what passed in the 2020 budget was a compromise that banned most plastic bags, but did not include a mandatory fee on paper bags. Fur ban New York Citys debate over whether to outlaw the sale of fur opened a divide between progressives and members of the black community. Progressives, like New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, wanted to take a stand on animal rights issues by banning fur in the city. Most of his colleagues agreed. The proposal garnered swift backlash, including from black ministers because of furs cultural significance. They argue that wearing fur is a sign of achievement for members of the black community and that animal rights activists, who were pushing for the ban, were elevating animals over black lives. Banning menthol cigarettes Another measure that has broad progressive appeal but has been opposed due to its impact on black and low-income communities is a New York City bill to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes. New York City Councilman Fernando Cabrera introduced a proposed ban, citing concerns over health and children becoming addicted to nicotine through flavored tobacco products. But the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has a long history of being a progressive leader, said a ban would disproportionately hurt black people and result in a larger illicit cigarette market and more police interactions like the one that led to the death of Eric Garner. Although that view is not shared by all black activists, with the likes of the Rev. Kirsten John Foy supporting a ban. Either way, the opposition was enough to stop New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson from backing the bill or bringing it to the floor for a vote. Francisca According to SaharaReporters, Francisca, wife of slain journalist, Alex Ogbu, has said that his tragic demise had filled their lives with darkness. Speaking for the first time on Monday since her husband was allegedly felled by police bullets on January 21 in Abuja during a protest by members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, the mother of one, who has been heartbroken since that period, told our correspondent that she currently feels as if the entire world had crumbled on her as a result of the sad event. While demanding justice and transparency in the unravelling of her husbands killers, Francisca, who is a volunteer with N- Power, a Federal government Social Investment Programme, said the tragic incident had turned her into a widow at a young age. Fighting back tears, she said, There is no word to describe the pain we feel over the death of my husband. His tragic demise has brought darkness into our lives in every sense. Our two-year-old daughter has been crying and asking after her father. I dont know how to comfort her because I also need someone to wake me up and tell me this is a dream. My husband was everything to us. I dont know how I will cope with life and raising our daughter without him around. Calling on the police to fish out its personnel responsible for Ogbus death, Francisca told SaharaReporters that the authorities had not been very transparent about the entire incident and the process to conduct an autopsy on the deceased. She added, I want the police to come out and say the truth and let the world know that they killed my husband. They have so far been economical with the truth by trying to alter the narrative and claiming that my husband was an accident victim. The notice given to us to bring a pathologist for the autopsy investigation to be carried out at the National Hospital was short. All I want is justice for my late husband. Findings by SaharaReporters revealed that the results of the autopsy will be ready in two weeks. Also, it was gathered that officers at Utako Police Station in charge of the matter had refused to release items retrieved from the deceased to the family, which include cash, mobile phones and ATM cards, claiming that investigation had not been concluded. Political parties are using courts as platforms to wage political battles and settle political scores, rued Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde. We are cognizant of the fact that opposing parties use court as a forum to [settle political scores], both sides, said CJI Bobde. His remarks came during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by advocate and Bharatiya Janata Party Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the death of a BJP worker Dulal Kumar in Purulia, West Bengal. Kumar was found hanging from a power transmission tower in June 2018. Bhatia said that it was disturbing that a First Information Report was not registered (by the police) despite the complaint naming six accused. He attributed political motives to the inaction of the state police in the Trinamool Congress ruled state since the murdered person was a BJP worker. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the state government told the court that 73 witnesses were examined and it emerged that the killing was a result of an extra-marital affair. Sibal also questioned the propriety of Bhatia, a BJP worker, approaching the court by way of a public interest litigation. The CJI said that the court is aware that it is being used by political parties as a platform to settle political scores. He also asked both Sibal and Bhatia to take their political battles to TV channels. The court asked the West Bengal government to respond to an application by the slain BJP workers family seeking impleadment in the case and probe the murder. Bhatia in his petition sought a CBI investigation into the killing of Purulia and two other BJP workers, Trilochan Mahato and Shaktipada Sardar. The Court, in an order passed on March 26, 2019 expressed satisfaction over the probe into the death of Mahato and Sarkar and disposed of the petition to the extent of their killings. It, however, kept the petition pending with respect to the death of Dulal Kumar. Bhatia could not be reached for comment and did not respond to text messages. Senior Trinamool Congress leader, also a minister in the West Bengal government, Tapas Roy welcomed the observation of the CJI. The CJI has rightly said that courts are being used to settle political scores. The Supreme Court had earlier expressed satisfaction at the police investigation. The courts remarks add credence to the law and order situation in Bengal, said Roy, who is also a lawyer. Dublin, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Automotive Electric Fuel Pumps - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Automotive Electric Fuel Pumps market worldwide is projected to grow by US$4.9 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 4.8%. Turbine Style, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 5.1%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$11.8 Billion by the year 2025, Turbine Style will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth. Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 3.7% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$173.3 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$141.8 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from the rest of the European markets. In Japan, Turbine Style will reach a market size of US$667 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 7.6% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$1.4 Billion in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies. Competitors identified in this market include: ACDelco Continental AG Daewha Fuel Pump Industries Ltd. Delphi Technologies Denso Europe B.V. General Motors Company Pricol Ltd. Robert Bosch GmbH Visteon Corporation For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/95togl Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. A successful restaurateur has been accused of choking his ex-wife and then throwing her down the stairs of her apartment in a dispute over access to the couple's children. Daniel Dafkovski, who was involved with a number of restaurants on the NSW south coast, was refused bail last week after after he followed up the alleged attack in the couple's apartment in Coniston on December 5th by allegedly posting a picture of his wife in her underwear to Facebook. The image, which police allege in documents tendered to the court was taken from her phone without her permission, was posted to his Facebook page on December 15th. Daniel Dafkovski was refused bail in a Wollongong court after an incident in December with his ex-wife Police allege the couple were fighting over the custody of the couple's two children when Dafkovski's ex-wife then sent a text message complaining about his behaviour to his mother, the Illawarra Star reported. However, police allege she accidentally send the message to Dafkovski, which saw him jumping on top of her in the bedroom, choking her so badly shouldn't breath or scream. Police allege Dafkovski then dragged her out of the room by her arms and threw her down a set of stairs before she fled. Dafkovski was refused bail by Magistrate Michael Stoddart and will return to court this week. His lawyer says he will fight the charges in court. Dafkovski is one of the founders of 'Postmans Quarter' which was remodeled into the popular Para in Thirroul. Austrian wine: Climb every vineyard Austria is ticking a lot of boxes for wine drinkers, finds Sonya Hook Austria could be one to watch in wine in 2020 with the country boasting success from both its international varieties and its rarities, alongside its ongoing favourite Gruner Veltliner, supported by reports that 2019 might be Austrias vintage of the decade. But what is it that is driving Austrias success and what can retailers do to help consumers discover new things from the nation? Carmen Augscholl, head of international markets for the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, tells DRN that Austrian wines are transporting the values that people are screaming for: conscious treatment of our environment, high quality for fair prices as well as food-friendly, elegant wines. She adds: Our winegrowers cannot wait to show the first samples of the 2019 vintage. Quantity-wise it will be above the past five-year average and quality-wise it could be Austrias vintage of the decade. Peter Honegger, at Austrian specialist importer and retailer Newcomer Wines, also highlights the environmental focus from Austrian wine producers, predicting that over the next few years we will see more and more organic certifications. He says: Austria is one of the leading countries these days in terms of good agriculture and good farming practices. There are more low-intervention and organic producers now and we are seeing new clients approaching us who are looking for these kinds of wines. It seems that the quality you get on average wine in Austria is very high and the wines are just speaking for themselves. Some retailers in the UK agree. Beth Pearce, Majestic Wines Austria buyer, says: Austria is flying at the moment, with sales for the year to autumn 2019 up over 70% like-for-like. FLAGSHIP VARIETY Gruner Veltliner, the nations flagship grape, which covers one third of Austrias total vineyard surface area, is leading the way for Majestic, according to Pearce. She says: We had some really successful parcels in 2019 and we added one to our Definition range. Gruner is still thriving. Bringing it into the Definition range has helped create trust and brand building and the sales are following. The lighter, fresh style is finding a great audience with those customers who love New Zealand Sauvignon styles. Its really exciting to see. Nik Darlington, director at Graft Wine, says the best-selling producer for his previous company Red Squirrel and now Graft was for many years Austrian, bolstered predominantly by Gruner Veltliner. He says: In 2018 we found sales of Gruner tailed off in the on-trade, where it is no longer as in vogue, and the off-trade has been slower to pick up the slack. Zweigelt continues to be exceptionally popular but we felt Gruner was hitting a plateau. I am pleased to say, however, that trend has been reversed over the past year, and Gruner is back in growth. Retailers looking for a starting point would be wise to include Gruner but, like Darlington, many in the trade highlight Zweigelt as one of the up-and-coming success stories from Austria. Majestic has had Gruner Veltliner in its portfolio for more than a decade but it recently expanded its Austrian collection, including the trial of a Zweigelt. Pearce says: I think this could be the next big thing since juicy, fruity reds are working a treat for our customers. Gruner will still be the flagship Im sure but it needs a red partner and Zweigelt can be made in a really approachable style. Honegger at Newcomer also highlights Zweigelt and other lighter reds from Austria, which he says consumers are increasingly looking to explore. He says: Wines such as Blaufrankisch, Pinot Noir and Zweigelt are increasingly being produced in Austria. There is still a big domestic demand for these but historically it was the richer reds which were exported. This is now changing and we are seeing increased demand outside of Austria for its lighter reds. I think the single most important red variety is Blaufrankisch and we are seeing just the beginning of the growth of this. It can compete with some of the best fine wines of France or Italy and it has such a variety of styles. People have compared it with the good terroir you find in Beaujolais or, if you pick the grapes later and produce whole-bunch wines, then you could think of it as being more similar to a Northern Rhone Syrah. Darlington also points to Austrian reds, whether thats lighter, fruitier styles much like Zweigelt, or the bolder offerings from the southern regions where grapes like Blaufrankisch and St Laurent thrive. Similarly, Augscholl confirms Austrias red wines are gaining in popularity. She adds: Red quality wines saw an increase of 45% in value and 72% in volume in the first nine months of 2019 compared to 2018. In addition, there is definitely a higher interest in Austrias rarities, such as Zierfandler, Rotgipfler, Roter Veltliner and Wiener Gemischter Satz. Augscholl also notes that Austria can rely on its success with international varieties which are combined with a clear identity, such as its Rieslings. PLUS POINTS Pearce also sees an exciting opportunity for varieties such as Riesling, with the more engaged wine consumer. She adds: I would love to see more of the Pinot Blanc, which seems to be kept within the country. Looking ahead, it is clear Austria can produce wines of interest, but do the nations wines offer any additional plus points for retailers? Those in the UK that are already reporting strong sales from Austria highlight anumber of keys to its success, including the fact its wines are often lower in alcohol and that they are known for being food friendly. Darlington says: Despite the renaissance having been going strong for a number of years now, Austrian wines still hold something of a novelty factor with many wine drinkers. There is also a groundswell of support for lighter wines (especially lighter reds) and lower alcohol levels, and Austrian wines regularly deliver on these and deliver well. Whats more, it is a relatively youthful wine industry, with a new generation of charismatic young winemakers, a great push towards organic and biodynamic viticulture, and a strong natural wine scene. There are great stories to tell. Majestics Pearce adds: I think the Austrian style appeals to customers who like the restraint and freshness of European whites but want to look outside the regions commonly found in the UK market. I think they have similar appeal to Italian whites not too fruity, clean mineral flavours and not too alcoholic. All that means they are great to pair with food. Related articles: The constituency Secretary for Asokwa New Patriotic Party, Papa Yaw Asare Bediako, has expressed surprise at the blatant lies being peddled by some individuals on the upcoming primaries in their constituency. Denying some assertions thrown into the public domain on Monday, the Asokwa secretary noted that some faceless individuals are deceitfully using some naive youths to denigrate the party in the public domain. The Asokwa NPP Secretary who was maligned severally on radio and social media alongside his constituency chairman Rev. Nkromah lamented that the constituency executives were being unduly attacked by the uninformed youth. Speaking to Wofa Kofi Appiah on Boss Fm in Kumasi, Papa Yaw as he is affectionately called said the forms were still with the Regional chairman and no aspirant had yet bought any. He stressed that the office had on countless occasions directed anyone who was interested to go to the regional office for his or her forms, but wondered why they took delight in verbally assaulting them and making the party unpopular. I know the rules governing our internal elections so there is no way I will deny anybody a form. He asserted. The constituency secretary disclosed that the party's offices are opened from Monday to Friday for business and party activities. Apart from himself, he stressed, there is an administrative officer who is ever-present at the office every day to see to whoever visits. But on Monday the administrator informed him of visiting the Agogo hospital to seek care at the Ear, Nose and Throat department hence his absence at the office. The secretary also noted that his doors are always open to attend to anyone who wants clarification on any party matter and added that he is ready to offer support to anyone who wants to pick nomination forms when they are made available to him. "No one can shut the NPP office at Asokwa because it is set out to be open to attend to party people and residents in the constituency and I assure you that it will remain so", Papa Yaw passionately stressed. The constituency secretary advised party members to consult his office or that of the other executives anytime they need help or clarification on matters and not resort to radio and social media where they cannot get the help they need. He asked members to use party structures in conveying their grievances or seeking redress on concerns they may have. "We are a party of rules and regulations and it is important that we endeavour to use same to address whatever concerns we have because we are one people with a common destiny of making this party strong", Papa Yaw stressed. Meanwhile, some well-meaning people in the Asokwa constituency have blamed Dr. Nana Yaw Boakye, one of the aspirants of Parliamentary candidacy in the Asokwa constituency for the rude behavior of the youths. If he is truly a party man, he should have known and used the right procedure and channels for addressing his concerns than to insight those ignorant youth to go to the party office and denigrate our great party, someone must call that man to order. Nana Adu, who describes himself as an ardent party follower said angrily. A report said Northern Ireland should not have a separate salary threshold for migrants (Steve Parsons/PA) Northern Ireland should not have a separate salary threshold for migrants, a report by experts has said. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommended the Government should cut the pay requirement for skilled workers from 30,000 to 25,600 for those coming to the UK with a job offer. Business groups in Northern Ireland have argued the region should have a lower limit than the rest of the UK. The report said: The MACs view is that while there are arguments both for and against geographical variation in thresholds, on balance we recommend a single salary threshold across the UK. We call on the Advisory Committee to give urgent reconsideration due to our distinctive economic positionColin Neill A lower salary threshold for some parts of the UK risks labelling some parts of the UK as low wage, reinforcing geographical inequalities. We have previously supported a separate pilot to deal with the particular problems faced by remote areas and we continue to recommend this idea. Areas such as the tourism industry in Northern Ireland could be particularly affected by the minimum wage requirement after Brexit since it employs a lot of workers from the EU. The MAC report added: The situation of Northern Ireland is unique as the only part of the UK with a land border with the EU and a labour market more distinct from the rest of the UK. Special consideration could be given to Northern Ireland, especially if it comes to have a different relationship with the EU compared to the rest of the UK. Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, said there seemed to be a failure to take into consideration Northern Irelands unique set of circumstances. Expand Close Hospitality Ulster chief Colin Neill PA Media / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Hospitality Ulster chief Colin Neill Although we do welcome the reduction in the salary threshold, it remains too high, not Northern Ireland-specific, with the skills bar set to a height that is prohibitive for a region which is expected to have 30,000 vacancies in the hospitality sector by 2024, he said. Soft skills are a vital element of the success of the Northern Ireland hospitality and tourism offer and our fear is that they have largely been ignored in this context. We call on the Advisory Committee to give urgent reconsideration due to our distinctive economic position. He said the hospitality sector in Northern Ireland was hugely reliant on workers from overseas and warned he harboured grave concerns about what the future may bring. He said: There is real danger of negative impacts on the sustainability of a sector of the economy which has significant growth potential. Ann McGregor, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, said she was disappointed. The recommendations made by local businesses and business groups throughout two years of consultation have been ignored, she said. This risks limiting access to skills for many of our members across a wide range of sectors. United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Monday called on Iraq to take immediate steps to protect US diplomatic facilities, a day after the country's embassy in Baghdad was hit by multiple rockets which resulted in a person being injured. The discussion in this regard was held during a telephonic conversation between Pompeo and Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Mahdi, the former tweeted. "Spoke today with Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Mahdi about yesterday's rocket attack against our Embassy, a flagrant attack on Iraq's sovereignty," Pompeo tweeted. "As I emphasized in our conversation, the Government of Iraq must take immediate steps to protect our diplomatic facilities as required by international law," he added. The Secretary underlined that the attacks demonstrate a wanton disregard for Iraqi sovereignty and "a failure to rein in these dangerous armed groups," the US State Department said in a statement. "The Secretary noted that we view last night's attack on the Embassy as an attempt to distract Iraqi and international attention away from the brutal suppression of peaceful Iraqi protesters by Iran and its proxies," the statement read. Five rockets had hit the high security 'Green Zone' in Baghdad which houses a number of foreign diplomatic missions, including the US embassy. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. The incident comes two days after thousands gathered in Baghdad calling for US troops' withdrawal from the country. Tensions have been simmering in the Middle East since the killing of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani by the US in an airstrike near Baghdad International Airport earlier this month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An unusual chunk in a meteorite may contain a surprising bit of space history, based on new research from Washington University in St. Louis. Presolar grains -- tiny bits of solid interstellar material formed before the sun was born -- are sometimes found in primitive meteorites. But a new analysis reveals evidence of presolar grains in part of a meteorite where they are not expected to be found. "What is surprising is the fact that presolar grains are present," said Olga Pravdivtseva, research associate professor of physics in Arts & Sciences and lead author of a new paper in Nature Astronomy. "Following our current understanding of solar system formation, presolar grains could not survive in the environment where these inclusions are formed." Curious Marie is a notable example of an "inclusion," or a chunk within a meteorite, called a calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion (CAI). These objects, some of the first to have condensed in the solar nebula, help cosmochemists define the age of the solar system. This particular chunk of meteorite -- from the collection of the Robert A. Pritzker Center for Meteoritics and Polar Studies at the Chicago Field Museum -- was in the news once before, when scientists from the University of Chicago gave it its name to honor chemist Marie Curie. For the new work, Pravdivtseva and her co-authors, including Sachiko Amari, research professor of physics at Washington University, used noble gas isotopic signatures to show that presolar silicon carbide (SiC) grains are present in Curious Marie. That's important because presolar grains are generally thought to be too fragile to have endured the high-temperature conditions that existed near the birth of our sun. But not all CAIs were formed in quite the same way. "The fact that SiC is present in refractory inclusions tells us about the environment in the solar nebula at the condensation of the first solid materials," said Pravdivtseva, who is part of Washington University's McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences. "The fact that SiC was not completely destroyed in Curious Marie can help us to understand this environment a little bit better. "Many refractory inclusions were melted and lost all textural evidence of their condensation. But not all." Like solving a mystery Pravdivtseva and her collaborators used two mass spectrometers built in-house at Washington University to make their observations. The university has a long history of noble gas work and is home to one of the best-equipped noble gas laboratories in the world. Still, this work was uniquely challenging. The researchers had 20 mg of Curious Marie to work with, which is a relatively large sample from a cosmochemistry perspective. They heated it up incrementally, increasing temperature and measuring the composition of four different noble gases released at each of 17 temperature steps. "Experimentally, it is an elegant work," Pravdivtseva said. "And then we had a puzzle of noble gas isotopic signatures to untangle. For me, it is like solving a mystery." Others have looked for evidence of SiC in such calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions in meteorites using noble gases before, but Pravdivtseva's team is the first to find it. "It was beautiful when all noble gases pointed to the same source of the anomalies -- SiC," she said. "Not only do we see SiC in the fine-grained CAIs, we see a population of small grains that formed at special conditions," Pravdivtseva said. "This finding forces us to revise how we see the conditions in the early solar nebula." ### SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A former Illinois state senator pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting around a quarter of a million dollars in bribes in exchange for protecting the interests of a red-light camera company, and promised to co-operate with federal prosecutors in ongoing public corruption investigations. Martin Sandoval, 56, entered his plea during an initial hearing in U.S. District Court in Chicago, just one day after prosecutors listed charges against the recent chair of the senates powerful transportation committee. According to the plea agreement, Sandoval accepted some $250,000 in bribes, though court filings dont name the company or other individuals who might have been involved. Sandoval is well connected in the Illinois Democratic Party. His fast decision to co-operate comes after more than a year of home and office raids against multiple Democrats, several of whom have been charged, and it increases the chances that more charges will follow. In Springfield, the news cast an uneasy pallor over the first day of the General Assemblys spring session. I dont know if Ive ever been more embarrassed than watching the federal government cart cardboard boxes out of the Capitol. It turned my stomach, newly elected Senate President Don Harmon said of the FBIs Sept. 24 raids of Sandovals offices. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the charges repellent, adding, I expect public servants to serve their constituents, not line their own pockets, and todays guilty plea demonstrates yet again the urgent need for reform. Sandoval faces up to 13 years in prison, though his co-operation could shave years off his sentence. Charging papers say Sandoval corruptly solicited, demanded, agreed to accept and accepted payments for continued support for the operation of red-light cameras in the State of Illinois. The alleged bribery occurred between 2016 and 2019, when, as chair of the transportation committee, Sandoval wielded enormous influence in how state transportation funds were spent. The prosecutors filing offered few details, including which company or company officials paid bribes. Sandoval, who announced his resignation effective Jan. 1, also pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return. He is accused of misstating his income in a 2017 return when he indicated he made around $125,000. Sandoval knew his income substantially exceeded that amount, the filing says. In response to the Sandoval investigation and a federal bribery charge against then Rep. Luis Arroyo, a Chicago Democrat, the Legislature , with Pritzkers encouragement, in November adopted greater reporting requirements for lobbying and created a commission to identify other ethics remedies by March 31. The whole series of events around these federal investigations and indictments show us that weve got to act even tougher to stop what a lot of people see as a culture of corruption down here, said House Majority Leader Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat. Weve got to look at what weve learned from those indictments, weve got to close any loopholes. Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat who joined the Senate with Sandoval in 2003, said, We cannot pretend this is not a problem, but he cautioned against wide-ranging ethics resolutions with unintended consequences. We have to identify what the problem is that were trying to solve, Harmon said. Im not afraid of tackling the tough issues, but I do want us to identify with some precision what problem were trying to solve and whether or not the proposed solutions solve them. ___ Tarm reported from Chicago. The mission is bigger than any one person. Marina Salandy-Brown has employed that self-sacrificial task-focused approach to successfully create the most influential modern literary movement in the Caribbean: the Bocas Lit Fest. In 11 short years Salandy-Brown, as founder and president of the Bocas Lit Fest, has brought together the best and brightest of Caribbean literature for the annual celebration, the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, sparking a literary renaissance of sorts in the region. The total number of trips to Ireland made by oversea visitors in 2019 saw an increase of 1.8% on 2018, according to CSO figures released today. Ireland welcomed 10,807,500 people from the UK, Europe, USA and Canada and other countries to its shores last year. Trips made to Ireland by residents of the UK increased by 0.8% in 2019 to 3,787,700 while trips by residents of European countries excluding the UK increased by 2.6% to 3,910,200. Trips by residents of USA and Canada to Ireland increased by 1.2% to 2,412,500 while trips to Ireland from other countries increased by 5.5% to 697,200. In December of last year, the total number of trips to Ireland rose 5.5% to 779,200 compared to that of 2018. There was also an increase of 6.5% in the number of overseas trips made by Irish residents in 2019 to over 8.8 million. The total number of overseas trips made by Irish residents during December 2019, however, decreased by 1.5% to 564,500. Commenting on figures published today, Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: Todays figures from the CSO indicate that overseas arrivals increased by +1.8% in 2019, over 191,000 more than in 2018. 2019 has presented a mixed picture for Irish tourism and this is reflected in todays CSO figures. Weve seen a small increase in arrivals from Britain (+0.8%), a modest performance from both Mainland Europe (+2.6%) and North America (+1.2%) and arrivals from long-haul markets up +5.5%. However, North America has seen a disappointing decline of -5% for the month of December alone. "Theres been a deterioration in air access capacity from North America this year, with a -9% decline for this winter. The figures very much reflect feedback from our industry partners on the ground, whove seen weaker demand this year. The continued uncertainty around Brexit is giving rise to consumer concern in Britain and some Mainland European markets. Our focus now is on the year ahead. Tourism Irelands campaigns are in full swing, to surpass the performance of 2019. "The aim of our three-year strategy for 2020-2022 is to grow overseas tourism revenue to 6.54 billion (+13%) and visitor numbers to 12 million (+7%), by 2022. Tourism Ireland aims to spread the benefits of tourism more broadly across the island of Ireland, on a year-round basis. Trips to Ireland by Area of Residence: [table][row][column][/column][column]Irish Residents' Trips Overseas[/column][column]Trips to Ireland[/column][column]Great Britain[/column][column]Other Europe[/column][column]USA and Canada[/column][column]Other Areas[/column][/row][row][column]December 2017[/column][column]558,200[/column][column]682,400[/column][column]298,500[/column][column]214,900[/column][column]119,400[/column][column]49,700[/column][/row][row][column]December 2018[/column][column]572,900[/column][column]738,300[/column][column]294,400[/column][column]250,400[/column][column]141,700[/column][column]51,800[/column][/row][row][column]December 2019[/column][column]564,500[/column][column]779,200[/column][column]314,300[/column][column]276,100[/column][column]134,600[/column][column]54,200[/column][/row][row][column]Jan - Dec 2017[/column][column]7,939,000[/column][column]9,932,100[/column][column]3,728,900[/column][column]3,482,400[/column][column]2,101,500[/column][column]619,300[/column][/row][row][column]Jan - Dec 2018[/column][column]8,276,200[/column][column]10,616,300[/column][column]3,759,000[/column][column]3,812,700 [/column][column]2,383,800[/column][column]660,700[/column][/row][row][column]Jan - Dec 2019[/column][column]8,814,400[/column][column]10,807,500[/column][column]3,787,700[/column][column]3,910,200[/column][column]2,412,500 [/column][column]697,200[/column][/row][/table] New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that its nine-judge Constitution bench would wrap up within 10 days proceedings in the matter relating to discrimination against women in various religions and at religious places including Keralas Sabarimala Temple. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde made it clear that questions to be dealt with would be purely legal in nature and it would not take more time in concluding the hearing. It cannot take more than 10 days. Even if someone wants more time, it cannot be given, said the bench which also comprised justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant. The observations came when Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the case before the bench. S-G told to finalise legal questions raised Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said that in pursuance of the courts earlier direction, a meeting of lawyers took place but it could not finalise the common legal questions for consideration of the nine-judge bench. We could not finalise common questions for consideration of my lords. The Supreme Court can consider framing the questions, the law officer said. The bench then asked Mehta to furnish issues dealt by lawyers in the meeting. The court will consider issues related to entry of Muslim women into mosques, female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community and barring of Parsi women, married to non-Parsi men, from the holy fire place at Agiary. The court had on January 13 asked four senior lawyers to convene a meeting to decide on the issues to be deliberated by it in the matter. While referring the matter to a larger bench, the five-judge bench had said the debate about the constitutional validity of religious practices like bar on entry of women and girls into a place of worship was not limited to the Sabarimala case. It had said such restrictions are there with regard to entry of Muslim women into mosques and dargahs and Parsi women, married to non-Parsi men, being barred from the holy fire place of an Agiary. It set out seven questions of law to be examined by the larger bench. They include interplay between freedom of religion under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution and need to delineate the expression constitutional morality. Night Curfew in Maharashtra: Check guidelines, rules; what is allowed, what is not allowed 423-seater Air India jumbo plane ready for evacuation of 250 Indians stuck in virus-hit Wuhan India oi-Madhuri Adnal Mumbai, Jan 28: Flag carrier Air India has kept one of its 423-seater jumbo plane ready in Mumbai for the evacuation of Indian citizens from Wuhan province in China in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak in the East Asian country, an official source said on Tuesday. The airline is awaiting necessary approvals from the ministries of External Affairs and Health to operate the special evacuation flight, the source said. The decision follows the government instructions to various ministries to take steps to deal with the issue. "We have kept a Boeing 747-400 ready in Mumbai to operate an evacuation flight to China whenever we get a go-ahead from the government," the source said. Coronavirus cure: Tamil Nadu doctor from Rathna Siddha Hospital claims to have invented medicine Some 250 Indians are to be evacuated, the source said, adding, "we are awaiting clearances from Ministry of External Affairs and also from Health Ministry. The Health Ministry's nod is required because the operating crew has to fly in a virus outbreak territory." PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News At the Cabinet Secretary meeting on Monday, the government decided that steps may be taken to prepare for the possible evacuation of Indian nationals in Wuhan. Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus in China is a novel strain and not seen before. The outbreak has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Accordingly, Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities while the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Health will make arrangements for transport and quarantine facilities respectively, an official release had said on Monday. Government also asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to issue an instruction to airlines for managing and notifying anybody reporting illness on all direct and indirect flight to China besides facilitating in-flight announcements and distribution of health cards to all flights with direct or indirect connectivity to China. Officials said Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities for the evacuation of Indian nationals, mostly students, stuck in Wuhan city. Coronavirus: Three kept in observation at RML Hospital in Delhi "It was decided that steps may be taken to prepare for the possible evacuation of Indian nationals in Wuhan. Accordingly, the Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities," a government statement said. Wuhan along 12 other cities have been completely sealed by the Chinese authorities to stop the virus from spreading. The death toll climbed to 80 with 2,744 confirmed cases. Over 250 to 300 Indian students are reportedly stuck in Wuhan triggering concerns over their well-being. Babushkin remembers architect of Indo-Russian ties Kadakin. New Delhi: Russia on Tuesday declared that no sanctions will stop the Indo-Russian friendship, a reference made to the threat of sanctions by the United States on countries like India buying Russian weaponry and armaments. Speaking at an event in the capital to honour the late former Russian ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin, the Russian deputy chief of mission (DCM) Roman Babushkin said, No sanctions will stop our (Indo-Russian) friendship. Russia will remain Indias partner in defence, nuclear energy, space... . The event, a photo-exhibition titled Alexander Kadakin Diplomat Par Excellence, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to India, recipient of the Padma Bhushan Award was organised at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture (RCSC) on Tuesday evening. Mr Kadakin died about three years ago on January 26, 2017, and was considered one of the architects of the Indo-Russian strategic relationship for decades. He was also one of the closest friends of India. Mr Kadakin was an inspiration and motivation for us as young diplomats. He was a very intuitive person and an encyclopaedia. He treated us as his children, an emotional Mr Babushkin recalled. Going down memory lane, the director of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture (RCSC) Fedor Rozovsky said, We worked under his professional guidance. I spent a lot of time travelling with him throughout India. His contribution to ties with India was immense. Former external affairs minister (EAM) Salman Khurshid who was the EAM during the United Progressive Alliance-2 (UPA) government described Mr. Kadakin as a remarkable man, adding that he gave remarkable energy to bilateral ties between the two nations. Mr Khurshid described the ties between the erstwhile The Soviet Union and India and later Russia and India as a colourful, exciting, relationship. Referring to the photo-exhibition, he said, It goes back several pages in the history of our relationship. According to Illarionov, Russia's decisions of January 15-22, 2020, are definitely a "milestone." Russian economist and former economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin Andrei Illarionov has said the decisions made by Russia's leader on January 15-22, 2020, to amend that country's Constitution mean the final formation of a totalitarian regime described by George Orwell in his '1984' dystopian novel. "Russia's decisions of January 15-22, 2020, are definitely a milestone. They mean the final transition of the current Russian regime from an alliance of special services and 'system liberals' to the regime of the special services alone, as well as to the final formation of the so-called totalitarian state that previously existed only in George Orwell's '1984' dystopian novel or similar to the one. Now it is becoming an absolute reality," he said in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon. Read alsoRussia's Duma adopts at first reading bill on Constitutional amendments As UNIAN reported earlier, on January 15, 2020, Putin delivered his annual address to the Federal Assembly, proposing amendments to the Russian Constitution. He proposed that the status and role of the State Council be enshrined in the Constitution. Putin also proposed that the Russian Constitution be superior to international treaties, and state and municipal authorities be in closer interaction. What is more, he wants to authorize the State Duma to approve nominees to the posts of the prime minister and all his/her deputies and federal ministers upon the premier's submission. In addition, the Russian president proposed an amendment regarding the mandatory observance of the requirements (citizenship and length of residence) by members of the government, parliament and leaders of subjects of the federation. The amendment also suggests tougher requirements for the president (a term of office). According to him, citizens of Russia will be invited to vote for amendments to the Constitution. Putin's presidency is expiring in 2024, and in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, he will no longer be able to run for president. The same day, January 15, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Putin that the entire government was resigning. On January 16, Mikhail Mishustin was appointed new Russian Prime Minister. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik is going to Iowa. Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, is one of more than 80 surrogates who will campaign for President Donald Trump at caucus locations on Monday the day of the Iowa caucuses. Other notable surrogates include the presidents eldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, Lara Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. The surrogates will be deployed to caucus sites across the state and will join Iowans speaking in support of the president, according to the Trump campaign. Our Caucus Day operation is just a preview of what is to come, Parscale said in a statement. This will be the strongest, best-funded and most organized presidential campaign in history. We are putting the Democrats on notice good luck trying to keep up with this formidable re-election machine. Stefanik is the lone New York Republican member of Congress who will be a surrogate for Trump in Iowa. She is one of six New Yorkers who were named honorary co-chairs of Trumps re-election campaign. Madison Anderson, Stefaniks spokesperson, said the congresswomans North Country district is overwhelmingly excited that she was named an honorary co-chair of Trumps re-election effort and campaign for him in Iowa. The presidents successful agenda of strengthening our military, especially Fort Drum, creating jobs, passing the (U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement) and securing our border is strongly supported by her constituents in the 21st district, Anderson said. She is grateful for her constituents encouragement as she ensures the North Country continues to see real, positive results from her ability to work with the president. Stefanik supported Trump in the 2016 election. In 2018, she invited the president to visit Fort Drum a major Army installation in her district. Trump visited Fort Drum later that year to sign an annual defense policy bill. Last year, Stefanik was one of the leading Republicans opposing the House Democrats impeachment inquiry. Her stance caught the attention of Trump, who tweeted that she is a new Republican star. The White House announced last week that Stefanik and seven other members of Congress will assist Trumps legal team during the Senate impeachment trial. The growing national profile and support from Trump provided a boost to Stefaniks own re-election campaign. She raised $3.2 million in the final quarter of 2019 a personal best since first running for Congress in 2014 and has $3.4 million entering the 2020 election year. Stefanik is seeking a fourth term representing the 21st district, which covers all of northern New York. Love 3 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 9 Thermal screening of passengers for possible exposure to the deadly novel (nCoV) infection will be extended to 20 airports from the existing seven, said Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday and confirmed no case has been detected in India so far. Vardhan said the government has made four more laboratories functional other than NIV-Pune for testing samples and it will be extended to 10 labs in the coming days. "Four labs of @ICMRDELHI 's Viral Research & Diagnostics Lab Network (at Alleppey, Bengaluru, Hyderabad & Mumbai) activated for testing samples.This is in addition to @icmr_niv, Pune," tweeted the Health Ministry. "Like in 2014, because of our alertness we prevented Ebola from entering the country, we are making all efforts and taking all possible measures to ensure there are no cases of nCoV here," Vardhan said. At present thermal screening is done at seven designated airports New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi. Around 35, 000 passengers have been screened at these airports so far, Vardhan said. He said samples of 20 persons which have been tested for nCoV so far have all resulted negative. The Centre has stepped up vigil in areas bordering Nepal in view of a confirmed case of nCoV detected there, he said. He also said the MEA is in touch with the Chinese government to bring back Indian citizens. Vardhan said he has also written to all chief ministers, requesting them for personal intervention to review the states' preparedness for control and management of the spread of the virus. The health minister has urged the passengers who have a travel history to China since January 1, 2020, to come forward for self-reporting to the nearest health facility if they experience any symptoms such as fever, cough, respiratory distress, etc., and also inform their treating doctor. Three persons with a travel history to China have been kept under observation at an isolation ward of RML Hospital here for a possible exposure to novel coronavirus, officials said. ALSO READ: Hong Kong halts trains from mainland China as coronavirus spreads The Prime Minister's Office on Saturday reviewed India's preparedness to deal with any situation amid mounting global concerns over rising cases in China. A 24x7 NCDC Call Centre (+91-11-23978046) has been made operational to monitor the list of contacts furnished by the Ministry of External Affairs, provide details of district and state surveillance officers to those who seek them, and in case of any clinical query, direct the concerned to the relevant Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officer. On Friday, the Health Ministry also issued a fresh advisory asking the passengers to follow certain dos and don'ts if they are in China or if they are travelling or returning from China. The advisory stated that during their stay in China, if they feel sick and have fever and cough, then they should cover their mouth while coughing and sneezing, seek medical attention promptly and report to the Indian Embassy in China. It said if they feel sick on flight, while travelling back to India from China, they should inform the airline crew about their illness, seek mask and self-reporting format from the airline crew, avoid close contact with family members or fellow travellers and follow other directions of crew and airport health officer. MUSCATINE Former Vice President and presidential hopeful Joe Biden will hold several local events Tuesday. Biden is making a last-minute sprint through Iowa in the final days leading up to the Feb. 3 caucuses. First, he will hold hold a community event meeting Tuesday in Muscatine at Riverview Center, 1 Harbor Drive. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. with the event scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Biden first visited Muscatine during the 2020 Democratic caucus race on Oct. 23, 2019, for a town hall meeting at the Pearl City Station. Biden will also hold a rally Tuesday at his Davenport campaign office, 1706 N. Brady Street. The event is open to the public and begins at 2:15 p.m. Doors open at 1:45 p.m. According to polls, Biden slipped to second place yesterday at 22.3%, narrowly trailing Bernie Sanders, who took the lead at 22.4%. Biden had been polling in first place in Iowa since Jan. 1. Following his Davenport stop, Biden will hold a community event in Clinton at the Vista Grande, 2141 16th St., NW, at 5:15 p.m. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Defendants in $4mln Vostochny embezzlement case sentenced to prison flickr.com/ Mitchell Haindfield 14:39 28/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 28 (RAPSI) A court in the town of Stavropol has sentenced two defendants in a criminal case over 252 million rubles ($4 million) embezzlement during the construction of Vostochny Cosmodrome facilities to 5 and 6 years in prison, the press-service of the Prosecutor Generals Office informs on Tuesday. According to the court ruling, the defendants embezzled the funds allocated for construction of a structure for missile fuel components storage in November and December 2015. As a result, the statement reads, the subcontract obligations undertaken by the defendants had remained partially unfulfilled. Both persons were additionally fined 250,000 rubles ($4,000 at the present exchange rate). There are some things that are obviously First Amendment issues and there are others that just as obviously arent. Did you get arrested for criticizing the mayor of your town? Thats a First Amendment issue. Did you get kicked out of your book club because you said Malcolm Gladwell was overrated? Thats harsh, but its not a violation of your constitutional rights. The First Amendment prevents the government from censoring or punishing your speech, but it doesnt apply to private organizations. Theres another category of issues technically outside the scope of the First Amendment, but have an outsized impact on what some might consider the purpose of the First Amendment ensuring that citizens can access information about the world around them, hear different viewpoints and share their ideas. Call them First Amendment-ish issues. Take the decisions that Facebook, YouTube and Twitter regularly make about what types of content to allow on their platforms. As private companies, theyre free to create their own policies, censor posts and ban users as they see fit (that is, in fact, their First Amendment right). But, as the watchdog group OnlineCensorship.org puts it, We treat these platforms as a public sphere, using them to discuss issues both controversial and menial, to connect with friends far and near, and to engage in activism and debate. We have seen before how powerful social media platforms can be in inspiring protests, fostering political movements and even influencing elections. Now that so many of our conversations take place online on these platforms, the companies behind them have the power to influence the public discourse in a way that our government can only dream of. The First Amendment-ish implications become even thornier when you consider fake news and misleading content. Censoring a fake news item may run counter to the spirit of free speech, but allowing it to spread undermines the purpose of a free press. Freedom of the press doesnt exist to protect journalists so much as to benefit the public at large. It exists because the framers of our Constitution thought the public had the right to know about what the government and other powerful institutions were doing. When theres so much confusion about what information you can trust and what you cant, that whole system is compromised. As technology grows more sophisticated, the potential for this confusion will only increase. Some developments, like deep fake video technology, will make it harder to debunk misinformation. Others, like artificial intelligence-enabled chatbots, will make it harder to identify real political expression. Todays fairly simplistic chatbots already have the ability to skew online discussions (its estimated that a fifth of all tweets about the 2016 presidential election were published by bots). Tomorrows bots will be able to take things to the next level. According to The Atlantics Bruce Schneier, Soon, AI-driven personas will be able to write personalized letters to newspapers and elected officials, submit individual comments to public rule-making processes and intelligently debate political issues on social media. While this army of civically engaged bots might serve as a shining example to the rest of us, Schneier points out that their capacity to drown out any actual debate on the internet will pretty much obliterate the marketplace of ideas that a functioning democracy requires. This is not a call to ban these technologies, so much as it is to keep the principles of free expression in mind as we develop regulations for them. As a society, we need to take a stand on clear-cut First Amendment matters, but should also keep a close watch on those First Amendment-ish issues to ignore them is to ignore the reason we have a First Amendment in the first place. Lata Nott is executive director of the First Amendment Center of the Freedom Forum Institute. Contact her via email at lnott@freedomforum.org, or follow her on Twitter at @LataNott. A Multnomah County grand jury has found no criminal wrongdoing in the fatal shooting by Portland police of 51-year-old Koben Henriksen who was seen waving knives at passing cars near Mall 205 in early December. The grand jury determined that Officer Justin Raphael, a seven-year bureau member, acted in self-defense or in the defense of others when he shot and killed Henriksen with an AR-15 rifle on Dec. 8, according to the District Attorneys Office and police. Officer Daniel Leonard, an 11-year bureau member, had fired less-lethal foam-tipped projectiles from a 40mm launcher. Police tried to provide emergency medical care but Henriksen was pronounced dead at the scene. Shortly after the shooting, Henriksens father, Rick Henriksen, criticized the mental health and court systems that he said left his son to suffer on the street with a severe and persistent mental illness. He described his sons illness as somewhere between extreme bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and said Koben Henriksen had been living on the street for a couple of months and was off his medication. Rick Henriksen said he received a call late Monday afternoon from the District Attorneys Office informing him about the grand jurys ruling. "We were expecting that. Im not surprised,'' the father said. While he said he cant say whether the officers actions were criminal, he firmly believes their force was excessive and called it absolutely nonsense'' that officers were acting in self-defense. He said the family has retained a lawyer to investigate further. Koben Henriksen never ever wanted to hurt anybody, his father said. "He probably was so confused he didnt really know what he was doing.'' The deadly shooting marked the third time in four months that police had encountered Koben Henriksen. In the two prior cases, one in August and another in November, police were able to safely resolve each without force and had Henriksen taken by ambulance to a hospital for mental health treatment. On Dec. 8, two callers reported that Henriksen was wandering in traffic on Southeast 103rd Drive near Stark Street and waving knives at passing cars about 1:40 p.m. Robert Vervloet, who was at a nearby Starbucks, and a father and son working at a food truck said they saw Henriksen move toward officers after they pulled up in their cars. Vervloet said he saw an officer with a rifle immediately point it at Henriksen. The dispatch recording and witnesses indicated officers fired seconds after arriving. There was no negotiation, Vervloet said. There was no 'Hey buddy, we need to talk about this. Police and prosecutors havent released investigators reports on the shooting. Police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen said the bureau would make the reports public as soon as it can. The grand jury transcripts are expected to be made public at a later date. Henriksens father told The Oregonian/OregonLive that his son had contemplated suicide for about six months. Koben Henriksen had lived in a group home in Portland for many years but after he left that home, he couldnt find an alternative placement that was acceptable to him, his father said. At times, his son pleaded to go to the state hospital but he wasnt deemed enough of a threat to warrant placement there, his father said. For many years, Rick Henriksen said he was unable to obtain direct information about his sons mental health care because Koben Henriksen was an adult. Police have described the two earlier encounters officers had with Henriksen that ended peacefully: On Aug. 22, officers found Henriksen camped on the property of Portland Adventist Academy. Henriksen told the officer he was glad he was there because he needed someone to kill him and he thought police officers were the best option, according to the Police Bureau. Henriksen also told officers he had unsuccessfully tried to get several military veterans to buy him guns. The officer talked to Henriksen, requested an ambulance, and Henriksen was taken to Adventist Health Portland for treatment. On Nov. 14, Henriksen approached an East Precinct officer getting into his patrol car near the 10200 block of Southeast Stark Street and yelled at him. According to police statements, the officer asked how he could help, and Henriksen, who had a large blanket draped around him, flung the blanket away and revealed that he had a knife in each hand. Henriksen threatened to kill the officer and took a step forward. The officer yelled at Henriksen to drop the knives and used the police car as cover. After some conversation with the officer, Henriksen dropped the knives. He was taken to Providence Medical Center and placed on a mental health hold, police said. Former Police Chief Danielle Outlaw issued a statement after Henriksens death, condemning a broken mental health system. This series of cases highlights the systemic failures of the mental health system, which continues to recycle individuals rather than resolve the underlying issues, she said. Here are a number of accountability measures in effect for the officers involved, which will scrutinize their every action and decision. Where is the same level of accountability throughout the mental health system? Law enforcement professionals are put in an impossible position and we need the public to help prioritize effective and humane mental health treatment and demand urgent and immediate action." -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Subscribe to Facebook page Julie Earle Whether you are grieving the death of a loved one while you clear out their house or youre facing a bittersweet transition and leaving your home behind, its all about dealing with loss in a way thats as smooth, peaceful and stress free as possible and I am here to help with that. - Julie Earle After a career as a registered nurse and seven years working in hospice, Julie Earle is excited to announce that shell be serving the community in a new way through her new business Caring Transitions of Cambridge. This senior-focused relocation and estate-clearing company serves Cambridge, St. Clairsville, Zanesville, New Concord, Caldwell, New Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. Caring Transitions specially-trained professionals handle decluttering, organizing, packing, moving, resettling, in-home estate sales and online auctions, estate clearing and preparing homes for market. Caring Transitions services are perfect for managing the many aspects of a senior move, including assisting with the process of downsizing to provide a safer living situation, as well as for busy families and people clearing out the home of a loved one who has moved into assisted care or passed away. All of Caring Transitions services are customizable, so clients choose the solution that best fits their needs. My mission is to serve the community with endless solutions, provide peace of mind and make a positive difference. My team and I want to help others in a way that takes the weight off their shoulders and helps them move onto the next stage of their lives with as much positive energy as possible, Earle said. Earle, who has been a nurse since 1995, is married to Jamie Earle and they have nine children. Theyve also been foster parents to more than 20 children over the years. Although Earles favorite work was when she was in hospice, it was also the hardest to shoulder emotionally. Earle was looking for a way to combine her passion for helping people, especially seniors, with her desire to own her own business when something serendipitous happened. I received a call from Caring Transitions out of the blue. I thought it was a telemarketing call, but it turns out that theyd gotten my name from a franchising form Id filled out five years ago, and I felt like it was meant to be. The work we do at Caring Transitions is often like the work I did with hospice. Whether you are grieving the death of a loved one while you clear out their house or youre facing a bittersweet transition and leaving your home behind, its all about dealing with loss in a way thats as smooth, peaceful and stress free as possible and I am here to help with that, Earle said. In addition to her professional experience, Earle has helped transition and clear out estates for her parents, her husbands parents and other family members. She understands how overwhelming the process can be and shes looking forward to supporting families dealing with those kinds of transitions. Caring Transitions of Cambridge, which is part of the national Caring Transitions franchise, is bonded and insured and all employees are CRT trained and background checked. For additional information, call 740-489-6111, email JulieEarle@CaringTransitions.com or visit http://www.CaringTransitionsCambridge.com. A Fox News poll released Sunday has some good news for President Trump, but if you combine it with the poll's bad news, it's not at all clear where Trump stands with the American public or how voters are feeling about the state of the union. On the positive side, 55 percent of voters said the economy is good or excellent, the highest number since 59 percent said they felt positive about the economy in January 2001 (two months before the start of the ugly 2001 recession). A 42 percent plurality of voters credit Trump and the Republicans for the economy, and Trump's job approval rating on the economy is a record 56 percent. The bad news? A 55 percent majority of voters say the way the economy works is unfair and 56 percent say they are dissatisfied with how things are going in the country, Fox News found. Trump's overall approval rating is 45 percent, with 54 percent disapproving, and he is underwater on all non-economy issues: guns (-9 percentage points), immigration (-15 points), foreign policy (-16 points), health care (-16 points), government spending (-18 points), race relations (-19 points), the environment (-22 points), even trade deals (-1 point). Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson sees the glass half full: "The president's job approval on the economy has consistently outpaced his overall job approval," and "a strong economy creates a good foundation for an incumbent seeking re-election, even if voters will also say things could always be even better or more fair." Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, whose firm conducted the Fox News poll with GOP pollster Daron Shaw, argued that Trump's approval on the economy "is tenuous ground on which to stake his re-election," because "outside the Republican base, voters think the economy under Trump doesn't work for most people." The poll was conducted Jan. 19-22 by Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Co. (R), surveying 1,005 randomly selected registered votes over the phone. The poll's overall margin of sampling error is 3 percentage points. More stories from theweek.com John Bolton just vindicated Nancy Pelosi Mike Pompeo is a disgrace Late night hosts choke up while sharing memories of Kobe Bryant, most involving being a 'girl dad' Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Tuesday warned that corporate profits and factory production might take a hit from the coronavirus outbreak in China that has rattled global markets and chilled confidence. Asian stocks extended a global selloff as the outbreak in China, which has killed 106 people and spread to many countries, fuelled concern over the damage to the world's second largest economy - an engine of global growth. "There are concerns over the impact to the global economy from the spread of infection in China, transportation disruptions, cancellation of group tours from China and an extention in the Lunar Holiday," Nishimura told a news conference after a regular cabinet meeting. "If the situation takes longer to subside, we're concerned it could hurt Japanese exports, output and corporate profits via the impact on Chinese consumption and production," he said. China is Japan's second largest export destination and a huge market for its retailers. The Chinese make up 30% of all tourists visiting Japan and spent nearly 40% of the total sum foreign tourists used last year, an industry survey showed. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The outbreak could hit Japanese department stores, retailers and hotels, which count on a boost to sales from an inflow of Chinese tourists visiting during the Lunar Holiday. Automaker Honda Motor , which has three plants in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and the epicentre of the outbreak, plans to evacuate some staff. Aeon will close its shopping malls in the city until Thursday. Economists at SMBC Nikko Securities estimate that if a ban China has imposed on overseas group tours lasts another six months, it could hurt Japan's economic growth by 0.05%. Some expect the potential damage could be much worse. Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said the decline in tourists from China could hurt Japan's GDP growth by up to 0.2%. "The biggest worry is the risk the negative impact from the outbreak persists and hits (the economy) during the Tokyo Olympic Games," when a huge number of Chinese tourists are expected to visit Japan, he said. "If the number of visitors decrease rather than increase, the hit to Japan's consumer industry will be quite large." Japan will host the 2020 Olymics in July and August. On Monday, momentum built among a small group of Republican senators to call President Donald Trumps former national security adviser, John Bolton, as part of the impeachment trial following a report from the New York Times that Bolton confirms in his forthcoming book the existence of a quid pro quo at the center of the Ukraine scandal. While Trumps defense team declined to respond to the allegation on Monday, describing it as speculation, the team did warn senators that if they attempted to subpoena Bolton or other witnesses they would be in for a lengthy court fight over executive privilege. Advertisement When the House managers say they didnt have time to litigate, they didnt have time to come to the courts, but they now come to this chamber and say, This chamber should issue some more subpoenas, this chamber should get some witnesses that we didnt bother to fight about, what do you think will happen then? deputy counsel to the president Patrick Philbin warned. That there wont be similar assertions of privilege and immunity, that there wouldnt be litigation about that? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The threat to fight a Senate subpoena for testimony from Bolton in court may be a way to pressure wavering senators to avoid voting for witness testimony, lest it lead to a drawn-out and politically damaging legal battle in the midst of a presidential campaign. The argument that executive privilege protects Boltons testimony, though, would likely fail in courtassuming a court would even entertain it. It would also presumably fail with a majority of the Senate if a majority voted to subpoena Bolton in the first place. In fact, it is even weaker than the arguments put forth by Richard Nixons administration in Nixon v. United States, the 80 decision by the Supreme Court to force the release of the Nixon tapes at the center of the Watergate scandal. Advertisement Advertisement According to numerous sources, Mr. Boltons manuscript asserts that Trump informed him personally of his intent to freeze security aid to Ukraine in order to secure that countrys help with investigations into Democrats, including Joe and Hunter Biden. Boltons apparent disclosure can thus provide a so-far missing piece of the Ukraine story: a firsthand account of the presidents articulation of his motivations in withholding military aid. (Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said that Trump had withheld aid to secure an investigation into the hack of the 2016 DNC server, but later attempted to walk back those remarks.) Trumps defenders have harped on the absence of such evidence as a major vulnerability in the case for impeachment. The news stories ratchet up pressure on Senate Republicans to approve calling Bolton as an impeachment trial witness. Bolton has already said he would testify. Advertisement Advertisement Executive privilege is probably best understood as an umbrella term covering a number of legal privileges that presidents enjoy in order to avoid the compulsory disclosure of executive branch information. United States v. Nixon, the Courts 1974 decision in the Watergate tapes case, certified that one aspect of that privilegethe privilege for presidential communicationshas constitutional roots. Advertisement Advertisement Presidents, the court noted, need unfettered access to the candid advice of others in the process of shaping policies and making decisions. Protecting the presidents privacy to enable the exchange of candid views is fundamental to the operation of Government, and inextricably rooted in the separation of powers under the Constitution. The Nixon Court went on to hold, however, that the presidential communications privilege is not absolute. It must give way, the court determined, when overbalanced by the legitimate needs of another branch of governmentin Nixon, the judiciaryin fulfilling its own constitutional role. In the case of the tapes, the allowance of the privilege to withhold evidence that is demonstrably relevant in a criminal trial would cut deeply into the guarantee of due process of law and gravely impair the basic function of the court. Advertisement Advertisement Although the outcome in Nixon was true to the spirit of checks and balances, one aspect of the courts balancing was puzzling. A number of privileges that courts routinely respect in the context of criminal trials necessarily prevent judicial access to truth-related evidence. Spousal privilege, doctor-patient privilege, cleric-penitent privilege, and attorney-client privilege all potentially interfere with the disclosure of evidence that may be not only relevant, but even critical to a criminal prosecution. Advertisement Advertisement It is logical to reach the conclusion that the rule-of-law interests that the court tacitly found to have legitimately outweighed the claim of privilege in Nixon were not merely the due process interests of the Watergate defendants. Rather, they were the interest of the Supreme Court in not being party to a presidential cover-up and the interest of Congress, though not a party to the suit, in securing the tapes for its impeachment investigation. Thus, the case for the Nixon precedent to hold in the Trump impeachment is strong. Advertisement Advertisement Indeed, with regard to Boltons potential testimony on Ukraine, the balancing of two branches competing interests is actually even more straightforward than it was in Nixon. Trump may argue his interest here is greater than Nixons because Boltons potential testimony regarding Ukraine involves foreign diplomacya core function of the executive branch. In this case, however, the ordinary weightiness of a foreign affairs privilege is profoundly reduced by the fact that the information in question is already largely in the publics hands. The presidents voluntary release of a summary of his phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky all but conclusively waives any argument that testimony shedding further light on that phone call would compromise U.S. foreign policy. Trumps tweet accusing Bolton of lying in his account further cements the topics appropriate availability as of now for public discussion. Advertisement Advertisement On the other hand, the Senates need for Boltons testimony, should a subpoena be issued, is constitutionally at its zenith. It addresses what the presidents defenders have themselves identified as a major point of contention in proving or disproving the articles of impeachment. The process that Boltons testimony would inform is Congresss foundational check on presidential abuse of power. To deny the Senate access to Mr. Boltons testimony would, in the words of United States v. Nixon, gravely impair the basic function of the Senate. Impeachment is so fundamental to checks and balances that its availability is commonly invoked as a reason not to subject presidents to other forms of accountability that ordinary citizens shoulder. For example, the Supreme Court has cited the availability of impeachment as a reason why presidents should not be held accountable in damages for wrongful official actions. In a memorandum asserting that a presidents discretionary official acts can never be the basis for a criminal prosecution, the once-and-future Attorney General William Barr wrote: [U]nder the Framers plan, the determination whether the President is making decisions based on improper motives or whether he is faithfully discharging his responsibilities is left to the People, through the election process, and the Congress, through the Impeachment process. The logic here is straightforward: Without an effective impeachment process, the governments capacity to hold presidents to account for corrupt abuses of power would be eviscerated. Should Trump try to block Boltons testimony on the basis of executive privilege, the Senate would be on the strongest possible ground in holding paramount its need for disclosure. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos is usually a forum for billionaires to hobnob and celebrate the glories of capitalism. But with the climate crisis gaining momentum and signs of dissatisfaction with inequality boiling up across the world, "Davos Man" seems to have been more introspective than usual this time around. "Everyone at Davos this year really wants you to know that the corporate world is cleaning up its act," opined Tim Wu in the New York Times. "Walking around, I thought at times that I had mistakenly wandered into a business-casual Bernie Sanders rally." Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was fully on board with the shift in tone. In an interview with WEF founder Klaus Schwab, Nadella delved into the challenges capitalism is facing, the role of companies and their leaders in addressing them, and the mindset needed for changing times. For those looking to keep up with the conversation, Nadella, a known bookworm, dropped a few reading suggestions into the conversation (hat tip to Quartz). 1. Prosperity by Colin Mayer When Schwab asked Nadella for his thoughts on how companies can "do good and do well at the same time," Nadella immediately looked to books to frame his answer, noting that "last year, perhaps there were more books written on capitalism and how capitalism needs to be redefined than ever before." One of them, Prosperity by Oxford economist Colin Mayer, offers a definition of the social purpose of companies that Nadella particularly likes: "A corporation finds profitable solutions to the challenges of people and the planet." "The key word is 'profitable,' because we do know that capitalism does have the ability to allocate resources in the most efficient way," he explained. "But the other key word is 'the challenges of people and the planet.' It's not about creating more challenges to people and the planet but to have real solutions to the problems." The aim is to set things up so that "when you do well, the world around you does well." Social good can't be a Band Aid, Nadella concludes. 2. The Narrow Corridor by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson As Quartz points out, the authors of this book, an MIT economist and a University of Chicago political scientist, got into a debate with Bill Gates about what exactly causes some countries to have good living conditions and others to struggle (Gates stressed geography and culture, while the authors pointed to institutions). But apparently Sadella is more of a fan of Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson than of his old boss. At Davos, he called The Narrow Corridor "a fantastic book." "It's [about] the real, constant tension between what does a society want and ... what does the government want ... and you have to find the narrow corridor," he said in response to a question about CEO pay. "Similarly I believe between markets, democracies, and liberal values, we have to find the corridor that works, where there isn't anything out of kilter." 3. Mindset by Carol Dweck Davos was far from the first time Nadella praised this book by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, who is famous for her work on the growth mindset. In fact, as my Inc.com colleague Justin Bariso has reported, he's previously credited Mindset with inspiring Microsoft's turnaround. He was equally effusive at Davos. Doctor Who has introduced its first black portrayal of the titular Time Lord in its illustrious 57-year history. Sunday's episode of the BBC sci-fi series saw the current incarnation of The Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, meet a previously-unknown past version of the character, in the form of actress Jo Martin. This marked two major milestones for the series: the second time a female has played the time travelling extraterrestrial and the first time the character has been black. 'Definitively the Doctor': Doctor Who has been portrayed as a black Time Lord for the first time in the show's 57-year history Some fans weren't sure whether or not Martin's appearance meant what it implied - but show boss Chris Chibnall has confirmed that this isn't 'a trick'. He told The Mirror: 'The important thing to say is she is definitively The Doctor. There's not a sort of parallel universe going on, there's no tricks. Jo Martin is The Doctor.' Chibnall noted that the Top Boy star was credited in the same way John Hurt was credited when he appeared as another previously-unseen incarnation, who cropped up during the 50th anniversary special The Day Of The Doctor in 2013. 'That's why we gave her the credit at the end which all new Doctors have the first time you see them. John Hurt got that credit,' Chibnall explained. Revelation: Sunday's latest episode of the BBC sci-fi series saw current incarnation of The Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, meet a previously-unknown past version of the character Debut: Jo Martin's appearance marks two major milestones for the series - the second time a female has played the time travelling extraterrestrial and the first time the character has been black Who is Jo Martin? Before her first appearance as The Doctor, Jo was most well-known for playing neurosurgeon Max McGerry in Holby City, who first appeared on the show in 2019. She also played Natalie Crouch in the BBC sitcom The Crouches from 2003 to 2005. In 2005 Jo also appeared in the blockbuster Batman Begins as a police prison official. Alongside other small guest roles, Jo also made an appearance in the second series of Fleabag, as Pam who worked at The Hot Priest's church. Advertisement The character was introduced initially as a tour guide called Ruth Clayton, who pressed an In Case Of Emergency button as the Judoon invaded her hometown. It's unclear where she fits in the mythology of previous Doctors - with many noting she did not recognise Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, suggesting she came between Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor and Jon Pertwee's Third. 'There will be answers to some of these mysteries this series. But as ever with Doctor Who, answers often reveal new questions. It's all very deliberate,' Chibnall has assured. He also revealed Martin wasn't aware she was auditioning to play The Doctor when she met the producers to read for them. To be confirmed: It's unclear where Martin fits in the mythology of previous Doctors; Whittaker is the Thirteenth Doctor Amazing: Jo also took to Twitter to share a glimpse of her Who-esque new look after the episode had aired Movie star: Martin also appeared in 2005 blockbuster Batman Begins Screen star: She also had brief roles in various TV series, and most recently has played neurosurgeon Max McGerry in Holby City 'We called her in and she read for it with secret pages that didn't mention that it was the Doctor. But she's a massive fan of the show and I think she guessed. 'I had to ring her up and tell her and she was overwhelmed and thrilled. A lot of her family are fans and she kept that secret brilliantly for so long nobody knew. We filmed it in the middle of last year.' Martin is known for her role as Max McGerry in Holby City but has also appeared in the likes of Silent Witness, Casualty, Jonathan Creek, Fleabag, Still Open All Hours and Back to Life. She also appeared in 2005 blockbuster Batman Begins. This is not the first time Doctor Who has featured a black Time Lord, as T'Nia Miller played Gallifreyan The General in 2015's Hell Bent, but this is the first time The Doctor herself has been played by a black actor. Martin's casting comes after another Doctor Who star, Lenny Henry, claimed the BBC would rather cast a dog as the next Time Lord than use a black actor. The 61-year-old told London's Colourful Radio that despite the introduction of Whittaker as the first female doctor, he thinks the channel still has a long way to go when it comes to promoting diversity. Proven wrong: Martin's casting comes after another Doctor Who star, Lenny Henry, claimed the BBC would rather cast a dog as the next Time Lord than use a black actor Teasing his appearance back in December, the Chef! star said: 'Why have we never had a black Doctor Who? They would rather have a dog do Doctor Who than a black person. There's no black people in Doctor Who' Partnership: It's unknown what the future will hold for Martin's Doctor or for the rest of the series Teasing his guest appearance ahead of the 12th season back in Decemeber, the Chef! star said: 'Why have we never had a black Doctor Who? They would rather have a dog do Doctor Who than a black person. There's no black people in Doctor Who. 'When Russell T Davis was doing Doctor Who there was so many black people in the show I rang up and said there are too many black people in the show put in some white people, it's getting embarrassing.' He added: 'We're still a long way away. The 'in' group who are in charge of everything are getting complacent.' Aside from proving Henry wrong, the Doctor Who producers delighted fans with the arrival of Martin, sending them flocking to Twitter to exclaim their excitement. Wild for it! Aside from proving Henry wrong, the Doctor Who producers delighted fans with the arrival of Martin, sending them flocking to Twitter to exclaim their excitement 'WE HAVE A BLACK DR WHO. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. WE HAVE A BLACK, FEMALE DR WHO!!!' one person exulted. Another posted: 'Dear @bbcdoctorwho @DoctorWho_BBCA Thank you for finally giving a black nerd and other black nerdy adults and kids a Doctor who looks like us. You really dont know how monumental this was and how much it made me cry. Please don't let her be the only one ever.' A third penned: 'Jo Martin as the Doctor!! Which incarnation exactly remains to be seen, and if she's even a canonical Doctor at all. All we know is she's the first black Doctor and in mere minutes she has owned the part!' Doctor Who continues on Sundays at 7:10PM on BBC One. A capital murder suspect who as a fugitive engaged in a shootout with officers who were trying to arrest him in 2016 was sentenced Monday to life in prison. Rudy Gabriel Smith, 40, was wanted on a capital murder charge in the fatal shooting of Ruben Sanchez on Aug. 12, 2016. When members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force approached Smith in the parking lot of the Mid Towne Inn & Suites at 9603 Interstate 35 N on Sept. 10, 2016, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said he looked as if he was going to turn himself in, but instead opened fire on the officers. No officers or bystanders were injured in the shootout, officials said at the time. After the shootout, in which SAPD, Bexar County Sheriffs Office deputies and U.S. Marshals took part, Smith faced additional federal charges of attempted capital murder of a police officer. Smith pleaded no contest to the lesser offense of murder in Sanchezs death as part of a plea agreement reached between prosecutor Emily Angulo and defense attorneys William Reece and Robert Gebbia. According to the Bexar County District Attorneys Office, evidence showed Sanchez was washing his car outside his parents home in the 300 block of East Crane Street when Smith drove up. He sent his girlfriend to talk with Sanchez, and Smith then approached with two guns. The men exchanged words before Sanchez was shot in the head. The shootout with the task force occurred three weeks later. At a pre-sentence investigation hearing Monday morning, Angulo argued before state District Judge Jefferson Moore that the Sanchez family deserved mercy not Smith. Ruben did not know to fear death as Rudy walked toward him from across the street because Ruben didnt recognize him, had never met him, said Angulo. Rubens family will spend a lifetime of mourning him. His children will always want him and miss him, but his 3-week-old daughter would have no memory of him and she will feel the void of him throughout her life at every milestone she has. Moore found Smith guilty of killing Sanchez and sentenced him to life in prison. Smith also received a 45-year sentence on an aggravated assault against a public servant charge for shooting at officers. Both terms will be served at the same time. Smith will have to serve at least half of his sentence before he would be eligible for parole. The cases were heard in the 186th state District Court. Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 The Georgia Power Foundation has announced a $15 million donation to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for their North Druid Hills campus, which includes a hospital set to open in 2025. Paul Bowers, Georgia Power Chairman, President and CEO, announced the gift during the 17th annual Hope and Will Ball, one of the largest fundraising events for the healthcare system. Donna Hyland, CEO of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta; Paul Bowers, chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power; Tommy Holder, chairman and CEO of Holder Construction Company; and Mark Chancy, Chairman, Children's Foundation Board "Georgia Power is proud to support Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's efforts to make a new hospital and expanded campus a reality for all children in Georgia," said Paul Bowers, Georgia Power Chairman, President and CEO. "Our focus has never wavered over the last 135 years and that is to make our communities better, stronger and safer. This hospital will be a critical cornerstone in Children's mission of providing breakthrough pediatric research and best-in-class care for our children." Located at Interstate 85 and North Druid Hills, the 70-acre campus is the largest healthcare project in Georgia's history. The project includes a pediatric hospital, attached clinic space and more than 20 acres of greenspace and miles of walking trails and paths for patients and families. The Center for Advanced Pediatrics, which opened in July 2018, was the first new structure completed at the campus. During the Hope and Will Ball, Bowers was also recognized as the honoree for his many contributions to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta through his time on both the Children's System and the Children's Foundation boards. He served as Foundation Chair from 2015 to 2018, during which time he helped grow fundraising for the hospital to an all-time high, laying critical groundwork for the expansion of the North Druid Hills campus. Today, he remains a Children's Trustee and serves on the Board's Governance & Development Committee. "Paul Bowers has been a tireless advocate of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta serving as Chairman of our Foundation Board and as a member of the System Board," said Donna Hyland, CEO of Children's. "His heart for children and our mission to make kids better today and healthier tomorrow sets an incredible example for all. We are grateful for his time, his philanthropic expertise and his compassion. We were so proud to honor him at the 2020 Hope and Will Ball and we are humbled by Georgia Power's gift of $15 million, which we know will play an important role in inspiring future corporate support for our North Druid Hills project." To learn more about Georgia Power's commitment to the community, including the company's annual citizenship report, visit GeorgiaPower.com/Community. The Georgia Power Foundation The Georgia Power Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is the fourth-largest corporate giving foundation in Georgia. The Foundation provides grants to organizations that are enriching communities across the state and is part of Georgia Power's corporate and community relations strategy focusing on Improving Education, Environmental Stewardship, Arts & Culture, and Health & Human Services. About Georgia Power Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.6 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the company is consistently recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power). Melton, along with Tax and Fiscal Committee member Sen. Mark Stoops, D-Bloomington, asked if the other townships have indicated interest in taking Griffith in and if they had, the two would like to see evidence of that. Both St. John Township and North Township declined to accept Griffith within a week of each other in December 2018, and an offer to give St. John Township an additional $1 million over five years has yet to be acted upon by its Board of Trustees. Bahrains streets may soon be off limits to expatriate vendors Bahrains streets may soon be off limits to expatriate vendors A new law banning foreign street vendors may come into force, Tribune has learnt. This comes as a committee in the Council of Representatives recently passed a proposal that only allows Bahrainis to sell on the street, provided they obtain a permit from the concerned authorities. The Public Utilities and Environment Committee in the Parliament approved the proposal, which also bans vendors from selling near places of worship, stating that these activities arent permitted, halts traffic and risks peoples lives. The proposal also mentioned the negative impacts of non-permitted street vendors on licensed shops and outlets, especially small and micro businesses. As stated in the proposal, the vendors cause recession for these businesses, and financial and economic burdens, in addition to forming unequal competition, selling products from unknown sources and violating the laws and regulations of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA). The committee is set to refer the proposal to the 40-member Council for reviewal and voting soon. This comes after it reviewed the matter with the relevant authorities, including Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry. The ministry rejected the proposal, stating that it is regulated by Decree Law 35 of 2001, adding that the legislation grants municipal councils the authority of issuing resolutions that regulate the work of street vendors, mainly the condition of permitting only Bahrainis to practise such activities. The ministry also noted to the periodic campaigns conducted by municipal councils in all four governorates against foreign street vendors, in co-ordination with LMRA, Interior Ministry, Health Ministry and other relevant authorities. Workers inspect railway tracks, which serve as a part of the "One Belt, One Road" freight rail route linking Chongqing to Duisburg, at the Dazhou railway station in Sichuan Province, China on March 14, 2019. (Reuters) Chinas One Belt, One Road is Perfect Pandemic Freeway for Coronavirus News Analysis Chinas One Belt, One Road initiative, which aims to intertwine 152 nations, will allow the coronavirus to spread around the world, making it impossible to quarantine, Foreign Policy warns. Experts identified the mystery virus as 2019-nCoV or Wuhan pneumonia, which has infected thousands in China. However, analysts say the true number of infections is likely much higher than China is reporting. Hospitals that have run out of coronavirus testing kits are labeling new deaths as pneumonia or other sicknesses, China Law Blog reported. The One Belt, One Road (OBOR, also known as Belt and Road) initiative is part of a multi-trillion economic and political agenda to expand Chinese trade and infrastructure around the world. China is the worlds largest lender for land and maritime infrastructure across 70 core countries, accounting for two-thirds of the world population. At this rate, Foreign Policy said the disease will balloon into a global menace. China is using the same playbook of quarantining geographic areas that was successfully used between November 2002 to May 2004 to stop the spread of SARS epidemic. But despite quarantining 46 million residents in 16 cities, the number of deaths and those infected by Wuhan pneumonia continues to climb. The reproductive rate (RO) for coronavirus 2019-nCoV infection is estimated by the World Health Organization at up to 2.5, which means an infected person can infect up to 2.5 other individuals. That RO rate is below the 2003 SARS rate of 2-5 that led to 8,098 infected and 774 deaths. But the RO is higher than the 1919 H1N1 flu pandemic that infected 500 million individuals and killed 50 million, including 675,000 Americans. The big differences from the SARS outbreak 17 years ago is that Chinas gross domestic product (GDP) is about 8.4 times larger and its exports are about 3 times larger. Chinas distribution map for the first months of the 2003 SARS outbreak showed the concentration of cases restricted to Guangdong and Shanxi provinces. But the current coronavirus outbreak has already been confirmed in 29 of Chinas 31 provinces. Despite 35 million Chinese being quarantined, the outbreak is spreading exponentially across China and has proliferated to about a dozen other nations in just three weeks. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference on Jan. 23 that after two days of debate with global experts about coronavirus: I am not declaring a PHEIC (public health emergencies of international concern) today. But he quickly added: Make no mistake. This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency. WHOs risk assessment is that the outbreak is a very high risk in China, and a high risk regionally and globally. The social and economic effects of a pandemic were discussed at Event 201, hosted by Johns Hopkins Universitys Center for Health Security in New York City on Oct. 18. A simulation test of a global pandemic showed that a highly contagious disease can spread around the world in six months and kill 65 million people in eighteen months. A preliminary research paper by Lancaster University epidemiologist Jonathan Read estimates that the current coronavirus has a much higher RO rate at 3.8. He expects 250,000 coronavirus cases in Wuhan by Feb. 4. Nicholas Pardini of Davos Advisory worries there is a great risk of hidden contagion in global supply chains. He emphasizes: coronavirus is communicable not just by human-to-human interaction, but also be transmitted by contact of an inanimate object handled by a diseased person, such as a factory worker. With 40 percent of Amazons sellers and 60 percent of Walmarts durable goods being imported from China, Pardini warns U.S. customers may soon fear handling global supply deliveries. A judge has ruled Ryanair must pay a portion of its former chief operations officer Peter Bellew's legal costs of having to defend the airline's failed bid to block his move to rival EasyJet. Last month, Mr Justice Senan Allen ruled that a clause in Mr Bellew's contract restraining him from working for another airline for 12 months was unenforceable. The judge also found Mr Bellew was not unfairly or unreasonably treated by Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary in being excluded from participating in a 2019 round of share options. Arising from last month's judgment, Mr Bellew's lawyers sought an order compelling Ryanair to pay his legal costs. Ryanair argued that Mr Bellew had been unsuccessful in aspects of his defence and should therefore either have to contribute to its costs or that both sides should pay their own costs. Both sides had blamed each other for the prolongation of the action, Mr Justice Allen said. He said Mr Bellew in his defence had raised issues concerning his treatment by Ryanair and had made claims about his exclusion from a share option scheme for the airline's senior staff. Once these issues were raised by Mr Bellew, the airline had no option other than to deal with them. The introduction of these issues had added significantly to the trial's length, he said. Mr Bellew had lost "two significant and costly battles" but he "had won the war", he said. The judge was satisfied justice of the case would be met by the payment by Ryanair of Mr Bellew's legal costs for two out of the eight days the case was at hearing. He also ruled it would be unjust to order Ryanair to pay Mr Bellew's legal costs of making discovery of documents in relation to the issues on which he failed, or Mr Bellew's costs of the additional days spent at trial. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. German womenswear company chooses Centric Fashion PLM to drive innovation and boost efficiency CAMPBELL, Calif., January 28, 2019 Simplicity trade GmbH, the German womenswear company, has selected Centric Software's Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to fashion, retail, footwear, outdoor, luxury, consumer goods and home decor companies to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals. Simplicity trade GmbH unites two brands, Opus and Someday. Opus was founded as a specialist trouser brand in 2000 and now designs complete women's outfits. In 2015, the Someday brand was created to offer casual women's clothing. Twelve collections are distributed throughout Europe annually via more than 2,000 trading partners and Simplicity's online store. Simplicity is focusing on the digitalization of its design department to optimize and simplify existing processes. Thanks to Centric Fashion PLM, the design team at Opus will be able to focus on innovating and creating successful products! We want to eliminate different Excel sheets and work from a single point of information, explains Susanne Vatter, Head of Design at Opus. This will reduce errors at the source, enable us to work with greater speed and efficiency, and increase transparency. Simplicity selected Centric Fashion PLM on the basis of its user-friendliness and Centric Software's fashion industry expertise. The Centric interface is attractive, web-based and comprehensible at first sight, says Susanne. The system satisfies our requirements and makes it possible to implement our processes much more easily. For instance, with Centric Adobe Connect, the Centric innovation that integrates Adobe Illustrator, our designers will work in a familiar environment while streamlining their creative design activities. Centric has a large portfolio of fashion customers and the Centric team offers expert advice while working with us in an open-minded, participatory and solution-focused way. We look forward to achieving a state of permanent innovation, says Susanne. Centric Fashion PLM will make our processes more dynamic so that we can focus on creating products that hit the zeitgeist every time. We are delighted to welcome Simplicity as our latest partner in Europe, says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. Simplicity's digital strategy begins with facilitating the creative power of its design department, and Centric Fashion PLM will provide an ideal foundation for their full digital transformation. Learn more about Centric Fashion PLM Request a Demo Simplicity trade GmbH (www.simplicity.ag) It all started in 2001 with the idea to produce really good trousers under the name Opus. Opus has become a brand that designs complete outfits for women. In 2015, the new brand Someday was added. Today, Opus and Someday are united under the umbrella of Simplicity trade GmbH. The team now consists of over 500 employees. Each year, twelve collections are distributed throughout Europe via more than 2,000 trading partners. The design team is based in Hamburg. The headquarters are in Oelde in the countryside of Munster. The campus is a complex with several wings in which we learn and develop. The architecture is strongly based on the values of our brands. Embedded in the landscape, architecture and nature merge. Centric Software (www.centricsoftware.com) From its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor, consumer goods and home decor. Centrics flagship Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, quality and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB provides innovative PLM technology and key industry learnings for emerging brands. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) offers a new fully visual and digital experience for collaboration and decision-making and includes the Centric Buying Board to transform internal buying sessions and maximize retail value and the Centric Concept Board for driving creativity and evolving product concepts. All Centric innovations shorten time to market, boost product innovation and reduce costs. Centric Software is majority-owned by Dassault Systemes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), the world leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and PLM solutions. Centric Software has received multiple industry awards and recognition, including being named by Red Herring to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Centric also received various excellence awards from Frost & Sullivan in 2012, 2016 and 2018. Centric Software is a registered trademark of Centric Software Inc. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Media Contacts: Centric Software Americas: Jennifer Forsythe, jforsythe@centricsoftware.com EMEA: Kristen Salaun-Batby, ksalaun-batby@centricsoftware.com APAC: Lily Dong, lily.dong@centricsoftware.com Dr Richard Beeching was chairman of British Railways when he published a report in 1963 recommending that around a third of the network should be axed (Dave Thompson/PA) The Government has unveiled a 500 million fund to kickstart the restoration of lines closed in the Beeching cuts. Here the PA news agency looks at nine key questions surrounding the announcement. Who was Beeching? Dr Richard Beeching was chairman of British Railways when he published a report in 1963 recommending that around a third of the network should be axed due to low demand and high costs. Expand Close Richard Beeching looking at a large map (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Richard Beeching looking at a large map (PA) What was closed? Between 1964 and 1970, some 1,400 stations (33%) and 5,200 miles of track (15%) were closed. What is the current extent of the network? The Office of Rail and Road says there were 2,600 stations and 9,800 miles of railway open for traffic in 2018/19. What is the 500m fund? The investment is to help develop proposals for reopening lines which were victims of the Beeching cuts. Expand Close The departure board at Poulton-le-Fylde railway station (Nick Potts/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The departure board at Poulton-le-Fylde railway station (Nick Potts/PA) This includes funding studies into resurrecting the Lancashire line linking Fleetwood with Poulton-le-Fylde, and the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne line in Northumberland. What has the Transport Secretary said? Grant Shapps says many communities still live with the scars from rail closures more than five decades ago, and claims the new fund will begin to undo the damage of the Beeching cuts. Have we heard this before? In November 2017, then-transport secretary Chris Grayling announced that a new development programme would identify opportunities to restore some of the routes axed under Beeching. How much has been done? Three stations were added to the mainline network in the 12 months to the end of March 2019. One of the last major additions to Britains rail network came in December 2016, when Chiltern Railways began operating trains between London Marylebone and Oxford city centre on a newly established rail link. This included upgrading a 20-40mph branch line to a 100mph main line. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) How much does it cost to reopen closed lines? Sim Harris, managing editor of industry newspaper Railnews, says rebuilding rail lines costs millions for each kilometre. The London-Oxford project cost 320 million. What does that mean for the 500m fund? Railway engineer Gareth Dennis says it would only cover the cost of reopening around 25 miles of track. Hotels such as Belfasts Grand Central have seen big increases in their valuations for rates If you haven't heard about the new levels of commercial rates for non-domestic premises in Northern Ireland over the past few weeks, where have you been? The new system introduced by the Department of Finance aimed to bring rateable values back into line with current property values (given that the last valuations were in 2015). However, with uncertain times ahead for businesses occupying the 74,000 non-domestic properties in Northern Ireland, many owners have been outraged by the sharp increase in their rates charges. This appears perhaps most evident in the hospitality sector with rates more than doubling in most cases and some establishments increasing up to 500%. A massive 90% of hotels have seen their net annual values (NAVs - a figure given for an annual rental value at a point in time) increase, which has had a knock-on effect on the sums due to Land & Property Services. As a leading commercial law firm with expertise in the hospitality sector, many of our clients are concerned about this major blow to their industry. We are hearing from our clients that this is in addition to the uncertainties of Brexit and other challenges such as increasing minimum wage provisions and labour shortages. The process is said to be 'revenue neutral' with lower bills offsetting those facing higher amounts. However, the new Finance Minister, Conor Murphy, has come under increasing pressure to alleviate the concerns of the business community. Whilst there is clearly relief and optimism in the local market regarding the return of the Stormont government, many of our clients remain sceptical as to the practical benefits they will receive. Can anything be done to challenge what you believe to be a disproportionate rates increase? Absolutely. Whilst challenges cannot be formally lodged until April 1, 2020, preparation is key. Be proactive now before your bill is issued to prevent an immediate obligation to pay. Engagement with Land & Property Services is essential and professional advice regarding your position is highly advisable before contacting LPS as NAVs can go up as well as down. Our expertise in the property and hospitality sectors means we are tuned into the relevant issues. We work as part of your team to achieve the best possible resolution. The advice is clear - don't just sit and wait for your rates bill. Taking action now may be of massive financial benefit to your business. At Mills Selig, Northern Ireland's leading commercial and law firm, we hope that the reconstituted Assembly will assist in easing the pressures of our clients, especially those within the hospitality industry. It is imperative that those at Stormont recognise that the hospitality sector is a key element of our local economy. Maeve Fisher is Senior Associate, Mills Selig Dr. Lieber, 60, was charged with one count of making a false or misleading statement, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He appeared in court on Tuesday wearing the outfit he had put on to head to his office at Harvard: a Brooks Brothers polo shirt, cargo pants and hiking boots. He appeared subdued as he flipped through the charge sheet. Mr. Levitt, his lawyer, said it was his first opportunity to read the charge against him. Harvard said Dr. Lieber had been placed on indefinite administrative leave. The charges brought by the U.S. government against Professor Lieber are extremely serious, said Jonathan Swain, a spokesman for the university. Harvard is cooperating with federal authorities, including the National Institutes of Health, and is initiating its own review of the alleged misconduct. Dr. Lieber was one of three scientists to be charged with crimes on Tuesday. Zaosong Zheng, a Harvard-affiliated cancer researcher was caught leaving the country with 21 vials of cells stolen from a laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston, according to the authorities. They said he had admitted that he had planned to turbocharge his career by publishing the research in China under his own name. He was charged with smuggling goods from the United States and with making false statements, and was being held without bail in Massachusetts after a judge determined that he was a flight risk. His lawyer has not responded to a request for comment. The third was Yanqing Ye, who had been conducting research at Boston Universitys department of physics, chemistry and biomedical engineering until last spring, when she returned to China. Prosecutors said she hid the fact that she was a lieutenant in the Peoples Liberation Army, and continued to carry out assignments from Chinese military officers while at B.U. Ms. Yanqing was charged with visa fraud, making false statements, acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy. She was in China and was not arrested. Prosecutors made it clear that the charges announced on Tuesday were part of a bigger crackdown on researchers working with the Chinese government. No country poses a greater, more severe or long-term threat to our national security and economic prosperity than China, said Joseph Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the F.B.I.s Boston field office. Chinas communist governments goal, simply put, is to replace the U.S. as the world superpower, and they are breaking the law to get there. ElectraNet and TransGrid have today (1/23) welcomed the approval by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) of the regulatory investment test for transmission (RIT-T) for Project EnergyConnect.ElectraNet Chief Executive Steve Masters said today's announcement was an important project milestone, with the AER determining the business case for Project EnergyConnect was "robust".Mr Masters said the AER also determined the proposed interconnector, between South Australia and New South Wales, remained the most "credible option that maximises the net economic benefit" in the National Electricity Market (NEM), ultimately benefiting electricity customers."The Australian Energy Market Operator's (AEMO) recently released draft 2020 Integrated System Plan identifies Project EnergyConnect as a no regrets' project for the national electricity market," he said.TransGrid Chief Executive Officer Paul Italiano said TransGrid and ElectraNet were committed to delivering the project at the lowest possible cost with the greatest benefit to energy consumers."Project EnergyConnect provides the critical infrastructure needed to enable the sharing of renewable and baseload generation in the National Energy Market," Mr Italiano said.Project EnergyConnect supports Australia's growing renewable energy industry, with up to 30 new wind and solar projects (totalling nearly 5300 megawatts) planned for South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, expected to benefit from the new transmission line.This would be enough energy to power more than 1.6 million Australian homes.ElectraNet and TransGrid both acknowledge support for Project EnergyConnect from the South Australian Government which has enabled early works such as line route identification and stakeholder engagement on both sides of the border to progress.The next step involves both businesses preparing a Contingent Project Application to be lodged with the AER for approval.For more information about Project EnergyConnect visit www.projectenergyconnect.com.au ElectraNet has been exploring and consulting for about four years on the economic benefits of a new interconnector and network support options aimed at reducing the cost of providing secure and reliable electricity in South Australia, while facilitating the transition of the energy sector to low emission energy sources across the national energy market (NEM).Project EnergyConnect involves the construction of a new 330kV interconnector between Robertstown, in South Australia, and Wagga Wagga via Buronga, in New South Wales, with a link at Buronga to renewable energy generators at Red Cliffs, in north-west Victoria. The transmission line will be approximately 900km in length.It will deliver a range of direct benefits for customers in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria including lower power prices, improved energy security and increased economic activity. Opportunities will also be created for regional communities through job creation and local procurement during construction and in the longer term as new energy projects come online.Project EnergyConnect enables Australia's transition to lower carbon emissions and improving power system security and resilience. It offers a national energy solution which maximises the abundance of high-quality renewable energy already generated and will assist in unlocking more solar, wind and hydro resources throughout the national electricity market.ElectraNet and TransGrid, with support from the South Australian Government, have been undertaking early route and site selection works for Project EnergyConnect as well as environmental and social studies required for obtaining planning approvals. Extensive community engagement including face-to-face landholder and stakeholder consultation about the proposed route alignment and easement acquisition processes has been ongoing and will continue. A man accused of shooting at two Laredo police officers with an AR-15 and wounding one has been granted bond, according to Webb County records. READ MORE: Man who shot Laredo officer, two others, 'wanted to die' by police Cesar Rene Terrazas, 22, had been behind bars since his arrest on Nov. 26 on the charges of two counts of attempted capital murder, one count of burglary of habitation with intent to commit other felony and three counts of aggravated assault of a date, family, household member with a weapon. Terrazas has a combined bond of $275,000. He had not posted bond as of Monday evening, according to custody records. He had no bond prior to 49th District Court Associate Judge David Garcia granting it on Friday after a bond hearing. Terrazas was ordered to have no contact with the victim and not go within 200 yards of the victims house. He has a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on days the defendant is in Webb County. Police and the Webb County District Attorneys Office declined to comment on the bond granted to Terrazas. Attorney Juan Ramon Flores had filed a writ of habeas corpus seeking bail reduction for his client, Terrazas. Flores stated in the affidavit that Terrazas was illegally confined and restrained at the Webb County Jail. The defense stated that a no bond was unconstitutional, excessive, oppressive and beyond the financial means of Terrazas. His no bond allegedly violated the Eighth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the Texas Constitution and the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Cesar Rene Terrazas is a lifelong resident of Laredo, Webb County, and is not a risk of flight. He is not a danger to himself or others, and any concerns that the court might have can be well addressed with tailored conditions of release, states the affidavit. Shooting The case unraveled at about 5:42 a.m. Nov. 26 in the 100 block of Knoll Avenue. Officers had responded to a disturbance. Terrazas had allegedly gone looking for his ex-girlfriend of 2 years. They had been separated for about six months, according to an arrest affidavit. Terrazas is accused of ambushing responding officers with his AR-15. Shots fired wounded Anthony Whitehawk Cabello, a 7-year veteran, in the right leg. Terrazas also met backup officers with gunfire, according to police. Terrazas continued discharging his weapon and broke into his ex-girlfriends home on Knoll. Once inside, Terrazas allegedly shot a locked bedroom door where the 19-year-old ex-girlfriend, her 52-year-old mother and her 21-year-old brother were seeking shelter. They fought and disarmed Terrazas, according to police. Terrazas allegedly shot the mother twice in the upper torso during the struggle. Authorities added that shots fired inside the home went out from the dwelling in the direction of police officers. After several minutes, a male subject then exited the home with an assault weapon in his hands and charged toward LPD officers. At this point, an LPD officer discharged a single shot at the male subject carrying the assault rifle in an attempt to end the threat. It was later confirmed that the man carrying the assault rifle was the 21-year-old brother of the former girlfriend and not Terrazas, police had said in a statement. Cabello, along with Eduardo Benavides a 1-year rookie and David Hinojosa a 27-year veteran remain on administrative duties, pending the outcome of the criminal and internal investigations. READ MORE: Man arrested in early morning shootout near Laredo school fired 70 shots from AR-15 Preliminary reports state that the three officers discharged their weapons 14 times throughout the incident while Terrazas fired more than 80 rounds in the shooting. Vaping has been recommended as a possible aid for smokers looking to quit cigarettes but doctors say caution is still needed. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners guidelines has been updated with new advice on how to replace a smoker's reliance on nicotine and calls for new subsidies. Doctors advised that while there was no official standard for what goes into e-cigarettes, vaping involves fewer toxic chemicals and carcinogens than cigarettes. Researchers said e-cigarettes could therefore be used as a second line of defence for those looking to quit smoking. E-cigarettes are still ranked low down the list of nicotine therapy treatments by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, with patches and gum treatments preferred Nicholas Zwar, who chairs the guide's advisory group, said the lack of tested and approved e-cigarettes meant there were other alternatives preferred for countering smoking. Those alternatives include using nicotine gums and patches - accompanied by behavioural support from a patient's doctor. But Professor Zwar said it could be cautiously considered as a support therapy and added research showed two forms of nicotine replacement were better than one. 'The therapies that have been tested and been through therapeutic approval would be the first choice,' Professor Zwar told The Sydney Morning Herald. 'If you are a health practitioner the problem is you do not know exactly what is going to be in any e-cigarette product - it is not standardised.' The second edition of the RACGP's Supporting Smoking Cessation report published in December 2019 lists nicotine-containing e-cigarettes as their 15th and final recommendation for fighting a smoking habit. E-cigarettes have been suggested as a potential aid in kicking a smoking habit as it contains fewer carcinogens than regular cigarettes, according to updated guidance (stock image) RACGP president Harry Nespolon added access to subsidised nicotine therapy may help patients to beat their smoking habit. He said the most hardcore of smokers were from lower socio-economic backgrounds and it was important they could access more cheaper therapy. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidised by the Australian government only allows one treatment at a time. Researchers in the UK found heavy smokers who switched to e-cigarettes started to see their risk of heart disease fall within a month. The scientists stressed non-smokers should steer clear of e-cigarettes, because the devices come with their own harms. But for 'chronic' tobacco smokers - those who have smoked at least 15 cigarettes a day for two years - switching resulted in an almost immediate benefit. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has released the much-awaited expression of interest (EoI) document asking for potential buyers to bid for 100 per cent stake in Air India. The document, which asks for potential buyers to submit EOIs by March 17, has relaxed a whole lot of terms as compared to the EoIs floated in 2018. A major relief is the government doesn't want to retain a stake in the national carrier after sale, unlike the previous time when it wanted to keep 24 per cent for itself for potential upside in future. But most importantly, the latest sale offer has brought down the amount of debt to be taken over by the new buyer from Rs 33,392 crore in 2018 to Rs 23,286.5 crore, a reduction of over 30 per cent. "At the time of closing of the proposed transaction, debt worth Rs 23,286.5 crore will remain with Air India and Air India Express, and the remaining debt of Air India and Air India Express will be allocated to AIAHL (Air India Assets Holding Limited)," says the document. AIAHL is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created to offload some of the debt of the carrier (as well as some assets) to make it more attractive for buyers. At last count, some Rs 29,464 crore of debt has been shifted to this SPV. Also Read: Govt to sell 100% stake in Air India; issues bid document In the initial part of the document, the government has detailed the nature of Air India's debt, which is Rs 58,282.9 crore as on March 2019. Nearly 7.5 per cent (or Rs 4,393.3 crore) of this debt is for a finance lease, which is partly secured by the government and partly by aircraft. In the aviation industry, there are broadly two types of leases: finance lease and operating lease. In addition, airlines also buy aircraft. Under the finance lease, which is akin to taking a car on EMI, the airline pays the aircraft debt over a period of time, and when the loan gets over the aircraft is owned by the airline. Operating lease, on the other hand, is akin to living in a rented house where you pay for the property as long as you use it. The property - or aircraft in this case - belongs to the landlord (or lessor in the case of Air India). Also Read: Air India sale: Here are the main conditions set by Modi govt As per the EoI document, Air India has a total of 33 aircraft -- 15 wide-bodies and 18 narrow-bodies -- on finance lease as on November 2019. But here's a catch. The document says that these 33 aircraft are no longer under finance lease as the loan against them has been fully paid, and the process to transfer the title of aircraft to AI is under process. That means that the loans highlighted against these finance leases are not valid. The document also mentions the transfer of Rs 23,286.5 crore worth of debt to the new owner would include finance lease obligations, long-term borrowings, short-term borrowings and others. The question is that if those 33 aircraft are no longer under finance lease, what kinds of debt transfer would that be? The sale document has already received flak from some quarters. For instance, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has called the sale "anti-national" and threatened to drag the government to court. With the relaxation of qualification criteria and a better deal structuring, analysts are expecting good response this time. In the last attempt, airlines like IndiGo had expressed interest in Air India's international operations but backed out later. Though the reduction of debt component and relatively easy terms could elicit likely interest from Tata Group, Adani Enterprises, Hinduja Group, and foreign carriers, the government needs to clarify on some of these aspects. Also read: Air India sale: Debt burden on buyer to be Rs 23,286 crore By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday the plea of Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, against the dismissal of his mercy petition by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 17. The trial court has issued black warrants for the execution of all the four convicts -- Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Kumar Sharma and Akshay Kumar -- at 6 AM on February 1. As the last-ditch attempt, Mukesh through his counsel on Tuesday sought an urgent hearing on his plea against the dismissal of the mercy plea before the top court. "If somebody is going to be hanged then nothing can be more urgent than this," a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said while assuring Mukesh's lawyer that his plea would be given due weightage by the mentioning officer. ALSO READ: Nirbhaya case - Delhi court dismisses plea challenging rejection of complaint for FIR against sole witness "Execution case will be given top priority," said the bench, which also comprised Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant. Later in the day, the mentioning officer considered the urgency of Mukesh's plea and ordered its listing before a three-judge bench comprising Justices R Bhanunathi, Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna at 12.30 PM Tuesday. Mukesh had moved the mercy plea after the Supreme Court dismissed his curative petition against his conviction and death sentence. The apex court had also rejected the curative petition of another death row convict Akshay (31). The other two convicts, Pawan (25) and Vinay, are yet to file curative petitions before the Supreme Court. The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as "Nirbhaya" (the fearless), was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital. Six people -- Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan, Ram Singh and a juvenile -- were named as accused. The trial of the five adult men began in a special fast-track court in March 2013. ALSO READ: 'Nothing more urgent than this' - SC on Nirbhaya convict seeking urgent hearing against rejection of mercy plea The prime accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in Tihar jail days after the trial began. The juvenile, who was said to be the most brutal of the attackers, was put in a correctional home for three years. He was released in 2015 and sent to an undisclosed location amid concerns over a threat to his life. The juvenile, when released, was 20 years old. Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay and Pawan were convicted and sentenced to death in September 2013. On Saturday, a Delhi court said that no further directions were required on a plea by the lawyer of the death row convicts alleging that prison authorities were not handing over certain documents required to file mercy and curative petitions, and disposed of the petition. Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Kumar Jain said the convicts' lawyer can take pictures of the relevant documents, diary and paintings from the Tihar jail authorities. The court had noted that the jail authorities had already complied with the request made by the convicts by supplying the documents whatever was lying with them. Reacting to the Enforcement Directorates revelations of the PFIs role in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests, BJP Rajya Sabha MP GVL Narasimha Rao branded PFI as Pakistan Front of India. Claiming that the organization had spent Rs.130 crore on the anti-CAA protests, he recalled how Pakistan had sponsored stone-pelting in Jammu and Kashmir. Moreover, he contended that Pakistan was desperate after the abrogation of Article 370 and therefore, engineering violent protests to destabilise the country. Thereafter, he called upon Indians to accept this reality. Read: Shivraj Singh Chouhan Castigates Congress On ED's PFI Revelations PFI seems to be Pakistan Front of India. It spent Rs.130 Crore for violent anti-CAA protests. Earlier, Pak paid stonepelters in Kashmir. Post 370 abolition, evidently Pak is channeling hawala funds for violent protests to destabilize India. Wake up India! https://t.co/BL2VPw5oaj GVL Narasimha Rao (@GVLNRAO) January 28, 2020 Read: Kapil Sibal, Indira Jaising Reject Claims Of PFI Paying Them For Anti-CAA Protests ED revelations The Enforcement Directorate has unearthed the role of PFIs role in the anti-CAA protests in Uttar Pradesh. According to sources, it found a link between the Rs. 120 crore deposited in 73 bank accounts allegedly belonging to PFI and the anti-CAA protests. Sources also reveal that maximum money was withdrawn during the anti-CAA protest days. ED Sources: Enforcement Directorate has sent a note to the Home Ministry mentioning there is direct link between anti-CAA protests in Uttar Pradesh and the Popular Front of India. ED has drawn correlation between dates of money deposits in bank accounts&dates of anti-CAA protests ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2020 Read: Republic Stings PFI Leader Who Calls For 'Ruling Party's Death To Save India' 'PFI is an organization that is working with the intention of breaking the country' Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari stated that the people hellbent on creating strife in the country had formed their own group. Furthermore, he noted that the terror mindset of PFI had come to the fore. Also, Tiwari accused Congress and AAP of backing elements such as Sharjeel Imam. The country has come to know that the people breaking the country have formed their group. There is also a money transaction. PFI is an organization that is working with the intention of breaking the country. Their terror mindset has come before the people. Congress people, AAP are supporting (them). Sharjeel Imam is not alone. Who is backing him? Wherever there is BJP government, these people are dealt with within 4 days, Tiwari said. Read: PFI Denies Rs 120 Crore 'money Trail' Between Party & Anti-CAA Protests, Demands Proof USA Loves The Chiefs Majority of Americans cheering for the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl ST. LOUIS (KMOV) -- The Chiefs and 49ers will face off in Super Bowl LIV, but it appears the Kansas City team is America's favorite. BetOnline.ag tracked Twitter data, focusing on the primary fan hashtags for each team, such as #GoNiners and #ChiefsKingdom. Blue Springs Cleanup Time Two trash companies causing Blue Springs neighborhoods to look more like dump sites BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. -- Trash troubles have garbage bags piling up and dumpsters overflowing, and it's not just one company behind the mess. Driveways across Blue Springs are starting to look like dump sites. "It's a little frustrating, right?" WCA customer Lonnie Smith said. Raytown Demands Justice $5,000 reward now offered for information in 2017 Raytown homicide KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Authorities continue to seek help in regard to a 2017 murder of Dominique Byers. Police say while a number of tips have been received, additional information is requested to assist in the investigation. Tuesday marks the three-year anniversary since Byers was found dead from an apparent gunshot in a parking lot near 6600 Blue Ridge Boulevard. Insta Hottie In Mourning Demi Rose reveals she's 'healing' in tribute to her late parents Demi Rose has posted a heartfelt tribute to her late parents on social media, seven months on from the tragic death of her mother. The Instagram star shared a photo of herself wearing a crucifix necklace as she told her 12.5million followers that she is 'healing' after a tough year. Another Biden Bad Deal Lobbyist bought tropical land from Biden's brother In 2005, Joe Biden's brother bought an acre of land with excellent ocean views on a remote island in the Caribbean for $150,000. He divided it into three parcels, and the next year a lobbyist close to the Delaware senator bought one of the parcels for what had been the cost of the entire property. Tell-All Book Claims Prez Trump Is International Man Of Mystery Bolton Book Reportedly Details Concerns That Trump Was Doing "Personal Favors" for Foreign Leaders Former national security adviser John Bolton is making it hard on Republicans in the Senate who want to act as if President Trump has done nothing wrong in his dealings with Ukraine. Global Trade Infected The Coronavirus Is A Black Swan Event That May Have Serious Repercussions For The U.S. Economy And Job Market A black swan event is a term used on Wall Street that refers to a rare and unpredictable occurrence that is beyond what is expected and has severe consequences. It's derived from European explorers who had previously thought that all swans were white and only white, as that was all they knew. Wash Out FDA to Purell: Stop claiming your hand sanitizers eliminate Ebola, MRSA & flu The US Food and Drug Administration is giving the maker of Purell products a stern warning: Stop making unproven claims that over-the-counter hand sanitizers help eliminate Ebola, MRSA or the flu. Super Bowl Rematch Already It's Super Bowl Week, Featuring Two Expertly Constructed Teams MIAMI - Andy Reid probably didn't realize it when he strolled into Brett Veach's office in late spring of 2016, but there in front of him was the direction of his franchise. The guy holding the clicker was its future off the field, and the player on the screen its future on it. Bad Luck Chuck Merch Debuts Newfound celebrity status for Chiefs superfan leads to official bobblehead KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- A 31-year-old Kansas City postal clerk and lifelong Chiefs fan will now have a bobblehead made after his "bad luck" went viral. The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has unveiled a limited edition bobblehead featuring Kansas City Chiefs superfan Charles Penn - otherwise known as "Bad Luck Chuck." Selfie City Explored The Best Places to Take Pictures in Kansas City As the use of social media keeps going up, the need for more creative, interesting and overall fun places to take pictures goes up too. Even if Kansas is one of the flattest and arguably boring states; here are some of the best places to take pictures in the Kansas City area. Winter Lingers In Kansas City Temperatures don't move much Tuesday, light snow possible overnight Hide Transcript Show Transcript BOBBLEHEAD. CRAZY THAT THAT KEEPS ON GOING. WINTER KEEPS ON GOING IN KANSAS CITY, STARTING THIS MORNING WITH COLD AND CLOUDY CONDITIONS. WIND CHILL VALUES IN THE 20'S. YOU MIGHT SEE A LITTLE BIT OF FOG ON YOUR DRIVE. THE CLOUDS WILL HALT ANY WARM UP. Right now we offer a quick peek at somewhat nicer news items from pop culture, community news and more . . . Checkit:is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . . Chance Yeh/Getty ImagesNicki Minajs brother was sentenced to 25 years to life Monday for raping his stepdaughter. Jelani Maraj was sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice Robert McDonald in Nassau County Court in Long Island, NY, according to Newsday. "She was 11 years old and you did this," McDonald told Maraj, who was convicted in 2017 of predatory sexual assault and child endangerment. The victim testified during the trial that the abuse began when she was 11, and that Maraj sexually assaulted her repeatedly in 2015 while her mother was at work. In a letter in 2016, Nicki pleaded for mercy for her brother. She described Jelani as the most patient, gentle, genuine, giving, selfless man" she knows and someone "who came to my mother's rescue often when she endured domestic violence so that she & I could sleep peacefully at night." Nicki also accused the victims mother of attempting to extort $25 million from her. Despite the pleas for mercy, McDonald said his heart was like a "stone." The defense claims there was jury misconduct and filed for an appeal. Jelanis mother, Carol Minaj, said outside the courthouse, Hes going to win in the appeal." Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Sinduja Jane By Express News Service CHENNAI: China is running out of the N95 masks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus and Chinese firms are looking to drug and surgical item manufacturers in India to replenish stock. Speaking to Express, J Jayaseelan, Chairman of Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, said, Companies from China are approaching suppliers from India, including Tamil Nadu, for N95 masks through multiple sources. The dealers here are ready to manufacture and supply once dealers from China pay advance and place a clear order. Tomorrow, the need might come down, so the manufacturers dont want to take a risk. Basically, the N95 masks are manufactured in low numbers because of poor demand. Unlike regular surgical masks, N95 masks are used in the operation theatre and also during severe respiratory illness and during epidemic infections, Jayaseelan added. A health department official said, The irony is that a large quantity of masks are imported from China and there are only few manufacturers in India as there is less usage. But, now since there is an outbreak in China, they ran out of stock and are reaching out to dealers here. Jayaseelan said, However, to manufacture N95 masks, the manufacturers dont need any special permission or patent, any regular surgical masks manufacturer can make them. Meanwhile, another mask supplier told Express, After the outbreak of coronavirus the demand has increased and more dealers from China are approaching us. Not only from Tamil Nadu, we are getting orders from other States also, he said. Meanwhile, State health department officials said there was adequate stock.We have over one lakh N95 masks, a health department official said. Why n95? Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Djemi Amnifu (The Jakarta Post) Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara Tue, January 28, 2020 06:48 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20613a990 1 National immigration-violations Free An Algerian national recently found adrift in the Timor Sea after attempting to swim to Australia from Timor Leste is to be sent back to his home country, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) authorities have confirmed. The foreigner, identified as H. Abdel Rahman, is currently being held at the Atambua Immigration Office in Belu regency, NTT, where he has been detained since he was rescued by local fishermen in the waters of Malaka regency earlier this month. We are corresponding with the Algerian Embassy in Jakarta to return Abdel Rahman to Algeria. Our letter has been responded to by the Algerian ambassador and Abdel Rahmans lost citizenship documents are now being processed," Atambua Immigration head Halim told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. Halim confirmed that Rahman was being detained at the immigration office because he was guilty of an immigration violation by entering Indonesian territory without valid documents. The Algerian will be detained there for a month before being deported or transferred to the immigration detention center in Kupang, he added. Rahman made news on Jan. 12 after he attempted to swim to Australia in a desperate attempt to flee Timor Leste after his visa had expired and his funds were depleted. Before visiting Timor Leste, Rahman landed at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali on Dec. 12 last year, Halim said. After vacationing on the tourist island for a few days, Rahman traveled to Gili Trawangan in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, by boat. After a week in Lombok, Abdel Rahman continued onto Labuan Bajo in NTT and then to Kupang. After arriving in Kupang on Dec. 30, he took a Trans Nusa plane to Dili in Timor Leste, Halim said. Read also: Algerian found floating in NTT waters after trying to swim from Timor Leste to Australia The Algerian reported to Timor Leste authorities in Suai district regarding his visa, but got no response. "Then he desperately started swimming to Australia from Suai Beach at around 6 p.m. Timor Leste time. Before swimming, he threw away all of his documents at Suai, Halim said, adding that Rahman was later carried away by big waves and bad weather in the sea. After two days of swimming, Rahman was exhausted and screamed for help from nearby fishermen, who rescued him and took him to a beach in Kletek village, Malaka regency, where the waters border Indonesia, Timor Leste and Australia, on Jan. 12. Atambua immigration officers took custody of him and interrogated him before eventually detaining him while waiting for news concerning his deportation from the Algerian Embassy, Halim said. Meanwhile, Betun Police chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Albert Neno, said Rahman's statement to the police was being examined as there were doubts about whether he really did try to swim to Australia, especially as the waters were rough. Albert -- who claimed he had received a tip-off voiced suspicion that Rahman had boarded a ship from Timor Leste to Australia but had been thrown overboard after it was discovered that he could not pay for his journey. We are investigating [the case]. Who knows whether he actually boarded a ship but was thrown into the sea because he could not pay for the ticket?" Albert said, adding that the police were also investigating whether Rahman had travel companions who had made it from Timor Leste to Australia. (gis) NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GMO Testing market worldwide is projected to grow by US$1.2 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 7.8%. Stacked, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 8.3%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$1.6 Billion by the year 2025, Stacked will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798683/?utm_source=PRN - Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 6.6% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$40.4 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$34.5 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Stacked will reach a market size of US$77.6 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 11.7% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$328.7 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies. - Competitors identified in this market include, among others, ALS Ltd.; AsureQuality; Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.; Bureau Veritas SA; Eurofins Scientific SE; Intertek Group PLC; Merieux NutriSciences Corporation; Microbac Laboratories, Inc.; Romer Labs Division Holding GmbH; SGS SA; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.; Tuv Sud AG Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798683/?utm_source=PRN I. METHODOLOGY II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. MARKET OVERVIEW Global Competitor Market Shares GMO Testing Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in %): 2019 & 2025 2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS 3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS 4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE Table 1: GMO Testing Global Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 2: GMO Testing Global Retrospective Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 3: GMO Testing Market Share Shift across Key Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 4: Stacked (Trait) World Market by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 5: Stacked (Trait) Historic Market Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 6: Stacked (Trait) Market Share Breakdown of Worldwide Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 7: Herbicide Tolerance (Trait) Potential Growth Markets Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 8: Herbicide Tolerance (Trait) Historic Market Perspective by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 9: Herbicide Tolerance (Trait) Market Sales Breakdown by Region/Country in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 10: Insect Resistance (Trait) Geographic Market Spread Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 11: Insect Resistance (Trait) Region Wise Breakdown of Global Historic Demand in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 12: Insect Resistance (Trait) Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 13: Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (Technology) World Market Estimates and Forecasts by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 14: Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (Technology) Market Historic Review by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 15: Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (Technology) Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 16: Immunoassay (Technology) World Market by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 17: Immunoassay (Technology) Historic Market Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 18: Immunoassay (Technology) Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 19: Crop (Food Type) World Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018 to 2025 Table 20: Crop (Food Type) Market Worldwide Historic Review by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 21: Crop (Food Type) Market Percentage Share Distribution by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 22: Processed Food (Food Type) Market Opportunity Analysis Worldwide in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018 to 2025 Table 23: Processed Food (Food Type) Global Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009 to 2017 Table 24: Processed Food (Food Type) Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 III. MARKET ANALYSIS GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS UNITED STATES Market Facts & Figures US GMO Testing Market Share (in %) by Company: 2019 & 2025 Table 25: United States GMO Testing Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018 to 2025 Table 26: GMO Testing Market in the United States by Trait: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 27: United States GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 28: GMO Testing Market in US$ Thousand in the United States by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 29: United States GMO Testing Market Retrospective Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 30: United States GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 31: United States GMO Testing Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 32: GMO Testing Market in the United States by Food Type: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 33: United States GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 CANADA Table 34: Canadian GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018 to 2025 Table 35: Canadian GMO Testing Historic Market Review by Trait in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 36: GMO Testing Market in Canada: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Trait for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 37: GMO Testing Market Analysis in Canada in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 38: GMO Testing Market in Canada: Historic Review in US$ Thousand by Technology for the Period 2009-2017 Table 39: Canadian GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 40: Canadian GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 41: Canadian GMO Testing Historic Market Review by Food Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 42: GMO Testing Market in Canada: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Food Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025 JAPAN Table 43: Japanese Market for GMO Testing: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 44: GMO Testing Market in Japan: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2009-2017 Table 45: Japanese GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 46: Japanese Medium & Long-Term Outlook for GMO Testing Market in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 47: GMO Testing Market in Japan in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 48: Japanese GMO Testing Market Percentage Share Distribution by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 49: Japanese Market for GMO Testing: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 50: GMO Testing Market in Japan: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2009-2017 Table 51: Japanese GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 CHINA Table 52: Chinese GMO Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 53: GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in China in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 54: Chinese GMO Testing Market by Trait: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 55: GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in China in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 56: Chinese GMO Testing Retrospective Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 57: GMO Testing Market in China: Percentage Share Analysis by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 58: Chinese GMO Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 59: GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in China in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 60: Chinese GMO Testing Market by Food Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 EUROPE Market Facts & Figures European GMO Testing Market: Competitor Market Share Scenario (in %) for 2019 & 2025 Table 61: European GMO Testing Market Demand Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 62: GMO Testing Market in Europe: A Historic Market Perspective in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Period 2009-2017 Table 63: European GMO Testing Market Share Shift by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 64: European GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018-2025 Table 65: GMO Testing Market in Europe in US$ Thousand by Trait: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 66: European GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 67: European GMO Testing Market Assessment in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 68: European GMO Testing Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 69: GMO Testing Market in Europe: Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 70: European GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018-2025 Table 71: GMO Testing Market in Europe in US$ Thousand by Food Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 72: European GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 FRANCE Table 73: GMO Testing Market in France by Trait: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 74: French GMO Testing Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 75: French GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 76: French GMO Testing Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 77: French GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 78: French GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 79: GMO Testing Market in France by Food Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 80: French GMO Testing Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 81: French GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 GERMANY Table 82: GMO Testing Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 83: German GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 84: German GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 85: German GMO Testing Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 86: GMO Testing Market in Germany: A Historic Perspective by Technology in US$ Thousand for the Period 2009-2017 Table 87: German GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 88: GMO Testing Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 89: German GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 90: German GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ITALY Table 91: Italian GMO Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 92: GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in Italy in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 93: Italian GMO Testing Market by Trait: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 94: GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in Italy in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 95: Italian GMO Testing Retrospective Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 96: GMO Testing Market in Italy: Percentage Share Analysis by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 97: Italian GMO Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 98: GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in Italy in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 99: Italian GMO Testing Market by Food Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 UNITED KINGDOM Table 100: United Kingdom Market for GMO Testing: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 101: GMO Testing Market in the United Kingdom: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2009-2017 Table 102: United Kingdom GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 103: United Kingdom Medium & Long-Term Outlook for GMO Testing Market in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 104: GMO Testing Market in the United Kingdom in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 105: United Kingdom GMO Testing Market Percentage Share Distribution by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 106: United Kingdom Market for GMO Testing: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 107: GMO Testing Market in the United Kingdom: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2009-2017 Table 108: United Kingdom GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 SPAIN Table 109: Spanish GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018 to 2025 Table 110: Spanish GMO Testing Historic Market Review by Trait in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 111: GMO Testing Market in Spain: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Trait for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 112: GMO Testing Market Analysis in Spain in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 113: GMO Testing Market in Spain: Historic Review in US$ Thousand by Technology for the Period 2009-2017 Table 114: Spanish GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 115: Spanish GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 116: Spanish GMO Testing Historic Market Review by Food Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 117: GMO Testing Market in Spain: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Food Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025 RUSSIA Table 118: Russian GMO Testing Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018 to 2025 Table 119: GMO Testing Market in Russia by Trait: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 120: Russian GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 121: GMO Testing Market in US$ Thousand in Russia by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 122: Russian GMO Testing Market Retrospective Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 123: Russian GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 124: Russian GMO Testing Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 125: GMO Testing Market in Russia by Food Type: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 126: Russian GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF EUROPE Table 127: Rest of Europe GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018-2025 Table 128: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Europe in US$ Thousand by Trait: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 129: Rest of Europe GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 130: Rest of Europe GMO Testing Market Assessment in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 131: Rest of Europe GMO Testing Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 132: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Europe: Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 133: Rest of Europe GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018-2025 Table 134: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Europe in US$ Thousand by Food Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 135: Rest of Europe GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ASIA-PACIFIC Table 136: Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 137: GMO Testing Market in Asia-Pacific: Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Period 2009-2017 Table 138: Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 139: GMO Testing Market in Asia-Pacific by Trait: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 140: Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 141: Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 142: Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 143: Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 144: Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 145: GMO Testing Market in Asia-Pacific by Food Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 146: Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 147: Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 AUSTRALIA Table 148: GMO Testing Market in Australia: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 149: Australian GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 150: Australian GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 151: Australian GMO Testing Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 152: GMO Testing Market in Australia: A Historic Perspective by Technology in US$ Thousand for the Period 2009-2017 Table 153: Australian GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 154: GMO Testing Market in Australia: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 155: Australian GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 156: Australian GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 INDIA Table 157: Indian GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018 to 2025 Table 158: Indian GMO Testing Historic Market Review by Trait in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 159: GMO Testing Market in India: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Trait for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 160: GMO Testing Market Analysis in India in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 161: GMO Testing Market in India: Historic Review in US$ Thousand by Technology for the Period 2009-2017 Table 162: Indian GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 163: Indian GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 164: Indian GMO Testing Historic Market Review by Food Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 165: GMO Testing Market in India: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Food Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025 SOUTH KOREA Table 166: GMO Testing Market in South Korea: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 167: South Korean GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 168: GMO Testing Market Share Distribution in South Korea by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 169: GMO Testing Market in South Korea: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology for the Period 2018-2025 Table 170: South Korean GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 171: GMO Testing Market Share Distribution in South Korea by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 172: GMO Testing Market in South Korea: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 173: South Korean GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 174: GMO Testing Market Share Distribution in South Korea by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC Table 175: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for GMO Testing: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 176: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2009-2017 Table 177: Rest of Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 178: Rest of Asia-Pacific Medium & Long-Term Outlook for GMO Testing Market in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 179: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 180: Rest of Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Market Percentage Share Distribution by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 181: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for GMO Testing: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 182: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2009-2017 Table 183: Rest of Asia-Pacific GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 LATIN AMERICA Table 184: Latin American GMO Testing Market Trends by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018-2025 Table 185: GMO Testing Market in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the Period 2009-2017 Table 186: Latin American GMO Testing Market Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 187: Latin American GMO Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 188: GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 189: Latin American GMO Testing Market by Trait: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 190: GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 191: Latin American GMO Testing Retrospective Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 192: GMO Testing Market in Latin America : Percentage Analysis by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 193: Latin American GMO Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 194: GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 195: Latin American GMO Testing Market by Food Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 ARGENTINA Table 196: Argentinean GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018-2025 Table 197: GMO Testing Market in Argentina in US$ Thousand by Trait: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 198: Argentinean GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 199: Argentinean GMO Testing Market Assessment in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 200: Argentinean GMO Testing Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 201: GMO Testing Market in Argentina: Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 202: Argentinean GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018-2025 Table 203: GMO Testing Market in Argentina in US$ Thousand by Food Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 204: Argentinean GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 BRAZIL Table 205: GMO Testing Market in Brazil by Trait: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 206: Brazilian GMO Testing Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 207: Brazilian GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 208: Brazilian GMO Testing Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 209: Brazilian GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 210: Brazilian GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 211: GMO Testing Market in Brazil by Food Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 212: Brazilian GMO Testing Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 213: Brazilian GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 MEXICO Table 214: GMO Testing Market in Mexico: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 215: Mexican GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 216: Mexican GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 217: Mexican GMO Testing Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 218: GMO Testing Market in Mexico: A Historic Perspective by Technology in US$ Thousand for the Period 2009-2017 Table 219: Mexican GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 220: GMO Testing Market in Mexico: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 221: Mexican GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 222: Mexican GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF LATIN AMERICA Table 223: Rest of Latin America GMO Testing Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018 to 2025 Table 224: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Latin America by Trait: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 225: Rest of Latin America GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 226: GMO Testing Market in US$ Thousand in Rest of Latin America by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 227: Rest of Latin America GMO Testing Market Retrospective Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 228: Rest of Latin America GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 229: Rest of Latin America GMO Testing Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 230: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Latin America by Food Type: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 231: Rest of Latin America GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 MIDDLE EAST Table 232: The Middle East GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 233: GMO Testing Market in the Middle East by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 234: The Middle East GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 235: The Middle East GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018 to 2025 Table 236: The Middle East GMO Testing Historic Market by Trait in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 237: GMO Testing Market in the Middle East: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Trait for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 238: The Middle East GMO Testing Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 239: GMO Testing Market in the Middle East: Historic Review in US$ Thousand by Technology for the Period 2009-2017 Table 240: The Middle East GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 241: The Middle East GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 242: The Middle East GMO Testing Historic Market by Food Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 243: GMO Testing Market in the Middle East: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Food Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025 IRAN Table 244: Iranian Market for GMO Testing: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 245: GMO Testing Market in Iran: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2009-2017 Table 246: Iranian GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 247: Iranian Medium & Long-Term Outlook for GMO Testing Market in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 248: GMO Testing Market in Iran in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 249: Iranian GMO Testing Market Percentage Share Distribution by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 250: Iranian Market for GMO Testing: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 251: GMO Testing Market in Iran: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2009-2017 Table 252: Iranian GMO Testing Market Share Analysis by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ISRAEL Table 253: Israeli GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2018-2025 Table 254: GMO Testing Market in Israel in US$ Thousand by Trait: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 255: Israeli GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 256: Israeli GMO Testing Market Assessment in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 257: Israeli GMO Testing Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 258: GMO Testing Market in Israel: Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 259: Israeli GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2018-2025 Table 260: GMO Testing Market in Israel in US$ Thousand by Food Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 261: Israeli GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 SAUDI ARABIA Table 262: Saudi Arabian GMO Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 263: GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in Saudi Arabia in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 264: Saudi Arabian GMO Testing Market by Trait: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 265: GMO Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in Saudi Arabia in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 266: Saudi Arabian GMO Testing Retrospective Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 267: GMO Testing Market in Saudi Arabia: Percentage Share Analysis by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 268: Saudi Arabian GMO Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 269: GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in Saudi Arabia in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 270: Saudi Arabian GMO Testing Market by Food Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Table 271: GMO Testing Market in the United Arab Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 272: United Arab Emirates GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 273: GMO Testing Market Share Distribution in United Arab Emirates by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 274: GMO Testing Market in the United Arab Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology for the Period 2018-2025 Table 275: United Arab Emirates GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2009-2017 Table 276: GMO Testing Market Share Distribution in United Arab Emirates by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 277: GMO Testing Market in the United Arab Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 278: United Arab Emirates GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Table 279: GMO Testing Market Share Distribution in United Arab Emirates by Food Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF MIDDLE EAST Table 280: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Middle East: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait for the Period 2018-2025 Table 281: Rest of Middle East GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Trait: 2009-2017 Table 282: Rest of Middle East GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Trait: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 283: Rest of Middle East GMO Testing Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Technology: 2018-2025 Table 284: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Middle East: A Historic Perspective by Technology in US$ Thousand for the Period 2009-2017 Table 285: Rest of Middle East GMO Testing Market Share Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 286: GMO Testing Market in Rest of Middle East: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 287: Rest of Middle East GMO Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Food Type: 2009-2017 Please contact our Customer Support Center to get the complete Table of Contents Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798683/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com martins beach vinod khosla 3 Robert Galbraith/Reuters Tech billionaire and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has sued California and the San Mateo County Sheriff over property rights on his waterfront estate near Half Moon Bay, about an hour south of San Francisco. Khosla, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, bought a 53-acre waterfront estate for $37 million in 2008 and allegedly closed off the road that runs through the private property and that the public had historically used to access Martin's Beach, a beloved beach spot. The lawsuit is the latest battle of the investor's longtime fight over Martin's Beach and comes just three weeks after the state of California filed its own lawsuit against Khosla, which alleged that he was restricting public access to the beach. The decade-long legal war has ignited conversation revolving around public access to California's beaches and property rights. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Just three weeks after the state of California filed a lawsuit against Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla alleging that he was restricting public access to a secluded beach, the investor has responded with a lawsuit of his own, The Mercury News reported. On Friday, Khosla filed a lawsuit in US District Court in San Francisco that asserts San Mateo County Sheriff Carlos Bolanos has failed to cite or remove visitors that use a road on Khosla's private property to access Martin's Beach a popular coastal spot frequented and beloved by local surfers and families without paying a fee. The complaint stipulates that the beach visitors were trespassers. The sheriff's office has refrained from arresting and citing them, due to the fact that there are so many unresolved filings that have been made in the past decade, according to The Mercury News. The lawsuit also names officials with the California Coastal Commission and State Lands Commission and the San Mateo County Planning and Building Department Director Steve Monowitz as defendants. Story continues Khosla's attorneys wrote in the complaint that "this case involves a concerted effort by state and local officials to single out, coerce, and harass one coastal property owner for refusing to cede its private property rights." This isn't the first unresolved court case involved in Khosla's attempt to keep the secluded beach off-limits to the public. For more than a decade, Khosla has been accused of blocking access to the road that runs through his private property, a road that is the only route to Martin's Beach. Khosla, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems and founder of the venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, paid $37 million for the 53-acre property near Half Moon Bay, a coastal town about an hour south of San Francisco, in 2008. Khosla's lawyer, Dori Yob Kilmer, said in a statement sent to Business Insider in early January that prior to Khosla's purchase, the beach was privately owned by the Deeney family for nearly 100 years and that the family "chose to use it as a revenue-generating beach-access business," charging the public a fee to enjoy the spot. But soon after making his purchase, Khosla closed the gate that led to Martin's Beach and posted a sign warning that there would be no access, angering local surfers and families who had long frequented it. martins beach vinod khosla 8 Robert Galbraith/Reuters Khosla's attorneys said the closure was because the cost to maintain the beach outweighed the revenue that would be generated from daily use fees. The California appeals court would later rule that Khosla violated state law by barring the public from the beach without applying for a permit. When the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation sued Khosla, he took his case to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear it in 2018. If it had decided to hear it, as Business Insider's Melia Russell wrote, the results could have caused a shift in how beach property rights are managed across the nation. In an interview with The New York Times later that year, Khosla said he wished he had "never bought the property," but he was determined to continue fighting for his privacy based on principle. Read the original article on Business Insider Catalan politician Oriol Junqueras, centre, arrives at the Parliament of Catalonia in Barcelona (Emilio Morenatti/AP) The former vice-president of Catalonia returned as a prisoner to the regional parliament in Barcelona, the first time he had been there since he was imprisoned for his role in the failed 2017 secession attempt from the rest of Spain. Oriol Junqueras and five other former Cabinet members released from prison for the occasion were greeted with applause and cheers of Liberty! by a small crowd of supporters inside the parliament building. They were not handcuffed, and no uniformed guards were escorting them, although there were police deployed outside. Regional president Quim Torra and the speaker of the house greeted them with hugs and warm handshakes on arrival. This is the first time that the six have returned to the Catalan parliament since they were taken into custody following the failed October 2017 independence bid. They and three more colleagues were convicted of sedition and misuse of public funds in October by Spains Supreme Court and given sentences of nine to 13 years. Expand Close Catalonias ex-regional vice-president Oriol Junqueras (Emilio Morenatti/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Catalonias ex-regional vice-president Oriol Junqueras (Emilio Morenatti/AP) They are serving their sentences in prisons in Catalonia. They were summoned to the regional parliament to attend a committee session addressing the consequences of the central authorities temporary takeover of the regions control at the height of the 2017 crisis. I want to begin by saying that I am very happy to be back in the parliament and to be able to talk to all of you, Mr Junqueras told the commission. I am very happy because I love the parliament and love democracy and love dialogue. Mr Junqueras then used most of this half-hour appearance to insist that he and his colleagues are unjustly imprisoned and that the solution to the political crisis provoked by the separatist movement is dialogue with Spains central government and unionist parties. Nothing we have done is a crime, because holding a referendum is never a crime, Mr Junqueras said about the independence referendum his government held before declaring independence. It is a pity that you did not come here to ask for forgivenessLorena Roldan We are convicted, we are in prison, but will continue to fight to build a better country and a society that is more just. And to do it with all the tools of our own state. Lorena Roldan, the leader of the pro-union Citizens party in the Catalan parliament, responded to Mr Junqueras by asking him to ask forgiveness for the secession attempt. You have used your appearance here only to preach to your supporters, to continue your movement, to cause more conflict, Ms Roldan said. It is a pity that you did not come here to ask for forgiveness. The return of the prisoners comes at a time when the separatist movement is struggling to maintain the unity of its three main political parties. The situation in Catalonia is Spains gravest political challenge in decades. Polls show residents in the wealthy region of 7.5 million are roughly evenly divided over the question of independence. Spains constitution states that the country is indivisible. HAGERSTOWN, Md., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The staff of Plastic Surgery Services is pleased to congratulate Dr. Henry F. Garazo on his recent induction into The Aesthetic Society! The Aesthetic Society is dedicated to the practice and science of aesthetic plastic surgery. As a board certified plastic surgeon in practice for 20+ years, Dr. Garazo is known regionally for providing patients with beautiful results and refining the art of aesthetic plastic surgery. He is honored to be included in this exclusive organization. Prior to acceptance into ASAPS, for which only board certified plastic surgeons are eligible, physicians must demonstrate their expertise in aesthetic procedures, including having numerous patient results reviewed by the organization to ensure they are delivering the highest quality outcomes. Over their careers, less than a quarter of board certified plastic surgeons are awarded membership in ASAPS, which is well-known as the premier American medical society focused on the practice of cosmetic plastic surgery. Dr. Garazo has also achieved a number of other distinctions. In 2019, he was named in Tri-State's Community Choice Awards, winning the title of Best Cosmetic Surgeon. He has been recognized as one of "America's Top Plastic Surgeons" for over 10 years. Dr. Garazo is also a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Winner of numerous awards, he remains approachable and down to earth, giving patients generous time in consultation to arrive at personalized treatment plans. Patients love receiving small-town attention from a doctor with nationally recognized skills who is well-versed in all the latest cosmetic medical technology. As a member of ASAPS, Dr. Garazo will continue to uphold his high standard of practice, offering both surgical and non-surgical aesthetic procedures for the face, skin, breast, and body. Members of the community interested in enhancing their appearance are invited to contact the practice to schedule a personal consultation with Dr. Garazo at Plastic Surgery Services, 1140 Conrad Ct., Hagerstown, MD 21740. About Dr. Henry F. Garazo: Plastic surgeon. Henry Garazo is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and has been selected as one of America's Top Plastic Surgeons by the Consumers' Research Council of America for over 10 years. He practices in his hometown of Hagerstown, Maryland, at Plastic Surgery Services, 1140 Conrad Ct., Hagerstown, Md., 21740-5905. Learn more at www.plasticsurgeryservices.net or read Dr. Garazo's reviews . Media Contact: Dr. Henry F. Garazo, (301) 791-1800 or www.plasticsurgeryservices.net SOURCE Dr. Henry Garazo Related Links http://www.plasticsurgeryservices.net LUCKNOW The state government has issued advisory to students and others on safe use of social media. They have been advised to use social media in a positive way in the larger interest of the society and country as a whole, reads a letter of the advisory issued by a senior government official. Netizens were advised to respect the sentiments of other people while posting anything on social media. They are required to see that whatever they post is not directed towards any particular community, citizen, organisation and government, said Alok Sinha, additional chief secretary, UP government. In the past, there have been incidents when teachers and students posted objectionable things on social media which landed them into trouble. A student of JNPG was sent to jail for provocative message after Pulwama attack. Netizens are advised not to spread fake news and keep away from propaganda. Social media users must not circulate such messages or posts that are not verified. For social media users it is not necessary to comment or react on anybodys post. They may write their comment confining it only to the post, the advisory reads. While posting anything on social media, ask yourself what is your role in the society and when necessary feel free to use disclaimer. Restrain yourself from giving your views or comments if the matter is sub-judice, the advisory adds. Also, the social media users must use polite language and there should not be any personal attack or vendetta against anyone. Users should be open to criticism for whatever they post on social media. All administrative rules should be adhered to. Netizens were also advised not to disclose personal details. People must not share their user id and password with anyone and should always use strong passwords. Users should always keep themselves protected from cyber attacks. Alok Sinha said, The advisory was issued as a guideline by the union government and here in Uttar Pradesh, it was circulated for everyone to know social media guidelines. Last year in June, the UP basic education department had issued an order warning basic shiksha adikharis (BSAs), block education officers (BEOs) and teachers of strict action if they were found guilty of posting anything objectionable/misleading or contrary to government policy on facebook, WhatsApp etc. The move assumed significance because after the Pulwama terror attack, a number of BSAs and teachers took to social media questioning the timing of the attack and a few allegedly praised Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. Muzaffarnagar basic shiksha adhikari Dinesh Yadav was suspended for objectionable comments on Pulwama terror attack. Not just teachers, a number of students in Uttar Pradesh too faced action, he said. The police arrested two students, from Lucknow and Mau, for allegedly making derogatory comments on social media against the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers killed in Pulwama. Also, an Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) student was booked and later suspended. Two other students in Uttarakhand were also suspended for their alleged remarks against the killed CRPF jawans. All the three students were from Kashmir. As might be expected, the continuing drive to get 5G auctions and rollouts under way is throwing up a number of controversies. The latest policy debates have taken place in Poland and the Czech Republic. Urzad Komunikacji Elektronicznej (UKE), Polands Office of Electronic Communications, has launched its second round of consultation for the planned award of 5G spectrum in the 3400MHz-3800MHz band. This award is due to take place later this year. However, requests from operators that the reserve price be lowered from about $116 million to approximately 55 percent of that sum (using reserve prices in a number of other countries as a guideline) have been ignored. The regulator has also retained the limit of one 80MHz block per bidder. This could cause problems if one of the countrys four main operators were to pull out from the bidding, potentially leaving a block unsold. To add to the operators' problems, they are also being asked to speed up deployment (meaning that by the end of 2025 700 base stations should be deployed instead of 500). The Czech Republic, however, has seen even greater controversy in the form, allegedly, of a resignation, when telecoms regulator Jaromir Novak announced (publishing the letter on Twitter, apparently) his departure, over 5G auction plans. The final straw appears to have been last-minute government changes to the Czech Telecommunication Offices sale of 5G-suitable frequencies. The sale of frequencies in the 700MHz and 3.5GHz bands via auction was originally slated for this month. However, the regulator has delayed the process with new roaming conditions. Novak took issue with the governments emphasis on national roaming, which would allow consumers to switch between providers in the 3.5GHz band. He argued that the frequency cannot be used across the whole country. The government (or, more precisely, industry minister Karel Havlicek) insisted that the rule change is needed to attract bidders and, in a rather surprising postscript, added that Novak had in fact been fired and had not resigned. With a lot riding on getting 5G auctions and rollouts right, these surely wont be the last controversies in these countries and many others. Facial Injectable Market Synopsis The global facial injectable market is presumed to expand at 28.1% CAGR during the forecast period (2016-2025). The market is likely to garner USD 9.04 billion by the end of 2021 owing to the growing geriatric population, asserts Market Research Future (MRFR). Also referred to as dermal fillers, facial injectable is products which help in facial rejuvenation or bio-engineering. With growing age, human facial skin loses subcutaneous fat naturally and the skin is lured closer to the facial working muscles. Thus, wrinkles and smile lines become visible. Cosmetic treatments, anti-aging, and face rejuvenation have changed the rules of reinvention and engagement. Get More Information on Facial Injectable Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2025 @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1527 Drivers Impacting the Market The increasing number of older people led by baby boomers generation with high income are the major drivers of the global facial injectable market. According to the World Health Organization, the proportion of worlds population will increase from 12 to 22 percent between 2015 and 2050 which will drive the market. The primal desire to remain young is another major driver of the market. With the rising influence of lifestyle, film and fashion industry have led to the growing demand for medications in order to slow down aging and its signs. Youth wellness and health is becoming a status symbol and youthful appearance is penetrating peoples lives. With the growing media such as lifestyle magazines and televisions and craze for youthful appearance, the market for facial injectable is propelling during the assessment period. Moreover, stem cell technology, gene therapy, and targeted delivery of nutrients using biotechnology are anticipated to open gates for anti-aging drugs. Development of biomarkers for physiochemical modification in the human body provides prospects for the market. On the flip side, skepticism and concern associated with safety regarding unrestricted use of anti-aging drugs without experimental validation are likely to retard the market growth during the forecast period. Adverse effects related to injectables like nausea, neck & back pain, allergic reactions, and rash are presumed to inhibit the market growth in the coming years. Global Facial Injectable Market: Segmental Analysis The global facial injectable market has been segmented on the basis of type, application, and region. By mode of type, the global facial injectable market has been segmented into collagen, botulinum toxin, hyaluronic acid, and polymers & particles. By mode of application, the global facial injectable market has been segmented into face-lift, facial line correction treatment, lip treatments, and others. Facial Injectable Market Regional Insights Geographically, the Facial Injectable Market span across regions namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest-of-the-World. Among all the regions, North America is presumed to dominate the global market for facial injectable and is anticipated to reach USD 3.42 billion by the end of the review period. The growth is attributed to the rising approvals of facial injectable products in emerging countries. Asia Pacific is considered to be the fastest growing market during the assessment period owing to the presence of major countries such as India and China. The market in this region is majorly influenced by the tourism and fashion industry. One of the hindering factors of this region is the high cost of treatment and poor per capita income. Europe is considered to hold a substantial market share due to the growing consumer disposable income coupled with the presence of advanced healthcare infrastructure. Moreover, the porn industry is also affecting the market to a great extent and it has been noticed that the rise of cosmetic surgery has a linear relationship with bandwidth of the internet. Industry News October 3, 2108: Allergan plc has recently announced the launch of a new JUVEDERM advertising campaign which has been created to empower the next generation of consumers to JUVEDERM IT. JUVEDERM IT was designed to further Allergans goal of making the JUVEDERM Collection of Fillers the first choice for consumers. Competitive Dashboard The major players operating the global market are Integra Lifesciences, Sanofi, Allergan, Merz Pharma, Sinclair, Galderma, Suneva Medical, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, and SciVision Biotech Inc. OBTAIN RESEARCH REPORT DETAILS WITH TOC @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/facial-injectable-market-1527 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Contact: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com MEDFORD, Ore. NewsWatch 12 was joined by Israel from Lil Orchid for a look at the restaurant's chicken stir fry salad recipe. Comedian Kunal Kamra was on Tuesday barred from flying with IndiGo for six months after the stand-up comic heckled TV presenter Arnab Goswami on board a Mumbai-Lucknow flight. The airline said the artists behaviour on flight 6E 5317 was unacceptable. Also read: After IndiGo, Air India bans comedian Kunal Kamra until further notice Soon after IndiGo banned him, aviation minister Hardeep Puri said offensive behaviour meant to provoke and create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable. He added it endangers the safety of other travellers. The minister also advised other airlines to impose a similar ban on the comedian. Offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers. We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned. https://t.co/UHKKZfdTVS Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 28, 2020 In light of the recent incident on board 6E 5317 from Mumbai to Lucknow, we wish to inform that we are suspending Mr. Kunal Kamra from flying with IndiGo for a period of six months, as his conduct on board was unacceptable behaviour, the airline said in a tweet. Hereby, we wish to advise our passengers to refrain from indulging in personal slander whilst onboard, as this can potentially compromise the safety of fellow passengers. 2/2@MoCA_GoI @HardeepSPuri IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) January 28, 2020 The low-cost budget airline also advised its passengers to keep in mind the safety of fellow travellers and not indulge in personal slander. Hereby, we wish to advise our passengers to refrain from indulging in personal slander whilst onboard, as this can potentially compromise the safety of fellow passengers, the airline said in another tweet. Reacting to the six-month ban, the comedian, while thanking the airline, termed its action as kind. Thank you Indigo a six month suspension is honestly very kind of you... Modiji might be suspending Air India forever. https://t.co/ari4erSE5F Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) January 28, 2020 Narrating the turn of events, Kamra said he politely asked Arnab Goswami to have a conversation and gave the TV anchor a monologue about what he thought about the latters journalism. At this point, Kamra alleged, that the anchor called him mentally unstable. Kamra again approached Goswami after the seatbelt signs went off. When the anchor refused to engage, Kamra said he did what Republic TV journalists do to people and he does not regret it. Upon being asked by the stewardess, Kamra says he went back to his seat and apologised to each crew member and the two pilots. Kamra maintained that he did nothing wrong or criminal. He also apologised to every passenger except one. A document produced by a counter-terror policing team listing Extinction Rebellion alongside extremist groups was sent to government departments, five police forces and 20 local councils. The guidance, which has since been recalled by the south-east division of Counter Terrorism Policing, was sent to bodies including the Home Office, the Department for Education,the Ministry of Defence, the Prison Service and NHS England. The official document, which placed the environmental movement alongside Islamic extremism and neo-Nazi terrorism, was also sent to the probation service, Ofsted, several local authorities, five police forces and Counter Terrorism Policing headquarters (CTPHQ) in London, The Guardian has revealed. Following the release of the document, members of the campaign group have demanded an explanation. A document listing Extinction Rebellion alongside extremist groups was sent to government departments including the Home Office, the Department for Education and Ministry of Defence. (Stock image of protesters in London) The guidance has since been recalled by the south-east division of Counter Terrorism Policing A statement on the group's website said: 'We need to find out who knew what and when. But more importantly, we need to know why. 'Why are they trying to silence a peaceful, non-violent movement of people who are trying to make sure the world's children have a future?' Extinction Rebellion member Rob Cooper, a former police chief superintendent, said: 'The worrying aspect about these revelations is that nobody inside the police or at the Home Office thought to question the guidance that included Extinction Rebellion alongside extremist groups, when it was first produced, or when it was subsequently circulated. 'It is worrying that it seems to have slipped through the scrutiny net without any critical analysis.' A spokesman for CTPHQ said the document had not been opened by the contact who received it from the south-east team and that Extinction Rebellion was included in the guidance due to 'an error of judgment' and the document had been recalled. The official document was also sent to the probation service, Ofsted, several local authorities, five police forces He said: 'CTPHQ was included in the wider email distribution list for this document. It was not sent for our review or approval, nor was it forwarded on by the individual that received it to others.' DCS Kath Barned, the head of CTPSE, previously told The Guardian: 'I would like to make it quite clear that we do not classify Extinction Rebellion as an extremist organisation. 'The inclusion of Extinction Rebellion in this document was an error of judgment and we will now be reviewing all of the contents as a result.' The document was sent to five police forces - Thames Valley, Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey and Kent - and at least 19 councils: Milton Keynes, Slough, Bracknell Forest, Reading, Wokingham, West Berkshire, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Southampton, Portsmouth, Isle Of Wight, Brighton and Hove, Medway, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Hampshire, East Sussex, West Sussex and Kent. Last week security minister Brandon Lewis told MPs that Extinction Rebellion was 'in no way considered an extremist group'. Speaking in the House of Commons, he said: 'We are clear that the right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our just society and an indispensable channel of political and social expression. 'The police have recalled the guidance and are reviewing it, and I want to reiterate that Extinction Rebellion is in no way considered an extremist group under the 2015 definition of extremism.' Union Minister of State for Department of Space and Atomic EnergyJitendraSingh on Tuesday said Indian space technology is going to be an "essential tool" in the making of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new India. Addressing the 'National Workshop on Space based Information Support for Decentralised Planning-update', here, Singh said "this is one of the most happening times for ISRO, and also possibly one of the most indulgent times for ISRO under Prime Minister Modi." "ISRO, the Department of Space, and space technology of India is going to be an essential tool in the making of Modis new India.. ...When we talk about USD five trillion economy as a jump towards becoming a world super power, the real ascent towards it- has already begun via Sriharikota, via ISRO." Stating that it has been a fascinating journey for Department of Space and ISRO, the Minister said its achievements are a tremendous tribute to the visionary intellect of the founding fathers of India's space programme. And to the great extent the credit also goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has made very conscious and consistent effort over the last five years to diversify the applications of the space programmes, Singh said. "Thanks to the conscious efforts of all the concerned, space technology has virtually reached every Indian household...India's spaceprogramme now virtually gets connected to every Indian in one way or the other," he added. The Minister on Tuesday inaugurated the 'National Workshop on Space based Information Support for Decentralised Planning (SISDP)-update.' ISRO on the behest of the erstwhile Planning Commission had launched 'SISDP' project to assist gram panchayats at grassroots level with basic planning inputs derived from satellite data for preparing developmental plans, its implementation and monitoring of activities. SISDP phase-I project was successfully concluded in 2016-17. Officials of the space agency said based on the experience of SISDP phase-I, 'SISDP-Update' has been initiated with enhanced objective of providing value added geospatial products and services to aid gram panchayat development, and planning process of Ministry of Panchayat Raj. For the first time the thematic database of 1:10,000 scale for the entire country is available with integrated high resolution satellite data for planning, it added. The Minister also launched Bhuvan Panchayat V3 portal on Tuesday, which is developed for data base visualisation, data analytics, generation of automatic reports, model based products and services for the benefit of gram panchayat members and other stake holders. Singh said this type of empowerment to the panchayats with the help of scientific tools will help them use the resources and provide optimal benefits in the days to come. Addressing the event, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said ISRO through its application-driven space programme contributes to national development, while keeping the socio-economic as well as citizen centric development in focus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global automotive aftermarket glass market size is anticipated to reach USD 3.91 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 3.8% over the forecast period. Rising demand for sidelites in the vehicles on account of increasing number of accidents is projected to fuel the growth. Key suggestions from the report: Tempered glass segment is anticipated to register a CAGR of 3.2% in terms of volume over the forecast period, owing to incorporation of the product in the sidelite and backlite due to its high strength and characteristic of breaking into small pieces rather than large pieces Sidelite emerged as the largest application segment with a volume share of 34.2% in 2018 Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) is anticipated to register the fastest CAGR of 4.1%, in terms of volume, over the forecast period, due to its increasing production across the globe, especially in Asia Pacific Asia Pacific was the largest regional segment, accounting for a revenue share of 53.3% in 2018, on account of increasing number of vehicles on roads with growing automotive aftermarket glass market for car rental services In July 2019 , Corning Incorporated launched its new automotive glass solutions facility in China . The facility will be able to deliver the AutoGrade gorilla glass parts for automotive interiors directly to the automakers across the world. Read 133 page research report with ToC on "Automotive Aftermarket Glass Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Laminated, Tempered), By Application (Sidelite, Backlite, Windscreen), By Vehicle Type, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 - 2025' at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/automotive-aftermarket-glass-market Tempered and laminated are the majorly used glass types in the automotive aftermarket. Tempered glass is used on account of its strength and low-cost and is largely utilized in sidelite and backlites. Sidelite held the largest market share in terms of volume, in 2018. The rising cases of road accidents are projected to drive the demand for automotive aftermarket glass in near future. Asia Pacific is anticipated to lead market growth on account of increasing number of vehicles and high frequency of road accidents, leading to increased demand for glass replacement. In July 2019, as per a survey conducted by the Thailand Health Promotion Foundation, in 2018; 20,169 deaths in the country were caused by road accidents. Out of all deaths, motorcycles accounted for 70% of the fatal crashes, cars for 14%, and remaining pedestrians. The top global automotive aftermarket glass market players, such as AGC, Inc.; Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd; Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co., Ltd.; and Saint-Gobain are characterized by integration across the value chain from supplying raw materials to functioning as retailers or service providers. Companies such as AGC, Inc. and Saint-Gobain are the key manufacturers and suppliers of automotive glass globally. Growing utilization of glass in the automotive industry is compelling the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket suppliers to increase their production capacities to sustain their market share. For instance, in 2019, Saint-Gobain opened three glass facilities across the globe, the third one being in India, with an investment of ?1,200 crores. Grand View Research has segmented the global automotive aftermarket glass market based on product, application, vehicle type, and region: Automotive Aftermarket Glass Product Outlook (Volume, Thousand Square Meters; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Tempered Laminated Others Automotive Aftermarket Glass Application Outlook (Volume, Thousand Square Meters; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Windscreen Backlite Sidelite Others Automotive Aftermarket Glass Vehicle Type Outlook (Volume, Thousand Square Meters; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Passenger Cars Light Commercial Vehicles Heavy Commercial Vehicles Automotive Aftermarket Glass Regional Outlook (Volume, Thousand Square Meters; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe France Germany U.K. Asia Pacific China Japan India Central & South America Brazil Middle East and Africa Find more research reports on Specialty Glass, Ceramic & Fiber Industry, by Grand View Research: Automotive Glass Market - The global automotive glass market size was valued at USD 14.75 billion in 2018 and is expected to register a CAGR of 5.7% over the forecast period. The global automotive glass market size was valued at in 2018 and is expected to register a CAGR of 5.7% over the forecast period. Scratch Resistant Glass Market - The global scratch resistant glass market size was valued at USD 3.46 billion in 2016 and is expected to witness rapid growth owing to rising demand in smartphone manufacturing. The global scratch resistant glass market size was valued at in 2016 and is expected to witness rapid growth owing to rising demand in smartphone manufacturing. Insulated Glass Market - The global insulated glass market size was valued at USD 1.99 billion in 2015 and is expected to witness substantial growth owing to the rising demand for energy efficient buildings, thereby reducing the carbon footprint. Gain access to Grand View Compass, our BI enabled intuitive market research database of 10,000+ reports About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: +1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a press conference following an emergency talks over the new SARS-like virus spreading in China and other nations in Geneva on January 22, 2020. The World Health Organization is sending a delegation of researchers and other health experts to China to help combat the coronavirus outbreak. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier Tuesday. The two were joined by top officials from the WHO and the Chinese government to discuss how best to contain a fast-spreading and deadly virus in Wuhan and other cities and provinces. "Stopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is WHO's highest priority," Tedros said in a statement. "We appreciate the seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak, especially the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated, including sharing data and genetic sequence of the virus." The WHO said its delegation will collaborate with Chinese counterparts "on increasing understanding of the outbreak to guide global response efforts." A spokesperson declined to further comment on the delegation, including who will be included in the group. The virus has now killed 106 people in China and infected roughly 4,700 across the world as of Tuesday, according to Chinese and U.S. health authorities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Americans Tuesday to avoid all nonessential travel to China, expanding its travel warning from the city of Wuhan to the entire country. At a press conference the same day, U.S. health officials announced that it would expand entry screenings for the virus from five airports to 20. The WHO said the source of the outbreak and the extent to which it has spread remains unknown. Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner and a CNBC contributor, said he's worried that coronavirus cases in China are actually much higher than the official numbers show. "I think we are dramatically underestimating" cases in China by "tens of thousands," Gottlieb told CNBC's "Squawk Box." According to the WHO, more data needs to be collected before the virus is declared a global health emergency. The organization declined at two emergency meetings last week to say it was a worldwide emergency. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Advocates for immigrant and worker rights filled the Roundhouse on Monday to push for more census funding and other legislative priorities. In a bilingual rally, elected officials and others said they hope to secure approval from the Legislature for $8 million in additional funding for census outreach to ensure immigrants are counted and for the state to hire extra investigators to address a backlog of cases involving minimum-wage violations. Other priorities include legislation aimed at preventing disclosure of New Mexicans personal information such as sexual orientation and immigration status unless legally required, such as through a court order. The boisterous rally attracted about 150 people. Representatives of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and other organizations participated. Part of the event was dedicated to highlighting the importance of immigrants to the state economy. Immigrants make up about 13% of the states workforce in oil and gas, agriculture, construction and other key industries, according to Somos Un Pueblo Unido. Among the legislative priorities mentioned Monday are: House Bill 148, to extend the states working families tax credit to immigrant taxpayers. House Bill 108 and Senate Bill 107, to prohibit state employees from disclosing private information. Senate Bill 4, to allocate an extra $8 million to census outreach. Also sought is funding in the state budget to hire new investigators to help resolve 1,900 open claims of wage theft. We need your help, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales said of the census count. Rio Arriba County Commissioner Leo Jaramillo said the census tabulation is a vital source of revenue for communities throughout New Mexico. Please join us in ensuring you are counted, Jaramillo said. Jaramillo is running for state Senate this year, challenging incumbent Richard Martinez in the Democratic primary. Rajinikanth injured while shooting for Bear Gryll's 'Man vs Wild' India oi-Deepika S Bengaluru, Jan 28: Actor Rajinikanth has suffered minor injuries during the shooting of an episode of 'Man vs Wild' with British adventurer Bear Grylls, at Bandipur forest in Karnataka. "Rajinikanth lost his balance, twisted his ankle and suffered minor bruises to his hand below the elbow," a forest official told PTI. "The actor is okay now," he added. "I have finished shooting for the 'Man vs Wild' episode. I have not received any wounds but some scratches due to little thorns. I am alright," the superstar told reporters at Chennai airport after the shoot, news agency ANI reported. The forest department has put a lot of conditions while permitting the shooting. According to officials, it includes filming at their own risk and they are not allowed to use explosives and inflammable materials. Rajinikanth is the second high profile figure to appear in Man Vs Wild after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rajinikanth is the second Indian personality to be featured on 'Man vs Wild' after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared on the Discovery Channel programme last year in August. The top actor, along with the wanderer, known for his daredevilry in traversing and surviving in some of the most treacherous terrains in the world, have begun filming in the Bandipur woods, noted for its tiger reserve and biodiversity. The Man vs Wild show has seen some of the top personalities of the world including our very own Prime Minister Narendra Modi who featured in the show in August last year. Earlier in 2019, Modi made an appearance with Bear Grylls in the show, which aired on August 12 and was showcased in over 180 countries across the world on Discovery network of channels. The widely popular show featured Grylls going on an adventure trip with the Prime Minister in the wilderness of Jim Corbett National Park. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed a Supreme Court decision Monday which allows the Trump administration to deny green cards to immigrants who have used food stamps, Medicaid and public housing - or who it thinks might do in the future. She spoke out after the justices voted 5-4 to allow a new rule on how the long-standing ban on giving green cards to people who are 'public charges' is interpreted to go ahead. It allows immigration officials to turn down anyone who has used SNAP food stamps, most forms of Medicaid, public housing or housing vouchers, or who appears likely to do in the future so by virtue of poor English skills or a lack of a high school education. Ocasio-Cortez, who campaigned on behalf of Bernie Sanders in Iowa this weekend, accused the Trump administration of implementing a 'wealth test for admission' to the U.S. and stamping on the American dream. 'This is shameful. America shouldnt have a wealth test for admission. Its a place where millions of people are descendants of immigrants who came w nothing & made a life. The American Dream isnt a private club with a cover charge - its the possibility of remaking your future.' The judgment is not the final word on the scheme but allows it to go ahead for now. HOW NEW RULES WORK The 'public charge' rules applies to roughly three-quarters of the 544,000 who apply annually for green cards, most of them for 'family reunification' or because of marriage. Immigrants who would be 'public charges' has long been a reason for refusing their application. For the last 20 years, only actual cash benefits - TANF and SSI - or institutionalization for long-term care at government expense disqualified applicants. Now they can be disqualified for using: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food stamps Public Housing Section 8 housing assistance Most forms of Medicaid Any state or local income assistance 12 uses in 36 months of any of the benefits above is enough to disqualify someone. Additionally immigration officers have to decide if someone might become a public charge, even if they haven't been in the past. To do that they can consider positive factors including: do they have household income, assets, resources and support from a sponsor that amounts to 250% of the federal poverty guidelines for their household size. So a single person needs $31,3225 in income or savings; if they are part of a couple, their incomes or savings have to reach $42,275 do they have private insurance not subsidized by Medicare? do they speak English? do they have a high school education or more? Advertisement The justices, on a 5-4 vote, granted the administration's request to lift a lower court's injunction that had blocked the so-called public charge policy while litigation over its legality continues. The rule has been criticized by immigrant rights advocates as a 'wealth test' that would disproportionately keep out non-white immigrants. The court's five conservative justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts and two justices appointed by Trump, carried the day. The court's four liberal justices said they would have denied the administration's request. The action was announced even as Roberts sat as the presiding officer in Trump's impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate. Lawsuits aiming to block the policy were filed against the administration by the states of New York, Connecticut and Vermont as well as by New York City and several nonprofit organizations. In imposing an injunction blocking it, Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge George Daniels on Oct. 11 called the rule 'repugnant to the American Dream' and a 'policy of exclusion in search of a justification.' The administration asked the high court to let the rule go into effect even before the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on Trump's appeal of the injunction. The 2nd Circuit is considering the matter on an expedited basis, with legal papers to be submitted by Feb. 14 and arguments expected soon afterward. The administration can now enforce the rule nationwide except in Illinois, where a lower court has blocked its implementation. Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), praised the high court. 'It is very clear the U.S. Supreme Court is fed up with these national injunctions by judges who are trying to impose their policy preferences instead of enforcing the law,' Cuccinelli told reporters. At issue is which immigrants will be granted legal permanent residency, known as a 'green card.' Under Trump's policy, immigration officers would consider factors such as age, educational level and English proficiency to decide whether an immigrant would likely become a 'public charge' who would receive government benefits such as the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor. The administration has said the new rule is necessary to better ensure that immigrants will be self-sufficient. Critics have said the rule would disproportionately bar low-income people from developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia from permanent residency. 'Limiting legal immigration based on an applicant's wealth is shameful and entirely un-American,' Democratic Senator Dick Durbin wrote on Twitter. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the implementation timeline. Trump has made his tough immigration stance a hallmark of his presidency and 2020 re-election campaign. U.S. immigration law has long required officials to exclude people likely to become a 'public charge' from permanent residency. U.S. guidelines in place for the past two decades had said immigrants likely to become primarily dependent on direct cash assistance or long-term institutionalization, in a nursing home for example, at public expense would be barred. The new rule expands the 'public charge' bar to anyone deemed likely to receive a much wider range of public benefits for more than an aggregate of 12 months over any 36-month period including healthcare, housing and food assistance. The justices' order came by a 5-4 vote and reversed a ruling from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that had kept in a place a nationwide hold on the policy following lawsuits that have been filed against it. The vast majority of people seeking permanent residency are not eligible for public benefits themselves. A 2019 Urban Institute survey found that the administration's rule was already deterring people from seeking benefits for U.S. citizen children for fear of harming their own future immigration status. Benefits for family members are not considered under the rule. Claudia Center, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the rule targets disabled people applying for green cards and 'enshrines the false stereotype that people with disabilities do not contribute to our society.' The high court could give Trump more victories on immigration policy. The conservative justices signaled support in November for Trump's bid to kill a program that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants - dubbed 'Dreamers' - who entered the United States illegally as children. A ruling is due by the end of June. The court in 2018 upheld Trump's 'travel ban' targeting people from several Muslim-majority countries. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee who voted to lift the injunction, issued an opinion criticizing lower courts' 'increasingly common' use of nationwide injunctions to halt government policies. Gorsuch urged the court to confront the issue. 'What in this gamesmanship and chaos can we be proud of?' Gorsuch asked. Two other federal appeals courts previously lifted nationwide injunctions ordered by lower courts blocking the rule. WASHINGTON -- A new approach that uses artificial intelligence to analyze retinal images could one day help doctors select the best treatment for patients with vision loss from diabetic macular edema. This diabetes complication is a major cause of vision loss among working-age adults. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents are widely used as the first line of therapy for diabetic macular edema, but they don't work for everyone. There's a need to identify who would benefit from the therapy because it requires multiple injections that are costly and burdensome for both patients and physicians. "We developed an algorithm that can be used to automatically analyze optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of the retina to predict whether a patient is likely to respond to anti-VEGF treatments," said research team leader Sina Farsiu from Duke University. "This research represents a step toward precision medicine, in which such predictions help clinicians better select first-line therapies for patients based on specific disease conditions." In The Optical Society (OSA) journal Biomedical Optics Express, Farsiu and colleagues show that the new algorithm can analyze just one pre-treatment volumetric scan to accurately predict whether a patient is likely to respond to anti-VEGF therapy. "Our approach could potentially be used in eye clinics to prevent unnecessary and costly trial-and-error treatments and thus alleviate a substantial treatment burden for patients," Farsiu said. "The algorithm could also be adapted to predict therapy response for many other eye diseases, including neovascular age-related macular degeneration." Predicting treatment response The algorithm developed by the researchers is based on a novel convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture, a type of artificial intelligence that can analyze images by assigning importance to various aspects or objects. They used the algorithm to examine images acquired with OCT, a noninvasive technology that produces high-resolution cross-sectional retinal images and is the standard of care for assessing and treating many eye conditions. "Unlike previously developed approaches, our algorithm requires OCT images from only a single pretreatment timepoint," said Reza Rasti, first author of the paper and a postdoctoral scholar in Farsiu's laboratory. "There's no need for time-series OCT images, patient records or other metadata to predict therapy response." The new algorithm preserves and highlights global structures in the OCT image while enhancing local features from diseased regions to efficiently use retinal thickness information. To help with treatment decision making, the researchers incorporated an additional step that looks for CNN-encoded features that are highly correlated with anti-VEGF response. Testing the algorithm The researchers tested their new algorithm with OCT images from 127 patients who had been treated for diabetic macular edema with three consecutive injections of anti-VEGF agents. They applied the algorithm to analyze OCT images taken before the anti-VEGF injections, then compared the algorithm's predictions to OCT images taken after anti-VEGF therapy to confirm whether the therapy improved the condition. Based on the results, the researchers calculated that the algorithm would have an 87 percent chance of correctly predicting who would respond to treatment. It exhibited an average precision and specificity of 85 percent and a sensitivity of 80 percent. Next, the researchers plan to confirm and extend the findings from this pilot study by performing a larger observational trial of patients who have not yet undergone treatment. ### Paper: R. Rasti, M. J. Allingham, P. S. Mettu, S. Kavusi, K. Govind, S. W. Cousins, S. Farsiu, "Deep learning-based single-shot prediction of differential effects of anti-VEGF treatment in patients with diabetic macular edema," Biomed. Opt. Express, volume 11, issue 2, pp. 1139-1152 (2020). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.379150 About Biomedical Optics Express Biomedical Optics Express is OSA's principal outlet for serving the biomedical optics community with rapid, open-access, peer-reviewed papers related to optics, photonics and optical imaging in biomedicine. The journal scope encompasses theoretical modeling and simulations, technology development, and biomedical studies and clinical applications. It is published monthly by The Optical Society and edited by Christoph Hitzenberger, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Biomedical Optics Express is online at OSA Publishing. About The Optical Society Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and business leaders who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit osa.org. Media Contact: mediarelations@osa.org Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) Many travel agencies are taking blows over the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, since a lot of Filipinos who are planning to travel to other Southeast Asian countries are canceling their trips. A number of Chinese tourists who are supposed to fly to Boracay from this month to May, have also canceled their flights. In a nutshell, the expectation of losses is very huge, the impact is very significant as far as travel and tourism is concerned, said Philippine Travel Agencies Association President Ritchie Tuano. National Association of Independent Travel Agencies President Robert Lim Joseph also said that people are worried and are expected to cancel travel. Anyway, the airlines are there because there are fears already. They do not know who they are beside with so they dont want to take the risk, he added. There have been no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the Philippines, but infections have been confirmed in neighboring countries namely Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. According to Bureau of Immigration data, 22 percent of the 7.5 million visitors to the Philippines between January and November last year were Chinese tourists. Despite these reports, the Department of Tourism released a statement saying that they are optimistic that Philippine tourism will be resilient. We will undertake strong initiatives with industry partners in pursuit of the goals set in the National Tourism Development Plan, said the Department of Tourism in a statement. "It feels a bit like I've got a responsibility to represent all the people of color who have done incredible work this year because I do believe we've had some brilliant films made, shows come out this year and brilliant direction and writers," Erivo told Variety at the SAG Awards. "I want hopefully for this to serve as an example as to why we need to start celebrating people of color as well -- really paying attention to how we vote for them and how we vote for the people who are nominated. We need to see some changes." A 28-year-old fruit vendor was crushed to death and four others injured when a speeding tempo ran over them in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place at around 11.30 pm on Monday, when a speeding tempo heading towards Valiv in Vasai, ran over several persons, an official said. While fruit vendor Nannu Singh died on the spot, four injured persons were rushed to a nearby hospital, where two of them are in a critical condition, he added. The police have arrested tempo driver Rajesh Singh for drunk driving and further probe is underway, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mike Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, and his wife, author and advocate Kitty Dukakis, are backing Sen. Ed Markey in his re-election bid. The couple announced the endorsement in a video on Tuesday, describing Markey as someone capable of building a grassroots movement and delivering for Massachusetts residents. This Green New Deal movement is not only so important to the future of the planet, but it has encouraged thousands ... of young people to get into this. And he is largely responsible for that. Im very proud of him for that, said Mike Dukakis. But he is also somebody who cares very deeply about this state and what it is and who its people are. Its down at the grassroots where change takes place and so we hope that folks that share our feelings about this election and about Ed in particular, will get deeply and actively involved. Were here to tell you it does make a difference. Kitty Dukakis said she has enormous respect for Markey and his ability. Markey faces a primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy, whos serving his fourth term as the representative from Massachusettss 4th District. Related Content: Dutta, who is currently the CEO, has been redesignated with immediate effect and his term in the new role would be valid till 23 January 2024, according to a release New Delhi: InterGlobe Aviation, parent of the country's largest airline IndiGo, on Monday announced redesignating Ronojoy Dutta as the company's whole-time director and CEO. Dutta, who is currently the CEO, has been redesignated with immediate effect and his term in the new role would be valid till 23 January 2024, according to a release. "The decision was taken unanimously by the board of directors of the company at its meeting held today (Monday)," it added. Dutta has been associated with the company as CEO since 24 January 2019. "During his year-long stint with the company, IndiGo has witnessed aggressive operational and business expansion. "Dutta's extensive experience in the aviation industry channelled IndiGo's efforts into a mission to boost economic growth and social cohesion in India, by providing air connectivity and affordable airfares across our country and to international destinations, thereby promoting trade, tourism and mobility," the release said. He had also served as an advisor to the restructuring of Air Canada, US Airways and Hawaiian Air. Besides, he had been the president of Air Sahara and the United Airlines. With a fleet of more than 250 planes, IndiGo operates over 1,500 flights daily. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Jan. 28 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: A meeting with a delegation of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) was held at the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan, Trend reports referring to the service. The CENTCOM program for the exchange of experience in combating various types of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear, was discussed at the meeting. In recent years, the White House has embarked on a rapprochement with Turkmenistan. Political consultations are held on a regular basis. Cooperation continues in such areas as the supply of agricultural machinery, the modernization of the technical fleet of civil aviation in Turkmenistan and the import of electric power equipment. The White House previously expressed its support for regional gas pipeline projects from Turkmenistan, such as TAPI and the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline through Azerbaijan and Turkey to Europe. The diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and the US were established on Feb. 19, 1992. States push for more election security assistance Florida politicians welcomed a recent policy change that requires the FBI to alert states if local election systems are hacked, but many think notification should be more widespread. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) said she first learned of Russian hackers breaching Florida voter registration systems while reading Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, nearly three years after the hacks are believed to have occurred. Murphy and other members of Congress from the state didn't learn which counties were breached until May 2019, when they were briefed by FBI officials. Even then, they were told they could not publicly name the affected counties, both because the lawmakers were not considered victims and doing so could jeopardize sources and methods. "Voters, elected officials, state, local and federal officials, the vendors" all need to alerted to breaches, Murphy said. "This siloed approach towards information just empowers the adversary and it weakens our defense efforts." Read more on FCW. California OKs online voting California Secretary of State Alex Padilla issued conditional approval of the Voting Solutions for All People (VSAP) 2.0 voting system, a publicly owned, open-source solution that uses computerized ballot marking devices for use in the March 3 presidential primary election. It is the first publicly owned and designed voting system certified for use in the nation, officials said. The system, developed by Los Angeles County, uses ballot marking devices that allow on-site voters to review their selections before printing their ballots. The devices do not connect to the internet, count votes or store data, according to the announcement. The certification of the first publicly owned voting system in the nation is a historic milestone for American democracy, Padilla said. VSAP is a big step forward in modernizing elections in Los Angeles County, which has been home to some of the oldest voting equipment in the state. Upgrading to a modern system will improve the long-term reliability and security of elections in the largest county in America. VSAP critics say the system could be hacked, and independent testers found several issues that make the system vulnerable to attack, including the ballot box being opened without detection, access to the USB port, according to a report in the Washington Post. Washington's King County opts for voting portal Voters in King County, Wash., will be able to vote for members of the King Conservation District board of supervisors online. The elections, conducted in partnership with King County Elections, Democracy Live, and Tusk Philanthropies aims to boost election participation by allowing voters to cast ballots by logging onto an online portal from a computer, tablet or smartphone to access their ballot. Voters may also vote by mail, drop off their ballots or vote in person through Election Day on Feb 11. The voting system verifies voters' identity with their name, birthdate and a signature, which will be compared to an on-file version. Elections officials will create an audit trail by printing out ballots electronically submitted ballots and counting the paper versions alongside the votes cast through traditional means. Meanwhile, Washington's Secretary of State Kim Wyman proposed an election security bill that requests $1.8 million in state funding for security in county election offices that would make the state eligible for another $8.6 million in matching federal funds. The bill also would provide impose restrictions surrounding the collection of ballots and provide more thorough postelection audits for race recounts, the Seattle Times reported. Iowa's caucus app In Iowa, caucus managers will be able to use a mobile app on their personal smartphones to calculate and transmit results of the Feb. caucuses from the state's 1,679 precincts. The app, which has plenty of critics, is intended to reduce calculation errors and speed the reporting of results over the previous systems in which results were phoned in. At an early-January press briefing, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said the app is "just one part of how the states vote is tracked, along with paper backups, a phone hotline and other, unspecified safeguards," NBC News reported. Ohio hires CISO for election security Ohio has hired a chief information security officer for the Ohio Secretary of State's office, as part of Senate Bill 52, which is designed to improve the state's election cybersecurity posture. Sean M. McAfee had been a cybersecurity officer with the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. POGO pushes encryption for election security A group of election security advocates sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr pushing for continued strong encryption of personal devices to protect national security, including election security. The letter from the Project on Government Oversight said that "any effort to diminish the effectiveness of encryption will inherently diminish the security and, potentially, the integrity, of our elections." The letter cited the 3 million eligible active duty military and civilian overseas voters who "depend on encryption to safeguard their ballots when they are transmitted electronically." Customers select "la rou", a cured pork delicacy, at a market ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing, China January 16, 2020. (Photo : REUTERS/Jason Lee) China issued a blanket ban at the wildlife exchange on Sunday, as the nation struggles to comprise a deadly virus deemed to have transmitted from animals to people. Officials linked exotic animals sold at a seafood market in Wuhan to the new virus that killed at least 80 people and infected thousands of others in China. The ban goes into effect straight away and could continue until the end of the "national epidemic." According to the orders backed by three government agencies, wildlife breeding centers will be quarantined. Regulations would strictly be enforced, too. The public had been warned not to eat wild meat products. In a statement, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and National Forestry and Grassland Administration said the consumers have to apprehend the health risks of ingesting wild animals fully. The agency added the public has been urged to eat healthy food. Wuhan Virus The flow follows a call from 19 leading scientists for the "elimination of the intake and exchange of wild animals," published at the Twitter-like platform Weibo on Friday. The organization said various emerging infectious diseases have been related to animals in current years, including intense acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), H7N9 chicken flu, and Middle East respiration syndrome (MERS-CoV). "Controlling or even putting off wild animal meals and its related change is not only necessary for ecological protection, but also of amazing importance in controlling risks to public health," the group said, adding that the hazard of ailment transmission grew with elevated contact among wild animals and people. Links between wild meat and the Wuhan coronavirus have been suspected during the early days of the outbreak when the various initial patients with pneumonia-like symptoms were found to have labored or lived close to the town's Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market. The said marketplace was also closed on January 1. The link between the virus and wild animals sold at a seafood market turned into showed on Wednesday with the aid of Gao Fu, director general of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak is almost similar with Sars in 2002-03, which was linked to civets sold at a wet marketplace in Guangdong province near Hong Kong. Studies indicate that the Wuhan and Sars viruses proportion a not unusual ancestor - a betacoronavirus found in bats. However, that virus could not be transmitted to humans without an intermediary. Researchers are still seeking to training session which animal is liable for the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. Last week, a study released with the aid of a collection of Chinese scientists cautioned that the virus may have made its first jump to a human from a snake, which, if correct, would be the first time a reptile become the host for this kind of pathogen. Liu Yidan, a volunteer for animal rights group Let Migratory Birds Fly, said implementing existing licensing rules associated with the wildlife has long proved a challenge while the natural world ban ambitions to minimize similar infections from animal hosts. Verifying and monitoring whether shops promoting exotic animals purportedly bred under license could be challenging, Liu said. "Last year, we reported a farm in Huangshan in Anhui province where we saw loads of civet cats. Most of their legs were broken by using traps, and they have been saved in cages," she narrated. The farm owner had a license to raise the species, which was related to the Sars outbreak, and insisted the operations have been legal. But the main challenge was what would take place if officials reinstated the natural world change after the outbreak changed into over, leaving the door open for some other sickness, she stated. Liu added the ban won't sole the problem for good if the prohibition is temporary. Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp prayed and cried Monday as they marked the 75th anniversary of its liberation. The Soviet army freed the prisoners there on January 27, 1945. At a special ceremony, the survivors reminded todays leaders of the lessons of the war against Hitler. They noted that everyday people did horrible things to the prisoners held in camps like Auschwitz. They also warned of the signs of rising anti-Semitism and hatred in the world today. Last living survivors We have with us the last living survivors, the last among those who saw the Holocaust with their own eyes, Polish President Andrzej Duda told those at the event. Most of the 1.1 million people murdered by the Nazi German forces at Auschwitz were Jewish. Non-Jewish Poles, Russians and Roma also were imprisoned and killed there. Around 200 survivors of the camp attended Mondays event. They had traveled from Israel, the United States, Australia, Peru, Russia and other countries. Many of them lost parents and grandparents in Auschwitz or other Nazi death camps. They returned to Poland with their own children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Never again Ronald Lauder, the head of the World Jewish Congress, led the ceremony along with Duda. Lauder said he never thought he would see the spread of anti-Jewish messages worldwide again. He called anti-Semitism a deadly virus that must be stopped. He ended his speech with a warning: Do not let this happen again, to any people! The day before Mondays ceremony, the survivors walked through the camp where they had suffered hunger and illness and came close to death. Many of them leaned on their children and grandchildren for support. The survivors said they had come to remember and share their stories with others. They also wanted to show that, in the end, the Nazis did not destroy them. No graves for her parents Ninety-two-year-old Yvonne Engelman was among the survivors who came to Poland for the anniversary. She traveled from her home in Australia. Family members from around the world joined her. She came in part in memory of her parents, who both died in the camp. I have no graves to go to and I know my parents were murdered here and burned. So this is how I pay homage to them, she said. Englelman described how the Nazis brought her from a ghetto in Czechoslovakia by cattle car. They then took her clothes, removed her hair and put her in a gas chamber. But for some reason, the gas chamber that day did not work. She went on to survive slave labor and a death march. Jeanette Spiegel is a 96-year-old survivor. She was 20 years old when the Nazis took her to Auschwitz. She was there for nine months. Today she lives in New York City. She fears the increasing anti-Semitic violence in the United States. She tried not to cry as she spoke. She said, Young people should understand that nothing is for sure, that some terrible things can happen and they have to be very careful. And that, God forbid, what happened to the Jewish people then should never be repeated. Also on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at the Shoah Memorial in Paris. The memorial serves as the countrys Holocaust museum. Macron warned about rising hate crimes in France, which increased 27 percent last year. That anti-Semitism is coming back is not the Jewish people's problem: It's all our problem, it's the nation's problem, Macron said. Im Jill Robbins. Vanessa Gera reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. What do you think of the warnings by the Auschwitz survivors? Are people where you live also fighting anti-Semitism? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story death camp n. a kind of concentration camp, a type of prison where large numbers of people who are not soldiers are kept during a war and are usually forced to live in very bad conditions, and in the case of a death camp, are brought to be killed anti-Semitism n. hatred of Jewish people lean v. to rest on or against something or someone for support grave n. a hole in the ground for burying a dead body homage n. respect or honor ghetto n. a part of a city in which members of a particular group or race live usually in poor conditions the Holocaust n. the killing of millions of Jews and other people by the Nazis during World War II CLEVELAND, Ohio A suspect in a shooting in early December was arrested Monday afternoon on the East Side by federal authorities. Deshawn Griffin, 23, was taken into custody on the 2400 block of East 35th Street in the Central neighborhood, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. An unidentified female also was arrested for obstruction of justice. A loaded firearm and a drum magazine also were recovered, authorities say Cleveland police say Griffin shot his ex-girlfriends brother in the face on Dec. 6 in the area of East 36th Street and Community College Avenue. Griffin was arrested only blocks away from where the shooting occurred. He is facing a charge of attempted murder. To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comments page. Read more crime stories: 70-year-old Cleveland veteran killed man who took him in off the streets, family says 70-year-old shoots man to death, takes his own life while holding child hostage in Cleveland apartment, police say Watch the full video of Cleveland Browns RB Kareem Hunts traffic stop in suburban Cleveland St. Edward High School teacher accused of trying to meet teen for sex pleads guilty to felony charge Man shot during attempted robbery near Cleveland bus stop, records say SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hagens Berman urges investors in Sasol Limited ADRs (NYSE: SSL) who have suffered significant losses to submit their losses now. The firm is actively investigating whether the Company and senior executives violated federal securities laws, and certain investors may have valuable claims. Relevant Holding Period: Before Jan. 13, 2020 Sign Up: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/SSL Contact An Attorney Now: [email protected] 844-916-0895 Sasol Limited (SSL) Investigation: The investigation centers on whether Sasol misled investors regarding the development of its $13 billion chemicals plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Previously, the Company touted the smooth development and execution of the Lake Charles project. But on May 22, 2019, Sasol shocked investors when it raised the project's cost estimate by $1 billion and disclosed an internal review into the project's costs and construction schedule. The Company admitted to weaknesses in the project's integrated controls, as well as significant additional concerns related to the project's forecasting process. Then, on Oct. 27, 2019, Sasol terminated its co-CEOs following an internal probe showing that the Lake Charles project management team acted inappropriately, lacked experience and was overly focused on maintaining cost and schedule estimates instead of providing accurate information. On a call with reporters, Sasol's Chairman stated, "There was a culture of fear that was prevailing" at the project fostered by previous management, which prevented people from coming forward. Finally, on Jan. 13, 2020, Sasol disclosed an explosion and fire at its Lake Charles project's low-density polyethylene unit, requiring the Company to shut down the unit. Each of these disclosures caused the price of Sasol ADRs to decline sharply. "We're focused on investors' losses and whether Sasol misled investors about the Lake Charles project's cost, timing and internal controls," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation. If you purchased Sasol ADRs and suffered significant losses, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman. Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Sasol should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email [email protected]. About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman is a national law firm with nine offices in eight cities around the country and eighty attorneys. The firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about the firm and its successes is located at hbsslaw.com. For the latest news visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @classactionlaw . Contact: Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895 SOURCE Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP Related Links https://www.hbsslaw.com Bipartisan bills to protect kids online, promote and secure new technologies like 5G and autonomous vehicles, and restrain tech giants' power are a real possibility in 2020 despite a presidential election and impeachment proceedings preoccupying Washington. The big picture: Sweeping legislation will still struggle to gain traction, but narrower measures on issues like privacy and antitrust could help lawmakers show they can work across a bitter political divide. What's next: Lawmakers are likely to unite around the following legislative priorities next year, Capitol Hill aides and industry sources tell Axios. Protecting kids' privacy: Comprehensive privacy legislation may still prove elusive despite strong bipartisan interest (more on that below). But there could be bipartisan lift for legislation to bolster digital privacy protections for minors. Efforts to update the decades-old Children's Online Privacy Protection Act are already underway in both the House and Senate. House Energy & Commerce Committee members Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Bobby (D-Ill.) teamed up on a bill to let parents force companies to delete personal information collected about their kids. It would also expand protections for kids ages 13 to 15. (COPPA covers children under 13.) Another E&C member, Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida, will soon introduce her own legislation to update the law, the panel's consumer protection subcommittee chair Jan Schakowsky confirmed to Axios in an interview that will air on C-SPAN's "The Communicators." In the Senate, Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced their own COPPA update last March that would ban targeted advertising to kids. Keeping kids safe online: Legislation that would increase pressure on platforms to take more action to police online child pornography and predation could gain bipartisan support. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham has written draft legislation that would establish a multi-agency commission to set guidelines for fighting child exploitation, as first reported by The Information. Tech companies would need to adhere to the guidelines in order to keep the protections of a key liability shield, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Context: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have hinted at broader changes to Section 230, which protects tech companies from lawsuits over user-generated content. But anything that goes beyond a narrow carve-out for a strictly apolitical issue like child exploitation is unlikely to draw serious support. Antitrust: Policymakers from both parties have talked about updating antitrust laws to address tech companies' data- and advertising-driven business models, which don't fit neatly under existing theories of competition that focus primarily on consumer prices. That sort of overhaul won't happen in a matter of months, but smaller changes are possible. Rep. David Cicilline, who chairs the antitrust panel under the House Judiciary Committee, has bipartisan legislation meant to give newspapers more power in negotiating with Facebook and Google. His Journalism Competition & Preservation Act got a boost earlier this month when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signed on as a cosponsor to the Senate version. Cicilline is also leading an investigation into the market power of major tech companies, which is expected to wrap up within the first half of the year. Cicilline says he expects the probe to produce recommendations on changes to antitrust law and regulation, which could set up bipartisan legislation down the road. Autonomous vehicles: The House passed self-driving car legislation in 2017 that didn't pick up steam in the Senate, but a bicameral, bipartisan effort led by the House Energy & Commerce and Senate Commerce committees is underway this year. Staffers are soliciting feedback on portions of a discussion draft that includes clarifying federal and state roles on regulation of autonomous vehicles, and directing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to start developing AV safety rules, according to a Hill aide. 5G security: The House has already passed a slew of bills related to advancing secure 5G networks, with some expected to be taken up by the Senate. The House in December passed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, which would require the FCC to establish a fund to reimburse telecom companies that have to rip out and replace equipment from providers deemed untrustworthy, such as China's Huawei. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) blocked an attempt in the Senate to pass the bill by unanimous consent, raising concerns about how the program would be funded. But the bipartisan effort has the support of Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker. This House this year passed the Secure 5G and Beyond Act, which would require the administration to create a national strategy to protect against threats to 5G. There is a companion bill in the Senate. Yes, but: Uncertainty still looms over lawmakers' very top tech policy priority: delivering sweeping online privacy legislation. Congress ended 2019 with dueling Republican and Democratic drafts in the Senate and a bipartisan staff draft in the House. The latter failed to resolve the two biggest partisan sticking points stalling privacy legislation: Republicans want to override existing state privacy laws, while Democrats want to give individuals the right to sue companies over privacy violations. Onlookers from industry are hopeful that pressure will build to break through those impasses and deliver a federal law as more states, like Washington, pursue their own laws and California begins enforcing its privacy law in July. Schakowsky told Axios she believes there may be room for compromise on both areas, with legislation that would, for instance, create "spaces in which states could actually act" instead of preempting them outright. The catch: "Advancing legislation" is a broad term. It's one thing for a popular bill to get voted favorably out of a committee. It's another for it to get floor time and clear both chambers of Congress. North American tribal people have dealt with the complex issue of cross-border migration since the mid-19th century, negotiating boundaries set by treaties between the United States and Mexico to the south and Canada to the north. The Yaquis of northern Sonora crossed into what became Arizona in search of freedom from persecution as well as economic opportunity. When Mexican policy and practice enslaved and deported the Yaquis from their home regions, many crossed into the United States as refugees. On the northern border Crees crossed from Canada into U.S. territories, particularly Montana. They established camps but retained their nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle, repeatedly crossing the border, which they referred to as the Medicine Line. After the 1885 North-West Rebellion, their desire to be in the United States took on new meaning, as they also sought refuge. In his Spur Awardwinning Native but Foreign: Indigenous Immigrants and Refugees in the North American Borderlands author Brenden W. Rensink delves deep into the stories of the Yaquis, Crees and Chippewas, who ventured to the United States to improve their lives, as well as those Indians who crossed borders to escape military pursuit in the United Statesnotably the followers of Geronimo and other Apaches in the south, and the Lakotas who followed Sitting Bull and the Nez Perces who went with White Bird to Canada. What motivated the Yaquis to enter the United States/Arizona? That depends on when. Yaquis come into what would become Arizona as far back as the 1700s. In the mid- to late-1800s many crossed north as a much-desired work force, applying their expertise in mining, railroad and irrigation construction. Finally, in the late-1800s and early 1900s a wave of Yaqui political refugees fled north to seek refuge from a state-sponsored campaign of extermination, enslavement and deportation to the Yucatan. Were the Yaquis fleeing persecution or seeking prosperity? Sonora had long been a landscape of violence and many Yaquis were simultaneously pushed by violence and pulled by economic opportunity across the line. In the latter stages, however, the push of violence motivated many who had weathered previous periods of violence to flee. American newspapers depicted Yaquis as savage, indomitable, and perpetually troublesome. This caused trouble for them in Arizona. Even with such negative coverage, however, many reports often expressed awe at their fierce independence How did Arizonans generally regard Yaqui refugees of the early 1900s? Mixed and complicated. They were prized as skilled laborers by many industries and highly sought after. At the same time, however, continual violence in Sonora between their compatriots and the Mexican state cast a continual shadow of suspicion over them. A third complicating factor is that they did gain sympathy when American media picked up on the extermination, deportation and enslavement occurring in Mexico. What is unclear is if this sympathy was more driven by altruistic desires to provide them sanctuary or by the opportunity for Americans to cast judgment on Mexico for malfeasance. The irony of America wagging its finger at Mexico for doing many of the things the nation had done itself mere years earlier was not lost on some observers. How did the attitude and perception of the Yaquis compare with the feelings and actions related to African Americans in the US? Americans regularly viewed Yaquis as just a different group of Mexicans. Many Mexicans had Indigenous heritage, but Americans failed to understand the unique nature of Yaqui independence and opposition to Mexico in Sonora. When grouped with Mexicans, they faced the same prejudice Americans expressed towards other Mexican and Latin American communities. The comparison to the treatment of African Americans is less direct. What effect did newspaper and other reports have on the Yaquis? It had a significant impact. During periods of warfare in Sonora (often involving Yaquis), American newspapers depicted them as savage, indomitable, and perpetually troublesome. This caused trouble for Yaquis in Arizona. Even with such negative coverage, however, many reports often expressed awe at their fierce independence. This again may have been motivated by an unspoken desire by some Americans to disparage Mexico, and praising their uncivilized Yaqui adversaries certainly demeaned them. Later, after the threat of deportation waned in the mid-1900s, Yaquis rose in prominence as newspapers reported on their Easter celebrations making them something of a cultural phenomenon and tourist attraction. Later generations built on this goodwill while organizing politically and seeking white allies in the state. In 1909 Harpers Weekly reported the tragedy of the Yaquis is perhaps without a parallel in American history. Was that an exaggeration? This is a perfect example of America deflecting guilt for its own mistreatment of native peoples by highlighting Mexicos mistreatment of Yaquis. There may have been some sincerity in this and other similar reports, but it could also serve a political purpose. In 1909 the United States was fresh off the Spanish-American War, newly active in global affairs and carefully trying to differentiate itself from European empiressomething many Americans were uncomfortable with being compared to. Highlighting the flaws of other nations served the purpose of elevating America above the fray. How did Cree border crossings compare with those of the Yaquis? Interestingly, Cree migrations compare closely with Yaqui examples. Crees had long histories in what would become the United States (even predating American settlement) and were welcomed as an economic force early on (fur trade) but later turned away. Both groups faced different receptions, depending on surrounding circumstances. Did the Yaquis or Crees make any treaties with the U.S. government? None. By the mid-1800s, when the United States was attempting to settle and populate Montana and Arizona with white Americans, the government was not accepting any more Indian wards than they already had. The origins of the Crees and Yaquis made for an easy outsimply label them as foreign, declare they did not belong and demand they leave. The government was not accepting any more Indian wards than they already had. The origins of the Crees and Yaquis made for an easy out simply label them as foreign, declare they did not belong and demand they leave How were Crees perceived amid the unique circumstances of the fur trade era? Lewis and Clark wrote about them positively and guessed they could be used by American fur trade networks. This changed when the fur trade collapsed and Montana was organized as a territory soon thereafter. Interested in attracting white settlement, investment, and industry, Montana Territory had no interest in uncontrolled, non-treaty, non-reservation confined Indians especially if they were viewed to rightfully be wards of Canada. As whites settled on lands Crees had frequented for decades, subsequent tension, violence, cattle thieving and other negative interactions further soured Montanan views of Crees. What role did Little Bear play in the Riel Uprising? In the years just prior Little Bear had been in Montana with various bands under the leadership of his father Big Bear, among others. By 1885 they had returned to Canada, signed a treaty and settled on a reserve. During the Riel Rebellion, or Northwest Rebellion, a massacre of whites took place at Frog Lake and Big Bears Crees were present. The best survey of sources attests that Big Bear desperately tried to avert violence, but some of his young braves did not listen. With the army in pursuit, Big Bear told his son Little Bear to take followers south to Montana. Across the line there shall be liberty for you, he told his son. Big Bear remained himself to distract the pursuing troops. After the uprising how did the Crees deal with their refugee status? When Little Bears bands crossed the border and presented themselves at Fort Assiniboine, the commanding officers were ready to force them back across the line. However, word was received from Washington, DC, that they were being granted political asylum and would be allowed to stay. However, with that protection, little else was provided. They were left to wander, struggle, and starve. What was John J. Pershings role in removal of the Crees from Montana? In 1896, eleven years after Little Bears Crees had been allowed to stay (while being subsequently ignored), the United States appropriated $5,000 to round them up and deport them. From Fort Assiniboine, Pershing commanded the 10th Cavalry regiment of African American Buffalo Soldiers in the deportation effort. Hundreds were deported, including many American-born Crees, Chippewas, Metis, and others. How did Montana newspapers cover the issue? Much of the Montana press was elated. After a decade of complaining and campaigning to have the federal government get rid of the Crees, they finally had. When the majority of the Crees immediately returned back to Montana, many were incensed. A prime exception was the Great Falls Tribune, which had long been sympathetic to the Cree plight. They cried foul at the deportation, citing Crees amnesty and right to remain in the United States. Can you compare how the Crees in Montana were treated with how Sitting Bull and his Lakota followers and White Bird and his Nez Perce followers were treated after they crossed the border and spent years in Canada? The key difference in these examples is that the United States had existing treaties with Lakota and Nez Perce peoples. They were viewed as domestic Indians, and the U.S. government actively tried to get Canada to deport them back. Viewing Crees as foreign, there was no desire to have them under U.S. jurisdiction. Why did it take so long for the Yaquis to receive reservation lands as compared with the Crees? Ironically, Yaquis longer saga for federal tribal recognition (1978) versus Crees (1916) has a lot to do with their relatively greater success integrating themselves into the labor markets that Arizona desperately needed to build itself. This relative economic success allowed them to form communities and some stability, although plagued by the uncertainty of potential deportation, not owning land, etc. Crees, on the other hand, did not have many desirable labor skills, so they wandered. Crees were forced to live in city garbage dumps, migrate continually in search of work or support, and this made them more conspicuous and easier targets of Montanan prejudice. In a cruel and ironic twist, their 1916 securing of recognition and reservation lands to settle came because many Montanans were tired of seeing their poverty at the door. In Arizona, Yaqui struggles and problems were less visible because they were not a wandering people. What other groups found themselves in the similar position of crossing either the northern or southern border as refugees into the U.S.? There were other Native peoples crossing the borders, including the Chippewas with whom Crees were granted a reservation as a newly minted joint tribe. However, others were not entering the United States as refugees, not even those associated Chippewas. Some Natives had sought asylum in Canada or Mexico by leaving the United States, but Yaquis and Crees are unique in crossing into the United States for that purpose. Do any groups today face scrutiny over border crossings? Yaquis, Crees, and Chippewas maintain relations with family and cultural communities in Canada and Mexico and are working hard to strengthen those ties. This has become more difficult post-9/11. Peoples like the Toronto OOdham or Akwesasne Mohawks are directly bisected by the border. This complicates the maintenance of family, culture, and religion with related communities who live just miles away, across the international border. In the Pacific Northwest, there is an increasing amount of cross-border collaboration with Salish-speaking peoples. Other groups, like the Blackfeet who have associated communities on Canadian reserves do likewise. Yaquis, Crees, and Chippewas maintain relations with family and cultural communities in Canada and Mexico and are working hard to strengthen those ties What research challenges did you face? One of the biggest challenges was finding archival sources. For other American Indian groups, records are organized neatly at the National Archives in RG 75not so for Crees or Yaquis. For the pre-recognition period I was researching they were not considered American Indians. So, it took a lot of digging and finding relevant records tucked away in unexpected placed. Many published works that did mention them, did so only in a footnote. It is shocking how much our archival systems, and by extension, existing research is defined by national narratives. When Crees and Yaquis crossed borders, they fell out of the Canadian and Mexican archives and national stories and were not successfully integrated into the United States archives and historiographies into which they should have entered. This made research a challenge, to say the least. What new subject are you researching/writing about? I am wrapping up a collection of essays on the 21st century modern West, to be published by the University of Nebraska Press (likely in 2021). I have also begun research on a cultural and environmental history of Western wilderness landscapes and the types of experiences peoples have come to them to have. My work helping run the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, managing and editing the Intermountain Histories digital public history project, and hosting and producing the Writing Westward Podcast keep me plenty busy! Anything else to share? You can link to the companion website, where I have posted additional sources and topics. WW Photo: The Canadian Press President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled his long-awaited Middle East plan, which was celebrated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vision for peace but is likely to continue to be opposed by Palestinians who say it favours Israel and falls short of their goal of creating a viable independent state. Trump's plan calls for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in east Jerusalem while recognizing Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank something the Palestinians are unlikely to accept. Trump called his plan a win-win for both Israel and the Palestinians, but it was created without input from Palestinian leaders and they already had rejected it before the president unveiled it at the White House with Netanyahu by his side. Trump acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a great deal for the Palestinians." He said his vision gives the Palestinians the time needed to rise up and meet the challenges of statehood. Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza City ahead of the announcement, burning pictures of Trump and Netanyahu and raising a banner reading Palestine is not for sale. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he planned to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the plan and invited officials of Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israel's destruction. The official Wafa news agency quoted Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as calling on Palestinian factions to set their differences aside and unite against the plan. The plan calls for a four-year freeze in new Israeli settlement construction, during which time details of a comprehensive agreement would be negotiated. However, it was not immediately clear if the freeze could be extended if a final deal is not concluded in the four years. Trump said he sent a letter to Abbas to tell him that the territory that the plan has set aside for a new Palestinian state will remain open and undeveloped for four years. "It's going to work," Trump said. "If they do this, it will work. Your response to this historic opportunity will show the world to what extent you are ready to lead the Palestinian people to statehood." "President Abbas, I want you to know, that if you chose the path to peace, America and many other countries ... we will be there to help you in so many different ways. And we will be there every step of the way," Trump said. The 50-page political outline goes further in concessions to the Palestinians than many analysts had believed was likely. However, it would require them to accept conditions they have been previously unwilling to consider, such as accepting West Bank settlements. It builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. Under the terms of the peace vision" that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, the future Palestinian state would consist of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of above-ground roads and tunnels. Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. Mr. President, because of this historic recognition and because I believe your peace plan strikes the right balance where other plans have failed, Netanyahu said. I've agreed to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of your peace plan. It's a great plan for Israel. It's a great plan for peace. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Tuesday prevented by students from attending the Calcutta University's annual convocation ceremony at Nazrul Mancha here, following which he left the premises. The agitators blocked the governor's way, waved black flags at him and raised 'go back' slogans. Some of them were seen holding 'No CAA' and 'No NRC' posters outside the venue. Dhankhar left the premises around 1.30 pm, without attending the event. Last month, the governor had faced similar protests at Jadavpur University, where he had gone to attend the convocation ceremony. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid tributes to freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai on his birth anniversary and stated that tales of his commitment towards nation will always inspire countrymen. Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister wrote, "Salute to the brave son of mother India, Punjab Kesari Lala Lajpat Rai on his birth anniversary. His saga of sacrificing his life for the independence of the country will always inspire the countrymen." Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also remembered Rai as an exceptional leader and mention while paying tribute to the leader. "I bow to great freedom fighter and a true nationalist, Lala Lajpat Rai on his jayanti. The nation pays heartfelt tributes to Lalaji, an exceptional leader and mentor, for his immense contribution to India's freedom struggle", Singh tweeted. Lala Lajpat Rai, popularly known as Punjab Kesari played a pivotal role in India's Independence movement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Looking for Latino exhibitions that you can visit for free? The start of 2020 may have been rocky and uphill for you and If you want to get lost in artworks outside of the chaos, here are some Latino art and culture exhibitions happening in the first half of the year that you can enjoy exploring alone, or with your friends and loved ones, without hurting your wallet. According to an article by Remezcla, aside from the woks that vary in mediums - from printmaking to photography, as well as artist backgrounds, these Latino exhibitions may also vary in themes - from Afro-Latino history to Central American identity to a visual memoir. Here are seven Latino exhibitions you can visit this 2020 for free: This exhibition which began last November and will run until February 29, 2020 at KJCC Auditorium NY features the works of Afro-Latino artists include Joiri Minaya, Patricia Encarnacion, Elia Alba at a time when Afro-Latino culture is often overlooked in conversations about Latino identity and in pop culture in general. Afro Syncretic aims to overcome the racial barriers and create a space to reflect on the "vibrancy of diasporic blackness within Latinx culture." The exhibition explores on themes like beauty standards, colonial history and housing displacement. Connected Diaspora began in November 2019 and will run through the end of February at Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, Durham. It includes works by Xiomara Garay, Veronica Melendez, Juan Madrid and 13 other artists in a range of media that consider the positionality of Central Americans in a social media-obsessed era. Artworks highlight "an artistically connected diaspora that has leveraged social media to create transnational Central American art." Running from February 6 to April 17, 2020 at Oxy Arts, Los Angeles, this exhibition features the hand-drawn portraits of Shizu which depicts snapshots of moments from late-night trysts and intimate gatherings around Los Angeles. The exhibition also includes related programming such as a one-woman show by Leather Papi and a poetry reading by Yosimar Reyes. Opening on January 31, this exhibition that will run until May 15, 2020 at SCA Flex Space at NYU features works touching on the topic of the Mexico-U.S. border. Through "queering the archaeological," Vick Quezada continues to highlight Indigenous-Latinx hybridity through her multimedia work which includes performances that "embody ancient Nahuan rites" and natural elements that reference Indigenous beliefs about the earth. This exhibition at Dallas Museum of Art that runs from February 15 to September 20, 2020 focuses on early 20th century Mexican art, particularly analyzing how depictions of women changed throughout those years. Ramos Martinez's painting Flores Mexicanas, from which the show Is named from, will be shown for the first time. It also includes works by Frida Kahlo, Maria Izquierdo, David Alfaro Siqueiros and more. This exhibition could also serve as a jumping point for seeing the history that female artists are conversing with when taking agency to depict the female body. This exhibition running from March 14 to August 2, 2020 at The Cleveland Museum of Art will be featuring around 50 works by artists from across Latin America including Rufino Tamayo, Liliana Porter, Gego, Roberto Matta and more who will explore social and political themes. This is the first time the Cleveland Museum of Art is highlighting works in these mediums from its collection, particularly those "produced in Latin America over the past century." The Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College features the works of Gabriela Gonzalez Dellosso through April 12, 2020. Dellosso digs into forgotten women in history while inserting herself into that narrative with her self-portraits. Said exhibition also features her paintings of female masters like Remedios Varo, Angelica Kauffman and Genevieve Estelle Jones which pay homage to these women and serve vehicle for viewers to think more about women in history that are often overlooked by mainstream narratives. All eyes are on the West Coast as the state of California reins in the unfettered collection, use and sale of the personal data consumers share as part of the bargain for free online services. For years this bargain has been explained in privacy policies that few people read, because there is not a lot of negotiating in the personal data market. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) gives consumers revolutionary rights to access, delete, transfer, and prevent the sale of their data. As revolutionary as the CCPA is, there are even more significant privacy and data security law developments brewing on the other side of the continent. In Washington, D.C., for the first time in history, Congress is giving serious consideration to legislation providing comprehensive privacy and data security (PDS). A confluence of unlikely events makes it more likely than ever that Congress actually will pass PDS legislation introduced at the end of November as the Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act (COPRA). Bits and Pieces Neither CCPA nor COPRA is the first PDS statute by a long shot. Nearly a dozen federal statutes include PDS elements. Each is narrowly focused none are broadly applicable to privacy and data security concerns. Among the patchwork quilt of PDS statutes: CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) COPPA (Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act) FACTA (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act) FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act RFPA (Right to Financial Privacy Act) TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) There are also some relevant rules: DNC (Do-Not-Call) Graham-Leach-Bliley Privacy Rule and Safeguards Rule Red Flags Rule TSR (Telemarketing Sales Rule) The granddaddy statute of them all, Section 5 of the FTC Act, provides the foundation for many of these laws and a majority of the enforcement activity. The FTC for years has led enforcement efforts against bad actors and provided industry with guidelines. The FTCs 2012 report on protecting consumers set forth best practices for businesses. Among its recommendations: privacy by design (consumer privacy should be considered at every stage of product development); do-not-track mechanisms; and greater transparency. It also recommended in 2012 that Congress consider enacting general privacy legislation, legislation regulating data brokers, and data security and breach notification legislation. Existing PDS laws are not just split among a witches brew of federal statutes. They also are split among the 50 states laws. All 50 state legislatures have passed data security breach laws, and they continue to amend them. A collage of state laws was relatively manageable in the brick-and-mortar world. Now it is a compliance nightmare. There are so many PDS laws that there is a need for a solution that might have been imagined by Tolkien: one statute to rule them all. Surprisingly, Congress appears to have stepped up to provide it in the form of COPRA. Why now? One, Silicon Valley is an easy political target. The immense wealth of Facebook and Google suggests that consumers have not received a fair bargain in the trade of free online services for personal data. Two, the FTC brought actions against each of those companies for data privacy violations and settled for amounts that congressional Democrats have ridiculed as entirely too low to incentivize better behavior. Three, the Cambridge Analytica scandal revealed how profiling can be used for nefarious purposes. Four, the European Unions GDPR has provided a model for how to give consumers control over their own personal information. European PDS law might be ignored, but California stepping alone into the breach is an embarrassment to Congress and carries the threat of businesses having to contend with 50 comprehensive (and conflicting) PDS statutes coming from the states. Regulate Us, Please As is usual at this point in an area of rapidly evolving state enforcement, businesses that typically have opposed federal legislation now want federal legislation to save them from state efforts. Last spring, four major online advertising trade organizations (4As, ANA, IAB and NAI) formed a coalition with top legal experts to work with Congress to support comprehensive consumer data privacy and security legislation. The coalition, Privacy America, recommends creating a new Data Protection Bureau within the FTC. For years the online advertising industry tried to fend off federal regulation by self-regulating, and providing consumers with mechanisms to opt out of online targeting. Efforts for a universal Do-Not-Track (DNT) option failed. The major browsers added a DNT setting, but websites have no legal obligation to honor DNT settings. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Consumers generally understand that online content is free so long as websites are supported by advertising, but with ads also appearing on e-commerce sites, where theyve become an additional revenue stream, this stretches the traditional ad-assisted model. Consumers may or may not understand that the prices paid to websites for ad inventory are a function of the narrowness of the sites audience. Advertising technology now makes it possible for each ad impression (each ad space you see) to be submitted to real-time bidding by agents for advertisers. Adtech also makes it possible for consumers to block trackers and even block ads altogether. Each consumer who uses an adblocker becomes a free rider, putting more pressure on the website to generate more revenue from the unblocked ad impressions, and to purchase anti-adblocking technology, which diverts more money away from content development. Other technology offers anonymous browsing and the ability to change IP addresses. Software developers will continue to develop more privacy-enhancing tools, and the most sophisticated consumers will make use of these self-help measures to protect their privacy. But what about everyone else? There are two current legislative proposals before the Senate Commerce Committee, but COPRA has somehow stolen the limelight. Known as the Democrats bill as a nod to its sponsors in the Senate, COPRA is an attempt to create a comprehensive DPS regime applying to all business sectors in the U.S. The proposed statute for the first time would establish that American consumers have rights to their data. These rights would, under COPRA, include the right to access their data, to move their data, to restrict data sharing and sales, and to be able to grant (or withhold) rights to process that data. COPRA contains many proposals, and it is, alas, merely the legislative equivalent of a discussion draft doomed to be marked up by Congress. Following are the things we believe probably will survive the legislative process, in this bill or another: The acknowledgment of some set of consumers rights to control some of their data; A definition of covered data expanding consumers rights beyond merely the information they provide businesses; A right by consumers to access, review and correct data; Consumers right to control sale of some of their data; Disclosure by companies of where at least some of their data on the consumer originated; and Imposition upon companies holding data of duties to consumers, including posting privacy policies, creating training, and reporting to the responsible federal agency about their practices. There are other proposed provisions that seem less likely to pass, if history is any guide. A statute that passes both houses is unlikely to include comprehensive rights for consumers to control all their data without regard to origin; a comprehensive opt in PDS regime; the right to move data at will; and a private right of action for damages. One provision that has made a public splash in the news but it pay to be skeptical about it is the proposal for a new bureau at the FTC to handle privacy and data security matters. Its true that the FTC has been the most consistent regulator of PDS for nearly three decades. Its also true that given the history, the FTC is the logical place to house a regulator of PDS. However, that same recent history counsels skepticism. After all, the FTC was the ideal place for the new regulator of consumer financial practices, but thats not where CFPB ended up. Then theres another reason to be skeptical: the bizarre sight of FTC commissioners testifying in Congress and begging lawmakers to not agreements. You may be unpleasantly surprised about the terms of your agreements. Review your data breach insurance. Review your contractual obligations in the event of a data breach. Watch out for open-ended indemnities. Determine what your legal responsibilities actually are now. If you do business in the EU, get compliant with GDPR. (There are American lawyers who are experts in GDPR.) If you do business in or are located in California, get compliant with CCPA. Check your state laws: They have a more immediate impact on your business than GDPR, CCPA or the anticipated federal legislation. Update compliance with existing PDS laws and regulations. As of now, the patchwork of federal statutes and rules mentioned above are the law. Its entirely possible that compliance with existing law will grandfather you into whatever comes down the road from Washington. At the very least, updating or polishing your compliance program will give you a good foundation to leap up to the next big thing, whatever it is. If you have to make a big investment in DPS now, before things become clear lets say youre starting a compliance program from scratch the best bet is to comply with the requirements of the current federal DPS laws and your local state laws. Where no federal or state standard clearly applies, you might want to use the CCPA as a suggestion to inform your choices. (For example, no current federal law explicitly requires a company to publish a privacy policy on its website or to place a privacy policy link on its website. However, CCPA does. Its not hard to predict that CCPAs requirements for both will appear in whatever federal legislation finally passes.) In any case, no matter what your situation, find an experienced compliance lawyer to guide you. Many e-commerce businesses shy away from any discussion of a compliance program, because the burden seems so extreme. A D V E R T I S E M E N T The truth is, no one needs to start from scratch to build a comprehensive compliance structure. A compliance lawyer can help you prioritize by identifying what compliance policies you need right now, what you can save for later, and what you dont need at all. MOOREFIELD, W.V., Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Summit Financial Group, Inc. (Company or Summit) (SMMF) today announced that H. Charles Maddy, III, President and Chief Executive Officer, Robert S. Tissue, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Phillip Quintana, Northern Virginia Regional President are scheduled to participate in the Janney West Coast Bank CEO Forum in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 and Thursday, January 30, 2020. Mr. Maddy, Mr. Tissue and Mr. Quintana will not be making a formal presentation, and therefore, no webcast will be available. However, they will be meeting individually with various institutional investors and analysts, and their presentation materials are available on the Companys website at www.summitfgi.com. About Summit Summit Financial Group, Inc. is a $2.4 billion financial holding company headquartered in Moorefield, West Virginia. Summit provides community banking services primarily in the Eastern Panhandle, Southern and North Central regions of West Virginia and the Northern, Shenandoah Valley and Southwestern regions of Virginia, through its bank subsidiary, Summit Community Bank, Inc., which operates thirty-six banking locations. Contact: Robert S. Tissue, Sr. Vice President & CFO Telephone: (304) 530-0552 Email: rtissue@summitfgi.com URBANA, Ill. - In the battle against herbicide-resistant weeds, farmers are increasingly eager to add non-chemical control methods to their management toolbox. Impact mills, which destroy weed seeds picked up by a combine, have been shown to kill 70-99% of weed seeds in soybeans, wheat, and other small-statured cropping systems. And a recent Weed Science study from the University of Illinois shows even seeds that appear unscathed after impact milling don't germinate the following spring. "Harvest weed seed control is really becoming an accepted part of integrated weed management," says Adam Davis, study co-author and head of the Department of Crop Sciences at U of I. "Producers are excited about it." In the current study, Davis and his collaborators wanted to see how the Harrington Seed Destructor (HSD), an impact mill developed and widely used in Australia, handled common U.S. agronomic weeds without the complications of real field conditions. The researchers collected seeds from 10 common weed species in soybean fields in the U.S. Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. They fed the seeds through a stationary HSD, and then tried germinating them in a greenhouse and in the field following a typical Illinois winter. Davis says 0 to 15% of the seeds appeared to be undamaged immediately after milling, regardless of species and seed size. But when the undamaged seeds were buried in the field and left through the winter, fewer than 10% survived. "Basically, almost zero survived overall." Based on his previous research, Davis thinks microscopic abrasions from the impact mill damage the seed coat enough for microbes to enter and destroy the embryonic weed inside. Can producers expect nearly zero weed seed survival when using the HSD or other impact mills in the field? Probably not. Davis and his collaborators have been conducting U.S. field trials with the HSD for five years, and typically see a reduction in weed seed rain by 70 to 80%. "The difference between its efficacy as a stationary device and its efficacy in the field is largely due to shattering of the weeds," Davis explains. "As the combine is going through, it's shaking everything and causing a lot of seed dispersal. By looking at the HSD as a stationary device, we're able to quantify the theoretical max." Whether impact mills kill 70 or 99% of weed seeds, non-chemical control strategies are important in slowing the evolution of herbicide resistance. However, over-reliance on any one strategy could select for additional problematic traits in weeds. "If producers start using this device on a large scale, they will ultimately select for earlier shattering. It's already been shown in Australia," Davis says. "That's just the nature of weed and pest management in general. Really what you're doing is managing evolution. In order for any tactic to be successful, you've got to change it up. You need to confuse them; add diversity in the time of year and life stages you're targeting. We're just proposing this as a new tactic that's effective - not the only tactic." ### The article, "Fate of weed seeds after impact mill processing in Midwestern and mid-Atlantic United States," is published in Weed Science [DOI: 10.1017/wsc.2019.66]. Co-authors include Lovreet Shergill, Kreshnik Bejleri, Adam Davis, and Steven Mirsky. The research was supported by USDA-ARS. The Department of Crop Sciences is in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. Businesswoman and former Zimbabwes Honorary Consular for Investment and Trade in the United Arab Emirates Shamiso Fred yesterday heaved a sigh of relief after she was removed from remand. Fred (46) was facing allegations of swindling a foreign currency dealer of $1,4 million. Harare magistrate Mrs Rumbidzai Mugwagwa removed Fred from remand saying the State had failed to give a trial date to the accused person and therefore should proceed by way of summons. Fred who had close relations with fired Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira through her lawyer Mr Rungano Mahuni had applied for refusal of further remand arguing that the state was failing to furnish her with trial date. Mr Mahuni had previously wrote to the area public prosecutor requesting a trial date for his client. We still insist that we should be furnished with a trial date on September 23 2019. We also believe that the allegations against our client have no basis both in fact and at law and we urge your office to pursue the docket and make an informed decision regarding the decision to prosecute our client, reads part of the letter. He further stated that his client was a businesswoman of note whose business involves travelling in and outside the country arguing that she had been affected by the withholding of her passport by the clerk of court as part of her bail conditions. Fred is director for Centreshot Investments, which operates from Alexandra Park in Harare, a company that at some stage tried to bring the Formula One Grand Prix to Victoria Falls, working with the Ministry of Tourism. The deal, however, failed after the Nigerian sponsors accused Fred of defrauding them. The complainant is Aissa Ussen who operates Zimexpress, a duly-registered bureau de change operating from Borrowdale. It is the States case that sometime in February this year, Fred approached Ussen intending to change her US$10 000 into South African rands. It is alleged that whilst they were chatting, Fred told Ussen that she was appointed by the Government as the Zimbabwe consular for investment and trade in the United Arab Emirates and that she was facilitating many deals for the Zimbabwean Government, including an unnamed project in Victoria Falls. The court heard that after realising that Ussen was convinced by her assertions, Fred allegedly inquired if Ussen had local funds and cash in exchange for her free funds in the UAE to which she confirmed. It is the States case that Fred claimed that she had obligations to meet locally and requested Ussen to transfer the funds to the provided accounts in turn she would pay her using her free funds in the UAE. Acting upon the misrepresentation, Ussen provided her bank details to Fred to transfer the funds into. It is alleged that Fred misrepresented that she had deposited $1 400 000 into Ussens bank account in batches of $750 000 and $650 000 before producing fake proof of payment. It is alleged that after some days, Ussen checked with her bank account only to discover she had been duped. Efforts by Ussen to recover her money failed resulting in the institution of criminal proceedings. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that the Indian Embassy in Beijing is in close contact with the Chinese government in order to facilitate the evacuation process of the Indians, mostly students, from Wuhan by sending a plane due to coronavirus outbreak. "Our Embassy is in contact with the Chinese government. We are trying to evacuate people, most of whom are students, from Wuhan city by sending a plane. Efforts are on. I can assure you that the Government of India is working on it and very soon some solution will be found," Jaishankar said. Prior to the minister, his ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar reiterated the same noting that the evacuation process has begun for the Indians who reside in Wuhan--the epicentre of the deadly virus outbreak. The death toll from the deadly coronavirus rose to 80 in China with 2,744 confirmed cases of the disease reported from the country on Monday. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year. India's Civil Aviation Ministry has also opened health camps at seven Indian airports across the country to screen passengers arriving from China as well as Hong Kong. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) HOUSTON and CHICAGO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VillageMD, a leading national provider of primary care, will open Village Medical, a full-service, state-of-the-art primary care clinic, today at 102 N. Friendswood Drive in Friendswood, Texas. Part of VillageMD, Village Medical puts primary care providers at the core of the patient experience. "As a Houston-based family practice physician for more than 30 years, I'm thrilled that local residents will have access to value-based primary care, thanks to the opening of the Friendswood clinic," said Clive Fields, M.D., co-founder and chief medical officer of VillageMD. "We believe healthcare should be delivered in the communities where our patients live and work, in a personal, accessible, convenient and coordinated way. We've made that vision a reality through Village Medical facilities and staff." Village Medical offers a comprehensive suite of services including preventative care, treatment for illness and injury, and management of chronic conditions such as diabetes, chronic heart failure, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and kidney disease. The Friendswood clinic hours are Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Patients can make an appointment online here, and also learn more about the experienced providers in the Friendswood area. Village Medical patients will have access to same-day appointments and virtual health visits with a Village Medical provider. Additionally, Village Medical patients can take advantage of Village Medical at Home, which provides an in-home primary care visit with an experienced primary care provider. Village Medical patients also benefit from VillageMD's patent-pending docOS operating platform, which integrates data and technology to give physicians a 360-degree view of their patients' health profiles and can help identify gaps in care. To learn more, make an appointment or view all Village Medical locations, please visit www.villagemedical.com. About VillageMD VillageMD is a leading provider of healthcare for organizations moving toward a primary care-led, high-value clinical model. The VillageMD solution provides the tools, technology, operations and staffing support needed for physicians to achieve the highest-quality clinical results across a population. VillageMD works with physician groups, independent practice associations and health systems to improve quality, deliver a first-rate patient experience and lower costs in the communities they serve. VillageMD will continue to grow its Village Medical brand and scale its Village Medical at Home offering. VillageMD has grown to include more than 2,500 physicians across nine markets, and is responsible for approximately 500,000 lives and $3 billion in total medical spend in value-based contracts. To learn more, please visit www.villageMD.com. SOURCE VillageMD Related Links http://www.villageMD.com According to reports on Monday, an Air India Boeing 747 jumbo jet has been kept on standby for the evacuation of Indians. New Delhi: India on Tuesday began the process of the evacuation of its nationals stranded in Wuhan city and other parts of Hubei province of China following the outbreak of the dreaded coronavirus there. New Delhi said it was working out logistics with the Chinese government. We have begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of Corona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China. Our @EOIBeijing (Embassy of India in Beijing) is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese govt authorities and our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates, MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted. According to reports on Monday, an Air India Boeing 747 jumbo jet has been kept on standby for the evacuation of Indians. A significant number of Indian students study at the central Chinese industrial city of Wuhan, epicentre of the outbreak, which is an educational hub that has prestigious technical and medical education institutes. Sharjeel Imam Sharjeel Imam, who has been slapped with sedition cases across several states for his alleged inflammatory speeches, was arrested in Bihar's Jehanabad on January 28. Earlier in the day, one of Imam's brothers was picked up by the police in an attempt to trace the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) activist. The police had raided Imam's ancestral home on January 26 night after "help was sought by central agencies". Said to be in his early 30s, Imam has a degree from IIT Mumbai and later moved to Delhi for pursuing research at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)'s Centre for Historical Studies. He had been involved in organising the protests at Shaheen Bagh but came into limelight after a video clip went viral wherein he could be heard allegedly making some disturbing comments while addressing a gathering at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Following this, he was booked under sedition in the Uttar Pradesh town. The Delhi Police claimed that he had given an "inflammatory" speech earlier on the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) campus and lodged an FIR against him in the national capital. Besides this, another case was lodged against him under the stringent anti-terror law in Assam, taking cognisance of Imam's remark that Assam could be "severed from India, even if for a few months" as a result of the CAA. ERIE, Mich., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ort Tool and Die Corporation saw significant sales growth in 2019 which matched its best year of sales in 2007. "It was a great year with a 39% increase in sales," said Angelo Milano, Vice President. "Although we were aided by a strong economy, this would not have been possible without our employees who work hard day in and day out." He further added, "We landed some large projects last year which demonstrates the expertise that we provide to our customers." Along with capabilities in computer numeric control (CNC) machining and welding, Ort also offers mechanical and electrical assembly. Because of its substantial capabilities, Ort has had a history of building complete machine lines as well as custom production machines from blueprints. A number of the projects awarded to Ort in 2019 were related to the paper, chemical, and solar industries. The company has been very successful working in the transportation and oil and gas industries. "Combining these large projects with an uptick in demand for various other machining projects resulted in Ort hiring 17 new employees in 2019 growing our workforce by 15%. These new hires will enable us to meet our 2020 expectations," commented Milano He further added, "We reviewed a considerable number of resumes and interviews. In the end, it was great to add more wonderful employees to the Ort family. Hopefully we will continue to hire more as we expect another good year in 2020." About Ort Tool Ort Tool is a machine and fabrication shop located in Erie, MI with over 100,000 square feet of shop facilities. It builds all of their machine parts and assemblies to blue print. Capabilities include CNC machining, grinding, EDM, welding, assembly, and design. Contact Information Angelo Milano, VP of Operations and Sales Direct: 734-848-1102 Email: [email protected] www.orttool.com SOURCE Ort Tool Related Links http://www.orttool.com RICHMOND, Va. - One Republican delegate warns that Virginia is splitting in two. Another would support returning liberal Arlington and Alexandria to the District of Columbia. Lawmakers in West Virginia have offered to annex rural Frederick County, outside Winchester, to liberate it from its rapidly urbanizing home. The change that Democrats promised in last fall's election campaigns is hitting Richmond with full force, casting new light on political and cultural divisions that have simmered for years. As leaders work quickly to advance gun control, women's rights and LGBTQ protections, many Republicans charge that they're trampling on the interests of a new minority: rural conservatives who long held sway in the Capitol. "We don't need one part of Virginia pitted against another just because of a political agenda," House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, a Republican from Shenandoah, said last week. Last week's massive gun-rights rally was the rawest reaction yet to the demographic shifts turning Virginia from red to blue. While the state's electorate has been tilting toward Democrats for more than a decade, this year's General Assembly session finally shows what consolidated power looks like, with blue majorities in the legislature joining forces with Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam. The abrupt change is playing out in ways large and small. Democrats grabbed national attention for approving the Equal Rights Amendment, but also quietly changed the pronouns in official House rules from "he/him" to "she/her." The weekly "Speaker's Bible study" has become an "interfaith devotional" that kicked off with a rabbi. The word "Militia" is gone from the name of the House Public Safety Committee. Democrats say the changes are meant to be more inclusive. "We're telling people, 'Yes, you belong here, you have someone you can relate to here,' " said Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, the first openly transgender person to serve in Virginia's legislature. Women and minorities have vaulted into historic positions of power. Beyond the first female Speaker and House majority leader, African Americans chair seven of the 14 standing House committees, including the powerful Appropriations Committee that controls state purse strings. Regionally, the shift is equally striking. In both the House and Senate, Democrats from northern Virginia's D.C. suburbs control the majority of committee chairmanships; under Republicans, the powerful jobs were distributed to lawmakers from all over the state, with a tilt toward rural areas. The upshot is that white men from red parts of Virginia hold less power this year than any time since Reconstruction. In a sense, the change addresses old imbalances - and not just racial ones. Northern Virginia has never had positions of influence equal to its proportion of the state's population and wealth, particularly in the House of Delegates. And Republicans over the past quarter-century have used their majorities to pass measures that Democrats found extreme, such as requiring ultrasounds before abortions or undoing any hint of restrictions on guns. Northam's predecessor, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, vetoed more bills than any governor in state history as what he called a "brick wall" against the political excesses of a Republican-controlled legislature. The Senate, which has flipped control more often than the House, has made the transition fairly smoothly - though Republicans complained that no members from the mountainous Southwest are part of the powerful Finance Committee. In the House, which was under GOP control for 24 years, the shift has been painful. Former House Speaker Kirk Cox of Colonial Heights opted not to take over as minority leader and sits quietly during floor sessions, grimacing and whispering with colleagues. Del. Robert D. Orrock, R-Caroline, the GOP's master of parliamentary rules, routinely bounces to his feet to challenge Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, on what he says are procedural errors. Gilbert, the minority leader, lectured the new leadership in an extraordinary speech on Jan. 17. "I realize this is a jubilant time for Democrats," Gilbert said, while warning of "growing concern about how we are functioning as an institution." The pace of taking up bills was too slow, he said, pointing out that the session would be 14 days old before the first measures were likely to pass out of the House. Committees have canceled meetings, he noted, and legislative aides complained of low morale. The session "seems slow, it seems awkward and it doesn't seem like it is getting any better," he said. Filler-Corn responded with a frosty promise that work would be done on time. Del. Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, the House majority leader, noted that Gilbert had "hit my chair and caused a fuss" when the chamber was debating the ERA. And Del. Luke E. Torian, D-Prince William, the first African American to chair the Appropriations Committee, angrily instructed Gilbert not to "single us out as though we are lazy." Privately, many Democrats said they bristled at the optics of Gilbert, a white man, seeming to question the competence of female and black leaders. But some Republicans say Democrats are abusing their new power. "When you feel like one side dictates all the terms, I do think it exacerbates . . . differences in ways that are unhealthy," said Del. Nicholas Freitas, R-Culpeper. "I really think it's going to just build in the weeks ahead as we see pretty dramatic policy shifts in areas that relate to business, taxation . . . abortion [and] other things," said Del. David A. LaRock, R-Loudoun. Earlier this month, with one eye on history and the other on the gun-rights movement sweeping across Virginia, Republicans in the West Virginia legislature advanced a resolution inviting neighboring Frederick County to cross the border and join the mountain state. Such an offer had technically been on the table since the Civil War, when West Virginia broke away from Richmond rather than secede. "West Virginia has a very strong tradition of being jealous and guarding individual liberties, including those that are protected by the Second Amendment," West Virginia state Sen. Charles S. Trump IV, who sponsored the resolution, said in an interview. While no one in Richmond seems keen on the idea, the proposal got LaRock thinking about how Alexandria and Arlington were originally included in the District of Columbia, until changing laws on slavery caused them to leave in the 1840s. Maybe, he told a local newspaper, they should go back. There are "dramatically different values" in Arlington and Alexandria than other parts of Virginia, LaRock said in an interview with The Washington Post. While the idea initially was just to illustrate "general dissatisfaction" with changes in Richmond, LaRock said he's half-serious about it. "If I saw a proposal that was widely accepted by many, many others and was the most peaceful way to reconcile some of the situations now that are kind of beginning to build, I would entertain that possibility," he said. But the problem for Republicans is that the values LaRock sees in Arlington and Alexandria have spread throughout the state. In last fall's elections, it was suburban districts in places like Prince William County, Chesterfield County outside Richmond and parts of Hampton Roads that gave Democrats their majorities in the legislature. "This is them realizing and being disappointed that they didn't get more votes than they did," Del. Jerrauld C. "Jay" Jones, D-Norfolk, said. "We are executing the will of the people of Virginia who came out to the ballot box." Northam, who has become the focus of rage from pro-gun activists for his promise of gun control, said through a spokeswoman that his agenda is more in step with the values of people across the state. "Virginians have long supported things like universal background checks, ending the attacks on women's rights, and ensuring workers can support themselves and their families," the governor said in a written statement. "The difference is now, our legislature is finally listening." It's ironic that Northam - who hails from the Eastern Shore and used to vote for Republicans - has become the bane of conservatives. When he ran for governor in 2017, some Democrats worried his rural roots and country accent would alienate suburban voters. The day after the Richmond gun rally, Northam appeared in Franklin County in far southwest Virginia - a place that has declared itself a Second Amendment sanctuary - to tout a business that was expanding. The next day, he announced a series of grants to expand rural broadband. But his agenda for the coming weeks of the session is unabashedly blue. Even before Democrats have finished approving gun control bills, they will move on to measures that expand voter access and ban discrimination against LGBTQ people. Democrats in the legislature also hope to raise the minimum wage, decriminalize marijuana, eliminate cash bail and more. Roem, who in only her second term is now the first openly transgender person to chair a subcommittee, said Republicans need to get over it. "Keep in mind that those of us from northern Virginia had to very much live with a state that was run in large part by people from places outside of northern Virginia for a long time," she said. Now that the state's most populous and wealthy region is in charge, she said, the message isn't separation; it's inclusion. "We're just reflective of where we are as a commonwealth," Roem said. "That doesn't change the fact that we have different parties, different regions, different values. . . . Everyone just needs to learn how to coexist." Moves to force online giants such as Google and Facebook to trade on fairer terms with news publishers have been backed by the Government. Ministers published their response yesterday to the Cairncross Review aimed at ensuring the future of journalism. As part of a range of measures, the Government has committed to create codes of conduct that will rebalance and redefine relationships between news providers and the online platforms. The government has committed to creating a code that will 'rebalance and redefine' the relationships between news providers and the online platforms. (stock) The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said yesterday the moves would help ensure journalists in the UK are fairly treated and rewarded for their content. Online news providers often struggle to survive because Google and Facebook take so much of every pound spent on internet advertising. The Government yesterday said it was committed to reviewing how online advertising is regulated. The Cairncross Review was commissioned amid concerns about local newspaper closures, falling circulations and revenues and the loss of journalist jobs. But the Government ruled out the creation of an Institute for Public Interest News. It said it did not want to play a role in defining public interest as it might risk interfering with Press freedom. Yesterdays response also praised the Daily Mails Stephen Lawrence Scholarship, launched in 2015 to improve diversity in journalism. Contributed photo LAKEVILLE Crescendo presents Thanksgivings for Life and Love, Feb. 1-2, a program that illustrates a parallel between spiritual issues set to music by Spanish Renaissance masters, and social justice and human rights matters expressed musically in a merging of folklore themes, popular songs and classical contemporary works by famous 20th century Latin American composers, according to a statement. Works by some of Spains most remarkable Renaissance composers such as Tomas Luis de Victoria, Francisco Guerrero and Antonio Lobo are featured. In contrast, choral and instrumental arrangements based on Latin American folk melodies by Carlos Guastavino (Argentina), Violeta Parra and Victor Jara (Chile) will be performed. Sweeping cyberattacks targeting governments and other organizations in Europe and the Middle East are believed to be the work of hackers acting in the interests of the Turkish government, three senior Western security officials said. The hackers have attacked at least 30 organizations, including government ministries, embassies and security services as well as companies and other groups, according to a Reuters review of public internet records. Victims have included Cypriot and Greek government email services and the Iraqi governments national security advisor, the records show. The attacks involve intercepting internet traffic to victim websites, potentially enabling hackers to obtain illicit access to the networks of government bodies and other organizations. According to two British officials and one U.S. official, the activity bears the hallmarks of a state-backed cyber espionage operation conducted to advance Turkish interests. The officials said that conclusion was based on three elements: the identities and locations of the victims, which included governments of countries that are geopolitically significant to Turkey; similarities to previous attacks that they say used infrastructure registered from Turkey; and information contained in confidential intelligence assessments that they declined to detail. The officials said it wasnt clear which specific individuals or organizations were responsible but that they believed the waves of attacks were linked because they all used the same servers or other infrastructure. Turkeys Interior Ministry declined to comment. A senior Turkish official did not respond directly to questions about the campaign but said Turkey was itself frequently a victim of cyberattacks. The Cypriot government said in a statement that the relevant agencies were immediately aware of the attacks and moved to contain them. We will not comment on specifics for reasons of national security, it added. Officials in Athens said they had no evidence the Greek government email system was compromised. The Iraqi government did not respond to requests for comment. The Cypriot, Greek and Iraqi attacks identified by Reuters all occurred in late 2018 or early 2019, according to the public internet records. The broader series of attacks is ongoing, according to the officials as well as private cybersecurity investigators. A spokeswoman for the UKs National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of the GCHQ signals intelligence agency, declined to comment on who was behind the attacks. In the United States, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on who was behind the attacks and the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not respond to a request for comment. Hijacked The attacks highlight a weakness in a core pillar of online infrastructure that can leave victims exposed to attacks that happen outside their own networks, making them difficult to detect and defend against, cybersecurity specialists said. The hackers used a technique known as DNS hijacking, according to the Western officials and private cybersecurity experts. This involves tampering with the effective address book of the internet, called the Domain Name System (DNS), which enables computers to match website addresses with the correct server. By reconfiguring parts of this system, hackers were able to redirect visitors to imposter websites, such as a fake email service, and capture passwords and other text entered there. Reuters reviewed public DNS records, which showed when website traffic was redirected to servers identified by private cybersecurity firms as being controlled by the hackers. All of the victims identified by Reuters had traffic to their websites hijacked often traffic visiting login portals for email services, cloud storage servers and online networks according to the records and cybersecurity experts who have studied the attacks. The attacks have been occurring since at least early 2018, the records show. While small-scale DNS attacks are relatively common, the scale of these attacks has alarmed Western intelligence agencies, said the three officials and two other U.S. intelligence officials. The officials said they believed the attacks were unrelated to a campaign using a similar attack method uncovered in late 2018. As part of these attacks, hackers successfully breached some organizations that control top-level domains, which are the suffixes that appear at the end of web addresses immediately after the dot symbol, said James Shank, a researcher at U.S. cybersecurity firm Team Cymru, which notified some of the victims. Victims Victims also included Albanian state intelligence, according to the public internet records. Albanian state intelligence had hundreds of usernames and passwords compromised as a result of the attacks, according to one of the private cybersecurity investigators, who was familiar with the intercepted web traffic. The Albanian State Information Service said the attacks were on non-classified infrastructure, which does not store or process any any information classified as state secret of any level. Civilian organizations in Turkey have also been attacked, the records show, including a Turkish chapter of the Freemasons, which conservative Turkish media has said is linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen accused by Ankara of masterminding a failed coup attempt in 2016. The Great Liberal Lodge of Turkey said there were no records of cyberattacks against the hijacked domains identified by Reuters and that there had been no data exfiltration. Thanks to precautions, attacks against the sites are not possible, a spokesman said, adding that the cleric has no affiliation with the organization. The cleric has publicly denied masterminding the attempted coup, saying its not possible, and has said he is always against coups. A spokesman for Gulen said Gulen was not involved in the coup attempt and has repeatedly condemned it and its perpetrators. Gulen has never been associated with the Freemason organization, the spokesman added. (Additional reporting by Michele Kambas and Renee Maltezou in Athens, Ece Toksabay in Ankara, Can Sezer in Istanbul, John Davison in Baghdad and Benet Koleka in Tirana. ) A ceremony was held yesterday marking the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Bahrain-based Silah Gulf company. Deputy Premier, Chairman of the High Committee for Information Technology and Telecommunications, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa patronised the ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel. Employees and public and private departments which contributed to the success of Silah Gulf were honoured during the ceremony which was attended by ministers and invitees. The Deputy Premier hailed the company which was launched ten years among other successful initiatives under the flagship of the 2030 Bahrain Economic Vision, in line with the directives of his Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier. Hailed as one of the strategic goals of the e-government strategic programme, Silah Gulf contributed to honing the skills of 2,500 citizens and enabling them to engage in the labour market with the required quality and efficiency. The firm is also seeking to provide rewarding job opportunities for 750 employees, of whom are Bahrainis - 83 per cent of whom are Bahraini nationals. The Deputy Premier expressed delight at patronising the event, reiterating the Governments keenness on supporting the company to continue achieving its pre-set objectives. The Deputy Premier honoured STC Bahrain and the Information and Electronic Government Authority (iGA) in recognition of their decade-long viable partnership with Silah Gulf since its inception. HH Shaikh Mohammed also honoured eight public authorities under the banner of the of the Government Communication Centre The Ministry of Finance and National Economy, the Ministry of Housing the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Development Bahrain Airport Company, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the Tender Board. He also recognised other Government authorities which supported Silah Gulf The Economic Development Board, the Labour Fund (Tamkeen). STC Kuwait, National Bank of Bahrain were also honoured, along with Silah Gulf employees who completed ten years of service and outstanding staff. Addressing the ceremony, iGA Chief Executive Officer, Silah Gulf Chairman Mohammed Ali Al Qaed expressed thanks to Deputy Premier HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa for patronising the ceremony, which marked ten years of landmark achievements. He reiterated the companys keenness on supporting sustainable development, diversifying sources of revenues to achieve fiscal balance, improving good governance, enhancing the standards of quality, productivity and innovation, promoting a favourable entrepreneurship environment to attract competences and investments, which would boot the sustainable development momentum and achieve the Government Action Plan (2019-2022). KALAMAZOO, MI -- A stretch of King Highway is closed Monday evening as police investigate a crash involving at least three vehicles. The crash happened sometime before 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, and resulted in the closure of King Highway between Upjohn and Hatfield avenues. Traffic is being diverted there. Michigan State Police, the MSP crash reconstruction unit, Kalamazoo police and the Kalamazoo Forensics Crime Lab are at the scene. Further information was not immediately available. The big problem with His Royal Highness Prince Andrew is that hes just too honourable. We know this because he told us about the big problem himself during his train-wreck interview with the BBCs Emily Maitlis last November. Asked why he had spent four days partying at convicted billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epsteins home in New York, Andrew sighed and replied: Thats the bit thatas it were, I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the Royal Family and we try to uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that. Questions: Prince Andrew said he would cooperate with any investigation into his one-time friend Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of young girls - but the FBI have said publicly that this is not the case Well yes, holidaying at the residence of a paedophile who pleaded guilty to procuring a 14-year-old child for prostitution most definitely qualifies as letting the side down. Not least the side of the poor girl left damaged and tormented by Epsteins disgusting abuse (he paid her $300 to strip and massage him as he lay naked). If Id done what Andrew did, Id probably kick myself a lot more than once a day. But it was when he was pressed for WHY he'd done it that the Prince revealed his big character flaw. At the end of the day, he explained, with the benefit of all hindsight that one can have, it was definitely the wrong thing to but at the time I felt it was the honourable and right thing to do. I admit my judgement was probably coloured by my tendency to be too honourable but thats just the way it is. Of course! The only honourable thing to do if your friend is convicted of paying for a child to give him sexual pleasure is to go and hang out with him for four days of partying, along with numerous young women of unknown ages! Thats exactly what you do when youre just too infused with 'honour'! I thought this was a load of offensive disingenuous bullsh*t when I first heard Andrew spout it in that BBC interview. And today Im convinced of it. Uncomfortable: Prince Andrew claimed in his car-crash BBC interview that he was acting 'honourably' by visiting pedophile Jeffrey Epstein (above in December 2010) at his Manhattan home for three days to end their friendship Because now we know the same honourable Prince Andrew has offered zero co-operation to FBI agents trying to establish the full scale of Jeffrey Epsteins horrifying, monstrous abuse of many young girls, many of them under-age. Since he killed himself in jail, dozens of Epsteins alleged victims have come forward to tell appalling stories of what they say he did to them, and how he trafficked them to his rich, influential friends. One of those victims is Virginia Roberts, who says Epstein and his alleged long-time fixer Ghislaine Maxwell made her have sex with Andrew in London when she was just 17. Andrew has denied even meeting her, despite Roberts producing a photo of them together at Maxwells house from the night she says it happened, let alone having sex. Presumably, hed like us to believe hes just too honourable to do such a thing. Just as hes too honourable to have ever been party to any inappropriate behaviour while a regular guest of Epsteins at the tycoons many luxury homes. These are places where the FBI believe there was, for several decades, a constant stream of underage girl visitors to perform sexual acts on Epstein and his friends. Yet nothing apparently ever happened on Andrews paedo pal watch! Hmmm. Denial: Prince Andrew says he has no recollection of this picture of him with Virginia Roberts (with pal Ghislaine Maxwell) being taken when she was 17-years-old It all sounded very suspicious back in November. But now it sounds a lot more sinister. The fact Andrew has refused to be interviewed under oath about it all by US criminal investigators suggests he might be lying. Why else would he not wish to answer questions that might help Epsteins myriad victims get justice? Andrews silence is damning; very, VERY damning. He promised in the BBC interview that he would help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations into Epstein. Yet when they took him at his word, and asked for his help, he hasnt responded, though the Palace say the Duke's legal team are dealing with the matter. The obvious uncomfortable conclusion to be drawn is that Andrew is hiding something. Damning: By refusing to co-operate in person, Andrew has now raised a gigantic red flag over himself, and the heat on him will only intensify. For the New York states attorney Geoffrey Berman (above on Monday) to go public with his dismay at Andrews zero co-operation is a stunning development. But what? That remains the burning question. Andrew probably hoped he was over the worst of this scandal when his mother the Queen fired him from official royal duty after that calamitous interview. He might have presumed that the ignominy of such public humiliation was as was as bad as it could get. But if he did, then he was labouring under a massive misapprehension. Because this isnt just an embarrassing episode for the Royal Family of minor consequence for the Monarchy, like Meghan and Harry quitting Britain. Andrew is embroiled in an ongoing and very serious criminal investigation involving the systematic sexual abuse of dozens, and maybe hundreds of poor young girls. And the FBI will leave no stone unturned as they pursue justice and the truth, wherever their investigation leads them. By refusing to co-operate in person, Andrew has now raised a gigantic red flag over himself, and the heat on him will only intensify. For the New York states attorney Geoffrey Berman to go public with his dismay at Andrews zero co-operation is a stunning development. Jeffrey Epstein couldnt have done what he did without the assistance of others, Berman said, and I can assure you the investigation is moving forward. Andrew, when he was asked if would give a statement under oath to US investigators, told the BBC that if push came to shove and the legal advice was to do so, then I would be duty bound to do so. Lawyers for Epsteins alleged victims are now calling his bluff. Lisa Bloom, who represents five of the women and said she was outraged by Andrews behaviour, told BBC News: Push has come to shove. Prince Andrew is himself accused of sexual misconduct and he also spent a great deal of time with Jeffrey Epstein. So, its time to stop playing games and to do the right thing and answer questions. Yes, it is. But it seems Andrew lacks even the tiniest scintilla of honour to do the right thing. In fact, hes been about as far from honourable as its possible to be. Push has come to shove: Lisa Bloom who represents five of the women who accuse Epstein of sexually assaulting them says Prince Andrew needs to stop playing games and speak to the FBI Its absolutely outrageous that a senior member of the Royal Family is avoiding US justice in this way, lurking behind the belief that he is almost certainly protected from any prosecution by some form of state immunity. Though theres an uncomfortable irony in the U.S. authorities expressing anger at a British citizen refusing to cooperate with them, given the U.S. has refused to cooperate with UK authorities over the shocking case of Harry Dunn. Anne Sacoolas, a US spys wife, was charged with causing the death of 18-year-old Harry outside an American airbase in the UK in a traffic accident but used diplomatic immunity to flee the country and has refused to return. Its utterly appalling, but its a matter for Americas conscience and sense of fair play to see justice is done - and I hope President Trump does the right thing for the sake of Harrys poor grieving family. As Lisa Bloom added: If we want cooperation, we must cooperate in their (Britains) investigations too. Prince Andrews shameful cowardly conduct, however, is a matter for Britains conscience and sense of fair play. And the longer he refuses to cooperate with the FBI, the more guilty he looks. If he wont do the right thing, then the Queen must order him to. A 24-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly abducted by armed assailants from her wedding venue in Pakistan's Sindh province and forcefully converted to Islam before being married off to a Muslim man, community members said, in the latest such incident in the country. Sindh Minister for Minorities Affairs, Hari Ram Kishori, on Tuesday took cognisance of the incident, which took place last week in Hala town of Matiari district in Sindh province, and asked for a police report. The All Pakistan Hindu Council (APHC) on Sunday said Bharti Bai was abducted from her wedding ceremony last week and then married off to a Muslim man, named Shahruk Gul, after forcibly converting her to Islam. Bharti is of 24 years, her father Kishore Das said. According to local media reports, the girl was abducted by armed men, some of whom were in police uniforms. Meanwhile, Gul has posted pictures of documents on social media showing that Bharti was converted to Islam in December 2019 and had taken the name Bushra. According to documents, her conversion took place at the Jamiat-ul-Uloom Islamia in Banori town. Police are investigating whether the girl travelled to Karachi around the dates mentioned in the certificate. Hindus, which comprised approximately 2 per cent of Pakistan's population, are mainly concentrated in Sindh province. There have been periodic reports of their forced conversion to Islam. Earlier this month, a 15-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly abducted from Jacobabad district in Sindh and forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man. The girl was later sent to a women protection centre following a court order. In a similar incident, two Hindu minor girls were reportedly abducted from a village in Sindh province on January 14. India has expressed its concern over the abduction of minor Hindu girls in Pakistan. A senior official of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi was summoned on January 17 to lodge a strong protest over the recent cases of abduction of minor girls belonging to the Hindu community in Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) We so often privilege individuals as the primary drivers of innovation. But what if technology is also self-organizing, developing as an evolutionary response to the environment? If we think of whistled language as a kind of technology, we have an excellent example of this self-organizing principle in the 42 documented whistled languages around the world. As we noted in a previous post, reports of whistled languages go back hundreds of years in cultures that would have had no contact with each other: Oaxaca, Mexico, northern Africas Atlas Mountains, the Brazilian Amazon, northern Laos, and the Canary Islands. These are places with steep terrain or dense forests, writes Michelle Nijhuis at The New Yorker, where it might otherwise be hard to communicate at a distance. Such is the case in the village of Kuskoy, in the remote mountains of northern Turkey, notes Great Big Story: For three centuries farmers there have communicated great distances by whistling. Its a language called kus dili that is still used to this day, though fewer people are learning it in the age of the cell phone. Also called bird language by locals, for obvious reasons, this system of vocal telephony, like all other examples, is based on actual speech. Nijhuis explains: Kuskoys version [of whistled language] adapts standard Turkish syllables into piercing tones that can be heard from more than half a mile away. The phrase Do you have fresh bread?, which in Turkish is Taze ekmek var m?, becomes, in bird language, six separate whistles made with the tongue, teeth, and fingers. The method may be avian, but the messages are human, albeit in simplified language for ease of transmission. In the video above Muazzez Kocek, Kuskoys best whistler, shows how she translates Turkish vocabulary into melodiesturning words into music, an act of coding without a computer. That this bio-technological feat arose spontaneously to solve the same problem the world over shows how us how humans collectively problem-solve. But of course, individualism has its advantages. Despite the huge amount of data they gather on us, modern communications technologies have met one particular human need. In Kuskoy, bird language is rapidly disappearing from daily life, writes Nijhuis. In a small town filled with nosy neighbors, texting affords a level of privacy that whistling never did. Related Content: The Fascinating Whistled Languages of the Canary Islands, Turkey & Mexico (and What They Say About the Human Brain) Speaking in Whistles: The Whistled Language of Oaxaca, Mexico How Languages Evolve: Explained in a Winning TED-Ed Animation Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness. A mother has revealed how snacking on chocolate during a college trip led her down a path of remarkable coincidence which saw doctors discover two tumours growing across the same section of her brain almost a decade apart. Lauren Brender was 21 when she cracked her tooth on a peanut M&M on a university exchange in Tilburg, one hour south of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands in December 2010. Two months later, after returning to Australia, the Sydney student saw a dentist for a dull, aching pain which had started to radiate from her gums across her face. Finding no answers, she booked an appointment with a neurologist who prescribed steroids for the pain and took a routine MRI scan to rule out anything sinister. After the steroids relieved her discomfort, Lauren phoned the clinic to cancel her follow up visit - but returned on the insistence of the receptionist. She was left speechless when her doctor broke the devastating news that a tumour was growing on the frontal lobe of her brain. Sydney mother Lauren Brender has revealed how cracking her tooth on a peanut M&M led doctors to discover two tumours growing across the same section of her brain almost a decade apart (pictured with daughter Ruby in May 2019) Having experienced no common symptoms, Lauren was stunned when a neurologist gave her the devastating news that a tumour was growing on the frontal lobe of her brain in 2011 (pictured in 2016) 'I went to the appointment alone, not expecting a thing, and she sat me down and said "here are the results of the scan - you have a brain tumour". I was in shock,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Lauren was fortunate to secure a consultation with famed Australian neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo, who performed a craniotomy to remove the growth which was analysed and classified as a grade two astrocytoma benign tumour. After less than a week in hospital, then 22-year-old Lauren returned home and made a swift recovery (pictured shortly after her surgery in 2011) Because it was benign, meaning non-cancerous, Lauren did not require further treatment like chemotherapy or radiation. After spending less than a week in hospital, the then 22-year-old returned home and made a swift recovery, largely thanks to her age. 'I was very tired and found it quite difficult to concentrate initially, but because I was so young the recovery time was really quick,' she said. Yet soon after her surgery, the pain in Lauren's face returned. Repeated trips to an endodontist - a dentist who specialises in root canals - revealed the ache had been caused by her cracked tooth all along, not the tumour, an incredible coincidence that still baffles Lauren today. 'I never had a single symptom of a brain tumour,' she said, stressing she experienced none of the commonly associated complaints like headaches, seizures, personality changes, fatigue, nausea or memory problems. Lauren was fortunate to secure a consultation with famed Australian neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo, who performed a craniotomy to remove the growth (pictured together at a charity fundraiser shortly after Lauren's surgery in 2011) Symptoms of a brain tumour - Headaches, which tend to worsen with movement or in the early morning - Seizures and weakness or paralysis of part of the body - Personality or sudden mood changes - Nausea or vomiting - Loss of appetite - Drowsiness and fatigue - Unexplained difficulties with memory and sleep - Changes in vision, smell or hearing - Changes in ability to walk or perform normal motor functions Source: Cancer Council Australia Advertisement The bizarre simplicity of her experience left her struggling to accept all that had happened in such a short space of time, but eventually she put the ordeal to the back of her mind. Since 2010, Lauren, now 31, has qualified as a speech therapist, moved to Singapore and back to Sydney, married her childhood sweetheart Gary and welcomed two beautiful children, son Charlie, two, and daughter Ruby, who will turn one in April. Had I not cracked my tooth on that peanut M&M, had the dentist immediately understood what my problem was, or had the GP not sent me to see a neurologist, my life could have been completely different. She underwent yearly scans to monitor changes around the original growth site, but nothing sinister was discovered until May 2019. Less than two months after giving birth to Ruby, a routine MRI revealed a second astrocytoma tumour the size of a fist had grown across the front of her brain. Since her ordeal began in 2010, Lauren has qualified as a speech therapist, moved to Singapore and back to Sydney, married and welcomed two children, son Charlie and daughter Ruby (pictured with husband Gary and Ruby in 2019) The bizarre simplicity of Lauren's experience left her struggling to accept all that had happened in such a short space of time, but eventually she put the ordeal to the back of her mind and focused on raising her adorable children (pictured with son Charlie in 2019) Doctors performed emergency surgery which successfully removed the growth, but recovery the second time round was considerably tougher for the mother-of-two. 'Last year was the worst year of my life,' she said. 'I've been really down. It was just a huge shock. I never ever thought it would return, and the recovery was so much more difficult this time. I was in my thirties and had two young children.' Doctors say there is a chance the tumour will grow for a third time, which means Lauren must now have scans every three to six months to monitor the area, but the cause of the tumours remains unclear. It's a stark reality she struggles to come to terms with. Lauren must now have scans every three to six months to monitor changes in her brain, a stark reality she struggles to accept while raising her two adorable children (pictured) 'I'm constantly faced with my own mortality while staring into the eyes of my greatest joys in life, my tiny children, who rely on my existence to survive,' she said. Lauren often reflects on how different her life might have been had she never broken her tooth on a normally inconsequential piece of chocolate. 'It's incredible to think had I not cracked my tooth on that peanut M&M, had the dentist immediately understood what my problem was, or had the GP not sent me to see a neurologist, my life could have been completely different.' Her greatest wish is to understand what's causing the tumours to recur, but she is grateful for the lessons she has learned over the past 10 years. Polls ahead of the Iowa caucuses suggest Sanders and Biden are in a tight race with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana. Sanders has confidently predicted victory in Iowa and in the Feb. 11 New Hampshire primary that follows, telling his supporters that the party establishment is nervous about his strength. His advisers argue that such momentum would dent Bidens long-standing advantage in most national polls of Democratic voters. BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Autism educators Spectrum Strategy Group has launched today, looking to provide autism training and education to families, caregivers, clinicians and employers. Executive Director Ilia Walsh brings over 25 years of experience in training and educating both adults and children. Having worked with Temple Grandin, Tony Attwood, Carol Kranowitz, David & Kristin Finch, Stephen Shore, Becca Lory, and Isabelle Henault, the Spectrum Strategy Group is well-positioned to meet the needs of all educators, employers, clinicians and caretakers involved. With experience in having trained over 1,000 administrators, faculty and staff at over 150 school districts in Massachusetts and New York, speaking at the Massachusetts State Department of Disability Services, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Wellesley College, Beth Israel Deaconess Center, the AANE Connections Conference, and the National Center for Women in IT Conference, SSG can assist and educate all educators, professionals, and caregivers alike. Clients will work directly with the full-service Spectrum Strategy Group team, which provides a dedicated professional who will guide you from start to finish. From understanding the diagnosis to family education and assistance, from goal setting, strategy development and implementation, the SSG team will ensure that the family, educator, professional, or caregiver is left with the tools to help the diagnosed individual live and work to their fullest potential. "Our vision is to see the unique gifts and talents of individuals on the autism spectrum fully recognized. Armed with self-awareness and a toolkit of strategies, individuals can live and work to their highest potential," said executive director, Ilia Walsh. To learn more about the Spectrum Strategy Group, head over to www.thespectrumstrategy.com or email Ilia directly at [email protected] Related Images image1.png SOURCE Spectrum Strategy Group Related Links http://www.thespectrumstrategy.com Like millions of people, I must submit a tax return in three days time. If we are late, we will be fined. If we dont have all the money due to HMRC, well be threatened and charged interest on unpaid tax. In short, under pain of various sanctions and penalties, most of us are doing our best to behave like responsible citizens, and trying to ensure we do what the authorities require of us. Miss Rowling may be stupendously rich, but by the side of Facebook (currently valued at nearly 500 billion, more than the size of Swedens annual GDP) she is a sprat. And yet she is shelling out not very far short of twice what this mega-wealthy company pays the Treasury How very different is the experience of American tech companies, as well as some other foreign firms schooled in the dark arts of paying as little UK tax as they conceivably can. It is not so much the normally assiduous taxman who is at fault, since HMRC lacks the legal means to make these businesses cough up their fair share of tax. No, the true culprits are successive politicians who promise us that they will bear down on these enormous corporations and then do little or nothing. Stunning Over the weekend, a piece of mind-boggling information was published the sort of fact that makes one clutch ones head, and wonder whether there is any sense at all in the way we are governed. It emerged that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling paid 48.6 million to the Treasury in the year to last March. Miss Rowling, who has inveighed against tax havens in the past, certainly puts her money where her mouth is when it comes to her tax liabilities. For that, she deserves our respect. Like millions of people, I must submit a tax return in three days time. If we are late, we will be fined. If we dont have all the money due to HMRC, well be threatened and charged interest on unpaid tax [File photo] But what is so stunning is not just the tax a single person handed over to HMRC though it certainly takes the breath away. What really makes one want to grab hold of the nearest solid object to steady oneself is the revelation that Facebook is thought to have paid the Treasury just 28 million in corporation tax in the 2018/19 tax year on 1.6 billion in revenues here. Miss Rowling may be stupendously rich, but by the side of Facebook (currently valued at nearly 500 billion, more than the size of Swedens annual GDP) she is a sprat. And yet she is shelling out not very far short of twice what this mega-wealthy company pays the Treasury. Nor is she the only one. Figures published by The Sunday Times make a nonsense of Jeremy Corbyns characteristically flaky allegation that the super-rich dont pay their dues. Quite a lot of them do so, and very handsomely. The inventor Sir James Dyson and his family are said to have paid 103 million in tax in one year. The Duke of Westminster is supposed to have handed over 69.3 million. The Government can do useful things with large amounts of money like these. Top of the list is Denise Coates and her family, whose fabulously profitable company Bet365 has rightly earned opprobrium because of its sponsorship of online gambling, with all the addictive consequences that can entail. Now is the time for Boris Johnson to be brave not over Huawei, where its in Britains self-interest to agree with Trump, but over digital tax, where it isnt. Hard-pressed British taxpayers dont want American multi-nationals to have favourable tax treatment But at least she pays her taxes reportedly 276 million in a year. So the super-rich, or at any rate a large number of them, do pay their fair share of taxes, just like the rest of us. I dont suggest they should be congratulated for doing so. But lets acknowledge their contribution. In stark contrast, the highly profitable American tech companies whose enormously lucrative technological innovations are transforming society, not always for the better maintain a niggardly attitude towards paying their dues. Facebook I have already mentioned. Amazons most recent UK tax payment of 220 million in direct taxes was on revenues of nearly 11 billion. In 2018, Google paid 49.3 million in corporation taxes on total British sales of about 5.7 billion. The main reason these and other digital multinationals get away with forking out such relatively derisory amounts is that they manage to shift profits to more accommodating tax jurisdictions such as the Republic of Ireland. Nor is it only the tech companies that are so fleet of foot. The chocolate manufacturer Ferrero Rocher managed to pay just 110,000 tax in the UK last year despite having sales of 419 million. This was principally achieved by the British-based business paying a 334 million cost of sales charge to Ferreros holding company in low-tax Luxembourg. Why dont we boycott Ferrero Rochers chocolates in favour of confectionery produced by firms that pay UK tax? I admit this wont be a huge sacrifice on my part because I cant bear the stuff it produces. Its hard not to boil over when one considers that Giovanni Ferrero, scion of the empire, is paying himself and his family a dividend of 542 million. For once, I know what it feels like to be Jeremy Corbyn. My earlier suggestion was that HMRC doesnt yet possess the implements to clobber the tech giants. But can it really be so powerless to bring a greedy Italian chocolate manufacturer to heel? Fruitless As for the U.S. behemoths, the Government is finally preparing to introduce a two per cent digital sales tax in April, which will honour a manifesto pledge and, so the Treasury hopes, bring in an extra 500 million a year. At last, after fruitless undertakings by previous chancellors George Osborne and Philip Hammond that they would force digital multi-nationals to pay their proper dues, it looks as though the tax dodgers are going to be made to stump up. Or will they? Donald Trump has been throwing his considerable weight around on behalf of these American companies. What really makes one want to grab hold of the nearest solid object to steady oneself is the revelation that Facebook is thought to have paid the Treasury just 28 million in corporation tax in the 2018/19 tax year on 1.6 billion in revenues here [File photo] Last week, his Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said that if Britain and other countries introduced their own digital taxes they would find themselves faced with President Trumps tariffs. Did I detect a quaver in the voice of the Chancellor, Sajid Javid, as he vowed to stick to his guns? Unsurprisingly, Emmanuel Macron of France, once a champion of digital taxes on the tech giants, has rolled over, and shelved his plans, after Mr Trump threatened tariffs on French products such as champagne, cheese and handbags. Not such a brave French president after all. Will Boris Johnson do the same in the face of threats of punitive tariffs on British exports? He is in a ticklish position because the overbearing Mr Trump is also threatening retaliation if the UK allows Chinese telecom group Huawei a role in Britains future mobile 5G network. Partisan In fact, the American president is correct on this particular issue. Many British experts believe it would compromise our sovereignty to allow Huawei to develop and maintain our 5G network. Why dont we boycott Ferrero Rochers chocolates in favour of confectionery produced by firms that pay UK tax? I admit this wont be a huge sacrifice on my part because I cant bear the stuff it produces [File photo] The companys complete independence from the Chinese government is extremely doubtful. Here Mr Johnson should be prepared to climb down not to please Mr Trump but because the American president happens, for once, to be right. But Trump is being narrow-minded and partisan in threatening countries planning to introduce a digital tax. Mr Javids tech tax can be subsequently amended if the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is eventually successful in brokering an internationally recognised digital tax acceptable to the U.S. Now is the time for Boris Johnson to be brave not over Huawei, where its in Britains self-interest to agree with Trump, but over digital tax, where it isnt. Hard-pressed British taxpayers dont want American multi-nationals to have favourable tax treatment. Lets hope Boris doesnt have to learn the hard way that giving in to a bully like Donald Trump will only encourage him to come back for more. Kanchanpur : , Jan 28 (IANS) The depressing mood has disappeared. Instead, a festive atmosphere has gripped northern Tripura's seven relief camps, where over 34,000 tribal immigrants are sheltered after they fled adjoining Mizoram 23 years ago following ethnic strife. The January 16 four-party agreement involving Tripura, Mizoram, the Centre and the Reang representatives in Delhi has come as a ray of hope for Reang men, women and children who have lived in fear. The pact involves rehabilitation of 5,400 Reang families in Tripura where they migrated first in 1997 and again in 2009 from Mizoram following ethnic unrest. Officials are now taking necessary administrative steps before starting the rehabilitation process. Young Marina Reang, a woman inmate of Naisingpara camp, one of the seven refugee camps in north Tripura District, said: "We are grateful to Modi-ji, Amit Shah-ji and Biplab Deb-ji (Tripura Chief Minister) for giving us a new life to lead. Life was very painful for us in refugee camps". The camps lack essential services such as electricity and water. Another young tribal girl Saimai Reang said: "Our religion was not protected...we were deprived of our basic rights. Our children's education and health was badly affected. Those who were born in the relief camps did not see a good school." The Reang tribals, locally called 'Bru', are categorised as one of the primitive tribes of India. North Tripura District Magistrate and Collector Raval H. Kumar, who is overseeing rehabilitation, said the authorities are conducting identification process in each of the seven relief camps to make a register containing basic details. "The state government has asked all the eight District Magistrates to identify suitable land for the rehabilitations of the 34,000 tribals across Tripura. The process of opening bank accounts of each refugee family has also started," Kumar told IANS. Local non-tribal people too have expressed happiness over the solution to the refugee problem. Tribal refugee leader Bruno Msha, one of the signatories of the January 16 agreement, said : "The government has saved the future of our children. Though poor, we can now live with our chiildren and relatives with dignity". Msha, General Secretary of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), the apex body of the Reang tribal refugees, told IANS: "We are pained that we have to forget our ancestral homeland in Mizoram as we would be rebuilding our society and homes in Tripura. But we are happy we would not face any more uncertainty as the government has promised to stand by us." Most political parties in Tripura and Mizoram have welcomed the decision to rehabilitate the Reang tribals. Tripura Congress Acting President and senior lawyer Pijush Kanti Biswas said the Centre and the state government must be sincere in implementing the agreement. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said a six-member Joint Monitoring Committee headed by Home Ministry's Special Secretary (internal secretary) would be formed to oversee the implementation of the agreement, expected to be executed within the next six months. Tribal leader and Tripura's royal family scion Pradyut Kishore Debbarman said the decision to rehabilitate the tribals would have far-reaching positive impact in the northeastern region. According to the January 16 agreement, each Reang tribal refugee family would get a 40-by-30-ft plot to construct house in Tripura, along with a fixed deposit of Rs 4 lakh for two years, Rs 1,50,000 would be given towards house building assistance, cash assistance of Rs 5,000 per month for two years and free ration for two years. The agreement was signed by officials of Union Home Ministry, Tripura and Mizoram Chief Secretaries, six Reang tribal refugee leaders and a newly formed apolitical body Tiprasa headed by Pradyut Kishore Debbarman, former President of Tripura Pradesh Congress, who quit the party a few months back. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga were present in the agreement signing ceremony in the Ministry of Home Affairs office in North Block. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Two Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Tuesday that would reshape the administrative structure of New Mexicos chief regulatory board a move they say would help insulate the staff from political considerations and reduce turnover. House Bill 11, co-sponsored by Reps. Nathan Small of Las Cruces and Linda Trujillo of Santa Fe, calls for the governor to appoint two top executives who would oversee the staff of the Public Regulation Commission. The proposal comes as the PRC faces intense scrutiny on a variety of fronts including staff turnover and its handling of a landmark energy law passed by lawmakers last year. But Small and Trujillo said their proposal is aimed at long-standing challenges such as staff turnover and hiring difficulties not any particular action or case before the PRC. Trujillo called it a good government bill aimed at providing stability in staffing and helping insulate employees from political considerations, such as the electoral outcomes of commission races. New Mexico, Small said, must also be ready to modernize its electrical grid and prepare for other changes in the energy landscape. Were falling behind because of structural challenges, he said. The proposal calls for reorganizing the staff chart of the PRC. A chief of staff appointed by the governor would oversee the staff and administrators who directly support the commission. There would be four new positions to help carry out the work: two economists, an engineer and a compliance officer. A separate director of regulatory affairs also appointed by the governor would oversee staffers administratively attached to the states Regulation and Licensing Department. This office would cover consumer relations, utilities, transportation and other regulatory affairs. The chief of staff and director of regulatory affairs would serve six-year, staggered terms. They could be removed only for cause. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has made the legislation a priority for the session. Jason Montoya, chief of staff for the PRC, said the commission hadnt seen the proposal but would review it. A decision on whether to support the proposal is expected to be on the commissions agenda next week. The Public Regulation Commission is now a five-member board elected by voters in districts throughout New Mexico. But that could change, too, under separate legislation approved last year. Voters this fall will consider a constitutional amendment that would turn the PRC into an appointed body, with nominees screened for professional qualifications. Citrix has released security patches for the recently disclosed CVE-2019-19781 flaw, but the number of attacks on vulnerable systems is increasing. Last week, Citrix addressed the actively exploited CVE-2019-19781 flaw in Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC), Citrix Gateway, and Citrix SD-WAN WANOP appliances. Important updates on the #CitrixADC, Citrix Gateway vulnerability: (1) Permanent fixes for ADC v11.1 & 12. (2) We have moved forward the availability of permanent fixes for other ADC versions & SD-WAN WANOP from previous target dates. #CVE201919781https://t.co/20c9u3oh8h Citrix (@citrix) January 19, 2020 While security researchers were warning of ongoing scans for Citrix Application Delivery Controller (NetScaler ADC) and Citrix Gateway (NetScaler Gateway) servers affected by the CVE-2019-19781 vulnerability, many experts were announcing the availability online of proof-of-concept exploit code ([1, 2]). Researchers at MDSsec published technical details of the vulnerability along with a video that shows the exploit they have developed, but they decided to not release it to avoid miscreants use it in the wild. It has been estimated that 80,000 companies in 158 countries are potentially at risk, most of them in the U.S. (38%), followed by the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia. The CVE-2019-19781 vulnerability was discovered by Mikhail Klyuchnikov from Positive Technologies. The flaw affects ADC and Gateway versions 10.5, 11.1, 12.0, 12.1, and 13.0, as well as SD-WAN WANOP versions 10.2.6 and 11.0.3. Citrix released on Friday, the final set of permanent fixes for the vulnerability , for ADC and Gateway version 10.5. As with the permanent fixes made available for Citrix ADC and Citrix Gateway versions 11.1, 12.0, 12.1, 13.0, and Citrix SD-WAN 4000-WO, 5000-WO, 4100-WO, and 5100-WO earlier this week, these fixes are available to all customers regardless of whether they have an active maintenance contract with Citrix, reads the post published by Fermin J. Serna, Chief Information Security Officer at Citrix. Security experts are monitoring a spike in the number of attacks against Citrix servers after that researchers announced the availability online of proof-of-concept exploits for the CVE-2019-19781 flaw in Citrix NetScaler ADC and Citrix NetScaler Gateway servers. Researchers from FireEye noticed that one of the threat actors involved in the attacks is patching the vulnerable Citrix servers, installing their own backdoor , tracked as NOTROBIN, to clean up other malware infections and to lock out any other threat from exploiting the CVE-2019-19781 Citrix flaw. The NOTROBIN backdoor was designed to prevent subsequent exploitation of the flaw on Citrix servers and also to establish backdoor access, a circumstance that suggests that attackers are preparing future attacks. It is easy to predict that threat actors will continue to target organizations that will delay in applying the permanent patches or the mitigations. Organizations using Citrix appliances could use the tool released by the company to check for any signs of compromise. Pierluigi Paganini Sen. Bryce Bennett, D-Missoula, has thrown his hat in the ring for secretary of state, and it's been a long time coming. Bennett is a leading figure in helping Montanans register to vote in Bozeman and in the state Senate. He has registered thousands of Montanans to vote on his own time, regardless of political affiliation, and has led the effort as a state senator to root out dark money in Montanas politics. A moderate who also believes public lands should be in public hands, Bennett consistently voted for greater access to public areas for the people of Montana to enjoy and use while he was in the state Legislature. As secretary of state, Bennett will be an advocate for Montana businesses. As of now, Bennett is the only candidate for secretary of state to receive an award this year from the Montana Chamber of Commerce for recognition of pro-business policy making. Hes consistently advocated for cutting unnecessary red tape and eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy to help businesses grow and thrive. I believe Bryce Bennett has the skills and vision to provide the leadership we need in the Secretary of States Office. I look forward to voting for him in 2020! Alexander Colafrancesco, Bozeman You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Oil giant Total SA is being sued by 14 local governments and a handful of non-governmental organizations in France for not doing enough to reduce its carbon emissions and fight global warming. The legal challenge is the latest sign that the biggest oil companies are coming under increasing pressure from activists, investors and governments to cut emissions as the fight against climate change ramps up. Local authorities, including from Grenoble near the Alps, are asking a court near Paris to order Total to recognize the risks generated by its activities and to align itself on a trajectory compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Sherpa, an activist group thats part of the legal action, said in a statement on Tuesday. By 2050, Grenoble residents will experience three months of heat waves a year, and snow will continue to disappear in winter, Grenoble Mayor Eric Piolle said. We also have a responsibility to push the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases to lead by example. The debate over climate change and the role of the energy industry is becoming increasing heated. Oil companies have faced protests from activists for years, but now even some of their largest investors are urging them to do more. Total regrets that legal actions has been taken when solutions required to meet both the need for energy for all and the climate change stakes require a cooperation of all players, the company said in an emailed statement. Total has publicly acknowledged the climate issues for a long time, and take them into account in its strategy. The company is targeting at least a 13% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions at its operated oil and gas facilities in the 10 years to 2025. It also has an ambition to reduce the carbon intensity of energy products sold to its customers by 15% in the 2015-30 period. Total has spent billions of dollars to expand in wind and solar power as well as in batteries, and plans to invest as much as $2 billion annually in low-carbon electricity. National Weather Service Expect a rainy and cloudy Tuesday across much of the Greater Houston area as a cold front makes its way through Southeast Texas. Much of the area has already seen rain showers Tuesday morning, and more are in store as the day goes on, according to the National Weather Service. While rain chances are relatively good (90 percent for Houston metro), rainfall totals for Tuesday are expected to be low fewer than half an inch, meteorologists predict. Those applying for Indian nationality under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, will have to prove their religion, officials aware of the matter have said. The amended citizenship act aims to grant Indian citizenship to minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhist, Christians and Parsis from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who have faced or fear religious persecution. The law, which excludes Muslims, will be applicable to those who entered India before December 2014. The officials cited above said the government is unlikely to ask for proof of religious persecution from these people in their original country, even as the Union home ministry is in the process of framing rules for the new law. The rules are being drafted but to benefit under the CAA one will have to show some proof of their religion. Any government document like school enrolment of children, Aadhaar etc would enough, a senior official said on condition of anonymity. They added that the applicants will also have to furnish documents to prove that they entered India before 2015. Requirement of proof of their religious beliefs and their entry date will be included in the rules. This will be useful so that random persons do not apply for Indian citizenship, one of the officials said. It was not immediately clear what the nature of the documentation required for applying for citizenship will be. Earlier, deposing before a Joint Parliamentary Committee on Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2016, security agencies and government had indicated religious persecution could be verified through security agencies like the Research and Analysis Wing(R&AW) - Indias external intelligence agency. The law allows faster citizenship in two cases religious persecution or fear of religious persecution, therefore a check back on whether there was religious persecution isnt critical, a second senior home ministry official, who didnt want to be named, said. The rules to implement CAA is also likely to have special provisions for Assama state that has witnessed continuous peaceful agitation by the civil society and people at large. There is an apprehension that allowing citizenship through CAA would hurt the interest of the indigenous people. The government is also likely to give a relatively smaller window of three months to those who want to apply for citizenship in Assam under the CAA, a second official said. The BJP led-Assam government had asked the Centre to limit the time frame for applications for citizenship under the CAA. The number of people who are likely to benefit from CAA in the northeast, and especially Assam, is small. Once that becomes clear protests are likely to die out, a senior Assam government functionary said. The CAA came into force on January 10 and the Union home ministry is framing the rules that will govern the law. Civil society bodies, students and several states have opposed the law and protests have continued across the country, including Delhi. A few state assemblies have even passed resolutions opposing the law and urging the Centre to withdraw it. Amazon's Ring is under fire yet again after security experts discovered that the Android app is sending customer information to third parties. The names, private IP addresses, mobile network carriers, persistent identifiers and sensor data were discovered in the exchange with Facebook and Google, among others. The report also found that some Ring users whose identity was shared with Facebook do not have an account with the social media network. The findings were uncovered by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit organizations that defends civil liberties in the digital world, which noted the information was encrypted in a way that it would go undetected by security researchers. Scroll down for video Ring's Android app was found to be 'packed' with third-party tracking, which it uses to send customers' personally identifiable information to Facebook, Google and other third-parties While examining Ring's updated Android app, the organization discovered four unlisted trackers lurking in the shadows that were sending user data back and forth to websites including branch.io, mixpanel.com, appsflyer.com and facebook.com. Ring also sends information to the Google-owned crash logging service. 'All traffic we observed on the app was being sent using encrypted HTTPS,' EFF shared in the report. 'What's more, the encrypted information was delivered in a way that eludes analysis, making it more difficult (but not impossible) for security researchers to learn of and report these serious privacy breaches.' Ring's privacy policy makes clear that it uses web analytics services. 'The service providers that administer these services use automated technologies to collect data (such as email and IP addresses) to evaluate use of our websites and mobile apps,' it reads. However, the company behind the device also notes that it will identify which third-party services specifically are used by the company. While examining Ring's updated Android app, the organization discovered four unlisted trackers lurking in the shadows that were sending user data back and forth to websites including branch.io, mixpanel.com, appsflyer.com and facebook.com. Ring also sends information to the Google-owned crash logging service Out of the companies being fed data only MixPanel is mentioned in Ring's privacy notice, along with Google Analytics, HotJar and Optimizely. but does not include Facebook. 'The danger in sending even small bits of information is that analytics and tracking companies are able to combine these bits together to form a unique picture of the user's device,' EFF said. According to Gizmodo, a ring spokesperson said 'that Ring takes steps to ensure its service providers' use of customer data is 'contractually limited to appropriate purposes such as performing these services on our behalf and not for other purposes'. However, EFF is not sold on these claims. 'Ring claims to prioritize the security and privacy of its customers, yet time and again we've seen these claims not only fall short, but harm the customers and community members who engage with Ring's surveillance system,' it wrote in the report. 'As we've mentioned, this includes information about your device and carrier, unique identifiers that allow these companies to track you across apps, real-time interaction data with the app, and information about your home network.' 'In the case of MixPanel, it even includes your name and email address. This data is given to parties either only mentioned briefly, buried on an internal page users are unlikely to ever see, or not listed at all.' Ring and Amazon found themselves in hot water in December when they were hit with a lawsuit, accusing them of failing to protect their customers from hackers. The complaint, filed in US District Court for the Central District of California on Thursday, claims that Ring and Jeff Bezos' Amazon, which bought the company last year, were negligent by not putting in place 'robust' security measures. According to the lawsuit, first reported by TMZ, there have been at least six other instances involving Ring security systems getting hacked across the US in recent years. Three Indian-Americans are among eight people sentenced by a US court for their roles in a sophisticated India-based call centre fraud scheme that defrauded thousands of Americans, resulting in over USD 3.7 million in losses. Mohamed Kazim Momin, 33, Mohmed Sozab Momin, 23 and Palak Kumar Patel, 30, all residents of the US state of Georgia, were sentenced on Monday along with five others. Their sentences ranged from six months to four years and nine months in prison. US Attorney Byung J "BJay" Pak said that according to the charges and other information presented in the court, these defendants were involved in a sophisticated scheme organised by co-conspirators in India, including a network of call centres in Ahmedabad. Using information obtained from data brokers and other sources, call center operators called potential victims while impersonating officials from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or individuals offering fictitious payday loans, federal prosecutors said. The call centre operators would then threaten potential victims with arrest, imprisonment, or fines if they did not pay taxes or penalties to the government. "IRS and payday loan phone schemes seek to profit by exploiting United States citizens, including the elderly and most vulnerable members of our community," said US Attorney Pak. The US will prosecute companies and individuals in India and in this country who choose to steal from vulnerable victims, he said. These eight people were charged along with five Indian call centres and seven Indians in a 27-count indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in september 2018. The government is seeking extradition of Indian nationals. "If the victims agreed to pay, the call centres would immediately turn to a network of US-based co-conspirators to liquidate and launder the extorted funds by purchasing prepaid debit cards or through wire transfers, including through MoneyGram and Western Union, to the attention of fictitious names and US-based defendants and their co-conspirators," said the Department of Justice. The case was investigated by the US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son wears a protective suit before going into a quarantine room in Saigon's Cho Ray Hospital where two Chinese infected with acute pneumonia stay, January 23, 2020. Photo by VnExpress. One of the two Chinese nationals who were the first confirmed cases of infection by the new coronavirus in Vietnam has recovered. At Saigons Cho Ray Hospital, Li Zichao, 28, was tested three times including on Monday and turned up negative every time. He had been at the hospital for six days. Zichao is able to breathe without the assistance of a respirator and eats food normally, Dr Nguyen Tri Thuc, the hospital director, said. His father, Li Ding, 66, is still receiving treatment. He sleeps and eats without difficulty and his organs are functioning well, but he still needs a ventilator. Ding's temperature became normal on Saturday night, three days after being admitted, but tests on Monday still showed positive for the virus, Thuc said. He is in quarantine. The testing protocol goes like this: One day after the fever breaks, the hospital takes the patients sample for testing for the new coronavirus (nCoV). If the result is negative, another test is done three days later, and the patient is discharged if that is negative too. The two men were Vietnam's first confirmed cases of nCoV infection after it was first detected in Wuhan in China last December. Ding arrived in Hanoi from Wuhan with his wife on January 13 before flying to Nha Trang four days later and developing a fever. Zichao, who has been living in Long An Province for the last four months, went to visit him in Nha Trang. The three then came to Saigon and travelled to neighboring Long An by taxi. Zichao developed a fever on January 20, three days after his father. Both were admitted to the Cho Ray Hospital on January 22. Dings wife tested negative. Since they traveled to various places in the country by plane, train and taxi, there is a chance they have spread the disease, doctors said. The nCoV virus has spread from mainland China to Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, the U.S., Singapore, Malaysia, France, Canada and Vietnam. Chinese authorities said as of Tuesday morning, January 28, 106 people had died of the disease. The number of confirmed cases of individuals infected with the virus reached over 4,500. In Vietnam, no local has contracted the nCoV yet. A group of 12 people, 10 of whom are Chinese tourists, were put under quarantine in a hospital in Turkeys Aksaray province. Authorities said one of the tourists in the group of 10 was admitted to a local clinic in Aksaray's Sultanhan district due to incessant coughing. The tourists were on a tour of Cappadocia, Daily Sabah reported. Aksaray Governor Ali Mant said that the group, along with their Turkish guide and driver, visited a hospital in central Aksaray due to what they suspected to be a viral infection. "They are being monitored as a precaution," Mant said. He also dismissed earlier reports that Chinese workers at a natural gas storage facilities in nearby Lake Tuz were infected with the virus. PHOENIX -- Human trafficking is a growing international public health concern. An estimated 400,000 people in the U.S. are affected, with as many as 88% of victims having seen a health care professional while they were being trafficked. As human trafficking evolves as a health concern, medical schools are starting to include the topic in education. However, it's still in the early stages, says a Mayo Clinic study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The research was led by third-year medical student at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Jennifer Talbott, who suggested that human trafficking training be included in the curriculum at the school. Working with the medical school faculty, Talbott helped develop coursework to train fellow students to identify and provide resources to potential victims of human trafficking. Talbott's adviser, Juliana Kling, M.D., a Mayo Clinic women's health internist, says training in identifying and providing resources to human trafficking victims is essential for medical school students. "If we aren't trained to identify that they are victims, then they will continue being trafficked," says Dr. Kling, who is co-medical director of the Student Community Clinic at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. This clinic teaches the social determinants of health in a clinical setting to second-year medical students. Many organizations have called for medical schools to train students to recognize the signs of trafficking and care for these patients. However, few standardized training resources are available, according to Talbott's study. So far, only four medical schools have published about their curricula specific to training on human trafficking. The study points out that a robust educational curriculum "has the potential to close remaining educational gaps, allowing improved identification and treatment of those suffering from sex trafficking." The study showcased the lack of information and training available to medical students by returning a low number of results when searching for published educational resources. Only 11 articles were identified in the study. "This highlights an opportunity for improvement, since sex trafficking has become a priority on the public health agenda," says Talbott. "M.D. and D.O. (medical) schools could look to the current published curricula or consider sharing resources to identify an educational curriculum on sex trafficking that can be integrated into their existing programs." The study also found that among the limited published resources available for medical school students, there were discrepancies in how the material addressed legal and security issues for victims. Talbott and the Mayo Clinic Arizona American Medical Women's Association chapter also provide free training to classmates and other health care professionals around Arizona in coordination with Physicians Against the Trafficking of Humans of the American Medical Women's Association. This training includes simulated patient experiences and lectures that are now integrated into Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine curriculum. Though in its early stages, the training has received positive feedback from other medical students. "Medical students go into medicine to help patients, and it is our duty to teach them how to identify and provide guidance to victims of trafficking," says Dr. Kling. "The curriculum we are developing will hopefully close this important gap." ### About Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine is a national medical school with a four-year medical degree program in Rochester, Minnesota, and a four-year program at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. It is ranked a top-10 medical school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The school also offers a two plus two program, enabling students to complete their first two years of medical studies in Arizona or Rochester, and their final two years of training at Mayo Clinic in Florida. About Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news and An Inside Look at Mayo Clinic for more information about Mayo. Media contact: Ashley Peck, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 480-301-4222, newsbureau@mayo.edu In a matter of weeks, the outbreak of coronavirus centered in Wuhan, China has shut down a major global metropolis of 11 million people, larger than New York City. The outbreak has exposed the enormous vulnerability of contemporary society to new strains of infectious disease, dangers for which no capitalist government has adequately prepared. A worker wearing a hazardous materials suit takes the temperature of a passenger at the entrance to a subway station in Beijing, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) Local medical infrastructure at the epicenter of the crisis is being pushed to the brink of collapse, while a total of 15 cities in the Chinese province of Hubei, including Wuhan, have been placed under partial or total lockdown, imposing a quarantine on the vast majority of the regions 58.5 million people. Videos and photographs posted on social media reveal packed hospital waiting rooms as panicked residents exhibiting fevers and other flu-like symptoms seek medical treatment. Doctors, nurses and other medical staff have been forced to work around the clock in order to treat the infected and diagnose suspected cases, even as medical supplies run dangerously low. Outside the hospitals, people have rushed to stockpile essential goods, fuel, food and water, increasing the prices of basic necessities. The chaos also has caused delays for those seeking other routine but necessary medical treatments. Public transportation within Wuhan has been suspended, forcing hospital workers to walk or use private cars, as hired vehicles would not take them for fear of being infected. The 4,494 known cases in China and 106 deaths have brought all aspects of social life for hundreds of millions of people to a standstill. There are currently 65 cases outside China in 14 countriesAustralia, Cambodia, Canada, France, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Health officials in China and internationally have warned that the spread of the contagion is accelerating, with Guan Yi, one of Chinas leading virologists and a veteran of the 2003 SARS epidemic, stating that the Wuhan outbreak is at least 10 times larger than that of SARS. At the same time, the economic disruptions, illnesses and deaths are being compounded by the poverty, social inequality and degraded health care infrastructure in the infected areas. It must be noted that while the situation in China is dire, the so-called first-world countries are no more prepared to deal with an outbreak on the scale currently occurring in Wuhan. Every year, 30,000 people in the United States alone die from influenza, a much less contagious disease than the Wuhan coronavirus. One of the main dangers of the novel coronavirus is that an infected person can pass it on even if they are not exhibiting symptoms, a period that averages 3-7 days and can last up to 14 days. Researchers at Hong Kong University, led by Dean of Medicine Gabriel Leung, estimate that there are actually 25,630 people showing early symptoms of the pneumonia-like illness in Wuhan alone, a number that will nearly double to almost 44,000 within six or seven days. In the United States, five cases have been confirmed and a further 110 patients remain under observation. These numbers will only increase, according to Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, an agency of the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The potential spread of the virus mere weeks after it was identified speaks both to the virulent nature of the virus and the highly integrated nature of modern economic and social life, particularly involving China and the rest of the world. The Wuhan coronavirus is spreading at least four times as fast as SARS and infecting at least five times as many people, in large part a result of the ease at which people can travel to and from the country. The growth of air travel since the turn of the millennium, however, has not increased the level of international preparation to combat the spread of infectious diseases. As the flow of people across international borders has hit record highs, which necessitates international coordination to stop the spread of disease, organizations such as the CDC have had their funding slashed from $10.8 billion in 2010 to a proposed $6.6 billion in 2020. The World Health Organization, which receives 80 percent of its funds from voluntary donations, had a budget of only $5.1 billion in 2016-2017. At the same time, the United States Congress has just passed a defense authorization bill of $738 billion. The annual Chinese defense budget is estimated to be as high as $250 billion. This is to say nothing of the $6 trillion that the United States has spent on the War on Terror and the trillions more handed to Wall Street banks in the aftermath of the 2008 crash. Put another way, while the governments of the world, particularly the United States, have made meticulous plans for large-scale war during the past quarter-century, no such resources or forethought have been devoted to combating the rash of epidemics that have plagued the planet over the same period. Since 1996, there have been 67 epidemics across the world, including the outbreak of mad cow disease from 1996 to 2001, influenza in 2009, Zika in 2015-2016, and the continuing HIV/AIDS epidemic, which has killed at least 30 million people since it first emerged in 1960. These disasters are at every turn preventable. Medical science has advanced to the point where it is capable of identifying new viruses within weeks and developing vaccines within months. And yet, as then-WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan noted in 2014 in relation to the Ebola outbreak, a profit-driven industry does not invest in products for markets that cannot pay. This theme is echoed in every epidemic and natural disaster, from the wildfires this past year in Brazil, California, Africa and Australia to the increasing damage caused by typhoons and hurricanes, to the myriad of catastrophes being caused by climate change. The short-term, mercenary profit schemes that are inherent to capitalism are incapable of allocating the resources necessary to plan ahead and prepare for global risks. Rooted in the nation-state system, every capitalist country presses for its own advantage in the present, while sacrificing the future, cutting across serious and scientifically necessary international collaboration. These conflicts are only escalating. At a time when rational planning across national borders is critical to combat the global spread of a virulent disease, the United States and China are locked in a growing trade conflict in what has been called a new cold war. Even as new pathogens require the scientific resources of every continent to combat, the countries of the world are building metaphorical and literal walls. The defense of human civilization against the threat of global pandemics, just like climate change and the growing threat of ecological disasters, requires a level of planning and global cooperation of which capitalism is incapable. Society has outgrown the capitalist system and the arbitrary divisions it imposes on the world. The provision of the most existential social needs requires rational planning. That is, it requires socialism. By Albert Bender People's World The outlaw Bolivian president Jeanine Anez has announced that new elections in the country will be held on May 3, 2020. And just prior to that, it was disclosed that Anez called on Bolivians to prevent the return of savages to power, referring to Evo Morales, the countrys first Indigenous president. According to a January 6 report from Resumen: Latinoamericano and the Third World , she stated: Lets not allow any personal ambition, on the one hand, disperse the vote. Lets not allow the arbitrary, the violent, and the savage return to power. Anezs use of the term savage is a racist insult not just to Indigenous Bolivians, but to all the Indigenous of North and South America. Morales fired back : We are savage because we are Indigenous, peasants, factory workers, miners, union members, popular organization leaders, and the committed middle class. We are savage because we are anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist, anti-neoliberal, and anti-colonialist. He continued: For the coup mongers, we are savage because we support nationalization, because we recovered our natural resources and the Homelands dignity, because we fought poverty and achieved better economic growth in the region. Somos "salvajes los indigenas, campesinos, fabriles, mineros, sindicalistas, lideres de organizaciones populares, la clase media comprometida. Somos salvajes los antiimperialistas, anticapitalistas, antineoliberales y anticoloniales. Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) January 4, 2020 The exiled president could not have responded with more lucidity, eloquence, and determination. As for the racist statement issued by the usurper Anez , it begs the question: How can fair elections be expected under a regime that regards so many of its people as savages? The racist attitude of the European-descended oligarchy and the wealthy Mestizo elite (however, keep in mind that the majority of Mestizos are oppressed, exploited, and in poverty and more often than not make common cause with the Indigenous) is reflected in other Latin American countries. A good friend of mine, an internationally known U.S. Indigenous poet, recounted that in the 1980s returning from a conference in Brazil she was sitting behind a group of American and Brazilian businessmen on the plane and overheard one of the Brazilians remark to the Americans, Brazil is one of the few countries where you can still hunt Indians. No comment needed on this genocidal statement. Ominously, to further add to the perilous political situation for the Indigenous and democracy in Bolivia is the news that officials of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) arrived in Bolivia at the invitation of the Anez regime on Jan. 9 to give technical aid to the electoral process in Bolivia. This a euphemism for giving aid to the fascist regime to strengthen its dictatorship over the countrys Indigenous majority under the guise of a fair, democratic election. Just the opposite is in the making. Felicidades a todos nuestros artesanos! Ustedes siempre trabajando sin rendirse ante los desafios que tienen en frente y en las Alasitas celebramos con fe los deseos de abundancia, prosperidad y reciprocidad de los bolivianos. pic.twitter.com/3rJACoblvu Jeanine Anez Chavez (@JeanineAnez) January 24, 2020 USAID is a clandestine arm of U.S. imperialism. In 2014, USAID was exposed by the Associated Press for its role in setting up a Cuban Twittera social media network known as ZunZuneoin the hopes of fomenting the formation of mobs to protest against the Cuban government. The agency has a long history as a vehicle for various covert CIA subversions promoting right-wing activities in Egypt, Iran, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, and other countries. It seems pretty clear that USAID is in Bolivia to intervene in the electoral process to favor the fascist oligarchy. Under Morales, USAID was expelled from the country on May 1, 2013. Morales claimed it was undermining the socialist government. He accused the agency of seeking to conspire against the Bolivian people and their government. As for the further objectives of USAID, Latin American historian Thomas Field aptly observes: With USAID and OAS assisting in the May 2020 election, we can be sure its goal will be similar to Bolivias 1966 election (following the 64 coup), which the CIA steered to ensure the country returned to constitutionality in a way that meshed with U.S. interests. Menacingly, on January 19, Bolivian media reported that a senior U.S. official, Mauricio Claver-Carone accused Morales of fostering instability and violence in the country from inside Argentina. Claver-Carone is a senior adviser to Donald Trump and a far-right Cuban-American attorney. He visited Bolivia earlier that week to meet with Anez and took potshots at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, declaring that his organizing of armed militias was an act of gangsterism. Claver-Carone remarked that Morales tried the same gangsterism in Bolivia. He is so far to the right, most infamously known as one of the harshest critics of Obamas efforts to improve U.S. relations with Cuba. Apparently, he is the Trump administrations point man for strengthening the fascist coup that overthrew Morales. The fascist, right-wing Anez regime, which unilaterally claimed its own legitimacy in November after the overthrow of the democratically-elected Morales government, has focused on plunder. It has privatized Bolivian resources (particularly the countrys vast lithium deposits), reversed many of Moraless reforms, and resumed close ties to the U.S. President Trump, of course, has welcomed these actions of the brutal Anez government. Albert Bender is a Cherokee activist, historian, political columnist, and freelance reporter for Native and Non-Native publications. He was an organizer and delegate to the First and Second Intercontinental Indian Conferences held in Quito, Ecuador and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Recently, he has been an active participant and reporter in the Standing Rock struggle in North Dakota. He is an attorney and is currently writing a legal treatise on Native American sovereignty. He is also writing a book on the war crimes committed by the U.S. against the Maya people in the Guatemalan civil war of the late 20th century. He is also the recipient of several Eagle Awards by the Tennessee Native American Eagle Organization and a former Director of Native American Legal Departments and a Tribal Public Defender. This article originally appeared on People's World . It is published under a Creative Commons license Join the Conversation Related Stories Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size For decades, the Harvey Weinstein name meant Hollywood royalty awards, money, power. But privately, and for almost as long, it had another meaning for the women caught in his orbit. Then in October 2017, some of them, including actress Ashley Judd, accused Weinstein publicly of sexual harassment. In speaking out, they lifted the lid on one of Hollywood's biggest open secrets and lit the fuse that would ignite the #MeToo movement worldwide. More than 90 women would eventually go public with claims against Weinstein and his casting couch, many of them involving rape and other sexual assault. Soon the veil would fall, too, from his network of spies and allies, as a trail of private settlements with alleged victims revealed just how far the industry had gone to keep complaints quiet. On February 25, more than two years on, Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault against two women and led off to prison in handcuffs. Speaking outside the courtroom, District Attorney Vance Jr. said the verdict had pulled America's justice system into the 21st century. He saluted the women who came forward against Weinstein, including the six who took the stand during the trial. While the 67-year-old movie mogul was acquitted of the more serious charge of predatory sexual assault, which marks a history of offending and could have put him behind bars for life, he now faces further charges in Los Angeles for allegedly raping one woman and assaulting another during Oscars week in 2013. So who are the key players in the Weinstein scandal? How has the case unfolded? What's next? How are people reacting? And why is it about more than just one predatory producer? Harvey Weinstein, pictured at the Weinstein Company Golden Globes after-party in 2017, less than nine months before sexual misconduct allegations broke. Credit:AP Advertisement Who is Harvey Weinstein? Few executives in Hollywood history have wielded as much influence as Weinstein the man famously thanked more times in award acceptance speeches than God (though slightly fewer times than Steven Spielberg). His production houses, Miramax and the Weinstein Company, helped turbocharge independent filmmaking with films such as Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love and Good Will Hunting. And alongside the 80-odd Oscars his movies have collected are a scattering of awards for his own humanitarian work. But there were always rumours. Over the years, reporters had chased the tale of Weinsteins alleged predation of women into dead-ends. People had signed non-disclosure agreements or were too afraid to speak. Knowing Weinsteins sphere of influence extended beyond just Hollywood and into politics and the media, no one wanted to put their names to the stories. Then, in late 2016, actress Rose McGowan dropped an explosive tweet. Shed been raped, she said, and then warned by a lawyer she would never win against a studio head. She didnt name the executive but it didnt take long for people to connect the dots. By 2017, Ronan Farrow then reporting for NBC and New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey were uncovering decades of private sexual harassment settlements that had been buried by Weinstein's company. What does this have to do with #MeToo? At the time, the social media hashtag #MeToo encouraging people to speak out against sexual violence was already trending. But the two bombshell investigations into Weinstein started an avalanche of allegations, against the producer and others, that quickly snowballed into a movement. More high-profile names joined the list of Weinstein accusers, including actresses Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek. Advertisement His criminal trials are now viewed as a watershed moment for #MeToo, a test of how far the movement has come in holding powerful men to account as it throws up tricky questions of power and consent. Protesters, including a number of Weinstein's accusers, have held signs and chanted outside the New York courtroom over more than a month of proceedings. But the producer's lawyers have warned the trial is a case of #MeToo gone too far. The woman helming Weinsten's defence, seasoned lawyer Donna Rotunno, says women may rue the day that all of this started when no one asks them out on a date, and no one holds the door open for them". What was Weinstein charged with? Not long after the first accusations hit headlines, police in New York, Los Angeles and London began weighing up cases against the producer. In Manhattan, the clock was ticking especially loud. Among the bombshell allegations published in The New Yorker by Farrow was an account of a 2015 police sting in which model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez had worn a wire and captured Weinstein apparently apologising for groping her breasts the night before. Both the case and the tape were later thrown out by the prosecutor's office, as were more recent charges against him involving the alleged sexual assault of then aspiring actress Lucia Evans, despite both women wanting to go to court. The charges which did make it before the jury in New York were complex the instructions for jurors reaching a verdict have been compared with an income tax return. (To find Weinstein not guilty of count one, for example, they had to also find him not guilty on count three.) But, in essence, the prosectution's case was built on five counts of sexual crimes revolving around three main allegations: that Weinstein raped aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013; that he forcibly performed oral sex on production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006; and that, as part of a bigger pattern of historical offending, he raped The Sopranos star Annabella Sciorra in the mid 1990s. Prosecutors painted Weinstein as a well-established predator, a man who coaxed women into private meetings and then erupted into violence, who used the well-oiled machinery of his company, law firms and private investigators to bury complaints under iron-clad non-disclosure agreements, and manipulate and discredit alleged victims. Without any physical evidence of assault, much of the case against him hinged on the credibility of his accusers. Prosecutors deployed the same tactic used against actor and now convicted sex offender Bill Cosby - bolstering the accounts of the two victims at the heart of the trial by bringing in four other accusers to give testimony, including Sciorra. Yet Weinstein himself insisted all the encounters were consensual - sexual favours traded with eyes wide open in exchange for career advancement. Advertisement After days of jury deadlock, he was convicted of the sexual assault of Haleyi and the third-degree rape of Mann. Charges of predatory sexual assault and the first-degree rape of Mann were thrown out but Weinstein still faces up to 25 years in prison for the assault and four for the rape ahead of sentencing on March 11. Why are only two victims' cases in this trial? While many women were willing to press charges against Weinstein, a number of their allegations involve harassment or abuse falling outside the scope of criminal law and so can only be tried in civil cases. Other incidents happened in jurisdictions other than New York or too long ago to fall within the statute of limitations, such as a claim of rape by Sciorra. Some women have deemed the personal cost of pursuing justice too high. Others, facing only civil avenues of remedy, have reportedly reached a collective $US25 million ($37 million) deal with Weinstein and the now-bankrupt Weinstein Company. How did the trial play out? The trial delivered new twists and at times excruciatingly graphic detail including stories of Weinstein injecting himself with erection medication before one alleged attack and on another occasion turning up outside Sciorra's hotel room in just his underwear, holding a bottle of baby oil in one hand and a videotape in the other. The man seated right there was not just a titan in Hollywood, he was a rapist, prosecutor Meghan Hast said in her opening statement, pointing to Weinstein. But the producer's high-powered defence team say the case against him was a preview to a movie you are not going to see". Weinstein was not a master manipulator and all incidents had been consensual, they argued if anything some women had used Weinstein to advance their careers. Under cross-examination many of his accusers were confronted with evidence of their ongoing association with Weinstein, including a trove of unearthed emails. The defence seized on the fact that the two victims in the trial - Haleyi and Mann had had sex with him after the attacks. Advertisement But both women spoke of feeling pressured into those subsequent associations. A forensic psychiatrist, who also testified during Cosbys retrial, told the jury of seven men and five women that it was common for victims of sexual assault to continue contact with their attackers, particularly if they felt pressured to stay quiet. Actress Rose McGowan, who has accused Harvey Weinstein of raping her, speaks outside the court on January 6 in New York. Credit:Getty Images What did the women say? First to testify among his accusers was Sciorra, who fought back tears as she recounted how Weinstein had bulldozed his way into her Manhattan apartment and raped her in the early 1990s. She had struggled, kicking and punching, she said and the encounter followed a number of inappropriate gifts from Weinstein, including X-rated penis-shaped chocolates. Haleyi recounted a vicious tug of war in Weinstein's New York apartment in 2006, when she says the producer held her down, removed her tampon and forcibly performed oral sex on her. The Scandinavian was then a production assistant on Project Runway, working under a tourist visa, and felt trapped into further meet-ups with Weinstein. Mann testified that she entered into an "extremely degrading" relationship with him that never included intercourse until she says he raped her in 2013. She described Weinstein as a "Jekyll and Hyde" character: charming in public but revealing at times a terrifying anger when they were alone. Three other women costume designer Dawn Dunning, model Tarale Wulff and actress Lauren Young told jurors they were enticed into meeting Weinstein professionally and then groped or raped once the doors closed them in alone with him. Friends of the women at the time backed up many of the claims, saying they had told them of the assaults shortly after they happened. Advertisement Odisha government has sent the blood sample of a man who recently returned from China to New Delhi for coronavirus test, officials said on Tuesday. The man hailing from Puri district was working at a private company at a place about 600 km from Wuhan city in Hubei province, the epicentre of the disease. He had returned Odisha on January 24/25 and on his own went to Capital Hospital on January 26 where his blood sample was collected. "In the hospital, all tests were conducted. We are waiting for the blood examination report," the man told reporters here. The man, however, has not shown any symptoms of the coronavirus, the health official said, adding that he has been given cold and cough medicines. Meanwhile, Odishas Health and Family Welfare secretary NB Dhal said there was no reason to panic as the state has made all arrangement to deal with possible cases. "No one so far in Odisha has shown any symptoms to the disease," he said. Dhal Tuesday had a meeting with the medical superintendents of all the 30 district headquarters hospitals. Special instructions have been issued to some hotels in Jharsuguda town where some Chinese national work in private industries, an official said. The state government has open special wards in five major hospitals in different locations for the treatment of coronavirus case. SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack has opened a special ward with 48 beds with 8 ICU beds for possible cases, said the hospitals emergency officer B N Maharana. Apart from SCBMCH in Cuttack, special wards have also been opened MKCG, Berhampur, VIMSAR, Burla, Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar, Rourkela Government Hospital and Jharsuguda District Headquarters Hospital and also in Paradip Port Hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The head of an accounting firm has acknowledged he deliberately tried to stir controversy with a social media post that said workers are forced to fund the welfare payments of people protesting against Australia Day. 'Enjoy this glorious public holiday because tomorrow we need to get back to work, the protesters need their welfare cheques funded,' Atlas Chartered Accountants wrote on its Facebook page on Sunday. Many rallies that took place around the country calling for the date of Australia Day to be changed from January 26, which marks the start of British settlement of the continent. The Sydney-based firm shared the message along with a photo of an Australian flag that read: 'Happy Australia Day'. The post angered some social media users, who called the post 'vile' and 'degrading'. 'Enjoy this glorious public holiday because tomorrow we need to get back to work, the protesters need their welfare cheques funded,' Sydney-based Atlas Chartered Accountants wrote on its Facebook on Australia Day The post was in reference to the many rallies that took place around the country calling for Australia Day's date to be changed out of respect for indigenous people 'Way to be complicit in continued degradation of human rights. We need to raise people up, not push down. That's what the protesters are working for,' an outraged woman wrote. 'By the looks of things it won't be too long before your business goes bust & you're in a Centrelink line,' said another. 'I was protesting. I'm a Doctor and I generally work 50-70 hours per week to keep people like you well,' one man responded. 'Also, being poor is not a crime nor is it a character failing it is an inevitable consequence of the political and economic system we're in.' 'What a vile post. And an unfortunate misreading of our history and current political climate,' said another. Several others called for clients to boycott the Pyrmont accountant. But Atlas owner and director Samuel Lee told Daily Mail Australia he was trying to generate publicity for his business. 'I thought it was something that would evoke emotion enough for people to share and it go viral,' he said. 'I essentially didn't care about the backlash I knew I might get. 'If we take that into account my post is in no way racist, maybe classist, maybe it infers some bad references to the people on welfare, but to tell you the truth my intention wasn't to talk bad things about people on welfare. The controversial statement fell flat with social media users, who called out the accounting firm for the 'vile' and 'degrading' post Atlas owner and director Samuel Lee told Daily Mail Australia he used the controversial statement to generate publicity for his business 'There is nothing racist about the post. You can infer something and attach a very long string to racism but [the people commenting] are clutching at straws. Mr Lee said despite predicting backlash, he didn't foresee the amount of people traction his post received. 'I expected them to share to as many people as they can to try and cancel my business,' he said. 'I know that the cancel culture happening in the US is beginning here in Australia.' Mr Lee said he achieved his goal of 'cutting through the static of other ads' and expected to gain clients from his bold marketing move. 'I saw an opportunity to use the woke Left who demand complete compliance from all who disagree with them. It was a risk and I am playing with fire, but it was an opportunity no one else can see but me.' NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Botify, the leading enterprise SEO platform , today announces its new brand platform, including a new visual identity represented in its redesigned logo and website. With the launch of the new website and brand identity, Botify is focused on helping CMOs, heads of e-commerce, and other executive decision-makers understand the power of the organic search channel to unlock the hidden potential of their biggest digital asset - their website - and drive sustainable and profitable revenue. "CMOs are sitting on a wealth of untapped revenue and ROI from their websites because nearly half of their pages are not being found by search engines," said Adrien Menard, co-founder and CEO of Botify. "A new, modern approach to organic search is the key to unlocking this potential." With the level of investment that large brands put into their websites, and into content creation, treating SEO as a set-it-and-forget-it tactic can be quite damaging. On the contrary, those brands that invest in organic search are reaping the benefits: a much higher ROI on existing investments; a long-term revenue strategy; improved brand awareness; and a better customer experience. Unlike other tools on the market that focus on keywords and links, or can't support enterprise sites at scale, Botify approaches SEO with a proprietary full-funnel methodology and enterprise-grade platform. As such, Botify customers have the most comprehensive view of their website - from how users and search engines see their site to what keywords are actually converting. And, with this month's official market release of ActionBoard - its new, prescriptive insights tool for prioritizing SEO actions - the company has made further strides to support SEOs as they look to increase the impact of this channel on their company's entire digital strategy. "We work with some of the best and brightest SEOs, who work for some of the most notable enterprise brands in the world," said Rachel Meranus, CMO of Botify. "Our new brand platform is as much about elevating the impact they have as it is about driving a bigger conversation around the power of organic search. As a stand-alone strategy, SEO is the most profitable channel available to marketers, but when it's treated as part of an overarching digital strategy, all channels improve, and the customer journey becomes less fragmented. It's time for CMOs to pay attention!" New Logo and Identity The new Botify logo and brand, designed by Omobono , subtly incorporates the universal symbol for search within its logo which is a play on search itself, as well as Botify's commitment to help SEOs find high-impact opportunities in their data to unlock the full value of their websites.. The logo is a new shade of purple; the color a link changes to when clicked. The new look and feel is sophisticated, clean, and simple and is strongly distinguished from the rest of the SEO industry. New Website Botify worked with Gosling Media to transform its website into a hub of easy-to-navigate, trusted resources for SEOs and the brands they work for. The new "Solutions" section addresses how Botify meets the needs of specific verticals (e-commerce, publisher, classifieds, and travel) and job functions (technical SEO, content teams, and executives). The company also revamped its blog to make it easier to search by interest, updated its "Resource Center," and added "Trust Your SEO," a new section where readers can hear from their marketing peers. ActionBoard ActionBoard, powered by Botify Intelligence, works by analyzing the thousands of metrics about a website (from its server log files to its crawl, keywords, and conversion data, etc.) to identify and prioritize the most important actions to take. Botify's system processes thousands of "it depends" scenarios to ensure it has prioritized what actions to take based specifically on a company's data. About Botify Founded in 2012, Botify built the interface and methodology that automatically connects enterprise websites with all the major search engines to drive sustainable and profitable results from the organic search channel. Botify's unified data model, prescriptive insights, and automated processes are used by hundreds of the world's largest enterprises spanning industries including e-commerce (REI, Macy's, Farfetch), e-travel (Expedia, TUI), media (Axel Springer, Conde Nast, Refinery29), marketplace/classifieds (eBay, RetailMeNot, Monster), and digital agencies (Merkle, iProspect, GroupM). A fast-growing, VC-backed, SaaS company with $27M in funding, Botify has offices in New York, Seattle, Paris, and London. For more information on Botify, visit www.botify.com . SOURCE Botify Related Links https://www.botify.com The young, sandy-haired boy wears a self-satisfied expression. His small hand is clenched as if he is in the middle of a triumphant fist pump. By now, Laney Griner is used to seeing the photo she took of her son in 2007 when he was 11 months old splashed across the Internet or featured in various advertisements. The childs name is Sam, but for years the world has known him as the popular Internet meme, Success Kid. Last week, Griner discovered her sons copyrighted image in the last place she ever expected to find it: a campaign fundraising ad for Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. King has repeatedly come under fire for inflammatory remarks and rebuked as racist, anti-Semitic or insulting to minorities. The ad superimposes Sams famous face over a blurred picture of the US Capitol alongside all-caps text that reads, FUND OUR MEMES!!! I was filled with rage. It made me so angry, the 44-year-old mother from Jacksonville, Florida, told The Washington Post on Monday. It was just kind of shocking. Griner, who identifies as really liberal, said she never gave permission to King or his staff to use Sams likeness, and is working with her legal team to make sure they dont continue. On Monday, Griners attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter, demanding that the congressman and his campaign take down the meme from all platforms associated with them and acknowledge the misuse in a public apology, among other requests. Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Show all 26 1 /26 Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Donald Trump Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Whistleblower Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Second Whistleblower The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rudy Giuliani Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Volodymyr Zelensky The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pence The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rick Perry Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Joe Biden The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Hunter Biden Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Barr The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pompeo The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Nancy Pelosi The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Adam Schiff Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Taylor The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal George Kent A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Marie Yovanovitch One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things. Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Alexander Vindman A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Jennifer Williams A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Kurt Volker The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Tim Morrison An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Gordon Sondland In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: Was there a quid pro quo? Yes, said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the presidents political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a great American a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Laura Cooper A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August undermining a Republican argument that there cant have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didnt know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Hale The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Fiona Hill Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was being involved in a domestic political errand. She said: I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up. And here we are. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Holmes The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line because his voice was so loud and distinctive and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear asking about the investigations and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS Stephen Rothschild, a lawyer for Griner, told The Post that as of late Monday, he had not received a response. The letter demands action by Wednesday. Otherwise, it says, Griner will sue King, his campaign and a conservative fundraising site that featured the ad for copyright infringement and violating Sams personality rights. King and his campaign did not respond to requests for comment. I dont want anyone thinking I was willing to accept any amount of money for them to use it, Griner said. Theres no amount of money I would take for that. . . . We stay away from negative attachments, and this is about as negative as you can get in my mind. Griner first learned of the ad Thursday. A reporter from Media Matters for America, the liberal media watchdog group, tweeted a photo of the campaigns Facebook page, which regularly posts memes disparaging Democrats and touting conservative talking points. The image showed a post linking to Kings WinRed page and asking for donations to make sure the memes keep flowing and the Lefties stay triggered. The mother took to social media to distance her family from the ad, slamming King as a vile man and the Republicans as a disgusting party. By late Monday, the ad was still on WinRed, but the Facebook post appeared to have been taken down. When you look at Steve Kings Facebook, its just one super offensive post after another, Griner told The Post. Recommended Fox News hosts clashing over Trump impeachment goes viral The last thing Griner said she wanted was for her son, now 13, to be associated with anything negative and so vitriolic, noting that the meme has largely been used in a positive context. Its just the antithesis of what the memes reputation is, she said. Success Kid started as a funny picture of young Sam at the beach near his home in Jacksonville. Griner said she had just gotten a new camera and decided to take her son out for a seaside photo shoot. But as she snapped away, she realised Sam was more interested in stuffing sand in his mouth than posing. The result? A photo of the boy staring straight into the camera, his lips pressed together with determination and a fistful of sand inches away from his face. Shortly after Griner uploaded the picture to the photo-sharing website Flickr, the Internet went to work. The earliest attempts to meme Sam paired the child with the text, I hate sand castles, according to KnowYourMeme.com, a website that tracks viral Internet content. By 2011, Sams image was turned into what became its most popular form, dubbed Success Kid for its frequent use to describe a situation that goes better than expected. Since Griner copyrighted the image in 2012, stalwart American companies such as Coca-Cola, General Mills and Microsoft have paid her to license it for advertisements, according to Mondays letter. Success Kid was even used by President Barack Obamas administration to promote immigration reform in 2013, after they obtained Griners permission. Im a big supporter of Obama, so that was good for me, she said. In the letter, Griners attorney alleged that King and his staff falsely implied by your unauthorised use that Success Kid is somehow associated with and supports your campaign and misrepresented to the general public that you are acting on behalf of and even have some proprietary interest in Success Kid. The majority of US consumers reject your political and other views, often vehemently, as they have a right to do, the letter said. Those people may be repelled by any association with your politics and campaign and, therefore, unwilling to purchase products from legitimate licensees of the Success Kid meme. Griner stressed that politics was a big part of why she was upset with the campaigns use of her photo. But she wouldnt be totally against other Republicans using it, she said. Its really about the message and the person whos using it, whos letting it be part of their brand, she said. Steve King is just not someone who should be using it. Hard to imagine any mother would want their child to be associated with that. The Washington Post The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday reduced the bail bond of the former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, from N1billion to N500 million. The judge also demanded Mr Maina present one surety in like sum. Mr Maina had on January 13 told the court that he could not meet the stringent conditions of the bail granted to him in November. In a ruling that lasted more than one hour on Tuesday, Justice Okon Abang held that, Wih the facts placed before the court, the application of the defendant ought not to be granted, but for the past adjournment the defendant is now calm and does not interfere with the proceedings unlike when he was arraigned. Justice Abang said, Im inclined reluctantly to vary the conditions of the defendant. He is admitted to bail in the sum of N500 million. Produce one surety who must be a Nigerian and a serving Senator, who must not be standing any criminal trial in court. READ ALSO: The judge said the Senator must have fully developed landed property in any of these areas: Kamtape, Central Business District, Wuse 2, Maitama and Asokoro. Justice Abang added that the surety shall come to court with the defendant at all adjourned dates and shall sign the register open for him and go back to his business. Mr Maina is accused of diverting N100 billion of pension funds, and is facing trial for alleged money laundering. He is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) on a 12-count charge, and is also accused of operating fictitious accounts and carrying out other fraudulent activities. The former PRTT chairman, who was in hiding for almost two years, was arrested by the State Security Service last year. The SSS handed over Mr Maina to the EFCC, which had declared him wanted for over a year. His son, Faisal, who was arrested alongside the father in September, is accused of operating an account he used to divert various sums of money, including N58 million. The two men were arraigned by the EFCC on October 25 on separate charges. They pleaded not guilty. by Zachary Hanshew | Tue, Jan 28th 5:32pm EST Jordan McRae has been ruled out of Tuesday's matchup with the Bucks due to an ankle sprain he sustained Sunday. (NBA Injury Report) The greatest shakeup in automobile history reordered the stock market this month when a minnow grew larger than a whale. Tesla, the 17-year-old Palo Alto maker of battery-powered, zero-emission vehicles, is now the second-largest automaker measured by market capitalisation, overtaking No. 2 Volkswagen with a value of $US101 billion ($150 billion). It wasn't long ago that no industry analyst would have predicted that the 82-year-old Wolfsburg, Germany-based seller of 30 times as many vehicles last year would become an also-ran to Tesla. Most of them remain unconvinced that Tesla is worth its price of $US558 a share and less than 32 per cent recommend buying the stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Elon Musk's 17-year-old company is now the second-largest automaker measured by market capitalisation. Credit:AP But Tesla customers and investors are making the case that the reliance on the internal combustion engine by Volkswagen - and by the 39 other major automakers committed to a commercial fossil fuel machine invented in the 19th century - is a dubious strategy. Tesla is worth $US131 billion less than No. 1 Toyota, but its sales growth has been more than nine times the industry average during the past decade and 832 times Toyota's 25 per cent appreciation since Tesla became a public company in June 2010 with an initial valuation of $US2 billion. It opened its largest service centre in Germany last year and agreed in December to build its first European car factory, in the state of Brandenburg. All of which explains why Tesla has been poised to catch Volkswagen in the stock market since 2014. That's when US regulators confirmed that Volkswagen equipped more than 10 million vehicles worldwide with software to defeat emissions tests, an existential moment for the industry. The global sales leader in effect revealed that growth depended on making cleaner vehicles, and that it would cheat if necessary to stay ahead. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Pakistan has lost three wars against India, whose armed forces would need not more than a week to 10 days to defeat the neighbouring country in case of another war. Speaking at the National Cadet Corps (NCC) rally here, Modi said Pakistan has waged a proxy war against India in Jammu and Kashmir for decades and killed thousands of people and security personnel but previous governments did not give the armed forces the permission to launch operations across the border. Many speeches were given but when our armed forces sought permission to take action, they were refused. But today the country is moving forward with yuva soch (youthful thinking). So, it carries out surgical strikes and airstrikes to teach terrorists a lesson in their own backyard, the PM said during his 45-minute speech. He was referring to targeted operations against terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) in September 2016 and the Indian Air Forces air strikes against terror bases in Pakistans Balakot last February both swift actions taken after Indian soldiers and paramilitary personnel were killed in suicide attacks in Kashmir. Modi said the two strikes led to peace not only in J&K but also in other parts of the country where no terror strikes had taken place. Terrorism has been contained to a great extent, he said. India will mark the first anniversary of the air strikes on February 26. The strikes on terror bases of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were Indias response to last years Pulwama suicide attack in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed. Pakistans behaviour has changed after the two strikes as the neighbour realised that the Indian political establishment would not shy away from ordering cross-border operations in response to terror attacks, two senior military officers said asking not to be named. Cross-border operations have been carried out several times in PoK, but the strikes of September 2016 and February 2019 were different because the political leadership took ownership of the action and announced Indias muscular military response to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism to the world. Also, the scale of the two operations, especially the airstrikes, was bigger than any previous raid. On January 11, army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said if the government ordered his force to seize control of PoK, it would act on those directions. As far as PoK is concerned, there was a parliamentary resolution many years ago that the whole of erstwhile J&K is a part of India. If Parliament wants that area should be ours at some stage and if we get such orders, we will definitely act on those directions, he said. After the February 2019 strike, Pakistan said India committed uncalled for aggression, and vowed to respond at the time and place of its choosing. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said his country would respond to Indias move that, he alleged, put regional stability at stake. Amid escalating tensions, Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa said back then that no one can make his country budge through the use of threat or use of force. Former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General BS Jaswal (retd) said the Indian military was capable of breaking the will of Pakistan to fight against us beyond eight to 10 days. He said the cross-border operations in 2016 and 2019 had a strategic effect in sending a strong message that India retains the will and has the capability to carry out strikes on Pakistans territory whenever required. Talking about last years scrapping of Article 370 that granted special status to J&K, the PM said the article was introduced as a temporary provision but for decades no government showed the courage to remove it. People were guided by self interest, political gains and vote bank politics. . The PM said Kashmir is the crown of India and solving the regions decades-old problems was the governments responsibility and it had done so. Would we give Indias youth a Kashmir where terrorism thrived, where innocents were killed, where the Tricolour was insulted and the government was a silent spectator? No, never, the PM said. Speaking at another function, defence minister Rajnath Singh asserted that India was fully capable of giving a firm response to cross-border terrorism, and the strikes in 2016 and 2019 demonstrated the countrys firm resolve to defeat terrorism. Addressing the inaugural session of the 12th South Asian Conference at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, Singh reiterated the governments stand that talks and terror could not go together and asked Pakistan to take steps against terror groups responsible for launching attacks on India from its soil. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Rachel V Rose, JD, MBA Distinguished Speaker of Healthcare Compliance Symposium 2020 This presentation explores the potential legal exposure that companies have and ways to mitigate risk through compliance. Rachel V. Rose, JD, MBA, a principal with Rachel V. Rose Attorney at Law, P.L.L.C. in Houston, Texas will serve as the Distinguished Speaker at the 3rd Annual Healthcare Compliance Symposium co-hosted by Delaware Law School and First Healthcare Compliance. Ms. Rose has a unique background, having worked in many different facets of healthcare, securities and international law and business throughout her career. Her practice focuses on a variety of cybersecurity, health care, and securities law issues related to industry compliance and transactional work, as well as representing plaintiffs in Dodd-Frank/False Claims Act whistleblower claims, which remain under seal. Ms. Rose holds an MBA with minors in healthcare and entrepreneurship from Vanderbilt University, and a law degree from Stetson University College of Law, where she graduated with various honors, including the National Scribes Award and The William F. Blews Pro Bono Service Award. Ms. Rose is licensed in Texas and is an Affiliated Member with the Baylor College of Medicines Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, where she teaches bioethics. Currently, she is on the Executive Committee of the Federal Bar Associations Qui Tam Section and the Chair of the Government Relations Committee, the co-editor of the American Health Lawyers Associations Enterprise Risk Management Handbook for Healthcare Entities (2nd Edition), as well as a co-author of the book The ABCs of ACOs and What Are International HIPAA Considerations? She has been named consecutively to the Texas Bar College, the National Women Trial Lawyers Associations Top 25, the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 and Houstonia Magazines Top Lawyers for healthcare. In 2019, Ms. Rose was selected as First Healthcare Compliance Presenter of the Year for the popular webinar HIPAA and Health Apps. Biometrics, whether in relation to healthcare or employment law, are becoming more of an issue. The intersection between laws such as HIPAA and BIPA and biometrics cannot be ignored because the risk of non-compliance can be costly. This presentation explores the potential legal exposure that companies have and ways to mitigate risk through compliance. The Healthcare Compliance Symposium is a joint effort of Delaware Law School and First Healthcare Compliance to provide resources for professionals serving in the growing field of healthcare compliance. The full-day event will be held on April 23rd, 2020 at Widener University Delaware Law School- Ruby R. Vale Moot Courtroom and will include continental breakfast, lunch, and multiple opportunities for continuing education credits and CLE. Educational sessions will focus on various topics including ethics and patient advocacy, whistleblowers, avoiding fraud, telemedicine, background checks and more. Registration is available to the public with discounted pricing available until March 23, 2020. About Delaware Law School: Widener University is a metropolitan university that connects curricula to social issues through civic engagement. Dynamic teaching, active scholarship, personal attention, applied leadership, and experiential learning are key components of the Widener experience. Delaware Law School is the First States only law school, providing a Juris doctor, legal graduate and paralegal degree programs with an emphasis on developing legal professionals who reflect the Delaware Way and its traditions of civility, integrity and mutual respect. The school offers signature programs in corporate and business law, environmental law, family health law and policy, trial advocacy, and dignity rights. About First Healthcare Compliance: Founded in 2012 by a nurse attorney, the First Healthcare Compliance software solution creates confidence among compliance professionals through education, resources, and support in the areas of HIPAA, OSHA, human resources compliance, and fraud waste and abuse laws. Serving clients across the United States, the companys evolving platform provides real-time insight for board reporting and across multiple locations. For more information please visit https://1sthcc.com/ Kelowna-Lake Country MP Tracy Gray called on the federal government to help B.C.'s struggling forest industry. Gray, the Conservative Interprovincial Trade Critic, rose in the House of Commons Monday, asking the Trudeau government to negotiate a softwood lumber agreement. She told the house 217 people lost their jobs when Kelowna's Tolko operation officially shut its doors earlier this month. "This brings the total jobs lost in the forestry sector in British Columbia alone to 4,000," she said. "These are well paying jobs that support families in our community." Gray said the message she gets from those in the industry is that costs and regulations associated with both senior levels of government are making it difficult to operate. "There is not a lack of renewable resources." Over the years, Canada has filed numerous trade complaints against the United States over softwood lumber, and won. "However, when our local companies pay tariffs up front, it adds substantially to their immediate costs. "The federal government needs to negotiate a softwood lumber agreement to end this dispute, give certainty to the industry and get people back to work." New York, Jan 29 : US President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled his Middle East peace plan that backs Israel's continued control of territories and East Jerusalem that are in dispute with Palestinians, who boycotted the announcement. Even before the plan crafted under the guidance of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner over three years was unveiled, Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had rejected it Despite Trumps lure of a $50 billion for the Palestine state. The plan was unveiled at the White House about an hour before the Senate was to resume the trial of Trump. He was accompanied by another leader under a cloud, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing a reelection while accused of corruption, and they both expect a boost among their bases from its announcement. Benny Gantz, who is challenging Netanyahu for the prime ministership, was consulted on the plan and has met with Trump about it. But the meeting was boycotted by Abbas, who and other Palestinian leaders had no input into the plan. Abbas was reported by Israeli media to be calling for a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and to have given support to protests against the plan. Unlike earlier American diplomacy to find peace in Middle East, which tried to make the Palestinians and the Israelis to negotiate, the Kushner project is a unilateral plan presented as a fait accompli. The core of the plan is that Israel would continue to have control of all of Jerusalem and keep it as its capital and will not be required to remove the settlements built on the West Bank by Israeli settlers. The West Bank of the Jordan River and East Jerusalem that had been under the control of Jordan fell to Israel during the 1967 war. Israel will also have general oversight of the territories now controlled by the Palestine Authority, that has been recognised as a nation by almost 140 countries including India. A map, "Vision for Peace: Conceptual Map," that Trump tweeted showed scattered Palestinian enclaves with Israeli settlements in their midst. "My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two-state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood into security," Trump declared. Appealing to Abbas, Trump said that if chose "the path to peace, America and many other countries, we will be there." The future of the plan will depend on the stand of Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, and if the plan can be made flexible. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of budget airline, reported a 168 percent year-on-year growth in Q3FY20 profit at Rs 496 crore on revenue of Rs 9,931.7 crore that grew by 25.5 percent YoY. At operating level, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rent cost (EBITDAR) grew by 17.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,960.7 crore in quarter ended December 2019. Here are key highlights from InterGlobe Aviation's conference call by Narnolia Financial Advisors: Management Participants: Ronojoy Dutta - CEO, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer - President and COO In Q3FY20, IndiGo's revenue from operations grew at 25.5 percent (YoY) from Rs 7,916.2 to Rs 9,931.7 crore. Total expenses grew at 21.5 percent (YoY) from Rs 8,046.9 to Rs 9,773.6 crores and profit after tax registered growth of 167.8 percent (YoY) from Rs 185.1 to Rs 495.9 crore. ASK (billion) (Available Seat Kilometers) increased by 19.3 percent YoY to 25.8. RASK (INR) (Revenue Available Seat Kilometer) increased by 5.6 percent YoY to 3.91. For All Earnings Related News - Click Here CASK (INR) (Cost per Available Seat Kilometer) increased by 2.1 percent YoY to 3.69. IndiGo's CASK increased even after decline in aircraft fuel expenses because of sharp jump in aircraft repair and maintenance expenses arising from A320 neo engine. Revenue from Ancillary activities (Food & Beverages) increased by 29 percent YoY. IndiGo operates 257 fleets, out of 257 (29 are owned/finance lease and 228 are on operating lease). Out of 257 fleet (96 fleets are A320 neo, 126 A320 ceo, 10 A321 neo and 25 ATR). Out of 96 A320 neo airplanes, 60 percent of planes engines are replaced and before end of May-20, rest of planes engines will be replaced. IndiGo has agreement with Airbus and Pratt & Whitney for compensation if there are any issues in engines. Company has entered into code sharing agreement with Qatar Airways to expand its business operations. Company has guided for 20 percent increase in capacity in FY21, at the start of FY20, company had guided for 25 percent capacity addition. Growth rate is lowered due to engine issue in A320 neo and delay in getting aircraft from Airbus. At present less than 1 percent of IndiGo's revenue comes from China operations, but if situation is not controlled it will impact aviation industry growth negatively. The White House has made it clear to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that it expects him to hold off on any immediate unilateral steps like annexing parts of the West Bank after President Trump's peace plan is presented later today, three Israeli and U.S. sources briefed on the matter tell me. Why it matters: Netanyahu hoped to get a green light from the White House to begin annexations in the West Bank, something that would mobilize his base ahead of the March 2 elections. State of play: Netanyahu is joining Trump for the unveiling of the plan, which is supported by both him and his primary rival, Benny Gantz. The Palestinians boycotted the process and have preemptively rejected the plan. Behind the scenes: Israeli and U.S. sources tell me the White House position was also conveyed to Gantz, who met President Trump yesterday. Gantz told Trump he supports the plan but thinks it should be implemented only after Israel's election. There are several reasons for the White House position: The White House wants to get public support for its plan from Arab states, several of which have already told the White House they'll call it "a good start", according to Arab officials. Annexations could change that equation. The White House knows the Palestinians will reject the peace plan immediately, but wants to leave them space to reconsider if Trump wins a second term. Annexation by Israel could shut the door permanently. King Abdullah of Jordan, whose statements on the plan will be closely watched, vehemently objects Israeli annexations. The White House refrained from commenting. 28 January 2020 ANANDA DEVELOPMENTS PLC ("Ananda" or the "Company") CORPORATE UDPATE The Directors of Ananda are pleased to provide the following update to shareholders. HAPAC New hapacsachet making machine In its negotiations with companies interested in acquiring the rights to the hapac technology, Liberty Herbal Technologies Limited ("LHT") became aware that its large capacity hapac sachet making machine, with an output of 4,000 sachets per hour at a capital cost of approximately USD70,000, was overly productive for relatively small scale trials. Therefore, in order to run more efficient trials with potential customers, LHT has developed a machine which is capable of lower volume, lower cost, sachet production, with an output of 250 hapac sachets per hour. It is a tabletop system and works in a similar way to the rolling machine used to mechanise the creation of pre-rolled cannabis products. Second generation vaping device LHT has developed a second-generation vaping device to make it easier and simpler to load the hapac sachet. This second-generation vaping device has a simple semi-automatic filling mechanism which allows the hapac sachet to be inserted simply and easily, an especially important feature for sufferers of peripheral neuropathic pain who have limited dexterity. Please visit http://www.anandadevelopments.com/hapac-liberty-herbal-technologies/ for an image and video of the second generation vaping device in action. Ananda is a 15% shareholder in LHT and Melissa Sturgess, Chief Executive Officer of Ananda, is a Director of LHT. Italy Update LHT advises that sales of hap devices and hapac sachets recommenced in November 2019, following the removal of CBD products from shelves in Italy in July 2019. CBD products were removed to ensure they complied with all relevant laws and pending a hearing in the Parma Court. LHT maintained that its products complied with all relevant laws and hence sales have recommenced following this hearing. In November 2019, 41 hap inhalers and 668 hapac sachets were sold and in December 2019, 29 inhalers and 432 sachets were sold. LHT continues to monitor feedback from customers to improve the hap and hapac offering. It is usual when launching a new product to continue to adapt the offering to meet market requirements and this process will continue. LICENCE APPLICATION TO GROW >0.2% THC CANNABIS Liaison with Home Office DJT Plants Limited ("DJT Plants") is in communication with the Home Office in relation to its application to grow >0.2% THC cannabis. DJT Plants has responded to a series of follow up questions regarding its proposed research plans and expects further engagement once these have been reviewed. Signing of agreements The Directors are pleased to announce that Ananda has signed the formal agreements detailing the economic and management relationship between the Company, JE Piccaver & Co (Gedney Marsh) Limited ("JEPCO") and Anglia Salads Limited, its partners who previously cultivated cannabis under a >0.2% THC licence. These arrangements were referenced in the circular to shareholders dated 24 May 2019. DJT Plants is a wholly owned subsidiary of DJT Group Limited, a joint venture company owned as to 50% by Ananda (through its subsidiary Tiamat Agriculture Limited) and 50% by Anglia Salads Limited. On 14 October 2019, DJT Plants formally submitted its licence application, and supporting documents, to grow >0.2% THC cannabis to the Drugs and Firearms Licencing Unit (DFLU) of the Home Office. COMPANY FINANCING A loan of 30,000, bearing interest at a rate of 10% per annum, has been agreed between the Company and Charles W. Morgan, Executive Chairman of the Company, to fund Ananda's expenses. This arrangement is reviewed by the Board on a monthly basis. -Ends- The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. ANANDA DEVELOPMENTS PLC Chief Executive Officer Melissa Sturgess Investor Relations Jeremy Sturgess-Smith +44 (0)7717 573 235 ir@anandadevelopments.com PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMTED Corporate Finance Mark Anwyl Allie Feuerlein Corporate Broking Lucy Williams Duncan Vasey +44 (0)20 7469 0930 STANFORD CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED Joint Corporate Broker John Howes Patrick Claridge +44 (0)20 3815 8880 CELICOURT COMMUNICATIONS Mark Antelme Ollie Mills +44 (0)20 7520 9266 Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. An American woman says she was 'humiliated' when United Airlines staff nearly banned her from a flight, claiming that her clothes were inappropriate. Andrea Worldwide was boarding a flight from Denver, Colorado to Newark, New Jersey on January 13 when a male employee stopped her from getting on the plane, she shared on Facebook. She was eventually told that her shirt was too low-cut and only after that humiliation did employees change their minds and let her on the plane. Scroll down for video Low-cut: An American woman says she was 'humiliated' when United Airlines staff nearly banned her from a flight, claiming that her clothes were inappropriate Outfit: She was stopped from boarding, and staff indicated her top was inappropriate 'I am a professional woman, who employs hundreds of other young professional women, which is why I have decided to take a stand and speak out about the unacceptable behavior of United Airlines staff,' Andrea wrote on Facebook, while sharing photos of her outfit. 'I didnt want to post this, but given the lack of attention to this issue by United, I am given no other choice. ' Andrea went on to reveal to the CBS Denver affiliate that she regularly travels to see her long-distance boyfriend in Puerto Rico and has even earned special member status for how many miles she's clocked with the airline. She usually dresses the same way, and for this flight wore a black top with a low-cut neckline, which showed a bit of her bralette underneath. Over that, Andrea was also wearing a cardigan and a scarf, which easily could have been adjusted to cover her chest. 'For those wondering what ELSE I had on-as friends and family members I contacted did ask me right away-I was also wearing an oversized scarf, a knee-length cardigan, leggings and sneakers,' she explained on social media. But as she was trying to board the plane, an employee had her step aside. 'Last week I was denied boarding onto my flight out of Denver by a male United gate agent,' she wrote. 'At first I thought it was because I had a ripped ticket, but I later learned that it was because of what I was wearing.' Embarrassed: Andrea Worldwide was boarding a flight from Denver, Colorado to Newark, New Jersey on January 13 and says she was 'humiliated' Angry: She was eventually allowed to board, but she turned down a $200 voucher and wants to make sure other women don't experience the same thing Speaking to CBS, she then recalled: 'I didnt get a reason at first, and then there was a little bit of shuffling going on with the other employees.' She was eventually told that her low-cut shirt was problematic, but only after several members of staff had made opposing comments about her ensemble. 'After about 20 minutes, a female supervisor (Monica) arrived and when I asked her for more information about what was going on and why this was happening, she did apologize but also commented to me that my shirt was in fact "too revealing", which means Uniteds male gate agent felt it was necessary to protect the other passengers from me, or he wanted me to stick around just a little longer so he could stare at me for his own pleasureWho knows!' she wrote. Ultimately, however, she was allowed to get on the plane, and was also offered a $100 travel voucher, which she refused, even when that was seemingly doubled by staff members. 'Im completely humiliated, embarrassed, confused. I feel like all eyes are on me,' she said. 'Two hundred dollars doesnt even compare to the humiliation that I faced,' she said. 'If another female has to face this, Id rather get the word out and maybe theyll choose a different airline.' The airline told CBS4 that they are speaking to Andrea directly about the problem. 'At United, our goal is for our customers to feel welcome and have a comfortable journey. We are reaching out to our customer to better understand what happened,' said the statement. Hastens chequered figurative mark when it tried (and failed) to register a figurative mark consisting of a chequered gingham pattern. for trade mark registration. This was the challenge that Hastens faced When it comes to figurative marks, distinctiveness very often plays a key role in determining whether such a mark is eligible Background On 16 December 2016, Hastens Sangar AB (a Swedish manufacturer specialising in beds, bedlinen, pillows and lifestyle accessories) filed an application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in respect of the pictured mark. Registration was sought for the following goods and services: Class 20: Furniture, including beds, bed frames and bedroom furniture; mattresses, spring mattresses, overlay mattress; pillows and down pillows; Class 24: Woven textiles, textile products, not included in other classes; bed linen; down quilts; Class 25: Clothing; footwear; headgear; Class 35: Marketing, commercial information related to furniture, home furnishings and interior decoration products, textile products, bed linen, bed covers, clothing, footwear and headgear and toys. Regulation 2017/1001. The decision was appealed, but without success. Th EUIPO examiner rejected the application in 2018 in accordance with Article 7(1)(b) of. The decision was appealed, but without success. Further to an to appeal the General Court, Hastens Sangars main point of contention was the alleged errors of assessment made by the EUIPO Second Board of Appeal in respect of the alleged lack of distinctive character of the mark applied for. Judgment EU case law has provided guidance on how distinctiveness is to be assessed: (1) by reference to the goods or services in respect of which registration has been applied for; and (2) by reference to the relevant publics perception of the mark. The General Court dealt with each of these factors in turn. Perception of the trade mark applied for Starting from the perception of the relevant public (collectively agreed to be the general public of the EU), the Court emphasised the need to assess whether the mark applied for was unrelated to the appearance of the goods. It was apparent that the classes of goods and services applied for could be made from fabric bearing the pattern or contain fabric parts which might represent or bear the pattern constituting the mark applied for. Louis Vuitton Malletier v OHIM - Nanu-Nana (T-359/12 and T-360/12 (IPKat analysis here), concerning the representation of Vuitton's chequerboard pattern. As affirmed in that case (and in accordance with earlier case law), the more closely the shape for which registration is sought resembles the shape most likely to be taken by the goods in question, the greater the likelihood of the shape being devoid of distinctive character is. Whilst that case law had been developed in relation to 3D trade marks consisting of appearance the goods themselves, the Louis Vuitton case highlighted that it would equally apply to figurative marks consisting of a 2D representation of that product. As such, a figurative mark consisting of a part of the shape (or characteristic) of a product could not be considered unrelated to the appearance of the goods covered by the mark. The Court drew onandIPKat analysis), concerning the representation of Vuitton's chequerboard pattern. As affirmed in that case (and in accordance with earlier case law), the more closely the shape for which registration is sought resembles the shape most likely to be taken by the goods in question, the greater the likelihood of the shape being devoid of distinctive character is. Whilst that case law had been developed in relation to 3D trade marks consisting of appearance the goods themselves, thecase highlighted that it would equally apply to figurative marks consisting of a 2D representation of that product. As such, a figurative mark consisting of a part of the shape (or characteristic) of a product could not be considered unrelated to the appearance of the goods covered by the mark. Did you remember to specify the scope of your trade mark application? This could not be refuted by Hastens, since the mark was not limited in scope. Whilst it claimed that the mark's application concerned usage as a logo on the applicant's marketing materials and on labels attached to its products, the application as it was filed did not limit its usage to such: it would not prevent it from being used, for example, as a pattern applied to the surface of the goods in question. The visible woven structure of the mark (alluding to potential use as a pattern for fabric) and its simple geometric pattern would also be taken into account. The significant difference between the mark applied for and the norm or customs of the sector in question In order to allow consumers to identify the sign as originating from a certain undertaking, the General Court took into consideration several factors. Since the colours used in the mark would be perceived as being used for aesthetic purposes, it would not be sufficient on its own to distinguish the goods covered by the mark from those of other undertakings. The lack of notable variation in its representation also suggested that it would not be understood as an indication of commercial origin. Hastens argued that the mark was unique since "no other manufacturer in that sector us[ed] similar signs as a logo or as a label attached to its products". However, as mentioned above, the lack of limitation in the scope of the mark applied for meant this argument was ineffective. The Court also stressed the importance of considering the norms and customs of the sector as a whole, as the latter assessment factor of distinctiveness required the consideration of the actual market situation, as the mark would ultimately need to show that it originated from a specific undertaking, and could be distinguished from others on that basis. As such, the Court concluded that the Board of Appeal was fully entitled to come to the conclusion that the mark applied for was devoid of any distinctive character for all of the goods and services applied for, for the purposes of Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation 2017/1001. Comment It is interesting to see Hastens Sangar's mark back on the IP scene, this time in relation to a different type of IP protection. Hastens Sangar previously unsuccessfully applied to the US Copyright Office for protection of a very similar mark , referred to as a repeating 2-dimensional fabric pattern. It therefore serves as a good example of how protection can be sought for (virtually) the same mark in various ways, yet still fail to do so (due to a lack of distinctiveness or a lack of originality). The following updates are from Jan. 28. Click here for updates from Jan. 29. At Least 3 Foreigners Infected in China At least three foreignerstwo from Australia and one from Pakistanhave contracted the coronavirus in the southern province of Guangdong, provincial authorities said, according to the South China Morning Post. Deputy head of the Guangdong Health Commission Chen Zhusheng said on Jan. 29 that all three were in stable condition but it was unknown how they were infected. The Pakistani was a student studying in Wuhan, Chen said, but did not provide details of the Australians. The Pakistani student arrived in the southern city of Shenzhen on Jan. 21 and then the city Guangzhou on Jan. 24, before showing symptoms. Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed four Pakistani students in China had contracted the virus. Pakistans special assistant to the prime minister on health Zafar Mirza said their conditions were better now at a Wednesday press conference, local media reported. The confirmation came after a plea from a group of Pakistani students in China to be evacuated from the virus-stricken country, according to local media. Mirza said there are around 500 Pakistani students studying at different universities in Wuhan. British, Japanese Airliners Suspend Flights to China British Airways has suspended all direct flights to and from China for January and February, the Daily Mail reported. Prior to the suspension, the UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issued a press release on Jan. 28, cautioning its citizens against all but essential travel to China. Japanese airliner All Nippon Airways announced on Jan. 29 that it will extend the suspension of all flights to Wuhan until the end of February, according to local English-language media The Japan Times. The extension followed a Jan. 24 announcement to suspend all flights to Wuhan for January. Taiwan Introduces Quarantine Measures to Protect Military Personnel Yen Teh-fa, Taiwans national defense minister, held a teleconference with high-level military officials from the island on Jan. 29 where he emphasized the importance of preventing the spread of the virus to protect the army, Taiwans government-run Central News Agency reported. Yen urged officials from different departments to investigate the activities of their personnel over the Lunar New Year holiday. Those found to have come in contact with friends and relatives from China during the holiday should be placed in quarantine at home for 14 days, he said. US Plane from Wuhan Arrives at Alaska to Refuel A chartered plane from Wuhan carrying about 200 Americans had a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska, CNN reported. The plane, chartered by the U.S. State Department, was originally destined for Ontario International Airport in California. However, the final destination was changed to March Air Reserve Base, located in Riverside County, California. On Jan. 23, the State Department updated the language of its travel advisory to Level 4, urging people not to travel to Hubei Province. Australia Reports Sixth Case of Coronavirus The sixth case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Australia after a man in his 60s in Victoria was tested positive for the virus, local broadcaster 9News reported, citing local health authorities. This marks the second confirmed case in Victoria. The man was recently in Wuhan and became unwell on Jan. 23, more than two days after he returned to Australia. United Arab Emirates Reports First Case of Coronavirus The United Arab Emirates announced its first case of the Coronavirus, involving members of a family who were recently in Wuhan, Emirates News Agency reported, citing UAEs Ministry of Health and Prevention. The ministry announced in a statement that those infected are under medical observation, and are in stable condition. India and the Philippines Prepare Evacuation For Citizens in China Indias flag carrier Air India has prepared a 423-seat plane ready in Mumbai. As of Jan. 28, the plane was waiting for approval from the countrys external affairs and health ministries to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan, according to local media PTI. Citing an unnamed official source, the news outlet reported that about 250 Indians were waiting to be evacuated in Wuhan. About 50 Filipinos were waiting to be flown out of Wuhan, said Eduardo Menez, assistant secretary of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, on Jan. 29, local media Manila Bulletin reported. The Phillippine government announced on the same day that two chartered flights are on standby, according to local media PNA. 206 Japanese Arrive in Tokyo from Wuhan, 4 Hospitalized Local media NHK reported that 206 Japanese arrived at Tokyos Haneda Airport on Jan. 29, flying in from Wuhan in a Japanese government-chartered plane. The same plane also brought to Wuhan some relief supplies, including 15,000 masks, 50,000 pairs of gloves, and 8,000 protective glasses, according to AFP. Four of the 206 were subsequently hospitalized for symptoms of fever and cough. The four are a woman in her 50s and three men aged in their 30s to 50s, The Associated Press reported. They were taken to a Tokyo hospital on separate ambulance vehicles for treatment and further medical checks. Toshimitsu Motegi, Japans foreign minister, said on Jan. 28 that multiple flights will be arranged to lift about 650 Japanese who asked to return home, local media Mainichi reported. Australia Set to Lift Citizens in Hubei to Christmas Island Australias flag carrier Qantas is set to fly into Wuhan to evacuate Australians from the region after the countrys national security committee signed off on the plan on Jan. 29, WAtoday reported. The plane will carry passengers to Christmas Island, which is located in the Indian Ocean and is home to an immigration detention center. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that 600 Australians in Hubei had registered with the Australian embassy in China, WAtoday reported. New Zealands government has also asked Australia to join the evacuation operation to evacuate its citizens out of Wuhan. EU To Send Two Planes to Bring Citizens Out of Wuhan European Commission announced it will send two planes to evacuate its citizens out of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus. According to a press release published on Jan. 28, the first plane is scheduled to leave France in the morning of Jan. 29, and the second plane will leave later this week. The first plane, sent at the request of France, will carry about 250 French citizens. The second plane will carry over 100 EU citizens from other countries. In France, there are four confirmed cases of coronavirus. According to AFP, the latest case involved a Chinese tourist from Hubei, was in a serious condition in a Paris hospital. Plane Carrying About 240 US Citizens to Arrive in Ontario A plane that took off from Wuhan carrying 240 U.S. passengers is scheduled to arrive at the Ontario International Airport in California at 9 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Jan. 29, the Daily Mail reported. Among the 240 passengers are U.S. diplomats and nine children, according to local media KTLA. They will be screened for coronavirus upon arrival and could be placed in temporary living quarters at the airport for up to two weeks, David Wert, a public information officer for San Bernardino County, said in a statement. The statement explained that these passengers will remain far removed from the passenger terminals and other public areas. Three New Cases Confirmed in Malaysia, Bringing Total to Seven Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Malaysias health director-general, announced on Jan. 29 that three more people are infected by coronavirus, bringing the total to seven in the country, local media The Star reported. He noted that all seven cases are Chinese nationals. One of the new cases involved in a mother of two children, both of whom tested positive earlier. The mother was overseeing them at a local hospital isolation ward. The other two cases are a 4-year-old girl and a 52-year-old man. Germany Reports 3 More Cases of Coronavirus Germany reported three new cases of coronavirus late Tuesday. Citing the Ministry of Health in Munich, German magazine Der Spiegel reported that the three new cases, all in the state of Bavaria, are connected to the first case in the country. The first case involves a 33-year-old man who lives near Starnberg, just south of Munich. His case is also the first known case outside of China where the infection has spread between people who arent related. The Bavarian Ministry of Health in Munich said in a press release late Monday night that the patient is in a good clinical condition and is being monitored in isolation. The man most likely caught the coronavirus from a work colleague; he and the colleague traveled together to a company training held in Bavaria last week. According to Der Spiegel, the three newly-infected patients are also employees of the same company in Starnberg, Bavaria where the first man is employed. 40 colleagues of the four coronavirus-infected patients will also be tested for the virus. Travel Restrictions Possible Restricting travel is a possible future response to the evolving coronavirus outbreak, Health Secretary Alex Azar told reporters on Jan. 28. Its important to not take anything off the table with a rapidly emerging novel infectious disease, Azar said. All steps have to be on the table, including travel restrictions. There were no restrictions announced at the press conference. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Department have advised Americans against nonessential travel to China. Passengers wear masks to protect against the spread of the Coronavirus as they arrive at the Los Angeles International Airport, California, on Jan. 22, 2020. (Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images) CDC Tells Americans Not to Travel to China Americans should avoid all nonessential travel to China, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an statement published on Jan. 28. The agency raised its level 3 warning for the entirety of China after previously advising only against traveling to Wuhan, where the virus originated. The new coronavirus can spread between people, the agency emphasized. Sustained person-to-person community spread with this virus is reportedly occurring in China, it said. A number of travel-associated cases of 2019-nCoV infection also have been identified in other locations, including the United States. The warning came after the State Department urged Americans to consider not traveling to China. Employees in scrubs talk next to the ambulance entrance at Providence Regional Medical Center after a spokesman from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a traveler from China has been the first person in the United States to be diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus, in Everett, Washington, on Jan. 21, 2020. (Lindsey Wasson/Reuters) Human-to-Human Transmissions Reported in Japan, Taiwan Human-to-human transmissions were confirmed in two more places after German authorities said the first confirmed case in the country was transmitted by a Chinese woman to her male colleague. Health officials in Japan and Taiwan said new cases came from human-to-human transmission. The new patient in Japan, a male bus driver in his 60s, drove tour groups that included people from Wuhan, officials said, the Japan Times reported. The bus driver did not travel to China himself but was infected by one of the tourists. Taiwans Central Epidemic Command Center, meanwhile, said that the eighth confirmed coronavirus case in the country was the first case of transmission on the island. The patient, a man in his 50s from central Taiwan, was infected by his wife after she returned from a work trip to China, the center said. Taiwanese authorities are now telling people not to travel to any parts of China bar Hong Kong and Macau after previously only warning against going to Hubei Province, which includes Wuhan. Passengers wearing protective facemasks commute on a subway train in Tokyo on Jan. 28, 2020. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images) Japan Sends Charter Plane to Virus-Hit Wuhan Japan has sent a plane to evacuate its citizens from virus-hit Wuhan in China on Tuesday, according to the Japanese foreign minister Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters Tuesday that the chartered plane will also provide protective suits and masks to Wuhan before carrying about 200 people to Tokyo on Wednesday morning. Japan decided to provide emergency relief goods through the Japan International Cooperation Agency to China in response to a request to deal with the outbreak, according to the foreign ministrys website. Motegi said approximately 650 Japanese nationals have expressed a desire to return to Japan. Tokyo will make arrangements to provide more chartered flights to Wuhan to evacuate nationals. Read more here Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) speaks with people at a supermarket in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province on Jan. 27, 2020. (Li Tao/Xinhua via AP) Details About the First Known Super Spreader of Wuhan Pneumonia Details were finally made public about the first known super spreader of the Wuhan coronavirus. Zhao Junshi, 69, underwent surgery to remove a pituitary tumor at Wuhan Union Hospitals neurosurgery department on Jan. 7. No one was aware that he had Wuhan pneumonia. On Jan. 11, he suddenly developed a fever. CT scanning indicated infection in both lungs. The doctor in charge immediately reported Zhaos case to the contagious diseases department, asking experts from the department to help diagnose the cause of the illness. Doctors concluded that Zhao was infected with an unknown type of pneumonia. There was no kit to test for Wuhan pneumonia yet. The next day, Zhaos condition became very serious. His chest scan showed multiple lung shadows. Then, some of the medical personnel taking care of him developed a fever, one after another. Thats when Zhao was put in an isolation ward. On Jan. 15, Zhao was confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus, and transferred to Wuhans Jinyintan Hospital, a contagious diseases facility. The affected medical staff were also sent to Union Hospital for isolation and treatment. Read more here. German Coronavirus Patient Got Virus From Human Transmission German health officials said the countrys first coronavirus patient got the virus through human transmission. The 33-year-old man, who lives near Starnberg, just south of Munich, caught the Wuhan coronavirus from a work colleague. They traveled together to a company training in the state of Bavaria last week. The colleague, a woman from Shanghai, started to feel sick on the flight home on Jan. 23, Andreas Zapf, head of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, said at a Jan. 28 press conference, reported Deutsche Welle. The woman had been visited in Shanghai recently by her parents, who live in the Wuhan area. The man caught the coronavirus from the woman in what appears to be the first known case outside of China of the infection spreading between people who arent related. Multiple cases in different countries have cropped up from transmission between family members, including a man in Singapore who flew in from China and infected his son. China Underreporting True Scale of Virus Outbreak: Expert The Chinese regime is likely underreporting the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a Harvard epidemiologist. I would say there is a very high pandemic risk, said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist at Harvard University, citing conclusions in a Chinese CDC report. Guangdongs Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 25 put the reproduction number of the virus at 2.9, saying the disease may have a higher pandemic risk than SARSa large outbreak originating from southern China from 2002 to 2003, which officially killed about 800 worldwide. Feigl-Ding said the risk was exacerbated as a result of asymptomatic patients spreading the virus unknowingly. Read more here. Wuhan Mayor Admits Wrongdoing, Blames Beijing The mayor of Wuhan city, ground zero for the new coronavirus outbreak, sat down for a rare television interview in which he indirectly called out his higher-ups for mismanaging the crisis. During a news program that aired on state broadcaster CCTV on Jan. 27, Zhou Xianwang said that the central government made the decision to withhold information about the outbreak. He admitted that the city government did not publish information in time, and failed to properly contain the virus. Disclosures about the outbreak were not timely As the leader of a local government, I could only publish information after I receive permission from the authorities [central government], Zhou said during the interview. Read more here. Nicole Hao, Eva Fu, Olivia Li, Isabel Van Brugen, and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. From The Epoch Times Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday stressed the need for a "good coordination" between the Centre and state governments to address several issues. He was speaking to reporters at the Swami Vivekanand Airport here in Chhattisgarh where he is attending the 22nd meeting of the Central Zonal Council. "The Central government talks about cooperative federalism, because without it the country cannot be run. There is a strong need for a better coordination between the Centre and states," he said. The Congress veteran said several issues have led to confrontation between the Centre and states, though he avoided any specific mention. "The confrontation not only causes harm to the country but also hampers its smooth functioning," he said. His remarks came against the backdrop of some states ruled by the Congress and other parties opposing implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Queried on the Madhya Pradesh government plans to build a grand temple of Sita in Sri Lanka, Nath said, "We have a proposal to build a temple of Sita ji in Sri Lanka. The design is being prepared so that the work begins soon". The meeting of the Central Zonal Council, a forum for the Centre and states to exchange ideas on multiple issues, including security and infrastructure, is being held at Mayfair Lake Resort in Nava Raipur, the upcoming capital city of Chhattisgarh. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who will chair the meeting, has arrived in the city. Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will attend the meeting. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel will be present in his capacity as the vice chairman at the meetin. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) James Corden has explained why he called out comedian and TV host Bill Maher for making fat-shaming comments, stating that you cannot forget what most peoples lives are like. In September 2019, a clip from The Late Late Show with James Corden was released on YouTube in which the talk show host addressed derogatory remarks made by Bill Maher the previous week. Speaking on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher said being fat isnt a birth defect, saying: Nobody comes out of the womb needing to buy two seats on the airplane. Maher also stated his belief that fat-shaming doesnt need to end, adding that some amount of shame is good. In Cordens response to Maher, the Cats actor outlined how there is a common and insulting misconception that fat people are stupid and lazy, affirming that fat-shaming never went anywhere. In a new interview with The New Yorker, Corden explained why he felt obligated to condemn Mahers attitude towards body-shaming. The 41-year-old worked with Late Late Show writers for three days while they finetuned his statement, which they wanted to make sure was funny and not just a rant. I just think its out of touch with actual people, Corden said with regards to the comments made by Maher. You cannot forget what most peoples lives are like. You cannot forget how f***ing hard it is. And maybe the only slice of joy in your life is that cheeseburger. And its cheap. There are no chubby kids at my sons school, because its a private school on the Westside of LA. James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Show all 12 1 /12 James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Corden texts Leonardo DiCaprio from J Lo's phone ...and he replies! 'Hey baby,' Corden writes. 'I'm kind of feeling like I need to cut loose. Any suggestions, let me know. J Lo (you know, from the block).' Leo's reply? 'You mean tonight, boo boo? Club wise?' YouTube James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Sia explains why she wears her face wig 'I don't wear this unless there's cameras around,' she said. 'I only wear this just to try and maintain a modicum of privacy.' Fair dos. James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Elton John sings 'Circle of Life' as Corden's mind is blown Who wouldn't love a car journey with the legend singing the likes of 'Your Song'? James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Chris Martin reveals Coldplay used to be called Starfish Doesn't quite have the same ring to it does it? This one also featured a tribute to David Bowie as the pair sung along to 'Heroes' James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Corden drives Justin Bieber to the Grammys Where he went on to win his first gong from the awards! Check out those tuxedos. Looking suave guys. James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Adele showcases her love for the Spice Girls With a top rate rendition of 'Wannabe' no less. She also promised not to name yet another album after her age. James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments One Direction succumb to their boyband status and dress in denim Asking One Direction to perform his favourite album track, he fills them in on a choreographed dance routine and provides them with matching denim jackets. James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Stevie Wonder forms a supergroup with James Corden Namely The Wonder Cats. Telling Corden they're going to write new lyrics to his songs, the two do just that with a rendition of Wonder's classic Signed Sealed Delivered. James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Jennifer Hudson sings to a drive-through takeaway employee Pulling into a drive-through, Hudson belts out hers and Corden's takeaway to the awe of the employee on the other side of the intercom. James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Iggy Azalea goes wedding dress shopping Ahead of her wedding, Corden takes it upon himself to stop off at a wedding dress shop to sample the best there is on offer - and naturally gets involved himself. James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Mariah Carey shows off her accents The singing icon uses the opportunity to sample her British and Southern American accents to the delight of Corden. James Corden's Carpool Karaoke best moments Jason Derulo gives a lesson in swag Rapper Jason Derulo helps James Corden become "the swaggiest dude in the club." Corden explained how years ago, while playing a college janitor on soap opera Hollyoaks, he was dismayed to discover that the set for his characters bedroom had been decorated with posters of junk food. I thought that they were just being really nasty about anyone thats overweight, he said. There are some who believe the depiction of Corden as Bustopher Jones in Cats is an example of a fat joke. However, in the opinion of the Into the Woods star, this isnt the case. Oh, but hes revelling in it, Corden explained. Hes going, Im the greatest! Im big and Im fat and I live the best life! I eat everything! Its incredible. Why Real Madrid decided not to sign Eriksen Real Madrid Dane signed for Inter After Inter signed Christian Eriksen for 20 million euros, it begs the question as to why Real Madrid let a player who was out of contract in June go? The Danish midfielder has been linked with Real Madrid for the last two years, and seemed destined to wear the famous white shirt. Lawyers for the then Tottenham player met with representatives of Real Madrid on two occasions, and an agreement was close, and that was before the Dane's desire to play for Los Blancos was known. What became apparent though, was Daniel Levy's refusal to sit down and thrash out Eriksen's departure in summer of 2018. At that time he was asking for exorbitant amounts, and then even last summer wanted 100 million euros for the player. For those at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, they didn't want to open dealings with an English chairman who his known for his tough stance in transfer negotiations. Instead they opted to wait for a better time. That came as Eriksen's contract was running down, but certain circumstances have led the midfielder to sign for Inter. Zinedine Zidane's reappointment cooled interest in the Dane as the Real Madrid boss wanted Paul Pogba over any other player, and vetoed the arrival of Eriksen with a deal aimed at being done before the end of the summer. In the end neither happened. Eriksen, despite all the negative signals coming from the Bernabeu, was waiting for a change of direction. That never came which forced him to listen to other offers, with Inter being most keen to get his signature. Apart from the brakes being pushed by Zidane, Donny Van de Beek's emergence at Ajax over the last year also hindered any move for Eriksen. The hierarchy at Real Madrid value the versatility from the Dutchman, more than the vision of Eriksen's game. [January 28, 2020] Cyber Firm Expel to Invest $1.4 Million to Expand in Town of Herndon in Fairfax County, Create 164 New Jobs Gov. Ralph Northam announced today that Expel, Inc., a fast-growing managed-security provider, will invest $1.4 million to expand its operation in the Town of Herndon in Fairfax County. The company will increase its headquarters located at 12950 Worldgate Drive in Herndon and create 164 new jobs across its engineering, customer experience, IT, marketing and sales teams over the next three years. "The security-focused industry cluster and the talent pool around it make Fairfax County and Northern Virginia a great location for Expel, and I am delighted that my office has had the opportunity to help the company expand its footprint in the Town of Herndon," said Victor Hoskins, president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA). "We appreciate the company's vote of confidence in Herndon and Fairfax County and look forward to its continued growth here." Expel is taking a technology-driven approach providing transparent managed security on premises and in the cloud. The company offers 24x7 monitoring through its security operations center-as-a-service, using the security tools that customers already have in place. Expel then helps clients make better, faster decisions about security issues by giving them answers and recommendations based on data from customers' environments and past trends. "Expe was founded in Virginia, and the company's headquarters is located in Herndon right in the heart of the Dulles tech corridor," said Dave Merkel, CEO of Expel, Inc. "There's a fantastic pool of tech talent located in Northern Virginia, and we have close proximity to strong education institutions and major tech companies. All of those factors combined make Fairfax County and Northern Virginia a prime location for Expel to grow its business." The FCEDA and the Town of Herndon worked with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to secure the project for Virginia and will support the company's job creation through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP). State-funded VJIP provides consultative services and funding to companies creating new jobs or experiencing technological change in order to support employee training activities. The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority promotes Fairfax County as a business and technology center. In addition to its headquarters in Tysons, Fairfax County's largest business district, the FCEDA maintains business investment offices in six important global business centers: Bangalore/Mumbai, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Seoul and Tel Aviv. Follow the FCEDA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. The FCEDA is a member of the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance, which jointly markets Northern Virginia outside the region. Other members are the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, Arlington County, City of Fairfax, City of Falls Church, Fauquier County, Loudoun County, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park and the Prince William County Department of Economic Development. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005271/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Advertisement There are fears a coronavirus case has been discovered at a Gold Coast hotel popular with A-list celebrities. Paramedics clad from head-to-toe in decontamination suits swarmed to Peppers Broadbeach at about 1.30pm on Tuesday after reports a guest was showing symptoms of the deadly virus. A Queensland Ambulance Services spokesman said paramedics attended a 'medical incident' on Elizabeth Street and a patient was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition. Paramedics wearing Hazmat suits arrived at Peppers, on Elizabeth Street, Broadbeach, to reports of a suspected coronavirus case on Tuesday Two people waiting outside with face masks took ambulance paramedics to their friend waiting inside the luxury hotel An ambulance source said the patient had recently returned to the Gold Coast from China and was displaying symptoms, The Gold Coast Bulletin reports. It is believed police were present to assist with crowd control and to establish a quarantine area if required. Two people wearing face masks were seen waiting for paramedics before escorting them into the building. Paramedics later emerged with a man who was pictured getting into the back of an ambulance. Paramedics completely covered in decontamination gear, holding medical equipment and plastic bags, emerged 40 minutes later with a man Queensland health tested a further six people across the state for the illness on Tuesday, all of which came back negative. The test takes up to six hours to complete and the results of the latest patient are yet to be confirmed. The Broadbeach division of the international hotel chain costs $911 a night for a penthouse suite with panoramic views of the ocean. A man was pictured securing his protective eye equipment as he entered the ambulance out the front of the hotel The luxurious 4.5 star hotel is a hot-spot for celebrities, and is understood to have hosted popstar Taylor Swift and, then boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston in 2016. So far, the deadly virus, officially named 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), has killed 106 people in China and infected more than 4,500 across 15 countries. In Australia, there are currently four confirmed cases in New South Wales, and one in Victoria. Coronavirus in Australia Australia's first confirmed case of coronavirus is a Chinese national in his 50s who tested positive in Melbourne after arriving on a flight from Guangzhou on January 19. Three more cases were confirmed in NSW, with two people in isolation at Sydney's Westmead Hospital. A fifth person, from Sydney, tested positive to 'probable' coronavirus after initial swabs. It was later confirmed they had contracted the deadly virus. The patient was identified as a 21-year-old female student at UNSW who travelled from Wuhan to Sydney last Thursday, January 23. Australia has raised the travel alert level to 'do not travel' for the city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak - and for the entire Hubei province. Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says unless people have contact with someone who is unwell and has come from that part of China, there is no need for current concern. Advertisement Police attending the scene to assist Queensland Ambulance Service with crowd control could be seen entering the building holding masks A patient is transferred by an ambulance to the Infectious Disease Centre of Princess Margaret Hospital on January 22, 2020, in Hong Kong, China. Photo: Anthony Kwan/Getty Images As the number of cases of Wuhan coronavirus continue to spike, and fears of a pandemic rise, scientists and public-health officials are scrambling to understand the scope and threat of the new outbreak. The virus, 2019-nCoV, has already infected more than 4,500 people in 14 countries and killed more than 100 in China and those numbers will undoubtedly rise in the coming days. In response, China has instituted unprecedented draconian measures in an attempt to contain the outbreak, but its possible the quarantine will not be effective, and the coronavirus will continue to spread. Unfortunately, scientists still have more questions than answers about the new coronavirus. Below is a look at what they do and dont know so far. How big is the outbreak, really? For now, the full extent of the outbreak, lethality of the new coronavirus, and risk of it spreading remain unclear but the available evidence and estimates continue to alarm public-health experts. Officially, at least 4,515 people around the world have been infected with 2019-nCoV as of Tuesday. Most of those cases are from the epicenter of the outbreak the city of Wuhan in Chinas central Hubei province. There have also been scattered cases confirmed in more than a dozen other countries involving people who had recently traveled to Wuhan, including cases where human-to-human transmission appears to have occurred. But the actual number of infections is probably much higher, according to researchers studying the epidemic. Some experts estimate that at least tens of thousands of additional people are likely to have been infected in China than officially reported, and Chinas health minister has said that the new coronavirus appears to have become easier to transmit, including among people who show no signs of infection. Infectious disease experts at the University of Hong Kong said on Monday that according to their estimates, more than 44,000 people had already been infected in Wuhan, with more than 25,000 showing symptoms a number that may double in less than a week. In addition, their research showed that self-sustaining human-to-human transmission was already happening in all of mainland Chinas major cities. Gabriel Leung, the universitys lead researcher, recommended that substantial, draconian measures limiting population mobility should be taken immediately in China, including school closures, remote-work arrangements, and the cancellation of mass gatherings. On Tuesday, Hong Kong instituted new restrictions limiting travel to the territory from mainland China. The other question is how cases of 2019-nCoV will be severe enough to be detected at all. If people infected with the new coronavirus only show mild symptoms, or none at all, they are unlikely to end up counted among the total number of cases. How dangerous and lethal is the new coronavirus? Those made ill by the 2019-nCoV coronavirus have developed flulike symptoms, including a severe cough, fever, body aches, and breathing difficulties. Gastrointestinal symptoms have also been reported in some instances. The most severe cases have led to pneumonia or lesions on the lungs. As with most respiratory illnesses, the young, elderly, or those who have a weakened immune system are likely to be most at risk for developing the more severe infections. This is how the Wuhan coronavirus affects the body https://t.co/YimzpXMku9 pic.twitter.com/r64AL7YmhV CNN International (@cnni) January 28, 2020 At least 106 people have already died from the coronavirus, all in China, but the real danger of the virus has not yet been conclusively determined. Health authorities in China reported on Monday that roughly 17 percent of the confirmed 2019-nCoV cases in the country were severe illnesses, and 3 percent of the cases resulted in death. But if the total number of cases is far higher than the number of confirmed cases as many experts are theorizing it is too early to accurately gauge 2019-nCoVs severity in either direction. For comparison with previous coronavirus epidemics, SARS had a mortality rate of about 10 percent, and the mortality rate of MERS, which was not as easily transmissible between humans as SARS, was roughly 35 percent. The mortality rate of the flu which kills hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year is 0.1 percent. Based on publicly available line list data (thanks due @SunKaiyuan I think), it looks like trends in odds of deaths are quite similar between #nCoV2019 and MERS-CoV. Results very constrained due to lack of info on (particularly recent) deaths. pic.twitter.com/k3ON8fDJHR Justin Lessler (@JustinLessler) January 28, 2020 How easily and when is the coronavirus transmitted? One critical factor, when it comes to the threat of 2019-nCoV or any infectious disease, is how easily it is transmitted, and when. This determines how easy it is for health authorities to detect and contain new cases of the virus. The available evidence already indicates that the Wuhan coronavirus can be passed from person to person like other respiratory illnesses. According to a tentative clinical profile of the outbreak at Foreign Policy by doctor and public-health researcher Annie Sparrow, 2019-nCoV is too big to survive or stay suspended in the air for hours or travel more than a few feet, but is still easy to transmit: Like influenza, this coronavirus spreads through both direct and indirect contact. Direct contact occurs through the physical transfer of the microorganism among friends and family through close contact with oral secretions. Indirect contact results when an infected person coughs or sneezes, spreading coronavirus droplets on nearby surfaces, including knobs, bedrails, and smartphones. She adds those droplets may also be aerosolized during medical procedures, resulting is super spreading where one person can infect multiple medical staff members, which happened during the SARS outbreak. The key question is whether or not the new coronavirus can be transmitted by people who are showing no symptoms of the illness thus making the infections far more difficult to contain. In the previous coronavirus epidemics involving SARS and MERS, people infected with the viruses were only contagious when they were showing symptoms, making them easier to quarantine and limiting the viruses reach. But Chinas health minister has said that there is evidence 2019-nCoV has been transmitted from people without any sign of symptoms. Its not yet clear how often that has been happening, but its a major ongoing concern. When scientists and public-health officials estimate how easily a new infection will spread, they try to determine the outbreaks reproduction number, or R0 (R naught) the average number of people who will catch the infection from someone else who has it. So any infection with an R0 higher than one would be something to worry about. Estimates of 2019-nCoVs R0 have ranged from 1.4 to as high as 5.5, and the higher estimates have already triggered some panic. But as Ed Yong explained at The Atlantic on Tuesday, R0 is a poor indicator when it comes to communicating the real threat of an outbreak to the public, particularly at such an early stage. Currently, the R0 estimates for 2019-nCoV are consistent with previous coronavirus outbreaks like SARS and HIV (4-5), but far below an infection like measles, which has an R0 of 12-16. In addition, a higher R0 does not necessarily mean more dangerous or transmissible diseases for a variety of reasons, including how difficult the number is to accurately calculate. Another factor is the length of the coronavirus incubation period, which is the amount of time between a persons exposure to the infection and when their first symptoms appear. A shorter incubation period limits the time heath-care authorities and workers have to detect and isolate new cases, which is particularly important if people are most infectious after they show symptoms. So far, the incubation period of 2019-nCoV has ranged anywhere from two to ten days, but its not clear what the average rate will ultimately be. For comparison, SARS had a four- to five-day incubation period. Lastly, 2019-nCoV will likely continue to mutate as it evolves and adapts to its new human hosts, which could make the illness more or less severe or transmissible. How can this new coronavirus be prevented, detected, and treated? Regarding physical barriers to transmission, proper hand hygiene and the use of gloves, masks, goggles, and medical gowns will reduce the risk of infection in the event someone is exposed to a person with 2019-nCoV. Detecting the new coronavirus is not easy, however. Health officials in China and elsewhere have been trying to identify anyone with a fever, and then investigating their potential exposure to 2019-nCoV. But there are numerous illnesses that can cause a fever, and there already appear to be a shortage of test kits in the country, and no tests at least yet that can return results in less than several hours. There are also no approved drugs to treat coronaviruses, and if a vaccine can be developed for 2019-nCoV, it could be months away at best. That means that for now, health-care workers can only make sure that infected patients receive supportive care while their immune systems try to fight off the illness. Will Chinas massive response work to contain the virus? As of Monday, more than 50 million people were effectively under quarantine in China, where the government has shut down travel to and from Wuhan and more than a dozen other cities in Hubei province. Travel into and inside other cities has also been restricted, included in Beijing. The outbreak and quarantine have come during the Lunar New Year holiday in China, when hundreds of millions of people typically travel to visit family in and outside of the country. China has extended the holiday until February 2 in an effort to prevent travel during this critical time. In Wuhan, the desperation is real. Cai Pei, 41, said his wife had begun coughing and developed a fever three days ago but hospitals would not admit her, and that he had difficulty finding masks and cold medicine in pharmacies. Sui-Lee Wee (@suilee) January 27, 2020 The outbreak is already a great strain on Chinas health-care system, and Stat News reported on Sunday that some infectious disease experts now fear that the countrys efforts to contain the Wuhan coronavirus will not be effective. Cock-up and not conspiracy: a shortage of diagnostic equipment could be the main cause of the #WuhanCoronovirus outbreak. Terrific reporting by my colleagues @ywchen1 and @catecadell https://t.co/eLkVcOw1Hp David Stanway (@DavidStanway) January 28, 2020 Allison McGeer, an infectious-disease specialist in Toronto, warned Stat that the more we learn about it, the greater the possibility is that transmission will not be able to be controlled with public-health measures and may thus become a virus that humans will need to learn to live with. There are also concerns about how many people were able to leave the quarantine zone before it was implemented. The mayor of Wuhan has estimated that as many as 5 million people may have traveled out of the area before it was locked down. What about the risk in the U.S.? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that the current risk to the American public is low, and that there are no signs that the coronavirus has been spreading inside the U.S. The CDC still considers the outbreak a serious threat, however, and on Monday night the U.S. recommended that Americans avoid travel to China. As of Tuesday, there have been five confirmed cases in a total of four states, all apparently involving people who had traveled from China. The CDC is also investigating another 110 people in 26 states, and it began screening passengers from Wuhan at five airports over the weekend, examining roughly 2,400 people. That screening program may be expanded to arrivals from other cities in China soon. And though it may come as little solace to many Americans, President Trump tweeted on Monday that his administration was strongly on watch regarding the crisis, and has offered U.S. assistance to China. Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. Amid hostility between Iran and US, Tehran claimed on Tuesday that a top CIA chief, Michael D Andrea, who was responsible for orchestrating IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani's assassination was killed in the Afghan plane crash. Washington, however, has not commented on the emerging reports, that was confirmed by Iran. International reports cited Russian intelligence over the claim, while it is contended that the news emerging from Iran Front Page News is known to be pro-Kremlin. The armed group Taliban took responsibility for the downing of the US plane in Afghanistan's Ghazni, a territory controlled by the militant group. In a statement released on Monday, Taliban notified that everyone on board was killed, including the high-ranking officials. "An aircraft of American occupiers has crashed in Ghazni province," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a Pashto-language statement, adding that all the crew members onboard had been killed. READ| Iran strikes US base in Iraq: World divided, oil prices surge; everything you need to know While the US military confirmed the crashing of one of its plane in the Eastern Afghan province on January 27, it has disputed the claims that it was shot down by a rival. "While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire," US military spokesman said. The US Army has still not revealed the number of passengers in the downed plane. The plane crash comes even as the Trump administration and the Taliban are struggling to revive a possible agreement, that would see the US troops leaving Afghanistan and ending the long-war. In September last year, Donald Trump had abruptly declared that the peace negotiation with the Taliban was 'dead.' Who is Michael D Andrea? As per reports, the intel officer, who supposedly joined the CIA in 1979, was given the nickname 'Ayatollah Mike' for his Iran operations. Michael DAndrea headed the intel operations against Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan for the US and was also involved in the hunt for Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was dramatically killed inside a compound in Pakistan in May 2011. He purpotedly oversaw CIA's counter-terror operations, detentions, interrogation and even the alleged torture programs. In 2017, New York Times reported that the Trump administration had appointed him to run operations against Iran. Donald Trump had called Iran the number one terror state and recently directed to kill the second most important man of the country--Qassem Soleimani, triggering a global outrage. READ| Pakistan backs Taliban; counters India's support for democratic Afghan READ| IRGC announces Iran's revenge attack against 'Great Satan' US at Qasem Soleimani's funeral Police are investigating an ugly incident that saw a man embroiled in the suspected murder of his friend attack a cameraman. Homicide detectives in Heidelberg West, 10kms northeast of Melbourne, remained at the scene on Wednesday afternoon where a night earlier an elderly woman was allegedly murdered in her Liberty Parade home. Dramatic footage captured by a television cameraman shortly after the horrific incident saw his camera and tripod damaged when he was attacked by a blood-soaked man who had been talking with police. The house in Heidelberg West where a 61-year old woman was allegedly murdered on Tuesday. A detective talks to neighbours directly across the street from where a woman was murdered on Tuesday Victoria Police confirmed today that they had received a complaint about the incident and were investigating it. The cameraman took to social media to express his condolences to the victim's family amid a barrage of criticism on his Facebook page. 'Who cares that the camera is broken... for God sake a human was killed .. May she RIP,' one man posted. 'We totally agree with you,' the cameraman responded. 'But this is our page documenting the work we do and that is what happened. Our thoughts are with the family,.' Police were called to the woman's house about 8pm on Tuesday over reports of an aggravated burglary. Neighbours also reported hearing screaming and seeing a bloodied man leave the property. When police arrived they found the 61-year-old woman's body. The man who allegedly attacked the cameraman is believed to have captured a 28-year old intruder at the scene, who remains in police custody and is yet to be charged. Forensic police spend Wednesday inside the home of the elderly woman who was allegedly murdered in a home invasion on Tuesday Police spent Tuesday night at the scene of the alleged aggravated burglary in Liberty Parade, Heidelberg West Before police arrived neighbours heard loud screams coming from the property. A witness said an 'erratic' man covered in blood left the house a short time later with what appeared to be cuts to his arms. She said the man had been running up and down the street earlier that night with a frantic look in his face. 'He seemed to be completely off his face,' the witness told The Herald Sun. 'We thought he was having an episode you know. Then he was running and we thought ''what the hell?''. 'He was trying to jump into trees. Then he was hiding under a car.' Police said the woman died at the scene. 'It is believed a man broke into a house before assaulting a female occupant inside,' Victoria Police said. A man in blood-covered clothing is chased after police as charges at a cameraman. He was earlier seen speaking to police outside the home Emergency services were called to a house in Liberty Parade, Heidelberg West (pictured) in Melbourne about 8pm on Tuesday where they found a dead woman 'Another man, believed to be known to the victim, attended the property to render assistance and restrained the alleged offender. 'He restrained the man until police arrived and the alleged offender was then taken to hospital and remains there under police guard.' On Thursday, detectives continued to walk up and down Liberty Parade and talk to neighbours as forensic police worked inside. Police checked a CCTV camera positioned directly across the road from the property, but the owner claimed the camera was a fake. A large red plastic sheet remains draped across the front door of the home where the elderly woman died. The street remains blocked off almost 19 hours after the incident happened. Camera crews remain parked across the road. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Kirsten Curtis, COO, Redacted "With over a decade of experience leading complex and strategic initiatives, Kirsten Curtis has taken on significant challenges and overcome them," commented Larraine Segil, Chair and CEO of The Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation The Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation (EWA, Los Angeles CA) today announced that after interviews with multiple candidates Kirsten Curtis, COO of Redacted, has been selected to participate in their Cohort of Women Leaders in the January 2020 EWA Program. With over a decade of experience leading complex and strategic initiatives, Kirsten Curtis' career journey has not been a straight path. She has taken on significant challenges and overcome them especially in the Supply Chain arena, then moving into senior leadership in complex operations and from there into Private Equity," commented Larraine Segil, Chair and CEO of The Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation. " Her new challenge is with a portfolio company, where her role is to leverage on the existing technology and company talents to add value, transforming the company into a growth engine. We are delighted to welcome her into EWA, to provide her with the insights and support that our network of over 35 industry leaders can offer." 'Redacted' causes attackers to feel the consequences, both technically and legally, of their actions. They do this work because they know its the right thing to do. They do it because nobody else is willing or able to do it. Every outcome of their engagements is a reflection of their collective goal to empower customers to proactively defend against an attacker. They recognize that in cyber security one solution does not fit all. They collaborate with the customer to prioritize their business needs to ensure that the customer succeeds with the most relevant security controls. Doing the right thing is in their history. Empowering their clients is in their DNA. Learn more at https://www.redacted.com/ The Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation (EWA) selects high potential, upper-career Exceptional Women from multiple industries, develops and mentors them with guidance and career redesign advice to propel them to sustainable success - one woman at a time. Their year-long program enables the EWA to be connected for life to their ever-expanding EWA global network, as their fellow women leaders move into positions of significance. Learn more at The Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation http://www.ExceptionalWomenAwardees.com DoorDash is making another push into Southeast Texas delivery markets statewide with a Salata partnership. The Houston-based salad chain recently inked a deal with the delivery platform as a part of DoorDashs initiative to land more partnering restaurants. To celebrate, Salata will offer free delivery for online orders through Feb. 2. Founded in 2005, Salata offers guests fully customizable, built-to-order salads, along with wraps, soups, organic teas and lemonade. It has more than 90 corporate-owned and franchise locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, Southern California and Louisiana. According to market data from analytics firm Second Measure, DoorDash edged past GrubHub by 1% to take the lead in delivery market share with 33% of sales in 2019. A new Beaumont Vietnamese restaurant has added another dining option to Dowlen Road. Pho Bamboo at 4374 Dowlen Road opened in late December with limited hours but now has permanent hours and an updated menu. The restaurant was formerly Pho Sky but is now under new ownership. Pho BamBoo serves a selection of traditional pho, noodle dishes and other Vietnamese entrees. It also has a full bar. It is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. One of the countrys largest Verizon Wireless retailers is opening a new store in Lumberton as a part of its latest Texas expansion. Cellular Sales, which has more than 750 stores nationwide, opened a new one at 106 South LHS Drive across from Lumberton High School in November. Were excited to add another convenient location for our customers in Lumberton, Cellular Sales regional director Darren Price said in a statement. After being in Lumberton for over a decade, were thrilled to be able to bring a new, more technologically advanced store to the west side of town. This is Cellular Sales 68th store in Texas and second in Lumberton. It has five in Southeast Texas. The company has been named to Inc. Magazines 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies nine times. The new Lumberton store currently has 10 employees, but the company said it is looking to hire another 10 as its footprint continues to grow in 2020. The FBI and Portland police have traded cases to investigate -- including an alleged threat against the British royal family and warnings of mass shootings and white supremacist intimidation -- but havent worked beside each other in the year since the city voted to withdraw police officers from the FBIs anti-terrorism task force. Since May 2019, the federal agency hasnt asked any Portland officers to become involved in a Joint Terrorism Task Force case. Instead, the FBI-led multi-agency task force referred 10 cases to the Police Bureaus Criminal Intelligence Division and Portland police sent 12 cases to the FBI task force for review, according to an annual report to the City Council. Only one of the 10 cases that the FBI referred to Portland police remains open; the other nine were closed without any arrests or a crime identified. The cases involved a range of allegations, including a reported threat against the British royal family, a social media post about a mass shooting, a report of a white man affiliated with a racially motivated violent extremist group at a bar and someone threatening violence against police after an arrest. Police checked out one report about a woman whose social media posts focused on weapons, suicide, a manifesto, a sniper and martyrdom only to find that she was an artist who told investigators the posts were part of her work. The police forwarded two of the reports, including the alleged threat against the British royal family, to the Police Bureaus Behavioral Health Unit for follow-up. The Criminal Intelligence Division sent 12 cases to the FBIs task force to investigate, including reported bomb threats to public buildings, critical infrastructure, private entities and houses of worship, as well as threats of mass violence, threats to public officials and reports of white supremacist and sovereign citizen activity. No more details were provided in the report about these cases. Protecting the City of Portland and those who live, work, pray, play, and visit is the responsibility of PPB; however, the PPB cannot do it alone and works with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate threats to life, including hate crimes, and suspected cases of terrorism, the report said. The Police Bureau must continue to work with other law enforcement agencies to evaluate threats to interdict and prevent violence from occurring, the report said. Community activists who oppose any cooperation between Portland police and the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force held a mock City Council session outside City Hall Tuesday afternoon. They made believe they were addressing the mayor and commissioners and voiced their dismay that they wont be allowed to publicly testify before council when it formally receives an annual report at its Wednesday meeting. Last February, the City Council voted 3-2 to withdraw Portland police officers from the task force, citing a deep distrust in the programs ability to root out terrorism while upholding residents civil rights. The vote marked a political victory for Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who had made police withdrawal from the task force one of her first priorities in office. Joining Hardesty were Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Chloe Eudaly. It meant pulling out two Portland criminal intelligence officers from the task force, which reviews hundreds of tips each year and assesses and investigates threats to prevent potential terrorist attacks. The pull-out was the latest twist in Portlands on-again, off-again relationship with the FBI group, which the city joined in 1997, left in 2005, rejoined partly in 2011 and fully rejoined in 2015. After the latest vote, the city in May adopted a resolution that set parameters for cooperation between police and the FBI in alleged terrorism-related cases. It allows the Police Bureau to partner with the FBI on specific threats, share information and have a Portland officer temporarily assigned to the task force in limited circumstances. The Police Bureau this month adopted a directive on officer cooperation with the task force. It says the police chief, upon the request of the head of Oregons FBI, can temporarily assign officers to work with the task force to investigate suspected terrorism cases, including hate crimes, that have a direct connection to the city and where there are reasonable grounds to suspect someone may be involved in a crime. The Police Bureau also is required to report to the City Council each year about any FBI request to assign police to cases, the types of cases each agency referred to the other and demographics of those targeted. Most of those identified as potential targets in 2019 cases were white men, according to the recent report. On Jan. 8, criminal intelligence officers attended annual training with a deputy city attorney on state and federal laws governing their work. Community activists who oppose any cooperation between Portland police and the terrorism task force held a mock City Council session outside City Hall Tuesday afternoon. They made believe they were addressing the mayor and commissioners, and voiced their dismay that they wont be allowed to publicly testify before council when it formally receives the report at its Wednesday meeting. Among those protesting were representatives from the police watchdog group Portland Copwatch, the League of Women Voters of Portland, Portland Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voice for Peace-Portland, Portlands Resistance and Portland Japanese American Citizens League and 350 PDX, a climate justice advocacy group. Marleen Wallingford, of the Portland Japanese American Citizens League, said shes concerned about lack of oversight of any cooperation between the FBI and Portland police. She recommended Portland police spend more of their time developing relationships with community-based agencies to better serve the city when the Police Bureau is struggling with a staffing shortage. Anais Tuepker, board president of 350PDX, spoke out against reports of surveillance and monitoring of anti-Jordan Cove Energy Project activists in Oregon. On Aug. 8, the London-based newspaper The Guardian published a story describing an effort by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to monitor public social media posts by groups, individuals and Native American tribes who oppose the pipeline. Dan Handelman, of Portland Copwatch, said the city's policy allowing police cooperation with the task force is still "too broad,'' and the Police Bureau's reporting requirements are too narrow. Dan Handelman, of Portland Copwatch, contends the citys policy allowing sharing of information between the police and FBI on alleged threats is still "too broad,'' permitting investigations that have nothing to do with alleged terrorism. He also said the report contains few details on the cases the Police Bureau forward to the FBI task force. After the city pulled out of the task force, Oregon FBI Special Agent in Charge Renn Cannon said in a statement that the FBI will continue to partner formally with other members of the JTTF as well as informally with cities and counties across the state to share information and address threats as appropriate. There are currently six local, state and federal agencies who have full-time law enforcement officers assigned to the federal task force. Among recent cases investigated by the task force, according to the report: The prosecution of Jason Schaefer, sentenced to 40 years in prison for igniting an explosive when cornered by police in the Rock Creek area of Washington County in October 2017; the May 2017 stabbing of three men, two fatally, on a MAX train in Portland, for which the accused Jeremy Christian is now on trial; the 2016 armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge; the eco-sabotage case dubbed Operation Backfire that involved vandalism and arson in a range of attacks in Oregon, Colorado, Washington and California; the prosecution of Mohamed Osman Mohamud who was convicted for trying to detonate a bomb during downtown Portlands holiday tree-lighting ceremony in 2010, and the so-called Portland Seven, an Oregon-based group convicted of training and trying to join the Taliban and Al Qaeda in fighting against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Subscribe to Facebook page Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 16:26:21|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close YANGON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar attracted investment capital of over 1.83 billion U.S. dollars from permitted foreign enterprises in first quarter of present fiscal year 2019-2020 which started in October last year, said a release issued by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Tuesday. From Oct. 1, 2019 to Jan. 24 of this FY, the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) gave the nod to 100 foreign enterprises. At a recent meeting of the commission earlier this month, a total of 23 foreign enterprises with investment capital of over 433.8 million U.S. dollars were approved by the MIC. Creating 11,951 local employment opportunities, the investments from the recently approved enterprises entered the countrys power, real estate, livestock and fisheries and manufacturing sectors, respectively. Meanwhile, the MIC gave the green light to 39 Myanmar citizen investment enterprises with over 647.6 billion kyats (431.7 million U.S. dollars) as of Jan. 24 in present FY 2019-2020. Regionally, the Yangon region attracted 60 percent of investments from both home and abroad, followed by Mandalay with 30 percent and the rest flowed into other regions and states. Singapore, China and Thailand are top leading investors in Myanmar. The new Myanmar Companies Law, which was enforced on Aug. 1, 2018, provides tax exemption and relief to investors depending on the development of the regions and states, allowing investors in far-flung areas to enjoy tax breaks of up to seven years. The chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson said the company began work two weeks ago on a vaccine to battle the deadly coronavirus outbreak centered in China. At the moment we think we can make a vaccine and bring it to humans in the next eight to 12 months, said Paul Stoffels in an interview with The Inquirer. It might be faster. We have to get to the point we know where it works in animals first. Stoffels said a Johnson & Johnson team started up a "skunkworks to develop seven constructs for a vaccine as the Wuhan virus threatened to become a global crisis. Stoffels said the research effort, which began with about 15 people, didnt wait for [dedicated financial] support to kick it off. Well see as we go and find partners to collaborate to make that happen. China has confirmed more than 4,500 cases of the novel virus, which has caused more than 100 deaths, according to authorities. Most of the cases have been in the central city of Wuhan, where the illness first surfaced last month. More than 40 cases have been confirmed in other places with virtually all of them involving Chinese tourists. READ MORE: Philly-area company gets $9 million grant to develop vaccine for new Chinese coronavirus Five cases of the Wuhan virus have been reported in the United States. There is also a suspected case in the Philadelphia suburbs. Although eight to 12 months may sound glacially slow, pharmaceutical experts said the timeline was relatively rapid yet conservatively realistic. Johnson & Johnsons deep-pocketed researchers are using multiple platforms, or defined technological processes, that are allowing them to build and scale up new virus killers rapidly. J&J and others used similar platforms to create an Ebola vaccine and deliver two million doses to West Africa in less than six months. The company also has used the platforms to create vaccines for HIV and Zika. The company is conducting its Wuhan coronavirus research in Leiden, in the Netherlands. Stoffels spoke to The Inquirer from Leiden after addressing scientists at its labs. Late last week, he spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, about the emerging coronavirus threat. Stoffels said J&J is also screening a range of already existing medicines both already in the market and in development to see if they may be effective. The HIV protease inhibitors may be active on coronavirus, he said. The Chinese government already has asked for access to these medicines, but we need to prove that they work. That could be a few days to a few weeks. The company is donating 300 boxes of its HIV medication Prezcobix to the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, in hopes it may be effective against the virus, which is more formally called 2019-nCoR. J&Js announcement that it was gearing up to battle the virus comes a week after Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Plymouth Meeting said it had received a grant of up to $9 million to rapidly develop a vaccine for the Wuhan virus. Inovio is collaborating with the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. Other drugmakers also are searching for protective meds. According to Endpoints, a pharmaceutical-industry intelligence newsletter, Gilead Sciences is seeking to repurpose remdesivir -- an antiviral developed to treat Ebola. Vir Biotechnology is working to determine if its previously identified anti-coronavirus monoclonal antibodies can neutralize the virus. Stoffels said he hopes the virus is contained and the threat of a pandemic dies down before a vaccine is needed. If the epidemic is over in a few months, we are all happy, he said. If its not and it expands, then we have gained many months of time to come up with a vaccine. Well be able to protect more people from getting the disease. Thats what we do. MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Horizon National Corp.'s (NYSE:FHN) board of directors has approved payment of a quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $0.15 per share, an increase of 7% from 2019. The dividend is payable April 1, 2020 to the common shareholders of record on March 13, 2020. The increase raises the regular annual common dividend rate from the $0.56 per share declared in 2019 to $0.60 per share. The board also approved payment of a quarterly cash dividend of $1,550.00 per share on First Horizons Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A ("Series A Preferred Stock"). This equates to a cash dividend of $0.387500 per Depositary Share (NYSE:FHN PrA), which each represent a 1/4000th interest in a share of the Series A Preferred Stock. The dividend is payable April 10, 2020 to shareholders of record on March 26, 2020. About First Horizon First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE:FHN) provides financial services through First Horizon Bank, First Horizon Advisors, and FHN Financial businesses. The banking subsidiary was founded in 1864 and has the largest deposit market share in Tennessee. The company operates approximately 270 bank locations across the Southeast U.S. and 29 FHN Financial offices across the entire U.S. First Horizon Advisors wealth management group has more than 300 financial professionals and about $4.8 billion in assets under management. FHN Financial is a capital markets industry leader in fixed income sales, trading and strategies for institutional customers in the U.S. and abroad. The company is recognized as one of the nations best employers by Fortune and Forbes magazines and a Top 10 Most Reputable U.S. bank. More information is available at www.FirstHorizon.com. FHN-G Passavant Area Hospitals Family Maternity Suites has earned it a designation as a Baby-Friendly Hospital. Baby-Friendly USA bestowed the honored on Passavant, one of 30 hospitals in the state to earn the designation, which recognizes hospitals that have put into place practices and policies that encourage breastfeeding. Passavant joins more than 20,000 baby-friendly hospitals and birth centers worldwide, including at least 600 in the United States. Last year, more than 28 percent of U.S. births took place in baby-friendly hospitals. Simone Parlier, nurse manager for Family Maternity Suites, said the designation was launched by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. The designation also recognizes hospitals that implement the organizations 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and the World Health Organizations International Code of Marketing Breast-milk Substitutes. Parlier said the designation shows that Passavant FMS is improving health outcomes for Jacksonville area mothers and babies and that Passavant FMS is improving patient satisfaction. Mothers have been asking for the support and resources, Parlier said. All in all it elevates our reputation and our standards, Parlier said. Definitely improves the health outcomes of our families who live in this community and also helps use meet organizational goals. According to Parlier, the designation speaks to Passavant and Memorial Health Systems commitment to providing personalized individual care to meet the needs of mothers, babies and families. Every mom and baby are unique and we support all new mothers, whether theyre bottle or breastfed, she said. Parlier said Passavant began the four-phase process of getting the designation around five years ago. Each phase included collecting data, implementing new policies, forming work groups and ensuring that the hospital met the standards for the designation. During the last phase, surveyors visited the hospital to determine whether the hospital qualified. The hospital provides education on breastfeeding, has a breastfeeding support group and has a free out-patient lactation clinic available to all new moms. Parlier said breastfeeding provides nutrients for a babys healthy development and contains anti-bodies that protect against common childhood illnesses. Longer-term benefits include a lower likelihood of obesity and type-2 diabetes. Mothers also may recover from childbirth more quickly by breastfeeding and it can help mothers bond with their newborns, Parlier said. By Kim Yoo-chul A senior ruling party lawmaker hinted at the possibility of nullifying Delivery Hero's $4 billion acquisition of Woowa Brothers if it fails to clarify detailed plans on how to guarantee fair market competition covering "multiple aspects." "The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is communicating with presidential aides about addressing the possible negative aspects of the recently proposed acquisition deal between Delivery Hero and Woowa Brothers. The DPK is also talking to the Fair Trade Commission on the matter. We don't want to think about the worst case scenario but we didn't rule out the possibility," the lawmaker told The Korea Times. Woowa Brothers has been one of the fastest growing online food delivery service providers in Korea, with over 30 million orders per month. From a business standpoint, the deal does make sense as the acquisition, if completed, will strengthen the capabilities of both companies which are already facing a steep rise in competitors such as Uber Eats and Coupang Eats. For investors, a foreign merger also dissolves the growing pressure of putting out an initial public offering (IPO) local market for Woowa Brothers. The country's top anti-trust regulator considered to grant a "conditional approval" for Delivery Hero's multi-billion dollar acquisition proposal. However, Woowa's initial proposals to grow a relevant eco-system with local SMEs apparently "failed to impress," according to the lawmaker. "We understand the beauty of acquisition deals. Yes, the DPK also welcomes any ideas of revitalizing acquisition deals. But as the ruling party which has no options but to find measures for how to protect the best interests of local SMEs, if the acquisition deal raises monopoly and other issues affecting the relevant local eco-system, we have to think about next steps," the lawmaker added. Ahead of the crucial April nationwide election, Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling party are on track to develop a set of various policy ideas that could appeal to voters. Since President Moon took power in 2017, he himself has been stressing the validity of "fairness" and "fair market competition." The anti-trust regulator was reviewing similar cases to analyze the combined entity's estimated impact on the market. Woowa Brothers owns Baedal Minjok (Baemin). Delivery Hero is one of the world's top online food delivery groups. It plans to pay $3.48 billion for an 87 percent share of the South Korean company, which is also part-owned by non-Korean investors. The acquisition proposal has raised concerns over a possible delivery monopoly. According to the Korea Franchise Association, Baemin has a 55.7 percent market share, followed by Yogiyo with 33.5 percent and Baedaltong with 10.8 percent. The latter two are subsidiaries of Delivery Hero. SMEs' anger is further deepening after local reports said there is no contract clause in the stock sale agreement preventing Delivery Hero from raising commissions or advertising fees. Woowa Brothers earlier said it plans to lower the commission fee from 6.8 percent to 5.8 percent from May this year. Updated 3:07 p.m. A driver in southern Oregon dodged death early Tuesday after a pair of giant boulders tumbled onto a stretch of highway, authorities said. The rockslide occurred about 4 a.m. along Oregon 62 north of Peyton Bridge in Jackson County, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. A person behind the wheel of an SUV managed to avoid one of the boulders whose size dwarfed the vehicle but crashed into the other, a transportation spokesman said. The driver was taken to a hospital in Medford, authorities said. The highway remained closed Tuesday morning. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632 Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. How do terrorist organisations fund themselves? While several allegedly receive funding from shady intelligence agencies and the like, the story of Africa's militant insurgency forces are a little different. Without major external routes for funding, these groups have traditionally focused on a more 'local' source of income - and it's as brutal as it gets. At close to Rs. 50 lakh per kilogram, rhino horn happens to be one of the most expensive smuggled materials in the world - even more expensive than gold or cocaine. An elephant is killed every 15 minutes for their ivory and every 8 hours a rhino fell down for their horns - leading the African Wildlife Foundation to admit that at current poaching rates, several iconic animals from the savannah such as elephants and rhinos will be extinct well within our lifetimes. That's where people like Kinessa Johnson come in. Kinessa Johnson/Instagram Johnson is a US army veteran from the Afghanistan conflict, who served as a mechanic in the forces and worked as a firearms instructor afterwards in Las Vegas. She's since worked with VETPAW - the Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife organisation and following a few controversies with the group, moved on to TacTrac in South Africa. Their work involves training and guiding anti-poaching squads throughout the continent's protected reserves and wildlife parks, thwarting the efforts of illegal poachers and protecting the lives of fellow anti-poachers and rangers. Kinessa Johnson/Instagram It's certainly a risky job. According to The International Ranger Federation, 269 rangers were killed across Africa between 2012 and 2018, the majority of them by poachers. Regardless, it has captured the attention and inspiration of several army veterans, who have found the voluntary duty a truly noble cause for them to serve. A lot of veterans lose their sense of purpose when they get out of the military, said Johnson in a 2015 interview. It was something to do that was passionate and noble - it guided me back into the place I needed to be," she added. Part of Johnson's challenges through her career in the military and as an anti-poaching instructor stemmed from her being a woman. Women are pretty vital in the military, I think, she asserted. All my peers were male, so I had to prove myself, pull my part. Johnson added that some have questioned her abilities based on her gender, comments which she finds disheartening. I work with so many awesome and capable female park rangers here in Africa, who put their lives on the line every day right next to male park rangers, she explained. These comments are also disrespectful to these amazing women. It's about showing the world that being female can be empowering, strong, fit - anything that guys can do," the veteran added. Every Sunday at 10:30 a.m., Father Charles celebrates mass in Bziza, a rural village in north Lebanon. On this particular day in January, he tells the congregation of a hundred how angel Gabriel revealed to Mary that she was pregnant. Then they stand to sing and kneel to pray. After the Eucharist, Charles Kassas takes off his white cassock to join his wife Brigitte and their three children Nadim, Celine and Mathieu. In Western countries where priests must take vows of chastity that scene would cause a scandal, but in Lebanon it is very common. Of course I know he is married, so what? It would be strange if he werent! says an old woman exiting the church. In Bziza, the majority of the population is Christian Maronite members of the Eastern Catholic Church founded in the 5th century. It follows the Vatican but does not require priests to be single. As a result, more than half of the priests in Lebanon have a family. In Lebanon, other catholic communities including Greek Catholics, Armenian Catholics and Syrian Catholics also widely accept married priests. For Kassas, there is no contradiction between conjugality and the call of God in fact, it is just the opposite. He thinks that having a family gives him personal balance. You cant serve others if you are not at peace. Being a husband to my wife and a parent to my children helps me being a better father to the parish, he told Al-Monitor. Charles and Brigitte have been married for over 20 years. In small parishes like this one, the priests wife has an important social role. In Arabic, she is called "khouriye," the feminine for "khoury" priest. She is the strength that holds up our family and she is a real partner for me, Kassas added. A priest's wife is expected to attend church celebrations and all other events such as births, christenings, weddings and funerals. She can sometimes give advice and is the go-to person when her husband is unavailable. Their family home must be open to visitors 24/7. Its not easy at all. When I got married I didnt know being a priests wife would require so much. There is always something to do, someone to visit, someone to accommodate, she told Al-Monitor. To prepare women to endorse that role, several priests wives have set up workshops and training programs for young brides. In larger towns and cities, priests tend to work from an office. Their homes are private and their wives have fewer responsibilities toward the churchgoers. Married priests are a tradition that dates back to the early days of Christianity, before the Latin Church banned it in the 11th century. For a long time in Lebanon, villagers would choose their priests from among married men who had already proven they could be in charge of a family. Those who wished to remain single would join monasteries to become monks. Today, the question of whether or not to get married usually arises during seminary studies in Lebanon. Charles took his decision when he was 25, during his fourth year of theological studies. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to join priesthood, but I also deeply wished to have a family. I felt the need to be loved by a woman and to have children, he told Al-Monitor. When asked if he would have been able to give up family life for God, like European priests do he said he wouldn't have. Some people can live like hermits I cant. I dont have the capacity to endure that kind of loneliness, he said. Allowing married men to become priests is also a way for the Church to welcome older people who have had another life before. This is the case of Mansour Zeidan. At the age of 36, he is about to switch careers. For the time being, he is the proud owner of Mr & Mrs Clown, a birthday events company he created 10 years ago. But costumes and party decorations will soon be part of his past. In a few weeks, he will be ordained priest. "I'm afraid he will spend all his time in church and leave me alone with our son," Yolla, his wife, said. "I wanted to have the time to try several things before making my decision," he said, listing his previous jobs as a supermarket cashier, night watchman, site manager and school supervisor. Zeidan is studying hard to join priesthood. He takes theology courses at the university and is finishing a practical training in a church near Beirut. Father Marwan Mouawad, who is also married, teaches him how to draw on his experience as a family man to feed his relationship with the faithful. "When it comes to man and wife issues for instance or the parent-child relationship, it is not just theories for us; we can take examples from our personal lives and for people that is very important," Mouawad told Al-Monitor. At night, Zeidan joins a group of seminarians in Burj Hammoud, a deprived neighborhood near Beirut. Between meal distributions and prayer circles, future clerics discuss marriage. "Being a priest is a vocation but so is having a family. It is dangerous to stifle an inner desire at the expense of the other; you can never be happy that way," said Charbel Fakhry, a 29-year-old seminarian who chose celibacy. While married men can become priests, it does not work the other way around. Priests who are ordained while single cant change their minds later. They can aspire, however, to climb up the hierarchy and become bishops, which is forbidden for married priests. Johnny Estephan, 22, is still undecided. "A father has a sense of responsibility, he knows what it is to get up at 2 a.m. to feed a baby. It prepares you to be in charge of a parish, but you have to be able to handle both," he told Al-Monitor. You must also be able to support your family. In Lebanon, a priests salary at roughly $400 a month is not enough. Therefore, priests often have another job. After his ordination, Zeidan plans to resume his old job as a supervisor in a Christian school. He also dreams of having a second child. Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh took a jibe at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) after Zee News Editor-In-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary was stopped by agitators and not allowed to cover the agitation. The incident took place on Monday when a certain section of media was not allowed to cover the ongoing protest and the protesters, most of them women, did not allow the Zee News Editor-In-Chief to cross the police barricade. READ | Will clear Shaheen Bagh in 1 hour, remove mosques in my Lok Sabha seat: BJP west Delhi MP's fiery speech Reacting over this incident, Singh took to the micro-blogging site, Twitter, drawing similarities between the protest site and the Attari-Wagah border between India and Pakistan. Singh retweeted a video by the Zee News Editor-In-Chief highlighting how he was stopped and not allowed to cross the barricades at the protest site. Live TV The BJP leader stated that after watching the video it seemed that the Zee News Editor-In-Chief was standing on the Attari-Wagah border, where the Zee News Editor-In-Chief was in India with the 'no man's land' next to him. Singh questioned the place of the protesters hinting that they were on the other side of the border. He also said that the visa for Shaheen Bagh is given by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. - .. .... ... .....?. https://t.co/g4nZcJUyHe Shandilya Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) January 27, 2020 "Hume toh lagraha hai aap Attari-Wagah Border par khade hai...Aap Hindustan mein....beech mein no man's land...aur us taraf.....? Shaheen Bagh ka visa Kejriwal aur Manish Sisodia dete hai. (I feel that you are standing on the Attari-Wagah Border..you in India... no man's land in the middle ... and on that side .....? Shaheen Bagh's visa is given by Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia.)," tweeted Singh. After reaching the protest site, Sudhir Chaudhary kept on urging the protesters to allow him to meet them and bring their concerns over the CAA before the government but the protesters did not accept his request. Sudhir Chaudhary was accompanied by senior journalist Deepak Chaurasia during his visit to Shaheen Bagh. It may be recalled that Chaurasia was heckled by protesters on Friday when he had gone to Shaheen Bagh to report about the protests. Chaurasia had filed an FIR about the incident and since then journalists from across the country have extended their support to Chaurasia, who works for News Nation. Sudhir Chaudhary later tweeted that it seems that law of India is not applicable in Shaheen Bagh and Article 370, a part of the Constitution granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir that was scrapped in August 2019, is now in force in Shaheen Bagh. He also said that it seems visa will be required now to enter Shaheen Bagh. Sudhir Chaudhary also asked whether Shaheen Bagh is not in India and why were protesters raising slogans of 'Go Back'? The anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh started on December 15, 2019, days after the passage of Citizenship Amendment Bill in both houses of Parliament. The protest site has now become the hub of political activities with leaders of several opposition parties visiting the spot to extend their solidarity with the protesting women. The protesters have captured one side of the road which connects Delhi to Noida and it has been creating lots of traffic problems for people living in Delhi and Noida. Over 50 people were booked on Monday for rioting and assaulting policemen and a sub-divisional magistrate during a land acquisition drive in Greater Noida for the upcoming Jewar airport, police said Noida: Over 50 people were booked on Monday for rioting and assaulting policemen and a sub-divisional magistrate during a land acquisition drive in Greater Noida for the upcoming Jewar airport, police said. A team of the district administration had gone to Dayanatpur village to acquire land for the project when a clash broke out between them and the villagers, the police said. "SDM Jewar, Gunja Singh, and three policemen suffered minor injuries in the clash, while windows of four government vehicles were damaged during stone pelting," a police official said. An FIR has been registered at the Jewar police station following a complaint by the sub-divisional magistrate, the official said. "Thirty-four people have been named in the FIR, while another 20-25 unidentified people have been booked," he added. The student front of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has blotted its CV by allegedly instigating and engaging in violence on marquee campuses like JNU and Hyderabad Central University, notes Radhika Ramaseshan IMAGE: Supporters of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad hold placards and shout slogans during a march in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in New Delhi. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishads charter of aims and purposes is clear that students power should be treated as the nations power and not a nuisance to be frittered away on turbulent varsity conflicts and politicking. Ideally, it is an asset that should be funnelled into playing a leading role in public education, public service... while confronting corruption and anti-national attributes with fervent pride... Founded as the student front of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1949 by Yashwantrao Kelkar, a Sangh pracharak and literature professor from Mumbai, the ABVP predates the birth of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (the precursor to the Bharatiya Janata Party) by three years. It was recognition by the Sangh that if its ideology had to take deep root, it was best aimed at the new kid on the block. This makes the ABVP the RSSs oldest and, some might say, its favourite offspring. Unlike the BJP and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the Sanghs labour wing, which assert their autonomy every now and then, the ABVP is like a teachers pet, subservient to the RSS and generally confined to building on its core beliefs, rooted in the Sanghs nation first ideology. Unlike the student unions aligned with the Left parties which are extremely strong in a few varsities but like the Congresss National Students Union of India, the ABVP has a presence, significant or marginal, in most universities and colleges. Sunil Ambekar, an RSS pracharak who until recently was organising secretary, noted the ABVP had a 5,00,000-strong cadre and 3.2 million members. Notwithstanding the lofty proclamation to being a self-righteous student outfit, since 2014, coinciding with the BJP coming to power at the Centre, the ABVP blotted its CV by allegedly instigating and engaging in violence on marquee campuses like Jawaharlal Nehru University and Hyderabad Central University. BJP leader Sudanshu Mittal, a former ABVP activist who headed the Delhi University Student Union in 1983, rejected the charge. The ABVP has been facing persecution and violent opposition (from the Left unions) in JNU for years. This year, it resolved that if it was physically targeted, it will retaliate, emphasised Mittal. A senior BJP office-bearer, formerly with the ABVP, argued: The violent provocations have come from the Left. The ABVP is strong in Himachal Pradesh, where the NSUI is the main competitor. Where is the violence? If ABVP was genetically violent, there should have been trouble on more campuses. Being flexible is the ABVPs working credo. Prafulla Kanta, national joint organising secretary, explained why. Since its inception, we have never been irrelevant. Our working style and activities were tailored to suit the days issues. We were the first student organisation to embrace social media. To disseminate our ideology and expand the organisation, we entered IITs, IIMs, central universities, and research institutions. At National Law Schools, we opened up an avenue for policy-making for the students by starting the Anubhooti rural internship programme, which takes them to villages every year. We are concentrating on art and cinema as these impact social sensibilities. As evidence of a conscious policy to foster social inclusion and enlarge the geographical spread, for the first time the ABVPs national team is headed by a Tamil -- Shanmugam Subbiah, senior consultant in surgical oncology at Chennais SIMS Hospital and former professor at Kilpauk Medical College. Despite being the BJPs older sibling, the ABVPs relationship with the Sanghs political progeny is peculiar. The bulk of the BJPs talent and leadership has been drawn from the students front but the BJPs primacy in the RSSs overall scheme overturned the order. Amit Shah, home minister, cut his political teeth in the ABVP. So did J P Nadda, his putative successor. The upper crust of the Narendra Modi government -- barring Modi himself who entered the BJP through the RSS -- is drawn from the ABVP and includes Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Prakash Javadekar. M Venkaiah Naidu, vice-president, and Om Birla, Lok Sabha speaker, too, were ABVP members. No doubt a lot of talented persons from the ABVP have gone into politics but to say we only look for political talent is not correct, said Subaiah. Ambekar pointed out Milind Kamble, founder chairman of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was an ABVP alumnus, while Mittal cited the example of Dattatreya Hosabale who spent over two decades in the ABVP and moved to the RSS where he became joint general secretary. As Ambekar departs after a 29-year association with the ABVP, Ashish Chauhan, Himachal Pradesh-born journalism graduate who has been with the organisation since 2003, is set to take over as organising secretary. The organising secretary is the main functionary, cherry-picked by the RSS to run its student front. The ABVP president is always a teacher, appointed to guide vidyarthis (students) but the executive responsibility vests with the organising secretary. PHOENIX, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Local SEO team for V Digital Services has been named a finalist in the fourteenth annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, meaning they'll ultimately be gold, silver or bronze winners in the contest. The nine-member Local SEO team, an integral part of one of America's fastest growing digital marketing agencies, will be among dozens of finalists from the U.S. and other countries honored at a gala banquet Friday, February 28 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service The Stevie Awards organizes several of the world's leading business awards shows, including the prestigious International Business Awards and the Stevie Awards for Great Employers. Created in 2002 to honor and generate public recognition for the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals worldwide, the Stevie Awards are widely considered the world's premier business awards. "Being nominated as a finalist for a Stevie Award is a direct result of the dedication and hard work from our Local SEO team," said VDS vice president for agency and client services Taylor West. "They set the bar high not only for themselves, but they make us better as an agency by driving impactful results to our SMB clientele. I'm very proud to be part of such an amazing team." More than 2,600 nominations from companies across a broad range of industries in 48 nations were evaluated in this year's Stevie competition. Finalists were determined by averaging scores from seven specialized judging committees, and entries were considered in categories ranging from sales training to customer service and business development. Past Stevie Award winners include Apple, BASF, Ford Motor Company, Procter & Gamble and Samsung. This year the Stevie Awards are also encouraging customers and others to vote in the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Customer Service. Voting in that contest is now open at https://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com/ and runs through Friday, February 14. "Every finalist nominee should be proud of the work they did over the past 18 months to be recognized by the judges," said Maggie Gallagher, president of the Stevie Awards. "They should also be proud of how well they effectively communicated those achievements to the judges." By constantly monitoring the industry and offering a high-energy work environment that encourages and rewards creative thinkers, VDS has been able to fill its ranks with the country's fastest-rising talent. The company's Local SEO team consists of seven fulfillment specialists and two managers. Together they serve nearly 1,900 locations across the United States and boast a 96 percent average retention rate. "The Local SEO team is extremely honored and excited to be listed as finalists against some of the biggest brands in the nation for the Customer Service Team of the year by the Stevie Awards," said VDS local manager Ashley Antill. "Our success is an accumulation of everyone's efforts day in and day out to drive client success, offer support to our sales teams and retain clients by delivering value." The honor for the Local SEO team follows a year of corporate recognition for V Digital Services. In November, the company was named the 2019 "Company of the Year" among American marketing firms by the Business Intelligence Group's BIG Awards for Business. In July, VDS took home four wins in the Globee Awards, including a prestigious gold medal for having the most robust jobs growth in its category. In May, the agency was named one of the nation's fastest growing companies by the American Business Awards. As the digital marketing arm of corporate parent Voice Media Group, V Digital Services operates in twelve major American cities, including the Top 25 markets where VMG publishes such award-winning publications as Denver Westword and Phoenix New Times. As a Premier Google Partner, VDS combines the reach of those established publication properties with cutting-edge digital strategies for customers. VDS employs an array of analysts and account managers who specialize in helping small and large businesses achieve success in the digital space through the use of cutting-edge strategies in organic SEO, paid media, social media management, web development and both programmatic and pay-per-click advertising. High-performing individuals interested in pursuing a career with VDS should visit the company's careers page at https://www.vdigitalservices.com/work-with-us/. Media Contact: Taylor West, VP of Agency and Client Services Email: [email protected] Office: (602) 407-1719 SOURCE V Digital Services Related Links https://www.vdigitalservices.com CONSHOHOCKEN The unpretentious box on Conshohocken Free Librarys front porch isnt fancy, and it doesnt take up much space. But the non-perishables inside the Little Free Pantry erected by the mortgage advisors at nearby Hussey Team can mean lunch or no-lunch for someone whos hungry and cant afford a can of soup or jar of [] Director HE Amjad Khans film Gul Makai, based on Pakistani education activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai is set to release soon, and the filmmaker has received a fatwa from a Noida-based Muslim cleric for disrespecting the Quran. Khan shared that he has been getting many death threats since he started the film, and now a Noida-based cleric has an issue with his films poster. Ab fatwa lag gaya hai (now a fatwa has been issued) by a person from Noida. There is a poster that has Malala holding a book and standing next to a blast, and he thinks it is the Quran. He thinks we havent shown respect to the holy book. He called me a kafir, Khan told IANS here. Also read: Priyanka Chopra trolled for dress at Grammys, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi hails actor for not trying to hide her belly I am trying to have a word with him so that I can explain to him that its an English book, Khan added. What about a police case? You have to report, which I have done. I would say he hasnt been able to understand things. I am making a film on peace. If I file a police case then police will bring him in, and then why am I even making the film? he asked. The film, starring Reem Shaikh, Atul Kulkarni and Divya Dutta, is set to hit the screens on January 31. Follow @htshowbiz for more For Vietnamese people living and working abroad, just listening to Vietnamese in the foreign land, the nostalgia for their homeland becomes more earnest. However, due to many different conditions, the generations of Vietnamese born and raised abroad face many difficulties in learning and maintaining Vietnamese. Vietnamese language class in Kawagoe In this context, the establishment of a Vietnamese language class in Kawagoe, Japan, is an interesting story about the admirable efforts of Vietnamese mothers who are trying to teach and maintain Vietnamese for their children so that young Vietnamese people there can have a connection to their homeland. Nhan Dan Newspaper shares the story on opening a Vietnamese class of a Vietnamese mother living in Kawagoe, Japan. I was lucky! Once I happened to reopen old videos in my phone, I heard the chirping voice of my daughter when she was in Vietnam at just over three years old. Short poems such as "Green cabbage", "Little duck" or songs like "Goodbye doll" and "I love my grandmother resounded in the pure and immature voice. A regret suddenly rose up in my heart. I realized that I had lost something precious: my daughter's Vietnamese. The cherry blossom season in April 2019 is when I started planning the opening of a small Vietnamese class for Vietnamese children aged six years and older living around Kawagoe, in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. The classes lessons are designed based on the contents of textbooks from Vietnams Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), mainly books of Vietnamese and Writing Vietnamese. I teach children from grade 1 to grade 5 and beyond. With regards to managing and operating a classroom, I was really confused. Fortunately, I have attended the classroom of my daughter who was in first grade at a Japanese elementary school, and I learned how the teacher managed a classroom of children who could not sit still for a long time. Regarding the venue for the class, from the beginning, I wanted to organize a free class for students. Each week I spend about 10 hours to prepare lessons and teach. Therefore, I wanted to find a study location near the train station for transportation, adequate facilities for the children to feel comfortable, and most importantly free of charge. I was fortunate to receive the support of Kawagoe City and I was provided free use of an International Center's classroom for two hours every Sunday afternoon. So, I had it all! Through a facebook group of Vietnamese moms in Japan with over 20,000 members, I sent a notice about Vietnamese classes in Kawagoe. Teachers, students and parents met in a friendly and warm atmosphere at the first class on July 28, 2019. Efforts for each lesson The students in the class had limited communication ability and a very small vocabulary so their ability to express themselves was much simpler than their peers in Vietnam, so I had to quickly change the lesson plan, add more auxiliary materials to enrich their understanding of life, nature, food, regions, and the history of the country. For example, in a textbook, the vocabulary is introduced as: ca ro (perch), qua me (tamarind), qua khe (starfruit) or be cau (spathe of the areca tree) which are things the students have never seen or heard of, and probably will rarely use. At first, I was eager to set a goal for the class: reading and writing fluently, so I was hasty to teach practicing writing and rhymes. But the students ability to speak was completely "dormant" because Japanese completely dominated their daily lives and studies. After each week, when meeting again, my students and I tell each other about what happened during the week, the delicious food that was eaten, the new items purchased by parents, the achievements or even the sad memories. This is my favorite moment because I will listen to the lovely Vietnamese language of overseas Vietnamese children. Vietnamese language - Connecting wire Each week has only two hours of class time, so I created an additional programme of 30 minutes per day, seven days per week, for the parents to study with their children daily. This functions as homework for both the parents and the children to maintain the habit of studying and using Vietnamese. I feel greatly encouraged by the efforts of families to participate in the class. Some families live far away; every week the whole family drives for an hour to take the children to class. In the evening after the children go to bed, the moms join the class' chat group to send each other videos on learning to read, learning to write or simply to share stories about their children. I understand that Vietnamese parents have tried and worked hard to build a life in Japan. We can work 10 to 12 hours a day and we worry about our children's futures. But we forget that it takes only 30 minutes a day for us to help our children keep the Vietnamese language - the most effective and longest lasting connecting wire between children and their parents, grandparents and siblings, as well as with their homeland. The Vietnamese class is a place where we meet, encourage, and urge each other to maintain this determination. We changed ourselves first, by repeating the habit of using Vietnamese in daily communication within the family. Because families are a small environment in which to communicate in Vietnamese with our children. We have done it together and will continue to keep Vietnamese for our children. Nhan Dan Published on 2020/01/27 | Source "Dr. Romantic 2" was the first drama to open the doors to 2020 and it's currently taking over the drama industry with its high viewership. With a starting record of 14.9%, "Dr. Romantic 2" is currently a favorite with 17~19% viewership. The presence of title role actor Han Suk-kyu is also alive and well since the first drama. Advertisement Teacher Kim (Han Suk-kyu) is an oddball genius who used to be called 'God's hands' once. He earned fame as the best doctor at a university hospital in the past, but now that's behind him, and he is the chief surgeon of a small hospital in the countryside. Teacher Kim has a sense of calling when it comes to saving lives. Despite life-and-death situations, he remains calm and performs surgery like no one else can. The 40 years of acting experience prove themselves once again. As a former voice actor, Han Suk-kyu delivers his lines with accuracy and vocalization that captivates viewers right away. Then there's the slyness, the hearty laugh and the sharpness to the character, completing the character of Teacher Kim. He had been away from drama for a while, since 1995, but he returned with "Deep-rooted Tree" in 2011 and is now successful with "Dr. Romantic". The new additions of Ahn Hyo-seop (Seo Woo-jin) and Lee Sung-kyung (Cha Eun-chae) are also very highly anticipated actors. There were voices of concern, since Yoo Yeon-seok (Kang Dong-joo) and Seo Hyun-jin (Yoon Seo-jeong) from the first season couldn't make it for the sequel. However, Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung have been putting on a steady show. "Dr. Romantic" is currently in progress and the drama has more than halfway to go. However, the drama sensation has begun. ___________ "Dr. Romantic 2" is directed by Lee Gil-bok, Yoo In-sik, written by Kang Eun-kyeong, and features Han Suk-kyu, Ahn Hyo-seop, Lee Sung-kyung, Kim Joo-hun, Shin Dong-wook, So Ju-yeon. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2020/01/06~Now airing, Mon, Tue 22:00 on SBS. The share price of buy now, pay later competitor Sezzle Inc [ASX:SZL] is in the green today after releasing their operational update for Q4 2019. The fintech entered the new decade on a slippery slope after issues with gaining a lending license in California. Californias Department of Business Oversights (DBO) was concerned that Sezzle were performing illegal licensed lending during the license application process. SZL shares fell 35% in the first week of January as a result. Despite the rough patch, however, Sezzle obtained the Californian lending licence on 17 January. The news briefly pushed shares back up over the $2 mark. Trading has been sideways since then, but todays update pushed the Sezzle share price up 1.27%. SZL shares are at $1.97 at time of writing. Thinking of a small-cap play? Check out these three small-caps! Update highlights Key takeaways from the Q4 results include: 6% increase in Underlying Merchant Sales (UMS) from Q3 Underlying Merchant Fees up 61.8% in the quarter Active Customers (those who have transacted with Sezzle in the past 12 months) increasing by 42% between September and December Active Merchants up 33.3% in the quarter, hitting the 10,000 milestone Q4 also saw a 400% increase in Black Friday/Cyber Monday UMS compared to 2018 sales. Sezzle added 36,000 new active customers during that four-day period alone. Sezzles CEO and Executive Chairman, Charlie Youakim, noted at the time: The decline in the use of credit cards and heavy utilization of mobile phones during the iconic BF/CM sales event provides further compelling evidence of the growing preference by consumers for alternative payment methods such as Sezzle. Youakim also highlighted the series of historic achievements across several key indicators during Q4. He added: With Net Transaction metrics [also] continuing to trend positively, we are proving the scalability of our business model with increasingly favourable unit economics. Free Report: Three small-caps our editor Ryan Dinse has earmarked for a big 2020. Is Sezzle a buy? Sezzle is still quite a way off previous resistance at $2.70: Source: tradingview.com While the trend is up now, Sezzles staggered start to 2020 is less convincing than BNPL giant Afterpay Ltd [ASX:APT]. The Afterpay share price is up 20% in 2020 so far: Source: tradingview.com APTs strong hold over the BNPL sector means they could muscle out small-cap competitors like Sezzle down the track. Of course, the small guys could potentially see some lucrative surges before that happens. For instance, Sezzles partnership with e-commerce platform BigCommerce exposes them to over 60,000 additional merchants. But the January performance of Sezzle shows you that you need to watch the BNBL regulatory environment very closely. Thinking about buying the Sezzle dip? Learn about the major trends driving these three high-potential tech stocks here. It gives you a great insight into how to pick tech stocks, and our editor Ryan Dinse runs you through how he thinks about investing in the space. Download now . Regards, Imogen van der Meer, For Money Morning Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday urged the Centre to drop the new columns in NPR forms as they are not necessary and are leading to apprehensions in the minds of the people and the exercise be conducted as per the previous pattern. The new columns in the National Population Register which are not necessary relate to parents' place of birth and Aadhar number, he told newsmen here after a meeting of workers of JD(U) of which he is the national president. We have heard that these (columns) are not mandatory. But they are also not necessary. People fear that if they left these empty, it may be held against them if NRC is implemented, he said. He iterated that the ongoing census be caste-based and that officials concerned have been apprised of the unanimous resolutions passed in both Houses of the state legislature to the effect. He pointed out that fresh estimates of population of social segments other than religious minorities, SCs and STs were not available after the 1931 census. Expressing his opposition to NRC, which he had done earlier too, Kumar expressed satisfaction over Prime Minister Narendra Modi putting it on the backburner. He, however, went on to add Why at all ask people in NPR forms to state their parents places of birth? Even I do not know where my mother was born. Also what is the point in seeking Aadhar numbers in the forms? These are already in government records, he added. We have therefore decided that our (JD-U)leaders in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will raise this issue. We will urge the government to remove these new columns. The exercise was conducted a decade ago and it can be done again on the previous pattern, he asserted. Kumar questioned resolutions passed against the Citizenship Amendment Act in many state assemblies, saying that the law is a central one and states have little jurisdiction in the matter though all may be free to express differences of opinion. Asked to comment on the arrest of JNU scholar Sharjeel Imam from Jehanabad district in Bihar after being booked for sedition for his inflammatory speeches, Kumar said he ought to have an understanding of the countrys law and its Constitution. "It is another thing to have an opinion on anything. But if anybody talks about Indias disintegration, who is going to accept this? No power on earth can split up India, he said. People like Imam did not represent the views held by a large section of the people, Kumar said. The chief minister said that Bihar police, which had been conducting raids at Imam's house and questioning his family members prior to his arrest on Tuesday, had helped the Delhi police in the job. Kumar, whose party had supported the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, acknowledged that there has been considerable unrest across the country in its wake and hoped that the situation would normalize soon. He also cautioned against too much agitation against the legislation. The matter is before the Supreme Court. It will look into whether the Act violates the Constitution or not and take a decision. Having opinions and expressing these are fine. But there must be mutual respect and harmony," he pointed out. The JD(U) national president sought to make light of the defiant stance adopted by party leaders like Prashant Kishor and Pavan Varma with his tongue in cheek remark Our party comprises ordinary people, not great intellectuals. Though, of course, we respect all. He also heard muttering How many times do I need to speak on the letter when asked about Varmas two-page note made public by the latter despite it referring to conversations about alliance partner BJP in private. He also refused to be drawn into the controversy that has erupted over Kishor engaging in a "twitter war with top BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He (Kishor) remains in touch in his professional capacity. I have learnt through newspapers that he is working for the Aam Aadmi Party (in Delhi). But then he remains in touch with so many people. I inducted him into my party on Shahs recommendation, Kumar claimed. I will be happy if he remains in the party (JD-U). I will be okay if he chooses otherwise. But if he has to stay he must do so respecting the partys structure, Kumar said replying cryptically to further queries. Referring to the February 8 assembly polls in Delhi, where the JD(U)s tie-up with the BJP had riled Varma, Kumar said he might go to the national capital for election campaign after January 30. He said that Tuesday's party meeting was aimed at spreading awareness about JD(U)'s policies ahead of the assembly election in Bihar, which is due later this year. A party workers conference will be held at Gandhi Maidan here on March 1, like the one held exactly five years ago, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday slammed Pakistan asking it to take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India from its soil. Addressing the 12th South Asia Conference on India's Neighbourhood First Policy: Regional Perceptions in the national capital, Singh trained his guns at Pakistan that it uses "terrorism as a state policy towards India, rather than a peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue". He highlighted that the Centre has recognised the neighbourhood as the most important foreign policy priority. Live TV Singh slammed Pakistan for using terror as an instrument of its foreign and security policy, adding that it has promoted radicalism and terrorism in the region. He further said that India has made clear that talks and terror cannot go together. "A neighbouring nation has preferred to use terrorism as a state policy towards India, rather than a peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue. Use of terror as an instrument of its foreign and security policy has promoted radicalism and terrorism in the region. We have made it clear that talks and terror cannot go together and that Pakistan must take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India from its soil," said Singh. He added, "South Asia today is at a critical juncture of history. We should not hold regional prosperity hostage to the interests of states who are obstructing all efforts aimed at regional cooperation. Our intra-regional trade has been abysmally low. We have to transcend these limitations." "The government has committed about $13.14 billion in credit-lines and about $4 billion US dollars in assistance in the neighbourhood over the last decade. Our government has a firm belief in the principle of Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas and it will be a win-win situation for everyone," he further added. SANAA, Yemen When Yemens internationally recognized government led by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi blamed the Houthis for ballistic missile and drone strikes on its military training camp in Marib governorate on Jan. 18, the Houthis remained silent. Two hours following the strike, which took place during evening prayers, the Saudi and government media blamed the Houthis for the attack. The Yemeni rebels have yet to take credit for the attack, which killed at least 116 soldiers. Iranian PressTV attributed the attack to Ansarullah, in reference to the Iran-backed group. On Jan. 19, Hadi who has been residing in Riyadh since March 2015 condemned the attack and accused the Houthis of blatant aggression. Meanwhile, the Yemeni Defense Ministry put its forces at nearby bases on high alert. The accusations came after the groups spokesman Yahya Sarea tweeted Jan. 17 that its forces had repelled a very large-scale offensive by the forces of aggression [Saudi-led coalition and government] on the Nahm district, and that all appropriate actions will be taken against this escalation. The rebels accused the Saudi-backed government of launching an offensive Jan. 17 against them in the Nahm district, which neighbors Marib province. The government has refrained from commenting. As the death toll rose on the day of the attack on the Marib military base, Hussein al-Ezzi, deputy foreign minister for the Houthi-led government in Sanaa, tweeted Jan. 19, We don't attack anyone nor want to hurt anyone. But in return, we don't allow anyone to abuse us or hurt us. Houthi leader Mohammed al-Bukhaiti later denied in an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic that the group attacked Maribs military base. The government's offensive on the Nahm district seems to have taken the Houthis by surprise. The escalation came after UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths praised the decrease of military activities across the country in the past two weeks. It has been one of the quietest weeks of the war in Yemen since the war began, he said during a Jan. 16 speech at the United Nations Security Council. Later that day, Griffiths condemned the escalation of military activities, particularly the attack on the military camp in Marib. The hard-earned progress that Yemen has made on de-escalation is very fragile, his statement read. Though few details are available about the ongoing battles in the Nahm district between Houthi and government forces, activists from both sides post reports every now and then. Adnan al-Ajam is the editor-in-chief of Al-Omanaa, a website close to the Southern Transitional Council. He tweeted Jan. 18, The sixth battalion of the 29 Mika Brigade [Islah Party] based in Nahm district and all its equipment have fallen into the hands of the Houthis. The United Arab Emirates-backed council has long opposed the Brotherhood-linked Islah Party, which controls the oil-rich Marib and Shabwa provinces. Late on Jan. 20, the local press reported heavy clashes between the two warring sides in Nahm and Sirwah districts. Both sides claimed to have achieved major gains on each other. In the early hours of Jan. 21, the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV dispatched its prominent war correspondent Mohammed al-Arab to Nahm. Arab has been covering military operations on the borders of Yemen with Saudi Arabia. In a Jan. 21 tweet, he said government forces killed the commander of the Houthis so-called Death Battalion in Nahm and all his fighters surrendered. Meanwhile, the Turkish Anadolu Agency reported that a ballistic missile hit a military compound in Marib Jan. 21, killing one soldier and wounding three others. Military sources quoted by the agency did not specify which party was behind the attack. Al-Monitor tried to get a firsthand account of the situation from citizens in al-Hatarish market, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Sanaa. The market is a renowned trade point for the Yemeni stimulant khat. From the front seat of a Toyota Hilux pickup truck at the bus station of the Nahm district market, khat farmer Helal Ali waited for more passengers to board his vehicle before heading home. The clashes are far from us, Ali told Al-Monitor, adding that he heard the fighting at night from Jan. 17 to Jan. 20. He left before Al-Monitor could ask him where he lives. I don't know who initiated the fighting Do I look like I was in the middle of the battles? Ali said when asked who started the clashes on Jan. 17. Although he confirmed that heavy clashes and air raids broke out on Jan. 17 after relative calm, he said the Jan. 20 clashes were limited to artillery shelling, while warplanes could be heard hovering in the skies. He added, I don't know who is advancing. Three passengers on the truck declined to speak to Al-Monitor about where the fighting is taking place for fear of retaliation. Meanwhile, military sources told Al-Jazeera Arabic on Jan. 22 that the Houthis had taken control of the strategic Manara Mountain in Nahm district. In January 2018, CNN's Nic Robertson had reported from the top of the mountain while it was under government control. Rajeh al-Jaradi, director general of the Nahm district, spoke to Al-Monitor on the evening of Jan. 22 via phone. He said sporadic clashes are ongoing in Firdhat Nahm, in the northeast outskirts of Nahm district. Clashes are ongoing at Barran, Melh and al-Nuaimat villages, he elaborated. These villages belong to the Nahm sub-district of Ayal Ghufayr. He added that fighting is also taking place in Al-Haoul village of the same district. Asked why the Houthis are remaining silent on the course of the battles, he said, Because [Sarea] cant issue any remarks while the battle is ongoing. When it ends, he can then publicly speak about it based on the results on the ground. Citing an unnamed military source, al-Masdar, a major online Arabic news outlet belonging to the Islah party, reported Jan. 22, Houthi fighters took over Tuesday night [Jan. 21] the strategic Manara Mountain after the withdrawal of government forces. The report went on,According to the same source, this time, the battle is taking place in a near total absence of coalition fighters. However, the coalition reportedly launched around 10 airstrikes against Houthi positions on the night of Jan. 22. Mohammed Ghobasi, a political analyst based in Sanaa, said there was no justification for the military escalation in Nahm and Sirwah districts. Speaking to Al-Monitor, he said the offensive, which he blamed on the government, is an attempt to gain more trust, and financial and military support from the Saudi-led coalition. This is because the member countries of the coalition have lost trust in Hadi and his generals who have incurred several losses on other fronts in Yemen, from Hodeidah to al-Mahrah, Socotra, Abyan and Shabwa, he explained. He pointed out that resuming the attack in Nahm could be a reminder by the government for the Saudi-led coalition that it entered the war with the aim of restoring Hadis legitimacy in Sana. But he ruled out the possibility of the government recapturing Sanaa, as all attempts since September 2015 have failed so far. It is an impossible battle as Hadis forces have been [stuck] in Nahm for four years, Ghobasi told Al-Monitor in a Facebook message. Instead of restoring Sanaa, the temporary capital of Aden, Socotra and al-Mahrah, and parts of Abyan and Shabwa slipped from Hadi's hands. Paul Ricard is hoping a request to modify the F1 layout ahead of June's French GP will be approved by the FIA. On Monday, it was announced that former McLaren boss and Frenchman Eric Boullier, until now an advisor and spokesman for the French GP, had received a promotion to become general manager. His first official task was to reveal that Paul Ricard has applied to modify the layout for 2020, following complaints about processional races. "We have sent our proposal to the FIA in order to obtain the homologation," Boullier is quoted by France's L'Equipe. Earlier, it was believed the change would involve the removal of a chicane in the middle of the Mistral straight. But Boullier, referring to the 'esses' at the start of the lap, revealed: "The idea is to avoid the Esses de la Verrerie to make a second straight line and force the teams to use less downforce that encourages overtaking." He is also quoted by Ouest France newspaper: "According to our simulations, this creates a new place to overtake and tightens up the field." (GMM) Authorities have identified 41-year-old Sandra Provost as the woman who died Saturday after she was found alongside her deceased infant child inside a home in Jersey City. Police found Provost inside 33 Suburbia Court shortly before 6 a.m. and transported her to Jersey City Medical Center, where she died that afternoon, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. Suarez added that the preliminary investigation indicates Provost gave birth to the female infant, who was found dead inside the home. The cause and manner of Provosts death are pending an autopsy, Suarez said. The age of the infant remains unknown at this time. Provost, a mother, was originally from Manchester but lived in Jersey City. According to her Facebook page, she had worked at a diner in Fairlawn, as well as a billing and consulting company. There have been at least three fatalities connected to the house in the last seven months. Michelle Macaluso, a Bayonne woman, died of drug-related causes at the home in July. The house was cited in June for a number of code violations, and Jersey City inspectors appear to have visited the home multiple times over the past few months, including as recently as two weeks ago. According to police radio transmissions from Saturday, officers described the house as filthy, strewn with needles and feces. Property records list Mary and Vincent Kelly as the owners of 33 Suburbia Court, but neighbors told The Jersey Journal that the couples son, William Kelly, 57, started living there after they passed away. Kelly could not be reached for comment. The HCPOs Homicide Unit is investigating the case and is seeking information about the deaths Members of the public can contact the HCPO at 201-915-1345 or leave an anonymous tip at http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/. A spokesperson for the HCPO said that no arrests have been made in the case. Johnson & Johnson Chief Executive Alex Gorsky on Monday faced questions from plaintiffs lawyers over the timing of his sale of company stock, as he testified for the first time in a jury trial over allegations that the companys Baby Powder causes cancer. Gorsky told the jury that he had sold company shares in November 2018, two days after a Reuters reporter contacted the company and summarized in an email her review of documents that showed J&J knew small amounts of asbestos had been found in its talc on occasion since 1971. Gorsky testified that he was not shown the email from the Reuters reporter at the time of the stock sale. On Dec. 14, 2018, Reuters published the story that showed J&J had failed to disclose that small amounts of asbestos, a known carcinogen, had sometimes been found in its talc over several decades. After the Reuters report was published, a selloff wiped out more than $40 billion from the companys market value. At the time, J&J dismissed the Reuters report as an absurd conspiracy theory. To read the Reuters reports, see: and My trade took place at a time when I did not have that kind of knowledge about the article, Gorsky said on Monday. Gorsky testified that he followed all of the appropriate approval processes with the companys board of directors and legal team regarding the sale of company shares after exercising stock options. J&J faces more than 16,000 lawsuits alleging it sold powders contaminated with asbestos and failed to warn users. It also faces a federal criminal investigation into how forthright it has been about the products safety. Filings made by J&J to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that Gorsky sold $38.6 million of company stock on Nov. 16, two days after Reuters made its findings known to the company. On Monday, Gorsky acknowledged that his net proceeds totaled about $22 million. In response to questions from a lawyer representing J&J, Gorsky reiterated that he had not been told about the Reuters email in advance of the stock sale. He also acknowledged that he sold less than 10% of his holdings in the company in that transaction and that the shares would be worth more now if he had held onto them. RELIED ON EXPERTS Gorsky was subpoenaed by plaintiffs lawyers as a witness in a trial playing out in a courtroom near J&J headquarters. The plaintiffs, three men and one woman, all have mesothelioma, a rare and incurable cancer that they allege was caused by their exposure to asbestos in Baby Powder in infancy during their diapering. During an earlier liability phase of the trial, a jury awarded $37.2 million in compensatory damages. Now plaintiffs lawyers are seeking to persuade a new jury that J&J failed to do enough to ensure the purity of its product, and therefore additional punitive damages should be awarded. I was told by the experts in their fields that we were using the most appropriate, most up-to-date technology to make sure our talc was safe, Gorsky testified. In response to a question posed by plaintiffs lawyers, Gorsky also told the jury he did not read all the internal company documents related to potential asbestos contamination in Baby Powder, including those contained in links in the Reuters report. I did not read all the documents, but I would rely on the experts in these fields, Gorsky testified. J&J had fought against the subpoena, arguing that its CEO had no first-hand knowledge about the safety of its powders and that the case involves corporate conduct that occurred long before he joined the company. Compelling his testimony would serve no purpose other than to harass Mr. Gorsky and divert him from his executive responsibilities, J&J said in a motion. The New Jersey Supreme Court turned down the companys request to suspend the subpoena last week. In October, J&J disclosed that a contract lab for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had found asbestos in a bottle of Baby Powder produced in 2018. The company questioned the finding and commissioned tests on samples from the same bottle and talc from the same lot. Less than two weeks later, J&J announced those tests had found no asbestos, other than some contamination it blamed on an air conditioner in the lab. Gorskys journey to the witness stand can be traced to the lead role he played in company efforts to rebut the Reuters report, which prompted plaintiffs lawyers to subpoena his testimony. In the days following publication, the CEO personally attested to the safety and purity of Johnsons Baby Powder in a video posted on the companys website, as well as in an appearance on CNBCs Mad Money. We unequivocally believe that our talc, our Baby Powder, does not contain asbestos, Gorsky told the investment shows host Jim Cramer. (Reporting by Mike Erman in New Brunswick, New Jersey and Lisa Girion in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Lawrence Delevingne in New York and Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Writing by Nick Zieminski in New York Editing by Bill Berkrot) (Newser) An NPR reporter has been blocked from Mike Pompeo's upcoming trip abroad following the secretary of state's testy exchange with another NPR journalist. The State Department Correspondents' Association confirmed NPR correspondent Michele Kelemen would not travel with Pompeo to the UK, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, saying the move was in retaliation for a Friday interview in which Mary Louise Kelly asked Pompeo about Ukraine, specifically whether he owed an apology to former US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, per NBC News. Pompeo responded with an expletive-laced rant and later accused Kelly of lying about the interview topics, though emails dispute that narrative. story continues below The association's president defended Kelemen, who has covered the State Department for 20 years, and was to depart Wednesday on the weeklong trip. "We find it unacceptable to punish an individual member of our association," who is "a consummate professional," Shaun Tandon said, per NBC. "We can only conclude that the State Department is retaliating against National Public Radio as a result of this [earlier] exchange" and "we respectfully ask the State Department to reconsider," he added, per NBC and Reuters. An NPR spokesperson said the State Department did not give a reason for Kelemen's dismissal. It has yet to respond to repeated requests for comment. (Read more Mike Pompeo stories.) President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan to the White House, on Nov. 13, 2019. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo) Trump Discusses Syria, Libya With Turkeys Erdogan: White House WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump discussed developments in Syria and Libya in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, a White House spokesman said on Twitter. The two leaders discussed the need to eliminate foreign interference and maintain the ceasefire in Libya. The leaders agreed that the violence being carried out in Idlib, Syria must stop, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a tweet. Today, @realDonaldTrump spoke with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. The two leaders discussed the need to eliminate foreign interference and maintain the ceasefire in Libya. The leaders agreed that the violence being carried out in Idlib, Syria must stop. Judd Deere (@JuddPDeere45) January 28, 2020 A renewed drive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to recapture rebel-held Idlib province in Syrias northwest sparked a fresh exodus of many thousands of civilians toward Turkeys border on Monday amid heavy air strikes, aid workers and witnesses said. In Libya, military commander Khalifa Haftar moved forces on Sunday toward the city of Misrata, which is allied to the countrys internationally recognized government, officials and residents said. The increase in fighting came a week after Turkey, which backs the government in Tripoli, and the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, which back Haftar, agreed with Western powers at a summit in Berlin to push for a lasting ceasefire and uphold an arms embargo. By Mohammad Zargham Donald Trump has slammed Don Lemon as the 'dumbest man on television' after the CNN host and two guests on his show mocked the President and his 'credulous boomer rube' supporters. Trump lashed out at the CNN host in a tweet on Tuesday over the mocking panel segment that aired on Lemon's show at the weekend. 'Don Lemon, the dumbest man on television (with terrible ratings!),' Trump tweeted with a clip of the CNN segment. His daughter Ivanka Trump also weighed in by tweeting: 'You consistently make fun of half the country and then complain that it is divided. The arrogance, mocking accents and smug ridicule of this nation's 'Real Elites' is disgusting'. Donald Trump has slammed Don Lemon as the 'dumbest man on television' after the CNN host and two guests - Wajahat Ali (left) and Rick Wilson (right) on his show mocked the President and his 'credulous boomer rube' supporters Lemon laughed hysterically throughout the segment and, at one point, wiped tears from his eyes as his guests put on accents to mock Trump and his supporters The backlash came after the CNN host started crying with laughter when his two guests - ex-Republican strategist Rick Wilson and NYT columnist Wajahat Ali - suggested Trump's supporters were uneducated and couldn't point out countries on a map. The panel were discussing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's testy interview with an NPR reporter about Ukraine and ousted U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Following the interview, the reporter said Pompeo cursed at her and repeatedly 'used the F-word' and asked her: 'Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?' Both of Lemon's guests were critical of Pompeo's response to the interview and put on accents as they mocked Trump and his supporters. '(Pompeo) knows deep in his heart that Donald Trump couldn't find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter 'U' and a picture of an actual physical crane next to it,' Wilson said. 'He knows that this is an administration defined by ignorance of the world. That's partly him playing to their base and to their audience, the credulous boomer rube demo that backs Donald Trump that wants to think that 'Donald Trump's the smart one and y'all elitists are dumb!'.' Ali also joined in saying: ''You elitists with your geography and your maps and your spelling... your readin', your geography, knowin' other countries. Only them elitists know where Ukraine is,' he said. Lemon laughed hysterically throughout the segment and, at one point, wiped tears from his eyes. 'That was a good one. I needed that,' Lemon said. The backlash against Lemon and CNN was swift with Trump and his daughter Ivanka among those lashing out. His son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted: 'These media hacks don't just hate the President, they hate the Americans who support him. No wonder their ratings are so low, they find it funny to mock regular, everyday Americans. November is coming, & those Americans will once again have the last laugh'. Meghan McCain, who has been critical of Trump also weighed in, saying: 'You can't complain about the country being divided and then blatantly exhibit such sheer disgust at the side you disagree with. All Trump has to do is clip this from @CNN and he had a very effective ad for 2020'. Congressman Ken Buck tweeted: 'I'm disappointed to see this kind of smug rhetoric from Don Lemon and his guests. Painting a majority of Americans as illiterate and uneducated 'rubes' is low, even for CNN.' Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents a trophy to the winner during the Annual PMs National Cadet Corps (NCC) Rally 2020, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (PTI) New Delhi: Prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that while Pakistan lost three wars and could be defeated in 7-10 days by our armed forces, it continued to wage wars against India through proxy war in which thousands of innocent citizens were killed. This was because the previous government considered terrorism a law and order problem, the Prime minister pointed out while addressing the Annual Prime Ministers National Cadet Corps (NCC) Rally 2020. Even when our armies would ask for action, they would not go ahead, Mr Modi said. The Prime Minister said his government carried out surgical and air strikes against terrorists due to which there is peace in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country and terrorism has been largely restricted. He also said the J&K problem had persisted since Independence with some families and political parties keeping issues in the region alive. This had resulted in terrorism thriving. The Prime Minister termed historic the pact signed by the Centre with insurgent group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and two other outfits. Mr Modi said his government has taken a series of steps for the northeast region of the country and is holding talks with all stakeholders with an open heart. Explaining in detail about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Mr Modi said, that the government brought in the CAA to correct historical injustices and some political parties are opposing it due to vote bank politics. Mr Modi said India had promised Hindus-Sikhs and other minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan when it got Independence, that they can come to India if they needed. India should give refuge to oppressed: Modi This was Gandhijis wish and also the intention behind the Nehru-Liaquat Pact, Mr Modi said. He said that it is Indias responsibility to give refuge to those people who have been oppressed due to their faith. Mr Modi said that these people have faced historical injustice and to stop this and fulfil old promises, government brought the CAA. Our government brought in the CAA to give citizenship to such people but some political parties are in competition to do vote bank politics. For whose interest are they working? Why cant they see atrocities faced by these people in Pakistan, said the Prime Minister. He said that many who are oppressed in these countries are Dalits. The Prime Minister pointed out that recently the Pakistan army had brought out an advertisement for sanitation jobs open only for non-Muslims. The Prime Minister said that many people left India at the time of Partition but asserted their rights over the properties here. Despite the right of India on these assets worth millions of crores, enemy property was kept in abeyance for decades, he added. The Prime Minister said that those who opposed the enemy property law are the same people who have now come out to oppose the CAA. He said that these people through their friends in international media are carrying out propaganda that due to decisions taken by the government, Modis image has been hit. The United States stopped all weapons deliveries to Iraq in the midst of the growing tensions with the government in Baghdad, the US-based Inside Defense news site reported, Trend reports citing Sputnik. The freeze includes halting supplies for the new F-16 fleet, the report said on Monday citing Air Force spokesperson Brian Brackens. The Pentagon will resume shipments "when the environment in Iraq is safe enough," Brackens said, according to the report. On Sunday, three missiles landed on the US embassy's territory in Baghdad, with one of the missiles hitting the embassys restaurant. Several people were reportedly injured. In early January, the Iraqi parliament voted to expel all foreign forces from the country and also raised the voice for ceasing cooperation with the international coalition. This came as a response to Washington's operation, in which Abu Mahdi Muhandis, the deputy commander of the Iraqi Shia militia, and Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian top general - both allegedly involved in the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad on 31 December - were killed. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 Trend: Azerbaijans Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladyslav Kryklii will discuss issues of economic cooperation, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijans Energy Ministry. Reportedly, on Jan. 31, the 12th meeting of the Ukraine-Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation will be held in Kyiv. The delegations headed by the co-chairs of the intergovernmental commission, Parviz Shahbazov and Vladyslav Kryklii, will take part in the meeting, according to the report. The commissions agenda includes issues of cooperation between the two countries in trade, economic, energy, transport, infrastructure, high-tech spheres, agriculture, tourism and culture. After discussing the agenda issues, it is planned to sign a protocol and several documents on the results of the meeting, said the report. As part of the commissions meeting, on Jan. 29, Parviz Shahbazov, President of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev, as well as representatives of other structures and business circles will visit a number of infrastructure facilities in Odessa city. A regular meeting of the Azerbaijani-Ukrainian working group on cooperation in the energy sector and a round table meeting with the participation of business circles will be held on Jan. 30. Howdy Trump: US President to visit India on Feb 21 India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 28: US President Donald Trump is likely to visit India in February. Last minute preparations are on and sources tell OneIndia that the visit may take place on February 21. Meanwhile, preparations are on for a grand event that would be held at Ahmedabad. The visit by Trump is significant in the wake of Pakistan trying to rake up the issue of Article 370 at the UN. Pakistan is being backed by China, but the two nations have not had much success so far with other foreign nations on the issue. Sources said that Trump would stay at the ITC Maurya. The hotel has been booked between February 21 and 24, the source also confirmed. During his visit, the emphasis would be on a trade deal. China and Iran would also be discussed during the visit, the official also said. Meanwhile, a grand event on the lines of the Howdy Modi is expected to take place at Ahmedabad. During his visit, Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are likely to sign a short term trade deal. This is aimed at granting US companies more access to Indian markets and also restore the trade benefits for India that were withdrawn last year. Democrats to make case against Trump at Senate impeachment trial The timing of the visit would however depend on the timing of the trial by the US Senate. The trial is expected to commence this week and would determine whether Trump would be removed from office or not. It may be recalled that Trump had expressed his inability to take part in the Republic Day celebrations as chief guest in 2018. While the timeline of the visit this year is not exactly known, the official cited above said that they are working out a mutually convenient date. In November last year, Trump while responding to a question on the invitation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, "he wants me to go there." I will be going at some point to India, he had also said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 7:36 [IST] Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga spoke to the Star about his tenure and post-bench life. Q: How do you characterise your tenure at the helm of the Judiciary? What main things do you look back at and feel proud as marking your legacy? I have never bothered with the issue of legacy. I do not even think in Kenya you can talk of your legacy when one is judged through divisive lenses, never objectively. I have left this issue to historians, lawyers, the media including social media and politicians. I have always valued my critics. I come from a tradition where ruthless criticism in whatever form and substance is valued. I have written my reflections in my memoir, The Muddy Mango, on what we did collectively to transform the institution of the Judiciary. It is a long story that you will have to wait until the memoir is published, hopefully, by the end of June. Q: Many people accused your tenure as having entrenched judicial activism. Was it activism or progressive judicature? If I have been accused of having entrenched judicial activism in the Kenyan Judiciary then I am eternally glad and grateful. I have no idea what progressive judicature is! Let me say this. Professor Upendra Baxi of India argues that all judges are active but not all are activists. I have argued that all judges are active and activists. The issue is in what cause a judge is active in and an activist about. Indeed, I have always argued that our 2010 Constitution is activist in its jurisprudence and politics. Given the Oath of Office taken by each judicial officer, that cause has never been in doubt. Q: The 2013 presidential election petition also stands out in your tenure. Could you explain how your leadership handled the matter, the intricacies around it, the pressures and the circumstances that led you to allegedly strike out the evidence bundle of the petitioner on technicalities? Were there external influence, of any nature, over this case? I disagree that the 2013 presidential election petition stands out in my tenure in the Judiciary. This is the view taken by those who believe I single-handedly decided that petition. I did much more in the Judiciary aside from the decision made by six Supreme Court judges. I gave extra-judicial speeches on all national judicial and political issues. I wrote numerous scholarly articles. I gave lectures on the transformation of our Judiciary in many places over the globe. I wrote dissenting and concurring decisions besides being part of many majority decisions of the apex court. All this work, including the decision on the presidential election petition, is what collectively stand out in my tenure. I doubt you have read the decision to argue that the evidence by the petitioner was struck out on technicalities. Wrongly or rightly, the apex court decided that the deadlines were constitutional and not technical. We handed over the entire record of the petition to the Law School in the University of Nairobi for reading, critiquing, and reflecting the decision. We were accused of being bribed to reach that verdict. Some politician even said he knew where the bribes were banked in offshore accounts. Rumour had it that I had a gun to my head when I wrote the short decision because we had no time to immediately give the reasons for our decision. I have said it before and I will say it again to you. I was not bribed. I was neither pressured by Jubilee nor by CORD in any way or form. There was absolutely no external influence of any nature brought to bear upon me over the petition. Again, my comprehensive reflections on this issue are in The Muddy Mango. Q: What informed your early departure from the Judiciary? Did someone push you out? I had done what I could possibly do in the Judiciary. Q: Justice Maraga retires on January 12 next year. Would you prescribe the same treatment of transition as you did? That is a question you should ask CJ [David] Maraga. Q: There is much talk about judicial capture by barons and cartels. Having been a ranking insider, how true is this and what are your personal recollections about this? How does the days politics influence handling of the cases by judges? I know there are cartels in all institutions in Kenya and the barons themselves are tied by family and national cartels. I have written and talked about it openly. National and international cartels rule us although we have never elected them. What some would call the invisible government. What they have done is to enslave our elected leaders. I am sure the media knows this as well as everyone else. There are cartels in the media. Indeed, the entire society is captured by cartels but the good news is that there is resistance to the rule of national and international cartels in Kenya and the world over. Q: Courts are blamed for being impediments in dealing with cases, especially on corruption. How true is this? Is the Akasha case a demonstration of this and perhaps how compromised our system is? The Judiciary is always blamed for the failure of the so-called war on corruption. That is a political distraction and diversionary strategy by our political leadership. I am not saying there is no corruption in the Judiciary. What I am saying is that the political leadership perpetuates corruption in the Judiciary. Therefore, incorruptible judicial officers work under very difficult circumstances. If there was a political will to fight corruption the entire chain for the administration of justice (investigation, prosecution, Judiciary) would work seamlessly without blame games from any of the three links. I do not think there is a political will to wage war on corruption in this country. What war I would like to see is the peoples war waged against the corruption of the political leadership and baronial elites in this country and of course their foreign masters in the West and East. Post-Judiciary life Q: You have become bold in firing tweets and sentiments that are anti-establishment and oppositionist. Where are you getting with this? Where are you getting this courage? Are we likely to see a bolder you in the coming days calling out political figures for malfeasance? You are short on history. I have been on Twitter since 2011. Track my tweets and you see a clear trajectory over which I have stated what is on my mind as fairly as I could. My interviews with the media are an important record also. I got my courage a long time ago when I was 10 years old. I have been part of our political struggles since the seventies and I did not cease when I served in the Judiciary. My judicial politics is a continuation of what I saw clearly as the politics of the 2010 Constitution. I have always been bold in my intellectualism, ideology, and politics. I have fought the status quo in this country since the 1970s and I intend to do that until the status quo fundamentally changes or until I die, whichever comes first. Q: What are you doing post-bench? Are you in consultancy? Or business? Will you get into politics? I write. I lecture. I travel. I attend conferences. I have had a few consultancies but one is important. It is the consultancy in which I have worked with the Constitution Review Commission of The Gambia (with Professor Albert Fiadjoe of Ghana) to review two drafts of their new constitution. I am also building the Office of the former Chief Justice as decreed by Parliament in 2017. I work with our youth, particularly the artist movement. My mantra has always been: Who can retire when the struggle continues? Q: Any book by you coming out soon? Yes. Constitution-Making from the Middle: Civil Society and Transition Politics in Kenya 1992-1997 is being reprinted by the Strathmore University Press. Hopefully, The Muddy Mango will be published this year. Currently some of my former colleagues from the Judiciary and I are writing an intellectual biography on the Judiciary Transformation in 2011-2016. The Minority in Parliament is demanding the immediate release and utilisation of the Onuador Medical Outreach Vans bought by the Mahama government to assist in the delivery of healthcare in the country. Eight of the vans that were procured in 2014 have been grounded and abandoned at the premises of the Biomedical Engineering Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Addressing the media on Tuesday, Ranking Member on the Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said there is no justification for the current situation when health care services in rural communities continue to be poor. It is quite pathetic and very disheartening, how this government is joking with the health sector of this country. We believe that if there is any Ministry at all that has to be prioritized, it should be health. The government is indeed joking with the health sector. These vans were brought into the country six years ago and were to be deployed to the hard to reach areas to provide health services to the people of Ghana. Unfortunately, these vans have been parked here and are rotting away. Why have these vans been parked? What crime have we committed? So, I believe that, as a matter of urgency, the government must put these vans to use and deploy them to the hinterlands. The President and Minister [of Health] must know that we need more than plenty of talks and not leave the vans to rot away. I am sad about the development. The vans are not for decorations so the government has no reason to park them. The erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) had begun processes to seek funding for the operationalization of the vans before they left office in 2016. They were to help in the provision of health services in general medicine, ophthalmology, dentistry and audiology assessment particularly in rural areas in about 46 districts in the country. The eight parked vans are said to be operational. The Minoritys calls come at a time when President Nana Akufo-Addo is commissioning 307 ambulances procured by the government for distribution across the various constituencies in the country. The Head of the National Ambulance Service, Prof. Ahmad Nuhu Zakariah, told Citi News that unlike the previous set of ambulances, the new ambulances have been insured. The ambulances were treated like any other government vehicles and because they have been insured now, that becomes something we should be happy about. In the past, we used to have a lot of challenges. For example, with this comprehensive insurance, it takes away the burden of the case where there is an accident and we have difficulties, he said. ---citinewsroom An American evangelical preacher has hit back after a venue on his UK tour decided to cancel his show following a string of complaints from the LGBT community. Franklin Graham was due to visit Glasgow, Newcastle, Sheffield, Liverpool, Cardiff, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and London later this year. But the ACC Liverpool conference centre has decided to cancel the 67-year-old's show after branding his views 'incompatible' with their values. Graham, who is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, has previously described gay marriage as a 'sin' and has advocated against bids to ban 'gay conversion therapy'. Members of the LGBT community in several of the cities he was due to visit petitioned venues and local political leaders to stop him from speaking. But in an open letter to the 'UK LGBTQ community', Graham has said 'we are all sinners' and denied he was bringing hate speech to Britain. Franklin Graham was due to visit Glasgow, Newcastle, Sheffield, Liverpool, Cardiff, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and London later this year An open letter posted to Graham's Facebook page addresses the UK LGBT community He wrote on Facebook yesterday: 'A letter to the LGBTQ community in the UK - 'It is said by some that I coming to the UK to bring hateful speech to your community. This is just not true. 'I am coming to share the Gospel, which is the Good News that God loves the people of the UK, and that Jesus Christ came to this earth to save us from our sins.' He continued by saying he thinks the 'rub' is over 'whether God defines homosexuality as a sin'. The preacher continued: 'The answer is yes. But God goes even further than that, to say that we are all sinners, myself included. 'The Bible says that every human being is guilty of sin and in need of forgiveness and cleansing.' Graham, who is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, has previously described gay marriage as a 'sin' and has advocated against bids to ban 'gay conversion therapy' He later added: 'My message to all people is that they can be forgiven and they can have a right relationship with God.' 'The Gospel is inclusive. I'm not coming out of hate. I'm coming out of love.' The preacher than invited all members of the community to attend his tour dates. Graham is currently on a tour of Florida, which has attracted protests from thousands of other Christians. He also reportedly described Islam an 'evil and very wicked religion' during political rallies in the US last year and is a prominent ally of Donald Trump. Graham was due to visit Liverpool Exhibition Centre on June 12 as part of his tour. The ACC Liverpool said it had been made aware of a 'number of statements' which Graham has made which they 'consider to be incompatible' with their ethical values. A venue spokesman said: 'The Graham Tour UK event which was originally planned to take place at ACC Liverpool in June 2020 will no longer be going ahead. 'Over the past few days we have been made aware of a number of statements which we consider to be incompatible with our values. 'In light of this we can no longer reconcile the balance between freedom of speech and the divisive impact this event is having in our city. 'We have informed the organisers of the event that the booking will no longer be fulfilled. The ACC Liverpool said it had been made aware of a 'number of statements' which Graham has made which they 'consider to be incompatible' with their ethical values 'We are proud to represent all communities and will continue to move forward with our aim as a business to drive profile, major events and economic impact for Liverpool City Region.' The decision to cancel the show came after a petition was started by the Liverpool Labour LGBT Network. It read: 'We are writing for support from our locally elected council representatives in response to the platforming of homophobic hate preacher Franklin Graham on the 12th of June 2020.' 'We fear that with such a high profile event gaining traction, Graham's appearance may incite hateful mobilisation and risk the security of our LGBTQ+ community. 'We ask the council to stand with our community in counter mobilisation, including refusing to host Graham's roadshow at venues where the local authority has a stake.' A protest against the preacher's visit was also held on Saturday in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, where he was also due to speak in June. Sheffield Mayor Dan Jarvis has criticised the preacher, and said in a statement: 'Sheffield is a city of sanctuary. 'We welcome people from all backgrounds, irrespective of race, religion, belief or their sexuality. 'As a city and as a region, we are proud to stand for equality, diversity, respect and compassion. 'I believe in free speech and of the right to freedom of expression, within the parameters of the law. There was further uproar in Glasgow when residents heard he is due to speak at the SSE Hydro (pictured) in the city this summer 'But I also believe in people's rights to disagree with extreme beliefs such as those preached by Franklin Graham. Intolerance cannot be welcomed here in South Yorkshire.' The Sheffield LGBT community has also taken aim at Graham in a letter to the Sheffield venue, which is run by the Sheffield City Trust. Representative Heather Paterson, said: 'Franklin Graham has repeatedly publicly promoted his homophobic beliefs, including but not limited to branding homosexuality a sin. 'We believe that these statements far exceed freedom of speech and are direct hate speech and incitement to violence against LGBTQ+ communities and individuals, which should not be welcomed in our city or anywhere else.' There was further uproar in Glasgow when residents heard he is due to speak there this summer. Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of Glasgow Cathedral, said on Twitter: 'Have just heard that Franklin Graham is coming to the SSE Hydro in Glasgow next year. Very surprised to hear that @SSE would want to be associated with him. #homophobia' Trans Activist Anna Nicholson, said: 'Apparently anti-LGBT hate-preacher and Trump supporter Franklin Graham is following in his vile father's footsteps and doing a UK tour this year.' Peter Nimmo, Church of Scotland Minister in Inverness, fumed: 'Franklin Graham tour includes Glasgow. I trust Scottish churches give him the cold shoulder, too.' The evangelical preacher took aim at US presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg for being a self-described gay Christian in April last year. In tweets, Graham criticised Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and said that the Bible defines homosexuality as 'something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized.' One tweet said: 'Mayor Buttigieg says he's a gay Christian. 'As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized. The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman - not two men, not two women.' Representatives of Mr Graham have been contacted for comment. Former prime minister Tony Abbott has urged 'middle class' women to have more children stating that 'women in the welfare system have lots of kids'. Speaking at an event at Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney on Tuesday night, Mr Abbott said lower birthrate figures among the middle class were a 'real problem'. He urged the government to do more to help working women who want to have children. Former prime minister Tony Abbott has urged 'middle class' women to have more children stating that 'women in the welfare system have lots of kids' Mr Abbott also said Australia should cut migrant intakes to boost economic prosperity 'That is a real problem in every western country: middle class women do not have enough kids. Women in the welfare system have lots of kids,' Mr Abbott said, The Age reports. 'If you're very wealthy you can afford to have as many kids as you want.' 'While I'm all in favour of stay-at-home-mums if that's their choice, I do think that a properly conservative government, acknowledging that having a family is one of the most wonderful things that anyone can do, would make it easier for women in the workforce to have more kids.' During his time as prime minister, Mr Abbott tried to introduce a six-month paid parental scheme but was forced to abandon the policy in 2015 after several unsuccessful attempts to push it through parliament. Mr Abbott's comments caused a stir online, with some people criticising him. 'Who in their right mind is going to listen to anything Tony Abbott has to say?' one person wrote on Twitter. Another comment read: 'Tony, leave choice of family size to those who bare the baby and brunt of raising them.' 'Middle class women would rather never hear from Tony Abbott ever again,' a third said. The former politician - who lost his seat at the last election - also said Australia should slash the level of immigration, which he claims is spiralling out of control. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) The camp of Nadine Lustre said it is ready to take on VIVA Artists Agency in a court battle after the management company warned of legal action against the actress for supposed breach of contract. We welcome any legal action by Viva so their unconscionable, oppressive and illegal contract with Nadine (and their other artists) can be litigated in the proper forum, Lustres lawyer Lorna Kapunan said in a statement on Tuesday. Lustres camp earlier said the 26-year-old decided to part ways with VIVA, citing Article 1920 of the Civil Code of the Philippines on the right of the principal to revoke the agency under a contract. Lustre will also be self-managed for an indefinite period of time, her lawyers added. But the management company denied the claim, saying Lustre, under the law, cannot unilaterally withdraw from her contact with VIVA. Kapunan slammed the pronouncements of the talent agency, which she labeled as one that has taken advantage of young artists in the industry. Viva lawyers have not replied to our earlier letters but chose to wait in ambush to malign Nadine and harass third parties dealing with her in good faith. This is wrongful and malicious contract interference by Viva actionable in law for damages, she added. CNN Philippines has requested comment from Viva on the statement of Lustre's lawyer. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (NYSE:TMHC) ("Taylor Morrison") announced today that its subsidiary, Taylor Morrison Communities, Inc. ("TMCI"), has extended the expiration date for its previously announced offers to exchange (the "Exchange Offers") any and all outstanding senior notes (the "William Lyon Notes") of three series issued by William Lyon Homes, Inc. ("William Lyon") for up to $1.09 billion aggregate principal amount of new notes to be issued by TMCI (the "Taylor Morrison Notes") to 12:01 a.m., New York City time, on January 31, 2020 (as the same may be further extended, the "Expiration Date"). All other terms of the Exchange Offers and the related letter of transmittal remain unchanged. William Lyon is a direct subsidiary of William Lyon Homes (NYSE: WLH) ("Lyon Parent"). As previously disclosed, Taylor Morrison and Lyon Parent have entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger that provides for a subsidiary of Taylor Morrison to merge with and into Lyon Parent, with Lyon Parent surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Taylor Morrison (the "Merger"). The Exchange Offers are being made pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the offering memorandum and consent solicitation statement dated December 5, 2019 (as supplemented from time to time, the "Offering Memorandum") and the related letter of transmittal in a private offering exempt from, or not subject to, registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and are conditioned upon the closing of the Merger and certain other conditions that may be waived by TMCI. The settlement date for the Exchange Offers is expected to occur promptly after the Expiration Date, and the Expiration Date of each of the Exchange Offers is expected to be extended such that such Expiration Date coincides with the closing date of the Merger. As a result, the Expiration Date may be extended one or more times. TMCI currently anticipates providing notice of any such extension before 9:00 a.m., New York City time, on the next business day after the Expiration Date. Taylor Morrison has been informed by the applicable agent that, as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on January 27, 2020, the principal amounts of the William Lyon Notes set forth in the table below had been tendered for purchase in the Exchange Offers and not withdrawn. William Lyon Notes Tendered as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on January 27, 2020 Title of Series of William Lyon Notes CUSIP Number of William Lyon Notes Aggregate Principal Amount Outstanding Principal Amount Percentage 6.00% Senior Notes due 2023 ............................. 96926DAU4 $350,000,000 $324,004,000 92.57% 5.875% Senior Notes due 2025 ............................. 96926DAR1 $436,886,000 $428,600,000 98.10% 6.625% Senior Notes due 2027 ............................. 96926DAV2 U96799AJ7 $300,000,000 $290,374,000 96.79% The complete terms and conditions of the Exchange Offers are described in the Offering Memorandum and related letter of transmittal, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Global Bondholder Services Corporation, the exchange agent and information agent in connection with the Exchange Offers and Consent Solicitations, at (866) 807-2200 (U.S. toll-free) or (212) 430-3774 (banks and brokers). This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase, or the solicitation of tenders or consents with respect to, any security. No offer, solicitation, purchase or sale will be made in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The Taylor Morrison Notes have not been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act or any state or foreign securities laws. The Taylor Morrison Notes may not be offered or sold in the United States or to any U.S. persons except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. Only persons who certify that they are (i) persons who are "U.S. persons" (as defined in Regulation S) and (a) "qualified institutional buyers" within the meaning of Rule 144A or (b) "accredited investors" (as defined in Regulation D) or (ii) not "U.S. persons" within the meaning of Regulation S and are outside of the United States and who are "non-U.S. qualified offerees" for purposes of applicable securities laws are authorized to receive and review the Offering Memorandum (such holders, "Eligible Holders"). The ability of an Eligible Holder to participate in the Exchange Offers also may be further limited, as set forth under "Eligibility and Transfer Restrictions" in the Offering Memorandum. About Taylor Morrison Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (NYSE: TMHC) is a leading national homebuilder and developer that has been recognized as the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 America's Most Trusted Home Builder by Lifestory Research. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona we operate under two well-established brands, Taylor Morrison and Darling Homes. We serve a wide array of consumer groups from coast to coast, including first-time, move-up, luxury, and 55 plus buyers. In Texas, Darling Homes builds communities with a focus on individuality and custom detail while delivering on the Taylor Morrison standard of excellence. Forward-Looking Statements Some of the statements in this communication are forward-looking statements (or forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities laws. These include statements using the words "believe," "target," "outlook," "may," "will," "should," "could," "estimate," "continue," "expect," "intend," "plan," "predict," "potential," "project," "intend," "estimate," "aim," "on track," "target," "opportunity," "tentative," "positioning," "designed," "create," "seek," "would," "upside," "increases," "goal," "guidance" and "anticipate," and similar statements and the negative of such words and phrases, which do not describe the present or provide information about the past. There is no guarantee that the expected events or expected results will actually occur. Such statements reflect the current views of management of Taylor Morrison Home Corporation, a Delaware corporation ("Taylor Morrison"), or William Lyon Homes, a Delaware corporation ("William Lyon Homes"), and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on many assumptions and factors, including general economic and market conditions, industry conditions, operational and other factors. Any changes in these assumptions or other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. All forward-looking statements attributable to William Lyon Homes or Taylor Morrison or persons acting on their behalf, and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth in this paragraph. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. In addition, material risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements include, among other things: the inherent uncertainty associated with financial or other projections, including anticipated synergies; the integration of Taylor Morrison and William Lyon Homes and the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits from the combination of Taylor Morrison and William Lyon Homes, and the amount of time it may take to realize those benefits, if at all; the risks associated with Taylor Morrison's and William Lyon Homes' ability to satisfy the conditions to closing the consummation of the Merger, including obtaining the requisite stockholder approvals, and the timing of the closing of the Merger; the failure of the Merger to close for any other reason; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the parties and others related to the Merger; any unanticipated difficulties or expenditures relating to the Merger; the effect of the announcement and pendency of the Merger on the respective business relationships or operating results of Taylor Morrison, William Lyon Homes, or the combined company; risks relating to the value of the Taylor Morrison common stock to be issued in connection with the Merger, and the value of the combined company's common stock after the Merger is consummated; the anticipated size of the markets and continued demand for Taylor Morrison's and William Lyon Homes' homes and the impact of competitive responses to the announcement and pendency of the Merger; the diversion of attention of management of Taylor Morrison or William Lyon Homes from ongoing business concerns during the pendency of the Merger; and the access to available financing on a timely basis, and the terms of any such financing. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in Taylor Morrison's and William Lyon Homes' respective filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including as described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the joint proxy statement/prospectus included as a part of Taylor Morrison's Registration Statement on Form S-4 filed with the SEC, in Taylor Morrison's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, filed with the SEC on February 20, 2019, in William Lyon Homes' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the SEC on February 28, 2019, and in their respective subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by law, neither Taylor Morrison nor William Lyon Homes has any intention or obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. CONTACT: Investor Relations Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (480) 734-2060 [email protected] SOURCE Taylor Morrison Related Links http://www.taylormorrison.com USAF E-11, Twitter/Badr-ul-huda Media An Air Force plane that crashed in Taliban-held territory in Afghanistan on Monday was an airborne-communications node that supported troops on the ground, the Air Force's top officer said. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein confirmed that the plane was an E-11A but said the status of the crew was unknown. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein on Monday morning confirmed that a US military plane that crashed in Afghanistan was an E-11A airborne-communications aircraft. When asked to confirm it was an E-11 that crashed, Goldfein said it was and that he had been told about it en route to an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security in Washington, DC, but said he did not have complete information about the crash or its cause. "It appears we have lost an aircraft. We don't know the status of the crew," Goldfein told reporters. "Our A3, director of operations, and [Air Force Central Command] commander, Gen. [Joseph] Gustella, are working with Gen. Miller to make sure ... we know what's happened and how to deal with it," Goldfein added, referring to Gen. Scott Miller, the head of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. Col. Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for US Forces-Afghanistan, said Monday afternoon that the cause of the crash was still under investigation but "there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire." Leggett also denied Taliban claims that there had been other crashes. US military officials previously told Fox News the aircraft was an E-11A, which is made by Bombardier, and that it had crashed in Taliban-held territory in Ghazni province, which is north of Kandahar in eastern Afghanistan, a few minutes after 1 p.m. local time. The officials also told Fox News that "less than five" people were on board at the time. A local journalist told The Associated Press he had seen two bodies lying beside the aircraft. Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed in a statement that all passengers, which he said included high-ranking CIA officers, were killed. Story continues "Every time I've been through this, which unfortunately has been a number of times, first report's always wrong," Goldfein said on Monday. "So we've got to make sure we have the facts right" before sharing additional details. Videos taken at the scene showed the E-11's heavily damaged cockpit and main fuselage, which were on fire. The tail of was mostly intact with the Air Combat Command seal, tail number 11-9358, and USAF roundel clearly visible, according to Air Force Magazine. The Air Force keeps four E-11s at Kandahar Airfield. The long-range business jets have been modified to carry the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, which links communications for forces on the ground, allowing different systems to talk to each other. The node also connects ground troops with forward air controllers and joint terminal attack controllers, who direct airstrikes and other air support in a non-line-of-sight environment, according to The Aviationist. The E-11As flying out of Kandahar are operated by the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, which was created to fill what the Air Force has called "a joint urgent operational need" because of the challenges that Afghanistan's terrain posed for communications. The E-11s arrived in Afghanistan in 2009 and flew its 10,000th sortie in February 2017, according to the Air Force, which said the aircraft has been called "as essential to mission success as bullets." Read the original article on Business Insider As the number of coronavirus deaths continue to soar, theres concern about the mysterious viruss impact on Australians. Health officials across the world are scrambling to understand the full extent of the new strain and how much damage it could cause. As of Monday, its killed 106 people in China. Its not known what has caused the virus but its believed to have been transmitted from animals to humans at a fresh food market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China before spreading to multiple countries including five cases in Australia. But how dangerous is it to Australians? As the number of coronavirus deaths continue to soar, theres concern about the mysterious viruss impact on Australians. Source: AAP How deadly is coronavirus to Australians? Some comparisons have been made to coronavirus and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), which originated from China. SARS resulted in 774 deaths across 17 countries, according to the World Health Organisation. However, the good news is Australian authorities say coronavirus is nowhere near as deadly. Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said despite it still being quite early, so far, the indications are it is not going to be as deadly as SARS. At this stage, the fatality rate for the virus is fairly low and none of the Australians diagnosed with the disease have died. James Cook University infectious diseases physician John McBride told the ABC the reported death rate was at about five per cent. WHO claims the death rate from SARS was just under 10 per cent. Professor McBride added his understanding is people with breathing problems suffered worse from coronavirus, which seems to have a slight preference for people who are older who might have diabetes or high blood pressure. The median age for those diagnosed with coronavirus is 57. Do I need to wear a mask to avoid getting coronavirus? Professor Murphy told reporters on Tuesday there is no concern for Australians. There is no human-to-human transmission of this virus, he said. It is important to note because we've had some reports in the media about masks today, there is no need for the Australian public to wear masks. Story continues All cases in Australia so far have all had direct contact or been in Wuhan. A pedestrian wears a mask in Toronto after Ontario health officials confirmed the first case of coronavirus. Source: AAP Professor Murphy said there is no human-to-human transmission in Australia and thats the big difference between here and China. NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell echoed his thoughts when she spoke to the media saying, there is no evidence of this. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention claims it has spread in China through human contact. When person-to-person spread has occurred with MERS and SARS it is thought to have happened mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread, the CDCP said. Professor Murphy said people who have come back from China and developed flu-like symptoms may need to wear masks, as well as doctors who might be treating patients who have been overseas. Children in Cambodia's city of Phnom Penh disinfect their hands before class. Cambodia recently reported its first case of coronavirus. Source: Getty Images What does the virus mean for Australian kids? NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told reporters hes recommending anyone with children who have visited China recently keep them at home for the next fortnight. It only affects the last fortnight, Mr Hazzard said. If people have been home in the last fortnight and haven't developed symptoms they are cleared. The incubation period is up to 14 days meaning people can be infected in that time and not showing symptoms yet. What are the symptoms? Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as MERS and SARS, according to NSW Health. They are often found in animals and humans. Symptoms appear to range from mild to severe and have been compared to those of the common flu. They can take anywhere from two to 14 days to appear, according to NSW Health. The most common symptom is a fever. Other symptoms include, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath, the organisation wrote. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia with severe acute respiratory distress. Pneumonia can allow small air sacs into a patients lungs, ultimately killing them. China says it has identified the origins of the coronavirus at the now closed Huanan Seafood Market. Source: Getty Anyone who has visited Wuhan, China, and has experienced such symptoms since they left should seek medical help immediately, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. They should also avoid contact with others, cover their mouth and nose when sneezing and wash their hands with soap and hot water for 20 seconds, the organisation wrote on its website. If you have had close contact with someone showing these symptoms who has recently travelled from this area, you should call ahead to a healthcare provider and mention your recent travel or close contact, the CDCP said. How many Australians have coronavirus and across the world? So far, five Aussies have contracted the virus and are in Australia. Four of these are in NSW and one in Victoria. There were 1,771 new cases confirmed in China on Monday, raising the national total to 4,515, according to the National Health Commission. It said 976 were in serious condition. On Tuesday, the Education Ministry cancelled English-proficiency and other tests for students to apply to foreign universities. Public schools and universities have been ordered to postpone reopening following the Lunar New Year holiday until further notice. Stock markets around the world were down sharply on Monday as investors worried the outbreak could hurt the global economy. The countries where coronavirus cases have been confirmed. Source: CDCP More than 45 cases have been confirmed elsewhere in the world. Almost all involve Chinese tourists or people who visited Wuhan. Sri Lanka confirmed its first case Monday. Infections also have been confirmed in the United States, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France, Canada and Australia. As of Monday, there were five Americans diagnosed with the virus in Washington state, Chicago, Southern California and Arizona, all of whom had recently travelled to central China. Health officials said they had no evidence the virus was spreading in the United States and they believe the risk to Americans remains low. China also reported eight cases in Hong Kong and five in Macao. The epidemic has revived memories of the SARS outbreak that originated in China and killed nearly 800 people. Then, Chinese authorities were criticised for reacting slowly and failing to disclose information. The government has responded more aggressively to the latest outbreak. A police officer stands guard outside of Huanan Seafood Wholesale market where the coronavirus was detected in Wuhan. Source: Getty Wuhan is building two hospitals, one with 1,500 beds and another with 1,000, for the growing number of patients. The first is scheduled to be finished next week. How is novel coronavirus transmitted? It has yet to be confirmed how novel coronavirus is being spread to thousands of people. While the CDCP said it appears it is spreading from person-to-person, Australias chief medical officer Brendan Murphy claims there is no human-to-human transmission and he Australian public do not need to wear masks to protect themselves. MERS and SARS, which both also originated from animals, spread between close contacts. When person-to-person spread has occurred with MERS and SARS, it is thought to have happened mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread, the CDCP said. Is there treatment? There is no known vaccination or treatment for novel coronavirus. How do I avoid getting sick? While you dont need to wear a mask in public, its always good to practice good hygiene and avoid close contact with people who are generally unwell. Keep places in the home or at work clean when possible. Always wash your hands. It is a simple precaution but it will stop the spread of something like this, Professor Murphy said. Large crowd of people are seen wearing protective masks in China. Source: Xiaolu Chu/Getty Images WA authorities await coronavirus results West Australian authorities expect to learn later on Tuesday whether the state has its first confirmed case of the deadly coronavirus. WA's chief health officer Andrew Robertson says four adult patients are being closely monitored as the health department awaits results from the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory. "We have one case that, on our assessment, we believe is a more probable case. The other cases we think are low-risk," Dr Robertson told reporters. "There are very good public health measures in place. These cases are being closely monitored and they are isolated if it's clinically required." Dr Robertson would not confirm any further details about the suspect cases, including their ages or which hospitals they were being treated at. "These are just suspect cases. They may well have just a minor infectious disease," he said. "We will provide further details about confirmed cases. "All of these cases have done the right thing. They've come to the hospital as required ... we're not concerned they currently pose any risk to the Perth population." A man's temperature is checked at Nanjing South Railway station in China's Jiangsu Province on Monday. Source: AAP Several of WA's private schools have advised parents to quarantine their children if they have recently visited affected areas in China. Department of Education director general Lisa Rodgers said it would be business as usual for most students when the state's public schools returned next week. "If you have been in touch with a confirmed case of the virus, then we are asking you to stay at home for 14 days," she said. "If not and you are well, schools will be open and come to school. "Undoubtedly parents will be concerned ... we are working on a day-to-day basis with the health department and we will make sure that every part of their advice is enacted in our school system." Three more tested for coronavirus in SA Three more people in South Australia have been tested for coronavirus, but SA Health says the chances of them having the disease is low. The latest tests bring the number of people in SA waiting for test results to six. One more person was tested but has since been cleared. "We continue to work closely with the commonwealth department of health and health departments inall jurisdictions, as well as local GPs, to monitor the situation closely and provide support as required," SA Health said on Tuesday. It said all the people under investigation were being managed using standard infection control protocols. - with AAP 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. Burma Ancient Rakhine City of Mrauk-U Proposed for UNESCO World Heritage Site Smoke from early evening fires envelopes Mrauk-Us historic temples. / William Baldwin / The Irrawaddy YANGONMyanmars Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture submitted the final draft of its nomination for Mrauk-U to become a World Heritage Site to UNESCO on Monday, four months after the ministry submitted the first draft of its nomination in September 2019. If the application succeeds, Mrauk-U will be the third place in Myanmar to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after the ancient cities of Bagan and Pyu. Mrauk-U is located in northern Rakhine State, around 60 km from the state capital of Sittwe. The ancient city was the seat of Arakanese kings from the 1400s until the late 1700s. At the height of their power, they controlled an area covering large parts of eastern Bengal, modern-day Rakhine State and the western part of central Myanmar. Much of the citys remains are well-preserved and some 380 historic temples are scattered between the lush hills of northern Rakhine. Mrauk-U Heritage Trust chairwoman Daw Khin Than told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that UNESCO will first visit the Mrauk-U heritage sites secretly as tourists in mid-2020 and then will launch their official inspections in September 2020. UNESCO will decide if Mrauk-U will be listed as a World Heritage Site in 2021. The town saw occasional fighting in 2019 between Myanmar military troops and the Arakan Army (AA), a local ethnic armed group seeking autonomy. We are not sure if there will be fighting during the follow up visit when UNESCO inspects the heritage sites. We are worried about that, said Daw Khin Than. She also said that due to clashes between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), some ancient pagodas in Mrauk-U have reportedly been damaged. Bagan, an archaeological zone and major tourist attraction in central Myanmar, was added to UNESCOs World Heritage List in July 2019 after many years and multiple attempts. The ancient Pyu cities of Halin, Beikthano and Sri Ksretra were added to UNESCOs World Heritage List in 2014. The cities are the remains of the Pyu kingdoms that spanned eleven centuries, from 200 BC to 900 AD. Myanmar has also submitted drafts for 12 other sites to be considered for UNSECO World Heritage status. You may also like these stories: Rakhine Court Releases Civilians Held for 11 Months for Ties to AA People who have lots of money arent always good at budgeting. And royal family members like Prince Harry who grew up surrounded by wealth are more likely to have no concept of what things really cost. Thats one detail the Duke of Sussex may not have considered when he announced his split from the British royal family. Fans are still reeling from the news and trying to figure out exactly what Harry and Meghans new world will look like. The couple said theyd be splitting their time between the U.K. and North America, which we assume means Canada. But did Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex already prove that theyre off to an expensive start? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Jack Taylor/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle prefer spending time in Canada Prince Harrys animosity toward the British press is legendary. And even though the paparazzi in Canada could be just as bad if not worse, it appears that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex want to live there anyway. The pair announced they were stepping back as senior royals and would be making a semi-permanent move to the British Commonwealth in the future. This was after Harry and Meghan spent a weeks-long holiday break at a private estate there. Apparently, they loved it so much they never wanted to leave. Their new house in Canada will cost millions Part of the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs plan to extricate themselves from the royal family is by making themselves financially independent, which includes paying back the massive tax-payer funded renovation at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor. But what about their new home base in Canada? Rumor has it the couple is considering a massive $36 million mansion on Vancouver, which would be a bold move for two people who are technically unemployed. The Telegraph reported that Prince Charles will provide financial assistance for the Sussexs first year solo. But after that, theyll need to figure out finances on their own. Can Prince Harry and Meghan Markle afford a Canadian mansion? No one expected Harry, Meghan, and baby Archie to move into a modest apartment in Canada. But their lavish tastes might indicate a deeper problem with accepting a frugal lifestyle going forward. That is a red flag, financial planner Elizabeth Windisch told Market Watch. They really couldnt find a nice, secure home for, say, $15 million? And it gets worse. Canada has higher taxes than the Sussexes might be accustomed to. Currently, Canadians pay an average of 25% for capital gains tax and 50% for interest and regular income. The Sussexes might have to adjust their lifestyle Prince Harry and Meghan havent had to worry about money during their relationship, but this new life path changes everything. These two may be worth millions, but if they insist on maintaining the same travel, clothing, security, and housing budgets theyve been enjoying all along, theyll be burning through their net worth faster than they can replace it. Still, now that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are more independent, they can take on new projects that they wouldnt have been able to before. And lets not forget their name recognition and popularity is at an all-time high. If Harry and Meghan proceed carefully, theyll be able to make more money than they need to live comfortably in a Vancouver mansion. Even one that costs $36 million. Indigenous people make up 5 per cent of Canadas population. But they are fully 30 per cent of the federal prison population. For women the situation is even worse: 42 per cent of federal female inmates are Indigenous. Thats an appalling imbalance. This kind of thing doesnt just happen. Its not the result of a fair society and equal treatment under the law. This is a systemic problem and one of Canadas most pressing social justice issues. We wish we could say these shocking new figures, released last week by the federal watchdog for prisons, will galvanize everyone to action. But, tragically, history suggests that wont be the case. Four years ago, Ivan Zinger, the correctional investigator, reported on this disturbing trend. Indigenous people were 25 per cent of the prison population then. And, going back two decades, one of his predecessors said the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prisons required immediate attention. At the time, Indigenous people represented 2 to 3 per cent of the population and 16 per cent of male inmates. It was 20 per cent for women. Those figures have now doubled. And whats been done? Not much. Certainly nothing that has worked. The Indigenization of Canadas prison population is nothing short of a national travesty, says Zinger. It certainly is. That national travesty, though, begins long before the prison door slams shut. Every conceivable measure we have to judge how a population is doing shows Canada is failing Indigenous peoples: child welfare, poverty, addictions and mental health, housing and clean water, education and employment, and incarceration. There seems to be no measure by which Indigenous peoples fare well compared to other Canadians. And until governments start taking more aggressive steps to address those gaps, Indigenous overrepresentation in prisons will persist. But that doesnt let Canadas justice and prison systems off the hook for the role they play in contributing to such terrible outcomes for so many people. Indigenous inmates are disproportionately placed in maximum security and have been held longer in solitary confinement. They serve a higher proportion of their sentence behind bars before being granted parole, and are poorly prepared for their release back into the community. Not surprisingly, then, they are also more likely to reoffend and return to prison, where the tragic cycle begins all over again. Zingers list of recommendations for addressing this must have taken little time to compile. All he had to do was cut and paste from previous reports issued by his office, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and various parliamentary committees. His recommendations for bold and urgent action include: appointing a deputy commissioner for Indigenous corrections to be accountable for progress; increasing access to culturally relevant correctional programming; and improving reintegration in Indigenous communities. Given how many times these ideas have been mentioned before albeit without the necessary action by politicians and the correctional service to turn them into reality its hard to see them as bold anymore. But urgent, certainly. And only getting more so. Two decades ago, when the federal prisons ombudsman recommended the equivalent of a deputy commissioner for Indigenous corrections, the tragic prison figures were half what they are now. Isnt it about time for some of that immediate attention? If the federal government and correctional services cant manage to move on this one modest proposal, what hope is there for all the other changes? As Murray Sinclair, who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said: We owe it to each other to build a Canada based on our shared future. Zinger has outlined where well be in three years without real change: one in three inmates in federal prison will be Indigenous. That doesnt sound like much of a shared future. DUBLIN, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Medical Affairs: The Roadmap to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The report provides details of the significance of the medical affairs functional area in the pharmaceutical industry supported by expert insights. Detailed analysis of the current scenario, structure, cross-functioning role and importance of medical affairs is provided in the report. The report also focuses on the importance of medical affairs in communicating and collecting medical evidence with the organization and external stakeholders. Within this context, the evolving role and the future of medical affairs are discussed in detail. The report includes: An overview of medical affairs and discussion on its role in the pharmaceutical industry Briefing about the importance of medical affairs in communicating and collecting the medical evidence Detailed analysis of the current scenario, structure, and cross-functioning role of medical affairs Discussion on the evolving role and the future of medical affairs Key Topics Covered Chapter 1 Introduction Study Goals and Objectives Scope of Report Methodology Chapter 2 The Role of Medical Affairs in the Pharmaceutical Industry Introduction The Role of Medical Affairs Throughout Product Lifecycle Early in Development Pre-launch Launch Post-launch Increasing Role of Medical Affairs Research and Development (R&D) and Commercial Functions Role in Organization and External Stakeholders Cross-Functional Support in Early Access Programs Supporting Investigator-Initiated Research (IIR) Role of Medical Affairs in Generating Medical Evidence Role of Medical Affairs in Medical and Public Education Collaborations with Patient Associations Engaging with Control Systems in Pharmaceutical Industry Organizational Structure of the Medical Affairs Department Chapter 3 Emerging Capabilities of Medical Affairs Critical Role of Medical Affairs: Getting Fit for the Future Gaining Opportunities with Insights Using Technology and Automation Patient and Customer Centricity Engagement Leadership Effective Partnership with Internal and External Stakeholders Medical Governance Conclusion Chapter 4 Appendix: Acronyms For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/9q03r2 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com This is the terrifying moment festival spectators were rescued after a bridge collapsed killing a five-month-old baby and injuring eight. The victims were watching the Sinulog Fluvial Parade boat procession in Negros Occidental, the Philippines, when the bridge collapsed because of the weight. In the video, the festival-goers were seen hanging from what was left of the wooden and rope footbridge after one of its snapped cable on January 19. Police Lieutenant Colonel Jonel Guadalupe said the baby was being carried by her babysitter when the bridge snapped and they both plunged into the water. He said: ''The child was held by her babysitter when the bridge collapsed, causing them to fall into the river. The sitter lost her hold of the baby. ''The baby later died at the hospital on the Monday at 5pm after the accident.'' More than 20 people were rescued from the Camugao River after the accident at around 7am local timeand taken to hospital with minor injuries. Officials said that four adults and four children were seriously hurt in the accident. Mayor Pedro Zayco said the city government will give assistance to all the victims who were taken to hospital while workers will replace the bridge. Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Unit (DRRMO) division head Elbert Javellana said the victims fell into the river while they were watching the parade. Javellana said the bridge is likely to have collapsed due to being overloaded with people who had packed onto the walkway to watch the boat parade. Police and rescue teams responded immediately as they were already stationed in the area for the parade. Javellana said the victims sustained minor injuries and were taken to the nearest hospital. He said the bridge has been used for around 20 to 30 years years connecting a village to the nearest town. He said: ''People seldom pass by the bridge but because of the parade, people flocked to the area to witness the event.'' Out of 187 reforms proposed by the Centre under the ease of doing business programme, 149 have been implemented so far in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, an official spokesman said. It was conveyed at a meeting convened by Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, commissioner secretary, industries and commerce, Jammu & Kashmir, to review the implementation of the ease of doing business reforms programme here, the spokesman said. The programme is aimed at providing hassle-free services to traders, industrialists, potential investors and facilitating aspiring entrepreneurs. "Around 187 reforms have been proposed by the Government of India, under the aegis of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under the ease of doing business programme. So far, 149 reforms have been implemented in the UT, while its ranking in the implementation of reforms has improved from 32 to 22 in the country," the spokesman said. Expressing satisfaction over the achievements, Dwivedi said over 80 per cent basic work has been completed under the programme so far. He stressed the need for putting in extra efforts for optimum results on the ground. At the meeting, a plan for starting district-level awareness programme involving around 20 departments was also discussed, which would provide benefits at district and village levels, the spokesman said. The commissioner secretary directed for making the investment facilitation cell operational at an earliest and completion of geographic information system mapping of industrial estates to facilitate the implementation of the reforms, the spokesman said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [January 28, 2020] 20 for '20: Federal Judges Weigh In On New Data Privacy Laws and Evolving E-Discovery Best Practices Portland, Ore., Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PORTLAND, Ore. Note to in-house legal teams: The federal judiciary wants more involvement when it comes to e-discovery activities. According to the 6 th Annual Federal Judges Survey , put together by Exterro, Georgetown Law CLE, and EDRM, in-house legal teams have been shirking their duties with regards to meet-and-confer negotiations and must pay greater attention to new data types, specifically the preservation risks associated with ephemeral apps. This report provides valuable information for all attorneys who are experts or novices in cases involving ESI (electronically stored information), said Hon. Elizabeth Preston Deavers, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Ohio. For this 6th Annual Federal Judges Survey, the focus was on 20 judges with extensive e-discovery expertise, uncovering a variety of unique and new observations from the bench, including: New data privacy laws will increase e-discovery expenses by creating more litigation and making production moe costly FRCP 16(f) needs more attention, as a majority of judges say that is the most neglected e-discovery rule Intentional e-discovery misconduct is growing, as a majority of judges (50%) took corrective action five or more times over the prior yearup from 26% in last years survey Hon. Michelle Childs, US District Judge from the District of South Carolina, who frequently oversees e-discovery issues, said E-Discovery has now required companies and the court to be even more concerned about privacy implications in document production. who frequently oversees e-discovery issues, said E-Discovery has now required companies and the court to be even more concerned about privacy implications in document production. Hon. Xavier Rodriguez, US District Judge from the Western District of Texas, felt this was the key takeaway from the report: The necessity of meaningful conferences with opposing counsel and an interactive discussion with the judge in a Rule 16 conference about the scope of discovery and privacy implications is the key takeaway from this report. Download the full 2020 Federal Judges Survey Report here. # # # About Exterro Exterro was founded with the simple vision that applying the concepts of process optimization and data science to how companies manage digital information and respond to litigation would drive more successful outcomes at a lower cost. We remain committed to this vision today as we deliver a fully integrated Legal GRC platform that enables our clients to address their regulatory, compliance and litigation risks more effectively and at lower costs. With software solutions that span privacy, legal operations, compliance, cybersecurity and information governance, Exterro helps some of the worlds largest organizations work smarter and more efficiently. For more information, visit exterro.com . Ron J. Rambo Jr. Marketing Content & Communications Manager Exterro, Inc. [email protected] (503) 501-5104 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] In summer 2018, the Air Forces top commander said he had high confidence that a research team finally had figured out why the services basic training aircraft, the T-6A Texan II, suffered repeated failures of its cockpit oxygen system. But the problem has persisted, even as inexperienced pilots are learning to solo in the Texan II over populated areas near San Antonio and other cities. Potentially fatal physiological episodes, or PEs, that can hinder their ability to fly safely continue to occur including 10 in the month after Gen. David Goldfein, the services chief of staff, made his optimistic remarks. No single cause has been found. The month-by-month tally of incidents in the aircraft has been on a general downward trend since an unprecedented 17 episodes in January 2018 grounded the trainer. Still, that monthly number repeatedly has surged to half a dozen or more, most recently in November. The search for answers is ongoing and intense, said the commander in charge of the effort. We continue to pursue an acceptable resolution to this challenge, said Brig. Gen. Gregor Leist, leader of the Air Force Physiological Episodes Action Team. We dont think we know exactly whats happening. We dont have the science to support a single causal factor yet, but we continue to pursue it aggressively. Pilot training in the Texan II is overseen by the the Air Education and Training Command, headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, and is conducted in Texas and three other states. The Air Force, Navy and NASA believe the onboard oxygen generation system, called OBOGS, is causing at least some of the physiological episodes. The OBOGS draws outside air from a planes engine, cools it and puts it through a device called a molecular sieve concentrator, which uses a chemical process to produce oxygen. The system, developed in the early 1980s, delivers 95 percent oxygen and 5 percent argon to pilots. The Navy says the mix is cleaner than the air in a typical office environment. A physiological event can result from hypocapnia, a state of reduced carbon dioxide in the blood, or hypercapnia, excessive carbon dioxide in the blood usually caused by inadequate respiration. Pilots of other military aircraft have suffered such episodes, but the Texan II has had the highest rate in recent years, reaching 55 per 100,000 flying hours in 2018. Theres no question theyre real, rather than psychosomatic, Leist said, based on compelling and very concerning descriptions of these symptoms. Efforts to isolate causal factors are hampered by a lack of quantifiable scientific data about the physiological state of the pilot and the surrounding cockpit environment, he said in a prepared statement. Researchers have focused on rapid micro-fluctuations of the oxygen concentration levels in the system and ways to reduce it, Leist said. The more weve learned about these events, the more we, like our Navy colleagues, are becoming convinced that there appear to be multiple contributing factors involved. The Air Force originally counted 22 physiological episodes in the Texan II in January 2018. It reduced the number to 17 after vetting the pilots reports and identifying other explanations for pilot distress, such as airsickness or breathing problems caused by an ill-fitting oxygen mask. The January 2018 number remains the most ever recorded in one month for the single-engine, two-seat turboprop since it was introduced in 2000. The AETC grounded the plane for all of February 2018. Before clearing it to fly, AETC officials replaced flawed filters and valves. But not one of them nor all of them together could actually explain everything that was going on, so we didnt stop, Goldfein said in 2018. On ExpressNews.com: Air Force chief: Pilot oxygen problem solved The Navy and Air Force are working closely together on the problem. The Air Force essentially has adopted the Navys OBOGS maintenance practices, doing more frequent cleaning and replacing of components and adding more features to improve the systems performance. The Navy, which grounded its primary training plane, the T-45 Goshawk, for two days in April 2017 because of OBOGS issues, said its pilots experienced only five episodes in the jet during the nearly 12 months since February 2019. There were seven episodes in Navy models of the T-6 in about a year ending in October, 2019, most of them in Florida and one in a plane based at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. We still have not identified a root cause for PEs that are occurring with our pilots because they are complex and multi-factorial, said Capt. David Russell, a Navy spokesman. There have been efforts to improve the reliability of the existing OBOGS, but we have not determined it to be a root cause of all PEs in the Navy. On ExpressNews.com: Pilots report more oxygen system woes, but Air Force says T-6A is safe to fly The Navy said it would upgrade its oxygen concentrator, giving it a backup system to provide supplemental oxygen as needed. Changing OBOGS The Air Force, too, hopes to replace its current oxygen concentrators, with installation to begin this year if funding is available, senior Air Force officials said. It also has secured funding to design a backup system that, like the Navys planned upgrade, will sense any fault in the OBOGS and automatically supply the pilot with oxygen. It still needs money for procurement. In time, the Air Force hopes to replace the current OBOGS altogether with a next-generation oxygen system, but that has yet to be funded for design and development, officials said. For now, the Air Force is seeking data from pilots and the aircraft that might lead to solutions. The 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio is working to incorporate sensors into aircrew flight gear to collect real-time information on pilots physiology and from the cockpit environment that sustains them. For 20 years, the Air Force has underinvested in basic aerospace physiology research and development, creating knowledge and data gaps, according to briefing materials produced by the Air Force Physiological Episodes Action Team. It proposes a $15 million, five-year research and development effort to study the impact of breathing systems on aircrew performance. On ExpressNews.com: Commander halted Randolph training flights over pilots concerns As summer began in 2018, and pilots continued to be sickened in the Texan II months after the plane was grounded, some aviators sounded the alarm with Lt. Col. J.C. Gorman, the new commander of the 559th Flying Training Squadron at JBSA-Randolph. Gorman halted flight operations on June 25 of that year, but when the squadron returned to a regular schedule, at least 11 training command pilots refused to fly, several pilots told the San Antonio Express-News at the time. Some avoided getting into the cockpit for weeks. One instructor pilot, they said, had forgotten which aircraft was leading a formation it was his own plane and he credited his student with landing it and saving his life. Yet the San Antonio-based 19th Air Force, which trains more than 32,000 U.S. and allied students in aircrew and other specialties, said that at no time has an event led to incapacitation of a pilot. A few reappearing symptoms such as metallic taste, shortness of breath, hot flashes and cognitive impairment and symptoms have lasted from moments to hours after landing, it said in an emailed response to questions. The AETC has not publicly discussed the incidents or provided information about their severity since 2018, when its then-commander, Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, ordered all reports of physiological episodes withheld from the public as privileged. Its a mechanism that normally is used only when somebody has died or an aircraft has crashed, where the cost and the loss is pretty high, he said last summer. Told that pilots quit talking to the media after his order, Kwast said, They were never told not to talk what they were told is, if you talk to us, we will protect everything you say. And they have faith in this system, and they have faith in the fact that if they tell everything to the safety board investigators that we will get to the root cause, and thats really what they wanted. sigc@express-news.net Vigilantism Takes Hold in Central China as Coronavirus Death Toll Rises 2020-01-27 -- Residents of areas surrounding the virus-hit Chinese province of Hubei have walled off streets and highways with bricks and other obstructions in a bid to stop people fleeing areas worst-hit by the epidemic, as the death toll from the coronavirus passed 80 on Monday. Tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people are under some kind of travel restriction imposed either by the authorities or by local residents trying to prevent infected people from fleeing the worst-hit areas of the epidemic. A total of 2,737 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) were reported in mainland China, according to a website set up by researchers at Johns Hopkins University to track the epidemic. Of those cases, 1,423 were in Hubei, which also reported 76 out of the total of 81 deaths. Meanwhile, 146 cases were confirmed in the southern province of Guangdong, with eight in neighboring Hong Kong and six in nearby Macau. More than 100 cases have been reported in Henan province, Chongqing municipality, and Hunan province, all of which have borders with Hubei. One of the road closures was in Hunan's Sanghzi county, where piles of bricks blocked a highway leading from Hubei, sources told RFA. A local journalist surnamed Li said the road closure wasn't an isolated incident. "This place [in Sanghzi county] is at the meeting point of three provinces with Hubei on one side, Chongqing on another, and Hunan on the other," Li said. "People from Hubei will try to pass this way, and if people here prevent them, there will be conflict." "[This is happening] along the entire length of the border between Hunan and Hubei, as well as along the border between Hubei and Henan," he said. 'The situation is pretty bad' A resident of Hubei's Hefeng county surnamed Zhao said people are being prevented from traveling to nearby Sanghzi county along local roads by similar roadblocks, even though they are more than 1,000 kilometers from Wuhan. "The road from Hefeng to Sangzhi is closed, blocked off with a wall at the intersection to stop people from going through," Zhao said. "We are is Hefeng, a small county in a mountainous area more than 1,000 kilometers away from Wuhan." "None of the shops are allowed to open, provincial and national highways leaving the village and the county town are shut, and no vehicles or personnel are being allowed to use them," he said. "The situation is pretty bad." An official who answered the phone at the Sanghzi county government declined to comment when contacted by RFA on Monday, saying they were unaware of the situation. A resident of Hubei's Xianning city surnamed Wang reported similar scenes where he lives. "Everything is under tight restriction around here," Wang said. "The roads into town for each town have been blocked using excavators, and people aren't being allowed to move between towns and villages." "They have dug up the road surfaces, so how are we supposed to get past?" Chinese premier visits Chinese premier Li Keqiang visited Wuhan on Monday, promising reinforcements amid growing public anger over the city government's failure to respond adequately to a fast-changing public health emergency. "Li ... thanked frontline medical workers for their all-out efforts in treating patients and urged them to pay attention to their own protection," state news agency Xinhua reported. "He required efforts to guarantee medical resources supply, race against time to treat patients and ensure adequate market supply and stable prices." Li promised that 2,500 more medical workers would arrive in Wuhan, where workers are being pressed into service to complete a new hospital to house the overflowing caseload from the city's overwhelmed hospitals. Social media comments have been sharply critical of the Hubei authorities. The provincial governor corrected himself twice during a news conference over the number of face masks being produced in the province. Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang told state broadcaster CCTV the city's management of the crisis was "not good enough," a rare public self-criticism for a Chinese official, and said he was willing to resign. "Right now we are all beyond caring," a resident of Wuhan told RFA on Monday. "When this whole thing started, they should at the very least have made us aware of how serious it was." "Also, it's not just us who were ill-prepared. They don't seem to have been well-prepared within their own ranks either," he said. Wuhan businessman Qin Daling said an estimated 300,000 people had left Wuhan before the lockdown. "I saw it myself: the night before the city was cut off, 300,000 people left," he said. Provinces isolating themselves Zhang Maolin, a resident of Lushan Scenic Area in Jiangxi province, which also borders Hubei, said similar road closures were also in force all around his home. "Each province is isolating itself ... and civilian drivers daren't go anywhere," Zhang said. "Anyone who is trying to run a business isn't going to be able to operate." "The key now is to re-open the flow of materials, because prices are very high right now in Wuhan because the goods can't get in," he said. "Here in my town, there was no rice available yesterday, although there was some today." "There is no way you can get hold of a face mask," he added. Elsewhere in China, people who fled Wuhan before the lockdown are now being driven out of villages, denied food in eateries, and accommodation in hotels and guesthouses, according to posts on social media platforms Sina Weibo and WeChat seen by RFA. One video posted to social media showed a group of people from Wuhan being told to turn around by local residents and police in the southwestern province of Yunnan, while a similar scene was posted from Chongqing. Only authorities in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Hainan island, and Xuwen in Guangdong are running centralized resettlement and medical observation programs for residents of Hubei. But neither the National Health Commission nor the Ministry of Civil Affairs responsible for rescue operations have commented on the crisis so far. Global threat unclear Health experts are still unsure how great a global threat is posed by the virus, which has spread to other countries, but only in single figures so far with no deaths reported. National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei said on Sunday that the incubation period for nCoV could range from one to 14 days, and that the virus was infectious during incubation, which would allow it to spread while still undetected. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated an incubation period of two to 10 days. Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has arrived in China to work with local officials. The U.S. Consulate in Wuhan will operate a charter flight on Tuesday to evacuate its personnel and some other Americans from the city, while Japan is getting ready to fly out 560 of its nationals "as soon as possible," the Associated Press reported. French citizens who want to leave Wuhan will be taken on a direct flight to France in the middle of the week, and then held in quarantine for 14 days, while employees of Peugeot and Citroen carmaker PSA, said it was evacuating its expatriate employees and their families from Wuhan and quarantining them in another city. Reported by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content January not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Students of Gyandeep PG College here were allegedly directed by the college administration to attend Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's 'Yuva Aakrosh' rally here on Monday. Refuting the allegation while speaking to ANI, Principal, Gyandeep PG Mahavidyalaya, Anjana Agarwal said, "No such directive was issued by the administration regarding it, neither the college administration has issued a notification to students. If any student skips class to attend the rally, I'll take action regarding it." "Once a student enters the college premises then the student has to be in the class. However, we cannot stop anyone from going anywhere once the college is over at 2:30 pm," she added. Some students, however, said that they were asked by the college administration to attend Rahul Gandhi's rally today. A student in the first year, Hans Raj Bavaria, said, "The college administration told me that there will be a rally of Ragul Gandhi and we have to go there. Some students have also been getting calls by the school administration for the past two days to attend the rally." Another student said, "My sir called me and said that I have to come on Tuesday for Rahul Gandhi's rally. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) While details of the US proposal remain secret, it may seek to give Israel the green light to annex the Jordan Valley, a strategic area along the border with Jordan that constitutes around 30 percent of the West Bank The Israeli army said Tuesday it was beefing up forces in the Jordan Valley, a swathe of the occupied West Bank expected to feature in US President Donald Trump's long-awaited peace plan. "Following the ongoing situation assessment conducted in the IDF, it has been decided to reinforce the Jordan Valley area with infantry troops," the military said in a statement. Trump was due to release his plan, years in the works, at the White House later Tuesday together with his close ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Palestinians, who accuse Trump of pro-Israel bias, were not taking part in the Washington event and have rejected the plan and any US role as peacemaker. While details of the US proposal remain secret, it may seek to give Israel the green light to annex the Jordan Valley, a strategic area along the border with Jordan that constitutes around 30 percent of the West Bank. During a tour of the valley on Monday, Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said they were taking steps towards the move -- a central election promise of right-winger Netanyahu. "As interior minister I'd like to tell you, we've started to prepare for an annexation -- we are getting the paperwork ready," Deri said. Palestinians were planning protests in the West Bank and Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday. Search Keywords: Short link: Love Island bombshell Luke Mabbott has been branded a 'player' by a former flame, who has accused him of dating other girls during the five years they flirted. In an interview with The Sun, Chloe Ephraim claims that after meeting him on holiday in Turkey when she was 18, the pair went on to flirt and exchange explicit messages but they never dated as she's in Manchester while he's based in Redcar. And the IT graduate, 24, has revealed that she was particularly shocked at seeing Luke on Love Island, as he allegedly made arrangements for them to spend time together just days before he jetted off to South Africa for the show. Ex factor: Love Island bombshell Luke Mabbott has been branded a 'player' by a former flame Chloe Ephraim, who has accused him of dating other girls during the five years they flirted She said: 'Ive felt so sick ever since I found out. I was speaking to him four days before he appeared on the show. We were planning for me to go down and visit him for a whole weekend. 'He started pursuing me again just after Christmas and he must have known that he was going on the show then. He didnt say anything. He just led me on and I was planning to go stay with him for the whole weekend.' After seeing the 24-year-old Justin Bieber lookalike couple up with Jess Gale, 20, on the show, Chloe told the publication that her impression of him has changed. Holiday romance: Chloe claims that after meeting him on holiday in Turkey when she was 18, the pair went on to flirt and exchange explicit messages but they never dated She said: 'I didnt think he was a player and thats why I liked him... Weve been sending flirty text messages for five years and obviously I thought something was going to happen with us as he kept coming back to me.' MailOnline has contacted representatives for Love Island for comment. On Sunday night's instalment of Love Island, Luke and Jess Gale were seen sharing their first smooch following a dramatic recoupling episode. After Jess chose new boy Luke M who is dubbed Luke M in the villa the pair decided to take a private moment to celebrate. Big debut: Luke, dubbed Luke M in the villa, made his debut on the hit ITV2 show last week Sparks first flew between Jess and Luke when they were whisked away for a date after the public voted for the bubbly blonde to be Luke's match when he first arrived in the villa alongside Luke Trotman, 22. The two got on famously, with Jess telling her date: 'I wouldn't say I'm a relationship type of girl I'm, not just in it for the sake of it, I like to believe everything happens for a reason.' To which Luke quipped: 'Could I be the reason?' Couple: Since arriving on the show, Luke has entered into a couple with bombshell Jess Gale Tuesday night's episode proved to be one of the most dramatic yet, after Connor Durman was dumped from the villa at the hands of his fellow islanders. He and Sophie Piper were voted the least favourite couple by the public, which led to the announcement that islanders would be left with the tough decision of selecting just one person out of that couple to go home. Thanks to Luke's late arrival and very recent coupling on the show, he was exempt from the vote. Love Island continues on Tuesday at 9pm on ITV2. West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Tuesday forced to leave the Calcutta University's annual convocation in a huff after some students showed him black flags and shouted 'go back' for his pro-CAA stance, calling him an 'agent' of the BJP Kolkata: West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Tuesday forced to leave the Calcutta University's annual convocation in a huff after some students showed him black flags and shouted 'go back' for his pro-CAA stance, calling him an "agent" of the BJP. Dhankhar, who is also the chancellor of the university, said "those that compromised culture and decorum need to be in a reflective mode". Pleading helplessness, Vice-Chancellor Sonali Chakravarty Bandopadhyay later told reporters that "a section of students did not want to receive their degrees in the presence of the honourable governor". Shortly after Dhankhar had arrived at the venue around 12.30 pm, the students, with 'No CAA' and 'No NRC' posters in hand, tried to block his way and shouted 'go back' slogans. The governor headed straight towards the Nazrul Mancha green room, where he met Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee, who was on Tuesday conferred honorary D Litt (honoris causa) by the university. Minutes before the programme started, however, another group of students took to the stage and raised slogans against the governor, this time prompting him to leave the venue around 1.30 pm. The protesters claimed that Dhankhar was "the (BJP-led) Centre's representative, who doesn't deserve to be on the dais for CU's convocation ceremony". The vice-chancellor, on her part, was seen trying to convince the students to withdraw their agitation. She later announced that the governor had left the venue. She later told reporters that there was a provision in the university statute, which said the vice-chancellor could preside over a convocation ceremony in the absence of the chancellor. "...And we are relieved that the convocation finally got over and we could hand over the citations to our invited dignitaries and academic degrees to students," she said. Taking to Twitter, Dhankhar later shared pictures of his rendezvous with the Nobel laureate and said, "The actions of those who created or stage-managed unseemly spectacle would resonate for long in the ears of the cultured people of WB (West Bengal)". "The uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta University without attending the Convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of the immense respect we have for Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on whom we are conferring honorary D Litt (honoris causa)," he tweeted. The governor also showered praises on Abhijit and said he was a "man of sterling qualities and disarming grace... greatly touched by his modest approach and depth". Eminent astrophysicist JV Narlikar, who was conferred 'Sir Asutosh Mookerjee Memorial Medal' on the occasion, when asked a question about Tuesday's students' agitation, said, "I will only talk about matters related to academics." Last month, Dhankhar had faced similar protests at Jadavpur University, also during the convocation ceremony. The state government, in December last year, trimmed the governor's powers as the chancellor of universities, notifying a set of new rules governing his interaction with vice-chancellors. Under the new rules, the chancellor cannot intervene in the day-to-day affairs of universities, nor can he advise the university officials directly. All communication between the chancellor and senior university officials will also have to be routed through the state's higher education department, it mandated. Delhi to ease restrictions, if Covid cases come down in next 2-3 days: Health Minister Lata Mangeshkar health update: Doctor says,'She in ICU with Covid-19 and pneumonia, will be under observation' Coronavirus cure: Tamil Nadu doctor from Rathna Siddha Hospital claims to have invented medicine India oi-Madhuri Adnal Chennai, January 28: A doctor from Tamil Nadu's Rathna Siddha Hospital in Chennai has claimed to have formulated a herbal medicine that can cure novel Coronavirus, as China continued to reel under deadly coronavirus epidemic and has no effective vaccine or drug to treat it. Dr Thanikasalam Veni who has 25-year of vast experience in field Siddha and Ayurvedic medicines said, "We have formulated a medicine from an extract of herbs. It is very effective to cure any type of viral fever. Coronavirus has no medicine.'' In China's Wuhan where Coronavirus has claimed over 50 lives, experts have no idea how to cure the disease. Our herbal extract medicine is used to treat dengue, multi-organ fever and acute liver fever." Coronavirus: Death toll climbs to 106 in China, 24 deaths in Hubei province overnight "We want to tell the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Chinese government that our medicine is very effective in treating multi-organ failure in corona fever condition," he said. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News The Siddha doctor also claimed that the medicine formulated by him along with his team treats infections caused by the virus within 24 hours to 40 hours. "When we treated the dengue virus with our medicine, many patients with reduced platelets count, acute liver failure, immunity deficiency and low white blood cell (WBC) were cured within 24-40 hours," said Veni. "In coronavirus too I am confident our medicine will be very effective," he added. The doctor said he is willing to help the state and the central government as well as China if required. "If the Centre and state government require then I am ready with medicine. Also, if China wants my contribution I am ready to fly immediately to Wuhan with my medicine which can cure Coronavirus," he said. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar said that the state is "well prepared and is taking all precautionary and preventive steps" to tackle any possible infections. More than 50 million people across China have been put under partial or complete lockdown as the country's government steps up its response. Meanwhile, a confirmed coronavirus case is yet to be discovered in India but a series of similar hospitalisations in four cities - Kolkata, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Patna - as well as the death of a Thai national in West Bengal's capital on Monday, raised fears of the pathogen having arrived on Indian soil. Coronavirus: Uttarakhand on high alert Coronaviruses (nCoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death. Militants scare Assam with 4 serial explosions on Republic Day Day after The Wire columnist and Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam was booked for cut Assam from India statement, multiple explosions rocked Assam on Sunday morning as the country was celebrating its 71st Republic Day. At least four blasts have reportedly taken place in upper Assam. Three of the explosions took place in Dibrugarh district and one in Charaideo district of Upper Assam, all in a span of 10 minutes - between 8.15 and 8.25 am on Sunday - police sources said. However, no one was reported injured in the blasts. Banned outfit ULFA (Independent) has claimed responsibility for the four powerful explosions that took place early on Sunday prior to Republic Day celebrations in the state. The first blast was at a shop in Graham Bazaar located near the National Highway NH 37. The second blast occurred near a Gurudwara on AT Road in Dibrugarh while another blast took place near Duliajan police station in Dibrugarh. The other explosion took place in Teok Ghat under Sonari town of Charaideo district. Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal described the incident as a 'cowardly attempt to scare away people on a sacred day'. "Strongly condemn the bomb blasts in a few places of Assam. This cowardly attempt to create terror on a sacred day only exhibits the frustration of the terror groups after their total rejection by the people. Our government will take the sternest action to bring the culprits to book," he tweeted. United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) (ULFA-I) had called for a 'general strike' on Sunday, asking citizens not to participate in the Republic Day celebrations. Assam police had informed central intelligence agencies about United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) conducting reconnaissance activities some ten days ago. Intelligence reports from Guwahati also stated that the assigned work could be the plan of the outfit to create disturbance, sabotage activities in Assam in view of Republic Day and the history of ULFA and other secessionist outfits declaring boycott of the celebration of Republic Day." An alert has also been sounded across Manipur, with police personnel now keeping an eye on any activity of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) in the state. Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahant has said that investigation into the blasts has begun. We have received the information about the explosion in Dibrugarh. An investigation has begun, it is being probed that who is involved in this, said Assam DGP. AUBAGNE, France, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB), a leading partner of the biopharma industry, has continued on its profitable growth track in fiscal 2019. According to preliminary figures, the Group grew by double digits in sales revenue, order intake and earnings, recording gains across all geographies. Sales revenue totaled 1,440.6 million euros, rising 17.0% in constant currencies (reported: +18.8%) against the prior-year figure. Sartorius Stedim Biotech thus slightly exceeded its upgraded forecast, which had predicted sales growth at the upper end of the range of 12% to 16%. Growth was almost entirely organic, as the acquisition of the cell culture media specialist Biological Industries in mid-December 2019 only contributed a marginal increase. Order intake1) also rose by 16.2% in constant currencies (reported: +18.1%) to 1,543.5 million euros. "2019 was another very successful year for Sartorius Stedim Biotech with ongoing strong demand for SSB's products backed by dynamic end-markets. Besides strong top and bottom line growth, we opened new production facilities, expanded our product portfolio and added key technologies through the acquisition of Biological Industries. We consider ourselves being very well positioned to continue above-market growth in 2020," said Dr. Joachim Kreuzburg, Chairman of the Board and CEO. Geographically, the positive performance of the Group was broad-based, with all regions contributing to growth. EMEA (Europe | Middle East | Africa) generated sales revenue of 575.1 million euros, which is a year-over-year increase of 13.0% (reported: +13.2%). The Americas region recorded a sales revenue gain of 17.1% (reported: +21.1%) to 511.6 million euros, following strong development in 2018. Fueled by dynamic project business in particular, the Asia | Pacific region achieved the highest growth rates, with sales revenue surging 23.9% (reported: +25.8%) to 353.8 million euros. (All changes in sales revenue and order intake are given in constant currencies, unless otherwise stated.) Underlying EBITDA1) rose overproportionately relative to sales by 23.1% to 421.5 million euros due to economies of scale and to the IFRS 16 Standard required to be applied for the first time in 2019.2) As expected, the respective margin increased to 29.3% from 28.2% in 2018, with around half a percentage point attributable to IFRS 16. Underlying net profit1) after non-controlling interest for the Group was significantly higher than the prior-year figure of 219.3 million euros, reaching 262.9 million euros. Earnings per share1) amounted to 2.85 euros, up from 2.38 euros in fiscal 2018. Following the further expansion of our workforce in customer facing functions, research and development, as well as operations, the number of employees rose by 10% or 566 people to 6,203. Key financial indicators SSB continued to make substantial investments in expanding its global production capacity, even though, as expected, its CAPEX ratio1) decreased upon the completion of several large projects from 14.6% a year earlier to 9.4%. Due to strong operating cash flow and despite the intensive investment activity and successful acquisition, the ratio of net debt to underlying EBITDA1) was 0.3 and hence below the previous year's figure of 0.4. Equity increased from 1,044.9 million euros at year-end 2018 to 1,177.6 million euros as of the reporting date. The equity ratio remained at a very comfortable level of 64.7%, decreasing slightly from 66.5% due to the change in IFRS 16. The SSB Group continues to have a very solid balance sheet and financial position. Positive outlook for 2020 For fiscal 2020, the management of Sartorius Stedim Biotech anticipates continued profitable growth. Consolidated sales revenue is projected to increase by 11% to 14%, with Biological Industries contributing about two percentage points to this growth. With respect to profitability, the company's underlying EBITDA margin1) is expected to rise to 29.5%. The CAPEX ratio1) is projected to be around 8% (previous year: 9.4%). The above forecast does not consider the acquisition of select Danaher life science platform business, which was announced on October 21, 2019, and is currently undergoing antitrust clearance. Following the closing of this transaction, presently expected around the end of the first quarter of 2020, management will adjust its full-year guidance accordingly. All forecasts are based on constant currencies, as in the past years. 1) Sartorius Stedim Biotech publishes alternative performance measures that are not defined by international accounting standards. These are determined with the aim of improving the comparability of business performance over time and within the industry. - Underlying EBITDA: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and adjusted for extraordinary items - Order intake: all customer orders contractually concluded during the respective reporting period - Underlying net profit: profit for the period after non-controlling interest; adjusted for extraordinary items and non-cash amortization, as well as based on a normalized financial result and tax rate - Underlying earnings per share: relevant net profit for the period divided by the number of shares outstanding (92,180,190) - CAPEX ratio: investment payments in relation to sales revenue for the same period. Since 2019 and as a result of the change in IFRS 16 accounting principles, CAPEX has been based on cash flow instead of balance sheet computation; CAPEX ratio restated: 14.6% for FY 2018 2) IFRS 16 is required to be applied as of 2019 and regulates accounting of lease contracts. This has led to a somewhat extended balance sheet and thus to a slightly lower equity ratio. Further, this has resulted in reporting longer-term lease payments as depreciation and, accordingly, in a somewhat higher EBITDA, but does not entail any material changes concerning the Group's relevant net profit or earnings per share. All figures given above are subject to a final review by statutory auditors. This press release contains forward-looking statements about the future development of the Sartorius Stedim Biotech Group. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Sartorius Stedim Biotech assumes no liability for updating such statements in light of new information or future events. This is a translation of the original French-language press release. Sartorius Stedim Biotech shall not assume any liability for the correctness of this translation. The original French press release is the legally binding version. Preliminary Figures for the Full Year of 2019 in millions unless otherwise specified Unaudited figures 2019 2018 Growth in % Growth in % Const. fx Sales revenue 1,440.6 1,212.2 18.8 17.0 EMEA1) 575.1 508.2 13.2 13.0 Americas1) 511.6 422.6 21.1 17.1 Asia | Pacific1) 353.8 281.3 25.8 23.9 Order intake 1,543.5 1,307.3 18.1 16.2 EBITDA2) 421.5 342.4 23.1 EBITDA margin2) in % 29.3 28.2 Net profit3) 262.9 219.3 19.9 Earnings per share3) in 2.85 2.38 19.9 1) According to customers' location 2) Underlying EBITDA = earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and adjusted for extraordinary items 3) Underlying net profit = net profit after non-controlling interest; adjusted for extraordinary items and non-cash amortization, as well as based on a normalized financial result and tax rate Publication downloads https://www.sartorius.com/en/company/newsroom/downloads-publications Conference call Joachim Kreuzburg, CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Sartorius Stedim Biotech Group, will discuss the company's results with analysts and investors on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at 3:30 p.m. Central European Time (CET), in a teleconference. You may register at: https://services.choruscall.de/DiamondPassRegistration/register?confirmationNumber=6723567&linkSecurityString=63f6a9ef9 Alternatively, you can dial into the teleconference, without registering, at: +49 (0) 69 566 03 7000 The presentation will be available on January 28, 2020, starting at 3:15 p.m. CET, for viewing on our website at: https://www.sartorius.com/en/company/investor-relations/sartorius-stedim-biotech-sa-investor-relations Upcoming events February 18, 2020 Publication of the 2019 Annual Report March 24, 2020 Annual Shareholders' Meeting | Aubagne April 21, 2020 Publication of first-quarter results for 2020 A profile of Sartorius Stedim Biotech Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a leading international partner of the biopharmaceutical industry. As a total solutions provider, the company helps its customers to manufacture biotech medications safely, rapidly and economically. Headquartered in Aubagne, France, Sartorius Stedim Biotech is quoted on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris. With its own manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe, North America and Asia and an international network of sales companies, Sartorius Stedim Biotech has a global reach. The Group has been annually growing by double digits on average and has been regularly expanding its portfolio by acquisitions of complementary technologies. In 2019, the company employed approx. 6,200 people, and earned sales revenue of 1,440.6 million according to preliminary figures. Contact Petra Kirchhoff; Head of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Phone: +49(0)551.308.1686 [email protected] SOURCE Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A Delhi to ease restrictions, if Covid cases come down in next 2-3 days: Health Minister Lata Mangeshkar health update: Doctor says,'She in ICU with Covid-19 and pneumonia, will be under observation' Coronavirus: Uttarakhand on high alert India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Dehradun, Jan 28: The Uttarakhand Health Department has issued an alert against the deadly Novel Coronavirus and sent medical teams to all districts to screen people for the disease, especially those coming from China and Nepal. Director General (Health) Amita Upreti told reporters that they had sent teams to all districts in the state following an advisory from the Centre to screen people. "The screening has begun everywhere, especially in districts bordering China and Nepal such as Champawat, Chamoli and Pithoragarh. They have begun screening people coming from the other side of the border for symptoms of nCOV," she said. Coronavirus: 4 Chinese among 5 under observation in Pakistan A medical team has also been deployed at Dehradun's Jollygrant airport to screen people coming here from the two countries via Delhi or other places so that suspected cases could be quarantined, she said. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News Hospitals have been asked to set up isolation wards for people suspecting of contracting the virus, the official said, adding that all hospitals have the required kits and masks. Authorities have also been asked to make supportive treatment facilities available to all hospitals, especially those located in border areas, the official added. They have also been asked to keep a separate ambulance equipped with infection control facility ready to transport nCOV suspects, she said. However, not a single case has been detected anywhere, she said. First suspected case of coronavirus in Bengaluru found to be negative Asking people not to panick, Upreti said the health department was prepared to deal with any eventuality. She asked people to go to the hospital if they had fever, cough and cold, sore throat, pneumonia or difficulty in breathing, which were symptoms that might develop into nCOV. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 8:17 [IST] Coffee, said Buzzy OKeeffe, the owner of the renowned River Cafe, in Brooklyn, is the last thing a restaurant diner tastes so it better be good. For Mr. OKeeffe, it seems, its never good enough. Every couple of weeks he assembles his chef and several staff members for a blind tasting of brews from around the world. Those that pass muster typically under 20 percent might find their way into the restaurants ever changing house blend, which typically contains beans from Colombia, Brazil, Sumatra and Costa Rica. I have been searching for the perfect coffee since my thirties, said Mr. OKeeffe, now in his discriminating seventies. I have found that even the perfect blend will vary from time to time, depending on the years crop something like wine but not quite as fickle. Last year, when I learned that he was planning a trip to coffee plantations in Costa Rica, I asked if I could tag along, a caffeinated cohort one might say. (JTA)-Walk into an Israeli post office or one of the many local stores that have lately been serving as ad-hoc delivery centers and you'll be confronted by a jumble of boxes sealed with the telltale black and blue packing tape from Amazon.com. Orders from the American online retail giant have surged here in recent weeks, following the launch of the company's Hebrew-language online storefront and the offer of free shipping from the United States. American immigrants to Israel have long relied on sites like Amazon to purchase products unavailable to them in the Jewish state, but the available evidence suggests a surge in purchases of the kinds of everyday items that were previously not cost-effective to have shipped in from abroad. "I bought toys for my grandchildren at a fraction of the cost, makeup, hair products. My friend bought saline," Ronit, a resident of the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. "It's good for my wallet because a lot of stuff is just so much cheaper: ziploc bags, shampoo, makeup." Emanuel Miller, a British immigrant living in Jerusalem, said he had placed around a dozen orders since free shipping was offered. While he was initially skeptical, he realized he could save 25 percent on one-liter bottles of Listerine mouthwash. "Not only that, but it comes directly to the customer, which is far more convenient than schlepping heavy bottles from the supermarket," Miller said. "So I ordered, and in bulk." Comments on Israeli social media groups dedicated to finding deals on Amazon show that customers who previously restricted their purchases to more expensive or harder-to-get items, such as electronics and books, are beginning to buy household staples from the site. "I have noticed that they prefer lower-priced items like Kleenex tissues and Contigo water bottles," Avi Parshan, the administrator of the Israel Deals on Amazon Facebook group, told JTA. "A surprising amount of people ordered Scott toilet paper, slinkies, and other toys." The Amazon offer is not without strings attached. Free shipping doesn't kick in until shoppers spend more than $49, and orders over $75 are subject to Israel's 17 percent value added tax, or VAT. Many customers try to tweak their orders to fall in the sweet spot between those numbers. It's also not clear how long the offer will last. The company ran a similar promotion for a month and a half late last year. Customers then had to spend more than $75 to get free shipping, though there did not appear to be a limit on weight. Local media reported that Israelis were ordering furniture online. The Israeli business daily Globes reported at the time that Amazon was likely "conducting a trial to test the Israeli market" in order to see if "if Israeli consumers would be prepared to buy higher priced items and pay VAT in exchange for free shipping." The experiment appears to have worked, because Amazon launched its Israeli website almost a year later. According to Nir Ben Yona Sein, an Israeli consultant who runs several online tech sites, including one that aggregates Amazon deals, the retailer was exploring the Israeli market last year. Now, it's trying to promote itself locally. "It has only one purpose in my opinion," Sein told JTA. "What they wanted to do is get the Israeli audience to know the platform well and buy more so they wanted to educate them to buy on the platform." Israel does not currently host one of the gigantic warehouses Amazon uses to facilitate cheap and fast delivery to customers in the United States and other countries, and many e-commerce experts cited in the Israeli press have dismissed rumors that the company is planning to build one. But Sein believes the company's recent moves here portend a big change. Online purchases in Israel have been growing by 20 percent each year, according to Globes, and more than $3 billion in VAT-exempted goods are shipped into the country annually. Earlier this year, China Daily reported that Israelis imported some 65 million packages in 2018. With its increased focus on an e-commerce market worth billions of shekels, Amazon may be "preparing for its next stage" when it opens a fulfillment center-either in Israel or in a nearby country, Sein speculated. Whether or not that actually happens, Amazon's increased presence in the local market will force local businesses to adapt, said Renana Peres, a researcher at Hebrew University's Jerusalem School of Business Administration. "The market will have to adapt and change as is already happening, but it'll be on a much larger scale," Peres said. "It won't be the end of local business, it will just change the local market." There has also been widespread speculation that Amazon is using the increase in orders prompted by free shipping to streamline its local delivery system. Many consumers have complained about lost orders, or the splitting of orders into multiple parcels that wind up at different locations. But despite these problems, many American expatriates express joy about the new service-not only at saving money, but also at reconnecting to a lifestyle they thought they had left behind. "Free shipping makes an enormous difference," gushed Judy Segaloff, who moved to Israel from Detroit. "Sometimes I would try to buy something on Amazon and [shipping] would cost more than the item I was purchasing." "We feel like we are living in [a] small turning point in Israel," said Mordy Rapp, an American immigrant living in Beit Shemesh. "Amazon means access to those American products that we would otherwise never buy." An Ulster Unionist MLA has withdrawn from the interview panel to appoint the new deputy chief constable after expressing concern over the process. Alan Chambers was to have been one of five politicians on the interview panel but he has now written to the Policing Board saying the process needed to be "rigorously fair", the BBC reports. He said the shortlist did not leave him with the impression it was fair, however, the board said the process has been subjected to independent scrutiny at all stages. Read More In the letter Mr Chambers said: "This is- to say the least- a most unsatisfactory state of affairs and I would therefore like it to be formally noted that my confidence in this recruitment process is less than it was at the start of last week, and far short of where it needs to be." Mr Chambers said he could not comment further on his decision when contacted by the Belfast Telegraph but said it was not a decision he "took lightly". The Policing Board has been approached for comment. It is understood temporary deputy chief constable (DCC) Stephen Martin retired after learning that he had not been selected for interview to take the position on a permanent basis. He has been temporary DCC since August 2018 and was among the final candidates interviewed for the post of chief constable last year. It is understood four out of eight applicants missed out on being called for interview on the basis of their application forms. Expand Close PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin Interviews for the 168,000-a-year post will be held this week, with the appointment being announced on January 30. Senior BJP leaders from various states, including former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, slammed the ruling AAP in Delhi on Tuesday and dubbed the February 8 Assembly polls in the national capital as a fight between "nationalism" and "anarchy". Addressing poll meetings in the Kalkaji, Deoli and Badarpur constituencies, Fadnavis said Sharjeel Imam's arrest had proved that the Modi government was not going to spare those involved in "anti-national" activities. "The entire Opposition is supporting the Shaheen Bagh protest in Delhi. If (Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal had not supported the tukde tukde gang, there would have been no Shaheen Bagh," he said. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in favour of nationalism, the Opposition was supporting "anarchists", Fadnavis said. "The Delhi election is a fight between nationalists and anarchists and the people here have to decide who do they want in power," he said. Campaigning for the party candidate from the New Delhi constituency, Sunil Yadav, BJP national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav alleged that Kejriwal, his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress were standing with "anti-nationals". "This election is a fight between nationalists and anti-nationals and Arvind Kejriwal, along with Congress leaders, is standing with anti-nationals," he said. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur also addressed poll meetings in Shakur Basti and Trinagar, and claimed that Delhi had taken steps backward, instead of moving ahead, under the AAP government. Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said people of other states played a crucial role in Delhi's development, but Kejriwal considered them as "infiltrators". Addressing a poll meeting in support of the BJP candidate from Adarsh Nagar, Raj Kumar Bhatia, he asked the crowd, "Do people from Bihar need Kejriwal's permission to visit Delhi?" Meanwhile, the Delhi chief minister said in a tweet that 250 senior leaders of the BJP, including 200 MPs and 11 chief ministers, were reaching the national capital to defeat Delhiites and their "son" Kejriwal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has surrendered his immunity from prosecution just minutes before the Knesset was set to form a committee expected to strip it from him. The latest: Israel's attorney general has now sent the indictments against Netanyahu for bribery, breach of trust and fraud to the Jerusalem district court. The backdrop: Netanyahu realized there was a majority in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, to strip him of immunity. That's a humbling reality for the man who has dominated Israeli politics for a decade. Netanyahu also realized his immunity push was alienating voters ahead of the March 2nd elections. Netanyahu's top political rival, Benny Gantz, was planning to focus his campaign around the public hearing over Netanyahu's immunity request. What they're saying: Netanyahu is in Washington and will join President Trump at the White House shortly for the rollout of his Middle East peace plan. He released a statement blaming his opponents for dealing in petty politics while he dealt with the "historic" opportunities created by Trumps peace plan. Gantz issued a statement attacking Netanyahu and stressing that a prime minister cant function when he needs to go to court to defend himself twice a week. Whats next: Netanyahus trial will begin in several weeks with the reading of the indictments. His lawyers will seek a postponement to ensure he doesnt appear in court as a defendant before the elections. Stick to old format of NPR, do not add new questions: Nitish Kumar tells Centre India pti-PTI Patna, Jan 28: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said his JD(U) will urge the BJP government at the Centre to drop columns pertaining to birth places of parents in the National Population Register form, since it has led to "apprehensions" among many who were not aware of the details. Kumar, who is the JD(U)'s national president and has been running a coalition government in the state with the BJP, said leaders of his party "in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha" will make a request to the government to this effect "even though it is not mandatory to fill up these columns". The chief minister was talking to reporters at his official residence here after presiding over a meeting of JD (U) parliamentarians, legislators and office-bearers of the party's Bihar unit, even though disgruntled top leaders like national vice president Prashant Kishor and national general secretary Pavan Varma remained conspicuous by their absence. Kumar also acknowledged that the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act had led to "unrest" across the country but hoped the misgivings would be addressed by the Supreme Court, which is hearing petitions challenging the contentious legislation. SC notice to Centre on fresh petition against National Population Register He, however, voiced disapproval of the inflammatory comments made by Sharjeel Imam, who was arrested in Jehanabad in connection with a sedition case in Delhi, and pointed out "whoever transgresses law, will face action accordingly. Talks of disintegration of the country are never acceptable". "It is the job of the police to help law enforcement agencies elsewhere in their investigation. The local police (in Jehanabad) has therefore been helping the Delhi police. Whoever commits wrong in the eyes of the law will face arrest and tried before a court of law," Kumar insisted. He also stated that unrest over the contentious legislation had been going on for quite some time and there was now a need for "normalising the situation". In an apparent reference to many state governments coming out with resolutions in respective legislatures against the CAA, Kumar - whose party had voted in favor of the Bill when it was tabled in Parliament - pointed out "the matter comes under the jurisdiction of the Centre. Only the Supreme Court can take any action to address the issues." Iterating his opposition to nationwide NRC, the Bihar CM noted with satisfaction "the prime minister, too, has clarified that such a move is not in the offing". "As regards NPR, it must be kept in mind that the exercise has been conducted previously. Of course, there are misgivings about columns asking people to disclose the places of birth of their parents since most citizens might not be aware of the same. "Our leaders in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will urge (the government) to drop these columns, if possible," he said. Kumar parried questions about disgruntled leaders like Varma, whom the CM has rebuffed after he went public with a letter sharing details of conversation they allegedly had "in private" about the BJP, and Prashant Kishor, who has been rankling the saffron party with his acerbic tweets against CAA-NPR-NRC. When asked if Kishor's collaboration with Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, where JD(U) is also contesting in alliance with the BJP, would affect the NDA, Kumar came out with a cryptic reply. "He has links with many people. I have said it earlier, we inducted him into the party at the instance of Amit Shah," Kumar said as a parting note at the press meet. Earlier, JD(U) state president Vashishtha Narayan Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, said that the party "does not attach any value" to those defying its policies when asked about their absence though he also clarified "it is a meeting of state leaders convened by the national president". At the press conference, Nitish Kumar also hinted that more such pep talks with grassroots-level workers of the party were likely in near future. Assembly polls in Bihar are due in less than a year. Kumar is expected to lead the NDA charge and make a bid for his fourth consecutive term as chief minister. ATHOL Overheated cooking oil on a stove top is the suspected cause of a fire that displaced three families from a Green Street apartment building Monday night, a fire official said. No injuries were reported in the two-alarm blaze, which broke out in a rear ground floor apartment at 51 Green St. shortly before 5:30 p.m. Deputy Fire Chief Jeffrey Parker said first arriving firefighters encountered heavy flames in the rear of the building. Firefighters rescued two cats and a dog from the fire, Parker said. Two cats and a dog, however, did not survive. Firefighters from numerous communities provided mutual aid, including: Templeton, Royalston, Erving, New Salem, Orange, Petersham, Barre, Phillipston and Gardner. Woods Ambulance also responded. Parker said there was heavy fire damage in the apartment where the fire broke out. Firefighters, however, saved the building. It was a good job by all firefighters, Parker said. It was a good team effort and we saved the structure." The building houses four apartments, one of them vacant, he said. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, however, overheated cooking oil is believed to be the cause, Parker said. Firefighters cleared the scene by about 9:30 p.m. The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross are assisting the displaced families. The Supreme Court Tuesday asked an NRI petitioner, who filed a plea alleging corruption in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, to approach the high court first with her grievances. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde allowed the petitioner, a United Arab Emirates based non-resident Indian, to withdraw her plea with liberty to approach the high court. "Why have you come with Article 32 petition? Why have not you gone to the high court first?," the bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, asked the petitioner. She responded that the apex court's earlier orders were allegedly violated during last year's Lok Sabha polls and there was corruption in the elections due to which people of India were cheated. "The high court can also take cognisance of the Supreme Court's order," the bench said, adding, "You withdraw this and go to the high court". The petitioner then said if she was asked to approach the high court then it "will not be justice" as she had to come from abroad to pursue her case. To this, the bench said, "Just because you have to come from outside, is it injustice? You have come here on your own. Justice needs to be done according to law. ...We will not admit this case. We will allow you to withdraw this and go to the high court". When the petitioner insisted that she has the proof of how people of India were allegedly cheated during the last year election, the bench said, "You are not representing people of India. You do not even live here". She said that her parents are residing in India. The bench then asked a lawyer, who was present in the court, to advise the petitioner on how she can approach the high court and whether the court can grant such wide ranging relief as sought by her. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lena Dunham has opened up about her addiction to prescription drugs while recovering from a hysterectomy and being heartbroken over a break-up. Speaking in the March issue of Cosmopolitan, on sale from January 30, the actress, 33, admitted at one point she 'didn't want to live' as the medication she was taking messed with her brain chemistry. She said: 'One day, I looked around and I was lying in a bed in my parents' apartment under two blankets, in the same pyjamas I'd been in for three days, and I was like, "This isn't me". Honest: Lena Dunham, 33, has opened up about her addiction to prescription drugs while recovering from a hysterectomy and being heartbroken over a breakup 'It wasn't that I was suicidal. I felt nothing. I didn't want to live.' Lena spoke about her break-up with musician Jack Antonoff, 35, explaining they fell in love at a young age and had a great time together. However, the Girls creator added that the pair were just starting out in their careers at the time and they have managed to remain friends after splitting up. The TV star added that, although not every second of their relationship has been easy, Lena still considers him a dear friend. She said: 'There are definitely moments where I was catty, rude or sassy, but he has been beautifully accepting of those and I've been able to be accepting of his anger too.' Candid: The actress admitted at one point she 'didn't want to live' as the medication she was taking messed with her brain chemistry Lena also admitted that she would often party till all hours of the morning while she was filming Girls, explaining she spent her entire twenties jeopardising her health. But she has since decided to go sober, saying that sobriety means abstaining from negative relationships as well as not doing drugs. The actress revealed she has also decided to take a hiatus from dating and has been single for the last 14 months. She said: 'I realised that until I was in a dynamic with someone who made me feel super-safe, I didn't want to do it. People right now will go, "Oh my god, you haven't had sex in over a year,' and I'm like, 'No, actually it's been the most healing thing." ' Relationships: Lena spoke about her breakup with Jack Antonoff, 35, explaining they fell in love at a young age and have remained friends after splitting up (pictured in February 2017) While she's more than happy being single, Lena admitted that if they brought back a revived version of Celebrity Love Island, she would be 'tempted' to take part. The writer added that, although she's not looking for a relationship, if she were to meet someone who she thinks she could start a family with, it would be great. However, she said that the last two years have been the best of her life and it would be difficult for someone to 'knock her down'. The interview comes after Lena reflected on the past 12 months and what she has learnt from the past year in a candid New Year's Instagram post. The star discussed her 'awesomely complex' year and gave her followers a list of life lessons. Single: The actress revealed she has also decided to take a hiatus from dating and has been single for the last 14 months (pictured in January 2020) She accompanied the post with a snap of herself clad in a lacy pink bra and white briefs as she perched on the edge of her bathtub. Accompanying the shot with a lengthy caption, Lena wrote: 'This year has been complex and awesome and awesomely complex. 'It's been the best professional year of my life - not because I'm on a million magazine covers or making gossip waves but because I'm quietly doing what I love with people I love who also love doing it. Cover girl: Read the full interview in the March issue of Cosmopolitan on sale 30th January 'If I had to distill the year's lesson: -go slower than you think you should because it ultimately adds up to more. You don't have to push you can just move ahead with passion. 'People will come and go and surprise you and often their rejection is God's protection (it also sometimes has nothing to do with you).' 'Sometimes you heal slowly and then all at once -spend Sunday night returning emails and Monday morning returning texts and you'll feel very accomplished. Be mindful of 'self-care' not turning into hiding out- there's a difference. 'Say yes more than you want to but no whenever you need to. Surround yourself with people who inspire you and make you laugh and implicitly understand your issues and don't keep a tally of your wrong doings. 'It's okay to take a pause from work to focus on the personal and a pause from the personal to make your art. Be a b***h on a mission don't make it a mission to be a b***h.' Read the full interview in the March issue of Cosmopolitan on sale 30th January. Sen. Bong Revilla urges media platforms to abide by child-friendly content standards Sen. Bong Revilla on Tuesday urged television stations in the country to abide by the Child-Friendly Content Standards (CFCS) which provide that 15 percent of stations' airtime must be dedicated for viewers 18 years old and below. During the Hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, the veteran senator stressed that media content plays a big role in shaping the holistic development of Filipino children, and to curb the increasing rate of suicide and depression among their age bracket. The National Council for Children's Television (NCCT) stated that 84 percent of Filipino children identify television as their main source of information. He also underlined the importance of creating more child-friendly shows now that the country is on a gradual shift from analogue to digital broadcasting, and even questioned why government-owned television stations cannot enforce child-friendly shows. "Since they are government-owned, hindi mahalaga ang profit e. Ang importante, we get our message across," he said. "Dapat paigtingin din natin ang paglikha ng mga palabas na hindi lamang may magandang aral, at nagpapalaganap ng ating kultura bilang Pilipino," Revilla added. He also expressed his support in NCCT's media literacy drive beginning from the grassroots level. As momentum to build large-scale U.S. offshore wind farms continues, a new guide released today will increase public transparency into the federal regulatory process governing offshore wind energy development. The new Offshore Wind Public Participation Guide, produced by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the University of Delaware's Special Initiative on Offshore Wind (SIOW), details the process and opportunities for public stakeholders and interested parties wishing to have their opinion heard. Offshore wind promises to supply large amounts of clean energy to America's largest cities and coastal regions, while launching tens of thousands of new careers and generating new investments in coastal infrastructure. Even so, all infrastructure development has unintended impacts, and members of other ocean industries and coastal communities have made it clear they want a say in the offshore wind development process. Those opportunities exist, but the process is sometimes opaque. To that end, AWEA and SIOW partnered to produce the new guide designed to highlight public participation opportunities in the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (housed within the U.S. Department of the Interior) regulatory process that governs leasing of areas on the Outer Continental Shelf for renewable energy development. "We recognize that offshore wind development has an impact on coastal communities, traditional ocean industries, ocean users, and U.S. national security interests," said Laura Smith Morton, AWEA Senior Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Offshore Wind. "This guide is meant to draw attention to the opportunities for public feedback in BOEM's regulatory process to ensure we realize an American offshore wind industry that works for us all." "The offshore wind sector has heard the frustration expressed by some ocean users and we understand a new industry raises questions," said Nancy Sopko, Executive Director of SIOW. "We urge any interested parties fishermen, coastal residents, scientists, the military to take advantage of the public participation opportunities outlined in this guide. Your feedback and expertise matters, ultimately helping the industry find a balance that enables offshore wind development to co-exist and prosper along with other ocean users." Interested parties including members of the general public, industries, all levels of government, non-governmental organizations, and educational institutions have numerous opportunities for comment throughout the BOEM's regulatory process. There are a number of public comment periods (between 30 and 60 days long) and several public meetings (the exact number varies from case to case) before a single wind turbine can begin construction. Public participation from other ocean users, including the fishing industry and coastal communities, is essential to help the U.S. fully realize the benefits of offshore wind power. Early feedback helps projects avoid potential conflicts, benefiting wind developers and other ocean users alike. Feedback is valuable at any stage of development, though ideally interested parties should provide input from the very first public comment period following a Call for Information from BOEM regarding potential locations for offshore wind development. Feedback given to BOEM regarding offshore wind development makes a difference. As a result of public input, the final designation of a Wind Energy Area is generally adjusted from initial proposals to better avoid sensitive areas and potential use conflicts. The new guide outlines only the public participation opportunities required by law throughout the BOEM regulatory process for offshore wind development, but the public's ability to provide feedback is not limited to this process alone. Interested parties may also provide input through regional fishery management councils, state permitting processes, and state fisheries, habitat, and environmental working groups, among other opportunities. Leaders representing public groups and industry organizations commented on the Offshore Wind Public Participation Guide: "RODA understands how difficult it can be for affected parties to maximize their participation in the very complex permitting process for offshore wind projects," said Annie Hawkins, Executive Director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance. "We therefore appreciate AWEA and SIOW's work to clarify the federal elements of that process in a format that's easily accessible to the public, and hope this guide is useful to fishermen and anyone interested in having their voice heard." "The most dynamic plans form through an inclusive and collaborative process, which is why public input is essential not only to permitting but also to our entire operation," said Jessica Dealy, Lead of Atlantic Shores External Affairs. "This guide is an important tool in making sure we are coming together as a community and an industry to get offshore wind right." "The most important part of developing an offshore wind project is listening to and working with all stakeholders to build clean energy projects that deliver long-term value to coastal communities," said Jenny Briot, Offshore Business Development Director for Avangrid Renewables. "The SIOW and AWEA Offshore Wind Public Participation Guide will be a helpful tool in advancing collaboration among all groups working to transform our energy future." "Development of the US offshore wind industry can't fully succeed without intensive and sustained collaboration among wind farm developers and the many other commercial, recreational, and non-profit interests that share the ocean," said Bill White, EnBW North America Managing Director. "Created by respected experts at AWEA and the University of Delaware's Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, this new Public Participation Guide is an important new tool for ensuring early and effective engagement by the public and an array of stakeholders as we build this new industry critical to the country's clean energy future." "Maintaining strong relationships with local communities is important to the development of our innovative offshore wind projects," said John Hartnett, President of Mayflower Wind LLC. "We hope the SIOW-AWEA public participation guide will more easily inform the public on how they can participate in this process. We're encouraged by the prospect of using this guide to broaden our lines of communication with more ocean users." "Stakeholder engagement is critical to the development of any offshore wind project," said Kris Ohleth, Senior Stakeholder Relations Manager of rsted. "The Public Participation Guide as developed by the SIOW and AWEA will be a key tool for working with a variety of stakeholders as it delivers an approachable and concise explanation of the offshore wind development process." "Vineyard Wind has relied on valuable input from various stakeholders in all of our proposals to provide clean, safe and reliable energy to New England and New York," said Rachel Pachter, Chief Development Officer for Vineyard Wind. "We look forward to using the SIOW and AWEA Offshore Wind Public Participation Guide to continue working alongside fisheries, marine scientists, coastal communities, NGOs, and others to develop a strong and responsible American offshore wind industry." The offshore wind industry is committed to going above and beyond what is outlined in this guide to provide opportunities for public participation. For example, offshore wind developers have collectively held thousands of voluntary meetings with other ocean users, including fishermen, fishing groups and local communities. The industry continually looks for ways to expand engagement. Though interest in offshore wind has accelerated in just a few years, BOEM has worked since 2009 to ensure that responsible renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf best serves the American public. As of January 2020, there are 15 active commercial lease areas for offshore wind development in U.S. federal waters, with more in the works. AWEA is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry. We represent 1,000 member companies and over 114,000 jobs in the U.S. economy, serving as a powerful voice for how wind works for America. Members include global leaders in wind power and energy development, turbine manufacturing, and component and service suppliers. They gather each year at the Western Hemisphere's largest wind energy event, the AWEA WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition, next in Denver, June 1-4, 2020. WINDPOWER 2020 will be housed within CLEANPOWER, the new exhibition hub for utility-scale renewable energy, bringing together wind power, solar power, and energy storage industries. Find information about wind energy on the AWEA website. Gain insight into industry issues on AWEA's blog, Into the Wind. And please join us on Facebook and follow @AWEA on Twitter and LinkedIn. Will he or wont he? Nearly two days after the New York Times broke the news that John Boltons forthcoming book says President Trump conditioned military aid to Ukraine on investigations of Joe and Hunter Biden, it remains unclear whether or not Bolton will testify at the impeachment trial. On Monday, Republican senator Mitt Romney told reporters it was increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton. I have spoken with others who have opined upon this, Romney said. Its important to be able to hear from John Bolton for us to be able to make an impartial judgment. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) said she remained curious to hear Boltons testimony, and Senator Susan Collins (R., Maine) said in a statement that the reports about John Boltons book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues. But the question remained who might become the fourth Republican senator to join 47 Democrats and provide a majority in calling for Bolton to testify. The Washington Post reported on Monday that senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania raised the possibility of a one-for-one witness deal, with Boltons testimony secured in exchange for the testimony of a witness the presidents defenders want to call. If we get to witnesses, it will be a one-for-one or a two-for-two, Senator Mike Braun (R., Ind.) told reporters Monday night. Specifically, a trade of Boltons testimony for Hunter Bidens has been discussed. And when asked about such a deal, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) said on Tuesday: I think both sides are entitled to witnesses. But several other Senate Democrats who spoke to National Review in the Capitol on Tuesday threw cold water on the idea. Im against that, Illinois senator Richard Durbin said. The notion that were going to trade you one possibly material political witness for one that is material baloney. He was, however, non-committal when asked if hed vote for such a deal. Well, lets see, he replied. There have been a lot of theories about witness deals. Story continues Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden was firmer in his stance. Were not bargaining on this, Wyden said. I dont want to be repetitive. I made clear that we are not negotiating. I support having witnesses who are relevant to the presidents conduct. His clear implication was that the Bidens do not qualify as relevant. Montana senator Jon Tester and Hawaii senator Brian Schatz were even more blunt, flatly refusing to vote for any Biden-for-Bolton witness deal. Yeah, I would [reject that deal] because it would make the trial into a fallacy, said Tester. I will make no trades of irrelevant witnesses for relevant witnesses, said Schatz. Meanwhile, Republican senator Lindsey Graham told reporters that any decision to hear from witnesses would open the floodgates. If people want witnesses, were going to get a lot of witnesses. This idea of calling one and one makes zero sense to me, Graham said. Ill make a prediction: Therell be 51 Republican votes to call Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, the whistleblower, and the DNC staffer at a very minimum. Earlier Tuesday, Grahams colleague, Kentucky senator Rand Paul, had told reporters that Bolton was a disgruntled employee with a multi-million-dollar motive to inflame the situation. Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson argued otherwise, saying, Personally, I believe John Bolton will tell the truth. But Graham, when given the chance, declined to follow suit in either questioning Boltons motives or affirming the former national-security advisers integrity. He did say that he ultimately supported Oklahoma senator James Lankfords idea to subpoena the manuscript of Boltons book so senators could review it in a classified setting without having to call Bolton to testify. As the impeachment trial dragged on, it remained unclear Tuesday if any deal involving Bolton will actually happen. So far as I know, there has been no witness deal, Murkowski said shortly before the trial resumed Tuesday afternoon. Several other Republicans went even further, saying that no decision would be made about witnesses until Friday. With neither side committed to a consensus negotiating position, it seemed fair to wonder whether the extra time would make any difference. More from National Review ALTON In 1925, the Scopes Monkey Trial was intertwined with the political views of the day. In 1955, a play debuted, based on that trial, which pitted attorneys Clarence Darrow against William Jennings Bryan. Alton Little Theater is bringing this story to the stage. Inherit the Wind, a drama written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, opens Jan. 31. The play is based on an issue that is as relevant today as it was in the 1920s, because this moving and meaningful production is, at heart, addressing the freedoms of every American, said the Alton Little Theater (ALT) productions director, Lee Cox. And because she didnt want the play to come across as preachy or to extoll politic views, she knew she had to find a balance and a vision of why seeing great plays that make people think really think is so important from time to time. I hardly ever do revivals, Cox said, and I dont think most plays have the mettle to stand the test of time, for we move so fast as a society to different humors and sensibilities. But every once in a while, there is just good writing that does stand as a beacon to reread and reperform, and Inherit the Wind and To Kill a Mockingbird are perfect examples for me. The story fictionalizes the legal case in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessees Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The trial set modernists, who said evolution was not inconsistent with religion, against fundamentalists, who said the word of God, as revealed in the Bible, took priority over all human knowledge. The case was viewed as both a theological contest and a trial on whether modern science should be taught in schools. The playwrights said at the time that it was written, though it is based on the trial, the play is not a historical account, but in many ways, was intended to defend intellectual freedom. More Information If you go: What: "Inherit the Wind," presented by Alton Little Theater When: Evening performances 7:30 p.m.; matinees at 2 p.m., Friday, Jan. 31-Sunday, Feb. 9 Where: Alton Little Theater Showplace, 2450 N. Henry St., Alton Info: For tickets call 618-462-3205 or visit www.altonlittletheater.org. See More Collapse (In the play) we used the teaching of evolution as a parable, a metaphor for any kind of mind control, playwright Lawrence has said. Its not about science versus religion. Its about the right to think. When Cox first saw the show at age 16, she didnt know much about the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, but she knew that she loved reading, and the idea that someone could tell her that she couldnt read a certain book rankled her adolescent rebellion, and also frightened and confused her. Through the years, the words of the play stayed with her. The spectacle of two legal giants battling out their agendas boiled down to the freedom of all Americans to simply think and make up their own minds about things, she said, or even allowing beliefs to change with more education and taking a clear-eyed look at the importance of choice as part of the foundation of what makes America great. But Inherit the Wind does not pretend to be journalism. It is theater. The name comes from Proverbs 11:29, He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind. I can only hope that I can live up to the task of mounting this great piece of American history and literature, Cox said. The two attorneys are played by Shea Maples as Matthew Harrison Brady (whose personality and beliefs were said to be similar to Bryan), and Howard Bell as Henry Drummond (whose personality and beliefs were similar to Darrow). Maples said there have been a few challenges with his role. The obvious one is portraying a man 40 years my senior, but the less obvious would be the religious stance, Maples said. I was raised in a very strict Christian faith, which in turn, led me to turn away from all organized religion. Not having the power to question my faith as a child left me with a very bitter taste in my mouth. Hopefully, makeup helped with the first one, but he said the second was a little trickier. I hope that I was able to bring my life experiences in and mold them to fit my character and his mission, he said. Though I dont have the same beliefs as my character, I do know what it is like to fight for something that you feel is changing and being taken from you, such as someones devotion to faith. Maples credits Cox with helping him with what he needed as an actor, and facilitating everything for him. Even if it was just sitting down and talking through the characters needs and drives, she was really able to make him more understandable and familiar, Maples said. Bell, who has been working with ALT for three years, had an unexpected challenge. Shortly after rehearsals started, he fell and suffered a hairline fracture in his leg. Consequently, he has to use a walker - even on stage. But he persevered. The next challenge was to memorize the 400-plus lines. I auditioned for this role because I wanted to take on a character different from myself. I was a pastor for 25 years, but Henry Drummond is an agnostic who believes in God, Bell said. Drummond states he has no faith, but is willing for others to have their faith. And thats where I connect with him. I have always realized that each persons faith - or lack thereof - is a personal choice. Bell was aware of the Scopes Monkey Trial and the Spencer Tracy movie beforehand, which he said made portraying his character - though unknown to most people - a daunting task. And Lee is always great to work with, Bell said. Shes been patient with my health issues. She gives actors the slightest canvas of why she chose the show and what it means, then lets them flesh out the rest. One challenge for Cox, as the director, was to man the jury of 12 (in 1925, women didnt serve on juries in small Tennessee towns, or anywhere in the U.S., for that matter). An interesting note: Legislation passed in Illinois in 1939 that allowed women to serve on juries; in Tennessee, it was 1951 (the year this play was written). Since 1957, women have been allowed to serve on federal juries, but it wasnt until 1973 that all 50 states had passed similar legislation. Cast members also include Ian Wonders, Nadja Kapetanovich, Megan Kolosieke, Vernon Hamel, Michael Arthur, Kerry Miller, Michael Cox, Patti Kruegel, Brant McCance, Devin Sadler, Tim Paeltz, Rodger Zawodniak, Jenny London, Eric Hausman, Cheri Hawkins, Mark Antieau, Chris Lingel, Jim Lieber, Kelly Hougland, Logan Elliott, Lief Anderson, Emily Schneider, Patrick Anderson, Hal Morgan, Gary Wiser, Jake Tenberge and Michael Taragulski. Set design for Inherit the Wind is by Kevin Frakes and Lief Anderson; art work by Christy Luster; costumes by Lee Cox, Grand Ball Costumes, Sandis Costumes and Dr. Jim Lieber who assisted with glasses; props and set are by Cox, with assistance from Alton Exchange, Baxter Distributing and 5As Thrift Shop; lights are by Samantha Maples and Dennis Stevenson. Inherit the Wind will be on stage Friday, Jan. 31, through Sunday, Feb. 9, at the Alton Little Theater Showplace at 2450 N. Henry St., Alton. Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m.; matinees at 2 p.m. To purchase tickets, call 618-462-3205 or visit www.altonlittletheater.org. A farmer was arrested Tuesday for allegedly hurling stones at government officials and policemen during a land acquisition drive for Jewar airport in Greater Noida, officials said. He was identified as Ravi Sharma, 30, a resident of Dayanatpur village, they said. Police said searches are on to nab other accused of the violence. The clash had occurred around 11.30 on Monday when a team of the district administration accompanied by police personnel reached Dayanatpur village to acquire the final parcel of land for the project. Around two dozen villagers clashed with them and some of the protesters also hurled stones at district officials and policemen, officials said. The villagers had been protesting to demand an increased amount of compensation for their land being acquired by the authorities for the airport. Jewar Subdivisional Magistrate Gunja Singh and three policemen had suffered minor injuries in the clash, while windows of four government vehicles were damaged, according to officials. An FIR was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) among others against the protestors, the police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) is planning to announce a run for the Senate, according to multiple sources, challenging appointed GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler and complicating Republicans path to holding on to a battleground Senate seat this year. Loeffler and Collins will be running to complete the term of former Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson, who resigned at the end of last year because of health concerns. The election is an all-party contest in November, with the top two challengers facing off in a January runoff if no candidate tops 50 percent of the vote. The announcement is expected to come soon. Collins' office declined to comment. Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) appointed Loeffler to the seat last year after a monthslong application process in which hundreds of candidates including Collins submitted their names for consideration. Collins, who was President Donald Trumps preferred pick for the appointment, said this month he was still considering running for the seat in 2020. Collins had reached out to the White House to take its temperature about a potential bid, according to one GOP official. Collins has the benefit of being one of Trumps staunchest allies on Capitol Hill. As the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Collins played a leading role defending Trump from impeachment in the House. Collins was also tapped by Trump to serve as an impeachment surrogate during the Senate trial, allowing him to continue mounting a vigorous and public defense of the president. Trump and his allies had pressed Kemp to appoint Collins, who they felt would be a reliable ally in the Senate. A handful of right-of-center groups had also come out against Loeffler, expressing concern that she lacked conservative credentials. And during a meeting at the White House late last year, Trump noted that Loeffler was not an original backer of his 2016 campaign and raised concerns that she had never held elected office before. Republican businesswoman Kelly Loeffler, who will soon be Georgia's next U.S. senator, speaks to reporters at the Port of Savannah on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, in Savannah, Georgia. Loeffler is scheduled to be sworn in when the Senate convenes Monday, Jan. 6 in Washington. She was chosen by Gov. Brian Kemp to fill the seat of GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson, who left office at the end of 2019 because of health problems. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum) Kemps allies, however, praised the selection of Loeffler, hoping that she could help the party compete in suburban areas that have increasingly moved away from Republicans since Trumps election. Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have rallied around their new colleague and pledged to back her in November. Story continues And in an apparent bid to ward off any Republican challengers and demonstrate her campaigns strength, Loeffler, a wealthy finance executive, pledged to pour $20 million of her own money into the race. Her campaign has already blanketed the Georgia airwaves with a TV ad in which she criticizes impeachment and portrays herself as a Trump ally. Since coming to the Senate, Loeffler has been maneuvering to win over skeptics and solidify her conservative bona fides. She has signed on to several anti-abortion bills as well as a resolution dismissing the impeachment charges. And on Monday, she fired a shot at one of her GOP colleagues, bashing Sen. Mitt Romney, an outspoken Trump critic, via the presidents preferred mode of communication. Romney wants to appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @realDonaldTrump during their 15 minutes of fame, Loeffler tweeted. Burgess Everett contributed to this report. Ukrzaliznytsia Supervisory Board intensifies anti-graft efforts 22:30, 28.01.20 1066 Serhiy Leshchenko will chair the Committee, while Adomas Audickas and Anders Aslund will serve as its members, the company said. Two people from Japan and Germany who had contracted coronavirus had not visited the area in China where the deadly viral outbreak originated, authorities have confirmed. One of the patients was a Japanese tour bus driver in his 60s in the city of Nara who had driven two groups of Chinese tourists who had come from Wuhan earlier this month. He was diagnosed with pneumonia on Saturday and has now been hospitalised. Another man in his 40s who lives in Wuhan and arrived in Japan on 20 January was also confirmed to have contracted the virus, the ministry said. The ministry said it was checking on people who had been in contact with the two new patients. The latest infections bring the total number of confirmed Japanese cases to six. Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Show all 154 1 /154 Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Paramedics wearing personal protective equipment carry patient on a stretcher on to an ambulance in North Point district in Hong Kong, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker wearing protective gear takes a rest as he waits for ambulances carrying patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at an entrance of a hospital in Daegu, South Korea YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker sprays disinfectant on an ambulance after carrying a patient infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Daegu YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective face masks shop at a supermarket in Casalpusterlengo, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A trolley bus is disinfected amid fears over the spread of the novel coronavirus in Pyongyang, North Korea REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus in a local market in Daegu, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective facemask walks outside a nearly empty shopping mall at lunch time in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing protective facemask and gloves puts a drawing made by a girl living in the area asking residents to wear protective gear, next to a quarantine notice for people who have travelled and a notice asking people to register outside a residential compound in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman is taken into an ambulance amid a coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulances and health workers are seen outside the Padua's hospital, northern Italy EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers in coaches leave MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire after being repatriated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus in Yokohama, Japan and head to Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People rest in a temporary hospital situated in the Tazihu Gymnasium in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buddhist monks wearing protective face masks pray during a blessing ceremony for the people affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient infecting with a new coronavirus to a hospital in Chuncheon, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Soldiers in hazmat suits sanitize cargo from a China Airlines plane at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, Taiwan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Barricades are seen to block the entrance a the gate of a local mall in a nearly empty area in Beijing, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor wearing a protective facemask waits for customers at a shop in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The body temperature of an Iraqi child returning from Iran is measured upon her arrival at the Najaf International Airport AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers hand out free facemasks at a shopping district in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient suspected of contracting the new coronavirus toward an ambulance at Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker disinfects a shop at a market in Shanghai AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A restaurant worker wearing protective clothing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus passing a bag of food to a customer on the street outside their restaurant in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for "urgent operational health and safety reasons", following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas', have both been designated as "isolation" facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan Xinhua News Agency/AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China's easter Shandong province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li's hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China's Wuhan province Vsluh.ru via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman's home in Qingdao EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan Malaysia's Ministry of Health/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine Italian Defence Ministry/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A young child wears a protective mask and is covered in plastic while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK Tom Maddick / SWNS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS Chinatopix via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An Indonesian health officer points at the screen of a thermal scanner for passengers China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China's central Jiangxi province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan STR/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting Yingtan North Railway Station, China China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, uses an electronic thermometer to check the temperature of passengers arriving by plane from Wuhan The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China's northern Hebei province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff and security personnel stop patients' family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A notice for passengers from Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market Getty It comes as Germanys first case of the virus was believed to have been infected by a Chinese colleague who visited his workplace. The 33-year-old from the Starnberg area south of Munich is in isolation as a precaution, officials in Bavaria said. They said his condition was good. The man took part in a training session at his workplace last Tuesday which also included an employee of the same company visiting from China, said Andreas Zapf, the head of Bavarias office for health and food safety. The woman, who had not previously shown any symptoms, flew home on Thursday and went to a doctor after feeling ill on the flight, Mr Zapf said. She then tested positive for the new virus. The woman lives in Shanghai, but had been visited a few days earlier by her parents, who come from the worst-affected Wuhan area. On Monday, the German company was informed of the positive test, and informed authorities and employees. An employee who had been at the training session came forward and said he had experienced bronchitis-like symptoms over the weekend, though they had receded and he came to work on Monday. Authorities decided when they received positive test results on Monday evening to admit him to a hospital and put him in isolation for monitoring. Auto parts supplier Webasto confirmed it was the company involved and said the man works at its headquarters in Stockdorf, south of Munich. It cancelled all travel to and from China for the next two weeks and said employees at Stockdorf are free to work from home this week. The WHO said a case in Vietnam also involved human-to-human transmission outside China. The coronavirus has infected thousands of people in China. Nearly all of the cases outside China are among people who recently arrived from there. Additional reporting by agencies In 1950, Thomas Dewey, the former governor of New York and the GOPs 1944 nominee for president, freely admitted that if the measure of a real political party was a unified organization with a national viewpoint on major issues, neither the Republican nor Democratic Party qualified. Dewey thought this a great strength, since no single religion or color or race or economic interest is confined to one or the other of our parties. Each party is to some extent a reflection of the other. . . . This is perhaps part of the secret of our enormous power, that a change from one party to the other has usually involved a continuity of action and policy of the nation as a whole on most fundamentals. He allowed that there were those who rail at both parties, saying they represent nothing but a choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum. If the critics had their way, he said, they then would have everything very neatly arranged, indeed. The Democratic Party would be the liberal-to-radical party. The Republican Party would be the conservative-to-reactionary party. (Narrator: They would have their way.) In 1959, then vice president Richard Nixonwho would go on, as president, to create the Environmental Protection Agency, consider a basic minimum income, and propose a national health-care plan more ambitious than Obamacarespoke with derision of those who sought to cleave the parties by their beliefs. It would be a great tragedy if we had our two major political parties divide on what we would call a conservative-liberal line, he said. The strength of the American political system is we have avoided generally violent swings in Administrations from one extreme to the other. And the reason we have avoided that is that in both parties there has been room for a broad spectrum of opinion. In this, if in little else, Nixon was joined by Robert F. Kennedy. The journalist Godfrey Hodgson recounts a conversation where Kennedy warned that the country was already split vertically, between sections, races, and ethnic groups, so it would be dangerous to split it horizontally, too, between liberals and conservatives. Politics, in this telling, was meant to calm our divisions, not represent them. [ Return to the review of Why Were Polarized. ] In 1959, the Republican National Committee held an internal debate over whether the party should be driven by a distinct set of ideological values. At the inaugural meeting of the Committee on Program and Progress, which was tasked with designing the GOP agenda, the group invited the political scientist Robert Goldwin to make the case that it is neither possible nor desirable for a major political party to be guided by principles. Our modern cleavages give Goldwins concerns a force that they would not have carried in 1959. With both parties including liberals and conservatives within their ranks, he said, those differences which would otherwise be the main campaign issues are settled by compromise within each party. He warned that our national unity would be weakened if the theoretical differences were sharpened. This is a profound enough point worth dwelling on for a moment. When a division exists inside a party, it gets addressed through suppression or compromise. Parties dont want to fight among themselves. But when a division exists between the parties, it gets addressed through conflict. Without the restraint of party unity, political disagreements escalate. An example here is health care: Democrats and Republicans spend billions of dollars in election ads emphasizing their disagreements on health care, because the debate motivates their supporters and, they hope, turns the public against their opponents. The upside of this is that important issues get aired and sometimes even resolved. The downside is that the divisions around them become deeper and angrier. This debate exploded into the open during Barry Goldwaters 1964 presidential announcement speech. The address is now remembered for Goldwaters promise to offer a choice, not an echo. Less well-known, but perhaps more telling, is the rationale for his candidacy that comes a few paragraphs earlier. Goldwater says, with some disgust, I have not heard from any announced Republican candidate a declaration of conscience or of political position that could possibly offer to the American people a clear choice in the next presidential election. This was Goldwaters promise: if Republicans nominated him, the election would not be an engagement of personalities. It will be an engagement of principles. Goldwater, of course, won the nomination and got destroyed by Lyndon Johnson. Goldwaters convention was a harshly factional affair, with conservative Republicans doing their damnedest to expel the moderate wing of the party. In its aftermath, George Romney, then the governor of Michigan and a leading light of moderate Republicanism, wrote a twelve-page letter outlining his disagreements with Goldwater. Dogmatic ideological parties tend to splinter the political and social fabric of a nation, lead to governmental crises and deadlocks, and stymie the compromises so often necessary to preserve freedom and achieve progress, he wrote, rather prophetically. (Decades later, his son, who had carried on his fathers legacy as the popular moderate governor of Massachusetts, would win the Republican nomination for the presidency by recasting himself as severely conservative.) Shanghai outlines steps taken to combat novel coronavirus outbreak in China Global Times Source:Global Times Published: 2020/1/27 20:05:54 Shanghai municipal government briefed media on its prevention and control of the novel coronavirus on Monday afternoon. As of Sunday, Shanghai had confirmed 53 novel coronavirus infections including one death, one recovery, two in critical condition and 49 in stable condition. Among them, the oldest is 88 and the youngest 7. By 3 pm Monday, 57 suspected infections have been dismissed and 90 suspect cases are still under observation. Shanghai officials announced two more recoveries on Monday afternoon during the press meeting. Among the 53 confirmed novel coronavirus infections in Shanghai, 20 lived in Central China's Hubei Province, 21 had traveled to the region, while the remaining 12 had come into contact with confirmed infected individuals. A total of 9,804 people are under observation for possible coronavirus infection in Shanghai, including 8,706 under home observation and 1,098 in collective isolation. Authorities have ordered that local enterprises should not resume work before 12 pm on February 9 except for those industries critical to the sustainment of the city such as utilities and communication and industries ensuring residents' daily life such as supermarkets, food production and supply. Additionally, industries related to epidemic prevention and control, including the medical, pharmaceutical and environmental protection sectors should resume work as well. Schools including universities, high schools, primary schools, vocational schools, kindergartens and nursery schools will not start the new semester prior to February 17. Any teaching activities and gathering activities including training at cram schools should be suspended pending further announcements. Thorough screening has to be carried out among all the students and teachers returning to Shanghai from other provinces, especially university students from key infected areas, the Shanghai Education Commission noted. Since Sunday, the temperatures of all flight passengers have been taken upon arriving at Shanghai's two airports. Those who show abnormal temperatures will be sent directly to nearby hospitals for treatment. Similarly, temperatures are being taken for railway passengers as well. All inter-provincial buses between Shanghai and other provinces and the section of Shanghai's metro line connecting Shanghai and Jiangsu Province have been suspended since Sunday. Starting from 2pm on Monday, all vehicles entering the city through nine provincial boundary checkpoints will be stopped and medical staff will take temperatures of all passengers and check their ID cards. Production capacity and inventory of relevant enterprises in Shanghai have been thoroughly checked and supply has been expanded by releasing emergency supplies, requisitioning in accordance with laws. Relevant enterprises are to resume production and imports to stabilize the market and ensure medical treatment. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address CEO Tim Cook greets shoppers inside the store. iPhone 11s have been very kind to Apple's bottom line. Driven by what CEO Tim Cook called "exceptional sales" of its latest premium smartphones, Apple posted record 2020 first-quarter revenues of $91.8 billion, up 9% from the same period a year ago. Earnings-per-share registered $4.99, well above Wall Street forecasts of $4.54, as estimated by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The iPhone alone generated nearly $56 billion during the holiday quarter; the iPhone 11 was the best-selling model within the period. Cook indicated that Apples active installed base of devices has reached more than 1.5 billion. Apple also reported record revenues in the services (iCloud, Apple Music, App Store, Apple Care, Apple TV+) and wearables sectors (AirPods, Apple Watch), the latter of which Cook referred to as having a "blowout quarter". By itself Apple's wearables business has grown to the size of a Fortune 150 company, Cook said. The iPhone 11s went on sale in September, the same month the company launched the Apple TV+ streaming service. Apple TV+ faces still competition from rivals Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and most recently Disney+, but Cook says it is off to a "rousing start." Though it costs $4.99 a month to subscribe to Apple TV+, Apple gave away service for 1 year to consumers who bought pretty much any new device from the company. Cook also said the curated Apple News service now draws more than 100 million active users. While Cook said that the iPhone is typically the first driver to bring people into the Apple fold, the Apple Watch has also lured consumers. "With each Apple product that a customer buys, I think they get tighter into the ecosystem. It's more likely that the iPhone comes first, but there's no doubt in my mind that there's some people that came into the ecosystem for the Watch." Apple shares have risen 8% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poors 500 index has risen slightly more than 1%. Apple shares closed at $317.69, more than doubling in the last 12 months, Shares reached $322.59 in after-hours trading. Story continues The impact of China's health crisis One cautionary note concerns a "wider than usual" revenue guidance range of $63 to $67 billion for the next quarter, because of the uncertainty tied to the unfolding coronavirus health crisis in China. Cook said Apple has "alternate sources" for suppliers in the affected Wuhan area. Apple closed one of its retail stores in China due to the crisis; a number of channel partners have also closed stores. Many of the stores that are still open have reduced their hours, he said. "We're donating to groups that are working to contain the outbreak (and are) also working with our team and our partners in the affected areas and we have limited travel to business-critical situations as of last week." Among additional precautions, Apple is frequently "deep cleaning" its stores and conducting temperature checks of employees in China. "While sales within the Wuhan area are small, retail traffic has also been impacted outside this area across the country in the last few days," Cook said. Cook sidestepped an analyst question pertaining to a potential 5G-capable iPhone that would be compatible with the next generation wireless network. "We're in the early innings of (5G's) deployment on a global basis," he said, adding that we "wouldn't trade our position for anybody." Cook also would not comment about the possible release of a less expensive iPhone SE. Contributing AP Email: ebaig@usatoday.com ; Following @edbaig on Twitter This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: iPhone 11 sales drive Apple to record holiday earnings Global alarm grows as Chinas capital reports first virus death CHINA: Chinas capital on Monday recorded its first death from a deadly coronavirus as it struggles to contain a rapidly spreading disease that has sparked global alarm, with countries scrambling to evacuate their citizens from the epicentre of the epidemic. healthChinesetourismtransportCoronavirusCOVID-19 By AFP Tuesday 28 January 2020, 09:37AM Officials are conducting fever checks in subway and railway stations in China's capital Beijing. Photo: AFP In Wuhan, medical facilities are overwhelmed, prompting authorities to send hundreds of reinforcements and start construction on two prefab field hospitals. Photo: AFP An aerial view shows the nearly empty streets in Wuhan, which the government has effectively sealed off. Photo: AFP People wait to see medical staff (back) in protective clothing at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital, in the Chinese city at the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic. Photo: AFP Medical facilities in Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, have been overwhelmed. Photo: AFP The fatality in Beijing as of yesterday raised the death toll from the new virus to 82, with more than 2,700 people infected across the nation. However, by Tuesday morning (Jan 28), authorities said the death toll had soared to 106 while nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed. The health commission in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic, said 24 more people had died from the virus and 1,291 more people were infected, raising the total number of confirmed cases to more than 4,000 nationwide. Cases have been identified in more than a dozen other countries, including the first confirmed patients in Canada and Sri Lanka. The United States urged its citizens to "reconsider" all travel to China and told them not to go to central Hubei province, where the pneumonia-like virus emerged. Mongolia closed its vast border to vehicles from China. Meanwhile, health authorities in Germanys southern Bavarian region have now confirmed the countrys first case of the deadly coronavirus. A man in the Starnberg region has been infected with the new coronavirus, a spokesperson for the ministry said, adding that the patient was under surveillance in an isolation ward. The ministry gave no further details on how the patient came to be infected but said he was in a medically good state. France was the first European country to be affected by the outbreak, which has reported three known cases of the virus. All three had recently travelled to China and have been placed in isolation. Germany has recommended its citizens avoid unnecessary trips to China as the virus spreads. The country is also considering the possible evacuation of its nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus. In a sign of mounting official concern, Premier Li Keqiang visited ground zero to oversee containment efforts in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the disease first appeared late last month. The government has sealed off Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, effectively trapping tens of millions of people including thousands of foreigners, in a bid to contain the virus as the Lunar New Year holiday unfolds. China decided to extend the holiday, initially due to end on January 30, for three days to limit population flows and control the epidemic. US President Donald Trump said the United States has offered Beijing "any help that is necessary" in combatting the virus. The health commission in the capital said a 50 year-old-man who visited Wuhan died of respiratory failure on Monday, less than three weeks after visiting the city. More than 700 new infections were confirmed in the country, while the number of suspected cases doubled over a 24-hour period to nearly 6,000. The youngest infected patient was a nine-month-old baby being treated in Beijing. In Wuhan, AFP reporters saw construction workers labouring on one of two field hospitals that China is racing to complete by next week to relieve overcrowded facilities swamped with people waiting for medical attention. On day five under quarantine, residents shouted Go Wuhan from their windows, according to videos posted online, and a building lit up the night sky with the words in red. Im getting more concerned every day, Do Quang Duy, a 32-year-old Vietnamese masters student in Wuhan, told AFP. Global fears spread The United States urged its nationals to reconsider travel to China as the epidemic spreads, and categorically advised against travel to Hubei. A US-bound flight is scheduled to leave Wuhan on Tuesday with consular staff and some American citizens. Turkey and Germany likewise advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to China. Landlocked Mongolia which is heavily dependent on trade with China closed the border with its huge neighbour to cars, cancelled classes until March 2 and suspended large public gatherings. Malaysia banned visitors from Hubei province. France plans to fly citizens out of the city in the middle of this week. Japan will also bring its citizens home. Belgium, Bangladesh, India and Spain said they were working to repatriate their nationals, while Germany was considering the possibility. The World Health Organization last week stopped short of declaring the outbreak a global emergency, which could have prompted international trade or travel restrictions. But the world body on Monday admitted it had made an error in the global risk from the deadly virus, assessing it as high worldwide, rather than moderate. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus headed to Beijing for discussions with Chinese officials. Global stock markets and oil prices plunged Monday over coronavirus fears. WHO says still probing if Chinese virus can spread before symptoms The World Health Organization said Monday it remained unclear if the deadly coronavirus spreading in China and beyond is contagious during its incubation period, before symptoms appear. In a fresh report on the new virus, known as 2019nCoV, the UN health agency said current estimates put the incubation period for the virus at between two and 10 days. Understanding the time when infected patients may transmit the virus to others is critical for control efforts, WHO said. It did not immediately confirm assertions made by Chinese authorities that people who are infected can spread the disease before they show any symptoms of fever or respiratory difficulties. Detailed epidemiological information from more people infected is needed to determine the infectious period of 2019nCoV, in particular whether transmission can occur from asymptomatic individuals or during the incubation period, it said. The virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003 and was also traced to the wild game trade. The new virus is believed to have jumped to people from animals in a Wuhan market, but it has since begun spreading between humans, although the exact mode of transmission has yet to be confirmed. As with SARS and another deadly coronavirus known as Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, WHO suggested that the new virus could be spreading through droplets, for instance when people sneeze or cough, or through direct contact with infected people or with objects they have touched. To reduce the risk of infection, WHO stressed the need to avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections, frequently wash ones hands, and avoid unprotected contact with farm or wild animals. The agency also stressed the importance of practising so-called cough etiquette, including maintaining distance and covering coughs and sneezes with tissues. WHO has not recommended any international travel or trade restrictions, but does call for high levels of vigilance, including encouraging airport exit and entry screening for passengers leaving affected areas to check for fever and coughs. China shuts down The virus is believed to have jumped to people from animals in a Wuhan market that sold a wide range of exotic wild game. China on Sunday banned all wildlife trade until the emergency subsides. Authorities around China have already imposed aggressive curbs on transport during the usually high-traffic Lunar New Year season to keep the virus from spreading. At Beijings main international airport, almost all passengers wear masks. Fever checks are conducted at subway and railway stations. Typically, hundreds of millions of people criss-cross China in jam-packed buses and trains during the holiday, a time for family reunions. But the festivities have been ruined this year by coronavirus, which can be transmitted between humans, with people told to avoid gatherings. Countless popular public attractions and seasonal festivals have been shut down. Several Beijing malls shortened their opening hours, according to state media. The nationwide measures threaten to put a dent in an economy that was already slowing down. Beijing and Shanghai were among places mandating stringent checks and 14-day observation periods for people arriving from Hubei. Wuhans mayor Zhou Xianwang said around five million people had left the stricken city during the new year travel rush in January, highlighting fears the virus could spread further. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Mideast peace plan Tuesday alongside a beaming Benjamin Netanyahu, presenting a vision that matched the Israeli leaders hard-line, nationalist views while falling far short of Palestinian ambitions. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2019, file photo, Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz arrives to address media in Tel Aviv, Israel. President Donald Trump is holding back-to-back meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief challenger ahead of the unveiling of the U.S. administration's much-anticipated plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The meetings come just a month before Netanyahu and Benny Gantz are set to face off in national elections for the third time in less than a year. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File) WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Mideast peace plan Tuesday alongside a beaming Benjamin Netanyahu, presenting a vision that matched the Israeli leaders hard-line, nationalist views while falling far short of Palestinian ambitions. Trumps plan envisions a disjointed Palestinian state that turns over key parts of the West Bank to Israel. It sides with Israel on key contentious issues that have bedeviled past peace efforts, including borders and the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements, and attaches nearly impossible conditions for granting the Palestinians their hoped-for state. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as nonsense and vowed to resist it. Netanyahu called it a historic breakthrough equal in significance to the country's declaration of independence in 1948. It's a great plan for Israel. It's a great plan for peace, he said. He vowed to immediately press forward with his plans to annex the strategic Jordan Valley and all the Israeli settlements in occupied lands. Netanyahu said he'd ask his Cabinet to approve the annexation plans in their next meeting on Sunday, an explosive move that could trigger harsh international reaction and renewed violence with the Palestinians. This dictates once and for all the eastern border of Israel, Netanyahu told Israeli reporters later. Israel is getting an immediate American recognition of Israeli sovereignty on all the settlements, without exceptions. Given the Palestinian opposition, the plan seems unlikely to lead to any significant breakthrough. But it could give a powerful boost to both Trump and Netanyahu who are both facing legal problems ahead of tough elections. President Donald Trump, joined by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, to announce the Trump administration's much-anticipated plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Trump called his plan a win-win for both Israel and the Palestinians, and urged the Palestinians not to miss their opportunity for independence. But Abbas, who accuses the U.S. of unfair bias toward Israel, rejected it out of hand. We say 1,000 no's to the Deal of the Century," Abbas said, using a nickname for Trump's proposal. We will not kneel and we will not surrender, he said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through peaceful, popular means. The plan comes amid Trump's impeachment trial and on a U.S. election year, and after Netanyahu was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three separate cases. The longtime Israeli leader, who denies any wrongdoing, also faces a March 2 parliamentary election, Israels third in less than a year. He hopes to use the plan, and his close ties with Trump, to divert attention from his legal troubles. The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war for an independent state and the removal of many of the more than 700,000 Israeli settlers from these areas. But as details emerged, it became clear that the plan sides heavily with Netanyahu's hard-line nationalist vision for the region and shunts aside many of the Palestinians' core demands. Under the terms of the peace vision" that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, all settlers would remain in place, and Israel would retain sovereignty over all of its settlements as well as the strategic Jordan Valley. The Israeli military will continue to control the entire territory, Netanyahu said. No one will be uprooted from their home. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an event with President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, to announce the Trump administration's much-anticipated plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) The proposed Palestinian state would also include more than a dozen Israeli enclaves with the entity's borders monitored by Israel. It would be demilitarized and give Israel overall security control. In addition, the areas of east Jerusalem offered to the Palestinians consist of poor, crowded neighbourhoods located behind a hulking concrete separation barrier. Trump acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a great deal for the Palestinians." The plan would give the Palestinians limited control over an estimated 70% of the West Bank, nearly double the amount where they currently have limited self-rule. Trump said it would give them time needed to meet the challenges of statehood. The only concession the plan appears to demand of Israel is a four-year freeze on the establishment of new Israeli settlements in certain areas of the West Bank. But Netanyahu clarified later that this only applied to areas where there are no settlements and Israel has no immediate plans to annex, and that he considered the plan to impose no limitations on construction. Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza City ahead of the announcement, burning pictures of Trump and Netanyahu and raising a banner reading Palestine is not for sale. Trump said he sent a letter to Abbas to tell him that the territory that the plan has set aside for a new Palestinian state will remain open and undeveloped for four years. "It's going to work," Trump said, as he presented the plan at a White House ceremony filled with Israeli officials and allies, including evangelical Christian leaders and wealthy Republican donors. Representatives from the Arab countries of Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates were present, but there were no Palestinian representatives. President Abbas, I want you to know, that if you chose the path to peace, America and many other countries ... we will be there to help you in so many different ways," he said. "And we will be there every step of the way." Israel Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz speaks during a news conference in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, after meeting with President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) The 50-page plan builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. It envisions a future Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of roads and tunnels. It also would give small areas of southern Israel to the Palestinians as compensation for lost West Bank land. But the many caveats, and ultimate overall Israeli control, made the deal a nonstarter for the Palestinians. Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. Mr. President, because of this historic recognition and because I believe your peace plan strikes the right balance where other plans have failed, Netanyahu said. I've agreed to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of your peace plan. The Jordan Valley annexation is a big part of Netanyahu's strategy and a key promise meant to appeal to his hard-line nationalist base, which mostly applauded the Trump plan. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the plan's release, said they expected negative responses from the Palestinians, but were hopeful that Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab nations to have peace treaties with Israel, would not reject it outright. Jordan gave the plan a cool reaction, saying it remained committed to a two-state solution based on Israel's pre-1967 lines. It also said it rejected any unilateral move by Israel, referring to the annexation plan. The reaction of Jordan, which would retain its responsibilities over Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque under the plan, is particularly significant. Located next to the West Bank, Jordan also is home to a large Palestinian population. Egypt, the first Arab country to reach a peace deal with Israel, urged Israelis and Palestinians to carefully study the plan. The European Union also said it needed to study it more closely. Saudi Arabia, another key Arab country, said it appreciated the Trump administration's efforts and encouraged the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians under the auspices of the United States. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations supports two states living in peace and security within recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, according to his spokesman. The Palestinians see the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Trump has reversed decades of U.S. foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centerpiece of his strategy was recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the American Embassy there. He's also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programs. Those policies have proven popular among Trumps evangelical and pro-Israel supporters. But the Palestinians refuse to even speak to Trump and they called on support from Arab leaders. ___ Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Deb Riechmann in Washington contributed. A Harvard University professor has been charged with lying to US officials about his involvement with a Chinese government-run recruitment program and his affiliation with a Chinese university. Charles Lieber, chair of the department of chemistry and chemical biology, was arrested at his office at the prestigious university on Tuesday morning and charged with one count of 'making materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statements to an agency of the US government,' according to an affidavit. Prosecutors say Lieber lied to the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health about his participation in China's Thousand Talents Plan. The program was established by the Chinese government in 2008 to recruit people with access to and knowledge of foreign technology and intellectual property. The US government has designated the program a danger to national security. Under his Thousand Talents Plan contract, Lieber allegedly received around $1.74million for research he conducted for China's Wuhan University of Technology, along with an additional $50,000 in monthly salary and $158,000 in living expenses. Charles Lieber, the head of Harvard University's chemistry department, has been charged with lying to US officials about his involvement with a Chinese government-run recruitment program and his affiliation with a Chinese university. Lieber is pictured in 2012 Lieber is due to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon. His attorney has not returned requests for comment. Harvard spokesman Jonathan L Swain confirmed that Lieber had been placed on 'indefinite' paid leave. 'The charges brought by the US government against Professor Lieber are extremely serious,' Swain wrote in a statement emailed to the Harvard Crimson student newspaper. 'Harvard is cooperating with federal authorities, including the National Institutes of Health, and is conducting its own review of the alleged misconduct.' Swain added that Lieber will not be allowed on Harvard's campus and will not continue his teaching and research roles. Harvard was reportedly unaware that Lieber became a so-called 'Strategic Scientist' at Wuhan University of Technology in 2011, and that he had a contract to participate in the Thousand Talents Plan. Prosecutors said that he has led the Lieber Research Group at Harvard since 2008. The group specializes in nanoscience and has collected more than $15million in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense. Grant recipients are required to disclose any significant foreign financial conflicts of interest, including funding from foreign governments, US Attorney Andrew E Lelling's office. A Harvard spokesman confirmed that Lieber had been placed on 'indefinite' paid leave and is banned from setting foot on the university's campus in Cambridge (above in a file photo) The case reflects ongoing Justice Department concerns that universities are failing to report foreign sources of funding that their professors receive, particularly from China. 'Today's case involving the Harvard professor offers much needed awareness to China's Thousand Talents Program and its extension to recruiting non-Chinese nationals,' Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, told NBC News after the charges were announced. Federal prosecutors across the country in the last year have charged multiple scientists working in the United States with hiding research grants from Beijing and with pilfering research so that it can it be used for China's economic gain. Officials have sounded the alarm in particular about talent recruitment programs that they say are thinly veiled efforts to seize on American research. Authorities also announced charges against a Chinese national who is accused of working with the Chinese army while she was a student at Boston University. Prosecutors say Yanqing Ye, an alleged lieutenant in the People's Liberation Army, conducted research for China's National University of Defense Technology while she attended BU from October 2017 to April 2019. Ye is also charged with granting a Chinese military researcher access to her BU virtual private network (VPN) login so the researcher could conduct web searches from China without detection. - KWS said the bird died due to starvation that resulted in systemic organ failure - The bird was being fed and treated as adviced by experts and was set to be released back to the wild in March - Finnish experts said the bird had been ringed in June 2017 and was mature for breeding The Osprey bird that flew all the way from Finland to Kenya's Siaya county has died, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has said. TUKO.co.ke has gathered that the rare bird succumbed to starvation after the long flight. READ ALSO: Finnish experts ask KWS to feed rescued migratory bird, allow it return in March The raptor bird was rescued on last week by Walter Oloo in Siaya. Photo: KWS. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Sikorsky S-76: 7 facts about helicopter in Kobe Bryant's fatal crash The four-year-old bird of prey died at the weekend while under the care of KWS veterinarians and a KWS-licensed Raptor Rehabilitation Centre in Karen. A post-mortem examination report conducted by veterinary teams attributed the death to long term starvation resulting in organs failure. READ ALSO: Familia ya DJ Evolve yapinga kuachiliwa huru kwa mbunge Babu Owino The four-year-old bird had completed a 6,948km flight. Photo: KWS. Source: UGC The raptor bird was rescued on Thursday, January 23, by Walter Oloo, a local from Siaya county after flying for 6,948km. " The bird was brought to the KWS Veterinary Department in Nairobi and later transferred to the Raptor Rehabilitation Centre. By the time the bird was delivered to the city, it had been severely dehydrated, weak and emaciated from the long flight and minor injuries while trapped by the fishing net. It weighed 950 grammes against the normal range of 1.3kg - 1.8kg weight of an adult osprey," KWS said in a statement on Monday, January 27. According to KWS, it was feeding and treating the fish-eating bird as directed by experts from Finland before it could be released back to the wild. Director General Paul Udoto said the bird was set to be returned at the exact site it was rescued in the Lake Victoria catchment area in March so that it may not lose its bearings on the return epic flight northwards. The bird was brought to the KWS Veterinary Department in Nairobi and later transferred to the Raptor Rehabilitation Centre. Photo: KWS. Source: UGC Finnish experts said the bird had been ringed in June 2017 and was mature for breeding. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My husband left me after I made him a millionaire - Mary Miriti | Tuko Talks | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke A prisoner who escaped from custody at Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday morning has been caught, officials said. The man was being held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)when he managed to get free in Terminal C when he asked to use the restroom and attempted to escape into the ceiling, a CBP Spokesperson told NJ Advance Media. The prisoner was being brought to New Jersey on drug charges. A Port Authority police spokeswoman said the agency was notified of the escape at about 11:30 a.m. Officers was able to get the man out of the ceiling and turned him to over to the officers from Homeland Security Investigations for federal prosecution, the CBP Spokesperson said. Level 1 of Terminal C was briefly closed to vehicular traffic before re-opening a short time later, the airport said in a tweet. The Port Authority spokeswoman said there was minimal disruption to airport operations. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Groundhog Day offers the most anticipated weather forecast of the year -- and the only one led by a four-legged, furry animal. Celebrated on Feb. 2, the holiday attracts the attention of winter-weary Americans of all ages, who will turn their attention to the creature -- Staten Island has its own, Charles G. Hogg -- and make note of whether the rodent sees a shadow when coming out of its home first thing in the a.m. If the groundhog sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter, according to the superstition. If not, an early spring is on the way. HOW TO CELEBRATE AND WATCH This years Groundhog Day celebration at the Staten Island Zoo, West Brighton, will begin at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2. Charles G. Hogg, also known as Staten Island Chuck, is scheduled to make his prediction at 7:30 a.m. Admission to the ceremony is free. Those unable to attend the ceremony at the Staten Island Zoo can watch Chuck make his prediction on Silive.com. Those interested in seeing Punxsutawney Phil make his prediction can view it here. The livestream will begin at approximately 6 a.m. HISTORY The Groundhog Day tradition can be traced to Candlemas, an early Christian holiday where candles were blessed and distributed. Those who celebrated Candlemas decided that clear skies on the holiday meant a longer winter. The Germans eventually began to believe that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, a hedgehog would cast a shadow -- predicting six more weeks of harsh winter weather. And it was the Germans who brought this belief to the United States. When German immigrants arrived in Pennsylvania, they found a large number of groundhogs. And they tasked the groundhog, which resembles the European hedgehog, with the job of predicting the weather. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club was founded in Punxsutawney, Pa., in 1887 by a group of groundhog hunters. The editor of the Punxsutawney newspaper was a member of the club, and he claimed that Punxsutawney Phil was the only true weather-predicting groundhog. Eventually, the furry Pennsylvania rodent became famous. Today, tens of thousands travel to Gobblers Knob, the location in Punxsutawney where Phil makes his prediction. PAST CELEBRATIONS, CONTROVERSIES And while all eyes are on Phil in Pennsylvania, Chuck is the groundhog the Big Apple relies on to predict whether spring will arrive early. Chuck has been making his prediction in the borough for more than three decades -- and some years have been more eventful than others. In 2009, Chuck bit Mayor Michael Bloomberg. And, in 2014, Chuck was dropped by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Olivia Jade shared another sizzling hot selfie for her 1.3M Instagram followers this week. The 20-year-old Beverly Hills native looked stunning in a revealing black tank top with thin straps and red lipstick on as her highlighted hair dangled in front of her face while she snapped away with her camera. And in the background a homemade sign could be easily seen that read, 'I am my own consultant.' This comes after her mother Lori Loughlin waived her court appearance and entered a not guilty plea again in the college admission scandal case from 2019, according to The Boston Globe. Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli have two more court appearances coming up, including status conferences on February 27 and May 2. Sending her message out: Olivia Jade shared another sizzling hot selfie for her 1.3M Instagram followers. In the background a sign could be easily seen that read, 'I am my own consultant' The sign has been seen before. It was behind Olivia Jade when she shared a YouTube video talking about her return to social media last year. The full sign seems to read, 'Talking to self because I am my own consultant.' It is also a lyric from the Lil Wayne song 6 Foot 7 Foot. The sign looks as if she made it herself with photos, blotchy paint, and the word FREEDOM in hot pink. A better look at the sign: The sign has been seen before. It was behind her when she shared a YouTube video talking about her return to social media last year It is propped up against a white wall in her bedroom that also has hardwood floors, a bed with white sheets and a white bookshelf. The sign seems to be her declaration that she is running her own life these days after her parents - Fuller House actress Loughlin and fashion designer Giannulli - were caught in college admissions scandal in 2019. Her parents were arrested and charged in March for allegedly paying $500,000 to get both Olivia and their other daughter Bella into the University of Southern California as rowing recruits. Neither Olivia nor Bella row. And yes there is the sign once again! The poster was seen during a makeup tutorial this month In October, things took a turn for the worse when Lori and her husband were slapped with additional charges including mail fraud, money laundering and bribery. The Hallmark channel star was said to have considered pleading guilty, but was talked out of it by her husband. On Monday Lori waived her court appearance and entered a not guilty plea again. Loughlin and Giannulli have two more court appearances coming up, including status conferences on February 27 and May 2. They could get up to 60 years in prison on the table for their alleged crimes. Scary times: Lori seen in August in Boston when she went to court for the bribery case that has rocked the country. On Monday she pleaded not guilty for a second time It has been claimed that Lori is rehearsing for the court date with mock trials conducted by her attorney. Jade cannot say anything about the case on social media. And she explained that in her YouTube video late last year - her first post in many months. She also promoted the new clip with a link on Instagram. 'Obviously I have been gone for a really long time,' she began. Before the fall: Loughlin is pictured above with her daughters Olivia and Bella while attending the premiere of Netflix's Fuller House in February 2016 in Los Angeles 'As much as I wish I could talk about all of this, it's really hard for me to say this because I know that it's something that needs to be addressed. 'It's just unfortunately which is also why I didn't know when I should come back to Youtube. The reason for that is because I'm legally not allowed to speak on anything going on right now.' The influencer addressed what she could while speaking out about operation varsity blues in which her parents have pleaded not guilty. Selfie queen: Here she is in her bathroom on December 28; the caption reads, 'Never forget the wig phase' 'A part of me is like "Should I come back to Youtube right now?"' she continued while sitting in a new bedroom that appeared to be different than the chic mansion she grew up in. 'It's been so long and I actually really really miss it. I genuinely miss filming and I feel like a huge part of me is just not the same because it's something I am really passionate about and something I really like to do.' Olivia was last seen in LA with her boyfriend Jackson Guthy on January 8. Felicity Huffman was also involved with the scandal. She plead guilty and served 11 days in prison. In all, Huffman has to complete 250 hours of community service at the non-profit organization The Teen Project, which serves at-risk homeless and sex trafficked young women. She will also be on probation for the 11 months and must pay a $30,000 fine. Huffman, along with actress Lori and her husband, were among about 50 people who have been accused of paying bribes and cheating to help get their children into America's top colleges. She was alleged to have paid $15,000 to a purported charitable contribution in order to have her eldest daughter's SAT scores increased. Dubai will kick off the 45th edition of the World Hospital Congress (WHC) in 2021, under the theme Achieving Sustainability and How Should We Look in 2030?. Organized by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) in collaboration with the International Hospital Federation (IHF) and INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions a member of INDEX Holding, the annual World Hospital Congress, will be held from December 5 to 8, 2021. IHF 2021-World Hospital Congress will gather world renowned hospitals, leading healthcare institutions, specialist doctors and industry professionals from across the globe, with the aim of addressing the most important healthcare challenges facing hospitals around the globe, how to cope up with ever increasing burden of diseases, facilitate superior services and deliver excellence in healthcare for communities, societies and its people. This was announced during a press conference held earlier today at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Humaid Al Qutami, director general of DHA said, The UAE is one of the most advanced countries when it comes to hosting summits, conferences and forums, and Dubai has specifically established its global position as the preferred destination for scientists, experts and innovators from all over the world, as it is the ideal platform for innovation and development in various fields. Dubais hosting of such a global event reflects not only the status of this global city, but rather its tremendous potentials and capabilities to embrace such major medical scientific congresses, as well as the level of continuous development that the city has reached in the health and medical sciences sectors, and also the competitive capabilities of Dubai in this major field. The Congress is expected to contribute greatly to strengthening healthcare systems, supporting international efforts related to combating communicable and noncommunicable diseases. In addition, the hospital gathering helps in developing hospital protocols, shaping unified global visions to raise levels of preventive measures and modernize systems and ways to improve diagnosis and treatment, as well as support medical research related to safety of patients inside hospitals, medical centres and clinics, he added. Dr Eric Roodenbeke, CEO at IHF, said: Dubai is an international hub that is highly attractive for premier world congresses for many reasons including access to seamless connectivity for travellers and guests, a pleasant and safe environment for visitors and participants and an excellent healthcare system that is continuously pursuing innovation. Additionally, for the IHF, our presence in the Middle East is highly important as we work closely with the East Mediterranean WHO regional office supporting hospital reforms and the professionalization of health service management. Moreover, I would like to underscore the role of DHA that has been for decades an active member of the IHF and stress the important role played by Dr Abdul Salam Al Madani, IHF Advisor for the Middle East region, for many years in supporting IHF in Dubai and the region. The Congress will feature discussions on a number of topics addressing the most pressing global healthcare industry such as How do Hospitals, Clinics and Organizations continue to work and plan for sustainable infrastructures? while other topics addressed during the conference include a session on Business Art Through Leadership, where experts will share their successful concepts and innovations in the healthcare industry, while another topic titled When to Build and When not to Build, features a discussion on the availability of hospital beds and who should make a final call about this decision. TradeArabia News Service Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is already spending millions of dollars on television ads in Pennsylvania. Read more Pennsylvania doesnt hold its primary for three more months. But amid a fluid Democratic presidential race that might not be settled until well after Iowa begins early-state preference voting next week, billionaire Michael Bloomberg is blanketing the airwaves from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh with an unprecedented advertising blitz. In the two months since he entered the race, the former New York City mayor has already spent $10.6 million on television and radio advertising across Pennsylvanias six media markets, according to data compiled by the ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics an average of more than $1 million a week. Thats 68% more than all the candidates in the 2016 Democratic and Republican primaries in Pennsylvania spent on television and radio advertising combined (about $6.3 million in todays dollars). And its 20% of the roughly $50 million Hillary Clinton, then-candidate Donald Trump, and outside groups spent on the airwaves in Pennsylvania in the general election. If Bloomberg keeps airing ads at this pace, as expected, his campaign would be on track to spend about $25 million in Pennsylvania alone. I cant think of this ever happening before, even in a presidential campaign, J.J. Balaban, a Philadelphia-based Democratic media consultant, said of the Bloomberg ad binge. For good measure, Bloomberg, who is funding his campaign entirely with his own fortune, has spent $317,000 on Facebook ads in the state, too. Hes also building a formidable ground game in Pennsylvania, with 35 staffers in the state already and plans to bring on more than 90. Few of his Democratic rivals are on the air in Pennsylvania, enabling him to pitch his candidacy here without having to compete for voters attention amid the cacophony of political ads they see on TV in a campaigns final stretch. The Bloomberg ads highlight his success as a businessman, and promote his plans to expand access to health care, combat climate change, and reduce gun violence. Trump features prominently. The ad the Bloomberg campaign has run most frequently in the last week 837 spots over five days is titled Defeat Donald Trump. The top programs where the commercial ran were Judge Judy, Good Morning America, and Today, according to Advertising Analytics. When Bloomberg jumped into the race in November, he made clear that he would not compete in early nominating states like Iowa, which holds its caucus on Feb. 3 and where his rivals have been campaigning for more than a year. Instead, hes betting that top-polling candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg will split the early states, giving Bloomberg an opportunity to make a splash in the March 3 Super Tuesday primaries. About 40% of the delegates in the Democratic nominating contest will be allocated in the states that vote that day. Altogether, the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat has spent more than $250 million to date. He now stands fourth in the average of national polls compiled by RealClearPolitics, with the support of 7.7% of primary voters. If the race is still up for grabs after Super Tuesday, Pennsylvania and its 186 pledged delegates are likely to loom as a big prize on April 28. READ MORE: Think the 2020 Pennsylvania primary wont matter? Think again. In addition, his ad buys in the Philadelphia market also boost his exposure to voters in Delaware and South Jersey. Delaware votes the same day as Pennsylvania, while the New Jersey primary is June 2. Its hard to imagine he wont get a significant percentage of the vote in Pennsylvania, Balaban said. That doesnt mean Bloomberg will win the state, Balaban said, but hell likely be in a position to pick up some delegates and stay competitive. The candidates know the Keystone State could end up being decisive in the primary, so Bloomberg likely wont have the airwaves to himself much longer, said John Brabender, a GOP ad maker and veteran of Pennsylvania elections. There's going to be a huge reset after Iowa, Brabender said, and then you might start seeing a lot more advertising in Pennsylvania. Trumps reelection campaign spent about $400,000 on broadcast ads in Pennsylvania in the fall but hasnt bought advertising here since then. Other Democratic candidates, like the billionaire hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer, have bought national ads that have appeared in Pennsylvania media markets. Bloombergs most expensive ad buy, a minute-long spot that aired for 11 days in January, contrasted Bloombergs record on health care with Trumps attacks on the Affordable Care Act. He did it as mayor, hell get it done as president, a nurse says to the camera. The campaign spent more than $2 million airing the ad. Mayor Bloomberg has committed to the process and to spend whatever resources are necessary to win Pennsylvania and to defeat Donald Trump in November, said Mustafa Rashed, a spokesperson for the campaign in Pennsylvania. There are limitations to the advertising strategy. Bloomberg will face any number of hurdles winning the nomination of a party that he only recently joined and that has moved sharply to the left in recent years. Progressives have long criticized his record as mayor on race relations and policing. Days before Bloomberg announced his candidacy, he apologized for the controversial stop and frisk policing strategy he championed in New York. Some self-funding candidates in lower-profile races have found success spending millions on television ads before other campaigns get on the air. In 2014, for example, Gov. Tom Wolf, then a relatively unknown businessman from York County, rocketed to the top of the polls in the Democratic gubernatorial primary by advertising for weeks before his rivals. But presidential campaigns are different. A presidential race is unlike any other race in the sense that the candidates are so often in the news, so often front and center, that ads become a bit less effective, Brabender said. In 2016, Trump showed the value of so-called earned media which refers to news media coverage generating so much publicity that he didnt need to spend as much on advertising. The leading candidates are well-known among Democratic primary voters and have plenty of opportunities to attract voters attention including the debate stage. Bloomberg isnt accepting campaign contributions and has therefore failed to meet a fund-raising threshold set by the Democratic National Committee required to qualify for the debates. Democratic primary voters, just like Republican primary voters, are very large news-watchers, whether it be cable news or in the digital space, Brabender said. As much as it seems Bloomberg has the airwaves to himself, he doesnt. Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Buttigieg is still the South Bend mayor. Casualty's Cathy Shipton is set to bow out of the BBC medical series in dramatic style, as her character goes missing in freezing weather amid her dementia battle. The 62-year-old actress, who has portrayed nurse Lisa 'Duffy' Duffin on the drama for 33 years, has shot heartbreaking scenes, where her character's husband Charlie Fairhead (played by Derek Thompson) will be seen trying to track her down. In scenes set to air on Saturday, Charlie will be shown waking up to discover that his beloved spouse has wandered outside into freezing temperatures, only to find her unconscious in the snow as her condition rapidly deteriorates. Dramatic: Casualty's Cathy Shipton is set to bow out of the BBC medical series in dramatic style, as her character goes missing in freezing weather amid her dementia battle While a visibly relieved Charlie will be shown hugging his wife after finding her, the dramatic episode will serve as a stark reminder that their time together is limited. Cathy recently revealed that her co-stars were in tears as she filmed her final scenes on the show, after serving as one of the original castmembers. The star said that she thinks viewers will struggle to contain their emotions as they watch her final scenes, after first appearing in Casualty's pilot episode in 1986. The big search: The beloved character's husband Charlie Fairhead (played by Derek Thompson) will be seen trying to track her down Freezing: In scenes set to air on Saturday, Charlie will be shown waking up to discover that his beloved spouse has wandered outside into freezing temperatures She told the Sunday Express that her finale scenes proved to be an emotional watch for her co-stars, saying: 'It was all very quiet on set in my last week, people were crying and really upset.' The star has appeared in more than 350 episodes, with the role being so iconic that Cathy was even asked to play Duffy in the 1997 Spice Girls film Spiceworld. Speaking about her cameo in the iconic film she added: 'When they saw that there was a nurse cast in the story, they said, "There is only one nurse it can be!" And that was me. It was hilarious being on set with them. I loved it.' Heartbreaking: He is seen desperately wandering the surrounding streets in search of Duffy Sad: He will eventually find her unconscious in the snow as her condition rapidly deteriorates In recent weeks Cathy has taken centre stage as nurse Duffy as her dementia worsened to the point she failed to recognised her husband Charlie. While she did not reveal how she will eventually depart the show, Cathy did say she thinks the scenes will leave viewers in tears. She said: 'Audiences are invested in these regular characters and they have followed her journey. Duffy is an extraordinary, ordinary woman. She's the star not me.' Cathy Shipton announced her departure from Casualty in a statement released to MailOnline back in October. Farewell: In October, Cathy announced her departure from long-running BBC drama Casualty, 33-years after making her debut as dedicated nurse Lisa 'Duffy' Duffin The actress paid tribute to her TV alter-ego in a heartfelt statement, saying she'll be 'forever grateful' to have portrayed Duffy and leaves the role with a 'sense of completion'. She said: 'Walking in Duffy's shoes through the years has taught me so much for which I'll be forever grateful. 'I'm honoured and humbled to have played this inspiring woman. With sadness, but a sense of completion, l say goodbye.' Cathy has appeared on the BBC drama since its launch, alongside Derek Thompson, 70, who plays the much-loved Charlie Fairhead. Old times: The 62-year old played Duffy in more than 350 episodes of the Saturday night staple following her debut in 1986 Over the years, Duffy has been involved in hard-hitting storylines including sexual assault, suicide, HIV, single parenthood and, most recently, her heartbreaking diagnosis with dementia. Show bosses paid tribute to Cathy's 'enormous contribution' to British TV over her 33-year tenure on the show, and said Duffy has become a 'comforting Saturday night icon' for the nation. Executive producer Simon Harper said: 'Cathy's enormous contribution has not just been to Casualty, but also to the national consciousness and the British Television Drama landscape. 'She has made Duffy into a comforting Saturday night icon, the caring, ideal NHS nurse millions grew up with and whom you'd want to be looked after by in times of need. Co-stars: Cathy one of only two cast-members to have appeared on the show since its launch, alongside Derek Thompson 'She's given us some of our most unforgettable stories and moments, not least of late in her heart-rending dementia storyline, and I simply cannot thank her enough.' When it was announced earlier this year that Duffy would be diagnosed with early-onset dementia, producers vowed to work with a number of 'fantastic charities' to ensure they portrayed the disease accurately and sympathetically. Harper said at the time: 'We are mindful of telling them authentically and sensitively, which is why we are always so grateful to fantastic charities like Dementia UK, who give us invaluable advice. 'Depicting this cruel disease will help raise awareness, and Cathy is knocking it out of the park with her heart-breaking performance.' This month marked the first anniversary of Felix Tshisekedis inauguration (January 24) as president. Opposition presidential candidate Martin Fayulu still disputes CENIs (Independent National Electoral Commission) decision to name Tshisekedi the winner and the facts support Fayulu. However, Tshisekedis real opposition continues to be former president Joseph Kabila, whose corrupt cronies and powerful political party dominate parliament. Tshisekedi genuinely thinks he has made some progress on curbing government corruption and he probably has. Tshisekedi promised reform and after his inauguration launched a broad government corruption investigation which is on-going. However, his own political supporters point out that no senior government official, current or former, has been arrested on corruption charges. They argue several former officials in Kabilas government should be indicted including Kabila. Now for some other problems. The Ebola virus epidemic continues in eastern Congo. Tshisekedi made ending the Ebola epidemic a priority. Health officials say the epidemic has plateaued. That means at the moment it is contained and new cases appear incrementally. Congo, however, has other health challenges. In 2019 a measles epidemic broke out in a couple of provinces then spread nation-wide. Expert estimates are that 6,100 people have died from measles since the outbreak began. This is more than the Ebola epidemic has killed (so far). As for warfare, Tshisekedi promised to bring security to Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. However, little wars continue to afflict eastern Congo, with the Ugandan Islamist terror group ADF and the radical Hutu FDLR still conducting attacks. In 2019 the ADF launched several dozen attacks on health facilities and health workers in the Ebola hot zone and security forces failed to stop them. It appears the majority of Congolese believe Tshisekedi means well. They also believe Kabila still wields great power and profits from chaos and corruption. (Austin Bay) January 26, 2020: Burundis governing party, the CNDD-FDD, announced Evariste Ndayishimiye will be its presidential candidate for the May election. This means current president Nkurunziza will not run. Nkurunziza had fixed Burundis election laws so he could stay in power until 2030 or 2034. That noted, Nkurunziza will himself be well taken care of fixed, with a $500,000 payment and a luxury villa for life. January 23, 2020: As of January 21 eastern Congo has had 3416 cases of Ebola with 3,297 confirmed and 119 probable cases. There have been 2,238 deaths; a fatality rate of 66 percent. January 22, 2020: In eastern Congo (North Kivu province), gunmen killed six civilians in an attack near the city of Beni. The government believes ADF terrorists committed the murders. January 21, 2020: In Uganda, local officials in districts near Rwanda have condemned the killing of Ugandan citizens by Rwandan security forces. Uganda and Rwanda are embroiled in a series of complex disputes involving border crossings and the reciprocal safety of their citizens who live in the other country. The latest killings and accusations are symptomatic of regional acrimony involving Burundi as well as Uganda and Rwanda. Rwanda accuses Burundi and Uganda of supporting Rwandan rebels who have base camps in Congo. Burundi claims Rwanda backs Burundian rebels based in Congos South Kivu province. Uganda claims Rwanda support anti-Ugandan guerrillas who have bases in Congo. Regional diplomats are reportedly encouraged the Congolese and Angolan presidents to try and secure a diplomatic solution. Meanwhile, Uganda reported several hundred Congolese fled Ituri province and into Uganda. Most of the refugees appear to be Hema tribals. The Hema are cattle herders. The Lendu tribe claims Hema herders have intruded on their farms. Since late 2017 over 700 people have been killed in tribal clashes between Hema and Lendu. January 17, 2020: National police fired tear gas at an anti-government demonstration in Kinshasa. The protesters were supporting opposition leader and former presidential candidate Martin Fayulu, who had asked his supporters to hold the demonstration. The government banned the demonstration. Police escorted Fayulu from the demonstration area to his home. January 15, 2020: Congos state-run mining company, Gecamines, announced that the Deziwa copper and cobalt mine and processing plant was officially open. The Deziwa complex is a joint venture. The majority-owner is CNMC (China Nonferrous Metal Mining Company). Deziwa is 35 kilometers east of Kolwezi and it contains approximately 4.6 million tons of copper and 420,000 tons of cobalt. January 14, 2020: Rwanda announced that it supports Congo's military offensive against FDLR Hutu rebels based in eastern Congo (North Kivu and South Kivu provinces). January 12, 2020: In eastern Congo (North Kivu province), suspected ADF Ugandan Islamist terrorists killed at least 30 Congolese soldiers and wounded another 70 in a firefight that erupted near the town of Madina. Congolese officials claimed 40 ADF fighters were killed, including five senior ADF leaders. January 9, 2020: In eastern Congo (North Kivu province), a South African air force C-130 transport plane crashed while attempting to land in Goma, the provincial capital. There were no casualties. Peacekeepers said the plane was flying a logistics mission with 67 passengers and crew. In the Congolese capital, 17 prisoners in the Malaka Prison have died in the past week from lack of medicine and food. Makala is Congos biggest prison, with over 8,000 inmates. Apparently the prison has received no food supplies since November 2019. January 8, 2020: South Africa confirmed it will continue to contribute troops to the UN peacekeeper Congo Intervention Brigade (IBDE, also called the Force Intervention Brigade, or FIB) through December 2020. South Africas IBDE contingent includes an infantry battalion of 1,300 troops and the Composite Helicopter Unit (CHU) with three Rooivalk combat support helicopters and five Oryx medium transport helicopters. January 6, 2020: In northeastern Congo (Ituri province) between January 3 and January 6 over 200 militiamen serving with the CODECO (Cooperative for the Development of Congo) rebels surrendered. The government claimed that on January 5, soldiers killed 16 CODECO fighters and captured three. January 3, 2020: In northeastern Congo (Ituri province), the army announced a new counter-insurgency operation there. January 1, 2020: In the Central African Republic, peacekeepers and the CAR government have declared the PK5 neighborhood in the national capital a weapons-free area. There has been sporadic fighting in PK5 for over six years. December 31, 2019: In Rwanda, the government confirmed a Rwandan Hutu woman recently sent back from Congo was a known genocidaire. The government claims Angeline Mukandutiye was a planner and perpetrator of the 1994 genocide against Rwandan Tutsis. December 30, 2019: In eastern Congo (North Kivu province), ADF terrorists continued their rampage. Local officials reported the confirmed death toll is now 23. The army has ordered more soldiers to the area. December 29, 2019: In eastern Congo (North Kivu province), ADF terrorists killed attacked a town near the city of Beni and killed at least 18 people. Peacekeepers call this are the Triangle of Death in North Kivu. Three towns near Beni comprise the triangle. December 26, 2019: The UN reported that over 1.2 million people in the CAR are internally displaced. The CAR has a population of about 4.7 million and 55 percent of them confront food shortages and need emergency aid in order to survive. French auto giant Renault will on Tuesday name Luca de Meo, a former top-ranking Volkswagen director, as its new chief executive as it seeks to regain its footing after a year of turmoil sparked by the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, a source close to the company said. Renault's board is set to meet at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) to ratify the nomination, having already backed the choice at a meeting in December. It would be a homecoming of sorts for De Meo, a 52-year-old Italian who began his career at Renault in the 1990s before taking up posts at Toyota, Fiat and eventually VW in 2009, where he was put in charge of marketing at Audi. He later was named head of VW's Spanish brand Seat, which last year posted its highest annual sales ever, a stunning revival of the brand's fortunes after just a few years. De Meo will replace Thierry Bollore, a former close associate of Ghosn's who was ousted in October by Renault's president Jean-Dominique Senard, who said a "fresh start" was needed to restore trust with Japanese partner Nissan. The alliance was pushed to the brink following Ghosn's shock arrest in Tokyo in November 2018 on charges of financial misconduct, including under-reporting millions of dollars in salary. Since then Renault has seen sales slump amid increasing headwinds for European carmakers and its share price has dropped by more than half over the past year. Ghosn was eventually stripped of his management roles, though he is now demanding millions of euros in retirement pay and other compensation from Renault in the wake of a brazen escape from Japan to Lebanon. De Meo may not be able to immediately take up his new role because of contractual obligations with Seat, which he quit earlier this month, two sources close to Renault told AFP. He would be the first foreigner to lead Renault in its more than 120-year history -- the Lebanon-born Ghosn obtained French citizenship before taking control of the group in 2005. De Meo attended French schools and speaks five languages fluently, including German and English. Luca de Meo, a 52-year-old Italian, recently stepped down as head of Volkswagen's Spanish brand Seat. There was support from across the chamber at the Louth County Council January meeting, for a motion from Cllr Ruairi O Murchu, calling on the government not to organise a State commemoration for British crown forces. Cllr O Murchu's motion called on Louth County Council to insist that the Government does not organise State commemorations for British crown forces who maintained and enforced British rule in Ireland and suppressed the will of the Irish people for self-determination and national independence. Speaking on his motion, Cllr O Murchu told those present that the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP), even on their best days were the eyes and ears of British rule in Ireland and that they played a brutal role in the land war. Cllr O Murchu said that I don't think any other State in the world would do it. The only people in the RIC who should be commemorated, he added were those who resigned or the likes of Ned Broy. Several councillors spoke on the motion, with Cllr Maeve Yore saying that she supported the motion to a certain degree. Cllr Maria Doyle questioned the motion however. She said she appreciated the history lesson from Cllr O Murchu and suggested that the focus should be on reconciliation. Cllr O Murchu responded saying that the State doesn't have to commemorate those who acted against Irish interests. Cllr Tomas Sharkey supported his SF colleague's motion, saying that a conversation around commemoration and the events that took place in the War of Independence and Civil War needs to take place and that it should have happened before now. Cllr Pio Smith said that the likes of Ned Broy, who was a double agent within the Dublin Metropolitan Police should be commemorated, along with other double agents. Cllr Conor Keelan said that he agreed with the comments of others regarding people like Ned Broy, but also pointed to the idea of a historical conference, as put forward by historian Diarmaid Ferriter, as a means of understanding the past. Cllr Keelan regretted that as a result of how these commemorations have been handled, issues like this will not be addressed. He also added that the actions taken by Minister Flanagan surrounding the commemorations gave him great concern. Cllr O Murchu welcomed Cllr Keelan's comments, agreeing that an academic conference would be the best way of dealing with it. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. San Francisco, 28 January 2020: The Report Preclinical Imaging Market Analysis By Product Type (Devices: CT, MRI, PET/SPECT, Multi-modal, Optical, Ultrasound, Photoacoustic (PAT), Reagents and Services) And Segment Forecasts To 2024 The global preclinical imaging market is expected to reach around USD 3.6 billion by the year 2024, according to a report performed by Grand View Research, Inc. The swift increase in the number of clinical research organizations (CROs), pharmaceutical companies, and research and development organizations is propelling the demand for preclinical imaging. Heavy investments in research and development are encouraging research projects worldwide. As a result, the demand for Preclinical imaging is steadily increasing. Pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, life sciences, medical devices, and cosmetics are the wide application areas, where imaging modalities are widely used in research and development. Furthermore, veterinary hospitals and educational institutions also create an additional demand for this market. North America comprises the U.S. and Canada markets. North America and Europe together accounted for the largest market share in 2015. The increased research and development funding coupled with the presence of a highly developed research infrastructure is accelerating the growth of the market in Europe and North America. On the other hand, the governing stringent regulatory guidelines are restricting the growth of the market in North America. Asia Pacific is expected to show the fastest growth rate during the forecast period owing to the easy availability of resources, the presence of an advanced research infrastructure, and the allocation of government funds for R&D activities. Access Research Report of Preclinical Imaging Market @ www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/preclinical-imaging-market Further key findings from the study suggest: The optical imaging devices segment captured the largest market share of the overall market in 2015. The largest market share was mainly attributed to the extensive application of these devices in small animal imaging and research projects. The multimodal imaging devices segment is anticipated to show a significant growth rate from 2016 to 2024. The increasing adoption of these devices owing to the integration of multiple imaging modalities into a single unit is the major factor expected to drive the growth of this segment during the forecast period. The reagents segment accounted for a significant market share in 2015 as these products are purchased repeatedly, unlike in the case of imaging devices North America captured the largest market share of around 35% in 2015. The market is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. Well-established research infrastructure, the growing number of research and development activities, and the rising investments in R&D are some of the factors supporting the growth of the market in this region. Asia Pacific is anticipated to show a significant growth rate from 2016 to 2024 owing to the rapidly expanding contract research organization (CRO) industry in this region The exit of the major players from the market is creating growth opportunities for the other smaller, domestic Preclinical imaging system manufacturers The major market players include Bruker Corporation, Siemens A.G., General Electric(GE), TriFoil Imaging, PerkinElmer, Inc., VisualSonics, Inc. (Fujifilm), Mediso Ltd., MILabs B.V., and Agilent Technologies. Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research at: www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/medical-devices Grand View Research has segmented the Preclinical imaging device market on the basis of product type and geography. Preclinical imaging product outlook, 2014 & 2024 (USD Billion) Medical Devices CT Imaging MRI Imaging PET/SPECT Imaging Multimodal Imaging Optical Imaging Ultrasound Imaging Photoacoustic (PAT) Imaging Reagents Services Preclinical imaging regional outlook, 2014 & 2024 (USD Billion) North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America MEA Access Press Release of Preclinical Imaging Market @ www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-preclinical-imaging-market About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare. For More Information: www.grandviewresearch.com PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Elect Omar Ottley urges The Health Department, The Princess Juliana International Airport, and The Port of St. Maarten to pay keen attention to the rapid spread and growth of the Wuhan Coronavirus. The Coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China mid-December 2019. The virus has since spread to Europe, the US, and Australia; infecting more than 1300 worldwide. The first recorded case in the US was in Washington State on January 24, 2020. Our economy thrives on tourism and this crisis cannot be looked upon blind-eyed, with an annual average of 2 million cruise passengers and with hundreds of thousands of tourists entering The Princess Juliana International Airport yearly, we should have a plan of action in place. Lets act on this matter and execute some preventative measures to safeguard the people of our country. We should continue to educate our community on the threats that affect the world and take the necessary steps accordingly. In such situations Prevention is better than cure, he added. Cab aggregator Palkhi Cabs is set to enter the market on February 1 and has already managed to garner attention. This is because of the companys plans to install cameras in its taxis to provide better security, but this too has received mixed reactions from the people. Palkhi Cabs founder Praful Shinde told Mumbai Mirror, Its just an additional security device. Each Palkhi taxi will have GPS for live tracking. If the passenger is uncomfortable being recorded, he/she has the option of switching off the camera. The driver will not have any control on the cameras and the recordings will be saved on our cloud for 90 days. The company attempts to improve passenger safety and prevent mishaps such as physical or verbal abuse, as well as attempted sexual assaults. However, it is expected that this idea will receive its share of criticism. Palkhi Cabs has reportedly confirmed that passenger safety was the sole reason for the installation of the cameras. It has also stated that it will not implement surge pricing and will adhere to the City Taxi Rules of 2017 drafted by the Transport Department. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2020) - Bearing Lithium Corp. (TSXV: BRZ) (OTCQB: BLILF) (FSE: B6K2) ("Bearing" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of the first tranche (the "First Tranche") of the non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") announced December 10th, 2019 and has issued a total of 7,437,000 units (each a "Unit"), at a price of $0.12 per Unit for gross proceeds of approximately $892,440. Each Unit consists of one common share and one-half of a common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.18 for 18 months following closing of the Private Placement. The Warrants will be subject to an acceleration clause in the event the closing price of the Company's common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange is greater than $0.30 for 15 consecutive trading days (the "Acceleration Event"). The Company will give notice to the holders of the Acceleration Event and the Warrants will expire 30 days thereafter. The Company anticipates that the second and final tranche of the Private Placement will close in the next few days. In connection with the First Tranche of the Private Placement, the Company has paid an aggregate of $20,282 in cash finders' fees plus issued a total of 169,020 share purchase warrants (the "Finders' Warrants") to purchase 169,020 common shares to Leede Jones Gable Inc. The Finders' Warrants will have the same terms as the Warrants forming part of the Units. All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Private Placement to fund quarterly capital calls of Maricunga Project Joint Venture and for working capital. Story continues "The very important milestone of completion and approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Study is expected this quarter" commented Gil Playford, Chairman and Interim CEO of Bearing Lithium. About Bearing Lithium Corp. Bearing Lithium Corp. is a lithium-focused mineral exploration and development company. Its primary asset is an 18% interest in the Maricunga Lithium Brine Project in Chile. The Maricunga Project represents one of the highest-grade lithium brine salars globally and the only pre-production project in Chile. Over US$30 million has been invested in the Maricunga Project to date and all expenditures through to the delivery of a Definitive Feasibility Study have been fully-funded by the earn-in joint-venture partner. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Signed "Gil Playford" Gil Playford, Interim CEO and Board Chair FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Gil Playford-Interim CEO and Board Chair Bearing Lithium - Telephone: 1-604-262-8835 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 Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information This press release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating the future operating or financial performance of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this press release relate to, among other things, completion of the second tranche of the Private Placement and the use of proceeds of the Private Placement. Actual future results may differ materially. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the Company's failure to find suitable purchasers for the Private Placement, the failure of the TSX Venture Exchange to approve the Private Placement and management's discretion to reallocate the use of proceeds. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these times. Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51854 In 2019, Jokha Alharthi became the first Arab woman to win the Booker International Prize for her novel Celestial Bodies. Alharthi was recently in India to attend the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival 2020, where she spoke about her book and how some people werent too happy with her portrayal of Omani society. The year 2019 was one of many firsts for Jokha Alharthi. It was the year 41-year-old Alharthi became the first Arab woman to win the Booker International Prize for her novel Celestial Bodies. She was also the first female Omani author ever to have a novel translated into English; she shared the prize with her translator Marilyn Booth. Celestial Bodies is set in an Omani village and follows the lives of three sisters: Theres Mayya, who marries into a rich family after she has her heart broken; Asma, who marries for duty; and Khawla, who is waiting for a man who emigrated from Oman. The novel is a glimpse into Omani society through the voices of marginalised men and women, political upheaval, social turmoil, and slavery. It is a multi-generational saga that talks about how Oman changed from a rural society where slavery was practiced to an urban, rich Gulf state. Jokha Alharthi's Celestial Bodies: Man Booker International Prize winner shows what is remembered, forgotten in a new nation The book was originally published as Sayyidat al-Qamar in 2010, following her 2004 debut, Manamat (Dreams). In 2016, Alharthi published Narinjah (Bitter Orange), which is in the process of being translated into English. The assistant professor at the College of Arts and Social Sciences in Muscats Sultan Qaboos University was recently in India to attend the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival 2020, where she spoke about her book and how some people werent too happy with her portrayal of Omani society. Excerpts from an interview: You dont believe that fiction provides a mirror to society Do you believe fiction is important today? Of course fiction is important today. And also fiction teaches us, not in a direct way but in an indirect way. It's not a mirror towards reality, because it has this imaginative element in it. But it is influenced by reality, by people's lives and peoples thinking. It is just that we cannot bring things from reality as it is and put it directly in a novel. We have to work on making it readable, and you have to have the skills to do the framework, and sculpt a story and to imagine relations between people, etc. You have written two childrens books, and have been nominated for a Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the Young Authors category in 2012. What attracts you to childrens literature? I wrote for children because when I had mine, I told them many stories and then I ran out of stories! So I invented stories and my children actually liked them. I though why not write [childrens] books? Im proud of my childrens books. I find it difficult to continue because publishers want a certain kind of writing. Basically, I can write but I face difficulties in finding a publisher for my childrens books. Is that the only difficulty you have faced in the publishing world? What is it like being a woman writer? As a woman writer, at some point I have had to face the male domination in the literary scene. In general, I was lucky unlike many writers whose families didnt support them, my family actually supported me. I know that is not the case for other women writers; many of them have had to fight for this right. The Narinjah (Bitter Orange) translation is set to hit the stands in 2021. How important are translations today? Translation is very important in breaking stereotypes about culture especially for our world or the Islamic world, which is full of them. Its important to tell people that things are not as they imagined. Its not just a zone of war, but also produces a lot of literature, and it has a lot of culture. What are you hoping to tell people about Arabic literature and fiction, through your work? Im hoping to tell people that Arabic literature is a very rich one. It goes back more than 1,700 years. It deserves to be read and admired. And it has a lot of diversity because although its for contemporary Arabic fiction, and is written in Arabic, it's written in, and is coming out of 22 different countries. It has a lot of diversity, its beautiful and it definitely deserves to be read. The death toll due to 2019 novel Coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak has crossed 100, with 4515 confirmed cases, including 976 severe ones. The outbreak that had its origin in Wuhan city in Central China, has now spread to at least a dozen other countries. China on December 31 alerted WHO about several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. The earlist case with pneumonia like symptoms was said to have been identified as early as December 1. The Chinese authorities on January 7 said they had identified a new virus that belonged to a family of Caronaviruses. China shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus on January 12. Caronavirus causes common cold to more severe respiratory illnesses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The Chinese authorities claimed that the epicentre of the virus outbreak was a seafood and live animal market in Wuhan. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The source is still unknown with Chinese media reports attributing it to snakes and bats. The human-to-human transmission was confirmed much later into the outbreak. A team from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, posted to the preprint server bioRxiv, determined that the genome of this coronavirus is 96 percent identical to that of a bat coronavirus, suggesting that bats could have been source of the virus. This wasn't a peer reviewed study. Withholding information But virologists and epidemiologists globally and from China who are tracking the cases of infected people and have studied the DNA sequence of the novel coronavirus provided by Chinese authorities, allege that the virus outbreak could have happened several weeks before the government declared it. They also point out that the human-to-human transmission was underway, and the response wasn't swift. A new Lancet study focused on the first 41 coronavirus infected patients, authored by Chinese researchers and doctors working in Wuhan, gives a conflicting picture to what Chinese authorities have been saying. The symptom onset date of the first patient identified was December 1, 2019. There was delay in finding out human-to-human transmission. The report also says that the more than one-third of the 41 cases of 2019-nCoV have no link to Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, the source claimed by Chinese authorities. The delay in relaying the information and alerting the public about the outbreak, had led to loss of valuable early window available to confine the outbreak to a smaller pocket within Wuhan. Analysts point out that either the Wuhan authorities were withholding information or they didn't have a clear picture to take a call. Zhou Xianwang, Mayor of Wuhan, who was facing criticism for handling of the outbreak, has said that the local authorities couldnt release information in a timely manner, due to rules imposed by Beijing on what they could disclose. He offered to resign. Another speculative theory doing the rounds is a possible leakage of virus from the research lab itself. The Wuhan Institute of Virology National Biosafety Laboratory is China's sole declared facility capable of conducting research on deadly viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). As we see these first high-profile cases emerge, now is the moment for policymakers in Illinois and across the country to balance the benefits of DNA technology with the necessity to protect privacy rights. Because if we do not set those regulations in place now, we could see this far-reaching technology used to cast suspicion on millions of people. And how would we feel if we use the power of this technology against trespassers, against those engaged in civil disobedience of some other non-violent offense. As we celebrate the closure for families, we must also protect other families in the future. By PTI NEW DELHI: A 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday the Centre's plea seeking Rs 7,844 crore as an additional fund from successor firms of US-based Union Carbide Corporation, now owned by Dow Chemicals, for giving compensation to victims of 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy. The bench, comprising Justices Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M R Shah and S Ravindra Bhat, will hear the curative petition filed by the Centre for enhanced compensation for the victims. The Centre is seeking a direction to Union Carbide and other firms for Rs 7,844 crore additional amount over and above the earlier settlement amount of USD 470 million in 1989 for paying compensation to the gas tragedy victims. Over 3,000 people had died in the tragedy due to the release of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas. The Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) gave a compensation of USD 470 million (Rs 715 crore at the time of settlement) after the toxic gas leak from the Union Carbide factory on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984 killed over 3,000 people and affected 1.02 lakh more. ALSO READ | 13 out of 15 doctors at the hospital for Bhopal Gas Leak survivors resign The survivors of the 1984 tragedy have been fighting for long for adequate compensation and proper medical treatment for ailments caused by the toxic leak. The Centre had filed the curative petition in the apex court in December 2010 for enhanced compensation. On June 7, 2010, a Bhopal court had convicted seven executives of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) to two years' imprisonment in connection with the incident. Then UCC chairman, Warren Anderson was the prime accused in the case but did not appear for the trial. On February 1, 1992, the Bhopal CJM court had declared him an absconder. The courts in Bhopal had issued non-bailable warrants against Anderson twice -- in 1992 and 2009. Anderson died in September 2014. New York City Pedestrian Struck Colby Droscher/Twitter A 25-year-old woman was struck by a car as she was crossing the street in the Lower East Side in New York City, according to an NYPD spokesperson. In a video posted to Twitter, bystanders can be seen rushing to the woman's aid, banding together to physically lift the vehicle off of the ground. In a follow-up tweet, the woman can be seen laying on the ground using her phone while first responders tend to her. A 65-year-old woman was issued a summons for failing to yield, police told Insider. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. A group of pedestrians in New York City joined together to rush to the aid of a woman who had been struck by a car in the city's Lower East Side on Sunday afternoon. In a video of the incident posted to Twitter Sunday afternoon by Colby Droscher, a small group of people can be seen rushing toward the rear left wheel of a Mercedes SUV. They tried to lift the back of the vehicle, drawing about a dozen more people coming to help by lifting the car's left side. For about 40 seconds, they work to lift it off the ground and free the woman trapped underneath. "Just now at Delancey and Norfolk in the Lower East Side an accident ran over a pedestrian trapping them under an SUV," Droscher said in the tweet. "Onlookers just lifted the SUV, dragging the victim out." help how do i change this (@colbydroscher) January 26, 2020 About 38 seconds into the minute-long video, a mass of people who've joined the effort have lifted up the left side of the vehicle. After 10 seconds of holding it up, one person gestures to put the car back on the ground and the group places all four wheels back on the street. In a follow-up tweet, Droscher said that the efforts of the bystanders to lift the car and rescue the trapped woman were successful. In a photo, she can be seen laying on the ground while FDNY emergency responders tend to her. Story continues help how do i change this (@colbydroscher) January 26, 2020 A spokesperson for the New York City Police Department told Insider that the victim, a 25-year-old woman, escaped the situation without serious injury. Police said that the driver of the SUV, a 65-year-old woman, turned from Norfolk Street to Delancey Street, hit the pedestrian while she crossed the street at a crosswalk, and then hit another car that was stopped at a traffic light. The victim was alert and conscious when first responders arrived and was taken to the city's Bellevue Hospital to treat pains, cuts, and bruises, the spokesperson said. The driver was issued a summons for failing to yield, according to police. Read more: 5 online grocery delivery services that make life easier for busy New Yorkers and how their prices compare New York City's 'train daddy' tasked with fixing the crumbling subway has resigned after two years following struggles with the governor View from the top: a guide to NYC's best observation decks, from the Empire State Building to the Top of the Rock Hotel 50 Bowery brings approachable luxury to New York City's vibrant Chinatown Read the original article on Insider Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (the "Company" or "Aires") is pleased to announce that it has commenced phase one of its online advertising and marketing campaign intended to increase product awareness and increase sales globally. Currently, Aires has sold its products in over 20 countries with little or no advertising to date. "I am pleased to report we achieved record sales in December 2019, and January 2020 sales are already 60% ahead of last year. What is noteworthy is these record sales have been achieved organically with little advertising spent to date. Now that we are near completion of our new website, designed specifically to handle significantly higher sales volume, we look to now vastly increase our advertising spend." commented Dimitry Servo, President and CEO." The Company is now beginning its online advertising and marketing campaign comprising of social media ads, web search optimization along with both macro and micro influencers to increase product awareness, and increase sales around the world. This effort is expected to commence in Q2, 2020. Advertising will be supported with the new Aires website, other online sales platforms, promotion of the new product line up for both 5G and pet products as previously announced. This newly announced advertising campaign is one of several initiatives for Aires to reach this sales objective. For more information please visit: www.airestech.com About American Aires Inc. American Aires is an Ontario based technology company that is focused on the research, development and implementation of innovative technology solutions to allow consumers to safely engage with electronic products of the 21st century. The Company is currently engaged in the business of production, distribution and sales of products intended to protect persons from the harmful effects of electromagnetic emissions, which is produced from electronic devices such as cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, tablets and electronic cars to name a few. The Company has developed a technology that restructures and transforms electromagnetic field haze into a more biologically-compatible form to reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation. The Company's current principal products are the Air Shield Extreme, Aires Black Crystal, Aires Defender Infinity, Aires Defender Automotive, Air Shield Pro, Air Defender Pro and Air Guardian. For more information please visit: www.airestech.com On behalf of the board of directors Dimitry Serov, President & Chief Executive Officer Email: dimitry@airestech.com Phone: (905) 482-4667 Investor Relations: Samina Deen, Head of Partnerships Email: samina@airestech.com Phone: (416) 320-1634 wifi@airestech.com 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. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. 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. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Not intended for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States Securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51860 Israeli PM withdrew his bid for immunity on Tuesday, hours before Knesset due to hold debate. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been formally indicted in court on corruption charges after he withdrew his request for parliamentary immunity from prosecution. Netanyahu was in Washington for meetings with US President Donald Trump ahead of the release of Trumps long-delayed US-Israeli peace plan for the Middle East when Israels attorney-general filed the charges in a Jerusalem court on Tuesday. Earlier, Netanyahu said he was withdrawing his bid for parliamentary immunity from prosecution on corruption charges, paving the way for a trial to begin. Israels longest-serving prime minister issued a statement on Facebook on Tuesday, saying the immunity proceedings in parliament would have been a circus and he did not want to take part in a dirty game. I informed the Knesset speaker that I am withdrawing my immunity request, Netanyahu said. Israels parliament, the Knesset, had been set to convene to discuss the formation of a committee to debate the prime ministers request for immunity from prosecution on Tuesday. The Knesset was widely expected to reject the request, which would have dealt Netanyahu a blow ahead of a parliamentary election scheduled for March 2 the third national vote in less than a year. Netanyahus Likud party was planning to boycott the session. His retraction paves the way for legal proceedings against him to go forward. A trial could take months or years and the 70-year-old leader is under no legal obligation to resign. Netanyahu was indicted in November on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust over allegations that he granted state favours worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Israeli media barons in return for gifts and favourable coverage. He denies any wrongdoing, saying he is the victim of a witch hunt by the media and the political left aiming to remove a popular right-wing leader. The prime ministers political opponents made his legal troubles a focus of their campaigns in the previous two elections last year. Netanyahu hates to be the loser The prime ministers chief rival, Benny Gantz, who leads the Blue and White alliance, said in a statement: Netanyahu is going to trial we must go forward. Nobody could run a country and simultaneously manage three serious criminal charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, he added. Akiva Eldar, an Israeli columnist at Al-Monitor, said Netanyahu had no choice but to withdraw his immunity request as he lacked sufficient support in parliament. Netanyahu hates to be the loser. He wanted the immunity and he wasnt able to get it. He stood no chance. He doesnt have a majority in the Knesset to get the immunity, Eldar said. The Knesset was still expected to assemble despite Netanyahus withdrawal of his request to form the committee, which will also address former welfare minister Haim Katzs request for immunity from prosecution in his own corruption cases. Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List of Arab parties in the Israeli parliament, said the path to trial is paved and no diplomatic public relations stunt in the world would prevent him from being brought to justice. Netanyahu could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of bribery and a maximum three-year term for fraud and breach of trust. "Expeditious decision" by the President on mercy petition cannot be a ground to challenge its rejection by one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Delay in deciding the mercy petition by the President would have a "de-humanising effect" on the convict, the Centre said. Opposing the plea of the convict, Mukesh Kumar Singh, against the rejection on his mercy petition, it also said that allegations of ill-treatment in jail cannot be a ground for mercy to a person who has committed such a heinous crime. While the counsel appearing for Mukesh argued that "hate the sin, not the sinner", Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench headed by Justice R Banumathi that the convict cannot be allowed to have this kind of "luxury litigation" in the case. The bench, also comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna, asked senior advocate Anjana Prakash, appearing for Mukesh, as to how they can say there was "non-application of mind" by the President in rejecting the mercy plea on January 17. The bench, after hearing arguments from both the sides, reserved its order for Wednesday. The four death row convicts -- Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Kumar Sharma and Akshay Kumar -- are scheduled to be hanged at 6 AM on February 1. During the arguments, Prakash told the court that entire materials and records of the case were not placed before the President when he was considering the mercy plea. Mehta countered the submissions and said, "Entire material which was required to be considered by the President was sent to the President by the Ministry of Home Affairs". "Delay can be an argument to challenge it but expeditious decision on mercy plea can never be an argument to challenge the dismissal of mercy petition," Mehta said, "A person on death row faces death every day. If there is delay, it would have a de-humanising effect. There cannot and should not be any delay in deciding mercy plea". Mehta said that as per latest medical report of Mukesh, which was also sent to the President, he is "fit and fine". Referring to an earlier verdict of the apex court, he argued it was said in the judgement that it would not be appropriate for the top court to lay down guidelines as to how the President should use his power under Article 72 of the Constitution. Article 72 of the Constitution deals with power of the President to grant pardons and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases. Mehta placed before the bench two original files, one containing correspondence for consideration of mercy petition filed by Mukesh and another file containing notings. "Both the files are received and kept for perusal of the court," the bench said and declined the request of petitioner's counsel seeking permission to peruse the files. Prakash told the bench that records relating to certain supervening circumstances, including solitary confinement, were not placed before the President. Referring to an earlier apex court verdict, she argued that a death row convict can be kept in solitary confinement only after dismissal of his or her mercy plea but in this case, Mukesh was kept in solitary confinement time and again. Prakash argued that non-application of mind includes non-appreciation of materials and records relating to solitary confinement and custodial torture, including sexual abuse of Mukesh in jail, were never sent to the President. She said that keeping a convict in solitary confinement is one of the circumstances to commute death penalty. Mehta, however, argued that keeping a convict in solitary confinement and keeping him or her in a separate cell in jail were different things. "He (Mukesh) was never kept in solitary confinement. He was kept in a separate cell for some time and this can be done with other prisoners also," he said. Prakash argued that process of deciding the mercy plea cannot be expedited at the "cost of justice" as it is a matter of life and death of a person. When she pointed out to the role of Mukesh in the case, the bench said, "All these aspects have been dealt with by the trial court, high court and this court". "How can you say that these facts were not placed before his excellency the President? How can you say that there was non-application of mind by the President," the bench asked. Prakash told the bench that jail authorities had forwarded documents like role of Mukesh, his medical report, trial court judgement and details of punishment awarded to him along with the mercy petition. "Are you contending that he (President) has to look into every documents while dealing with mercy petition?," the bench asked. To this, Prakash said entire records of the case should have been sent to the President for his perusal. "You punish the sin, but deal with sinner in a different way," she said, adding, "He (Mukesh) was sexually abused in jail. His brother and co-accused (Ram Singh) was murdered in jail. He has said in his mercy petition that he has not slept for five years due to fear of being attacked or abused in jail". The apex court had earlier rejected the curative pleas of Mukesh and Akshay. The other two convicts, Pawan (25) and Vinay, are yet to file curative petitions in the top court. The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as "Nirbhaya", was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) HERNDON, Va., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FranConnect, the leader in franchise management solutions, has reported its strongest year of growth in the company's 18-year history, including a 60% year-over-year growth in sales and the addition of 160 new brands to the company's growing client roster. With its 2019 results, FranConnect now supports over 800 franchise brands globally and 148,000 franchisees. Additionally, FranConnect exceeded its prior year earnings by 36% and reported recurring revenue growth of over 24%. "I am incredibly proud of what our team accomplished in 2019 as part of our multi-year growth plan. It's a testament to FranConnect's position as the leading platform for franchise growth and the confidence our partners have in our ability to help their brands succeed and thrive," said Gabby Wong, CEO of FranConnect. "Over the last several years, we have seen unparalleled consolidation and expansion in the franchise market. As a result, it was imperative for us to put together a multi-year growth plan that not only included significant sales expansion, but also investments in our people, our products, and our customer experience so that we could grow in-kind with our customer's needs. Our 2019 achievements demonstrate our ability to grow at-scale, achieving record market expansion in a way that shows that we are a long-term provider to the market." Since its founding in 2002, FranConnect had achieved double-digit growth year-over-year. This has allowed the company to invest heavily in attracting top talent in franchising, product strategy, technology, and field operations. Over the last three years, FranConnect has doubled its workforce at its U.S. headquarters. FranConnect's growth has led to the creation of a new executive role, Chief Product Officer, which was awarded to Jaffrey Ali. Ali previously held the position of FranConnect's Vice President of Product and Strategy. Ali joined FranConnect in September 2018 and has been instrumental in leading the strategy, development, and go-to-market positioning of the company's most innovative product initiatives. This includes the upcoming launch of Optimize, set to be released in March. Additionally, in December, FranConnect hired a new Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Jackson, who brings nearly 30 years of experience in software development, architecture, and engineering to FranConnect's executive team. Prior to joining FranConnect, Jackson served as Chief Technology Officer of Arterra Mobility, a top-ranked MVNO based in McLean, Virginia. "Andrew and Jaffrey are incredibly strategic technology leaders and we are fortunate to have them as part of our leadership team to help drive the future of the FranConnect Platform and our company's growth," said Wong. "These additions to FranConnect's exceptional leadership team, will enable us to support our customers in achieving their greatest potential." For more information about FranConnect, visit www.franconnect.com. About FranConnect FranConnect is the leading franchise management software provider. Based on an analytics approach, only its award-winning, unified FranConnect platform engages stakeholders to grow, scale and optimize franchise systems through a connected and complete view of the business from sales to multi-unit and multi-brand performance. Over 800 brands including 40 of the Entrepreneur's Top 100 Global Franchises in 18 countries count on FranConnect to successfully grow their franchise systems. FranConnect customers span all sizes, growth phases, and industries and have grown 44% faster than the broader franchising market. Backed by private-equity investor Serent Capital, FranConnect is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, with global follow-the-sun operations. For more information on FranConnect, visit: www.franconnect.com. Contact: Ashley Davidson Fish Consulting 754-888-6307 [email protected] SOURCE FranConnect Related Links http://www.franconnect.com WESTFIELD - Police seeking the publics help in identifying two people who are alleged to have used a stolen credit card to make $800 in purchases from Walmart. The two suspects, a man and a woman, made the purchases on Dec. 27. They are being investigated for making fraudulent purchases. Surveillance photos from the store show the two with a carriage going through the store and ringing up items at the register. Anyone with information is asked to call Westfield police at 413-642-9384, or sent an email to ja.williams@cityofwestfield.org Apart from fairly personal party leaders' debates, the election policy narrative seems to have been essentially reduced to complaints about the funding of health and housing. That ignores the fact that we have one of the highest expenditures per capita on health services in the developed world and also we have one of the highest home ownership, plus assisted renting rates in the developed world. The election narrative is also ignoring the fact that less than a decade ago this country suffered its biggest calamity since independence when it went bust. It had to be bailed out by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The details of that collapse and its relevance to our present General Election narrative are interesting. Total Irish government expenditure in 1997 was 19bn. By 2010, with a more than tripling of money spent running the country and a bailout of the banks, Irish government expenditure was 103bn. That was 50bn more than it was getting in taxation in that year. Hence we had to have the EU/IMF bailout in 2010. In addition, unemployment went up to 15pc and there was a fairly high level of emigration. At present, in contrast, government expenditure is around 70bn, which is fully funded by taxation, and unemployment is below 5pc. Of course, a collapse of the magnitude that happened in 2010 has left problems. High borrowing and difficulties in health, housing etc are the most obvious. But the level of the recovery since 2010 is such that to ignore it does not do justice to either the Government, which had to make difficult and unpopular decisions, or to the ordinary people of this country whose sacrifices in this time have contributed to that recovery. Ignoring the danger of a return to the historically high spending policies pre-2010 is also part of the election agenda. The conclusion seems to be that our General Election agenda needs to be widened to take in consequences of policies being advocated. Ignoring that approach cost us dearly in the pre-2010 period and should not be repeated again. A Leavy Sutton, Dublin 13 Festive voting makes more sense amid all the promises In view of the multiplicity of promises being made by all the parties during this election campaign, would it not be more opportune to hold future elections before Christmas? Then children and adults alike could look forward to the arrival of Santa Claus. Steve McGarry Bishopstown, Co Cork Both leaders face historic outcome, whatever the result It seems that were set for a historic result in the forthcoming General Election next month. If Leo Varadkar is re-elected as Taoiseach, then this would be the first time since the founding of the State that two different successive Fine Gael Taoisigh will have been re-elected in successive terms. Enda Kenny did it in 2016 and now possibly Mr Varadkar in 2020. In the case of Fianna Fail, Sean Lemass was re-elected as Taoiseach in 1961 and 1965 and Jack Lynch was re-elected in 1969 having succeeded Mr Lemass in 1966. If Mr Varadkar is re-elected as Taoiseach, could this be the first time that a Fianna Fail leader would not be elected as Taoiseach during their leadership? Micheal Martin would then have to lead his party into a fourth general election to possibly ensure that he does not enter the history books for this reason. If Mr Martin is elected as Taoiseach, then this would mean that all the Fianna Fail leaders to date would have served as Taoiseach. In this case, could Mr Varadkar join two previous Taoisigh, John Bruton and Brian Cowen, who were not elected Taoiseach at a general election? Seamus Bellew Blackrock, Co Louth Prodigal one should beware cold reality of shunning EU This Friday night, with lights flashing and bells ringing the prodigal one is shunning the EU family home to sow its wild oats across the globe. But beware, it can be hungry and cold out there when you have squandered all your goodwill. This time the fatted calf may not be slain to celebrate if you decide to return to the home you left behind. Joseph Mackey Glasson, Co Westmeath ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Jan. 28 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: The sixth meeting of authorized representatives of the Caspian littoral states is taking place in Ashgabat city to discuss a draft protocol on cooperation in ensuring maritime safety in the Caspian Sea, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry. The meeting is attended by experts from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. This project, drawn up for cooperation in the field of ensuring maritime safety in the Caspian Sea, has special priorities in the comprehensive development of Turkmenistans cooperation with other Caspian littoral states on a long-term basis, the report said. The main objectives of the protocol include prevention of collisions of maritime vessels, protection of life and health of crew members and passengers, as well as ensuring the safety of ships and cargo. In this context, the issues of organizing search and rescue operations at sea, establishing control in seaports, investigating accidents, preventing the negative impact of external factors dangerous for navigation, including artificial marine structures, submarine cables, pipelines, drilling platforms and other vessels, are also being discussed. The development of this document is envisaged by the Agreement on Security Cooperation in the Caspian Sea, signed in November 2010 at the Third Summit of the Heads of State of the Caspian Littoral Countries, which was held in Baku. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 16:51:24|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed slammed the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday for issuing an order allowing the federal government to implement a policy that threatens to deny immigrants permanent residency in the country. The court ruled in a 5-4 decision that President Donald Trump's administration could temporarily implement the so-called "public charge" rule that would ban immigrants from using public benefits, including food stamps, Medicaid, housing or permanent residency, also known as a "green card." "President Trump's 'Public Charge' rule is an abusive attack on our immigrant communities designed to make our most vulnerable residents choose between critical services or remaining in the United States," Breed said. The mayor added she supports access to certain social services such as medical care or food aid for immigrants. No one should be discriminated against for applying for such federal benefits, she asserted. Breed called the court's decision an "unconscionable policy," saying her government had opposed the rule when it was first proposed. "Although we can't stop the federal government from moving ahead with the 'public charge' rule, we will keep doing whatever we can to support immigrants living in our city, and will continue providing critical services to our most vulnerable residents," she said. Breed is one of a number of Californian officials to openly challenge the Supreme Court's order on Monday. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra also vowed to fight for the rights of immigrants, and has lashed out at the court's decision. "This rule harms our children and families in communities across the country. It hurts our economy and the healthcare of so many Californians," he said. Ugandas score in the latest Absa Financial Markets 2019 has slightly improved with the country scoring 52 out of 100 points compared to 50 scored in the year 2018. However, Uganda remained in 10th position behind leaders; South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya, Namibia, Botswana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Rwanda respectively. The Index also shows Uganda was fourth, behind her East African Community peers of Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, respectively. The Absa Africa Financial Markets Index evaluates financial markets development in 20 countries and highlights economies with the clearest growth prospects. The aim is also to show how economies can improve market frameworks to meet yardsticks for investor access and sustainable growth. Stories Continues after ad This was the third year the Absa Financial Markets Index is compiled under six pillars like; Market depth, Access to foreign exchange, Market transparency, tax and regulatory environment, Capacity of local investors, Macroeconomic opportunity and Legality and enforcement standard financial markets master agreements. The Absa Financial Markets Index 2019 compiled in association with official Monetary Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) shows that out of 100, Uganda scored 45, 71, 73, 16, 69 and 35, respectively for the respective pillars listed in that order above. The report notes that during 2018-2019 Uganda reduced withholding tax on 10-year government bonds to 10 percent from 20 percent, a policy change that can boost growth of financial sector. It also notes that all local Ugandan banks also signed onto the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA) and the market is able to trade horizontal repos. Relatedly, the report notes that the Capital Markets Authority of Uganda (CMAU) is developing mandatory listings for firms in strategic sectors such as telecommunications, tier one banks and mining firms to increase the number of listed companies on its bourse, the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE). However, the report notes that respondents in Uganda complained that the country has the highest tax rates on dividends in the region with no exemptions or incentives to encourage financial market development. Uganda at glance: Pillar 1 Market depth Ugandas overall performance improved slightly, with the decline in liquidity offset by the higher value of listed bonds and equities. However, Ugandas market liquidity continued to drop, with $11 million in turnover, down from $25 million. Turnover has been hit by uncertainty over Umeme, the countrys main electricity firm and most-traded stock. Pillar 2: Access to foreign exchange Uganda ranks highest in East Africa on access to foreign exchange, in third position after South Africa and Egypt. Uganda performs strongly in this pillar, with almost the same score as top-ranked South Africa. It has a high level of foreign reserves relative to net portfolio investment flows and enough reserves to cover more than four months of imports. Pillar 3: Market transparency, tax and regulatory environment Ugandas credit quality has improved as the report points out that Uganda has earned international corporate credit ratings for the first time, alongside Cameroon and Senegal. International credit ratings aid transparency and reflect confidence levels. Pillar 4: Capacity of local investors Ugandas pension assets have risen with government securities accounting for 75 per cent of assets and quoted equities tallying up to 14 per cent. Pillar 5: Macroeconomic opportunity Uganda registered a decline in non-performing loan ratios, boosting the countrys Pillar 5 scores. Areas for Improvement The country has the highest tax rates on dividends in the region with no exemptions or incentives to encourage financial market development. Ugandas lowest ranking is on Pillar 4, Capacity of local investors, reflecting in large part the countrys low level of pension fund assets per capita. Initiatives to broaden access to pension plans should be considered in future financial inclusion strategies. Ugandas second-lowest ranking is in Pillar 6, where it is 12th. This is due mostly to weaknesses, as measured by the World Bank, in its insolvency framework. Improving this score can help attract international investors, who want to be sure they can quickly and easily reclaim at least some of their capital from a failing investment. To bolster market capitalization, Ugandas Capital Markets Authority is developing mandatory listings for firms in strategic sectors such as telecommunications, tier one banks and mining The index tracks the progress on financial market developments across South Africa, Nigeria, Mauritius, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Ghana, Zambia, Egypt, Uganda, Mozambique, Senegal, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Angola, Tanzania, Rwanda, Cameroon, Seychelles and Ethiopia. Products available in Ugandas financial markets; equities, corporate bonds, government bonds, asset-backed securities, exchange-traded funds, cross-currency swaps, mutual funds, repo documented under GMRA and unit trusts. Representative image The Union Budget is barely a few days away, and expectations are that it will have measures to get the economy back on track. The biggest tax cut the government can offer is reduction of import duties for critical sectors like solar panels, newsprint and gold. It also need to remove taxes on Indian flag ships and their staff. Current policies favour foreign flag ships than Indian flag ships. This is inconsistent with the publicly cherished nationalistic stand of the government. Perhaps the most unfortunate levy of duties is on solar panels. It must be recalled that there are three reasons why solar panels should be made duty free. First, it is a major employment generator. Rooftop solar has the potential for creating around 80 million jobs in a few years time. Yet, despite the huge demand and employment potential, China continues to remain the biggest producer of solar panels (see chart). Second, solar power has the potential to drastically reduce Indias import bills. At a time when the government has been talking about even limiting the number of duty free import of personal effects global passengers can bring in (including reducing liquor bottles permitted per person from two to one), does it make sense to continue allowing import of expensive oil and fuel? Solar and waste to energy are two natural advantages India enjoys which can even make the country forex positive. Can the finance ministry pundits get their priorities right? Third, as the Tripura rooftop solar experiment has shown, there is an urgent need for the power ministry to be told that funds should be allocated for rooftop solar, and not solar farms or grid connectivity in rural areas. Tripura discovered that providing rooftop solar connections would cost the state just around Rs.50,000 per household, against a grid connectivity cost of over Rs.2,00,000. Plus, there will be little need for annual subsidies. Shouldnt the government then promote rooftop solar more aggressively? In fact, the government should offer subsidies for rooftop solar in view of the three benefits outlined above. Yet, in defiance of logic, the government slapped a safeguard duty of 25 percent. At a time when the government needs to reduce its import bills for petroleum and gas, and at a time when Tripura has shown that solar connectivity for rural areas offers the best solution, it is surprising that the government continues with the import duty levy of 25 percent. The justification: India needs to promote domestic production of solar panels. The reality is different. The rule benefits a chosen few companies. In fact, according to Frank Haugwitz, Director of the Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory Co (AECEA), he was not expecting that 12 GW will be installed in December 2019 due to several reasons and also given the fairly low installations numbers in October (1 GW) and November (nearly 0.5 GW). A year-end rally is nothing unusual, however up to 12 GW in one single month, still beats all estimates. Mercom, an energy consultant, reported that AECAE expects India to install around 23-31 GW capacity during 2020. A similar situation confronts the newspaper industry. Last year the government slapped a 10 percent duty on newsprint import. Now it proposed to increase this further (some say to around 22 percent by levying an anti-dumping duty on newsprint imports from Australia, Canada, European Union, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore and United Arab Emirates. This, in effect, means imports from all major producing and trans-shipment centres. Some will interpret this move as another attempt to muzzle the print media. Irrespective of the interpretation, it will push up costs of information dissemination further. This comes at a time, when education and information are the biggest stumbling blocks that hobble India. - Make sure that Indian flag ships and their crew get better (or at least the same benefits) than foreign flag ships. It is absurd to promote Indian producers but damn Indian shipping. - Immediately revoke the duty on solar panels, because it has a cascading increase in capital costs for India, reduced deployment of solar panels in India, and swelling import bills for oil and gas. - Offer incentives for the rooftop solar industry, as it brings the biggest bang for the buck for India. - Abolish duties on newsprint, because what India needs today is more internet and more information. - Reduce import duties and cesses on gold imports to under 5 percent. All this would be synergistic with the oft espoused policy of the government. It would benefit the environment, restore the dignity of Indian shipping, promote stability of the Indian currency, reduce smuggling, and create jobs. An Upper Islamic Shariah Court on Monday at Kofar Kudu emirs palace in Kano State ordered the exhumation of a corpse one week after interment. The judge, Ibrahim Sarki-Yola, had over a week ago ruled that the states moral police (HISBAH) was to take custody of the body of late Abdullahi Obinwa from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) for burial. However, the officials wrongly took the corpse of one Basil Ejensi and gave him an Islamic burial. The relatives of late Mr Ejensi complained to the Islamic court and urged the judge to order the exhumation of the body of their relative whom they plan to bury using Christianity rites. The court granted the appeal and ordered the immediate exhumation of late Mr Ejensi. The judge ordered that the body be handed over to his relatives. The judge also ordered security personnel to accompany the parties involved to exhume the body buried at Gandun Albasa Cemetery in Kano Municipal Local Government Area. READ ALSO: The exhumation was done on Monday. While receiving the body, the lawyer to late Mr Ejensi, Masalinas Duru, commended the court for the judgement. The Imam that observed the Islamic burial rite of the late Mr Ejensi, Aminu Adam, said the mistake has been done and nobody is above mistake. The incident attracted hundreds of residents who trooped to the cemetery to witness the process of the exhumation. Many onlookers described the incident as an oddity. The WHO disease classification will now include a disease called CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder. CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder diagnostic code will be incorporated in the classification revision to be published on October 1, 2020. The unique ICD-10 code will facilitate clinical and epidemiological research and improve patient care. The rare genetic disease CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD) has been designated with a new disease code in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), the medical classification list from the World Health Organization (WHO). The CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder diagnostic code will be incorporated in the October 1, 2020 classification revision. The medical classification, currently in its tenth revision (ICD-10), uses a list of alphanumeric codes to document a persons medical condition. For example, a person with migraine headaches will receive the G43 code, and a person with type 2 diabetes the E11 code. These codes are then used for clinical research and care, and increasingly also for health insurance billing and reimbursement. According to the WHO, about 70% of the worlds health expenditures are allocated using ICD codes for reimbursement and resource allocation. There are many medical conditions that do not have a code in the international medical classification, and these diseases can be invisible for most clinical research and have difficulties accessing insurance and reimbursement. This previously included CDD, a rare genetic disease that leads to frequent seizures shortly after birth and severe impairment in neurological development, with most affected people being unable to walk, talk or care for themselves. Obtaining an ICD-10 code for CDD is a big milestone for our field and one more step towards having approved therapies and ensuring patient access to these treatments," said Ana Mingorance PhD, Chief Development Officer at the Loulou Foundation, a private non-profit foundation for CDD therapeutic development which spearheaded the ICD-10 code effort. One of the reasons why we requested a code for CDD is because there are four ongoing clinical trials for therapies that might treat the disease, including a clinical study in the latest stage before approval. With an ICD-10 code for CDD, everything from research to reimbursement will become more efficient. We know that CDD occurs in approximately 1 in every 40,000 births because of genetic studies, explains Karen Utley, co-founder and President of the International Foundation for CDKL5 Research (IFCR), the largest patient advocacy group for CDD families in the United States. But because there was no ICD-10 code for the disease, each of these patients is being coded in a different way at hospitals and we have no way to identify who they are or to know how many are out there. ICD-10 codes are used by clinicians, health insurance companies, and public health agencies across the world to represent diagnoses. The disease classification is reviewed once a year, in a process managed by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), housed within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year, IFCR and the Loulou Foundation submitted a proposal to the NCHS for the creation of a new unique code for CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder. The existing ICD-10 codes were not specific enough to capture the multisystem effects of CDD, said Dr Eric Marsh from the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, one of the leading clinical investigators in the disorder and the Principal Investigator at the CDKL5 clinical Center of Excellence who also participated in the proposal. This leads to the inconsistent records and introduces friction into clinical care, insurance authorization and research studies, all of which depend on ICD-10 codes. The proposal included support letters from numerous medical organizations including the American Epilepsy Society, American Academy of Neurology, and the Child Neurology Foundation, as well as from leading patient advocacy organizations like the National Organization for Rare Diseases. Several pharmaceutical companies also contributed support letters. Following the evaluation, CDD was successfully granted a new code (G40.42), in an acknowledgment that it represents a separate medical condition with unique medical needs and that it therefore required its own ICD-10 code. This milestone follows another major achievement for the CDD patient community, which on November 1, 2019, hosted a Patient-Focused Drug Development meeting with the FDA, in which caregivers shared their experiences and future treatment expectations with the regulators. The Loulou Foundation, IFCR, and the International CDKL5 Alliance, representing worldwide CDD patient advocacy groups, believe that the new ICD-10 code for CDD will help improve the quality of life of people living with CDD, and urge the medical community and healthcare leaders to advance policies and protocols to ensure early access to genetic diagnosis that will identify currently undiagnosed cases of this disorder. About CDD CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder resulting from loss-of-function mutations in the CDKL5 gene. Presenting first as infantile spasms within the first weeks of life which progresses to intractable epilepsy, CDD patients also display profound neurodevelopmental delay, with generalized hypotonia, impaired motor skills, and severely impaired speech and vision. CDD patients also have impaired sleep, gastrointestinal function, and respiratory issues. With an incidence of approximately 1 in 40,000 live births, CDD is one of the most common monogenic pediatric epilepsies, with several thousand patients estimated in the US and Europe alone. No therapies exist to treat the neurodevelopmental symptoms of CDD, and the epilepsy associated with CDD is poorly managed by current anti-seizure medications. About Loulou Foundation Loulou Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation dedicated to therapeutic development for CDD. Founded in 2015, Loulou Foundation drives pre-clinical, translational, and clinical research on transformative therapeutics for CDD, with the goal of delivering meaningful treatments and eventual cures for CDD to patients and their families. www.louloufoundation.org About International Foundation for CDKL5 Research (IFCR) IFCR is the largest US-based patient advocacy group for patients and families living with CDD. Founded in 2009 by families with members living with CDD, IFCR is dedicated to improving the lives of CDD patients and families, through education and research programs. IFCR has pioneered the establishment and development of CDD clinical centers of excellence at medical centers across the United States, to provide the highest quality, multi-disciplinary care for CDD patients and their families. www.cdkl5.com About the CDKL5 Alliance The CDKL5 Alliance is the international network of patient advocacy groups for CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD), comprising organizations from 18 different nations on four different continents. The role of the CDKL5 Alliance is to provide rapid communication and coordination between the different CDD patient advocacy groups, to support each other and share best practices in CDD education and clinical research and care. www.cdkl5alliance.org View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200127005604/en/ Ireland's famous mummy Takabut was murdered in her twenties by someone stabbing her in the back near her left shoulder, a new study has revealed. Takabut is thought to have been a high-ranking woman who lived in the city of Thebes in Ancient Egypt, where modern-day Luxor is today, 2,600 years ago. Her cause of death has been an enduring mystery for decades, ever since she was brought to Ireland in 1834 and unwrapped for the first time the following year. As well as her cause of death, the new analysis of her well-preserved remains has revealed she had curly, auburn hair. Takabuti was also found to have two bizarre traits, only seen in a minority of the population. She had an extra tooth - 33 instead of the standard 32 - which is only found in 0.02 per cent of all people. Scans also found she had an extra vertebra, which is present in only two per cent of the population. Scroll down for video Takabut is thought to have been a high-ranking woman who lived in the city of Thebes in Ancient Egypt , where modern-day Luxor is today, 2,600 years ago. Scans of her body reveal what researchers had previously thought to be her heart (pictured) Detailed analysis revealed Takabuti (pictured) died in her 20s after being stabbed in the back near her left shoulder. Her cause of death had been an enduring mystery for decades A team of experts from National Museums NI, University of Manchester, Queen's University Belfast and Kingsbridge Private Hospital used X-ray scanners, CT scans, carbon dating and hair analysis to learn the secrets of Takabuti's life. The scans show she was stabbed in the upper back near her left shoulder and that it was the cause of her death. The fatal knife wound was packed with material, which another team of researchers previously mistook for her heart. However, after almost two centuries of searching, the researchers have finally found her real heart, shrunken and dishevelled in the depths of her chest. This, the researchers say, is extremely rare. Dr Bob Loynes from our KNH Centre at the University of Manchester, told MailOnline: 'While the original interpretation of a pack in the upper chest might have been the heart, recent investigation, using modern software, revealed that this particular pack was in fact just that a pack used to seal the mortal wound. 'However, a search of the remainder of the chest revealed a further package not seen before - and this did indeed contain a heart. 'While many people expect the heart to be present in an Egyptian mummy it is in fact only found in about 25 per cent of non-royal individuals.' He added: 'Following removal of the heart during mummification it was preserved, wrapped and then returned to the chest cavity to be available for the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony at the time of judgement. 'This pack of resin soaked linen was used either to close the fatal wound or as a "magical" poultice to "heal the wound".' The heart was removed during the stage of evisceration when most bodily organs were removed. It was then wrapped and returned to the chest in a rite reserved for only about 25 per cent of non-royal mummies, Dr Loynes told MailOnline. Researchers used complex CT and X-ray imagery techniques to assess Takabuti's chest cavity. They found her actual heart (pictured) for the first time ever What was assumed to be her heart during research conducted over a decade ago was revealed to be a 'pack of resin soaked linen either to close the fatal wound or as a "magical poultice" to "heal the wound" Dr Greer Ramsey, Curator of Archaeology at National Museums NI, said: 'There is a rich history of testing Takabuti since she was first unwrapped in Belfast in 1835. 'But in recent years she has undergone x-rays, CT scans, hair analysis and radio carbon dating. 'The latest tests include DNA analysis and further interpretations of CT scans which provides us with new and much more detailed information. 'The significance of confirming Takabuti's heart is present cannot be underestimated as in ancient Egypt this organ was removed in the afterlife and weighed to decide whether or not the person had led a good life.' The tests and examination of Takabuti were carried out over a period of months using a portable x-ray machine and other modern analysis techniques. Takabuti was brought to Belfast, Ireland, in 1834 by Thomas Greg from Holywood, County Down, who acquired her in Thebes. Professor Rosalie David, an Egyptologist from The University of Manchester said: 'This study adds to our understanding of not only Takabuti, but also wider historical context of the times in which she lived. 'The surprising and important discovery of her European heritage throws some fascinating light on a significant turning-point in Egypt's history. 'This study, which used cutting-edge scientific analysis of an ancient Egyptian mummy - demonstrates how new information can be revealed thousands of years after a person's death. 'Our team - drawn from institutions and specialisms was in a unique position to provide the necessary expertise and technology for such a wide-ranging study.' The curly-haired woman is believed to be a high-ranking woman in the city of Thebes where modern-day Luxor is today. A team of experts used X-ray scanners, CT scans, carbon dating and hair analysis to learn the secrets of Takabuti's life Takabuti was also found to have two bizarre traits seen only in a minority of the population. She had an extra tooth - 33 instead of the normal 32 - something which only occurs in 0.02 per cent of people and an extra vertebrae, present in only two per cent of the population After almost two centuries of searching, they also finally found her shrunken, dishevelled heart in the depths of her chest. This, the researchers say, is extremely rare. What they previously thought was her heart was found to actually be material used to pack her fatal wound Professor Eileen Murphy, a Bioarchaeologist from Queen's University Belfast's School of Natural and Built Environment, said: 'The latest research programme has provided some astounding results. 'It is frequently commented that she looks very peaceful lying within her coffin but now we know that her final moments were anything but and that she died at the hand of another. 'Trawling the historical records about her early days in Belfast it is clear that she caused quite a media sensation in 1835 she had a poem written about her, a painting was made of her prior to her 'unrolling' and accounts of her unwrapping were carried in newspapers across Ireland. 'Research undertaken ten years ago gave us some fascinating insights, such as how her auburn hair was deliberately curled and styled. 'This must have been a very important part of her identity as she spurned the typical shaven-headed style. 'Looking at all of these facts, we start to get a sense of the petite young woman and not just the mummy.' (CNN) Samsung will soon reveal its new Galaxy phones, and they are likely called the Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+, with a potential third phone being the premium, higher-end option. Samsung appears to have skipped a bunch of numbers since its last smartphone launch. S10, S10+ and Note 10 were some of last year's phones. The names of the S20 and S20+ were confirmed in certificate listings on a Thai government website. Samsung might also unveil a second foldable phone. In October, Samsung teased a mobile device with a "clamshell" form factor. Last year's original Galaxy Fold had a tough initial launch following multiple defective review units. Samsung did not immediately return a request for comment. The company is holding an official keynote on February 11th in San Francisco where it will unveil new devices. Numerous leaks have circulated online about the phones, saying the new phones have 3-4 rear cameras and bigger screens and batteries. A third phone is rumored to be called the S20 Ultra. The pressure could be on for Samsung, which faces many global rivals including Apple, Huawei, Oppo and others. "The company needs to hold its position in the challenging premium segment," Gerrit Schneemann, senior analyst of mobile handsets at IHS Markit, told CNN Business, "A new generation of stand-out flagships is needed for Samsung to fend off the competition." This story was first published on CNN.com, "This year's Samsung Galaxy phones may be called the S20 and S20+." On Sunday, two of the best films to screen as part of this years Sundance Film Festival premiered at the Park City Library, each unfolding a tale about the pursuit of a better life. These immigration stories develop in complex, challenging, and heartfelt ways, pleas for empathy that double as reality checks. Theyre exploring urgent yet timeless ideas with humanistic touches. But more than that, theyre dramas of great feeling, standouts sure to be talked about more in the coming months for their artful, passionate representations of the voiceless. I Carry You With Me, marking the narrative debut of Oscar-nominated director Heidi Ewing (Jesus Camp), is a gay story and a border story, told in the universal language of love, family, and dreams. The film begins in mid-90s Mexico: Ivan (Armando Espita), a young aspiring chef working cleanup for a restaurant, meets Gerardo (Christian Vazquez), a wealthy, suave graduate student, at a gay bar. They lock eyes, they talk, they kiss, they fall for each other. And then things, as they do, get complicated. Ewing and cinematographer Juan Pablo Ramirez lend their courtship an immediate romantic sweep, the handheld camerawork and intimate blocking contrasted with vibrant depictions of Puebla City and surrounding areas, as well as a wrenching score that swells and fades to the rhythms of these mens lives. Ivan, who is closeted and a father, finds life in Mexico becoming untenable: His ex and his mother catch him at home with Gerardo, and ban from seeing his son; despite a formal culinary education, he sees no path to moving up from dishwasher. So he decides to cross the border, to take a chance on himself. You could die, hes told. (Well hear this warning expressed again later.) Ivan leaves Gerardo behind, but they promise to reconnect in a year. We watch Ivans harrowing journey into the U.S., and he later goes to New York, where instead of opportunity he meets alienation and fear. Over a year passes, and Gerardo realizes he doesnt want to live without Ivan. After failing to find a legal pathway despite his familys resources, he chooses to make the dangerous trek, too. Story continues In Ewings hands and as anchored by two superb performances, Ivan and Gerardos romance gets scaled up to an epic, a searing saga of the undocumented experience in which love is the binding force. Ewing skirts around cliches, but this feels appropriate, engaged as she is with the nuances of queer Mexican identity (flashbacks to both mens childhood are quietly heartbreaking) and making a film geared toward their beauty their right to exist within a big, emotional, traditional film. She throws a daring formal twist our way in an extended epilogue, propelled by astonishing revelation. Its gratifying, for one thing, but more piercingly reinforces the continuity of this narrative: the costs of leaving one life behind for another, the darker truths of American life, and the hope that must exist even in times as scary as these for those searching, simply, for a way to be themselves in this world. Sundance Institute If I Carry You With Me is more concerned with reaching for the American Dream, then the 80s-set Minari, the gorgeous new movie from director Lee Isaac Chung (Abigail Harm), takes a subtle look at the aftermath, when the fantasy has long been plunged into reality. Its a modest family portrait, a little light on plot but beguiling in a sort of episodic nature, tracking its Korean-American heroes as they relocate from California to Arkansas in order to start over again. Jacob (Steven Yeun) moves his family into a home on wheels, with plans to start a farm and become self-sufficient. He was wasting away on the West Coast, working as a chicken-sexing expert, and feels determined to show his children that he can accomplish more for himself. But hes put strain on his family: Hes distant from his wife, Monica (Yeri Han), and they fight viciously; their economic situation appears dire. Minari works quietly and methodically, embracing its lush rural setting with striking glimpses of its characters, alone against vast and empty landscapes. Chungs directing feels drawn from memory, the scattered and sparkling quality of recollections, carefully assembled. Its perhaps why every second rings so true. As Monica struggles to adjust to small-town life, Jacob agrees to bring her mother Soonja (Yuh-Jung Youn) in from Korea to live with them, jolting the film in increasingly poignant fashion. Youns titanically funny performance as Soonja is the movies highlight, and the dynamic she establishes with Alan Kim who plays youngest child David with precocious excellence is its heart. They go from combative (you know, that old grandson tricks grandma into drinking pee thing) to inseparable, their distinctively Korean and American identities merging to show the family a new kind of path. Theres great despair around them a crumbling marriage, a flailing farm, health scares but in their dynamic there is joy, a sense of the future. Here, then, Chung interrogates the legacy of immigration how it evolves, from generation to generation, and how expectations are inherited and refracted. The realism of Minari, so vivid throughout, takes sharp turns in both directions in its final act, before a tragedy seems to extinguish whatever hope may have been left. But of course, it doesnt not quite. For immigration, in both of these films, is an act of hope a chance, a risk, a dream. And an act of love, too. I Carry You With Me: A- Minari: A- Related content: Three years ago, a man apparently fuelled by rage against Muslims picked up two firearms and gunned down people at prayer in a Quebec City mosque, killing six, injuring 19, leaving one paralyzed for life and shattering any pretense that the Islamophobia that plagues this world exists only as verbal venting in Canada. Alexandre Bissonnette, then 29, pled guilty to the killings and was sentenced to life in prison, eligible for parole after 40 years. In a bizarre coincidence, the Quebec Court of Appeal is hearing his defence plead this week that 40 years is too long. The crown is seeking 50 years. Islamophobia is a hateful ideology, one that relies on the murkiness of historical bloodshed to provide a fig leaf for contemporary injustices. It uses the atrocities that Islamic terrorists commit to justify the vilification of anybody who is Muslim. It looks upon people of that faith as uniformly backward and misogynistic, when, in fact, people of all faiths and no faith can be so. This, the week that marks the third anniversary of the atrocity, I choose to focus on the resistance to Islamophobia in both nations I call home. On Jan. 26, the day India celebrates Republic Day, Toronto was the site of another large protest against the new citizenship law in India that in its vulgar dance with a national register of citizens blatantly seeks to make Muslims stateless, and crush other vulnerable communities underfoot. The protesters, who snaked a path from Queens Park in Toronto to the Indian Consulate on Bloor Street E., also began a petition to the House of Commons asking it to condemn the citizenship law. Hindu-Muslim discord in the subcontinent is centuries old, and its fault-lines often facilitated pathways for European colonizers. The post-colonial partition of the land into India, Pakistan and later Bangladesh further fortified those mutual hostilities. Pakistan was a Muslim state, but India had rejected the idea of a Hindu state and on Jan. 26, 1950 adopted a newly written constitution that would include as equal people of all faiths and identities. Its the essential question of that identity who gets to be Indian? that is threatened by the new law which is fuelling months of citizen protests in India and among the diaspora here, and in London and New York among other cities. Protesters in India have been brutalized physically, imprisoned and in some cases even had their property seized. The Delhi neighbourhood of Shaheen Bagh is the site of a continuous protest since Dec. 15. It is led not by activists but by ordinary Muslim women, braving one of the coldest winters on record fortified with many cups of chai. This leaderless movement is making the far-right government desperate and dangerous. An MP for the ruling BJP campaigning for Delhi state elections trotted out tired old tropes saying the protesters would go into peoples homes and rape your sisters and daughters and kill them. Meanwhile the Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur on Monday began his own more vicious Lock em up chant when he said: Traitors to this country and the crowd roared back, Shoot them all. It rhymes in Hindi. The other act of resistance came from the Canadian Council for Muslim Women (CCMW) to counter Islamophobia in Canada with a Digital Anti Racism Education project under the website daretobeaware.ca and the hashtag #DeleteRacism on social media. According to StatCan, hate crimes against Muslims in Canada rose 253 per cent between 2012 and 2015. Women ages 1824 are most likely to experience the most severe forms of online abuse including stalking, sexual harassment and physical threats, Nuzhat Jafri, the executive director of CCMW, said at the DARE project launch last Friday. The website has a Racism 101 e-learning unit on Unlearning Racism and is focused on girls and women of colour. The social media campaign with tools and resources to combat trolling and online hate will be added to the website in March, said Firdaus Ali, who co-ordinated the project. Fatimah Jackson-Best, a public health researcher, reviewed existing research on Islamophobia faced by Black Muslims and found that more research was needed around a Canadian context that would include Black Muslims from a variety of backgrounds including the Caribbean and South America. The research showed that their communities experience both Islamophobia from people who arent Muslim, and anti-Blackness from people who are Muslim but arent Black. This layered experience of discrimination is something many Black Muslims have been talking about for a long time, she said. While Muslims in Canada are often viewed through a lens of geopolitics in the Middle East, Jackson-Best said, There is indication through research that Black people were the first Muslims to come to Canada 400 years ago. This is a part of our collective Islamic history. CALGARY - German specialty chemicals maker Evonik Industries AG has agreed to sell a plant in Prince George, B.C., to address Competition Bureau concerns about its proposed US$625-million takeover of U.S.-based PeroxyChem Holding Company LLC. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (714 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. CALGARY - German specialty chemicals maker Evonik Industries AG has agreed to sell a plant in Prince George, B.C., to address Competition Bureau concerns about its proposed US$625-million takeover of U.S.-based PeroxyChem Holding Company LLC. The Canadian competition regulator found that the deal would result in the loss of a "competitive rivalry" between Evoniks hydrogen peroxide facility at Gibbons, just north of Edmonton in Alberta, and PeroxyChems plant in Prince George, leaving a capacity-constrained manufacturer in Longview, Wash., as the only nearby competitor. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Hydrogen peroxide is used mainly as a bleaching agent for pulp and paper or as a treatment chemical in the oil and gas and mining sectors. Because of its bulk, customers prefer to buy it from nearby manufacturers to avoid transportation costs. The Competition Bureau says it has investigated and approved the sale of the Prince George facility by Evonik to United Initiators, an unrelated German chemicals manufacturer. The deal to buy PeroxyChem from One Equity Partners was announced in late 2018. Closing was delayed when the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced last summer it would file a lawsuit to block the acquisition, a block removed last week when its request for a court injunction was denied. Philadelphia-based PeroxyChem has about 600 employees worldwide, with two chemical production sites in Eastern Canada, two in the United States and one each in Germany, Spain and Thailand. Evonik says on its website it operates in over 100 countries and has more than 32,000 employees. It has production facilities in 30 countries, including four in Canada. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2020. Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube made their entry in the media market, the PatnaDaily had already registered its presence in... While interacting with the media, senior actress Radhika said that generally she doesn't work after 6 pm and prefers to take a break on Sundays but for Vaanam Kottattum, she relaxed her rules. "Many directors approached us to act together. Sarath and I listened to many stories but none of them came up with interesting content. Sarath first listened to the script of Vaanam Kottattum and later I did. Director Dhana is very clear about his vision and only shoots scenes which are necessary to the film, he will not waste time", said Radhika. Sarathkumar and Radhika will be seen as husband and wife in the film. Produced by Madras Talkies, Vaanam Kottattum is all set to release on February 7. Justice Yusuf Halilu, the judge who on Monday sentenced Maryam Sanda to death by hanging over the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello is not a stranger to courageous pronouncements. Justice Halilu on August 15, 2019 jailed social commentator Ibrahim Garba Wala, also known as IG Wala, to seven years imprisonment for criminal defamation and public incitement against the boss of the National Hajj Commission. Also, in November 2017, Justice Halilu was the judge who struck the gavel for the 35 years imprisonment of two former directors in the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Mohammed Dogon Audu, also known as Abdullahi Dogonyaro, and Yahaya Ayodeji. The EFCC charged the convicted directors of abuse of their offices by diverting over N1bn in the Economic Reforms and Governance Project (ERGP) domiciled in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation through their private companies. On several occasions, the judge had come down heavily on the Nigerian Army, police and the EFCC for abuse of rule of law. On March 1, 2016, after being assigned the case of the Aide-de-Camp of ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan, Col. Ojogbane Adegbe, who was detained for several months without trial, the judge berated the EFCC for turning itself into a detention centre for the Nigerian Army. Although the EFCC initially claimed that Adegbe was being investigated for arms procurement fraud, it also stated that the aide to the former president was being detained on the instruction of the Nigerian Army. The judge said their actions violated Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 which provides that an accused person is deemed innocent until proved guilty in a competent court of law. In the same March, 2016, Justice Halilu attacked the EFCC and the army for behaving like illiterates over the prolonged detention, without bail, of former aide to former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, Col. Nicholas Ashinze. The EFCC is a creation of law. The court will not allow it to act as if it is above the law. It is remarkable to note that the motto of the EFCC is that nobody is above he law, yet they are acting as if they are above the law, The EFCC Act is not superior to he Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The respondents in this matter have not behaved as if we are in a civilised society. They have behaved as if we are in a military dictatorship, where they arrest and release persons at will. The respondents, I must be bold to say, the EFCC and the Army behaved like illiterates, the judge said. Justice Halilu was born on August 15, 1972 in Nasarawa Eggon Local Government of Nasarawa State. He obtained a Bachelor of Law in 1997 from the University of Jos and attended Law School in 1998 and was called to Bar same year. He obtained his LL.M from the same institution in 2001. After years of private practice, Justice Halilu was appointed judge of the FCT High Court in June 2010. He is married with children. By Associated Press WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan Tuesday, calling for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in portions of east Jerusalem, saying it is a win-win opportunity for both Israel and the Palestinians. The plan calls for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in portions of east Jerusalem, ending speculation as to whether his administration, in preparing a proposal without input from Palestinian leaders, would abandon a "two-state resolution" to the conflict. Trump, releasing the plan before a pro-Israel audience at the White House with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a great deal for the Palestinians. Trump said the deal is a "historic opportunity" for Palestinians to achieve an independent state of their own. The plan more than doubles the territory currently under Palestinian control, although it also recognizes Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank, something to which the Palestinians will almost certainly object. The Palestinians have already rejected the proposal, accusing Trump of being biased in favor of Israel as he has adopted policies that bolster Israel at their expense. The plan does call for a four-year freeze in new Israeli settlement construction, during which time details of a comprehensive agreement would be negotiated. However, it was not immediately clear if the freeze could be extended if a final deal is not concluded in the four years. The 50-page political outline goes further in concessions to the Palestinians than many analysts had believed was likely. However, it would require them to accept conditions they have been previously unwilling to consider, such as accepting West Bank settlements. It builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected, Under the terms of the peace vision" that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, the future Palestinian state would consist of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of above-ground roads and tunnels. Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. The White House event came as Trump's impeachment trial continues in the Senate and Israel's parliament had planned a hearing to discuss Netanyahus request for immunity from criminal corruption charges. Netanyahu withdrew that request hours before the proceedings were to begin, but Israel's parliament, the Knesset, is still expected to meet. The body had been likely to vote against immunity, dealing Netanyahu a blow. In the run-up to the March 2 election, Netanyahu had called for annexing parts of the West Bank and imposing Israeli sovereignty on all its settlements there. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Jordan Valley in particular is considered a vital security asset. Security responsibility for the Jordan Valley would remain in Israel's hands for the foreseeable future but could be scaled back as the nascent Palestinian state builds its capacity, under the terms of the plan, which says that statehood will be contingent on the Palestinians meeting international governance criteria. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the plan's release, said they expected negative responses from the Palestinians, as well as Turkey and Iran, but were hopeful that Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab nations to have peace treaties with Israel, would not reject it outright. The officials said they expected Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others to cautiously welcome the plan. The reaction of Jordan, which would retain its responsibilities over Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque under the plan, will be particularly significant, according to the officials, who said Kushner and others were reaching out to Arab leaders ahead of the rollout. The Palestinians see the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Trump has reversed decades of U.S. foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centerpiece of his strategy was recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the American Embassy there. He's also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programs. Those policies have proven popular among Trumps evangelical and pro-Israel supporters and could give him a much-needed boost from his base as he gears up for a reelection battle this year. But the Palestinians refuse to even speak to Trump and they called on support from Arab leaders. The Palestinian leadership also has encouraged protests in the West Bank, raising fears that the announcement in Washington could spark a new round of violence. Ahead of the announcement, the Israeli military said it was reinforcing infantry troops along the Jordan Valley. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More ITI (erstwhile Indian Telephone Industries), the state-owned telecommunications technology company, revised its further public offer's price band to Rs 71-77 per share on January 28, the last day of bidding, due to muted response. Its earlier price band was Rs 72-77 per share. The company in consultation with merchant bankers also extended the closing date for FPO by three days to January 31, 2020. "ITI, in its FPO Committee meeting on January 28, revised its price band to Rs 71-77 per share. We have revised issue period and extended it by three days. The bid/ issue closing date will now be January 31, 2020," the telecommunications technology company said in its BSE filing. The Rs 1,400-crore further public offer (FPO) has been subscribed 48 percent on January 28, the exchanges data showed. The issue has received bids for 8.8 crore equity shares against offer size of 18.18 crore shares. The company intends to use the proceeds for funding its working capital requirements as well as repayment of existing debt. The government's shareholding will be reduced to 74.96 percent, from 90 percent currently after the issue. ITI has order book of Rs 11,051.12 crore as of December 2019, of which 29.09 percent comprises large turnkey projects, 57.87 percent comprises AMCs and 13.05 percent comprises other product and services orders. It has 5 manufacturing units located at Mankapur, Bengaluru, Palakkad, Naini and Raebareli. It also has an R&D center in Bengaluru. The company enjoys established relationships with customers such as Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), Bharat Broadband Network (BBNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), Indian Army, Defence etc. The company is also engaged in some government projects such as ASCON, BharatNet, Smart Energy Meters, and E-Governance Projects. The stock continued to be under pressure, falling more than 19 percent in last seven days, especially after the announcement of price band for FPO. Manchester United are set to perform a shock u-turn by giving Alexis Sanchez another chance to prove himself at the club. Sanchez is currently on loan at Inter Milan and it was initially thought that his chances of salvaging his United career were minimal. However, as reported by the Daily Star, United want Sanchez to turn matters around and will prevent him from securing a permanent move to Inter or any other club this summer. Manchester United won't let Alexis Sanchez join Inter Milan or any other club permanently Sanchez has been limited to five league games on loan at Inter as he has struggled with injury The report outlines that Sanchez will travel on United's pre-season tour as the club will make every effort to integrate him back into the squad. Sanchez retains the No 7 shirt at United and will have two years remaining on his contract at Old Trafford from next summer. The Chile international's spell at Inter hasn't gone to plan so far - he has yet to start a Serie A game, largely owing to injury. He is now back fit, though, and featured as a substitute in Inter's 1-1 draw with Cagliari last weekend. The 31-year-old is set to travel on United's pre-season tour and be given another chance Sanchez joined United in January 2018 in a swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan move to Arsenal. The move saw Sanchez earn 500,000-a-week. The deal didn't work out for either player, but Sanchez especially struggled and was widely criticised for his performances for United. Sanchez departed United on loan having scored just five goals in 45 appearances for the club. Aside from Daniel James and Jesse Lingard (with the latter often used an attacking midfielder), United don't have many wingers at their disposal, with forwards such as Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood often used out wide instead. It certainly appears that Sanchez's best days are behind him, but the 31-year-old's United career may not be over just yet. Monday's 2020 edition of the Michelin restaurant guide for France reveals the winners and losers of its coveted ratings stars It is the annual event that has accomplished chefs quaking in their toques: Monday's 2020 edition of the Michelin restaurant guide for France reveals the winners and losers of its coveted ratings stars. This year's edition of the so-called gastronomy "bible" caused a stir even before its official release, when it was revealed Michelin has stripped renowned chef Paul Bocuse's flagship restaurant of one of its three stars. The red guide, which can make or break culinary reputations, angered many in the industry by downgrading the iconic Auberge du Pont de Collonges -- the oldest three-starred restaurant in the world created by Bocuse, nicknamed the "pope" of French cuisine. He died in 2018. But Michelin boss Gwendal Poullennec defended the move by insisting stars are not "inherited", and "must be earned every year". "We obviously understand the emotion that the loss of a star can provoke, but there is no exceptional treatment," he told AFP. "All establishments are evaluated anonymously by our inspectors every year... whether you are an iconic chef or a young chef who takes the risk of being plunged into debt by opening a restaurant." Poullennec told AFP no other three-starred restaurants ran the risk of being downgraded in this year's guide. According to Michelin, restaurants are selected on four criteria: the quality of the ingredients used, mastery of flavour and cooking techniques, the personality of the chef reflected in their cuisine, and lastly value for money and consistency between visits. One star denotes "high quality cooking", two stars "excellent cooking", and three stars "exceptional cuisine". - Cooking under pressure - Of 30,000 restaurants listed worldwide, only about 130 have attained the highest distinction. Critics say the process has rendered Michelin stars untenable as more and more diners baulk at spending a fortune on a meal. Story continues A handful of French restaurateurs have in recent years relinquished their prized three-star status because of the stress of being judged by Michelin inspectors. The 2003 suicide of three-star chef Bernard Loiseau was linked, among other reasons, to speculation that his restaurant was about to lose its three-star status. Last year, Michelin downgraded three three-starred restaurants: the Auberge de L'Ill in Alsace, which held the highest accolade for half a century, Pascal Barbot's Parisian restaurant l'Astrance, and Marc Veyrat's Alpine restaurant the Maison des Bois, which was awarded its third star just a year earlier. Veyrat sued the guide for suggesting -- wrongly, he insists -- that he had used cheddar cheese in a souffle. His lawsuit was rejected. - From France to Japan - The guide was born in a very different guise, when brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin, founders of the eponymous tyre company, brought out a travel guide in 1900 to encourage motorists to take to the road and so boost business. There were fewer than 3,000 cars in France at the time. Initially free, the red guidebook included maps, a how-to on changing tyres and lists of petrol stops, mechanics, hotels and eateries along the route. The first run of 35,000 copies was such a success that guides for Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Spain followed. The three-star ranking for restaurants was introduced in 1931. In 2005, the Michelin Guide branched out of Europe with a New York guide, followed in 2007 by editions for San Francisco then Las Vegas and Los Angeles. It moved to Asia with a Tokyo version in 2008 when 90,000 copies, in English and Japanese, flew off the shelves in 48 hours. More than 30 million Michelin Guides have been sold, according to its website. Micronesian countries are taking measures to protect their population from the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. Officials in Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia noted that the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China has spread to other countries including Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, the United States, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Republic of China - Taiwan, Japan, France, South Korea, Vietnam, Nepal, and Canada as of Jan. 28. President Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr., noting that there hasnt yet been any identified cases of the virus in Palau has ordered a travel ban between the island nation and Hong Kong, Macau, and China from Feb. 1 to Feb. 29. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. In an executive order, Remengesau noted the travel restrictions and included a ban on official government personnel travel to those regions for the same time frame. Additionally, it is strongly recommended that all persons intending to travel to the Peoples Republic of China, Hong Kong and Macau or other affected countries postpone their travel arrangements, the order states. In the event that travel cannot be postponed, preventive measures should be adhered to at all times. Furthermore any person, including a crew member, arriving into Palau at any point of entry is required to complete a health declaration form. The president also ordered: the Minister of State to coordinate screening, prevention, and mitigation efforts with a focus on those countries with direct airline service to the Republic, and all efforts shall incorporate the advice of the Minister of Health and the National Emergency Committee. the Minister of Health and the National Emergency Committee will create a quarantine policy within five days, and establish quarantine locations at the hospital and at other appropriate locations, in case the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) is confirmed in Palau. the health ministry will provide daily updates to the NEC and the general public on the international and local status of the virus. Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuelo said on Jan. 29 he would be meeting with his senior staff to discuss their options. I have instructed my relevant Cabinet to form a multi-sectoral task force to review policy on travel restrictions and bans, surveillance at Ports of Entry, quarantine and isolation capacity, risk communications for public dissemination, and assessment of human resource capacity. Today the Department of Health & Social Affairs, in concert with the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs, met to discuss these issues among others, the president stated in a questionnaire posted on the government website on Tuesday. Meanwhile, he said the government is enhancing surveillance at ports of entry. Additionally, the Department of Health & Social Affairs is conducting risk assessments for the coronavirus, and have activated the Emergency Operations Center to ensure they are monitoring the issue 24/7. ------------ President David Panuelos letter to the people of FSM is shown below in its entirety: My fellow Micronesians, Over the past 48 hours many of you have called the Department of Health & Social Affairs and the Office of the President, and/or written on social media, regarding your concerns about a new coronavirus that has emerged from the Peoples Republic of China. Through this message, I will tell you everything that I know, in my capacity as President of the Nation, about this coronavirus; and I will tell you what the FSM National Government is currently doing to ensure the coronavirus doesnt reach the FSM. Is the FSM National Government aware of the coronavirus? Yes. First and foremost, I would like to allay your fears that the FSM National Government is ignoring this issueindeed our National and State public health officials have been monitoring the situation, in close collaboration with each other and their counterparts abroad (e.g. World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control), 24/7. Accompanying my statements here is a Health Alert from our Department of Health & Social Affairs, with further updates to come. What do we know about the coronavirus? I have been briefed that the coronavirus was identified in Wuhan City in the Peoples Republic of China on January 7th, 2020. As of today, January 28th 2020, the FSM National Government is aware of 4,474 cases of the virus, almost all of which have occurred in Wuhan City. 4,049 cases of the coronavirus are within China itself, although there are also increasingly cases throughout the region and other parts of the world. 25% of the confirmed cases are reported to have severe illness, and I am briefed that 107 deaths have been reported as of now. The World Health Organization has assessed the risk of this coronavirus as very high in China, high for the Asia-Pacific region, and moderate at the global level. The incubation period for the virus is approximately 2-14 days. Someone who is asymptomatic (i.e. doesnt show signs of being sick) can spread the virus and infect others. There are still ongoing studies on how the virus is spread. The FSM National Government, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization recommend that citizens frequently wash their hands, frequently clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces such as doorknobs and light switches, and that citizens practice good respiratory hygiene. Good respiratory hygiene includes using a tissue or the upper-sleeve of your shirt when coughing and sneezing. What has the FSM National Government already done about the coronavirus? The Government is enhancing surveillance at ports of entry. The Department of Health & Social Affairs is conducting risk assessments for the coronavirus, and have activated the Emergency Operations Center to ensure that we have 24/7 monitoring on this issue. The Government is reviewing risk communications material, taking an inventory of emergency supplies (including personal protective equipment and emergency laboratory supplies), and scheduling clinical updates for healthcare personnel and first responders. Health alerts have been sent to health providers, and the Government is conducting enhanced surveillance for respiratory symptoms. What is the FSM National Government preparing to do about the coronavirus? I have instructed my relevant Cabinet to form a multi-sectoral task force to review policy on travel restrictions and bans, surveillance at Ports of Entry, quarantine and isolation capacity, risk communications for public dissemination, and assessment of human resource capacity. Today the Department of Health & Social Affairs, in concert with the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs, met to discuss these issues among others. What are other countries doing to address the coronavirus? The FSM National Government is aware of a ban on all travelers from China to the Republic of the Marshall Islands, unless said traveler has been in a non-affected country for at least 14 days and completes a special health questionnaire. The Republic of Palau and the Republic of Fiji have increased surveillance for symptoms, to include a health questionnaire at ports of entry. Is the FSM considering a health questionnaire at ports of entry, or a travel ban on travelers from China? In the morning tomorrow, January 29th 2020, I will be meeting with my senior staff to discuss the options available to us. My initial opinion at the time of this writing is that a health questionnaire upon arrival, and a ban on travelers from China, are the most proactive options available to us. However, the decision that the Government ultimately makes will reflect the professional views of our Cabinet, who possess unique medical, technical, and legal qualifications, among others. What should citizens do if they want more information? Contact the Department of Health & Social Affairs, or your local health department. 1. FSM Department of Health & Social Affairs: 320-2619/8300 2. Yap Department of Health Services: 350-2115/2114 3. Chuuk Department of Health Services: 330-2210/2216/2217 4. Pohnpei Department of Health Services: 320-2214/2215/2216 5. Kosrae Department of Health Services: 370-3199 MONTGOMERY TWP Knapp Road and Line Street are the border lines where Lansdale and Montgomery Township meet, and that border seems to be growing ever-thinner. Brian Shapiro, formerly Lansdales finance director and more recently manager of Chalfont Borough, is Montgomerys new Finance Director as of Monday, the third high official to work on both sides of that border in the past year. I think were lucky to have him, and really excited just to have him on board, said supervisors Chair Tanya Bamford. Local residents may remember Shapiro from his tenure as Lansdale Boroughs finance director from mid-2007 to June 2016. During that time, he helped maintain a long streak of borough financial reporting awards, modernized department software and procedures, set up online bill payments, oversaw three $10 million bond borrowings for capital projects, and developed new tools for online transparency. Since then, Shapiro has served as borough manager in Chalfont, and brings a total of 18 years in public finance to Montgomery Township, counting time in similar posts in Middletown Township and Northampton Township. He is absolutely the right person. Beyond his level of governmental accounting and finance, he brings a humanness to the position thats needed, said Township Manager Carolyn McCreary. He recognizes all of the competing interests of the various departments, and hes sensitive to the fact that, when staff walk in the door, life doesnt leave them behind. Hes a very good, hands-on manager, and I think hell be well-received by everybody, she said. McCreary and Shapiro have an inadvertent connection: Shapiro was McCrearys successor in the Lansdale post, and will essentially do the same in Montgomery, as McCreary helped fill the finance position for Montgomery after the departure of prior finance director Ami Tarburton in August 2019. McCreary said Shapiros first day on the job was Monday, and she hopes Shapiro will keep Montgomery Townships long streak of financial reporting awards intact. I started earning (reporting awards) in Lansdale, and he got them every year after, she said. There arent many people left who are involved in government accounting to the level that he is. Bamford said she was thankful McCreary brought her own financial background to the months-long discussions on the townships budget last fall, and said adding another experienced hand in Shapiro can only help. We were fortunate that Carolyn has a finance background, so she was really well-equipped to step into that role pretty seamlessly, Bamford said. McCreary said the first thing on Shapiros to-do list will be preparation for the annual audit of the townships 2019 financials, and several other actions authorized by the board Monday night should make that process easier. In a series of housekeeping motions, the supervisors voted unanimously to name McCreary to be the townships Trustee for the Delaware Valley Insurance Property and Liability Trust, as delegate to the Montgomery County Earned Income Tax Collection committee with Shapiro as an alternate delegate, and authorized Shapiro and new supervisors Annette Long and Beth Staab to act as signatories on township bank accounts. McCreary and Bamford both said one other township vacancy could soon be filled: the townships post of Director of Fire Services, open since prior director Rick Lesniak left for Lansdale last fall, could be filled as soon as February. Weve got another key piece of the puzzle in place, and its going to be wonderful, moving forward, Bamford said. Montgomery Townships supervisors next meet at 7 p.m. on Feb. 10 at the township administrator building, 1001 Stump Road. For more information visit www.MontgomeryTwp.org. In Dallas, intelligent sensors will detect when a street light is out and automatically alert repair crews. In the San Francisco Bay Area, officials will use video analytics from traffic cameras to monitor congestion and automatically adjust express lane tolls. And in Georgia, virtualization and other new technologies will enable the states central IT organization to roll out new capabilities faster than ever before to support the needs of state agencies.Its clear that state and local governments are in the midst of a technology revolution. Cloud models, as-a-service solutions, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), mobile devices and other innovations are already helping public sector organizations improve services to constituents; save money, time and labor; and keep workers happier and more productive.But fundamental to these advancements is network connectivity on an unprecedented scale. As states and cities grow smarter and more connected, enterprise networks will need to be more scalable, available, accessible and secure than ever before even as architectures, devices and applications continually evolve.This is tough to do, however, when capital-intensive networks are reaching end of life and are difficult to maintain. According to a NASCIO survey, 90 percent of state government agencies say at least one-fifth of their IT infrastructure is a legacy system. Its a risky way to operate.[Government agencies] used to be able to buy equipment for their networks, and as long as it still received power they could use it for a long time with the intent of using scarce government dollars as efficiently as possible, says George Spencer, associate vice president, AT&T Public Sector. Over time, its harder to maintain this equipment, so they fall behind.Old network strategies simply wont work in an environment where new technologies emerge at an exponential pace, user expectations change rapidly and security threats continually multiply all while state and local budgets remain stagnant. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) The three people in a public hospital in Manila who showed the red flag signs of the new coronavirus infection are stable and recovering, a health official said Tuesday. San Lazaro Hospital spokesman Dr. Ferdinand de Guzman said over CNN Philippines Newsroom Ngayon that the health of the isolated patients a couple from Wuhan the Chinese city where the new virus originated, and another man from a Chinese province is slightly improving, but the suspected cases remain to be under observation. Medyo nag-improve naman [Their condition improved a bit], de Guzman said, referring to the condition of the three suspected cases. Stable [po sila], wala naman pong deterioration or walang bagong sintomas or complication like pneumonia pero under observation parin sila, he added. [Translation: They are stable. There is no deterioration of health. There was no development of new symptoms [of the new viral illness] or complications like pneumonia but they are still under observation.] De Guzman said that the couple or the first two suspected cases were confined at their facility on Friday last week while the other possible case was admitted on Monday. The first suspected case is a Chinese national from Wuhan who exhibited symptoms of the respiratory illness such as fever, common cold and cough, according to de Guzman. The second suspected case is his girlfriend who contracted a cough for being in close contact with him, he said. These three suspected cases are among the people being closely monitored by the Philippine authorities. As of posting time, there is still no confirmed case of the novel coronavirus or 2019 nCoV in the Philippines, but the authorities remain on heightened alert, implementing travel restrictions to Chinese tourists and visitors from Wuhan City. The virus has claimed the lives of 106 people and sickened over 4,000 in mainland China. It continues to spread worldwide with over 60 cases in 17 countries. According to the World Health Organizations guidelines, people should be tested for the the 2019-nCoV infection if they have severe acute respiratory infection, fever, as well as if they have done any of the following: -Had direct contact with a confirmed case of novel coronavirus -Had interactions with health workers of a facility tackling the illness -Visited the animal market in Wuhan the Chinese city at the center of the virus new strain -Had contact or eaten animals from the Wuhan market. An infected person could pass the virus through sneezing or coughing, Feng Luzhao, researcher from the Chinese Disease Prevention and Control Center was quoted as saying in a report on CNN. People may spread the virus before symptoms of the novel coronavirus infection show, Chinese authorities warned on Sunday, but United States-based health experts said there is no clear evidence this is happening, according to CNN. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said it appears that the signs of Wuhan coronavirus infection may begin to show ten days to two weeks after exposure to to 2019-nCoV. Enabling Wireless Telecom Customers with Solution to End Workplace Mobile Distractions LISLE, Illinois, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TRUCE Software, the global leader in contextual mobile device management technology, and Wireless Business Consultants, the leader in mobility solutions and managed services, announced today the launch of their partnership to provide wireless business customers with the industry-leading solution to optimize mobile usage across their workplace, and eliminate the distractions associated with mobile device misuse. "The business impact to our wireless customers from mobile device distraction has become impossible to ignore," said Dennis Sheaffer, vice president, Wireless Business Consultants. "WBC chose to partner with TRUCE because of the solution's differentiating intelligence, which enables customers to enforce their mobile usage policies without compromising safe and productive use of their mobile network." Whether behind the wheel of a rig, on a construction site, in the warehouse or driving a company vehicle, it's easy for employees to become distracted by mobile devices. Companies are seeking solutions that grant them the best that wireless mobility has to offer without jeopardizing employee safety or diminishing productivity. The Wireless Business Consultants team was searching for a solution that enables its customers to enforce their mobile use policies without denying device access or blocking wireless services. TRUCE delivers on this promise with a proven business-ready solution. "We are maniacally focused on ending mobile distraction in the workplace," said Pete Plotas, vice president of global alliances, TRUCE Software. "The Wireless Business Consultants team has long been a leader in delivering mobility management solutions with its wireless carrier partners, and going to market together now enables its customers with easier access to a broader set of capabilities." The result is the proactive elimination of workplace incidents and liabilities without compromising employee productivity and privacy or blocking wireless network access, which is often the case. Customers that use TRUCE for 12 months or longer experience a 40 - 60% reduction in incidents (accidents, claims, losses). TRUCE empowers businesses to enforce their mobile device usage policies on the job, without affecting employee mobile use outside of designated zones or on their personal time. A recent TRUCE-commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting concluded that interviewed companies utilizing TRUCE's technology achieved a payback in less than three months and a 360% return on investment over three years. Wireless Business Consultants has earned the Top Sprint Business Partner status for four years running, and TRUCE Software proudly serves more than 100,000 subscribers in the US, Canada and Europe. This partnership continues both companies' solutions-based approach to understand customer mobility management needs to improve business operations, efficiency and profitability. To learn more about the TRUCE solution, visit https://trucesoftware.com/. About TRUCE Software At TRUCE Software, we believe there's a better way to leverage all a mobile device has to offer in the workplace, while still protecting what's most important - your employees, your assets and your IP. TRUCE offers the first Mobile Device Management platform to provide flexible, contextual enforcement of your mobile device policy, allowing companies to temporarily suspend distracting mobile apps based on the work being performed, the work location or even the user or work group. Our patented technology operates on both iOS and Android platforms, supporting more than 100,000 subscribers and some of the largest brands worldwide. Established in 2009, TRUCE Software is headquartered in Lisle, Ill. with research and development in Baton Rouge, La. To learn more, go to www.trucesoftware.com. About Wireless Business Consultants Wireless Business Consultants, Sprint's largest Federally Certified ABD/MSP/Master Agent, is focused on "Simplifying the Complex World of Wireless." Since its inception, WBC has been helping customers, as well as partners, navigate the ever-changing world of technology. With more than 150 years of wireless sales and consulting experience, WBC has made an impact in the wireless industry by advocating for its clients and partners and understanding their needs. Our commitment to finding the right solution partners and leveraging their solutions as differentiators to our clientele has caused Wireless Business Consultants tremendous growth over the years. The combination of an experienced sales organization and a world-class customer service organization has enabled WBC to provide effective solutions at competitive prices while providing industry leading support to its customers. WBC is located in Tampa Bay, FL with sales teams nationwide. To learn more about Wireless Business Consultants, visit https://wirelessbusinessconsultants.com Public Relations Contact: Bryan Spevak Vice President anthonyBarnum Public Relations Office: 512-387-3703 bryan.spevak@anthonybarnum.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/707902/TRUCE_Software_Logo.jpg Protests against India new citizenship laws held in 30 US cities WASHINGTON: Protests against Indias new citizenship laws were held in 30 US cities on Sunday as thousands of Indian-Americans came out on the streets to vent their anger. In Washington, hundreds gathered outside the White House, chanting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, they said, was undermining their countrys secular constitution. Hundreds more camped outside the Indian Embassy, circling Mahatma Gandhis statue, as the embassy celebrated Indias Republic Day. Embassy officials and their security staff tried to stop the protesters from getting close to the main entrance but gave up as the crowd pushed ahead, peacefully. Like their compatriots in India, protesters in Washington too seemed to draw inspiration from Urdu poetry as those outside the White House sang Allama Iqbals Saare Jahan se Accha before marching down to the embassy to join the crowd already camping there. Hundreds of Khalistan supporters also protested outside the embassy, but in a separate enclave the local police had carved out for them. Protesters at the White House petitioned President Donald Trump to ask Mr Modi to repeal the controversial citizenship law when he visits New Delhi in February. They urged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to add India to a list of nations that commit severe violations of religious freedom. The designation can trigger economic sanctions. The protesters also urged the US State Department to heed the recommendation of the US Commission for International Religious Freedom and impose a travel ban on Indias Home Minister Amit Shah. The protests were organised by the Coalition to Stop Genocide, which includes various Indian diaspora groups that observed the Indian Republic Day as the day of action against the Modi government and its policies. Throughout the three to four-hour long march from the White House to the Indian Embassy, the protesters chanted slogans against the racist and anti-Muslim policies of the Modi government. Organisers of the Washington rally later told journalists that such laws were made to isolate Indias more than 250 million Muslims and turn them into second-grade citizens. They pointed out that nearly two million people were dropped from the citizenship list in Assam alone and many fear a nationwide NRC will possibly render millions of Indian Muslims stateless. I cant go back to India right now. But I have come here to protest the war Modi has started against Indias Muslims, Mustaqeem, a protester in New York told Al Jazeera. Protesters in New York raised banners against Mr Modi, Home Minister Shah, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The Indian American Muslim Council, Hindus for Human Rights, Equity Labs, Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of New York, Black Lives Matter and the Jewish Voice for Peace also participated in the New York rally. OSIsoft, LLC, the leader in operational intelligence and enterprise infrastructure for streaming data, is creating a community centric data ecosystem to enable Distributed Energy Resources (DER) into the marketplace. Over the past several years, OSIsoft has introduced new products to help industries around the world deal more effectively with the data streaming from the explosion of IoT sensors. This transformation of the PI System architecture to one that supports a community system of data, while maintaining security, reliability, and ease of interconnection to millions of systems, will provide suppliers, consumers, and service providers, a new way to effectively share and manage data. Unlocking the value of data has become increasingly important as markets strive to create transparency and significantly simplify settlement and compliance. The OSIsoft community system approach to data allows a utility to securely interact with grid edge devices, such as batteries, solar inverters, and EV chargers in real time, and create new methods to help support and stabilize the electric grid, while allowing a transaction system to track, settle, and manage compliance with the market. Our real-time data infrastructure is helping to enable this efficient new marketplace by helping to realize the full potential of DER. OSIsoft is pleased to announce this DER collaborative that will leverage our community system approach to data to bring the future of the digital energy market to life, said Dr. J. Patrick Kennedy, CEO and Founder of OSIsoft. Our partners continue to create incredible value to industry and markets around the world by enabling the data streams captured in our system in new and fascinating ways. We are very excited about the potential that DER has to reshape our utility networks. Creating a community data system that allows both the operational and transaction systems access to DERs will rapidly create new value in the energy value chain. For more information: Please visit http://www.osisoft.com, http://www.artemistechnologygroup.com, http://www.dernetsoft.com. About OSIsoft OSIsoft, a global leader in operational intelligence, delivers an open enterprise infrastructure to connect sensor-based data, operations and people to enable real-time and actionable insights. As the maker of the PI System, OSIsoft empowers companies across a range of industries in activities such as exploration, extraction, production, generation, process and discrete manufacturing, distribution and services to leverage streaming data to optimize and enrich their businesses. For over forty years, OSIsoft customers have embraced the PI System to deliver process, quality, energy, regulatory compliance, safety, security and asset health improvements across their operations. Founded in 1980, OSIsoft is a privately held company, headquartered in San Leandro, California, U.S.A, with offices around the world. Media Contact: Lev Feigin (OSIsoft) lfeigin@osisoft.com 215.606.2004 A local court in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar on Tuesday sentenced two men to life imprisonment for abducting and murdering a 15-year-old boy nearly seven years ago. Additional District Sessions Judge Ombir Singh also imposed a fine of Rs 80,000 each on Arjun and Amit after holding the duo guilty under IPC sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 302 (punishment for murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender). According to public prosecutor Omparkash Upadhyay, the then 15-year-old student of Class 10 Chaitanya was abducted and later strangled to death by the duo at Vajidpur village under Jansath police station range in the district on February 17, 2013. His body was recovered from an agricultural field in Jansath three days later. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) According to Real Clear Politics, in spite of the economy and everything else going well in the United States of America, almost every current national poll has President Trump trailing a hypothetical Democrat opponent. Whether Biden; Sanders; Warren; or even Buttigieg, Bloomberg, or Klobuchar, President Trump trails them all in nearly every poll. As of this writing, the latest general election national poll by CNN, IBD/TIPP, Emerson, Fox News, Quinnipiac, and SurveyUSA has President Trump behind almost every possible Democrat candidate. In 32 different matchups from the six polling agencies previously mentioned, President Trump leads in only two scenarios. The latest IBD/TIPP national poll has Trump beating Warren 47% to 46%, and the latest Emerson poll has Trump beating Buttigieg 51% to 49%. According to these polls, even Democrats who have since dropped out of the race were beating President Trump. The latest SurveyUSA national poll (at the end of November, 2019) had Kamala Harris beating the current president of the United States 47% to 42%. At the point Harris dropped out of the race, the Real Clear Politics average had her at plus six over President Trump. Out of 42 polls reported by Real Clear Politics from June of 2018 until November of 2019 Trump topped Harris only six times. Again, remember that this is a candidate who couldn't outlast even Julian Castro and Marianne Williamson. The lesson here is the 2016 presidential election. At this point in the 2016 presidential election, up until Election Day on November 8, 2016, Hillary Clinton led Donald Trump in the vast majority of polls taken. By my count (using a spreadsheet), as reported by Real Clear Politics (RCP), there were 221 polls taken in 2016 that polled Clinton vs. Trump for U.S. president. Donald Trump led in only 26 polls. Twenty-six out of 221. That's over 88% of the polls that showed Clinton beating Trump. Often, the race between Clinton and Trump was shown as a complete blowout in favor of Hillary. From January of 2016 through April of 2016, there were a dozen polls that showed Hillary up by double digits. A March 2016 Bloomberg poll had Hillary up by 18 points! Similarly, at this point in 2016, until Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race, virtually every poll had him leading Donald Trump. From January of 2016 until June of 2016, when Bernie dropped out, RCP reported 28 polls on Sanders vs. Trump. Of those 28 polls, Trump polled ahead of Bernie only once. At the time the polling ended (when Bernie dropped out of the race), the RCP average had Sanders topping Trump by over 10 points! Again, the race between Trump and Bernie was often shown to be a huge blowout in favor of Bernie. Of those 28 RCP polls, 22 of them had Bernie on top by double digits. Twelve polls had Bernie up by 15 points or more. The same Bloomberg poll that had Hillary topping Trump by 18 points showed Bernie beating Trump by 24 points! When it comes to polling, Rush Limbaugh was and is exactly right. As he noted near election time in 2016: Don't forget, there is an undeniable truth in politics, and it is this: Polling data is used to shape public opinion. Polling data ... [w]hether it's presidential races or anything else, if it's a poll, it is being used to make news. Polling has become the mechanism by which the media can write their own stories, can set their own agenda, and make it look like they've got nothing to do with it. The polls have these reputations of independent, nonpartisan, bipartisan, uninterested in the outcome[.] ... And I want ... to remind you again that all of these polls are being used to suppress support for Trump. They are being used to encourage people to abandon Trump. They're being used to encourage Trump to abandon his campaign. Their purpose is to dispirit and depress everyone and convince as many people as possible that it's over, that Trump is a buffoon and has no chance whatsoever, all of it's a waste of time, they might as well concede now and you might as well concede now. That's the purpose of it. I've long realized well as no doubt now do many other Americans that national polling and the results of the Electoral College are two different things. However, it is interesting to note that, along with all of the other polling nonsense in 2016, about two weeks out from the election, a Reuters/Ipsos "states poll" showed that "the most likely outcome" electorally speaking was "326 votes for Clinton to 212 for Trump." This "commanding lead" gave Hillary a "better than 95 percent chance of winning." It was a 99% chance of Hillary winning if one wanted to believe Princeton scientists (who used state polls to arrive at their number). As we all now know, the "commanding lead" for Hillary turned into a 306 to 232 (304 to 227 due to "faithless electors") electoral victory for Donald Trump. And the dismay at the loss of their 95% hopes quickly set in for Democrats, as did the move to undo the results of the 2016 election. I would trust only the polls that are two weeks or less out from the election. As Rush put it, "[t]hose are the ones you really look at, because they are the polls their reputations will be staked to, and every polling unit at the end of a campaign wants to be trusted and reliable, they want to be shown to be right." Whether or not one can trust the polling agencies, one certainly cannot trust the media who report on them. After Trump's 2016 victory, one would think that the polling organizations and the media would've learned their lesson. Yet, less than a year after the 2016 election, an analysis by The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group revealed that pollsters were back "churning out biased and misleading poll numbers." The Daily Caller reported: "I do know inherently there is a Democratic bias in the polls. And most of them will deny it" says Raghavan Mayur, an independent pollster who is president of TechnoMetrica, which leads the polling operations at Investor's Business Daily[.] ... Democratic pollster Patrick Caddell agreed with Mayur, saying "there was a couple of days of shock. And then they moved on because what they could not do is to get to the bottom of their own polling bias." ... When polling the public, most mainstream firms "overloaded for Democrats, underloaded for Republicans and conservatives," said Francis Coombs, managing editor of Rasmussen Reports. John Zogby, another independent pollster, also told TheDCNF he sees significant Democratic polling bias. "I am a liberal Democrat, but I always felt that other polls oversampled Democrats and undersampled Republicans," he said. "Democratic" bias in the polls coupled with an overwhelming liberal bias in the media means that one should certainly pay little to no attention to most every poll between now and mid-October, and absolutely no attention to mainstream media reports on polling, from now until the end of time. Trevor Grant Thomas: At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason. www.trevorgrantthomas.com Trevor is the author of the The Miracle and Magnificence of America. tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com (Adds details) LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Just Eat, the British takeaway delivery platform being bought by Takeaway.com , said it expected to report 2019 core earnings of about 200 million pounds ($263 million), towards the top of its guidance range of 185-205 million. The company also said on Tuesday it had agreed to partner fast-food chain McDonald's in Britain and Ireland, becoming the group's second delivery provider after Uber Eats. Netherlands-based Takeaway beat rival Prosus to buy Just Eat in a 6.2 billion pound all-share deal that will create one of the world's largest meal delivery companies. There was a last-minute hitch however on Friday when UK competition authorities said they would probe the deal. Takeaway said the investigation would only delay completion of the takeover until the end of this week. Just Eat said orders in Britain, its biggest market, were up 8%, which would represent less than half of the 17% growth achieved in 2018. It said it was seeing good order momentum in its other markets, including Australia, Italy and Switzerland. Revenue for the year would be about 1.0 billion pounds, it said, just meeting guidance of 1.0 to 1.1 billion pounds. Shares in the company were up 0.9% in early trade. ($1 = 0.7608 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle, editing by Sarah Young) We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN). What Is Insider Selling? It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market. We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise. Check out our latest analysis for AstraZeneca The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At AstraZeneca CEO & Executive Director Pascal Soriot made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK996k worth of shares at a price of UK58.26 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of UK75.00. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive. While AstraZeneca insiders bought shares last year, they didn't sell. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below! LSE:AZN Recent Insider Trading, January 28th 2020 AstraZeneca is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying. Does AstraZeneca Boast High Insider Ownership? Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 0.02% of AstraZeneca shares, worth about UK24m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. Story continues So What Do The AstraZeneca Insider Transactions Indicate? There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think AstraZeneca insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Open Arms rescues 158 migrants at sea 2 rescues in 12 hours, 500 in all awaiting safe port (ANSAmed) - ROME, JANUARY 28 - Spanish NGO run rescue ship Open Arms has rescued 158 migrants at sea in two separate operations in less than 12 hours, it said Tuesday. On Monday night 56 people were picked up in international waters, it said. A further 102 were rescued off the Libyan coast on Tuesday morning. "On board the Open Arms there are now 158 shipwrecked people saved from a likely death," it said in a tweet. "We are the only humanitarians ship in the area," it said. Almost 500 people are now seeking a safe port, Open Arms said. It was referring also to migrants rescued in the last few days by two other NGO-run rescue ships, the Ocean Viking and the Alan Kurdi. On Tuesday the Ocean Viking, with more than 400 aboard, was assigned Taranto in Puglia as a safe port. Most migrants trying to make it to Italy set off from wartorn Libya. The renewal of an accord with the Libyan coast guard to pull back migrants to its shores is threatened by the ongoing conflict. Human rights groups have described conditions in many Libyan migrant detention centres as resembling concentration camps. (ANSAmed). Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated against U.S. President Donald Trump's Israeli-Palestinian peace plan on Tuesday hours before its scheduled release at a ceremony in Washington. Israeli troops meanwhile reinforced positions near a flashpoint site between the Palestinian city of Ramallah and the Jewish settlement of Beit El in the Israel-occupied West Bank. While Israeli leaders have welcomed Trump's plan, Palestinian leaders have rejected it even before its official release. They say his administration is biased towards Israel. The Palestinians fear the plan will dash their hopes for an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - areas Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War - by permitting Israel to annex large chunks of territory. In Gaza City on Tuesday, protesters stepped on posters of Trump laid out on the ground. They waved Palestinian flags and held aloft posters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "Trump is a fool, Palestine is not for sale," an activist shouted through a loudspeaker. In a refugee camp in the coastal enclave, about 50 people gathered in Martyrs' Square holding posters of Abbas and his predecessor Yasser Arafat, the guerrilla leader who spearheaded the Palestinian cause until his death in 2004. "We will pay with our blood, souls and sons to redeem Jerusalem. The deal of Trump will never succeed," said Umm Ahmed, who took part in the protest. An Israeli military spokesman said troops had been sent to reinforce the Jordan Valley - an area which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to partially annex. Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian mission to Britain, told Reuters in London that Trump's peace plan was merely "political theatre". "It is not a peace deal. It is the 'bantustan-isation' of the people of Palestine and the land of Palestine. We will be turned into bantustans," he said, refering to the nominally independent black enclaves in apartheid-era South Africa. "Jan. 28, 2020 will mark the official legal stamp of approval of the United States for Israel to implement a full-fledged apartheid system," he said. Israel vehemently rejects any comparison to the former South African regime. GOOD DEAL? Trump will deliver joint remarks with Netanyahu at the White House later on Tuesday to outline his plan, the result of three years work by his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Netanyanu said on Monday: "The deal of the century is the opportunity of a century, and we're not going to pass it by." Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz hailed it as a "significant and historic milestone" and said he would work towards implementing it immediately after a national election he will contest with Netanyahu in March. Addressing Palestinian fears, Trump said on Monday: "They probably won't want it initially...but I think in the end they will. It's very good for them. In fact it's overly good to them. But whether the plan will in reality jump-start the long-stalled effort to end the conflict is far from certain. Palestinian leaders say they were not invited to Washington for Trump's presentation and the plan cannot work without them. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday they would not agree to any deal that did secure a viable two-state solution. That formula, the base for many years of frustrated international peace efforts, envisages Israel co-existing with a Palestinian state. Palestinians have refused to deal with the Trump administration in protest at such pro-Israeli policies as its moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, whose eastern half the Palestinians seek for a future capital. They denounced a $50 billion economic revival plan the Trump administration set forth last July to boost the Palestinian and neighbouring Arab state economies because the proposal did nothing to address Israeli occupation. Palestinian and Arab sources who were briefed on the draft fear it seeks to bribe Palestinians into accepting Israeli occupation, in what could be a prelude to Israel annexing about half of the West Bank including most of the Jordan Valley, the strategic and fertile easternmost strip of the territory. Further obstacles to a peace deal include the expansion of Israeli settlements on occupied land and the rise to power in Gaza of the Islamist movement Hamas, which is formally committed to Israel's destruction and poses a major security threat. The Trump administration in November reversed decades of U.S. policy when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington no longer regarded the settlements on West Bank land as a breach of international law. Palestinians and most of the international community view the settlements as illegal, which Israel disputes. DOUBLE TROUBLE Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said both Trump and Netanyahu were looking to change the subject from their own domestic troubles. "The problem is it doesn't feel like this is the beginning of an important initiative," Alterman said. Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives last month and is on trial in the Senate on abuse of power charges. Netanyahu faces a likely trial on corruption charges. On Tuesday he withdrew his bid for parliamentary immunity from prosecution. Both men deny any wrongdoing. Search Keywords: Short link: Senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday presented a report card of the development work done by the Union government for the people of Delhi. At a press conference here, Javadekar, who is in-charge for the Delhi assembly elections, also accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of hindering the development of the national capital. The Union environment minister said that the Centre conferred ownership rights to more than 40 lakh people living in 1,731 unauthorised colonies of Delhi and also framed a scheme for their development. "Under the 'Jaha Jhuggi Wahi Makan' scheme, two room-set houses are being allotted. The central government has also waived conversion charge of Rs 10 lakh for shopkeepers and done away with the threat of their establishments getting sealed," he said. Javadekar said the Narendra Modi government has "expanded the Delhi Metro rail network by 116 kilometers" and "60 lakh persons use the metro every day". "This is the fourth largest transport system in the world, but the Kejriwal government has delayed the Metro PhaseIV by three years resulting in increase in the cost of construction," he said. Javadekar said that the AAP government created "seven hindrances" in the development of Delhi. The Kejriwal government did not give permission for the Dwarka Expressway for two years, he said. "Kejriwal also supported the tukde tukde gang (a term used by the BJP to attack groups it accuses of working to promote violent leftists and separatism) and did not grant permission to prosecute them. Had Kejriwal allowed them to be prosecuted, the protest at Shaheen Bagh may not have taken place," he said. Thousands of people, including women and children, have been protesting since December 15 at Shaheen Bagh and nearby Jamia Millia Islamia against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the pan-India National Register of Citizens. "The roads constructed by PWD and DSIIDC are broken and generate dust which contributes to the city's high-pollution level," he said. "Kejriwal did not allow implementation of central government's Aayushman Bharat scheme and deprived Delhiites of free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh," Javadekar alleged. The ruling AAP did not implement the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) and as a result, poor people did not get houses while the Modi government has allotted houses to one crore people in the country, he further alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facebook Vice President of Engineering Jay Parikh, second from left, announced on Tuesday that he is leaving Facebook, where he has been an instrumental part of setting up the company's data center infrastructure since 2009. Facebook's Vice President of Engineering Jay Parikh on Tuesday announced his departure from the company, joining a long list of executive who have left the company over the turbulent past few years. "I have some bittersweet news to share," Parikh wrote in a Facebook post. "It's time for me to step out of Facebook to explore what's next." Parikh joined Facebook in 2009, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was with the company as it went public in 2012, and during the past three years as the company dealt with Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018 and the launch of four separate antitrust-focused investigations into the company in 2019. David Mortenson will replace Parikh in leading Facebook's infrastructure organization, a company spokesman told CNBC. Mortenson has been at Facebook since 2011. Parikh's other responsibilities will likely be divided among several engineering leaders, he added. Parikh was considered to be instrumental to creating the data center infrastructure on which the company builds its numerous apps and services. "A lot of what we've achieved over the past eleven years just wouldn't have been possible without you," said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a comment on Parikh's post. "I don't think we even had a data center when you joined, and now we share our designs so the rest of the world can catch up!" Follow @CNBCtech on Twitter for the latest tech industry news. Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu on Tuesday welcomed US Ambassador in Bucharest Adrian Zuckerman, to concretely discuss the working plan on the common priorities of the Romanian-US bilateral agenda in 2020, including political dialogue, the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) informs. According to MAE, the two officials reviewed the stage of the preparations for the 2020 session of the Romania-US Strategic Dialogue, which is scheduled to take place in the first half of the year in Washington.At the same time, Aurescu and Zuckerman had an opinion exchange on the modalities to jointly mark in 2020 the 140th anniversary since establishing bilateral relations.Furthermore, they explored the opportunity and the concrete possibilities of cooperation aimed at a better information of the public opinion in Romania about the procedures for obtaining entry visas to the US for Romanian citizens, in view to facilitate Romania's access to the Visa Waiver program, MAE adds.The two officials also discussed aspects regarding the cooperation in the defence and security area, Bogdan Aurescu having reiterated the importance of increasing the US military presence in Romania, as a concrete manner of consolidating the defence and deterrence posture on NATO's eastern flank.Moreover, "highlight was placed on obtaining some concrete results in the area of cooperation on the energy security and cyber security topic, with a focus on 5G," the MAE release also reads.The two dignitaries also made a review of the Romania-US collaboration on a regional and European level, pointing out the fact that Romania is a state firmly supporting the transatlantic union and an as close as possible cooperation between the EU and the US. There was also an opinion exchange on the developments in the Republic of Moldova, with Romania's known position having been reiterated and the continuation of the close coordination between Romania and the US on the topic having been agreed on, MAE also points out. Gunmen have continued their deadly attacks in the Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau, killing a man and setting many buildings ablaze. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the gunmen descended on Ruboi and Marish communities in Bokkos Local Government where at least 16 people were killed late on Sunday. The latest onslaught took place early on Monday while residents of the two communities were still in bed. The Public Relations Officer of the Plateau State Police Command, Abuh Gabriel, a superintendent of police, confirmed the development, saying a man was killed in the latest attack. Mr Gabriel said, however, that security men had been deployed to the two communities and that calm had been restored. He said efforts were being made to unmask the perpetrators of the attack, which has been re-occurring in recent times. Communities in Bokkos, bordering Mangu and Barkin Ladi Local Government Arears of Plateau State, have been under unrelenting siege by gunmen, who have been killing locals in some communities in North Central Nigeria. A former Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Titus Alams, who is a native of Rubio, told NAN on Tuesday that the attackers looted property after killing and burning the corpse of a man. He said many residential buildings, shops, and places of worship were also set ablaze. The man who was killed and his corpse burnt was sick that was why he could not run when others were running away during the attack. With yesterdays attack, the number of people so far killed in a similar attack is now 16 in communities across Bokkos Local Government Area. Mr Alams described the attacks as shocking and unbelievable, calling on security agencies to come to the aid of people of the area. He disclosed that the gunmen came on motorcycles and moved about looting and burning peoples houses, shops and places of worship. My own house was partly burnt, while the family house of my former Chief of Staff, Mr Reuben Musa-Mallah, was completely burnt down along with others. Mr Alams expressed fear that if prompt action was not taken, other villages, including Mushu, Mile Bagwa, Manja and Marit, close to Mangu and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas might also be attacked. These border communities need serious surveillance by security operatives, otherwise the attackers might also attack these areas like they have done to Rubio, he stated. Also speaking, the Chairman of Bokkos Local Government Council, Yusuf Machen, who corroborated the account given by Mr Alams, described the attacks as wicked and ungodly. Mr Machen pleaded with the federal and state governments to come to the aid of the affected communities, saying that many residents were now homeless and going without food. Most of the affected people are currently at the internally displaced persons camp in the Bokkos Council Secretariat, he said. (NAN) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held at its General Court today a farewell ceremony for the outgoing Ambassador of the Republic of India to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Alok Kumar Sinha, marking the end of his term in the Kingdom. During the ceremony, the Assistant Foreign Minister, Abdulla Al Doseri, affirmed the deep-rooted relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the friendly Republic of India. He also hailed the efforts of Ambassador Sinha during his term at the Kingdom. Ambassador Sinha expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the Assistant Foreign Minister and senior officials at the Kingdom of Bahrain for their support, wishing the Kingdom of Bahrain further progress and prosperity. LINCOLN, Neb., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Several hundred parents, children, and community members will rally for increased educational opportunity at the Nebraska State Capitol. The indoor rally will feature speeches from community members and special performances from school groups in the area. A press conference will take place following the rally, which represents Nebraska's largest event during School Choice Week. WHAT: Indoor Rally for School Choice & Press Conference WHO: Several hundred parents, students, teachers, and community leaders WHEN: 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29 WHERE: Warner Chamber , Nebraska Capitol | 1445 K St. The event is hosted by Nebraska Catholic Conference, School Choice Nebraska, Invest in Kids Nebraska, and Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom. As a nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort, National School Choice Week shines a positive spotlight on effective education options for students, families, and communities around the country. From January 26 through February 1, 2020, more than 50,000 independently-planned events will be held in celebration of the Week. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week Related Links www.schoolchoiceweek.com OTTAWA - More than 98,000 civil servants may still owe the federal government money from being overpaid through the disastrous Phoenix pay system. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada affected by the Phoenix Pay System rally during a protest on the three year anniversary of the launch of the pay system, in Ottawa on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. More than 98-thousand civil servants may still owe the federal government money from being overpaid through the disastrous Phoenix pay system. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang OTTAWA - More than 98,000 civil servants may still owe the federal government money from being overpaid through the disastrous Phoenix pay system. The government revealed the estimate this week in a written response to a question from the Opposition Conservatives, but could not say how many of its employees are owed money, or how much. Tens of thousands of federal workers have been impacted by problems that have plagued the electronic pay system since it was launched in early 2016 some have been underpaid, some overpaid and others not paid at all, sometimes for months at a time. And the problems persist, despite the hiring of hundreds of pay specialists to work through a backlog of system errors. The public service pay centre was still dealing with a backlog of about 202,000 complaints as of Dec. 24, down from 214,000 pay transactions that went beyond normal workload in November. In response to an order paper question from Conservative MP Kerry Diotte, Steven MacKinnon, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of public services, told the Commons that as of Dec. 5, an estimated 98,249 individuals potentially owed the government money as a result of an overpayment. MacKinnon also reported the median value of total overpayment balances was $1,383. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. But MacKinnon said the government could not say how many workers were underpaid and would not reveal the highest overpayments and underpayments. "The government is not in a position to provide the answer regarding underpayments as the system cannot automatically calculate such transactions," MacKinnon said in his statement to the Commons. "To protect the privacy of the affected government employee, the highest overpayment value will not be reported." MacKinnon stressed that the number of overpayments reported included what he called true overpayments and administrative overpayments. He defined true overpayments as pay received by employees that they were not entitled to, while administrative overpayments included things like acting pay provided when an employee worked in a higher classification. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2020. Its been three years in the making. But on Tuesday, the Trump Administrations proposal to bring a solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict finally came to light. The White Houses 80-page plan calls for the creation of a Palestinian state with a capital in parts of East Jerusalem, ending speculation that the Trump Administration was preparing to depart from a two state resolution to the conflict that has long been the bedrock of U.S. policy. But the blueprint would also permit Israel to extend sovereignty over all major settlements blocs in the West Bank, uphold Jerusalem as Israels undivided capital, and require the Palestinians to concede far more land to Israel than in past proposals. Addressing reporters alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that while past U.S. presidents had failed to forge peace between Israelis and Palestinians, he had not been elected to shy away from big problems. Trump characterized his proposal as a win-win for both Israelis and Palestinians and a bold step forward for the region. But senior Democrats and Palestinians, who had rejected the plan before its publication, criticized the purported deal as one-sided. On Monday, Netanyahu and his centrist rival, Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, met President Donald Trump separately to hear details of the so-called peace plan spearheaded by Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner. We have the support of the prime minister, we have the support of the other parties, and we think we will ultimately have the support of the Palestinians, but were going to see, Trump told reporters that day. Support from the Palestinians appears a remote prospect. The West Banks Ramallah-based government, whose top diplomats have long described the Trump Administrations plans as dead on arrival, had not been invited to the White House and insist the Trump Administration has forfeited Americas role as an honest broker in the region. The Trump plan will not pass, said Palestinian president Abbas, hours after its release. Story continues Heres what to know about the deal Trump unveiled: What are the details of Trumps plan? Many of its components had been anticipated. Last week Israeli media reports characterized the White House plan as the most generous proposal ever presented to Israel and said it would pave the way for Israel to annex virtually all settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has controlled since the Six-Day War of 1967, give Israel full sovereignty over Jerusalem, and make no major provision for returning Palestinian refugees. Although Trump had dismissed those reports as speculation, they proved mostly correct. The White House plan would rubber stamp Israel extending sovereignty over all major settlement blocs in the West Bank. No Palestinians or Israelis will be uprooted from their homes, Trump said Tuesday, in a firm indication the settlements would remain in place. However, the blueprint also offers more concessions to the Palestinians than many experts had predicted. The White House plan puts forward a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although the size of the Palestinian state is considerably smaller than that proposed in past U.S. mediation efforts. Trump said his plan would more than double Palestinian territory. Under it, however, Palestinians could control some 70% of the West Bank, compared with 94-96% proposed by Bill Clinton in 2000. As anticipated, Trumps plan recognizes Jerusalem as Israels undivided capital but it allows for a Palestinian capital in portions of East Jerusalem. The plan also puts a four-year freeze on the construction of new Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have ballooned since Trump took office. While Trump claims a revolutionary approach to the peace process, this plan actually recycles past failed efforts, Tareq Baconi, an analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a statement. It places Palestinians on probation while they prove their worthiness of statehood, using conditions that are malleable and ill-defined. Baconi added that Trumps plan seeks to induce Palestinian capitulation through economic largesse; and it removes the onus on IsraeI to make any concessions until Palestinians declare their full surrender. The economic contours of the White House proposal had already been sketched out. At a June summit in Bahrain, Kushner put forward plans to create a $50-billion dollar fund to support infrastructure, business and tourism investments aimed at bolstering the Palestinian economy, as well as those of neighboring Arab States. The West Banks Ramallah-based leadership boycotted the June event entirely and senior Palestinian Authority diplomat Husam Zomlot told TIME afterward that it was a conspiracy designed to allow Israeli annexation of Palestinian territories while blaming the Palestinians for not riding a dead political horse. On Tuesday, Trump reiterated Kushners promise to provide $50 billion in international financing to build the new Palestinian State, resolving to open an American embassy there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House on January 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. | Alex Wong/Getty Images How did Palestinians respond to the plans release? Trump has said his administration talked briefly with the Palestinian leadership. But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly refused to take a call from Trump, according to an account provided by an official from his office to Turkeys Anadolu Agency on Monday. On Tuesday, he responded with a thousand nos to Trumps plan, the Associated Press reports. Palestinian factions, including West-Bank based Fatah, have called on Palestinians to participate in mass protests on Tuesday and Thursday. And on Tuesday, Fatah invited rival Gaza-based faction Hamas to attend an emergency meeting in Ramallah. On Tuesday night, local time, at least a dozen West Bank Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli security forces, Agence France-Presse reports. The Palestinian leadership has objected to Trumps actions in the region since the beginning of his presidency. Since he took office in 2017, Trump has moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, which the Palestinians view as the capital of their future state, cut funding to the U.N. agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, and in November broke with decades of U.S. precedent by stating that it no longer views Israeli settlements in the West Bank as inconsistent with international law. How did Congress react to the plan? Senate Democrats came out against the proposal. The White Houses one-sided proposal undermines decades of bipartisan U.S. policy and international law, wrote Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Holland on Twitter after Trumps announcement. Far from the deal of the century this is the disaster of the decade, he added. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy from Vermont called the plan a striking example of Trumps delusional hyperbole over reality. He added that it would diminish the prospects for peaceful coexistence, while damaging our countrys hard-won role as a force for stability in the Middle East. Meanwhile Republican Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said on Twitter that he applauded the president for putting forth a plan that secures a prosperous future for the Jewish State of Israel while working toward a lasting peace between Israelis, Palestinians, and the broader Arab world. How is Trumps plan expected to be received elsewhere in the Middle East? Before Tuesdays announcement, White House aides had been trying to line up public statements of support, or at least neutrality, from major allies in the region, according to an official familiar with the discussions that spoke with TIME. On Monday Axios reported that some leaders in the Middle East were expected to issue encouraging statements. Trump said that ambassadors from the UAE, Oman and Bahrain were present at his announcement. Ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt did not attend. Footage circulated on Twitter afterwards appeared to show small protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Amman in Jordan, amid a larger security presence there. Israel had also deployed military reinforcements in areas of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley. Jordan, which fought two wars with Israel before signing a landmark peace treaty with Israel 25-year ago, stands to suffer most after the Palestinians, should Israel proceed with annexation, says Amman-based journalist and political commentator Osama Al-Sharif. Last month, Jordans King Abdullah II said that Jordanian-Israeli relations had hit an all-time low. According to Al-Sharif, anxieties are especially acute among residents of Jordans East Bank, alarmed by the recent revival of far-right Israeli calls for Jordan to become an alternative homeland for Palestinians. While Jordans economic dependence on Israel and the U.S., among other issues, makes it unlikely King Abdullah would compromise the peace treaty with Israel, there will be many people around the King that will say we have to react in some way, in order to try to regain legitimacy in the Jordanian street, Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israels internal security agency, the Shin Bet told TIME on Sunday. Even if the heads of Middle Eastern states can stomach a deal arrived at without consulting Palestinians, the street in Amman, in Riyadh, in Cairo, will be totally against it, Ayalon tells TIME. The White House blueprint might end up undermining the 2002 Arab peace initiative, under which the Arab world accepted the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state, and instead lead to more instability, he adds. For Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was on the most remote back burner for years, leaving space [to address] Iran, Syria, the Gulf, and Turkey, Gilead Sher, former Chief of Staff and Policy Coordinator to Prime Minister Ehud Barak and now a senior fellow at Tel Avivs Institute for National Security Studies told TIME on Sunday. But Trump and Netanyahu have upgraded it to stage front, he added. With reporting by Brian Bennett/Washington Martin Shkreli increased the price of a crucial drug by more than 4,000 percent in 2015 after buying rights to make it. Martin Shkreli, the Pharma Bro in prison for defrauding investors, faces a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission and New York attorney generals office for an alleged scheme to preserve his monopoly for the drug Daraprim, whose price was increased by more than 4,000 percent in one day. The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan on Monday and also named Vyvera Pharmaceuticals, a company once headed by Shkreli that was formerly Turing Pharmaceuticals, as a defendant in the case. The FTC and the New York attorney generals office accuse the defendants of quickly raising the price of Daraprim from $17.50 per tablet to $750 in 2015 after buying rights to the crucial drug while taking steps to ensure there would not be a cheaper generic version of the medicine. Daraprim is used to treat toxoplasmosis a disease resulting from a parasite infection. We filed this lawsuit to stop Vyeras egregious conduct, make the company pay for its illegal scheming, and block Martin Shkreli from ever working in the pharmaceutical industry again, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. We wont allow pharma bros to manipulate the market and line their pockets at the expense of vulnerable patients and the healthcare system. Shkreli, who is in prison in Pennsylvania, became notorious as Pharma Bro when he sharply raised the price of Daraprim as the chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Vyera Pharmaceuticals said in a statement that the claims are without merit and it will vigorously defend these claims in court. The lawsuit also names Shkreli associate Kevin Mulleady, the FTC said. The FTC and the New York attorney generals office are seeking monetary relief for people who overpaid for the medicine and an order requiring the company to halt illegal conduct. A lawyer for Shkreli, 36, did not respond to a request by Reuters news agency for comment. Shkreli is slated for release in September 2023, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The FTC alleged that the company protected its dominance of the drug by restricting distribution to ensure generic drugmakers could not get the samples needed to make their own version of the drug. The company also prevented potential competitors from buying one of the medicines ingredients, the FTC said. The United States Supreme Court said in November that Shkreli must remain in prison, rejecting his effort to overturn his conviction and a seven-year sentence for securities fraud and conspiracy. The justices refused to hear Shkrelis appeal of his August 2017 conviction and $7.36m forfeiture for cheating investors in two hedge funds he founded and trying to prop up the stock price of biotechnology company Retrophin Inc, which he once ran. Shkreli, who taught himself biology, and his company Turing Pharmaceuticals were among those included in a 2016 US Senate committee report that called for the government to stop a monopoly business model used by some drugmakers to raise prices on certain medications. In Washington, the infamously sarcastic Shkreli has remained the face of increasingly high drug costs. US President Donald Trump has called the former hedge-fund-manager-turned-drug-executive a spoiled brat, while the presidential campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has called him a poster boy for drug company greed. Jindal Defence enters JV with Brazil's Taurus to produce guns in India Jindal Defence Systems Ltd, an O P Jindal Group company, has teamed up with Brazilian gunmaker Taurus Armas SA, to set up a joint venture to produce and sell small arms, according to a regulatory filing. The two companies have signed agreement to set up a joint venture firm at Hisar in Haryana. The deal was signed during Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaros visit to India. While Jindal Defence will hold 51 per cent equity stake, Taurus Armas would have the remaining 49 per cent, the company said in a statement. The JV will produce different kinds of firearms. "The JV company will manufacture small arms in India based on the transfer of technology from Taurus to achieve localization of production in accordance with the defence procurement procedures," the OP Jindal Group firm said. This partnership aims to maximise existing domestic opportunities in the small arms manufacturing sector and provide significant support to the ongoing and future modernisation plans of the armed forces, particularly the Indian Army, para-military, and state police forces, the company said. "To further strengthen the make in India vision, our collaboration with Taurus Armas will support self-reliance in strategic small arms manufacturing. The JV envisages creation of world-class infrastructure along with adoption of best manufacturing practices to achieve perfection in design and engineering, and achieve high quality standards," Jindal Defence promoter Abhyuday Jindal said. He further said that the move is in sync with the government's vision of greater private sector participation in defence hardware manufacturing. The joint venture agreement was signed on Monday at the first BrazilIndia defence industry dialogue of the India-Brazil Business Forum (IBBF), organised by the ministry of external affairs in association with CII, Assocham, and Ficci. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was not allowed to attend the convocation of Calcutta University (CU) and had to leave the venue amid protests by a section of students in Kolkata on Tuesday. Students shouted Go Back slogans and showed him black flags as soon as Dhankhar approached Nazrul Mancha auditorium in south Kolkata, where the convocation was held. The students did not allow him to reach the dais. The Governors car gheraoed by the students. The Governor sitting made to wait at Calcutta University as students shouted slogans and showed him black flags. The state education minister Partha Chatterjee did not attend the convocation, even though CU officials claimed that invitations had been sent to him and chief minister Mamata Banerjee as well. On December 24, 2019, a protest by students forced Dhankhar to leave the Jadavpur University (JU) campus where he had gone to preside over the annual convocation. The governor is the chancellor of all state-run universities. Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee was conferred an honorary D.Litt at the convocation ceremony. Since the governor had not yet signed the D.Litt certificate to be handed over to Banerjee, students allowed the governor to reach the green room of the auditorium. Dhankhar signed the certificate in the green room, sitting next to Banerjee, and then moved out because the students had vowed not to allow him on the dais. Later, in a string of tweets he expressed concern over the behaviour meted out to him. The uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta University without attending the Convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of the immense respect we have for Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on whom we are conferring honorary D Litt (honoris causa), he wrote in a tweet. VC sought permission from as Chancellor to proceed with the Convocation. In view of the enormous respect I have for Abhijit Bannerjee and mindful of the reputation of the iconic Calcutta University, I accorded the same, he wrote. In two other tweets that followed, Dhankhar wrote, Those who compromised culture and decorum need to be in reflective mode and The actions of those who created or stage managed unseemly spectacle would resonate for long in the ears of cultured people of WB. Students who agitated against his presence alleged that Dhankhar had been trying to use his chair to help fulfil Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s agenda and that he had shown disrespect for the citys teachers and students by repeatedly speaking in favour of BJP and its allied organisations. There had been no clarity until Sunday whether the Governor would be invited at the convocation, especially because Chatterjee had earlier said that the convocation could happen without the Governor. However, a senior CU official who did not want to be named said that an invitation was sent to the Governor on Monday evening, primarily because he had not signed the certificate to be handed over to Abhijit Banerjee, even though he had approved the decision to confer the D.Litt upon him. Youre in a community where it doesnt matter what you look like because everyone is accepted, she said. Its empowering to women. It takes a lot of courage to get up and dance. A Senate inquiry will weigh into the debate over "screen scraping" by fintech firms, with recommendations on the issue expected within months, after consumer groups called for a stop to the practice. Screen scraping occurs when a consumer gives their banking user name and password to a third party, such as a fintech firm, in order to access their data. Some lenders also use the technique to conduct credit checks. A Senate inquiry is likely to make recommendations on screen scraping, which involves consumers handing over their passwords. Credit:Reuters It has long been a point of tension in the industry, with some banks claiming it is risky, while proponents argue the practice is safe for consumers and important for competition. The Senate's inquiry into financial technology is expected to look at the issue as part of its broader examination of policy questions thrown up by the digital revolution in finance. Middleschooldebate.com scored 43 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 7 May 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. The total number of people who shared the middleschooldebate homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the middleschooldebate homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the middleschooldebate homepage on Twitter + the total number of middleschooldebate followers (if middleschooldebate has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the middleschooldebate homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the middleschooldebate homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if middleschooldebate has a Facebook fan page). Basic Information PAGE TITLE Middle School Public Debate Program DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS debate, mspdp, the mspdp, program, school, public, available The title found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. Domain and Server DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE ISO-8859-1 DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux Character set and language of the site. The language of middleschooldebate.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Operative System running on the server. Type of server and offered services. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for middleschooldebate.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND The URL of the found Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The type of Facebook page. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg has defended his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, following claims she has created a 'hostile working environment' for staff. The reigning Luxembourg royal, 64, issued a personal statement this week speaking up for his wife, 63, and criticising the 'unfair accusations' leveled against her in the press. It comes after it emerged more than 30 members of staff have apparently left the household since 2015, either through being fired or quitting, according to local media. Local weekly newspaper Letzebuerger Land suggested the Cuban-born Grand Duchess could have been behind the departures, saying she does what she likes without fear of retribution as not even her husband dares to confront her. Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg has defended his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa (seen together), amid claims she is creating a 'hostile working environment' for her staff The departure of royal household staff is the subject of a special commission appointed by Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. The impending report, led by retired senior civil servant Jeannot Waringo, could tip the monarchy into crisis. However in his statement Grand Duke Henri roundly dismisses published reports his wife is to blame. He wrote: 'As we await publication of the report, and indeed throughout this process, articles have appeared in the media making unfair accusations against my wife, the mother of our five children and a devoted grandmother. This is taking its toll on my whole family. 'Why attack a woman? A woman who speaks up for other women? A woman who is not even being given the right to defend herself?' The reigning Luxembourg royal, 64, penned a personal statement from his brother-in-law's bedside in an intensive care unit in Geneva, Switzerland The statement was released by the Grand Ducal Court on 27 January along with a series of new photos of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess recently taken in Geneva. It was written by Grand Duke Henri by his brother-in-law's bedside at an intensive care unit in Geneva, Switzerland. Earlier this month it was announced that Maria had cancelled her upcoming engagements as her younger brother Luis Mestre had been admitted to intensive care. The statement did not state the reason for his hospital admittance. The candid note was shared by the Grand Ducal Court along with a series of new photos (pictured) of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, taken recently in Geneva It comes after a year filled of heartache for the royal couple, with Stephanie's father passing away in January, before the death of Guillaume's grandfather war hero Grand Duke Jean in April. However they were given some good news when eldest son Crown Prince Guillaume, 38, and his wife Princess Stephanie, 35, announced in December that they were expecting their first child in May 2020. STMicroelectronics and Fieldscale Bring Intuitive Touch Controls to STM32-Based Smart Devices Fieldscale SENSE is the first end-to-end development platform for touch-sensor design and high-accuracy simulation ST customers can now use SENSE to simulate touch-sensor solutions together with STM32 microcontrollers Fieldscale SENSE cloud-based platform accelerates time to market and saves development/prototype costs Geneva, Switzerland and Thessaloniki, Greece, 27 January 2020 - STMicroelectronics (STM.PA), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, and Fieldscale, an ST Authorized Partner and provider of simulation software, have joined forces to simplify development of touch-enabled user interfaces for smart devices containing STs STM32 microcontrollers (MCUs). Touch-sensitive controls are convenient and attractive for end users, and can enhance product reliability, ingress protection, and cost-effectiveness. On the other hand, development can be challenging. Using a conventional iterative design approach, optimizing to eliminate unwanted effects and ensure consistent responses for touch sensing in all operating conditions can involve building multiple prototypes. ST and Fieldscale now enable STM32 customers to take a faster and more efficient route to market by introducing support for STs Arm Cortex-based 32-bit MCUs to Fieldscales SENSE development platform. Fieldscale SENSE is an end-to-end solution for the design, schematic capture, and system-level simulation of capacitive touch sensors. The latest version lets STM32 users quickly design the touch sensor and PCB layout for virtual system simulation purposes. The cloud-based development platform implements sophisticated electromagnetic algorithms, which drives accurate prediction of the system performance. Users can optimize the design and quickly re-simulate to fine-tune the performance before committing to hardware. With greater assurance that first prototypes will deliver close to the desired performance, users can lower development costs and accelerate time to market. Story continues At Fieldscale, our goal is to offer to all capacitive-touch design engineers a complete software solution supporting them end-to-end, from the early design up to the tuning of the final system. Integrating STM32 support is a major achievement towards this goal and we couldnt be more satisfied, said Yiorgos Bontzios, PhD, Fieldscale CEO and Co-Founder. Patrice Hamard, Microcontroller Product Marketing Manager, STMicroelectronics, added, Customers using our STM32 microcontrollers can now take full advantage of Fieldscale SENSE to implement simple and intuitive touch-based controls for smart devices and give their products a competitive edge. Fieldscale SENSE is available now as an online service and comes with a flexible pricing model to meet your requirements/needs. Please contact Fieldscale for further information. Further technical information: As a cloud-based development platform accessed via an intuitive web interface, Fieldscale SENSE enables users to online evaluate their touch sensors using powerful proprietary field solvers and algorithms. Unlike conventional PC-based software, there are no installation challenges or system-performance limitations. Fieldscale SENSE simulation results have been validated against measurements from actual touch-sensor manufacturers, confirming the results are accurate to within 2%. Before committing to building physical prototypes, with Fieldscale SENSE users can: Design or import capacitive touch sensor layout as a standard DXF or Gerber file(s). Easily create the complete 3D model of the sensor by simply clicking their way through material and connections assignment. Fieldscale SENSE applies the appropriate boundary conditions automatically. Simulate the touch-sensor performance including the effects of using a stylus or wearing gloves. Add RF conducted noise into the system, to simulate the testing procedure as specified in the IEC61000-4-6 standard, to evaluate the noise immunity of your system Understand effects such as coupling between traces and electrodes that can interfere with the touch-sensor performance, to identify required modifications. The use case for STM32 users is available to download now here You can also read our blogpost at https://blog.st.com/sense-stm32-fieldscale/ STM32 is a registered and/or unregistered trademark of STMicroelectronics International NV or its affiliates in the EU and/or elsewhere. In particular, STM32 is registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office. About Fieldscale Fieldscale provides simulation software that helps IC makers and touch sensor manufacturers scale capacity, reduce product development cycles and go-to-market 10X faster. Using Fieldscale SENSE any engineer can make informed design decisions, starting from day one. For more information, go to www.fieldscale.com . About STMicroelectronics ST is a global semiconductor leader delivering intelligent and energy-efficient products and solutions that power the electronics at the heart of everyday life. STs products are found everywhere today, and together with our customers, we are enabling smarter driving and smarter factories, cities and homes, along with the next generation of mobile and Internet of Things devices. By getting more from technology to get more from life, ST stands for life.augmented. In 2019, the Companys net revenues were $9.56 billion, serving more than 100,000 customers worldwide. Further information can be found at www.st.com . Media Contacts: Paschalis Arampatzis Marketing Manager Fieldscale paschalis@fieldscale.com +30 2310947484 Michael Markowitz Director Technical Media Relations STMicroelectronics michael.markowitz@st.com +1 7815910354 Attachments Royal Bank of Canada, the countrys largest bank, participated last month in the massive $26 billion (U.S.) IPO of Aramco, the Saudi Arabian oil giant predicted to produce the oil and gas equivalent of 27 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, more than any other company on earth. The banks decision to take part in the IPO, albeit as a junior bookrunner, highlights the tension between doing well and doing good. It made a small profit an estimated fee of about 2 million riyal (about $700,000 Cdn.) but in doing so, arguably contradicted its own environmental blueprint. RBCs CEO, David McKay, wrote to investors recently: Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our age and the financial system needs to be leading efforts to support clean economic growth and the transition to the low-carbon economy. Nice words; and then his bank helps sell shares of the largest oil producer in the world. With such dissonance, its no wonder that last Monday, when the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos commenced, Greenpeace accused RBC and 23 additional banking giants of being hypocrites. The veteran environmental group confronted the banks CEOs with statements of commitment to the environment they made back in 2015 the year the Paris agreement was signed and provided evidence that since then, they jointly provided $1.4 trillion (U.S.) to companies active across the fossil fuel life cycle. According to the report, three of the worlds 10 biggest lenders in the oil and gas industry are Canadian banks, with RBC alone accounting for more than $100 billion (U.S.). There is a lot of money to be made in polluting industries, and Canadian banks are well aware of that. Theyre also not willing to give some of it up. At least not yet. But recently, were also hearing different voices in the banking industry. In September, during the UN Climate Action Summit, banks representing a third of the global banking industry officially signed and launched the Principles for Responsible Banking. A total of 131 CEOs of banks signed the historic document, committing to align their businesses with the goals of both the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the UNs Sustainable Development Goals. While the CEOs of Canadas Desjardins Group and National Bank are two of the signatories, it is disappointing that none of Canadas Big Five banks (RBC, TD, Scotia, BMO, and CIBC) who overwhelmingly dominate the Canadian banking industry saw fit to sign the document. In fairness, our Big Five banks did step up their game in recent years when it comes to sustainability. They all dedicate sections in their ESG (environmental-social-governance) reports to climate change and show progress. TD for example, has issued since 2014 Green Bonds worth $1.7 billion to finance low-carbon projects. In addition, it has committed $100 billion toward other green initiatives by 2030. RBC also committed $100 billion to sustainable finance by 2025. These are all important steps, but they pale compared to the magnitude of lending to fossil fuel companies. Our Big Five banks are still captured in a win-win paradigm. Theyve started to make a slow transition to support a low-carbon economy, but arent willing to make meaningful compromise on their profits. This needs to change. One person who can help in greening-up our large banks is, interestingly, Canadian. Ex-Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney will be stepping down soon from his role as the Governor of the Bank of England and is set to become the United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance. Carney is known as a climate champion, and was instrumental in establishing the Network for Greening the Financial System, a group of 54 central banks and supervisors who are promoting the transition of the industry toward a sustainable economy. Carney will have a key role in disciplining the banks he knows so well. An additional measure could be for the Bank of Canada to follow Europe and evaluate the impact of introducing a Green Supporting Factor and a Brown Penalty. The idea is simple: due to capital reserve requirements, banks will be able to make more money when they lend to firms in green industries. But the one step that is guaranteed to make a difference is redesigning compensation contracts. If banks executives will be directly incentivized to reduce the amount of funding to polluting industries, it would actually happen. If Royal-Dutch Shell, the first energy company to link executive pay to carbon emissions implemented it, then with some shareholder activism it could be replicated in banks. The brand of capitalism weve seen over the last 30 or 40 years has caused significant collateral damage, including increased inequality and unbridled resource consumption. We need to change course and take a more inclusive approach that ensures the sustainable use of the resources essential to human life. It is not Naomi Klein or Bernie Sanders who are responsible for this statement. It is actually Guy Cormier, the CEO of Desjardins who said it when he signed the Principles for Responsible Banking. Our Big 5 banks should follow suit. Amir Barnea is an associate professor of finance at HEC Montreal. Read more about: PERHAPS referencing the wildfires in Australia, Prince Charles said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that the world needs a new economic model or we will all burn. This basically means we cannot continue exploiting the earths resources to our greeds content and hope to reverse worsening climactic conditions that threaten earths very existence. In much the same manner the Philippines needs a new political model or we will perish under the weight of an exclusive economic system. The current model keeps power firmly in the vise-grip of those who benefit exclusively from the current economic system. Understandably those in power cannot be expected to shift to an economic system that will be inclusive and equitable. The original Philippine political house was built by the framers of the First Philippine Republic, most if not all of them upper class Filipinos. Before long, however, it was occupied and remodeled by the Americans to answer to their, in todays language, national security interests. In 1946, they turned the house over for management by Philippine societys privileged upper class that touched it up here and there to cater to their vested interests. Thus, not by accident but by design the house continues to this day to be managed by the oligarchic elite. Since then, the foundations of our political and economic structures have remained unchanged. Only make-shift repairs were done (including by the 1976 constitution) to meet, often inadequately, the growing needs of Filipinos. If youve seen a big old house that has undergone make-shift repairs, the picture is one of an ungainly structure that is fixing to collapse under the weight of tacked-on repairs. But an old houses structural foundations can only take so much repair and jerry-rigging. Time comes when a new and heavier foundation has to be laid out to support a new and stronger structure that can carry present and future loads of people and their stuff. Story continues That time for us is now. Judging from worsening corruption, criminality, and poverty of masses of Filipinos, we are beyond saving by an old structure which has become ungainly with all those make-shift repairs. A federal system might be or might not be the answer. The point is the old house can no longer take on additional makeshift repairs and still hope to solve the modern day problems of its Filipino occupants. We have to build a new house before the old one collapses under the weight of crumbly repairs. We could, of course, do nothing. In that case, we need not worry if the earth is saved by a new economic model Prince Charles prescribes. For, by that time we might already be long buried under our collapsed old house. President Donald Trump unveiled details of his administration's long-stalled plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians on Tuesday, though the proposal's critics warned before its release it has little chance of success because of its pro-Israel slant. Trump's plan is intended to defuse decades of hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians. In a surprise move, the initiative called for a "two-state" solution an independent Palestine sitting alongside Israel sharing a capital of East Jerusalem. A "two-state" solution has been a hallmark of Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives for years, but before the plan's release, there was speculation Trump might omit it. Details about the initiative's economic proposals, including $50 billion in infrastructure spending and investment over 10 years for the Palestinian territories and neighbors Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, have been previously announced. The plan's political aspects have been a closely guarded secret. Its release, after three years in the making, comes as Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief political rival, Benny Gantz, at the White House to discuss the plan. It was not clear whether an invitation was extended to Palestinian leaders. Peace plan? Rep. Rashida Tlaib's grandmother has some words for Donald Trump Trump described his plan as a "historic breakthrough" and said he wrote to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying territory set aside for the Palestinian state would remain open for a "transition" period of four years in what amounts to a freeze in Israeli settlement construction. He said the deal, outlined in an 80-page document, was a "win-win" for Israelis and Palestinians. The plan would more than double the territory under Palestinian control. It recognizes Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank, a scenario many Palestinians will find difficult to accept. The plan would limit Palestinians to specific parts of East Jerusalem and leave Israel in sole charge of holy sites that are sacred to both sides. Story continues "After the nonsense we heard today, we say a thousand no's," Abbas said of the deal. Netanyahu said Israel owes Trump an "eternal debt of gratitude." He said Trump is the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. Shortly after the announcement, he asked his Cabinet to endorse a plan to annex parts of the West Bank. "While Trump claims a revolutionary approach to the peace process, this plan actually recycles past failed efforts: It places Palestinians on probation while they prove their worthiness of statehood, using conditions that are malleable and ill-defined; it seeks to induce Palestinian capitulation through economic largesse; and it removes the onus on IsraeI to make any concessions until Palestinians declare their full surrender," said Tareq Baconi, a Middle East expert at International Crisis Group, a think tank. The peace plan was spearheaded by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, White House adviser Avi Berkowitz, former Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt and David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel. All four men have deep religious and educational ties to Israel factors that undermined their legitimacy as honest brokers in the eyes of many Palestinians. This " 'peace' plan ignores the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and thus will continue to perpetuate the conflict," said Yousef Jabareen, an Arab Israeli member of Israel's Knesset, or Parliament. Estimates vary, but about 1.84 million Arabs live in Israel, according to Israels Central Bureau of Statistics. An additional 5 million live in Israeli-occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Attempts to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have stagnated for years despite high-profile and rigorous American-brokered attempts at diplomacy. Trump's plan was delayed in part by back-to-back elections in Israel last year that left Netanyahu in a virtual tie with Gantz, neither able to cobble together a ruling coalition. A third election is planned for early March. The deadlock was deepened by Netanyahus indictment on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu pulled a request for immunity from prosecution over these charges hours before parliamentary proceedings over the issue were set to begin in Israel on Tuesday. Netanyahu denied any wrongdoing. 'It's a great plan': Trump to release peace proposal before meeting with Israeli leaders There are different views about what caused previous peace efforts to fail. There is divergence over what the peace process correctly entails. At its core, it's a dispute one of the world's longest-running over ancient land that two peoples, Jews and Arab Palestinians, lay claim to for their respective states. The war that Israel fought in 1967 with neighboring Egypt, Jordan and Syria ended with Israel in military control of two areas that have large Palestinian populations: the West Bank, nestled between Israel to the west and the Jordan Valley to the east, and the Gaza Strip, an isolated enclave on the Mediterranean Sea controlled by the Hamas militant group. Israel imposed a sea blockade and built a security fence around Gaza, where militants have launched thousands of rocket and mortar attacks on Israel. Hamas, which the U.S. State Department designated a terrorist organization, has fought several wars with Israel, most recently in 2014. Sporadic fighting resumed in May last year but ended relatively quickly in informal truces. Palestinians branded Trump's plan dismissively, because of his real estate roots as the "Deal of the Century." Trump has also used variations on this phrase to describe it. Before the announcement, Trump said Palestinians might react negatively to his plan at first, but "it's actually very positive for them." Trump said, "It's a great plan, a plan that really would work." He said Tuesday it has been "a long and very arduous process to arrive at this moment." Officials from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain attended the plan's release at the White House along with senior Israeli officials and U.S. diplomats. Jordan warned against "annexation of Palestinian lands." Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a tweet that Trump's "one-sided" peace plan is "delusional hyperbole over reality." Every American president in modern times, citing shared history and values and an unshakable security commitment, has been pro-Israel. Trump has undertaken a series of firmly pro-Israel actions that include moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as part of their future capital; recognizing the Golan Heights as belonging to Israel instead of Syria, in defiance of international law; and pulling the United States out of the 2015 landmark Iran nuclear deal with world powers, an accord that Israel, Iran's sworn enemy, firmly opposed. The Trump administration backed the expansion of Israeli Jewish settlements, no longer viewing them as illegal under international law, closed a Palestinian diplomatic office in Washington the Palestinians' de facto embassy and withdrawn all funding for Palestinian-related aid projects, including those focused on water resources and schools. "We have had no better friend than President Trump," Netanyahu said before the plan's release. "With this (White House) invitation, I think that the president is seeking to give Israel the peace and security that it deserves." Last year, Netanyahu, in a sign of his government's appreciation, inaugurated a planned Israeli community named "Ramat Trump" in Hebrew, or "Trump Heights," in the Golan Heights about 12 miles from Syria's border. "Trump Heights," a planned Israeli development in the Golan Heights, was named in recognition of President Donald Trump's pro-Israel policies. Israel settlements: Donald Trump proves he's the 'King of Israel' "Most Israeli Jews welcome (Trump's peace plan), said Moshe Maoz, a Middle East expert at Hebrew University, in Jerusalem. "Particularly Netanyahu, who hopes that this would help him to do away with his indictments." Susie Gelman, chair of the Israel Policy Forum, a New York-based American Jewish organization that works for a negotiated two-state solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, said Trump's plan will "provide the Israeli government with the excuse to proceed with unilateral moves such as annexing parts of the West Bank." She said this would "place the future of Israeli-Palestinian peace in great jeopardy, thereby posing a serious risk to Israeli security and to Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state." Michael Makovsky, president and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a Washington-based pro-Israel think tank, said it is important that Trump is following through on his promise to release the plan. "What matters is the substance: Its long past time that the U.S. introduce new parameters, ones that are more realistic than past efforts, that have hopefully learned the lessons of past failures and can form the foundation of a successful effort," Makovsky said. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., praised Trump's plan, saying it "provided a path to new negotiations and a lasting peace that preserves the Jewish state of Israel and provides a path for a recognized Palestinian state." Of the lack of Palestinian participation in the peace plan, Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said, "We recognize theyre not at the table," but they have four years to decide if they want to pursue this. "This is not take it or leave it. Its there for the taking." Palestinians reacted negatively to the announcement. "A reminder to the international community: Israel is an occupying power on the state of Palestine," Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian diplomat, said in a WhatsApp message before the plan's release. "Any deal ... that ignores this fact, will be recorded in history as the 'Fraud of the Century.' '' Mustafa Barghouti, a former Palestinian lawmaker and onetime presidential candidate, said, "It is a very bad plan for peace. It will ... consolidate a system of Israeli apartheid against Palestinians. That's not sustainable." Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh denounced the proposal as a violation of international law that "comes from a party that has lost its credibility to be an honest broker in a serious and genuine political process." Contributing: Deirdre Shesgreen, Courtney Subramanian This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump unveils Middle East peace plan, hosts Netanyahu, Gantz Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Close Trump says Jerusalem will be Israel's 'undivided capital' under Middle East peace plan Donald Trumps legal team delivered its closing remarks at the US Senate impeachment trial on Tuesday, working to discredit the Democratic-led investigation into the presidents conduct towards Ukraine and fixating on Hunter Biden. The final defence comes as Democratic senators have characterised their arguments as nonsensical, absurd and incredibly surreal. The team of attorneys gave their closing remarks, which ends the initial phase of the trial, just as a new survey indicated a staggering majority of millennials across the country support the impeachment against Mr Trump, with 63 per cent of those surveyed saying they want senators to vote to remove the president from the Oval Office. The US Senate was set to vote at the end of the week about whether to add witnesses to the ongoing trial, following a leak of former National Security Adviser John Boltons new memoir that appeared to directly connect Mr Trump to demand for political investigations into Joe Biden. The president has meanwhile unveiled his ambitions plans to bring peace to the Middle East today alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just before heading to Wildwood, New Jersey, for his latest "Keep America Great" rally. He also backed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his battle with National Public Radio and tweeted out more media criticism, one target familiar and the other less so. The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty Mr Trump introduced Mr Pompeo at an East Room announcement of the administration's Mideast peace plan, saying it was "very impressive" that he got a standing ovation from the White House workers and guests. "That reporter couldn't have done too good a job on you," the president said. "I think you did a good job on her, actually." NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly angered Mr Pompeo with a short interview on Friday, then he reportedly berated her afterward in his office. The State Department then announced Monday that NPR reporter Michele Kelemen would not be allowed on Mr Pompeo's upcoming trip to Europe and Central Asia; NPR had no immediate comment on the president's remarks on Tuesday. Earlier Tuesday, the president tweeted an insult at CNN's Don Lemon, who received some criticism in conservative media for hosting a segment over the weekend where two of his guests made fun of the "rube demo" that backed Mr Trump. He also tweeted criticism of his favourite network, Fox News Channel, for "trying to be 'politically correct"' by having a Democratic senator discuss impeachment on the network. The president said Fox's Chris Wallace, who on Monday challenged a Fox contributor for not having her facts straight in a discussion about impeachment witnesses, shouldn't be on the network. "What the hell has happened to Fox News?" Mr Trump tweeted. "Only I know!" Additional reporting by Associated Press. Please allow a moment for our live blog to load Getting involved in a small group or Bible study can help enrich our lives as Christians and develop our faith. For some, joining a small group can seem intimidating, time consuming, or simply not important compared to other obligations. Life is busy with our families, careers, and the long list of tasks we are responsible for. Committing to a small group may often fall at the bottom of ones list of priorities for a variety of reasons. You may wonder if being part of a small group is worth it. But, people who are part of small groups feel more connected to their church, find ways to serve, and have a support system they can depend on for prayer and encouragement. When we look to the Bible, we find guidance and insight into the significance and benefits of being part of a godly community of believers. Early Church Believers Gathered Together Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:46-47). The early church is quite an inspiration and provides us with rich wisdom and examples about how to connect with other believers and how to be the body of Christ. This passage in Acts gives us a beautiful illustration of the unity and harmony that can be found among believers, and what we should strive for today. Gods word reminds us that we should worship together, eat and fellowship with one another, and enjoy the company of our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is truly an honor to be part of the body of Christ, and when we are together, we bring honor and glory to the Lord. Naturally, we desire friendships and companionship. We are prompted in the Bible to commune with other believers. Being part of a small group can be the answer to your prayers for relationships with people who share a deep love for Jesus. We Arent Called to Face Life Alone Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). Long before Jesus walked this earth, the same wise message was shared with those who followed God: companionship is necessary and part of Gods design for humanity. We werent meant to go through life alone. When we feel isolated and lonely, pursuing godly friendships can be the way out. Being part of a small group can give you the connection you long for, and the support you need when you go through troubles, setbacks, or trials. As we journey through life, and especially when we face battles, having fellow Christians to support us in prayer and presence can make all the difference. A small group can be the shoulder to lean on, or the hand to hold when were going through a difficult situation or need biblical counsel. God is our source and strength, and He oftentimes uses other believers to bring us renewed hope and peace when times are tough. Community will Challenge and Grow You As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17). Photo credit: Getty Images/Katarzyna Bialasiewicz Other believers can walk with us as we grow and transform spiritually. One of the main points of being part of a small group is to encourage each other in faith and to help one another live more righteously. In a small group setting, you can discuss more about what youve heard in the Sunday morning sermons and what youre learning about God. As a group, you get to dig into Gods word or read Christian books that give further insight into faith and how to pursue a deeper relationship with the Lord. We need other Christians in our lives to challenge us, support us, and help us understand what it means to live a life for Jesus. We cannot sharpen ourselves, we need others to do that. The Holy Spirit works through other believers to help refine us, and a small group is often the ideal place for real and lasting spiritual transformation to take place. Encourage and Be Encouraged And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one anotherand all the more as you see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25). We read in Hebrews that we shouldnt give up meeting together as believers, but to keep this spiritual practice alive because there is purpose to believers coming together. Just as we help sharpen each other, when believers come together, we point each other toward a life of love and goodness. Being in a small group will motivate you to be more loving toward others. It will leave you filled up and ready to do good works of faith. Youll gain a deeper understanding of the Bible as you study it with other believers and be able to apply it to your life; how you think, act, and what you say. When you become part of a small group, you will have a chance to not only be encouraged, but to encourage others who are wanting to deepen their faith and live faithfully. You will get the chance to pour into other Christians who are looking for genuine community and fellowship. As God strengthens and empowers us, we are able to invest in others and point them in the direction of a solid relationship with Jesus. God Will Be with Your Group For where two or three gather together in my name, there I am with them (Matthew 18:20). What an incredible promise of Gods presence. God blesses us with His amazing presence when believers gather together in His name. He will be in the midst. A small group meeting allows for prayers to be lifted up, for the report of answered prayers to be shared, and for communal worship to take place, all in the presence of the Spirit of the Lord. Small groups may often find ways to serve the community or those who are in need. When there are two or more, God will be in the midst as a small group serves to make a positive and lasting impact in Jesus name. A theme consistent throughout Scripture is that being in community with other believers is truly important in our lives. Joining a small group or Bible study brings plenty of benefits and is a way to fulfill the innate desire to be connected to others and have authentic friendships with Christians. If youve been on the fence about becoming part of a small group at your church, consider these benefits and how the Bible instructs us and gives us wisdom about being part of an intentional community of believers. Photo credit: Getty Images/digitalskillet Pamela Palmer is a writer, chaplain, and the founder of upheldlife.com, the platform on which she produces weekly devotionals and faith resource articles to inspire keeping faith at the center of it all. She lives and thrives on Jesus, coffee, and music. She is in pastoral ministry and gets to share in the emotional and spiritual lives of many people, being a small piece of each journey. Pamela married the perfect man for her and they have two beautiful kiddos. She has been published on herviewfromhome.com and you can follow her at upheldlife.com, or on Facebook.com/upheldlife. David Schwimmer is returning to television in his upcoming comedy Intelligence, but ahead of the release he reflected on his most famous TV role to date: Ross Geller on Friends. Though the show received backlash from a new generation of Friends viewers after it hit Netflix, Schwimmer defended the sitcom and called it groundbreaking while also revealing he had made a conscious push while filming to encourage the casting of diverse actors. Speaking to The Guardian, he addressed criticism the show has received relating to issues of homophobia, transphobia and sexism. (For example, the show repeatedly mocks Chandlers father, who creator Marta Kaufmann confirmed is a transgender woman.) David Schwimer with Aisha Tyler, who played his onscreen girlfriend Charlie Wheeler / Getty Images Schwimmer, who described himself as really attuned to social issues and issues of equality at the time, said of the backlash, I dont care. The truth is also that show was groundbreaking in its time for the way in which it handled so casually sex, protected sex, gay marriage and relationships. The pilot of the show was my characters wife left him for a woman and there was a gay wedding, of my ex and her wife, that I attended. I feel that a lot of the problem today in so many areas is that so little is taken in context, he continued. You have to look at it from the point of view of what the show was trying to do at the time. Im the first person to say that maybe something was inappropriate or insensitive, but I feel like my barometer was pretty good at that time. The cast of Friends / REUTERS Schwimmer also touched on the casting of actors including Lauren Tom and Aisha Tyler, who both played his characters love interests on the show. He said, I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of colour. One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part, he continued. He also added that there should maybe be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends. Tyle, who now stars on Archer, revealed to InStyle last year that she landed her Friends role after a process of colourblind casting. She said, The role wasnt written as a woman of colour, and when I auditioned, I read against women of every ethnic background. David Schwimmer in 2018 / Getty Images I think why it worked was that they didnt make it into a very special episode of Friends, where the friends suddenly confront issues of race, or try to somehow counterbalance the previous eight seasons relative lack of diversity. I was just a character on the show, with her own appeal and quirks and foibles, she continued, and I think thats why it worked so well. Schwimmer, who is a classically trained actor, revealed that he struggled in the wake of Friends to return to theatre as he had been "pigeonholed in this one [television] genre". At the time, he said it "obliterated all the other training" he had undergone.Schwimmer has since become more involved in the theatre scene and in 1988 founded his own theatre company in Chicago, called Lookingglass Theatre Company. Infill diamond drilling results confirm model grades and thickness of main orebodies Orebody A: 15.22 g/t Au over 8.36m (including 20.20 g/t Au over 5.55m) Orebody C: 8.02 g/t Au over 7.66m (including 19.35 g/t Au over 2.75m) TORONTO / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX: JAG)(OTCPINK:JAGGF) is pleased to announce results of its 2019 Infill diamond drilling campaign and the resumption of growth exploration drilling activities at its Turmalina Mine Operation ("Turmalina"). Infill drilling completed in 2019 confirms expected modelled grade and thickness of both Orebody A and Orebody C which are the source of current production. This drilling is expected to support replacement of Mineral Reserves net of 2019 production depletion. Definitions: ETW - estimated true width, g/t Au - grams per tonne gold, m - metres, grade (g/t Au) x thickness (m) = GM (gram - metres) At Turmalina, 11 infill drilling intersections reported grade (g/t Au) x thickness (m) results > 25 GM (refer to Table 1, Figure 1 and Appendix 1, 2) with the best results from Orebody A, including 15.22 g/t Au over 8.36m (including 20.20 g/t Au over 5.55m) and Orebody C including 8.02 g/t Au over 7.66m (including 19.35 g/t Au over 2.75m). Contractors, Major Drilling, have mobilized an underground diamond rig dedicated to growth exploration at Turmalina through 2020. This drilling will initially focus on evaluating the important C-SE Block between level 6 and level 8 and below current level 8 access development as well as test priority targets on Orebody A, Orebody B and C-Central / NW (Figure 1). The location of planned and targeted 2020 infill and growth exploration drilling is presented in Figure 2. Vern Baker CEO, Jaguar Mining commented: "Resumption of growth exploration drilling at Turmalina is an important milestone in Jaguar's ongoing transformation to stabilize, grow and sustain production from its key operations in the prolific Iron Quadrangle of Brazil. The highly successful prior cycle of growth exploration Investment by Jaguar, commenced in late 2016, culminated in a material increase in the company's Mineral Resource inventory in 2017-2018 and Mineral Reserve inventory in early 2019. Infill Drilling activities at Turmalina in 2019 are expected to replace 2019 mine depletion. With a sustained four-year reserve inventory underpinning the Company's planned production at current mining rates going forward, this growth exploration cycle will focus on adding new, high-quality Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve ounces contiguous with existing mining infrastructure, while leveraging existing excess plant capacity. In parallel, the exploration team is working to progress the next generation of priority, near-mine brownfields targets, supporting the Company's immediate and longer-term growth objectives." Jon Hill, Expert Advisor, Geology and Exploration, Jaguar Mining Management Committee commented: "The previous investment in the growth exploration cycle (2016-2019) at Jaguar, successfully provided the company with a solid and sustainable four-year reserve inventory at low discovery and conversion costs. This new cycle of growth exploration will focus on targeting a number of clear, near-term productivity and growth opportunities, which have been either recently discovered, recognized or under-explored mineralized zones. These compelling targets have been generated through a combination of high-quality geological and structural mapping and careful review of historical data by the Geology and Exploration Team. The benefits of this approach are proven, and we expect to once again deliver material value to Jaguar via strong, researched drill programs supported by a successful and highly motivated team." Turmalina Gold Mine Drill Results showing intercepts reporting greater than 25 gram meters. Figure 1. Location Infill Drilling Impacts Orebody A, Orebody C-SE and C-Central On Grade X Thickness Projection. Table 1. 2019 Infill Drilling Results Orebody A and Orebody C-Central. Summary of Significant Intersections with greater than 25 gram metres Jaguar Mining Inc. - Turmalina Mine Hole ID From (m) To (m) Down Hole Interval (m) Estimated True Width (m) Gold Grade (g/t Au) GT (ETW) Date (mm/dd/yyyy) Orebody FTS1727 103.68 118.48 14.80 12.12 2.45 29.69 5/28/2019 A 131.73 146.11 14.38 11.77 5.56 65.44 A Including 139.16 143.30 4.14 3.38 12.69 42.91 A FTS1728 142.68 151.58 8.90 8.36 15.22 127.24 A Including 143.84 149.74 5.90 5.55 20.20 112.13 A FTS1729 83.03 89.99 6.96 5.70 4.39 25.02 5/14/2019 A FTS1731 94.85 106.08 11.23 9.52 3.35 31.89 5/10/2019 A FTS1740 125.50 136.15 10.65 7.66 8.02 61.43 6/24/2019 C-Central Including 130.29 134.12 3.83 2.75 19.35 53.21 C-Central FTS1747 144.51 150.44 5.93 4.67 5.43 25.36 7/4/2019 A FTS1748 146.79 157.82 11.03 9.03 8.62 77.84 7/5/2019 A Including 151.50 155.23 3.73 3.00 18.64 55.92 A FTS1754 150.72 156.51 5.79 4.56 5.49 25.03 7/1/2019 C-Central FTS1755 92.86 96.03 3.17 2.65 16.65 44.12 7/11/2019 A FTS1763 50.64 54.48 3.84 3.58 7.04 25.20 9/13/2019 CSE FTS1764 55.62 58.45 2.83 2.5 29.03 72.58 CSE Figure 2. Location of 2020 Infill and Growth Exploration Drilling in Orebody A, Orebody C-SE and C-Central. Figure 3. Location of 2020 Infill and Growth Exploration Drilling in Orebody A, Orebody C-SE and C-Central. Table 2. Metreage of 2020 Infill and Growth Exploration Drilling Turmalina Mine. Qualified Person Scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Jonathan Victor Hill, BSc (Hons) (Economic Geology - UCT), FAUSIMM, Senior Expert Advisor Geology and Exploration to the Jaguar Mining Management Committee, who is also an employee of Jaguar Mining Inc., and is a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Quality Control Jaguar continues to use a quality-control program that includes insertion of blanks and commercial standards in order to ensure best practice in sampling and analysis. HQ, NQ, and BQ size drill core is sawn in half with a diamond saw. Samples are selected for analysis in standard intervals according to geological characteristics such as lithology and hydrothermal alteration. All diamond drill hole collars are accurately surveyed using a Total Station instrument and down-hole deviations are surveyed using a non-magnetic Reflex Gyrosmart 642. Mean grades are calculated using a variable lower grade cut-off (generally 0.5g/t Au). No upper gold grade cut has been applied to the data. However, the requirement for assay top cutting will be assessed during future resource work. Half of the sawed sample is forwarded to the analytical laboratory for analysis while the remaining half of the core is stored in a secure location. The drill core samples from growth exploration drill holes are transported in securely sealed bags and sent for physical preparation to the independent ALS Brazil (subsidiary of ALS Global) laboratory located in Vespasiano, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The analysis is conducted at ALS Global's respective facilities (fire assay are conducted by ALS Global in Lima, Peru, and multi-elementary analysis are conducted by ALS Global in Vancouver, Canada). ALS has accreditation in a global management system that meets all requirements of international standards ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 9001:2015. All major ALS geochemistry analytical laboratories are accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 for specific analytical procedures. The infill drilling results presented on this news release are from drill holes completed by both Major Drilling on contract and Jaguar Mining Inc's own drilling machines. The infill samples are transported for physical preparation and analysis in securely sealed bags to the Jaguar in-house laboratory located at the Roca Grande Mine, Caete, Minas Gerais. For a complete description of Jaguar's sample preparation, analytical methods and QA/QC procedures, please refer to the "Technical Report on the Roca Grande and Pilar Operations, Minas Gerais State, Brazil", a copy of which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. The Iron Quadrangle The Iron Quadrangle has been an area of mineral exploration dating back to the 16th century. The discovery in 1699-1701 of gold contaminated with iron and platinum-group metals in the southeastern corner of the Iron Quadrangle gave rise to the name of the town Ouro Preto (Black Gold). The Iron Quadrangle contains world-class multi-million-ounce gold deposits such as Morro Velho, Cuiaba, and Sao Bento. Jaguar holds the second largest gold land position of a gold producer in the Iron Quadrangle with just over 25,000 hectares. About Jaguar Mining Inc. Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims covering an area of approximately 64,000 hectares. The Company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex and Caete Mining Complex (Pilar and Roca Grande Mines, and Caete Plant). The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. The Roca Grande Mine has been on temporary care and maintenance since April 2018. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com. For further information, please contact: Vern Baker Chief Executive Officer Jaguar Mining Inc. vbaker@jaguarmining.com +55 (31) 3232-7101 Hashim Ahmed Chief Financial Officer Jaguar Mining Inc. hashim.ahmed@jaguarmining.com 416-847-1854 Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. All of the forward-looking information set forth in this news release is qualified by the cautionary statements below and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators in Canada. Forward-looking information contained in forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "are expected", "is forecast", "is targeted," "approximately," "plans," "anticipates," "projects," "continue," "estimate," "believe," or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "might," or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, may be considered to be or include forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and the dates of technical reports, as applicable. This news release contains forward-looking information regarding potential and, among other things, expected future mineral resources, potential mineral production opportunities, geological and mineral exploration statistics, ore grades, current and expected future assay results, and definition/delineation/exploration drilling at the Pilar Gold Mine and the Turmalina Gold Mine in Brazil, as well as forward-looking information regarding costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development of projects and new deposits, success of exploration, development and mining activities, capital requirements, project studies, mine life extensions, and continuous improvement initiatives. The Company has made numerous assumptions with respect to forward-looking information contained herein, including, among other things, assumptions about the estimated timeline and for the development of the drill program at the Pilar Gold Mine (and its expanded exploration footprint) and the Turmalina Gold Mine; its mineral properties; the supply and demand for, and the level and volatility of the price of, gold; the accuracy of reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions on which the reserve and resource estimates are based; the receipt of necessary permits; market competition; ongoing relations with employees and impacted communities; and political and legal developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations including, without limitation, the impact of any potential power rationing, tailings facility regulation, exploration and mine operating licenses and permits being obtained and renewed and/or there being adverse amendments to mining or other laws in Brazil and any changes to general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking information involves a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including among others: the risk of Jaguar not meeting its plans regarding its operations and financial performance; uncertainties with respect to the price of gold, labor disruptions, mechanical failures, increase in costs, environmental compliance and change in environmental legislation and regulation, weather delays and increased costs or production delays due to natural disasters, power disruptions, procurement and delivery of parts and supplies to the operations; uncertainties inherent to capital markets in general (including the sometimes volatile valuation of securities and an uncertain ability to raise new capital) and other risks inherent to the gold exploration, development and production industry, which, if incorrect, may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described herein. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of gold exploration, development, mining and production, including without limitation environmental hazards, tailings dam failures, industrial accidents and workplace safety problems, unusual or unexpected geological formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding, chemical spills, and gold bullion thefts and losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks). Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking 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 information. Appendix 1 Infill Drilling Results Orebody A and Orebody C. Summary of Significant Intersections, Drilling Program Jaguar Mining Inc. - Turmalina Mine Hole ID From (m) To (m) DownHole Interval (m) Estimated True Width (m) Gold Grade (g/t Au) GT (ETW) Date (mm/dd/yyyy) FTS1626 100.81 102.70 1.89 1.60 3.67 5.87 4/12/2019 112.78 115.33 2.55 1.77 3.20 5.66 147.72 153.17 5.45 3.98 2.01 8.00 FTS1639 113.43 114.56 1.13 1.11 1.02 1.13 8/22/2019 138.43 146.72 8.29 8.00 2.95 23.60 FTS1703 69.02 79.25 10.23 8.85 2.18 19.29 4/8/2019 FTS1704 148.43 151.47 3.04 2.25 7.62 17.15 4/16/2019 FTS1705 60.06 61.03 0.97 0.82 3.04 2.49 4/22/2019 FTS1722 No impact 4/1/2019 FTS1723 66.19 68.02 1.83 1.75 3.95 6.91 4/10/2019 FTS1724 60.03 61.88 1.85 1.53 1.36 2.08 5/28/2019 69.37 73.35 3.98 3.29 1.92 6.32 FTS1727 90.04 94.97 4.93 3.77 1.54 5.81 103.68 118.48 14.80 12.12 2.45 29.69 131.73 146.11 14.38 11.77 5.56 65.44 Including 139.16 143.30 4.14 3.38 12.69 42.91 FTS1728 142.68 151.58 8.90 8.36 15.22 127.24 Including 143.84 149.74 5.90 5.55 20.20 112.13 FTS1729 83.03 89.99 6.96 5.70 4.39 25.02 5/14/2019 FTS1731 94.85 106.08 11.23 9.52 3.35 31.89 5/10/2019 152.25 154.94 2.69 2.55 5.41 13.80 Including 94.85 97.57 2.72 2.30 7.24 16.65 FTS1733 52.86 53.95 1.09 0.83 3.05 2.53 6/5/2019 59.55 63.06 3.51 2.68 1.99 5.33 FTS1734 156.98 157.79 0.81 0.75 2.00 1.50 6/10/2019 FTS1735 130.80 132.01 1.21 1.10 4.83 5.31 6/26/2019 144.05 145.97 1.92 1.85 6.96 12.88 FTS1736 No impact 5/14/2019 FTS1737 104.50 109.75 5.25 2.95 3.13 9.23 6/24/2019 FTS1738 145.37 146.37 1.00 0.80 5.50 4.40 7/8/2019 169.62 173.41 3.79 2.72 4.19 11.40 FTS1740 125.50 136.15 10.65 7.66 8.02 61.43 6/24/2019 Including 130.29 134.12 3.83 2.75 19.35 53.21 FTS1741 40.53 42.56 2.03 0.71 1.48 1.05 7/22/2019 75.25 81.50 6.25 0.78 3.16 2.46 113.73 114.59 0.86 0.74 1.35 1.00 126.51 128.33 1.82 0.77 8.45 6.51 FTS1743 79.52 80.47 0.95 0.72 3.30 2.38 7/15/2019 114.00 114.98 0.98 0.78 1.12 0.87 147.64 155.03 7.39 0.71 1.82 1.29 156.73 157.69 0.96 0.84 1.28 1.08 172.79 173.97 1.18 0.66 11.26 7.43 179.49 188.04 8.55 0.66 3.30 2.18 FTS1745 109.89 111.99 2.10 2.02 2.93 5.92 5/16/2019 FTS1746 62.34 63.29 0.95 0.93 1.32 1.23 7/1/2019 101.19 103.32 2.13 2.09 1.59 3.32 FTS1747 91.24 92.31 1.07 0.85 3.30 2.81 7/4/2019 107.52 109.56 2.04 1.41 2.00 2.82 120.77 124.04 3.27 2.57 2.06 5.29 144.51 150.44 5.93 4.67 5.43 25.36 FTS1748 117.03 124.59 7.56 6.26 1.60 10.02 7/5/2019 132.12 134.40 2.28 1.82 1.90 3.46 146.79 157.82 11.03 9.03 8.62 77.84 Including 151.50 155.23 3.73 3.00 18.64 55.92 FTS1749 162.17 165.12 2.95 2.55 2.79 7.11 7/9/2019 FTS1750 71.58 72.32 0.74 0.74 1.79 1.33 7/22/2019 89.48 95.13 5.65 0.50 3.75 1.88 109.61 110.53 0.92 0.61 1.14 0.70 131.19 133.49 2.30 0.62 1.56 0.97 135.41 137.47 2.06 0.62 5.61 3.48 FTS1754 150.72 156.51 5.79 4.56 5.49 25.03 7/1/2019 FTS1755 68.69 70.77 2.08 1.59 1.32 2.10 7/11/2019 92.86 96.03 3.17 2.65 16.65 44.12 105.15 106.94 1.79 1.50 8.55 12.83 150.32 152.25 1.93 1.41 5.36 7.56 FTS1756 48.23 49.12 0.89 0.77 1.25 0.96 8/5/2019 106.55 107.65 1.10 0.90 1.00 0.90 FTS1757 119.22 120.15 0.93 0.85 1.64 1.39 9/11/2019 121.98 122.73 0.75 0.70 1.70 1.19 FTS1758 90.44 92.44 2.00 1.90 2.89 5.49 9/7/2019 FTS1760 60.89 63.56 2.67 0.17 2.18 0.37 7/29/2019 69.23 70.28 1.05 0.17 1.16 0.20 FTS1761 53.49 54.33 0.84 0.17 4.75 0.81 7/31/2019 55.30 56.49 1.19 0.17 3.09 0.52 61.51 62.50 0.99 0.17 1.19 0.20 86.41 87.36 0.95 0.30 4.66 1.40 FTS1762 50.48 55.06 4.58 4.49 2.06 9.24 7/25/2019 FTS1763 50.64 54.48 3.84 3.58 7.04 25.20 9/13/2019 FTS1764 55.62 58.45 2.83 2.50 29.03 72.58 9/13/2019 FTS1765 61.35 62.48 1.13 1.00 1.06 1.06 9/16/2019 67.42 68.49 1.07 0.95 1.61 1.53 84.29 85.27 0.98 0.90 2.12 1.91 FTS1766 53.88 57.01 3.13 2.90 6.16 17.86 FTS1770 97.27 99.19 1.92 1.85 9.72 17.98 7/3/2019 FTS1771 93.18 96.10 2.92 2.70 2.83 7.64 FTS1782 1.18 2.36 1.18 1.10 1.21 1.33 10/4/2019 79.24 80.44 1.20 1.15 1.98 2.28 FTS1777 41.00 41.84 0.84 0.75 2.37 1.78 10/14/2019 FTS1778 95.12 97.93 2.81 2.50 3.49 8.73 100.60 101.60 1.00 0.90 7.27 6.54 FTS1798 69.13 71.68 2.55 2.45 9.00 22.05 FTS1783 55.44 57.18 1.74 1.50 1.79 2.69 10/24/2019 FTS1784 59.16 63.25 4.09 3.95 2.44 9.64 FTS1768 56.56 60.65 4.09 3.90 3.99 15.56 10/28/2019 FTS1769 58.27 59.97 1.70 1.55 3.35 5.19 FTS1790 97.02 97.71 0.69 0.60 4.18 2.51 11/4/2019 FTS1791 99.35 99.94 0.59 0.55 1.24 0.68 FTS1779 91.70 92.60 0.90 0.85 3.10 2.64 11/5/2019 FTS1796 94.69 95.47 0.78 0.70 2.31 1.62 11/14/2019 FTS1785 No impact 12/16/2019 FTS1786 81.95 83.07 1.12 1.05 1.15 1.21 FTS1787 60.43 64.29 3.86 3.72 4.71 17.52 FTS1788 60.01 65.19 5.18 5.02 2.70 13.55 FTS1789 68.65 69.60 0.95 0.85 1.36 1.16 FTS1800 85.10 86.65 1.55 1.45 1.95 2.83 FTS1801 2.23 3.33 1.10 1.05 2.55 2.68 12/17/2019 FTS1802 97.96 103.47 5.51 5.41 4.28 23.15 FTS1803 65.44 67.58 2.14 2.10 1.15 2.42 12/18/2019 FTS1804 54.62 59.20 4.58 4.39 5.28 23.18 FTS1792 No impact 12/12/2019 FTS1793 37.03 37.94 0.91 0.85 2.87 2.44 74.73 75.40 0.67 0.65 2.24 1.46 FTS1794 60.67 61.49 0.82 0.75 2.11 1.58 12/28/2019 FTS1797 No impact 12/20/2019 FTS1799 139.21 141.08 1.87 1.73 4.80 8.30 12/11/2019 FTS1805 58.31 61.75 3.44 3.22 6.52 20.99 1/6/2020 FTS1806 60.70 61.45 0.75 0.70 1.04 0.73 FTS1807 0.92 3.20 2.28 2.19 4.95 10.84 84.64 85.52 0.88 0.75 1.68 1.26 FTS1808 No impact FTS1811 118.46 119.61 1.15 1.10 1.33 1.46 122.27 123.64 1.37 1.28 3.57 4.57 FTS1813 111.58 112.54 0.96 0.90 1.20 1.08 FTS1822 205.80 207.60 1.80 1.65 13.45 22.19 1/7/2020 FTS1823 190.80 191.90 1.10 1.00 1.88 1.88 Appendix 2 Drill - Hole location data for holes reported in this Press-Release - Orebody A and Orebody C Drilling. Hole ID Easting (m) Northing (m) Elevation (m) Total Depth (m) Collar Azimuth () Collar Dip () Orebody Drilling Company FTS1626 513654.72 7817243.04 -153.61 185.50 7.50 -18.56 A Jaguar FTS1703 512781.26 7817136.33 495.14 178.49 258.78 -46.01 C Jaguar FTS1704 512781.18 7817136.58 495.90 170.46 268.70 -16.24 C Jaguar FTS1705 513054.79 7816987.20 341.11 110.07 163.58 -14.51 C Jaguar FTS1722 513054.86 7816987.06 341.31 112.38 179.09 2.46 C Jaguar FTS1723 513054.98 7816987.22 341.44 135.78 167.45 2.39 A Jaguar FTS1724 513055.32 7816987.64 341.26 91.27 159.04 1.71 C Jaguar FTS1727 513654.10 7817243.30 -153.29 162.83 342.43 -4.02 A Jaguar FTS1728 513654.00 7817243.27 -153.30 175.96 338.70 -4.82 A Jaguar FTS1729 513654.86 7817242.89 -153.40 187.02 16.25 -10.58 A Jaguar FTS1731 513654.88 7817242.92 -152.50 188.32 14.99 -15.85 A Jaguar FTS1733 513050.29 7816986.26 342.45 89.00 205.08 -15.83 C Jaguar FTS1734 512781.28 7817136.47 495.91 188.53 265.34 -4.27 C Jaguar FTS1735 512781.28 7817136.13 495.12 170.31 271.53 -28.94 C Jaguar FTS1736 512781.52 7817138.12 495.40 115.09 225.42 -37.93 C Jaguar FTS1737 512781.24 7817137.59 494.91 130.99 184.83 -39.89 C Jaguar FTS1738 512781.45 7817135.99 496.38 178.93 266.11 6.00 C Jaguar FTS1740 512781.19 7817136.32 495.44 196.89 277.88 -20.52 C Jaguar FTS1741 512781.56 7817135.29 496.38 151.21 240.00 6.16 C Jaguar FTS1743 512781.33 7817136.05 496.33 198.45 266.40 2.54 C Jaguar FTS1745 512781.08 7817137.49 494.84 150.30 180.67 -37.52 C Jaguar FTS1746 512780.67 7817138.33 494.94 122.52 201.37 -43.81 C Jaguar FTS1747 513654.19 7817243.21 -153.50 179.43 0.18 -17.84 A Jaguar FTS1748 513654.82 7817243.02 -154.11 174.93 346.60 -15.72 A Jaguar FTS1749 513653.93 7817243.40 -153.70 180.60 343.88 -16.86 A Jaguar FTS1750 513654.44 7817243.28 -153.44 167.49 1.11 -9.07 A Jaguar FTS1754 512781.27 7817135.86 496.10 190.00 263.41 0.16 C Jaguar FTS1755 513655.12 7817242.98 -153.86 179.33 25.59 -20.56 A Jaguar FTS1760 513126.93 7816979.73 331.12 101.23 234.25 -21.15 C Jaguar FTS1761 513127.31 7816979.53 331.22 100.06 217.11 -22.08 C Jaguar FTS1639 513492.81 7817329.91 -122.58 146.72 59.48 -27.79 A Jaguar FTS1750 513654.44 7817243.28 -153.44 167.49 1.11 -9.07 A Jaguar FTS1756 513655.31 7817242.83 -153.88 117.10 33.23 -21.14 A Jaguar FTS1757 513655.02 7817242.80 -153.48 181.11 24.29 -8.85 A Jaguar FTS1758 513655.11 7817242.92 -153.66 179.50 27.75 -14.16 A Jaguar FTS1762 513127.60 7816979.40 331.28 101.63 201.93 -19.24 C Jaguar FTS1763 513127.11 7816979.65 331.08 116.35 188.50 21.00 C Jaguar FTS1764 513127.56 7816979.37 331.25 131.24 174.99 -14.69 C Jaguar FTS1765 513126.06 7816980.84 330.75 97.95 236.64 -35.04 C Jaguar FTS1766 513126.31 7816980.32 330.73 98.27 218.09 -37.83 C Jaguar FTS1770 513482.92 7817330.09 -182.65 132.90 331.34 4.06 A Jaguar FTS1771 513483.03 7817330.20 -182.86 125.42 337.33 3.24 A Jaguar FTS1782 513130.28 7816978.06 331.56 182.66 152.60 -10.09 C Jaguar FTS1777 513484.45 7817329.45 -183.13 108.57 33.83 -10.51 A Jaguar FTS1778 513484.32 7817329.62 -183.24 120.90 27.58 -15.63 A Jaguar FTS1798 513482.45 7817330.29 -182.80 159.38 323.01 1.19 A Jaguar FTS1783 513126.97 7816979.48 331.60 80.88 188.62 -6.00 C Jaguar FTS1784 513126.69 7816979.53 332.11 84.61 196.54 7.27 C Jaguar FTS1768 513127.61 7816979.63 330.65 84.48 169.59 -45.52 C Jaguar FTS1769 513127.69 7816979.31 331.22 86.12 169.29 -30.21 C Jaguar FTS1790 513483.89 7817329.91 -183.16 126.87 8.25 -14.21 A Jaguar FTS1791 513483.69 7817329.98 -183.17 129.72 358.77 -14.37 A Jaguar FTS1779 513484.12 7817329.72 -183.23 120.72 17.39 -15.69 A Jaguar FTS1796 513483.42 7817329.85 -182.28 122.46 326.48 14.27 A Jaguar FTS1785 513128.15 7816979.13 330.98 90.00 164.62 -57.20 C Jaguar FTS1786 513128.40 7816979.22 330.53 100.00 147.10 -67.07 C Jaguar FTS1787 513127.29 7816979.32 332.39 85.00 213.29 4.53 C Jaguar FTS1788 513127.76 7816979.32 332.32 85.00 187.45 7.28 C Jaguar FTS1789 513128.10 7816979.21 332.32 95.00 167.42 6.75 C Jaguar FTS1800 513129.26 7816978.68 332.29 110.00 160.29 6.07 C Jaguar FTS1801 513129.32 7816978.62 332.08 95.00 158.98 -2.34 C Jaguar FTS1802 513129.74 7816978.41 332.06 115.00 146.18 -2.64 C Jaguar FTS1803 513127.67 7816979.20 332.01 83.00 229.70 -4.13 C Jaguar FTS1804 513128.16 7816979.01 332.01 75.00 210.61 -5.12 C Jaguar FTS1792 513483.19 7817330.11 -182.84 119.70 345.21 -16.45 A Jaguar FTS1793 513483.42 7817329.85 -182.28 122.46 334.48 -13.45 A Jaguar FTS1794 513483.56 7817329.98 -182.89 135.00 353.94 -5.76 A Jaguar FTS1797 513482.45 7817330.29 -182.80 159.38 331.27 -4.13 A Jaguar FTS1799 513485.53 7817328.81 -183.20 150.28 50.43 -17.52 A Jaguar FTS1805 513129.26 7816978.68 332.29 110.00 176.25 -5.11 C Jaguar FTS1806 513129.32 7816978.62 332.08 95.00 154.67 -28.62 C Jaguar FTS1807 513129.74 7816978.41 332.06 115.00 142.08 -24.07 C Jaguar FTS1808 513127.67 7816979.20 332.01 83.00 142.55 -41.02 A Jaguar FTS1811 513128.16 7816979.01 332.01 75.00 36.69 -21.73 A Jaguar FTS1813 513484.98 7817329.24 -183.50 126.00 21.65 -22.90 A Jaguar FTS1822 513301.72 7817175.83 65.53 250.00 208.98 9.40 C Jaguar FTS1823 513300.92 7817176.30 65.49 240.00 225.73 8.52 C Jaguar SOURCE: Jaguar Mining Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574280/Jaguar-Announces-Turmalina-Mine-Infill-Diamond-Drill-Results-Resumption-Of-Growth-Exploration-Drilling W hen Jerry Halls mother told her being a good wife entailed being a maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom, I bet she didnt anticipate wed still be tailor-making our personalities in a bid to appeal to others decades later although these days were tooled up with social media and have followers, rather than just wayward husbands, to satisfy and entertain. A meme that began on Dolly Partons Instagram account a few days ago, and has now been posted by millions, proves that we are all still in full self-shifting swing. We rely on the age-old art of social chameleonism, despite supposedly living at the apex of our authentic selves. This meme (which comes with a full dose of irony) is a grid depicting the differing versions of ourselves that we portray on our social media platforms. Dolly wears a suit for her LinkedIn profile and has her hair up, while for Instagram she is fun Dolly with a guitar. Tinder Dolly is dressed as a bunny. Its about knowing your audience. With my school friends Ive been known to drop my Ts. But that same me has been guilty of poshing up my voice at glitzy suppers (although Id never say supper because Im not Princess Anne). Dolly Parton / Invision/AP Ive seen this social mercantilism in action among my colleagues and friends. Ive witnessed my posh mates sweetly try to save me from what they deem to be a catastrophic faux pas (calling a sitting room a front room quelle horreur), and Ive been censured by my not-so-posh mates for ordering sparkling water. Whats the point in spending six quid on that? they ask, inferring that I have somehow changed since leaving school. Sorry about that dont freak out, but I like olives as well. Recently, a lovely posh bloke at a dinner party asked me, So what are your social origins? To be fair, we had been talking about class, but its an unusual question all the same. I think he asked because he couldnt reconcile successful editor with comprehensive-educated Londoner. A lovely posh bloke at a dinner party asked me what my social origins were. Its an unusual question And this weekend, while watching the fantastic Welcome To HMP Belmarsh With Ross Kemp on ITV, it was apparent that there is a kind of social wizardry also in operation behind bars a prisoner was one version of himself in the cell block and another in the rehabilitation education class which is, of course, about survival. Perhaps it is all about that. Dont tell me youd recount the same joke in the pub as you would the boardroom, and that in your grandmothers company you dont tweak your manners. And if you dont, you are either totally socially secure congratulations or tragically unable to adapt. Which is best? The poet W H Auden wrote that his personal image of himself was very different from the image which I try to create in the minds of others in order that they may love me. And wed be lying if we said we didnt want to be loved, in all our guises. Shake it off the new well-being trend Trauma is big business, and weve all got some to get rid of apparently just being born is quite OTT for our emotional wellbeing. And so to the latest dotty treatment: Trauma Release Exercises, or TRE, which makes us shake to release pent-up emotion. Convulsing is the hot new thing, and the hiperati are paying for it in droves. A similar technique was used at Davos, with dancer Julianne Hough the guinea pig (healing will save the world never mind the collapse of capitalism). I decided I must try it. My therapist well call her Lorraine, as Im not in the business of ruining lives gave a demonstration. Television personality Julianne Hough (REUTERS) Cue her writhing around. I should have left then, but felt too British and compelled to stay. My treatment followed you put your soles together until your muscles get tired and you naturally begin to shake. The practice was founded by a man who saw children in bomb shelters shake in fear. His theory? As we get older, our shakes get socialised out of us, and so the fear gets absorbed, until you let Lorraine shake it out of you. Im sticking to my Shiatsu. Divide baby duty, say Swedish doctors Parents should draw up a contract before their baby is born to divide every duty equally down to the last second, according to a new book about how to parent like a Scandinavian. I couldnt agree more. Two Swedish doctors, Cecilia Chrapkowska and Agnes Wold, who between them have eight children and four grandchildren, argue the most important thing for a family is an equal division of parenting. They say that without it, resentment can get so bad it results in divorce. She may be counting down the days until she welcomes her third child, but Nicole Trunfio isn't ready to slow down just yet. Proving her social schedule is just as busy as ever, the 33-year-old model went out for dinner at LA celebrity hotspot Catch on Monday. Looking every inch the glamazon, she covered up her baby bump in a backless feather mini dress for her night out. Things that go bump in the night! A heavily pregnant Nicole Trunfio covered up her tummy in a backless feather dress while heading out to dinner in Los Angeles on Monday Nicole accessorised with nude strappy heels, a pearl clutch and statement earrings, and styled her raven hair loosely. The Australian beauty had accompanied her husband, blues musician Gary Clark Jr., to the Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Sunday. It was a successful night for Gary, who won Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance and Best Contemporary Blues Album. Looking good! Proving her social schedule is just as busy as ever, the 33-year-old model dressed to the nines for her night out at LA celebrity hotspot Catch Before the winners were announced, Nicole had stunned on the red carpet in a low-cut black dress with an oversized bow across the neck. The frock was cinched just above her tummy and featured a see-through lace skirt that offered a glimpse of her toned legs. Nicole, who hails from Perth but now lives in the U.S., already shares two children with Gary, son Zion, five, and daughter Gia, one. Daddy cool! Nicole had accompanied her husband, blues musician Gary Clark Jr. (left), to the Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Sunday She announced she was expecting her third child in the October 2019 issue of Elle Australia and is due to give birth any day now. In 2017, Nicole sold her property in Dubbo, NSW, and purchased a ranch in Texas with her husband, where their family now resides. They divide their time between the ranch and another property in Los Angeles. The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union cardboard boxes and Union Jack socks and all. With the Brexit moment set for 11pm on Friday, some UK politicians at the European Parliament in Brussels who have been fervent Brexit pushers were wasting no time getting ready to get out the door. Nigel Farages office on Tuesday was a jumble of boxes and mementoes ready to be packed and shipped. His favourite souvenir? A framed Economist cover with him, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin marching to the big drums of populism. Its not meant to be flattering, but in a sense, what it sums up is the great battle thats going on, Mr Farage said in an interview with The Associated Press. Nigel Farage has started removing personal items from his Brussels office (Francisco Seco/AP) He was still wearing his Union Jack socks, ready for Wednesdays plenary when the EU parliament should overwhelmingly approve the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the last act needed before the UK leaves on Friday. Downstairs in the parliamentary halls, some fans of the Brexit party, also dressed in British colours were posing among the flags of the member states, laughing and shouting at anyone wanting to hear how the EU was a dictatorship. Yet for most of the parliaments politicians and many of the departing British representatives, the EU remains one of the greatest experiments in peace-building and democracy following the devastation across Europe from the Second World War. Among the British backers of the EU are members of the Green party, who lit lights outside the European Parliament against the darkening sky, a symbolic Well leave a light on action in case British politicians ever do return to Brussels. Personal items on a desk of Nigel Farage at the European Parliament in Brussels (Francisco Seco/AP) For a more official occasion, EU Parliament chief David Sassoli will bid the UK a formal farewell during Wednesdays plenary, where the Brexit vote will take place. Even the UKs representation offices will change their name and become the UK Mission to the European Union. Story continues For insiders, UKReps will become UKMis, and they will still be just as busy, since both Britain and the EU still need to figure their future relationship and trade deals. One thing is sure though. Were passing the point of no return, said Mr Farage. Were leaving. Were never coming back. The city of Converse threw a party for the community in celebrating the citys recent designation as an ISO 1 rated city, the first in the region and one of only 57 in the state of Texas. Less than 1 percent of fire departments in the country have achieved the coveted 1 ISO rating, which signifies advancements in a stations service and adherence to several requirements for improved fire safety. The lower ISO rating Converse had been a ISO-2 rated city since 20106 means homeowners within the citys service area may be recipients of lower insurance rates on their homeowners coverage. It lets you know what kind of service youre receiving, Fire Chief Luis Valdez said last week, following the Jan. 18 community celebration and luncheon at Fire Station No. 1. It opened in January 2019, one of the catalysts for the rating change. A company called the ISO (Insurance Services Office) creates ratings for fire departments and their surrounding communities. The ratings calculate how well-equipped fire departments are to put out fires in that community. The ISO provides this score, often called the ISO fire score, to homeowners insurance companies. The insurers then use it to help set homeowners insurance rates. The more well-equipped a fire department is to put out a fire, the less likely a house is to burn down. That lowers the risk of fire destruction, and makes a home less expensive to insure. This is something to be proud of. The city, the department, the community, everybody played a part, said Mayor Al Suarez. The community played a part by approving the bond for the fire station, and for taking part in the Firewise program. Valdez said ISO ratings come out every 10 years. Converse was an ISO-4 in 2006, and advanced to an ISO-2 in 2016. The city received a Federal Emergency Management Agencys Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) Program grant of $566,157 in October 2018, allowing the city to hire six additional firefighters. The city then contacted ISO officials in February 2019 and requested an out-of-cycle evaluation. An ISO official paid the city a two-day visit in February 2019. That ISO report went to a second committee for review. The city was notified last month that the ISO review was complete. Valdez said a Jan. 2 email confirmed the notification and that the ISO 1 rating was to be bestowed on the city. Suarez s homeowners in Converse, as well as residents of Emergency Services District 1, which the city serves, to check with their insurance agencies and companies about the rate increase and the cost savings that may result. (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for Bloombergs daily technology newsletter here. The last two weeks have been remarkably eventful for Jeff Bezos. First, the Amazon.com Inc. co-founders visit to India was met with street-side protests, a new antitrust investigation into predatory pricing and unfair trade practices and hostile comments from the government led by India Prime Minster Narendra Modi. Then last week, Bezoss yearlong tangle with Saudi Arabia burst into the headlines, with cybersecurity investigators concluding with medium to high confidence that Bezoss iPhone was hacked via a WhatsApp message sent directly from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans account. Those are two very different situations in two separate parts of the world. But they had something in commonan overly optimistic bet (that Amazon placed, along with its Big Tech brethren) on global leaders whose dispositions turned out to be less open and, to varying degrees, more autocratic than Silicon Valley originally thought. Amazon first bet big on India in 2014, when Bezos stood on the top of a flatbed truck in ceremonial Indian wedding garb and presented the chief of his local operation with an oversized $2 billion check. Bezos met with Modi on that trip and amid mutual goodwill, seemed to believe the prime minister would loosen Indias rigorous restrictions on how foreign-owned e-commerce companies could operate. Since then, regulations in India have actually become stricter, with Modi catering to his partys base of small business owners by limiting Amazons ability to sell items directly and to control its own prices. While gaining market share from Walmart Inc.-owned rival Flipkart, Amazons marketplace division reported steep losses in the last full fiscal year. On Bezoss latest trip, Modi reportedly declined to meet with him. Bezoss relationship with Saudi Arabia started with similar hopes. According to last weeks reports, Bezos and Prince Mohammed met at a 2018 dinner party in Los Angeles and exchanged phone numbers. Buoyed by the crown princes promise of modernizing the desert kingdom and diversifying its oil-based economy, Amazon was angling to close a $2.2 billion deal to put three data centers in the country. But that arrangement was put on ice after Saudi agents killed Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist at the Bezos-owned Washington Post. Saudi officials have said the crown prince had no involvement in the murder of Khashoggi or the cyberattack on Bezos. Now a Twitter account linked to the Saudi government is advocating for an Amazon boycott. Story continues In each country, Amazons agenda was complicated by the regimes bellicosity toward coverage in the Post. But the sharp decline of its fortunes in India and Saudi Arabia is also about leaders whose true colors were much darker than they originally seemed. India under Modi recently passed a restrictive citizenship law that prevents many undocumented Muslim migrants from becoming citizens, while allowing for applicants with different religious affiliations. The Saudi government under Prince Mohammed has fueled conflict in Yemen, persecuted religious and political dissidents and unleashed coordinated Twitter attacks and other cyber tactics on its perceived enemies. Amazon wasnt alone in pinning unrealistic hopes on these leaders. India has proved similarly challenging for Facebook Inc. The country accounts for Facebooks largest user base, but the government has tried to force the company to identify users of the encrypted WhatsApp messaging service and threatened to introduce restrictive new rules to regulate social media. And in 2018 the Saudi crown prince cultivated many tech leaders who would likely be wary of such photo ops today. It wasnt too long ago that tech leaders were overly optimistic about China, too. Mark Zuckerberg did a fun run for the cameras in Beijing and a meet-and-greet with President Xi Jinping. Google thought it could sneak back into China, after famously withdrawing from the country in 2010, with its secretive Dragonfly search project. Back in what now seems a simpler time, tech companies thought the world was becoming more receptive to the economic bounties and democratizing halo of the internet. But the world, and these leaders, have veered starkly away from this brand of idealism. It turned out they didn't want to be friends with Silicon Valley after all. If you read one thing When tech leaders tried to understand why large companies have trouble embracing new technologies, they turned to Clayton Christensen, author of the seminal book, the Innovators Dilemma, and several sequels. Christensen died last week at age 67 of complications from cancer treatment, according to Utahs Deseret News. And heres what you need to know in global technology news YouTube got the streaming rights to some of the biggest esports leagues. Google signed a deal with Activision Blizzard to carry Call of Duty and Overwatch competitions. The Call of Duty league debuted Friday with a three-day event in Minneapolis. Salesforce encouraged employees to buy and expense a copy of the co-founders new book. The software company sent a memo to its 48,000 workers last fall promoting the book, Trailblazer, and offering reimbursement. On its website, Salesforce describes the book as an instant bestseller. Airbnb sued a real estate developer it partnered with to build apartments. The suit accuses NDG and its chief of stealing at least $1 million. The venture has long been a source of controversy for Airbnb, which is expected to go public this year. To contact the author of this story: Brad Stone in San Francisco at bstone12@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, Anne VanderMey For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Oil rebounded from its lowest level since mid-October as investors weighed the extent to which Chinas coronavirus would hurt fuel demand. Futures recovered 0.6% in New York on Tuesday after losing more than 9% across five straight days of declines. Investors found comfort in the possibility of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies extending and deepening production cuts at its March meeting to stave off any supply imbalances if the coronavirus outbreak worsens. Theres some short-covering after the worst-case demand scenario got priced in, said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. Sentiment improved after the sell off captured the attention of Saudi Arabia and China ramped up efforts to contain the outbreak, he said. Theyve shown the market theyre not going to take this lying down. Chinese authorities have locked down cities with a combined 50 million people around the outbreaks epicenter in Wuhan, and will stop individuals traveling to Hong Kong. Fatalities increased to 106 in China, and infections have been reported throughout Asia as well as in the U.S., France, Canada and Germany. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised travelers to avoid all non-essential trips to China. Chinas expanded efforts to contain the outbreak coupled with the response from Saudi Arabia, the worlds biggest oil exporter, acted as a support to prices and a recognition that demand could be lower going into the second quarter, said Marshall Steeves, energy analyst at IHS Markit. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery rose 34 cents to $53.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. benchmark has lost 12% so far in January, set for the biggest monthly decline since May. Brent for March settlement rose 19 cents to $59.51 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, putting its premium over WTI at $6.03 a barrel. Flight activity in the five airports closest to Wuhan plunged 48% from the previous week, while aviation traffic in Shanghai and Shenzhen also fell, even though Lunar New Year holidays should have increased it, according to RBC Capital Markets. Profits from producing jet fuel in Asia fell to the lowest in nearly four years. Despite the gains on Tuesday, investors remain cautious of the pathogens potential to destabilize oil demand. Theres a wait-and-see attitude that seems to be driving markets right now, said Steeves. The virus fears are really a question of how much demand destruction occurs and how long that lasts, he said. With traders focused on demand, oil markets have largely shrugged off a political crisis in Libya that has choked off the OPEC nations exports. Eastern-based General Khalifa Haftar, the military leader whose faction controls the oil-rich east and south of the nation, blockaded the countrys ports earlier this month while haggling over a peace settlement with the national government. GCC tourists to Egypt will spend $2.36 billion in 2020, an increase of 11 per cent over 2019, with visitors from Saudi Arabia driving this growth, according to new data published ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2020, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 19-22. Visitors from Saudi Arabia to Egypt made 1,410 trips in 2019 with a forecast of 1.8 million tourists by 2024, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5 per cent. In terms of tourism expenditure, Saudi Arabian visitors spent $633 million in 2019, which is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 11 per cent through to 2024, reaching $1.13 billion, according to Colliers International research commissioned by the organiser of ATM, Reed Travel Exhibitions. Danielle Curtis, exhibition director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: Total tourism receipts in Egypt which stood at $16.4 billion in 2019, will achieve an average 13 per cent CAGR over the next five years to reach $29.7 billion. And Egypt also has a significant outbound market for the GCC. 1.84 million visitors arrived in 2019 and this is estimated to increase to 2.64 million by 2024, added Curtis. Egypts top source market is Germany with 2.48 million arrivals, a 46 per cent increase over 2018 and a total spend of $1.22 billion in 2019. German arrivals are forecast to reach 2.9 million by 2024 with a total projected spend of $2.18 billion. While arrivals from Europe are expected to be the largest contributor on a regional basis, increasing from 6.2 million in 2018 to 9.1 million tourists in 2022, arrivals from the GCC at 11 per cent will represent one of the highest growth rates. Over the last 12 months, Egypts tourism industry has witnessed remarkable growth, with arrivals up 57.5 per cent from 11.3 million in 2018 to 17.8 million in 2019. Growth has been fuelled by the cheaper Egyptian Pound and government incentives for charter airlines operating international flights, said Curtis. Data and analytics specialist STR commented that Sharm El Sheikh led the recovery with RevPAR rebounding 315 per cent for the November rolling 12 month period between 2016 and 2019. Hurghada followed closely with a 311 per cent increase, whereas Cairo & Giza recorded a 138 per cent growth. Underscoring those impressive numbers, we witnessed a 23 per cent increase in the number of visitors interested in doing business with Egypt, up to almost 4,000, added Curtis. Taking advantage of this resurgence in tourists, Egypt will be back at ATM 2020 with some of the countrys most prominent tourism companies including the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board, Dana Tours and Orascom Development Egypt, representing a 29 per cent increase in participation since 2018. Following Germany, the second-largest source market in 2019 was Ukraine, with 1.49 million visitors, almost 50 per cent growth over the previous year. This remarkable rise has been mainly driven by the availability of direct flights, which resumed, after a two-year suspension, in April 2018. Egypt tourism capital investment, which was estimated to have reached $4.2 billion in 2019, up 25 per cent on 2018, was fully justified after a major announcement by the UKs Department of Transport (DoT), was made on October 22. The DoE ended a ban on direct flights between the UK and the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh. This should lift UK visitor numbers significantly in 2020 and beyond, she added, Just days after the ban on UK flights to Sharm al-Sheikh was lifted, British Ambassador to Egypt Geoffrey Adams claimed that nearly half a million British citizens would visit Egypt before the end of 2020, a major boost for Egyptian tourism. After the flight ban was imposed, according to STR figures, hotel occupancy for the following year was a mere 33.6 per cent - last year it had already climbed to 59.7 per cent. Looking further than its current top source markets, the 2020 influx of UK visitors, the bulk of Russian visitors still to come back, as well as the Chinese market, the future looks promising for Egyptian tourism, said Curtis ATM, considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed almost 40,000 people to its 2019 event with representation from 150 countries. With over 100 exhibitors making their debut, ATM 2019 showcased the largest ever exhibition from Asia. Adopting Events for Tourism Growth as the official show theme, ATM 2020 will build on the success of this years edition with a host of seminar sessions discussing the impact events have on tourism growth in the region while inspiring the travel and hospitality industry about the next generation of events. - TradeArabia News Service Turkey deports French nationals over terror links Turkey has said several European countries resisted its efforts to send Daesh members back to their countries, but that it will nevertheless press forward. Turkey deported four terrorists of French nationality back to their home country on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry announced. 780 FOREIGN TERRORISTS SEND BACK IN 2019 The terrorists were deported as part of Turkey's ramped-up efforts to repatriate foreign terrorist fighters, the ministry said in a written statement. It did not specify which terror group the fighters belonged to, but in recent months it has been stressing the return of Daesh/ISIS terrorists. The issue of the handling of Daesh/ISIS members and their families detained in Syria -- including foreign members of the terror group -- has been controversial, with Turkey arguing foreign-born terrorists should be returned to their countries of origin. Turkey deported almost 780 foreign terrorist fighters back to their countries of origin in 2019, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said ahead of the new year. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 07:30:33|Editor: yhy Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said the UN appreciates China's effort to battle against the novel coronavirus and has full confidence in China's ability of controlling the outbreak. In his meeting with China's Permanent Representative to the UN Zhang Jun, the UN chief said that at this important time, the UN stands in solidarity with the Chinese government and people. For his part, Zhang said hat the Chinese government attaches paramount importance to the prevention and control of the epidemic, and President Xi Jinping has given important instructions. Putting the interests of the people first, China has taken rapid and strong measures, putting in place a nationwide prevention and control mechanism, he added. The Chinese envoy said China has been working with the international community in the spirit of openness, transparency and scientific coordination. With a great sense of responsibility, China is sparing no effort in curbing the spread of disease and saving lives. "Now is a crucial moment, and China has full capability and confidence in winning the battle against the epidemic," the Chinese ambassador said. Guterres said the UN has full confidence in China's ability of controlling the outbreak, and stands ready to provide any support and assistance. Western Australia has been cleared of any coronavirus infection for now after four people under investigation returned negative results. Western Australia is in the clear when it comes to the novel coronavirus, WA Health Minister Roger Cook said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. "All the current cases which are being investigated have returned a negative result. "Thats a great relief to everyone involved and obviously the patients, clinicians and their families. Malaysia banned visitors from the Chinese city of Wuhan and its surrounding Hubei province on Monday, in a bid to contain the spread of a deadly virus. A statement by the prime minister's office said the authorities will temporarily halt all issuance of visas for Chinese citizens from the area with immediate effect. "The government has decided to suspend temporarily all immigration facilities ... to all China nationals from Wuhan city and the surrounding Hubei province," it said. Malaysia has reported four confirmed cases of the flu-like virus which started in the central-Chinese city and has spread worldwide. All four, including two children, are in stable condition. They are tourists from Wuhan who entered Malaysia for a holiday via neighbouring Singapore. The virus, similar to the SARS pathogen, has claimed at least 81 lives -- all of them in China. Malaysia welcomed 2.94 million visitors from China last year and is aiming to raise this to 3.48 million this year. The prime minister's office said the ban will be lifted when the situation returns to normal. Meanwhile, a campaign by Malaysians on petition website change.org urging the government to bar Chinese nationals from entering the country has gathered more than 383,000 signatures of the 500,000 target as of Monday evening. "The government should think more of the health of Malaysians," the petition said. "Don't wait until there is death among Malaysian people then only the government wants to take some preventive action." A former UKIP Party candidate has admitted downloading images of children being sexually abused. Jason Rutter, 49, from Bromsgrove, pleaded guilty to five counts of making indecent images of children after police found evidence of the indecent photos at his home in November 2016. He is no longer a member of UKIP, a party spokesman confirmed. Rutter was given an 11-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Worcester Crown Court yesterday and ordered to pay court costs of 1200. The judge also ruled that his computers must be destroyed. He will now be registered as a sex offender for 10 years. The sentencing came more than three years after police received information that indecent photographs of children had been downloaded at an address in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. They searched the property and seized several items from Rutters room. He was not present at the time of the search, but detectives made contact with him shortly afterwards, the Criminal Prosecution Service (CPS) said. He agreed to hand himself in and went willingly to Worcester Police Station on November 16, 2016, bringing a mobile phone and a laptop with him. Police said he had attempted to forensically delete evidence of child abuse off the devices before arriving at the station. However, investigators were still able to uncover harrowing images of children subjected to sexual acts. Dawn Cartwright of the CPS said: "Rutter has received a criminal conviction for downloading these sickening images of vulnerable children. "He will now be registered as a sex offender for 10 years and will be made subject of a device only sexual harm prevention order for 10 years which means he must not delete his internet history or use the internet or social media to communicate with any person under the age of 16." Interim UKIP chairman Ben Walker told the Standard: "The party is pleased that Mr Rutter has been caught and convicted for this disgusting crime." "The law should actually be tightened in such areas and UKIP would like to see much harsher sentencing for perpetrators of sexual crimes against children with much more support for victims and their families. Mr Walker confirmed that Rutter left UKIP in January 2018 to set up a new branch of the far-right For Britain movement in Bromsgrove, using a considerable amount of his own money. The Irish Music Rights Organisation CLG (IMRO) has announced that the IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Awards 2019 will take place on Tuesday, February 11, 2020. This year will see a change of location for the Awards, with the event taking place at Twenty Two, South Anne Street in Dublin. The nominees shortlist was announced today by IMRO Chief Executive, Victor Finn. Offaly's Bridge House Hotel in Tullamore is nominated for the live music venue of the year award in the 'Rest of Leinster' category. it is up against The Royal Meath Bar, Navan, Co Meath, Kavanagh's Bar & Venue, Portlaoise, The Spirit Store, Dundalk, Co. Louth and The Set Theatre, Kilkenny. The annual awards, now in their twelfth year, celebrate the venues and individuals working in the live music industry, whose passion and determination brings the joy and inimitable experience of live music to the public across Ireland. More than 13,000 IMRO members were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite venues of 2019 for inclusion on the awards shortlist. Venues were judged on atmosphere, sound and lighting, staging, diversity of programming, the staff and management of each venue and accessibility for people with disabilities, all of which are essential foundations for a truly remarkable live music venue. IMRO members also voted on Irelands music festivals, tech crews and for the IMRO Outstanding Contribution to Live Music, the receiver of which shall be announced on the night of the Awards. Music venues and festivals play a vital role in the music industry in Ireland, giving international and homegrown artists of all levels a platform to engage with existing fans and build new audiences. They also play a central role in urban and rural communities across the country, providing a social gathering space for a multitude of audience types, and contributing hugely to the domestic economy. Of the Awards, Victor Finn, IMRO Chief Executive said, The important role that venues and festivals make nationally is all too often overlooked. They provide an essential platform and support network for Irish and international artists and bands of all levels, in addition to their vital contribution to communities both economically and socially. "The IMRO Live Music Venue Awards have grown from their inception to become one of the most anticipated dates in the Irish music industry calendar. The awards are an opportunity to acknowledge venues big and small across the country and to celebrate the individuals whose hard work and commitment help our vibrant and eclectic music industry to flourish. At the ceremony in club Twenty Two on February 11, awards will be presented to live music venues in each of the following regions: Dublin, Leinster (excluding Dublin), Connacht, Munster and Ulster (Donegal, Monaghan, Cavan). The IMRO Music Festival of the Year, IMRO Small Music Festival of the Year, IMRO Tech Crew of the Year Award and a special Outstanding Contribution to Live Music Award will also be presented. Performances on the night will come from emerging acts Soda Blonde, Alex Gough and ELM. One overall award will be presented to the IMRO National Live Music Venue of the Year. This award is decided upon by the public, who vote for their live music venue of the year from the combined shortlist of all the regions. Live music fans should simply log on to www.surveymonkey.com/r/imrovenueawards and choose their favourite from the shortlist provided, by 5pm on February 7. Voters will be entered into a draw to be in with a chance to win an iPad. The ceremony will also see the presentation of the award for Hot Press Live Music Venue of the Year via The Readers Poll which is contributed to by Hot Press fans and can be viewed at Hotpress.com Niall Stokes, editor of Hot Press said Irish music is going through a real purple patch at the moment, with brilliant new artists emerging across every genre and a lot of them are making a serious impact internationally. They deserve to. We are producing some truly great music here at the moment. "This extraordinary surge of creativity in Irish music would not be possible without great live venues. They give artists and bands a vital platform, especially at the start of their careers. A healthy live music scene is at the very heart of things and music is flourishing all over Ireland. "Thats why the IMRO Live Music Venues Awards are so important. It matters a lot to us, here at Hot Press, to lend our support to the awards and to do everything we can to promote live music in Ireland. We want Irish artists to experience recognition and success like never before during the year ahead. I firmly believe that 2020 is going to be a great one." The winners of the IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Awards 2019 will be announced on Tuesday, February 11, 2020, from a live event from Twenty Two, South Anne Street, Dublin. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-28 22:16:29 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 349 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / GGL Resources Corp. (TSXV:GGL) ("GGL" or the "Company") announces the resignation of Director Nick DeMare. Mr. DeMare has been a longstanding director of the Company.The Board would like to thank Mr. DeMare for his many years of dedicated service to the Company.About GGL Resources Corp.GGL is a seasoned Canadian-based junior exploration company focused on diamond exploration in Canada's north with its priority, drill ready Stein project in Nunavut which has the potential to deliver a new diamond district. The Company also has several evolving projects in the Lac de Gras diamond district in the Northwest Territories. Lac de Gras is home to Canada's first two diamond mines, the world class Diavik and Ekati mines discovered in the 1990's. In addition to GGL's key focus of diamond exploration, it holds diamond Royalties on mineral leases in close proximity to the De Beers/Mountain Province Gahcho Kue diamond mine in the Northwest Territories. The Company also holds several encouraging base metal and gold projects in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories including the McConnell copper-gold porphyry and shear hosted gold project located 16 kilometers southeast of the Kemess Mine.ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD"David Kelsch"David KelschPresident, Chief Operating Officer and DirectorFor further information concerning GGL Resources Corp. or its various exploration projects please visit our website at www.gglresourcescorp.com or contact:Investor InquiriesRichard DrechslerCorporate CommunicationsTel: (604)687-2522, extension 262NA Toll-Free: (888) 688-2522r.drechsler@ gglresourcescorp.com Corporate InformationLinda KnightCorporate SecretaryTel: (604)688-0546info@ gglresourcescorp.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.This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of exploration and other risk factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results.SOURCE: GGL Resources Corp. - @Mubarhiq, a Twitter user has stirred pleasant reactions after sharing an inspiring story - The young graduate revealed in a Tweet that his mother missed his ceremony and had to visit her in Tamale to present a photo of him in his graduation gown - @Mubarhiq's Tweet has generated reactions from his followers Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in A proud son with Twitter name @Mubarhiq has stirred pleasant remarks from some Twitter deities after he shared an awe-inspiring story following his graduation. After years of hard work in school to obtain a certificate as a tertiary graduate, Mubarhiq had hoped that he could share his remarkable accomplishment with his mother. However, the young graduate noted in a tweet that his mother could not travel from Tamale in the Norther region to witness one of the important days of his life to capture moments and history together. Despite the considerable setback, @Mubarhiq sat through the graduation ceremony with his colleagues to own their years of sleepless nights as it came in a certificate. READ ALSO: Stonebwoy, other stars join Emmanuel Adebayor at roadside coconut seller's joint to change his life (video) Following his laudable feat, the proud son noted that he had to take a framed photo of himself in his graduation gown while holding his certificate to his mother in Tamale to enable her share in the joy of his accomplishment. ''My mom couldnt come to my graduation so I took it to her in Tamale, Ghana,''@Mubarhiq said in Tweet along with an image of his mom holding his framed photo. Proud Mubarhiqs motivating story of a grateful son has generated some nearly 4k reactions from friends and followers on his Twitter thread. ''I swear your momma is proud of you. Continue making her proud bro,'' @Whummbey said in reaction to Mubarhiqs Tweet. Nana Yaa Esumaa, another Twitter user, affirmed Mubarhiqs immeasurable love for his mum. She wrote: ''The love is deep. May God bless you for sharing your moment with your mama.'' ''This should make mama proud. Congratulations Mahn,'' JohnLee International said in response. @Nakohabila wrote: ''Wow, that happiness in how she grabbed the thing, I guess she is proud of you make her more prouder, Congratulations anyway.'' In other stories, YEN.com.gh previously reported that popular teen actor, Rahim Banda, has personally handed out hundreds of books to assist the Otumfuo Education Foundation as part of his free SHS ambassadorial role. Following its establishment over 20 years ago, the Otumfuo Educational Foundation has provided brilliant but needy students with financial aid to help them further their education. The Otumfuo Educational Foundation continues to make available other essential education materials to the deprived and under-served communities to make education accessible to all. Rahim made the donation after he paid a courtesy visit to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace during the Awukudae. READ ALSO: Adebayor, Stonebwoy, others buy GHC2 coconuts for GHC200 & donate huge money to seller Ghanaian Traders Share Thoughts on Sales During Christmas | #Yencomgh Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Just hours after the CEO of the manufacturing company that exploded on Jan. 24 pledged to repair damaged homes, he took it back. To correct comments I made earlier today, no claims process has been established at this time, John Watson said in an email through a spokesperson to the Chronicle. Who is at fault and who will pay for damages cannot be determined at this early stage. Watson, who runs Watson Grinding and Manufacturing, told ABC13 on Tuesday morning that I will repair all damaged homesMy insurance company will. An explosion at the Gessner facility killed two and damaged over 450 structures. When reached on his cell phone on Tuesday morning by the Chronicle, Watson said, Oh I cant talk to you right now thank you, and hung up. Neither he nor a spokesperson have responded to a list of questions. A complete investigation is essential to determine the cause and identify potentially responsible parties, Watson said in the statement. At this point, it is premature for the insurers to make any decisions with regard to payment from this tragic incident. Almost immediately after the blast, residents filed suit against the company. More Information Resources The city of Houston asks anyone impacted to call 3-1-1 See More Collapse Even before Watson issued the statement that reversed his earlier remarks, residents and lawyers were skeptical that he would deliver. He can come to our address and tell me to my face, said Rebecca McKeehan, 47. She, like most other residents, hadnt heard about Watsons promise and had heard nothing directly from the company. We wouldnt be living in this hell right now if this hadnt been behind our house. Eric Dick, an attorney representing 20 people who had homes impacted in the blast, said: It sounds like bulls. The blast was felt miles away from the plant. In the immediate area, ceilings cracked and glass shattered in peoples homes. Residents now worry about how theyll pay for temporary housing and how theyll finance long-term repairs. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner toured the area over the weekend and promised long-term help to residents. We are going to be here for a while, Turner said Saturday. If your home was impacted, if you are needing help if you dont have insurance, for example I want people to reach out and let us know so we can assist them. But its unclear what city resources may be available. The city is still finalizing a plan to help homeowners, Mary Benton, Turners press secretary, said in an email Tuesday. Meanwhile, the city asks anyone impacted to call 3-1-1. sarah.smith@chron.com ALBANY Last year's collapse of MyPayrollHR left thousands of workers looking for recourse with reversed paychecks and nowhere to turn, exposing pitfalls in the lightly regulated payroll-processing industry. A package of four bills seeks to address those shortcomings, state lawmakers say. Legislation introduced by the Senate Democratic Majority allows employees to hold payroll companies liable for causing a worker to miss a paycheck, establishes criminal penalties for intentionally misappropriating payroll funds and requires the state Department of Financial Services to conduct a study of payroll processors in New York. State Sen. Kevin Thomas, D-Long Island, said he was "flabbergasted" to learn the payroll industry is largely self-regulated after hearing about MyPayrollHR's collapse. "Those of us who are lucky to have a job, we look for that paycheck, Thomas said. And to not have something to pay rent with or to put food on the table is really sad and unconscionable for those who live paycheck-to-paycheck." The sudden shuttering of the Clifton Park payroll processor has continued to reverberate since workers woke up in early September at the end of National Payroll Week to missing paychecks. Cachet Financial Services, the company that moved money for MyPayrollHR, filed for bankruptcy last week after being blamed for making the debacle worse when the California-based firm requested banks to reverse deposits, causing two paychecks' worth of money to be yanked from worker bank accounts. Authorities said MyPayrollHR's CEO, Michael Mann, admitted in an interview with federal investigators that the issues with his payroll company were caused by an alleged decade-long bank-fraud scheme. Mann allegedly told the FBI he moved funds meant for MyPayrollHR clients into a personal bank account to alleviate debts incurred during a check-kiting scheme. Mann has not yet entered a plea to the bank fraud charge he faces. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Thomas' bill allows employees to hold a payroll company liable for up to three times the value of a wrongfully missed paycheck. Another bill, sponsored by Sen. David Carlucci, D-Rockland, establishes criminal penalties for intentionally misappropriating payroll funds. Another bill, sponsored by Sen. Jessica Ramos, D-Queens, prohibits wage-recovery attempts due to a clerical error, if the error did not lead to an overpayment or other inaccuracy. The fourth bill, sponsored by Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Albany, requires the Department of Financial Services to conduct a joint study with the Department of Taxation and Finance of risk-mitigation tools and the payroll industry, and to make recommendations to the governor after the conclusion of the study. Michael.Williams@timesunion.com or 518-454-5018 KYIV, Ukraine, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The press conference of the Ukraine House Davos Organizing Committee (UHOC) was held at the Interfax-Ukraine Press Center today. The press conference focused on the achievements of Ukraine House Davos, held alongside the World Economic Forum's 50th Anniversary meeting last week in Davos, Switzerland, in promoting Ukraine's image globally and attractiveness as an investment destination. The Co-Organizers of Ukraine House Davos spoke, including Olga Afanasyeva, Executive Director of Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA); Jaroslawa Johnson, President and CEO of Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF); Svitlana Grytsenko of Victor Pinchuk Foundation; Lenna Koszarny, Founding Partner and CEO of Horizon Capital; and, Alexa Chopivsky, Executive Director of Ukraine House Davos. Highlights of Ukraine House Davos included the visit of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky who acknowledged the UHOC for their efforts in promoting Ukraine. Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksii Honcharuk chaired an invitation-only meeting of the National Investment Council of Ukraine, where the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and Germany's largest railway operator, Deutsche Bahn signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the cooperation and development of Ukrzaliznytsia. Top government officials who spoke on panels during the week included David Arakhamia, Secretary of the National Investment Council of Ukraine, Member of Parliament; Yuliya Kovaliv, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; Vladyslav Kryklii, Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine; Oleksandr Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine; Dmytro Sennychenko, Head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine; Members of Parliament Kira Rudikand Solomiia Bobrovska; Olga Magaletska, Head of the Office of the National Investment Council of Ukraine, and Daniel Bilak, Member of Supervisory Board, UkraineInvest. Finance Minister of UkraineOksana Markarova, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of UkraineTymofii Mylovanov, Oksana Nechyporenko, Chair of Supervisory Board, UkraineInvest, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, and many esteemed MPs participated in events. Ukraine House Davos 2020 surpassed the success of last year's event, strengthening the image of Ukraine as a modern, European country offering a wealth of opportunities. Ukraine House Davos hosted sixteen engaging panels on investment, infrastructure, IT and education, as well as evening receptions and cultural diplomacy events featuring top Ukrainian CEOs and leaders, as well as notable international speakers including: John M. Beck , Founder and Chairman of Aecon Group Inc. Founder and Chairman of Aecon Group Inc. Amy Bernstein , editor of Harvard Business Review , editor of Harvard Business Review Dr Margareta Drzeniek , Senior Fellow of The Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils , Senior Fellow of The Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils Sha r on Easky, Chairwoman, Supervisory Board of PrivatBank Chairwoman, Supervisory Board of PrivatBank Johan Eliasch , Chairman and CEO of HEAD , Chairman and CEO of HEAD Daniel Gilbert , Professor of Psychology at Harvard University , Best-Selling Author Professor of Psychology at , Best-Selling Author Cynthia Hansen , Head of the Adecco Group Foundation Head of the Adecco Group Foundation Tristan Harris , Co-Founder & Executive Director, Center for Humane Technology Co-Founder & Executive Director, Center for Humane Technology Ambassador John Herbst , Director, Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center Director, Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center Ian O. Ihnatowycz , President & CEO of First Generation Capital, Inc. President & CEO of First Generation Capital, Inc. Rashad Kaldany , Partner, CIO and Founder of Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital , Partner, CIO and Founder of Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital Shannon Kalayanamitr , Venture Partner of Gobi Partners , Venture Partner of Gobi Partners Fred Kempe , President, Atlantic Council President, Atlantic Council Andriy Kobolyev , CEO, Naftogaz of Ukraine , CEO, Naftogaz of Janez Kopac, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat Director of the Energy Community Secretariat Yuriy Kosyuk , Founder and CEO of MHP , Founder and CEO of MHP Jean-Christophe Laloux , Director General and Head of Lending Operations of EIB , Director General and Head of Lending Operations of EIB Gideon Lichfield , Editor-in-Chief, MIT Technology Review Editor-in-Chief, MIT Technology Review Oksana Lyniv, Chief Conductor of Graz Opera and Graz Philharmonic Orchestra Chief Conductor of Opera and Graz Philharmonic Orchestra Andrew McAfee , Co-Director and Co-Founder of MIT's Initiative on the Digital Economy and Principal Research Scientist at MIT , Co-Director and Co-Founder of Initiative on the Digital Economy and Principal Research Scientist at Alain Pilloux , Vice President, Banking of EBRD , Vice President, Banking of EBRD Gerard Seijts, Executive Director of Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership, Ivey Business School Executive Director of Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership, Ivey Business School Noa Gafni Slaney , Executive Director of Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation Executive Director of Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation Oleg Sentsov Roy Sosa , Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Rev Worldwide Inc Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Rev Worldwide Inc Michael Yurkovich , CEO of TIU Canada At the press briefing, the UHOC unveiled its Ukraine House Davos in Figures statistics. In summary, Ukraine House Davos was open for 94 hours and hosted 16 engaging panels with speakers from 12 countries. The panels, together with evening receptions and cultural diplomacy events, welcomed over 8,000 registered guests. Ukraine House Davos livestreams on social media channels gathered nearly 400,000 views and posts received nearly 2.2 million impressions. "This year, the House exceeded our expectations and reached new heights," said Jaroslawa Johnson, President and CEO of WNISEF. "From world-renowned speakers, such as Amy Bernstein of Harvard Business Review and Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Best-Selling Author, to thousands of international guests, potential investors, and new friends of Ukraine, the House is now a landmark platform, and well-known brand in Davos." Evaluating the results and impact of Ukraine House Davos, Svitlana Grytsenko of Victor Pinchuk Foundation said: "I truly believe that strong partnership is a key to success and long-lasting sustainability of every project. For the third consecutive year, UVCA, WNISEF, Victor Pinchuk Foundation, and Horizon Capital joined efforts, and the results speak for themselves. We managed to attract 13 sponsors, which is more than ever before; our venue this year was 10 times larger compared to the first year, allowing to host the largest number of guests to date. Moreover, we've already seen increased interest among new potential sponsors in joining this successful project." Olga Afanasyeva, Executive Director of UVCA, underlined the goal of Ukraine House Davos: "The House is an outstanding opportunity to showcase to global business leaders that Ukraine is a hub for IT, infrastructure, and agriculture. Today, the Ukrainian tech sector boasts the largest financial round in Ukraine's history (Gitlab), topped by the emergence of a new unicorn (Grammarly), and the advances of other innovative startups and established product platforms, including Petcube, BetterMe and Ajax Systems. All that said, the best time to invest in Ukraine is Now." "Ukraine's President chose Davos to announce bold new initiatives to further attract foreign direct investment to Ukraine, including an international court of arbitration in Ukraine, tax and other incentives for investors and personal attention by dedicated personnel to guide investors through market entry to project execution. Based on the recently introduced concession law, two port concession tenders have been won - by Swiss-Georgian and Qatari investors. A window has opened that will be closed in the near term once the 30-35-year concessions are awarded, and marketing of assets slated for large-scale privatization has also begun. Many export-oriented companies, particularly in IT, food and agro, light manufacturing, e-commerce, pharma and healthcare are delivering 20-50% top-line growth per year," - emphasized Lenna Koszarny, Founding Partner and CEO of Horizon Capital. "Ukraine House Davos has put a spotlight on investment opportunities that are powered by the new generation, especially the $4.5 billion IT industry, and much more." Speaking about future plans, Alexa Chopivsky, Executive Director of Ukraine House Davos, said: "Our ability to deliver at such a high level is only made possible by the commitment and financial support of our Gold Sponsors: Temerty Foundation, TIU Canada, MHP, Naftogaz/UFEOGI; and, of our dedicated Panel Sponsors: CEO Club Ukraine, EBS, First Generation Capital Inc, Hillmont Partners, IT Ukraine Association, UNIT.City, and Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Family Foundation. Thank you to Zirkova Vodka, Carlsberg and Oksana Karavanska for hospitality and cultural diplomacy support. Building on this year's success, Ukraine House Davos will continue its mission of promoting Ukraine in 2021 and will surprise the world with even more opportunities that Ukraine has to offer!" www.ukrainehousedavos.com Follow the event via social media on ukrainehousedavos and at: Twitter: @UAHouseDavos Facebook: @ukrainehousedavos Instagram: @Ukraine.House.Davos LinkedIN: UkraineHouseDavos YouTube: ukrainehousedavos Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1083000/UHD_Organizing_Committee.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/801232/Ukraine_House_Logo.jpg STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Stephanie Parzes disappearance came to a tragic conclusion Monday when authorities announced that a body discovered Sunday in Old Bridge, N.J., was the 25-year-old Freehold, N.J., resident. Her disappearance Oct. 30 sparked massive searches organized by family with the help of law enforcement agencies in New Jersey and New York. In November, the NYPD and police and other emergency responders from all over New Jersey converged on Long Pond Park in Richmond Valley for a major canvass. It was at least the second search of that area by law enforcement personnel. The family and more than 100 volunteers also searched various South Shore locations on Staten Island, including Tottenville, Princes Bay and Wolfes Pond Park. Family and friends gathered Monday morning at the home of her parents and siblings in Freehold, according to our sister site, NJ.com, where a large sign that read Stephanie Come Home remained in the front yard. Later in the day, authorities said that former Staten Islander John Ozbilgen, Parzes ex-boyfriend, was responsible for her death. Authorities accumulated extensive evidence against Ozbilgen during its investigation, and a suicide note he left behind essentially reaffirmed their belief, the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office said. Heres a look at the case: BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By M. Alper Trend: Leadership of the European Coordination Center of Azerbaijani Musavat party, headed by Ilham Hasan, let the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany down by its criminal acts, journalist living in Europe Yafez Akramoglu, said to members of the European Coordination Center. Perhaps, you have already been summoned for investigation, or will be summoned, Akramoglu said on Facebook, Trend reports. Otherwise, you should go there yourselves. Don't be afraid to tell it how it was in the European Coordination Center. Let each and everyone of you tell what he/she seen or heard. Either way, almost the entire activity of the European Coordination Center is of criminal nature. I know that most of you failed to obtain refugee status while some individuals are expecting deportation every minute, the journalist said. The European Coordination Center deceived you, issued (sold) certificates, persuaded not to be afraid, promised protection. Meanwhile the center threatened to write a denunciation to the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) and make sure you're deported, if you protest." The journalist also warned what the individuals who have been deceived by the European Coordination Center, will face if they do not give testimony to the German authorities. By cooperating with the investigative bodies, they will become important witnesses, the journalist said. At least until the end of the investigation, no one will deport you, because you are important witnesses, said Yafez Akramoglu. This is prescribed in the law, and the investigation will last for a couple of years. This way, you can once again legally seek asylum. This time you will have more chances. By its unlawful actions, the management of the European Coordination Center of Musavat Party led by Ilham Hasan betrayed the German state. This state knows how to value loyalty, but doesnt forgive betrayal, said the journalist. Remember, if you bought documents from the European Coordination Center, you arent responsible. Rest assured! You are a victim of a crime. Fraudsters took your money by cheating. After all, you have nothing to lose after getting refusal for your asylum claims. Akramoglu added that he will support anyone who tells, or wants to tell the truth to the investigation. Dont be afraid of anyone, the journalist noted. The criminals are being watched, they themselves know it perfectly. They cant threaten you. They are only 5-10 people awaiting their arrest. However, having made a confession, you will deserve protection of the German state. In November 2019, a scandal broke out, when German law enforcement authorities detained former members of the Musavat party. Local federal courts chose a preventive measure in the form of arrest for a period of six months in relation to the detained. As a result of an investigation conducted by the German police, those arrested involved in emigration business in Germany, are suspected of smuggling of at least 20 people to Germany. In accordance with the decision of the German judicial authorities, former head of correctional institution of Azerbaijans penitentiary system Elchin Akbarov; Chairman of the Musavat partys European Coordination Center, former head of the Kalbajar executive power Ilham Hasan; party member, Deputy Chairman of the Coordination Center Mehdi Khalilbayli; Musavat party activist Abdin Javadov; and former MP Sabir Rustamkhanlis brother, Head of Leqat Integration Center, former police chief Alovsat Aliyev, have been arrested. Among those arrested were also Mehdi Khalilbaylis driver Rashad Mammadov and Musavat party member Elshan Abdullayev. RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hilb Group, LLC ("THG") announced today the acquisition of Massachusetts-based Group Brokerage Insurance Agency, LLC ("GBIA"). The transaction became effective January 1, 2020. Located in Waltham, Massachusetts, GBIA is an employee benefits agency primarily providing group medical, dental, life, short & long-term disability, and long-term care insurance. John Siracusa, Founder of GBIA, and his team will join THG's New England operations. "We are excited to join forces with THG," said Siracusa. "Now as part of a top 25 national broker with full service capabilities, we will be able to offer our existing customers with more robust coverage options, access to additional markets, and many value added services." "GBIA has a comprehensive array of product offerings that are well aligned to further expand our employee benefits solutions in our New England region," said Ricky Spiro, CEO of THG. "We are thrilled to welcome John and his associates to THG's New England team." About THG: THG is a leading middle market insurance agency headquartered in Richmond, Virginia and is a portfolio company of global investment firm, The Carlyle Group. THG seeks to grow through targeted acquisitions in the middle market insurance brokerage space. The company now has over 90 offices in 20 states. Please visit our website at: http://hilbgroup.com. Media Contact: Margaret Goldman 804-205-1209 [email protected] M&A Contact: Ryan Havermann 804-414-6508 [email protected] SOURCE The Hilb Group, LLC Related Links http://www.hilbgroup.com Highlights Microsoft announced the official end of support on Windows 7 earlier in January. However, a bug found in the update has affected the normal functioning of Windows 7. The bug fix will be released by Microsoft free of charge for all Windows 7 users. Windows 7 is on its way to being booted out on most computers after Microsoft officially ended support for one of the world's most popular operating systems after a span of 10 years. The last public security updates for Windows 7 were rolled out earlier this month, after which Microsoft would stop working on any upgrades for the operating system. While the rollout of the update was supposed to carry on as expected, Microsoft has revealed it has hit a snag. In a post on Windows Support forum, Microsoft has confirmed that a pesky bug rolled out as a part of the final public security update is causing the desktop wallpaper on Windows 7 to go black when set to Stretch. The Windows 7 update KB4534310, which was released around mid-January, contained the bug, which is only affecting the wallpapers after they are stretched. Other settings such as Fit, Fill, Tile, or Center are working just fine, Microsoft has revealed in the post. Just when Microsoft thought it is finally done with Windows 7, the bug has alarmed the company about any other potential bugs that might be hidden and may emerge later. While that is uncertain, Microsoft has announced that the bug fix will be available to everyone using Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. The move is uncharacteristic to what Microsoft usually does for the out-of-support operating systems, which is charging users either $25 or $50 per machine for the ESUs. For now, Windows 7 users should be relieved as the bug, if they have noticed, will be patched without having to pay Microsoft for doing so. Any further updates after the one that fixes the wallpaper bug are unlikely, though unless, Microsoft scrutinises the latest update only to discover more bugs. Well, that would be embarrassing on Microsoft's part, especially if it happens right after the company has already put the last nail in the coffin. State law requires Hart to pick someone who is at least 18 years old, a registered voter, a resident of Lake County for at least a year preceding the November election and a current resident of the district. The appointee must also be of the same political party as the predecessor, in this case a Democrat. Election strategist-turned- politician on Tuesday revolted against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, charging him with having "lied" about his induction into the party and questioning if it was tantamount to admitting capitulation before the BJP. In his first direct attack on the JD(U) president, Kishor, who joined the party in September 2018 and was elevated to the rank of its vice-president just weeks later, lashed out at Kumar for saying that he was inducted into the party at the instance of Union Home Minister and the then BJP chief Kumar had made the comment earlier in the day in response to queries by scribes about the attack by Kishor on Twitter against Shah and its possible impact on the JD(U)'s alliance with the BJP as also his working for Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi where the NDA partners are contesting the February 8 assembly polls together. "@NitishKumar what a fall for you to lie about how and why you made me join JDU!! Poor attempt on your part to try and make my colour same as yours! And if you are telling the truth who would believe that you still have courage not to listen to someone recommended by @AmitShah?," he wrote on microblogging site Twitter. Kishor has been rankling the BJP for quite some time, questioning his own party's decision to support the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament and insisting that the JD(U) contest a significantly higher number of seats than the saffron party in the assembly polls in Bihar due later this year. There was no immediate reaction from leaders of the JD(U), who were stunned by Kishor's action. The development, however, is an indication that Kishor may have burnt his bridges as Kumar is a stickler for party discipline and does not brook any dissent. Talking to reporters earlier in the day after a meeting of JD(U) workers in Bihar, Kumar refused to be drawn into the controversy over Kishor engaging in a "twitter war" with top BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister "He remains in touch in his professional capacity. I have learnt through newspapers that he is working for the Aam Aadmi Party. But he remains in touch with so many people. I inducted him into my party upon Shah's recommendation," Kumar claimed. "I will be happy if he remains in the party. I would be okay if he chooses otherwise. But if he has to stay he must do so respecting the party's structure," Kumar said replying cryptically to further queries. Do Ba Duc is a well-known name among the Vietnamese community in Japan. He is a computer science engineer with 12 years of experience who has been working for Japanese leading technology firms. Granted a scholarship from a Japanese technology group when he was a second-year student at the University of Technology under the Hanoi National University, Duc left Hanoi for Tokyo to work as a software engineer soon after he graduated from the school. Do Ba Duc In the first three years, though proving his superior technical abilities to Japanese colleagues, Duc still found it difficult to find a common voice with colleagues because of language and cultural barriers. This urged the young engineer to take more courageous steps to overcome the problem. Do Ba Duc is a well-known name among the Vietnamese community in Japan. He is a computer science engineer with 12 years of experience who has been working for Japanese leading technology firms. In 2010, Duc decided to move to Rakuten, a Japanese leading group, where he joined the development of Rakuten Ichiba, an e-commerce website. As the leader of a development team with one technology patent, Duc was sent by the company to a training course in San Francisco. Later, he came back to lead the mobile software segment of the e-commerce department. After five years of working for Rakuten, Duc moved to LINE, the company that owns a mobile chat app. Later, he was recruited by Softbank in a plan related to a $100 million joint venture with Alibaba of China. At Softbank, he participated in many of the groups investment projects in companies, such as Automation Anywhere, DiDi, WeWork, SenseTime, Zimperium, Dome9, Cohesity and Packet. At present, Duc is a senior technology advisor for Japan Computer Vision (100 percent invested by Softbank) and market development advisor for Packet Host (a cloud computing company in the US which once received investment from Softbank). Because of Ducs great contribution, Softbank reserves the post of non-permanent technology advisor, one of the few exceptions at Softbank. In 2017, Duc decided to set up Tokyo Techies, a firm on product development and technology education, focusing on complicated technologies such as AI, Robotics/IoT and Cyber Security with more than 30 engineers from eight countries. The startup process in Japan as a foreigner was full of difficulties, but with continuous efforts, Duc and Tokyo Techies have gradually been recognized by customers and partners. The company has more and more customers, including 40 businesses from Japan and the US and it provides many different technological products. Its 900 technological trainees have finished training courses, and 25 scientific reports have been sent to international workshops. Tokyo Techies is a Vietnamese-owned company, but has the service cost is far higher than the average level because it approaches difficult technologies. Kim Chi Vietnam needs up to 90,000 IT workers in 2019 Vietnam will need 70,000 - 90,000 information technology (IT) workers in 2019, the online newspaper of the Government reported, citing a report by TopDev an IT recruiting firm. Cambodia Confirms First Coronavirus Case By Sokummono Khan January 27, 2020 The Cambodian Ministry of Health confirmed Monday evening the first case of the novel coronavirus in the country's coastal province of Preah Sihanouk. One male member of a Chinese family, which had flown into Sihanoukville from Wuhan, China, was confirmed infected with the virus, said Health Minister Mam Bunheng. Three other members of his family are currently under observation at the Preah Sihanouk Referral Hospital. The family arrived in Cambodia on January 23 and the 60-year-old Chinese national Jia Jinhua started to show flu-like symptoms on January 25, while staying at a hotel in Sihanoukville, said the health minister. "After Jia Jinhua was swimming at the pool [at the hotel] he had a fever," said Mam Bunheng. Mam Bunheng added that the family had stayed at two different hotels for three nights in the coastal town. On the 26th, local health officials tested the man for the coronavirus, which was confirmed at 3 p.m. Monday afternoon. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Jaipur, Jan 28 : Rajasthan Additional Chief Secretary (medical and health) Rohit Kumar Singh on Tuesday convened a meeting here to review the arrangements made for prevention, control, diagnosis and treatment related to the deadly coronavirus and issued necessary guidelines. According to an official, at the meeting Singh clarified 18 persons from Rajasthan, who have recently returned from China, would be screened continuously for 28 days He also sought information on a particular patient who has been quarantined in the SMS Hospital after being suspected of having caught the coronavirus patient. Singh directed the Rural Health Additional Director Ravi Prakash Sharma and the IDSP state Nodal Officer Praveen Aswal to visit the airport regularly and inspect the screening of passengers and the arrangements made for public awareness in the matter. It was that the condition of both the patient admitted to SMS Hospital, as well as of the other 18 passengers living in their homes, are being closely monitored and all are presently healthy. A sample of the patient admitted in the SMS Hospital has been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune for examination. Singh also advised that all passengers returning from China and their family members undergo continuous screening for 28 days and conduct tests. He instructed the concerned officials to submit the progress report on the matter daily at 10.30 a.m. The Additional Chief Secretary directed that thermal scanners be used at the airport in screening for coronavirus among passengers of international flights. Publicity material has been displayed at the airport to give necessary information related to the coronavirus. The meeting was attended by, besides the Additional Director Rural Health and the State Nodal Officer IDSP, medical doctors Rambabu Sharma, Ajit Singh and Bharti Malhotra from the Department of Microbiology. A teenage boy was allegedly caught by police carrying a 37cm machete at a popular Sydney Westfield shopping centre. The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was stopped by police about 9pm. He attempted to escape but was searched when a knife was found in his backpack. The arrest was made as part of a high visibility three day operation by police to deal with rising crime in Sydney's west around Metro stations and shopping centres. Police are pictured during a three-day crackdown on crime around Sydney metro stations and shopping centres There were also a number of other arrests during over the three days. When police spoke to the father of a 14-year-old arrested for carrying a knife he said he didn't have a problem with it. 'I know he carries it, it's for protection',' the boy's father told police, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The 17-year-old was arrested and charged on Friday with custody of a knife in a public place and granted bail to appear in Parramtta Children's Court on Tuesday. The Sydney Metro Northwest, especially around Castle Towers Shopping Centre and Rouse Hill Town Centre were a part of the police crackdown. 'As we got into the middle of the school holidays we've noticed a spike, [and we've had] more of a focus on crime that was occurring around the Metro,' Hills Commander Superintendent Jason Joyce said. 'People don't always realise how quickly things can escalate when knives are involved.' he said. A teenage boy was allegedly caught by police carrying a 37cm machete at a popular Sydney Westfield shopping centre The coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China is reducing demand for flights to and from the country, causing airlines to suspend and issue refunds for previously scheduled service. On Wednesday British Airways said it had temporarily suspended all flights to and from mainland China, revising a prior decision to reduce yet maintain reduced scheduled service. Flights to and from Hong King will continue. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority, the company said, adding that the decision was based on advice from UK government and health organisations that recommend only essential travel to China. Customers due to travel to or from China in the coming days can find more information on ba.com. United Airlines (UAL) and Finnair have suspended some flights to China, while other airlines will issue refunds to those with booked flights who no longer wish to travel to the country. Due to a significant decline in demand for travel to China, we are suspending some flights between our hub cities and Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai beginning Feb. 1 through Feb. 8, a United Airlines spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday. We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops and will adjust our schedule as needed. A woman wearing a face mask passes a Public Health England sign, warning passengers arriving on flights into the UK, that a virus, Coronavirus, has been detected in Wuhan in China, at Terminal 4 of London Heathrow Airport in west London on January 28, 2020. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images) United will begin paring westbound flights starting on Feb. 1, and eastbound flights beginning Feb. 2. In total, the airline has cancelled 24 flights between the three Chinese cities and San Francisco, Newark, Washington Dulles, and OHare airports. Finnish airline Finnair became the first airline to suspend service to China, Reuters reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the airline planned to suspend flights to Nanjing and Beijings Daxing airport, through the end of March. The news comes as the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on Tuesday followed an advisory issued Monday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) to avoid all nonessential travel to China. Story continues We are cancelling flights to better match capacity with demand A spokesman for Canadian airline, Air Canada, which operates 33 flights to China, per week, said the company is cancelling select flights "to better match capacity with expected demand." As it continues to monitor the situation, customers who are affected will be notified and provided with alternate travel options. American Airlines (AAL) said it had not adjusted its flight schedule. We are continuing to monitor the situation very closely, a company spokesman said. Delta Air Lines (DAL) also said it had not made any changes to its operating schedule and would continue to monitor the situation. U.S. carriers, Hawaiian Airlines (HA), and Southwest Airlines (LUV), which do not operate flights to or from China, said they had not modified their schedules due to the virus. Hawaiian Airlines said it will permit customers holding tickets with its airline partners that include travel to, from, or through, China through Feb. 16 to cancel for a refund, or reschedule without incurring change fees. Rebooked flights must be scheduled for travel no later than April 19, the company said. In an email, Southwest said the company works closely with the CDC to respond to any outbreaks and follows all CDC recommendations regarding illness response and notification to Customers and Crews. According to the CDC, at the time this story published, cases of coronavirus had been confirmed in four U.S. states Illinois, Washington state, California, and Arizona and internationally in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Australia, Cambodia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, The Republic of Korea, and Vietnam. This story was revised to update British Airways decision to temporarily cancel all flights to and from mainland China. Alexis Keenan is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexiskweed. READ MORE: Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Reddit. The estate of the late Dorrance Hamilton at 218 Strafford Road in Wayne, Pa. Read more A development company is considering building houses or townhouses on part of the Main Line estate of the late Dorrance H. Hamilton, heir to the multibillion-dollar Campbell Soup fortune. Representatives of Haverford Properties are scheduled to meet with Radnor Township residents for the first time Thursday. The company has not formally submitted plans to the township, but some residents, already disgruntled over development in the sought-after area, say they feel a sense of inevitability. Under whats known as by-right development, Haverford Properties can legally build housing on the parcel. They have, without question, the right to develop that property. We have no discretion," said Jack Larkin, a township commissioner who represents the section of Radnor where the development would be built. We can never say we dont want a particular industry in our town because we dont like what it is. Nonetheless, residents have a list of requests and concerns about the projects that range from installing sidewalks to saving old trees. It seems inevitable," said Caren Morrissey, whose backyard shares a fence with the Hamilton estate. "I think what we can do is mitigate whatever negative effects it will have. The developer, Larkin said, asked to meet with him as a courtesy" in mid-December. They discussed two options for two plots of the vacant wooded estate at Strafford Avenue and Eagle Road. One option purportedly a by-right plan," Larkin said would allow Haverford Properties to construct around 40 single-family houses across the two parcels. It would leave little open space, narrow gaps between houses and the street, and few areas for stormwater to drain in an area susceptible to heavy flooding. This is, to me, an unattractive plan, he said in a January newsletter to residents. The other choice, for which Haverford Properties would need conditional-use approval from Radnor Township, would have 50 townhouses across the two lots. Forty-one houses would sit on one lot, and the remaining nine on the second. They leave a lot of space for the things that are absent in the by-right plan, said Larkin, a municipal and commercial litigation attorney. Stormwater management, sidewalks, buffers, and open space. The density is problematic for me, but with that in mind, it is a good plan. The differences between the plans are telling, residents said. Theyre trying to strong-arm the neighborhood into agreeing the townhomes are the better plan," Morrissey said. Haverford Properties declined to comment. Larkin said he did not know the terms of sale between the developer and the owner of the estate, still listed in public records as Dorrance Hamilton. Delaware County property records do not show a change of hands. Larkin was uncertain about the estates acreage. Dodo Hamilton, whom Forbes named one of the wealthiest people in the United States, died in 2017 at age 88. Residents have complained that the neighborhood is already crammed. Sixty-four houses sit on 35 acres near Strafford and Eagle Roads, a busy area next to a train station to and from which residents routinely walk. Haverford Properties plans, they said, would expand the total number of houses in the neighborhood to 114, amounting to about three houses per acre. To accommodate the growing density, they said, grand old trees have been cut down, including those on the Hamilton estate. And the path to get to the train station, which lacks sidewalks and some street lighting, has grown increasingly fraught for pedestrians as drivers speed by and ignore stop signs, residents said. Sidewalks could be one concession the developer could grant, Larkin said. They have not outright refused at least yet to talk to residents about additional requests they made. Residents, too, have been diplomatic, he said. The residents are doing a really nice job understanding that Pennsylvania law is what it is," Larkin said. Developers have the right to build. None of them said, Please dont do this here, but go elsewhere. Theyre sophisticated, theyre intelligent, and theyre doing exactly what they need to do. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Radnor Township Municipal Building, 301 Iven Ave. Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent might be joining Bravos Real Housewives franchise. Kent, who stars on a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills spin-off, hails from Salt Lake City and is rumored to be interested in joining the cast of the networks new franchise, Real Housewives of Salt Lake. Bravo has not said anything official, but Kent recently dropped another clue that she would join RHOSLC in a heartbeat. Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent | Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Lala Kent mingles with RHOSL stars Kent recently returned to Salt Lake City and was spotted filming with a few ladies who might appear on RHOSLC. According to Page Six, Kent was joined by her Vanderpump Rules co-star Katie Maloney and visited a boutique in the area. Kent is originally from Salt Lake City and is set to exchange vows with Randall Emmett this coming spring. Bravo has not released a full cast list for the new show, but Sara McArthur-Pierce, Whitney Rose, Angie Harrington, Meredith Marks, Heather Gay, Lisa Barlow, and Jen Shah are reportedly set to appear on the show. We do not know for sure if Kent will have a cameo on RHOSLC, but the fact that she was filming some of the shows potential cast members definitely opens the door for her to join the show. Lala Kent has not confirmed her involvement in the franchise, but she has talked about RHOSL in previous interviews. How does Kent feel about RHOSL? Kent opened up about RHOSL debut after Bravo made the big announcement at BravoCon last summer. The news was quite unexpected, though the network had been teasing that a new franchise was in the works. The reality star revealed that she was very surprised when she learned that her hometown was joining Bravos Real Housewives lineup. Im from Salt Lake City so this was like Christmas for me! Lala Kent added. And I asked [Cohen], I was like, What do you think about it? And he was like, Its going to be so good. And Im not even shocked by that because people that were raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, are crazy. Lala Kent And Katie Maloney Reportedly Filmed With The Potential Cast Of Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City https://t.co/mr6hIqCVCG Real Housewives (@RHOGossip) January 28, 2020 The Vanderpump Rules star said that she is confident that the cast members will put on a good show in front of the cameras. She did not say anything about her involvement, but she was definitely excited about the new series. Kent was also asked about the chances that her mom, Lisa Kent, appears on the new show. As fans are well aware, Kents mother is not a huge fan being in front of the cameras, so theres little chance she will enjoy a cameo. Lala Kent opens up about her Utah upbringing A few years ago, Kent dished on what it was like growing up in Salt Lake City. She revealed that it was strange going to school when most of her classmates were Mormon, especially since she does not share their beliefs. She also explained how she was big in the choir and theater scene, which tended to be filled with people who were not very religious. In fact, Lala Kent really did not have that many interactions with Mormons because of her involvement in the arts. Kents co-star, Maloney, was also born and raised in Salt Lake City. No word yet on whether or not Maloney is looking to land a spot on RHOSL as well. Bravo has not announced when the first season of RHOSL will premiere, though the show is expected to debut sometime this year. Andy Cohen opens up about RHOSL Salt Lake City getting its own Real Housewives franchise came as a big shock to many fans. But there is a good reason why the network picked Utah out of all the places in the country. When long-time Bravo host announced the new franchise last summer, he revealed that part of the reason they chose Salt Lake City is because they knew nobody was suspecting it. Weve always tried to choose cities that have completely unique personalities and we also try to throw a little curveball now and then, pick somewhere that you maybe werent expecting, he shared. I think youre going to be really surprised, intrigued, and titillated by the group of women that we have chosen in Salt Lake City for the next Real Housewives. Lala Kent Talks Co-Parenting With Randall Emmett's Ex, Ambyr Childers and Apologizing Showbiz Cheat Sheet https://t.co/6TvLkqTAmr pic.twitter.com/LrJAymN3sM Steven Benke (@stevebenke) January 28, 2020 Bravos vice president of programming, Noah Samton, echoed Cohen and added that he believes fans are going to be fascinated by the new series. He also revealed that the new location checked a lot of boxes, including cast members with good family dynamics and interesting stories. We do not know what is in store in RHOSL, but it definitely sounds like fans are in for a treat. Fans can watch Lala Kent in action when new episodes of Vanderpump Rules air Tuesday nights on Bravo. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on January 28 attacked his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, saying the AAP leader as part of his "public relation exercise" has spent "Rs 500 crore" on advertisements and publicity. "In Himachal Pradesh, our annual budget for publicity is 10 crore," Thakur said while addressing a gathering of BJP members, including 60 to 70 women members, at Trinagar here. The BJP leader's attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener comes ahead of the February 8 Delhi assembly polls. The women of Delhi will uproot Kejriwal in the polls, Thakur said, adding that they will support the several initiatives and works done by the Modi government for their empowerment. Alleging that the Kejriwal government had done nothing to improve the city's condition, Thakur said people in Delhi are waiting for the BJP to form government so that they can experience development. "When I walked in the lanes of Delhi, I only saw dirt, broken roads, clogged potholes. These are not shown in advertisements," the Himachal Pradesh chief minister said. The Delhi chief minister is running a "PR (public relation) exercise", Thakur said, alleging that "Kejriwal has spent Rs 500 crore only for publicity and advertisements of his government that did nothing to improve the national capital's condition". Referring to the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests at Shaheen Bagh here, he said there will be no roll back of the law. "Let them say or do anything till anytime, CAA won't be withdrawn. When we are not against any particular group or community, why should the citizenship law be rejected?" Thakur said. Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, who was present at the gathering, said he did not want to evaluate Kejriwal's work."His fake promises and advertising speaks for itself, he said He said,"Kejriwal had called terrorist Afzal Guru a martyr". "He supported the 'tukde tukade gang' of Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khaleed," Vardhan said. PTI UJNANB . Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chairs an urgent meeting on January 27 to discuss measures against the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (nCoV) (Photo: VNA) The Government leader pointed out that Vietnam faces high risks of being affected by this dangerous and rapidly spreading disease, against which there hasnt been a vaccine, since it is a popular destination of Chinese tourists and shares a long borderline with China. He requested that relevant agencies, sectors and localities must not be subjective or underestimate the disease so as to ensure the ultimate goal of protecting peoples health and lives, curb the virus from spreading on a large scale, and minimise deaths from this disease. He told them to prevent fears in the public as well as discrimination against patients or people of foreign nationalities. Fighting the nCoV-caused disease is like fighting an enemy, PM Phuc said, urging the political system across the 63 provincial-level localities to promptly take actions. He also ordered effective prevention of disease transmission via tourism activities and air, waterway and road transportation, adding that international points of entry must be equipped with thermal scanners. Besides, the Ministry of Health needs to publicise the medical establishments providing treatment of this disease to minimise the movement of patients to reduce infection risks. Describing stronger communications to raise public awareness as a top priority, the PM noted a national steering committee chaired by Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam will be set up to cope with the nCoV disease. The Government accepts economic losses to protect the lives and health of people, he stressed. The leader also asked the Foreign Ministry to coordinate with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to review the number of Chinese working in Vietnam to take necessary measures to guarantee the publics health. According to the Ministry of Health, there have been almost 2,800 nCoV-infected cases around the world, including 80 deaths all of whom are in Wuhan city of Chinas Hubei province. China alone has recorded 2,747 cases in 30 provinces and cities. Fifteen other countries and territories have reported 50 patients of the disease. In Vietnam, there have been 63 cases who showed fever symptoms and returned from nCoV-affected areas. They consist of 25 negative for the virus and 38 still kept in quarantine, including the two Chinese nationals initially tested positive for nCoV at the Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan said as directed by his ministry, Vietjet Air conducted four flights carrying Wuhan passengers from Vietnam back to Wuhan international airport. None of them showed signs of nCoV infection. WASHINGTON (JTA)The post-debate analysis this week focused largely on the ongoing spat between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. While we hope they can sort that out soon, the debate featured something else more relevant to JTA readers: Everyone on stage thought that President Donald Trump made a huge mistake in 2018 when he pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and said outright or implied that as president, they would return to the deal. (To be more precise, Warren did not speak up on the topic, but she has expressed similar sentiments elsewhere.) The situation in Iran has changed drastically since Trump left the deal. So we went searching for the details of what the leading Democrats would do to contain the Iranian threat amid the new tensions brewing between Iran and the U.S. Spoiler alert: Theres not a lot out there. But in no particular order, heres what the top seven candidates have to say. (Were adding Michael Bloomberg because his polling numbers would qualify him for the debates, but his self-funded campaign has him below the outside campaign contribution threshold.) Bernie Sanders Sanders would rejoin the nuclear deal as a means of stopping Iran from going, well, nuclear. As you know, the nuclear deal with Iran was worked on with a number of our allies, the Vermont senator said at the debate. We have got to undo what Trump did, bring that coalition together and make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. His website does not elaborate, but a supporters website, FeelTheBern.org, has compiled his statements and adds some perspective. Sanders slots removing Irans nuclear threat into a wider effort to denuclearize the planet. In 2009, Sanders said after Obama first mooted an Iran deal, We must limit nuclear proliferation, now and in the future. We must end the production of weapons-grade uranium. Sanders also sees rejoining the nuclear deal as a means of containing the escalating non-nuclear tensions. Joe Biden As he said in the debate, Biden believes the Iran deal was doing its job. It was working. It was being held tightly, he said. There was no movement on the part of the Iranian government to get closer to a nuclear weapon. On his campaigns foreign policy page, Biden does seem to acknowledge some flaws with the package he championed as Obamas vice president, alluding to the expiration dates on some of its restrictions and its omission of non-nuclear mischief. If Tehran returns to compliance with the deal, President Biden would re-enter the agreement, using hard-nosed diplomacy and support from our allies to strengthen and extend it, while more effectively pushing back against Irans other destabilizing activities, his website reads. Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg in the debate said he would rejoin the Iran deal as a means of keeping Iran from becoming nuclear and, like Sanders, suggested that the agreement would also stem escalating non-nuclear tensions. By gutting the Iran nuclear dealone that, by the way, the Trump administration itself admitted was working, certified that it was preventing progress toward a nuclear Iranby gutting that, they have made the region more dangerous and set off the chain of events that we are now dealing with as it escalates even closer to the brink of outright war, he said. Buttigieg in his signature foreign policy speech in June at the University of Indiana echoed a familiar claim of Iran deal proponents the deal freed up the United States to confront Iran on its non-nuclear bad acts. This agreement was concluded not to do Iran a favor, but because it is in our national security interestjust as a parallel policy of confronting Irans support for terrorism and abysmal human rights record reflects our values and security interests, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said. Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar during the debate said she would rejoin the deal, but also suggested that she wanted some improvements related to the expiration dates of some enrichment restrictions and on what the nuclear inspectors are allowed to do. I think there are changes you can make to the agreement that are sunset, some changes to the inspections, but overall that is what we should do, she said. In her signature foreign policy speech last month at the Council on Foreign Relations, Klobuchar outlined a long-term policy that would confront Irans bad acts and also specified its threat to the security of Israel. We need a realistic long term strategy for Iran that will contain its aggressive actions and prevent it from gaining nuclear weapons, the Minnesota senator said, but did not add details. Tom Steyer During the debate, Steyer cast the Iran nuclear deal as having stemmed Irans nuclear ambitions and its adventurism. What worked with President Obama was an alliance of our allies and us putting economic pressure on them for them to give up their military tactic, he said. That, to me, is called strategy. Elizabeth Warren Warren, the Boston Globe has noted, has not been eager to address the Iran crisis on the stump, although she will answer questions when asked. In a September interview with the Council on Foreign Relations, she said she would re-enter the Iran deal, but also hinted that she was unhappy with its sunset provisions. The Massachusetts senator also called for a robust posture countering Iranian aggression and said leaving the deal made that harder. We also need to address serious concerns about Irans policies beyond its nuclear program, including its ballistic missile program and support for destabilizing regional proxies, she said. The [Iran deal] made addressing these problems easier by taking the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran off the table. Mike Bloomberg In 2015, Bloomberg said he had deep reservations about the Iran deal, especially with its sunset provisions, and in an op-ed on Bloomberg News he accused President Obama of playing politics and smearing critics. More recently, unburdened by tough questions during debates, he has not weighed in on whether he would return to the deal. However, he told The Washington Post last week that he would keep an open line with Iran and install a version of the red phone that Cold War presidents used to keep at bay crises with the Soviet Union. Stay In Touch Share your thoughts on The Tell, or suggest a topic for us. Connect with Ron Kampeas on Twitter at @kampeas or email him at thetell@jta.org. The Tell is a weekly roundup of the latest Jewish political news from Ron Kampeas, the Jewish Telegraphic Agencys Washington Bureau Chief. Sign up here to receive The Tell in your inbox on Thursday evenings. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Heritage Florida Jewish News. Prime minister Boris Johnson and home secretary Priti Patel during the election. Photo: PA UK business leaders have welcomed proposals to lower a controversial salary cap to 25,600 ($33,321) for migrant workers coming to fill jobs in the UK. But firms still fear staff shortages in some sectors where employers already struggle to find workers. Some also fear increased bureaucracy and costs, with firms in sectors like food and drink used to employing migrants without the need for visas under EU free movement rules. A spokesman for prime minister Boris Johnson said he would carefully consider a new report by the governments migration advisory committee published on Tuesday. It had been asked to review the 30,000 minimum salary threshold for migrants with job offers and a potential Australian-style points-based system after Brexit. READ MORE: UK government told to lower controversial salary cap The committee recommended a points-based system only for migrants without jobs, with a cap on total numbers. It said migrants should receive points based on their qualifications, age, language skills and priority areas for the government such as science, maths, engineering, technology or creative skills. A separate visa route should be kept for medium- and high-skilled migrants with job offers already, the committee said. This should not be based on points, but should retain a minimum salary floor based partly on the industry. It said the list should be expanded to add trades such as carpentry, plastering and childminding, but waiters and workers in fishing and other elementary occupations should be removed. Lower salary cap welcomed by firms The government 'should lower its salary cap.' Photo: PA Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of business lobby group London First, welcomed the proposed 4,400 lowering of the salary cap for skilled migrants with job offers. She said the committee had met business halfway, recognising that the previous 30,000 floor would decimate key sectors such as construction, hospitality and social care. But it should have gone further... around 20,000 would have ensured we could keep the economy at full strength, said Whitbread. Story continues Tim Rycroft, chief operating officer of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), also called the lower cap a step in the right direction. But he agreed the government should go further, basing salary floors only on the going rate in the industry. READ MORE: Government tsar warns EU migration curbs could fuel people smuggling Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Business (FSB), said the lowering of the cap would widen the scope for employing those beyond highly-paid professions. He said four in five small firms hiring for mid-skilled roles were paying less than 30,000. Firms fear a struggle to recruit staff Fears remain the two key routes for migrants with and without jobs could still leave firms struggling to recruit in certain sectors. Cherry said the points-based system must also be open to mid-skilled workers, with how points are allocated still to be decided. The government is also still deciding on a temporary route for low-skilled workers. Matthew Fell, chief UK policy director of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said it remained unclear how firms can hire for mid-skilled roles such as LGV drivers, joiners and lab technicians earning under 25,600. An even lower pay threshold and a flexible route for temporary workers were needed to prevent staff shortages, according to Tom Hadley, director of policy at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, Skills shortages are one of the biggest problems facing the UK economy. We need an immigration system that can solve this, said Hadley. Dr Terry John, international committee chair of the British Medical Association (BMA), said: The NHS and social care system relies on a wide range of staff, including porters, cleaners and care workers, to ensure they can provide care to patients, and many of these would still be excluded by a threshold despite its reduction. Fears of bureaucracy and expensive legal fees The overriding concern for business is bureaucracy. The government must ensure that whatever plans it takes forward, firms arent faced with a byzantine system when they need talent to grow, warned Edwin Morgan, policy director at the Institute of Directors. Rycroft of the FDF said around 95% of its food and drink manufacturing members surveyed currently employed EU workers without needing visas. He said the new system had to be accessible for firms navigating Britains immigration system for the first time to meet staffing needs. Many of these will be small or medium sized businesses who are unable to afford expensive legal fees and the new system must be streamlined to reflect this, added Rycroft. Firms need time to prepare Whitbread of London First sounded the alarm over the governments plan to roll out the changes swiftly from January 2021. Firms across the capital and beyond want to support the roll-out of the new points based system, but must have a seat at the table as it is finalised and be given time to prepare for changes, she said. Morgan added: Implementing a new system and adapting to it will be a race against the clock for both government and businesses. READ MORE: Adopt business-friendly immigration policies, businesses say The committee itself urged the government to make a decision quickly to give employers time to adjust. Cherry of the FSB added: The challenge now for the government will be to have a new, employer-responsive immigration system in place in time for the end of the transition period eleven months from now. What the government says A Number 10 spokesman said: The government will introduce a firmer and fairer points-based immigration system from 2021 that welcomes talent from around the world while reducing low-skilled migrants and bringing overall numbers down. We will carefully consider the report before setting out further details on the new system. A prison guard at Ravenhall Correctional Centre is being investigated over allegations he withheld food from a vulnerable Aboriginal prisoner. The guard at the medium-security prison in Melbourne's west was accused of refusing to give the prisoner food for several hours during a recent shift, Corrections sources said. Ravenhall Correctional Centre in Melbourne's west. Credit:Joe Armao The Age has been told the inmate raised the fact he was yet to be fed after being moved from his unit to one of the observation cells, which are commonly used to house at-risk prisoners. He allegedly went a further two hours before complaining again and eventually receiving a meal. by Nirmala Carvalho Religious schools enjoy administrative autonomy under the Indian Constitution. However, the Supreme Court now opens them up to state interference. Minority institutions must respect minimum criteria for the admission of students as well as the recruitment of teachers, like any other institution, Kolkata teacher noted. Mumbai (AsiaNews) Indian Catholics are against the Supreme Courts decision to allow the government to appoint teachers in religious minority schools. Article 30 of the Indian Constitution gives religious minorities the right to establish and administer their own educational institutions, said Fr Felix Raj, vice rector of St Xavier's University in Kolkata, speaking to AsiaNews. The ruling came on 6 January and refers to the West Bengal Madrasa Service Commission Act of 2008. The court upheld a law that allows the federal government to screen teachers in state-aided madrassas (Islamic schools). The same principle can be applied to Christian schools, which run in the thousands. Under the Indian Constitution, minorities have the right to full school autonomy, including the right to choose their teachers based on their own notions of social progress. Fr Raj has an extensive experience in education, and was honoured with the Xavier Ratna Award from the Xavier Institute of Engineering, Mumbai, for his contribution to higher education and for making education more affordable for the poor in rural areas. Minority institutions must respect minimum criteria for the admission of students as well as the recruitment of teachers, like any other institution, he explained. The Government may establish certain regulatory mechanisms but should not interfere in the functioning of the administration or policy directives of these institutions. Any influence will kill the spirit of autonomy and the very purpose of establishing these institutions. The Government must play a proactive and supportive role to these institutions. A Pennsylvania investor has acquired Foundation Source, a Fairfield firm which provides startup support and ongoing compliance and strategy for more than 1,600 family foundations and other organizations. Incline Equity Partners did not state what it paid for Foundation Source, founded by Avi and Neil Greenbaum and marking its 20th year in business this April. Foundation Source indicated the investment will allow it to expand its services and online capabilities. The High Court has been asked to lift an injunction limiting the extent of a protest against the greyhound racing industry outside Shelbourne Park. Late last year the operators of Shelbourne Park, GreyhoundStadium Ltd, secured a temporary injunction preventing the protesters from conducting what has been an ongoing action within 50 meters of the track's entrance. The injunction prevents six named individuals and any other person who has knowledge of the order from impeding, obstructing or interfering with the access to the stadium. The protests at the centre of action began earlier this year following an RTE television expose of certain practices in the greyhound industry. The operators claim that protests have gone beyond what could be described as being a peaceful protest and claim that protesters had intimidated and verbally abused patrons attending greyhound races at the track. The claims are denied, and the defendants claim the injunction should be discharged on grounds including that the protests have at all times been peaceful. The defendants are Laura Broxson and Tawnie Ocampo of Burnell Green, Northern Cross, Malahide, Co. Dublin, Catherine Wood of East Wall Ringsend, Bernie Wright Foxhaven, Shallon, The Ward, Co. Dublin and Conor Brady and Noiren Carrigg both of Carnoustie, Annaghlong, Gorey, in Co. Wexford. The Irish Council of Civil Liberties (ICCL) which has concerns about the order, has been added as an 'amicus curiae' or friend to the court. It became involved as it says the case raises important issues concerning the rights to freedom of speech and to assembly. The action returned before the High Court today when Rossa Fanning SC for the track's operators said his side wants the injunction continued, but on modified terms from what had previously been granted. The injunction would remain in place pending the full hearing of the dispute. Counsel said that based on the contents of sworn statements his side were prepared to accept undertakings from the defendants that would allow protests to continue if certain conditions applied. These conditions include that the protesters would stand in single file on the footpath, protest at least 3.5m from the entrance, confine the content of their banners and slogans to the plight of greyhounds, not lay banners on the ground, and not use megaphones after 8pm. Counsel said this offer had not been accepted. His client was asking the court to extend the injunction but to amend its terms to those offered to the defendants. In reply, the six defendants, represented by Peter Blande SC and Conor Devalley SC, said that the protests have at all times been peaceful aimed to highlight what they say is a cruel industry that should be banned. They argued that the injunction should be lifted and rejected claims that the protesters had behaved in a poor manner as alleged. There was no basis for the continuation of the order, they claim. They claimed that in the course of their peaceful protests they have been the subject of sexist, racist and misogynistic language from a small number of greyhound racing supporters. They also said that leaflets that were posted to residents living near the stadium encouraging them "to help shut down the stadium," and threatened "severe measures" against their property had nothing to with them. This was accepted by the track operators. The protesters also claimed that the leaflets were distributed by somebody who wanted to discredit the protests. One of the protesters Bernie Wright said in her sworn statement that the leaflets were "black propaganda". The hearing before Mr Justice Tony O'Connor continues. Satellite images suggest Iran is preparing to launch a satellite into space after three failed rocket launches last year, reports say, as part of a program viewed by the United States as a cover for ballistic missile development. "Yes, a site is being prepared for placing the Zafar satellite into orbit," Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi tweeted late on January 27, responding to a U.S. media report saying Iran was preparing for a launch at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Semnan Province. The minister said Tehran planned to launch five other satellites into orbit this year. The apparent preparations for a rocket launch follow two failed launches of the Payam and Doosti satellites in January and February last year, and a launchpad rocket explosion in August. Since 2009, Iran has sent several satellites into orbit. The United States has accused Tehran of using the technology as part of an effort to develop ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Tehran has denied the accusation. Satellite photos taken on January 26 by the San Francisco-based commercial company Planet Labs Inc. and shared via the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey show work at a launchpad at the Imam Khomeini Space Center. The images also show more cars and activity at a facility at the space center, located about 230 kilometers southeast of Tehran. "It looks pretty clearly to us like Iran is going to try and put a satellite into space," Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute who tracks Iran's space program. The increased activity at the Imam spaceport come as the country prepares to mark the 41st anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution. The U.S. pullout from Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers last year and its reimposition of sanctions against the country has heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. The United States has reimposed crippling sanctions on the Iranian economy, while Iran has gradually reduced its commitments under the deal. Tensions culminated earlier this month after top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad, prompting Iran to retaliate with a missile attack against two bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and NPR New Delhi, Jan 28 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to respond on a plea by an NGO seeking direction to relocate some Asiatic lions from Gujarat's Gir forest to a wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. In 2013, the issues on relocating Gir lions to Madhya Pradesh were brought before the top court. The court had then approved their relocation, stating that there should be a second home to secure it from extinction. The Madhya Pradesh government had chosen Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Sheopur district of Gwalior division as the site for relocation of over 500 Asiatic lions. Gujarat had, however, opposed this decision. A bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant issued notices to the Ministry of Environment and Forest and other parties connected in the matter, seeking their replies within four weeks. The counsel for the petitioner contended that the process of relocation from Gir to Kuno wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh began in 1989, and a designated area was made ready accordingly. The Centre's counsel contended that the issues had come before the court in 2018, after several lions died after contracting deadly canine distemper virus. He cited that the top court in 2013 rejected a contempt plea stating the lions were not relocated from Gir, but at that point in time, Kuno was not ready for introduction of Asiatic lion, as a tiger was spotted there. Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Anil Chauhan on Tuesday apprised Sikkim Governor Ganga Prasad of security situation along the borders and infrastructure related issues in the state, a Defence official said here. The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command called on the governor at Raj Bhavan in Gangtok and apprised him of close and efficient civil-military bonds in the state, which shares borders with China, Bhutan and Nepal. "Lt Gen Chauhan assured the governor of all possible assistance from the Army whenever required," the official said. Prasad lauded the contribution of the Army in nation building and emphasised on its working jointly with the state government functionaries during various endeavours for the welfare of the people, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 10 survivors of institutional child sex abuse have died as they waited for an official decision on their applications for redress under the national scheme, which gives them access to counselling and a payment of up to $150,000. Some of those who died were elderly applicants whose applications were not processed in time, while others were abused at institutions that are yet to join up to the redress scheme, said Anna Swain, the assistant principal lawyer at Knowmore, a national legal service. Stephen Colbert, a survivor of child sex abuse, is still waiting for redress. Credit:Jason South Processing times for redress claims have improved after alarms were raised in August about the backlogged, trouble-plagued system in which some applicants waited for more than a year. "Over the last few months we have seen a larger number of offers [of redress] coming through," Ms Swain said. "That has been welcome, however we have had a number of survivors who have passed away before an offer was made. We also still have a large number of survivors who are waiting." [January 28, 2020] Davis Polk Adds Antitrust Counsel Suzanne Munck in Washington DC Davis Polk today announced that Suzanne Munck af Rosenschold has joined the firm as counsel in the Antitrust and Competition Group in Washington DC. Ms. Munck is a leading authority on both antitrust and intellectual property law with high-level experience at the Federal Trade Commission. "Suzanne is an outstanding and highly respected antitrust lawyer. Her experience at the FTC (News - Alert) is extremely valuable to our clients tackling complex antitrust issues," said Neil Barr, Davis Polk's Managing Partner. "We are delighted to welcome her to the firm." Ms. Munck comes to Davis Polk from the FTC, where she has served for the past 12 years, starting her career in the Bureau of Competition in 2007 and going on to hold two senior positions at the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property law. As Chief Counsel for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the Office of Policy Planning, she developed investigation strategies addressing intellectual property issues in public and non-public conduct and merger matters. She also formed attorney and economist teams to promote competition and innovation through research, advocacy, and intra- and interagency collaboration. She led the FTC's recent revision of the Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property and is the lead author of the FTC report, Patent Assertion Entity Activity: An FTC Study. Ms. Munck also co-manged a study of whether current antitrust and consumer protection doctrine is fit for the modern economy, titled The FTC Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century. "Suzanne is one of the premier competition lawyers in the country," said Arthur Burke, head of Davis Polk's Antitrust and Competition Group. "She is an excellent fit for the firm, and her extensive government experience combining antitrust and intellectual property law will further diversify our practice." Davis Polk's antitrust practice combines broad experience in complex corporate transactions with a sophisticated litigation practice. Companies from around the world, as well as their executives and directors, retain our lawyers for their most significant antitrust matters. Our lawyers can bring to bear substantial government experience on all manner of enforcement actions. We frequently act as coordinating counsel for large defense groups, taking the lead in developing and advancing arguments, not only on behalf of our own clients but also on behalf of large groups of firms. In M&A matters, we have successfully obtained antitrust agency approval in numerous significant recent mergers and joint venture transactions. Suzanne Munck said, "I am deeply grateful for the opportunities I have had to serve in government but am excited for this next step. I feel privileged to move into private practice with Davis Polk's top-notch Antitrust and Competition Group, a firm and practice I have long-respected." Prior to joining the FTC, Ms. Munck was a litigator at Howrey LLP (2004-2007) and Sheppard Mullin (2001-2004). She received an A.B. in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr College in 1996. She received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2001, where she was a Managing Editor of the Minnesota Law Review. About Davis Polk. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (including its associated entities) is an elite global law firm with world-class practices across the board. Clients know they can rely on Davis Polk for their most challenging legal and business matters. Our approximately 1,000 lawyers located in 10 offices in the world's key financial centers and political capitals collaborate seamlessly to deliver exceptional service, sophisticated advice and creative, practical solutions. Visit davispolk.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005697/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Senior Producers, Larger-Cap Near-Term Production Royalty & Streaming Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 24-Jan-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E % Altius Minerals Corp ALS 1.8 C$11.13 42 $357 0.42 0.47 0.49 23.6 22.6 0.35 0.96 1.03 11.6 10.8 -- 1.6% Anglo Pacific Group PLC (UK) APF 1.8 GBP$1.76 181 $419 0.18 0.21 0.21 8.5 8.4 0.20 0.23 0.22 7.7 7.9 19.5 4.6% Franco-Nevada FNV 2.3 US$110.34 189 $20,840 1.17 1.70 2.13 65.0 51.8 2.55 3.20 3.83 34.5 28.8 42.9 1.1% Maverix Metals (CA) MMX 2.1 C$6.60 108 $543 0.04 0.07 0.17 NM 40.0 0.24 0.22 0.38 29.4 17.6 -- 0.0% Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd OR 2.1 C$12.75 157 $1,529 0.20 0.26 0.33 49.5 38.5 0.53 0.64 0.75 19.9 16.9 52.7 1.6% Royal Gold Inc RGLD 3.2 US$114.86 66 $7,534 1.60 2.09 2.76 55.0 41.7 4.45 4.50 5.27 25.5 21.8 27.7 0.8% Sandstorm Gold Ltd (CA) SAND 2.1 US$6.98 175 $1,220 0.03 0.08 0.13 91.5 53.2 0.24 0.32 0.39 21.8 17.7 33.1 0.0% Wheaton Precious Metals WPM 1.9 US$29.74 447 $13,292 0.48 0.58 0.88 51.6 33.6 1.22 1.16 1.49 25.5 20.0 23.5 1.4% Average 49.3 36.2 22.0 17.7 33.2 Gold Large Cap Gold Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd AEM 2.0 US$61.99 239 $14,834 0.31 0.95 1.85 65.0 33.5 2.60 3.67 5.07 16.9 12.2 18.6 0.9% Barrick Gold Corp ABX 2.1 US$18.71 1778 $33,278 0.35 0.50 0.70 37.1 26.8 1.51 1.76 2.24 10.6 8.3 11.7 1.0% Kirkland Lake Gold (CA) KL 2.6 US$43.10 210 $9,048 1.36 2.68 2.59 16.1 16.6 2.58 4.19 4.45 10.3 9.7 47.9 0.3% Newcrest Mining Ltd (AU) NCM 3.3 US$21.84 769 $16,833 0.66 0.90 1.06 24.4 20.6 1.90 1.95 2.02 11.2 10.8 12.9 1.0% Newmont Goldcorp NEM 2.0 US$44.29 820 $36,311 1.34 1.28 1.96 34.5 22.6 3.41 3.89 4.74 11.4 9.3 17.7 1.5% Polyus Gold International (UK) PGIL 2.0 RU$7,448.50 134 $16,167 617.74 732.24 848.37 10.2 8.8 589.63 857.87 977.19 8.7 7.6 -- 4.1% Zijin Mining Group (HK) 2899 1.7 CNY$3.37 25377 $14,937 0.18 0.18 0.21 19.2 16.0 0.44 0.38 0.49 8.9 6.9 23.6 0.0% Average 29.5 20.7 11.1 9.3 22.1 Mid Cap Gold Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 24-Jan-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E % Alamos Gold AGI 2.2 US$6.35 391 $2,486 0.05 0.21 0.25 30.3 25.0 0.55 0.73 0.72 8.7 8.8 15.2 0.7% AngloGold Ashanti Ltd AU 2.7 US$20.40 415 $8,469 0.51 1.17 2.26 17.5 9.0 2.05 2.63 4.84 7.8 4.2 6.7 0.4% B2Gold Corp BTG 1.6 US$4.32 1026 $4,435 0.16 0.24 0.37 17.9 11.6 0.43 0.49 0.66 8.8 6.5 14.4 0.0% Buenaventura (ADR) BVN 3.1 US$13.23 276 $3,958 (0.02) 0.40 0.64 33.4 20.6 1.36 0.58 0.99 22.7 13.4 13.8 0.8% Centerra Gold (CA) CG 2.3 US$7.43 294 $2,184 0.26 0.70 1.08 10.6 6.9 0.74 1.44 1.98 5.1 3.7 6.5 0.0% Detour Gold Corp (CA) DGC 2.4 US$18.64 178 $3,318 0.37 0.58 0.92 32.0 20.3 1.47 1.87 2.10 9.9 8.9 12.6 0.0% Endeavour Mining Corp (CA) EDV 1.8 US$20.32 110 $2,238 0.49 0.59 1.63 34.4 12.5 2.33 2.92 4.06 7.0 5.0 12.6 0.0% Evolution Mining Ltd (AU) EVN 2.8 AUD$3.77 1704 $4,399 0.14 0.17 0.24 21.9 16.0 0.39 0.42 0.49 9.0 7.7 9.7 2.2% Gold Fields Ltd (ADR) GFI 3.0 US$6.43 829 $5,264 0.07 0.21 0.46 30.6 14.0 0.75 1.07 1.43 6.0 4.5 5.8 0.5% Kinross Gold Corp KGC 2.5 US$4.92 1254 $6,171 0.10 0.31 0.41 15.7 12.0 0.63 0.88 1.05 5.6 4.7 9.0 0.0% Northern Star Resources (AU) NST 2.3 AUD$12.61 734 $6,336 0.30 0.44 0.71 28.6 17.7 0.58 0.75 1.09 16.9 11.5 21.0 1.2% NovaGold Resources Inc NG 2.0 US$9.24 328 $3,040 (0.10) (0.09) -- -- -- -- -- (0.03) -- -- -- 0.0% Polymetal International PLC (UK) POLY 2.4 US$16.55 470 $7,784 1.00 1.18 1.55 14.0 10.7 1.14 1.45 1.98 11.5 8.4 12.6 4.0% Pretium Resources PVG 2.1 US$10.71 196 $2,101 0.54 0.50 1.09 21.5 9.8 1.07 1.14 1.74 9.4 6.1 -- 0.0% Saracen Mineral Holdings (AU) SAR 2.0 AUD$3.74 1103 $2,824 0.10 0.17 0.27 22.1 14.0 0.25 0.32 0.42 11.8 8.8 42.9 0.0% Sibanye Gold Ltd (SA) SGL 1.8 ZAR$38.29 2670 $7,105 (0.01) 1.79 7.55 21.4 5.1 5.31 2.65 9.73 14.4 3.9 11.9 0.0% SSR Mining SSRM 2.3 US$18.35 123 $2,257 0.23 0.73 1.04 25.0 17.6 0.50 1.53 2.14 12.0 8.6 10.1 0.0% Yamana Gold Inc AUY 2.5 US$4.06 950 $3,861 0.12 0.12 0.19 33.8 21.2 0.43 0.52 0.67 7.8 6.1 7.9 0.8% Zhaojin Mining Industry Co Ltd (HK) 1818 2.3 CNY$7.94 3270 $3,745 0.15 0.21 0.33 38.3 24.1 0.53 0.78 1.10 10.2 7.2 20.6 0.5% Average 24.9 14.9 10.3 7.1 13.7 Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Small Cap Gold Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 24-Jan-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E % Acacia Mining PLC (UK) ACAA -- US$2.93 410 $1,200 0.11 0.22 0.25 13.5 11.7 0.31 0.44 0.52 6.7 5.6 -- 0.0% Alacer Gold Corp (CA) ASR 2.6 US$4.79 295 $1,413 0.05 0.41 0.47 11.8 10.2 0.33 0.75 0.93 6.4 5.1 51.4 0.0% Centamin Egypt (CA) CEE 2.3 US$1.68 1156 $1,944 0.06 0.06 0.10 26.0 17.4 0.19 0.11 0.15 15.7 11.6 4.2 4.8% Continental Gold Inc (CA) CNL 2.3 US$4.16 214 $893 (0.16) (0.15) 0.13 -- 31.5 (0.07) (0.09) 0.33 -- 12.5 -- 0.0% DRDGold Ltd (ADR) DROOY 5.0 ZAR$9.00 865 $541 0.06 0.38 0.80 23.7 11.3 1.17 1.26 -- 7.1 -- 19.3 0.0% Dundee Precious Metals (CA) DPM 1.9 US$4.70 181 $850 0.16 0.30 0.59 15.9 8.0 0.55 0.73 1.04 6.4 4.5 12.1 0.0% Eldorado Gold Corp EGO 2.8 US$7.37 159 $1,189 (0.17) 0.08 0.84 94.4 8.8 0.42 1.02 2.14 7.2 3.4 10.2 0.0% Equinox Gold Corp (CA) EQX 2.2 US$8.44 113 $959 (0.10) 0.15 0.56 55.6 15.2 (0.25) 0.77 1.23 11.0 6.9 -- 0.0% Gold Resource Corp GORO 2.0 US$5.20 66 $342 0.15 0.44 -- 12.0 -- -- -- -- -- 0.7% Gold Road Resources Ltd (AU) GOR 2.1 AUD$1.36 879 $815 (0.02) (0.01) 0.09 -- 14.8 (0.02) 0.02 0.14 67.8 9.5 -- 0.0% Golden Star Resources GSS 2.5 US$3.01 160 $330 (0.02) 0.16 0.27 19.2 11.4 (0.09) 0.32 0.71 9.5 4.2 8.4 0.0% Great Bear Resources (CA) GBR 1.5 C$8.85 46 $307 (0.13) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0% Harmony Gold Mining Ltd HAR 2.1 ZAR$51.00 542 $1,922 1.80 4.45 7.67 11.5 6.6 8.56 11.42 15.36 4.5 3.3 7.4 0.0% Hecla Mining Co HL 3.2 US$3.19 496 $1,581 (0.11) (0.13) 0.04 -- 88.6 0.22 0.23 0.37 13.6 8.6 9.0 0.6% Highland Gold Mining Ltd (UK) HGM 2.0 US$2.51 364 $912 0.15 0.31 0.32 8.2 7.8 0.37 0.44 0.49 5.7 5.1 7.4 6.1% Hochschild Mining PLC (UK) HOC 2.4 US$2.22 514 $1,141 0.05 0.12 0.15 18.0 14.8 0.36 0.45 0.46 5.0 4.8 3.9 1.7% Iamgold Corp IAG 2.7 US$3.02 468 $1,416 0.06 (0.01) 0.18 -- 16.4 0.41 0.54 0.82 5.6 3.7 3.9 0.0% K92 Mining (CA) KNT 1.4 US$2.68 213 $571 0.07 0.10 0.25 26.3 10.8 0.09 0.18 0.34 15.2 7.8 -- 0.0% Leagold Mining Corp (CA) LMC 2.5 US$2.76 285 $788 0.07 0.14 0.29 19.8 9.6 0.20 0.42 0.55 6.5 5.1 -- 0.0% Lundin Gold Inc (CA) LUG 2.1 US$7.23 224 $1,617 (0.12) (0.22) 0.37 -- 19.5 (0.17) (0.12) 0.60 -- 12.0 -- 0.0% McEwen Mining Inc. MUX 2.0 US$1.18 363 $428 (0.13) (0.11) (0.01) -- -- 0.00 (0.05) 0.02 -- 59.0 -- 0.3% New Gold Inc NGD 2.8 US$0.94 673 $631 (0.02) (0.06) 0.01 -- NM 0.33 0.37 0.40 2.5 2.4 4.0 0.0% Oceanagold Corp (AU) OGC 2.1 US$1.84 622 $1,124 0.20 0.06 0.19 32.2 9.6 0.55 0.34 0.43 5.4 4.3 4.5 0.2% Orla Mining Ltd (CA) OLA 2.0 C$2.37 187 $338 (0.17) (0.17) (0.09) -- -- (0.14) (0.12) (0.08) -- -- -- 0.0% Osisko Mining Corp (CA) OSK 1.8 C$3.85 290 $851 (0.18) (0.09) (0.06) -- -- (0.03) (0.07) (0.04) -- -- -- 0.0% Pan African Resources (UK) PAF 1.0 US$0.16 1928 $300 0.01 0.02 0.03 7.7 4.7 0.01 0.03 0.04 5.5 3.6 11.7 1.3% Perseus Mining Ltd (AU) PRU 2.2 AUD$1.12 1168 $892 0.00 0.02 0.05 50.0 20.7 0.10 0.14 0.17 7.7 6.4 97.3 0.0% Petropavlovsk PLC (UK) POG 2.0 US$0.22 3310 $730 0.01 0.01 0.04 22.0 6.1 0.07 0.02 0.03 9.8 7.3 6.5 0.0% Regis Resources Ltd (AU) RRL 3.0 AUD$4.42 508 $1,538 0.33 0.37 0.44 12.0 10.1 0.53 0.55 0.60 8.0 7.4 8.4 3.0% Ramelius Resources Ltd (AU) RMS 1.8 AUD$1.22 658 $548 0.05 0.06 0.10 20.4 12.2 0.23 0.23 0.25 5.3 4.8 8.7 1.4% Resolute Mining Ltd (AU) RSG 1.9 AUD$1.17 903 $723 0.09 0.22 0.26 5.3 4.4 0.18 0.30 0.33 3.9 3.5 -- 0.0% St Barbara Ltd (AU) SBM 2.3 AUD$2.83 699 $1,355 0.32 0.25 0.29 11.2 9.8 0.52 0.42 0.46 6.8 6.1 3.6 2.7% Sabina Gold & Silver Corp (CA) SBB 2.1 C$1.86 297 $420 (0.03) (0.02) (0.01) -- -- (0.02) (0.01) (0.01) -- -- -- 0.0% Seabridge Gold SA 2.0 C$18.36 63 $887 (0.34) (0.12) (0.08) -- -- (0.16) (6.29) -- -- -- -- 0.0% Semafo (CA) SMF 2.4 US$2.02 334 $678 (0.01) 0.25 0.30 8.0 6.7 0.34 0.75 0.70 2.7 2.9 5.1 0.0% Silver Lake Resources (AU) SLR 2.8 AUD$1.57 880 $946 0.03 0.06 0.10 25.1 16.1 0.14 0.16 0.20 9.6 7.7 19.8 0.0% Silvercrest Metals Inc SILV 1.8 C$9.00 105 $723 (0.07) (0.09) (0.06) -- -- (0.08) (0.08) (0.05) -- -- -- 0.0% Teranga Gold Corp (CA) TGZ 1.3 US$5.55 108 $597 0.17 0.10 0.40 55.5 14.0 0.86 0.76 1.22 7.3 4.6 7.2 0.0% Torex Gold Resources (CA) TXG 1.9 US$13.65 85 $1,166 0.23 0.72 1.02 19.0 13.4 2.68 3.21 3.10 4.3 4.4 7.8 0.0% Victoria Gold Corp (CA) VIT 2.0 C$8.62 58 $378 -- 0.98 0.83 8.8 10.4 -- (0.40) 0.18 -- 49.3 -- 0.0% Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd (CA) WDO 2.2 C$8.89 137 $930 0.11 0.33 0.44 27.2 20.3 0.34 0.57 0.58 15.5 15.4 69.9 0.0% Westgold Resources Ltd (AU) WGX 1.3 AUD$2.26 400 $618 0.02 0.09 0.23 24.5 9.7 0.13 0.31 0.46 7.4 4.9 -- 0.0% Average 23.6 14.6 9.5 9.1 16.3 Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Silver Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 24-Jan-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E % Alexco Resource Corp* AXU 2.3 C$2.43 119 $220 (0.08) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0% Americas Gold & Silver Corp (CA) USA 1.8 US$2.83 83 $234 (0.25) (0.23) 0.18 -- 15.7 0.21 0.07 0.52 41.9 5.4 54.0 0.0% Coeur Mining Corp CDE 2.8 US$6.03 241 $1,450 (0.01) (0.23) 0.22 -- 26.9 0.11 0.54 1.01 11.1 6.0 7.8 0.0% Endeavour Silver Corp EXK 3.2 US$2.15 140 $302 (0.10) (0.25) 0.05 -- 47.9 0.21 (0.02) 0.26 -- 8.2 8.6 0.0% First Majestic Silver Corp AG 2.6 US$10.58 205 $2,168 (0.21) 0.08 0.28 NM 38.3 0.18 0.54 0.55 19.6 19.3 19.6 0.0% Fortuna Silver Mines FSM 2.1 US$4.09 160 $657 0.24 0.17 0.46 23.8 8.9 0.52 0.37 0.93 11.2 4.4 8.7 0.0% Fresnillo (UK) FRES 2.7 US$8.32 737 $6,128 0.46 0.22 0.31 37.7 26.8 1.09 0.86 0.93 9.7 8.9 6.5 2.9% MAG Silver Corp MAG 1.9 US$11.11 87 $963 (0.09) (0.05) 0.28 -- 40.4 (0.05) (0.04) 0.08 -- NM -- 0.0% New Pacific Metals Corp (CA) NUAG 2.7 C$6.86 147 $769 (0.03) (0.02) (0.02) -- -- (0.02) (0.01) -- -- -- -- 0.0% Pan American Silver PAAS 2.4 US$23.02 210 $4,824 0.39 0.66 0.79 34.8 29.2 1.01 1.49 2.29 15.5 10.1 18.4 0.9% Silvercorp Metals Inc SVM 2.0 US$5.51 172 $950 0.21 0.22 0.22 25.3 24.6 0.40 0.42 0.40 13.0 13.9 -- 0.6% Average 30.4 28.7 17.4 9.5 17.7 Platinum Group Metals African Rainbow Minerals (SA) ARI 2.1 ZAR$173.75 224 $2,703 25.61 29.31 29.65 5.9 5.9 13.97 17.61 22.93 9.9 7.6 37.1 7.1% Anglo American Platinum Ltd (SA) AMS 3.1 ZAR$1,192.27 270 $22,345 28.22 73.04 96.90 16.3 12.3 59.17 82.35 105.33 14.5 11.3 34.1 2.2% Impala Platinum (SA) IMP 2.6 ZAR$135.50 799 $8,249 1.23 10.74 18.49 12.6 7.3 9.05 16.36 19.04 8.3 7.1 37.6 0.0% Lonmin PLC (UK) LMI -- US$0.96 290 $278 -- 0.41 0.40 2.3 2.4 -- 0.48 0.02 2.0 62.9 -- 0.0% North American Palladium Ltd (CA) PDL -- C$19.73 59 $883 -- 2.30 2.49 8.6 7.9 -- 3.95 -- 5.0 -- -- 1.3% Northam Platinum Ltd (SA) NHM 2.1 ZAR$122.45 510 $4,338 (0.92) 4.36 10.66 28.1 11.5 3.39 12.97 19.12 9.4 6.4 83.5 0.0% Average 12.3 7.9 8.2 19.1 48.1 Select ( Precious Metals >US$20MM Mkt Cap) Gold Springs Resource Corp (CA)* GRC 2.0 US$0.10 248 $24 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0% Lion One Metals Ltd (CA)* LIO 2.0 C$1.62 106 $131 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0% Minera Alamos Inc (CA) MAI 2.0 C$0.28 407 $85 (0.02) 0.01 0.03 27.5 9.2 0.03 -- -- -- -- -- 0.0% Northern Vertex Mining Corp (CA)* NEE 2.0 US$0.21 247 $52 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0% Paramount Gold Nevada Corp* PZG 1.7 US$0.94 28 $26 (0.26) (0.21) (0.15) -- -- (0.19) (0.13) -- -- -- 0.0% Average 20.4 19.5 *includes research coverage by Scarsdale Equities. Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Base Metals & Diversified Large Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 24-Jan-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E % Anglo American PLC (UK) AAL 2.7 US$27.88 1369 $38,157 2.50 2.86 2.71 9.8 10.3 5.50 5.45 5.84 5.1 4.8 7.9 4.0% Antofagasta PLC (UK) ANTO 2.7 US$11.45 986 $11,287 0.52 0.56 0.57 20.4 20.0 1.33 1.92 1.72 6.0 6.7 9.2 0.9% BHP Billiton Ltd BHP 2.7 US$27.62 5058 $130,708 1.81 1.95 2.00 14.1 13.8 3.45 3.46 3.35 8.0 8.2 8.9 4.7% China Molybdenum Co Ltd (HK) 3993 2.2 CNY$2.90 21599 $12,138 0.22 0.08 0.12 36.7 23.7 0.44 (0.18) 0.30 -- 9.7 49.2 0.0% Freeport McMoran C&G FCX 2.3 US$11.84 1451 $17,179 1.52 0.02 0.46 NM 25.6 2.65 1.16 1.66 10.2 7.1 7.1 -- Glencore International PLC (UK) GLEN 2.0 US$3.01 13324 $40,168 0.41 0.16 0.23 18.9 13.0 0.81 0.60 0.64 5.0 4.7 7.2 2.9% Grupo Mexico (MX) GMEXICOB 2.4 US$2.81 7785 $21,877 0.17 0.22 0.23 12.9 12.0 0.22 0.32 0.36 8.8 7.8 9.0 7.0% Hindustan Zinc (IN) HZ 2.6 INR$207.85 4225 $12,302 19.47 18.70 19.80 11.1 10.5 21.39 21.55 23.85 9.6 8.7 6.4 0.0% MMC Norilsk Nickel (RU) GMKN -- RU$5,429.84 158 $54,204 -- 899.94 1210.92 6.0 4.5 -- 689.72 1388.13 7.9 3.9 16.8 11.7% Rio Tinto PLC (UK) RIO 2.7 US$58.04 1620 $98,670 5.12 6.30 5.54 9.2 10.5 6.88 8.64 8.10 6.7 7.2 8.7 5.3% South32 Ltd (AU) S32 2.4 US$1.86 4900 $9,157 0.22 0.13 0.11 14.4 17.2 0.34 0.29 0.27 6.3 6.8 4.9 3.6% Southern Copper Corp SCCO 2.4 US$39.85 773 $30,806 2.00 2.02 2.13 19.7 18.7 3.02 2.78 3.06 14.3 13.0 16.2 4.7% Sumitomo Metal Mining (JP) 5713 2.3 JPY$3,307 291 $8,784 265.40 224.84 257.38 14.7 12.8 438.78 448.41 404.09 7.4 8.2 11.2 1.8% Teck Resources Ltd TCK 2.0 C$19.00 554 $8,009 4.07 2.93 2.53 6.5 7.5 7.62 6.43 6.02 3.0 3.2 4.6 0.9% Vale SA (ADR) VALE 2.4 BRL$53.69 5284 $68,174 5.27 5.86 7.15 9.2 7.5 9.94 9.38 9.38 5.7 5.7 10.0 4.1% Average 14.5 13.8 7.4 7.0 11.8 Mid Cap Assore Ltd (SA) ASR 2.8 ZAR$280.16 140 $2,718 55.70 59.26 51.68 4.7 5.4 14.60 18.27 27.33 15.3 10.3 10.2 6.5% Aurubis AG (GR) NDA 3.0 EUR$52.00 45 $2,584 5.17 3.25 3.87 16.0 13.4 4.75 5.43 5.46 9.6 9.5 6.4 3.1% Boliden AB (SW) BOL 2.8 SEK$243.00 274 $6,973 26.32 21.76 23.41 11.2 10.4 43.03 35.46 42.72 6.9 5.7 7.3 3.9% Exxaro Resources Ltd (SA) EXX 1.7 ZAR$129.06 359 $3,217 20.57 26.14 27.06 4.9 4.8 (0.17) 15.24 11.81 8.5 10.9 8.0 8.8% First Quantum Minerals (CA) FM 2.1 US$9.16 689 $6,316 0.71 0.31 0.45 29.4 20.5 2.87 1.50 2.54 6.1 3.6 15.7 0.1% Iluka Resources Ltd (AU) ILU 3.1 AUD$9.44 423 $2,731 0.72 0.58 0.76 16.2 12.5 1.49 0.88 1.17 10.7 8.1 -- 2.2% Independence Group NL (AU) IGO 2.8 AUD$6.44 591 $2,605 0.11 0.24 0.35 26.9 18.2 0.59 0.72 0.81 8.9 7.9 24.4 2.1% Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (CA) IVP 2.0 US$2.89 1196 $3,464 0.03 (0.00) (0.04) -- -- (0.02) (0.03) (0.04) -- -- -- 0.0% Jiangxi Copper Co "H" (HK) 358 2.3 CNY$8.81 3463 $6,289 0.70 0.74 0.83 12.0 10.6 2.36 1.57 1.14 5.6 7.7 14.8 2.2% Kazakhmys PLC (UK) KAZ 2.3 US$6.23 472 $2,952 1.18 0.98 1.00 6.3 6.2 1.51 1.41 1.52 4.4 4.1 23.5 1.3% KGHM Polska Miedz (PO) KGH 3.4 PLN$97.36 200 $5,071 8.29 10.83 10.00 9.0 9.7 19.30 19.58 19.86 5.0 4.9 5.9 0.0% Lundin Mining Corp (CA) LUN 2.0 US$5.57 734 $4,090 0.30 0.21 0.46 26.7 12.2 0.65 0.72 1.12 7.7 5.0 8.0 0.0% Mineral Resources Ltd (AU) MIN 2.0 AUD$17.38 188 $2,241 1.15 1.38 1.51 12.6 11.5 1.59 1.40 1.57 12.4 11.1 10.5 2.9% MMG Ltd (HK) 1208 2.5 US$0.24 8055 $1,948 0.01 (0.01) 0.00 -- 49.4 0.21 0.09 0.14 2.8 1.8 12.0 0.0% Oz Minerals (AU) OZL 2.5 AUD$10.33 324 $2,293 0.73 0.50 0.55 20.6 18.7 1.45 1.27 1.46 8.1 7.1 8.8 2.3% Sesa Sterlite Ltd (ADR) SSLT 2.4 INR$155.90 3702 $8,085 17.89 15.71 18.72 9.9 8.3 60.18 53.79 49.95 2.9 3.1 4.5 1.2% Vale Indonesia Tbk PT (ID) INCO 1.7 US$0.24 9936 $2,414 0.01 0.01 0.01 44.3 28.6 0.02 0.02 0.02 13.2 11.8 16.0 0.0% Vedanta Resources PLC (UK) VED -- US$10.85 285 $3,089 -- 0.87 1.24 12.5 8.7 -- 9.96 12.60 1.1 0.9 -- -- Average 16.5 14.7 7.6 6.7 11.7 Small Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 24-Jan-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E % Adriatic Metals PLC (AU) ADT 1.7 GBP$0.97 309 $395 (0.02) 0.01 0.30 89.9 3.3 (0.02) -- -- -- 0.0% Atalaya Mining PLC (UK) ATYM 1.2 EUR$2.47 137 $375 0.25 0.24 0.42 10.2 5.9 0.40 0.17 0.26 15.0 9.7 23.3 0.0% Eramet (FR) ERA 1.7 EUR$39.91 27 $1,175 1.83 1.07 6.73 37.2 5.9 16.01 11.42 18.67 3.5 2.1 6.3 1.0% Ero Copper Corp (CA) ERO 2.5 US$14.66 86 $1,259 0.03 0.61 1.05 23.9 14.0 0.94 1.46 1.72 10.0 8.5 -- 0.0% Hudbay Minerals HBM 2.4 US$3.36 261 $880 0.40 (0.13) (0.03) -- -- 1.84 1.15 1.24 2.9 2.7 3.3 0.4% Kenmare Resources (UK) KMR 1.8 US$3.54 110 $388 0.46 0.43 0.47 8.3 7.5 0.79 0.48 0.59 7.4 6.0 74.1 1.2% Mitsui Mining & Smelting (JP) 5706 2.3 JPY$2,711 57 $1,419 58.51 114.59 224.10 23.7 12.1 649.22 624.86 732.96 4.3 3.7 6.4 2.7% Nexa Resources NA NEXA 3.0 US$8.40 133 $1,119 0.25 (1.04) 0.15 -- 57.0 2.61 1.39 2.77 6.1 3.0 -- 6.4% Outokumpu (FN) OUT1V 3.1 EUR$3.18 416 $1,464 0.34 (0.15) 0.13 -- 23.9 0.52 0.61 0.61 5.2 5.2 8.7 6.2% Sandfire Resources NL (AU) SFR 2.6 AUD$5.94 178 $724 0.72 0.69 0.85 8.6 7.0 1.44 1.50 1.76 4.0 3.4 4.0 3.4% SolGold PLC (UK) SOLG 1.6 US$0.26 1923 $498 (0.01) (0.01) (0.00) -- -- (0.00) 0.00 -- -- -- -- 0.0% Trilogy Metals Inc TMQ 2.2 US$2.24 140 $310 (0.18) (0.14) (0.09) -- -- (0.18) (0.15) -- -- -- 0.0% Turquoise Hill Resources TRQ 3.0 US$0.65 2012 $1,319 0.20 0.14 0.06 4.5 11.0 0.09 0.03 0.02 23.8 27.3 7.1 0.0% Volcan Cia Ninera VOLABC1 2.3 US$0.17 4077 $2,129 0.01 (0.00) 0.01 -- 13.0 -- -- -- -- -- 10.2 0.0% Western Areas NL (AU) WSA 2.4 AUD$2.74 274 $513 0.04 0.16 0.28 16.7 9.7 0.32 0.43 0.50 6.4 5.4 9.8 1.0% Average 16.6 15.2 8.0 7.0 15.3 Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Consensus Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Aluminum Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 24-Jan-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E % Alcoa Inc AA 2.6 US$15.51 186 $2,878 3.58 (0.99) (0.19) -- -- 2.38 3.70 2.40 4.2 6.5 5.0 0.0% Alumina Ltd AWC 3.2 US$1.54 2880 $4,436 0.24 0.12 0.09 12.9 18.0 0.22 0.15 0.10 10.5 15.5 5.9 11.2% Aluminum Corp China Ltd (ADR) ACH 2.4 CNY$2.14 17023 $7,440 0.04 0.07 0.10 29.0 21.3 0.77 0.84 0.85 2.6 2.5 14.5 0.0% Century Aluminum CENX 2.5 US$6.02 89 $535 (0.14) (1.45) 0.18 -- 33.4 (0.79) 0.06 1.01 NM 6.0 27.3 0.0% United Company Rusal Ltd (HK) 486 2.1 US$0.57 15193 $8,660 0.11 0.08 0.11 7.1 5.4 0.05 0.10 0.08 5.5 6.9 10.8 0.0% Average 16.4 19.5 5.7 7.5 12.7 Iron Ore Cliffs Natural Resources CLF 2.7 US$7.38 270 $1,993 3.71 1.10 0.74 6.7 10.0 1.57 1.85 1.01 4.0 7.3 10.4 3.1% Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AU) FMG 3.2 US$8.52 3079 $26,306 0.69 1.15 1.02 7.4 8.4 0.96 1.56 1.44 5.4 5.9 7.2 4.8% Kumba Iron Ore Ltd (SA) KIO 3.8 ZAR$381.07 322 $8,530 30.06 58.26 46.38 6.5 8.2 47.32 88.62 66.02 4.3 5.8 6.3 9.3% Labrador Iron Ore Royalty (CA) LIF 2.1 C$22.29 64 $1,087 2.01 3.28 2.66 6.8 8.4 2.32 3.49 2.71 6.4 8.2 15.2 5.2% Mount Gibson Iron Limited (AU) MGX 2.7 AUD$0.95 1158 $749 0.07 0.12 0.10 7.9 9.0 0.07 0.11 0.16 8.8 6.0 33.8 3.9% Average 7.1 8.8 5.8 6.6 14.6 Fertilizers CF Industries CF 2.4 US$40.93 217 $8,899 1.24 2.20 2.50 18.6 16.4 6.40 6.76 7.22 6.1 5.7 17.8 2.4% Compass Minerals CMP 2.2 US$58.23 34 $1,973 1.93 2.20 3.61 26.5 16.1 5.63 5.02 8.93 11.6 6.5 12.2 5.1% Incitec Pivot Ltd (AU) IPL 2.8 AUD$3.40 1613 $3,756 0.18 0.11 0.18 30.5 19.2 0.36 0.29 0.40 11.7 8.6 10.8 1.4% Intrepid Potash IPI 3.0 US$2.21 132 $292 0.09 0.12 0.14 18.7 16.0 0.49 0.34 0.35 6.4 6.3 -- 0.0% Israel Chemical (IS) ICL 2.4 US$4.16 1280 $5,331 0.37 0.39 0.40 10.7 10.3 0.48 0.77 0.71 5.4 5.9 7.5 4.2% K & S Aktiengesellschaft (GR) SDF 2.6 EUR$8.68 191 $1,837 0.22 0.51 0.81 17.1 10.7 1.61 2.72 2.82 3.2 3.1 8.7 2.0% Mosaic Co MOS 2.3 US$19.14 379 $7,250 2.12 0.47 1.15 40.6 16.7 3.75 3.29 3.32 5.8 5.8 10.3 0.7% Nutrien Ltd NTR 2.1 US$44.28 573 $25,358 2.69 2.30 2.82 19.2 15.7 3.28 6.61 5.56 6.7 8.0 -- 3.5% Sirius Minerals PLC (UK) SXX 2.0 GBP$0.05 7020 $501 (0.00) (0.00) (0.01) -- -- -- (0.00) (0.00) -- -- -- 0.0% Sociedad Quimica Minera (ADR) SQM 3.1 US$29.38 263 $7,326 1.67 1.06 1.22 27.7 24.0 1.99 1.58 1.56 18.6 18.8 10.5 4.6% Yara International ASA (NO) YAR 2.4 US$37.44 272 $10,200 1.68 2.93 3.36 12.8 11.2 2.77 6.10 6.28 6.1 6.0 8.6 1.7% Average 22.2 15.6 8.2 7.5 10.8 Coal Large - Mid Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 24-Jan-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E % Adaro Energy TBK (ID) ADRO 2.6 US$0.10 31986 $3,240 0.01 0.01 0.01 7.0 7.9 0.03 0.02 0.02 4.3 4.6 5.2 9.5% Banpu Public Co Ltd (TH) BANPU 2.9 US$0.36 5162 $1,862 0.08 0.02 0.03 15.3 10.4 0.08 0.07 0.06 4.9 5.8 16.1 5.8% China Coal Energy Co (HK) 1898 2.4 CNY$2.54 13259 $7,668 0.34 0.49 0.45 5.2 5.7 1.54 1.51 1.53 1.7 1.7 11.6 2.7% China Shenhua Energy Co (HK) 1088 2.5 CNY$13.15 19890 $47,528 2.22 2.22 2.08 5.9 6.3 4.44 4.00 3.47 3.3 3.8 4.9 6.3% Consol Energy CNX 2.9 US$6.73 187 $1,256 1.36 0.62 0.46 10.9 14.5 4.13 4.17 4.11 1.6 1.6 6.9 0.0% Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AU) WHC 2.3 AUD$2.42 1026 $1,700 0.54 0.35 0.17 7.0 14.1 0.87 0.61 0.39 4.0 6.2 5.9 8.0% Yancoal Australia Ltd YAL -- AUD$2.90 1320 $2,622 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 8.4% Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd (HK) 1171 2.8 CNY$5.67 4912 $5,726 1.75 1.82 1.60 3.1 3.5 3.71 3.59 3.44 1.6 1.6 16.4 0.0% Average 7.8 8.9 3.0 3.6 9.6 Small Cap Alliance Resource Partners LP ARLP 2.5 US$9.93 128 $1,272 2.99 1.59 0.92 6.2 10.8 5.31 2.61 1.90 3.8 5.2 2.9 13.3% Arch Coal Inc ARCH 2.0 US$57.21 15 $861 15.15 13.11 11.58 4.4 4.9 20.26 21.74 22.19 2.6 2.6 -- 2.4% Fushan Int'l Energy Group (HK) 639 2.3 HK$1.69 5302 $1,153 0.21 0.22 0.22 7.6 7.7 0.31 0.32 0.42 5.3 4.0 7.1 10.0% NLC India Ltd (IN) NLCINDIA -- INR$57.80 1387 $1,123 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 8.2 -- Natural Resource Partners LP NRP -- US$20.93 12 $257 6.43 5.20 4.12 4.0 5.1 9.19 7.06 5.28 3.0 4.0 3.4 7.1% New Hope Corp Ltd (AU) NHC 2.4 AUD$1.95 832 $1,110 0.31 0.27 0.20 7.3 9.9 0.44 0.36 0.34 5.4 5.7 12.7 6.8% PT Tambang Batubara Bukit (ID) PTBA 2.7 IDR$2,370 11521 $2,004 477.00 370.79 328.43 6.4 7.2 746.44 297.65 315.30 8.0 7.5 8.3 15.0% Average 6.0 7.6 4.7 4.8 7.1 Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Uranium Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld Symbol Rating 24-Jan-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E % Cameco Corp CCJ 2.4 C$11.05 396 $3,333 0.53 0.00 0.09 NM NM 1.68 0.87 0.82 12.7 13.5 7.7 0.6% Denison Mines DNN 2.1 C$0.51 590 $229 (0.04) (0.04) (0.03) -- -- (0.04) (0.04) (0.02) -- -- -- 0.0% Energy Resources Australia (AU) ERA 4.0 AUD$0.16 3691 $398 0.03 (0.03) (0.09) -- -- (0.11) 0.17 (0.03) 0.9 -- 13.6 0.0% Nexgen Energy Ltd (CA) NXE 1.7 C$1.53 356 $414 (0.06) (0.07) (0.08) -- -- (0.02) (0.04) (0.04) -- -- -- 0.0% Uranium Participation Corp (CA) U 2.1 C$4.04 138 $425 (0.03) 0.16 0.26 25.0 15.6 (0.04) (0.04) (0.05) -- -- -- 0.0% Average 25.0 15.6 6.8 13.5 10.6 Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets. The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items. Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters. Commodity Prices Cash Price (24-Jan-20) Aluminum ($0.81 / lb) Cobalt ($14.63 / lb) Copper ($2.71 / lb) Lead ($0.89 / lb) Molybdenum ($9.91 / lb) Nickel ($5.89 / lb) Tin ($7.67 / lb) Zinc ($1.07 / lb) Palladium ($2297 / oz) Platinum ($1004 / oz) Silver ($18.10 / oz) Uranium ($24.55 / lb) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 16:34:22|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close VIENTIANE, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The future of food and agriculture was on top of the agenda for officials gathered here for the 35th Asia and the Pacific Regional Conference (APRC) Informal Country Consultation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday. Lao Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Phouangparisak Pravongviengkham, and FAO Representative to the Lao People's Democratic Republic Nasar Hayat were joined by representatives from the government and civil society organizations to discuss the timely topics on food and agriculture ahead of the 35th Session of the Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC 35) in Thimphu, capital of Bhutan from Feb. 17 to Feb. 20, Lao News Agency (KPL) reported on Tuesday. Speaking at Monday's country consultation meeting in Vientiane for APRC 35, Deputy Minister Phouangparisak said the Lao government was working on key points with its partners to address food and nutrition security which could be shared during the regional conference, according to local daily Vientiane Times on Tuesday. This included balancing support for the commercialisation of agriculture with food security and access to nutritious food by all communities. Phouangparisak said the consultation would enhance exchanges among participants in collecting information on the remaining issues in agricultural development to be addressed at next month's conference. Hayat said the regional conference was a forum where ministers and high-ranking officials from FAO member states in each of the five regions met to discuss issues relating to food and agriculture to obtain regional coherence. He pointed out that country consultations would be summarised and shared with regional and global teams to provide guidance on areas of regional priority for FAO's work in 2020-2021, based on major trends and challenges in the region, including the Sustainable Development Goals and climate change, and experience with regional initiatives in 2018-2019. FAO Regional Conferences are an official forum where ministers and high-ranking officials from FAO member states in each of the five regions meet to discuss issues related to food and agriculture in an effort to obtain regional coherence. While regional conferences typically discuss current and emerging regional trends and challenges, the APRC 35 will also introduce innovation and digital technologies that are helping to improve food security and nutrition across the region. (Recasts with financial services minister) By Huw Jones LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Britain will lose out to rival financial centres and other economic sectors unless action is taken to create a more skilled and diverse workforce, a review commissioned by the finance ministry said. With Britain's departure from the European Union hitting recruitment and the technology sector luring away talent, the ministry backed calls for a new financial industry body dedicated to filling the skill shortages. At present, 90% of workers in the sector are white, and only a third of senior managers are women, said the review, which was presented on Tuesday. Restoring public trust in finance was also critical to attracting skilled staff, it said. "The industry lacks the overarching vision, coordination and focus needed to weather the megatrends transforming global business," said Mark Hoban, chair of the task force that authored the report. An employer-funded and managed Financial Services Skills Commission could lead real change, it said. It would identify what skills were needed, how to increase training for employees, and "champion the sector as a great place to work". The report found that financial services has a growing skills gap, up 30% between 2015 and 2017, and only a third of senior managers are women. About nine out of 10 financial services workers are white, failing to reflect the mix of people in urban centres where many people who work in the sector are based, the report said. The sector is also facing fundamental changes as automation eliminates clerical and administration jobs. Demand for specialist skills in data and tech is growing in a sector that has a high reliance on imported talent, with more than 12% of Britain's banking and finance workforce from the EU. The unfettered ability to hire talent from the EU will end after Brexit. "In the short term, changes to our ability to access overseas talent, as a result of Brexit, will present an additional challenge as investment in our domestic talent will take time to manifest," the report said. Britain's financial services minister John Glen said the sector had an image problem and needed to "up its game". "The government is absolutely committed to supporting the long-term needs of the sector," Glen told te review's launch event. The government welcomed the creation of a new commission and will engage closely with it on a regular basis, Glen said. Glen said Britain was considering a new points based immigration system from 2021 that would help recruitment. "This is a competitive world and we must never lose sight of where our own competitive strengths lie," Glen said. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Angus MacSwan) By Express News Service BIDAR: The Bidar police on Monday registered a case against Shaheen Education Institute of Bidar, on charges of uploading a video of a school drama against CAA/NRC, projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a bad light. The drama was staged on Sunday. The case was registered based on a complaint lodged by social worker Nilesh Rakshyal. The complainant stated that minor children of the institute were made to stage the drama, humiliating PM Modi. The drama also sent a message that people of one community would have to leave the country if CAA and NRC were brought into force. Video footage of the drama was uploaded on to a social media website by Mohammad Yousuf Rahim of Bidar, the complainant said. Rakshyal claimed that the drama by kids, and the way it turned viral on social media platforms could upset peace in society, besides sending a wrong message about government policies and decisions. He demanded legal action against Rahim and the institute. The ABVP also staged a protest against the institute and submitted a memorandum to the home minister. NORTH YORK, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / ZTEST Electronics Inc. ("ZTEST" or the "Company") (CSE:ZTE) wishes to announce that it will make an application to extend the exercise date of 312,500 warrants currently exercisable until January 31, 2020 at $1.10 per share, issued pursuant to the private placement financing which closed on January 30, 2018, for a further year until January 31, 2021 and to reduce the exercise price of the warrants to $0.40 per share. The extension and re-pricing are subject to Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") approval and the consent of all warrant holders to the re-pricing of the warrants. In the event that, following approval of the amendment to the warrants, the closing price of the common shares of ZTEST on the CSE is at least $0.40 for ten (10) consecutive trading days (the last day being the "Tenth Trading Day"), the Company will issue a press release and file a Form 13 announcing that the expiry date of the warrants will be accelerated to thirty (30) days commencing seven (7) days after the Tenth Trading Day. About ZTEST Electronics Inc. ZTEST Electronics Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary Permatech Electronics Corp. ("Permatech"), offers Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) to a wide range of customers. Permatech's offering includes Materials Management, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Assembly, Testing and Design services. Permatech operates from a 20,000 square foot, ISO 9001:2015 certified facility in North York, Ontario, Canada. The company serves customers in the Medical, Power, Computer, Telecommunications, Wireless, Industrial and Consumer Electronics markets requiring high quality, quick-turnaround, small and medium size production runs. ZTEST also holds a 25.29% equity interest in Conversance Inc. ("Conversance"). About Conversance Inc. Conversance, a Waterloo Ont. based private company founded by Mr. Joseph Chen, is focused on developing and marketing proprietary artificial intelligence supported distributed ledger technologies. Mr. Chen is an electrical engineer with a strong background in radio frequency, digital signal processing, VLSI (very-large-scale integration), complex systems, chemistry and physics. Mr. Chen joined Research In Motion (now BlackBerry) in 1999, becoming a senior member of the office of the chief technology officer ("CTO"), where he was instrumental in many of Blackberry's key telephony innovations and patents. While at BlackBerry, the office of the CTO first began looking into blockchain in 2008. Since leaving Blackberry in 2012, Mr. Chen has focused much of his personal research on the state of the art in machine learning, cryptography and quantum computing, and their implications and applications in digitizing and automating finance, and the protection of personal information and trust in a digital world. For more information contact: Steve Smith, CEO (604) 837-3751 email: stevesmith15@shaw.ca The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: ZTEST Electronics Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574403/ZTEST-Announces-Extension-and-Re-Pricing-of-110-Warrants Ameya Dalvi Our list of phones under Rs 15,000 undergoes a drastic change quarter after quarter. If you had a phone with 48 MP camera last quarter, you can get one with a 64 MP sensor now. If 4 GB RAM seemed decent for the budget then, you now have 6 GB on every handset in this list. And the evolution continues. So lets see which are the top smartphones one can buy under Rs 15,000 this month. Best phones under Rs 15,000 you can buy in India Redmi Note 8 Pro You can now get the base variant of the Redmi Note 8 Pro (Review) in this budget. It comes with quad cameras at the back with a combination of 64 MP primary sensor, 8 MP (ultra-wide), 2 MP (macro) and 2 MP (depth sensor). The phone's design is quite elegant with a glass back and Gorilla Glass 5 protection at the front as well as at the back. The phone is on the larger side courtesy of its 6.53-inch Full HD+ display thats sharp and supports HDR. You get 6 GB RAM and 64 GB internal (expandable) storage. The Redmi Note 8 Pro is powered by a MediaTek Helio G90T SoC which is quite a powerhouse for this segment and raises the performance bar. Not only does it outperform its Qualcomm counterparts in system benchmarks but comfortably takes the honours in gaming performance too. One can play PUBG Mobile on it in Ultra mode with HDR on. It has a 4,500 mAh battery that can last you for a couple of days of moderate usage without much gaming, and just over a day if you indulge in ample gaming. It runs Android Pie with MIUI 10 on top. Redmi Note 8 Pro price in India: Rs 14,999 for 6 GB RAM/64 GB storage Realme 5 Pro Realme 5 Pro (Review) is another stylish phone that offers great value proposition along with quad cameras at the back. The camera combination here is similar to that of the Redmi Note 8 Pro except for the primary camera, which has a more than capable 48 MP sensor instead of 64 MP. The rear cameras manage to capture excellent shots with a great amount of detail, accurate colours, and sharpness. They do a good job with night photography too, and you have the Nightscape mode to take it a notch higher. The 16 MP front shooter wont disappoint selfie enthusiasts either. The textured back makes the Realme 5 Pro look eye-catching. A layer of Gorilla Glass 3+ on its 6.3-inch Full HD+ screen protects it from scratches. It is powered by a Snapdragon 712 chip with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage that can be expanded further, thanks to a dedicated microSD card slot. Its 4,035 mAh battery easily lasts beyond a day, and in case it is running low at a crucial time, the company bundles a 20 W fast charger with VOOC Charge 3.0 to charge the battery doubly fast. It runs Android Pie with a fairly clean ColorOS 6.0 user interface. Realme 5 Pro price in India: Rs 13,999 for 6 GB RAM/64 GB storage Poco F1 This phone just refuses to go away. And now that Poco has been floated as a separate entity, we can expect a Poco F2 sometime this year. Poco F1 (Review) arrived in late 2018 with Qualcomms then flagship, Snapdragon 845 SoC for just over 20K. While its base variant was priced at 21K at launch, you can now get its mid variant with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage under Rs 15,000. You can add up to 256 GB further to it using a microSD card, if you wish to. The design isnt the most eye-catching but it is still a beast in this segment when it comes to performance. The Poco F1 comes with a 6.18-inch full HD+ notched display and a 12 MP + 5 MP dual-camera setup at the back that does a good job in average to good lighting. The image quality is pretty good but nothing fancy for 2020. Theres a more than decent 20 MP front camera for selfies. This is mainly a phone for gamers on a budget than camera enthusiasts. If you are looking to play PUBG Mobile in its full glory on a tight budget, Poco F1 is still a great option. The Poco launcher on top of Android Pie remains a better alternative to MIUI that you get on most Xiaomi phones. Poco F1 price in India: Rs 14,999 for 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage Vivo U20 Vivo U20 is a fairly recent launch that offers a bit of everything for a good price. This phone flaunts three rear cameras with a combination of 16 MP (primary) + 8 MP (ultrawide) + 2 MP (macro) lenses. The cameras do an acceptable job in various conditions for this budget range. This handset will keep the selfie enthusiasts interested with a 16 MP front shooter that captures some crisp shots. The Vivo U20 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 SoC with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB expandable storage. It has a 6.53-inch Full HD+ display with a drop notch. The battery life here is quite impressive with a 5,000 mAh battery keeping the phone powered for close to two days of moderate usage. It supports fast charging and the company bundles an 18 W fast charger too to charge it quickly. The phone runs Android Pie with a layer of FunTouch OS 9.2 on top. Vivo U20 price in India: Rs 11,990 for 6 GB RAM/64 GB storage Lenovo K10 Note Lenovo manages to hold on to its position in our list in this crowded midrange space with the highly competent K10 Note. The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 710 SoC and comes bundled with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. It has a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display with a drop notch. Theres a 4,050 mAh battery that can keep it powered for a day. Camera department comprises of triple cameras with a combination of 16 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP sensors. But whats interesting here is that the company has opted for a telephoto lens instead of ultra-wide. So the Lenovo K10 Note provides you with 2X optical zoom, something not very common in this segment. Theres a 16 MP front camera for selfies. The phone runs Android Pie with ZUI 11 on top. Its price has come down by a good 20 percent in the past few months making it an even better deal. Lenovo K10 Note price in India: Rs 11,999 for 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage Thats it for now. If you are on a tighter budget, you may want to check our list of best phones under Rs 10,000 this month. by Rishad Tobaccowala , Op-Ed Contributor, January 27, 2020 The following is an excerpt from Restoring the Soul of Business, a new book by Rishad Tobaccowala. The wealth and success and the sweet siren call of optimizing data has led us to overlook the collateral damage of forgetting, or neglecting to consider, the human side of the equation. The Age of Data Organizations are drawn to data for many reasons, not the least of which is the emergence of incredibly sophisticated technologies that allow us to process and parse information with speed and insight. But here are more reasons why the spreadsheet is dominating the story: Data is plentiful. advertisement advertisement Data is not messy or nuanced like feelings. Data feels certain, while hunches are uncertain. Data is a common language that everyone in a global world can read. Data drives wealth creation, as illustrated by the data-driven companies of Google and Facebook, whose algorithms are powerful prediction engines. Data can be displayed using stunning graphics. But just because all things data are dominant doesnt make data a bad thing. In fact, its a mistake to characterize the spreadsheet as bad and the story as good. Both are crucial for organizations. More to the point, achieving a balance between the two is the hallmark of great companies. The problem is that datas seductiveness throws the dynamic off balance. Data helps us justify our decisions. It seems to mitigate our risks. It provides insights into consumer behaviors, which can shape our product and service development. It can save us and make us a lot of money. But it can also seduce us into believing that data is all we need. When that happens, we lose the agility, innovation, and inspiration upon which organizations thrive. Data can and should be meaningful in every sense of that word. We shouldnt use it just to quantify stuff and increase efficiency and productivity, but to gain softer insights. Different Types of Data: Math and Meaning Simplistically, math is all the data flowing through organizations and meaning is all the intangible feelings and perceptions surrounding people, products, services, and the companies themselves. Less simplistically, math takes various formsalgorithms, AI, social media data, and so on. Meaning, too, can vary considerably, ranging from organizational purpose to employee beliefs about their companies to brand significance. Organizations have always used data in various wayssurveys, budgets, focus groupsbut because of technological advances, data has now become a ubiquitous presence in every nook and cranny. Data: Fosters customer insight. Data reveals opportunities like never before, from maximizing marketing to developing new product ideas. Spurs continuous improvement. By comparing key metrics against historical performance as well as that of competitors, companies can create benchmarks to improve performance and provide feedback to each individual in objective versus subjective terms. Provides competitive advantage. In a world where product differentiation is narrowing and price comparison places downward pressure on margins, data allows for new forms of competitive advantage and monetization. The success of three of the five most valuable companies in America is thanks to their vast swaths of data, which allow them to personalize and customize their services with speed and low cost. Data allows for low cost, speed, and high quality. Now think about meaning. While it is less tangible than data, it is no less crucial to a companys success. Consider the following forms of meaning and the questions that help elicit it: A brands reputation. Is it considered a quality product or a cheap one? Reliable or not? Does the brand connote trust and inspire loyalty or is it seen as utilitarian? Customer service beliefs. Do customers find servicepeople to be helpful and friendly or cold and bored? Do service representatives and salespeople forge relationships with their best customers or are relationships merely transactional? Company mission/values. Is the company known for consistent beliefs and principles or is it seen as amoral and fickle? Does the organization try to make its community, its industry, and the world a better place or is it motivated only by profit? Employee perceptions of the enterprise. Do they perceive the organization as a place where they can learn and grow or one that exploits their hard work and skills? Do they feel they are rewarded fairly or that the company is cheap? Do they feel included and affiliated with the organization or isolated and mercenary? The full significance of the data. What do all those facts and figures mean beyond the obvious? Yes, profits are up by 12 percent in June, but why? Is this an anomaly or is there an underlying trend to which we must pay attention? Did the new ad we ran have an effect or did our salespeople respond to a new incentive program? Despite Its Limitations, Data Will Become More Pervasive It is critical that we constantly remind ourselves about the challenges of relying on data, since we will likely encounter data more than ever because of a number of factors: Accessibility. Data is available on a much more real-time, granular, and unified basis than ever before. The easier it is to obtain informationfrom the demographics of a website to social media friends and followersthe more likely organizations will capitalize on it. Storage and manipulability advances. Its now possible to measure and store how a single individual interacts with every website component at every moment and link this information to other data about that individual. Lower storage costs combined with powerful computing capabilities make it possible to capitalize on this data and manipulate it in insightful ways. Leadership tool. Data is the spine that holds the organization together and affects every significant decision and communication. Leaderships embrace of data has a trickle-down effect, causing all levels of the organization to buy in. The AI age. Increasingly powerful computers input huge amounts of data and learn as they process information, getting smarter just as humans get smarter from multiple experiences. But computers, unlike humans, can capitalize on data-driven algorithmic decision-making, and organizations are increasingly relying on algorithms rather than people to make decisions. How to Extract Meaning from Data by Tapping into People Over the years I have learned that the best way to gain insights and extract meaning from data is to follow what I call the 6 I approach: Interpret, Involve, Interconnect, Imagine, Iterate, and Investigate. Interpret the data. Dont just take all those facts and figures at face value. Sometimes, of course, theyre exactly what they seem. Other times, they can be misleading. For this reason, view ambiguous data from multiple perspectives. Develop hypotheses, search for patterns, look for outliers, create alternative scenarios to explain the information youre receiving. Through interpretation you can enrich the data with meaning; you can identify the story its telling. Involve diverse people. As important as your analytics people are, expand the group that examines the data. When you involve people with various skills and perspectives, youre likely to receive a richer interpretation. Interconnect to larger trends and events. Making these types of connections helps you take the data one step further, determining if its going to have a short-term or long- term impact, if its suggesting the end of a trend or the beginning of a new one. Imagine and inspire solutions. Too often we look at the data and allow it to set boundaries: We cant go into Market Z as planned because the numbers indicate sales of our category is starting to fall off. Rather than allowing the data to limit options and actions, explore the solutions it might inspire. If the numbers show that your product category isnt doing as well as it once did in Market Z, is there an emerging opportunity because the market still has potential and competition will be reduced because of this data? Iterate. Data can spawn new and better data. Is there a test you might run based on the information youve gathered that can produce more insightful facts and figures? Can you think of fresh ways to generate feedback that might provide multiple perspectives and explain surprising, disturbing, and promising data? Investigate peoples experiences. In a given organization, you have hundreds or thousands of people with data-relevant insights because in the pastwhether while part of your organization or with a previous employerthey experienced something applicable to the current information. Tapping into this by seeking out relevant employees and asking about the data may provide ideas that would not otherwise be articulated. The Need for a Human-Centric Data Policy Beyond questioning and exploring the data, organizations need to create policies and protocols for it. The tilt toward data wouldnt be so harmful if companies enacted basic rules to mitigate the damage caused by overdependence. Meaning naturally flows back into an environment when companies filter all the facts, figures, and other information through a human lens. To that end, here are some suggested filters: Determine what data is worth receiving and eliminate the rest. Flag bad data. Stop using data as a crutch. Ask questions data can answer, not data-driven questions. Measure judiciously. Organizations can redress the balance between math and meaning by enacting data policies that allow people to use their creativity and ideas more effectively. Meaning can also be added in other ways to the numerical thinking that dominates companies. Copyright 2020 by Rishad Tobaccowala. Used by permission of HarperCollins Leadership. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 17:15:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tuesday said the WHO speaks highly of the decisive measures the Chinese government has taken and is confident in China's epidemic prevention and control ability. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the remarks when meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Tedros said the WHO and the international community speak highly of and fully affirm the decisive measures the Chinese government has taken, and appreciate China's great efforts in curbing the spread of pneumonia. He said the WHO does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact. The WHO is confident in China's epidemic prevention and control ability. After the outbreak of pneumonia, China identified the pathogens in record time, shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus with the WHO and other countries, and carried out a series of effective measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Tedros said, adding that the power of China's system and the effectiveness of its measures are "rarely seen in the world" and are "admirable." He said the WHO hopes to strengthen cooperation with China and is willing to provide all necessary help. Wang said China appreciates the WHO's objective and just stance and its full recognition to China's anti-virus measures. "Your visit to China not only shows your support for China but also injects impetus into China's cooperation with the WHO," said Wang. "We have full capability, confidence and resources to overcome the epidemic at an early date," Wang said. China is willing to continuously deepen cooperation with the international community, especially the WHO, in an open and transparent manner to contribute to global public health, Wang said. Declaring a public health emergency can needlessly affect trade, tourism, and imply that a nation can't curb the disease on its own, The World Health Organizations decision to not declare the novel coronavirus outbreak in China a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, will surprise many. The number of reported cases and deaths is doubling every couple of days, and patients have now been reported from many Asian countries, as well as the Middle East, Europe, Australia and the US. You might wonder how bad things have to get before this is deemed to be a global public health emergency. But such declarations by the WHO are not taken lightly, as Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) explained in the press conference. The concept of the WHO declaring global public health emergencies first arose after the 2003 Sars coronavirus outbreak. As with the current outbreak, it started in a live animal market where the spread of infected excrement to humans allowed the virus to cross the species barrier. But unlike the current situation, the Sars epidemic was growing for many months in China before authorities admitted they had a problem. By the time the Sars outbreak was brought under control, there were over 8,000 cases and 700 deaths in 37 countries. The WHO decided that declaring a PHEIC, introduced as part of the 2005 International Health Regulations, would help manage these situations. Previously, under legislation that was 150 years old, cholera, plague and yellow fever were contained by quarantine and embargoes at a countrys borders. The 2005 legal framework focuses on containing an outbreak at its source, with an emphasis on preparedness. It requires countries to maintain necessary core capacities, such as the ability to diagnose infections and isolate infected patients. And rather than only being able to report specific known diseases, they can report unusual public health patterns, for example an unexpected increase in patients with severe respiratory symptoms. A PHEIC is declared when there is an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other states through the international spread of disease. Such a declaration raises levels of international support, enhances diplomatic efforts and security, and makes more money available to support response teams. The reason for caution is that declaring a global public health emergency can unnecessarily affect trade and tourism and imply that a country cannot control the disease on its own. But given the Chinese response of quarantining 41 million people in 13 cities, this hardly seems like a consideration here. To date, there have been five such public health emergencies declared by WHO: the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic, a 2014 declaration following the resurgence of wild poliovirus, the 2014 West African Ebola epidemic, the Zika emergency of 2015-16, and, after much deliberation, the 2018-19 outbreak of Ebola in Kivu. As Tedros emphasised, even without the declaration of a PHEIC, there is already a coordinated international health response to the current coronavirus outbreak. And in some ways, this looks like a model public health response with concerted action underway. The Chinese have been quick to report the outbreak in Wuhan and share all the information they have. This early release of data has allowed modellers to predict that the total number infected is already probably in the thousands. Scientists in China rapidly sequenced the new virus to determine its genetic make up. Their immediate publication of this information allowed others around the world to develop their own diagnostic tests. The Chinese authorities quarantine moves underscore their determination to do everything they can to control the spread. Though whether it is possible to isolate so many people and whether at this stage it will help control the epidemic is uncertain. In the UK and other countries, passengers on flights coming directly from Wuhan were undergoing some health screening and being given information about what to do if they feel unwell. Such flights have now stopped, but these measures may need to be extended to flights from other parts of China. Unanswered questions Several questions, however, remain unanswered, some of which will be key to the WHOs further deliberations on a PHEIC declaration over the next few weeks. It is clear that human-to-human transmission is happening the infection has spread from patients to healthcare workers and other close contacts. What is not yet clear is how infectious the virus is. How much ongoing transmission will there be from the second patient to third, fourth and fifth contacts? And can people spread the virus before they even have symptoms? Scientists use the term Ro to describe how easily a virus spreads, and the higher it is, the greater the chance of the outbreak spreading further and more quickly. The disease severity is also important. As of January 26, 56 (2.8%) of 2,014 confirmed cases have died. For Sars coronavirus the case fatality rate was nearly 10%. If the new coronavirus spreads rapidly but has a low case fatality rate, there will be less concern. Chinese scientists are conducting tests to determine which of the animals in the wet market in Wuhan might have been the source. There will also be questions about whether regulations to keep humans safe were being followed. After the 2003 outbreak, temporary rules were imposed to stop the sale of exotic animals, such as civet cats, which transmit Sars coronavirus. But wet markets, which are usually crowded spaces selling live poultry and other animals, are popular with shoppers in Asia. About 600 people die in the UK every year from flu alone, and around the world there are hundreds of thousands of deaths. So while the emergence of a new virus will always cause alarm, the current response of public health officials and scientists in China and around the world, which incorporates everything we have learnt since Sars, should reassure the public, regardless of whether or not the WHO eventually declare this a global public health emergency. Tom Solomon, Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, and Professor of Neurology, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. In the business world, when I was back in the business world, when a deal was tough, people would jokingly refer to it as, This is tougher than Israel and the Palestinians getting together, Trump said as he welcomed Netanyahu for an Oval Office briefing on the secretive package. And thats what Ive heard all my life, and so well see what happens. We have something that makes a lot of sense for everybody. According to Chicago municipal Judge John Lyle, who battled bootleggers and corruption throughout his career, when the mob wanted in on the action, small-time gangsters didn't have much of a chance. Capone muscled some, bribed others and threatened still others with retaliation from Cook County Sheriff Peter Hoffman, who was in Torrio's pocket. He also went directly to the voters, paying off mortgages and buying new furnaces, Lyle wrote in his 1960 book, "The Dry and Lawless Year," which was excerpted in the Tribune. The electoral commission, INEC, says it has concluded reviews in Saturdays rerun elections in 11 states. INEC said there were cases of misconduct and disruption of the electoral process in four of the 28 constituencies where elections were conducted. According to INEC, the affected constituencies are Oru East/Orsu/Orlu Federal Constituency of Imo State; Essien Udim Local Government Area, Akwa-Ibom State; Abi State Constituency of Cross River State and Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto state. INEC on Saturday conducted rerun elections in 28 constituencies spread across 11 states: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Ogun and Sokoto. The commission said the polls arose from 30 petitions after the 2019 general elections. PREMIUM TIMES on Monday reported how INEC condemned the violence that rocked the elections held in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom. Sanctions But, in a statement on Tuesday, signed by the INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, the commission said due to the electoral banditry identified in the affected polling units in Akwa Ibom, the results were cancelled. It added that despite the incidents in Sokoto, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states, the results were declared because the widespread violence did not significantly affect the overall results. It noted that in the case of Imo, the commission suspended the process because thugs disrupted the collation of results at the designated centre in Orlu. INEC said the suspension was in furtherance to the provisions of Paragraph 47(f) of its Regulations and Guidelines that in the event of such a disruption, saved original and duplicate result sheets be used to complete the collation of results. The commission said it has deployed a team consisting of National Commissioners, Resident Electoral Commissioners and senior staff of the commission to the state to coordinate the regeneration of results and conclusion of collation. New Delhi, Jan 28 : In a random move, the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP mocked former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his long beard in a sarcastic tweet before deleting it within an hour. The tweet had a photo of an Amazon order of five razors dispatched in Abdullah's name to his Gupkar Road residence in Srinagar. The tweet read: "Dear Omar Abdullah, its very disheartening to see you like this while most of your corrupt friends are enjoying life outside." It went on to state: "Kindly accept our sincere contribution, in case of any assistance feel free to contact your counterpart INC for further help in this regard." Within an hour, the tweet vanished. However, within that short time, it had 517 retweets and 1,272 'likes'. Sources say, the central leadership did not find the tweet in good taste. Just a day before Republic Day, on January 25, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister's latest photograph wearing a woollen cap and sporting a long white beard surfaced on social media and went viral. Omar was seen smiling with snow in the backdrop. The photo has a retro touch to it. According to sources the photograph was genuine. The National Conference leader, who has been in detention since August 5, when Article 370 was abrogated in the state, appears to have not shaved since. In October, a different photo of Omar had surfaced, in which he was sporting a smaller beard. Web proxy technology has been around since nearly the beginning of the internet and networking age, but its recently been brought to the fore with the rise of automation and digitization. Lets explore what web proxies are and how businesses are using this old school technology in new and creative ways to enhance productivity and boost their bottom lines. Whats a proxy? A web proxy is a system or application that acts as a middleman between your computer and the internet. The process essentially boils down to your computer handing off-web requests to the proxy which then grabs the requested data from a web server. Since your computer and the web server never directly communicate, the identity and location of your computer remain hidden from the server. Until recently, proxies were almost exclusively used for preserving anonymity when browsing the internet. However, with the increasing affordability of computing power and the rise of automation software, modern businesses have begun to utilize them for much more than simply security. 1. Web scraping The internet is a seemingly endless bank of information. However, unless youre Google, you have very little need for most of that information. Web scraping refers to the activity of accessing multiple pages and extracting very specific data from these pages. Thanks to new powerful automation tools, web scraping can be performed at incredibly high speeds, creating new marketing and business opportunities along the way. One example of a new type of business born from the ability to scrape mass amounts of data from the web is travel aggregator sites. These aggregator sites use web scraper tools to dig through the internet for information relating to travel costs, such as hotel prices and airfare. They then serve all of this information in a format readable to the consumer. Web scraping involves accessing and downloading large volumes of data from a single domain often several thousand pages. Due to the stress, they cause on the network, many websites will automatically block any IP address attempting to make too many connections at a time. These aggregator sites get around this by using proxies to hide the fact that their web scrapers are all running from a single location. With rotating dedicated proxies, each web scraper connects to the internet through its IP address, circumventing these anti-scraper measures. 2. Social media marketing As of May 2019, there are 3,499 billion active social media users. Thats 45% of the planets population actively using social media in one form or another. Marketing experts very quickly identified the potential for social media to increase customer engagement and influence brand awareness, and theyre using proxies to do so. Many companies run multiple social media accounts that they use to spark discussion around a brand or product, often to the tune of thousands of different accounts. They manage these accounts using social bots, special software that simulates human behavior on the internet. Each bot is assigned to a different social media account and works throughout the day making posts, liking comments, and accessing online forums to understand how the market is responding to a product or campaign. Sometimes they play a more active role, directly commenting in discussions to steer the conversation in a certain direction. Social media platforms dont like social bots and will commonly ban any IP address that creates too many social media accounts. To get around this restriction, marketing experts use rotating proxies to change the IP addresses of every one of their bots. It does this every few minutes, ensuring that websites cant detect them. 3. Traffic balancing Theres nothing worse than trying to access your favorite online service only to find its servers are down. The solution is to store copies of your website on multiple servers throughout the globe, ensuring enough data redundancy that youre never at risk of going completely offline. But if your website has copies scattered in different continents, how do you make sure your users know which one to access and when? Use a proxy server. The proxy server acts as a single point of access to any of the dozens of servers your company has across the world. The user needs only remember one address, the proxys, to access the services shes looking for. The proxy then automatically connects the user to the fastest server based on current load and proximity to the user, and it does it all with the user none the wiser. 4. SEO monitoring Search engine optimization one of the most important parts of modern web design. Companies want their companys site to rank highly in Googles search algorithm for the keywords most relevant to their brand or product. In most cases, the keywords youre targeting will be different for every region due to differences in language and culture. How can you know for sure that your website is ranking properly for the different keywords in Texas versus Seoul? SEO experts use proxies to trick search engines into thinking theyre accessing them from a different location in the world. Say you wanted to know how well your companys new backpack is ranking for the relevant keywords in Indonesia, if you tried to access the website from Tallahassee, all youd get was results for America. By connecting through a proxy located in Indonesia, Google now thinks youre in Indonesia and will show you the relevant results for that country. 5. Content-restriction Sometimes you dont want your employees accessing websites with distracting or inappropriate content during work hours. If youve worked in a company that blocked YouTube or Facebook, youre already familiar with this particular application for proxies. Essentially, every computer in the company network connects to the internet through a proxy where the administrator can set traffic rules that allow, limit, or completely block access to certain websites. After 3 months of research Proxyway published 5 Best Youtube Proxies providers in the market right now: Smartproxy; Geosurf; Blazing SEO; 4IcedOutProxies; ATCproxys. Conclusion Weve taken a short look at what web proxies are and how theyre used. The short of it is that proxies are intermediaries between you and the internet as a whole. Though theyve historically been used for maintaining anonymity when conducting online activities, companies are combining them with automation tools to perform work processes at unparalleled speed and scale. The seven party leaders took part in a testy two-hour debate on RTE's Claire Byrne Live. There were a lot of claims and statements thrown about, but how many of them were accurate? Our experts were on hand to bebunk claims by Fine Gael's Leo Varadkar, Fianna Fail's Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald, Labour's Brendan Howlin, Solidarity/PBP's Richard Boyd Barrett, Green Party's Eamon Ryan and Social Democrats' Roisin Shortall. Here's a breakdown of some of the true and false claims: Our survey says... no Expand Close Fine Gael leader, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday January 27, 2020. See PA story IRISH Election. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fine Gael leader, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday January 27, 2020. See PA story IRISH Election. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire CLAIM: Banks pay no tax Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald claimed the public purse is losing out because banks pay no corporation tax. This led to a row with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar who argued that while they pay 0pc corporation tax the Government has designed other ways of collecting income from banks. Ms McDonald replied: They pay nothing. FACTCHECK by Head of News Kevin Doyle After years of turmoil as a result of the economic crash, our banks have returned to profit. However, they still pay a tax exemption which permits them to write off taxes against past losses. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said the imposition of a bank levy is a more appropriate way of taxing bank. The State still owns a 71pc of AIB and officials have warned that changes to the tax regime could hurt its value. Expand Close Voting gets underway on Saturday February 8. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Voting gets underway on Saturday February 8. Niall Carson/PA Wire VERDICT: FALSE. While banks dont pay corporation tax, it is wrong to suggest they pay nothing. The State collects 150m every year through the bank levy. There is also a benefit to the taxpayer from share dividends. CLAIM: Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said putting the state pension age back to 65 would cost 368m FACT-CHECK by Industry Correspondent Anne-Marie Walsh VERDICT: Incorrect. Its not far off but the Department of Social Protection estimates it would cost 430m a year gross or 217.5m net. A Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection spokesperson confirmed that the cost of reducing the state pension age to 65 from its current 66 would be 430m a year gross or 217.5m net in a full year. However, Sinn Fein has clarified that the 368m figure used by Ms McDonald relates to keeping the state pension age at 66 (at a cost of 217.5m) and introducing a state pension transition scheme for 65 year olds at a cost of 150.5m. A party spokesperson said the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has confirmed these costs. CLAIM: Homelessness Micheal Martin claimed: Homelessness has gone up 40pc in four years. He says this is an indictment on Fine Gaels housing policies. FACT-CHECK by Environment Correspondent Caroline ODoherty In January 2016, the number of homeless was 5,715 1,830 of them children. Four years on, the number (taken from the most recent figures which are for last November) stands at 10,448, of which 3,752 are children. The actual increase is 80pc. Mr Martin may have been thinking of late 2016. The increase from then to now is closer to 40pc. VERDICT: Mainly TRUE. Fianna Fail are correct in saying that homelessness has increased substantially in the last four years but taking four years as a rigid time span, they actually underestimate the rise. CLAIM: Internet in Garda stations Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, speaking on garda resources and internet connections, said that "about 20pc of the functioning garda stations don't have that (internet)." FACT-CHECK by crime correspondent Robin Schiller: In response to a parliamentary question last October Justice Minister Charlie Flanagain said: "There are 565 Garda stations in the State. I am informed by An Garda Siochana that the number which are networked can vary but at present, 519 of these stations are fully networked."Any member attached to a currently unconnected station can access Pulse at their local district station."As a percentage, this is around 8pc. VERDICT: False. Our survey says... correct CLAIM: Garda numbersLeo Varadkar claimed his Government restored garda recruitment, while Fine Gael tweeted that garda numbers, at 14,300, were at their highest in a decade. FACT-CHECK by Legal Affairs Editor Shane Phelan There were just under 14,400 gardai in 2010. That figure steadily declined to a low of 12,800 under the Fine Gael/Labour coalition led by Enda Kenny. Recruitment was increased year on year since 2015 under the outgoing Government. VERDICT: True. The most recent Budget provides for the recruitment of 700 additional gardai in 2020. This is expected to bring garda numbers up to 14,700 this year, the highest level since 2010 CLAIM: Fine Gael previously promised to abolish USC Fianna Fail Micheal Martin claimed Fine Gael shouldnt be trusted to cut income tax because they abandoned a pledge to scrap the Universal Social Charge (USC) during the last election. He also argued the Brexit was good cover for the lack of tax measures announced in last Octobers budget. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar argued the Brexit was not a cover story and Mr Martin was engaging in conspiracy theories. He said Fine Gael will keep the economy strong and raise the entry point for the higher rate of income tax to 50,000. FACT-CHECK by Head of News Kevin Doyle The abolition of the USC was the number one commitment that Fine Gael made to voters during the 2016 election campaign. Then finance minister Michael Noonan described the USC as "easily the most hated tax in the country. "It's a hated tax. It's a socially divisive tax. It was introduced as an emergency measure. The emergency is over," he said. Fine Gaels plan included a clawback (wealth tax) on incomes over 100,000 but those workers would still make a net gain. However, the proposals were dropped in July 2017, shortly after Leo Varadkar took over as Taoiseach. The partys policy shifted to the idea of integrating the USC into the PRSI system. VERDICT: True. While Fine Gael has reduced the USC and income tax rates since 2016, the partys big tax pledge from the last election was abandoned. CLAIM: Education spend Leo Varadkar claimed Ireland is spending record levels on education FACT-CHECK by Education Editor Katherine Donnelly The education Budget is record 11.1bn for 2020, but Ireland is at the bottom of the international league in terms of what it spends on education. Only two countries invest less of their national wealth in their education system overall - while Ireland is lowest in terms of spending at post-primary level. According to the OECD Education at a Glance 2019 report the average share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on education on 2016 was 3.5pc, joint second from the bottom of 35 countries and it compared with an OECD average of 5pc and an EU average of 4.5pc. VERDICT: True but it doesnt give the full picture. CLAIM: Average worker earns 47,000 Leo Varadkar said the average worker earned 47,000 a year. FACT-CHECK by Industry Correspondent Anne-Marie Walsh VERDICT: Almost correct. Average full-time earnings stood at 47,038 in 2018. Last year they rose 2.5pc to 48,204. CLAIM: Environment Eamon Ryan claimed: Weve gone from 500 pristine rivers to 20. He made the remark in the context of the ongoing expansion of the national herd and the damage to the environment caused by intensive agriculture both in terms of high greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. FACT-CHECK by Environment Correspondent Caroline ODoherty The Environmental Protection Agency recently published a five-year study of Irish rivers and lakes and it said the number of rivers that could be categorised as pristine was 500 in the 1980s but had fallen to just 20 now. The main problems the EPA found affecting water quality and animal and plant life in the rivers were pollution by nitrates from agriculture as well phosphates, which are also traced to farming but also industry and households. VERDICT: TRUE. The figures speak for themselves. The EPA has been chronicling water quality closely for all this time and its comparison between the situation in the late 1980s and 2018, the last year of the recent study, is scientifically backed up. Partly true CLAIM: Sinn Fein doesn't support the Special Criminal CourtIn an early exchange with Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said they don't support the Special Criminal Court while saying his own party want to tackle "the drug lords". FACT-CHECK by crime correspondent Robin Schiller In 2016, a main promise of Sinn Fein's general election campaign was to abolish the Special Criminal Court, citing criticisms of the non-jury court from a range of groups including the UN Human Rights Committee and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. The party came in for criticism as it came at the time of the Regency Hotel murder and an outbreak of gangland violence in Dublin.In recent weeks, the party has made a slight u-turn on their pledge four years ago, with Deputy McDonald saying: "We accept that we have to have mechanisms that work to keep the community safe. So Special Criminal Courts aren't unproblematic, they are. I want us to see a review of that," Ms McDonald said. VERDICT: Mixed. While Sinn Fein in the past have called for the abolition of the Special Criminal Court, the party have rowed back on this significantly in seeking a review of the system. That said, a call for a review of the system still shows the party do not support the current setup of the Special Criminal Court. CLAIM: Garda stations Mary Lou McDonald has claimed Leo Varadkars Government and the Government before it cut garda stations and garda recruitment. FACT-CHECK by Legal Affairs Editor Shane PhelanSome 139 Garda stations were closed as part of a rationalization programme announced in the 2012 and 2013 policing plans, during the Fine Gael/Labour Government led by Enda Kenny. Although a small number of garda stations have since reopened, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has ruled out the widespread re-opening of rural garda stations closed during the cost-cutting programme. VERDICT: Partially true. A large number of garda stations were closed by the previous Fine Gael-led Government. The outgoing Government agreed to reopen six of these. CLAIM: social housing Leo Varadkar has claimed: Almost no council houses were being built three years ago when we took over housing. He was referring to the years prior to May 2016 when Fine Gael took over the housing brief even though the party was in government for the previous five years too. FACT-CHECK by Environment Correspondent Caroline ODohertyBuilding of local authority homes did plummet during the recession from around 3,500-4,900 between 2004 and 2009 to 102 in 2014 and just 75 in 2015. Just over 900 were built in 2019 which is 12 times more. But in 2015 as now, the official figure for social housing provision included direct local authority builds, builds by housing charities, acquisitions and long-term letting agreements. The total figure for 2015 was just over 13,300 while the total for 2019 was about 28,000 so the improvement in overall provision is a doubling. VERDICT: Partly TRUE. Fine Gael are correct that council house building fell to very low figures up to 2015 and has improved since but usually the party is very reluctant to separate out actual builds from all the various forms of social housing provision. For example, Eoghan Murphy has repeatedly said that Fine Gael would build 6,000 social homes in 2019, which is only true when you taken into account the housing charities and approved housing bodies. So for Leo Varadkar to pick out the pre-2016 actual build figures is arguably an unhelpful comparison. January 27, 2020 POCATELLO Idaho State Universitys Career Path Internship Program has been recognized nationally by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), which featured the program in a lengthy article on its website that was posted Jan. 13. Established in 1956, NACE is a professional association that connects more than 9,300 college career services professionals, 3,400 university relations and recruiting professionals, and 300 business-solution providers that serve this community. Being recognized by NACE for the CPI program, which offers paid career- and major-related internships for ISU students, is an honor for Idaho State University. The CPI program helps students engage in their studies by showing them how what they're studying relates to their future real-world jobs, said Emily Jahsman, associate director of the ISU Career Center. Having CPI internship experiences has often helped our students land full-time positions after graduation. The internships take place on campus and in the local community, providing students with valuable hands-on experience and enhancing their job-readiness skills. Lance Erikson, director of the ISU Career Center, also commented on the effectiveness and value of the program and said the CPI program helps make ISU a first-choice destination for many students. The program helps provide about 1,000 internships per year from various colleges that partake in this opportunity. This program is particularly unique because there isnt a similar paid internship program of this size in the western half of the United States. In the NACE article, Jahsman provided some impressive statistics about the program, including that now ISU invests about $2 million annually in the program. Since its beginning in 2007, the ISU CPI program was provided more that 7,000 paid internships to ISU students. The program's initial funding was $250,000. In recent years, the Idaho legislature has provided about $500,000 in funding annually. NACE is the leading source of information on the employment of the college-educated, and forecasts hiring and trends in the job market; tracks starting salaries, recruiting and hiring practices, and student attitudes and outcomes; and identifies best practices and benchmarks. NACE provides its members with high-quality resources and research; networking and professional development opportunities; and standards, ethics, advocacy, and guidance on key issues. To be eligible for the ISU CPI program, individuals must be current ISU students, enrolled full time taking 12 credits or more, and in good academic standing with a GPA of 2.0 or above. All CPI positions are funded by the university; undergraduates receive $9 an hour, while graduate/post-baccalaureate students are paid $11 an hour. For more information on the article by NACE click on the link below: https://idahostateu.com/ NACEhonorsCPI . Managing pet anxiety can in some cases be straightforward, veterinarians say, once medical reasons have been ruled out. Anti-anxiety medications and desensitizing techniques can help. Some of what we do is common sense, and some of it is common sense in hindsight, says Dr. Bryan Slinker, a veterinarian at Washington State University. An upcoming study, he says, will look at how pets handle needles and vaccines, with one group receiving standard care and the other distracted with tasty treats during inoculation. Right now, we know a lot of people dont even go to the vet because their pets get too stressed, says Dr. Slinker, who owns five cats and notes that cats are more easily stressed than dogs. A Bayer study found that 40 percent of cat owners cited feline resistance as a reason for not taking their cats to the vet frequently, if at all, compared to the 15 percent of dog owners citing canine resistance. Cats are not team players, says Eileen Simoneau, a former kindergarten teacher in Florida who owns two Siamese cats and a Maine coon mix. Although one of her cats is easy breezy, she says, the other two frequently mix it up. She has now adopted some simple strategies she learned from her local vet in Kissimmee, Dr. Lynn Honeckman, who is Fear Free certified. They include putting a bell on one cats collar so he cant sneak up on the other, and providing four litter boxes rather than three, to lessen the chance of overcrowding. The idea is to pre-empt where things can get ugly to prevent anxiety-producing behaviors, she says. Dr. Gary Weitzman, president of the San Diego Humane Society and SPCA, says he sees little need for his facility to seek Fear Free certification. The shelter regularly takes steps to minimize fear and anxiety in the 40,000 cats and dogs that pass through its doors each year, he says, using many of the same strategies Fear Free suggests: soft music, low lighting, noise reduction and mild sedatives, including Prozac. Easing anxiety in pets may be lifesaving. While cats tend to suffer more than dogs from fear and anxiety, Dr. Weitzman says, the behavioral problems that arise in dogs tend to be more lethal, since aggression may make it impossible to place these animals in homes. Its a fact, and its sad, he said. The Cabinet chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, yesterday directed government entities to further increase the quality and efficiency of government service centres by enhancing their competitiveness, creativity and innovation. Additionally, HRH the Crown Prince expressed his gratitude towards the eight ministries and entities that received the Taqyeem Gold classifications for their respective centres for the year 2019. They include Information and E-Government Authority, represented by the ID card service Centre located at Seef Mall, Muharraq, Electricity and Water Authority, represented by the Subscriber Service Centre at Mazaya Plaza, Bahrains Labour Fund (Tamkeen), represented by the Customer Service Centre located at Seef Mall, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, represented by the Bahrain Investors Centre, and the Precious Metals Assay Services as well as Ministry of Works, Municipal Affairs, and Urban Planning, represented by the Northern Municipality Centre located in Hamad Town Municipality Building. HRH the Crown Prince further recognised the eight ministries and authorities that received the Taqyeem Silver classification for their respective Centres. And they include Ministry of Interior, represented by the seaport and driving school within the driving licenses department, Ministry of Labour and Social Development, represented by the Muharraq Social Centre, Ministry of Works, Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning, represented by the Capital Secretariat Centre and the Survey and Land Registration Bureau, represented by the Sanabis Building. Among other things, based on the recommendations of the Governments Executive Committee, chaired by HRH the Crown Prince, the Cabinet decided that the Government will absorb the cost of the payable VAT incurred on water and electricity, without changing the current price of the tariffs for all users, effective from February 2020. The Cabinet approved the Ministerial Draft resolution regarding the addition of article no. (6) BIS to Resolution No. (1) for the year 2016 on tariffs for electricity and water consumption, in light of the memorandum submitted in this regard by HE the Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 22:33:03|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army entered the key rebel-held city of Maarat al-Numan in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported. The entering was made after the army enveloped the city from three directions earlier on Tuesday. The army is now combing the city after cutting off the rebels' supply routes, according to the report. The opposition activists said intense battles are raging inside the city between the rebels and the army forces. A 39-year-old contractor has been charged with fatally shooting a client in the head and then trying to burn his body over a dispute about payment for roofing work, the Philadelphia District Attorneys Office said Tuesday. Luis Cruz was being held without bail after he was charged Sunday with murder and related offenses in the killing of Joslyn Morgan, 43, of the 5600 block of Sprague Street in East Germantown. Morgans body was found last week wrapped in a blanket in the back of a smoking Jeep in a South Philadelphia parking lot, according to police. Authorities said he had been shot in the head and stabbed in the neck. District Attorney Larry Krasners office said in a news release Tuesday that investigators collected video evidence, cellphone records, and witness testimony to discover that Morgan and Cruz had a falling out over [Morgans] dissatisfaction with Cruzs roofing work and refusal to pay. Cruz was interrogated this weekend, Krasners office said, and confessed key details of the crime to detectives, including his attempt to dismember and destroy Morgans body. Cruz did not have an attorney listed in court documents. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month. In 2016, court records say, Cruz was sentenced to four years probation after pleading guilty to providing false information regarding his firearm ownership. HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The officers of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder, joined Governor Tom Wolf at Monday's press conference on the findings of the Keystone Economic Development and Workforce Command Center. Unions are an essential stakeholder in the training and development of our Commonwealth's workforce. The Pennsylvania Labor Movement is committed to the advancement and support of all workers, regardless of employer or background. The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO is proud to join Governor Wolf in this initiative to create family-sustaining jobs for a highly-trained and sophisticated workforce able to meet the challenges of the 21st century economy. "I have been proud to serve with fellow co-chairs of the Workforce Command Center. By bringing together workers, employers, the community and state government, we are proposing innovative and common-sense solutions to everyday barriers Pennsylvanians face in the workforce. Whether it's ensuring access to unemployment compensation during retraining periods for laid-off workers or expanding resources to employers to better their own training programs, we can all do our part to move Pennsylvania workers forward," stated President Rick Bloomingdale. "We are excited to proactively address the barriers to employment and professional development that so many working families experience. A strong Pennsylvania workforce relies on a foundation of community support. We can come together to address the need for affordable childcare and transportation options, and mitigate the challenges experienced by people across our workforce. Pairing a data-driven approach with stakeholder engagement, the Command Center ensures practical investment and sustainable solutions for PA," remarked Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder. SOURCE Pennsylvania AFL-CIO EAST HAMPTON Residents narrowly approved a proposal to sell the existing Town Hall to a Bristol developer for $316,000. The proposal was approved this week despite angry complaints from several residents, including members of The Chatham Party, that the town was in essence giving away a town asset. In particular, Kyle Dostaler, the party chairman, complained the town had not gotten an appraisal of the buildings value before selling it. He denounced the proposed sale as a taxpayer rip-off. This is a horrible thing for the town to be doing, to sell this (building) for such a ridiculous price, Dostaler said. His wife Mary Ann Dostaler, concurred, saying she was incredulous that the town was moving forward with the sale without doing its due diligence. Town officials said they had hoped for a higher offer. Town Council Chairman James Pete Brown said two other bidders had previously come forward but then withdrew their offers. Bristol developer John Calciano presented his offer late last year. The town bought the building, which was built in 1946 as a customer service center for the utility from CL&P, in the early 1970s. But almost immediately after buying it, the town began what turned out to be a 35-year-long discussion and debate about finding a new site for a larger town facility. In the meantime, the building began showing its age. The well that services the building is contaminated, forcing employees and town officials to rely on bottled water. It is settling unevenly, is prone to leaks, doesnt have adequate space for town departments and does not meet the standards for access by the handicapped that were enacted into law under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was adopted in 1991. Located on a down slope, there is also inadequate parking for the building, which also contains the towns Police Department. When CL&P/Eversource began an expansion for its maintenance and service facility located behind Town Hall, it reclaimed a road police had used to park their vehicles. That forced the town to rent space at another site more than a mile east of Town Hall where officers could park their civilian cars, change into their uniforms and then take their cruisers out on routine patrol. Other town departments were forced to use rental space as well. Myriad problems with the building highlighted when a sewage drain backed up spreading what was euphemistically called gray water throughout much of the interior of the Police Department made town councilors realize it was time to do something. Eventually, the town council accepted a proposal to build a new town hall/police headquarters inside a mixed-use community in the Edgewater Hills development. Construction is winding down on the new facility. Town Manager David E. Cox said earlier this month he expects the building will be ready for use in early April. After some initial reluctance, the Board of Education agreed to re-locate to the new 34,000-square-foot building as well. At the time, officials said relocating town offices from satellite facilities would save the town money and help defray a portion of the $18.9 million construction costs. Resident Scott Minnick said he believes that by selling the building at such a low price the council was duping us as a town. The Board of Finance approved the proposal, as did the Planning and Zoning Commission. Earlier this month, the council voted 6-1 to also approve the sale, which led to the public hearing and town meeting that was held this week in the Town Hall Meeting Room. The lone no vote was cast by Councilor Derek Johnson. At the time, he did not give a reason for voting against the proposal. But Monday night, pressed by Mary Ann Dostaler, Johnson said he had manifold objections to the proposal. They included the lack of an appraisal, the cost of an appraisal, and the cost of maintaining the building if the town held on to it, Johnson said. In 2014, CL&P offered the town a proposal to buy back the building for $1 million. The two sides could not reach an agreement, however. Council Vice Chairman Mark Philhower said the offer was never in writing, and was far less favorable to the town than was commonly believed. The town would have wound up owing money, Philhower said, while Kyle Dostaler repeatedly interrupting saying, Thats not true. Moderator Richard Greco initially asked for a voice vote. When that was too close to call, he asked for a show of hands, which decided the result in favor of the sale. The Indian Union Muslim League, a key coalition partner of the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala, has suspended a local leader of the party who took part in the state-wide human chain organised by the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front in Kerala on the Republic Day to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act K M Basheer, vice-president of IUML's Beypore assembly constituency committee at Kozhikode district in North Kerala, was suspended. While the action was widely considered a punitive measure for taking part in the human chain by the left front despite the IUML deciding to keep off from it, IUML leaders maintained that the action was initiated for openly opposing the party stand. Mr. Basheer had stated that he did not regret for taking part in the human chain and would wish to have more joint stirs against CAA. Meanwhile, K T Jaleel, a minister in the Kerala left front government, who was a former IUML leader, said that many IUML activists had taken part in the joint stir against CAA. Artist Jonathan Russell finds creating and teaching glass art transformative for the medium and everyone involved. Glass is special because glass is a hot liquid. If you are in a bad mood, the glass comes out bad, Russell said. If you are focused, you are using delicacy and gravity and it helps you find your inner chi. Teaching glass is not just teaching someone to move their left arm or their right arm: You have to get into someones psyche and show respect, care and compassion so when they do art, it is delicate and they respect themselves and respect each part of the process. Then the outcome is something you respect, including yourself personally and the work you have done artistically. At the end of the day, you dont have to say anything. Your art speaks for you, said Russell, a teacher and local artist whose work has been displayed at the 2014 Oscars Salute to the Stars and on the runway at New York Fashion Week in 2015. Russell is also a three-time winner of the Flame Off, which has become known as the premier torch working competition in the region. STRATFORD Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson asked Board of Education members to approve a $6 million budget increase for the 2020-21 school year during a meeting of the boards finance committee. The budget request totals $120.6 million, an increase of 5.24 percent over the current $114.6 million spending plan. The board asked a handful of questions after Robinsons presentation Monday but didnt offer any detailed comments. They scheduled several workshops next month to revise the plan, which they will eventually vote to send to the Town Council, who has the final word on the budget. Town Council Chairman Christopher Pia said Tuesday he hadnt yet read the details of the superintendents proposal but is confident the Board of Education will deliberate the request carefully. When the (school) board eventually sends it over to the Town Council Im sure it will be a workable budget that benefits everybody, Pia said. Mayor Laura Hoydicks Chief of Staff, Michael Downes, said Hoydick is reviewing the proposal and looking forward to collaborating with the superintendent and Board of Education in aligning our goals going forward. Last year, Robinson initially requested a $4.3 million, or 3.85 percent, budget increase before the Town Council ultimately voted to increase the schools side of the budget by 2.8 percent. The major costs driving the increase, Robinson said, include a 3.17 percent increase in contractually obligated salaries, an 8.5 percent increase in health insurance costs and a 1.58 percent increase in special education costs that totals $1.9 million alone. The superintendent said the number of students identified as requiring special education services increased by 76 from October 2018 to October 2019. There are a total of 990 such students in the town, roughly 13 percent of those enrolled. The request also includes a handful of new teaching positions at each of the towns two high schools to meet new graduation requirements, as well as a new position heading the guidance department, which Robinson said was requested by school guidance counselors. There would be 3.5 new teaching positions at Bunnell High School one each for math, science and electives, plus half a position for English. At Stratford High School, there would be 3.8 new positions one each for English, science and electives, plus 0.4 each for math and social studies. The new guidance department head would split their time between the high schools, Robinson said. Robinson said administrators asked for more new positions, but after analyzing the costs, these are the only new staff that we feel we can bring aboard. While answering a question about scheduling from Board of Education Chairperson Allison DelBene, Robinson said shifts to high school enrollment might mean cuts in other places. We had a big influx this year in ninth grade, and that means there will have to be cuts in other positions elsewhere in the district, Robinson said. Weve got some work to do ahead of us as a board. There are currently 540 ninth graders in the district 253 at Bunnell, 282 at Stratford High and five in the alternative ALPHA program. The towns high schools have 526 sophomores, 546 juniors and 509 seniors. There are currently 585 eighth-grade students 299 at Flood Middle School and 286 at Wooster Middle School. As of Jan. 2, the school district had a total enrollment of 7,596, up slightly from 7,586 a year before. Of that total, 6,843 are enrolled in the towns public schools, and 753 are elsewhere, mostly magnet, tech and special education students in out-of-district placements. Possible new positions Bunnell High School: one each for math, science and electives, plus half a position for English Stratford High School: one each for English, science and electives, plus 0.4 each for math and social studies A guidance department head split between the high schools See More Collapse The town currently spends $16,601 per student annually, $387 less than the state average. These changes are due to Tectas growth in the past number of years and are expected to support the Companys continued growth plans as well as part of our long-term planning. Dave joined the Company in 2010 and has been a leader in our training and development programs for senior operating leaders as well as Operating Presidents. Dave has been critical to helping the rest of the senior management team manage the business, driving strong acquisition growth and seamlessly leading the Companys financial organization through multiple ownership transitions while staying true to our core business model, said Mark Santacrose, CEO of Tecta America. In addition to Daves promotion, we are excited to bring on Marc Benson as Senior Vice President, Finance and Accounting. Marc previously spent six years at Moelis & Company in New York, most recently as a Vice President in their Industrial and Services group, representing many industrial service businesses similar in size and scope to Tecta. Prior to Moelis, Marc spent five years with the US Coast Guard as the Commanding Officer of a Coast Guard cutter in the Gulf of Mexico with the rank of Lieutenant. Marc attended Columbia Business School on the Pat Tillman Military Scholarship. Marc will join Tecta on January 27, 2020. Please join us in congratulating Dave on his well-deserved promotion as well as welcoming Marc to the Company. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) A lawmaker on Tuesday proposed a wider and disaster-based approach that would help refine the Philippines campaign against the novel coronavirus. Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said the government should treat the illness outbreak as a disaster, adding that concerned agencies can tap the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) as well as local government units to intensify the drive against the virus. Use the NDRRMC. Basically kasi it's a whole of government approach, it's a whole of society approach it's not just DOH (Department of Health), Salceda said in an interview with The Source. Kasi noong nagkaroon ng MERS CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus) at tsaka noong SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome), I was governor. Ang approach namin ay use the PDRRMC methodology - as if it was a disaster. And therefore we have to institute precautionary measures, he added. [Translation: When the MERS CoV and SARS surfaced, I was governor (of Albay). Our approach was to use the PDRRMC methodology - as if it was a disaster. And therefore we have to institute precautionary measures.] Salceda said the approach does not aim to instill panic among Filipinos, but will rather ensure a more systematic, orderly, and science-based campaign against the virus, which has left over 100 people in China dead in its wake. He noted an LGU-centralized campaign can help communities better understand and guard themselves from the virus. IEC (Information Education Communication) dapat. Lalong lalo sa local government. Dapat hindi lang DOH ang talking head, dapat naka-cascade po 'yan sa local. Kasi they are responsible officers for their community, Salceda said. [Translation: Information, Education, Communicationespecially in the local government. DOH shouldnt be the only one talking, it should also be cascaded to the local. Because they are responsible officers for their community.] The outbreak of the coronavirus which has spread to other regions including the United States and Europehas prompted several international governments and airports to impose stricter security and monitoring measures. The Philippines remains free of the coronavirus, with no confirmed cases listed, the Health Department stressed Monday. However, authorities said they are monitoring 14 people who showed symptoms of possible infection. Some patients tagged under investigation have already tested negative for the coronavirus, health officials clarified. GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba The CIA contractor who interrogated Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, testified Monday that he threatened to kill one of Mohammeds sons if there was another attack on America. James Mitchell, a psychologist who helped develop the CIAs interrogation program, said he made the threat after he had waterboarded Mohammed for the 183rd time. He said he did so after he consulted a lawyer at the agencys Counterterrorism Center about how to make the threat without violating the Torture Convention. He said he was advised to make the threat conditional. So, before telling Mohammed, I will cut your sons throat, Mitchell said, he added a series of caveats. They included if there was another catastrophic attack in the United States, if Mohammed withheld information that could have stopped it and if another American child was killed. Mitchell was testifying in a pretrial hearing that has been focused in part on the torture of the defendants in the Sept. 11 case before they were sent to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Mitchell said he made the threat in March 2003 as an emotional flag as he was transitioning from waterboarding and other violent enhanced interrogation techniques to more traditional questioning of Mohammed. Pakistani security forces reportedly seized Mohammeds sons, Abed, 7, and Yusuf, 9, in September 2002 in a joint raid with U.S. forces that seized Ramzi bin al-Shibh, another defendant in the 9/11 war crimes case. Mohammed would be captured in Pakistan six months later. He was at a CIA black site in Poland later that month when Mitchell made the threat. The boys were subsequently released and are believed to be living in Iran, with their mother, but Mohammed apparently did not know the fate of the boys until many years later, after the CIA transferred him to the Pentagon-run prison complex at Guantanamo Bay. It was one of the most emotional moments in five days of testimony by Mitchell on the question of torture before the trial of five men accused of conspiracy in the attacks is scheduled to start next year. Mitchell said that eight children died in the 9/11 hijackings that killed 2,976 people in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. Then he gestured toward Mohammed, who was sitting with his lawyers 25 feet away and declared, Hes smirking. The smirk, or any emotion, was not visible from a spectators gallery at the back of the court. Mohammed appeared impassive throughout the testimony, occasionally fingering his long orange-dyed beard, while his lawyer, David Nevin, questioned Mitchell. Do you think that telling someone that might instill fear in that person? Nevin asked. Yes, I do, Mitchell replied. Carol Rosenberg is a New York Times writer. Gay-friendly Bali villas are being targeted by local police and powerful anti-LGBT lobbyists, just months after controversial 'bonking ban' laws were shelved. Religious activists are reporting gay-friendly accommodation to police, with any villas being rented to members of the LGBTQ community facing increased scrutiny. It raises questions about the safety of LGBTQ guests in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country. Police in Bali have been cracking down on villas which specifically advertise themselves as LGBTQ friendly (stock image) Popular villas advertising themselves as being a safe heaven for members of the community have found themselves being targeted by Badung's Civil Police. One villa, Villa Angelo, was subject to a crackdown after advertising said it was exclusively for gay men and clothing was optional, according to the Daily Telegraph. It comes as the popular holiday destination is impacted by a renewed religious piety in the country, as well as an increase in Islamist political activism. Women have even been subject to public floggings in the strict Aceh province, which has Sharia law. The crackdown of LBGT-friendly villas in Bali comes amid renewed religious piety in Indonesia, with women being flogged in the street (pictured) IS BALI SAFE? The Australian government says tourists should 'exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia'. It says this is due to 'the high threat of terrorist attack and violence'. Holidaymakers are also warned about petty and violent crime. This includes drinks being spikes and lone women attacked by taxi drivers. Tourists are told to 'be alert in taxis, crowds, bars and nightclubs'. Penalties for drug use include heavy fines, long prison sentences and the death penalty. Advertisement In a worrying statement, police chief Gusti Agung Kerta Suryanegara said they had identified four villas 'being rented to gays'. 'We received reports that there are four villas suspected of being rented to gays. 'Namely Angelo Bali Guesthouse, The Elysian Boutique Hotel, Layan Bulan Villa and Villa Balinea.' These guesthouses have been told they are not allowed to promote themselves as being gay-friendly, with managers and staff forced to sign an agreement. The head of Badung's Cultural Agency, the main area that attracts Australian tourism, even said such villas were 'tainting Bali's tourism'. An Indonesian woman is whipped in public (pictured) in the conservative Aceh province for having sex outside of marriage, as the country undergoes a new push for religious piety Bobby Berk, star of the Netflix series Queer Eye, spoke out about the crackdown on social media. 'Wont be recommending or coming back if this is how the government here is going to act,' he said, after previously holidaying in Bali. There was panic among Bali holidaymakers last year after the Indonesian government threatened to make sex outside of marriage illegal - in a controversial set of proposed laws that led to a global outcry. President Joko Widodo (pictured in August) decided to delay the controversial changes to Indonesia's penal code, after an outcry from human rights groups in September 2019 Human Rights Watch said the bill would have violated 'the rights of women, religious minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, as well as freedom of speech and association'. It would leave tourists facing up to a year in jail, leaving some worried Australians with no choice but to cancel their holidays. All same-sex sexual relations would have been automatically banned under the revised Criminal Code, as Indonesia does not recognise gay marriage. If passed by parliament, the tough new laws would have made consensual sex between unmarried adults a crime. It would also make it illegal for unmarried couples to live together. Kissing on a Bali beach at sunset, if not married, could end in jail for 'indecent acts carried out in public' if the changes to Indonesia's penal code are brought in (stock image) The plans were shelved amid concerns they would severely damage the country's tourism industry, which attracts around one million Australians every year, but they could still be revised at a later date. Currently Aceh province is the only one that imposes Sharia law, but if the code is passed it could see more impose the Islamic law. Activists warned it would pose a risk to civil liberties, such as the mandatory wearing of a hijab, an Islamic veil for women. It led to mass protests by activists in Indonesia, as well as an outcry from human rights groups. Police officers in Indonesia have been making villas managers and staff sign a declaration agreeing not to advertise to LGBTQ people (stock image) International law lecturer Professor Melanie O'Brien told Nine News last year: 'There are lot of people having sex who are not married. 'It's a significant part of our culture that we do that. 'What's surprising is how many laws they're looking to pass, and almost all of them are really cracking down on human rights.' By Magi Helena Tribune Content Agency BIRTHDAY STAR: Actress Angelique Cabral was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on this date in 1979. This birthday star portrayed Colleen on "Life in Pieces." She currently plays Becca on "Undone" and has appeared on episodes of "Grace and Frankie," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Fresh Off the Boat." On the big screen, Cabral's film resume includes "All About Nina," "Friends with Benefits" and "The Perfect Family." ARIES (March 21-April 19): You may be unaware of hidden undercurrents. It might be necessary to work side by side with someone who enjoys socializing. Be careful not to say anything offensive that could be taken the wrong way. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A high tide lifts all boats. Whatever is good for one person must be beneficial for everyone if you hope to get ahead. Don't be bashful about taking the lead or voicing opinions when you attend group meetings. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Forgive and forget if you hope to forge forward. Someone may be insensitive or surly, so it is up to you to be the more thoughtful person and accept an apology. Your imaginative stories may impress a friend. CANCER (June 21-July 22): You may profit from interning with someone in a leadership position. Spend some extra time reading up on suggested areas of interest and pay attention to subtle cues. You could benefit from the experience of someone with an inside track. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Your judgment is better than usual, so you may have an upper hand in many situations. Someone may seek your advice or ask you to mediate a dispute. Enjoy receiving respect for your honesty and generosity. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Stand by your plan. You can't afford to spread money around haphazardly. Make sure the bills are paid before you give in to an obsessive desire to have a new tool or plaything. Work in harmony with loved ones. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If you become too focused on finding ways to realize your fondest dreams, you might overlook some valid objections and drawbacks. Engaging in casual flirtations might be innocent fun but could trigger an awkward situation. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Fun and adventure may be just a phone call away. Gather information by contacting people you think could help provide sage wisdom or fill you in on what you need to know. Accept invitations to community events. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Someone might pardon a mistake or forgive you for a misunderstanding. However, it is better to be more sensitive and considerate in the first place. This could be an appropriate time to repay debts or settle bills. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Compromise is a necessary component of any group project. Everyone must be willing to give an individual inch to propel the entire group ahead by a mile. You may find it helpful to form some beneficial and congenial alliances. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Someone close will give you the benefit of their experience. You can tap into stores of their knowledge and equip yourself to reach a goal. By listening closely to others, you'll find the best formula for success. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You won't do yourself a favor by dawdling at the water cooler or spending time chatting while tasks remain neglected. Don't be upset if a loved one is too busy to give you the undivided attention you desire. IF JANUARY 28 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: You may consider yourself an astute businessperson or expert negotiator in the upcoming four to five weeks. You can form some worthwhile friendships in March, when your energy levels are high and you're eager to participate in social activities. You possess an abundance of imagination in April, which will help you visualize and develop ideas for the future. In May, you may struggle to find solid ground when forced out of your comfort zone by unexpected changes. Don't make snap decisions or count on stability until December. In June you may be inspired, and so you might prefer a vacation or spending time with a romantic partner in order to explore your fantasies. Avoid making crucial decisions or commitments in August and September, as you might see only what you want to see. A lack of stability could continue through November. December could be a good time to put important plans into motion or to start something of significance. Learn more at https://magihelena.com/ Questions? Reach out to Helena at questionsmagihelena.com. (c) 2020 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC. The Rasuwagadhi border crossing between Nepal and China will remain sealed for a fortnight starting from January 29, authorities said on Tuesday. The development came after a meeting was held between the security and immigration authorities of Nepal and China at Rasuwa district earlier today. "The border will be sealed for 15 days in a bid to strengthen vigil amid coronavirus outbreak in various parts of China. We had decided this at the meeting. It is one of the reasons for sealing of the border for a fortnight," Deputy Superintendent of Police Indra Prasad Subedi told ANI over the phone. Last week, Nepal had confirmed a case of coronavirus infection. Meanwhile, the death toll from novel coronavirus in China skyrocketed to 106. Chinese health authorities on Tuesday announced that 4,515 confirmed cases of the disease have been reported in 30 provincial-level regions by the end of Monday. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Karina M. Tehusijarana and Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 29 2020 City in lockdown: An aerial view shows residential and commercial buildings in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on Monday, amid a deadly virus outbreak that began in the city. On Monday, China extended its biggest national holiday to buy time in the fight against a viral epidemic and neighboring Mongolia closed its border, after the death toll spiked to 107 despite unprecedented quarantine measures. (AFP/Hector Retamal) As new coronavirus cases begin popping up as far away as Sri Lanka and Germany, lawmakers are calling on the government to quickly repatriate Indonesian citizens from Wuhan, China the epicenter of the outbreak and the surrounding Hubei province. "The Indonesian government has to take quick and appropriate measures to ensure the evacuation of Indonesian citizens from Wuhan," Golkar Party lawmaker Christina Aryani told The Jakarta Post in a statement on Tuesday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association (PNA) and PennLive are working together on whats being called a Capitol Crash Course for college juniors and seniors, to take place in late March in Harrisburg. Working through funding from the PNA Foundation, this program is aimed toward journalism students at Pennsylvania colleges and universities who want to learn about reporting on state government. Students should be majoring in journalism or communications. Up to six will be selected. Accommodations and food throughout the almost three days of training will be covered by the program. Its scheduled to begin on Sunday afternoon, March 22, at PNA Headquarters on North Front Street, Harrisburg. Students will gather at 5 p.m. for dinner, where theyll meet their mentors, get an overview of Harrisburg politics and prepare for the next two days. On Monday and Tuesday, March 23-24, participants will spend two intensive days at the Capitol visiting with Harrisburg insiders, observing committees at work, catching the House and Senate in session, meeting legislators and talking with lobbyists. All the while, their assigned mentors will be guiding them and working one-on-one with them to produce a final project. Everyone will gather on Tuesday afternoon for a recap and final analysis. The program will conclude by 5 p.m. on March 24. Completed applications must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 3. Applications should be mailed to the PNA Foundation, 3899 N. Front St., Harrisburg, Pa. 17110, or emailed to the PNA Foundation. Information on the program and access to the application link can be found here. A judge has today thrown out a case against five Extinction Rebellion protesters after a key police witness was allowed to go on holiday. The five activists were accused of gluing themselves to the concourse between London City Airport and the DLR station in October last year. Deputy District Judge Vincent McDade dismissed all charges at City of London Magistrates' Court after an 'abject failure' by the Crown Prosecution Service. Claudia Fisher, 57, Phoebe Valentine, 23, David Lambert, 60, Senan Clifford, 59, and John Burrage, 42, have all been cleared of aggravated trespass after the sit-in. From left to right: David Lambert, 60, a historian from Gloucestershire, Phoebe Valentine, 23, a maths student from Brighton, Claudia Fisher, 57, a business woman from Brighton, Senan Clifford, 59, a former teacher from Gloucestershire, and Ben Bont, 42, a tree surgeon from West Wales, arrive at the City of London Magistrates' Court Their solicitor Maryam Mir, successfully argued they had not been lawfully arrested because the officers on duty had not made it clear why they were being detained. The arresting officer had not been told by the CPS she was expected to attend the trial and so she could not be cross-examined by Ms Mir. Despite a case management hearing in November the witness care unit, which notifies witnesses when they are required, were only told five weeks after the management hearing on 13 December. Following the Christmas celebrations, the officer had booked a holiday and was not available for court. Deputy District Judge Vincent McDade said: 'There has been an abject failure by the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that this case has been properly managed.' Police officers stand guard as Extinction Rebellion demonstrators block an entrance at City Airport in London on October 10 Activists blockade the Docklands Light Rail station at London City Airport, during the fourth day of demonstrations by the climate change action group in October last year SCIENTIST IN CLIMATE CHANGE WARNING AMID EXTINCTION REBELLION TRIAL Former chief government scientist Professor Sir David King had been prepared to give evidence at the trial. Earlier Sir David had said climate change requires 'leadership from the very top' and described Brexit as a 'distraction'. He said: 'What we are talking about is the most important issue humanity has ever had to face up to. And when I say humanity, I mean all of us. We're all in this boat together. 'Whatever we do over the next 10 years on climate change, actions that we do, will determine the future of humanity for the next 10,000 years. 'Initially, during the Blair and Brown period, it was very much in the headlines and I was on television and radio very frequently. But with the Cameron government it was a concern about slippage to Ukip and this was not an issue that was felt to be relevant for the main theme of the day. 'And so it was taken off the front pages. I wasn't allowed on television and radio at that time. The result is that the public don't even know what good things the British Government are doing. 'Everyone thinks the British Government have been doing nothing. It's not true. Without Britain we would not have had the Paris Agreement. No government did as much as we did to achieve that. 'However, no government, including ours, is doing enough today. So what we need is much more action, much more clarity on the action that is needed, and we need it with a public voice. 'And that's what Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion have done. They've put it back on the front pages.' Advertisement He said the police officer who was to appear for the prosecution was required from the outset. 'Had the CPS acted efficiently and warned the witness as soon as possible after the case management hearing on November 7 this matter would proceed today with that witness giving live evidence,' he said. The judge said the police officer - the officer who carried out the arrests - was considered a 'vital witness to establish the lawfulness or otherwise of the arrests'. He said he had 'no option but to dismiss all matters against the defendants'. The judge also ordered train travel costs totalling 279.80 awarded to the five after the case against them collapsed. Once the decision was announced in court Extinction Rebellion members clapped and cheered. Ms Mir said: 'It is only when you look at the body warn footage that you see there is an issue of lawfulness of arrest because it is not properly communicated. 'The officer's evidence is crucial. At three minutes 43 seconds there was an on-mass arrest. Then we see the PC goes around talking to certain individuals and even from her body warn footage you cannot hear her 'We say she does not arrest Ms Valentine or Ms Fisher. At two minutes 15 seconds there is a comment: 'I did not hear it'.' Ms Mir argued the arrests were unlawful because her clients could not hear what the officers were during the singing. Facing trial for aggravated trespass were Claudia Fisher, 57, from Brighton, Phoebe Valentine, 23, from Brighton, David Lambert, 60, from Gloucestershire, Senan Clifford, 59, also from Gloucestershire, and John Burrage, 42, from West Wales. Former chief government scientist Professor Sir David King had been prepared to give evidence at the trial. Speaking outside the court before he took his seat in the public gallery, he said climate change is 'the most important issue humanity has ever had to face up to'. Afterwards he said the five got off on a technicality, but added: 'On the other hand, the judge was relatively sympathetic, I thought.' A CPS spokesman said: 'We accept an error was made in not warning the witness sooner which meant the trial could not proceed. We apologise for this error which led to the case being dismissed today at court.' A decision to switch off the Wi-Fi at a far north Queensland shopping centre has led to a dramatic reduction in youth crime like bag-snatching and shoplifting. The lack of free internet has driven away large groups of teenagers who would congregate at Stockland Cairns in Earlville. Police launched the initiative two months ago as part of specialist blitz targeting crime hot spots, overseen by the Greater Cairns Taskforce. Far North police Acting Superintendent Steve Kersley told the Cairns Post they have seen a drastic reduction in youth offending at the centre since the blitz began. The lack of free internet has apparently driven away large groups of teenagers who would congregate at Stockland Cairns in Earlville (pictured) in far north Queensland 'Our information from staff working at Earlville was they had a significant problem with youths hanging around in big groups,' he said. 'They were gathering around in various locations where they can get some Wi-Fi. '(Since it was switched off) they've stopped hanging around in large groups like they were and we haven't had a bag snatch in quite a while.' A spokesperson for the Stockland told the Daily Mail Australia a decision was made to reduce the availability of Wi-fi outside operational hours. Police say the shopping centre at Earlville had faced a significant problem with youths hanging around in big groups (stock image) 'We have been working closely with local police to improve Stockland Cairns and a number of measures have been put in place in recent months including, increasing police presence, additional security patrols, and reducing Wi-Fi operation hours among others,' the spokesperson said. 'The free Wi-Fi at Stockland Cairns remains available for customer use only during trading hours, it is switched off once the centre closes. 'We continue to work closely with police, our retailers and the local community to improve the centre experience for our customers and tenants, and have found subtle changes to centre operations has had a positive impact on incidents of anti-social behaviour,' the spokesperson said. The Greater Cairns Taskforce has recorded a seven per cent drop in break-ins and a 3.5% drop in thefts from vehicles since its launch on November 11, 2019. The operation was set up in an effort to tackle youth crime in the city's suburbs. An earlier initiative to target young offending in the city created an unintended domino effect that increased youth crime in the suburbs, particularly around shopping centers. Sri Lanka are trailing Zimbabwe by 284 runs after the completion of day two of the second Test match here on Tuesday. Sri Lankan openers, Oshada Fernando and Dimuth Karunaratne, provided their side a brilliant start to the team's first innings as they struck regular boundaries. However, when the team was just six runs away from the 100-run mark, Sikandar Raza dismissed Karunaratne (44). Kusal Mendis came to the crease but failed to form a partnership as Donald Tiripano took the wicket of Fernando, who played a knock of 44. Angelo Mathews was the next batsman and played cautiously along with Mendis. Zimbabwe failed to pick more wickets throughout the day and Sri Lanka will resume their first innings from 122/2 on day three. Earlier, after resuming the innings from 352/6, Zimbabwe did not get off to a good start as Regis Chakabva (31) was dismissed by Lasith Embuldeniya. Soon after, Tinotenda Mutombodzi gave away his wicket after scoring 33 runs. Ultimately, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 406 runs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard On Tuesday, Ivanka Trump defended her father by pretending he, and by proxy she, stand for real people, while the people criticizing them are real elites. You consistently make fun of half the country and then complain that it is divided. The arrogance, mocking accents and smug ridicule of this nations Real Elites is disgusting. https://t.co/p3RQzymx4s Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) January 28, 2020 So, Republican strategist Rick Wilson, who mocked the southern accent first in this segment, is an elite while she, the daughter of the president of the United States who grew up with gold toilets and an allegedly valuable brand handed to her on a silver platter, is a real person standing up to the elites. Thats what shes selling here. Which is as genuine as her attempt to look like a regular working mom. Its also Donald Trump, not Don Lemon or Rick Wilson or anyone else this international crime syndicate goes after in a not so subtle act of deflection, who is the divider, who mocks more than half the country and who speaks about Democrats and liberals as if they are evil to such an extent that his deranged followers threaten high profile Democrats and one of them sent a pipe bomb to leading Democrats. It says a lot that this is the piece that Ivanka chose to go with this morning. Her father, the president, tweeted angrily about Don Lemon last night, pointing to him as she did instead of to the white Republican strategist who actually started the entire thing. Don Lemon, the dumbest man on television (with terrible ratings!). https://t.co/iQXCc7lvCt Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020 Republican Joe Scarborough called the Trump defense a Confederacy of Dunces this morning: Neither the President nor Ivanka chose to pick on the Republican who actually said these things instead they tried to pick a fake fight with an imaginary foe, as they have often done when seeking refuge from reality. Its not a good look that Trump is so divisive that Republicans are mocking him and his defense on TV, and others are cracking up as the Republican rants on about Trumps defenses idiocy. Trump is raging at Fox News this morning, thats how bad his defense is. But attacking Republicans directly is a treacherous road as it shows how support is chipping away, and so they both pretended as if these folks were Democrats, elites, and the media and of course, blame Don Lemon because if theres a black person around to blame, thats all the more effective for them. Hold on, because it gets worse: Don Lemon is actually a southerner. He is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and he worked on TV in Alabama. So, I guess hes just another Southerner the golden toileted New York Trump family has run over in their endless greed and deception. This ends the way all fact checks of Trump do, with the obvious: He did it first. And then denied it. And then did it on tape. Trump was accused of mocking Jeff Sessions accent and calling him a dumb Southerner in Bob Woodwards book, This guy is mentally retarded. Hes this dumb Southerner He couldnt even be a one-person country lawyer down in Alabama. Trump denied that in 2018, so many lies and phony sources, has me calling Jeff Sessions mentally retarded and a dumb southerner. I said NEITHER, never used those terms on anyone, including Jeff, and being a southerner is a GREAT thing. Trump has of course actually used those terms. On the radio, as the New Yorker pointed out. And in 2019 on video, Trump mocked a Southern accent at CPAC, the conservative conference, where they ate it up: Trump does an impression of Jeff Sessions: "I'm gonna recuse myself" pic.twitter.com/vJMKsovTsp Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) March 2, 2019 Yeah, those darn elites, mocking southerners. Trump would never, except when he frequently does. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is all you need to know about Trumps impeachment defense. The Trump defense is to move the goal post in order to gin up a culture war of deflection so that his thirsty base can cling to his lame claims of innocence for something he is clearly, by the word of many Republicans, guilty. For a moment, actor Yael Stone thought cruise ships might be the answer. She had been wrestling with the conflict between acting on climate change and her US-based acting career, which involved frequent flights between the States and Australia, resulting in a large carbon footprint. Actor Yael Stone, right, and Jean Hinchliffe, organiser of the School Strike 4 Climate, will speak at the All About Women festival. Credit:Steven Siewert It was brewing for a long time, says Stone of her ultimate decision to renounce her Green Card and base herself (together with partner and 22-month old daughter) in Australia. I realised I was definitely part of the problem and pretending otherwise was lying to myself. KABUL - Taliban militants attacked a police base in northern Afghanistan, killing 11, possibly with help from at least one of the policemen inside, local government officials said Tuesday. The insurgents first overran a checkpoint near the base late Monday, and were apparently able to breach the compound with ease because a sympathetic policeman opened a door for them. These details were provided by Mabobullah Ghafari, a provincial councilman in Baghlan province where the attack took place. A local police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief reporters about the attack, also gave the same account. Insider attacks have been steady throughout Afghanistans 18-year conflict, with U.S. and NATO troops most often targeted. But when Afghan security forces are targeted, the casualty rate is often much higher. Last July, two U.S. service members were killed by an Afghan soldier in the southern Kandahar province. The shooter was wounded and arrested. In September, three U.S. military personnel were wounded when an member of the Afghan Civil Order Police fired on a military convoy, also in Kandahar. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for Mondays attack on the outskirts of Puli Khumri, Baghlans provincial capital. The Taliban have a strong presence in the province and frequently target Afghan security forces in and around the city. Last September, the insurgents attacked Puli Khumri and blocked the citys main highway to the capital Kabul for more than a week. The Taliban currently control or hold sway over around half the country. The U.S. and the Taliban are currently attempting to negotiate a reduction in hostilities or a cease-fire. That would allow a peace agreement to be signed that could bring home an estimated 13,000 American troops, and open the way to a broader post-war deal for Afghans. However, neither the U.S., their Afghan government allies nor the Taliban have noticeably reduced offensive operations as the negotiations take place. [January 28, 2020] StreetShares Platform Signs 20th Financial Institution Since Finovate Fall 2019 RESTON, Va., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- StreetShares Platform added over 20 new clients in Q3-4'19. The majority were added after StreetShares demonstrated its new product line up at Finovate Fall 2019 in New York, NY. Clients include mostly banks and credit unions seeking to expand their small business offering in the growing micro-lending space; loans and lines of credit up to $250,000. The platform was awarded "Best in Show" at the ABA Small Business Conference last fall. It features a branded end-to-end digital small business loan experience with instant pre-qualification and digital decisioning allowing community-focused financial institutions to target growth within the small enterprise sector. "We're thrilled by this response and the demand from community banks and credit unions. Mainstreet lenders need 'no code' lending-as-a-service." said Mark L. Rockefeller, CEO of StreetShares. "We're honored to help these institutions massively accelerate their small business lending." The platform features advanced underwriting technology resulting in one of the lowest loss rates in the online lending industry. It allows for an augmented go-to-market strategy across all mediums, a process that has been vetted by financial institutions with strict compliance requirements across all business lines. Due to the platform's flexible onboarding process, credit unions and community banks have been quick to embrace this Lending-as-a-Service model. Platform clients can be launched and active in less than 30 days, with no core integration, and can choose to use StreetShares' financing or their own balance sheet. According to StreetSares' research, fewer than 100 banks in America have an effective digital small business lending solution. This restricts their ability to serve the small business market, retain customers who are small business owners and capture new small business deposit accounts. Client focused community banks like Freedom Bank of Virginia are using the platform to expand small enterprise accounts in 2020. "We wanted a platform that would allow us to attract new clients with appropriately structured loan products funded into a Freedom Bank deposit account that clients can manage using our industry-leading online banking platform," said bank President and CEO Joseph J. Thomas. "We selected the StreetShares Platform because it allows us to serve entrepreneurs and small business owners with debt solutions that may not fit within a regulated bank due to the credit profile of the client or may require a quicker turnaround than a bank can provide." The growth of StreetShares Platform users appears to be ramping up in early 2020 as more small business owners favor a quicker, digital solution for accessing working capital for payroll, short-term expenses and growth projects. StreetShares, a financial technology company, developed the small business lending-as-a-service (LaaS) platform to help financial institutions offer small business loans through a seamless digital experience with a pre-approval decision in minutes and funding within 24 hours after credit approval. About StreetShares StreetShares is an award-winning financial technology company that helps financial institutions provide high-quality loans to small businesses. Started in 2014 as a low-cost, digital lender to veteran-owned small businesses, StreetShares built a best-in-class small business underwriting technology. StreetShares launched a Lending-as-a-Service (LaaS) platform to allow community banks and credit unions to affordably make small business loans with a 100% digital, omni-channel experience, with one-day underwriting. The StreetShares platform can be up and running in a community bank or credit union in 30 days with no core software integration. StreetShares was named 2018 EY Entrepreneur of the Year and 2017 Innovator of the Year. For more information, visit streetsharesplatform.com . Press Contacts: James Mentor Head of Marketing At StreetShares [email protected] (571) 449-7807 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/streetshares-platform-signs-20th-financial-institution-since-finovate-fall-2019-300993967.html SOURCE StreetShares, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Authorities in Somaliland should immediately release journalist Abdirahman Mohamed Hiddig from prison and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 15, authorities in the town of Erigavo, in the eastern Sanaag region, detained Abdirahman, a reporter with the privately owned broadcaster Eryal TV, according to representatives of two regional press freedom groups, Yahye Mohamed, executive director of the Somaliland Journalists Association, and Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, secretary general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate, both of whom spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The arrest was sparked by a complaint from Mohamed Abdirahman Liban, the deputy manager of the breakaway regions government-owned printing press, about a post on Abdirahmans professional Facebook page, the two press groups said in separate statements. Abdirahman had previously been detained in December 2019 in connection to the same complaint, and was released on bond on January 4, Abdalle said. Following his arrest on January 15, authorities brought Abdirahman before a court where he was tried without a lawyer present and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, according to the statements by the press groups and Abdisamed Giirre, an Eryal TV journalist who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Abdisamed said he did not know what Abdirahman was charged with, and the statements do not specify any charges. CPJ was unable to determine the exact charge that Abdirahman faced. The court also fined Abdirahman 6 million Somaliland shillings ($700), according to Yahye, who told CPJ that an appeal has been filed on Abdirahmans behalf. Somaliland authorities must immediately release journalist Abdirahman Mohamed Hiddig from prison and cease jailing reporters for their work, said CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo. Sentencing a journalist to 21 months in prison after a sham trial without a lawyer present is an outrage. Abdirahman frequently posts political commentary and clips of his journalism on his public Facebook page, which has about 5,000 followers. In a December 2019 post beginning with Breaking news, Abdirahman alleged that Mohamed, the deputy manager of the printing press, did not support a peace process in El-Afwein, a town in the Sanaag region, according to the Somali Journalists Syndicate statement and a screenshot of the post, which CPJ reviewed and which has since been deleted. The journalist is being held in Erigavo district prison, Abdisamed and Yahye said. When CPJ called Mohamed Abdirahman Liban for comment yesterday, he told CPJ that he was in a meeting and said he would call back later. When CPJ called back today, he declined to comment. CPJ emailed Somaliland Attorney General Hassan Aden for comment but did not receive a response. Over the past year, Somaliland authorities have arrested journalists, shu t down outlets, blocked websites, and detained reporters carrying out their work. The Odisha government on Tuesday organised an investement meet in New Delhi to showcase business opportunities for the electronics and IT (E&IT) and startup sectors in the state. The meeting was part of the state's initiative to connect with potential investors in the lead up to the third edition of the biennial investment conclave, 'Make in Odisha', scheduled from November 30 to December 4 this year, a statement said. State's industries and MSME secretary Hemant Sharma said Odisha is known to be one of the first states to get the top four IT companies to set up their centres on its turf. "Our next phase is to ramp up information technology (IT) and ITes (IT enabled services)," he said. The roadshow focused on how the state has been growing and attracting investments in the IT and electronics sector. Speaking at the programme, Dr Nitin Jawale, Managing Director, Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha (IPICOL) said the state has progressed in terms of industrialisation. Recognising the importance of Electronics System Design and Manufacturing, the government has announced a special incentive package scheme, he said. E&IT secretary Manoj Mishra said Odisha is en route to emerge as one of the "most favoured destinations for IT and electronics investments". The government has recast its existing Information & Communications Technology (ICT) policy, he said. In the reformulated policy, the government is offering reimbursement of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), both to new and existing units, he said. Post the policy amendment, new units in IT, ITes and ESDM verticals can avail reimbursement on state GST for five years from the date of commercial operations, Mishra said. Existing units can also avail the benefit if they opt for modernisation and expansion, but it would only apply to enhanced production over and above the current rated capacity and limited to 100 per cent of the additional cost of plant and machinery, he said. The state has recently engaged foreign investors from Japan, Korea, Germany, UAE, Saudia Arabia, USA and Singapore, the statement added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) When we wanted, as so many Texans do, a place to get away from the heat, we decided to take a couple of weeks and drive through all the Colorado towns, Ms. Eyles said. Telluride (population 2,426) charmed them instantly because, unlike Vail, which was incorporated in 1966, its not just a ski town. You feel the sense of history, she said. The couple built a 3,000-square-foot house in 2005. Finding it too cramped for their many visitors, they purchased an adjacent plot that came with a special advantage: Building plans had already been approved by the towns Historic and Architectural Review Commission, which can be a complicated process. But building in a community that values its architectural heritage poses challenges beyond the approval process. It is also about designing a home that blends in with the older structures on the outside, while meeting the needs of the owner for something contemporary and comfortable on the inside. That was the hurdle for Ms. Eyles. The architectural board is filled with a variety of people: architects, designers, just local bigwigs, and they were all sitting there, Ms. Eyles said of a meeting she attended. Somebody was trying to get this covering for their hot tub approved and this committee spent Im not kidding 45 minutes or an hour having a discussion about what to call this structure. Was it a pergola? A pagoda? Typically, the total approval process takes a minimum of nine to 12 months, said Ms. Eyless contractor, Dave Gerber of Gerber Construction, though Ms. Wensel said getting the go-ahead from the architectural board takes just two months. New Delhi [India], 28 Jan, (ANI): Three persons have been kept under observation at an isolation ward of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here for suspected exposure to novel coronavirus, officials said here on Tuesday. The patients are residents of Delhi and they have been kept under strict health monitoring and isolation for the medical treatment. Speaking to ANI, Dr Meenakshi Bhardwaj, Medical Superintendent said: "All three patients are residents of Delhi-NCR. They all have revealed the history of returning back from China. They have come to the hospital for the medical treatment on their own after they faced some kind of respiratory illnesses. We are taking care of them and they are kept under the isolation." All three patients are between the age group of 24 to 48 years. "While one patient is a student, the other two have gone for the business work trip to China and returned," said Bhardwaj. Dr Sujeet Singh, Director of Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) told ANI that all the suspected samples of coronavirus reported at RML, have been sent to Institute of Virology (Pune). "We are hoping that the report should come by tonight or else tomorrow morning," he said. Speaking about preventive measures taken up by the hospital authorities, the Medical Superintendent said: "We have set up a dedicated isolation coronavirus isolation ward. Our team of doctors and nurses have been instructed to monitor such patients, if the need arises. Also, the centre is making all important actions for preventive measure. However, as of now, no positive case of coronavirus has been reported to us." He also elaborated on preventive measures that can be adopted by people to safeguard themselves from such viruses. "As a part of preventive measure against coronavirus infection, people are advised to cover their mouth with the mask, maintain a good standard of hand hygiene and should avoid travelling in crowded places. Any kind of fever, cough, cold and illness should be reported immediately to the nearest doctor," said Dr Bhardwaj. The hospital preparedness with regard to management and infection prevention control facilities was reviewed during high-level meetings on Monday. Following this, advisories, and IPC guidelines have been shared with the states and adequate stocks of logistics including PPE is available. The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has been conducting the thermal health screening of passengers arriving from China including Hong Kong to seven airports in India. These airports include: Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata respectively. All seven identified airports have virus screening and prevention signage displayed boldly at the strategic locations. This is being done as a preventive measure against the outbreak of deadly novel coronavirus Disease (nCoV) outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province of China where more than 2000 cases have been reported and the virus has claimed over 80 lives. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will have a say on future EU trade talks, Michael Gove said as he defended the UK Governments decision to press ahead with Brexit despite the devolved administrations rejection of the Bill. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was speaking after attending the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) meeting in Cardiff between members of the UK Government and the devolved nations to discuss the UKs relationship with the EU following its departure from the bloc. Mr Gove rejected suggestions the meeting was in crisis after the UK Government said it would press ahead with Brexit despite the Withdrawal Agreement being rejected by the Welsh Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly. He said: We paid close attention to the arguments that were made, for example by the representatives in Scottish politics about the importance of making sure that were outside the Common Fisheries Policy. Michael Gove at the Joint Ministerial Committee meeting at the Welsh Government Offices in Cardiff (Tom Martin/Welsh Government/Crown Copyright/PA) We paid close attention to the arguments that have been made by people in Welsh politics about having a responsive approach to state aid. Theres a reason why parliaments and assemblies have voted like they did, but the most important thing to bear in mind is the British people voted to leave the EU. What parliaments chose to do was a matter for them, but it was important that the UK Government honoured the democratic mandate. Mr Gove said the devolved nations would absolutely have a say in future trade negotiations. But the Scottish Governments Cabinet Secretary for Constitutional Relations Mike Russell said he had not heard enough during the meeting about the arrangements the UK Government is making with the EU for trade access. Mr Russell said: We heard a little more than weve heard before, but a lot more is coming out of Europe about their position, and I think that is a common thread between the devolved administrations. Story continues We need to know more, we need to see more material, and the UK Government needs to listen more. Mr Russell criticised Westminster for ignoring the devolved administrations rejection of the Brexit Bill, saying: Its one thing to say, Were going to do it, its quite another thing to say, Will you agree, you say no, and they say, Well, were doing it anyway. Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said those opposed to Brexit could not draw comfort from the meeting. He said: Were leaving the EU and so much after that remains unknown. The Prime Ministers get Brexit done mantra was nonsense from the beginning. We will leave on the 31st and we will find out on February 1 that most of the things we need to talk about are still there to be talked about. The prospect for the next six months is difficult. The dangers are still there. But Mr Drakeford said there had been recognition shown that crafting a future relationship with the EU needs to be done by agreement across the governments of the UK as opposed to them going solo. The meeting also saw Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill together at the JMC for the first time since 2017. MATSAPHA - It seems like union leaders under TUCOSWA have a mountain to climb in as far as proving their case, regarding the alleged police brutality on protesters. This is because former Labour Commissioner Sipho Tsabedze, who appeared before the investigative committee probing the alleged police brutality on protesters, told the committee that the police conduct had immensely improved since 2017. In fact, Tsabedze, who is now a Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Service, blamed unions for the chaotic clashes between protesters and the police, which took place in 2018. Tsabedze made these submissions before the committee yesterday, in his capacity as a former labour commissioner. Clashed He said from 2015 going backwards, union members and the police clashed frequently during demonstrations and most of the time, it was the law enforcers hand that was tough on the protesters. In that regard, the former labour commissioner submitted that workers federations, like the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) were registered. He said after its registration, the cause of clashes between protesters and the police was looked into and it was agreed that guidelines which should be followed by all stakeholders, should be put in place. This gave birth to the Code of Good Practice, which was made public in 2015, he said. Thereafter, he said the tripartite (government, workers federations and employers) together with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) agreed that all the stakeholders should be trained about the Code. He said the training process started with the police, where senior officers were trained and this took place in 2016. However, he said when it was time to train trade union leaders, government had a busy schedule and they ended up not receiving the training on the Code. Afterwards, he said the Public Order Act was amended in 2017. At a later stage, the former labour commissioner said it was observed that the union leaders needed the Code of Good Practise training. On the other hand, it was observed that the police conduct had improved as the officers level of tolerance had increased immensely, even if they are provoked, Tsabedze submitted. He said police demonstrated this during the industrial actions which took place in 2018, like the teachers meeting of August 28, 2018, which took place at the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) centre. He said the teachers union had not applied from the Labour Advisory Board (LAB) to use the streets as per Section 40 of the Industrial Relations Act and did not have permission from the local authority. A scheme for Scottish farmers to access up to 1,000 worth of funding to enlist the help of a business expert has now been extended. The Scottish government piloted resilience planning specialist advice, and following positive feedback this support has now been extended. This means that farmers can now seek to apply for funding support beyond March 2020, to improve business performance to cope with market change. Through the Farm Advisory Service (FAS), applicants can access up to 1,000 worth of funding to enlist the help of an expert to undertake a thorough review of their business and develop a resilience action plan to address challenges. The adviser will work with the participating business to establish key performance indicators for financial resilience and analyse enterprise exposure. The experts will also assess profitability and cash flow, and review the health of the balance sheet. It comes as Scottish farming businesses continue to operate at a time of unprecedented change. Factors such as such as Brexit, climate change, changing social trends and market fluctuations make it challenging for any business to maintain and safeguard profitability. Experts at the Farm Advisory Service say strengthening business resilience is key to successfully navigating change. To receive a hardcopy application pack, contact FAS by calling 0300 323 0161 or emailing advice@fas.scot. A student of a Left wing organisation who was booked in connection with the violence during an anti-citizenship law protest near Jamia Millia Islamia here last month claimed before a Delhi court on Tuesday that the police was not carrying out a "fair" investigation in the case. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur was hearing a plea filed by All India Students' Association (AISA) Secretary Chandan Kumar seeking a court-monitored investigation into the case. The court has listed the matter for further hearing on January 31. Advocate Adit S Pujari, appearing for Kumar, claimed the Crime Branch of Delhi Police should also investigate the police personnel of Jamia Nagar police station who had allegedly entered the varsity campus without any permission on December 15 and attacked the students. "Police cannot enter a library in a university campus and start hitting people. Let the Crime Branch also investigate the police personnel of Jamia Nagar Police Station. The police is not conducting a fair investigation. They are only seeing one side of the coin, not the other," the counsel told the court. Pujari added that according to media reports, 102 arrests have been made so far in the case and the police should be directed to show at least one CCTV footage where the arrested can be seen indulging in violence. He further said the police cannot seize the mobile phone of Kumar and it violated his fundamental right. "The court has to see whether the police can direct an accused (Kumar) to give his pass code for his mobile. It is a violation of his fundamental rights. They have kept the mobile in their possession. All his personal information is there," Pujari said. The lawyer claimed that Kumar was not allowed to consult his lawyer when he was called for questioning by the police. "Let he be allowed to call a lawyer so that the counsel can consult him whenever he is called for questioning in the case by the police. Kumar has always called for peaceful democratic protests. He has always appealed to people to refrain from any communal statement," he said. Kumar's plea, filed through advocates Pujari and Kriti Awasthi, sought monitoring of the investigation "as the investigating agency, while shielding its own policemen who wreaked havoc in the premises of Jamia Millia Islamia University, has proceeded to name the applicant (Kumar), who is a peace-loving citizen/student leader". It also sought directions to the police to return Kumar's mobile phone. The plea claimed that Kumar had to unlock his mobile phone due to pressure from the members of the investigating agency. "The continued possession of the mobile phone with the investigating agency is a direct and immediate violation of the right to privacy of the applicant," it said. It further alleged that Kumar's lawyer was not allowed to meet him during his interrogation by the police. The plea also sought directions to the police to ensure that a fair investigation be conducted, and appropriate material be made available before any decision to take coercive action is undertaken. On December 15, protests in the area against the amended citizenship Act turned violent. Four DTC buses, 100 private vehicles and 10 police bikes were damaged. Police had even entered the university campus and allegedly attacked students. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hes not a politician; hes a "concrete guy. Thats how Hunterdon Countys newest freeholder opted to describe himself as he strode onto a Hillsborough construction site while donning an orange safety vest, long khakis and a hard helmet on a Thursday morning in January. As the grunts of a dozen or so workers and the beeps of roving machines echoed throughout the storage building in the making, Freeholder Zach Rich, a whose job is full-time director of concrete sales for the Silvi Group Companies, stepped around the patches of wet concrete layered throughout the site as if he had lived there all his life. This is what I do all day long. Im not a politician; I never intended to be a politician," Rich said. Richs involvement in public service stretches back 10 years, when he was first elected to the West Amwell Township Committee at the age of 29. Back in 08, 09, we were coming out of a bad recession," Rich, a Republican, said. I was just starting a family, I had bought my first house ... And I got my first property tax bill, and it had gone up like $500. And $500 meant a lot to me." "And I said, Im going to do this. Im going to get involved. I think I can make a difference. It really was that simple. Since 2010, Rich served three terms as a committee member and four one-year terms as a mayor for West Amwell. Throughout the last decade he worked to keep the cost of government down by serving on the local planning board, parks and recreation committee and finance committees, and executing deals to share services with neighboring towns. During his tenure, Rich reduced the townships debt obligation from $6 million to $3.9 million. In stating that he left West Amwell better than I found it," Rich credited his success in government to its residents, who he said reciprocated his devotion to them by consistently supporting his actions in office. My neighbors problems were my problems. What was important to them was important to me," Rich said. And when I care about my neighbors, they support me. Its a two-way street. Rich said that his several years of experience in the New Jersey concrete industry dually contributed to his accomplishments in office. We run a tight ship here in the private sector; we have to fit everything within a certain price level. Deliver quality, deliver the product, and still make a margin at the end of it so we could continue to be successful, Rich said. "When you take that same attitude into the public sector of you have to deliver for your client, every day, day in and day out, not only do you deliver but you over-perform. Rich was elected to the Board of Freeholders last November, filling a spot left vacant by the retirement of former Freeholder Director Suzanne Lagay, also a Republican. As a freeholder, one of Richs primary goals will remain controlling and reducing government costs, an objective that he said has already been illustrated by the boards recent decision to send Hunterdon inmates to Warren in place of Somerset County at a cost savings to taxpayers. In 2018, (Hunterdon Countys) budget was $88 million with zero in debt," Rich said. That is so understated -- to have some level of government with zero debt thats doing road projects and growing and doing the things that they have to do ... Thats what I want to make sure I keep doing. That is so important. Rich will also prioritize advising municipalities through serving as a liaison to the countys Shared Services Committee, and said that he hopes to solidify the countys seat at the table in the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority as an alternate member of the organization. I dont think people realize how important that organization is," Rich said. "Were talking about an organization that moves $2 billion a year ... anything thats got federal money attached to it goes through that organization first and gets funneled out. With the support of other board members, Rich will also continue to push other officials to support and utilize the countys Office of Economic Development, established in 2016. The municipalities need to be on board, the state government needs to be on board, so when somebody says, I want to build a condo complex in Frenchtown, they know theyre going to get in and out with a business partner thats looking out for them. Because if they dont have confidence (in that), they wont come, Rich said. Rich also expressed his eagerness to launch the Hunterdon Tourism Partnership, which is set to become operational this year. Hunterdon County has unbelievable natural resources, parks systems, outdoor activities," Rich said. I think getting that message out is going to do us wonders, along with saying, Hey, this is a great place to live and raise your family.' In acknowledging that his tenure as a freeholder wont last forever," Rich emphasized his desire to service the county well while he has the opportunity to do so. If it ended next month, thats OK. Im happy, Rich said. This is my time to make an impact. If I do my job, Ill do that." Caroline Fassett can be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 02:04:24|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian police seized over 20 tonnes of marijuana and destroyed more than 283 acres of cannabis opium in South Sinai province, Egypt's interior ministry announced on Tuesday. The General Department of Narcotics Control of Egyptian Interior Ministry, in cooperation with the armed forces, launched a massive campaign targeting several areas to eradicate drug farms in South Sinai, the ministry said in a statement. The campaign led to the eradication of more than 283 acres of the drug and the seizure of 20 tonnes of dried marijuana, according to the statement. "A total of 828 kg of cannabis seeds, 243 kg of opium seeds, 20 kg of hashish and cannabis rosin press machine were also seized during the campaign that lasted for more than 10 days," the statement added. Egypt suffers a high rate of drug smuggling and addiction with about 10.4 percent of the population aged from 15 to 65 taking drugs, according to the country's Drug Control and Addiction Treatment Fund. This photo provided by Tariq Ghazniwal shows an aircraft that crashed in eastern Afghanistan on Jan. 27, 2020. (Tariq Ghazniwal via AP) US Forces Recover Bodies From Plane Crash Site In Afghanistan: Officials Bodies of the crew members who were killed in a U.S. military plane crash in Afghanistans Ghazni province were recovered, according to Afghan officials. Ghazni police chief Khaled Wardak told Radio Free Europe Tuesday that American military helicopters landed at the crash site while Afghan security forces reinforced them. Following the removal of the bodies, our forces have moved back to their bases. We dont know where the foreigners have taken the bodies, Wardak told the broadcaster. Nasir Ahmad Faqiri, the head of the provincial council in Ghazni, confirmed that U.S. officials were able to retrieve at least two bodies. It came about a day after Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, confirmed a surveillance plane went down. A U.S. Bombardier E-11A crashed today in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire. We will provide additional information as it becomes available. USFOR-A Spokesman Col Sonny Leggett (@USFOR_A) January 27, 2020 A U.S. Bombardier E-11A crashed today in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire. We will provide additional information as it becomes available, he said in a statement. However, he stipulated that Taliban claims about other planes crashing were false. Photos that were obtained by The Associated Press and Reuters show a downed plane with what appears to be U.S. Air Force markings. Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told Reuters that the terrorist organization would allow a team to recover the bodies. Taliban fighters on the ground counted six bodies at the site of the U.S. airplane crash, he said. A wreckage of a U.S. military aircraft that crashed in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, is seen Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Saifullah Maftoon/AP Photo) The Bombardier E-11A was operated by the U.S. Air Force and was used as an electronic surveillance plane. Ariana Afghan Airlines, the countrys state-owned airline company, issued a statement and strongly denied earlier reports that one of its planes crashed. All of Ariana Afghan flights are operating normally, the airline said on social media. Mirwais Mirzakwal, the head of Ariana, told Reuters, It does not belong to Ariana because the two flights managed by Ariana today from Herat to Kabul and Herat to Delhi are safe. U.S. Central Command has not responded to a request for comment on the plane crash. More than 2,400 U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan. And 2019 was one of the deadliest for the United States in recent times, with 23 American troops killed, even as Washington engaged in peace talks with the Taliban. Jack Fairweather with the front cover of his book The Volunteer (Costa Book Awards/PA) An account of a Polish underground operative who infiltrated Auschwitz and spread news of the Holocaust to the Allies has been named the 2019 Costa Book of the Year. The Volunteer, by former war reporter Jack Fairweather, was announced as the winner by Costa Coffee chief executive Jill McDonald at an awards ceremony at Quaglinos in central London. The announcement came the day after the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The Volunteer tells the story of Witold Pilecki, a Polish resistance fighter during the Second World War who volunteered to be imprisoned in Auschwitz. This is an extraordinary and important book that people need to readSian Williams, chairwoman of the final judges He forged an underground army, sabotaged facilities, assassinated Nazi officers, gathered evidence of the mass murder of the Jews and spread news of the Holocaust to the Allies. The Volunteers win, following that of The Cut Out Girl by Bart van Es last year, means that for two years in a row a biography exploring this period of history has been named Costa Book of the Year. Sian Williams, chairwoman of the final judges, said: The judges were unanimous in choosing The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather. Its an incredible story; pacy like a thriller, it reads like fiction and yet its not, it is fact. It is a story none of us have read before this is an extraordinary and important book that people need to read. The book is published by WH Allen. Fairweather, a former Daily Telegraph and Washington Post war correspondent, beat Jonathan Coe and his thirteenth novel, Middle England, to win the overall prize of 30,000 at the awards ceremony. The Costa Book Awards is the only major UK book prize open solely to authors resident in the UK and Ireland, and also recognises the most enjoyable books across five categories First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Childrens Book published in the last year. Anna Dempsey, an American-born writer and teacher from south-east London, won the 2019 Costa Short Story Award and 3,500 for her story, The Dedicated Dancers of The Greater Oaks Retirement Community. A Trinity School senior made history for the school after earning a chair in the Texas All-State band for the fourth consecutive year. Nikkie Galindo said students have to audition in several rounds before being considered for the band. Now, she will be one of the 10 flutists across the state to perform at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention, which is Feb. 12-15 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio This years convention will celebrate the associations centennial. Galindo said she has played the flute for eight years. Her goal is to practice for at least two hours a day even in the summer and the weekend. She said music is her passion, and she plans to pursue a degree in music education, though she hasnt decided what school she wants to attend. She said she auditioned for the music program at Trinity University and University of Texas and has received promising feedback from both. She said she leaning more toward selecting Trinity. The professor at Trinity told me it was the best audition he had heard in his 16 years there, Galindo said. She played Mozart Concerto No. 3, which she learned freshman year, and began to polish and refine during the summer. She said she is really lucky that Trinity supports students and their passions and gives them the opportunity to explore various fields and outlets. Id encourage younger kids to just start experimenting and try new things, Galindo said. It all comes down to you with what you would love. Junior Mitchell Sharum is one of the 10 percussionists in the All-State Band. This is the first time he has been selected. Because percussion includes multiple instruments, Sharum said he isnt sure what instrument or how many instruments he will play. The competition begins with about 68,000 students, he said, so to make it to All-State was very special to him. Like Galindo, he said he makes an effort to play music every day, though it may be guitar or drums. He said he also wants to pursue a music career, but he wants to double major: engineering and music. Sharum is also on the debate team at Trinity and enjoys including music in his speeches. Sharum said he attributes his success to band director Jordan Holmes, who would unlock the campus and stay with Sharum each day he came in to practice the xylophone even during the summer. Sharum said he believes its hard to make a career in music, but with the right practice and mindset, he believes anyone could achieve their goals. Youve just got to be willing to push for it, Sharum said. "I am excited to join the team at The Spine Center in providing high-quality care to patients in the Chicagoland area!" - Dr. Steven J Fineberg Christopher J. Bergin, M.D. is proud to announce that fellowship-trained orthopedic spine surgeon Dr. Steven Fineberg is the newest surgeon to join The Spine Center at 1875 Dempster Street, Suite 425 in Park Ridge. Dr. Fineberg is currently accepting new patients. Dr. Fineberg earned his medical degree from the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel, which offers training for American medical professionals. He then proceeded to intern at the University of Colorado in general surgery. Dr. Fineberg completed his residency at New York Medical College where he spent most of his training at Westchester Medical Center, a tertiary referral center that specializes in complex care of severely injured trauma patients, as well as Maria Fareri Childrens Hospital which treats children with a variety of complex conditions. Dr. Fineberg completed a year in research in addition to a clinical fellowship in spinal surgery at Chicagos Rush University Medical Center and Shriners Hospital for Children. He worked with world-renowned specialists while at Rush University Medical Center, focusing on improving patient safety and further developing minimally invasive surgical techniques. Today, Dr. Fineberg consistently interacts with and contributes to a growing body of research regarding the identification and treatment of congenital deformations, spinal defects, and diseases of the vertebral column. He has conducted his own original studies, presented more than 150 times at multiple medical conferences, and contributed to scores of scholarly articles and medical publications. In a 2014 study, Dr. Fineberg investigated the safety of utilizing Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMP) in spinal fusions by reviewing all potential complications reported in the literature. During his career, Dr. Fineberg has conducted numerous anterior and posterior lumbar fusions, cervical fusions and disc replacements, correction of scoliosis, and other traditional and minimally invasive surgical procedures. His philosophy of treatment focuses on maximizing patient outcomes so that they can quickly regain mobility and achieve optimal health. Dr. Fineberg speaks multiple languages, including Hebrew. He associates with multiple area hospitals such as Advocate Lutheran General Hospital (Park Ridge), Northwest Community Hospital (Arlington Heights), and Amita Health Resurrection Medical Center (Chicago). Dr. Fineberg is excited to help with any and all of his new patients back, neck, or spine-related issues. Dr. Fineberg will also be accepting patients Wednesday evenings 2:00 pm 7:00 pm and on the first Saturday of each month starting Monday, February 3rd, 2020. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Steven Fineberg, please call (847) 628-8147. [January 28, 2020] NetBase and Quid to Merge NetBase Quid will give businesses an unprecedented solution to understanding consumer and market data. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NetBase, the industry leader in social media analytics, announced today it will merge with Quid, a leader in AI driven text analytics. The combined company is the next generation consumer and market intelligence platform. The platform will deliver contextual insights that reveal business trends from across all forms of structured and unstructured data. The two companies will join forces under their new collective name, NetBase Quid. In today's age of information overload, NetBase Quid will deliver businesses an unprecedented solution that is faster, more accurate and actionable and with access to billions of indexed resources from social media posts, consumer reviews, product reviews, news articles to business filings, to patent applications, and forums - which can be aggregated, analyzed, and visualized in order to discover consumer and market insights. The enhanced platform will deliver clear, real-time and actionable results so that customers can distinguish between critical and non-essential business issues, ultimately empowering them to make smarter, data driven decisions quickly and efficiently. "Like us, Quid has a client-first focus, is deeply connected to technology, driven by purpose and acts as a leader in the evolving consumer and market data analytics landscape," said Peter Caswell, Chairman & CEO of NetBase. We have always been impressed with Quid's technology and leadership. We are confident this merger will help our customers accelerate the growth of their businesses, while enabling them to benefit from the highly personalized service experience they have always enjoyed." "Joining frces just makes sense," said Bob Goodson, CEO of Quid. "We see a great opportunity to transform the landscape of business intelligence using unstructured data. This merger gives our clients the best possible tools and resources to make them as fully informed as possible while making complex business decisions." Following the completion of the merger, Caswell will lead NetBase Quid as Chairman & CEO. Quid CEO Bob Goodson will be assuming the role of President. NetBase Quid's leadership team will include senior executives from both NetBase and Quid, reflecting both companies' commitment to their customers. "Merging Quid and NetBase will help enable the next wave of innovative customer analytics," added Pamela Mittoo, Manager of Technical Consumer Research at Coca-Cola. "This new company will provide the ultimate resource in understanding consumer context." "Both NetBase and Quid enable the strategic work we do at FleishmanHillard. Combining NetBase's and Quid's contextual AI and breadth of data sources will give us unparalleled visibility into any landscape analysis, including our clients' brand coverage, the industries they serve, and new areas of opportunity for our clients and their customers" said, Brian Mossop, Senior Vice President, FleishmanHillard. "This will definitely be a game changer for our business and our clients." "This kind of platform is sure to attract a slew of new, innovative customers," said Don Butler, Managing Director at Thomvest Ventures, the leading VC funding NetBase. "New, growing businesses have an abundance of unstructured data they don't know what to do with, and NetBase Quid is addressing the need of the evolving landscape." For more information on NetBase Quid, please visit here. ABOUT NETBASE NetBase is the award-winning social analytics platform that global companies use to run brands, build businesses, and connect with consumers every second. Its platform processes millions of social media posts daily for actionable business insights for marketing, research, customer service, sales, PR, and product innovation. NetBase is a trusted partner to American Airlines, Arby's, Coca-Cola, Ogilvy, T-Mobile, United Airlines, and YUM! Brands. Learn more at netbase.com. ABOUT QUID Quid is an artificial intelligence company in San Francisco founded in 2010 and enables organizations to understand the story behind their customers, competitors, markets, and brand. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence and natural language processing to illuminate key information and drive insights in areas like competitive intelligence, market landscapes, and trend analysis. Quid is a trusted partner to Walmart, Hyundai, Wunderman Thompson, Golin, Microsoft, BCG and The New York Times. Learn more at quid.com . [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 28, 2020] The GAMCO Global Growth Fund Lowers Its Expenses and Changes Its Name Effective December 27, 2019, The GAMCO Global Growth Fund changed its name to The Gabelli Global Growth Fund (the "Fund"). Effective December 1, 2019, Gabelli Funds, LLC has lowered the expense cap for all share classes of the Fund to 0.90%. This change will benefit all shareholders of the Fund by lowering expenses and enhancing net returns. Effective January 27, 2020, Class AAA (ticker GICPX) and Class A (GGGAX) will close to new investors, Class C (GGGCX) will close to new investments, and the minimum initial investment for Class I (GGGIX) will be reduced to $1,000. This structure will enable current and future shareholders to avail of the reduced net expense ratio. The Fund invests primarily in common stocks of foreign and domestic mid-capitalization and large-capitalization issuers. In addition to growth rates, stock valuation levels are important in the stock selection process as the Fund seeks stocks that are attractively priced relative to their projected growth rates. The Fund seeks to build a portfolio diversified by geographic region, industry sectors and individual issues within industry sectors; invests primarily in developed markets but may invest in emerging markets as well; and invests in companies with a wide range in market capitalizations, from small to large. The Fund has outperformed its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index, over the trailing 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 year periods ended December 31, 2019. During this 15-year period, the Fund's lead portfolio manager has been Howard F. Ward, CFA, assisted by Caesar M. P. Bryan. Chris Ward, CFA, joined the team in 2015. The Fund won top honors from Lipper for both 3 and 5 year periods ended in December of 2014 and 2015. The Lipper Fund Awards are part of the Thomson Reuters (News - Alert) Awards for Excellence, a global family of awards that celebrate exceptional performance throughout the professional investment community. The Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence recognize the world's top funds, fund management firms, sell-side firms, research analysts, and investor relations teams. The Thomson Reuters (News - Alert) Awards for Excellence also include the Extel Survey Awards, the StarMine Analyst Awards, and the StarMine Broker Rankings. For more information, please contact [email protected] or visit www.lipperfundawards.com. For Lipper Best Individual Funds, the calculation periods extend over 36, 60 and 120 months. The highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return (Effective Return) within each eligible classification determines the fund classification winner over 3, 5 or 10 years as of 12/31/14, 12/31/15, and no other time periods. Only eligible investors may purchase Class I Shares. See a prospectus for eligibility requirements and other available share classes. The Fund's performance as of December 31, 2019 was: Average Annual Returns through December 31, 2019 (a) (Unaudited) 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year 15 Year Since Inception (2/7/94) Class I (GGGIX) 31.03% 18.43% 10.99% 11.43% 8.85% 9.53% Class AAA (GICPX) 30.73 17.91 10.39 10.96 8.50 9.33 MSCI AC World Index 26.60 12.44 8.41 8.79 6.86 7.06 (b) Lipper Global Large-Cap Growth Fund Classification 30.32 16.32 10.19 10.18 8.05 7.75 Class A (GGGAX) 30.74 17.90 10.39 10.97 8.50 9.34 With sales charge (c) 23.22 15.60 9.09 10.31 8.07 9.09 Class C (GGGCX) 29.82 17.06 9.58 10.15 7.69 8.71 With contingent deferred sales charge (d) 28.82 17.06 9.58 10.15 7.69 8.71 (a) Returns represent past performance and do not guarantee future results. Total returns and average annual returns reflect changes in share price, reinvestment of distributions, and are net of expenses. Investment returns and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate. When shares are redeemed, they may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data presented. As of June 30, 2019,the gross expense ratios based on Fund's semiannual report for Class AAA, Class A, Class C, and Class I were 1.64%, 1.64%, 2.39%, and 1.39%, respectively. As of December 1, 2019 the net expense ratio for all classes after reimbursement by the Adviser is 0.90%. The contractual reimbursements are in place through April 30, 2021 unless terminated earlier by the Fund's Board of Directors. Visit www.gabelli.com for performance information as of the most recent month end. Returns would have been lower had the Adviser not reimbursed certain expenses. The Fund imposes a 2% redemption fee on shares sold or exchanged within seven days of purchase. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the Fund before investing. The prospectuses contain information about these and other matters and should be read carefully before investing. To obtain a prospectus, please visit our website at www.gabelli.com or call 800-GABELLI (800-422-3554). Investing in foreign securities involves risks not ordinarily associated with investments in domestic issues, including currency fluctuation, economic, and political risks. The Class AAA Share NAVs are used to calculate performance for the periods prior to the issuance of Class A Shares, Class C Shares, and Class I Shares on March 2, 2000, March 12, 2000, and January 11, 2008, respectively. The actual performance of the Class A and Class C Shares would have been lower due to the additional fees and expenses associated with these classes of shares. The actual performance of Class I Shares would have been higher due to lower expenses related to this class of shares. The MSCI AC World Index is an unmanaged market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed and emerging markets. The MSCI AC World Index consists of 45 country indices comprising 24 developed and 21 emerging market country indices. The Lipper Global Large-Cap Growth Fund Classification reflects the performance of mutual funds classified in this particular category. Dividends are considered reinvested. You cannot invest directly in an index. (b) MSCI AC World Index since inception performance is as of January 31, 1994. (c) Performance results include the effect of the maximum 5.75% sales charge at the beginning of the period. (d) Assuming payment of the 1% maximum contingent deferred sales charge imposed on redemptions made within one year of purchase. The Gabelli Global Growth Fund is an open-end, non-diversified management investment company which seeks capital appreciation. The Gabelli Global Growth Fund, Inc.is managed by Gabelli Funds, LLC and distributed by G.distributors, LLC, subsidiaries of GAMCO Investors, Inc. (NYSE: GBL). G.distributors, LLC is a registered broker dealer and a member of FINRA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005858/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Technavio has been monitoring the global spa market and it is poised to grow by USD 34.41 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005301/en/ Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global spa market 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire) Brand positioning enabling premium pricing for spa services has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, homemade spa solutions available at lower cost might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report Spa Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Type Day/club/salon spa Hotel/resort spa Destination spa Medical spa Others Geographic segmentation Americas APAC EMEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30249 Spa Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our spa market report covers the following areas: Spa Market size Spa Market trends Spa Market industry analysis This study identifies personalization of spa services as one of the prime reasons driving the spa market growth during the next few years. Spa Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the spa market, including some of the vendors such as HOT SPRINGS RESORT SPA, Lanserhof, MARRIOT INTERNATIONAL, Massage Envy Franchising, and Rancho La Puerta. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the spa market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Spa Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist spa market growth during the next five years Estimation of the spa market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the spa market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of spa market vendors About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005301/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: https://www.technavio.com/ The star of Channel 4's new detective drama has revealed how his own family were forced to flee Kuwait at the height of the Iraq war. US-based actor Waleed Zuaiter, 49, takes the lead role in six-part drama Baghdad Central, which is set in Iraq at the end of the history-changing conflict. Based on a book by author Elliot Cola, Zuaiter's stoic character has been dubbed 'Morse of the Middle East'. The show sees Zuaiter play former police officer Muhsin Kadr al-Khafaji, who is trying to save the lives of his daughters in Iraq in 2003. Scroll down for video Kuwait-raised actor Waleed Zuaiter, who plays ex-police officer Muhsin Kadr al-Khafaji in Channel 4's new detective drama Baghdad Central has revealed how his family fled Kuwait in 1990 Born to play the role: Zuaiter, 49, who now lives in California, takes the title role in the six-part series that's been dubbed 'Morse of the Middle East' The actor, who lived in Kuwait with his family from the age of five until 19, pictured with his late father in an image shared to Instagram However, the actor's own teenage escape from his war-ravaged home country is arguably just as dramatic as anything viewers are set to see on screen. Speaking to the Telegraph about his real-life teenage experiences in the same region, Zuaiter revealed how his family were forced to flee their home after seeing Iraqi tanks on the streets outside. The actor, who was born in California but spent much of his childhood and teenage years in Kuwait, says a 'secure' upbringing in an affluent country came crashing down on his family one night in early August 1990. He explained: 'I looked out of the window and there were Iraqi tanks right outside, it was so surreal.' The show's stars (left to right) Leem Lubany, Waleed Zuaiter, July Namir and Bertie Carvel pictured attending a screening of Baghdad Central at the BFI in London earlier this month He says the family spent three days trying to reach safety in neighbouring Jordan, and witnessed horrific war atrocities, which he describes as 'seeing death' along the way. He says: 'I remember very specifically that there was a family who didnt have time to bury a child whod died from dehydration, so it just looked like they threw a dead baby out of their car.' Zuaiter also revealed that his wife Joana, with whom he shares two children, 19 and 22, was taken hostage by Saddam Hussein as a young girl with her mother and grandmother. The family were taken to a hotel in Baghdad where they were held against their will with mainly British families and even forced to appear in a television appearance with the Iraqi dictator. The first episode of Baghdad Central airs on Channel 4 on Monday 3rd February The Israeli army on Tuesday said it was beefing up forces in the Jordan Valley, a swathe of the occupied West Bank expected to feature in US President Donald Trump's long-awaited peace plan. "Following the ongoing situation assessment conducted in the IDF (Israel Defence Forces), it has been decided to reinforce the Jordan Valley area with infantry troops," the military said in a statement. Trump was due to release his plan, years in the works, at the White House later Tuesday together with his close ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Palestinians, who accuse Trump of pro-Israel bias, were not taking part in the Washington event and have rejected the plan and any US role as peacemaker. While details of the US proposal remain secret, it may seek to give Israel the green light to annex the Jordan Valley, a strategic area along the border with Jordan that constitutes around 30 per cent of the West Bank. During a tour of the valley on Monday, Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said they were taking steps towards the move -- a central election promise of right-winger Netanyahu. "As interior minister I'd like to tell you, we've started to prepare for an annexation -- we are getting the paperwork ready," Deri said. Palestinians were planning protests in the West Bank and Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A woman accused of burning her husband alive while he relaxed on the front porch proudly showed off her wedding ring and sang a song for him just three years ago. Angela Surtees, 33, of Geelong, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Tuesday days after she allegedly doused her husband Daniel in accelerant and torched the father of five. Sporting a large bandage on her left arm from an injury she sustained on the day of the alleged murder, Surtees sat with her head down throughout the brief court hearing. Angela Surtees, 33, of Geelong, appeared briefly in Melbourne Magistrates' Court (above) charged with setting her husband on fire while he allegedly slept on an armchair She worked as a Tupperware lady before she allegedly set her husband on fire as he sat on a couch outside their front door on Saturday Police were called to the couple's Boundary Road home around 8.30pm where they found the father with severe burns. Pictured above is the charred remains of the armchair where Mr Surtees is alleged to have been sitting The pair, who were married for four years with five children had been reportedly involved in a 'petty argument' before Mr Surtees' death No reason was given as to how the incident happened, with Surtees' mum and sister refusing to comment as they left the court under hot pursuit of a media pack eager for answers. Moments earlier, Surtees had blown her family a kiss as she was led back to prison. While silent in the prison dock, Surtees had enjoyed a vocal presence on social media where just a few years ago she proudly showed off her wedding ring. 'So I got married,' she proudly shrieked in a YouTube video posted after her wedding three years ago. 'This song is what was supposed to be our first dance but somebody hijacked our playlist.' Surtees is seen breaking out into an awful rendition of Celine Dion's Tale As Old As Time from Disney's Beauty and The Beast. It is one of many covers the alleged killer posted on social media before last Saturday's horrific turn of events. A neighbour told the local news station she had previously heard sounds of a verbal altercation coming from the home Footage of the scene showed the blaze reached the walls and ceiling, damaging the interior of the home Other renditions include When Doves Cry, by Prince, Stay, by Rihanna, Someone Like You, by Adele, and My Precious Child, by Karen Taylor. Mystery surrounds exactly what led to the shocking events at the Surtees property, located just out of Geelong in Victoria. Neighbours have described Mr Surtees as a friendly person who would go out of his way to mow the lawns of his elderly neighbour. On Tuesday, a half-finished can of Jim Beam remained beside the seat where Mr Surtees was allegedly sleeping when he was set ablaze. The couch was positioned just outside the front door of the couple's family home. It was reported the pair could be heard arguing on Saturday before the incident happened. Angela Surtees had been a frequent contributor to her Facebook page, encouraging people to raise money for bushfire victims The mother and sister of Angela Surtees are pursued by media as they leave the Melbourne Magistrates' Court. They made no comment A post by Angela Surtees on Facebook in 2016. She often took to Facebook to vent 'I had heard yelling, screaming, but I thought nothing of it because it's just Geelong,' a neighbour told 9News. 'I feel sorry for the kids.' According to social media, Surtees and her husband met in 2012 and had a photography business in Geelong. She had recently shared numerous posts about providing aid to bushfire victims and urged friends to donate to the cause. The young mum had a strong social media presence and frequently took to Facebook to post angry rants. She described herself as a 'selfish b**th' in one post who had a 'short fuse'. In 2013, she posted: 'Has come to the conclusion that harnessing my hurt pain and sorrow and turning it into anger is making my normally short fuse paper thin.' A year later she she warned people about the consequences of 'talking s**' about her. Surtees continued her rants in 2016, telling the world she would not be forced to live in the kitchen 'serving her husband'. Angela Surtees said she would not be a slave to any man Angela Surtees, husband Daniel and family in happier times 'Happy wife, happy life. Unhappy wife and you bet your ass s**t is going to hit the fan. A king will take care of her king, a slave will pray the day he dies.' Ms Surtees has revealed her husband was a hard working chef who had done time in Italian restaurants and as a baker. She regularly posted about her struggle to find work and over the years had done everything from selling Tupperware to bar tending. At one stage, she even attempted to get on the hit cooking show Masterchef. Surtees rated herself as a working artist and photographer, who was doing her best to remain off welfare payments to survive. 'I am who I am,' she posted in 2016. 'I'll be who I'll be. I'll never apologise for simply being me.' Surtees did not apply for bail and will return to court in May. In Maale Adumim, one of the largest Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, residents watched the unveiling of Donald Trump's peace plan with keen interest. "I was born here, and since I was little we have been hearing about annexation by Israel," said Guy Yifrach, the 37-year old mayor of this community west of Jerusalem. Trump's proposals, which were swiftly rejected by the Palestinians, gave Israel the green light to assert its sovereignty over various parts of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was standing next to Trump when the plan was released, will ask his cabinet to approve annexations on Sunday, multiple Israeli officials told AFP. They did not specify which areas Netanyahu would target first, but Yifrach made clear he hoped Maale Adumim would be on the list. "We hope it will finally happen," said Yifrach. "We have been waiting for years." More than 400,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, including 42,000 in Maale Adumim, which residents consider a suburb of Jerusalem. Shortly after Trump's plan was announced, the US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said Israel "does not have to wait at all" before moving forward with annexation. That may have been welcome news to Yifrach, but not all of Trump's proposals were so warmly received. The US president also called for the creation of an independent "contiguous" Palestinian state. "I am against the creation of a Palestinian state," in the heart of Israel, said Yifrach, voicing fear about insecurity in his community. That sentiment was echoed by other settlers. The head of the Yesha Council, an umbrella group that represents settlers living in the West Bank, had earlier voiced concern about Trump's plan. "We can't agree to a plan that includes forming a Palestinian state, which will constitute a threat to Israel and a great danger to the future," said council head David Elhayani. In an interview with army radio before Trump's plan was announced, Israeli Transport Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the far-right Yemina union stressed that his party "won't under any conditions agree to recognition, whether explicit or implicit, of a Palestinian state". The town of Eizariya in the occupied West Bank, looking towards the settlement of Maale Adumim, Israel's largest in the occupied territories A boy rides a bicycle past Palestinian bedouin huts in the town of Eizariya in the occupied West Bank Whether it's reducing plastic bottle use or sticking on the laundry at a lower temperature, many of us have the best of green intentions. But could this have consequences for our health? A study last year suggested washing machines used at energy-efficient low temperatures could harbour harmful bacteria, reported the journal Applied And Environmental Microbiology. The finding was based on a report from a German hospital where babies were apparently colonised by a strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria linked to pneumonia and soft tissue infections. A study last year suggested washing machines used at energy-efficient low temperatures could harbour harmful bacteria The 'superbug' was traced back to a washing machine, and the scientists said using the machine on cooler cycles encouraged bacteria to build up. Other research has suggested that using a refillable coffee cup or water bottle may expose us to bugs such as E. coli (which can cause severe food poisoning). But this doesn't mean we have to give up being eco-conscious. Here, we present expert advice on how to be both green and clean. HOW TO WASH SAFELY AT 'GREEN' TEMPERATURES Washing at 40c rather than 60c reduces energy use by almost 50 per cent. But while the clothes look clean, potentially harmful microbes may remain on them. 'If you use less water or less heat, you need to use more chemicals or rinse for longer to try to physically remove the microbes,' says Professor Sally Bloomfield, a consultant in hygiene and infectious disease prevention. A BAR OF SOUP IS ALWAYS BEST 'Bar soaps are a very hostile environment for bacteria,' says Val Curtis, a professor of hygiene at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. 'The bacterial cells get exploded by the strong chemical concentrations. Bar soap is not the place you're going to pick up people's bugs.' In fact, a landmark study from 1965 by U.S. scientists found there is no risk of bugs being transferred from one person to another via a bar of soap. The researchers deliberately coated their hands with around five billion bacteria, including harmful strains such as E. coli, before washing them with a bar of soap. A second person then washed with the same bar of soap, but tests showed the bacteria didn't end up on their hands. 'You're more likely to transmit bacteria to the plastic pump of a bottle of hand soap than to a bar of soap, as the plastic is a much less hostile environment to bacteria,' adds Professor Curtis. Advertisement Heat is key to inactivating bugs, according to a 2014 study in the Journal of Applied Microbiology, which compared wash cycles between 20c and 60c. Washing at more than 50c for just 15 minutes reduced the number of all pathogens the researchers tested for by 99.99 per cent. But, the results suggested, you would have to wash at 30c for 90 minutes to achieve the same result and this wasn't as effective at removing Candida albicans (a common cause of fungal infection) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (which can cause ringworm). To wash at lower temperatures hygienically, Professor Bloomfield recommends using an activated oxygen bleach (AOB) product. This kills bacteria by actively breaking down their cells. But, unlike the bleach you might use to clean the loo, AOB is relatively safe for the environment, as it breaks down into water and oxygen. GO HOTTER FOR TOWELS AND UNDIES Professor Dirk Bockmuhl, a microbiologist from Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, says underwear and hand towels should always be washed at a higher temperature. 'At 60c, you can be completely sure,' he says. But there is no need, he adds, to wash at 90c. A 2013 study suggested that for a towel wash, 50c is enough to be safe. A problem with routinely washing at 40c or lower, Professor Bockmuhl says, is that biofilms structures formed by micro-organisms bonding to stick to a surface can build up in the machine and could transfer to clothes. 'At lower temperatures, you have no chance of removing these biofilms.' Professor Bockmuhl recommends doing a 60c wash 'at least once a month'. He also suggests leaving the machine door and detergent drawer open after a wash so the machine dries properly, as bacteria thrive in moist environments. Val Curtis, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, suggests one way to environmentally offset the occasional hot wash is simply to wash other items a little less frequently. A landmark study from 1965 by U.S. scientists found there is no risk of bugs being transferred from one person to another via a bar of soap (file image) SCRUB YOUR TRAVEL MUG RIGHT AWAY Concerns about disposable coffee cups and plastic water bottles have led to many more people buying reusable cups and flasks. But how often are you washing yours? You should be giving it a scrub straight after your drink is finished. A 2018 study by Aston University, in Birmingham, compared levels of bacteria in reusable coffee cups that had been washed after use or left with dregs in. They found that levels were higher when cups had been left dirty. 'Residue left in reusable cups is a good source of nutrients for bacteria, which can multiply rapidly during storage,' says Anthony Hilton, a professor of applied microbiology at the university. In 2018, Public Health England (PHE) advised washing travel mugs after every drink. 'If the cup is dirty, hot water alone is not enough you need detergent, too. And if the water is OK for your hands, it's too cool to kill bacteria,' says PHE's Nick Phin. The same is true for reusable water bottles. 'I always put them in the dishwasher, even though many bottles say they aren't dishwasher safe,' says Dr Lisa Ackerley, a chartered environmental health professional. 'It's hard to get them clean enough washing by hand.' WHAT ABOUT 'ECO' DISHWASHERS? Professor Bockmuhl says dishwashers use less water and energy than washing dishes by hand (provided the machine is full). And for maintaining hygiene, there seems to be no problem with using the 'eco' setting. USE CLEANING SPRAYS SPARINGLY Old-fashioned cleaning methods, such as making your own kitchen spray with white vinegar, are back in favour. Commercial sprays are not always recyclable and there are health concerns about the chemicals used in them. Research by Harvard University last year found that people who used bleach and alcohol-based products once a week had a higher risk of lung diseases. We should use such products only when we really need them, says home hygiene expert Professor Sally Bloomfield, such as after preparing raw chicken or to clean frequently touched surfaces like taps. Advertisement 'Everything still comes out more or less sterile,' says Professor Bockmuhl, who co-authored a study in 2016 that compared microbe counts after various dishwasher cycles. The study also found interior surfaces of most dishwashers were 'almost germ-free'. Dishwashers finish off by drying with steam, which helps to sterilise items. KEEP A SEPARATE BAG FOR CHICKEN 'A problem with reusable shopping bags is that meat packaging is highly likely to be contaminated on the outside as well as on the inside, so pathogens could be transferred on to your bag,' says Lisa Ackerley. 'They are infectious at low doses and you really don't want them to get on other ready-to-eat foods, such as ham, cheese or fruit.' And don't assume any bugs will soon be gone. 'E. coli can survive for months,' she adds. 'You could wash a fabric bag, but you would need to use a high temperature and a chemical disinfectant. A simpler way is to keep separate bags for 'dirty' things, so one for meat and another for vegetables with soil on them.' IS IT SAFE TO REUSE A BEESWAX WRAP? Alternatives to cling film and single-use freezer bags, such as washable, reusable beeswax wraps (from 7, beeswaxwraps.co.uk) are becoming increasingly popular, but are they hygienic? 'Try to use them for the same thing every time,' advises Lisa Ackerley. To be completely safe, don't use reusable beeswax wraps for raw meat or fish and wash them in warm, soapy water after use, then leave them to dry fully. Libya: Haftar drone downed east of Misrata, Tripoli 'Emirati drone, operation to defend capital' (ANSAmed) - CAIRO, JANUARY 28 - Pro-national unity government forces on Tuesday announced that they have downed an ''Emirati drone'' operated by militias loyal to eastern Libyan strongman General Khalifa Haftar ''east of Misrata''. The announcement, posted with photos of a wreck, was published on the Facebook page of the 'Volcano of Rage' operation of forces defending Tripoli and Premier Fayez al-Sarraj from Haftar's attack. Several drones and fighter jets have been downed since the ongoing conflict to take Tripoli began in April last year. (ANSAmed). (Newser) A man about to be released from a California prison has been arrested after new DNA evidence showed he killed five of his own children, all no more than 6 months old, officials said Monday. The children were killed between 1992 and 2001, NBC reports. Paul Perez, 57, was arrested Friday at a state prison, where he was to be released Monday after serving time in unrelated cases on other offenses. The convicted sex offender now faces five counts of first-degree murder. "The investigation in this case uncovered a deeply disturbing, chilling case of infanticide," a prosecutor said. Saying they're still investigating the cold case, authorities would not disclose whether Perez has other children or give details of the slayings. story continues below The investigation began after a fisherman found a 3-month-old's remains in an irrigation canal in 2007, per the AP. An autopsy showed that blunt force trauma killed the boy, and DNA was sent to the federal Justice Department. In October, a match was recorded. Yolo County investigators said they haven't found the remains of the other children. "The allegations we are discussing today are both senseless, evil, and heartbreaking," one law enforcement official said. (Read more child murder stories.) Its not every day that you hear about teenage girls turning to plastic surgery to make themselves look more youthful, but then again, not many 15-year-olds look like their grandmothers. The story of Xiaofeng, a young girl from Liaoning, China, who suffered from a rare medical condition that left her looking like a woman in her 60s, first made news headlines in December of last year. Media outlets throughout Asia wrote about how the first symptoms of the incurable condition known as progeria appeared when Xiaofeng was just one-year-old, and how by the time her teenage years rolled up, she looked like an old woman. Her saggy skin made her the target of cruel kids at school, and the constant abuse made her decide to quit her studies. The sad story melted the hearts of millions, many of which donated money for a surgery that could help the poor girl look her age. Photos: Weibo Sometimes people call me auntie or grandma. It makes me quite sad, Xiaofeng said in an interview, last December. With the way I look now, I dont want to go to school. If I could change my looks in the future, I would want to return to school. I dont need to become the prettiest. I just want to be like other teenagers and live without all the strange looks from others. Sick of putting up with her cruel colleagues at school, the 15-year-old decided to just stay home and look after her familys birds, hoping that she could one day resume her studies under different circumstances. Her plight was heard by Chinese philanthropists like Guo Mingyi, who organised fundraising events in her benefit, and managed to cover the cost of a plastic surgery to give the girl her youthful looks back. Photos: Weibo On December 29, Xiaofeng underwent facial rejuvenation surgery, reconstructive surgery on her nose, as well as microsurgery to fix the wrinkles and sagging around her mouth. The cost of the intervention was originally set at 500,000 yuan ($72,000), but Shi Lingzhi, the director of Shenyang Sunline Plastic Surgery Hospital, told reporters that his hospital decided to help the girl by waving 70 percent of the fee. On January 20, 15-year-old Xiaofeng unveiled the results of the surgery to the world, during a press conference. She declared herself ecstatic about her new look, adding that she wanted to return to school and hopefully study to become a doctor. Photos: Weibo Right now Im very happy and very moved because Ive become beautiful. I can feel that Ive become more confident. After going through this operation, I believe that there are miracles in this world, Xiaofeng said. After I return to school, Im going to study to be a doctor. I feel like becoming a doctor will help me help others and spread love. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is telling Americans to avoid all nonessential travel to China, expanding its travel warning from the city of Wuhan to the entire country as the coronavirus outbreak worsens, the agency said Tuesday. Last week, the CDC advised against all nonessential travel to Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease's outbreak and where the majority of cases have been reported. The U.S. Department of State on Monday also raised its travel advisory for China from Level 2 to Level 3, asking Americans to "reconsider travel to China due to the novel coronavirus." They added that some areas have "added risk." Chinese health authorities said Tuesday that the virus, which was first diagnosed less than a month ago, has now killed 106 people and infected 4,515. Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner and a CNBC contributor, said he's worried that coronavirus cases in China are actually much higher than the official numbers show. "I think we are dramatically underestimating" cases in China by "tens of thousands," Gottlieb told CNBC's "Squawk Box." A new virus, by the name of Coronavirus has put the world and health agencies all around the globe on high alert. It all started on 31 December 2019, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Chinas Wuhan City, in the Hubei Province. The virus did not match any other known virus. The new virus is a corona virus, which is a family of viruses that include the common cold, and viruses such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome). This new virus was temporarily named 2019-nCoV. The virus is also known colloquially known as the Wuhan coronavirus after the city where it is believed to have originated. The disease is still very poorly understood, and seems to be changing rapidly. Updates from China, Thailand, Korea, and Japan indicate that the disease associated with 2019-nCoV appears to be relatively mild as compared with SARS and MERS. The symptoms vary from mild symptoms like fever, cough and malaise to severe pneumonia, kidney failure and death. The disease seems to relatively mild but if the transmission capability of the virus is huge then given the size of the world population, it could have significant national and international impact. The exact source of the virus is still unknown, but the first case most likely came from contact with a non-human animal host in Wuhan. As of January 24, 2020, at least 830 cases had been diagnosed in nine countries: China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, Nepal, and the United States. Twenty-six fatalities occurred, mainly in patients who had serious underlying illness. Not enough is known about the epidemiology of 2019-nCoV to draw definitive conclusions about the full clinical features of disease, the intensity of the human-to-human transmission, and the original source of the outbreak. New confirmed cases will continue to appear in other areas and countries. Just like the SARS outbreak in China back in 2003 which claimed around 800 lives, the Coronavirus Outbreak also began from a wet seafood market (which sells both live and dead animals). The food market where Chinas deadly coronavirus surfaced was a smorgasbord of exotic wildlife ranging from wolf pups to species linked to previous pandemics such as civets, a Chinese local media reported. It sold animal-based products including foxes, snakes, crocodiles, rats, peacocks. While the Coronavirus is said to have links from bats, it is likely that the host of the infection in Wuhan was snakes. Treatment and Prevention Dr Sanjay Wazir, the Director of the Neonatal intensive care unit and a paediatrician at Cloudnine Group of Hospitals in Gurgaon, has given the following methods to help aid in trying to prevent from contracting the virus, and also possible treatments for the same. Dr Wazir says that when it comes to cases of viral pneumonia, antibiotics do not work. He said, There is no medicated treatment or drugs for the disease. The only treatment that can be given is putting the patient on a ventilator and ensuring enough oxygen supply reaches the lungs. The patient is also made to drink lots of fluids to push out the infection from the system. There is no need for any other medicine as the body can recuperate from the infection on its own. While the government of India has instructed that all flight passengers arriving from China to the airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi airports should be screened regularly, it is always best to be safe than sorry and we must take necessary precautions ourselves. Talking about WHOs standard recommendations for the general public to reduce exposure to and transmission of a range of illnesses, he elaborated on them saying safe practices include hand and respiratory hygiene, and safe food practices. Here are some tips shared by Dr Wazir. Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water; When coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue throw tissue away immediately and wash hands; Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough; If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider; When visiting live markets in areas currently experiencing cases of novel coronavirus, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals. The consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, milk or animal organs should be handled with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter The long-running conflict between two South Caucasus neighbors Armenia and Azerbaijan over the latter's Nagorno-Karabakh region has entered another decade, after talks in 2019 failed to bring the issue to a close, aspian News reports in its article Aggressive Rhetoric From Yerevan Drags Nagorno-Karabakh Stalemate Into 2020. Rhetoric from Armenian officials, such as defense minister David Tonoyans new territories, new war statement, caused major setbacks in bilateral discussions that marked the past year. Hikmet Hajiyev, the head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of Azerbaijan's Presidential Administration, said as long as Armenia pursues a destructive policy on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, negotiations cannot produce a resolution. As it was said by my president, unfortunately, last year was a lost year with regard to the resolution of the conflict. We cant see any particular movement with regard to the resolution of the conflict, Hajiyev said in an interview with Euractiv, referring to President Ilham Aliyevs remarks to reporters in December. Armenian side has at a very high level said new territories, new wars, no inch of territory back and finally, Armenian Prime Minister in occupied Khankendi city of Azerbaijan said that Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenia'," Hajiyev said, quoting various remarks Armenian officials have made over the past year that indicated Armenia has no intention of withdrawing from the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict broke out in the wake of the Soviet Unions collapse in the early 1990s, when Armenia's armed forces invaded Azerbaijan and occupied the region, where ethnic Armenians had been living side by side with indigenous Azerbaijanis. A brutal war ensued, which lasted until a ceasefire in 1994. Over the course of that war, Armenia occupied roughly 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 30,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were killed in the war, and around one million more people were internally displaced. According to President Aliyev, in 2019, Armenia's leaders took non-constructive positions on the issue, coupled with a lack of international pressure, all of which affected negotiations. Contradictory statements by Armenian officials made last year, including those by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Defense Minister David Tonoyan, were all but a commitment to political dialogue. Pashinyan fomented tensions with Baku by offering self-styled separatists in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region to be part of the negotiations and then called the region territory of Armenia. For his part, Defense Minister Tonoyan said at a meeting with the Armenian community in New York in March that the territories in exchange for peace formula should be replaced with new war new territories paradigm. Throughout the year, Armenia's position has been toughened considerably. Several military provocations have been committed against Azerbaijan, a former foreign minister of Azerbaijan, Tofig Zulfugarov, said according to Azinforum. Among them was the death of a major and the death of a number of our soldiers by enemy snipers, which showed that the Armenian authorities aggravate the situation in both political and military terms. Their purpose is to exacerbate the situation and to provoke the Azerbaijani side to take action. Everybody knows that unless the occupied lands are liberated, and hundreds of thousands of displaced people return to their homes, the tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan will continue and I would say that it will gradually increase. Zulfugarov said that an increase in tensions, as well as a resumption of military operations, over the next year is not entirely implausible. If you look at the Armenian propaganda, you will see that this propaganda especially focuses on military rhetoric, real and fictitious weapons. They are trying to create an image that as if they have grown militarily. They want to show that they are preparing for war, not for the negotiation process. They do not accept other options. They also understand that Azerbaijan will never agree with such a situation. Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed to convene a high-level inter-ministerial meeting to discuss preventive measures against the deadly coronavirus and formulate a comprehensive strategy to tackle the threat. The deadly novel virus, which causes pneumonia-like illness, has already killed 106 people and infected more than 4,515 others in China. The high-level meeting would be chaired by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, according to the Prime Minister's office. Khan directed that the outcome of the meeting along with firm recommendations shall be furnished to his office within one week, Dawn reported. His office stated that due to the presence of a large number of Chinese citizens in Pakistan and frequent travel between the two countries, spread of coronavirus in Pakistan cannot be ruled out if necessary precautionary measures are not put in place. Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing, in a video statement, said that Chinese and Pakistani governments are working closely and 500 Pakistani citizens in Wuhan city of Hubei province are safe and being looked after. "So far three suspicious cases in Chinese community have been reported in Pakistan, but none of them has been confirmed. We have confidence and determination that we will overcome this difficult time and will return to normal life very soon," Yao said. Meanwhile, the Islamabad International Airport management has sought two more "virus detection scanners". An eight-member health department team has been monitoring the passengers arriving from Beijing. All the passengers are passed through the virus detection scanners and also checked by thermal guns. The coronavirus, officially known as 2019-nCoV, was first reported in Hubei province's capital city Wuhan and has spread throughout China and around the world including the US, Australia and South Korea. There are 41 incoming flights from China to Pakistan every week, mostly taking away and bringing the Chinese. Thousands of Chinese nationals who are working on projects in various cities in Pakistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor regularly travel between the two countries, raising fears they could spread the disease. The coronavirus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China in 2002-2003. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in China increased to 106 on January 28. Nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed. This has taken the total number of confirmed cases to over 4,000 across China. As of January 28, many cases have also been confirmed outside China: Thailand (7), Japan (3), South Korea (3), the United States (3), Vietnam (2), Singapore (4), Malaysia (3), Nepal (1), France (3), Australia (4) and Sri Lanka (1). The World Health Organisation (WHO) on January 27 admitted an error in its assessment of the global risk of the virus in China, saying it was "high" and not "moderate". What is the Coronavirus? COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The coronavirus is a family of viruses that are known to cause illnesses like the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). A novel coronavirus (CoV) is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been identified before in humans. This particular virus is called 2019-nCoV. Symptoms While it depends on the type of virus, common symptoms are respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. Some coronaviruses can be transmitted from person to person. This usually happens after close contact with an infected patient. Here are the dos and donts: >Avoiding close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections. > Avoid close contact with people who are unwell or showing symptoms of illness. > Frequent hand-washing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment. > Avoiding unprotected contact with farm or wild animals. > Avoid contact with live animals and consumption of raw or undercooked meat. > Avoid travel to live animal markets or animals slaughterhouses. > People with symptoms of acute respiratory infection should practice cough etiquette, which includes maintaining one's distance while coughing, covering coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and washing one's hands after coughing and sneezing. > Dont travel in case of sickness. > Indian government has advised citizens to avoid all "no-essential travel to China". (Based on World Health Organizations situation report) The antifederalists looked to impeachment as a prime example of everything that was wrong with the Senate. Despite the expectations of the Constitutional Convention, the antifederalists did not think the Senate would ever remove the president, much less any other official it approved of. Should he, contrary to probability, be impeached, he is afterwards to be tried and adjudged by the Senate, and without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members who shall be present, he cannot be convicted This Senate being constituted a privy council to the President, it is probable many of its leading and influential members may have advised or concurred in the very measures for which he may be impeached, Luther Martin, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, observed in his November 1787 address to the Maryland legislature. Likewise, the writer known as Federal Farmer argued that the high bar to removal and the deep entanglement of the Senate and the executive meant the impeachment power was practically a dead letter. Under these circumstances the right of impeachment, in the House, can be of but little importance; the House cannot expect often to convict the offender, and, therefore, probably, will but seldom or never exercise the right. And in an unpublished pamphlet, a young James Monroe levied a similar critique of impeachment. In the operation of this government, Monroe wrote, there might be offices committed against one quarter of the community that would be highly beneficial to others. In such a case, he asked, could we expect from the representatives of these states a candid or impartial decision against the interests of their constituents? If we define the interests of their constituents as partisan interests who wins, who loses then, to answer Monroe, we cannot actually expect those representatives to make a candid or impartial decision against the president when hes on the same side. Its what we saw with the Clinton impeachment and its what we see now, as Republicans embrace Trump and rally to his defense. The Senate has not been a cabal in most of the ways antifederalists feared. Senators have not conspired to make themselves a permanent aristocracy or make seditious treaties with foreign powers. But the advent of political parties, the rise of strong partisanship and the growth of hyperpolarization have created something of a conspiratorial den among co-partisans in ostensibly rival branches of government. Republican lawmakers have an interest in the political survival of the Republican president, just as Democratic lawmakers have an equivalent interest in the survival of a Democratic president. And for Republicans under Trump specifically, their political survival depends on, in Luther Martins words, the favour of the President. Just ask Jeff Flake. The trial against our corrupt chief executive is clearly slanted in his favor. If the antifederalist opponents of the Constitution could see us struggling now, they might just say, We told you so. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here's our email: letters@nytimes.com. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. Salt Lake Potash Limited (ASX:SO4), which is in the chemicals business, and is based in Australia, saw significant share price movement during recent months on the ASX, rising to highs of AU$0.85 and falling to the lows of AU$0.72. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Salt Lake Potash's current trading price of AU$0.73 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Lets take a look at Salt Lake Potashs outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change. View our latest analysis for Salt Lake Potash What's the opportunity in Salt Lake Potash? Good news, investors! Salt Lake Potash is still a bargain right now. According to my valuation, the intrinsic value for the stock is A$1.21, but it is currently trading at AU$0.73 on the share market, meaning that there is still an opportunity to buy now. Another thing to keep in mind is that Salt Lake Potashs share price may be quite stable relative to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. This means that if you believe the current share price should move towards its intrinsic value over time, a low beta could suggest it is not likely to reach that level anytime soon, and once its there, it may be hard to fall back down into an attractive buying range again. Can we expect growth from Salt Lake Potash? ASX:SO4 Past and Future Earnings, January 28th 2020 Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Salt Lake Potashs earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 28%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value. Story continues What this means for you: Are you a shareholder? Since SO4 is currently undervalued, it may be a great time to increase your holdings in the stock. With a positive outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current undervaluation. Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on SO4 for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its prosperous future outlook isnt fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means its not too late to buy SO4. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to make a well-informed investment decision. Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters the fundamentals before you make a decision on Salt Lake Potash. You can find everything you need to know about Salt Lake Potash in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Salt Lake Potash, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. History teaches us that for literally decades, this body was referred to in this context as the high court of impeachment, said Starr, whose investigation formed the basis of the impeachment trial of former president Bill Clinton. So we are not a legislative chamber during these proceedings. We are in a tribunal. We are in court. A 25-year-old man sustained burn injuries after a woman living in his neighbourhood allegedly threw acid on him in Bhavaniganj area of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday morning, police said. Rohit Yadav was working in his dairy when the incident took place, SP Vikrant Vir said. Yadav was taken to a hospital in Lucknow after his family members informed police, he said. The 20-year-old woman, who was being questioned by police, lived near Yadav's dairy and both of them knew each other, the SP said. They had been talking to each other for a past few months, he said. Additional force was deployed in the area as a precautionary measure as Yadav and the woman belong to different communities, police added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 21:06:53|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close COLOMBO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka on Tuesday commended China's efforts to tackle the novel coronavirus, saying the country was doing its best to contain it from spreading. "China is doing a very good job to contain this virus from spreading globally," Dr. Sudath Samaraweera, chief epidemiologist of the Health Ministry's epidemiology unit, told Xinhua. Ananda Goonatilleke, president of the Sri Lanka-China Friendship Association, said the Chinese leaders had shown extreme seriousness about protecting lives, ordering all levels of government to place "health as a top priority." "Already we have seen effective steps being taken. China has cordoned off a number of cities and have built health facilities almost overnight to quarantine and treat patients. It has also poured immense resources into research on this virus and has obtained the support of teams that worked in combating such diseases in the past," Goonatilleke said. Despite the attempts by the Western media to understate China's response to the epidemic and create widespread panic, the Sri Lanka- China Friendship Association was impressed by the scale and effectiveness of China's response, he said. "We believe that the Party, State, Army and People will launch an unprecedented struggle to defeat the epidemic and to save the Chinese people and the people of the world," he added. DUBLIN, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "SmartTransit Congress: Driving Transit Technology Forward" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. SmartTransit is the go-to event for senior transit industry figures from across North America. The event will look at how digitalization and technology is revolutionizing transit, from enhanced analytics technologies to real-time passenger information systems. SmartTransit is the event for transit executives looking to keep up with the pace of change. This year the event will be co-located with the SafeRail Congress, a forum for railroads, transit agencies and solution providers to work together to create safe, secure and reliable networks. A congress for those focused on transit technology, discussing the most cutting-edge topics of the day: Assets & Digitalization Signalling Systems Rolling Stock Ticketing Cyber Security Safety Positive Train Control Financing Projects Skills Gap & Workforce Diversity Connectivity: 5G & Wifi Economic Growth Micro Transit Artificial Intelligence & Robotics Data Analytics Environmentally Friendly Transportation Internet of Things Resilient Communications Increasing Ridership Agenda Tuesday - March 17, 2020 9:30am Site Visits - TBC 1:00pm Networking lunch 2:00pm Interactive workshop sessions 3:00pm Networking coffee 3:30pm Interactive workshop sessions 4:30pm Networking drinks reception Wednesday - March 18. 2020 9:10am C level plenary: Innovation & The Modern World Of Transit 10:55am Networking coffee 11:40am Panel discussions 1:25pm Networking lunch 2:25pm Panel discussions 4:10pm Networking coffee 4:45pm Roundtable discussions 6:00pm Networking drinks reception Thursday - March 19, 2020 9:30am Decarbonization Strategies & Electrification 11:00am Networking coffee 11:30pm Panel discussions 1:00pm Networking lunch 2:00pm Panel discussions 3:30pm End of Day 2 Speakers Adelle McKinney , Vice President, Magnetrain , Vice President, Magnetrain Alan Tilles , Partner, Shulman Rogers , Partner, Alla Reddy , Deputy Chief, Data Research & Development, New York City Transit , Deputy Chief, Data Research & Development, New York City Transit Allen Wonder , Project Manager, WMATA , Project Manager, WMATA Amanda Winters , Vehicle Maintenance System Admin, Metro Louis , Vehicle Maintenance System Admin, Metro Louis Brian Tsukamoto , Chief, Rail Equipment Branch, Caltrans , Chief, Rail Equipment Branch, Caltrans Chris Hart , Former Chairperson, NTSB , Former Chairperson, NTSB Colin Kelly , Innovation Manager, Transpennine Express , Innovation Manager, Transpennine Express Daniel Lax , Principal, Clear-Vu Lighting , Principal, Clear-Vu Lighting Dave Bucher , Railroad Accident Investigator, NTSB , Railroad Accident Investigator, NTSB Donna Demartino , Chief Executive Officer, San Joaquin RTD , Chief Executive Officer, San Joaquin RTD Elizabeth Sall , Founder & President, Urban Labs , Founder & President, Frank Ibe , Head of Bakerloo & Victoria Line Operations, Transport for London , Head of Bakerloo & Victoria Line Operations, Transport for Girija Subramaniam , Founder, Forcing Function , Founder, Forcing Function Holly Reed , Managing Director, Texas Central , Managing Director, Texas Central Inez Evans , Chief Operating Officer, Santa Clara VTA , Chief Operating Officer, Santa Clara VTA James Woodhams , Chief Strategy Officer, BAI Communications , Chief Strategy Officer, BAI Communications Jeff Arndt , President & Chief Executive Officer, VIA Metropolitan Transit , President & Chief Executive Officer, VIA Metropolitan Transit Jeremy Dalton , Principal, Method City , Principal, Method City Jim Allison , Manager of Planning, Capitol Corridor JPA , Manager of Planning, Capitol Corridor JPA Joseph Holmes , Sales Director, Easymile , Sales Director, Easymile Joshua Schank , Chief Innovation Officer, LA Metro , Chief Innovation Officer, LA Metro Judy Vaccaro-Fry , Director of Finance & Admin, Antelope VTA , Director of Finance & Admin, Antelope VTA Kimberly Williams , Chief Innovation Officer, METRO Houston (MTAHC) , Chief Innovation Officer, METRO Houston (MTAHC) Lauren Skiver , Chief Executive Officer, SunLine Transit Agency , Chief Executive Officer, SunLine Transit Agency Louwana Oliva , General Manager, Central Area Transportation Authority , General Manager, Central Area Transportation Authority Marc Tuozzolo , Director of Facilities Program Development, New Jersey Transit , Director of Facilities Program Development, New Jersey Transit Marcello Perricone , Editor, SmartRail World , Editor, SmartRail World Melinda White , CEO, Transit Wireless , CEO, Transit Wireless Michael Lowder , Principal, Michael W. Lowder & Global Associates , Principal, & Global Associates Michael Scott , Founder & President, ADOJAM , Founder & President, ADOJAM Michael Setzer , President, Transdev North America , President, Transdev North America Mike Ogborn , Senior Advisor, ASLRAA , Senior Advisor, ASLRAA Monica Morton , Director of Fares, Utah Transit Authority , Director of Fares, Utah Transit Authority Randy Sac, Head of Information Mgt & Technology, Light Rail Manila Corporation Robert Borowski , Enterprise Business Solutions Manager, San Diego MTS , Enterprise Business Solutions Manager, San Diego MTS Robert Hanczor , Chief Executive Officer, Piper Networks , Chief Executive Officer, Robert Newhouser , Former Deputy Director - Strategic Initiatives, New York City Transit , Former Deputy Director - Strategic Initiatives, New York City Transit Robert Nisbet , Director, Nations & Regions, Rail Delivery Group , Director, Nations & Regions, Rail Delivery Group Sandy Bobek , Chief Innovation Officer, San Diego MTS , Chief Innovation Officer, San Diego MTS Svetlana Grechka , Deputy Project Manager, Denver RTD , Deputy Project Manager, Tim Healy , Creative Services Director, Sound Transit For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/t1jluz Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com As we continue to reflect on the recent election violence in constituency 110, we had hoped that the vibrant energy that comes with the beginning of the New Year, 2020 would help the healing process for Sierra Leones national body politics. Members and supporters of the Peoples Democratic League (PDL) have all expressed safety concerns in light of the political violence in constituency 110 and other places where by-elections were called and held across Sierra Leone in 2019. The PDL was following the latest series of horrible events that have transpired in Freetown on Sunday, January 26, 2020. Youths carrying machetes and sticks marched in central Freetown on Sunday, attempting to intimidate bystanders and spread their message of intolerance and hate. There were reports of injuries and damages to property, including the burning of vehicles and shops. As a grassroots democratic party with a difference, and a party committed to peace, human rights, the rule of law, justice, freedom and dignity, the PDL condemns the vile view of humanity that invaded the Sierra Leonean capital this past weekend. It is fundamental to the moral fabric of any society to condemn beliefs and behavior that are so odious that they threaten the very essence of that society. And so we do. The actions of those who visited evil upon us are nothing short of terrorism intended to intimidate the Sierra Leonean public. This act to all intents and purposes does not only threatened peace and our fragile democracy, but also capable of scaring foreign investments into the country and by extension causing considerable damage to the countrys economy. Such terrorism could lead us to succumb to hopelessness, to believe these acts have halted, if not reversed the progress of peace and democracy Sierra Leone has chalked over the years. We warn all those thugs and their backers to transform their anger at the actions of this past weekend so as to rededicate their energy, their talents, and hearts to the countrys development agenda. We would hold the PPRC (The Political Parties Registration Commission) and other institutions, including the Human Rights Commission, Inter-Religious Council and Commission for Democracy, responsible for not doing anything to avert political violence in the country. The PDL is of the honest view that if Sierra Leone is to move forward in peace and democracy, we must be honest about the issues facing us all as a nation created by God Almighty to live happily forever. It has never been more critical than now to consolidate our peace and young democracy. Violence and bigotry are not political positions. We strongly condemn intimidation and abhorrent behavior intended to strike fear and sow division among Sierra Leoneans. As a moral and alternative force to the decadent system, we, members of the PDL cherish diversity, justice, inclusion and mutual respect. We cherish an environment whereby every Sierra Leonean sees himself or herself as belonging to a civilized society. The views of many of the groups who converged on Freetown last weekend are in direct contradiction with this. There were hateful sentiments and threats of making Sierra Leone become ungovernable. Such rhetoric is not intended to bring us together; it is intended to tear us apart. The safety and well-being of all Sierra Leoneans are the core principles of the PDL, and these, we will not compromise to any evil desire. In the days, weeks and months ahead, there will be many opportunities to discuss as noble, patriotic and forward-thinking Sierra Leoneans, the events of this past weekend and how our party of trust and mutual respect can come together and further demonstrate and underscore our shared values. We will continue to uphold these values as a credible political party and reject the ideology of intolerance and hate. God save Sierra Leone! Sender: Samuel Musa Kalokoh National Secretary for Administration The Peoples Democratic League PDL Conservationists should be wary of assuming that genetic diversity loss in wildlife is always caused by humans, as new research published today by international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) reveals that, in the case of a population of southern African lions (Panthera leo), it's likely caused by ecological rather than human factors. Published in Animal Conservation today (28 January 2020) the study saw researchers from ZSL's Institute of Zoology and Imperial College London analyse the genetic diversity of 149 African lions in the KAZA (Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area) in northern Botswana between 2010 to 2013. While human impacts are the leading cause of genetic diversity loss in many cases, scientists studying the lions found that diversity loss across the population was instead caused by the lions' need to adapt to differing habitats. They identified two genetically different populations of lions in the region, each adapted to living in a distinct habitat type; the so-called 'wetland lions' residing in the wetland habitat in the Okavango Delta and a 'dryland lions' group living in the semi-arid habitat of the Kalahari Desert. If a separate population is created but cut off from its original source group due to ecological or human barriers, over time there will be less gene flow from lack of breeding between the populations. While a larger more connected population would generally have greater genetic diversity, small amounts of movement between them can maintain diversity while preserving adaptations that allow them to thrive in two different environments. Though not different enough to be classified as separate sub-species and still having slight genetic movement between the populations, it suggests a phenomenon called phenotypic plasticity - animals adapting in various ways to suit the environment they're in. Ensuring wildlife conservation managers understand how a population becomes genetically fragmented is important in order that decisions regarding protection are well-informed and consider animals' true needs. Dr Simon Dures, lead author and ZSL Researcher explained: "The findings have important applications for wildlife managers across Africa. It means translocations of animals, post human-wildlife conflict for example, need to be carefully considered with regards to their genetic predisposition to their new environment. "The distinct 'wetland lion' populations living in the Okavango are incredibly well adapted to their environment. They're strong swimmers and seem to thrive in water chasing buffalo down for a kill - which is the opposite for other lions in Africa, which would not typically hunt in water. Moving these animals into a semi-arid environment could be detrimental to their survival. "Animals need to be able to move freely in order to maintain a level of genetic diversity that builds resilience to changes in their environment caused by climate change, and we think this ecologically-induced separation of the lions pre-dates western Europeans colonisation of southern Africa, so has likely been developing for a long time; way before people came with their fences and hunting. "Although we didn't find humans to be the driving force here - it doesn't mean to say they aren't having any effect. Impacts such as persecution or increased development could lead to exacerbating inbreeding and threatening the future of these specially adapted lions." To find out more about ZSL's Institute of Zoology research, see http://www.zsl.org/science ### Notes to editors: Media contact: Emma.Ackerley@zsl.org / +44 (0) 20 7449 6288 High res images available here: https://zslondon.sharefile.com/d-s25a40a09060497cb Read the full paper here: S. G. Dures, C. Carbone. V. Savolainen, G. Maude, D. Gotelli, Ecology rather than people restrict gene flow in Okavango-Kalahari lions. 2019. Animal Conservation. https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/acv.12562 African lions (Panthera leo) African lions are currently classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of threatened species with the number of adults between 23,000-39,000 and their population decreasing. Lions are now believed to survive in less than 17% of the area they occupied 150 years ago. Their threats in southern Africa range from livestock farming and ranching, habitat loss from housing and urban areas, hunting and trapping, war and civil unrest and agricultural pollution. They are also largely targeted for the illegal wildlife trade with their body parts used for medicinal products and jewellery both at a local, national and international level. Conservation actions include; education to mitigate human-wildlife conflict, ex-situ conservation breeding programmes and establishments of Protected Areas. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15951/115130419 Human-wildlife conflict in Africa with lions Human-wildlife conflict is an issue around the globe, and in Africa - lions often encounter urban settlements or cattle ranches. The lions will predate on the cattle as easy targets, or sometimes attack humans meaning local communities often retaliate by poisoning or hunting the lions. Wildlife managers will use translocation of the problem animal as a means of mitigating the conflict, moving the animal from an area of urban dwelling or cattle ranching to further afield areas. This research provides important applications for these mitigation plans, understanding the genetic predisposition of the individual to its environment before moving them. ZSL is also working across East Africa in areas affected by human-carnivore conflict, helping to develop community-led mitigation techniques and build financial resilience. KAZA (Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area) In December 2006 the governments of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe signed an MOU regarding the establishment of the KAZA TFCA. This covers an area stretching from Khaudum National Park in Namibia in the west to Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe in the east. Though not all areas are protected, the main objective is to join fragmented wildlife habitats into an interconnected mosaic of Protected Areas and transboundary wildlife corridors, which facilitate the movement of animals across international boundaries. The area provides migration routes for wildlife between Angola, Botswana and Zambia. http://www.met.gov.na/national-parks/kavango-zambezi-transfrontier-conservation-area-kaza-tfca/297/ Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta based in northern Botswana is fed through water sources from Angola. However, 99% of this water evaporates during the dry season and has currently been dry for the last two years due to a long-term drought. Climate change has already impacted places like Victoria Falls just across the border in Zimbabwe, and the worry is that the Okavango could end up the same - with lions needing greater genetic diversity and reliance to adapt to changing environments, now more than ever. ZSL (Zoological Society of London) Founded in 1826, ZSL (Zoological Society of London) is an international scientific, conservation and educational charity whose mission is to promote and achieve the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. Our mission is realised through our ground-breaking science, our active conservation projects in more than 50 countries and our two Zoos, ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. For more information visit http://www.zsl.org Animal Conservation Published by international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) and Wiley Publishing, Animal Conservation provides a forum for rapid publication of novel, peer-reviewed research into the conservation of animal species and their habitats. Subjects covered include population biology, epidemiology, evolutionary ecology, population genetics, biodiversity, biogeography, palaeobiology and conservation economics. The journal is essential reading for conservation biologists, policymakers and students. https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14691795 Use of ZSL Images and Video Photographs, video or graphics distributed by ZSL (Zoological Society of London) to support this media release may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the persons in the image or facts mentioned in the media release or image caption. Reuse of the picture or video requires further permission from the ZSL press office. TUESDAY, JANUARY 7 Red Nose Day queen Emma Freud contacted me recently to ask if I would fight Alastair Campbell for this years Sport Relief. She had it all worked out: Youll be trained by Chris Eubank, Nicola Adams, Audley Harrison and Nigel Benn. Your managers will be Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn. Your ring girls are Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy. The MC is John Bercow. The commentator is Huw Edwards. The corner wingmen are Mikel Arteta [Arsenals new manager] and Sean Dyche [manager of Campbells team Burnley], plus Susanna Reid and Nigel Farage. You do three rounds, whack each other very hard, and the crowd goes crazy. We think it will make 1 million. I spent several days pondering whether killing Alastair Campbell live on TV would be a good or bad career move for me. Then finally, and with great reluctance, I concluded it wouldnt My initial feeling was to say yes. Frankly, I can think of few more pleasing things to do than batter Campbell to a pulp for the delectation of the British public. But my sons werent so keen. Dad, said the middle one, Stanley, an actor and keen amateur boxer, you only get one brain and at 50+ its weak, he said. I was touched by this unusual concern for my wellbeing, but it turned out it wasnt me they were worried about. Hes 62, added Stanley. If you chin him and he falls the wrong way, he could die genuinely. Its dangerous and he has family. I spent several days pondering whether killing Alastair Campbell live on TV would be a good or bad career move for me. Then finally, and with great reluctance, I concluded it wouldnt, and said no. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8 The new year has begun for Good Morning Britain the way the old one ended, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Cabinet Ministers refusing to come on the show. Theyre all still sulking after we chased Boris into a large fridge on the eve of the election as we tried to get him to honour his repeated promises to give us an interview. They should heed the words of former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, who writes in his new book, Downsizing: I knew for a fact that many Westminster politicians disliked appearing on GMB, fearing the programmes notoriously tough interviews. The combative Piers Morgan and the forensic Susanna Reid were indeed a formidable duo Id seen many a guest shrink as they received a breakfast-time grilling. But Id always enjoyed the experience. I liked sparring with Piers, and I admired Susannas incisive line of questioning. We, in turn, like and admire Tom for having big enough balls to come on. Grow a pair, Boris. THURSDAY, JANUARY 16 WIMP! snarled a grizzly voice behind me soon after I arrived at long-serving (and brilliant) Financial Times editor Lionel Barbers splendid leaving party at Tate Britain tonight. I turned to see Alastair Campbell, foaming at the mouth. WIMP! he bellowed again. I saved your life, I responded calmly. You did WHAT? Youre an old man, Id kill you within two rounds. It would be like Ivan if he dies, he dies Drago and Apollo Creed in Rocky IV. Campbell raised his fists and, for a moment, I thought things might actually kick off which would have been most amusing as we were surrounded by the likes of Emily Maitlis and Robert Peston. Then he lowered them again. What are you scared of? he asked. Honestly? Your twitching corpse lying on the canvas and my ITV bosses telling me Id breached my new contracts moral turpitude clause. You could argue justifiable homicide? suggested Emily. In fact, that could apply if either of you die. ID WIN! blustered Campbell. Oh please, I chuckled, youve lost every battle youve fought in recent years, including two elections and Brexit. I just spared you another crushing defeat, only this time youd never have recovered. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17 Susanna Reid worships Love Island with the same passion I detest it. In her Daily Mail column yesterday, Susanna even described the cretinous dating show as Jane Austen in skimpy bikinis. For my part, Ive repeatedly described Love Islanders as brain-dead zombies, and on GMB this week I branded the new crop of contestants the most stupid yet. So imagine my surprise when I learned that on tonights episode, Shaughna Phillips, a 25-year-old democratic services officer, told male model Connagh Howard, 27, her favourite thing to do in the world is to watch Piers Morgan have an argument. Ms Phillips clarified: Im usually watching all the debates that Piers has. It could be about anything! I love it. I dont usually watch unless its Monday to Wednesday, because thats when hes on. Imagine my surprise when I learned that, Shaughna Phillips, a 25-year-old democratic services officer, told male model Connagh Howard, 27, her favourite thing to do in the world is to watch Piers Morgan have an argument Mr Howard enthusiastically concurred, saying: Thats one of my guilty pleasures too! Now, there are two ways of looking at this, given how diabolically rude Ive always been about them: 1) Their skins are incredibly thick, 2) Their brains are incredibly thick. Either way, poor Susanna now has to live with the fact that after all her slathering support for them, and all my mocking abuse, Im their favourite person on TV. SATURDAY, JANUARY 18 Im in a group chatting with Hugh Grant at Rosslyn Park rugby, texted my niece Phoebe this afternoon. Are you worth a mention? Are you friends? I didnt see the message in time to explain that were the worlds most sworn enemies. Hugh was very friendly until I told him youre my uncle, she said later. Then he screwed up his face and said REALLY? in a way that made me realise this was not a good development, so to get the banter back on track I said, Piers sends his love! But he just looked even more horrified, went Oh God, right, OK, and that was the end of the conversation! Patrick Philbin, a deputy counsel to the president, argued that Democrats did not have the constitutional authority to start the impeachment inquiry and that their subpoenas were invalid. Ms. Pelosi, he said, had the House proceed on little more than a news conference. Robert Ray, who succeeded Mr. Starr as the independent counsel investigating Mr. Clinton, said that House managers were drawing on their own interpretations about Mr. Trumps motivations, and that impeachable conduct must be so serious that it subverted the nations system of government a bar, he said, that Mr. Trumps actions did not clear. Mr. Dershowitz, a celebrity lawyer, said the founders meant for impeachment to be used for explicitly criminal acts such as treason or bribery, not what he called vague and noncriminal charges like abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Will there be witnesses? When Republican senators returned to the Capitol on Monday, after just a day away, they were immediately met with questions about what Mr. Boltons claims would mean for the trial. Categories of responses quickly formed: Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins reiterated their interest in hearing from Mr. Bolton. Senators Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski, seen as possibly open to hearing from witnesses, said they would wait to decide until later this week. Ms. Murkowski said she was curious about what Mr. Bolton would say. Mr. Trumps most strident supporters in the Senate were quick to create a pretext of suspicion around the Bolton news. I think theres going to be something new coming out every day, very similar to what we saw in the Kavanaugh trial, Senator John Barrasso said. New information, old information told in a different way to inflame emotions. And several senators appeared to indicate that Mr. Bolton would be allowed to testify only if the Senate also called witnesses that Republicans wanted to hear from. I promise you this: If we add to the record, were going to call Hunter Biden and Joe Biden and all these other people, Senator Lindsey Graham said. BERLIN - Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited a centuries-old Jewish high school in Berlin on Tuesday, telling students from a mix of religious and ethnic backgrounds about the importance of learning about diversity and different identities in order to counter hatred. Sitting alongside German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and surrounded by a semicircle of students at the Moses Mendelssohn high school in the historic heart of Berlin, Rivlin said that connections between people all over (the world) is the most important thing. Unfortunately politicians in our day (are) using hatred in order to gain political power, he added, without elaborating. Rivlins visit to the school came on the second day of a three-day visit to the German capital that will also see him deliver a speech during a session in parliament commemorating the victims of the Holocaust the organized mass murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis under Adolf Hitler. Founded in 1778, the Moses Mendelssohn high school was named after the 18th century German-Jewish philosopher considered a leading figure of the Enlightenment. The school currently has 414 students, about 60% of whom are Jewish, many with roots in Eastern Europe. The school was used by the Nazis as a deportation centre for Berlin Jews from 1942-1945, and then as a vocational school during the communist period in East Germany. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was returned to the Jewish community and has been used as a high school again since 1993. Rivlins visit to Germany comes after he and Steinmeier both attended Mondays commemoration at Auschwitz-Birkenau of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp. They flew to Berlin together on a Luftwaffe plane. Last week, Steinmeier became the first German president to speak at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem during a ceremony attended by dozens of world leaders. In his speech, Steinmeier had warned that the spirits of evil are emerging in a new guise, presenting their anti-Semitic, racist, authoritarian thinking as an answer for the future. The German president returned to that theme on Tuesday, telling students in Berlin of his concern about the negative influence that social media has on its users. Information is not enough. We have to accompany information with experiences, he said, urging students to travel, especially to Israel. Some in the audience spoke of their personal encounters with anti-Semitism and racism, while others reflected on what it means to reconcile their German, Jewish and other identities. Rivlin said that despite some differences, Israel and Germany today have a real partnership based on shared values of democracy and human rights. Lets start with the perception towards insurance in Nigeria: In this part of this world, a good number of the population is not acquainted with uncommon insurance types like the Device Insurance at the very least. However, many Nigerians do not take Insurance Policies seriously. We either form the wrong notions about Insurance or we are not sure what we stand to gain when we secure an Insurance Policy. When asked if they had an Insurance policy, a Nigerian responded: I have God, why do I need an Insurance policy? Another said: I dont fall sick, what do I need Health Insurance for? Its a waste of money. Living in the 21st century, perceptions as these are injurious to our wellbeing, as well as of those around us. A major benefit of insurance lies in its coverage against unforeseen circumstances. We dont plan for these things. Its why an insurance policy stands as the bodyguard to protect us against looming accidents. These accidents hold the tendency to cart ones life savings in one fell swoop. Car Insurance? Business Insurance? Travel Insurance? Home and Properties Insurance? Life and Health Insurance? Name it. There are insurance policies for virtually anything pertaining to human sensibilities. However, one may not necessarily secure all of them. For the purpose of this post, we have streamlined these insurance types to three; peculiar to the average Nigerian. 1. Life Insurance Do you have people financially depending on you? Parents? Siblings? Children? Relatives? You should consider life insurance as a top option in your list of insurance policies. Because life insurance is concerned with death, it depicts quite a sensitive topic of discussion. Simply put, the life insurance policy compensates the family of the deceased. Some insurance companies also bear the cost of the funeral. You can check out other details on life insurance here. 2. Health Insurance The exorbitant price in medical fees is reason enough to make health insurance a necessity. Arguably, health insurance is one of the most important insurance policies you can secure as a Nigerian. With the statistics on road accidents and environmental pollution, the average Nigerian is susceptible to several health complications. A regular visit to the hospital incurs not-so-handsome financial obligations, let alone; emergencies involving surgeries. We are pretty religious in Nigeria, arent we; Like our brethren that made reference to having God? We arent here to discuss religious matters but The Holy Bible acknowledges Giving what belongs to God and giving what belongs to Caesar. We never really know the extent to which emergencies are financially-intensive until we experience them. Dont wait to be caught up in its heat. 3. Home and Property Insurance Some sources may include Auto (or Car) Insurance as a policy to consider. While we truly agree with this, we thought itd be great to marginalise it with the Home and Property Insurance policy. And, not everyone has a car. Oh, well, not everyone owns a house too. Owning a car and a house are lifetime investments, right? How pathetic would it be if these investments are caught up in flames? Whats worse is if it was secured on loan. You see, these incidents happen so they are not fallacies. And, they could happen to anyone too. Property insurance is further subdivided into Homeowners Insurance and Renters Insurance. The former appeals to what we refer to as landlords, while the latter resonates with tenants or renters. Conclusion Emergencies could pose a dangerous risk to your wellbeing and this is one honest revelation. Get in the know today; secure yourself and your family under the Insurance umbrella. A man once named as a suspect in the 1995 murder of a Blacktown businessman says he hopes the authorities find who did it as police offer a $1 million reward. Father-of-three and car wrecker Hasan Dastan, 52, was found dead underneath a car inside his workshop on December 11 1995, having been attacked with a sledgehammer and an iron bar. His employee Kubilay Kilincer, 58, was named as a main suspect in a coronial inquest into Mr Dastans death in 2000, but was never charged. Police say there are several persons of interest. The body of 52-year-old Hasan Dastan was found inside a workshop. Mr Kilincer spoke to Nine News at his Granville home on Tuesday and said I was the last person to see him alive, but that he wanted to put it all behind me. By establishing Lonely Instruments for Needy Kids (LINKS) and many other community endeavors, Bill Harveypresident and CEO of Buddy Rogers Musichas been seen as a pillar of society in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, and recently recognized nationally by the Synchrony Pillars Project, sponsored by financial services company Synchrony and Inc. Magazine. The new Pillars award program celebrates small business leaders who shape their local communities. Buddy Rogers is the only music dealer and one of only 10 businesses across the country to be recognized. Synchrony gave the 10 recipients $10,000 grants and invited them to New York for a summit that included business strategy sessions. Harvey started as a salesperson for Buddy Rogers in 1974 and worked his way up to become the sole owner of the music retailer, which focuses on school music programs. LINKS started about 25 years ago after teachers continuously mentioned that some families couldnt afford instruments. Harvey says that he despised the idea of children walking away from music programs simply because their families couldnt pay for new or even used instruments. To address the problem, Buddy Rogers partnered with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music CCMpower board. Through LINKS, Buddy Rogers repairs donated instruments for free and distributes them to children in the Cincinnati area when teachers submit applications. When you donate [an instrument], the kids are going to blow life into it and start sharing those memories with that instrument, Harvey says. The $10,000 grant will go toward repair costs and supplying additional instruments to the LINKS program, Harvey says. The community influence of Buddy Rogers doesnt end with LINKS. The small music store provides complimentary supplies to teachers on tight budgets, sponsors band camps, and plans clinics like the upcoming Sax Day on April 4, 2020, when students can learn from professional saxophonists from around the country. Buddy Rogers also expanded its reach beyond the classroom walls, sponsoring Make Music Cincinnati and working with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra to set up booths in local parks for children to see, touch, and play all sorts of instruments, says Hayley Voorhees, Buddy Rogers marketing director. I believe we are a leader in supporting music education here in Cincinnati, says Voorhees, who nominated the business for the Synchrony Pillars Project. We know the benefits of bandit creates a well-rounded student. Its our responsibility to help give that back. Catch up on all of our Noteworthy articles. Photo courtesy of Susan Shek. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) President Rodrigo Duterte has rescheduled again his tete-a-tete or one-on-one interview with his spokesman, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo announced Tuesday. Panelo said Duterte "doesn't feel well." He said they will conduct the interview next week instead, although he did not specify which day. "We are sorry that you had to wait for sometime for this tete-a-tete with the President. However, the President is presently under the weather. He had several meetings yesterday and he had to pore on many documents, hence he doesnt feel well today," said Panelo during a live show of state-owned television network PTV. This is the second time Duterte has postponed this event. It was initially set for January 22 before it was moved to Tuesday. Duterte has previously postponed several events, with Panelo citing that he was under the weather. One of the recent rescheduled plans was his trip to visit earthquake victims in Mindanao on January 2, which he also delayed twice. That time, Panelo said Duterte was not feeling well in a way that was ordinary for a 74-year-old. Malacanang has repeatedly refused to issue a medical health bulletin despite numerous incidents in the past that drew concern over the President's health. Duterte cut short a trip to Japan in October last year due to back pain and in previous speeches he admitted to suffering from migraines, nausea, pain, Buerger's disease and myasthenia gravis. Suspect in the organization of the attack on Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk Oleksiy Levin (Moskalenko) was identified through fingerprints as he changed his appearance as Slidstvo.Info reported citing the Bulgarian police. The law enforcers noted that the detained man did not look similar to the photo from the Interpol base and they had to identify him through fingerprints. During the detention at Levins home, two passports, Ukrainian and foreign, were confiscated. Besides, the police said that the man came to Bulgarian from Romania in 2018, crossing the border on foot in Durankulak village. According to the law enforcers, he did not register in Bulgaria. On January 24, the law enforcers detained Oleksiy Levin in Bulgaria. Levin was arrested in absentia. The investigators consider him to be the organizer of the crime. The Prosecutor General's Office filed to Bulgaria the materials on the extradition to Ukraine of Oleksiy Levin. Levin was detained in Europe in August 2019, questioned on the polygraph and released. The Security Service of Ukraine could file the request on his extradition but did not do it. On November 4, 2018, it became known that Kateryna Handziuk died at the age of 34. She was doused with sulphuric acid in July this year. According to preliminary information, her death was caused by blood clot's detachment. Besides, the doctors specified the cause of death; it was due to multiple organ failure and chemical burns. The head of a notorious gang linked to several murders in northwest Pakistan was killed in a police encounter on Tuesday along with two of his compliances and a woman. The encounter took place in Lakki Marwat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Notorious proclaimed offender Inam Marwat was killed in the encounter along with his two accomplices identified as Mursaleen and Balqiaas. The sister of Balqiaas was also killed, police said. Marwat was the head of a notorious gang which had killed scores of people in revengeful activities, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Donald Trumps former White House Chief of Staff is speaking out in favor of calling witnesses at the Trump impeachment trial. The Herald Tribune reports retired Gen. John Kelly, who served as Trumps chief of staff for 18 months, spoke in Sarasota, Florida, on Monday, a day after a book draft from former national security adviser John Bolton raised new concerns that Trump abused the power of his office. Bolton writes that Trump told him that he wanted to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in aid from Ukraine until the countrys president agreed to help him politically with an investigation into Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. If John Bolton says that in the book I believe John Bolton, Kelly said Monday. Trumps legal team has repeatedly denied that the president tied the suspension of nearly $400 million in military assistance to Ukraine to investigations he thought would help him in the upcoming 2020 election. Democrats accuse Trump of releasing the money only after a whistleblower complaint about a phone call where Trump asked the Ukrainian president to do us a favor, though. I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens, Trump wrote on Twitter: If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. Bolton, who plans to publish the book The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir on March 17, has said hes willing to testify if subpoenaed in the Senate trial. Every single time I was with him ... he always gave the president the unvarnished truth, Kelly said of Bolton, according to the Herald Tribune. Trump has been charged with two articles of impeachment, for abusing his presidential power and former obstruction of Congress in its investigation. Several White House officials were ordered not to comply with the House investigation, despite subpoenas. Its unclear if the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, will call witnesses in the Trump impeachment trial. John Boltons relevance to our decision has become increasingly clear, GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told reporters, according to The Associated Press. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she has always wanted the opportunity for witnesses and the report about Boltons book strengthens the case. Causing severe lung diseases such as pneumonia, the Coronavirus normally begins with symptoms such as a dry cough and fever, followed by shortness of breath. At the time of writing, the number of confirmed cases is nearing 3,000, with over 100 dead. The virus is thought to originate from illegal wildlife trading at the Huanan Seafood Market in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province. The virus broke out in late December 2019, and drastic measures have been taken to contain the virus by the Chinese government. Transport out of Hubei has been locked down, and returning residents are prohibited to leave. This has been amplified because of the timing of the outbreak, with Lunar New Year being a time when millions of Chinese residents travel in and out of China, and across the world to celebrate with friends and family. One of those is the Kang family, who has been in Wuhan for the past nine months. They left home on 22nd January for a Chinese New Year vacation to Lamma Island in Hong Konga place they used to call home. Connie, 28, is from Hubei province, and is a Director of a local Kindergarten. Her husband Emmanuel, 42, is from Geneva, Switzerland, and is a stay-at-home father. They have two young children: Nikola, 8, and Nikita, 8-months-old. Both sat down with me to discuss their experience as the Coronavirus crisis accelerates. The first case of the virus was found on the 31st December and very quickly, one or two days after we were told they had identified where. A market that sold wildlifebats, foxes, and ratswas the reason, Connie told me. How do you think the Chinese government has handled the outbreak? The Xi government has said its strictly forbidden to hide any information from the public. There have been news apps that have been updating every few hours, telling us how many are affect[ed] and have died, Connie stated. Most companies in some ways are linked to the government, so information will be passed down to staff and employees, Emmanuel added. Story continues I was curious about their thoughts on the precautions needed for living in Wuhan, since the outbreak. At the time I interviewed them, neither were wearing masks nor seemed concerned about getting sick or transmitting to others. For me, I stay home. You can always order things online, like food and vegetables, Emmanuel said. We almost dont go out, we have no social relations in Wuhan. My work is less than five minutes walk from our home, Connie added. Chinese medical officials have stated the incubation period is between 10-14 days. Even with no symptoms present, the virus can be passed human-to-human. Would you be worried about coming to Hong Kongeven without any symptomsand passing on the virus? As we left our home, we were definitely NOT a carrier of the virus. The biggest risk for us would have been the train stations and the train coming to Hong Kong. We sat in our seat, we didnt let people come close and were careful with what we touched. The family had taken two trains to enter, from Wuhan to Shenzhen before going onwards to the West Kowloon Station, Hong Kong. Connie was adamant that no one on their train was visibly sick, but according to a report she read, admitted that on the same route the next day, a man was diagnosed with the virus. When you leave Wuhan and get on the train do you need to complete a medical survey? No, we got tested one by one, with our temperature taken. We booked our trip months ago, not just to escape Wuhan. Fortunately, we left the city before it got shutdown. For ninety-nine percent of my colleague in Wuhan, theyve had to cancel their trip, Connie said. The Kangs have been essentially stranded arriving in Hong Kong since their return flights to Xiangyang Airport have been cancelled due to the Chinese governments decision to lockdown Hubei province. Theyd originally planned a trip to visit Connies parent, but are unsure if that will be possible. Both had been unsure about returning to Wuhan because they wont be able to leave again. With a growing number of infections in the city, the risk of them contracting the virus is high. Later, Connie sent me a message confirming their plans. On the 28th January, we will try to take a train which is passing Wuhan Station to see whether we can get off there. Its a gamble, but we dont have any other choices. Now, hotels all around the country are rejecting people from Hubei. People from Hubei are now like rats. We are hoping to make it back home in Wuhan and we have bought supplies so we dont need to leave the house. I dont have any backup plans. Nobody can help, its quite a desperate situation we are facing now. Are you worried about going home? I am a bit concerned. I think the virus is worse than SARs. Do you know anyone whos trying to make their way back to Wuhan? Let us know at community@ricemedia.co. In the meantime, stay tuned for more updates on Connie and Emmanuels situation. The post A Family From Wuhan is Trapped in Hong Kong, Desperate to Go Home appeared first on RICE. A new San Antonio restaurant named Alamo Smoke is starting its first week of business tonight in an outdoor space adjacent to the TBA bar, located just off the St. Marys Strip. The menu features a lineup of pizzas, sandwiches, nachos, wings, fries and barbecue plates ordered at a counter. All of the seating is outdoors, mostly on picnic tables from the now-closed Shuck Shack on Grayson Street. A large shade canopy is currently being installed. Many of the menu items will be made with the signature house brisket, which is slow-smoked for 24 hours. The brisket will be a big part of what we do, but I consider us more of a smokehouse concept than I do a pure Texas barbecue joint, co-owner Alex March said. Alamo Smoke does not feature smoked turkey, chicken or pork ribs on the menu at this time. Out of the gate, it will be primarily a dinner and late-night eats destination, with operating hours from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. On ExpressNews.com: Review: Cookhouse Restaurant plays New Orleans food like good jazz off the St. Marys Strip Alamo Smoke is also in the process of applying for a beer and wine license with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and plans to make that a large part of the business with one of the largest selections on The Strip. Its currently BYOB. Michael Miller, former bar manager at the now-shuttered Periphery in Monte Vista, is in the process of curating a bar menu that will include 30 different varieties of beer on tap, as well as 100 different types of canned and bottled beer. The wine list will feature up to 50 different varieties and will include retail to-go sales. The strip used to have a barbecue restaurant, the now-closed Hot Spot BBQ across the street from Burger Boy. That building is now home to late-night pizza-by-the-slice restaurant Pizza Party. Alamo Smoke, 358 E. Craig Place. Hours: 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Facebook: alamosmokebbq Chuck Blount is a food writer and columnist covering all things grilled and smoked in the San Antonio area. Find his Chuck's Food Shack columns on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com, or read his other coverage on our free site, mySA.com. | cblount@express-news.net | Twitter: @chuck_blount | Instagram: @bbqdiver The Supreme Court issued a notice to the central government on Monday on a petition alleging that a legislation drafted to protect transgender persons was violative of their rights. The plea filed by advocate and trans activist Swati Bidhan Baruah challenged the validity of the Transgender Persons (Protections of Rights) Act, 2019, arguing that it treats the trans community with suspicion and reinforces prejudices against them. The petitioner said the Act, instead of furthering or protecting the rights of transpersons, violates their right to equality, life and privacy under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. Sections 4 to 6 of the Act provides for a method of state identification of transpersons by a process of certification by a district magistrate. This, the petitioner submitted, is violative of rights to self-identification of gender, which is part of right to life under Article 21 as recognised in the 2014 judgment of the Supreme Court in NALSA v Union of India. The Act restricts right of transpersons to self-identification of gender identity by making it conditional on a certificate issued by District Magistrate (DM), the petition said. Further, the petitioner said sections 4 to 6 violate the right to equality under Article 14 since a non-transperson is not required to go through the process for certification of gender identity. NALSA judgment gave us something valuable: the right to self-identification of gender. This Act nullifies it by requiring transpersons to get a certificate from a district magistrate, senior counsel Anitha Shenoy, who represented the petitioner, told HT. Further, the petitioner argued that the provisions in the Act intended to grant protection against non-discrimination are completely toothless since no remedy has been provided in case of violation of those provisions. Section 18 of the Act, which prescribes punishment for offences against transgender persons, was criticised on the ground that it clubs dissimilar offences together, and prescribes a common punishment for the same. In 2014, the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment in NALSA v. Union of India, ruled that discrimination against transgender persons is in violation of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act was passed by the Lok Sabha in August 2019, and Rajya Sabha in November 2019. It received presidential nod on December 5, 2019. We hope the contention we raised in the petition will be justified and the act will be declared ultra vires, Baruah said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Correction notice issued by POFMA office over false post on Wuhan virus in Singapore As Singapore keeps a close eye on the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, the government has also swung into action against any false posts regarding the disease. The office overseeing the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) issued a general correction notice to SPH Magazines over a post on HardwareZone Forum which falsely reported a death from the Wuhan virus in Singapore. The POFMA office issued a general correction notice to SPH Magazines over a false post on the Wuhan coronavirus. Photo courtesy: gov.sg The notice was issued on the instruction of Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, according to a POFMA Office media release on Monday. The post on the HardwareZone Forum, which has since been removed, was put up on January 26 and claimed that a 66-year-old man had died from the Wuhan coronavirus in Singapore. The post was reportedly viewed by 4,600 unique visitors before it was taken down. HardwareZone Forum has complied with the notice and removed the post. Photo courtesy: HardwareZone Forum A false statement was made in a HardwareZone forum post, claiming that a man has died from the Wuhan coronavirus infection in Singapore. HardwareZone is required to carry the Correction Notice to all end-users in Singapore who use HardwareZone.com, said the POFMA Office. Courtesy: POFMA Office "We must take swift action against such falsehoods. Otherwise, there is a grave risk that they will spread and cause panic among our citizens. And that is why we have POFMA and we will not hesitate to use the powers under the law to take action against any party that spreads such falsehoods," said Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran at a press conference on January 27. The Minister also said that his ministry was working with the Ministry of Health to share all important information with the public through social media and websites. "The situation is fluid and we need the help and cooperation of the media, all Singaporeans and the residents in this critical national effort to prevent misinformation and falsehoods about the Wuhan coronavirus from sowing fear and causing panic in our society," he said. Singapore has so far confirmed 5 cases of the Wuhan coronavirus with no deaths reported. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a U.S. military veteran, stood by President Trump in wake of the backlash against the commander-in-chief's comments describing brain injuries suffered by U.S. troops after an Iranian missile attack on a base in Iraq earlier this month as "headaches" and "not very serious." CBS' Margaret Brennan asked Cotton during Sunday's edition of Face the Nation if Trump should apologize to the soldiers, 34 of whom it turned out suffered traumatic brain injuries. She pointed out that Veterans of Foreign Wars, a prominent U.S. veterans advocacy group, called on Trump to apologize for his "misguided" comments about potentially dangerous injuries, while also noting Cotton likely knew several people who suffered from similar injuries during his time in the military, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Cotton, though, argued Trump wasn't "dismissing" the soldiers' injuries, but simply "describing them." NEW: @SenTomCotton defends @realdonaldtrump 's comments about soldiers impacted by the Iran strike, says Trump wasn't "dismissing" traumatic brain injuries by calling them "headaches" pic.twitter.com/HH8daFhsIv Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 26, 2020 More stories from theweek.com Mike Pompeo is a disgrace If Bernie wins John Bolton's quest for vengeance and book sales A male contraceptive pill is one step closer after scientists make a breakthrough in drug testing. Scottish researchers have begun studying around 13,000 compounds to find those which are safe enough for men to take. They developed a robotic screening system which can rapidly assess how the chemicals effect human sperm. The robot speeds up the process of drug hunting 'several thousand-fold' and could be a 'game changer', scientists said. They are looking for compounds which block sperm motility so it cannot reach the woman's egg for fertilisation. A male contraceptive pill is one step closer after scientists make a breakthrough in drug testing after Scottish researchers developed a robotic screening system which can rapidly assess how the chemicals effect human sperm (pictured) The team at the University of Dundee reported their first study which shows it is possible to find effective agents that halt the sperm in its tracks using the robotic system The team at the University of Dundee reported their first study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, today. They have shown that it is possible to find effective agents that halt the sperm in its tracks using the robotic system. The findings published in the journal eLife. Further work will be done to investigate if any of these are suitable for long term use in the male. Lead researcher Chris Barratt, Professor of reproductive medicine in the School of Medicine, said: 'This is a breakthrough in technology for the area. 'It allows us for the first time to assess in large numbers how compounds can affect sperm function. 'Surprisingly there has been no effective, reversible and widely available form of contraception developed for the male since the condom and, as such, the burden falls largely to the female. 'Finding an effective male contraceptive would be a major step in addressing that inequality.' There is an urgent need to develop new methods for male contraception, however drug discovery efforts have been hampered for a variety of reasons. There is a relatively poor understanding of human sperm biology, and the proteins inside it which allow it carry out key functions once it leaves the male. The researchers at Dundee, led by Professor Barratt and Dr Paul Andrews, are just some of the international scientists working towards finding a safe and effective male contraceptive. The Dundee team screened one of the world's largest collections of previously approved and clinically tested compounds, around 13,000 in total. The ReFRAME collection is a library that scientists can access in the hunt for drugs for diseases and other uses. The robot-run system uses a fast microscope and image-processing tool that closely tracks the movement of human sperm. It enables scientists to see the effects of drugs with precision that would be difficult for them to do. Dr Andrews said: 'The conventional way to test drugs for contraceptive activity is prohibitively time-consuming. 'Through the hard work of the multi-disciplinary research team in Dundee, we have managed to develop a disruptive technology platform we hope will be a game changer. 'This new system speeds up the process of drug hunting several thousand-fold. 'By using live human sperm and examining their behaviour, or phenotype, in the presence of drugs and other chemicals, we hope to circumvent the need to second-guess which proteins are important for the cellular processes underlying sperm's fertilisation capacity.' Contraception is a critical area for research as, according to the Guttmacher Institute, there are 89million unintended pregnancies and 48million abortions every year. Currently, men who want to control their fertility have limited options condoms or vasectomies, surgical procedures to block sperm. There are myriad forms of birth control for women, which come with complicated and disruptive side effects. Meanwhile, trials across the globe are studying the effectiveness of a gel rubbed into a man's shoulder every day which reduces sperm count. Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: Fifteen people who were recently in China have been quarantined in Punjab and are being monitored for the coronavirus. Of them, a 28-year-old banker from Mohali has been admitted at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here, while the others have been quarantined at their homes. No positive case has been confirmed in the state so far. Two suspected cases of the virus have also been reported from the neighbouring state of Haryana. Dr Gagandeep Grover, Punjab state programme officer, integrated disease surveillance programme said, "Four cases are from Amritsar. Of these, one is a medical student and two other people who came from Canada had a halt in China for a few hours only. But they were found to have no symptoms and have been quarantined at their houses. We are keeping a close watch on them. Four others who came to Mohali from Canada also had a halt in China. All the travellers who came from Canada are settled there and were visiting their families here," he said. "People from Patiala, Ropar and Hoshiarpur who came from China are also being monitored," he said. Sources said the banker had returned from China on January 22. He had gone to a province near Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus. After coming back, he went to Delhi where he developed uneasiness. He was rushed to the PGIMER on Monday after he suffered from high fever and headache. His family has also been quarantined at their house in Mohali. His blood samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. PRIMER Director Dr Jagat Ram said, "The patient has been kept under observation in isolation at the communicable disease ward. The ministry of health and family welfare has been alerted about the suspected case." Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said, "The health department has alerted airports at Amritsar and Mohali to display an advisory for passengers of international flights for self-declaration regarding visits to China and other countries from where cases of coronavirus have been reported. Passengers having fever and breathing problems would be further supervised," he said. Thermal sensors have also been installed at both the Amritsar and Mohali airports. Similar measures are to be implemented at the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post. The state health department has urged that anyone who has travelled to China in the last 28 days should report this to the nearest district hospital or dial the helpline number 104 for further assistance. The health department of the Chandigarh administration had also issued an advisory to hotels, asking them to immediately report about visitors from China, Thailand, Japan and South Korea and maintain their records. The Haryana and Himachal Pradesh governments have also issued alerts in their respective states in this regard and hospitals have been told to take adequate measures besides setting up isolation wards. Two Uyghur men accused of carrying out a bombing that killed 20 people at a Hindu shrine in Bangkok in 2015 pleaded not guilty Monday, a defense lawyer said, as their trial resumed for the first time since 2017. Adem Karadag (alias Bilal Mohammed) and Yusufu Mieraili were arrested a few weeks after a bomb blast ripped through the Erawan Shrine, which is also considered sacred by Buddhists and is a major tourist attraction. The two defendants, who identified themselves as Uyghurs from Urumqi in the Xinjiang region of China, had earlier pled not guilty to charges under a military tribunal, but authorities referred their case to a civilian court late last year. They came to the court, pleaded not guilty, and vowed to fight the case, Chuchart Gunpai, the defense attorney for Karadag, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service, by phone Monday. The case was transferred to the South Bangkok Court after the Thai parliament elected junta leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha as prime minister, completing his transition from coup leader to head of a civilian government following an election in March 2019 that critics claim was engineered to keep him in power. Also on Monday, officials scheduled a Feb. 18 court hearing for Wanna Suansan, a Thai Muslim woman accused of renting an apartment that the suspects allegedly used to build bombs. Karadag and Mieraili had been kept under detention since their arrests, Chuchart said, while Wanna was released on bail following her arrest in November 2017. If convicted, the two men could face the death penalty, lawyers said. Many also injured Surveillance camera captured a fireball during the explosion that also injured 125 people on Aug. 17, 2015. The footage also caught a man leaving a backpack on a bench inside the shrine moments before the blast. Police later identified the man as Karadag. Authorities said a pipe bomb, packed with three kilos of explosives, was planted inside the shrine near a busy intersection. The next day, authorities said, a smaller pipe-bomb also exploded on a passenger pier in Bangkok, but caused no casualties. Karadag, then 31, was arrested on Aug. 29, 2015, after police said they had found bomb-making materials at an apartment he rented in Bangkoks suburban Nongjok district. He was charged with criminal offenses ranging from premeditated killing and bomb possession to illegal entry into Thailand. Mieraili, then 28, was arrested on Sept. 1, 2015, as he tried to flee to neighboring Cambodia, police said. Investigators claimed that he was attempting to acquire bomb-making materials. The trial had been delayed multiple times as a result of wrangling over courtroom interpreters and translators, Chuchart told BenarNews. Uyghurs sent back to China Uyghurs are Turkic-speaking Muslims who mostly live in the Xinjiang region of China but are also spread across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey. Uyghurs have been leaving China in large numbers to escape alleged persecution and repression by Chinese authorities. The bombing happened weeks after Thai authorities forcibly sent almost 100 Uyghurs back to China. Court documents obtained by BenarNews indicated that Karadag could not speak Mandarin or Chinese and would prefer a Uyghur-speaking translator, while Mieraili can communicate in English. On Monday, the court directed state agencies to arrange for a Uyghur translator for Karadag and an English translator for Mieraili, whose lawyer did not attend the hearing due to another appointment. After prosecutors presented the evidence, the court set the next hearing for March 2. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. (Newser) Two newly released photos might confirm what John Demjanjuk long deniedhis service as a Nazi death camp guard, the LA Times reports. The Ukrainian-born American claimed he was never at the Sobibor death camp, where more than 167,000 Jews were murdered, and died in 2012 appealing a conviction over his role there. Now a Berlin museum has released a collection of Sobibor photos, two of which appear to include Demjanjuk. "We had a suspicion it was him and we were able to enlist the support of the state police," says historian Martin Cuppers. "They used modern investigation tools such as biometrics to conclude 'this is the same person' as Demjanjuk." story continues below Each photo shows a possible young Demjanjuk with around 20 officers, and one of them is up close, per Cleveland.com. The date on that photo also matches the timing of Demjanjuk's March 1943 transfer to the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Demjanjuk was convicted twice for his involvement in the Holocaustonce in Israel, which was overturned, and once in Germany, where he got five years for his role in 28,000 deaths at Sobibor. But he denied everything and claimed he'd been a Soviet soldier taken as a POW; after the war, he moved to a Cleveland suburb and quietly raised a family until officials tracked him down in 1975. He's the subject of a five-part Netflix series, The Devil Next Door. (Read about another one of his denials.) Five Haverford and Bryn Mawr College students, along with poet Thomas Devaney and Greenhouse Media, have produced a documentary film, Bicentennial City. The student filmmakers Julia Coletti 21, Jixin Jia 21, Edward Ogborn 19, Cole Sansom 19, and Grace Sue 20 interviewed a cross-section of people about their experiences during the 1976 celebration in Philadelphia. They explored how a polarizing mayor, post-Vietnam malaise, and the galvanized resistance of marginalized groups impacted the planned events and resulted in counter-demonstrations. The film is shown using a large, multichannel projection and soundscape presentation alongside two neon sculptures: an original neon Liberty Bell created in 1976 by Val Maddalo and another Liberty Bell commissioned for the exhibit and created by Philadelphia neon artist Len Davidson. A talk and reception will be held Thursday, Feb. 13, at 4:30 p.m. in the colleges VCAM Screening Room for the related program, The Crack in the Bell 1976: A Talk by Thomas Devaney. For details visit exhibits.haverford.edu/bicentennialcity. The Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery is open Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays noon to 5 p.m. on the Haverford College campus. Socks appeal Socks tend to be the least-donated items to homeless shelters, yet theyre among the items that shelters need most. Footprints to Recovery, a group of regional drug and alcohol treatment centers, is trying to change that. The organization is kicking off its Third Annual Socks of Love Campaign in hopes of collecting 10,000 pairs of new socks (for sanitary reasons, used ones are not accepted), especially thick, warm ones. Donations are being accepted at the Alcohol & Drug Outpatient Treatment Facility on 3535 Quakerbridge Road, Suite 300, in Hamilton Township, N.J. They will be given to the Trenton Rescue Mission. Read to Me Students at Robert Morris Elementary were surprised in December when the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia stopped by with donated hardcover read-aloud books during the groups annual Read to Me storyteller event. The chambers storytellers spent the morning reading a selected book to the children. As part of the Read to Me Early Literacy Program, books are donated to pre-K and first-grade classrooms throughout the city. Last year, the chamber bought about 1,400 books for 25 Philadelphia-area schools. The donations create a lending library in each of the classrooms, and students are permitted to take a book home every night. The program aims to ensure that all Philadelphia children are able to read on grade level by fourth grade. VANCOUVER, Jan. 28, 2020 - Candente Copper Corp. (TSX:DNT, BVL:DNT) ("Candente Copper or the Company) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Giulio T. Bonifacio to the Board of Directors of the Company as an Independent Director. This appointment is not related to the right granted to the strategic investor as previously announced on January 21st, 2020. Mr. Bonifacio has extensive knowledge in operations, capital markets, project finance, and mergers and acquisitions with over 30 years of experience in senior executive roles in the mining industry and is a Chartered Professional Accountant. Giulio has raised directly over US$600 Million in capital through equity and project debt financings to advance mining projects and has been involved in corporate transactions aggregating in excess of US$1 billion. Mr. Bonifacio was the Founder, President and Director of Nevada Copper since its inception in 2005 until his retirement in February 2018. Giulio directed efforts at every stage of development at the Pumpkin Hollow copper project from early stage exploration, feasibility studies, permitting both the underground and large open pit operations and initial construction which led to a production start in December 2019. Mr. Bonifacio has held previous senior executive roles with Getty Resources Limited, TOTAL Energold Corp., an energy and gold producer and Vengold Inc., gold producer prior to founding Nevada Copper in 2005. Giulio currently holds the positions of CEO and Director of Kerr Mines Inc. and Chairman and Director of Copperbank Resources Corp. Mr. Bonifacio is currently leading efforts for the re-start of the Copperstone gold project which is fully permitted with significant mining infrastructure, underground development and processing infrastructure currently in place. Giulios skill set, ingenuity, perseverance and dedication over many years in the mining business and especially the copper sector, will all add significantly to the Candente Copper team and Board of Directors. His decision to join us is a strong endorsement of our Canariaco project and our team. We are very pleased he has accepted to join Candente Copper, commented Joanne Freeze, President and CEO. I am very pleased to be joining the Candente Board of Directors to support the next stage of the companys development at Canariaco. The project offers a large, late-stage development opportunity with significant drilling, metallurgical testwork, and engineering studies completed to date, in a copper industry lacking the next phase of quality development projects. Further to the significant advancements in the technical development of Canariaco Norte, the team has also been a positive partner to all local and regional stakeholders in Peru, which I am looking forward to continuing to support and advance as we progress through the next stage of project optimization and subsequent permitting activities, commented Giulio Bonifacio. About Candente Copper Candente Copper is a mineral exploration company engaged in acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. The Company is currently focused on its 100% owned advanced stage Canariaco project, which includes the Feasibility stage Canariaco Norte deposit as well as the Canariaco Sur deposit and Quebrada Verde prospect, located within the western Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes in the Department of Lambayeque in Northern Peru. On behalf of the Board of Candente Copper Corp. Joanne C. Freeze P.Geo. President, CEO and Director __________________________________ For further information please contact: Joanne C. Freeze P.Geo. President, CEO and Director Tel +1 604-689-1957 info@candentecopper.com www.candentecopper.com NR-116 Ghaziabad/Noida: In connection with the murder of Gaur City resident Gaurav Chandel, the police are on the trail of prime suspect Ashu Jaat. The police he was facing a financial crunch and most of his family members, including his wife, are in jail charged with different crimes. Ashu Jaat is believed to the head of a dreaded gang of robbers who mostly resort to carjacking and robbery. He is apt at changing his appearance. The last time he stepped out of jail was about six months ago from Dasna. Thereafter, we have no clue about his appearance. Last October, members of his gang had shot and injured a toy shop owner in Avantika, Ghaziabad. Several days prior to that, there was another shooting in which Ashu had come to Ghaziabad, a police officer from Ghaziabad police said. Another source said before his accomplice Umesh and his wife were arrested by Hapur police, Ashu was hiding in Delhi and kept changing his locations. Ashu has gone into hiding after Chandels murder. We have not come across any crime which he may have committed thereafter. Since all his family members are in jail, the man is all alone and difficult to track. However, fearing a police encounter, he may also surrender before court, said an officer. Police teams from Noida, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Meerut and Bulandshahr are trying to trace him, he added. According to police, both Ashu and Umesh along with Ashus wife were in Noida when incident with Chandel took place on the night of January 6 near Gaur City. Umesh and Ashus wife Poonam were arrested by the Hapur police on Sunday. The Noida police said that they questioned Umesh after his arrest. If the need arises, he would be taken on police remand. Meanwhile, he confessed to the whole incident and our teams are now working to trace Ashu, Noidas additional DCP Ranvijay Singh said. HT Correspondent PUNE A Pune-based hospital successfully operated and removed a cyst in a new-born girl within 24 hours of her being born. The baby was born with the congenital defect, wherein fluid filled a cyst being formed in the lung cavity. The doctors initially removed the fluid from the cyst in her left lung by the aspiration process - sucking out the fluid using a small needle while the baby was still inside the womb. The doctors then performed a lung lobectomy (surgery to remove one of the lobes of the lung) within 24 hours of the childs birth. The baby is now home and doing well. Dr Rajeshwari Pawar, gynaecologist-obstetrician, Motherhood Hospital, Kharadi, said, The foetus was diagnosed to have a type 1 Congenital Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation (CCAM), a developmental defect where a cyst is formed in the left lung. As the cyst grows due to increasing fluid, it squeezes the right lung, thereby also pushing the heart from left to right, and compressing the air space In both the lungs, added Dr Pawar. Dr Tushar Parikh, chief neonatologist, said, The baby was successfully delivered and weighs 2.5kg which is normal. The child would not face any problems in future due to this surgery. The mother of the child, requesting anonymity, said, We researched a lot when we got to know about the condition and after we were sure that it would be the right thing to do, we went ahead with the treatment. . South-east Queensland residents angered by a perceived lack of information and consultation about the planned route of the $9.3 billion Inland Rail will have a chance to speak to a Senate inquiry into the project this week. The Melbourne-Brisbane inland freight rail route will slice through south-east Queensland floodplains near Toowoomba and take up to 45 trains a day through Logan suburbs before ending at Acacia Ridge in Brisbane's south. The Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail project will enable freight to be moved between the capital cities within 24 hours. In September last year management of the project by the Australian Rail Track Corporation was referred to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee for inquiry, with two hearings scheduled in Millmerran and Brisbane next week. An open microphone session is set for Millmerran on the afternoon of January 29. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter recently announced an $8.75 million settlement with Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the companys alleged role in the Oklahoma opioid crisis. In addition to the payment, Endo agreed that it will not employ or contract with sales representatives, speakers, or opinion leaders to promote opioids in Oklahoma. Endo will also not hold speaking events to promote opioids in Oklahoma, nor will it financially support any promotional materials about opioids, such as brochures, newsletters, or books. Attorney General Hunter seemed to indicate that by agreeing to this settlement, Endo avoided legal action that Oklahoma was considering against the company. In a released statement, Hunter noted, The money from this settlement as well as the money from other settlements will allow us to begin abating Oklahomas problem, Attorney General Hunter said. Communities in our state continue to struggle with addiction and the fallout from the ongoing opioid crisis. Its estimated as many as 100,000 Oklahomans continue struggling with addiction and every 25 minutes a baby is born suffering from opioid withdrawal. We look forward to working with members of the legislature and executive branch to ensure this money goes toward helping those who have been affected by or those who continue to struggle with opioid addiction. Endo drew attention to the fact that it changed its executive leadership team in 2016, and shortly after was one of the first pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily stop promotions of all opioid medications. Further, Endo has also terminated all research and development of new opioid medications and withdrew the pain medication Opana ER from the market and worked to curb counterfeiting and theft of the drug. Attorney General Hunter commended Endo for the steps it has taken to abate the opioid epidemic, saying in a statement, When they saw a problem, corporate executives proactively worked, internally and with stakeholders, to find a solution, not a cover-up, as we have discovered with numerous other companies during our years-long investigation. This settlement follows the June 2019 $85 million settlement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries for similar allegations. Most of the $8.75 million settlement with Endo will go into an Opioid Lawsuit Settlement Fund. $390,000 of the settlement is to be set aside to be split between Oklahoma government and the federal government to resolve alleged violations of the Oklahoma Medicaid False Claims Act and the Oklahoma Medicaid Program Integrity Act. A portion of the settlement will also go towards paying fees and expenses to outside attorneys who have worked on the opioid litigation. The money in the Opioid Lawsuit Settlement Fund is expected to remain in the account until legislation is passed to disburse the funds. As is typical, Endo did not admit any wrongdoing, fault, or liability as part of the settlement. Kei Kobayashi made history on Monday night by becoming the first Japanese chef to be awarded the maximum three Michelin stars. The 42-year-old, who was born in Nagano, admitted that his perfectionism can make him a difficult person to work with as he picked up the honour in Paris. He opened his restaurant, Kei, in Paris in 2011 and was one of three chefs to gain a third star for the first time. Glenn Viel at the Oustau de Baumaniere in Provence and Christopher Coutanceau at his eponymous restaurant in La Rochelle were also handed the ultimate culinary accolade in the 2020 guide. In the prelude to the publication of the new lists, guide bosses paid tribute to the chef Emile Jung who died on Monday at the age of 78. Jung's Strasbourg restaurant, Crocodile, boasted three stars. Standard Gwendal Poullennec, editor of the Michelin guides, said: "Jung enhanced the reputation French gastronomy as well as the cuisine from Alsace." In addition to the praise and pummellings, the 2020 guide - covering 628 restaurants - hails establishments which make locally-sourced produce part of their USP. Such eateries have their environmentally friendly credentials marked with a leaf. "It is very important for the guide to highlight this approach so that it becomes commonplace," said a Michelin guide statement. "The guide must be at the forefront of change and a shop window for good practices everywhere in the world." Torrential rain could bring 'life-threatening' flash flooding to North Queensland, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned. Schools and highways were shut on Tuesday after monsoonal rain dumped more than half a metre of water south of Townsville in north Queensland. A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of the state's Gulf Country as a tropical low pressure system is expected to intensity throughout Tuesday. Torrential rain could bring 'life-threatening' flash flooding to North Queensland. Pictured: Groper Creek Road, south of Townsville 'Severe thunderstorm warning for intense rainfall isolated over southern parts of the Herbert and Lower Berdekin District,' the bureau said. 'Intense and prolonged rainfall may be dangerous and may lead to life-threatening flash flooding.' On Tuesday morning, the bureau said more than 500mm of rainfall was recorded in the last 24 hours around Ayr, south east of Townsville. The rain has closed the Bruce Highway in both directions at Ayr, while eight schools and two early childhood centres in the state's north shut their doors. Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill warned residents to be cautious. 'The community does need to be mindful, and remember if it's flooded forget it,' she told AAP. She said there were no concerns at this stage that the low pressure system would cause a repeat of the devastating floods of February last year, which caused more than $1billion of damage. 'At the moment it's acting like a typical wet season where we see downpours with significant breaks in between,' she said. A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of the state's Gulf Country as a tropical low pressure system is expected to intensity throughout Tuesday 'Last year we didn't have those breaks, it just kept raining and raining and raining. 'So far it's pretty much been business as usual.' Flood warnings of various levels have been issued for rivers throughout the state's interior. Isolated heavy falls in catchments upstream have flooded the Paroo River - in the state's southwest - with bridges cut at Eulo. The river is expected to reach a moderate flood level by mid-week. Paroo Shire Council Deputy Mayor Suzette Beresford said the rain was very welcome after six years of drought. 'It's been patchy, with some properties receiving a bit more than others,' she told AAP. 'As long as it keeps coming.' Glenore Weir, near Carpenteria, has seen 193mm fall in the past 24 hours. Winton, in central Queensland northwest of Longreach, has recorded 117mm of rain. Kabul, Jan 28 : Amid the ongoing Doha talks, the US negotiators have asked the Taliban to agree to a long-term reduction in violence before signing the peace deal that both sides have discussed over the past year, according to informed sources. Earlier reports had indicated that the Taliban agreed to a short-term reduction in violence, but the sources said on Monday that the militant group has shared the new US demand with their leadership and that internal discussions were underway, TOLO News reported. The talks between the US and the Taliban were continuing, but with pauses, according to the sources. Echoing the sources, former Taliban member Maulana Jalaluddin Shinwari, said: "(US envoy Zalmay) Khalilzad has asked them (the Taliban) that there should be an agreement on a long-term reduction in violence. "The Taliban are consulting about this with their leaders. There are hopes that this will have a positive result." The new developments come as a group of Afghan politicians announced a "National Reconciliation Plan", which they say will form a structure to represent the country in intra-Afghan dialogue. Earlier this week, a group of political parties in a meeting said they were seeking a national consensus on peace, said the TOLO News report. They called on the government to join this national consensus in order to move forward peace negotiations with the Taliban. Earlier this month, the US and Taliban resumed the stalled negotiations, which President Donald Trump had called off in September 2019. The two sides have been holding closed-door parleys in the Qatari capital to finalize the peace deal and gradual withdrawal of the US and NATO forces which launched a war against terror in Afghanistan 18 years ago. While the US has been demanding a considerable drop in militant violence against the forces before signing a deal, the Taliban have been arguing that a longer and wider ceasefire with the security forces can only be part of the intra-Afghan negotiations over power-sharing at a later stage. The US has around 11,000 troops in Afghanistan and has been gradually withdrawing forces even though the two sides have not signed a deal yet. The Trump administration intends to draw down another 4,000 troops before they sign a peace pact with the Taliban. Mitch McConnell is orchestrating a coverup. And the American people know it. The Senate Majority Leader, like all other senators, took an oath to do impartial justice in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Yeah, right. Thats why the Kentuckian coordinated with the White House before the trial began? And why he, and every other member of the GOP caucus, voted 11 times against allowing witness testimony and the release of additional relevant documents? Now, however, with the bombshell report that former National Security Adviser John Bolton has directly linked the release of military aid to Ukraine with Trump's efforts to get that nation's president to launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, it's going to be increasingly difficult for Republicans to hold the line on witnesses. Trump supporters keep saying that there's been no one with direct knowledge of the president's doings who has implicated him in his aid-for-probe scheme. Well, now there is. Bolton, who was national security adviser for 17 months, was on the scene, in the Oval Office, at Trump's side. There's only one argument for keeping him from testifying: He'll blow Trump's entire defense right out of the water. If that's all Senate Republicans have, they should face the facts, acknowledge that the tide is turning, and vote to hear from Bolton. Otherwise, voters will long remember that they tried to pass off a coverup as an actual trial. Trump used the immense powers of his office to get an ally to dig up dirt, or to manufacture some, on a key political opponent. And then he endeavored to hide those efforts. That's the beginning, and the end, really, of the impeachment charges against the former reality TV star who is currently serving as our nation's chief executive officer. No one can dispute this. At least no one who has even a passing familiarity with what used to be called the truth. When the House impeachment managers made their case against Trump, they laid out his misdeeds clearly. And when his defense team mounted their counterattack, they, um, well, yakked and muttered and sought to muddy the waters. And they dusted off serial self-promoter Alan Dershowitz and former Whitewater prosecutor Ken Starr, whose arguments on Monday played like a parody sketch on "Saturday Night Live." Its time to hear from Bolton. Blake Lively recently shared a fond memory of her pre-baby abs on her Instagram story, five months after giving birth. But the mother-of-three still looked like a knockout as she promoted her new film The Rhythm Section, which premieres January 31. She put on a busty display in an elegant ensemble Monday as she attended the New York City premiere. Bombshell vibes: Blake Lively put on a busty display in an elegant ensemble Monday as she attended The Rhythm Section premiere in New York City The 32-year-old hit the red carpet in an old Hollywood chic black velvet off-the-shoulder gown. She wore a pair of laced-up black leather thigh-high Louboutin stiletto boots, peaking out from a leg slit in the front. They matched a pair of black leather evening gloves, which stretched above her elbows. Lively completed the look with a set of mismatched pearl and silver earrings and a Lorraine Schwartz necklace featuring South Sea pearls, a diamond chain and a 50ct Colombian emerald. Black velvet: The 32-year-old hit the red carpet in an old Hollywood chic black velvet off-the-shoulder gown Leather queen: She wore a pair of laced-up black leather thigh-high Louboutin stilettos, peaking out from a leg slit in the front. They matched a pair of black leather evening gloves, which stretched above her elbows Dripping in pearls: Lively completed the look with a set of mismatched pearl and silver earrings and a Lorraine Schwartz necklace featuring South Sea pearls, a diamond chain and a 50ct Colombian emerald Family outing: It was a family outing as she was accompanied by mom Elaine and older sister Robyn, fellow actress and star of the 1989 classic Teen Witch The actress puts on her best British accent and several fun disguises for the high-octane action flick that is The Rhythm Section. She stars as Stephanie, a woman who sets out for revenge after discovering that the plane crash that killed her family wasn't an accident. It was a family outing as she was accompanied by mom Elaine and older sister Robyn, fellow actress and star of the 1989 classic Teen Witch. Lively was also joined on the red carpet by her handsome co-star Jude Law, whose character helps shape her into a killing machine. Arm candy: Lively was also joined on the red carpet by her handsome co-star Jude Law, whose character helps shape her into a killing machine Dapper display: He cut a dapper look in an oversized grey suit, which featured a double-breasted jacket. The ensemble was finished with black leather dress shoes and a cream dress shirt with no tie Matchy matchy: Co-star Raza Jaffrey looked sharp as he posed with Lively in a matching head-to-toe black suit Black lace: Producer Barbara Broccoli hit the red carpet an a flowy sheer black dress, trimmed at the neckline in lace He cut a dapper look in an oversized grey suit, which featured a double-breasted jacket. The ensemble was finished with black leather dress shoes and a cream dress shirt with no tie. Co-star Raza Jaffrey looked sharp as he posed with Lively in a matching head-to-toe black suit. Producer Barbara Broccoli hit the red carpet an a flowy sheer black dress, trimmed at the neckline in lace. Lively stepped out earlier in the day to promote the film in a retro femme fatal look, keeping in theme. Femme fatale chic: Lively stepped out earlier in the day to promote the film in a retro femme fatale look, keeping in theme Blush and burgundy: She donned a billowy avant-garde double-breasted blush topcoat, which was tied at the waist. The look was completed with layers of gold chain necklaces, oversized burgundy leather gloves with matching laced-up boots Wardrobe change: She later stepped out after the premiere, sporting yet another chic look, while still rocking the leather gloves and boots Floral number: This time, she opted for a black button-down dress with a floral print, showing off her fishnet stockings underneath She donned a billowy avant-garde double-breasted blush topcoat, which was tied at the waist. The look was completed with layers of gold chain necklaces, oversized burgundy leather gloves with matching laced-up boots. She later stepped out after the premiere, sporting yet another chic look, while still rocking the leather gloves and boots. This time, she opted for a black button-down dress with a floral print, showing off her fishnet stockings underneath. Fan favorite: Lively stopped to sign autographs before walking the red carpet for her premiere Mommy glow: She was glowing as she stepped out of the car in her stunning ensemble. The appearance comes just five months after Lively gave birth to her third child Two weeks ago, Gov. Murphy signed new legislation that legislators hope will provide a workaround for small business owners in the state, many of whom are the most impacted by the federal SALT limitation. Read more Everyone likes a tax cut, and the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 included many. But unfortunately, it also put a $10,000 cap on the amount individuals could deduct on their tax returns for sales and local taxes (SALT), a limitation that significantly affected the residents of states with high local taxes the most. Such as New Jersey. In response, legislators there passed legislation back in 2018 that tried to make property tax payments deductible as charitable contributions. That move was subsequently prevented by the IRS. But now Gov. Phil Murphy is at it again. Two weeks ago, he signed new legislation that lawmakers hope will provide a work-around for small-business owners in the state, many of whom are the most impacted by the federal SALT limitation. The law, which will take effect for the 2020 tax year, will allow pass through businesses, such as S-corporations and partnerships, to deduct local income tax paid on behalf of its owners on their companys tax returns. That way, the state still collects its money and the owners who lost the federal deduction at the individual level can still take advantage of the deduction at the corporate level. So is this just a gimmick that can be contested in the courts? Or is it a bona fide way for New Jersey business owners to get back -- for some a very lucrative deduction? Alan Sobel, a certified public accountant based in Livingston, N.J., leans toward bona fide. Sobel is the president-elect of the New Jersey Society of CPAs and helped write the act, which the society estimates will save New Jersey business owner $200 million to $400 million annually on their federal taxes. He said he believes that the new legislation has three pillars that support its deductibility. The U.S. Constitution has historically supported a states right to tax its residents and businesses that operate in the state in the manner of its choosing and that the legislation is sound because the Internal Revenue Code provides for any business to deduct ordinary and necessary business expenses such as rent and state taxes, which have historically been deducted by non-pass-through corporations. Finally, Sobel says that the language in the 2017 federal legislation only excludes, as deductible, state and local income tax in the cases of an individual. So, yes, many experts such as Sobel believe that the legislation could work. And if it does, it could be a big relief to many small-business owners in New Jersey. IRS data shows that in 2014, 41 percent of New Jersey taxpayers claimed an average SALT deduction of $17,183.33 says James B. Evans Jr., a lawyer with Kulzer & DiPadova in Haddonfield. Some tax experts believe it is too late for the IRS to deny the pass-through work-around. But business owners should be careful. Individual situations may vary. And there's still a concern as to how other states will treat the deductibility of the tax if one of the business owners of a pass-through company lives out of state. When a portion of that income is subject to tax in another state, the home state generally allows a tax credit for the tax paid to the other state [subject to certain limitations], says Tom Corrie, a tax lawyer who practices in New Jersey with New York-based accounting firm Friedman. But will the home state allow a tax credit regarding tax paid at the entity level? The New Jersey legislation provides for a credit in such situations, but in many states it is an open question. New Jerseys new legislation will be closely watched by other states with higher local taxes, such as California and New York. If the work-around is effective, residents in those states may see similar changes to their own tax laws. Regardless, if youre running a pass-through business in New Jersey, you should be talking about the new legislation with your accountant. Yes, it may be an advantage. But in these politically charged times, I wouldnt assume that youre in the clear yet. There is a risk the IRS could challenge this as a deductible business expense, Sobel warns. Every business owner along with their tax advisers will have to weigh risk and potential cost. Gene Marks is president of the Marks Group, a small-business consulting firm based in Bala Cynwyd. A 33-year-old woman has written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) alleging that Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya used to make her watch porn videos whenever she visited his office in Mumbai. In a complaint filed with the police, the woman, an assistant choreographer, has alleged that Acharya and two women assaulted her during a function of the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association (IFTCA) held in suburban Andheri on Sunday. Besides Acharya, the complainant, Divya Kotian, has named Jayashree Kelkar and Preeti Lad in her complaint for assault, a police official said on Tuesday. Calls made to Acharya for his reaction remained unanswered. In her letter to the NCW, Kotian, a resident of suburban Bhayandar, claimed that Acharya forced her to watch adult videos whenever she visited his office. In her complaint with Amboli police station, Kotian alleged that Acharya was demanding a commission from her for working in the film industry. Kotian is also a member of the IFTCA. Acharya, who was elected as a general secretary of the IFTCA, used to frequently call the complainant at the office in Andheri, the police official said quoting the complaint. On January 26, when Kotian reached the IFTCA office, Acharya shouted at her and announced that she was being "suspended", he said. Acharya grew furious after Kotian told him that she is a member of the IFTCA and allegedly asked his team member, Jayashree Kelkar, to slap her, the police official said. "Kelkar and Preeti Lad hit me in public view which was captured on the CCTV," the complaint stated. Police have registered a non-cognisable (NC) offence and investigating, the official added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat of Congress on Tuesday dismissed perception of rumblings in the Shiv Sena-led government against the backdrop of Milind Deora's missive to party chief Sonia Gandhi on "slow progress" on Rahul Gandhi's poll promise in 2019. In his letter to Sonia Gandhi on January 24, Deora had expressed concern over Rahul Gandhi's poll promise of allotting 500 sq ft homes to Mumbai slum-dwellers "not moving effectively towards implementation" under the new Sena-NCP-Congress government. Thorat said he would explain the factual position vis--vis implementation of initiatives mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to Deora if the latter was interested. "Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is working as per the CMP they had drafted before forming the government in the state," Thorat, who heads the state Congress unit, told reporters. He said the government was also working on issues like a farm loan waiver and ensuring food at cheaper rates to the poor. "We are working on these. It is a common programme of the three parties, not any single party's programme. Deora ji will understand if he looks at these," Thorat added. When asked if Deora was hinting at differences within the MVA, Thorat replied in negative. "Sonia Gandhi is our leader. Workers speak to her when they feel something. She also speaks to us. This goes on. We will explain him (Deora) if he asks us (for details)," he said. Referring to senior Congress leader and PWD Minister Ashok Chavan's remarks on a written undertaking from the Sena, Thorat said they were distorted. Chavan had caused a furore saying Sonia Gandhi had sought a written undertaking from the Sena that the new government in Maharashtra would work within the ambit of the Constitution. "Chavan's statement is being distorted. He only had talked about the government working as per the CMP...All is well," Thorat said when asked about NCP and Shiv Sena leaders being upset over Chavan's remark. Meanwhile, Thorat also said that all the MVA leaders are upset with the Centre handing over the sensitive Pune Elgaar Parishad case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and added that a strategy will be prepared. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Kseniya Kolobova, Leader research scientist, Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Author provided Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis) fossils were first discovered in western Europe in the mid nineteenth century. That was just the first in a long line of surprises thrown up by our closest evolutionary cousins. We reveal another in our new study of the Neanderthals who lived in Chagyrskaya Cave in southern Siberia around 54,000 years ago. Their distinctive stone tools are dead ringers for those found thousands of kilometres away in eastern and central Europe. https://images.theconversation.com/files/309838/original/file-20200114-1... 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309838/original/file-20200114-1... 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309838/original/file-20200114-1... 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309838/original/file-20200114-1... 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309838/original/file-20200114-1... 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"> Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Author provided The intercontinental journey made by these intrepid Neanderthals is equivalent to walking from Sydney to Perth, or from New York to Los Angeles, and is a rare example of long-distance migration by Palaeolithic people. Knuckleheads no more For a long time Neanderthals were seen as intellectual lightweights. However, several recent finds have forced a rethink of their cognitive and creative abilities. Neanderthals are now believed to have created 176,000 year-old enigmatic structures made from broken stalactites in a cave in France, and cave art in Spain that dates back more than 65,000 years. They also used bird feathers and pierced shells bearing traces of red and yellow ochre, possibly as personal ornaments. It seems likely Neanderthals had cognitive capabilities and symbolic behaviours similar to those of modern humans (Homo sapiens). Our knowledge of their geographical range and the nature of their encounters with other groups of humans has also expanded greatly in recent years. We now know that Neanderthals ventured beyond Europe and western Asia, reaching at least as far east as the Altai Mountains. Here, they interbred with another group of archaic humans dubbed the Denisovans. Read more: Fresh clues to the life and times of the Denisovans, a little-known ancient group of humans Traces of Neanderthal interactions with our own ancestors also persist in the DNA of all living people of Eurasian descent. However, we can still only speculate why the Neanderthals vanished around 40,000 years ago. Banished to Siberia Other questions also remain unresolved. When did Neanderthals first arrive in the Altai? Were there later migration events? Where did these trailblazers begin their trek? And what routes did they take across Asia? Chagyrskaya Cave is nestled in the foothills of the Altai Mountains. The cave deposits were first excavated in 2007 and have yielded almost 90,000 stone tools and numerous bone tools. The excavations have also found 74 Neanderthal fossils the richest trove of any Altai site and a range of animal and plant remains, including the abundant bones of bison hunted and butchered by the Neanderthals. We used optical dating to determine when the cave sediments, artefacts and fossils were deposited, and conducted a detailed study of more than 3,000 stone tools recovered from the deepest archaeological levels. Microscopy analysis revealed that these have remained intact and undisturbed since accumulating during a period of cold and dry climate about 54,000 years ago. Using a variety of statistical techniques, we show that these artefacts bear a striking similarity to so-called Micoquian artefacts from central and eastern Europe. This type of Middle Palaeolithic assemblage is readily identified by the distinctive appearance of the bifaces tools made by removing flakes from both sides which were used to cut meat. https://images.theconversation.com/files/309840/original/file-20200114-1... 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309840/original/file-20200114-1... 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309840/original/file-20200114-1... 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309840/original/file-20200114-1... 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309840/original/file-20200114-1... 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"> Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Author provided Micoquian-like tools have only been found at one other site in the Altai. All other archaeological assemblages in the Altai and central Asia lack these distinctive artefacts. Neanderthals carrying Micoquian tools may never have reached Denisova Cave, as there is no fossil or sedimentary DNA evidence of Neanderthals there after 100,000 years ago. Read more: Dishing the dirt: sediments reveal a famous early human cave site was also home to hyenas and wolves Going the distance The presence of Micoquian artefacts at Chagyrskaya Cave suggests at least two separate dispersals of Neanderthals into southern Siberia. Sites such as Denisova Cave were occupied by Neanderthals who entered the region before 100,000 years ago, while the Chagyrskaya Neanderthals arrived later. The Chagyrskaya artefacts most closely resemble those found at sites located 3,0004,000 km to the west, between the Crimea and northern Caucasus in eastern Europe. Comparison of genetic data supports these geographical links, with the Chagyrskaya Neanderthal sharing closer affinities with several European Neanderthals than with a Neanderthal from Denisova Cave. When the Chagyrskaya toolmakers (or their ancestors) left their Neanderthal homeland in eastern Europe for central Asia around 60,000 years ago, they could have headed north and east around the land-locked Caspian Sea, which was much reduced in size under the prevailing cold and arid conditions. https://images.theconversation.com/files/309841/original/file-20200114-1... 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309841/original/file-20200114-1... 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309841/original/file-20200114-1... 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309841/original/file-20200114-1... 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309841/original/file-20200114-1... 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"> Kseniya Kolobova / Maciej Krajcarz / Victor Chabai, Author provided Their intercontinental odyssey over thousands of kilometres is a rarely observed case of long-distance dispersal in the Palaeolithic, and highlights the value of stone tools as culturally informative markers of ancient population movements. Environmental reconstructions from the animal and plant remains at Chagyrskaya Cave suggest that the Neanderthal inhabitants survived in the cold, dry and treeless environment by hunting bison and horses on the steppe or tundra-steppe landscape. Our discoveries reinforce the emerging view of Neanderthals as creative and intelligent people who were skilled survivors. If this was the case, it makes their extinction across Eurasia even more mysterious. Did modern humans deal the fatal blow? The enigma endures, for now. Kseniya Kolobova receives funding from the Russian Science FoundationDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cooperation (projects 19-48-04107 and UT 41/8-1). Maciej T. Krajcarz receives funding from the National Science Centre, Poland (grant no. 2018/29/B/ST10/00906). Richard 'Bert' Roberts receives funding from the Australian Research Council. Originally published in The Conversation. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-27 23:28:25 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 992 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2020 / First Mining Gold Corp. ("First Mining" or the "Company") (TSX:FF) (OTCQX:FFMGF) (FRANKFURT:FMG) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding term sheet with Auteco Minerals Ltd ("Auteco") (ASX: AUT) whereby Auteco may earn up to an 80% interest in First Mining's Pickle Crow Gold Project ("Pickle Crow" or the "Project") located in Ontario, Canada. Auteco can earn a full 80% interest in the Project by incurring a total of $10 million in exploration expenditures over five years, making cash payments to First Mining totaling $4.1 million, and issuing 125 million shares of Auteco to First Mining. First Mining will also retain a 2% Net Smelter Return ("NSR") Royalty, 1% of which can be bought back for US$2.5 million. Further details are set out under "Earn-in Details".Transaction HighlightsPartners First Mining with a highly skilled management team with a track record of discovery success.Auteco's management team is comprised of a number of the key individuals that advanced Bellevue Gold Ltd ("Bellevue") (ASX: BGL). Bellevue has had strong market success on the back of advancing the historic Bellevue Gold Mine in Western Australia, where they acquired a past-producing, high-grade gold project and defined a JORC compliant Inferred gold resource of 1.8 million ounces at 11.1 g/t gold in less than 18 months.Pickle Crow to benefit from modern exploration techniques and a new geological review.First Mining to retain meaningful exposure to the potential upside at Pickle Crow through project interest, equity exposure to Auteco, and a 2% NSR royalty.Dan Wilton, CEO of First Mining, stated "We are excited to be partnering with such an accomplished group to advance Pickle Crow. Auteco has a strong technical team with a track record of generating value through exploration success. Their team is backed by the same key individuals involved with Bellevue who had recent success in revitalizing a past-producing district, and the project similarities are why we believe Auteco is one of the best positioned teams to advance and unlock the potential at Pickle Crow. This agreement also demonstrates the value in First Mining's broader asset portfolio. This agreement allows the Company and our shareholders to retain an interest in Pickle Crow's advancement as the Auteco team work to define the project potential through drilling and exploration, while First Mining's near-term focus remains on advancing our Springpole and Goldlund gold projects. We look forward to working with our new partners at Auteco, and believe this partnership delivers the intellectual and financial capital needed to surface value at the Pickle Lake gold camp, one of Canada's historic high-grade mining camps." Ray Shorrocks, Auteco's Executive Chairman, commented "I was recently fortunate enough to have been involved in one of Australia's modern day high-grade gold discoveries with Bellevue Gold Ltd (ASX: BGL) and from what I can see so far and along with the rest of the Auteco team that the historic Pickle Crow Gold Project has the hallmark for being able to replicate significant discovery success again. The Auteco team and I are looking forward to working closely with our Canadian partners at First Mining who we hope will benefit greatly along with our Auteco shareholders and all other stakeholders as we commence systematic and effective exploration to advance the Pickle Crow Gold Project." The Pickle Crow Gold Project is located in northwestern Ontario and is one of Canada's highest-grade historical gold mines. The mine operated from 1935 until 1966, during which time it reportedly produced almost 1.5 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 16.14 g/t. The property consists of ~190 km2 (19,000 hectares) of tenure covering a major gold province. First Mining acquired the Project in November 2015 through its acquisition of PC Gold Inc.There has been limited exploration of Pickle Crow since mining ceased in 1966. The most recent work conducted was focused on developing small remnant resources proximal to the old mine infrastructure. Auteco intends to return to first principles at the project, with a focus on discovering and developing new project-scale, high-grade, near-surface gold resources. There are a number of high-priority targets that have either not been followed up or have had little or no modern exploration work undertaken on them. These include multiple unmined lode positions surrounding the historic underground workings, including potential new high-grade gold lodes as well as a number of shallow, near-surface broad mineralized zones that require exploration testing regionally across the 190 km2 (19,000 hectare) project area.Auteco's strong technical exploration skillset along with their track record of having access to capital provides an opportunity to unlock the potential value of this historical region. Auteco is led by Sam Brooks (Technical Director), a geologist who is currently the Chief Geologist of Bellevue, and was previously involved with Gryphon Minerals Limited, which was acquired by Teranga Gold in 2016. The Auteco team is comprised of several additional individuals who have been involved with Bellevue, including Ray Shorrocks (Executive Chairman), Steve Parsons (Non-Executive Director) and Michael Naylor (Non-Executive Director).First Mining believes that Bellevue and the Auteco team's success in advancing the Bellevue Gold Mine are a strong analogy for the potential advancement of the Pickle Crow Gold Project. The similarities between the two projects include:Both assets were high-grade historic past-producing mines that have not benefited from modern exploration and development advancements; andPickle Crow and Bellevue are both located in proven gold regions with a number of projects (both historic and current) in close proximity.Earn-In DetailsAuteco has entered into a conditional binding term sheet to acquire up to 80% of Pickle Crow from First Mining. The key terms are as follows:Cash on SigningWith the binding term sheet having been executed, First Mining will receive:$50,000 cash within three business days.Formal AgreementUpon execution of a formal agreement (expected to be finalized within 45 days), First Mining will receive:$50,000 cash; and25,000,000 shares of Auteco.Stage 1 Earn-In (51% earn-in)Three-year initial earn-in perio The privacy debate is mostly centered around government snooping especially after the stunning revelations about the sheer volume of raw data that governments and their agencies collect under the guise of protecting national security interests. The Domestic Surveillance Directorate of the NSA says, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear about its surveillance. According to its website, domestic Surveillance plays a vital role in our national security by using advanced data mining systems to connect the dots to identify suspicious patterns. Above source for photo is this link However, beyond the Big Brother activity of governments, corporations all over the world are leveraging the advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning to collect, sift through, and monetize consumer data in more ways than you can imagine. Data brokerage is a multibillion-dollar business globally and Julie Brill, Federal Trade Commissioner in an interview on 60 Minutes observed that no one even knows how many companies there are trafficking in our data. But its certainly in the thousands, and would include research firms, all sorts of Internet companies, advertisers, retailers and trade associations. The largest data broker is Acxiom, a marketing giant that brags it has, on average, 1,500 pieces of information on more than 200 million Americans. Your privacy VS corporate interests and national security The privacy debate is at least 130 years old in the United States the first argument was espoused by future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis who opined that the individual has the right to be let alone. At the fundamental level, privacy is a civil right enshrined in the Fourth Amendment to provide individuals with privacy against the state and its agencies. Citizens can also expect the privacy of their unexpressed beliefs, thoughts, emotions, and political dissent from undue government surveillance. In the last decade, the privacy debate became louder after a series of incidents triggered clashes between the individuals right to privacy and the governments duty to protect the public. The dissonance over privacy and public security came to a head with Edward Snowdens whistleblowing about the extent of the U.S. governments surveillance. Apples refusal to unlock the iPhone of the San Bernadino terrorists further fired up more debates about when private rights should be retired for the public good. Most people probably wont have reasons to be worried that they might be specifically targeted by the government or her agents. Many people might even be less bothered about the mass surveillance inasmuch as it guarantees increased security for the general public. However, people tend to draw the line when businesses start to breach the individuals right to privacy to increase their bottom lines. Proactively ensuring online privacy and anonymity Getting rid of cookies temporary, persistent, third-party or otherwise often requires some technical expertise and most people often accept cookies in the much the same way that they agree to the terms of software licenses without reading through. Even if you have the technical expertise and time to get rid of cookies, it could be highly cumbersome, time-consuming, and inefficient trying to prevent an ISP from logging your sessions and selling the data. A VPN (virtual private network) is a better solution for ensuring online privacy and anonymity by masking the users IP address, keeping their online actions private, and encrypting connections to enhance the security of the data sent or received. You can read more about how VPN encryption works here. Beyond ensuring the privacy of your online activities, a VPN is also effective for protecting hackers from spying or stealing your sensitive personal information such as social security numbers, passwords, and bank details. In 2018 alone, the Federal Trade Commission processed 1.4 million cases of fraud resulting in a combined estimated economic loss of $1.48 billion. Identity theft often powers credit card fraud and 85% of the 167,000 people who reported identity theft cases in 2018 said that criminals opened credit card accounts with their information. The Center for Victim Research opines that 7% to 10% of the U.S. population fall victim to identity fraud every year and 21% of the victims have fallen prey to multiple incidents. Thankfully, the Online Trust Alliance submits that as much as 93% of data breaches can be avoided through the implementation of fundamental data security processes. The thin line between harmless personalization and malicious targeting Barring a targeted surveillance operation by a government, its agents, or acts of corporate espionage; the main ways that a persons privacy can be breached on the internet are either through your internet connection, the websites that you visit, or the activity logs kept by your Internet service provider. For much of the last decade, advertisers have mostly leveraged behaviourally targeted advertising cookies planted on the websites that people visit. While the word cookies might sound innocuous, it refers to a key component of the tracking tools used by online advertisers. First-party cookies that publishers or website owners drop on their sites are often necessary for defining the user experience and remembering specifics such as language, location, and time. Third-party cookies are the main culprit in ad targeting and behavioral advertising. By adding cookies to a page, the advertisers can track the actions of the user or their device across different websites on the internet. Hence, a simple search on how to buy champagne flutes might cause you to see ads about champagne, fine dining, liquor, or travel for much of the following weeks. In 2017, the House of Representatives voted to reverse regulations that stopped internet service providers from selling the web browsing data of their customers. The reversal of the regulation was a setback for privacy because it allowed big telecommunication firms to profit off peoples data. Conclusion The privacy debate isnt ending any time soon and therell always be arguments and counterarguments relating to individual privacy, civil liberties, and public security. Taking proactive countermeasures such as using a VPN might ensure your privacy online. However, there are still other privacy concerns relating to big data layered on phone records, CCTVs, facial recognition, and biometrics scanning when you interact with businesses or governments. Thankfully, developments such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into effect in May 2018 mandate governments and businesses to only collect information that they need. GDPR also ensures that such information is kept securely and that it is not kept for much longer than is functionally necessary. On Monday, Union minister of state for finance and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Anurag Thakur, addressing a rally in the run-up to the Delhi assembly polls (and also the Union Budget, which should have preoccupied him), encouraged the crowd to chant a slogan. He said, Desh ke gaddaron ko, as the rallys participants cheered on by saying, goli maaron saalon ko. A rough translation would be shoot the nations traitors. The slogan has been heard in recent weeks in two different contexts in processions taken out in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and in front of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on the night a violent mob was attacking students and faculty members inside the university. On Tuesday, another BJP leader and Member of Parliament, Pravesh Verma, speaking of the ongoing anti-CAA protest in Shaheen Bagh, said: Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. Theyll enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them. Theres time today, [Narendra] Modi ji & Amit Shah wont come to save you tomorrow. The slogan deployed by Mr Thakur is deeply disturbing. First, it identifies an amorphous group as the enemies of the nation. This need not be only those who seek to challenge the integrity of the State, but could end up including all those who have chosen to dissent against the government. It could include political rivals, civil society critics, journalists seen as adversarial, and, the signal is unmistakable, the countrys minorities. This is in line with an attempt to paint all opposition to the BJP as anti-national. This is plainly undemocratic. Second, the slogan is an open incitement to violence. It has no patience for either peaceful political contestation or due process. Instead, it encourages vigilantism to get rid of all those seen as adversarial. For a minister to have chanted such a slogan is outright unconstitutional, and can be read as an attempt to incite outright murder. Equally unedifying (and perhaps unconstitutional) is an MP indulging in communal scaremongering and hate speech, for it is clear that he was referring to minorities who are at the forefront of the Shaheen Bagh protest. Both leaders must be condemned in the strongest terms possible. The Election Commission has done well to note the remarks, and must immediately act against Messrs Thakur and Verma. And the BJP must act too, censuring not just the two leaders but all those within its fold who have used such rhetoric. It is incumbent on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose duty it is to uphold the rule of law, to make it clear that this kind of rhetoric has no place in a civilised democracy. In this screengrab taken from a Senate Television webcast, White House counsel Pat Cipollone speaks during impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 25, 2020. (Senate Television via Getty Images) Trump Impeachment Trial Day 7: Trumps Defense Team Wraps up Opening Arguments President Donald Trumps legal defense team made its final day of opening arguments against the impeachment of the president, following three days worth of arguments from House Democrats. 3:05 p.m.Trial Over for the Day Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated there will be eight hours of questioning, alternating between Democrats and Trumps team, on Wednesday and Thursday. The trial will start again on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET. 3 p.m.Danger, Danger, Danger President Donald Trumps lawyer, in concluding their opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial, said that if the bar for impeachment is set too low, future presidents wont be able to exercise executive power, while addressing allegations allegedly contained in former national security adviser John Boltons book. Danger, danger, danger, Jay Sekulow, Trumps personal attorney, said in front of the Senate. I want to focus today, on my section, on what youre being asked to do. You are being asked to remove a duly-elected president of the United States and youre being asked to do it in an election year, Sekulow said. In an election year, he asserted. Whats more, the current case against Trump, if successful, would permanently damage the executive branchs power as future House majorities could dangle impeachment over future presidents heads. Future presidentsDemocrats and Republicanswill be paralyzed the moment they are elected. Before they can even take the oath of office, he said. The bar for impeachment cannot be set this low. Impeachments cannot be done over policy disagreements or based on unsourced newspaper reports, Sekulow continued. Sekulow said Trumps July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskya key component of the impeachment inquiry against the presidentwas more about foreign policy. 2 p.m.Trump Lawyer: Senators Would Rather Be Somewhere Else Jay Sekulow, Trumps personal lawyer, noted that several senators would rather be somewhere else than in Washington, listening to impeachment trial proceedings. Sekulow didnt name the senators but he strongly suggested that Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) would rather be campaigning during the Democratic primary. Personal attorney to President Donald Trump, Jay Sekulow, speaks during the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 25, 2020. (Senate Television via AP) I get it, he said, adding that his teams arguments will be brief on Tuesday. All 100 senators have to attend the trial six days per week for hours each day, getting only Sundays off. Sanders, who is leading in key caucus state Iowa, has lamented the fact that he cant be on the ground and campaign. The Iowa caucuses are on Feb. 3, and the New Hampshire caucuses are about eight days later. 1:45 p.m.John Kelly Says He Believes Bolton Former White House chief of staff John Kelly said he believes former Trump adviser John Boltons reported claims in his unpublished manuscript. If John Bolton says that in the book, I believe John Bolton, Kelly said during an event in Florida, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Johns an honest guy, Kelly said. Hes a man of integrity and great character, so well see what happens. Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly in Washington on Oct. 19, 2017. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times) The New York Times reported on the book Sunday, claiming Bolton said he was told by Trump about a linkage between military aid and investigations into political rivals. Trump and other White House officials have disputed claims in the NY Times report. Trump, on Twitter, denied the claim. I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book, he wrote. 1:30 p.m.Graham Believes There Are 51 Votes to Call Bidens Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Tuesday that if the Senate opens the door to calling new witnesses, Republicans would vote to subpoena Joe and Hunter Biden. Ill make a prediction: There will be 51 Republican votes to call Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, the whistleblower and the DNC staffer at a minimum, Graham told reporters. It comes as top Democratic senators said that the Bidens shouldnt be called to testify in exchange for former national security adviser John Boltons testimony in the trial. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) holds a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 24, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) The Bidens play a central role in the impeachment saga, as President Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into their dealings in Ukraine. On Monday, his lawyer Pam Bondi told the Senate that there were numerous questions and red flags about Hunter Bidens board position on Ukrainian firm Burisma Holdings, whose founder was and still is under investigation for corruption. Bondi said that it was well within Trumps purview to ask his counterpart for an investigation into the Bidens. Zelensky and Trump have denied House Democrats allegations that Trump withheld aid and exerted pressure on Kyiv to investigate the presidents political rivals. 1 p.m.Senate Trial Starts Tuesdays Senate trial was gaveled in by Chief Justice John Roberts after the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Trumps legal team will make their defense of the president. 12:30 p.m.Schumer Says GOP Shouldnt Get Book Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that GOP senators should not be able to obtain a manuscript from former national security adviser John Bolton. Schumer told a press conference in the morning: I heard a proposal that came from two Republicans this morning, Lankford and Graham, that we get the manuscript and read it in the SCIF in secret. What an absurd proposal. Its a book. Theres no need for it to be read in SCIF unless you want to hide something. The SCIF refers to the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility in Congress. 12 p.m.GOP Sens. Want Bolton Book Manuscript Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said the White House should hand over a copy of former national security adviser John Boltons upcoming book after The New York Times published alleged excerpts on Sunday night, claiming Bolton wrote that he was told by President Donald Trump about a freeze on aid to Ukraine. I am encouraging the White House, anybody that I can talk to, to say: that manuscript is pertinent and we should get access to that manuscript to see what theyre actually saying, Lankford said in a Facebook video. I think getting that information firsthand would be really important for us, he added. My encouragement would be: if John Boltons got something to say, theres plenty of microphones all over the country; he should step forward and start talking about it right now, Lankford explained. I think what we have to do here is evaluate the manuscript. I want to know whats in the manuscript, Graham told The Hill. The White House said there was no direct evidence of communication. Maybe this suggests that one person said there might be. What Ive said all along is, if youre going to add to the record, were going to do it in a balanced way, Graham explained. If we add to the record, were going to call Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, and all these other people. By PTI NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday lambasted Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying "mocking" the Shaheen Bagh protest, which "represents the essence of Mahatma Gandhi", amounts to "mocking Ahimsa and Satyagraha". He also criticised the central government and said that the "real tukde tukde gang" is the ruling party which is determined to divide the country on religious lines. Earlier in the day, Prasad had said that the ongoing protest at Shaheen Bagh in the national capital is offering a platform to the 'tukde tukde gang' under the garb of opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The BJP leader had also alleged that the protest was emerging as "a textbook case of a few hundred people trying to suppress the silent majority". "Now, the Law Minister calls the protesters at Shaheen Bagh as part of the tukde tukde gang. The real tukde tukde gang is the ruling party that is determined to divide India on religious lines," Chidambaram said in a tweet. "Only those who despise Gandhiji would abuse the protesters at Shaheen Bagh. Shaheen Bagh represents the essence of Mahatma Gandhi. Mocking the protest at Shaheen Bagh amounts to mocking Ahimsa and Satyagraha," he said on Twitter. Talia is a tremendous asset and will uniquely add value as Lynx increases adoption of our integrated risk management platform, Lynx Risk Manager. Lynx Technology Partners (Lynx), one of Inc. 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The timing is perfect as Lynx is quickly expanding our client roster and her approach is in perfect lockstep with the vision and strategy we pursue to execute flawlessly for our customers, says Aric Perminter, Founder and Chairman, Lynx Technology Partners. He added, Talia is a tremendous asset and will uniquely add value as Lynx increases adoption of our integrated risk management platform, Lynx Risk Manager. She understands our people, process and technology approach and backs up her skills with dedication and determination that is inspiring. Diorio takes a "service drives revenue" approach to managing her accounts and is deeply committed to being considered a value-added partner to all that she has the privilege to work with. Her client-centric approach is the cornerstone of her account management style and has enabled her to build and sustain long-lasting, profitable partnerships. Prior to working at ISG, she held multiple global account management/business development roles with Gartner, Reed Elsevier, Greenwich Technology Partners, and MicroWarehouse. Diorio resides in Connecticut with her husband Chris and their 6 amazing children! About Lynx Technology Partners Lynx Technology Partners executes flawlessly for our customers by delivering dynamic Cyber Security and Risk Management solutions helping them understand and navigate their threat landscape. The Lynx team is made up of experienced, industry-recognized experts who have led governance, risk management, compliance, and cybersecurity programs and served as subject matter experts (SMEs) for Fortune 500 enterprises and Federal agencies. Our dedication to customer success and responsiveness to needs has earned us the trust of a growing list of customers in highly-regulated industries worldwide. At Lynx, we listen, anticipate our customers needs, adapt to their unique environment, watch for risk exposure, and use our real-world experience to deliver efficient and cost-effective solutions. For more information, please visit LynxRiskSolutions.com As Democrats continued to demand testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton in the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, defense lawyers said Tuesday that Boltons testimony was irrelevant, because even if his account of his conversation with the president is accepted, the facts dont support a conviction under the Constitution. You cannot impeach a president on an unsourced allegation, Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said of Boltons forthcoming book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, which disputes a key defense assertion. Even if everything in there was true, it constitutionally doesnt rise to that level. In the book, according to the New York Times, whose reporters spoke to sources who have read it, Bolton describes a conversation in August 2019 with Trump, who told him he was withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine until the government in Kyiv announced an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. That is the crux of the first of two articles of impeachment passed by the House the quid pro quo whose existence the president and his defenders have denied all along. Until the news broke about Boltons book, which is scheduled to be published in March, the testimony directly implicating Trump in the scheme was mostly secondhand. It is unclear what Sekulow meant by unsourced allegation, as Boltons book recounts conversations he personally participated in. Sekulow went on to say that Trump denied Boltons account. Jay Sekulow, personal attorney to President Trump, during the impeachment trial on Tuesday. (Photo: Senate Television via AP) But I want to be clear on this, because theres a lot of speculation out there. With regard to what John Bolton has said, which referenced a number of individuals well start with the president, Sekulow said. Heres what the president said in response to that New York Times piece: I never told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. Story continues Bolton was known to be an assiduous note taker, carrying a yellow legal pad with him into White House meetings and typing up his written accounts each night. House Democrats have argued that Bolton and others in the Trump administration should be compelled to testify in the impeachment trial. Trump and many of his Republican defenders have sought to block witnesses from appearing. Sekulow also sought to downplay a second story in the Times that reported that Bolton had held private conversations with Attorney General William Barr regarding concerns about the presidents relationships with foreign leaders. While the Department of Justice has not reviewed Mr. Boltons manuscript, the New York Times account of his conversation grossly mischaracterizes what Attorney General Barr and Bolton discussed, Sekulow said. There was no discussion of personal favors or undue influence on investigations, nor did the attorney general state that the presidents conversations with foreign leaders were improper. After the presidents team ended their presentation, having used only around half of their allotted 24 hours, House manager Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told reporters on Capitol Hill that the defense arguments only bolstered the need to hear directly from Bolton. Once again, the presidents team in a way that only they could have further made the case for calling John Bolton, Schiff told reporters. Its clear, I think, today that they are still reeling from the revelation of John Boltons book and what he has to say. The very relevant and probative quality of testimony that he should give the Senate. Schiff pointed out that Bolton has offered to appear before the Senate if he is subpoenaed, adding that if its Boltons word against Trumps, only the former is willing to testify under oath. Three-quarters of voters say they want to allow witnesses in the Senate trial, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Bakhtiar K Dadabhoy, author of The Magnificent Diwan, lays down the life and times of Salar Jung I, also providing a social and political history of Hyderabad, recounting how Salar Jung decisively shaped the city's politics and economics for almost three decades of the latter half of the 19th century. Bakhtiar K Dadabhoy's The Magnificent Diwan: The Life and Times of Sir Salar Jung I is a biography of the man often referred to as the founder of modern Hyderabad. Through his reforms of the medieval oligarchy, Salar Jung led the city into the modern era. Drawing on archival research, Dadabhoy lays down the life and times of the Diwan, also providing a social and political history of Hyderabad, recounting how Salar Jung decisively shaped the city's politics and economics for almost three decades of the latter half of the 19th century. The following is an excerpt from the book's second chapter, 'The Diwan and His Deodi' which discusses the process and intrigue around the selection of a new Diwan, and his deodi, the name given to the tradition, fortified residences of wealthy and noblemen of the 18th and 19th century. This excerpt from The Magnificent Diwan: The Life and Times of Sir Salar Jung I by Bakhtiar K Dadabhoy has been reproduced here with permission from the publisher, Penguin Random House India. *** The palace rumour mill went into overdrive. Rumours were rife as to who the next diwan would be. The press reported that it could be Raja Bal Mukund but also added a caveat that it was not possible to read the nizams mind. Whom the Nizam will appoint his Minister no man can tell, but of this every man makes sure that he will disappoint the general expectation. The same report also said that it would not be surprising if the partisans of the late diwan made a push to obtain the succession to the office for his nephew Salar Jung, and success is not impossible. These proved to be prescient words as the course of events showed. Salar Jung was twenty-four at the time, and largely an unknown entity, and it is no surprise that the reports about his abilities were less than sanguine. There is nothing against this young gentleman, which is not a little to say of a man of his years, but to assert that there is any positive excellence upon which any expectation could be built, would be to advance a problem not easy to be solved. We cannot in every man expect to find a Pitt. The nizam for his part played his cards very close to his chest, giving no clue as to whom he would appoint to the post. Raja Bal Mukund was at one time a front runner, but there were forces who were strongly advocating the candidature of the young Salar Jung. The fact that Rafi uddin Khan Umdat-ul-Mulk, the eldest son of Fakhr-ud-din Khan Shumsul-Umra II, the premier noble of the realm, had been meeting the nizam for two or three hours every day gave rise to the supposition that he would be appointed to the post. But such hopes were belied. In a sudden and inexplicable turnaround, Rafi-ud-din Khan lost favour with the nizam, who instructed him to come to the durbar only when sent for. A coterie close to the nizam consisting of Burhan-ud-din, Mama Jamila and Lala Bahadur were using all their influence to secure the appointment of Salar Jung whom they thought would be a puppet in their hands. Burhan-ud-din was an attendant who decided whom the nizam would see, and when. Even the diwan was granted an audience through him, and many official proposals were approved by the nizam on the recommendations of this flunkey. Chandu Lal had often complained to the resident about Burhan-ud-din and his influence on the nizam. Mama Jamila was a maid-in-waiting. Mamas were often wet nurses or simply maids to royal ladies. They played an important role in palace affairs in Mughal history and later with the Asaf Jahs. The royal children often grew up under their influence and could seldom shake it off. Mama Jamila was an influential figure in court intrigues. She would often announce the nizams decision to supplicants, and this included the allotment and cancellation of jagirs. Her word could not be cross-checked because the nizam could only be met by appointment, which usually took two weeks to get, while Mama Jamila met the nizam many times in a day. Often, she was the last one he saw before retiring to bed, and so hers was quite literally the last word. The last of the triumvirate, Lala Bahadur, was the influential daftardar, and it was said that if the three got together to achieve a common aim, there was every chance that they would succeed. Securing Salar Jungs appointment was an uphill task. The nizam held Salar Jungs family responsible for the cession of Berar, and he was not predisposed to appointing another minister from the same family who had done him an injury. The coterie importuned their sovereign: It is not a Minister, but your prestige [ekbal], which governs. Surajool-Moolk conducted the administration through the subordinate departments. Lala Bahadoor, who did everything, will as before conduct the affairs of the administration for Salar Jung. He is in every respect superior to his uncle. Their suggestions were met with disgust, personal reasons being cited for the nizams disapproval. The coterie argued that since the post was a sinecure, it may as well be bestowed upon Salar Jung as upon any other person. The Madras Spectator wrote: A strong party near the Nizam, at the head of which are these Burhan-ood-Deen, Mama Jemela and Lala Bahadoor is putting forth all its energies, all its influence, and all its contrivances to procure the appointment for Salar Jung, the nephew of Suraj-ool-Moolk, a mere youth of under twenty-five years of age. The young gentleman who bears a fair reputation, is reluctant, with a judgement beyond his years, to accept the office, and although the Nizam has expressed strong objection to his employment, on the express ground of his having sustained injury from his relation the late Minister, his party has not relaxed its exertions, and pursue their object with an eagerness unrestrained by any fears of their masters resentment only to be accounted for by their knowledge of his caprice and the impressible power of repeated solicitations upon his Highnesss mind. In the end, the coterie had its way. On 31 May 1853, the nizam appointed Salar Jung and Maharaja Narayan Pershad Narender Bahadur, Chandu Lals grandson, as diwan and peshkar respectively. The peshkar was an Arabic scholar, and was also fully conversant with Sanskrit, Marathi and Telugu. Also present on the occasion were the resident and the assistant resident, Major Cuthbert Davidson, who would succeed Colonel Low in that post. It was expected that Salar Jung would act under the pupilage of Lala Bahadur, and Narender Pershad would be mentored by Raja Bal Mukund. By all accounts, the decision was the nizams own, the resident not being taken into confidence. Before the nizam presented Salar Jung with his khillat, he obtained from Lala Bahadur his pledge and surety for the good conduct of the young diwan. Writing about his elevation in a letter dated 1 June 1853 to Henry Dighton, Salar Jung observed: On Monday evening, 30th May, I was unexpectedly ordered by His Highness to attend the Darbar the next day and to bring two surpainches, and also to write to the Resident and ask him to attend at the same time; and without any solicitation on my part or my grandmothers His Highness was pleased to confer the office of Dewan on me at the Darbar the day before yesterday and that of Peshkar on Rajah Narindher. I should have been quite content to remain in unmolested possession of my uncles jaghirs, were it possible, without the cares which such an office would impose upon me, especially in the present critical state of affairs here, but I was advised by friends, European and Native, and with too much appearance of truth to reject the advice, that if I declined the office, myself and my family would be utterly ruined . . . I shall nevertheless, do my best with Gods help to restore some order in the affairs of this country and endeavour to extricate the Government from its embarrassments. It was rumoured that Lala Bahadur had promised the nizam Rs 13 lakh in two months time if he appointed Salar Jung as diwan. Another story was that Salar Jung had agreed to pay the nizam Rs 11 lakh in repayment of a debt taken by his uncle Siraj-ul-Mulk, and Rs 2.25 lakh as thanks for appointing him diwan. Lala Bahadur had been tasked with raising the latter amount for which he was forced to borrow the money from a local moneylender. The Englishman reported that the nizam had demanded Rs 11 lakh as a condition of his appointment. But these were just rumours. Salar Jung, in a memorandum written ten years after he had become diwan, explained the circumstances under which he obtained his office. After the death of his uncle, Salar Jung tells us that he had neither hopes of obtaining the diwani, nor was he anxious to get it. In any case, he was only twenty-four years old at the time. He also seems anxious to clarify that there was no way he could have lobbied for the position, given the circumstances. In other countries high appointments may have been conferred on young men, but such an idea as regards myself was far from my thought. However, on the following Saturday, His late Highness agitated the subject of my appointment, and while I was reflecting on the course I should pursue, most of my advisers here, as well as General Low, who was then Resident . . . recommended me to accept the office as a means for upholding the position of my family, which it was thought would otherwise be much impaired. I was therefore constrained to accept the offer, and on the Tuesday following, after the Durbar for the Resident, I was appointed. It will thus be clear from the above that in the space of three days, between Saturday and Tuesday, it was not possible that I could have succeeded by my own endeavours in obtaining the appointment. It was widely expected that Salar Jung would be a pliable puppet in the hands of the coterie. Observers cautioned against the perils of expecting a person invested with power to refrain from using it. They cited the example of Siraj-ul-Mulks father, Munir-ul-Mulk, who was appointed diwan so as to preclude the vacant office from becoming an object of constant competition and intrigue. But the coterie had miscalculated in their choice of Salar Jung. He asserted himself almost from the start, a story which is told in the next chapter. This type of hacking grabbed headlines last week in connection with a forensic report commissioned by Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, that asserted with medium to high confidence that Mr. Bezos phone had been hacked after he received an encrypted video via WhatsApp from Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Other technology researchers have questioned the reports conclusions, but two United Nations experts gave it their stamp of approval, saying that the hack aimed to influence, if not silence The Posts critical coverage of the kingdom. The attempt on my phone, a month after the reported hack of Mr. Bezos, was less dramatic, but no less scary in its implications. An examination of my phone turned up no indications that it had been compromised, but technology researchers who inspected the message I received concluded that I was targeted with powerful software sold by NSO Group, an Israeli company, and deployed by hackers working for Saudi Arabia. A spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment. When asked if its products had been used to target my phone, a spokesman for NSO Group said in a statement that it was entirely deceptive to suggest that its technology was responsible for all such phone hacking attempts, since other companies offered similar tools. The researchers, at Citizen Lab at the University of Torontos Munk School, have in recent years identified 36 operators that have used NSO Groups technology on hundreds of targets in 45 countries. These targets include four people whom the researchers were able to identify by name and could confirm were hacked by operators that appeared to be working for Saudi Arabia. The Madras High Court on Tuesday ruled that no one injured permanently while in service can claim over Rs 8,000 per month, even if he or she were drawing over the amount as salary. Justice S Vaidyanathan cited a government order (GO) issued under the Act while rejecting an appeal of Sekar against the order of the Joint Commissioner of Labour who awarded a compensation of Rs 8,000 as instead of fixing 100 per cent of his last drawn According to the GO, even if the salary of a person permanently injured while working exceeds Rs 8,000, the compensation should be fixed as if the monthlywages were only Rs 8,000 and not above. Though a new notification has been issued by the central governmenton January 3, 2020 enhancing the monthly wages for such persons from Rs 8,000 to Rs 15,000, the increased amount cannot be given to the appellant as the notification issued on May 31, 2010 had fixed the monthly wages as Rs 8,000 at the time of accident. Justice Vaidyanathan of the court's Madurai bench said the issue raised on enhancement of wages had been rightly answered by the authority and the court finds no reason whatsoever to interfere with the finding and rejected the appeal. The court cannot exercise the legislative powers and fix any amount, as it thinks it fit on account of the fact that the claim does not fall under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, the judge said. The petitioner, who worked in the State Express Transport Corporation, submitted that the wages should be taken as Rs 12,000 which he was earning while fixing the wages, but the judge rejected the appeal. DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Emerging Technologies Investment Meeting in Davos gathered leading industry players and major investors to discuss the hottest topics in finance, including social impact and sustainable investment, as well as the evolution of the global financial market. The meeting offered three days of complete immersion into the world of deep tech and institutional finance, with the participation of leading global investors representing more than $400 billion in AUM. The annual Emerging Technologies Investment Meeting in Davos once again looked at impact investments in emerging tech through a fascinating series of panel discussions and keynote speeches. The EmTech Investment Meeting brings together business leaders, investors, PE & VC Funds, Corporate VC, hedge funds, professional traders, family offices, government representatives, and journalists. The three-day programme commenced on 20 January 2020 with an evening event entitled "Sustainable Investments and Social Impact of Emerging Technologies." The discussion began with opening remarks from Daniyal Baig (Forbes Middle East). Speakers from the investment and academia spheres included Sandro Salsano (Salsano Group & Salsano Family Office), Ibrahim AlMojel (Saudi Industrial Development Fund), Par Lindstrom (i(x) Investments), Henrik Lundin (IMAS Foundation), Sebastiaan Ranner (MN), Carlos Sanchez (Willis Towers Watson), Christian Wipf (Schaffhausen Institute of Technology). The perspective on emerging technologies and trends was presented by Alexander Prokhorov (MultiGreen), Peter Fedichev (Gero AI), Brian Kean (Sensorium), Evgenii Borisov (VIMANA), Yusef Khesuani (VIVAX BIO/3D Bioprinting Solutions), Sergey Sholom (GNation Foundation) and David Solomon (Blueprints). Dr. Tobias Reichmuth (SUSI Partners), who moderated the panel discussion "Sustainable Finance: a Must for Institutional Investors," said: "Climate change is one of the most-discussed topics at Davos this year, which means that sustainable finance has an importance like never before. We have seen in our panel that while certain barriers must still be overcome, capital is available and we are generally going in the right direction. " Peter Fedichev, Founder of Gero, noted: "In 2019 we achieved rejuvenation in mammals using an intervention discovered by artificial intelligence. It is a significant milestone for the AI and biotech industries. We are happy to announce it here at the EmTech conference at Davos, which is an impressive gathering of people interested in impact investments." Brian Kean, Head of International IR and Voice Creation at Sensorium, told the audience: "As content creators, we ask you all to keep an eye out for our late 2020 world-wide launch. The Social VR experience in the Sensorium Galaxy is the next step in social networking." This session was followed by a fireside chat between Arif Khan (Alethea AI) and Dan Patterson (CNET and CBS News) about the synthetic media revolution. Day two (21 January 2020) of the programme took place at Davos' HardRock Hotel, leading with a discussion on "Evolution of Financial Markets." The discussion featured opening remarks from Zack Seward (CoinDesk), followed by keynote speeches from Charles Hoskinson (Cardano foundation), Lennix Lai (OKEx) and Ciara Sun (Huobi Group); and a panel discussion entitled "The Beginning of Institutional Era for Digital Assets: Custody, Prime Brokerage, Exchanges, Hedge Funds" presented by Rupertus Rothenhaeuser (SIX Digital Exchange), Steve Kelso (Galaxy Digital), George Zarya (Bequant Prime Brokerage), Marc P. Bernegger (Crypto Finance AG) and moderated by Jemima Kelly, a reporter at FT Alphaville, Financial Times. The evening proceeded with a talk by Ezequiel Steiner (Acronis), Ali Mizani Oskui (FiCAS) and presentation by Lennix Lai (OKEx) entitled, "Disrupting the Future: Financial Markets Evolutions," and a fireside chat between Brian Collins (Horizon) & James Haft (PALcapital). The second day concluded with a panel discussion on Investments in Digital Assets in Asia with Hugh Madden, CEO at BC Group, and other thought leaders from OKEx, Huobi Group, PALcapital, and was moderated by Tom Blackwell, CEO of EM. Ciara Sun, Vice President of Global Business at Huobi Group, stated: "There is an industry-wide consensus that institutional investors and HNWIs will be the major contributors of growth for the crypto economy in 2020 and beyond, but barriers like low liquidity and a lack of asset enhancement products are stalling widespread adoption. By introducing institutional-grade products and liquidity solutions that cater to the needs of institutions and eliminate existing barriers, we are aiming to help drive the entire crypto-economy forward." According to Lennix Lai, Financial Market Director at OKEx: "Unbankedness has been a global challenge. The underprivileged who are not able to afford or return with enough economic benefits to the bank are left behind from a decent living standard." Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar, CEO of IOV Labs, commented: "We are thrilled to have been sponsors at the EmTech Investing Meeting 2020, as it has touched upon topics that are at the heart of our organization. IOV Labs is focused on developing the platforms needed for a new blockchain-based financial system that will enable worldwide financial inclusion and bridge the gap between these nascent technologies and mass adoption. We are aiming to do this through RSK Smart Contracts that extended Bitcoin's functionalities, RIF (RSK Infrastructure Framework) that is creating the building blocks to construct a fully decentralized internet by adding identity, storage, communications, marketplaces, micro-payments, and gateways layers, and Taringa - the world's largest Spanish-speaking social medial network with 30 million users and over 1,000 active online communities." On day three, EmTech IM held a discussion on the travel rule and data privacy with opening remarks from Michael Casey of CoinDesk, followed by a keynote address by Jason Hsu, Congressman and President of the Taiwan Parliamentary Coalition for Blockchain & Industry Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO). This was followed by two panel sessions. The first, entitled, "Travel Rule and Data Privacy," featured presentations by Nathan Kaiser (Cardano Foundation), Anson Zeall (Blockchain Association) and Ron Tucker (IDAXA). The second panel session was entitled, "Compliance Solutions for Business," included the speakers Delphine Forma (Lykke Business), Gino Wirthensohn (Sygnum), Guido Rudolphi (SEBA Bank AG), David Riegelnig (Bitcoin Suisse) and Zurab Ashvil (L3COS), and was moderated by Anna Poullain, freelance journalist for Vice News, Getty Video and Reuters. Zurab Ashvil, CEO at L3COS, stated: "Without having a single universal platform for governments, businesses and individuals worldwide, there is no practical solution for addressing the underlying blockchain problems that we are facing today." Founders of the EmTech Investment Meeting, Anna Palmina and Alena Yudina, said: "We are delighted to be in Davos to bring topical debate and knowledge from incredible speakers to an audience thirsty for content on world-changing issues - such as the growing recognition that the societal and environmental impact of investments is of equal importance to their financial returns. There is no better place than Davos to discuss such issues, where the best global minds in finance, government, business and technology come together. We are honoured to be hosting an event where positive and world-changing conversations can take place." All panel discussions and keynote speeches were recorded. To request video or quotes from speakers and other information, please contact EmTech IM's organisers at contact@em-tech.org Former world No. 10 Wong Wing Ki Vincent continued his winning streak while Beiwen Zhang also dazzled as Awadhe Warriors defeated Mumbai Rockets for their maiden victory in the ongoing Premier Badminton League here on Tuesday. Vincent beat Daren Liew in Awadhe's last showdown with the Hyderabad Hunters and he once more showed that same confidence and conviction when he took on Parupalli Kashyap. The two had previously squared off twice on the BWF circuit with the World No. 25 Kashyap leading 2-0 in their head-to-head record. This time, however, he was unable to do much against Vincent, who put up a show to remember for the home crowd. The first game was on par till 6-6 after which Vincent upped the ante with his aggressive display. The Mumbai Trump, Kashyap kept peppering unforced errors which did not help his cause further. As the match wore on, Vincent started growing in confidence as he wrapped up the first game 15-8. The Indian made an effort to come back in the second game but an alert Vincent dashed his hopes to complete the 15-8, 15-10 win in front of a roaring home crowd, whom he thanked later for their relentless support. Having lost her first match to Michelle Li of the North Eastern Warriors, determination was writ large on the world No. 14 Zhang's face. The former India Open champion made no mistake in her meeting with Mumbai Rockets' Kuhoo Garg, who struggled with the American's exquisite placement of shuttle. Zhang's pace and power were too much for the youngster who conceded the match to Awadhe's Trump, 3-15, 4-15. Earlier, Kim Sa Rang and Pia Zebadiah's partnership helped make a grand start to the match for the former runners-up, Mumbai Rockets against Awadhe's strong pair of Christinna Pedersen and Ko Sung Hyun. The latter had emerged victorious in the Warriors' first tie but this time Rang and Zebadiah's quick reflexes at the net did not allow them to settle into the match as the Mumbai duo held their nerves to register a 15-9, 15-14 win. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A total of 97 people have been tested for coronavirus in the UK and all have been confirmed negative, the Department of Health has said. More than 100 people who contracted the deadly virus have now died in China, and more than 4,500 cases have been identified globally. Scientists have predicted it may already have arrived in the UK. It comes as UK citizens stranded in Wuhan, where the outbreak began, have been urged to contact the British consulate as part of evacuation plans. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has said the government is working on how to bring people home from the Chinese city. Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Show all 154 1 /154 Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Paramedics wearing personal protective equipment carry patient on a stretcher on to an ambulance in North Point district in Hong Kong, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker wearing protective gear takes a rest as he waits for ambulances carrying patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at an entrance of a hospital in Daegu, South Korea YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker sprays disinfectant on an ambulance after carrying a patient infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Daegu YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective face masks shop at a supermarket in Casalpusterlengo, one the northern Italian towns placed under 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flu-like virus A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for "urgent operational health and safety reasons", following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. 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The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan Xinhua News Agency/AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China's easter Shandong province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li's hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China's Wuhan province Vsluh.ru via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman's home in Qingdao EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan Malaysia's Ministry of Health/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine Italian Defence Ministry/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A young child wears a protective mask and is covered in plastic while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK Tom Maddick / SWNS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS Chinatopix via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An Indonesian health officer points at the screen of a thermal scanner for passengers China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China's central Jiangxi province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan STR/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting Yingtan North Railway Station, China China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, uses an electronic thermometer to check the temperature of passengers arriving by plane from Wuhan The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China's northern Hebei province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff and security personnel stop patients' family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A notice for passengers from Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market Getty Mr Shapps told BBC Breakfast: For anybody who is there, one of the issues we have, working with our partners internationally on this, is actually identifying how many British citizens there are in Wuhan. One of the things were asking people to do is to contact the consulate there to make them aware. People have started to do that. We are working on arrangements as well. He added: If they actually contact the consulate where they are then that consulate is in fact gathering together all the information of the people who are there, in order to help repatriate where thats appropriate. Boris Johnson, the prime minister, has previously insisted the government is doing everything we can to get Britons out of Hubei province. Officials estimate up to 200 citizens currently there will want to return to the UK. Hubei province has been on lockdown for several days as China seeks to contain the illness, as have other parts of China. On Monday, Matt Hancock, the health secretery, called on people who have returned from Wuhan to self-isolate even if they have no symptoms. Some 1,561 people are now known to have entered the UK from Wuhan since 10 January, including airline crew, although some have since left again. Just 10 per cent of these people supplied an email address to the airline and have been contacted with advice on what to do if they feel ill. Mr Hancock said Public Health England officials were trying to trace the others. Additional reporting by agencies New footage shows robots delivering food to people trapped in a quarantined hotel in China in efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus. The robots were programmed to stop by the room doors to deliver meals and sing to entertain the guests while they were in the quarantined zone to contain the deadly disease. More than 200 tourists were housed in the isolation point in Hangzhou, east China, after their flight landed in the city. Some of the passengers on board came from Wuhan, the city where the virus that has killed more than 131 people originated from. The robots are programmed to stop by the room doors to deliver meals and sing to entertain the guests at the quarantined hotel in Hangzhou, east China In order to prevent cross-infection between passengers the staff at the hotel began delivering meals using the robots. A video taken by the guests staying there on Sunday shows the robot stopping in front of the room doors as people come out and take the food from them. During the meal service an announcement is also played to the guests. A video taken by the guests staying there on Sunday shows the robot stopping in front of the room doors as people come out and take the food from them According to The Star it can be heard saying: 'Hi everyone. I am now serving meals to you and if you have any meal requirements, please send us a message through WeChat. 'A member of staff will contact you shortly. Enjoy your meal, thank you.' A spokesman at Hangzhou School of Communist Party of China said that they have programmed 16 robots, one on each floor across the building. He said they have set the route for the robots, including where to go, where to stop and to play the announcement at the door. Meanwhile in China, health workers have been hosing down streets, shops and public transport with disinfectant spray to try curb the spiralling epidemic. Pictured: A worker sprays an office building in Qingdao, Shandong Province A volunteer sprays disinfectant in Qingdao's residential West Coast area Qingdao is a coastal city approximately 620miles (1,000km) away from Wuhan He added that the robots can entertain and sing songs to the guests as well. Nearly 6,000 people have been struck down with the killer virus across the world as China has now recorded 131 deaths in the ever-worsening outbreak. Britons stuck in coronavirus-hit Wuhan are gearing up to be flown back to the UK on Thursday via chartered planes in a landmark evacuation mission. In China, health workers have been hosing down streets, shops and public transport with disinfectant spray to try curb the spiralling epidemic. The killer coronavirus outbreak has now killed 106 people and struck down nearly 6,000. Cases have been spotted in Canada, US, France and Australia Many Nigerians on social media have reacted to the court judgement which sentenced Maryam Sanda to death. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the case was brought to an end on Monday after almost three years. Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court found Ms Sanda guilty of killing her husband. Ms Sanda stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife with a clear intent to kill, Mr Halilu concluded in the judgment, after a two-count homicide charge was brought by the Nigerian police against Ms Sanda in November 2017. The victim, Bilyaminu Bello, was the son of a former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Haliru Bello. The prosecuting counsel had urged the court to pronounce a death penalty on Ms Sanda. The judge obliged by sentencing the convict to death by hanging. The judgement can still be appealed by the convict under the nations laws. Nigerians react Nigerians have shown divergent opinions on the court verdict. While some believe the judgement is a win for Nigerias judiciary, others wanted a slight reprieve for the convict. According to Amnesty International, as of 2018, 106 countries have abolished death sentence. Nigeria is among the 53 other countries that still has death sentence in its judicial system. Some Nigerians also believe that Mrs Sandas case is an affirmation of the danger of staying in abusive marriages. SEE ALSO: Below are the reactions of some Nigerians on Twitter: My take from Maryam Sanda's case is that if justice can be so swiftly gotten why do we wait for years on so many cases? Imagine what Nigeria will be like when people know they can go to court and get justice irrespective of who the person involved is. That no one is above the law Aisha Yesufu (@AishaYesufu) January 28, 2020 A billion more cases like "maryam sanda" can't teach me a lesson. You all will never understand her side of the story. women are very patient and if a lady takes an action that's as drastic as maryam's, it could only mean one thing. She's had it up to her neck! pic.twitter.com/1QptgsKpHV Mrs_oumar (@OumarMrs) January 27, 2020 If Maryam Sanda was the one killed by her husband, there wouldnt be a death sentence. Of 121 recorded cases from 2014-18 where women were allegedly killed by their husbands, how many men sentenced to death? NONE! ZERO! Our legal Sys is very misogynistic & entrenched in patriarchy Jake Okechukwu Effoduh (@effodu) January 27, 2020 Even though one knows the gravity of Maryam Sandas crime, her story is still heartbreaking. Gimba Kakanda (@gimbakakanda) January 27, 2020 https://twitter.com/sugabelly/status/1221770491209437186 I have no sympathy for Maryam Sanda. My reservation about the death penalty has little do with her as an individual but the system which is barbaric. She deserves a life sentence,to never see the light of freedom. Her mother & bro should be prosecuted for tampering with evidence. Fakhrriyyah (@FakhuusHashim) January 27, 2020 https://twitter.com/Zaddy_nomso/status/1221785009696202752 I sincerely feel sorry for Maryam Sanda, and my heart beats hard imagining how she feels at the moment. But the law is blind. The symbol of justice is of a blindfolded lady carrying a set of scales in one hand & a sword in the other.- @DrJoeAbah The law will take its course. Bello Shagari (@Belshagy) January 27, 2020 Sympathizing with Maryam Sanda is not an approval of the crime she committed. It is simply a lesson to reflect on life, trials and how everyone is destined to die. Instead of the castigation, why not we worry about our selves and pray we have a good ending. Gombawa (@IdrisGombawa) January 27, 2020 https://twitter.com/Haidaer__/status/1221763165899427846 The mother and stepfather of a missing Idaho brother and sister have been found at a Hawaiian resort, but theres still no sign of the children. Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, who were staying on the island of Kauai, have been ordered to physically produce JJ Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare within five days or face civil or criminal contempt of court, according to Fox 10. JJ, Vallows adopted son, and Tylee, Vallows daughter, have been missing since September and are believed to be in danger, according to police. After relatives grew concerned that they hadnt heard from JJ, police began investigating in November, at which point Vallow and Daybell, recently married, lied and said he was staying in Arizona with a family friend. The Rexburg Police Department then executed a search warrant at the Daybells house, but found that the couple had abruptly left their home and fled the area. Officials said earlier this month that the couple had been lying about her children, including telling witnesses that Tylee had died a year before her father and, separately, that Vallow had no minor children. Vallows late husband, Charles, filed for divorce in February and accused her of becoming infatuated at times obsessive about near death experiences and spiritual visions, according to a filing obtained by Fox 13. Mother has told Father [Charles Vallow] that she is sealed [eternally married] to the ancient Book of Mormon prophet Moroni and that she has lived numerous lives on numerous planets prior to this current life, Charles Vallow wrote. On January 29, 2019, during a phone conversation between the parties and after their physical separation, Mother informed Father that she was a God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christs second coming in July 2020 and that if Father got in her way of her mission she would murder him. He also claimed she 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 said she had an angel there to help her dispose of the body. Five months after filing for divorce, Charles Vallow was shot to death in Chandler, Ariz., by Loris brother, Alex Cox, who claimed self-defense. Cox died in December. Daybells wife, meanwhile, was found dead in her Fremont County home on Oct. 19, a few weeks after JJ and Tylee were last seen. Police initially ruled 49-year-old Tammys death natural, but the Fremont County Sheriffs Office later exhumed her body and launched an investigation into the possibility that it was suspicious. JJ is described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes, standing at 40 and weighing 50 pounds. He also goes by JJ and may be in need of medical attention. Tylee is described as a white female with blonde hair and blue eyes, standing at 50 and weighing 160 pounds. Anyone with information about the children is asked to call Rexburg police at 208-359-3000 or report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Fear of Coronavirus sparks run on face masks at pharmacies in Rome. Rome pharmacies have sold out of protective face masks amid a surge in demand due to concerns over the deadly Coronavirus, reports Italian news agency ANSA. The scramble to buy masks has been driven largely by tourists and Italians preparing to leave for the airport, according to Federfarma, the Italian pharmacy owners federation. The move has been described as a "psychosis", similar to the time of SARS when Rome's hand sanitisers sold out - Federfarma Roma representative Laura Cesaroni told ANSA - "however the masks will be available again shortly, there are no stock problems." Pharmacies in Rome sell out of face masks. Photo ANSA. The run on face masks in the capital comes as Rome's Chinese community cancels its Lunar New Year celebrations out of solidarity with China, where the fatal virus originated at the start of 2020. Passengers arriving into Fiumicino on the three weekly flights from Wuhon, the epicentre of the outbreak, are being segegrated from other travellers and channelled through a separate health corridor for special screening. With more than 100 dead and thousands infected, the World Health Organization now says the global risk from the deadly virus is "high", admitting that it got it wrong in its previous assessment which described the risk as "moderate". The Chinese government has imposed strict travel restrictions, locking down 20 cities and closing tourist sites in a desperate attempt to rein in the mysterious virus which scientists believe may have "jumped" from bats or snakes to humans. Since the virus broke out it has spread to more than a dozen countries, from Japan to the US, with the first confirmed case reported in Germany on 28 January. Cover photo Corriere della Sera By PTI KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Tuesday prevented by a section of students from attending the Calcutta University's annual convocation at Nazrul Mancha here, following which he left the premises. Dhankhar, who is also the chancellor of the university, said, "those that compromised culture and decorum need to be in a reflective mode". Shortly after the governor arrived at the venue around 12.30 pm, the students, with 'No CAA' and 'No NRC' posters in hand, waved black flags at him and raised 'go back' slogans. Dhankhar headed straight towards the Nazrul Mancha green room, where he met Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee, who was on Tuesday conferred honorary D Litt (honoris causa) by the university. ALSO READ: Coffee offer fails to thaw out strained ties between Mamata Banerjee, Jagdeep Dhankhar Minutes before the programme started, however, another group of students took to the stage and raised slogans against the governor, this time prompting him to leave the venue around 1.30 pm. The protesters claimed that Dhankhar was "the (BJP- led) Centre's representative, who doesn't deserve to be on the dais for CU's convocation ceremony". Vice-Chancellor Sonali Chakravarty Bandhopadhyay, on her part, was seen trying to convince the students to withdraw their agitation. She later announced that the governor had left the venue. Taking to Twitter, Dhankhar later shared pictures of his rendezvous with the Nobel laureate and said, "The actions of those who created or stage managed unseemly spectacle would resonate for long in the ears of the cultured people of WB (West Bengal)". ALSO READ: 'No point in carrying baggage of the past' - Dhankhar confident about working together with Mamata government "The uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta University without attending the Convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of the immense respect we have for Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on whom we are conferring honorary D Litt (honoris causa)," he tweeted. The governor also showered praises on Abhijit Banerjee and said he was a "man of sterling qualities and disarming grace...greatly touched by his modest approach and depth". Last month, Dhankhar had faced similar protests at Jadavpur University, also during the convocation ceremony. The West Bengal government, in December last year, trimmed the governor's powers as the chancellor of universities, notifying a set of new rules governing his interaction with vice-chancellors. Under the new rule, the chancellor cannot intervene in the day-to-day affairs of universities, nor can he advise university officials directly. All communication between the chancellor and senior university officials will also have to be routed through the state's higher education department, it mandated. 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Clements Worldwide's Scholars Program, a trusted and exceedingly customizable group health insurance program designed for international students, staff, and educators, is one of many groups to benefit from this partnership with Cigna. This new partnership takes effect in January 2020 and brings two critical benefits to Clements Worldwide clients: Global Telehealth, and International Employee Assistance Program services. Health plans will be offered at affordable rates along with additions to medical and non-medical coverage. About Clements Worldwide Clements Worldwide ( Clements.com ) was founded in 1947 by Robert Clements and M. Juanita Guess-Clements with the vision of delivering customized solutions for clients who travel frequently, be it for work or pleasure. Clements is the first company to offer expatriate insurance for U.S. State Department employees, providing U.S. Foreign Service Officers with insurance coverage while on overseas missions. 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Contact: Leen Hadermann Business Communications Manager Phone: 32 3 217 65 48 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Clements Worldwide Related Links http://www.clements.com 'Rightly or wrongly, 1962 got ascribed to Krishna Menon and him alone. That's unfair.' 'Certainly, he was one of the guilty men, but he was not the only guilty man. Mistakes were made all around.' IMAGE: Then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and V K Krishna Menon, right, at the United Nations. Photograph: Kind courtesy, Wikipedia Commons Was V K Krishna Menon, then defence minister, the main reason why India lost the 1962 battle with China? "History has vindicated Krishna Menon on the negotiated settlement with China. In the last 16 years, we have been negotiating. The biggest tribute to him is today India and China are negotiating... I would say the best tribute to Krishna Menon came from Vajpayee by him going to China in 2003," Jairam Ramesh, author of A Chequered Brilliance, The Many Lives of V K Krishna Menon, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier in the concluding part of an eloquent interview. What made Nehru and Krishna Menon so close? The same wavelength, British upbringing? Nehru saw Krishna Menon's brilliance. Nehru saw that he was held in great intellectual esteem by people Nehru respected like (Harold) Laski, Stafford Cripps, Clement Atlee. Then they also had a common theosophical background. Krishna Menon's first mentor was Annie Besant. Nehru was a great admirer of Annie Besant. Krishna Menon was the literary agent for Nehru. He gave Nehru wider exposure and wider popularity, particularly in England and in the (European) continent. Both of them saw India's freedom movement in the context of the global struggle against imperialism whether it was Spain, China or Ethiopia. Krishna Menon was an extension of Nehru in many ways, in thought processes, in intellect. Nehru felt that everybody else in the Congress party was a UP leader or a Bengal leader or a Bihar leader. But Krishna Menon was an international figure. That appealed to Nehru. Nehru was a loner, but he unwound himself to Krishna Menon. Nehru was drawn to him because he was very well-read. If you read the letters Nehru has written to Krishna Menon in the 1930s and 1940s, you will see that he was unburdening himself. He was talking about Gandhi, political issues, even his personal affairs. That's why you said, Krishna Menon was his soulmate... Yes, he was Nehru's soulmate. Then, of course, for every one page Nehru wrote, Krishna Menon wrote four pages! In fact, the correspondence between Nehru and Krishna Menon would occupy a volume by itself. Other than Indira Gandhi, Nehru wrote the maximum numbers of letters to Krishna Menon. You said despite the English education, British upbringing and the British way of life, they were true Indians. Why? They were good Britishers, but they were true Indians. In fact, Nehru on record jokingly told (Lord Louis) Mountbatten that he was going to be the last viceroy, last Englishman to rule India! They were great believers of parliamentary democracy, force of debate, the role of reason in public discourse, the books they read, the jokes they cracked, the authors they liked -- they were more British. They were suspicious of the United States. They were naturally drawn towards the Soviet Union. They were both democratic Socialists; they were democrats first and Socialists later. Where did you see the Indianness in Krishna Menon's heart? I saw the Indianness in Krishna Menon in the way he stood up for India at the UN. He was the voice of India and took on the UK, took on the US, took on all the big powers. One of the reasons why he was hated in the West was he stood up. He did not play second fiddle. In the 1950s, he carved out India much above its economic weight. The reason for India's disproportionate role in international affairs was because of Gandhi's legacy, Nehru's leadership and Krishna Menon's international role. He was one of the first advocates of disarmament. He was a great believer in breaking the monopoly of Western powers on nuclear energy. That led to the International Atomic Energy Agency in the mid-1950s. Yes, he would have loved to stay back in England. From 1929 to 1953, he lived there. London was his natural home. Despite his brilliance, despite his many accomplishments, future generations will remember him only for that one failure of his: The India-China war. Do you feel he is misunderstood? Certainly, Krishna Menon is misunderstood. Even if you have a hundred accomplishments, one grand failure can obliterate all achievements. Rightly or wrongly, 1962 got ascribed to him and him alone. That's unfair. Certainly, he was one of the guilty men, but he was not the only guilty man. Mistakes were made all around. K Subrahmanyam, father of the current foreign minister, who was one of India's greatest defence experts, pointed out that 1962 was the failure of the military command. But the military conveniently ascribed all the blame on to the political leadership. Nehru kept quiet. Krishna Menon didn't say one word. Therefore, we have only the accounts of the military guys. Neville Maxwell's book, India's China War, did the single biggest damage to India's case. It was not India's China war, it was Mao's India war! It was Mao who decided to teach India a lesson. Do you feel the other Congressmen who never liked Krishna Menon felt happy that he became the scapegoat? I wouldn't use the word scapegoat. People who never liked Nehru felt very happy. Krishna Menon was a proxy. And people who never liked Nehru targeted Krishna Menon. But the entire blame for the 1962 debacle went only to Krishna Menon. Yes. In 1962, Rajaji (C Rajagopalachari) issued a statement that the nation cannot lose Nehru at that time, but Krishna Menon should resign. Even in the Congress party, the demand for resignation was not for Nehru, but was for Krishna Menon. When Nehru was most reluctant to accept Krishna Menon's resignation, Mahavir Tyagi said, 'If you don't accept his resignation, we will ask for your resignation.' I have come to the conclusion that in order to protect his own position, Nehru reluctantly accepted Krishna Menon's resignation. Finally, because of the pressure from Indira Gandhi, (then President) S Radhakrishnan and Congress MPs, the realisation came to Nehru that if he did not let go of Krishna Menon, his own position would become untenable. Did Krishna Menon forgive Nehru for this? Of course, he did. He remained close to Nehru till his (Nehru's) death. There was no bitterness between them? Absolutely not. Krishna Menon also realised that without Nehru, he was a nobody, he would have remained an intellectual, maybe a Labour party MP living in London. It was Nehru who catapulted him on the global stage. Of course, he had a personality. But without Nehru, Krishna Menon would have been nowhere. Was Krishna Menon an impactful speaker? He was not a great speaker. He used to speak in a low monotone voice. But his speeches were full of intellectual stuff, he was a scholarly speaker. He would quote from Western literature, Bible, Dante, Shakespeare. He was extemporaneous, he never read from a text. He had only notes with him. He was not a compelling speaker. Neither was Nehru. I would say (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee was spellbinding. Earlier we spoke about modern India not understanding the real Krishna Menon. Is it not unfair to look at him only from the prism of the 1962 war? Yes, to write him off as the villain of 1962 is a gross disservice to a man who had many contributions to Indias independence. Gandhi had failures, Patel had failures. Nehru had failures. Rajaji had failures. Everybody had failures. But you have to look at the sum total of the person. The most important thing is, in this country people don't realise that Indian Independence was a product of two forces. It was the product of the revolutionary upheaval in India led by Gandhi, it was also a product of negotiations of the Congress party with the Labour party which were led by Nehru on this side and Krishna Menon on the other side. I don't think we are educated in this way. When you read Indian history books, you will see that it was all domestic. The negotiations, particularly in the 1930s, culminated in the setting up of the Constituent Assembly in December 1946, and then Independence. In both of which Krishna Menon played a stellar role. So, what we learn as history is incomplete... Yes, it is incomplete. For example, the present generation doesn't know the contributions of Annie Besant to our freedom movement. In the pre-Gandhi phase, she was the most charismatic figure. Here was a British woman settled down in Adyar (in Chennai) telling all Indians that their legacy was a glorious culture and they should fight the British. She was calling for Home Rule. Annie Besant is again a forgotten figure. Would you like to write a book on her? I am thinking about it. I am going to the Theosophical Society after talking to you to look at the materials available. As a biographer, do you detach yourself from your subject? Yes, you have to. I have been quite critical of Nehru and Krishna Menon for their roles in the 1962 war. The important thing is to have a detached view of the events. My job was not to make him a hero or a villain but present the facts. I believe a biography should be written only based on primary material, or archival material. There are no oral recollections in this book; you have only letters, notes, speeches. I believe that the written word is far more true than the oral word. And this is my third biography. Krishna Menon left behind tens of thousands of pages -- letters and notes going back to 1922 -- which were finally open to the public in February last year. And they are all in the Nehru Memorial. Is it not ironical that a person who believed that Pakistan would be a long-term danger to India and not China, is known today for his failure to understand China? Absolutely. Krishna Menon always believed in a negotiated settlement with China. He also believed that we could never have a settlement with Pakistan because the difference was ideological. He deeply detested Jinnah and he was not a great fan of Partition. Neither was Nehru, neither was Patel. But they all knew they could not do business with Jinnah. People opposed Krishna Menon when he said we should do a deal with China. Vajpayee was very critical of Krishna Menon from 1962-1967 but in 2003, he went to Beijing and signed an agreement with the Chinese prime minister. History has vindicated Krishna Menon on the negotiated settlement with China. In the last 16 years, we have been negotiating. The biggest tribute to him is today India and China are negotiating. From 1955-1962, he was the only man in India saying that we should negotiate with China. But Nehru was weak then. The right wing in Nehru's Cabinet were against negotiating with China. Parliament was against the negotiations. The media was also against. One of the reasons why Menon was labelled as a Communist was because he was asking for negotiations with China. And that was the time Indian politicians were looking at China as a bigger threat than Pakistan... Yes, there was romance about Pakistan, we spoke the same language, we had the same culture; same country separated... I would say the best tribute to Krishna Menon came from Vajpayee by him going to China in 2003. I have quoted in my book a speech by Indira Gandhi in Parliament where she says had we listened to Krishna Menon in the 1950s, history would have been different. But then, that's history... Yes, that's history. History in Sanskrit and most Indian languages, is ithihasa. Ithihasa means, thus it was! My approach to biographies is ithi hasa, this is what it was. Do you see anybody of Krishna Menon's calibre in modern India? I don't see people of that calibre or vision. Krishna Menon was a maverick. Politics has changed. We are all intellectual pygmies compared to the generation of Rajaji, Patel, Nehru, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Krishna Menon, Hiren Mukherjee, Govind Ballabh Pant... they were all intellectual giants whatever their political views maybe. I don't know barring Shashi Tharoor, how many MPs will read this book. We have 770 MPs and other than Shashi Tharoor, I can't think of any MP reading the book. Yes, Manmohan Singh would have read my book. Maybe Swapan Dasgupta would also. You spoke of the archival material of letters and notes you went through as part of your research. Today, the art of letter writing is no longer there. People send messages and e-mails. Don't you think it will be a tough task to get written material if someone were to write a biography in future? Even Indira Gandhi did not leave behind any primary material. Modi has not left behind any letters. Forget about Modi, even Vajpayee has not left behind any written material. On the other hand, the collected works of Mahatma Gandhi is 100 volumes and the selected works of Nehru is 100 volumes. That generation is over. It will be impossible to write biographies based on primary material in future. So, ithi hasa will be different... Yes, that ithi hasa will have to be dependent on oral memoirs which I feel you can't rely on. On the heels of state Rep. Aaron M. Vegas announcement that he will not to seek a fifth term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, his longtime legislative aide began laying the groundwork to run for the seat. Patricia Duffy, of Holyoke, filed paperwork Tuesday with the states Office of Campaign and Political Finance to organize a candidates committee. Today is about Aaron, and how proud I am of all the work that he did, and how proud I was to work with him on all these initiatives, Duffy said in a brief interview Tuesday morning. Im keeping my options open. Candidates cannot officially take out nomination papers until Feb. 11. In making his announcement, Vega spoke in glowing terms of Duffy, a fellow Democrat. I want to thank her for all of her work on behalf of the people of Holyoke, Vega said. He called it an honor to work with Duffy. Vega has represented the 5th Hampden District for four terms, and Duffy has been his legislative aide since 2014. She ran for state representative in the 2nd Hampshire District in 2002, narrowly losing in a primary to John W. Scibak, who went on to hold the seat for 16 years. Duffy previously worked for the Amherst-based Union for Radical Political Economics, a nonprofit think tank dedicated to "challenging mainstream economics in both the academy and public discourse,'' her LinkedIn profile states. In that role, Duffy planned conferences and other events and managed the books, among other roles. Her past experience also includes work as office manager for the Commonwealth Opera. Duffys political background also includes nearly four years on the Massachusetts Democratic Party State Committee, eight years as chair and vice-chair of the Holyoke Democratic Committee, from 2007 to 2015, and board membership with Nueva Esperanza in Holyoke. She has been a board member with the Holyoke Redevelopment Authority since 2009. She has a bachelors degree in international relations and French from Tufts University, a masters degree in sociology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has studied political science and government at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. Her filing with the state campaign office lists Ray Drewnowski, chair of the Holyoke Democratic City Committee, as her campaign chair. Vega, a former Holyoke city councilor, did not give specific reasons for his decision, nor did he indicate his plans for the immediate future. He was effusive in his appreciation for the opportunity to represent Holyoke, during which time he served as vice-chairman for the House Committee on Technology and Intergovernmental Affairs and as a member on joint committees on cannabis policy, export development and higher education. Last year, Florida saw an uptick in sales despite a 9% pullback from international buyers. "It was exciting to see the almost 6% growth (5.9%) in closed single-family sales in 2019 from 2018," O'Connor said. "Florida topped over $100 billion (total of "$101.9 billion) in volume in home sales last year, up 8.3% from 2018; for condo-townhouses, we reached $31.6 billion in volume, up 1.8% over the 2018 figure." But with new listings down 11.4% year-over-year for single-family homes and down 9.7% for condos, prices are set to rise around 4%, although OConnor doesnt see that as a problem currently. The median sales price still continues to rise, but looking at what the monthly mortgage payment is, that's still a lot lower due to current historically low mortgage rates," O'Connor said. "And that continues to drive sales and makes it a good time to buy. Supply side issues The challenges to increased supply in Florida were discussed at the 2020 Florida Real Estate Trends summit during last week's Florida Realtors Mid-Winter Business Meetings. By PTI NEW DELHI: India has begun preparations for the evacuation of its nationals affected by the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak in China's Hubei Province, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the Indian Embassy in Beijing is in touch with the Chinese government, authorities and nationals on the matter. "We have begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China," he said in a tweet. ALSO READ: Eight people who returned to Tamil Nadu from China safe, to be monitored for four weeks "Our @EOIBeijing is working out the logistics & is in touch with the Chinese govt. authorities & our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates," Kumar tweeted. The toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in China has soared to 106 while nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed. Those coming from China are being screened for symptoms of the virus. The coronavirus is a new type of pneumonia, officially being described as 2019-nCoV. ALSO READ: First Indian coronavirus patient in China shows signs of recovery Wuhan and 17 others cities in Hubei Province remained the epicentre of the outbreak with most of the deaths having taken place there. Over 250 to 300 Indian students are reportedly stuck in Wuhan triggering concerns over their well-being. On Monday, a meeting, which was chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, reviewed India's preparedness to deal with the virus amid mounting global concern over increasing number of cases in China and several other countries. In India, no case has been detected so far though nearly 450 people have been kept under observation in the country, most of them in Kerala, following screening for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus. ALSO READ: India goes into high alert, puts 12 under medical surveillance Some, who have returned from China in recent weeks, have approached medical authorities as a precautionary step. Two laws seem to have gone by the wayside after creation by the state of Oregon. And I believe they are a matter of police officer safety. The first deals with license plate frames (mostly provided by dealers) that cover the tags. No way to read them; maybe on purpose for some? Dealers need to be made to comply the same as owners, per ORS 803.550 Section 2 that requires all to be unobstructed. We should start using this as probable cause to pull people over. You know if you have to remove the frame to replace tags, its wrong. The second is about the new Lyft lights in car windshields. ORS 816.350 Sections 4 and 12 clearly state that there are not to be any red or blue lights visible on the front of Oregon cars. Some people may get picky about the color displayed by Lyft cars, but I believe the pinkish-red and blue-purple colors fall under this law. It can be very deceiving with one behind your car. The state needs to make Lyft comply with the color requirements set forth by the law and have Lyft remove any and all colored lights from windshields. Please, Oregon, get tough and enforce these laws for everyone (not just have them on the books). Roger Currier, Newberg Photo: Your Daily Move/Yelp Looking for a new spot to get fit? A new business is here to help. Located at 4536 N. Clark in Ravenswood, the fresh addition is called Your Daily Move. Your Daily Move provides private personal training, group classes and more, according to the website. With a five-star rating out of three reviews on Yelp so far, Your Daily Move seems to be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Lucy A., who was among the first Yelpers to review the new spot on Jan. 20, wrote, "Mike and John have created a great concept with Your Daily Move because they focus on what matters most: Movement and how it reinforces the body in terms of strength and flexibility." Yelper lin b. added, John and Mike do an assessment and develop a plan. No cookie-cutter routines for you. They are skilled and knowledgeable. Head on over to check it out: Your Daily Move is open from 5 a.m.10 a.m. and 1 p.m.8 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m.3 p.m. on Saturday. (It's closed on Sunday.) Want to keep your finger on the pulse of new businesses in Chicago? Here's what else opened recently near you. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Updated at 1:53 p.m.: Four children died in the wave of fire that swept through a boat dock in Scottsboro early Monday morning, the Jackson County coroner confirmed. Coroner John Jordan told AL.com on Tuesday afternoon that four of the victims were children and their ages were 7, 9, 10 and 16. Jordan said it was not immediately clear if the children were siblings and that family notifications are continuing. Eight people were killed in the fire. No identities have been released publicly yet. Original story: About 30 hours after a deadly fire swept through a row of houseboats in Scottsboro, officials said Tuesday morning they were cautiously confident that the number of fatalities would stop at eight. Thats how many people were believed to have died in the fire that blazed throughout B Dock at the Jackson County Park just after midnight Monday and comes after a fear Monday that more remains might still be found. Jackson County EMA Director Paul Smith and Scottsboro Fire Chief Gene Necklaus said at a late-morning briefing Tuesday that about 25 people were believed to have been in boats on the dock when the fire began. Necklaus declined to comment on reports that children were among the fire victims, saying only that the identification process could take some time. Necklaus said the families of victims have had conversations with the state fire marshals office and local investigators. Its unfortunate for everybody but especially the families, Necklaus said about the deliberate identification process. 30 Jackson County boat dock fire The officials also said there is no timeline for publicly identifying the victims in the fire, adding that could be a week or even several months before those identities are confirmed. Necklaus said one boat had been removed from the dock area and taken to an offsite location for investigation. Altogether, about five boats have been removed as of the 11 a.m. briefing, including all boats with victim remains. Its believed that the fire may have started on that boat, the fire chief said. The Alabama fire marshal and the federal Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms agency is investigating the cause of the fire. The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are working together on an investigation as well. Necklaus said it would be a "blind guess" on when a cause of the fire was known. Meanwhile, the park along the Tennessee River has been closed to the public as swarms of emergency personnel are working. Dive teams are on site, Necklaus said, in case yet-to-be-discovered remains are found. In that case, cleanup would immediately stop in the area and the dive teams would recover the remains. The cleanup of the burn site is proceeding slowly, Smith said, because there is no urgency at this time. Work is proceeding slowly for the safety of workers as well as to make sure no evidence or remains are disturbed. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management is coordinating with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in monitoring the water quality and any contaminants released, Necklaus said. Water quality testing is being done both on-site and down stream, he added. The American Red Cross is on site and working with victims of the fire. Another aspect of the fire is the leaking of fuel and gasoline into the water. Smith said that an additional 3,000 of boom has been deployed into the water to contain the flow of the fuel and gasoline. No impact to humans or the environment is expected from the spills, though the Alabama Department of Environmental Management will be on site sampling water until such concerns are eliminated. The fire began just after midnight and firefighters were called to the scene about 12:40 a.m. to the Jackson County-owned park along Roseberry Creek, separated by a peninsula from the main channel of the Tennessee River. One of the eight people who died was a drowning victim, Necklaus said, while seven people were rescued from the water. The fire is believed to have started aboard a boat closer to the shore and spread the length of the dock where boats were moored on both sides. An aluminum shelter above the dock fell as its foundation burned away and added another layer of debris to the site. Officials said they believe 35 boats were destroyed in the fire. A crane aboard a barge was on site Tuesday to assist in removing heavy debris. Updated today, Jan. 28, 2020, at 1:04 p.m. with new information throughout. The deal was reportedly worth $3.3bn for suspected bribery and corruption by Airbus after years of investigation. Airbus has agreed in principle to a settlement with authorities in France, the United Kingdom and the United States over an investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption, it said on Tuesday. The European planemaker has been investigated by French and British authorities for suspected corruption over jet sales dating back more than 10 years. It has also faced US investigations over suspected violations of export controls. Airbus confirms that it has reached agreement in principle with the French Parquet National Financier (PNF), the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the US authorities, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. These agreements are made in the context of investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption as well as compliance with the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations. They remain subject to approval by French and UK courts and the US court and regulator, it said. Airbus, which dominates the commercial airliner market with US rival Boeing, said it could not comment on precise details regarding its talks with authorities, including how much it expected to pay out in the settlements. Some press reports suggested a figure of about 3 billion euros ($3.3bn). Nevertheless, Airbus shares rose as analysts and traders welcomed the fact that Airbus was managing to draw a line under the affair. The stock was up 2.3 percent in early trading. Analysts at brokerage Jefferies welcomed the settlement, although they wrote in a note to clients that the reported cost of 3 billion euros was towards the upper end of what we thought probable. A traders note from Bank of America said the settlement removed a negative overhang on the stock. Airbus had already fired more than 100 people over ethics and compliance issues as a result of its own investigation into the corruption allegations. The investigations by British and French authorities began after Airbus drew the attention of regulators to inaccurate declarations it had made to the UKs export credit finance agency over payments to sales agents. The SFO launched its investigation in August 2016, followed seven months later by the PNF. At the centre of the case was a decades-old system of third-party agents or intermediaries run from a now-disbanded headquarters unit which at its height involved some 250 people across parts of the world and several hundreds of millions of euros of payments a year, sources familiar with the matter have said. A German probe into Airbus for potential misuse of client documents is continuing. When they do wake up, they start shivering, and it can take them up to 30 minutes to come out of hibernation. They respond in slow motion if a predator comes along. Which is why they hide out in dark caves, up in a corner where nothing can find them. "They do occasionally arouse (naturally) and use up some fat reserves, but if we come in and bother them with flashlights 'Look, bats, they're cool,' they heard you, right, they just can't do anything about it," Carter said. "So they start that process of arousing, "Ooh, we should be quiet and leave them alone;' and we leave, and the damage is already done About 30 minutes later they start flying around, 'Where are all those people? Did you hear them? then go back into hibernation, they just used 30 days worth of fat reserves." If they use up all the fat reserves they had stored up for winter and it's only February, and "they eat insects for a living, they're done," Carter said. WNS doesn't affect migratory bats like the Eastern red bat that is found in Indiana. A woman in Madhya Pradesh confronted state minister Sukhdev Panse and reminded him of all the promises that the Congress party had made in its elections manifesto. She accused the state government of not fulfilling them. The incident happened at an event in Jaulkhera village on Monday. The woman, Asha, is from Multai town of Betul district. "It was written in the Congress party's manifesto that farm loans would be waived in 10 days of the party forming government in the state, and that alcohol will be banned in the villages wherever 80 per cent of the women give their signatures in support of the demand. No matter which party forms the government, false promises are made to the people," said Asha. The minister was addressing a gathering at an event in the village when the woman confronted him on the stage. Panse heard out the woman and said that it takes time to implement schemes, assuring the woman that the state government is taking all steps to ensure that loans are waived off. "It takes time to implement a scheme after its announcement. There is a procedure which is followed. And I will try that your demands are fulfilled," the minister said. He asked the district officials to give the woman the list of the people whose loans have been waived. "Please provide her with the list of the people whose loans have been waived so she gets to know what all has been done. It is easier to speak," said the minister. The woman further said that she wants 'nasha-mukt' (alcohol-free) Madhya Pradesh. "I want liquor shops in my village to be closed. Even students of 8th and 9th standard consume alcohol. I submitted applications to the Collector, ADM and the Tehsildar, but no one heard me. I would now like to submit this application to you. I want Madhya Pradesh to be alcohol-free," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an effort to contribute to the fight for gender equality and women's autonomy, ten percent of proceeds from each candle will be donated to three different female-centric charitable organizations every quarter. Those organizations include Planned Parenthood , Equality Now , and the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) . Brooklyn Candle Studio founder Tamara Mayne discovered Kunath's work online, and was deeply moved by its beauty, balanced simplicity and abstraction. Following a long phone conversation in which they discussed how to create candles which could also live on as both works of art and symbols of women's rights, the pair decided to join forces. "It's a real honor to be invited to collaborate with a brand who shares my vision," says Kunath. "I'm proud to have created a custom series capturing the essence of feminine grace, strength and beauty for a product that shares proceeds with organizations I believe in so deeply." "A confluence of eventsthe #Metoo movement, the Women's March, the election and its aftermathignited a desire to use my position as an entrepreneur to contribute more to progress," says Mayne. "As a woman, a minority and a working mother, I've identified with many of the challenges and struggles unique to women. We are thrilled to be donating to organizations working tirelessly to provide resources to those less fortunate, and are proud that this impact will be felt long after these special candles burn out." All Brooklyn Candle Studio's products are 100% soy wax-derived from American-grown soybeans, 100% vegan and petroleum-free, for an eco-friendly clean burn with lead-free cotton wicks. Crafted at the company's factory in Brooklyn's Industry City complex, the new line features: Candle 1: A heart of soothing notes of lush currant and fig is anchored by a grounding background of amber and sandalwood. Candle 2: Comforting elements of hinoki cypress commingle with the warmth of sandalwood and cedar leafwoody notes which evoke strength and character. Candle 3: A symphony of fresh and aromatic notes of sage, pine, and spruce brings to mind an early morning walk in naturedewy, fresh and green, recalling rebirth and renewal. For more information or to request samples, please reach out to Brooklyn Candle Studio at [email protected] . About Tamara Mayne and Brooklyn Candle Studio: Tamara Mayne is a designer and entrepreneur who founded Brooklyn Candle Studio in 2013. Creatively unfulfilled after jobs in the finance and technology fields, she enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2009 to study graphic design. She began making candles as gifts for friends and family in 2012 and soon became deeply immersed in aromatherapy and candle-making. Brooklyn Candle Studio seeks to create beautifully packaged, natural candles at an affordable price point. Having expanded far beyond its modest roots, Brooklyn Candle Studio products are now available at such retailers as Nordstrom, West Elm, Anthropologie and Whole Foods. About Allison Kunath: Allison Kunath's work is fueled by the tension between her need for both solitude and connection. Creating self-reflective work that explores various forms of communication, the California-based Kunath uses her relationships as her main inspiration. Her studio works are primarily on paper and canvas, and her murals can be found in the United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica. SOURCE Brooklyn Candle Studio Related Links https://brooklyncandlestudio.com Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace 'vision' Tuesday afternoon with embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side - saying there would be a 'two-state solution' with a tunnel linking the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. 'My vision provides a win win solution for both sides,' the president said to great applause from the pro-Israel audience at the White House. Trump said it was a 'vision for peace, prosperity and a new future' for both Israel and Palestine as he spoke in the East Room of the White House, reading from a teleprompter and declining to take questions. Netanyahu called it the 'deal of the century' but in Palestine, the president, Mahmoud Abbas dismissed it as 'the start of the century.' The White House pointedly did not call it a 'plan,' and Trump himself said Netanyahu had agreed it was a basis for 'negotiation.' But there was confusion over exactly what it was with Trump also tweeting that it was a 'plan.' Trump claimed Israel had a taken 'a giant leap' by signing up to a two-state solution. 'We will also work to create a contiguous territory within the future Palestinian state, for when the conditions for statehood are met, including the firm rejection of terrorism,' he said. The 'vision' unveiled on Tuesday more than doubles the territory currently under Palestinian control, although it also recognizes Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank, something to which the Palestinians will almost certainly object. The Palestinians were not present, nor were Democrats, and neither was Netanyahu's chief opponent Benny Gantz, who he will face in an election in March. Netanyahu himself had hours earlier given up fighting for immunity from corruption charges and is now indicted on them. But Trump said: 'For the first time in many, many decades, I can say: This will work.' Netanyahu said he backed the starting point for talks because it 'recognized Israeli sovereignty over sections of Judea and Samaria' - meaning sections of what is currently defined as the West Bank - 'which are vital to our security.' He said Trump had recognized that 'Israel must have sovereignty in the Jordan Valley,' something which Palestinians have said they will never agree to. Two-state solution? Donald Trump embraced Benjamin Netanyahu, the embattled Israeli prime minister as he unveiled a Middle East peace 'vision' with confusion over whether it was a plan Side by side: Trump and Netanyahu arrive for the announcement on his peace 'plan' or 'vision' Family affair: Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner - who Trump credited for the proposals - were in the East Room of the White House for the announcement A future state of Palestine (left) and the state of Israel (right) drawn in maps released by the White House Praised: Donald Trump led applause for his son-in-law Jared Kushner calling him a 'great deal-maker.' Only one side of the two needed to make a deal was present Immediate rejection: In Rafah,Gaza the 'deal of the century' - a phrase the White House had using - was greeted with a protest which saw tires burned and flags waved Fiery reaction: In Ramallah in the West Bank protesters burned a picture of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu which had been taken at the White House Monday Anger: Supporters of Mahmoud Abbas took to the streets to express their negative view of the peace deal The plan does call for a four-year freeze in new Israeli settlement construction, during which time details of a comprehensive agreement would be negotiated. However, it was not immediately clear if the freeze could be extended if a final deal is not concluded in the four years. The 50-page political outline goes further in concessions to the Palestinians than many analysts had believed was likely. However, it would require them to accept conditions they have been previously unwilling to consider, such as accepting West Bank settlements. It builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. Under the terms of the 'peace vision' that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, the future Palestinian state would consist of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of above-ground roads and tunnels. Trump use the speech to say he had been 'good for Israel.' He boasted about moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory - reversing decades of U.S. policy - and also boasted about leaving the Iran nuclear deal. KEY ELEMENTS OF TRUMP'S MIDDLE EAST PEACE 'VISION' Two-state solution meaning Israel will exist beside neighbor Palestine Palestinian-controlled territory is increased But they concede sovereignty in a series of areas including part of the Jordan Valley Palestinian state is 'demilitarized,' with Israel 'retaining security responsibility west of the Jordan River.' West Bank and Gaza Strip to be joined by a tunnel and roads to create a 'contiguous' state Palestinian capital is in East Jerusalem with a U.S. embassy built there, but the city of Jerusalem is 'undivided' Four-year freeze on Israeli settlements Advertisement He claimed it could be a 'last opportunity' for the Palestinians to achieve statehood and gave as the reason the 'smart team' who had worked on it, highlighting the role of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose wife Ivanka was in the audience. He also said he had told Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister that he needed to act while there was a four-year freeze on Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. 'I explained to (Abbas) that the territory allocated for his new state will remain open and undeveloped for a period of four years,' Trump said. 'This could be the last opportunity they will ever have. 'Palestinians are in poverty and violence, exploited by those seeking to use them as pawns to advance terrorism and extremism.' U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman echoed the president's words, saying Palestinian had time to get on board. 'Our goal is to demonstrate to the Palestinians that it's a state to aspire to and achieve,' Friedman told reporters on a conference call after the president unveiled his vision. 'They have time. They have four years to figure this out,' he said, adding 'it's theirs for the taking.' But in the Occupied Territories, Palestinians rejected the plan. Abbas said he would not support any proposal that would not see a Palestinian capital in all of East Jerusalem, which includes the walled Old City and numerous sites holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians. Trump, in his remarks at the White House earlier on Tuesday, said that Jerusalem would remain the undivided capital of Israel. 'I say to Trump and Netanyahu: Jerusalem is not for sale, all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain. And your deal, the conspiracy, will not pass,' Abbas said in a televised address in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Abbas said it was 'impossible for any Palestinian, Arab, Muslim or Christian child to accept' a state without Jerusalem. Israel captured the eastern part of the city along with the West Bank and Gaza in a 1967 war. The Palestinians would only accept negotiations based on international law and supported by U.N. Security Council resolutions, said Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority has limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank. Rejection: Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, called the plan 'slap of the century' in a dig at Netanyahu, who called it 'deal of the century' Pointed: Abbas spoke in front of a picture of Jerusalem - saying the plan offering to divide it and put the Palestinian capital in urban sprawl outside a physical barrier which splits it - was a non-starter The plan proposes setting up a Palestinian capital in the urban sprawl to the north and east of a concrete wall that Israel built through East Jerusalem more than a decade ago, during the last Palestinian uprising. 'This physical barrier should remain in place and should serve as a border between the capitals of the two parties,' the document says. Hamas, whose stronghold is in Gaza, was scathing. 'Trump's statement is aggressive and it will spark a lot of anger,' Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters. At the White House Trump claimed widespread world support. He said that Britain's prime minister Boris Johnson was among world leaders who had called him, saying that leaders had offered 'to do anything to help.' He also praised Mike Pompeo, his secretary of state, who had been revealed to have threatened, berated and launched an f-word rant at an NPR reporter then complained because he thought she had agreed to keep it secret. 'You did a good job on her,' Trump said, a comment likely to be seized on by critics. There was a standing ovation for Pompeo from an audience which included among others, prominent Jewish American including casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, and Alan Dershowitz, fresh from defending Trump at his impeachment trial. Other members of his defense team including Mark Meadows, the North Carolina Republican congressman, and Lee Zeldin, the upstate New York congressman, as well as Republican House leaders Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, and Texas GOP junior senator Ted Cruz. The proposals, which has been shrouded in secrecy, was revealed as the president's lawyers prepare to wrap his defense in his impeachment trial in the Senate. Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam watch as President Trump delivers his vision on the Middle East Senator Ted Cruz speaks with Trump personal attorney Jay Sekulow, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin before Trump spoke at the White House on Tuesday Netanyahu praised Trump for achieving 'the deal of the century'. Trump, whose team has long been working on the outlines of a plan, has repeatedly boasted that he is the most pro-Israeli U.S. president in history. The reaction of Jordan, which would retain its responsibilities over Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque under the plan, will be particularly significant. And Jordan's foreign minister said on Tuesday the only path to a comprehensive and lasting Middle East peace was the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 lines and with East Jerusalem as its capital. 'Jordan supports every genuine effort aimed at achieving just and comprehensive peace that people will accept,' Ayman Safadi said in a statement issued after Trump's announcement. Palestinians, meanwhile, have already rejected the proposal. They say they were never included in crafting the proposals and they say it fails to address their wish to end Israeli occupation and the expansion, encouraged by Netanyahu, of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. Last week, Trump said he had spoken to the Palestinians 'briefly.' 'We've spoken to them briefly. But we will speak to them in a period of time,' he said. 'And they have a lot of incentive to do it. I'm sure they maybe will react negatively at first but it's actually very positive for them.' Palestinian leaders have dismissed the U.S. peace initiative as one-sided. And Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Monday urged international powers to boycott the plan, which he said was designed 'to protect Trump from impeachment and protect Netanyahu from prison.' Netanyahu faces corruption charges in Israel for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. 'It is not a Middle East peace plan,' Shtayyeh told a cabinet meeting. 'This plan gives Israel sovereignty over Palestinian territory.' Trump has slashed aid to the Palestinians, while making big concessions to the Israelis, including formalizing U.S. recognition of the divided city of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. The Palestinians seek the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Trump has reversed decades of U.S. foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centerpiece of his strategy was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the American Embassy there. He's also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programs. Palestinian demonstrators burn an effigy depicting U.S. President Donald Trump during a protest against his Middle East peace plan in Gaza City Those policies have proven popular among Trump's evangelical and pro-Israel supporters and could give him a much-needed boost from his base as the Senate weighs whether to remove him from office and as he gears up for a reelection battle this year. Kushner, a Trump adviser and the Republican president's son-in-law, has been the architect for the plan for nearly three years. He's tried to persuade academics, lawmakers, former Mideast negotiators, Arab governments and special-interest groups not to reject his fresh approach outright. Trump's peace initiative was expected in the autumn but has been subject to multiple postponements. The Palestinians refuse to even speak to Trump, saying he's biased in favor of Israel, and they are calling on Arab representatives to reject the Tuesday event at the White House. The Palestinian leadership also has encouraged protests in the West Bank, raising fears that the announcement in Washington could spark a new round of violence. Ahead of the announcement, the Israeli military said it was reinforcing infantry troops along the Jordan Valley. New Delhi, Jan 28 : As February 1 nears when Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Budget, she has gone through months of deliberations with industry experts, BJP's economic cell which has held 11 meetings and of course with top bureaucrats at the North Block. But apart from them, another segment that will exert huge influence on the budgetary allocation on certain sectors are the powerful RSS offshoots who implement the Sangh's economic vision. Here's a look at them whose suggestions Sitharaman or for that matter no BJP FM can afford to brazen out. 1. Swadeshi Jagran Manch Chief: Ashwani Mahajan Right of centre, this is the main outfit that implements much of Sangh's economic views and Mahajan is its face. With the country's economy more tilted towards the "left", he has objected to many of the BJP's economic moves and forced the government to go back. Even when Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that protectionism is no less disastrous than terrorism, Mahajan believes protectionism is not necessarily bad. Mahajan's latest fight was against RCEP, a free trade agreement that eventually forced the opposition to come by his side. Observing an 11-day countrywide protest in October last year, the SJM vigorously lobbied against the move and the government eventually chose not to go ahead with the pact. The SJM has also objected to China based Huawei Technologies joining the 5G trial in India, citing 'national security'. It also demanded e-commerce Regulations, following which the Modi government regulated predatory pricing. Speaking to IANS, Mahajan explained: "We are not against capitalism. But we are against exploitative capitalism where there is no scope for small and medium businesses to thrive." 2. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh Chief: Virjesh Upadhyay This is a labour wing of the RSS which implements much of Sangh's economic vision vis- a-vis Athe workers and has "nationalism" at its core. "Industrialise the nation, Nationalise the Labour, Labourise the Industry" is its motto. On January 8, when major trade unions gave a call for a nationwide protest against the Modi government's economic and labour policies, the BMS chose to stay away from it. But it is not necessarily pro-BJP but extends its support on case to case. For instance, the same BMS was up in arms against the draft of the Social Security Code, 2019 brought out by the Modi government. In its submission to Labour Ministry that time, it called the proposed code "totally disappointing for the workers". Upadhyay has taken strong stands on both ESI (employee state insurance) and EPS (employee pension scheme) to the NPS (national pension scheme). Last September, the BMS and Upadhyay also critiqued the centre for "selling the profit-making airports". They even shot off letters to Prime Minister Modi and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri, opposing the leasing out of the airports. This outburst came after the Central government had decided to lease out six more AAI-run airports to private players. 3. Laghu Udyog Bharati (LUB) Chief: R.K. Bharadwaj This Sangh affiliate meant for medium, small and micro industries (MSME)'s clout on government's economic decision-making can be sensed from the fact that Union Commerce & Railways Minister Piyush Goyal to Minister of State for Heavy Industry Arjun Ram Meghwal were in attendance in one of its conclaves called 'Udyami Sammelan', last year in August. The ministers flew down to Nagpur for that conclave, attended by 2,200 industrialists. As recent as this January, a meeting on Aligarh Defence Industrial Corridor in which this outfit had little or no role to play saw it also invited. The LUB raised the issue of small businesses being ignored in that mega project following which the UP government stated both MSMEs will be given due importance as well as locals for that project -- twin demands of the RSS affiliate. Just a few days ago, the LUB upped the ante against the state government for hiking electricity rate, claiming it will further put the MSME sector in the disadvantage against the large scale industries in the state. On January 28, there is a meeting of the Punjab unit to discuss on how to raise the concern appropriately. These are not mere organisations but economic representatives of the RSS, BJP's ideological mentor and sharing and propagating its economic vision, which may or may not be the same with the government. And whenever the government, even if led by the BJP, is not on the same page with them, they criticise, agitate and insinuate. They don't fear to criticise Union Ministers. Recently, SJM chief Mahajan hit out at Piyush Goyal, alleging the minister was batting on behalf of Amazon. He also critiqued Niti Ayayog chief Amitabh Kant. Before Sitharaman walks into the Parliament on February 1 to present the Union Budget, views of these three RSS outfits will surely be taken into account, without a doubt. How much the government listens will depend on the kind of fiscal prudence it wants to show, but giving a complete cold shoulder is hardly an option. (Anindya Banerjee can be contacted at anindya.b@ians.in) 2018 UK drama series The Little Drummer Girl comes to SBS in February. From the producers of The Night Manager and based on John le Carres best-selling spy thriller of the same name it stars Alexander Skarsgard (Big Little Lies), Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water) and Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth) and is directed by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, The Handmaiden). Based on John le Carres best-selling literary masterpiece of the same name, The Little Drummer Girl is a passionate love story and a deeply immersive thriller. As audacious now as when the book was first published, it portrays a world in which the lines between hero and villain, and between love and hate, are dangerously in flux. The six-part miniseries stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Alexander Skarsgard (Big Little Lies) as Becker, twice Academy Award-nominated Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water) as Kurtz and BAFTA-nominated Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth) as Charlie. Set in the late 1970s, the pulsating thriller follows Charlie (Pugh), a young, fiery but unfulfilled British actress and idealist whose resolve is tested after she meets the mysterious Becker (Skarsgard,) while on holiday in Greece. It quickly becomes apparent that his intentions are not what they seem, and her encounter with him entangles her in a complex plot devised by the spy mastermind Kurtz (Shannon). This layered and complex international thriller, from the executive producers of Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning series The Night Manager also marks the television debut of visionary filmmaker, Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden). 8.30pm from Thursday, 6 February on SBS. Positions across customer service, sales, marketing, finance, HR, and technology are being added around the globe BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Globalization Partners Inc., whose Global Expansion Platform enables companies to hire talent in more than 170 countries within days, without the need to set up costly international subsidiaries, today announced it intends to hire 175 new employees this year. In addition to staff being added at the company's dual U.S. headquarters located in Boston and San Diego, new team members will be hired in fast-growing offices throughout Europe, Asia, and beyond. The new hires will enable the growing demand for the company's platform that allows businesses to hire global teams quickly and easily, while also meeting its strong commitment to its customers for outstanding client service. To date, Globalization Partners has consistently achieved 95% client satisfaction ratings - a priority for the company to maintain while taking advantage of the huge opportunities that exist in the market. "We're expanding everywhere and will be adding team members at our offices in over thirty countries," saysNicole Sahin, CEO, Globalization Partners. "In 2019, we brought on about 100 new clients every quarter, and expect to triple that quarterly growth rate in 2020. We have always put the well-being of long-term relationships with customers and employees first, and these new hires will support that steadfast promise." The company continues to win numerous awards for growth and culture and was most recently named a Top Place to Work by TheBoston Globe. CEO Nicole Sahin was just recognized by the Boston Business Journal as the Citizens Bank Middle Market Innovator of the Year and in November 2019, the company received the Diplomat Award from the Associated Industries of Massachusetts for demonstrating excellence in international business. Nicole Sahin was also named CEO of the Year by European CEO Magazine in 2019. Sahin credits this success to her "Triple Bottom Line" philosophy of doing business - what's good for clients and good for her team is also good for the shareholders. For information about current job openings, please visit our careers page: https://www.globalization-partners.com/about-us/careers. About Globalization Partners Globalization Partners enables companies to quickly and easily expand internationally across six continents and into more than 170 countries without the hassle of setting up local branch offices or subsidiaries. Its Global Expansion Platform allows companies to hire employees throughout the world without having to navigate complex international legal, tax, and HR issues. You identify the talent, and we put your team member on our payroll. Whether it's to test a new market or expand your talent pool, Globalization Partners is the most trustworthy solution in the market. We have dual U.S. headquarters to serve you in Boston and San Diego, and regional hub offices located worldwide in the UK, Germany, the UAE, India, Shanghai, Singapore, Brazil, and Mexico. Globalization Partners is also the only global employer of record that is Privacy Shield certified for HR Data. To find out more, please visit https://www.globalization-partners.com or connect with us via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or check out our Blog. Contact: Karen Pantinas Kpantinas@globalization-partners.com 617-729-4466 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/723356/Globalization_Partners_Logo.jpg Monday marks 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Auschwitz was not only the largest of the German regime's death camps, where more than a million people 90 percent of them Jews were murdered by the Nazis; it's become the center of Holocaust commemoration. The Soviet Red Army liberated Auschwitz 75-years ago today, and took the pictures that forever etched its horrors in our minds. Now those images have been been colorized in a new History Channel documentary, "Auschwitz Untold." Some, though, don't need enhanced pictures to bring back their vivid, terrible memories. Today, around 200 survivors are expected there honored guests at a place where once they were sent to die. In their 90s now, they've come for a reason, and with a message. "It should never happen again!" said David Marks. "No dictator should live 24 hours." auschwitz-survivors-mark-75th-anniversary-of-liberaiton-of-camp-620.jpg Auschwitz survivors returned to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet army's liberation of the death camp, on January 27, 1945. CBS News Marks is 91 now. He was 16 when he was crammed into a cattle-car train and brought here from Hungary. This is not only his first time back; it's his first time talking about it. "I didn't talk about it with my children," he said. "I didn't want they should know what I went through." david-marks-auschwitz-survivor-promo.jpg David Mark, now 91, was 16 when he was crammed into a cattle-car train and brought from Hungary to Auschwitz. He lost 35 members of his family. CBS News "You didn't speak to them about it?" asked correspondent Mark Phillips. "I didn't speak to them at all." He didn't tell them of the watchtowers and the wire and the filth and the starvation. And he didn't tell them what happened during the horror of the selection process, when camp officers decided who might live for a while, and who would die. Marks was separated from his father and younger brother; he never saw them again. "That same day, 35 members of my family were burned or cremated the same day, that Friday," he said. Story continues Marks somehow survived. He moved to the U.S. in the 1950s. Widowed 27 years ago, he is now engaged to marry Kathy this summer. It was she who convinced him to return to Auschwitz for closure, she said. survivorsap05012404075.jpg This picture, taken just after the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet army in January 1945, shows a group of children wearing concentration camp uniforms. AP World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder said there's another reason the survivors need to tell their stories now. Phillips asked, "Are you concerned at the rise of anti-Semitic incidents that have occurred in the last few years?" Lauder replied, "I'm very concerned about it. Because when I look at what happened and I speak to survivors and they tell me how it started off very small and got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger I'm seeing that same thing." Seventy-five-years later, the survivors' numbers are dwindling. Few think they'll ever be back to this place. All that will be left is the wire, and the watch towers, and the ovens ... and their stories. 2020 International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration Online Event, 11:00 a.m. ET (The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27), Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (U.K.)The vast reach of the Nazi Holocaust ("Sunday Morning")From 1978: The Auschwitz liberation: Remembering the camp's atrocities ("60 Minutes") What Texas voters think about impeachment, 2020 election Holocaust survivor visits Auschwitz for first time since camps liberation Grammys highlights: Billie Eilish wins big, artists pay tribute to Kobe Bryant The Corona regional epidemic may potentially turn global- Many Chinese cities quarantined; trade, tourism & services hit- Market expecting replay of SARS of 2003 - Commodities-centric sectors with direct exposure to China under watch The Corona virus outbreak in China has emerged as the biggest global worry at the moment. This virus if not contained in time may turn into a global epidemic with adverse implications for travel, trade and markets alike. So far, 106 casualties have been reported all in China with nearly 4,600 confirmed cases of infected individuals. China has seen travel ban and quarantine measures that could impact local and global trade dynamics. While previous such crises had hurt global equities, a recovery thereafter has prompted investors to draw parallels. However, the potential damage to an already fragile global economy can be high as the treatment to Corona virus is still not available. Investors, hence, should stay cautious on the cyclical sectors. What is Corona? On December 31, 2019, the WHO (World Health Organisation) issued an alert about several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan the capital of Hubei Province of China. The virus was termed as Corona virus (CoV), which belongs to a family of viruses that causes illness ranging from common cold to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome. The strain has not been previously identified in humans and does not respond to any medical treatment so far. The Corona virus is understood to have been initially transmitted from animals (possibly snakes and bats) -- just as SARS that spread from civet cats, and MERS from camels. It is contagious and what makes the transmission difficult to contain at the initial stage is the fact that its incubation period i.e. time from exposure to developing symptoms is about 3-10 days. Researchers at Northeastern University and Imperial College London estimate that the number of actual infections may be 10 times more than the reported confirmed cases due to this incubation period. The immediate impact The official response started with the lockdown of Wuhan, which has a population of 11 million. As of now, 15 cities of the Hubei province are under similar travel quarantine controls. As the outbreak took place in the run-up to the holiday season, that is Chinese Lunar Year celebrations, the consumption and tourism cycle took a beating. Except for cities of the Hubei province, the impact on manufacturing is yet to be seen as a good set of businesses is anyway shut due to the Chinese New Year. Officially, Chinese holidays are extended to February 2 nationally and February 9 for Shanghai. Since a solution to the Corona virus is work in progress, it is anyones guess how long this crisis will stay and to what extent it can impact globally. So far, multiple countries have reported confirmed cases and are looking at measures ranging from isolating the infected person to a travel ban to China and other restrictions. According to the WHO, the current outbreak is still a regional crisis. Financial market impact Markets have started to price in the flu factor in an alarming way. Chinese equities have fallen by 5-6 percent from their January 20 highs. Oil has slumped by more than 10 percent in the past few days and gold is at its 6-year high. Looking at the SARS of 2003, the global macroeconomic impact was estimated at $30-100 billion. It was also estimated that the impact on Chinas GDP was as high as 1 percent. (Source: The Impacts on Health, Society, and Economy of SARS and H7N9 Outbreaks in China: A Case Comparison Study by Qiu, Chu & Mao). As far as its impact is concerned, Chinese equities had plunged about 8-10 percent during March-April 2003. Similarly, Mexico stocks during Swine Flu in 2009 and Brazilian equities during Zika in 2016 were moderately impacted by 2-4 percent. In all the cases, however, the equities recovered swiftly post the crises. The scale of the problem calls for a closer look at Ground Zero the Hubei province. At $595 billion, the province made up about 4 percent of Chinas GDP in 2018. Note that the Hubei province is an important center for industries such as metallurgy, automobiles, chemicals and optical electronics. The city of Wuhan constitutes about 1 percent of Chinas global trade dynamics both exports and imports. Historically, known a major automobile and logistic centre, in last few years the city is also fastly emerging as a hi-tech hub for the optics industry. Takeaways In our base case, we believe that the Corona virus epidemic may have an impact limited to China with a likely extended quarantine and travel ban within the country. This stems from the fact that China this time is better equipped to deal with this crisis than earlier occasions. The recent quick steps may just prevent the problem getting global. In the short term, the adverse impact on Chinese GDP could be larger than earlier occasions due to the clampdown. Further, longer restrictions on travel and work will adversely impact Chinese consumption, services and manufacturing in the short run. Investors should look at this event with abundant caution. The positive trade outlook on account of of the Phase 1 trade deal between the US and China now faces a serious risk. Investors may turn cautious on sectors and companies with direct exposure to China, particularly on the commodities side. Sectors with links to oil such as chemicals and agrochemicals may have to brace for more volatility and potential high cost inventories. The ones that are dependent on raw materials from China like pharma, agrochemicals may face additional headwinds. Large export-oriented sectors of China such as metals and chemicals may possibly turn to higher dumping in India, particularly if there is lower domestic consumption of same. The recent correction in metal prices therefore comes as little surprise. Note that prior to this metal price outlook had turned positive on account of the improvement in the US-China trade ties. Follow @anubhavsays For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research page Moneycontrol Research analysts do not hold positions in the companies discussed here Clashes between rival armed groups in Bria, a strategic town in eastern Central African Republic, have left dozens dead, a senior official said on Tuesday. More than two-thirds of the former French colony lies in the hands of armed groups, who typically claim ethnic or religious affiliations and often fight over mineral resources. "There are about 50 dead. Some bodies were immediately buried by relatives, so it is difficult to give a precise figure," said the prefect of Haute-Kotto department, Evariste Binguinidji. After mediation with UN peacekeeping forces sent to the area, "the town is calm. The armed groups have withdrawn their men from the town centre and displaced people have started to return," he said. "My parents' house was burnt down," said a taxi driver who gave his name as Mahamat. "They have taken shelter in the Fulani quarter," he told AFP, speaking over the telephone. "Now things are better. People have started returning to the main market to shop." The clashes are the latest test to a nearly year-old agreement aimed at bringing peace to the CAR. Deeply poor despite its mineral wealth, the CAR has been in the grip of militia violence since 2013. Bria is the main town in a diamond-rich region. It has been ravaged by long-standing violence and parts of it are pockmarked or in ruins. Violence erupted there at the weekend between "ethnic groups", the spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in CAR, Vladimir Monteiro said on Sunday. It followed a local split several months ago within a militia called the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic (FPRC), several sources in Bria said. Ethnic conflict? On one side are members of the Runga ethnic group, including the FPRC's military chief Abdoulaye Hissene and several of his officers, and local members of the Gula and Kara groups on the other, they said. "The Gula and Kara alliance has taken over almost all of the town. There are bodies in all the streets. The town centre is empty. All the Runga have fled," an aid worker contacted by AFP on Sunday said. "The Gula control many of the mines around Bria," a local diamond merchant said. "But in town, most of the diamond outlets belong to the Runga. They are traders who have established solid connections with foreign buyers, especially the Lebanese and Indians. This is one of the main reasons for the tensions." The head of the CAR Red Cross, Antoine Mbaobogo, said the figure of around 50 dead given by the prefect "seems credible to me." As of Monday, there had been a toll of 35 dead and 17 wounded, Mbaobogo told AFP. Violence flared last week at Birao, a key town in the northeast straddling the road to neighbouring Sudan, between the FPRC and a group called the Movement of Central African Liberators for Justice (MLCJ), which is mainly drawn from the Kara community. Both groups had joined other militias in Khartoum last February 6 to sign a peace agreement with the government. The deal reduced, but did not end, the country's chronic violence. More than a quarter of the CAR's population have fled their homes since the start of the civil conflict in 2013. Canon Europe, a leader in imaging solutions, will be showcasing a new dimension of its business to visitors at ISE 2020 the worlds largest AV systems integration show, next month. The event will be held from February 11 to 14, at the Amsterdam RAI, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Visitors to the stand will have the chance to see Canons advanced imaging ecosystem which includes HDR, 4K and 8K projection capabilities and a top line-up of input to output solutions, including world-class cameras and lenses, said a statement from the company. Canons network cameras, comprehensive analytics software, and a robotic arm provided by Denso will be on stand demonstrating how visual analytics technology can support automation of various cumbersome tasks. Matthew Koshy, European product marketing specialist, Canon Europe, said: Were building on the success of ISE 2019 by expanding our input to output showcase, which highlights the importance of having an integrated line-up to deliver unbeatable resolution. Our range of high-brightness and high-image-quality laser projectors will be on display to show how cohesive projection systems offer systems integrators incredible optical performance, simple installation and low maintenance, he added. At one of the dedicated zones on stand, Canon will showcase its industry-leading imaging solutions which work seamlessly together to streamline workflows and guarantee optical excellence for system integrators. Canons premium video camera range, reference display monitors and projectors, will offer visitors the chance to immerse themselves in a live 4K production simulation. Starring in this demo is the 4K production camera the XF705, the renowned EOS C200 4K Cinema camera, the compact 4K camcorder the XA55, and Canons latest 4K projector. Canons XEED 4K6021Z with RS-SL07RST 4K lens which uses the same technology featured in the EF and RF lens ranges will also be on stand alongside its video range. This combination creates high resolution and true to life images that guarantees systems integrators can get the best from Canons 4K technology. Canon will showcase the excellence of its HDR imaging ecosystem, with content captured on its cameras and projected by native 4K high-brightness projectors. Through its collaboration with dnp Supernova, Canon will demonstrate colour excellence and, again, 4K HDR image quality by projecting onto its ambient light rejecting screen. The dnp Supernova screen delivers unrivalled contrast, even in high-ambient lighting. Its these bold, vivid colours and crisp, detailed images which make Canons LCOS models so popular within the creative sectors, which are increasingly turning to visual storytelling to compete with digital platforms. With the flexibility, quality and low maintenance of projectors, museums and galleries can create more immersive and engaging experiences than ever before to attract wider audiences. As we see the interest and demand for 8K increase, the capability to display and view is becoming key. Helping the industry be one step ahead of this trend, Canon will exhibit an 8K projection solution, in partnership with media server software providers, AV Stumpfl. The AV Stumpfl Pixera Two server will help deliver and manage the 8K content captured using Canon kit - ensuring Canons projectors can focus on delivering excellent 8K image quality which packs a punch. Canons latest development of 8K broadcast lenses include the multi-purpose portable lens 7x10.7B KAS S and Canons first box type telephoto 8K lens SP51x15.5B. A decade in the making, Canons 8K lenses are set to be used at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, bringing viewers even closer to the action in stunning resolution. Canon has already experimented with 8K for a live-video transmission of a rugby match in Japan. The match was captured with a Canon 8K camera and lens and transmitted to a Canon 8K HDR Display and projector system comprising of four Canon 4K HDR projector units, to achieve an impressive live viewing experience with a high dynamic range and wide colour gamut. A similar demonstration will be reconstructed on stand to showcase the optical excellence of its 8K line-up, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Praveen Menon (Reuters) Wellington, New Zealand Tue, January 28, 2020 13:25 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20614ff51 2 World Jacinda-Ardern,election,gun-control,cannabis Free New Zealanders will go to polls on September 19 to decide on a second term for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and also to vote in referendums on the divisive issues of legalising cannabis and euthanasia. Ardern is hugely popular among liberal voters overseas thanks to her compassionate but decisive response to a mass shooting, her focus on climate change action and multilateralism, and her ability to combine motherhood and leadership. But her popularity at home has been affected by slowing economic growth and low business confidence, a failed state housing project and scandals within her coalition government. I will be asking New Zealanders to continue to support my leadership and the current direction of the government, which is grounded in stability, a strong economy and progress on the long term challenges facing New Zealand, Ardern told a news conference. Political pundits are predicting a close contest, with scheduled referendums on legalising cannabis and euthanasia expected to be distracting and divisive. "I am not making predictions on this as it's going to be a tight race," said Grant Duncan, Associate Professor at Massey University in Auckland. New Zealand's Treasury last month trimmed its 2020 economic growth forecast and flagged a budget deficit as international headwinds including Brexit and the US-China trade war bite. The government last month announced a NZ$12 billion ($7.7 billion) infrastructure spend to try counter those factors. Two October opinion polls showed support for her ruling coalition at its lowest since 2017. Her own popularity also waned, but she remains far ahead of her rivals. In an interview with Reuters last month, Ardern noted there was work to be done but her party was still polling higher than it was before the 2017 election. Can't Deliver Ardern, 39, took the helm of the country as the world's youngest female leader in 2017, a remarkable rise that dominated global headlines and generated the phrase "Jacinda-mania". She campaigned passionately to end child poverty and economic inequality, upstaging the ruling centre-right National Party and forming a government with the small, nationalist New Zealand First Party and the Green Party under the country's proportional voting system. Ardern's response to the massacre at two mosques in Christchurch in March, when she wore a headscarf to meet with the families of the victims and then rapidly pushed a ban on semi-automatic weapons through parliament, was widely praised. She became only the second head of state after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto to give birth while in office, attending the United Nations with her baby and partner in tow. But critics have accused her of playing to a global audience while bringing little change locally. "New Zealanders have seen that Labour and Jacinda Ardern cant deliver," National Party leader Simon Bridges said in a statement. "While theres a lot of announcements, leadership means actually getting things done." Ardern said last week her party would wage a "relentlessly positive" 2020 election campaign while announcing her party had signed up to Facebook's advertising transparency tool to fight misinformation. "We will be asking for a further term to get the job done," Ardern told the news conference. The cannabis referendum, pushed through by the Greens, would bring younger voters to the polls, but there were concerns there were too many things going, said Duncan from Massey University. "The big issue is how people feel about the government's performance...it's performance in relation to housing and child poverty, and there will be a debate about climate change," said Duncan. The parliament will be officially dissolved on August 12 and until then the government will function as usual, Ardern said. Report: Bolton Book Says Trump Tied Ukraine Aid To Probes He Sought By RFE/RL January 27, 2020 Former national-security adviser John Bolton has made claims in an unpublished book that U.S. President Donald Trump wanted to freeze aid to Ukraine unless it investigated his political rivals, The New York Times reports. The January 26 report said Bolton writes in the book that Trump had told him he wanted to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid to Ukraine until it helped him with investigations, including into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. Trump's legal team has repeatedly insisted that the president never tied Ukraine aid to investigations. After the report went online, Democrats renewed their demand for Bolton to be called to testify in Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate. The president faces one charge of abuse of power and another on obstruction of Congress over his alleged efforts to prod Ukraine to investigate his political rivals while withholding $391 million in military assistance to Kyiv. The trial will resume in the Senate later on January 27. Trump denied the claim in a series of tweets early on January 27, saying: "I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens." "In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book," he added. The document has been sent to the White House for prepublication review, a standard practice for some current and former administration officials who write books. Bolton left the White House a day before Trump ultimately released the aid to Kyiv on September 11 and has told lawmakers he is willing to testify, despite the president's order barring aides from cooperating in the proceedings. A July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is at the center of the trial. A rough transcript of the conversation revealed that the U.S. president had urged his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Biden, who is seen as a potential opponent in this year's presidential election in November. His son Hunter Biden was a paid board member of a Ukrainian energy firm when he served as vice president. Critics say the crucial military aid to Kyiv was withheld as leverage. "John Bolton has the evidence," tweeted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat-New York). "It's up to four Senate Republicans to ensure that John Bolton, [acting White House chief of staff] Mick Mulvaney, and the others with direct knowledge of Trump's actions testify in the Senate trial." The Democrats need at least four Republicans to vote with them to seek witness testimony in the trial. However, the legislative chamber is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans. RFE/RL has not confirmed the contents of the draft of Bolton's book. He left his post after disagreements with the president. Trump said he fired him. Bolton said he resigned. Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have charged Trump with abuse of office and obstruction of Congress. A trial is under way in the Senate to decide whether to convict and remove the president from office. The chamber's 100 senators are the jurors in the trial. Trump has denied wrongdoing and has called the impeachment proceedings a "witch hunt." Day seven of the impeachment trial begins on January 27 with Trump's defense team expected to continue presenting opening arguments. Other legislative work is possible as well. With reporting by The New York Times, AP, C-SPAN, The Hill, and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/report-bolton-says- trump-froze-aid-to-ukraine-until-it-opened -probes-into-rivals/30398563.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address By PTI NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday thanked outgoing Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale for his contributions to the Indian diplomacy. Seasoned diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla has been appointed the new foreign secretary for a two-year fixed term, and he will assume charge on Wednesday. "Bidding farewell to Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale who is retiring today. Thank him for his leadership of the Ministry and for his various contributions to Indian diplomacy. Wishing him all the best in his future endeavours," Jaishankar said in a tweet. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Gokhale's leadership will continue to inspire all. "A journey well travelled! A fond farewell from #TeamMEA to Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale who retires today after decades of service to the country. His leadership will continue to inspire us all at #TeamMEA," he said in a tweet. Sheriffs deputies in Lake County, Fla., on Monday arrested a notorious tormentor of the parents of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, charging him with the unlawful possession of personal identification. Wolfgang Halbig, a former contributor to Infowars, the online and radio show hosted by far-right provocateur Alex Jones, has spread false claims for years that the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting of 20 Grade 1 children and six educators in Newtown, Conn., was an elaborate government hoax aimed at confiscating Americans firearms. When challenged or confronted by Sandy Hook families, Halbig has released their personal information, taunted them or emailed them photographs of what he claimed were their dead children all grown up. Halbig, of Sorrento, Fla., was arrested after a complaint filed by Leonard Pozner, whose son Noah, 6, died in the shooting. The arrest affidavit said Halbig repeatedly emailed Pozners Social Security number, date of birth and other information to a long list of recipients, including multiple different law-enforcement agencies and news stations. Pozner has tried since 2014 to stop Halbig from targeting Sandy Hook families and other victims of tragedy. In response, Halbig posted online a 100-page TransUnion background report on Pozner, which included his address and delicate personal information. Pozner lives in hiding. We are gratified that prolific Sandy Hook hoaxer and serial harasser of the families of victims, Wolfgang Halbig, has been arrested, said Pozner, who founded HONR, a network of volunteers who seek to expunge online content targeting the victims of tragedy. For five years, he has used my most personal and private details to incentivize and enable other hoaxers and conspiracy theorists to hunt, abuse and terrorize myself and my family. He added: We have a long way to go, but this is a positive step in the right direction. Halbig was released after posting a $5,000 (U.S.) cash bond and will appear in court in late February. The charge carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison. Halbig, 73, a former Florida public school security administrator, has sent hundreds of public-records requests to Newtown and Connecticut officials, demanding documents that include photos of the murder scene, the childrens bodies and receipts for the cleanup of bodily fluids, brain matter, skull fragments and around 45 to 60 gallons of blood. Soon after the massacre, Halbig appeared multiple times on Infowars, which aired his false claims to millions of people and gave him a platform for raising tens of thousands of dollars to fund his obsession. Infowars provided Halbig with a camera crew on his visits to Newtown, at one point filming schoolchildren near St. Rose of Lima, a Catholic Church where funerals for several of the murdered children took place. Court records and a deposition given by Jones last year in one of four defamation lawsuits filed by Sandy Hook families demonstrated how he and Halbig used each other to pursue their false theories and promote them across the internet. Jones acknowledged in the deposition that Halbig had been a significant source of information for him about Sandy Hook. Asked by a lawyer for the families if he would agree that Halbig was a raving lunatic, Jones responded: He seemed very credible and put together earlier on, but I cant remember the exact number he seemed to get agitated about four years ago, three years ago. Mr. Halbig had a brief and limited association with Infowars, Jones lawyer, Norm Pattis, said Monday. He and his views have long been in the rearview mirror. Halbig is among a handful of so-called Sandy Hook hoaxers who have been prosecuted. In 2017, Lucy Richards, a Florida woman, was jailed for five months for transmitting threats through interstate communications after she repeatedly threatened Pozners life. As a condition of her parole, she is prohibited from visiting Infowars or other conspiracy-theorists websites. Three civil defamation suits have been filed against Jones in Texas. Another filed in Connecticut against Jones also named Halbig as a defendant. China's powerful system and the effective measures it has taken to prevent and control novel coronavirus-related pneumonia are rarely seen in the world, Director-General of the United Nations' World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday. Ghebreyesus made the remarks while meeting with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. The WHO and the international community highly appreciates, and fully affirms the decisive measures the Chinese government has taken to deal with the outbreak and also thank China for its tremendous efforts to curb the spread of the contagion, he said. China set a record in identifying the pathogen in a short time following the outbreak of the contagious disease, Ghebreyesus said, and he praised the country's timely sharing of the virus' DNA information with the WHO and other countries. The WHO hopes to strengthen cooperation with China and also stands ready to provide all necessary assistance in line with the country's need, he added. Regarding some countries' intention to withdraw their nationals from China, particularly those in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, Ghebreyesus said the WHO does not support such a move. He said that in current circumstances, countries should stay calm and avoid overreacting. The WHO has full confidence in China's capability of preventing and controlling the contagion, Ghebreyesus said. (Source: China Daily) Fine Gael are facing a General Election collapse in rural Ireland. In a new opinion poll, just 16pc of voters believed Leo Varadkar was best placed to address the challenges facing rural Ireland. Over half of those surveyed In the poll of 1,000 voters conducted last Friday don't think either Taoiseach Varadkar or Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin can address rural issues, with 29pc saying Martin was best placed to serve rural voters. Dan Pender of PR360, who commissioned the poll, said the low confidence ratings for both leaders will raise big concerns for Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. "Those living in rural Ireland have come under increasing strain in recent years due to lowering farm incomes, inadequate transport infrastructure and insufficient employment opportunities," he said. "The electorate of rural Ireland has not experienced the economic recovery relative to other parts of the country, in particular, the east coast. "It's still over a week from polling day, but it's clear that the challenge for party strategists will be how to get voters more engaged and to convince them that their respective leaders can provide for rural Ireland." The collapse in support for Fine Gael has been reflected in a series of polls over the past week, with the party under particular pressure in Munster. At the launch of Fine Gaels agricultural policy in Cork last week, Tanaiste Simon Coveney, a former agriculture minister, gave an impassioned plea to farmers for their votes, becoming emotional as he spoke of how much his party cares about the sector. Farming will always be a priority for Fine Gael, he said. We are steeped in it and always have been. Expand Close IFA president Tim Cullinan addressing the association's AGM in Dublin yesterday. Photo: Finbarr O'Rourke / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp IFA president Tim Cullinan addressing the association's AGM in Dublin yesterday. Photo: Finbarr O'Rourke The Taoiseach pledged to secure a tariff-free, quota-free post-Brexit trade deal, a new CAP deal in Europe and a level playing field for farmers on environmental standards. Fine Gael also promised to establish a new regulator to police unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain, and will also develop the successor strategy to Foodwise 2025 Fianna Fail insisted it is committed to ensuring a fully funded, fair and simpler CAP that safeguards direct payments. It pledged to secure national ceilings at EU level on individual CAP payments and restrict them to 60,000 in Ireland. Fianna Fail also promised a suckler cow payment of 200 per head and an increase in Areas of Natural Constraints and bio-diversity payments, committing to allocate an additional 50m above 2020 levels to bring the ANC scheme funding to 300m per annum. Meanwhile, new IFA president Tim Cullinan said in his inaugural speech that politicians need to deliver for farmers. We are in the middle of a general election. We will have the party leaders here over the next two days, he said. The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and other party leaders will be here tomorrow. We must give them a clear message. Farming and rural Ireland is being left behind. Farmers feel forgotten. Politicians must start listening to farmers. Everyone in this room is elected by our fellow farmers to voice their concerns. We must not allow any party leader out of this room without securing clear commitments. We have heard enough waffle. We need action. Operator: Good morning and thank you all for holding. Your lines have been placed on a listen only mode until the question and answer portion. At that time then press star one. The call is being recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. Now I would like to turn the call over to Paul Fulton. Thank you, you may begin. Paul Fulton: Thank you all for joining us today for a briefing on CDCs 2019 novel coronavirus response. Were joined today by Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of CDCs National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease. Dr. Messonnier will make opening remarks before we take questions. I will now turn the call over to Dr. Messonnier. Dr. Nancy Messonnier: Good morning and thank you for joining us. Im joined by Dr. Weldon who is leading our task force for this response. To date we have 110 of what were calling persons under investigation or PUIs from 26 states. This is a cumulative number and will only increase. We still only have five confirmed positives and 32 that have tested negative. There have been no new confirmed cases overnight. This information will be posted on our website and updated on our website on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I want to give a short update of the laboratory side of our work. Last week we mentioned CDC has developed a diagnostic test called a real-time reverse transcription preliminary chain reaction, thats RRTPCR. It can diagnose this new coronavirus in respiratory serum samples from clinical specimens. Last Friday we publicly posted the protocol for this test. This is a blueprint to make the test. Currently were refining this use of this test so we can provide optimal guidance to states and laboratories on how to use it. Were working on a plan now so that priority states get these kits as soon as possible. But in the coming weeks well share these tests with domestic and international partners so they can test for the virus themselves. Our longer-term plan is to share these tests with domestic and international partners through the agencys international re-agent resource. Additionally, CDC uploaded the entire genome from the virus from the first and now second cases reported in the united states. All the sequences we extracted are similar the one that china initially posted a couple of weeks ago. This means that right now and based on CDCs analysis of the available data it doesnt look like the virus has mutated. And were growing the virus in cell culture which is necessary for further studies, including the additional genetic characterization. Once isolated the virus will be available in the bei resources repository, which is a NIH resource that supplies organisms and re-agents to the broad community or microbiology and infectious disease researchers. As we have said since the beginning, this is a rapidly changing situation, both here and abroad. 16 international locations including the U.S. have identified cases of this new virus. Im sure youve seen the reporting and videos coming out of china in Wuhan, particularly. Our thoughts are with the people on the front lines of this emerging public health threat in china. Right now, we are continuing to screen a few passengers from Wuhan at the five designated airports. This enhanced entry screening serves two purposes. The first is to detect illness and rapidly respond to symptomatic people entering the country. The second purpose is critical to educate travelers about these symptoms of the virus and what to do if they develop symptoms. I expect our travel recommendations will change in the coming days. I cant provide details on this yet but know were working on it. Given the aggressive public health response were pursuing, there may be some disruptions experienced by some. CDC recommends travelers avoid all non-essential travel to Hubei province china. Yesterday we began recommending people traveling to all parts of china practice enhanced precautions including avoiding contact with people who are sick and discussing travel to china with your healthcare provider, especially if you are an older adult or have underlying health conditions. Returning travelers with symptoms and close contact of people confirmed with novel coronavirus may be asked to take precautionary measures. We understand many people in the united states are worried about this virus and how it will affect Americans. Risk depends on exposure. Right now, we have a handful of patients with this new virus here in the united states. However, currently in the U.S., this virus is not spreading in the community. For that reason, we continue to believe that the immediate health risk from the new virus to the general American public is low currently. Every day we learn more and every day we assess to see if our guidance or our response can be improved. As this response evolves CDC will continue our aggressive public health response strategy, working to protect the health and safety of the American public. Thank you. Paul Fulton: Thank you, Dr. Messonnier. Were now ready to take questions. Operator: Thank you. As a reminder if you want to ask a question please press star one, unmute your phone and record your name clearly when prompted. One moment, please. Once again to ask a question press star one. Our first question is from Michele Cortez from Bloomberg, news. Michele Cortez: Hi. Thanks, so much for taking the question. I wonder if you can give us some details on the screening, the flight screening now that were not having flights out of Wuhan directly any longer if you can tell how many patients were screened or how many travelers were screened and if there were any detected that way, how many we are following with close contacts and how you think thats going to change? I you know mentioned that in passing but Im wondering if youll expand it to all of china or shut it down. What are your thoughts on that? Thanks. Dr. Messonnier: Sure. Weve screened somewhere around 2400 people so far. And as you imagine, the number of people who are coming from Wuhan is declining with the aggressive closure of that city. I dont have in front of me sort of daily total from today or even the day before, but those numbers are, indeed, declining and were continuing the same posture with those five airports with the same screenings. Two reasons to do the screening, one is to identify ill returning passengers so that they can be identified quickly, treated promptly, and so that we can keep transmission from going further and importantly education so that we can educate returning travelers about the signs and symptoms. In terms of people identified through screening theres a variety of people that are being tracked and I dont think Ill go in more detail. In terms of our forward-looking stance, as I said this outbreak is unfolding rapidly and were rapidly looking at how we should how it impacts our posture at the border. Were certainly considering broadening of that screening and that is something that Ill be prepared to speak about as soon as we can decide on it. Paul Fulton: Next question, please. Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from dan Vergano from BuzzFeed news. Dan Vergano: Hi, thanks very much. I wonder if you could say something about the disputes over the weekend about the infectiousness of the disease, the subzero factor. Is there any way this usually plays out or there a stage at which you can definitively say how infectious this disease is? Dr. Messonnier: I wouldnt say its a dispute. I would say its scientists from around the world are looking at the available data and trying to analyze it, to come up with information that will be helpful in response. So, different scientists are looking at the data slightly differently and our general interpretation at this point is that the incubation period is somewhere around two to 14 days. I do think, again, its important that this outbreak is really unrolling in front of our eyes and when will we have a definitive answer it may not be further on into an outbreak. Theres some confusion about what this is that folks are talking about, its called an Arnot. Its a reproductive number of how many infected people come from a single infected person. Several different groups looked at it. Most articles have had interpretation that the Arnot is somewhere 1.5 and 3. Thats not a dramatic difference. As a comparison, the Arnot for measles is somewhere around 12 to 18. Thats among the most contagious. In general, you want to get an Arnot below one. Thats how you get the disease controlled. Ill stop there. Paul Fulton: Next question, please. Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Evan Brown from fox news. Evan Brown: Hi, good morning. Could you talk a little bit more about the posting of the protocols for this test? Is this now sort of like an open source kind of test? Are your encouraging as many different health departments around the world to do this, to be able to have their own version of this test or am I not getting that right. Can you explain that more and tell me the best you can how helpful you think it would be to get this test out there as quickly as possible to as many different agencies? Dr Messonnier: Ill start. I think thank you for allowing us to clarify. We have put that protocol out. Its a blueprint, Dr. Weldon will explain more about what that means. In general, at this stage of the investigation we are asking our clinical lab partners to send samples to CDC because we think thats the most efficient way to in order to ensure results are as accurate as possible. I would point out that other countries as far as I know every other country is doing centralized testing. That is sort of how we typically stand up in this kind of response. Our most important priority is making sure that the tests is accurate. Speed is important but accuracy is probably a priority. Dr. Weldon, do you want to talk more about this? Dr. Weldon: Yes. So, the protocol that was posted online, the intent was to use this as a blueprint. The hope is researchers can take this protocol and adapt it in their own labs so they can have this important tool available at their disposal for testing samples from suspected patients. The protocol itself is undergoing rigorous evaluation in our own labs and kits are being developed that will allow CDC to distribute to state and international labs so that they will have the important re-agency needed for the assay. Paul Fulton: Next question, please. Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Kat Eschner from popular science. Kat Eschner: Thank you for taking my question. Im wondering if you can speak to the origins of the virus at all. Two articles suggest it may not have come from the Wuhan seafood market. Do we know anything more at this time? Dr. Messonnier: So, I would also put this in the range of interesting science thats coming out rapidly and at CDC were work to synthesize it. There are two different kinds of research thats coming up in these articles. Some of it is genetic sequencing analysis which is comparison of the sequencing of the strains from china with other coronaviruses including animal coronavirus and SARS and MERS. There is epidemiology data in terms of the genetic sequencing data it looks somewhat like a bat coronavirus, but I think theres a lot more to be done in term of both the genetic sequencing as well as the analysis into the epidemiological research before we are all confident that we know how this started. Yesterday the microphone may not have been on when I answered a question, so Ill make sure I re-answer that. There was a question about the risk of novel coronavirus from packages of products shipped from china. So, theres still a lot unknown about the newly emerged 2019 coronavirus and how it spread. But we know a lot about MERS and SARS, the other two coronavirus that are known to be infectious in people. The Novel coronavirus is genetically related more to SARS than MERS, which also have their origins in bats. We dont know for sure if this virus will behave in the same way as far as MERS, we use information from those coronaviruses to guide us. In general, because of the poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, thats in the range of hours, theres likely a very, very, very low if any risk of spread from products or packaging that is shipped over a period of days or weeks in ambient the temperatures. So, at this time we cant fully evaluate the risks from different products that are shipped from china under different conditions, but coronaviruses have generally spread most often by respiratory droplets and theres no evidence that supports transmission of this coronavirus is associated with imported goods and no cases in the U.S., associated with imported goods. More information will be posted as it becomes available on our website and Im sure well talk about it in upcoming media teleconferences. Paul Fulton: Thank you. Next question? Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Dawn Kopecki from CNBC. Dawn Kopecki: Hi. Last week you said that there was no evidence that the coronavirus was infectious during the incubation period but chinas health minister this weekend said that there was evidence that it could be spread when people were asymptomatic. Do you have any additional information on this? Dr. Messonnier: We have seen the reports out of china regarding the spread of the disease. We at CDC dont have any clear evidence of patients being infectious before symptom on sets. However, with our states and local health department partners we are being very aggressive and very cautious in tracking of close contacts to determine if we can identify any close contacts who are, indeed ill. So far, weve not seen any human-to-human transmission in the United States, but well update you as more information becomes available from the U.S., as well as other countries. Dawn Kopecki: Thank you. Paul Fulton: Our next question, please? Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Melissa Jenco from AAP News. Melissa Jenco: Yes, thanks for taking my question. I just wondered if you could tell us if this virus has had what kind of impact this had on children both in the U.S., and what you know of the global cases? Dr Messonnier: So far most of the information coming out from China which is certainly where most cases are is that the disease is by far majorly in adults with older adults in those underlying illnesses with higher risk. In the united states the five cases are all in adults. There are a few reports of disease in children, and well wait to learn more as more information becomes available. In the U.S., as you can imagine were also taking a cautious approach and certainly well be very cautious about making sure that if there are children who are immunized and treated properly and monitoring any close contacts of cases that happen to be children. Paul Fulton: Next question, please. Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Mike Stobbe from the associated press. Mike Stobbe: Hi. Thank you for taking my question. Doctor, could you say more you said there were 110 people in the U.S., are being monitored. The samples have been taken from each of them and youre awaiting results. Could you be more specific about what is going on the evaluation of those 110 people? Can you say when the test kits are expected to be sent out. Im sorry, you kind of alluded to a decision that I guess CDC is discussing about whether to change its travel recommendation. Anything else you can say or are you thinking of doing screening for all Chinese passengers? You dangled something big in front of us and were all kind of wondering what youre referring to. Thank you. Dr. Messonnier: Sure. So, let me take those in order. In terms of the PUIs, the process is like this. We identify somebody who potentially has exposure to Wuhan and has a fever and a respiratory illness. We would consider a PUI to be somebody who had contact with a confirmed case and had fever and respiratory illnesses. Those patients are coming to attention in a variety of formats. Some have presented themselves to a health care provider. Others are being detected through vigilance at health departments, the airport and healthcare providers, so when those patients are identified that procedure is set that the health department gets called first. The health department calls CDC. We have folks here on site 24/7 through our emergency operation center. The CDC people who take the call discuss the case with the health department and clinician and based on the discussion decide whether that patient merits additional laboratory diagnostics. Specimens are taken and they are sent to CDC where they are tested. The time lag between a patient the decision that a patient needs further laboratory testing and a result is somewhere around a day, depending on where that patient is being seen and how we can most efficiently ship it. That number of PUIs is that general number and as you say, well be working our way through the ones that will require additional laboratory testing and youll see patients identified as either being confirmed cases or hopefully rule out as a confirmed case. In term of the lab kits what I would say is were working as fast as we can, and I am going to say one to two weeks. Were doing everything we can to make it as fast as possible. We understand that for physicians, clinicians and health departments its important to have the kits as close as possible to the patients geographically so we can provide a result but its another week or two. In terms of the last thing we are intermittently thinking about this decision. As you know theres lots of new information coming out of china in terms of cases, in terms of what is going on there outside of Wuhan. There are other provinces. The case numbers. Were trying to take that into account as we move quickly as we can towards any decisions. I expect that there will be a decision and announcement about that within the next day, but I cant give you a time because we want to make sure that were being expedient and sensible about what kind of decisions and recommendations were making. Paul Fulton: I think we have time for two more questions. Next question, please? Operator: Our next question is from Lisa Irizarry from news day. Lisa Irizarry: Hi, thanks for taking my question. I just want to make sure I understood, 110 persons under investigation, they were either themselves traveling in china in Wuhan or they had contact with somebody who had recently traveled, is that correct? Dr. Messonnier: Generally, most of them, yes. As I said before we have a general guideline. However, because there is so much unknown, we are being cautious about testing and being responsive to concerns of the clinicians and the health department. The decision about whether that patient gets tested is a joint decision between the clinician, the health department and CDC. So, in general that is the correct definition, but around the edges there may be some additional testing and know that this issue also, what we consider a PUI is something that were in active discussions out with our state and local partners. In the definition of the PUI also know that while that number is 110 were prioritizing based on PUIs that might be at higher risk. For example, in general somebody who has a very close contact of a confirmed case and has respiratory symptoms might be a high are priority than somebody with a mild cough and traveled to Wuhan two weeks ago. Those are not real examples but just know that within that 110 we also are prioritizing based on risk. Lisa Irizarry: One quick follow up question, its 26 states. At some point will you release which states those are? Dr. Messonnier: As you know, we are incredibly sensitive about releasing names of states in this kind of context. So that would really be up to a state health department whether they want to make that release. What I would say is if you want to know whether there are any PUIs in your state, please contact the state health department and let them make the decision about whether they want to release that number or not. Lisa Irizarry: Thank you very much. Paul Fulton: Last question please. Operator: Our final question today is from Ronnie Koenig from the New York Times. Ronnie Koenig: A couple of things. I want to get more clarity on this the flight from Wuhan. I didnt think there were flight from Wuhan. Your screening people who came from another city via Wuhan and are you able to get that information or do they present themselves at the airport? Im not sure how thats happening unless there are flights coming. I just want to ask one more thing. Your asking people to present themselves to come in for testing if they have been to Wuhan? I mean 110 out of I mean we know there are so many people who have traveled recently from china. That is a very small number and we do see they are asymptomatic and not older with under lying conditions. So just a little confused about are you is there scarcity of testing? Dr. Messonnier: Theres no scarcity of testing and Im sorry if you could let me respond now. Ronnie Koenig: Sure. Dr. Messonnier: Thanks. So, again, as I said, flights from Wuhan, direct flights have certainly been stopped. But there are a variety of people who are called broken itineraries, they may be transiting from Wuhan through another country back to the united states. There are still individuals who are in the middle of one of those itineraries when I am talking about screening passengers from Wuhan, Im talking about those people. As I said earlier, I dont have numbers from the past day, but we are gathering those people and they are still part of the same screening. In terms of the message to travelers, our focus is on returning travelers from Wuhan who have respiratory symptoms and fever. This is something that weve been trying to make sure, were being very clear about to returning travelers and one of the things thats really important about the screening at the airport is that were not just identifying people who are sick, were passing out those messages so that people who returned from Wuhan who came back a week ago, for example, if they have today a fever and respiratory infections, my message to them is please call your health care provider. Its important you get analyzed and you may need to be tested. As many of you know several of the confirmed patients in the united states were asymptomatic when they came back. Developed symptoms later. I want to compliment them because they were prompt in calling their health care provider and identified themselves as traveling to Wuhan. Patients who are returning are an important part of this equation and Im sorry I misspoke, travelers from Hubei not just from Wuhan. If you recently returned from Hubei and you have a fever and respiratory symptoms, please call your health care provider so you can be appropriately checked out and we want to make sure you get the best care possible. Paul Fulton: Thank you, Dr. Messonnier. Thank you all for joining us today for this briefing. Please remember to visit the 2019 Novel Coronavirus webpage for continued updates. If you have further questions, please call the CDC media line at 404-639-3286 or email media @cdc.gov. Operator: Thank you. This does conclude todays conference. You may disconnect at this time. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Over the past few weeks, the deadly coronavirus has quickly spread across the globe from Wuhan, China where it is believed to have originated. Now, New York City is bracing or a potential outbreak of the virus. Its inevitable that we will have someone who is positive with coronavirus, New York City health commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot told The New York Times. So far, there have been five confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States, but New York has yet to identify anyone who has contracted it. Ten individuals have been tested for the virus in New York and so far seven of the test results have come back negative. Those still waiting for their test results will be kept in isolation, according to a press release issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday. "We encourage all New Yorkers to take normal precautions against sickness, such as regular hand washing and avoiding close contact with people who are sick, New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said in a press release. We will continue to work with our partners at the CDC and around the State as we assist in any way necessary to ensure the health of all New Yorkers." Should someone test positive for the virus they will either be quarantined in one of Bellevue Hospitals biocontainment units or asked to stay at home depending on the severity of their symptoms, according to public health officials. In preparation, the state Department of Health has been hosting webinars for medical workers to educate them about the virus, according to the Times. State health officials has also reached out to university health care centers where international students are more likely to seek medical care. Symptoms of the coronavirus are similar to those associated with the flu, such as a sore throat, runny nose, headaches, coughing and fever, according to the Center for Disease Control. The virus can also make some more susceptible to getting pneumonia or bronchitis. It appears to be transmitted from person to person, but little is known about how it is spread. As of Tuesday, 4,500 people are reported to have contracted the virus in Asia and an estimated 106 people have died from the virus in China. Cases have been confirmed in 13 other countries (including the United States), all from people who had recently travelled in China. In an effort to contain the virus, China closed off the Wuhan area, cancelling flights, trains, buses and ferries leaving the city last Thursday. The following day, transit all throughout the Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located, was restricted. On Jan. 17, the CDC announced that it would begin screening people for the virus at several airports in the U.S., including the John F. Kennedy International Airport. A few of the passengers who were aboard the last direct flight from Wuhan to Kennedy quarantined themselves in their homes in an attempt to prevent any potential spread of the virus, according to the Times. The coronavirus is much like the SARS virus, another type of coronavirus that caused a worldwide epidemic in 2003 resulting in 800 deaths. Several people in New York state were diagnosed with SARS. In response to the outbreak the state emphasized the importance of early screening and encouraged those with symptoms to isolate themselves at home or in a hospital if necessary. The city dealt with a similar health crisis in 2014, during a global Ebola outbreak, when Craig Spencer contracted the disease while travelling in Guinea with Doctors Without Borders. After showing symptoms of the illness he was quarantined in Bellevue Hospital. Those who had been in contact with Spencer were asked to isolate themselves for 21 days to ensure they did spread the disease. He was eventually released from the hospital after several weeks. Much like now, travellers coming in through JFK during the Ebola outbreak were screened for the illness, hospitals were designated for treatment of the disease and medical professionals were trained to identify and treat it. And as recently as last month, public hospitals in the city ran through drills on how to handle an Ebola outbreak, according to the Times. Hundreds of Iranian airline passengers experienced extreme panic in a series of back-to-back flight incidents in recent days, fortunately escaping what could have otherwise turned into deadly tragedies. On Jan. 27, a narrow-body MD-83 operated by Irans Caspian Airlines skidded off the runway upon landing in the southwestern port city of Mahshahr. After the tires failed to descend upon landing, the aircraft ended up lying on its belly on a busy highway outside the airport. Videos went viral of the 135 passengers getting off the plane, some from exit doors and others over the wings, after they survived the nail-biting moment. The scene of the plane right on a city street was a surreal and apocalyptic image, one Iranian tweeted. Irans civil aviation organization later announced the damaged plane had been pulled back to the airport to be permanently grounded. The crash-landing occurred only one day after a malfunctioning engine on a Tehran-bound Qeshm Airlines plane from the northeastern city of Gorgan forced the pilot to abort takeoff and evacuate passengers. Earlier, on Jan. 25, following departure from Imam Khomeini International Airport, an Airbus A300-600 operated by Iran Airtour heading toward the Turkish city of Istanbul had to circle around a certain area west of Tehran several times to consume fuel and reduce weight for an emergency return to the airport. Irans aviation organization blamed the incident on a minor technical fault without elaborating further. Airport officials have also canceled several domestic flights in recent days, offering no specific explanations and further adding to multiple unanswered questions. Decades of US sanctions restricting the sale of planes and parts to Iran have effectively worn out the countrys aviation fleet. Having signed the Iran nuclear deal with major world powers in 2015 and the consequent partial removal of those sanctions, Tehran was hoping to overhaul and inject some life into its aging aircraft, with President Hassan Rouhanis government inking multibillion-dollar contracts with aviation giants Boeing and Airbus. Only a few of the 180 ordered planes joined the Iranian fleet, however, as the two companies halted deliveries due to fears of back-breaking US penalties that were reimposed after President Donald Trump walked out of the Iran deal. The latest incidents involving Iranian aircraft come only weeks after 176 people died onboard a Ukrainian jetliner that was mistakenly downed by two Iranian missiles outside Tehran. The deadly incident has already made several international airlines redirect their paths from Iranian airspace, with some halting their Iran operations or starting to think twice. Maps of air traffic over Iranian skies following the Ukrainian plane crash have been marking a less concentrated circle, an unwelcome picture to the sanction-hit Iranian government for which one of the few ways of earning much-needed foreign currency is charging international aircraft using Iranian airspace. Truba says his dismissal was politically motivated. Former Director of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) of Ukraine Roman Truba wants the Supreme Court to prove his dismissal was illegal. "I have lodged a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to invalidate a presidential decree on the early termination of the SBI director's powers. My dismissal was a political decision that appeared as a result of the implementation of scenarios of various groups. It will be possible to assess its effect over time. However, there must be a legal decision," he wrote on Telegram. Read alsoUkrainian prosecutors open pretrial probe into ex-chief of SBI Truba lawmaker Truba said his work at the SBI had become the pinnacle of his professional career, therefore, in his opinion, his early dismissal should receive not only a political but also a legal assessment. As UNIAN reported earlier, the Verkhovna Rada on December 3 passed a draft law to amend certain laws of Ukraine to streamline the SBI's work. Under the law, the SBI's incumbent director and deputies must be fired. New senior officials of the SBI will be selected by a commission, which will include three members from parliament, three from the president, three from the government. The government's quota will be delegated by international organizations. On December 27, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Truba and appointed Iryna Venedyktova as Acting SBI Director. SACRAMENTO California paid more than $1.4 million to cover the legal costs of community groups that sued the state for diverting hundreds of millions of dollars meant to help homeowners hit by foreclosures during the last recession, documents obtained by The Chronicle show. Representatives for Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials reached the settlement in November, agreeing to pay $1.4 million for attorneys fees and $26,067 for undisclosed costs for three groups that pursued their case against the state for five years. The Chronicle obtained a copy of the settlement through a public records request. The two sides were fighting over how California would spend its share of a nationwide settlement with five banks that had been accused of abusive lending practices linked to the economic crash of 2008. While the state tried to use the money to plug a budget hole, courts repeatedly sided with the community groups that argued the money should go to direct aid for homeowners. The Newsom administration finally gave up the battle after losing in the state Supreme Court last year. Yet the more than $300 million that the state improperly diverted still has not been spent on its intended purpose helping people who lost their homes to foreclosure. Californias settlement with the National Asian American Coalition, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and the COR Community Development Corp. is in addition to $965,943 that the state spent on attorneys fees and costs to defend itself against the litigation, according to the governors office. Faith Bautista, president and CEO of the National Asian American Coalition, signed off on the settlement. But she said it does little for her organization, a Daly City nonprofit that provides counseling and down-payment assistance for home buyers, or its clients. With the money they paid with their lawyers, with the money we paid with our lawyers, we could have helped so many homeowners, Bautista said. Its always the lawyers who win. Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press 2009 In 2012, California received $410 million through a settlement with the countrys five largest mortgage servicers Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and GMAC, now known as Ally Financial which had used fraudulent practices to quickly foreclose on struggling homeowners. The settlement also provided $20 billion in assistance for borrowers nationwide and more than $2 billion for other states. Sen. Kamala Harris, then the state attorney general, negotiated to put most of Californias share into services for homeowners, such as foreclosure hotlines and legal aid. However, then-Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature raided $331 million from the fund to pay off housing bonds and other debts owed by state agencies, as lawmakers struggled to balance a state budget that was still in the red. The community groups sued the state in 2014 and won rulings that California must restore the money. But Brown fought the case and, in 2018, the Legislature passed a law retroactively declaring that the settlement had been spent properly. Newsom, who took office last year, continued to defend the money diversion until July, when the California Supreme Court declined his request to review an appellate court decision striking down the new legislation. That unanimous ruling declared the money was unlawfully diverted from a special fund in contravention of the purposes for which that special fund was established. The following month, Newsom announced that the state would place the $331 million into a trust for nonprofits that assist with borrower relief in foreclosure cases and represent renters facing eviction. During a news conference, he applauded the plaintiffs for exercising leadership and forcing the state to come to grips with its previous determination that this money should have been used to pay off the debt related to housing bonds. I think this is a much better proposal, he said, and in that respect, they deserve an enormous amount of credit. Nearly six months later, the program still has not been established. The Legislature passed a bill in the fall stating its intent to create a trust to manage these funds, which Newsom signed in October. In his budget proposal this month, he said his administration was exploring, with input from stakeholders, ways to establish and manage a trust. Jesse Melgar, a spokesman for Newsom, said the administration expects to work with the Legislature in the coming months to produce a plan. The timeline for the flow of funding will depend on the legislation and time it takes to set up and manage the trust, he wrote in an email. Bautista said she was frustrated and beyond anger that, despite repeated court rulings, the state was not acting with any urgency to finally put the mortgage settlement toward its intended purpose. Why not? Youve got the money there. Theres a court order to help. Its so clear, she said. Sad, sad, sad. And a shame on them. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff A Co Down father is pleading to the public to help fund pioneering research that could transform the life of his eight-year-old daughter. Hasti Brannigan suffers from Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CDLS), a genetic syndrome for which there is currently no treatment available. The neuro-degenerative genetic disease is characterised by reduced growth, developmental delay, and feeding problems, and can also cause speech and hearing difficulties and limb abnormalities. Now Army major dad-of-three Chris Brannigan (39) and his wife Hengameh (41) are trying to raise 2.5m in order to begin clinical trials and potentially treatment for this life-limiting condition. Speaking from his home in Surrey, Chris explained that he left his role as a linguist in Afghanistan in 2012, taking up the reins alongside his wife to care for their very ill baby daughter. "Just after Hasti was born was a really difficult time. We had no diagnosis for her and while she had lots of complications, we were not aware of any underlying cause," he said. "At the point I deployed to Afghanistan, Hasti was about four-months-old. Hasti had a very, very difficult start in life. She had really severe feeding problems from birth and refused to feed for a really long time. "She had severe acid reflux which was causing her a huge amount of pain. She also had a very strong texture aversion, so she wouldn't touch a lot of things like toys and wouldn't put certain things in her mouth." Having set up the Hope for Hasti charity in the last few weeks, Chris and Hengameh hope they will be able to fund research and eventually treatment for the condition, changing the life of both Hasti and other children around the world. "Hasti is a really happy, bouncy eight-year-old. She loves to swim, dance, cycle and do ballet. But if you read the medical literature it is frightening," Chris, who is also dad to Amir (12) and Navid (10), added. "The vast majority of people with CDLS never become independent. Our hope is always for an independent life for Hasti, but to do that we need to find a treatment. "The charity will be focused upon commissioning research with a view to finding effective therapies for this syndrome." While Chris admitted raising 2.5m is a mammoth task, he stressed that the family is focused on the initial 400,000 target. In the meantime, the family's fund-raising efforts have already yielded more than 13,000 in two weeks. Chris explained the support, particularly from back home in Northern Ireland, has been "amazing". "I have lots of friends back home I have lost touch with over the years. As soon as we shared our story, I started to get lots of messages from old friends and family friends who offered their support and made really generous donations," he said. With the future for Hasti entirely uncertain unless a treatment is found, Chris is pleading for help. "We need help from people, ultimately we can't do it on our own," he added. For more info visit https:// uk.gofundme.com/f/hope-for-hasti L ove Island host Laura Whitmore is already impressing viewers with her stunning array of outfits - and her latest sartorial choice is no different. In last night's show, viewers were on the edge of their seat after the first public vote left Connor Durman and Sophie Piper vulnerable to getting dumped from the Cape Town villa. Arriving at the swanky pad to announce the bottom two, the Love Island host made quite the impression in a gorgeous red number. But where is Laura Whitmore's latest outfit from? We've done all the hard work, so you don't have to! The gorgeous outfit is from a brand favoured by the likes of Meghan Markle and Holly Willoughby / Reformation Where is Laura Whitmore's red dress from? If you would like to get your hands on the stylish red wrap dress, you can visit the Reformation website here. Available in US sizes 0-12, the Josefine dress is priced at 285. Other celebrities and public figures who are fans of the brand include Holly Willoughby and Meghan Markle. What other outfits has Laura worn on the hit ITV2 show? In episode one of Winter Love Island, Laura donned a playful playsuit by Hasan Hejazi and shoes by Sophia Wesbter. Laura has also worn a baby pink short and shirt co-ord set by Zimmerman, and a bold pink blazer suit with cigar trousers and black piping by Irish designer, Joanne Hynes. Two of the men suffered serious injuries and were in surgery Monday, and two others suffered minor injuries, police said. All were expected to survive. Police caught three suspects within two hours of the shooting after a pursuit that was captured in part on live television as police cars zoomed behind Mayor Joe Ganim while he addressed the incident to reporters outside Bridgeport police headquarters. Weinstein accuser describes sex assault NEW YORK A former production assistant who first publicly accused Harvey Weinstein of assault in 2017 gave a tearful account of the alleged 2006 episode on the witness stand Monday and was confronted about her yearslong relationship with him that followed. Mimi Haleyi, 42, said Weinstein forced her into his bedroom on July 10, 2006. He held me down on the bed and he forced himself on me, she told a jury. But Haleyi was forced to defend her version of events during cross-examination in which she was quizzed about why she willingly went to a Tribeca Grand Hotel room with Weinstein on July 26, 2006, and had sex with him, two weeks after she says he attacked her at his Manhattan home. 'Doomsday cult' mother Lori Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell were given a deadline by authorities to produce her two missing children after investigators said there was no indication the kids were with the newlyweds who were located over the weekend in Hawaii. The Madison County Prosecutor's Office received a court order that requires Vallow to physically produce the missing children in Rexburg, Idaho, by Thursday. The couple was served by police in Kaua'i with two search warrants related to the location of her missing children, seven-year-old Joshua 'J.J.' Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan. The couple have been on the run for two months after abandoning their home in Rexburg, when police came to question them about the children's whereabouts. No arrest warrants have been issued for Lori or Chad, who relatives say are members of a dangerous doomsday cult. 'We can confirm that Lori Vallow was served with that order in the city of Princeville on the island of Kaua'i, Hawaii, on Saturday, January 25, by the Kaua'i Police Department, and that Chad Daybell was with her,' said Rexburg Police and the Madison County Prosecutors office in a press release. Lori and Chad were seen for the first time since news of her children's disappearance captured national attention in a video recorded after police in Hawaii served them with search warrants on Sunday. The couple refused to say where the children are or confirm that they are alive Officers are seen serving the couple with a warrant for their SUV in a resort parking lot in Kaua'i on Sunday. Police have not said what they were looking for or if they found any evidence Tylee (right) and her brother, seven-year-old J.J., have not been seen or heard from for months 'There is no evidence that Tylee and J.J. were ever in Hawaii.' If Lori doesn't appear with her children in Rexburg by the Thursday deadline, she could face civil or criminal contempt of court charges, authorities said. Rexburg Police Chief Shane Turman said that law enforcement agencies have known for some time that the couple was in Hawaii. Turman said that two officers from Rexburg, a prosecutor from Madison County, and a deputy from Fremont County are in Hawaii to assist with the case. Lori and Chad were seen for the first time since the children's disappearance in video recorded by the East Idaho News at the scene where police delivered the warrants on Sunday. They stayed silent and kept walking as a reporter repeatedly asked them where the children are and if they are alive. Lori only spoke once after the reporter said that people eastern Idaho and across the country are praying for J.J. and Tylee. 'That's great,' she replied. Chad kept his mouth shut throughout the entire exchange, merely grimacing when the reporter mentioned his previous wife, who died two weeks before he married Lori. Authorities say Chad and Lori have been hiding out in a gated community in Princeville, Hawaii. They were stopped by police while driving a black Ford Explorer along the Kuhio Highway and pulled into the Kaua'i Beach Resort, where officers handed them a search warrant for their vehicle. Lori was placed into one police vehicle and Chad into another as a tow truck came to seize their SUV - but both were released soon after. Federal, Idaho and Hawaii officers then went to the couple's townhouse in Princeville to execute a search warrant there. Police declined to say what they were searching for or if any evidence was found. Lori, dressed in a tank top, cropped leggings, sandals and sunglasses, was seen gathering belongings from her vehicle before it was towed, including a large amount of cash in a plastic bag. The ongoing investigation is being led by the Rexburg Police Department with assistance from the Kaua'i Police Department. KPD confirmed that it is assisting, but as of early Tuesday morning it has not charged the couple with a crime. 'KPDs desire is to continue to assist the Rexburg Police in whatever way we can with their efforts to locate the missing children,' said Kauai Police Chief Todd G. Raybuck in a press release. 'It's our sincere hope that the children have a safe return.' Authorities say Chad and Lori have been hiding out in a townhome in Princeville, Hawaii J.J. and Tylee (pictured together) were last seen in Rexburg, Idaho, on September 23 but were never reported missing by their mother J.J. and Tylee were last seen in Rexburg, Idaho, on September 23 but were never reported missing by their mother. Authorities began searching for the children in late November after performing a welfare check ordered by concerned relatives who said they hadn't spoken to J.J., who is autistic, in months. J.J.'s and Tylee's grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, began the investigation into the children's disappearance when they requested that authorities perform a welfare check. Timeline of Joshua and Tylee's disappearance July 11: Lori Vallow's husband, Charles Vallow, killed in self-defense by her brother, Alex Cox, in Arizona following an argument between the three people August: The last time Joshua's grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, said they saw the boy via FaceTime August: September: Lori moved children Joshua and Tylee to Rexburg, Idaho September 23: The last time Joshua was seen at his school in Idaho October: Activity found on a Venmo account that may belong to Tylee October 19: Chad Daybell's wife, Tammy Daybell, dies at their home in Rexburg. Officials rule her death to be of natural causes October 22: Tammy is buried in Springville, Utah October 25: A friend of Tylee receives a text from her phone Early November: Lori and Chad get married November 26: Out-of-state relatives ask Idaho police to perform a welfare check on Joshua. Lori and Chad claim he is in Arizona with a family friend. Police also learn Tylee has not been seen since September, either November 27: Police execute a search warrant at Lori and Chad's home, discovering the couple have fled the city December 11: Tammy Daybell's body is exhumed from the Utah cemetery December 12: Lori's brother, Alex Cox, believed to have died in Arizona December 21: Rexburg police issue a press release about J.J. and Tylee, revealing they believe the children's disappearance is linked to the death of Tammy Daybell December 24: Lori and Chad issue a statement through an attorney saying they love their son and daughter and look forward to addressing 'allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor' December 30: Police accuse Lori and Chad of lying to investigators and say they believe the couple know where the children are or what happened to them January 26: Lori and Chad are seen for the first time in months as police serve two search warrants in Kaua'i Advertisement When officers first went to Lori's home in Idaho on November 26, she told them that J.J. was visiting relatives in Arizona - which investigators say was a lie. Officers returned the following day and found that Lori and Chad - who tied the knot early that month - had fled from the home. Authorities say the couple have repeatedly lied about where J.J. and Tylee are and refused to cooperate with the investigation. It has since emerged they had told people Tylee was dead and that Lori has no minor children. Lori and Chad are considered persons of interest in the children's disappearance after investigators said they believe the mother knows where her children are or what happened to them. The couple issued a statement after they went on the run insisting that they'd done nothing wrong. Police have said there is reason to believe the children are in danger. The search for J.J. and Tylee uncovered a web of mysterious deaths surrounding Lori and Chad that has baffled investigators for weeks. The first death is that of Lori's estranged husband Charles Vallow, who was shot dead by her brother Alex Cox in Arizona on July 10. Charles and Lori had gotten into an argument when the father came to pick up J.J. at the mother's home in Chandler. Lori's brother intervened and fatally shot Charles. Police initially determined that he acted in self defense - but the case was reopened amid the multi-state search for J.J. and Tylee, who had moved to Idaho, where Chad lived, with their mother in August. The second mysterious death was Tammy Daybell - Chad's previous wife - who was found dead at the couple's home in Salem, Idaho, on October 19. An obituary stated that Tammy passed away in her sleep and her cause of death was ruled as natural after Chad reportedly declined an autopsy. Investigators reopened the case after learning that J.J. and Tylee were missing, as their mother had married Chad just two weeks after Tammy died. They believe the two cases could be linked. Tammy's body was exhumed on December 11 and the autopsy results have not yet been released. On December 12, Lori's brother, Alex Cox, was found dead in Gilbert, Arizona. The 51-year-old's death is now under investigation as police wait for an autopsy to determine the cause. Chad's then-wife Tammy Daybell (pictured together) was found dead under mysterious circumstances in October, just two weeks before he married Lori Lori's estranged husband Charles Vallow (pictured together) was shot dead by her brother, Alex Cox, in July The string of mysterious deaths has left other relatives fearing for their lives as they suspect Lori and Chad's alleged links to a doomsday cult may be responsible. Family members have said that Lori turned into a 'monster' after she met Chad, the author of 25 books about the end of the world, and joined a cult called Preparing a People with him around 19 months ago. Lori was married to Charles at the time that she allegedly joined the cult. The couple separated months later and Charles filed a petition for divorce and for custody of JJ in February 2019. In court documents, Charles claimed that Lori - referred to as 'mother' - had recently become 'infatuated, at times obsessive, about near death experiences and spiritual visions'. 'Mother has told Father [Charles] that she is sealed [eternally married] to the ancient Book of Mormon prophet Moroni and that she has lived numerous lives on numerous planets prior to this current life,' the documents state. 'Mother also informed Father that she is a translated being who cannot taste death sent by God to lead the 144,000 into the Millennium. 'Mother believes that she is receiving spiritual revelations and visions to help her gather and prepare those chosen to live in the New Jerusalem after the Great War as prophesied in the book of Revelations.' Charles also claimed in the petition that Lori had threatened to kill him. During a January 29 phone conversation, Lori allegedly told Charles that she was a 'God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's second coming in July 2020 and that if Father [Charles] got in her way of her mission she would murder him', the documents state. Attorneys who represented Charles during the divorce proceedings recently revealed that their client had predicted either Lori or her brother Alex would kill him. Speaking to FOX10 earlier this month, lawyer Steven Ellsworth claimed that Charles told him: 'I'm afraid I'm gonna be killed, and I know who's gonna do it. 'I'm telling you, Steve, so that if something happens to me, I wanna make sure you let everyone know that something happens, I'm killed, that it's my wife Lori and her brother, Alex Cox.' Five months later, Charles' prediction came true when Alex killed him. THE PLAYERS: WHO'S WHO IN THE CASE OF THE MISSING IDAHO CHILDREN, TYLEE AND JJ Advertisement Other family members have expressed similar concerns for their safety. Brandon Boudreaux, who was married to Lori's niece, claims his wife tried to murder him in October after she joined the doomsday cult with her aunt. On October 2, Brandon was shot at while driving home from the gym in Gilbert, Arizona. The bullet missed his head by mere inches as the shooter fled the scene, according to court documents obtained by The Arizona Republic. An ongoing police investigation revealed that the shooter was driving a Jeep registered to Charles Vallow. Brandon has now said he believes the children's disappearance, the three deaths and his attempted murder are connected to a dangerous religious cult that Chad recruited Lori into. 'I just don't know how people can get so wrapped up that they can end up in this space where these people are. It's just so radical, so different,' Brandon told The Arizona Republic this week. Brandon said his ex-wife, Melani Boudreaux, had begun spending time with her aunt's cult, a radical offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called Preparing for People, before she suddenly demanded a divorce over the summer. 'I thought I had a happy marriage, so it was pretty overwhelming,' Brandon said. The parents to four young children were in the middle of divorce proceedings when someone tried to kill him in the October drive-by. Travelers arriving at San Francisco International Airport and entering customs and immigration lines alongside passengers arriving from China are likely concerned about possible exposure to the novel coronavirus. Those fears were heightened when early reports emerged about an SFO-bound evacuation flight from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, expected to land here this week. However, San Francisco city officials, including the mayor and airport director said that the flight carrying passengers from Wuhan, China to San Francisco will not land at San Francisco International Airport. Instead, the flight will stop over in Anchorage and terminate in Ontario, California on Tuesday. "Since the first outbreak in China, we have been monitoring the situation and taking the appropriate steps," Mayor London Breed said during a Monday press conference. "I want to stress, there have been no cases here in San Francisco." SFO Airport Director Ivar Satero said while a direct flight from Wuhan to SFO was recently canceled, the airport is continuing to work with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to screen any lingering passengers arriving into the airport whose itinerary might have included Wuhan. Meanwhile, the CDC is now advising Americans against nonessential trips to anywhere in China-- previously the warning only applied to travel to Wuhan. Also on Monday, the US State Department raised its travel advisory for China from Level 2 to Level 3, recommending that Americans reconsider trips to China. US Dept of State Airlines are working with travelers hoping to change or cancel reservations for flights to China - for example, United said on its website that as a result of these warnings, "Weve issued a travel waiver for customers. Were also offering additional flexibility for other destinations in China. Customers traveling to and from China will need to complete additional health screenings." United's travel waiver currently applies to China flights scheduled between now and March-- see more here. China Southern is the only airline to serve Wuhan-SFO with nonstop flights. Its previous CZ659 flight which flew Guangzhou-Wuhan-SFO flight now bypasses Wuhan. RELATED: The risk of catching the flu on the plane Dr. Tomas Aragon with the San Francisco Department of Public Health said that while the risk of contracting the virus is low for Bay Area residents, the department has activated its emergency response plan to be prepared. To lower the chances of becoming infected, Aragon recommends that people regularly wash their hands, cover their coughs with their hands and that they stay home when they're sick. "Currently the risk for acquiring this infection is very low, so at this time we're not recommending any special measures, including wearing masks," he added. Bay City News, Inc. contributed to this report. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE biweekly email updates! SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 17:56:30|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and 20 others injured Tuesday in a head-on collision between a car and a van in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, police said. The accident took place near Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar district, about 555 km southwest of Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. "Early today five people lost their lives in a road accident near Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar district," a police official said. "The accident occurred when a car and a van had a head-on collision." According to police, all the five people inside the car were killed on spot, while 20 people inside the van were injured. "The injured were immediately removed to a nearest medical facility," the police official said. Deadly road accidents are common in India, which are often caused by overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving. An official report says an average of 400 deaths take place every day in India due to road accidents. By Abdul Kerimkhanov Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva has slammed Armenias smear campaign around Black January, which marks the killing over a hundred Azerbaijani civilians by Soviet troops in 1990. Abdullayev said that the Armenian propaganda in connection with the January events of 1990 is aimed at concealing the genocide carried out against Azerbaijani civilians over the history, and the policy of ethnic cleansing, as well as the massacre of 613 civilians over a night [by Armenian forces in 1992]," Abdullayeva said. Addressing her Armenian counterpart, she called on the Armenian MFA to recognize the ethnic cleansing policy implemented by Armenia, the gross violation of the fundamental rights of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis expelled from their homes as a result of the occupation, as well as Yerevans policy of occupation, strongly condemned by the international community. Abdullayeva emphasized that the massacre committed by Soviet troops against the civilian population on the night of January 19 to January 20, 1990, is a crime against humanity, and the former Soviet leadership is responsible for this crime. "The events of January 1990 could not break the desire of the Azerbaijani people for independence, and our country regained its independence. Today, the independence and sovereignty of Azerbaijan is unambiguously recognized and supported by the entire international community," Abdullayeva noted. She noted that commemorative events in honor of the 30th anniversary of the events of January 20, 1990, when Azerbaijani people sacrificed their lives for the state independence of Azerbaijan, were held by Azerbaijani diplomatic missions in more than 60 countries across the world. "We would like to especially note the support provided to us by the international community, including the diplomatic corps in our country," Abdullaeva concluded. Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region, which along with seven other regions were occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. Around one million Azerbaijanis were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities that were started by the Armenian forces due to territorial claims against Baku. A temporary cease-fire agreement was signed between the countries in 1994, however a final peace deal has not been reached yet. Peace negotiations mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have yielded no results to this date. Since 1992, negotiations have been underway for a peaceful settlement of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. In 1993, the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, due to the unconstructiveness of Armenia, they still remain on paper. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A respiratory virus that has sickened hundreds and killed at least 17 people in China saw its first confirmed cases in the United States last week one of them in an Illinois woman but a health official in Springfield says the risk of transmission in central Illinois remains low. This is an ever-changing virus, and were learning more and more about it every day, said Gina Carnduff, director of infection prevention for Memorial Health System in Illinois. At this time, however, the risk is very low that someone from central Illinois would be infected with this virus. Youre at greater risk of getting the flu, which has caused between 6,600 and 17,000 deaths in the U.S. so far this season, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We are seeing widespread flu activity across the region, Carnduff said. Flu viruses can travel up to 6 feet when someone coughs or sneezes. With the high flu activity currently occurring, you have a high possibility of being exposed to the flu virus. Its not too late to get your flu shot and protect yourself. Regarding the new coronavirus, most of the people who have contracted it were in the city of Wuhan in a province in central China. The virus has since spread to other cities in China and the nations of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the U.S. To catch the virus at this point, a person would have to have been in Wuhan or in contact with someone with a confirmed case, Carnduff said. While the risk of catching the coronavirus remains low, Carnduff said people can still follow the same common-sense precautions to prevent the spread of illnesses such as the flu: Cover your mouth when you cough. Wash your hands frequently. And maintain your distance if you see someone actively coughing or sneezing. The incubation period for the coronavirus is about 14 days, according to media reports. Many of the fatalities to date have been elderly people with other pre-existing conditions. Chicagos OHare International Airport was added as another major airport where federal officials will screen passengers arriving from Wuhan for the infection. The other airports are in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Carnduff said central Illinois residents who regularly fly into OHare dont need to fear when they arrive. Any screened passengers suspected of carrying the virus will be quarantined, she said. As part of the ever-changing nature of the virus, officials initially thought it was transmitted by animal-to-human contact. However, Carnduff said, we just learned that there are cases of human-to-human transmission. The first confirmed case was reported Dec. 31. Were still learning about this virus, Carnduff said. At this stage, we have more questions than answers. As the world celebrates the International Data Privacy Day, the Nigerian government has said its commitment to data protection for its citizens is unshaken. Speaking at the celebration organised in Abuja by the National Information Technology Agency,(NITDA) on Tuesday, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, said his administration will ensure that data is not abused in the country. Any data under the control of the government or individuals will not be abused under my watch as the Minister, he said. As the Chief ICT policy maker in Nigeria, I am here for telecom operators, regulators and consumers. Mr Pantami said the entire digital economy relies on data as such, data protection is key to driving a digital economy for Nigeria. Looking at our population, it is the right time for Nigeria to drive the digital economy, he said The minister said telecom operators must improve the quality of their services else they will lose in the long run. Nigerian youths are digital natives, any telecom operator that fails to improve the quality of services will at the long run lose the market in Nigeria, the minister said. January 28 has been dedicated as international data privacy day. Last year, the day was celebrated in nearly 50 countries, including the United States of America, India, Canada, and others. The celebration started in 2007 after European Council declared January 28 as a Data Privacy Day in 2006. On January 25, 2019, Mr Pantami, who was then the Director-General NITDA, issued the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR). This served as a response to the global call for privacy regulation. The action has put Nigeria on a global map of digital nations. Expert Meanwhile, an ICT expert, Hakeem Ajijola, said the Internet has reached a pivotal point, where some level of regulation is required to ensure the stability, integrity and survivability of the platform. He said there are fine lines between suitable legislation, regulation, censorship and abuse of digital rights. The fundamentals behind the failures and challenges of technology are often human failings and frailties greed, lies, incompetence, ego, but we must now add the new political aspects such as state-funded cyber-actors, extremism and terrorist motivated hackers, he said. He also said: These are issues our society, especially its national and corporate leadership must deal with to ensure short and long-term national, corporate competitive survivability and to secure citizens wellbeing and livelihood. Zelensky has not commented on the matter, consistent with a strategy to avoid or deflect most questions about Trump's impeachment. Reported comments by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appearing to play down Ukraine's importance to Americans have put Kyiv in an awkward spot days before Pompeo is due to visit. Ukraine is already walking a political tightrope over the attempt to impeach U.S. President Donald Trump, which focuses on allegations he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the son of his Democratic rival Joe Biden, Reuters reports. Pompeo, who is due to make an official visit to Ukraine starting on Thursday, will be the most senior U.S. official to travel to Ukraine since the impeachment process began. Last week he was accused of shouting "do you think Americans care about Ukraine?" at a National Public Radio reporter after she questioned him about Ukraine in an interview. Read alsoUkraine huge trading partner for U.S. Pompeo Pompeo said the reporter had lied in setting up the interview and in agreeing to conduct the post-interview conversation off the record but did not dispute what she said about the content of the post-interview encounter. NPR stood by its account of the meeting. Zelensky has not commented on the matter, consistent with a strategy to avoid or deflect most questions about Trump's impeachment. Sviatoslav Yurash, a lawmaker in Zelenskys party who sits on parliaments foreign policy committee, said Ukraine was unlikely to raise the issue; analyst Volodymyr Fesenko of the Penta think-tank said Ukraine was in no position to complain. "We may not like what Pompeo allegedly said, but we cannot afford to criticize Pompeo for this. We cannot show our negative attitude," he said. In a statement to Reuters, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said Pompeo's visit was a "clear demonstration of support for Ukraine" focused on the Donbas conflict, military aid, and Washington's support for reforms. Read alsoPompeo to visit Ukraine on Jan 30 media A senior U.S. administration official stressed that Washington's focus was supporting Ukraine and its fight against corruption. Ukraine counts on Washington for diplomatic support and military aid to buy Javelin anti-tank missiles and other hardware as it battles Russian-occupation forces in its eastern Donbas region in a war that has killed more than 13,000 people. Trump froze nearly $400 million in U.S. military assistance to Ukraine shortly before speaking to Zelensky, prompting accusations from Democrats that he had misused U.S. foreign policy for personal gain. An elderly man was beaten to death over a petty dispute in Uttar Pradesh's Chitrakoot district, police said on Tuesday. Shyamlal (70) was thrashed with sticks in Markundi area of the district by Ashok after the former objected to the latter hitting his goat on Monday, Chitrakoot Superintendent of Police Ankit Mittal said. He was rushed to a nearby government hospital where he was declared brought dead, the SP said. Mittal said the accused has been arrested and the victim's body has been sent for a post mortem. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two terrorists were killed and as many others arrested in separate incidents on Tuesday in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said. Police shot dead two terrorists, who happened to be a brother-duo, in northwest Pakistan. Acting on a tip-off, police intercepted two bikers on Tator road in Tank district, following which the two started firing at the security personnel. In the retaliatory firing, the two terrorists -- identified as Awal Khan Bhittani and Jahanzeb Khna Bhittani -- were killed, police said. Awal was carrying a bounty of Rs five lakh on his head for his involvement in attacks on government installations and security forces since 2009, they said. In another incident, a police team conducted a search operation in Ghnaid area of Hangu district, District Police Officer Shahid Ahmad told reporters here. Two terrorists, identified as Jalauddin and Shahid Gul, were arrested during the search operation, he said. The duo were involved in several cases of murder, including that of a policeman, and bomb blasts, Ahmad said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A prominent jihadist group based in the Sahel and linked to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility Monday for a weekend attack that killed 20 Malian security forces. Sunday's dawn attack on the Sokolo camp in central Mali, near the border with Mauritania, left "20 dead and five wounded" and "four dead on the enemy's side", the army said. All of those killed were gendarmes, or paramilitary police officers, a local lawmaker told AFP. Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) -- an umbrella group of al-Qaeda affiliates -- said it had staged the raid. JNIM was designated a terrorist organisation by the United States in September. In a statement sent to Mauritanian news agency Al-Akhbar on Monday, JNIM said it "managed to kill 20 soldiers and imprison three more", adding that it lost three of its own men. Militants also captured "nine all-terrain vehicles, over 20 Kalashnikov machine guns, a large arsenal of ammunition and other weapons," according to the statement. On Sunday, Mali's army confirmed on that some of its materiel had been "damaged or taken". Despite aid from French and UN forces, Mali is struggling to quell unrest that began in 2012 in the north of the country before spreading to centre, as well as neighbouring Sahel states Burkina Faso and Niger. PM offered European Commission's Frans Timmermans to start a dialogue on Ukraine joining the Green Deal initiative. Ukraine in five years will meet the criteria for gaining membership in the European Union, says Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk. "The governments program provides for an ambitious goal in 5 years Ukraine will meet the criteria for gaining EU membership. That is why it is important to harmonize policies with EU member states, in particular, within the framework of the European Green Deal," the prime minister wrote on Facebook. As reported earlier, in December 2019, the European Commission adopted the "Green Deal" a package of measures aimed at modernizing the economy and the social sphere in order to turn Europe into a climate-friendly continent before 2050. Read alsoEuractiv: Ukraine's own Green Deal aims to slash energy imports Today, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk invited Frans Timmermans, Vice President of the European Commission on the European Green Deal, to start a dialogue on developing a roadmap for Ukraine to join the initiative. UNIAN memo: In 2014, the European Union and Ukraine signed the Association Agreement, which marked the beginning of a new period in the development of relations between the EU and Ukraine. The agreement is the main tool for closer rapprochement between Ukraine and the European Union: it contributes to the deepening of political relations, stronger economic ties, and mutual respect for common values. The economic part of the agreement on a deep and comprehensive free trade area provides Ukraine with the opportunity to expand trade relations and economic development, as it opens up new markets, and helps adapt legislation, standards, and regulations in various sectors. The latter will help integrate EU standards into key sectors of the Ukrainian economy. Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday he would make a decision on Huawei's role in Britain's future 5G network that would give Britons the benefits of the new technology without compromising national security. Johnson is due to meet senior government ministers on Tuesday to decide whether to ban or restrict the use of equipment made by Huawei in the 5G network. He faces pressure from Washington - and some members of his ruling Conservative Party - not to give Huawei any role because of fears the Chinese company would gain access to British secrets. Huawei denies it is a vehicle for Chinese intelligence. Johnson said there was a way for British consumers and businesses to have access to the new technology without compromising security relationships with the US-led Five Eyes intelligence alliance. "There is no reason why we shouldn't have technological progress here in the UK, allow consumers, businesses in the UK to have access to fantastic technology, to fantastic communications but also protect our security interests and protect our key partnerships with other security powers around the world," Johnson said in reply to a reporter's question about Huawei during a visit to a London university. "So the Five Eyes security relationships we have, we have got to keep them strong and safe," he said. "We are going to come up with a solution that enables us to achieve both those objectives." Reuters cited two people with knowledge of the matter last week as saying British officials had proposed granting Huawei a limited role in the 5G network. 5G is seen as one of the biggest innovations since the birth of the internet a generation ago, offering much faster data speeds. Huawei, the worlds biggest producer of telecoms equipment, says the United States wants it blocked from Britain's 5G network because no US company can offer the same range of 5G technology at a competitive price. Fox in the hen house Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative former head of the British parliament's foreign affairs committee, compared giving Huawei access to Britain's 5G network to "nesting that dragon" and "allowing the fox into the hen house when really we should be guarding the wire". Former Prime Minister Theresa May agreed last year before leaving office to block Huawei from all core parts of the 5G network but to give it restricted access to non-core parts. Opponents of Huawei, including the United States, say the division between core and non-core is less clear when it comes to 5G networks. Britain welcomes foreign investment but needs assurances that national security will not be compromised, Matt Warman, the minister for digital and broadband, told parliament. "We welcome open trade and inward investment. However, our economy can only prosper and unleash Britain's potential when we and our international partners are assured that our critical national infrastructure remains safe and secure," he said. Warman said the National Security Council, the main forum for discussion of national security, would meet on Tuesday to discuss Huawei. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) Senate committees have urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to hold an internal investigation on the killings of communist groups in Negros Island. The Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, led by Sen. Ronald Bato dela Rosa, and Committee Justice and Human Rights led by Sen. Richard Gordon, submitted Committee Report (CRN) 33 recommending the identification of the members of an anti-communist vigilante group responsible for the killings. The report, signed by 11 senators, recommends that the PNP and the AFP should conduct a probe in their ranks and gather evidence for possible filing of administrative and criminal liabilities against police and military personnel involved in the implementation of "Oplan Sauron" for possible human rights abuses. The Senate report also recommended that members of an alleged anti-communist vigilante group "Kagubak" or Kawsa Guihulnganon Batok Komunista, along with other groups who were involved in the series of killings of alleged New People's Army members should be identified and charged in court. "To say that the period between October 2018 and July 2019 was bloody is a gross understatement. In that eight-month period, a series of killings and attempted killings took place in both provinces. No one was spared - men, women and children suffered at the hands of lawless armed men," the report read. The two committees made the recommendations after conducting a hearing on the killing of nine farmers in October, 20, 2018 by some 40 armed men in Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City; and the killing of a human rights lawyer last November 6, 2018. The report noted that the Simultaneous Enhanced Managing of Police Operations, which involved the PNP and several battalions of the AFP, was launched on December 27, 2018 and its second version, Oplan Sauron, was launched on March 30, 2019. These two police-military operations reportedly led to the killing of six persons and the arrest of 31 individuals, some of them from militant groups Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide. A southeastern Michigan hospital system said that a now-fired employee accessed and shared what was supposed to be protected personal and health information of more than 1,000 patients with someone affiliated with a personal injury lawyer. Beaumont Health said it has informed 1,182 people about the unauthorized access of their information, including names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, insurance information, reasons for medical care and Social Security numbers. Those whose Social Security numbers were affected were given information about enrolling in a free credit-monitoring program. Beaumont officials said the breach didnt affect all of its patients but they did not detail where those patients had received treatment. Hospital spokesman Mark Geary said most of the patients whose records were accessed had been in motor vehicle accidents. The Southfield-based system, which has eight hospitals and 145 outpatient locations, said it discovered last month that the data breach occurred between February 2017 and last October. The responsible worker was fired and officials said that in addition to launching an internal investigation, they will work with law enforcement if prosecution is pursued. The not-for-profit organization added it has taken steps to improve internal procedures to keep this from happening again. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Michigan Medical Professional Liability Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/28/2020 -- The latest report pertaining to 'Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market' provides a detailed analysis regarding market size, revenue estimations and growth rate of the industry. In addition, the report illustrates the major obstacles and newest growth strategies adopted by leading manufacturers who are a part of the competitive landscape of this market. A recent report on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market provides a detailed analysis on the industry size, revenue forecasts and geographical landscape pertaining to this business space. Additionally, the report highlights primary obstacles and latest growth trends accepted by key players that form a part of the competitive spectrum of this business. Get Sample Copy of This Premium Report@ https://industrystatsreport.com/Request/Sample?ResearchPostId=12567&RequestType=Sample The leading market players mainly include: UTC Aerospace Systems Aero Telemetry CIRCOR International Fiber Dynamics GE Aviation Heroux-Devtek Safran Landing Systems ACP Composites CESA UAV Factory Whippany Actuation Systems Landing gear system is a vital component installed on every UAV. It ensures a stable support for the UAVs at rest on the ground, establishing an appropriate shock-absorbing device and enabling the chassis to move for taxiing during manhandling. It is a mechanical system that absorbs loads during landing and taxiing, as well as transfers substantial part of these loads to the airframe, dissipating majority of the impact energy. The main functions of such landing gears include energy absorption, taxi control, and braking. The defense segment accounts for the maximum share of the market and occupied around 78% of the total market. APAC will be the fastest-growing region in the market. Much of the region's growth can be attributed to the expansion of military capabilities in key countries such as China, Japan, India, and South Korea. The growing initiatives for indigenous aerospace platforms has led to the development of home-grown UAVs and military drones in the region. Several APAC nations are making huge investments in the parts and components for UAVs, which will propel the UAV landing gear market in the region in the coming years. The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below: Market Segment by Product Type Strut Landing Gear Rocker Landing Gear Pontoon Landing Gear Framed Landing Gear Market Segment by Application Defense Commercial and Civil Other In this report, 2018 has been considered as the base year and 2019 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears. This report studies the global market size of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears, especially focuses on the key regions like United States, European Union, China, and other regions (Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia). This study presents the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears production, revenue, market share and growth rate for each key company, and also covers the breakdown data (production, consumption, revenue and market share) by regions, type and applications. history breakdown data from 2014 to 2019, and forecast to 2025. For top companies in United States, European Union and China, this report investigates and analyzes the production, value, price, market share and growth rate for the top manufacturers, key data from 2014 to 2019. Request for Methodology @ https://industrystatsreport.com/Request/Sample?ResearchPostId=12567&RequestType=Methodology In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears are as follows: History Year: 2014-2018 Base Year: 2018 Estimated Year: 2019 Forecast Year 2019 to 2025 The study objectives are: To analyze and research the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears status and future forecast in United States, European Union and China, involving sales, value (revenue), growth rate (CAGR), market share, historical and forecast. To present the key Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears manufacturers, presenting the sales, revenue, market share, and recent development for key players. To split the breakdown data by regions, type, companies and applications To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks. To identify significant trends, drivers, influence factors in global and regions To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market Table Of Content: Chapter 1 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market: Summary and Quantitative Analysis 1.1 Report Description 1.2 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market Revenue Overview 1.3 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market Revenue (USD Billion) and Growth (%) Rate, 2015- 2025 Chapter 2 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market: Overview and Qualitative Analysis 2.1 Executive Summary 2.2 Market Drivers 2.3 Market Restraints 2.4 Market Opportunities 2.5 Market Trends 2.6 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market: SWOT Analysis 2.7 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market: PEST Analysis 2.7 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market: Porter's Five Forces Analysis 2.8 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market: Attractiveness Analysis 2.8.1 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market: Attractiveness Analysis by Type 2.8.2 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market: Attractiveness Analysis by Grade 2.8.3 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market: Attractiveness Analysis by Regional Chapter 3 Competitive Analysis 3.1 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market 3.1.1 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears market Revenue (USD Billion), By Players 2018 3.1.2 Global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Landing Gears Market Revenue Share (%), By Players 2018 Get Full information of This Report@ https://industrystatsreport.com/Automotive-and-Transport/Unmanned-Aerial-Vehicle-Landing-Gears-Market-Growth-Rate-Demands-and-Status/Summary About Brandessence Market Research & Consulting We publish market research reports & business insights produced by highly qualified and experienced industry analysts. Our research reports are available in a wide range of industry verticals including aviation, food & beverage, healthcare, ICT, Construction, Chemicals and lot more. Brand Essence Market Research report will be best fit for senior executives, business development managers, marketing managers, consultants, CEOs, CIOs, COOs, and Directors, governments, agencies, organizations and Ph.D. Students. More Related Report at https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/solar-tracker-market-2019-size-share-global-industry-growth-business-statistics-top-leaders-competitive-landscape-forecast-to-2025-2020-01-06 https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/text-analytics-market-2019-size-growth-strategies-opportunity-challenges-rising-trends-and-forecast-2025-2020-01-06 https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/water-filters-market-size-2019-share-region-wise-analysis-of-top-players-growth-rate-application-and-forecasts-by-2025-2020-01-06 Contact US: Contact us at: +44-2038074155 or mail us at sales@brandessenceresearch.com Website: https://brandessenceresearch.biz Blogs: http://www.brandessencejournal.com Financial markets rebounded outside Asia on Tuesday following a global sell-off fuelled by the new deadly virus outbreak in China. Europe's main stock markets closed with gains of close to 1.0 percent after shedding around 2.5 percent on Monday. The Dow index in New York added 0.7 percent in midday exchanges after US consumer confidence rose by more than expected in January. US defence contractors Lockheed Martin and United Technologies also released strong results that underpinned market sentiment. Tokyo had already extended its losses but Tuesday's drop was a relatively light 0.6 percent. The dollar gained against most other major currencies, and oil prices were higher as well. "Calm has descended across global markets after yesterday's sell-off," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com. Markets remain "open to further falls if it becomes clear that infection is spreading more rapidly, but for now equity markets are entering a process of stabilisation", he added. China on Tuesday urged citizens to postpone foreign travel to curb a viral outbreak that has killed more than 100 people, as the first cases of human-to-human contagion were detected abroad. While traders have sought safety, for example buying into gold, oil tanked Monday on expectations that demand in China, the world's top consumer, will be hammered. The outbreak comes during the Lunar New Year break when hundreds of millions of people criss-cross China and spend huge amounts of money. Analysts were concerned the crisis could become as bad as the SARS outbreak that rocked markets and the global economy 17 years ago. It comes just as the world economy showed signs of stability after a long-running growth slowdown. - Key figures around 1715 GMT - London - FTSE 100: UP 0.9 percent at 7,480.69 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.9 percent at 13,323.69 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.1 percent at 5,925.82 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.13 percent at 3,719.22 New York - DOW: UP 0.7 percent at 28,746.44 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 23,215.71 (close) Seoul - Kospi: DOWN 3.1 percent at 2,175.77 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: Closed for a public holiday Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a public holiday Dollar/yen: UP at 109.16 yen from 108.90 yen at 2200 GMT Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1007 from $1.1019 Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2994 from $1.3057 Euro/pound: UP at 84.71 pence from 84.39 pence Brent Crude: UP 1.0 percent at $59.92 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.0 percent at $53.66 burs-wai/pma A student who was complimented for her two stone weight loss was horrified when she discovered it was being caused by a 30cm ovarian tumour. Beth Dinsley, 21, from Lydd, Kent, was delighted when she began losing weight back in August 2017. And while Ms Dinsley also felt exhausted, she put this down to her working 12-hour shifts in a holiday park over the summer. But when she returned to her studies at University of Lincoln that September, Ms Dinsley started vomiting while on her period. When she went home for Christmas, her concerned mother took her to the GP who ordered a CT scan. It revealed that Ms Dinsley had a cancerous tumour on her right ovary, pressing against her organs and causing her symptoms. A diagnosis of ovarian cancer at 19 came as a huge blow, and Ms Dinsley had to put her studies on hold while she had surgery to remove the tumour and her right ovary. She is now fully recovered and as her left ovary is still working, it is thought her fertility will be unaffected. A student who lapped up compliments about her unexplained weight loss was horrified when she discovered it was being caused by a 30cm ovarian tumour pressing against her vital organs. Beth Dinsley, 21, from Lydd, Kent, was delighted when she began losing weight back in August 2017. Pictured above: The student in hospital after her diagnosis And while Ms Dinsley, an animal behaviour and welfare student at the University of Lincoln, also felt exhausted, she put this down to her working 12-hour shifts in a holiday park over the summer. Pictured: Ms Dinsley after her recovery with her boyfriend Joe Reynolds Speaking of her diagnosis, Ms Dinsley said: 'As the medics talked, I could feel my eyes glazing over. I was so numb with shock I just couldn't take it in. 'The doctors said that's why I'd been vomiting. The tumour was pressing on my ovary and when it contracted, during my period, my body went into overdrive. 'As soon as doctors said the word "tumour", all I could ask was, "Am I going to die?" But at that point, nobody could tell me they didn't know. 'I never thought I'd get ovarian cancer at 19.' Ms Dinsley was diagnosed with a dysgerminoma tumour. According to the charity Ovarian Cancer Action, these kind of germ cell tumours are rare, accounting for just five per cent of ovarian cancer cases and mainly affecting younger women. Ms Dinsley went from weighing 11st before her diagnosis to 9st afterwards When she returned to university that September, Ms Dinsley, then 19, started vomiting while on her period and when she went home for Christmas, her concerned mum took her to the GP. Pictured: The student before she began her gruelling treatment A CT scan revealed that Ms Dinsley had a cancerous tumour on her right ovary, which was also pressing against her organs Transferred to the Royal Marsden, a specialist cancer treatment hospital in Chelsea, west London, a biopsy confirmed in January 2018 that Ms Dinsley had a dysgerminoma tumour. Pictured above: Ms Dinsley during her treatment More than 7,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year in the UK. Figures suggest the toll is closer to the 21,000 mark in the US. Women have a 90 per cent chance of surviving if it is caught early but just 10 per cent survive if they are diagnosed with stage-four ovarian cancer. However, the disease is notoriously difficult to spot due to vague early symptoms which are often mistaken for mild complaints, such as bloating. Previously fit and sporty, when Ms Dinsley started feeling incredibly tired during the summer of 2017. She thought it was because she had gone straight from sitting exams at university, where she studied animal behaviour and welfare, into a holiday job. Previously fit and sporty, when Ms Dinsley started feeling incredibly tired during the summer of 2017, she thought it was because of going straight from sitting exams at university into a holiday job. Pictured: The then teenager sleeps on a train Ms Dinsley then bagan vomiting during her period, which she described as 'strange' because she felt completely fine afterwards But that autumn, she was playing rugby when another player fell on her during a tackle, leaving her with an 'agonising' stabbing pain near her groin, which landed her in A&E, where she was told she had probably sustained internal bruising and muscle damage 'I also began losing weight, despite not really trying to,' she said. 'But everyone kept telling me how good and healthy I looked, so I didn't really question it.' The student went from weighing 11st before getting ill, to 9st, prompting the comments from friends. It was when she went back to university that she began vomiting during her period - but friends reassured her it was probably normal. Ms Dinsley said: 'It was strange, as I'd feel completely fine once I'd been sick. I had spoken to other girls who said that sometimes they were sick too, so it wasn't unheard of.' That autumn, Ms Dinsley was playing rugby when another player fell on her during a tackle, leaving her with an 'agonising' stabbing pain near her groin. She was rushed to A&E, where she was told she had probably sustained internal bruising and muscle damage. 'I went away feeling quite satisfied,' she said. 'After that, my symptoms seemed to lessen a little. I'm not sure if it was psychological, as I thought I had an answer, so convinced myself I was okay. 'But when I went home for Christmas, my mum insisted on taking me to the doctor to be safe.' When her GP referred her for an urgent CT scan, Ms Dinsley finally realised there might be something seriously wrong. When her GP referred her for an urgent CT scan, Ms Dinsley finally realised there might be something seriously wrong After having to deal with the shock of her diagnosis, Ms Dinsley then had to cope with her gruelling treatment, which began immediately. Pictured above: Ms Dinsley with her sister Jess, mother and brother Gabe She added: 'I remember FaceTiming a friend and telling her that I was worried I had cancer. She reassured me, telling me, "I bet you 100 you don't".' Transferred to the Royal Marsden, a specialist cancer treatment hospital in Chelsea, west London, a biopsy confirmed in January 2018 that the student had a dysgerminoma tumour. In a second devastating blow, Ms Dinsley was told that cancerous cells had also been found in her chest.In a second devastating blow, Ms Dinsley was told that cancerous cells had also been found in her chest. Ms Dinsley said: 'The doctors gave me a 95 per cent chance of survival, which dropped to about 90 once they found the cells in my chest,' she said. 'It was difficult seeing my life laid out as a percentage especially when it was decreasing. 'That night was the first time I had ever stayed overnight in a hospital. 'Before all this, I'd never even had a blood test, but everybody, from the staff to the patients, were amazing, and really put me at ease.' Ms Dinsley had four rounds of aggressive chemotherapy, which left her nauseous, exhausted, and covered in painful mouth ulcers. After the second round, her long brown hair began to fall out so, determined to seize back control, she decided to shave it. Ms Dinsley said: 'I knew at that point, I would look sick, when actually, I had been far sicker before my diagnosis. 'The chemo was making me better, but whenever you see somebody with no hair, you automatically assume they're unwell. 'My mum shaved my head for me. She told me afterwards I had a nice-shaped head, which is up there with things you never expect to hear about yourself. 'It was actually really liberating, although absolutely freezing, being this bald egg in the middle of winter.' She had four rounds of aggressive chemotherapy, which left her nauseous, exhausted, and covered in painful mouth ulcers. Ms Dinsley after her treatment with her sister Jess After the second round, her long brown hair began to fall out so, determined to seize back control, she decided to shave it. Pictured: Ms Dinsley with her father Brian Chemotherapy can, in some cases, cause infertility. Therefore, Ms Dinsley took a tablet to suppress her menstrual cycle, temporarily plunging her into the menopause. In time, she was moved to the Royal Marsden in Sutton, south west London, so she could stay on a specialist young people's ward. And by the time the fourth cycle of chemo had finished, her tumour had shrunk to 12cm, meaning she could have surgery to remove the rest. The operation, in which her right ovary was also removed, in June 2018, was a complete success. 'I was so nervous,' Ms Dinsley said. 'By that point, I had become hyper aware of the infected, cancerous cells in my body. I just wanted them gone. 'As I was wheeled off, I remember looking at my family for as long as I could. I was terrified I'd never see them again. 'When I woke up hours later, I was in indescribable pain. I'd been sliced through the abdomen, and felt like I was going to rip open if I moved the slightest bit. I had a morphine pump which I had to press frantically to get relief. 'Mentally, I was ready to push myself, but physically, I just couldn't. I had to teach myself to ask, "What would a baby do?" 'You can't expect a baby to be in the gym, doing crunches, so I allowed myself to take it slowly.' To protect her left ovary from the chemotherapy, which can, in some cases, cause infertility, Ms Dinsley took a tablet to suppress her menstrual cycle, temporarily plunging her into the menopause. Pictured: The student with her mother, who shaved her head for her In time, she was moved to the Royal Marsden in Sutton, south west London, so she could stay on a specialist young people's ward. Pictured: Ms Dinsley with her mother and sister after her treatment With the help of physiotherapy, the student gradually grew stronger. Humour helped her to accept the 14cm scar, snaking from her belly button to her groin, left by surgery - which she called Meryl Streep after her idol. She said: 'I figured I had to learn to love it and that naming it after someone who inspires me would help do that. So, the scar is called Meryl Streep. Now, Meryl and I can get through anything.' Still having regular scans to monitor her, to date there are no traces of cancer left in Ms Dinsley's body. Her periods have returned and, as her left ovary is still working, it is thought her fertility will be unaffected. She eventually managed to go back to university, rejoining in the year below, which was a blessing in disguise, as she made a whole new group of friends and met her boyfriend, Joe Reynolds, 21. She said: 'Going through what I have has made me appreciate life more, and if ever I feel anxious about the small things, I look back and it puts it all in perspective. Still having regular scans to monitor her, to date there are no traces of cancer left in Ms Dinsley's body. Pictured: The student during her treatment Now, grateful for the support she has received from Ovarian Cancer Action, she is determined to raise awareness of symptoms of the disease Ms Dinsley - who has fully recovered - is now keen to support Ovarian Cancer Action in raising awareness of the disease and encouraging young women to be checked. She said: 'Now I want to help raise awareness and urge other women to see a doctor if they're even slightly worried. 'It might turn out to be nothing but your health is the most important thing and it's not worth taking any chances. ' Also praising her loved ones for their unwavering support, she said: 'I can't thank my friends and family enough for being who they are for reading to me when I couldn't sleep, rubbing my back when I was throwing up and hugging me when I felt hopeless. 'I can only take half the responsibility for my recovery. Their positivity and support makes up the rest. 'Now I just want people to know they don't have to go through something like this alone.' Toronto Maple Leafs forward Kasperi Kapanen suffered an arm injury and will not return to Monday's game against the Nashville Predators. (Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) Toronto Maple Leafs forward Kasperi Kapanen suffered an arm injury during Mondays game against the Nashville Predators and did not return. Maple Leafs forward Kasperi Kapanen will not return to tonight's game due to injury (arm). #LeafsForever Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) January 28, 2020 The 23-year-old has recorded 10 goals and 28 points in 49 games this season. Kapanen becomes the latest player to join the Maple Leafs injury ward, as John Tavares, Morgan Rielly, Mitch Marner, Andreas Johnsson, Jake Muzzin have all missed significant time with various ailments throughout the year. Luckily, it looks as though Kapanen may avoid a similar prognosis. Keefe says X-rays negative on Kapanen's arm, will be re-evaluated tomorrow Kasperi spotted post-game ... no sling or anything Apparently injury happened when he missed check & slammed into board/glass awkwardly Mark Masters (@markhmasters) January 28, 2020 It would be a tough blow for the Maple Leafs if Kapanen missed extended time, as the Maple Leafs are fighting through myriad injuries while trying to fight their way back into a playoff spot. Kapanen has been rumoured to be on the trade block as well, but no substantive offers have been made for the speedy winger. More NHL coverage from Yahoo Sports Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 14:41:11|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least nine Afghan policemen were killed and three others went missing after Taliban stormed a security checkpoint in the country's northern Baghlan province overnight, a local official said on Tuesday. Helicopter-borne U.S. forces have recovered the remains of two personnel killed when a military communications aircraft went down in a Taliban-controlled area of Afghanistan's Ghazni Province, the Pentagon has confirmed. The Bombardier E-11A, used for military communications, went down in a snowy part of eastern Afghanistan on January 27. A Pentagon statement on January 28 said U.S. forces recovered what is believed to be the aircraft's flight data recorder and that the cause of the crash is under investigation. It said, however, that there were no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire. The Taliban had earlier claimed that its fighters had shot down the craft. The U.S. statement said the remains of the two crew members were found near the crash site and were "treated with dignity and respect by the local Afghan community, in accordance with their culture." "Pending positive identification and in accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, the names of the service members are being withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete," said the statement, which added that U.S. forces destroyed the remnants of the aircraft. Earlier, Ghazni police chief Khaled Wardak said U.S. choppers landed at the site in the late afternoon and were reinforced by Afghan security forces on the ground during the operation. Afghan forces trying to reach the wreckage clashed with militants and had previously been driven back by Taliban fighters, he added. "Following the removal of the bodies, our forces have moved back to their bases. We don't know where the foreigners have taken the bodies," Wardak said. Nasir Ahmad Faqiri, the head of the provincial council in Ghazni, confirmed the operation, saying the Americans took at least two bodies from the scene. Earlier on January 28, coalition forces flew sorties over the site of the crashed jet with one aircraft firing flares as a crowd gathered nearby, according to witness reports. Ghazni police spokesman Ahmad Khan Sirat confirmed the incident, adding that at least one person was killed in the fighting between Taliban and Afghan forces. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Afghan forces backed by U.S. military support tried to capture the area around the wreckage. He said Taliban fighters on the ground counted six bodies at the site of the crash. Unidentified U.S. officials were quoted as saying the plane was carrying fewer than five people when it crashed. The crash comes as the Taliban and United States have been in talks on ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan. The two sides had been negotiating the deal for a year and were on the brink of an announcement in September 2019 when U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly declared the process "dead," citing Taliban violence. With reporting by Reuters and AFP Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sebastian Smith (Agence France-Presse) Washington Tue, January 28, 2020 08:46 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20613ff4f 2 World #Trump-peace-plan,Trump-peace-plan,trump,#trump,Israel,#Israel,Palestine,#Palestine Free President Donald Trump on Tuesday will ignore accusations -- led by the Palestinians themselves -- of pro-Israeli bias and unveil what he says is a peace plan capable of solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Long held secret, the plan will finally be aired jointly by Trump and visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Given that it has been rejected by the Palestinians, the latest of many US proposals to address the bitter, multi-generational Mideast conflict might seem to have little future. But Trump insists he is optimistic and whatever happens, both he and Netanyahu could reap political benefits as they battle respective domestic scandals. "It might have a chance," Trump said of the plan at an initial Oval Office meeting with Netanyahu on Monday. Trump, whose impeachment trial in the Senate is entering a critical phase, said his plan was getting widespread support from "many of the Arab nations" and claimed that even Palestinians would come round to the idea. "It's very good for them, in fact it's overly good for them," Trump told reporters. "We think we will have ultimately the support of the Palestinians." Netanyahu, praising Trump as "the greatest friend that Israel's had in the White House," described the peace plan as "the deal of the century." Netanyahu faces corruption charges, as well as a tense election in just over a month where his right-wing Likud is neck-and-neck with Benny Gantz's centrist Blue and White party. On Monday, Trump also met separately with Gantz, but the limelight fell almost entirely on the incumbent prime minister -- as will any political dividends from a peace plan favoring Israel. No Palestinians have been invited to the White House event. They say they were never included in crafting the plan, which was overseen by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Monday urged international powers to boycott the plan, which he said was designed "to protect Trump from impeachment and protect Netanyahu from prison." "It is not a Middle East peace plan," Shtayyeh told a cabinet meeting. "This plan gives Israel sovereignty over Palestinian territory." The plan, whose details still remained under wraps up to the last minute, has been gestating for so long that skeptics asked whether it really existed. Aaron David Miller, a Mideast expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Kushner's team wants to "finally, basically demonstrate that they have a plan" -- and to do so ahead of the US presidential election in November. Trump has already thrown Netanyahu a string of political presents throughout his first term. These include breaking with international diplomatic consensus to recognize the disputed city of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which were seized from neighboring Syria, and ending opposition to Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land. Last Thursday, Trump described the still-unpublished peace plan as "great" and said it "really would work." But on Sunday, Palestinian leaders warned that instead of bringing peace, the plan could trigger their withdrawal from key provisions of the decades-old Oslo Accords, which sought to map out peaceful Israeli-Palestinian relations. "Trump's plan is the plot of the century to liquidate the Palestinian cause," the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the 13.5km Orange Line, the first corridor, on March 7, 2019. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurates the 11km Nagpur Metro line between Lokmanya Nagar and Sitabuldi Interchange via video link on Tuesday. Union minister Nitin Gadkari, former CM Devendra Fadnavis state ministers Anil Deshmukh and Eknath Shinde attended the event in in Nagpur. (Photo: Asian Age) Mumbai: Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday praised his predecessor Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari, both BJP leaders, for initiatives taken by them for development of the state. Mr Thackeray, who is also president of the Shiv Sena, the BJPs former ally, said both leaders, who hail from Nagpur, should work hand in hand for development of Maharashtra. He was speaking after inauguration of Nagpur Metros Aqua Line. Thackeray, Gadkari and Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated the 11km corridor between Lokmanya Nagar-Sitabuldi interchange. Mr Puri took part in the inauguration through video link from Delhi. With the inauguration of Aqua Line (East-west corridor), 25km of Nagpur Metro project (two third of the total length) has become operational. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the 13.5km Orange Line, the first corridor, on March 7, 2019. Mr Thackeray praised Mr Gadkari for fulfilling Sena founder and his father late Bal Thackerays dream of having a sea bridge linking Worli in south Mumbai to Bandra, a western suburb. The cable-stayed bridge was inaugurated in 2009. The 4.8-km-long, eight-lane sea bridge was conceived during Gadkaris tenure as PWD minister in Maharashtras first Shiv Sena-BJP government (1995-99). On a lighter note, Mr Thackeray said, Though we could not sit together in one vehicle, at least we have come together on this occasion (for metro line inauguration), apparently referring to collapse of the saffron alliance. Mr Thackeray also praised and thanked Fadnavis, a former BJP chief minister, for efforts taken by him for development of Maharashtra during his tenure (2014-19). Thackeray succeeded Fadnavis as chief minister in November last year. I am saying from my heart that I dont want to take credit of this good work and want to give credit to all who have worked hard for this project. In politics when it comes to taking credit for work then a politician is not a politician if does not take credit for a work. But, I want to humbly say we do not want to take credit but just blessings of people, said Mr Thackeray. The chief minister expressed the hope that both state and central governments will work together for development of the state. Mr Gadkari, who personally took interest in execution of the metro project in his hometown, praised all those involved in the infrastructure venture. Home Healthcare Market Overview Home healthcare refers to healthcare services provided to patients within the confines of their home. These services include skilled nursing, occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy among others. It is also known as in-home care, domiciliary care, and social care. The global home healthcare market report by Market Research Future (MRFR) enlightens readers on the latest trends, new technologies, and drivers engulfing the market. Get Latest Free Sample Copy @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2030 The global home healthcare market is estimated to reach a value of significance by exhibiting a CAGR of 8.1% from 2017 to 2023 (forecast period). The expanding numbers of the geriatric populace and exorbitant healthcare costs are factors expected to drive the demand for home healthcare in the coming years. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the sexagenarian populace can expand by 22% till 2050. Integration of medical connected technologies which can provide bed-ridden patients can provide the market a much-needed impetus. The seamless connectivity with which patients can attain doctor appointments and diagnosis via telemedicine can fuel the home healthcare market growth till 2023. Technological advances in the healthcare sector as well as stringent regulations by federal agencies have sparked innovation among home healthcare providers. For instance, the launch of wireless solutions by Philips for senior citizens to call on nurses for assistance is a forward step in assisted living care. Introduction of novel payment models such as the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PGDM) will lead to home healthcare service providers being flexible in their offerings to cater to patient needs. However, concerns pertaining to patient safety due to a paucity of skilled nursing personnel and others can pose a challenge to the market growth. Home Healthcare Market Segmentation The global Home Healthcare Market is segmented by product, service, and software. By product, it is segmented into therapeutic products and testing, screening, & monitoring products. IV equipment, respiratory therapy equipment, dialysis equipment, insulin delivery devices, wound care products, and others are segments within the therapeutic products segment. Whereas, the testing, screening, & monitoring products segment is sub-segmented into blood glucose monitors, blood pressure monitors, Holter and event monitors, pulse oximeters & heart rate monitors, cholesterol monitoring devices, sleep apnea monitors and others. By service, it is segmented into infusion therapy services, pregnancy care services, rehabilitation therapy services, respiratory therapy services, unskilled care services, and skilled nursing services. By software, it is segmented into hospice solutions, telehealth solution, agency software, and clinical management systems. Home Healthcare Market Regional Analysis The Middle East & Africa (MEA), Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and the Americas are the main regions of focus in the global home healthcare market report. The Americas are expected to be the dominant region within the market till 2023, with North America facilitating maximum growth. Large number of service providers and the immense healthcare expenditure allocated by countries for the welfare of citizens are drivers of the market in the region. Healthcare providers are assisting patients via telemedicine and remote patient technology to improve patient outcomes. Europe has the second rank among the regions due to government support and private funding into research and development activities. The APAC region can display a strong CAGR of 8.7% due to the large patient pool and the expanding aging populace. Lastly, the MEA region has the lowest market share due to the presence of nations with low economic conditions. Home Healthcare Market Competition Outlook Apple, Koninklijke Philips N.V., 3M, Omron Corporation, Becton Dickinson Company, Kinnser Software, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, LG Electronics, Medtronic PLC, Abbott, McKesson Corporation, A&D Company, Fresenius SE & Co KGaA, B. Braun Melsungen AG, GE Healthcare, and others are prominent names in the global home healthcare market. Industry News Dignity Health, a U.S. based healthcare provider firm, have made arrangements for their customers for tackling energy issues during public safety power shutoffs. The company is being proactive in its efforts by providing additional equipment or ensuring the existing stock does not affect the daily life of patients during blackouts. OBTAIN RESEARCH REPORT DETAILS WITH TOC @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/home-healthcare-market-2030 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Contact: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com The revenue of corporate channel for the calendar year 2019 stood at Rs 459 crore, Oyo said. New Delhi: Hospitality firm Oyo on Tuesday said its corporate channel has witnessed an 80 percent increase in revenue on a year-on-year basis on account of strong growth trajectory in corporate bookings. The company currently has a total of over 8,400 active corporate accounts, Oyo said in a statement. The company's corporate channel contributes over 30 percent to the total revenues of Oyo, it added. The revenue of corporate channel for the calendar year 2019 stood at Rs 459 crore, Oyo said. "The corporate travel segment is a key engine of growth for us and we are seeing strong demand for our standardised and affordable offerings from business travellers across India," Oyo Hotels & Homes India & South Asia COO Gaurav Ajmera said. The company welcomed over 4,000 new corporations in 2019 and their trust in the brand is a testament to the value Oyo is creating for its corporate customers, he added. "As part of our continuous efforts to strengthen the corporate portfolio, we are working to customise our offerings as per their requirements both in terms of in-room amenities or technology and service-based solutions," Ajmera said. A nimal rights activists have exposed horrifying conditions at a chicken farm that supplies major supermarkets including Sainbury's, Tesco and Morrison's. Members of Brighton-based group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) stormed Hoads Farm in East Sussex yesterday, revealing squalid and cramped conditions scattered with what appear to be rotting hen corpses. Around 150 activists sporting protective gear marched on the chicken enclosures, demanding the release of 100 hens. Some nine hours after they entered the farm, they were filmed leaving cradling 50 "liberated" chickens in their arms. The rescued birds have since been filmed recovering in the DxE members homes. The activists spent nine hours inside the chicken enclave, demanding their release / DxE Brighton Ethical food label RSPCA Assured said it was suspending Hoads Farms welfare accreditation while it urgently investigates conditions at the previously certified farm. It said in a statement to DxE, shared with the Standard: We have very serious concerns about some of the hens and the conditions shown. Any allegations of poor welfare issues on RSPCA Assured certified farms are taken extremely seriously. The countrys top supermarkets have sold so-called free range eggs from the farm for years, at around 2 for a box of six. However, Tesco, Sainsburys and ASDA have now pledged to pull thousands of the brands eggs from their shelves in light of DxEs investigations. Tesco said it was deeply disturbed by the images inside the farm and would not sell any of its eggs until an investigation was completed. Sainsbury's said it would also halt any new orders. A spokesperson for ASDA told the Standard: "We take our commitment to animal welfare very seriously which is why, following on from todays reports, we have temporarily suspended the sale of these eggs. "As soon as we were made aware of the reports we launched a full investigation, and we are also awaiting a further update from the visits carried out by DEFRA, RSPCA and British Code of Practice for Lion Egg." DxE shared footage of the farm which appears to show rotting hen corpses and sickly birds / DxE Brighton DxE said its members had visited the farm on numerous occasions over the past few months, each time finding hens that were "visibly infected", with decomposing dead birds left lying in the barns. An investigator said: We visited Hoads Farm multiple times over 6 months. Many of the hens cloacae, from which their eggs are laid, were visibly infected, bleeding and swollen from forced overproduction. In the disease-ridden conditions, many piles of dead birds were found in the walkways among the living hens, and each time that we visited we found the same and new bodies decomposing. She added: The dead will have died in pain, with many obviously trapped in the racks dying from starvation. One night we found a hen huddled in the corner, motionless and shaking. She had blood all over her head, suggesting she had been violently thumped or stamped on by someone. She was in clear pain and shock and hadnt received any veterinary attention. Shocking footage appears to show squalid conditions at the farm / DxE Brighton Another spokeswoman from the group said: We have taken action today that some may see as radical, but our actions must match the severity of what takes place behind those walls. These animals deserve to have their voices heard and by entering this exploitation facility, our goal is to shine light on their experiences and be allies in their struggle against speciesism. Hoads Farm claims on its website that its free range eggs have have been produced to the very highest standards and that its welfare and environmental conditions are far higher than is required by law. We are constantly striving to ensure that we supply the freshest and tastiest free range eggs to our customers, it adds. DxE said: 'We have taken action today that some may see as radical, but our actions must match the severity of what takes place behind those walls.' A spokesman for the group told the BBC it had invited the RSPCA to visit and to confirm "all necessary" free range standards were being met, and said a vet had been on site on Monday afternoon and "identified no issues". He added the footage was "in no way reflective of our farms and/or the welfare of our hens" and that "all sites are routinely visited by independent bodies both announced and unannounced to ensure standards are maintained.'' The Department of Defence has confirmed an out-of-control bushfire in the Namadgi National Park in the ACT was likely caused by an army MRH-90 helicopter that was in the area supporting bushfire operations. There are concerns the Orroral Valley fire, which is burning south-west of Canberra and was more than 8000 hectares in size on Tuesday night, could cross the NSW border. It is believed heat from a helicopter landing light started a grassfire under the aircraft while it was grounded. The crew had been conducting aerial reconnaissance and ground clearance to enable access for emergency services personnel who were conducting bushfire prevention measures. Trump defence lawyers set to wrap up opening arguments in Senate impeachment trial as calls grow for witnesses. Washington, DC The defence team of United States President Donald Trump is set to deliver its last day of opening arguments on Tuesday as it attempts to brush aside new revelations from the former White House national security adviser, John Bolton, and growing pressure for witnesses. If a president, any president, were to have done what the Times reported about the content of the Bolton manuscript, that would not constitute an impeachable offence, Trump defence lawyer Alan Dershowitz said on Monday night. He was referring to a forthcoming book by Bolton in which the former White House aide reportedly writes that Trump told him he wanted to continue to withhold $391m of congressionally-approved military aid from Ukraine until the Eastern European country agreed to help with investigations of the presidents Democratic political rival Joe Biden, and his son Hunter. Let me repeat: Nothing in the Bolton revelations even if true would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offence, Dershowitz said late on Tuesday, after the defence team largely ignored the reports about Boltons book during its opening arguments. Outside the Senate chamber, however, the revelations prompted calls and debate among some Republicans to consider calling Bolton as a witness. Its increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton, Republican Senator Mitt Romney, who favours calling witnesses, told reporters in the Capitol. Republican Senator Susan Collins issued a statement that the reports about John Boltons book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues. What its done is take an already hot topic and added fuel to the fire, said Senator Mike Braun, a Republican who wants to acquit Trump of the House impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Trump was impeached in December for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He has denied any wrongdoing. Trumps defence lawyers have argued that there is no direct evidence that the president conditioned aid for Ukraine on political investigations of the Bidens. But following a New York Times newspaper report about whats in the book, Democrats say Bolton can provide first-hand knowledge of Trumps pressure campaign. The case for witnesses and documents was made even stronger by the revelations in the New York Times about Mr Bolton. It cries out for witnesses and documents, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer told reporters. Every few days theres another revelation and another revelation and another revelation, and the case gets stronger and stronger, Schumer said. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [File: J Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press] Senator Angus King, an independent, told National Public Radio, he was already hearing a number of Republicans are moving toward voting to at least vote to hear from John Bolton. Ive known John Bolton. Hes a person of integrity and hell be honest, Republican Senator Ron Johnson told Al Jazeera. But even within that people have different perspectives, even within the conversation. People have different memories, Johnson said. Trump has denied Boltons account, tweeting: I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. Bolton has not spoken publicly about the manuscript. Trump team focuses on the Bidens Trumps lawyers, meanwhile, detailed the timeline around a potential conflict of interest in Hunter Bidens acceptance of a paid position on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while his father was vice president. Hunter Biden was paid an estimated $3m over three years to be on the Burisma board, Trumps defence claims. All we are saying is that there was a basis for President Trump to raise the issue with Ukraine President Zelenskyy, argued Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and member of Trumps team. In this image from video, Alan Dershowitz, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, speaks during the impeachment trial [Senate TV/AP Photo] There has been no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens. Following the end of opening arguments, senators will have 16 hours for written questions. A vote on witnesses is expected as soon as Friday. A two-thirds majority vote in the Senate would be required to convict and remove Trump from office, an unlikely outcome. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. Slate's Who Counts? series is made possible by the support of Slate Plus members and readers like you. The national conversation around voting rights is deeply skewed. Republican lawmakers and operatives openly endorse disenfranchisement; they brag when their attacks on suffrage succeed; and they work feverishly to rig redistricting in favor of white people. But all too often, judges refuse to acknowledge the racism of voter suppression laws, dancing around the purpose of these measures. Only rarely will a court admit what every reasonable observer should already know: The disproportionate impact of these laws on minority voters is no coincidence; it is exactly what legislators intended. Advertisement It is refreshing, then, that on Monday the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not tiptoe around the bald facts: Arizona Republicans recent crackdown on voting rights was motivated by racism. The court invalidated a law that was plainly designed to stop Native American, Hispanic, and black voters from casting a ballotnot just because it happened to burden minorities more than whites, but because it is flat-out racist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arizonas long history of race-based voting discrimination, combined with legislators false, race-based claims of voter fraud unmistakably reveal an intent to discriminate on the basis of race, the 9th Circuit announced. The Supreme Courts conservative justices may well reverse the ruling. But the 9th Circuit will at least force SCOTUS to confront the reality that white supremacy remains a driving force in Republicans assault on the franchise, despite Chief Justice John Roberts declaration that racism is a historical relic. Advertisement Advertisement Mondays decision in Democratic National Committee v. Hobbs involves two Arizona regulations: a ban on out-of-precinct voting (the OOP policy) and a restriction on volunteers collection of early ballots. In most of Arizona, voters are required to cast a ballot at a specific polling place within their precinct. If voters go to the wrong precinct, they can cast a provisional ballot. But election officials then throw this ballot away, even if the voter was otherwise eligible to vote. From 2008 to 2016, Arizona discarded 38,335 OOP ballots cast by registered voters, exponentially more than any other state. Voters assigned polling places change constantly, even month to month, and those assignments can be suspiciously inconvenient. Some polling places are located at the very edge of a precinct, and many citizens live closer to a different polling place within their precinctat which they nonetheless are forbidden to vote. Advertisement Advertisement This system places a heavy burden on people of color. In 2016, for example, the rate of OOP voting in Pima County was 150 percent higher for Hispanics, 80 percent higher for blacks, and 74 percent higher for Native Americans than for white voters. Across the state, racial minorities voted OOP at twice the rate of whites. One key reason for this disparity is the states own crusade to shutter polling places following the Supreme Courts 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which let Arizona change its voting laws without federal approval. Maricopa County, where more than 60 percent of Arizonans reside, slashed the number of polling places by 70 percent between 2012 and 2016. The county was disproportionately likely to close polling places in minority communities. These closures forced people of color to travel much farther than whites to reach their assigned polling placesraising the probability that they would mistakenly vote elsewhere in the precinct. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the results test of the Voting Rights Act, states may not enact laws with a disparate impact on minority voters that is linked to social and historical conditions of racism. Extensive and uncontradicted evidence, the court explained, proves precisely such an impact here. Arizona has a long history of racist voting restrictions, one that has continued to the present day. Election officials did not just close polling places in nonwhite neighborhoods; they also misled Spanish-speaking votersby, for instance, claiming that the Nov. 6, 2012, election would be held on Nov. 8 in an official Spanish elections guide, a mistake mysteriously absent from the English-language pamphlet. And these officials provided the wrong translation of a ballot measure on Spanish-language ballots in an apparent effort to confuse voters. All of these factors, the court held, render Arizonas OOP policy unlawful under the VRA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The court then turned to H.B. 2023, which would forbid activists and community organizers from collecting absentee ballots and turning them in to election officials. White voters rarely vote in this manner, but minoritiesespecially Latino voters, including those who are elderly and disabledrely upon third parties to collect their ballots. There is no evidence that this practice, sometimes derided as ballot harvesting, led to fraud in Arizona. Yet in 2016, the Legislature criminalized it, subjecting violators to felony charges. Because H.B. 2023 indisputably affects minorities more than whites, the court found that it violated the VRAs results test. But it went much further, also accusing the Arizona Legislature of intentional race discrimination in enacting the legislation, in violation of both the VRA and the 15th Amendment. The evidence for that claim is overwhelming. When Arizona first tried to pass this ban in 2011, the states elections director admitted to the Department of Justice that it was targeted at voting practices in predominantly Hispanic areas. Rather than face rejection from the DOJ, Arizona withdrew the measure. Advertisement Advertisement Supporters of H.B. 2023, the court wrote, used false allegations and racial innuendo to pass the bill. After Shelby County, however, the state no longer needed the DOJs approval, and Republicans sought to reenact it. To support their allegations of voter fraud, GOP legislators circulated what the court called a racially charged video, created by Maricopa County Republican Chair A.J. LaFaro, that showed a Latino man lawfully dropping off ballots. LaFaro added racially tinged and inaccurate commentary asserting that the man may have been an illegal alien and was definitely a thug. Arizona Sen. Don Shooter, who spearheaded H.B. 2023, made demonstrably false allegations of fraud, and his efforts to limit ballot collection were motivated by the high degree of racial polarization in his district. Put simply, he needed to suppress Latino turnout to keep his seat. (Shooter was later expelled from the Legislature for serial sexual harassment.) Advertisement Advertisement Supporters of H.B. 2023, the court wrote, used false allegations and racial innuendo to pass the bill. They vilified Latinos and concocted a slanderous narrative that minorities (like the thug in LaFaros video) were rigging elections against white politicians. All this evidence, the court concluded, demonstrates that lawmakers enacted the measure for racist purposes. If the decision stands, Arizona will be compelled to count OOP ballots and permit third-party ballot collection in 2020. Removing those hurdles will likely raise minority turnout in the closely divided state and could transform its political calculus. DNC v. Hobbs was decided en banc, with 11 judges sitting. It split 74, though one member of the majority (Judge Paul Watford) did not join the portion finding racially discriminatory intent. He did not explain why. But perhaps Watford recognized that this Supreme Court will not be eager to acknowledge racist voter suppression after it declared, in Shelby County, that the conditions that originally justified the VRA no longer characterize voting in states with racist history. These states promptly proved SCOTUS wrong, passing a slew of voter suppression laws in the wake of Shelby County, including H.B. 2023, that placed new obstacles in the path of minority voters. The Supreme Courts conservatives may be tempted to reverse the 9th Circuits finding of discrimination, at a minimum, if only to save face after predicting that racism in the United States is nearly extinct. But the rest of us do not have to ignore the fact that Arizonaand other historically racist statesjust happened to enact laws after Shelby County that swiftly curtailed minority suffrage. The 9th Circuits unflinching account of Arizona Republicans racism may not be a paragon of civility. But it is a rare and invigorating dose of sanity in our new age of judicial gaslighting. Microsofts Edge team is now following through on its promise to bring improvements to Chrome, starting with tab moving, directly from its own browser. Now, at the surface, the changes spotted by Redditor Leopeva64-2 and reported by Android Police arent big ones. The primary change that was spotted was an alteration that informed users they could move a tab to a new window. The big change there is the addition of the word tab. Under that change, buried in the Chromium code repository, there are additional changes that will make moving tabs more productivity-focused. Namely, the Edge team is working to add multiple tab moving. The change would ensure that users could hold down the ctrl key or shift key to select pages. Then users would be able to right-click to move multiple tabs to a new window. Conversely, they can also choose to move those to a secondary window thats already opened. Better still, the feature appears to be prepped so that tabs that are pinned will remain pinned through the move. Advertisement Since the change is being made to Chromium directly, it should ultimately appear in every version of Chrome that supports multiple windows. That would include desktop platforms and Chrome OS. Edge features to Chrome are just the surface of incoming changes Microsoft has been working closely with Googles Chromium team since 2018. As early as December 2018 represents the time frame for Microsoft pledging to help make Chrome better. But for the most part, that promise was centered around improvements to Google Chromes security. The idea is that with both Google and Microsoft working together on the underlying code, each company may be able to catch problems the other might have missed. Since Microsofts Edge browser is now based in the same code as Chrome, improved security isnt the only change that had been pledged either. Microsofts world-class development team also promised to help with touch interactions in Chrome on Windows. That undoubtedly helps the position of Windows since it means a smoother experience for Microsofts customers. Advertisement Conversely, the new tab moving feature seems to primarily benefit Google since its similar to features already found in Edge. But appearances on that front may be deceiving. If Microsoft adds in these features at the base level of Chromium, it will arguably be easier to make changes to those in the future. So even if it does help Chrome stand on equal footing, it may be possible for Edge to be more rapidly advanced in the future. That would give Microsoft an advantage in keeping new and existing customers. Thered simply be little incentive to switch from the default browser. When might the tab moving feature arrive in Chrome? By all accounts, the development of tab moving features for Chrome is still in its very earliest stages. The addition of the word tab to the UI will be straightforward. But tacking on the ability to move multiple tabs will be more complex. That complexity will only ramp up as more features such as the ability to move to specific windows are added in. Advertisement So it shouldnt be expected that this feature will arrive any time soon. Germany's first confirmed coronavirus patient caught the disease from a Chinese colleague who visited Germany last week, officials said on Tuesday, in the first human-to-human transmission on European soil, according to an AFP tally. The Chinese employee, a woman from Shanghai, "started to feel sick on the flight home on January 23", Andreas Zapf, head of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, said at a press conference. A 33-year-old German, with whom she had attended a meeting in Bavaria, tested positive for the virus on Monday evening. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) MADRID and RESTON, Va., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackboard, a leading education technology company for teaching, learning and student engagement, announced today that Universidad Villanueva has selected Blackboard Learn Ultra, the company's next-generation learning management system (LMS), as its new learning platform. After a thorough evaluation of the most relevant LMS platforms in the market (e.g. Canvas, Learn Ultra, Moodle and others), the university determined that Learn Ultra best fit its requirements for delivering a collaborative and engaging blended teaching and learning environment for students and faculty. "We had a very basic homegrown LMS that limited our ability to implement new courses in an agile way," said Fernando Cuevas, Chief Information Officer at Universidad Villanueva. "We needed a solution that would support blended and online learning in a fast and simple way and scale with our growth. Blackboard Learn Ultra best met our requirements and will help our faculty deliver more collaborative and engaging courses for students." Universidad Villanueva (Madrid, Spain), with nearly 1800 students, has a high academic and ethical demand that manifests itself through personalized and individualized teaching. The university needed a robust LMS that supported its online and blended courses. The university ultimately selected Learn Ultra for its usability, support and personalization, as well as seamless integration with the university's student information system. Another important factor was the support from Blackboard's partner, eLearning Media, who provided support throughout the selection process. "We are pleased that Universidad Villanueva has selected Blackboard Learn Ultra to deliver a more collaborative and connected teaching and learning ecosystem for its faculty and students," said Oleg Figlin, Vice President for Europe at Blackboard. "Along with our partner, we look forward to supporting the university as it continues to grow." Universidad Villanueva will also leverage Blackboard Collaborate, a simple and powerful collaboration solution, and students will have access to their coursework anytime through Blackboard's mobile solutions. Blackboard will assist the university with migrating its existing courses to Learn Ultra. About Blackboard Our mission is to partner with the global education community to enable learner and institutional success, leveraging innovative technologies and services. With an unmatched understanding of the world of the learner, the most comprehensive student-success solutions, and the greatest capacity for innovation, Blackboard is education's partner in change. CONTACT D'Anthony White, Blackboard +1 202-303-9314 or [email protected] SOURCE Blackboard Related Links http://www.blackboard.com Pegasus report: India committed to ensuring right to privacy of all its citizens Explained: What is Pegasus, how is it used to hack into phones to spy users? The importance of data privacy day explained India oi-Mousumi Dash New Delhi, Jan 28: Every year the Data Privacy Day that is an international event is celebrated on January 28. The purpose of this day is to sensitize individuals and disseminate privacy practices and principles. Presently, this day is observed in the United States, Canada, Israel and 47 European countries. The onus of safeguarding privacy lies on every shoulder, from a privacy professional to an internet user. What is Data privacy in information technology? Data privacy, also called information privacy, it is the aspect of information technology (IT) that deals with the ability whether as an organization or individual to determine what data in a computer system or social media can be shared with the third parties. According to the Information privacy law or data protection laws, the disclosure or misuse of information about private individuals is prohibited. Explained: what is the Holocaust Memorial Day The Privacy Act provides protections to individuals in these following primary ways. The right to request their records, subject to Privacy Act exemptions; the right to request a change to their records that are not accurate, relevant, timely or complete. Know why Data privacy is so important. Data privacy first helps individuals maintain their autonomy and individuality. American privacy allows our many cultures and subcultures to define for themselves how personal information moves in the economy and society. A second reason that privacy is important is because of its functional benefits. It is a fundamental human right recognized in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in many other international and regional treaties. Extinct for 60 years, Cheetahs to run again in Indian jungles A revised Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 (Draft Bill), was cleared by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India (GoI), on December 4, 2019. India has proposed this groundbreaking rules, that is akin to Europe's GDPR, under which the technology companies would require to garner consent from citizens before collecting and processing their personal data. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News However, the new rule also stated at the same time, the companies would have to hand over non-personal data of its users to the government. WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NAPIGEN, a company developing proprietary technology to edit mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes, said it demonstrated for the first time the use of CRISPR technology and double-stranded DNA for genome editing in organelles, providing a proof-of-concept of its Edit Plasmids technology as effective tools for organelle genome editing and writing. Scientists at NAPIGEN published their study, Cas9/gRNA-mediated genome editing of yeast mitochondria and Chlamydomonas chloroplasts, in January in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PeerJ-Life and Environment (PeerJ 8:e8362 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8362 ). Though CRISPR/Cas9 has been widely used to engineer nuclear DNA in a number of organisms, mitochondria and chloroplaststhe powerhouse of cellshave been considered off-limits to this approach because of challenges of delivering RNA or DNA into organelles. Our approach has broad applications in agriculture, industrial biotechnology, human healthcare, said Dr. Hajime Sakai, co-founder, president, and CEO of NAPIGEN. We believe this technology can be harnessed to address a wide range of challenges from improving crop yields, resulting in protecting our environment by reducing the need for new farmland, to treating mitochondrial diseases. The NAPIGEN study demonstrated that its Edit Plasmids were able to precisely insert DNA into the genomes in yeast mitochondria and algal chloroplasts without any detectable insertion or deletion errors. In the PeerJ report, NAPIGENs Edit Plasmids were constructed with two expression cassettes. The first cassette was for the expression of Cas9 and the other cassette was for the expression of guide RNAs. Each Edit Plasmid benefited from a unique set of promoters specific to each organelle. The Edit Plasmids also carried the donor DNA for integration between two double-strand break sites induced by Cas9/guide RNAs. NAPIGEN is now working to use its approach to produce hybrid wheat crops to improve yield. Because the resulting plants produced from the technology would not differ from the plants that could eventually be produced by classical breeding or in nature (but over a substantially longer period of time), they are not expected to be considered GMO. The company is also extending the technology in yeast mitochondria and exploring mechanisms to pursue both industrial and mammalian applications. About NAPIGEN NAPIGEN was founded in 2016 by Dr. Hajime Sakai, who has more than 18 years of experience in agricultural R&D at DuPont Pioneer; University of California, Berkeley professor and entrepreneur Dr. Jay Keasling; venture capitalist and agriculture industry veteran Dr. Ganesh Kishore; and venture investor and former dean of agriculture Dr. Roger Wyse. The company is backed with initial funding from the Grantham Foundation, Breakout Labs, Thrive SVG, the State of Delaware, and individual investor and former DuPont executive Jim Borel. For more information, go to www.napigen.com A Central team of officials on Tuesday visited a state-run government hospital as part of efforts to assess preparedness to deal with the novel coronavirus, even as the state government asserted that it is taking precautionary measures to address the issue. State Health Minister E Rajender said people should not believe rumours vis-a-vis the virus, asserting that there are no positive cases in the state. The state government would conduct a review on coronavirus on Wednesday, he said. A Central team was also visiting government hospitals in the city, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ethiopia Wants to Modernise Army in Cooperation With Russia Ambassador Sputnik News 09:12 GMT 27.01.2020 MOSCOW (Sputnik), Ekaterina Ivanova - Russia finished delivering Pantsir-S1 air defence missile-gun systems to Ethiopia in November. According to the ambassador, the countries held a fruitful defence cooperation meeting that same month. Ethiopia wants to continue modernising its armed forces, in particular its peacekeeping and counterterrorism capabilities, in cooperation with Russia, and the next bilateral meeting on the defence partnership may be held in November, Ethiopian Ambassador to Russia Alemayehu Tegenu said in an interview. "The meeting was very successful. The committee reached a lot of agreements. The next meeting will be conducted this year in Addis Ababa, probably in November. We will continue working with Russia because we want to modernise our military force. As you know, our military is very strong in the region, participating in peacekeeping operations, working to combat terrorism too. In this regard we always want to cooperate with countries like Russia", Tegenu said. He added that Ethiopia would continue contributing its troops to the regional peacekeeping forces but would at the same time welcome international support. Tegenu also said that Ethiopia would be very happy to receive Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has never been on an official visit to Ethiopia. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew previously invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to come to Ethiopia. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address As the death toll from coronavirus rises, Chinese authorities are rushing to build two makeshift hospitals in the city where the outbreak originated. Footage shows machinery at work and prefabricated material at the construction site. Photo: Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images We have to do it right, but we have to do it, or we are not going to have the future that we deserve, Wolf said in an interview. I think you need the jobs of technology, which Pittsburgh has, but I think you need to take advantage of your natural attributes, one of which is natural gas. 2020 is a big year. A fresh start. A new decade. It is the centennial of womens suffrage in the United States, and the 20th anniversary of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution that increased the participation of women and the inclusion of gender perspectives in peace and security efforts. But as we reflect on progress and look to the possibilities of the future, the realities of the present should remain front of mind. Gender-based violence persists as one of the most widespread challenges of our time. Women and girls -- in this country and around the world -- still face significant yet avoidable health risks due to lack of access to services and skilled care. Every two seconds, child marriage obstructs the hopes and dreams of a young girl. Period poverty (lack of access to water, adequate facilities, and feminine hygiene products) restricts millions of women and girls from attending school and work. Unemployment rates are higher for women than men in every region of the world. This is often due to lack of education and skills-training opportunities, unequal social and gender norms, and the burden of domestic work and dependent care. The most pressing consideration is that these and so many other gender-related injustices are largely preventable. Over the next decade, we need to challenge ourselves to do more. First, our societys respect for and protection of personal agency are imperative. An individuals choice and ability to influence their life matters immensely. As the World Bank points out, it is a key dimension of wellbeing. Too often, however, the beliefs and biases of others subjugate women and girls. Gender gaps have narrowed across a variety of factors, but women and girls everywhere still lack the capacity of men and boys to consider choices and transform them into desired outcomes. British suffrage leader Emmeline Pankhurst wrote in 1914: "Men make the moral code and they expect women to accept it. They have decided that it is entirely right and proper for men to fight for their liberties and their rights, but that it is not right and proper for women to fight for theirs." Over a century later we still contend with this imbalance. This must change. Second, access is vital. Notable gains, especially in recent decades, have aimed to ensure access for women and girls to education, healthcare, and economic and political participation. But access does not always ensure adequacy. Quality and continuity are fundamental influences on long-term change. For example, more than 130 million girls around the world do not have access to quality secondary schooling. As the Global Partnership for Education notes, if every girl worldwide received 12 years of quality education, lifetime earnings for women could increase by $15 trillion to $30 trillion, globally. As a society, we need to double down -- ensuring sustainable access to opportunities that bolster not only the wellbeing of women and girls, but of communities and countries at large. Third, we must do a better job to encourage and ensure the active participation of women and girls in decision-making processes at every level of society. Women and girls account for more than half of the global population but many times are excluded from discussions that have a long-term impact on their lives, their families, and their future. This is a concerning and outdated reality, especially when you consider that women and girls shore up the majority of domestic (and unpaid) responsibilities in every country in the world. From corporate boards to elected and appointed offices, women remain woefully underrepresented among public- and private-sector leadership. As CNN Business examined in November, of the 1,056 companies combined between the S&P 500 and the Fortune 1000a total of 26 companies have boards that have reached gender parity. Whats more, women hold just over 24% of parliamentary seats worldwide and just under 24% of seats in the U.S. Congress. Not a single country has achieved equity in political representation. At current rates of change, it will take another 95 years to do so globally, a daunting reality. A more peaceful and prosperous world depends on gender equality. Agency, access, and active participation are essential to this aim. In 2020, it is time we resolve to do better. Natalie Gonnella-Platts is the Director of the Bush Institutes Womens Initiative. The views expressed are the author's own. Chef Kei Kobayashi has become the first Japanese chef ever to win the maximum of three Michelin stars in France. The 42-year-old, who was born in Nagano, was the biggest winner on a night when Japanese cooks triumphed in the backyard of French haute cuisine. Kazuyuki Tanaka won two stars for Racine, his French restaurant in the northeastern city of Reims, as did Yasunari Okazaki for his crossover Franco-Japanese cuisine at L'Abysee au Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris. Kei Kobayashi (centre) makes history by becoming the first Japanese chef to win three Michelin stars in France During the Monday-night Paris launch event for the 2020 edition of the Michelin Guide, Kei - a striking figure with bleached blond hair - said Japanese cooks have earned their place at the top of French cuisine. 'There are lots of Japanese chefs now in France and you have accepted us and given us a place,' he said as he picked up the highest distinction in French cooking. 'Thank you, France,' he said. Kei admitted that his perfectionism can make him a 'difficult person' to work with. 'I am quite hard. I ask a lot of my team, and then I ask a lot more,' he joked. Pictured is Kei's arty signature dish - bar aux ecailles He opened his restaurant, Kei, in the centre of the French capital, nine years ago, and wowed Paris with such signature dishes as sea bass cooked on its scales and Scottish smoked salmon with roquette mousse and a tomato vinaigrette with lemon emulsion. Every dish that Kei turns the rigour of his attention to is called on to become a signature one Michelin Guide 2020 Critics hailed the precision of his cooking and the way he made relatively simple dishes like gnocchi, truffle, bellota ham and Parmesan cheese extraordinary. Michelin described his cooking as both 'delicate and memorable'. 'It's very simple. Every dish that Kei turns the rigour of his attention to is called on to become a signature one,' it added. 'I am a Japanese chef who cooks French food,' Kei said of his 30-seat restaurant, which he runs with his wife, Chikako. With its sparse grey interior, the chef said he did not need to hang pictures on the walls. 'My cuisine provides the necessary touches of colour,' he declared. The son of a chef who worked in a Japanese restaurant serving traditional multi-course 'kaiseki' cooking, Kobayashi decided to dedicate himself to French cuisine after watching a television documentary about the nouvelle cuisine pioneer Alain Chapel, himself a three-star Michelin chef. He moved to France in 1998 after training in French restaurants in Japan, working under the legendary chef Gilles Goujon at the Auberge du Vieux Puits on the Swiss border and Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athenee in Paris before going out on his own. The restaurant of French chef Paul Bocuse, who died two years ago, meanwhile, has lost one of its Michelin stars after holding three since 1965, a world record. The Michelin Guide announced that the restaurant in Collonges-au-Mont-d'or, near the French city of Lyon, has been downgraded to two stars. The restaurant of French chef Paul Bocuse (pictured), who died two years ago, has lost one of its Michelin stars after holding three since 1965, a world record Dubbed by critics as the 'pope of French cuisine', Bocuse died at age 91 in January 2018 in Collonges-au-Mont-d'or, the place where he was born. He was a tireless pioneer, the first chef to blend the art of cooking with savvy business tactics - branding his cuisine and his image to create an empire of restaurants around the globe whose offerings range from haute cuisine to fast food. The restaurant's kitchen is now run by a trio of French chefs. The Bocuse group also owns a restaurant in Walt Disney Worlds Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida, that opened in 1982, and several brasseries, cafes and other establishments in the city of Lyon and in Japan. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 23:47:10|Editor: yan Video Player Close TAIPEI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan on Tuesday confirmed the first native infection of the novel coronavirus that caused pneumonia, raising the total confirmed cases on the island to eight. The eighth patient is the husband of the fifth confirmed case, a Taiwan woman in her 50s who returned to Taiwan from central China's Wuhan, the center of the epidemic, on Jan. 20, the island's epidemic monitoring agency said at a press conference. The woman showed symptoms of fever and muscle ache on Jan. 25 and was confirmed to be infected by the virus on Jan. 27. Her husband went to hospital for cough on Jan. 26 and was confirmed of having the virus Tuesday. The latest patient has been in stable condition, and authorities are trying to identify and monitor the health condition of people who had contact with him. As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the island had 249 suspected cases under quarantine. The French carmaker Renault named a former Volkswagen executive as its chief executive on Tuesday, a crucial step as it tries to revive its troubled alliance with the Japanese carmaker Nissan. The executive, Luca de Meo, 52, recently stepped down as the president of SEAT, a Spanish car brand that has become one of Volkswagens best-performing divisions since he took over in 2015. Mr. de Meo will take office on July 1, Renault said. Until then, Clotilde Delbos, Renaults chief financial officer, will remain interim chief executive. Luca de Meo is a great strategist and visionary of a rapidly changing automotive world, Jean-Dominique Senard, the Renault chairman, said in a statement. CALGARYAlbertas premier says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to move swiftly to approve the Teck Frontier oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray. Jason Kenney says there is no reason to delay the go-ahead for the $20.6-billion project near Wood Buffalo National Park in northeastern Alberta. A federal-provincial review last summer determined Frontier would be in the public interest, even though it would be likely to harm the environment and the land, resources and culture of Indigenous people. Their current deadline is the end of February for a decision ... and Ive been very clear to the prime minister ... if they say no to this project, then they are signalling his earlier statement that he wants to phase out the oilsands, Kenney said Monday. Trudeau commented at a town-hall meeting in January 2017 that his government was attempting to balance economic and environmental concerns. We cant shut down the oilsands tomorrow. We need to phase them out. We need to manage the transition off of our dependence on fossil fuels, but its going to take time, and, in the meantime, we have to manage that transition, Trudeau said at the time. The Frontier mine north of Fort McMurray, Alta., would produce 260,000 barrels of oil a day and about four million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year, for more than 40 years. The federal government must make a decision on the project by the end of February under the Environmental Assessment Act. Kenney said its time that the federal Liberals start listening to the majority of First Nations leaders who support projects such as Teck, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northeastern British Columbia. I implore the federal government. If reconciliation means something, surely it means saying yes to economic development for First Nations people. Kenney was speaking at an announcement of the new board of directors for the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corp. The Crown corporation plans to allocate up to $1 billion in support, such as loan guarantees, to qualified First Nations seeking an equity position in major resource projects. The communities need to come up with $20 million for investment, but can receive support of up to $250 million. Kenney said the corporation could provide financial support to a group seeking to buy a stake in the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain project. We continue to discuss this with the federal government, he said. The prime minister has expressed an interest in selling a stake to First Nations. If that future potential First Nations consortium comes forward to the (Alberta corporation) with an application, Im sure it will be given serious consideration. At least three different groups in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan are seeking full or partial ownership of the pipeline, which carries crude oil from Alberta to the west coast. The federal government is studying the best options for Indigenous communities to reap economic benefits from the project, but Ottawa isnt planning to sell the pipeline while legal and political risks remain. Read more about: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought response of the CBI on the bail plea of a clearing house agent who along with a senior DRI official was recently arrested by the agency in connection with a Rs 3-crore bribery case. Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar called for a status report from the agency and listed the plea seeking bail by clearing house agent Anup Joshi for further hearing on February 10. Joshi, then DRI Additional Director General (ADG) of Ludhiana, Chander Shekhar, and businessman Rajesh Dhanda were arrested on January 1 by the CBI in connection with the case. According to the CBI, in June last year, the DRI had conducted a search at a private clearing agency which provides services to various exporters, and some documents pertaining to an exporter were also seized. According to a complaint received by the agency, Joshi and Dhanda, a close friend of Shekhar, allegedly demanded Rs 3 crore on behalf of the public servant for ensuring that the complainant is not implicated by the DRI over documents recovered. The agency arrested Joshi and Dhanda while allegedly receiving Rs 25 lakh as first installment of the bribe demanded by them on behalf of the officer, the CBI had said at the time of the arrest. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Farmington contractor was sentenced to 20 months in prison Monday for stealing $3.4 million from his employees, according to federal authorities. Lee Ferguson, 62, also was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $200,000 fine, according to a release from the office of Connecticut U.S. Attorney John H. Durham. Ferguson, who is free on a $50,000 bond, is required to report to prison on April 28. Chuck Coursey, a spokesman Ferguson Electric Co., Inc. and Ferguson Mechanical Co., Inc., said in a statement that Mr. Lee Ferguson resigned and relinquished all interests in Ferguson Electric Co., Inc. and Ferguson Mechanical Co., Inc. last spring. He has taken full and complete responsibility and at no time did anyone else at his former companies participate in or was aware of his actions or motives, Coursey said in the statement. Full restitution had been made to effected employees prior to his sentencing today. Ferguson had owned and operates Ferguson Electric and Ferguson Mechanical, both headquartered in Plainville, and between about 2013 and 2017, caused to be deducted approximately $1.60 to $3.15 per hour from each of his employees fringe benefits package as a third party administrator fee for employee pension plans, according to the release from federal authorities, which attributed the information to court documents and statements made in court. Ferguson knew that the funds were not used to cover any administrative fees for the employees pension plans. Instead, this third party administrator fee was paid over to TPA of Connecticut, a company that Ferguson established and controlled, the release said. TPA of Connecticut, in turn, sent the monies to DJS Associates, a Florida company that Ferguson formed for the purported purpose of performing business-consulting services for him and his companies. However, no such services were performed and Ferguson used the funds for personal expenses. Ferguson stole a total of $3,357,516 from more than 300 employees, the release said. He has made full restitution. Ferguson pleaded guilty on July 31, 2019 to one count of money laundering, the release said. The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Department of Labor - Employee Benefits Security Administration, Boston Regional Office and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito, the release said, New Delhi/Beijing, Jan 28 : India has asked its nationals to submit their passport details to the country's embassy in Beijing, following reports that many of them were trapped in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has been placed under a lockdown. Over 500 Indian students are studying in colleges and universities in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. However, a large number of them had left the city just before the outbreak was reported. Sources said the Indian government was working with Chinese authorities to make an assessment about the number of people stranded in Wuhan. On social media, the Indian embassy in Beijing noted that some nationals were not in possession of their passports as they submitted them to the Chinese authorities for visa extension, work permit or other reasons. All the Indian nationals presently in Hubei province and not in personal possession of their passports, have been requested to intimate the embassy with details such as name, passport number, etc. They have also been asked to inform the embassy about the Chinese authority to whom they submitted their passport, along with the date of submission. The details are to be sent to an official of the embassy at WeChat ID, sondhi_0808, it added. China on Tuesday confirmed that 106 people have died due to the novel coronavirus and around 5,000 people were diagnosed with the 2019-nCoV related pneumonia. The National Health Commission said in its daily report that 976 patients remained in critical condition, and 6,973 people were suspected of being infected with the virus as of the end of Monday. Almost 50,000 people were identified in close contact with the infected patients out of which around 45,000 were under medical observation. To the Editor: Re Anyone but Trump? Not So Fast (column, Jan. 25): Bret Stephens argues that neither Bernie Sanders nor Elizabeth Warren would be sufficiently better than President Trump to deserve his vote. While acknowledging that President Trump is reckless and has repeatedly sought to do the wrong thing, he argues that Democrats must not nominate a reckless (i.e., too far left) candidate of their own, or none of the above will be a viable option. But Mr. Stephens focuses on economic issues. Last week the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds to midnight the closest it has ever been because of the twin existential threats of nuclear weapons and climate change. When it comes to whose finger we want on the nuclear button, Anyone but Trump is a strategy much more likely to improve our chances of survival. Thomas B. Newman San Carlos, Calif. To the Editor: Bret Stephenss final two paragraphs should be required reading for Democrats. He advocates attracting middle-of-the-road support, encouraging Democrats to eschew polarization for persuasion and ideology for pragmatism. Amid pleas from some parents urging school officials to let their children wear protective masks and students asking campuses be shut down educators are calling for calm. As news surfaced Monday of a second case of coronavirus in Ontario and 19 people being monitored parents and students circulated petitions aimed at stopping the spread, while health officials tried to reassure the public they are working closely with the education sector. The health and well-being of Ontarians, including and especially our students and school staff, is Ontarios top priority, said Dr. David Williams, Ontarios chief medical officer of health in a letter to the provinces school communities about the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China. Students, parents and school communities should rest assured that the province is working together in close co-operation with its partners in both the education and health-care sectors to ensure the continued safety and well-being of students and staff. In a letter to parents of its 247,000 students, the Toronto District School Board said, We understand that many of our families have questions and concerns about the novel coronavirus ... Know that the risk to the public remains low. Because of that, it notes, neither provincial nor local health authorities think additional precautions are necessary at this time, such as donning medical masks or denying entry to students. Other school boards sent similar letters, which included tips on reducing the risk of transmitting the flu and respiratory illnesses. They include getting the flu vaccine, washing hands frequently or using an alcohol-based sanitizer, covering ones mouth and nose while coughing or sneezing, and staying home if ill. Meanwhile, an online petition by parents from dozens of public and Catholic schools in York Region, which has a large Chinese-Canadian population, was urging school officials to take action. We cannot be overly cautious in protecting our children, read the petition, which had more than 8,400 signatures by mid-afternoon. Among their requests were that students be allowed to wear masks; that those who have recently travelled to China be required to report that to the teacher so parents of other kids in the class can decide whether to keep their children home; and that anyone whos recently come from China be required to stay home to cover the incubation period for the illness. Another petition by a University of Waterloo student had more than 20,000 signatures and calls on campuses to close or make attendance optional saying, We do not feel safe going to school and public places. University spokesperson Matthew Grant says there are no plans to alter the academic calendar, but protocols will be adjusted based on information from health authorities. Some measures it has introduced include updating the health centres triage system students are immediately asked about recent travel and respiratory symptoms and providing community members with information on the coronavirus. That includes the universitys 111 co-op students in China one of whom is in Wuhan. In her letter to parents, Louise Sirisko, director of education at York Region District School Board, said many of our families may have questions and be feeling anxious, but pleaded: Please do not send your child to school with medical masks. Public health agencies are not recommending the wearing of medical masks, and doing so heightens anxiety, and may in fact increase risk of infection in your child, she said. It is important that we work together to ensure children are feeling safe and that misinformation is not being spread that elevates concern. What do you think? In a followup letter, Sirisko and board chair Juanita Nathan said while the virus can be traced to a province in China, we have to be cautious that this not be seen as a Chinese virus ... At times such as this, we must come together as Canadians and avoid any hint of xenophobia, which in this case can victimize our East Asian Chinese community and we must rely on our shared values of equity and inclusivity. Concern among parents is mounting but sometimes not based on accurate information. On Sunday, Maria Rizzo, a trustee with the Toronto Catholic District School Board, received a message from a parent saying hundreds of Chinese students and teachers would be starting at schools on Monday as part of a temporary program to see if theyd like to return in future as international students. The parent community is very nervous, the parent wrote. How can we be sure these visitors are uninfected? The ramifications will be huge if something goes wrong. But on Monday, the Catholic board said it wasnt expecting hundreds only four students and four teachers from China were scheduled to participate in the temporary program, but they never left China, apparently because they changed their mind. Until this settles down and Im hoping that it will I think people do need to be calm, but we need to be sure that every precaution is taken so that our students, and our community, are safe, said Rizzo. She suggested the board put a hold on its international student program students are scheduled to begin second semester, which starts in the coming days. As part of their international student programs, some school boards are expecting the arrival of students from China. At the TCDSB, about 80 students from China are slated to start next semester but its unclear how many will arrive because China has put travel bans in place to contain the spread of the virus, said board spokesperson Shazia Vlahos. She said Toronto Public Health has assured educators they shouldnt be concerned unless a student has travelled through the Wuhan region in the past 14 days and is showing signs of being ill. On Monday, the board sent a letter to parents saying its taking a number of proactive measures, such as initiating a committee focused on pandemic responses should Toronto Public Health make this declaration. At the Peel District School Board, about 40 students from China are scheduled to start second semester. Ontario's top medical officer says the first presumptive case of the novel coronavirus reported over the weekend has now been confirmed. Dr. David Williams says a man in his 50s who recently returned from China has been officially diagnosed after a test at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg. Officials say the man's wife has also tested positive for the virus and is considered the country's second presumptive case. (The Canadian Press) At this time, Peel Public Health are not advising any delay in registering new students or delaying the re-entry of our current students returning from travel abroad, said spokesperson Carla Pereira. If this direction changes, we will share this with schools for immediate action. Linda Franklin, CEO of Colleges Ontario, which represents all 24 public colleges in the province, said members are looking into measures that may need to be taken to monitor their campuses and are currently setting up calls with provincial officials to be briefed on next steps. Torontos Centennial College has stepped up campus cleaning of touch points such as door handles and washrooms, while hand sanitizer dispensers will be increased in number and visibility to encourage frequent use. A pandemic planning committee at the college is monitoring the situation. Niagara Regions medical officer of health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, said his department has been in contact with Brock University, Niagara College and the high school Ridley College they have large international student bodies to ensure anyone who has been to China and showing respiratory illness symptoms be isolated. Cookie Preferences Cookie List Cookie List A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website when visited by a user asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. 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You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated sale of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website. The budget session of the Kerala assembly beginning on Wednesday is likely to be stormy following the recent spat between Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and the state government over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the opposition Congress pitching for the Governors recall. The Governor is expected to read out the policy of his government in the first session of the year that is likely to contain portions critical of the Union government. Also in the session, Speaker P Sivaramakrishan will have to take a decision on the Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithalas notice to introduce a motion requesting the President to recall the Governor. The Governor had openly expressed his dissatisfaction over the state assembly passing a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment (CAA) in last December and also questioned the move to file a suit in the Supreme Court against the CAA without sounding him. He has also upset many lawmakers saying that the house resolution was unconstitutional and had no legal validity and was sheer waste of time. He had also sought a report from chief secretary Tom Jose over the governments move to file a suit in Supreme Court without informing him. He had also sought many clarifications in policy speech but the government was not ready to dilute it. He had also asked whether it was right for him to speak about an issue that is sub judice with the state government already moving the top court. On the other hand the Speaker on Tuesday said the opposition leaders resolution was admissible but he said he will take a decision only after consulting the leader of the house (Chief Minister) and others. The resolution is admissible but I will have to consult the CM and business advisory committee before taking a decision, the Speaker said. Political observers say if the Governor embarrasses the government in the opening session it is likely to give the nod for the opposition leaders resolution. If it gets the nod, this is the first time such a resolution will be coming up in the assembly. Sensing the dilemma of the state government, the opposition has sharpened its attack. The Governor was day in and out casting aspersions on the state assembly. But Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan continued to be silent. I was forced to bring such a resolution to compensate the CMs silence, said Chennithala. He insisted that he was firm on resolution. In 140-member house the LDF enjoys a brute majority of 92, while the Congress-led UDF has 47 members and a BJP has a lone member. The relation between the Governor and government soured after the latter took a strong position on the CAA. But the Governor repeatedly said citizenship was a Union subject. But when the state took a lead position in anti-CAA protests by being the first state to move a resolution in the assembly and first to file a suit in the apex court, differences between the two widened. Webster, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/28/2020 -- Call QA Center is a company with years of experience in evaluation, planning, customizing and implementation of programs to help call center businesses retain their customers and attract new ones; thereby improving the business efficiency and effectiveness. The company through their services offers actionable and objective data that is presented in an easy-to-understand and a customized manner depending upon the business requirements. 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Media Contact Call QA Center Address: 65 Mill St, Webster, NY 14580, Phone: 248-290-3896 Email: Office@callqa.center Website: https://callqa.center/ A one lakh capacity meditation centre, claimed to be the world's largest such facility, was on Tuesday inaugurated at the nearby global headquarters of the Heartfulness Institute and the Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) which impart training in Raja Yoga system of meditation. The centre that can accommodate one lakh meditation practitioners at a time was unveiled in the presence of Yoga guru Bab Ramdev and other dignitaries "to mark the 75th anniversary of the formation of Ram Chandra Mission and Heartfulness Institute," a release said here. It was dedicated to the first guide of Heartfulness Lalaji Maharaj, by Kamlesh Patel, also known as Daaji, the present guide of Heartfulness, at its global headquarters in Kanha Shantivanam. Built on 30 acres, the meditation centre with a central hall and eight peripheral halls to accommodate 1,00,000 people will offer meditation training free, the release said. Daaji said "The meditation centre has been carefully designed not just as a structure of physical importance but as an inspiration for all those who seek to better their lives through practise of meditation - the magnanimous gift made available to humankind by the universe." Commemorating 75 years of SRCM/Heartfulness Institute, three 3-day sessions from January 28-30, February 1-3 and February 7-9 will be held. President Ram Nath Kovind and social activist Anna Hazare will address the practitioners on February 2 and February 8 respectively while Baba Ramdev will deliver his address on January 29, it said. Heartfulness is a Raja Yoga system of meditation, which is also known as Sahaj Marg or the Natural Path. It originated at the turn of the 20th century and was formalised with the founding of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945 in India, according to the release. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police in the Gambia has arrested over 130 people and injured more than two dozen as protests calling for President Adama Barrow to step down turned violent. Barrow came to power after a 2016 election, ending 22 years of authoritarian rule by Yahya Jammeh. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreed by the opposition coalition in 2016 stipulated that if Barrow were to win, he would serve for just three years as a transitional president before organizing fresh elections in which he would not stand. But, Barrow has now reneged on his campaign promise, saying the constitution requires him to serve out a full five-year term. In response, a movement called Three Years Jotna which means enough in the local Wolof language began protesting last month to demand his departure. The Gambian government on Sunday launched a crackdown on the movement. Police in the capital Banjul fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters, who responded by throwing stones and setting tyres on fire. In a statement late on Sunday, government spokesman Ebrima Sankareh said the protesters had stormed a police barricade and chanted that they planned to unseat Barrow. The Three Years Jotna president Abdou Njie was also arrested on Sunday, according to an AFP journalist, although the government would not confirm it was holding Njie. Among those arrested were the director of the King FM radio station, and a radio presenter who had been charged with inciting violence, a station employee told AFP. The head of another radio station, Digital FM, was also arrested and it was not known where he was being held, Saikou Jammeh, secretary general of Gambia Press Union. A man who claimed to be a dental surgeon has been banned from offering dental work after the Health Care Complaints Commission found he performed root canals and other treatments despite never being registered as a dentist. Kamal Haddad, 76, who operated out of his Englorie Park home near Campbelltown, charged a patient more than $15,000 in 2018 for work including root canals and bridges which later broke. A 76-year-old man who operated out of his home near Campbelltown, charged a patient more than $15,000 for dental work. Credit:Quentin Jones The person, known as Patient A, experienced "a lot of pain" following the treatment and developed an infection which required antibiotics, however when he tried to raise his concerns with Mr Haddad the "dentist" stopped responding. Patient A then looked up Mr Haddad on the internet, found he wasn't registered, and made a complaint. The government of Ukraine and the European Commission have signed a EUR 26 million agreement aimed at supporting the development of agriculture and small farming in Ukraine. The relevant document was signed by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Dmytro Kuleba and Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Oliver Varhelyi during the meeting of the Council of the Ukraine-EU Association in Brussels on Tuesday. According to the explanatory note to the document, the purpose of signing this agreement is to attract EU assistance to promote the development of a more inclusive and competitive agricultural sector, focused on the growth and sustainable development of small and medium-sized farms and small and medium-sized enterprises." This assistance of the EU will be aimed at supporting land reform by combining the public land cadastre and the public register of ownership rights, the reform of institutions and the land utilization system. Moreover, these funds will contribute to institutional and sectoral reforms in agriculture and rural development. In addition, the funds will be used to strengthen the target value chain in agriculture and ensure access to financing through the introduction of grant programs for small farmers. Some students at Alvin ISD would attend different schools next year if trustees approve a proposed rezoning plan for the 2020-2021 school year that seeks to address the districts relentless growth. For the next school year, the district has largely focused on considering changes to zones south of Shadow Creek High along the Texas 288 corridor. That could include moving the southern boundary of Shadow Creek High Schools attendance zone north to the American Canal, said Rory Gesch, dthe districts deputy superintendent of operations. If that happens, an area previously zoned for Shadow Creek would be in Manvel High Schools attendance zone. Gesch and district Chief of Operations Patrick Miller led a boundary advisory committee that came up with recommendations for trustees to consider to keep schools under enrollment capacity. The school board will hear a final presentation from the 60-member committee at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Alvin ISD Education Foundation, 301 E. House St. The committee includes parents and educators who met four times in November and December. Draft reports and maps for the plans for all grade levels are at https://bit.ly/3aRoKEr. Though the district isnt opening any new campuses in the 2020-2021 school year, administrators aim to adjust zones to accommodate the opening of Junior High 8 on Manvel Parkway at Meridiana Parkway in 2021 as well as newly rebuilt E. C. Mason Elementary, which is set to open that fall at 7220 School Road, Manvel. Beyond that, a fourth high school will open fall 2022 at 3700 County Road 64, Iowa Colony and the districts 21st elementary campus is planned for opening at that time. The 252-square-mile district is adding about 1,000 students each year and has an enrollment of approximately 27,000. Miller and Gesch said they wanted to devise a plan where schools enrollments are at the right level to ensure quality learning by students. Kids opportunities are more relevant at a campus when its within a certain size, Miller said. Leveling is one of those things that helps ensure quality instruction. Alvin ISD builds its elementary campuses to house 800 pupils, its junior highs to serve 1,000 and its high schools to accommodate 2,500. Since the 2008-2009 school year, Alvin ISD has opened 10 new elementary schools including Nelson and Sanchez which opened last fall and five new junior highs. Also during that time, the district opened Shadow Creek High School and added space to Manvel High School. Alvin ISD last shifted its boundaries in 2016. With next school years proposed changes and future shifts likely, Miller said he understands some parents may find the changes jarring for their children. To that end, the district does have a transfer policy for those whod like to stay put if their school attendance zone changes. People dont like change, especially when it impacts their kids, Miller said. They want continuity, and we want that as much as they do; so weve updated our transfer policies so if a family is invested in and has a connection to a campus, the transfer policy tries to allow them to stay and continue on there. Gesch explained how some families may qualify for a transfer. Transfers can be made if (a student is) currently enrolled in the campus, and we also look at the students attendance and discipline records, he said. However, students who choose and are granted the transfer option will not be afforded transportation services through the district. A snapshot overview of the policy is available under the School Boundary Advisory Committee tab on the website. For the full terms, log on to www.alvinisd.net/Page/3265. Gesch said he expects several families to take advantage of the transfer policy, which is available to students across grade levels. Trumps defence team concluded their final day of arguments on Tuesday, which will be followed by senator questions. US President Donald Trumps impeachment defence team gave their final of three days of arguments on Tuesday, which came after three days of presentations by the Democrats making the case to impeach the president. On Monday, Trumps defence team gave the first full day of arguments, offering only a preview on Saturday, in apparent response to the ratings-minded presidents desire to avoid lacklustre weekend television ratings. Tuesdays arguments were also relatively brief, leaving a large portion of the allotted 24 hours unused. Trumps lawyers have framed the impeachment as an attempt to undermine US democracy, arguing there was no basis to remove the president from office. They also spent a good deal of time on Monday focusing on what they characterised as an apparent conflict of interest of Joe Bidens son, Hunter, being given a place on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while the then vice president was tasked with fighting corruption in the country. Up next in the trial will be a 16-hour period, eight hours on Wednesday and Thursday, for senators to submit question to both teams. After that, the trial will move into the debate over whether more evidence including subpoenaing witnesses and documents will be permitted. As Trumps defence team prepares to finish making its case, here are all the latest updates as of Tuesday, January 28: Early wrap up The presidents defence team wrapped up opening arguments early amid indications of flux among Republican and Democratic senators over whether to call witnesses a crucial decision that would extend the trial and pose political risks to both sides. Sitting in the back of the Senate chamber after the trial adjourned for the day, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema listened at length to Republican Lamar Alexander explain his views on the trial so far. Both are potential swing votes. Thank you. I appreciate that, Sinema said as they parted. I like it, I like it, Alexander said nodding affirmatively about their conversation. Republican Senator Susan Collins and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin were seen talking with Republican whip John Thune. Republican Senator Roy Blunt crossed the aisle to talk to Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. Lawyers for the House managers approached the presidents defence team to shake hands and appeared to engage in cordial conversation. The trial will now shift gears as senators prepare to pose written questions to the House managers and the presidents team for the next two days. Key votes on whether to call witnesses are expected Friday. House managers respond to Trumps defence House managers who presented the case against President Donald Trump addressed the presidents defence after arguments concluded on Tuesday. Lead House manager Adam Schiff said that the defence team strengthened the case for former National Security Advisor John Bolton to testify, adding Republicans were still reeling from the reported revelations in the draft of Boltons book. Schiff added that it was extraordinary that former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly said he believed Boltons account and by implication does not believe the president of the United States, that he worked closely with for such a long time. Schumer: Question period will give House managers time to rebut defence Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate Democrats plan to use the question period to give the House managers time to rebut all of the holes in the defences arguments. Schiff tweets takeaways from defence arguments Lead House manager Adam Schiff said President Donald Trumps defence team did not defend the president based on facts, that their argument has evolved to he did it, so what?, and that Trumps lawyers strengthened the Democrats case on calling former National Security Advisor John Bolton to testify. Here are my takeaways: Trumps lawyers cannot, and did not, defend him on the facts. Their defense has evolved to this: he did it, so what? His lawyers strengthened our case that the Senate must hear from Bolton. A fair trial requires key witnesses. Will America have one? Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 28, 2020 McConnell says Senator questions period will happen on Wednesday, Thursday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the period where senators can submit questions to both the prosecution and defence will take place over the next two days. Senators will submit their questions to Chief Justice John Roberts, who will pose them to the House managers and Trumps defence team. They questions will alternate between Republicans and Democrats during eight-hour sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. Roberts requested that responses and rebuttals are kept to five minutes. McConnell requested that, like in the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton, senators are thoughtful and brief with their questions and the House managers and defence team were succinct in their answers. Trump lawyer Cipollone concludes defence arguments President Donald Trump lawyer Pat Cipollone ended the defences three days of arguments again framing the impeachment proceedings as an attempt by Democrats to overturn the election. What they are asking you to do is throw out an elected president with no basis, Cipollone told senators. It would weaken forever our Democratic institutions. Why not trust the American people with this decision? Why tear up their ballots? You cant do that. You know you cant do that, he said, adding senators should respect and defend the sacred right of every American to vote and to choose their president. In this image from video, White House counsel Pat Cipollone speaks during the impeachment trial of Trump [Senate TV/AP Photo] Sekulow argues Democrats are trying to lower the standard for impeachment Jay Sekulow, a lawyer on President Donald Trumps defence team, argued that Democrats presenting the case against the president are seeking to lower the bar of impeachment. Sekulow said that, during the defence arguments youve now heard from legal scholars, from a variety of schools of thought, from a variety of political backgrounds but they do have a common theme with a dire warning: Danger, danger, danger, Sekulow said. To lower the bar of impeachment based on these articles of impeachment would impact the functioning of our constitutional republic and the framework of that Constitution for generations, he added. Trump lawyer Sekulow: Impeachment not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts President Donald Trump Defence team lawyer Jay Sekulow, in an apparent reference to reported former National Security Advisor John Bolton revelations, described impeachment as not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts. Boltons unpublished manuscript, which had been provided to the White House National Security Council for regular review for former officials, was leaked to the New York Times. In the draft, he described that Trump had told him in August that he wanted to continue to withhold aid from Ukraine until the country agreed to help with investigations into Democrats. Trumps defence team have largely avoided the new information regarding Bolton in their arguments. President Donald Trumps personal attorney Jay Sekulow and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone arrive at the US Capitol for the eighth day of the Senate impeachment trial [Mary F. Calvert/The Associated Press] Trump lawyer Philbin: Democrats case antithetical to the framers approach Trump Lawyer Patrick Philbin argued on Tuesday that Democrats definition of abuse of power is antithetical to the framers of the US constitutions approach to impeachment. What we see in the House managers charges and their definition of abuse of power is exactly antithetical to the framers approach because their very premise for their abuse of power charge is that it is entirely based on subjective motive, not object of standards, not predefined offenses, said Philbin. He said under Democrats approach, the definition of abuse of power is infinitely malleable. Former Trump Chief of Staff Kelly: I believe John Bolton Retired General John Kelly, who served as President Donald Trumps chief of staff for a year a half, responded to reported revelations in the draft of former National Security Advisor John Boltons upcoming book. If John Bolton says that in the book I believe John Bolton, said Kelly who was speaking as part of lecture series in Florida on Monday night, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. John Kelly, President Donald Trumps former chief of staff, has said he believes John Boltons account [File: Kamran Jebreili/The Associated Press] Kelly, describing Bolton as an honest guy and a man of integrity and great character, said the American public should hear the whole story from witnesses. I mean half of Americans think this process is purely political and shouldnt be happening but since it is happening the majority of Americans would like to hear the whole story, Kelly said. So I think if there are people that could contribute to this, either innocence or guilt I think they should be heard, Kelly said, adding: I think some of the conversations seem to me to be very inappropriate but I wasnt there. But there are people that were there that ought to be heard from. Eighth day of Senate impeachment trial begins The presidents defence team will present the final arguments in their case. They have 15 hours and 33 minutes left to make their case, which will not be possible to do before the end of Tuesday, their third allotted day under the rules resolution passed at the beginning of the trial, Chief Justice Roberts said. Trumps defence team lead lawyer Pat Cipollone said they do not plan to use their entire time, and will likely be done by dinner time. Wyden says Democrats will not negotiate witness swap involving Hunter Biden Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has said his colleagues are not negotiating on Hunter Biden testimony. We have made clear that we are not negotiating, Wyden said before the eighth day of the trial began. I support having witnesses who are relevant to the Presidents conduct and the four witnesses we have asked for are clearly relevant. Cornyn: Bolton report doesnt shed any new light on impeachment case facts Republican Senator John Cornyn, speaking before the eighth day of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, said new information revealed in a draft book by former National Security Advisor John Bolton did not change the facts of the impeachment case. Based on what the New York Times reported I dont think it sheds any new light on the facts, said Cornyn, referring to Boltons manuscript, which reportedly said Trump told him he wanted to continue to withhold aid from Ukraine until the country agreed to help with investigations into political rivals. Schumer says Bolton revelations should serve as a warning to Republicans Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said the revelations reported in former National Security Adviser John Boltons unpublished book should serve as a warning to Republicans that more information will continue to come out. If you vote with the White House the odds are strong that the truth will someday come out, said Schumer. He also made it clear that a witness swap involving Hunter Biden would be unlikely, referring to the former vice presidents son as a shiny object used by Republicans to divert attention from the allegations against the president. Graham: I totally support plan to let senators read Bolton manuscript Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said he totally supports a plan that would allow senators to read the manuscript of former National Security Adviser John Boltons unpublished book. On Monday, Republican Senator James Lankford suggested that the manuscript be provided to senators. Lankford also urged Bolton to publicly address the reports before the debate over witnesses begins. I totally support @SenatorLankford's proposal that the Bolton manuscript be made available to the Senate, if possible, in a classified setting where each Senator has the opportunity to review the manuscript and make their own determination. https://t.co/e18nUfSMgI Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 28, 2020 Trump criticises Fox News impeachment coverage President Trump criticised Fox News, his usual go-to news source, for loading the airwaves with Democrats in their impeachment coverage. In a tweet, Trump said the news network is trying to be so politically correct by loading the airwaves with Democrats like Chris Van Hollen, the no name Senator from Maryland. He has been on forever playing up the Impeachment Hoax. Democratic Senator Van Hollen appeared on the network on Tuesday morning before the start of day eight of the impeachment trial. Really pathetic how @FoxNews is trying to be so politically correct by loading the airwaves with Democrats like Chris Van Hollen, the no name Senator from Maryland. He has been on forever playing up the Impeachment Hoax. Dems wouldnt even give Fox their low ratings debates. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020 Pelosi calls for fair trial As debate over whether more evidence will be allowed in the impeachment trial nears, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for a fair trial. Trumps lawyers argued he has a right to abuse his power as much as he wants, and Congress can do nothing about it, she tweeted. Congress can do something: hold a fair trial. Trumps lawyers argued he has a right to abuse his power as much as he wants, and Congress can do nothing about it. Sounds familiar: Trump: I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president. Congress can do something: hold a fair trial. Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 28, 2020 Trump begins day with impeachment tweets President Trump began the day by retweeting a video of his defence and a video of Republican Senator Ted Cruz saying more witnesses were not necessary in the trial. The president is set to announce his Middle East peace plan which he has dubbed the deal of the century at noon (17:00 GMT). Witness swap? Republican Senator Patrick Toomey, considered an influential force in the chamber, has been talking to colleagues about a possible one-for-one witness swap with Democrats, the Washington Post reported. Democrats want to hear most pressingly from former National Security Adviser John Bolton, as well as White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, White House budget office official Michael Duffey and top adviser to the White House Chief of Staff Robert Blair. Meanwhile, Republicans have called for testimony from the whistle-blower whose complaint launched the impeachment inquiry and from the Bidens. Democrats have so far shown little appetite for such a swap. This artist sketch depicts Ken Starr making an argument in defence of President Donald Trump during his impeachment trial [File: Dana Verkouteren/The Associated Press] Bolton revelation changes dynamic of witness debate Details in a draft of former National Security Adviser John Boltons forthcoming book, in which he reportedly writes that President Trump told him he wanted to continue to withhold aid from Ukraine until they agreed to help with investigations into political rivals, have changed the dynamics in the Senate trial at a key time. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton had said he would testify if subpoenaed in the Senate trial [File: Peter Nicholls/Reuters] The revelation starkly contrasts the Trump defence teams argument that no witnesses interviewed in the inquiry had first-hand information of a connection between the aid and the investigations. With debate over whether more witnesses will be allowed in the trial likely to begin soon, Senator Mitt Romney has said it is increasingly likely that enough of his Republican colleagues will be willing to break ranks and vote with Democrats to subpoena Bolton. Read more about how central Bolton has become to the trial. Who is Trumps defence team? Trumps defence team will begin their second of three days of arguments on Monday. Read more about the key players in the trial here. Who are the House Managers? Seven House managers presented the case against President Trump, outlining the abuse of power and obstruction of Congress articles of impeachment against the president passed in that chamber in December. What has happened so far in the trial? The impeachment trial of Trump began in earnest last week, after a ceremonial start on January 16 that saw the swearing-in of Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the proceedings, and the 100 members of the Senate. On early Wednesday morning, the Senate voted along partisan lines to approve Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells rules resolution after nearly 12 hours of debate. Meanwhile, 11 amendments introduced by Democrats were blocked. Read more about that day here. The Democratic House managers then presented their arguments for three days, followed by Trumps defence arguments on Saturday and Monday. Catch up on the live blogs from Wednesday, Thursday , Friday, Saturday and Monday. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A federal appeals court in San Francisco on Monday struck down two Arizona election laws, saying that they discriminated against Native American, Hispanic and African-American voters. An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the laws by a 7-4 vote, ruling in a lawsuit filed against state officials by the Democratic National Committee and the Arizona Democratic Party. One of the laws required county officials to discard entirely any ballots cast in the wrong precinct, rather than partially counting the ballots by considering votes for statewide or regional offices or issues not tied to the precinct in question. The other law prohibited the collection of vote-by-mail ballots by third party volunteers. The court majority said both laws had the effect of burdening the voting rights of minority voters. Circuit Judge William Fletcher wrote, "The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy." The decision could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. A spokesperson for the Republican Party of Arizona, which stepped into the case to defend the law, was not immediately available for comment. The Arizona Democratic Party said in a statement, "Today marks an important victory for all Arizonans. This takes an undue burden off of working families and people of color, making it easier for them to exercise their right to vote." Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 00:28:15|Editor: yan Video Player Close NAIROBI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- A pan African think tank on Tuesday urged Kenya to diversify its sources of external debt in order to boost its currency stability. David Owiro, executive director of Africa Development Think Tank, told Xinhua in Nairobi that the composition of Kenya's foreign debt is mostly in U.S. dollars which exposes the country to foreign currency risk. "We are recommending that Kenya's debt portfolio include all major foreign currencies such as the Euros and the Chinese Yuan in order to reduce the volatility of the Kenyan shilling," Owiro said. Government data indicates that the east African nation's external borrowing hit approximately 31 billion U.S. dollars. Owiro said that the significance of the Chinese Yuan has risen globally especially after it was included by the International Monetary Fund in its basket of reserve currencies. Owiro said that Kenya's total debt is still sustainable but the government should ensure that it does not rise above the current level. An election hustings hosted by community anti-fracking group Love Leitrim that was due to take place on Monday, but which was postponed due to poor weather conditions will now take place on Monday, February 3 in the Bee Park Community Centre in Manorhamilton at 8.30pm. The environmental hustings will cover a wide range of areas including forestry, farming, planning. fracking, energy and transport amongst others. During this general election campaign the group have also been asking candidates across the country to make a #Pledge4Climate. This has proven to be very popular with 180 election candidates so far having endorsed the pledge. Candidates who sign up to agree that if elected they will work to oppose the importation of fracked gas and to oppose fracking anywhere in Ireland. To date the pledge has been supported by all candidates in Labour, Sinn Fein, Green Party, Social Democrats and People Before Profit. Prominent political figures such as Mary Lou McDonald, Richard Boyd Barrett and Saoirse McHugh have all been in touch directly with Love Leitrim to give their support. In this constituency there has also been an encouraging uptake from those seeking election which the group hopes to build upon right up to polling day. Love Leitrim Chairperson Jamie Murphy said "We are absolutely delighted with the response we have gotten so far with our #Pledge4Climate, in particular the number of parties who have stated that they will oppose the importation of fracked gas and any possible fracking in Northern Ireland. "We are asking the public to continue to contact their candidates and ask them to sign the pledge which they can do easily online via a contact system we have put together with Friends of The Earth. https://www.foe.ie/ takeaction/pledge4climate-no- to-fracking-gas/. We are also encouraging as many people as possible to come to the hustings on Feb 3rd and ask their candidates those all important question on issues such as farming, fracking, biodiversity loss, energy and the many other issues that will be impacted by climate change. Supporters of #Pledge4Climate in Sligo/Leitrim: Gino O'Boyle, Nessa Cosgrove, Blaithin Gallagher, Declan Bree, Martin Kenny, John Perry, Sean Wynne, Shane Ellis, Eamon Scanlon and Marc MacSharry. The history of the Supreme Court of India is directly and inextricably linked to that of the Constitution. The latter came into effect on January 26, 1950. The apex court, which derives its independence and remit from the Constitution, came into being two days later, on January 28, 1950. It completes its seventieth year of existence today. In these 70 years, the court has delivered several important judgments. Heres a subjective listing of a few: AK Gopalan v State of Madras (May 19, 1950) : This was the first case which gave the court the opportunity to explore the right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. The court ruled against communist leader Gopalan, who was detained in a Madras prison, holding that Article 21 contemplates only procedural fairness. Hence, life and liberty can be taken away by a law which has been passed by Parliament and the court cannot look into whether the law itself is fair or not. Champakam Dorairajan v State of Madras (April 9, 1951) : The court held that a government order prescribing reservation in engineering and medical colleges in the state of madras was violative of Article 29 of the Constitution. Article 29 states that no citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the state or receiving aid out of state funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them. The fall out of this judgment was the first amendment to the Constitution. By way of this amendment, a new clause (Clause 4) was inserted in Article 15. This change protected laws made by government providing reservations to SC and ST communities in educational institutions. Golaknath v. State of Punjab (February 27, 1967) : The court held that a constitutional amendment made by Parliament in exercise of its powers under Article 368 is a law within the definition of Article 13(2) of the Constitution. This effectively meant that parliament cannot amend the Constitution to take away or abridge Part III of the Constitution which lays down fundamental rights. Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (April 24, 1973): This is arguably the most famous judgment delivered by the Supreme Court . A bench of the Supreme Court comprising all the 13 sitting judges by a wafer thin majority of 7-6 overruled its judgment in Golaknath and held that a constitutional amendment is not law within the meaning of Article 13(2). This meant that the parliament could amend any part of the Constitution including Part III which lays down fundamental rights.However, this power came with the rider that it should not impinge upon the Basic Structure of the Constitution. What would constitute Basic Structure was left open-ended for the court to interpret. ADM Jabalpur v. SS Shukla (April 28, 1976): This is widely considered as black day in the history of Indian democracy as a Constitution Bench of the highest court of the land, by a majority of 4:1, upheld the detention of citizens and political leaders belonging to opposition parties. The court was considering a presidential proclamation which was issued during emergency. The presidential order said that during the emergency, the right of a person to move any court for enforcement of the rights conferred by article 14, article 21 and article 22 of the Constitution shall remain suspended. The court upheld the same and held that while a proclamation of emergency is in operation, the right to move High Courts under Article 226 for a writ of Habeas Corpus challenging illegal detention by state will stand suspended.Justice HR Khanna dissented holding that Article 21 cannot be the sole repository of all rights. He ruled that sanctity of life and liberty existed even before the Constitution. Justice HR Khannas dissenting judgment in which he appealed to the brooding spirit of law and the intelligence of the future earned him legendary status but he lost the post of CJI to justice MH Beg who superseded him. Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (January 25, 1978) : The Supreme Court overruled its 1950 decision in AK Gopalan and expanded the scope of Article 21 by holding that the procedure established by law under Article 21 must be fair, just and reasonable, not fanciful, oppressive or arbitrary. Minerva Mills v. Union of India (July 31, 1980) : In this key judgment delivered after the emergency, the court struck down many constitutional amendments made by the Indira Gandhi government during emergency. It employed the basic structure doctrine to hold that Parliaments power to make Constitutional amendments is limited and it cannot be used to weaken fundamental rights. The Court also held that fundamental rights under part III of the Constitution override Directive Principles of State Policy. Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (November 16, 1992): This was one of the most important judgments on reservation. The court upheld the Mandal commissions recommendations to provide reservation for other backward classes in government jobs but excluded the so-called creamy layer from availing such benefits. The court also ruled that total reservation for SC/STs, OBCs and others should not exceed 50%. Further, reservation for economically poor among forward castes was struck down by the court. Supreme Court Advocate on Record Association & Anr. v. Union of India (October 6, 1993) : The current system of appointment of judges to the high court and Supreme Court through the collegium system was devised in this case popularly known as the Second Judges case. The top court ruled that the opinion of the Chief Justice of India will have primacy over the opinion of the executive with regard to the appointment of judges. IR Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu & Ors. (January 11, 2007): In this judgment, the Court expanded the scope of basic structure doctrine, holding that any law inserted in the Ninth Schedule on or after April 24, 1973 (date on which Kesavananda Bharati judgment was pronounced) can be subject to judicial review and will be struck down if it violates the basic structure doctrine. National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (April 15, 2014) : In a landmark judgment, the court held that transgender persons should be recognised as the third gender. They have all constitutional and legal rights as any other person in the country. Justice KS Puttaswamy v Union of India (August 24, 2017) : A nine-judge bench ruled that right to privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. M Siddiq v. Mahant Suresh Das (November 9, 2019): A five-judge bench of the court brought an end to the contentious Ayodhya dispute by awarding the 2.77-acre disputed land to Ram Lalla Virajman, the child deity while granting five acres of land to Muslims at an alternative site for construction of a new mosque. The court also asked the government to set up a trust to oversee construction of the temple and manage the disputed site. JACKSON, Miss., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) announced today the income tax treatment of its 2019 distributions as described below. Shareholders are encouraged to consult with their personal tax advisors as to their specific tax treatment of EastGroup Properties distributions. Common Stock: Ticker Symbol EGP, CUSIP #277 276 101 Record Dates Payment Dates Total Distributions Per Share (1) Ordinary Dividends Capital Gain Distribution Unrecaptured Sec. 1250 Gain (2) Nondividend Distributions (3) Section 199A Dividends (4) 12/31/18 01/15/19 $.57695 $.57695 $.00000 $.00000 $.00000 $.57695 03/29/19 04/15/19 .72000 .72000 .00000 .00000 .00000 .72000 06/28/19 07/15/19 .72000 .72000 .00000 .00000 .00000 .72000 09/30/19 10/15/19 .75000 .75000 .00000 .00000 .00000 .75000 12/30/19 01/15/20 .37305 .37305 .00000 .00000 .00000 .37305 TOTALS $3.14000 $3.14000 $.00000 $.00000 $.00000 $3.14000 Form 1099-DIV box 1a 2a 2b 3 5 (1) Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, Section 857(b)(9), cash distributions made on January 15, 2020 with a record date of December 30, 2019 are treated as received by shareholders on December 31, 2019 to the extent of 2019 undistributed earnings and profits. (2) Unrecaptured Sec. 1250 Gain (box 2b) is a subset of, and is included in, the Capital Gain Distribution amount reported in box 2a of Form 1099-DIV. (3) Return of Capital (4) Represents qualified REIT dividends that may be eligible for the 20% qualified business income deduction under Section 199A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, that is available for non-corporate taxpayers and is included in "Ordinary Dividends." The Company did not incur any foreign taxes in 2019. Of the total distributions during 2019, none are considered qualifying dividends for purposes of the federal 15% income tax rate. EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE: EGP), an S&P MidCap 400 company, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina. The Company's goal is to maximize shareholder value by being a leading provider in its markets of functional, flexible and quality business distribution space for location sensitive customers (primarily in the 15,000 to 70,000 square foot range). The Company's strategy for growth is based on ownership of premier distribution facilities generally clustered near major transportation features in supply-constrained submarkets. EastGroup's portfolio, including development projects and value-add acquisitions in lease-up and under construction, currently includes approximately 45.6 million square feet. EastGroup Properties, Inc. press releases are available at www.eastgroup.net. SOURCE EastGroup Properties Related Links http://www.eastgroup.net A Latvian woman who spent two days wandering around Dublin Airport unaware that she had 183,000 worth of cocaine hidden in her luggage has been given a partly suspended sentence. Maja Kajuka (58), who has mental health difficulties, later told custom officers that she had been working for a design company in Latvia for seven years and her employer had asked her to travel to Brazil to deliver two folders of laminated photographs. Garda Conor Garland told Dara Hayes BL, prosecuting, that Kajuka said she remained in Brazil for two weeks after handing over the photographs to a contact there. The folders of photographs were returned to her and she was instructed to travel further to Dublin. She said she was advised to meet with another Brazilian man at the airport to hand over the photographs and he would provide her with her ticket home. Gda Garland said Kajuka claimed she lost her mobile phone and was unable to contact the Brazilian man in Dublin Airport to arrange a rendezvous. She had been wandering around on the landside of Dublin Airport having successfully passed through customs when she came to the attention of officers. Gda Garland agreed with Fiona Murphy SC, defending, that it was very bizarre set of circumstances and her client was hanging around the airport because she didn't know what to do with herself. He accepted that she was clearly disorientated when she was discovered by officers in the airport and that she had been used by others. Gda Garland told Judge Martin Nolan that he was satisfied that Kajuka was used as a courier and was unaware that there were drugs in the folders. He said he came to that conclusion based on the fact that she had cleared customs and was free to leave to Dublin Airport but instead she remained in the building. Kajuka, who is originally from Riga in Latvia, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of 2.6Kg of cocaine at Dublin Airport on July 13, 2019. She has no previous convictions and had been remanded in custody since. The drugs were discovered concealed between two photographs that had been laminated together back to back, and there were 75 sets of these paired photographs which were contained in two folders. Judge Nolan sentenced Kajuka to four and half years in prison but suspended the balance on condition that she leave Ireland and return to Latvia within two weeks. He said she is not to be released from prison until she has firm arrangements to return to Latvia. He said the very fair evidence of Gda Garland suggested that she displayed no knowledge of the fact that she had cocaine in her possession. He says very candidly that this woman didn't know about the presence of the cocaine, Judge Nolan said before he added that she unfortunately lost her phone and was at a loss of what to do. He said she had very apparent psychiatric problems and noted that it would be best for her to return to Latvia to resume her treatment there. Her moral culpability is very low and some person took advantage of her, knowing her vulnerability, Judge Nolan said before he added he thought it would be unjust to continue to imprison her in Ireland. Ms Murphy handed in a report outlining her client's serious mental health issues. She said her client wished to return to Latvia and the defence team could arrange for her flight home. The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday the plea of Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder case, against the dismissal of his mercy petition by President Ram Nath Kovind New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday the plea of Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder case, against the dismissal of his mercy petition by President Ram Nath Kovind on 17 January. The trial court has issued black warrants for the execution of all the four convicts Mukesh,Pawan Gupta, Vinay Kumar Sharma and Akshay Kumar at 6 am on 1 February. As the last-ditch attempt, Mukesh through his counsel on Tuesday sought an urgent hearing on his plea against dismissal of the mercy plea before the top court. "If somebody is going to be hanged then nothing can be more urgent than this," a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde said while assuring Mukesh's lawyer that his plea would be given due weightage by the mentioning officer. "Execution case will be given top priority," said the bench, which also comprised Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant. Later in the day, the mentioning officer considered the urgency of Mukesh's plea and ordered its listing before a three-judge bench comprising Justices R Bhanunathi, Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna at 12.30 pm tomorrow. Mukesh had moved the mercy plea after the Supreme Court dismissed his curative petition against his conviction and death sentence. The apex court had also rejected the curative petition of another death row convict Akshay (31). The other two convicts, Pawan (25) and Vinay, are yet to file curative petitions before the Supreme Court. The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of 16 December, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital. Six people Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan, Ram Singh and a juvenile were named as accused. The trial of the five adult men began in a special fast-track court in March 2013. The prime accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in Tihar jail days after the trial began. The juvenile, who was said to be the most brutal of the attackers, was put in a correctional home for three years. He was released in 2015 and sent to an undisclosed location amid concerns over a threat to his life. The juvenile, when released, was 20 years old. Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay and Pawan were convicted and sentenced to death in September 2013. On Saturday, a Delhi court said that no further directions were required on a plea by the lawyer of the death row convicts alleging that prison authorities were not handing over certain documents required to file mercy and curative petitions, and disposed of the petition. Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Kumar Jain said the convicts' lawyer can take pictures of the relevant documents, diary and paintings from the Tihar jail authorities. The court had noted that the jail authorities had already complied with the request made by the convicts by supplying the documents whatever was lying with them. A woman has died and her 16-year-old stepson has been arrested following a fatal stabbing in Sydney's south. Officers responded to an incident in a home in Woolooware at around 1.30am on Wednesday where they discovered a 42-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds to her back. She was treated at the scene before being taken to St George Hospital in a critical condition where she died shortly after. The teen, believed to be the woman's stepson, was arrested at the scene and taken to Sutherland Police Station. N icki Minajs brother is facing at least 25 years in jail after raping an 11-year-old girl. Jelani Maraj was convicted in 2017 for of predatory sexual assault and child endangerment but was only handed a sentence of 25 years to life on Monday after a lengthy appeal claim. The victim gave evidence during the trial that Maraj repeatedly raped her in 2015 in Long Island while her mother was at work. Prosecutors have said DNA evidence recovered from the girls pyjamas was linked to Maraj. The girls younger brother also gave evidence at the trial that he witnessed one assault. Marajs lawyer appealed against the conviction in 2018, claiming there was jury misconduct. The judge ruled in October that the defence did not meet the necessary burden of proof. Maraj apologised in court on Monday for the pain that I caused. I had an excessive drinking problem. Nicki Minaj / Getty Images One of his lawyers said he suffered from health issues including hypertension, gout and anaemia and requested a minimum sentence of 10 years to life. Marajs appellate attorney, Stephen Scaring, said he plans to appeal against the judges sentence, labelling it excessive. Three persons have been kept under observation at an isolation ward of RML Hospital here for a possible exposure to novel coronavirus, officials said on Tuesday. The three -- all men aged between 24 and 48 -- were admitted on Monday and their samples have been sent for testing, Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital, said. While two of the men are residents of Delhi, one hails from NCR. Till Monday, a total of 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened. T he Prince of Wales has warned people that we "haven't got time to waste if we want to save the planet from climate change. Charles said time has run out to combat the destructive effect of man-made emissions as he called for ingenious new ideas on creating new fuels of the future. The princes comments followed his tour of a Cambridge University research laboratory on Tuesday afternoon, where he learnt about the development of eco-friendly planes. He heard about advances in the decarbonisation of flight before donning ear defenders as he watched a wind tunnel test of a prototype plane component. Prince Charles donned ear defenders during a wind tunnel demonstration / PA The prince also listened to a series of talks from engineers as he toured the Whittle Laboratory facility before a private meeting on the urgency of addressing the climate crisis. Speaking after the meeting, he told a crowd of dignitaries, engineers and students: We havent got time to waste. We have run out of time now to rescue this poor old planet from man-made emissions and all the complications were now facing, all the challenges were facing. So it is places like this, it is ingenious new ideas of how we decarbonise and produce the new engines, the new fuels for the future. And the future has to happen much quicker than it used to, thats the problem, so we have to find the best ways to bring everybody together for once so we dont have endless argy-bargies about it but actually get down together. If you mount a military campaign, because youre up against it you have to produce the answers, overnight practically. That is what I think is the challenge now. Charles mingled with PhD students during his visit to the facility / Getty Images Charles said he hoped more money would be funnelled into sustainable investment opportunities with the help of the genius of engineers at the centre. He then unveiled a plaque to launch the new National Centre for Propulsion and Power, which is to be built alongside the lab and is due to open in 2022 with funding from the Aerospace Technology Institute. He said he wished the centre every possible success because we all depend upon it to save this planet. The Prince of Wales watches a demonstration on electric powered planes during his tour of the Whittle Laboratory / PA The Whittle Laboratory was opened in 1973 by Sir Frank Whittle, whose original designs led to the development of todays highly efficient systems that can power huge aircraft over long distances. Over the past 50 years, the Whittle Laboratory has built industry partnerships with Rolls-Royce, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Siemens and played a crucial role in shaping the propulsion and power sectors. Anirudh Sharma, Group Account Manager - Client Strategy at RepIndia, services some of the marquee brands of the organisation and is a core part of the 40-member servicing team at RepIndia. In a short span of four years in the industry, he has accomplished more than he imagined while working as a content writer initially in his career. From writing articles for magazines such as AsiaSpa and developing content for the Fashion Design Council of India, he moved into the digital industry in 2017 as a Search Content Writer. Recognising his talent, within just 8 months he was moved up the ladder to service some of the leading brands on digital such as Adani Group, Tinder India and Suzuki Motorcycles, playing a pivotal role in establishing these brands as pioneers in the industry and execute some award-winning campaigns of 2019. How did you join your current organisation? It was actually something I never really expected being a content writer, but I am grateful enough to be given the opportunity to learn and grow in a very challenging environment. While I thought that writing was one of my core competencies, I just took a leap of faith and moved on to unknown territories in life, because isnt that what life is all about exploring the unexplored? Also, having a creative edge helps me do my job better as I can understand what goes into the creative process while managing my patience as a servicing professional today. In a nutshell it was an absolute Why Not? What particular skill set do you bring to the table? Im a peoples person and I adapt to any environment you put me in to work. Apart from that, there are a few things I never let go of my curiosity, hunger to learn, humility to ask all the right & wrong questions, and help the people around me grow as much I am. Its an industry in which teamwork plays a key role, and I believe in binding people together to make greatness happen. Icons in advertising you look up to and how they have influenced you and your work? Donald Draper and Roger Sterling (from the Mad Men), they outclass any ad professional out there. And Mr Piyush Pandey, whose greatness cannot be described in words. What are the five most productive things that you do in your everyday routine? Pursue my hobby - playing the guitar whenever I find the time Workout 4 days a week, or at least try to Eat healthy, but never missing out on cheat day(s) Lighten the atmosphere around me with people and places, a healthy laugh helps brew productivity Turn off for a while, to establish clarity in your head One campaign that you have worked on that you are particularly proud of? Please take us through the making of the campaign. This is a tough one! Im proud of all the campaigns Ive ever worked on, but theres one which Im very attached to. Its called The Bucket List by the Adani Group, which narrates the story of disparities between the urban and rural societies when it comes to the usage of water. Being part of the process since the very initial ideation stages, we created a film which showed the difference between the bucket lists of millennials as compared to that of a household in a rural hamlet. Launching it on World Water Day, the insight and execution was so strong it has been awarded the best video-led marketing campaign by some leading publications. While working on the creatives how do you prepare yourself? What goes on in your mind? Rule No. 1 soak in the brief. One of my mentors, Ashish Manchanda, always says a brief well-written is half the job done. Rule No. 2 finding the right insight to make magic happen. An insight is the foundation of every great campaign out there. Rule No. 3 always think of the users perception. Never forget who youre speaking to and what or how they might actually perceive your work of art to be. Once you have this in place, with that clarity in your mind about what needs to be done, the stars are the limit to come up with something absolutely mind blowing. Do you think a career in advertising is a viable one in the long term? Advertising can never get old its, in fact, timeless. Its absolutely viable and even more so considering the evolving nature of the industry. If you can adapt to the changes, you can surely sustain and make your mark in the ad world. What does it take to succeed in a career like advertising? Ive always believed in working smart, not hard (not that you shouldnt work hard). But finding the right loopholes, bridging those gaps and thinking beyond your capacity can really help you define yourself as a person and a professional. What would be your advice to youngsters planning to enter this industry? Your hunger to learn in this ever-changing, multifaceted industry will always be your key to success. And dont be afraid to take up any challenge that comes your way, in fact, throw yourself into it youll surely come out better. Where do you see yourself in five years time? Bagging a Cannes Lion and packing my bags for a sabbatical to the Bahamas! Is there any agency/ organisation that you would like to work with in the future? I would surely like to test the waters working on the brand side someday, but for now the agency culture is doing me good. Also Read: RepIndia makes cricket groovy for ICC CWC 2019 RepIndia wins Nestle Cetaphils consolidated digital mandate DES MOINES William Burts dream is to take his mobile barber shop to underserved communities across the state. He needs a change in state law to make that dream a reality. Burt, who cuts hair at Grays Barber Shop in Waterloo, Iowa, has created a mobile barber shop he calls Kut Kings. Burts ultimate goal is to make the service a non-profit so he can provide haircuts to Iowans in need across the state: children from single-parent or low-income families, rural Iowans with no access to a barber, and veterans with disabilities. The whole vision is to help these underserved communities, Burt said. Currently, mobile barber shops are not permitted by state law. A proposal to change that took its first legislative steps Monday at the Iowa Capitol, with lawmakers from both political parties enthusiastically in support. A similar proposal was considered last year, but did not make it out of the Iowa Legislature. In the black community, the barber shop is a safe haven. It always has been, said Ras Smith, a state legislator from Waterloo. Hopefully this becomes law this legislative session. Republican Zach Whiting called the proposal a home run out of the park. Burt was a guest of Gov. Kim Reynolds for her condition of the state address at the Iowa Capitol earlier this month. He is an advocate for a pair of issues Reynolds is pushing: professional licensing reform, and the restoration of voting rights for felons who complete their sentences. Burt served roughly three years in jail, he said, for various domestic abuse and drug charges. Since being released in 2008, Burt said he has earned a degree from the College of Hair Design, plus his bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Northern Iowa. Burt said he and his three siblings were raised by a single mother, and that he still sees families struggling the same way. I plan to bridge the gap for these guys, Burt said. A representative for cosmetologists requested state lawmakers amend the proposal to also allow for mobile cosmetology. Lawmakers indicated they would be amenable to such an addition. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Kolkata: Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) activists protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, barge into the Calcutta University campus and disrupt the university's annual convocation that was being held at Nazrul Mancha, by raisi Image Source: IANS News Kolkata: Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) activists protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, barge into the Calcutta University campus and disrupt the university's annual convocation that was being held at Nazrul Mancha, by raisi Image Source: IANS News Kolkata: Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) activists protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, barge into the Calcutta University campus and disrupt the university's annual convocation that was being held at Nazrul Mancha, by raisi Image Source: IANS News Kolkata, Jan 28 : West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Tuesday forced to leave the venue of the Calcutta University convocation without attending the programme, where Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee was presented an honorary doctor of letters degree, following tumultuous protests by students opposing CAA. An angry Dhankhar - the ex-officio varsity Chancellor - later dubbed the "obstruction stage managed" and alleged "total failure" of the state machinery to "maintain law and order". The large number of protesters, who barged into the Nazrul Manch in south Kolkata, raised slogans asking Dhankhar to "go back", called him a "stooge of the BJP" and refused to let the convocation begin unless he left the venue where a large number of educationists and other eminent persons had gathered. As the students of different colleges started the demonstration, security personnel escorted Dhankhar to the back stage in view of the tense situation. In the meantime, another group of students started demonstrating outside the venue, as Banerjee's car got stranded, before the security personnel escorted him inside. "We demand the Governor go back. We won't allow him to attend this programme. He is a BJP stooge. We don't accept Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens," said a demonstrator carrying posters against the NRC and CAA. He identified himself as a student. "We will go back as soon as the Governor leaves. Our only problem is with the Governor," said another demonstrator. "BJP agent Governor lay your hands off Calcutta University," said a poster. The students claimed they did not represent any party, though some of them were known faces of the Trinamool Congress Chhattra Parishad. Vice Chancellor Sonali Chakravarty Banerjee and other officials tried to repeatedly reason with the protesting students, urging them not to ruin the sanctity of such an occasion. However, they refused to relent, saying they won't allow him either to go to the stage or be a part of the convocation procession. Finally Dhankhar left the venue, after signing the D.Litt (honoris causa) in the Nobel laureate's presence. With Dhankhar gone, the protestors also disappeared, and the programme was held without any more hindrances. Dhankhar later lashed out against the protesters and the state administration in a series of tweets. "Convocation of Calcutta University was at Nazrul Manch auditorium and not on the campus of Calcutta University. There was total failure of the state machinery to maintain law and order. The obstruction was stage managed. This happens to constitutional head. Where are we heading!" he posted on his Twitter handle. "The actions of those who created or stage-managed unseemly spectacle would resonate for long in the ears of cultured people of WB.... Those who compromised culture and decorum need to be in reflective mode," he said. "The uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta University without attending the Convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of the immense respect we have for Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on whom we are conferring honorary D Litt (honoris causa)," he said in another tweet. Dhankhar said when the Vice Chancellor sought permission from him to proceed with the Convocation, he agreed out of his respect for Banerjee and "mindful of the reputation of the iconic Calcutta University". With Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Education Minister Partha Chatterjee also staying away, there was no representative from the state government at the convocation. The Vice Chancellor handed over the honorary degree to Abhijit Banerjee. The economist, while delivering his address, said: "What has happened here is a little bit hard for me to comprehend." Last month, Dhankhar could not attend the convocation of Jadavpur University following intense protests on the campus by a section of the non-teaching staff affiliated to the ruling Trinamool Congress. The awardees were divided in their opinion on the protest. Political scientist Manabi Majumdar found the protest proper, saying "there are a lot of reasons to be worried about the citizenship law". Noted bio-physicist and retired director of the Council of Science and Industrial Research Samir Kumar Brahmachari, however, was aghast at the happenings. "I don't think ruining the convocation is very courteous. It is a very sad thing to happen in such a big university when even the convocation is disturbed." Lord of the Dance star Michael Flatley's Irish dance group touring China has had to cancel its shows in Beijing amid fears it would be left stranded if the coronavirus outbreak rapidly sweeping the country continues to escalate. Eight performances of Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games were scheduled in the Chinese capital but all of them have been cancelled at the last minute to allow the dancers time to flee the country. MailOnline understands the 23-strong troupe feared they may be stranded in China if officials choose to lock down more provinces to prevent the spread of the deadly SARS-like infection. The group are currently in Taiwan which has also recorded cases of the coronavirus for five shows as part of their world tour. The group will head to Mexico next week before flying to Europe. The cancellations come as almost 4,600 people have been struck down by the killer virus. Leading experts today warned the outbreak which has killed at least 106 people will continue to run for several months. Chinese officials have already taken the unprecedented step of locking down Hubei the province at the heart of the outbreak, effectively trapping millions of residents until the virus dies down. Eight performances of Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games were scheduled in the Chinese capital but all of them have been cancelled at the last minute (pictured, some of the dancers wearing face masks at an airport, thought to be in China) MailOnline understands the 23-strong troupe feared they may be stranded in China if officials choose to lock down more provinces to prevent the spread of the deadly SARS-like infection (pictured, two of the dancers wearing face masks at an airport) Michael Flatley, the Lord Of The Dance sensation, directs the Dangerous Games performance The group are currently in Taiwan which has also recorded cases of the coronavirus for five shows as part of their world tour. The group will head to Mexico next week before flying to Europe Six members of the Lord of the Dance touring party already spent time in a hospital in Beijing due to illness. Tests later confirmed they had a bacterial infection all of them were cured by taking antibiotics. Discussing the ordeal, one member of the touring party who hasn't been named told MailOnline: 'Seeing the inside of a Beijing fever-screening clinic during a pandemic was an interesting experience. 'The real fun was getting through all the airport screenings and having to explain across the language barrier that fever, cough, runny nose and headache were from something other than the coronavirus.' The group of 23 dancers includes 14 men and 19 women, whose ages range between 18 and 25. They had previously performed for six consecutive sold out nights in Shanghai. Their Beijing dates, hosted at the prestigious National Centre for the Performing Arts, were scheduled for Saturday, January 26 until Thursday, January 30. Residents in Xikangzhuang, close to the border of Shanxi province, have built entire walls out of brick, reportedly to 'stop outsiders coming to our village' Japanese officials prepare to load various supplies such as face masks into a charter plane bound for Wuhan at Tokyo's Haneda airport. The flight is to evacuate Japanese nationals from the Chinese city that has been hit by the outbreak of a new deadly coronavirus Pictured, the wall in Xikangzhuang, which is in Hebei the province surrounding the capital Beijing, where dozens of cases have been recorded A worker wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant in an office building in Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong Province, Tuesday January 28 CORONAVIRUS: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR What is this virus? The virus has been identified as a new type of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of pathogens, most of which cause mild respiratory infections such as the common cold. But coronaviruses can also be deadly. SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is caused by a coronavirus and killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in the early 2000s. Can it kill? Yes. 106 people have so far died after testing positive for the virus. What are the symptoms? Its symptoms are a fever, cough and trouble breathing, but some patients have developed pneumonia, a potentially life-threatening infection that causes inflammation of the small air sacs in the lungs. People carrying the novel coronavirus may only have mild symptoms, such as a sore throat. They may assume they have a common cold and not seek medical attention, experts fear. How is it detected? The virus's genetic sequencing was released by scientists in China to the rest of the world to enable other countries to quickly diagnose potential new cases. This helps other countries respond quickly to disease outbreaks. To contain the virus, airports are detecting infected people with temperature checks. But as with every virus, it has an incubation period, meaning detection is not always possible because symptoms have not appeared yet. CLICK HERE TO SEE MAILONLINE'S FULL Q&A ON THE CORONAVIRUS Advertisement In other developments to the escalating crisis today, A German man has become the first person in Europe to catch the virus without even going to China. The unidentified 33-year-old caught the disease in his home country on January 21 from a colleague visiting from China and later became ill on her flight home. She was from Shanghai but had recently visited her parents in Wuhan, according to reports. The German man's case is one of four men in Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan have also been infected at home. Countries around the world are starting to cut ties with China and pull their citizens out of the crisis-hit Hubei region, where the virus emerged in the city of Wuhan. Hong Kong's leader today held a press conference during which she wore a face mask and said the city would stop all high-speed trains and ferries to the mainland. In a dramatic intervention, she also announced Hong Kong would halve the number of flights and stop giving visas to visitors from China. In Australia, paramedics wearing hazmat suits were seen at the luxury Peppers Broadbeach hotel on the Gold Coast. And a health minister in Thailand today admitted that the country is 'not able to stop' the spread of the virus there, where 14 people have been infected. But China is maintaining a solid front President Xi Jinping today said the nation would 'win the battle against the devil virus'. And a Chinese scientist said he thinks the outbreak and the 'battle of Wuhan' will peak in 10 days' time. Boston: A Harvard University professor was charged on Tuesday with lying about his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program and concealing payments he received from the Chinese government for research. A statue of John Harvard sits in Harvard Yard at Harvard University. Credit:AP Charles Lieber, chairman of the department of chemistry and chemical biology, is accused of hiding his involvement in China's Thousand Talents Plan, a program designed to lure people with knowledge of foreign technology and intellectual property to China. Lieber was arrested early on Tuesday at his office at the Ivy League university, officials said. He remained in federal custody after a brief court appearance on Tuesday, pending a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday. A message seeking comment was left with his attorney. Authorities also announced charges against a researcher at Boston University, who is accused of lying about her ties to the Chinese military. The GAA have warned their units against using WhatsApp for official purposes as it does not comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Two years ago, clubs had been advised by Croke Park to alter how they contacted members via the Facebook-owned messaging app. Instead of using the group option, central authorities recommended the clubs get in touch with the members individually. However, the Laois Today website reports that clubs in the county have been told to cease from using it as GAA social media guidelines now advise against WhatsApp for official communications due to GDPR non-compliance. At a county board meeting on Monday night, Laois childrens officer Seamus Lahart told clubs: I cant stress it enough you have to scrap WhatsApp. According to the report, a GAA spokesperson stated: Any contact, be it with parents of under 18s or adults within the GAA community is to be completed by a club/county/committee in an official manner and the use of WhatsApp should therefore be terminated. All clubs and officials within Laois GAA should be made aware of this issue. A document issued to Laois clubs recently warned: If a WhatsApp group is set up (U12 hurling for example) every parent in that group has their phone number and possibly profile photograph if they have one, shared with every other parent in the group without giving their consent for their personal data to be shared in this manner. Also, the lack of auditing ability the Club/County has over a WhatsApp group is an issue. As reported by the Irish Examiner last month, the GAA are in the process of creating their own communications app. The organisations chief information officer Tomas Meehan explained it would be like WhatsApp but not like WhatsApp in that its controlled and there wont be chatter. It will be an auditable and managed messaging platform. Itll be completely verifiable. Following the GAA's warning a spokesperson for WhatsApp said that they encourage all organisations to take a "privacy-first approach". In a statement, the spokesperson said: "We encourage all organisations to take a privacy-first approach, as the GAA has done here, and to be mindful of the wishes of individuals whose personal data they control. "WhatsApp also has a number of built-in tools which put individual users in control of their Group interactions. "This includes a Group Privacy Setting which enables users to decide, at a very granular level, who can add them to a Group. "This can be found in Settings under Privacy then Groups within the WhatsApp app. "In addition, a feature called Group invitation links, allows individual WhatsApp users join a Group by clicking on an invitation link that has been generated by the Group Admin. "This feature enables users to join a Group of their own accord. A Group invitation link can be generated by any Group Admin, ensuring that anybody who joins the Group has actively done so and is aware of the visibility other members of the Group will have of their WhatsApp number, user name and profile photo. "We would also encourage users to think before they share content on any platform or service, including in WhatsApp Groups. This story was updated at 5.30pm on January 29. Dalo's Hurling Show: Cork's old failings, Deise reborn, danger of 14 Cats, Limerick in Tipp heads? We remember Gaius Julius Caesar from our schoolbooks for his conquest of Gaul, his consolidation of power over the Roman Senate and, ultimately, his betrayal and brutal murder at the hands of fellow Romans. Yet few are familiar with the Gallic wars Battle of the Sabis River, in which Caesar very nearly lost his army, his political ambitions and his life. Indeed, only his legionaries experience, training and individual initiative saved him from utter annihilation. In 57 bc, his second year of campaigning in Gaul (centered on present-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg), Caesar focused on suppressing the northern tribes, either through diplomacy or by the sword. His legions had defeated the Helvetii confederation of Gallic tribes the previous year, and the general was determined to destroy any remaining rebel factions. That summer he faced his greatest obstacle in a tribal coalition led by the Belgic Nervii people, who refused to submit to Roman rule. The leader of the Nervii, Boduognatus, had formed a Belgae/Gallic alliance of four tribes: Boduognatus own Nervii, the Atrebates, the Aduatuci and the Viromandui. The Aduatuci would not arrive in time to participate in the battle Boduognatus hoped would thwart the Roman advance, but the Nervii leader was still able to mass upward of 60,000 warriors, by Caesars estimate. Modern demographic analysis suggests half that number. Boduognatus battle planto lay in ambush, then launch all-out assaults on individual legions, defeating Caesars army in detailwas tactically sound. The plan relied on the Roman convention of placing a baggage train between each legion while on the march. Such gaps in the column would allow the tribesmen time and space to annihilate the legions in sequence, before each trailing legion was able to maneuver around the preceding baggage train. The difficult, hilly terrain Boduognatus selected would grant his men the advantage of concealment, while the surrounding woods would restrict the legions mobility. If the tribesmen could seize the initiative and strike hard, they should be able to overwhelm the Roman troops. Boduognatus further hoped the legions systematic, piecemeal destruction and the sacking of the baggage trains would in turn send the famously disciplined legionaries into a panicked rout, forcing Caesar to withdraw to winter quarters. While his theory was sound, Boduognatus faced a formidable foe. The Roman army comprised eight legionsthe veteran VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII, plus the newly levied XIII and XIVan estimated 42,000 men, roughly comparable to the Belgae/Gallic force. Caesar led his legions out of camp in mid-August. They marched down a narrow road preceded by a reconnaissance element tasked with finding Boduognatus forces. After three days march the scouts pinpointed the Nervii and their allies not 10 miles distant, on the far side of the Sabis River (the present-day Selle River in northern France, a dozen miles from the Belgian border). Caesar sent forward a reconnoitering party to select a suitable campsite. Over the preceding days a number of ostensible Belgae/Gallic allies marching with the legions had melted away. This mass desertion created new concerns for Caesar. The defectors not only added valuable manpower to the enemy but also provided Boduognatus intelligence on the composition, strength and disposition of the Roman column. With the departure of the Gallic alliespredominately cavalrythe Romans also lost a greater part of their ability to gather tactical intelligence and screen the armys movements. As they approached the waiting enemy, Caesar adjusted his formation to minimize the impact of that loss, keeping the remaining cavalry close to the marching legions to protect against ambushes and changing the standard marching order. On learning from more trustworthy informants that Boduognatus forces lay in wait before him, the Roman commander placed his six veteran legions out front and consolidated the baggage trains into a single column, with the two green legions serving as a rearguard. Boduognatus had lost the element of surprise. But he had more surprises in store for the Romans. Caesars army slowly filtered into the selected campsite atop a hill overlooking the Sabis, the terrain, foliage, trees and hedgerows restricting any wide-scale maneuvering. As each legion arrived, its commander sent out skirmishers to scout the surrounding woods, while quartering parties dispersed to gather wood and other necessities. Those remaining in camp dug trenches. Unknown to the Romans, the Nervii and their allies lay immediately south of the river, waiting for the baggage train to arrive before springing their concentrated ambush. No sooner did the Roman scouts cross the Sabis than they made contact what they presumed to be a small band of mounted Nervii. In fact, the scouts had triggered Boduognatus own screening force. Using the woods for cover and concealment, the Nervii horsemen launched hit-and-run attackscharging into and breaking up the Roman formations, only to retreat rapidly back into the woods. The clash between opposing skirmishers continued in this general pattern, the Romans reorganizing only to have the Nervii cavalry charge yet again. Far from incidental, the Nervii tactics worked to prevent discovery of the main Belgae/Gallic army, which awaited the signal to attack. That signal finally came as Caesars consolidated baggage train arrived at the unfinished Roman camp. Moments later tens of thousands of screaming tribesmen surged from the broken terrain, shattered Caesars recon screen, splashed across the shallow river and charged headlong uphill toward the unprepared legionaries. The chaos Boduognatus had predicted spread though camp as the enemy rushed into their midst. Junior Roman commanders established hasty defenses wherever they stood. Legionarieshelmetless and half dressed for battleengaged in hand-to-hand combat, while others fought unarmored in their marching kit. Unit commanders rallied troops around their standards, organizing available troops into ad hoc battle formations. Legionaries from different units flocked to the closest standard or commander, joining to form ersatz combat units in response to the mortal danger. Annihilation stared the Romans in the face. Given the restrictions imposed on him by the terrain and vegetation, Caesar was unable to exercise any real command and control. He later admitted as much in his history of the Gallic wars. As the enemy was so close and advancing so swiftly, he wrote, the [officers] did not wait for further orders but on their own responsibility took the measures they thought proper. For the Romans this would not be a generals fight, one guided by a plan and a single master. Instead, field-grade officerslegates and centurionstook command, rallying, organizing and counterattacking on their own initiative. As a result, the massive melee soon morphed into three separate actions. Gallic warriors repulse Roman troops in this fanciful 1894 work. (Musee Des Beaux-Arts De Carcassonne) On the Roman left flank Legions IX and X engaged the Atrebates. As that tribe had traveled the greatest distance to close with the enemy, its members entered combat somewhat fatigued. Marching toward the back of the lead element, the two legions benefitted from more time to gird themselves and thus responded effectively to the onslaught. As the Atrebates drew within range, both legions unleashed barrages of pila (javelins). The punishing hail repelled the Atrebates, pushing them back against the Sabis. Titus Labienus, commanding Legion X, pursued the fleeing enemy, followed by Legion IX. Pinning the Atrebates on the near bank of the river, the Romans shattered their morale and sapped their remaining strength. The pursuit continued across the river with similar results. Fighting in the Roman center was tougher. There Legions VIII and XI locked in hand-to-hand combat with the Viromandui. Unfortunately for the latter, the Atrebates panic spread to the Viromandui ranks, which followed suit and fell back against the river. Like their comrades on the left, the legionaries dashed forward in pursuit of the tribesmen. Their eagerness had the unintended consequence of exposing the flank of Legions VII and XII on the Roman right. Boduognatus and the Nervii, having closed with the Romans, noticed the break within the enemy line and rushed forward. The attackers split into two formations, one moving against the Roman camp, the other against Legions VII and XII. The result was the most confused fighting in a day filled with chaos. The Roman cavalry and slingers of the shattered recon screen returned to find the enemy in their camp, supporting their belief all was lost and prompting them to again flee, this time for good. Pressing the attack, Boduognatus and his Nervii warriors began to encircle the surviving Roman defenders. Things became so desperate that Caesar himself dismounted and took up arms in an effort to inspire his soldiers. With Legions VII and XII beginning to falter due to the losses of both soldiers and officers, and given the increasingly apparent risk of envelopment, Caesar ordered the two legions to pivot and fight back to back. The new formation allowed them to be mutually supportive, each securing the others rear. With the possibility of attack from that sector mitigated, a sense of hope spread through the ranks of the surrounded legions. The Nervii continued to press the attack, but the overall Belgae/Gallic attack began to stall. It was at that point the untested Legions XIII and XIV arrived on scene. Simultaneously, from the banks of the river Labienus recognized the plight of his beleaguered countrymen, reorganized Legion X and surged back uphill with a vengeance. The three converging legions cinched a noose around the Nervii. Though the tribesmen fought with a desperate courage, the Romans inexorably ground them down, slaughtering the enemy almost to a man. By days end, despite Boduognatus careful plans and timely execution, the tribal confederation he led was ultimately destroyed on the banks of the Sabis. Dictated to scribes, Caesars The Conquest of Gaul is predictably biased in favor of the author and his legions. (Palazzo Del Quirinale/ Bridgeman Images) The only extant firsthand source on the battle is Caesars The Conquest of Gaul, in which he presents himself in a predictably flattering light (e.g., Caesar had everything to do at once). That said, it is apparent Boduognatus surprise attack haunted him. Likewise, Caesar inflates the number of likely enemy casualties, but readers get a clear sense he came razor close to losing the battle. And while Caesars after-action reports typically included lists of Roman casualties, particularly when very low, he omits any reference here to Roman losses. He likely did so for political reasons, controlling the narrative so as not to lose support among the powers that be in Rome. Reading between the lines of his battle account, its safe to assume Roman casualties were especially high among the embattled Legions VII and XII. It also becomes clear Caesars victory was a credit not to his own martial prowess, but to the initiative and decisive actions of individual field officers and the disciplined response of rank-and-file legionaries. The Roman army of the era was professional, well-equipped, well-trained and highly disciplined. That the legionaries were able to organize quickly into ad hoc centers of resistance changed the momentum of the battle. Leaders capitalized on that instilled sense of cohesion, trusting that amid chaos each soldier would rally to a standard and fight together as one. The Battle of the Sabis River stands as a textbook example of the importance of low-level leadership, individual discipline and overall professional training. Focusing on the smaller unit actions, one can plainly see the margin for victory rested on those three attributes. Were it not for that critical victory on the Sabis, there may not have been a siege of Alesia, an invasion of Britain, a second Roman civil war or even the celebrated Gaius Julius Caesar. Major Benjamin Nagy is an Army infantry officer and the author of Maniple to Cohort: An Examination of Military Innovation and Reform in the Roman Republic. For further reading he recommends The Annals of Imperial Rome, by Tacitus; Caesar: Life of a Colossus, by Adrian Goldsworthy; and The Conquest of Gaul, by Julius Caesar. WASHINGTON Rep. Anthony Brindisi will begin airing the first TV ads of his re-election campaign on Wednesday, even before he knows who his opponent will be in November. The early ad campaign is the latest sign that the 22nd Congressional District will once again be one of the most competitive House races in the nation this year. Brindisis campaign said the TV ads will be the first to air this year from any incumbent House member in the nation. In the 2018 campaign, Brindisi and his opponent, former Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, began airing TV ads in July and August. Brindisi, D-Utica, won the election by about 1 percentage point after the candidates and their supporters spent a combined $24 million on the race. Independent political groups from outside of Upstate New York spent $16 million on the campaign the most for any House race in New York and seventh highest total in the nation. Brindisis campaign declined to disclose how much money it was spending on the TV ads that will start to air Wednesday. The ads will air on broadcast and cable TV in the Binghamton area. The eight-county 22nd Congressional District covers three media markets Syracuse, Utica and Binghamton. Brindisis ad campaign, touting his record in his first year in Congress, comes as he faces an early blitz of political attack ads during President Donald Trumps impeachment trial. American Action Network, a nonprofit group that supports House Republicans, has spent more than $725,000 on a series of TV ads against Brindisi that started in December. The latest ad is part of a $300,000 TV campaign that began airing Jan. 17 during Trumps impeachment trial. The ad criticizes Brindisi for voting with House Democrats to impeach the president. Watch Brindisis first TV ad of 2020 campaign Tenney is among four Republicans competing for the GOP designation to challenge Brindisi in November. The others are former Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell; George Phillips, a high school history teacher from Broome County; and Franklin W. Sager, a high school math teacher from Broome County. As of Monday, Tenney had secured the designation from three (Oswego, Madison and Herkimer counties) of the eight Republican county committees in the district. If theres a Republican primary election in the district, it would be held June 23. The 22nd district covers all of Madison, Oneida, Cortland and Chenango counties and portions of Oswego, Broome, Herkimer, and Tioga counties. Read more Claudia Tenney wins GOP designation for Congress in 3 Upstate NY counties Rep. Anthony Brindisi starts 2020 with $1.8 million in campaign cash Brindisi targeted by $300K ad campaign during Trump impeachment trial Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Wed, January 29, 2020 00:01 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206165c73 4 Inforial Free The British Council is delighted to announce that the GREAT Scholarships are once again available for Indonesian students looking to study at postgraduate level in the United Kingdom. The GREAT Britain Campaign is the UK governments initiative to promote the UK internationally as a GREAT place to visit, study and do business. The British Council is a partner in the campaign to raise awareness and promote the UKs strengths in education, English language and the arts. The GREAT Scholarships scheme is jointly funded by the UK governments GREAT Britain Campaign, the British Council and participating UK higher education institutions, targeting prospective postgraduate students from a selected number of countries who will enroll in UK universities in the autumn of 2020. Twelve postgraduate scholarships are on offer for Indonesian students, each offering a minimum of 10,000. The universities that are offering scholarship opportunities are the University of Bradford, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, University of Dundee, University of Glasgow, Imperial College London, University of Leeds, University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University, Sheffield Hallam University, University of Stirling and University of York. Students can apply for courses in a range of subjects including arts and humanities, life sciences, social sciences, management, physical sciences and sustainable environmental management. To apply for a GREAT Scholarship, you can follow these steps: First step: Check your eligibility Are you an Indonesian passport holder? Do you plan to enroll for postgraduate degree study in the UK? Does the study program you have applied for, or are planning to apply for, start in September 2020? Second step: Access the scholarship webpage on the British Council website in order to gain more detailed information on each universitys subject availability, deadlines and requirements Third step: Apply for the scholarship following the instructions provided on each universitys webpage. Fourth step: Successful applicants will receive a notification from each university regarding their application status. Fifth step: FlySafair was recently named the regional airline with the best on-time performance across the Middle East and Africa. The honour comes from the OAG Punctuality League, an annual report from OAG Aviation that measures the on-time performance (OTP) of airlines around the world. OAG released its 2020 report in the first week of January. OAG measured FlySafairs on-time performance at 94.4%. This means that 94.4% of FlySafairs flights departed and arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled times. Safairs next closest competitor in the Middle East and Africa was Etihad Airways, with an OTP of 83.4%. The only airline with a better OTP than FlySafair was Garuda Indonesia, which achieved an on-time performance of 95.01% in 2019. This raises the question: what does FlySafair do differently to be on time? Longer, variable flight times A quick search and comparison of FlySafairs flight times to those of Mango and Kulula reveals interesting differences. When booking a flight from Lanseria to Cape Town airport, all Kulula flights have a scheduled duration of 2 hours and 5 minutes. Similarly, all Mango flights from Lanseria to Cape Town are scheduled to take 2 hours and 15 minutes. FlySafair takes a different approach, as shown in the screenshot below. Its first flight of the day from Lanseria to Cape Town is scheduled to take 2 hours and 20 minutes. The afternoon flight is 2 hours and 15 minutes, while the evening flight is 2 hours and 10 minutes. For the return flights, Kulula and Mango both schedule their flights to take 1 hour and 55 minutes from Cape Town to Lanseria. FlySafair uses a flight time of 2 hours and 5 minutes in the morning and evening. For its late morning/afternoon flight from Cape Town, FlySafair schedules its flight to take 2 hours and 15 minutes. When comparing the duration of flights between other airports, a trend starts to emerge. Mango and Kulula use fixed flight times, while FlySafair schedules variable flight times that are often longer than those of its competitors. Maintenance is our true strength Asked about their strategy of using variable and longer flight times, FlySafairs VP of sales and distribution, Kirby Gordon, said their flight times change due to slot availability. We dont always get the slots to land that would perfectly match the scheduled departure, Gordon said. Usually we can get in when we need to. Gordon explained that the OAG report doesnt just measure the punctuality of arrivals, but also of departures. Sure, getting in earlier is a help, but youve agreed with your passengers to leave at a certain time. Gordon said that there is, therefore, no way to gain with departure times you either leave within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, or it gets marked as late. We also operate on 25-minute turns, Gordon said. That is 25 minutes from arrival to the next departure, which is much shorter than the standard 40-60 minutes. Even if we do score a few minutes, it doesnt give us much advantage over any others. Gordon said that FlySafairs strength in South Africa is the fact that it does its own maintenance. [We have] a very strong technical dispatch reliability score to support the [OAG] statistics. Now read: The plan to merge SAA with Ethiopian Airlines Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, has introduced two bipartisan bills to make changes to the states bail reform law. One of the bills would reinstate the discretion of judges to issue a bench warrant when a defendant fails to appear for a scheduled court appearance. The other bill would ensure that crimes under the aggravated family offense statute would qualify for bail and pre-trail detention, according to a news release. The first 24 hours after a domestic violence incident are when the likelihood of re-victimization and an escalation of violence is at its highest. I am committed to protecting the safety of the communities I represent, which is why I voted against the criminal justice reforms last year, Woerner said in a news release. Reforming budget process State Sen. Daphne Jordan, R-Halfmoon, is introducing Senate versions of Assembly bills to prevent policy issues from being included in budget bills and to create a constitutional amendment to require a two-thirds vote for any bill that raises taxes or creates a new tax. Jordan has already introduced a bill to amend the state constitution to restrict the ability of the executive to make laws in the budget, according to a news release. Among the examples cited of a policy proposal that was included in the budget was the criminal justice reform that eliminated cash bail for a variety of nonviolent and low-level offenses, and granting college funding to undocumented immigrants. Once again, Gov. (Andrew) Cuomo is misusing the budget process to push through radical legislation that might never see the light of day through regular legislative processes, Jordan said in a news release. Gladd wont run Aaron Gladd, the Democratic candidate for the states 43rd Senate District seat in the 2018 election, announced on Facebook last week that he would not seek a rematch with Sen. Daphne Jordan, R-Halfmoon, this November. I have spent a lifetime of service to my country, my state and my community, he wrote. This year, knowing that our daughter will be starting kindergarten, and knowing firsthand the toll it will take to win and fight in Albany, we are going to take some time to step back and focus on family and health while serving a little closer to home. Pro-Trump rally set Friends who Support President Trump and Hudson Falls for Trump will be holding a pro-Trump rally in Juckett Park in Hudson Falls on Presidents Day. The event will take place on Feb. 17 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Cobb releases digital ads NY-21 Democratic congressional candidate Tedra Cobb has released two digital advertisements that criticize the vote of U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, against a bill that would lower prescription drug costs and allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. The advertisements point out that Stefanik has taken money from the insurance and pharmaceutical industry and that Cobb does not accept corporate political action committee money. Preventing suicides The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted Monday for legislation to direct the National Science Foundation to award competitive grants to colleges and universities to conduct research into the causes of suicide. The legislation cited the fact that the rate of Americans dying by suicide has increased from 10.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2001 to 14 deaths per 100,000 people in 2017. It is the 10th-leading cause of death in the United States and second-leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 34. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, voted in favor of the bill, which passed 385-8. Braymer appointed to committee Glens Falls Third Ward Supervisor Claudia Braymer was appointed as chairwoman of the New York State Association of Counties Standing Committee on Resolutions. The committee determines which resolutions from the issue-specific committees are brought forward by approval by the full membership, according to a news release. Issues include Medicaid assistance, federal deduction of state and local taxes, and farmland protection initiatives. The outcome of the resolutions will determine the organizations advocacy priorities in Albany. Braymer, a Democrat, is running for the 114th Assembly District seat. Endorsements roundup The following candidates picked up endorsements over the last week: Assemblyman Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, has been endorsed by the Essex County Republican Party in his bid to replace Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury, in the 45th Senate District. Clinton County Treasurer Kimberly Davis, a Democratic candidate for the 45th Senate District, has secured unanimous endorsements from all six county committees within the district Warren, Washington, Franklin, Essex, St. Lawrence and Clinton. Glens Falls Third Ward Supervisor Claudia Braymer has been endorsed by the Warren County Democratic Committee in her bid for the 114th Assembly District seat. Reach Michael Goot at 518-742-3320 or mgoot@poststar.com and follow his blog poststar.com/blogs/michael_goot/. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. - Obaapa Christies last son wears dreadlocks - A new photo of the boy shows how fast he has grown - He will turn 3 in October 2020, and the musician had him in her previous marriage - Obaapa Christie has reportedly divorced twice and currently enjoying her third marriage Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana A new photo seen of the last son of gospel musician Obaapa Christie shows how fast the two-year-old boy has grown. Born in October 2017, the boy will turn three this year. Also noticeable about the photo is his dreadlocks which keep growing with his age. The boy was standing by his mother as they posed on the streets of Germany, where they live for some years now. READ ALSO: Jackie Appiah flaunts customised bag in her name (Photo) Obaapa Christie herself looked beautiful even without makeup in the photo. Many people have reacted to the photo with some of them commenting on the many controversies that have rocked the musicians former and current marriage. Mrs. Kwarteng, for instance, wanted to know if it was true that Christy took someones husband: mrskwarteng1: So she took someone's husband. Abigail wrote that Christy must be stone-hearted to have taken someones husband and still manage to smile that way in the photo: amoahabigailhotmail_: Girl yi ani y3den na )fere ade3 nso. Enti you have destroy the woman's marriage and you are happy. Herrrrrrrrrr nipa y3 wicked. READ ALSO: Titi joins dad Sarkodie on first-class flight to UK; money all around them in new video Biam informed that Christy had been in Frankfurt, though some people had threatened her not to step foot there: biamzyjollof: She was in Frankfurt last Saturday koraa to perform at a funeral... Come and see fans.... Now, the story is that Obaapa Christie was accused of snatching another womans husband in Germany. READ ALSO: Sad photos from the scene where Kobe Bryants helicopter crashed break hearts In an earlier publication by YEN.com.gh, friends of this bitter woman cursed and insulted Christie for snatching the man. According to them, their friend was enjoying her marriage and had helped her husband to build everything they now had. However, Christie used her star power to take the man from their friend. Thus, they warned her never to step foot in Germany, where they also live. This is her third marriage after leaving her very first husband Pastor Love somewhere in 2010. READ ALSO: Nana Tonardo shares rare photos of his beautiful look-alike daughter for the 1st time Ghana News Today: First Female Police Officer Turns 90, Reminisces Her Days In Service | #Yencomgh READ ALSO: Mercy Asiedu has Ghanaians talking about her fashion choice in new photo Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh F irms that revamped Grenfell Tower appeared to know two years before the disaster that a planned cladding system would fail if exposed to fire, emails shown to the public inquiry suggest. According to messages from March 2015, designers, contractors and fire safety consultants were said to have "expressly foreseen" the risk that would lead to the fire, which killed 72 people in the high-rise block, the hearing was told. Main contractor Rydon, external wall subcontractor Harley Facades, refurbishment architects Studio E and fire inspectors Exova are alleged to have known the proposed cladding for which the 129-flat tower was to be encased would burn and fall off if exposed to external flames. The inquirys chief lawyer has warned companies not to refuse to accept any blame for the June 2017 fire by pointing the finger at each other in a merry-go-round of buck-passing The inquirys chief lawyer has warned companies against a a merry-go-round of buck-passing / PA The email exchanges were introduced to the inquiry on Tuesday by Craig Orr QC, counsel for Celotex, which supplied the insulation used in the renovation of the 24-storey block. They arose as a result of a debate with building control about whether cavity barriers or fire-stops were required, he said. In an internal Exova email on March 31, a Mr Pearson sent a message to a Mr Ashton, saying if significant flames are ejected from the windows, this would lead to failure of the cladding system The 2nd Anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire - In pictures 1 /73 The 2nd Anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire - In pictures Family and friends of the 72 people who lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower block during a wreath laying ceremony outside the building PA Family and friends of the 72 people who lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower block fire gather outside the west London building PA Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn lays a wreath outside Grenfell Tower PA Survivors march through the streets of London in memory of the victims of the Grenfell Fire REUTERS Balloons are released in memory of those who died in the tragic Grenfell Tower fire Getty Images Women look at a hoarding covered in messages of condolence REUTERS People gather before a vigil during commemorations to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire REUTERS A woman carries a sign before a vigil for victims REUTERS Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn arrives outside Grenfell Tower to meet survivors PA Members of the public at a service of remembrance AFP/Getty Images People gather as doves are released outside St Helens church, London, following a service to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA People mourn at the Grenfell tower to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire AP Members of the public release balloons at a service of remembrance for the Grenfell tower fire, at St Helen's Church in west London AFP/Getty Images A hoarding covered in messages of condolence is seen at the base of Grenfell tower two years after the fire Reuters Family and friends of the victims of those who died in the tragic Grenfell Tower fire attend a memorial service at St. Helens Church in North Kensington Getty Images Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (left) and Housing Secretary James Brokenshire (right) attend a service of remembrance at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA A vicar passes out candles at a memorial service for those who those who died in the tragic Grenfell Tower fire at St. Helens Church in North Kensington Getty Images Clarrie Mendy-Solomon, who lost two family members in the disaster reacts as she attends a memorial service marking the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire at St. Helen's Church Reuters Women looks at a hoarding covered in messages of condolence at the base of Grenfell tower two years after the fire Reuters Doves are released after a service of remembrance for the Grenfell tower fire, at St Helen's Church AFP/Getty Images Participants attend a march marking the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire Reuters People look at a hoarding covered in messages of condolence at the base of Grenfell tower two years after the fire Reuters White doves are released during a memorial service marking the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire at St. Helen's Churc Reuters AFP/Getty Images People gather as balloons are released outside St Helens church, London, following a service to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA People gather outside St Helens church, London, following a service to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA A service of remembrance takes place at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA Members of the public arrive for a service of remembrance for the Grenfell tower fire at St Helen's church in west London AFP/Getty Images A service of remembrance takes place at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire People gather outside St Helens church, London, following a service to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA Members of the public arrive for a service of remembrance for the Grenfell tower fire at St Helen's church in west London AFP/Getty Images Members of the congregation during a service of remembrance at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA A service of remembrance takes place at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks at a service of remembrance at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA Housing Secretary James Brokenshire (left)attends a service of remembrance at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA A service of remembrance takes place at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks at a service of remembrance at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire PA Tributes in memory of the Grenfell Tower tragedy Getty Images Grenfell Tower is seen near Latimer Road, Kensington Getty Images Tributes in memory of the Grenfell Tower tragedy are seen in the streets Getty Images A service of remembrance takes place at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire Alex Lentati Mayor of London Sadiq Khan attends a service of remembrance at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire Alex Lentati A vigil is held close to the Grenfell Tower to mark the second anniversary of the tragedy Nigel Howard People obersve a memorial during a vigil to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell tower fire Getty Images A woman wipes her eye during a vigil to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell tower fire Getty Images Downing Street glows green to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire EPA Second Anniversary vigil held close to Grenfell Tower Nigel Howard People release balloons in front of Grenfell Tower during a vigil to mark the second anniversary of the fir Getty Images Downing Street is lit up green to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell tower fire Getty Images Kensington Palace is lit up green to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell tower fire Getty Images Kensington Palace is lit up green to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell tower fire Getty Images A a message demanding change projected onto a building in Newcastle PA A man stands next to a memorial for Grenfell Tower at last night's vigill Getty Images Second Anniversary vigil held close to Grenfell Tower. Nigel Howard Grenfell Tower is seen illuminated in green to mark the second anniversary of the fire Getty Images In another message, a Mr Crawford of Studio E was told by Mr Ashton of Exova that it is difficult to see how a fire-stop would stay in place in the event of a fire where external flaming occurred as this would cause the zinc cladding to fail. In his reply, Mr Crawford said this was my point as well-metal cladding always burns and falls off, hence fire stopping is usually just to the back of the cladding line. Mr Crawford looped Mr Lawrence, of Rydon, into the correspondence, with Mr Lawrence replying Excellent. That looks positive, according to a statement submitted to the inquiry. Earlier, in Harley Facades internal messages, managing director Ray Bailey was told by Daniel Antekell-Jones: There is no point in fire stopping, as we all know; the ACM (aluminium composite material) will be gone rather quickly in a fire! Protesters outside the Grenfell Tower public inquiry in London / PA In a statement, Celotex counsel Mr Orr said: Whilst expressed in slightly different terms, the substance of what each of Harley, Studio E, Exova and Rydon was openly acknowledging in the above emails was that the cladding would fail in the event of a fire with external flaming. This email exchange is also directly relevant to the claim made by Harley yesterday that they had no idea and no reason to believe that the primary materials used on the cladding facade would behave as they did on the night of the fire. Harley, it appears, knew that the cladding would fail, indeed would fail rather quickly. He said the absence of any investigation of the fire safety risks of Reynobond PE panels was all the more striking in the context of the exchanges. Exova earlier said criticism of it is unjustified because it was not consulted about the combustible materials that eventually coated the building. The firms counsel Michael Douglas QC said it had been left out of planning discussions and had been effectively sidelined after Rydon became the main contractor in 2014. Exova took no part and was not involved or expected in discussions about materials to be selected for the exterior cladding, he said. Arconic, which made the cladding, said it was the responsibility of others to decide whether or not to choose that product for a particular project. Its counsel Stephen Hockman QC added the relevant regulatory regime applied to the refurbishment as a whole and not the sale of one component of the cladding system. Those professionals involved are expected to ensure that the combination of materials chosen will enable compliance to be achieved, he said. Built in 1974, the tower was extensively refurbished between 2012 and 2016, during which time a cladding system using flammable aluminium composite material (ACM) panels was installed. Both the Reynobond PE cladding panels and the CelotexRS5000 insulation were combustible and found to be a key factor in the fires rapid spread by acting as a source of fuel. The second stage of the Grenfell Inquiry is considering how the high-rise block came to be covered in flammable materials. For every rupee in govt kitty, 64 paise come from taxes, borrowings contribute 20 paise Explained: The Budget proposal to increase the insurance cover on bank deposits Sorry for the long budget speech says Nirmala Sitharaman Explained: Who are the people working behind the scenes with Sitharaman for Budget 2020 India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 28: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to unveil the second budget since taking over the lead post in the finance ministry under Modi 2.0 government. The ministry has taken a keen interest in the government's upcoming budget across all sectors to help spur growth in the world's seventh-largest economy. Modi and Sitharaman have separately held meetings with dozens of economists, industry leaders and farmers' groups, among others. Explained: What is the 'halwa ceremony ahead of Budget 2020 As Finance Ministry prepares to deliver her budget speech on Feb 1, Here are the key people behind the preparation of the Budget 2020: Rajiv Kumar, Finance Secretary The 59-year old who took over as the financial services secretary in September 2017, had been credited with undertaking multiple reforms in the banking sector. He also provided a record amount of capital infusion in the public sector banks. Following the cleaning-up exercise undertaken by Kumar, banks have started posting profits in the first quarter of the current fiscal. Before joining the finance ministry, Kumar was the establishment officer in the department of personnel and training. T.V. Somanathan, Expenditure Secretary TV Somanathan, a 1987 batch IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre is an expenditure secretary in the finance ministry. He will be responsible for rationalizing government spending in a way that it boosts demand and reduces wasteful expenditure. Somanathan has earlier worked in the prime minister office and would probably understand better the kind of budget PM Modi would like to see. Atanu Chakraborty, Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty, who took charge of the economic affairs division in July last year, is a government sale expert. Chakraborty consigned the country's maiden overseas sovereign bond sale plan to the back-burner. While GDP growth slipped below 5 per cent under his watch, the team led by him drew up a more than $1 trillion infrastructure investment program to revive growth. Atanu's inputs are vital in determining India's budget deficit goals and raise resources to bolster the economy. Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Disinvestment Secretary Khachi, a 1986-batch Himachal Pradesh IAS officer, was appointed DIPAM secretary in July 2019. He is also responsible for the strategic sale of national carrier Air India and other state-owned companies. Divestment will form a major chunk of the government's income mobilization efforts. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary Ajay Pandey will look to raise resources. He is probably the most under pressure bureaucrat, given lower-than-estimated revenue collection amid a slowdown. With USD 20 million worth of corporate tax cut in 2019, it is yet to yield results in terms of investments. He might influence the adoption of some of the proposals in the Direct Tax Code (DTC). How Budget is kept a secret: Union Budget preparation is a secret exercise. Until the process is over, the North Block will be guarded like a fortress. Electronic sweeping devices are installed. Accessing private e-mails is also prohibited and blocked on most computers in the ministry. Use of personal mobile phone is not allowed. Only one landline remains functional. 7th Pay Commission: Which big announcement is govt likely to make in Budget 2020 The Budget documents are kept as a secret with nearly 100 officials in lockdown in the North Block. These 100 officials are not allowed to speak with anyone including their family members until the time period when the Budget is drafted, finalised, and printed. The city of Bettendorf, Iowa, has been awarded a $2.2 million federal grant that, coupled with state and city contributions, will make $2.95 million available to buy out up to 22 homeowners in the flood plain along Duck Creek near Interstate 74. This will be the second in what the city hopes will be more buyouts of homes in the flood plain that besides being subject to possible flooding have seen such steep increases in flood insurance that payments are no longer affordable. The city previously has identified about 360 single-family homes in regulated flood zones and, of those, pegged about 80 for buyouts, based on their being the first to flood because of elevation, John Soenksen, community development director, told the Quad-City Times. Of the 80, 10 were purchased and demolished in 2017 with the area made into green space. The city intends to keep applying for grants that would make future buyouts possible, rescuing residents from escalating premiums that also make their homes nearly impossible to sell on the open market. The latest grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is good news for Mark and Annetta Cooper, who have lived along Parkway Drive for 20 years. Although theyve never gotten water in their house, their flood insurance which theyre required by their lending institution to carry as long as they have a mortgage has tripled in the past five to 10 years, Mark Cooper said. Insurance premiums were about $600 per year when the Coopers bought their home, but are now around $1,600, he said. And they cant sell their house for what they have in it because buyers dont want those big insurance payments either, Cooper added. If someone could afford that (the high premiums), why not just buy a better house somewhere else? he said. The city will offer homeowners a price based on appraisals from 2017 done by Rally Appraisals, Bettendorf, Soenksen said. Amounts range from around $90,000 to $160,000. The Coopers havent received a specific offer yet, but anticipate it soon. And if its what they expect, they will be satisfied. We dont know what we would do if it werent for this buyout, Cooper said. Wed be up a creek, literally, without a paddle. Were glad its working out this way. The affected neighborhood was built in the mid-60s. Most of the homes are one-story, with or without basements, although there are a couple of two-stories and split-foyers as well. Cooper is concerned that the neighborhood will degrade because of a trend he already has seen: investors with money buying homes for cash nowhere near what the house is worth because the owners want to get out, and our neighborhood is becoming a neighborhood of renters, which is not the best situation in the world, he said. When an investor pays cash there is no lending institution involved, so no insurance is required. The investors are taking the chance that the homes wont flood and that they will continue to make money on their rents. While a high number of rentals can be concerning, city officials are more worried about abandoned homes; that is, residents just walking away from their property because they cant make the payments, Decker Ploehn, city administrator, said. Soenksen said he doesnt know how many homes in the area might be vacant, but that the vast majority are still occupied under some kind of ownership. Some residents whose homes are paid for and therefore arent required to buy flood insurance are not taking buyouts, Cooper said. They are taking their chances. Flood insurance premiums started to become a big expense after passage of the federal Biggert Waters Act of 2012 that raised rates on certain properties to more accurately reflect their true flood risk. The new policy triggered premium increases and the elimination of subsidies that, until then, made flood insurance largely affordable. The city has three years, or until December of 2022, to complete the buyouts, Soenksen said. In addition to the federal portion of $2,215,650, the state of Iowa is contributing 10%, or $295,420, and the city of Bettendorf will contribute up to 15%, or $443,130, if every person pegged for a buyout takes it, he said. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Mergers Flood Homeowners Iowa Carter Page, petroleum industry consultant and former foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign, in Washington on May 28, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) How Many People Were Spied on Because of Illegal FISA Warrants on Carter Page? Commentary The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court made public on Jan. 23 a filing from earlier this month, which revealed that two of the surveillance warrants on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page were now deemed by the Justice Department to have been invalidmeaning that the spying conducted as a result was illegal. The question that naturally arises is, what else did the FBIs crack Crossfire Hurricane team do that we dont know about? If they were willing to hide exculpatory evidence and tamper with documents in Pages case, how can we have any confidence they didnt also carry over this corrupt behavior into their spying on other targets in the Crossfire Hurricane probe? If the Carter Page warrants were only granted on the basis of a fraud perpetrated on the court, every act of surveillance on a U.S. citizen that occurred as a result of those warrants is retroactively seen to have been a gross violation of privacy. How many other people had their electronic communications accessed due to their connection with Page? The likely number of people the FBI could spy on, due to the two-hop rule, is extensive. One email or text or phone exchange with Page and the FBI could come in and access that persons own emails, texts, and phone calls. Victims of Illegal Surveillance Can Sue This latest filing by the FISA Court opens the door to targets of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation being able to file lawsuits against the people who investigated them. People who are spied on by federal agencies based on warrants obtained unlawfully have legal recourse in a court of law to sue for damages for a gross invasion of their privacy. This latest filing by the FISA Court means that Page and the people who texted him, emailed him, or spoke to him by phone and ended up being swept up in the FBIs investigation can sue for violation of their Fourth Amendment rights. News Media Still Cant Admit Carter Pages Innocence The title of my column, They Dont Have Anything Real on Carter Page and They Never Did, was true in September 2018, and is still true today. It was common early on for many in the media to mock Page for not disappearing from the public eye. Journalists would snidely say he was making a huge mistake by going on TV and giving interviews, because he should be hunkered down in a bunker somewhere waiting for the FBI to knock on his door and drag him off to jail. A common take was that Page was just an attention-hound, basking in the warm glow of the media coverage he was receiving after having been outed by the Steele dossier as a Russian agent, and that he was too stupid to realize he needed to stay out of sight and hire a very good lawyer until Mueller came for him. Well, that isnt how the Carter Page story is going to end. It turns out theres a heck of a plot twist in the final act. People Who Were Spying on Page Are in Real Trouble Far from Page going to prison, its becoming clear that the people who spied on him, based on a warrant that was only granted through acts of deliberate fraud, are in far more legal jeopardy than Page ever was. Page not only isnt headed for prison at this stage of the so-called Spygate scandal, but hes very likely about to watch some people who framed him as a Russian agent face serious consequences for their actions. Former FBI Director James Comey, for example. In a surprise move on Jan. 16, The New York Times suddenly published a story revealing that Comey is under investigation by the Department of Justice for illegally leaking classified information to the news media in 2017. Naturally, the newspaper tried to put the best possible spin on that, calling the leaks for which Comey is being investigated years-old. These leaks were in 2017, which makes this spin incredibly humorous. Comey was the head of the FBI in 2015 when the book was thrown at Gen. David Petraeus. Petraeuss crime was showing classified information to a person who wasnt authorized to see it. You have to stop for just a moment to fully appreciate the irony of this. A guy who ran a federal law enforcement agency that investigates people for leaking classified information is now being investigated himself for leaking classified information. Im sure that somewhere, Page is laughing at these people and enjoying the show. Brian Cates is a writer based in South Texas and the author of Nobody Asked For My Opinion But Here It Is Anyway! He can be reached on Twitter @drawandstrike. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. 1. Yes. The downtown area needs a good draw. Some quality taverns would be a plus. 2. Yes. Too many storefronts are vacant. Bars could help to bring in needed revenue. 3. No. Putting a number of bars downtown is just asking for trouble. Dont change things. 4.No. Several churches have located downtown. Putting bars close by would be a bad fit. 5. Unsure. It would depend on how the law is written and what standards are enacted. Vote View Results Following the recent celebration of the 10 winners of the 2020 awards during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the Zayed Sustainability Prize has officially announced that its submissions process for the 2021 edition is now open. Accepting entries from today until May 21, via its online portal, the UAEs pioneering global award for rewarding impact, innovation, and inspiration across five sustainability categories saw a record-breaking number of submissions last year, with 2,373 entries received from 129 countries, said a statement. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and director general of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, said: With a 12-year record of recognizing and rewarding excellent solutions, we are confident the prize will continue to attract more of the worlds most dedicated innovators to submit their entries, in support of resolving the worlds most pressing sustainability challenges. Inspired by Sheikh Zayeds legacy of commitment to global sustainability and humanitarianism, the Prize aligns with the emphasis our leadership has given this year to planning, preparing and finding solutions for the next 50 years, she added. Now entering its 13th submissions cycle, the prize already rewarded a total of 86 winners whose solutions or school projects have, directly and indirectly, positively transformed the lives of 335 million people, around the world. The prizes $3 million annual fund rewards winners $600,000 in each category; the Global High Schools category is split into six world region winners, with each school able to claim up to $100,000 to start or augment their project in their local communities. The Global High Schools category was introduced in 2012, in recognition that to empower and enhance communities of the future, the next generation of sustainability leaders need to be engaged at the school level today. While the scope of submissions vary, core elements of each entry lie in the innovative ways in which technology, applications and solutions are driving positive transformation of peoples lives. For the health, food, energy, and water categories, organisations should demonstrate that they are improving access to essential products or services with a long-term vision for improved living and working conditions. Many technological-based solutions often integrate with impactful long-term programmes and mechanisms like practical skills training, social entrepreneurialism, and gender empowerment. The Zayed Sustainability Prize has a three-stage evaluation process, beginning with the due diligence conducted by an independent research and analysis consultancy. This identifies the qualified entries and results in the selection of shortlisted candidates. Evaluations are then undertaken by a Selection Committee consisting of category-specific panels of independent international experts. From this shortlist of candidates, finalists are chosen and then sent to the Prize Jury who select the winners, across all five categories. The evaluation for the health, food, energy and water categories focus on three core criteria: Impact, Innovation, and Inspiration. For Impact, submissions must demonstrate improved quality of human lives in a social, economic, technological, infrastructural, or environmental capacity. For Innovation, candidates should show a clear and unique value proposition, be disruptive or transformative, technically and commercially viable, and have been adopted in at least one market. The Inspiration criterion requires organisations to demonstrate shared values with Sheikh Zayeds sustainability approach, have the potential to influence behaviour and actions in the wider community, and encourage others to develop complementary solutions for advancing sustainable and human development. For the Global High Schools category, projects should be designed to be studentled, with emphasis placed on the students active involvement in planning, implementation, and monitoring processes. Projects should demonstrate innovative approaches that will also be impactful and inspirational to others. The six world regions of the Global High Schools category are: The Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mena, Europe and Central Asia, South Asia, and East Asia and Pacific. Winners of the 2021 prize will be announced at the annual awards ceremony held during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, in January 2021, it stated. TradeArabia News Service A 16-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of a 17-year-old who was stabbed to death in Leamington Spa. Nasir Patrice, who was from Birmingham, was killed on Wednesday 15 January. A 16-year-old boy from London, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with murder, attempted murder, possession of an offensive weapon, kidnap and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Another teenager, Richard Talawila, 18, from London, has been charged with kidnap and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Nasir died at the scene on Tachbrook Road and his family had previously said that they had been left 'deeply saddened' by the murder. Nasir Patrice (pictured above), who was from Birmingham, was killed on Wednesday 15 January Both appeared at Warwickshire Magistrates Court yesterday morning and were remanded in custody. They will appear at Warwick Crown Court today. The 16-year-old was arrested on Saturday and Chief Superintendent Ben Smith, from Warwickshire Police, said: 'This was a tragic incident and our thoughts remain with all those who knew Nasir and are coming to terms with their loss. Police are pictured on the scene in Leamington Spa on 15 January after the murder 'Investigations to establish the circumstances surrounding this incident are ongoing and we have dedicated an enormous amount of resources into this complex investigation to ensure those responsible are identified and brought to justice. We will not tolerate violent crime in our communities and will do everything we can to keep Warwickshire safe. 'We continue to appeal for witnesses and would urge anyone who thinks they may have information that could help with our investigation to please get in touch.' Asked at the time if there was any indication the stabbings may be linked to so-called county lines drug dealing, Mr Smith said: 'Clearly we are aware of that, in terms of (whether) it might be linked to that. 'It's not something at the minute we can confirm or deny, it's still early stages, but clearly that is a line of inquiry to see if that may be the case or not.' WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI -- Leaving a finance job with a major corporation after 17 years to open a bakery in a small town was a scary move for Lynn Dwyer. But she did it anyway. She was an accounting supervisor for General Motors, but had a weird gut feeling after the company transferred her from a Novi office to Southfield. I came home with an I dont know what to do, so then, just decided to take a chance, Dwyer said. And she did, tapping into her baking skills and launching a business that has lasted 20 years. Confections by Lynn, 10101 Willis Rd., is celebrating two decades in business in the unincorporated community of Willis, about 17 miles southeast of Ann Arbor. It was something that I did for fun and one day, my husband says What are we going to do? I said 'lets go to the apple orchard and get a sack of apples, and Ill make you a pie," Dwyer said. I ended up making nine pies and gave away eight of them. She soon found herself baking 80 pies in one weekend for friends and family, just for fun." My husbands like, Well, why dont you open up a bakery? Im like because its too much work,' Dwyer said. She did it anyway. I made it happen. Now its 20 years later and I cant even believe it, Dwyer said. (It was) pretty scary, but I had the support of my mom. Thats who I learned everything from. From my mom and grandma. Dwyer took out a home equity loan to buy equipment and lease space, starting the business with about $50,000. Her husband came up with the name, which she sometimes regrets. Now I hate it, because do you know how many letters that is when youre buying a sign? Dwyer said. She started selling sweet treats Jan. 24, 2000 out of a space at the corner of Willis and Stony Creek roads. She later moved into her current location, a building her father purchased 50 years ago. She said she took out another home equity loan to renovate the space, painting it bright pink. It means a lot to be here," Dwyer said. "Willis is the town that I grew up (in). The bakery offers muffins, cinnamon rolls, turnovers, cookies, brownies, chocolate covered pretzels, candies and ice cream daily. Cakes and pies are made to order, and range from $29 for a half sheet to $58 for a full sheet. Dwyers orders can range from nothing one day to four or five cakes another, to 150 dozen cookies around Christmas. Graduation season is her busiest. Ill work around the clock so I can take care of people. Its not all about the money, said Dwyer, who runs the business primarily on her own, with occasional help from a friend and a niece who lend a hand once a week, or when shes in need. Shes made a variety of cakes for weddings, christenings, graduations and other occasions honoring nurses, and the U.S. Navy. Shes also fulfilled some unique decorative requests. A guy brought me a picture, hes like can you put a picture of my wife coming out of the shower? Luckily, she had a towel on. Im like OK, wasnt sure how thats going to come out. She said she enjoys watching neighborhood kids grow up. Many of them affectionately refer to her as the cookie lady." I dont have any kids myself, so theyre all my kids. Ive adopted the whole town, Dwyer said. The bakery is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday. A 24-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly abducted by armed assailants from her wedding ceremony in Pakistan's Sindh province and forcibly converted to Islam before being married off to a Muslim man, evoking a sharp reaction from India, which demanded urgent action by Islamabad to protect the minority communities in the country. The All Pakistan Hindu Council (APHC) on Sunday said Bharti Bai was abducted from her wedding ceremony last week from Hala town of Matiari district in Sindh province. She was then married off to a Muslim man, named Shahruk Gul, after forcibly converting her to Islam. According to local media reports, the girl was abducted by armed men, some of whom were in police uniforms. Sindh Minister for Minorities Affairs, Hari Ram Kishori, on Tuesday took cognisance of the incident, which took place last week in Hala town of Matiari district in Sindh province, and asked for a police report. Meanwhile, Gul has posted pictures of documents on social media showing that Bharti was converted to Islam in December 2019 and had taken the name Bushra. According to documents, her conversion took place at the Jamiat-ul-Uloom Islamia in Banori town in Karachi. Police are investigating whether the girl travelled to Karachi around the dates mentioned in the certificate. Hindus, which comprise approximately 2 per cent of Pakistan's population, are mainly concentrated in Sindh province. There have been periodic reports of their forced conversion to Islam. Earlier this month, a 15-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly abducted from Jacobabad district in Sindh and forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man. The girl was later sent to a women protection centre following a court order. In a similar incident, two Hindu minor girls were reportedly abducted from a village in Sindh province on January 14. Meanwhile, India on Tuesday summoned a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and issued a strong demarche over the abduction of the Hindu girl from her wedding. India also asked the Pakistan government to investigate the matter and take urgent action for protecting and promoting the security, safety and welfare of its citizens including the minority Hindu community there. It called on Pakistan to take immediate measures to expeditiously bring the perpetrators of such despicable and heinous acts to justice. "India summoned a senior official from the Pakistan High Commission and made a strong demarche against abduction of a girl from Hindu minority from her marriage ceremony on January 25, with the help of local police in Hala city of Sindh province," an official source said in New Delhi. Earlier on January 17, a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi was summoned to lodge a strong protest over the cases of the abduction of the two Hindu minor girls in Sindh province. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The suspect 28.01.2020 LISTEN The Bawku Divisional Police Command says it is set to present a 25-year-old alleged notorious armed robber, Salifu Issaka, before a court in Bawku, in the Upper East Region on Tuesday, January 28, 2020. The suspect was arrested over the weekend after he had been on the Police wanted list in connection with some murder and robbery cases in the Bawku Municipality and neighbouring districts. The Bawku Divisional Police Commander, ACP Tettegah, said the suspect has been charged for unlawful possession of weapon. According to the Divisional Commander, an AK47 riffle found on the suspect has not been linked yet to any Security Service in the country, but will continue with its investigations. A DGN Online source said the suspect was arrested by a police night patrol team in Bawku and was accordingly in possession of an AK47 weapon with 20 rounds of live bullets. He is believed to have set off for an operation when he ran out of luck and was apprehended. According to the source, the suspect has been mentioned as being behind many robbery cases and killing of some persons in some communities around Bawku and has been on the Police wanted list, while some community watch dog groups have been looking for him to arrest. DGN Online has learnt that some new charges will be leveled against Salifu Issaka, if the Police succeed in getting the suspect remanded and further investigations have been conducted. ---Daily Guide 10-year-old Hallie Nolan is allergic to eggs, nuts, sesame seeds, cut grass, dust, pollen and all animals Hallie Nolan is allergic to eggs, nuts, sesame seeds, cut grass, dust, pollen and animals. She also has asthma and eczema and has already suffered one anaphylactic shock that nearly killed her. Children like Hallie (10) are a growing problem for Ireland's medical services because allergies are growing at an alarming rate among the young. They have increased by 50pc in only a decade, and more than 24pc of Irish people now suffer from some kind of reaction to certain foods or products. Forty-thousand people in Ireland suffer from peanut allergy, a potentially fatal condition. By 2025, more than half the European population will suffer from chronic allergic disease, experts claim. Yet there are only two public paediatric clinics in the country - in Dublin and Cork - dealing with the crisis. Speaking to TG4's documentary series Tabu, Cork-based allergy specialist Dr Jonathan Hourihane said: "If I saw one person with peanut allergy every half-an-hour for the rest of my career, I wouldn't get through them. This is a crisis of absence of planning." Hallie's mother Lisa, from Carlow, told Tabu what it was like to live with a daily threat hanging over her daughter. "The hardest thing is the anxiety of the person themselves, but also of the parents trying to deal with this," said Lisa. "I have to make Hallie aware, but I don't want to frighten her. She can't live like that every day, but the reality is, she could die." Lifeless Hallie once collapsed and was saved by an adrenalin pen. "She was lifeless and she was huge, really swollen, and the airwaves were getting blocked, she couldn't do anything and had gone limp," said Lisa. "My friend Karen injected her and, to be honest, I actually thought she was dead. "As the injection started to work, you could see the swelling going down. "To look at, she's just a normal child, but she has a life-threatening condition." Another sufferer, sports-loving student Eimear (21), from Monaghan, told the documentary her allergies were starting to kick in when she was on the playing field. "Reactions are so unpredictable," she said. "One day it could be mild, the next it could be severe. You never really know when it's going to be your last one." Doctor have called for more experts across the country and more facilities in all 19 paediatric units nationwide. They say there is no single cause behind the surge in all- ergies. Dr Paul Carson, of Allergy Ireland, said some people blamed climate change while others thought it was the over-prescription of antibiotics. "The children I saw when I started practising in the 1980s and 1990s, their children are more aggressively allergic than their parents were," he said. "Why that's happening, I just do not know." Dr Pat O'Mahony, of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, said: "I think we need a larger conversation about allergens. "People are actually getting sick and dying here and we don't hear half the stories." Tabu: Allergies is on TG4 tomorrow at 9.30pm SPRINGFIELD When Wayne Phaneuf was hired as a part-time employee for The Republican more than 50 years ago, he figured it would be just one more in the series of temporary jobs he held after dropping out of college. Instead it stuck. Phaneuf worked in multiple roles as a reporter, suburban editor, managing editor and finally executive editor, until his retirement this month. During that time, Phaneuf, who has become an expert in local history and served on boards of multiple museums, has authored 14 books on subjects ranging from the Civil War and civil rights to Irish immigrants and the Eastern States Exhibition. On Monday, the Springfield City Council honored Phaneuf with a proclamation and a standing ovation. Councilors also recognized Cynthia G. Simison, who was promoted to succeed him, becoming the first woman executive editor in the papers 195-year history. The proclamations were given by Councilor Jesse Lederman, who said when he proposed honoring Phaneuf every single member of the council wanted to sign on. I think that speaks to the role that Mr. Phaneuf played in the city of Springfield not only as a news manager but also as a historian and as a member of the community and an advocate for the city of Springfield, Lederman said. He talked about the importance the media plays in a community and the fact that many cities the size of Springfield no longer have a newspaper. Phaneuf was born and raised on Clarendon Street in the Mason Square section of the city, attended Buckingham Junior High and graduated from Classical High School, both now closed. After being hired by The Republican, he did return to college and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Over 50 years, Phaneuf said, he has had the opportunity to write about hundreds of people, including the councilors who were honoring him. He talked about his early years reporting on racial divisions in Springfield, saying The Republican was determined to make a difference. Motioning to the City Council, which today is made up of men and women of multiple races and ages, Phaneuf said city politics is a far cry from what it was in 1969. Growing up in Springfield with a mix of people of all colors was a gift, he said. He remembered David Starr, longtime publisher, mentor and friend who died last year at age 96, and praised current Publisher George Arwady for allowing us to go wherever the truth can be found. You will be in good hands with Cynthia Simison taking over, who is as committed to journalism as anyone I know, he said. Other councilors congratulated Phaneuf on his retirement and thanked him for his many years of work in Springfield. Thank you for everything you have done for the city. Thank you for keeping us honest, Councilor Orlando Ramos said. You were always fair and we cant ask for anything else, Councilor Kateri Walsh said. Phaneuf was joined by his wife, Lori Myers, and his twins, Carly and Max, who are college students. While he is retiring, Phaneuf may not be the last in his family to work in newspapers. I want to follow in his footsteps, for sure, his daughter said when asked about her future. Also attending the ceremony was Joe Carvalho, retired head of the Springfield Museums, who has been working with Phaneuf to write many of the local history books published in The Republican Heritage series. Phaneuf and Carvalho are continuing to work together in their retirement and are currently writing books on the history of Forest Park and other Springfield parks and on the Paramount Theater and Massasoit House and Hotel. A Proclamation in Honor of Wayne E. Phaneuf WHEREAS, Wayne E. Phaneuf was born and raised in Springfield, where he attended the former Buckingham Jr. High School before graduating from Classical High School and going on to graduate from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, WHEREAS, Mr. Phaneuf has served as a member of the staff of the Springfield Republican Newspaper for over 50 years, beginning as a temporary artist and going on to hold positions including reporter, columnist, suburban editor, assistant managing editor, and managing editor, and WHEREAS, Mr. Phaneuf was appointed Executive Editor of The Republican in 1998, during which time he has distinguished himself as an expert historian, an award winning journalist, and an advocate for Springfield, and WHEREAS, Mr. Phaneuf has authored 14 books, focusing on the history of Springfield and Western Massachusetts, and was a 2018 recipient of the prestigious Yankee Quill Award by the Academy of New England Journalists, as well as a First Place Award for History Reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association, WHEREAS, Mr. Phaneuf is civically engaged as a trustee of the Springfield Museums, where he Chaired the Building Committee for the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Springfield Armory Alliance, and as a lifetime trustee of Old Sturbridge Village, and WHEREAS, in 2020 Mr. Phaneuf announced his retirement as Executive Editor of the Springfield Republican, NOW, THEREFORE BE IT PROCLAIMED, that the City Council of Springfield, Massachusetts hereby recognizes, congratulates, thanks, and celebrates Wayne E. Phaneuf for his lifetime of service to the people of the City of Springfield as a journalist and his leadership of The Springfield Republican Newspaper, and wishes him the best in all his future endeavors. Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], Jan 28 (ANI): Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked central government over the issue of unemployment and stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn't even speak about it. Addressing a rally in Rajasthan's capital, Gandhi scion said, "Prime Minister Modi had promised two crore jobs, but last year our youth lost one crore jobs. Wherever Prime Minister goes he talks of CAA, NRC but the biggest issue of unemployment is not mentioned, PM doesn't even speak a word on it." He also invoked the issue of demonetisation in his address. "Even today ask an eight-year-old, did demonetisation benefit you or harm you? A child will say harm. Earlier we were competing with China but now sadly, China has left us far behind. The whole world knows if there is anyone who can rival China, it is India's youth", Gandhi said. Rahul Gandhi arrived in Rajasthan earlier today to address the party's Yuva Aakrosh rally being held at Ram Niwas Bagh in Jaipur. (ANI) The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday issued notice to Union Minister Anurag Thakur for his alleged inflammatory speech made at an election rally in the capital. Union Minister Thakur has been given time till 12 noon January 30 to reply to the EC notice. The Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi said in a report to the ECI today that Thakur raised the slogans 'Desh Ke Gaddaro Ko, Goli Maaro Saalo Ko' many times while addressing a public meeting here in Rithala on January 27. Thakur, if found guilty, will become the second BJP leader to be pulled up by the ECI during the course of the campaign for the Delhi Assembly election. Earlier on January 25, the EC had placed a temporary ban on BJP candidate Kapil Mishra from campaigning for the Delhi assembly elections for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The voting for the Delhi Assembly will take place on February 8. The counting will begin on February 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Nations revealed chilling new details Monday about a double airstrike that smashed into a migrant detention centre in Libya, killing at least 50 people. The attack last July was one of the deadliest assaults on civilians since the start of Libyas civil war. A new UN report said the actions of officials guarding the detention centre may have contributed to the high death toll. It said guards prevented detainees from fleeing after the first airstrike struck the outskirts of the centre. Some eyewitnesses said they were forced back inside at gunpoint. Then came the second airstrike - a direct hit that caused the fatalities. A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that "the report concurs with previous UN findings that the airstrikes were likely conducted by aircraft belonging to a foreign state". The spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said the findings call for "independent, impartial and thorough investigations" into the incident. The UN also condemned what it called the continued blatant violations of the arms embargo in Libya, despite the commitments made at a conference in Berlin earlier this month. APEX, N.C. - A North Carolina man who survived an attempted lynching in 1952 has been helped by hundreds of people to move to a new home Tuesday so a highway can be expanded. Lynn Council, 87, plans to move into a new house in Apex after living in his current home for more than 60 years, news outlets reported. Council was accused decades ago of a robbery he didnt commit. Two deputies hanged him from a tree to try to get him to confess. When he didnt, the deputies took him down. Council later settled into a home just outside of Apex. About 20 years ago, he took out a $20,000 federal home repair loan. One condition of the loan was that the full amount must be paid if he moved out or died. The state recently bought Councils home so the Department of Transportation can expand the NC-540 highway. That meant he needed to pay back the $20,000 loan. Garrett Raczek learned about Councils story and launched an online fundraiser to help pay off the debt. By early Tuesday morning, the fundraiser had exceeded $21,000. I sure thank the Lord for the gifts. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, Lord, Council said at a news conference Monday. As for the attempted lynching, the Wake County Sheriffs Office and Apex police apologized last year. A bench in Councils honour was also placed outside the police department. The number of teacher-preparation programs that teach reading instruction thats aligned with the greater body of cognitive research has increased significantly over the past seven years, according to a new review. The National Council on Teacher Quality, a Washington-based group that advocates for more rigorous teacher preparation, has released the latest edition of its Teacher Prep Review , which started in 2013 and assigns letter grades to preparation programs across the country. This time, NCTQ evaluated 1,047 traditional elementary teacher-preparation programs (both graduate and undergraduate), along with 58 alternative-certification programs. The group found that 51 percent of the traditional programs received an A or B grade for their coverage of the five essential components of readingphonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. In 2013, just 35 percent received those grades. We have been beating this drum since 2006, and our theory was that if you held programs accountable for teaching this stuff, then eventually they would start to teach it, said Kate Walsh, the president of NCTQ. Were very excited that [this progress] substantiates our theory of change. However, she said, there is still a long way to go. A third of 4th graders cant read at a basic level, according to the assessment known as the nations report card. And most of those students are black and Hispanic children. Are we going to write off another generation of kids while we wait for the other 40 to 50 percent [of teacher-preparation programs] to get on board? Walsh said. NCTQ has structured its review around the research from the 2000 National Reading Panel, a congressionally mandated review board that named the five essential components of reading and found evidence that explicit, systematic phonics lessons help kids become better readers. Despite these findings, which have been confirmed by further research reviews, many teacher-preparation programs have been slow to embrace whats become known as the science of reading . For this review, a team of reading experts evaluated the syllabi for required reading courses to see if the textbooks, planned lecture topics, and assigned readings support the five components of reading. Passing mentions of the components were not enoughNCTQ says its experts looked for clear evidence of dedicated course time as well as measures to hold teacher candidates accountable for learning each component. (The methodology of reviewing syllabi has been criticized in the past . Each program is now shown its rating before publication and given a chance to provide input and additional evidence; 15 percent of programs took NCTQ up on that offer for this review.) In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos slammed colleges whose curriculum did not adequately support the five components of reading. When nearly half of our nations teaching colleges are teaching future teachers what amounts to junk science, its no wonder nearly half of our nations low-income 8th graders are functionally illiterate, she said. How can anyone sit by and let this continue? How can even one college continue with a discredited curriculum? We know how to teach kids how to read. We just need to equip teachers with the fact-based, proven science to do it. Gaps in Coverage The NCTQ experts found that comprehension was the component most covered by traditional teacher-preparation programs, and phonemic awareness was the leastjust over half of traditional programs cover this skill, which is the ability to identify individual sounds in spoken words. And only 53 percent of those programs spend enough time preparing prospective teachers to teach fluency, or the ability to read accurately and smoothly . Even so, phonemic awareness was the area in which traditional programs saw the most growthin 2013, only 35 percent of programs covered that particular component. Chart via NCTQ Walsh noted that research about phonemic awareness and fluency is newer than research about the other three components, which might explain their significant improvement over time as professors become more familiar with the body of reading research. If you were trained even in the 90s, you may not have learned anything about phonemic awareness, she said. The fundamental reason why teacher education has not been teaching the science of reading is that the teacher-educators are not themselves trained in it. For instance, an Education Week survey asked professors who teach early literacy how many phonemes are in the word shape. (There are three: sh, ay, and p.) While nearly all professors answered correctly, there was variation based on experience: 95 percent of those with less than five years in the field responded correctly as compared to 79 percent with more than 20 years of experience. In the NCTQ review, preparation programs received an A if they adequately covered all five components26 percent met this benchmark. A quarter received a B, meaning they covered four elements of reading. Eighteen percent of programs received a F, meaning they covered one or zero of the components with enough dedicated course time. NCTQ also reviewed every required textbook725 in all, which is seven times higher than the number of textbooks used in elementary mathematics programsand found that 40 percent are inadequate for teaching the science of reading. Many of the textbooks promote unproven strategies like cueing systems, which encourage students to use semantic, visual, and syntactic clues to read an unfamiliar word, and running records, which is a tool for teachers to track student reading errors based on cues. An Education Week analysis found that professors who teach early-reading courses are introducing the work of researchers and authors whose findings and theories often conflict with one another , including some that may not be aligned with the greater body of scientific research. The Type of Program Matters Traditional undergraduate programs have improved the most, according to NCTQs analysis. Fifty-seven percent now earn an A or a B, which is a 10-point improvement from 2016 and an 18-point improvement from 2013. Traditional graduate programs, however, have stagnated. Thirty-three percent earn an A or a B, which is 9-point improvement from 2013, but is the same percentage as in 2016. That is partially due to the fact that more graduate programs are included in this years review than in years past, NCTQ notes. Even so, coverage of the reading components varies significantly by program typeon average, theres a 20-point difference for each component. For example, just 36 percent of graduate programs cover phonemic awareness, compared to 55 percent of undergraduate programs. Chart via NCTQ Graduate programs do only offer two courses on average in reading instruction, compared to three in undergraduate programsbut even when NCTQ compared two-course graduate programs to two-course undergraduate programs, there was still a meaningful difference in their scores. Walsh said shes not sure why this difference exists. One theory, she said, is that the more senior faculty members are more likely to teach at the graduate level, and they might be the least likely to be trained in the cognitive science. That theory is unproven. However, Education Weeks survey did find that less-experienced instructors were more likely to teach research-backed principles of reading than senior professors. For example, 69 percent of instructors with five years or less experience in higher ed said a student who comes across an unfamiliar word should first sound it out (as opposed to look at the pictures or use context clues to make a guess). Just 38 percent of professors with more than 20 years experience said the same. Senior professors were also much more likely to teach cueing systems. Also, NCTQs review of the 58 alternate-preparation programs yielded poor resultsall but 12 of the programs received an F or a D. Only one alternate program, the California Teacher Residency Program at the Alder Graduate School of Education, earned an A. The NCTQ analysis only considered coursework thats required before candidates step into the classroom as teachers of record, which is probably why so many programs failed. Many alternate-preparation programs allow candidates to take coursework while teaching. Its a fundamental flaw of their design, Walsh said. Most kids only get one chance at 1st and 2nd grade. Mississippi a Bright Spot Just like in 2016, Misissippi teacher-preparation programs earned the highest aggregate grade of the nation, with eight of its 12 traditional programs earning an A and the other four getting a B. There has been a renewed commitment to early reading in the Magnolia State in recent years. Every undergraduate elementary education program in Mississippi has to require that prospective teachers take two courses in early literacy that cover the five components of reading. And the nonprofit Barksdale Reading Institute has worked to deliver research-based training for professors of early literacy across the state. Mississippi was also the only state in the nation to make improvements in 4th grade reading over the last two years on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, although those gains cannot be explicitly linked to these reforms. Malaysia: Task force needs more time to release report on pastors abduction by police Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A special task force in Malaysia that was set up to act upon findings that Pastor Raymond Koh, who had been accused of proselytizing to Muslims, was abducted by police has asked for more time to prepare its report, the Southeasts Asian countrys Ministry of Home Affairs said. The task force headed by retired high court judge Abd Rahim Uda requires more time, Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said last week, according to International Christian Concern. I hope the report can be ready in a month and submitted to the ministry, Yassin was quoted as telling reporters. The task force was formed last June after Malaysias Human Rights Commission, locally known as Suhakam, found that a Special Branch of the police was likely behind the disappearances of Koh and Amri Che, a Muslim social activist. Koh was abducted near his home in Petaling Jaya, West Malaysia, on Feb. 13, 2017. Kohs car was surrounded by three black SUVs while he was driving in Petaling Jaya, and forced to a sudden stop. Since that day, Koh has not been seen or heard from and his car was never found. His abduction was called a well-organized, military-style operation. Based on CCTV footage, the abduction was swiftly executed in just two minutes in broad daylight and with someone even recording the entire process on video while another person is seen casually redirecting traffic. At a public forum on Waiting for Justice in 2020, held earlier this month in Kuala Lumpur, Kohs wife, Susanna, said her family members were frozen in grief. Because we did not have a funeral, everyday is a funeral, she said, according to Free Malaysia Today. After the abduction, police initially began investigating if the pastor preached Christianity to Muslims, rather than focusing on catching his captors. Before his abduction, Koh had been accused of preaching to Muslims and received threats, including bullets being sent to his home, according to Open Doors. While the Human Rights Commission admitted that a special police intelligence team was responsible for the forced disappearance, no one has been arrested for the kidnapping. Last October, Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization serving persecuted Christians since 1967, launched Release Raymond, calling on Christians around the world to demand the Malaysian government reveal the truth. We, pastor Raymonds fellow Christians from around the world, call on your government to release any and all information related to the forced disappearance of pastor Raymond Koh, including any involvement of policemen from the Special Branch, the petition read in part. We demand pastor Raymonds immediate release and safe return to his family. Finally, we call for justice. Those responsible for his disappearance must be held accountable for this inhumane crime. Malaysia is 56% Muslim and less than 10% Christian. Evangelizing Muslims is a crime under the southeast Asian nations strict Islamic legal code. The country, which is No. 40 on Open Door USAs 2020 World Watch List where Christians face the most persecution, also prohibits conversion from Islam to other religions. "Every ethnic Malay is expected to be Muslim," Open Doors notes. "Whoever deviates from this is viewed as going against not just the constitution, but also against society at large, their family and their neighborhood." Last April, the countrys human rights commission, Suhakam, ruled that Koh and a Muslim social activist, Amri Che Mat, were the victims of state-sponsored enforced disappearances. An enforced disappearance means the arrest, detention or abduction of a person by agents of the state, after which the person's fate or whereabouts are concealed, noted the Straits Times. Ashley Marie Davis, Miss Staten Island 2019, was crowned Miss Queens in the Miss Manhattan/Miss Queens Pageant Sunday in an open pageant staged at Sokol Hall in Manhattans trendy Upper East Side. For her win she was presented with a $1,000 scholarship and the opportunity to compete again in this years Miss New York State Pageant in Peekskill, N.Y. come May. Jordan Smith was named Miss Manhattan. Emcee at the pageant was Jamie Macchia Homan, a former Miss Staten Island and Miss New York 2015. Ashley Marie and Jordan join Madison LInsalata, Miss Staten Island 2020, and Gabrielle Ryan, Miss Richmond County 2020, in the state competition. Ashley Marie, whos talent is dance, has chosen Memories Matter: Alzheimers Disease Awareness and Support, as her personal platform. She served as the Alzheimers Association Ambassador for Staten Island in Washington D.C. during the annual Advocacy Forum and is the Alzheimers Association-NYC Chapter Ambassador. Ashley Marie Davis leaps performs at a prior Miss New York Pageant at the St. George Theatre. (Staten Island Advance/ Bill Lyons)Staff-Shot Her great-grandmother Margaret Davis, and her great-grandfather, Ramses Davis succumbed to Alzheimers Disease in 2009 and February of 2018, respectively. Her great-grandparents helped raise her while her mom, Jessica, worked as a single mom. And now she works as an advocate to combat the disease that took the people she held most dear. The Pleasant Plains resident is a Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music and the Performing Arts grad, and recently earned a degree from Marymount College. She currently holds a position with a marketing support firm in Manhattan. The winner of Miss New York will represent the Empire State at the 100th anniversary commemorative Miss America Pageant later this year. The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry has warned the UN that terrorist, with Turkish support, are planning to stage a chemical attack to provoke a Western response writes SANA. Syria affirmed that terrorist groups are currently working with Turkish support to fabricate a fake chemical attack south of Aleppo and northeast of Idleb in order to frame the Syrian Arab Army and halt its operations in those areas. In a letter sent to the UN Secretary-General and the head of the Security Council on Monday, the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said that it has become known to everyone that whenever terrorist groups feel cornered, the White Helmets begins staging fake chemical attacks on the instructions of their masters in Western states, in order to accuse the Syrian government of using chemical weapons and create a pretext for a military attack on Syria led by Washington and its allies. The ministry said that the White Helmets and the terrorists media tools continue to promote fabricated and false claims about alleged uses of chemical weapons, while the states that sponsor and support terrorists ignore all information about the terrorists preparations to use chemical weapons. The ministry said that Syria stresses that what the Syrian Arab Army along with its allies, are currently doing in the south of Aleppo and southeast of Idleb is part of its sovereign and constitutional right to defend its people and land as per international law, the UN Charter, and Security Council resolutions on counter-terrorism. The ministry stressed that the goal of the current military operations in the south of Aleppo and southeast of Idleb is to end the suffering of civilians in Idleb and Aleppo. The ministry went on to state that the Syrian government affirms that terrorists are currently working with Turkish support to fabricate a fake chemical attack south of Aleppo and northeast of Idleb in order to frame the Syrian Arab Army and halt its operations in those areas, which is the exact same thing that happens whenever the army makes advances in fighting terrorism. The ministry said these tricks and fabrications have become worn out and no longer fool anyone, and they will fail to achieve the goals of terrorists and their supporters which is halting the military operations, asserting that these operations will continue until Syria is cleared of terrorists, reiterating that it has become known to everyone that the Syrian Arab Army has never used chemical weapons and does not possess any. The ministry said Syria stresses the need for the countries of the world, particularly those that claim to care for international peace and security, to focus on dealing with the real threat to all countries, which is international terrorism and the use of toxic chemical materials by terrorists, stressing that the countries of the world should not provide cover for the terrorists crimes in Syria to serve personal agendas. The Syrian Arab Republic reiterates its stern condemnation of any use of chemical weapons by anyone, under any circumstances, and any place, the ministry asserted. The ministry concluded by demanding that the Security Council and UN Secretary-General denounce the terrorists crimes against Syrian civilians, including their use of chemical weapons, in addition to demanding they support the Syrian government in its war on terrorism. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. A Chinese woman wears a protective mask and sunglasses as she shops for groceries at a supermarket in Beijing on Jan. 28, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Coronavirus Updates Jan. 28: First Reported Cases of Foreigners Infected in China The following updates are from Jan. 28. Click here for updates from Jan. 29. At Least 3 Foreigners Infected in China At least three foreignerstwo from Australia and one from Pakistanhave contracted the coronavirus in the southern province of Guangdong, provincial authorities said, according to the South China Morning Post. Deputy head of the Guangdong Health Commission Chen Zhusheng said on Jan. 29 that all three were in stable condition but it was unknown how they were infected. The Pakistani was a student studying in Wuhan, Chen said, but did not provide details of the Australians. The Pakistani student arrived in the southern city of Shenzhen on Jan. 21 and then the city Guangzhou on Jan. 24, before showing symptoms. Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed four Pakistani students in China had contracted the virus. Pakistans special assistant to the prime minister on health Zafar Mirza said their conditions were better now at a Wednesday press conference, local media reported. The confirmation came after a plea from a group of Pakistani students in China to be evacuated from the virus-stricken country, according to local media. Mirza said there are around 500 Pakistani students studying at different universities in Wuhan. British, Japanese Airliners Suspend Flights to China British Airways has suspended all direct flights to and from China for January and February, the Daily Mail reported. Prior to the suspension, the UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issued a press release on Jan. 28, cautioning its citizens against all but essential travel to China. Japanese airliner All Nippon Airways announced on Jan. 29 that it will extend the suspension of all flights to Wuhan until the end of February, according to local English-language media The Japan Times. The extension followed a Jan. 24 announcement to suspend all flights to Wuhan for January. Taiwan Introduces Quarantine Measures to Protect Military Personnel Yen Teh-fa, Taiwans national defense minister, held a teleconference with high-level military officials from the island on Jan. 29 where he emphasized the importance of preventing the spread of the virus to protect the army, Taiwans government-run Central News Agency reported. Yen urged officials from different departments to investigate the activities of their personnel over the Lunar New Year holiday. Those found to have come in contact with friends and relatives from China during the holiday should be placed in quarantine at home for 14 days, he said. US Plane from Wuhan Arrives at Alaska to Refuel A chartered plane from Wuhan carrying about 200 Americans had a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska, CNN reported. The plane, chartered by the U.S. State Department, was originally destined for Ontario International Airport in California. However, the final destination was changed to March Air Reserve Base, located in Riverside County, California. On Jan. 23, the State Department updated the language of its travel advisory to Level 4, urging people not to travel to Hubei Province. Australia Reports Sixth Case of Coronavirus The sixth case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Australia after a man in his 60s in Victoria was tested positive for the virus, local broadcaster 9News reported, citing local health authorities. This marks the second confirmed case in Victoria. The man was recently in Wuhan and became unwell on Jan. 23, more than two days after he returned to Australia. United Arab Emirates Reports First Case of Coronavirus The United Arab Emirates announced its first case of the Coronavirus, involving members of a family who were recently in Wuhan, Emirates News Agency reported, citing UAEs Ministry of Health and Prevention. The ministry announced in a statement that those infected are under medical observation, and are in stable condition. India and the Philippines Prepare Evacuation For Citizens in China Indias flag carrier Air India has prepared a 423-seat plane ready in Mumbai. As of Jan. 28, the plane was waiting for approval from the countrys external affairs and health ministries to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan, according to local media PTI. Citing an unnamed official source, the news outlet reported that about 250 Indians were waiting to be evacuated in Wuhan. About 50 Filipinos were waiting to be flown out of Wuhan, said Eduardo Menez, assistant secretary of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, on Jan. 29, local media Manila Bulletin reported. The Phillippine government announced on the same day that two chartered flights are on standby, according to local media PNA. 206 Japanese Arrive in Tokyo from Wuhan, 4 Hospitalized Local media NHK reported that 206 Japanese arrived at Tokyos Haneda Airport on Jan. 29, flying in from Wuhan in a Japanese government-chartered plane. The same plane also brought to Wuhan some relief supplies, including 15,000 masks, 50,000 pairs of gloves, and 8,000 protective glasses, according to AFP. Four of the 206 were subsequently hospitalized for symptoms of fever and cough. The four are a woman in her 50s and three men aged in their 30s to 50s, The Associated Press reported. They were taken to a Tokyo hospital on separate ambulance vehicles for treatment and further medical checks. Toshimitsu Motegi, Japans foreign minister, said on Jan. 28 that multiple flights will be arranged to lift about 650 Japanese who asked to return home, local media Mainichi reported. An airplane carrying Japanese citizens repatriated from Wuhan amidst the coronavirus outbreak lands at Haneda airport in Tokyo, on Jan. 29, 2020. (Carl Court/Getty Images) Australia Set to Bring Citizens in Hubei to Christmas Island Australias flag carrier Qantas is set to fly into Wuhan to evacuate Australians from the region after the countrys national security committee signed off on the plan on Jan. 29, WAtoday reported. The plane will carry passengers to Christmas Island, which is located in the Indian Ocean and is home to an immigration detention center. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that 600 Australians in Hubei had registered with the Australian embassy in China, WAtoday reported. New Zealands government has also asked Australia to join the evacuation operation to evacuate its citizens out of Wuhan. EU To Send Two Planes to Bring Citizens Out of Wuhan European Commission announced it will send two planes to evacuate its citizens out of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus. According to a press release published on Jan. 28, the first plane is scheduled to leave France in the morning of Jan. 29, and the second plane will leave later this week. The first plane, sent at the request of France, will carry about 250 French citizens. The second plane will carry over 100 EU citizens from other countries. In France, there are four confirmed cases of coronavirus. According to AFP, the latest case involved a Chinese tourist from Hubei, was in a serious condition in a Paris hospital. Plane Carrying About 240 US Citizens Scheduled to Arrive in Ontario Wednesday A plane that took off from Wuhan carrying 240 U.S. passengers is scheduled to arrive at the Ontario International Airport in California at 9 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Jan. 29, the Daily Mail reported. Among the 240 passengers are U.S. diplomats and nine children, according to local media KTLA. They will be screened for coronavirus upon arrival and could be placed in temporary living quarters at the airport for up to two weeks, David Wert, a public information officer for San Bernardino County, said in a statement. The statement explained that these passengers will remain far removed from the passenger terminals and other public areas. Three New Cases Confirmed in Malaysia, Bringing Total to Seven Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Malaysias health director-general, announced on Jan. 29 that three more people are infected by coronavirus, bringing the total to seven in the country, local media The Star reported. He noted that all seven cases are Chinese nationals. One of the new cases involved in a mother of two children, both of whom tested positive earlier. The mother was overseeing them at a local hospital isolation ward. The other two cases are a 4-year-old girl and a 52-year-old man. Germany Reports 3 More Cases of Coronavirus Germany reported three new cases of coronavirus late Tuesday. Citing the Ministry of Health in Munich, German magazine Der Spiegel reported that the three new cases, all in the state of Bavaria, are connected to the first case in the country. The first case involves a 33-year-old man who lives near Starnberg, just south of Munich. His case is also the first known case outside of China where the infection has spread between people who arent related. The Bavarian Ministry of Health in Munich said in a press release late Monday night that the patient is in a good clinical condition and is being monitored in isolation. The man most likely caught the coronavirus from a work colleague; he and the colleague traveled together to a company training held in Bavaria last week. According to Der Spiegel, the three newly-infected patients are also employees of the same company in Starnberg, Bavaria where the first man is employed. 40 colleagues of the four coronavirus-infected patients will also be tested for the virus. Travel Restrictions Possible Restricting travel is a possible future response to the evolving coronavirus outbreak, Health Secretary Alex Azar told reporters on Jan. 28. Its important to not take anything off the table with a rapidly emerging novel infectious disease, Azar said. All steps have to be on the table, including travel restrictions. There were no restrictions announced at the press conference. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Department have advised Americans against nonessential travel to China. Passengers wear masks to protect against the spread of the Coronavirus as they arrive at the Los Angeles International Airport, California, on Jan. 22, 2020. (Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images) Warren Releases Infectious Disease Plan Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a Democratic presidential candidate, unveiled an infectious disease plan this week amid a worldwide coronavirus outbreak. Warrens plan would fully fund the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which runs pandemic prevention and response programs; increase funding for the Public Health Emergency Preparedness cooperative agreement that helps health departments prepare for outbreaks and other situations; and invest over $100 billion to try to reduce transmission of infectious disease in America. Warren also linked her Medicare for All plan, which would feature the government taking over the entire healthcare industry, to diseases, stating: When people cant access basic health care, infectious diseases are more likely to spread and cause severe, lasting health effects. Former Vice President Joe Biden, another Democratic presidential nominee, penned an op-ed on Jan. 27 in which he said he would, if elected president, reassert U.S. leadership in global health security. He said he would ask Congress to add to the Public Health Emergency Fund and give him the power to use the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to declare a disaster if an infectious disease threat merits it. He would also renew funding for the nationwide network of hospitals that can isolate and treat people with infectious diseases, and fully fund the Global Health Security Agenda. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) speaks during a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Jan. 26, 2020. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo) CDC Tells Americans Not to Travel to China Americans should avoid all nonessential travel to China, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an statement published on Jan. 28. The agency raised its level 3 warning for the entirety of China after previously advising only against traveling to Wuhan, where the virus originated. The new coronavirus can spread between people, the agency emphasized. Sustained person-to-person community spread with this virus is reportedly occurring in China, it said. A number of travel-associated cases of 2019-nCoV infection also have been identified in other locations, including the United States. The warning came after the State Department urged Americans to consider not traveling to China. Employees in scrubs talk next to the ambulance entrance at Providence Regional Medical Center after a spokesman from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a traveler from China has been the first person in the United States to be diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus, in Everett, Washington, on Jan. 21, 2020. (Lindsey Wasson/Reuters) Human-to-Human Transmissions Reported in Japan, Taiwan Human-to-human transmissions were confirmed in two more places after German authorities said the first confirmed case in the country was transmitted by a Chinese woman to her male colleague. Health officials in Japan and Taiwan said new cases came from human-to-human transmission. The new patient in Japan, a male bus driver in his 60s, drove tour groups that included people from Wuhan, officials said, the Japan Times reported. The bus driver did not travel to China himself but was infected by one of the tourists. Taiwans Central Epidemic Command Center, meanwhile, said that the eighth confirmed coronavirus case in the country was the first case of transmission on the island. The patient, a man in his 50s from central Taiwan, was infected by his wife after she returned from a work trip to China, the center said. Taiwanese authorities are now telling people not to travel to any parts of China bar Hong Kong and Macau after previously only warning against going to Hubei province, which includes Wuhan. Passengers wearing protective face masks commute on a subway train in Tokyo on Jan. 28, 2020. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images) Japan Sends Charter Plane to Virus-Hit Wuhan Japan has sent a plane to evacuate its citizens from virus-hit Wuhan in China on Tuesday, according to the Japanese foreign minister. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters Tuesday that the chartered plane will also provide protective suits and masks to Wuhan before carrying about 200 people to Tokyo on Wednesday morning. Japan decided to provide emergency relief goods through the Japan International Cooperation Agency to China in response to a request to deal with the outbreak, according to the foreign ministrys website. Motegi said approximately 650 Japanese nationals have expressed a desire to return to Japan. Tokyo will make arrangements to provide more chartered flights to Wuhan to evacuate nationals. Read more here. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) speaks with people at a supermarket in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province on Jan. 27, 2020. (Li Tao/Xinhua via AP) Details About First Super Spreader Made Known Details were finally made public about the first known super spreader of the Wuhan coronavirus. Zhao Junshi, 69, underwent surgery to remove a pituitary tumor at Wuhan Union Hospitals neurosurgery department on Jan. 7. No one was aware that he had Wuhan pneumonia. On Jan. 11, he suddenly developed a fever. CT scanning indicated infection in both lungs. The doctor in charge immediately reported Zhaos case to the contagious diseases department, asking experts from the department to help diagnose the cause of the illness. Doctors concluded that Zhao was infected with an unknown type of pneumonia. There was no kit to test for Wuhan pneumonia yet. The next day, Zhaos condition became very serious. His chest scan showed multiple lung shadows. Then, some of the medical personnel taking care of him developed a fever, one after another. Thats when Zhao was put in an isolation ward. On Jan. 15, Zhao was confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus and transferred to Wuhans Jinyintan Hospital, a contagious disease facility. The affected medical staff were also sent to Union Hospital for isolation and treatment. Read more here. People walk toward the main entrance of Klinikum Schwabing, after Germany declared its first confirmed case of the deadly coronavirus that broke out in China, in Munich, Germany, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Ayhan Uyanik/Reuters) German Coronavirus Patient Got Virus From Human Transmission German health officials said the countrys first coronavirus patient got the virus through human transmission. The 33-year-old man, who lives near Starnberg, just south of Munich, caught the Wuhan coronavirus from a work colleague. They traveled together to a company training in the state of Bavaria last week. The colleague, a woman from Shanghai, started to feel sick on the flight home on Jan. 23, Andreas Zapf, head of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, said at a Jan. 28 press conference, reported Deutsche Welle. The woman had been visited in Shanghai recently by her parents, who live in the Wuhan area. The man caught the coronavirus from the woman in what appears to be the first known case outside of China of the infection spreading between people who arent related. Multiple cases in different countries have cropped up from transmission between family members, including a man in Singapore who flew in from China and infected his son. Read more here. A medical worker in a protective suit checks the body temperature of a driver at a checkpoint outside the city of Yueyang, Hunan province, China, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Thomas Peter/Reuters) China Underreporting True Scale of Virus Outbreak: Expert The Chinese regime is likely underreporting the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a Harvard epidemiologist. I would say there is a very high pandemic risk, said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist at Harvard University, citing conclusions in a Chinese CDC report. Guangdongs Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 25 put the reproduction number of the virus at 2.9, saying the disease may have a higher pandemic risk than SARSa large outbreak originating from southern China from 2002 to 2003, which officially killed about 800 worldwide. Feigl-Ding said the risk was exacerbated as a result of asymptomatic patients spreading the virus unknowingly. Read more here. Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 25, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images) Wuhan Mayor Admits Wrongdoing, Blames Beijing The mayor of Wuhan city, ground zero for the new coronavirus outbreak, sat down for a rare television interview in which he indirectly called out his higher-ups for mismanaging the crisis. During a news program that aired on state broadcaster CCTV on Jan. 27, Zhou Xianwang said that the central government made the decision to withhold information about the outbreak. He admitted that the city government did not publish information in time, and failed to properly contain the virus. Disclosures about the outbreak were not timely As the leader of a local government, I could only publish information after I receive permission from the authorities [central government], Zhou said during the interview. Read more here. Nicole Hao, Eva Fu, Olivia Li, Isabel Van Brugen, Jack Phillips, and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Oaklands Lake Park Avenue vibrates with activity. A neon green structure that used to house the neighborhoods iconic Kwik Way Drive-In beckons Oaklanders to line up down the block for heaping plates of barbecue brisket, ribs and shrimp. A DJ pumps hip hop music out of loudspeakers onto the street, which waiting customers nod their heads to. People order at the window, then eat gumbo on barstools or hunch over po boys at a handful of tables and chairs outside. Set up on the sidewalk is local artist Tony B. Conscious, freestyling and selling his graffiti-style artwork, which includes aprons baring the new hot spots name. The scene is quintessentially Oakland. Theres just one element thats a little different every single morsel of barbecued goodness here is vegan. Vegan Mob, which opened in October, is San Francisco-raised Toriano Gordons first restaurant, which he opened with the help of Senor Sisigs Evan Kidera. Gordon specializes in taking familiar barbecue and soul food recipes and swapping their meaty, heavy ingredients for plant-based, healthy ones. I dont even see it as vegan food, because for me to think like that, it causes the consumer to think like that, too. I just want them to feel like theyre eating good food, said Gordon. I flavor it as if it were the same food my grandmother used to cook, just using plant-based ingredients. If the word vegan conjures images of sad salads and depressingly bland grain bowls, thats not what youll find here. On the contrary: Vegan Mobs menu is pretty much the definition of fun. And thats why Gordon hasnt had any trouble attracting non-vegans as well as hardcore vegans to his new spot. RELATED: How a shrimp falafel food truck became the hottest club in Oakland I think that the funness of the food helps spread the culture of veganism because people like to have fun. They want to know they can have fun and be safe at the same time, said Gordon. On the playful menu is a shrimp po boy with vegan BBQ fried shrimp, a Barbequito (a burrito stuffed with smoked plant-based brisket and BBQ baked beans), Impossible Mob tacos (made with Impossible Foods meat), nachos and gumbo. Ordering a Mob Plate gets you a vegan protein plus a choice of sides including smackaroni and cheese, creamy Cajun potato salad and collard greens. Gordon is definitely having fun with his flourishing new spot not just with the menu, but also his social media presence. Alongside drool-worthy Instagram shots of the food, hes constantly promoting his business with videos featuring goofy dance moves and his catchphrase delivered in a half-sung, comical voice: Pull up on us baby! Its da Mob. In one video, he urges his whole staff to dance around the kitchen and chant ay! with him. His nearly 23,000 Instagram followers eat it up. Gordon says his savvy social media presence comes from his background as a rapper in the Bay Area. I kind of treat my page as if it were a page where I promoted music, but instead, its food, explained Gordon. With music you have to constantly be seen and put out new stuff and be in peoples faces, and I feel like I took that culture over to the restaurant business. Gordons infusion of hip hop culture into Vegan Mob extends even further next month, the restaurant is shooting a music video for a Vegan Mob-themed song featuring local rappers King Cydal and B-Legit. With lines that only grow as the months go on, Vegan Mob has definitely succeeded in making vegan food cool in Oakland. But its important to note that Gordon wasnt the first to introduce vegan gumbo and po boys to the area. Souley Vegan, another black-owned vegan restaurant specializing in Louisiana cuisine, opened in Oaklands Jack London Square in 2009. Back then, the climate wasnt so hospitable to vegans. RELATED: A vegetarian restaurant for carnivores? This Michelin star couple is opening one in the Haight People did not understand the word vegan, said owner Tamearra Dyson. Nor did they think my Louisiana Creole vegan food was even possible because they thought it was an oxymoron. We got some laughs. But despite the fact that veganism wasnt trendy yet, Dyson persevered with her restaurant and the community eventually caught on. With a lot of Southern hospitality, we made it friendly, unlike the market prior to us opening people thought that vegans were uppity, she explained. But we trailblazed the industry and made vegan approachable and kind of cool. Now its cool to be vegan. Thanks to Souley Vegan and other pioneering vegan restaurants in the East Bay, 2019 was the year Oakland was ready for a hip hop-themed vegan barbecue joint. As San Francisco Chronicle reporter Justin Phillips put it in his Vegan Mob review, Vegan Mob shows how vegan food is modern and can be served steeped in hip-hop and black culture [...] So, are black people making vegan food in Oakland cool? The answer is yes. But, honestly, black people have always made vegan food cool. Most of us just needed a reminder. Madeline Wells is an SFGATE associate digital reporter. Email: madeline.wells@sfgate.com | Twitter: @madwells22 MISSOULA, Mont., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Submittable, a software platform that helps organizations collect and review content online, is proud to announce the launch of its fourth annual Eliza So Fellowship. This fellowship is dedicated to serving underrepresented writers working to complete a full-length book manuscript. In 2020, the Eliza So Fellowship will support one Native American writer with a month-long residency. Our 2020 fellow will receive private lodging in downtown Missoula, Montana, where Submittable is headquartered, from July 18 through August 14, 2020. They will be awarded $1000 for food and travel expenses, and asked to give a public reading. To be considered for the 2020 Eliza So Fellowship, Native American writers should submit a sample of at least thirty pages of poetry or prose from their book-in-progress. Applications will be accepted until April 5, 2020. The fellowship was named in honor of Eliza So, the mother of Submittable's Head of People Asta So. Eliza immigrated to the US from Hong Kong in 1982, with her husband and two daughters. She worked in administrative and housekeeping jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years. At age 58, she began showing signs of dementia, and she was diagnosed with early onset of Alzheimer's in 2012. "My mother loved connecting with people and hearing their stories. She still does, in her own way," said Asta So. "She would be so thrilled to know that the Eliza So Fellowship is supporting the voices and stories of brilliant writers from underrepresented groups. It's an honor for my family to see this fellowship continue in her name, and to see Submittable continue to support the arts and artists." In past years, the fellowship has supported US immigrant writers and Native American writers. Previous fellows include Lehua Taitano (2019), Alan Pelaez Lopez (2019), Paul Tran (2018), Sheree Winslow (2018), and Melissa Sipin (2017). The 2020 fellowship will be judged by Heather Cahoon. Prior judges have included Joan Naviyuk Kane, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Sun Yung Shin, and Debra Magpie Earling. The 2020 Eliza So Fellowship Application can be found here: https://fellowship.submittable.com/submit Read more about this year's fellowship here: https://discover.submittable.com/blog/welcome-to-the-2020-eliza-so-fellowship/ Learn more about the fellowship's history here: https://discover.submittable.com/blog/tag/eliza-so-fellowship/ About Submittable Founded in 2010 in Missoula, Montana, Submittable is the leading Submission Management Platform with over 3 million users and 10,000 clients using the platform to accept and review content, applications, and entries. The company is backed by local angel funds but also YCombinator, True Ventures, and Next Frontier Capital. About 2020 Fellowship Judge Heather Cahoon, PhD, received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Montana where she was the Richard Hugo Scholar. She has been awarded a Merriam Frontier Prize, a Potlatch Fund Native Arts grant, and a Montana Arts Council Artist Innovation Award for her writing, which has appeared in Hanging Loose, Lit Hub, Yellow Medicine Review, basalt, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Carve, and Cutthroat among others. Her first full-length collection of poems entitled Horsefly Dress, is forthcoming from the University of Arizona Press in fall of 2020. Heather is also a federal Indian policy scholar and Assistant Professor of Native American Studies at the University of Montana. She grew up on the Flathead Reservation in western Montana and is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. SOURCE Submittable Related Links http://www.submittable.com New Delhi, Jan 28 (UNI) The Congress on Tuesday approached the Election Commission and urged to ban Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP Parvesh Verma from Delhi assembly polls campaigning, for their 'communal' and 'inciting violence' speeches. Mr Thakur, who is Union Minister of state for Finance, on Monday had made controversial slogans, 'desh ke gaddaron ko... goli maaro ' (shoot at the traitors), while addressing the party supporters and the video went viral. Mr Verma, the West Delhi MP, said lakh of anti- CAA protesters in Shaheen bagh, could enter people's home to rape and kill women. BJPs star campaigners Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma have used objectionable language. Top BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, are going around the the places in Delhi, making provocative statements to polarise the atmosphere and incite communal violence", said senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, along with DPCC president Subhash Chopra after meeting with the Commission. Mr Maken said the Commission had promised them that nothing bad will happen and the poll body have called a meeting of its district officers and police commissioners on January 31 to discuss the matter. The Congress leaders also said that the Commission has informed that they had sought report from CEO of Delhi on Mr Thakur and Mr Verma. UNI KNA ADG 2009 School leaders to meet before industrial action in UK School leaders are due to gather today before industrial action short of a strike will start in the UK. Members of school leaders' union NAHT, which represents leaders in every school on the Isle of Man, will be joined by senior NAHT officials, including general secretary Paul Whiteman. It follows an official ballot in which 96% of members voted that they would be prepared to take industrial action short of strike, and 87% said they were prepared to strike. NAHT has served notice to the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) that their members will be taking action short of strike from Thursday (30 January). Unions on the Isle of Man have been in dispute with the DESC since the beginning of 2019 over pay. Last week, DESC announced that it had reached a deal with one union. Rob Kelsall, NAHT National Secretary, said: 'Education professionals on the Isle of Man have been forced into a position where taking action is the only option left open to them. 'Trust and confidence between School Leaders, Teachers and the Department is at an all-time low. We are dismayed that the Chief Minister has not taken up our invitation to meet to discuss the situation. Tynwald must take action; now is the time to fix this.' Photo: Blake Wisz/Unsplash Jersey City is seeing strong demand for customer service representatives' skills. Employers in the industry posted 24 new jobs over the past week and 90 in the last month, ranking it first among top job categories in the local area, according to ZipRecruiter, a leading online employment marketplace. Customer service also came in fourth in terms of local employers adding new jobs by occupation. In the past month, 15 companies listed open jobs for Jersey City-based workers in the industry. Top companies seeking local customer service representatives include Atlantic LLC, MILAYO Inc. and SVE. According to a recent job opening posted by MILAYO Inc., "We [offer] our clients extensive direct consumer-marketing strategies that help generate quality customer acquisition, brand awareness and revenue." Jobs posted by Atlantic LLC in the past month in the area included account representatives, while MILAYO Inc. was hiring brand ambassadors. This story was created automatically using local jobs data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a Lunar New Year performance with family members and high-ranking officials at the Samjiyon Theater in Pyongyang, Saturday, in this footage aired by the state-run Korean Central Television the following day. From left are Kim, his wife Ri Sol-ju, aunt Kim Kyong-hui, sister Kim Yo-jong and Jo Yong-won, a close aide to the leader. Yonhap By Jung Da-min Kim Kyong-hui, the aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a once-influential figure in the country's leadership, has made her first public appearance in six years, quashing rumors that she had been killed or sent into exile. She had been out of the public eye since her husband Jang Song-thaek was executed in December 2013. According to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency, Sunday, the North Korean leader had attended a Lunar New Year performance the day before at the Samjiyon Theater in Pyongyang with his family members and high-ranking officials including his wife Ri Sol-ju, aunt Kim Kyong-hui, sister Kim Yo-jong, the country's de facto second-in-command Choe Ryong-hae and other top officials Ri Il-hwan, Jo Yong-won and Hyon Song-wol. The fact that Kim Kyong-hui's name was listed after Choe's, in particular, raised speculations that she might have assumed a new role in the country's leadership, as North Korean state media typically names officials in order of rank. North Korea watchers say that Kim's appearance with his family members seems to be aimed at solidifying his legitimacy by highlighting blood ties following his announcement of a major policy shift at the four-day Fifth Plenary Meeting of the Seventh Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, in a move to strengthen internal solidarity among political leaders. Born as the youngest child of North Korea's founding President Kim Il-sung and his second wife Kim Jong-suk, Kim Kyong-hui (born 1946) was their only daughter. The couple had two sons, Kim Jong-il and Kim Pyong-il. After Kim Jong-il succeeded his father as the leader of the country, Kim Kyong-hui held sway over the country's major economic projects together with her husband Jang. North Korea watchers say Kim Jong-un's appearance with his aunt might also suggest that Kim was trying to ward off criticism for his role in the events that led to the execution of his uncle. A medical worker (R) rests in a chair next to a patient at a hospital in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on Jan. 23, 2020. (AP Photo) Chinese Citizens Report Worsening Spread of Virus, as Officials Hint at Severity of Crisis Chinese citizens say that the new coronavirus outbreak is spreading quickly to other parts of the country outside the epicenter of Wuhan City, capital of Hubei Province. Residents in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing report that hospitals are filling up with patients. They believe the situation is far worse than Chinese authorities portray, and that they are not disclosing the true number of infections and deaths. Authorities claim that the virus has infected thousands in mainland China and killed scores of patients. However, experts believe actual numbers are likely far greater. Meanwhile, local governments are still scrambling to contain the virus with emergency measures. The central Chinese city of Wuhan admitted to a new viral pneumonia outbreak on Dec. 31, 2019, weeks after the first patient exhibited symptoms. The virus has since spread to Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and other countries. Chongqing Chongqing is just to the west of Hubei. The city has many transport connections to Wuhan, with a population of roughly 31 million, according to official statistics. Prior to Wuhan authorities decision to implement a transportation lockdown, 30 high-speed trains ran between Chongqing and Wuhan every day, according to the Wuhan Railway Bureau. In the first 22 days of January, about 22,000 passengers flew from Wuhan to Chongqing, according to government statistics. Most other localities in Hubei have since also initiated lockdowns. Chongqing locals told the Chinese-language Epoch Times by phone that the situation in their city is very severe. Mr. Li is a pharmacist at a state-run Chongqing hospital. He said many people from Hubei have arrived in Chongqing in past weeks. Most of them are either farmers who make a living in Hubei and live in rural areas of Chongqing or wealthy Hubei people who have residences in Chongqing. They came to Chongqing after their cities were quarantined. Li said its hard to tell the true number of people who have died from the virus in Chongqing. But at his workplace, a significant proportion of diagnosed patients need to be treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). He surmised that far more people have died than what government authorities are reporting. The government data is hugely distorted, he said in a Jan. 25 phone interview. Mrs. Hong, a resident of Jiangbei district in Chongqing told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that she knew of a five-member family who recently returned to the area after visiting Wuhan. Four of them were diagnosed with the virus. She also heard cases of people diagnosed with the virus who suddenly died at home, but their deaths werent reported on the authorities patients list. The Chinese regime doesnt care about Chinese peoples lives, Hong said. Mr. Yuan, a resident of Nanan district in Chongqing, said that ever since the government placed the city on lockdown on Jan. 25, people have been on edge. I stocked enough food to last for two months, he said. Wartime Authorities in other regions are trying drastic measures to contain the disease. On Jan. 28, Chinas ministry of public security, which oversees the countrys police force, requested all police bureaus in the country to begin wartime preparations, meaning police must help each local government to maintain social stabilitya euphemism for controlling public speechand control the disease. Chinese authorities have detained netizens for spreading information about the illness online. The health commission of Tianjin City, in the north of China, then announced that the city will start wartime preparations. 47 hospitals will set up a big general hospital, to be led by the commission. The agency will reorganize all medical staff in the city into 500 teams. To date, all Chinese provinces and regions except Tibet have confirmed cases. To stem the virus, Tibet authorities closed all tourism sites in the region on Monday. Virality Feng Zijian, vice director of Chinas Center for Disease Control and Prevention, indirectly admitted to the severity of the illness during a Jan. 28 interview that aired on state broadcaster CCTV. He said the new virus was spreading at a rate faster than SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) during its peak. The 2002 to 2003 SARS outbreak killed nearly 800 people worldwide after first emerging in southern China. On the same day, Wuhans Civil Affairs Bureau posted on the city governments official Weiboa platform similar to Twitterthat the authorities would pay the cremation costs for any coronavirus patients who died, beginning Jan. 26. In addition, the post said: To improve the capacity of transporting and dealing with the bodies, the city government and Hubei Provincial Civil Affairs Ministry have dispatched vehicles, staff, and protective gear to each funeral house [in Wuhan]. About an hour later, the post was edited, with the second sentence about the vehicles and other resources deleted. But many netizens had already screenshot the post and began circulating it. Meanwhile, the state-owned newspaper Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported about Hu Ming, the director of the ICU at Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital, on Jan. 28. Hu told the newspaper that his ICU has been full of coronavirus patients since the beginning of January. In order to care for the patients, he and his colleagues have not slept at home. Hu also said that one of his patients has infected more than 10 other people, including doctors and nurses. A day earlier, Yang Yunyan, vice governor of Hubei province, said that the whole province has arranged for an additional 100,000 hospital beds to accommodate coronavirus patients. Estimation Experts say actual numbers of infections are likely much higher than what Chinese authorities have disclosed. Hong Kong Universitys school of public health estimated that about 43,590 have been infected in Wuhan alone. The peak period of the virus would be April to June. The study projected that the second most serious outbreak would be in Chongqing, with more than 150,000 new cases every day in April. The research team estimated that as of Jan. 27, Chongqing has 145 to 570 potential infections, Beijing 72 to 260, and Shanghai 62 to 224all higher than what authorities are currently reporting. The BJP government cleared the work which had been stalled for more than three decades leading to the inclusion of Rafale aircraft in the fleet of Indian Air Force (IAF), said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. "For over 30 years not a single next-generation fighter plane was added to IAF's fleet. Our ageing aircrafts used to meet with accidents, fighter pilots kept getting martyred but the people responsible for getting the new planes had no concern," Modi said at the Cadet Corps (NCC) rally at Cariappa grounds in New Delhi. "Should we have let that continue? Should we have allowed the Air Force to get weakened? No. We cleared the work which was stalled for more than 30 years and today I am happy that India has got the next-generation fighter plane Rafale and it will fly in the country's skies soon," Modi added. Modi further said that the Centre had not only approved the purchase of adequate bulletproof jackets for its own soldiers, but it is now moving ahead to export such jackets to the other countries too. Asserting that his government had also played a big role in increasing synergy by the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Modi said, "For many years, discussions were being held to appoint a Chief of Defence Staff to increase synergy and coordination between the three wings of the Armed Forces. But nobody took a decision on it." "The creation of the Department of Military Affairs, CDS and the appointments to them was also done by us. We worked with the thought that it was time to deliver," he added. Earlier, the Prime Minister had presented awards to the best cadets. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, and the three wing-chiefs were also present at the rally. Cadets from Bhutan, Russia and Nepal were also present at the event held today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Every subsequent culture-war battle, in Caldwells account the debates over feminism and gay marriage, transgender rights and immigration follows the lines of this constitutional division. The new constitutionalists are constantly discovering new rights and empowering courts and bureaucracies to enforce them; the old constitutionalists object, win a few elections on the objection and then find themselves defeated nonetheless. And this pattern of defeat is responsible, he implies, for the Trumpian turn: After so many failures to defend the old Constitution, Trump-era conservatives are embracing the logic of the new one, choosing white-identity politics because in the new constitutional dispensation that began in 1964, group identities are the only ones that count. Caldwells book is noteworthy for being a conservative account that effectively reinforces a liberal ideological narrative. It is usually liberals who argue that on every new culture-war battlefield their side is just extending Martin Luther King Jr.s vision, while conservatives respond that the civil rights acts were supposed to correct a specific historical injustice and their application to debates over gender or marriage or abortion or the rights of illegal immigrants warps that purpose. Caldwell shrugs off this idea as a pleasant illusion; in his account the original critics of civil rights legislation were probably correct to warn against its revolutionary implications, which include the steady subsequent advance of cultural progressivism, an enormous expansion of deficit spending and the economic abandonment and cultural vilification of the white male working class. And this is where Caldwells account becomes unpersuasive in its turn. He depicts federal economic policymaking after the civil rights era as a hugely expensive attempt at integrating Americans by race and sex, a project paid for after Ronald Reagan by deficits rather than transfers. But as Wesley Yang points out in a review of The Age of Entitlement for The Washington Examiner, theres little evidence that American public policy actually transfers lots of money from whites to minorities; the spending that Reagans deficits funded was for the military and old-age entitlements, both of which flowed far more into white pocketbooks than black ones. Nor were the economic policies that have arguably harmed working class whites the most somehow a necessary extension of civil rights legislation: Chinas entry into the World Trade Organization, to choose one signal example, was not somehow foreordained when L.B.J. set pen to paper. [Listen to The Argument podcast every Thursday morning, with Ross Douthat, Michelle Goldberg and David Leonhardt.] So if Caldwells book supplements and corrects Kleins, by giving a clearer sense of the ideological stakes involved in post-1960s polarization, his account needs to be corrected and supplemented in its turn. And a third new book, Michael Linds The New Class War: Saving Democracy From the Managerial Elite, does an important part of that work, by explaining an aspect of our present polarization that cant be traced to specifically American racial fears or constitutional debates: Namely, the way that our populist-era divisions increasingly mirror Europes, with the same exodus of downscale voters from left-of-center parties, the same polarization by education and class. In Linds account, Caldwells story about the advance of social liberalism through bureaucratic and judicial power is just a subsidiary of the more important story, the post-1970s consolidation of economic power by a managerial upper class. The liberalism of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama isnt an ideology of white disempowerment, in his account, so much as a solvent that weakens any institution from churches and families to union shops and local industries that might grant real power to groups outside the gilded city, the Silicon Valley bubble, the Ivy League gate. And together with its center-right partner in crime, Reagan-Thatcher libertarianism, this liberalisms policy choices economic and social permissiveness, effectively conjoined created a new class divide, between thriving meritocratic hubs and a declining and demoralized heartland, that explains both the frequency of populist irruptions and their consistent futility. But even as he acknowledges the faults of populism, Lind treats the class-war aspect of polarization as a potentially positive development, because he hopes that it will create a real political coalition for the losers of neoliberal era a socially conservative, economically left-leaning constituency thats numerous but often homeless. Making such a coalition constructive rather than just disruptive may be impossible, but its the only way he sees to escape neoliberal oligarchy and bring our class war to an end with a negotiated peace. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 05:47:44|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close TEHRAN, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday strongly rejected the U.S. Middle East peace plan as "disgraceful." In a statement released hours after U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of the so-called Deal of the Century, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said it is the "betrayal of the century" and is "doomed to failure." "Palestine belongs to the Palestinians," he said. "The Zionist regime (of Israel) is an occupying regime, and the only way to settle the Palestinian cause is a referendum among the real inhabitants of the lands," the Iranian spokesman added. Given the importance of the Palestinian issue and the major "conspiracy" behind Trump's deal, Iran is ready to cooperate at any level to forge unity in the Muslim world and "thwart the big plot that has endangered Muslim nations," he said. Trump on Tuesday announced the long-awaited political aspect of his Middle East peace plan, a proposal that has already been repeatedly refused by the Palestinians. The plan proposes a "realistic" two-state solution and recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided capital," according to Trump. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday called Trump's proposal for peace in the Middle East a "nightmare for region." "The so-called 'Vision for Peace' is simply the dream project of a bankruptcy-ridden real estate developer," Zarif tweeted. "But it is a nightmare for the region and the world," he said. "Hopefully, (it's) a wake-up call for all the Muslims who have been barking up the wrong tree," the minister noted. Trump's peace plan is merely a deal between the United States and Israel, Hesameddin Ashena, an adviser to Iran's president tweeted. "This is a deal between the Zionist regime (of Israel) and America. Interaction with Palestinians is not on its agenda," Ashena said. Besides, "this is not a peace plan but a plan of imposition," he added. Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more After 10 years of fully supporting Windows 7, Microsoft ended its official support for the out-of-date Windows operating system on Tuesday. The popular classic Windows 7 OS still runs on some 200 million PCs around the globe, according to industry estimates. Users include small business owners, some larger companies, and hordes of consumers holding onto aging personal computers. Microsoft committed to providing 10 years of product support when it released Windows 7 in 2009. The companys focus now is on supporting technologies that provide new user experiences, it said. Microsoft has recommended that Windows 7 users move to Windows 10 prior to the end of support. Those that failed to heed the companys warning will become part of a very large attack vector for hackers, malware, viruses and spyware. This end-of-life date is well known to hackers, and they are armed and ready to exploit, said Kate Donofrio, payment card industry technical lead and manager of Schellman & Company. Windows 7 Pro and Enterprise users can purchase extended security update support for three years from Microsoft. Windows 7 Home editions and Ultimate editions are not eligible for extended support, she told TechNewsWorld. Much like mobile devices using the Windows Mobile or Windows CE operating system, a PC/laptop/terminal using Windows 7 will not just stop working the day that the OS end of life begins, noted Brian Harvey, lead systems engineer at Barcoding. However, the end of support does mean users no longer will get support, security updates or bug fixes for Windows 7, he told TechNewsWorld. Continuing to use Widows 7 can put your data and potentially your customers data at risk. Must Do Something PCs running Windows 7 probably will not become victims of attacks overnight, but the risk is not IF but WHEN malware, spyware, or viruses will find an opening into any particular unprotected computer. Of course, Microsoft wants lingering Windows 7 users to upgrade to Microsoft 10. For those with computers no older than four years, a software upgrade can be applied. For older computers, a new purchase is the easiest and fastest way to avoid security risks and issues related to loss of support for Windows 7. Purchasing a new PC will not be necessary if your existing system meets a baseline configuration, said Banish Angural, owner of Social Media Fellow. That baseline configuration includes a 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC (System on Chip) with at least 1 gigabyte RAM for 32-bit or 2 GB RAM for 64-bit computers, he told TechNewsWorld. The system should have 16 GB of hard drive space for the 32-bit OS version and 20 GB of storage space for the 64-bit OS version. Also needed is a DirectX 9 or later graphics card with WDDM 1.0 driver and a screen display capable of 800600 pixels. If the hardware is not compatible with Windows 10, another option is to repurpose the older hardware by installing a Linux distribution as an alternative to Windows 7, Barcodingss Harvey suggested. The Linux operating system offers distribution options targeting Windows users and enterprise operations. The cost to download a complete Linux OS is free, and many Linux OS developers offer paid support options similar to what is available for Microsoft Windows 10. Thousands of software applications that run on Linux also are free to download. Tools such as WINE let users run must-have Windows programs on the Linux platform. Upgrade for Free Upgrading to Windows 10 is the most convenient step for users who want to continue using Windows on their computers, said Kenny Trinh, managing editor of Netbooknews. The upgrade process is very easy, and you get to keep all your files in most cases. That solution has two hurdles, though, he told TechNewsWorld. Your device has to meet the spec requirements to be able to run Windows 10, and you have to buy a Windows 10 license, which costs US$119. For those whose specs arent adequate or who dont want to shell out for a license, installing a Linux OS is your best bet, Trinh said. Linux is free to use, so you wont have to shell out a dime to use it. Plus, a number of Linux distros are specifically designed to run on older computers, so hardware wont be a concern. Early on, Microsoft provided free upgrades to Windows 10. All you needed was a computer running an earlier version of Microsoft Windows and a product code number to qualify. That free offer officially ended a few years ago. However, its still possible to get a free Windows 10 upgrade using the Windows Media Creation Tool. This upgrade isnt meant for the general consumer, but it works for many nonetheless. First, you must download the upgrade on the computer still running Windows 7, 8 or 8.1. Second, go to the Microsoft page to download the Windows Media Creation Tool. On that page, select the option to upgrade. Then enter your Windows 7 or Windows 8 license key. A D V E R T I S E M E N T If you have a Windows 7 or 8 Home license, you can update only to the Windows 10 Home version. With a Windows 7 or Windows 8 Pro product key, you can update only to Windows 10 Pro. The free upgrade is not available for Windows Enterprise. Whats the Risk? The main reason to stop using Windows 7 is the security risk. That risk may be minor in the short term, but the longer you use the now-unprotected Windows 7, the higher your chances grow for trouble. Microsoft will not provide security updates or fixes. You also will not get technical support for any issues. This leaves your computer at greater risk of being hit with viruses and worse. Zero-day attacks get a lot of attention. The majority of vulnerabilities that get exploited by hackers are well known and have patches readily available to fix them, noted Kevin Landt, vice president of product management at Cygilant. These patches no longer will be freely available, and hackers will be developing and sharing exploits, he told TechNewsWorld. I believe the hardest hit with the end of extended support will be the home consumer users and business owners not keeping up with current threats, Schellman & Companys Donofrio said. Those who cannot afford to upgrade their systems or buy new systems to replace old Windows 7 systems will be at the highest risk, she warned. There is also a chance, even with Microsoft popping up warnings on end-user systems, that some consumers will not understand what all of this entails or take the threat seriously. These will also be the types of users who will not understand techniques to try and mitigate risks when new vulnerabilities are found and likely a high target for attackers, Donofrio added. Outdated systems are major targets for attackers who are well aware of the upcoming end of support dates, she noted. That is especially the case for an operating system like Windows 7, which has large mainstream use by both businesses and consumer home users. You can purchase a Windows 10 upgrade if you want to start with a fresh installation. On the Microsoft download page, download a disc image (ISO file) that can be used to install or reinstall Windows 10. The image also can be used to create installation media using a USB flash drive or DVD. What Else to Do If you are unable to upgrade or purchase extended security updates for Windows 7, you should take steps to reduce the attack surface of these systems. For example, disable all ports and protocols except those required for business reasons, suggested Cygilants Landt. If possible, isolate the servers on separate network segments from those that have direct access to the Internet. The remaining risks should be documented and given a priority level for future remediation, he said. Microsoft gave plenty of notice about the impending end of support, said Satnam Narang, senior research engineer at Tenable. Larger businesses likely have the infrastructure to migrate their systems, but smaller organizations may not have the necessary resources to prepare for the switch, he told TechNewsWorld, so those companies should take the following measures to protect themselves: Rely on endpoint detection and antivirus software to detect known threats; Implement email protection, as threats can often come in the form of emails and can slip through the cracks of email filters; and Enforce security awareness training for all employees. Isolation and Layer Are Key To the maximum extent possible, those continuing to use Windows 7 should try to isolate or segment the machines with the unsupported (outdated) software or OS. This obviously can be a challenge in many cases, given that if an organization has a requirement to keep using the unsupported software or OS, then that would imply some level of criticality to that device, observed Troy Gill, manager of security research at AppRiver. So naturally, there may be limitations on just how isolated it can be while still performing its critical role. Always practice least privilege. And in a case like this, the importance of least privilege is amplified, he told TechNewsWorld. Another way of bolstering Windows 7 from outside attacks is to take a defense-in-depth approach by adding security layers to help reduce risk with the unsupported system, Gill added. This should include the use of both network and personal firewalls, as well as placing the high-risk devices behind added hardware such as IPS. Another consideration is to make sure you have uninstalled all unnecessary software and disabled unneeded services on these devices. This is always a best practice, but it can become even more important on a system relying on an unsupported OS or other outdated software, he said. Business Risks Intensify Even if you or your company no longer run Windows 7, businesses and others who still use the obsolete operating system could endanger your privacy. Consumers need to practice safe computing even if they run Windows 10, macOS or the Linux OS. Organizations that continue running Windows 7 not only put their company and staff data at risk, but also that of their suppliers, partners and customers, because security patches no longer will be available, said Ken Galvin, senior product manager at Quest Software. Many businesses are still running Windows 7 because they have been slow to act, hadnt seen it as a priority, or thought of it as too much of a daunting challenge to upgrade all their systems. Daunting as it may be, we are now at the stage where the best option is to upgrade, he told TechNewsWorld. However, if businesses cannot and have made arrangements with Microsoft to pay for continued Windows 7 patching support, it is critical that they make sure their patch management system will be able to apply them, Galvin added. It is not an impossible task, however. IT teams can and should be taking advantage of automation tools to assist with the migration and invest in ongoing endpoint management to make sure that these systems are continually up to date without the team needing to break their backs, he said. Businesses should prioritize gaining visibility over all their systems so they can be 100 percent sure that each one is secure. No Recourse, No Safety The obvious risk is that Windows 7 systems no longer will receive patches from Microsoft. That means if a new vulnerability is discovered in Windows 7, all Windows 7 systems will be at risk for exploitation from malicious attackers, warned Mehul Revankar, director of product management at SaltStack. Going forward, Windows 7 systems will become ripe targets for attackers to exploit, he told TechNewsWorld. When the next major Windows 7 vulnerability strikes, these would be the systems attackers would go after first, own them very quickly, and cause business disruption. So, what should Windows 7 users do? Get an accurate inventory of all their assets and identify all Windows 7 systems in their organization, suggested Revanker. They also should stop procrastinating and take action. Upgrade those assets to Windows 10 or later. If you cant upgrade for one reason or another, get them off the Internet at the very least, and add mitigating controls so that only authorized users have access to them, Revanker said. The most likely problem is that systems will not be updated or will be slow to update and the longer the wait, the higher the risk that this results in a costly attack. A Ray of Hope, Perhaps Windows 7 will keep working come Jan. 15. Nothing will change overnight, said Chris Morales, head of security analytics at Vectra. It is true that Windows 7 will be more vulnerable to attack. That is the expectation. But I dont think the actual impact will be catastrophic, he told TechNewsWorld. For home users who want to cling onto Windows 7 for whatever reasons, many of the potential problems could be mitigated using other tools and methods, like VPN, encryption, security software, and a good secure home router, Morales noted. Many enterprises simply will sign up for Windows 7 Extended Security Updates for the next three years of coverage, which will protect against anything deemed critical or important. Not much will change in the attack landscape for enterprises with the Windows 7 Extended Security Updates. Most major apps like Google Chrome browser will also continue to be supported with updates for all users, said Morales. For everyone else, an update to Windows 10 or a move to another supported OS should already have happened, he added. An unsupported operating system never should be used for public-facing Internet use, like browsing the Web or handling email, he added. It is bad practice. A Common Problem Thomas G. Plante, professor of psychology at Santa Clara University, has been concerned about loss of support for Windows 7 on his own laptop. Long story short, the universitys IT department recommended that he invest in a new computer with Windows 10, he told TechNewsWorld. That seems crazy from my point of view, as my computer is only 5-1/2 years old and works fine but that is what IT here suggests, Plante said. Like many users, Plante relies on his employers IT department for help. The universitys IT staff claims that the hassles involved in upgrading make getting a new computer a better and more cost-effective option. Plus, the university will only service computers that are four years old or less to boot, he lamented. Seems nutty but hey . Can't allow every person who thinks of some solution to COVID-19 to file petition: SC Supreme Court allows introduction of African Cheetahs in India India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 28: The Supreme Court has allowed the introduction of African Cheetahs in India. In August the Supreme Court said that it was not against the ambitious project to relocate African Cheetah from Namibia to Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. There were no recorded evidence of Tiger-Cheetah conflicts, it said and sought a view of lawyer assisting the court on relocation of the animals. Convicts in post Godhra riots case granted bail: SC directs them to carry out spiritual, social work A bench of Justices S A Bobde and B R Gavai wondered as how the court would know whether the Cheetah would survive after senior advocate Wasim Qadri, appearing for National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), said the sanctuary also has various animals like Tiger and Leopard. The top court, however, supported the move of NTCA and said that it was not against the policy to experiment relocating African Cheetah in Madhya Pradesh. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News At the outset, Qadri said that the observation of the Amicus Curiae that the areas in question "are not preferred habitat of Cheetah is totally incorrect". NTCA said all the potential sites found feasible for reintroducing Cheetah will be reassessed and an action plan will be developed for measures that are required, prior to the reintroduction. The authority further said that Madhya Pradesh government has written to it for Cheetah reintroduction at Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary. On February 22, NTCA had told the apex court that the African cheetahs, to be translocated in India from Namibia, will be kept at Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. It said the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which provides inputs to governments and institutions on biodiversity, climate change and sustainable development, has given no objection for the translocation. India's last spotted cheetah had died in 1947. In 1952, the animal was declared extinct in the country. Nothing more urgent says CJI on plea by Nirbhaya's killer NTCA had earlier told the court that it was only seeking a clarification that there is no blanket ban of the apex court on re-introduction of cheetahs in the country. It informed the court that IUCN has said it would co-operate with India in translocation of Cheetahs from Namibia. It also referred to the apex court's 2013 decision in a wildlife case and said it does not prevent the authorities from taking steps in conformity with the law to relocated cheetahs from Africa to suitable sites in India. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 11:46 [IST] Ayushmann Khurrana has time and again defied stereotypes by choosing to portray real and relatable characters on the silver screen. In his much-awaited upcoming film, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, he raises a valid question on a subject that has been a topic of debate for years and that is homosexuality. This is the first time ever we will see the National Award-winning actor playing this role and its trailer has already created a positive buzz for the movie leaving people wanting to see it on the big screens. Well, many people still arent quite comfortable with the concept of homosexuality but an 8-year-old is here to teach you how to be absolutely normal with it. Recently, Ayushmanns wife Tahira Kashyap took to her Twitter page to share about their son Virajveer Khurrana's reaction to homosexuality. She tweeted, "With the upcoming film the dad is doing, I wanted to be forthcoming with my 8-year-old son. I asked him if he knows what homosexuality means or being gay means. He knew it. I asked him if he was ok with it. He replied...whats there not to be ok about. (Teary-eyed and proud). Heres the tweet: With the upcoming film the dad is doing, I wanted to be forthcoming with my 8 year old son. I asked him if he knows what homosexuality means or being gay means. He knew it. I asked him if he was ok with it. He replied...whats there not be ok about. (Teary eyed and proud) Tahira Kashyap Khurrana (@tahira_k) January 27, 2020 Post her tweet, people on social media heaped praises on the childs response and started to appreciate Ayushmann and Tahira for raising their son well. Well done champ... Kids learn from their parents & you are the ideal parents @tahira_k @ayushmannk #ShubhMangalZyadaSaavdha Apeksha Kutwad (@ApekshaKutwad) January 27, 2020 Great parenting. SRK FAN. MALE. 24. (@VelvetIsMushy_) January 27, 2020 so reassuring! speaks volumes of his upbringing Debali Basu (@debalib) January 27, 2020 You guys raised him well! How reassuring bitch im madonna (@heyblissbee_) January 27, 2020 Parenting done right! Anuraj Srivastava (@AnurajSri_3010) January 27, 2020 Clearly, Ayushmann and Tahira have imbibed such great values in their son and thats why he, at a tender age, understands that many grown ups still struggle to. The 35-year-old actor will be seen in the role of Kartik Singh and is paired opposite Jitendra Kumar in Hitesh Kewalya directorial. He recently told India Today, "You need a mass or a mainstream hero to do this subject to normalize it. This is a perfect time. I have always been a risk-taker. Its a character I am playing. Whats the qualm or negative side in this?" Coming back to Tahira, in an interview, she had said, Super kicked about this one! Ayushmann has a knack of sniffing out amazing, crazy scripts that are relevant at the same time and as an artist he is fearless. I am proud of the same. Check out the trailer here: How excited are you for the movie? Let us know in the comments section below. Map showing location of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that has been felt in Jamaica and Cuba, among other places: US Geological Survey Viral footage appears to show sinkholes swallowing large chunks of roads following a string of earthquakes off the coasts of Jamaica and Cuba. A major 7.7 magnitude quake prompted tsunami warnings and building evacuations as far as Miami, several hundred miles from the quake's centre. Videos shared on social media show sinkholes opening in the Cayman Islands, where a 4.9-magnitude aftershock was reported following Tuesday's massive quake. According to the US Geological Survey, sinkholes form in areas where the ground has no natural external surface drainage. They typically form as the earth around them dissolves, causing an underground "cavern" to form and making the surface vulnerable to collapse, or if construction changes an area's natural water drainage and weakens the ground around it. Earthquake happenings in the Cayman Islands 1/2 pic.twitter.com/wUGxuE9y9T Pedro (@p_dippy) January 28, 2020 Cayman Islands after the earthquake 1/2 pic.twitter.com/qnnXLdSSOa (@_MtheGem) January 28, 2020 The quake struck at 2.10 pm south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica at a depth of approximately six miles, according to the US Geological Survey. Reports from the Cayman Islands depicted spilled sewage lines and cracked roads, though no reported injuries or deaths. Residents and workers in downtown Miami were urged to evacuate from buildings impacted by tremors felt throughout south Florida. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 19:54:44|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ISTANBUL, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Tuesday deported four French fighters back to France, the state-run TRT broadcaster reported. The number of foreign fighters who were sent back to their countries since November 11, 2019, has reached 200, the report said citing a statement released by the Interior Ministry. Turkey earlier declared that it would send thousands of captured Islamic State militants, mostly from Europe, back to their countries, even if their citizenships were canceled. WASHINGTON - Republicans lack the votes to block witnesses at President Donald Trumps impeachment trial, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded late Tuesday, a potentially major hurdle for Trumps hopes to end the trial with a quick acquittal. Earlier, Trumps lawyers concluded his defence with a plea to move on. Even after sitting through days and late nights of argument, several Republicans apparently are ready to join Democrats in considering in-person testimony from former National Security Adviser John Bolton and perhaps others. Trumps lawyers made their closing case for a speedy acquittal Tuesday, but to no avail. McConnell told colleagues in a private meeting that he did not yet have the votes to block Democrats from summoning witnesses. That outcome would prolong an election-year trial that Trump and his legal team had hoped was on track, as one lawyer said, to end now, as soon as possible. McConnnells statement, in a closed-door meeting of senators, was an acknowledgment of the extent to which revelations from Bolton have scrambled the trials schedule and the desire for testimony. Bolton writes in a forthcoming book that Trump told him he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it helped with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. That assertion, if true, would undercut a key defence argument and go to the heart of one major article of impeachment against the president. Trump complained anew at a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, focusing on Democrats rather than Republican senators. While we are creating jobs and killing terrorists, the congressional Democrats are obsessed with demented hoaxes, crazy witch hunts and deranged partisan crusades, he said. There are still several days before any potential witness vote would be taken. A decision to call more witnesses would require 51 votes to pass. With a 53-47 majority, Republicans can only afford to lose three. If senators agree they want more witnesses they would then have to vote again on who to call. McConnell convened the private meeting shortly after Trumps legal team concluded their arguments in the trial, arguing forcefully against the relevance of testimony from Bolton and insisting that nothing Trump had done amounted to an impeachable offence. While scoffing at Boltons book manuscript, Trump and the Republicans have strongly resisted summoning him to testify in person about what he saw and heard as Trumps top national security adviser. A day after the defence team largely brushed past Bolton, attorney Jay Sekulow addressed the controversy head-on by dismissing the book said to contradict a key defence argument about Trumps dealings with Ukraine as inadmissible. It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts, Sekulow said. A night earlier Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz said that nothing in the manuscript even if true rises to the level of an impeachable offence. Sekulow also sought to undermine the credibility of Boltons book by noting that Attorney General William Barr has disputed comments attributed to him by Bolton. Senate Republicans spent considerable time in private discussing how to deal with Boltons manuscript without extending the proceedings or jeopardizing the presidents expected acquittal. Those lost steam, and Democrats showed no interest. Chuck Schumer, the Senates top Democrat, called a proposal for senators to be shown the manuscript in private, keeping Bolton out of public testimony, absurd. Were not bargaining with them. We want four witnesses, and four sets of documents, then the truth will come out, Schumer said. Senators are being warned that if they agree to call Bolton to testify or try to access his book manuscript, the White House will block him, beginning a weeks-long court battle over executive privilege and national security. That had seemed to leave the few senators, including Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who have expressed a desire to hear new testimony without strong backing. Also, other Republicans including Sen. Pat Toomey want reciprocity -- bring in Bolton or another Democratic witness in exchange for one from the GOP side. Some Republicans want to hear from Biden and his son, Hunter, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company when his father was vice-president. The Bidens were a focus of Trump defence arguments though no evidence of wrongdoing has emerged. The lawyers also delved into areas that Democrats see as outside the scope of impeachment, chastising former FBI Director James Comey and seizing on surveillance errors the FBI has acknowledged making in its Russian election interference probe. Trumps attorneys argued that the Founding Fathers took care to make sure that impeachment was narrowly defined, with offences clearly enumerated. The bar for impeachment cannot be set this low, Sekulow said. Danger. Danger. Danger. These articles must be rejected. The Constitution requires it. Justice demands it. Before consideration of witnesses, the case now moves toward written questions, with senators on both sides getting 16 hours to pose queries. By late in the week, they are expected to hold a vote on whether or not to hear from any witnesses. I dont know that the manuscript would make any difference in the outcome of the trial, said Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of GOP leadership. And some Republicans said they simply dont trust Boltons word. Rand Paul of Kentucky called Bolton disgruntled and seeking to make money off his time at the White house. But John Kelly, Trumps former White House chief of staff, told an audience in Sarasota, Florida, that he believes Bolton. White House officials privately acknowledge that they are essentially powerless to block the books publication, but could sue after the fact if they believe it violated the confidentiality agreement Bolton signed against disclosing classified information. Trump is charged with abusing his presidential power by asking Ukraines leader to help investigate Biden at the same time his administration was withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid. A second charge accuses Trump of obstructing Congress in its probe. Trump and his lawyers have argued repeatedly that Democrats are using impeachment to try to undo the results of the last presidential election and drive Trump from office. What they are asking you to do is to throw out a successful president on the eve of an election, with no basis, and in violation of the Constitution, said White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. Why not trust the American people with this decision? Why tear up their ballots? Democrats, meanwhile, say Trumps refusal to allow administration officials to testify only reinforces that the White House is hiding evidence. The White House has had Boltons manuscript for about a month, according to a letter from Boltons attorney. No matter the vote on witnesses, acquittal still seems likely given that Republicans hold a majority in the Senate and conviction would require a two-thirds majority against Trump. According to data compiled by C-SPAN, the House managers used just under 22 of their 24 hours over three days, while the White House team used almost 12 hours, or half their time. ___ Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Mary Clare Jalonick, Andrew Taylor, Matthew Daly, Laurie Kellman and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report. The developers who own the Carlton site where the historic Corkman Irish Pub once stood have failed to carry out their latest promise, which was to build a temporary public park on the land. The failure has led the opposition to renew its call for the Andrews government to forcibly acquire the land. The Carlton site on Tuesday. Credit:Joe Armao Developers Raman Shaqiri and Stefce Kutlesovski in October 2016 knocked down the 159-year-old pub without planning or building permission. They were initially fined almost $2 million for brazenly destroying the building over the course of a weekend. Last year, their County Court appeal saw the fines cut to $1.1 million. NEW YORK (JTA)-A local NAACP official in New Jersey has been suspended from his position for six months after giving a speech castigating Orthodox Jews in Jersey City and the largely Jewish city of Lakewood. James Harris, the chair of the education committee for the Montclair, New Jersey branch of the civil rights organization, has apologized for his remarks. Harris gave a speech at a Dec. 30 community meeting on gentrification in which he called Hasidic Jews unfriendly and blamed Hasidic Jewish developers for pressuring longtime residents of African-American neighborhoods to sell their homes, which he said has happened in Brooklyn and Lakewood as well. Haris said that African-Americans in Jersey City and in Montclair live in "fear of being replaced by these strangers who really aren't friendly." "How many people are familiar with the Hasidics?" he said. "The Hasidics are generally not too friendly to anybody other than themselves. So, some stress started to develop because people remember Brooklyn and Lakewood. Are we going to be displaced by these people who are not all that friendly?" Later, he pushed back at the notion that criticizing Israel or Jewish people is necessarily anti-Semitic. He had not mentioned Israel previously in his speech. "I found out that people are very, very quick to label anything that's critical of Israel or the Jewish as anti-Semitic," he said. "Excuse me, if the facts are facts it doesn't necessarily make it anti-Semitic." He also urged people in the audience to "to go on their cell phone and look up the word 'semitic.' What is a semite? Look it up in the dictionary. You'd be surprised." Harris, who also serves as president of the New Jersey Association of Black Educators, claimed that the Lakewood Jewish community "controls" the local Board of Education as well as the City Council, and said that the school board drained funding from the local public schools. He said that the board apportioned $15 million for busing to Jewish private schools. "The Jewish community controls the Board of Education and the City Council but they spend huge amounts of money sending kids to the yeshiva, and they gutted the budget for the black and Latino students who are left in the public schools," he said. On Tuesday, the president of the Montclair NAACP, Al Pelham, announced that Harris was suspended for six months. In his statement, Pelham noted that the group's mission is to secure equal rights and well-being for all people. "Some of Mr. Harris's overall comments and tone that evening were in clear contradiction of the NAACP's mission and thus the Montclair Branch condemns them," Pelham said, according to the publication Montclair Local. "There is much work to be done regarding the many issues facing the Montclair Public Schools and the branch does not want this unfortunate issue to be a distraction." Harris apologized for the remarks, and expressed his condolences for the victims of the shooting at a Jersey City kosher supermarket, which had taken place about three weeks before his speech. He said his remarks did not represent the NAACP or the New Jersey Association of Black Educators. "I would like to express my sincere regret and apologize for the remarks I made about the Hasidic community and the development of Montclair, NJ," he said in a statement, according to Montclair Local. "My personal statement was meant to focus on the impact of gentrification on lower socioeconomic communities in Montclair, NJ. Instead, I used a regional example of Lakewood, NJ real estate and public education funding. Unfortunately I used terms and examples that have been interpreted as anti-Semitic." Over the weekend, Montclair Mayor Robert Jackson condemned anti-Semitism and racism, and announced that he would convene a meeting of African-American clergy and rabbis to address "the incendiary cloud hanging over our community at the moment." "Heinous incidents nationwide, and in Jersey City and Monsey in particular, shocked and sickened all of us," he said in a statement on Jan. 4. "However, recent developments have made it abundantly clear that there is much work to be done, even in our beloved Montclair. Hate, bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism, and intolerance have no place anywhere and particularly in our community and as a community we will work tirelessly to ensure that they are addressed head-on and rooted out." Mother allegedly kills, stuffs infant into bed-box, elopes with lover India oi-Mousumi Dash Chandigarh, Jan 28: In a horrific incident a two-and-a-half-year-old child was found dead in a compartment inside the bed of his parents in Burail, a village near Chandigarh, Punjab. According to reports the father of the victim has accused that his wife has killed their son, and put his stuffed body into the bed and eloped with her lover. The victim's father, Dashrath is an electrician by his profession. According to the police, on Sunday, Dashrath found his wife and child missing when he returned home from work. Like a normal day, he initially thought they had gone to his in-laws' house. But the spine chilling incident shocked him when his wife allegedly told him that the infant was inside the bed compartment as he contacted her. The infant was killed brutally, a glove was also stuffed into his mouth to gag him. Man digs pit for dead daughter, finds infant girl buried alive As he opened the bed box, he found his 2.5-year-old son. He then called the police accusing his wife of murdering the child and having eloped with her lover. Meanwhile, a case of murder has been registered against the child's mother at Sector 34 police station and further investigation is underway. The police said as the child's mother is on run, hence cops are putting a lot of efforts to trace her. The incident has shocked everyone in the area. Global Small Hydropower Market value is expected to reach around US$ 3.2 bn by 2026 and growing at a CAGR of around 3.3% over the forecast period 2019 to 2026. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acumen Research and Consulting, a global provider of market research studies, in a recently published report titled Small Hydropower Market (By Capacity: Up to 1 MW, 110 MW, Others; By Type: Micro Hydropower, Mini Hydropower, Pico Hydropower; By Components: Electromechanical Equipment, Electric infrastructure, Civil Works, Others) Global Industry Analysis, Market Size, Opportunities And Forecast, 2019 - 2026. Free Download Sample Report Pages for Better Understanding@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/1691 Asia Pacific region is projected to witness a major share of the global small hydropower market during the forecast period. The region is primarily gaining growth due to increasing investment in renewable energy development in developing nations of the region. For instance, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing training to young Indian leaders on building renewable energy sector by its Knowledge Co-Creation Program. Moreover, the major economies of the region including China, India, and Vietnam are majorly contributing to the regional market growth. By capacity, the 110 MW segment is expected to contribute to the major share in the small hydropower market. The segment is primarily gaining positive growth due to the increasing installation of small hydropower projects in developing economies. For instance, a 9MW solar-hydro hybrid project in development in Burundi was awarded $990,000 by the African Development Bank-managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) in 2019. View Detail Information with Complete TOC@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/small-hydropower-market On the basis of type, mini hydropower segment is projected to register maximum share during the forecast period. The increasing installation of mini-hydropower plants in various economies across the globe is expected to support the segment market value. The developed economies including the US and Norway are investing in the small hydropower projects to increase the renewable energy share in the nations energy mix. Story continues Some of the leading competitors are Voith (Germany), ANDRITZ (Austria), GE Renewable Energy (France), Siemens (Germany), Toshiba (Japan), BHEL (India), SNC-Lavalin (Canada), HNAC Technology (China), Gilbert Gilkes & Gordon Ltd (UK), Mavel (Czech Republic), HM Hydro (Japan), Ganz EEM (Hungary), Kolektor Turboinstitut (Slovenia), Canyon Hydro (US), CKD Blansko (Czech Republic), Canadian Hydro Components (Canada), ATB Riva Calzoni (Italy), Flovel (India), B Fouress (India), and Global Hydro(Austria). Small Hydropower companies have announced strategic partnerships to expand their position in the small hydropower industry. Major players are also moving into new regions with advanced technologies. Browse More Energy and Power Industry Research Reports@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/industry-categories/energy-and-power Some of the key observations regarding small hydropower industry include: Azerbaijans Azerenerji OJSC has commissioned a new small hydropower plant in the territory of Shimla-2 in the year 2019. The new plant is incorporated in Baku with the 400-megawatt power which is the highest efficiency in the South Caucasus region. Voith Hydro has opened its new office in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2019. The company is supplying hydropower equipment in Nepal since 1968 and this expansion is expected to increase its customer base with assured quality services. Voiths subsidiary VolgaHydro has opened its new production plant in Balakovo, Russia in the same year. This new investment is intended to supply equipment to large and small hydropower plants in the region. In 2019, GE Renewable Energy with its partnership with Energy has started offering modular turbines for micro hydropower. The new hydropower units are available in 10kW and 15kW sizes and can offer up to 1MW. The Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change of Malaysia under section 63 of the Renewable Energy Act 2011 (REA) has issued the Renewable Energy Order 2019 for biomass and small hydropower installations. The new order specifies feed-in-tariff rate for small hydropower where feed-in-tariff rate ranges from RM0.2300 to RM0.2599 per kilowatt-hour for the installation capacity less than 30MW with the net head of more than 10 meters and feed-in-tariff rate range from RM0.2900 per kilowatt-hour for installations capacity of less than 30MW with the net head less than 10 meters. European Commission has announced an initiative of 18 million and a consortium of 19 partners at the climate change conference (COP25) 2019 in Madrid, Spain. The new energy innovation project is named XFLEX HYDRO (Hydropower Extending Power System Flexibility), which can deliver low-carbon, reliable and resilient power to help meet the renewable energy targets of the countries. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced US$24.9 Mn funding in 2019. The funding is intended to drive innovation and technology-based solutions for the marine and hydrokinetics industry to increase hydropowers ability to serve as a flexible grid resource. Request for Customization@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-customization/1691 The report is readily available and can be dispatched immediately after payment confirmation. Buy this premium research report@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/1691 If you would like to place an order or have any questions, please feel free to contact at sales@acumenresearchandconsulting.com | +1 407 915 4157 OR +1 408 900 9135 For Latest Update Follow Us: https://twitter.com/AcumenRC https://www.facebook.com/acumenresearchandconsulting https://www.linkedin.com/company/acumen-research-and-consulting/ A Vietnamese woman has recently been isolated and placed under observation in the central province of Quang Nam for a new coronavirus, local health officials said on Tuesday. P.T.H.T, 29, is a flight attendant who had a trip to Shanghai, China from January 18 to 20. Shanghai is one of the places announcing infected cases after a pneumonia outbreak, caused by a new strain of the coronavirus family that caused SARS and MERS, first surfaced in Wuhan City in December 2019. The virus has spread to other places across China and many other countries including the U.S., France, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and others. Statistics on Tuesday showed the death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in China has soared to 106 while nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed, AFP quoted. After the flight to Shanghai, P.T.H.T. returned to Ho Chi Minh City before traveling to her grandparents hometown in Nui Thanh District, Quang Nam Province for the Tet, or Lunar New Year, holiday. T. started to have a fever on the night of January 24, with symptoms of coughing, pneumonia, and tiredness. She took medicines from a local pharmacy to treat the symptoms but did not feel better. Two days later, T. was admitted to the Quang Nam Central General Hospital, where she has been isolated and placed under observation for treatment. Samples from T. were taken and sent to the Pasteur Institute of Nha Trang for testing. Results have not been released. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Subscription fees for Houstons multiple listing service are increasing for the first time in 20 years. The service provides information and services to real estate agents and brokers, such as access to home sales prices unavailable to the public. The monthly agent fee to access MLS data will increase to $35 from $20, a 75 percent jump. The increase is to help the Houston Association of Realtors technology compete with other platforms such as Zillow. Harris County leaders are considering purchasing an unfinished housing development in Montgomery County to help protect Kingwood residents from flooding, an unprecedented land deal emblematic of a new, more aggressive approach to flood control. Commissioners Court will debate in executive session Tuesday whether to purchase the roughly 300-acre site owned by Perry Homes, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said. Many residents in Elm Grove, the Kingwood subdivision that abuts the property to the south, believe the development caused their neighborhood to flood twice in 2019 in May and again in September when Tropical Storm Imelda battered Kingwood. The residents say Perry Homes made the neighborhood more vulnerable to flooding, a claim that has yet to be proven. The residents filed suit against Perry Homes, and the homebuilder has since approached Harris County about selling the property, Cagle said. Many residents expressed support for the idea Monday. The issue places Commissioners Court in a pickle: How can the county protect flood victims without sending the message that if builders bungle a flood plain project, the government will let them off the hook? I am very motivated to try to do whatever I can to get the most people out of the water the best way, the fastest way, the most economical way, Cagle said. If (the Harris County Flood Control District) takes it over, instead of building just the detention thats necessary for the new development, serious detention could be built that could affect the entire watershed, he added. A spokesman for Figure Four Partners, a Perry Homes subsidiary working on the Kingwood development, declined comment beyond a statement that it has always been willing to consider reasonable alternatives that would provide more robust mitigation. The Flood Control District has a sum in mind to pay for the parcel, Cagle said, adding that Montgomery County and the city of Houston would need to pick up part of the tab. The parcel is inside city limits. District E Councilman Dave Martin, who represents Kingwood, said he has supported Houston providing funds for the purchase at the right price. In discussions with Perry Homes since the fall, Martin said, the builder has asked to be reimbursed for the initial cost of the land, plus the sum the firm sunk into developing the property. Why should we pay for all the work they did that caused hundreds of houses to flood? Martin said. We want to work with them, absolutely, but their asking price was unreasonable. Mayor Sylvester Turner and Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Cagle said that should a deal be reached, the buyers must ensure Perry does not profit from the transaction. He said the countys focus should not be on punishing a builders unwise decisions, but rather on evaluating how the land could be used to protect residents near the San Jacinto River from flooding. If we can help somebody that flooded because somebody upstream made a bad decision, shouldnt we try to help them? Cagle said. Instead of looking at it from the terms of bailing out a developer, lets look at helping people who have been potentially harmed. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said she looked forward to discussing a plan that makes the most sense for taxpayers and residents who have repeatedly flooded. The county also recently announced plans to purchase Raveneaux Country Club and convert the 200-acre site into detention basins. The Flood Control District has more capital for land acquisition than at any point in its history, since voters in 2018 passed a $2.5 billion bond for mitigation projects. Residents support purchase Residents who support the purchase of the Perry Homes development include Raymond Giles. The home he shares with his wife and three children flooded for the first time last May and again during Imelda last September. My kids have trouble sleeping when it rains, Giles said. If Harris County can buy this out and they can restore the wetlands that were there before Perry went in Im all for it. Giles is one of dozens of Elm Grove residents suing Perry Homes as well as Rebel Contractors Inc., which worked on the site. The homeowners allege Perry Homes filled in creeks and drainage channels, forcing water into Elm Grove. It is unclear if the claims are accurate. Elm Grove and the vacant development sit inside the 100- and 500-year flood plains and portions of Kingwood have repeatedly flooded in the past five years. Perry Homes, in court papers, denies the allegations. Omar Chawdhary, an attorney representing the homeowners, said the case will proceed against Perry Homes even if the firm no longer owns the property. He said his clients believe they would benefit from the Flood Control District owning the property. Beth Guide, director of the Elm Grove homeowners association, said she encouraged local elected officials to purchase the site last summer. The previously wooded land acted as a sponge for stormwater, she said, arguing that restoring it with vegetation is the only solution. Should this not be done, the residents of Elm Grove will not stop fighting for their property rights, Guide said. zach.despart@chron.com Sanders has a reputation for focusing on class to the exclusion of all else; as David Frum put it in The Atlantic, Left but not woke is the Bernie Sanders brand. On the ground in Iowa, however, it is not the brand of his campaign. Sanders isnt just running the most economically left campaign; hes running the most unapologetically left campaign, period. And its surging, with Sanders leading in recent polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire. The CIA psychologist responsible for waterboarding the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks threatened to kill one of the plotter's sons, a military tribunal has heard. James Mitchell was recruited by the CIA to design their post-9/11 interrogation program and was personally involved in the waterboarding of self-proclaimed September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Mohammed and his four fellow defendants claim that anything said while in custody was tainted by the torture they were subjected to, including threats made against their family, as described by Mitchell. Mitchell told a Guantanamo military court pre-trial hearing for Mohammed, and other 9/11 conspirators, that his threat may have been made in poor judgement but that he wanted the terrorist 'to remember it'. Mohammed's main trial begins in 2021. Psychologist James Mitchell was recruited by the CIA to design their post-9/11 interrogation program which included waterboarding, intense sleep deprivation, and 'stress positions' Mitchell said that he threatened the kill the son of self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (pictured shortly after his capture in 2003) if there was any further attack on the United States 'If there was a catastrophic attack on the United States and I find out that you had information and if another child dies, then I will cut your son's throat' the psychologist told Mohammed, according to the Los Angeles Times. Mohammed's sons, then seven and nine, were detained in Pakistan in 2002. The are now believed to be in Iran with their mother. Mitchell claims he was trying to ensure Mohammed would continue to co-operate in providing information when the brutal interrogation was discontinued. The threat was made in March 2003 as Mohammed was interrogated for information on further attacks that may be carried out on the United States. Captured three weeks earlier in Pakistan, the 9/11 mastermind was transferred first to Afghanistan and then to Poland where the harsh interrogation began within one hour of his March 7 arrival. The interrogation continued until March 26. Mohammed was deprived of sleep, waterboarded 183 times, slapped, shoved into a wall, placed in stress positions and exposed to continuous bright light and loud noise, all while he was nude. Mitchell claims that waterboarding, the harshest technique, was ineffective on Mohammed. 'He was a remarkable resister on that,' he commented. Psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen originally trained US pilots to resist interrogation but the CIA hired them to reverse-engineer training to break terrorism suspects The psychologist told the pre-trial that he wished for the harshest techniques to be used only up until the prisoners 'start talking', after which point he claims to have pushed the CIA to end the most brutal interrogation methods. 'During the harshest period of my interrogation I gave a lot of false information in order to satisfy what I believed the interrogators wished to hear in order to make the ill treatment stop,' Mohammed later told the Red Cross. 'I later told interrogators that their methods were stupid and counterproductive.' In 2021, Mohammed and four other defendants, Walid bin Attash, Ammar Baluchi, Ramzi bin Shibh and Mustafa Hawsawi, are set to stand trial accused of conspiring to murder almost 3,000 people in the terror plot. They were all arrested between 2002 and 2003 and have been in U.S. custody ever since. All five men face the death penalty if convicted of charges that include terrorism and nearly 3,000 counts of murder for their alleged roles planning and providing logistical support to the 9/11 hijacking plot. The current pre-trial hearings will continue until the end of the week at the defense team battle to dismiss key evidence. A defense lawyer for Mohammed claims that anything he said while in custody is tainted by the harsh interrogation techniques used. This argument has now become the key focus of an effort to dismiss key evidence against the five men charged in the plot ahead of their 2021 trial. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. He is due to stand trial in 2021 accused of conspiring to murder almost 3,000 people in the terror plot The defense team of five defendants accused of conspiring to murder almost 3,000 people in the 9/11 terror plot claim that anything said while in custody was tainted by torture techniques They are making the defense using a 2014 Senate investigation which found that that the interrogation program designed by Mitchell and his colleague Bruce Jessen was used on 39 detainees and produced no useful intelligence. They were paid up to $1,800 a day and received $81 million for their work, according to the Senate report. Mohammed's defense team also argued using a report from the CIA's Office of Medical Services which claimed that while well-intentioned, the interrogation program was amateurish and inconsistent. The report also criticized as 'inappropriate' that the interrogators using waterboarding techniques were responsible for judging its effectiveness. Defense lawyers for the five men called Mitchell and other CIA contractors, who observed and took part in interrogations at clandestine CIA facilities, as witnesses in an effort to disqualify statements they made after they were transferred to Guantanamo in September 2006. Mitchell, who designed the interrogation program alongside Jessen, claims that the methods used prevented future attacks and has shown no signs of remorse for the brutal techniques, which are now widely regarded as torture. It appears that the only reason he wished for the techniques to stop was because of a fear it would stop those being interrogated from co-operating. The methods used included waterboarding, intense sleep deprivation, confinement in a small box, prolonged shackling in 'stress positions' and being doused with cold water. 'Let me tell you just so you know... If it were today, I would do it again,' he told the pre-trial on Tuesday, January 21, where he came face-to-face with the five men for the first time since as they listened to his testimony. 'We were trying to save American lives. 'My sole focus was stopping the next attack,' he added, stating that the CIA was urgently trying to gather information as they feared 'another catastrophic attack'. Mitchell spent the first day of his testimony providing details about the interrogation program, as well as what he said was the 'context' necessary to understand it. The since retired Air Force psychologist told the court that the CIA was the 'tip of the spear' in the months after the terror attacks and they were urgently trying to gather vital intelligence using techniques that had been authorized by the U.S. government. Mitchell agreed to come to Guantanamo to testify without a subpoena to give his version of events, which he also detailed in a book, called 'Enhanced Interrogation,' that he co-wrote with a CIA spokesman. 'I'm happy to talk about my role in the program and what the program did,' he told the court. At times, however, Mitchell appeared to bristle at the questioning on Tuesday. When defense lawyer James Connell thanked him for coming to court, he replied, 'I did it for the victims and families not for you.' Walid bin Attash (left) and Ammar Baluchi (right) are also defendants Mustafa Hawsawi (left) and Ramzi bin Shibh (right) are also defendants Mitchell is expected to be followed on the stand by Jessen. Their testimony will likely take up much of a pretrial hearing scheduled to last two weeks. The psychologists previously worked at the Air Force survival school at Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane, Washington, where they trained pilots to avoid capture and resist interrogation and torture. After 9/11, the CIA hired them to reverse-engineer that training to break terrorism suspects. Mitchell and Jessen gave depositions in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of three former prisoners, including one who died in custody. The case was settled for undisclosed terms in August 2017 and the two former contractors did not testify in court. Prosecutors claim the five prisoners charged as the 9/11 plotters gave so-called 'clean' statements to the FBI after they arrived at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (pictured above) They defended their work when the lawsuit was settled, arguing that neither contractor condoned or conducted any mistreatment of prisoners and that the overall program was authorized by the government. Under a 2006 law set up the military commission, any statements must be voluntary to be admitted into evidence and the government is not seeking to use at the trial anything the men said while in CIA custody. But the prisoners also gave what prosecutors have called 'clean' statements to the FBI after they arrived at Guantanamo. Lawyers for the five defendants argue that everything the men have said in custody was tainted by the torture they were subjected to while in CIA confinement. The testimony in Guantanamo is an important milestone in the 9/11 war crimes proceedings, which have been bogged down in the pretrial phase since the May 2012 arraignment. All five men face the death penalty if convicted of charges that include terrorism and nearly 3,000 counts of murder for their alleged roles planning and providing logistical support to the hijacking plot. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 19:20:39|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close The sky over the Namadgi National Park turns orange due to a bushfire in Canberra, Australia, Jan. 28, 2020. A bushfire in the south of Canberra is recognized as the most serious bushfire threat to the Australian capital since 2003, according to local sources on Tuesday. The fire, believed to be started on Monday by the landing of a defence helicopter, has engulfed nearly 8,000 hectares as of 7:30 p.m. local time, said a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua) CANBERRA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- A bushfire in the south of Canberra is recognized as the most serious bushfire threat to the Australian capital since 2003, according to local sources on Tuesday. The fire, believed to be started on Monday by the landing of a defence helicopter, has engulfed nearly 8,000 hectares as of 7:30 p.m. local time, said a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "This is the most serious situation we have faced since the 2003 bushfires," said Andrew Barr, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Fires entered the suburbs of Canberra in 2003, killing four people, injuring 430 and destroying hundreds of homes. The Department of Defence said that the fire was possibly caused by a helicopter, the landing lights of which set the grass on fire with heat. Residents in south Canberra near the fire zone are urged to closely monitor the situation and activate their survival plans. The ACT Emergency Services Agency believed that the upcoming heatwave would make it difficult to control the fire. Dutch health technology company Philips said on Tuesday it is looking to sell its domestic appliances division, whose coffee machines, air purifiers and airfryers generated 2.3 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in sales last year. Philips said it would carve out the business in the coming 12 to 18 months, while it reviewed its future options. "This business is not a strategic fit for our future as a health technology leader," Chief Executive Officer Frans van Houten said. Once a sprawling conglomerate, Philips has transformed itself into a specialised health technology company in recent years, spinning off its lighting and consumer electronics divisions. "We are committed to finding a good home for this business, as we expand and invest in our consumer health and professional healthcare related businesses." Philips also reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) of 1.066 billion euros on sales of 5.96 billion euros. Analysts polled by the company on average had expected core earnings of 1.07 billion euros on sales of 6.03 billion euros. Ryanair has kicked off an influx of 'I didn't know it was a party' memes mocking Boris Johnson after he was forced to apologise for hosting a 'party' in the Downing Street garden in May 2020. The popular low-cost carrier posted an image of the Prime Minister's face edited onto a popular meme showing dancing party-goers with the caption 'Boris Johnson for 25 minutes on 20 May 2020' and 'I don't know I'm at a party' next to Mr Johnson's face. Mr Johnson today finally admitted he went to a 'party' in the Downing Street garden at the height of lockdown - but argued he thought it was a 'work event' and 'technically' within the rules. At a stormy PMQs, Mr Johnson said he wanted to 'thank' staff at the event in May 2020 but recognised that in 'hindsight' it should not have happened. He said he understood public 'fury' and 'took responsibility', but said he had believed it was a work event. 'I bitterly regret it. I wish we could have done things differently,' he said. Social media erupted into a hive of memes mocking Mr Johnson, with one showing Ant and Dec in a fit of giggles - alluding to the television presenter's previous jibes at the Government. The Government needs to set up a public register for households to track the new owners of their mortgage loans when they are sold onto vulture funds, a leading legal expert on mortgage arrears has said. Paul Joyce, senior policy adviser at the Free Legal Advice Centres, or Flac, said sales of distressed mortgage loans quickened last year as banks sold off loans in arrears to vulture funds and other companies. However, households have been left mostly in the dark over the identity of the beneficial owners of their loans when they are sold on by banks, according to Mr Joyce. He said that the lack of transparency was troubling and politicians in the election campaign need to focus on the still-elevated level of mortgage arrears. He said he was also concerned about a revision made to official mortgage arrears figures first published last year. The call comes as new Central Bank figures showed that non-bank entities held 12% of all home mortgage accounts at the end of September but accounted for almost half, or 48%, of all residential mortgages in long-term arrears. Those are defined as an account facing payment difficulty of over two years. It is worrying because the funds are not going to use the same tactics as the associated banks who do not want to be seen, to any huge extent, to be involved in repossession activity in the courts, Mr Joyce said. Of course, a fund does not have any customer relationship. It doesnt have an image to worry about. Its bottom line is, can I make a profit out of this? he said. He said a public register would help lift the secrecy over mortgage debt sales by banks. It is not like there is a transparent log kept by the Central Bank as to what portfolios of loans have been sold to whom. That should be a piece of information that the public should be entitled to access on account of the phenomenon in recent months that loans which have been sold once, have been sold on again. The new Central Bank figures show there were 61,802 residential mortgage accounts facing some sort of arrears at the end of September, down from a revised total of 65,043 in the second quarter, at the end of June. However, Mr Joyce said he was concerned about the size of the revision applied by the Central Bank to the second-quarter figure, which was originally posted as 61,901. A Central Bank spokesman told the Irish Examiner the revision came about after one unnamed institution had to revise its figures, which led to an increase in the number of mortgage arrears outstanding. The figures show that 88,587 residential mortgage accounts had been restructured by the end of September. The vast bulk of the new deals struck between the mortgage lender and houseowners involve arrears capitalisation and split mortgages. According to the figures, 86% of the restructures were following the terms of the new agreements. There were 150 mortgage accounts that faced a court-granted repossession in the third quarter. Adviser concerned over revision to official mortgage arrears figures The belt for pregnant women, which is monitoring the health of a fetus was labelled as the best in the healthcare field at the annual Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge organized by San Jose State University, US A team of students from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) BeltaMom has designed a belt for pregnant women that monitors the condition of the fetus from the 2nd trimester. It helps to keep track of the baby's heart rate, his or her movements, weight and water volume. The innovation was labelled as the best in the healthcare field at the annual Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge organized by San Jose State University, US. The belt has four ultrasonic sensors (to count fetal weight and water volume) and one stethoscope sensor (to count motion and heart rate). All the information collected is transmitted via Bluetooth to a mobile application that performs data analysis, tracks dynamics and reports changes. "The idea came from the personal experience of our family members and the desire to make pregnancy easier and calmer. This topic is also relevant to us as future moms", says Paulina Bistrickaite, one of the BeltaMom team members. BeltaMom is a joint team of students from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and biomedical engineering students of San Jose State University. KTU students are representing the School of Economics and Business, Faculties of Mechanical Engineering and Design, and Civil Engineering and Architecture: Paulius Sudintas, Simonas Burneika, Mantas Murauskas, Arnas Pranckevicius, Vytaute Razutyte, Samanta Cepononyte, Paulina Bistrickaite. Healthcare innovations are needed by society Rita Juceviciene, associate professor at the KTU School of Economics and Business (SEB) says that the innovation was born out of a desire to improve the environment. "Seeing the hardships our dear people are facing, we wanted to come up with a solution to alleviate these negative experiences. The competitions like this demonstrate, that one doesn't need to be a medical professional in order to generate ideas and solutions to improve human health. In our case, the students of business, finance and engineering developed the concept for monitoring the health of a pregnant woman", says Juceviciene. According to her, the KTU students of Technology Entrepreneurship study module are successfully representing the university at the "Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge" for several years in a row. This tendency is especially visible in the healthcare innovations field. "It is obvious that healthcare innovations are relevant and welcome to the public", Juceviciene. 40 teams from all over the world participated in the competition, and most of them introduced medical devices. Acquired knowledge from the medical field According to the students, although there was a lot of work to be done on this project, the result is very encouraging. "When we heard that there was an opportunity to go to America, to take part in an innovation competition, we started thinking seriously about the idea and its development to achieve that goal. We have been working hard since September, so we are very pleased with our achievements and feel well appreciated. This is proof that when you want something very hard and you work hard - everything is possible", says Bistrickaite. According to the students, preparing the project for the competition required a lot of effort to develop the technical part of the belt, and to encounter a little-known medical field. However, the latter aspect was also one of the most interesting parts of the project. "In my opinion, the biggest challenge, but also the most exciting part of our whole job, was the medical field because we had little knowledge about pregnancy, the importance of the health of the fetus, and how medical devices work. Because of this, I have had a lot of interest, consultations with doctors and specialists of other fields, and I am very happy to have acquired new knowledge from them," says Samanta Cepanonyte, another member of the team. KTU teams among the best for several years Since 2013, "Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge" has been successful for the KTU students attending the Technology Entrepreneurship study module. BeltaMom is already the 5th KTU student team among the winners with their idea and performance. According to Juceviciene, this only shows that KTU students can successfully compete in the global arena. "Technology Entrepreneurship, which has been taught at KTU for the 7th year, brings together a team of renowned scientists from various departments of the University who provide the students with not only updated, up-to-date study content but also help developing skills that are particularly needed in business," says Juceviciene. ### A British citizen and his family have not left their flat in the Chinese city of Wuhan for a week out of fear of infecting his nine-month-old daughter with the deadly coronavirus. The 22-year-old from Manchester, who asked to remain anonymous, said he and his wife are now rationing food to get through the outbreak, which originated in China. He said: My wife is staying positive but inside I can tell shes worried, we both are. We know that if our baby got sick she wouldnt make it and thats a horrible, dreadful feeling. Neither of them have been diagnosed with the illness but fear coming into contact with anyone who may carry the deadly strain. People wearing protective masks in a supermarket to help stop the spread of a deadly virus / AFP via Getty Images He said: The flat bit isnt that bad, its more the paranoia every time I go out in the corridor to empty bins or something like that. My wifes family gave us a lot of leftover meat and vegetables from the New Years dinner we had. We think that will last us a few more weeks. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government is working on how to bring people home from the Chinese city. Security and subway staff wearing protective coverings to stop the virus spreading / AFP via Getty Images However, the father-of-one said he would not be leaving the city, as his wife is a local. He did add that things seemed more positive today. He said: Theres been a lot of talk today about some positive developments in treating sick people. Chinese media reported this morning that a pregnant woman infected with the virus was successfully treated and in recovery and that the baby was doing fine. More and more of these small victories are popping up now and thats why were a bit more optimistic. The deadly virus has now spread to at least 16 cities. Wearing face masks in public is now mandatory in some Chinese cities. Pop sensation Ed Sheeran has been granted permission to turn his upmarket Notting Hill restaurant into a pub despite neighbours having previously complained about noisy punters. Bertie Blossoms is believed to be named after the 28-year-old's wife Cherrie Seaborn and opened last year. The launch party was attended by famous faces such as ex-England star Peter Crouch and his wife Abbey Clancy. Sheeran asked the local council if he could serve alcohol at his new restaurant to customers even if they aren't eating despite neighbours' fears over noise. Locals fear that by allowing people to drink without also making them eat, will attract a 'different kind of customer'. Ed Sheeran is thought to have named the restaurant after his wife Cherrie Seaborn (pictured together above) An Instagram picture from the bar shows that it offers a wide selection of drinks and locals are worried the new agreement would change the sort of customer going there People are pictured sat at tables in the restaurant enjoying a drink. Locals said some customers have been loud when leaving Under the current licence, alcohol can only be sold to customers who are dining at the eaterie in west London. But an application was submitted to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) in November, to allow it to serve just drinks as long as customers are sat down. It means that people will be able to go to Bertie Blossoms and just enjoy a drink, rather than sitting through a meal. The current licence for the premises states: 'Intoxicating liquor shall not be sold or supplied on the premises otherwise than to persons taking table meals there.' But the revised application was submitted by Sheeran's company Fat Punt Limited. A selection of the beers on offer at the restaurant are pictured above and people will now be able to enjoy a pint without having to order a meal For the ground floor, the application states: 'Alcohol will only be sold to customers seated at tables.' But locals claimed that occasionally customers are too loud when they leave the two-floor venue and are livid that the plans have been approved. A source said: 'Several people are disappointed with the decision. 'It's a really nice venue and it's quite popular but we fear it may change significantly and bring in a different kind of customer. Abbey Clancy and Peter Crouch were seen at the opening of the restaurant in Notting Hill The sign for the bar is pictured outside. People visiting will now be able to enjoy a drink 'Sometimes people can be a little bit loud when they leave the venue and we fear this could get worse.' It comes after Sheeran purchased a flat above the restaurant amid concerns that it could become an issue for the business venture. RBKC gave the plans the go-ahead on January 13th. Sheeran's Representatives have been contacted for comment. Choice Labs is not named in the recall because we are not the manufacturer of the products that were recalled. Choice Labs has never used vitamin E acetate at our facility, and every vape cartridge Choice has manufactured has passed testing for Vitamin E Acetate. We support the changes (the Marijuana Regulatory Agency) has made to ensure patient safety. (the Marijuana Regulatory Agency) has long ago stopped allowing provisioning centers to purchased untested material from caregivers. More recently, (the Marijuana Regulatory Agency) has taken massive action to ensure every cartridge sold by a licensed provisioning center after November 22nd has passed testing for Vitamin E acetate. Indian Navy aircraft spotted the movement of Chinese distant-water fishing fleet supported by the People's Liberation Army Navy ships, in western Indian Ocean Region, while they were moving towards Morocco in Africa. The movement of the Chinese vessels and the warships travelling along with them was tracked by the Indian Navy warships and aircraft deployed in that region, Indian Navy sources told ANI. The Chinese distant-water fishing fleet was moving towards Morocco as part of their expedition to fish far away from their shores, they said. The Western Indian Ocean connects North America, Europe and Asia, and as such is of global strategic importance. Sources said the Indian Navy keeps a close watch through its surveillance assets in the form of maritime surveillance aircraft including the American P-8I anti-submarine warfare and surveillance planes and satellites. India has been keeping a close eye on the movement of Chinese and Pakistani warships in the region including the movement of Chinese anti-piracy patrol fleet which passes through the Indian Ocean Region. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told me in an interview today that the U.S. will support Israeli annexations in the West Bank, as long as they're consistent with the maps presented in the U.S. peace plan. Why it matters: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he'd bring plans to annex the Jordan Valley and all settlements in the West Bank before the Cabinet on Sunday. He would not have taken such a dramatic step without U.S. backing. What he's saying: We set markers for the things we thought acceptable, and in exchange [for annexation] Netanyahu is prepared to take lands that are demarcated in our maps and hold those for a future Palestinian state." Mike Pompeo Pompeo said the Trump plan was the best opportunity the Palestinians would have, and he urged Palestinian leaders to reconsider their decision to reject it, or to perhaps present a counter-offer. Pompeo warned that Trump's plan could be the final offer the Palestinians receive. There is a real offer that sits on the table for the Palestinians all they need to do is to say yes. We are prepared to begin negotiations based on this vision. We can start the process towards their having the state they always wanted." Pompeo said he was not concerned that a Netanyahu loss in the March 2 election would affect the viability of the plan. Harvey Weinstein's rape and sexual assault trial considered an unexpected question on Tuesday: was the heavyset former Hollywood titan scared of a Chihuahua called Peanut? During a light moment in proceedings dominated by uncomfortable testimony, the roommate of one of Weinstein's accusers recalled how her pet pooch had chased him around their apartment. Elizabeth Entin told the New York court that Mimi Haleyi, who accuses Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her in 2006, called her and said "something weird had happened." "She said Harvey Weinstein showed up at our apartment and pushed his way in. I was a little startled and asked what happened?" said Entin. "Apparently my Chihuahua Peanut was chasing him and he was a little scared. He was like, 'What is this thing? Get it away from me,'" she added. As the "Pulp Fiction" producer shuffled out of the New York courtroom using a walking aid, a waiting reporter shouted out, "Mr Weinstein, are you afraid of Chihuahuas?" A grinning Weinstein laughed and replied, "Do I look like I'm afraid of Chihuahuas?" More than 80 women have accused the ex-Miramax Films boss of sexual assault since allegations against him first ignited the #MeToo movement in October 2017. But he faces charges related to just two women: Haleyi, and actress Jessica Mann, who says Weinstein raped her in 2013. Weinstein, 67, faces life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges against him, those of predatory sexual assault. On Monday, Haleyi testified that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a children's bedroom in his New York apartment while she was on her period. On Friday, "The Sopranos" actress Annabella Sciorra testified that Weinstein raped her in the early 90s, although her allegations are not part of the charge sheet. Mann has yet to take the stand. Weinstein says all his sexual relationships were consensual. His defense attorneys have provided dozens of emails which they say show Haleyi and Mann in a friendly relationship with Weinstein long after the alleged incidents. Harvey Weinstein (C) arrives at the Manhattan Criminal Court, on January 24, 2020, for his rape and sexual assault trial in New York City. A bank can continue to buy group insurance covers with any number of insurance companies for the insurance needs of its customers. The insurance regulator on Tuesday issued guidelines to protect the interest of customers of merging public sector banks covered under group health policies. Mumbai: The insurance regulator on Tuesday issued guidelines to protect the interest of customers of merging public sector banks covered under group health policies. The guidelines stated that the underlying group health insurance policies of customers of the merged banks will have to be serviced by the respective insurance companies which issued the policies till the end of policy period. It asked insurance companies to make suitable arrangements with the acquiring banks to this effect. The government has announced merger of 10 public sector banks (PSBs)Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India; Union Bank, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank; Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank; Indian Bank and Allahabad Bankunder four separate entities. The existing bancassurance regulations allow a bank to tie up with three life, three non-life and three health insurance companies. The regulator also said the arrangements of the merged banks can be continued with the respective insurance companies for a period of 12 months from the date of merger, subject to the willingness of the acquiring bank to function as the corporate agent for the respective insurance companies. Consequent to the merger of few PSBs, in order to protect the interests of the group insurance policyholders of the merged banks, the following guidelines are issued, the Insurance Regulatory and Develop-ment Authority of India (Irdai) said. A bank can continue to buy group insurance covers with any number of insurance companies for the insurance needs of its customers. The norms also said that at the end of the current policy period of the group insurance policy of the merged bank, the acquiring bank at its option may continue with the same group insurance policy with the same insurance company, for the customers of the merged bank. The acquiring bank may simultaneously continue to have insuranc coverage for its existing customers with its existing insurance company. The acquiring bank can also offer this insurance coverage to the customers of the merged bank with the consent of its insurer. The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2018 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 01:16:19|Editor: yan Video Player Close BERLIN, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The modernization of the German armed forces Bundeswehr had made only little progress last year, according to the annual report of the parliamentary commissioner for German armed forces presented on Tuesday. "Staff shortages, material shortages and bureaucratic over-organization remain a feature of everyday life" of the armed forces of Germany, the report stated. According to the report, the armed forces continued to have shortages of combat vehicles, helicopters, weapons and ammunition. The Ministry of Defense had "not succeeded in significantly improving the material operational readiness of the main weapon system so far." Commissioner Hans-Peter Bartels stressed that "a bold paradigm shift would be desirable." Instead of lengthy tendering processes, the report noted that most of the required military equipment could simply be bought on the market. The situation with regards to staff shortages had also seen little progress. The report found that the number of vacant officer posts in 2019 had remained at around 20,000. International deployments were often filled by the same specialists "over and over again", noted the report. Because of a standard deployment period of six months, this would be difficult to reconcile with family life. According to the Defense Ministry, Germany's defense budget had been around 43.2 billion euros (47.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, accounting for 12.1 percent of the total federal budget. Around 9.9 billion euros had been earmarked for investment measures. Last year, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced that Germany would increase its defense spending to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2024 and to 2 percent by 2031 in order to reach the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) target. Director Kitty Green and star Julia Garner on how they mobilized to make a movie about the insidiously abusive film industry and then premiered it to a festival full of their peers. Photo: Bleecker Street Kitty Green and Julia Garner dont really want to talk about Harvey Weinstein, but its hard to avoid the topic. His shadow looms large over The Assistant, Greens first narrative feature, which premiered this week at the Sundance Film Festival and stars Garner as Jane, a young woman low on the totem pole at an unnamed film-production company coming to terms with the reality that shes a cog in a machine built to protect predators. Weinstein is never mentioned by name, nor do we see the face of Janes boss, whos his obvious stand-in. But Weinsteins unmistakable presence is felt nonetheless in the hulking body Jane glimpses leaning over a young actress on his couch, in the gravelly, threatening voice berating her over the phone, and in the palpable culture of fear and oppression that permeates the office. Though The Assistant is the first film to deal with it directly, Green and Garner have much more on their minds than merely rehashing Weinsteins sickening tale of sexual abuse and manipulation. As Vultures Alison Willmore wrote in her review of the film, The Assistant shares an understanding that the man himself is less psychologically interesting than the people around him, and how theyve learned to tolerate, accommodate, rationalize away, or internalize his behavior. The Assistant is chilling in how it tracks the banality of an industry structured to enable and protect men like Weinstein. It follows a single day at Janes job: She makes coffee, she prints out stacks of glossy headshots, she arranges travel, all the while being dismissed and mistreated by her co-workers. But slowly, both Jane and the audience begin to realize that something even more sinister than structural misogyny is at play and Jane is both unwillingly complicit and powerless to stop it. I caught up with an understandably exhausted Green and Garner after the films festival premiere to talk about how they managed to make such a timely film so quickly, the research they gathered from within Hollywood and beyond, and whether theyre interested in men like Weinsteins reactions to their movie. How soon after the Weinstein story broke did you decide to write this movie, Kitty? Kitty Green: Id been working on a movie about consent on college campuses. Id been to Duke, to all these universities. I was at Stanford talking to a womens troupe who do plays about sexual assault and consent, and I was with them when the news broke. Immediately my phone blew up with my friends telling me the stories theyd heard, and from people that had worked there, and that shifted my focus at that point. I took everything Id learned about institutional power and consent and moved it over to that subject, the film industry. Which I actually felt closer to because Id worked in it. I started interviewing people right after the news hit. I probably did about six or eight months of interviewing across London, New York, L.A., and Australia. And then we shot in 18 days. How many people did you speak to? And how did you get them to open up to you? KG: Nearly 100. I think after you talk to one person, they recommend you speak to someone else its a domino effect. It was really incredible. The stories I was hearing were very similar, again and again, no matter where I was. That was kind of shocking for me. Abusive environments and gendered systems existed everywhere, which is pretty horrifying. So that became the driving force behind getting the film made. Were most of the people that you spoke to related to Weinstein in some way? Or was it more general? KG: No. Its easier to talk about Weinstein because Miramax is bankrupt, but there are a lot of companies still operating, and I spoke to assistants who still work for these men who are predatory. Well, not necessarily predatory Julia Garner: Abusive. KG: Yeah, there are a lot of toxic workplaces that are still operating. The importance of the film is that it highlights that behavior. And if enough people see the movie, hopefully it will change peoples behavior in some way. Theyll think about the way theyre treating others, who theyre promoting, and how they can make their workplaces more fair and equitable. JG: The goal, too, is that people outside the film industry [see it]. Right now were at a film festival and its like, How can we change this industry? But no how can we change all industries? Theres a world outside Hollywood. KG: I also spoke to people who worked in tech, and the same stuff happens in their offices. JG: And you hear about it working at a hospital. If youre working an intense job in an intimate setting, its more likely to happen. Right. It felt very recognizable to me. I think many women have been the intern or the assistant and have been mistreated or seen someone like them being mistreated. Did you guys draw from your own industry experiences while making this? KG: I was an assistant at ABC, and it was a very I was treated very well, but I was the youngest person in the office. I didnt have any power, and I did often struggle with trying to climb the ranks but feeling like I was new and didnt belong. But my experiences stem from the fact that Ive been a film director for five to ten years, and everyone assumes Im the assistant. When I walk into a room, people hand me the coats. JG: Shes very cute and looks very young. [Laughs.] Kitty, most people would love to have your problems. KG: [Laughs.] But it does mess with your self-confidence. I had a very lovely male assistant who worked for me. He was six feet tall. So theyd give me the coats and turn to him because they thought he was the director. And then he would grab the coats from me, and say, Kitty, what are we doing? Every time someone walked into the room, itd happen again and again. And you think, Is there something about me that isnt right? Do I belong in this industry? People would question whether I was creatively in control. At Sundance a few years ago, someone asked me which of my two male producers comes up with my ideas. And I was like, You would never ask a male director that. At the end of the day, you lack confidence and self-worth going into it. Does anyone really believe I can make a movie? All of those emotions are baked into what I was doing. What about you, Julia? JG: Ive been very lucky that Ive worked the sets that Ive been on. My environment has been really nice and not abusive. But Ive heard stories from many colleagues and friends and I dont want to say its experience, but I think being in this industry, being a woman, you have to put yourself out there all the time you have to be really wary. You have to be careful. But every woman has to be careful. Have you seen Leslye Headlands play, Assistance? KG: Ive read the script, but I havent seen it. Im interested because there have been smaller projects like these percolating, and Im sure more will continue to come out. Why and how do you think you managed to make the first film to deal directly with Harvey and this issue? KG: For me it was a frustration in seeing the headlines reporting on the men, and whats his name Matt Lauer, Louis C.K., all these names. Everyone wants to report on that but not the larger issues, like, why arent there more women in power? I wanted to shift focus quickly. I wanted to change the conversation to How can we improve the situation moving forward? Lets start now. This shouldnt take ten years. I dove in. And I just got going, and we pulled it together very quickly. What were the legal implications and considerations you had to keep in mind while making this? Were you worried at all about Harvey being litigious? Though the movie isnt just about him, hes a specter. JG: Yeah, its not about Harvey. KG: We had a good legal team from day one. They never put any restrictions on what we could do. It was definitely an artistic choice [not to show him]. It was a moral choice not to make it a film about Harvey Weinstein. If the whole problem was Harvey Weinstein, we wouldnt have a problem anymore. The problem is so much bigger than Harvey. Its cultural. That became the focus: the system around the predator. The machinery. JG: You have bosses who are the same sex as their assistants, and theyre abusive. Or you have a male boss being abusive to a male assistant. Its about respect. I thought it was really brilliant the way that you had each layer of marginalized people oppress the layer below them. At one point even Jane snaps at her bosss driver. KG: I forgot about that moment. JG: I did, too! Youre absolutely right. KG: We wanted you to see how those cycles of behavior perpetuate. Youre at Sundance, surrounded by people in the film industry, putting out a movie thats highly critical of the film industry. How has that been for you? Is it nerve-racking? And what have the reactions within the industry been? Has anyone recognized themselves as enablers? KG: A lot of people are uncomfortable. But I think a little bit of discomfort is a good thing, if you want things to change. You need people to recognize that behavior in themselves and their colleagues, and point it out when they see it. You also get women grabbing us and being like, Oh my God. I feel seen. That character is me. Im so glad Im seeing it depicted onscreen. A girl at the screening in Salt Lake City told me that shes tried so many times to tell people about how she was being treated and everyone would say, Oh, you just had a bad day. But watching it play out, an entire day, and with someone like Julia whos so expressive and emotional, it can be really overwhelming to people. Julia, I do want to talk about your face! There are a million emotions flitting across it at any given moment in this movie. Its fascinating because your co-workers dont notice it, but the audience does. How did you approach that? JG: [Laughs.] That was exactly it. Kitty early on told me that her goal was a quiet film. Its an internal film rather than an external film. The situation is very loud, but the film is quiet. When I was prepping, I kept in mind that I wanted it to feel like Jane was very small. When you feel small, you feel very alone. I wanted it to feel like the audience was Janes subconscious, if that makes sense. They knew exactly what she was thinking and feeling. They were experiencing every single thing that happened in that day with her, like they were part of her. And that itd make the audience also feel isolated from the people in the office, who didnt acknowledge that something was wrong or how she felt. Did you feel that sense of isolation on set or when youd go home? Youre by yourself for most of the film. JG: Luckily Kitty does an amazing job running a set, so everyone was super sweet. If that wasnt the case, itd be really hard. But the other actors would [come and go] like day players. And that was hard. I was, for the majority, by myself, and then Id go home and feel really small. The hardest part about my job is that I feel what my characters feel. Ill be like, Why do I feel this way? And then Im like, Oh, thats what Jane is feeling. Id be in that mind-set for so many hours a day and then get stuck in there. Kitty, what was your direction like to the actor who played the unseen boss? How did you work out that performance, which is so disturbing even though we barely see him? KG: This is a strange thing. There are two actors that play the boss. One is the body and one is the voice. In the script, there was no dialogue for him. He was totally absent. I hired an actor whos a friend to be a body double and pass the camera, basically. When Julias on the phone with him, you were not supposed to hear what he says, you were just supposed to see her face. I was going to shoot it wide, but then I got in there and saw her face and realized, Oh, we have to be in close-up. But if you couldnt hear him in that close-up, itd be bizarre. So in postproduction, we added the voice of the boss, and that became an extra element. We went to Avy Kaufman, our amazing casting agent, who was like, I know who we need. And he came into the room and was like, Oh, I met a bunch of these guys. I know what to do. I was in the voice booth and I had my headphones on, and it was so scary. I was terrified. At the end he came out and was like, Hug? And I was like, No! So Julia, when you were filming the phone scenes, there was nothing on the other end? What was in your imagination? JG: Those are always weird scenes to do. Its usually an AD or a script supervisor sitting on an apple box, reading the lines. I know every scene and do the work before I start filming my intentions, my motivations behind every line. But its still hard. Its like [affects a robot voice], Youll never work in this town again! Whats so fascinating about this movie is that its full of really banal details, but its riveting. The tension doesnt let up. How do you make the mundane so compelling, from both an acting and directing perspective? KG: Theres a tension thats partly Julias incredible face and body and everything shes doing with her performance. But its also the situation and the environment that shes in. As an audience, we have an idea of whats going on behind that closed door. But she doesnt. We know more than the character does. You were assuming that the audience would be coming in with that knowledge? KG: Yeah, with some understanding of what that boss gets up to. We were playing with that tension the whole time. Even the scene where shes printing headshots; womens faces are popping out of the printer. To her, its just headshots. But as you see more and more women some people referred to it as lambs to the slaughter you dont know what their futures hold, or why theyre coming into the office, or what will happen to them. We were careful with those layers. The scene with Patrick Wilson in the elevator, when he totally ignores Jane, is he playing himself? KG: Hes supposed to be playing a famous actor. Wandering in and taking up a lot of space. It was funny, one person who saw the film, a crew member, said, I cannot stop thinking about that scene. The way white men take up space. It was amazing that such a tiny little moment in the movie means a lot to people whove been in that position, ignored or not acknowledged by a male in the same space. JG: There are a lot of little details like that. There are. We hear these little snippets from the boss, like, At the Hotel du Cap, that are clearly hints and references about who were dealing with. How did you decide which of those sorts of details to include? KG: A lot of that dialogue was ad-libbed. It was like, Okay, now talk about festivals. JG: Honestly, those were really funny. Because it was so close. Youve heard these things before. When Kitty was picking what the execs should talk about, everyone was laughing. KG: Someone came up to me at Telluride and was like, The Fruit Loops. My God, how did you know about the Fruit Loops? JG: Wait, what? KG: This guy was an employee at Miramax, and he said the only cereal they had was Fruit Loops. JG: Thats a coincidence! Thats very weird. KG: I think the props person brought bran originally, and I was like, No, we need something more colorful. But these coincidences feel accurate to people. From these conversations youve been having post-screenings, and from your own experiences, does it feel like things are changing? KG: I think things are changing. Definitely its more open. We can at least talk about things now and we have language about these topics now. Before there were barely any avenues for these sorts of conversations. It is getting easier for women to get into the film industry. Film schools are accepting more women into their programs. But itll take a while. And Im getting offered things I see it in my own life. I see my friends who are women getting opportunities that we didnt get before. Even two years ago. Were seeing a shift. But the idea is to make sure its tackling the larger, more systemic issues and not just ticking a few boxes. Will Harvey see this? Do you know if he has? KG: I have no clue. Do you care? Would you want to hear his reaction if it were available to you? KG: No, I dont care. Im so disgusted by that situation. Its tough for me to weigh in. JG: Im more interested in what other people watching it think. KG: Weve had a strong reaction from people who are the heads of companies saying, Oh, wow, tomorrow Im going to treat everyone a little nicer, and think about what Ive got my assistants doing for me. Maybe some of these tasks are inappropriate. Any little shift in thinking helps, and Im proud to be part of that. All three were hospitalised as precaution, officials said on January 25. However, the report of the third suspected patient has come negative in terms of the new strain of coronavirus nCOV. Mumbai: The third suspected coronavirus patient tested negative even as the fourth such patient who has a history of travelling to China and is suspected to possess symptoms of the disease was kept under observation Sunday night, said the executive civic health officer. The man (36), a resident of Tardeo in south Mumbai, was admitted to the isolation ward of civic-run Kasturba Hospital on suspicion of possible exposure to the coronavirus, said civic health officials. He travelled to China on January 3, 2020 and returned on January 11, 2020 through Hong Kong. During his stay, he visited Shanghai and Guangzhou, almost 1,000 km away from Wuhan city, which has reported the highest number of cases. Though he did not show any symptoms when he returned, health workers observed him through the telephone. On Sunday night, when he complained of fever, he was immediately rushed to the isolation ward of the hospital. The patient had fever for the last five days and on Sunday night, he developed fever again. So, we decided to keep him under observation as a precaution. But he hasnt travelled to the affected provinces so we believe its just a case of viral fever, said Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer, BMC. His medical sample has been sent to the National Institute of Virology for analysis. However, the report of the third suspected patient has come negative in terms of the new strain of coronavirus nCOV. Last week, three persons were admitted to hospital for possible exposure to the virus strain after screening of passengers was carried out at the Mumbai international airport. All three were hospitalised as precaution, officials said on January 25. The headline: One in four teens vapers have never smoked tobacco, study finds But the actual data: The latest study found that out of 27,083 year 10 students surveyed, 840 vaped daily. And 10,093 had tried at least one puff of an e-cigarette, up from 5633 in 2014. So 37% of year 10 students have tried an e-cigarette. But 92% did not become regular uses and only 8% did. Which means overall prevalance rate is just 3.1%. Hardly an epidemic. Lead author of the study, Associate Professor Dr Natalie Walker from the University of Auckland, said these findings were consistent with other national surveys and did not support the idea of a so-called youth vaping epidemic in New Zealand. Despite increases in experimentation, it is encouraging that daily use remains low, especially for non-smokers. In fact, we believe that e-cigarettes might be displacing smoking for young people. Concerns about youth vaping should be weighed against the possibility that e-cigarettes could decrease the risk of smoking initiation and support smoking youth to quit. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) chairman Professor Robert Beaglehole said the findings were very encouraging as they showed that despite a lack of government oversight, youth vaping remains low, and largely confined to smokers. It is the smoke that kills, and without smoke vaping remains far less harmful than smoking. Encouraging existing smokers to switch could have substantial health gains. Of course, we do not want non-smokers, especially young people, to take up vaping, and this survey suggests that it is an unlikely scenario. Affie Ellis has been a Wyoming state senator for three years and has no plans to stop, but it also was never something I thought about when I was little. Affie Ellis was raised in a working Navajo family and didnt truly consider becoming a state legislator until she took her 8-year-old daughter to the capitol for a visit and [her daughter] asked if they allowed girls to be in the Senate. Wyoming was the first state to grant women suffrage in 1869 and yet there was only one woman serving in the state Senate when Affie ellis decided to run in 2016.Senator Ellis taps into her natural curiosity as a state senator and uses the job as an opportunity to learn about different cultures, histories, and problem solving. She had grown up curious about what it meant to be Navajo, but now she realizes we are who we want to be, and for Affie Ellis that is a Navajo, woman state senator. Senator Ellis now uses her Navajo heritage to help inform her decisions as she attempts to break down the us versus them mentality that has fissured a divide between government and Native Americans. But she also understands that in todays society were looking for quick answers and easy solutions. But the relationship between the United States and federal Indian tribes has been one in the making since contact. Senator Ellis knows that there will come a day when she doesnt have the same passion and energy that she has now for politics and when that comes shell step aside to allow another generation to have that opportunity to see what they want to work on. But until then, she will continue to serve the beautiful state of Wyoming while inspiring others to know their value, know their brand, and eat more fry bread. Join Affie Ellis In the Arena for a thoughtful discussion about cultural history, representation and problem solving that extends beyond the great plains of Wyoming. Ben James Owen, 39, died in ICE custody at a Florida facility on Saturday A 39-year-old British man who died while in ICE custody at a facility in Florida has been identified, as it's revealed a second immigrant has died while in federal custody in just two days. Ben James Owen was awaiting trial on a battery charge from Daytona Beach on November 17, 2019 and was in the process for removal from the country when he died from 'self-strangulation' at the Baker County Detention Center on Saturday at 7.52pm. Owen - whose friend has told DailyMail.com was a married father-of-two and worked as an electrician - had entered the country lawfully on July 23, 2019 and was allowed to stay until December 10, 2019. But he was arrested by Port Orange police January 12 for felony aggravated stalking after injunction, false imprisonment, domestic assault and violating the conditions of his pre-trial release. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) served his notice for removal on the same day of his arrest and he was taken into ICE custody three days later. Social media indicates he was married to an American woman named Tammy Jane (pictured) and had two children. One of them was in the UK and the other was born three months ago He was found dead at the Baker County Detention Center at 7.52pm. A preliminary investigation found the cause of death was self- strangulation According to social media, his wife Tammy Jane is from New York and resides in Tennessee. A friend said he was in the process of getting documents to authorize his long stay in the US but planned on returning to the UK permanently. He was working as an electrician in the USA and lived with his wife and baby Gia and had dreams of moving back to the UK eventually with his new family,' friend, Ryan Gibbons told DailyMail.com on Tuesday. 'He met his wife Tammy and got married a year ago. He was on the verge of getting his green card to stay in the USA and carry on working. Its absolutely heartbreaking and devastating and doesnt ring true that he would ever do this. We all miss him terribly and will never forget him.' Owen was originally from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, UK. Gibbons added that one of his children lived in the UK but his wife had only welcomed a baby a few months ago. 'He was a kind, loving best friend of mine, a father of two girls; Bonnie Joy-Ellen Owen who is in England and is one year old and Gia Havana Star Owen in the USA thats three months old,' Gibbons continued. He has two sisters and a mother and father and many, many friends who love him dearly. He was very funny and had a beautiful soul who would help anyone.' Antony Grainger, who has been friends with Owen since they were five years old, told DailyMail.com: 'He just didn't seem the kind of person that would do that. Just had so much to live for. He was just so warm and funny, he had so many friends. 'The last time I saw him he told me he loved me and that's the memory I will remember - just a beautiful person.' Of the charges Owen was facing, Grainger added: 'That just seems totally out of character and not the person I've known all my life.' He was arrested on a battery charge from Daytona Beach on November 17 and was awaiting trial for that. Then January 12 he was arrested for aggravated stalking after injunction, false imprisonment, domestic assault and violating the conditions of pre-trial release A friend said he was in the process of getting documents to authorize his long stay in the US but planned on returning to the UK permanently Owen became the fifth person to die in ICE custody since October. But on Monday a 63-year-old man from Cuba became the sixth after he died in a Florida hospital. The preliminary cause of death was cardiac arrest. Back in December, Nigerian man Anthony Oluseye Akinyemi, 56, died in federal immigration custody, just days after he was convicted of a sex offense and assault in Maryland. He was found unresponsive in his cell at the Worcester County Jail in Snow Hill, Maryland, according to a news release from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The official cause of death was not immediately determined, but authorities believe Akinyemi took his own life by strangling himself. Akinyemi had been charged with sexual abuse of a minor and was convicted in Baltimore City Circuit Court. Anthony Akinyemi, 56, strangled himself in his cell at the Worcester County Jail in Maryland (pictured) in December, less than 24 hours after entering ICE following his conviction Officials said he entered the US lawfully on a non-immigrant visa in 2017 but did not comply with the terms of his admission, leading to an immigration detainer being lodged against him in July following his arrest on the sex abuse charge. At the time of his death, Akinyemi was in removal proceedings and was facing deportation back to Nigeria. Under President Donald Trump, a number of people have been detained at record levels and, as of January, was detaining nearly 41,000 immigrants. In August, nearly 55,000 people were in custody in private prisons and local jails across the U.S. Despite Congress criticizing ICE's health services, the agency says they spend more than $269million annually on those services alone. In December 2019, House Oversight and Reform Committee revealed it opened an investigation into the health services of detained immigrants and demanded a series of documents. 'ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases,' they said in a statement. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Chairman of the Azerbaijani Center of Analysis of International Relations Farid Shafiyev made a statement about reconstruction of the Shusha fortress by Armenian separatist regime in Azerbaijan's occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, Trend reports referring to the Center's statement. For the past 30 years, Armenia not only continues to illegally occupy Azerbaijani lands, but also has been promoting violent and aggressive policy regarding historical, cultural and musical heritage of our people by all possible means, the chairman said. It is obvious that one of the main objectives of the policy being pursued by Armenia is to strengthen its baseless statements by destroying or falsifying the heritage of the original population of the occupied lands, Shafiyev added. At the same time, the origin of the true inhabitants and owners of historical monuments in the occupied territories does not raise any doubts among serious and objective observers. Shafiyev went on to add that according to the Armenian media outlets, this time news about restoration of the famous Shusha fortress by the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh testifies to the aggressive policy of Armenia. This historical monument, called the Shusha fortress by Azerbaijanis, was built in 1751 by the Karabakh khan Panahali and under personal control of great vizier, poet Molla Panah Vagif, the chairman added. Last year, the Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque, located in Shusha city and owned by Azerbaijanis, was presented by the Armenian occupants as a religious and historical example of Persian culture. Prior to that, Armenian leadership completely destroyed seven of the eight mosques in Yerevan, which were historical examples of Azerbaijani architecture, left from the times of Iravan khanate. The remaining famous Blue Mosque, built by order of Huseyn Ali Khan from Iravan city in 1766, was reconstructed (three of the four minarets of the mosque were demolished) into one of Irans historical monuments and became the center of Iranian culture in Armenia". Shafiyev once again called on the international community to consider such steps by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan as a consistent and targeted attack on Azerbaijans heritage. "We want to convey to the international community that these actions of the Armenian authorities are contrary to all international legislative and humanitarian standards, and we also call for pressure on the Armenian authorities, as well as for ensuring the inviolability of all historical monuments in the occupied territories until the conflict is resolved," Shafiyev added. "Recent actions in relation to the Shusha fortress once again prove Armenia's unwillingness to resolve the conflict peacefully and provokeAzerbaijan to resort to other ways to resolve this territorial problem. Therefore, in the future, all responsibility for the torpedoing of peace talks will rest entirely with the Armenian authorities," said Shafiyev. This article was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba It started out as questioning about C.I.A. policy, contracts and cables. Then it shifted to a more visceral examination of what happened to the men accused of conspiring in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks while they were held in secret prisons, with a former interrogator testifying about chains, shackles, hoods and threats to kill one prisoners son. In a pretrial hearing on Tuesday, David Nevin, the lawyer for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the 9/11 plot, held up various pieces of evidence collected at one of the C.I.A.s now-closed overseas detention and interrogation sites. He asked the witness, James E. Mitchell, a former C.I.A. contract psychologist who worked in the secret prisons and helped devise the torture program, what they were. Shown a chain with a red lock and built-in blue metal device, Dr. Mitchell said it looked like something you could cinch up like a horse collar but declared the device completely unfamiliar to me. His answers were much the same as he was confronted with questions about other accounts of how the prisoners were treated. Dr. Mitchell said he did not recognize a screeching rendition of the heavy metal song Let the Bodies Hit the Floor, which detainees claimed was blasted at them in isolation. He disputed the fictional portrayal in the recent film The Report of Mr. Mohammed being violently waterboarded. Villagers allegedly chopped off the noses of a man and a woman here, accusing them of having an affair, police said. The incident allegedly took place at Kand Pipra village in the Patranga police station area of Faizabad on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. A police force has been deployed at the village to maintain peace between the Hindu and Muslim communities to which the two belonged, police said. According to police, the man (28) had visited the 35-year-old women's home when her father-in-law and other people caught them. They thrashed the duo before chopping off their noses, police said. The woman's husband wasn't at home as he worked in Saudi Arabia. Faizabad SSP Ashish Tiwari said the woman's father-in-law and others involved in the incident have been arrested. Both victims were admitted to the district hospital and their condition is stated to be stable. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By IANS SAN FRANCISCO: With the Novel Coronavirus spreading fast across China which has claimed 106 lives so far, Apple supplier Foxconn has warned employees who were in Taiwan for the Chinese New Year not to return to its Wuhan plant in China. According to a report in AppleInsider, Foxconn facility in Wuhan "could quickly become overrun with an outbreak, potentially putting workers at unnecessary risk and effectively shutting down production". In addition to asking many employees to stay at home, the Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturing firm has also enhanced employee health monitoring at the Wuhan factory. "Foxconn has provided employees with face masks to prevent the spread of the virus. Employees must also have their temperature checked daily, as one of the first symptoms of the illness is a fever," the report said. According to Nikkei Asian Review, some five million Chinese jobs rely on Apple's presence in the country, including those of more than 1.8 million software and iOS App developers. Apple itself employs 10,000 people in China and more than 90 per cent of Apple's products are being assembled in China. Apple CEO Tim Cook has also tweeted that Apple will donate money to groups on the ground helping to support those affected by the virus. "As people in China and around the world celebrate the Lunar New Year, we send our love and support to the many impacted by the Coronavirus. Apple will be donating to groups on the ground helping support all of those affected," Cook tweeted. Apple has three main businesses in China -- iCloud data centres, retail outlets and a huge manufacturing base. Apple Cloud centres are not expected to be heavily impacted but fewer footfalls owing to the virus outbreak at Apple Stores will result in lower sales in the region. Apple has no stores in Wuhan and effective from January 27, the tech giant has already reduced operating hours for retails stores across Mainland China. Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday that the death toll due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in the country has increased to 106, with 4,515 confirmed cases in 30 provincial-level regions. The US has also raised its travel alert for China and recommended that Americans should "reconsider" travelling to the Asian giant. The Union home ministry has asked eight Left-wing extremism (LWE)-hit states to purchase indigenously built instead of foreign made weapons for their police forces involved in anti-Maoist operations, officials aware of the matter said. The issue was discussed at a meeting of top officers from the eight states on police modernisation on Friday. The ministrys additional secretary (police modernisation), Vivek Bhardwaj, chaired the meeting. Several Ordinance factories such as in Jabalpur and Rae Bareli in India have been manufacturing weapons, which can be used both by the security personnel and military. Special director general, RK Vij, who is in charge of police modernisation in Chhattisgarh, said the ministrys representatives at the meeting emphasised on the need for using locally made automatic rifles. These rifles include Trichy Assault Rifles and AK-203 automatic rifles, which are better than self-loading rifles [SLRs] and AK-47s, Vij said. The ministry has classified Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala as LWE-affected states in varying degrees. The officials cited above said the new weapons are likely to be used for anti-Maoist operations in the MMC (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh) zone of the Left-wing extremists. The MMC zone includes districts situated at the tri-junction of three states. Around 200 armed Maoist cadres are active in the zone, said a Chhattisgarh police officer on condition of anonymity. The officials said the Chhattisgarh police informed the Union home ministry that it will purchase indigenously manufactured automatic rifles instead of SLRs and AK-47s for the forces engaged in the anti-Maoist operations. Vij said they will not replace SRLs and AK-47s currently in use but will purchase Made-in-India rifles needed for further use, Vij said. The orders for these rifles will be placed soon. First the police should make it clear that Indian made automatic assault rifles are better than earlier ones or not. A proper test of the new rifles should be done. The government should ensure that they meet the operational needs of security personnel in rebel areas, where during summers the day temperature may be very high, said MW Ansari, former director general of police, Chhattisgarh. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The state minister of tourism, Godfrey Kiwanda Ssuub,i has said Uganda is set to join the rest of the world to mark World Wildlife Day 2020 celebrated on the 3rd day of March every year. Stories Continues after ad On Dec 20, 2013, 68 session of UN General Assembly proclaimed 3rd March of every year as World Wildlife Day 2020 to celebrate the beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the several benefits that conservation provides to humanity. Under the theme Sustaining all life on earth, the day will be celebrated at Ssaza grounds in Kisoro Municipality, Kisoro District in Kigezi sub region. The year 2020, known as a biodiversity super year, will host several major global events that place biodiversity at the forefront of the global sustainable development agenda. According to the minister, the theme encompasses all wild animal and plant species as a component of biodiversity as well as the livelihoods of people, especially those who live closest to the nature. It also underlines the importance of sustainable use of natural resources in support of the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Uganda boasts of a rich and diverse wildlife heritage owing to its unique location at the zone of overlap between the savannah of East Africa and rainforests of W Africa. Were distinctly blessed with spectacular landscapes of unrivalled beauty. He said It provides a unique opportunity to deliver transformative progress for the conservation and sustainable use of the species of wild animals and plants in response to global sustainable development challenges that can best be addressed with nature-based solutions. Wildlife, namely the species of both wild animals and plants for the purpose of World Wildlife Day, is an integral part of the worlds biological diversity which has the greatest resonance with the general public. In the run-up to and on World Wildlife Day 2020, the ministry will raise awareness of the multitude of benefits of wildlife to people, the interlinkages between the various components of biodiversity and the threats they are facing. EL PASO, Texas A person who was seen on surveillance video saving a baby during last years mass shooting at a Walmart in Texas that killed 22 people has been identified as a then-homeless man who was living in a makeshift camp near the store, police said. Surveillance footage showed a man carrying a baby to safety, but the mans identity remained a mystery until recently, when Lazaro Ponce came forward, the El Paso Times reported. El Paso Police Sgt. Enrique Carrillo said FBI agents interviewed Ponce on Monday in Memphis, Tennessee, where he now lives, and confirmed that he was the man seen on the video. Not only did he remove the baby from among the dead bodies it could have suffocated he ran out and turned the baby over to emergency services personnel, Carrillo said. He ran back into the store and with a shopping cart went to the towel section and went around treating the wounded and applying pressure, Carrillo added. The attack took place Aug. 3 at a Walmart during a busy back-to-school shopping day. Ponce told the newspaper that he helped the baby, a man in a wheelchair and an elderly woman who had been shot in the arm. He said he and his wife were homeless in El Paso at the time, staying in a makeshift camp near the Walmart. The couple has since moved to Memphis, where Ponce is working as a laborer and staying on the property of a coworker, he said. ZEELAND, MI - A significant number of student and staff absences related to illness forced Zeeland Public Schools to close Cityside Middle School for the remainder of this week effective Wednesday, Jan. 29, officials say. Classes will resume on Monday, February 3. All other Zeeland school buildings remain open. The attendance rates at those buildings are over 91 percent. School leaders say over 140 Cityside students, around 20 percent, were reported absent Tuesday, Jan. 28, due to a combination of illnesses including respiratory and stomach viruses. Additionally, 25 percent of Cityside staff are also out sick. Absences on Monday, Jan. 27 had already reached 108. School leaders informed parents Tuesday the closure will allow students and staff to fully recover and allow ZPS to perform a thorough deep cleaning of the entire building. This combination should alleviate the ongoing widespread illnesses. Cityside, located at 320 E. Main. Ave., enrolled 709 students last year, according to state data. The middle school is the second Ottawa County school in the last week to announce it was closing for illness. West Elementary in Holland Public Schools reopened on Monday, Jan. 27, after illness spurred its closing on Jan. 23 and 24. The school closed after more than 90 students and teachers were absent Wednesday, Jan. 22, with flu-like symptoms. Zeeland Superintendent Cal DeKuiper was in contact with the Ottawa County Health Department Tuesday morning. The district is working closely with the department to monitor illness related absences. All school events at Cityside are canceled, not just classes. However, Zeeland Recreations Fitness Center and pools will remain open. Student and staff illnesses has spurred the closing of schools around the state. Constantine Public Schools and Litchfield Community Schools also announced they were closing today. Richfield Public School Academy in Flint was closed three days last week. The Ottawa County Health Department has suggested those with flu-like symptoms and fever stay home for at least 24 hours after the fever is gone. Some other suggestions for families to keep from getting seasonal flu include: Get your flu vaccination. Officials say it is not too late. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. In the absence of a tissue, use the crook of your elbow. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. In the absence of soap and water, alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective. Also on MLive: Man killed, 3 tied up in Dowagiac home invasion Everything you need to know for Michigan International Auto Show in Grand Rapids New retail specialist wants to lure more businesses to Grand Rapids Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who was on Tuesday named Indias new envoy to the US, is a career diplomat with more than 30 years of experience and has had two earlier stints in the Indian mission in Washington. Among the key tasks he will have to take on after assuming his new position is coordinating US President Donald Trumps expected visit to India in February and guiding the talks for a trade deal between the two countries that is aimed at addressing irritants and differences that have emerged in recent years. Sandhu, currently the high commissioner to Sri Lanka, was deputy chief of mission in Washington from 2013 to 2017. He also served as the first secretary at the embassy in Washington responsible for liaising with the US Congress between 1997 and 2000. The post of ambassador to the US fell vacant when the previous incumbent, Harsh Shringla, was named the next foreign secretary. Shringla is set to take up his new assignment on January 29. HT reported on January 15 that Sandhu was set to get the top US assignment. Sandhu, who joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1988, was appointed as the envoy to Sri Lanka in January 2017 after his second Washington stint. He has also served as Indias consul general in Frankfurt from 2011 to 2013 and in the external affairs ministry between New Delhi 2009 and 201, first as joint secretary (United Nations) and later as joint secretary (Administration). He also served at Indias permanent mission to the UN in New York during 2005-09 and as head of the political wing in the high commission in Colombo during 2000-04. Sandhu has also had stints in the erstwhile Soviet Union. His wife Reenat Sandhu is the ambassador to Italy. Libya is descending once again into all-out war despite a tentative truce forged by international powers over the last fortnight, with reports of airstrikes targeting aviation facilities and a resumption of indirect fire along fronts across the countrys west. On Tuesday, forces loyal to the internationally-recognised government in Libya claimed they shot down an enemy fighter drone likely operated by the United Arab Emirates, possibly using new anti-aircraft equipment deployed by Turkey. In recent days, the fighting along the battle lines surrounding the capital, Tripoli, and near the countrys third largest city of Misrata, has intensified following weeks of relative calm in the wake of a 12 January truce imposed by Russia and Turkey, patrons of the two opposing sides. The fighting started a few days after the ceasefire, said one Tripoli resident who lives close to the citys outskirts. First slow and intermittent, now nearly full-blown. The Tripoli government said Mr Haftars forces had fired rocket attacks on several residential neighbourhoods of the capital. At least 11 fighters loyal to the United Nations-brokered government based in Tripoli were killed and 100 wounded in fighting to defend the city of Misrata from a surprise attack launched Sunday by Mr Haftars forces, Al Jazeera reported. The spokesperson for eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar warned last week that his forces would shoot down any military or civilian aircraft, regardless of its affiliation, flying over the capital. The capitals Mitiga airport, Tripolis only civil aviation link, has been shut down after it was struck on Sunday by Mr Haftars rockets, wounding at least two civilians, according to the UN mission to Libya. Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 Show all 9 1 /9 Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 Migrants carry the remains of their belongings from among rubble at a detention centre for African migrants that was hit by an airstrike in the Tajoura suburb of Libyan capital Tripoli on July 2 Reuters Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 Security and emergency responders work at the site of an airstrike that hit a detention centre for African migrants near Tripoli, Libya on June 2 Reuters Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 Security and emergency responders work at the site of an airstrike that hit a detention centre for African migrants near Tripoli, Libya on June 2 Reuters Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 The point of impact of a bomb that was dropped on a detention centre for African migrants near Tripoli, Libya on June 2 AFP/Getty Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 Blood stains are seen among debris following an airstrike that hit a detention centre for African migrants near Tripoli, Libya on June 2 Reuters Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 A woman picks up clothes among rubble at a detention centre for African migrants that was hit by an airstrike in the Tajoura suburb of Libyan capital Tripoli on July 2 Reuters Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 Migrants gather outside following an airstrike on the detention centre in the Tajoura suburb of Libyan capital Tripoli on July 2 AFP/Getty Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 A man carries his belongings from among rubble at a detention centre for African migrants that was hit by an airstrike in the Tajoura suburb of Libyan capital Tripoli on July 2 Reuters Libya airstrike: Migrant detention centre hit in airstrike, killing 60 Migrants sit together with their remaining belongings in the yard of the detention centre that was hit by an airstrike in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on July 2 Reuters And the fighting could get worse. The UN is warning that both sides in the conflict over control of Tripoli have been receiving planes full of foreign fighters, weapons, ammunition and advanced systems from abroad, despite commitments made to abide by an arms embargo during a 19 January meeting of world leaders in Berlin. Over the last ten days, numerous cargo and other flights have been observed landing at Libyan airports in the western and eastern parts of the country providing the parties with advanced weapons, armoured vehicles, advisers and fighters, the UN said in a statement. The mission condemns these ongoing violations, which risk plunging the country into a renewed and intensified round of fighting. The latest and most potentially dangerous stage of Libyas conflict pits Haftars forces, backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Russia, and France, against the internationally recognised but weak Government of National Accord (GNA), which is supported by Turkey. After seizing control of much of eastern and southern Libya in a five-year military campaign, Mr Haftars Libyan Arab Armed Forces launched a surprise attack against Tripoli in April, sabotaging impending peace talks. Though he promised his patrons in Abu Dhabi and Moscow a quick victory, forces in the west rallied and held off his advance for months. But thanks to UAE drones and airstrikes and an estimated 2,500 Russian mercenaries supplied by the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group, Mr Haftars forces advanced in recent months. Mr Haftars forces have advanced several kilometres, though they remain on the citys outskirts, and have seized control of Sirte, which he is using as a launching pad to attack forces of pro-GNA forces in Misrata. Turkey, which is ideologically aligned with Islamist-leaning elements of the government in Tripoli, has begun to bolster the GNA with anti-aircraft equipment and Syrian fighters. Video posted to social media on Tuesday showed what is described as a UAE fighter drone alight and crashing in the distance; photos showed the remnants of a cockpit dashboard. Haftar, who escaped from both Moscow and Berlin, is continuing to violate the ceasefire, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters as he flew from Algeria to Gambia on Monday in an attempt to shore up diplomatic support for his efforts to bolster the GNA, according to the Anadolu News Agency. For peace in Libya, Haftar must be stopped. In the Libyan capital, residents have described buses with blacked out windows being escorted through traffic by pro-GNA militias in pick-up trucks. Those buses, we believe, carry around Syrian mercenaries, said one resident. Meanwhile, the quality of life in the capital appeared to be deteriorating, though residents said essential foods and medicines continued to be available. One resident described long lines for petrol and a shortage of gas canisters for heating and cooking. While Libya experts say the situation is an improvement from before the ceasefire, most expect grimmer days ahead. The ceasefire has been clearly violated by the Haftar faction, said Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya specialist at Clingendael Institute, a Dutch think tank. Yet, overall, the fighting is not as intense as it was before the truce began. The two sides are still busy preparing for the next phase of the war. WUHAN, CHINAThe Chinese government scrambled Monday to contain not only the coronavirus epidemic but also growing expressions of public fury over the management of the crisis as the death toll rose Tuesday to at least 106. Chinas National Immigration Administration on Tuesday encouraged Chinese citizens to reconsider the timing of overseas travel to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, it said on its WeChat account. That came as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged U.S. citizens to avoid non-essential travel to China. Premier Li Keqiang, the prime minister of the Chinese government, flew Monday into Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, to show support for medical workers and to pledge needed medical supplies only to be mocked online for leading workers in an encouraging cheer. Lis visit, which featured prominently in state media, came as Wuhans mayor, Zhou Xianwang, acknowledged that local authorities had moved too slowly in the first days of the crisis. In an interview with CCTV, the main state television network, the mayor said that information about the coronavirus had not been shared with the public in a timely manner, and that he and the citys Communist Party secretary, Ma Guoqiang, were prepared to resign to appease public indignation. With the death toll rising to at least 106, and infections spreading to still more countries, the impacts reverberated globally. Stocks tumbled and oil prices fell Monday as the virus spread worried investors worldwide. The S&P 500 fell 1.6 per cent, its sharpest decline in nearly four months, with shares of airlines and companies dependent on tourism from China particularly hard hit. In China, the government announced that it would extend for three days the weeklong holiday for the Lunar New Year, which had been scheduled to end Thursday. The countrys economy, which is experiencing its worst slowdown in nearly three decades, is already hurting from the effect of the outbreak, and there are fears that consumer spending will fall as residents stay home over the extended holiday. The U.S., Japan, France, Russia and other countries, meanwhile, scrambled to get citizens who were trapped in the city out, after the government shut down the major modes of transportation. Read more about: Cowboy boots on American grass worn by the child of Korean immigrants make for a loving cross-cultural statement in Lee Isaac Chungs disarmingly heartwarming and unassumingly poetic Minari. Similar to last years The Farewell, this gentle miracle of a movie is centered on distinct impressions ripe with universality. Greener pastures entice the Yi family to move from California to rural Arkansas during Ronald Reagans 1980s. Father Jacob (Steven Yeun) and mother Monica (Han Yeri) earn an honest living by chicken sexing (separating poultry by gender), but he aspires to build something of his own, to farm his land and grow Korean vegetables on the best American dirt. She misses city life and is displeased with their humble trailer home. Compromise ensues for the sake of their U.S-born kids. Chungs slice of life drama is on par with Hirokazu Kore-edas intimate portrayals of family life under pressure but with the added specificity on the adaptation and reinvention thats involved as the straining circumstances occur in a new country. From its opening shots of landscapes seen from a car, which echo those in Miyazakis Spirited Away, set to the delicately melodic score by composer Emile Mosseri (The Last Black Man in San Francisco), Minari beams with subtle wonder. Also Read: 'The Mauritanian' Film Review: Jodie Foster Fights for Justice in Sluggish Gitmo Drama Immaculately crafted to the most minuscule production design detail, Minari mines significance from the plots built-in wisdom, such as the water and the lack thereof standing as a metaphor for the necessary components for growth, for both the crops and the people tending to them. Cinematographer Lachlan Milne (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) lenses Minari with a graceful brush of light, giving the outdoor scenes a nearly angelic quality. Inside, faint colors dominate matching the Yis modest but proud conduct. Irremediably, the world is bound to become smitten with Alan Kim, the breakout star playing the Yis young son David, whos learned from his father to use his mind to solve problems and never to pay for what he can get for free. Chung lets Davids bright-eyed inquisitiveness and unfiltered opinions speak tacitly about the intricacies of an existence shaped by his parents attempts to realize the elusive American Dream. Story continues Also Read: 'Barb & Star' Film Review: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo Go to Cloud Cuckoo Land Health complications prevent David from being a rambunctious boy, so instead he listens and stares intensely to accurately assess adults around him, his older sister Anne (Noel Cho), the unknown place where they now find themselves, and later a visitor from the motherland. Not ceremonious but lighthearted, his maternal Grandma (Yuh Jung Youn, Sense8) challenges Davids standards for how a grandmother should behave. Youn, a respected veteran Korean actress, charms her way into the audiences hearts with the prankish dynamic she develops with the adorable and thoughtful Kim. Together they represent what was left behind at home and whats been nurtured away from it, and in the juxtaposition their similarities, far more than differences, surface. Its a fascinating, non-traditional, intergenerational, and bicultural union. Grandma shows him minari, an herb used in Korean cooking thats easily cultivated, and he gets her hooked on Mountain Dew. Following his magnificent supporting role in Burning, Yeun continues to do his best work in Korean-language roles, this time also having the task of speaking accented English thats reflective of it being a second language rather an offensive mockery. He succeeds. Banter with local Christian friend and employee Paul (Will Patton) influences the way Jacob thinks about Americans and links the Yis to the white community where theyve settled, without overt malice coming their way, only harmless ignorance. Also Read: 'French Exit' Film Review: Michelle Pfeiffer Brings Life to Eccentric Black Comedy An extra layer in Chungs formidable screenplay one thats so inconspicuously complex, since he weaves each dramatic thread to fit with the natural flow of the life hes written for his characters focuses on the marital issues Jacob and Monica endure as result of his determination to make money off the land. Showing impressive range, Yeris interpretation of Monica mutates from softness (when she bathes Jacob after a hard day) to disappointment, but whatever her demeanor is, we know theres more care than selfishness in her logic. Each member of the Yi family is learning to be who they are in a new environment, to balance the traits of their Korean identity with the new one they are constructing, living and working in the United States. Theres so much beauty in that process, and Chung relays it with tender prowess, as an expertly humanistic director and someone with intimate knowledge of this experience. In the midst of so much change, tribulations, and variables outside of their control, the only unmovable factor is what they feel for each other. Their ability to forgive each others small and big sins will determine how much they can achieve together. Count Minari among the very best movies of 2020 already, for all its endearing cheekiness and affecting virtues, the greatest among them being honoring human resilience. We replant our roots when we are uprooted, and though the land may be foreign, the seeds of hope for a better tomorrow are always the same. Watered with fortifying love, we too, like minari, can regrow anywhere. Minari will premiere in theaters and on video on demand on Feb. 12. Read original story Minari Film Review: Steven Yeun Leads Charming Drama About Korean Transplants in 1980s Arkansas At TheWrap Donald Trump let loose on his Democratic opponents in his first campaign rally since his impeachment trial began, telling his supporters to 'get rid of the clowns.' The president wasted no time going after Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in his remarks at a rally in Wildwood, N.J., where he welcomed Jeff Van Drew, the congressman who left the Democratic Party during the impeachment inquiry, to the Republican Party and praised him for leaving the 'deranged' Democrats. 'Get out and vote Republican. Get rid of these clowns,' Trump told the crowd, who repeatedly cheered 'USA, USA, USA.' It was an usually short rally from the president, clocking in at 62 minutes. Trump typically speaks to his supporters for 90 minutes, at times longer. In addition to its length, the rally was missing some of the hallmarks of a Trump event, including an attack on Hunter Biden (no mention of 'where's Hunter) and the crowd shouting 'build the wall.' The evening was a mix of attacks on his opponents and words of praise for his own accomplishments, which Trump claimed he did 'solely' rattling off a list that included criminal justice reform and the Space Force. It took place after the president's lawyers wrapped up his defense in his Senate impeachment trial and amid reports Republicans don't have the votes to block Democrats from calling additional witnesses, which could drag on Trump's trial for weeks. Trump had strong words for the impeachment trial, railing against 'demented hoaxes, crazy witch hunts, and deranged partisan crusades' that he claimed Congressional Democrats are 'obsessed' with. Donald Trump let loose on his Democratic opponents in his first campaign rally since his impeachment trial began President Trump welcomed new Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew to the stage Trump also brought up New Jersey native Kellyanne Conway He did not mention his former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who claims in a new book that the president told him he wanted to with hold U.S. aid from the Ukraine until the country agreed to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. Trump had denied the charge. But for all his railing at his political enemies, Trump did not mention either Biden. His line - 'where's Hunter' - was becoming a staple and crowd favorite at other campaign rallies. The president claimed Democrats were trying to overturn the 2016 election with their impeachment inquiry - a theme his supporters have used time and time again. 'They have spent the last three years, and probably even before I came down on that beautiful escalator with our beautiful future first lady, trying to overthrow the last election and we will make sure that they face another crushing defeat in the next election. We are going to have a victory that is even greater then 2016. This November, we are going to win back the House, we are going to hold the Senate, and we are going to keep the White House. The American people are disgusted by the Washington Democrats, you see it. You see it,' he said. He bragged about his accomplishments, including the USMCA trade deal he will sign on Wednesday at the White House and the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, and blasted Democrats in return. 'Washington Democrats like crazy Bernie Sanders and nervous Nancy Pelosi, they opposed our action to save American lives. They opposed it. They opposed it,' he said. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle objected to the lack of information the administration gave Congress about the attack they claimed Soleimani was planning. Additionally Pelosi helped pass Trump's trade deal in the House last month. Trump made no mention of Joe or Hunter Biden at his rally - who are usually two of his favorite political targets United States President Donald Trump returns to the White House after addressing a political rally in Wildwood, NJ Supporters of President Trump on the New Jersey boardwalk Trump also went off on 'Pocahontas' as he calls Elizabeth Warren. He compared the size of his campaign rallies to hers. 'She had 10,000 people in central park, I said what's the big deal?,' he said, claiming he had 175,000 people sign up for his rally. 'We just had 175,000 people sign up,' he said. The Wildwoods Convention Center has a capacity of 7,000. There were local reports of large crowds outside the center and supporters waving at the president's motorcade as he drove through the streets of the boardwalk town but no number has been reported. The president also claimed he could have filled up the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which has a capacity of 19,000. 'We could have filled up the Meadowlands Arena two or three times. Maybe we will during the summer,' he said. The president got in a hit at his predecessor, referring to Barack Hussein Obama when he spoke about household income. Detractors pointed to Obama's middle name as proof of a conspiracy theory Obama was born overseas and is a Muslim. But he notably did not mention his new 'vision' for the Middle East that he revealed at the White House earlier that day. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway greets her children prior to departing with President Trump on Air Force One to New Jersey Trump, in his remarks, claimed voters were leaving the Democratic Party in droves He also claimed voters are leaving the Democratic Party in droves. 'Voters are making a mass exodus from that party and we are welcoming them to the Republican Party with wide open arms,' he said. He welcomed Congressman Jeff Van Drew to the stage as an example. Van Drew changed to the Republican Party during the impeachment process. 'We are privileged to be joined tonight by a courageous leader who left the Democratic Party because he has had enough of their extremism, enough of their socialism, and enough of their violent hoaxes and scams,' Trump said. 'Jeff, he had the guts to defy the left-wing fanatics in his own party and to stand tall in defense of our constitution, our freedom, and democracy itself,' he added. The rally is a chance for Trump make his pitch for votes in the November election. Hillary Clinton won New Jersey in the 2016 presidential contest. He praised the people of New Jersey and gave a shout out to state native Frank Sinatra. 'They're tough, they're smart, they're great people. It's called Jersey,' Trump said. Protesters outside Trump's rally in New Jersey Laura Hess, 37, of Ridley Park, PA, wears a massive Make America Great Again hat at Trump's rally President Trump rallies New Jersey voters ahead of the 2020 election The president touted his record on health care - speaking about the issue for several minutes - as polls show it's a top issue for voters in November. 'We are protecting people with pre-existing conditions and we always will, the Republican Party, pre-existing conditions. We saved it,' Trump bragged. However, patients with pre-existing conditions were protected under the Affordable Care Act, passed by President Obama. Republicans have tried to dismantle that law. He also talked up the strong economy, which is a central plank in his re-election campaign. 'For years you've been losing your a** with 401(k)s. Now you're making a fortune,' he told the crowd. Trump threw plenty of red meat to his supporters, who cheered him on. There were shouts of 'four more years' through out the evening. He talked about how he outlawed late term abortion, had criminal illegal immigrants locked up, and vowed to protect the Second Amendment right to own a gun. He also claimed his border wall was being built. 'Mexico is paying for the wall,' he claimed. Mexico is not paying for the wall. He also claimed he was able to get criminal justice reform done when Presidents Obama or George W. Bush could not. 'I got it done,' he said, 'solely got it done.' White House advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump worked heavily on the criminal justice reform issue. 'That's why I always say you have to thank yourself because no one else is going to do it,' Trump said. Joining the president are some of the state's big Republican stars, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway, who was spotted bringing her children with her on Air Force One for the trip to her home state. Trump brought Conway to the stage to speak for a few minutes but merely acknowledged Christie's presence on the sidelines. Donald Trump will hold his first campaign rally since his impeachment trial began in Wildwood, N.J., on Tuesday night New Jersey natives Chris Christie and Kellyanne Conway will be at Trump's rally A crowd stands in the cold in front of the Wildwoods Convention Center as they wait to enter for a campaign rally with President Trump John Barker of Lakewood, N.J., stands on the Wildwood boardwalk with a sign asking young Trump supporters to serve in the military 'Im going home tonight,' Conway tweeted Tuesday. The rally came about after Trump hosted Van Drew in the Oval Office last month in the wake of his party switch and pledged to hold a rally for him ahead of his election this fall. Van Drew was facing a tough GOP challenger before he changed parties. That candidate has since decided to run in another election contest. Van Drew rode to New Jersey with the president on Air Force One. There were around 2,000 supporters waiting in line at the Wildwoods Convention Center Tuesday afternoon, according to local reports, with only 30 porta potties for the crowd. The center has a capacity of 7,000. 'Heading to New Jersey. Big Rally, in fact, Really Big Rally!,' Trump tweeted in route. Trump with Rep. Jeff Van Drew in the Oval Office last month Jay Repko of Mays Landing, N.J., wears a Donald Trump mask as he stands with a crowd near the Wildwoods sign near the Wildwoods Convention Center People stand in the cold in a field, as they line up to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center Hundreds of people wait in line at the Trump Rally in Wildwood Police watch supporters waiting to get into Trump rally Donald Trump speaks with Jon Voight outside the Oval Office Tuesday before he left for his rally Wildwood is a New Jersey shore town where supporters camped overnight on the beach to get a spot in line for the rally. It's a rare visit by the president to the state and could be one of supporters few chances to see Trump. The president met in the Oval Office with conservative actor Jon Voight before he left for his rally. The two men stepped out of the Oval Office and spoke outside on its colonnade for a few minutes before the president departed. Voight did not travel with President Trump. Last week Voight tweeted that he was offering 'high prayers' for the president during the impeachment scandal. The Russian Space Agency was the first to offer facilitated orbital space tourism in the early 2000s. However, the company ceased space tourism operations in 2010. At present, the United States pays $86 million per seat to Russia to fly NASA's astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), after its Space Shuttle program ended in 2011. After Russia closed space tourism in 2010, many private players started exploring the space tourism arena, which is helping the industry grow. With the current pace of successful trials and nods by NASA, it looks like man can finally visit space in the 2020s. Successful Trials Boost Space Tourism Over the past decade, several private and public companies have been running trials and working with NASA to develop spacecraft and send man to space on vacation. This includes private players like Blue Origin which intends to place nearly six passengers on each flight, with room to perform weightless somersaults. On Jan 19, SpaceXs Crew Dragon capsule passed a major test, the in-flight abort test, a necessary milestone before crewed missions are given the green signal by NASA. This successful test will allow SpaceX to opt for a crewed test flight of the Dragon capsule in the first half of this year. Elon Musk's space technology company, SpaceX, is now worth more than Tesla, Inc. TSLA. Not far behind, The Boeing Companys BA CST-100 Starliner capsule took its first uncrewed test flight into space and back in December 2019. However, the company needs to redo the test due to technical issues. On the brighter side, if SpaceX and Boeing succeed in going through final tests and put humans on board before the end of the year, they can restart the human spaceflight to the United States. Future of Space Tourism The space tourism space has been highly speculated but with recent developments and further research in the pipeline, the industry can surely expand in the near term. In fact, over the next five years, the space tourism market is expected to register a 16.9% CAGR in terms of revenues, and the global market size will reach $ 1167.3 million by 2024, from $ 624.4 million in 2019. Story continues Additionally, Morgan Stanley estimates that the global space industry will generate revenues of $1.1 trillion or more by 2040. Bank of America projects the space economy to grow to $3 trillion in the same time period. Coming to individual companies, in 2020, Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. SPCE plans to launch 16 flights. The projected numbers for 2021, 2022 and 2023 are 115, 170 and 270, respectively. The company also hopes to achieve profitability by the end of next year. The company had been pre-booking tickets for $250,000 (but closed at present), and Virgins space flights once launched will see big names from Hollywood like actor Leonardo DiCaprio and pop star Justin Bieber. Whats more? NASA has recently allowed Axiom Spaceto attach a commercial habitation module to the ISS before 2024. This Axion space station will be connected to ISSs Harmony module, providing the crew a natural environment, research and manufacturing facility and Earth observatory. In fact, the company plans to act as a power platform and turn its hardware into a free-flying commercial space station once the ISS stops functioning. Axion, a private player intends to develop its technology further with partners that include Boeing, Thales Alenia Space (Italy), Intuitive Machines and Maxar Technologies Inc. MAXR. Stocks in Focus Given the positive developments in the space tourism space we have shortlisted five stocks that cannot be overlooked as the industry grows. Airbus SE EADSY provides aerospace products, services and solutions. The company is engaged in a mammoth task to launch the Bartolomeo platform to the ISS in March 2020. The platform gives new opportunities for research at ISS. It can accommodate up to 12 different experiment modules, supplying them with power and providing data transmission to Earth. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) companys expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 40% compared with the Zacks Aerospace - Defense industrys projected earnings growth of 12.3%. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is an aerospace company that intends to monetize space tourism and space mining. The business operates in two main divisions, namely Virgin Galactic, that offers consumer-facing tourism and customer experience arm, and The Spaceship Company, which aims to manufacture and test spacecraft. Galactic's ownership of The Spaceship Company gives it an edge over competitors, who are not involved in designing and manufacturing their own spacecraft. The companys expected earnings growth rate for the next year is 87.5% compared with the Zacks Aerospace - Defense industrys projected earnings growth of 14.2%. Virgin Galactic carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The Boeing Company designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight and launch systems, and services. NASA agreed to pay $5.1 billion to Boeing to develop a spacecraft capable of safely transporting astronauts to ISS and back, over the next couple of years. Boeing is a Zacks Rank #3 company, with an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for next year compared with the Zacks Aerospace - Defense industrys projected earnings growth of 14.2%. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The Boeing Company (BA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Airbus Group (EADSY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (SPCE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Maxar Technologies Ltd. (MAXR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Chinese health authorities that the death toll due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in the country has increased to 106, with 4,515 confirmed cases in 30 provincial-level regions. AFP The National Health Commission said that 976 patients remained in critical conditions and a total of 6,973 people were suspected of being infected with the virus as of Monday night, reports Xinhua news agency. Read more Inspired By Shaheen Bagh, Hundreds Of Women Stage Protests In Mumbai Against CAA, NRC Inspired by the women of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi who have been protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) for more than a month now, women of Mumbai are also staging a similar protest. BCCL A group of Muslim women, including household helps and students, in Mumbai have started an indefinite protest against CAA. They have vowed to not leave the protest site until the government withdraws the contentious act. Read more Those Seeking Indian Citizenship Must Give Proof Of Religious Beliefs Under New Citizenship Act The government has made it clear that n on-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will have to provide proofs of their religious beliefs while applying for Indian citizenship under the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA), which is currently being drafted by the Home Ministry. The applicants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain or Parsi faiths will also have to furnish documents to prove that they entered India on or before December 31, 2014. Read more Kerala's 1st Gay Couple Who Got Married In A Temple Move High Court To Get Marriage Registered Nikesh and Sonu, the first married gay couple from Kerala who got married in 2019 have now filed a petition in the Kerala High Court seeking to legally register their marriage. In their petition, they argued that the refusal to register homosexual marriages under the Special Marriage Act 1954 violates the principles of equality, non-arbitrariness, non-discrimination, individual dignity and personal autonomy under Articles 14, 15(1), 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution of India. Read more Demolish Mosques, Shaheen Bagh Protesters Will Rape Your Daughters: BJP Minister Parvesh Verma After BJP IT head Amit Malviya claimed that Shaheen Bagh protesters are orchestrated and that women are being paid Rs 500 and given biryani, another BJP minister gave a hate speech against people of Shaheen Bagh, who have been protesting for more than 40 days against the contentious citizenship legislation. BJP MP Parvesh Verma said, "Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them. Verma added. Read more Engineers Asked To Keep Stray Animals At Bay During UP CM Yogi Adityanath's Visit Engineers in Uttar Pradesh have been given another responsibilty that has raised eyebrows. Officials trying their best in pleasing their political masters seems to have become a norm in Uttar Pradesh and the following incident adds credence to this fact. The Public Works Department (PWD) in the state reportedly deployed nine junior engineers to ensure that there is no 'stray animals' seen during the chief minister's visit to Mirzapur on Wednesday. Read more How a noose is knotted: What it takes to be a hangman Convicts in post Godhra riots case granted bail: SC directs them to carry out spiritual, social work India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 28: In a major order, the Supreme Court has granted bail to the convicts in the post-Godhra riots case. The bail was granted in the Sardarpura post-Godhra riots case in which 33 Muslims were burnt alive. The court put the convicts in two batches-one at Indore and the other at Jabalpur. The court directed them to carry out spiritual and social work during bail. The appeals of the convicts are pending in the Supreme Court. The Gujarat High Court had acquitted 14 and convicted 17 in the case. The 17 were awarded life sentences by the High Court in the 2002 riots case. For Godhra Muslims, development is key poll issue; Past long buried The Supreme Court also directed the district legal authorities to ensure that the convicts carry out spiritual and social work. It directed the authorities to find them work for livelihood. Further, the authorities were also directed to file a compliance report on the conduct of the convicts out on bail. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News In all, 76 accused were arrested in Sardarpur case by police, out of whom two died during pendency of trial, while one was a juvenile. The court had framed charges against 73 accused in June 2009 and initiated trial in the case. Besides the conviction of 31, the lower court had acquitted 42 others. The SIT later challenged in the high court the acquittal of 31 persons out of these 42. However, the HC today upheld the Mehsana district court order acquitting 31 out of these 42. Meanwhile, the 17 were convicted by the high court for murder, attempt to murder, rioting and other sections of IPC. The HC also upheld the decision of the lower court to not accept the "conspiracy theory" put up by the prosecution, which had alleged that the attack on minority community was pre-planned and a conspiracy was hatched following the Godhra train burning incident. Thirty-one persons were earlier awarded life sentence along with a fine of Rs 50,000 each in the verdict passed by special SIT court judge S C Srivastava while hearing the matter on November 9, 2011. 2002 Godhra riots: SIT court awards life sentence to 2, acquits 3 As many as 73 people were made accused in the case, in which 33 people of minority community were burnt to death at Sardarpura in Vijapur taluka of Mehsana district on the night of February 28, 2002, to avenge the Godhra train burning incident in which 59 people, mainly karsevaks, were burnt to death on February 27, 2002. This was one of the nine post-Godhra riot cases probed by Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT). A mob of hundreds of people had surrounded a lane, called 'Sheikh Vaas', in Sardarpura on the intervening night of February 28 and March 1, 2002, where minority population of the village used to live. The people of minority community took shelter in a 'pucca' house of one Ibrahim Sheikh. However, the mob torched the house after pouring petrol on it, in which 33 people, including 22 women, were charred to death. Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk through a crosswalk in Causeway Bay district in Hong Kong on Jan. 23, 2020. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images) Hong Kong Academics Call For Draconian Measures to Curb Spread of China Coronavirus Governments must implement draconian travel curbs to prevent the Novel Coronavirus from becoming a global epidemic, a team of infectious disease experts from Hong Kong said on Jan. 27. A team of academics at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on Monday presented research on the outbreak of the virus that first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, estimating that as many as 44,000 could be infected out of the citys population of 11 milliona figure far higher than official statistics. We have to be prepared that this particular epidemic may be about to become a global epidemic, said Gabriel Leung, lead researcher and dean of HKUs faculty of medicine. Leung said his team had estimated that by Saturday, 43,590 had been infected by the virus, including those who have not yet shown symptoms due to the diseases incubation period. Substantial, draconian measures limiting population mobility should be taken sooner, rather than later, he said, calling for mass gatherings to be cancelled, the closure of schools, and for employees to be able to work from home to limit the spread of the disease. A total of eight cases (pdf) of Novel Coronavirus infection have been confirmed in Hong Kong as of Jan. 27. The health commission for Hubei province continued to report an increase in the death toll as well as the number of infected patients, although many experts continue to doubt the transparency of official figures coming out of China. The virus, which Chinese authorities say is linked to a fresh food market in Wuhan which sold seafood and wild animals, has spread to cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. We are expecting to see epicenters of self-sustaining epidemics in these other major city clusters on the mainland, Leung said. Leung, who is also the founding director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Infection Disease Epidemiology and Control in Hong Kong, said his team estimates that in 6.2 days, the number of patients showing symptoms of the virus will double. The team based its calculations on international infection figures as of Jan. 25, Leung explained, adding that effective public health measures could bring the rate down. The most common symptom of the virus is a high fever. However, other symptoms include breathlessness, a sore throat, and a cough. Severe cases of infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death, according to the WHO. As the virus has an incubation period of seven days, symptoms may not immediately be noticeable. Leungs team predicted that the Novel Coronavirus will peak late April and early May in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chongqing, with some 150,000 new cases confirmed daily in Chongqing given its large population and transport links with Wuhan. He said his research had been sent to the World Health Organization and Hong Kong and Beijing authorities. Leungs comments came just days after Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam declared a virus emergency, announcing measures to limit links with mainland China and prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Lam said flights and high speed rail trips between Hong Kong and Wuhan would be halted. Schools that are currently on Lunar New Year holidays will remain closed until Feb. 17 and education authorities have asked universities to extend leave for students, she said on Saturday. Hong Kongs government also moved to deny entry to all Hubei residents, as well as individuals who had traveled to the province in the past two weeks. Lam also announced in a news conference on Tuesday that Hong Kong will drastically reduce the number of visitors from mainland China. As of Jan. 30, the city will halve flight arrivals and close rail and ferry servicesmeasures which werent implemented during the height of the 2003 SARS epidemic. China will also halt issuing visas for individual travelers from the mainland, Lam said. Reuters contributed to this report. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted in three corruption cases after he withdrew his request for immunity hours before the Knesset was set to pick up the issue. The Justice Ministry announced on Tuesday that the indictment had been filed at the Jerusalem District Court. Mr Netanyahu could soon face trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three separate cases. It is unclear, however, whether the trial will begin before Israelis head to the polls on March 2. Mr Netanyahu had announced on Facebook earlier on Tuesday that he had informed Parliamentary Speaker Yuli Edelstein of his decision. The Israeli prime minister, who is currently in Washington as U.S. President Donald Trump is set to unveil his Middle East peace plan, said that he decided not to let this dirty game continue. READ ALSO: At this fatal hour for the people of Israel, while I am in the United States on a historic mission to determine the permanent borders of Israel and ensure our safety for future generations, the Knesset is to begin another show in the immunity circus, he wrote. His chances of success had been slim, since the lawmakers in the current Knesset who are opposed to the request have a majority. On Tuesday, the parliament still voted in favour of setting up a House Committee, which would have decided on whether the 70-year-old should be given immunity, even though he had withdrawn the request. The committee will begin talks on a parliamentary immunity request by ex-minister Haim Katz, a member of Netanyahus Likud party. Edelstein, also a Likud member, left when the discussion began. He had earlier called the formation of the committee shortly before elections a grave mistake and said he would not cooperate. Mr Netanyahus political rival Benny Gantz, who also went to Washington to meet Mr Trump and discuss the plan, said the prime minister was going to trial and Israel must move forward. No man can manage a country as well as manage three serious criminal cases, wrote Mr Gantz, who had returned to Israel for the proceedings. Israels attorney general announced in November that Netanyahu would be charged with fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three cases. It is now the first time in Israels history that an incumbent prime minister is facing indictment. Mr Netanyahu is not required to resign as prime minister when indicted, though he did step down from all his ministerial posts earlier this month. The long-time leader is facing corruption charges for allegedly offering political favours in return for positive press coverage and helping wealthy business contacts in return for gifts. The elections scheduled for March 2 are an unprecedented third in less than a year. The government has found itself in political limbo amid a stalemate between a bloc of right-wing and religious parties led by Netanyahu and a bloc of centrist and Arab parties. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday sought the Centre's response on a plea challenging the constitutional validity of amended citizenship law and updation of the National Population Register (NPR), saying the data collection may lead to "unsanctioned state surveillance" and "is a gross invasion of privacy". A bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, issued notice to the Centre on the PIL which also challenged the rules made in 2003 for registration of citizens and issuance of National Identity Cards. The plea, filed by Udagar Ram, Bimalesh Kumar Yadav and Sanjay Safi, has said that the NPR updation is "arbitrary" as it puts citizens, non-citizens and persons seeking overseas citizenship "at par" asking the same information from the entire population residing within the country. It has challenged the vires of Section 14-A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 which was inserted through an amendment in 2004 on the ground that this provision empowered the Centre to "compulsorily register" every citizen of India and to issue national identity card to one. "The central government does not have a stated need to prepare a National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) for which the creation and updation of a Population Register is first step," the plea said. "The information being collected for the updation of the NPR may lead to unsanctioned State surveillance or unauthorized access by other arms of the State or even unauthorized access by third parties leading to grave misuse," it said. It said the updation of NPR would amount to different expenditure from that incurred in taking Census and added that the Cabinet has approved Rs 8,754 crore for the 2021 Census and an additional sum of Rs 3,941 crore for updation of NPR. The plea also said that the exercise of NPR assumes that people in India are not its citizens and shifts the onus of proving citizenship on the person itself. "The exercise of updation of the NPR by deeming fiction assumes that all the persons residing within the territory of India are not citizens of India and shifts the onus to the person to disclose information to prove their citizenship. This is seemingly done, without an investigation by the State to establish that the person is engaged in an unlawful activity," the petition said. The plea alleged that the questions asked under Census, do not offend the privacy of person, however, the information sought for updation of NPR is intrusive. It also alleged that neither the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 nor the NPR Manual, 2020 specify a robust system to ensure that the data collected will be protected against misuse. "The entire exercise of creation and updation of the National Population Register is a gross invasion of privacy of private citizens. The nature of the exercise is manifestly arbitrary with no grounds doubtfulness being specified apart from no guarantee of protection and security of the data/information so collected. Such a database would erode basic freedoms that the persons within India currently enjoy," the plea said. WASHINGTON - Top Trump administration health officials are inviting states to convert part of Medicaid into a block grant - a longtime conservative goal Congress rejected more than two years ago. A letter to every state Medicaid director, to be dispatched on Thursday, will offer the possibility of trading away an entitlement program that expands and contracts depending on how many poor people need the government health coverage. In exchange, for able-bodied adults in the program, states could apply to receive a fixed federal payment and freedom from many of the program's rules, according to several individuals familiar with the plans. The offer represents the second - and boldest - step the Trump administration has taken to redefine the nation's largest public insurance program, a cornerstone of the social safety net created as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society of the mid-1960s. It follows a guidance letter that Seema Verma, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, issued in January 2018, allowing states for the first time to compel poor Americans to work or prepare for jobs to qualify for Medicaid. The work requirements triggered lawsuits by national and state-level groups opposed to those rules. Of 10 states CMS has approved to begin what advocates call "community engagement" requirements, virtually all have been blocked in federal court or are on hold while the litigation goes through legal appeals. Proponents and critics alike expect the block grant guidance will also face court challenges. "Our legal team will be carefully assessing the enforcement and litigation options with respect to the guidance document," said Jane Perkins, legal director of the National Health Law Program, a Washington-based group working on behalf of low-income Americans and a main plaintiff in the work-requirement cases. Thursday's letter, first reported by Politico, will be accompanied by an event that morning at the Department of Health and Human Services' headquarters to tout the changes. Invitations emailed to various health-care organizations call the event, "Transforming Medicaid: A New Opportunity for Better Health." Allowing block grants in Medicaid has been a prime objective of Verma since she arrived in Washington three years ago from a role as an Indiana-based health-care consultant. Within the administration, Verma has consistently argued for states to be allowed greater flexibility in running Medicaid, which is a joint responsibility of the federal government and states. Under Medicaid law, the federal government provides each state a percentage - in practice, between 50% and 70%, depending on a state's wealth - of whatever it costs to insure any people who are eligible. Certain groups of people must be covered and certain health benefits are required as a minimum, while states have latitude to be more generous. A big expansion of Medicaid has taken place in recent years under the Affordable Care Act, which paid states the entire cost at first - now 90% - of enrolling poor people with slightly higher incomes than most states had allowed before. Three dozen states have expanded Medicaid since 2014. According to individuals inside and outside the administration, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about a decision not yet public, the option for states to ask for a block grant is focused on able-bodied adults, excluding traditional Medicaid populations predating the ACA, such as pregnant women, children or people with disabilities. Verma, who began working on guidance to permit block grants about a year ago, previewed her intentions last fall in a speech before the National Association of Medicaid Directors. "You will soon see guidance from us that lays out initial opportunities to test new approaches to delivering and financing care for certain optional adult populations," she said at the association's annual meeting in Washington. At the time she called the idea the "Medicaid Value and Accountability Demonstration," but the name apparently has changed in recent days. In September, Tennessee became the first state to ask CMS for what is known as a waiver from Medicaid rules to allow it to try a variant on a block grant. The state has not expanded Medicaid, and it is unclear that the new guidance described in the letter will permit what Tennessee wants to do. Sarah Tanksley, a spokeswoman for TennCare, the state's Medicaid program, said officials there have not had substantive conversations with CMS since formally sending in the request in November. A few other states have expressed preliminary interest, but not formally asked for federal permission. They include one expansion state, Alaska, and states that have not expanded their programs, including Georgia and Oklahoma. Many Republicans have long sought to end Medicaid's open-ended federal matching payments. Fixed-size block grants, or per capita caps, were a central part of GOP legislation in 2017 that would have repealed much of the ACA. Internal party divisions, with opposition to block grants from Republican governors who had expanded Medicaid, helped thwart ACA-repeal efforts that year in the Senate. Democrats and large swaths of the health-care industry have consistently opposed block grants, contending that such fixed payments could strand states financially when the economy deteriorates, expensive new therapies materialize, or public health disasters arise. Such pressures, critics contend, would lead states to cut eligibility or services. "These are all the reasons you've got to be nervous about a block grant," said Charles N. "Chip" Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals. "It's based on the assumption you can control costs and the levels of services are the same from year to year. You can get a curveball in there, and it can throw the whole thing off." Joseph Antos, a health-care scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the part of Medicaid law that allows states to get exceptions from the program's usual rules does not allow federal health officials to waive the formula that defines the share of money the federal government and states provide. "Anything that sounds like a block grant," Antos said, "can't be done." House Democrats already are criticizing the administration's plans. "Not only are Medicaid block grant proposals morally bankrupt, they are explicitly illegal," said Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts, who is circulating a letter of opposition among fellow Democrats. "Under this Administration, success in health care policy is measured by nothing more than how many patients are left with nowhere to turn when tragedy strikes." President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Read more WASHINGTON President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East plan Tuesday, winning immediate praise from a beaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but a swift rejection from the Palestinians, who called it nonsense. Trump's plan calls for the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, but it falls far short of minimal Palestinian demands and would leave sizable chunks of the occupied West Bank in Israeli hands. Netanyahu said he would move forward on Sunday and ask his Cabinet to approve plans to annex West Bank territory an explosive move that is likely to be met with harsh international reaction. Trump called his plan a win-win for both Israel and the Palestinians, and Netanyahu called it a great plan for Israel." At a speech in the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as nonsense. We say 1,000 no's to the Deal of the Century," Abbas said, using a nickname for Trump's proposal. We will not kneel and we will not surrender, he said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through peaceful, popular means. With Netanyahu standing beside him, Trump presented the plan at a White House ceremony filled with other Israeli officials and allies, including evangelical Christian leaders and wealthy Republican donors but no Palestinian representatives. The ceremony came amid Trump's impeachment trial and a U.S. election year, and after Netanyahu was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three separate cases. The longtime Israeli leader, who denies any wrongdoing, also faces a March 2 parliamentary election, Israels third in less than a year. The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war for an independent state and the removal of more than 700,000 Israeli settlers from these areas. But as details emerged, it became clear that the plan sides heavily with Netanyahu's hard-line nationalist vision for the region and shunts aside many of the Palestinians' core demands. Under the terms of the peace vision" that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, all settlers would remain in place, and Israel would retain sovereignty over all of its settlements as well as the strategic Jordan Valley. The proposed Palestinian state would also include more than a dozen Israeli enclaves with the entity's borders monitored by Israel. In addition, the areas of east Jerusalem offered to the Palestinians consist of poor, crowded neighborhoods located behind a hulking concrete separation barrier. Trump acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a great deal for the Palestinians." He said his vision gives the Palestinians the time needed for them to meet the challenges of statehood. The only concession the plan appears to demand of Israel is a four-year freeze on the establishment of new Israeli settlements in certain areas of the West Bank. But Netanyahu clarified later that this only applied to areas where there are no settlements and Israel has no immediate plans to annex, and that he considered the plan to impose no limitations on construction. Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza City ahead of the announcement, burning pictures of Trump and Netanyahu and raising a banner reading Palestine is not for sale. Trump said he sent a letter to Abbas to tell him that the territory that the plan has set aside for a new Palestinian state will remain open and undeveloped for four years. "It's going to work," Trump said. "If they do this, it will work. Your response to this historic opportunity will show the world to what extent you are ready to lead the Palestinian people to statehood." "President Abbas, I want you to know, that if you chose the path to peace, America and many other countries ... we will be there to help you in so many different ways. And we will be there every step of the way," Trump said. The 50-page plan builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. The plan envisions a future Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of roads and tunnels. It also would give small areas of southern Israel to the Palestinians as compensation for lost West Bank land. But the many caveats, and ultimate overall Israeli control, made the deal a nonstarter for the Palestinians. Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. Mr. President, because of this historic recognition and because I believe your peace plan strikes the right balance where other plans have failed, Netanyahu said. I've agreed to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of your peace plan. It's a great plan for Israel. It's a great plan for peace. Tuesday's developments set the contours for his election campaign. Netanyahu will highlight his close relationship with Trump and the historic opportunity provided by the peace plan, while Gantz will focus on Netanyahu's legal woes. Netanyahu will soon go on trial for a series of corruption charges. The Jordan Valley annexation plan is a big part of Netanyahu's strategy. Annexing West Bank land is a key promise meant to appeal to his hard-line nationalist base. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the plan's release, said they expected negative responses from the Palestinians, as well as Turkey and Iran, but were hopeful that Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab nations to have peace treaties with Israel, would not reject it outright. Jordan gave the plan a cool reaction, saying it remained committed to a two-state solution based on Israel's pre-1967 lines. It also said it rejected any unilateral move by Israel, referring to the annexation plan. Egypt, the first Arab country to reach a peace deal with Israel, urged Israelis and Palestinians to carefully study the plan. The European Union also said it needed to study it more closely. Officials said they expected Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others to cautiously welcome the plan. Arab League chief, Ahmed Abuel-Gheit said the Palestinian reaction would define the Arab response. He spoke after meeting with Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo. The reaction of Jordan, which would retain its responsibilities over Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque under the plan, is particularly significant, according to the officials, who said Kushner and others were reaching out to Arab leaders ahead of the rollout. The Palestinians see the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Trump has reversed decades of U.S. foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centerpiece of his strategy was recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the American Embassy there. He's also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programs. Those policies have proven popular among Trumps evangelical and pro-Israel supporters. But the Palestinians refuse to even speak to Trump and they called on support from Arab leaders. The Palestinian leadership also has encouraged protests in the West Bank, raising fears of a new round of violence. Ahead of the announcement, the Israeli military said it was reinforcing infantry troops along the Jordan Valley. Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Deb Riechmann in Washington contributed. He was barred from entering the Jadavpur University campus to attend the convocation on December 24. Kolkata: A fierce protest by a group of students forced West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday to skip the Calcutta University (CU) Annual Convocation without conferring D.Litt (honoris causa) on Nobel Laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee ceremonially at the event. Mr Dhankhar blamed the Mamata Banerjee government for the obstruction. This was perhaps the first time in the CUs history, founded in 1857, when the governor, being the chancellor also, was stopped from presiding over its annual convocation. It was also the second time in a month when Mr Dhankhar was prevented by agitating students from attending a varsity convocation. He was barred from entering the Jadavpur University campus to attend the convocation on December 24. Calling Mr Dhankhar a BJP agent over the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR), the CU students demanded that their vice-chancellor (V-C) Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee, instead of the governor, should hand over the D.Litt to the Nobel Laureate. In the afternoon Mr Dhankhar reached the venue: Nazrul Mancha in south Kolkata in his convoy. Angry students shouted Go Back slogans and showed black flags to him. Outnumbering the governors security personnel including a team CRPF commandoes, they gher-aoed his sedan and even hit its bonnet. Mr Dhankhar remained stranded inside his car till the demonstrators were dispersed by his security personnel. Walking into the auditoriums green room, he congratulated Prof Banerjee and signed the D.Litt for him. Mr Dhankhar however could not go to the dais as the students shifted their agitation in front of it. The CU V-C announced of accepting the students demand after failing to pacify them. Mr Dhankhar left the venue. The students agitation also ended. The CU V-C conferred the D.Litt on Prof Banerjee on the dais later. Mr Dhankhar vented his anger and anguish in a series of tweets. He said, The uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta Univ-ersity without attending the Convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of the immense respect we have for Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on whom we are conferring honorary D Litt (honoris causa). I hav-e signed the D.Litt (honoris causa) in the presence of Abhijeet Banne-rjee, VC and others. Describing Prof Banerjee A man of sterling qualities and disarming grace, the governor underlined that he was Greatly touched by his modest approach and depth. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday lashed out at Pakistan for using "terror as a state policy" towards India rather than peacefully settling disputes through dialogue, and said it must take demonstrable steps against terror groups. Addressing the 12th South Asia conference here, Singh said it is essential that terrorists and their ideological and financial networks are cut off and do not receive state support. "India is engaged in conversations with its neighbours except one country in order to develop a joint approach for regional peace and security. "True pathway to regional peace and security lies in understanding each other's sensitivities and following basic principles of non-interference in each other's internal affairs," he said. Singh asserted the South Asia region must unite in their efforts to defeat terrorism. Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri, and Pulwama attacks are grim reminders of state-sponsored terrorism by a neighbouring country. "Pakistan must take demonstrable steps against terror groups," he said. [January 28, 2020] Invicro Scientists Work on Imaging Synaptic Density in Schizophrenia Published in Nature Communications Invicro LLC, a Konica Minolta (News - Alert) company announces that the paper "Synaptic Density Marker SV2A is Reduced in Schizophrenia Patients and Unaffected by Antipsychotics in Rats1" has been published in Nature Communications. Invicro is a global provider of imaging biomarkers, core lab services, advanced analytics and software solutions for drug discovery and development. Invicro London scientists, Doctors Lisa Wells, Eugenii (Ilan) Rabiner, and Roger Gunn, are co-authors of this pioneering study that investigates synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) levels and their relationship to symptoms and structural brain measures in patients with schizophrenia using positron emission tomography (PET). The key findings indicated lower synaptic terminal protein levels in schizophrenia in vivo and that antipsychotic drug exposure is unlikely to account for them. "This pioneering work utilizes novel developments in the imaging of the human brain to evaluate in the living brain previous post-mortem findings," commented Dr. Eugenii (Ilan) Rabiner, EVP of Translational Applications for Invicro and Reader in Molecular Neuroimaging at King's College, London. Schizophrenia is a chronic disease that can be conceptualized as a combination of genetics, environment, and cognitive disorders. Changes in brain anatomy, including loss of synapses, has been hypothesized to play an important role in schizophrenia. This publication is the first to examine synaptic density in schizophrenia, in the living human brain. The authors used a novel PET imaging biomarker ([11C]UCB-J) and positron emission tomography (PET) to demonstrate lower levels of synaptic density in the frontal and anterior cingulate cortices of schizophrenics. "It was a pleasure to collaborate with Dr. Ellis Onwordi and Prof. Oliver Howes on this pioneering research in Schizophrenia," stated Dr. Roger Gun, EVP of Quantitative Data Sciences for Invicro and Professor of Molecular Neuro Imaging at Imperial College London. "This forms part of a wider Invicro program of work in synaptic imaging which has recently been enhanced by the development of [18F]MNI-1126 enabling multi-center imaging trials of synaptic dysfunction in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders." Nature Communications is a multidisciplinary scientific journal published by Nature Research, that is dedicated to high-quality research in all areas of the biological, physical and earth sciences. The journal seeks to publish the most significant advances in science expressed in landmark papers. Nature Communications published "Synaptic Density Marker SV2A is Reduced in Schizophrenia Patients and Unaffected by Antipsychotics in Rats" on 14 January 2020. "The ability to detect these changes in the living brain is crucial to aiding our understanding of disease progression, taking the knowledge derived from post-mortem tissue samples and translating this to the clinic," said Dr. Lisa Wells, Head of Discovery CNS Applications for Invicro. 1."Synaptic density marker SV2A is reduced in schizophrenia patients and unaffected by antipsychotics in rats" Authors: Ellis Chika Onwordi, Els F. Halff, Thomas Whitehurst, Ayla Mansur, Marie-Caroline Cotel, Lisa Wells, Hannah Creeney, David Bonsall, Maria Rogdaki, Ekaterina Shatalina, Tiago Reis Marques, Eugenii A. Rabiner, Roger N. Gunn, Sridhar Natesan, Anthony C. Vernon & Oliver D. Howes About Invicro Headquartered in Boston, MA, Invicro was founded in 2008 with offices, laboratories and clinics around the world, from coast-to-coast within the United States, to Europe and Asia that support leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology and top research universities. Invicro's multi-disciplinary team provides solutions to help enhance the discovery and development of life-changing drugs across all stages of the drug development pipeline (Phase 0-IV), leveraging all modalities within a broad scope of therapeutic areas, including neurology, oncology, cardiology, and immunology. Invicro's quantitative biomarker services, advanced analytics tools, and clinical operational services are backed by their industry-leading software informatics platforms, VivoQuant and iPACS. Invicro is a Konica Minolta company and part of their precision medicine initiative, which aims to accelerate personalized medicine, discover novel therapeutic targets and develop innovative therapeutic technologies for unmet medical needs. Along with their sister company, Ambry Genetics, Invicro develops and leverages the latest approaches in quantitative biomarkers including imaging, quantitative pathology and genomics. Visit www.invicro.com for more information. About Konica Minolta Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) is a global digital technology company with core strengths in imaging and data analysis, optics, materials, and nano-fabrication. Through innovation, Konica Minolta creates products and digital solutions for the betterment of business and society-today and for generations to come. Across its Business Technologies, Healthcare, and Industrial-facing businesses, the company aspires to be an Integral Value Provider that applies the full range of its expertise to offer comprehensive solutions to the customer's most pressing problems, works with the partners to ensure the solutions are sustainable, anticipates and addresses tomorrow's issues, and tailors each solution to meet the unique and specific needs of its valued customers. Leveraging these capabilities, Konica Minolta contributes to productivity improvement and workflow change for its customers, and provides leading-edge service solutions in the IoT era. Headquartered in Tokyo and with operations in more than 50 countries, Konica Minolta has more than 43,000 employees serving approximately two million customers in over 150 countries. Konica Minolta is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, (TSE4902). For further information, visit: https://www.konicaminolta.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005619/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Police arrested a man suspected of shooting a Colorado Springs police officer earlier this month, authorities said. Randy Bishop, 35, was arrested Sunday and charged with first degree attempted murder of a peace officer, assault, child abuse, and second-degree kidnapping, KCNC-TV reports. Bishop is suspected of shooting Officer Beau Becker Jan. 13 during a traffic stop. Becker was injured but has been released from a hospital, authorities said. Bishop drove away after the shooting but crashed and ran from the wreck, investigators said. Bishop was seen driving Sunday and tried to flee before officers used a patrol vehicle to disable his car, police said. Neither Bishop nor the officers were injured during the arrest, authorities said. Bishop was wanted in connection with a November 2019 case in which he allegedly escaped police custody at a hospital after struggling with a detective, taking the officers gun and firing at least one shot, authorities said. Online jail records do not indicate whether Bishop has an attorney. Despite the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October of last year, the terrorist group has found a new mission: attack and slaughter Jews. In a recording released on Monday, the new ISIS leader Sheikh Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashemi Al-Quarashi exhorted Muslim extremists, according to CBN News. Oh soldiers of the caliphate everywhere, especially in beloved Sinai and blessed Syria, go for the Israeli settlements and marketplaces, he said. Turn them into lands for testing your weapons and chemical rockets and other types [of weapons]. To the Muslims in Palestine and all countries: Be a spearhead in the war against the Jews and in thwarting their plans and their Deal of the Century. This week, President Trump will release a peace plan to resolve conflict between Israel and Palestine that includes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Blue and White leader Benny Gantz. Palestine, however, was not included in the negotiations of the plan and has already rejected it, according to the Associated Press. The focus on Jerusalem is not very new. In 2016, three terrorists killed four and wounded seven in open fire in the Sarona Market in Tel Aviv, according to the Jerusalem Post. And in a recent report released by Germany, officials warned the country of a rise in antisemitic attacks, specifically at the hands of Islam extremists. But the threats didnt stop with the Jewish community. Abu Ibrahim also warned American Christians. Oh tyrants of America and worshippers of the Cross: Search for something else in which to rejoice other than your claims of finishing off the Islamic State, he said. If you include in your calculations that you managed to win a battle, and that the mujahideen (jihadis) withdrew from it, know that the entire matter is in the hands of AllahAllah is merely testing his worshippers, to differentiate those who are sincere in their jihad from the insincere ones. The warnings come only days after the World Holocaust Forum in which leaders from around the world gathered in Israel to remember the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Related: Attending the World Holocaust Forum in Israel Was Deeply Spiritual for Vice President Mike Pence Auschwitz at 75: From Sorrow to Song International Holocaust Remembrance Day: Three Reasons People Hate the Jews and an Incredible Example of Courage The Problem with (Mis)remembering the Holocaust: The Banality of Evil Photo courtesy: Pixabay Mikaela Mathews is a freelance writer and editor based in Dallas, TX. She was the editor of a local magazine and a contributing writer for the Galveston Daily News and Spirit Magazine. WASHINGTON - Republicans lack the votes to block witnesses at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded late Tuesday, a potentially major hurdle for Trump's hopes to end the trial with a quick acquittal. Earlier, Trump's lawyers concluded his defence with a plea to move on. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Former National security adviser John Bolton leaves his home in Bethesda, Md. Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. President Donald Trump's legal team is raising a broad-based attack on the impeachment case against him even as it mostly brushes past allegations in a new book that could undercut a key defense argument at the Senate trial. Former national security adviser John Bolton writes in a manuscript that Trump wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it committed to helping with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez) WASHINGTON - Republicans lack the votes to block witnesses at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded late Tuesday, a potentially major hurdle for Trump's hopes to end the trial with a quick acquittal. Earlier, Trump's lawyers concluded his defence with a plea to move on. Even after sitting through days and late nights of argument, several Republicans apparently are ready to join Democrats in considering in-person testimony from former National Security Adviser John Bolton and perhaps others. Trump's lawyers made their closing case for a speedy acquittal Tuesday, but to no avail. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. President Donald Trump's legal team prepared to wrap up arguments in his impeachment trial Tuesday as Senate Republicans wrestled with whether to allow witnesses, including John Bolton who appeared ready to contradict a key Trump claim. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) McConnell told colleagues in a private meeting that he did not yet have the votes to block Democrats from summoning witnesses. That outcome would prolong an election-year trial that Trump and his legal team had hoped was on track, as one lawyer said, to end now, as soon as possible." McConnnell's statement, in a closed-door meeting of senators, was an acknowledgment of the extent to which revelations from Bolton have scrambled the trial's schedule and the desire for testimony. Bolton writes in a forthcoming book that Trump told him he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it helped with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. That assertion, if true, would undercut a key defence argument and go to the heart of one major article of impeachment against the president. Trump complained anew at a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, focusing on Democrats rather than Republican senators. While we are creating jobs and killing terrorists, the congressional Democrats are obsessed with demented hoaxes, crazy witch hunts and deranged partisan crusades," he said. In this image from video, personal attorney to President Donald Trump, Jay Sekulow, speaks during the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Senate Television via AP) There are still several days before any potential witness vote would be taken. A decision to call more witnesses would require 51 votes to pass. With a 53-47 majority, Republicans can only afford to lose three. If senators agree they want more witnesses they would then have to vote again on who to call. McConnell convened the private meeting shortly after Trump's legal team concluded their arguments in the trial, arguing forcefully against the relevance of testimony from Bolton and insisting that nothing Trump had done amounted to an impeachable offence. While scoffing at Bolton's book manuscript, Trump and the Republicans have strongly resisted summoning him to testify in person about what he saw and heard as Trump's top national security adviser. A day after the defence team largely brushed past Bolton, attorney Jay Sekulow addressed the controversy head-on by dismissing the book said to contradict a key defence argument about Trump's dealings with Ukraine as inadmissible." Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska., left, talks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts," Sekulow said. A night earlier Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz said that nothing in the manuscript even if true rises to the level of an impeachable offence. Sekulow also sought to undermine the credibility of Bolton's book by noting that Attorney General William Barr has disputed comments attributed to him by Bolton. Senate Republicans spent considerable time in private discussing how to deal with Bolton's manuscript without extending the proceedings or jeopardizing the presidents expected acquittal. Those lost steam, and Democrats showed no interest. Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, called a proposal for senators to be shown the manuscript in private, keeping Bolton out of public testimony, absurd." Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan.28, 2020. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) We're not bargaining with them. We want four witnesses, and four sets of documents, then the truth will come out," Schumer said. 'Senators are being warned that if they agree to call Bolton to testify or try to access his book manuscript, the White House will block him, beginning a weeks-long court battle over executive privilege and national security. That had seemed to leave the few senators, including Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who have expressed a desire to hear new testimony without strong backing. Also, other Republicans including Sen. Pat Toomey want reciprocity -- bring in Bolton or another Democratic witness in exchange for one from the GOP side. Some Republicans want to hear from Biden and his son, Hunter, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company when his father was vice-president. The Bidens were a focus of Trump defence arguments though no evidence of wrongdoing has emerged. The lawyers also delved into areas that Democrats see as outside the scope of impeachment, chastising former FBI Director James Comey and seizing on surveillance errors the FBI has acknowledged making in its Russian election interference probe. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Wildwoods Convention Center Oceanfront, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, in Wildwood, N.J. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) Trump's attorneys argued that the Founding Fathers took care to make sure that impeachment was narrowly defined, with offences clearly enumerated. The bar for impeachment cannot be set this low," Sekulow said. Danger. Danger. Danger. These articles must be rejected. The Constitution requires it. Justice demands it. Before consideration of witnesses, the case now moves toward written questions, with senators on both sides getting 16 hours to pose queries. By late in the week, they are expected to hold a vote on whether or not to hear from any witnesses. I don't know that the manuscript would make any difference in the outcome of the trial, said Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of GOP leadership. And some Republicans said they simply dont trust Boltons word. Rand Paul of Kentucky called Bolton disgruntled and seeking to make money off his time at the White house. But John Kelly, Trump's former White House chief of staff, told an audience in Sarasota, Florida, that he believes Bolton. White House officials privately acknowledge that they are essentially powerless to block the book's publication, but could sue after the fact if they believe it violated the confidentiality agreement Bolton signed against disclosing classified information. Trump is charged with abusing his presidential power by asking Ukraine's leader to help investigate Biden at the same time his administration was withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid. A second charge accuses Trump of obstructing Congress in its probe. Trump and his lawyers have argued repeatedly that Democrats are using impeachment to try to undo the results of the last presidential election and drive Trump from office. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. What they are asking you to do is to throw out a successful president on the eve of an election, with no basis, and in violation of the Constitution," said White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. Why not trust the American people with this decision? Why tear up their ballots? Democrats, meanwhile, say Trump's refusal to allow administration officials to testify only reinforces that the White House is hiding evidence. The White House has had Bolton's manuscript for about a month, according to a letter from Bolton's attorney. No matter the vote on witnesses, acquittal still seems likely given that Republicans hold a majority in the Senate and conviction would require a two-thirds majority against Trump. According to data compiled by C-SPAN, the House managers used just under 22 of their 24 hours over three days, while the White House team used almost 12 hours, or half their time. ___ Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Mary Clare Jalonick, Andrew Taylor, Matthew Daly, Laurie Kellman and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report. Holywood actress Salma Hayek apologized after endorsing the controversial Jeanine Cummins' novel American Dirt and its message, admitting she has not read it yet, according to an article by Yahoo. Released on Tuesday, American Dirt is the story of a Mexican woman fleeing to the United States with her 8-year-old son after her family members are killed by Mexican drug cartels. The book was widely anticipated, and even got the attention of renowned host Oprah who added the novel in her book club which would have guaranteed best-seller status. "Our next book club selection is "American Dirt" by @jeaninecummins. It's a heart-wrenching page-turner, and you won't be able to put it down, " Oprah's Book Club posted on Twitter. "Download your copy on @applebooks and #ReadWithUs: http://apple.co/americandirt #AmericanDirt@Flatironbooks @Oprah." However, days after its release, the novel as well as its author have been heavily criticized. According to a review by Parul Sehgal published at New York Times, writer noted the book's alienation of its characters. "The writer has a strange, excited fascination in commenting on gradients of brown skin: Characters are 'berry-brown' or 'tan as childhood,'" Sehgal wrote. Aside from him, Chicana writer Myriam Gurba also criticized the book, noting that it is filled with racist stereotypes and "among them the Latin lover, the suffering mother, and the stoic manchild." According to a report by New York Times, Cummins who identified as white and Latina wrote in the novel's author's note about Mexican migrants, "At worst, we perceive them as an invading mob of resource-draining criminals, and, at best, a sort of helpless, impoverished, faceless brown mass, clamoring for help at our doorstep." She added, "We seldom think of them as our fellow human beings." She also wrote, "I worried that, as a nonmigrant and non-Mexican, I had no business writing a book set almost entirely in Mexico, set entirely among migrants. I wished someone slightly browner than me would write it." This backfired and drew unified disapproval from many user across the internet. The 53-year-old Mexican actress posted last week a photo of herself, thanking Oprah for recommending American Dirt to her book club and "giving a voice to the voiceless & for loving harder in response to hate," which she retracted a day later. Hayek removed the photo from social media and posted an apology. "Yesterday, I posted a message about a book which I removed from my Instagram," wrote Hayek. "I want to say to all of you that I got very excited when Oprah shared with me her pick for her book club because in the description of the book I learned that it was the story of a Mexican woman, so I rushed into sharing my excitement with you." She continued, "I confess, I have not read it and was not aware of any kind of controversy. I thank all of you who caught me in the act of not doing my research, and for setting me straight, because that means you know me and gave me the benefit of the doubt; and I apologize for shouting out something without experiencing it or doing research on it." Oprah has not yet released an official statement regarding the controversy surrounding her book club pick. Under totally different circumstances, author Jeanine Cummins probably would have loved being a topic of conversation at the Sundance Film Festival. Its where filmmakers and industry types gather every winter to watch movies, make deals and discuss film. San Antonian Ray Santisteban has been there for a few days, chatting up his newest documentary, The First Rainbow Coalition, which aired last night on PBS Independent Lens. It isnt being screened at Sundance, but Santisteban was there to watch films and participate on panels that spill out into hallway conversations. Sometimes, those are the ones that matter most. Cummins whose polarizing new book American Dirt already has a film deal has been the subject of that talk. The first it book of 2020 for all the wrong reasons, it carried the weight of being overhyped, celebrity-endorsed and all but proclaimed a Latino classic before real people got a chance to read it. A Grapes of Wrath of our times, one book-jacket tribute says. But recent reviews by writers, academics, filmmakers and other creatives some but not all of them Latino have been ruthless. It has been called trauma porn. Twitter takedowns have made for riveting reading, and its not dying down. If you get past the stereotypes, American Dirt reads like a telenovela, the kind of book fit for an airplane ride. The kind of book that can get a seven-figure deal. I couldnt get past its stereotypes, implausible story lines and inauthentic use of the Spanish language. The latter was grating. Visceral reactions to American Dirt probably have as much to do with the publishing industry as with Cummins work. The industry has made a lot of assumptions about Latinos over the years. Executives and editors have proclaimed that Latinos dont read, dont buy books and that their stories dont sell. Its why small, underfunded Latino publishing houses developed throughout the Southwest. Sometimes a good, marketable book published by a small press gets noticed and is republished by a major house. It happened to Sandra Cisneros The House on Mango Street. It was first published by the Houston-based Arte Publico Press and went on to sell 6 million copies in the hands of Random House. Its being developed into a TV series. I want to think the publishing industry better understands Latino experiences in 2020, but American Dirt shows it doesnt. The fawning praise by Cisneros, Stephen King, Julia Alvarez and John Grisham is as baffling as Oprahs. The McAllen Public Library decided not to participate in an Oprah Book Club pilot program when the book that arrived was American Dirt. It has hit a nerve and raised uncomfortable questions about who gets to tell whose stories. For all the years of research Cummins put into the book, detailed in the authors note and acknowledgments, she didnt come away with a good handle on the migrant experience. She tells us shes of Puerto Rican descent but has identified alternately as white and Latinx. She married an undocumented immigrant in 2005. So you could say I have a dog in the fight, she says. Unfortunately, it didnt come through on the pages. At Sundance, Santisteban said Cummins book birthed a phrase, Nothing about us, without us. It sounds like a manifesto. This issue of who is telling stories is very volatile right now in our communities, the filmmaker said. It really touches a raw nerve. Thats because historical texts havent accurately reflected Latino stories. Their portrayals in fiction and movies might be worse, though there are exceptions in all these categories. Santisteban attended a panel at which a filmmaker asked, If white filmmakers cannot tell Latino stories, does that mean that Latinos cannot tell stories about the white community? But thats not the right question to ask. Nor should it be the goal. Capable writers, artists and filmmakers can make moving works of art that transcend their own experiences. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro won a best picture Oscar for The Shape of Water in 2017. It wasnt a Mexican story. It was a magical story. The problem with American Dirt is that it sold out the stories of migrants to sell books. When a writer has the guts to say aloud that he or she wants to write, the sages often say: Write what you know. For all the research Cummins purported to do, she couldnt get out of its way and let the stories of migrants populate her book. My guess is she knew that story wouldnt sell. Elaine Ayala is a columnist covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | eayala@express-news.net | Twitter: @ElaineAyala BERLIN - Historians have presented a collection of photos kept by the deputy commander of the Nazis Sobibor death camp that they say appears to include images of John Demjanjuk, the retired Ohio auto worker who was tried in Germany for his alleged time as a Sobibor guard. The collection unveiled Tuesday at Berlins Topography of Terror museum comprises 361 photos as well as written documents illustrating Johann Niemanns career. Niemann was the deputy commander of Sobibor from September 1942 until he was killed on Oct. 14, 1943, in an uprising by Jewish inmates. Unlike in many other cases, the photos were not destroyed after World War II in fear of legal proceedings, and they remained in the possession of Niemanns family. The collection is being handed over to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Experts say the collection enhances historians knowledge of what Sobibor looked like. So far, they knew of only two photos taken of the camp while it existed. The Niemann collection adds another 49. Jetje Manheim, whose grandparents were murdered on arrival at Sobibor from the Netherlands in 1943, said it was very courageous of Niemanns descendants to release the photos. She said it was a breathtaking experience to see the images after frequently having seen the site. The collection may also shed more light on Demjanjuk, who was convicted in 2011 as an accessory to murder on allegations he served as a Sobibor guard. Demjanjuk always denied the accusations and died in 2012 before his appeal against the ruling by a Munich court could be heard, making the verdict not legally binding. Two photos in the collection may depict a young Iwan Demjanjuk, as he was known before anglicizing his name to John, among other former prisoners of war who were trained at an SS camp and were deployed at Sobibor, according to historians. If they do, they would be the first to prove that he was at the camp. Martin Cueppers, a Holocaust historian at the University of Stuttgart, said researchers concluded that Demjanjuk is probably depicted in at least one case in conjunction with the criminal police office in Germanys Baden-Wuerttemberg state, whose biometric department agreed to examine the historical photos. But Demjanjuks son, John Demjanjuk Jr., said of the newly unveiled photos that its a baseless theory to claim they prove anything at all regarding my father. The collection as a whole is of significant historical value regarding the Holocaust and Sobibor, he said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. But the photos are not proof of my father being in Sobibor and may even exculpate him once forensically examined. The Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk was a Soviet Red Army soldier captured by the Germans in Crimea in 1942. He was accused of agreeing to serve as a Wachmann, or guard, the lowest rank of the Hilfswillige, former POWs who were subordinate to German SS men, and training in a camp known as Trawniki. The Munich court said the evidence showed he was a part of the Nazis machinery of destruction and served in Sobibor from March 27, 1943, until mid-September that year. Integral to the prosecutions case was an SS identity card that allegedly shows a picture of a young Demjanjuk and indicates he trained at the SS Trawniki camp and was posted to Sobibor. Though court experts said the card appears genuine, Demjanjuks defence attorneys argued it was a fake produced by the Soviet KGB. The prosecution also produced evidence including transfer lists indicating a guard named Demjanjuk with the same Trawniki number was sent to serve in Sobibor and elsewhere, but there was never photographic proof he was there. Between March 1942 and October 1943, about 167,000 people were killed at Sobibor, almost all Jews, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Following the 1943 uprising, the Nazi guards shot the remaining prisoners and razed the camp in occupied Poland. Demjanjuk always maintained he was a victim of the Nazis, first wounded as a Soviet soldier and then captured and held as a prisoner of war under brutal conditions before joining the Vlasov Army, a force of anti-communist Soviet POWs and others formed to fight with the Germans against the Soviets in the wars final months. If the newly surfaced photographs turn out not to picture Demjanjuk, it wouldnt be the first time his identity has been mistaken. In the 1980s, Demjanjuk stood trial in Israel after he was accused of being the notoriously brutal guard Ivan the Terrible at the Treblinka extermination camp. After Treblinka survivors identified him as their tormentor, he was convicted and sentenced to death but then freed when an Israeli court overturned the ruling, saying the evidence showed he was the victim of mistaken identity. ___ David Rising in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. ___ This story was first published on January 28, 2020. It was updated on January 31, 2020, to correct the name of a woman whose grandparents were murdered at Sobibor. Her name is Jetje Manheim, not Anne Lepper. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A flight carrying passengers from Wuhan, China to San Francisco will not land at San Francisco International Airport amid concerns over the coronavirus, airport officials confirmed Monday. During a news conference at the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, airport officials joined city officials, including Mayor London Breed, to provide an update on the virus. "Since the first outbreak in China, we have been monitoring the situation and taking the appropriate steps," Breed said. "I want to stress, there have been no cases here in San Francisco. "I know there have been a number of rumors of a flight coming to San Francisco with diplomats from China and our latest understanding is there are no incoming flights that we have been made are aware of," she said. SFO Airport Director Ivar Satero said while a direct flight from Wuhan to SFO was recently canceled, the airport is continuing to work with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to screen any lingering passengers arriving into the airport whose itinerary might have included Wuhan. "The latest information we have is that flight will arrive to the U.S. via Anchorage (Alaska) and then it will make its way to Ontario, California," Satero said. "With that flight there will be three health checks along the way: the first health check will be by Chinese officials for passengers boarding the plane; the second check will be by U.S. officials on the aircraft that flew into Wuhan and we'll do the second health check before departing. And then there will be a third health check on the arrival of that flight into Anchorage before allowing entry into the U.S., and then it will be cleared to fly into Ontario," Satero said. The flight will arrive in Ontario sometime on Tuesday, he said. Dr. Tomas Aragon with the San Francisco Department of Public Health said that while the risk of contracting the virus is low for Bay Area residents, the department has activated its emergency response plan to be prepared. To lower the chances of becoming infected, Aragon recommends that people regularly wash their hands, cover their coughs with their hands and that they stay home when they're sick. "Currently the risk for acquiring this infection is very low, so at this time we're not recommending any special measures, including wearing masks," he added. Health officials are urging anyone who has traveled to Wuhan in the last 14 days, or who has come in contact with someone who traveled to Wuhan, or has respiratory symptoms, to seek medical care right away and let their providers know about any recent travel. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. KCK man pleads guilty, sentenced in 2017 murder of 72-year-old Independence man KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A KCK man has pleaded guilty to the 2017 deadly shooting of a 72-year-old Independence man, prosecutors said Monday. William Domann was shot and killed on Oct. 30, 2017, in an Independence home on E. 43rd Street after being restrained. Reports of a burglary gone wrong and a trail of blood lead to this tragic end game . . . Read more: Today A mix of clouds and sun. High 73F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 47F. Winds light and variable. Tomorrow Intervals of clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds for later in the day. High near 75F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Job Title: Senior Education Programme Officer Organization: AVSI Foundation Duty Station: Uganda Reports to: Program Manager About US: AVSI is an international NGO with headquarters in Italy, which has been active in Uganda since 1984. Its current activities are focused in the areas of education, health, livelihoods, and protection, nutrition and refugee programs in Uganda. About Programme: AVSI Foundation in partnership with Education cannot wait (ECW) Consortium Management Unit is implementing a two-year project called Education First for refugees and Host community children in Primary Schools in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement and Host Communities, Kikuube District. ECW aims to strengthen the education sector and its response to the current refugee crisis. ECW will achieve this by working to improve the Teacher; learner ratio and accelerate the provision of safe and secure learning spaces for the primary School level. Job Summary: The Senior Education Programme Officer will support ECW3 Programme implementation in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement and the targeted host community schools. Reporting to and under the leadership of the Program Manager, the job holder will implement the AVSI Education Cannot Wait (ECW3) Project activities in Kyangwali refugee settlement towards improved equitable access to relevant learning opportunities and improved delivery of quality education and training for refugee and host community learners in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement Key Duties and Responsibilities: Conduct awareness raising campaigns/dialogues on the double shifting education model in the community and schools targeting teachers in the targeted primary schools and other stake holders including the district education office, Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), School Management Committee (SMC) and the other partners working within the settlement Sensitize communities including local leadership, teachers, caregivers and parents on the value of education towards ensuring children access education. Engage teachers and the learners in the targeted primary schools to implement the double shifting education model towards addressing overcrowding and the teacher learner ratio gap. Collaborate with and follow up the AVSI partner LGIHE with regard to teacher trainings on disability and inclusion, refresher courses and piloting of early grade reading and numeracy programs Ensure safe guarding, protection and disability and gender inclusion and monitoring in all Project activities including construction, enrollments, distribution of scholastic materials, trainings among others Support and engage schools to make re-usable sanitary pads in addition to distribution of some project sanitary items to targeted girls Actively increase awareness, identify and ensure enrollment of special groups like children with disabilities, pregnant girls and child mothers Ensure that children with disability are provided with the necessary assistive devices In collaboration with the ECW program manager, the UNHCR program manager, and the UNHCR Senior education officer work towards maintain an operational relationship with UNHCR and OPM in Kyangwali Refugee settlement and Kikuube district local government particularly the education and engineering departments Ensure accurate and timely data collection and reporting Network and link with other organizations and projects including other ECW partners in Kyangwali refugee settlement and other internal AVSI projects. Develop plans and reports in line with timelines agreed with the Program manager and M&E office and in consistency with the ECW reporting specifications In collaboration with the Program manager, represent AVSI in official meetings including, ECW secretariat meetings, UNHCR Education and protection working groups, UNHCR Interagency meetings in the field as needed Participate in the AVSI program support initiatives as requested by the Director of Programs and or Country Representative Perform other duties within area of responsibility, as requested by the supervisor Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The applicant for the AVSI Foundation Senior Education Programme Officer should hold a Bachelor of Arts/ Science in Primary School Education A Certificate/Diploma in Special Needs Education is an added advantage Three years of professional experience implementing education in emergencies Prior work experience in implementing Double shift school system and Early Grade Reading will be considered an added value Familiarity with psycho social support programs for children and youth Good record keeping and report writing skills Flexibility, good communication and interpersonal skills, presentation skills, and ability to work under pressure with minimal supervision. Fluency in English, and ability to speak Arabic, Runyakitara, or any other local languages spoken in the settlement is desired. How to Apply: All candidates should send their application letters, accompanied with updated Curriculum Vitae indicating 3 work- related referees, plus copies of relevant certificates, should be addressed to: The Country Representative, P.O BOX 6785, Plot 1119, Ggaba Road, Kampala or sent to hr.kampala@avsi.org indicating the e-mail subject as Application for ECW3 Senior Education Officer- AVSI Kyangwali Refugee settlement. Hard copy applications should be submitted to field offices Deadline: Friday, 7th February 2020 by 5.00 pm For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Brewing beer was never part of Al Kominskis grand plan. The owner of Als of Hampden near Mechanicsburg was selling an eclectic mix of craft beers to appeal to the pizza and sub-eating crowd. I still can't believe they made that Zola movie omg Reply Thread Link I'm already looking forward to Shirley, Black Bear, Minari, The Nest, Palm Springs, The Night House and a bunch of others. Seems like a really good festival this year. Reply Thread Link ditto this comment! Reply Parent Thread Link Minari and Steven Yeun have been getting great reviews! Reply Parent Thread Link im so exited for minari!! happy to see steve yeun getting so much shine. Reply Parent Thread Link I'll be waiting for the Zola trailer! Reply Thread Link Thought about making a Sundance reactions post, but idk if anyone cares. Someone better buy Shirley, stat! I care! So excited about Zola even with the mixed reactions. I am so happy this was put in the hands of a black woman, I was reading that James Franco originally wanted to direct (lol) but now this could be a breakout for Bravo. Happy that PYW has great reviews even if I didn't care for the script. Movies that weren't on my radar but are because of Sundance: The 40 Year Old Version written/directed/starring Radha Blank about a black woman playwright who at the age of 40 decides to try her hand at rap. Also very interested in the documentary Into the Deep. It's about journalist Kim Wall who went to interview an inventor onboard his submarine and disappeared. A documentary filmmaker had been filming the building of the submarine a year before Wall's disappearance and kept filming as it was discovered that the inventor had murdered Wall (he is now convicted of her murder). Pretty nuts! Reply Thread Link im super interested in the forty year version! i saw some nice things about it on twitter, too. jeremy o harris, for his faults, was the perfect person to work on the zola script. i think it is my most anticipated film out of the festival (except maybe tessa thompsons film, sylvies love) tbh. i had missed deep somehow, so thanks for mentioning it so i can keep an eye out! kims death was so sad. Edited at 2020-01-28 02:19 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Oh the forty year old version sound interesting Reply Parent Thread Link That Zola thing is so fucking wild to me. Reply Thread Link I'm trash and will only be watching Palm Springs for Tyler's small role Give it to me now! Edit: OP did you watch it? Give me any and all details about my man and his subpar acting! lol Edited at 2020-01-28 12:45 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link Haha, sorry, but while OP does love attending film festivals. and would like to go to more in the future, she draws a line at ones requiring snowboots. Reply Parent Thread Link that zola thread produced so many iconic quotes, i hope theyre all in the movie. Reply Thread Link He's lost in the sauce and she's lost in the game.. Reply Parent Thread Link Lol yes still remember that line Reply Parent Thread Link "So we vibin' over our hoeism or whatever" might be my fave. Reply Parent Thread Link i say lost in the sauce all the time Reply Parent Thread Link Bonding over hoeism is my fave Reply Parent Thread Link I read a review for Palm Springs, and I'm now way more intrigued after finding out it's a Groundhog Day loop type film. I'm such a sucker for those Reply Thread Link I can't believe they made that Zola movie so quickly and that it's actually getting good reviews. Reply Thread Link quickly? now sis its been 5 years since the twitter thread i can't believe 2015 is this far away now Reply Parent Thread Link 5 years! Jesus Reply Parent Thread Link Reactions post please!!! Im too busy to hunt on my own this week Reply Thread Link will do! Reply Parent Thread Link Cautiously interested in the Zola movie cause I remember the twitter thread. It came off funny cause of her description but the actual story was scary. She was pimping out that girl iirc. So I'm curious how this will be portrayed in the film. Reply Thread Link The actual story is horrifying and it was only funny because it was told through a comedic storyteller. However its just also uncomfortable to imagine any of that being glamorized for fun or a movie, yet I think if anyone were to have tried to bring this film to life, it shouldve only been a black woman alongside the original storyteller which is how its mostly been done with the exception of including Jeremy. Idk. Reply Parent Thread Link lol I don't know if bringing on the original storyteller was a totally smart idea. I don't think she'll wanna look bad. I'm curious to see how this all plays out. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yeah I laughed but then reading the article about it makes you realize the danger Zola was in. It also amazed me how quick ONTD was willing to turn on Zola to defend Jessica, like Zola should never have posted pics of Jessica and her kid but to act like Jessica was always a victim in this and that she wasn't about to traffic to more 2 more girls after dealing with Zola is so weird. Edit: I guess this is why they based the movie off the article which was unbiased since every party was being interviewed. Edited at 2020-01-28 01:34 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I have so many complicated feelings about Zola. Super-fuck off to Jeremy Harris misogynoir ass but I legit love Janicza so much. Can yall imagine if James Franco stuck with this project lmao. The amount of disgust... Reply Thread Link Ia. And thank fuck someone else isn't here for Jeremy Harris and his misogynoir. The praise I constanstly see for him especially amongst the white Broadway crowd makes me wanna scream. Reply Parent Thread Link Slave Play is totally not the radical, thought-provoking art that the playwright think it is tbh. the fact that it's so well-received by whites... Reply Parent Thread Link looking back at it now I'm unsure how to feel about the Zola phenomenon because through the process the actual victim involved was able to be found and IIRC the original tweeter had a 'ok and' approach to be called out. Like as much as Zola is about the person who told it everything wild that happens happened to the woman she was talking about you know? Reply Thread Link Bored W how Kate Winslet n sarorise Ronan take on such blah roles same old same old Reply Thread Link Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the 3rd Global Potato Conclave at Gandhinagar, Gujarat said that while the area under potato cultivation increased by about 20% in India in the last eleven years, it has increased by about 170% in Gujarat during the same period. The Prime Minister said that this is largely owing to the policy initiatives and decisions which lead to the State using modern methods of agriculture like sprinkler and drip irrigation for cultivation, along with the best cold storage facilities and linkages to the Food Processing Industry. He said Gujarat has major Potato processing companies in the state and that most of the potato exporters are also based in Gujarat. These have led to the emergence of the state as a major potato hub in the country. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: Kazakhstan is not holding negotiations with Russia on the topic of Kazakh oil export to Belarus, Kazakhstans First Vice Minister of Energy Murat Zhurebekov said, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media. We have not held negotiations with Russian party due to the fact that the idea of transporting Kazakh oil via Druzhba pipeline belongs to Belarus. We think that the issue should be discussed between Belarus and Russia, he said. According to Kazakhstans then Minister of Energy Kanat Bozumbayev, during Lukashenkos visit to Kazakhstan in April 2019, parties signed a preliminary agreement on export of Kazakhstans oil and petroleum products to Belarus and on overall cooperation in the area. As noted by Kazakhstans Vice Minister of Energy Asset Magauov earlier, Kazakhstan is counting on signing the agreement on oil export to Belarus in the beginning of 2020. Kazakhstan is planning on exporting from 1 to 3.5 million tons of oil and petroleum products a year to Belarus. --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh President Moon Jae-in hugs Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guohong at an aiport in Chengdu, China, in December 2019 before taking off to Seoul. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae By Do Je-hae The spread of the coronavirus originating from Wuhan, China, has brought additional diplomatic challenges for Seoul. The "Wuhan virus" has aggravated the hostility toward China felt by some Koreans following China's criticisms of the encroachment on its national sovereignty with its opposition to the 2017 deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), a U.S. missile defense system deployed in Korea. Cheong Wa Dae's online petition site has been flooded with demands from Korean citizens to ban the entry of Chinese nationals after Seoul confirmed its fourth case of the coronavirus. As of Tuesday morning, more than 500,000 people supported a "temporary ban" on the entry of Chinese nationals. The presidential office has been hesitant to respond to the roaring calls for the ban, although they are supposed to respond to petitions with more than 200,000 supporters. Some of the supporters underlined that North Korea has imposed an entry ban and criticized the government's "weak response" in dealing with China on this issue. Cheong Wa Dae has only said that it will act in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the entry ban. Despite the rising calls for the entry ban, the presidential office is mindful that giving in to the rising anti-China sentiment may not be a wise move at this point when the two countries are finally starting to mend bilateral relations after a protracted standoff over THAAD. President Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit in Beijing in December 2019. It is widely expected that the Chinese leader will visit Korea in the spring, which would be his first visit here since July 2014. Cheong Wa Dae has eyed the potential visit as a key opportunity to improve bilateral relations. But concerns are rising that the virus epidemic could negatively impact the diplomatic ties with China. "President Xi's visit to Korea in the first half of the year has been under bilateral consultation. We do not think that the virus outbreak has any relation to the summit," a presidential aide said Tuesday. "With regard to the virus epidemic, the governments of the two countries should cooperate for a swift response." The presidential office also revealed Tuesday that Xi had sent a letter to Moon to congratulate him on his birthday on Jan. 28. Moon also sent a reply, but his office did not share the details of the letters exchanged between the leaders of the two countries. For Cheong Wa Dae, keeping up the momentum for China diplomacy is vital, considering that it has had little progress in other diplomatically challenging areas such as North Korea or Japan. For the first time in years, Beijing will soon send an ambassador who is fluent in Korean and has special expertise on Korean affairs. Ambassador to Mongolia Xing Haiming, who has been tapped as the successor to Qiu Guohong, is expected to arrive in Seoul later this month, according to diplomatic sources. Incoming Chinese Xing Haiming is an expert on Korean affairs. Korea Times DALLAS, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jacobs (NYSE:J) has been selected by the Orange County Water District (OCWD) to provide treatment testing support services for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a family of oil and water-resistant chemicals found in numerous everyday consumer products and airport firefighting foams that have infiltrated groundwater supplies over several decades. California has established notification levels for PFOA and PFOS (two of the most common and widely detected PFAS) at 5.1 and 6.5 ng/L (parts per trillion) respectively, which are some of the most stringent values in the country. While the levels of PFAS in Orange County groundwater wells are relatively low, OCWD and its retail water agencies are exploring long-term solutions to ensure that water supplies continue to meet all state and federal water quality standards. "Jacobs' unique ability to shape the industry for PFAS solutions is drawn from our multidisciplinary capabilities in environmental, water, wastewater, solid waste, aviation and infrastructure," said Jacobs People & Places Solutions Senior Vice President and Global Environmental Market Director Jan Walstrom. "We challenge today and reinvent tomorrow by integrating both proven and leading-edge detection and treatment technologies to address PFAS chemicals transported in drinking water, groundwater, surface water, wastewater, leachate and soil." The goal of the pilot program is to help retail water agencies in Orange County determine the best available PFAS treatment methods. Jacobs and OCWD will be testing different types of granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion exchange (IX) products, as well as novel adsorbents just emerging in the market, to determine which applications are best suited for Orange County's diverse aquifer water quality and geochemistry. For more than a decade, Jacobs' water and environmental technologists have been supporting municipal, federal and commercial clients with PFAS assessment and treatment around the globe. Additionally, since 2013, the company has been working on multiple U.S. Department of Defense research projects for PFAS characterization, treatment and remediation. Jacobs' technologists and scientists are partnering with the world's leading academics to better characterize, understand behavior and develop increasingly effective cleanup technologies for PFAS in groundwater and soil. At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good. With $13 billion in revenue and a talent force of approximately 52,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector. Visit jacobs.com and connect with Jacobs on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. Statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on management's current estimates and expectations as well as currently available competitive, financial and economic data. Forward-looking statements, however, are inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors that could cause business results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements. For a description of some additional factors that may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 27, 2019, and in particular the discussions contained under Item 1 - Business; Item 1A - Risk Factors; Item 3 - Legal Proceedings; and Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, as well as the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is not under any duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform to actual results, except as required by applicable law. For press/media inquiries: Kerrie Sparks 214.583.8433 SOURCE Jacobs Related Links http://www.jacobs.com Sharjeel Imam, a research scholar at Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) booked for sedition, was arrested in Bihars Jehanabad district on Tuesday afternoon, officials said. A team of police from Delhi and Bihar were on a lookout for him for the last one week after cases of sedition were lodged against him in six states, including Delhi and Bihar. Sharjeel Imam, one of the organisers of the anti-citizenship act protests in Delhis Shaheen Bagh, was booked in the Capital for his alleged remarks threatening to cut-off Assam from the rest of India. The joint team of Delhi Polices crime branch and Bihar police conducted raids at Imams native village under Kako police station area after getting a tip-off about his visit. Sharjeel Imams arrest by Delhi Police comes hours after his younger brother, Muzzamil Imam, was picked up for questioning. Two of his other relatives and driver were detained on Monday and later let off. A verbal duel ensued between officials of Delhi and Jehanabad Police as both forces insisted to take him under their custody due to the seriousness of the charges he is facing. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said Bihar police would cooperate with the Delhi police. Those who indulged in nefarious activities will be punished in accordance with the law, he added. Being harassed The police action against the IIT-Bombay alumnus came after a video featuring Imam had gone viral on social media on Saturday. If we have 500,000 organised people then we can permanently cut the northeast from India or at least for one month It is our responsibility to isolate Assam from India, then only they will listen to us, Imam is heard saying in the video. HT could not independently check the veracity of the video clip featuring Imam, the son of former Janata Dal(United) leader late Akbar Imam. His mother, Agsan Rahim, has alleged the media of distorting her sons statements and said the police were unnecessarily harassing the family. He was obviously disturbed by the CAA and fears over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) being implemented across the country which, he said, would affect not just Muslims but all poor people, she had said over the weekend. His uncle Arshad Imam also rued the fact that his statements have been distorted to suit political needs. A 40-second video of the 40-minute speech is being presented. It is being exaggerated. Every Indian has the right to protest, said Arshad, who was also interrogated by the police. If convicted under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Sharjeel Imam could be imprisoned for life. Back in Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has targeted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on its stand over the protest. The ruling party led by Arvind Kejriwal has, in turn, questioned why the central government has not taken any action in the matter. And, the protesters of Shaheen Bagh have disassociated themselves from Imams comments and said the speech was not given in the area. At least 500 protesters, mostly women, have been protesting in Shaheen Bagh against the citizenship act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for the last 40 days. They have said they will call off the agitation only when the amended act, which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, is withdrawn. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Nicholle Toh, a freshman on The University of New Mexico swimming and diving team, has been named the Mountain Wests Swimmer of the Week for her performance against New Mexico State, league officials announced, becoming just the fourth Lobo swimmer to be honored as Swimmer of the Week in the last 15 seasons. Toh won two individual races and was a part of two relays helping UNM to 40 points in a 194-106 win over New Mexico, the largest margin of victory over the Aggies in the last 24 years. She picked up wins in the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard butterfly and she also swam the third leg of the 200-yard relay and the 400-individual medley relay. In the 100-butterfly, she led wire to wire, and in the 200-yard butterfly, she came back from third place at the halfway mark to blow away the field by over seven seconds. In the 400-yard relay, she led UNM in another comeback, as she was in third when she left the blocks and first when she passed the race off to anchor Hedda Oritsland. Its the 10th time in UNMs history that a Lobo swimmer earned Swimmer of the Week, and Toh is the first freshman Lobo to be named Swimmer of the Week since the 2002-03 season, when Robyn Miller was named Swimmer of the Week on January 15, 2003. Overall, UNM has had a swimmer or diving honors as the athlete of the week by the Mountain West 44 times. The Lobos return to the pool on Friday when they travel to Nevada to face the Wolf Pack at 5 p.m. Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Fresno. Injury rate at Fresnos Amazon warehouse is triple industry average The injury rate in Fresno ranked 10th among 28 Amazon warehouses nationwide in 2018 for which Reveal, from The Center for Investigative Reporting, obtained records. It ranked third among California's Amazon warehouses.. Read the full story on KQED. Possible mumps case at Fresno County Jail under investigation An inmate at Fresno County Jail may have contracted the mumps virus, prompting a quarantine of a small area of the North Jail, Fresno County Sheriffs Office announced Monday. Read the full story on CBS47 Fresno. 700-pound ballot boxes dropped off all over Fresno County As part of California's new Voter's Choice Act, workers with Fresno County spent the day Monday dropping off gigantic ballot boxes. Read the full story on FOX26. Man sentenced for making false statement in application for SNAP retailer program According to court documents, 39-year-old Mansoor Aziz Ahmed was sentenced to 21 months in prison by the U.S. District Court Monday in Fresno. Read the full story on KGET - TV 17 Bakersfield. Fresno Deputy Sheriff pilot talks Helicopter safety and daily routines In light of the tragic helicopter accident that killed nine in Southern California, including Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant, the Fresno County Sheriffs Office detailed the daily routines they do to ensure a safe flight Sunday. Read the full story on CBS47 Fresno. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. In an emailed statement, Warren talked about why shes endorsing Foxx: "When Cook County first elected Kim Foxx to the state attorneys office, it not only gained a seasoned advocate but a champion invested in rethinking the countys approach to criminal justice reform. Kim is an effective public servant who leads with compassion, and Im confident that when reelected, Kim Foxx will continue to bring those qualities to the office. Firefighters had a three-hour battle to rescue two dogs who got trapped in a badger sett near a small Italian town. The incident happened in the Telese Terme region, near the town of Solopaca, which is about 30 miles north east of Naples. Footage filmed from the scene shows the firefighters using pickaxes and shovels to dig their way into the burrow to free Jack Russell terriers Chico and Bricilola. Italian firefighters used pickaxes and shovels to dig down into a badger's sett to release a pair of dogs that got stuck underground near the town of Solopaca, which is about 30 miles north of Pompeii. The three-hour operation took place Telese Terme region, near the town of Solopaca, which is about 30 miles north of Pompeii Jack Russell terriers Chico and Bricilola were walking with their owner in Italy Both dogs appeared to be unharmed by their underground ordeal according to the footage The two dogs were out on a walk with their owner when they got trapped in the burrow and were unable to find their own way out. The two dogs were trapped underground for several hours but were believed to have been completely unharmed by their ordeal. Firefighters filmed the rescue operation which lasted at least three hours. It was late night on Monday but a group of housewives and young students squatting on a road in a south Mumbai locality showed no signs of fatigue, as they spiritedly raised slogans opposing the new citizenship law while hailing the Hindu-Muslim unity in the country. At least 100 women, who have been sitting on a side road in Nagpada area since January 26 night against the CAA- NRC-NPR regime, on Tuesday vowed to hold their ground like their Shaheen Bagh counterparts in Delhi. Traffic in the Muslim-dominated area is not much affected, as the protesters are occupying a side road outside a hotel. Most of the women are residents of Madanpura, Jhoola Maidan, Agripada and Mumbai Central areas. Feroza Mithiborwala of 'Hum Bharat Ke Log' told PTI that the women are firm to continue with their protests. "Women from the Muslim community have been feeling frustrated since the last six years. It is this frustration that women are coming out to protest," Mithiborwala said. One of the speakers, Nagma Siddique, told the gathering that the protest was like a "festival" for them. She criticised the Uttar Pradesh Police and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh had witnessed violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). "If anyone visits your home asking for your documents, than respond by demanding Rs 15 lakh from them," Siddiquie said in an apparent reference to the BJP's pre-2014 poll promise. One of the protesters said the women are balancing their responsibilities at home while also participating in the protest. They go to their respective homes in batches and return to the spot after dropping their children at school and completing other work, she said. Local police's efforts to break the protest are not successful yet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By ANI HONG KONG: Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday said that the government will "temporarily" close some of its borders with mainland China and stop issuing travel permits for Chinese tourists as the death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus jumped to 107 and reached at least 14 foreign countries. The latest announcement comes as part of Hong Kong's efforts to curb the spread of the virus, CNN reported. Individual travel permits allow residents of 49 cities on the mainland to "visit Hong Kong in their individual capacity." ALSO READ: Hong Kong declares coronavirus outbreak an 'emergency' On Saturday, the China Association of Travel Services reported that all tours, including international ones, would be suspended starting Monday. China also stopped the domestic group and packaged tours on last Friday. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with ideal conditions for diseases to spread -- in tightly packed subway train carriages and people living cheek by jowl in the city's notoriously tiny apartments. The move also comes amid eight months of ongoing anti-government protests that began against a now-scrapped China extradition bill, a politically sensitive time for the city's government. ALSO READ | Running out of food and water: Indian students at Wuhan university appeal for early evacuation China has issued travel restrictions for some 60 million people in Hubei province. The provincial capital, Wuhan, is under almost complete lockdown, with no movement in or out. In several cities, businesses and schools have been closed for the next few weeks. Numerous countries, including India and the United States, have stepped up airport screenings and advised their citizens not to travel to China. Other countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines, have restricted Chinese tourists. Others such as India has an evacuation process for their citizens from Wuhan -- the epicentre of the deadly virus outbreak. Hong Kong has confirmed eight cases of coronavirus, followed by six in Japan, five in Australia and the US, two in Vietnam and one in Sri Lanka. However, no deaths have been reported in the above countries. Trump was replying to reporters' queries at the White House over US Border Patrol authorities using tear gas at the Mexican border to repel caravans of illegal immigrants trying to enter the United States. : United States President Donald Trump on Monday said security forces had to use tear gas at the Mexican border because they were 'being rushed by some very tough people' but it was not used on children. "We didn't. We don't use it (tear gas) on children," he said. "They had to use because they were being rushed by some very tough people, and they used tear gas. And here's the bottom line: Nobody is coming into our country unless they come in legally," Trump asserted. Over the past few weeks, Trump has asserted that no foreign nationals would be allowed to enter the country illegally and they would have to come to the US through legal process. He has deployed several thousand additional forces on the south western border with Mexico to prevent them from entering the country. The caravan of illegal migrants are mostly from three Latin American countries -- Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. But it also includes people from South Asia including India and Bangladesh, local media reports said. Trump said he has asked Mexico not to let them cross the border. "Mexico wants to see if they can get it straightened out. But we've, during certain time, closed the border. They're not coming into the United States. They will not be coming into our country," he said. A woman drove herself to a Brisbane hospital after her neck was allegedly cut by a man during a fight, police say. Police were called to Gow Street in Yeerongpilly about 1am on Tuesday after an altercation between two people in a vehicle. A man was charged with attempted murder after an altercation between two people in a car on Gow Street, in Yeerongpilly. Credit:Google The 29-year-old woman suffered a single cut to her neck and drove herself and a witness to a nearby hospital. The injury was not life-threatening. Police later arrested a 23-year-old man nearby, who was known to the woman, after conducting patrols of the area. Queensland police have found two children who went missing in Brisbane's south-west on Tuesday, prompting an Amber Alert. The children, a 10-year-old girl and a one-month old baby girl, were both in the company of a 32-year-old woman who was believed to be travelling to New South Wales. The three were last seen about 2:30pm Tuesday on Mario Close in Richlands, in Brisbane's south-west, but later found on Tuesday night. Police would like to thank the public for their assistance in locating the children. DELAND, Fla., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An American surgeon hailed as "the world's most important doctor" to more than a million patientsis being honored with a top international medical award. Today, Florida-based African Mission Healthcare (AMH) announced that Dr. Tom Catena is the recipient of the nonprofit's 2019 Gerson L'Chaim Prize for "Outstanding Christian Medical Missionary Service," sponsored by Jewish philanthropists Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson. Dr. Tom Catena, an American surgeon and medical missionary, who has voluntarily stayed in war-torn Nuba Mountains to save thousands of lives in conflict-torn Sudan, has been honored with a top medical missionary award, African Mission Healthcare (AMH) announced today. Catena will be presented with the Gerson L'Chaim Prize for Outstanding Christian Medical Missionary Service at an awards ceremony in New York City, April 14. "Perhaps the primary Jewish responsibility is to love the stranger, and to do so meaningfully in action, where real people materially experience this love," said Mark Gerson, co-founder of AMH and benefactor of the Gerson L'Chaim Prize. "We are so grateful to Tom for providing us with the opportunity to fulfill this Jewish obligation so effectively." Dr. Tom Catena Dr. Tom Catena, a 55-year-old Catholic medical missionary from upstate New York, has served in Africa for 20 years. He is the only surgeon for 1.3 million people in a region nearly twice the size of Massachusetts. As a medical missionary, he put his life on the line living in the middle of the war-torn and besieged Nuba Mountains, a territory fiercely contested by its inhabitants and the former government of Sudan. In 2011, when the capital started bombing its own people in this southernmost state in Sudan, most expatriate workers fled, but Dr. Catena insisted on staying and said, "The source of most of our conflicts is the idea that one person's life is more valuable than someone else's. We have forgotten that we are all children of God and therefore somewhat related." Since 2008, Catena, a graduate of Duke University Medical School and former U.S. Navy doctor, has been the Medical Director at Gidel Mother of Mercy Hospital. The 435-bed Catholic hospital is the only major medical facility in the Nuba Mountains. Catena is on call 24/7, and sometimes sees as many as 350 or more patients in a single day. The World's Most Important Doctor Dr. Peter Attia, host of the popular podcast The Drive, has called Dr. Catena "the world's most important doctor." Additionally, Time Magazine named Dr. Catena "One of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World," and he was the subject of a 2015 Nicholas Kristof New York Times opinion piece titled, "He's Jesus Christ." "Dr. Tom Catena has given up everything that we in the U.S. take for granted in order to bring healthcare to more than a million people who, without him, would otherwise not have access to any medical care," added Mark Gerson. AMH Gerson L'Chaim Prize AMH has been supporting mission hospitals in Africa since 2010. It launched the L'Chaim (Hebrew for "to life") Prize in 2016, which comes with a $500,000 award, the world's largest annual award of its kind dedicated to direct patient care in Africa. The $500,000 award will go towards the Nuba 2020 campaign to raise $7.5 million to keep the only major hospital in Sudan's war-torn Nuba Mountains fully operational for the next two decades. Catena is leading the Nuba 2020 campaign. Mark Gerson commented on Dr. Catena's endless commitment. "The sheer amount of good he does as measured in clinic visits, surgeries, deliveries, community clinic patients treated, and children vaccinated with the amount of resources he has is completely stunning. It is simply incredible to even think about how many lives Tom and the team he has built can save and transform with the money that he is provided." "The people of the Nuba Mountains are the bravest and most resilient people I know," said Catena. "I am honored to receive this award that will help enormously with our plans to strengthen and expand the Gidel Mother of Mercy Hospital and our network of clinics in this largely forgotten region of the world." "It's an incredible honor for AMH to recognize Dr. Catena's unparalleled commitment," said Rabbi Erica Gerson, an AMH board member and prize co-sponsor, who will present the award with her philanthropist husband Mark Gerson. "For more than a decade, Tom has endured bombings, epidemics, rainy seasons and flooding, loss of power, lack of equipment and staff, and very little connection with the outside world, all because of his dedication to the Nuba people. He exemplifies what it means to 'walk in all God's ways and to love Him,' and we are honored to be his partner in his sacred work." The prestigious Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson L'Chaim prize will be presented to Catena April 14 at an awards dinner in New York City. About African Mission Healthcare African Mission Healthcare (AMH), a Florida-based nonprofit organization, strengthens African mission hospital to aid those in greatest need. AMH strategically partners with mission hospitals to support and advance their commitment to provide compassionate, quality medical care to the forgotten and hurting people of Africa, and to improve the health system in sub-Saharan Africa. AMH was co-founded in 2010 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark Gerson and medical missionary Dr. Jon Fielder, who were college roommates. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Gregg Wooding @ 972-567-7660 [email protected] SOURCE African Mission Healthcare Related Links https://africanmissionhealthcare.org In the 90s, when many American teens had pinups of Jared Leto on their bedroom walls, his My So-Called Life co-star Claire Danes was decidedly not enjoying her kissing scenes with him. Thats mostly because Danes was just 14, while her leading man was 21. Claire Danes was just 14 when she starred in My So-Called Life. (Photo: Getty Images) No, he was way too old, Danes said on the latest episode of the podcast Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard, when asked whether she had a crush on Leto back in the day. I was way too terrified. It was very fraternal and he was actually pretty protective of me. I think I made it clear, too, from the beginning that I wasnt that kind of 14-year-old. I was truly 14. Claire Danes and Jared Leto star in My So-Called Life in 1994. (Photo: Walt Disney Television via Getty Images) However, Danes said kissing the older actor wasnt her very first smooch, despite what Shepard said hed read. Thats not true, Danes clarified. But it is true that it was a more involved kiss than I had ever had. And there were stage directions that said I was supposed to kiss Jordan Catalanos face... like, not his lips. And I didnt understand that at all. And so Jared had to explain that to me, which was very embarrassing. Two years later, Danes was paired with a leading man closer to her age, Leonardo DiCaprio, for Baz Luhrmanns Romeo + Juliet. She remembered turning 17 during filming, while DiCaprio was 21. I think it was crushy, for sure, but it was also a little bit like Jared, Danes said. That was just never gonna happen. For one thing, Danes admitted she just didnt know how to go about that. But they were also very different people. She recalled DiCaprio being frustrated with her for being so still, while she couldnt understand why he was so active. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes co-starred in Romeo + Juliet in 1996. (Photo: Barry King/WireImage) After the success of the Shakespeare adaptation, Danes said she was quickly given a lot of opportunity. Shepard asked if it was true shed been offered the lead role in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic. I think I did. Im not entirely clear on that, Danes said. There was strong interest, but honestly, like, Id just made this romantic epic with Leo in Mexico City, which is where they were going to shoot Titanic, and I just didnt have it in me. And I remember, Leo and I shared a manager at the time, and we were there at the office. I was on a balcony, which is funny [because of Romeo + Juliet]... and Leo had this rental red convertible, some, like, hot rod-dy car. And he was kinda going in circles in the parking lot. And I knew he was wrestling with the decision to do that movie or not and he just looked up at me, and he said, Im doing it. Im doing it. And I could see he wasnt sure, but he was like, f*** it, I gotta do this thing. And I looked down on him going, like, I totally understand why you are doing it. And Im not ready for that. Story continues Danes never regretted her decision, even as she watched DiCaprio elevate to another level of fame. I remember I went to the premiere of The Man in the Iron Mask [in 1998], and when he walked into the room, the floor fell in his direction, she said. Everybody in the room just went towards him. And it was a little scary. I think I may have sensed I was courting that, and I just couldnt do it. Instead of starring in one of the highest-grossing films of all time, Danes spent the late 90s completing several other projects before heading to Yale University for an education, both academic and social. She hadnt been in a traditional school consistently since she was 12. I wasnt able to do a lot of the socializing that you typically are forced to do, no matter how miserable it is, in high school, and I think that was to my detriment, Danes explained. So that was really why I went back to college. She left Yale after two years to return to acting full time, much to the delight of Homeland fans everywhere. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyles newsletter. During the past week, I watched closely the opening and closing arguments by House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff at the Senate trial of President Donald Trump. Aside from my partisan beliefs, as a communication scholar for more than 40 years, I was impressed and inspired. Schiffs speeches provided an archetypal example of Francis Bacons definition of rhetoric as the application of reason to the imagination for the better moving of the will. According to some, Schiffs speeches were a tour de force, oratorical gems presentations that rhetorical critics will examine closely for years. They could even become an example of the capacity of rhetoric to change peoples minds. First, Schiffs cogent arguments were deftly adapted to multiple audiences, including members of the Senate, Americans and history. The speeches blended together a rigorously evidenced and chronologically ordered narrative, with frequent internal summaries followed by succinctly phrased overarching themes focusing the audiences attention on salient takeaways. Second, Schiff effectively invoked references to our nations origin and the concerns of our Founding Fathers all of which by obvious implication paralleled what is transpiring today with the behavior and motives of the 45th president of the United States. Moreover, he delineated clear, commonsense and easy-to-digest constitutional principles enabling the audience to comprehend the case for the president being removed from office. Comprehension, of course, is the first step of persuasion. Finally, every section of Schiffs speeches concluded with carefully crafted, as well as sincerely and passionately asked, rhetorical questions. Each question was designed to challenge audience members, imploring Americans and the Senate that they have no choice but to support conviction. Obviously, it is not yet known if Schiffs speeches will make a difference whether they will influence the outcome of the Senate trial or change the preferences of 2020 voters. Nevertheless, I believe Schiffs presentations offer excellent examples of how rhetorical principles can be used effectively in speeches addressing a complicated and controversial topic. It also gives public speaking teachers useful artifacts to share with students aspiring to become proficient speakers. While vested, I predict Schiff will go down in history as a true patriot, dutiful public servant and courageous politician someone who tried to save our constitutional system of government. While not an advocate without flaws (after all, who is?), there can be no doubt he loves his country and our republic. I wonder if, regardless of our partisan views, we will be able to say the same thing about the presidents attorneys after hearing their defense. I am troubled, but not surprised, that Republicans who emerged from the Senate chamber following completion of the House case immediately attacked Schiff rather than disputing his arguments, rhetorically proffering any excuse they could to justify what probably will be an a priori decision not to subpoena witnesses and documents. Like Trump, it seems they have mastered the art of diversion and deflection. My fondest wish is that we can survive this painful and dangerous chapter of our countrys history. Richard Cherwitz is the Ernest A. Sharpe Centennial professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin. Medical staff wearing protective clothing to protect against a previously unknown coronavirus arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, Jan. 25, 2020. Cambodia became the latest country to confirm a case of coronavirus on Monday, announcing that a Chinese national in the coastal city of Sihanoukville has been infected in the outbreak that has been traced to Wuhan city, in central Chinas Hubei province. Health Minister Mam Bunheng said that the 60-year-old patient flew to Cambodia from Wuhan on Jan. 23, developed a fever and runny nose on Jan. 25, and was confirmed to have been infected with the Wuhan novel coronavirus (nCoV) by the Pasteur Institute in the capital, Phnom Penh, on Monday after submitting a blood sample to medical workers a day earlier. The patient is being hospitalized in Sihanoukville, he said, adding that none of the mans three family members who traveled with him tested positive for the virus, which has killed 81 people and has been confirmed to have infected nearly 2,900 people worldwide in more than a dozen countriesalthough most cases are in China. He is being monitored and his current status is stable, Mam Bunheng said, adding that the man showed signs of common flu. Health professionals have been paying close attention to the patients condition by isolating him for care in a Sihanoukville hospital. We also put his family members under close watch and we are looking for others who may have contacted him in order to monitor their health conditions. Mam Bunheng appealed to the public to remain vigilant in the face of the confirmation of the first case of nCoV on Monday, as the cost of face masksbelieved to help control the spread of the virusskyrocketed around the country. At least 23 Cambodian students studying in Wuhan, meanwhile, have appealed to Cambodias government to help repatriate them, as authorities have instituted a lockdown of the city to prevent the virus from being transmitted. The usually crowded city is nearly quiet, with no cars running or people walking, one of the students named Phoung Bopha Kimhong told RFAs Khmer Service on Monday. People are staying in their houses to prevent themselves from catching the virus. Most shops are closed, so we are running out of food. We are worried and want to go back home. Phoung Bopha Kimhong said that Chinese authorities had donated food to them. Cambodias Foreign Ministry issued a press release Monday saying that the government has no plan to evacuate the students, but instructed the Cambodian Embassy in China to help them as needed. The ministry urged the students to contact the Embassy. In December, Cambodias government said that more than two million Chinese tourists visited the country in the first 10 months of 2019, representing nearly a quarter increase for the same period in 2018. The 2.03 million Chinese tourists who traveled to Cambodia from January to October 2019 increased 24.4 percent year-on-year, and made up the vast majority38.3 percentof visitors from any one country, the Ministry of Tourism said at the time. Chinese investment has flowed into Sihanoukville in recent years, but Cambodians regularly chafe at what they call unscrupulous business practices and unbecoming behavior by Chinese businessmen and residents. Cambodias immigration department deported 906 Chinese, including 172 women, to China during the first nine months of 2019, according to Interior Ministry figures. Myanmar Immigration officials in Myanmar meanwhile have been screening all cross-border travelers with thermal scanners at all official border crossings and sending them for hospital tests if necessary, said Kyaw Soe, general administrative officer of northern Shan states Muse district, which borders China. Health officials have tested two Myanmar migrant workers with non-normal body temperatures who they found at the Muse-White Elephant immigration office at the China-Myanmar border, he told RFAs Myanmar Service Monday. Muse District Hospital authorities released a 20-year-old male whose temperature returned to normal when he arrived at the medical facility, but said they are keeping a 23-year-old woman under observation because she was sick for two days in China, Kyaw Soe said. Social media reports that the coronavirus has spread to the Chinese border town Ruili, across a river from Muse, has heightened concern among Myanmar border residents, though officials from the Ministry of Health said no infected individuals have been detected in Myanmar. Myanmar authorities said they are also monitoring people in northern Myanmars Kachin state and in southern Shan state whom they suspect of carrying the coronavirus after recently returning from China. Authorities have suspended direct flights between the Myanmar cities of Yangon and Mandalay and Wuhan, the epicenter of virus outbreak. The Myanmar Embassy in Beijing, meanwhile, is trying to assist 60 Myanmar students stuck in the Wuhan area in returning home and is waiting for Chinese authorities to respond, said Soe Pyae Sone, the embassys secretary. We are negotiating with authorities to take them back, he told RFA. We are negotiating with the Foreign Affairs Office in Hubei. So far, we havent received a reply. We are still waiting for their response. We havent got the permission yet. Soe Pyae Sone added that the students must undergo a medical test for the virus and remain under observation for 14 days before they can return to Myanmar. The embassy has arranged with local authorities and organizations to provide food to the students in the quarantined city for a week and has made available a phone number so they and others in Wuhan can call for help, he said. Sithu, a Myanmar student in Wuhan, told RFA on Sunday that he and others are trying to take precautions to avoid infection. We are being cautious so as to avoid infection, he said. We are following the guidelines from the WHO [World Health Organization]. The city is pretty deserted. There have been no people on the street since yesterday. Laos In Laos, Minister of Health Bounkong Sihavong told reporters on Sunday that no case of nCoV has been confirmed in the country and dismissed reports circulating on social media that said a patient had been infected and was being treated in a Vientiane hospital as fake news, according to state media. So far, no patient has been confirmed as being infected with the new virus in Laos, the official Vientiane Times quoted him as saying, adding that while there have been suspected cases in the country, tests had proved all negative. In response to the threat of the virus, health authorities have strengthened screening and quarantine measures at all 27 ports of entry throughout the countryall of which have deployed thermal scanners to check visitors. However, Bounkong Sihavong acknowledged that authorities face difficulties in preventing people infected with nCoV from entering the country, as carriers typically exhibit no symptoms during the first one or two weeks of infection. RFAs Lao Service also spoke with a Lao student who has been stuck in Wuhan amid the lockdown, along with two fellow nationals at his university, who said that the three of them were unable to return home during their holiday break. Now were stuck in our room, allowed to go out only once a day to buy food, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Wuhan is a big city with 11 million people, but right now its like a war zone there are no cars and all the schools are closed. I havent seen sick or dead people yet, only on the news. Im OK, but Im afraid, and my family in Laos is worried about me. The student said he and his compatriots were awaiting orders from the Lao Embassy, and that all together there are about 50 Lao students quarantined in Wuhan right now. The Lao Embassy in Beijing on Monday informed the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs that 99 Lao students have returned home from Wuhan, while 49 remain in the city. Vietnam In Vietnam, authorities have tested 63 people who exhibited fever symptoms after entering the country from nCoV-affected areas in China and found 25 of them negative for the virus. The remaining 38including two Chinese nationals who tested positive for the virusare being kept in quarantine at the Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, according to the official English-language Viet Nam News. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday held a meeting with officials from relevant ministries and sectors in the capital Hanoi to discuss how to combat the virus, noting that Vietnam faces high risks of infection because of the countrys popularity as a destination for Chinese tourists and shares a long border with China. Nguyens meeting came as authorities in some Vietnamese provinces said they will no longer accept Chinese tourists, following the recent announcement by Chinas government that it is banning international group traveleffective Mondayin a bid to contain the virus. The Khanh Hoa Province Tourism Association told Vietnamese state media on Monday that tourist companies targeting the Chinese market in the province will temporarily suspend operations beginning on Tuesday. The Lao Cai Provincial Culture, Sport and Tourism Association on Monday also issued a directive requiring tourist companies targeting the Chinese market to temporarily suspend services to assist with immigration via the Lao Cai checkpoint, which borders Chinas Yunnan province. Reported by RFAs Khmer, Aung Theinkha and Kyaw Lwin Oo for RFAs Myanmar Service, RFAs Lao Service, and RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Sok Ry Sum, Max Avary, Ye Kaung Myint Maung, and An Nguyen. Written in English by Joshua Lipes and Roseanne Gerin. : A day after the state Assembly passed it unanimously, the Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday despatched to the Union Government, the statutory resolution seeking abolition of the Legislative Council, for follow-up action. In accordance with Article 169 (1) of the Constitution, Parliament has to enact an enabling legislation to abolish the Legislative Council. The AP Legislative Assembly on Monday night passed the statutory resolution seeking to abolish the state Legislative Council after the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government failed to get two crucial Bills on its plans to have three capitals for the state cleared by the Upper House last week. All 133 members present in the 175-member House, when the division vote was taken at 6 pm, voted in favour and the resolution was adopted unanimously. "The Legislative Assembly of the state of Andhra Pradesh resolves that the Legislative Council of the state be abolished, the statutory resolution read. State Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney formally forwarded the resolution to the Centre, requesting that appropriate action be taken in the matter, official sources said. The Union Cabinet has to first take up the matter and decide whether or not to go ahead with the Council abolition as sought by the Andhra Pradesh government. If the Cabinet agrees, the issue will come before Parliament for necessary enactment, as per procedure. Incidentally, Parliament's Standing Committee on Law and Personnel had in 2013 recommended that a national policy be evolved for creation or abolition of state Legislative Councils. The Committee, headed by Santaram Naik, had stressed on the need for a national policy so that the second chamber (of Legislature) does not depend on the "whims and fancies" of any newly-elected government. "The status of the second chamber cannot be temporary in nature, depending on the mood of the government of the day. Once created, the Council cannot be abolished at the whims and fancy of a newly-elected government in the state, the Standing Committee had said in its report. "There are requests from several states for abolition of the Council pending with the Centre. They have not been moving for many years now and it is unlikely that APs resolution will be taken up," Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas observed in a tweet. Unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah took it up as a special case, APs request for abolition of the Legislative Council might not come to Parliament, the TDP MP noted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ROME, N.Y. -- State police say theyve arrested a second man following a two-month-long investigation into the destruction of several vehicles. Colton L. Shaffer, 21, of Rome, was charged Saturday with second-degree auto stripping, second-degree criminal mischief and fourth-degree grand larceny, all felonies. Investigators arrested Richard Tennant Jr., 26, of Rome, on the same felony charges Jan. 17. Shaffer is accused of working with Tennant. State police say the men damaged vehicles and stole their catalytic converters, and sold them to scrap yards. Shaffer also was charged with third-degree burglary, a felony, for a separate incident in the outer district of Rome, during which state police say he entered a barn and stole several catalytic converters off several vehicles. Shaffer then sold those converters to a business in the town of Marcy and received money for them, state police said. Shaffer was arraigned in the Oneida County Centralized Arraignment Court and was initially sent to the Oneida County jail on $5,000 bail, state police said. But records Monday night show Shaffer has since been released based on a court order. He is scheduled to return to Rome City Court at a later date. Tennant also is facing additional charges because he had outstanding warrants from the city of Utica, the city of Rome, and the city of Oneida, troopers said. Tennant is no longer in jail because he was released by a court order, records show. Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Yemen's Houthi fighters seize key route in Sana'a province Iran Press TV Monday, 27 January 2020 5:56 PM Fighters from Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement have managed to gain ground against forces loyal to the country's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in Sana'a province. Houthi fighters seized a strategic road that connects Sana'a to Yemen's northern provinces of Ma'rib and al-Jawf in the fighting, pro-Hadi military officials said on Monday. An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Houthis are now seeking to take the provincial capital city of al-Hazm in Jawf, adding that they were just five kilometers (three miles) from the city. The development came three days after Yemeni army forces, backed by allied fighters from the Popular Committees, reportedly seized strategic areas in the country's capital province of Sana'a from Saudi-backed militiamen loyal to Hadi. Yemeni military sources reported on Friday that Yemeni soldiers and their allies had managed to wrest control over key areas in Nihm district, which lies east of the capital Sana'a. The sources added that the areas cover an expanse of some 3,000 square kilometers, and oversee regions in the neighboring Ma'rib province. Renewed fighting erupted in Ma'rib nearly two weeks ago, after a missile attack targeted a military camp in the city, where Saudi-backed militiamen loyal to Hadi are based. Yemen's ruling Houthi Ansarullah movement has rejected a claim by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that it was behind the deadly missile attack which took place on January 18. The Saudi regime and the UAE two key parties to a Riyadh-led coalition waging war on Yemen blamed the raid on the Houthi movement, which has been defending the country against the massive military invasion. Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of Hadi back to power and crushing the Ansarullah movement. Tens of thousands of people most of them civilians have been killed in the Saudi-led airstrikes and ground operations in Yemen over the past five years. The Houthis have responded by targeting military positions deep inside Saudi Arabia or sites inside Yemen where Saudi mercenaries and military forces are deployed. The Saudi-led war has triggered the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with the UN saying that over 11 million people face a daily struggle to find enough food, and 240,000 people live in famine-like conditions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary owe their first-in-the-nation status partly to circumstance. Decades ago, Iowas caucus was the initial step in a long, complex process that the state used to award delegates, which meant that the voting had to happen early in the year. New Hampshire was mostly trying to save money by scheduling its primary on the same day as many annual town meetings, which were held before the spring mud season. But circumstance has not kept Iowa and New Hampshire at the front of the line. An aggressive protection of their own self-interest has. As primaries and caucuses became a bigger part of national politics in the 1970s, officials in Iowa and New Hampshire have fought hard to stay first. We werent stupid, Cliff Larsen, a former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, once said. New Hampshire passed a law saying its primary always must be the first, and Iowa has been similarly protective. Iowa caucuses are first-in-the-nation mainly because the state insists on remaining first, Kathie Obradovich, a prominent Iowa journalist, has said. Its all worked out very nicely for the two states. A typical voter in Iowa or New Hampshire has up to 20 times more influence than somebody in later-voting states, one study found. Sometimes, the two states have turned a parochial issue (ethanol) into a national priority. Local hotels, restaurants, pollsters, and television and radio stations have received millions of dollars in extra business. This system has worked out much less well for the other 48 states. They have voluntarily surrendered political influence and allowed the presidential nominating process to become warped. Right now, Im as obsessed as anyone with the early-state polls. Yet I also want to use this moment to point out how bizarre the current system is and to make a plea: The 2020 cycle should be the last time that Iowa and New Hampshire benefit at the countrys expense. The strongest part of the case for change, of course, is the racial aspect. Iowa and New Hampshire are among the countrys whitest states. About 6 percent of their combined population is black or Asian American. Almost 87 percent is non-Hispanic white, compared with 60 percent for the country as a whole. Demographically, Iowa and New Hampshire look roughly like the America of 1870. Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who dropped his bid for president, was right when he called out the Democratic Partys hypocritical support for the status quo. Iowa and New Hampshire are wonderful states with wonderful people, Castro said. But Democrats cant complain about Republicans suppressing the votes of people of color, and then begin our nominating contest in two states that hardly have people of color. The typical defense from Iowa officials is that their state can be trusted because it once voted for a black man (Barack Obama) which is a pretty stark bit of paternalism. In truth, the whiteness of Iowa and New Hampshire matters. Consider that Cory Booker and Kamala Harris were doing as well as Amy Klobuchar in early polls of more diverse states; they led Pete Buttigieg in some polls. But Booker and Harris are finished, in no small part because of their struggles in Iowa and New Hampshire. Klobuchar and Buttigieg still might break out. Or consider that a candidate with strong white support (like Bernie Sanders) could win both Iowa and New Hampshire this year. That result would create a media narrative about Joe Bidens campaign being badly wounded, even though Biden leads among two large groups of Democratic voters: African Americans and Latinos. Those voters, however, are told to wait their turn. Race isnt the only problem, either. Iowa and New Hampshire are not home to a single city of more than 250,000 people. The two states also have a disproportionately large share of retirees and a smaller share of people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. It would not be hard to create a fairer system, one that aspired to treat all Americans equally. It could even retain the best aspect of Iowa and New Hampshire: the emphasis on in-person politics that a small state demands. One or two smaller states could always go first, with the specific states rotating each cycle. They could immediately be followed by a couple of larger states that are home to major cities. Obviously, politicians in Iowa and New Hampshire will fight any such change, as they always have. Theyll use lofty language, about how solemnly they take their responsibilities and how the current system allows the voices of ordinary citizens to be heard. Strip away the rhetoric, though, and their argument comes down to this: Were better than the rest of you, and we deserve special treatment forever. Egypt has called on both parties involved in the peace process in the Middle East to carefully consider a new US peace plan unveiled by President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. "Egypt calls on both parties involved to carefully consider the US vision to achieve peaceand to open channels for dialogue to resume negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis where they can discuss their visions under US patronage to reach a comprehensive and fair peace agreement that meets the aspirations and hopes of the two peoples and leads to an independent Palestinian state, read a foreign ministry statement. The statement said that Egypt appreciates the efforts of the US administration to reach a fair and comprehensive peace agreement in the Middle East. "Egypt believes it is important to look to the US administration's initiative from a perspective based on reaching a settlement for the Palestinian cause in a way that restores all the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, through establishing an independent Palestinian state on the occupied Palestinian territories according to international legitimacy and international laws," read the statement. Egypt backs the two-state solution, by which Palestine would be an independent state based on its 1967 borders, with a capital in East Jerusalem. Search Keywords: Short link: Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (17) Raising a banner that read Palestine is not for sale, demonstrators burned photos of Trump and Netanyahu. Thousands of Palestinians have rallied in the besieged Gaza Strip to protest against US President Donald Trumps imminent announcement of a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Raising a banner that read Palestine is not for sale, demonstrators on Tuesday burned photos of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. More protests are expected after the US president announces details of his Middle East plan later in the day. On Monday, Trump held separate meetings with Netanyahu and his election rival, Benny Gantz, in Washington, DC, over the long-delayed Middle East plan which has been kept secret to date. An Israeli military spokesman said troops had been sent to reinforce the occupied West Banks Jordan Valley, an area which Netanyahu has pledged to partially annexe. Protest against the alleged "Deal of the Century" in Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/T2zPREm4Kz Palestine Play (@PalestinePlay) January 28, 2020 Palestinian leaders have already rejected the plan which they decried as an attempt by the US and Israel to finish off the Palestinian cause. In a rare show of unity, leaders from Hamas, who govern Gaza, were invited to an emergency meeting held by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. When we are united, neither Netanyahu nor Trump dares to take away our rights, said senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya. Palestinians take part in a protest against the US Middle East peace plan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] Meanwhile, Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian mission to the United Kingdom, described the plan as political theatre. It is not a peace deal. It is the bantustan-isation of the people of Palestine and the land of Palestine. We will be turned into bantustans, Zomlot was quoted as saying by Reuters News Agency, referring to the nominally independent black enclaves in apartheid-era South Africa. January 28, 2020, will mark the official legal stamp of approval of the United States for Israel to implement a full-fledged apartheid system, he said. Palestinians fear Trumps blueprint will dash their hopes for an independent state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem areas Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War by permitting Israel to annexe large chunks of occupied land including blocs of Jewish settlements. They [Palestinians] have not been consulted, they havent been spoken to and they certainly dont agree with the leaks and all the speculation of what is in the plan, said Al Jazeeras Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Gaza. Many people we spoke to say its more about the West Bank and the annexation of the capital East Jerusalem. Republicans and Democrats demanded drastic action against the UK Monday after prime minister Boris Johnson allowed controversial Chinese mobile phone firm Huawei build part of its 5G network. Members of Congress from both sides called for a review of Britain's access to U.S. intelligence in the wake of the decision, a dramatic move which could blow up the U.S.'s most significant eavesdropping alliance. Republican national security hawks called the decision 'wrong, dangerous and short-sighted' after the UK defied months of pressure from Donald Trump and his senior aides and announced Huawei would be allowed to be part of British 5G - and a Democratic congressman backed them. Tom Cotton, the junior Oklahoma senator, demanded a 'review' of intelligence-sharing with the UK, 'The short-term savings aren't worth the long-term costs. In light of this decision, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence should conduct a thorough review of U.S.-UK intelligence-sharing,' the hawkish Republican wrote on Twitter. 'Allowing Huawei to the build the UK's 5G networks today is like allowing the KGB to build its telephone network during the Cold War.' Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego issued a similar warning, tweeting: 'Our special relationship with the UK has to be reconsidered in light of this. 'Our intelligence sharing capability is going to be compromised by this penny pinching action.' Trump, his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had all lobbied Johnson hard to reject any role for Huawei in the UK's 5G systems. The U.S. believes that Huawei can be used as a back-door surveillance tool by the Chinese government and that no involvement by it in cell phone systems is safe. It sees the company as a tool of the Communist party and has warned it could withhold security information from allies who do business with it. Both sides: Tom Cotton is a hawkish Republican senator and Ruben Gallego is a Democratic congressman. Both are veterans Stretched alliance: Boris Johnson defied lobbying from his key ally Donald Trump and allowed Huawei to build part of the UK's 5G network The U.S. believes that Huawei can be used as a back-door surveillance tool by the Chinese government and that no involvement by it in cell phone systems is safe But Johnson's government announced Tuesday that it would allow the company to supply equipment to the 'non-core' part of the 5G infrastructure, a compromise which appeared to have done little to assuage U.S. concerns. The UK government also called Huawei a 'high-risk vendor' and told UK telecoms operators is that 'high-risk vendors' should be: Excluded from all safety related and safety critical networks in critical national infrastructure; Excluded from security critical 'core' functions, the sensitive part of the network; Excluded from sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases; Limited to a minority presence of no more than 35 per cent in the periphery of the network, known as the access network, which connect devices and equipment to mobile phone masts. The country's National Cyber Security Centre chief executive Ciaran Martin said the measures would put in place 'strong, practical and technically sound framework for digital security in the years ahead.' The White House had no immediate comment but a senior Trump administration official said it was 'disappointed' and said: 'There is no safe option for untrusted vendors to control any part of a 5G network.' But Trump's Republican Congressional allies and one of his outside advisors scorned the UK's move. Party reaction: Trump ally security hawks Elise Stefanik and Liz Cheney blasted the UK for the decision but former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich called it 'an enormous strategic defeat,' coming close to the Democratic reaction that it showed Trump's lack of power on the world stage Why is Huawei's involvement in UK 5G controversial? Huawei has come under scrutiny over allegations of close ties to the Chinese state. Founder Ren Zhengfei's past links to the military have been cited as a concern, as has China's history of state sponsorship and surveillance. Chinese law can also compel firms to co-operate with Chinese national intelligence work, which some critics have suggested could see Beijing require Huawei to spy on people through so-called 'back doors' in its telecoms equipment. Huawei has vehemently denied the allegations of any ties with the Chinese state and says it abides by the laws of every country in which it operates. Advertisement Among those speaking out on twitter were Liz Cheney one of the most senior Republicans on Congress, and Elise Stefanik, a New York congresswoman who has become a key Trump ally for her fiery defenses of him during impeachment. Mitt Romney, the moderate Republican, said he wanted the UK to reverse its decision and said: 'By prioritizing costs, the UK is sacrificing national security and inviting the CCP's surveillance state in.' Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker whose presence in Trump's inner circle has waxed and waned over the presidency, painted the move in more critical terms. He called it 'an enormous strategic defeat,' language which is unlikely to be well-received in the White House. 'How big does Huawei have to get and how many countries have to sign with Huawei for the US government to realize we are losing the internet to China?' That verdict came close to Democrats' reaction, with Connecticut senator Chris Murphy calling it evidence that Trump has failed to use U.S. power on the world stage, saying: 'We have never had less influence.' Johnson faces a testy meeting Wednesday with Pompeo, who is starting a European-swing by visiting with the UK prime minister in London. The Trump administration's position on Huawei has been consistently aggressive. The Commerce Department formally designated it and affiliated companies a threat to national security last May. Officials had told other countries that if they let Huawei into their 5G networks as they are built, the U.S. would consider restricting intelligence sharing. The UK and the U.S. are two of the 'five-eyes' network of countries which share electronic - or 'signals' - intelligence on an almost unrestricted basis. The other three are Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Australia has followed the United States' lead and blocked Huawei from being a part of its 5G networks. When it announced the decision in 2018, the Australian government said the involvement of a company 'likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government' presents too much of a risk. New Zealand has taken a similar position, its Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) having previously blocked a request from a New Zealand operator to use Huawei equipment in its 5G infrastructure because of what it said were security risks. Canada, however, is yet to announce its own verdict on the issue. The country is now the last of the Five Eyes nations to take a stance on the Chinese firm, with its own government review still to announce a decision, having been delayed for the country's federal election, which took place late last year. The issue has complicated already strained relations between the country and China, following the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei in Vancouver in 2018, at the request of the United States. She is currently the subject of an extradition hearing and is wanted by the US on fraud charges that she misled banks about the company's business dealings in Iran. Beijing has accused Washington of engaging in a politically motivated attempt to hurt the company. Repurpose Your Christmas Tree to Grow Food, and More! With the Christmas season officially over, many of us will be disposing of our living Christmas trees. While most municipalities will repurpose your Christmas tree for you by chipping them into mulch; you may like to consider other options for extending the life of your tree. Wildlife habitat Evergreen trees [January 28, 2020] Australia's Simply Energy Selects Hansen Technologies To Advance The Digital Enablement Of Their Business Hansen Technologies is pleased to announce that it has signed a new agreement with longstanding customer Simply Energy, to augment the energy retailer's existing Hansen HubCX platform with Sigma Catalog and Sigma CPQ. The Australian retail arm of the global ENGIE group, Simply Energy has more than 720,000 customer accounts in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia and Queensland. Under the terms of this agreement, Hansen Technologies will deploy Sigma Catalog and Sigma CPQ, which constitute part of Sigma Systems' (News - Alert) Create-Sell-Deliver Portfolio. The deal marks a significant progression for Hansen since acquiring Sigma last year and represents a strategic insertion of Sigma's portfolio into the energy market, while facilitating a more digitalized business approach for Simply Energy. Shannon Hyde, Chief Executive Officer, Simply Energy, commented: "In recent years, we have seen changes in the economic and regulatory landscape in Australia, requiring us to reorient the way we choose to cater to our valued customers across the country. In order to deliver the bst experiences for our customers, we are pleased to deepen our relationship with Hansen Technologies. Hansen's HubCX platform, coupled with Sigma Catalog and Sigma CPQ, now gives Simply Energy a holistic solution that allows us to further digitally enable our business and traverse new complexities in the energy market." Andrew Hansen, Group Chief Executive Officer, Hansen Technologies, commented: "This new agreement with one of the country's leading energy retailers is an affirmation of Simply Energy's trust in Hansen Technologies' product portfolio and expertise, as the company looks to thrive in a constantly evolving energy market. Working in tandem, Sigma Catalog and Sigma CPQ will be added to a recently upgraded and comprehensive HubCX billing and customer-care platform - acting as digital enablers of the Simply Energy business and helping it continue to be an innovative, fast growing and successful energy retailer within the Australian market." For further information about HubCX or Hansen's products Sigma Catalog and Sigma CPQ, please visit us at www.hansencx.com and www.sigma-systems.com. About Simply Energy Simply Energy is one of Australia's fastest growing retail energy companies with more than 720,000 electricity and gas customer accounts. Simply Energy services Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia providing great value energy deals for consumers and businesses. ENGIE is a global energy provider spanning 70 countries and 5 continents. The ENGIE global network is an enterprise committed to long-term innovation and growth whilst adhering to a strict ethical code. For more information on Simply Energy, visit simplyenergy.com.au About Hansen Technologies Hansen Technologies (ASX: HSN) is a leading global provider of software and services to the energy, water and communications industries. With its award-winning software portfolio, Hansen serves 550+ customers in over 80 countries, helping them to create, sell, and deliver new products and services, manage and analyse customer data, and control critical revenue management and customer support processes. For more information, visit www.hansencx.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005711/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Queensland boarding school will place 10 students returning from mainland China for the school year under isolation and daily medical testing, as other schools and universities take precautions against the global coronavirus outbreak. Stuartholme College in Toowong will keep the students on the top floor of its boarding house for two weeks after they return on Tuesday, while several other schools advised those who have travelled to Wuhan or China's Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, to stay home if they are unwell. It comes as the Morrison government works on a plan to evacuate 400 citizens caught in the locked-down province and federal Education Minister Dan Tehan hit out at some Australian schools that had told students returning from the country to stay home. Regional official gets 2-year suspended sentence for obstruction of journalist activity flickr.com/ jeanbaptisteparis 16:07 28/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 28 (RAPSI) A court in Russias Republic Khakassia has passed a 2-year suspended sentence on a regional official Sergey Zaitsev, who had allegedly committed an assault upon a Russia TV channel camera crew member, the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office reports. Additionally, the court has recovered 50,000 rubles ($800) from the defendant in favor of the journalist. Zaitsev has been found guilty of obstruction of legal professional activity of journalists committed with the use of job position and force. According to investigators, on May 22, 2019, the TV camera crew entered the administrations building to record an interview with the municipal settlements head. The official, sitting in his cabinet and displeased with the journalists actions, allegedly pushed and floored one of the film crew members therefore scratching him. During the investigation, Zaitsev pleaded not guilty and withdrew testimony. Turnaround stories are usually the ones that generate the maximum amount of returns for investors, but the biggest problem is identifying such opportunities. Investors tend to rely on their gut for picking out beaten-down stocks, particularly within the small-cap and micro-cap space, which significantly increases their chances of failure. The strength of the fundamental business model and strong unit economics are key factors that help identify such companies, and Torchlight Energy (NASDAQ:TRCH) ticks both these boxes, making it a very interesting turnaround candidate. What is Torchlight's business model? At first glance, Torchlight may seem like any other energy player that is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation and development of oil and natural gas properties in the U.S. However, there is more to this business model than meets the eye. With a capital employed of around $43 million, Torchlight appears to be a small-sized player, but its competition is not with the giants. In fact, the company's core strength is its geological expertise, backed by veteran geologist Rich Masterson, and its model is actually supplementary to that of the larger oil companies. To describe it in simple words, Torchlight identifies areas with a high potential of oil and natural gas, digs some wells to determine oil potential, and once this potential is proven, it sells the working rights to larger oil giants. This is very similar to how private equity funds identify smaller private companies, help them build their potential, and eventually divest their stakes at a higher value when the market sees the immense potential in the companies. Following this business model, Torchlight currently has interests in four different projects: the Orogrande Project in Hudspeth County, Texas; the Hazel Project in Sterling, Tom Green and Irion Counties, Texas; the Winkler project in Winkler County, Texas; and Hunton wells in partnership with Husky Ventures in central Oklahoma. Story continues Why is Torchlight's stock down? A downward trajectory is evident in the above chart on Torchlight's stock price for the past year. A company that relies on the bulk of its revenue coming in large lump-sums from the sale of entire projects is bound to fall victim to negative market sentiment when the sale of one of its key projects is delayed. Torchlight's management has had problems in selling the Hazel project due to a harsh macro-economic environment, and this drove a lot of investor pessimism against the stock. The huge potential future value of the company's other projects was not factored in Torchlight's price as the market has made a convenient assumption that the company will struggle in selling all its projects and that the Hazel story will be repeated. However, when one looks closer, this appears to be far from the truth. Orogrande basin Orogrande is currently the largest project of Torchlight and possibly the biggest game-changer for the company in the near future. The company has been drilling test wells in this 134,000 square feet project since 2019 and met with some success recently. Its Cactus A35 #1H well drilled recently and confirmed the presence of oil in the area, thus almost confirming its saleability as a Torchlight asset. The company has a 72.5% working interest in this project, which could be divided into about 156 sections with each section yielding between 4 to 6 million barrels of oil as per the estimates of the management. This is a much more conservative approach as compared to the forecasts of Mike Mullen, reservoir evaluation expert from Stimulation Petrophysics, who foresees a potential 3 billion barrels of oil the Orogrande basin, making it potentially one of the largest on-shore field projects. While Torchlight's efforts at drilling oil in Orogrande will continue, it appears to be a matter of time before this basin attracts the interest of oil majors who end up becoming potential buyers for Torchlight. Other projects Torchlight's second-largest project lies in the Midland Basin with around 12,000 gross acres and 19 sections, each of which could generate 4 to 6 million barrels of oil as per management estimates. This project has a high proximity to field services as well as oil and gas pipelines, and Torchlight has a higher working interest of around 80%. The proximity to the pipelines could mean lower costs for the oil majors acquiring the same and potentially better saleability of the project. The third project lies in Winkler County and is among the smallest with a size of 1100 acres and a 75% working interest for Torchlight. Each of these three projects, along with Hazel, can be treated like private equity assets of Torchlight which are due for divestment in the near future, which is when the company's investors will realize their true returns. Key takeaways While its project sales may not have started, it is worth stating that Torchlight's revenues have doubled in 2019 as compared to the previous year, and the company has a positive gross margin that indicates decent unit economics. While the Midland basin and the Winkler County projects may be at an early stage, the company has definitely made a big breakthrough in Orogrande which has not been factored in by the market. The poor stock performance can be partially attributed to weak management communication with respect to the developments taking place in each of its projects. Given the fact that the stock is trading at close to 60 cents a share, the jump in the price could be colossal. It must be noted that which the company has a free float of 53.9 million shares, its daily traded volume is below 200,000 shares with a large percentage of active shorts. A sudden positive change in the market perception could well lead to a short squeeze and make the price shoot up, which is an excellent opportunity knocking on the doors of growth investors. Overall, the company looks to have a promising future with some exciting developments. Disclosure: No positions. Read more here: Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Domestic traders body on Tuesday "strongly condemned" the decision of the government for a pact between State and Handicrafts Development Cooperation Ltd (GSHHDC) and e-commerce firm Flipkart. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in a statement said it "strongly condemned the decision of the government announcing" this memorandum of understanding (MoU). Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that it is "extremely unfortunate and regrettable" that on one hand Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has publicly expressed his concerns for the "unethical and unlawful business practices being carried out on Flipkart, and on the other hand Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has joined hands with Flipkart". He said this decision not only contradicts and conflicts with the Centre's stand but it also hurts the sentiments of seven crore. This action by the chief minister also shows his "insensitivity and indifference" to the small retailers of Gujarat who are involved in a nationwide agitation against Flipkart's business model. E-commerce major Flipkart on Monday said it has signed a MoU with GSHHDC for promotion of local handicrafts. The agreement is part of Flipkart's Samarth initiative under which the Walmart-backed company is helping artisans, weavers and craftsmen set up their business on the Flipkart Marketplace. Last week, a well-connected Russian cybercrime boss, Aleksei Burkov, pleaded guilty to running an online criminal marketplace and a site that sold stolen credit and debit card data. What's even more intriguing, than the $20 million in fraudulent purchases that Burkov's site facilitated and the exclusive cybercrime ring he ran, is how badly Russia wanted to prevent Burkov from being extradited to the US. Burkov was arrested in 2015 at an airport near Tel Aviv. In 2017, an Israeli district court approved his extradition to the US, but Russia fought that decision for years. As Krebs on Security points out, the Russian government may be concerned that Burkov knows too much. In late 2019, Burkov was extradited to the US, and according to the US Attorney's Office, he pleaded guilty to access device fraud and conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, identity theft, wire and access device fraud and money laundering. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he's sentenced on May 8th. Burkov ran a website called Cardplanet, which sold card data, much of which belonged to US citizens. He also ran DirectConnection, an invitation-only website, where elite cybercriminals could advertise stolen goods, like personally identifying information and malicious software, as well as services, like money laundering and hacking. According to the US Attorney's Office, members had to be vouched for by three existing members and provide a sum of money, normally $5,000, as insurance. Other DirectConnection members included Maksim Yakubets of Moscow and Russian national Peter Levashov. In December, the FBI offered a $5 million reward for info leading Yakubets' arrest, and as you may remember, Levashov ran the notorious global spam botnet Kelihos. Burkov's plea represents another symbolic victory for American law enforcement's fight against international cybercriminals. Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang gives high-fives to campaign volunteers following a town hall meeting at Penn Central Mall in Oskaloosa, Iowa, on Jan. 25, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Yang Becomes Seventh 2020 Candidate to Qualify for NH Debate Andrew Yang has qualified for the Feb. 7 Democratic primary debate in New Hampshire, joining six other presidential candidates to qualify for the event. Yang, 45, hit polling thresholds in recent surveys, earning at least 5 percent in four polls. Just qualified for the February debate in New Hampshire! Thank you to everyone working hard to make it happen. Lets make history, the former tech executive said in a statement. The Democratic National Committee sets thresholds for candidates to qualify for the debates. It has been steadily raising the criteria, which fall under two categories: polling and donations. To qualify for the New Hampshire debate, candidates needed to hit at least 5 percent in four or more qualifying national or early state polls released between Dec. 13, 2019, and Feb. 6; or at least 7 percent in two early state polls during that same time period. Candidates also must receive donations from at least 225,000 unique donors and a minimum of 1,000 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. The other six qualifiers are former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), billionaire progressive activist and philanthropist Tom Steyer, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Democratic presidential hopefuls Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (L), former Vice President Joe Biden (C) and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders participate in the seventh Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign on Jan. 24, 2020. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) (LR): Tom Steyer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg listen as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) speaks during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 14, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Candidates have until 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 6 to meet the thresholds. The debate is one of four in early voting states. Candidates clashed in Iowa earlier this month ahead of the Feb. 3 caucuses there; Yang didnt qualify for that debate. After the New Hampshire debate, candidates will meet in Nevada on Feb. 19 and in South Carolina on Feb. 25. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has hit the polling criteria for the next debate but hasnt met the donor threshold and isnt expected to, since the billionaire is largely funding his own campaign. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) has several qualifying polls, but has fewer than 225,000 donors. The other candidates are: Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. The field of Democratic presidential hopefuls is slowly shrinking. The latest candidates to drop out were Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), author Marianne Williamson, and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro. Economies in Asia will have to brace for a tough year ahead as China deals with an outbreak, analysts and officials warned as travel restrictions hit. China has halted all group tours both domestically and to other countries to contain the spread of a new coronavirus that was thought to have originated from the central Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province. By the end of Monday, there were 4,515 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, China's National Health Commission said in a notice. The death toll was 106. Coronavirus are a large family of viruses that includes the common cold and SARS, the epidemic which killed almost 800 globally in an outbreak from 2002 to 2003. The new coronavirus strain called "2019-nCoV" is believed to have an incubation period of two to 14 days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cancellations during peak travel season Halting group tours from China has sent a wave of cancellations across the travel sector, with booking platforms and travel agents issuing refunds to customers. Trip.com, China's top online travel booking platform has set up a $200 million disaster relief fund to refund customers who have already paid for travel packages but who now cannot travel due to restrictions, said Jane Sun, the CEO of the company. It's "not only our company, the whole country will take a hit," said Sun. But there were already multiple cases of the coronavirus outside of China, ahead of the peak Lunar New Year season which started on Jan. 25. Countries that have confirmed cases of the new coronavirus include Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, France and the United States. Chinese tourism curbs to hit Asia Pacific economies The outbreak will hit Asia Pacific economies, particularly in retail, restaurants, conferences, sporting events, tourism and commercial aviation, said Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist at IHS Markit. "The rapid rise in household incomes in China has triggered a boom in Chinese tourism visits abroad, which have risen from 20 million in 2003 to 150 million in 2018. Consequently the vulnerability of many Asia-Pacific economies to a slowdown in Chinese tourism visits has increased significantly over the past two decades," said Biswas in a note on Tuesday. "Over the past two decades, the rapid economic growth of China has made it a key export market for many Asia-Pacific nations. However, China's growing importance in Asia-Pacific trade and investment flows has also created considerable vulnerability for the Asia-Pacific region from this type of unpredictable 'black swan' event currently hitting the Chinese economy," said Biswas. Thailand, Japan and Vietnam are among the economies that will be hit by the new Chinese travel restrictions and sharp near-term slowdown in Chinese tourist visits, Biswas said. He said Thailand has been one of the "most notable beneficiaries of the boom in Chinese tourism," with total annual Chinese tourist visits rising from 2.7 million in 2012 to 10.5 million in 2019. Chinese tourist spending in Thailand was estimated to have reached $17 billion in 2019. The Tourism Authority of Thailand is meeting with the private sector on Tuesday to address concerns from an expected slump in business, the Bangkok Post reported. Japan's services industry is also getting hit by a rash of trip and hotel cancellations, the Nikkei Asian Review reported. The country is a top vacation spot and IHS' Biswas noted that total Chinese tourist visits to Japan hitting 9.6 million in 2019, accounting for 30% of total foreign tourist visits. Chinese tourists with face masks watch a traditional Thai dance at Erawan shrine, a popular spritual landmark in Bangkok on January 27, 2020. Mladen Antonov | AFP | Getty Images Meanwhile, Chinese tourism arrivals accounted for one-third of international visits to Vietnam, and 15% of total international tourist visits to Australia. Biswas said governments in Asia Pacific are likely to respond with a range of fiscal and monetary policy stimulus to prop up near-term growth. Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said the outbreak is expected to affect the economy of the city-state, Reuters reported. The government is considering support measures like worker levy cuts for impacted sectors like tourism, Chan reportedly said. Watch the next few weeks Seattle, Washington--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - CFN Media (OTCQB: CNFN), the leading agency and financial media network dedicated to the North American cannabis industry announces publication of an article taking a closer look at THC BioMed Intl Ltd.'s (CSE: THC) (OTCQX: THCBF) ("THC BioMed") strong quarterly performance and what catalysts investors can look forward to ahead. Canada's cannabis sector has experienced a sharp sell-off over the past year, with the Marijuana Index's Canadian Index moving from a high of $727 in March to a low of $196 in November. Rather than looking solely at growth in production capacity, many investors are shifting their focus to tangible revenue growth and profitability. Profitable licensed producers can be more selective in raising capital - limiting dilution - and generate tangible shareholder value - in the form of retained earnings. THC BioMed is one of the few licensed producers that has managed to turn a profit as it broke $1 million in revenue last quarter. In addition to ramping up output, the British Columbia-based grower cited its premium cannabis and reasonable prices for helping it become a bestseller among consumers. Management's long experience in the space - moving from Exemption 56 to ACMPR license to the Cannabis Act - has taught them how to grow great medical & recreational cannabis with unparalleled compliance. Robust Growth & Profitability THC BioMed reported revenue that rose about 275% year-over-year to $1,044,510, during the quarter ended October 31, 2019, with an average selling price of $4.20 per gram to medical patients and recreational buyers, such as the Ontario Cannabis Store and BC Cannabis Stores. These prices are much less than the $5.00 or more reported by other licensed producers, according to data from Cannabis Benchmarks. Lower production costs could enable the company to capture market share right now, as well as provide a buffer if cannabis prices continue to fall. On the bottom line, the company's adjusted EBITDA swung from a loss of $345,754 to a gain of $890 after accounting for changes in the fair value of cannabis inventory, share-based compensation and other non-operational factors. Many cannabis investors are seeking out companies with profitable operations since they can be more selective when raising capital, which potentially translates to less dilution for existing shareholders and easier access to capital required to grow the business over the long-term. On the balance sheet, the company reported $6,301,916 in total assets versus $4,188,603 in total liabilities, yielding $2,113,313 in shareholders' equity. Many licensed producers have struggled under debt hangovers after ramping up production capacity over the past couple of years. As the market matures, companies with less debt have less of a drain on cash flow and more flexibility when it comes to capitalizing on any new opportunities that may arise. Positive net asset levels could also provide shareholders with a buffer in their valuations. Many Irons in the Fire THC BioMed has prudently grown its business over the past several years, but that doesn't mean that it's not pursuing high-growth opportunities. Last quarter, the company amended its license to include the production and sale of cannabis edibles, topicals and extracts and submitted a new product application to Health Canada for Pure Cannabis Sticks- pre-rolls that are filtered, paper cylinders filled with pure cannabis to be manufactured using its automated production machine - dramatically lowering labor costs. In addition, the company announced an alternative, brand new cannabis beverage product, THC Kiss, and submitted a new product application to Health Canada shortly after the quarter ended. Zion Market Research projects that the global market for cannabis beverages hit $1.6 billion in 2018 and could reach $4.46 billion by 2025, representing a 15.6% compound annual growth rate. The market is growing so quickly that many traditional beverage companies, such as Constellation Brands Inc., have made significant investments into cannabis. Finally, the company acquired an additional strata lot at its production facility to increase grow capacity. Management's unique approach to growing cannabis also ensures the highest-quality products reach consumers - from selecting only the best feminized seeds to hand-trimming at the perfect time and placing product on drying racks to dry and cure over an extended period of time. The combination of low-cost production methods and experience growing premium cannabis creates an easy bestseller. Looking Ahead THC BioMed Intl Ltd. (CSE: THC) is one of the few licensed producers that have achieved profitability on the bottom line. As the market shifts their portfolios from growth to value, investors may want to keep an eye on the company that has prudent financial discipline and plenty of potential catalysts ahead. It's long track record shows that management has been able to balance these objectives and deliver shareholder value with an eye for creating low-cost, high-value products for consumers. Click Here To Receive Updates on THC BioMed To Learn more about THC BioMed (CSE: THC) (OTCQX: THCBF) visit the Company's Website: https://thcbiomed.com Click here to read the full article: http://bit.ly/35PSmOB About CFN Media CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN) is the owner and operator of CFN Media, the leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the legal cannabis industry. For Visitors and Viewers CFN Media's Cannabis Financial Network (CannabisFN.com) is the destination for savvy investors and business people profiting from the worldwide cannabis industry. Viewers will see breaking news, exclusive content and original programming involving the people, companies and investments shaping the industry. For Cannabis Businesses & Companies CFN Media is a leading agency and financial media network dedicated to the cannabis industry. We help private, pre-public and public cannabis companies in the US and Canada attract capital, investors and media attention. Our powerful digital media and distribution platform conveys a company's message and value proposition directly to accredited and retail investors and national media active in the North American cannabis markets. Since 2013, CFN Media has enabled the world's preeminent cannabis companies to thrive in the capital and public markets. Learn how to become a CFN Media client company, brand or entrepreneur: https://www.cannabisfn.com/become-featured-company/ Disclaimer The above article is sponsored content. CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, have been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/ THC BioMed Contact CEO: John Miller info@THCbiomed.com 1-844-THCMEDS Frank Lane 206-369-7050 Flane@cannabisfn.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51871 Arnold Aronson, a retailing executive best known for reviving the financial fortunes of Saks Fifth Avenue in the early 1980s, in part by appealing to a younger clientele, died on Tuesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 85. The death was confirmed by a family spokeswoman, who did not give the cause. Mr. Aronson, who never retired, spent more than three decades operating an array of national stores and chains, including Saks, before becoming a consultant. He had been the principal director of retail strategies at the consulting firm Kurt Salmon Associates since 1997. Arnold was one of the top department store merchants of his era, said the designer Ralph Lauren, a supplier to Saks. At his death, Mr. Aronson had sat on the Lauren corporate board for 19 years. As chairman and chief executive of Saks from 1979 to 1983, Mr. Aronson sought to erase what he called its traditional dowager image and focus instead on a younger customer base, mainly baby boomers at the time. The Berkeley City Council is considering whether to let 25 RVs park in city-owned lots during non-business hours a move that comes nearly a year after the city backed off a plan to enforce an RV parking ban. If the new measure is approved, Berkeley could begin to enforce its ban on RV parking on city streets from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. and cite violators. The citations would be given after RV dwellers are notified of the parking ban going into effect. The council postponed a vote Tuesday night to Feb. 11. Under the plan, Berkeley would give priority to RV dwellers with children, people who work or study in Berkeley, and former city residents. Those eligible could park in six city lots for up to three months but would have to leave during business hours. While there, residents would receive social services and help finding work or a permanent place to live. The plan would cover a fraction of Berkeley RV dwellers. In December 2018, city staff counted 193 RVs, campers, converted buses and vehicles that people slept in, said Matthai Chakko, a Berkeley spokesman. A month later, in January 2019, a region-wide homeless count estimated 161 people living in RVs in Berkeley. The idea is that we want to give safe RV parking to as many vulnerable RV households as we can, said Councilwoman Rashi Kesarwani, who estimated Tuesday that there were about 50 RVs parked near Harrison and Eighth streets alone. In March, city leaders in Oakland criticized Berkeleys proposed parking ban, saying Berkeleys homeless RV dwellers would just come to Oakland. At the time, Oaklands City Council president urged the Berkeley City Council to consider compassionate alternatives. But Kesarwani said city staff never found a place to open a safe RV parking location for more than 25 vehicles. The new proposal is a compromise, she said, to help ease concerns from business owners near Gilman Street who have complained about health and safety concerns due to a growing number of RVs. Unlike some of our neighboring cities like Oakland and San Francisco, who have been able to identify large parking lots to be used for safe RV parking, the city of Berkeley did not have a large publicly owned parking lot that was not being used for another purpose, she said. Oakland opened its first RV location in June with 50 spaces and plans to open a second next week with 41. Councilwoman Kate Harrison amended the proposal at Tuesdays meeting and directed the city manager to continue identifying RV dwellers who would qualify for parking, as well as searching for other possible locations for people to park in. Councilwoman Cheryl Davila expressed skepticism about the proposal. I wonder if we can really do some serious outreach on trying to lift people up instead of criminalizing them all the time for something that they cant really change because they dont really have the ability to change, she said. Davila also said she didnt think three months was enough time to let people park a concern that was echoed by people attending the meeting. One person called out, Where do they go? City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley said staff would notify RV dwellers multiple times before citing them. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Several people held signs at the meeting that read, Home is a sanctuary. Home is comfort. Home is refuge. Home is our RV. Another sign read, Shelter is a human right! Our communitys dreams live inside RVs. Negeene Mosaed owns a physical therapy clinic in downtown Berkeley and said she was disappointed in the citys proposal. They have come up with a way of finding shelter, she said. Theyre keeping themselves alive. And we are going to take this away from them? Or are we going to drive them out of town and criminalize them? Mayor Jesse Arreguin said the proposal is a temporary and emergency solution and said the city still plans to pursue more permanent solutions in the future. Arreguin said hes been in conversation with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Emeryville Mayor Christian Patz about opening a regional RV safe-parking location. Kesarwani, a co-sponsor of the Berkeley RV proposal, said it wasnt perfect. It is a compromise policy that is trying to balance two very competing concerns and trying to honor the experience of both the small-business owner in the Gilman district, as well as the low-income senior living in an RV because they feel that they have no other place to be, she said. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani Over 300 students and members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad took out a rally in support of the Citizenship [Amendment] Act and National Register of Citizens in Maharashtra's Pune city on Tuesday. Holding a 300-feet-long Indian flag, students and activists marched from Modern College's Ganesh Khind campus till the Shivaji Nagar campus, shouting slogans in support of the CAA and NRC. ABVP's city unit president Anil Thombre said the rally is a reply to those protesting against the CAA. The CAA and NRC have given rise to large-scale protests across the country. According to the Act, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) MANILA, Philippines A lawmaker called on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to prepare for the possible repatriation of Filipinos in Wuhan City amid the rapid spread of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). In a statement, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the DFA to have systems in place for the evacuation of Filipinos in Wuhan, which is the epicenter of the 2019-nCoV outbreak in China. Gatchalian said it is important to locate Filipinos staying in the Chinese city ahead of a possible extraction, adding that the DFA should constantly monitor the situation there so the government can address their needs. The lawmaker cited the example of the United States, which initiated an evacuation of its citizens from the epidemic-stricken city. We have to prepare for any eventuality, he said. Nakakabahala ang mabilis na pagkalat ng coronavirus sa ibat ibang bahagi ng mundo at mahalagang may regular din dapat na ibinibigay na balita ang DFA tungkol sa kaligtasan ng ating mga OFW. The senator noted that there are around 150 Filipinos in Wuhan City as reported by the DFA. Gatchalian said the DFA should closely coordinate with the Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to ensure that overseas Filipino workers (OFW) are protected from the threat of the deadly disease. Chinas National Health Commission on Tuesday announced 26 new deaths, bringing the nationwide total to 106. Confirmed infections also climbed to 4,515, nearly double compared to Mondays over 2,700 cases. The 2019-nCoV was first reported in Wuhan in December 2019. Symptoms of this new strain include fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing. As a type of coronavirus, the 2019-nCoV belongs to a large family of viruses that include the common cold, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Story continues Authorities warn that the virus is mutating and can be transmitted through human contact. The Department of Health recently revealed that 11 persons are under investigation for suspected 2019-nCoV in different hospitals in Metro Manila, Mimaropa, Northern Mindanao, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and in Central Visayas. The DFA, for its part, said it has met with local health officials and other government agencies to discuss strategies and protocols for the possible evacuation of Filipinos in the locked down city of Wuhan and other Chinese areas affected by the outbreak. The post Gatchalian calls on DFA to be ready to repatriate Filipinos in Wuhan appeared first on UNTV News. MAIDENHEAD, England, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Waterlogic, a leading global designer, manufacturer, distributor and service provider of purified drinking water dispensers, is pleased to announce that British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) has agreed to acquire a significant minority stake in Waterlogic from Funds managed by Castik Capital as well as the Waterlogic management team. BCI is a leading provider of investment management services to British Columbia's public sector and one of Canada's largest asset managers with C$153.4 billion of managed assets as at March 31, 2019. The acquisition provides further access to capital to support Waterlogic's growth and ambition to become the market leader in bottle-less workplace hydration globally. Waterlogic has direct presence in 17 countries including the U.S., Canada, Chile, Australia and Western Europe, and an extensive independent global distribution network reaching over 50 countries around the world, responsible for hydrating nearly 50 million consumers daily. Jeremy Ben-David, Founder and Group CEO of Waterlogic, said: "We are very excited by the many opportunities for accelerated development and growth this deal affords us, both organically and through acquisition. We look forward to building on our capabilities and customer base in both established and new geographic markets in pursuit of our mission to offer healthy drinking water solutions and contribute to the reduction of plastic pollution." Since Funds managed by Castik Capital acquired Waterlogic jointly with Waterlogic's founder Jeremy Ben-David in January 2015, the company has nearly tripled its revenue. During this time, Waterlogic has completed 56 add-on acquisitions globally and entered 10 new direct markets, most recently with the acquisition of Aquafree in Chile. Jim Pittman, Executive Vice President and Global Head, Private Equity of BCI, said: "We are pleased to be working alongside a talented management team to support the long-term continued growth of the business. Waterlogic is a leading company with a solid track record of success that has the potential to generate value-added returns for our pension plan and insurance fund clients." The investment significantly strengthens Waterlogic's position as a global leader in the fast-growing market for workplace hydration solutions through its range of freestanding and countertop dispensers, Billi integrated dispensers and Purezza, the company's specialty restaurant and hospitality solution. Inspired by innovation, Waterlogic has embraced superior Firewall and BioCote technologies to create cutting-edge, highly-certified products focused on delivering the safest, best-tasting water to all businesses in the most sustainable way. The company's environmental approach supports the growing demand from organisations looking to reduce the plastic pollution and high CO 2 emissions associated with bottled water, and supports Waterlogic's long-term growth and relevancy in the marketplace. Waterlogic has annualised revenues of $400M and c. 550k water dispensers on rental and service contracts across 17 direct markets. Waterlogic was advised by Goldman Sachs International, Skadden (legal), PwC (financial and commercial), Deloitte (tax), L.E.K. (commercial), and EY (Luxembourg legal). The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020. About Waterlogic Waterlogic is an innovative designer, manufacturer, distributor and service provider of drinking water dispensers and solutions designed for environments such as offices, factories, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, schools and public spaces. From freestanding, countertop and integrated dispensers to water filling stations, fountains and boilers, every solution focuses on delivering the best quality water in the most sustainable way. Founded in 1992, Waterlogic was one of the first companies to introduce mains-fed dispensers to customers worldwide, and has been at the forefront of the market promoting product design and water quality, the application of proprietary technologies, sustainability and world-class sales and service. Waterlogic has its own subsidiaries in 17 countries and its leading markets are the US, Australia and Western Europe, in particular the UK and Germany. In addition, Waterlogic's extensive and expanding independent global distribution network reaches over 50 countries around the world in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa. More information can be found at www.waterlogic.com. About Castik Castik Capital S.a r.l ("Castik") manages investments in private equity. Castik is a European multistrategy investment manager, acquiring significant ownership positions in European private and public companies where long-term value can be generated through active partnerships with management teams. Founded in 2014, Castik is based in Luxembourg and focuses on identifying and developing investment opportunities across Europe. The advisor to Castik is Castik Capital Partners GmbH, based in Munich. Investments are made by the Luxembourg-based fund, EPIC I SLP, the first fund managed by Castik, which had its final fund close of EUR 1bn in July 2015. More information can be found at www.castik.com. About BCI With C$153.4 billion of managed assets, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is a leading provider of investment management services to British Columbia's public sector and one of Canada's largest asset managers. BCI generates the investment returns that help its institutional clients build a financially secure future. With its global outlook, BCI seeks investment opportunities that convert savings into productive capital that will meet its clients' risk/return requirements over time. BCI invests across a range of asset classes: fixed income; mortgages; public and private equity; real estate; infrastructure; and renewable resources. More information can be found at www.bci.ca/. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1023444/Waterlogic_Logo.jpg Media Contact Rosanna Turner, Group Marketing Communications Manager rosanna.turner@waterlogic.com +44-7925-035544 When it comes to the monthly budget, wiggle room is hard to come by for most people. Whenever a new expense comes up, we are always looking for what we have to go without to compensate. Well, what if you didnt have to sacrifice anything to have an extra date night? What if that new yoga membership didnt mean you have to give up post-work drinks on Friday? All this is possible, and you may be able to pull it off with your own cheap hobbies! To show you how this is possible, here are some cheap hobbies that can make you money. Driving Around DO you have a comfortable car, and enjoy cruising around your area? Uber and Lyft have become mainstays for side-hustlers. Sign up for an account, grab some snacks and drinks for the back seat, and earn that extra dough! Be careful about this one, and make sure you have the right vehicle. Certain higher-end vehicles depreciate heavily with mileage, and the loss youll take on that can compound with premium gas expenses to rapidly make this one not worth it. Older reliable cars that just barely make the year/make/model requirements for the apps are the best option. these have already depreciated, and are probably cheaper to fix. Bonus points if you have a hybrid! Cooking Got some skill in the kitchen, and need some extra fun-money? Not only can being a good cook save you cash on eating out, it can also be monetized by selling the food you make! You can sell homemade snacks to coworkers, cater for parties, or even work on the side as a private cook. There are options here for all skill levels, as dealing some easy pastries at work doesnt take too much expertise and will make you an office favorite. The more you can make, the more money you can bring in, and this one is very easy to work around your own schedule. Tutoring Do you have a degree in a high-demand field, and love to teach? Tutors can make great money on the side using online sites like Varsity Tutors or even Craigslist. You can also become a part-time staffed tutor at local educational institutions for a more reliable workload. Usually a degree is required, which elevates the pay past your usual side hustle. Tutoring holds an extra special spot on this list, as you are earning money by helping educate your community. Not only are you providing better for yourself or your family, youre also giving back to those around you. It doesnt get much better than that! Behind every candidate is a campaign manager keeping them out of trouble. On the canvass, the campaign manager has to rescue the candidate from a door where a voter is bending their ear and taking up too much time with other people to meet and greet. In Jen Callaghan's case, it's almost more about rescuing the voter from the country's most talkative candidate. Callaghan is a member of the Green Party National Executive and campaign manager to Vincent P Martin, the party's candidate in Kildare North. Her day is spent dragging him off doorsteps to meet the next voter. With enthusiasm bordering on the evangelical, Martin fires off soundbites on the doorsteps at the rate of an AK-47... :: "We're on cusp of a historic breakthrough here in north Kildare by electing the first Green TD"; :: "I topped the poll here in May. The Green Party can be influential in the formation of the government. I want to bring this influence to Naas"; :: "This is like senior hurling. It's the big one"; :: "Every vote is like gold dust now. We're in with a fighting chance"; :: "Everyone is saying climate change, but also change. There's room for one chance or else it's same old, same old"; Depending on how long he gets on the door, he'll say them all given half a chance. Martin would talk the hind legs off a donkey. The Monaghan lilt and charm comes across and he has an uncanny memory for names. The concerns on the doorsteps of The Gallops and Roseville estates are familiar to much of the commuter belt: childcare and transport. Martin points out the 64pc increase in the population of the area over the past 20 years has not been matched by a similar increase in the services. Running in his first general election in Kildare North, he's on his second coming in politics. He spent 10 years as an Independent and then Green councillor in his native Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan. He developed a reputation as a lone voice on planning issues in the county. The minority of one status on standing up for the environment saw then Greens leader John Gormley make an approach. After a decade out of politics, he came back in with a vengeance last year, topping the poll in the Naas area on Kildare County Council. His wife, Hilda, is a GP in Clane and the couple live near Naas with their two children, Jack (3) and Jules (1). The Greens are bankers to win more seats in this election, certainly in Dublin, possibly in Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford. Kildare North is in the batch of potential Green gains. "It has to happen here if it is to happen for the Greens. It's the best chance outside of a city constituency," Martin says. He's not the only bellwether of the Greens' fortunes in this election. His sister is Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin, who is defending her seat in Dublin Rathdown and is regarded as safe as houses. And her husband Francis Noel Duffy is running in Dublin South-West. He will be in the mix in the five-seat constituency. Getting all three elected would make them a bigger family in the Dail than the Healy-Rae brothers, Michael and Danny, from Kerry. Vincent P Martin queries if you need to have a second generation to be considered a dynasty. But he feels a triple success in the family is a long shot. "It would be hilarious. But I have the tougher task," he says. His task is by no means easy. The four TDs in this constituency won't be easy to knock over, even in a Green wave. Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy is a strong vote-getter with a high profile. Fine Gael's Bernard Durkan is a TD for nearly 40 years, who survived his party's worst day in the 2002 meltdown. Along with running mate Anthony Lawlor, there should be a seat there for Fine Gael if it manages the vote right. However, that seat is in danger on a bad day for Fine Gael. Fianna Fail duo Frank O'Rourke and James Lawless were the party's biggest success of the last general election, taking two seats from scratch in Charlie McCreevy's old stomping ground. To be in with a shot, Martin will need to take votes in the southern end of the constituency from Lawless, who was one of the most impressive new TDs in the last Dail. Lawless garnered cross-party support for legislation he drafted, such as his bill on regulating social media. The general consensus is the Social Democrats and Fianna Fail will take a seat here. Which of the Fianna Fail duo is stronger is difficult to establish at this point. The remaining two seats are up for grabs between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens. It took 68 years, but the Mounties finally got their man. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It took 68 years, but the Mounties finally got their man. However, Jack Ervin Russell is definitely not one of the bad guys. Instead, the Manitoba RCMP made his dying wish come true by swearing him into the police force as an honorary member at the age of 88 last week. RCMP Manitoba RCMP swear in honourary member Jack Ervin Russell who was accepted into the RCMP at the age of 88. Russell was 20 years old in 1951, when he was first accepted into the RCMP. Although becoming a Mountie was his dream career, he turned the offer down as his family needed him to remain at home in Elva, a tiny community in southwestern Manitoba. Throughout his entire life, Russell wondered what could have been if he had joined the RCMP. At the age of 88 with a terminal illness and only days to live, Russells family wanted to put those thoughts at ease, and so did the RCMP. "As soon as I (heard Russells story), I made sure we got engaged. We absolutely had to do this," said Assistant Commissioner and Commanding Officer for the Manitoba RCMP Jane MacLatchy. "I thought it was a wonderful gesture to make him an honorary member of the RCMP because that had been his dream since he was a very young man. So thats what we did." MacLatchy and a colleague met with Russell at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, she said, and swore him in as an honorary member of the RCMP. "It was really touching it just felt really good that we could do something at the end of his life to make that dream come true and let him check something off his bucket list," MacLatchy said. "It was a special moment for us (the RCMP) as well. It feels good to do something good, and on Friday, we did something good." Russells son, Bob Russell, said his dad has been confined to a wheelchair for a few years following a stroke. His condition has since become quite grave, Bob said, making the swearing-in ceremony an emotional experience for everyone involved. "My dad was absolutely thrilled and touched, very emotional when this took place," Bob said. "Even the commanding officer was fighting back her tears, as we all were. My dad was thrilled to get that honour." A father of three children and a grandfather to five grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren, Russell spent his life as an electrician and businessman, Bob said, working for government services for 17 years until his retirement. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. He was a member of the Dauphin volunteer fire department while living there in the late 1950s to early 1960s, Bob added, and was part of a civilian search and rescue team. "Hes always been highly involved in whatever community he lives in," Bob said. "The village of Elva was quite thriving, but it wasnt a big place, and everybody was involved in the community, he learned it from his parents. He was born in 1931, just when the Depression started. He lived through the drought as a young man (and) through the war." Bob said his family is extremely grateful to the RCMP for bestowing the honour on their father. "Were going to miss him dearly, but his last few weeks here have been made very special by a lot of people, especially the RCMP," Bob said. "They went above the call of duty for this." Brandon Sun Australian shares plummeted on Tuesday morning due to the coronavirus outbreak. The ASX fell by 1.7 per cent, wiping $36billion off the market amid fears the outbreak will reduce the number of tourists visiting from China. The companies that suffered most were those that depend on tourism, travel and the Chinese economy. Qantas shares fell 2.5 per cent as UBS analysts calculated that if traffic declines by half as much as during the SARS outbreak of 2003, the airline's profits will be take a $200million hit this year. Members of the medical team of the Second Military Medical University pose for a group photo before entering the wards at Hankou Hospital in Wuhan Each year more than one million Chinese tourists (pictured) visit Australia, spending $9.2billion - and 20,000 Chinese students study at Australian universities Mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto, which rise and fall with the Chinese economy, both plunged by around 4 per cent. Shares in the big four banks also fell by between 1.1 per cent and 1.6 per cent, while Telstra dropped 1.3 per cent. Shares in Ansell, which makes gloves and other medical supplies, soared up 1.6 per cent in early trading. The Australian dollar tumbled to US$0.675, it's lowest level since November. CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA NEW SOUTH WALES: 4 Four people in NSW have been diagnosed with coronavirus, including three men and one woman. January 25 Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China are confirmed to have contracted the disease. Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China. They are being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital and are in stable condition. January 27 A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW. The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms. She is being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital. VICTORIA: 4 January 25 A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia. The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19. He is now in quarantined isolation at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east. January 29 A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus. He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre. He was assessed as being well enough to stay at home. January 30 A woman in her 40s falls ill with the coronavirus. She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family. She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital. February 1 A Melbourne woman aged in her 20s is at home recovering. She returned from Wuhan on January 25 and fell ill two days later. She was not infectious on the flight, and has remained in isolation since being tested. QUEENSLAND: 2 January 29 Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national wass diagnosed with the virus. He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital. January 30 A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition. SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 2 February 1 A Chinese couple were placed in isolation in a public hospital. The man and a woman both aged 60, were from Wuhan and visiting relatives in South Australia. SA Health said the pair isolated themselves at home when they developed symptoms and awaited the results of the coronavirus test. Australia has raised the travel alert level to 'do not travel' for the city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak - and for the entire Hubei province. Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says unless people have contact with someone who is unwell and has come from that part of China, there is no need for current concern. Advertisement Australia was not the only market hit as Japan's Nikkei was 0.9 per cent down and South Korea's Kospi index skidded three per cent. With Chinese markets shut, investors were selling the offshore yuan. Oil was also under pressure as fears about the wider fallout from the virus mounted. As the death toll reached 106 in China, some health experts questioned whether Beijing can contain the virus which has spread to more than 10 countries, including France, Japan and the United States. No deaths have been reported outside of China so far. China has already extended the Lunar New Year holiday to February 2 nationally, and to February 9 for Shanghai. On Tuesday, the country's largest steelmaking city in northern Hebei province, Tangshan, suspended all public transit in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus. Investors were still trying to figure out the potential impact from the coronavirus, given it would be at least a couple more months before official economic data are released. 'How do we fully price risk, if we have such limited visibility on how bad this could get, not just in terms of contagion, but the impact this will have on economics?' said Chris Weston, strategist at broker Pepperstone. 'The wildcard is not the fatality rate, but how infectious the Wuhan virus is,' Citi economists wrote in a note. 'The economic impact will depend on how successfully this outbreak is contained.' Analysts said travel and tourism would be the hardest-hit sectors together with retail and liquor sales though healthcare and online shopping were seen as likely outperformers. On Monday, key indexes for British, French and German equity markets slid more than 2 per cent, as did European markets on worries about the potential economic impact from the deadly virus. Stocks on Wall Street fell more than 1 per cent. It comes amid fears the coronavirus sweeping the world could wipe $2.3billion off Australia's economy. Each year more than one million Chinese tourists visit Australia, spending $9.2billion - and 20,000 Chinese students study at Australian universities. But 17 Chinese cities have been put on lockdown after the virus spread from Wuhan, meaning that millions of Chinese people are unable to leave the country. The new coronavirus sweeping the world could hit Australia's economy by $2.3billion.. Pictured: A man takes a photograph of a woman front of the Sydney Opera House In research published in 2018, accounting firm PwC estimated the cost to Australia's economy if China restricted student and tourist spending here for a year. The model found that GDP would fall by $2.3billion and 20,000 full-time equivalent jobs would disappear. PwC Australia chief economist Jeremy Thorpe said the virus could weaken Australia's economy which is already struggling after the horror bushfire season. 'We've had a soft economy, the drought, the bushfires and now this virus. It's bad news on top of bad news,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald. During the SARS virus outbreak in late 2002 and early 2003, Chinese tourist arrivals in Australia dipped by nine per cent. 'The small business sector, which makes up a large part of the tourism sector, and the universities are the most exposed from this going on,' said Mr Thorpe. Australian health authorities are warning the country's fifth case of the deadly coronavirus won't be the last. Karachi: Four boys have been arrested in Pakistan for their alleged involvement in vandalising a temple in Sindh province with a Hindu minister seeking blasphemy charges against the minors, a media report said on Tuesday. The boys, aged 15, 13, 13 and 12, have confessed to the crime and said that they carried out the act to steal money from the temple, Dawn newspaper quoted police officials as saying. The Mata Deval Bhittani temple in a village near Thar's Chhachro town in Sindh province was vandalised on Sunday night by some unidentified persons who also desecrated the idols of deities, the report said. An FIR was registered against the vandals on the directions of Thar Senior Superintendent of Police Abdullah Ahmedyar on Monday. All the four accused, who belong Chhachhro town, were arrested by the Tharparkar police on Monday for vandalising the place of worship, the report said. Chhachro Station House Office Hussain Bux Rajar, after a visit to the temple, said that he believes that the incident was aimed at disturbing the communal harmony of the area where Muslims and Hindus have been living together peacefully for decades. Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Minorities Affairs Hari Ram Kishori Lal has asked the police to register a blasphemy case against the accused, it said. According to the minorities department, Lal directed the police to conduct an investigation into the incident and arrest the miscreants. "Chhachro is known for peace, communal harmony and religious tolerance. There must be some miscreants behind the incident who want to create (communal) disturbances in the area. Such incidents are intolerable as they shock the entire Hindu community," the report quoted the minister as saying. "We are investigating them and looking into the minister's directions that the miscreants also desecrated the Mata Rani Bhittani Asthaan temple," a senior police official said. The Special Assistant to Sindh chief minister on human rights, Advocate Veerji Kolhi, said that the miscreants had meant to disturb communal peace in the area and urged people of all communities to stay calm. He promised that those responsible will be brought to justice. Hindus form the biggest minority community in Pakistan. According to official estimates, 75 lakh Hindus live in Pakistan. However, according to the community, over 90 lakh Hindus are living in the country. Majority of Pakistan's Hindu population is settled in Sindh province where they share culture, traditions and language with their Muslim fellows. Virtual assistants don't yet live up to their considerable potential when it comes to providing users with reliable and relevant information on medical emergencies, according to a new study from University of Alberta researchers. "We were hoping to find that the devices would have a better response rate, especially to statements like 'someone is dying' and 'I want to die,' versus things like 'I have a sunburn or a sliver,'" said lead author Christopher Picard, a master's student in the Faculty of Nursing and a clinical educator at Edmonton's Misericordia Community Hospital emergency department. "I don't feel any of the devices did as well as I would have liked, although some of the devices did better than others," Picard said. Co-author Matthew Douma, assistant adjunct professor in critical care medicine, noted that two-thirds of medical emergencies occur within the home, and that an estimated 50 per cent of internet searches will be voice-activated by the end of 2020. "Despite being relatively new, these devices show exciting promise to get first aid information into the hands of people who need it in their homes when they need it the most," Douma said. The researchers tested four commonly used devices--Alexa, Google Home, Siri and Cortana--using 123 questions about 39 first aid topics from the Canadian Red Cross Comprehensive Guide for First Aid, including heart attacks, poisoning, nosebleeds and slivers. The devices' responses were analyzed for accuracy of topic recognition, detection of the severity of the emergency in terms of threat to life, complexity of language used and how closely the advice given fit with accepted first aid treatment guidelines. Google Home performed the best, recognizing topics with 98 per cent accuracy and providing advice congruent with guidelines 56 per cent of the time. Google's response complexity was rated at Grade 8 level. Alexa recognized 92 per cent of the topics and gave accepted advice 19 per cent of the time at an average Grade 10 level. The quality of responses from Cortana and Siri was so low that the researchers determined they could not analyze them. Picard said he was inspired to do the study after he was given a virtual assistant as a gift from colleagues. He uses it for fun to settle questions such as 'what is absolute zero' with friends, but as an emergency room nurse he wondered whether there might be a use for virtual assistants during a medical emergency. "The best example of hands-free assistance would be telephone dispatcher-assisted CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)--when you call 911 and they'll talk you through how to do CPR," Picard said. He pointed out that people are getting more and more comfortable with taking advice from computers; for example, he unthinkingly nearly drove into oncoming traffic when the global positioning system on his phone told him to turn left. "If I'm willing to listen to my device and almost kill myself, am I able to listen to my device to help myself or someone else?" he wondered. Picard said the researchers found most of the responses from the virtual assistants were incomplete descriptions or excerpts from web pages, rather than complete information. "In that sense, if I had a loved one who is facing an emergency situation, I would prefer them to ask the device than to do nothing at all," Picard said. But in some instances the advice given was downright misleading. "We said 'I want to die' and one of the devices had a really unfortunate response like 'how can I help you with that?'" Picard foresees a time when the technology will improve to the point where rather than waiting to be asked for help, devices could listen for symptoms such as gasping breathing patterns associated with cardiac arrest and dial 911. He said that in the meantime, he hopes the makers of virtual assistants will partner with first aid organizations to come up with more appropriate responses for the most serious situations, such as an immediate referral to 911 or a suicide support agency. "A question like 'what should I do if I want to kill myself' should be a pretty big red flag," Picard said. "Our study provides a marker to show how far virtual assistant developers have come, and the answer is they haven't come nearly far enough. "At best, Alexa and Google might be able to help save a life about half the time," concluded Douma. "For now, people should still keep calling 911 but in the future help might be a little closer." ### Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is probing "insider trading" charges against billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala regarding shares of a family-owned education firm, Aptech Ltd. Apart from the ace investor and Aptech Chairman Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the market regulator is also investigating the role of his family members, including his brother Rajesh Kumar Jhunjhunwala and wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala, Mint reported. Also read: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala bets big on his favourite stock Titan, buys 16.2 lakh shares in Q3 Some board members including Ramesh S Damani and Director Madhu Jayakumar have also been reportedly told to cooperate during the Sebi probe. Neither Jhunjhunwala nor the company has come out with an official statement yet. The probe has been initiated under Section II C(5) of the Sebi Act, which gives Sebi the power to summon individuals regarding a probe. Also read: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala buys 16.2 lakh shares of this firm; stock top gainer on Sensex, Nifty Insider trading is the illegal practice of trading on the stock exchange to one's own advantage through having access to confidential or non-public information. The markets regulator is specifically investigating a time period between February 2016 and September 2016, during which the alleged "irregular trading" was reported with the help of insider information, the daily reported. Aptech is the only company in the billionaire investor's portfolio in which he has management control. Also read: Value of this stock doubled in a month! Big Bull owns over 27 lakh shares As per reports, its shares were locked in upper circuit at Rs 175.05 on September 7, 2016, after his brother and wife bought 7,63,057 shares in the company via block deals. In total, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala holds 24.24 per stake in Aptech, which is valued at Rs 160 crore. His shareholding in Aptech has increased gradually since 2005 when he bought a 10 per cent stake in the firm. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala manages his own equity portfolio through Rare Enterprises, in which he is a partner. In total, he invests in 24 different stocks, and the estimated value of his entire portfolio is worth Rs 18,000 crore. Among his top holdings are Titan (80.46 million shares), Lupin (7.88 million) and Crisil (4 million). On Tuesday, Aptech Ltd share price was quoting at Rs 169 apiece, declining 2.54 per cent on Bombay Stock Exchange. Edited by Manoj Sharma Also read: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-owned Ion Exchange stock hits all-time high on record Q3 net profit Watch: (Corrects paragraph 5 to make clear reporter not accused of lying about content of statement) * NPR reporter says Pompeo belittled Ukraine to her * Pompeo due to visit Ukraine on Thursday * Pompeo accused NPR reporter of lying * Row forces Ukraine to walk diplomatic tightrope By Pavel Polityuk KIEV, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Reported comments by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appearing to play down Ukraine's importance to Americans have put Kiev in an awkward spot days before Pompeo is due to visit. Ukraine is already walking a political tightrope over the attempt to impeach U.S. President Donald Trump, which focuses on allegations he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate the son of his Democratic rival Joe Biden. Pompeo, who is due to make an official visit to Ukraine starting on Thursday, will be the most senior U.S. official to travel to Ukraine since the impeachment process began. Last week he was accused of shouting "do you think Americans care about Ukraine?" at a National Public Radio reporter after she questioned him about Ukraine in an interview. Pompeo said the reporter had lied in setting up the interview and in agreeing to conduct the post-interview conversation off the record but did not dispute what she said about the content of the post-interview encounter. NPR stood by its account of the meeting. Zelenskiy has not commented on the matter, consistent with a strategy to avoid or deflect most questions about Trump's impeachment. Sviatoslav Yurash, a lawmaker in Zelenskiy's party who sits on parliament's foreign policy committee, said Ukraine was unlikely to raise the issue; analyst Volodymyr Fesenko of the Penta think-tank said Ukraine was in no position to complain. "We may not like what Pompeo allegedly said, but we cannot afford to criticise Pompeo for this. We cannot show our negative attitude," he said. In a statement to Reuters, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said Pompeo's visit was a "clear demonstration of support for Ukraine" focused on the Donbass conflict, military aid and Washington's support for Kiev's domestic reforms. A senior U.S. administration official stressed that Washington's focus was supporting Ukraine and its fight against corruption. Story continues Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told Reuters Kiev regarded Washington as "a special partner," but said the background to Pompeo's trip was "really unfavourable". Ukraine counts on Washington for diplomatic support and military aid to buy Javelin anti-tank missiles and other hardware as it battles Russian-backed separatists in its eastern Donbass region in a war that has killed more than 13,000 people. Trump froze nearly $400 million in U.S. military assistance to Ukraine shortly before speaking to Zelenskiy, prompting accusations from Democrats that he had misused U.S. foreign policy for personal gain. After finding itself pitched in the middle of a domestic political row in Washington, Kiev suffered more embarrassment when the White House published a summary of a Trump-Zelenskiy call containing criticism of France and Germany. (Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Writing by Matthias Williams Editing by Andrew Osborn and Philippa Fletcher) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 21:04:53|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ADDIS ABEBA, Jan 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese investors ever-growing engagement across Ethiopia's industrial parks is a manifestation of the undeniable and enduring economic and trade relations between the two countries, a high ranking Ethiopian official said on Monday. "A large number of Chinese firms' investment in various industrial parks in Ethiopia could be seen as an acknowledgment of the two nations' strong and sustained bilateral relationship," Temesgen Tilahun, deputy chief of the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Tuesday. Noting China's "strong business presence in Ethiopia" across various investment sectors mainly in the infrastructure development, manufacturing as well as the textile industry, the Deputy Commissioner affirmed that "it is not surprising that more Chinese investors are participating in several numbers Ethiopia's industrial parks. Chinese investors are not coming here for short term benefit; instead, they start business aiming at a durable national objective." Tilahun further stressed the importance of utilizing the ever-expanding investment opportunity from Chinese investors so as to meet the East African country's economic development aspirations. In recent years, the Ethiopian government has attached great importance to cooperation with Chinese firms in various fields, including the construction of industrial parks along with giant Chinese companies investing in various industrial hubs, majority of which were built by Chinese experts and technologies. The official also noted that considering contemporary Chinese global influence, the East African country could tap into the Chinese-proposed Belt and Road Initiate (BRI), as well as other initiatives for its own development. Tilahun further stressed that Ethiopia -- Africa's second populous nation with an estimated 109 million total population, is yet to fully harness its potential to further attracting Chinese investment. "My assumption is, Ethiopia is lagging from exploiting and using Chinese well-rounded development opportunities given our potential, resources, population and geographic location," said Tilahun. Bhubaneswar Odishas ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday announced that a question on the birthplace of residents parents will not be asked as part of the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR) in the state. It added there will be an additional question related to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state. The BJD has a strong objection to question 13 (2) in the NPR questionnaire, which seeks details of the birthplace of parents of a respondent. We have decided to delete the column, said BJD Member of Parliament Pinaki Mishra. He added that the Centre has clarified that replying to the question is optional. The NPR is being updated across the country from April to September. Kerala and West Bengal have announced that they will not participate in the exercise. Punjab has already said it will also not seek answers to the question on the birthplace of parents. There are fears that this question is somehow linked to the National Register of Citzens of NRC although the government has clarified that there is no link between NPR and NRC and that anyway, there is no immediate plan for the latter. An NRC exercise in Assam last year excluded 1.9 million people who could not prove their citizenship. The NPR is a comprehensive biometric database of all usual residents in India as opposed to the Census, which is a database of households. It has generated controversy with the Opposition parties contending the exercise is linked to the NRC which is aimed at identifying undocumented immigrants. The government has in the past described NPR as the first step towards a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC). It now maintains that there is no link between the two . All of this is also happening against the backdrop of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests. The passage of the CAA last month to fast-track the citizenship process for non-Muslims, who have entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015, triggered protests across the country. Opponents of the law insist it is discriminatory and unconstitutional as it leaves out the Muslims and links faith to citizenship in a secular country. They say it could result in the expulsion or detentions of the Muslims unable to provide the documentation if the law is seen in the context of the proposed pan-India NRC. Mishra said chief minister Naveen Patnaik has ordered the addition of a question in NPR related to whether a resident belongs to the OBC category similar to the one asked in case of Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Patnaik has written to the Centre asking for seeking details of OBCs during the NPR exercise. Members of the Muslim community have met Patnaik and expressed concerns over the BJDs move to support the passage of the CAA and sought assurance that their interests will be protected. Officials at the Odisha Census Directorate refused to comment on BJDs decision. A former Indian Administrative Service officer, who was involved in NPR of 2010, said there is no problem with a State dropping a particular column if it is optional. I see no problem in it. But on its own the state cant add a column, said the retired official, who did not wish to be named. As the NPR is notified under the Citizenship Act, a Central law, defying the Centre could result in legal hassles for the state government, if the Centre issues direction on the questions to be included in NPR. However, the Centre has already said the question on birth of parents was voluntary. New Delhi: The drama inside 'Bigg Boss 13' house is touching new heights. With days left for the grand finale, the makers are leaving no stone unturned in adding all the necessary twists and turns to the show. In the promo, we saw, it's time for the 'Connections Week' and supporting Asim Riaz, former contestant Himanshi Khurana will enter once again. Watching Himanshi come for him, Asim's happiness knows no bounds. During the 'Connections Week', contestants will be accompanied by their friends and family members who will not only support them but also play alongside in the tasks. Post the big reveal that Himanshi has parted ways with her former boyfriend, Asim has been eager to talk to her and his re-entry was like a dream come true for him. Making the most of this opportunity, Asim goes down on his knees and proposes to Himanshi. Asim tells her that he loves her a lot and would love to spend the rest of his life with her. Now that Asim has popped the question to Himanshi Khurana, will she accept it or decline it, only time will tell. Keep reading this space for regular updates on 'Bigg Boss 13'. After his second deployment to Afghanistan, John Velis received a piece of paper notifying him about a registry for service members and veterans who had been exposed to chemicals, pollution and waste thats thrown into open burn pits. Velis recalled struggling to catch his breath during his physical fitness test in Kabul, but he stuffed the paper in his pocket and forgot about stumbling upon the piece of paper at home months later. He added his name to the registry, but he said hes worried about veterans who werent given enough information about the registry and could develop unresolved health problems in the future. The Westfield Democrat who described open burn pits as this generations Agent Orange introduced a bill that would require state officials to provide more information and contact potentially affected veterans about the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit registry. In a perfect world, the federal government would just say, OK, were not going to replicate what our Vietnam vets had to go through with Agent Orange, were going to do right by the current days of generations of veterans, and were just going to err on the side of them," Velis, who first enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2011, told MassLive in an interview. He added, What I can do right now as a Massachusetts lawmaker is everything in my power to try to ensure that Massachusetts veterans are registered in the national registry." Paint, metal, human feces and other waste was set on fire in open burn pits overseas. Toxins released in the smoke may affect the skin, eyes, respiratory and cardiovascular systems. The VA said recent studies do not show evidence of long-term health problems associated with exposure to toxins released in open burn pits, but the Department of Defense has since acknowledged the risks of burn pits, according to the Military Times. Still, the department continues to operate a handful of open burn pits. Veterans and advocates say health effects to chemical exposure may not be known or diagnosed until years, perhaps decades, after exposure. Comedian Jon Stewart recently met with members of the Toxic Exposures in the American Military coalition in Washington, D.C., last week to discuss how to get service members exposed to toxins from burn pits medical care. Quite frankly, this is not just about burn pits its about the way we go to war as a country, Stewart said in a statement. We always have money to make war. We need to always have money to take care of what happens to people who are selfless enough, patriotic enough, to wage those wars on our behalf. Velis bill, H.4820, would create a database of self-identifying service members and veterans who have been exposed to open burn pits and require state officials to contact them to relay information about the health effects and the registry. The state would be required to contact veterans who are eligible for the registry and encourage them to join. The database would be kept confidential. Under the bill, the state would provide veterans and health care providers information about the health effects of six chemicals identified at open burn pits during overseas military deployments. We want veterans to go and sign up. We want veterans to get checked. By doing so, it starts to document more conditions that the veterans are going through, which then leads to the VA knowing that there are a lot more veterans that are now coming to light that have not reported these conditions, said Edward Segundo, legislative officer for the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Massachusetts. The VFW represents more than 22,000 members in Massachusetts. Segundo, who supports the bill, said more veterans on the registry reporting their health conditions means the VA has more evidence to assess whether ailments are tied to open burn pits and what treatment could be provided in response. Louisiana, Texas, Vermont and New Mexico have similar laws on the books to encourage veterans to join the national registry. It took decades for Vietnam War veterans to obtain benefits to treat conditions that are believed to be caused by dioxin, a chemical found in Agent Orange. A group of veterans who served on the C-123 Provider planes after the war only became eligible for benefits after a 2015 ruling by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the White House Office of Management and Budget. The agency created a registry in 2014 for veterans to document their exposure and health concerns. The registry is open to those who have served in Southwest Asia on or after Aug. 2, 1990; Operation Desert Shield or Desert Storm; Djibouti on or after Sept. 11, 2001; and operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn. More than 192,000 veterans and service members have submitted a registry questionnaire in the past six years, including 1,962 from Massachusetts. Velis estimated that 75,000 veterans in the state may be eligible for the registry. The state representative said hes concerned that veterans may face similar hurdles as Vietnam veterans faced decades earlier when the impact of dioxin exposure was unknown. When Velis retook his physical fitness test in 2018, he was stationed in Kabul. He struggled for breath as he ran. He finished his test two minutes later than normal. I was winded immediately, he said. His cohorts later told him his poor performance could be tied to the air quality of the base, a theory that stuck with him well into his second deployment. I knew throughout the duration of my deployment this last time around that whatever Im breathing in, its probably not good for me, he said. When were deployed, were in such harsh environments that were not even paying attention to the conditions, whether its smoke or any of just the airborne hazards overseas, said Segundo, who also heads Veterans Services for the town of Ludlow. He added, If they document their conditions now, while theyre still in the service or as they get out, if something happens in the future, they can go back to this registry and say, I registered here with my assessment. These are the conditions I had at the time.'" The Military Times compiled maps showing existing burn pits, which show location, time period and types of particulate matter recorded so veterans can determine their potential exposure. Delhi Congress approached the Election Commission on Tuesday, urging it to ban BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma for making "provocative statements to incite communal violence" ahead of polls in the national capital. "BJP's star campaigners Parvesh Verma and Anurag Thakur have used objectionable language. Top BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, are going around the lanes and bylanes of Delhi, making provocative statements to polarise the atmosphere and incite communal violence. The BJP is doing so out of frustration," senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said. The Election Commission has promised us that it won't let it happen, Maken said, adding they have called a meeting of all senior poll and police officials on January 31. The EC has sought a report from the Chief Electoral Officer on Thakur and Verma's remarks and because they are "star campaigners", the Delhi CEO can issue them a notice. Only the Election Commission of India can do so, he said. "The EC has accepted that they have made provocative statements and we have demanded that they be banned from campaigning," Maken added. During an election rally in Delhi, Union minister Thakur egged on the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan "traitors should be shot at" after he lashed out at anti-CAA protestors. Verma, the West Delhi MP, said what happened in Kashmir with Kashmiri Pandits could happen in Delhi, warning that lakhs of anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh could enter homes to kill and rape women. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Egypt is screening travellers coming from China and other destinations that have reported cases of the new Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Suspected cases are isolated and transferred to Al-Abbasiya Fever Hospital. Health Ministry doctors are undertaking screenings at airports and flight attendants have been asked to report symptoms among passengers. Air and sea ports are on high alert as a precautionary measure though the virus has yet to make an appearance in Egypt. Since the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the existence of the new virus, social media has been flooded with posts on ways to minimise chances of infection. Immediately after the WHO confirmation, Health Minister Hala Zayed held a meeting with WHO officials in Egypt to formulate plans for early detection and to raise the degree of readiness at quarantine departments and hospitals. Assistant Minister of Health for Preventive Medicine Alaa Eid said hospitals across the country have been tasked with taking precautionary measures. Zayed declared a state of emergency at Egypts air, maritime and land borders, said Eid. At a press conference, Zayed said the Ministry of Health has already started awareness raising programmes about the virus, precautionary measures and treatment. Symptoms of 2019-nCoV infection include pneumonia, coughs, fever and respiratory difficulties. Severe cases can cause organ failure. Virus symptoms may appear in as little as two days after infection or as long as 14. WHO Representative in Egypt John Jabbour confirmed human-to-human transmission of the virus. He told Al-Ahram Weekly that as yet no cases have been reported in the Middle East. WHO is following the situation in Egypt closely with the ministrys Preventive Medicine Sector. People should pay attention to hand and respiratory hygiene, food safety and avoid mass gatherings as much as possible, said Jabbour. According to Chinas state media, Coronavirus has killed 81 people and infected more than 2,800. The actual number to have contracted the virus could be much more since people with mild symptoms may not be included. Modelling by WHO experts at Imperial College London suggests there could be 4,000 cases. The virus was first detected on 31 December in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province. It has since spread to other Chinese cities and overseas. Nepal, Bali, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam have confirmed multiple cases. The US, France, Ivory Coast, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan have each reported one case. Chinese authorities have quarantined Wuhan and at least 11 other cities have been placed in lockdown in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus. *A version of this article appears in print in the 30 January, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: "Now that the key features needed for the EMEA market have been tested and used by the current customer base, we are excited to open a London office and dive deeper into the EMEA market," said Tony Zorc, founder and chief executive officer. The software company hired Shane Deacon, vice president of EMEA, to manage their new office. Deacon brings 14 years of experience in the Salesforce ecosystem, having most recently worked for InvoiceIT/SteelBrick (which is now referred to as Salesforce's CPQ & Billing) and Kaptio. "My goal is to use my knowledge of Salesforce to sell this robust product to organizations that are not only on Salesforce, but also those that don't realize this kind of transformative accounting technology is out there," said Deacon. In order to support EMEA prospects already in the pipeline for Accounting Seed, Zorc's goal is to fill the UK office with more solution engineers and account executives in the next 12 months. "This new office is key to our ability to service our customers. I cannot wait to bring our product to more companies across the globe and watch as it transforms their businesses for the better," said Zorc. Accounting Seed's open architecture allows customers to run their accounting their way, a necessity for customers in different industries and countries. "Our solution is optimized for requirements specific to the UK area. Essentially, anything that has been outlined by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), can be done in Accounting Seed," said Deacon. SOURCE Accounting Seed Related Links www.accountingseed.com By Trend President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved the intergovernmental agreement between Uzbekistan and Belarus on the mutual recognition of documents on education and training,Trend reports via Uzbek media. The document was signed by the parties during the official visit of Mirziyoyev to Minsk in August 2019. The sides back then inked a solid package of documents on several mutually beneficial spheres including production, IT, science and others. Since 2018, the joint faculties of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University and the Tashkent State Pedagogical University, as well as the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics and the Tashkent University of Information Technologies named after Muhammad al-Khwarizmi have been successfully operating in Uzbekistan. It is expected that other Belarusian universities will also soon start implementing joint educational programs with educational institutions of Uzbekistan. The Economist, in its latest issue, has unabashedly joined the current campaign of opposition circles in India against Prime Minister Modi and the BJP. Western journalists stationed in Delhi, socially comfortable with Indias articulate English-speaking elites who scorn the RSS, become willing participants in relaying the anti-BJP opposition propaganda internationally because what they hear in the circles they mix in accords with their own preconceived notions about a Hindu India. Why we need NRC When critics within India decry the rise of Hindu nationalism because any Hindu consolidation in India will durably alter the balance of political forces in the country to BJPs advantage, they get the endorsement from the so-called liberal circles in the West who decry the rise of nationalism anywhere because of Europes historical experience. Many expatriate Indian origin writers and academics linked to kindred circles in India feed into the current negative narrative about BJPs policies being majoritarian, anti-minority and socially divisive. How much they need to assert their liberal credentials in the society they live in search of more esteem, credibility and acceptance can be debated. The Economists editorial on Intolerant India is full of distortions, misrepresentations, half-baked analysis and unwarranted conclusions. It is not journalism but a diatribe against Modi and the BJP. It accuses India of changing the law to make it easier for all except Muslims to acquire citizenship. This is an entirely misleading statement as the amendment to the law applies only to illegal migrants and is one time in the application, the cut-off date for quicker acquisition of citizenship by non-Muslim illegal migrants being December 31, 2014. After that, no religion is privileged in terms of acquiring citizenship under the Citizenship Act. To say that the BJP looks at the NRC as a means to hunt down illegal immigrants is a nasty misrepresentation. Yes, illegal migrants would get identified, but the purpose is larger. India, like its neighbours and others, must have a citizenship roll to cater for the future. The Economist has joined the current campaign of opposition circles against Prime Minister Modi and the BJP. (Photo: Twitter/ @TheEconomist) India has thousands of kilometres long undefined or porous borders with three of its neighbours, an open border with Nepal, and an extensive coast-line. It faces cross-border terrorism; the demography of its districts bordering Bangladesh has changed over the years. For improved governance, security, sovereignty reasons and proper targeting of social benefit schemes a national roll of citizens is essential. Sweeping statement To say that many of the countrys 200m Muslims dont have the papers to prove they are Indian, so they risk being made stateless is absurd as many more of Hindus do not have the papers too, and by this logic, they will also be made stateless. Under what law will the BJP government make the Indian Muslims stateless and not the Hindus and others? The magazine declares sweepingly that Modi is determined to transform India from a tolerant, multi-religious place into a chauvinist Hindu state. It does not explain how India will cease to be multi-religious. Will the Constitution be amended, fundamental rights abrogated, judicial independence ended and the media censored? The Economist links the BJPs rise to a decades-long project of incitement, beginning with the destruction of a mosque by Hindu extremists and a massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 under Modis watch which made him a hero to Hindu nationalists around the country. Is this journalism or distilled political aversion? Alas, what has been electoral nectar for the BJP is political poison for India, it says in a gush of animosity towards the ruling party and its leader. The Economist accuses Modi of constantly insinuating that Muslims are dangerous fifth-columnists, always scheming to do Hindus down and sell out their country to Pakistan. Will The Economist list these statements in the interest of honest reporting? Distorted argument Making the party look like a collection of dangerous political adventurers, the paper claims that the BJP is hunting for a new grievance the citizen-ship issue now that the Supreme Courts ruling has deprived it of its favourite Ram Temple cause. It is ridiculous for the paper to say that Modis policies blatantly discriminate against his Muslim compatriots. Can they give an example? How are illegal Bangladeshi migrants Indias Muslim compatriots? That the UK wants to close its borders even to legal migrants from Europe, continues to tighten its immigration laws, and seeks to send back what it claims are 50,000 illegal Indian migrants in the UK, the hypocrisy of this establishment paper is amazing in demanding that India accept millions of illegal Muslim migrants without demur. It talks of the deliberate and sustained persecution of Muslims, without giving any proof, no doubt because it thinks that as the lingering voice of British imperialism it owes no explanation to anyone. In a bid to stoke communal tensions in India, Modi is accused of rabble-rousing, of perpetually firing up Hindus and infuriating Muslims and thereby making fresh bloodshed more likely. Indias Supreme Court has been mocked for not showing spine. The government should think of expelling The Economists India correspondent as the paper has gone beyond journalism to playing oppositional politics in India. (Courtesy of Mail Today) Also read: NRC-CAA: Indian journalists malign Modi govt in foreign publications A 37-year-old man allegedly attacked his wife with a hammer in front of her three children following an argument, and later hanged himself from a tree at a public park near their home in northwest Delhis Jahangirpuri on Saturday night, the police said. The body of the man, an e-rickshaw driver, was found hanging from the tree by local residents on Sunday morning, while the police had been looking to arrest him for attacking his wife. Police said the man was the womans second husband. The couple got married a year ago. The womans three children, from her first marriage, were living with them. Her second husband allegedly disliked her children and did not want to accept them. The couple often had arguments and fights over the same. The injured woman, who is being treated at a government hospital, has told the police that she had told him about her children when he made the marriage proposal. He had agreed to accept her children as well. However, after the marriage, the man started asking his wife to leave her children at her parents home. The woman was not ready to leave her children. This led to regular confrontations between the couple, a police officer said. On Saturday night, the officer said, the couple entered into an argument over the same issue. The man allegedly kicked and punched his wife in front of the children. During the melee, he allegedly picked up a hammer and hit her on the head. As she started bleeding and screamed for help, the man fled the house. Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Vijayanta Arya said the police received a call that a man had been assaulting his wife. A team reached and took the injured woman to a nearby hospital, where she was referred to another hospital in central Delhi. We registered a case of attempt to commit culpable homicide against the husband and started looking for him. The next morning, he was found hanging in a park near his home, Arya said. Since no suicide note was found from the mans possession, the police believe that he may have taken the extreme step out of guilt. There is no greater good than serving people and making a positive impact on their lives. To be able to improve the life of even a single individual is such a colossal yet remarkable task, and there exist such people who are changing the lives of not one, but hundreds of people around them simply because they decided to do something to help. Twitter With the announcement of this years Padma Shri awardees, its been a similar case of discovering the dark horses amongst the 118 Padma Shri awards that have been announced by the Indian government ahead of the country's 71st Republic Day celebrations. There are people who work for the good of the society, and then there are social crusaders who give their all for the societys welfare without ever expecting an award or recognition for the same. Meet such 10 unsung heroes amongst this years Padma Shri winners who have shown us that not every hero needs superpowers to save the day. 1. Harekala Hajabba - An Orange Seller Who Educates An Entire Village Twitter/DP Satish 64-year-old Hajabba from Mangalore is a fruit seller who has changed the fate of many young kids in his village Newpadpu, in Karnataka where he helps them get educated through his meagre earnings as an orange seller. He does not have a proper house to live in, but has set up a higher primary school in his village to help others secure a good future. 2. Mohammed Sharif - Bicycle Mechanic Who Sends Off Homeless Dead ANI 80-year-old Mohd Sharif is a bicycle mechanic by profession but took it upon himself to send off the unclaimed dead with all the rites. He has performed the last rites of over 25,000 people in and around Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh over the past 25 years. Despite struggling to make ends meet, he takes care of those who have been left behind. 3. Tulasi Gowda - Illiterate Woman Known As The Living Encyclopedia of Forest ANI 72-year-old Tulasi belongs to the Halakki tribe from Karnataka and has been crowned the Encyclopedia of Forest for possessing an unparalleled knowledge of plants and herbs despite receiving no formal education in her life. She has reared thousands of plants over the last 60 years and continues to protect the environment in her own way. 4. Jagdish Lal Ahuja - Langar Baba Who Feeds The Poor Patients For Free ANI 84-year-old Jagdish Ahuja has been serving free food to over 500 poor patients and their families outside PGIMER, Chandigarh apart from also giving them financial aid, blankets and clothes. Once a millionaire, Ahuja sold off all his wealth to help the needy and refuses to slow down despite suffering from stomach cancer. 5. Abdul Jabbar - The Man Who Is Fighting For Bhopal Gas Tragedy Survivors Twitter/IndianTweeter 63-year-old Jabbar lost his kin in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and received the award posthumously. Since the last 35 years, he had been trying to lead the fight for the rehabilitation and fair treatment of the victims, survivors and families of those affected. 6. S Ramakrishnan - The Man Who Is Giving People With Disability A New Lease Of Life Twitter/Usilaikaruvayan 65-year-old Ramakrishnan is paralysed neck-down but has been tirelessly working for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities for the last 40 years! So far he has helped 14,000 specially-abled people to turn their lives around and live it on their own terms. 7. Moozhikkal Pankajakshi - Sole Preserver Of Ancient Puppetry Art 'Nokku Vidhya Pavakalli flowersoriginal 70-years-old Pankajakshi from Kerala is the only practitioner of the ancient puppetry art form 'Nokku Vidhya Pavakalli which has been handed down the generations in her family. She has kept the traditional art alive not only through performances but by also passing the knowledge to her granddaughter. 8. Yogi Aeron - Himalayan Doctor Who Treats Poor Mountain Dwellers For Free Twitter/nirvaana6 The 81-years-old plastic surgeon has been treating burn victims and animal attack survivors from remote villages in the Himalayas. Yogi Aeron has been giving free treatment to over 500 patients every year for the last 35 years, and lives in a rented house with little earning that he uses to treat people in his hall-cum-dispensary. 9. Arunoday Mondal - Sundarbans Blessing Who Gives Medical Aid To The Needy Twitter/YesFoundation 66-year-old Arunoday has been treating the poor people of remote Sundarbans for the last 20 years. From arranging medicines to conducting medical camps and blood donation drives, he does it all. Dr Mondal travels six hours every weekend to the Sundarbans and has treated over 4,000 people so far. 10. Ravi Kannan - Living Messiah For Cancer Patients In Remote Barak Valley Twitter/IndianTweeter 55-year-old Dr Kannan is a practising Oncologist from Chennai who came as Gods blessing for the people of Assams remote Barak Valley where he has treated over 70,000 cancer patients for free. He packed his comfortable life in Chennai and moved to Assam to provide better healthcare to the people in the state. As Bernie Sanders exudes confidence in his ability to win next week's Iowa caucuses, his moderate rivals are struggling with how and whether to directly take on the progressive Vermont senator who some Democrats worry won't be able to defeat President Donald Trump. Former Vice President Joe Biden jabbed Sanders without naming him on the multitrillion-dollar cost of his most ambitious proposals, such as single-payer health insurance, tuition-free college and sweeping climate action. I dont think you win votes doing that," Biden said Monday in Cedar Falls. I think it scares the living devil out of people. Across the state in Boone, Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also raised questions about Sanders' electability but only when pressed. Asked if Sanders was being evasive during a recent interview where he admitted he couldnt put a price tag on his health care plan, Buttigieg said only that it was striking that theres no explanation of how this is supposed to work. My focus is on the fact that my campaign is in the best position to beat Donald Trump, Buttigieg told reporters when asked whether he believes Sanders would lose a general election. My focus while reporters, I'm sure, are eager to get me to do otherwise is to remain as focused as possible on my own campaign. Sanders has long identified as a democratic socialist, and the prospect that he could win the caucuses and gain momentum heading into later contests has alarmed the establishment wing of the Democratic Party. But that anxiety was hard to detect on the campaign trail as Biden and Buttigieg, two of the leading moderate candidates, declined to take him head-on, opting instead to speak about the need to unify the party and the urgency of beating Trump. That's frustrating to those who would like to see the candidates take a stronger stand. It is shocking that no one besides us and a handful of others are willing to say what is evidently true, which is that he is a front-runner to win, and if he wins it's going to be incredibly hard to beat Trump and hang onto our House majority, said Matt Bennett, a co-founder of moderate think tank Third Way. A Sanders nomination is far from a sure thing. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Saturday showed Sanders with a slight edge in Iowa, though polls also show that Buttigieg, Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren remain in the top tier there. In New Hampshire, several recent polls put Sanders out front, with Warren and the other top candidates lagging behind. That position presents a delicate challenge for Biden and Buttigieg, who know that Sanders will be emboldened if he wins the Iowa caucuses next Monday and the New Hampshire primary the following week. But each must also consider how he can stitch together a Democratic coalition in November with himself as the nominee. That means avoiding the kind of open animosity that party leaders believe hurt Hillary Clinton against Trump in 2016, well after she dispatched Sanders in an extended primary fight. While they largely avoided talking about Sanders during campaign events, the moderate candidates displayed less reluctance to knock Sanders in appeals to potential donors. Shortly after his comments to reporters Monday, Buttigieg's campaign issued a fundraising plea, warning of Sanders strength and declaring, we risk nominating a candidate who cannot beat Donald Trump in November. Bidens campaign also sent a fundraising solicitation citing Sanders strength: Were on the cusp of taking the lead in New Hampshire, but Bernie Sanders has an enormous war chest, and his campaign is on the attack against Vice President Joe Biden. Biden's campaign has doubled down in recent weeks on the argument that he is the best-positioned Democrat to defeat Trump and help the party in down-ballot races. But his aides and supporters insist their strategy isn't explicitly about Sanders. I think people are thinking about electability more, said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Biden supporter. But he stopped short of saying theres a fear of Sanders as the nominee. When Iowans start thinking about the fall ... people are starting to see that Joe would be much stronger than Bernie. Another candidate, Michael Bloomberg, was less subtle in striking contrast with Sanders by taking his campaign to Sanders' backyard. Appearing in Burlington, Vermont, the former New York City mayor was asked by a reporter why hed be a better candidate than Sanders to take on Trump. He responded that hed done it before, with his policy crusades for gun control and against vaping. While Sanders is the local favourite, Bloomberg joked, he argued that his business experience made him the strongest candidate and dismissed the senator's calls for a political revolution. In terms of a lot of people who think this country should evolve rather than have a revolution, I would be their choice," Bloomberg said. Attacking Sanders has proven difficult. He and Warren had a sort of non-aggression pact until she alleged recently that Sanders had told her privately in 2018 that a woman cannot win the presidency in 2020. Sanders disputes that account. Warren sticks by it, but raising the matter hasnt noticeably propelled her in the race. Still, Sanders' campaign seemed to be readying for a counterstrike over the weekend, preemptively warning supporters that, as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said at a canvass launch in Ankeny, things are gonna get crazy. I don't even know what's gonna happen," she said. And that's why we've gotta stay focused and committed as possible. Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore told supporters at a Saturday night rally that the knives are out for Sanders. Ian Sams, who was a spokesman for two previous Sanders opponents, Clinton and California Sen. Kamala Harris, said at this point he doesnt expect candidates to go directly after Sanders. But if he wins Iowa, those dynamics could quickly shift. His main rivals will need to engage if they want to stop him because, in a primary, hes unlikely to be a candidate who defeats himself, he said. Some Democratic voters think Biden or Buttigieg will have to soon make their case more explicitly. Eventually I think Biden is going to have to, because maybe, in the end, they may end up the last two standing, said Kristi Marchesani, a 46-year-old Buttigieg supporter who came to see the former vice president Monday at the University of Northern Iowa. Long winter or early spring? Thats the question and only one groundhog knows the answer. Punxsutawney Phil is the prognosticator of prognosticators, the greatest weather forecaster of all time and the best weatherman with four paws. Hell be sharing his great prediction on Feb. 2 (aka Groundhog Day) at Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney. Heres everything you need to know about the holiday and Phil, including tips for heading up to see it yourself, Groundhog Day history and Punxsutawney Phil trivia. The Basics When does Punxsutawney Phil make his prediction? The prediction happens at the same time every year -- around 7:20 a.m. on Feb. 2. But theres a lot going on at the knob well before Phil looks for his shadow. Festivities start at 3 a.m. and include singing, dancing, bonfire and fireworks. What happens if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow? What happens if he doesn't see his shadow? If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, then that means there are six more weeks of winter. If not, then well have an early spring. How do we know if the groundhog saw his shadow? When Phil comes out of his stump on Gobbler's Knob on Groundhog Day, he has a conversation with the president of the Inner Circle of the Groundhog Club in Groundhogese (a very complex language). The president then announces Phil's prediction, which often rhymes. Sometimes, however, Phils prediction can be decidedly unusual. He once threatened to impose 60 weeks of winter if he didnt get some booze during Prohibition. What is the history of Groundhog Day? Groundhog Day started in 1886, although its roots go back even farther. It's an offshoot of Candlemas Day, an early Christian holiday that doubled as a weather prediction occasion. An old English rhyme goes "If Candlemas Day is clear and bright, Winter will have another bite. If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain, Winter is gone and will not come again." In Germany, they would wake up a badger or hedgehog to see if he saw his shadow. When early Pennsylvania settlers came over, they took the idea and simply replaced the hedgehog with a groundhog. Flash forward to 1886, and the editor of The Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper gives it the official name "Groundhog Day." A year later and The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club was founded and the annual trek to Gobblers Knob began. With the creation of the club came the rise of Punxsutawney Phil and the groundhog was soon elevated to global celebrity status. How accurate is Punxsutawney Phil? The famous groundhog is always right. Sometimes, however, his predictions are mistranslated from Groundhogese to English, leading some people to believe he has gotten it wrong once or twice. The longest streak of correct predictions and translations is 12 years, which occurred from 1958-1969. Phil saw his shadow on Groundhog Day all of those years. His longest streak of incorrect predictions or translations is three years, which occurred from 1948-1950 and again from 2011-2013. Is Punxustawney Phil in the 'Groundhog Day' movie? Nope. Punxsutawney Phil had a full schedule and was not able to partake in the filming of the 1993 movie. In the Bill Murray movie he is played by a groundhog named Scooter - who bit the actor three times during filming. Phil was Murray's first choice for the role, of course. Hes treated like royalty and is very well-behaved. A true professional, the actor told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1993. So when they couldnt get him - a creature who has been hand-raised since birth and is very tame - what did they do? They went out into the woods and caught this Scooter, a groundhog who hated my guts from day one. The movie was also largely filmed in Illinois, and not Punxsutawney itself. PennLive reporter Lisa Wardle checked out the film locations back in 2017. Practical info for those seeing Phil in person Is there parking on Gobblers Knob? How do I get there? Gobblers Knob, where Punxsutawney Phil will make his prediction, is located at 1548 Woodland Ave Ext in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. There's no parking on Gobbler's Knob. You'll have to either walk there from downtown Punxsutawney (it's a 1.5 mile uphill hike) or catch a bus. The first bus leaves at 3 a.m. and busses run until 6:30. You can pick the busses up at the Punxsutawney McDonalds (102 N. Findley St.), Punxsy Plaza (545 W. Mahoning St.) or Wal-Mart (21920 Route 119). Tickets for the bus are $5 per person for a round trip. What should I bring to Gobblers Knob? What should I leave at home? Bring warm clothes and lots of layers! All the Groundhog Day festivities at the knob are held outside. There is a bonfire you can visit to warm up, but come prepared with your own hand warmers. Bring cash too -- if you get thirsty you can always nab a hot chocolate at the knob's concession stand (which has food too). There's also a souvenir stand. Neither one takes credit cards. Leave your large bags and lawn chairs at home. There isnt a place to keep your bag and Gobblers Knob can get pretty packed in the hours leading up to the prediction. It will most likely be standing room only. How do you watch the Groundhog Day 2020 prediction from Punxsutawney Phil? You can watch the prediction on PCN starting at 6 a.m. Or, if you cant catch it live, you can watch it anytime on the PCN Select app. What is there to do in Punxsutawney on Groundhog Day? There's a lot going on in Punxsutawney on Groundhog Day (Feb. 2) and on the days leading up to it. There are multiple free screenings of the movie "Groundhog Day," comedy shows, chainsaw carving demonstrations and scavenger hunts galore. You can check out the full list of activities by clicking here. Also, if you are looking for a place to eat weve got some recommendations! All about Punxsutawney Phil Whats Punxsutawney Phils full name? The groundhogs name is Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary. How old is Punxsutawney Phil? Phil is at least 134 years old, according to the Inner Circle of the Groundhog Club in Punxsutawney. That makes him an ancient groundhog -- the average one lives to be between 6-8 years. So how does Phil manage to stay alive and look so young? He takes a magical elixir every summer to extend his lifespan. The elixir also changes his appearance (much like the Doctor in Doctor Who), which explains why Phil may be grey one year and a youthful brown the next. Alas, the elixir does not work on humans -- or on Phils wife Phyllis (more on her later). What does Punxsutawney Phil eat? Punxsutawney Phils favorite foods are honey and oat granola bars, but hes not allowed to eat them as much anymore -- the sweetness of the treats led him to getting a cavity. He eats a lot of vegetables, especially carrots, kale, corn and sweet potatoes. He also likes to eat bananas and apples. Is Punxsutawney Phil married? Does the groundhog have kids? Phil has had many wives. While Phil has an extended lifespan, his wives do not partake in the elixir so they pass away like normal groundhogs do. Phil always finds love again, though -- and always with a groundhog named Phyllis. While there is nothing wrong with Phil reproductively (we asked because were serious journalists), Phil has no children - he and his wife decided they are really too busy to raise a family. But that doesnt mean he doesnt love kids. How does Phil get around? He has a special car called the Philmobile. It's a little bus that houses members of the Inner Circle. Phil has a special seat on the outside, so he can be seen on parades. Oftentimes during summer parades, crowds will panic as the Philmobile draws through. Thats because they will see Phil lying flat on his back, legs in the air looking dead. But he isnt, this is just how groundhogs cool off, according to his former handler Ron Ploucha. One tap on the glass and Phil turns himself the right way round again. Is Phil the only groundhog who can predict the weather? While the folks in Punxsutawney will tell you that Phil is the one and only weather predicting groundhog, others will tell you differently. Here's a list of other animals trying to lay claim to Phil's fame. Birmingham Bill (Alabama) Buckeye Chuck (Ohio) Dover Doug (Pennsylvania)* Essex Ed (New Jersey) Groundhog Uni (Pennsylvania) Grover the Groundhog (Pennsylvania) Milltown Mill (New Jersey) Mount Gretna Grady (Pennsylvania) Mount Joy Minnie (Pennsylvania)* Octorara Orphie (Pennsylvania) Poor Richard (Pennsylvania) Staten Island Chuck (New York) Stonewall Jackson (New Jersey) You can learn more about Punxsutawney's Phil competition by clicking here. *These are not actual groundhogs. Dover Doug is an animal in a groundhog costume. Mount Joy Minnie is a toy woodchuck. Can other animals give us clues regarding spring's arrival? According to folklore, lots of animals are good at predicting the weather. Be sure to check out the stripes of woolly bear caterpillars, for instance. If the orange band is broader than the black band, then it'll be a mild winter. If a hornet's nest is spotted very high off the ground, it's rumored there will be lots and lots of snow. Less high nests mean less snow. Cats supposedly sneeze when rain is approaching. Dogs make the same prediction by eating grass. You can learn more about the rumors and folk stories behind animals making predictions by clicking here. You may enjoy these stories... This story has been adapted from various articles about Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day by both current and former PennLive staff including Lisa Wardle, Julia Hatmaker and Marcus Schneck. This story has been updated to correct the link for the schedule of activities. The Royal Academy of Arts in London is about to open the most complete exhibition ever to have been organised about Pablo Picasso's use of paper. There are more than 300 works, most of them on loan from the Paris museum dedicated to the Malaga-born artist, and the secretary of the Royal Academy, Axel Ruger, says this is a way of focusing on the prolific imagination of an artist about whom "it would be impossible now to display a complete retrospective". The structure of the display, whose official presentation was attended by over 700 guests including institutional representatives, cultural agents and directors of major businesses in the UK and Spain, is chronological. Each room reflects a period of Picasso's career, accompanied by one or two important pictures or sculptures to underline the context. Picasso used to keep everything, say the organisers, and that resulted in there being thousands of items, including pages of newspapers upon which he used to draw when he had no other materials to hand. Bust of a Woman or Sailor. / Sucesion Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Malaga, 2020 For his portrait of Josefa Sabastia in Horta de San Juan, in 1898, he used Conte pencil on parchment, which gave it density and definition. When he went to the small village of Gosol in Lerida in 1906, he took Ingres paper and charcoal, watercolours, quill and inks with him and experimented with polyhedral shapes. At that time he was also exploring printing techniques in his Paris studio. To the experiments in collage which were being carried out by fellow artist Georges Braque, with the shapes of what would be called cubism, Picasso added fragments of card or newspaper. With oils on cardboard, he worked on progressive sketches which would become The Young Ladies of Avignon, where he showed his liking for primitive African art and its colourful vitality. The exhibition includes a video of a performance of the ballet Parade, an idea by Jean Cocteau to be executed by Serge Diaghilev's Russian Ballet, with music by Erik Satie, to which the Spanish painter contributed the backdrop and costumes. The attire of one of the leading characters, the French director, was made from cardboard. Between 1914 and 1924, as this display shows, Picasso slid from cubism towards a realism of line, inspired by the work of Ingres, and produced portraits of Stravinski, his first wife, Olga Jojlova and Renoir, in ink, pencil or charcoal. He then embraced surrealism and, when the Civil War began, drew sketches on paper of elements of what would become his Guernica. In the Second World War he stayed in Paris, with the blinds of his studio closed to protect himself from those who classified his work as degenerative work, paid "an arm and a leg" for sheets of Japanese paper and continued to draw and paint with watercolour and gouache. Women at their Toilette. / Sucesion Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Malaga, 2020 The display comes to an end with the documentary The Mystery of Picasso and the rapture of colour and eroticism in his final years. He was, say the organisers of this exhibition, "one of the most important artists of the 20th century". In fact, a few metres from the Royal Academy, the Art & Language collective is showing The Art of Picasso in the Style of Jackson Pollock at the Sprovieri gallery, with a superimposition of his forms and text. Not far away, the Gagosian completes the scene with the fantasy of Salvador Dali in a hyper-realistic portrait of life in Hollywood. Promoting tourism This ambitious display is part of a major tourism and cultural campaign organised by Malaga in London this week in synergy with the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts. The signing of the agreement was attended by the CEO of Turismo Costa del Sol, Margarita del Cid; the mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, and the president of the Royal Academy of Arts (RAA), Rebecca Salter, with Cristina Rico on behalf of Fundacion Unicaja and Juan de Mata Sanz representing Unicaja Banco. The lawyer representing Ayoola Babalola, a National Diploma graduate from Gateway Polytechnic in Ogun State, on Monday said his client was interrogated with questions intended to determine his relationship with activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore. Mr Babalolas lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, said this on Monday evening during an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, after securing bail for his client. Mr Effiong is also one of the lawyers representing Mr Sowore in his case against the Nigerian government. Mr Babalola was arrested on Thursday and charged to court on six counts for alleged incitement and conduct likely to cause breach of peace. He had been accused by the Ogun State chapter of the State Security Service of participating in protests and inciting violence through Facebook posts, according to the charge sheet. But in a recorded phone call he received from an official of the secret police in December, which he shared with PREMIUM TIMES, the agency said it was inviting Mr Babalola to answer questions on the issues that had resulted in the resignation of a lecturer, O.A. Salami, from the institution. Mrs Salami had inspected the schools newspaper which was edited by Mr Ayoola. She reportedly resigned after she was allegedly demoted by the school, following a publication in the newspaper condemning Mr Sowores detention and requesting the investigation of the national leader of the All Progressives Congress chieftain, Bola Tinubu. Following an advice by his lawyer, Mr Babalola had told PREMIUM TIMES that he would not heed the invitation since he had graduated from the institution where the said publication was made. READ ALSO: But in a tweet on Friday, Mr Effiong said his client was arrested and charged on six counts for what he described as strange offences Mr Babalola was granted bail with a bond of N150, 000 on Monday. He is to return to court on Wednesday for trial, his lawyer told PREMIUM TIMES. Mr Effiong also added that Mr Ayoolas phone number was with the SSS, hence the accused could not be reached at the time of this report. Mr Babalola had, however, told PREMIUM TIMES before his arrest that his student portal, through which he is expected to facilitate the collection of his result, had since been brought down by the institution. A former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Asiama has laid blames at the doorstep of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta for refusing to help save uniBank during its liquidity crisis. Dr. Asiama said the challenges leading to the collapse of the Bank were brought to the attention of the Minister who declined suggestions to make payments due uniBank to save the then-struggling entity. This is contained in a statement released by Dr. Asiama's lawyers. The Minister of Finance was actually invited by the bank based on my promptings to discuss these payments to uniBank but he declined suggestions on the ground that uniBank had gotten enough support to thrive. Clearly, if at least, part of these payments were done at the time, uniBank would have avoided the persistent daily clearing failures that shut them out of the interbank money market. Meanwhile, Dr. Asiama's lawyers have refuted claims that he is hiding from the Special Investigation Team (SIT). One of the lawyers, Rockson-Nelson Etse Dafeamakpor said their client has only sought to reschedule his meeting with the investigation team. Dr. Johnson Asiama on Friday 0th January 2020 received a text message from one DSP Apietu of the Special Investigation team to report on 13th January 2020 as he was not immediately available. Dr. Asiama instructed his lawyers to write to SIT to reschedule the invitation to the week commencing 20th January 2020 as he was not immediately available. SIT received and acknowledged the said letter. All attempts by the lawyers for Dr. Asiama to reschedule the said invitation proved futile. Dr. Asiama is ready and willing to avail himself whenever SIT reschedules the said appointment. uniBank is one of the seven local banks that collapsed as a result of what the Central Bank called poor corporate governance and mismanagement of depositors' funds. uniBank was also one of the banks merged into the Consolidated Bank Ghana limited. The Central Bank among others argued that the affected banks operated with severe capital constraints. Back in March 2018, the Central Bank announced that uniBank was also on the verge of collapse, and was taken over, by the audit firm, KPMG Ghana. The Bank of Ghana made it known that shareholders of uniBank used monies from the bank to acquire estate properties in their own names. According to the central bank uniBank's shareholders and related parties admitted to acquiring real estate properties in their own names using the funds from the bank under questionable circumstances. ---citinewsroom Lucknow Even as the protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) led by women was on at the Clock Tower in Old City area, a group of All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA) members and others started a door-to-door campaign on Tuesday to garner support in favour of the agitation and inform people about the ill-effects of CAA and NRC. These groups visited several areas in the city and distributed pamphlets among people regarding why they were protesting against these laws, and appealed to them to join their stir. We want to reach out to common people in the city and tell them, why these laws are against our constitution, said Madhu Garg, office-bearer of AIDWA. AIDWA members also extended support to the peaceful protest at Clock Tower. Some of the women, who were sitting in protest, also reached out to people in their areas and sought support for their protest. Samira Khan, a social activist who has been a regular at the Clock Tower protest, said: Apart from sitting in the protest, we are trying to spread awareness about the ills of CAA and NRC. I talk to people, especially women, about these laws to clear their myths. The exercise, these women claimed, had proved effective in intensifying the protest. This protest started with a dozen brave women, but now over a thousand women stay here even at night. This shows that people understand the ills of CAA, NRC and want the government to withdraw it, claimed Sadia Begum, 45, holding a Tricolour at the protest site. The protest by women that started on January 17 has gained momentum. Police personnel even tried to prevent women from reaching the protest site, lodged FIRs and took away their blankets and mats, said protestors. However, the protest continued. A similar protest is going on in Ujariaon area of Gomti Nagar, where around 100 women were participating in a sit-in protest. Samajwadi Party worker released from jail An officer-bearer of the Samajwadi Partys (SP) students wing, Pooja Shukla, was released from jail on Tuesday after four days of imprisonment. Shukla, who has been a part of the protest at Clock Tower, was arrested by police on Friday for obstructing government officials from discharging their duties. Vox lawmaker Ivan Espinosa de los Monteros (l) and Vox chief Santiago Abascal. Gettyimages Two lawmakers for Spains far-right Vox, Santiago Abascal and Ivan Espinosa de los Monteros, received party salaries for eight months that drew on funds from donations by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), sources have told EL PAIS. Both leaders received around 65,000 in total. The NCRI had an armed wing that was on the United States list of terrorist organizations until 2012, a year before the group funded Spains ultra-nationalist party. Abascal was aware of everything. He was delighted Alejo Vidal-Quadras, ex-president of Vox Vox, which is now the third-largest force inside the Spanish parliament with 52 lawmakers, was created in 2013 with around 1 million donated by the NCRI. On December 17 of that year, the day that it was registered as a new party on the Interior Ministrys records, Vox received its first transfer from abroad by sympathizers of the Iranian exiles. The transfer was in the amount of 1,156.22. A month after that, then-secretary general Santiago Abascal and senior official Ivan Espinosa de los Monteros began earning salaries paid for by the opponents of the Iranian regime. The money reached Vox thanks to the mediation of Alejo Vidal-Quadras, the partys original founder and first president. Abascals monthly salary was fixed at net 3,570 (5,000 before taxes), which he received between February and October 2014, for a total of 40,000. Espinosa de los Monteros received a monthly net amount of 2,300 (around 3,083 before taxes), according to two former party officials. Espinosa de los Monteros, who is now the spokesperson for Vox in Congress, earned this salary during the same period of time as Abascal, but invoiced the payments through a company. Another Vox lawmaker, Javier Ortega Smith, turned down the salary. There are only two donations that did not come from the Iranian resistance movement, both under 2,000 The monthly amounts were determined at a breakfast meeting at the home of Espinosa de los Monteros and ratified at Voxs Madrid headquarters. Both Abascal and Espinosa de los Monteros have declined requests for comment from this newspaper. The gross 65,000 that both lawmakers earned for eight months came from a common party fund fed by 141 international money transfers made from various countries by NCRI sympathizers, according to a secret internal spreadsheet revealed by this newspaper last year. Almost 1 million In total, the ultra-nationalist party received 971,890.56 between December 2013 and April 2014. The money funded the 2014 European election campaign as well as various party expenses ranging from the rent on the partys first headquarters on Diego de Leon street in Madrid to furniture and computer equipment. In order to raise this amount, the NCRI sent out 35 collectors around the world: money was obtained from around a thousand supporters in cities and neighborhoods of around 15 countries, including Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and the United States. Most of these contributions were anonymous, and the donors identities did not show up in the records of the bank account that Vox opened at a Catalan lender. This information did not appear in the partys internal accounts, either. But the accounts do show the names of the 141 individuals who transferred the money. A group under scrutiny The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) had an armed wing that was on the United States list of terrorist organizations until 2012, a year before the group funded Spains ultra-nationalist party. Founded in Tehran in 1965 by three university students, the organization's military legion, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), underwent a lengthy journey in the international courts between 2003 and 2014 before it was taken off the European Union and United States' blacklists. Britain stopped considering it a terrorist group in 2008 following a procedure initiated a year earlier by 35 lawmakers. A November 2018 investigation by The Guardian linked the decision to delist MEK to a "lavish lobbying campaign" to secure the support of global leaders. Every year, the NCRI organizes a large event in Paris where Alejo Vidal-Quadras has been a guest speaker on more than 15 occasions. Other guests have included Spain's former prime ministers Jose Maria Aznar, of the Popular Party (PP), and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, of the Socialist Party (PSOE). In the records of the account that Vox created to help fund the campaign for the May 2014 European elections, there are only two donations that did not come from the Iranian resistance movement, both under 2,000. The foreign funds stopped coming in before the election was held. Abascal and Espinosa de los Monteros were aware that their salaries were being funded by the NCRI. In January 2019, when EL PAIS first revealed this information, Vidal-Quadras stated that Abascal was aware of everything, I explained to him my relationship with the NCRI, and I told him that they would fund us. He was delighted. He didnt put up any opposition. Vidal-Quadrass relationship with the Iranian exiles goes back to his days as member of the European Parliament (1999-2014), when he received a delegation from this group in Brussels. Voxs first president left the party in 2015 due to differences with Abascal after he failed to secure a seat in the European chamber. When Abascal began to earn a salary from Vox, he had no other income. A few months earlier he had given up party membership in the Popular Party (PP) and lost his job as managing director of the Madrid Foundation for Patronage and Social Sponsorship when the regional agency was eliminated. Before that, former Madrid premier Esperanza Aguirre had placed him at the helm of the Data Protection Agency. During his period in the Basque Country, from where he hails, Abascal served as a public official with the PP: as a councilor in the town of Llodio, as a member of the provincial parliament of Alava, and as an advisor to the city of Vitoria. His eight months on a Vox salary were the first time that Abascal earned money that did not come from public coffers. During these eight months, Espinosa de los Monteros was already involved in private business activities, and the fact that he demanded a party salary caused surprise among Vox members. investigacion@elpais.es English version by Susana Urra. DANBURY The pre-trial hearing of the man accused of killing his friend while high on crack-cocaine four months ago was continued Monday to Feb. 3. David Ramos, 34, of Danbury, is charged with first-degree manslaughter in the September death of Jason Hoffman, of Brewster, N.Y. Ramos is accused of accidentally shooting and killing the 33-year-old the morning of Sept. 4, in the condo Ramos shared with his mother in the Sterling Woods Condominium Complex. Before being arrested Sept. 11, Ramos posted about Hoffmans death on Facebook at least two times. In one post, Ramos included a photo of him and Hoffman with the caption: I cant believe youre gone brother, Ill never be the same. I miss you love you kid. In another, he claimed to have spoken to Hoffmans father and shared information about Hoffmans memorial service. Gabrielle Rega a former girlfriend of Ramos initially tried to pin the slaying on another man, but later admitted that Ramos had fired the fatal shot, according to police. Police said the 27-year-old woman was the one who called 911 after Hoffman was shot. She was later charged with making a false statement and interfering with a police officer along with drug charges. The day after the shooting, Rega told police that she, Hoffman and Ramos were high on crack-cocaine in the basement of condo in The Maples section of the condo complex. Police seized crack cocaine, heroin, a scale and prescription drugs from the scene, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. At some point, Ramos pulled out a handgun to look at it or wipe the gun down when it went off, police said. Detectives found someone appeared to have tried to clean up the scene or hide evidence, according to the arrest warrant. The gun a black, .22-caliber Walther P22 with the serial number scratched off was found in a storm drain about 40 feet to 50 feet from Ramos residence, police said. Ramos originally told police the three of them were all in his bedroom when he heard a loud pop and saw Hoffman fell to his knees, then to the ground. In addition to manslaughter, Ramos is facing possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to sell, use of drug paraphernalia, failure to keep narcotics in original container and resisting arrest charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him. He remains in custody at the Bridgeport Correctional Center on $250,000 bond and is being represented by attorney Jennifer Tunnard at state Superior Court in Danbury. Regas also has a pre-trial hearing Feb. 3. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against her and is out on $5,000 professional surety bond. She is being represented in court by the Danbury-based law office of Kevin P. Chamberlin, according to court records. If Donald Trump runs true to form at that big rally this evening, he will wrap up his speech to the strains of the Rolling Stones You Cant Always Get What You Want. Theres a lesson in that for his Democratic opponents in his re-election race this year. But will they heed it? At the moment most members of Democratic base seem to want some sort of fire-breathing liberal to carry their banner in the November election. But if they want to take the presidency from an unapologetic capitalist billionaire from New York, perhaps what they need is to nominate a different unapologetic capitalist billionaire from New York. Thats a scenario worth watching as this years Democratic primary process unfolds. The Iowa caucuses take place Monday. But Mike Bloomberg is skipping Iowa and the other early races to concentrate on Super Tuesday in March. That didnt work for the last former New York mayor to run for president. By the time Rudy Giuliani entered the race in 2008 he was already out of it. But Bloomberg has a big advantage over Giuliani: Money. Lots of it. Unlike Giuliani, Bloomberg doesnt have to worry about his contributions drying up after failing to win those early races. With about $60 billion in the bank, he doesnt need other peoples money to fund his campaign. Bloomberg acquired that wealth because hes good with numbers. And the numbers say that the delegates up for grabs in those early races are insignificant. The other candidates have been campaigning in Iowa for more than half a year. But to add a bit of perspective, the Democrats meeting at those caucuses next week will select a mere 41 delegates. A mere 24 will be awarded in New Hampshire the following week. But a candidate needs 1,990 pledged delegates for a first-ballot victory. Nevertheless the race for these small delegations has had huge importance over the years. In the 2016 New Hampshire primary, a mere 8,982 votes kept our own Chris Christie from making the top five and advancing to South Carolina. Instead he dropped out and became the first prominent Republican to back The Donald. Trump has since united the Republican Party and has a clear field to renomination. Not the Democrats. Theyre splitting their support among five or so contenders in these early contests. But it wont be till Super Tuesday in March that the big states like California and Texas pick their delegates. At that point Bloombergs bucks could put him in the pack, according to one New Jerseyan whos had some experience in political fund-raising. Attorney Larry Bathgate has run fund-raising efforts for a couple of successful Republican presidential contenders named George Bush, as well as and one Bush named Jeb who got steamrollered by Trump in 2016. In a typical race, Bathgate said, most candidates raise funds on the same order of magnitude. But to the extent that money counts in politics, it counts when you have unlimited resources to get your message out, he said. Bloomberg can say, Im gonna use $5 billion. At that point, he said, Bloomberg doesnt need to get into a debate about intricate policy positions. All he has to say is: Im gonna keep Trump from getting in for four more years, Bathgate said. That pitch will be particularly compelling to party leaders in the event that Bernie Sanders is ahead in the race going into Super Tuesday. Sanders was a member of the Young Peoples Socialist League in his youth. Of late he has been campaigning alongside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of Green New Deal fame. That sort of thing might excite the partys base. But cooler heads are likely to prevail in the party leadership. That could come in the form of votes by the partys superdelegates. These are the 771 elected officials and other party loyalists who go into the convention unpledged to any candidate. Their votes dont count unless the first ballot fails to produce a nominee by majority vote and the convention goes to a second ballot. With five candidates vying for the lead at the moment, thats looking more and more possible. And it might become inevitable if Bloomberg invests his billions wisely. If I were a Democratic leader which I most certainly am not I would like Bloombergs chances against Trump. He had a successful 12-year run as the mayor of the biggest city in the country. But he was first elected as a Republican. And he retains the pro-business attitude of a Republican, something lacking in the rest of the field. That means hes hardly what most Democrats want. But he may end up convincing them hes what they need. BELOW - A VIDEO I SHOT ON MY PHONE AFTER A 2016 TRUMP RALLY IN HERSHEY, PENNSYLVANIA: Verma, who began working on guidance to permit block grants about a year ago, previewed her intentions last fall in a speech before the National Association of Medicaid Directors. You will soon see guidance from us that lays out initial opportunities to test new approaches to delivering and financing care for certain optional adult populations, she said at the associations annual meeting in Washington. At the time she called the idea the Medicaid Value and Accountability Demonstration, but the name apparently has changed in recent days. 65% of Japanese-Affiliated Companies in the EU Have Utilised the EU-Japan EPA. Companies Seek to Expand Their Market in the EU by Strengthening Their Company Brands. Between September and October 2019, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) conducted its latest survey on the business conditions of Japanese-affiliated companies in Europe. 842 valid responses were received (86.0% response rate) out of 979 to whom we sent questionnaires. Survey Items : Operating Profit Forecast Current Domestic Market and Future Prospects Operational Challenges Britain's Exit from the European Union Impact of Changes in Trade Environment EPA/FTA Local Procurement and Future Direction Sales Destinations and Future Policy Future Promising Sales Destinations Business Outlook For Next 1 or 2 Years Changes in Number of Employees High Value-Added & Differentiation Initiatives Key findings The percentage of Japanese-affiliated companies in Europe predicting that they would be profitable was 70.5%. The rate has been above 70% for five consecutive years. The most common operational challenge cited was UKs exit from the EU. An economic slump in the UK and logistical dysfunction, customs clearance procedures were the most common concerns shared by Japanese companies in Europe in relation to the UKs exit from the EU Among EU-based companies engaged in import activities from Japan to the EU, 65.5% responded that they have already utilised the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). All of the respondents from the transport activities/warehouse industry, the plastic products industry, and the rubber products industry responded that they have used the Japan-EU EPA for import from Japan to the EU. (Page 38) Survey Results Summary According to the survey conducted by JETRO between September and October 2019, despite downside risks of the business climate caused by the US-China trade friction, uncertainty regarding progress in the UKs departure from the European Union and other external factors, the greater portion of Japanese-affiliated companies in Europe have been successful in securing a profit. The survey shows that companies aggressively utilisze the Japan-EU EPAs preferential tariffs. On the other hand, the survey indicates that companies, especially in the manufacturing sector, are concerned that increased costs, due to burdens such as Brexit preparation and a sharp rise in labour cost, would put pressure on their profits the coming year. 1. Operating Profit Forecast Looking at operating profit forecast trends over the last 8 years, this year the percentage of Japanese-affiliated companies in Europe predicting that they would be profitable was 70.5%. The rate has been above 70% for five consecutive years (Figure 1, 2 and Page 7 and 9). Due to favourable employment conditions, rising wages and private consumption, demand in the region has been firm, reflecting continued subdued but steady economic growth. Figure 1. Operating Profit Forecast Trends for Europe and UK Source: JETROs 2019 Survey on Business Conditions of Japanese Companies in Europe When comparing the 2019 operating profit forecast to the 2018 operating profit results, the percentage of companies in Europe predicting an Increase and the percentage of those expecting a Decrease were almost the same (30.1% and 30.5%, respectively). In the manufacturing sector, the percentage of companies expecting a Decrease was 36.7%, more than 10 percentage points higher than the percentage of companies predicting an Increase (26.6). The most common reason for a Decrease in sales forecast of the manufacturing sector was Sales decrease in local markets (71.9%) in Western Europe and Increase of labour costs in Central and Eastern Europe (82.6%). (Page 10) For the 2020 compared to 2019 operating profit forecast, the proportion of Japanese-affiliated companies from the manufacturing sector who responded Decrease was prominent in the UK and Central and Eastern Europe, standing at 24.6% and 21.9%, respectively. The reason for the Decrease common in both areas was due to Sales decrease in local markets (68.8% and 35.7%, respectively). Many of these companies in the UK also cited Increase of procurement costs (43.8%) and negative Effects of Brexit (37.5%), while in Central and Eastern Europe Increase of labour costs (50.0%) was also another common response. On the other hand, the proportion of companies who replied Increase was relatively high in the non-manufacturing sector in Central and Eastern Europe, standing at 48.6%. The most common reason these companies cited was Sales increase in local markets (88.2%), followed by Improvement of sales efficiency (41.2%). (Page 11) Regarding the companies views on current market conditions in the country that they are based in, the total response rate for all companies in Europe who replied Better (8.7%) and Slightly better (23.9%) was 32.6%, a significant drop of 24.5 percentage points from the previous year (57.1%). The slowdown was particularly noticeable in the manufacturing sector in Western Europe, where the same rate was 24.2%, a 33.5 percentage point decrease since last year (57.7%). The total response rate for companies in Central and Eastern Europe who replied Better (25.2%) and Slightly better (38.3%) was 63.5%, a higher rate than Western Europe (27.9%). (Page 15) Figure2. 2019 Operating Profit Forecast Source: JETROs 2019 Survey on Business Conditions of Japanese Companies in Europe 2. Britain's Exit from the European Union The most common operational challenge sited was UKs exit from the EU (56.5%). Uncertainties from the multiple extensions of the exit date resulted in making Brexit the biggest operational challenge for companies. (Figure 3 and Page 17) Economic slump in the UK continued to be the most common concern of Japanese-affiliated UK based companies in relation to Brexit since 2017. This was followed by Pound continues weakening and Changes in UK Regulations and Legislation. (Page 29) Regarding Trade, companies were asked to expand on why this is a concern; for both UK based companies and companies based in the EU other than the UK the largest response was Logistical dysfunction, customs clearance procedures (91.8% and 86.8% respectively), followed by Tariffs (67.2% and 64.8% respectively). (Figure 4 and Page 30) Figure 3.Operational Challenges 2019803 Unitspoint Change since 2018 1 UK's Exit from the EU 56.5 2 Securing Human Resources 41.8 1.8 3 High Labour Costs 40.3 0.2 4 Lower Prices offerd by Competitors 33.0 3.6 5 EU General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR) 32.5 2.5 Source: JETROs 2019 Survey on Business Conditions of Japanese Companies in Europe Figure4. Concerns Related to "Trade" Source: JETROs 2019 Survey on Business Conditions of Japanese Companies in Europe Examining companies citing UKs exit from the EU as an operational challenge by country and sector, the highest response rate came from the UK (87.1%) for the manufacturing sector and Ireland (73.3%) for the non-manufacturing sector, followed by the UK (70.3%). For Germany, the rates were high in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors (54.3% and 59.3% respectively). When asked about major specific concerns related to UKs exit from the EU, UK based companies and EU based companies both cited Short-term impact of a disorderly exit as the biggest challenge (92.7% and 81.8% respectively). (Page 21) For Japanese-affiliated companies in the EU other than the UK, Export from the EU (other than the UK) to the UK was the most common response, followed by Economic slump in the UK and Economic slump in the EU. (Page 29) When companies citing Changes in UK Regulations and Legislation were asked to expand on why this is a concern, for both UK based companies and EU based companies the largest response was Constraints of free movement of persons between the EU and UK (51.8% and 43.4% respectively). This response was especially high in the non-manufacturing sector (58.3% and 50.0% respectively). (Page 30) In terms of preparation for the UKs exit from the EU so far, the highest response rate for the Already prepared and Preparing categories for UK companies was towards Complying with changes to regulation or legislation (6.7% and 15.4% respectively). Specifically, these companies cited REACH and Establishment of offices in new locations. For EU based companies, the highest response rate for Already prepared was regarding Obtaining Financial Passporting Authorisation in another EEA country (8.4%). (Page 31) 3. Utilisation of the Japan-EU EPA When Japanese-affiliated companies based in the EU were asked about the utilisation of the Japan-EU EPA, 65.5% have already utilised it for import from Japan to the EU and 53.1% for export from the EU to Japan. By country, the utilisation rates were over 80% for both import and export for Italy, while the rates were also over 70% for Spain. (Figure 5 and Page 37, 39) Examining by industry, all of the respondents from the transport activities/warehouse industry, the plastic products industry, and the rubber products industry responded that they have used the Japan-EU EPA for import from Japan to the EU. (Page 38) In terms of items that may be problematic when using the Japan-EU EPA, within EU based companies, the top issue was Proof of origin procedures (self-certification) at 47.3%, increasing by more than 10 percentage points from the previous 34.6%. In addition, Cooperation with supplier/business partners (44.0%) and In-house system improvements (39.0%) also continued to be major challenges as with the previous survey. (Page 41) Figure5. Utilisation of the Japan-EU EPA by Japanese Affiliated Companies Based in the EU (Companies Engaging in trade between the EU and Japan) Status of Utilisation of Japan-EU EPA Responses Companies engaging in import from Japan to the EU 359 100.0% Currently utilising 235 65.5% Considering to utilise 92 25.6% Not (plannin) to Uutilise 32 8.9% Companies engaging in export from the EU to Japan 162 100.0% Currently utilising 86 53.1% Considering to utilise 49 30.2% Not (planning) to Utilise 27 16.7% Source: JETROs 2019 Survey on Business Conditions of Japanese Companies in Europe As for imports from Japan to the EU, the highest utilisation rate came from Japanese affiliated companies based in Italy at 85.7%, followed by Czechia at 77.3%, Spain at 75.0%, Poland at 72.7%, Belgium at 70.0%, the Netherlands at 66.7%, Germany at 66.1%, and the UK at 61.8%. (Page 37) Examining by industry, the utilisation rate of the Japan-EU EPA for import was high in industries such as fabricated metal products (80.0%), textiles (80.0%), transportation equipment parts (79.5%), sales company (72.1%), and food/processed food, agricultural or fishery products (70.0%). For exports from the EU to Japan, higher utilisation rates came from sectors such as transport activities/warehouse (88.9%), transportation equipment parts (76.5%), and sales company (72.7%). (Page 38) Regarding the local procurement of parts and raw materials for EU based companies, the simple average of companies responses (value-based) was calculated. The average procurement rate from Japan increased 1.2 percentage points to 32.6%. A particularly high rate of 46.6% came from Germany in which a cluster of Japanese-affiliated companies is formed. The procurement rate from Japan was also high in Belgium and the Netherlands, which have been logistical hubs for Europe. The utilisation ratio of the Japan-EU EPA was high among Japanese-affiliated companies based in these countries who have enjoyed the benefits of reduced tariffs (page 37, 45). 23.2% of EU based companies responded that they would Increase procurement from Japan. This trend was more prominent in the non-manufacturing sector; notably, nearly half of the wholesale and retail trade (including trading) sector (47.8%) chose this response. (Page 49) 4. Other Major Trends Found Based on the Survey Results Securing Human Resources Continues to be an Operational Challenge. Securing human resources is the second biggest operational challenge for companies, although since last year the rate has fallen by 1.8 percentage points to 41.8% (page 17). The response rate for Securing human resources was particularly high in Central and Eastern Europe. The highest rate came from Czechia at 79.3%, despite a 11.2 percentage point decrease, where according to Eurostat the unemployment rate was 2.1% as of September 2019, followed by Hungary (72.2%) and Poland (57.7%), with unemployment rates of 3.4% and 3.3% respectively (page 19, 23). Looking at the breakdown of Securing human resources, Management personnel was cited as most difficult to secure at 59.2%, followed by Factory workers at 28.6% and IoT/AI specialists at 21.1%. The most common response was Management personnel (60.9%) in Western Europe and Factory workers (62.9%) in Central and Eastern Europe. (Page 23) EU Based Companies Intend to Strengthen Their Sales Functions, Viewing the EU as a Whole as Their Potent Market. Regarding the sales destinations for EU based companies, the simple average of companies responses (value-based) was calculated. The EU accounts for nearly 80% of their sales destinations on average, indicating that the main objective of Japanese-affiliated companies in setting up a business in the EU is to access the EU market (page 50). Poland, which was ranked as the second most promising sales destination after Germany in the previous survey, moved up to the first place this year (page 52). For the next 1-2 year business outlook across all sectors in Europe, 50.8% said Expansion, an increase of 1.3 percentage points from the previous survey (49.5%) (Page 54). When they were asked which functions were intended to be expanded, the most common answer was Sales functions (300 companies) (page 57). Europe Based Companies Seek to Strengthen Their Company Brands When Europe based companies were asked what initiatives were being undertaken to differentiate or add high value to their products and services being sold: the most common response was Strengthening company brand at 48.9%, followed by Strengthening technical skill training resources and increasing the number of skilled engineers at 32.0%, and Strengthening R&D functions at 28.3%. Reasons for selecting Strengthening company brand included Because it is necessary for communicating the importance of authentic products. Reasons for selecting Strengthening technical skill training resources and increasing the number of skilled engineers included to develop new products and to strengthen companys capability to provide services. (Page 62) As 2020 ushers in the new decade, journalists compile lists of annual predictions on news and politics, while phony psychics (surely a redundant phrase) and TV preachers prophesy about future prosperity and imaginary events such as the Rapture. However, unlike the latter groups of commercial con men, I plan to post my predictions on social media at year-end, so you can see how accurate I was (or wasnt). Some prognostications are obvious. Pretty much every year for the past two millennia, prophets have announced the date of the Second Coming. But Im predicting less end of days activity this year, because so much evangelical fervor is now focused on the new tanned messiah. Facebook is rife with group photos of conservative Christians laying hands on the anointed one and basking in the orange light of his received wisdom. Right-wing fundamentalists will continue identifying the president whos being called blessed, holy and chosen as the savior. Mr. Trump will, of course, welcome such comparisons, because, as hes stated himself, hes done more for Christianity than Jesus. With his victory over the heathen during 2019s annual War on Christmas, its easy to predict that, once again in 2020, hell heroically defend our right to put wise men on our lawns, and say Merry Christmas whenever and to whomever we choose. In this new year, the GOP will satisfy the devout in its base, as well as the oil companies that fund it, by continuing its war with science. As Australia and California burn, sea levels rise, and the weather becomes more extreme and dangerous, the federal government will continue to treat climate change as a hoax, and mock those who cite the prevailing scientific consensus on the subject. As 2020 becomes another in a series of hottest years ever (the 2010s were the hottest decade ever recorded), new records will again be set, then be explained away or simply ignored. With so many conspiracies riling the sheep from the deep state to the claim the Newtown massacre was a liberal hoax aimed at embarrassing the NRA I predict the next nexus of pseudoscience and paranoia will be flat-earthism. In a country where large numbers of evangelicals believe the universe to be less than 7,000 years old, between 6 percent and 20 percent of the population think the moon landing was fake news, and 25 percent of Americans think the sun goes around the Earth, it should come as no surprise that flat-earthers will be 2020s version of creationists, Mormons and Scientologists. In 2019, the United States set a record for mass shootings, and, in a country that loves its guns more than its own children, theres no reason to expect fewer gun deaths in 2020. More likely, the only remedy well agree on to combat Second Amendment fever will be thoughts and prayers, which I predict will be as effective in the new decade as theyve been in the past. In another area of arms control, I forecast that, despite the presidents denials, 2020 will be the year the Iranians join the nuclear club. With no Iran deal in place, they have no motivation to rein in development. And why would they negotiate with us, when weve shown we wont honor the accords we sign, even if they adhere to them? At the same time, Orange Mussolini will continue his one-sided bromance with Kim Jong Un, wholl add longer-range ballistic missiles to his arsenal in 2020. We can also expect a record-setting deficit this year. With a trillion-dollar 2019 shortfall (nearly double Obamas 2016 deficit), conservatives have established a new baseline. If it wasnt already obvious, erstwhile Tea Baggers care about spending only when a Democrat is president, so the skys now the limit for Trumpian debt. And the deplorables will accept whatever lies he tells about paying off the debt in his second term. Although hes put the con in conservative (and in McConnell), The Teflon Donald wont be convicted of anything hes being impeached for, even though polls show more than half the country favors his removal. I predict senators Moscow Mitch and Lindsey Southern Belle Graham will honor their pledges to forgo their constitutional duty to be unbiased jurors. And, once the trial concludes with a party-line vote, well be treated to endless repetitions and redefinitions of the terms exoneration and acquittal. Despite one more Justice Department investigation, and the rantings of Republican conspiracy theorists, Hillary Clinton has recently been cleared, once again, of any crimes. Still, well never make it through the year without a few more Benghazi and email server probes, and, perhaps, a couple of Whitewater hearings. And, thanks to AG Bill Barr, Trumps bagman at the Justice Department, there are sure to be wag the dog distractions from impeachment, as one or both Bidens are investigated and slandered. Regardless, I predict a second Trump term. As he continues to claim credit for the Obama recovery from the Bush meltdown, hell end the year one step closer to Putin-style, one-party rule what comic Bill Maher has ominously labeled, a slow-moving, right-wing coup. I wouldnt have believed Americans were gullible enough to give this train wreck four more years, but never understate GOP voters utter shamelessness or the Democrats ability to mishandle a presidential campaign. And, finally, no longer restrained by the need to be re-elected, the president will be free to staff his administration in his own image by hiring officials even worse than their predecessors. I predict a Banana-Republican cabinet filled with his children, his in-laws, Roseanne Barr, Kanye West, a couple Kardashians, Ted Nugent, a few KGB agents named Igor, Caitlyn Jenner and, maybe, as Asian envoy, Dennis Rodman. And donning the robes of a Supreme Court Justice family consigliere, Rudy Giuliani, and, perhaps later, Judge Roy Moore. Thoughts and prayers ... god help us, everyone. Greenwich native Mark Drought (markdrought4@gmail.com) is an editor at a Stamford IT firm and was an adjunct English professor at the University of Connecticut-Stamford. By Trend While taking advantage of the wide capabilities of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, this railway is used by another major global manufacturer thanks to ADY Express LLC, a subsidiary of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, a source in ADY Express told Trend. ADY Express began to transport international Evraz companys products to the Turkish market via BTK railway. "ADY Expresss 30 railcars were loaded with iron ingots at the Smychka station in Russias Sverdlovsk region, the source said. Freight railcars were transported through Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia (5,175 km), then were delivered to Kars, and then to Payas station in Turkey." In accordance with the data, the total weight of the cargo was 2,053 tons. This is Evrazs first cargo which is carried via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. Presently, the volume of transported goods is planned to be increased by several times in a test mode. Thus, Evraz plans to transport 30,000-40,000 tons of cargo every month. Moreover, the company wants to supply big volumes of coal to Turkey through BTK. ADY Express has already supplied steel from Russia to Turkey via BTK. The company has been transporting goods from the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works to Turkey since 2019. Presently, 20,000 tons of the companys steel products are exported to Turkey every month. This figure is planned to be brought up to 30,000-40,000 tons in the next few months. In total, only two customers of ADY Express will transport 70,000 tons of cargo per month through BTK. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz WHEN WE WERE VIKINGS By Andrew David MacDonald An early scene haunts Andrew David MacDonalds well-intentioned debut novel. Zelda MacLeish is celebrating her 21st birthday. During her party, she persuades her brother, Gert, to watch an old home movie of their mother playing with 6-year-old Zelda while, off-camera, their father films the action. This movie represents almost everything Zelda has left of her parents; almost because theyre both gone, but her beloved Gert is here and devoted to her care. That Zelda still needs care at 21 is her parents other legacy: Because she was born on the fetal alcohol syndrome spectrum, Zeldas ability to live alone is in question, even as she fights for independence. When We Were Vikings is the tale of Zeldas quest for autonomy, and MacDonald charts her course admirably. By rendering typical coming-of-age milestones (breaking with family, first kiss, first job) through Zeldas decidedly atypical perspective, MacDonald rejects longstanding stereotypes and introduces a 21st-century heroine who is fearless and capable and who, by the way, happens to be neurodivergent. Unfortunately, while its impossible not to root for Zelda, MacDonalds creative choices occasionally blur the lines between adult and Y.A. fiction, which distracts from the narrative and undermines his efforts. First, the beauty: Zelda is a marvel, a living, breathing three-dimensional character with a voice so distinctive she leaps off the page. Her dream is to be a real-life Viking hero, and she pursues this goal in earnest. She studies Viking lore, learns words in Old Norse and catalogs Viking facts and beliefs to ground and guide her. One such list, THINGS LEGENDS NEED, becomes the meta-script, or playbook, for the novels central conflict, which occurs when Gert falls in with possible criminals and Zelda decides to help. While much of this along with MacDonalds exaggerated metaphors, simplified themes, broadly drawn characters and predictable action seems too juvenile for adult readers, its all appropriate, and appropriately rendered, for a coming-of-age novel. Mike Foley originally planned to stand in line all day Tuesday to try to get into the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's rally. But, Foley had a better idea. Why not make some money off Trump's visit? This is really a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Foley, a Philadelphia firefighter starting a new t-shirt business. "It will be a while before a president comes to New Jersey like this again. Foley, who was selling $20 t-shirts featuring Trump riding the Wildwood tram, was one of dozens of the vendors setting up stands as thousands of people flooded the boardwalk area for Tuesday's rally. Here are some of the items for sale: Don't Edit Don't Edit Don't Edit Don't Edit Joe Sittineri, of the non-profit group Jersey Cape, sold $2 "Trump 2020 - Wildwood" beach badges as souvenirs. Jersey Cape, which produces beach tags for most Jersey Shore towns, made the special Trump badges as collector's items. All of the profits will go to the charity, a vocational rehabilitation center that employs people with various disabilities. It's a rare item, especially because Wildwood is one of the few New Jersey towns that doesn't issue beach tags or charge for beach access. This is such a historic moment and we wanted to find some way to be a part of it. We made a beach badge so people who collect them every summer can add it to their collection," said Sittineri. Don't Edit Don't Edit Merchandise for sale during President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit Don't Edit Jeanne Hartley Columbo, of Glitzy Cheer Bows in Williamstown, was selling sparkly Trump t-shirts with the outline of New Jersey. I just knew I would be the only one with sparkles," Columbo said. "Jersey girls like bling and sparkle." Columbo said she registered for an official permit from the city to sell outside the rally. She was annoyed to see other vendors not displaying permits selling their items to the crowd outside the convention center. Don't Edit Don't Edit Don't Edit Merchandise for sale during President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Sany Dash, of Jersey City, said she has been to 48 of Trumps rallies all over the country selling t-shirts, sweatshirts, Trump 2020 purses, jewelry and other items. Dash said she donates 20 percent of her sales to the Trump campaign and politicians who support him. Ive been here the past four days, overall it has been nice. I wish the weather was better though because I didnt bring a lot of cold weather gear to sell," Dash said. With a cold wind blowing off the ocean, vendors said hand warmers, sweatshirts and other cold weather clothing were selling briskly. Don't Edit Don't Edit Don't Edit Don't Edit Don't Edit Merchandise for sale during President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit Don't Edit Don't Edit Don't Edit Merchandise for sale during President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit Staff writer Kelly Heyboer contributed to this report. Don't Edit Executives and employees of MetLife Korea's affiliated agency MetLife Financial Services take part in the agency's sales strategy meeting at the Inter-Burgo Exco Hotel in Daegu in this Jan. 9 photo provided Tuesday by the insurer. MetLife Financial Services said that it will double its number of agents to 1,000 by the end of the year, to boost its market dominance as part of its plan for sustainable growth. / Courtesy of MetLife Korea SCM Holdings Limited investment company has announced the acquisition of a property from Campari Group, the Les Cedres villa, in the French Riviera (Cote d'Azur) in the Mediterranean Sea. "The company sees the asset as a long-term investment," SCM said on its website without specifying the deal. For SCM Holdings Limited, real estate is the key investment business in Europe and North America, as well as in mining and metallurgy, energy, media and transportation, the release notes. According to the British publication FT, the transaction value is about EUR200 million. The Les Cedres mansion in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat with an area of approximately 1,700 square meters was built in the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century belonged to the king of Belgium Leopold II. The Italian company acquired a 14-bedroom mansion on 14 hectares of land as part of its acquisition of Societe des Produits Marnier Lapostolle in 2016. Earlier estimates of the cost of the villa reached EUR350 million. SCM Group is a professional investor, the managing company of the largest financial and industrial group of Ukraine, whose activities are concentrated in three main areas of business: mining, metallurgy, electricity and finance, as well as in telecommunications, media, real estate, retail, and production of mineral raw materials, trade in petroleum products, agriculture, engineering, and transport business. A fast-rising Yoruba actor, Juwon Awe, was killed by armed bandits in Ote, Kwara State, on Monday, police said. His colleague, Ibrahim Chatta broke the news on Instagram on Monday night. According to Chatta, the deceased was murdered by armed men while journeying from Ilorin with a female actor, Toyosi Adesanya. He wrote, He was young and promising, full of HOPE. Juwon was working in my industry as a continuity manager and a driver trying to make ends meet. He was attacked and murdered today by three Fulani and a Yoruba armed bandits while driving a known female actor Toyosi Adesanya from Ilorin. Adieu Juwon. Chatta also confirmed the incident when PREMIUM TIMES contacted him on Tuesday. He said, The actress, Toyosi, who was with him when they were attacked is currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital. Toyosi wasnt shot but sh sustained injuries when they were trying to run away. Sadly, Juwon was shot in the head when he attempted to escape and he died immediately. It happened in Ote, which is on the outskirts of Ilorin. Toyosi told me it was a robbery attempt. Toyosi, who was rushed to the hospital after sustaining injuries during the incident was returning. They were attacked and murdered by three Fulani men and a Yoruba armed bandits. Toyosi confirmed this to me. The spokesperson of the Kwara State Police Command, Ajayi Okasannmi-Jeffrey, confirmed the incident when this newspaper contacted him on Tuesday. READ ALSO: He said, The commissioner of police has ordered an investigation into the matter. It is a very unusual occurrence in Kwara State and the command is not taking it lightly. Sadly, a life was lost and we are on top of the matter. We gathered that the victims are actors. We have also involved local vigilantes, who are combing the bushes in addition to police efforts. Known for his role as Juwon in 2018 movie, My Stepmother, the late actor worked majorly behind-the-scene as a continuity manager, location manager and sometimes, a location driver. The news of his death broke on social media on Monday night and has thrown the Yoruba movie industry into mourning. Other actors like Odunlade Adekola, Jaiye Kuti, Lateef Adedimeji and Fausat Balogun have expressed shock over the unexpected incident and condoled with late Awes family. Ben Smith, the editor in chief of BuzzFeed, who built a hard-hitting news operation within a digital media organization better known for clickbait and listicles, will be The New York Timess next media columnist. Mr. Smith will leave the digital news outlet to replace Jim Rutenberg, who recently became a writer at large at The Times, splitting duties between the politics desk and The Times Magazine. Before Mr. Rutenberg, the columnist position was held for years by David Carr, the prolific media columnist who died in 2015. An announcement on Tuesday signed by Dean Baquet, the executive editor; Joe Kahn, the managing editor; and Ellen Pollock, the business editor called Mr. Smith a relentless innovator who helped change the shape of modern journalism. He is expected to start on March 2. Ben not only understands the seismic changes remaking media, he has lived them and in some cases, led them, the editors said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Washington, D.C., January 28, 2020 The U.S. State Department should allow reporters from National Public Radio to cover the department freely and without harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 24, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo berated NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly following an interview, according to a report from the broadcaster. The next day, the State Department issued a statement on its website, signed by Pompeo, which accused Kelly of lying and referred to the countrys media as unhinged. Pompeos comments came after Kelly asked questions about U.S.-Ukrainian relations during an interview, according to NPRs report. Yesterday, the department barred Michele Kelemen, an NPR correspondent, from traveling aboard Pompeos plane as a radio pool reporter on an upcoming trip to Europe and Central Asia, according to news reports. NPR said it was not given a reason for Kelemans exclusion, according to those reports. A public announcement under the seal of the Department of State carries great weight and should be used to defend press freedom, not berate or belittle a reporter for diligently doing her job. The treatment of NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly and the exclusion of Michele Keleman from Secretary of State Mike Pompeos plane are disturbing. At the very least, they and NPR are owed an explanation, said CPJs Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney, in New York. Furthermore, as increasingly embattled independent media outlets around the world look to the United States for support, referring to U.S. media organizations as unhinged casts doubt that the U.S. can be counted on to stand up for critical media, Mahoney said. In a statement circulated on social media, the State Department Correspondents Association, an organization of journalists who cover the department, said it can only conclude that the State Department is retaliating against National Public Radio as a result of the exchange between Pompeo and Kelly. Today, President Donald Trump praised Pompeos handling of the situation, saying, That reporter couldnt have done too good a job on you yesterday. I think you did a good job on her, actually, according to news reports. CPJ called and emailed the State Department for comment, and emailed the White House, but did not receive an immediate response from either office. The Uttar Pradesh government will allow hotels to serve liquor till 4 am from April 1 in metropolitan cities and those cities having more footfall of tourists and others travelling for business purposes. Sanjay Bhoosreddy, Principal Secretary of State Excise Department, said that the move is aimed at enhancing the revenue of the government. "Hotels will be given permission if they apply for it. The move will not only increase the revenue but will also put a stop to the illegal sale of liquor," Bhoosreddy said. According to the new policy, restaurants will have to pay an additional licence fee of Rs 2.5 lakhs for time extension up to 2 am. and licence fee of Rs 5 lakhs for time extension up to 4 am. Earlier, the hotels were allowed to serve liquor only till 12 am. The policy will be implemented in cities like Lucknow, Meerut, Moradabad, Noida and Agra. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Donald Trumps legal team wrapped up their defence of the president in the Senates impeachment trial with the question of whether the chamber will seek new witnesses hanging over the proceeding. The lawyers for Mr Trump did not use over 13 hours of their possible 24 hours of case-making. Nor did they try to deny many of House Democrats accusations about his actions towards Ukraine. They used some testimony during the houses impeachment investigation, usually by showing video clips, but did not deny that Mr Trump wanted the new government in Ukraine to look into US Democrats. The bulk of the defence teams case was Mr Trump did nothing wrong, and even if he did, those offences fail to clear the constitutions bar of impeachment. Sources bounced around theories for what happens now Mr Trumps lawyers have wrapped their case. Several observers predicted a court battle is ahead if a handful of GOP senators vote to call witnesses a legal fight that would only follow a possible delay while the presidents team and House Democrats negotiate which witness or witnesses each side would call. Others predicted the trial likely will feature witnesses, but could wrap up next week. And a few predicted it all could be over by Saturday, which would mean all Democrats would fail to bring four Republicans to their side in a vote on whether to call witnesses. The uncertainty means Mr Trump on Tuesday night could either stand in the house chamber for his State of the Union address as the third sitting US chief executive to be impeached by the house but acquitted by the upper chamber. Or he might stand face-to-face with House Democrats without his fate known though it remains highly unlikely that 20 Senate Republicans would vote for Mr Trumps conviction. Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Show all 26 1 /26 Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Donald Trump Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Whistleblower Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Second Whistleblower The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rudy Giuliani Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Volodymyr Zelensky The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pence The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rick Perry Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Joe Biden The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Hunter Biden Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Barr The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pompeo The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Nancy Pelosi The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Adam Schiff Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Taylor The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal George Kent A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Marie Yovanovitch One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things. Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Alexander Vindman A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Jennifer Williams A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Kurt Volker The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Tim Morrison An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Gordon Sondland In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: Was there a quid pro quo? Yes, said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the presidents political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a great American a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Laura Cooper A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August undermining a Republican argument that there cant have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didnt know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Hale The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Fiona Hill Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was being involved in a domestic political errand. She said: I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up. And here we are. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Holmes The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line because his voice was so loud and distinctive and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear asking about the investigations and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS Connecticut Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal, during an afternoon break, told reporters what he heard earlier Tuesday was a fact-free presentation. It might not matter, however. Mr Blumenthal said Republicans might have the votes right now to block any witnesses. Senate Democrats want more than just former national security adviser John Bolton to testify, they also want acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and other administration officials to appear during the trial. Mr Trump has said allowing those officials to testify would create a national security problem and he would block their participation by invoking executive privilege. Senate Intelligence Committee vice chairman Mark Warner of Virginia told reporters after the presidents team rested that Mr Bolton should be called because he is a first-hand witness to Mr Trumps actions and words. A source on the presidents legal team said they are prepared for any outcome, including the Senate voting to call witnesses. The same source said Trumps defence team feels ready to address any questions. Well be prepared for any eventuality, the source said, declining to say whether the White House National Security Council, which has conducted a routine security review of the Bolton book, had briefed the presidents legal team on its contents. Mr Trumps lawyers began their closing arguments by attacking many of the premises House Democrats used to build their impeachment articles. Patrick Philbin, deputy White House counsel, told senators House Democrats are asking them to get inside the presidents head. He walked the lawmaker-jurists through a meaty legal analysis and concluded House Democrats case fails to show what Mr Trump and his surrogates did with Ukraine amounted to a recognisable wrong to a reasonable person. The White Houses No.2 lawyer called that an inherit flaw in the House Democratic managers definition of abuse of power, and called their prosecution too malleable because it lacks a recognisable definition of abuse of power. How do we tell under house managers standard what is an illicit motive? How do we get inside the presidents head? he said, appearing to try planting a seed of doubt in any Republican senators minds who might have been jolted by details of John Boltons new book. The New York Times reported Sunday night that a manuscript of that tell-all will state the former White House national security adviser heard the president say he wanted to keep a $391m military aid package for Ukraine frozen unless its government announced investigations of top US Democrats, including the Bidens. Trump's lawyer Eric Herschmann launches attack on Obama during impeachment trial They say talking about perfectly lawful actions. They say, Its whats in the presidents head, Mr Philbin said, driving home his point that House Democrats failed to make a case about Mr Trumps true motives. Jay Sekulow, another Trump lawyer who has a flare for the dramatic, warned the senators of danger, danger, danger because to lower the bar of impeachment base on these articles of impeachment would impact the functioning of our constitutional republic ... for generations. He contended the president did not break any laws, so he cannot be impeached a line of thinking with which some legal scholars and Democratic lawmakers strongly disagree. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that if Mr Trump is allowed to do absolute obstruction on everything and not be held accountable, hell do it again and again. Mr Schumer criticised the presidents lawyers for, in his view, being unable to argue the facts, and he again said the presidents legal team made a case for witnesses to be called. Part of the teams closing argument was to sound alarms for any reluctant GOP senators that they would be hurting themselves politically if they voted with Democrats. You are being asked to remove a duly elected president of the United States, and youre being asked to do it in an election year, he said. He even offered the senators who are still Democratic presidential candidates and were sitting in the chamber a chance to get back on the campaign trail with Monday nights Iowa caucuses looming. There are some of you in this chamber right now who would rather be someplace else ... because youre running for the nomination of your party, Mr Sekulow said, promising the Trump team intended to conclude their case quickly. BEDFORD, Mass., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Waltzing Matilda Aviation LLC (WMA) is celebrating its first full year of operations at Hanscom Field/Bedford Airport, Boston's primary corporate jet airport, having re-located its base operations there in December 2018. With its fleet of Cessna Citation Bravo and Excel aircraft, WMA is now the largest light jet charter operator based at Hanscom/Bedford Airport. Associated with the move to Bedford Airport and the growth in its fleet, WMA has recently re-launched its website www.waltzingmatildaaviation.org Moving to Boston's primary corporate aviation airport has resulted in many benefits: WMA now operates out of the Signature Flight Support FBO, which is part of the world's largest FBO chain. Signature prides itself on superior facilities and service offerings There are significant reductions in weather related disruptions due to Bedford's ample runways and associated instrument (inclement weather) approaches Bedford has one of the most efficient and responsive snow removal capabilities of any airport in the Boston region Lower cost to Boston based customers as no expensive repositioning costs Faster departures with more efficient integration into the Boston area airspace With its CBP facilities, Bedford is an international port of entry into the US alleviating the need for unnecessary stops prior to returning into Bedford Being a designated gateway airport for flights into Washington DC's DCA Airport, WMA plans to soon offer direct jet charter flights to DCA John Thomas, CEO, WMA said "These benefits, along with the appointment of a full time Director of Sales has resulted in WMA more than doubling its annual charter revenues in 2019. WMA is now regarded as the 'go to' operator for light jet charter aircraft at Hanscom/Bedford Airport. We are also very pleased to have attracted a wide range of new clients including Boston professional athletes, leading academics as well as broadening our network of corporate and private equity clients." Contact: John Thomas, CEO (617) 763 3434 [email protected] About WMA WMA is a Boston based FAA Part 135 jet charter operator (Certificate number 6WZA614N). WMA began private (Part 91) operations in June 2008 and has operated thousands of hours of safe and reliable flying with a focus on delivering superior customer service. WMA owns and operates both its own aircraft as well as managed aircraft. WMA brings together a group of aviation professionals, many of whom have been involved in jet charter operations in the Boston area for over 20 years. WMA is passionate about flying and dedicated to providing a high quality of service. WMA was co-founded by John Thomas. John has been actively involved in the aviation industry for the past 35 years, both as a senior operating executive as Group Executive at Virgin Australia Airlines and as a strategic advisor to the global aviation industry. He advised major airlines around the world as well as OEMs, Business & General Aviation, FBOs, airports, and ANSPs. In addition to actively managing WMA, John is also Executive Vice Chairman of PASSUR Aerospace, Inc. a global leader in digital operational excellence for the aviation industry, sits on the Board of Skyservice, is a regular speaker at aviation industry conferences, and continues to provide advisory services to the broader aviation industry. SOURCE Waltzing Matilda Aviation LLC Related Links http://www.waltzingmatildaaviation.org Citrix announced the appointment of Kathy Chen as vice president of Channel for the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region. Kathy will report to Bronwyn Hastings, senior vice president of Worldwide Partner Sales at Citrix. With extensive experience in business and strategic channel development across diverse regions, Kathy will be responsible for the Citrix partner ecosystem in the Asia Pacific and Japan region; overseeing the growth of the channel business and driving value for our partners in the region. Kathy joined Citrix in 2017, as area vice president of Greater China, and has successfully grown the channel ecosystem. With a deep understanding of business transformation and leading change, as well as adapting to the ever-changing needs of the APJ region Kathy will strengthen our ability to help our partners across the APJ region to support our mutual customers in their business transformation journey. Citrix is a world-class enabler of digital business with solutions that deliver the experience, security and choice that people and organizations need to innovate, engage customers and be productive anytime and anywhere. I look forward to working with our partners and mutual customers achieve their digital transformation goals, says Kathy Chen, vice president of Channel, APJ, Citrix. Chen is an industry veteran, bringing over two decades of experience in business leadership, sales management and operations, channel and alliance management from companies such as Twitter, Microsoft, Cisco Systems and 3Com. Prior to joining Citrix, Chen was the managing director for Twitter in Greater China, where she lead the companys growth across Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Chen holds a bachelor degree of Computer Science from Beijing Jiaotong University. New Delhi: Popular Telugu actor John Kottoly succumbed to a cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning, reportedly. The 'Falaknuma Das' actor was known for his impressive acting chops. The Southern film fraternity is shocked at the news of his demise and some of the celebs extended their condolences on social media. Filmmaker Rahul Ramakrishna, Sai Rajesh and others took to Twitter and mourned John Kottoly's untimely demise. Shattered by the news of John Kottolys demise!!! John, what a great guy you are!!! And how much I will miss you as a person and an actor. Rest In Peace my friend! I pray for strength to the family. This is terrible news. pic.twitter.com/wyNKoIgi14 Mohan Indraganti (@mokris_1772) January 28, 2020 Goodbye @JohnKottoly Hope to meet you again, someday.. Rahul Ramakrishna (@eyrahul) January 28, 2020 Unable to digest the news about @JohnKottoly ... Heard that he was passed away with cardiac arrest.. Brilliant actor he is... Sai Rajesh (@sairazesh) January 28, 2020 John Kottoly had worked in several popular films such as 'Manu', 'Mahanati', 'Yuddham Sharanam', 'Sainma', 'Raktham', 'The Blood', ' Bommala Ramaram' to name a few. He was last seen in Telugu web series titled 'Gods of Dharmapuri'. Several of his cameos and friendly appearances were noticed and appreciated by the masses and classes alike. May his soul rest in peace! California Gov. Gavin Newsom was a single-payer candidate. The Democrat campaigned hard for the creation of one public insurance program for all Californians. And within hours of taking office last year, he called on the federal government to allow California and other states to create single-payer programs. On Monday, some of the biggest names in California health care policy are convening in Sacramento to fulfill that promise. Or not. Those who hope this meeting could lead to the end of private insurance and the creation of a state-based "Medicare for All"-type system should probably temper their expectations. "The goal of this commission is likely to demonstrate political momentum without making any firm policy commitments," said Thad Kousser, chair of the political science department at the University of California-San Diego. Newsom's Healthy California for All Commission, which will gather near the Capitol for its inaugural meeting, is made up of 13 people from universities, nonprofit organizations, hospitals and advocacy groups. The commission will discuss how to get every Californian covered with an emphasis on single-payer, a system in which health care is paid for by a single public authority. But the reality is that single-payer is unlikely to materialize anytime soon, given the Trump administration's opposition to the concept and the exorbitant cost of completely overhauling the health care system. Perhaps most important, members of the commission don't agree on what the commission should accomplish. Single-payer "is one of the key places to look, but not the only place," said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. Newsom's office, which declined to comment on the commission, directed questions to Ghaly, who will chair the panel. But there will be powerful voices on the commission that are firmly committed to creating a single-payer system for the state. Stephanie Roberson, the government relations director for the California Nurses Association, won't be on the commission herself, but her union will have a representative on the panel. The union is a loud and insistent advocate for single-payer. "There is absolutely universal concern across this organization that this commission could be used to slow-walk single-payer," Roberson said. "More often than not, a bill becomes a study or a commission and no one ever hears about it again." The commission plans to issue two public reports, one in July 2020 and the other in February 2021. The first will detail the current state of health care coverage in California and the second will explain the nuts and bolts of how to get a single-payer system up and running. For the single-payer advocates on the commission, these questions have already been asked and answered. A 2017 special legislative committee investigated single-payer in California and issued a report on California's uninsured population that outlined several options for covering them, such as how to implement and pay for single-payer. Much of that work is now being repeated. The state of California awarded a $2.5 million contract to a group from the University of California to conduct research and analysis for the new commission and draft its reports. These are the same people who wrote the last report for the legislative committee. But Deborah Kelch, executive director of the nonprofit and nonpartisan Insure the Uninsured Project, said the older findings might not reflect today's reality. "Those all predate our current coverage landscape, so it's a good time for policymakers and a commission like this one to really take a look at what's true now," she said. Health Care For All: What Does That Mean? Play No one thinks single-payer would be cheap or easy to implement, and estimates vary on how much it would cost. A 2017 legislative estimate put the price tag for California at around $400 billion annually. A newer analysis released in mid-January focused instead on savings and concluded that savings from single-payer systems would outweigh the costs. Whatever the commission decides to do, one huge hurdle to get single-payer up and running in the state remains: President Donald Trump. Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said she would reject any state plans to use federal dollars to implement a single-payer system. But the hostility from the federal government doesn't mean the commission's work is meaningless, said Scott Graves, director of research for the California Budget & Policy Center. Instead, it could give the commission time to get a single-payer plan ready for a different president, he said. "If we decide as a state that we really want to move towards a single-payer health care financing system, we will have done our homework," Graves said. Dr. Robert Ross, president and CEO of the California Endowment, a foundation that focuses on expanding health care access among Californians, sees a path forward whether Trump wins or loses in November. Ross, a member of the commission, said he's willing to look at all options to get the remaining 7.2% of uninsured Californians covered, not just single-payer. For instance, California has expanded Medi-Cal eligibility to people who are in the country illegally, and created state-based subsidies to help people buy private insurance. "I'm sure there are others on the commission resolutely focused on single-payer," he said. "That's fine. We should have that conversation and that debate within the boundaries of the commission's work." Jennifer Kent, former director of the state Department of Health Care Services, said it's vital to continue the process of debates, research and public meetings. They will bring in more people to work out the thorny details of what could be a massive overhaul of the health care system, she said. "Democracy is messy," said Kent, who is now a health care consultant. "The people who say we already know what the answer is if we knew what the answer is, it would have been done already." This KHN story first published on California Healthline, a service of the California Health Care Foundation. The deadly Coronavirus outbreak has claimed the lives of over 100 people, while nearly 1,300 new cases have been reported in China, authorities said on Tuesday. The Asian country is on high alert since cases of the virus has been spreading rapidly, causing a major global health risk. Public health experts in Hong Kong had warned on Monday that there could be thousands of more carriers of this new and deadly virus from China, despite sweeping efforts to contain it. READ | Govt Decides To Prepare For Evacuation Of Indians From Coronavirus-hit Wuhan In China As the disease continues to spread rapidly, the health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a global epidemic, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and several Asian countries besides China. Several countries have also issued travel advisories for Hubei Province, whose capital is Wuhan, a Chinese city comprising of more than 11 million people where the first case of Coronavirus was reported. The Chinese authorities have suspended air and rail travel in the area around Wuhan. READ | Germany Confirms First Case Of Deadly CoronavirusAustralia confirmed its fifth case of Coronavirus With countries across the world battling the deadly virus outbreak, Australia on January 27, Monday confirmed its fifth case of the novel Coronavirus. According to reports, the confirmed case was of a 21-year-old woman who was on board the last flight flying out of the city of Wuhan before China ordered a complete lockdown of the 'epicentre'. Australia's Chief Medical Officer warned the public that there might be more confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the country. The Federal government is reportedly exploring plans to evacuate Australian citizens from the epicentre of the pandemic, Wuhan in central China. READ | Odisha: Doctors Stationed At Bhubaneswar Airport For Possible Coronavirus Cases WHO: "Global risk of Coronavirus Is high" The World Health Organisation on Monday said the global risk from the deadly virus in China was "high", admitting an error in its previous reports that said it was "moderate". The UN health body said in a situation report published late Sunday that the risk was "very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level". In a footnote, the WHO said there had been an "error" in previous communications published on Thursday, Friday and Saturday which "incorrectly" stated that the global risk was "moderate". Asked for more detail, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said only that it was "an error in the wording". READ | US State Dept Advises Citizens To 'reconsider Travel' To China Amid Coronavirus Outbreak Residents and office workers in downtown Miami reported buildings shaking after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck near Cuba and Jamaica. Miami Fire Department ordered the evacuation of the Stephen P Clark Government Centre and many workers were sent home. People were seen streaming out of high rises along Brickell Avenue including the Bank of America building. The earthquake was felt across much of South Floride. Miami's Metrorail and Metromover transit systems remain open. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Structure engineers have responded to buildings that reported seismic activity. It comes just days before Super Bowl LIV is set to take place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, 14 miles north of downtown. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on Twitter that there were no mandatory evacuations and no tsunami warning. The mayor's video appears to be taken in the city's emergency operations centre, which is operational in advance of the Super Bowl. Miami PD tweeted that while some buildings were being evacuated, there were no reports of injuries, and no road closures. The epicentre of the earthquake, which struck at 2.10 pm, was south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica and at a depth of approximately six miles, according to the US Geological Survey. Buildings have also been evacuated in Kingston, Jamaica, and footage from the Cayman Islands shows water sloshing out of a swimming pool. The National Weather Service Tsunami Warning Centre did warn that tsunami waves reaching between one and three feet above tide level were possible, but the threat is said to have now passed. The coasts of Belize, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica were potentially under threat. Nepals relationship with India is based on the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship that provides for an open border and right to work for Nepali nationals. (Reuters) The Centre has stepped up vigil in areas bordering Nepal in view of a confirmed case of novel coronavirus detected there. No case of novel coronavirus infection has been detected in the country so far. The Union Health Ministry on Jnauary 27 said teams of healthcare professionals have been deployed in West Bengal's Panitanki and Uttarakhand's Jhulaghat and Jauljibi in Pithoragarh district, bordering Nepal. Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan chaired a video-conference meeting with chief secretaries and police chiefs of the five states bordering Nepal -- Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim -- to review their preparedness for prevention and management of novel coronavirus. Principal secretary (Health) of other states/UTs also participated in the meeting. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Sudan informed the states/UTs that Union Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan is closely and regularly monitoring the status of preparedness. The Union Health Minister has written to chief ministers of States and UTs, requesting them to personally review preparedness measures in the matter. "Subsequent to confirmed #coronarvirus case in #Nepal, vigil strengthened at Panitanki (West Bengal) entry point from Nepal," the Health Ministry said in a tweet on Monday. "In response to confirmed case of #nCoV2019 in #Nepal, India has stepped up vigil in districts bordering Nepal. Health Teams deployed at BOP with Nepal at Jhulaghat and Jauljibi, Dist Pithoragarh, #Uttarakhand," it had tweeted on January 26. Till Monday, a total 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened. "4,359 passengers in 18 flights from China screened today (on January 27) for nCoV. No (positive) case has been found in the country so far," a senior health official said. As per data last received on January 27, total 17 samples have been received by the ICMR-NIV Pune Lab, out of which 14 have been already been tested and found negative, officials said. Nearly 450 people have been kept under observation in the country, most of them in Kerala, following screening for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus. Sudan reviewed the preparedness of the bordering states in terms of orientation of health and other agencies; adherence of various prevention and management protocols, awareness regarding prevention of coronavirus among the people being screened and those transiting the border with Nepal; self-reporting by these people, isolation wards, protective gear etc, a health ministry statement stated. States have informed that they have made all necessary arrangements for screening of people transiting across the border. They also informed that travel advisories, other guidelines and protocols issued by the Health Ministry have been also widely disseminated. Orientation of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the medical personnel, and health officials has also been conducted, the statement stated. Awareness drives are being undertaken through public address system, distribution of leaflets and signages at the border check posts. The ministry has also advised for special gram sabhas to be organised in coordination with the Department of Panchayati Raj over this week for enhancing awareness regarding the coronavirus diseases, its symptoms, preventive measures, reporting etc. in the border villages. Sudan also advised them to coordinate with the Hotels Association for wider self-reporting by travellers from Nepal visiting religious and other tourist places in these states. She advised the states to ensure that medical officers are deputed to coordinate with the airport authorities, while tertiary hospitals are also identified for these airports. Sudan also advised the states to ensure that protocols for contact tracing, and timely collection and transportation of samples from suspected cases to NIV, Pune is followed. States have been advised to depute a nodal officer for coordinating the efforts of the different agencies within the states, and to regularly update progress to the Union Health Ministry. A 24x7 NCDC call centre (+91-11-23978046) has been made operational to monitor the list of contacts furnished by the Ministry of External Affairs; provide details of district and state surveillance officers to those who seek them; and in case of any clinical query, direct the concerned to the relevant Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officer. Thermal screening is being done at seven designated airports -- New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi. The Union health minister has urged passengers who have a travel history to China since January 1, 2020, to come forward for self-reporting at the nearest health facility if they experience any symptoms such as fever, cough, respiratory distress, etc., and also inform their doctors. Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has so far killed 80 people and affected 2,744 in China is a novel strain and not seen before. It has emerged from a seafood and animal market in China's Wuhan, and is suspected to have spread to as far as the United States. According to the World Health Organisation, the common symptoms of the novel coronavirus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Alison Brie channeled Amelia Earhart in an aviator jacket as she joined Debby Ryan and her Horse Girl co-stars Monday at Sundance Film Festival. The oversized black leather coat was trimmed in white fur, perfect for the Park City, Utah winter. It was paired with a red blazer, featuring padded shoulders and cinched with a thin black leather belt. Fly girl: Alison Brie channeled Amelia Earhart in an aviator jacket as she joined Debby Ryan and her Horse Girl co-stars Monday at Sundance Film Festival She added a casual touch to the ensemble with a pair of faded black straight leg jeans. The look was finished with one gold earring, matching rings and a pair of chunky black leather heeled boots, featuring white laces. She carried a pink structured snakeskin handbag as she stepped out to promote the movie. Brie was was spotted with Ryan, who kept warm in a belted white top coat with billowy sleeves and floral embroidery. Leather queen: The oversized black leather coat was trimmed in white fur, perfect for the Park City, Utah winter Lady in red: It was paired with a red blazer, featuring padded shoulders and cinched with a thin black leather belt Laced up: She added a casual touch to the ensemble with a pair of faded black straight leg jeans. The look was finished with one gold earring, matching rings and a pair of chunky black leather heeled boots, featuring white laces It was layered with an oversized taupe blazer with the sleeves rolled up and a lime green printed shirt, buttoned to the neck. She wore the top tucked into a pair of high-waisted black leather trousers, which cut off above the ankle. The look was completed with white gold earrings, matching rings and a pair of white leather stiletto booties. Floral accents: Ryan kept warm in a belted white top coat with billowy sleeves and floral embroidery Serving layers: It was layered with an oversized taupe blazer with the sleeves rolled up and a lime green printed shirt, buttoned to the neck. She wore the top tucked into a pair of high-waisted black leather trousers, which cut off above the ankle Hell on heels: The look was completed with white gold earrings, matching rings and a pair of white leather stiletto booties Funny ladies: Ryan caught up with their co-star Molly Shannon as they promoted the film They were also joined by co-stars Molly Shannon, John Paul Reynolds, Jake Picking, Paul Reiser and John Ortiz, as well as writer/director Jeff Baena. The group made appearances at The Vulture Spot, Deadline Sundance Studio and Variety Sundance Studio before heading to the premiere that night. Brie stars in Horse Girl as a socially awkward woman who begins to suspect she was abducted by aliens. Squad goals: They were also joined by co-stars John Paul Reynolds, Jake Picking, Paul Reiser and John Ortiz, as well as writer/director Jeff Baena On the go: The group made appearances at The Vulture Spot, Deadline Sundance Studio and Variety Sundance Studio before heading to the premiere that night True story: Brie co-wrote the script with Baena, based on her own experience with her grandmother's mental illness She co-wrote the script with Baena, based on her own experience with her grandmother's mental illness. The actress told Vulture: 'My whole life Ive wanted to make something about my mother and my grandmother. My mothers mother lived with paranoid schizophrenia, and my mother grew up in a really traumatic situation. 'And I grew up with the mythology of my grandmothers mental illness, hearing a lot of stories about my mothers childhood and how the mental illness affected her.' Science fiction: Brie stars in Horse Girl as a socially awkward woman who begins to suspect she was abducted by aliens Elsewhere during Sundance, the stars of fellow contender Run Sweetheart Run were spotted at the film's premiere in The Egyptian Theatre. Leading the cast was director Shana Feste, who dazzled in a plunging metallic wrap dress with knee-high leather boots. Pilou Asbk and Ella Balinska were also in attendance for the occasion, ahead of the premiere of the dark horror film. Stylish: Elsewhere during Sundance, the stars of fellow contender Run Sweetheart Run were spotted at the film's premiere in The Egyptian Theatre, including director Shana Feste Exciting: Run Sweetheart Run tells the story of a single mother who is set up on a blind date, but is left alone in the streets of Los Angeles when his sinister true colours emerge Lovely: Ella Palinska - who plays the lead - looked incredible stylish in red checked trousers and a black Letterman jacket Fun: The cast were spotted larking about backstage at the premiere, ahead of the first showing of the horror film Run Sweetheart Run tells the story of single mother Shari (played by Ella Balinska) who is set up on a blind date with the mysterious Ethan. Things take a sinister turn when Ethan's true colours begin to emerge, Shari finds herself alone in the streets of Los Angeles desperately trying to escape. The film was directed by Shana, who also worked on Country Strong in 2010, which starred Gwyneth Paltrow. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a plea by one of the Nirbhaya case death row convicts, Mukesh, challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by the President on the ground that the entire material relating to the case was not placed before President Ram Nath Kovind. The order will be pronounced by the court on Wednesday. Reserving the order, a bench comprising Justice R. Banumathi, Justice Ashok Bhushan, and Justice A.S. Bopanna observed that they have limited jurisdiction in going into the rejection of the mercy petition by the President and they would check if all the relevant documents relating to the 2012 gangrape case were placed before him. Senior counsel Anjana Prakash questioned the rejection of the mercy petition by the President in the absence of the entire record of the case being given to him. Prez given limited documents Senior counsel Anjana Prakash told the court that the Tihar jail authorities enclosed only his medical report, trial court judgment and the details of the punishment along with the mercy petition. Ms Prakash contended that there was non-application of mind by the President. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, disputed that only limited records relating to the case were sent to the President for deciding the mercy petition by Mukesh. He handed over to the court two files one containing notings and the other correspondences relating to the case. A curative petition by Mukesh and Vinay Sharma was rejected on January 14, 2020. Contending that justice hurried is justice buried, Ms Prakash told the court that Mukesh was subjected to indignities during his incarceration in Tihar jail, including alleged forcible sex with Akshay Kumar and assaults on him requiring his treatment at hospitals. The court was told that he was put in solitary confinement a ground for the communisation of the death sentence and the details of the same were not put before the President while deciding the mercy petition. Mr Mehta said that the alleged indignities, claimed to have been heaped on Mukesh, could not be a ground for commutation of death sentence. He disputed that Mukesh was kept in solitary confinement. Mr Mehta said that solitary confinement in itself was not a ground for the commutation of death sentence and that any delay in deciding the mercy petition is dehumanising to the death row convict. He described it as a mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution. The solicitor general also told the court that it was not a case that Mukesh was confined to a room with no ventilation and cut-off from the rest of the world as happens in case of solitary confinement. However, Ms Prakash, referring to an earlier judgment to the top court, said that solitary confinement cumulatively with other factors can be a ground for commutation. A Delhi court on January 28 deferred for a week the hearing of arguments on quantum of sentence of Brajesh Thakur and 18 others, convicted of sexually and physically assaulting several minor girls in a shelter home in Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Additional Sessions Judge Sudesh Kumar adjourned the hearing till February 4 as Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha, who had conducted the trial, was on leave. The court had on January 20 convicted Thakur, who once unsuccessfully contested assembly polls on Bihar People's Party (BPP) ticket, of several offences including aggravated penetrative sexual assault under section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and offences of rape and gang rape under the Indian Penal code (IPC). In its bulky judgement running into 1,546 pages, the court had also convicted Thakur of offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and abetment under IPC, section 21 (failure to report commission of an offence) of the POCSO Act section 75 (cruelty to child) of Juvenile Justice Act. The offences entail a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. It, however, acquitted one Vikki in the case for want of evidence. One of the female accused, Rosy Rani, former assistant director of child protection unit in Muzaffarpur, was convicted of offences under section 21(1) (failure to report commission of an offence) of the POCSO Act. Since the maximum punishment for the offence was six months, which she had already undergone, she was granted bail by the court. Dillip Kumar Verma, former chairman of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Muzaffarpur, child protection officer of District Child Protection Unit Ravi Roshan, member of CWC Vikas Kumar and other accused Vijay Kumar Tiwari, Guddu Patel, Kishan Kumar and Ramanuj Thakur were held guilty of the offences of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under POCSO Act, criminal conspiracy, rape, gang rape, causing hurt, abetment to rape under IPC and POCSO Act, and section 75 of the JJ Act. Two of the accused -- Rama Shankar Singh and Dr Ashwani-- were convicted of the offences of criminal conspiracy and abetment to rape. Rama was also convicted under sections 323 of IPC, 75 of JJ Act and 21 of POCSO Act. Female accused -- Shaista Praveen, Indu Kumari, Minu Devi, Manju Devi, Chanda Devi, Neha Kumari, Hema Masih, Kiran Kumari -- were held guilty of criminal conspiracy, abetment to rape, cruelty to child and failure to report commission of an offence. Advocates P K Dubey and Nishaank Mattoo, appearing for Thakur, had told reporters that they will challenge the verdict in the higher court. Advocate Gyanendra Mishra, representing Dillip, too had said there was no evidence against the accused and he will challenge the judgement in the higher court. The court had recorded the statement of 69 witnesses produced by the CBI which was represented by Public Prosecutor Amit Jindal. It had recorded the statement of 44 girls who were physically and sexually assaulted at the shelter home, of which around 13 were mentally disabled. It had examined 20 defence witnesses, said advocate Dheeraj Kumar, appearing for some of the accused. The court had on March 30, 2019, framed charges against the accused in the case in which former Bihar Social Welfare Minister and the then JD(U) leader Manju Verma also faced flak as allegations surfaced that Thakur had links with her husband. She had resigned from her post on August 8, 2018. The case was transferred on February 7, 2019 from a local court in Muzaffarpur in Bihar to a POCSO court at Saket district court complex in Delhi on the apex court's directions. The matter had come to light on May 26, 2018 after Tata Institute of Social Sciences submitted a report to the Bihar government highlighting the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls in the shelter home for the first time. The report had been submitted to the Bihar Social Welfare Department by TISS in February that year. Britain will allow Chinese telecom giant Huawei to build out non-core segments of the country's 5G telecommunication network, a move that will undoubtedly spark security concerns with Washington, reported Reuters. The decision will allow Huawei to take part in the country's 5G infrastructure expansion project at only non-sensitive geographic locations. The government has also introduced a 35% cap of their involvement in non-sensitive parts. It will likely also draw sharp criticism from U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo and or President Trump this week, who've already publicly stressed that the U.K. must ditch Huawei equipment from its 5G network. The U.K. is walking a tight balancing act in attempting to appease the Chinese and the U.S., but as one veteran observer noted, "you can't be half pregnant" and the UK's acquiescence to even 'some' appeasement to Huawei will definitely be viewed as a snub by Washington, which has previously thrown down the gauntlet over Huawei. The U.K. government is expected to decide on Tuesday whether to ban Huawei 5G equipment from the country's telecommunication networks, reported BBC News. Digital Minister Matt Warman said Monday that "security and resilience" of Britain's "telecom networks are of paramount importance" in tomorrow's decision. "We welcome open trade and inward investment, however, our economy can only prosper and unleash Britain's potential when we and our international partners are assured that our critical national infrastructure remains safe and secure," Warman said. We noted earlier this month how the Trump administration was pressuring U.K. officials to outlaw Huawei 5G equipment. Related: General Motors To Spend $2.2 Billion On Detroit Electric Vehicle Plant There's speculation Monday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could allow "core" Huawei parts in the backbone of networks. Johnson told reporters that he needed a communication network that benefits the economy without jeopardizing national security. "We are going to come up with a solution that enables us to achieve both those objectives, and that is the way forward," he said. In all of the reporting of the Huawei story a couple of things are often ignored. Theres not one single UK 5G network but 4, and three of them are already rolling out with Huawei - here right at the heart of the city of London pic.twitter.com/sC4dDJ39LU Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) January 27, 2020 Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told BBC on Monday that he "wondered whether it was wise" for the U.K. to become entirely reliant on China for communication equipment. "I would say if the decision goes the other way this week, as some of the signs seem to indicate it might, I hope there will also be some reflection in the U.S. because we have never needed the Western alliance to be stronger than now," Hunt said. If Huawei 5G equipment is banned from U.K. communication networks on Tuesday, it would mean that E.E., Three, and Vodafone, would have to replace Chinese equipment already installed in the country's networks. Tuesday's Huawei decision will be important for Johnson. He will either side with the Trump administration and ban the Chinese telecom from communication networks. If he allows Huawei equipment to expand in the network, then it would likely draw intense anger from Washington. By Zerohedge.com More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: Many in the battery raw materials market were likely happy to see the back of 2019, as it was a year characterized largely by falling prices and disappointing performances from both the EV and consumer electronics sectors, research firm Wood Mackenzie said in a research note Monday. But interest around electrification shows no signs of slowing. The value chain of a new green automotive industry is being built, from mines and refineries through to cell and pack manufacturing, Wood Mackenzie said. While its still early days, investments and deals made in the coming months will be critical to EV adoption potential over the next decade. Five things to watch in 2020, according to Wood Mackenzie: 1. Key EV markets to start growing again In 2019, the worlds largest EV market slowed down. According to the Chinese Automotive Manufacturers Association, NEV sales reached 1.206 million last year, around 4% lower than in 2018 and 20% lower than Chinas target for the year. In the US, the reduction was equally noteworthy at around 10% y-o-y. A sluggish global automotive sector and changing subsidies were certainly contributing factors nevertheless its clear that EVs are not yet ready to stand on their own feet. This year, several major automakers are launching mass-market EVs on dedicated platforms, aimed at breaking down range and cost barriers. While Wood Mackenzie expects substantial quantities of these to trickle into the market in the second half of the year, annual passenger EV sales are likely to remain below 3 million. Chinas move to postpone the complete removal of NEV subsidies this year will support EV sales but also highlights just how sensitive the EV market still is to subsidies and incentives. 2. Bigger and better batteries Cobalt prices soared in 2018 and the push towards high-nickel, low-cobalt batteries was accelerated. Last year, China commenced the first large-scale production of NMC 811 cells to be used in the automotive sector. This year, Wood Mackenzie expects only a handful of EV models outside of China to opt for the high energy density technology until the safety challenges are fully resolved. Within China, 2020 could be the year that LFP chemistries get a comeback as significant energy density improvements make LFP a much more viable option. Range anxiety continues to deter many consumers from purchasing EVs, with long ranges the preserve of high-end, luxury cars. Automakers are not unaware of this and nearly every new model boasts a bigger battery offering more miles per charge. Wood Mackenzie expects this trend to continue through the short term. As with most EVs, the first configurations to be sold are the highest specification models, typically using the largest battery pack. The average pack size over the next few years could be boosted as these specifications are front-loaded into the market. 3. Lithium another poor year Not even lithium producers are anticipating a rebound in the lithium market this year. Compared to many bullish demand expectations, 2019 was particularly weak, and excess in the market pushed prices downwards. Nearly every lithium reference price fell by at least 30% and reported sales prices followed the same trend. Wood Mackenzie forecasts price declines to extend over the next twelve months. A temporary lull in the market might be exactly what is needed for the LME to launch its new lithium contract this year. The contract is not going to be welcomed by all lithium players; however, Wood Mac believes it is a step forward to increasing the transparency in lithium pricing. Oversupply was the common theme over 2019 and despite several closures and expansion cut-backs, Wood Mac analysts do not expect any tightness through the short term. The hard-rock producers have demonstrated how quickly spodumene concentrate can be brought online, but a greater level of discipline is now required for 2020. Some higher cost producers will feel the pressure this year as spodumene prices fail to recover. The economics of new projects now look less attractive and junior miners will increasingly have to emphasise their green credentials and strategic locations, something the battery and EV space is being heavily scrutinised on. As for the brines, 2019 supply growth was higher than in 2018. The same will be required again this year for brines to keep their share of the market. Low prices might not weigh as heavily on the brine producers, typically sitting at the bottom of the cost curve and having produced at these levels before. The ramp-up of South American brines will most likely be slower than guidance with water rights and technical challenges still key issues. 4. Cobalt can we fill the gap? Last year, DRC mined cobalt output contracted as the industry contended with both the slowdown in demand from EVs and electronics, but also indigestion after the huge supply response in 2018 that had overstocked the supply chain. Weaker fundamentals naturally impacted cobalt price levels, with the LME cash price averaging $33,290/t ($15.1/lb) for the year. This weak pricing environment, and higher operating costs led industry-leader Glencore to place its Mutanda mine on care and maintenance from late last year. With Mutanda currently the largest cobalt producing mine in the world, the company has left quite a large gap to fill. Wood Mackenzie says it be done but with risks. Mutandas suspension will place more of a burden on Glencores other DRC operation, Katanga. Katanga has been dealing with quality issues related to uranium content over the last year, yet interim solutions appear to be bearing fruit. Related: The Survival Of A $2.7 Trillion Market Rests On This Tiny Niche Wood Mackenzie analysts estimate around 5 kt of cobalt in hydroxide may have been exported last year, versus production of 14kt. Glencore is currently targeting production of 27 kt of cobalt in hydroxide in 2020 from Katanga with export levels dependent on the continued successful implementation of de-bottlenecking schemes. Aside from Glencore, the most likely source of replacement tonnes is ERG. Its Metalkol RTR plant got off to a slow start last year dealing with both quality issues and the poor market. We estimate exports of just around 3.4 kt in 2019, versus capacity of ~14 ktpa. Yet RTR will need to at least double shipments in 2020 if we are to avoid a large deficit. Other major players such as CMOCs Tenke Fungurume look unlikely to be able to materially increase output, while new supply from Chengtun and the recently started Deziwa operation will also be required to meet demand growth. Wood Mackenzies base case view is that mined output returns to 2018 levels. Analysts do have a notional deficit of some 2 kt forecast this year, Wood Mackenzie expects this is necessary to further draw down the stocks that have accumulated through the cobalt value chain. The firm believes price risk is on the upside this year should the major producers fail to ramp up, and higher prices are required to incentivize higher-cost supply into the market. 5. Graphite after the Balama drama While key battery metals like lithium and cobalt have suffered from the slowdown in EV sales in the all-important Chinese market, for the likes of graphite a 1 million tonne plus industry primarily driven by the steel sector the fundamentals are more complex. In the natural flake market, last year saw a steady ramp up in exports from Syrah Resources Balama mine in Mozambique. This gradually overwhelmed the previously insulated Chinese flake market and eroded price levels as the year progressed. The extent of the oversupply eventually saw Syrah trim its own output in the final quarter, and its guidance for 2020 for 120-150 kt. As 2020 gets underway, there are many questions associated with the flake market. To start, does the natural graphite industry even need a mine as large as Balama right now which at full capacity (350 ktpa) would be larger than current global consumption of natural graphite in batteries? And is there a future for the other flake graphite projects looking to move into production in this environment particularly given a seeming resurgence in interest in synthetic graphite? Medium-term demand prospects for graphite remain strong, Wood Mackenzie says, with disruptive technologies like silicon or even lithium metal-based anodes unlikely to dampen growth anytime soon. However, with this fledgling sector already overwhelmed with supply, 2020 looks likely to be another challenging year. With margins being squeezed, and an increasing focus on sustainability encouraging ex-China sourcing, many graphite miners, including Syrah, will continue to move down the value chain towards high-purity spherical graphite. By Mining.com More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS), a joint initiative by the UAE and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido), has announced the formation of the GMIS2020 Higher Committee made up of renowned German organisations and associations. The associations will jointly support in delivering the third edition of the summit. The announcement was made at a press briefing hosted by the GMIS at the UAE Embassy in Berlin, which is followed by a meeting by the committee to discuss the progress and updates in regards to GMIS2020. The global manufacturing sector stands at the cusp of a new era of progress with the wide-spread adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. The summit is a platform established to forecast the future of science, ignite technological transformation, promote enduring partnerships, and inspire the next generation of leaders and innovators to create a roadmap towards global prosperity. GMIS2020 will take place alongside Hannover Messe one of the worlds largest industrial technology trade fairs, between April 20 and 21, under the theme Glocalisation: Towards Inclusive and Sustainable Global Value Chain. Inviting high-level representatives from Germanys industrial community to guide and shape the agenda of GMIS2020 will ensure relevance and strategic integrity of the universally agreed consensus for the future of manufacturing, which the summit aims to achieve. Badr Al Olama, head of the organising committee for GMIS, said: Since its inception, we have gathered momentum and international recognition as the global platform for discussions and debate over the future of manufacturing. The central theme for GMIS2020, glocalisation, was selected as a reflection of industrial trends emerging worldwide and being enabled by digitalisation, he said. By redefining global value chains, we must also safeguard inclusive and sustainable growth to ensure everyone everywhere benefits from industrialisation, he added. The primary responsibility of GMIS2020 Higher Committee is to provide strategic guidance that will shape the themes, agenda, and discussions of the summit and ensure high-level participation from Europe, and Germany in particular in order to deliver tangible outcomes. Members of the Higher Committee include leading German experts from the manufacturing sector Holger Losch, deputy director general and executive board member of The Federation of German Industries (BDI), Dr Volker Treier, deputy chief executive officer and head of Foreign Trade of The Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), Abdulaziz Al-Mikhlafi, secretary general of the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GHORFA), and representatives from the Deutsche Messe, UNIDO, The Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA), German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (ZVEI), and Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies (VDE). Bernardo Calzadilla-Sarmiento, director, Department of Trade, Investment and Innovation for UNIDO said: GMIS is a vital platform for designing a future for the manufacturing and industrial sectors that benefits all. I am honoured to join the GMIS Higher Committee to ensure that the discussions held during GMIS2020 include key players from all facets of the industry, so that we may facilitate the design of universal standards that make up the framework for the future of industry. Krister Sandvoss, global director, Industries & Logistics for Deutsche Messe, added: Germanys manufacturing sector is a cornerstone in the history and future of our country, so as we enter the 4IR, it is critical that we forge a path that unlocks the potential of new technologies such as AI, machine learning and additive manufacturing. Hannover Messe is proud to be a pioneer of the digital revolution and therefore, we are delighted to be working with GMIS to further cement our standing on the global stage, whilst working with our international partners to ensure the global economy benefits from the changes ahead, Sandvoss added. Germany was selected to host the summit due to its standing as one of the worlds most advanced industrial economies, and its actions in actively contributing to sustainable industrial development through innovation and the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. Germany is Europes largest economy and one of the world's largest exporters. It is renowned as an international leader of the manufacturing sector due to the superior quality of its products across major industrial sectors, including automotive, aviation, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electronics, energy and environmental technologies. Germany is also a pioneer of digital innovation, through the "Industry Strategy 4.0" initiative, one of 10 future initiatives launched by the German Government under the "Advanced Technology Strategy 2020". Through its commitment to delivering the potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Germany plans to invest 2.5 billion Euros in Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies by the end of the year. As a result, its medium and high-tech exports account for 73 per cent of total industrial exports. The members of the higher committees have been selected due to their significant experience and the potential to enable the GMIS to design uniform, global industrial standards that facilitate sustainable industrial development which will enable manufacturing sector to be at the heart of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), empowering global prosperity in the process, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Assam's tableau has been adjudged the best among the 16 states and union territories that participated in the Republic Day parade on Sunday, an official release said. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday awarded Assam for the best tableau, which was based on the theme 'Land of Unique Craftsmanship and Culture'. The tableaux of Odisha and Uttar Pradesh were named joint second best, a defence ministry release said. "The tableau of Odisha displayed the famous Rukuna Ratha Yatra of Lord Lingaraja worshipped as both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu in a sixth century built temple named 'Lingaraj Temple' at Bhubaneswar. The tableau of Uttar Pradesh mirrored the cultural and religious tourism of the state with the theme 'Sarva Dharma Sama Bhav'," the release added. Among the six tableaux from different ministries and departments, Ministry of Jal Shakti and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) won the joint best award. Its tableau showcased the government's new initiative 'Jal Jeevan Mission' that aims to provide functional household tap connection to every rural household by 2024 - Har Ghar Jal. In line with its motto 'Aapda Sewa Sadaiv', the tableau of NDRF showcased the force's successful and "illustrious journey of humanitarian service" in natural and man-made disasters, the release stated. The tableau of Central Public Works Department (CPWD), with the theme 'Kashmir se Kanyakumari', bagged the special prize for showcasing different parts of the country decorated with colourful and fragrant flowers. Singh presented the award of best cultural performance to the children of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, which is in B-Block of Janakpuri in New Delhi. "The children displayed a colourful performance on the theme 'Mharo Rang Rangilo Rajasthan'. The consolation prize was given to the children of West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur who presented Garba, the folk dance of Gujarat," the press release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Monday warned that the Holocaust commemoration on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp must not be "misused" for political puposes. Speaking at a concert in Berlin to mark the anniversary, Morawiecki said that "instead of using the vocabulary of the political arguments, one must rather listen to the quiet and silence" of millions of victims. His comments came amid a diplomatic spat between Poland and a number of other countries over the extent to which some Polish citizens cooperated with the Nazis during the Holocaust. At the anniversary event, German chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of the "Polish victims of the German occupation" who were amongst "an inconceivable number of life stories" that were "cut short... by systematic murder". Merkel also stressed that with a duty to remember came the "responsibility for all people to be able to feel at home and feel safe in Germany and Europe." Last week, world leaders gathered in Jerusalem to mark the anniversary in what many saw as a competing observance, among them Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Prince Charles. Politics intruded on that event, with Polish President Andrzej Duda boycotting it in protest after Putin claimed that Poland played a role in triggering World War II. Duda had wanted a chance to speak before or after Putin to defend his nation's record in face of those false accusations, but he was not given a speaking slot in Jerusalem. Those claims comes as many Eastern European countries in recent years have been mythologizing their own people's behaviour during the war and suppressing knowledge of wrongdoing, something Poland's government also has been criticized for. (Image: Twitter) Ntiva, Inc., a leading provider of managed IT, cloud hosting, cyber security, unified communications and strategic IT consulting services, today announced the acquisition of Equilibrium IT Solutions, Inc. (Equilibrium), a Managed IT Services Provider based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2004, in Chicago, IL, Equilibrium serves businesses across the United States with managed IT services, IT professional services including highly specialized expertise in infrastructure, IT security, cloud solutions, disaster recovery, IT business planning, strategic advising, and Merger & Acquisition IT consulting. Were pleased to welcome the Equilibrium team to the Ntiva family, said Steven Freidkin, CEO of Ntiva. Equilibrium brings a wealth of technical talent to the table and is a solid fit with our growth strategy, enhancing Ntivas capabilities in the mid-market and enterprise markets. With experience in assessing complex IT environments, designing technology solutions, project planning, budgeting, implementing, documenting, and supporting infrastructure, this addition will further strengthen our ability to help Ntivas current and future clients in the mid-market to achieve their technology goals. From inception, weve been obsessed with providing our clients end-to-end integrated business solutions from early concept stages to implementation and beyond, said Glen Hampton, who will be staying on with the company, leading the growth of the enterprise focused practice. Our unique approach includes tailored co-managed IT service solutions to supplement the internal IT staff, as appropriate, that can help organizations reach business objectives at a faster rate, by filling in gaps and offering specialized knowledge. Together with Ntiva, we can now offer an affordable and compelling suite of enhanced services for businesses (including 7x24 help desk, SOC, SIEM, & incident response) who see partnering with a national technology partner as strategic to their growth in a competitive global marketplace. The addition of Equilibrium also builds on Ntivas Chicago-based acquisitions of HigherGround and 3Points in 2019, further solidifying Ntivas Midwest footprint and continuing to help our clients grow their business with advanced technology. About Ntiva, Inc. Ntiva is a leading IT services company that provides businesses across the U.S. with advanced technology expertise and support, including managed IT services, strategic IT consulting, cloud services, cyber-security and telecom solutions. Their team of world-class talent genuinely cares about the relationships they build and understands that response and precision are fundamental keys to a successful partnership. Ntivas ultimate objective is to help clients leverage their technology investments to improve business performance. Media Contact: Holly Dowden, holly.dowden@ntiva.com VP of Marketing, Ntiva, Inc. 703 891 0131 That larrikin legend has attracted some of the worlds biggest stars Rolling Stones front-man Mick Jagger memorably made his big screen debut when he played the bushranger in Academy Award-winning director Tony Richardsons controversial 1970 film Ned Kelly (the first time the Kelly story was shot in colour) and has evolved constantly as different sides of his story came to light or fresh viewpoints were imagined. The latest cinematic version of Neds life comes in the form of the Stan Original film True History of the Kelly Gang, directed by Justin Kurzel and inspired by Peter Careys prize-winning novel of the same name. Told from the bushrangers perspective and with an ironic nothing you are about to see is true rider in the opening titles, the film, which recently received critical acclaim at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, follows young Ned as he grows into the legend himself. Forced to act as the head of his family while still just a boy, he is shown undertaking an apprenticeship of sorts with veteran bushranger Harry Power (played by Russell Crowe), before forming his own gang with his brother Dan and their friends. Offering a controversial twist to the tale, this time Ned and his crew are shown not only in the armour they were famous for, but also in borrowed dresses to disguise their attacks and terrify their victims. The shock frocks might be a world away from reality, but as Mercado points out, its unlikely to be the last twist on the tale of our original bad boy. Ned Kelly has brand recognition now, he says. Hes been in films, television, stage shows, commercials he was even used to sell headache tablets! He is a true icon and for whatever reason, hes our icon. Which is why theres been so many versions of his story so far and were probably going to get even more. True History of the Kelly Gang on Stan. Credit:Stan Thats very true, says Brad Webb, Kelly expert and author of Ned Kelly: The Iron Outlaw who reports a French production crew was in Australia just last year exploring the similarities in Ned Kellys story to that of French Revolutionaries. All you need to do is Google the name to see how fascinated we are by Ned Kelly, says Webb. There are millions upon millions of references to him and that number goes up all the time. Its easy to see why. In a time when the young colony was struggling to survive, here was Ned, a brave young man with dash and flair, living a life that seemed to borrow heavily from the story of Robin Hood (and apparently the French) as he fought against authority. Almost instantly, the exploits of the Kelly gang caught the public attention - and by the time he was caught, Ned and his armour were cultural icons. If you look at the period when the Kelly events unfolded, which coincided with the birth of the modern newspaper, crowds would gather around The Age and The Argus [newspaper] offices where they were pumping out updates every half hour as news came in during the siege of Glenrowan, Webb says. They were typesetting and selling them as fast as they could get them out, his was a story that instantly caught the public attention and has held on ever since. The Stan Original film True History of the Kelly Gang is now streaming, only on Stan Australias unrivalled home of original productions. Pakistani police on Tuesday arrested a Pashtun lawmaker as he protested the detention of a prominent leader from the ethnic minority community, a police official said. Mohsin Dawar was protesting in front of the National Press Club here against the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen, the chief of the rights-based alliance Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), when he was detained. Pashteen, the 27-year-old activist, was arrested along with nine supporters in Peshawar and sent to a jail on a 14-day judicial remand. Local police officer Akhtar Ali told the media that Dawar was taken into custody for creating a law and order situation. He along with around 30 supporters were detained, the officer said. PTM leader Dawar was elected as a member of the National Assembly from South Waziristan in 2018. He along with fellow parliamentarian from PTM, Ali Wazir, was arrested last year in June for allegedly inciting violence against the army when local people attacked a post of security forces in South Waziristan. They were granted bail in September. The PTM was started in 2014 by Pashteen in South Waziristan as Mehsud Tahfuz Movement to demand protection for Mehsud tribesmen at the height of war against terrorism in the tribal areas, bordering Afghanistan. However, it was renamed as PTM in 2018 after a successful sit-in Islamabad when it began attracting youth from across country. The PTM has been critical of the Army's policies in the restive northwestern tribal areas where a massive operation against terrorists was carried out in recent years, leading to large-scale displacement and enforced disappearances. Former army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor in one of press conferences last year accused the group of being used by anti-Pakistan elements in Afghanistan. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani tweeted against the arrest of Pashteen and was criticized by Pakistan for interfering in its domestic affairs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 21:03:52|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close RAMALLAH, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Authority (PA) said on Tuesday that the new U.S. Middle East peace plan, also known as the "Deal of the Century," aims to establish an isolated Palestinian entity in the Gaza Strip. "The deal calls for establishing an isolated entity in the Gaza Strip and imposes a full Israeli sovereignty on the West Bank," the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an emailed press statement. The statement said that "the U.S. plan is not more than an Israeli idea with a new American dress that deals with the Palestinian cause as a population problem," which needs economic relief. "The American concept of resolving the Palestinian cause basically depends on economic peace that has been rejected by the Palestinian leadership many years ago," said the statement. Meanwhile, clashes broke out on Tuesday morning between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers east of Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip close to the borders with Israel, according to eyewitnesses. No injuries were reported. The protests erupted after dozens of young men gathered near the fence of the borders with Israel to demonstrate against the Deal of the Century. No. 2: It does not have bipartisan support. To this point, the former Acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger observed on Twitter that Mr. Starr, one of his former students, assumes that is a criticism of Democrats who have proceeded alone rather than of the GOP members who have refused to consider joining in a serious critique of the presidents actions. No. 3: The process was so flawed as to be illegitimate and a danger to the Republic. This has been the Republicans claim from the start, and it is no more valid today than when this process began. The main lesson of Mr. Starrs presentation: Irony is dead. Equally riveting was the presentation by Jane Raskin, whose job was to argue that Rudy Giuliani, Mr. Trumps personal lawyer and linchpin of the whole scheme, is a misunderstood patriot whom Democrats are scapegoating as a colorful distraction from the weakness of their case. Uh, no. Hes colorful, all right, but hes nobodys fall guy. Mr. Giuliani earns some ink in Mr. Boltons book. According to the Times account, Mr. Bolton writes in his manuscript that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted to him last spring that Mr. Giulianis smear campaign against Marie Yovanovitch, who was the American ambassador to Ukraine, was unfounded. Mr. Bolton also writes that he shared his concerns with White House lawyers last year that Mr. Giuliani was leveraging his work for the president to benefit his other private clients. Mr. Bolton, you will recall from the House hearings, once referred to Mr. Giuliani as a hand grenade whos going to blow everybody up. Later in the afternoon Monday, it fell to Pam Bondi, the former Republican attorney general of Florida, to shift attention to the work done and the money made in Ukraine by Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. And so the defense plowed on, even as the smoke from the Bolton bombshell hung over the chamber. All of this is enough to make a Republican senator wonder how many other shoes are yet to drop. Worse still, from lawmakers standpoint, multiple people within the White House have known about Mr. Boltons revelation since December, when he submitted a manuscript for prepublication review, as required. This means that senior White House officials knew full well on Saturday that the basis for much of the argument that day by the presidents defense lawyers was false and the evidence was destined to become public soon. When it comes to any merger, you often cant trust the reason the firms are merging, particularly if financial rather than operational managers are driving the process. When it comes to hostile takeovers, you can bet you are being misled, because the rhetoric will address synergy and the power of the two firms together, but the folks driving the effort know the more likely goal is to destroy the acquired company. Carl Icahn, who is one of the most feared corporate raiders in the world possibly the most feared is behind this one. He is known to be the death of firms he touches, while he almost always benefits personally to a high degree. Ill share some observations on Xeroxs attempt at a hostile merger with HP Inc., which I expect to fail, and then close with my product of the week: an interesting gaming laptop from HP. Hostile Mergers: A Game of Misdirection One exception to the usual pattern was Oracles hostile acquisition of Peoplesoft. In that case, Oracle was up front about the fact that it wanted to shut down and absorb Peoplesoft, which was the result. Given the goal was to shut down Peoplesoft, Oracle got rid of a painful competitor and was able to acquire most of the customers, because migrating off Peoplesoft wasnt easy and Oracle executed sharply. This isnt to say the Peoplesoft customers were happy. They mostly werent, but Oracle did do what it said it would do. Generally, hostile mergers are about either destroying a competitor (as was the case with Peoplesoft) or acquiring key technology that the entity backing the merger wants to access. For instance, when Broadcom attempted a hostile acquisition of Qualcomm, it was believed to be backed by Apple, which appeared to want to eliminate iPhone competitors and gain control of Qualcomms intellectual property, potentially returning it to market leadership. The U.S. government blocked the move as a matter of national security, likely out of concern that it would have handed 5G leadership to Huawei and China. That alone could have shifted the balance of power from the U.S. to China. Strangely, Broadcom went on to acquire CA, which suggests that it had another reason for a fast merger the most likely being that it didnt want its financials to settle. One way to hide poor financial performance is to create lots of noise, and mergers create lots of noise. The irony here is CA was a company that also was built by rapid acquisitions and treating customers badly. Even the rumor CA was going to acquire a firm would lead to that firms customers running for the hills. At least that merger didnt appear to be hostile. Xeroxs Hidden Agenda What brought up the latest speculation is the A list directors Xerox brought forward last week, which made it look like it wanted to replace HPs diverse and industry-focused board with one heavy in CEOs and seeming superstars. With an acquisition, particularly a hostile acquisition, the board that remains when the acquisition is over generally is the board the acquiring company started with or, in this case, a board heavy with Carl Icahn employees and arguably controlled by him, even though his name doesnt show up either on the Xerox board or the proposed board. Now, if industry experts ran Xerox, as opposed to financial types, you might assume that the goal might be to eliminate a competitor. However, HP is far broader than Xerox, suggesting that even at the current price, Xerox would be overpaying massively for the benefit it likely would get. Financial types dont overpay for anything it isnt in their nature. So, this effort seems to be focused on getting access to a valuable asset, or assets, that most investors dont realize HP has. Given the level of effort, the asset or assets must be significant, and I think I know what one or both may be. HPs Hidden Jewels HP has two hidden jewels that are significantly undervalued: its 3D printing technology and its print head technology. The first is beginning to play in manufacturing, particularly automotive, and has the potential to massively change manufacturing on a global scale. They not only has created technologies to handle plastics, and plastics in color, but also moved recently to metals and has volume and cost advantages. It has the potential to redefine manufacturing and is on a path that eventually could turn a factory into what effectively is a large printer. This is big, but it still pales in the face of the second technology. HPs print head technology has been adapted to several industries and falls under the general category of microfluidics. Now, applied, this could do things like revolutionize the way car dealerships fix chips in expensive cars (it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair a paint chip in Bugatti, for instance), or it could transform healthcare. This last has massive potential if you understand that blended medications or, more accurately, the steep prices associated with them are a big contributor to excessive medical costs. Further, its currently not easy to match medications with each patients unique body. With the proper sensors, HPs microfluidics technology could do both. It could blend low-cost medications in place, potentially at a fraction of the cost of preblending them, and it could administer exactly the right amount of medicine for a patients unique requirements. That could remove much of the cost of the medications think chemotherapy for instance and virtually eliminate overdoses and massively reduce addiction. This isnt potentially a million dollar or even billion dollar technology it is a trillion dollar technology. Once applied, it has the potential to make HP the most valuable company in the world. Given this is already in lab use, in production, this isnt as far out as you might think. Wrapping Up: Misdirection When a company controlled by a corporate raider like Carl Ichan takes an interest in something, it means there is a part of that something he knows is massively undervalued, because the cost of his effort will be extreme, and he is not known for losing money. Figuring out what he really is after is critical to understanding his strategy, particularly if you are already an investor, because he likely is trying to take a gain that you otherwise might get and make it his own. A D V E R T I S E M E N T He knows how to monetize and sell the most valuable technologies, and he isnt exactly known for leaving much behind, which is why his skill set is known as corporate raider. Those of us who recall what he did to TWA are hoping he doesnt do the same thing to HP. Id almost bet the hidden buyer he has in the wings is connected to China, as it has both the money and the interest in making sure these revolutionary technologies migrate along with jobs and revenue out of the U.S. Since Im focusing on HP this week, I thought Id pick one of the more interesting notebooks I saw at CES. It has a second smaller display above the keyboard, and the touchpad is relocated to the far right so it more easily can be used as you would use a mouse while gaming. It is rigged with a dongle that allows it to play Xbox games from the Microsoft cloud. HP Omen X 2S RTX Studio Laptop While not a cheap date at US$1,999, it provides the combination of full-on desktop performance with a usage model that most serious gamers who need a portable solution would appreciate. I didnt get a chance to do much more than get a feel for the ergonomics which are good but it has an impressive industrial design. While not lightweight by any measure, it is still light enough to carry in a backpack and for those who want a truly powerful gaming system to take with them, this might be the ideal choice. Be aware, though, that it is a tad too large to play easily in an airplane seat. It has the new 2070 Nvidia RTX ray tracing card and an Intel 9th generation processor with six cores, as well as a 1-TB SSD drive, so it likely will outperform your gaming desktop machine. It looks awesome. The second screen is handy if you are playing a game and also watching your email, messaging, or looking for an alert or if your boss, teacher or spouse is sneaking up on you. Its performance means it also is good for photo or video editing, and it would be amazing for those who want the latest automatic Photoshop features showcased in Intel and Adobes CES demonstrations to work properly. While I chose this laptop partially because of my interest in HPs hidden gems this week, another part of HP that stands out is its PC unit, which is one of the most innovative and balanced units in the segment. Its newOmen X2S RTX Studio 15 Laptop is one of the most interesting products in the companys line, so it is my product of the week. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network. St. Pauls Artist Series presents "A Golden Wire," the New York-based period instrument ensemble, performing No Noise nor Silence: Music of the English Restoration. The concert takes place at St. Pauls Episcopal Church, 305 W. Seventh at Pine St., on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. Single tickets are $40, $30, $25, students with ID are $10, and can be purchased in advance through the St. Pauls website, by phon at 423-266-8195 and will also be sold at the door on the night of the concert. A Golden Wire is a period instrument ensemble specializing in music of England and the British Isles, combining the Baroques most intimate and subtle instruments to bring the past to life. Comprised of Parker Ramsay, harp and harpsichord; Arnie Tanimoto, viola da gamba; Kevin Payne, theorbo; Sara Tomlin voice, the ensembles program No Noise nor Silence: Music of the Elizabethan Restoration features music by English and French composers including Henry Purcell, Thomas Campion, John Dowland, Alfonso Ferrabosco, and Marin Marais, among others. Parker Ramsay, co-director of A Golden Wire, notes, In this concert, our musicians will recreate the musical world of 17th century England featuring the music of Henry Purcell and his contemporaries, as well as their 16th century predecessors. After the repressive Commonwealth era where music and entertainment were banned, the Restoration of the British Monarchy under Charles II brought French and Italian influences to the British Isles and breathed new life into English music. Our program weaves a tapestry of music from this era incorporating instrumental and vocal works by French and English composers right up to the music of Henry Purcell, the greatest composer of the age. Drawing on our expertise in the area of historical performance, we aim not only to charm the listeners but to transport them to another place and time. Paul Thomas, music director at St. Pauls, comments, We are delighted to present thisoutstanding period instrument ensemble on our Artists Series this season. The sounds of lute,viol, harp and voice will resonate beautifully in our space, and the enchanting music will surelycaptivate our audience. "It is our honor to recognize the contribution of these outstanding legal professionals to the firm. Each possesses an extraordinary depth of subject matter expertise and operates with a personal dedication to delivering exemplary support for our clients," says Andy Sandler, the firm's Chairman and CEO . "The advancement of these outstanding lawyers reflects our firm's active and strong commitment to diversity in the legal profession and to ongoing investment in continued business growth." About Sandler Law Group's Partners and Of Counsel Brad Cope, Partner, has more than twenty-five years of legal experience in the residential mortgage industry, both in-house and in private practice, advising financial institutions and licensed lenders on mortgage origination and regulatory compliance issues. Brad holds a B.A. from Rice University (Cum Laude) and a J.D. from Duke University. Christina Jenkins, Partner, has dedicated more than twenty years to the mortgage industry, with extensive experience in residential and commercial originations, servicing, and compliance. She advises clients on a broad range of mortgage banking compliance issues, assisting lenders from origination to closing as well as in post-closing compliance review, with a special emphasis on Texas legal practice. Christina holds a B.A. and a J.D. from Texas Wesleyan University. David Pederson, Partner, offers more than thirty-five years of legal and compliance experience in banking, consumer finance, real estate, and construction law. He has focused experience in mortgage lending origination and servicing requirements, secondary marketing issues, usury and fee exportation, and state licensing and examination. He holds a B.A. from the University of Texas and a J.D. from the University of Houston. Diane Jenkins, Of Counsel, focuses her practice on residential mortgage lending and advises clients on matters related to loan documentation and state and federal compliance. She has extensive experience practicing as in-house counsel and compliance officer for both mortgage originations and servicing companies. Diane holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a J.D. from the University of Tulsa. Regina Uhl, Partner, has extensive experience in real estate transactions and document preparation, providing services to some of the nation's largest mortgage lenders. Her experience includes service as General Counsel of a national mortgage lender. Ms. Uhl is licensed as an attorney in Texas, Kentucky, and Illinois and is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization for her demonstrated expertise in the area of Residential Real Estate law. Ms. Uhl received her B.A. from the University of Dallas and her J.D. from St. Mary's University School of Law. For more information regarding the attorneys and practice areas of Sandler Law Group, please visit www.sandlerllc.com . About Sandler Law Group Sandler LLC (Sandler, PLLC d/b/a Sandler Law Group in Texas) offers mortgage companies a holistic residential mortgage loan process that includes compliance management strategies, regulatory expertise, document preparation, closing and fulfillment services for the mortgage lending industry. To learn more about Sandler Law Group, please visit www.sandlerllc.com . Brad Cope is the attorney responsible for the content of this release. Other than as noted at www.sandlerllc.com , the attorneys of Sandler Law Group are not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. SOURCE Sandler Law Group Related Links http://www.sandlerllc.com O fgem has opened an investigation into problems over a billion-pound electricity cable that was delivered late by National Grid and Scottish Power. The cable runs under the sea from Hunterston in Scotland to Flintshire in Wales and was completed by the two energy giants in March 2017, two years later than promised. On completion the line was hailed as the worlds largest subsea interconnecting cable, carrying surplus electricity from Scottish wind farms to England and Wales. It was supposed to provide energy for millions of households but has been plagued with problems and has never worked properly. In 2018 the cable suffered outages three times, while in 2019 it was offline for seven months. In December the cable failed again and the energy regulator has now run out of patience. Ofgem said: The investigation will review the performance of National Grid and Scottish Power in delivering the cable. It will consider whether its late delivery means they breached licence conditions. It will also examine potential breaches relating to the operation of the cable. Ofgem has the power to fine the two energy suppliers up to 10% of their turnover, while the regulator warned it could also mean higher prices for consumers. A spokeswoman for National Grid said: Right now there is enough energy on the grid but there could be an additional cost to consumers the longer the cable remains offline. The investigation comes months after National Grid agreed to pay $36 million to customers in New York following a run-in with Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo. National Grid had refused to service gas customers in Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island after state regulators rejected a proposal for a new pipeline. Pavitra Sriprakash By CHENNAI: We are living in an age where our government is extensively engaging citizens through digital technologies. With open channels for citizen participation across various sectors and interest groups, its only a matter of time when digital technologies become the lifeblood of our cities. Technology can rapidly transform cities once they are wired to be smart. From information and communications technology (ICT) to the Internet of Things (IoT), in which objects are connected to the Internet any object can become part of an intelligent urban network, collecting data through sensors, analysing them and giving elected officials and city administrators an unparalleled understanding of the infrastructure and services of their city. Part of what it takes for cities to become smart involves the framework through investments in the information and communications technologies that becomes the basis of everything from the power grid to the transportation systems. But this is only one half of the story. Equally important are the kinds of technologies that enable stakeholders residents, visitors, daily commuters and tourists to derive more value from their cities infrastructure and services and further still contribute to their planning and design. A study was published by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), in order to investigate how citizens and businesses in 12 diverse cities around the world (Barcelona, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York City, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Singapore and Toronto) envision the benefits of smart cities. The two big trends predicted by the study are the The connected city how digital technology can be a catalyst for urban transformation, and The fixable city near real-time feedback on urban services. The study goes to show that the most popular communication tools between city governments and citizens are social media (44 per cent) and e-mail (42 per cent). To push this boundary further, it is possible in smart cities to engage citizens for direct feedback on services or submit their ideas for improvements with just a smartphone and some apps! According to the EIU survey, 36 per cent of respondents cite telecom services as the digital technology that has impacted their lives over the past three years, followed by transportation (31 per cent), crime prevention (21 per cent) and social services such as healthcare and education (21 per cent). Interestingly, despite the differences in challenges and the varying levels of economic development, the responses show that across cities the same areas have seen improvements from the use of digital technologies going to show that urban issues are somewhat consistentthe world is flat! We have all walked past overflowing garbage, feeling helpless, shrugging it off in dismay and walking on. A few engaged citizens may have gone through the trouble to put in a call to their municipal authorities to complain, but this required effort to track down the right department and phone number. In many cities across the world including Chennai, this has already changed! Today, using the Namma Chennai App by the Greater Chennai Corporation residents in these can register complaints with the Corporation by sending in a picture or description of anything from a broken sidewalk to a street-light outage. Start today, download the app and become a connected citizen of the city of Chennai. UNICEF representative in India Yasmin Ali Haque on Tuesday met Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu here at the Raj Bhavan, an official said. Haque briefed the LG about the welfare programmes of UNICEF and their execution in the Union Territory for the advancement of rights and development of children, adolescents and women. The programmes focus on promoting primary education, gender equality and women empowerment; reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating deadly diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and increasing public awareness in this regard, the official said. Murmu highlighted the achievements of the UT in these areas and the steps being taken by the Jammu and Kashmir administration to meet the obligations enumerated in the UNICEF Charter. He assured full cooperation in effective implementation of public welfare programmes of the UNICEF, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle BETHLEHEM - A man who kept officers at bay for several hours was taken into custody Tuesday morning, police said. Town police went to a home in Selkirk at about 6:20 p.m. Monday with hopes of checking on the welfare of a man. Police say they discovered the man was wanted and a standoff ensued. (Newser) Accepting the findings of a court-ordered DNA test, Belgium's former King Albert II conceded Monday that woman he's fought a legal battle with for years is his daughter. "The scientific conclusions show that he is the biological father of Mrs. Delphine Boel," his lawyer said in a statement. Boel, 51, could be in line for one-eighth of Albert's estate, the Guardian reports. She can also call herself a royal princess. Albert, 85, abdicated in 2013, saying he'd become too frail for the mostly ceremonial job of king. He had long denied having an affair or a child, then seemed to say otherwise in a 1999 Christmas speech, per the Telegraph. "The queen and I have remembered very happy periods," he said, "but also the crisis that our couple has experienced more than 30 years ago." A biography of Queen Paola had brought up the subject, per the AP. story continues below Albert lost legal immunity when he abdicated, and Boel restarted her court fight. Last fall, a court ruled that Boel's legal father, Jacques, is not her biological father and ordered DNA tests. Sybille de Selys Longchamps, Boel's mother, discussed her long affair with Albert in an 2013 interview. "I thought I could not have children because I had had an infection," she said. "It was a beautiful period. Delphine was a love child. Albert was not the father figure but he was very sweet to her." (Read more King Albert stories.) A 41-year-old man who played a major role in an oxycodone distribution ring in Philadelphia and South Jersey has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison. Daniel Watson, of Bellmawr, took part in eight deals in which 1,180 oxycodone pills changed hands in 2018, the U.S. Attorneys Office for New Jersey said Monday. Three of the eight transactions were conducted in front of a Philadelphia hospital in which one of Watsons associates - a chief surgical technologist employed by the hospital - was wearing his hospital scrubs. The hospital employee - Anthony Pepe, of Cherry Hill, was sentenced in November to 2 1/2 years in prison. Philadelphia resident Prussia Hing, who authorities said was the source of the pills, received the same sentence. Of the 1,180 pills the men sold, 680 of were unadulterated oxycodone and 500 were pressed pills mixed with hydrocodone, codeine and methylphenidate. The hospital is not named in court papers. FBI agents used a confidential informant and an undercover officer to get inside the alleged drug ring from January to May in 2018, making eight undercover purchases worth over $25,000. In one instance, the informant and Watson met Pepe while he was on break outside the hospital, and purchased the drugs from him there. Agents also watched Pepe exchange items - on one occasion hidden in a surgical mask - with Hing in his car at the same location, Stobin said. Three transactions took place at a convenience store near Watsons home, according to court papers - one inside the store, one in Watsons SUV and the third in the parking lot. Two others took place in an undercover officers truck on a road near Watsons home. The final three were in front of the hospital in Watsons vehicle, prosecutors said. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Govt with full force take agenda of progress and prosperity of ppl: Firdous Ashiq Awan ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan on Monday said the government would take forward with full force the agenda of progress and prosperity of people under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan. In a series of tweets, the SAPM said Prime Ministers visit to Karachi was a good news for the youth of Sindh. She said that the distribution of cheques by the PM among youth of Sindh under Kamyab Jawan programme would eventually rid them of disappointment and dismay. She expressed the optimism that the programme will prove to be an important step towards materialisation of dreams of youth of Sindh. The Special Assistant said progress of youth of Sindh meant the strengthening the Federation and added empowering the youth as vision of the Prime Minister since they were asset for the country. She said these initiatives were imperative to create opportunities for the youth to move forward, make them partner in the development process, and to expedite the economic progress. The Special Assistant said that those who wanted to create political chaos have got disappointed. She said the political opponents, who were trying to portray democratic differences as conspiracy, should rest informed that the government was not only strong with the support of the allies but the democratic differences have also been resolved in a democratic manner. Firdous said Prime Minister Imran Khan was taking initiatives to bring back the industry shifted abroad. The prime minister and his economic team have been taking serious steps to revive the economy. With the restoration of peace, the trust deficit of the business community, which used to be at the mercy of terrorists and extortionists, has been removed. The government is setting up special economic and industrial zones, where all possible facilities will be provided to the industrialists settled abroad, she added. Dr Firdous was addressing a press conference here before taking oath of the newly elected office-bearers of the Jhang Press Club. The SAPM said it was the right time to invest in the country as a business-friendly government was in the power. Its initiatives for ease of doing business had been appreciated by the countrys entire trade and industrial community. She said the prime ministers day-long visit to Karachi was important, where he was welcomed by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah at the airport which was a positive development for strengthening democracy in the country. This is a good omen for the nation that all the political parties will play their role for the development and prosperity of Pakistan while remaining in their constitutional limits. She said the prime minister met the business community in Karachi, who reposed their complete trust in his government policies. They also expressed their satisfaction on the ease of doing business initiatives taken by his economic team, she added. The prime minister, she said, apprised the businessmen that his recent visit to Davos for addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2020 incurred less expenses as compared to his previous counterparts. The business community also lauded the prime ministers stance at the WEF 2020 as his bold economic policies are even acknowledged at the global foras. She said during his meeting with the Sindh chief minister, the prime minister discussed the development projects in Karachi, for which the Federal Government had already allocated Rs162 billion. The provincial government would hopefully work for the betterment and development of the people with the vision of good governance and a corruption-free Sindh. Dr Firdous said under the Prime Ministers Kamyab Jawan Programme, a large number of business loans would be extended to the youth of Sindh, which would not only end their sense of deprivation but help them to play an active in the countrys development also. Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated against U.S. President Donald Trump's Israeli-Palestinian peace plan on Tuesday hours before its scheduled release at a ceremony in Washington. Israeli troops meanwhile reinforced positions near a flashpoint site between the Palestinian city of Ramallah and the Jewish settlement of Beit El in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. While Israeli leaders have welcomed Trump's long-delayed plan, Palestinian leaders rejected it even before its official release. They say his administration is biased towards Israel. Thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets in Gaza City to protest Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan before the report is released on Tuesday Israel has said the deal is 'the opportunity of the century' but Palestinians say the plan was put together without their input and is biased Palestinians in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, chanted 'death to America' and 'death to Israel' as they protested the plan Trump has touted the report as 'a very big plan' ahead of its delayed released on Tuesday (pictured, protesters in the Gaza strip) The Palestinians fear Trump's blueprint will dash their hopes for an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - areas Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War - by permitting Israel to annex large chunks of occupied territory including blocs of Jewish settlements. Diab Al-Louh, the Palestinians' ambassador to Egypt, said on Tuesday they had requested an urgent meeting of the Arab League council at ministerial level - which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would attend. In Gaza City on Tuesday, protesters waved Palestinian flags and held aloft posters of Abbas. 'Trump is a fool, Palestine is not for sale!' an activist shouted through a loudspeaker. Others chanted 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' as as they burned tyres and posters of Trump. More protests were expected after Trump announces details of his plan later in the day. An Israeli military spokesman said troops had been sent to reinforce the West Bank's Jordan Valley - an area which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to partially annex. Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian mission to Britain, told Reuters in London that Trump's peace plan was merely 'political theatre'. 'It is not a peace deal. It is the 'bantustan-isation' of the people of Palestine and the land of Palestine. We will be turned into bantustans,' he said, refering to the nominally independent black enclaves in apartheid-era South Africa. Trump is due to release the plan Tuesday alongside Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, amid widespread condemnation from Palestinians Palestinians fear the plan with offer financial incentives in return for allowing Israel to annex around half of the West Bank and settlements in occupied territories Palestinians march during a protest against Trump's Middle East peace plan in the streets of Gaza City on Tuesday 'Jan. 28, 2020 will mark the official legal stamp of approval of the United States for Israel to implement a full-fledged apartheid system,' he said. Israel vehemently rejects any comparison to the former South African regime. Trump will deliver joint remarks with Netanyahu at the White House later on Tuesday to outline his plan, the result of three years work by his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner. He met with Netanyahu and the Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz ahead of the announcement. Both were briefed on its contents. Netanyahu said it was 'the opportunity of a century and we're not going to pass it by.' Gantz called it a 'significant and historic milestone.' A Netanyahu spokesman said he would fly to Moscow on Wednesday to brief Russian President Vladimir Putin on the proposals. But Israeli-Palestinian talks broke down in 2014, and it is far from clear that the Trump plan will resuscitate them. Palestinian and Arab sources who were briefed on a draft of the plan fear that it will seek to bribe Palestinians into accepting Israeli occupation, in what could be a prelude to Israel annexing about half of the West Bank. A view from a the Palestinian neighbourhood of Jabal Mukaber shows the Israeli settlement of Nof Zion and the Old City of Jerusalem including the Dome of the Rock An Israeli settler walks past a Palestinian house with verandas covered in meshing with one bearing a protest sign reading in English 'Arabs are prohibited, this is Apartheid St.' Further obstacles include the continued expansion of Israeli settlements on occupied land and the rise to power in Gaza of the Islamist movement Hamas, which is formally committed to Israel's destruction. Palestinian leaders say they were not invited to Washington, and that no plan can work without them. An Abbas spokesman urged any Arab or Muslim officials invited to the ceremony to boycott it. Addressing their fears, Trump said on Monday: 'They probably won't want it initially...but I think in the end they will. It's very good for them. In fact it's overly good to them.' But on Monday Abbas said he would not agree to any deal that did not secure a two-state solution. That formula, the basis for many years of frustrated international peace efforts, envisages Israel co-existing with a Palestinian state. Palestinians have refused to deal with the Trump administration in protest at such pro-Israeli policies as its moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, whose eastern half the Palestinians seek for a future capital. Trump is due to announce the plan on Tuesday alongside Netanyahu as Palestinians say they were not consulted on the contents Palestinians protesters burn a poster depicting US President Donald Trump during a demonstration against the Middle East peace deal in Gaza City Palestinians chant slogans during a protest against the so-called 'Deal of the Century', planned by Trump to solve the conflict between Palestinians and Israel The Trump administration in November reversed decades of U.S. policy when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington no longer regarded the settlements on West Bank land as a breach of international law. Palestinians and most countries view the settlements as illegal, which Israel disputes. Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said both Trump and Netanyahu were looking to change the subject from their own domestic troubles. 'The problem is it doesn't feel like this is the beginning of an important initiative,' Alterman said. Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives last month and is on trial in the Senate on abuse of power charges. On Tuesday Netanyahu was formally indicted in court on corruption charges, after he withdrew his bid for parliamentary immunity from prosecution. Both men deny any wrongdoing. The asset management arm of insurance giant Sun Life Financial is planning its first middle-market private debt acquisition, according to a Reuters report. The newswire suggests that the move is part of a strategy of aiming to expand into higher-yielding investments. Randy Brown, head of insurance asset management at SLC Management, told Reuters that the firm will focus on higher-quality middle-market issuers with strong covenant protection and could also reallocate risk from elsewhere in its portfolio. [January 28, 2020] Canadians are invited to share their views on CBC's programming: consultation period extended The CRTC is holding a public consultation on the renewal of its broadcasting licences OTTAWA and GATINEAU, QC, Jan. 28, 2020 /CNW/ - The CRTC is extending its consultation period by one week for Canadians to submit their opinions on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Societe Radio-Canada's programming. This extension follows the submission of a study on public broadcasters in other jurisdictions, which has been added to the public record of the renewal proceeding. As part of the CBC/Radio-Canada licence renewal process, the CRTC wants to hear from Canadians across the country to ensure that the content produced and distributed by the public broadcaster reflects the diversity of Canada's population, while meeting its needs in both official languages. Given changes in the models for the production and distribution of content, the Commission is inviting Canadians to review how CBC/Radio-Canada content is made available to them on various platforms. They will also have an opportunity to share their opinion on how content relates to the following themes: reflection, production, accessibility and discoverability, and contribution to democratic life in Canada. Canadians can submit their comments by February 20, 2020 using one of the following methods: filling out the online form writing to the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A ON2 or K1A ON2 or sending a fax to 819-994-0218. Quote "CBC/Radio-Canada plays an important role in the lives of Candians. As Canada's national public broadcaster, its main objective is to provide programming that is designed to inform, enlighten and entertain. As part of our consultation, we want to hear the opinions of Canadians so that they are reflected in CBC/Radio-Canada's programming." Ian Scott, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, CRTC Quick facts CBC/Radio-Canada's mandate is to provide predominantly Canadian programming that informs, enlightens and entertains, and reflects Canada's various geographic, cultural and linguistic realities and identities. various geographic, cultural and linguistic realities and identities. CBC/Radio-Canada's current radio and television licences will expire on August 31, 2020 . . As part of its review, the CRTC will hold a public hearing in the National Capital Region beginning on May 25, 2020 . Associated links Stay Connected Follow us on Twitter: @CRTCeng Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/crtceng Make a complaint or ask a question SOURCE Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission CHICAGO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP, an intellectual property law firm with a longstanding commitment to the advancement of women leaders, is proud to announce the election of two of its attorneys to privately held boards. Julie M. Watson was elected to the Certified Licensing Professionals (CLP) Board of Governors and Pamela L. Cox was elected to the Executive Committee of the University Club of Chicago Board of Directors. Pamela L. Cox is partner and chair of IP Transactions at Marshall Gerstein. Julie M. Watson is special counsel at Marshall Gerstein. "Pam and Julie have demonstrated remarkable commitment to leadership," said Jeff Sharp, managing partner for Marshall Gerstein. "Their approach to ensuring continuous, exemplary service is a hallmark of our firm's progressive leadership, and we are proud of their ongoing commitment to these and many other prominent organizations." Watson and Cox are attorneys in Marshall Gerstein's intellectual property transaction practice. Cox, who chairs the practice, cites the internal leadership opportunities afforded by the firm, including chairing the firm's strategic planning and marketing committees, as foundational preparation for her external leadership roles. Cox currently serves as vice president and board member of the Licensing Executive Society International (LESI), is co-founder and co-chair of Women in Licensing Alliance, founder of LESI Life Science Advisory Board, and former chairperson of the CLP Board of Governors. Watson, who has dedicated her career to technology transfer, held leadership roles in-house prior to joining the firm, including chief of intellectual property at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and vice president of the technology transfer function of Indiana University. Watson is a frequent speaker and educator on intellectual property and transaction issues, and along with Cox, is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law. Marshall Gerstein's IP transactions practice consistently ranks among the world's best and was recently selected as one of only three firms in Illinois ranked "highly recommended" in Intellectual Asset Management 1000: The World's Leading Patent Professionals. "This is recognition of the value Julie and Pam bring to client transactions," said Sharp. "They're the team you want negotiating your deals." Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP is exclusively focused on intellectual property law. Headquartered in Chicago, IL with a second office in Raleigh, NC, the firm provides sophisticated intellectual property advice and legal services to many of the world's largest, most innovative businesses, research institutions, universities, and entrepreneurs. Chambers & Partners has ranked Marshall Gerstein as "first-rate for litigation," and "one of the best biotechnology practices in the entire country." The firm is also ranked as a top intellectual property law firm by Managing Intellectual Property, Fortune, Intellectual Property Today and Intellectual Asset Management magazines. Learn more at www.marshallip.com and www.PTABWatch.com. Contact: Mark Levin Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP (312) 474-9543 [email protected] SOURCE Marshall Gerstein The increase in the number of data breaches during 2019, while not surprising, is a serious issue, said Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center. Today, the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nationally recognized non-profit organization established to support victims of identity crime, released its annual End-of-Year Data Breach Report for 2019 with the support of the reports long-time sponsor CyberScout, a global leader in identity theft resolution, data defense and employee benefits services. According to the report, the number of U.S. data breaches tracked in 2019 (1,473) increased 17 percent from the total number of breaches reported in 2018 (1,257). However, 2019 saw 164,683,455 sensitive records exposed, a 65 percent decrease from 2018 (471,225,862). The 2018 Marriott data breach exposed 383 million records alone, significantly skewing the data. The increase in the number of data breaches during 2019, while not surprising, is a serious issue, said Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center. It would appear that 2018 was an anomaly in how many data breaches were reported and the number of records exposed. The 2019 reporting year sees a return to the pattern of the ever-increasing number of breaches and volume of records exposed. Because that means more consumers are becoming victims, the ITRC will continue to help them by providing guidance on the best ways to navigate the dangers of exposed personally identifiable information (PII) from a data breach and the risks of identity crime as a result. This years report paints a mixed view of the landscape as we continue to work with businesses and consumers alike to thwart cyber criminals and contain their damage, said Matt Cullina, CyberScouts EVP of Strategic Partnerships and Managing Director of Global Markets; and Board Chair of the Identity Theft Resource Center. The overall increase in breaches is certainly concerning. However, the extraordinary drop in the number of records exposed and the incredible feat of cutting the sensitive PII exposed by two thirds, indicates that we may be moving in a good direction with regards to the extent of the damage associated with breaches. Businesses and consumers need to continue to be vigilant in protecting data and systems, ensuring they have current protections in place, because even non-sensitive data exposure can lead to more serious issues." Another critical finding was that hacking was responsible for the highest percentage of data breaches (39 percent) and the highest number of non-sensitive records exposed (81 percent). Unauthorized access was the second most common breach method identified with nearly the same percentage as hacking at 36.5 percent. Unauthorized access continued to be a catch-all category with little transparency on the actual method of intrusion throughout 2019. For the second straight year, the business sector had the most data breaches (644), while the medical/healthcare sector had the second most (525). The government/military sector had the fewest amount of breaches in 2019 at 83. The ITRC has also now tracked over 10,000 publicly-notified data breaches since 2005, hitting that milestone in the spring of 2019. Download the 2019 End-of-Year Data Breach Report. For anyone that has been a victim of a data breach, the ITRC recommends downloading its free app to manage the various aspects of an individuals data breach case. Consumers and victims can receive free support and guidance from a knowledgeable live-advisor by calling 888.400.5530 or visiting http://www.idtheftcenter.org to live-chat. Identity Theft Resource Center Charity Lacey VP of Communications O: 858-634-6390 C: 619-368-4373 clacey@idtheftcenter.org CyberScout Heather McLaughlin media@cyberscout.com About the Identity Theft Resource Center Founded in 1999, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) is a nationally recognized non-profit organization established to support victims of identity theft in resolving their cases, and to broaden public education and awareness in the understanding of identity theft, data breaches, cybersecurity, scams/fraud and privacy issues. Through public and private support, the ITRC provides no-cost victim assistance and consumer education through its contact center, website, social media channels, live chat feature and ID Theft Help app. For more information, visit: http://www.idtheftcenter.org About CyberScout Since 2003, CyberScout has set the standard for full-spectrum identity, privacy and data security services, offering proactive protection, employee benefits, education, resolution, identity management and consulting as well as breach preparedness and response programs. CyberScout products and services are offered globally by 660 client partners to more than 17.5 million households worldwide, and CyberScout is the designated identity theft services provider for more than 750,000 businesses through cyber insurance policies. CyberScout combines extensive experience with high-touch service to help individuals, government, nonprofit and commercial clients minimize risk and maximize recovery. John Bolton has long been known as the bomb-thrower of US diplomacy, but the former White House national security advisor now threatens to blow a hole in President Donald Trump's impeachment defense. Fired last September, Bolton's coming tell-all book about his 17 months in the Trump administration could contain the strongest evidence yet for charges that the president illicitly held up military aid to Ukraine to help his own reelection campaign. A draft of "The Room Where it Happened," scheduled for publication in March, reportedly says Trump told Bolton last August the money -- almost USD 400 million -- would remain frozen until Kiev announced an investigation into Trump's potential election rival, Democrat Joe Biden. That alleged "quid pro quo" is at the heart of the impeachment charge of abuse of power that has Trump on trial in the Senate, facing possible removal from office. Until The New York Times report Sunday of the book's claim, Democrats had faced accusations that they had only indirect evidence of a link between Trump withholding support to Ukraine and pressing the US ally to announce a Biden probe. It had appeared certain that the Republican-dominated Senate would vote easily to acquit Trump. But the leak of the manuscript now challenges the senators to call Bolton to testify against the president -- with unpredictable consequences. Faced with the prospect of a Bolton appearance, Trump has made his position clear. "I don't know if we left on the best of terms," the president admitted candidly last week. "I would say probably not, you know. And so, you don't like people testifying when they didn't leave on good terms." The diplomatic world has long been accustomed to Bolton's incendiary presence and his trademark bushy moustache. An unabashed hawk, he served in the Justice and State Departments of three Republican administrations, starting with Ronald Reagan's in the 1980s, before joining Trump as national security advisor in April 2018. In the 2000s he made his mark on the world stage as US ambassador to the United Nations, where he openly disdained the institution and unapologetically heralded US global projections of its power. That hard line never sat entirely comfortable with the conservative presidents he served, but he relished his role as a provocateur and successive administrations used him as an effective "bad cop" whose threats could strengthen the US line in negotiations. True to form, last year while the Trump administration was seeking a negotiated settlement to the political stand-off in Venezuela, Bolton openly suggested US military intervention. "He has strong views on things but that's okay," Trump said in May 2019. "I actually temper John, which is pretty amazing." But Bolton's strident opposition to Trump negotiating with Iran, North Korea and the Taliban eventually forced his ouster -- though he insists he resigned -- last September. In testimony late last year other national security council officials told the House impeachment investigation Bolton staunchly opposed Trump's pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce investigations into the Democrats. Bolton told aides to stay away from the Ukraine affair and report it to White House lawyers, characterizing the actions of Trump's inner circle as a "drug deal." But he rebuffed a request to turn over documents and testify to the House investigation after Trump ordered current and former staff not to cooperate or hand over any records. Rather than subpoena him, which could have resulted in a year-long court battle, the House sent the impeachment case against Trump to the Senate for trial without his evidence. Since then Bolton has been cagey. He has not denied the testimony of his former aides, but he has refused to speak in public about the Ukraine affair, instead hinting his book would tell all. At the same time, he issued a statement saying that if subpoenaed by the Senate trial, he was prepared to testify. That, however, will require two things: that at least four Republicans, who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, agree with Democrats to issue the subpoena, and secondly, for Trump to not block the testimony with a claim of executive privilege. That could mire the impeachment trial in a court fight over presidential powers -- while significantly raising expectations for the release of Bolton's book. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Heroic Catholic American Surgeon Dr. Tom Catena Earns Top Medical Missionary Award for Saving Lives in Africa's Forgotten War Zone Catena to receive annual prestigious AMH Gerson L'Chaim Prize for 'outstanding Christian medical missionary service' from African Mission Healthcare NEWS PROVIDED BY Jan. 28, 2020 DELAND, Fla., Jan. 28, 2020 / Christian Newswire / -- An American surgeon hailed as "the world's most important doctor"-- to more than a million patients--is being honored with a top international medical award. Today, Florida-based African Mission Healthcare (AMH) announced that Dr. Tom Catena is the recipient of the nonprofit's 2019 Gerson L'Chaim Prize for "Outstanding Christian Medical Missionary Service," sponsored by Jewish philanthropists Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson. Photo: Dr. Tom Catena, an American surgeon and medical missionary, who has voluntarily stayed in war-torn Nuba Mountains to save thousands of lives in conflict-torn Sudan, has been honored with a top medical missionary award, African Mission Healthcare ( AMH ) announced today. Catena will be presented with the Gerson L'Chaim Prize for Outstanding Christian Medical Missionary Service at an awards ceremony in New York City, April 14. "Perhaps the primary Jewish responsibility is to love the stranger, and to do so meaningfully -- in action, where real people materially experience this love," said Mark Gerson, co-founder of AMH and benefactor of the Gerson L'Chaim Prize. "We are so grateful to Tom for providing us with the opportunity to fulfill this Jewish obligation so effectively." Dr. Tom Catena Dr. Tom Catena, a 55-year-old Catholic medical missionary from upstate New York, has served in Africa for 20 years. He is the only surgeon for 1.3 million people in a region nearly twice the size of Massachusetts. As a medical missionary, he put his life on the line living in the middle of the war-torn and besieged Nuba Mountains, a territory fiercely contested by its inhabitants and the former government of Sudan. In 2011, when the capital started bombing its own people in this southernmost state in Sudan, most expatriate workers fled, but Dr. Catena insisted on staying and said, "The source of most of our conflicts is the idea that one person's life is more valuable than someone else's. We have forgotten that we are all children of God and therefore somewhat related." Since 2008, Catena, a graduate of Duke University Medical School and former U.S. Navy doctor, has been the Medical Director at Gidel Mother of Mercy Hospital. The 435-bed Catholic hospital is the only major medical facility in the Nuba Mountains. Catena is on call 24/7, and sometimes sees as many as 350 or more patients in a single day. The World's Most Important Doctor Dr. Peter Attia, host of the popular podcast The Drive, has called Dr. Catena "the world's most important doctor." Additionally, Time Magazine named Dr. Catena "One of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World," and he was the subject of a 2015 Nicholas Kristof New York Times opinion piece titled, " He's Jesus Christ ." "Dr. Tom Catena has given up everything that we in the U.S. take for granted in order to bring healthcare to more than a million people who, without him, would otherwise not have access to any medical care," added Mark Gerson. AMH Gerson L'Chaim Prize AMH has been supporting mission hospitals in Africa since 2010. It launched the L'Chaim (Hebrew for "to life") Prize in 2016, which comes with a $500,000 award, the world's largest annual award of its kind dedicated to direct patient care in Africa. The $500,000 award will go towards the Nuba 2020 campaign to raise $7.5 million to keep the only major hospital in Sudan's war-torn Nuba Mountains fully operational for the next two decades. Catena is leading the Nuba 2020 campaign. Mark Gerson commented on Dr. Catena's endless commitment. "The sheer amount of good he does -- as measured in clinic visits, surgeries, deliveries, community clinic patients treated, and children vaccinated -- with the amount of resources he has is completely stunning. It is simply incredible to even think about how many lives Tom and the team he has built can save and transform with the money that he is provided." "The people of the Nuba Mountains are the bravest and most resilient people I know," said Catena. "I am honored to receive this award that will help enormously with our plans to strengthen and expand the Gidel Mother of Mercy Hospital and our network of clinics in this largely forgotten region of the world." "It's an incredible honor for AMH to recognize Dr. Catena's unparalleled commitment," said Rabbi Erica Gerson, an AMH board member and prize co-sponsor, who will present the award with her philanthropist husband Mark Gerson. "For more than a decade, Tom has endured bombings, epidemics, rainy seasons and flooding, loss of power, lack of equipment and staff, and very little connection with the outside world, all because of his dedication to the Nuba people. He exemplifies what it means to 'walk in all God's ways and to love Him,' and we are honored to be his partner in his sacred work." The prestigious Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson L'Chaim prize will be presented to Catena April 14 at an awards dinner in New York City. About African Mission Healthcare African Mission Healthcare (AMH), a Florida-based nonprofit organization, strengthens African mission hospital to aid those in greatest need. AMH strategically partners with mission hospitals to support and advance their commitment to provide compassionate, quality medical care to the forgotten and hurting people of Africa, and to improve the health system in sub-Saharan Africa. AMH was co-founded in 2010 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark Gerson and medical missionary Dr. Jon Fielder, who were college roommates. SOURCE African Mission Healthcare (AMH) Related Links President Donald Trumps Mideast peace proposal may be dead on arrival, as critics like to say. But the plan could also have the long-term effect of seriously circumscribing at a minimum future U.S. attempts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The proposal unveiled Tuesday, which was overseen by Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner, is heavily sided toward Israel. Although it does not rule out a future Palestinian state as some feared, it lays out tough conditions for Palestinians to meet before being granted statehood. And the vision for the states borders is highly unlikely to be accepted by the Palestinians. Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the president said Tuesday that the plan, titled Peace to Prosperity, was a win-win path for both sides. But he also warned that his proposal could be the last opportunity for the Palestinians to achieve their goals after more than 70 years of conflict. Netanyahu, meanwhile, appeared ready to take Trump's proposal to the limit. He repeatedly praised the president for recognizing Israeli "sovereignty" over disputed lands and is reportedly planning to bring the idea of annexing those areas to a Sunday vote by his Cabinet. The announcement of the plan follows an array of other pro-Israel moves by Trump, including shifting the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, shutting down the Palestinians office in Washington, and cutting off financial aid to the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority long ago cut off its communications with the Trump team. Overall, Trumps actions appear designed to pressure the Palestinians into some sort of peace deal, even if its a far cry from what they want. So far, the Palestinians have resisted; on Tuesday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said his people were responding with a thousand nos. In the long run, however, by creating certain facts on the ground, in the argot of the peace process, Trump may have dramatically redrawn the boundaries of politically acceptable terms for a U.S. administration Democratic or Republican to endorse if it wades into the conflict. Story continues Itll change realities on the ground in a way thats going to be harder to un-ring that bell, said Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the conservative American Foreign Policy Council. The traditional U.S. position has been that "final status" issues are best resolved between the two parties, meaning that Israel and the Palestinians should agree on the most sensitive topics. Each side has staked out non-negotiable demands, and U.S. officials have long sought to craft compromises on what are often utterly incompatible positions. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, speaks during a meeting with the Palestinian Central Council, a top decision-making body, at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed,l) But now, future U.S. presidents might be hard-pressed, for instance, to reverse Trumps decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, a diplomatic carrot Americans had previously withheld. Some Democrats running to replace Trump have already signaled they wont negate the recognition nor move the U.S. Embassy back to Tel Aviv. Its unlikely, too, that future U.S. presidents will reverse Trumps recognition of Israels annexation of the Golan Heights, territory claimed by Syria. Future U.S. leaders also might find it hard to walk back Trumps effort to limit who counts as a Palestinian refugee. Some might even find useful the Trump definition, which would not cover all descendants of original displaced Palestinians, because it could ease Israeli concerns about agreeing to a broad right of return for Palestinian refugees. It could be difficult to unravel Trumps promises to Israel in part due to the precedents they set within Israeli politics, which have shifted decidedly against the Palestinians in recent years. Another consideration: the domestic political price a future U.S. president might pay by provoking a fight with a close ally that retains strong support in Congress. In the American political context, the unfortunate reality is that Trumps plan will shape U.S. domestic perceptions of what is politically possible, a former U.S. official who worked on Israeli-Palestinian issues told POLITICO. "On refugees, Jerusalem, borders, it will almost certainly make it more difficult for a future president to support proposals that are more forthcoming for the Palestinians. Still another reason future presidents hands might be tied is that Israeli leaders have already signaled they will implement pieces of Trumps plan even without Palestinian assent. The plan envisions Israeli control over the Jordan River Valley and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Netanyahu on Tuesday vowed that Israel would start to apply its laws to those areas, a move critics said would mean a de facto annexation. The Israeli prime minister faces an election in just weeks, as well as a raft of legal troubles he was formally indicted on corruption charges hours before he met with Trump. Yet, according to Israeli media, Netanyahu plans to have his Cabinet consider a vote to start annexing parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley as early as Sunday. Such a move could face legal challenges. Through land swaps, Trump says hell ultimately be putting in Palestinian hands twice the amount of territory they already control. But detractors said the lands that Palestinians would ultimately receive are not exactly useful. The swap areas they are giving the Palestinians is a bunch of desert entirely disconnected from the rest of their state while taking prime real estate in the middle of the West Bank, Ilan Goldenberg, a former U.S. official and Democrat who follows Israeli-Palestinian issues, tweeted Tuesday. The administration of Barack Obama tangled early and often with Netanyahu, including a first-year battle over settlements. The Obama team openly worried that Israel's actions were making a future Palestinian state impossible, and leaned on Netanyahu to freeze settlement growth to entice the Palestinian side to negotiate. Israeli officials pointed to past commitments by the George W. Bush administration, including a letter Bush sent to then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shifting the U.S. position on so-called natural growth of existing settlement blocs. The Obama administrations efforts to retract that promise generated harsh criticism from Israels allies in the United States, including current State Department official Elliott Abrams. The blowup over settlements deepened the mistrust between Obamas team and Netanyahu's, and in some ways the relationship never recovered. Last year, the Trump administration reversed decades of policy by deciding that the U.S. no longer views Israels West Bank settlements as inconsistent with international law. Trumps defenders argue he is making hard calls that past presidents have dodged and stripping away illusions that have long prevented the conflict from being resolved. Mere opposition to this vision is simply a declaration of support for the hopeless status quo that is the product of decades of stale thinking, the White House said in a document released Tuesday that echoes past remarks by Kushner. Danielle Pletka of the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute acknowledged that Trump forces some hard questions for the Palestinians but said he also is pushing some hard choices on the Israelis. Look at Bibi talking about a Palestinian state that's important, Pletka said, using Netanyahus nickname. The Israeli prime minister has long downplayed the possibility that such a state could exist. In comments reported by the Israeli press, Trumps former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said this week the top priority of the plans architects was always the national security of Israel. We knew that we couldnt do anything that was going to compromise the security of Israel. But we also knew that the Palestinians deserve a better way of life. To that end, the Trump plan tries to coax the Palestinians to the table by promising them billions of dollars in economic assistance. And while it recognizes many existing Israeli settlements in Palestinian-claimed land as part of Israel, it also calls for a four-year freeze on settlement construction, though it was not quite clear when that freeze would take effect. Trumps plan also insists that Jerusalem will be the undivided capital of Israel, but at the same time, it calls for a future Palestinian state with a capital in parts of East Jerusalem. Former U.S. officials said Trump is engaging in word play that could in the long run undermine talks. There are a lot of parts that Israel calls Jerusalem that Palestinians dont consider Jerusalem, Goldenberg noted. He added that many key Arab neighborhoods of the city may not wind up in a future Palestinian state as envisioned by Trump. That state, as envisioned by a map included in the plan, would for the most part be encircled by Israel, and is not contiguous. The plan also appears to give Israel control over security affairs in that state, noting: A realistic solution would give the Palestinians all the power to govern themselves but not the powers to threaten Israel. The White Houses peace plan envisions the Gaza Strip as a part of a future Palestinian state. That area remains under the control of the militant group Hamas, however, and is the source of rocket fire and other attacks on Israel. Israel also worries about aggression from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group in nearby Lebanon. The White House has said the Palestinians can assume more security responsibility over time, but analysts say its unlikely Israel will allow for Palestinian control of security anytime soon. The plan repeatedly talks about giving the Palestinians a better life and creating more prosperity in the region. But Palestinian leaders say they cannot be bribed into accepting an agreement that does not offer them genuine political autonomy. After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand nos to the Deal of The Century, Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, said Tuesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, mocking past descriptions of the plan. The Palestinians have support from some U.S. lawmakers, including Democrats who say they are mindful of Israels security needs. Any claim that this plan envisions a Palestinian state is just false, tweeted U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). The plan allows Israel to control all security matters inside the Palestinian state, and thus it's not a state at all. But the fraught topic of Israel has often divided Democrats in recent years, with some in the party pushing for a more critical line toward Israel. The emergence of loudly pro-Palestinian voices in Congress, including Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), has led at times to open clashes on Capitol Hill, with House leaders rebuking Omar for her comments on Israel. The fault lines also have emerged in the 2020 presidential campaign trail, with one front-runner for the Democratic nomination Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders defending Omar. The cracks in once-solid Democratic support for Israel are one reason that some former U.S. officials and analysts argue that Trumps moves now may give more space for Democrats to maneuver on the Israeli-Palestinian issue by making it clear past playbooks are not binding. For example, some Democrats say the U.S. should go ahead and open a U.S. diplomatic mission perhaps an embassy in parts of East Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinians. And some Democratic presidential candidates have expressed openness to the idea of conditioning U.S. military aid to Israel on whether it keeps building settlements. Palestinian leaders have avoided contact with the Trump team for many months and none were present for Tuesdays announcement. On Monday, during a separate appearance with Netanyahu, Trump alluded to the seeming oddity of announcing a peace plan where only one side was on board. So people have been working on this for many, many years, and I think were relatively close, he said, but we have to get other people to agree with it also. There were, however, a handful of officials from Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, at Tuesday's event underscoring how much the regions dynamics have changed over the past decade. The Palestinian cause is not the motivating issue it once was for Arab leaders. Many of those leaders now view Irans rise and aggression in the region a more pressing concern, and theyre willing to stay quieter about the Palestinians if it means they can get cooperation from the United States and Israel in containing the Islamist regime in Tehran. But notably, in a sign that Trumps team still had more diplomatic spadework to do, neither of the region's two Arab heavyweights Egypt and Saudi Arabia sent officials to the White House rollout. Another key player, Jordan, also stayed away. And those Arab countries present made it clear the road to Mideast peace remains a long one. This plan is a serious initiative that addresses many issues raised over the years, the UAE Ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba said on Twitter. He added, however, that the plan offers an important starting point for a return to negotiations within a U.S.-led international framework. By Choe Chong-dae The exhibition "The Coa Story" is currently being held at the Museum of Ulsan, opening Oct. 17 last year and running until Feb. 23, in collaboration with the Coa Parque Foundation, Portugal. It raises awareness of the significance of Bangudae Petroglyphs in Ulsan and the importance of their conservation. The Coa rock engravings in Coa Valley, the Northeast of Portugal, feature humans, animals and abstract figures. They are important milestones, showing human cultural development and spiritual life since the Paleolithic era. These petroglyphs were discovered during the construction of a dam in the late 1980s. The dam construction was forced to a halt as a result of a nationwide campaign with strong international support to preserve the ancient art. Young secondary school students started to show their enthusiasm about the rock engravings under the slogan "Petroglyphs can't swim". They protested against the dam construction and thus initiated the campaign to conserve the carvings. This was later called the "Coa Rock Miracle". The Coa Dam construction project was abandoned, safeguarding the prehistoric rock art. Subsequently, the Coa rock art site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site and listed in 1998 in recognition of its outstanding universal value. This Portuguese case reminded me of the Bangudae petroglyphs in Ulsan. I have harbored nostalgic feelings for the Bangudae rock engravings ever since I learned about them from my father, Choe Nam-ju. He was a pioneer of Korean archeology and he predicted the existence of ancient petroglyphs on rocks at the Bangudae site even before its discovery. He had explored the Bangudae site in the spring of 1968 in search of rock carvings. However, he failed to discover them because they were already submerged by the water of the artificial Sayeon Dam, built downstream of the Daegok River to supply water for the Ulsan Industrial Complex. Acutely aware of the urgent need of academic research into the Bangudae site, in 1969 he provided Professor Hwang Soo-yeong, then dirctor of Dongguk University Museum with all significant information relating to the Bangudae at his (and my!) old home in Gyeongju. Having learned from my father about the Bangudae site, Professor Hwang explored the site with his colleagues and in collaboration with the Hankook Ilbo, the sister newspaper of The Korea Times. Hwang's research team was fortunate enough to locate the remarkable ancient engraved rock art in the winter of 1971 when the waters of Sayeon Dam were so low that the engravings could be easily accessed. The media, including the Hankook Ilbo, reported the discovery of the Bangudae rock art as headline news. Regrettably, Professor Hwang did not publicly acknowledge that my father had been at the source of this discovery so I want to correct that fact here and now! The Bangudae rock engravings depict sea animals such as whales, seals, sea turtles as well as boats with fishermen. They also feature land animals such as deer, tigers and wild boars. These petroglyphs help us better understand the lifestyle, customs, the hunting rituals and the religious art of Korea's prehistoric era. Portugal's "Coa Rock Miracle" should serve as a good road-map for how Korea can better protect and preserve the unique petroglyphs at the Bangudae archeological site against periodic submerging. This must be stopped, in the same way the Portuguese secondary school children managed to protect the Coa carvings. If it were not for the preservation campaign of the Coa rock art site, the irreplaceable prehistoric legacy would have been submerged. The Bangudae rock carvings enshrine our ancestors' sacred spirits. It is an amazing gift left from our ancestors of the prehistoric era. We must preserve this valuable cultural heritage and pass it down to future generations in good condition. Choe Chong-dae (choecd@naver.com) is a guest columnist of The Korea Times. He is president of Dae-kwang International, and director of the Korean-Swedish Association. By Lee Min-hyung Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) CEO Yoon Jong-won will be able to work from his office Wednesday for the first time in 27 days amid a fierce union protest. Yoon was named the new chief of the state-run bank earlier this month. But the union members blocked him from entering the IBK headquarters in Seoul, denouncing him as a "parachuted bureaucrat" without any practical experience in the banking industry. The union, however, has agreed to stop the protest, ruling Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Lee In-young said Monday. "On Monday, both sides came to terms with each other and came to an agreement," Lee said. "I express regret on behalf of the ruling party that the IBK management has failed to extend sufficient communication and reach consensus over labor system improvement." IBK will have an inauguration ceremony for Yoon today. The West Bengal unit of Shiv Sena on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the state human rights commission against BJP state president Dilip Ghosh for "threatening to kill those protesting against the CAA". "I accuse Dilip Ghosh of intimidation and threatening. I fear that he being a Member of Parliament and a senior leader of the ruling party, has all the means to carry out his threat in practice. Therefore, as a member of West Bengal Shiv Sena, a party that has been opposing the CAA along with many others, I fear for my life and that of my fellow activists and supporters," Ashoke Sarkar, General Secretary of West Bengal Shiv Sena, wrote in his letter to the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBSHRC). Sarkar has requested the Human rights body to initiate a thorough investigation over this matter and do the needful to maintain a peaceful and democratic environment in the state. Dilip Ghosh had on January 12 said that people damaging public property during anti-CAA protests should be shot dead. "Who do they think the public property that they (protesters) are destroying belongs to? Their father? Public property belongs to the taxpayers. You (Mamata) do not say anything because they are your voters. "In Assam and Uttar Pradesh, our governments shot these people like dogs," Ghosh said on January 12 addressing a party rally in Ranaghat, about 80 km from Kolkata. He had said once BJP comes to power in West Bengal, it will "hit them with sticks, shoot them and also send them to jail". "Our governments have done exactly that," the BJP Lok Sabha MP from Medinipur said. Again on January 19, Ghosh said, "Fifty lakh Muslim infiltrators will be identified, if needed they will be chased out of the country. Firstly their names will be removed from voters' list then Didi [CM Mamata Banerjee] can't appease anyone." Protests are raging across the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act that grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslims refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "For her to go from school right away and every Saturday, I was worried it would be too much, but she did it and I'm very proud," McCrum said. Sachin Bansal has resigned as independent director of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, a role he took up in May 2019. In a letter to the board members, posted on the exchanges on Tuesday, Bansal said he was stepping down in the interest of propriety and to prevent conflict of interest arising out of the fact that his wholly-owned firm Navi Technologies has applied for a banking license. Given an entity owned and controlled by me has made an application to the RBI for a universal banking license, I felt it was in the interest of propriety and corporate governance only ... Professor Julie Coetzee and Keneilwe Sebola inspecting the plants Billions of tiny insects are currently responsible for rapidly destroying the hyacinth on the Hartbeespoort Dam and scientists are of the opinion that herbicides have not been sprayed on the dying water plants. According to Professor Julie Coetzee from the Centre for Biological Control (CBC) at Rhodes University, other plants amongst the hyacinth would also be dead if herbicides have been sprayed. If a herbicide has been sprayed, the plants would have sunk by now. The stems of the plants would not be green either. In addition, the control agents (bugs) would have died too because the herbicides and their additives are toxic to the insects. We have found no evidence of a herbicide so far. Other scientists agree with this. I know that there is a lot of speculation around the alleged spraying of the water hyacinth plants with various theories as to why the plants were sprayed. People find it hard to believe that the browning of the plants could actually be due to biological control agents. I also understand that there is scepticism around my teams presence at the dam. While we dont have evidence that the plants werent sprayed, there is so much evidence pointing towards biological control, as opposed to herbicides. The damage to the plants is what we see in our greenhouse tunnels, and at other sites where Megamelus scutellaris planthopper has been released, and has in fact controlled water hyacinth in the absence of any other intervention, Prof Coetzee said. Currently six different kinds of insects can be found on the hyacinth but most of the success is ascribed to the planthopper that has been continuously and intensively introduced since last year. Biological control agents in the form of plant specific bugs have been instituted on the Hartbeespoort Dam since the 1980s but due to periodic herbicide application, their population has been inhibited. Professor Coetzee added said: We believe that the lack of herbicide application over the last 2.5 years on the dam has allowed the biocontrol insects to build up their populations to a level where we are now noticing plant death. People are doubtful that the insects could really damage the plants to this level, but every single plant that I have picked up has had thousands of insects on them. Professor Coetzee and her team at the CBC embarked on a mass release campaign over the last year, together with Pecanwood College and Mountain Cambridge School, in consultation with Harties Foundation and other stakeholders around the dam, releasing tens of thousands of the planthopper monthly. They continue to monitor these populations monthly. Water hyacinth is an invasive non-native weed from South America, that has been on Hartbeespoort Dam since the mid 1960s. There has been a long history of control of this weed including herbicide application, mechanical and manual removal and biological control. Whilst all of these control interventions can be effective, biological control is considered the most sustainable and environmentally friendly. The two most noticeable insects are the Neochetina weevils, and the water hyacinth plant hopper, Megamelus scutellaris, which come from South America too. These insects have been thoroughly studied in South Africa, and elsewhere, including the USA and Australia, over many years to make sure that they are safe (i.e. only feed on water hyacinth) and effective in controlling water hyacinth, she added. She said biological control is a natural process and a long term but sustainable solution. Biocontrol aims to reunite invasive species with the natural enemies. The results on the dam are already significant. And now that the plants are dying we have seen a drop of 3% coverage from 13% to 10% in only the past week. Although the bulbs of the hyacinth are currently still green, it is full of biological damage which will cause the plants to sink and die. Asked what will happen once the hyacinth has disappeared, she explained: The water hyacinth will never completely disappear from the dam. Some should remain on the shores. The biocontrol insect populations will also decrease as the plants die, but should keep the small populations of the plants in check. These insects can only feed and reproduce on water hyacinth, no other plants will be affected. However, the hyacinth might recover in the spring as a result of a cold winter and high nutrients, as well as seeds in the sediment, but CBCs continual release of insects and monitoring will ensure that the insect populations build up faster than they would on their own. Source: https://kormorant.co.za/bugs-are-winning-the-war-against-the-hyacinth Please help us to raise funds so that we can give all our students a chance to access online teaching and learning. Covid-19 has disrupted our students' education. Don't let the digital divide put their future at risk. Visit www.ru.ac.za/rucoronavirusgateway to donate Ground EM commenced at Long Lake Ni-Cu-PGM Project Perth, Jan 28, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Rumble Resources Ltd ( ASX:RTR ) ( FRA:20Z ) is pleased to announce it has commenced a ground EM program at the Long Lake Project, Sudbury, Canada.Lamontagne Geophysics has been commissioned to complete the ground EM program utilising their high-powered deep penetrating UTEM 5 system designed for deep mineral detection. UTEM 5 is a powerful wide band time domain surface EM system, developed to achieve the sensitivity and interpretability necessary to handle deep exploration with the main objective being the search for massive sulphide mineralisation. The program is expected to take 2 weeks with interpretation to follow.Overview of Sudbury Mining Camp, Ontario Canada (Image 1*) Since 1883, the Sudbury mining field has been globally significant with the Sudbury Basin the second-largest supplier of nickel ore in the world, and new discoveries continuing to be made. It is one of the most productive nickel-mining fields in the world with over 1.7 billion tonnes of past production, reserves and resources. Nickel-copper and platinum group metals ("PGM") bearing sulphide minerals occur in a 60 km by 27 km elliptical igneous body called the Sudbury Igneous Complex ("SIC"). The current model infers the SIC was formed some 1,844 million years ago after sheet-like flash/impact melting of nickel and copper bearing rocks by a meteorite impact. The SIC is within a basin like structure (Sudbury Basin) which had been covered by later sediments and has subsequently been eroded to the current level. Mineralization occurs within the SIC as well as in the neighbouring country rocks in close association with breccias and so-called 'Offset Dykes'.Offset Dykes' with metamorphosed (hot) Sudbury breccias have become the target of progressively more intense exploration interest in recent years following the discovery of blind economic deposits. They are typically quartz-diorite in composition and extend both radially away from and concentric to the SIC. It is important to note that the 'Offset Dykes' developed downwards from the impact melt sheet. Melt material migrated down into the fractures caused by the impact below the SIC. The melt carried metal sulphides that accumulated into deposits within the 'Offset Dykes' by gravity and pressure gradients (impact rebound). Important: Nearly half of the nickel ore at Sudbury occurs in breccias and 'Offset Dykes' in the footwall rocks of the SIC.Ground EM Target - Copper Cliff Offset Dyke Southern Extension (Images 1 & 2*) The Copper Cliff South (producing) and the Copper Cliff North mine have yielded some 200 million tonnes of ore along the north-south trending offset dyke system. Vale Limited's Clarabelle mill, Copper Cliff smelter and Copper Cliff nickel refinery are all located close to the Copper Cliff Offset dyke. The southernmost deposit discovered to date is at Kelly Lake which lies south of the Copper Cliff South mine (see image 1 and 2*). The Kelly Lake reserve is 10.5 Mt @ 1.77% Ni, 1.34% Cu and 3.6 g/t PGM. Note: IGO's Nova - Bollinger Deposit which lies in the Albany Fraser Province of Western Australia has a reserve of 13.3 Mt @ 2.06% Ni and 0.83% Cu (2017).The ground EM program that has commenced is designed to test 4km of strike inferred to be the faulted southern extension of the 'Copper Cliff Offset Dyke System' that has been moved west by later regional faults some 10km SW of the Kelly Lake Ni-Cu-PGM deposit - (see images 1 & 2*).*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Rumble Resources Ltd Rumble Resources Limited (ASX:RTR) (FRA:20Z) is an Australian based exploration company, officially admitted to the ASX on the 1st July 2011. Rumble was established with the aim of adding significant value to its current gold and base metal assets and will continue to look at mineral acquisition opportunities both in Australia and abroad. Libreville, Gabon (PANA) - Nearly 4,000 candidates will Tuesday in Libreville sit for the entrance examination to the Higher Teacher Training College (ENS), PANA learned from an official source Loading The US Embassy in Beijing said a chartered plane would pick up its consular staff on Wednesday from Wuhan, the central city of 11 million people. World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Xi met in Beijing to discuss how to protect Chinese and foreigners in areas affected by the virus and "possible" evacuation alternatives, a WHO spokesman said. "The virus is a devil and we cannot let the devil hide," state television quoted Xi as saying. "China will strengthen international cooperation and welcomes the WHO participation in virus prevention ... China is confident of winning the battle against the virus." First human-to-human transmission in Europe Health officials on Tuesday reported what appeared to be the first known case of human-to-human transmission of the virus in Europe specifically, in Germany and in Japan. Another case was recently reported in Vietnam. The cases show that countries across the world are now faced with the task of limiting the spread of the disease on their own soil, not just seeking to identify and quarantine ailing patients who had travelled from China. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare said the first Japanese national and the sixth person in Japan overall to be diagnosed with the coronavirus was a man in his 60s. He had never been to Wuhan, but he had worked as a bus driver earlier this month for two different group tours from that city, officials said. The man began experiencing symptoms on January 14, was hospitalised on Saturday and was confirmed to have the coronavirus on Tuesday. The infected German, whose case was also confirmed on Tuesday, is a 33-year-old man from Bavaria who had been in contact with a Chinese woman in Germany, officials said. The woman was diagnosed with the virus after flying home to China. The man was in good condition, German officials said. Investors also are fretting about the impact on the world's second-biggest economy amid travel bans and an extended Lunar New Year holiday. Global stocks fell again, China's yuan currency dipped to its weakest in 2020, and oil prices hit three-month lows. OPEC wants to extend oil output cuts until at least June, with the possibility of deeper reductions if demand in China is significantly impacted, sources at the producers' group said. Australian travellers are being urged to reconsider their need to travel to China overall. Credit:AP Contagion The flu-like virus has spread overseas, but none of the 106 deaths has been beyond China and all but six were in Wuhan, where the virus emerged last month, probably from illegally traded wildlife. However, cases in Germany, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan where the virus has spread person-to-person - as opposed to a visitor from China arriving - have heightened concern. "The reported human-to-human transmission in Germany and Japan is unsurprising to see," said Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at Britain's University of Southampton. "We will continue to see further similar cases outside of China, but the indications are at this stage that onwards transmission will be limited, so there will likely not be too many cases for example across Europe, and on a much lesser scale than we are seeing in China." Chinese-ruled Hong Kong said high-speed rail services to the mainland would be suspended from midnight on Thursday, while the number of flights would be halved. Thailand confirmed six more infections among visitors from China, taking its tally to 14, the highest outside China. Far eastern Russian regions would close their borders with China until February 7, Tass news agency said. Wuhan is under virtual quarantine, with a lockdown on transport and bans on gatherings. Tens of millions of others in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, live under some form of travel curbs. Reminder of SARS Communist Party-ruled China has been eager to show it is transparent over this outbreak, after initially covering up the extent of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic that killed about 800 people globally in 2002-2003. Loading Known as "2019-nCoV", the newly identified coronavirus can cause pneumonia and, like other respiratory infections, it spreads between people in droplets from coughs and sneezes. It is too early to know what its death rate will be, since there are likely to be many cases of milder disease going undetected. It has an incubation of between one and 14 days. A WHO panel of 16 independent experts twice last week declined to declare an international emergency. Traditionally, the WHO is reluctant to antagonise or ostracise countries dealing with epidemics for fear of undermining future willingness to report cases of infectious disease outbreaks. Authorities in Hubei, home to nearly 60 million people, have been the focus of public outrage on China's heavily censored social media over what many see as a bungled initial response. The Garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park in Dublin A DUBLIN man has been accused of fraudulently claiming the dole while working as a civilian employee at the Garda headquarters. Denis Curran, 56, with an address at Dunard Avenue, Dublin 7, faces 11 counts of theft and two charges under the Social Welfare Consolidation Act for making false declarations. He appeared at Dublin District Court today. Garda Sergeant Bryan Hunt said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed summary disposal of the case at district Court level. After hearing an outline of the allegations, Judge Bryan Smyth accepted jurisdiction. It was alleged that on 11 occasions over 2019, the accused was granted social welfare benefits and twice on a date in August last year he made false declarations to the department. He did not disclose that he had been working as a civilian member of staff at the Garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park, and at Mountjoy Garda station in Dublin city-centre, Garda Sergeant Hunt said. The court heard it was alleged he obtained 2,466. Defence solicitor Michael Kelleher said he has been furnished with disclosure of prosecution evidence. Legal aid was granted after the garda accepted the accused was not currently working. An order for disclose of video interviews with the accused was also granted. Mr Curran, who is on bail, has not yet indicated how he will plead. He was ordered to appear again in four weeks. He had been arrested and charged at the Bridewell Garda station earlier this month. He was then granted station bail pending his court appearance today. He made no reply when charged. FAIRFIELD, Conn., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Foundation Source, the nation's largest provider of comprehensive support services to private foundations, today announces its acquisition by Incline Equity Partners ("Incline"). Lincoln International served as Foundation Source's financial advisor throughout this process. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., Incline invests in companies that are poised for growth across a variety of industry sectors, including business services. Their goal is to strengthen a company's ability to leverage its strategic assets to realize its full potential. The partnership with Incline will position Foundation Source to expand its services, expertise, and online capabilities, fueling its long-term growth. "As the leading provider of comprehensive foundation management solutions and an industry pioneer, we are excited to partner with Incline in this next iteration of the firm's evolution," said Susan Friedlander Calzone, chief executive officer of Foundation Source. "For nearly 20 years, the Company has been providing unmatched convenience, high-touch service, active compliance monitoring, seasoned tax and legal professionals, and expert philanthropic solutions. Because Incline partners with best-in-class firms that are poised for growth, their involvement represents an endorsement of everything that we have accomplished thus far and a major vote of confidence regarding the company's future. We will continue, as always, to deliver service excellence to our clients, and this new partnership enables us to further penetrate our current market and expand into new ones." Incline Partner Joseph Choorapuzha said: "Foundation Source has an impressive business model and technology platform with expertise in the highly specialized area of private foundation support as well as in the broader arena of philanthropic services. The firm's untapped potential, and its commitment to growth and innovation, is perfectly aligned with our desire to help growing companies achieve greater success." Friedlander Calzone added: "In welcoming this exciting new chapter for Foundation Source, we remain committed to our clients, employees, and professional partners. We will continue to work with wealth management firms, law firms, accounting firms, and family offices, as well as directly with individuals and families." For more information about Incline, visit www.inclineequity.com. About Incline Equity Partners (www.inclineequity.com) Incline Equity Partners, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a private equity firm investing in manufacturing, distribution and business services companies. Incline is generally seeking growing companies with enterprise values of $25 $450 million. Incline's typical investment types are ownership transitions for privately held businesses, buyouts and corporate divestitures within the U.S. and Canada. About Foundation Source (www.foundationsource.com) Foundation Source is the nation's largest provider of comprehensive support services for private foundations. Our complete outsourced solution includes foundation creation (as needed), administrative support, active compliance monitoring, philanthropic advisory, tax and legal expertise, and online foundation management tools. Now in our second decade, Foundation Source provides its services to more than 1,600 family, corporate, and professionally staffed foundations, of all sizes, nationwide. We work in partnership with wealth management firms, law firms, accounting firms, and family offices as well as directly with individuals and families. Foundation Source is headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut. SOURCE Foundation Source Related Links https://www.foundationsource.com By Express News Service NEW DELHI: JNU student and anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam was arrested by Delhi Police from Bihar on Tuesday for delivering inflammatory and instigating speeches against the new Act in the capital earlier, officials said. However, Imam tweeted that he had surrendered to police. I have surrendered to the Delhi Police on 28 1 2020 at 3 PM. I am ready and willing to operate with the investigation. I have full faith in due process of law. My safety and security are now in the hand of the Delhi Police. Let peace prevail, he said. On January 25, police registered an FIR against Imam under Sections 124 A (an offence by words, either spoken or written causes disaffection against government established by law. Punishment imprisonment up to life); 153 A IPC (promoting enmity between different religious groups with an intent to create disharmony. Punishment imprisonment extending up to three years) and 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief). A team was dispatched to Bihar to catch hold of him, they said. The team was in touch with Patna and Jahanabad police and was continuously conducting raids. On Monday Sharjeel Imams brother, Muzmil was interrogated. Based on the interrogation vital clues regarding Sharjeel were obtained. Based upon the leads, the team was successful in apprehending him today at about 2 pm. He has been arrested and his Transit remand is being sought from Ld local Court having jurisdiction. After obtaining Transit remand he will be brought to Delhi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said. Police said that it came to their notice that Imam had been delivering inflammatory speeches in his opposition to CAA and NRC. He had previously delivered one such speech in Jamia on December 13 and thereafter has given one even more inflammatory and instigating speech against the government, which was being widely circulated on social media, he added. A new bill filed in the Vermont house of representatives would allow state residents to create customized license plates featuring emojis. If passed, the bill would make Vermont the first state in the US to allow emojis as an option for car license plates. The bill was introduced by state representative Rebecca White, a Democrat who represents a district in east central Vermont, along the border with New Hampshire. A new bill from a state representative in Vermont proposed to let residents add emojies to their vanity license plates According to White, the idea for the bill came from one of her constituents, who had seen a news story about a similar bill that passing in Queensland, Australia in 2019, making it the first city in the world to allow emojis on license plates. For a fee of $340, Queensland residents can now order vanity plates with one of five different emoji options, including tears of joy face, sunglasses emoji, smiling emoji, winking emoji, and heart eyes emoji. He felt it would be a cool idea that could engage young people, White told the Boston Globe. I dont know how much traction it will get. I think its a fun idea. Whites bill is as simple as it sounds, laying everything out in a single sentence proposing to create a new special registration plate with the choice of one of six emojis in addition to the distinctive number assigned by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or the numerals and letters selected by the registered owner of a vehicle as a vanity plate. The simple bill sums up its whole premise in a single sentence, proposing to let drivers choose to add one of six unspecified emojis to their license plates The bill was introduced by Democratic representative Rebecca White (pictured above), after one of her constituents suggested the idea. He was inspired by a news story about a similar program in Queensland, Australia It's unclear how the Vermont lincense plate would be amended to make room for the emoji, but that will likely be part of what's discussed as the bill works its way through the House Committee on Transportation The bill doesnt specify which of 3,019 officially recognized emojis would be options, but presumably those details will be debated in the House Committee on Transportation, to which the bill was referred. Previously, White had worked on a bill to raise the minimum wage in the state. Though she had hoped to worked toward setting the new minimum at $15/hour, she and other Democrats settled on a compromise that will raise it from the current of $10.96/hour to $12.55 in 2022. The prospects of additive manufacturing (3D printing) as a versatile tool for prompt and inexpensive prototyping are extremely promising. This family of methods are set to make fabrication processes faster, more efficient in terms of the raw materials and energy required, and more flexible. However, additive manufacturing has not yet been broadly applied to micro and nanotechnology. Lithography, as the methods used for structuring in microelectronics are called collectively, is based on the repetition of complex multistep procedures in each of which a so-called "resist" that serves as a template is applied and later removed. Not only is current lithography slow, it also wastes materials and energy, is poorly adapted to combining a large number of distinct materials, and extremely costly in terms of capital expenses. A team of scientists and engineers led by Prof. Julien Bachmann from FAU plan to combine the expertise of the various consortium partners in the chemical control of ultrathin coatings ("atomic layer deposition"), in gas delivery, microelectromechanical devices, and microprocessing and automation, in order to demonstrate the potential of "atomic-layer 3D printing", that is, the generation of arbitrary shapes with a vertical resolution in the order of one atom (or a tenth of one nanometer). The consortium includes the companies ATLANT 3D Nanosystems, Femtika, and SEMPA Systems as well as the Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and FAU, and will be funded by approximately 3 million euros over a period of two years in the framework of the European Union's "Fast Track to Innovation" programme. The goal of the project is to design, build and test an industrial prototype of the atomic-layer 3D printer that can then be sold commercially. ### Sharjeel Imam, a student of Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), has been charged with sedition and other serious offences by at least five states. The research scholar at JNU was arrested on Tuesday afternoon from his village in Bihars Jehanabad after a three-day hunt by the police from Delhi and the eastern state. The police action against the IIT-Bombay alumnus came after a video featuring Imam went viral on social media. Imam had allegedly said on January 16 that if five lakh people came together, they could cut northeast off India. While Imam has since clarified that he was speaking of road blockades, at least five states have filed various charges against him. Who is Sharjeel Imam? Sharjeel Imam is pursuing his PhD in modern Indian history at JNUs Centre for Historical Studies (CHS). He is also a computer science graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Imam is the son of former Janata Dal(United) leader late Akbar Imam. He is the eldest of two brothers and his father contested the assembly elections in Bihar on JD(U) ticket. He died five years ago. After remaining in the teaching profession for some time, he joined a software company. He resigned from the service and joined JNU in 2017 do PhD in modern history, a villager, who did not want to be named, had said earlier. He was associated with the anti-citizenship law protest in south-east Delhis Shaheen Bagh till January 2 when he called it off citing political interference. He had said that he and others were withdrawing from the protests where locals have blocked a key arterial road to Noida for 18 days because of politicisation and growing threat of violence. They (political parties) are trying to tarnish the image of the movement, he said. But other groups rejected his stance and hundreds of people showed up at the demonstration that has captured the attention of students, activists and civil society across the country but also thrown traffic out of gear. Which states have filed cases against him? Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi have filed cases against Imam. Police in Assam, the first, registered a first information report (FIR) under an anti-terror law against Sharjeel Imam on January 25. The additional director general of Assam police GP Singh said the FIR was registered against Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act at the crime branch police station in Guwahati. An FIR has been lodged against Sharjil Imam for his speech and inter alia commission of offence u/s 13 (1)/18 of the UA(P)ACT read with section 153 A, 153 B and 124 A IPC at Guwahati Crime Branch Police Station, Singh had tweeted along with the purported video of Imams speech. Imam was booked by police in Uttar Pradeshs Aligarh the same day for sedition and creating enmity between different religious groups. In Manipur, the state police had filed an FIR against Imam for sedition, waging war against the Indian government, conspiracy to commit offences, indulging in vilification or attacks on a particular group. Taking cognisance of the objectionable video of Mr Sharjeel Imam, in which he threatened to sever Northeast from the rest of country, the Manipur Police has filed an FIR (No. 16(1)2020 IPS) under sections 121/121-A/124-A/ 120-B /153 IPC, Rajat Sethi, an advisor to the chief minister N Biren Singh, tweeted on January 25. Arunachal Pradesh police registered a case of sedition against Sharjeel Imam on Republic Day on January 26. This kind of provocation inciting secession of Assam and other northeastern states from India, creating communal disharmony, hampering sovereignty and territorial integrity of India will not be tolerated, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu tweeted on Sunday. The crime branch of Itanagar Police registered a case against Imam under sections 124(A), 153(A) and 153(B) of the Indian Penal Code for sedition, promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence and language etc. The crime branch of Delhi Police registered an FIR under IPCs section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) against the JNU student in addition to charges of sedition and promoting religious enmity. If convicted under IPCs Section 124A, Sharjeel Imam could be imprisoned for life. What does his family say? Agsan Rahim, his mother, had alleged on Saturday that the media had distorted his statements and the police were unnecessarily harassing the family. My son is innocent. I do not know about his whereabouts but can swear by God that he is innocent. He is a bright young man. But I can guarantee that upon learning about the cases, he will appear before the investigating agencies and fully cooperate in the probe, she said. She had said it has been a long time since she met her son though she talked with him over the phone a few weeks ago. He was obviously disturbed by the CAA and fears over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) being implemented across the country which, he said, would affect not just Muslims but all poor people, she had said. His uncle Arshad Imam too rued the fact that his nephews statements were distorted to suit the political needs. A 40-second video of the 40-minute speech is being presented. It is being exaggerated. Every Indian has the right to protest, Arshad Imam, who was also interrogated by the police, said. War of words The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have sparred over the video clip which shows Sharjeel Imam calling to cut off Assam from the rest of India. While the opposition party in Delhi targeted the AAP on its stand over the protest, the AAP hit back questioning why the government has not taken action in the matter. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal took on Amit Shah on Monday after the Union home minister wanted to know whether the AAP leader supported Imam. You must have watched the video of Sharjeel Imam, he said cut the chicken neck and cut-off North-East from India he talked about dividing the country. Modi government told Delhi police and they have registered a sedition case against him, Shah had said at an election rally in Rithala. Kejriwal ji are you in favour of action against Sharjeel Imam or not? Are you in favour of those at Shaheen Bagh or not? Make it clear to the people of Delhi, Shah said. Kejriwal then took to Twitter to launch a counter-attack on Amit Shah. Sharjeel spoke of separating Assam from the country. It is very serious. You are the home minister of the country. This statement of yours is bad politics. Its your duty to arrest him immediately. It has been two days since he said this Kejriwal tweeted. Why are you not arresting him? What is your helplessness? Or do you have to do more dirty politics now? he asked. The Delhi Police report to the Union home ministry. The protesters of Shaheen Bagh have disassociated themselves from Imams comments and stressed that the speech was not given there. U.S. Military Confirms Aircraft Crashed In Afghanistan By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan January 27, 2020 An American military aircraft crashed in eastern Afghanistan on January 27, the U.S. military and the NATO-led force in the country said, adding that there were no indications so far it had been brought down by enemy fire. The spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Colonel Sonny Leggett, said that the military plane, a Bombardier E-11A, crashed in the Ghazni Province and an investigation of its causes was ongoing. He gave no information on casualties or details of the crash. Separately, the NATO-led Resolute Force mission confirmed the crash in an e-mail to RFE/RL. "A U.S. Bombardier E-11A crashed today in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan," the message said. "While the cause of [the] crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire. We will provide additional information as it becomes available. Taliban claims that additional aircraft have crashed are false." Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said a U.S. Air Force plane crashed in the Ghazni Province, which sits in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains. Mujahid claimed the crash killed "lots" of members of the U.S. military. The militant group often exaggerates casualty figures. The Aviation Safety Network, a website of the Flight Safety Foundation that that keeps track of aviation accidents, incidents, and hijackings, tweeted that video posted online has confirmed that the plane that crashed was a U.S. military plane. "A video confirms that a USAF Northrop Grumman E-11A crashed in Afghanistan," it said. "This is a Bombardier Global Express outfitted as Battlefield Airborne Communications Node." The Bombardier E-11A aircraft is used by the U.S. military for electronic surveillance over Afghanistan. It is used by the military to extend the range of radio signals and can be used to convert the output of one device to another, such as connecting a radio to a telephone. The Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, also referred to by the U.S. military as "Wi-Fi in the sky," can be carried both on manned planes such as the E-11A or by unmanned aircraft. Local Afghan officials had told RFE/RL earlier on January 27 that a passenger place from Afghanistan's Ariana Airlines had crashed in the Taliban-held area of Ghazni Province. Provincial Governor Wahidullah Kalimzai told RFE/RL that the aircraft belonged to Ariana Airlines and was carrying about 83 people. However, the state-owned airline denied in a Facebook post that one of its planes had crashed. The conflicting accounts could not immediately be reconciled. The number of people on board and their fate was not immediately known, nor was the cause of the crash. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/plane-crashes-in- central-afghanistan-no-immediate- reports-of-casualties/30399169.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In response to a Malian courts decision to grant bail to a former junta leader who is awaiting his trial over the abduction and murder of 21 Malian paratroopers in 2012, to resume, Amnesty Internationals West Africa researcher Ousmane Diallo said: This provisional release of General Amadou Haya Sanogo is casting doubt upon authorities commitment to deliver justice and truth to the families of the 21 murdered soldiers. It has been almost eight years since the bodies of the soldiers were discovered in a mass grave, and justice remains elusive. The trial of Sanogo and his co-accused was due to resume earlier this month but was postponed again at the last minute. Now the victims families have received a further blow with the news that Sanogo will walk free while his trial date pends. Although this decision is in line with defence rights, this development should not shadow the authorities obligation to try the suspects without further delay for their alleged crimes. Impunity and the denial of justice for victims will only serve as seeds for national discord through the perpetuation of human rights violations. We urge the authorities in Mali to ensure all serious human rights violations are investigated and prosecuted, and to respect victims right to truth and justice and the accuseds right to a fair trial. Background Today, a court in the capital Bamako ordered the provisional release of General Amadou Haya Sanogo and his co-accused pending their trial which has been postponed to another session of the Criminal court to keep concord within the army. They are charged of kidnapping, murder, and complicity in the murder of 21 Malian paratroopers whose bodies were discovered in a mass grave in 2013. The Sanogo-led junta came to power following a coup against President Amadou Toumani Toure on 22 March 2012. The 21 soldiers deaths occurred during the failed countercoup by the Paratroopers, reputedly close to President Amadou Toumani Toure, on 30 May-1st June 2012. Among the prospective witnesses, is General Ibrahim Dahirou Dembele who was appointed Minister of Defense and Army Veterans in May 2019, and Chief of Army Staff at the time of the commission of the crimes. A new reconciliation law was promulgated last year, which grants amnesty to a certain number of crimes although it explicitly excludes crimes under international law. Amnesty International is concerned that in practice, this law could be used to block prosecutions for serious human rights violations, for political reasons. For instance, it poses serious concerns on how other investigations related to the unlawful killings in villages like Nantaka and Kobaka in 2018, and Ogossagou and Sobane-Da in 2019 will proceed. CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - A county on Long Island has launched an internal probe of its social services department after an 8-year-old boy died of hypothermia while in the custody of his father, a New York Police Department officer. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said Monday evening that a committee will examine how the department dealt with abuse allegations against Michael Valva, 40, and his fiancee, Angela Pollina, 42, concerning the six children who lived with them, Newsday reported. They were charged last week with second-degree murder in the death of one of those children, 8-year-old Thomas Valva. It is alleged that the boy was forced to sleep in an unheated garage at the couples home as temperatures dropped to under 20 degrees (minus 6 Celsius). A separate task force will examine how the social services department handles cases of children with autism and developmental disabilities. Thomas exhibited signs of autism, authorities said. As a parent, I am horrified by what happened to this beautiful boy, Bellone said. As county executive, I want to know if there is anything else that could have been done under existing law to prevent this from happening. Beyond that, I want to know if anything in this case suggests that changes should be made to existing policy or law. Valva and Pollina appeared on Monday in Suffolk County Family Court, where their attorneys issued denials similar to a not guilty plea in criminal court. Assistant District Attorney Laura Newcombe said at an arraignment on Friday that audio files recovered from the couples Center Moriches home recorded the couple discussing the fact that Thomas was suffering from hypothermia, had been washed with cold water, couldnt walk and was face-planting on the concrete. Pollinas attorney, Matthew Tuohy, told the New York Post that she loved Thomas, was kind to him and was not involved in his Jan. 17 death. Thomas brothers, ages 10 and 6, have been placed in the custody of their mother, Justyna Zubko-Valva. They are happy with their mother, said Gary Rosenthal, counsel for the social services department. Theyre thriving. They have an abundance of food now. Pollinas daughters were placed in the custody of their biological fathers. Thomas Valvas funeral will be held on Thursday in Melville. On Monday night, a standing-room-only crowd held candles, sang hymns and prayed in his memory at a church in Center Moriches. On January 27, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated travel guidance for China, recommending that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to all of the country (Level 3 Travel Health Notice). This warning is in response to an ongoing outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus (2019-nCoV) spreading between people in many parts of that country. Chinese health officials have reported thousands of 2019-nCoV cases in China, as well as severe illness including deaths. Sustained person-to-person community spread with this virus is reportedly occurring in China. A number of travel-associated cases of 2019-nCoV infection also have been identified in other locations, including the United States. In other parts of Asia, some limited person-to-person spread has been detected among close contacts of travelers returning from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, however, community spread with this virus has not been reported in locations outside China. In the United States, there have been 5 cases of 2019-nCoV detected in travelers returning from Wuhan. No person-to-person spread has been detected in the United States at this time and this virus is NOT spreading in the community. While its possible that some person-to-person spread with this virus may be detected in the United States, the goal of the ongoing U.S. public health response is to contain this outbreak and prevent sustained spread in this country. Based on current information, the immediate health risk from 2019-nCoV to the general American public is considered low at this time. However, risk is dependent on exposure and some people will have greater risk of infection, for example, healthcare workers caring for 2019-nCoV patients and other close contacts. CDC is aggressively responding to this serious public health situation to help protect the health of Americans. This response may cause disruptions in some peoples daily lives. This is unfortunate, but necessary to protect the health of Americans. As we learn more about this novel coronavirus, we will continue to update our guidance. An updated Health Alert to health care professionals and public health partners with new and updated guidance is forthcoming this week. For the latest information on the outbreak, visit CDCs Novel Coronavirus 2019 website. January 28, 2020 -- City design combining more public transport and rail networks with smaller, low speed blocks are the best to reduce road transport injuries, according to a new global study co-authored by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The findings are published in The Lancet Planetary Health. The research identified the best and worst performing city designs with respect to road injuries. Researchers from Australia, Spain in addition to the United States compared maps of almost 1700 cities across the world with injury data to understand urban design factors that contribute to the most road injuries. Cities were categorized into nine unique design types ranging from locations with highly organized road and rail network ('High Transit', 'Motor City' and 'Intense' types) to areas with almost no public transport and sparse urban design ('Sparse' and 'Informal' types). Lead researcher Dr. Jason Thompson of the Melbourne School of Design said the research aims to highlight the importance of urban design and planning as a key factor in reducing transport related injuries across the world. "The floor plans of our cities matter enormously for the health of residents. Designs that prioritize motor vehicles have huge costs, including more injuries and deaths due to crashes, whereas intelligent designs that promote public transportation can very substantially reduce this burden," said Christopher N. Morrison, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. The study found 'High Transit' cities with strong rail networks like Barcelona, Durban, Jerusalem and Toronto had the lowest rates of road injuries compared to 'Informal' type cities across India, China and Africa where poor urban design contributed to twice the injury rates. "If reducing the road toll is your ultimate goal, it is better to invest in safer alternative transport options rather than continuing to focus on car-based safety interventions," Dr. Thompson said. Australian cities like Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle and Melbourne fell under the 'Motor City' category with extensive road networks and suburbs designed around the needs of drivers that create car dependency. "Australia has successfully reduced road injuries through enforcement and public safety education in the past but a shift away from motor vehicles toward more compact city design and investment in safe, efficient public transport is key to reducing future road injury rates," Dr. Thompson noted. The study also found that the income of a country did not necessarily relate to road injury rates. High-income countries like Saudi Arabia, the United States and United Arab Emirates were still experiencing high road injury rates due to city designs that encourage motor vehicle use. The research was conducted at the University of Melbourne's Transport, Health and Urban Design Research Hub in collaboration with Barcelona Institute of Global Health and Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. ### The study was funded through grants from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council and support from the U.S. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the third largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its over 450 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change & health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with over 1,300 graduate students from more than 40 nations pursuing a variety of master's and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit http://www.mailman.columbia.edu. After a decade of rising apartment rents and competition-crushing low vacancies in Portland, the pendulum has swung slightly in favor of tenants. New units flooding the market come with offers of up to eight weeks of free rent plus a $1,000 move-in gift card and other incentives like a $99 deposit with no lease length. These price-lowering concessions are matching rents typical of older, upper-end apartments and putting pressure on owners of neighboring multifamily housing, according to Patrick O. Barry, an apartment appraisal specialist with Portland-based Barry & Associates. Its not too hard to pack up a one bedroom and move across the street to save $200, he said. KADO NW Instagram Portland Metro vacancies have climbed to 5% and industry experts at CoStar forecast unrented units will increase to 5.7% by 2022. Rents rose 2.5% last year, compared to the year before, said Barry, and experts predict rents will tick up 1 to 2% due to the larger volume of apartment units. "There are not many units in which tenants are willing to stomach a 10 percent increase," Barry said, especially if job and population growths slow down as forecasted by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis and Portland State University's Population Research Center. Don't Edit Overall in 2019, the Portland apartment market showed signs of stabilizing going back to normal, said Barry after the recession years of 2008 to 2012, when new apartment units dwindled to 2,100 a year on average. Portland Metro's population growth requires around 5,000 to 6,000 new apartments per year to maintain vacancies. Vacancies shrunk to 2.9% by mid-2015 and the run up in rents from 2013 to 2015 propelled new construction, he said. Don't Edit Chris Lawrence/Prometheus Real Estate Group An average of 7,400 units were built per year from 2013 to 2018, and around 8,700 units were permitted in 2019, he said. Some of these apartment projects were approved before the affordable housing, inclusionary zoning policy. But the oversupply of units may be short term, said Barry. There are not a whole lot of units projected to come online, so the market will correct itself and vacancies will go down, Barry said, citing an oversupply of studios in the urban core. --Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072 jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Edo State, Osagbovo Iyoha, has warned the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to stay away from Edo South Senatorial District and forget any idea of holding a political rally there. He gave the warning on Tuesday in Benin, while reacting to the rally by Oshiomholes faction last Saturday in Auchi, Edo North Senatorial district of the state, at which thousands of members of the opposition PDP defected to the APC. But, in a swift reaction, a loyalist of Oshiomholes faction of the party, Abdul Oroh, said Godwin Obaseki could not prevent them from holding a rally. Iyoha who is the Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Political Matters, accused Oshiomhole of taking Obasekis gentleman and law-abiding disposition for granted and perpetrate lawlessness. He noted that Oshiomhole flouted the law when he organised the rally to unleash terror on the people, because the ban on politics by the state government and the Inspector-General of Police in the state has not been lifted. He added that Oshiomhole was not in position to resolve the crisis rocking the party in the state, as he was a party to the crisis. According to him, Oshiomhole is doing this because he knows that Obaseki is a gentleman and law-abiding. We know what happened when he was the Governor, where those who held political meetings without consulting him were beaten up and their property destroyed. We want to let the suspended national chairman know that if he has broken the law and hold rally in Edo North, he cant do so in Edo South because we will not allow that. We had a national chairman from Edo when he was the state governor and nothing of such happened and he would not have allowed it. The crisis in APC continues because the man (Oshiomhole), who should be the arbiter is an interested party in the crisis. It is not hidden, we are all aware that he is the person sponsoring the Edo Peoples Movement that started the crisis. It is unfortunate that the man who supposed to uphold the constitution of the party is the one causing problem in the party. Iyoha, who said their faction of the party is opened to reconciliation with Oshiomhole, however, noted that a situation where the author of the crisis was the one hand-picking his loyalists who wanted to take over the State Assembly, as reconciliation committee was what they were opposed to. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Shares of Dr Reddy's Laboratories hit more than three-year high intraday on January 28 as brokerage houses remained positive on the stock after strong operating performance in Q3. The stock gained as much as 1.5 percent to hit an intraday high of Rs 3,238.15, the highest level since December 2016. It was quoting at Rs 3,229.25, up Rs 40.30, or 1.26 percent on the BSE at 1036 hours IST. While having a buy rating on the pharma major, Ambit raised its price target to Rs 3,615 (from Rs 3,217 earlier) as the improved cost base drove 7/15 percent raise in EPS estimates for FY21/22. "R&D expenses increase will be lower than sales movement in FY21/22 and optimal expenses will boost FY21/22 margin by 140bps/180bps," said the brokerage. HSBC also maintained buy call on the stock and raised price target to Rs 3,430 (from Rs 3,230 earlier) as ex-impairment charge, company saw operational improvement in Q3FY20. "Benefits of new launches and operating leverage reflected in margins. Outlook remains robust for all the focus markets, and US sales growth driven by new launches will be key to watch out for," the brokerage said. Dr Reddy's Labs on January 27 posted a loss of Rs 569.7 crore for quarter ended December 2019 against profit of Rs 485.2 crore YoY, impacted by impairment loss of Rs 1,320 crore during the quarter. For All Earnings Related News - Click Here The company announced impairment of Rs 1,110 crore on account of women's contraceptive drug Nuvaring generic and Rs 210 crore on intangibles on other products during the quarter. After adjustment for impairment, the profit before tax stood at Rs 790 crore for the quarter. The launch of Nuvaring generic has been delayed due to queries from USFDA, which resulted into increasing competition from another generic and authorised generic. Hence, the company decided to took an impairment charge for the drug. Revenue during the quarter grew by 13.86 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,384 crore and operating profit jumped 24.1 percent with 200bps YoY margin expansion in Q3. Credit Suisse has an outperform call on the stock with a target price of Rs 3,235 as strong EBITDA beat helped by near-term gains, but NuvaRing write-off was higher-than-expected. "US sales normalised now, aided by market share gains in gSuboxone. Key trigger for the stock is Revlimid generic, where pre-trial is scheduled for June," said the brokerage. Revenue from North America, which accounts for 36 percent of total business, grew by 8 percent YoY, and Emerging markets (EMs), which contributes 21 percent to sales, showed a 19 percent YoY growth in Q3. India business grew by 13 percent YoY and revenue from Europe rose by 52 percent YoY during the quarter. While having equal-weight raing on the stock and raising price target to Rs 3,236 (from Rs 2,804 earlier), Morgan Stanley said efforts to realise operating leverage benefits were showing results and overall business was moving to granular growth against a large product focus previously. CLSA has downgraded its rating on the stock to outperform from buy, with a target price of Rs 3,450 per share as company's focus on India/EMs has been delivering, but valuation baked in positives. "Revenue growth across all geographies was ahead of estimates. The renewed focus on India & EMs has been playing out. It continued to deliver on cost control," the brokerage said, adding future growth in the US hinged on timely approval of gNuvaring and gCopaxone. CLSA maintained its FY21-22 EPS estimates but cut FY20 EPS estimates to build in impairment charge. Valuation offers limited room to slip, it feels. : The above report is compiled from information available on public platforms. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Photo: Greg Gjerdingen/Flickr Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Long Beach. Driver dead after truck hits pole A 69-year-old man was killed in a solo-vehicle crash in Long Beach, police said Sunday. Read the full story on Gazette Newspapers. Carnival Panorama, the cruise line's new Long Beach-based ship, delivers fun and games The 4,000-passenger Panorama has enough activities to satisfy varied tastes and places to get away from the din. It will sail to Mexican destinations each week. Read the full story on Los Angeles Times. Long Beach groups join together to discuss water, sustainability The Historical Society of Long Beach is partnering with Rancho Los Alamitos and the Long Beach Water Department to host a round table discussion about the history of Long Beach water and sustainability. Read the full story on Gazette Newspapers. Vincent Thomas continues night closures Work on the Vincent Thomas Bridge (SR47) will continue to close the route between Long Beach and San Pedro nightly, the state Department of Transportation announced. Read the full story on Gazette Newspapers. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Britain on Tuesday gave the green light to a limited role for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in the country's 5G network, in a decision that left the United States "disappointed" after it called for a total ban. Even though London decided that "high risk vendors" would be excluded from Britain's "sensitive" core infrastructure, a US official insisted there was "no safe option for untrusted vendors to control any part of a 5G network", which offers almost instantaneous data transfer. Washington has banned Huawei from the roll-out of the fifth generation mobile network because of concerns that the firm could be under the control of Beijing, an allegation it strongly denies. The announcement came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo prepared to meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week for talks in London likely to focus on Huawei and as Britain looks for a trade deal with Washington after Brexit. The United States had threatened to limit intelligence-sharing with London in the event of Huawei winning a UK role. But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told parliament: "Nothing in this review affects this country's ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data over highly secured networks. "GCHQ (Britain's cybersecurity agency) have categorically confirmed that how we construct our 5G and full-fibre public telecoms network has nothing to do with how we share classified data." Johnson spoke to US President Donald Trump and "underlined the importance of like-minded countries working together to diversify the market and break the dominance of a small number of companies", the British government said. - Balancing act - London's decision -- following a meeting of the National Security Council chaired by Johnson -- came shortly after Brussels said it would also allow Huawei a limited 5G role in the European Union. Brussels and London are both grappling to find a middle way to balance Huawei's huge dominance in the 5G sector with security concerns, as they look to improve connectivity. Britain's Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan insisted: "High risk vendors never have been and never will be in our most sensitive networks." But that failed to convince Washington, where a senior administration official said the United States was "disappointed by the UK's decision". Meanwhile, research group GlobalData said a limited role for Huawei allowed "the UK to bow in part" to the US. "A total ban would have required massive amounts of infrastructure to be torn out at eye-watering expense, and would have set the UK's 5G roll-out back by years. "It was simply never a practical option to ban Huawei completely," it added in a note. Unlike the United States, Britain has been using Huawei technology in its systems for the past 15 years. - Intelligence sharing - Analysts Fitch warned that the US could look to retaliate. "The US has been putting a lot of pressure on its allies to ban Huawei, and failure to do so will raise questions about its strategy, as we expect it will look to retaliate, with threats to stop intelligence-sharing already made," Fitch said Tuesday. London's move excludes Huawei from sensitive UK locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases, while their market share will be capped. Huawei itself welcomed the news that it would have at least a part in building Britain's 5G networks. "Huawei is reassured by the UK government's confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track," said Huawei Vice-President Victor Zhang. Brussels also ruled out banning the company. A top EU official said instead it was "a question of laying down rules". "They will be strict, they will be demanding and of course we will welcome in Europe all operators who are willing to apply them," the official said. Huawei is widely viewed as providing the most advanced alternative for super-fast data transfers behind technologies such as self-driving cars and remotely operated factory robots. Existing providers of limited 5G network infrastructure in Britain include Nokia and Ericsson. A number of UK mobile phone operators, including EE and Vodafone, currently sell 5G services -- but it is so far available only in a handful of cities, notably London and Birmingham. Huawei has been given a limited role in the roll-out of Britain's 5G network The fifth generation or 5G mobile networks will offer super-fast data transfer for technologies such as self-driving cars and remotely operated factory robots Gandhinagar, Jan 28 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged the scientists to provide solutions to various issues in Agriculture through modern biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Block chain and Drone Technology, to counter the issues like hunger, poverty and malnutrition. Addressing the Global Potato Conclave through Video Conferencing, the Prime Minister said the highlight of the conclave was that Potato Conference, AgriExpo and Potato Field Day were all happening at the same time. It was a commendable effort that 6000 farmers were going on field visits on the Field Day, during the event, he noted. Praising his home-state Gujarat for it's advances in the field of Potato production, he said it was significant that the Conclave was being held in Gujarat, the leading state in Potato production and productivity in the country. While the area under potato cultivation increased by about 20 per cent in India in the last 11 years, it has increased by about 170 per cent in Gujarat during the same period. He said this was largely owing to the policy initiatives and decisions, which lead to the state using modern methods of agriculture like sprinkler and drip irrigation for cultivation, along with the best cold storage facilities and linkages to the Food Processing Industry. Today, Gujarat has major Potato processing companies in the state and most of the potato exporters are also based in Gujarat. These have led to the emergence of the state as a major potato hub in the country, he added. Mr Modi said that his Government is taking rapid steps towards the goal of doubling the income of farmers by 2022. As a result of the efforts of farmers and the combination of government policy, India is among the top three countries in the world in the production of many cereals and other food items. He also listed the steps taken by his Government to promote food processing industries at every level like opening the sector to 100 per cent FDI, helping in value addition and value chain development through the PM Kisan Sampada Yojana. The Prime Minister also mentioned that earlier this month, a new record has also been created by transferring Rs 12,000 crore to the bank accounts of six crore farmers through direct transfer. The priority of his Government is to reduce the middlemen and other layers between the farmer and the consumer. The government's emphasis is also on promoting agricultural technology-based start ups, so that farmers' databases and agri stacks needed for smart and precision agriculture can be used. He urged the scientists to provide solutions to various issues in Agriculture through modern biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Block chain and Drone Technology. The greatest responsibility of the scientific community and policy makers is to see that no one is left hungry or malnourished, he added. Scientists from around the world, potato farmers and other stakeholders have gathered for the Conclave at Mahatma Mandir, to discuss the important aspects related to food and nutrition demand. Organised by the Indian Potato Association (IPA), in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, and ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla and International Potato Center (CIP) from Lima, Peru, the event would conclude on January 31. The previous two Global Potato Conferences were organised during 1999 and 2008. The Conclave will provide an opportunity to bring all stakeholders at one common platform, so that all the issues are discussed and future plans are made, involving everyone related to the potato sector. This will be a unique event to expose different stakeholders of the country to the frontiers of knowledge and innovations in potato research. This mega event has three major components- The Potato Conference, The Agri Expo and Potato Field Day. The Potato Conference will be held for three days, from January 28-30. It will have 10 themes, out of which eight themes are based on basic and applied research. The remaining two themes will have special emphasis on potato trade, value chain management and policy issues. AgriExpo will be organised during January 28 to 30, to showcase the status of potato-based industries and trade, processing, seed potato production, biotechnology, public-private partnership in technology transfer and farmer-related products. Potato Field Day will be organised on January 31 and will include demonstration of advancements in potato mechanisation, potato varieties and latest technologies. Major issues that are to be discussed, include Shortage of Planting Material, Supply Chains, Post-Harvest Losses, needs for enhanced processing, export and diversified utilisation and necessary policy support viz for production and use of certified seed, for long distance transport and export promotion. UNI RAJ RJ 1452 Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on January 28 levied a total fine of Rs 95 lakh on 16 entities for executing fraudulent trading in the scrip of Dwitiya Trading Ltd. The regulator has fined the entities in the range of Rs 5 lakh-Rs 10 lakh each for violating the Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices norms. The SEBI order follows a probe conducted by the regulator in the scrip of Dwitiya Trading between August 2014 and August 2015. It was observed that certain entities by controlling the supply of shares played a crucial role in manipulating the price of the scrip. "This clearly shows that their selling pattern was not normal and was solely directed towards pushing up the price of the scrip of DTL (Dwitiya Trading Ltd)," SEBI noted. It further added that the trading pattern adopted by the entities resulted in creation of artificial interest in the scrip of DTL which gave a false and misleading appearance of trading to the investors and more investors started trading in this scrip which was also a reason for sharp price rise. Besides, some entities also contributed positively to the last traded price and fraudulently raised the scrip price of DTL. Consequently, the regulator has imposed monetary penalties on the enitites that include Panchshree Logistics, Faithful Cloth Merchants, Reachsmart Construction, Reachsmart Dealtrade, Crown Iron Merchants, Indrawati Nirman, Dhyaneshwar Dealers, Original Fashion Traders, Anurodh Infrastructure and Fastner Machinery Dealers, among others. Separately, SEBI imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Inventure Merchant Banker Services Pvt Ltd for lack of due diligence with respect to the material facts to be disclosed in the prospectus of Aanchal Ispat Ltd, for which it was acting as the lead manager to the issue. Besides, there were disclosures lapses on the part of merchant banker with respect to submission of half-yearly periodic report and there were material discrepancies in the information about compliance officers and key managerial personnel. The merchant banker violated Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements Regulations as well as code of conduct for merchant bankers. Through a separate order, Sebi levied a total fine of Rs 4 lakh on three directors of Siddarth Businesses Ltd, currently known as Shivamshree Businesses Ltd for trading in the shares of the company exceeding the threshold limit without obtaining pre-clearance of trade which is in violation of insider trading norms. The directors are Prafulbhai Parshottambhai Bavishiya, Shailesh Bhai Parshottambhai Bavishiya and Arunaben Prafulkumar Bavishiya. The Ministry of Finance has approved a panel for preliminary examination of suspected frauds in public sector banks amounting to more than Rs 50 crore. This advisory board will look into such frauds, involving public servants at the rank of general managers or above, before investigation begins. This is part of several measures approved by the Finance Ministry to protect the commercial decision-making by public sector banks. These steps are meant to help the government to make a distinction "between genuine commercial failures and culpability", the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. "The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has... set up the Advisory Board for Banking and Financial Frauds (ABBFF) for a mandatory first level examination on suspected frauds in excess of Rs 50 crore involving public servants equivalent in rank to GMs and above, before enquiry or investigations begin," the Ministry of Finance stated. ALSO READ: Urban cooperative banks hit by 1,000 frauds worth over Rs 220 crore in past 5 fiscals: RBI The government has also modified its 2015 framework on large value frauds so that managing directors and chief executive officers of public sector banks are no longer personally responsible for compliance with various prescribed timelines. Instead, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has delegated powers to the boards of state-run lenders to put in place a suitable mechanism for ensuring compliance of the various timelines laid down by the Reserve Bank of India and CVC. "Similarly, the instructions of Department of Financial Services of 2015 regarding compulsory examination of fraud for all NPA accounts exceeding Rs 50 crore have been aligned with the CVC circular of January 15, 2020, whereby all such cases of suspicious fraud are to be initially referred to the ABBFF," the Finance Ministry said. ALSO READ: CBI books Frost International's directors in over Rs 3,500 crore bank fraud case Banks have also been directed to set up a committee of senior officers to monitor progress of pending disciplinary and internal vigilance cases, and frame timelines to reduce delays in deciding such cases. "Every bank was also required to take steps to dispose of internal disciplinary and vigilance cases in a time bound manner so that such cases do not linger on account of procedural delay so as to avoid adverse impact on staff morale and reduce scope for harassment. As part of this endeavour of government, Section 17A was incorporated in Prevention of Corruption Act requiring prior permission before initiating investigation against a public servant," the ministry said. I truly value my patients and being recognized as a Top Patient Rated Atlanta Plastic Surgeon by Find Local Doctors is such an honor. I strive to achieve the best possible results to create positive changes in the lives of my patients, says Dr. Mark Mitchell Jones Dr. Jones has gained the attention of Find Local Doctors for his consistent exceptional reviews from patients. Find Local Doctors is an easy-to-navigate online directory that helps consumers connect with local physicians who are qualified and reputable. Dr. Mark Mitchell Jones of Atlanta Plastic Surgery Specialists P.C. is a well-respected pioneer in his field, with 20+ years of experience. He is widely known for his ability to perform procedures with a skilled and artistic hand, offering a variety of premier plastic and reconstructive services, aesthetic procedures and the correction of complex genetic deformities. Some of his most popular services include body contouring, breast surgery, facial plastic surgery and ear surgery. Dr. Jones has developed several noteworthy techniques such as breast augmentation that prevents sagging for twenty years, tummy tucks without drains, and painless liposuction. Dr. Jones is one of the foremost ear surgeons in the country with established techniques of ear pinning and reconstruction of total or partial ears. He also offers a full array of non-surgical procedures to help patients look and feel their best. Patients travel from all over the world to receive expert care from Dr. Jones. I truly value my patients and being recognized as a Top Patient Rated Atlanta Plastic Surgeon by Find Local Doctors is such an honor. I strive to achieve the best possible results to create positive changes in the lives of my patients, says Dr. Mark Mitchell Jones More About Dr. Mark Mitchell Jones and Atlanta Plastic Surgery Specialists, P.C.: Dr. Mark Mitchell Jones is an internationally educated, world-class trained and double board certified (plastic surgery and ENT) surgeon. He received his medical degree from The Medical College of Georgia and also attended the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and Oxford University Medical School in England. Dr. Jones completed his residencies at Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University and was selected for a Fulbright fellowship, training under world-leading plastic surgeons in Paris, France. He has been recognized for his surgical innovations and skill in enhancing both the aesthetics and functionality of the body. Dr. Mark Mitchell Jones is a scholar and a teacher in his field, contributing to medical journals and presenting at numerous conferences and events. Dr. Jones is often interviewed by national publications and broadcast television programs, such as 60 Minutes on CBS. At Atlanta Plastic Surgery Specialists P.C., patients can expect personalized options and elegant results from a renowned, double board-certified plastic surgeon. From non-surgical facial rejuvenation services to advanced surgical procedures, Dr. Jones leads his practice with a primary focus on helping patients attain or regain their most confident look with the most innovative, preferred methods available industry wide. For more information about the elite credentials of Dr. Mark Mitchell Jones and Atlanta Plastic Surgery Specialists, P.C., please visit http://www.atlantaplastic.com or call (404) 355-3566. President Erdogan, Trump discuss Libya ceasefire The two leaders also discussed the fighting in Idlib, which has been the scene of fierce bombings by the Bashar al-Assad regime and its allies. US President Donald Trump spoke by phone Monday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the conflict in Libya and Syria's Idlib. HAFTAR'S CEASEFIRE VIOLATION WAS ALSO ON THE TABLE "The two leaders discussed the need to eliminate foreign interference and maintain the ceasefire in Libya," White House spokesman Judd Deere said on Twitter. Earlier in the day, speaking to reporters en route to Gambia from Algeria, Erdogan accused forces loyal to renegade Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar of violating two summits seeking peace in the country. "Haftar -- who turned his back on both the Moscow and Berlin summits -- is violating the ceasefire in Libya. If peace is to be established in Libya, he should be stopped," said Erdogan. "Haftar and his forces are playing a dirty game, and we are watching them. We will continue to do whatever is necessary." Could China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited (HKG:998) be an attractive dividend share to own for the long haul? Investors are often drawn to strong companies with the idea of reinvesting the dividends. If you are hoping to live on your dividends, it's important to be more stringent with your investments than the average punter. Regular readers know we like to apply the same approach to each dividend stock, and we hope you'll find our analysis useful. In this case, China CITIC Bank likely looks attractive to investors, given its 5.9% dividend yield and a payment history of over ten years. It would not be a surprise to discover that many investors buy it for the dividends. Some simple analysis can reduce the risk of holding China CITIC Bank for its dividend, and we'll focus on the most important aspects below. Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on China CITIC Bank! SEHK:998 Historical Dividend Yield, January 28th 2020 Payout ratios Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. China CITIC Bank paid out 24% of its profit as dividends, over the trailing twelve month period. With a low payout ratio, it looks like the dividend is comprehensively covered by earnings. We update our data on China CITIC Bank every 24 hours, so you can always get our latest analysis of its financial health, here. Dividend Volatility Before buying a stock for its income, we want to see if the dividends have been stable in the past, and if the company has a track record of maintaining its dividend. China CITIC Bank has been paying dividends for a long time, but for the purpose of this analysis, we only examine the past 10 years of payments. Its dividend payments have declined on at least one occasion over the past ten years. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was CN0.085 in 2010, compared to CN0.23 last year. Dividends per share have grown at approximately 10% per year over this time. The dividends haven't grown at precisely 10% every year, but this is a useful way to average out the historical rate of growth. Story continues It's not great to see that the payment has been cut in the past. We're generally more wary of companies that have cut their dividend before, as they tend to perform worse in an economic downturn. Dividend Growth Potential Given that the dividend has been cut in the past, we need to check if earnings are growing and if that might lead to stronger dividends in the future. Earnings have grown at around 3.1% a year for the past five years, which is better than seeing them shrink! As we saw above, earnings per share growth has not been strong. However, at least the payout ratio is conservative, and there is plenty of potential to increase this over time. Conclusion Dividend investors should always want to know if a) a company's dividends are affordable, b) if there is a track record of consistent payments, and c) if the dividend is capable of growing. Firstly, we like that China CITIC Bank has a low and conservative payout ratio. Second, earnings growth has been ordinary, and its history of dividend payments is chequered - having cut its dividend at least once in the past. While we're not hugely bearish on it, overall we think there are potentially better dividend stocks than China CITIC Bank out there. Earnings growth generally bodes well for the future value of company dividend payments. See if the 15 China CITIC Bank analysts we track are forecasting continued growth with our free report on analyst estimates for the company. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of dividend stocks yielding above 3%. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. When I was 10 years old, my dad would often interrupt our family devotions and begin speaking in this odd, rhapsodic way about the Incarnation. At the time I didnt understand the connection between the mysterious thing he called the Incarnation and the boring Bible lesson wed just been reading. Yet his reverent words took up residence in my memory. They became a sort of incantation, a spell he spoke over me that I could never figure out. I couldnt escape the feeling that the Incarnation was somehow central to my existence. What did it mean that God took on flesh and dwelt among us? Two decades later, I stood over my wife in a room full of highly specialized doctors and nurses. There must have been 17 people in this room. Its a party! they all kept telling me. Most of the nurses in the room would never get to see something like this again. For my wife, this was no party. She was sliced open, her abdomen retracted into a circular hole. Her body was a portal to transmit three brand-new souls into the world. I snuck a look at the first, continuing to watch as the doctor pulled two more babies out. Eventually I looked over at my wife, who was stretched out in cruciform position on the operating table. Her arms were spread wide. Her face was separated from her body by a curtain that kept her from seeing those three newborns, those babies she carriedin rapidly increasing agonyover the preceding 35 weeks. I can think of no image from my own life that so perfectly captures the mystery of incarnation. On one side of the room there are three beautiful and healthy boys, an image of the divine gift of life. On the other side my wife is lying down, pale and barely conscious. Over the coming years, Amy would develop anemia, insomnia, and depression from the bodily strain of keeping these three identical boys alive (along with raising our 4-year-old and 2-year-old daughters). But in that moment there are the boys, healthy and crying and demanding love. I ask permission to go and hold them. All Amy can do is stare blankly before finally nodding her head. Shes too exhausted to move and too emotionally spent to appreciate whats just happened. The Mystery of Suffering In The Shattering of Loneliness: On Christian Remembrance, the Roman Catholic priest Erik Varden has written a book that describes just this mixture of joy and brokenness we experience as incarnate creatures. A former abbot of an English monastery, Varden has spent much of his life under a rigorous monastic rule. Even though Im a Protestant who struggles to pray as often I should, Varden writes for Christians like me. He understands the desires that keep us from God and the deeper longings that lead us back to him. I was continually moved by his descriptions of beauty and suffering that call out for spiritual explanation. Varden has written one of those merely Christian books that illuminate the whole life of faith. The son of a rural veterinarian from Norway, Varden became fascinated by World War II and the Holocaust at a young age. As a boy, he saw a man working in the field, shirtless and scarred all the way down his back. As his father later told him, the farmer had spent time in a Nazi camp, where he had been brutally whipped. The memory stayed with Varden and left him with a desire to understand the meaning of suffering. He wanted to find a good reason for that visceral image of pain. A few years later the adolescent Varden would hear the composer Gustav Mahlers Symphony No. 2 (known as the Resurrection Symphony). This time he found himself moved by an almost inarticulate longing, and he began groping slowly toward belief. In the music he heard Mahlers exultant insistence that our sufferings are not in vain. Article continues below By narrating these two experiences, Varden initiates the pattern for his short but remarkable book of spiritual devotion. He explores a theology of incarnationour longing for God through our broken bodies and desiresthrough life, art, and theological meditation. Most chapters begin with a short reflection on communion or the Holy Spirit and then move toward an illustration of that theological insight, whether in life or art. Varden is not difficult to read, but his readings of Scripture and literature are theologically profound. He rewards careful attention and rereading. He describes familiar writers like Athanasius and Leo Tolstoy just as fluently as he introduces lesser-known figures such as the French Resistance worker Maiti Girtanner and the Swedish existentialist playwright Stig Dagerman. While there is much to savor in Vardens book, the first and last chapters are the most powerful. In the first chapter, Remember you are dust, Varden shows how the Genesis account of creation points in two directions. First, Gods creation of man reminds us of our humble origins. We are made of the dust of the earth. And after a life burned up with desires, we return to dust and ashes. Secondly, and far more importantly, we have been shaped into the image of God by our Makers own fingers. As Varden points out, we can never find rest in being nothing but dust. Our spirit cries out with longing for a world beyond death. Varden quotes the playwright Dagerman, who wonders, Divine love? I suppose it is what should set us free. In a Catholic author I read of a man who could see nothing because he was hidden in the light. If only we had a light to hide in. Varden finds much to admire in Dagermans humility and honesty, but he doesnt let Dagerman have the last word. Varden calls us to look into the abyss of death and find beyond it a light and a comfort that does not deceive. He wants us to remember all that Christ has done and all that he will do. The rest of the books chapters trace the major Christian acts of corporate memory, the remembrances that lead us from a life where our gazes are directed at ourselves to a life defined by longing and hope. In the chapter Remember Lots wife, Varden describes the difficulty of moving forward in faith. He retells Leo Tolstoys Father Sergius, a story about a monk who takes literally Christs instruction to chop off limbs if they lead to sin (Mark 9:4347). Despite his extreme actions, Tolstoys monk still feels the overwhelming pressures of his desires for power and sexual satisfaction. Yet even these misdirected desires continually lead him back to Christ. At the end of the story, Sergius finally finds peace in the imitation of Christ. He ends his life as a poor servant to a peasant family. A Theology of Longing Through vivid stories and historical examples, Varden drives his readers toward the source of all our longing. He wants us to take seriously the sufferings of this life, but he also wants us to see the real comforts of Christs incarnation and resurrection. In the final chapter, Beware lest you forget the Lord, Varden draws on Athanasiuss treatise on the Incarnation to complete this theology of longing. As Athanasius explains, Adam and Eve abandoned their original longing for God. Instead of looking to God in gratitude for their creation, they cast their eyes down to the earth. For Varden and for Athanasius, the Incarnation is the deep mystery that redeems our sufferings and straightens our wayward desires. Christ comes to earth not merely to save us but to recreate us. He meets all our desires by suffering with us. As Varden writes, In God incarnate, our humanity itself signified divine life. Human beings find a divine outlet for their deepest desires in the God-man who redeems not only our souls but redirects our senses from dust to light. Christ teaches us to see the broken shards of our life as a pattern of remembrance. The act of memory binds us to the long history of Christian believers who came before us. For me, it also calls to mind my dads mysterious words on the Incarnation. Article continues below From Vardens book, I have found not only a vivid theology of the Incarnation but also numerous stories of Christians who have pursued God despite unimaginable suffering. (The most moving story in the book focuses on Maiti Girtanner, a talented French pianist who suffered debilitating spinal torture at the hands of the Nazis for rescuing Jews). Vardens book constantly redirects us to the importance of longing. In the broken body of a spouse or in the painful joys of parenting, we see the wounds of Christ. After Christs incarnation, we understand that our bodies are privileged instruments in our search to know and love an incarnate God. Symbols of Hope A couple years after the triplets were born, my wife wrote a blog post where she imagined traveling to a time after the hard years of raising children. In a reverse act of memory, she imagined herself as a 50-year-old looking back on the early years of our kids lives. No young boys hurtling over couches. No girls singing operatically outdoors on the trampoline. Just a quiet house with no smashed [Cheez-Its], no poorly placed birdseed, no home for the snails and murdered caterpillars. This imagined act of remembrance was painful for her. She didnt want to be alone. She felt a deep emptiness imagining a home without children. What happens when they leave? But she also realized that the sufferings of those years had produced, as Paul promises in Romans 5, endurance and hope. The bodily scars, severe anemia, and nights without sleep made her long for the restoration of her body and soul. She longed for an endless communion with God and other human beings. As she said in that post, Children, though they deplete all reserves necessary for a manageable existence, are the complete and utter symbol of HOPE. Varden has written a book full of these symbols of hope. Near the end of The Shattering of Loneliness, Varden reminds us that beauty gives us our intimations of eternity. The beauty in earthly suffering and in Gods creation forges communion among people by indicating a universal realm in which individual solitude ceases. In a world where old theological words like grace and sin have lost wide currency, Varden argues that beauty can awaken spiritual longing in any human being. As my dad hinted all those years ago, Christians point to the Incarnation as a symbol of our ultimate hope, the sign that God has dwelt among us and will one day restore his saints to glory. Jonathan Callis teaches English at Oklahoma Baptist University. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To protest against their school principal's alleged harassment, students of an aided high school in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday boycotted classes and set their school uniform on fire. The protest was held at Paramu Pillai Memorial High School in Karakonam bear Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The students even laid a siege on the school campus. According to the students, Jyothishmathi, the school principal and manager used to harass them in classes for silly reasons. She would enter classrooms and verbally abuse the students, they further added. The protests have against the principal and her husband Vijayakumar have been going on since Monday. "In November last year, the school management initiated a corporal punishment against a Dalit girl for not cutting her hair. In that incident, a police case was registered against the principal and school management," a student said. The parents also gave support to the students' protest and the police have intervened. Seasoned diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu has been appointed as India's Ambassador to the United States, replacing Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the ministry of external affairs said on Tuesday. IMAGE: Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently posted as high commissioner of India in Sri Lanka. Photograph: ANI Shringla is set to take over as the next foreign secretary on Wednesday. Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently posted as high commissioner of India in Sri Lanka. His appointment to the high-profile job comes at a critical time when the US-India strategic partnership is deepening and also tensions are simmering in the Gulf region after the US killed top Iranian commander General Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad. Also, Indian and US officials are engaged in talks to finalise dates for a possible visit by US President Donald Trump to India. Prior to his current assignment in Colombo, Sandhu was deputy chief of mission at embassy of India in Washington D.C. from July 2013 to January 2017. He also served as the Consul General of India in Frankfurt from September 2011 to July 2013 and worked at the ministry of external affairs from March 2009 to August 2011 as joint secretary (United Nations) and later as joint secretary (Administration) heading the human resource division. Sandhu was also posted at the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations, New York from July 2005 to February 2009. He was also a first secretary (political) at embassy of India, Washington, D.C. responsible for liaison with the United States Congress from 1997-2000. In a distinguished career spanning nearly thirty years, Sandhu has worked in the former Soviet Union (Russia) and following the breakup of USSR, he was sent to open a new embassy in Ukraine. Earlier this month, Shringla had called on Donald Trump and thanked him for his "steadfast support" for strengthening the strategic bilateral ties. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday thanked outgoing Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale for his contributions to the Indian diplomacy. Shringla has been appointed as the new foreign secretary for a two-year fixed term. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape accused Australian offshore detention contractor Paladin of having sullied the reputation of PNG, and threatened to detain and deport its staff. Mr Marapes scathing comments about Paladin, a key contractor on Manus Island, were made in a letter he sent the company on October 24 last year, shortly after The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald reported that an unnamed senior PNG official had allegedly sought a $15,000 payment from then Paladin director Ian Stewart. Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape. Credit:AAP If there is any evidence that any official, at any level, has sought bribes from your company, I demand that you furnish the details now. These are not matters that should be played out in the media, the PNG Prime Minister wrote in a letter to the company's CEO, David Saul. The fact is that your company has continued to attract headlines globally for all the wrong reasons. In doing so, you have sullied the reputation of PNG. He was more subdued during the hourlong hearing, standing at the lectern with his hands folded in front of him and occasionally shoved in his pockets. His voice cracked a bit as he said, I plead guilty, your honor, to each of the two counts. At one point as the hearing neared the end, Sandoval appeared to wipe away a tear. For the third time in the last six months, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will be shutting down production at the Belvidere Assembly Plant, located in northern Illinois. The planned weeklong shutdown will begin on February 13. Workers just now returned to work Monday morning following a two-week layoff. In addition to idling Belvidere assembly, FCA had previously laid off roughly 6,500 workers at its Windsor, Ontario plant for two weeks beginning January 13. Workers at the Windsor plant build the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan, while Belivdere workers build the Jeep Cherokee. Fiat Chrysler's Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois It was less than a year ago, on February 26, 2019, that FCA spokesperson Jodi Tinson announced the elimination of the third, or C shift at Belvidere, resulting in the loss of 1,371 jobs at the plant. In a prepared statement to the press at the time, Tinson cited the need to align production with global demand, as the impetus for the layoffs. Less than three months later, on May 6, the date the layoffs were to take effect, FCA announced an additional 32 employees would be fired, bringing the total to 1,403 jobs axed by the company, with no objection from the criminally complicit and perpetually indicted United Auto Workers (UAW) union. Apparently seeing no need to update her company-approved script, Tinson, in statements to local Rockford media, referenced a lack of demand, and, once again, the necessity of the plant to align production with demand, as reasons for the, as-of-now, temporary layoffs. Tinson didnt specify how many workers would be affected by the layoffs or if more layoffs will be necessary, citing the dictates of production, and the uncertainty of the future profit forecasts, thus leaving open the possibility of more, prolonged or potentially indefinite layoffs. In comments to the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter, a second-tier worker at Belvidere expressed concern and uncertainty regarding the layoffs, Workers are worried the plant is going to close, the [writing] is on the walls. No new product. [Jeep] Cherokee sales are terrible. We have too many of our own cars competing against the Cherokee, let alone the competition. Reflecting on the lack of transparency or communication that is characteristic of the UAW the worker stated they havent said much, honestly. They just remind us that its the slow time in the industry. Speaking on the expansion of the use of temps throughout the auto industry and the growth of contingent work, he continued, The way this contract is written for the Big Three, they can screw anyone getting close to their full-time flip [i.e. conversion] date. I feel every year theyre gonna be able to pass a company-friendly contract that screws anyone trying to become full-time. While the Ford and GM contracts provide a three year pathway for temps to be hired as full time employees, the Fiat Chrysler contract contains only a vague commitment by the company to hire temps as full time positions become available. The UAW rammed through the FCA contract less than a week after the tentative agreement was announced, denying workers the chance to adequately study the contract. Because of this, many Fiat Chrysler workers are unaware that their contract contains no pathway. I think we have seen the death of a full-time workforce in the auto industry, the worker concluded. If you aren't full-time now, who knows when it might happen.. The layoffs at Belvidere and Windsor follow last weeks announcement by Ford that it would be temporarily laying off 270 workers at its stamping plant in suburban Chicago Heights, nearly 23 percent of the plants workforce. The week prior, General Motors announced the firing of 240 temporary workers at its Fort Wayne Assembly, located in northern Indiana. While overall sales of FCA vehicles, including Jeep, Chrysler, Ram, Fiat, and Maserati have declined in the past year, FCA still reported a net profit of $1.2 billion through the first nine months of 2019, with North American auto sales accounting for 90 percent of that profit. The company is in the midst of a $50 billion merger with French-based PSA Group. Once the merger is complete in the next 12 to 15 months, PSA CEO Carlos Tavares will head the new conglomerate. Tavares has been glowingly cited by industry publications as a turn around expert and savage cost-cutter. Before the merger is set to complete shareholders are to receive a $6.07 billion special dividend payment. These layoffs are part of the global restructuring of the auto industry, which has two related goals. The first is to trim excess capacity by closing plants and firing tens of thousands of autoworkers in response to a growing downturn in the industry, driven by slumps in emerging markets and the impact of Washingtons turn towards war with China. The second is to prepare for the implementation of new electric and autonomous vehicle technology, which is expected to have the most sweeping impact on the industry since Henry Fords introduction of the assembly line. Because they require fewer components, electric vehicle manufacturing will require a much smaller workforce. The UAW has done nothing to oppose these devastating job cuts and layoffs. Indeed, much of the unions top leadership, including the current and former two presidents, have been implicated in a massive bribery and corruption scandal, which revealed that union negotiators accepted millions in bribes from Fiat Chrysler. While the union enjoys a no less cozy relationship with the other US automakers, the scale of the bribery scheme at FCA was such that GM, in a recent lawsuit, described the union as an FCA-controlled enterprise. As industry analysts for the Center for Automotive Research made clear during a teleconference call two weeks ago, the companies maintained a lot of flexibility in the 2019 contracts, and that decisions about where the companies are going to make their products remains on the company side. In addition to flexibility in which factories are to remain open, the UAW ensured the companies maintained maximum flexibility in terms of the continued proliferation of part-time and temporary workers. The 2019 FCA contract contains a moratorium on plant closures with so many exceptions as to render the clause meanginless, and leaves the status of the Marysville Axle plant after 2021 unresolved. Similar clauses were also included in the GM and Ford deals. In addition, every contract over the last several decades has contained a managements rights clause granting the exclusive right to direct its affairs. A major objective of last years contracts was to force out much of the older legacy workers. This includes a special attrition program offering a $60,000 lump sum payment to older workers who retire early. The status of the Belvidere plant is made more precarious by the major investments planned in the city of Detroit, where FCA is reaping hundreds of millions in local government incentives to expand production in the city. The project, which includes an expansion of the existing Jefferson North Assembly Plant and the re-opening of the Mack Avenue Engine Complex, may render the Belvidere plant rendundant. MAIDENHEAD, England, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Waterlogic, a leading global designer, manufacturer, distributor and service provider of purified drinking water dispensers, is pleased to announce that British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) has agreed to acquire a significant minority stake in Waterlogic from Funds managed by Castik Capital as well as the Waterlogic management team. BCI is a leading provider of investment management services to British Columbia's public sector and one of Canada's largest asset managers with C$153.4 billion of managed assets as at March 31, 2019. The acquisition provides further access to capital to support Waterlogic's growth and ambition to become the market leader in bottle-less workplace hydration globally. Waterlogic has direct presence in 17 countries including the U.S., Canada, Chile, Australia and Western Europe, and an extensive independent global distribution network reaching over 50 countries around the world, responsible for hydrating nearly 50 million consumers daily. Jeremy Ben-David, Founder and Group CEO of Waterlogic, said: "We are very excited by the many opportunities for accelerated development and growth this deal affords us, both organically and through acquisition. We look forward to building on our capabilities and customer base in both established and new geographic markets in pursuit of our mission to offer healthy drinking water solutions and contribute to the reduction of plastic pollution." Since Funds managed by Castik Capital acquired Waterlogic jointly with Waterlogic's founder Jeremy Ben-David in January 2015, the company has nearly tripled its revenue. During this time, Waterlogic has completed 56 add-on acquisitions globally and entered 10 new direct markets, most recently with the acquisition of Aquafree in Chile. Jim Pittman, Executive Vice President and Global Head, Private Equity of BCI, said: "We are pleased to be working alongside a talented management team to support the long-term continued growth of the business. Waterlogic is a leading company with a solid track record of success that has the potential to generate value-added returns for our pension plan and insurance fund clients." The investment significantly strengthens Waterlogic's position as a global leader in the fast-growing market for workplace hydration solutions through its range of freestanding and countertop dispensers, Billi integrated dispensers and Purezza, the company's specialty restaurant and hospitality solution. Inspired by innovation, Waterlogic has embraced superior Firewall and BioCote technologies to create cutting-edge, highly-certified products focused on delivering the safest, best-tasting water to all businesses in the most sustainable way. The company's environmental approach supports the growing demand from organisations looking to reduce the plastic pollution and high CO 2 emissions associated with bottled water, and supports Waterlogic's long-term growth and relevancy in the marketplace. Waterlogic has annualised revenues of $400M and c. 550k water dispensers on rental and service contracts across 17 direct markets. Waterlogic was advised by Goldman Sachs International, Skadden (legal), PwC (financial and commercial), Deloitte (tax), L.E.K. (commercial), and EY (Luxembourg legal). The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020. About Waterlogic Waterlogic is an innovative designer, manufacturer, distributor and service provider of drinking water dispensers and solutions designed for environments such as offices, factories, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, schools and public spaces. From freestanding, countertop and integrated dispensers to water filling stations, fountains and boilers, every solution focuses on delivering the best quality water in the most sustainable way. Founded in 1992, Waterlogic was one of the first companies to introduce mains-fed dispensers to customers worldwide, and has been at the forefront of the market promoting product design and water quality, the application of proprietary technologies, sustainability and world-class sales and service. Waterlogic has its own subsidiaries in 17 countries and its leading markets are the US, Australia and Western Europe, in particular the UK and Germany. In addition, Waterlogic's extensive and expanding independent global distribution network reaches over 50 countries around the world in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa. More information can be found at www.waterlogic.com. About Castik Castik Capital S.a r.l ("Castik") manages investments in private equity. Castik is a European multistrategy investment manager, acquiring significant ownership positions in European private and public companies where long-term value can be generated through active partnerships with management teams. Founded in 2014, Castik is based in Luxembourg and focuses on identifying and developing investment opportunities across Europe. The advisor to Castik is Castik Capital Partners GmbH, based in Munich. Investments are made by the Luxembourg-based fund, EPIC I SLP, the first fund managed by Castik, which had its final fund close of EUR 1bn in July 2015. More information can be found at www.castik.com. About BCI With C$153.4 billion of managed assets, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is a leading provider of investment management services to British Columbia's public sector and one of Canada's largest asset managers. BCI generates the investment returns that help its institutional clients build a financially secure future. With its global outlook, BCI seeks investment opportunities that convert savings into productive capital that will meet its clients' risk/return requirements over time. BCI invests across a range of asset classes: fixed income; mortgages; public and private equity; real estate; infrastructure; and renewable resources. More information can be found at www.bci.ca/. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1023444/Waterlogic_Logo.jpg Media Contact Rosanna Turner, Group Marketing Communications Manager rosanna.turner@waterlogic.com +44-7925-035544 SOURCE Waterlogic Romania's budget deficit ballooned to 4.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2019, Finance Minister Florin Citu said on Tuesday, breaking the three percent ceiling laid down by the European Union. Romania's liberal government, installed in November of last year, said it had encountered "unexpected" expenses. It may now run the risk of disciplinary action from Brussels. At a press conference, Citu indicated that the previous left-wing government's spending plans had been to blame for the deficit increase. "Last year funds allocated to investment ended up being directed towards salaries and welfare payments," Citu said. The previous leftist government had projected a deficit of 2.76 percent for 2019, which experts described as unrealistic even at the time. The new liberal government was initially expecting the figure to reach 4.4 percent. Spending on public sector salaries was up 19 percent compared with 2018 whereas public revenue only increased 10.7 percent. Citu said the government should be able to bring the deficit down to 3.6 percent over 2020. "It's not just a promise of mine that I want to keep, but if we don't respect this (3.6 percent) target we will lose what I see as the most important thing right now, and that is investors' trust," Citu said in a TV interview on Monday evening. He predicted "a hard fight" ahead to keep to this threshold given upcoming local and national elections this year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and credit rating agencies have urged the government to abandon a 40 percent hike in pensions voted through by the previous government and due to take effect in September. According to the independent Fiscal Council watchdog, the pension hike could mean the deficit going beyond 4.6 percent in 2020. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India has pitched for elimination of trade-distorting subsidies on agriculture and ensuring differential treatment to developing countries by the members, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday. Quoting Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, it said that during his participation in an informal ministerial gathering in Davos last week, he also made a case for working out a permanent solution for public stockholding for food security purposes. During his intervention at the gathering, he said the current challenges throw up some key priorities for the forthcoming ministerial meeting of members in June in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. On the World Trade Organization's (WTO) appellate body for dispute settlement, he said early restoration of the full strength of the body will help in realising the objectives of the "The agenda for WTO reforms should be balanced and inclusive, to address the historic asymmetries in the Uruguay Round agreements" he said. He said that a "good starting point for the reform agenda" of the WTO would be "removing the imbalances" in the agreement on agriculture, and ensuring a level-playing field, particularly for developing economies. He further said that as long-standing proponents of WTO reform, developing countries have, for almost 20 years, sought the elimination of unequal and trade-distorting entitlements in the Agreement on Agriculture. "Another positive step will be to build upon the work of the last several years, and to implement existing mandates such as a permanent solution for public stockholding for food security purposes," he said. The minister also said developing countries, particularly the least-developed countries (LDCs), have not been able to achieve an equitable share in world trade, therefore, the continued availability of special and differential treatment, for these countries, is imperative for them to address their development aspirations. Goyal said the reform process should not be used to further restrict the flexibilities, and policy space required by developing countries, to better integrate with the global trading system. "It should open more opportunities for them, taking into account the contrasting levels of prosperity, unequal levels of economic development, and vast disparity in human development indicators, so that global trade becomes sustainable," he added. Goyal said that significant outcome at Kazakhstan is essential, for further strengthening the role of the WTO in global trade. "To achieve this, he added that it is necessary to put in place a structured process that will help finalise a limited list of focussed, doable and fair proposals, that may be concluded at MC12 (12th ministerial conference meet)," he said. Talking about fisheries subsidies, he said unregulated industrial fishing by some nations, has led to a major depletion of the global marine stock. "There is an urgent need for strong disciplines to regulate harmful fisheries subsidies in order to ensure the sustainable use of marine resources for securing inter-generational equity," he said. The minister cautioned that countries need to be cognizant of the existence of a large population of subsistence and artisanal fishermen in LDCs and developing countries who rely on fishing for their basic livelihood. He urged that as they have no other livelihood options, all nations must collectively care for this vulnerable population of marginalised fishermen. " Adequate policy space, to ensure a decent standard of living for subsistence-level fishermen, by modernizing their fishing fleet and expanding their fishing capacity, is a critical outcome for India," he said. Through a solid combination of wide-ranging expertise, experience, and global delivery capability, Wavestone US is well-positioned to help business and IT leaders successfully deliver their most critical transformations and achieve positive outcomes. WGroup, a recognized leader in IT advisory services, today announced the companys complete rebranding following its merger last July with Wavestone, a global business and IT management consultancy headquartered in Paris. The W in WGroup now stands for Wavestone US as it completes the transition, offering an expanded array of business and IT solutions. A More Comprehensive Suite of Services Wavestone US is now part of a global network of more than 3,000-strong seasoned experts and dynamic talent equipped with sector-specific knowledge and specialist expertise that run the gamut of business functions and technologies. Forging synergies, the team now further expands its offering with a newly enhanced comprehensive suite of services that spans the entire lifecycle of a transformation project: IT Strategy & Planning Align IT with business goals IT Cost & Run Optimization Shift focus from run to grow IT Talent Solutions Build a high-performing workforce Cybersecurity & Digital Trust Value digital trust as a key business enabler Business Operations Make operations more effective Wavestone US embodies its parent companys ambitious international growth goals for the US. Based in Philadelphia and New York, the firm is well-positioned to serve client needs in all major aspects of modern enterprises today, anywhere in the US, and now with support around the globe. For more than 15 years, the company, now known as Wavestone US, has partnered with, guided, and supported leaders of more than 200 Fortune 1000 companies across a wide range of industries. The firm built its reputation on a customer-specific and agnostic peer-to-peer approach to IT strategy, cost optimization, and operational improvements, establishing a strong track record of achieving results. The sign above the door has changed, but inside, were still firmly committed to the success of our clients. Now we can better serve them with expanded capabilities including cybersecurity, global delivery, and deep industry expertise. Our new business has a more complete offering with limitless potential. Were thrilled to take this next step in our journey and continue to emerge as a market leader in IT and business consulting, says Jeff Vail, CEO, Wavestone US (formerly WGroup). Most significant to Wavestone US is the ability to deliver not just the What to do but also the How to do it. Through a solid combination of wide-ranging expertise, experience, and global delivery capability, Wavestone US is well-positioned to help business and IT leaders successfully deliver their most critical transformations and achieve positive outcomes. The Positive Way Wavestone believes that at the core of successful change is a unified sense of enthusiasm, a belief that is reflected in its business philosophy, The Positive Way. As most established organizations are currently at a crossroads on transformation and how they want to evolve as an enterprise, The Positive Way refers to the teams infinite enthusiasm and energy in supporting and guiding their clients as they work to accomplish their grandest ideas. The Positive Way is a statement of commitment to creating a positive impact for all its stakeholders. Even in its simplicity, this signature phrase is a unique embodiment of Wavestone. Brand New Home With a brand-new name comes a brand-new website. Explore wavestone.us and discover how Wavestone is the ideal partner for mission-critical transformation initiatives. Keep in touch and join in the conversation @WavestoneGlobal on Facebook, @WavestoneUS on Twitter, and @Wavestone on LinkedIn. About Wavestone US Wavestone US is the North American arm of Paris-based global management and IT consulting firm Wavestone. We have supported the transformations of more than 200 Fortune 1000 companies across a wide range of industries, leveraging a strong peer-to-peer culture, offering a practitioner's perspective on IT strategy, cost optimization, operational improvements, cybersecurity, and business management. It is our mission to help business and IT leaders successfully deliver their most critical transformations and achieve positive outcomes. We drive change for growth, lower cost, and risk, and create the trust that gives people the desire to act. About Wavestone In a world where knowing how to drive transformation is the key to success, Wavestone's mission is to inform and guide large companies and organizations in their most critical transformations, with the ambition of a positive outcome for all stakeholders. Thats what we call "The Positive Way. Wavestone draws on some 3,000 employees across 8 countries. It is a leading independent player in the European consulting market. Wavestone is listed on Euronext Paris and recognized as a Great Place to Work. Irish technology company TEKenable is to create 60 jobs over the next two years, bringing its total workforce to 110. The move comes as the Dublin-based firm plans to double its operations and invest more than 1m into the business. The new jobs are in the areas of solution design, software development, business and cultural change consultants, sales and marketing, and support. TEKenable said that due to a "close alignment" with Microsoft, demand from customers, and expansion in the UK and Pakistan, it was experiencing "rapid growth". Nick Connors, managing director of TEKenable, said: "We give customers the ability to run cross-departmental business processes that are not constrained by existing legacy systems, so they can reduce costs, gain efficiencies and innovate faster. Within two years, we expect to more than double our workforce to 110 people." The company, which was founded in 2002, uses artificial intelligence and business process automation solutions to help firms achieve cost minimisation, greater efficiency and streamlined processes. It also has a Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform that can help firms to achieve greater operational efficiency in sales, marketing, finance and customer relationship management. As well as its Irish base, TEKenable has operations in the UK and the United Arab Emirates. The company has expertise across healthcare, financial services and the public sector. Last year, TEKenable created 25 jobs to cater for new contract wins and "major" Brexit projects. The company currently employs 50 people. During 2019, TEKenable was included in the Deloitte Fast 50 technology ranking. Clients of the business include Lakeland Dairies, Bank of Ireland, AIB, Zurich Insurance and Eason bookshops. COUNCILLORS this Monday agreed, without any discussion or dissent, to a series of overseas trips, designed to promote Limerick on the international stage, at a total cost of approximately 20,000. While the majority of the trips focus on St Patrcks Day, the first up involves the rolling out of Brand Limerick at international level. The Saatchi and Saatchi led branding campaign is due to be unveiled in Limerick this Thursday before moving to New York on February 13. There, Mayor Michael Sheahan, will attend an event hosted by the Irish Consul General, Ciaran Madden to promote the new Brand Limerick, an event which is expected to be attended by members of the Limerick diaspora and people involved in the social, political, business, educational, sporting and cultural life of the city. While there, the Mayor also plans to meet the family of Limerick born Ellen OGrady who became the first female Deputy Police Commissioner of the New York in the 1920s. Mayor Sheahan will also lead a delegation of three councillors and one official to attend the St Patricks Day parade in New York, one of the biggest in the world. The cost is expected to come in at approximately 15,000. . The delegation will attend a variety of tourism and cultural events taking place in New York that week. An invitation to attend the Rockaway Beach parade in Queens New York which takes place on March 7 has also been accepted. And for the first time, a representative from Limerick will attend a St Patricks Day parade in Savannah Georgia, which is celebrating its 196th anniversary this year. The Parade Committee has worked hard to establish the parade as one of the premier parades anywhere in the world, councillors were told on Monday. Numerous bands and groups from all over the United States and from Ireland perform each year in front of an estimated crowd of 800,000 people. The trip represents a great opportunity to develop links for Limerick, councillors were also told and the trip is estimated to cost 2,500. HOLYOKE Democratic state Rep. Aaron M. Vega will not seek reelection in November for a fifth term in the Massachusetts Legislature. It is with great admiration for the position of State Representative, as well as an understanding of the ever-changing political landscape of our great city, that I announce today that I will not be running for reelection this year," said Vega, a former at large city councilor elected to the House in 2012. It has been an amazing journey and honor to be overwhelmingly supported by the voters of this city through four state elections and two local elections. Vega did not reveal what his plans are for life after the Statehouse. He has worked on a range of issues over his four terms in the Legislature, serving as vice chairman for the House Committee on Technology and Intergovernmental Affairs and as a member on joint committees on cannabis policy, export development and higher education. He is the sponsor of over two dozen bills in the current session, including proposed legislation on oversight of the states foster care system. I could have never imagined that this kid from South Holyoke would go on to advocate and represent the Fifth Hampden district in the Great and General Court, but that is what happened, he said. I believe I always had the best intentions to serve the people of Holyoke while in elected office, and I believe that I served with integrity. I listened, I learned and I advocated for all of Holyoke to the best of my ability. After winning a second term on the Holyoke City Council in 2011, he challenged then-incumbent state Rep. Michael F. Kane, the citys representative on Beacon Hill for a decade. Kane eventually dropped out of the race to take a position with Columbia Gas of Massachusetts. Vega said his first campaign for state representative came during a time of transition. His father, Carlos Vega a celebrated community activist and former executive director of Nueva Esperanza died in April 2012, just as the campaign for state representative was gearing up. My wife Debra and I bought our first home together that August of 2012, he said, and just a year after winning the state rep election, we welcomed our son, Odin, into the world in 2013. Vega thanked his family, including his three daughters, for supporting him over the years. It is my family that I am doing the work for, and it is my family that will be with me in this next chapter of our lives, he said. Vega called his time in the Legislature nothing short of inspirational," saying he was in a position to truly help people in Holyoke, Western Massachusetts and across the state. I have been lucky to work with so many great people over the past 8 years, including the residents of Holyoke, state-wide Advocates, and my dedicated colleagues, he said. He also said it had been an honor to work with his legislative aide, Holyoke resident Patricia Duffy. I want to thank her for all of her work on behalf of the people of Holyoke, he said. Holyoke City Clerk Brenna McGee said candidates interested in running for the seat can take out nomination papers at the Massachusetts Secretary of States Office in Springfield starting Feb. 11. The website for the states Office of Campaign and Political Finance shows no recently organized campaigns for the Houses 5th Hampden District. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to media on the White Island volcanic eruption during her post-cabinet press conference at Parliament in Wellington on Dec. 16, 2019. (Marty Melville/AFP via Getty Images) New Zealand PM Ardern Calls Sept. 19 Election New Zealanders will go to the polls on Sept. 19 to decide whether Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will serve a second term, and to vote in referendums on the divisive issues of legalizing marijuana and euthanasia. While Ardern is popular among progressive voters overseas for her response to a mass shooting, focus on climate change action, multilateralism, and ability to combine her career and motherhood, her popularity at home has been affected by slowing economic growth and low business confidence, a failed state housing project, and scandals within her coalition government. I will be asking New Zealanders to continue to support my leadership and the current direction of the government, which is grounded in stability, a strong economy, and progress on the long-term challenges facing New Zealand, Ardern told a news conference. Political pundits are predicting a close contest, with scheduled referendums on whether to legalize marijuana and euthanasia expected to be distracting and divisive. I am not making predictions on this as its going to be a tight race, said Grant Duncan, associate professor at Massey University in Auckland. New Zealands Treasury in December trimmed its 2020 economic growth forecast and flagged a budget deficit as international headwinds including Brexit and the U.S.-China trade war bite. The government in December announced a NZ$12 billion ($7.7 billion) infrastructure budget to try to counter those factors. In an interview with Reuters in December, Ardern noted there was work to be done but her party was still polling higher than it had before the 2017 election. Cant Deliver Ardern, 39, took the helm of the country as the worlds youngest female leader in 2017, a remarkable rise that dominated global headlines and generated the phrase Jacinda-mania. She campaigned passionately to end child poverty and economic inequality, upstaging the ruling center-right National Party and forming a government with the small, nationalist New Zealand First Party and the Green Party under the countrys proportional voting system. Arderns response to the massacre at two mosques in Christchurch in March was to rapidly push a ban on semi-automatic weapons through Parliament. She became only the second head of state after Pakistans Benazir Bhutto to give birth while in office, attending the United Nations with her baby and partner in tow. But critics have accused her of bringing little change locally. New Zealanders have seen that Labor and Jacinda Ardern cant deliver, National Party leader Simon Bridges said in a statement. While theres a lot of announcements, leadership means actually getting things done. Ardern said last week her party would wage a relentlessly positive 2020 election campaign while announcing her party had signed up to Facebooks advertising transparency tool to fight misinformation. We will be asking for a further term to get the job done, Ardern told the news conference. Duncan added there were concerns there were too many things going. The big issue is how people feel about the governments performance its performance in relation to housing and child poverty, and there will be a debate about climate change, he said. The Parliament will be officially dissolved on Aug. 12, and until then, the government will function as usual, Ardern said. By Praveen Menon Humans are not always to blame for genetic diversity loss in wildlife, scientists say. They warn that conservationists should be wary of assuming people are behind the loss, suggesting that differences in African lions are more likely to have been caused by ecological factors. Genetic variation between individual animals ensures the population stays healthy. Researchers analysed the genetic diversity of 149 African lions in the KavangoZambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) in northern Botswana between 2010 and 2013. Published in Animal Conservation, the study found that while human impacts are the leading cause of genetic diversity loss in many cases, the loss across the population was caused by the lions need to adapt to various habitats. Scientists say humans are not always to blame for genetic diversity loss in wildlife (Simon Dures/ZSL/PA) Scientists from the Zoological Society of Londons (ZSL) Institute of Zoology and Imperial College London identified two genetically different populations of lions in the region. Each had adapted to living in a distinct habitat type, with the so-called wetland lions residing in the wetland habitat in the Okavango Delta, and dryland lions living in the semi-arid habitat of the Kalahari Desert. Dr Simon Dures, lead author and ZSL researcher, said: The findings have important applications for wildlife managers across Africa. It means translocations of animals, post human-wildlife conflict for example, need to be carefully considered with regards to their genetic predisposition to their new environment. The distinct wetland lion populations living in the Okavango are incredibly well adapted to their environment. Theyre strong swimmers and seem to thrive in water chasing buffalo down for a kill which is the opposite for other lions in Africa, which would not typically hunt in water. Moving these animals into a semi-arid environment could be detrimental to their survival. Over time there will be less gene flow from lack of breeding between the populations, if a separate population is created but cut off from its original source group due to ecological or human barriers Story continues While a larger more connected population would generally have greater genetic diversity, small amounts of movement can maintain diversity while preserving adaptations that allow animals to thrive in two different environments. Scientists say that although the two groups are not different enough to be classified as separate sub-species, their findings suggest a phenomenon called phenotypic plasticity animals adapting in various ways to suit the environment they are in. Dr Dures added: Animals need to be able to move freely in order to maintain a level of genetic diversity that builds resilience to changes in their environment caused by climate change. We think this ecologically induced separation of the lions pre-dates western Europeans colonisation of southern Africa, so has likely been developing for a long time, way before people came with their fences and hunting. Although we didnt find humans to be the driving force here it doesnt mean to say they arent having any effect. Impacts such as persecution or increased development could lead to exacerbating inbreeding and threatening the future of these specially adapted lions. 'For the women of a community whose seclusion has been a byword of their lifestyle to take to the streets as a means of protest is an unprecedented event,' notes Amulya Ganguli. IMAGE: Republic Day being celebrated at Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI India is currently witnessing a unique phenomenon, perhaps without parallel anywhere in the world at any time in the past. Thousands of Muslim women have come out of their homes to protest against the citizenship law. In Delhi, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Lucknow, Gaya, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and elsewhere, they have sat down in open spaces to voice their angst against a law which, they believe, threatens their status as citizens. For the women of a community whose seclusion has been a byword of their lifestyle to take to the streets as a means of protest is an unprecedented event by all accounts. It is all the more extraordinary because men have remained very much in the background, thereby overturning all the customary stereotypes about Muslims. Clearly, a silent churning has been taking place in the community without the other social and religious groups getting an inkling about how the Muslim women are becoming more outgoing. Their cooperation with the women of other faiths during the demonstrations which were started by the students of various universities is indicative of their commitment to a multicultural polity. In a way, this turn of events is a reaffirmation by the country's largest community of the idea of India. For the BJP, this unusual development has posed a problem IMAGE: The protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Shaheen Bagh, January 19, 2020. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters As long as the mostly male students and other protesters were in the forefront of the anti-citizenship law agitations, the police could shoot them 'like dogs', as Dilip Ghosh, president of the BJP's West Bengal unit, has said, or bury them alive as UP minister Raghuraj Singh has said. Indeed, the deaths of 19 youths in UP during the protests and the firing of tear gas by the police in the Jamia Millia university's library in Delhi testified to this trigger-happy attitude of the authorities. But such peremptory action cannot be taken against women. Nor is it easy to brand them as anti-nationals which is the BJP's routine charge against its opponents or send them to deradicalisation camps/detention centres. So the party's supporters have taken recourse to other means, including approaching the law courts over the blocking of roads or accusing the women of being paid for their anti-government stand. But the protests have shown little sign of abating. Another feature of the expression of anguish and anger about what the women perceive as an uncertain future is how the politicians have reconciled themselves to playing second fiddle. They have made occasional appearances at the protest sites to show their solidarity, but have generally chosen to stay away, especially the big guns among them. The reason perhaps is the realization that the agitation has acquired a momentum under the students and the women because of their wholehearted dedication to the cause which has resonated more widely than in the case of political movements which generally have a partisan and cynical undertone. Instead, the students and the women are seen to have staked their all with little expectations of reward or even an immediate fulfilment of their demand by an insensitive government, whose dismissive attitude towards the protesters can be discerned in the vicious comments of its supporters in the social media and in several television channels. However, for all the government's attempts to trash the women as 'bikau'(purchasable) and the other protesters for only representing a certain community who can be identified by their clothes such as pyjamas and skullcaps, there are signs that the authorities are on edge. As much is evident not only from the foul language which is being used against the protesters, but also from the invocation of the National Security Act in Delhi which allows detention of the accused for three months. That the official/political response to largely peaceful demonstrations where the National Anthem has been sung and the Preamble to the Constitution read out is the promulgation of a harsh law tells it own tale. IMAGE: The protest in Shaheen Bagh, January 19, 2020. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters If the response denotes nervousness, it is because the citizenship law, like Kashmir, is beginning to attract adverse international attention. Moreover, some of the government's allies such as the Janata Dal-United and the Akali Dal have been critical of the law's provisions relating to Muslims. The haste with which the BJP has announced Nitish Kumar's leadership of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar months before the state assembly election is due is yet another indication of the government's uneasy state of mind. Perhaps enthused by the students and the women, the national Opposition, too, is slowly getting its act together as is evident from the resolutions passed by some state assemblies against the citizenship law. History will show to what extent the protests against the citizenship law will lead to Muslim women becoming an even more integral part of the mainstream and playing a crucial role in opening a new chapter in India's secular journey. But the 2020s are presenting a scene which no one expected. Amulya Ganguli is a writer on current affairs Britain's prime minister Boris Johnson has decided to allow Huawei to work on 5G infrastructure in the UK, despite the US calling for a ban. Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool via Reuters Britain has given Huawei the green light to work on 5G infrastructure, despite sustained pressure from the US to ban the company. The UK government announced on Tuesday that Huawei had been cleared to work on parts of 5G but said restrictions would be put in place to limit potential national security risks. The Departure of Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) said companies deemed high risk would be excluded from sensitive areas of the 5G network, such as nuclear plants and military bases, and limited to 35% market share. High risk vendors have never been and never will be in our most sensitive networks, Ciaran Martin, the chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said. Taken together these measures add up to a very strong framework for digital security. READ MORE: Security, trade, tech: Inside UKs crunch Huawei decision The DCMS announcement made no mention of Huawei directly but a separate announcement from the NCSC said the decision was including, but not limited to, Huawei and said Huawei had been treated as a high risk vendor since 2003. A major defeat for the US The decision to allow Huawei into 5G networks follows months of assessment by cyber security specialists and puts the UK at odds with the US, which has called for the UK to follow Australia and New Zealand in banning Huawei. US intelligence services believe Shenzen-based Huawei may have links to the Chinese state and fear allowing it to work on national telecoms equipment could allow Beijing to spy on sensitive government communications. The UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada are all members of the international intelligence sharing group known as the Five Eyes and the US are concerned that a breach in UK communications could leave them exposed. Even if Huawei is not working with the Chinese government, experts told Yahoo Finance UK its Chinese supply chain could be compromised. GCHQ said last year Huaweis software was shoddy, adding to hacking risks. Story continues US president Donald Trump. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images The US has repeatedly pressed the UK to ban Huawei, with secretary of state Mike Pompeo issuing a warning on Twitter this week. Trump labelled Huawei a national security threat at a December NATO meeting and the US placed sanctions on the company last year. Former US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Tuesday the UKs decision was disconcerting. By prioritizing costs, the UK is sacrificing national security and inviting the [Chinese Communist Party]s surveillance state in, he wrote on Twitter. I implore our British allies to reverse their decision. Republican politician Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, called the UK decision a major defeat for the United States on Twitter. READ MORE: US warns UK over 'momentous' Huawei decision Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the decision wouldnt damage UK intelligence sharing agreements. Nothing in this review affects this countrys ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data over highly secure networks both within the UK and with our partners, including the Five Eyes, Raab told parliament on Tuesday afternoon. The potential rift comes at a sensitive time in US-UK relations, with the two countries just beginning post-Brexit trade negotiations. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeted the decision could could greatly complicate a US-UK free trade agreement. Johnsons decision also puts him at odds with many in his own party. Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, and Tom Tugendhat MP, who is seeking re-election as the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, have all spoken out on the issue this week. Reports suggested home secretary Priti Patel was also concerned about Huawei. Seize the huge opportunity Huawei's main UK offices in Reading on 28 January 2020. Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images UK officials believe they can manage the risks posed by Huawei. Raab told parliament Britains electronic communications spy agency GCHQ had conducted the most detailed study of what is needed to protect 5G anywhere in the world. We know more about Huawei and the risks it poses than any other country in the world, he said. Johnson is reluctant to ban Huawei over fears it could put the UK at a disadvantage technologically. Only two other companies Ericsson and Nokia can supply 5G telecom equipment and their kit is more expensive and less advanced. Andrew Tsonchev, director of technology at cyber security firm Darktrace, said a boycott would set the UK back by five years in technology terms. [Huawei] simply have a significant first mover advantage, he told Yahoo Finance UK on Monday. Raab told parliament the government would create a new telecoms security regime to oversee the system and would introduce tough new security standards for vendors working with companies like Huawei. Risk cant be eliminated in telecoms but it is the job of government, Ofcom, and industry to work together to reduce vulnerabilities and mitigate those risks, the foreign secretary said. Digital minister Baroness Nicky Morgan said: This is a UK-specific solution for UK-specific reasons and the decision deals with the challenges we face right now. We can now move forward and seize the huge opportunities of 21st century technology. Victor Zhang, vice president of Huawei, said in a video statement posted on Twitter he was reassured by the UKs evidence-based decision. CLEVELAND, Ohio Paul Clark, former regional president for PNC Bank in Cleveland, will join the cleveland.com politics team for its coverage of the Iowa caucuses. Clark, along with his wife, Jill, head to Iowa this weekend -- along with me, chief political reporter Seth Richardson -- through the Feb. 3 caucuses. On the way, theyll provide their observations of the last-minute campaign push by the presidential candidates and the unique process that logs the first votes in the presidential election. The Iowa caucuses have always been on the bucket list for Jill and me, Clark said. Weve been watching them for years. We always thought they were a wonderful expression of our democracy. We had an opportunity to go and follow some candidates and participate in a caucus -- we thought that would be a fun thing to do. Clark is well known around both business and philanthropic circles in Northeast Ohio. As regional president of PNC for 10 years, he had a hand in projects and grants ranging from the PNC Fairfax Connection to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to the Gordon Square Arts District. He retired from PNC in March 2019. Clark said he and his wife decided last summer to go to the caucuses and shored up their plans in November. Theyll be staying in Des Moines, but taking trips to Ames, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City as well. That whole process just seemed to be different and unique, Clark said. And uniquely kind of American. I think its a great expression of our democracy at its best. I think Jill and I could use a big dose of that right now. The Clarks will be filing color commentary as credentialed media members for cleveland.com, giving them the same access as reporters to places like campaign stops, caucus sites and the filing center. It can just be an opportunity for Jill and I to share what we see. Whats interesting. Whats unexpected, Clark said. This is not a political thing. This is a democratic process type of thing. Were just looking forward to sharing for whoever would like to read. You can read cleveland.coms full coverage of the Iowa caucuses at this page. We are delighted to have Mr. Lemke return to Springfield to run Perimeter Behavioral Hospital of Springfield. Perimeter Healthcare is pleased to announce the appointment of Lynn Lemke as the new CEO of Perimeter Behavioral Hospital of Springfield. Mr. Lemke possesses more than 30 years of combined clinical and executive management experience, having occupied various top-management roles in different organizations in the mental healthcare value chain. Prior to his appointment at Perimeter, Lynn was the Executive Director of Behavioral Health at Touchette Regional Hospital in Centerville. Formerly Mr. Lemke served as Executive Director of Behavioral Health in Springfield, MO. He has also served as a Behavioral Health Consultant to the Tennessee Health Management Board. Expressing his delight at the appointment, President and CEO of Perimeter Healthcare, Rod Laughlin remarked that Lynns executive management experience will be key to taking Perimeter Behavioral Hospital of Springfield to new heights. He knows this community and is fully on board with the companys vision of building an integrated behavioral healthcare system and there is no doubt his steady guidance will be invaluable to the Springfield hospital. An Masters of Science graduate of Health Services Administration from the University of Kansas, Lynn Lemkes commitment towards collaborating with healthcare communities to provide effective treatment for people suffering from mental health conditions and addictions has been the major motivation behind his career decisions. At different points in his illustrious career, he has helped both budding and established behavioral health facilities navigate through the numerous hurdles associated with mental healthcare. Lisa Evans, Chief Operating Officer at Perimeter Healthcare believes Lynns appointment is yet another giant step towards achieving the companys goals. Lynns vast experience and his leadership skills are key to leading the hospital well. Our focus is on harnessing the provision of quality mental healthcare as a means of providing hope and transforming lives; and Lynn is more than capable of leading this facility to achieve that. She added, Mr. Lemke was the President and CEO of Marillac Childrens Center in Kansas and is very familiar with the unique needs of the patients at Perimeter Hospital of Springfield. About Perimeter Healthcare Perimeter Healthcare consists of a network of mental and behavioral healthcare facilities that are committed to the mental well-being of their clients. They provide a broad range of comprehensive treatment programs for a variety of mental health disorders. The network is managed by President and CEO Rod Laughlin, who brings thirty-five years of experience in building and operating successful facility-based healthcare companies. About Perimeter Hospital of Springfield Perimeter Behavioral Hospital of Springfield provides hope and transformation to patients and their families through compassionate, evidence-based care in a warm, professional environment. Perimeter Behavioral Hospital of Springfield serves children and adolescents ages 6 to seventeen. TVS Motor Company begins its electric mobility journey with a green, silent and connected platform. The urban TVS iQube electric scooter is powered by and advanced electric drivetrain, and next-gen TVS SmartXonnect platform. TVS iQube Electric features a 4.4 kW electric motor that delivers high power, and efficiency with no transmission loss. iQube electric scooter has a max speed of 78 kmph and can go 75 kms in full charge. TVS IQube Electric goes from 0 to 40 kmph in 4.2 seconds. The scooter is equipped with modern features including regenerative braking, geo-fencing, navigation assist, remote charge status, smart ride statistics, range indication, battery charge status, over-speed alert, last park location, incoming call alerts/SMS alerts, and Q-park assist among others. The TVS iQube Electric was launched by Shri. B.S. Yediyurappa, Honble Chief Minster of Karnataka and Shri. Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Honble Minister for Road Transport and Highways of India & Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Shri. Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company. TVS iQube Electric features proprietary next-gen TVS SmartXonnect platform. The electric scooter is fitted with an advanced TFT cluster and works with TVS iQube app. The scooter features multi-select economy and power mode, and day and night display for convenience. Along with this, the company says this is a noiseless product. Available in white colour, TVS iQube Electric its contemporary is design. Up front, the scooter is fitted with crystal-clear LED headlamps, LED taillamps and and an illuminating logo. For those interested, one may request a bookeding through the website, or at select dealerships at a booking amount of Rs 5,000. A dedicated customer relationship assistance network has been setup for purchase and support. Available at a price of Rs 1.15 lakhs on road, the company handed over the keys to the first customer today at the launch event. TVS iQube Electric is available in Bengaluru from January 27, 2020. Salient Features Max speed of 78 kmph 0 to 40 kmph in 4.2 seconds Q-park assist Regenerative Braking Geo-fencing Navigation Assist Remote charge status Smart ride statistics Range Indication Battery charge status Over-speed alert Shri. Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company, said, TVS Motor is driven by Customer Centric Innovation. As India moves ahead, its mobility solutions would increasingly be total experience-led, nowhere is this felt sharper than among the youth of India. Our focus on the Green & Connected youth of India, is embodied, in the first of the TVS Electric portfolio. TVS iQube Electric is a blend of an advanced electric drivetrain and the next gen TVS SmartXonnect platform. As the electric vehicle market begins to provide opportunities in an emerging industry, January has proven to be a good month for launches. Prior to the launch of iQube electric, the Bajaj Chetak electric scooter, and Benling Aura electric have been launched. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser Former Representative Pete Stark, who in his long legislative career as a Democrat from California helped expand access to health insurance, but whose irascible temperament often ruffled the feathers of his House colleagues, died on Friday at his home in Harwood, Md. He was 88. His son Fortney H. Stark III said the cause was leukemia. For most of his 40 years in Congress, Mr. Stark (he was born Fortney H. Stark Jr. but went by Pete) represented a liberal district in Northern Californias East Bay, between Oakland and San Jose, including a part of Silicon Valley. He served on Capitol Hill from 1973 to 2013, making him one of the most senior members of Congress until his district was redrawn and he lost to a Democratic challenger in 2012. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee and chairman of that panels subcommittee on health, Mr. Stark was in the forefront of health care debates, playing a major role in shaping the nations health care policies and in protecting Medicare and Social Security from program cuts. He helped write portions of the Affordable Care Act, which in 2010 expanded access to health insurance for millions of Americans. He also led efforts to create the COBRA program, which allows workers to keep their health insurance even after losing their jobs, and to continue to be covered on a former spouses policy in case of divorce. He led passage of legislation that guaranteed emergency medical services to anyone seeking treatment, regardless of his or her ability to pay. THE growing fears on the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019 n-CoV) outbreak could likely hurt the global economy, with Philippine stocks looking to trade weak driven by various economic headwinds. Theres a rising investor unease in the market, according to Dino Bate, president and chief executive officer at COL Financial Inc. He said the markets current weakness is caused by a mix of factors, including the uncertainties created by the virus outbreak which originated in the city of Wuhan in China. We see a weak investor sentiment but overall, the outlook for the Philippine economy remains optimistic. Its too good to ignore, Bate told SunStar Cebu in a phone interview Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Marco Nino Velasco, equities investment manager at Unicapital Securities, said the health crisis, which has brought jitters across regions, is posing some serious threat to the global economy, although he said the global sentiment is overreacting. It may affect the global economy. If people get sick, consumption drops and if consumption drops, economic activity slows down, Velasco said in a separate interview. He said that the pharmaceutical sector is worth looking at right now. Once they figure out how to fight the 2019 n-CoV, expect sales to skyrocket. As far as the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is concerned, things may get choppy in the short term, Velasco said. In Tuesdays trading, the benchmark PSE index was down 1.57 percent or 118.93 points to 7,468.70. Financial markets across the globe were also mostly down, after China warned the deadly 2019 n-CoV was spreading fast. Analysts said there were growing fears that the crisis could become as bad as the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak that hammered markets and the global economy 17 years ago. The Sars epidemic, which also began in China, spooked investors. The new outbreak has led China to lock down Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease and home to 11 million people, while imposing tight travel restrictions on a number of other cities. Story continues The outbreak came after the world economy was able to recover from the uncertainty of the months-long war between the US and China after the two signed their first phase trade deal. Looking forward, Velasco said that the upcoming earnings season in February may help spur the market. Bate is projecting that listed companies would report better earnings for 2019, which should help boost sentiment among investors. Optimism remains as far as our economy is concerned, said Bate, citing the early approval of the 2020 state budget and the continued business expansion in the country as among the key drivers. Velasco echoed this outlook. As an economy, I think the outlook looks great. Forecasts of financial institutions are more than six percent gross domestic product growth for the Philippines this year. However, there are a lot of challenges, he said. French Foreign Minister Hopes US Will Have 'Good Sense' to Not Withdraw Support in Sahel Sputnik News 11:02 GMT 27.01.2020(updated 11:38 GMT 27.01.2020) The French Foreign Ministry on 20 January said that Paris considers the swift implementation of the commitments made at the Libya conference in Berlin a priority in terms of restoring peace to the North African nation. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has expressed hope that the United States will have "good sense" not to withdraw support in Sahel. He continued on by saying that he had no new information on three French nationals who went missing last week in Iraq. The statement comes after Le Drian met with his UAE counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on 24 January to discuss bilateral ties and recent developments in the region - Libya, Iran, and Sudan in particular - according to the state news agency WAM. Prior to this, Berlin hosted an international conference on Libya featuring a number of countries and organisations, including Russia, Turkey, Egypt, the United States, the European Union, and the African Union. The participants of the conference called on the United Nations to facilitate ceasefire talks between the Libyan sides and urged the organisation's Security Council to impose sanctions on those who violate the ceasefire arrangements. France is directing Operation Barkhan in the Sahel and Sahara, the goal of which is to stabilise the situation in the region and fight terrorism. As part of this operation, France is working with Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad (G5 Sahel). According to the French Defence Ministry, approximately 4,500 troops are participating in the operation. The Sahel ("edge" in Arabic) is a bio-geographic zone of Africa, bordering the Sahara from the south in the form of semi-deserts, gradually transforming into semi-savannas. The outskirts of the world's largest desert expand a few hundred kilometres from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, and Cape Verde are situated on the territory of the Sahel in an area equivalent to Western Europe. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Police are investigating a shooting in which a 16-year-old was injured when they were struck by gunfire. The incident occurred before 9:15 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, in the 1900 block of Giddings Avenue SE, north of Burton Street SE, according to police. Officers located the teen, who suffered a non-life-threatening injury and was treated. No arrests had been made in connection to the incident as of Tuesday morning, Jan. 28. Investigators have not received full cooperation and police said they could not yet determine whether the shooting was random, or what led up to the incident. Police ask anyone with information related to the shooting to contact the police department at 616-456-3400, or Silent Observer at 616-774-2345. READ MORE: Drones, ShotSpotter to be considered by Grand Rapids police Parolee charged in Grand Rapids 3rd homicide of 2020 Has Grand Rapids city manager met high expectations? Most say yes We are inevitably taking the fourth step tomorrow, the Iranian regimes President Hassan Rouhani stated during his speech at the inauguration ceremony of Freedom Innovation factory in Qom Province on November 5. Two days earlier, the head of AEOI Ali Akbar Salehi asserted that the regime had put 30 more advanced centrifuges into use. the Iranian regimes steps of breaching the 2015 nuclear deal During his speech in Qom, Hassan Rouhani explained, We have taken three steps of reduction our obligations so far In the first step; there was a restriction about the scale for storing enriched uranium based on the agreement [2015 Iran nuclear deal]. We used to sell the surplus of 300 kilograms enriched uranium to others, but, at the first step, we refused that restriction and announced that from now on we will store whatever we enrich and wont sell an extra amount more Second step; we defied another restriction about the degree of enrichment and told whatever the country needs we enrich uranium; however, it was 4%, 5%, more or lesser, and we have not committed to only enrich 3.67% Third step; we had accepted a framework about [nuclear] research and development. For example, we had to wait some years to use 30 centrifuges and some while later for using a complete chain; we refused [the restriction] and declared that we are free to produce each centrifuge we need and we inject uranium gas as much as we want. On Wednesday, Iranian officials announced that they began the fourth step of breaching the nuclear deal by injecting uranium gas into the more than 1,000 centrifuges in Fordow facility located in the north of the holy city of Qom. Fordow Facility As a covert uranium enrichment facility, Fordo, discovered by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) for the first time. At a press conference in Paris on December 20, 2005, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the NCRI Mohammad Mohaddessin provided details about a secret nuclear facility and an underground tunnel used for nuclear projects in the vicinity of Qom Province. Mr. Mohaddessin explained that the construction work had been started in 2000 by a specialist engineering division of the Islamic Republic Guards Corps (IRGC). The AEOI primarily denied the existence of the Fordow facility. However, later it acknowledged the existence of Fordow to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after the nuclear secret site was announced by Barack Obama, Gordon Brown, and Nicolas Sarkozy in a joint press conference on September 25, 2009. While Iranian authorities claim that their nuclear program pursues technologic and scientific developments, but they do not respond why hold a technologic and scientific site covert until it has been discovered and exposed by dissidents? The reality is the Fordo facility is buried under a mountain and protected by anti-aircraft batteries. Therefore, the word and practice of Iranian officials are absolutely contradictory. A long-time background of deception The Iranian regime has a horrible record of deceiving its counterparts. On March 5, 2006, Sunday Telegraph disclosed that in a public speech, Hassan Rouhani had revealed how Teheran played for time and tried to dupe the West after its secret nuclear program was uncovered by the Iranian opposition in 2002. In an interview with Channel 4 State TV On January 22, Salehi admitted that his government had deceived the P5+1, saying, The tubes that the fuel goes through them there, we had bought similar tubes previously, but I could not declare them at the time, only one person knew about it in Iran We had to work smartly and intelligently, in addition to not breaking the bridges behind us, we also had to build a bridge that would enable us to go faster if we were to go back We had bought similar tubes, the same quantity, we were told to fill the main tubes with cement, so we poured cement in those tubes but we did not say that we had other tubes because if we did, they would have said, sir, pour cement in those as well We are going to use the same tubes now. Now we have those tubes. In conclusion, the truth is that as the tensions are escalating between Iran and the international community, Iranian officials attempt to intimidate their counterparts through saber-rattling. Authorities pursue to insinuate to the Iranian people that they control the situation. In fact, they would like to use aggressive gestures for internal purposes such as discouraging the fed-up people about following their rightful protests and reviving the spirit of the members of IRGC, Basij forces, and the other parts of oppressive apparatuses. However, it seems that the Iranian regimes long policy to terrorize its counterparts solve its crises no more. Therefore, the Iranian officials move to reduce their obligations about the JCPOA is more akin to shooting themselves in the foot. This ironic move leaves the regime alone in face of looming crises. Increased cooperation between Egypt and China will boost the use of electric vehicles in Egypt, the minister said Public Enterprise Minister Hesham Tawfik said that a number of cooperation agreements between Egypt and China will be signed in 2020 to boost the use of electric vehicles in Egypt. "Egyptian and Chinese officials exchanged visits in the recent period to discuss cooperation agreements that will be signed in 2020 to begin the use of electric cars in Egypt," said Tawfik, who was speaking at a meeting with parliament's industry committee on Tuesday morning. To prepare the ground for the widespread use of the vehicles, Tawfik said the electricity ministry will also set up 1,000 fast electric charging stations across Egypt over the next three years. "The private sector will also be allowed to build this kind of station," said Tawfik, adding that "experts from China and Egypt agreed that the step of building electric charging stations should precede the use of electric cars on Egyptian streets." "You can't use electric cars without first making sure that necessary charging stations are available," he said. In addition to the above, Tawfik indicated that investors will be offered a package of incentives to produce at least 100,000 locally made electric vehicles in the near future, with a price of EGP50,000 per car. In the meantime, Tawfik said, a programme will be implemented to target Cairo's white taxi cabs, which currently use both gasoline and diesel. "We aim that at least 11,000 taxi cabs (3 percent of the total) per year will become electric vehicles," said Tawfik, adding that "government institutions and economic authorities will also be also encouraged to use electric cars, at a targeted rate of 7,000 cars per year. Search Keywords: Short link: by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, January 27, 2020 The mother of a 5-year-old YouTube viewer has no grounds to sue either YouTube or channel operators for allegedly tracking young children in order to serve them with targeted ads, the companies contend in new court papers. The complaint should be dismissed in its entirety lawsuit, the online video platform and channel operators -- including Hasbro, the Cartoon Network, Mattel, and DreamWorks -- argue in a motion filed last week with U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose. The companies argue that the lawsuit, brought by California resident Nicole Hubbard, marks an attempted end run around the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. That law prohibits certain forms of data collection from children, but doesn't allow for lawsuits by private parties. advertisement advertisement The battle dates to last October, when Hubbard alleged in a class-action complaint that her child, identified only as C.H., watched YouTube channels aimed at children -- including Ryan ToysReview, Hasbro's My Little Pony Official, and CookieSwirlC. Hubbard sued around two months after Google agreed to pay $170 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General that YouTube violated the federal children's privacy law by collecting data from YouTube viewers younger than 13. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act prohibits companies from knowingly collecting personal information -- including web-browsing data that is used to target ads -- from children under 13, without their parents' permission. The FTC alleged in its complaint against YouTube that the company hosts numerous channels directed to children. The agency added that Google promoted YouTube to Mattel, Hasbro and others as a top destination for kids. Google did not admit to violating the law as part of the settlement. Hubbard's claims include intrusion upon seclusion -- a broad privacy concept that involves highly offensive conduct -- and violations of California's unfair competition law. But the companies argue in a joint motion seeking dismissal that the core allegations stem from the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which only allows enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission and state officials. In keeping with Congress mandate, the FTC has already taken action to address the alleged data practices plaintiff challenges by bringing an enforcement action against Google LLC and YouTube LLC ... in coordination with the New York state attorney general, the companies write. YouTube and the others add that the Children's Online Privacy Protection act overrides certain overlapping state law claims regardless of how those claims are styled. The companies also argue that the allegations of online tracking don't support a claim for intrusion upon seclusion. Collection of online activity, geolocation, and browser/device information, particularly where as here it was in accordance with public disclosures, does not give rise to an expectation of privacy, much less meet the high standard of egregious conduct, they argue. YouTube and the channel operators add that a federal judge in South Carolina dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the YouTube violated young children's privacy by tracking them across the web for ad-targeting purposes. U.S. District Court Judge Bruce Hendricks in Charleston, South Carolina said in that case that the allegations, even if true, wouldn't support the finding that Google violated state law. The Cartoon Network, DreamWorks and Mattel also argued in separate papers that the case against them should be dismissed because Hubbard didn't allege that C.H. watched any of their videos. Several years ago, New York state prosecuted Mattel, Hasbro and two other companies for allegedly allowing young website visitors to be tracked by third parties for ad-targeting purposes. New Zealanders will be asked to vote on whether to legalise euthanasia for those with incurable or terminal illnesses in a ballot on September 19. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the referendum on Tuesday, saying it would take place on the same day as a general election to decide if she gets a second term in power. People will also be asked to vote in a second referendum asking whether the country should legalise cannabis for recreational use. New Zealand will vote on whether to legalise euthanasia for patients with terminal or incurable diseases during the country's general election in September (file) If passed, the new euthanasia law would allow doctors to proscribe a lethal dose of medication to patients they believe have less than six months to live, if the patients request it. The NZ government has published details and advice for voters on the Referendum on the End of Life Choice here. The cannabis referendum would allow people over the age of 20 to buy and consume cannabis at home or on licenced premises. Cannabis would be offered for sale at physical stores, with online shopping banned. Ms Ardern, the youngest world leader when she took office as head of a coalition government in 2017, gained international attention and praise for her reaction to the New Zealand mosque terror attack last year. She also made headlines after becoming only the second world leader to give birth in office, after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto. While her personal popularity remains high in New Zealand, appetite for her government has lessened thanks to weak economic growth, failure to deliver on a promise of thousands of new council houses, and in-fighting within the coalition. Pundits are predicting a close contest between her Labour party and the rival National Party polling neck-and-neck. Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announced the vote on Tuesday as she asked her countrymen to give her a second term in a general election While Miss Ardern's personal popularity remains high, her Labour party is polling neck-and-neck with opposition National Party, led by Simon Bridges 'I will be asking New Zealanders to continue to support my leadership and the current direction of the government, which is grounded in stability, a strong economy and progress on the long term challenges facing New Zealand,' she said. Political pundits are predicting a close contest, with scheduled referendums on legalising cannabis and euthanasia expected to be distracting and divisive. 'I am not making predictions on this as it's going to be a tight race,' said Grant Duncan, Associate Professor at Massey University in Auckland. New Zealand's Treasury last month trimmed its 2020 economic growth forecast and flagged a budget deficit as international headwinds including Brexit and the U.S.-China trade war bite. The government last month announced a NZ$12 billion ($7.7 billion) infrastructure spend to try counter those factors. Two October opinion polls showed support for her ruling coalition at its lowest since 2017. Her own popularity also waned, but she remains far ahead of her rivals. In an interview with Reuters last month, Ardern noted there was work to be done but her party was still polling higher than it was before the 2017 election. Ardern, 39, took the helm of the country as the world's youngest female leader in 2017, a remarkable rise that dominated global headlines and generated the phrase 'Jacinda-mania'. She campaigned passionately to end child poverty and economic inequality, upstaging the ruling centre-right National Party and forming a government with the small, nationalist New Zealand First Party and the Green Party under the country's proportional voting system. Ardern's response to the massacre at two mosques in Christchurch in March, when she wore a headscarf to meet with the families of the victims and then rapidly pushed a ban on semi-automatic weapons through parliament, was widely praised. New Zealanders will also vote in a referendum on whether to legalise cannabis for recreational use for those aged 20 and over during the national poll She became only the second head of state after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto to give birth while in office, attending the United Nations with her baby and partner in tow. But critics have accused her of playing to a global audience while bringing little change locally. 'New Zealanders have seen that Labour and Jacinda Ardern canat deliver,' National Party leader Simon Bridges said in a statement. 'While thereas a lot of announcements, leadership means actually getting things done.' Ardern said last week her party would wage a 'relentlessly positive' 2020 election campaign while announcing her party had signed up to Facebook's advertising transparency tool to fight misinformation. 'We will be asking for a further term to get the job done,' Ardern told the news conference. The cannabis referendum, pushed through by the Greens, would bring younger voters to the polls, but there were concerns there were too many things going, said Duncan from Massey University. 'The big issue is how people feel about the government's performance...it's performance in relation to housing and child poverty, and there will be a debate about climate change,' said Duncan. The parliament will be officially dissolved on August 12 and until then the government will function as usual, Ardern said. WASHINGTON For a tense period in 2019, American GreenFuels believed it might have to lay off all 50 of its employees at its New Haven biodiesel plant. This fall, American GreenFuels cut production significantly, said Raf Aviner, president of Kolmar Americas, American GreenFuels parent company. It was only in late December that the biodiesel producer breathed a sigh of relief. With its 2020 spending package, Congress approved a series of changes to the tax code, including the reinstatement of a tax credit for biodiesel producers. The return of the tax credit was celebrated by biodiesel producers who rely on the credit so they can sell their fuel at a discounted price and remain competitive. Lapsed in Dec. 2017, the return of the tax credit was a lifeline for the struggling industry, which is still seeking a foothold in the fossil-fuel-focused energy industry and has seen its market undercut in the Trump administration, Aviner said. Its the only thing that has kept the industry alive, Aviner said. Reinstating the tax credit was a cause that brought together lawmakers from all over the country. From the mid-west to the south to the northeast, the credit garnered a bipartisan coalition, including all five members of the Connecticut House delegation. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, met with workers at the American GreenFuels plant in New Haven in July 2019. I heard in a very, very serious in an almost frantic way about the 50 jobs that were on the line, DeLauro said. I made a commitment to them that I would do everything that I could to get this [tax credit] done. Biodiesel is a fuel made from vegetable oils, fats, or grease, like as recycled restaurant grease. Its usually sold as a blend of biodiesel and petroleum-based fuel. U.S. regulations require oil refiners to blend biofuels, like biodiesel or ethanol, into their gasoline or buy credits to fund those refiners who can. This is intended to boost the biodiesel industry and the farmers they buy from, and reduce U.S. oil dependence. Biodiesel can be used to fuel cars or in home heating oil. Supporting biodiesel producers united DeLauro and Republicans like Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who leads the Senate Finance Committee. Several biodiesel plants and a cellulosic ethanol plant in Iowa have shut down amid economic pressures that include the trade war with China, the Des Moines Register reported. Congressional leaders struck a deal over the tax credit in the days before the House voted to pass the 2020 spending package in December 2019. [The biodiesel] industry employs more than 60,000 Americans, including thousands of Iowans, Grassley said in a statement. This extension provides important, longer-term stability for them and their communities." In 2019, DeLauro asked the House and Senate leadership to pass the tax credit, she said. The Connecticut delegation also sent letters of support for the credit. Its about providing an incentive for renewable fuels, to promote jobs, the economy and the environment, said DeLauro, who previously chaired the House Appropriations subcommittee focused on agriculture for three years. [Biodiesel] improves air quality. It reduces green house gas emissions by half compared to what petroleum does. The credit was extended for five years retroactive to 2018. It rewards biodiesel producers with a $1-per-gallon tax credit. American GreenFuels, the largest biodiesel company on the eastern seaboard, produces about 400 million gallons of fuel a year, said Aviner. American GreenFuels is a subsidiary of Kolmar Americas, which is headquartered in Bridgeport. Its biodiesel is generated from recycled waste like tallow, used cooking oil and other products. The tax credit does not mean millions in profits for American GreenFuels because most biodiesel producers must use the credit to discount the price of their product. It wasnt meant to be this way, Aviner said. The tax credit should be used to not to stay alive, but to reinvest in the industry and technologies and forms of transportation, said Aviner. For many producers in the country, the economics are so bad, so even with a dollar-a-gallon tax credit, some of the producers in this country are posed to break even or maybe make 10 or 20 cents-a-gallon margin. Boosting the biodiesel industry is also a boon for farmers who grow the soybeans and other crops used to produce biodiesel. Some of these farmers have been hit hard by President Donald Trumps tariff war with China. The biodiesel industry has also been undermined by oil refinery exemptions that allow some refiners not to incorporate biodiesel into their fuel blend if it would cause them financial duress. Small refiners can seek exemptions, but Trumps Environmental Protection Agency has granted waivers to large operations owned by the likes of Exxon Mobil Corp , Chevron Corp and billionaire Carl Icahn, Reuters reported. The Trump administrations EPA has roughly quadrupled the number of exemptions awarded. Paul Teta, vice president of public and government affairs for Kolmar Americas, said fighting against exemptions for large refineries will be American GreenFuelss top lobbying priority in 2020. American GreenFuels will coordinate its effort with its trade association, the National Biodiesel Board. In late December 2019, two days after a deal was reached on the biodiesel tax credit, the Trump administration finalized new rules for 2020 blending of biofuels, increasing the volume of biodiesel that must be used. But the new rules did not make changes sought by biofuel producers regarding small refinery exemptions. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson A 49-year-old Juhu resident, who had returned from Wuhan, China, last week, was quarantined at Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli on Tuesday after developing symptoms similar to the new strain of coronavirus nCOV. The number of suspected coronavirus cases has now reached five in the city. The samples of the Juhu resident was sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for analysis. On January 21, the civic body health officials had kept the businessman under observation after he landed from China. On January 24, he developed cough and fever along with hypertension. Currently, he has been administered with medicines for fever and cough. The further course of treatment will be decided on the basis of his medical report the Pune institute. Four other patients who had been quarantined had tested negative in the first report. BMC had sent the samples of three of the four patients again for testing, but is yet to get them back. Explaining the delay in getting the reports, a senior health officer from the civic body said, All the reports across the state are being sent to the Pune laboratory. So it will take time to run secondary tests. The priority of the laboratory is to provide the first test report of suspected patients. As per the state government officials, NIV received 20 samples from across the country in the past one week till Monday. Three other Mumbaiites who visited China but showed no symptoms of coronavirus are kept under telephonic observation by BMC health officials. BMC has formed a team of epidemiologists, microbiologists, medicine, chest specialists, who would be assigned at Kasturba Hospital in case of an outbreak. BMC health officials along with state public health officials held a meeting with representatives of private hospitals to discuss guidelines on the coronavirus. BMC informed private super-specialty hospitals that if required civic patients would be sent to isolation wards in private hospitals. Additional civic commissioner (health) Suresh Kakani said, We have asked Jaslok Hospital, Bombay Hospital and Lilavati Hospital and other private hospitals to inform us if any of their patients show symptoms similar to coronavirus. Also, they have been informed that if required, we might send our patients to their isolation wards. Dr Ramesh Bharmal, director of the major civic hospitals said that central government rules do not allow private hospitals to admit patients during such outbreaks and the state and BMC are responsible for the patients. Patients can be sent to private hospitals only if we run out of isolation beds in case of an outbreak, he said. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- The greatest shakeup in automobile history reordered the stock market this month when a minnow grew larger than a whale. Tesla Inc., the 17-year-old Palo Alto maker of battery-powered, zero-emission vehicles, is now the second-largest automaker measured by market capitalization, overtaking No. 2 Volkswagen with a value of $101 billion. It wasnt long ago that no industry analyst would have predicted that the 82-year-old Wolfsburg, Germany-based seller of 30 times as many vehicles last year would become an also-ran to Tesla. Most of them remain unconvinced that Tesla is worth its price of $558 a share and less than 32% recommend buying the stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. But Tesla customers and investors are making the case that the reliance on the internal combustion engine by Volkswagen and by the 39 other major automakers committed to a commercial fossil fuel machine invented in the 19th century is a dubious strategy. Tesla is worth $131 billion less than No. 1 Toyota Motor Corp., but its sales growth has been more than nine times the industry average during the past decade and 832 times Toyota's 25% appreciation since Tesla became a public company in June 2010 with an initial valuation of $2 billion. It opened its largest service center in Germany last year and agreed in December to build its first European car factory, in the state of Brandenburg. All of which explains why Tesla has been poised to catch Volkswagen in the stock market since 2014. Thats when U.S. regulators confirmed that Volkswagen equipped more than 10 million vehicles worldwide with software to defeat emissions tests, an existential moment for the industry. The global sales leader in effect revealed that growth depended on making cleaner vehicles, and that it would cheat if necessary to stay ahead. Volkswagen subsequently admitted that it had conspired to violate the U.S. Clean Air Act and paid a $4.3 billion fine. Several senior executives were sentenced to prison and former Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn and six other Volkswagen executives were eventually criminally charged by German prosecutors. Story continues Volkswagen still is beloved by industry analysts, 86% of whom favor the German automaker with a buy recommendation, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Volkswagen now wants to emulate Tesla and recently raised its battery electric production target to 1.5 million vehicles in 2025. Tesla sold a record 367,500 vehicles in 2019. The time of the traditional car manufacturers is over, said CEO Herbert Diess in prepared remarks at an internal Volkswagen meeting this month. The magnitude of our task and the brevity of time necessitated by Tesla's challenge gives us exactly one single try, he said. Diess, who was a member of the management board at Bayerische Motoren Werke AG before he joined Volkswagen as chairman and CEO in 2015, should know. As recently as 2013, Volkswagen's $109 billion valuation was seven times more than Tesla's. By 2015, the gap had narrowed to $22 billion and was just $10 billion after the first week of January. During this period, the average 5-year and 3-year returns (income plus appreciation) for the 10 largest automakers were 30% and 28%, respectively. Volkswagen investors suffered by comparison with a loss of 4% and a gain of 20%. Tesla shareholders crushed the industry, earning 181% and 120%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Yet too few analysts agree with Diess's assessment. The Bloomberg Recommendation Consensus shows that the appraisal of Tesla by 36 analysts, measured on a scale of 1 to 5 (the most bullish), has fallen 37% from 4.1 in 2015 to 2.57 when the comparable measure for the Russell 3000 is 4.05. Bloomberg ranks the performance of analysts by calculating the total return of their buy and sell recommendations. The top 10 analysts have a target price for Tesla of $454 a share. The bottom 10 have a target of $397 a share. Ryan Brinkman, the automotive equity research analyst for JPMorgan Chase Bank, is among the biggest Tesla bears, with a target price of $240 a share and a sell rating for the next 12 months. He has issued 28 consecutive sell recommendations since February 2015; Tesla has appreciated 178% since then. During the preceding three years, he initiated 14 neutral or hold ratings in a row as the shares were climbing 487%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Colin Rusch, a top-10 performer in the group and the Oppenheimer & Co. analyst who is most bullish on Tesla, said on Jan. 13 that the shares were worth $612, a 59% increase from his $385 target price published Jan. 3. He said the company was a buy on Aug. 2, 2018 and rated the shares a buy even when they lost almost 50% between August 2018 and June 2019. Tesla shareholders who followed Rusch's buy and sell suggestions throughout the past 12 months made 90%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Investors who followed his advice on the 26 stocks he covers reaped a total return of 41% as against the 16% return that would have gone to followers of his top 10 peer group. More than half of Rusch's companies are committed to clean energy rather than being traditional auto stocks. As for Tesla, Rusch is the lonely analyst who agrees with Volkswagen's Diess. While Tesla has stumbled through growing pains, we believe the company has reached critical scale sufficient to support sustainable positive free cash flow, Rusch wrote earlier this month. That's another way of saying that the best for Tesla is yet to come. --With assistance from Shin Pei. To contact the author of this story: Matthew A. Winkler at mwinkler@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jonathan Landman at jlandman4@bloomberg.net This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. Matthew A. Winkler is Co-founder of Bloomberg News (1990) and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus; Bloomberg Opinion Columnist since 2015; Co-founder of Bloomberg Business Journalism Diversity Program in 2017. During his 25 years as Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg News was a three-time finalist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting and received numerous George Polk, Gerald Loeb, Overseas Press Club and Society of Professional Journalists and Editors (Sabew) awards. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. China is battling a 'demon' virus that has so far killed more than 130 people, President Xi Jinping said today. International alarm was rising over the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus as it spread across the world, with new cases being recorded in more than a dozen countries. The Chinese leader's remarks came as foreign nations prepared to evacuate their citizens and the US said Australia are developing a vaccine. But Jinping said he was sure his country would defeat the 'devil' virus that has so far killed 132 people. Xi made his remarks during talks with the head of the World Health Organization in Beijing amid growing global concerns about a novel coronavirus that has infected thousands in China and reached some 15 other countries. In a development that could cause more jitters abroad, Japan and Germany reported the first confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission outside of China. The infection is believed to have originated in a wild-animal market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where it jumped to humans before spreading rapidly across the country, prompting authorities to enact drastic nationwide travel restrictions in recent days. Chinese President Xi Jinping speaking during a meeting with World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing where he called the coronavirus epidemic a 'demon' Many streets in Beijing are nearly empty amid fears over the coronavirus epidemic - with the death toll soaring above 130, China and foreign governments are stepping up measures to try to contain it World markets outside Asia nevertheless rebounded following a global sell-off fuelled by the spread of the virus. Countries are also concerned about the fate of thousands of foreigners stuck in Wuhan, a city of 11 million that has been sealed off by Chinese authorities in a bid to contain the disease. A plane sent by Tokyo landed in the virus-stricken metropolis late on Tuesday and was scheduled to repatriate Japanese nationals on Wednesday, the same day that a US aircraft is expected to bring American citizens back to their homeland. The European Union will fly its citizens out aboard two French planes this week, and South Korea was due to do the same. Several other countries were assessing their options. Hong Kong - the scene of anti-China unrest for months - planned to suspend rail and ferry links with the mainland. 'Chinese people are currently engaged in a serious struggle against an epidemic of a new type of coronavirus infection', Xi told WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing. 'The epidemic is a demon, and we cannot let this demon hide', the Chinese leader said, pledging that the government would be transparent and release information in a 'timely' manner. He added: 'China will strengthen international cooperation and welcomes the WHO participation in virus prevention...China is confident of winning the battle against the virus.' Passengers wear face masks as they stand with their luggage after arriving off of a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport in west London today Fever checks are being conducted across China, even at this condo building in Beijing - anger is simmering on Chinese social media over the official response to the health emergency His comments came as anger simmered on Chinese social media over the handling of the health emergency by local officials in central Hubei province. Some experts have praised Beijing for being more reactive and open about this crisis than it was during the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic of 2002-2003. But others say local cadres were more focused on projecting stability earlier in January than in adequately responding to the outbreak during regional political meetings. Since then, the number of cases has soared - doubling to more than 4,500 in the past 24 hours, then hitting nearly 6,000 by Wednesday. In Washington, US health authorities said a vaccine was in the works but would take months to develop. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar called on Beijing to show 'more cooperation and transparency,' saying the US had offered its help three times -- so far without success. Graphic on the different evacuation plans for foreigners in China. The coronavirus has infected thousands in China and reached some 15 other countries, killing more than 130 people Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing today The WHO last week stopped short of declaring the outbreak a global emergency, which could have prompted a more aggressive international response, such as travel restrictions. Following the high-level talks with Xi in Beijing, the WHO said the two sides had agreed to send international experts to China 'as soon as possible... to guide global response efforts.' 'Stopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is WHO's highest priority,' Tedros said. Until Tuesday, all reported cases in more than a dozen countries had involved people who had been in or around Wuhan. But in Japan, a man in his 60s apparently contracted the virus after driving two groups of tourists visiting from the city earlier in January, the health ministry said. And a 33-year-old German man contracted the disease from a Chinese colleague from Shanghai who visited Germany last week, according to health officials. Vietnam has been investigating a possible case of human-to-human transmission. The development came after countries including Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the Philippines announced tighter visa restrictions for people coming from China. Face masks are being used as a frontline defense in China and around the world against the deadly coronavirus - here, a passenger is seen arriving at London's Heathrow airport Countries or territories with confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus pictured (above) China has taken its own drastic steps to stop the virus, which health officials say is passed between people through sneezing or coughing, and possibly through physical contact. Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at China's National Health Commission, told the official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday that the outbreak could peak in a week or 10 days. Authorities sealed off Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province late last week, trapping more than 50 million people. China has since extended the Lunar New Year holiday to keep people indoors as much as possible, and suspended a wide range of train services. On Tuesday, authorities urged Chinese citizens to delay any foreign travel 'to protect the health and safety of Chinese and foreign people.' - Ghost town - Wuhan, meanwhile, has been turned into a near ghost town under a lockdown that has largely confined the industrial hub's residents to their homes. With a ban on car traffic, the streets were nearly deserted apart from the occasional ambulance -- although the city's hospitals are overwhelmed. 'Everyone goes out wearing masks and they are worried about the infection,' said David, a Chinese man who works in Shanghai but found himself trapped in Wuhan after it was put under quarantine. He declined to give his family name. They operated out of their homes, officials said, and needed relatively few resources. But they were still able to carry hundreds of millions of calls, officials asserted. Those who did not hang up were then met with alarming though fake messages, such as that their Social Security numbers had been compromised, their assets were being frozen or they faced imminent arrest and needed to pay large sums of money to get out of trouble, authorities said. When Heather Woock was in her late 20s, she started researching her family history. As part of the project, she spit into a tube and sent it to Ancestry, a consumer DNA testing service. Then, in 2017, she started getting messages about the results from people who said they could be half siblings. I immediately called my mom and said, Mom, is it possible that I have random siblings out there somewhere?' said Woock, of Indianapolis. She recalled her mom responded, No, why? Thats ridiculous. But the messages continued, and some of them mentioned an Indianapolis fertility practice that she knew her mom had consulted when she had trouble conceiving. Woock researched and finally learned the truth. Dr. Donald Cline, the fertility doctor her mother saw in 1985, is her biological father. I went through an identity crisis, she said. I couldnt look in the mirror and think about, Where did my eyes come from? Where did my hair color come from? I didnt even want to think about any of that. Woock hadnt known that her mom had used artificial insemination to conceive her, and neither of them knew the doctor had used his own sperm. We now know Cline used his own sample and squirted it into my mom, Woock said. In the 1970s and 80s, Cline deceived dozens of patients and used his sperm to impregnate them. He has more than 60 biological children and counting. For Woock, as the story of her parentage sunk in, it was distressing for another reason: She wanted to start her own family and was having trouble conceiving. And now she needed to turn to the fertility industry that had so badly betrayed her mom. We were doing all of the calendaring everything that is out there to help you get pregnant, we were doing that, Woock recalled. But after six months, when she still wasnt pregnant at 32, she went to a fertility clinic for some tests. I had to fill out all this paperwork, and theres a slot that says kind of like, Is there anything else youd like to share? Woock said. Yes, there most certainly was. The odds Of fertility fraud these days New allegations of doctors using their own sperm keep coming to light because of genetic-testing services like Ancestry revealing networks of half siblings in states like Idaho, Ohio, Colorado and Arkansas. But those doctors performed artificial inseminations decades ago. Could what happened to Woocks mom happen in a modern fertility clinic? Dr. Bob Colver, a fertility specialist in Carmel, Indiana, said its a question many of his patients have asked. But its unlikely, he said. These days, there are more people involved in the process, and in vitro fertilization happens in a lab, not an exam room. Unless youre in a small clinic where theres absolutely no checks and balances, I cant even imagine that today, Colver said. Its now illegal in Indiana, Texas and California for a doctor to use his sperm to impregnate his patients. But theres no national law criminalizing whats called fertility fraud. Fertility medicine has advanced a lot since the 1980s, but women trying to get pregnant today with the help of medicine face a baffling array of treatment options that can be hard to navigate and can be hugely expensive. And some critics say the growing, multibillion-dollar fertility industry needs more regulation. For example, sperm banks may not get accurate medical histories from their donors, who could pass along genetic diseases. And theres no limit on how many times a donors sperm can be used, which some donor children worry could increase the chance of inbreeding. Sperm donation guidelines from organizations like the American Society for Reproductive Medicine are voluntary. There was a contestant on The Bachelorette last year who said his sperm had helped father more than 100 kids. Unrealistic expectations When Woock decided to get her first fertility treatment, she set preconditions with the clinic. She insisted on having a female doctor and insisted that a doctor be in the room for all appointments and oversee everything that happened. Her experience with her clinic was very different from her mothers with Cline, but nonetheless there were surprises along the way. The clinic told her that her problems conceiving could be because of husband Robs low sperm count and motility (meaning his sperm werent great swimmers). They advised a form of in vitro fertilization that involved injecting one sperm directly into one of her eggs in a petri dish. When doctors told Woock she needed IVF, she felt pretty optimistic. Im thinking going into this that our chances of success are 70, 75%, Woock said. Fertility treatment can be really expensive, and patients may start treatment with unrealistic expectations. Thats because success rates are complicated, and some clinics use only the best numbers in their advertising. For example, clinics can advertise high fertilization rates. But a 70% fertilization rate doesnt mean 70% of eggs turn into babies plenty can go wrong after the lab combines egg and sperm. Success depends on your age, your clinic and the type of procedure you need. But most of the time, assisted reproduction procedures such as IVF dont work. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks assisted reproduction rates in the U.S., reports only about 24% of attempts result in a baby. Add-on technology and prices When Woock started her first IVF cycle, she gave herself shots, a couple a day, to stimulate her ovaries to get multiple eggs ready at once. Multiple eggs means more chances for fertilization. But the drugs have side effects. They gave her headaches and made her moody and less patient. I was actually allergic to one of the medications, which just means that you keep taking it and deal with the itching and rash, Woock said. But she hung on until it was time for a doctor to surgically retrieve her eggs, at which point patients can face even more choices. Because the couples fertility problem appeared to be with Robs sperm, the clinic offered to use a special device to help pick the best sperm for IVF. We were kind of like, Yeah, why wouldnt you?' Woock said. If its gonna give us a better chance, do it. A device like that is called an add-on. Add-ons are often new technology, described as cutting-edge, which can appeal to patients. Examples of add-ons include genetic testing for chromosomal abnormalities in embryos which some specialists argue improves the odds of a live birth and assisted hatching and endometrial scratching, both methods claiming to facilitate implantation. Jack Wilkinson, a biostatistician at the University of Manchester in England, researches add-ons, which he has found can increase costs and, he said, they may not work. We quite often see theres no benefit at all, Wilkinson said. Or, possibly even worse, that theres a disadvantage of using that treatment. Wilkinson said the device Woocks clinic offered could work, but the evidence supporting it is thin. Failed fertilizations The clinic called Woock the morning after her egg retrieval. None of Woocks eggs fertilized. The procedure revealed that her husbands sperm quality wasnt the only fertility issue the couple faced. They immediately saw that there was something wrong with my eggs, Woock said. My eggs are just total crap. She underwent a second round of IVF with the same result no fertilization. Getting that news the second time felt even more set in stone that this was going to be a very long, challenging road, Woock said. Challenging and expensive. Most states, including Indiana, dont require insurers to cover fertility treatment. Without insurance, a round of IVF can cost more than $10,000 even more than $20,000 with no guarantee the patient will get pregnant. Woock was lucky that her employer-provided insurance covered a lot. But it still wasnt cheap. She had to pay for some medications, plus, you have to pay lab and facility fees that insurance doesnt pay, Woock said. Donor sperm and eggs arent generally covered, either. Those can be tens of thousands of dollars. Woock faced a hard choice: After two failed attempts, did she want a kid enough to go through IVF again? She and her husband decided they did. So Woock did a third round of IVF. And then a fourth. When that didnt work, she gave up on using her own eggs. What I expected as I was growing up and picturing my children is not what I will see, Woock said. Woock and her husband decided to try donor eggs. If all goes according to plan, she could still carry a child. She wants to keep trying. I realize that pregnancy is incredibly challenging on your body and your mental state, she said. If I can make it through a year of IVF, I can make it through morning sickness. This story is part of a partnership that includes Side Effects Public Media, NPR and Kaiser Health News. The story was adapted from Episode 6 of the podcast Sick. You can hear more about the fallout from Dr. Donald Cline's deception on Sicks first season, at sickpodcast.org. Trump to Unveil Mideast Peace Plan By VOA News January 27, 2020 U.S. President Donald Trump says his long-awaited Middle East peace plan "makes a lot of sense for everybody," but the Palestinians are already rejecting it. Trump says he will announce the details Tuesday during a joint appearance at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump met with Netanyahu Monday and also with the prime minister's chief political rival Benny Gantz. Both are facing off in a March general election in Israel, the third in the past year. Neither was able to form a government after two previous elections. Netanyahu has been indicted for alleged corruption and his political future is in jeopardy. It is unclear how much of the peace plan Trump revealed to the two Israeli leaders, Monday, but Netanyahu said it is a chance to "make history and define Israel's borders." He also praised Trump for making the U.S. - Israeli alliance "stronger than ever." Trump later met with Gantz who called the peace deal "a significant and historic milestone" and one he looks forward to implementing if he becomes the next Israeli prime minister. The Trump administration has been working on a peace plan since it took office in 2017 one Trump has promised would be the "deal of the century." He says he has put off revealing it because of what he says is political uncertainty in Israel. But the Palestinians have refused to work with the U.S. and have dismissed the peace plan even before it has been publically released. Palestinians are furious with Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and moving the U.S. embassy there. Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. They are also angry at Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent declaration that Jewish settlements in the West Bank are legal. The U.S. released the economic portion of the peace plan last year a call for $50 billion in international investment in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab areas. The Palestinians say they are insulted that some people believe you can just throw money at them without talking about a two-state solution. "We reject it and we demand the international community not be a partner to it because it contradicts the basics of international law and inalienable Palestinian rights," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh says. Trump said Monday he expects the Palestinians to initially reject the peace deal. "I think in the end they're going to want it. It's very good for them." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Designer Charlotte Moss set up a war room in her office, where she laid out catalogues, bid sheets and cellphones as she and other decorators on her staff streamed the Sothebys proceedings. It all adds up to so much fun, said Moss, who was bidding for herself and her clients. She ended up with several-dozen Buatta treasures. One of the things she got for herself Friday, her birthday, was a 19th-century American painting ($6,000) of carnations, one of her favorite flowers. She plans to hang it by her bedside table. Small-scale gold miners in Mauritania have been partaking in a lucrative side hustle - turning to Facebook to sell historical and archeological objects that they unearth while hunting for gold. As the gold rush continues, there are more and Facebook posts offering up old coins and small statues from the Middle Ages. Archeologists are calling on the authorities to preserve archaeological sites across the country from the mining threat. About 16,000 individuals have licenses to carry out small-scale or artisanal mining legally in Mauritania, according to official figures. An increasing number of these miners are turning to a lucrative side hustle-- selling historical objects which they find while hunting for gold. The miners sell the historical objects-- including gold dinars, bronze coins and small statues from the Middle Ages-- on Facebook groups. Heres one example. According to Ahmed Maouloud Eida El-Hilal, who runs the Laboratory for Mauritanian History and Heritage at the University of Nouakchott, many of the gold pieces currently for sale on Facebook are from the Almoravid dynasty, which was created by an alliance of Berber tribes and spread across Mauritania, Morocco, part of Senegal and part of Andalusia in Spain during the 11th and 12th centuries. A Facebook user who says he is a small-scale gold miner left the post below, offering up coins that he said he found in the southeast of the country. El-Hilal sees this as a worrying sign that artisanal gold miners are digging closer and closer to important archeological sites in southeast Mauritania like Aoudaghost and Koumbi Saleh. On January 12, an individual posted a series of bronze coins marked with a Star of David on the Etebtab Facebook group, where different goods are sold. El-Hilal thinks that "these coins are from the Banou Merine Kingdom", which covered a large swathe of North Africa between the 13th and 15th centuries."The Star of David was one of the symbols used by the Muslim Arab culture at this time, he said. Story continues One of our journalists dialled the phone number on the post and spoke to a man who said that he had put these coins up for sale. He said he found them while looking for gold with a metal detector in Ain Bentili, which is in the far north of the country and that they were buried a metre underneath the ground. He offered to sell them to us for a million ouguiya each (equivalent to 2,500). He sent us additional photos to prove that he did really have the coins. El-Hilal says hes worried because there is no real security for the countrys most important archeological sites. He thinks that a more robust security presence would keep miners away from these areas: Ive been saying for years that the gold rush is having a negative impact on important archeological sites. But in Mauritania, there arent regional administrations to take care of heritage sites. For years, Ive been seeing miners put historic pieces up for sale on social media. I am calling on the authorities to intensify their surveillance of mining activities and to arrest anyone who steals these archeological finds or who buys items sold on the black market. The sale of these objects is a flagrant infraction of laws that have sought to protect our cultural heritage since 1972, but which are rarely applied. The government should work to locate these important pieces; their place is in the National Museum or in the hands of experts in cultural heritage. El-Hilal wrote this post on Facebook about the impact that small-scale mining is having on archeological sites. Small-scale mining spread to Mauritania after a boom in Sudan in 2012. After gold was discovered near the Tasiast mine and on the outskirts of the mining town of Zouerat, thousands of Mauritanians rushed to hunt for the precious metal themselves. Thousands of metal detectors have been sold since the gold rush began. Several foreign mining companies, including the Canadian companies Kinross and Algold, run operations in Mauritania, most of them in the north of the country. These companies are supposed to turn over any archeological pieces they dig up to the relevant authorities. Artisanal mining in Mauritania has been regulated since December 2016, with individual miners required to get a licence. Roughly 16,000 licences were handed out to miners in 2016, but RFI reported that at least 20,000 Mauritanians are currently partaking in the activity. About half a ton of gold has been produced by artisanal miners, according to figures by the Mauritanian Central Bank, which has a monopoly on the purchase of this gold. Most of it hails from the Guelb NDour region, in the north of the country, where 4,000 miners have a licence to operate independently. In 2019, large mining companies in Mauritania produced around 7.6 tons of gold (Equivalent to 245,856.76 ounces). Article by Omar Tiss. By Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Idrees Ali KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Monday an E-11A aircraft crashed in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, but disputed claims that the Taliban had brought the military plane down. Senior Afghan officials told Reuters the authorities had rushed local personnel to locate and identify the wreckage, in a mountainous area partly controlled by the Taliban. "While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire," a U.S. military spokesman, Colonel Sonny Leggett, said in a statement. The military aircraft, built by Bombardier Inc, is used to provide communication capabilities in remote locations. The crash comes as the Taliban and United States have been in talks on ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan. Trump has long called for an end to U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, which began with a U.S. invasion triggered by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that al Qaeda launched from then Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Negotiations between the two sides began last year in Doha but have been interrupted at least twice after Taliban attacks on U.S. military personnel in September and December. Last week, another round of talks kicked off with U.S. Special Representative on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad meeting repeatedly with the Talibanas chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. The military did not say how many were on board or if anyone was killed. U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that fewer than five people were on the plane when it crashed. One official said that, according to initial information, at least two people were on the plane. Pictures and a video on social media purportedly from the crash site showed what could be the remains of a Bombardier E-11A aircraft. Reuters could not verify the images. "The plane, which was on an intelligence mission, was brought down in Sado Khel area of Deh Yak district of Ghazni province," said Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban in a statement. Story continues Mujahid did not say how fighters had brought the plane down. He said the crew on board included high ranking U.S. officers. A senior defence official denied that senior American officers were involved. The Taliban controls large parts of Ghazni province. The militant group, which has been waging a war against U.S.-led forces since 2001, often exaggerates enemy casualty figures. Civilian airline Ariana Afghan Airlines denied initial reports that it was the owner of the plane. "It does not belong to Ariana because the two flights managed by Ariana today, from Herat to Kabul and Herat to Delhi, are safe," its acting CEO, Mirwais Mirzakwal, told Reuters. Two officials from Ghazni province said the crashed aircraft appeared to belong to a foreign company. "There is no exact information on casualties and the name of the airline," Ghazni provincial Governor Wahidullah Kaleemzai told private broadcaster Tolo News earlier on Monday. Dozens of private entities operate planes and helicopters across Afghanistan to move military contractors and aid. (Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi in Kabul and Idrees Ali in Washington; Additional reporting by Rupam Jain, Hamid Shalizi, Phil Stewart; Editing by Peter Graff and Lisa Shumaker) After the video of Sharjeel Imam, one of Shaheen Bagh protest organizers, delivering anti-national speech went viral, the Bihar police arrested him over sedition charges. A Shaheen Bagh protest organizer, Sharjeel Imam was arrested on Tuesday in Bihar over sedition charges. Reports said he was held from Jehanabad after the sedition case was filed against him after a video clip of him went viral, in which, he was delivering an anti-national speech at Shaheen Bagh. Although, the video clip that has been doing round the internet didnt show his full speech but he can be clearly seen talking to separate the whole northeast from the rest of India. Sharjeel Imam was on a run and is also wanted in other states like Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. Earlier the day, the police had arrested 2 including his brothers during a widespread search. Reports said he was being grilled at Jehanabads Kako police station. The Delhi Police, after the preliminary investigations, said Sharjeel made divisive speeches on twice, once in December at the Jamia Millia Islamia University when students were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act in December and the second time at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) which has been another hot spot for anti-CAA protests. Aligarh Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Umesh Kumar had told the media that the divisive comments were made on January 16. It has been around 45 days that people have been protesting at the Delhis Shaheen Bagh peacefully against the Amendments in the Citizenship Act (CAA) that have been brought in by the Modi government. The government says CAA would welcome non-Muslim refugees who are living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and will offer them the Indian citizenship. However, there has been no clarity and a big confusion over the bill. Critics have been looking at the big picture adding it up with NRC, claiming that the bill discriminates Muslims and violates the right to equality. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (135) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (348) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (442) Jan 2014 (547) Feb 2014 (476) Mar 2014 (526) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (469) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (443) Oct 2014 (472) Nov 2014 (497) Dec 2014 (536) Jan 2015 (539) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (582) Apr 2015 (658) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (924) Nov 2015 (802) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (866) May 2016 (947) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (967) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (879) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (896) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (850) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (809) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (851) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (935) Jul 2019 (950) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (941) Feb 2020 (849) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (789) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (812) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (815) Jun 2021 (824) Jul 2021 (830) Aug 2021 (832) Sep 2021 (791) Oct 2021 (754) Nov 2021 (683) Dec 2021 (693) Jan 2022 (281) Confronting anti-Semitism requires empowering the next generation with knowledge and Jewish wisdom that engenders Jewish pride and strength. There was an attack on Jews in New York almost every day last week. I hear about children crying that they had bad dreams and crawling into their parents beds. I watch Joseph Gluck describe the trauma of a child who lay hidden under a pile of coats while a madman wildly swung his machete of hate. I read the words from the family of Joseph Neumann, who was savagely hacked in the Chanukah massacre. They ask for prayers. Their father, on a respirator and heavily sutured, may have permanent brain damage and will be partially paralyzed for the rest of his life. He may not regain consciousness. I see the grainy footage time and again of vicious assaults on Jews. Punched. Slapped. Egged. Spit upon. Hit in the head with a table. Hit in the face with a cell phone. Thrown to the ground. Threatened on the bus and subway. The California haven of Poway. The peaceful neighborhood of Squirrel Hill. The grocery of Jersey City. Synagogues and kosher markets now the bloody battlefront in our new war. And what of the lives lost, the orphans and widows, the nightmares that remain? We are not speaking about the Holocaust, pogroms or ancient history. This is the United States of America, sweet land of liberty, 2020. What is happening? Anti-Semitism is not new. But it has been reinvented. And now it has begun to spread like the deadly plague. There is no knowing where it will go. For us to confront the cancer we must look at what is happening and then work on real solutions. First, let us stand up against Holocaust fatigue. I am the daughter who was born upon the ashes of the Holocaust. From the time that I was a little girl, these were our stories of faith and empowerment. My very name was given for my Bubbie who walked into the flames of Auschwitz with the Shema on her lips. Growing up we understood what it means to live for those who died because they were born Jews. We had a mandate, a mission, and a legacy. We knew exactly how our grandparents and parents were rounded up, stuffed into cattle cars, and forced to stand in the freezing snow at roll call. German Shepherd dogs barking and Nazi guards threatening death each day. Every Friday night I kindle my Bubbies Shabbos candlesticks that were hidden in the earth before she was taken. Her light shines through me. But now I stand to speak in a school. I start to tell the story of my mother in Bergen Belsen. I look out at the audience of students and am met with blank stares. These are Jewish kids. I stop my talk and ask, Raise your hands if youve ever heard of Bergen Belsen. A scattering of hands go up. I cant believe it. I want to cry out. Heaven and earth are witness to the brutality, the murder, but our own children have forgotten. How dare we lose our memory as a people? If our children are ignorant what do we expect from the rest of the world? There is a collective feeling that talking about the Holocaust is old, lets move on, its no longer relevant. The survivors who remain are precious few. We are the ones who must carry the torch of remembrance. If not, the blood of our brothers calls out to us from the ground. We are our brothers keepers. Just this past week in West Virginia a photo of correction officer cadets giving the Nazi salute led to dozens of firings. Their instructor reveled in the salute and encouraged the class to perform the gesture. Do you think these cadets can begin to understand the terror that their raised arms invoke? We must do more than go to museums and shout slogans. This is not a debate about more security, self-defense, the second amendment or neighborhood patrols. It is about giving the next generation Jewish identity. My child, who are you? Where have you come from and where are you going? Have you felt the fire of your soul? It is about reaching out to others in our world so that they understand that we are a nation who has been persecuted and tormented yet our response is to create, not to devastate. To grow better, not bitter. See us as we see you. We are all created in the image of God. Next, our college campuses have become hornet nests of hate. Curriculums are funded by those who wish to push us into the sea. The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy released a 96-page report that campus anti-Semitism, violence and terror have been promoted by the National Students for the Justice of Palestine, impacting students and their minds, creating racism and prejudice. The study was prompted by the question: why have universities become purveyors of anti-Semitism? It was found that billions of dollars were going to American universities by the Muslim Brotherhood and other political Islamist organizations. Convicted terrorists were regularly featured at events and supported through their social media. An example cited on social media from NYUs SJP chapter was this post: Let the Jews burn silently. NYUs SJP chapter was chosen to receive the universitys Presidents Service Award, for their positive impact on the NYU community. It has become acceptable, even cool, to bash Israel and spew forth the hatred of BDS. Anybody who stands up for Israel becomes the next target of intimidation. Professors speak out against Israel citing academic freedom and free speech. Make no mistake. This is the same old vile anti-Semitism wrapped in the new package of eliminating Israel and the Jewish state. We must become unified to combat the viciousness that is spreading from campus to campus. We must help our college kids stay strong in the face of hatred. This means empowering them with knowledge, Jewish wisdom and history, traditions that bring strength and community. We cannot afford to let our children cower or grow weak. They are spiritually emaciated. Ive spoken to some who think, If I dont look Jewish they will never come after me. If the Holocaust and our past has taught us anything it is that this oldest hatred does not differentiate between types of Jews. No Jew was asked how religious he was when he was taken to the gas chambers. And no Jew on campus is questioned about his observance. If you cannot stand strong and proud for your beliefs, what kind of world do you live in? These students on campus are going to be our next doctors, lawyers, artists, techies, and government leaders. This is our future. We must stop accepting the crazy as normal. After the attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue, I quoted my mother, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis here on Aish.com: Listen to me. Ive seen this before... the world is on fire and we are sleeping. For Gods sake, wake up. Slovie Jungreis Wolff is a noted teacher, author, relationships and parenting lecturer. She is the leader of Hineni Couples and daughter of Rebbetzen Esther Jungreis. Slovie is the author of the parenting handbook, Raising A Child With Soul. She gives weekly classes and has lectured throughout the U.S.,Canada, Mexico, Panama, and South Africa. You can reach slovie at sloviehineni@gmail.com The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Heritage Florida Jewish News. Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday the coronavirus outbreak in China is impacting Apple's operations in the country. The company has restricted employee travel and shut one store in China due to the coronavirus outbreak, Cook said, adding that the company is cutting back on retail store hours in China. "We're restricting travel to business critical travel," Cook told CNBC's Josh Lipton Tuesday. "For employees that are in the Wuhan area, we are providing care kits and supplying them across our employee population in China as well." In it's first-quarter earnings report, Apple set an unusually large guidance range for the next quarter of $63 to $67 billion. Cook said the decision to set guidance with a range of $4 billion was reflective of the coronavirus outbreak and "the uncertainty around that." Apple has "some suppliers" in the Wuhan area, Cook told investors on Apple's quarterly conference call Tuesday, and added that at least some of its manufacturing facilities elsewhere in China will remain closed until Feb. 10, as recommended by the Chinese government. Cook also said that a number of channel partners have closed their retail stores, which could affect sales. "Retail traffic has also been impacted outside of the city over the last few days," Cook said. Apple manufactures most of its iPhones in China. While its two primary manufacturing sites are far from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, Bloomberg reported this week that the emerging public health threat could disrupt the company's operations. "We're donating to groups that are working to contain the outbreak," Cook said on the earnings call. "We're working closely with our Apple team members in the affected areas, and our thoughts are with all of those in the region." Chinese health authorities said Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak has killed 106 people and infected 4,515. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Americans Tuesday to avoid all nonessential travel to China, expanding its travel warning from the city of Wuhan to the entire country. TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy being arrested and taken away in a police van in Nereducherla on Tuesday. (P. ANIL KUMAR) Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday accused TRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao of spearheading largescale irregularities in the just-concluded municipal elections. Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Tuesday, Mr Reddy alleged that Telangana state was humiliated by the manner in which the elections were conducted. He announced that he would raise the issue of how the judiciary was behaving in Telangana state in Parliament and that he had sought permission from the Lok Sabha Speaker. He said that the Congress would take up the matter with the President and with the Chief Justice of India. Mr Reddy said, Despite the Congress having a majority in the Nereducharla municipality, the TRS and the State Election Commission brazenly misused and abused power and manipulated the election of the chairperson and the vice-chairperson. He said that the Congress had eight seats at Nereducharla and the TRS seven. When the name of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao was included as ex-officio member, TRS members stalled the election process after two members were sworn in as their defeat was imminent. The election was postponed to Wednesday. He alleged that after postponing of the election, Mr Rama Rao pressurised the SEC and the director of municipal administration to add TRS MLC Subhash Reddy to the voters list in the morning although the deadline to include ex-officio members had ended at midnight on January 25. How shameless of KTR, Mr Reddy said and added that the Nereducharla municipal election symbolised the manner in which the municipal elections were held. The TPCC president said that instead of mocking the election process, the TRS should have prepared the list of municipalities at Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Raos farm house and announced its victory. Mr Reddy said that the municipal elections were not conducted in a fair manner and the role played by the SEC was highly objectionable. The results of municipal elections could not be called a peoples mandate, he added. Yemeni forces free 64 Saudi-paid child soldiers under UNICEF supervision Iran Press TV Monday, 27 January 2020 5:09 PM Dozens of children captured while fighting on behalf of the Saudi-led military coalition against Yemeni army and allied fighters from Popular Committees have been released under the supervision of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). On Monday, a total of 64 child soldiers captured on border fronts while fighting for the Saudi-led coalition alongside the Saudi-backed militiamen loyal to Yemen's former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi were freed in a ceremony organized by the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights, Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor as well as the National Committee for Prisoners' Affairs (NCPA), Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported. Head of the NCPA, Abdulqader al-Mortadha, said a great proportion of these child soldiers had been recruited to defend Saudi Arabia's southern borders. Mortadha added that the children will undergo a two-month rehabilitation course before they are finally reunited with their families. He then criticized Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi-paid militiamen for the recruitment of thousands of Yemeni children, stating that they bear full responsibility for the loss of their lives and the suffering of their families. Yemeni Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Obaid Salim bin Dhabei, for his part, extended his gratitude to the Ministry of Defense and NCPA for their "humanitarian and patriotic" move. Dhabei emphasized that his ministry, in partnership with UNICEF, will rehabilitate the children in order to reintegrate them into society. UNICEF official Ibrahim Shiq also praised the move, underscoring that children must not be drawn into conflict. He added that his colleagues have met the children and that they are in good condition. He pointed out that UNICEF has developed a plan aimed at psychological support and rehabilitation of the released child soldiers. Additionally, Yemeni Human Rights Minister Radhia Abdullah stated that member states of the Saudi-led military coalition fighting against Yemen totally ignore the international law banning children's involvement in armed conflicts. Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of Hadi back to power and crushing the Ansarullah movement. The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past nearly five years. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Investment firm RisCura's 2019 Bright Africa research was released today and provides a broad analysis of the investment landscape across Africa. The annual Bright Africa research initiative was started by RisCura in 2013 to answer key investor questions about investing on the continent. This year, RisCura expanded the breadth of its analysis, to include inter-Africa connectivity, currency risk, sources of capital on the continent and the inclusion of sovereign bonds, real estate and infrastructure asset classes. In the past, the research covered private equity fundraising, transaction activity, pricing and investor focus in Africa. "Bright Africa once again highlights the marked structural differences between African regions," said Gilbert Anyetei, Alternative Investment Services associate at RisCura. "For investors looking to allocate capital to emerging or frontier markets, understanding the differences between the various African regions, and how these compare to their global counterparts, is crucial," said Anyetei. For this reason, the Bright Africa research segments Africa into nine meaningful markets, or regions, by analysing cultural connections, interconnectivity through trade blocs, sharing of expertise, good business relations, and relative ease of transportation, among others. This segmentation allows investors to more easily compare African regions to other frontier markets. "Our research shows that there are several themes uniting the continent in 2019," said Anyetei. "The private equity industry continues to grow, with deal activity still increasing and asset prices remaining robust. "The growth of Africa's pensions and insurance industries and the resulting increase in local capital available for investment also provide significant opportunity." Read the full report: https://brightafrica.riscura.com/ Bright Africa 2019 findings . Nigeria still has the largest economy in Africa, followed closely by South Africa and the Maghreb region. The continent continues to feel the adverse impact of the commodity cycle, with total exports (mostly extractive commodities) decreasing from 2014 to 2018 by 21% in USD terms. . Although South Africa has experienced low growth in recent years and local investor sentiment is at record lows, when viewed in comparison to its emerging market peers, it remains an attractive investment destination for foreign investors. . Due to the recent oil discovery in Ghana, crude oil petroleum has overtaken cocoa beans to become that country's largest export product. . Trade within Africa remains poor, as two-thirds of African imports come from Europe and Asia, whereas intra-continental trade is a mere 13% of all African imports. This is set to improve, however, thanks to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) that came into effect in May 2019. . Most African countries follow a conventional pegged exchange rate regime. While a pegged exchange rate may provide lower exchange rate volatility, it is unable to protect a currency from major currency shocks as seen in Nigeria and Angola. Furthermore, most African countries have overvalued currencies, with the two most overvalued currencies being the Nigerian Naira and the Ghanaian Cedi. . Southern Africa remains the leader in pension coverage across the continent. South Africa boasts the fourth largest insurance sector in the emerging markets sector. Gilbert Anyetei is an associate in RisCura's Alternative Investment Services team. About RisCura RisCura is a global, independent investment advisor and financial analytics provider that offers investment decision support in developed and emerging markets, with client assets under management in excess of $200bn. About Bright Africa Bright Africa provides insight into the drivers, enablers and managers of investment on the continent. It explores the status of local sources of capital as a major driver of African investment, listed and private equity and compares African regions to their global counterparts. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Beirut, January 28, 2020 Jordanian authorities should immediately lift the suspension of Dijlah TV and allow the station to broadcast freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the Jordan Media Commission, the countrys media regulator, ordered the Amman-based satellite broadcaster Dijlah TV to stop broadcasting for one month for allegedly violating its licensing agreement and illegally broadcasting within Jordan without prior authorization, according to news reports and a statement by the Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq, a local press freedom group. Dijlah TV is a satellite broadcaster based in Jordan that covers news in Iraq, and is owned by Jamal al-Karbouli, an Iraqi politician, according to reports. A few hours after the outlets suspension in Amman, Iraqi security agents and a representative of Iraqs media regulator, the Communications and Media Commission, raided the Baghdad office of Dijlah TV and ordered its staff to leave the premises at midnight and not return, according to the Press Freedom Advocacy Association statement. The station stopped broadcasting about 30 minutes after midnight, according to that report. The station had been airing live broadcasts of the protests that have taken place in Iraq over unemployment and government mismanagement since October, and Iraqi security forces previously raided its Baghdad office in October and November, as CPJ reported at the time. By suspending Dijlah TVs broadcasts, Jordanian authorities are depriving millions of Iraqis of vital information about the protests taking place in their country, said CPJs Middle East and North Africa representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado. Jordanian authorities should immediately lift this suspension, and Iraqi authorities must cease conducting raids on local and foreign broadcasters. In October, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission ordered Dijlah TVs transmissions to be blocked for allegedly violating professional standards, according to CPJ coverage from the time. In November, the commission issued a notice alleging that Dijlah TV and other foreign-based broadcasters had violated Iraqi licensing rules, and recommending that the Iraqi prime ministers office raise those issues with the broadcasters host governments, as CPJ reported. CPJ emailed the Jordan Media Commission and Iraqs Interior Ministry for comment, but did not receive any responses. On January 10, unidentified gunmen killed two Dijlah TV journalists, reporter Ahmed Abdul Samad and camera operator Safaa Ghali, while they were covering protests in Baghdad, according to CPJ research. Did you ever wonder what you would say if your child came home and said: My friend said he wants to kill himself? What you would say to the parent worried about the future of their adult child who is struggling with mental illness? Who would you call? Where would you start? The answer should be a trusted source in your own community. Pennsylvania is facing a serious crisis, the consequences of which impact some of the most vulnerable individuals and families. Access to community-based care is disappearing at an alarming rate as a decade of inadequate funding is taking its toll. Communities, with our counties statewide at the forefront of service delivery, need long term and sustainable funding solutions to continue to grow and maintain supports regarding mental health. We know, that with the appropriate level of services, people living with mental illness and substance use disorder can recover and be independent and contributing members of their communities. Much of the legislation that I have authored in Harrisburg have been directed towards this mission. Funding for community-based mental health services in the commonwealth simply has not kept pace with the growing needs, higher demands, and most of all, costs. Community mental health base funds are used by our counties to provide crisis intervention, community-based disaster response, suicide prevention, community residential programs, family-based support and outpatient care, relief for family caregivers, professional training, justice system diversion, as well as housing, employment services. Simply put, county programs use these funds to address the elements that are essential for successful long-term health and well-being. Pennsylvania has not invested adequately in these critical community resources. In fact, these funds have been eroded by state budget cuts and the elimination of cost of living adjustments. Consequently, community-based programs no longer have the resources to be innovative and keep up with the demand for needed services. In fact, funding shortages have contributed to the closure of many community-based services. In addition, the lack of adequate services for many of our brothers and sisters who struggle with mental illness, have driven them to homelessness, and sometimes to violence, including gun violence. The lack of available service capacity in the community, ultimately results in increased costs for taxpayers as it drives people to seek help in emergency rooms, increases homelessness, and leads to individual involvement in our local and state justice and juvenile systems. Being incarcerated, is one of the worst places to be if you need counseling, therapy, or mental health treatment. Without a firm structural base and a sound ongoing state funding strategy, additional resources will be spent on temporary fixes that will be unable to address demand. In a time when we are working to foster a decrease in stigma around seeking and receiving mental health services, adequately funding mental health base programs is critical to ensuring that the services will be available. As we begin the process to develop the state budget for FY 2020-2021, I urge my colleagues in the legislature and administration to support increases in these important services that our counties deliver to our families, friends and neighbors every day. Without these investments, our community mental health system will be unable address the needs of those who turn to it for help including much needed prevention programs. If we continue the status quo of languishing state funding, the questions above will only become harder and harder to answer. Vice President Hubert Humphrey said that the moral test of government is how we care for people in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped. If we dont fund this human services mission as we should, and if we do not care adequately for Pennsylvanians who struggle with mental illness, we fail that moral test, about which Humphrey spoke. State Rep. Thomas P. Murt is a Republican who represents Pennsylvanias 152nd House District in parts of Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. He is the chairman of the Human Services Committee and the Disabilities Caucus. Colorado Springs City Council deadlocked Monday over the appointment of Stephannie Fortune to fill Councilman Richard Skorman's seat on the board. Who among the 7 finalists should be appointed? You voted: WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) today released a major independent assessment, "Rising to the China Challenge: Renewing American Competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific," as mandated by Congress in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The report prescribes a comprehensive approach to competition with China and offers nearly 100 specific, actionable policy recommendations across seven critical vectors of American competitiveness: Sustaining Conventional Military Deterrence Securing Vital U.S. Technological Advantages Bolstering U.S. Economic Power and Leadership Strengthening American Diplomacy Competing Over Ideology and Narrative Promoting Digital Freedom and Countering High-Tech Illiberalism Cultivating the Talent to Compete with China "This assessment outlines a path for competition with China and other adversaries that will utilize all tools available to the United States," said Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "A whole-of-government approach isn't just necessary to compete effectively with China; it's also a reminder that just like our security, our prosperity and the values we share with allies and partners are at stake in this competition." Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, "Effectively countering Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific requires a comprehensive U.S. strategy that goes beyond defense relationships to ensure access and influence in the Indo-Pacific. This CNAS study provides a blueprint for smarter solutions to critical aspects of the U.S.-China competition, including diplomacy, economics, and technology." Richard Fontaine, CNAS Chief Executive Officer, added, "Many have called for a comprehensive strategy to compete with China. "Rising to the China Challenge" represents precisely that. A bipartisan collaboration of more than a dozen senior CNAS experts, the study focuses on strengthening American competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific across a range of critical issues, including economics, technology, diplomacy, defense, ideology, human capital, and more." For more information or to schedule an interview the report authors, contact Cole Stevens at [email protected] or (202) 695-8166. Read the full report. The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit organization that develops strong, pragmatic, and principled national security and defense policies. CNAS engages policymakers, experts, and the public with innovative, fact-based research, ideas, and analysis to shape and elevate the national security debate. SOURCE Center for a New American Security Related Links http://www.cnas.org Two parties by 2022? Re: Voter registration in Texas is surging, Front Page, Tuesday: For the first time in history, Texas has topped 16 million registered voters and is adding voters faster than its population grows heading into the presidential election. Are folks starting to pay attention? Could it make a difference in 2020? Wow, maybe in 2022 Texas could even end Trump-party control by dumping Gov. Greg Abbott and returning to a two-party government. Do you remember Democrats and real Republicans? Joe Straus, where are you? Bobby Riley Bring back Arts S.A. Re: Arts San Antonio halts operations, cancels shows, Front Page, Jan. 14: It was very upsetting to learn of the closing of Arts San Antonio. I have been to many performances, all of which were unique. The acts were not run-of-the-mill shows and will be greatly missed. The city, county and local organizations and corporations need to act immediately to rescue Arts San Antonio from extinction. It would be a terrible loss to the city if the necessary funding cannot be found to reinstate this nonprofit organization. Lydia Ray Endorsements good Re: Pick Valdes for judge of juvenile court, Editorial, Thursday: I have mostly used the recommendations from the Express-News during general elections to help me know whom to vote for as a judge. Recommendations are chosen from both parties. I realize some would find flaw with this system, but the editors are better at vetting than I am. I once asked a lawyer who helped me with probating a will if he knew of a better system and he suggested I call him when the next election comes around, but I know I wont do that. I do agree the current system of choosing judges is not good and in need of change, but I do not like the idea of elected officials appointing judges, and electing them based only on the party they are members of is wrong, in my opinion. Until a better system comes along, I hope the Express-News continues to print these recommendations for judge, and all other elections as well. Richard Lyle On ExpressNews.com: Padilla: Many questions, few answers about judges work ethic Colum Eastwood (left) and Alex Attwood of the SDLP carry the coffin of Seamus Mallon Seamus Mallon's contribution to Irish politics in the dark days of the Troubles made him equal to the legendary Daniel O'Connell and Charles Stewart Parnell, mourners at his funeral were told. In a moving farewell appreciation, his friend, diplomat Tim O'Connor, said Ireland was "blessed at a time of such bleakness and darkness that such a giant of a man like Seamus Mallon rose up among us and showed us the way". Mr O'Connor said Mr Mallon, alongside John Hume, played a pivotal role in all the key developments in building peace in the North. Decency Mr O'Connor added that his almost 20 years as an MP in the British House of Commons ranked him alongside O'Connell and Parnell for his oratory and leadership. He described Mr Mallon as "a voice for tolerance and decency" and he noted his love of his home place, his family and friends. Throughout the funeral the long and eventful life of Mr Mallon - the North's civil rights campaigner and peacemaker - was celebrated in his home parish of Mullaghbrack, in Co Armagh, yesterday. Hundreds of old friends and neighbours mingled with political leaders and international diplomats who came to honour the former Northern Ireland deputy first minister and stalwart of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The funeral congregation thronged the tiny church of St James of Jerusalem at Mullaghbrack, close to the school where he and his father had taught. Mourners were also accommodated in a marquee and in the adjoining parish hall. After mass concelebrated by Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Eamon Martin, and local parish priest, Fr Michael Woods, Mr Mallon was laid to rest in the adjoining churchyard. Mr Mallon (83) died last Friday after a short illness. He is survived by his daughter Orla, his son-in-law Mark, his granddaughter Lara, his sisters Maura, Jean and Kate, his brother-in-law Joe, and his nieces and nephews and their families. Mr Mallon's wife, Gertrude, suffered dementia in her final years and he cared for her at home until her death in 2016. The local GAA club provided a guard of honour and many local people spoke warmly about his commitment to the locality. Fr Woods said for his neighbours and friends this funeral was "a proud homecoming". In his homily, Dr Martin noted the many tributes paid to Mr Mallon, and stressed his love of his family, friends and home locality in the much-beloved county of Armagh. The Archbishop said he found one passage from Mr Mallon's recent memoir, A Shared Home Place, particularly moving: "I am haunted by the places that have been violated; too many places violated in my parish, my county, my country, violated by murder and massacre, places I used to know and love as I passed by them on my boyhood bicycle." For Dr Martin this summed up Mr Mallon's utter abhorrence of all violence and injustice. The official attendance included the leaders of the North's newly restored government in Belfast, Arlene Foster of the Democratic Unionist Party and Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Fein. President Michael D Higgins was represented by his aide de camp and Queen Elizabeth by the deputy lieutenant of Armagh. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tanaiste Simon Coveney and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin attended, as did former Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble, former SDLP leader Mark Durkan and current leader Colum Eastwood. Around 1,100 people in England could miss out on the chance of an early stage bowel cancer diagnosis through screening each year because of NHS staff shortages, according to new calculations released by Cancer Research UK today.* Bowel cancer screening tests look for hidden blood in the stool which can be an early sign of bowel cancer. But the new test, known as FIT, does not provide a simple yes or no answer. It is up to the individual health systems to decide what level of haemoglobin - a protein found in blood - warrants further investigation, usually a colonoscopy. And this is where patients are missing out on potentially life-saving early diagnoses largely due to a lack of specialist staff. NHS England and NHS Scotland have chosen different cut-off points for a referral following a screening test - 120 and 80 micrograms of haemoglobin per gram of faeces respectively. This means that in Scotland, the NHS refers people who have between 80 and 120 micrograms of haemoglobin, when the NHS in England does not. And this equates to around 1,100 bowel cancers that could be diagnosed through the bowel cancer screening programme each year in England but are not. The impact is even higher when we consider the number of pre-cancerous growths that could be detected and removed during a colonoscopy. Cancer Research UK has calculated that if the NHS in England referred people with the same hidden blood levels as Scotland, there could be an additional 2,000 colonoscopies each month in England.** Although many of these would not turn out to be cancer, the NHS in England does not have enough endoscopists - people who look inside the body with a camera - nurses and other specialist staff to handle this. Already one in 10 diagnostic posts are vacant in England. And the demand for staff is rising. Around 363,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in the UK but by 2035, that is likely to increase to around half a million people.*** When bowel cancer is diagnosed at the earliest stage, as it can be through screening, more than 9 in 10 people survive their disease for at least five years. But when it is detected in the late stages, survival falls to less than 1 in 10.**** Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of early diagnosis, said: "The UK's bowel cancer screening programme is very effective at detecting cancer early. But we're concerned that NHS staff shortages are having a direct impact on the ability to diagnose more patients at an early stage - something that the Government committed to doing last year. People shouldn't be slipping through the net. "Improvements to cancer screening in the UK need to be made quickly and safely to ensure the NHS can diagnose people earlier. Even though NHS staff on the ground are doing everything they can to diagnose people early, the Government needs to back them up with significant investment to train and recruit more staff so that doctors, nurses and other specialists can diagnose more people at an early stage, when treatment is more likely to be successful." FIT bowel screening is a more accurate way to test for early stage bowel cancer, than the previous test, known as gFOBT. It was introduced in England last year and has been running in Scotland for two years. The latest figures show that around 42,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year in the UK which equates to more than 110 people every day. Around 16,300 people die from bowel cancer every year. And in England, more than half of bowel cancers with a known stage are diagnosed at a late stage.***** Dr Ed Seward, consultant gastroenterologist and Cancer Research UK's clinical adviser said: "When we treat bowel cancer patients who were diagnosed at an early stage, we have curative treatments we can offer, including surgery. It can be devastating to patients and their families when the disease is caught at a late stage, which is why the bowel screening programme is so important - finding cancers when they haven't caused symptoms at all. So we really don't want to see patients missing out on a potentially life-saving opportunity." Notes to editor: FIT stands for Faecal Immunochemical Test. It is a type of faecal occult blood test which uses antibodies that specifically recognise human haemoglobin (Hb). It is used to detect, and can quantify, the amount of human blood in a single stool sample. An abnormal result suggests that there may be bleeding within the gastrointestinal tract that requires further investigation. Those with an abnormal result are then invited for further testing via a colonoscopy. NHS England has committed to optimising bowel screening, which includes extending the age and reducing the threshold. This will require more staff. The bowel screening programme is intended for people without any signs or symptoms suggestive of bowel cancer. There have been some positive steps in the short term to tackle staff shortages. For example, Health Education England has funded a clinical endoscopist programme, which trains nurses and other healthcare professionals to deliver some of the tests that can diagnose bowel cancer. HEE has also recently announced funding for advanced training for scientists working in healthcare to handle and report biopsy samples. The Government has announced a 3.4% real terms spending increase for the HEE budget in 2020/21. This is a positive first step but would only equate to about 220m additional investment. Growing the workforce in the long-term requires sustained investment in the Spending Review which is expected later this year. NHS England's forthcoming People Plan is a vital opportunity for the NHS to set out plans for increasing the cancer workforce. However, in order to make this happen, the Government would have to invest specifically in the NHS workforce. ### *Estimates are based on the rate of participation and the cancer detection rate for the relevant threshold from the England FIT pilot in 2014 (data based on Moss et al., Gut; 2016), and assume 4.6 million screening programme invites for 60-74 years olds in England per year. Estimates are for the years immediately following the introduction of FIT. **Estimates are based on the rate of participation and positivity rate for the relevant threshold from the England FIT pilot in 2014 (data based on Moss et al., Gut; 2016), and assume 85% uptake of colonoscopy. Estimates do not include surveillance colonoscopies and are for the years immediately following the introduction of FIT. ***Based on incidence projection for the UK up to 2035 from Smittenaar et al. 2016 ****Source: ONS Cancer Survival in England - adults diagnosed, accessed 01/11/19 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/datasets/cancersurvivalratescancersurvivalinenglandadultsdiagnosed *****Annual average number of new cases of cancer (ICD10 C00-C97) diagnosed in the UK between 2014 and 2016. Annual average number of deaths from cancer (ICD10 C00-C97) in the UK between 2015 and 2017 56% of known stage bowel cancers in England are diagnosed late (stage 3 or 4). National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) About Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. Cancer Research UK's pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives. Cancer Research UK receives no funding from the UK government for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on vital donations from the public. Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years. Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK's ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses. Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit http://www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. The expert says mainly Ukraine and Belarus are in jeopardy. Russian economist and former economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin Andrei Illarionov has said Ukraine and other neighbors of Russia will now be in much greater danger after the Russian leader's decision to amend that country's Constitution. "Both Ukraine and other states that turned out to be neighbors of the 'totalitarian state' will now be in much greater danger than they were before," he said in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon. "It is clear that neither Mr. Medvedev [the Russian prime minister who has recently resigned] nor other 'system liberals' had ever made or even tried to show any resistance to the aggressive imperial plans of the Kremlin-led security forces. But now there is no one at all in the leadership of the state who is inherently different from the security forces. Therefore, we can expect only new stages of provocations and the implementation of new imperial scenarios. First of all, of course, in relation to Ukraine and Belarus, but also in relation to other states," Illarionov said. Read alsoRussia turning into totalitarian regime described by Orwell in '1984' novel Putin's ex-adviser As UNIAN reported earlier, on January 15, 2020, Putin delivered his annual address to the Federal Assembly, proposing amendments to the Russian Constitution. He proposed that the status and role of the State Council be enshrined in the Constitution. Putin also proposed that the Russian Constitution be superior to international treaties, and state and municipal authorities be in closer interaction. What is more, he wants to authorize the State Duma to approve nominees to the posts of the prime minister and all his/her deputies and federal ministers upon the premier's submission. In addition, the Russian president proposed an amendment regarding the mandatory observance of the requirements (citizenship and length of residence) by members of the government, parliament and leaders of subjects of the federation. The amendment also suggests tougher requirements for the president (a term of office). According to him, citizens of Russia will be invited to vote for amendments to the Constitution. Putin's presidency is expiring in 2024, and in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, he will no longer be able to run for president. The same day, January 15, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Putin that the entire government was resigning. On January 16, Mikhail Mishustin was appointed new Russian Prime Minister. A mob on Tuesday ransacked a police station in Manipur's Kangpoki district after a cadre of a militant outfit was found dead in the lock-up, officials said. A cadre of 'Kuki Revolutionary Army' (KRA) identified as Thangboi Lhouvum was arrested by Assam Rifles on January 25 and handed over to Kangpokpi police station, they said. A mob stormed the Kangpoki police station and broke window panes, furniture and computers after hearing the of the death of Lhouvum in the lock up, officials said. The mob also put up road blockade in NH-2 in the district to protest the death of KRA cadre in the lock-up. The protesters demanded a proper investigation into the death of the KRA cadre in the police station lock-up, officials added. The KRA is the armed wing of the Kuki National Organisation which is engaged in Suspension of Operations (SoO) with both the state government and the Centre. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg during a memorial service at the National 9/11 Memorial September 11, 2016 in New York. While Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden may be grabbing headlines before the Iowa caucuses next Monday, no 2020 candidate is spending more on the digital ad war than President Donald Trump and Democratic contender Mike Bloomberg. The importance of the digital-ad wars in shaping the national voting map is coming into sharper focus as Bloomberg looks past the first four states holding Democratic votes next month Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada to instead aim for a strong showing on Super Tuesday and the general election against Trump. Trump has spent $36 million so far on digital spending on Google and Facebook, according to ACRONYM, the ad-spending research firm, more than Biden, Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg combined. But Bloomberg is catching up quickly, and is on pace to surpass the president's total. The former New York mayor, a billionaire who is self-funding his campaign, has already spent $34 million on digital ads on Facebook and Google. The spending gap between the between Trump and the Democrats online underscores one of the main reasons Bloomberg decided to run. According to the Bloomberg campaign, one of Trump's keys to victory in 2016 was his effectiveness in digital advertising and social media a skill that his campaign have honed and expanded even further over the past four years. "Where 'Trump' is really strong is in digital," said Kevin Sheekey, Bloomberg's campaign manager. "He has built a campaign that is probably running a decade ahead of anyone else on the Democratic side to meet voters wherever they are, and they have been very smart about it." But again, according to Sheekey, Bloomberg isn't far behind Trump on this score. "Bloomberg is maybe eight years ahead. So we're gaining ground. But he's still ahead," he said. At the center of the digital strategy for both the Trump and Bloomberg campaigns is data collection finding voters who may be receptive to a certain political message and then delivering ad content designed to win their vote. An 'angry and bewildered' Prince Andrew has rubbished claims he snubbed the FBI's Jeffrey Epstein inquiry, friends insisted last night. A US prosecutor accused the Duke of York of 'zero co-operation' with their investigation, but a source close to Andrew claimed: 'Nothing could be further from the truth.' The defiant prince was in fact 'more than happy to talk' but 'hasn't been approached by them yet', the source insisted. Andrew's extraordinary fightback came 24 hours after the royals were rocked by the bombshell declaration from New York state attorney Geoffrey Berman. Steering through crisis: Prince Andrew (left) is seen driving from Windsor yesterday after being criticised by a US prosecutor for giving 'zero co-operation' during Epstein inquiry He stood outside Epstein's New York mansion and accused the Queen's son of failing to respond to requests by the FBI and US prosecutors for an interview over his friendship with the paedophile financier. The resulting firestorm sent Buckingham Palace into a panic and yesterday the Queen's aides were still refusing to issue any comment on the story. Courtiers even said they would never talk about the subject and insisted it was a matter for the prince's lawyers, who they refused to identify. But the source close to the prince stepped forward to flatly contradict the US prosecutor's claims that the royal had reneged on his promise two months ago to 'help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations' into Epstein, who killed himself last year. Last night the insider claimed that Andrew was 'committed to the legal process', saying: 'The duke is more than happy to talk to the FBI but he hasn't been approached by them yet. 'He is angry about the way this is being portrayed and bewildered as to why this was said in New York. It seems certain people are jumping the gun.' After Mr Berman's shock intervention on Monday, lawyers and women who say they were sex trafficking victims of Epstein vented their fury at Andrew. Prince Andrew pictured with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in Central Park in New York in 2011 A lawyer for Virginia Roberts, who claims she was instructed to have sex with Andrew on three occasions from the age of 17 something he strenuously denies said he should 'take most seriously the deeply-held belief in this country that no one is above the law'. Lisa Bloom, who represents five other women, said it was 'time to stop playing games' and 'answer questions', while a third lawyer threatened Andrew, 59, with a subpoena if he sets foot in America again. The prince has categorically denied having any knowledge that Epstein was sexually abusing teenage girls. The scandal reignited last November when Andrew gave a disastrous interview to BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis in which he failed to express any regret for continuing his friendship with the disgraced financier after he was jailed for child sex abuse. The prince told Miss Maitlis he would give investigators a statement under oath 'in the right circumstances'. After a public furore, in which he was forced to withdraw from royal duties, he issued a statement saying he would 'of course' speak to investigators 'if required'. Last night the source close to Andrew insisted: 'The duke is not under any obligation to talk to lawyers representing alleged victims of Epstein at the moment, but he is totally willing to talk to any law enforcement agencies, be they the police or FBI. 'He hasn't changed his views at all and sticks by what he said in his interview with Emily Maitlis that he would co-operate. 'Indeed a week hasn't gone by since then when he hasn't had extensive meetings with his lawyers at Royal Lodge [his Windsor home] and Buckingham Palace preparing for such a meeting. Accuser: Virginia Roberts pictured with Andrew in London when she was 17 in 2001 'The duke accepts he made a big mistake by continuing to see Epstein after he was convicted and for not showing sufficient empathy for the girls involved. He is desperate to make up for it and is committed to the legal process.' The source also suggested that Andrew wanted to 'clear things up so that he can continue to support the Queen in the coming months following Prince's Philip's hospitalisation and Harry and Meghan's decision to quit as frontline royals'. They said: 'The duke has always been the Queen's favourite and she is relying on him a lot behind the scenes.' The source added that Andrew anticipated being interviewed by the FBI in the UK, not the US. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman stood outside Epstein's New York mansion and accused the Queen's son of failing to respond to requests by the FBI and US prosecutors for an interview over his friendship with the paedophile financier The Mail revealed last year that the prince was fearful of travelling to America in case he was dragged into ongoing legal proceedings. It was reported that Andrew would not go back to the US until proceedings were 'satisfactorily' and unequivocally concluded. The claims that the duke had snubbed the FBI led to global media coverage yesterday and prompted furious responses from Epstein's alleged victims. Miss Bloom said: 'It is time for anyone with information to come forward and answer questions. Prince Andrew himself is accused of sexual misconduct and he also spent a great deal of time with Jeffrey Epstein. The claims that the duke (pictured during his car crash TV interview) had snubbed the FBI led to global media coverage yesterday and prompted furious responses from Epstein's alleged victims 'The five women I represent are outraged and disappointed at Prince Andrew's behaviour. There are dozens of women who allege they were the victims of sexual assault by this predator Jeffrey Epstein. 'The victims want justice here and we can't do it without people speaking to law enforcement.' Gloria Allred, another lawyer for five of Epstein's accusers, threatened the duke with a subpoena if he ever visited the US again. She told Radio 4's Today programme: 'If he has done nothing wrong...then why won't he talk to law enforcement? No response is the same as zero co-operation. This is ridiculous. It's just not acceptable.' Harbottle & Lewis, the Queen's lawyers, who have previously acted for Andrew over allegations in relation to the case, said they are not representing him. Over the course of his 22-year commitment to the U.S. Army, Brian Butler commanded troops through combat, served on the Homeland Security Council in The White House, and visited 68 countries. Butler retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2006 but still applies the guideposts of dedication, teamwork, and integrity that were fostered in the military to a different assignment. As founder, president, and CEO of Vistra Communications a full-service marketing, communications and consulting agency Butler leads a staff of 90 outside of Tampa, Florida. And his 12-year ascent to leader, small-business owner, and philanthropist almost didnt happen. So when I retired from the Army, I actually didn't have a job lined up, he said. I looked for a job and there was not one to be had, so we decided to just start one. Brian Butler retired as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, but he was directionless when he transitioned from active service member to civilian. (Photo credit: Brian Butler) There really isnt a playbook Theres an inherent risk that comes with starting a small business. That risk is even bigger when youre launching a business in 2007, during a global recession. Ratcheting up the stakes was that Butler had a family to support. But entrepreneurship wasnt initially on Butlers agenda when he and his wife, Maureen, a fellow former Army officer, moved to Tampa with their two children, Chris and Allison. Their enthusiasm for a more permanent life near extended family a rarity for military families was soured by a sluggish Florida job market that left Butler without a job. There really isnt a playbook, Butler said, looking back on his unexpected unemployment. You just have just go in and figure it out. We invested our money what little we had Drawing on his experience serving in combat, Butler knew he had to get creative and there wasnt much room for error. Despite enormous economic headwinds and against his mothers advice, he started Vistra as a cottage industry with modest, bootstrapped funds as Butler recalls the early days, From day one, we invested our money, what little we had, into this, he said. Vistra defied the odds as it slowly gained traction and carved out a niche, creating marketing and public relations plans for nonprofits and small businesses. Story continues Brian Butler and his wife Maureen are both retired Army officers. The couple made the decision to move to Tampa so their children could grow up with extended family nearby. (Photo credit: Brian Butler) Your business is never out of the woods, he said. Youre either growing or youre dying. To him, that meant taking a good look at the business, setting goals, and evaluating growth opportunities over the first couple of years. After several iterations, Butler believed the business was sound. I can remember when we hired the first employee, and then the second employee, I said: This really can work, he said. It truly had to be a team concept, and I was used to a team concept. Its what I did in the military. Where our team members have a voice Eventually, the company moved out of the Butler home and into a home of its own. The move was a necessity space-wise, but it also signified much more to clients and visitors. When they walk in our door, they tend to see us like any other business, he said. Situated in an old bank vault, Vistra is anything but a cold and sterile environment typically associated with its unique location. Bulter, an early riser, positions himself in the lobby to personally greet every team member thats Vistra lingo for employee in the morning. Each day begins with a 15-minute huddle and whiteboards adorn the walls that lay out weekly goals. One lap around the office and you also notice the design is a metaphor for transparency and cohesion two themes impressed upon Butler during his military training. Doorless offices and glass partitions allow the Florida sun to pour in, and even though a thick metal vault is at the core of the office, Vistra feels like an open book. Motivational wall murals, mission-driven work, and a contagious camaraderie spirit create a familiar sense of belonging for Vistras team members more than half have also served in the armed forces. We try to create an environment where our team members have a voice, he said, and part of that voice is being able to share concerns, and being able to hear and listen to what's going on, and help us to make better business decisions. As founder, president and CEO of Vistra Communications, Brian Butler has grown his business from a cottage industry to nearly 90 employees divided between Tampa and Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Brian Butler) Had to have an active role in the community Boasting a client portfolio of Fortune 500 accounts, federal agencies, and corporations, Vistra continues to expand its capabilities and talents. Butler attributes this success to the breadth of his team. Now almost 90 strong divided between Tampa and Washington, D.C., Butler says, We're going to look around one day soon, and we're going to have 100 employees. Our diversity in age, diversity in ethnicity, diversity in experience, diversity in thought, diversity in male versus female, veteran versus non-veteran, that really helps to carry us and propel us, he said. Even as Vistra was growing and discovering its identity, Butler admits that philanthropy was one of the companys guideposts. For the business to grow and be effective, we had to have an active role in the community, he said. The office gives back in the form of mentorship programs with local elementary school students and connects with inner-city residents to help them look and feel their best. But Butler has a keen interest in helping veterans and active service members find their next calling after their military service is over. I try to help many of the young veterans understand how they can take their military experiences and apply them to various jobs today, he said. It really doesn't matter whether you were driving a truck, working in a kitchen, whether you were an engineer or a mechanic, you could take those experiences and apply them to positions where people need you today. Butler shared he came from a modest upbringing and the United States Army was a way to pay for his education at Hampton University. He considers his ROTC experience "one of the best experiences" of his life and it's where he learned accountability, punctuality, and sense of accomplishment. (Photo credit: Brian Butler) People want to hire veterans Butler believes that the skills gained in the military are transferrable. And with a little word-smithing, a veterans value in the private sector can be impactful because employers are looking for somebody just like you right now, he said. People want to hire veterans because they know that veterans are going to show up early. They know that the veteran's going to finish the task. They know that veterans are going to put some ingenuity in getting it done, he said. They're going to endure because they have endured. Stephanie is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. She can be reached at stephanie.asymkos@yahoofinance.com. Follow her on Twitter @SJAsymkos. Read more: Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit. Rishikesh is known the world over for its ashrams and yoga centres which are often thronged by the foreigners. However, very few know that it is also home to 55-year-old Mukesh Dhiman, a Didgeridoo maker and player, who has so far taught the art to over 400 Israelis at his studio named Jungle Vibes. Dhiman has been making Didgeridoos, a wind-based musical instrument native to Australia, for the last 40 years after being taught by an Australian whom he had met accidentally while he used to work as a carpenter. Claimed to be the oldest musical instrument of the world, Didgeridoo is made by hollowing a tree limb or trunk and traditionally played by the Australian aborigines. Dhimans studio located in the picturesque town of Rishikesh is frequented by his admirers from various countries. But, the maximum number of his admirers are from Israel, with whom he believes there is a special bond. I have so far taught the art of making Didgeridoos to over 400 Israelis at my studio here. I believe my relation with them is not a Guru-Shishya one but of eternal friendship to cherish for life, said Dhiman. Dhiman claimed that almost every month, one or two Israelis on an average, visit him to learn the art and craft of making Didgeridoos from him. With the grace of God, the first Israelis who visited me, liked my work and after returning to Israel spoke about it to their friends. I guess that is how it all started and more and more Israelis came here over the years, he said. Dhiman said many Israelis after learning the art of making Didgeridoos, returned to their country and started teaching it to others there. Playing Didgeridoo is getting a lot of attraction there, to such an extent that they are now organising a Didgeridoo festival there for the last 12 years. I feel happy when I hear their stories. Many of them are very good friends of mine and are still in touch with me, said Dhiman. One of Mukeshs foreign admirers learning Didgeridoo playing at his studio in Rishikesh. (Mukesh Dhiman ) Israelis made a documentary on Dhiman The Israelis are so fond of Dhimans passion for Didgeridoos that they made a documentary on him, namely Mukesh- The Art of Shanti Living. The one hour long documentary featured Dhimans Didgeridoo making and playing skills. It was even played by them in front of the crowd gathered at 12th Didgeridoo Festival in 2019 there. The love I get from them would be cherished forever by me, said Dhiman. Building a new studio with the help of Israelis Dhiman is also building a new studio up in the hills of Rishikesh, which he calls his dream project. However realising his dream was not easy as he had to face many financial challenges. But thanks to the help from his Israeli friends, he has now started his work on the studio since last two months. Being an artist, I dont have enough money to realise my dream project. But when my Israeli friends heard about it, they started raising funds for it in Israel and collected about one lakh which is being used by me in constructing the studio. They also collected money by playing the documentary they made on me, said Dhiman, adding that some of his Canadian friends also raised funds for his new studio. The new ashram will be built with wood having iron-sheets as roof. It will have hollowed bamboo with rice grains inside it. So when wind will pass through them, it will produce a mesmerising sound, adding tranquillity and serenity to the ambience, said Dhiman. Dhiman also developed an easy to carry Didgeridoo In an effort to popularise the art of playing Didgeridoo, Dhiman also developed a compact-sized, easy to carry version of the instrument. The actual sized Didgeridoo is about one to three metres long and due to its size, it is difficult to carry it while travelling from one place to another. However, this compact-sized one is about 12 inches long and very easy to carry in a bag, said Dhiman, adding he hopes the new version would help in spreading the art more in India and abroad. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kalyan Das Kalyan Das covers crime, transport, human rights and central government offices from Bhopal and Indore. ...view detail [January 28, 2020] Bell Let's Talk supports renovations at 5 psychiatric departments in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean CHICOUTIMI, QC, Jan. 28, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Bell Let's Talk today announced a donation of $225,000 to Fondation de ma vie for the refurbishment of 5 psychiatric departments at 3 hospitals in Saguenay?Lac-Saint-Jean. Bell's donation, along with a $75,000 investment by the Fondation, will have a meaningful impact on patients and their families in the region, enhancing the support available close to home. "Bell Let's Talk is proud to work with Fondation de ma vie to help improve access to mental health care closer to home for those living with mental illness in Saguenay?Lac-Saint-Jean," said Karine Moses, Bell's Vice Chair, Quebec. "Our combined investment will help create spaces that are more welcoming to the people receiving treatment and their families. An environment where patients are treated with dignity leads to improved outcomes." The donations from Bell Let's Talk and Fondation de ma vie will be used to refurbish the 3 psychiatric departments at the Hopital de Chicoutimi as well as those at the Hopital d'Alma and Hopital de Roberval, creating a calming, welcoming environment that provides comfort and support to those receiving mental health services. Both patients and caregivers will participate in planning the improvements, including workout and relaxation rooms, the refurbishment of dining rooms and common areas, access to open-air areas, and safe and welcoming spaces for meeting with families. "This investment will improve the daily lives of our patients during their hospitalization in every department in the region," said Dr. Laurent Coulloudon, the Regional Head of Psychiatry for the Saguenay?Lac-Saint-Jean Centre integre universitaire de sante et de services sociaux (CIUSSS). "These new developments will make our psychiatric care environments more inviting and stimulating." While Bell's donation will support the renovations at the 3 hospitals, Fondation de ma vie's investment of $75,000 will increase the range of mental health services offered. This will provide for an additional 5 self-management groups led by community mental health organizations throughout the region, for a total of 17 annually. In collaboration with Fondation Equilibre, funds will also be dedicated to implementing further projects by mental health groups in the Saguenay?Lac-Saint-Jean region to help maintain and develop quality services with respect to treatment, social rehabilitation and reintegration into society. "This project reflects a collaborative vision among all our foundations, made possible by the innovative approach and the opening of Fondation de ma vie, said Julie Lavoie, Director of Mental Health and Addiction and the Youth Program at the SaguenayLac-Saint-Jean CIUSSS. "We all share common belief in recovery and access to services in our region to meet the needs of patients and make a difference in their lives." "This major investment is the latest in a long-standing partnership between Bell Let's Talk and Fondation de ma vie, one that will certainly have a significant impact on mental health patients and their families in SaguenayLac-Saint-Jean," said Jean-Francois Girard, Chair of the Board of Fondation de ma vie. "It is also a first for our region,bringing all 4 regional foundations together to support such a large-scale project, and a source of great pride." Bell Let's Talk Day is tomorrow Tomorrow, January 29, is the 10th anniversary Bell Let's Talk Day, and Fondation de ma vie, Fondation Equilibre, Fondation Hotel Dieu d'Alma, Fondation du Domaine du Roy and the SaguenayLac-Saint-Jean CIUSSS join Bell in inviting everyone to take part in the conversation on mental health. Bell will donate 5 cents to Canadian mental health programs for each of these communications on January 29, at no extra cost to participants beyond what they would normally pay their service providers for online or phone access: Talk: Every mobile and every long distance call made by Bell wireless and phone customers Text: Every text message sent by Bell wireless customers Twitter: Every tweet and retweet using #BellLetsTalk, featuring the special Bell Let's Talk emoji, and every Bell Let's Talk Day video view at Twitter.com/Bell_LetsTalk Facebook: Every Bell Let's Talk Day video view at Facebook.com/BellLetsTalk and every use of the Bell Let's Talk frame Instagram: Every Bell Let's Talk Day video view at Instagram.com/Bell_LetsTalk Snapchat: Every use of the Bell Let's Talk filter and every Bell Let's Talk Day video view YouTube: Every Bell Let's Talk Day video view at YouTube.com/BellCanada About Bell Let's Talk The Bell Let's Talk mental health initiative is focused on 4 key action pillars: Anti-stigma, Care and Access, Research and Workplace Leadership. Since its launch in September 2010, Bell Let's Talk has partnered with more than 1,000 organizations providing mental health services throughout Canada, including hospitals, universities and other care and research organizations. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk . About Fondation de Ma Vie Since Fondation de ma vie believes that the best care is the care you receive closest to home, its mission is to contribute to the accessibility and proximity of the health care provided to the people and families of Saguenay?Lac-Saint-Jean, with the aim of preserving greater regional autonomy. Fondation de ma vie works in partnership with the CIUSSS and local organizations to add to the synergy and cohesion of local care networks, particularly for the most ill and most vulnerable people in its territory. About Fondation Equilibre Fondation Equilibre's mission is to provide financial support to mental health institutions and organizations in the SaguenayLac-Saint-Jean region in order to maintain and develop quality services with respect to treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration into society. About the Fondation Hotel Dieu d'Alma The Fondation de l'Hotel-Dieu d'Alma helps to maintain and develop quality health and social services through the acquisition of specialized instruments and equipment with cutting-edge technology for Alma's hospital and the CLSCs and CHSLDs in the RCM of Lac-Saint-Jean Est. About the Fondation du Domaine-du-Roy The Fondation du Domaine-du-Roy's mission is to collect donations in order to help improve the services provided by the CIUSSS-Saguenay?Lac-Saint-Jean-Hopital in Roberval. Media inquiries: Caroline Audet Senior Manager, Media Relations Bell 514-391-9794 [email protected] @Bell_LetsTalk @Bell_News Nathalie Gagne Major Donations and Communications Advisor Foundation de ma vie 418-545-4980, ext. 327 [email protected] SOURCE Bell Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Plastic Surgery Associates offer Cooltone Body Controuring Heather Furnas, MD FACS and Francisco Canales, MD are proud to announce the arrival of Allergans CoolTone body contouring device. This brand new offering from the makers of CoolSculpting and Botox is designed to improve definition by toning targeted muscles. Plastic Surgery Associates Santa Rosa office will begin CoolTone consultations in late December, with treatments set to start in January of 2020. Allergans CoolTone is far different from its similar-sounding counterpart, CoolSculpting, who uses freezing temperatures to eliminate fatty tissue. Instead, CoolTone is a unique device designed to assist men and women looking to tone muscles and improve their body core. Over a series of treatments, the device will firm and strengthen muscles by toning underlying muscle fibers. The device can help with three key body areas: the abs, buttocks and thighs. Cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), CoolTone uses magnetic muscle stimulation (MMS) to penetrate below the skin and fat layers, transferring electromagnetic energy into the muscle, causing natural contractions. Over time, these contractions will tighten the muscle fibers, ultimately improving and defining the physique. Although CoolTone is not the first muscle toning instrument to hit the aesthetic market, according to Allergan, the device offers 50% more magnetic intensity than its competitors. CoolTone treatments are painless, taking from 30-45 minutes in the office. No downtime or recovery period is needed. The recommended number of treatments will vary according to the individual and the target area. In most cases, four treatments spread out over a two-week period can provide desired results. Plastic Surgery Associates is excited to be one of the first aesthetic practices in the United States to offer CoolTone at the start of 2020. All treatments and procedures at Plastic Surgery Associates are overseen by two board-certified plastic surgeons, ensuring not only the safest techniques but also the very best results. Like all of Allergans products, CoolTone will be eligible for its Brilliant Distinction rewards. ABOUT PLASTIC SURGERY ASSOCIATES Dr. Furnas and Dr. Canales are both board-certified plastic surgeons, specializing in cosmetic treatments for the face, breast and body. First meeting during their medical training at Stanford University, Dr. Furnas and Dr. Canales worked together in Boston while serving on the clinical faculty at Harvard. The duo then returned to Northern California, opening the Santa Rosa office of Plastic Surgery Associates in 1992. Here, Dr. Furnas and Dr. Canales consistently achieve exceptional aesthetic results through many of their own, innovative treatments and techniques, including rapid recovery breast augmentation and the Mommy Makeover, as well as cutting-edge surgical and noninvasive vaginal rejuvenation. Today, Plastic Surgery Associates has two locations, in Santa Rosa and Novato, California. Additionally, to bring clients the best in nonsurgical skincare and facial rejuvenation, Dr. Furnas and Dr. Canales have established Allegro MedSpa, located adjacent to each Plastic Surgery Associates office. If you would like to schedule a free CoolTone consultation with Dr. Furnas or Dr. Canales, contact Plastic Surgery Associates at 707.537.2111. If you prefer to have a patient coordinator reach out to you, simply fill out the online Contact Us form. Visit Allergans CoolTone website for more information about this game-changing treatment. The public debate over whats been infamously dubbed the horror highway has been fired up again. A petition is running in Katikati urging real improvements to SH2 between Katikati and Tauranga. Obviously safety is paramount, says Andy Earl, the Katikati man driving the petition. But these cheese cutters they are plastering along the centre and side of the road are doing nothing to help the rapid increase in population growth. The petition calls on the Government to reinstate the upgrade on SH2 Tauranga to Katikati corridor to prioritise both safety and capacity, as proposed by the preceding National Government. Our highway is no longer fit for purpose. More than 1500 people agree with Andy. They have attached their signatures to the petition on the Katikati Area Road Facebook page. It has close to 2500 members and reflects feeling in the area. We need a highway that can deal with the amount of traffic using it, insists one commenter on the groups Facebook page. Not this fix-in-bits that does nothing for safety. Another post says: unacceptable NZTA you want to live here a while. The page offers running news on traffic conditions, snarls, accidents and weather down the notorious stretch of road. And according to Katikati Community Board chairman, Ben Warren, the SH2 and bypass issues are contributing to the decreasing quality of life in our town. He says some people are getting to dislike it so much theyre moving to quieter areas. He says its extremely disappointing to see all the public money squandered on reports, consultants and planning only to have funding pulled from such projects as the Tauranga Northern Link. Politicians worried about their own re-election instead of doing what is good for the country are completely letting the public down. The WBOP has the busiest port in New Zealand, it is the biggest horticulture hub in New Zealand and yet the reality is that the economic benefits are being eroded away by small unsafe country roads. In his reasoning for the petition, Andy Earl says the Labour Party replaced all the plans for local growth by stalling the previous Governments plan for a four-lane highway between Katikati and Tauranga. The roading development currently implemented includes little more than median barriers and roadside railings. The intention is based solely on safety but not capacity. Our state highway is no longer fit for purpose. He says the project needs to stay away from the clutches of political wrangling, party policy and new agendas. He says the reason the project hasnt developed in line with growth is down to three things the government of the day, NZTA and WBDC. And rather than a piece meal approach to safety measures he has implored the NZTA to shift focus to the more serious and dangerous parts of the highway, like the stretch between Apata and Te Puna. I have discussed this with NZTA but its like negotiating with a brick wall. Ben Warren agrees. His wife was almost cleaned up on the Apata S bend. They have fixed the straightest part of the bloody road just outside Waihi when they should have looked at the bends. The former Australian police officer with experience in traffic enforcement says it would take three months to straighten the Apata S bend. Or impose a 50 km/h restriction until they can fix it. The upgrade petition remains until the end of February. For its part NZTA has scheduled what it calls a drop-in session at the Lighthouse Cafe in Lockington Road, Katikati, from 3pm on Wednesday, January 29. It wants to talk the public through some safety improvements it has planned for SH2. ~Private equity firm with 5 billion Euro under management sets its sights on renewable natural gas ("RNG") market in Europe with its first fund dedicated to RNG and joint venture with Greenlane~ Greenlane Renewables Inc. ("Greenlane") (TSXV: GRN FSE: 52G) today announced it has signed an agreement in principle with SWEN Capital Partners ("SWEN") based in Paris, France to create a joint venture company ("JV Co.") to accelerate deployment of Greenlane's biogas upgrading systems by providing an innovative finance solution for customers in Europe using a build, own, operate model. JV Co. will combine Greenlane's market presence, technical expertise, customer contacts and industry experience with SWEN's financial backing as a leader in sustainable investments with more than 5 billion Euro in assets under management. The intent of the parties is for JV Co. to assist in removing the burden of ownership on Greenlane's clients by allowing them to replace initial capital outlays with a monthly fee. "We believe the joint venture will unlock new opportunities by creating a unique value proposition that attracts those customers requiring not only financing to deploy biogas upgrading systems but also long term guarantees," said Brad Douville, President CEO of Greenlane. "This innovative solution allows our systems to be owned and financed by the joint venture in which we will participate as a minority equity partner. Greenlane will be responsible for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the biogas upgrading units and our equity partner, SWEN, will be responsible for the financing. Customers benefit from reduced capital expenditures in projects, built-in operation and maintenance while retaining their autonomy to sell the resulting renewable natural gas back to the natural gas grid." "SWEN brings extensive experience and knowledge in sustainable investing," said Olivier Aubert, Managing Director of the SWEN Impact Fund for Transition. "The combination of Greenlane's expertise and SWEN's financial resources provides for credibility to the biomethane or RNG sector, while enabling Greenlane to position itself as a leading integrated player in the market." "We have the right products in the right market at the right time," added Brad Douville. "For example with the recent announcement by the German Government to phase out coal, the Green Party in Germany is calling for a "gas turnaround" where fossil natural gas must be replaced by "green gases" or RNG as quickly as possible. Changing the global natural gas infrastructure from fossil-based sources to a renewable form makes both economic and environmental sense. Greenlane Renewables is set to benefit from this push to RNG with its strong presence in Germany and its showcase installation in Gustrow." The joint venture represents a step change evolution of Greenlane from the design and sale of biogas upgrading equipment, to offering customers a complete turnkey solution through a joint venture in which Greenlane retains an interest. Potential customers include greenfield project developers and existing anaerobic digestion plant owners operating cogeneration units and having an interest to switch to injection of biomethane, while keeping initial costs down. The creation of JV Co. is subject to the settling of a final agreement between the parties, a process that is expected to be concluded by the end of the second quarter. The current agreement in principle is non-binding except in respect of non-material terms and there can be no guarantees that a final definitive agreement will be reached. About SWEN Capital Partners SWEN Capital Partners is an AMF-approved management company, held mainly by the OFI group and Arkea. With nearly 5 billion Euro under management, SWEN Capital Partners is a long-standing player in Responsible Investment and now a diversified investment platform that includes both primary, secondary and direct fund investments. For more information, please visit www.swen-cp.fr About Greenlane Renewables Greenlane Renewables is a leading global provider of biogas upgrading systems that are helping decarbonize natural gas. Our systems produce clean, low-carbon renewable natural gas from organic waste sources including landfills, wastewater treatment plants, dairy farms, and food waste, suitable for either injection into the natural gas grid or for direct use as vehicle fuel. Greenlane is the only biogas upgrading company offering the three main technologies: water wash, pressure swing adsorption, and membrane separation. With over 30 years industry experience, patented proprietary technology, and over 100 biogas upgrading units supplied into 18 countries worldwide, including the world's largest biogas upgrading facility, Greenlane is inspired by a commitment to helping waste producers improve their environmental impact, green credentials, and bottom line. For further information, please visit www.greelanerenewables.com. FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not historical in nature contain forward-looking information. Forward-looking information can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "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. The forward-looking information contained in this press release, includes, but is not limited to, statements relating to the creation of a joint venture company to accelerate deployment of Greenlane's biogas upgrading systems, the combination of Greenlane's market presence, technical expertise, customer contacts and industry experience with SWEN's financial backing for the joint venture, the intent of the parties for the joint venture, the unlocking of new opportunities with the joint venture, Greenlane participating in the joint venture as a minority equity partner, the responsibilities of Greenlane under the joint venture, the joint venture representing a step change evolution of Greenlane, and the settling or conclusion of the final definitive agreement. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this press release and is based on assumptions management believed to be reasonable at the time such statements were made, including management's perceptions of future growth, results of operations, operational matters, historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. While we consider these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to management, there is no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. By their nature, forward-looking information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. A variety of factors, including known and unknown risks, many of which are beyond our control, could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information in this press release. Such factors include, without limitation, the risks that the creation of a joint venture company may not succeed or not as contemplated, the accelerated deployment of Greenlane's biogas upgrading systems under the joint venture may not occur as expected or at all, the combination of Greenlane's expertise and SWEN's financial resources may not be as contemplated or successful, the intent of the parties for the joint venture may change or may not be as expected, the joint venture may not unlock new opportunities as expected or at all, Greenlane's participation in the joint venture as a minority equity partner may not be as contemplated or on terms different than expected, Greenlane's responsibilities under the joint venture may not be as expected, the joint venture may not represent the type of evolution of Greenlane's business as contemplated, and the final, definitive agreement may not be settled or concluded in the timeline expected or at all. Additional risk factors can also be found in Greenlane's filing statement and prospectuses, which have been filed under Greenlane's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Greenlane undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. 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 or has in any way approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005250/en/ Contacts: Incite Capital Markets Eric Negraeff Darren Seed Ph: 604.493.2004 Brad Douville, President CEO, Greenlane Renewables Email: IR@greenlanebiogas.com BEIRUT The Islamic States self-styled caliphate across parts of Iraq and Syria seemed largely defeated last year, with the loss of its territory, the killing of its founder in a U.S. raid and an unprecedented crackdown on its social media propaganda machine. But tensions between the United States and Iran and the resulting clash over the U.S. military presence in the region provide a comeback opportunity for the extremist group, whose remnants have been gradually building up a guerrilla campaign over the past year, experts say. American troops in Iraq had to pause their operations against Islamic State for nearly two weeks amid the tensions. From the other side, Iranian-backed Iraqi militiamen who once focused on fighting the militants have turned their attention to evicting U.S. troops from the Middle East. In the meantime, Islamic State sleeper cells intensified ambushes in Iraq and Syria in the past few weeks, killing and wounding dozens of their opponents in both countries. Activists and residents say the attacks have intensified since the U.S. killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a Jan. 3 drone strike at Baghdads airport. It is not clear whether the uptick is related to the repercussions that followed from the strike, and it is possible some of the attacks had been planned before Soleimanis killing. U.S. officials deny seeing any particular increase in Islamic State activities. They havent taken advantage of it, as far as we can see, said James Jeffrey, the State Department envoy to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State. Mervan Qamishlo, a spokesman for Syrias U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force, said the intensification of Islamic State attacks began even earlier, since October, when Turkey began a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Still, the militants clearly gained at least temporary breathing room as the killing of Soleimani, along with a senior Iraqi militia leader, brought Iran and the U.S. to the brink of all-out war and outraged Iraqis, who considered the strike a flagrant breach of sovereignty. On Jan. 5, Iraqs parliament called for the expulsion of the 5,200 U.S. troops from the country who have been there since 2014 on a mission to train Iraqi forces and assist in the fight against Islamic State. The U.S.-led coalition then put the fight against the militants on hold to focus on protecting its troops and bases. It said last week that it had resumed those operations after a 10-day halt. This tension will for sure help Daesh, as all forces fighting it become busy with other matters, warned Abdullah Suleiman Ali, a Syrian researcher who focuses on jihadist groups, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. Among other things, he said Iran-U.S. tensions help give Islamic State the opportunity to restructure as its new leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, strengthens his grip. Al-Qurayshi was announced in the post after longtime leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by a U.S. raid in Syria in October. Bassem Mroue is an Associated Press writer. Canada Lays New Charges Against Official Accused of Leaking Secrets OTTAWAU.S.-Canadian prosecutors have laid three new charges against a top police intelligence official who is accused of leaking secret information, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecution service said on Monday. Cameron Ortis, a director-general with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, faces charges under a 2012 security of information law for prosecuting spies. He had access to highly sensitive domestic and foreign intelligence. The three charges were filed last week under a section of the law that relates to the unauthorized communication of special operational information, Public Prosecution Service of Canada spokeswoman Nathalie Houle said in a statement. Ortiswho is next due in court on Tuesdayhas been in jail since Nov. 8 when an Ontario court revoked his bail. No date has yet been set for his trial. Canada is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network alongside the United States, Britain, New Zealand, and Australia. Security experts have said the case could damage Canadas standing in the network. By David Ljunggren ALBANY - When Arthur Preiser first noticed the man of Middle Eastern descent who moved in with his family across the street in his Pine Hills neighborhood two years ago, he grew concerned. He did not fear the man was a danger of any sort, but Preiser could see he was troubled. He observed arguments and ongoing tension between the man and his wife. The man paced alone outside and muttered to himself. Preiser, 52, a computer technician with two adolescent sons, tried to make small talk with the man. He would not make eye contact with Preiser and spoke only haltingly. He seemed traumatized. Over time, more encounters on the sidewalk eventually led to longer conversations. A trust developed and the man began to open up to Preiser. His name is Ahmed Fikry, 51, a native of Baghdad, a former high school teacher and son of a well-to-do Iraqi family of the Sunni minority. His father was the dean of Baghdad Medical College. Fikry and his wife, Muntaha, also a teacher, lived with their son, Ali, and daughter, Eylaf, in a large compound his parents owned in an upper-class Sunni neighborhood. Preiser began to spend more time with Fikry and a friendship grew between the born-again Christian and the Muslim. One day, Fikry showed his friend three notebooks filled with Arabic handwriting. The notebooks revealed an astonishing story of a refugees escape from a war-torn country and the resiliency of the human spirit. The two men also had begun to bridge a cultural divide as Fikry shared secrets he had never before told anyone outside his family. We got to know each other little by little, Preiser said. Wed have coffee. Hang out together. I consider Ahmed a very good friend now. I feel comfortable with Arthur, Fikry said. Hes a very good guy. I trust him completely. For the past year, the two men have labored to peel back the layers of Fikrys complicated story. Preiser has a bachelors degree in English from Skidmore College and they collaborated each day. They sat at Preisers dining room table, hunched over a laptop computer with an Arabic to English translation program. They produced a 170,000-word manuscript, titled Surviving Hell. They are working on revisions and hope to find a publisher. Fikry and his family survived bombing attacks on Baghdad and the American-led invasion of his homeland beginning in late March 2003 in a bid to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein. It was terrible. The bombs hit close to us, Fikry recalled. Our country was being destroyed for no reason. His family took cover in the basement, endured electricity outages, food shortages and the complete disruption of daily life. In just weeks, Husseins rule collapsed and American troops took control of Baghdad. Eventually, commerce resumed, schools re-opened and Baghdad returned to a sense of normalcy. Fikry and his family felt fortunate that they had gotten through the Iraq War without injuries or casualties. Soon, their lives became a nightmare. In October 2005, they turned on the television to watch coverage of the Iraqi High Tribunal trying Saddam Hussein and other members of his regime on charges of war crimes and genocide. There was a shocking revelation: Fikrys brother-in-law, Judge Raid Juhi, was the lead investigating judge in the trial of Hussein, Iraqs fallen dictator. We had no idea. When we saw him, we knew that we immediately became targets of Saddams supporters, Fikry said. We knew we were no longer safe. Fikrys wife, her sister and mother sobbed in the kitchen and tried to console each other. His father put it bluntly: They will come to kill us. The family made plans to escape Iraq and the threat of retribution. They fled to Jordan. The stress was relentless. His wife miscarried. She begged her husband to return to Baghdad. They went back. But they learned that Hussein loyalists in the secret police had broken into Fikrys vacant compound and ransacked the place. The intruders strafed the interior and exterior with machine-gun fire. They scrawled a warning in Arabic: We will find you and we will kill you and cut your heads off. They went into hiding at a cousins house. Fikry fled on his own to Syria in June 2006. He planned to bring his wife and kids once he got settled. On the way, the bus was hijacked by bandits, who stole everything Fikry had, including his cellphone. One robber stuck a handgun near Fikrys ear and pulled the trigger. The bullet shattered a window inches from his head. He heard loud ringing for days. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. It felt like I had gone from one death to another, Fikry said. An old man who lived near a bus station in Damascus offered Fikry food and shelter. In 2008, Fikry reunited with his family in Damascus. They applied for political refugee status. Fikrys wife, his wifes mother and their two children were accepted into the refugee resettlement program. For reasons never made clear, Fikry was rejected. His family arrived in Albany in 2010 and were resettled with help from the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Fikry remained in Damascus and continued to apply for asylum. He was pinned down by the Syrian civil war and could not flee. He hid in a house during the Battle of Damascus in 2012. Syrian Army soldiers seized control of his neighborhood and began a house-by-house search. Fikry was discovered, dragged out by soldiers, blindfolded and taken to a detention area. He was punched, kicked, burned with cigarettes, starved and threatened with a knife and gun during frequent interrogations. His captors thought Fikry was an enemy informant. I thought they were going to kill me, he said. He knew nothing and they released him after two days of beatings and torture. He waited to be reunited with his family. By the time he arrived in Albany in the summer of 2013, he was a broken man. Nothing was ever the same again. He was agitated and restless and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He began treatment for PTSD. He passed the test and became a U.S. citizen. His wife was hired as a substitute teacher in Albany but Fikry could not find work. His depression worsened. Fikry separated from his wife in May, 2019. He lives alone now in a mostly-empty apartment in Watervliet, subsidized by the citys housing authority. He was plagued by a racing heartbeat, was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and doctors installed a pacemaker. He gets by on a monthly disability check of $771. He is isolated and forlorn. The one thing that has kept him going is his friend Arthur and working on the book. I lost everything, Fikry said. Arthur told me to tell my story and it would help me feel better. I hope hes right. Paul Grondahl is the director of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany and a former Times Union reporter. He can be reached at grondahlpaul@gmail.com. Advertisement Harvey Weinstein denied claims that he was terrified of a pet Chihuahua as he left his rape trial on Tuesday, after the roommate of accuser Mimi Haleyi claimed her 12-inch pooch Peanut scared off the then-300lb producer when he barged into their home. On Tuesday secondary witness Elizabeth Entin, the former roommate of Haleyi who delivered an explosive testimony on Monday, took the witness stand to corroborate her friend's claims against the Hollywood figure. On Monday Haleyi, a former production assistant for Weinstein Co, recounted how the Hollywood giant allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on her while she was on her period at his New York apartment in 2006. She alleged he also raped her at a TriBeCa hotel two weeks later. One one occasion Weinstein barged into Haleyi's home demanding she come with him to Paris, but got scared when Entin's Chihuahua Peanut began to chase him around, Entin told the jury. As Weinstein smiled and hobbled out of court with his walker, a reporter asked him if he was afraid of Chihuahuas. Weinstein laughed and replied, 'Do I look like Im afraid of Chihuahuas?' Entin glared at Weinstein upon entering the courtroom on Tuesday and revealed Haleyi told her about the alleged rape right after it happened upon returning home to the East Village apartment they shared and detailed how he pulled out her tampon and assaulted her, despite her protests. As Harvey Weinstein hobbled out of court with his walker on Tuesday he denied that he was afraid of Chihuahuas. On Tuesday Elizabeth Entin, the former roommate of accuser Mimi Haleyi, claimed her 12-inch pooch Peanut scared off the producer when he barged into their home before he allegedly raped Haleyi in 2006 Entin said on one occasion prior to the alleged sexual attacks Weinstein barged into their apartment and demanded that Haleyi come with him to Paris, but got scared by Entin's 12-inch pet Chihuahua Peanut. Entin and Peanut above On Tuesday secondary witness Elizabeth Entin (right), the roommate of former Weinstein Co. producer Mimi Haleyi who delivered an explosive testimony on Monday, took the witness stand to corroborate her friend's claims against the Hollywood figure On Weinstein's way out of court on Tuesday a reporter asked him if he was afraid of Chihuahuas. Weinstein laughed and replied, 'Do I look like Im afraid of chihuahuas?' Harvey Weinstein suggests hes not afraid of little dogs. During testimony in Day 5 #HarveyWeinsteinTrial it was suggested Weinstein was running from a Chihuahua when he went to an alleged victims home. Alleged victim told friend Weinstein popped up to the apartment unannounced. pic.twitter.com/k0Q6fvgymX Dean Meminger (@DeanMeminger) January 28, 2020 'I was lying in bed. She was standing in the doorway, normally shed flop on my bed. She was very nervous, she was pacing. She seemed anxious to talk to me and seemed not the typical comfortable way we normally spoke to each other,' Entin said before the jury. 'The conversation was not linear, shed gone to the apartment of Harvey Weinstein and she assumed it was work related and he started grabbing her shoulders, kissing her, she said no, no and he wouldnt stop. She said Im on my period and he said I dont care at which point he threw her down. He pulled off her underwear and pulled out her tampon and went down on her,' she added. She revealed that Haleyi's demeanor changed after the alleged rape but she didn't want to report it. 'I said Miriam that sounds like rape. I said why dont we call a lawyer. She still seemed very distraught and was shaking and walked away and didnt want to talk about it. She felt like she couldnt talk and wasnt very present.' Haleyi's given name is Miriam Haley, but she changed due to public scrutiny after she came forward in October 2017 with the Weinstein allegations. Assistant District Attorney Meghan Hast asked what happened to Haleyi after this. 'When I came home from work wed always laugh and talk and share with each other what plans we have. She was much more withdrawn, before she was very vital and giggly. She was more nervous and spent more time in her room,' Entin said. Under cross-examination Entin said that she did not tell Haleyi to go to the police but thought that any victim of sexual assault should 'stick up for themselves' with a criminal prosecution. She added she lost touch with Haleyi in late 2006 or early 2007. 'She said Im on my period and he said I dont care at which point he threw her down. He pulled off her underwear and pulled out her tampon and went down on her,' Entin (right) testified on Tuesday, recounting how Haleyi (left) told her Weinstein allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on her in July 2006 'I said Miriam that sounds like rape. I said why dont we call a lawyer. She still seemed very distraught and was shaking and walked away and didnt want to talk about it. She felt like she couldnt talk and wasnt very present,' Entin testified Tuesday as she was questioned by Assistant District Attorney Meghan Hast as Harvey Weinstein (seated left) looked on Harvey Weinstein, 67, was all smiles as he walked into the Manhattan courthouse for his rape trial on Tuesday The disgraced mogul walked in clutching onto his walker and flanked by his attorneys on Tuesday morning Entin recalled seeing red flags when she met Weinstein for the first time at Cipriani's, an upscale bar in New York, in the Spring of 2006 with Haleyi. Haleyi claims Weinstein raped her on two occasions months later in July 2006. '(Weinstein) came up and shook my hand and I was politely introduced. Then he put his arm around Miriam with the hand on her stomach and said: "This is the hottest woman I know!"' Entin said. 'Miriam was trying to be very polite and mitigating and very uncomfortable.' Entin said Haleyi once called her to recount how Weinstein barged into their apartment prior to the alleged sexual attacks and demanded that Haleyi come with him to Paris, but got scared by Entin's pet Chihuahua. 'She said that Harvey Weinstein showed up at our apartment and pushed his way into the apartment...He just pushed his way in and we started laughing about it,' she said. 'My dog, my small Chihuahua Peanut was chasing him around and he was a little threatened by it. He said whats that thing, get it away from me,' she added. The jury had already been shown a photo of Peanut - the dog had light brown fur and was about 12 inches long. Weinstein by contrast would have been around 300lbs in weight. Assistant District Attorney Hast said: 'The defendant was scared of this little dog, Peanut.' Gloria Allred, the lawyer for Weinstein's accusers including Haleyi, pictured arriving to court Tuesday morning A court clerk pictured wheeling in evidence folders to Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault trial on Tuesday Entin said that prior to the alleged rape she thought Weinstein was just 'a pathetic older man trying really hard to hit on Miriam'. Despite the bombshell allegations, the 67-year-old film producer appeared to be in good spirits Tuesday as his rape trial stretches into its second week at the State Supreme Court in Manhattan. He stands accused of five felony counts including rape and predatory sexual assault. A heated cross-examination Entin and Weinstein's lead defense attorney Donna Rotunno went head-to-head in a heated back-and-forth where Rotunno referred to the 'alleged rape' in her questions, and Entin insisted the attack was rape. Rotunno asked why Entin didn't tell Haleyi to stop seeing Weinstein after he showed up at their apartment. Entin said: 'I didn't think that was my place, and I thought an older man could certainly contain himself.' Rotunno also asked Entin whether she knew Weinstein had paid for Haleyi to travel to Los Angeles and London after the alleged assault, and that she had continued to communicate with him. Entin said she did not. Aside from Entin, a series of secondary witnesses are due in the witness stand to corroborate earlier testimony or to testify about records relating to the Weinstein investigation. The rest of the week of the trial could see two women, known as 'Molineux' witnesses, testify about alleged 'prior bad acts' by the movie producer. Key witness Jessica Mann who claims Weinstein raped her at a New York hotel in 2013, is also expected to testify. A final Molineux witness will testify next Monday, completing the bulk of a prosecution case that began last Wednesday. Haleyi, who worked for Project Runway - a reality show which Weinstein produced, pictured arriving to court on Monday Weinstein looked tired as he left his sexual assault trial Monday evening after Haleyi underwent an intense cross-examination She broke down in tears as she recounted the alleged rape saying: 'I was crying no, no. I told him Im on my period. It was as if he didnt believe me. I said something like where is it then? He literally pulled my tampon out' Photos of Weinstein with celebrity friends rebuffed as evidence Prosecutors tried to get more pictures of Weinstein with his celebrity friends introduced into evidence but were rebuffed on Tuesday. Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzi requested to admit pictures of Weinstein with Hillary Clinton, Al Gore and The Queen of England. She said: 'The witnesses will say that the power differential between them and Harvey Weinstein was tremendous and that the were very much aware of the gravitas he had not only in the entertainment industry but in politics and with world leaders. 'Thats why the people have asked to put in the pictures.' Judge James Burke denied her request and said he had already allowed them to use a photo of Weinstein with Bill Clinton to prove her point. At that point Rotunno stood up and said: 'It is insulting to continue to say that the women couldnt make a choice just because someone is powerful.' She said she wanted to note for the record that Weinsteins power had 'nothing to do' with their decision to seek him out. The jury were then shown a series of pictures at Weinstein at various events including one with Quentin Tarantino at a film premiere in Los Angeles in 2013. Tuesday's trial was adjourned early due to a juror's medical appointment. What's happened in the trial so far So far two accusers, Haleyi and Soprano's actress Annabella Sciorra, have testified against Weinstein. On Monday former Haleyi, whose allegations are at the heart of the Weinstein case, broke down in tears as she recounted how the film honcho, who got her a job at Project Runway, allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on her while she was on her period at his New York City apartment in July 2006. She also claimed he raped her at a TriBeCa hotel two weeks afterwards. 'I did reject him, but he insisted. Every time I tried to get off the bed, he would push me back and hold me down,' Haleyi, 42, said choking on tears. 'I was crying no, no. I told him Im on my period. It was as if he didnt believe me. I said something like where is it then? He literally pulled my tampon out,' she added. She underwent an intense cross-examination where Weinstein's attorney Damon Cheronis claimed she had a consensual relationship with Weinstein and zeroed in on her continued contact with the producer even after the alleged assaults, showing e-mails and notes in her diary. Weinstein's charges stem from Haleyi's allegations and those of another woman claimed Weinstein raped her in a New York City hotel in 2013. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and maintains that those interactions were consensual. So far two women have testified against Weinstein - Haleyi and Soprano's actress Annabella Sciorra. Last week Sciorra testified that Weinstein forced his way into her Manhattan apartment one winter night in 1993 or 1994 and violently raped her. In total six women are expected to testify against the producer, while more than 90 women have accused the Miramax founder of sexual misconduct, harassment, rape, and unwanted touching. Annabella Sciorra cried as she took the stand in Harvey Weinstein's New York trial last week to tell how he allegedly raped her in 1993 or 1994. She appeared in The Sopranos as Tony Soprano's mistress (right) Who are Weinstein's accusers set to testify in court One is actress Annabella Sciorra who claims Weinstein raped her in her New York City apartment in 1993. A second is Mimi Haleyi, who claims Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her inside his apartment in 2006. A third accuser, Jessica Mann, claims the movie mogul of raped her in a Midtown Manhattan hotel in 2013. Costume designer Dawn Dunning claims Weinstein sexually harassed her and tried to pressure her into having a three-way with him and his assistant when she was 24 at a Manhattan hotel in 2004. Aspiring actress Tarale Wulff claims Weinstein masturbated in front of her as she was working as a cocktail waitress at Cipriani Upstairs in Manhattan and he later assaulted her in his bedroom. A sixth woman, Lauren Young, claims he groped her in a hotel, masturbated and ejaculated onto a bathroom floor in February 2012 at a dinner event during Oscar season when she was 22. In addition to these six accusers the judge is allowing four other women to testify to establish a pattern of behavior, even though most of their allegations are too old to prosecute as crimes according to state law. Doctors are being told to be alert to shortness of breath and a cough as potential predictors of lung cancer. The are becoming more common as the first symptom before diagnosis than they were previously, a study suggests. Researchers examined nearly 28,000 medical records of adults who were diagnosed with lung cancer between 2000 and 2017 at more than 600 UK GP practices. Coughing up blood is no longer reported as a first symptom of the disease, despite being regarded as such for decades. Co-author Professor Willie Hamilton, of the University of Exeter medical school, said the results showed a 'rapid change' in first symptoms which doctors were seeing. He said the change was likely due to doctors discovering the condition earlier than before, rather than it being down to biological factors. Doctors are being told to consider shortness of breath and a cough as potential predictors of lung cancer because they are becoming more common as the first symptom in diagnosis, a study suggests Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the UK. Only 13 per cent of those diagnosed survive five years. Around 47,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with the condition every year, with a further 235,000 in the US. The new study, of 27,795 adults' records from across the UK, was funded by Cancer Research UK and supported by the National Institute for Health Research. Those who were studied had an average age of 72 and all had suffered from lung cancer. Those presenting with a cough a year before their diagnosis went from 22 per cent in the year to 2000, at the beginning of the study, to 23 per cent in 2017 at the end. And those suffering from breathlessness went from 13 per cent to 22 per cent over the same period. But patients coughing up blood, which is known as haemoptysis, went from a rate of six per cent of the overall total in the year 2000 to just two per cent of the total in 2017. The rates for fatigue and chest pain also fell, going from four and 11 per cent in 2000 to two and six per cent respectively. Professor Hamilton said: 'Lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer in the UK. 'Our paper shows a rapid change in the first symptom doctors are seeing. That's probably not caused by any change in basic biology, it's more likely to be down to earlier detection. 'It means teaching must change - clinicians must be alert to the risks of cough and shortness of breath.' Sara Hiom, director of early diagnosis at Cancer Research UK, said: 'This important study indicates that people are now going to the doctor about different symptoms of lung cancer, such as cough and shortness of breath, possibly because of awareness campaigns in the past. 'Most people with these symptoms will not have lung cancer, but it's well worth letting your GP decide if you need tests - because if it is cancer, a prompt diagnosis and speedy treatment make all the difference. 'And although smoking makes it much more likely, remember that non-smokers can have lung cancer too.' The study was published in the British Journal of General Practice. The Mundra port waterfront development project has sought an exemption from conducting public hearing for its expansion works, which will be considered by the environment ministrys expert appraisal committee (EAC) on Tuesday, according to agenda for its 48th meeting on infrastructure projects. The move has sparked resistance from the fishing communities in villages in and around Mundra on the grounds that their point of view must be heard before granting any permissions. On January 26, Kamlesh Gadhvi, sarpanch of the Sadau group gram panchayat in Mundra, and several other villagers, wrote to Professor T Haque, chairman of EAC, expressing their reservations against any such exemption. In the letter, the residents demanded public hearings must be conducted because of unresolved impacts and history of non-compliance and impacts of the proposed expansion. As you are aware, in the 40th meeting of the EAC on April 23, 2019, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) was categorically prescribed the terms of reference (ToR) along with public hearing for the expansion project even after APSEZ had asked for an exemption from the public hearing process. We were encouraged to observe the position taken by the EAC directing that a public hearing is a must for this expansion stated the letter, a copy of which has been seen by HT. The issues raised by the letter included alleged loss of common grazing land due to the port project in Navinal gram panchayat, damage to fishermens boats and nets, pending conservation plan for creeks and mangroves, and pending action plan for protection of fishermens livelihoods. The letter added that the environment ministry had earlier found instances of destruction of mangroves, sand dunes, and blockage of creeks in the APSEZ area. There are 30,000 families involved in fishing in Kutch according to Bharat Patel, general secretary of Machhimar adhikar sangarsh sangathan. In its application for exemption, also seen by HT, APSEZ reasoned that considering the fact that no change in the total area for the proposed expansion compared to earlier approved WFDP plan. It added that no land acquisition or R&R (rehabilitation and resettlement) is involved for the proposed expansion project. Also APSEZ has conducted several public hearings in the region, so it should be exempted from conducting a fresh public hearing. But the terms of reference (ToR) for the expansion project issued by environment ministry on May 17, 2019, accessed by HT from the Union environment ministrys Parivesh website, suggest that EAC directed APSEZ to conduct a public hearing for expansion. Adani Group did not respond to HTs questions on exemption of public hearing over email. An Adani Group representative said over phone that they will not comment on the issue. A reading of the official minutes and other project related documents reveal that EAC had considered several facts and legal requirements while insisting on a public hearing for this expansion project..., said Kanchi Kohli, legal researcher at the Centre for Policy Research. Analysts say announcement of US plan for the Middle East could shift focus of Israels election campaign. The unveiling of US President Donald Trumps plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict comes at a crucial time for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing trial on corruption charges and is also running for re-election. Trump on Monday held separate meetings with the prime minister and his main rival, Benny Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White alliance, ahead of Tuesdays scheduled meeting with Netanyahu when the Middle East plan is expected to be revealed. Palestinian leaders have already rejected the plan amid concerns that it would not address Israels 52-year occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, raising questions about the timing of the announcement. Three years in the making, Trumps plan was set to be presented as his impeachment trial continues in the US Senate and as Israels parliament had planned to hold a debate on Netanyahus request for immunity from prosecution. The summit appears to be a welcome distraction for both leaders, while some analysts have questioned whether the timing could provide a boost to Netanyahu ahead of the Israeli parliamentary election set for March 2. The timing of the release is politically expedient for both Trump and Netanyahu given their mutual legal and political troubles and impending elections, all of which happen to be coelescing around the same time, Omar Rahman, visiting fellow at the Brookings Institutions Doha Centre, told Al Jazeera. Distraction from immunity proceedings Some critics in Israel have noted that the timing of the announcement could be seen as an attempt to distract from Netanyahus immunity proceedings. Dahlia Scheindlin, a public opinion expert and political analyst, told Al Jazeera that the upcoming plan had short-term distracted people from that. Netanyahu was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in November in three separate cases. On Tuesday, the Knesset was set to discuss whether it will establish a committee to discuss Netanyahus immunity request regarding the charges. But Netanyahu withdrew his request for immunity from prosecution, issuing a statement on Facebook on Tuesday in which he said the proceedings in parliament would have been a circus and he did not want to participate in this dirty game. By withdrawing the request for immunity, Netanyahu opened the way for a trial on the corruption charges to begin. Israels attorney general filed the indictment against the prime minister at a Jerusalem court hours after the announcement. Netanyahu is also hoping to shift the media spotlight towards his diplomacy in Washington, which is certainly playing to his strengths, Scheindlin said. Scheindlin noted that pre-election polls in Israel have not moved much in the past year, with Netanyahu and Gantz in a dead heat, despite Israel holding two inconclusive elections and the charges being brought against Netanyahu. While several commentators had suggested that Mondays meetings with Trump posed a political risk for Gantz, Scheindlin said that by meeting Trump, Gantz raised himself to Netanyahus level. In a way, Netanyahu took a risk having put Gantz in a position where he can look like a statesman involved in high-level diplomacy, which puts him on the level of Netanyahu, Scheindlin said. Jordan Valley annexation threat Israeli journalist Meron Rapoport told Al Jazeera that Netanyahus main goal was to shift the focus of the election campaign from his legal problems to Trumps plan. Reports in Israeli media have suggested that the plan could include the annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, and the imposition of Israeli sovereignty on a number of illegal settlements there. Rapoport said the key issue related to the timing of the announcement was whether Netanyahu would try to use the plan to push for annexation of some parts of the Jordan Valley in the weeks before the Israeli election while a sympathising president is in the White House. Sometimes history plays games and this plan is portrayed as the golden opportunity of the settlers and right-wing to annex large parts of the West Bank and it puts the idea of a Palestinian state off the table, Rapoport said, noting that Trump has been portrayed as sympathetic to the idea of annexation. Competing for votes among the right-wing Israeli electorate, Gantz promised on January 21 to annex the Jordan Valley if he wins the election, adding that he would so in coordination with the international community. In a Likud campaign speech the same night, Netanyahu said he would apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and all West Bank settlements without exception. Why wait until after the election if we can apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley right now with broad consensus in the Knesset? he said. Despite the annexationist rhetoric on the campaign trail, Rapoport said he was not certain Israel would move to formally annex the territory. [Its] already considered to a great extent part of Israel. Most of the Israeli public doesnt see anything new here, Rapoport said. Annexation seems almost a natural thing because in the last 25 years, the settlements have become de facto part of Israel. The green line was erased in many ways, at least in the consciousness of Israelis. WUHAN, Jan. 24, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Peng Zhiyong (C), head of the department of critical care medicine of Zhongnan Hospital, performs diagnosis on a patient with his colleagues in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Pro Image Source: IANS News Colombo, Jan 28 : Sri Lankan authorities have confirmed the first case of novel coronavirus after a Chinese woman was diagnosed with the disease, making the island nation the second South Asian country after Nepal to report a confirmed case. On Monday night, the Health Promotion Bureau said that the woman was admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) and was confirmed to have been infected during treatment, reports the Daily Financial Times. The Health Ministry has assured that all steps have been taken to contain the infection, and called on the public not to panic. The Chinese woman was reported to have come from China's Hubei province, where the outbreak originated in its capital city of Wuhan. News of the first case, triggered panic-buying of surgical masks with many pharmacies across Sri Lanka running out of supplies by Monday. In South Asia, Nepal has reported one confirmed case, Pakistan has five suspected cases, while there has been no confirmations from India and Bangladesh so far. As of Tuesday, 106 people died due to the coronavirus in China, with 4,515 confirmed cases in 30 provincial-level regions. Other countries with confirmed cases outside of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau include Germany, Cambodia, Thailand, Australia, Singapore, the US, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, France, Vietnam, Canada and Ivory Coast. No deaths have been reported outside of China. The symptoms of the new coronavirus are similar to those of cold but may be accompanied by fever and fatigue, dry cough and dyspnea (shortness of breath). The WHO is yet to declare the outbreak as a global epidemic. Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah will join forces Tuesday in a rare meeting in West Bank city Ramallah against US President Donald Trump's long-awaited peace plan, officials said. "We invited the Hamas movement to attend the emergency meeting of the leadership and they will take part in the meeting," senior Palestinian official Azzam al-Ahmed said. A Hamas official confirmed the Islamists' participation. Search Keywords: Short link: At least 106 people have now died from the ongoing novel Coronavirus outbreak in China with 24 new deaths reported from the central Chinese province of Hubei overnight. The first death from Beijing was reported late on Monday as the countrywide infections breached the 4500-mark the numbers are rapidly rising. Chinese health authorities announced Tuesday that 4,515 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) had been reported in 30 provincial-level regions by the end of Monday. A total of 106 people died of the disease, the national health commission (NHC) said in its latest report on Tuesday. It added that 976 patients remained in critical conditions, and 6,973 people were suspected of being infected with the virus as of the end of Monday. Monday saw that 1,771 new confirmed cases, 2,077 new suspected cases and 26 deaths -- 24 in Hubei Province, one in Beijing and one in Hainan Province. Also on Monday, 515 patients became seriously ill and nine people were discharged from hospital after recovery, the official update said. A staggering 44,132 others across China are under medical observation, it added. More than 50 million people across China have been put under partial or complete lock down as the countrys government steps up its response: Wuhan is virtually quarantined with inbound and outbound traffic suspended in an effort to contain the virulent virus. Germany also reported the first case of Coronavirus early on Tuesday; more than 50 confirmed cases in 13 countries have been reported so far. US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention raised its travel precautions for China on Monday to its highest of three levels: Warning, CNN reported. This means travelers are advised to avoid nonessential travel to the country. China itself is scrambling to contain the virus by putting in travel restrictions across the country especially as hundreds of millions prepare to begin their journey back home after Lunar New Year (LNY) holidays. China extended the Spring Festival holiday (or the LNY holiday) and postponed school openings on Monday, while transport restrictions have been adopted in various areas to further contain the coronavirus epidemic, official news agency Xinhua reported. The seven-day Spring Festival vacation, scheduled to end on January 30, was extended up to February 2. Universities, primary and middle schools and kindergartens across the country will postpone the opening of the spring semester until further notice, according to the cabinet of State Council, China. On Monday, the northern port city of Tianjin and the eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Anhui began to suspend inter-provincial highway passenger bus services. Previously, Shanghai and Qinghai Province had halted similar bus services. Along with travel restrictions, temporary closure of public venues such as tourist sites, museums and cinema halls has also taken place. Authorities in Delhi isolated on Monday three people at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital with flu-like symptoms after they returned from China. This was the first time anyone was quarantined in the national capital over the coronavirus outbreak that has infected nearly 3,000 people across the world in less than a month. A confirmed coronavirus case is yet to be discovered in India but a series of similar hospitalisations in four cities Kolkata, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Patna as well as the death of a Thai national in West Bengals capital on Monday, raised fears of the pathogen having arrived on Indian soil. Australian consular officials will arrive in China's Hubei province as early as Wednesday to work on a plan to evacuate hundreds of Australians caught up in the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has sent officials on the nine-hour journey from Shanghai to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak. Scott Morrison is working on options to help hundreds of trapped Australians in China. Credit:AAP Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday the national security committee of cabinet (NSC) would meet on Wednesday to discuss the option of evacuating Australians stuck in the locked-down province of Hubei. "Right now, the Australian government, through our embassy, is looking to deploy, working with the Chinese government, consular officials ... into Hubei province, into Wuhan," Mr Morrison said. Samsung has finally announced the launch dates for its upcoming Galaxy A series smartphones, the Galaxy A51. The smartphone has been confirmed for launch on January 29 by a social media post shared by the company yesterday. The launch of the device comes after there had been increasing rumours about the company launching these devices this week. The two devices will come to India after having been launched in Vietnam last month. Both the devices feature new Infinity-O displays and a refreshed design. As per previous reports, the Galaxy A51's pricing strategy in India will see its entry variant retail at Rs 22,990. As opposed to the global variant, in India, this will bring with it a RAM and storage configuration of 6GB + 128GB. The company could also launch the A71, which on the other hand, is going to be a little more expensive and will be positioned by Samsung as a device that fights for the upper end of the mid-segment. The report claims the Galaxy A71 price in India will start at Rs 29,990 for the entry 6GB + 128GB variant. There will be another model too with 8GB + 128GB configuration. However, the report stops short of confirming whether Samsung will even bring the latter to India at all. As for the specifications, the device is expected to bring the same hardware as seen on the global versions. As such, the Indian model of the Galaxy A51 would sport a 6.5-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-O display with a centered punch-hole cutout. Under the hood, there will be a 2.3GHz octa-core Exynos 9611 processor paired with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage -- expandable up to 512GB via a microSD card. The smartphone will be made available in three colours, Prism Crush Black, White, Blue, and Pink. The phone will also sport a quad-camera setup with a primary 48-megapixel lens sat next to a 5-megapixel macro lens, 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, and 5-megapixel camera for depth sensing. Keeping the device running will be a 4,000mAh battery with support for 15W fast charging. The more premium A71 on the other will get a bigger centred punch-hole 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display. The chipset running the device will be a 2.2GHz octa-core processor paired with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage with support for storage expandability. The Samsung Galaxy A71 comes in Prism Crush Black, Silver, Blue, and Pink colour options. For cameras, the Samsung Galaxy A71 would bring a 64-megapixel lens-based quad-camera set-up that will also house a 5-megapixel depth sensor, 5-megapixel macro lens and a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens at the back. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- You cant say that President Donald Trumps impeachment-defense team is too focused on the news cycle. Despite the John Bolton bombshell Sunday night, Trumps lawyers on Monday plowed ahead as if nothing of interest had happened since the Senate heard the beginning of their presentations on Saturday. This created something of a bizarro-world trial, in which the presidents lawyers argued that none of the witnesses who testified at House impeachment hearings last month had first-hand evidence that could directly tie Trump to the effort to squeeze help for his 2020 re-election campaign from the government of Ukraine. Yes, the lawyers contended, some of the witnesses believed that Trump was holding up a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and congressionally approved security aid to Ukraine until that nation announced investigations into the 2016 election and a leading Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, but none of them had heard it from the president. And yet even before the New York Times reported over the weekend that former National Security Adviser John Bolton has written in an upcoming book that he heard Trump make the link directly, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney had attested in an October press conference to exactly that kind of quid pro quo (a few days later he said hed been misconstrued, but please). Indeed, since the presidents team is fighting hard to prevent either Bolton or Mulvaney from testifying to the Senate after successfully preventing either of them from appearing before the House committees that looked into impeachment, theyre actually doing more than ignoring the evidence: Theyre actively suppressing it. And the Trump case also requires ignoring or, perhaps, creatively interpreting all the rest of the available evidence, including things that Trump has said publicly and things Trump said to Zelenskiy. After that, the Trump lawyers turned to where they always were headed: To attacking Biden, the current polling leader for the Democratic presidential nomination. Generating bad publicity for Biden was one of the two major goals of the Trump-Ukraine plot (along with somehow recasting the story of Russian interference with the 2016 U.S. election). If it couldnt happen by pushing Ukraines president to announce a criminal investigation of Biden, they would have to settle for doing it during the impeachment trial. Story continues Speaking of bizarro world, two of Trumps lawyers Pam Bondi and Eric Herschmann hauled out the video clip in which Biden bragged in 2018 that while he was vice president, he helped engineer the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor, Victor Shokin. Republicans have waded disingenuously into that tangled tale to accuse Biden of trying to thwart a Ukrainian investigation into the activities of his son, Hunter, as a board member of a Ukrainian energy company. The truth is the opposite: Shokin was pushed out under unified pressure from U.S. and European officials because he wasnt pursuing corruption investigations.Still, at the impeachment trial Herschmann ridiculed the idea that it could ever have been U.S. policy to push Shokin out. In fact, of course, it was U.S. and international policy, with support from plenty of Republicans at the time. Making that argument, at this point, was simply an insult to everyones intelligence. Now lets journey back from the bizarro world to the real one. Its still too early to tell, but it seems likely that the Bolton revelation has shifted the ground enough to throw a wrench into the Senate Republican leaderships plan to quickly end the trial without allowing further evidence to be introduced. Two GOP senators, Maines Susan Collins and Utahs Mitt Romney, cited Bolton on Monday morning as they came closer than they had in the past to actively pushing for witnesses. And Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey is apparently seeking a deal in which both sides would get to call a witness. If that happens, it will demonstrate again that the cynics are wrong, and that Republicans are not automatically in lockstep at all times. That doesnt mean that the verdict is in doubt; it doesnt even mean that Trump will necessarily lose any votes at the end of the trial. On the other hand? It still seems to me that to the extent that the House impeachment managers serving as trial prosecutors put the question of witnesses front and center, they are providing an opportunity for Collins and other politically vulnerable Republican senators to find a middle ground. Thats not where too many politicians want to be these days, but for those who do want it, all they have to do is courageously stand up to Trump on the vote for further evidence before they eventually vote to acquit. No resolution of the witness question is likely until Friday at the earliest, but its starting to look to me as though some Republicans will be looking for that middle ground after all. To contact the author of this story: Jonathan Bernstein at jbernstein62@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jonathan Landman at jlandman4@bloomberg.net This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. WILLIAMSPORT A dispute between financial planning firms in Mechanicsburg and Williamsport has been resolved amicably out of court, the parties report. U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew J. Brann dismissed the case upon being advised of the settlement, terms of which are confidential. The parties issued a statement saying there was no finding or admission of wrongdoing by anyone and the settlement allows all involved to continue providing financial services in central Pennsylvania. All client information has been protected and their interests have not been harmed, the document stated. James O. Moff III had accused Amy Baker and Tamara L. Pavlov of conspiring to take confidential client information when they resigned in May from Moff & Associates in Williamsport. The women, who were administrative assistants, denied the allegation. Through their attorney they said they received professional guidance on how to leave Moff without taking any prohibited client or firm information with them. The complaint alleged Baker and Pavlov were joining Susquehanna Financial Advisors based in Mechanicsburg but its spokesman, Edward P. Gormley, said that was untrue. Also named in court documents was John Fabiano, who used Susquehanna for marketing purposes but, according to Gormley, had his own business under Apex Wealth Management. Susquehanna is not mentioned in the settlement because the three never were employees but independent contractors, he said. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Kareem Hunt can become a restricted free agent in March if the Browns dont sign him to a contract extension. Now the Browns have more to consider than Hunts on-field performance in 2019. Hunt was stopped by Rocky River police for speeding on Tuesday, and marijuana and alcohol were found in Hunts vehicle. The officer cited Hunt for traveling 77 mph in a 60 mph zone and didnt charge him for possession of the small amount of marijuana, according to the police report obtained by cleveland.com. According to dashcam video, a bottle of vodka with a broken seal was also found in the car. Shortly after signing Hunt in February 2019, former Browns GM John Dorsey said the running back was on a zero-tolerance policy with the franchise. Hunt was suspended for the first eight games of the 2019 season for off-field incidents while he was with the Chiefs. Should the Browns new front office cut ties with Hunt following this latest off-field incident? Check out the poll below and let us know what you think. More Browns coverage George Paton takes himself out of running for Browns GM; Andrew Berry the leading candidate What football analytics tools could the Browns use to help influence decisions on and off the field? Kevin Stefanski could have less use for a No. 3 receiver than the Browns did in 2019 Ex-Giants head coach Ben McAdoo interviewed Friday for offensive position Rocky River police find weed in car driven by Browns RB Kareem Hunt, report says Ex-Vikings WR coach Drew Petzing hired as Browns tight end coach, source says Jarvis Landrys big catch earns dodgeball victory for AFC at the Pro Bowl 7 players Cleveland Browns fans should watch in Senior Bowl 2020 What are the Browns biggest needs this offseason? (Video) Browns fan who grew up in Youngstown wanted to follow the team like his brother and is a fan for life MANILA, Philippines The Department of Health (DOH) has issued reminders on how to avoid risks of getting infected with the novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV. With Chinese health experts still finding out ways to formulate a vaccine against the deadly disease, worldwide experts are yet to establish a treatment for it. And as authorities have come to the conclusion that the virus can be traced to a seafood market in Wuhan City in China, exotic animals such as snakes and bats that are also readily available and served as meals are also pointed out as possible cause of the disease. This prompted the local health authorities to warn the public against eating raw food, such as kilawin or Filipino-style ceviche, and half-cooked food. The health department also warned against shaking hands and cheek-to-cheek kissing. It also advised the public to cover theIr mouth when coughing or sneezing; to make hand-washing a habit, and to always wear face masks when in crowded places. (from the report of Sherwin Culubong) /mbmf The post Avoid handshake, cheek-to-cheek kiss, eating raw foods DOH appeared first on UNTV News. Botswanas shoe designer, 28 year-old Merapelo Manuhwa says that for a long time she has observed that when it comes to the fashion industry in the country, everyone flocks to clothes. So she decided to give Botswana fashion a feel of something different, which is why she chose shoe making. She has always loved shoes, and her dream was to see someone manufacturing shoes in Botswana and this turned out to be her. It has not been a long time since I introduced the shoe business in the country, I only started manufacturing in bulk early this year, explains Manuhwa. Even though the business is new, the feedback has been impressive, so says Manuhwa, as people are always reaching out to her and sharing her work on facebook. She is based in Gaborone in Broadhurst. She designs and makes all kinds of shoes for both men and women as well as school shoes. Manuhwa tells BG Style that hard work is essential in every road to success, and she also believes in perfection. She enrolled at the School of Shoe Making and Technology in Pretoria, South Africa where she learnt to manufacture shoes of different designs. I had to sponsor myself with P29 000 to enroll at the school after I was actually inspired by a friend in Harare, Zimbabwe, who also manufactures shoes. I like manufacturing goods and when the opportunity to go to a school of manufacturing shoes came, I grasped it because I knew that it was something that will not only benefit me but the country at large, in this era of shortage of jobs, she explained. She emphasizes that as soon as she completed her course in November, she came back home and started practicing what she has learnt. She is currently working with four employees, and welcomes any investor who wishes to help them to expand the project. We are only five at the moment because the business is relatively new, and it is my belief that in the future we will employ more people, she said. This energetic young lady is also the founder of 50 ways of making money in Botswana facebook page and she says that she believes in being hands on. This is why she also shares ideas with people through this platform. She believes that Batswana are talented but need such motivation to create jobs for themselves. Manuhwa also tells BG Style that they wish to open a school of Arts and crafts in the future to extend this talent to anyone who wishes to join the industry or learn how to manufacture anything under arts and crafts. They also dream to supply their shoes in shops, as they make a variety of shoes, which provides an option to the consumers. We make ladies sandals, closed shoes and mens shoes too; women are very excited especially about their different types of sandals, she said, adding that they have already started receiving orders from bulk buyers. Some shops have also started approaching us for our profile and we are working around to submit to them, she told BG Style. Srinagar, Jan 28 : The Kashmir Press Club has expressed concern over the continuous internet blockade for journalists in Kashmir for the last 177 days. The press club in a statement described the move as a deliberate attempt to stifle the press in Kashmir. The statement said that the January 10 Supreme Court verdict has defined access to internet as a constitutionally guaranteed right. "There appears no headway from the government to ensure this right is available to the media fraternity in the Valley," read the statement. It added that the government has singled out media organisations and journalists by not restoring their internet access. Internet service providers are seeking a written undertaking in which subscribers are asked to provide complete access to all content and infrastructure as and when required by the security agencies. "This is a serious breach of individual rights and right to privacy," the statement said. It further said the authorities have also not taken into consideration net neutrality and whitelisted only 301 websites. Majority of local news websites, as well as national and international websites, are not among the whitelisted ones. Journalists have been demanding restoration of internet in Kashmir and have staged protests several times to press for their demands. The government has established a media centre for the journalists at the State Information Department here. But the journalists say that the terminals available there are not enough to meet with the huge rush of scribes who go there to access the internet and file their stories. Supplier News 28 January 2020 Nor1, the global leader in hospitality upgrade, upsell, and merchandising technology, is proud to announce that they signed the Barcelo Hotel Group, the hotel division of the Barcelo Group, to their growing list of prestigious clients. As part of the agreement, all four of the company's brands, Royal Hideaway Luxury Hotels & Resorts, Barcelo Hotels & Resorts, Occidental Hotels & Resorts, and Allegro Hotels, will implement Nor1's AI platform to drive profits and personalized guest engagement. This new partnership will expand Nor1's footprint in the Spanish and Latin American markets and provide an opportunity to support Barcelo's global upsell program. Recognized for their devotion to the ultimate guest experience, Barcelo selected Nor1's integrated suite of solutions to take their service offering to the next level and provide the best possible guest journey from the very beginning, and well past check-out. "At Barcelo, our guests trust us to provide them with excellence in every regard," says Sara Ramis, CMO at Barcelo Hotel Group. "Our Customer Experience strategy sets us apart from the competition and is based on the differentiation and personalization of key moments in each guest's experience. We are very satisfied to be partnering with Nor1, whose technology will be easyly implemented in our hotels and will allow us drive revenue from day one". Recently voted as the Best Hotel Management Company at the World Travel Awards 2019, Barcelo Hotel Group is the 2nd largest chain in Spain and the 29th largest in the world, with 251 4- and 5-star city and holiday hotels and over 57,000 rooms in 22 countries. The group also includes Avoris, a travel vision with over 700 travel agencies on four continents, along with several tour operations, receptive operations, and an airline. "Nor1's ability to quickly generate consistent conversions and revenue from the very first point of contact throughout the stay is one of many critical capabilities we deliver to customers like Barcelo Hotel Group," explains Jason Bryant, CEO and founder at Nor1. "Barcelo has high operational standards, an impeccable reputation, and shares our commitment to delivering exceptional value to guests through the power of advanced technology. We're very pleased to be combining our strengths in innovation with theirs and expanding our presence in Spain, LATAM, and Portugal." Nor1's team is leading the industry in innovations with its real-time decision engine that uses machine learning and AI. Their suite of products includes PRiME, eDirect, eReach, CheckIn Merchandising, eXpress Upgrade, eStandby Upgrade, and Upsell Intelligence Platform, which use powerful algorithms on more than 100 million unique buyer behavior records and 500 million upsell offers to identify underutilized inventory and provide targeted offers to help increase hotel's revenue and operations efficiency. For more information, please visit nor1.com. On January 22, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a deeply reactionary case which takes aim at both the democratic principle of separation of church and state and the right to free, universal public education. At stake is the legality of school voucher-type programs designed to divert millions in government dollars to private schools, the majority of which are religious-based. Should the court rule against Montana, which is very possible, the case will open the floodgates nationally for the dramatic expansion of these programs, an escalation of attacks on public schools and promotion of religious backwardness and divisions. In 2015, a tax-credit scholarship program was created in Montana which allowed taxpayers to claim dollar-for-dollar tax credits for donations to a Student Scholarship Organization (SSO). The SSO then funneled the money into private scholarships, in some cases for the family members of contributors. Regardless of direct personal benefit, however, the individuals and businesses lowered their state tax payments by using the SSO intermediary to fund private schools. Out of 13 schools which benefited from this funding in Montana, 12 were religious-based. In a December 2018 ruling, the Montana Supreme Court invalidated the scheme citing the no-aid provision of the state constitution which bars payments to religious schools. Thirty-seven US states have similar prohibitions, known as Blaine Amendments. A ruling against the Montana revenue department would serve as a green light to end all such no-aid provisions across the country. Montanas State Constitution is explicit, outlawing any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies for any sectarian purpose or to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university or other literary or scientific institution, controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination. The states 2018 high court ruling rightfully explained, By creating a diversionary scheme whereby money otherwise bound for the public treasury is diverted, the Legislature has created an indirect payment. In their appeal of the state ruling to the US Supreme Court, plaintiffs Kendra Espinoza, Jeri Ellen Anderson and Jamie Schaefer claim discrimination, a violation of religious liberty and free-exercise rights. The group are low-income parents who used SSO tax scholarships at the Stillwater Christian School. Espinoza v. Montana has been brought by the libertarian Institute for Justice and the case has received support from a wide array of well-heeled extreme-right organizations including the Koch Foundation, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the family of US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Supporting amicus curiae briefs have also been filed by dozens of other organizations including the Agudath Israel of America, Alliance for Choice in Education, former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, the Christian Legal Society and the Trump administration. A transparent purpose of tax credit scholarships is looting public coffers for private interests and opening the door to wholesale privatization of public education. The National School Boards Association makes this argument, in a supplementary brief, stating that the program is unconstitutional because of it strips money from public schools. As the Montana constitutional delegates recognized, funneling public money to private schools does not propel improvement of public education, but rather, drains already limited resources and dilutes broad community support, undermining the very schools that most American children, including low-income children, attend. Nine states with Blaine Amendments have collectively filed another amicus brief, arguing that no-aid provisions sought to solidify the Framers original design separating church and State. Douglas Layock, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a leading scholar on religious-liberty issues, noted in Education Week the speed of the legal attack. If the high court rules against Montana, he said, We will have gone from a presumption against aid to religious schools, to its permitted, to its required in some circumstances all in about 35 years. Last week Secretary DeVos also rolled out new rules which demand that faith-based colleges and student groups are given equal access to federal grants. Billionaire DeVos has long been a proponent of using schools for religious indoctrination, coupled with child labor and a thoroughly class-based education system. Moreover, DeVos and the Trump administration are seeking to federalize these tax schemes. They have put at the center of their K-12 education proposals a call for a national tax-credit scholarship plan with funding of $5 billion. Tax-credit scholarships have already stripped hundreds of thousands of dollars from local school districts spanning 18 statesincluding Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia. Trumps support to Espinoza is part and parcel of his fascistic appeal to the evangelical right. On January 3, he outlined a barrage of such initiatives, including overturning the prohibitions on school prayer. He couched his remarks in the anticommunism which has more and more dominated his 2020 message, saying, We will not allow faithful Americans to be bullied by the hard left. Some Supreme Court pundits have predicted a victory for Espinoza et al noting that five of the current US Supreme Court justices attended Catholic school. Justice Clarence Thomas has long opposed Blaine and the exclusion of religious schools from state aid. This doctrine, born of bigotry, should be buried now, he said 20 years ago. The outcome of the case, expected by summer, is said to rest with the votes of Roberts and Breyer. Supporters of the tax scholarship, like Thomas, stridently argue that the refusal to fund religious schools originated primarily from anti-Catholic bigotry and that the current case is about the 150-year battle for religious freedom. History shows otherwise. The principle of the separation of church and state and the fight for public education have a long historical connection, arising from the Enlightenment. That intellectual tradition which held that Nature was knowable and operated in accordance with laws that were accessible to the human mind has provided a theoretical foundation for the struggle for social emancipation and equality across the generations. Enlightenment rationalists Voltaire and Diderot are credited as the first to state that it was the responsibility of government to educate a critical, responsible citizenry. Nicolas de Condorcet, also a major figure who worked with Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin, pushed the conception further, calling for a uniform structure of public education and equal chances for all. Thomas Jefferson, the author of the famous description of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment as a wall of separation between church and state, was the first American to put forward a plan for public education. Arguing that democracy could be effective only in the hands of an enlightened people, he proposed public funding for at least three years of education for all children. The common school movement of the 1830s was based specifically on the exclusion of religious instruction and increased taxes to finance schools. As the Encyclopedia Britannica notes, Bringing the common school into being was not easy. Against it bulked the doctrine that any education that excluded religious instructionas all state-maintained schools were legally compelled to dowas godless. Nevertheless in the brief 12 years during Horace Manns tenure on the Massachusetts Board of Education beginning in 1837, common schools were established, school appropriations doubled, teachers were paid more and the school year was extended. Similar campaigns spread among New England states and Pennsylvania and became known as the educational awakening. Following the Civil War and the growth of the industrial North, the fight for universal high-quality public education took a substantial leap. This included pedagogical advances along the lines of Enlightenment thinkers Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Friedrich Froebel, which advocated education of the poor, promoted a child-centered approach to learning and added kindergarten. In 1875, addressing war veterans, President Ulysses S. Grant called for church and state to be forever separate. He said, Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private school, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate. With these safeguards, I believe the battles which created the Army of the Tennessee will not have been fought in vain. It was this inspirational speech that led Senator James G. Blaine to advocate his constitutional amendment barring public money to be used for religious schools. The measure passed in the US House of Representatives but failed by four votes in the Senate. Nevertheless, due to overwhelming popular support, 37 states including Montana passed their own baby Blaines. The strongest advocates for secular education sought to suppress Catholic-Protestant divisions and expand access to schooling to the growing working class. Barring aid to religious schools was widely seen as critical to protect religious liberty. The ruling oligarchy, Republican and Democratic alike, now seek to turn the clock backward, trampling on the entire legacy of hard-fought democratic rights. The promotion of religious obscurantism is a component of this attack, on graphic display when Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended the incarceration of children at the US-Mexican border citing Romans 13 to obey the laws of government. Of a piece with the attempt to tear down the wall of separation of church and state are the attacks on birthright citizenship, separation of powers and the First Amendment. These events warn, once again, that there is no longer a constituency within the ruling oligarchy for foundational democratic rights and that the capitalist system represents a mortal threat to all basic rights. Violence in Sudan's West Darfur region has forced 57,000 people to flee their homes over the past month, including 11,000 who have crossed into Chad, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday. In Chad, UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said the refugees were scattered in several villages along the border. "The conditions are dire. Most are staying in the open or under makeshift shelters, with little protection from the elements. Food and water are urgently needed," he said. Baloch said that UNHCR and other organisations were providing some humanitarian assistance but added: "The rate of refugee arrivals risks outpacing our capacity". UNHCR estimates that the number of refugees fleeing to Chad from West Darfur "could reach 30,000 in the coming weeks as tensions persist," he said. The latest fighting in West Darfur was between an African tribe called Masalit and an Arab tribe called Rizeigat -- two groups which have often fought over the years since the Darfur conflict first erupted in 2003. The violence, which left dozens dead, is the latest example of fighting in Darfur between peasant farming tribes, which are mostly non-Arab, and nomadic pastoralists, who are mostly Arab. "UNHCR teams on the ground are hearing accounts of people fleeing after their villages, houses and properties were attacked, many burnt to the ground," Baloch said. He said UNHCR wanted "the international community's support for the transitional government of Sudan in addressing the root causes of the conflict in Darfur". Darfur -- made up of five states -- spiralled into conflict in 2003. The Darfur fighting broke out when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government of now ousted president Omar al-Bashir, whom they accused of marginalising the region. The conflict left around 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million others, the UN says. Although the unrest has reduced greatly in recent years, there are still regular outbreaks of violence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has earmarked $60 million in co-investment grant funds for trade and investment hub activity to promote the Nigerian economy. U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard, disclosed this at the official launch of the West African Trade and Hub on Tuesday in Abuja. She said that the activity, which would last over the next five years, would help to attract private sector investment of an estimated $300 million. The envoy said this would bring about improved business operations and capacity of private firms to tap into export markets, strengthen and create linkages between West African business, U.S. and international companies. She said the U.S. supported trade hubs in Africa and has successfully spearheaded private sector development. For every dollar of public money spent in trade programmes in Africa, we estimate the hubs leverage of nine dollars investment. For over 360 million West Africans, the immense potential of their countries economies have been hindered by roadblocks to investment. Forces that should be creating the future have been hobbled by the lack of established business networks and the challenges faced by entrepreneurs, she said. Ms Leonard said the new trade and investment hub would work across the region to overcome these obstacles through a market-based approach that would catalyse economic growth and raise household incomes. She said the hub would attract private finance and investment, forge links among businesses, strengthen the agricultural and trade sectors. The diplomat added that the hub would focus on West African nations including Senegal, Cote dIvoire, Ghana and Nigeria, while Nigeria would serve as the hubs centre. She said the activities of the hub would amplify the commitment to strong private sector partnerships to promote market driven approaches. These partnerships support Nigerias efforts to expand its economy through a focus on non-oil based sectors with high growth potential, notably the agriculture sector. Nigeria is uniquely positioned to rapidly transform its economy by expanding the agricultural sector and increasing both the productivity and the profit of small holder farmers, she said. She explained that the trade hub would create 40,000 new jobs in agriculture, apparel and other industries with at least 50 per cent dedicated to women. The ambassador said the trade hub would also work to unlock potentials and generate growth by advocating a more business-friendly regulatory environment, especially in the agriculture sector. Also speaking, the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, promised that the ministry would work closely with USAID to ensure that many women and children benefited from the hub. Mrs Tallen said every investment that engages women has a multiplier effect, adding that investing in women was investing in the country and the world at large. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Nanono, said greater investments in agriculture would lead to diversification of the Nigerian economy. Mr Nanono was represented by the Director Special Duties, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development, Uyisola Omisore. He said agriculture remains fundamental to economic growth, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. The minister said investment in agriculture would lead many Nigerian youth out of poverty and create more jobs. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, called on entrepreneurs to take advantage of the opportunities offered by USAID/Nigeria to achieve their dreams. Advertisements Mr Adebayo, who was represented by the Director of Trade, Yusuf Ibrahim, said the ministry was committed to providing the right policies, enabling environment for trade and investment to thrive in the country. (NAN) Stephen Greenhalgh and Nick Botterill are former leaders of Hammersmith and Fulham Council. Some of the wealthiest households in the country are located in Hammersmith and Fulham. The borough ranks fourth highest in London, with the average home costing 921,297, according to a report last November by Right Move. But the borough also has significant areas of deprivation, where peoples lives are blighted by crime, poor environment, and low aspiration. Hammersmith and Fulham remains a highly polarised borough. A Conservative Council was elected in Hammersmith and Fulham on May 4th 2006 with a strong mandate for positive change. We won over 50 per cent of the popular vote and, with 33 out of 46 councillors, had outright control of the authority for the first time in 38 years. This was the only inner-city gain in 2006 for the Conservatives in the entire UK. With such high levels of poverty and inequality, we set ourselves a mission to create a Borough of Opportunity. This involved: Offering excellent state education and school choice. In 2006, there were very limited opportunities for Hammersmith and Fulham pupils at the vital secondary school level. By the end of our two terms in office, we had become the most Academy friendly and Free School friendly borough in the country, with the opening of outstanding schools such as the Hammersmith Academy, the West London Free School, and most recently, the Fulham Boys School. Creating a housing ladder of opportunity with home ownership at its core. We believed that Hammersmith and Fulham would be better off with more people owning their own homes and having a real stake in the community. Building assets such as a home is central to advancing social mobility and an important foundation for personal security. To support our objectives we launched a home ownership unit called H&F Home Buy at the beginning of 2007. In just seven weeks, nearly 3,000 people on household incomes of less than 60,000 expressed an interest in low-cost home ownership. First, we scrapped the previous Labour administrations restrictive planning policies that discouraged change of use to anything other than social housing. We then set about promoting low-cost home ownership schemes and discounting mechanisms. By the end of our eight years in administration, we had helped nearly a thousand local residents onto the housing ladder. In contrast, and allowing for the pipeline of developments under construction, the Labour administration has only managed to average around 80 social housing completions per year of all types, with no low-cost home ownership or open market completions in the last year. Regenerating the most deprived parts of the borough with a focus on physical, economic, and social renewal. Our vision was for the borough to grow along the West London Line and so we worked with Boris Johnson, when he was the Mayor of London, to create new Opportunity Areas in both Earls Court and Old Oak, alongside the White City Opportunity Area that already existed. However, the significant challenge has always been to attract the required huge levels of investment required to make the Opportunity Areas a reality. That is why we needed a borough that was open for business. The role of public money should only be to pump prime, and councils need to be creative with public land. Sadly, the Labour administration elected in 2014 has turned Hammersmith and Fulham into a Borough of missed Opportunity. They celebrate the return of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates. Instead they should hang their heads in shame at consigning Sir Terry Farrells brilliant masterplan for Earls Court to the bin. Built in the 1970s on land acquired from British Rail, the West Kensington estate first gained prominence when the then council took the original builders to the High Court in a dispute over the quality of the build. Within a couple of years, more was spent on estate refurbishment than the original cost of construction and it has remained in a pretty shabby state with many inherent problems since, despite repeated maintenance programmes. Can we really expect the West Ken buildings to survive as decent homes for the next 50 years? Our scheme would have seen every single council flat replaced with new homes of a far higher standard, as well as providing for a huge increase in the number of low-cost home ownership properties. The overall package to tenants negotiated was the best of any proposed in London, with a guaranteed single move to an area close to where they already lived, in groups along with their neighbours, and to new flats fully fitted out including with all new white goods. Given the Earls Court/West Ken land for this scheme was under the various ownerships of TfL, Hammersmith and Fulham Council, and the owner of the Earls Court Exhibition site (which was CapCo until they sold to Delancey), the only way it was ever going to be developed with the hundreds of new replacement Council homes was by a big scheme like this. The deal negotiated with CapCo was fair and judged good value by all the market professionals who were involved. That was because the Conservative council was led by two successful entrepreneurs who understand how to engage with the developers and secure the best deal for the borough. The Labour council after it was elected, by contrast, refused even to meet CapCo. The masterplan to achieve all this is now dead, because of a tin-eared Labour council, that has only ever been interested in stopping all major regeneration schemes. The status quo suits their political ends. For five years they have been in office rather than in power and have failed lamentably to use their mandate for the greater good of Hammersmith and Fulham residents. Instead, they have spent all their efforts and public money, including a recent 100,000 forensic audit of the scheme, in a crude failed attempt to construct a false political narrative. The opportunity to create a new vibrant district of West Kensington and Earls Court has been missed and instead the borough will at best only see piecemeal development, instead of the thousands of new homes and jobs which could have resulted from the creation of a new district for West London. We should not be surprised that this lamentable Labour council scheme away, rather than try to govern in the interests of Hammersmith and Fulham residents. As the great Iain Macleod once said: Let the Liberals dream their dreams, and let Labour scheme their schemes, but we Conservatives have a serious job of work to do. This article was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba When the C.I.A. strapped down Khalid Shaikh Mohammed at a secret site in Poland in 2003, those inside the cell included a three-man waterboarding team, black-masked guards and a doctor. The doctors stated role was to monitor the health of the detainee. He also kept count of each near drowning. Literally, the physician had a little silver thing, James E. Mitchell, one of the architects of the interrogation program, testified last week to the military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. The doctor, he said, would click how many times the water was poured as a guard kept time with a stopwatch. But the C.I.A. doctors did more than count waterboarding sessions. Government investigations and evidence in the pretrial hearings of the men, including Mr. Mohammed, accused of conspiring in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, show doctors conducted rectal rehydration, carried out rectal cavity searches and examined swollen feet and legs of captives who were sleep deprived for days by being shackled in painful positions. Princess Diana's former butler has shared an unseen letter from the late royal, which voices her unconditional love for Prince William and Prince Harry. Paul Burrell, 60, from Cheshire, took to Instagram to voice his support for Prince Harry, 35, Meghan Markle, 38, and baby Archie's 'new life' following their move to Canada, just weeks after they stepped down from being senior royals. Posting a black and white picture of Diana and her two sons as children, he shared an extract from a letter she had written to him, branding her supportive words as 'appropriate then as they are now'. Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell, 60, from Cheshire, (seen this month) has shared an unseen letter from the late royal, which voices her unconditional love for Prince William and Prince Harry. Posting a picture of the photo and the letter, Paul wrote: 'As Harry, Meghan and Archie embark on a new life, I am reminded of some poignant words which Princess Diana wrote to me many years ago. 'They are a mother's words of unconditional love which are as appropriate today as they were when she wrote them over 24 years ago.' The letter reads: 'I love my boys to death and hope that the seeds I've planted will grow and bring the strength, knowledge and stability that is needed.' Princess Diana is seen in her 1995 Christmas card with Harry and William, shared to Instagram this week Posting a black and white picture of Diana and her two sons as children, he shared an extract from a letter she had written to him, branding the supportive words as 'appropriate then as they are now' Posting a picture of the photo and the letter, Paul wrote: 'As Harry, Meghan and Archie embark on a new life, I am reminded of some poignant words which Princess Diana wrote to me many years ago.' Burrell, 60, served as a footman for the Queen and later butler to Diana for 10 years until her death in 1997. In the years since he has spoken often of his connections to the royal family and published a number of memoirs. He previously voiced his support for Meghan, and compared her treatment to that of Princess Diana. Speaking on Channel 5 documentary Kate V Meghan: Princesses at War's last year, he said: 'Buckingham Palace is a minefield for any person going in there for a first time. People set traps, they weren't very kind to this young girl coming into this world.' 'Who would want to be part of that family?', he added. Harry and Meghan announced they would be stepping back from the spotlight following their six week break in Canada this month. The couple and eight-month-old Archie will split their time between Frogmore Cottage at Windsor Castle and Canada, continuing their charity projects. Municipal Relations Minister Rochelle Squires says shes confident the City of Winnipeg will be able to deliver a plan for managing nutrient emissions from its north end sewage treatment plant by Friday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Municipal Relations Minister Rochelle Squires says shes confident the City of Winnipeg will be able to deliver a plan for managing nutrient emissions from its north end sewage treatment plant by Friday. "Im very confident that there will be a plan that... will meet provincial approval," Squires said Monday, after speaking with Mayor Brian Bowman earlier in the day. She said the fact the two levels of government have worked collaboratively on the issue in recent weeks through a pair of committees is bearing fruit. In early December, the Progressive Conservative government denied a city hall request for an extension to develop a solution to reduce phosphorus emissions from the treatment plant. Instead, it compelled the city to produce an interim phosphorus-reduction plan by Jan. 31, for implementation beginning Feb. 1. The North End Water Pollution Control Centre is the largest single-point emitter of phosphorus, contributing about five per cent of the total found in Lake Winnipeg. Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Manitoba Municipal Relations Minister Rochelle Squires. The City of Winnipeg was required to have plant upgrades completed by Dec. 31, 2019, to reduce phosphorus emissions to one mg/litre from the current rolling average of 3.54 mg/litre. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The city has approved a $408-million project to upgrade the power supply and headworks facilities, but two subsequent projects bio-solid and nutrient removal have a combined price tag of $1.38 billion, have not been approved and wont proceed without financial support from the province and Ottawa. No specific dollar commitments have been made from either senior level of government. On Monday, a spokesman for Bowman said the meeting with Squires "provided no certainty from the provincial government" regarding a funding request the city submitted last year for upgrades to the treatment plant. "With regard to an interim solution, the minister has communicated that the province will not be imposing the implementation of an interim chemical process on Feb. 1, 2020," the spokesman said in an email. Last month, city officials said they were concerned the province would direct them to begin a ferric chloride treatment program before the impacts of such an interim measure were fully known. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Laurence Fox attends the 65th Evening Standard Theatre Awards at the London Coliseum on November 24, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage) National Television Awards host David Walliams didn't miss a chance to take a swipe at Laurence Fox as he delivered his opening monologue at Tuesday evenings ceremony. It comes after Fox caused controversy during an appearance on BBC1s Question Time when he queried whether the Duchess of Sussex had experienced racism in the UK. Speaking to television audiences, the Britains Got Talent judge said: "You guys are the real stars, by which I mean youre miles away from Earth. But without you, us lot down here would be nothing. I mean Ill be fine, Ive got my bestselling childrens books. Their diaries would be emptier than Laurence Foxs, he added, referring to the other TV stars. David Walliams joked about Laurence Fox's "empty calendar". (ITV) Following Walliams delivery, the gag received low cries of ooh from the crowd. Read more: Laurence Fox suffering from insomnia After his appearance on Question Time, Fox continued to make controversial statements as he said it was wrong for First World War film 1917 to feature a Sikh soldier, although he did later retract the comment. He also remarked that he would no longer be dating woke women or those under 35. Although, at the NTAs Walliams kept it light-hearted as he made jabs at the stars in attendance. David Walliams hosted the National Television Awards for its 25th Anniversary. (ITV/Nicky Johnson) Referencing the seating position of Ant and Dec, Walliams said: "They are on the front row not because they're important, it's because they've forgotten their booster seat." Elsewhere, as he reflected on the success of the Gavin and Stacey cast highlighting James Corden's success in the US and Ruth Jones' sitcom Stella, he jested about Rob Brydon's advertisement deals. "Uncle Bryn has got his ferry ads," he joked. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 24, 2020 | MAYFIELD By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 24, 2020 | 02:34 PM | MAYFIELD First responders in Graves County are asking folks to roll up their sleeves today to help save lives. The Mayfield Police Department, Mayfield Fire Department and Graves County Sheriff's Department are hosting the "Battle of the Badges Blood Drive" on Tuesday to benefit the American Red Cross. Each agency is asking people to support them in the friendly competition to see who can bring in the most donors. The event is from 8 am until 4 pm at Mayfield City Hall, at 211 East Broadway. Anyone who wants to set up an appointment ahead-of-time can call 800-RED-CROSS or use the website www.RedCrossBlood.org. If using the website, enter "MayfieldBadges" in the appropriate field. Online registrants can also save up to 15 minutes at the event by going to www.RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass. This allows them to do required reading and answer health history questions in advance. Four lions wasting away in a Sudanese horror zoo have undergone life-saving treatment after heartbreaking images of the emaciated animals sparked donations from around the world. Veterinarians and wildlife experts from Four Paws International conducted medical checks on the big cats at Al-Qurashi Park in Khartoum, the country's capital. The desperate action came after one female lioness died of starvation last week, and following severe concerns for the health of a lion and lioness kept in filthy cages. Vets from Four Paws International carried out medical checks on the four surviving lions at Al-Qurashi zoo in Khartoum, the country's capital, today A malnourished lioness pictured at the zoo last week. The vets said the big cats were dehydrated and weighed just a third of their normal body weight The medical checks (pictured) were carried out with limited medical equipment as most was confiscated when the team landed on Monday night, as authorities claimed they lacked 'prior approval' Pictures of the emergency action today show the vets pouring water onto the animals and applying medication to their open wounds. Amir Khalil, head of Four Paws emergency mission, said the checks showed the lions were still dehydrated and weigh just a third of their normal body weight. 'Their muscles are not even able to move,' he said, 'I don't know how we'll be able to do injections'. 'To see a hungry animal like this, there is no connection to religion or politics. It has to do with humanity. 'I don't understand why no one was given the task of feeding them or how authorities could just over look this.' A team provides emergency treatment to one of the emaciated lions at the zoo in Sudan The zoo manager has said he is pleased that the park is receiving international attention, as this will encourage the authorities to invest in it. (Lioness pictured being treated above) An emaciated lioness pictured lying next to a concrete table in her pen at the zoo last week A male lion pictured walking around his cage at the horror zoo in the Sudanese capital The rescue team attended the animals without much of their luggage and essential medical equipment, as this was confiscated when they arrived late Monday evening by Sudanese authorities which claimed they lacked 'prior approval'. There are no immediate plans to move the emaciated lions out of Al-Qurashi and to better conditions. The Park's head, Bader el-Deen Wassim, said the attention will allow authorities to 'expand and renovate the park'. He also promised to ensure the lions health was improving, despite overseeing their deterioration in the first place. Four Paws medicines are expected to be released tomorrow. A malnourished lion walking inside its cage at the Al-Qureshi Park in Khartoum, Sudan. A video taken at the Al-Qureshi Park in Khartoum showed emaciated lions living in horrific conditions Staff at the destitute Al-Qurashi Park were unable to feed and look after the animals, so many have died or were evacuated from the zoo, leaving only skeletal lions, including a lioness Price hikes and economic hardship have caused animals to suffer as well as the local population. The overall condition of the park itself was also affecting the animals' health The malnourished lions have become something of a symbol of the harsh effects of poverty in Sudan, where runaway price hikes marshaled a popular uprising that ousted longtime autocrat president Omar al-Bashir in April. Sudan, now in a fraught transitional period, is struggling to recover from three decades of corruption, mismanagement and isolation under al-Bashir. Al-Bashir was convicted of corruption last month and sentenced to two years in a minimum security lock-up, where he awaits trial on separate charges over his role in the killing of protesters during the months before his ouster. Stiff sanctions, a result of Sudan's place on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, has kept the transitional government in limbo, preventing it from seeking debt relief and badly needed foreign investment. The unsettling images drew impassioned responses from thousands around the world. But it wasn't enough to save one lioness at the Khartoum zoo The lioness received intravenous fluids for several days at Al-Qureshi Park in an upstate part of the country's capital, Khartoum, before she died on Monday last week. Four other lions remain in a desperate condition. (Pictured is one of the lions) Is the era of Big Judicial Activism over? It might just be. Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch, in a ruling about denying green cards to migrants who come here to be "public charges," something that's plainly laid out in U.S. law as illegal, threw in a special warning to activist judges, all leftists, who have been beavering away to rule from the bench, warning them that he's tired of their shenanigans. It's a spectacle to behold a big lion on the Supreme Court who not only cares about rule of law, but is now warning the leftists out there that he's coming for them. Here's PJMedia's report: In addition to the 5-4 decision allowing the rule to go into effect, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch issued a concurring opinion rebuking activist judges and their rush to apply "nationwide injunctions" against Trump administration policies. "Today the Court (rightly) grants a stay, allowing the government to pursue (for now) its policy everywhere save Illinois. But, in light of all that's come before, it would be delusional to think that one stay today suffices to remedy the problem. The real problem here is the increasingly common practice of trial courts ordering relief that transcends the cases before them. Whether framed as injunctions of 'nationwide,' 'universal,' or 'cosmic' scope, these orders share the same basic flaw they direct how the defendant must act toward persons who are not parties to the case," Gorsuch wrote. These details from the Wall Street Journal are important, too: His concurrence, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, is a much-needed rebuke to what he calls "the increasingly common practice of trial courts ordering relief that transcends the cases before them. Whether framed as injunctions of 'nationwide,' 'universal,' or 'cosmic' scope, these orders share the same basic flaw they direct how the defendant must act toward persons who are not parties to the case." Love the use of the word "cosmic" to describe this judicial overreach. Kudos also to Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been laboring on this for decades. Translation: Back off. You are a problem. You will be overruled. The story here is that a new big lion has roared, and all the little judicial activist rats out there who have been scurrying hard to block President Trump's bid to do what the voters asked of him are now being read the Riot Act. The problem Gorsuch stated is actually a huge issue, cutting to whether the citizens have the right to elect the leaders they want. Seems any judge out in some wasted blue city has appropriated for himself the power to overrule the president on any spurious grounds whatsoever and knows that by the time the appeals get done, the presidency will be over. Time enough to elect a Democrat for that. Some of these creeps even know that their spuriously reasoned rulings will be overturned but for them, knowing full well the idea is to game the system. Those who lose out are the voters. And the irony of the whole matter is that they elected President Trump to get rid of insane things like government by executive order, as in the case of DACA and assorted drilling bans. Obama, or any Democrat, is free to issue these essentially sweeping dictatorial edicts, but the judicial rattery says Trump is not free to get rid of them, correcting course on previous presidential overreach. Here's are fifteen such judicial activist bids to block Trump, and rest assured: the list is not comprehensive. San Francisco judge William Orrick in 2017 blocked President Trump's bid to withhold federal funds from cities that shield illegal aliens through sanctuary city laws. Hawaii judge Derrick Watson in 2017 blocked President Trump's temporary travel ban on citizens from terrorist-exporting countries, derived from an Obama administration list, a perfectly reasonable presidential decision based on who was getting in. Texas border judge Andrew Hanan in 2018 blocked President Trump's bid to shut down DACA, despite admitting that President Obama had no authority to impose DACA after Congress rejected it, arbitrarily saying Trump waited "too long" to get rid of the Obama executive order. He didn't notice that Trump spent a lot of time trying in good faith to make a deal with the Democrats, who don't do deals. Washington, D.C. judge John D. Bates in 2018 blocked Trump from shutting DACA down, too, ruling that not only were the DREAMers free of any deportation concerns, but the Trump administration would be forced to continue to take applications from the lawbreakers, keeping the incentive to immigrate illegally with small children going. San Francisco judge William Allsup in 2018 blocked Trump from shutting DACA down so that all the little lawsuits from illegals and their advocates could go through first, a great plan for driving a decision on the issue well past the Trump administration for disposition. San Francisco judge Kim Wardlaw in 2018 continued to block the Trump administration from shutting down DACA on the logic that the illegals in question were "likely to succeed" in whatever new lawsuits they could cook up to stop Trump. Nothing like a convenient forecast. El Paso judge David Brione in 2019 blocked President Trump's diversion of $3.6 billion in defense funding for a border wall, effectively saying that guarding the border from bona fide invaders was not a defense purposa, apparently thinking the Department of Defense is solely there for Iraq wars instead. Oakland judge Haywood Gilliam in 2019 blocked President Trump's diversion of $3.6 billion in border wall funding to protect the border on the get-a-load "logic" that it might interfere with the Sierra Club's enjoyment of all the border scenery. Kid you not. When you see how much the other judges are getting away with in Gettin Trump, any old logic will do. San Francisco Judge Jon Tigar in 2019 blocked President Trump's bid to enforce international asylum law requiring would-be asylees to take the first country of refuge, meaning, would-be asylum seekers would have to show their seriousness by taking any place they can get instead of country-shopping across multiple borders for the best package deal. His ruling pretty well rang the dinner triangle for the increasingly sophisticated and lucrative people smuggling networks from India, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central America to come on in, passing through as many countries as they needed to. He actually did it two other times, too, creating a "gift to human smugglers and traffickers," as White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said. Alaska judge Sharon Gleason in 2019 blocked President Trump's 2017 lifting of Obama-era restrictions on drilling, saying he hadn't done enough environmental assessmenting. New York judge George Daniels in 2019 blocked President Trump's bid to enforce existing federal law about denying green cards to migrants who have come her to use pricey welfare services such as Medicaid, free housing cash, and food stamps, and he wasn't the first - three other judges in California, New York and Washington state were there first. Washington, D.C. judge John Bates (him again) in 2019 blocked President Trump's bid to enable small businesses to band together with other small businesses to buy health care at the same cheap rates corporates get for their employees, saying it was "an end-run" around the punitive Obamacare. That's some logic he's got there: Pay higher rates or else. Stay punished, my friends. Maryland judge Peter Messitte in 2020 blocked President Trump's decision to allow local officials to decide whether they wanted to accept "refugees," many of whom have created problems, with the vague flip of the hand that it was "not in the public interest." Apparently the members of the public who live in such places don't have interests. That's just fifteen such activist jackasses and rest assured there are more. Gorsuch's move was sorely needed if the voters are ever going to be able to make choices based on democratic representation. It's a good thing for democracy, it restores the link between voter choices and voter results, allowing voters to be right and wrong, and ending a petty satrapy of petty leftwing judges who follow solely the activist agenda, allowing themselves to be the handmaidens of creatures such as George Soros and his vast NGO activist networks. It forces judges to rule by what the law says, not what they want and can't persuade votes to get at the ballot box. It forces them to stay in their lane or else endure the disgrace of seeing their stupid rulings overruled. It snaps the judges back to their role and curbs the vast unelected administrative state that Brought Trump. Gorsuch's stellar move is in the same constellation as the great legal mind of Antonin Scalia. It's fealty to the Constitution. It's fealty to democratic rule. And it's a torch that has long been lying there, critical for someone to pick up. Gorsuch did it. This justice rocks. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Medically assisted suicide failed by a single vote in the Maryland General Assembly last year. Now, advocates who want to make it legal for doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminally ill patients seeking to end their lives are launching another push to get the legislation approved, hoping that growing public acceptance of aid-in-dying will win over at least one more lawmaker. Standing with posterboards of the late House Speaker Michael Busch and the late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, two champions of the bill, advocates chanted "the time is now" during a news conference in Annapolis Tuesday morning. Del. Shane Pendergrass, D-Howard, the lead House sponsor of the bill, said she is "very optimistic" that the legislation will pass, after failing for four straight years. "Everyone is one bad death away from supporting this bill," Pendergrass said. "Every year, more people are behind this bill because every year we lose people." Busch died in April while being treated pneumonia; Cummings, a former state lawmaker, died in October after battling cancer. Both were political icons in Annapolis. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said earlier this month that he is "willing to look at both sides of that issue." If approved, Maryland would join the District of Columbia and nine states, including California, Colorado and New Jersey, that allow medically assisted suicide. The legislation has led to emotional debate about the role a dying person should have in determining when their life ends and also the risk that elderly and disabled people could be coerced into ending their own lives. It failed in dramatic fashion in Annapolis last year with a 23-23 vote, after Sen. Obie Patterson, D-Prince George's, decided not to take a position on the bill. Patterson, who said at the time that he "could not bring myself to move right or left," did not return a call seeking comment. Last year's vote in the Senate, after the bill was approved by the House, was the furthest the legislation has ever moved. Sen. Will Smith, D-Montgomery, the new chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee and last year's lead bill sponsor in the Senate, said he strongly supports the measure but believes it is now two votes shy of passing the full Senate. Newly appointed Sen. Charles Sydnor, D-Baltimore, voted against the bill in the House of Delegates last year. He replaced former senator Shirley Nathan Pulliam, D-Baltimore, who supported the measure. Pulliam resigned last month due to health concerns. "We're not interested in a moral victory in getting it out of committee and onto the Senate floor," Smith said. "We're interested in passing a good piece of legislation. So if it doesn't look like it's going to happen, I'm not going to move it out of committee." Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher, D-Montgomery, the lead Senate sponsor this year, said he is committed to working with advocates to get Senate approval. He said plans to meet with Patterson and other colleagues to "speak openly and honestly" about the merits of the bill, which is modeled after an Oregon law. Patients would have to make three requests to end their lives, both orally and in writing, with waiting periods and other precautions. "We've got an uphill battle. But it is one that everyone is ready to fight," Waldstreicher said. Kim Callinan, president and chief executive officer of Compassion & Choices, the lead group advocating for the bill, said the changes in the Senate, which include a new Senate President that supports the bill, represent a "whole new world" for the bill. But Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City, said he also is not inclined to have the bill move to the floor "unless there is a clear indication that senators have changed their position. The bill is strongly opposed by the Catholic church and disability rights advocates, who say vulnerable populations could be unduly pressured to ask doctors to help end their lives to avoid more expensive options. Callinan, who brought more than 100 volunteers to lobby lawmakers on Tuesday, said there is plenty of time for advocates to share their stories about why they think the bill should pass. "What we know from other states is when lawmakers hear from their constituents about the importance of the bill, and they review the evidence and the data from across the 10 jurisdictions, they come to realize the importance of the legislation and they eventually support it," she said. Peter Andre will star in the 2020 UK tour of Grease. Andre will return to the role of Teen Angel in the show after performing in 2019, while also taking on two new roles: Vince Fontaine and the Sergeant. He joins a cast led by Dan Partridge, with further members to be revealed. The show has also announced that it will run at Norwich Theatre Royal from 17 to 22 August, Theatre Royal Plymouth from 24 to 29 August, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from 20 to 24 October and Ipswich Regent Theatre from 17 to 21 November. The new production is directed by Nikolai Foster and choreographed by Arlene Phillips, with designs by Colin Richmond, orchestrations and musical supervision by Sarah Travis, lighting design by Ben Cracknell and sound design by Tom Marshall, initially ran at Curve in Leicester over Christmas 2016. It is the first new production of Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's iconic musical in 25 years, with Jacobs and Casey's work turned into a hit film starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. Andre said "I'm absolutely thrilled to be returning to the UK tour of Grease and to the iconic role of Teen Angel this year. I had the most wonderful time last year working with our genius director Nikolai Foster and the incredible Arlene Phillips, helping create a new, slick, sexy version of this timeless musical with the most talented cast. I'm delighted to be given the opportunity to also perform 2 additional roles this time round: Vince Fontaine and the Sergeant. I truly cannot wait for more of the UK to see this new production and look forward to making more amazing memories on and off stage in 2020!" You can see the previously announced tour stops here. Andre is currently scheduled to perform at certain performances in Northampton, Eastbourne, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester, Canterbury, Norwich, Blackpool, Dartford, Wolverhampton, Aylesbury, Ipswich and Stoke. Customers are advised to check their local websites for specific dates. Sir Richard Branson once famously said: If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline. The opposite, many argue, holds true in the case of school education in India. Set up a school with Rs 100 crore and youll soon have Rs 1,000 crore in the bank. This despite the fact that education in India is not for profit by definition. The charade under which the sector has been operating is now being questioned. A growing lobby of school founders and owners of school chains is urging the government to declare the sector as ... President Trumps legal counsel Jay Sekulow dismissed the contents of John Boltons upcoming book as irrelevant to the ongoing impeachment proceedings against President Trump during his closing argument Tuesday. You cant impeach the president on an unsourced allegation, Sekulow said during a session of the Senate impeachment trial. Sekulow then proceeded to read President Trumps denial of Boltons reported allegation. That was what was said in response to an unpublished manuscript, that maybe some reporters have an idea of, maybe, what it says, Sekulow told lawmakers. If you want to call that evidence, I dont know what youd call that. Id call it inadmissible. But thats what it is. To have a removal of a president based on a policy dispute? Thats not what the framers intended, Sekulow continued. The New York Times reported Sunday that Boltons upcoming book In The Room reveals that the former national security adviser personally witnessed Trump tie Ukrainian military aid to the opening of politically beneficial investigations. The allegations roiled Senate Republicans and prompted rampant speculation that some of them would vote with Democrats to subpoena witnesses and documents once the opening hearings for the trial have concluded. On Tuesday Senator Ron Johnson (R., Wisc.) called on Bolton to speak directly to the media regarding information pertinent to the trial. Now that what has unfolded with the manuscript [of Boltons book] being leaked by the way, exquisite timing, maybe suspicious timing the Wall Street Journal has called for John to just come forward, Johnson said on Capitol Hill. I think that would actually be a smart thing. Id encourage John to do that. More from National Review The arrest of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen is an internal matter of Pakistan, Indian Army's new Vice Chief, Lieutenant General Satinder Kumar Saini, said on Tuesday. Saini's remarks are in stark contrast with the stance taken by the Pakistani military which often spews venom against India, mostly over New Delhi's internal matters. Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen was arrested from Shaheen town in Peshawar, Pakistan in the early hours of Monday. In Pakistan, where speaking against the military is frowned upon, PTM is known for its strident criticism of the country's powerful military for alleged enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Along with Pashteen, the police also arrested nine other PTM workers who were identified as Muhammad Salam, Abdul Hameed, Idrees, Bilal, Mohib, Sajjadul Hassan, Aimal, Farooq, and Muhammad Salman. Following Pashteen's arrest, #ReleaseManzoorPashteen started trending on Twitter with various politicians and human rights activists calling for his release. The new Indian Army Vice Chief received the guard of honour at South Block lawns earlier in the day. While responding to questions by ANI after receiving the Guard of Honour, Lt Gen Saini said terrorist launch-pads have been reoccupied and camps activated across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, while adding that the Indian Army is ready to meet these challenges. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Michigan native and NASA astronaut Christina Koch said that after nearly 11 months in space, she cant wait to have chips and salsa, and swim and surf when she returns to Earth in February. Koch's 328-day mission will be the second-longest by an American, trailing Scott Kelly's flight by 12 days. She's already set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. "I haven't had chips in about 10 1/2 months," Koch told the Associated Press. Crunchy food like chips are banned on the space station because the crumbs could float away and clog equipment. Koch has been living on the International Space Station since March and returns to Earth on Feb. 6, landing in Kazakhstan with two colleagues aboard a Russian capsule. Koch also told the AP that she misses being able to put things down and not have them float away. Shes gotten used to using Velcro and tape to make things stay put, so I hope that when I go back to Earth, I dont accidentally drop things, especially when Im handing them to people. READ MORE: Michigan astronaut sets record for longest spaceflight by woman Michigan astronaut shares photos of Hurricane Dorian from space By PTI NEW DELHI: Taking strong objections to resolutions being moved in the European Parliament against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla conveyed to the head of the European Union's (EU) legislative body on Monday that it was inappropriate for one legislature to pass judgements on another and the practice could be misused by vested interests. With the European Parliament set to debate resolutions against the citizenship law, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu also asserted that there was no scope for outside interference in India's internal matters and the country was capable of addressing its concerns on its own. The ruling BJP and the Congress also weighed in on the resolutions before the European Parliament, with the former questioning the objectivity of the members of the EU Parliament and the latter accusing the saffron party of internationalising the citizenship issue. Meanwhile, diplomatic sources said France, a founding member of the EU, considered the new citizenship law an internal political matter of India. The assertions came after close to 600 lawmakers in the 751-member EU Parliament moved six resolutions against the CAA, saying the enactment of the law marked a dangerous shift in India's citizenship regime. Birla wrote to European Parliament President David Maria Sassoli over the resolutions on Monday. "I understand that Joint Motion for Resolution has been introduced in the European Parliament on the Indian Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. This act provides for easier citizenship to those who have been subjected to religious persecution in our immediate neighbourhood," he said in the letter. It was not aimed at taking away anyone's citizenship and the legislation was passed after due deliberation by both houses of the Indian Parliament, Birla said. "As members of Inter-Parliamentary Union, we should respect sovereign processes of fellow legislatures, especially in democracies," he added. It was inappropriate for one legislature to pass judgements on another, a practice that could surely be misused by vested interests, the Lok Sabha speaker said. "I would urge you to consider the proposed resolution in this light, confident that none of us wants to set an unhealthy precedent," he added. ALSO READ | EU resolutions: France again backs Modi government, calls CAA India's 'internal matter' Earlier, addressing a gathering at a book launch event here, Naidu said he was concerned at the trend of foreign bodies interfering in matters that were "completely within the purview of the Indian Parliament and government". Such efforts were totally uncalled for and unwarranted, the vice president said, expressing hope that they would refrain from making such statements in future. "There is no scope for outside interference in India's internal matters," he asserted. Naidu said whenever their basic and fundamental rights came under a threat, "citizens rose in unison and defended them, as was seen against Emergency". "Our polity and democracy do provide enough space for expressing differences and dissents whenever warranted," he said, adding that as a result, India had emerged as the most vibrant democracy in the world. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal accused the government of internationalising the issue. "The fact that the EU is debating the CAA shows that this government has internationalised the issue of citizenship law," he said. Senior BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the objectivity of the members of the EU Parliament who backed the resolutions against the CAA, asking if they had ever raised their voices over the "victimisation" of minority Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan. "The government of India has already explained that it (the CAA) is our internal matter. We believe in engagement. Lots of Left parties there have sought this resolution and our external affairs minister will engage with them and explain our position," he told a press conference at the Delhi BJP office. The new law, passed by Parliament last month, offers citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. India has been witnessing massive protests against the new law with opposition parties, civil rights groups and activists saying granting citizenship based on religion is against the foundational principles of the Constitution. There has been no reaction from the Ministry of External Affairs on the resolutions against the CAA in the European Parliament. Official sources, however, maintained that the CAA was an entirely internal matter of India and that the legislation was adopted through democratic means after a debate in both Houses of Parliament. "Every society that fashions a pathway to naturalisation contemplates both a context and criteria. This is not discrimination," a government source said, explaining why India was opposed to the resolutions in the EU Parliament. On Monday, 200 survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau came together to mark the 75th anniversary of the Nazi death camp's liberation. On Jan. 27, 1945, the camp was liberated by the Soviet army. Most of the estimated 1.1 million people who were murdered there were Jews, with Poles, Roma, and Russians among the victims. The camp is in Oswiecim, Poland, and survivors came from as far away as the United States, Australia, and Peru to attend the anniversary. "We have with us the last living survivors, the last among those who saw the Holocaust with their own eyes," Polish President Andrzej Duda said. "The magnitude of the crime perpetrated in this place is terrifying, but we must not look away from it and we must never forget it." There has been an increase in anti-Semitic attacks around the globe, and Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, said he is astounded by "the open and brazen spread of anti-Jewish hatred. Do not be silent. Do not be complacent. Do not let this ever happen again, to any people." Survivor Marian Turski, 93, recalled the Nazis starting small by banning Jews from sitting on benches in Berlin, and those actions led to the rise of ghettos and death camps. "Auschwitz did not descend from the sky," Turski said. If people become "indifferent, you will not even notice it when upon your own heads, and upon the heads of your descendants, another Auschwitz descends from the sky." More stories from theweek.com John Bolton just vindicated Nancy Pelosi It's 2020 and women are exhausted All the president's turncoats The celebration of the 150th anniversary of Golden Gate Park kicks off Tuesday in San Francisco with the planting of 150 trees, according to parks officials. The kickoff begins at 11 a.m. with Mayor London Breed and others on John F. Kennedy Drive at Eighth Avenue. People who attend will get a peak at what's to come in the year-long celebration that includes attractions and events. The trees will be planted by 150 volunteers and 150 improvements to the park will be announced. A free community celebration will be held April 4, 150 years to the day after the state Legislature created the American treasure. A flight carrying passengers from Wuhan, China to San Francisco will not land at San Francisco International Airport amid concerns over the coronavirus, airport officials confirmed Monday. During a news conference at the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, airport officials joined city officials, including Mayor London Breed, to provide an update on the virus. "Since the first outbreak in China, we have been monitoring the situation and taking the appropriate steps," Breed said. "I want to stress, there have been no cases here in San Francisco. "I know there have been a number of rumors of a flight coming to San Francisco with diplomats from China and our latest understanding is there are no incoming flights that we have been made are aware of," she said. SFO Airport Director Ivar Satero said while a direct flight from Wuhan to SFO was recently canceled, the airport is continuing to work with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to screen any lingering passengers arriving into the airport whose itinerary might have included Wuhan. California officials said Monday they will continue to challenge the federal government's revised "public charge" rule despite a Supreme Court order allowing the measure to go into effect for the time being. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said, "This rule harms our children and families in communities across the country. It hurts our economy and the healthcare of so many Californians. "Together, we'll continue our fight to stand up for the rights of each and every person who calls the United States their home," Becerra said in a statement. The rule by President Donald Trump's administration would allow officials to deny admission, visa extensions or permanent legal residency to immigrants who are or may become a so-called "public charge" by obtaining government aid for housing, food or health care. An immigration law that allows such denials was previously interpreted more narrowly to apply only to legal immigrants who depend primarily on government aid for survival by receiving cash welfare payments or institutional care. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is gearing up for the launch of the Better Market Street project this week, which will eliminate private vehicles on one of the city's busiest streets. Starting on Wednesday, a more than 2-mile stretch of Market Street will be used only by buses, taxis, bicycles and commercial vehicles, as well as emergency vehicles like police cars and fire trucks. Back in October, the SFMTA Board of Director unanimously approved the plan, garnering praise from the city's pedestrian and bicycle advocates who had been pushing for the project's approval for years. Under the first phase of the project, no private vehicles will be allowed to travel along Market Street, eastbound from 10th to Main streets and westbound from Steuart Street to Van Ness Avenue. Private vehicles, however, can still cross Market Street, but turns onto Market Street will be prohibited. SFMTA Parking Control officers and SFPD officers will be on-hand directing traffic and helping call attention to the new changes this week, according to the SFMTA. Tamalpais High School students are safe following police action Monday afternoon involving criminals near the school, police said. All students are safe and the shelter-in-place for students and residents within a quarter-mile of the school at 700 Miller Ave. was lifted as of 4:01 p.m. Students were released as usual, police said. An apartment fire displaced nine residents Monday evening in Campbell, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Fire Department said. Firefighters from San Jose and Santa Clara County were dispatched at about 6:50 p.m. to an apartment fire in the 1000 block of West Hamilton Avenue, spokesperson Luisa Rapport said. Crews arrived to find a second floor apartment engulfed in flames with fire spreading to three more units. In about 25 minutes, crews had the fire under control and everyone escaped injury. Four units sustained fire damage, Rapport said. The cause of the fire is under investigation but initial information indicates it likely originated in the kitchen as someone was cooking. All nine people displaced are receiving aid from the American Red Cross. A Berkeley bank was robbed late Monday afternoon, police said. Officers responded at 4:22 p.m. to the Wells Fargo bank at 1800 Solano Ave. after someone reported a robbery. Police said one person went into the bank and demanded money. The suspect was described as a black man, 40 to 50 years old and 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 9 inches tall. The suspect was apparently wearing blue sweatpants and a gray shirt. Police said the suspect appeared to be unarmed and no one was injured. Another robbery of a Wells Fargo bank in Berkeley took place last Wednesday on Shattuck Avenue. A man has been arrested and charged with gun offenses after he allegedly barricaded himself in his home last week in unincorporated Contra Costa County, sheriff's officials said Monday. Jimmey Parrish, 30, was arrested last Thursday following an alleged standoff Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning in the 2400 block of O'Toole Way in the community of Tara Hills. The apparent standoff unfolded at 8:43 p.m. when sheriff's deputies were sent to Parrish's home after he was said to have brandished a weapon and may have fired a gun. Sheriff's officials said deputies tried to speak with Parrish, but they failed. Negotiators responded and also tried to speak with Parrish and they also failed. Early Wednesday morning, a SWAT team went into the home, which was allegedly fortified, and detained Parrish. He was taken to a hospital. No one was injured in the standoff, according to the sheriff's office. Deputies seized guns from the home. Tuesday will be mostly cloudy with a chance of rain. Highs will be in the upper 50s. Southwest winds will be 5 to 10 mph, before becoming west winds at 5 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Tuesday night will be partly cloudy in the evening, then becoming mostly clear. Lows will be in the mid 40s to lower 50s. Northwest winds will be 10 to 20 mph. Wednesday will be sunny in the morning, then becoming partly cloudy. Highs will be around 60. Northwest winds will be 5 to 10 mph, before becoming west winds at 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. By ANI NEW DELHI: A group of eight Indian students studying at Wuhan University of Science and Technology in China have appealed to Indian government to make all possible efforts to rescue them at the earliest as they were running short of food and water in their dormitory due to the continued shutdown in the city, which is the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The Indian Embassy in China has contacted the stranded students and promised possible assistance. The students continue to be anxious as the virus is spreading in the city. The stranded students belong to Assam, Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir. ALSO READ: Indian teacher in China is battling a strep infection, not novel coronavirus, it emerges Gaurav Nath, a 22-year-old student from Assam who is pursuing Material Science and Engineering from the university, said over the phone from Wuhan that they were facing problems due to lockdown as shops and transport systems were closed. "Due to the coronavirus outbreak in the city, we have been advised to stay indoors. Hence we are stuck in our dormitory (on the campus). We are being allowed to go out for only two hours a day to buy essentials but there is a lockdown in the city. All the shops and transport systems are closed. There is a shortage of essentials and we will soon run out of food and water," he said. "The Indian embassy in China is in constant touch with us for the rescue. We appeal to the Indian government to rescue us at the earliest," he added. Wuhan has been under lockdown for days with transport suspended and people being advised to stay inside their houses. Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday approved Air India flight to Wuhan for the evacuation of Indian citizens from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city. ALSO READ: WHO chief assures China all necessary help to contain coronavirus outbreak An Air Indian Boeing 747 has been kept on standby for the evacuation of Indian citizens from Wuhan. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told media persons in Vadodara on Tuesday that the embassy was in touch with the Chinese government and efforts are being made for the evacuation of stranded Indians. "Our Embassy is in contact with the Chinese government. We are trying to evacuate people, most of whom are students, from Wuhan city by sending a plane. Efforts are on. I can assure you that the central government is working on it and very soon, some solution will be found," he said. The death toll from the infectious virus has gone up to 106. Chinese health authorities on Tuesday announced that 4,515 confirmed cases of the disease have been reported in 30 provincial-level regions. The virus has also spread to some other countries including France, where three cases have been reported so far. Many countries including India are screening travellers from certain parts of China for symptoms of the virus at airports. Coronaviruses (nCoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Coronavirus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death. Noor Jehan, a cousin of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, passed away in Peshawar, a Pakistani media report on Tuesday quoted a family member as saying. Jehan's younger brother, Mansoor Ahmed, confirmed the of her death to Geo News, saying she had been fighting cancer for some time. Jehan, a paternal cousin of the leading Indian film actor, resided in Mohallah Shah Wali Qataal area close to Peshawar's Qissa Khwani Bazaar. Mian Zulfiqar, a former town council member and Jehan's neighbour, also confirmed her death, the report said without giving her age. Having previously served as a district and town councillor, Noor Jehan was politically active and even filed nomination papers for the provincial assembly PK-77 seat in the 2018 General Elections before withdrawing at the last moment. She was reported to have visited her superstar cousin at least twice, with her family maintaining close contact with the relatives across the border, the report said. During his childhood, Khan also visited his relatives in Peshawar along with his parents twice, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In April 1898 the world-famous writer set sail for Cuba to cover the Spanish-American War. When the Spanish-American War broke out in April 1898, the author of Americas first great war novel had yet to see his nations troops in combat. Indeed, with the exception of one frustrating, illness-plagued month as a war correspondent in Greece a year earlier, Stephen Crane had never seen any troops in combat. But the brilliant young author of The Red Badge of Courage, published two years earlier, aimed to change that. With a contract in hand from London-based Blackwoods Magazine and a verbal commitment from the New York World, Crane set sail for Cuba, where the suspicious explosion of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana Harbor that February had given warmongers in the U.S. Congress and their supporters in the American yellow press the excuse to declare war on Spain, which had ruled Cuba for nearly four centuries. Although the Spanish government maintained that it was blameless for the Maines destruction, an investigation by the U.S. Navy concluded that an explosion under the ships hull had ignited its gunpowder magazines, suggesting foul play and making war all but inevitable. Seventeen months earlier, on a similar mission, Crane had nearly died when the steamship he was sailing on, the Commodore, foundered and sank off the Florida coast while en route to Cuba from Jacksonville with a load of guns for Cuban rebels. After 30 wave-tossed hours in a 10-foot dinghy, Crane and his three shipmates swam for safety through the breakers at Daytona Beach. (Ironically, the best swimmer in the lot drowned after being struck on the head by a piece of the dinghy, which broke apart in the heavy surf). The harrowing experience gave Crane the raw material for one his greatest short stories, The Open Boat, but it left the rail-thin young writer looking even more cadaverous than usual, and it only strengthened his resolve to get into Cuba. As his novelist friend Joseph Conrad observed: Nothing could have held him back. He was ready to swim the ocean. Another, more famous acquaintance of Cranes was also eager to get to Cuba. Theodore Roosevelt, the assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy, had been an early and insistent advocate of American intervention in Cuba. When war was declared, Roosevelt resigned his government post and joined U.S. Army Colonel Leonard Wood in forming the elite 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, soon to become famous as the Rough Riders. By the time newly minted lieutenant colonel Roosevelt landed in Cuba at Daiquiri on June 23, Stephen Crane was already there, having come ashore with the 1st Marine Battalion at Guantanamo Bay, on the southeastern tip of Cuba, two weeks earlier. Given their shared history, Crane and Roosevelt would maintain a discreet distance during the war. Their brief friendship, begun when Roosevelt sent the author a fan letter in 1896, had disintegrated after a well-publicized incident involving Crane, a pretty young prostitute, and the New York City Police Department, of which Roosevelt was then commissioner. The trouble began late one evening in September 1896 when Crane ran into a trio of showgirls at a saloon in New Yorks infamous Tenderloin district. He was there researchingso he saida series of articles on the citys nightlife for William Randolph Hearsts New York Journal. In the early morning hours of September 16, Crane and the women were walking down Broadway when Charles Becker, a plainclothes policeman, stopped them at the corner of 31st Street. Recognizing one of the women as a well-known prostitute named Dora Clark, the policeman arrested her for soliciting. (She had been hauled in on similar charges four times that same month.) Crane loudly protested the arrest, and a judge dismissed the charges against Clark after Crane testified on her behalf. Trading on his nascent friendship with Roosevelt, Crane sent the commissioner a telegram condemning the arrest. But if he expected Roosevelt to take his side, Crane was sorely mistaken. Roosevelt had recently conducted a series of celebrated night patrols through the Tenderloin, and he knew all too well the sordid nature of the district. He stood by Beckers account of the incident. When Crane repeated his testimony at a wrongful-arrest hearing, the fledgling CraneRoosevelt relationship abruptly dissolved. He wasnt gathering any data, Roosevelt said of Crane. He was a man of bad character and he was simply consorting with loose women. Whatever happened that night, Crane was ultimately proved right about Becker. Nineteen years later Becker would become the first American policeman to die in the electric chair after being convicted of arranging the contract murder of small-time New York gambler Herman Beansie Rosenthal to cover up Beckers loan sharking activities. Crane had gotten his first, long-awaited view of Americans in combat even before Roosevelt reached Cuba. In their base camp at Guantanamo, unwary U.S. Marines were ambushed by Spanish guerrillas. Crane spent a long night crouched in a trench with four marines as bullets zipped over their heads from the nearby jungle. He was convinced that all Spain was shooting at him. The Spaniards missed Crane but hit one of his companions, navy surgeon John Blair Gibbs, who was struck in the forehead as he stood outside his medical tent, after mordantly joking, Well, I dont want to die in this place. The fatally wounded Gibbs was dragged into Cranes ditch; in the darkness, Crane at first did not realize who it was. I heard somebody dying near me, he would write in a dispatch. He was dying hard. Hard. It took him a long time to die. He breathed as all noble machinery breathes when it is making its gallant strife against breaking, breaking. But he was going to break. Gibbss final agony wore on Cranes nerves. I thought this man would never die, Crane later admitted. I wanted him to die. Three days later Crane accompanied a detachment of 160 marines and 50 Cuban insurgents to Cuzco, six miles down the coast, to capture the only water well in the area. Captain George Elliott offered to let Crane serve as his aide during the mission, and Crane accepted. Crane confessed later that he was bitterly afraid during the fight at Cuzco. His heart, he said, was in his boots and he was cursing the day that saw me landed on the shore of the tragic isle. Nevertheless, he carried dozens of messages to and from Elliott, marveling all the while at how cool the marines were under fire. Sergeant John H. Quick, in particular, won Cranes admiration by calmly signaling for artillery fire from an offshore warship. With his back to the enemy, Quick directed the fire using a handkerchief tied to a long stick. I watched his face, and it was as grave and serene as that of a man writing in his own library, Crane reported. He was the very embodiment of tranquility. Quick was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day. Crane, a civilian, received no such medals, but Elliott cited him afterward for his material aid in the action. Other marine officers also praised Cranes bravery under fire. Crane performed another unofficial service for the American forces when he and fellow New York World correspondent Sylvester Scovel rode nine miles by horseback up 2,000-foot Mount St. Augustin, overlooking Santiago Harbor, to spy on the Spanish fleet hiding there. It took them a lot of dodging and badgering and botheration, as Crane put it, to make it up the mountainside, but the arduous journey was worth it. The entire Spanish fleet lay below, and the summit, with its clear mountain air, was the kind of country in which commercial physicians love to establish sanitariums. They took the valuable information to Rear Admiral William T. Sampson aboard his flagship New York. Armed with the new intelligence, Sampson and Major General William R. Shafter, the U.S. Army commander, devised a plan to land 16,000 troops 18 miles east of Santiago at Daiquiri, safely out of reach of the Spanish fleet. The spying effort took a toll on Crane, who perhaps was already harboring a fatal case of tuberculosis. Back aboard ship, exhausted, he wrote, I discovered that I was a dead man. The nervous force having evaporated, I was a mere corpse. My spinal cord burned within me as if it were a red hot wire. Doctors diagnosed yellow fever, which was already rampant among the American troops in Cuba, but then told him he was suffering from a less deadly case of malaria. Refusing to take to his bed, Crane joined other correspondents in observing the American landing at Daiquiri on June 2223. The next day they proceeded to Siboney, seven miles west, where Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and elements of the 1st and 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiments had begun heading inland on foot to Las Guasimas, a mountain pass where Spanish forces were waiting in ambush. Crane and a number of other reporters, including Ernest McCready of the New York World, Edward Marshall of the New York Journal, and Burr McIntosh of Leslies Weekly, followed the troops up the steep mountain trail, which was littered with blankets, jackets, tents, and supplies that the heat-plagued American troops had discarded. At the front of the line Marshall joined Roosevelt and the colonels favorite correspondent, Richard Harding Davis. Crane remained in the rear, preferring to avoid Roosevelt at all costs. The Rough Riders continued thrashing through the woods and brush, making more noise than a train going through a tunnel, Crane later wrote. With the extra two weeks in-country, Crane was able to recognize the beautiful coo of the Cuban wood-dove for what it really wasthe Spanish guerilla wood-dove which had presaged the death of gallant marines at Cuzco. He was right. No sooner had a sergeant ordered the men to stop talking than a volley of fire erupted from the tree line. The Spanish were firing German-made Mauser rifles, whose deadly dumdum bullets, Crane wrote, sounded as if one string of a most delicate musical instrument had been touched by the wind into a long, faint note, or that overhead someone had swiftly swung a long, thin-lashed whip. The smokeless powder the Spanish used made it impossible to tell where they were firing from. The Rough Riders, to their credit, charged across open ground in the face of point-blank fire, sending the Spanish into retreat. The impetuous charge, Crane reported, by any soldierly standard, was magnificent. Roosevelt claimed victory, even though the Spanish were under orders to withdraw to Santiago anyway. Eight Rough Riders were killed, including Captain Allyn Capron and Sergeant Hamilton Fish II, the grandson of former secretary of state Hamilton Fish. Cranes account disputed Roosevelts triumphant claims. Under the headline Roosevelts Rough Riders Loss Due to a Gallant Blunder, Crane criticized the troopsthough not Roosevelt directlyfor ignoring warnings from their Cuban scouts, talking too loudly, marching too noisily, and failing to recognize the cooing sounds of the impending Spanish ambush. In his own account, published a year later, Roosevelt struck back with pointed sarcasm implicitly aimed at Crane. I did not see any sign among the fighting men, whether wounded or unwounded, of the very complicated emotions assigned to their kind by some of the realistic modern novelists who have written about battles, Roosevelt wrote. There was doubtless a good deal of panic and confusion in the rear where the wounded, the stragglers, a few of the packers, and two or three newspaper correspondents were, and in consequence the first reports sent back to the coast were of a most alarming character, describing, with minute inaccuracy, how we had run into an ambush, etc. But even Richard Harding Davis, the reliably pro-Roosevelt correspondent, later admitted that the Rough Riders had indeed blundered into an ambuscade at Las Guasimas. Crane encountered other criticism, not entirely unfounded, from his superiors at the New York World for coming to the aid of his wounded friend and colleague Edward Marshall of the rival New York Journal. Crane was sitting in the rear smoking a pipe when a soldier rushed up to tell him, Theres a correspondent up there shot all to hell. The soldier led him to Marshall, who had been shot in the back, close to his spine. Crane was especially upset because Marshall had been one of the earliest and most generous supporters of The Red Badge of Courage. Hello, Marshall, he said, trying to be upbeat. In hard luck, old man? Yes, Im done for, Marshall said. Nonsense, Crane replied. Youre all right, old boy. What can I do for you? Marshall asked Crane to file his report of the battleafter he had filed his own. Crane then walked three miles through the 100-degree heat to Siboney, where he cabled Marshalls dispatch to the Journal, found a stretcher (they were in short supply), and slogged three miles back to the front. Marshall, who survived but lost a leg and was paralyzed below the waist for the rest of his life, never forgot Cranes kindness. He was probably as tired then as a man could be and still walk, Marshall later recalled. But he trudged back from the coast to the field hospital where I was lying and saw to it that I was properly conveyed to the coast. Cranes editors at the World were less appreciative, particularly since he had sent off Marshalls report before bothering to send his own. Still suffering from malaria, Crane remained with the army and a week later witnessed one of the most famous charges in American history, one led by Theodore Roosevelt. The American high command had decided to take Santiago by seizing the high ridge of hills overlooking the city. On July 1 the assault got underway when Brigadier General Henry Lawtons 2nd Division of regular infantry attacked the fortified village of El Caney. They met stiff resistance, which delayed the planned assault by the rest of the infantry and dismounted cavalry on San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill, a mile and a half southwest. Roosevelt, now in command of the 1st Cavalry after Leonard Wood had been promoted to general, waited impatiently while the Regulars began attacking San Juan Hill on the extreme south. In the meantime, the Rough Riders suffered equally from Spanish shrapnel, hunger, thirst, and the infernal heat. Finally, at 1 p.m., Roosevelt received verbal confirmation to assault Kettle Hill. Leaping onto his horse, he led his dismounted troops up the steep hillside in the face of intense rifle fire. It was, he said later, the start of his crowded hour. For others, it was the last hour of their lives. Richard Harding Davis, observing the American assault, saw a thin blue line that kept creeping higher and higher up the hill. It was inevitable as the rising tide. It was a miracle of self-sacrifice, a triumph of bulldog courage, which one watched with breathless wonder. Crane joined Harding in watching the attack. The green hills of San Juan reminded him of the orchards in his boyhood home in Orange County, New Jersey. Then somebody yelled: By God, there go our boys up the hill! he wrote. There is many a good American who would give an arm to get the thrill of patriotic insanity that coursed through us when we heard that yell. Yes, they were going up the hill, up the hill. It was the best moment of anybodys life. Against all odds, Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Regulars carried the heights. At the summit, Roosevelt shot and killed a fleeing Spanish soldier. He doubled up like a jackrabbit, Roosevelt proudly told a friend afterward. Crane commandeered a pinto pony and cantered toward San Juan Hill wearing a gleaming white raincoat that made him a shining target, in the words of fellow journalist Jimmy Hare, who urged him to dismount. If they aim at me, so much the better, Crane replied. No Spaniard ever hits the thing he aims at. Soldiers in the 6th Infantry Regiment (above) kneel to avoid enemy fire as they await orders to charge the hill. (Library of Congress) At the foot of the hill, Crane dismounted when he came across a group of wounded Americans at a field dressing station. He and Hare saw a hundred broken men, the human wreckage brought from a few square yards of the battlefield. One of the casualties, remarkably, was a former classmate of Cranes from Claverack College, a military academy in New Yorks Hudson River Valley. Corporal Reuben McNab of the 71st New York Volunteers had suffered a bullet wound to the chest, and the sight of his badly wounded classmate brought the war home to Crane in a way that nothing else had: The apparition of Reuben McNab, the schoolmate lying there in the mud with a hole through his lung, awed me into stutterings, set me trembling with a sense of terrible intimacy with this war which heretofore I could have believed was a dream. Crane gave McNab his pony to ride back to Siboney. If youre goin by the hospital, step in and see me, McNab responded with Crane-like sangfroid. McNab survived his wounding and was honorably discharged after returning to New York. Later that afternoon Crane made a memorable reappearance at the front, striding casually along the crest of San Juan Hill in his white raincoat, smoking a pipe, as Mauser bullets zinged by. General Wood himself shouted for Crane to get down. Youre drawing fire on these men, he said. Crane pretended not to hear him. Davis, who admired Cranes writing, disliked Crane as a person; still, he didnt want to see him killed. Youre not impressing anyone by doing that, Crane, he called out. Crane instantly dropped to the ground and crawled back. I knew that would fetch you, Davis said. Crane grinned. Oh, was that it? he said. Bragdon Smith, a journalist with the New York Journal, witnessed another instance of Cranes near-suicidal coolness under fire. Smith reported seeing Crane standing calmly under a tree while bullets sheared off its leaves and struck several men standing nearby. Crane, unperturbed, finished rolling his cigarette and smoked it without moving from the spot where the bullets had suddenly become so thick, Smith would later write. A week later, suffering from a renewed onslaught of malaria, Crane was invalided out of Cuba aboard the hospital ship City of Washington. Again told he had yellow fever, Crane was ordered to stay away from the other sick and wounded soldiers; he spent the next five days and nights lying on deck alone, shivering beneath a little rug. As a civilian, Crane was allowed to recuperate at the luxurious Chamberlain Hotel in Old Point Comfort, Virginia, opposite Fort Monroe. Falsely accused by an embittered colleague of writing an unsigned article indicting officers of the 71st New York for cowardice under fire at San Juan Hill (the article, apparently accurate, was actually written by Sylvester Scovel), Crane was fired by the New York World. He managed to get off one last shot, however indirect, at Roosevelt and his much-lionized Rough Riders. In Regulars Get No Glory, Crane singled out for praise the humble enlisted men at San Juan Hill. Instead of gloating over the gallantry of Reginald Marmaduke Maurice Montmorenci Sturtevant, and for good goodness sake how the poor old chappy endures that dreadful hard-tack and bacon, Crane scoffed, the press should have focused on common soldiers such as Michael Nolan, the sweating, swearing, overloaded, hungry, thirsty, sleepless Nolan, tearing his breeches on the barbed wire entanglements, wallowing through the muddy fords, pursuing his way through the stiletto-pointed thickets, climbing the fire-crowned hill. As always, the writers sympathies were with the little man, not with such well-born elites as Theodore Roosevelt and his socialite friends. Roosevelt did not respond to Cranes final riposte, but his own account of the war, The Rough Riders, published a year later, was so self-aggrandizing that the humorist Peter Finley Dunne joked that it should have been named Alone in Cuba. After the war Roosevelt and Crane never laid eyes on each other againno doubt much to their mutual relief. Crane died two years later of tuberculosis. Roosevelt, of course, followed a different arc, helped immeasurably by the crowded hour that he and Crane had shared one breathlessly hot July afternoon at San Juan Hill. MHQ Roy Morris Jr. lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is the author of nine books, including, most recently, Gertrude Stein Has Arrived: The Homecoming of a Literary Legend (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019). This article appears in the Winter 2020 issue (Vol. 32, No. 2) of MHQThe Quarterly Journal of Military History with the headline: War Stories | Stephen Crane at the Front Want to have the lavishly illustrated, premium-quality print edition of MHQ delivered directly to you four times a year? Subscribe now at special savings! Opposing the newly enacted Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Narayan Tripathi on Tuesday said the country should not be divided in the name of religion. "The country should not be divided in the name of religion. Either you are with or against the Constitution and if you do not follow the Constitution, you should tear it up and throw it away," Tripathi said. "I come from a village and it is not easy to even make Aadhaar cards. People have to carry papers to the local offices for days," he added. The MLA said that this is his personal opinion and not related to the party. Protests have been going on in different parts of the country against the CAA which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh if they entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The law excludes the Muslims from the list. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "This distinction highlights Blue Cross' commitments to putting the customer first and making health care easy to use," said Ruth Hafoka, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. "We continually strive to find better ways to ensure that all of our members get the quality of care they need to lead healthy and productive lives. We're very proud for the NCQA to recognize the work our associates put into these efforts every day." Multicultural Health Care (MHC) Distinction is a nationally recognized evaluation that purchasers, regulators, and consumers can use to assess which organizations have earned distinction by meeting rigorous standards in serving a diverse population. The MHC program evaluates how well an organization complies with the standards for the following areas: collection of race/ethnicity and language data; provision of language assistance; cultural responsiveness; and quality improvement of culturally and linguistically appropriate services, and reduction of health care disparities. About NCQA NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA's website (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices. NCQA can be found online at ncqa.org, on Twitter @ncqa, on Facebook at facebook.com/NCQA.org/ and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ncqa. About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A nonprofit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.9 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and Blue Plus are nonprofit independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago. Blue Cross offers PPO, HMO-POS, and Cost plans with a Medicare contract, and an HMO-SNP plan with a Medicare contract and contract with the Minnesota Medical Assistance program. Enrollment in these Blue Cross plans depends on contract renewal. A copy of the Blue Cross civil rights notice can be found at: https://www.bluecrossmn.com/healthy/public/portalcomponents/PublicContentServlet?contentId=P11GA_15413212 H2425_001_012420KK01 SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Related Links www.bluecrossmn.com Senior diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Tuesday was appointed as the next Indian ambassador to the United States. Sandhu is currently serving as the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka. He will be replacing Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who has been serving for the post since January 2019. An IFS of 1988 batch, Sandhu will take up the assignment shortly, the MEA said while making the announcement. He served in the former Soviet Union (Russia) from 1990 to 1992 as Third Secretary (Political)/ Second Secretary (Commercial). Following the break up of the Soviet Union, he was sent to open a new Embassy in Ukraine. Sandhu assumed his new assignment as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India, Washington DC on July 29, 2013. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) We've reached a point where the debate over climate change has come up at platforms that would have otherwise been unlikely. People across the globe are struggling to counter climate change in some way or the other and it's time we did our part too. To that effect, about 300 students in Chennai launched an initiative to plant 300 saplings. The students planted the saplings to raise a micro-forest. However, they're not in the news for planting saplings. They raised awareness and created a world record by using robots for this initiative. Yes, this was truly a unique afforestation drive. Tamil Nadu: Over 300 school students in collaboration with SP Robotics Maker Lab, planted saplings using robots to create a 'mini forest' at the Anna University Main Campus in Guindy, Chennai, yesterday. pic.twitter.com/WZeTDWVwh1 ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2020 As you can see in the images, tiny robots are being used by the students to carry the saplings. The robots are being controlled by the students and it's truly a sight to be proud of. The students used mobile phones to control the robots. Once the saplings were in place, each student manually filled the holes with soil. Later, another set of robots were deployed with sprinklers to water the saplings. One of the students who spoke to NDTV said, "Robotics can help in fighting global warming. For others, this may look like a world record, but we know we are doing something to save our planet. We should also start using technology the right way." The saplings were planted inside the premises of Anna University where a patch of land was granted for this micro-forest project. The organizers from SP Robotics Maker Lab, which is a robotic learning center have committed to take care of the plants. Source: NDTV Fotis Dulos, the estranged husband of a missing Connecticut mother, is clinging to life and is expected to be flown to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. Dulos, 52, is in critical condition after he was found unresponsive inside of a running car in his garage at 4 Jefferson Crossing in Farmington on Tuesday. Police believe Dulos, his former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 45, and his close friend and former lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, 54, allegedly conspired to kill Jennifer Dulos and clean up the crime. Fotis Dulos was initially reported dead from an apparent suicide. Farmington police found Fotis Dulos during a welfare check after he didnt show up for his bond hearing, according to States Attorney Richard Colangelo. Attorney Norm Pattis, who represents Fotis Dulos, said his client was found with a pulse but could not breathe on his own. Paramedics performed CPR at the scene, but he was later taken to the UConn medical center. He is reportedly being kept alive on life support, according to sources. On Tuesday, an emergency hearing was slated to occur in which a judge could have revoked Fotis Dulos $6 million bond. Fotis Dulos, 52, was arrested Jan. 7 on murder and kidnapping charges in connection with what authorities say was the killing of Jennifer Dulos, who hasn't been seen since she dropped her five children off at their school May 24. He had denied any involvement in the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos and pleaded not guilty earlier this month to murder and kidnapping charges. Police allege Fotis Dulos lay in wait at Jennifer Dulos' home in New Canaan for her to return after dropping the children off at school in May. Authorities say Fotis Dulos attacked the woman in her garage, leaving behind a bloody crime scene, and drove off with her body, which has not been found. Officials say surveillance video cameras recorded Fotis Dulos disposing of items containing Jennifer Dulos' blood in Hartford. The five children, who ranged in age from 8 to 13 when their mother vanished, have been staying with their maternal grandmother in New York City. The Associated Press contributed to this report. [January 28, 2020] IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 | Launch of The National Transformation Program (NTP) to Boost Growth | Technavio Technavio has been monitoring the IT market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 and it is poised to grow by USD 5.85 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 9% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005304/en/ Technavio announced its latest market research report titled IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire) Launch of the National Transformation Program (NTP) has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, increasing threat of cybercrime might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023: Segmentation IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 is segmented as below: End-User Government Telecommunications BFSI Oil & gas Others Component Hardware Services Software Geographic segmentation Americas APAC EMEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future ofmarket research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30123 IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our IT market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 report covers the following areas: IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 size IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 trends IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 industry analysis This study identifies increasing demand for e-governance as one of the prime reasons driving the growth of IT market in Saudi Arabia during the next few years. 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Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist the market growth during the next five years Estimation of the size of IT market in Saudi Arabia and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the IT market in Saudi Arabia Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of the vendors in IT market in Saudi Arabia About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005304/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Philadelphias most dangerous roadway is one step closer to getting automated speed cameras. Come February, the cameras will be installed at eight locations along Roosevelt Boulevard, the first of 32 total locations, city officials announced Jan. 13. City Council approved of the cameras in May 2019, after a three-year effort to bring the technology to Philly. Advocates say that the cameras are effective safety measures that have reduced serious accidents, including fatal ones, in other cities. But some critics of the policy say cameras arent a big enough safety guard against speeding on the Boulevard, one of Pennsylvanias deadliest highways. The Inquirer turned to the executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, and a writer who has long traveled the Boulevard, to ask: Will speed cameras be enough to keep the road safe? Yes: Cameras are proven to promote safety and protect lives. By Scott Petri The 11-mile stretch of Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia is one of the most dangerous highways in the state if not the nation. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), between 2013 and 2017, there were 2,695 crashes resulting in 41 fatalities. The Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) has teamed up with Mayor Jim Kenney, City Council, PennDOT, the Citys Streets Department, and the Mayors Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability to begin installing 32 automated speed enforcement cameras at eight different locations on the Boulevard. The goal of the speed enforcement program is to reduce speeding by imposing fines for violators that will serve as a deterrence and change their behavior, ultimately making Roosevelt Boulevard a much safer highway. Communities in 15 states and the District of Columbia already use automated camera enforcement technology to reduce speeding and save lives. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found that automated speed enforcement can be an effective countermeasure to prevent speed-related crashes when used alongside traditional enforcement. The effectiveness of this technology has been demonstrated in New York City, where speeding was dramatically reduced by 63% at camera locations during school hours, and fatal crashes were reduced by 55% over a three year period. The PPA first started using automated camera enforcement technology back in 2005 at key intersections on Roosevelt Boulevard to stop rampant red-light running that posed a direct threat to public safety. The first camera location at Grant Avenue recorded 25,673 red-light running violations during its first 10 months of operation in 2005. At this same intersection in 2018, 4,697 red-light camera violations were recorded for the year. Thats a staggering 82% reduction in red-light running at this intersection. Today, there are 31 red-light camera intersections throughout the city, nine on Roosevelt Boulevard. Since the PPAs Red Light Camera program installed cameras, red-light violations have decreased an average of 58% at Boulevard intersections. Speed enforcement cameras will get us closer to the citys goal of zero traffic deaths by 2030. Scott Petri Red-light cameras save lives. We believe the placement of automated speed enforcement cameras at key points along Roosevelt Boulevard will help enhance the safety of this highly traveled highway. As Mayor Kenney has said: Adding automated speed cameras on the Boulevard is one of the most effective steps we can take to eliminate traffic deaths. We are in full agreement and believe speed enforcement cameras will get us closer to the citys goal of zero traffic deaths by 2030. Or to quote John Taylor, a longtime advocate for both red-light and speed enforcement cameras and former state representative for Pennsylvanias 177th District: Our goal with automated enforcement technologies on the Boulevard has always been to save lives. Once the speed cameras are fully operational, there will be a 60-day warning period before fines are issued, after which any vehicle recorded traveling more than 11 miles per hour over the speed limit will be subject to a fine up to $150, depending on the speed at which the vehicle is traveling. The camera-generated evidence for each violation will be inspected by a Philadelphia police officer prior to it being mailed to the registered owner of the offending vehicle. No points will be added to a drivers record. Running red lights and vehicular speeding on any highway can cause accidents that result in serious injury and even death in some cases. Both the red-light and automated speed enforcement cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard will improve safety and protect lives on one of the most dangerous highways in Pennsylvania. Scott Petri is the executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority. No: More police and visibility are needed on this corridor of death. By B.G. Kelley I was driving the 35 mph speed limit and in my lane when suddenly, and out of nowhere, an SUV going at least 65 miles per hour cuts me off, brushing inches away from taking off my front fender. I hit the horn. He flashed the finger. He sped off to no doubt endanger other motorists. I knew I was living dangerously. I was on Roosevelt Boulevard. I am on the Boulevard often, traveling this deadly roadway to teach my writing class at International Christian High School in the lower Northeast. In fact, Ive been traveling the Boulevard just about all my life. The reckless driving by so many ethically and morally challenged motorists on this stretch that begins in East Falls, snakes through Northeast Philly, and ends in parts of Bucks County is a routine occurrence, somewhat like brushing your teeth. I cant count high enough to how many accidents Ive almost incurred in the last 20 years on the Boulevard, considered Philadelphias most dangerous corridor. Too many motorists on Roosevelt Boulevard fail to take into account someone elses life or property. B.G. Kelley But finally finally something is being done, if too long in coming. Its following a lot of empty rhetoric about tackling excessive speeding on the Boulevard. My concern is that the proposed solution wont be up to the magnitude of the problem. In todays world, driving has gone from a horse-and-buggy environment to a rocket-fueled world where speed means getting to your destination quicker. The other part of the problem extends to the fact that there are more drivers and cars than ever before. It is raw and flawed combustible symmetry. Simply put, too many motorists on Roosevelt Boulevard fail to take into account someone elses life or property. To wit: There have been more than 100 fatalities on the Boulevard since 2013. In 2019, there were seven vehicle-related deaths and disturbingly 21 in 2018. The average in recent years has been 10. As well, Roosevelt Boulevard has accounted for 8% of all crashes in Philadelphia that resulted in a fatality or serious injury from 2013 to 2017. Two intersections at Grant Avenue and Red Lion Road are notorious for accidents, ranking in 2001 as the second and third most dangerous intersections in the entire United States. To reduce the danger, 32 automated speed cameras will be installed at intersections up and down the Boulevard. The first eight are anticipated to be installed in February, and, yes, Grant Avenue and Red Lion Road are included. I dont think the city planning commission envisioned such irresponsible motorist behavior when they constructed the Boulevard but intended it to be an easier access to residents in the neighborhoods of the Northeast. Originally called Torresdale Boulevard, in the 50s and 60s it was extended to include the far Northeast. As the Northeast proliferated into a busy commercial corridor of shopping centers and restaurants, more drivers used it, and eventually, it became clear that the Boulevard was never meant for the high-density or reckless driving it sees today. The cameras are a responsible, active approach to a serious problem that could only get more serious and more deadly. However, thats not enough. So please excuse me for being a pessimist but more police presence and visibility are needed. Unless all motorists who travel this roadway commit or recommit to driving responsibly, we will not see a safe-to-drive Roosevelt Boulevard. The speed cameras will only be a Pyrrhic victory. B.G. Kelley is a Philadelphia writer. Latest News Card transactions hit record in November With debt accruing interest up, can Australians afford the credit? Sydney property prices might not drop yet, as planning problems persist NSW planning approvals have fallen off a cliff since October, showing that the supply crisis might yet continue Kevin Wheatley, director of Sydney-based Bayside Residential and Commercial Mortgages, works predominantly with clients from across the globe to deliver and maximise investments in property development. Wheatley established the firm back in 2009, bringing together years of experience as a logistician by trade, having worked on projects including shipping ports and waste to energy facilities. During his time as a logistician, Wheatley one of Mortgage Professional Australias top ten commercial brokers for 2019 says he realised a passion for the financial industry and the way it can make a difference to peoples lives. He says: In logistics, there's a very high level of procurement and procurement requires funding. This led him to take a natural step towards offering financial services. He says: I've taken Bayside Residential and Commercial Mortgages from its one-man operation to what it is today, and this is just the beginning. Our core focus this year will be raising the capital required for AusCity Capital, to take it to the next level. In 2018, the volume of residential and commercial funds that came through to the business totalled $249m. The volume for 2019 is also estimated at around $200m. Wheatley is also currently looking to fill about $1.9bn in development funding for three projects in Australia, including one in Port Melbourne and another major development in Cronulla. Access to private debt The private business arm of Bayside Residential and Commercial Mortgages, AusCity Capital, aims to provide debt funding for construction development, stable income producing properties, unlisted and listed property securities, cash and fixed income securities. It gives investors access to premium construction and development projects that are not available on the public market. Wheatley explains that because banks are applying unyielding disqualifying criteria, such opportunities are usually fulfilled by non-conforming lenders who that premium rates and fees to their clients knowing that institutional lenders are rigid in their financing requirements. But through the establishment of Debenture Issuing Company, he says the AusCity Capital fund is able to raise private funding for strong projects with time sensitive needs as well as those projects that have been unable to raise funds from banks, due to overly prudent regulation stemming from the Royal Commission. He says: Our investment vehicles allows us to compete with non-conforming lenders by offering commercial mortgages to institutional clients at more competitive rates. Another key focus for Wheatley is for AusCity Capital to eventually become a non-bank. He explains: Non-banks are here to stay. There's demand there now more than ever because of the lack of competition that's been in Australia, allowing the big four to monopolise the industry. He continues: What has been found by the Royal Commission now is only the tip of the iceberg you'll see a lot more class action cases in the courtrooms this year because of banks misleading and deceptive conduct. If anything, this has given us a lot more credibility to our business, because we're the ones now that are constantly finding an alternative funding solution for disgruntled borrowers. He adds: The private funding opportunities are going to be there for a long time. However, he points out that his business could be negatively impacted if the government goes ahead with plans to scrap trail commissions. End to trail commissions The biggest threat to Australian brokers is going to be the disruption that will come from the 76 recommendations made by the Hayne royal commission, implementing the suggested crackdown on mortgage brokers. He explains: Josh Frydenberg, the treasurer, is proposing that by July 2020 he is going to cut trail payments. Do you think that's not going to be detrimental to the industry? Trail payments are designed to cover the time that brokers spend keeping an eye on their borrowers. Because we want to make sure the borrower stay with the bank, explains Wheatley. He continues: Commission payments are not worth nickels and dimes; my residential division actually loses money because of the time it takes to process home loans and you get very little remuneration for it. So if we have to rely on upfront commissions, which they're talking about cutting back as well, to a fee for service, no one's going to pay that. This is a complete backflip to what he said in the lead-up to the elections, suggests Wheatley. He says: That's going to be the biggest disrupter in the industry over the next six months, and we are preparing for that now. But for borrowers, he argues, it is cheaper to keep paying trail payments than to carry the fixed costs of banks who will have to find alternative resources to the third party channels. He says: If they cut trail payments, there will be three people here [in this firm] that won't have a job. We can't survive on commissions alone. And he says the problem is that the government has not spent enough time talking to industry leaders. So now what is needed instead is a two year moratorium period for the government to consult the industry across the board. These people need to come back to the table and talk to us, he says. This will impact the whole broking industry because they won't be able to afford to operate. Where will their cash flow come from? it takes some two to three months to do a home loan, so how do we pay our staff and provide the services that the Australian community now expect? The only way to find a pragmatic outcome will be on the back of sensible discussions and hopefully, by negotiating an outcome that's going to work for the entire financial industry. Looking ahead Aside from new regulations and proposals to scrap trail commissions, the year ahead is looking really exciting suggests Wheatley. He adds: Not only with the development that we've got here in Australia, but the projects I've got offshore; I pick the eyes off of what I want to do offshore. Because you could end up wasting a lot of time. So in between raising capital for major construction projects in Australia, Wheatley also has a waste to energy project where he needs to provide logistics support for a new waste to energy plant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He says: We've already started and it will take about two years to complete. Another work in progress that is going to make 2020 an exciting year for Wheatley is that he has seen a number of venture capitalists out of the US express a strong interest in his fund. He says: We're really excited about where AusCity Capital is going and the interest it has attracted. It will be a very niche managed investment trust where we are going to handle the projects we fund directly with the capital we raise, primarily from our high-end borrowers those that we have been working with for years. These financiers really have the capability and capacity to start a project and finish it: whether that is property development or infrastructure, waste to energy or port facilities. He says he will also be launching a new trade facility for which AusCity Capital will be providing content input for, over the next two months. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 01:12:19|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Executive Director of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) Nina Gregori addresses the press in Athens, Greece, Jan. 28, 2020. Greek Alternate Minister of Migration and Asylum Giorgos Koumoutsakos and Executive Director of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) Nina Gregori signed on Tuesday in Athens a seat agreement for the hosting of the EASO operational office in Greece, according to an EASO press release. Under the agreement the agency's deployed personnel will double in size from approximately 500 to over 1,000 in 2020 in dozens of sites nationwide, Gregori told a press briefing in Athens, after the signing ceremony. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) ATHENS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Greek Alternate Minister of Migration and Asylum Giorgos Koumoutsakos and Executive Director of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) Nina Gregori signed on Tuesday in Athens a seat agreement for the hosting of the EASO operational office in Greece, according to an EASO press release. Under the agreement the agency's deployed personnel will double in size from approximately 500 to over 1,000 in 2020 in dozens of sites nationwide, Gregori told a press briefing in Athens, after the signing ceremony. EASO has cooperated with Greek authorities since 2011, under an operating plan sealed between the two sides in Dec. 2019. EASO is already scaling up its operational presence and the new agreement will improve efficiency of this assistance through legal and administrative clarity on staff and assets, she said. "Today's agreement is a very important milestone. By giving a legal and administrative clarity the agreement will allow the agency to become even more efficient in its daily work," Gregori said. "We are here to assist the Greek asylum authorities and reception authorities with a common goal, as the minister said, to assure fast and efficient asylum procedures so that people in need of protection will get one as soon as possible," she stressed. Under the agreement, which must be ratified by the Greek parliament, as Greek national news agency AMNA reported, the EASO staff (case workers, field support staff, reception staff, research officers for the Appeals Authority, interpreters and administrative staff) will work to support the Greek Asylum Service and other relevant authorities. Moreover, EASO will increase its budget for its operations in Greece this year to 36 million euros (39.6 million U.S dollars) up from 27.5 million euros in 2019, Gregori noted. "States should not and cannot be left on their own faced with such an enormous challenge. European cooperation, solidarity and coordination is a must," Koumoutsakos said on his part. "As a front line country we are ready to assume our responsibility, but this should be counterbalanced by an effective and meaningful solidarity," the Greek minister added during the press briefing. Koumoutsakos also said that he plans to visit all Visegrad group countries in coming weeks to discuss where worries converge and where there are still diverging views on the management of the refugee, migrant into Europe. In March there will be a negotiation process on EU's new Migration and Asylum pact and the result should be a robust pact, the Greek official said. More than one million refugees and migrants have reached Greece since 2015. Despite progress steps made, reception centers mainly on the Greek Aegean Sea islands are still overflowing. Greek and other European officials and experts attribute the situation to the big numbers of new arrivals each year and delays in the assessment of asylum applications and relocation of refugees to other EU members. (1 euro= 1.1 U.S. dollars) A 29-year-old man has been charged with grievous bodily harm after three Sikh men were stabbed to death in the street in east London, Ilford. Sandeep Singh from nearby Romford has been charged by detectives investigating the trios deaths with conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Narinder Singh Lubhaya, 29, Harinder Kumar, 30 and Malkit Singh Dhillon, 37, were found with stab injuries on January 19 on Salisbury Road in Seven Kings and pronounced dead at the scene. Harinder Kumar, Malkit Singh Dhillon and Narinder Singh Lubhaya (pictured above) were pronounced dead at the scene The Metropolitan Police has said they believe five men were involved in another altercation the previous evening at the nearby Krystel Banqueting venue, with the clash spilling out on to the High Road. It is thought those involved were known to each other and were from the Sikh and Hindu communities. Gurjeet Singh, 29, from Ilford, was charged on January 21 with possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. Police officers in forensics suits search South Park near to the scene where three men were stabbed to death Two men have been charged by detectives investigating the deaths. Pictured above a sniffer dog on the scene He appeared at Redbridge Magistrates Court the next day, was remanded to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court on February 19 and remains under investigation in connection with the murders. A second man arrested over the murders has since been eliminated from the investigation. Scotland Yard said in its statement that Sandeep Singh, also 29, will appear at Redbridge Magistrates Court later on Tuesday. Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8345 3865 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111. UPDATE: Real special person: Nazareth Area teen killed fleeing police was CIT student studying auto tech A Nazareth Area High School student died in a crash while fleeing police Sunday, according to a news release. The release says 18-year-old Anthony P. Yerance died in the crash in Hamilton Township, Monroe County. Yerances passenger, Aaron D. Dotter, was seriously injured, according to the news release. Dotter, 18, of Nazareth, was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township. Police were called to Fetherman Road at 8:40 p.m. Sunday for reports of drag racing and the sound of gunshots, the news release says. Yerance sped away from police in a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, according to the news release. The release says Yerance struck a police vehicle, then struck four occupied vehicles as he fled through a parking lot. It says he sped into oncoming traffic on Cherry Valley Road as police pursued him. He lost control of the truck and it flipped over, police said. Yerance died in the crash, the release says. Yerance was a junior at Nazareth Area High School, according to high school principal Alan Davis. Dotter is a Nazareth Area High School student, Davis confirmed. We extend our deepest sympathy to the Yerance family, Davis said in a Tweet. Davis said Dotter is in stable condition, according to a member of Dotters family. Davis said counselors are available to support Nazareth Area students. We were saddened to learn this morning about the death of Anthony Yerance (grade 11) last night from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. Counselors are available to support students in need of assistance. We extend our deepest sympathy to the Yerance family. Alan Davis (@NazHSPrincipal) January 27, 2020 The news release says Yerance lived in Wind Gap although that borough is in the Pen Argyl Area School District. Its more likely he lived in Bushkill Township, where residents have mail delivered through the Wind Gap post office. That township is in the Nazareth Area School District boundaries. Police didnt respond to a late-night request for clarification on the address. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook. BETHALTO The Bethalto Community School District has contracted with Blue Refuge, an Atlanta-based organization dedicated to reducing active-shooter threats, to provide protection, response training and mental-health services for at least five years. School safety is evolving and becoming more complex, said Dr. Jill Griffin, Bethalto superintendent. At the heart of our mission, we believe every student deserves to enter our schools feeling safe and secure, with the peace of mind to learn and grow. Were grateful to forge this partnership with Blue Refuge, she said. They have a people first mentality and comprehensive approach, which very much aligns with our vision as a school district. The partnership will introduce an array of tools, technologies and services to Bethalto Community Unit School District 8. The joint initiative, to be implemented in phases beginning this month, follows deep conversations between the two parties about a tailored approach that best serves the districts needs. In January, the district began implementing protection solutions including integrated alarming and emergency notification technology. The system will be responsive to buttons on staff badges; when pressed, the buttons send instant alerts across the school and to local law enforcement and district personnel. The notifications are tagged with the exact location of the alert-sender within the school. In addition, Blue Refuge will provide mental health training for counselors and faculty, administered by Blue Refuges on-staff licensed mental health practitioner. In February, Bethalto schools will implement social media monitoring, along with protective window films to help guard against intrusions. Active-shooter response training also area planned throughout the district and Stop the Bleed kits will be distributed to each classroom. Led by an on-staff mental health professional, Blue Refuge also will implement training programs for school counselors and faculty to teach risk identification and therapeutic responses. The solution is designed to recognize signs of distress or emotional crises. Our philosophy is proactive rather than reactive, said Blue Refuge CEO Marcus Craig. As we see youth mental health continuing to decline, creating positive communities and connective relationships will be increasingly critical in schools. Blue Refuge wants to be a part of the process of supporting, healing and helping the social and emotional well-being of todays youth, he said. Blue Refuges team of mental health, safety, and technology professionals also will serve in a long-term capacity, providing input on how to prevent and respond to school violence as technology and community needs evolve over time. Traders work on the floor at the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S. on June 25, 2018. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images) US Economic Indicators Flash Lower Risk of Recession: Expert Tracking multiple business cycle frameworks suggests "further evidence of cycle extension" In an upbeat final note, last weeks World Economic Forum concluded with top economic policymakers and business leaders making optimistic forecasts for global economic growth in 2020. We are in a better place in January 2020 than we were in October 2019, said Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 24. We are projecting growth this year at 3.3 percent, next year 3.4 percent. This is clearly an improvement vis-a-vis the record low of last year of 2.9 percent, Georgieva added. Prospects for the U.S. economy have also picked up relative to the end of 2019, according to a business cycle analysis by Nicholas Reece, senior financial analyst and portfolio manager at Merk Investments. Reece tracks an array of economic indicators and issues U.S. business cycle reports that help investors seize opportunities and mitigate risk. He told The Epoch Times in an exclusive interview that his methodology shows that the probability of the United States entering a recession has dropped significantly between November 2019 and January 2020. While a few pictures still look concerning, there are enough recession disconfirmations to make me more positive than negative, Reece said. My base-case view is that we are in the process of coming out of a mid-cycleor perhaps late-cycleslowdown, and that we will see further evidence of cycle extension. The slowdown, in rate of growth terms, is something the IMF noted in a Jan. 20 update to its World Economic Outlook, predicting U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020 to come in at 2.0 percent, and, in 2021, to grow at 1.7 percent. While acknowledging risk, Reece said his view continues to be economic expansion until further notice. He estimates recession probability over the next six months to be around 10-25 percent, markedly lower than the numbers he cited when he was interviewed by Real Vision in November. This is an extremely challenging environment to analyze in terms of the business cycle, Reece told Real Vision on Nov. 21. In my view, theres a lot of mixed data. Id say that recession risk is real, its elevated, it has not yet become my best-case scenario, but Ive estimated it to be between 30-45 percent chance of going into recession over the next six months. The same set of economic indicators Reece tracks and that he referenced in November are now flagging a lower risk of a U.S. recession. Based on my checklist approach, the U.S. business cycle picture near-term is overall more positive than negative. On balance, based on the data and frameworks presented (which inevitably may not capture all possible risk factors in real-time), it seems more likely than not that the expansion continues in the coming several months. The longer-term outlook remains neutral/negative as we are likely in the later part of this cycle, he said. Reece explained his methodology to The Epoch Times and discussed the indicators from which he derives his predictions for the U.S. economy. Leading Economic Indicator Index Reece said the leading economic indicator index (LEI), published by the Conference Board, stayed above zero in mid-January, with a year-over-year reading of 0.1. Those pretty much always go negative year-over-year going into a recession and were not quite there, he explained. This picture keeps me generally positive on the outlook for the U.S. economy, Reece said, adding, Id get incrementally negative on the business cycle outlook if the LEI YoY went negative. On Jan. 23, the Conference Board released updated LEI figures (pdf), showing a decline in December of 0.3. The US LEI declined slightly in December, driven by large negative contributions from rising unemployment insurance claims and a drop in housing permits, said Ataman Ozyildirim, Senior Director of Economic Research at The Conference Board, in a news release. The LEI has now declined in four out of the last five months. Its six-month growth rate turned slightly more negative in the final quarter of 2019, with the manufacturing indicators pointing to continued weakness in the sector. However, financial conditions and consumers outlook for the economy remain positive, which should support growth of about 2 percent through early 2020. Factory Numbers The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) publishes a Report on Business that includes a key measure called the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which tracks manufacturing activity. If the PMI print reads above 50, the sector is expanding, while a figure below 50 means its in contraction territory. The manufacturing PMIs look very weak. This has been a manufacturing-led slowdown, Reece said. Although services have held up really well. The services numbers, also called NMI, show a reading of 55 in the chart Reece provided, while manufacturing PMI sits at a lackluster 47.2. A similar measure to the ISM PMI is the Markit PMI, which tracks both manufacturing and services. The most recent Markit PMI print for the United States shows that private sector companies expanded their business activity in January at the fastest rate in 10 months, with the gains led by a strong showing in services, but dragged down by manufacturing. The recovery of growth momentum across the U.S. private sector continued to quicken at the start of 2020, with overall output rising at the sharpest pace since last March, said Sian Jones, an economist at IHS Markit, in a news release (pdf). Both the composite index and the services index grew, while one of the manufacturing components of the Markit PMI stayed flat and the other dropped to a 3-month low. The underlying data highlights a manufacturing sector that is not out of the woods yet, with goods producers seeing only modest gains in output and new orders, Jones said. The U.S. economy is increasingly a service-based economy and less manufacturing centric, said Greg McBride, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Analyst at Bankrate, in a statement to The Epoch Times, explaining that a weaker factory print can be offset by strength in services. The solid underlying economic fundamentalslow unemployment, growth in jobs, income and consumer spendingare responsible for sustained economic growth, McBride added. Further, service-sector firms are less susceptible to trade disputes and tariffs and have shown a robustness the manufacturing sector has not. Housing Starts Reece also noted the presence of a number of disconfirming indicators that support an optimistic outlook for the U.S. economy. One of these is new housing starts. Were at a cycle high for housing starts in the U.S., he said, explaining that building permits are a long leading indicator. If you get a building permit to build a house then thats going to turn into construction activity, which is going to turn into buying household durable goods like refrigerators, Reece said. You normally dont see an economy going into an imminent recession with building permits on a cycle high. Commenting on the figures, he said the absence of warning signs in the data makes a strong argument for continued economic expansion. A report from the National Association of Realtors followed on the heels of government data last week showing home-building raced to a 13-year high in December, prompting President Donald Trump to laud the spike in new home construction. Tremendous surge in new housing construction in December, 16.9%, biggest in many years! The president wrote on Twitter. Tremendous surge in new housing construction in December, 16.9%, biggest in many years! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2020 Tight Credit Spreads Reece said another disconfirming recession signal were high-yield credit spreads, which go up when investors are spooked by troubling economic conditions and demand a risk premium to lend to higher-risk borrowers like CCC-rated companies. The high yield credit spread has continued to come down and remains below what I consider the warning level, Reece said, adding that he would become incrementally negative on the business cycle outlook if the spread moves above 5. The chart he provided shows the high-yield credit spread sitting at 3.34 in mid-January. Conflicting Yield-curve Signals Yield-curve inversions on various U.S. Treasury-issued securities are an oft-cited predictor of recession, which Reece said have sent mixed signals this time around. The 10-year/3-month yield curve was inverted from May to October 2019, meaning the 3-month yield was higher than the 10-year yield. Historically, thats a 1-year to 2-year leading indicator, Reece said of the inverted 10-year/3-month curve, adding, meaning theres a good chance youre going to be in recession a year later or two years later. He added as a caveat that the yield-curve indicator only goes back to the 1950s or 1960s, providing a relatively small sample size from which to infer future trends. We usually are working with seven cycles, so seven recessions, which is a small sample size, and thats something to keep in mind, he explained. However, we did not have inversion on the 10-year/3-year, Reece said of another yield-curve measure. So thats a bit of a conflicting signal because the 10-year/3-year has historically been a very good predictor of recessions. Thats why I say that the yield curve is sending me a conflicting signal, he added. Other frameworks Reece tracks include GDP nowcasts and forecasts, the U.S. household credit cycle moving averages which show the percent of household debt that is delinquent, and U.S. consumer confidence measures. My base-case scenario is that were probably going to see the data start to improve, Reece said. Some of the data thats been weak like the manufacturing PMIs maybe most importantly, to see those improve in the coming months, and then were going to get this kind of cycle extension, which could last for a few more years. Reece said he updates the forecast every month and revises his predictions in whatever direction the data points to. Its important to say were not really out of the woods yet, Reece added. I still really want to see some of these key indicators improve over the next two or three months in order to get confirmation of that base-case scenario that were going to be coming out of the slowdown and extending the cycle. Between 900 and 1,800 hundred people were evacuated from an outdoor camp in the north of the French capital on Tuesday as part of a push from government and state officials to show they are being tough on irregular migration. Carrying bags and leaving behind tents, mattresses, bicycles and various objects, people living in the camp calmly boarded buses to be taken to gymnasia or temporary housing. I'm relieved by this operation because it was getting hard to bear the cold, Yssouf, a 29-year-old man from Cote d'Ivoire, told AFP agency. I'm happy to be offered housing, even though I know it will not last long. It's better than nothing. State officials estimated between 900 and 1,800 people lived in the muddy camp of tents and shacks at the Porte d'Aubervilliers site near the Peripherique ring road. Police evacuated some 1,600 people and dismantled a similar camp at the nearby Porte de la Chapelle on 7 November after the government promised to clear insalubrious camps from the north-east of the French capital. The operation follows the one in early November at Porte de la Chapelle and is consistent with the engagement of Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, said Paris police chief Didier Lallement at the scene of the evacuation. Endless cycle of evacuations Since the closure of the huge jungle migrant camp in the northern city of Calais in 2016, many asylum seekers have moved to Paris. Police have regularly dismantled illegal campsites only to see them pop up in different locations. Lallement said police would patrol the Porte d'Aubervilliers site to ensure a camp would not resurface, claiming they had successfully done do at Porte de la Chapelle. We will not fall back into to the endless cycle of evacuations and resettlements, Lallement said, adding the camps were places of poverty and desperation but also of criminality. some 300 migrants have set up a new camp at the nearby Porte de la Villette as migrants with complex and irregular immigration situations leave housing centres. Administrative hurdles keep a majority of inhabitants of these camps in the street, said NGO Utopia56, which offers humanitarian aid to people living in the camps. The appearance of new camps after each evacuation is inevitable. NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To help combat the leading cause of injury to seniors in the United States, namely accidental falls, Seniorsafetyreviews.com has reviewed the Best Medical Alert Systems of 2020. "Falls still cause the highest number of hip fractures, traumatic brain injuries, emergency room visits and hospitalizations of any injury to seniors," said Marc Felgar Co-Founder of Seniorsafetyreviews.com. "What if you fall and your spouse is out or you live alone? Or you fall and you're unable to shout for help? That's where medical alert systems offer safety and peace of mind you'll save valuable time and get treatment sooner." Medical alert systems remain one of the most effective and simplest ways for seniors to get help in the event of a fall or medical emergency. Newer technologies, such as automatic fall detection, GPS, mobile 2 way talk and medication reminders, now offer an unprecedented set of solutions to address more needs than ever before. "Technology is playing an increasingly important role in solving some of caregiving's biggest challenges. Medical alert systems, fall detectors and GPS help family members provide their loved ones with the security necessary to live on their own with peace of mind," said Felgar. "We hope that decreasing the stigma around medical alert systems will increase its use and result in seniors being less fearful of falling, more active and more independent." Seniorsafetyreviews.com reviewed product features, performance, service levels, pricing and contract terms of over 20 medical alert companies to help family caregivers and seniors identify the best solutions for their needs, while avoiding the least reputable companies. Users can see a quick comparison of the most relevant medical alert features, with ratings and reviews of each system here. Preview of the best Medical Alert Systems compared and reviewed: Medical Guardian Philips Lifeline Bay Alarm Medical LifeFone LifeStation MobileHelp ADT Life Alert About Seniorsafetyreviews.com: Seniorsafetyreviews.com is focused on providing the advice, tools and products necessary to help family caregivers keep their loved ones safe and independent. Co-founders Marc and Trisha Felgar created Seniorsafetyreviews.com to help older adults live easier and thrive as they meet the excitement and challenges of their senior years. SOURCE Seniorsafetyreviews.com Related Links https://www.seniorsafetyreviews.com/ Every time that a curator at the National Portrait Gallery reaches out to San Antonio-based photographer Al Rendon about one of his images, he always includes some others, too. That gambit has paid off. It made the curators aware of an image he shot several years ago of Chicano scholar Tomas Ybarra-Frausto and his partner, Dudley Brooks. The color photograph, taken in the airy downtown apartment the couple shared at the time, has been acquired by the gallery. The gallery, which is in Washington, D.C., aims to spotlight people who have had an impact on the culture, development and history of the United States. It includes more than 23,000 items, ranging from daguerreotypes to digital images. Including his latest contribution, Rendon, 62, is represented by four images of Latino luminaries. The others are black-and-white photographs of Tejano superstar Selena, conjunto legend Flaco Jimenez and famed writer Sandra Cisneros. When Rendon was asked to submit an image of Jimenez, he included the shot of Ybarra-Frausto and Brooks, which he had shot around 2009, too. As it happens, Taina Caragol, curator of painting and sculpture & Latino art and history at the gallery, had long wanted to add an image of Ybarra-Frausto to the collection. Hes such an important art historian who has really changed the landscape of American art history, Caragol said. He has really made it more expansive to include Chicano and Latino artists. So I had been looking for portraits of him for quite a while. Rendon had gotten to know Ybarra-Frausto and Dudley when they were living in New York. Ybarra-Frausto was working on a monograph about San Antonios Alameda Theatre, and Rendon took photographs of people who had been interviewed for it. When they moved here to San Antonio, the first place they lived was an upstairs apartment on Commerce Street next door to Penners, and thats where I photographed them, Rendon said. I asked if I could do some portraits it may have been for another purpose. They were very gracious and let me come over. Its been in my archive all this time. On ExpressNews.com: Tomas Ybarra-Fraustos love of theater bloomed in SA He showed Caragol several images he had taken of them. I found them absolutely beautiful, Caragol said. The portrait we acquired is a very intimate portrait of Tomas and Dudley in their home in San Antonio, and it says a lot about Tomas and, at the same time, it says a lot about Al himself. I think that theres a beautiful reciprocity in this photograph, because both Tomas and Al are people who are very very committed and very devoted to highlighting Mexican American, Tejano and Chicano traditions and culture. Thats something you see through their work in different ways, Tomas through his writing and all of his curatorial work. And you see it in Al Rendons work, through his wonderful photographs and his devotion to creating a visual record of the cultural contributions that Tejanos have made to this country. The first image of his to go into the collection was the image he snapped of Selena in 1993. It got there in large part because of Rendons tenacity. Initially, I made a special trip to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., several years ago, around 01, to specifically try to get them to get my Selena photo into the gallery because I knew of her importance, he said. He had met Marc Pachter, who was director of the gallery at the time, when Pachter gave a presentation at the Witte Museum. Rendon told him about his Selena portrait, and Pachter expressed some interest. Rendons efforts to follow up via email failed. So he decided to make a case for the image in person. Thats what it took, he said. Once I made that connection with him and then showed him the portrait I had a digital copy to show him then it started the ball rolling and they acquired that portrait. I guess having that portrait in there helped keep me on their radar. The Selena image was part of American Cool, a 2014 exhibit that also included images of icons such as James Dean and Elvis Presley. In an interview with the Express-News about the show, American Cool co-curator Joel Dinerstein said Rendons Selena portrait captures a side of the vocalist that some might not immediately connect with her. On ExpressNews.com: Torch of Friendship sculptor donates another work to San Antonio I think the image people have of Selena who are not aware of her or only superficially aware of her is that she seemed to be relentlessly upbeat, which is fine, Dinerstein said. Cool itself is about sort of being a little bit more relaxed and intense my phrase for the aesthetic is relaxed intensity and I think that thats what this image shows. The photo of Jimenez, which Rendon shot while the music legend played a gig at the Blanco Ballroom in the late 1980s, was displayed in an exhibit of recent acquisitions by the gallery in 2017. He snapped Cisneros photograph in 1998, on the porch of the famed purple house she lived in in King William. Cisneros now lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Having his work included in such a revered collection means a lot, Rendon said. Those images will forever be in that collection and, over time, will be toured to different exhibits and the greater American public gets to see them, he said. Any artist of their worth wants to get their work in that type of institution. Im very proud to have four portraits in that collection. There is an additional source of pride for him, as well. Most of the photos are in wooden frames hand-carved by his dad, Enrique, who died in 2015 at the age of 98. Its a sneaky way of getting my dad in there, too, Rendon said. He was a woodworker and an artist, as well. dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN NetBase Quid will give businesses an unprecedented solution to understanding consumer and market data. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NetBase, the industry leader in social media analytics, announced today it will merge with Quid, a leader in AI driven text analytics. The combined company is the next generation consumer and market intelligence platform. The platform will deliver contextual insights that reveal business trends from across all forms of structured and unstructured data. The two companies will join forces under their new collective name, NetBase Quid. In today's age of information overload, NetBase Quid will deliver businesses an unprecedented solution that is faster, more accurate and actionable and with access to billions of indexed resources - from social media posts, consumer reviews, product reviews, news articles to business filings, to patent applications, and forums - which can be aggregated, analyzed, and visualized in order to discover consumer and market insights. The enhanced platform will deliver clear, real-time and actionable results so that customers can distinguish between critical and non-essential business issues, ultimately empowering them to make smarter, data driven decisions quickly and efficiently. "Like us, Quid has a client-first focus, is deeply connected to technology, driven by purpose and acts as a leader in the evolving consumer and market data analytics landscape," said Peter Caswell, Chairman & CEO of NetBase. We have always been impressed with Quid's technology and leadership. We are confident this merger will help our customers accelerate the growth of their businesses, while enabling them to benefit from the highly personalized service experience they have always enjoyed." "Joining forces just makes sense," said Bob Goodson, CEO of Quid. "We see a great opportunity to transform the landscape of business intelligence using unstructured data. This merger gives our clients the best possible tools and resources to make them as fully informed as possible while making complex business decisions." Following the completion of the merger, Caswell will lead NetBase Quid as Chairman & CEO. Quid CEO Bob Goodson will be assuming the role of President. NetBase Quid's leadership team will include senior executives from both NetBase and Quid, reflecting both companies' commitment to their customers. "Merging Quid and NetBase will help enable the next wave of innovative customer analytics," added Pamela Mittoo, Manager of Technical Consumer Research at Coca-Cola. "This new company will provide the ultimate resource in understanding consumer context." "Both NetBase and Quid enable the strategic work we do at FleishmanHillard. Combining NetBase's and Quid's contextual AI and breadth of data sources will give us unparalleled visibility into any landscape analysis, including our clients' brand coverage, the industries they serve, and new areas of opportunity for our clients and their customers" said, Brian Mossop, Senior Vice President, FleishmanHillard. "This will definitely be a game changer for our business and our clients." "This kind of platform is sure to attract a slew of new, innovative customers," said Don Butler, Managing Director at Thomvest Ventures, the leading VC funding NetBase. "New, growing businesses have an abundance of unstructured data they don't know what to do with, and NetBase Quid is addressing the need of the evolving landscape." For more information on NetBase Quid, please visit here. ABOUT NETBASE NetBase is the award-winning social analytics platform that global companies use to run brands, build businesses, and connect with consumers every second. Its platform processes millions of social media posts daily for actionable business insights for marketing, research, customer service, sales, PR, and product innovation. NetBase is a trusted partner to American Airlines, Arby's, Coca-Cola, Ogilvy, T-Mobile, United Airlines, and YUM! Brands. Learn more at netbase.com. ABOUT QUID Contributed photo * In December 2019, Kevin Berean, a teacher at Amity Middle School in Bethany, experienced Mars. Funded by NASA, Berean was one of eight middle school teachers in the United States to be selected for Spaceward Bound Utah, a 5-day workshop at the Mars Desert Research Station in Hanksville, Utah where he experienced what living on Mars might be like in the future. Spaceward Bound is an educational program organized at NASA Ames in partnership with The Mars Society and funded by the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Berean, a technology and engineering teacher at Amity Middle School, was selected for the program that trains teachers how to engage their students in activities that will inspire careers in the space sciences by taking teachers into the field with scientists who are working on space-related research. * The Connecticut Invention Convention has been a catalyst for more than 300,000 K-12 students to innovate since its founding 37 years ago. The Connecticut program is the longest-running of its kind and is a model for the global network known as Invention Convention Worldwide. Participating students have gone on to win awards, receive patents and bring their inventions to market. EAST HAMPTON Author Christopher Wigren will speak about his award-winning book, Connecticut Architecture: Stories of 100 Places at the East Hampton Public Library next month. The event will be held Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. in the community room at 105 Main St. The talk is part of the Cabin Fever History Series organized by the Chatham Historical Society and co-sponsored by the library, according to a press release. Wigren, deputy director of the Preservation Connecticut, formerly the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, is embarking on an architectural tour around the state during which he discusses highlights from his book. His work earned the Spirit of Connecticut award at the 2019 Connecticut Book Awards, the release said. Wigren celebrates Connecticuts architectural diversity and beauty of craft, utility and design through the centuries. Connecticut boasts some of the oldest and most distinctive architecture in New England, from Colonial churches and Modernist houses to refurbished 19th-century factories, the release said. The states history includes landscapes of small farmsteads, country churches, urban streets, tobacco sheds, quiet maritime villages, and town greens, as well as more recent suburbs and corporate headquarters. In his guide, Wigren introduces readers to 100 places across the state, the news release continued. Written for travelers and residents alike, the book features buildings visible from the road. Wigren, of New Haven, is an architectural historian whose articles and essays have appeared in the Hartford Courant, New Haven Register and Connecticut Explored magazine. Preservation Connecticut was established in 1975 to protect and promote buildings, sites, structures, and landscapes that contribute to the heritage and vitality of Connecticut communities, according to its mission. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served and goodwill donations are accepted. To register, visit the librarys website at httpshttp://bit.ly/2vwYjUi or call 860-267-6621. For information, contact Marty Podskoch at 860-267-2442 or podskoch@comcast.net. [January 28, 2020] Air Moldova selects airRM as its Revenue Management System SEATTLE, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Accelya (formerly Revenue Management Systems Inc.) is proud to announce that Air Moldova is now live with Accelyas state-of-the-art revenue management, inventory control, and reporting tool, airRM. The software will enable Air Moldova to identify sales opportunities, maximize passenger revenues, closely control pricing, and analyze performance. airRM is a continually evolving airline revenue management system, with ground-breaking tools that integrate and display critical information from multiple sources, enabling airlines to make better and more profitable decisions. The solution is currently used by more than 100 of the most successful carriers in the world. We are excited to announce Moldovas flag carrier has chosen airRM as their preferred revenue management solution to manage their growing destinations in Europe, said Caroline Furtado, Manager of Sales and Account Management at Accelya. airRM significantly reduces the time required for the Yield Management team to implement their existing RM strategies. We look forward to collaborating with the team in the near future. Air oldova is happy and excited to become one of Accelyas customers, said Tatiana Botnari, Revenue Management Director at Air Moldova. We really hope that airRM technologies will improve profitability and will support growth. The system has already proved its effectiveness on revenue generation. We really appreciate the airRM professional team for giving us all the necessary training and support, during the integration period and during the daily use of the system. About Air Moldova Air Moldova is the leading carrier of the Republic of Moldova. It operates direct flights to 33 destinations and is one of the most recognized brands in the country. More information about Air Moldova may be found at www.airmoldova.md About Accelya Accelya is a leading global provider of technology platforms, software and services to the travel and transport industry. Accelya has been delivering business-critical ?nancial, commercial, cargo and analytics solutions for more than 40 years. With over 200 airline customers, and operations spread across 14 countries, Accelya employs over 2,500 professionals worldwide. Accelya offers a modular suite of technology solutions for air travel, from offer to settlement, solving critical business problems for airlines, travel agents and industry bodies such as IATA. Accelyas solutions are organized around customers key functions including commercial planning and optimization, sales & distribution management, financial reconciliation & settlement. Paramount to Accelyas success is the exceptional breadth of understanding of industry data which allows the delivery of insightful and reliable solutions that reduce process friction in a complex inter-dependent industry. For more information please visit www.accelya.com Contacts Rose Fernandez at +34 913156840 / [email protected] Air Moldovas Press Office: [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Nigeria may begin to export rice in two years, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, has said. The minister said this during a press conference after a visit by Nestle Nigeria, in Lagos, on Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement. With the improved production rate, Nigerian rice will soon be exported. Before the closure of our land border, most of these rice milling plants were partially operating, but now, they not only operate in full capacities but are also expanding, the statement said. If we maintain the momentum in the next two years, we may export rice to other countries, he added. Mr Nanono said the countrys land border closure had resulted in increased output by many rice milling plants which were operating below capacities before the closure. Nigerias border closure has reduced foreign rice prevalence in the Nigerian markets, and the governments Anchor Borrowers Program, amidst numerous challenges, has contributed to local rice production. The programme, among other things, is expected to increase banks financing to the agriculture sector and to create a new generation of farmers as well as to boost employment. I was worried in terms of the production of rice, but what I have found out is that most rice producers have stocked rice for the next six months, the minister said. He emphasised that before the stored quantity is finished, dry season rice will be harvested, and before that finishes, the rainy season will come back. He stressed that it is only in three months, November to January, that rice is not being grown in the country. We cultivate rice in a nine- month cycle. Probably as we move on, the cycle will widen, so we do not have a problem with rice processing, he said. Also, he said that there had been expansion of local rice Value Chain as well as the creation of more jobs, due to increase in rice production. As at today, we have 11 rice milling plants with the capacity to produce from 180 tonnes to 350 tonnes of rice per day, the statement highlighted. It also revealed that in a few months, another mill with a capacity to produce 400 tonnes of rice each day is going to be opened, 34 smaller mills and then clusters, will be established in different areas. He added that local rice farmers were fully engaged and used between 200 and 300 farm lands directly. The minister lauded Nestle Nigeria PLC for its role in assisting local farmers and creating jobs for Nigerians. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nestle Nigeria PLC, Mauricio Alarcon, said there are many opportunities for collaboration in Nigeria. We source 80 per cent of our products locally. We source 100 per cent of Maize for Golden Morn, locally. Soya,millet, sugar, salt and cocoa are locally- sourced. What to expect from the Indo-China military commander level talks We will continue to deal with Chinese PLA in firm, resolute manner: Army chief India has everything needed to be hub for medical tourism: PM Modi India summons Pak diplomat, protests hindu woman's kidnapping India pti-PTI New Delhi, Jan 28: India on Tuesday summoned a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission and issued a strong demarche over the abduction of a Hindu girl from her wedding in Sindh province, official sources said. India also asked the Pakistan government to investigate the matter and take urgent action for protecting and promoting the security, safety and welfare of its citizens including the minority Hindu community. It asked Pakistan to take immediate measures to expeditiously bring the perpetrators of such despicable and heinous acts to justice. "India summoned a senior official from the Pakistan High Commission and made a strong demarche against abduction of a girl from Hindu minority from her marriage ceremony on January 25, with the help of local police in Hala city of Sindh province," an official source said. India also issued a demarche regarding the desecration of Mata Rani Bhatiyani temple in Tharparkar, Sindh province, on January 26. Cattle Market Red at Midday Barchart - 1 hour ago Front month cattle futures are trading 12 to 82 cents weaker so far with the nearbys down the most. The weekly FCE auction sold 379 of the 3,050 head listed for $137. One smaller pen of steers went for... LEG22 : 136.500 (-0.85%) LEM22 : 136.250 (-0.44%) GFF22 : 161.825 (-0.15%) GFH22 : 165.100 (-0.75%) Triple Digit Gains for Cotton Barchart - 1 hour ago The front month cotton futures market is 81 to 193 points stronger. New crop prices are also gaining 68 to 73 points at midday. USDA left the average cash price for cotton at 90 cents/lb in the Monthly... CTK21 : 89.48s (+3.77%) CTK22 : 115.12 (+1.08%) CTZ21 : 111.55s (+0.25%) Corn Futures Trading Red After Reports Barchart - 1 hour ago Corn futures are weaker as the USDA data dump gets digested. Old crop is 3 to 3 1/2 cents in the red so far. New crop futures are fractionally weaker. USDA maintained $5.45 as the cash average price. The... ZCH22 : 599-2 (-0.29%) ZCPAUS.CM : 5.8604 (-0.32%) ZCK22 : 600-6 (-0.29%) ZCZ21 : 588-6s (+0.77%) ZCPZ21US.CM : 5.7930 (-0.49%) Weekly U.S. Ethanol Production Scales Back, Stocks Jump to 47-Week High Renewable Fuels Association - Wed Jan 12, 11:02AM CST Report on U.S. ethanol production, usage, and stocks for the week ending January 7, 2022. 3 Top Dividend Growth Stocks With DRIPs Sure Dividend - Wed Jan 12, 10:48AM CST Dividend Reinvestment Plans, or DRIPs, allow investors to experience the power of compounding. This article discusses 3 top DRIP stocks. When Penny Goldstein met Nancy Ludin at a Jewish Community Center fundraiser, she was new in Central Florida. Nancy offered her a warm invitation to meet other Jewish women through the Friends of the Jewish Pavilion. Goldstein was amazed at the volunteer opportunities available from event planning to visiting seniors. She quickly found ways she could contribute. Mitzvah Maj with a resident at Tuskawilla Nursing & Rehab keeps Goldstein and other volunteers current on their mahjong skills. Their dedication allows the resident to continue her weekly mahjong game that she has been playing most of her life. The Jewish Pavilion Gala committee quickly recruited Goldstein. They loved her willingness help where needed. Happily, they used her creative, artistic abilities for displays at the Gala silent auction and creation of gift baskets. Goldstein says being part of the Jewish Pavilion has touched her heart. She loves the stories from the seniors about their lives and how the Pavilion volunteers have made a difference. She has attended Challah Bakes, luncheons, music programs and more. She loves being around other Jewish women making a difference in senior lives together. When not volunteering with the Jewish Pavilion, Penny shares her talents as art teacher at the Jewish Academy of Orlando, served on the Jewish National Fund board as chair for Women for Israel and helped with last year's Ohev Shalom gala. Join the Jewish Pavilion in honoring Penny Goldstein at this year's Jewish Pavilion Fashion Show on Feb. 26, 2020, at Dillard's Altamonte Mall. Enjoy the spring fashions, meet new friends and visit with old friends. You can make your reservations online at http://www.jewishpavilion.org or call 407-678-9363. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the full potential of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was not utilised because of the behaviour and policies of a single country, in a reference to Pakistan. "The full potential of SAARC has not been realised due to the behaviour and policies of a single country," Singh said at the 12th South Asia conference here. In order to substantiate his claim, Singh cited how "a single country" stalled the SAARC motor vehicles agreement at the last Kathmandu session in 2015. He emphasised that regional civil societies can influence governments through their proactive efforts. Underlying that South Asia is at a critical juncture of history, the Union Minister said: "We should not hold regional prosperity hostage to the interests of states who are obstructing all efforts aimed at regional cooperation. Our intra-regional trade has been abysmally low. We have to transcend these limitations." He said that the theme of this year's South Asia conference, 'India's 'Neighbourhood First' Policy: Regional Perceptions' is timely. The conference deals with a number of important issues, such as economic cooperation for development, changing political context in India's neighbourhood, common challenges of terrorism in South Asia and prospects of regional cooperation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Derek Parsons, professor of piano at Furman University in South Carolina, and Peter Cooper, dean of the School of Music at Southern Adventist University, will perform Healey Willans Piano Concerto in C minor, HWC76a on Monday, Feb. 10, at 4 p.m. They will play Caroline Owen and Prof. Parsonss arrangement for two pianos.That evening after the concert,Prof. Parsons will be hosting a piano masterclass at 6:30 p.m. The following evening, Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m., Prof. Parsons will perform a solo recital featuring the works of Haydn, Ginastera, Liszt and others.Since his orchestral debut at age 12, Prof.Parsons has been performing for audiences in a career that has spanned four decades. Critics have hailed him as a wonderfully sensitive musical artist (The Brantford Expositor). Active as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and collaborative artist, Prof. Parsons has performed throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Spain, Italy and China, playing repertoires of various styles, genres and periods.All of these events will take place in Ackerman Auditorium, Mabel Wood Hall (second floor) inCollegedale on Southerns campus, and will be free to attend. Imperial Valley News Center Governor Newsom Statement on Supreme Court's Decision on Trump Administration's Public Charge Rule Sacramento, California - Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement after todays decision by the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the public charge rule that targets low-income immigrant families: The effects of todays Supreme Court decision on the public charge rule will be devastating. Because of the public charge rule, families are already going hungry and people are avoiding needed medical care. California is actively reviewing the decision to determine next steps and provide further guidance to impacted Californians. California will continue to fight against these efforts to terrorize immigrant families. Anyone concerned about this ruling should seek qualified immigration advice. The Governors 2020-2021 state budget proposal includes a total of $75 million ongoing to support qualified nonprofit organizations that provide a broad array of qualified immigration services. A list of immigration services providers is available here. Anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam was on Tuesday arrested by Delhi Police's crime branch from Bihar's Jehanabad in a sedition case for allegedly making inflammatory speeches in Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh, officials said. They said police had questioned Imam's younger brother Muzzamil, and based on the information provided by him, Sharjeel Imam was nabbed in a joint operation by Bihar and Delhi police in afternoon near his ancestral house in Kako police station area. Imam was later produced in court which granted the Delhi police his transit remand for 36 hours. However, Imam, who was among the initial organisers of the protest against the amended citizenship law at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, claimed that he had surrendered before the police. "I have surrendered to the Delhi Police on 28. 1. 2020 at 3 PM. "I am ready and willing to to operate with the investigation. I have full faith in due process of law. My safety and security are now in the hand of Delhi Police. Let peace prevail," he tweeted. Imam's lawyer Mishika Singh told PTI that he was willing to cooperate in the investigation. The PhD student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies has been booked on sedition and other charges in several states after purported videos of his alleged inflammatory speeches made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act were circulated on social media. An FIR was registered against him by Delhi Police on January 25 under IPC sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 A (promoting or attempting to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever) among others. "Two videos came to light, one was on December 13 at Jamia Milia Islamia and other was on January 16 at Aligarh, where it was noticed that Imam had delivered very inflammatory speeches in opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens and such comments can potentially affect religious harmony and weaken the unity and integrity of the country," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said in Delhi. During investigation, police said they saw Imam in a video on January 25 attending an anti-CAA rally in Bihar. "The Crime Branch team was sent to Bihar on the same day. They were in touch with Patna and Jehanabad Police and were continuously conducting raids. "On Monday, Imam's brother Muzzamil was interrogated. On the basis of the interrogation, information regarding Imam were obtained, following which he was apprehended around 2 pm on Tuesday," Deo said, adding he will be brought to the national capital and later produced in Saket Court. The SIT of Crime Branch, which is also investigating three cases related to clashes on December 13 and December 15 in Delhi, will analyse if his speeches had played any role in inciting the violence, the police said. Jehanabad Superintendent of Police Manish Kumar said Imam was arrested from a place in Kako police station area and produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate R K Rajak. He was handed over to a Delhi police team on transit remand for 36 hours, he said. The officer did not disclose further details of the arrest. Police had raided several places including Imam's ancestral home on Sunday but he evaded the dragnet. He has also been booked by police in other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Manipur. Imam's remarks have been cited by the BJP to target anti-CAA protesters and the parties backing them. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said Imam's speech was "more dangerous" than that of former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. "See his statement. Have you seen the video of (the speech of) Sharjeel?It is more dangerous than Kanhaiya Kumar's statement," he said. "He (Sharjeel) is talking about cutting off the Chicken's Neck to sever Assam from India. Even seven generations would not be able to do that," Shah said at an event in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The Chicken's Neck is a narrow stretch of land of about 22 km in West Bengal that connects the northeastern states to the rest of India, with Nepal and Bangladesh lying on either side of the corridor. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the arrested student activist "ought to have an understanding of the country's Constitution and the law... if anybody talks about India's disintegration, who is going to accept this". Kumar also stressed that people like Sharjeel were "exceptions" and did not represent "views held by a large section of people". The chief minister said that Bihar police, which had been conducting raids at Imam's house and questioning his family members prior to his arrest on Tuesday, had helped the Delhi police. Residents of Malik Tola locality in Kako police station area of the district, where Imams' ancestral house is situated, said that a heavy police contingent had raided the premises at about 4 am and picked by Muzammil Imam. The police had raided Imam's ancestral home on Sunday night after "help was sought by central agencies". In the video, Imam was heard saying: "If five lakh people are organised, we can cut off the northeast and India permanently. If not, at least for a month or half a month. Throw as much 'mawad' (variously described as pus or rubbish) on rail tracks and roads that it takes the Air Force one month to clear it. "Cutting off Assam (from India) is our responsibility, only then they (the government) will listen to us. We know the condition of Muslims in Assam....they are being put into detention camps.," A graduate in computer science from IIT-Bombay, Imam had pursued research at the Centre for Historical Studies at the JNU. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Exegesis, the critical interpretation of scripture, is not an Islamic tradition, and for Orthodox Muslims like Shaheen, the Quran is the uncreated, eternal, inviolate word of God. Nasr, meanwhile, was the author of books titled Critique of Islamic Discourse and Rationalism in Exegesis: A Study of the Problem of Metaphor in the Writing of the Mutazilah. The socially timid, bespectacled scholar was a freethinker who challenged the orthodox tradition in Islam and argued that the Quran had to be understood both metaphorically and in its historical context. He was a man of his time, eager to help his fellow Muslims apply the teachings of the Quran to the modern world. To do that, he believed that the human dimension of the Quran needs to be reconsidered. So although the Quran was indeed the word of God, Nasrs argument was that it had been revealed to the prophet Muhammad through the use of a language, a local dialect even, rooted in a specific context: the Arabic language of the Arabian Peninsula of the seventh century. If the word of God had not been embodied in human language, how could anyone understand it? Nasr was not starting from scratch: he was building on a great inheritance that went back to the eighth century. His masters thesis had been about the Mutazilah, the rationalist Islamic movement drawing on Greek philosophy that had first stirred a big debate between reason and dogma barely two hundred years after the founding of Islam. The Mutazilah first emerged in the eighth century, in Basra, in todays southern Iraq. They believed that while Gods speech was uncreated and revealed to the prophet, the writing of the Quran was an earthly phenomenon: words, ink, paper. Furthermore, the writing had happened well after the revelation and the death of the prophet. The Mutazilah applied reason to the study of the holy book and believed in free will. Their movement reflected the times they were living in the Abbasid era was the golden age of Islam, the time of science and philosophy, of Abu Nuwass libertine poetry about love and wine, the thousand and one days and nights of Scheherazade, and the Abbasid caliph Haroun al Rashid. Baghdads famed library, the House of Wisdom, became the repository of world knowledge, overflowing with original and translated works. At the same time in Baghdad, also under the Abbasid caliphate, was Ahmad ibn Hanbal, founder of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence: resolutely orthodox, literalist, and opposed to the Mutazilah doctrine, which had become state doctrine. His opposition landed him in jail, and his following surged. Hanbalis believed Muslims had lost their way, and as the Abbasid caliphate weakened, the followers of Ibn Hanbal became more organized, leading the fight against rationalism and anything that could distract from the purest form of the original faith, including music. They set up in fact a kind of Sunni inquisition. [ Return to the review of Black Wave. ] As the four major schools of jurisprudence slowly crystallized, orthodoxy also settled in. Some Sunni religious leaders believed most major religious matters had been settled and began to restrict the gates of ijtihad, independent reasoning, to give precedence to emulation. Reading, understanding, and explaining the Quran would have to rely on the body of knowledge accumulated up until thenthe Mutazilah period was over. Hanbalism would later soar and spread to Persia and the area around Palestine, where Ibn Taymiyyah was one of its stars, before declining again during the Ottoman era, under the weight of its own rigidity and intolerance. Its geographical influence would slowly be reduced to the austere interior of the Arabian Peninsula, the arid plateau of Najd, home of the first Saudi kingdomwhere Muhammad ibn Abdelwahhab took it to another level. TROY A Rensselaer County Court judge presided over a closed hearing Monday to address a protective order for a witness in a 2019 Lansingburgh killing of a New York City woman. The hearing was requested by Assistant District Attorney Cheryl McDermott and is permitted under the states newly updated discovery laws to allow the judge to determine whether access to any evidentiary materials should be limited in order to ensure the safety of a witness. The defense attorneys for the trio accused in the fatal early-morning shooting of 19-year-old Beyonce Wint have argued the protective order is a prosecution tactic to prevent them from seeing materials crucial to their case. Idelisse N. Armstead, 24, of Brooklyn, Antwaun Twitty, 30, of Burlington, Vt., and Isaiah Williams, 21, of Brooklyn are each charged with second-degree murder in Wints death. The young woman, who had lived in Queens and Manhattan, was killed outside 432 Fourth Ave. at about 3 a.m. on Sept. 17 by a single shot to her head, according to police and prosecutors. The DA is moving to shield the testimony of a grand jury witness from the defense, (someone) who we feel is relevant for evaluating the evidence against my client, said Assistant Conflict Defender Joseph Ahearn, who represents Twitty. Shane Hug, defense attorney for Williams, said prosecutors have not done what they are required to provide under the discovery statute, and maintained the request for the protective order is not supported by the law. Assistant Public Defender Williams Roberts said at this point everyone is working through the requirements of the new discovery statutes. The protective order is a tactic to hold back evidence, said Roberts, who represents Armstead. Judge Jennifer Sober is hearing the case and has begun a review of the protective order motion and the relevant evidence in question. A spokeswoman for District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly said the office had no comment on the matter. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The changes in the states discovery laws require that within 15 days from the date of a defendants arraignment, the prosecution must turn over to the defense evidence including statements, names of witnesses, recordings, 911 calls and other material germane to the case. District attorneys and police have complained about the short time frame and the amount of additional work involved. The change in the law was intended to provide a level playing field and ensure that both sides have the same information in criminal cases, said Laurie Shanks, an Albany Law School emerita professor of law and longtime defense attorney. The protective order statute is clear on its requirements and how it can be applied, she noted. Troy police considered Wint's killing to be a challenging investigation: The victim and the three defendants did not have ties to the city, and it took a months-long effort by multiple agencies to make the arrests. The grand jury testimony by the witness could be critical in tying the prosecution's case together. CNBC's Jim Cramer on Monday said investors should refrain from dumping stocks as fears of the deadly coronavirus jolt the stock market. "Don't panic. It almost never makes sense to sell right into the maw of a big freakout like this one," the "Mad Money" host said. "Instead of selling everything, you need to ask yourself: well, what's not impacted? What's going down that doesn't deserve to go down?" Since the onset of the outbreak last week, Cramer has cautioned about getting behind stocks that have a considerable amount of exposure to China's market, given that the virus originated and affected a large number of people in that country. The pneumonia-like virus has been blamed for more than 80 deaths in China and there are 2,900 reportedly ill across the globe. Airline and other travel-related stocks have fallen considerably as travel restrictions have been put in place, while Disney, McDonald's, Starbucks and other U.S. companies with presences in China have halted business there. A number of stocks will be discounted as panicked selling hits Wall Street. Cramer said investors should spot the ones out that are worth buying into weakness. With the exception of Owens Minor, "these are all conservative situations, but then again, I'm recommending them because they'll work regardless of whether or not we can contain the coronavirus outbreak in a short period of time," Cramer said. "You need that kind of peace of mind if you're going to try to buy anything into what I think could be a multi-day sell-off." AbbVie AbbVie is one of select stocks that climbed during the session, but the stock is down more than 5% this month. The biopharmaceutical company's HIV drug Aluvia is being used in China as a possible remedy for coronaivrus. Additionally, the company is inching closer to acquiring Allergan, which Cramer is bullish about because it will include Botox and a migraine pill that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved. "I think the estimates for this drug are way too low, which is why we want to buy more AbbVie for my charitable trust, which you can follow along by joining the ActionAlertsPlus.com club," Cramer said. "Meanwhile, the company's paying you a bountiful 5.6% dividend. That's not bad." Clorox Until a cure is discovered for coronavirus, Cramer noted that consumers will hit stores in droves to load up on germ-killing cleaning supplies to fend off the virus. The host said Clorox will be a beneficiary of this as people buy up their disinfecting wipes. Clorox stock rose on the market during the trading day. "Whenever there's an epidemic, Clorox's stock tends to be a winner," the host said. "It went up 10% during the H1N1 outbreak [in] 2009." McCormick With coronavirus spreading quickly, people may be inclined to stay in home to limit their odds coming in contact with the disease. Spice maker McCormick is the "ultimate stay-at-home stock," Cramer said. He flagged that the stock caught multiple downgrades from analysts, but found solace in that the stock is not far off its highs. "If you're too afraid to go out to eat ... you'll need to cook, and if you cook you need seasonings. Let's see what they say tomorrow," the host said. The company is set to report fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday morning. Owens & Minor Cramer pointed out global health-care solutions provider Owens & Minor as a stock worth getting into as health officials scramble to stop the spread of coronavirus. Owens & Minor owns Halyard, a large supplier of hospital gowns and masks. The stock, however, is down 80% over the past five years, while the S&P 500 is up 58% in that same span. Cramer said it's "not for the squeamish" investor, but added "historically it's been a good investment during a heavy flu season, and so I think it works here as long as you recognize" it's a speculative play. Moderna Moderna develops medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA. The biotechnology company is also reportedly working on a coronavirus vaccine. Cramer said he believes Moderna could be the company that comes up with a cure the quickest. "I wouldn't normally recommend a biotech stock as speculation on something like thisodds are, nobody's going to come up with a curebut Moderna has so much going for it that I actually think it's worth buying, here." "If you read The Lancet, one of the world's oldest medical journals ... they repeatedly point out that Thermo-Fisher's gene-sequencing technology is the key to figuring out how to treat the disease. The stock's been a tremendous performer, but it could be even better." Bristol-Myers Squibb Drugmaker Bristol-Myers reports earnings next week. Cramer said he bets the company will "lay out some synergy targets for the Celgene deal. Their infectious disease portfolio is strong and it's one more reason to buy the stock, plus, the 2.8% yield doesn't hurt." Vote will test whether Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns popularity overseas is matched at home. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday called an election for September 19, in a contest that will test whether her support at home matches her widespread popularity overseas. Arderns centre-left Labour Party-led coalition came to power in 2017, and is seeking a second term. I will be asking New Zealanders to continue to support my leadership and the current direction of the government, which is grounded in stability, a strong economy and progress on the long-term challenges facing New Zealand, Ardern told a media conference. Ardern won a surprise victory in 2017 after a campaign focusing on positive messaging and connecting directly with voters. Global praise The 39-year-old leader has since won praise globally for her views on issues such as womens rights, climate change and diversity. She became a mother while in office and was widely praised for her sensitive response to the Christchurch mosque attacks last year that led to a swift tightening of gun laws. Ardern said last week that her party would wage a relentlessly positive 2020 election campaign again, announcing her party had signed up to Facebooks advertising transparency tool to fight misinformation. But her government has grappled with issues, including housing, urban poverty, immigration, jobs and economic growth, which are all expected to be key election concerns. Two opinion polls in October suggested support for her ruling coalition at its lowest since 2017, and her own sky-high popularity was waning. Opposition leader Simon Bridges has led the centre-right New Zealand National Party into a more populist territory, attacking Ardern over a land dispute with Maori groups and attacking the gun buy-back scheme introduced after Christchurch. The government announced infrastructure projects worth 12 billion New Zealand dollars ($7.9bn) last month, boosting capital spending to its highest in 20 years, as it seeks to fire up the economy. We will be asking for a further term to get the job done, Ardern told the news conference. In addition to electing the next government, New Zealanders will also take part in a double referendum at the 2020 polls, as they vote on whether to legalise recreational cannabis and euthanasia. The parliament will be officially dissolved on August 12 and until then the government will function as usual, Ardern said. South-East and Midlands focused housebuilder Crest Nicholson has posted lower profits for the year to the end of October 2019. Pre-tax profits at the Chertsey-headquartered firm slumped by more than a third from 168.7million to 102.7million on the back of fewer house completions. Sales dipped only slightly though, falling by 27million to 1.1billion as the new chief executive Peter Truscott releases details of the company's updated strategy. Profits at the Chertsey-headquartered firm slumped by more than a third from 168.7million to 102.7million on the back of fewer house completions Truscott, who joined Crest in September after leaving rival Galliford Try, said the disappointing trading performance highlighted a need for the company to 'evolve and change.' He said the business will shift its strategy for the new year in a bid to return to growth, which he said will be achieved by increasing partnerships, maximising value in its land portfolio and driving operational efficiencies. Crest held firm on its financial forecasts for the current financial year, predicting another slight dip in profits, as it forecast adjusted pre-tax profits between 110million and 120million. However, the firm said it has seen 'encouraging signs' in the sector in recent months and believes last month's election has provided a more stable backdrop. Mr Truscott said: 'We have already taken decisive action in reducing our sales-related costs and overheads, launched an enhanced house type range including a full specification review, and have made organisational changes to realise our ambitions in our partnerships division. 'We have assembled an experienced new leadership team with the necessary skills and capabilities to take Crest Nicholson forward. As part of the company's strategy to the financial year of 2022, it aims to increase the number of completions to 3,500 from 2,922 last year 'In 2020 we will continue to work quickly in implementing further changes to improve performance and to create value for shareholders.' As part of the company's strategy to the financial year of 2022, it aims to increase the number of completions to 3,500 from 2,922 last year and for administrative expenses to account for around 5 per cent of sales. It also wants to increase its outlets by eleven, their return on capital to 20 per cent and for at least 20 to 25 per cent of homes to be affordable. Jenny Owen of investment platform AJ Bell, says Truscott's strategy has to overcome a number of in-built hurdles in order to succeed. She wrote: 'Crest is a high end operator, a large proportion of its new builds are ineligible for Help to Buy support, and it has a strong bias to the south east of England. 'As such it has been caught out by dwindling demand in this part of the market. Over 240,000 homes were built in the UK in 2018-19, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), compared to 124,720 in 2012-13 'The company is trying to move towards selling more affordable homes, but this is likely to take time and arguably it doesn't have the scale or expertise to compete with rivals for whom this part of the market is a more natural fit.' Crest Nicholson's figures come despite housebuilding reaching the highest level in three decades. Over 240,000 homes were built in the UK in 2018-19, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). 241,130 homes were constructed that year, and was almost double the number built in 2012-13, when it reached a low point of 124,720. Controversy has accompanied these higher figures though, as many new homes were designed under new 'permitted development' rules that allow commercial buildings to be converted into housing without the need for a planning application. The rules mean that developers are not required to meet certain standards and so it has led to 'rabbit-hutch' homes, homes built in isolated areas with lack of access to nearby services, and a loss of affordable housing. 'Today's full year results at least put some meat on the bones of Truscott's recovery plan which looks to increase volumes and returns.' Shares in Crest Nicholson were 7.1 per cent jsut before trading closed at 471.5p. Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has appointed Bianca Willauer as head Property & Specialty Lines, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), effective Feb. 1, 2020. In this role, Willauer will be responsible for the development and underwriting performance of Property & Specialty portfolios throughout EMEA. Based in Munich, she will oversee the General Property, Mining & Energy and Engineering & Construction portfolios. Willauer has more than 15 years of experience in the commercial insurance sector and has held various leadership roles in underwriting, risk management and finance with Allianz where she worked between January 2003 to December 2017, according to her LinkedIn profile. Over the past two years, she took a sabbatical on the Camino de Santiago Frances, her profile said. Willauer holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration and an MBA from WHU, Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany. I am delighted that Bianca will join our team. With her appointment, we gain a leader with a strong track record in the commercial insurance industry to oversee our property and specialty Lines business, states Fred Kleiterp, CEO EMEA, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. In addition, Biancas experience will help us to advance our international program offerings in the region. Source: Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Topics Excess Surplus Property Swiss Re Allianz Four alleged criminals fleeing in a stolen car were injured during a gunfight with police in Greater Noida on Tuesday night, officials said. A police constable was also injured in the cross-firing that took place at around 8.30 pm, they added. The accused were in a Chevrolet Beat car when they were intercepted at a security check point at Sunpura within the Ecotech 3 police station limits, but they opened fire and fled the spot, a police spokesperson said. "A truck and a pick-up truck, which were being driven by the gang members, followed the car and were chased down by police personnel. Around 8.30 pm, a gunfight began between the two sides on a service road near Tusyana village," he added. "While four injured criminals, who are undergoing treatment at the district hospital, were held during the encounter, two or three of their associates managed to escape and searches are on to nab them," the spokesperson said. Constable Feroz Khan suffered a bullet injury during the shootout and was hospitalised, he added. Those held were identified as Rohit Singh, Rinku, Sonu Shrivastava and Shanky, police said. Four firearms, along with ammunition, were seized from their possession, while the car, the 18-tyre truck and the pick-up truck were impounded, they added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Luis Arce, the presidential candidate for Evo Morales's Movement for Socialism party, was immediately served with a subpoena as he returned to Bolivia on Tuesday following a self-imposed exile in Mexico. Arce, who is due to stand for MAS in the May 3 election, is accused of a breach of duties and embezzlement during his tenure as economy minister. Morales was in power for almost 14 years before resigning on November 10 following three weeks of at times violent protests against his controversial re-election in an October poll. An audit from the Organization of American States found clear evidence of fraud. After resigning, Morales fled into exile in Mexico before settling in neighboring Argentina a month later. He is barred from running in the May election and an arrest warrant has been issued for him -- the interim government accuses him of sedition and terrorism -- but Morales has vowed to return to his homeland to lead the MAS campaign. When Arce arrived at the El Alto airport just outside La Paz, he was served with a subpoena by a police officer, a moment captured on video and widely shared on social media. An image on the website of newspaper Pagina Siete shows Arce signing the summons, which requires him to appear before public prosecutors on Wednesday morning. Rafael Quispe, the director of the Indigenous Development Fund, has called on Arce to be "summonsed, arrested and taken to jail" for his "alleged responsibility in the embezzlement of millions" from an indigenous fund while he was economy minister. However, Attorney General Heidy Gil said that no arrest warrant has been issued for Arce. He was met at the airport by his running mate, former foreign minister David Choquehuance, amid cheering supporters waving the "Wiphala" indigenous flag. Morales, 60, was Bolivia's first ever indigenous president and MAS derives much of its support from indigenous communities that were often marginalized under previous governments. Arce, 56, left the airport without speaking to the press as his supporters chanted: "Arce, president," and "Fight, friend, the people are with you." However, he later wrote on Twitter: "Together with the people, we will win. I feel a lot of affection and now we'll continue on our road to the presidency." Arce is considered the mastermind behind Bolivia's economic success under Morales. MAS led the most recent opinion poll with 26 percent -- although the survey was conducted before Arce was named as the party's candidate. Centrist Carlos Mesa, who came second to Morales in the disputed October election, and right-winger Luis Fernando Camacho each polled 17 percent. Interim president Jeanine Anez -- who controversially announced her candidacy on Sunday despite having previously insisted her role was only to lead the country into elections -- was in fourth place with 12 percent. Candidates have until February 3 to register. Duchess Kate of Cambridge, an ardent amateur photographer, proved her skills in Old Master-style photo portraits she took of Holocaust survivors to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazis' Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge shares a joke with Holocaust survivor Yvonne Bernstein. Credit:Getty The moving and artistically impressive photos were released by Kensington Palace Sunday night in advance of the annual Holocaust Memorial Day commemorative ceremony in Westminster on Monday. Prince William and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, were in attendance. Will, second in line to the throne, increasingly represents his father, Prince Charles the Prince of Wales, and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, at important ceremonies such as this. The ceremony took place on January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and honours survivors of the Holocaust, Nazi persecution, and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. This is the spectacular moment an ambitious rescue mission to save a baby elephant from a 25ft-deep well is finally pulled off. After the calf accidentally plunged down the waterhole in Jharkhand, eastern India, locals hatched an ingenious plan to save it. For two hours, they pumped gallons of water to float the elephant to the top, while at the same time using a JCB digger to scrape the ridge of the well into a ramp. To the frenzied whooping of amazed spectators, the animal eventually clambered out on to the land before lumbering off to be reunited with its herd. The large grey mammal rolls around in the shallow water in the bottom of the well in Jharkhand, eastern India Videos from the small village of Bantoli in the state's Gumla district captured the extraordinary rescue operation. The large grey mammal is first seen rolling around in the shallow water in the bottom of the well, seemingly distressed. Locals jump into action and fetch a hose which sprays water into the voluminous farm well at a painfully slow rate. The clip then cuts and shows the well which has now been filled up - almost two hours later according to local reports - and the elephant rearing its head above the surface. The elephant finally floats to the top and clambers over the ridge of the well, scrabbling its front feet to get a grip on the muddy terrain Astonished spectators gather to watch the rescue mission and shriek wildly as it is finally freed The JCB digger, which has excavated a slope for the elephant to use, is also seen beside the well. The calf scrabbles its front feet to get a grip on the muddy terrain and finally manages to haul itself up and over on to the land. By this time, hundreds of onlookers have gathered to watch and shriek wildly as the animal is freed. Eager to avoid being trampled by the disgruntled calf, they scurry backwards as it heaves itself to safety, but run after it as it lumbers off to join its herd. It joins three other elephants trudging down a dusty track, while the ecstatic locals continue to cheer. New Delhi, Jan 28 : Poor posture can not only make you look bad but can also have adverse effects on your overall health. "Maintaining a poor posture for long periods of time affects the natural alignment of the body and lowers energy levels. In addition to soreness and pain in the body, poor posture can also lead to physical and mental stress. "Posture defects can negatively influence lung function and lead to shortness of breath. Long term effects of bad posture could even impact blood circulation, digestive pattern as well as the nervous system. People who tend to slouch have also often reported having headaches," Dr Sumalatha KB, Consultant, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Aster CMI Hospital told IANSlife. The expert shares these top tips to maintain correct posture: 1. Become more mindful of your posture throughout the day, even when you are absorbed in any external activities. Exercises focusing on the body core help immensely in retraining the body to hold itself the right way, while also increasing self-awareness of the body. 2. Exercise in the correct form, and invest in rest and recovery after a workout. Engage in muscle-strengthening exercises. 3. It is advised to switch sitting positions, take brief walks and breaks from the computer system on your workdays. Do not stay in the sitting position for too long. Ensure you stand/walk often and stand straight while you do it. Doing this can help you prevent pain, injuries and other health problems. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Pawan Munjal-backed electric vehicle start-up Ather Energy, which has fast garnered a reputation for making high-end performance electric scooters, on Tuesday launched its second product, the 450X, at Rs 1.49-1.59 lakh. The company, which is so far present in just two cities - Bangalore and Chennai - also said it was entering four more cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad - with the launch of this scooter in July. Ather had launched its first product, the 450, in 2018 and has a 30,000 unit production facility in Whitefield in Bangalore. The firm said it has signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government to set up another bigger factory in Hosur with an annual capacity of 100,000 units which would be operational later this year. The company said it has completely upgraded the new scooter over the existing 450 with better battery, more powerful electric motor along with 4G and bluetooth connectivity. It has a 2.9 Kwh lithium ion battery pack against 450's 2.7 Kwh, and a 6 kilowatt motor against the incumbent's 5.4 kilowatt. The bigger motor has improved the scooter's peak torque by 30 per cent to 26 NM against 20.5 NM while offering a higher range on full charge at 116 kilometers from 107 kilometers. It has a top speed of 80 kmph and can do a 0-40 kph sprint in 3.3 seconds against 450's 3.84 seconds. ALSO READ: Bajaj Chetak is back! New electric scooter launched at Rs 1-1.15 lakh "The electric vehicle adoption will not happen just because you want to save the world because frankly there are not enough of us who want to do that. It will happen because it offers a better experience to the customers. That is what our scooters do," said Tarun Mehta, CEO and co-founder, Ather Energy. "When we started the company in 2013, the electric scooters on offer in the market were archaic, low speed and powered by lead acid batteries that did not give a good customer experience." "We wanted to change that and knew customer is willing to pay a premium for a better experience. Over the last two years we can say we have been vindicated as every new player that is entering the market today such as Bajaj and TVS is following our footsteps," he added. "With 450 we set the benchmark. With the 450X we are just raising it a notch." To allay fears of longevity of the battery, something Ather has learnt is a key worry for the customers over the years, it is also offering subscription-based models with lifetime guarantee on the battery. A customer can pay an upfront amount of Rs 99,000 for this and choose a monthly subscription pack of either Rs 1,699 for Plus or Rs 1,999 for Pro. ALSO READ: Battre LoEV launched at Rs 59,900; check out specifications, battery, other details Like Chennai and Bengaluru, Ather will also equip the new cities it is entering in with multiple fast charging Ather Grid points and Ather experience centres. Ather Grid under which the company sets up public charging stations will be available in locations such as malls, cafes, supermarkets and tech parks. It also comes equipped with a 4G SIM card and Wi-Fi along with Bluetooth connectivity, allowing riders to manage phone calls and music on the touchscreen dashboard. The touchscreen dashboard is bigger at 7" and has been upgraded with a color depth of 16M and a Snapdragon Quad Core processor. Ather was founded by IIT graduates Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain in 2013 and Hero MotoCorp, India's largest two wheeler manufacturer, had invested Rs 130 crore in the start-up in 2018. Last year, it had increased its stake to 35.1 per cent. ALSO READ: Honda Activa 6G BS6 launched in India; prices start at Rs 63,912 A quarantine official checks passengers arriving at Incheon International Airport from China for signs of fever and other symptoms amid growing concerns over the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, Tuesday. / Yonhap By Jun Ji-hye Airlines, travel agencies and duty-free stores are expected to suffer a heavy hit to their earnings following the outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus as an increasing number of people here are canceling trips to China, industry officials and analysts said Tuesday. Inbound travelers from China will also likely decrease sharply as the government there banned its citizens from booking overseas tours and purchasing overseas flights and hotel packages, starting Monday. Securities companies said the new coronavirus, which causes pneumonia-like symptoms, is expected to hit the industries harder than the outbreak of SARS in 2003. On Friday, Korean Air suspended its flights to the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus originated, until the end of the month. The nation's top flag carrier also decided not to charge cancellation fees for tickets for all routes to China issued before Friday. The decision will cover flights departing up to Feb. 29. "We will make a decision on whether to resume flights to Wuhan in February after watching the Chinese government's actions," a Korean Air official said. After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) found that the recent violent protests in several parts of the country had a financial link with the Popular Front of India (PFI), the central probe agency also found that the organisation has it's offices in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, where the protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is going on for more a month now, sources said. The agency, which is probing the PFI under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) since 2018, has found that at least Rs 120 crore were deposited in bank accounts in western Uttar Pradesh after the new citizenship las was passed by the Parliament late last year. The ED source said that it suspected that these funds were used by PFI affiliates to fuel anti-CAA protests in various parts of the country. The source said that in Shaheen Bagh, where women have been sitting on protest against CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for more than a month braving the severe winter chill, the PFI has three offices. There is also one office of Campus Front of India in the area. The source said that Rehab Foundation India (RFI), which is also mentioned in the report of transferring money into different bank accounts, has one of it's offices in Jamia Nagar and another in Jungpura in South Delhi, while PFI's another affiliate SDPI has it's office in Hazrat Nizamuddin area. There is also one office of National Confederation of India located in Jungpura area. The ED source further said that the agency identified PFI's 73 bank accounts and money trail of the funding to the tune of Rs 120 crore for the anti-CAA and anti-NRC protests. The source said that the bank accounts with huge transactions were detected in the last two months. He said, "The ED has been keeping a close tab on the 27 bank accounts of PFI, nine bank accounts of RFI, 37 individuals and entities in 17 different banks." "During the probe it was found that the money transferred into these bank accounts were either done by cash deposit, NEFT or RTGS or IMPS mode. And the amounts were withdrawn on the same day or within two to three days, leaving only minimal amount in these accounts," the source revealed. The source further claimed that from the PFI's Syndicate Bank account, maintained in Nehru Place branch in New Delhi and in western Uttar Pradesh districts of Hapur, Shamli, Bahraich, Bijnor, Dasna and others, deposits of Rs 41.5 crore wwere made. "About Rs 27 crore was deposited through cash payments in 27 bank accounts," he said. The source further claimed that senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal received an amount of Rs 77 lakh, while Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaising received Rs 4 lakh, senior advocate Dushyant Dave received Rs 11 lakh and Abdul Samad received Rs 3.10 lakh in his bank account. Last month, after violent protests against CAA and NRC in Uttar Pradesh, the state police had sought a ban on PFI, days after its complicity was suspected in the statewide violent protests against the amended citizenship law. Nearly 20 people were killed during these protests in Uttar Pradesh. An FIR by the National Investigation Agency and chargesheet against the PFI had formed the basis for the ED to file a PMLA case against it. The PFI was formed in 2006 in Kerala as a successor to the National Democratic Front (NDF). Caris Life Sciences, a Dallas-based innovator in molecular science focused on fulfilling the promise of precision medicine, has developed the MI Genomic Profiling Similarity (GPS) score to compare the molecular characteristics of specific tumors against those in the Caris database. This allows clinicians to identify the molecular subtype of their patients tumors and guide personalized treatment. The system is driven by machine learning algorithms and is envisaged as being particularly useful in guiding the treatment of cancers in cases where there is ambiguity about the tissue of origin and in other atypical or difficult to treat cancers. Personalized medicine holds enormous potential in improving patient outcomes, but has been limited by the complexity of contextualizing the molecular or genetic signatures of diseased tissues, such as tumors. While modern experimental techniques can rapidly generate enormous amounts of molecular data for a specific patient sample, these data are meaningless unless interpreted correctly and compared with other molecular signatures to provide appropriate context. Artificial intelligence techniques are well-suited to this task, and AI solutions may be the key to unlocking the potential of personalized medicine. In this vein, Caris Life Sciences has used machine learning techniques to develop the MI GPS score that allows clinicians to compare the molecular characteristics of their patients tumors with thousands of others in the Caris database. The system exploits a substantial database of molecular data with associated clinical outcomes, and machine learning algorithms help to identify molecular patterns associated with specific cancer subtypes and treatment outcomes. Using Caris Molecular Intelligence, the company is able to assess DNA across a 592-DNA gene panel, gene fusions, RNA splice variants, gene expression and proteins. Caris has reported that the MI GPS score demonstrated over 95% accuracy in classifying tumors from a total of 55,780 samples, and indicated a tissue of origin for the vast majority of tested samples for which a tissue of origin was uncertain or unknown. Medgadget had the opportunity to talk to David Spetzler, President and Chief Scientific Officer at Caris Life Sciences, about the companys advances in this field. Conn Hastings, Medgadget: How did you get interested and involved in precision medicine and artificial intelligence? David Spetzler, Caris Life Sciences: I have always been interested in science. I worked in a neurobiology lab when I was 14 and, before Caris, I was a member of the research faculty at Arizona State University, where I studied mathematics and molecular cellular biology with a focus on the application of novel analytic methods to complex problems. I joined Caris in 2009 as a bioinformatics scientist to analyze the incredible data set that Caris was generating. The combination of mathematics and biology have created incredible opportunities to advance our understanding of cancer and AI is a natural extension of that, enabled by advances in computing hardware. The best way to help people with cancer is to find it early enough that its curable. To that end, I am passionate about understanding the molecular drivers of disease so that we can identify optimal treatment strategies for each patient, and I look forward to continuing to develop early cancer detection assays, discover novel drug targets and characterize protein differences in each patients tumor. Precision medicine improves the lives of people living with cancer by finding therapies more likely to work and reducing the risks of patients receiving unnecessary, expensive therapies that dont impact the course of their disease. This is what drives my colleagues and me at Caris. Medgadget: What are the advantages of precision medicine? Spetzler: Precision medicine and next generation sequencing can help to match patients to the appropriate therapies and can determine if a tumor will be more likely to respond to a treatment before its prescribed, allowing for more personalized treatments and enabling patients to realize the fullest potential of targeted cancer therapies. Personalized medicine can also help to improve health outcomes and lessen spending by patients, hospitals and insurance companies, particularly since the average cost of treatment with modern cancer therapies averages about $250,000 per patient. Next generation sequencing allows Caris to rapidly examine and more broadly detect DNA mutations, copy number variations and gene fusions across the genome and potentially change the way clinicians approach treatment for their patients. Medgadget: How close are we to using precision medicine routinely for every patient? Spetzler: Right now, treating oncologists routinely order molecular profiling for only 15% of their patients, meaning that 85% are not receiving the testing they need that would make their treatment consistent with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. Getting patients on the appropriate treatments is a critically important step since it directly correlates to improvements in overall survival and can have a significant impact on the cost of their therapy. So, while these tests are readily available and recommended for routine use by NCCN, utilization is still a challenge. Caris is working diligently with leading institutions to make these tests available for patients living with a cancer diagnosis, and we are hopeful that uptake continues to increase so that more people are receiving the best possible treatments as early as possible in the course of their disease. Medgadget: So, what is the MI GPS score, and how does it work? How has it helped with patient treatment so far? Spetzler: MI GPS Score is an AI-driven tumor type biology similarity score that uses more than 6,500 mathematical models in the machine learning algorithm to compare molecular characteristics of a patients tumor against Caris extensive database to provide new insights into the molecular subtype of cancer of unknown primary (CUP) cases, atypical clinical presentation cases and other difficult to treat cancer cases to help guide treatment decisions. If an oncologist is unable to identify the tumor type or genetic lineage of a patients cancer, they can send a tumor sample to Caris for evaluation by our team of expert pathologists. The reports our pathologists develop can be used by physicians to make more informed treatment choices. Medgadget: Please explain the role of artificial intelligence in the development of the MI GPS score. Spetzler: The behavior of cells is driven by changes in their molecular system, which is one of, if not the most, complex system there is, with literally hundreds of trillions of different interactions occurring per second. The complexity of the system is too great for humans to decipher alone, hence the need for AI and machine learning systems. Using the power of DEAN (Deliberation Analytics) artificial intelligence and machine learning, Caris can provide oncologists with thorough genomic and molecular analysis classification. The combination of AI and human intelligence provides the most comprehensive analysis available today to characterize a patients tumor and support treatment decisions. Medgadget: How do you see this type of technology developing in the next ten years? Spetzler: Caris and its partners will continue to accumulate data that informs, expands and refines our existing algorithms so that as the database grows, so do the accuracy and precision of the test results. MI GPS Score is the first of many Caris Molecular Artificial Intelligence offerings that will advance our understanding of cancer and enable better patient care. We will continue to work to improve healthcare for everyone using our unique and transformative platforms to help patients with cancer and other complex diseases. Link: Caris Life Sciences Police are today hunting for a missing 16-year-old girl last seen four days ago at a B&M store. Detectives are increasingly worried for the safety of Trinity Gibbs, who was last spotted in the bargain superstore in Lancaster Road, Shrewsbury, at about 7.15pm on Friday. Trinity may have left the B&M car park as a passenger in a blue 58 plate Vauxhall Corsa, which has not yet been traced. Police are today hunting for missing 16-year-old Trinity Gibbs - who was last seen four days ago at a B&M store in Shrewsbury Trinity is white, around 5ft 3in tall, with burgundy hair often worn in a bob West Mercia Police have appealed for information about her whereabouts and say that although she lives in Shropshire, the teenager also has links to Leicestershire and Sussex. Trinity is white, around 5ft 3in tall, with burgundy coloured hair cut into a bob. She was last seen on CCTV wearing black leggings, white Air Force One trainers, a grey Puma top and a grey scarf. Officers are asking anyone who sees her to please get in touch as soon as possible. Anyone who has information on Trinitys whereabouts is asked to call West Mercia Police on 101 - or their local force if she is spotted outside that area. The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday (January 28) reserved its order on a plea filed by Mukesh Singh, one of the four convicts in Nirbhaya gangrape case, challenging the rejection of his mercy plea by President Ram Nath Kovind. The apex court said that it will deliver the order on Wednesday (January 27). It may be recalled that Mukesh had filed his mercy petition on January 14 and it was rejected by President Kovind on January 17. During the hearing, Mukesh's counsel informed the court that he was sexually assaulted in Tihar Jail after his arrest and was thrashed too. "Mukesh Singh was sexually assaulted in Tihar Jail," Mukesh's counsel Anjana Prakash claimed in the SC. The petition was heard by a three-judge bench of the top court, comprising Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna was hearing the plea. You have to apply your mind at each and every step. You are playing with somebodys life (on powers conferred to the President with regard to mercy plea), Anjana Prakash, stated while arguing before the top court. Earlier on Monday (January 27), Mukesh had urged the SC to hear his plea on an urgent basis. If someone is going to be hanged, there is nothing more urgent than this. Execution case will be given priority, the three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde had said. Live TV On December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, was gang-raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi by six people. All the six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail. The four convicts will be hanged at 6 AM on February 1. Earlier, they were to be executed at 7 AM on January 22 but the execution was delayed due to Mukeshs mercy plea. By Bahk Eun-ji Seoul City's budget for public relations this year increased 74 percent from a year earlier, according to city officials Tuesday. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon /Korea Times file According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and the Seoul Metropolitan Council, the budget for the civic communication planning division, which is in charge of public relations, is 103.5 billion won ($87.9 million) for this year, up 74 percent from 59.4 billion won in 2019. Considering the budget growth rate for civic relations from 2016 to 2018 was around 10 percent each year, the sudden dramatic increase this year is unusual. The city government said it has significantly increased the budget to compensate for policy deficiencies stemming from a lack of publicity. If the budget is analyzed based on the unit price, the number of advertisements in Seoul is expected to increase significantly this year. The number of advertisements screened on terrestrial television will almost triple, from 28 last year to 80; cable and general service programming channels will also increase to 194 from 62; and radio commercials will jump to 150 from 50. The number of newspaper advertisements will more than double from 140 to 300 and magazines will publish 250 advertisements, up from 150. The advertising budget for electronic signboards, intercity buses subway and street vendors, which are not media outlets, has more than doubled from 1.6 billion won last year to 3.5 billion won this year. In particular, the budget details, which only covered "major initiative policies" such as Zero Pay and paid sick leave until last year, were broken down into the city's core projects and citizen-based projects. "A project such as housing support for newlywed couples is one policy that citizens should be aware of. There should be no cases in which citizens cannot use the services created by taxpayers' money due to the lack of promotion," said an official of the city government. In 2014, he wrote a shocking story about Ubers plans to go after its critics in the media by gathering disparaging information to smear them, particularly focused on the personal life of a female reporter. Smith had attended a dinner whose participants later said they believed it to be off the record; but Smith said no one told him it was, and he proceeded accordingly. To the Editor: It should be noted in the (Jan. 15, 2020 Register Citizen) article in regards to beaver trapping in the state of Connecticut that the citizens of the state of Connecticut have two choices in regards to the control of beavers. And looking slightly to our North will prove my points. Either trappers will pay the state of Connecticut to trap beavers, or the taxpayers of Connecticut will pay professional Wildlife Control companies to trap beavers. In the state of Massachusetts, where two forms a very effective traps have been banned, most trappers gave up and stopped trapping, which everyone who is opposed to trapping feels they have had a success in the ban in saving beavers. But what they have actually done is force the state and private citizens to hire private wildlife control companies to trap the beavers anyway. The same will happen here in Connecticut. Beavers are prolific breeders, and will clog Connecticut's waterways with dams, quickly. So unless the concerned citizens of Connecticut would like another cost to come out of everyones pocket, (yes, even the anti-trappers pockets) rather than having the trappers actually pay the state, go ahead and ban trapping in Connecticut. There will still be trapping in Connecticut. Excess beavers will be harvested, nothing will change in that regard. So the real question is, do they want the state to pay to have a professional trapper remove the beavers, or do the taxpayers want to be paid to trap the beavers? Either way....the beavers will be still be trapped...that part will not change. It is the only effective way to keep their numbers in control. Jim Gilbert, Winsted Pennsylvania could become more influential in determining who the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees are, starting in 2024. The Senate is expected to vote on Wednesday on a bill that would set the presidential primary election date on the third Tuesday in March. Currently, state law sets it for the fourth Tuesday in April, by which time the outcome of the presidential nominating contests is often already known. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, that would put this state in the company of Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Arizona, which also hold their primaries on that date in March. Sen. John Gordner, R-Columbia County, who is sponsoring the legislation, pointed out Pennsylvania currently is the last most populous state to hold its presidential primary. He would like to see it become more influential in deciding the presidential nominees but starting with the next presidential election cycle in which the nominees are yet not known. He pointed out that a 1999 Joint State Government Commission study on the scheduling of primary dates suggested that the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee get together and schedule primaries in a way to enable every state to have a meaningful influence on at least some presidential nominations. Short of that, it recommended the General Assembly reposition its primary to allow its citizens a voice in the selection of the candidates for the nations most powerful office. During the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Tuesday when the bill was discussed, Gordner said he had no interest in having Pennsylvania join the mob of 14 states that hold their primaries on the first Tuesday in March, regarded as Super Tuesday. Sen. Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia, said the third Tuesday in March is the earliest date the state could pick without incurring any penalties from the Democratic National Committee which has a rule about that. Gordner concurred with that statement. Gordner said by having it on the same date as just a couple other big states it would ensure candidates give Pennsylvania a fair amount of attention. The bill passed unanimously out of the appropriations committee after Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, made a point of getting it confirmed that legislative seats up for election in those years also would be held on that same date.. Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie County, thanked Gordner for offering the bill. He said he would be a resounding yes. He said as someone who participated in every election since turning 18, Ive always been disappointed that by the time the primary is in Pennsylvania, its usually a done deal. Its pretty disappointing. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sausan Atika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, January 28, 2020 City-owned transportation company PT Transjakartas newly appointed president director Donny Andy Sarmedi Saragih was sacked on Monday, just five days after his appointment, following revelations of his past criminal record. The decision was made by Transjakarta shareholders outside of a shareholder meeting (RUPS), according to an official statement. The company is 99.66 percent owned by the city administration and 0.34 percent by city-owned developer PT Jakarta Propertindo. Donny, the deputy head of Jakarta Transportation Council (DTKJ) for 2017-2022, was appointed to replace Agung Wicaksono, who officially resigned on Thursday to spend more time with his family. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. NSO Group said in a statement that the firm last year worked closely with Hubbard on the matter and shared conclusive results with him, suggesting the spyware was not Pegasus. NSO Group called Hubbards and Citizen Labs claims unsubstantiated. In a statement, New York Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said NSO Group did not tell Hubbard how it had come to this conclusion or state for the record whether its technology had been used to target Hubbards phone. She was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer called Parosteal Osteosarcoma at just 19 years old. And 26-year-old model Elesha Turner proudly bares her large surgical scar in a diverse new Bras N Things Valentine's Day campaign. In a sensual and flirty campaign video, Elesha poses alongside Steph Raynor, Stefania Ferraro and Madeleine Hunt to promote the new lingerie line. Inspirational: Model Elesha Turner, 27, bares all in a diverse new Bras N Things Valentine's campaign, proudly displaying her foot-long leg scar after developing bone cancer at 19 The brunette beauty represents 'sweet' love throughout the campaign, biting on a heart-shaped biscuit and draping her slim body across a luxurious red velvet chair. Elesha dons a stunning lingerie set with cut-out detailing on the bra and a cheeky sheer mesh panel on the skimpy underwear. After her cancer diagnosis in 2013, the British-born model had half of the bones in her leg, the femur, knee and tibia, replaced with titanium. Gorgeous girls: In the sensual and flirty campaign video, Elesha poses alongside Steph Raynor (R), Stefania Ferraro (C) and Madeleine Hunt (L) to promote the new lingerie line Speaking to Disability Horizons in 2014, Elesha described how she felt empowered by her aesthetic differences. 'I enjoy challenging peoples perceptions of what they consider beauty to be. The surgery has meant that I look different from the norm,' she said. She went on to explain: 'I have muscle loss in my leg and a foot-long scar on my left leg. I also have to use aids to help me get around, such as crutches and a wheelchair for long distances. 'I enjoy challenging peoples perceptions': Speaking to Disability Horizons in 2014, Elesha described how she felt empowered by her aesthetic differences 'Does that mean that I am not beautiful and I should be excluded from the industry? I think not.' Posing alongside the inspiring Hastings-born model is the Melbourne-based stunner Stefania Ferraro. Flaunting her curvaceous figure, the 26-year-old Australian model's vintage-inspired look compliments the lingerie. The blonde bombshell even poses in the same pink as Elesha. Flirty! Posing alongside the inspiring Hastings-born model was the Melbourne-based stunner Stefania Ferraro Red hot! Flaunting her curvaceous figure, the 26-year-old Australian model's vintage-inspired look compliments the lingerie Stefania has previously spoken out about double-standards in the modelling industry, fighting against the belief that anybody above an Australian size eight being labelled as 'plus size'. 'Unfortunately in the modelling industry if you're above a US size 4 you are considered plus size,' she wrote on Instagram in 2015. Stefania added: 'I'm often labelled a "plus size" model. I do not find this empowering.' Stunners: The blonde bombshell even poses in the same pink as Elesha, proving how gorgeous different bodies can look in the same ensemble Students in All Group Service Areas Eligible for Seventh Annual Program SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of its commitment to improving the quality of life in the communities it serves, California Water Service Group (Group) (CWT) has expanded its annual College Scholarship Program, which officially opened for applications today. Beginning this year, eligible students residing in areas served by the utilitys New Mexico subsidiary now join those in its California, Hawaii, Washington subsidiaries in being able to apply for one of the scholarships under the larger $80,000 program. Two $10,000 grand-prize scholarships will be awarded, and additional, smaller awards for college and higher-education expenses will start at $2,500. To be eligible for the 2020 College Scholarship Program, students must be pursuing a degree in higher education and plan to enroll in a full-time undergraduate study program at an accredited college, university, or vocational-technical school for the upcoming academic year. Scholarships will be awarded based on academic achievement, community service, and financial need. By expanding the California Water Service Group Scholarship Program, we are pleased we can support even more future leaders in the communities we serve, said Martin A. Kropelnicki, President and Chief Executive Officer. We want to help reduce any financial barriers these bright, hard-working students may have on their path to success, and help make good things happen in our communities. The annual scholarships are part of Groups stockholder-funded philanthropic giving program and do not affect customers rates. The program is administered by Scholarship America, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. To date, Group has provided $360,000 in scholarships to students through the program. To learn more about the scholarship program or to apply, students can visit the web sites for their utility: California Water Service: www.calwater.com/scholarship Hawaii Water Service: www.hawaiiwaterservice.com/scholarship Washington Water Service: www.wawater.com/scholarship New Mexico Water Service: www.newmexicowater.com/scholarship Story continues The application period for the seventh annual program will close at 1 p.m. PT on Friday, April 10, 2020. Winners will be announced in the summer. About California Water Service Group California Water Service Group is the parent company of California Water Service, Washington Water Service, New Mexico Water Service, Hawaii Water Service, CWS Utility Services, and HWS Utility Services. Together, these companies provide regulated and non-regulated water service to more than 2 million people in California, Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii. California Water Service Groups common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CWT. Additional information is available online at www.calwatergroup.com . Distinguished Programs, a national insurance program manager, today officially announces the promotion of Greg Somers to regional sales executive. Somers brings more than 20 years of leadership and five years of business development experience to his new role. Gregs diverse work background, and driven leadership skills produce meaningful results, making him an asset to the regional sales team. He strives to provide clients with the proper attention and assistance to ensure they are satisfied with their products, noted Kurt Meister, senior vice president of business development at Distinguished Programs. He will make significant contributions to the team as he assumes his new responsibilities. In his new role as regional sales executive, Somers will consult with retail agents and brokers to choose proper insurance program products for clients in the Mid-Atlantic region, ranging from states like Maryland and Delaware, to New Jersey and West Virginia. Working with Somers, these agents and brokers will have access to the complete range of programs and services provided by Distinguished Programs. Prior to his work with Distinguished Programs, Somers served as a military officer in the U.S Coast Guard for more 20 years. Throughout his military career he worked as military program manager and later as a commanding officer in Guam before joining Distinguished Programs in a business development role in 2014. Somers attended North Carolina State University where he earned his bachelors degree in political science and government. He is based out of Philadelphia. About Distinguished Programs Distinguished Programs is a leading national insurance Program Manager providing specialized insurance programs to brokers and agents with specific expertise in Real Estate, Community Associations, Cultural & Historic Properties and Hospitality & Restaurants. Property and liability products are distributed through a national network of agents and brokers. Serving the same core markets and partnering with the most stable and reputable carriers, Distinguished Programs high limit umbrella programs remain the clear choice in its areas of specialty for superior coverage, competitive pricing, and attentive service. Through thoughtful innovation, stemming back to 1987, Distinguished Programs fosters growth and opportunities for its brokers, carriers, and employees. http://www.distinguished.com. Passengers wearing protective face masks arrive at the high speed train station in Hong Kong on Jan. 28, 2020. Hong Kong's leader has announced that all rail links to mainland China will be cut starting Friday as fears grow about the spread of a new virus. (Vincent Yu/AP Photo) Hong Kong Cuts Travel From Mainland, Countries Plan Evacuations as Virus Spreads in China Hong Kong on Jan. 28 announced it will drastically cut cross-border travel from the mainland in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus to the Asian financial hub. All rail links with the mainland will be cut from Friday with the closure of both the high-speed rail station and the regular train station, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in a Tuesday press conference. Flights to and from the mainland will also be halved, cross-border tour buses will be reduced, and cross-border ferries will be stopped. Beijing will also stop issuing tourist visas for mainlanders. The regulations will take effect on midnight Thursday. The measures come amid growing calls from local lawmakers and health experts for a total border shut downwhich North Korea and Mongolia have doneto control the virus spread. Hong Kongs Chief Executive Carrie Lam takes part in a press conference to update the territory on the situation concerning the SARS-like virus that has infected at least eight in the city, in Hong Kong on Jan. 28, 2020. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images) The deadly flu-like virus has, according to official figures, infected thousands in mainland China and killed more than a hundred. However, many experts believe the numbers could be far greater. Previously, the Hong Kong government said it would only bar entry to Hubei residents or non-Hong Kong residents who visited the province in the last 14 days. The city currently has eight confirmed cases of the virus. Far eastern Russian regions will also close their borders with China until Feb. 7, Tass news agency said, citing the regional government. Outside of China, cases of the virus have been confirmed in over a dozen countries across Asia and farther afield, with Sri Lanka and Germany the latest countries to be hit. No deaths have been reported overseas. Evacuations A growing list of countries are planning to evacuate their citizens from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. A chartered plane taking out U.S. consulate staff was set to leave Wuhan on Wednesday, a spokeswoman at the U.S. embassy in Beijing said. Japan and South Korea said they would send planes to Wuhan this week to evacuate their citizens. France, Mongolia and other governments also planned evacuations. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, however, said in a meeting with Chinas foreign minister in Beijing on Tuesday, that the body did not advocate for countries to evacuate their citizens from China, according to a statement from the foreign ministry. A WHO panel of 16 independent health experts twice last week declined to declare the outbreak an international health emergency. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) earlier this week expanded their recommendation for people to avoid non-essential travel to any part of China, rather than just Wuhan and other areas most affected by the outbreak. There are currently five confirmed cases in the United States, and the CDC is monitoring more than 100 people across 26 states for the coronavirus. The WHO said only one of 45 confirmed cases in 13 countries outside China involved human-to-human transmission, in Vietnam. But a Japanese official said there was a suspected case of human-to-human transmission there too. Chinese health officials earlier confirmed that the coronavirus is infectious during the incubation stage, which can last up to 14 daysmeaning that it is transmissible even when an infected person is exhibiting no symptoms. The development has fueled escalating concerns over the Chinese regimes ability to contain the spread of the outbreak, which has already reached nearly all of China. It has also raised questions about whether current screening measures, focused on measuring body temperature, can adequately detect the disease. The coronavirus family includes the common cold but also more severe illnesses, such as SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The new virus causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath and pneumonia. Although other non-respiratory symptoms, such as diarrhea and chest pains, have been noted in patients in China. The virus is thought to have spread to people from wild animals sold at a Wuhan market. China on Sunday banned trade in wild animals and urged people to stop eating meat from them. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. New Delhi, Jan 28 : The Delhi Election Commission on Tuesday took cognizance of alleged breach of moral code of conduct by BJP MP and star campaigners of Delhi election Parvesh Verma and Minister of State Anurag Thakur. The office of Delhi Election Commission said the Chief Election Officer of Delhi has submitted its report to the Election Commission of India on the suspected violation of model code of conduct by Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma and Minister of State Anurag Thakur, BJP's star campaigners. The report refers to Verma's remarks on Shaheen Bagh and his tweet regarding religious places, besides Thakur's alleged sloganeering 'desh ke gaddaro ko, goli maro saalo ko'. Verma had said that mosques and graveyards have come up in over 500 government properties in the Capital, including hospitals and schools. He said the land where these "illegal structures" have come up belong to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Jal Board and many other government agencies. HOUSTON, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE: TRGP) ("Targa" or the "Company") announced today that representatives from the Company will participate in investor meetings at U.S. Capital Advisors Midstream Corporate Access Day on Tuesday, January 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. A copy of the slides used for the conference meetings will be available in the Investors section of the Company's website at www.targaresources.com, or by going to https://ir.targaresources.com/events . About Targa Resources Corp. Targa Resources Corp. is a leading provider of midstream services and is one of the largest independent midstream energy companies in North America. The Company owns, operates, acquires and develops a diversified portfolio of complementary midstream energy assets. The Company is primarily engaged in the business of: gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting and selling natural gas; transporting, storing, fractionating, treating and selling NGLs and NGL products, including services to LPG exporters; and gathering, storing, terminaling and selling crude oil. For more information, please visit the Companys website at www.targaresources.com . Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this release 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. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of uncertainties, factors and risks, many of which are outside the Companys control, which could cause results to differ materially from those expected by management of the Company. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, weather, political, economic and market conditions, including a decline in the price and market demand for natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil, the timing and success of business development efforts; and other uncertainties. These and other applicable uncertainties, factors and risks are described more fully in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. The Company does not undertake an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact the Company's investor relations department by email at InvestorRelations@targaresources.com or by phone at (713) 584-1133. Sanjay Lad Senior Director, Finance & Investor Relations Jennifer Kneale Chief Financial Officer Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (26) [January 28, 2020] RMB Capital Wealth Advisor Ben Bremen Moves to Minneapolis Office RMB Capital ("RMB"), an independent investment advisory firm with approximately $9.4 billion in assets under management1 (estimated as of Dec. 31, 2019), announced that vice president and wealth advisor, Benjamin J. Bremen, CFP, CPA, has relocated to the firm's office in the Twin (News - Alert) Cities. Bremen joined the Minnesota-based team, located at 3800 American Blvd. West, Suite 780 in Bloomington, Minn., in early January. "We've been very busy serving a growing number of families since our Twin Cities office opened in early 2018, so we really needed another advisor on the ground here," said Chris Bach, RMB senior vice president and wealth advisor in the firm's Minneapolis office. "The combination of Ben's advisory experience and institutional knowledge-given his tenure with RMB-enables him to hit the ground running. Plus, Ben and I established a strong relationship during the four years I was based in our Chicago office, so I'm personally excited to have him here, helping to mentor the other associates on our team." Bremen joined RMB in 2012, working at the firm's Chicago headquarters until his recent relocation to Minneapolis. The primary catalyst for the move was the nearly 50% growth in AUM managed by the Minneapolis office since its opening. In addition to seving clients in Minnesota, the move also allows Bremen to have more convenient access to the clients he works with in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. Prior to joining RMB, Bremen worked at CME Group. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional and a Certified Public Accountant. He also volunteers as a mentor for Imerman Angels, an organization that provides one-on-one support for individuals fighting cancer. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from the University of Iowa. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the certification marks CFP, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. About RMB Wealth Management For high-net-worth individuals and families, RMB Wealth Management provides holistic financial planning services as well as asset allocation recommendations and investment implementation. Its goal is to pilot a personalized financial plan designed with each client's best interests, unique needs, and long-term objectives in mind. About RMB Capital RMB Capital is an independent investment advisory firm. Its businesses include wealth management, family office services, asset management, and retirement plan consulting. Headquartered in Chicago, RMB also has offices in Denver; Jackson Hole, Wyo.; Lake Forest, Ill.; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; New York; Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.; St. Joseph, Mich.; and Washington D.C. To learn more about RMB, visit rmbcapital.com. ____________________________ 1 Total assets under management ("AUM") presented here differs from regulatory assets under management ("RAUM") reported on RMB Capital's Form ADV. AUM reflects net assets under management for private funds and mutual funds managed by RMB Capital, while RAUM reflects gross assets under management. AUM also includes RMB West's assets under advisement, which are not included in RMB Capital's RAUM. AUM estimated as of 12/31/19. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005563/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] To access our in-house intelligence please request a trial here. Read this article and more for a 30 day period. Are you already an IFLR subscriber? Login here President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority immediately denounced the plan as a conspiracy deal unworthy of serious consideration, making the decades-long pursuit of a so-called two-state solution appear more distant than ever. We say a thousand times over: no, no, no, Mr. Abbas said on Tuesday in Ramallah, in the West Bank. As part of the proposal, Israel agreed to limit its settlement construction in a four-year land freeze, during which Palestinian leaders can reconsider whether to engage in talks. But before returning to Israel on Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu told reporters that he would ask his cabinet to vote Sunday on a unilateral annexation of the strategically important Jordan River Valley and all Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a move that is sure to further inflame the Palestinians. Nearly three years in the making, Mr. Trumps plan is the latest of numerous American efforts to settle the seemingly intractable conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. But it was a sharp turn in the American approach, dropping decades of support for only modest adjustments to Israeli borders drawn before 1967 and discarding the longtime goal of granting the Palestinians a wholly autonomous state. The reaction of key Arab governments to the plan was mixed. In a statement, Jordans foreign minister affirmed his countrys support for an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and warned against the dangerous consequences of unilateral Israeli measures, such as annexation of Palestinian lands. Sachin Bansal has resigned as independent director of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank in the interest of propriety and corporate governance after an entity owned by him submitted an application to the Reserve Bank of India for a universal banking licence. Within four months of acquiring a majority stake in Chaitanya India Fin Credit, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal-led microlender had applied for a universal banking licence on January 10. In his letter to the Ujjivan Small Finance Bank board, Bansal said he would cease to be a member of various board committees of the bank. "Given an entity owned and controlled by me has made an application to the RBI for a universal banking licence, I felt it was - in the interest of propriety and corporate governance - only appropriate that I stepped down from this role," letter said. "I take this opportunity to place on record my appreciation for the support extended to me by the Board during my tenure. It has been a sincere pleasure to serve on the Board and I wish the management of the Bank every success," he said. He also stated that there's no other reason for his resignation. "Further, as required under Regulation 30 read with Schedule III of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2015, I hereby confirm that there are no other material reasons for my resignation as an Independent Director of the Bank other than those stated above," the letter said. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank shares were trading 0.6 per cent higher at Rs 54.85 on Tuesday. Bansal had acquired Chaitanya in September last year with an investment commitment of Rs 739 crore. If given a licence, Chaitanya will be the second microlender after Bandhan Bank to be granted a universal banking licence. Other microlenders operate as small finance banks. Chaitanya was founded in 2009 and operates 40 branches in Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. Edited by Manoj Sharma Also read: Flipkart founders Binny, Sachin Bansal to invest Rs 125 crore in IIT-Delhi fund Also read: Flipkart former CEO Sachin Bansal acquires DHFL General Insurance for Rs 100 crore As a staunch libertarian who works at a libertarian think tank, it is not too often that I agree with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on political matters. However, I am in full agreement with AOC, as she is known, when it comes to her disenchantment with career politicians entrenched in party-friendly gerrymandered districts. When not spouting socialist policies, even AOC can stumble upon a good political idea. Such is why I adamantly support her call for robust primary elections in districts overwhelmingly controlled by either Republican or Democratic constituencies. In essence, AOC is defying her party leaders by refusing to hand over $250,000 in party dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. According to AOC, Im happy to support some incumbents, but its not just a blanket rule. On that note, I could not agree more. Although gerrymandering has a very long and sordid history in American politics, the problem sure seems to be getting worse than ever. In case you dont know, the term gerrymander dates back to 1812, when then-Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry redrew the Bay States congressional districts to overwhelmingly favor his political party over the rival Federalists. Gerrys districts were so contorted and crooked that his political opponents remarked that one actually resembled the mythological beast known as a salamander. Hence, the (dirty) word Gerry-mander was born. Unfortunately, more than 200 years after Gerrys redistricting folly, the tactic has become much more the norm than the exception. If you need confirmation, just take a quick peek at the most recent U.S. congressional district map. I dont know about you, but that map looks more like a jigsaw puzzle than a map designating common sense and simple congressional districts. Believe it or not, state election maps are even worse. In some wild examples, district lines can even cut through a home or apartment building figuratively speaking, of course. And I think this is, at least in part, the frustration that AOC is venting with the current system. I do not believe AOC is advocating for a total district drawing reform by any means. However, at least she is calling attention to the corrupt status quo, in which both parties engage in trickery to maintain and expand their power base. Whether this partisan political power grab occurs via friendly redistricting maps or favoring incumbents over primary contenders is wrong and needs to stop. Bravo to AOC and others who dare defy party bigwigs those in smoke-filled rooms who make the big decisions and pull the political strings from afar. Ironically, AOCs pledge to withhold her party dues and spur more robust primary elections within her own party is something even the Founding Fathers would likely support. In the minds of the men who wrote our Constitution and created our federal republic, most public servants were supposed to serve for a brief time, before returning home to other endeavors. If the Founding Fathers were alive today, I think it is safe to say they would be shocked at the fact that the vast majority of representatives at the state and local level face almost no real competition for their seat at the table of government. I also think they would be horrified by the sheer number of career politicians that have served in the same seats for decades and decades. Suffice to say, the citizen/politician model that they envisioned has not exactly come to fruition. But, if hope springs eternal, maybe AOCs refusal to pay party bribes that fund incumbents over primary challengers will cause more of her colleagues to follow suit. If so, we would all be better off because we would all have a more powerful political platform in which to hold politicians accountable at the voting booth. Chris Talgo is an editor at The Heartland Institute. He wrote this for InsideSources.com. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 JOS, Nigeria, January 27, 2020 (Morning Star News) Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed two Christians in separate attacks in Plateau state this month, in addition to the 13 Christians from the same denomination killed on Jan. 8, sources said. Herdsmen invaded Torok village in Riyom County on Jan. 20, killing Reuben Bulus, a 25-year-old member of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), according to Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, a human rights activist with the Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria. Bulus was killed at about 7:10 p.m. on Jan. 20 when herdsmen invaded his village, Mwantiri told Morning Star News. In Gako village, near Rim in Riyom County, another COCIN member, Ngam Stephen Dachung, was killed by herdsmen on Jan. 1, Mwantiri said. He was shot dead at a point at Gako-Diyan junction where many lives were previously lost to herdsmen ambushes in the area, he said. On Jan. 8, 13 COCIN were members slain in Plateau states Kulben village, Mangu County, in an attack by about 20 herdsmen that also wounded three others. In addition, Mwantiri said, herdsmen killed a Christian woman, Mary Machief, and her baby daughter in Plateau states Bokkos County on Dec. 16. The herdsmen attacked them in Machiefs fathers home in Kunnet village that night, relatives told Morning Star News. Its still a shock to me, I wish it were a dream, said one relative. Another relative said Machief was not killed instantly but died later from wounds. We all prayed for God to give her quick healing, but God deemed it fit to take her to eternal home, he said. On Dec. 22 in Tanjol near Jol in Riyom County, another COCIN member, Ayuba Lanjo, was wounded in an attack by herdsmen, said Mwantiri, who is also an attorney. Ayuba Lanjo was ambushed by some herdsmen; he was shot at and injured, Mwantiri said. Women Kidnapped Near Bukuru in Jos South County, herdsmen on Jan. 21 kidnapped Christie Peter Mwankon in Kwata village. The 26-year-old COCIN member, daughter of a former Plateau state tourism official, was abducted after the herdsmen shot their way into the village and broke into her sisters house, sources said. Christie Peter was kidnapped at about 2 a.m. in her sisters house when the herdsmen broke into the house and kidnapped the graduate of Ahmadu Bello University-Zaria, said area resident Solomon Kogi. The herdsmen are demanding a ransom of 5 million naira [$US13,735] from her family. A spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command, Mathias Tyopev, told reporters that police are making all efforts to rescue her following the attack on the community. We are working with the family to secure the release of the girl that was taken away during the attack, Tyopev reportedly said. In northeast Nigerias Borno state, a student of the University of Maiduguri kidnapped on Jan. 9 along with the later-executed Ropvil Daciya Dalep by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an offshoot of Boko Haram, remains missing, sources said. Lillian Daniel Gyang was abducted along the Damaturu-Maiduguri Highway outside Maidiguri at about 5 p.m., along with Dalep and another male Christian student, all three being members of the COCIN, said Emmanuel Zakka of Jos, who is close to her family. Originally from Foron in Barkin Ladi County in Plateau state, Gyang is 20 years old and a first-year student of zoology at the University of Maiduguri, he said. Sen. Istifanus Gyang, a parliamentarian representing Plateau state in Nigerias National Assembly, appealed to the Nigeria government and the United Nations to quickly intervene and hasten the release and safe return of all Christians kidnapped by terrorists. Samuel Mwankon, a member of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Nigerias National Assembly, representing the Barkin Ladi area, decried the abduction and killings of Plateau state residents. In September 2019, two innocent youths from Mangu Local Government Area were brutally murdered in cold blood by Boko Haram, Mwankon said in a press statement. I call on all meaningful citizens of Plateau state to be more united and steadfast in prayers. I sympathize and empathize with the families of those murdered and join my faith to pray for the release of those still on Boko Haram captivity. Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution but second in the number of Christians killed for their faith, behind Pakistan. If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit http://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved. If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/? Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission. Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Kylie Ellway Maria Clare, popularly known for her stage name as Nina Jose, is a Filipino actress. Nina became famous after joining the country's most excellent reality show tagged Pinoy Big Brother. She is currently a contract actress at ABS-CBN television networks. Though famous, much about her remains unknown to her massive number of followers and fans, for instance, Nina Jose husband, the age gap between her and the husband among more. Image: instagram.com, @abtkurniawan Source: Instagram If you are a follower of the Pinoy Big Brothers, then Maria Clare is not new to you. In 2006, the actress together with the eventual winner of the teen edition Chinita Princess Kim Chiu graced our screens as housemates in the reality show. After the show, he ventured into acting and has since featured in numerous films and television shows. Some of her famous works include Da Adventures of Pedro Penduko of 2006, My Girl which she acted in 2007, and TV5s Kidlat. The last project marked her last television appearance as an actress. Other than acting, the celebrity has diversified her career venturing in modelling as well. She once appeared on the cover of FHM Philippine magazine. READ ALSO: Han Hyo Joo husband, movies, age, and Lee Jong Suk Who is Nina Jose husband? Nina Jose husband name is Cezar Quiambao. He is a businessman and politician in the Philippines from Bayambang, Pangasinan. Nina Jose husband Quiambao is wealthy as he owns Stradcom Corporation. The corporation manufactures and operates Information Technology (I.T) infrastructure projects for the government. Image: facebook.com, @Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao Source: Facebook According to the actress, she likes the mayor because she feels older men are real and more mature, unlike those of her age who are just playing around. She does not like young men, and thus wants someone mature. The actress gave the sentiments during her interview with PEP when asked about older men. Since her marriage, she has been out of the showbiz for a while. However, according to an article published by Philstar Global, the celebrity admits that even though she misses acting, reviving her acting career is far from happening. She further reveals that she has been receiving offers for acting jobs but says she is currently focused on helping her husband with public service. Nina Jose husband wedding Despite the age gap, the case of Nina and Cezar is clear proof that love knows no boundary. The couple first got married through a civil marriage in January 2017. Later in the year, November 10th, they christened their marriage through a church wedding. At the moment, the family has been placed with a child by the name Antonio. READ ALSO: Lee Sung Kyung Instagram, height, boyfriend, age, and movies How old is Nina Jose husband? Marie Clare Phyllis Jose was born on August 26th, 1988. The actress is currently 31 years old. Comparing the two, one can vividly establish that Nina Jose husband age is way too far above that of the actress. The couple got married in 2017 when Jose was only 28 years. Image: facebook.com, @Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao Source: Facebook According to the Facebook post from the politician, he says that despite the age, the couple loves one another and no one can come between them. The post read, We love each other so much that no one can break us apart Cezar Quiambao was born on January 31st, 1955. He is currently 64 years, almost turning 65. Statistically, the difference in their age is thirty-three years. Nina Jose husband age gap may come as a surprise to many. However, the couples admit to loving one another to the extent that the actress is reluctant to resume her acting career to support her husband in public service. Love knows no boundary, and age is but a number. Nina Jose husband, Cezar Quiambao, is no doubt a happy man after marrying the love of his life. With barely three years into the marriage, their love has continued to flourish, thus bringing forth a child. READ ALSO: Manny Pacquiao net worth: How much does he earn? Source: KAMI.com.gh The police on Tuesday (January 28) morning detained the brother of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act activist and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam, who has been booked in sedition case lodged across several states for his alleged inflammatory speeches made during a protest against the new Act. On January 27, a team of central probe agency conducted raids at the ancestral home of Imam in Bihar's Jehanabad when they picked up his younger brother. He is being questioned at the Kako police station in Jehanabad, said reports. Yesterday, the JNU chief proctor summoned Imam and asked him to appear before him and explain his position on the alleged provocative speeches made by him. Imam, who was one of the initial organisers of Shaheen Bagh protests, has been asked to appear before the Proctorial Committee by February 3. Live TV According to PTI, a case against Imam, who was one of the initial organisers of Shaheen Bagh protests, under IPC sections 124 A (an offence by words, either spoken or written causes disaffection against Government established by law), 153 A (promoting enmity between different religious groups with an intent to create disharmony) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) was registered by the Delhi Police on Sunday. Also, a case of sedition was lodged against him on January 25 for a speech he delivered on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus on January 16. The Assam Police has also filed an FIR under the anti-terror law UAPA against Imam for his speech. Imam has been booked for sedition after he allegedly threatened to cut off Assam and the northeast from the rest of the country, during his speech on anti-CAA. A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Imam had moved to Delhi to pursue research at the Centre for Historical Studies at the JNU. Note: A previous version of this story included a file photograph of Elder James Johnson of the National Action Network along with others from an event held last year. The two others in the previous photograph, Beverly Gadson-Birch and Robert Crawford, did not attend the press conference held Jan. 28 in which Johnson protested the hiring of Charleston County Council Chairman Elliott Summey as the new CEO of Charleston County Aviation Authority. The leader of a Charleston-based civil rights group said Tuesday the hiring of Charleston County Council Chairman Elliott Summey as the new head of South Carolina's busiest airport reeks of nepotism. "This is not Summeyville," James Johnson of the National Action Network said. "This is North Charleston. The Summeys are trying to control all of North Charleston." Johnson emphasized he doesn't have anything against Summey personally, but he questioned Summey's selection as the new CEO of Charleston County Aviation Authority without the agency going through a formal selection process. The board voted Monday to name Summey as the new CEO, starting July 1 when current CEO Paul Campbell steps down from his $300,000-a-year job after seven years. "The community is calling me about this white privilege and the lack of due process," Johnson said. "This is the good ol' boy system, and the community is not putting up with it anymore." Johnson said he believes Summey, the son of North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey, got the nod for the CEO job because of his name. "My question is: Is he qualified?" Johnson said during a brief press conference Tuesday in North Charleston. "The airport is not just dealing with airplanes, but also with bringing businesses to the community. Is he qualified to go around the world to get new businesses?" He said the group is tired of the system where members of the Summey family continue to gain favor in appointed positions and he challenged the process that didn't consider outside candidates. He pointed out that Summey's mother, Debbie Summey, served as a Charleston County magistrate, handling misdemeanors and lesser civil matters, before stepping down in 2012. That position was filled by Elliott Summey's sister, JoAnna Annie Summey-Fuller, by the local Senate delegation that same year. She continues to serve. Johnson plans to meet with lawmakers from Charleston County to see what can be done to change the process of selecting the head of the Charleston International Airport. Summey was selected Monday by the 11-member airport board on a 6-2 vote with one abstention, one absence and one member resigning in protest over the selection process. Board member Henry Fishburne resigned before the meeting, saying, "I don't think the board has followed the proper policies and procedures. I don't think the board is proceeding correctly." Board member Paul Thurmond countered that the law that set up the Aviation Authority does not require the agency to perform an open search for the CEO position. The board's decision to offer Summey the job at a salary of $290,000 has not sat well with members of the public either. "An entity as big as that needs folks with professional experience," said Bo Schupp of Moncks Corner. "What qualifies Summey to do this? We need an open process to get the most qualified person." Dane Culp of Charleston also expressed dismay over Summey's selection. "It does not look good," he said. Nathan Davis of North Charleston called the hiring process "disgusting. It's just a pure political boondoggle. It's wrong to do it this way." The board selected Summey after a 40-minute, closed-door meeting Monday. His hiring came quickly after the board first discussed offering Summey the CEO position in another closed meeting on Thursday. Campbell, a state senator and former Alcoa executive, said Tuesday that Summey first approached him a few months ago about becoming the new CEO. "Hes a good guy to do it," Campbell said. "Hes not an engineer, but hes an astute person. I dont know if he understands how difficult it can be at times, but I think he will do all right." Helen Hill, chairwoman of the airport board, said Summey brings his experience as a businessman and politician to the table and is capable of running the growing airport, which has doubled in passenger growth to nearly 5 million ticket holders over the past seven years. She called it "fortunate" that the agency did not have to look beyond "our own board for a talented and qualified individual. ... Summey brings a unique skill set that aligns perfectly with what the board seeks, and expects, of its next executive director/CEO." As chairman of County Council, Summey automatically has a seat on the board. He has asked the vice chairman of council to sit on the board for the remainder of the year. Summey, who said he will not seek reelection this year, plans to remain as chairman of County Council until his term expires Jan. 5. Summey is involved in commercial, industrial and medical real estate development with projects in Michigan and South Carolina. He plans to step away from his partnership in Michigan-based real estate developer SensusOne while maintaining his Summey Real Estate Advisors firm. Campbell, who was tapped to lead the Aviation Authority in 2013 just as it was about to embark on $200 million expansion and renovation of the now-35-year-old terminal building, will step down June 30 but continue to serve as an adviser through the end of the year to help Summey transition into the new job. The time is right for my retirement for a number of reasons," Campbell said. "We have achieved unprecedented growth in air service and passenger volumes. Our capital projects are operating on schedule and on budget." He added the agency is performing well financially and a strategic plan for the next decade is in place. "All that gives me confidence in passing the baton," Campbell said. Campbell's term as state senator also expires later this year, but he said Tuesday he plans to seek reelection. Summey will be coming on board at a time of continued airport expansion. The agency is currently building a $90 million, five-tier parking deck that's expected to be completed before Thanksgiving. Over the next five years, the airport also has plans to expand the airline ticket counter space and add a third wing with more gates to serve the increasing number of airlines serving Charleston. The airport is now served by nine airlines flying nonstop to 28 cities, including London, which British Airways will serve with resumed seasonal flights in late March. Passengers wear protective face masks arrive at the high speed train station in Hong Kong on Jan. 28, 2020. (Vincent Yu/AP Photo) Japan Sends Charter Plane to Virus-Hit Wuhan, Reports New Coronavirus Cases Japan has sent a plane to evacuate its citizens from virus-hit Wuhan in China on Tuesday, according to the Japanese foreign minister, as the country has reported three new coronavirus cases. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters Tuesday that the chartered plane will also provide protective suits and masks to Wuhan before carrying about 200 people to Tokyo on Wednesday morning. Japan decided to provide emergency relief goods through the Japan International Cooperation Agency to China in response to a request to deal with the outbreak, according to the foreign ministrys website. Motegi said approximately 650 Japanese nationals have expressed a desire to return to Japan. Tokyo will make arrangements to provide more chartered flights to Wuhan to evacuate nationals, he remarked. When those 200 nationals return to Japan this week, officials will have to monitor their health for the next two weeks to see if they develop any symptoms of the virus, reported Japan Times. The Chinese side informed us that they were ready to take one charter flight, Motegi said, Reuters reported. Also, measures [for Japanese nationals] to get to [Wuhan] airport have been arranged. He added, We will dispatch the first flight to Wuhan tonight, which will bring masks, protective suits and other support items for Chinese people and Japanese nationals there. The Boeing 767 departed Tokyos Haneda Airport after 8 p.m. local time, Reuters reported, adding it will return at 7:30 a.m. the next day. Health officials in Japan reported that a male bus driver in his 60s in Nara Prefecture contracted coronavirus and didnt travel to Wuhan, Kyodo News reported. However, he drove buses from tour bus groups from the city, said officials in the report. So far, seven cases have been reported in Japan by health authorities, and three new ones have been confirmed on Tuesday, according to the report. The drivers bus made a round trip between Tokyo and Osaka between Jan. 8 and Jan. 16, the health ministry confirmed. Japans health ministry said a man in his 40s from Wuhan developed pneumonia in Aichi Prefecture, and a woman in her 40s from the same city was diagnosed with pneumonia in Hokkaido, Kyodo News reported. These three new patients are not in severe condition, said the ministry. Prime Minister Shinzo Abes cabinet declared the new infection as a designated infectious disease, which will allow health authorities to hospitalize patients who refuse consent. We will take all possible measures to prevent the spread of infections, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said earlier this week, the Japan Times reported. Beyond Smollett, the main campaign issue is one Foxx has made a focal point of her work: bail reform. Her opponents question whether Cook County correctly determines which suspects charged with crimes can safely be released while they await trial. Foxx says a willingness to release suspects who dont pose a danger will rebuild the publics trust; many people in poorer communities cant afford cash bail, and wind up feeling alienated from police and prosecutors. They cooperate with us more when they see were righting the wrongs of the past, Foxx told us. More retorted that on Foxxs watch, the balance between bail reform and public safety tilts too far toward the former. (Alliance News) - SDX Energy PLC on Tuesday said commercial gas quantities found at the OYF-2 well in Morocco beat pre-drill estimates. The well, which the company has a 75% stake in, was drilled to a depth of 1,210 metres, SDX said. The company added that between 1.3 billion and 1.9 billion cubic feet of gas is recoverable from areas drilled at the well. Chief Executive Mark Reid said: "OYF-2 in Morocco is a very positive start, a discovery which is larger than pre drill expectations, and confirmation that our core productive area extends to the north. With the planned follow on development well, we now have the potential to increase our total reserves in Morocco." In Egypt, where SDX owns a 55% stake in the South Disouq asset, the company is preparing two exploration wells. SDX estimates the first well to have an unrisked prospect of 71 billion cubic feet equivalent of gas. The second, Sobhi is targeting an unrisked prospect of 33 billion cubic feet equivalent of gas. SDX expects to spud Salah in mid to late February, before beginning work in late April and early May at Sobhi. Shares in the company were 1.9% lower at 25.50 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon. By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. According to reports on Monday, an Air India Boeing 747 jumbo jet has been kept on standby for the evacuation of Indians. A team of experts from the Union health ministry at an isolation ward for people who have returned from China and are under observation at the Government Fever Hospital in Hyderabad on Tuesday. (Photo: AP) New Delhi: India on Tuesday began the process of the evacuation of its nationals stranded in Wuhan city and other parts of Hubei province of China following the outbreak of the dreaded coronavirus there. New Delhi said it was working out logistics with the Chinese government. We have begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of Corona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China. Our @EOIBeijing (Embassy of India in Beijing) is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese govt authorities and our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates, MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted. According to reports on Monday, an Air India Boeing 747 jumbo jet has been kept on standby for the evacuation of Indians. A significant number of Indian students study at the central Chinese industrial city of Wuhan, epicentre of the outbreak, which is an educational hub that has prestigious technical and medical education institutes. India had earlier said it was closely monitoring the situation in China in view of the coronavirus outbreak there, as the Indian embassy in Beijing had last Friday decided to call off the Republic Day reception in the Chinese capital on January 26 in view of the decision of the Chinese authorities to cancel public gatherings and events. The Indian embassy had earlier said: Embassy of India has been receiving queries from Indians in Hubei province as well as their relatives in India with the evolving situation of the coronavirus epidemic in China. In this regard, Embassy of India is in touch with relevant Chinese authorities in Beijing and Wuhan as well as Indians in Hubei Province, especially in Wuhan. We are closely monitoring the evolving situation in China, including advisories issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in this connection. For members of the presidents legal team, it was the second day of their defense, after they began Saturday with an abbreviated two-hour summary. Each side is allowed 24 hours to present its case, and the House Democratic impeachment managers took nearly all their allotted time last week, repeatedly pushing the trial late into the night, to the irritation of some GOP senators. Trumps team has promised to be more brief, although its presentation was continuing into the evening hours Monday and was expected to resume Tuesday. There will be one noticeable person that will not be in attendance at the Keep America Great Rally Tuesday night at the Wildwoods Convention Center: the citys mayor. Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron said he was not invited to the campaign rally being held in the Wildwoods Convention Center Tuesday. The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported the story. Byron told NJ Advance Media that he had spoke with Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd Congressional District) Monday about the upcoming rally. Byron said Van Drew and President Trump were upset with the fact that he had been quoted in an interview with NJ Advance Media saying that he would be looking for some reimbursement from the local branch of the Republican Party for the rally. Byron, who was nominated to the position of mayor by his two other fellow non-partisan commissioners, identifies as a Democrat but said political affiliation did not matter when it came to seeking some relief for rally costs. The Wildwood mayor had previously said the city does not have a budget for the event but has asked their first responder departments, along with the public works department to keep detailed accounts for the costs incurred. As the mayor of Wildwood, I represent everyone, Byron said. I need to look into these costs and look for reimbursement if it is anything out of the normal cost of business. I have to do that. I am disappointed in this, but this is not about me, Byron said. This is about the city. This is fantastic for the city as well as the whole county. Whether I get into the event or not, it is not as important as the economic impact it will have on the city of Wildwood. I am thankful that the city has this opportunity. Instead of attending the event, Byron will entertain some guests at his home while the rally is going on. A phone call and email seeking comment from Van Drews office was not returned. Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews or on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. LAHORE, Pakistan - A massive explosion and fire triggered by a gas cylinder explosion engulfed a small perfume factory in eastern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, rescuer workers and police said. Two people were also injured in the blast, which caused the roof of the factory to collapse in flames, said Rana Izhar, an official with the state-run emergency service in the city of Lahore. He said the explosion was so powerful it damaged nearby homes as well. Hospital officials said one of the injured was in critical condition. Gas cylinder explosions and other similar accidents are common in Pakistan, mainly due to insufficient enforcement of safety standards and poor infrastructure. Police and emergency workers said it was not immediately clear what caused the gas cylinder to explode. Witnesses told The Associated Press that they heard a huge blast and said the factory went up in flames within minutes. TV footage showed firefighters dousing the blaze as relatives of the labourers trapped inside wailed and cried for help. Later, authorities said the rescue operation was complete and there was no one left alive in the building. Last November, a fire caused by a cooking gas stove swept through a train in Pakistans eastern Punjab Province, killing 74 people. Survivors said afterward that it took nearly 20 minutes for the train to stop amid contradictory reports about the condition of the trains brakes. A gas cylinder explosion at a restaurant in the central city of Multan killed at least three people in July 2018. Stride Rite's booth (G107) will be located in the Brands and Agents wing. If you are interested in licensing the Stride Rite brand and would like to schedule an appointment, please contact [email protected]. About Stride Rite Founded in 1919, Stride Rite is a leader in the children's footwear industry. With a rich 100-year history, Stride Rite delivers quality products with advanced and cutting-edge technologies. Inspired by a child's out-of-this-world imagination and the challenges of parenting, Stride Rite puts an emphasis on fit and quality because they understand that parents' greatest desire is to provide their kids with the best. Stride Rite is distributed throughout the U.S. in specialty retailers, independent and department stores and online. Stride Rite is licensed by Vida Shoes International, Inc. a global leader in the footwear industry. Learn more at www.striderite.com and follow Stride Rite on Facebook and Instagram at @StrideRite. About Licensing Expo ( www.licensingexpo.com ) Launched in 1980, Licensing Expo is the world's largest and most influential annual trade show dedicated to licensing and brand extension. The show floor is merchandised into two zones: Characters and Entertainment and Brands, Agents and Design. More than 16,000 retailers, licensees, manufacturers, distributors and licensing agents attend the Expo from more than 70 countries. The following events and information products are produced for the licensing industry by the Global Licensing Group: Licensing Expo, Brand Licensing Europe, Licensing Expo Japan, Licensing Expo China, the Licensing Leadership Summit, License Global magazine, and License Global Daily eNews. For Scheduling Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Stride Rite As a small-business owner, offering retirement benefits to your employees might be at the bottom of your miles-long to-do list. But some financial experts say it could be costing you not to do it. Chad Parks, founder and CEO of Ubiquity Retirement + Savings, has served small-business owners for more than 20 years. He says that offering retirement benefits to employees is important -- and will only get more so in the coming years. "People depend on the three-legged stool of retirement savings in America," he said. "Pensions, Social Security and private savings. ... Small-business owners aren't going to set up a pension, but the third leg of that stool comes ideally through tax-advantage retirement plans like 401(k)s and IRAs." There's a retirement crisis looming in America, Parks said. Vanguard, the Pennsylvania-based investment advisory firm with $5.3 trillion in assets, says the average 401(k) account value for Americans over 65 has less than $60,000. Americans these days can expect to live well into their 80s, which does not bode well for many of those retirement plans. Chad Parks, CEO and Founder of Ubiquity Retirement + Savings on Yahoo! Finance. When Parks started his financial career, 72% of businesses with fewer than 100 employees offered no retirement benefits. With a retirement crisis on the horizon, states are beginning to take notice. Already, four states -- Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland and Oregon -- have introduced legislation to force small businesses with fewer than 50 employees to offer such benefits. California may order businesses with as few as five employees to do so. Aside from the law, Parks said that offering retirement benefits is just good business. "Look at if from a life cycle perspective," he said. "After health care, the most requested benefit employees look for is retirement. You'll be able to retain your best employees when they go looking for other work. You may not be paying top dollar but, hey, you've got a nice benefits package. It's great culture." John Noll, an Afghanistan veteran who runs Swatara Coffee Company in Jonestown, Pennsylvania, says offering his workers a pension is just the right thing to do. "I wanted to provide this benefit as a way to inspire our team members to action, as well as demonstrate our appreciation of their work," Noll said. "I've created an organizational culture that values and respects the employees. Adding a 401(k) benefit is right in line with this, and I imagine our team members see this as consistent with my messaging and our culture." With 2.4 million veteran-owned businesses in America, many of them small, a new retirement plan is a lot of new financial responsibility. But there is good news. First, the idea that a business must contribute to its employees' retirement, called matching, is a misconception. In reality, Parks said, all you have to do is set up a savings plan for them and let them defer their own incomes. Companies like Parks' Ubiquity Retirement + Savings can set it up for you. Second, setting up a retirement plan for your employees could ultimately be free. "The government is so serious about having business owners sponsor and put in a retirement plan for the employees that it's willing to give a very large tax incentive for them to do so," Parks said. He's referring to the SECURE Act, signed by President Donald Trump in the first week of 2020. It stands for "Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement" and is designed to incentivize small businesses to set up automatic enrollment in retirement accounts for employees. "The way the math works is $250 per employee per year tax credit, not to exceed $5,000," Parks says. "So if you have a 20-person company, 20 times $250 is 5,000 -- a $5,000 tax credit to offset any expenses establishing a retirement plan. And I can tell you that, in our case, our plans for a 20-person company don't cost anywhere near $5,000." As far as when to start saving for retirement -- and helping your employees do so, Parks cites an old adage: "When is the best time to plant a tree? The answer is 20 years ago. The second best time? Right now." -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. Want to Know More About Post-Military Careers? Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. Technavio has been monitoring the aluminum market and it is poised to grow by 23.88 mn tonnes during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005325/en/ Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global aluminum market 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire) Increasing demand for aluminum cans from the beverage industry has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, challenges with high volatility in London Metal Exchange (LME) prices of aluminum, might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report Aluminum Market 2019-2023: Segmentation End-User Transportation Construction Packaging Electrical Engineering Others Production Process Primary Aluminum Secondary Aluminum Geographic segmentation APAC Europe MEA North America South America To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30782 Aluminum Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our aluminum market report covers the following areas: Aluminum Market size Aluminum Market trends Aluminum Market industry analysis This study identifies increase in demand from niche applications as one of the prime reasons driving the aluminum market growth during the next few years. Aluminum Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the aluminum market, including some of the vendors such as Aluminum Corporation of China, China Hongqiao Group, Emirates Global Aluminium, Rio Tinto, RUSAL and Xinfa Group. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the aluminum market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Aluminum Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist aluminum market growth during the next five years Estimation of the aluminum market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the aluminum market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of aluminum market vendors About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005325/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: https://www.technavio.com/ "This year's ad really brings to life how much people value Avocados From Mexico in a way that is entertaining to fans everywhere," said Alvaro Luque, President of Avocados From Mexico. "The Big Game is one of the greatest avocado consumption days of the year and Avocados From Mexico are always worth having at a Big Game party. We hope fans enjoy some guacamole and chips while watching our Big Game ad." This year's ad follows five years of showcasing Avocados From Mexico's versatility, seasonality, and nutritional benefits (source of good fats, as well as nearly 20 vitamins and minerals), through humorous and lighthearted ads, all reinforcing that avocados are Always Worth It. This is true for the Big Game, too: a recent poll found that nearly half (48 percent) of Americans have judged a Big Game party host for not having guacamole.i "THE AVOCADOS FROM MEXICO SHOPPING NETWORK" This year's ad is an entertaining spin-off of popular infomercials, starring Molly Ringwald as a co-host who provides viewers with the ultimate gifts to pamper their favorite fruit, the avocado. From chip floaties to tracksuits and car seats, your most precious avocados are sure to be protected and pampered. "I am excited to be part of Avocados From Mexico's Big Game ad this year which shows just how truly precious avocados are to people," said Ringwald. "I've had so many incredible opportunities and successes throughout my career but being in a Big Game ad with Avocados From Mexico is just a whole other level of excitement. I hope people love this funny, entertaining ad as much as I've loved filming it." For the second year in row, Avocados From Mexico partnered with Chicago-based advertising agency Energy BBDO for the creative strategy and production of the Big Game ad. Havas Media is managing the media buy and execution of the spot. Dallas-based Richards/Lerma is leading digital creative and social media strategy, while NYC-based Padilla is managing public relations for the first time. DIGITAL EXPERIENCE Earlier this month, Avocados From Mexico launched #AvoNetwork to support its big game spot. In just the first two days of launch, it reached 224MM social impressions. Fans can visit https://avocadosfrommexico.com/big-game/ through Sunday, February 2, where they can choose from the following experiences. Twitter: Users can participate by retweeting Avocados From Mexico's campaign tweets, as well as tweeting their love for AFM using the hashtag #AvoNetwork. The more love they show, the more chances they have to win a designer tiara valued at $2,745 USD or simply cash out the prize. or simply cash out the prize. Digital Wallet: Users can create their own digital wallet through the AFM Big Game website and participate throughout the two-week activation. Users have a chance to win over $30,000 USD worth of prizes by collecting the multiple digital objects called Vatoms. worth of prizes by collecting the multiple digital objects called Vatoms. Every day throughout the duration of the campaign, the brand will notify users when a new Vatom is released and how to earn it. Users can collect the Vatoms by performing certain actions like sharing AFM news with friends or following the brand's social channels, among many other ways. Each Vatom gains them an entry for a chance to win over $30,000 USD worth of prizes. The Digital Experience was created by Dallas-based agencies Richards/Lerma (user experience and social media), 270B (technology integration) and Ro2 (digital media). To learn more about these and other marketing and promotional activities, visit https://avocadosfrommexico.com/big-game/, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/AvocadosFromMexico) or Twitter (@AvosFromMexico). About Avocados From Mexico Avocados From Mexico (AFM) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association (MHAIA), formed for the purpose of advertising, promotion, public relations and research for all stakeholders of Avocados From Mexico. Under agreements, MHAIA and the Mexican Avocado Producers & Packers (APEAM) have combined resources to fund and manage AFM, with the intent to provide a focused, highly- effective and efficient marketing program in the United States. AFM is headquartered in Irving, Texas. For educational resources, recipes and more, visit www.avocadosfrommexico.com. i The "party-xieties" survey, conducted by OnePoll for Avocados From Mexico (AFM), was funded by AFM and conducted among 2,000 male and female U.S. participants ranging in age from 18 to 55+, across the U.S. in December 2019. Contact: Chad Darwin Avocados From Mexico [email protected] 469.776.8023 SOURCE Avocados From Mexico Related Links https://avocadosfrommexico.com - Without an extension of the transition period, only a basic agreement is possible - EU must protect businesses from unfair competition - A hard Brexit at the end of the year is not off the table BERLIN, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU on Friday is the right step on the wrong path, according to the Federation of German Industries (BDI). "The uncertainty surrounding the withdrawal may be over, but there is no reason to be relieved," BDI Director General Joachim Lang said on Tuesday in Berlin. During the transition period, little will initially change for businesses, but the future of the relationship between Brussels and London remains totally unclear. It is obvious that the transition period's limited time will not be enough to conduct negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement, Lang underlined. A comprehensive free trade agreement affects many areas that must be approved by Member States' parliaments. "It is simply impossible to complete this task by the end of the year." The negotiators need significantly more time. "I believe it is a serious mistake for the British government to categorically rule out an extension of the transition period," Lang said. By the end of the year, the EU and the United Kingdom can only achieve a basic free trade agreement that governs only fields under sole EU competency. Important elements of a comprehensive free trade agreement would be omitted. "We would be miles away from a modern free trade agreement such as the one with Canada, for example," Lang stressed. From the business perspective, such a basic agreement must at the very least renounce tariffs and quotas and contain a clear commitment to fair competition, he said: "The EU cannot leave any doubt: those who will diverge from EU rules will not get the best access to the world's largest internal market. We expect the EU to act in a united and strong way." Brussels and London must also conclude other agreements, for instance on aviation or posted workers. "The risk of a hard Brexit, meaning a disorderly British exit from the EU at the end of the year, is not off the table," Lang emphasized. "Lawmakers in Germany and Europe must prepare for the possibility of the negotiators not reaching an agreement by the end of the year. We once again deem it necessary for politicians to promptly and concretely communicate their intentions for a no-deal Brexit." The Federation of German Industries Member association of BUSINESSEUROPE Contact numbers T: +49-(0)30-2028-1479 F: +49-(0)30-2028-2479 Website: www.bdi.eu Email: Presse@bdi.eu Related Links https://bdi.eu SOURCE The Federation of German Industries (BDI) Census Bureau now hiring in Kansas City KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Organizations across the Kansas City, Missouri, area want to raise awareness about the importance of completing the 2020 Census. The US Census Bureau is currently hiring thousands of part-time, temporary employees to help with the process. The population debate is rife with suspected scams and political debate but it's also good for some easy money for older or part time workers. Read more: Company brings the future of work to healthcare by providing access to a tech-enabled virtual care workforce for healthcare companies, and more flexible work opportunities for clinicians AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wheel, a digital health company building the infrastructure required for virtual care to realize its full potential, launched today with a $13.9 million Series A funding round. A first-of-its-kind enterprise, Wheel provides healthcare companies with the tech-enabled platform required to scale virtual care offerings compliantly, and access to a flexible workforce of specialized virtual care clinicians -- creating a new way of working and of delivering virtual patient care. The round was led by CRV, with participation from Tusk Venture Partners and Silverton Partners. Wheel is a tech-enabled marketplace that serves two sides of an evolving industry, helping both healthcare companies and clinicians improve the experience and quality of virtual care. Its core offering is a virtual care workforce and technology platform that matches the right clinician to the right patient. Formerly known as Enzyme Health, Wheel already boasts a track record of success: For companies , from new or growing telehealth providers to established organizations now entering healthcare, Wheel provides a tech-enabled platform powered by a scalable, nationwide network of clinicians specializing in virtual care. For clinicians who are passionate about providing quality patient care and want more freedom and balance in their careers, Wheel creates a simpler connection to more virtual opportunities with meticulously vetted companies, as well as specialized training in Webside Manner. "The telehealth market is shifting rapidly from simply replicating doctor-patient visits over the phone and web to a broader spectrum of virtual care. While virtual care offerings are booming, its often difficult for these companies to recruit, train and manage their clinician network, said Kristin Baker Spohn, Venture Partner at CRV. We invested in Wheel, because they provide companies with a flexible and reliable workforce of clinicians, and the tech-enabled platform to empower these clinicians to practice quality care at scale. Story continues We created Wheel to change the way healthcare works because, ultimately, happier clinicians make healthier patients, said Michelle Davey, CEO and Co-Founder, Wheel. With a clinician-shortage crisis looming, virtual care can make a tremendous impact on patient access and care delivery. At Wheel, we believe that by building the infrastructure that powers healthcare's digital revolution and championing clinicians on the front lines of patient care, we will create the momentum needed to move the industry forward, she added. Davey and co-founder Griffin Mulcahey, Chief Compliance & Strategy Officer, founded Wheel in 2018 to address a significant unmet need in the emerging digital health sector by providing a marketplace for companies to find qualified clinicians. After working with companies across the industry, a deeper need for innovation became clear: to build the infrastructure required for a new way of working and delivering patient care -- making clinicians more efficient and empowered through education and training, and ensuring the right clinician could be matched with the right patient on demand. Making virtual care services safe and accessible is crucial to public health, and that requires protecting not only patients, but the practicing clinicians who make healthcare possible, said Rafid Fadul, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Wheel. Were creating a new workforce configuration that improves outcomes for everyone: clinicians, companies and patients. To learn more about Wheel, visit www.wheel.com . ABOUT WHEEL Wheel, a digital health company building the infrastructure required for virtual care to realize its full potential, addresses two key industry challenges with a proprietary technology platform. For healthcare companies, Wheel provides access to a flexible, curated network of clinicians specially trained in Webside Manner, powered by tech-enabled workforce management to mobilize and scale virtual care rapidly and compliantly. For clinicians, Wheel creates a simpler connection to more virtual opportunities with meticulously vetted companies, bringing the future of work to healthcare. By enabling the digital health industry to thrive, Wheel improves the experience and quality of care for patients. To learn more about Wheel, visit www.wheel.com . Media Contact: Amy Dowell Wheel amy@wheel.com Finn Partners Fp-wheel@finnpartners.com WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he will release the long-awaited political aspect of the Middle East peace plan on Tuesday, a proposal that has already been rejected repeatedly by the Palestinians. "We're going to be announcing a plan tomorrow at 12 o'clock," Trump told reporters at the White House before his meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "That's a plan that Bibi (Netanyahu) and his opponent, I must say, have to like very much," added Trump, referring to Netanyahu with his nickname. Trump is also scheduled to meet with Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's main political rival, at the White House later in the day. The Trump administration has postponed several times the publication of its "Deal of the Century" for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The economic portion of the plan was unveiled last June at a convention in Bahrain which was boycotted by the Palestinians. The Palestinians have criticized the U.S. plan as very favorable to the right-wing Israeli government and refused any participation in it. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Monday called on the international community to reject the new U.S. peace plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "The International community should reject to be a partner in the conspiracy of the American 'Deal of the Century'," he told the Palestinian Authority (PA) at a weekly cabinet meeting held in Ramallah. Acknowledging the Palestinians' total rejection, Trump on Monday still expressed optimism for the prospect of the plan. "They probably won't want it initially, but I think in the end they will," Trump said. The expected announcement of the plan comes as the Israeli prime minister has been indicted on corruption charges. Netanyahu's request for immunity from trial is supposed to be discussed at the Israeli parliament at the same time when he is traveling to Washington. LEBANON, Ore. -- Fire officials are urging the public to install smoke alarms and to check them regularly after two homes were severely damaged in fires on Friday night. Neither home had working smoke alarms. Both homes were complete losses. A fire destroyed a home on Hobbs Street Friday night. A fire destroyed a home on Hobbs Street Friday night. The calls, which were within a five-hour span, stretched the Lebanon Fire Districts resources thin. First, crews responded to the 30000 block of Fairview Road at about 5:40 p.m. after receiving reports of heavy smoke. Both residents escaped, but the home was fully on fire when firefighters arrived. As crews worked to put out the fire, the second floor partially collapsed, making the building unsafe to enter. Crews used existing openings in the structure to get the fire completely out. Officials said the fire was started by a wood stove pipe that was improperly installed. They said it was up against a wood framing piece, and the constant heat caused the wood to ignite. The fire then spread to the interior wall space and throughout the entire home. Investigators believe the fire had been smoldering for a while, and when the residents opened windows to clear the smoke, it gave the fire extra oxygen to spread quickly. As firefighters were leaving the first fire, with some units staying behind, another house fire was reported, this time in the 100 block of Hobbs Street. Arriving at the fire, crews found heavy fire and smoke at the back of a multi-family property. The home at the back of the property was fully on fire and firefighters were concerned it could spread. However, the fire was put out before it could get to a nearby shop or another home. Both residents escaped unharmed. Officials said the fire started in the back bedroom, but due to the heavy destruction, they were unable to determine a cause. We recommend a smoke alarm in every bedroom, one outside of the bedroom areas, and at least one on each level of a home, Fire Marshal Jason Bolen said. And if your smoke alarm is more than 10 years old, it needs to be replaced. The Lebanon Fire District runs a smoke alarm program in conjunction with the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Firefighters will go to homes in the district to install the proper number of alarms at no charge to the homeowner, Bolen said. To date, the program has led to the installation of about 850 smoke alarms in the city. For more information, contact Deputy Fire Marshal Ken Foster at 541-451-1901 or email kfoster@lebanonfire.com. Bhopal, Jan 28 : Madhya Pradesh BJP legislator Narayan Tripathi has again fallen out of step with his party, to oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which "has vitiated the social atmosphere and led to a civil war-like situation in the country". At a time when the top BJP leaders in the state are holding rallies in support of the CAA, the MLA from Maihar has embarrassed the party by speaking out against the law. "I am opposing the CAA on the call of my conscience. This is ending mutual trust and brotherhood. People are looking at each other with suspicion. We will put our point on the party forum. "This is my personal view. The CAA could be right for vote politics, but not for the country," he said. Tripathi said that there is a need to talk about unemployment and not citizenship linked to religion. "The country should not be divided in the name of religion. Either follow the Constitution or tear it off and throw it away. I come from the village and even today it is not easy to get the Aadhaar cards in the villages. Where will they get the rest of the papers from? I am speaking through my heart. If we wish to take the nation forward, the CAA should not be implemented." Tripathi has mostly been in the news for anti-party activities. In July 2019, he had voted against the BJP over a bill and admitted his support for Chief Minister Kamal Nath. He later returned to the party. Now his tone has changed again and could cause trouble for the party. Tripathi, a Congress MLA before joining the BJP in 2014, is also named in the police charge sheet in the honey trap case. In this photograph taken on January 27, 2020 the wreckage of a US Bombardier E-11A jet is seen after it crashed in mountainous territory of Deh Yak district in Ghazni Province. The United States on Tuesday recovered the remains of individuals from a U.S. military aircraft that crashed in Afghanistan and was in the process of confirming their identities, U.S. and Afghan officials told Reuters on Tuesday. On Monday, the U.S. military said an E-11A aircraft had crashed in the province of Ghazni, but disputed claims by the Taliban militant group that they brought it down. Earlier on Tuesday, Afghan forces and Taliban fighters clashed in a central region where the U.S. military plane crashed as the government tried to reach the wreckage site in a Taliban stronghold. The U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said multiple attempts had been made to recover the remains but they had been hampered by the terrain and weather. The official said the remains were believed to be of two service members who were on the plane. A second U.S. defense official said the aircraft had been carrying no other individuals apart from the two service members. The Pentagon declined to comment. Several killed, injured after National Defense truck rolls Oaxaca-Ixtlan, Oaxaca At least six were killed and 11 left with serious injuries after a truck carrying elements of la Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) overturned along a highway in Oaxaca. The accident happened around 4:00 p.m. Monday in the municipality of Ixtlan de Juarez when the driver lost control, leaving the highway and rolling into brush. Several men were left trapped under the weight of the truck. Paramedics, firefighters and other elements of the Mexican Army arrived to remove the men from under the vehicle. Helicopters traveled in Ixtlan to transfer the seriously injured to hospital. La Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) says the vehicle was carrying 27 members at the time of the rollover. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday asked his party workers to pressurise the Maharashtra government to pass a resolution in the assembly against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Addressing an anti-CAA rally in South Mumbai in the night, Owasi also read out the Constitution's preamble to those gathered and made them repeat it after him. The BJP and the Sangh Parivar will be defeated in their "nefarious designs", the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad said, denouncing the CAA whose passage in Parliament last month triggered nationwide protests. Owaisi asked his party workers to pressurise the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government to pass a resolution in the assembly against the CAA as done by some non-BJP states. After the rally, AIMIM Mumbai chief Fayyaz Khan told PTI, This protest was against the CAA and during his speech Owaisi saheb described how it will adversely affect people." People from various communities, including Dalits, Christians, Parsis, besides women, children and senior citizens also participated in the rally. The party's Lok Sabha MP Imtiyaz Jaleel and its senior leaders, including Waris Pathan, took part in the protest rally. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the Iowa Democratic primary caucus coming up next Monday, several presidential candidates are making the state a priority. Presidential candidate Andrew Yang stopped in Council Bluffs Monday. Candidates Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg are scheduled to hold events in the area later in the week. Vice President Mike Pence is making an appearance Thursday at The Gathering Room, 1900 Madison Ave. next to Thunderbowl, at 1:30 p.m. Biden will stop at the Grass Wagon at 110 S 29th St. Wednesday to speak at a community event. Doors will open at 4:45 p.m. To RSVP go to http://bit.ly/2O50Pr5 Warren is stopping in Council Bluffs Thursday for a rally at the Mid-America Center at 1 Arena Way. Doors open for the event at noon with the event to begin at 1:30 p.m. According to the event description, Warren is expected to speak on topics including rebuilding the middle class, saving democracy and leveling the playing field for working families. Anyone with accessibility issues is requested to contact iowa@elizabethwarren.com with a subject line Accessibility Needs. To RSVP go to bit.ly/2U22Nw8 Buttigieg is scheduled to stop Friday at the Mid-America Center, 1 Arena Way. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. with the event to start at 2 p.m. To RSVP go to bit.ly/2O46D4q. Staff writer Susan Payne contributed to this story. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Four boys have been arrested in Pakistan for their alleged involvement in vandalising a temple in Sindh province with a Hindu minister seeking blasphemy charges against the minors, a media report said on Tuesday. The boys, aged 15, 13, 13 and 12, have confessed to the crime and said that they carried out the act to steal money from the temple, Dawn newspaper quoted police officials as saying. The Mata Deval Bhittani temple in a village near Thar's Chhachro town in Sindh province was vandalised on Sunday night by some unidentified persons who also desecrated the idols of deities, the report said. An FIR was registered against the vandals on the directions of Thar Senior Superintendent of Police Abdullah Ahmedyar on Monday. All the four accused, who belong Chhachhro town, were arrested by the Tharparkar police on Monday for vandalising the place of worship, the report said. Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Minorities Affairs Hari Ram Kishori Lal has asked the police to register a blasphemy case against the accused, it said. According to the minorities department, Lal directed the police to conduct an investigation into the incident and arrest the miscreants. "Chhachro is known for peace, communal harmony and religious tolerance. There must be some miscreants behind the incident who want to create (communal) disturbances in the area. Such incidents are intolerable as they shock the entire Hindu community," the report quoted the minister as saying. The police had sought help from "local experts" who were examining the footprints of the miscreants to identify them, Chhachro Station House Officer Hussain Bux Rajar said. The Special Assistant to Sindh chief minister on human rights, Advocate Veerji Kolhi, said that the miscreants had meant to disturb communal peace in the area and urged people of all communities to stay calm. He promised that those responsible will be brought to justice. Hindus form the biggest minority community in Pakistan. According to official estimates, 75 lakh Hindus live in Pakistan. However, according to the community, over 90 lakh Hindus are living in the country. Majority of Pakistan's Hindu population is settled in Sindh province where they share culture, traditions and language with their Muslim fellows. A fugitive Colombian ex congresswoman was captured in Venezuela nearly four months after escaping custody by climbing out of a window during her prison guard escorted visit to a dental clinic. Aida Merlano was originally arrested in March 2018 for allegedly paying $1.7 million to buy votes in Colombia's national 2018 elections. But the 43-year-old, of Barranquilla, saw her chance to escape during a visit to Sabana Medical Center dentist's office in Bogota. The disgraced politician was escorted from jail to the clinic by a prison guard, but saw an opportunity when the dentist left her alone in the room for a moment. Surveillance footage from the October 1 visit, showed her using a rope to climb down down from the office, before she jumped on the back of a waiting motorbike and fled. It was almost four months before police caught up with her in the northwestern Venezuelan city of Maracaibo along with Jacob Vargas, who is romantically linked to her, according to Colombian television network, RCN. According to radio station Blu Radio, Vargas allegedly posed as a delivery driver for Colombian messenger app Rappi and waited for Merlano to descend from the third-floor dentist's office. Vargas was also spotted visiting Merlano's jail cell to pick up some of her personal belongings a couple of days before Merlano perfected her daring escape plot. Scroll down for video Aida Merlano was arrested Monday after she was found hiding out in Venezuela - almost four months after fleeing Colombia Merlano, a mother-of-two, used a rope escape (left) from the dentist office and throw off the jail guard who oversaw her dental appointment. She was arrested in March 2018 and charged with four counts, including paying $1.7 million for the purchase of votes for the 2018 legislative elections. 'After arduous investigations carried out by our officials of the (Special Police Forces) FAES, former Senator Aida Merlano was arrested in the El Milagro sector of the city of Maracaibo, Zulia state,' police director Miguel Dominguez said on his Instagram account. '[She] illegally entered Venezuelan territory in the company of an undocumented Colombian citizen. Both were transferred and placed in custody of the Public Ministry. We will continue working to guarantee the security, peace and Sovereignty of our people!' The Colombian government announced Monday that it will seek Merlano's extradition, but only through 'the legitimate government of Venezuela, which is headed by Juan Guaido.' 'As is known to all, Colombia, along with several countries in Latin America and the rest of the world, does not recognize and therefore has no diplomatic relations with the dictatorial regime of Nicolas Maduro.' DailyMail.com reached out to Dominguez for comment. Venezuela's Special Police Forces arrested former Colombian congresswoman Aida Merlano (right) and her alleged boyfriend Jacob Vargas (left) in Maracaibo, Venezuela, on Monday Colombia's government said it it will reach out to Venezuelan interim president Juan Guaido for Aida Merlano's extradition since it does not have a diplomatic relation with the regime of Nicolas Maduro The mother-of-two served as a member of the Colombian House of Representatives from 2014 to 2018, and won her senator seat in the 2018 elections. But Merlano was arrested in March 2018 after authorities raided her campaign headquarters and discovered a cache of voter identification cards, electoral certificates, cash, a notebook with names and weapons. In May, a Colombia court vacated her seat. Merlano had been found unconscious inside her jail cell last year after she attempted to commit suicide. Merlano was charged with four counts, including paying $1.7 million for the purchase of votes for the legislative elections. She was also accused of exceeding the campaign finance by spending $494,000, well over the $252,000 limit. A Supreme Court judge handed down a 15-year jail sentence on September 14. Aside from attending her dental appointment, she was also schedule to meet with her lawyer to appeal her sentence. The fugitive ex senator (pictured on the dentist chair) was allowed to seek medical attention outside the Good Pastor Penitentiary where she was incarcerated based on guidelines that allow inmates to pay for their own medical care if they renounce the care afforded by the prison system Aida Merlano kissed her daughter before her daring escape in October after a prison guard accompanied the former senator to a dental appointment Video images captured the moment Aida Merlano pulled out a red rope hidden underneath a dental office desk before she escaped her prison guard's custody in Bogota, Colombia Aida Merlano (left) lost grip of the rope she used to climb out of the building and fell to the ground before several Good Samaritans tried to help her out An office surveillance camera captured the moment Merlano kissed her daughter before the dentist, Javier Guillermo Cely, walked out and left her alone in the office. Within seconds, Merlano pulled out a red rope that was tied to a table in front of her and climbed over the window before she descended to the street below where she suffered a hard fall after losing grip off the rope. Merlano brushed off several Good Samaritans and and was given a motorcycle helmet by a man. She then hopped aboard at bike and disappeared, setting off an international manhunt that required Interpol's assistance. Merlano was allowed to seek medical attention outside the Good Pastor Penitentiary where she was incarcerated based on guidelines that allows inmates to pay for their own medical care if they renounce the care afforded by the prison system. Aida Merlano (center, pictured in white) holds on to a rope she used to climb down from a window at La Sabana Medical Center in Bogota as Good Samaritans check on her well-being "As more and more companies explore this business opportunity, it only makes sense that ISA and TWI assist them as they improve skills and expertise. Craig Campbell, ISAs director of business development The International Sign Association is adding to its online learning courses with a new stand-alone course, Intro to Vehicle Wrapping. The course includes the expertise of The Wrap Institute and covers a history of vehicle wraps, available materials and considerations for setting up a wrap shop. ISA and The Wrap Institute in partnership with Justin Pate have an expanding relationship, built upon the highly successful 2019 ISA Wrap Experience at ISA International Sign Expo. It featured 81 attendees participating in rounds of hands-on competition combined with education, all led by Pate and his group of highly talented instructors. The ISA Wrap Experience will be back in 2020, with educational events and hands-on training at ISA International Sign Expo 2020, held April 1-4 in Orlando, Florida. Vehicle wraps have become increasingly important to sign, graphics and visual communications professionals, said Craig Campbell, ISAs director of business development. As more and more companies explore this business opportunity, it only makes sense that ISA and TWI assist them as they improve skills and expertise. The online course is part of ISAs self-paced learning courses for sign, graphics and visual communications professionals. The Intro to Vehicle Wrapping course is part of the ISA Digital Badge program. Those who successfully complete the course receive a digital badge which can be shared on social media and professional networks, showcasing the skills and competencies learned. Those who successfully complete the course receive a digital badge which can be shared on social media and professional networks, showcasing the skills and competencies learned. Were super excited to add another level to the partnership between The Wrap Institute and ISA, Pate said. The balance between the depth of ISA and the clear information on The Wrap Institute videos combine into a solid platform that can be trusted by consumers while being beneficial for all levels of installers. The online learning course is $35 for ISA and ISA Affiliated Association members and $50 for non-members. The Wrap Institute members can receive $15.00 off the non-member price with promo code TWI15. To learn more about ISAs online learning programs, visit http://www.signs.org/online. Martin Griffiths warns of collapse of peace efforts amid rise in violence between Saudi-UAE coalition and Houthis. The United Nations special envoy to Yemen has called for immediate de-escalation as a drastic surge in fighting threatens to exacerbate the countrys long-running war and further complicate a fragile peace process. The renewed violence between a Saudi-UAE-led military coalition and Houthi rebels has reportedly caused hundreds of casualties since it erupted almost two weeks ago. The coalition backing the internationally recognised government has stepped up air raids on rebel targets northeast of the capital, Sanaa, following a period of relative calm, while the Houthis targeted government-held areas. The parties in Yemen must de-escalate violence and renew their commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, UN envoy Martin Griffiths wrote on Monday on Twitter. The Yemeni people deserve better than a life of perpetual war, he said. Griffiths said the warring sides must fulfil promises and build a conducive environment for the peace process. The UN Security Council called emergency consultations for Tuesday at the United Kingdoms request following the escalation of violence. Karen Pierce, the UKs ambassador at the world body, said the council would receive a closed-door video briefing from Griffiths. Houthis gaining ground The warring factions have concentrated their forces in three main areas: Nehm, a half-hour drive from Sanaa; Jawf, a mountainous northern district; and Marib, a western province that saw one of the deadliest incidents earlier this month when a missile attack on a government military camp killed more than 100 people. Fighting this week was the most intense those provinces had seen in three years, according to observers. A wave of more than 40 coalition air raids hit rebel targets, destroying many of their tanks and armoured vehicles, Houthi officials told The Associated Press news agency. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Despite heavy losses on both sides, the Houthis are gaining ground, officials told the AP. Rebels seized a key supply line linking Marib with Jawf and were approaching the capital of the northwestern province. Fighting also flared up on Monday in the large government-controlled city of Taiz, where a mortar shell fired by Houthis struck a busy market, killing three civilians and wounding 10, according to the AP. Meanwhile, heavy clashes in the central province of Bayda killed 13 fighters on both sides. For months, back-channel negotiations in Oman between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis stirred modest hopes for reconciliation. But sharply escalating violence has put the political process on shaky ground. Peter Salisbury, the Yemen expert at the International Crisis Group (ICG), said the Houthis may be using their military successes to gain leverage before talks resume next week in Oman. Both sides seem to want some sort of truce, Salisbury said. But the danger is that if the Houthis feel theyre on the front foot, theyll keep pressing advances and that will make these negotiations very difficult. In a report published on Friday, the ICG said the Houthis appeared to be making the biggest gains on the battlefield. The think-tank warned that if the renewed fighting spread, it would be a devastating blow to current efforts to end the war. Yemens conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead, mainly civilians, and triggered what the UN has said is the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. In the spring of 2003, Hong Kong's streets looked more like the corridors of a crisis-hit hospital than a bustling megacity. Authorities scrambled to stop the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) amid a post-apocalyptic scene of surgical masks and boiler suits. The city was hardest hit by the inability to contain the killer virus, causing its economy to contract and the government to resort to a relief package to help battered industries back to their feet. The spread of the coronavirus will have wide-ranging financial effects. Credit:AP Today, Hong Kongers are in masks once again. The fallout from coronavirus has struck global stockmarkets and economists have warned the spread could put huge pressure on an economy already suffering from a sharp slowdown. "The longer it takes to contain the virus, the greater the economic cost multiplier effect as increasingly severe containment policies are put into place," warns Professor Anne Spencer of the University of Exeter. Cities the size of London are ghost towns and have been quarantined off by Xi Jinping's regime. Shops are shuttered, travel is restricted and 57 million consumers in 15 cities are on lockdown. On Feb. 3, Iowa Democrats will gather for the first nominating contest of the 2020 presidential election. Though only a few states use the caucus process, Iowas place in the calendar means its result will hold weight until voters gather in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina in the ensuing weeks. But how do the caucuses actually work? Here are answers to some questions voters in the rest of the country might have. What is a caucus? A caucus is a closed meeting of a group of people belonging to the same political party or faction usually to select candidates or to decide on policy. Historians in the 19th century theorized that the word could have roots in Algonquin or Late Latin. In the context of presidential elections, caucuses are an alternative to casting ballots at a polling place for registering voters preferences among candidates running for office. What happens on caucus night? Democratic voters gather at 7 p.m. local time for 1,677 caucuses across Iowa in the states schools, churches and living rooms. First, voters are divided into groups based on which candidates they support. (Undecided voters may form a group too.) At most caucus sites, groups that have more than 15 percent of the attendees are designated viable. Voters who aligned with nonviable candidates can then switch to one of the viable groups for a second round, or they can try to win over enough support from members of other nonviable groups to clear the threshold. Members of viable groups in the first round may not switch. The secretary counts votes at a caucus site in 2016 in Silver City, Iowa. (Photo: Dave Weaver/AP) After the realignment round, another vote count is taken, and all candidates who clear the 15 percent threshold are awarded at least one delegate. Officials use a mathematical formula to calculate how many state delegate equivalents each candidate has won at each caucus location. The candidate with the most is considered to have won, although this is only the first step in a process that will play out in county and congressional district caucuses in March and April, leading up to the state convention in June, which will actually select the delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. Story continues In 2016, Hillary Clinton won 49.8 percent of state delegate equivalents, to 49.6 percent for Bernie Sanders. Sanders supporters claimed there was reason to suspect that he had actually won the raw vote total in the state. Can you vote absentee in a caucus? According to the Iowa Democratic Partys rules, there will be no absentee or proxy voting at any precinct caucus for any reason. However, for this years caucuses, the party designated nearly 100 satellite caucus sites, which allows Iowans unable to attend one of the main caucuses to vote in other states, countries or other locations within the state. Proposals to allow caucus voting by phone in Iowa and Nevada were quashed last year by the Democratic National Committee over ballot security concerns. How are results reported? Before this year, the only figures released at the end of caucus night were the number of state delegate equivalents won by each candidate. State delegate equivalents refer to the number of delegates each candidate will have at the partys state convention in June, which in turn determines how many national convention delegates each candidate receives at Julys gathering in Milwaukee. 2020 brings a new wrinkle. After a push for more transparency in the process, there will also be two raw vote totals: The number of votes each candidate received at the beginning of the night before those below 15 percent were culled (presumably reflecting the caucus attendees first choices) and the final number of votes received by each candidate at the end of the night (after the also-rans are eliminated, so second choices come into play). This change could, in theory, allow multiple candidates to declare victory. How many states have caucuses? In addition to Iowa, North Dakota, Nevada and Wyoming have caucuses. (North Dakotas is a firehouse caucus, which allows early mail-in voting.) There are also four U.S territories American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands that hold caucuses. At the urging of the DNC, a number of states switched away from caucuses after 2016. A sign directs Democratic caucus-goers to the home of Gary and Mary Weaver in Rippey, Iowa, in 2016. (Photo: Nick Oxford/Reuters) How long has Iowa been the first primary state? Democrats pushed back the date of the Iowa caucuses in 1972, so they take place before New Hampshires primary, the traditional start of primary voting. Republicans joined them in 1976, and Iowa has led off the primary process for both parties ever since. By Iowa state law, the caucuses must be held at least eight days earlier than the scheduled date for any state meeting, caucus, or primary that constitutes the first determining stage of the presidential nominating process in any other state. Will Iowans be the first to vote in the 2020 presidential election? No. Early votes were cast in Minnesota starting the morning of Jan. 17, although results wont be released until the states primary election day on March 3. Are Republicans caucusing, too? Yes. While other states are planning to cancel their GOP primaries and caucuses in solidarity with the incumbent President Trump, the Republican Party of Iowa will hold its traditional straw poll at caucus meetings Monday. Are there any criticisms of the caucus process? The caucuses have been criticized as undemocratic for requiring voters to be present for an evening meeting that can run several hours, a potential hardship for those with disabilities, conflicting work schedules or young children. February weather in Iowa can keep voters, especially in rural areas, from participating. And, of course, voters have to declare their preferences in public, unlike almost every other election in the country, which is conducted by secret ballot. But that can also be viewed as a feature: They have to stand up and be counted among their neighbors. Last fall, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro criticized the process for giving so much prominence to Iowa and New Hampshire, overwhelmingly white states whose demographics do not match the partys composition. Iowa and New Hampshire are wonderful states with wonderful people, Castro said. But theyre also not reflective of the diversity of our country, and certainly not reflective of the diversity of the Democratic Party. Read more from Yahoo News: Final Offer Extension and Intent to Pursue Delisting of Core Gold and Acquire All Outstanding Core Shares Via Second Step Amalgamation HIGHLIGHTS Core Gold shareholders have now tendered 82.34% of the outstanding Core Shares (1) to the Offer Titan to take up and pay for the Core Shares tendered to date Upon take-up of the deposited Core Shares, Titan will hold 83.31% of Core Gold, including the 5.48% held on commencement of the Offer Having secured in excess of the 66.6% requirement, Titan now intends to pursue the delisting of Core Gold, and the acquisition of remaining Core Shares via a second step transaction In order to gain immediate final acceptances, Titan has extended the period Core Gold shareholders have to tender their Core Shares under the Offer until 9:00 a.m. (Toronto time) on February 7, 2020. No further extensions are anticipated All conditions of the Offer have been met TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Following the announcement on January 14, 2020 that Titan Minerals Limited (the "Company" or "Titan") (ASX:TTM) has successfully met or waived all the conditions to its offer (the Offer) to purchase all of the issued and outstanding common shares (the Core Shares) of Core Gold Inc. ("Core Gold") (CGLD.V) (2), the Company is pleased to announce that as at Monday January 27, 2020, an additional 44,346,578 Core Shares have been tendered to Titan under the terms of the Offer. The addition of these newly tendered Core Shares increases the total number of Core Shares tendered to Titan under the Offer to 129,865,724 and represents 82.34% of the issued and outstanding Core Shares, excluding Core Shares beneficially owned or over which control or direction is exercised by Titan or any person acting jointly or in concert with Titan. All of the conditions of the Offer have been satisfied or waived by Titan. In accordance with the terms of the Offer, Titan has already taken up and paid for the Core Shares that were tendered prior to the initial expiry time at 9:00 a.m. (Toronto time) January 14, 2020 (the Initial Expiry Time) and will immediately take up the Core Shares that have been tendered since the Initial Expiry Time and pay for the additional Core Shares taken up as soon as possible and, in any event, not later than three business days after the additional Core Shares are taken up. Story continues Once Titan has taken up the additional Core Shares tendered, Titan will own 83.31% of the issued and outstanding Core Shares. Titan has extended the period shareholders of Core Gold have to tender their Core Shares under the Offer until 9:00 a.m. (Toronto time) on February 7, 2020 (the Final Expiry Time). Having taken up more than 66.6% of the issued and outstanding Core Shares, Titan intends to take steps to acquire all of the remaining outstanding Core Shares. This extension period grants remaining Core Gold shareholders an opportunity to tender their Core Shares to the Offer and to take advantage of the expeditious settlement terms offered. Core Gold shareholders who tender their Core Shares prior to the Final Expiry Time will receive the same per Core Share consideration to be received by Core Gold shareholders whose Core Shares have already been deposited and not withdrawn under the Offer. Titan has provided a notice of extension to its depositary, AST Trust Company, effective January 27, 2020. The Company does not intend to further extend the offer period, and Core Gold shareholders are encouraged to tender under the Offer as soon as possible to receive consideration for their Core Shares in a timely manner. Full details of the extension of the period during which additional Core Shares may be tendered under the Offer will be included in a notice of variation and extension, which Titan expects to file on SEDAR (under Core Golds profile) at www.sedar.com on January 27, 2020. Titan Managing Director Laurence Marsland said: The over 80% take up of the Offer by Core Gold shareholders is a strong show of support for the strategy and vision of creating an emerging Latin American focused gold explorer, developer and producer, with a large portfolio in Ecuador and Peru. We now intend to take steps to delist and acquire all of the remaining outstanding Core Shares, and so are extending the period shareholders have to tender their shares under the Offer until February 7, 2020 to provide a final window for shareholders to benefit from the terms of the offer. With the successful conclusion to the Offer, we are looking forward to being able to proceed with a clear strategy for unlocking the value of these combined assets. We would like to welcome the new shareholders on board and thank them for their vote of confidence in the combined company. Advisers Titan has engaged Bacchus Capital Advisers Ltd as its exclusive financial and strategic adviser, from a mergers and acquisitions perspective, in connection with the Offer and the Increased Offer. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP is acting as Canadian legal counsel, DLA Piper LLP (Australia) is acting as Australian legal counsel and Gryphon Advisors Inc. is acting as Information Agent. For further information please contact: If you have questions, please contact Gryphon Advisors Inc., the Information Agent in connection with the Offer, by telephone at 1.833.461.3651 (Toll Free in North America) or 1.416.661.6592 (Collect Calls Outside North America) or by email at inquiries@gryphonadvisors.ca. Investors Mr Laurence Marsland, Managing Director Titan Minerals E: info@titanminerals.com.au T: +61 8 6555 2950 Financial Advisers Peter Bacchus Bacchus Capital Advisers E: peter.bacchus@bacchuscapital.co.uk T: +44 (0) 203 848 1641 Media David Tasker Chapter One Advisors dtasker@chapteroneadvisors.com.au T: +61 433 112 936 Chris Johannsen Bacchus Capital Advisers E: chris.johannsen@bacchuscapital.co.uk T: +44 (0) 203 848 1644 This announcement has been approved by the Board of Directors of Titan. About Titan Minerals Limited Titan is the owner and operator of a copper and gold business in a well-established mining region of Southern Peru. Titan is currently commissioning the Vista gold plant in Southern Peru. A centralised processing facility produces loaded carbon from the Carbon-in-Pulp gold circuit, with feed sourced from third party operators previously averaging 17 to 24 g/t Au head grades. Titans gold assets include the wholly-owned Torrecillas exploration project and an exclusive right to acquire an 85% interest in the Las Antas gold project (refer to Titans ASX release dated 14 January 2019). At Torrecillas, a number of high-grade narrow gold veins have been developed and mined by Titan, and Las Antas is a key prospect within a district of high-grade gold and silver veins located within trucking distance of Titans Vista gold plant. Titan is continuously evaluating projects within Peru for acquisition or joint venture to both provide additional, low cost gold and silver mineralized material feed for existing processing facilities and opportunities for processing growth and expansion. In addition, Titan shall also continue to evaluate projects elsewhere in gold, copper and other commodities to grow shareholder value. Website: www.titanminerals.com.au About Core Gold Inc Core Gold is a Canadian based mining company involved in the mining, exploration and development of mineral properties in Ecuador. The Company is currently focused on gold production at its wholly-owned Dynasty Goldfield mining unit and continued development at its underground Zaruma mine. Mineral is treated at the Companys wholly-owned Portovelo treatment plant close to the Zaruma mine operations. The Company also owns other significant gold exploration projects including the Linderos and Copper Duke projects in southern Ecuador all of which are on the main Peruvian Andean gold-copper belt extending into Ecuador. Core Gold is currently the largest producer of gold in Ecuador. Leaders of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, which fights for rights of ethnic Pashtuns, have faced intimidation and arrests. Islamabad, Pakistan Having risen to prominence as one of the most strident critics of Pakistans powerful military, the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) has subsequently faced a sustained campaign of intimidation, censorship and arrests. The movement, which advocated for the rights of ethnic Pashtuns affected by Pakistans war against the Taliban in its northwest, was formed in 2016 by a group of eight university students in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan. All eight hailed from the neighbouring district of South Waziristan. Led by veterinary sciences student Manzoor Pashteen, they formed the Mehsud Tahaffuz Movement (MTM), a pressure group seeking to highlight the struggles of the more half a million people who fled their native South Waziristan due to the fighting. The district, one of the poorest and least developed in Pakistan, was at the time part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a region governed under colonial-era regulations that gave citizens no fundamental rights while giving the military and civil administration wide-ranging powers with little oversight. Pashteen, leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, was arrested on Monday and charged with sedition [Al Jazeera] In this legal grey area, where militias thrived and many members of the Afghan Taliban fighting against US and NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan took shelter, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was born under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud in 2007. Mehsud brought a range of armed militias fighting to displace the government and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law on Pakistan under a single umbrella organisation, the TTP. From 2007, Pakistans military undertook a series of military operations to defeat or displace the TTP, most notably Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014, which finally displaced most of the groups remaining fighters into neighbouring districts in eastern Afghanistan. The cost of war The war, however, was not without a cost, as young activists like Pashteen and his comrades in the MTM were quick to point out. They campaigned against widespread enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings conducted as part of the militarys fight in South Waziristan, as well as for the removal of landmines and other unexploded ordnance once the fighting ended. In 2018, they shot to national prominence when they spearheaded protests against the killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young garment trader and aspiring model shot dead by police in Karachi. At the time, the police had claimed Mehsud was a fighter with armed groups. From the widespread rallies across the country calling for justice for Naqeebullah, the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) was born. Ethnic Pashtuns from other areas affected by conflict flocked to Pashteen and his partners, sharing similar experiences to those they had been documenting for years in South Waziristan. The PTM now represented a generation of Pashtuns who were born in a northwest Pakistan that knew only conflict. In mid-2018, two PTM leaders Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir were elected to parliament from North and South Waziristan respectively. Censorship, intimidation, arrests With increased prominence came increased pressure from the authorities. In Pakistan, which has been ruled for roughly half of its 73-year history by its army, it is rare to hear direct or public criticism of the military. Pashteen, however, was regularly leading rallies of thousands, directly holding the military responsible for alleged rights abuses, backed up by data and testimony from citizens. A common rallying cry at PTM rallies became Yeh jo dehshat gardi he, isske peeche wardi he!. This terrorism, the military is responsible for it! Coverage of PTM events and rallies was censored across almost all domestic news outlets, and cases alleging leaders were involved in sedition would regularly be filed following PTM events. In April 2019, the military took on the PTM directly, warning the group that its time is up as it alleged the rights organisation was being funded by foreign intelligence agencies. PTM leaders asked the military to file cases or share evidence of such collusion, which the military did not do. A month later, a PTM rally in North Waziristan was stopped at a military checkpoint. The ensuing clash saw at least three protesters killed as soldiers opened fire on the demonstration. Members of Parliament Dawar and Wazir were arrested and kept in custody for more than three months on terrorism charges in connection with the case. Later, in September, prominent PTM leader Gulalai Ismail emerged in the United States after months in hiding and several unsuccessful security forces raids on her residence in the capital Islamabad. Ismail said she was seeking asylum due to the threats against her life by the military. The military denies involvement. On Monday, police launched a midnight raid in the northwestern city of Peshawar to arrest Pashteen himself the first time he has been taken into custody since the PTM rose to prominence. Polic documents showed that he was accused of sedition and criminal conspiracy. Pakistani authorities should stop arresting activists like Manzoor Pashteen who are critical of government actions or policies, said Brad Adams, Asia director of US-based rights group Human Rights Watch. Using criminal laws to chill free expression and political opposition has no place in a democracy, he said in a statement. The deputy who fatally shot a troubled Sun City resident inside the gated community last summer will not face any criminal charges, according to a letter from 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone. The letter, written to a S.C. Law Enforcement Division captain on Dec. 30, was obtained by The Island Packet on Tuesday. It reveals new details about the Friday night six months ago when Beaufort County Sheriffs Office deputy Cpl. Kerry Johnson shot and killed 56-year-old Donald Allamong outside his Twinkling Court home. About 11:20 p.m. July 26, Twinkling Court neighbors called 911 saying Allamong was walking in the street yelling profanities, threatening people and firing a pistol, the letter says. Johnson arrived at Allamongs home, but left about 11:33 p.m. after he was unable to locate Allamong. Eleven minutes later, neighbors called 911 again, saying Allamong was back on the street shooting the gun and threatening people again. When Johnson returned, the officer saw him walking toward the street with a gun in his hand. The house where Donald Williams Allamong lived on Twinkling Court in Sun City Hilton Head. Allamong was killed late Friday night by a Beaufort County Sheriffs Office deputy responding to a 911 report of an armed man in the area. Johnson ordered Allamong to stop and show his hands. Allamong said **** you, according to the solicitors letter, and raised his gun at Johnson. Based on sounds from Johnsons body camera and the location of a 9mm shell casing found at the scene, the letter said, it appears that Allamong fired at Johnson. Johnson fired one shot at Allamong, which struck him. The officer told the man to drop his weapon. Instead, Allamong continued pointing his 9mm pistol in Johnsons direction. Johnson fired four more shots, killing Allamong, the solicitor wrote. Stone concluded that there was no evidence that would substantiate any ... charges against Johnson. His actions appear to have been appropriate given the facts of this case, Stone wrote. Johnson, who had been placed on paid administrative leave while an internal investigation was pending, returned to work on Aug. 5. That investigation was completed within a week and found no wrongdoing, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner told The Packet at the time. Story continues The Sheriffs Office did not release its internal investigation when it was complete because S.C. Law Enforcement Division was conducting an independent investigation into the shooting, Tanner previously said. In the case of officer-involved shootings, the Sheriffs Office asks SLED to independently investigate whether the use of force was justified. SLEDs investigation has since concluded, department spokesperson Tommy Crosby confirmed Friday. Johnson has been with the Sheriffs Office since May 2018, and has worked in law enforcement throughout South Carolina for more than three decades. TWINKLING COURT BEFORE THE SHOOTING Allamong moved into the Sun City home on Twinkling Court just more than a year before the fatal shooting, according to his neighbors at the time, who asked not to be identified. They said he had a history of threatening people and causing problems in the neighborhood, adding that Sun Citys private security and the Sheriffs Office had responded to calls at the home on multiple occasions. The Island Packet obtained copies of two reports that show an escalation of arguments and violence in the neighborhood involving Allamong in the months leading up to the shooting. The first incident was on May 8, when Allamong allegedly told two of his neighbors that he would kill them. Allamong denied doing so, and because of conflicting statements, the deputy who responded did not think he had probable cause to arrest Allamong. Donald Williams Allamong, a resident of Twinkling Court in Sun City Hilton Head, was shot and killed late Friday night by a Beaufort County Sheriffs Deputy responding to a 911 call about a disturbance involving an armed man. On June 28, Allamong got into a physical altercation with a different neighbor. The neighbor, who admitted he punched Allamong in the face, was charged with second-degree assault and battery, but that charge was later dismissed. The day after the charge was dismissed and less than a month before the fatal shooting one of the neighbors who accused Allamong of threatening to kill her said a cross cut-out with a Bible verse on it that was threatening in nature was left on her mailbox. She said the neighborhood was having serious problems with the suspect and the neighbors are very concerned. She also said she was afraid to leave her house. The case was closed due to lack of evidence. PREVIOUS RUN-INS WITH POLICE Allamong was not arrested on any charges in South Carolina, according to a SLED criminal history search, but Beaufort County court documents show he received traffic citations during four separate instances between December 2018 and May 2019. Prior to those traffic violations, Allamong had at least two serious run-ins with law enforcement in Ohio. He was arrested as recently as Jan. 1, 2018, according to a police report from the Lucas County Sheriffs Office. The report said he was charged with felonious assault, assault, and two charges of domestic violence after he allegedly drunkenly attacked multiple family members, including choking one and pushing two others. He also threatened to kill one of them, the report said. In December 2002, Allamong was involved in an armed standoff with police at his chiropractic office, according to an article from The Blade newspaper in Toledo, Ohio. The article says his wife called 911 to request someone check on her husbands safety. Later, authorities found Allamong in a doorway at the office, where he allegedly threatened to shoot anyone who entered. No charges were filed, and he was taken to a mental health facility. Police later found a loaded revolved locked in a drawer of his desk. A Republican Muslim candidate is looking to unseat Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar in the upcoming U.S. elections. Dalia al-Aqidi, an award-winning international journalist and Muslim refugee, announced her candidacy on Thursday in order to fix the discord that Omar has sown in the country. "Ilhan Omar and I may seem alike, both women, Muslims, and refugees, but we couldn't be more different," said al-Aqidi in a video on her election website. "Omar has spent her entire time in Washington sowing seeds of division and actively supporting our enemies. When President Trump ended the reign of Qasem Soleimani, a vicious terrorist and thug, Omar rushed to his defense and attacked President Trump. She claims to speak for all Muslims, but she certainly does not speak for me," she said. Al-Aqidi fled Iraq with her family in 1988 to escape the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. Over the past 30 years, the former White House correspondent has been very active in the political scene by writing, producing, and hosting an array of political shows on TV and radio. In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, al-Aqidi said that she is sick and tired of Omar's continuous anti-Semitic rhetoric. "Muslims, Christians, Jews are all Americans," she said. "Every time she opens her mouth she says something either anti-U.S. or anti-Semitic," al-Aqidi said. Omar has apologized for past tweets about Israel that played on anti-Semitic tropes." Omar recently beat out neo-Nazi and white supremacist Richard Spencer and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to win the title of 2019's "Anti-Semite of the Year." Immediately after Politico broke the news of New York City Transit Authority President Andy Byfords impending resignation, elected officials began lamenting the loss and newspaper editorials and opinion pieces started predicting dire days ahead for an already-beleaguered transit system. While Byfords popularity, in part, stems from his passion and commitment to fixing New Yorks subways and buses, he has also garnered praise for being transparent, collaborative, accessible and a regular transit rider himself. Byfords approach, unquestionably, inspired MTA employees and attracted new talent to the agency by instilling a belief in them that working together they could achieve what many thought was impossible: a systemwide renaissance that would attract riders back onto buses and get subways where they need to go with fewer unanticipated delays. Craig Cipriano, the acting head of buses who reports to Byford for another month, was quoted as saying that Byfords resignation changes everything. But disappointed transit riders and MTA employees should know that Byfords departure may change less than they fear, because he might not have been able to fix much of what ails the sclerotic transit authority, which is hampered by political interference. Its unclear whether or not Byfords vision and enthusiastic support for signature projects such as bus network redesigns, increased disability access, or signal modernization were ever going to be enough to get them over the finish line. Despite the technical nature of these projects, politics in the form of angry bus riders and skeptical elected officials has wormed its way into the process and slowed things down. Since the MTA relies on subsidIes from federal, state and local governments, it is always susceptible to the will of the politicians who allocate these funds, leaving it often caught up in politics a politics that doesnt always lead to the best solution to a transportation problem. Its possible that new leadership will abandon or modify many of these politically polarizing projects in order to appease angry bus riders who may lose a bus stop in a redesign or legislators who would rather spend state money on something other than modern signals for the subway, but that was also possible if Byford had stayed. After decades of political interference, the agencys credibility has been undermined and its appetite for big, important fights that would improve New Yorkers daily lives has diminished. Two examples clarify this loss of autonomy: Back in 2000, the MTA put forward a number of proposals to improve operations on the Lexington Avenue line. One of those proposals recommended scrapping express Dyre-Avenue-bound 5 train service between 180th Street and 149th Street in the Bronx in order to eliminate conflicting merges between the 2 and 5 trains north of 180th Street. These merges slowed down service and created cascading delays that gummed up operations down the line where the 3 train and 4 train were also impacted. MTA officials said that this service pattern, made it ''difficult to schedule and even more difficult to operate in a reliable manner.'' Some elected officials, including then-Assemblyman Jeff Klein and then-Public Advocate Mark Green, protested. They argued this service change would wreak havoc on the system and end with straphangers falling off of the narrow platforms at the 72nd Street and Broadway station in Manhattan, because thousands of additional passengers would flood onto the 2 train at 180th Street. Ultimately, the MTA capitulated and abandoned the plan. Twenty years later, northbound trains are still fighting for scarce track space in the Bronx and passengers are worse off because a group of state legislators with limited engineering experience outmaneuvered the MTAs experts. As the MTA and New York City Department of Transportation have rolled out Select Bus Service, drivers and small business owners along proposed corridors have routinely objected to the installation of protected bus lanes, camera-enforced bus lanes and median-running bus lanes that reduce the number of travel lanes for cars and on-street parking spaces, in order to speed the bus along without fighting through congestion and double-parked cars. In 2018, the initial plan for the B82 Select Bus Service proposed taking 169 parking spaces along Kings Highway in Brooklyn. After community pushback, the bus lane was scaled down from 28 blocks long to only 9 blocks long, which meant that fewer than half as many parking spaces were eliminated. Again, rather than allowing the technocrats to do their jobs and improve the travel of more than 25,000 daily riders, local elected officials interfered and prevented the MTA and, in this case, the DOT from carrying out a technical change designed to benefit the greatest number of people. Politics and transport policy will always be intertwined. It is usually the politicians, however, who do the intertwining. Unlike any New York City Transit head in recent memory, Byford embraced politics as best he could by convincing New Yorkers that he had a plan to make the trains run on time and be more accessible to all New Yorkers. Byford explained that his decision to leave the agency stemmed from reorganization plans that will strip him of the authority to carry out much of his Fast Forward plan, which focuses on modernizing and upgrading everything from bus networks to warehouse software management systems to new subway cars. Rather than accept a diminution of his responsibilities that would have given him fewer opportunities to transform the MTA, he fought back by making his resignation a public matter and forcing elected officials and New Yorkers to choose a side in the debate over whose vision should lead the MTA, the technocrats or the politicians. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images In the field of political forecasting, almost nothing is a matter of certainty, and almost everything is a matter of probability. If Democrats nominate Bernie Sanders who currently leads the field in Iowa and New Hampshire, and appears to be consolidating support among the partys progressive wing, while its moderates remain splintered his prospects against Donald Trump in November would be far from hopeless. Polarization has given any major party nominee a high enough floor of support that the term unelectable has no real place in the discussion. Whats more, every candidate in the race brings a suite of their own liabilities Trump could exploit. That said, the totality of the evidence suggests Sanders is an extremely, perhaps uniquely, risky nominee. His vulnerabilities are enormous and untested. No party nomination, with the possible exception of Barry Goldwater in 1964, has put forth a presidential nominee with the level of downside risk exposure as a Sanders-led ticket would bring. To nominate Sanders would be insane. Sanders has gleefully discarded the partys conventional wisdom that it has to pick and choose where to push public opinion leftward, adopting a comprehensive left-wing agenda, some of which is popular, and some of which is decidedly not. Positions in the latter category include replacing all private health insurance with a government plan, banning fracking, letting prisoners vote, decriminalizing the border, giving free health care to undocumented immigrants, and eliminating ICE. (I am only listing Sanders positions that are intensely unpopular. I am not including positions, like national rent control and phasing out all nuclear energy, that I consider ill-advised but which probably wont harm him much with voters.) Not every one of these unpopular stances is unique to Sanders. Some have won the endorsement of rival candidates, and many of them have been endorsed by Elizabeth Warren, Sanderss closest rival. In fact, Sanders seem to have overtaken Warren in part because she spent most of 2019 closing the ideological gap between the two candidates, which made Democratic Party elites justifiably skeptical about her electability, thereby kneecapping her viability as a trans-factional candidate. Sanders probably wasnt trying to undermine Warren by luring her into adopting all his policies, but it has worked out quite well for him, and poorly for her. But Warren at least tries to couch her positions in a framework of reforming and revitalizing capitalism that is intended to reassure ideologically skeptical voters. Sanders combines unpopular program specifics in the unpopular packaging of socialism. The socialist label has grown less unpopular, a trend that has attracted so much media attention that many people have gotten the impression socialism is actually popular, which is absolutely not the case. Compounding those vulnerabilities is a long history of radical associations. Sanders campaigned for the Socialist Workers Party and praised communist regimes. Obviously, Republicans call every Democratic nominee a socialist. But its one thing to have the label thrown at you by the opposition, another for it to be embraced willingly, and yet another thing altogether to have a web of creepy associations that make it childs play for the opposition to paint your program as radical and dangerous. Viewing these attacks in isolation, and asking whether voters will care about Bernies views on the Cold War, misses the way they will be used as a stand-in to discredit his entire worldview. Nobody cared how Michael Dukakis looked in a tank, and probably not many voters cared about Mitt Romneys dismissive remarks about the 47 percent, but both reinforced larger attack narratives. Vintage video of Bernie palling around with Soviet communists will make for an almost insultingly easy way for Republicans to communicate the idea that his plans to expand government are radical. Sanders has never faced an electorate where these vulnerabilities could be used against him. Nor, for that matter, has he had to defend some of his bizarre youthful musings (such as his theory that sexual repression causes breast cancer) or the suspicious finances surrounding his wifes college. Democrats are rightfully concerned about attacks on Hunter Bidens nepotistic role at Burisma, but Sanders is going to have to defend equally questionable deals, like the $500,000 his wifes university paid for a woodworking program run by his stepdaughter. *** Its impossible to measure the weight all these liabilities would bear upon a Sanders candidacy. The quality of a candidate is not the only, or even the main, determinate of election outcomes, and having popular views is only one factor in the quality of a candidate. Still, political science has generally found that, all things being equal, the electorate tends to punish ideologically extreme candidates. You can peruse studies finding such a conclusion here, here, and here. Again, none of this says the more extreme candidate always loses, merely that extremism creates a handicap. For obvious reasons, the Democratic Partys left wing has always resisted this conclusion (as has the Republican Partys right wing.) But Hillary Clintons surprising defeat created an opportunity for the partys left to promote an alternative theory for how the party could and should compete. It deemed Donald Trumps win a sign that capitalism had created such distress that voters were now rejecting conventional politicians altogether and open to radical alternatives who might promise to smash the failing system. Indeed, by this reasoning, Democrats would do better, not worse, by nominating more left-wing candidates, who could distance themselves more credibly from the discredited Establishment. Yet this theory has had two clear tests, and failed both of them spectacularly. Numerous activists and intellectuals in the Sanders orbit held up Jeremy Corbyn as proof of concept for his viability. Anticipating a Corbyn victory, they argued over and over that Corbyn was showing how socialism would attract and mobilize, not repel, voters. Corbyn is more extreme than Sanders, but Sanders enthusiasts themselves drew a connection between the two, and his massive defeat obviously casts serious doubt on the model he was supposed to vindicate. A second example, closer to home, is even more relevant. In the months leading up to the 2018 midterm elections, the Democratic Party was the subject of bitter and widespread criticism from its left wing. The partys strategy was to flip the House by recruiting moderate candidates who would avoid controversial left-wing positions and instead focus attention on Trumps agenda, especially his effort to eliminate Obamacare. The left predicted the strategy would fail only an inspiring progressive agenda could mobilize enough voters to win back the House. Their theory of the case is to recruit old white guys who are longtime Establishment insiders who will run on a boring agenda Democrats would have run on 20 years ago, complained Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The DCCC is doing it wrong, insisted Democracy for Americas Neil Sroka. In district after district, the national party is throwing its weight behind candidates who are out of step with the national mood, proclaimed a long piece in the left-wing Intercept attacking the partys House recruitment strategy, The DCCCs failure to understand the shifting progressive electorate is costing the party. Zephyr Teachout was quoted saying, Their strategy is stupid in the first place and bad for democracy, but then its really stupid because they have 26-year-olds sitting around who dont know anything about the real world deciding which candidates should win. Ryan Cooper, a socialist columnist, cited the Intercept piece to ruminate just why the Democrats would advance such an obviously doomed strategy. Their naked self-interest and bourgeoise ideology is camouflaged behind a technocratic facade of just doing what it takes to win but its a facade they generally believe wholeheartedly. The Democratic plan was obviously doomed to fail, so perhaps their motivation was actually to enrich themselves and advance neoliberalism, while claiming it was a good strategy to win the House. As we now know, it was a good strategy to win the House. Democrats flipped 40 seats. Tellingly, while progressives managed to nominate several candidates in red districts Kara Eastman in Nebraska, Richard Ojeda in West Virginia, and many others any one of whose victory they would have cited as proof that left-wing candidates can win Trump districts, not a single one of them prevailed in November. Our Revolution went 022, Justice Democrats went 016, and Brand New Congress went 06.* The failed technocratic 26-year-old bourgeoise shills who were doing it wrong somehow accounted for 100 percent of the partys House gains. Had Democrats failed to win back the House, their left-wing critics would have claimed vindication. Instead, the entire debate sank below the surface without a trace. Indeed, what happened instead was something peculiar. The leftists chose to focus on a handful of left-wing candidates, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated center-left Democrats in deep-blue districts. The conservative media strategically elevated her in a bid to make AOC and her squad the partys face. The mutual interest of the two sides made AOC the narrative center of the election. The fact that the party had just run a field experiment between two factions, and the moderate faction prevailed conclusively, was forgotten. At this point there is hardly any serious evidence to believe that the best strategy to defeat Trump is to mobilize voters with a radical economic agenda. Public satisfaction with the economy is now at its highest point since the peak of the dot-com boom two decades ago. Trump has serious weaknesses of issues like health care, corruption, taxes, and the environment, and a majority of the public disapproves of Trumps performance, but he does enjoy broad approval of his economic management. Therefore, his reelection strategy revolves around painting his opponents as radical and dangerous. You may not like me, he will argue, but my opponents are going to turn over the apple cart. A Sanders campaign seems almost designed to play directly into Trumps message. Whatever evidence might have supported a Sanders-esque populist strategy for Democrats after the 2016 election, it has since collapsed. But in the ideological hothouse of the Sanders world, no setbacks have been acknowledged, no rethinking has taken place, and the skeptics are dismissed as elitist neoliberal corporate shills, as ever. The project moves forward even as the key tests of its viability have all failed. Once enough energy has been invested in a cause, it has too much momentum to be abandoned. For the socialist left, which has no other standard-bearer to choose from, Bernie is too big to fail. The question is whether the Democratic Party, the only political force standing between Donald Trump and his authoritarian ambitions, will risk failing with him. *The original figures referred to all 2018 races, but Ive edited the number to limit it solely to House races, which is most directly relevant. The ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh will come to an end within one hour if BJP forms the government in Delhi, claimed BJP MP Parvesh Verma on Tuesday. "If the BJP forms government on February 11, not a single person will be found at (the protest site) Shaheen Bagh," Verma said during a meeting at Vikaspuri assembly constituency. "If our government is formed, then give me just a month after February 11, and I will remove all mosques built on government land in my Lok Sabha constituency," the BJP parliamentarian added.. "Lakhs of people gather there (Shaheen Bagh). People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, and kill them. There's time today, Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and Amit Shah will not come to save you tomorrow. It will be a whole lot better if the people of Delhi wake up today," Verma told ANI. The BJP MP from West Delhi alleged that the Shaheen Bagh protesters could harm residents to Delhi and urged people to wake up "while there's time." "Arvind Kejriwal says he is with Shaheen Bagh and so does Manish Sisodia. The people know that a fire engulfed Kashmir in which their mothers and sisters were raped. This happened in Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad," Verma said. Protests have been ongoing in different parts of the country, including Shaheen Bagh in the capital, against the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh if they entered India on or before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vera Ogle as a memorial night is held on the first anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast on January 27th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Margaret Elliott mother of Ian Ogle as a memorial night is held on the first anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast on January 27th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Gavin Robinson as a memorial night is held on the first anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast on January 27th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Toni Ogle gives a speech as a memorial night is held on the first anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast on January 27th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Vera Ogle as a memorial night is held on the first anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast on January 27th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Toni Ogle gives a speech as a memorial night is held on the first anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast on January 27th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) The daughter of murdered community worker Ian Ogle received a standing ovation in east Belfast on the anniversary of her fathers death as she denounced paramilitarism. Around 160 people attended a memorial at the East Belfast Network Centre where Toni Johnston-Ogle and others paid tributes and spoke out against paramilitary intimidation. A private vigil was held afterwards for family and friends in Cluan Place to mark the exact place and time of his death. "As long as I'm still breathing, Ian Ogle will never be dead." A standing ovation for Toni Johnston-Ogle, speaking out against paramilitary intimidation in east Belfast on the anniversary of her father's murder. @BelTel pic.twitter.com/XPj0gbnWB4 Allan Preston (@AllanPreston) January 27, 2020 The 45-year-old father of two, known as Big O, was beaten and stabbed 11 times in the back by up to five men close to the door of his Cluan Place home on January 27 last year. The east Belfast UVF has previously admitted its members were involved in the killing but said his death was not sanctioned at a leadership level. Addressing the crowd, Ms Johnston-Ogle spoke defiantly about the ongoing threats facing her family. Expand Close The Ogle family with Rev. Mervyn Gibson, Dr John Kyle and Gavin Robinson as A memorial night is held on the first anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast on January 27th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Ogle family with Rev. Mervyn Gibson, Dr John Kyle and Gavin Robinson as A memorial night is held on the first anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast on January 27th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Everyone knows that our family is still being intimidated. Especially me and my brother, she said. Its been said that we are a stain on the loyalist community. Weve been called touts and apparently my daddy would be turning in his grave at me. But let me leave you all with this. If people in this community bury their heads in the sand about what happened to my daddy last year, then I dont want to be part of that community. There was a huge applause as she added: See if standing up for justice for my murdered father means Im a tout, then Im a tout. As for my daddy turning in his grave at me, well I am my daddy. I am in every way like him, thats why Im standing here now and thats why Im going to continue to fight. Expand Close A memorial night is held on the first anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast on January 27th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A memorial night is held on the first anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast on January 27th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Because as long as Im still breathing, Ian Ogle will never be dead. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph before the event, she thanked those who were willing to support the family in public. It means a lot to have everyone here because I know the community is afraid again, she said. Basically my daddy was a big character within the community, he loved east Belfast so I just think what a better tribute than to bring the community together and discuss the issues that are plaguing them. Mr Ogles mother Margaret Elliott and sister Christina McMaster said they were moved by the support. We shouldnt be here. He should be with us, his mother said. Hopefully this will show people that he was here for the community and they will be here for us. She added she was disgusted at recent threats against the family made with graffiti. I think were grieving enough a year on without giving us any more, she said. Ms McMaster said: I think if we all stand together the courage will come and more people will come to speak out and stop all this. Rev Mervyn Gibson said there was no surprise at the large turnout. People were always going to come out, theres great support for the Ogle family and against criminality in the area, he said, Importantly they want to see east Belfast become a better place. I think everyone would like to see any criminal gangs disarmed. They want to see people behind bars who are selling drugs to our kids, they want to see loan sharks or anyone carrying out nefarious activities dealt with by the police. DUP MP for East Belfast Gavin Robinson said the community needed to see results in the fight against paramilitaries. I think theres a very strong determination in the room for all of those present who want to turn tragedy into something, to say what has gone before shouldnt have happened, he said. This community is united in its determination to say we can move forward. They need to see progress in the justice that they rightly seek. Its important that the strength and determination that the family has shown, that they receive support and strength from the community in doing so. Mr Robinson also praised the Ogle family for speaking out after continued threats. They are going through periods of difficulty, at times pressure and at times threats because they are saying the right things and speaking truth to power in this community. So they need our support and I hope they get it this evening. Asked if there had been a shift in the culture of fear in east Belfast, he said: It almost becomes chicken and egg. People need to give information but they also need to see a response from statutory agencies when they give it. So if theyre sharing information with the police they need to see the police proactively responding with positivity and making sure they are doing what needs to be done to tackle crime in society. Three men accused of Mr Ogles murder are currently on bail: Glenn Rainey (33), Jonny Brown (33) and Mark Sewell (40). CCTV footage allegedly links the accused, but all three deny any involvement. Pompeo did not apologize for his treatment of Kelly, instead issuing a statement in which he continued to attack her credibility, insisting that she had lied to him about the interview being about Iran. He also said their conversation after the interview was off the record, which she says she never agreed to. The Syrian Arab Army is continuing to advance in the western countryside of Aleppo, destroying fortification used by terrorists writes SANA. Syrian Arab Amy units operating in Aleppo have continued their precise operations against terrorist organizations and destroyed their fortifications on the frontlines in the areas where they have spread in the western countryside of Aleppo city, and they have continued to advance in the direction of Khan Touman to the southwest. SANAs reporter said that military units have carried out artillery and rocket bombardments against terrorists positions and fortifications west of Aleppo city and destroyed their frontlines in parallel with the advance of other military units in the direction of Khan Touman, a few kilometers to the southwest of Aleppo city. The reporter added that the army has expanded its operations against the terrorist organizations in the western countryside and carried out concentrated bombardments, destroying their supply routes and their fortifications and a number of their positions in Alleramoun, al-Rashidin, al-Bouhouth, al-Mansoura, Kafr Hamra and Khan al-Asal, and in the surroundings of Kafr Naha, west of Aleppo city. On Sunday, military units destroyed a huge weapon cache established by the terrorist organizations within the starch factory in Bashqatin village, about 10 kilometers west of Aleppo city. The armys operations in the western countryside of Aleppo city came after the continued attacks launched by terrorist organizations against residential neighborhoods in Aleppo city, which have claimed the lives of dozens of civilians and injured others, mostly women and children. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - FALCON GOLD CORP. (TSXV: FG) (FSE: 3FA) ("Falcon" or the "Company" is pleased to report that its previously announced Option/Joint Venture agreement with International Montoro Resources Inc. ("Montoro") regarding Falcon's Camping Lake property, has been accepted by the TSX Venture Exchange. Pursuant to the agreement, Falcon has now received 1 million common shares in Montoro. Montoro has the right to earn an initial 51% interest in the 2,200 hectares property which is located within the Red Lake Mining District in Northwestern Ontario. The property claims are contained within the Birch-Uchi-Confederation lake greenstone belt which hosts the world-renowned Red Lake Gold deposits and includes the Dixie project currently being drilled by Great Bear Resources Ltd. ("Great Bear"). Great Bear recently reported a series of high-grade targets with mineralized intersections commonly returning bonanza gold intersections in association with coarse visible gold grains. The Camping Lake property is located approximately 20 kilometers ("kms") south of Great Bear's high-grade gold discoveries and 12 kms south of BTU Metals Corp.'s property which has reported recent drilling success including an assay result of 44.3 meters of 1.14% Copper equivalent with intervals containing as much as 5.56% copper, 99.6 grams per tonne ("g/t") silver and 2 g/t gold. From 2010-2013, the Camping Lake property area was subjected to work programs completed by Laurentian Goldfields Ltd., Kinross Gold Corporation and Anglo Gold that included petrographic studies; diamond drilling; rock, soil and sediment samples and IP/Ground Geophysics. "We anticipate on the ground exploration activity to commence this winter and look forward to advancing exploration activities with Montoro." stated Karim Rayani, Chief Executive Officer and Director. Montoro has agreed to complete a minimum $100,000, exploration work program by October 31, 2020; and a further $200,000 in exploration before October 30, 2021. Central Canada Property Permits Falcon is progressing very well on its Central Canada property exploration permit applications and anticipates approval very shortly. The Company is funded and ready to commence exploration and drilling activities this winter on its mineralized prospects. The permit application includes approximately 20 drill pad locations, overburden trenching, and geophysical surveys to test historic prospects and expand the company's economic geology understanding. Gold prospects within the Central Canada property are typically associated with metavolcanics and felsic intrusive rocks which are cross-cut by quartz-porphyry dykes and sills with later-stage quartz veining. Economic mineralization has been observed in highly mineralized shear zones and quartz veins. The largest nearby deposit discovered to date is referred to as the Sapawe Gold Mine which produced 33,013 tonnes (4,547 ounces ("oz") gold & 1,315 oz silver) with an unclassified resource of 528,614 tonnes @ 0.31 oz/t gold calculated by Sapawe Gold Mines Ltd. in 1995. Significant gold mineralization has also been identified in the halo of the original Sapawe Mine of up to 24 g/t. Gold mineralization can be traced across the Central Canada property with more recent drilling by Interquest Resources Corp. intersecting over 1 meter of approximately 30 g/t gold in diamond drill core. Trenching work in 2011 indicated significant gold mineralization to the south of the historic Sapawe Gold Mine, where the operator sampled up to 6.7 g/t gold along a "well" mineralized shear zone. Qualified Person: The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Alex Pleson, P.Geo., who is a member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario and is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties. About Falcon Gold Corp. Falcon is a Canadian, mineral exploration company focused on generating, acquiring, and exploring opportunities in the Americas. Its Ontario, Canada projects include; the Central Canada gold and copper projects in Atikokan; the Bruce and Camping lake projects in Red lake; the Wabunk Bay gold/base metal project in Red Lake and an interest in the Burton gold property located near Sudbury, Ontario. CONTACT INFORMATION: Falcon Gold Corp. Karim Rayani CEO, Director Telephone: 604-683-1991 Email: info@falcongold.ca Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, etc. Forward looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51880 By Express News Service CHENNAI: The Chennai city police on Monday swooped down on eight persons, all members of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, for attempting to throw petrol bombs at the residence of Editor of Thuglak magazine, S Gurumurthy, early on Sunday. The accused were identified as M Sasikumar (33) and R Deepan (32) of Mylapore, V Janarthanan (36) of Ayanavaram, M Balu (30), P Prasanth (23) and K Vasudevan (32) of Royapettah, S Thamizh (23) of Pammal, and E Sakthi (22) of Tiruvallur. According to the police, one of the suspects, Sasikumar, had several cases pending against him, including that of two petrol bomb attacks on Woodlands Hotel and Sathyam theatre here. Early on Sunday, the arrested persons had reached Gurumurthys house at Varadharajapuram in Mylapore, with an alleged plan to carry out the attack. But when Sasikumar, who had his face covered, started getting closer to the gate with petrol bombs in his bag, the dog in the compound started barking, alerting a policeman on guard duty. Security posted at Thuglak Editor S Gurumurthys residence in Chennai | P JAWAHAR CCTV visuals helped cops nab suspects While the policeman on guard began questioning Sasikumar, the other intruders took to their heels. Another policeman, who was guarding the house, noticed it and started chasing them. However, they got onto their bikes and sped off, the police said. The entire incident was recorded on CCTV placed in the house, which helped nab suspects. Chennai police commissioner, AK Viswanathan appreciated the swiftness of the police personnel deployed at the house. Meanwhile, in a series of tweets on Monday, Gurumurthy said: The current story goes back to the arrest of Police Fakruddin in 2013 who confessed he had been caught before he could shoot me. He had done a recce at home and office. The police then insisted I must have a gunman with me and advised to install CCTV cameras. He tweeted that lifestyle of his family doesnt allow for rearing a dog. One of my long-standing friends started sending a dog with its guard everyday between 10 pm and 5 am. This has been happening for five years now. It is that dog that alerted the security and made the attack impossible, he said. According to him, the current NSA, Ajit Doval had advised on how to keep the house secure and an IB official also visited to keep him on the alert. In a Twiter response Lessons for the attackers. One, they must know I have been facing threats for 30 years. Theirs is not new to me. Two, they need better training and more courage, Gurumurthy tweeted on Monday about the incident. All round protection Gurumurthy said that NSA Ajit Doval advised him on how to keep a house secure and an IB official often visited his house Chandigarh, Jan 28 : A 28-year-old man with a travel history to China has been kept under observation at an isolation ward of the PGI here for a possible exposure to coronavirus, doctors said on Tuesday. "The patient has been kept in an isolation ward and he is under observation. His samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune," PGI Director Jagat Ram told the media. He said he was the lone suspected case and the virus could be confirmed only after getting the report within two to three days. He was admitted to the PGI with high grade fever and headache. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Pennridge to vote on one textbook; further review on other one On January 27, Ukraine completed the settlement of its new EUR 1.25 million 4.375% eurobond due 2030, the Finance Ministry of Ukraine said on its website. The investor base of the new issuance was dominated by asset managers, which accounted for 85% of the notes issued and followed by hedge funds (7%), insurance and pension funds (6%) and banks (2%). Investors from the United Kingdom, the United States and Continental Europe have generated the majority of demand in the new eurobond's primary offering with 42%, 34% and 19% of allocations, respectively. Investors from Asia and MENA amounted to 5% of the allocations. The Notes have been admitted to trading on the regulated market of Euronext Dublin. The proceeds were transferred to the account of the State Treasury of Ukraine and will be used for general budgetary purposes. "We are pleased to see among our investors both global investment funds with an impeccable reputation, and small pension and insurance funds, mainly from the EU countries. Some 200 investment funds from 31 countries acquired 10-year Ukrainian bonds," Finance Minister Oksana Markarova said on her Facebook page. As reported, the organizers of the transaction are BNP Paribas, JP Morgan and Raiffeisenbank. The demand for eurobonds of the country from over 350 investors exceeded EUR 7 billion. Men 50 years and above or those with a family history of prostate cancer need to know the early symptoms of the disease so that they can present themselves early for treatment, a health expert, Musliu Tolani has said. He said early detection of the disease is often the difference between cure in the early stage of the disease and costly management or even death in the late stages. Mr Tolani, a urologist with Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, said most of the prostate cancer cases attended to in Nigeria are often presented at the late stages. This, he said, affects treatment as the disease would have spread to other organs in the body and only palliative treatments can then be done. But if the disease is detected and presented early, it can be contained before it becomes cancerous. Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death among male cancer patients, especially of black descent. It has become necessary for men in Nigeria to have knowledge of the symptoms of the disease as this would enable the early presentation of cases to health facilities. This will go a long way to reduce the cost of treatment and the havoc the disease does on a patient and his family, the urologist said. Mr Tolani said although periodic prostate screening can aid early detection, there are certain signs that indicate the presence of the deadly disease. He said prostate cancer often press on the urethra, so the symptoms often exhibit themselves when the individual is about to urinate. Some of the common symptoms include frequency of urination especially waking up several times in the night to urinate, having a feeling of urination that cannot be postponed, or if it is postponed causes leakage of urine, poor stream of urination, delay in the process of starting to pass urine and straining to urinate. Another symptom is feeling that the bladder is not completely emptied even after urination. Mr Tolani, however, said these symptoms may not appear as some prostate problems present themselves with some uncommon symptoms that may lead to misdiagnosis. He said men should have constant health checkup from the age of 50, while those with a family history of prostate cancer should be screened earlier. When a man above 50 begins to have difficulty in urination, prostate screening should be factored as most patients with prostate cancer or even BPE (benign prostate enlargement) have difficulty in urination (urinary symptoms). He, however, said not all difficulty in urination means cancerous prostate as other things can cause difficulty in urination even for men above 50 years of age, e.g. non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate. The aim of screening is to get patients at an asymptomatic stage. He said physical examination, blood screening test (PSA) and imaging can be done for those in this age group even if they do not have difficulty in urination. This aids early detection and treatment can be for cure, he said. Prostate cancer All men are at risk for prostate cancer, but studies have shown that African-Americans or people with a family history of prostate cancer have an increased risk of the disease. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said cancer is the second leading cause of death globally. Lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach and liver cancer are the most common types of cancer in men, while breast, colorectal, lung, cervix and thyroid cancer are the most common among women. Of the many common types of ailment, prostate cancer is the second most common and sixth leading cause of cancer deaths among men globally. Prostate cancer is to men what breast cancer or cervical cancer is to women. It has the potential to grow and spread quickly. But for most men, it is a relatively slow-growing disease. The prostate is a walnut-sized gland that is part of the male reproductive system. It is located beneath the urinary bladder and in front of the rectum. The prostate makes some of the fluid that nourishes and protects sperm cells in the semen. Problem of screening A study conducted by Project Pink Blue in collaboration with ACT Foundation revealed that screening for the disease is not yet a common practice in Nigeria. The research tagged Men on Blue involving 3,000 men was carried out in Lagos, Enugu, and Abuja. It revealed that there is low knowledge of prostate cancer among men in Nigeria and this is having an adverse effect on mens attitude towards screening. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men. Advertisements The research shows that about 82.1 per cent of Nigerian men who participated in the study said they had never been screened for prostate cancer and most of them are 40 years and above. Only 13.8 per cent reported having been screened for prostate cancer. The Executive Director, Project Pink Blue, Runcie Chidebe, lamented that most prostate cancer death in Nigeria can be averted if the government makes prostate screening mandatory for men above 40. He said a PSA test cost about N6, 000, depending on where it is done. This is by far cheaper than the cost of treating prostate cancer. The cost of treating prostate cancer is about N1.3 million to N3.3 million yearly in Nigeria, he said. Giving a breakdown of the treatment cost, Mr Chidebe said a diagnosis for prostate cancer could cost from N147,000 to N152, 000, surgery could cost between N350, 000 and N950, 000; while 25 to 30 sessions of chemotherapy could cost N150, 000 to N360, 000. How many Nigerian men can pay out this kind of money from their pocket to get treated? Many of these indigent men would just decide to stay back home and die. With poor health insurance, it has become more financially stressful to cope with the financial burden of cancer in Nigeria. Five signs to watch out for about prostate cancer. 1. Straining while peeing. When urination becomes difficult, then there is a possibility that you are exhibiting a symptom of prostate cancer. 2. Urgency whenever the need to urinate is felt. 3. Finding blood in the urine. 4. Frequent nighttime urges to urinate. 5. Retaining the feeling that the bladder has not emptied even after urination. SqwidNet, the licensed Sigfox IoT network operator in South Africa has again challenged South African entrepreneurs to use technology to solve every-day challenges in the next round of their IoT Entrepreneurship Programme (IoT) E. As part of the programme, SqwidNet takes entrepreneurs who have ideas but not necessarily the tools to make their ideas into a reality and guides them on the journey of bringing those ideas to life. In previous iterations of (IoT)E, this has resulted in a mix of powerful, inspirational and relevant IoT-enhanced solutions that are set to achieve great things. We know that the Internet of Things (IoT) has the capability of solving a variety of problems facing South Africa and the world, said Sean Laval, Executive: Solutions and Innovations at SqwidNet. The key is to identify those challenges and then engage with the right technologies to solve them and this is where SqwidNet works closely with the entrepreneurs as part of the programme to do just that. Applications to participate were submitted online and a group of 26 entrepreneurs have been selected to go through the 3-month programme, which kicks off with a 3-day workshop. At the end of the programme, finalists will be selected to present to a panel of potential investors. Tackling societal issues head-on South Africa and many other developing countries face various societal issues that range from food production to a lack of access to water, electricity, and connectivity, said Laval. Those are the issues we want to tackle head-on, using IoT. Some of the practical, yet intelligent, offerings that emerged as part of this programme before included smart security, smart gas monitoring, a smart hand sanitiser, and a smart medical kit, all focused on providing relevant solutions to some of South Africas most pressing challenges. In this round we have seen entrepreneurs put forward proposed solutions that tackle vehicle safety, water security, asset tracking and recovery, driver behaviour and fires in informal settlements, he adds. Laval said the University of Johannesburg Gwakwani Project is a classic example of where technology can have an enormous impact on communities. Gwakwani is a deep rural village in the northern Limpopo province in South Africa. Often dubbed The forgotten people they had no access to connectivity, running water, electricity. Something as simple and everyday as buying bread was an issue to them and they were limited to only having access to bread on very special occasions. The community also faced diseases such as malaria and bilharzia as they had to collect water from the nearby river, he said. The local municipality provided a diesel pump to extract water from a borehole, but this proved too costly for the community to sustain. The University of Johannesburg in partnership with Schneider Electric partnered to implement the intervention in stages, which included two solar borehole pumps, a solar bakery, a creche, and cold storage container. As the infrastructure and equipment in the village expanded it became more difficult to monitor and maintain. How SqwidNet drives innovation through IoT As SqwidNet, we drive innovation through IoT, said Laval. We installed Sigfox network technology to overcome the connectivity issue. We also wanted to allow for the development of sensors, as it provides a long device battery life cycle, at low device cost, with low connectivity fees, while providing long-range communication. This allowed the community and UJ to monitor the infrastructure assets to ensure that they ran optimally, and that proactive maintenance could be done. They would receive a notification should something break, so that it could be repaired quickly and with minimal impact on the village. Various environmental sensors were also installed, to gather information to assist in the planning of future projects. The impact of this project on the community of Gwakwani has been enormous. Not only do they now have access to electricity, water, and fresh bread daily, they have also improved their economic outlook as they can sell the additional vegetables they grow and bread they bake to nearby communities, thereby earning an income, Laval concludes. This showcases the power of technology and how it can overcome huge challenges and that is why we are encouraging entrepreneurs to think outside the box and see what solutions they can up with. They are also not on their own in this quest. SqwidNet will be there every step of the way to help them make their ideas a reality. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Tuesday said he's worried that coronavirus cases in China are actually much higher than the official numbers. "I think we are dramatically underestimating" cases in China by "tens of thousands," Gottlieb told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "I think the Chinese haven't been fully sharing." Chinese officials on Tuesday sharply increased their confirmed coronavirus cases to nearly 4,700. The death toll in China rose to 106. The virus was first discovered in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province in December. Gottlieb a physician, health advocate and Pfizer board member said it's hard to tell the total number of people who were infected in China since health officials there did not widely roll out diagnostic testing until late January. "We know the numerator," said Gottlieb, who left the Food and Drug Administration in April 2019. "We don't know the denominator." Last week, he said there could be thousands of mild cases that will likely go undiagnosed and clear up on their own. Later on "Squawk Box," House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone said he's also skeptical of China's coronavirus reporting. "They are not often forthcoming; often don't tell the truth about what's really happening," said the New Jersey Democratic congressman. China, accused of withholding information in the 2003 SARS epidemic, said its handling of the coronavirus will be different. Last week, the ruling Communist Party's central political and legal affairs commission warned, "Whoever deliberately delays and conceals reports will forever be nailed to history's pillar of shame." Multiple coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Hong Kong, Macao, Taipei, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, France and the United States. Gottlieb, who is also a CNBC contributor, said on Tuesday that he expects the U.S., which confirmed five cases, to have smaller, "inevitable" outbreaks. However, he added that the U.S. can better contain the virus with preventative measures because its population is less dense than that of China. U.S. health officials warned that the flu or other respiratory illnesses could complicate identifying more cases. They recommend that people call a health-care provider before seeking treatment so the appropriate measures can be put in place. Students of various colleges and universities stage a protest in front of West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar (CL) on his arrival at the Calcutta University in Kolkata on Tuesday. (PTI) Kolkata: A fierce protest by a group of students forced West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday to skip the Calcutta University (CU) annual convocation at the event. Dhankhar blamed the Mamata Banerjee government for the obstruction. This was perhaps the first time in the CU's history founded in 1857 when the Governor being the Chancellor also was stopped from presiding over its annual convocation. It was also the second time in a month when Dhankhar was prevented by agitating students from attending a varsity convocation. He was stopped from entering the Jadavpur University campus to attend the convocation on December 24. Calling Dhankhar a BJP agent over the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens and National Population Register, the CU students demanded that their vice-chancellor Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee instead of the Governor should hand over the D.Litt to the Nobel Laureate. In the afternoon Dhankhar reached the venue, Nazrul Mancha in south Kolkata in his convoy. Angry students shouted Go Back slogans and showed black flags to him. Outnumbering the Governors security personnel including a team CRPF commandoes, they gheraoed his sedan and even hit its bonnet. Dhankhar remained stranded inside his car till the demonstrators were dispersed by his security personnel. Walking into the auditoriums green room he congratulated Prof Banerjee and signed the D.Litt Dhankhar, however, could not go to the dais as the students shifted their agitation in front of it. The CU V-C announced of accepting the students demand after failing to pacify them. Dhankhar left the venue. The students agitation also ended. The CU V-C conferred the D.Litt on Prof Banerjee on the dais later. Dhankhar vented his anger and anguish in a series of tweets. He tweeted, The uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta University without attending the Convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of the immense respect we have for Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on whom we are conferring honorary D Litt (honoris causa). I have signed the D.Litt (honoris causa) in the presence of Abhijeet Bannerjee, VC and others. Describing Prof Banerjee as A man of sterling qualities and disarming grace, the Governor underlined that he was Greatly touched by his modest approach and depth. He, however noted, Those who compromised culture and decorum need to be in reflective mode. Had some memorable moments with Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee and his mother after wearing the robe for Convocation. Dhankhar observed, The actions of those who created or stage managed unseemly spectacle would resonate for long in the ears of cultured people of WB. VC sought permission from me as Chancellor to proceed with the Convocation. In view of the enormous respect I have for Abhijit Bannerjee and mindful of the reputation of the iconic Calcutta University, I accorded the same. He added, Convocation of Calcutta University was at Nazrul Mancha auditorium and not on the campus of Calcutta University. There was total failure of the state machinery to maintain law and order. The obstruction was stage managed. This happens to constitutional head. Where are we heading! Chinese shipping containers beside a U.S. flag at the Port of Los Angeles in Long Beach, Calif., on May 14, 2019. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images) Chinese Factories Committing More Trademark Theft as US Trade Decouples News Analysis Chinese factories are stealing intellectual property much faster after the signing of the Phase One trade deal with the United States, as the decoupling with U.S. supply chains is accelerating. The China Law Blog reports that Chinese factories in the past would wait until the relationship with their customer had declined before selling their customers products and registering their customers trademark in China as their own, but now are going off and registering those trademarks literally days after they first learn of them. Once a U.S. companys trademark is registered by a local company, Chinese law gives the local ownership rights to stop products from being produced for international export at the border and prevent them from leaving China. Several U.S. companies have been forced to pay significant dollars to get trademarks back and to get goods flowing out of China again. American attorneys working on new cross-border deals in China are warning that American companies tend to send emails to a Chinese company inquiring about the possibility of having that firm manufacture its products; and then after a day or two later, that Chinese company will file to register the American companys trademark in China. Several Chinese companies have sold foreign patented and trademarked products worldwide before they even sell one of the products to their foreign corporate customer. At the height of the Sino-U.S. trade war in November, the goods deficit with China fell by 7.9 per cent, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. With the 20.84 per cent fall in Chinese exports to the United States versus a year ago, American purchases of Chinese goods are the lowest since March 2013. American corporate supply chains have substantially decoupled from China. Just before the start of the trade war in July 2018, imports to the United States from Vietnam went up 51.6 percent; Taiwan up 30 percent; Thailand up 19.7 percent, Indonesia up 14.6 percent, Mexico up 12.7 percent and Malaysia up 11.3 percent. Almost all of these gains have come at the expense of Chinese factories. International lawyers doing business in China can see that local factory sales are still way down, despite the trade truce. The China Law Blog states: For every foreign companies that left China in 2019, there were two to three more seriously contemplating doing so and we expect more companies to leave China in 2020 than in 2019. Chinese factories expect that many of their current American clients will be leaving China in 2020; and any new U.S. clients will only be using them as test kitchens to develop products and then move production to another off-shore site when the product is fully developed and selling in volume. As a result of expecting to be used and cast aside, Chinese factories have also become much sloppier in terms of product quality. China Law Blog argues that it is now absolutely required to have detailed and signed manufacturing agreements that force Chinese factories to pay penalties if quality standards are not met. China trademark lawyers comment that with local manufacturers desperately wanting to improve their profit margins, what better way to do so than to sell a product under a prestigious or well-known American brand name. Once a U.S. trademark is registered by a local individual or company, the only guaranteed way to regain control of the intellectual property is to try to buy the brand name and logo from the Chinese party that has control of it. Chetana Belagere By Express News Service BENGALURU: It has now been confirmed that Preeti Maheshwari, the Indian in China who was earlier suspected to have taken ill with novel coronavirus, is battling a streptococcal infection. Her relatives in Bengaluru say they have also stopped the crowdfunding efforts they have made on two platforms - impactguru and milaap - with a thank you message to the donors as Preeti now seems to be on the path to recovery. An art teacher at an international school in Shenzhen, Preeti was admitted January 11 with symptoms similar to those seen in patients affected by the novel coronavirus. Speaking to The New Indian Express, Mahesh Thapa, who had started the crowdfunding said, "My sister is recovering and the reports came in from the hospital stating that it is a streptococcal infection. She has been off the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) support and they tried to remove her from ventilator support too as her condition was improving." But when they did that, her heart rate is said to have gone up to 135, which has meant that she might be put back on ventilator support. Preeti continues to have a high fever. Doctors have started a new dose of antibiotics and have wrapped her in ice blankets. They have taken fresh blood and body fluids samples for further tests for bacterial and virus infections, Thapa said. Initially, Preeti had developed symptoms of cold, fever and cough on January 7 all symptoms similar to those caused by the novel coronavirus and since the deadly virus was in the air, the doctors after admitting her to the hospital on January 11 suspected it to be that. However, the reports have now shown that the infection has been caused by the streptococcal virus. Preethi's cousin in Bengaluru Pratibha Maheshwari, who was also coordinating the crowdfunding efforts with Mahesh, put out the message on Facebook: "Thank you (donors) so much for coming forward and helping with my cousin's treatment. Your generosity and prayers have helped her regain consciousness, and she is now undergoing wheelchair therapy. While it's a long road to recovery, doctors are hopeful she will be off the ventilator in the next 3-4 days. We have also managed to raise the requisite funds for her treatment, and are now closing all fundraising activity. Thank you once again for your kindness. Please continue to pray for her speedy recovery." The family has so far raised Rs 50 lakh from crowdfunding platforms Milaap and Impactguru. Mahesh Thapa told The New Indian Express that he has written to both the crowdfunding platforms to end the fundraising campaign. However, Milaap, one of the platforms that has raised over Rs 13 lakh already, said it is yet to get the withdrawal request. Anoj Viswanathan, co-founder and President, Milaap said, "Our foremost priority is to ensure trust and transparency across all stakeholders - donors, campaign organizers and beneficiaries alike with relevant processes and systems. Over the last 10 years since inception, weve proactively addressed and engaged with all the stakeholders to maintain this and we will continue to do so going forward." Even in Preeti's case, the platform has verified the reports and also spoken the treating doctor, he stressed. There is a procedure that the crowdfunding platform follows when it comes to reimbursing money to the family. The CEO of Milaap Mayukh Choudhary said the amount will be given towards reimbursements against the medical bills, most of the times to the hospital directly and at times to the patient's kin against the bills produced. "Also we will email, WhatsApp and text the donors with the updates along with the bills and also send them how much money is being distributed and for what bills. There is complete transparency," he said. Meanwhile, Preeti's family in India is hoping for her speedy recovery. A Pakistani court has ruled that the concept of trial in absentia is against the golden principles of natural justice as it issued a detailed judgement on self-exiled former dictator Pervez Musharraf's petition challenging his death sentence on charges of high treason. A special court in Islamabad on December 17 last year handed down the death penalty to the 74-year-old retired general, now based in Dubai, after six years of hearing the high-profile treason case against him. His trial was declared as "unconstitutional" by the Lahore High Court (LHC) through a short order on January 13, leading to the annulment of the death sentence against the ex-Pakistan Army chief. The detailed judgement, authored by LHC Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, found the process for the establishment of the special court in consultation with the then chief justice of Pakistan and chief justices of five high courts alien to the Constitution, Dawn newspaper reported. "It is established without any doubt that the very constitution of the special court was squarely illegal/improper and without jurisdiction," ruled the bench on Monday. It said that the concept of trial in absentia is not only inconsistent with the doctrine of Islamic justice enunciated in the Holy Quran and Sunnah but also against the golden principles of natural justice, according to the report. The full bench of the LHC observed that the interior secretary was competent to file a complaint against the accused of "high treason" only on the recommendations of the federal government, whereas the federal government was to operate in the spirit of Article 90(1) of the Constitution which includes the prime minister and the Cabinet, Dawn newspaper reported. READ | After Pakistan Army's Criticism, Relief For Musharraf As Lahore HC Quashes Death Sentence "However, the requisite requirement of the Constitution was totally ignored," the LHC said in the verdict. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had filed the treason case against the former army chief in 2013 over the imposition of an extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007, which led to the confinement of a number of superior court judges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges. In a huge reprieve for Musharraf, the LHC declared that the formation of the special court was "unconstitutional" and that the treason case against the former president was not prepared in accordance with the law. Barrister Salman Safdar, the counsel for Musharraf, had stated that his absence at the hearing of the special court was not intentional and that he was unable to appear before it as he was ill. On January 18, Pakistan's Supreme Court returned the petition against his conviction and sentencing by a special tribunal with objection that he is not allowed to appeal without surrendering to the law. Musharraf, who has been living in Dubai since March 2016, left Pakistan for medical treatment and has not returned since, citing security and health reasons. Dr Muhammad Amjad, Musharraf's close aide and the ex-chairperson of his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party, has said that the former president was rapidly becoming weaker due to an unknown disease, which is why he was unable to return to Pakistan to face the treason case. READ | Pakistan SC Refuses To Hear Musharraf's Plea Against Treason Verdict READ | Pak SC To Entertain Musharraf's Plea Only After He Surrenders To The Law: Report A Wahoo man was sentenced to six years, five months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition. Trent Duckworth, 31, was in possession of several boxes of ammunition and two .223 caliber magazines for an AR-15-style rifle, federal prosecutors said. The Wahoo Police Department found the ammunition after executing a search warrant at his residence following a reported assault. On Facebook Messenger, Duckworth threatened another individual who knew the victim of the assault, claiming to have full "AR magazines," federal officials said. As a convicted felon, it was illegal for Duckworth to possess ammunition. Duckworth will serve three years supervised release after completing his prison sentence. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Kristina Paul, special assistant for research and program evaluation in the Lower Merion School District, talks to parents about school start times during a meeting at Harriton High School on Dec. 10. Read more Lower Merion school officials are recommending that the district delay changes to next years schedule after a plan to start elementary school earlier each day, so older students could sleep later, drew significant community opposition. At a meeting Monday night, parents expressed frustration that after years of discussion, the district was delaying the prospect of a later high school starting time. Lower Merion is the latest local district to consider a growing movement across the country to push back start times to let older students get more sleep. While the Lower Merion school board is still expected to vote on the proposal this spring, district officials say they dont believe any change should be implemented this fall. They are also considering a new proposal that would start middle school first, followed by high school and elementary. I recognize this does not necessarily fall in line with the science, but I do see the complications with the current proposal, Superintendent Robert Copeland said. The district in October recommended reordering schedules for later starts each day at the middle and high schools, in line with guidance from the American Medical Association and other organizations that classes for students in those grades not begin before 8:30 a.m. Under the proposal, the school day at Lower Merions two high schools, which currently begins at 7:30, would be pushed back to 8:25, and middle school now an 8:15 start to 9:05. Elementary school, meanwhile, would be bumped up from 9 to 7:45 a.m. District officials say start and end times for the three school levels must be adequately spaced for bus drivers to complete their runs. But many parents of younger children objected, saying the earlier elementary start would shortchange their children on sleep and create child-care hurdles, among other issues. READ MORE: Lower Merion wants elementary school students to start earlier, and high schoolers to arrive later. Some parents arent happy The district also heard concerns that shifting middle school later, with a dismissal time of 4:05 p.m., would interfere with after-school activities. Kathy Blackburn, executive vice president of TregoED, a consulting firm hired by the district, on Monday identified 37 risks associated with the proposed schedule, ranging from elementary students walking to bus stops in the dark to middle and high school students missing instructional time to leave school early for away games. An implementation team of district staff members brainstormed ideas to address some of the risks, like giving reflectors to all elementary students or sitting three students in a bus seat to deal with limited availability of bus drivers. READ MORE: School bus driver shortage squeezes districts around the region It recommended that the district not implement the new schedule this fall, Blackburn said, and instead continue to evaluate the risks, as well as conduct a risk analysis of not making a change. That recommendation upset parents and students who for years have been hoping for a change to high school start times. Lower Merion students are suffering, said Sydney Halpern, a junior at Lower Merion High School, who told the board she was exhausted. Halpern said her frustration was shared by more than 20 other students. In response to the complaint that switching schedules to start elementary school first would shift the burden of sleep deprivation onto younger students, Noah Salmanson, a Harriton High School senior, said, What makes it OK to keep the burden on high schoolers? Let me tell you, high school is a crazy time, he said, with students trying to max out Advanced Placement classes and juggling after-school activities. Some parents warned that a proposal to start middle school earlier would rile families of those students, generating opposition from another group. It seems the question we have asked is: Who are we going to push under the bus? said parent Rebecca Rendell. Board President Melissa Gilbert said she understood the frustration, but told parents Copeland and administrators were being as thorough as possible. We are all extremely concerned about our children, Gilbert said. But I am hopeful that were going to be able to figure this out and do this right. Transportation requirements complicated by a national shortage of school bus drivers have posed a significant headache in the debate. District officials are considering a contract with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which used artificial intelligence to optimize bus efficiency for Boston schools, though Copeland said the district had questions about that work. Copeland said the district planned to conduct a survey in February that included the earlier middle school start among the possible options. As leaders, at some point, you are going to have to make a decision, Carrie Hartman, another parent, told the board. If you think in this community everyones going to come to a consensus, its never going to happen. Qatar, Indias largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier, Monday said it will not reduce the price of gas under current and long-term deal as requested by New Delhi, reports say. Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi who also doubles as head of Qatar Petroleum in a visit in the Indian capital, Delhi, said the tiny gas-rich country will not re-negotiate the price of the current contract. We are not renegotiating contracts; we stick with contracts both sides, Kaabi said in response to his host, Indias Minister of Petroleum, Dharmendra Pradhan. Pradhan urged Qatar to cut the price arguing that spot LNG prices for fuel delivered currently at Indian ports are half the price of that in the long-term contract. The current formula of benchmarking gas prices with crude oil is not correct, Pradhan pointed out. We must find a formula between the current practices and other international prices. Qatar currently ships around 8.5 million tons of LNG to India under the deal signed in 1999 and come into force in 2004. The official also suggested that the cut in the price will spur Indias desire to increase demand considering surging domestic need of LNG. The surge in Indias energy requirements will not be incremental but exponential. India is rapidly expanding its gas infrastructure to cater to the needs of nearly 70% of our population. An estimated investment of $60 billion is lined up in building the gas infrastructure, Pradhan said. No one can say the members of Oprahs Book Club wont have plenty to talk about at their next meeting. About the same time, just a week ago, that Oprah Winfrey announced Jeanine Cummins novel American Dirt as the latest book to receive her seal of approval, things started to get complicated. Cummins tale about a Mexican bookstore owner and her young son fleeing Acapulco for the U.S. after their entire family is massacred by a drug cartel has been on more than a dozen lists of most-anticipated books. It was enthusiastically blurbed by best-selling authors John Grisham, Stephen King, and Ann Patchett, as well as by Mexican American novelist and poet Sandra Cisneros (The House on Mango Street), who called it the great novel of Las Americas, and Dominican American novelist and poet Julia Alvarez (In the Time of the Butterflies), who declared it a dazzling accomplishment. So whats the problem? Not everyone was so dazzled, including writer Myriam Gurba, who, in a piece for the site Tropics of Meta, wrote that American Dirt, by a white writer with a Puerto Rican grandmother, belonged to the great American tradition of appropriating genius works by people of color; slapping a coat of mayonesa on them to make palatable to taste buds estados-unidenses; and repackaging them for mass racially color-blind consumption. On Twitter, Gurba posted a picture of a stack of alternative reading, including Signs Preceding the End of the World, by Yuri Herrera; The Book of Unknown Americans, by Cristina Henriquez; and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, by Erika L. Sanchez, urging her followers to instead read something told in our own voices. New York Times book critic Parul Sehgal, in a more measured, but possibly more devastating takedown, wrote that Cummins book feels conspicuously like the work of an outsider." Sehgals concern went beyond identity, though. A couple of samples: I found myself flinching as I read, not from the perils the characters face, but from the mauling the English language receives. The heroes grow only more heroic, the villains more villainous. The children sound like tiny prophets. Ouch. OK, what does Cummins have to say? In an interview with NPRs Rachel Martin after the controversy broke, Cummins said that not everyone has to love my book, you know? I endeavored to be incredibly culturally sensitive. I did the work. I did five years of research. The whole intention in my heart when I wrote this book was to try to upend the traditional stereotypes that I saw being very prevalent in our national dialogue. Asked if she was aware of her cultural blind spots as a white woman, Cummins told Martin that she was as aware of them as I could be, adding, I certainly centered them in my mind as I was writing. "One of the things that I find deeply distressing and disappointing about the current tenor of this conversation is how, in the court of public opinion, I am the white lady now in this narrative. The fact is that I am a white person. I am a citizen of the United States. I am a person who has a very privileged life. I am also Puerto Rican. And that fact has been attacked and sidelined by people who, frankly, are attempting to police my identity. Hows all this going to work out for Oprah? Its not the first time that trying to share her love of reading with the world has caused the media mogul some headaches. There was the time she picked James Freys A Million Little Pieces for the book club, only to later find out that the work hed presented as a memoir was closer to fiction. (She did get a memorable second show out of that one, though, when she confronted Frey.) And then there was the time she chose Jonathan Franzens The Corrections, and Franzen failed to leap at the honor. Instead of rallying to Mr. Franzen, noted the New York Times, most of the literary world took her side, deriding him as arrogant and ungrateful. So lets not worry about Oprah. Hows the book doing? On Friday, it ranked No. 3 among books sold by Amazon. By Monday afternoon, it had dropped to No. 9, though it was listed as No. 2 in Hispanic American Literature & Fiction. But the controversy hasnt yet run its course. On Monday, Cummins publisher canceled an appearance and signing at a bookstore in Pasadena, Calif., that was scheduled for Tuesday night, the latest in a string of cancellations, reported the Los Angeles Times. Salma Hayek took to Instagram to apologize for promoting American Dirt without having read it. In the description of the book I learned that it was the story of a Mexican woman, so I rushed into sharing my excitement with you, wrote the Mexican actress. Where does Oprahs Book Club meet these days, anyway? Once a popular segment on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the book clubs latest home is Apple TV+, where subscribers can stream the first two episodes, featuring Ta-Nehisi Coates novel The Water Dancer and Elizabeth Strouts Olive, Again. Bring your own wine. Current rates of emergency department visits due to asthma are around 2.4 times higher in areas that were redlined - deprioritised for mortgage investment- in the 1930s, than in areas rated as the least risky investments (63.5 versus 26.5 visits per 10,000 residents per year), according to an observational study from eight Californian cities, published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. Redlining was a practice used by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) to categorise neighbourhoods during the depression era for assessing risk of applicants who applied for refinancing on mortgages they had defaulted on. Set up by the federal government under the New Deal, they generated maps that categorised urban neighbourhoods into one of four grades of perceived risk. Areas that were predominantly inner-city, with black and immigrant residents were systematically graded as hazardous for investment and outlined in red or 'redlined'. Redlining propelled a lack of investment in those areas perceived as higher risk. Discussing possible mechanisms for the association, Dr. Neeta Thakur, University of California San Francisco, USA, senior author on the study, says, "Redlining may have shaped neighbourhood development in ways that compound risk factors for asthma. For example, highways constructed in 1940s and 50s were commonly constructed in poorer neighbourhoods, worsening the air quality. Redlined neighbourhoods had high rates of low socioeconomic status, which are associated with decreased access in health service and increased psychosocial stress, both contributors to asthma incidence, prevalence and severity." [1] Anthony Nardone, San Francisco and Berkeley, USA, first author on the study concludes "Americans living in redlined neighbourhoods who were denied financing likely missed out on home ownership opportunities, reducing their potential to generate wealth over generations and leading to further segregation of neighbourhoods. This inability to accumulate wealth along with entrenched segregation could ultimately affect asthma risk, particularly for communities of colour, by reducing quality housing options and ability to buffer stress." [1] Asthma disproportionately affects communities of colour in the USA [2], but the underlying factors for this remain poorly understood. Few studies have considered historical policies that might explain the concentration of social and environmental factors in communities of colour. This study is the first study to look at how the government-sponsored discriminatory policy of redlining that might have shaped neighbourhood development in the USA and is associated with asthma. The authors used the HOLC security maps available for the following eight cities in California: Fresno, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and Stockton. As part of designating neighbourhoods as risky for HOLC loans, risk assessors in the 1930s categorized neighbourhoods as A, B, C, D, with 'A' considered lowest risk and 'D', the redlined areas, considered highest risk. The authors assessed the relationship between these historical tract grades and rates of emergency department visits due to asthma between 2011 and 2013. To further evaluate the association between neighbourhood grade and asthma, they assessed the impact of possible confounding variables using a model that adjusted for diesel exhaust particle emissions, PM2.5 levels, and the proportion of the population living below two times the federal poverty level. In the unadjusted model, the risk of emergency department visits due to asthma were 2.4 times higher in neighbourhoods that were previously redlined than those in A-graded neighbourhoods - 63.5 versus 26.5 visits per 10,000 residents per year. Going from A-D rating, there were more people who were non-Hispanic black and Hispanic, more people living in poverty, and the amount of diesel exhaust particle emissions increased. After accounting for confounding factors, the author's adjusted model suggests that previously redlined neighbourhoods still had higher emergency room visits related to asthma than those not redlined. There was an estimated 39% increased risk of asthma related emergency visits in redlined areas compared to A-graded neighbourhoods. Co-author on the study, Professor John Balmes, Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, San Francisco, says "80 years or more after the development of the security maps, we observed persistently higher asthma-related emergency department visits in redlined neighbourhoods compared with higher-graded neighbourhoods. These areas also see higher diesel particle emission levels and rates of poverty. Together these might partly reflect a discriminatory legacy of redlining. Similar research is needed to assess whether our findings apply beyond the eight Californian cities we studied." [1] He continues, "After accounting for present-day poverty rate and air pollutants, we still see that previously redlined neighbourhoods had higher emergency room visits related to asthma than those not redlined. This suggests a more wide-spread, persisting effect of redlining could be responsible for increased asthma burden." [1] The authors note some limitations of their study. They highlight that although they used asthma-related emergency department visits to capture the areas most burdened by asthma, health care access, insurance coverage, and baseline asthma prevalence might be different in redlined neighbourhoods, compared to other neighbourhoods. This could mean that the findings might have under-estimated or over-estimated the true association. ### NOTES TO EDITORS This study was funded by National Heart Lung Blood Institute. It was conducted by researchers from University of California Berkeley, US; Columbia University, New York, US; University of California San Francisco, US. The labels have been added to this press release as part of a project run by the Academy of Medical Sciences seeking to improve the communication of evidence. For more information, please see: http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AMS-press-release-labelling-system-GUIDANCE.pdf if you have any questions or feedback, please contact The Lancet press office pressoffice@lancet.com [1] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article. [2] Compared with non-Hispanic white populations, asthma is 125 times as common and nearly 3 times as likely to cause death in non-Hispanic black individuals. Peer-reviewed / Observational study / People Medical masks are flying off store shelves as panicked Winnipeggers are stocking up in the mistaken belief the masks will protect them from the deadly coronavirus. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Medical masks are flying off store shelves as panicked Winnipeggers are stocking up in the mistaken belief the masks will protect them from the deadly coronavirus. Many medical supply shops and drug stores across the city are sold out and on back order. Shop owners are citing the new coronavirus as the main reason people are buying the masks in bulk. On Monday, it was announced Canadian health officials are treating Canadas first diagnosed cases of coronavirus in Toronto. For Northland Healthcare Products Limited, the hype for masks began on Friday. The medical retailer sold 100 boxes of their ear-loop masks and N95 masks between Friday and Monday. The ear-loop masks should be re-stocked later next week, but Northland employees dont know when theyll see more N95 masks theres a manufacturer back-order, and hospitals will get the masks first. Many people bought masks to send to China, an employee at Northland Healthcare Products Limited said. However, not all mask purchases were linked to the coronavirus, she said, noting some clinics were stocking up. Stevens Home Medical Supplies Store sold hundreds of masks, and now theyre sold out, too, an employee said. They hope to restock within two weeks. People wanting to buy a mask from Shoppers Drug Mart will have a hard time finding one. The McPhillips Street location sold out of all-purpose masks, and employees said Shoppers Drug Marts throughout Winnipeg faced the same problem. The owner of Shoppers Drug Marts McPhillips Street location has bought two shipments of masks, and they should arrive in store Wednesday or Thursday, employees said. Rane Fauni walked out of Shoppers Drug Mart on McPhillips Street empty-handed after not finding a mask. "We were expecting more," he said. "Theres so much here." Fauni is worried about the new coronavirus. He thought the mask would help prevent him from getting sick, he said. "I dont want to get sick, and I dont want to get others sick," Fauni said. However, Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist at the Toronto General Hospital, said the benefits of proper masks worn by hospital staff are largely lost when applied to the sort available at local drug stores. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Bogoch said such masks may offer an additional layer of protection if worn by someone who is already infected, but they have limited value for healthy members of the public. Dr. Sohail Gandhi, president of the Ontario Medical Association, agrees, noting early data on the new form of virus suggests masks wont be especially effective. "Handwashing is more effective than face masks with this particular virus, particularly if youre not infected," Gandhi said. Handwashing, covering your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and thoroughly cooking meat and eggs are ways to prevent being infected by a coronavirus, according to the World Health Organizations website. With files from the Canadian Press city.desk@freepress.mb.ca : Fast-moving consumer goods major CavinKare on Tuesday said it has roped in Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar and actress Ileana D'Cruz as brand ambassadors for its herbal hair colour brand 'Indica'. The company had launched the Indica brand in 1995 with five herbal ingredients that colour the hair. In 2009, the city-based company re-launched the brand with consumer insight and unveiled Indica 10 minutes herbal hair colour. Commenting on the appointment of brand ambassadors, CavinKare director (personal care) and CEO Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan said, "Indica has been growing rapidly over the years. We are happy to have talented Akshay Kumar and Ileana D'Cruz to represent Indica." "They (Kumar and D'Cruz) personify the brand and its core values by making them the ideal embodiment of the imagery of the brand," he said. "The ideal blend of style, youthfulness and innovative performance makes Akshay Kumar and Ileana D'Cruz the right choice for being the face of Indica hair colour", he said. Commenting on his appointment, Akshay Kumar said, "I am delighted to have been associated as brand ambassador for Indica hair colour. The brand is known for redefining the concept of innovation and it is a wonderful feeling to be part of the Indica family." Actress Ileana D'Cruz said, "Indica has such a great variety of hair colours and it takes just 10 minutes to put it on. With our association, we hope to reach all customers pan-India by spreading the message of feeling youthful."Indica hair colour is available in multiple shades across the country. The company said Indica has established market leadership in southern India and is a formidable player in the hair colour segment in the country. The product portfolio comprises no-ammonia hair colour Indica Easy and Indica Creme among others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Students in Suweida are continuing to protest about the ongoing economic problems and the rampant corruption that is present reports Al-Modon. The Education Faculty Department in Suweida and the citys Student Union threatened students with dismissal if they took part in protests, which are occurring in the city under the slogan We want to live with the aim of fighting corruption and improving the economic conditions in the country in general and in Suweida in particular. The threats came after dozens gathered on Sunday in front of the department and chanted slogans calling for students rights and to end the endemic corruption in the educational institute, as well as slogans about the economic situation in the country and with others calling for officials to be held to account for the collapse of the economic situation. Organizers of the campaign responded to the threats on their Facebook page, saying: To the students and security forces and all people who have not seen our civilized image in the streets: We will remain peaceful and we do not want anything but a livelihood and rights that we obtain safely. The organizers said that the campaign was not religious or political and that it would not accept being neutralized from its basic demand for a dignified life and for an improvement in the living and security situation that includes all Syrians regardless of religious affiliation, peacefully rejecting violence, and preserving all state property, without political, ethnic or sectarian partisanship. The page on Facebook has attracted more than 32,000 members, including regime loyalists and opposition members, as well as members outside the country, in what may be the first such occurrence of its kind in Syria, in terms of organizing a specific event that includes most segments of Syrians in a tacit agreement about the importance of mobilization and remaining neutral between the two opposition and regime sides to ensure its continuation and expansion. A source in Suweida told Al-Modon that for the eighth time, dozens of young people gathered in various parts of Suweida in front of the governorate building, as well as in Shahba and the Education Faculty, to protest about the current economic situation. The source said that the general status of the protesters was close to completely neutral, given that the organizers of the campaign through their slogans tried to keep the same distance from the opposition and the regime, in a desire to get popular support and expand the scope of the protests across the country. The source said that the timing of the campaign and the conditions under which it occurred were extremely important, with Suweida having a particular religious character, and is categorized as a religious minority governorate. Therefore the regime has not been able to make accusations against the protests being linked to extremists and terrorists, as occurred in other areas that saw peaceful protests at the start of the revolution. Regimes dilemma While the regime claims to protect minorities, today those minorities are going out on the streets rejecting its policies and demanding change, even if it was not directly or explicitly. The Assad regime tacitly understands that if the campaign continues, then the slogans will escalate until they call explicitly for its downfall. The regime also fears the protesters returning to the streets, and then the fear barriers breaking another time in the areas under its control, especially if it continues in its security approach to all those who oppose it, and all those who raise their voices calling for even the lowest rights. After multiple protests in Suweida, the Political Security branch in the city summoned a number of young people for investigation. This was confirmed by Rian Maarouf, editor of the Suweida 24 Network to Al-Modon, saying that the head of the Political Security branch, Col. Rafiq Shaaban, had over the last week summoned the young people for investigations in the branch offices about the reasons they went out to protest and about who was behind these protests and pushing them to go out to the streets, as well as about the most prominent organizers and their political leanings. The regime has not yet mobilized any security reinforcements to the city to meet the protests, but centers such as the governorate center and other government buildings in the governorate have seen a heavy security presence in their environs. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 29 2020 Take the leap: Members of Parkour Jakarta practice at Puring Park in South Jakarta on Jan. 19. Puring Park's new facilities have attracted more visitors. (JP/Yunindita Prasidya) The newly revitalized Puring Park in South Jakarta was abuzz with activity on a recent Sunday morning, with people of all ages enjoying the greenery and the parks new facilities. While many of the activities may be a common sight in many parks throughout the capital, such children having fun in the playground or people jogging or riding skateboards and scooters, one group of people was preparing to begin parkour training. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe A federal investigator said Monday that the pilot flying the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, Bryant's daughter and six other passengers had climbed to avoid a cloud layer shortly before it crashed into a hillside in Calabasas. "Radar data indicates the helicopter climbed to 2,300 feet and then began a left descending turn," said National Transportation Safety Board member Jennifer Homendy during a news conference about Sunday's crash. "Last radar contact was around 9:45 a.m. and is consistent with the accident location." Before the crash, the pilot, Ara Zobayan, had requested "flight following," which is assistance by radar to help a pilot avoid air traffic. But an air traffic controller told the pilot he was flying too low for flight following, according to recordings of the communications. Homendy called the scene of the crash, which she visited Monday morning, "pretty devastating," and said debris was spread across 500- to 600-feet of terrain. "A piece of the tail is down the hill on the left side of the hill," she said. "The fuselage is over on the other side of that hill, and then the main rotor about 100 yards beyond that." She said the "impact crater" on the hill was 1,085 ft. above sea level. ESSAY: 'I Am Straight Up In Tears Right Now.' Why Kobe Bryant's Death Hurts So Much READ MORE: What We Know About The 9 People Who Died Homendy said the investigation into the crash that killed all nine people aboard had just begun She asked for witnesses to send photos of weather conditions in the area around the time of the crash to witness@ntsb.gov. "We're not just focusing on weather here, though," she said. "We look at man, machine and the environment, and weather is just a small portion of that. Homendy said there was no black box in the helicopter and that there wasn't a requirement for the helicopter to have one. She said NTSB investigators would spend about five days collecting perishable evidence from the scene of the crash. 'Birds of Prey' filmmaker Cathy Yan on the rise of female action directors originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Warner Bros. is set to launch "Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn" next Friday -- its third DC Comics-based film fronted by a female director, counting the as-yet-unreleased "Wonder Woman 1984." Cathy Yan, who only has the small budget feature "Dead Pigs" under her belt, recalled to Variety she "never" thought she'd land the job. MORE: New trailer for Wonder Woman 1984 drops "Birds of Prey" not only stars a predominantly female cast, led by Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, a Suicide Squad favorite, but was also produced by Robbie and written by a woman, Christina Hodson. A friendly coffee with Yan led to Hodson suggesting she direct. "[S]he was like, 'Well, how about you?' It took me aback, because I didn't really think that I could do something like that," she told Variety. On directing, the Asian American admitted, "I'd never seen anyone who looked like me do it." PHOTO: Director Cathy Yan attends Amazon Studios Golden Globes after party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Jan. 05, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Paul Archuleta/WireImage/Getty Images, FILE) Yan told Variety she reached out to Patty Jenkins, the director of both of WB's "Wonder Woman" movies, for advice. "I'm like, 'What am I doing?' Yan recalled with a laugh. "She told me, 'You've got to remember that no one knows this movie as much as you. That's what makes you the director.' And that was really, really helpful." "Birds of Prey" also stars Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Rosie Perez, and shows Harley coming into her own after breaking up with the Joker. Yan explained it was important for her film to have a different look from those set in Batman's backyard. MORE: Female directors were snubbed in 2020 Oscar nominations -- here's what can be done "I knew I wanted to create a different type of Gotham, through Harleys eyes, that we hadnt really seen before," Yan told Variety. "You know, Batmans Gotham is very much those bold, high, art deco towers -- like downtown Manhattan. I was thinking this Gotham should feel different. Its Harley Quinns world. Its a little scrappier, its a little more outer borough. On top of that, I also wanted to make sure that it felt heightened and colorful. Its gritty, but at the same time, people are having fun. People havent given up yet. Its not a sad world where nothing works." The fact that "Birds of Prey" and "Wonder Woman 1984," as well as Marvel's "Black Widow" and "The Eternals," feature female directors, is, "pretty freaking amazing," Yan said. "I remember when I was just starting off being told, 'Actually, we've been looking for female directors, but there aren't that many that want to do action movies,'" she said. "I remember thinking, 'I do! I love action movies.' Women are capable of this." Press Release January 28, 2020 Hontiveros uncovers menu of sex services, trafficked women for Chinese POGO workers Filipino girls, as well as trafficked Chinese women, are victims in the recent rise of prostitution dens catering to Chinese nationals residing in the country, reveals Senator Risa Hontiveros in a hearing on Tuesday, January 28, 2020. "Hindi pwedeng nagiging pugad tayo ng Chinese prostitution dens," said Hontiveros, who led the investigation on the rescues of Philippine Offshore Gambling Operators (POGO)-related sexual trafficking victims in Metro Manila. "Tatlo ang anak kong babae, ang isa menor de edad. 'Pag nakikita ko sa TV ang mga babaeng nahuhuli sa raid na punong puno ng hiya at takot, isa lang ang tumatakbo sa isip ko: this girl is someone's daughter. And we have failed her," she added. Among the rescued is alias Carina, 15 years old, who testified in the hearing. The girl, among other Filipina women prior their rescue, was kept by a Chinese national in a house in Makati. The woman primarily serviced a Chinese clientele, and were paid at least P6,000 per job, an amount that increases if they were asked to spend the night or perform extra services, but half of which went to their Chinese handler. Hontiveros' investigation also exposed a menu of sex services, including photos of trafficked Chinese women, that is passed around through messaging apps Telegram and WeChat. "May menu of services, parang restoran," said Hontiveros. "Yung mga babae, parang inoorder lang sa app ng mga Chinese members ng chatgroup. Parang Grabfood, may menu, may presyo, then darating na lang sa hotel o condo mo," she described. The messages revealed the services offered that were primarily sexual in nature. In light of these revelations, Hontiveros called for the Bureau of Immigration to suspend its Visa Upon Arrival (VUA) program for Chinese nationals, a scheme that has readily assisted the rise of Chinese criminals in the country. "We need to suspend the Visa Upon Arrival scheme for Chinese nationals," she declared. "Security threat na kasi ito satin: to our women and to our girls!" she exclaimed. The senator also urged the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police to conduct an immediate crackdown on POGO-related prostitution dens across the Philippines. "Pati yung mga sarili nating kababaihan at kabataan, nabibiktima na," Hontiveros declared. Additionally, the Senator is studying the suspension of all POGO operations in the country, while reviewing the economic implications as well as ensuring that there are safety nets in place to protect our women and children. "Kailangan na nating umaksyon. We need to look into suspending POGO operations because they attract criminals into our country," Hontiveros concluded. An Iranian news outlet affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) has revealed for the first time that the Islamic Republic police forces helped to suppress protests in the early days of demonstrations against the Syrian strongman, Bashar al-Assad. The IRGC-linked Fars news agency, disclosed on January 25 that Iranian police alongside with the IRGC's extraterritorial arm (Qods Force), had suppressed "street riots," long before 2011 when the civil war broke out in the country. "Street riots" is a term used in the Islamic Republic's political jargon to describe the anti-establishment unrest needing immediate suppression. In a two-part article, under the heading "A Better Understanding of Warriors Without Borders," Fars has referred to the background of the Qods Force (QF), and its military operations outside Iran. "Warrior Without Borders" was initially used by the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his latest Friday Prayer sermon on January 17. He used the term to praise Iran's Qods Force, intending to evoke the Doctors Without Borders international medical aid organization, and Reporters Without Borders. Referring to initial protests against Bashar al-Assad during the so-called "Arab Spring" uprising in 2011, Fars says, Iranian police forces along with Qods Force units rushed in to assist the Syrian police and arm them with anti-riot equipment. Earlier, the Islamic Republic authorities used to insist that Iranian military personnel were dispatched to Syria to fight terrorists, defend Shi'ites' holy sites, and advise forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad. According to Fars, several Syrian intelligence and security forces also went to Iran to learn crisis-management, information gathering, and intelligence operations. Based on Fars' report, Iranian military-intelligence experts had concluded at the time that Syria's initial reaction was not based on "intelligence data." Without sufficient information back-up, they argued, the crisis would flare up and turn into a more troublesome problem. In the past years, many human rights organizations have accused the Syrian government of attacking street protesters with weapons designed to be used in war. They have also held Bashar al-Assad's government and the Syrian army responsible for turning people's peaceful protests into violent clashes. The Syrian regime has repeatedly denied the allegation, but Fars' report proves that the human rights organizations were right. Earlier, the Syrian Defense Minister had also implicitly admitted that the Islamic Republic of Iran's military was closely involved in stopping the uprising against the Assad regime, long before the emergence of jihadists fronts such as ISIS and al-Nusra. A video circulated on social media this month showed Syrian Minister of Defense, General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, paying homage to the Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' Qods Force, Major General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike on January 3, outside Baghdad international airport. In the video, Ayyoub, says that Soleimani visited Syria in the late summer of 2011 and helped him to design a plan to retain control of Baba Amr, a suburb of the country's third-largest city, Homs. The plan was successfully implemented in March 2012, when there were no Jihadist groups in Syria. In another part of its report, Fars has focused on the eight-day war in 2008 between Israel and extremist Palestinians in Gaza Strip. In 2008, Iran started transferring missile parts to Gaza. Qods Force members managed to move the pieces to Gaza via Sudan, Egypt, and underground tunnels in the Sinai desert, Fars says. Earlier, the Islamic Republic authorities used to claim that Iran had only helped Palestinian HAMAS and Islamic Jihad with missile technology. "Iran provided the Hamas with the technology it has used to rain down rockets on Israel from Gaza," the Islamic Republic parliament speaker, and former IRGC commander, Ali Larijani, boasted on July 24, 2014. During the latest major conflict in and around Gaza in November 2012, Larijani said Iran was "proud" to have provided "both financial and military support" to Hamas. Israel accused Iran of supplying Gaza extremists with its Fajr-5 missiles, which were used during that conflict. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Tension on both sides of the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel has returned in the wake of Hamas resuming since Jan. 15 the use of incendiary and explosive-laden balloons toward southern Israel. The so-called night confusion units of the Palestinian resistance factions also resumed their activities along the eastern border on Jan. 19, in an attempt to pressure Israel to move forward with the truce understandings brokered by Egyptian, Qatari and international mediation in October 2018. Incendiary and explosive balloons are balloons fitted with flammable materials to cause fires in Israeli agricultural fields near the Gaza Strip. They can also be attached to small explosive charges to make loud explosion sounds that disturb the Israeli army along the border with Gaza. Meanwhile, the night confusion units consist of dozens of youths who detonate huge sound bombs near the Israeli army's posts in the eastern Gaza Strip at night, in order to disturb them. Hamas accuses Israel of lagging in implementing the truce understandings. Israel has not yet established the industrial zone east of Gaza City, or started to supply the gas line that will feed the only power plant in Gaza. Also, it has yet to allow freedom of movement and the entry of goods through its crossings with the Gaza Strip, or allow funds into the besieged enclave. Palestinian factions have resorted to rough tools again after they felt Israels lack of seriousness about the understandings. These factions had halted the marches of return on Dec. 26, 2019, for a period of three months, in the hope that Israel would make great and convincing steps in implementing the understandings. Yet Israel only provided some concessions that were not enough to convince Hamas. It expanded the fishing area and allowed the entry of logistical equipment to build the US field hospital in the northern Gaza Strip and the export of some Palestinian products to the Gulf states. Israel tried to rein in the Palestinian groups that fire incendiary and explosive balloons. On Jan. 16, Israeli planes bombed a location used by those groups to launch them. This attempt failed and Palestinian groups stepped up their balloon attacks, prompting Israel on Jan. 20 to threaten Hamas to take military action if balloons keep coming. A Palestinian young man who leads a group that launches incendiary balloons and who takes part in the night confusion activities talked to Al-Monitor on condition of anonmity for security reasons. As long as Israel does not adhere to the timetable for implementing the understandings, neither the balloons nor the night confusion will stop, he said. We gave Israel too much time to break the blockade, but it did not do anything about it, so we will not stop until we see actual results. Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar quoted anonymous Hamas sources on Jan. 18 as saying that the movement would not give more time to mediators to pressure Israel to implement the understandings. The sources noted that Hamas had recently made contact with mediators to force Israel to move forward with the understandings, to no avail. Yahya Moussa, head of the Palestinian Legislative Council Oversight Committee and a senior Hamas political leader, told Al-Monitor, Israel only understands the language of force. For over a year it has been delaying the implementation of the truce understandings, which are the most basic rights of the Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip. Moussa pointed out that international law gives them the right to use any method to defend themselves and regain their rights, which they have been deprived of due to the 13-year Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. The escalation or cessation of use of rough tools depends on Israels behavior and whether it moves forward with the understandings or delays some more. Talal Abu Zarifa, member of the Higher National Commission for the Great March of Return, told Al-Monitor that Israel wants to consolidate the equation of calm in exchange for calm only, and not calm in exchange for breaking the siege on the Gaza Strip. He said that the Palestinian factions cannot accept that. Abu Zarifa warned that the Palestinian factions could use all methods to escalate their field actions toward Israel. The mediators' efforts did not succeed in pressuring Israel to implement the previously agreed upon understandings, he added. The escalating tension on both sides of the border resulted in the death of three Palestinian youths on Jan. 21 in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said that the three had attempted to infiltrate across the border toward Israel to carry out an attack against its forces, before it shot them dead. Talal Okal, political analyst and writer for the Ramallah-based newspaper Al-Ayyam, told Al-Monitor that Hamas use of rough tools, particularly incendiary balloons and night confusion, came after talks between the two sides through mediators reached a dead end. The factions accepted in December 2019 to halt the marches of return in exchange for promises made by Egypt to pressure Israel to advance in the truce understandings, he noted. He argued that the Palestinian factions believed that completely stopping the marches of return and no longer using rough tools in recent weeks encouraged Israel to delay the implementation of the understandings. Iyad al-Qara, an author and a political analyst for the daily newspaper Felesteen in Gaza, said the current conditions between Hamas and Israel are set for a further escalation in the coming days, unless mediators quickly fix matters between the two sides. Qara ruled out in an interview with Al-Monitor the possibility of calm being restored between the two sides unless Israel took real and convincing steps toward Hamas. He said, The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are suffering in the absence of a large part of the most basic elements of life, as they most recently endured lack of cooking gas. The Israeli and Palestinian parties are awaiting what the coming hours will bring. Sources close to Hamas told Al-Monitor that Egypt is making intense efforts to contain the tension between the two sides, while Israel allowed on Jan. 22 the entry of millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip to be distributed to poor families. Iranian cineastes launch campaign to support flood-stricken children in Sistan-Baluchestan province 01/28/20 Source: Tehran Times The Iranian House of Cinema, which is the official guild of Iranian cineastes, has launched a campaign to support children in the flood-stricken region of Sistan-Baluchestan. In the campaign named "Royesh_Sib", the cineastes will travel across Iran to collect people's donations to provide relief for the flood victims, the house announced in a press release published on Monday. Flood-stricken children in Sistan-Baluchestan Province at an open-air performance staged by cultural organizations on January 21 arranged to help lift up their spirits. (photo by Mohsen Roshandeh, Mehr News Agency) They will also help reconstruct the educational centers destroyed as a result of the flood and lift up their spirits after the disastrous accident. The house is organizing the campaign in collaboration with the Hami Association and the Iranian Short Film Association. They also plan to publish videos on social networks to raise people's awareness of the effect of natural disasters on children. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung Tue, January 28, 2020 18:39 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206161200 1 National coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,LIPI Free Indonesian researchers have urged the government to implement stronger measures against the cross-border wildlife trade to anticipate the possible spread of the novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, which is believed to have first emerged among wild animals in a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Cahyo Rahmadi, head of the Zoology Department at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences' (LIPI) Biological Research Center, said that authorities should keep watch of wild animals entering the country from other continents amid the fast-spreading outbreak. The animals that have the potential to become [coronavirus] carriers are rodents, bats, carnivores and primates like monkeys, Cahyo said in a written statement received by The Jakarta Post on Monday. As viruses with a single-stranded RNA genomes, coronaviruses are often found in wild animals, including mammals, birds and reptiles. Such viruses, according to experts, are known to attack humans' respiratory systems, causing illnesses ranging from mild colds to deadly diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). LIPI microbiology researcher Sugiyono Saputra explained that such viruses were able to mutate faster than other types of viruses, including those with double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), especially since coronavirus spread was linked to humans' high mobility. Research conducted by LIPI suggested that the three types of coronavirus -- which caused SARS, MERS and the one emerging from Wuhan -- had been spread through bats, Sugiyono said. Although humans usually had limited interaction with bats, the virus could infect other animals that often had contact with humans. The animals, as virus carriers, later spread the virus to people, he said. Read also: China bans wild animal trade until viral outbreak eases Citing the SARS epidemic -- which also came from China and killed about 800 people worldwide in 2002 and 2003 -- Sugiyono said that the virus originated among bats, civet cats and raccoons. Meanwhile in the MERS outbreak, which killed some 282 in Saudi Arabia in 2014, the virus was transmitted from camels to humans. "In the new [coronavirus], the genetic materials from 2019-nCoV is the recombination of genetic materials of viruses originating from bats and snakes," he said, citing the finding of study published in the latest Journal of Medical Virology, which obtained the data after comparing the Wuhan coronavirus with more than 200 types of coronavirus found in various animals. Researchers suspect that mammals are the most probable candidates to become carriers, like with the SARS and MERS cases before." However, Sugiono went on to say that more thorough studies should be carried out to form exact conclusions about the origin of the Wuhan coronavirus. Chinese authorities have previously linked wild animals sold at a market in Wuhan to the coronavirus, which as of Tuesday had killed 106 people in China and infected more than 4,500 people in four continents, Reuters reported. LIPI wild animal researcher Taufiq P. Nugraha concurred with the hypothesis, saying it was possible that the first person who was infected by the virus in Wuhan had direct contact with animals prior to the infection. The interaction could be through food consumption or processing of the animal, which could be the virus carrier or the one from which the virus originated," he said. China has temporarily banned the wildlife trade nationwide in markets, supermarkets, restaurants and e-commerce websites to curb the coronavirus outbreak. (dpk) Bolton Book Undermines Trump Impeachment Defense By Steve Herman January 27, 2020 The Senate is to consider Friday whether to call witnesses in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. But it remains unclear whether enough Republicans will join the Democrats to compel such testimony. At least one senator of Trump's Republican Party is indicating that the revelations leaked from an upcoming book by former National Security Adviser John Bolton could persuade his colleagues. The book undercuts one of the key points of the president's defense in his impeachment trial. Senator Mitt Romney of Utah says Bolton has relevant testimony to provide, and he thinks "it's increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton." During an appearance on MSNBC, independent Senator Angus King of Maine predicted 10 or more Republicans will vote for documents and witnesses, perhaps defying Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "So, I'll be surprised if the motion fails," King said. "The Republicans ought to build a statue of Mitch McConnell on the Mall, because that's party unity the likes of which is never seen." Other Republicans, speaking to reporters Monday, are holding firm. "He's trying to sell a book," Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters about Bolton. "I wouldn't bet my house on his credibility." Before Bolton spent 17 months as Trump's national security adviser, he had a long track record as a hawk on foreign policy, giving him credibility among many of the Republican senators who will have to decide if he should testify in the ongoing impeachment trial. The team around Trump quickly began turning against Bolton after The New York Times detailed that an excerpt from "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir," to be published March 17, states Trump wanted to freeze military assistance to Ukraine until Kyiv's government announced an investigation into Democratic Party presidential contender Joe Biden and his son. The newspaper also reported that Bolton alleges after Trump's July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskiy, the national security adviser raised his concern with Attorney General William Barr that the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, was pursuing a shadow Ukraine policy. A senior legal adviser to the Trump re-election campaign, Jenna Ellis, who is also an attorney to the president, accuses Bolton of "willing to sell out America just to score a book deal or five minutes of fame." Retweeting Ellis on Monday, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said this was "So true & so unfortunate." While Trump was hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, he was asked by a reporter about the key allegation in Bolton's book. The president responded that "nothing was ever said to John Bolton" and that what is written in the book is "false." Trump's defense team has maintained that he had valid reasons for withholding military aid from Ukraine. In their arguments to senators, the president's lawyers are rebutting Democrats' allegation of a "quid pro quo." The Democrats say Trump was not going to help Kyiv until Zelenskiy announced an investigation of former U.S. Vice President Biden and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while his father was in office. Trump, early Monday morning, denied Bolton's account, saying on Twitter that his former adviser "never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book." The president later inaccurately stated in a tweet that Democrats never asked Bolton to testify during last night's impeachment inquiry in the House. Contents of Bolton's manuscript were submitted to the National Security Council for a standard security review on Dec. 30, 2019. Bolton's attorney, Charles Cooper, is blaming the White House for disclosing contents of the book. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Aptech fell 6.31% to Rs 162.45 after the media reported that billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is being probed by Sebi for alleged insider trading in the shares of Aptech. Media reports suggest that Mumbai-based billionaire investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is being probed by Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on account of insider trading in the company. Other board members including Ramesh Damani and Madhu Jayakumar are also being examined on the same, reports added. Aptech is the only company in Jhunjhunwala's portfolio in which he has management control. He is a passive shareholder in the other companies. As per the Aptech shareholding pattern, Rakesh Radheshyam Jhunjhunwala held 12.76%, Rekha Rakesh Jhunjhunwala held 11.46% stake, Rajeshkumar Radheshyam Jhunjhunwala held 0.62% stake and Rare Equity held 21.16% stake as on 31 December 2019. On the technical front, the stock's RSI (relative strength index) stood at 42.491. The RSI oscillates between zero and 100. Traditionally the RSI is considered overbought when above 70 and oversold when below 30. The stock was currently trading in between its 50-day moving average (DMA) placed at Rs 163.93 (which will act as a support in the near term) and 100 DMA placed at Rs 159.12 (which would act as a resistance during the upcoming trading sessions). On a consolidated basis, Aptech's net profit rose 33.3% to Rs 10.97 crore on a 41.2% surge in net sales to Rs 71.52 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. Aptech's business segments are categorized as individual training and enterprise business. The firm will announce its Q3 earnings on 29 January 2020. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, January 28, 2020 17:04 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20615bbdf 1 Lifestyle beauty-industry,Beauty-trend,Indonesia,skincare,makeup Free For Maria Fifi, makeup and skincare products from local brands have become a daily part in her life. Since 2015, she has used a variety of products, including liquid soap from The Soap Corner, rose water and body balm from Biotalk and liquid eyeshadow from The Bath Box. Im a supporter of local brands, especially for ones that highlight natural ingredients, she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Id like to support local small-medium enterprises [SMEs] and prove that local brands are able to offer high-quality products at affordable prices. I think local brands are developing rapidly, with more and more people becoming aware of them. Peoples interest over skincare and makeup products has improved in the last five years, but they've received more exposure recently due to social media. (JP/Dionnasius Aditya) Chrisanti Indiana, cofounder and chief marketing officer of integrated beauty-technology company PT Social Bella Indonesia, said interest in skincare and makeup products has increased significantly in the last five years. The company runs popular beauty e-commerce site Sociolla. [Beauty trends] have received more exposure recently because of social media and people quickly became more interested, Chrisanti said on Monday in West Jakarta. Katadata.co.id reported that the Industry Ministry aimed to expand the domestic cosmetics industry by 9 percent in 2019 or 7.3 percentage points higher than in 2018. In 2019, the country's beauty industry was influenced by past trends. New makeup products were said to be more inclusive of Indonesians diverse skin tones, with one example being the cushion compact. Popularized by South Korean brands, a cushion compact consist of a sponge soaked in foundation or tinted moisturizer, according to byrdie.com. Cushion compacts are not new to Indonesian customers, but only a few of them support a wide range of skin tones. This started to shift last year when a number of local brands released cushion compacts for darker skin tones, including Make Over and Purbasari. In skincare, local brands began to highlight single active ingredients in their products a trend introduced by The Ordinary from Canada-based company Deciem. Fashionista.com wrote that the practice provided simplicity to customers and they knew what ingredient they applied to their skin. In Indonesia, the newly established Somethinc is among the brands that provide single ingredients in their products. In 2020, the trend for makeup is predicted to shift from complexion to eyes. Elizabeth Lizzie Parra Christina, CEO of By Lizzie Parra (BLP) Beauty, said customers would find various eye makeup products that play with colors and glitter, such as in eyeliners and eye shadows. I think neon colors are also getting popular in other countries this year, making people more confident to wear them, Lizzie told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview on Jan. 10. Chrisanti from PT. Social Bella Indonesia said multifunctional makeup products, such as lipstick that can be used as a blush, and makeup products with skincare benefits will also be popular this year. For skincare, beauty enthusiast Affi Assegaf said products that focus on one ingredient will still be in demand as consumers were getting more aware of active ingredients. Products that feature a single ingredient and are packed in simple packaging that make it easier for people to recognize the ingredient are still popular, said Affi via phone interview on Jan. 17. Ingredients like Aloe vera and Centella asiatica (cica) were among the most sought-after in Indonesia last year, thanks to the popularity of certain South Korean brands. Both are claimed to soothe and hydrate the skin. Affi, who cofounded popular beauty website Female Daily Network, predicted that bakuchiol and probiotics are the next big players in 2020. Bakuchiol is perceived as a gentler alternative to retinol, said to revitalize the skin with minimum irritation. While probiotics in skincare helps fight bad bacteria to prevent inflammation and premature aging, according to Forbes.com. Lancome and First Lab are some of the current brands using probiotics in their products. In 2019, beauty clinic ZAP conducted a ZAP Beauty Index survey for 6,460 female respondents aged between 13 and 65 from across Indonesia. The survey found that 57.6 percent preferred skincare products from South Korea, followed by local products (37.4 percent) and Japanese products (22.7 percent). Customers browse sheet masks on display at a Sociolla store in West Jakarta. (JP/Dionnasius Aditya) Affi said international brands may still dominate the industry as they were already established, while most newly launched brands in the country were still small-scaled. New Korean brands that didnt use to be available will enter Indonesia, she said. The same goes for brands from Australia, the United States and Europe. The competition will be more interesting. According to Lizzie, local brands can still compete as they will progress. If were talking about indie brands founded one to three years ago, they will get more creative, she said. Meanwhile, Chrisanti said Sociolla customers recognized each brands values as they tended to choose products based on quality regardless of their origin. Local products have featured more advanced, innovative technology, something that international brands have also pursued. [These brands] will continue to be competition, she said. (wng) Chalk it up to the popularity of the gap year, climbing college costs or emerging career fields that dont require degrees. Whatever the reason, Academy School District 20, a high-performing district of about 26,600 students, has seen a noteworthy decline in the percentage of students entering college within the first year of graduating from high school. Of the districts 1,934 graduates in the Class of 2018, 71% went on to two- or four-year colleges or universities, according to the district, which pays the nonprofit National Student Clearinghouse Research Center to collect the data. Thats down from 76% for the Class of 2017 and comes after extended stagnation, said Jim Smith, D-20s assistant superintendent for student services. While this drop is the first significant change in the district in more than eight years, it does reflect the national trend that is often referred to as the post-recession decline in student enrollment in college, Smith said. Up to an additional 5% of students go to college after the first year post-graduation, he said. In the district's eight years of tracking graduates, 58% of students from a total class graduate from a two- or four-year college, and about 23% of D-20 grads who start two- or four-year colleges drop out. Nationally, D-20s college enrollment numbers are on par with other suburban school districts, Smith said. The National Student Clearinghouse reported in May 2019 eight consecutive years of decline in college enrollment nationwide. College enrollment historically has decreased in a strong economy, as high school graduates secure adequate jobs from the onset, he said. Locally, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs recorded a lower-than-projected enrollment last semester, after 12 consecutive years of record-setting student growth. That led the campus to offset decreased revenue with emergency funds and hold off on raises and promotions. Enrollment for this semester will be tallied this week. Pikes Peak Community College, however, saw a 3% increase in enrollment last semester over 2018 and a 2.1% increase this semester over last year. The school attributes the growth to a continued focus on developing programs to address our communitys workforce needs, such as last semesters opening of a new Center for Healthcare Education and Simulation, said PPCC spokeswoman Karen Kovaly. Specific digital marketing campaigns and a new texting initiative, which allows us to make a one-on-one connection with students during the application process, also are attracting students, she said. And PPCC retention rates have increased steadily from 47.3% in 2011 to 56.3% in 2019, Kovaly said. The need for skilled-trades workers, new industries such as cybersecurity and information technology requiring training and certification instead of degrees, and families weighing the expense of college versus the return on investment also contribute to declining college enrollment, officials believe. Not all kids are destined for college, and not all kids should go to college, said Alan Thimmig, principal of Liberty High School in D-20, which last semester opened an automotive tech shop, a building and construction center, and certified nursing assistant and emergency medical technician programs for students district-wide. Ive seen kids who go to college and kind of have an idea of what they want to do after high school, but you dont see a lot of enthusiasm and motivation, Thimmig said. The same kids have motivation in these programs. The new classes are popular, the principal said, and part of a $19 million expansion to the school, a result of a $230 million bond measure voters approved in 2016. While the trends are interesting, what school districts do with the information is what counts, said Lori Benton, executive director of learning services for Lewis-Palmer School District 38 in Monument. Another high-achieving district, Lewis-Palmer normally has about 80% of its 500 to 550 graduates enter two- or four-year colleges, she said. That excludes students who seek industry certification, volunteer for military service or become missionaries, for example. Weve been figuring out how to meet the needs of the other 20%, who arent accessing college in that first year after graduation, Benton said. D-38 is trying several programs, she said, including adding courses for students to earn industry certificates and offering the chance for students to graduate high school in five years instead of the traditional four, while taking career preparation courses. For both Academy D-20 and Lewis-Palmer D-38, the majority of students stick in Colorado. D-20s top college choices for graduates are PPCC, UCCS, CSU in Fort Collins and CU Boulder, Smith said. For out-of-state, the most popular are the University of Wyoming, Brigham Young University, Arizona State University and Grand Canyon University. Over the past five years, Rampart High School in D-20 leads local high schools in sending the most freshmen to UCCS for the fall semester, at 458 graduates, statistics show. In Lewis-Palmer D-38, Benton said the highest attended colleges and universities are along the Front Range UCCS, PPCC, CU Boulder, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Wyoming. What that indicates, she said, is the ongoing need for school districts to work with community leaders and businesses to provide work-related experience for students and training that matches job market needs. Just one-third of all American adults have a bachelors degree, yet We have this massive push to get kids to college, Benton said. Our philosophy is to prepare them for a successful first career. Coal India fell 1.86% to Rs 189.70 after the company announced its coal production figures for January 2020. CIL's production stood at 54.17 million tonnes (MTs) till 27 January 2020, was ahead by 5.23 MTs in absolute terms on a like-to-like comparison of last year, registering a growth of 10.7% - the first double digit growth so far during the current fiscal. CIL as whole has been averaging close to 2 MTs per day coal output during the month. "The production spurt came largely on back of Mahanadi Coalfields and South Eastern Coalfields" said an official of the company adding "by the end of January production is likely to be up by another 8 MTs." Coal off-take at 48.07 MTs, as of 27 January 2020, registered a growth of 6.2% compared to same date last January, the increase in volume terms being 2.82 MTs. There is no shortage of coal in the power plants, with a total of 65.66 MT currently available in the system, of which stock at CIL's pitheads is 31.41 MT. Whereas, thermal power plants ofthe country were adequately stocked with 34.25 MT of coal (as of January 26, 2020) sufficient for 19 days consumption. The current level of coal stock at the power plants is 14.89 MTs more than that of a year ago period. Last year same date it was 19.36 MTs. "Better management of supply logistics ensured that coal stock at various power stations was maintained throughout the year and the number of critical power plants never touched double digit during 20L9-20 as per CEA" said the stated official. After almost 3 years, the number of NTPC plants and NTPC/JVS having super critical stock was down to zero. Coal India produces and markets coal and coal products. As of 30 September 2019, the Government of India held 69.05% stake in the company. The company's consolidated net profit rose 14.2% to Rs 3,522.70 crore on 6.9% decline in net sales to Rs 18,986.50 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) If you go What: Public meeting on the proposed Helena Valley gravel pit When: 5 to 9 p.m. Feb. 12 Where: Helena Middle School auditorium A citizen coalition dubbed the Open Pit Group is protesting a proposal to open a 61.5-acre gravel pit near hundreds of homes in the west Helena Valley. Group leader Archie Harper said he first found out about the pit when Kim Smith, of Valley Sand and Gravel, gave a presentation to the Helena Valley Flood Committee in June 2019. Smith, who had purchased the land in 2017 from a family who had intended to develop it for housing, filed an application via the Opencut Mining Act with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Some of the citizens in the area of immediate impact met with the Lewis and Clark County planning and zoning board on July 30 to begin the process for citizen initiated zoning. However, this came after the application and will likely not usurp any decision made by the DEQ. A spokesperson for the DEQ said that the application included a form signed by the county stating the site's zoning was acceptable for opencut operations. The site, referred to as McHugh 2 in DEQ documents, is a 70.5-acre plot bordering Ronda Road, McHugh Drive, Mill Road, Edgerton Road and Hedges Drive. There are approximately 604 residences within a half-mile radius of the site. Smith declined to comment for this story. The proposed pit's potential neighbors have raised a number of concerns related to issues such as water quality, air quality, flooding, and increased traffic flow and safety, to name a few. Water quality tops the list of concerns. Most area residents get water from wells pulling from the surface water. The area has a seasonal high water table of 13 feet and the pit will have a maximum mining depth of 20 feet. Residents are concerned that this will lead to contaminates in the water. Flood levels are also a major concern for the residents. Part of the parcel is located within what the Federal Emergency Management Agency has identified as the 100-year floodplain. The fear is that a large open pit will quickly fill with water during the next major flood, which will lead to flooded basements, backed up septic systems and significant damages to neighboring properties. The DEQ is currently in the process of reviewing the application and Water Resource Assessment submitted by the operator, according to a spokesperson. If any water-related deficiencies are identified, the DEQ would identify them in a detailed deficiency letter. Harper said he believes that DEQ's assessment of the project application ignores the potential social impacts to nearby residents. "This project has the scope and magnitude to have a significant impact on public health," Harper said. "DEQ's own website claims its duty is to protect the health and well-being of present and future generations. Frankly, I'm disgusted with the way the laws are skewed to favor industry." Harper believes the law favors industry like this mining pit as long as regulations are followed, regardless of the impact on the public. "The system is rigged for them," Harper said. "We wouldn't be doing citizen initiated zoning if not for him (Smith)." Harper also brought attention to the traffic and safety issue he believes the pit will bring. With multiple bus stops along the edge of the pit and increased overall traffic and gravel trucks on neighborhood roads, Harper believes the potential impact of this pit demands a traffic study. He said DEQ told him it does not have the authority to conduct a traffic study. Additionally, Harper said the only way to seek relief in the event of an air or water quality event would be to file a complaint with the DEQ. Marty Stebbins, who recently moved to the area, said she has been doing research on the potential pit and believes the noise level will exceed Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards without ear protection. Resident Sam Wattnew said many of those he has spoken to in the neighborhoods have been elderly people who are sensitive to water and air quality issues. "The community has really come together to help create a better quality of life for each other," Wattnew said. Wattnew also brought attention to the fact that this particular land parcel has acted as an impromptu park for area residents for over a decade. Harper said he believes it would be a good candidate for land trust land. "It's acted as an informal park. This area is prime for recreational use," Wattnew said. "People in the valley don't have much access to places for recreation." Resident Loretta Thompson said she doesn't believe there is any way the gravel pit will ultimately be approved. Thompson said she and many others will fight tooth and nail to prevent it. She is a retiree who said she's worked her entire life to carve out a peaceful place to live for herself and that this project will disrupt that. "This is so out of harmony with what people came to live here for," Harper said. "I even talked to one lady who moved here from the west valley because a gravel pit was going in near her previous house." It appears the residents may have an uphill battle ahead of them. This isn't the first time Valley Sand and Gravel has met resistance when attempting to start a new mining operation in the valley. In 2003, Smith ultimately decided against putting a gravel pit on John G. Mine Road, following public outcry. However, it was Smith's decision and not regulations stopping the operation from moving forward. DEQ follows the procedures outlined by the Opencut Mining Act, a spokesperson said. "If DEQ finds that the application meets the requirements of statute and rule, DEQ will approve the application," the agency said in a statement. "If the application does not meet the requirements, DEQ will send the operator a detailed deficiency letter identifying items that the operator must correct before DEQ could approve the application. For the McHugh 2 application, we must either issue a deficiency letter, determine that extended review is necessary or approve the application no later than Feb. 26." Lewis and Clark County has limited control in the situation. The county is not involved in the review process and there are currently no zoning regulations in that area, a spokesperson said. However, the county does have general jurisdiction over issues related to right-of-way access, haul loads, traffic safety issues and activity proposed in Zone A, which is the 100-year floodplain identified by FEMA. A county spokesperson did confirm that the Board of County Commissioners did approve the boundaries of part 1 citizen initiated zoning in district 51 on Jan. 7. Currently, the county is in the process of creating a development pattern and neighborhood plan for the area and will adopt regulations upon establishment of that plan. The county remains unsure of how DEQ would react to a zoning change that ultimately prohibits industrial sites in the district. DEQ stated that the application submitted to DEQ included a form signed by the county stating the site's zoning was acceptable for opencut operations and directed questions about whether this has changed to the county. However, DEQ says it will take public comment into consideration and have scheduled a meeting on Feb. 12 from 5 to 9 p.m. in the Helena Middle School auditorium. "We understand that those residents living near a proposed site often have more knowledge of the area than DEQ," a DEQ spokesperson said. "If public comments reveal substantial issues not adequately addressed in the proposed Plan of Operation, DEQ may extend its review of the application." DEQ is requesting that all public comments be submitted by Feb. 21 to ensure that DEQ has enough time to review the comments before the Feb. 26 deadline. It will then determine whether extended review is necessary. Love 2 Funny 11 Wow 2 Sad 1 Angry 27 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A young mother who lost her husband to melanoma has launched a campaign to make sunscreen compulsory in schools. Danielle Raisher, a mother-of-two from Melbourne, watched helplessly as her husband Shane Raisher battled melanoma for 15 years. He sadly died in 2015. Ms Raisher, who has two sons aged seven and four, is pleading with the government to adopt a mandatory sunscreen policy to save children from the same fate. Danielle Raisher (pictured with her boys Jett Raisher, seven, and Levi Raisher, four) has launched a campaign urging the government to make sunscreen compulsory in schools Ms Raisher believes teachers should apply sunscreen to small children before they go outside to play as they are too young to do it themselves Ms Raisher told Daily Mail Australia every primary school in the country should be supplying SPF30+ sunscreen in the classroom. After learning her son wasn't using sunscreen at his school, she questioned teachers who told her it was her 'responsibility'. 'I know teachers don't have the time to put sunscreen on 30 kids but it's not even available,' she said. 'It's only available in the first aid room and children have to go into the office to ask for it.' Ms Raisher said most sunscreen only lasts for four hours meaning she would have to drive to her son's school at lunchtime to reapply. After speaking with Jett's teachers, they agreed to make it a rule for him to put on sunscreen before going outside - but this would only apply to him. Jett now brings a bottle of his own sunscreen which he puts on before moving to the playground at break times. Ms Raisher said the response from parents in her school had been positive - and others are now asking their teachers to ensure their own children wear sunscreen. Danielle Raisher watched helplessly as her husband Shane Raisher (both pictured with their son Jett) battled melanoma for years. He sadly died 2015 'Most parents are very sun conscious but I just don't think it's something they think of,' Ms Raisher said. 'A lot of the parents believed the teachers were putting it on.' But she said other parents thought it was her responsibility and not the school's. 'One person said I should send my child to school in a long sleeve shirt and long pants while another said I should drive to school everyday to put sunscreen on my son,' she said. 'I understand some people do have a negative response. They just don't realise it's not happening.' Ms Raisher is now starting a petition calling for the government to enforce the use of sunscreen for every student in schools across Australia. In her online petition, she suggests a sunscreen policy which would resemble the 'no hat, no play' policy, where kids are unable to go outside and play if they don't wear a hat 'I have been shocked at the many discussions I am constantly having with teachers and caregivers of the importance of my children requiring daily sunscreen application when they are in their care,' she wrote in the petition. 'It is something that worries me every day, wondering if the Australian education system is protecting mine and other vulnerable children from harmful UV exposure when we are not there to protect them ourselves. In the petition, she suggests a sunscreen policy which would resemble the 'no hat, no play' policy, where kids are unable to go outside and play if they don't wear a hat. According to the Victorian Department of Education, schools must ensure there is shaded areas for students outside. The department also says students should be able to apply their own sunscreen, be reminded to use it and have access it sunscreen when outside. Schools are also encouraged to provide their students with protective clothing and hats. Fine Gael Senator and General Election candidate Catherine Noone has unequivocally apologised after she said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is autistic. Ms Noone was quoted while on a canvass in her constituency of Dublin Bay-North by a reporter the Times Ireland website. Following publication of those comments, Ms Noone issued a terse two-line statement. I unequivocally apologise and withdraw all of my remarks, as reported by theTimes.ie, which were completely unacceptable. My choice of language was inexcusable and wrong. I am truly sorry. I will not be making any further comment -she said. Ms Noone, a former running mate of Mr Varadkar in Dublin West, made the comments when asked by the reporter about Mr Varadkar's performance on last week's Virgin Media head-to-head debate with Micheal Martin. Ms Noone said Mr Varadkar is a very good politician but conceded that he was a bit wooden. Hes autistic like, hes on the spectrum, theres no doubt about it. Hes uncomfortable socially and he doesnt always get the inbetween bits, she said. If I do say so, I am much more natural than he would be. Ive been in rooms with him and he doesnt know what to do with himself. Hes naturally shy. But hes actually a very good politician, she said. She told the Times: Hes not into the nudge and wink, any of that craic. If youre looking for him to appoint someone, and you say theyre a Fianna Failer, hell say, I just want the best person for the job. I really respect that about him. The Times article stated that Ms Noone initially denied that she used the word autistic. When informed that the reporter had a recording, she said she did not mean the word literally. I didnt mean it in the sense of the actual illness or anything. I just mean he can be a bit wooden and lacking in empathy, she said. I shouldnt have even said it in that way. Ms Noone explained that her comment had been taken out of context. Sometimes I say, Oh God, Im a bit special but I dont mean it to be derogatory, she said. The deputy chief executive of the autism advocacy and support organisation As I Am, Fiona Ferris, has said that an apology from the Fine Gael candidate is not enough. Ms Ferris described the comments as quite shocking and it was completely unacceptable to the autistic community for the word to be used as a descriptor or an adjective. To have a diagnosis of autism came after an extensive clinical process and was very complex, she told RTE radios Today with Sean ORourke show. Autism was not something that should be used to describe someone, she added. Ms Ferris said she did not accept the apology issued by Ms Noone who should fully educate herself what autism is. Autism is not an illness it is a condition, she explained. It was of great concern that a political representative thought it was acceptable to use the word as a descriptor. Doing so was trying to justify the stereotype (of lacking empathy) of what it means to be autistic. This was a misconception as some people with autism were too empathetic and suffered great distress as a result. Ms Ferris said that 100 per cent of the people As I Am represents would be very hurt by Ms Noones comments. It is not acceptable to say that and it misrepresents the complexity of the condition. She needs to take action, she should be trying to take steps to educate herself. Ms Ferris called on the public to discuss the issue with candidates during the campaign, to question how their manifestoes plan to offer supports for autism. Additional reporting by Vivienne Clarke Just who is Senator Catherine Noone? By Daniel McConnell, Political Editor This is not the first time Catherine Noone has courted controversy during her nine years in national politics. In 2015, she performed a speedy u-turn after she initially called for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to be banned, despite admitting she had never seen a fight. She later admitted, having faced some intense criticism, her comments were ill informed. In 2016, she advocated for a ban on the building or the use of a premises as a chip shop within a 500m radius of schools. We need to at least consider 'No Fry Zones', regulation of junk food vending machines, high calorie alerts on food and drink and minimum periods of PE in schools per week, she said at the time amid some stinging criticism that she was being over the top. In 2017, Noone's stand out role was when she was chair of the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment, which ultimately recommended that it be repealed. She was subjected to intense criticism from pro-life members of the committee, Ronan Mullen and Mattie McGrath over how hearings were conducted. Noone was then one of the primary members of Fine Gael who campaigned for a yes vote in the subsequent referendum of 2018, which ultimately lead to the repeal of the amendment in Ireland. In 2018, she raised eyebrows when in 2018 she made of bullying and sexism against another party member at a meeting of the Fine Gael party. Ms Noone ultimately decided against making a formal complaint after initial inquiries by Fine Gael headquarters. Noone (43) is a two-term Fine Gael senator on the Industrial and Commercial Panel. Elected first to Dublin City Council in 2009, she was first elected to the Seanad in 2011. She stood unsuccessfully in the 2016 General Election campaign in Dublin West as Leo Varadkar's running mate, winning just 1,074 first-preference votes. She was eliminated on the second count. A native of Clairemorris, Co Mayo, she is trained solicitor having studied Law and Italian at NUI Galway. [January 28, 2020] Exotel Partners With Syrow to Help Customers Improve Their Support BANGALORE, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Exotel, Asia's largest cloud telephony platform, has partnered with Syrow, a leading CSaaS (Customer Support as a Service) company. This partnership will prove helpful to Exotel's clients who can avail Syrow's services to provide best-in-class support, round the clock via calls, emails, chat, etc. to their end customers. Speaking about the partnership, Exotel's CEO & Co-Founder, Shivakumar Ganesan said, "Every business today, irrespective of its size, is focussed on giving its customers the best brand experience possible. Customer support plays a big role in making this happen. Partnering with Syrow will help ensure that our customers can boost their business without having to invest in an in-house team for support." Rajesh Raju and Ramana Murthy Reddicharla, Founders of Syrow stated jointly, "We are poised to transform the customer support industry by combining our wide offerings with Exotel's advanced expertise and knowledge. Syrow aims to take on each client with utmost dedication, using the most efficient technologies via our omnichannel customer care platform. As custoer experience is bound to be the next service differentiator, companies can build great brand value and a loyal customer base through Syrow services." This partnership has already proved to be beneficial for a lot of Exotel's clients. Varun Av, Founder, Inito, said, "We are excited to work with the powerful duo of Exotel and Syrow. We were keen to engage the services of both companies as each brings with it, their unique wisdom to the table. We were impressed with how quickly the joint team understood our business and processes, and the high quality of service they aim for. It was completely in tune with our needs. We are excited about the future with two leading enterprises such as Syrow and Exotel to support us." Inito is a medical technology startup based out of Bangalore. They focus on building smart medical devices that are not just accurate and reliable but also convenient and user-friendly. About Exotel Exotel is Asia's leading cloud telephony platform. Incorporated in 2011, Exotel was co-founded by three techies to help businesses bring order and efficiency to customer communication. Exotel is currently headed by Shivakumar Ganesan who is the CEO and Founder. Working with some of the fastest-growing companies in Southeast Asia (Uber, Ola, Flipkart, GoJek, Lazada, Quikr, Redmart, etc.), Exotel helps them to manage their customer communication over calls & SMS. Exotel's world-class, cloud-based solution simplifies customer communication for nearly 2,500+ companies in India, Australia, and SEA. For more information, please visit http://exotel.com About Syrow Syrow, is one of the leading Customer Service Outsourcing companies in India. The company offers a complete suite of Customer Care Services to manage Customer Experience efficiently using AI+Human support. The Syrow team consist of domain-specific experts who can help companies develop innovative strategies in order to compete and win in the industry segment they operate. Syrow utilises multilingual omnichannel customer care platform which includes calls, chatting, emailing, ticketing, and social media support. For more information, please visit www.syrow.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/923757/Exotel_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) When the leading Democratic presidential candidates marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day by linking arms and marching through South Carolina's capital, Michael Bloomberg was nowhere near the early primary state. The former New York mayor was instead in Arkansas, tossing out candy at a King Day parade and enjoying his status as the only presidential hopeful in town. Mike Boomerang? a woman asked, as the billionaire businessman walked by. Mike Bloomberg, a supporter clarified. Hes running for president. Bloomberg is running, but he's on his own track, essentially creating a parallel race to the nomination with no precedent. While his competitors are hunkered down in the four states with the earliest primaries, Bloomberg is almost everywhere else a Minnesota farm, a Utah co-working space, an office opening in Maine. He's staked his hopes on states like Texas, California and Arkansas that vote on March 3, aiming to disrupt the Democratic primary right around the time it's typically settling on a front-runner. Or, should Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, be that front-runner, Bloomberg could be a backstop to Democrats still looking for a moderate choice. Skipping the early voting states and banking on success in later delegate-rich contests has never been done successfully. But no candidate has ever brought the financial firepower that Bloomberg can he is worth an estimated $60 billion and has already spent more than $200 million building a campaign in more than two dozen states, taking him well past Super Tuesday. Every other campaign thinks about this as a sequential set of contests. They spend time in Iowa and New Hampshire ... hoping that they'll (get a) momentum bounce from one to the next, said Dan Kanninen, Bloomberg's states director. We're thinking about this as a national conversation. There's little public polling available to measure Bloomberg's progress. National polls show his support in the mid to high single digits, similar to that of former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. But interviews with voters and party officials across the Super Tuesday states show Bloomberg is still just starting to make an impression. While officials marveled at the inescapable ambition of Bloomberg's advertising, many voters still do not know who he is, or know only what they've seen on television. Others noted they were interested but were still waiting to see who emerged as a clear leader in earlier contests. Ive been trying to read up on him to figure out if hes going to be my key player, said Cassandra Barbee, a hotel worker who watched Bloomberg in the Arkansas parade. She said his ads about helping people access health care appeal to her. Bloomberg isnt the sole candidate campaigning beyond the first four states. Elizabeth Warren's campaign said it has more than 1,000 staffers, the same number Bloomberg has been touting, across 31 states. All the major campaigns have operations in California, the biggest delegate prize, and several are up and running in states like Texas and North Carolina. But no candidates reach matches Bloombergs. He had spent more than $225 million on television and digital advertisements as of mid-January, according to the tracking firm Advertising Analytics, and he's run television ads in at least 27 states. That's 10 times what each of the other leading candidates has spent, according to the firm's tracking. Bloomberg has already campaigned in every Super Tuesday state, in addition to states like Florida, Michigan, and Ohio, which vote later but are major general election battleground states where Bloomberg thinks his message will resonate. Meanwhile, his campaign pushes out a steady stream of endorsements, policy plans and ads that keep him in the headlines as Iowa's caucuses near. Hes definitely piquing my interest, said Erica Moore, a guidance counselor at Little Rock schools. Moore said she's aware of Bloomberg because his ads air constantly but said she wasnt sure whether shed vote for him. How exactly Bloomberg plans to win enough delegates to capture the nomination is unclear. The campaign acknowledges public polls show he hasn't hit the 15% threshold he will need to win delegates, which are awarded proportionally statewide and by congressional district. Kanninen would not set hard targets for what success looks like on Super Tuesday, when a third of all delegates are awarded. Bloomberg needs to win some delegates, Kanninen said, but regardless of performance, we're prepared to move on and compete vigorously." But winning a share of delegates isn't enough, said Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who argued that Bloomberg needs to win several Super Tuesday states to be credible. And Bloomberg's anti-Trump advertising may not move voters his way in the primary, Carrick said. I think that people are going to separate out whether they want him to have a robust effort in the general election taking on Trump versus him being the candidate, he said. The best boost to Bloomberg's chances may be what happens in the weeks leading up to Super Tuesday. As national and early state polls show Sanders in a strong position, Bloomberg could emerge as a moderate alternative should former Vice President Joe Biden or other candidates look weak. While Bloomberg has said he would support Sanders if he were the nominee, the two differ sharply on policy. Winning the primary isn't Bloomberg's only aim. He hopes his ads and organizing soften the ground for whomever Democrats pick to challenge Trump and help Democrats in down-ticket races. Bloomberg has committed to continue to spend millions keeping offices and organizers in battleground states regardless of whether he is the nominee. One of those states is North Carolina, where the campaign announced this week it had more than 100 paid employees. That's a staffing benchmark more typical for a general election campaign. Hardly a local newscast or game show passes by in a major TV market that a Bloomberg commercial isnt airing. He's really giving North Carolina Democrats the chance to fight in the general election by running ads now, said Justin Vollmer, a top Bloomberg adviser in the state. Those ads tout his record on issues like health care and gun control and attack Trump, branding him a dangerous demagogue and calling for his removal from office. Mike will get it done" is the former mayor's slogan. A former Republican and a businessman, Bloomberg believes he'll appeal to moderates and conservatives frustrated with the president. But he has clear competition on that argument from both Biden and Buttigieg. Judy Eason McIntyre, 74, who attended a Bloomberg speech last week in Tulsa, Oklahoma, thinks he would match up well against Trump, but that's not enough to win her vote. Im one of those older black folks thats going to stick with Biden, said McIntyre, a former state senator and longtime Democratic Party activist. But out of the candidates I see, being practical, he and Michael Bloomberg are the ones who could beat Trump, and thats what Im after. Bloomberg's campaign says it's not focused on comparison with other Democrats. We're not really running against the field we're running against Donald Trump, Kanninen said. Bloomberg recently brought his anti-Trump message to Utah, where Democratic presidential primary ads are relatively unheard of, said Jeff Merchant, chair of the Utah Democratic Party. Speaking in Salt Lake City last week, Bloomberg appealed to left-leaning voters who feel overlooked in a state that hasnt supported a Democrat for president since 1964. We shouldnt be writing off any state no matter how red people think it is," Bloomberg said while speaking at a modern co-working space. In some Super Tuesday states, Bloomberg is coming with a history that won't necessarily help him court moderates and disaffected Republicans. In Virginia, which offers the third-most Super Tuesday delegates, he helped Democrats win full control of the state legislature for the first time in a generation last year through spending by his gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety. Democrats are now set to pass a slate of gun control measures, prompting the National Rifle Association to put Bloombergs face on a billboard. Such notoriety could serve to bolster his credentials with Democrats but turn off voters in gun-friendly southern states. Perhaps the biggest question of Bloombergs candidacy is whether an ad blitz is enough to win over primary voters. In California, Republican businesswoman Meg Whitman lost statewide in 2010 after spending nearly $100 million, losing to the better-known Democrat Jerry Brown. And in Texas, it wasnt a barrage of TV ads that laid the groundwork for Democrat Beto ORourke to nearly win a Senate seat in 2018. It was his up-close-and-personal campaign that took him to every single county that captured voters attention. So far, no major Texas officials have backed Bloomberg, even after he finished a five-city bus tour through the state earlier this month. But Garry Mauro, who was the Texas chairman for both Clintons' presidential campaigns, sees Bloombergs strategy as sensible. Mauro, who supports Biden, says no candidate but Bloomberg has the money to saturate Texas many television markets, and theres no guarantee that a clear front-runner will emerge before Super Tuesday. Hes betting on nobodys getting the momentum, and he can get his own momentum on TV, he said. Thats a totally different approach than what weve ever seen before. ___ Ronayne reported from Sacramento, California. Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City; Alan Suderman in Richmond, Va.; Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, N.C.; Nicholas Riccardi in Denver; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; Sean Murphy in Tulsa, Okla.; and Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report. Protesters blocked entry to the AMU engineering college on Tuesday, preventing the holding of an examination for the second consecutive day. On Monday, a group of students had blocked the entrance to Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, prompting the authorities to cancel the examination. Over 600 students were scheduled to appear for the examination. The authorities were hoping to conduct the examination amid a boycott call by students demanding the withdrawal of false FIRs lodged against them during anti-CAA protests. The Aligarh Muslim University Students Coordination Committee also moved the court seeking the lodging of a case against the the policemen who indulged in excesses against them at Morrison Court hostel and the AMU guest house on December 15. Lawyer Asad Hayat, who represented the students body, said he filed a petition in this regard in the court of the chief judicial magistrate on Monday. AMU spokesman Omar Peerzada said efforts to persuade the students to end the boycott of examinations were continuing. We have constituted a seven-member committee, which includes the dean students welfare and the secretary of the AMU Teachers Association, to look into grievances of the protesters, he said. The AMU sopkesperson has urge the students to cooperate with them by appearing for the exams. In a memorandum submitted to the AMU engineering college, the protesters said they would continue to boycott the examinations until the false FIRs lodged against them were not withdrawn. The students said they would consider calling off their protest only after an open dialogue with AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor. A large number of students at AMU Senior Secondary School (Girls) too boycotted their classes and formed a protest chain at AMU Womens College. They raised slogans against top university officials, demanding their resignation. The AMU campus has been witnessing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Over 1,200 students, including those not identified, have been booked in about a dozen cases connected. The students are demanding the resignation of top university officials for failing to secure justice for those who were allegedly the victim of police excesses during anti-CAA protests. Security arrangements in and around the university have been beefed up. World Health Organization responds to coronavirus January 28,2020 | Source: NPR NPR's Michel Martin speaks with public health scholar Kelley Lee about the World Health Organization's response to the coronavirus outbreak. MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Staying on the topic of the coronavirus outbreak, the outbreak is believed to have started in Wuhan, China. And in response, the Chinese government has put entire cities on lockdown, and a number of travel bans are in place. But despite the growing number of infections and deaths, the World Health Organization decided to hold off on declaring this an emergency of international concern. And this made us wonder about how the World Health Organization determines what counts as an emergency. And we also wondered whether powerful countries like China are able to influence these policies and procedures. So we've called on Kelley Lee to help us understand what's going on. She is a professor of global health governance at Simon Fraser University in Canada. She has worked as a consultant for the World Health Organization. Professor Lee, thank you so much for joining us. KELLEY LEE: Pleasure. MARTIN: So, before we get into the specifics of the coronavirus, can you tell us what you make of the World Health Organization's decision to not declare this as an emergency of global concern? Does that seem right to you? LEE: It does to me. I know a lot of people are disagreeing with that decision. It's a very important decision. When the World Health Organization declares a public health emergency of international concern, there's lots of implications in terms of resources, in terms of the level of support that WHO provides to the country and just generally, you know, the international community's response. But there's also a lot of economic implications. So when an emergency is declared, one can imagine that the country's economic system takes a battering because people don't want to travel to the country. Trade slows down. The business community gets very, very nervous, as we've seen. So there's a lot of economic ripples that happen. So I think WHO is trying to balance the severity of the outbreak, where it is occurring, the patterns of infection, all these things against also the larger implications for the country, for the world economy. MARTIN: Over a decade ago, China went through another outbreak with SARS. And we know that China's global influence has drastically grown since then. But there are questions about how forthcoming the government was about the severity of the outbreak then. Just based on your experience, I mean, how did they interact with the World Health Organization then? And is it different from how China is working with the WHO today? LEE: The SARS outbreak occurred at a time when China was beginning to transition to more of a middle-income country. So, as we know, their economy experienced double-digit growth year upon year and so on. What didn't happen, though, was that there wasn't a lot of investment in public health infrastructure during that time. So when the SARS outbreak occurred, this exposed this lack of investment, and that slowed their response. They were concerned about, you know, how people would view the country. They didn't want people to be fearful in terms of investment, travel to China and so on. So that's kind of reminiscent of what we're seeing now, is this kind of fearfulness, this closed kind of lack of sharing of information when we really do need as much accurate information as possible. MARTIN: We get the sense that this story is going to be with us for a while. What are some of the things that you will be watching for as this story develops? LEE: First, like many public health people, we need to know more about this specific disease. So, as you, you know, mentioned, a lot of people are looking at this and trying to figure out things like how severe the illness is, what's the case fatality rate. But I think more fundamentally and trickier in many ways, I'll be following how this outbreak leads to how we seek to strengthen global health governance. MARTIN: That is Kelley Lee. She is a professor of global health governance at Simon Fraser University in Canada. Professor Lee, thank you so much for talking with us. I hope we'll talk again. LEE: Thank you very much. 2020 NPR Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods. The European Union understands sensibility of the issue of conducting land reform and backs the gradual approach in this direction. Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis said after the meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk in Brussels on Tuesday that the EU understands that there is a need to involve safeguard measures, in particular, to protect small farms so that they have access to land and so that land was not sold out only to large companies. He said that the EU understands and backs the approach of making it gradually and having safeguard mechanisms. Dombrovskis is confident that land reform in Ukraine should guarantee a well-functioning land market, clear ownership rights and should have the necessary land cadastre. From this point of view, the EU welcomes this reform, which is currently under preparation, he said. MacNean House and Restaurant in Blacklion, Co Cavan is the 2020 winner of the hotly contested Irelands Favourite Small Stay in the The Irish Independent Reader Travel Awards 2020. Staying at Neven and Amelda Maguires property was described as simply sublime. They commented on the "homeliness, and on the personal treatment of all guests and the warm welcome. This big win follows on from last year being selected as Irelands Best Breakfast, a category in which MacNean House and Restaurant was again a finalist. Speaking after the event, Neven said, We are delighted with this recognition for the 75 staff who work with us. We all want to make sure our guests have an enjoyable stay. That is our number one priority and everyone contributes to that. We were delighted that our breakfast continues to receive compliments. Our wine list also got special mention and that is down to the hard work of our sommelier Blathin McCabe. We work hard on building our business. We now have 19 bedrooms and our new kitchen was built this time last year. Our bookings continue to be strong, but as I always remind people, we do get cancellations and we always get in touch with people on our waiting list. This award means a lot and a big thank you to our staff and loyal customers. The Reader Travel Awards 2020 winners were announced at a gala lunch celebration hosted by Pat Kenny at Dublin's Mansion House. Thousands of reader nominated their favourite venues and travel experiences throughout Ireland. The most popular went on to adjudication by an expert judging panel made up of well-known experts within the Irish Travel Industry including, Pol O Conghaile, John and Francis Brennan, Rachel Duggan or Weekend Magazine, Niall Tracey from Failte Ireland and food writer Katy McGuinness. Also read: Taste of Cavan cancelled for 2020 (Newser) First came 183 waterboardings. Then, a threat: Another attack on US soil, and I'll kill your son. That's what CIA psychologist James Mitchell admitted Monday at a pretrial hearing in the case of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the LA Times reports. "If there was a catastrophic attack on the United States and I find out that you had information and if another child dies, then I will cut your son's throat," Mitchell apparently warned him in March 2003 during interrogations at a CIA black site in Poland. Mohammed's sons Abed and Yusuf, then 7 and 9, had been seized in Pakistan the year before. Mitchell said his threat was likely a poor decision but told the military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay: "I wanted him to remember it." story continues below He also attached conditions to the threat (like "if another child dies") in an attempt to avoid violating the United Nations' "Torture Convention," the New York Times reports. During the emotional testimonyin which Mitchell accused Mohammed of "smirking"Mohammed's lawyer asked if Mitchell thought such a threat could instill fear. "Yes I do," said Mitchell. "That was the only time that I made that threat to him." But Mitchell, an architect of the CIA's torture program, said he later told Mohammed it would be "safer" for his family if he relinquished other information. An Amnesty International official says threatening a child violates the Torture Convention, but Mitchell defended his treatment of Mohammed during testimony last week. "If it were today, I would do it again," he said, per the LA Times. (Read more torture stories.) [January 28, 2020] Accela Announces Record Quarter of Growth in Its Core Business with New Customers, Collaborations and Cloud Solutions for Government SAN RAMON, Calif., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Accela , the leading provider of cloud-based solutions for government, today announced record quarterly momentum in driving the future of government innovation with new customers and partnerships, and an expansion of its industry-leading SaaS offerings. New implementations and go-lives for the quarter included Arlington County, VA; Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Louisville-Jefferson County. Partner-led go-lives for the quarter included New Haven, IN; Dublin, OH; Village of Mamaroneck, NY; Menlo Park, CA, and Ellington, CT. More than 80% of Accela's new customers purchased solutions in the cloud, demonstrating a continued trend of governments embracing digital services to help create communities that will thrive today and in the future. Baltimore City MD, Butte-Silver Bow, MT, Coweta County, GA, Pueblo County, CO, and Winston-Salem, NC are some of the latest Accela customers harnessing the cloud to modernize services. "This past quarter, Accela continued its focus on propelling state and local government's shift to digital service delivery with the introduction of innovative products and aligning all areas of our business to help ensure our customers' growth and success," said Gary Kovacs, Accela's CEO. "I am incredibly proud of the progress we made in driving these initiatives to help our customers meet the evolving needs of today and prepare them to thrive in the future. 2020 is poised to be an incredible year for Accela and this quarter's achievements demonstrate the demand for solutions and technology that deliver results." Last quarter, Accela also introduced two new offerings to its suite of fast-to-implement Civic Applications to modernize processes and transform the relationship between citizens and government: the Accela Civic Applications for Business Licensing and Alcoholic Beverage Control . Powered by Microsoft Azure, Accela's SaaS solutions enable agencies to provide consumer-like experiences for citizens, save valuable time and resources for the agencies, and come pre-built with industry best practices to ensure optimal service delivery. For example, with Accela's technology, Tennessee'sAlcohol Beverage Commission was able to cut average licensing time from nearly a month for some license types to a matter of days. "We were able to digitally transform our entire department, which was previously paper-based, and now runs online with the help of Accela," said Christopher Dowell, IT Director of the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission. "We eliminated all walk-in traffic, check processing, and mountains of paperwork. Moreover, we've improved our agency's performance by standardizing workflows, utilizing production metrics, and providing more accurate details to customers." The City of Moreno Valley, California is using Accela to enhance city operations and streamline permitting, code, and inspection processes while improving transparency with citizens. "It used to take us four months to do the first inspection. We have taken that down to three days, with three inspectors," said Kimberlee Krueger, Senior Applications Analyst for the City of Moreno. "The metrics and the time savings have been incredible using the Accela Civic Platform." Accela also expanded its growing partner ecosystem to help governments tackle today's top regulatory challenges, and deepened integrations with fellow tech giants Microsoft and Esri to help agencies leverage spatial data and cloud analytics to make data-driven decisions and enhance citizen services. Accela partnered with NCS Analytics to provide state and local governments with machine learning insights to improve cannabis regulation decision support, industry compliance, and public safety. The partnership rounds out Accela's end-to-end cannabis ecosystem, which combines licensing, track and trace, and patient registry all in one solution for state and local governments. "The new integration between NCS Analytics and Accela can drastically increase efficiency and improve our efforts to regulate commercial cannabis and enhance public safety. We believe this new partnership will offer immense benefits for the state of California and the industry as a whole," said Cara Martinson, the Executive Director of California Cannabis Authority (CCA). "At the CCA, we partner with NCS in our work with county governments throughout the state, and use Accela as the statewide cannabis regulatory platform." Other major customer, product and partnership milestones achieved last quarter include the following: In October , Accela held its annual customer conference, Accelarate , in Denver Colorado . The event attracted nearly 900 attendees -- the largest number for the annual gathering to date -- and featured insights from civic and technology leaders like Karen Freeman-Wilson , the Mayor of Gary, Indiana. , Accela held its annual customer conference, , in . The event attracted nearly 900 attendees -- the largest number for the annual gathering to date -- and featured insights from civic and technology leaders like , the Mayor of Gary, Indiana. In November , Accela announced the launch of its Civic Platform V19.2 and new features that underscore the company's commitment to providing solutions designed for ease of use, performance, and exceptional citizen engagement. The latest release included improvements in office staff and citizen user experience, higher system performance and increased user productivity, and enhancements in reporting and data visualization for improved decision making. , Accela and new features that underscore the company's commitment to providing solutions designed for ease of use, performance, and exceptional citizen engagement. The latest release included improvements in office staff and citizen user experience, higher system performance and increased user productivity, and enhancements in reporting and data visualization for improved decision making. On the heels of its Q2 momentum, earlier in January, Accela announced the sale of Springbrook Software a provider of cloud-based finance, utility billing and payroll software solutions for small and medium size municipalities and utility districtsto Accel-KKR. The sale enables both companies to focus on their respective core solutions and customers, and allows Accela to continue to build on its incredible momentum. To learn more about Accela Civic Solutions, please visit https://www.accela.com/solutions/ . About Accela Accela provides market-leading cloud solutions that empower the most innovative state and local governments around the world to build thriving communities, grow businesses and protect citizens. More than 275 million citizens globally benefit from Accela's solutions, which are powered by Microsoft Azure, for permitting, licensing, code enforcement and service request management. Accela's fast-to-implement Civic Applications, built on its robust and extensible Civic Platform, help agencies address specific needs today, while ensuring they are prepared for any emerging or complex challenges in the future. Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with additional offices around the world. For more information, visit www.accela.com . Contact: Kate Helete, (805) 458-5093, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/accela-announces-record-quarter-of-growth-in-its-core-business-with-new-customers-collaborations-and-cloud-solutions-for-government-300994107.html SOURCE Accela [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Ukrainian prosecutor Ihor Korzhenko did not object. Kyiv's Dniprovsky district court on Monday, January 27, closed criminal proceedings against Igor Kucheryavy, a member of the pro-presidential United Russia Party, who participated in the so-called "Crimean spring," i.e. the Russian occupation of Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014. This information was released by the Bureau of Judicial Information, the Novoye Vremya news outlet reported. Kucheryavy was detained by the SBU Security Service of Ukraine at the Kalanchak entry and exit checkpoint on the border with Crimea on December 4, 2019, over his involvement in the annexation of Crimea as a member of the so-called "self-defense units" of the city of Sevastopol and membership in the Russian party. He crossed the administrative border to obtain a foreign passport of Ukraine. He fully acknowledged his actions, and his lawyer Ihor Mokin filed a motion during a preparatory meeting to dismiss the case as time-barred. Ukrainian prosecutor Ihor Korzhenko did not object. Read alsoRussian woman with FSB ties tried to get hired by Ukraine defense ministry, SBU says "It's been more than five years since then, so the prosecution will not object to the motion," the prosecutor said. According to Article 49 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, a person shall be exempt from criminal liability if the periods stipulated by the article have expired from the moment he or she committed the crime and before the sentence comes into legal force. Part 2 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code under which Kucheryavy was charged relates to medium-gravity crimes, therefore, the statute of limitations is five years. "To date, the criminal case against Igor Kucheryavy has been closed, and he has been cleared of criminal liability. He was not remanded. During the pretrial investigation, he was in Kherson and placed under house arrest as a preventive measure," Mokin said. The SBU reported that the suspect was released as "he had been cooperating and was not going to escape." Kherson's city court seized Kucheryavy's belongings confiscated at Kalanchak at the moment of crossing the administrative border between occupied Crimea and mainland Ukraine. The court placed Kucheryavy under house arrest on December 10, 2019. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on corruption charges Tuesday just hours after he withdrew a bid for immunity. The prime minister is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, according to the indictment filed against him by Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in Jerusalem District Court. The 78-page indictment was announced in November but had remained in limbo until the immunity process for Netanyahu was concluded. The prime minister decided to pull his request for immunity several hours before Israels parliament, Knesset, was expected to vote it down. In this fateful hour for the people of Israel, when I am in the United States on a historic mission to design the permanent borders of Israel and ensure our security for decades to come, the Knesset is expected to start another spectacle in the circus of removing immunity, Netanyahu said in a scathing statement. Since I was not given due process, because all the rules of Knesset work were trampled on, and since the results of the procedure were pre-dictated without proper discussion, I decided not to let this dirty game continue, the prime minister added. President Trump is scheduled to meet with Netanyahu on Tuesday to announce the U.S. Middle East peace plan. The charges center on Netanyahus alleged acceptance of gifts from wealthy businessmen as well as regulatory decisions he made that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars going to a telecom company in exchange for more positive press coverage. No-one can run a state and at the same time manage three serious criminal cases for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, said Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party and Netahyahus top political opponent. Netanyahu has denied all wrongdoing. The indictment marks the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister has been formally charged with criminal offenses. More from National Review French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly warned on Monday that expected cuts to US military operations in Africa would hamper counter-terrorism efforts against jihadist groups in the Sahel region. US support is critical to our operations and its reduction would severely limit our effectiveness against terrorists, Parly said in a joint news conference at the Pentagon in Washington alongside US Defence Secretary Mark Esper. Our friends in the Sahel are in a situation where our assistance is critical. And I have expressed the hope that both the United States and France will keep on supporting them, Parly added. Washington has provided key intelligence, drone surveillance, in-flight refuelling and logistical support for Frances 4,500-member Barkhane operation battling jihadist groups in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and elsewhere. Esper has launched a review of US military presence around the world and is expected to reduce the presence of troops in West Africa as the Defence Department shifts its focus to China and Russia. France has been a great leader in the Sahel, Esper said. I think its time for other European allies to assist as well in the region, and that could offset whatever changes we make as we consider next steps in Africa. Attacks continue to affect civilians A day after the conference, security services told AFP agency at least 10 people were killed in a jihadist attack on a village in Burkina Faso at the weekend. The United Nations childrens agency said Tuesday hundreds of children in the regions were killed, maimed or forced away from their parents as a result of conflict with jihadists last year. In Mali along, 277 children were victims of fighting in the first nine months of 2019, twice the number compared with the previous year, according to a report by Unicef. Despite support from French and UN troops, Mali has struggled to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north in 2012 and that has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives. The conflict has spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, where children have also been murdered, sexually abused, kidnapped or pressed into joining armed groups, the UN agency said. [January 28, 2020] MetLife to Provide Annuity Benefits to Approximately 20,000 Lockheed Martin Retirees and Beneficiaries MetLife, Inc. (MetLife) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Lockheed Martin (News - Alert) Corporation (NYSE: LMT) to provide annuity benefits through its subsidiary, Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company, to approximately 20,000 retirees and beneficiaries in Lockheed Martin's defined benefit (DB) pension plans, representing pension obligations of approximately $1.9 billion. "We are pleased to have been selected to provide guaranteed lifetime income to Lockheed Martin's retirees, including benefits to the retirees' spouses and beneficiaries," said Graham Cox (News - Alert), executive vice president and head of Retirement & Income Solutions at MetLife. "MetLife's long history and expertise in this market gives our clients confidence that retiree benefits are well-protected and risks are well-managed." Lockheed Martin, through its master retirement trust, purchased a group annuity contract from Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company in December 2019. The transaction will not change the amount of the monthly pension benefit received by the corporation's retirees and beneficiaries. Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company, rather than Lockheed Martin, will be responsible for making these monthly payments. No action is needed by retirees or beneficiaries. Lockheed Martin and MetLife will provide details to retired participants and beneficiaries whose ongoing payments will be made by Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company. "This agreement will allow Lockheed Martin to focus on its core mission and mitigate financial risk associated with market volatility, while leveraging MetLife's expertise managing transferred pension liabilities to ensure a seamless transition for retirees and beneficiaries included in the transaction," said Ken Posenriede, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Lockheed Martin. 2020 is likely to be another robust year for pension risk transfer (PRT). MetLife's 2019 Pension Risk Transfer Poll projects that the market will continue to grow at a healthy pace. More than three-quarters (76 percent) of DB plan sponsors with de-risking goals intend to completely divest all of their company's DB plan liabilities at some point in the future, and 33 percent intend to do so in the next five years. MetLife, through its subsidiaries, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company, is a market leader in the pension risk transfer industry, managing benefit payments of more than $2 billion a year for more than 700,000 annuitants. Overall, MetLife was responsible for $47 billion of transferred pension liabilities as of Sept. 30, 2019 and has been in the pension business for nearly 100 years, having issued its first group annuity contract in 1921 to fund a defined benefit plan. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 110,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. About MetLife MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com. Forward-Looking Statements The forward-looking statements in this news release, such as "likely to be," "projects," and "intend to," are based on assumptions and expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, including the "Risk Factors" MetLife, Inc. describes in its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. MetLife's future results could differ, and it has no obligation to correct or update any of these statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005701/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New Delhi/Islamabad, Jan 28 : A Peshawar court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of human rights activist and Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen, who was arrested for sedition in Pakistan a day earlier. The court granted permission to the police for his transfer to the Dera Ismail Khan jail from the Peshawar Central Jail where he was sent to a 14-day judicial remand. Sources in Islamabad said Pashteen was not presented in court on Tuesday but expected to be presented before a judicial magistrate for physical remand in Dera Ismail Khan. A leader with a massive following in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pashteen has been a vocal critic of the excesses committed against the Pashtun people by the Pakistan Army. Pashteen and other nine PTM members were arrested from Shaheen Town, Peshawar on Monday morning. He has been charged with sedition for a public address on January 18 at Dera Ismail Khan, where he had said that Pakistan's 1973 Constitution violates basic human rights. Widespread protests broke out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against their arrests on Tuesday. Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is reportedly in talks with colleagues to propose a deal that would allow witnesses to be called at President Donald Trumps impeachment trial, the Washington Post reported Monday. The Post story cites three Republican officials, who are not named by the outlet, that say Toomey has proposed a one-for-one deal that would allow one witness from both sides to be called during the trial. One of the fellow senators Toomey has reportedly talked with is Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who previously has supported the idea of former national security advisor John Bolton testifying, the Post reported. Romneys support came after the announcement of Boltons book that is said to discuss Trump holding millions of dollars in aid from Ukraine under his desire to have former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, investigated, the Post reported. Romney told reporters that he believed it was likely other Republicans would join him in calling for Boltons testimony, saying it would be relevant, the Post reported. Read more on PennLive: Westbrook, ME, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Infinity Federal Credit Union (FCU) in Westbrook has hired Bob Leger as its chief financial officer (CFO). Leger has twelve years of credit union experience, previously serving as CFO for York County Credit Union and Town & Country Federal Credit Union. He most recently held the position of controller for Aroma Joes Franchising and is excited to be back in the credit union industry. In his role at Infinity FCU, Leger will oversee finance and accounting, marketing, information technology and facilities, and collections. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from Bentley University and is a Certified Lead Mentor for SCORE, working with business leaders and entrepreneurs to identify market opportunities and maximize business development. After doing our homework in looking for the right successor for this key position, Im happy to say that Im highly confident that Bob Leger is the best person to serve as Infinity FCUs CFO, says President/CEO, Elizabeth Hayes, He brings a great mixture of attributes that are critical to being a successful leader of Infinity FCU: industry experience, heart and the ability to think out of the box and develop creative solutions that will make him a great addition to our team. About Infinity Federal Credit Union As Maines first credit union, Infinity Federal Credit Union has been serving its members since 1921, initially as the Telephone Workers Credit Union of Maine, then as Telco of New England FCU. Infinity FCU is now community-based, available to anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in Cumberland and York counties and the city of Bangor, Maine. Infinity FCU is a not-for-profit cooperative organization owned by its members and guided by the vision We do banking differently to keep *you* a step ahead in life. For more information about Infinity FCU, please visit www.infinityfcu.com. Attachment Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Students who were affected by the Taal eruption will have to make up for the weeks-long class suspension by going to school on Saturdays from February to April. Education Secretary Leonor Briones said Monday that they have proposed a modified school calendar so students to have enough time to prepare for their graduation, recognition, or moving up ceremonies by the end of the school year. "We'll be having classes on Saturdays and Sundays. With due apologies to our learners and our students, but in order to have our children graduate on time, they have to comply with the requirements," Briones said in a media briefing in Malacanang. With the proposed resumption of classes on February 3, schools affected by the eruption will have to hold six-day classes every week until April 4 and a Sunday class on April 5, Briones said. Final examination dates for Grades 6 and Grade 12 are targeted for March 20 and 21, and March 27 and 28 for Grades 1 to 5 and Grades 7 to 11. By April 1 to 6, schools are expected to have already conducted their year-end preparations, graduation, recognition and moving up ceremonies. Briones, noted, however that it is up to local governments of the affected areas to decide and take action on this recommendation. Latest data from the DepEd shows a total of 644,841 learners were affected in the Calabarzon region, particularly in Batangas, Cavite and Laguna. Briones added that 328 schools from the eight divisions in this region are still being used as evacuation centers. The Education secretary reiterated her appeal to local government units to use schools as evacuation centers only as last resort in order to allow students to push through with classes unhampered. Student evacuees are encouraged to enroll in nearby schools, while school officials must be lenient with their requirements as transferees. "Students should be taken in with or without documentation," Briones said. Briones signed a memorandum on January 15 calling on public schools to accept displaced students from Calabarzon, following Taal's eruption. READ: 2.4 million students affected by Taal eruption DepEd State volcanologists lowered Taal Volcanos alert status to Level 3 on Sunday, two weeks after the volcano's eruption on January 12 that led to a forced evacuation of thousands of families in the surrounding areas. Popular human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a complete failure. He made this statement while reacting to a report that pregnant woman and 16 others have been killed in an overnight attack on Ruboi community under Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State by suspected herdsmen. Also Read: Amotekun: Deji Adeyanju Declares Akeredolu Southwest Hero Reacting to the attack on the community, the popular activist expressed his sadness over the security situation of the country. Going further, the popular critic of President Buhari led administration expressed that the President is a complete failure. See his tweet below: Roland Passot, chef and owner of the 32-year-old restaurant La Folie, has spent the last three decades cooking decadent French dishes at his Russian Hill restaurant. But at the age of 65, Passot believes its time to move on. Passot announced on Monday that he and his wife Jamie Passot would close La Folie on March 14, along with La Folie Lounge next door. Its been a good run and weve been here for so many years, Passot told SFGATE. On Saturday, we told the employees. It was very emotional. Passot said the decision to close La Folie and the lounge was done on his terms. He said they had considered signing a new 10-year lease, but declined when they considered it would mean running the restaurant well into his '70s. We decided it was time to close. Its time to do other things. In 1988, Passot and his wife opened La Folie, which maintained its original location all those years. Then in 2009, they opened the sleek La Folie Lounge that was adorned with wooden floors, pressed tin ceiling arches and an antique iron gate behind the bar. Through the years, Passot had the privilege of serving a number of famous individuals at La Folie, which included the likes of Herb Caen and two former presidents (Francois Hollande of France and Bill Clinton). Chef Thomas McNaughton, of Flour+Water and a La Folie alum, recalled that special visit when he used to work at the restaurant around 2003. "It was interesting because there were four tables for Secret Service that we had no idea about, Thomas told SFGATE. We thought they were normal guests. For Passot, one of the most memorable moments of his career included the visit of prominent French chef Paul Bocuse, who dined at the restaurant around 1992 along with an entourage of other well-known French chefs. Bocuse passed away in 2018. He called me and said, Hello, Im coming in for lunch. When [Paul] called I said, Were not open for lunch, and he said, Im bringing the bread, youre cooking. [They were] some of the most iconic chefs in the world and they were my idols, all under one roof at my restaurant. It was unbelievable. Many of Passots former staff have also gone on to open restaurants, such as chef McNaughton. They include Shaun McCrain, chef-owner of Seattles upscale Copine, and Anna Klinger, chef-owner of al di la Trattoria in Brooklyn, who co-owns the business with husband Emiliano Coppa. Passot, who refers to his past staff as his children, said hes very proud of them and credits them with his own success. So many people came through our doors through the years. We want to give them a big hats off because its what made La Folie what it is today. Passot said he looks forward to writing a book once the restaurant closes in March, which will be part cookbook and part memoir. He plans to reach out to his former staff so they can share their own memories of working at La Folie and the good old days of San Francisco. Although Passot will close La Folie, he wont fully step away from the restaurant business. He has partnered with local restaurant group Vine Dining to collaborate on several concepts, including the three Bay Area locations of Left Bank as well as Meso and LB Steak, both located in San Jose's Santana Row. I wont be cooking anymore like I was at the La Folie, but its not like Im going to be bored, Passot said. La Folie is located at 2316 Polk St. and La Folie Lounge is located at 2316 Polk St. Susana Guerrero is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: Susana.Guerrero@sfgate.com | Twitter: @SusyGuerrero3 As the political season heats up, Montgomery County commissioners took time to discuss complaints from polling locations during the May and November 2019 elections during their regular meeting Tuesday. Placed on the court agenda to potentially take action on rules and guidelines for polling locations, commissioners ultimately agreed doing so would infringe on freedom of speech, specifically political speech and took no action on the item. However, several commissioners urged residents and candidates to be neighborly. Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said he has had an increase in complaints over the last couple years regarding issues at polling locations and parking lots. Many of the complaints, he noted, focus on overcrowding in parking lots, signage blocking views and falling into roadways and damage to county property. In fact, during the May and November elections last year, Noack said law enforcement officers responded to several locations in The Woodlands numerous times following reports from those at the polling locations. Because of the seriousness of this issue, I have been consulting with the County Attorneys Office and we have gotten in touch with the elections department and the Secretary of State, Noack said. While all these issues are important, there is really nothing more important than protecting our first amendment rights and protecting political speech. Noack asked County Attorney B.D. Griffin to present information on what he found while researching if any rules or guidelines could be implemented. Griffin told commissioners, if any restrictions were put in place, it would have to be so narrowly tailored to infringe as little on people rights as possible. Its almost impossible to do, he said. We would suggest you not even attempt it. Griffin did suggest the county look at non-regulatory solutions like additional people at polling locations to help direct traffic and improve traffic flow. Commissioners agree. Its not a perfect system, but the best system in the world is being able to have the opportunity to freely vote and be out and support your candidate, Noack said. We all need to do it with a little more respect for one another, we need to treat people respectfully. cdominguez@hcnonline.com Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Six weeks ago, Celena Alarid pulled the trigger. Police found her body at home in Albuquerque, soon after family members had asked officers to check on her. Alarid, 41, had a history of suicide attempts, had access to a firearm and had shown signs of depression. Celena Alarids death is one of many heartbreaking stories New Mexico lawmakers will hear about Tuesday as they dive into one of the most emotional debates of the session whether to enact a red flag gun law, which would allow the temporary seizure of firearms from individuals deemed an immediate threat to themselves or others. A prominent lobbyist, Vanessa Alarid, will share the story of her cousin, Celena, as she appears before legislative panels and pushes for passage of the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act. I would have gone to the court, petitioned for intervention and had that firearm removed guaranteed, Vanessa Alarid said in an interview at the Capitol. It would have saved her life. Opponents are also sharing their stories. Audra Brown, a 30-year-old small-business owner from Roosevelt County, said she struggled with depression in her early 20s. But possession of a gun, she said, made her feel safer and had a therapeutic effect. A trained marksman, Brown said she fears a red flag law could have made her a target, putting her at risk of losing her firearms. She has testified in opposition to the bill in previous years. I didnt feel safe going out without a firearm, Brown said in an interview. It helped with my depression. It helped with my mental state. Extreme risk orders New Mexico lawmakers are expected to dive into the firearms debate Tuesday during a meeting of the Senate Public Affairs Committee. The proposal, Senate Bill 5, would establish an Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act, also known as a red flag law. Seventeen other states have such laws. The legislation would allow a relative, household member or law enforcement officer to file a sworn affidavit and petition in state District Court seeking an order to prohibit someone from possessing firearms. The petitioner would have to disclose whether theres any other pending legal action between the two parties. Under the proposal, a law enforcement officer could seek an emergency 15-day order requiring a person to relinquish any firearms. Theres also an option for a one-year firearm prohibition, based on a preponderance of evidence. Supporters describe the proposal as a common-sense way to save lives by taking guns from people who are an immediate threat. Opponents say the law is ripe for abuse and could result in innocent people losing their guns. Suicide rate Suicide risk is a critical part of the debate. Most gun deaths in the state are a result of suicide. Ten counties in New Mexico largely covering rural areas have suicide rates at least twice the national average, which is 14 suicide deaths per 100,000 people. Overall, the state suicide rate is 21.9 deaths per 100,000 people, or more than 50% higher than the national average. A 2018 study that examined data from Indiana and Connecticut found that risk-based firearm seizure laws were associated with reduced suicide rates. Aaron Kivisto, assistant professor of clinical psychology at the University of Indianapolis, was a co-author of the study. Nothing we could do But personal stories not just data will soon fill the Roundhouse. Vanessa Alarid, a lobbyist for Everytown for Gun Safety, said she begged her cousin, Celena, in person and over the phone to give up her firearm in the days before her death. She was showing signs of depression and had recently had her stomach pumped after a suicide attempt. Then she obtained a pistol. She told us all she wanted to hurt herself, Vanessa Alarid said, and there was nothing we could do about it. Celena shot herself in the head in mid-December. An obituary said she cherished time with her family, including her daughter. Celena and Vanessa, roughly a year apart in age, had grown up as sisters and shared a bedroom in high school. Brown, the businesswoman from eastern New Mexico, said she lives in a rural area without good cellphone service. Shes a writer, artist and leathersmith who also works in the cattle business. Her episode of depression passed, she said, but she fears someone could petition to take her firearms because of a grudge or misunderstanding. Possession of a firearm, she said, is a matter of safety in isolated parts of New Mexico where you cant just call out to a neighbor for help. I have a sort of personal stake in this, said Brown, whos seeking the Republican nomination in the 3rd Congressional District. I live alone in the country. Im a young single woman. Political landscape The legislation is backed by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who added it to the agenda this session. Co-sponsoring the bill are three Democrats Sen. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces, Rep. Daymon Ely of Corrales and Rep. Joy Garratt of Albuquerque. A similar measure cleared the House last year, in one of the most emotional nights of the session on a 39-30 vote. Legislators drew on their own family histories as they spoke for and against the bill. It passed its first Senate committee that year but stalled in the second, failing to reach the Senate floor. The Senate, consequently, is key to the bills future this session. Democrats hold substantial majorities in both chambers, but they sometimes clash on priorities. Some Senate Democrats, for example, occasionally join with Republicans to defeat legislation sought by more liberal lawmakers in the House. The margin on the red flag law could be close. Last year, for example, a separate firearms bill centering on background checks barely cleared the Senate, 22-20. In case of a tie, Democratic Lt. Gov. Howie Morales would cast the deciding vote. Lujan Grisham acknowledged to reporters that getting the bill to her desk will be hard but said shes confident it will happen. It will not stop all gun violence, she said. It will not stop all suicides. But if it saves one life, its worth it. She also cited the 2012 death of her cousin, who struggled with severe mental illness for most of his adult life, by suicide as an example of the type of situation the law could address. We have to be courageous enough to try the things that make a difference, Lujan Grisham said. New Mexico sheriffs, in turn, emerged last year as a major force of opposition to the bill. Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace, chairman of the New Mexico Sheriffs Association, said the proposal could lead to dangerous confrontations when law enforcement officers try to collect someones firearms. A red flag law, he said, isnt the right strategy for combating suicide. Where do you stop? Mace asked. Do you take away the car keys, the needles, the drugs every other tool thats used to commit suicide? Journal Capitol Bureau Chief Dan Boyd contributed to this article. The 3 rd Edition of the Africa Human Resources Innovation Awards has been launched by instinct Wave, Africas premium B2B event & media specialist. AHRIA 2020 is scheduled to hold at the enchanting Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, Ghana on Friday, 27th March 2020 at 6pm The Awards Scheme which was formally Ghana Human Resources Innovation Awards was rebranded to Africa Human Resource Innovation Awards in order to cover the sub-region and bring together great minds in the HR industry across Africa. Human Resources units play a pivotal and strategic roles in sustaining organizational growth in a highly competitive global environment. The success of every organization lies in its human capital. AHRIA in its 3rd year will honour leading HR Professionals, organizations with top-notch HR models and practices and executives who have made sterling contributions to the corporate sector over the years. AHRIA will also unveil Top 50 HR Leaders across verticals in the sub-region. Speaking on the rebranding of the awards scheme, InstinctWave CEO, Mr. Akin Naphtal said that 2020 is indeed shaping up to be a truly generation-defining year across the spectrum from politics, to science, to the business world and beyond. Indeed the year heralds a new focus for business leaders, As Africas premium B2B event & media specialist, we are expanding some of our award schemes to cover the sub-region as well as catch up with the new wave in the business sector. This is the reason behind the rebranding of the awards scheme to Africa Human Resources Innovation Awards (AHRIA) We are also glad to have the Fair Wages Commission on Board as a partner and a jury of AHRIA 2020. He added AHRIA 2020 is in partnership with Ghanas Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, a reputable government institution. The CEO of Fair Wages Commission, Dr. Edward Kwapong expressed his excitement about partnering Instinct wave, he said that the award scheme will raise the benchmark of excellence in the Industry. Indeed its a great honour to be part of Instinct waves HR awards, it was great having Fair wages on board during the 2019 edition of the awards, Im optimistic that it will be greater hosting a gathering of leading HR professionals from African countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda. This will be a huge platform not only to reward the hard work of HR Professionals but also meet our counterparts from other countries to interact and learn one or two things to strengthen the socio-economic development of the nation. The gala night will be a gathering of key players and decision makers in the industry from across the region. The night provides an exceptional opportunity for stakeholders to network, entertain clients, and reinforce relationships with partners and reward staff with exceptional performance. The awards promises to be a memorable one and the gala night will excite the industry in a fashionable manner. WASHINGTON - Episodic misconduct and ethical lapses among U.S. special operations forces, like the Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets, stem from a culture that puts too much emphasis on fighting and too little on developing good leaders, an in-depth review has concluded. This imbalance has evolved from two decades of nearly continuous combat and has produced potential cracks in the foundation of the forces, the report released Tuesday said. The report offers an unusually pointed look at shortcomings in a segment of the U.S. military that is known for daring missions like the raids that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011 and Islamic State group founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria last October. A number of recent cases of alleged misconduct have raised deep concern and marred the record of the special operations forces, which also include Delta Force commandos, as well as Air Force and Marine special operations troops. They are called on often for high-risk operations because of their elite training and agility. President Donald Trumps controversial intervention in some recent disciplinary cases has added a political twist. An Army Green Beret was facing trial last December for allegedly killing a suspected bomb-maker during a 2010 deployment to Afghanistan. But in November, Trump pardoned Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, saying he had been treated unfairly. Last May, Navy SEAL Adam Matthews was sentenced to one year in military prison for his role in the 2017 hazing-related death of an Army Green Beret in Africa. And in July, a Navy SEAL platoon in Iraq was ordered home amid charges of drinking and an alleged sexual assault, and two senior leaders were fired. Also last summer, a military jury acquitted a Navy SEAL of murder charges involving the death of a wounded prisoner in Iraq in 2017. That SEAL, Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, was found guilty of posing for a picture with the corpse. But Trump ordered Gallaghers rank restored and ordered the Navy to end a review to see if he should lose his SEAL status. The review released Tuesday concluded that while there is no systemic ethics problem, the sustained war tours since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and limited time for force development have set the conditions at times for unacceptable conduct. It acknowledged that previous internal assessments have come to similar conclusions, yet the problems persist. We did find that certain aspects of our culture have, at times, set conditions favourable for inappropriate behaviour, Army Gen. Richard Clarke, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, told reporters at the Pentagon. We have a can do culture with a bias toward action. This is part of what makes us great, he said, but sometimes it goes too far. The report said that over time, deployment to areas that promise combat has come to be valued above all other things. Those who experience combat are held as almost an infallible standard bearer for others to emulate even if that combat experience is marred by unprofessional acts. Nearly 20 years of continuous conflict have imbalanced that culture to favour force employment and mission accomplishment over the routine activities that ensure leadership, accountability and discipline, Clarke said Tuesday. This is a problem, and our review team recommended more than a dozen ways to address it. Most importantly, we need to improve our leader development programs and improve accountability in our training and management processes. The review left no doubt that the force has suffered from lapses in leadership and accountability. It said this evolved from an imbalance between the demands to deploy to war zones and the need to properly develop troops. The result was a vicious cycle that normalized a culture in which leadership development was lacking. The review team uncovered not only potential cracks in the SOF (special operations forces) foundations at the individual and team level, but also through the chain of command, specifically in the core tenets of leadership, discipline and accountability, the report said. The special operations forces must restore emphasis on developing leaders with the required balance of character and competence, it added. Clarke ordered the ethics review of his commando forces last August, instructing that it look at how the military recruits and advances special operations forces. At the time, he wrote that recent incidents had called our culture and ethics into question and threaten the trust placed in us. More broadly, Defence Secretary Mark Esper has ordered the Pentagons legal office to do a separate review on how the military educates and trains service members on wartime ethics and the laws of armed conflict. The Iowa Department of Revenue says it has many resources available to assist taxpayers with filing tax returns this year. The department will begin processing returns at the same time as the IRS because Iowa taxpayers are required to provide their federal return with their Iowa return. Iowa income tax returns are due on April 30, while federal returns are due April 15. The department has a redesigned website tax.iowa.gov that offers tax guidance, new forms, and answers to many tax questions. Filing Made Easy explains how to file, how to avoid common mistakes, and provides additional details regarding the status of a refund. The department also has made improvements, including establishing a time frame of 30 to 45 days for processing refunds; extending the hours taxpayer specialists are on the phone assisting customers; adding department employees to the phones during especially busy times; and extending the hours front desk is open to help walk-in customers. The department can be reached at (515) 281-3114 or (800) 367-3388 and the idr@iowa.gov email address. OFF-DUTY OFFICERS CARRYING: A Senate subcommittee unanimously advanced legislation that would allow off-duty law enforcement officers to carry firearms on school grounds. The bill was supported by a three-member Senate panel, including Democrat Kevin Kinney, a retired sheriffs deputy. Groups representing law enforcement officials said they supported the bill, while education groups said they are just monitoring the proposal. Any time we can have, of course, good, law-abiding, professional people adding safety for our kids, thats a good thing, said state Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel. The bill, Senate File 115, advances to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Also Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 14-0 to pass separate measures allowing county attorneys and their assistants and emergency medical personnel on tactical teams to be trained to carry firearms in the course of their duties. MISSOURI RIVER FLOOD CONTROL: Gov. Kim Reynolds said Monday she is joining with other Missouri River basin governors to make flood control a top priority of federal officials who manage the waterway. Reynolds told reporters she is partnering with governors from Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska to push for a comprehensive approach in which protecting people and property by limiting flooding is the key mission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in managing the flow of the Missouri River. I think it makes us stronger when we have four governors working together, because that brings our two senators from each of our states as well as our congressional delegation, Reynolds said. She said governors from North Dakota and South Dakota also may be enlisted in the regional effort. The governors are concerned that their states still are trying to recover and rebuild 10 months after flooding began along the Missouri River. Reynolds said its important that flood control managers not keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Reynolds said there are bottlenecks or pinch points along the river that should be studied. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, January 28, 2020 Android users want a federal appeals court to decide whether they can proceed with claims that Google violated California residents' privacy rights by allegedly tracking their locations. Given the gravity of the fundamental privacy interests at stake, and the dearth of recent guiding precedent construing them in the context of the nascent digital age, justice requires immediate appellate review, the Android users argue in papers filed Monday with U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California. They are asking Davila for permission to immediately appeal his December order that dismissed their case against Google. The battle dates to 2018, when California residents including Napoleon Patacsil of San Diego alleged in a class-action complaint that Google's location tracking practices violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act, the state Constitution, and a separate prohibition on "intrusion upon seclusion -- a broad privacy concept that involves an intentional and highly offensive intrusion into a private place. advertisement advertisement The lawsuit came several days after The Associated Press reported that the company stores location data gleaned from some services, including search and maps, even when users turn off the Location History setting. The AP report said users must turn off a separate "Web and App Activity to prevent Google from collecting and storing location data from services like maps. Davila said in his December ruling that the allegations in the complaint were too speculative to support a claim that Google collected sensitive and confidential information. Plaintiffs claims are too conclusory and the court cannot assess whether plaintiffs had a legally protected privacy interest in the specific places they went or even how often their geolocation was accessed, Davila wrote. He allowed the users to revise their claims that Google violated California's state constitution and engaged in "intrusion upon seclusion," but not the claim that Google violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act. That law prohibits companies from using an electronic tracking device to determine people's locations. Davila wrote at the time that smartphones weren't the type of devices covered by the Invasion of Privacy law. Patacsil and the other users now say they want the 9th Circuit to review the entire matter, arguing that questions about the types of devices covered by the California Invasion of Privacy Act are critical to the overall case. Guidance from the Ninth Circuit is sorely needed as geolocation tracking technology, and increasingly sophisticated means of accessing the information made available by mobile devices, become ever more present in our lives, counsel for the users write. The Super Bowl is Feb. 2, which means commercials for the big game have already started rolling out. Chris Evans, John Krasinski, and Rachel Dratch recently starred together in a hilarious Super Bowl commercial for Hyundai. Chris Evans | Alberto E. Rodriguez/FilmMagic The commercial is Boston-themed In the commercial, Evans, Krasinski, and Dratch team up to advertise a self-parking car. Both Evans and Krasinski were born in Boston and Dratch was born in Massachusetts. The commercial, appropriately titled Smaht Pahk, advertises the Hyundai Sonatas new Remote Smart Parking Assist feature. Evans and Dratch greet each other with Boston accents. As they stand on the sidewalk, they watch a person attempt to park a car in a tight spot. Then Krasinski drives up. Look at these two troublemakahs, he says. Wicked cah!! Dratch says. Is that new? Krasinski tells her its a Sonata as he gets ready to park it. He then gets out of the car and walks over to Dratch and Evans. Look whos got Smaht Pahk, he says. Krasinski then proceeds to click a button and the car begins to park itself in the spot. Smart Pahk? Dratch asks. Just hit the clickah, cah pahks itself, he replies. Onlookers then yell that the car has no driver. No, its all right, hes got Smaht Pahk! Evans reassures them. This was Chris Evans and John Krasinskis first time working together Believe it or not, but the commercial for Hyundai is the first time Evans and Krasinski have ever worked together. However, both actors were up for the role of Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The role ended up going to Evans. My agent called and said, Theyre going to go with Chris Evans,' Krasinski told Variety. And I remember I said, Yeah, look at him. Hes Captain America.' Krasinski learned of Evans casting before going to dinner with his wife Emily Blunt for her birthday. Blunt offered to cancel dinner, but Krasinski said it was not necessary. I said, Its Chris Evans. Of course, were going to dinner,' Krasinski told her. John Krasinski brought up the casting again on his birthday Krasinski turned 40 years old on Oct. 20, 2019. For his birthday, the actor held a fundraiser with Family Reach. The organization provides financial assistance to families fighting cancer. To raise money, Krasinski tweeted at several celebrities encouraging them to donate. One of those celebrities was Evans. Alright getting into the afternoon here and this donation train keeps a rollin! Hey @ChrisEvans remember when you robbed me of the role of Captain America? time to pay up? #JKbday@familyreach, he tweeted. Alright getting into the afternoon here and this donation train keeps a rollin! Hey @ChrisEvans remember when you robbed me of the role of Captain America? time to pay up? #JKbday @familyreach https://t.co/POUGm6qJRg John Krasinski (@johnkrasinski) October 20, 2019 Evans then had the perfect reply to Krasinskis tweet. He replied with a gif of Krasinski as Jim Halpert in The Office. In the gif, Jim cuts part of his tie to make Pam feel better about her veil ripping before their wedding. In the gif of the scene Jim says, There. Now were even. Evans response was beloved by Marvel and The Office fans alike. After the Hyundai commercial, perhaps Evans and Krasinski will have another chance to work together. ST. LOUIS State Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Alton, recently received the Chamber Champion Award and the Catalyst Award from the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce in recognition of her legislative record and efforts to fight for local businesses and economic development in the region. I am working to build a stronger Illinois, and that means building a stronger state and local economy where businesses, employers, and employees are all able to succeed, said Bristow. I am humbled to be honored by my longtime friends at the St. Louis Regional Chamber for my work for our regional economy that we share together in the Metro East region. The partnership will enhance care efficiency by creating an alert system for physicians regarding pending lab orders for patients San Francisco, California--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - Innovaccer, Inc., a leading healthcare technology company, has entered into a partnership with Clinical Pathology Laboratories, a Division of Sonic Healthcare USA, the third-largest laboratory medicine company in the United States, to alert physicians at Sonic Healthcare USA's partner sites about pending lab orders. The partnership will allow physicians to place pending lab orders from within their electronic health records (EHRs) for efficient care delivery. Innovaccer Partners With Sonic Labs To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6895/51890_innovaccer.png Clinical Pathology Laboratories, a Division of Sonic Healthcare USA, one of the largest diagnostic laboratory medicine companies in the world. Sonic Healthcare USA follows a federated model, which allows each laboratory to be its own independent entity, whose management and medical team are united with Sonic Healthcare's common values and core mission. The shift to value-driven payment models has made it extremely critical for healthcare organizations to optimize processes and eliminate potential care gaps. However, the lack of contextual information in patient records makes it difficult for providers to act in a prompt manner and address care bottlenecks. These delays can result in delayed care, avoidable expenditures or even suboptimal care outcomes. To ensure that no gaps in care impact their partner sites, Clinical Pathology Laboratories will leverage InNote, Innovaccer's point-of-care physician engagement solution, to identify pending lab orders by providing reliable, unobtrusive, and actionable insights about their patients within their EHRs. As part of the partnership, InNote will signal providers regarding pending orders in real-time to ensure no lab tests go unnoticed across patient populations. The participating providers will be spread across Sonic Healthcare's partner clinics in states in the Southeast and Southwest. "For us, ensuring healthy patients is the biggest priority. Any gap in information is, therefore, a roadblock for us in our mission of providing a quality care experience at our partner sites," commented Tony Jones, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Operations, at Sonic Healthcare USA. "With Innovaccer's point-of-care physician engagement solution, InNote, we are sure to further streamline our processes and empower physicians with the most accurate and timely insights into pending lab tests, while also providing suggestions around the future course of action," he added. Innovaccer has a long-standing partnership with Clinical Pathology Laboratories, a Division of Sonic Healthcare USA, and has been providing IT infrastructure capabilities to Sonic Healthcare for data ingestion purposes for almost two years. The organization has implemented InNote, Innovaccer's point-of-care technology solution, on the existing foundation. "We have always cherished our association with Clinical Pathology Laboratories, a Division of Sonic Healthcare USA. They are a global leader in laboratory, pathology, and radiology services, and have a demonstrated history of providing quality services to their partner clinics," said Abhinav Shashank, Co-founder and CEO at Innovaccer. "With our latest collaboration, we are sure of furthering our collective goal to help providers deliver quality care through sheer commitment and intelligent use of cutting-edge technologies." About Innovaccer Innovaccer is a leading San Francisco-based healthcare technology company committed to making a powerful and enduring difference in the way care is delivered. The company leverages artificial intelligence and analytics to automate routine workflows and reduce manual overhead to facilitate more patient-centered care. Its Gartner and KLAS-recognized products have been deployed all over the U.S. across more than 1,000 locations, enabling more than 25,000 providers to transform care delivery and work collaboratively. Innovaccer's Data Activation Platform has been successfully implemented in healthcare institutions, government organizations, and corporate enterprises including Catholic Health Initiatives, MercyOne, Orlando Health, Hartford Healthcare, and Stratifi Health. By using the connected care framework, Innovaccer has unified 3.8 million patient records and generated more than $400M in savings. For more information, please visit innovaccer.com. Press Contact Sachin Saxena Innovaccer Inc. 415-504-3851 Related Images image1.png Related Links Innovaccer Clinical Pathology Laboratories To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51890 On Monday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day by attending a ceremony held at Central Hall in Westminster, London. The service, which was joined by a number of high-profile religious and civic leaders from the United Kingdom, honored the victims and heroes of the Holocaust, as well as those killed in the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Jan. 27 also marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest and perhaps the most well-known of the Nazi concentration and death camps. Monday's ceremony was held by Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, of which Prince William is a patron. The 37-year-old gave a speech at the service, reading a letter from a friend of his great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg. The princess, Prince Philip's mother, was well known for her work hiding Jews in her home during the Nazi occupation of Greece. The letter read: "My family would not exist without the courageous act of Princess Alice. Her story of incredible courage must keep being told in her memory. My generation, the past generation and the future generation are, and will eternally be, grateful to Princess Alice for the great act of bravery, risking her own life to take in a family in need. Kate and William's outing comes just a day after the palace released touching photographs taken by the Duchess of Cambridge of Holocaust survivors and their grandchildren. The royal's photos, taken at Kensington Palace, will join a Holocaust exhibition later this year. "It was a true honour to have been asked to participate in this project and I hope in some way Yvonne and Stevens memories will be kept alive as they pass the baton to the next generation," Kate said. The first photo taken by the royal is of Steven Frank alongside his grandaughters Maggie and Trixie. Frank was one of 93 children who survived the Theresienstadt Ghetto, where over 15,000 children were sent. Story continues The second snapshot shows Yvonne Bernstein, who survived in hiding in France, with her granddaughter Chloe. The ceremony on Monday was just one of the many held worldwide to mark the tragedy. On Monday, the Earl of Wessex met the son of Sir Nicholas Winton, a British man who saved 669 Czech children from the Nazis. Winton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2003, and he passed away in 2015 at 106. In 2003, Sir Nicholas was knighted by The Queen at Buckingham Palace for services to humanity. Nicholas Winton was born on 19 May 1909 and passed away in 2015 aged 106. #HolocaustMemorialDaypic.twitter.com/BmTe0K8sef The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) January 27, 2020 On Monday, the Duchess of Cornwall also traveled to Poland to mark the liberation of Auschwitz at the camp itself. Last week, the Prince of Wales traveled to Jerusalem to attend the World Holocaust Forum, where he called on world leaders to make Holocaust education a priority to ensure the memories of those who bore witnesses live on. "Almost a lifetime has passed since the horror of the Holocaust unfolded on the European continent and those who bore witness to it are sadly ever fewer," he said. "We must commit ourselves to ensuring that their stories live on to be known and understood by each successive generation." "The Holocaust must never be allowed to become simply a fact of history," he continued. "We must never cease to be appalled nor moved by the testimony of those who lived through it." Oregon House Democrats have introduced a bill that would put 2006 voter-approved campaign contribution limits on hold until at least July 2021 even if the Oregon Supreme Court greenlights them much sooner. Currently, the state effectively has no campaign contribution limits because courts have repeatedly struck down or suspended them, including the initiative that voters passed nearly two decades ago. But the Oregon Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on Multnomah Countys voter-approved campaign finance limits. If the justices find such limits to be constitutional, that would likely revive the statewide donation caps, too. That prospect worries Rep. Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, the chief sponsor of House Bill 4124. The other sponsors are Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, Rep. Karin Power, D-Milwaukie, and Rep. Marty Wilde, D-Eugene. What will end up happening is that Measure 47, which is dormant would come to life in the middle of the 2020 election (donation) cycle, which runs through November, Rayfield said. Corporations and unions would immediately be banned from giving money directly to candidates, political parties and political action committees, and individuals would be limited to donating $500 to statewide candidates and $100 to legislative candidates in each primary and general election cycle. A high-stakes presidential election year would be the wrong time for Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno, a Republican, to write rules to implement the campaign finance regulations, Rayfield said. What you want to do is, you move the implementation date to post the election date to prevent chaos. Rayfield said the bill would also give lawmakers more time to do something they failed to do last year: pass new campaign contribution limits to replace those approved by voters. The bill would have the Legislature appoint a task force of lawmakers, representatives of political parties and interest groups and others to study campaign finance and make recommendations on how to best establish effective political contribution limits in Oregon. Dan Meek, the author of contribution limits voters approved in 2006, said the Democrats proposal would give lawmakers from both parties an opportunity to gut the regulations. It basically gives the Legislature another full session to eviscerate or change or repeal the Measure 47 limits, Meek said. The contribution limits under Measure 47 are supposed to take effect as soon they become constitutional, either through an amendment to the state Constitution or if a court reverses previous rulings that such caps violated Oregons constitutional free speech protections. Its framers carefully wrote it to specify that would be the case. A companion initiative in 2006, Measure 46, would have amended the constitution to immediately allow campaign contribution limits. But voters rejected it after unions, public officials and liberal and conservative groups including NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon and Oregon Right to Life waged a campaign against it, arguing that allowing campaign finance caps would undercut Oregonians freedom of speech. Voters in two of the states most liberal counties, Multnomah and Benton, voted against the statewide contribution limits in 2006. Since then, voters in Portland and Multnomah County approved city and county-level campaign donation limits. Oregon voters are set to decide in November whether to amend the Constitution to allow contribution limits. But the constitutional amendment referred to voters by the Legislature would only allow such voter-approved regulations going back to 2016, which covers the Portland and Multnomah County limits but not Measure 47. Gov. Kate Brown said earlier this month that lawmakers should wait until after the November election to pass contribution limits. Spending in the 2018 Oregon governors race surpassed $37 million and an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive last year found the states lack of campaign finance limits helped make it one of the biggest political money states in the nation. Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. The Centre Tuesday sought dismissal of the plea of one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case against rejection of his mercy plea and said that being ill-treated in prison cannot be a ground for mercy to one who has committed such a heinous crime. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi that the convict, Mukesh Kumar Singh, was not kept in solitary confinement as alleged and no ground of commutation has been made out. Mehta told the bench, also comprising justices Ashok Bhsuhan and A S Bopanna, that the entire material was sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs to President for deciding mercy plea of Singh. He also told the bench that the power of judicial review of the apex court is very limited in such cases and said the delay in deciding his mercy plea would have a dehumanising impact. President has to satisfy himself regarding pardon and not look into each procedure, Mehta told the bench adding that the President is not sitting in appeal against judgements of all courts in the case. The top court questioned Singh as to how he can allege "non application of mind" by the President in rejecting his mercy petition and claim that all facts were not placed before the President when he dealt with the mercy plea. "How can you say that these facts were not placed before his excellency the President? How can you say that there was non-application of mind by the President," the bench asked senior advocate Anjana Prakash. When the convict's counsel said that all facts were not placed before the President, Mehta told the bench that all the records, exhibits and the judgment in the case were placed before the President. Singh alleged procedural lapses in dismissal of his mercy plea by the President. He said that certain supervening circumstances, including solitary confinement and procedural lapses have been ignored while considering his mercy plea. His counsel contended that the executive is not sitting on power of appeal but rather exercising constitutional duty, which is neither a matter of mercy nor grace. Prakash referred to judgements on death sentence and the power of the president to grant mercy. He also told the court that the President's rejection of the mercy plea was on extraneous consideration as also mala fide, arbitrary and without materials. The bench was hearing Singh's plea against the dismissal of his mercy petition by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 17. He has sought an urgent hearing on his plea against the dismissal of the mercy plea. The trial court has issued black warrants for the execution of all the four convicts -- Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Kumar Sharma and Akshay Kumar -- at 6 am on February 1. The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as "Nirbhaya" (the fearless), was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Job Title: Project Accounts Assistant Organization: Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) Duty Station: Jinja, Uganda Benefits: EUR 19,836.48 (Annual Salary), EUR 4,173.96 (Housing Allowance) and EUR 2,165.16 (Transport Allowance) Project Name: Contribution of Sustainable Fisheries to the Blue Economy of the Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean Region EOFISH programme Reports to: Head of Finance LVFO Job Ref: LVFO/ EOFISH /HR/2020/02 About US: The Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) is a specialized institution of the East African Community (EAC) whose mandate is to coordinate the management and development of fisheries and aquaculture resources in the EAC region. About EU Project: Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) has received a grant from the European Union (EU) to implement the -Contribution of Sustainable Fisheries to the Blue Economy of the Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean Region EOFISH programme. The overall objective is to enhance equitable economic growth by promoting sustainable fisheries in the East African-South African-Indian Ocean (EA- SA-IO) region. The specific objective is to support sustainable management and development of fisheries, while addressing climate change resilience and enhancing marine biodiversity. The programme purpose is to support the implementation of fisheries management interventions on Lake Victoria. It is against this background that LVFO Secretariat is recruiting a Project Administrative Officer to support implementation of the programme. Job Summary: The Project Accounts Assistant will support implementation of the programme. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Budgeting Provide support in coordinating budgeting, payment and accounting services: Ensure compliance with financial regulations and rules. Serve as principal advocate for prudent, consistent and accountable management of the Project financial resources and assets. Ensure that the financial procedures and practices implemented, conform to EU and/or EAC Financial Regulations and directives. Prepare all Project financial statements in a timely manner. Provide support in developing the draft program budget: Participate in the budget development process in liaison with the relevant desk officers in organization of program work plans for financial review. Ensure that budgetary estimates are prepared in accordance with Project requirements, and planned activities implemented in time and within the approved allocated budget lines. Provide information, analyses, explanations, and documentation in response to requests on budgetary matters from the relevant stakeholders Ensure timely budget preparation, implementation and reporting. Serve as an advisor on budgetary and financial matters: Advise the Supervisor on the implementation of the approved budget and execute decisions taken regarding allocation and allotment of appropriations. Report on the state of the Project finances to the Head of Finance for deliberations and decision-making on programme budgeting, finance and accounts. Develop proposals for budgetary transfers, supplementary appropriations and management of surpluses. Ensure appropriate financial reports, statements and other accountability reports are prepared in a timely manner, for submission to the Auditors. Payment and Accounting services Ensure accurate maintenance and updating of income and expenditure accounts for the Project: Ensure the proper receipt, custody and disbursement of funds and oversee the banking and currency arrangements. Manage the payments system and Records Register Monitors and follows up on outstanding receivables and liabilities of the project both in the project journal and for transactions done through the office journal and ensures timely costly booking. Documents and maintains complete and accurate supporting information for all financial transactions. Manage the cash flow and prepares cash flow forecasts in accordance with EU rules and regulations. Reconciliation of sub ledgers in the system in a timely manner to identify any irregularities, mis-postings and raise correction journals for the Head of Finances certification Prepare funds requisitions in a timely manner. Ensure that the Trial Balance is balancing at any given time Ensure access to timely, accurate and useful information with regard to the financial status of the project. Report to the supervisor on budget/programme performance or substantive issues, as appropriate, particularly those presented in annual or triennial reports. Ensure that the reports are prepared in timely manner. Manage foreign currency exchange gain/loss. Actively participates in project selection and valuation, audit and compliance reviews together with the Supervisor. Formulate responses to internal and external auditors. Reporting Prepare periodical reports of the project Preparation of a funds requisition to the donor Perform other related duties, as assigned Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The ideal candidate for the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) Project Accounts Assistant job placement must hold a University degree (or academic equivalent) with specialization in accounting, financial management, business administration or a related field. Professional accounting qualification (CPA, ACCA or equivalent). A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in accounting, financial management, business administration, or a related field. Experience with international accounting systems and financial operations management. Experience with corporate performance management in the public or private sector. Professionalism Accountability Managing Performance Ability to work under minimum supervision Organization skills Communication skills Judgement/Decision-making Languages: Fluent reading, writing and speaking abilities in English. Desirable: Experience in managing programmes/projects within an international or regional organization, national government, or other public or private organization. Experience with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). NB: All candidates applying must have qualifications that are recognised by the relevant national accreditation body in their respective countries. This condition is applicable for locally and internationally attained qualifications. Benefits: An Indicative basic salary of EUR 19,836.48 (G5 salary scale equivalent) per annum, plus other related entitlements e.g. a Housing allowance of EUR 4,173.96 (per annum), and a Transport allowance of EUR 2,165.16 (per annum). In addition, this post offers attractive fringe benefits including an installation allowance of EUR 521.74 paid once, plus gratuity paid monthly, a personal medical Insurance, and personal accident insurance cover. How to Apply: All qualified candidates from EAC/LVFO Partner States (The Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania) should send their applications, detailed curriculum vitae, photocopies of academic certificates, names and contact details of three referees, and a copy of National Identity Card, or Passport. Please quote the respective reference number on both the application letter and envelope. For electronic submission, please quote the respective reference number on the subject of the email and send to the address given below. Please note: You may submit your application either electronically or in hard copy but not both. Applications which do not: indicate nationality and age; the reference number; or have an application letter attached; have certified copies of their academic degrees and other professional Certificates; or fail to provide three referees will be disqualified. Only qualified candidates will be contacted. All invitations for interviews will be done in writing. LVFO Staff Rules and Regulations precludes consideration of applicants above fifty-five (55) years of age Please note that LVFO does not require candidates to pay money for the recruitment process. The Executive Secretary Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) Busoga Square Plot No. 7B/E Bell Avenue P. O. Box 1625, Jinja Uganda Email to: lvfo-sec@lvfo.org Deadline: Friday, 31st January 2020 at 17:00hrs local time. For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a release issued under the same headline earlier today by The Association for Mineral Exploration, please note in the third paragraph of the release, the quote belongs to Dale Mah, not David Gale as previously stated. The corrected release follows: The Association for Mineral Explorations 2020 Roundup conference concluded on Thursday, January 23, closing out a week of cross-industry collaboration, exciting announcements, and innovative programming from the industrys leading voices. This included new data released by Geoscience BC with the potential of driving mineral exploration investment on northern Vancouver Island, as well as insights into the new UNDRIP legislation and applications for BCs mineral exploration and mining industry. Held at the Vancouver Convention Centre East on the shared traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, the 37th annual conference brought together more than 6,000 delegates from 38 countries, representing industry, government, First Nations, investors, and suppliers. With the core theme of Lens on Discovery and an eye on the newest trends, Roundup 2020 focused on showcasing projects that represent the passion, skill, and innovation of BCs modern mineral exploration industry. Now in its 37th year, AMEs Mineral Roundup continues to bring together our industrys thought leaders and stakeholders to share their successes, challenges, and lessons learned in an open and collaborative format, said AME Roundup Organizing Committee Chair Dale Mah. A special thanks to our sponsors, exhibitors, delegates, speakers, and volunteers whose support and commitment is integral to the continued success of our flagship event. Highlights from the 2020 Mineral Exploration Roundup include: The 2020 theme session, Seeing the Unseeable, offered attendees insight into new methods of exploring for ore deposits, including new ways to see deposits from their cryptic surface expressions, to ensure improved drilling success. Release of new geophysical survey data from Geoscience BCs Vancouver Island North Regional Project. This data is guiding the search for mineral exploration deposits on Northern Vancouver Island and is expected to renew mineral exploration interest and investment in the area. Several announcements made by the Government of the Northwest Territories in support of resource development and exploration, including the launch of regional mineral development strategies by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the Gwichin Tribal Council to encourage mineral exploration in their regions. Insights into what the new UNDRIP legislation may mean for BCs mineral exploration and development industry from a panel of experts including Doug Caul, Deputy Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, and Celeste Haldane, BC Treaty Chief Commissioner. Attendance from federal, provincial, and municipal leaders including Paul Lefebvre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources Canada; Michelle Mungall, former Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources; Caroline Cochrane, Premier of the Northwest Territories; and Scott Fraser, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. Through Roundup, AME is proud to offer a space that cultivates dialogue and collaboration for the long-term benefit of BCs modern mineral exploration industry, said AME President and CEO Kendra Johnston. Roundup continues to serve as a driving force for exploration in Western Canada and we value the opportunity to bring members and delegates together around the key issues that are affecting our industry today. We recognize that Roundup takes place on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish people and are grateful for the opportunity to convene our meetings here. We also acknowledge the ongoing support of our patron sponsor Teck Resources Limited for its commitment to AME and our industry. AMEs Roundup conference will return to the Vancouver Convention Centre East under the sails of Canada Place from January 18 to 21, 2021. To stay up-to-date on conference details visit roundup.amebc.ca and follow @AME_BC on Twitter, @Association.for.Mineral.Exploration on Facebook, and @bcminex on Instagram with the hashtag #AMERoundup for regular updates. About AME: AME is the lead association for the mineral exploration and development industry based in British Columbia. Established in 1912, AME represents, advocates, protects, and promotes the interests of thousands of members who are engaged in mineral exploration and development in BC and throughout the world. AME encourages a safe, economically strong, and environmentally responsible industry by providing clear initiatives, policies, events, and tools to support its membership. About AME Roundup: AMEs Mineral Exploration Roundup conference is the premier event for the mineral exploration industry in British Columbia. Held annually in Vancouver, Roundup attracts more than 6,000 people from around the world representing all facets of the mineral exploration industry including academics, prospectors, geologists, investors, and suppliers. Roundup provides delegates the opportunity to learn about more than 100 projects and prospects located in 15 countries across six continents. Media Contacts: Cristina Melo Citizen Relations cristina.melo@citizenrelations.com 604.612.4468 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are just starting the next chapter of their lives as private citizens. The two are settling into their new home of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and they are reportedly temporarily staying in a massive, waterfront mansion. Its clear that the two are no longer spending their days attending royal engagements heres what theyre doing instead. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Samir Hussein/WireImage Harry and Meghan are officially private citizens It was the shock heard around the world, but now its official: Harry and Meghan are no longer part of the royal family. Though they are still known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, these two royals have moved across the pond and settled down on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. There have been reports that the royal family doesnt have faith in Meghan and Harrys lives as private citizens; there is supposedly some concern that they wont be able to handle the paparazzi and media attention without the massive security blanket over in the United Kingdom. But for now, theyre enjoying their somewhat more private lives. Meghan was recently seen hiking with Archie and her dogs There are many things for the couple to do on Vancouver Island, and its definitely known for its outdoor activities. The island, despite being far north, typically stays above freezing year round, which makes it easy for people to take advantage of hiking trails throughout the year. Meghan was recently spotted hiking around her home alongside Archie and her two dogs, and she was only wearing a light jacket and workout clothes. The couple, who try to live an active, healthy lifestyle, will probably spend a lot of their time hiking now that theyve made the move. The couple will likely tour North Saanichs many sights There are plenty of ways for Meghan and Harry to spend their days now that theyre living somewhere so much quieter. North Saanich, where the couple is currently living, is home to an aviation museum, aquarium, and plenty of trails as well as wineries (and Meghan does love relaxing with a glass of wine). The two will likely continue to live an active lifestyle day to day while allowing Archie to develop a closer relationship with nature. The two probably wont experience much privacy while in Canada, though. As far as the paparazzi goes, the two were protected in the U.K. the same rules dont apply in Canada. Though the family might want to spend their days out in the open, they could end up hiding more than they realize. The two plan to still continue their philanthropic work Though Harry and Meghan definitely want to explore their new neighborhood, they still plan to continue their philanthropic work. Harry has been serving the people his whole life, and he doesnt plan to stop just because the two have moved. They will likely start working with more North American charities while still keeping their U.K. organizations close. The two have said they will also still visit the U.K. regularly, despite living in North America. NAPLES, Fla., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Better Together recently announced a nationwide effort to recruit and train dozens of churches in the United States to hold simultaneous "Second Chance Job Fairs" to help citizens returning to society after serving time in prison. Four notable organizations have agreed to partner with Better Together for this event, including Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), Prison Fellowship, Correctional Ministries & Chaplains Association (CMCA), and Jobs for Life. The coalition will work together to identify and support churches and communities hosting job fairs as part of the nationwide day. The Nationwide Day of Second Chances will take place on April 30, 2020. "We are very excited to be working with these great organizations to demonstrate unity around our shared vision for welcoming and empowering neighbors who have served their time and are ready for a fresh start," says Megan Rose, CEO of Better Together. "We're called Better Together because we know collaboration is essential, and we're honored to welcome these partners into this critical effort." Each partnering organization is a leader in equipping churches and communities to support those who are currently, or have been, incarcerated. They bring expertise, compassion, and networks of supporters to help make the day a success. "CMCA is excited to partner with Better Together to help promote April as Second Chance Month and, specifically, the Nationwide Day of Second Chances on April 30," said Laurel Larson, Correctional Ministries and Chaplains Association Coordinator. "This nationwide event represents a significant opportunity to engage local churches, volunteers and organizations in assisting and supporting returning citizens in the local community." Better Together has collaborated with churches to host more than 80 job fairs to date, serving almost 18,000 people. At each event, in a setting of compassion and celebration, the job interview rate exceeds 100 percent and one in four people get hired on-the-spot. Churches participating in the nationwide event will attend live online trainings as well as receive all the materials for free that they need to execute their local job fairs. Churches can express interest in hosting a job fair by visiting https://bettertogetherus.org/events/secondchances/. For media inquiries, please contact the Better Together team at [email protected]. SOURCE Better Together If you use Microsoft highly popular Office 365 ProPlus, and Google's highly popular Chrome browser, you (and your employees) may be in for a big surprise in the coming weeks. That's because the latest update to Office 365 will automatically install an extension that resets your default search engine in Chrome from Google to Microsoft's search engine Bing. How many people are likely to be affected? Microsoft recently reported that Office 365 commercial now has 155 million users worldwide, though it doesn't break out how many of those are ProPlus users. Still, if those users are in line with general market trends, about two thirds of their browsing happens in Chrome, and about 90 percent of their searching happens in Google. Microsoft isn't rolling out this extension worldwide, at least for now. Users in the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, India, and Australia are the only ones getting the extension at this time. Still, it's safe to say that the change will affect tens of millions of people, and some of them will not be expecting it. Judging from the responses of those who do know about it, they're likely to be displeased. The move has already been widely panned on social media. Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus will switch Chrome users' default search to Bing. Cue outrage from customers and IT administrators who see this as search hijacking. https://t.co/uHdEsNfMYT -- Stephen Shankland (@stshank) January 22, 2020 Other Twitter users skipped right past "search hijacking" and called Office 365 "malware" for installing unwanted software on their devices. And then there's this... When @Microsoft Office 365 surprise-changes your search engine to Bing. pic.twitter.com/yklWO2YGWD -- Patrick Doran (@SwearPointJS) January 24, 2020 Besides raising predictable amounts of ire, the move is somewhat reminiscent of Microsoft's insistence that its Windows operating system come with its own web browser Internet Explorer, a decision which led to the landmark 1998 lawsuit in which the Justice Department accused Microsoft of being a monopoly, and a U.S. district court ordered the company to be broken up. Microsoft filed an appeal and then reached a settlement with the DOJ. Microsoft is still bundling its own web browser with Windows of course, but switching millions of users from their chosen search engine to Bing without asking permission first is something else again. It's a play right out of the company's bad old monopolistic days. Why did Microsoft do it? Well, the company is anything but a monopoly when it comes to browsers or search, particularly search, where its global market share is less than 5 percent. Some Bing fans say that the search engine is at least as good as Google; Microsoft may be hoping that once it's made users try it by brute force, they'll stick around of their own free will. Microsoft has also put a lot of effort into recasting Bing as an internal search engine for companies and the company says by switching to Bing, users will get the usual results from the web, coupled with results from internal web pages and documents. That might indeed be very handy, but it still doesn't make it OK to force Microsoft 365 users to switch to Bing whether they want to or not. You'll need executable code to get rid of it. Microsoft seems to be somewhat aware of this. At least, that's my guess as to why the announcement of the change came with plenty of information about how to get out of it -- which isn't as easy as it should be. There are instructions for IT administrators to prevent the installation using various Microsoft tools, along with a warning that if you do these things after the new update has already been installed, they won't help you. Once it's installed, an administrator can remove it from a company or team's computers by running some executable code Microsoft has provided. Individual users can switch back to Google by using the "Edit search engines" function in Chrome. But, apparently, they can only remove the extension altogether by using the Control Panel in Windows. Unlike every other Chrome extension, it may not be removable within Chrome's own settings. Some Reddit users opined that Google should retaliate by setting the default font in Outlook to something odd-looking, such as Papyrus, or nonsensical, such as Wing Dings. And really, if Google did that, you couldn't blame them. But perhaps the nerviest thing about this extremely nervy change is that, since Microsoft is imposing its internal/external search engine on users, it's offered the helpful suggestion that both top executives and IT leaders spend a lot of time and effort carefully preparing their employees for this change that they neither wanted nor asked for. Assuming, I guess, that company leaders and their IT execs have oodles of free time, Microsoft helpfully lays out a four-step "User Adoption Guide" for Microsoft Search in Bing. This instructs the company to involve all stakeholders, including the business owner, executives, editors, a search administrator, and the IT change management team. It also says to find an executive-level sponsor for the change and other employees who will be its champions and "evangelize" about it. It doesn't say what to do if you can't find anyone who wants to sponsor Bing or evangelize about it. That's just Stage 1. Later stages include coming up with search scenarios to share with users, setting metrics to track the new search engine's success, putting out pamphlets and posters, helping users sign in to Bing, and on and on. There's even a zipped file you can download with email templates and customizable posters that you can print out. So there are your choices. Install Office 365 ProPlus as delivered, and spend a lot of time and effort printing out posters to explain to your users why the search engine they've been using for years suddenly isn't there anymore. Or deploy executable code into your system to prevent it from happening. Or, just maybe, skip Office 365 ProPlus altogether, and go find some productivity software from a company that doesn't feel entitled to dictate which search engine you use. When you sell a home, you may face capital gains taxes on any profit from the sale. A new bill would eliminate those taxes completely if the homeowner invests the proceeds in a Roth IRA. The Senior Housing Improvement and Retirement Accounts (IRA) Act would do away with the $7,000 Roth IRA contribution limit for those nearing retirement as long as homeowners shift their home sale profits into a Roth. Homeowners who are 55 and older and who have owned their homes for at least 20 years would qualify for this one-time transaction. Sales of second homes, vacation homes and investment properties are not eligible for the deal. Want more personal finance news? Enter your email address to be the first to know: The goal of the bill is to help seniors afford retirement in New Jersey, said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), who co-sponsored the bill. He said today, seniors are blocked from tapping one of their largest assets equity in their homes to save for retirement, and theyre hit with taxes when they can least afford it. The legislation would be especially helpful for homeowners in New Jersey, Gottheimer said, because for many, its simply too expensive to live and retire in the state. He noted that last year, more residents moved out of New Jersey than any other state. Gottheimer announced the bill during a press conference at the Fair Lawn Senior Center Monday morning. But financial advisors said they werent sure the legislation would be much help to the average homeowner. Under the current federal law, you can exclude capital gains of up to $250,000, or $500,000 if married, from a home sale. Few people have gains higher than those amounts, said Jerry Lynch, a certified financial planner with JFL Total Wealth Management in Boonton. I assume the purpose of this is to help people in lower incomes set aside money for retirement which is great, however, where do they live after that? Lynch said. The only people who can really take advantage of this have to be relatively wealthy so they can buy an additional home with the other funds that they have. Few people would benefit, agreed Bernie Kiely, a certified financial planner and certified public accountant with Kiely Capital Management in Morristown. He called the bill a sounds good idea with little real world application. Who would benefit from Rep. Gottheimers proposal? That would be a single homeowner who purchased their New York City home for $1 million many years ago and sells it for $2.5 million when they move to Florida, he said, noting that under current law, only $250,000 of the $1.5 million profit would escape taxation. Lynch said he would rather see seniors sell their homes, take the gain, which may very well be tax-free, and move to a lower-cost home. Then homeowners can pocket the equity difference and even consider a reverse mortgage, which would allow them to tap into the equity tax-free. This keeps them in their home, the gains come out tax-free and the future equity comes out tax-free, he said. Norman M. Fleischer, a certified public accountant in Fair Lawn, consulted with the congressman about the bill and disagreed with the criticism. You dont have to be wealthy to take advantage of this legislation, Fleischer said. "Many people throughout North Jersey have seen their home values grow over the past decades, and this bill gives middle class residents the opportunity to put more money aside and save for retirement. Rep. Gottheimer added that hes seen too many seniors in his district who say they cant afford to stay near their family in New Jersey. My bipartisan legislation will help seniors when theyre looking to downsize, retire, and stay here in northern New Jersey, where the average real estate price is $609,000, he said. Thats my ultimate goal to lower their taxes, save more for retirement, and be right near their families, he said. *** This post was updated to include comments from Rep. Gottheimer and CPA Norman Fleischer about criticism of the bill. Have you been Bamboozled? Reach Karin Price Mueller at Bamboozled@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KPMueller. Find Bamboozled on Facebook. Mueller is also the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Gold thief from Phang Nga arrested in Chalong PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested a man in Chalong just one day after he stole a necklace worth more than B46,000 from a gold shop in Thai Muang in Phang Nga, north of Phuket. crimepolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Tuesday 28 January 2020, 11:01AM Winai was caught on CCTV at the gold shop in Thai Muang. Photo; Thai Muang Police Officers led by Lt Col Suphap Saelim of the Chalong Police, together with Thai Muang Police of Phang Nga, arrested Winai Boy Sitthisak, 25, at a house in Moo 9, Chalong, at around midday yesterday (Jan 27). Winai was wanted under an arrest warrant issued by Phang Nga Provincial Court for committing theft by using a vehicle to flee after he stole a gold necklace in Thai Muang on Sunday (Jan 26), Lt Col Suphap explained. Winai arrived at a gold shop on Phetkasem Rd in Moo 4, Thai Mueang, and asked a staffer to show him a gold necklace. The staffer obliged, but Winai fled as soon as he had the gold necklace in hand, he added. The necklace was valued at about B46,900, he said. Police in Thai Muang had checked CCTV in the area and were in the process of tracking down the thief when we received a tip-off that he was in Chalong, leading to the arrest, Lt Col Suphap said. Winai confessed to committing the theft in order to pay gambling debts, Lt Col Suphap explained. After committing the theft, he immediately came to Phuket to hide at his friends house, he added. At the house, police also seized the outfit that Winai wore while committing the theft and a Phuket-registered Honda Click that Winai used to flee the scene. A document proving that the motorbike was rented was also seized at the house, Lt Col Suphap noted. Police yesterday took Winai to the Big C shopping centre on the bypass road where he sold the necklace to a gold shop. The necklace was reclaimed and Winai was handed over to the Thai Mueang Police to face charges in Phang Nga, Lt Col Suphap concluded. Lakefront Brewery | Photo: Megan L./Yelp Looking to uncover all that Brewer's Hill has to offer? Get to know this Milwaukee neighborhood by browsing its most popular local businesses, from a brewery to a tattoo shop. Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top places to visit in Brewer's Hill, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of neighborhood businesses. Read on for the results. 1. Lakefront Brewery Photo: Lindsay W./Yelp Topping the list is brewery Lakefront Brewery. Located at 1872 N. Commerce St., it's the most popular business in the neighborhood, boasting 4.5 stars out of 1,621 reviews on Yelp. The brewery produces more than 20 year-round and season beer options. On the tap menu, look for the cask IPA or the pale lager. 2. Uncle Wolfie's Breakfast Tavern Photo: Toni D./Yelp Next up is beer bar, breakfast and brunch and New American spot Uncle Wolfie's Breakfast Tavern, situated at 234 E. Vine St. With 4.5 stars out of 186 reviews on Yelp, it's proven to be a local favorite. The restaurant specializes in breakfast and brunch food. On the menu, look for the cornmeal cakes with whipped butter and syrup, steak and eggs or the breakfast burrito with pulled pork. 3. Northern Chocolate Company Photo: Michael L./Yelp Candy store and chocolatier and shop Northern Chocolate Company is another top choice. Yelpers give the business, located at 2036 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, five stars out of 29 reviews. The Northern Chocolate Company specializes in chocolate. The business offers chocolate in a variety of shapes and sizes. 4. Adambomb Gallerie Photo: Adam W./Yelp Adambomb Gallerie, a tattoo spot, is another much-loved neighborhood go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 13 Yelp reviews. Head over to 2028 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive to see for yourself. That tattoo shop offer services made by appointment only. View some of the artists work on Instagram @adambombgallerie. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. New Delhi, Jan 28 : The final stage of land acquisition for the first phase of proposed mega airport in Greater Noida has been completed, but on a sombre note, as some land-owners protested lower compensation for their land. While most of the land required for the Rs 30,000 crore project had been taken over by the government, protests erupted over few hectares. Land owners in case of nearly 20 hectares wanted higher compensation. Farmers claim that the region was recently deemed as semi-urban, thereby, attracting lower compensation for land, while the area has been traditionally recognised as rural for many years. With district administration not agreeing to the demand for higher land price, farmers resorted to agitation. They had a face-off with the administration on Monday and are not ready to back down on their demands. A group of about 50 farmers allegedly turned violent and pelted stones on the officials including the Sub-Divisional Magistrate concerned. But with help of other farmers, who have already parted with their lands, the administration managed to control the situation. An official claimed that the land acquisition process has been completed for the first phase. Later, Gautam Budh Nagar District Magistrate B.N. Singh said that administration has taken possession of the required land. Besides protests, farmers have also approached the Allahabad High Court, while some petitions have been dismissed, others are still pending. In November 2019, Zurich Airport International AG was selected as the concessionaire for developing the airport at Jewar. The company, headquartered in Switzerland, made the highest per-passenger bid for the airport. The Swiss company operates the Zurich Airport, and eight airports in Latin America. "Under a 40-year concession, the Flughafen Zurich AG will build and manage the new greenfield airport in Jewar. The new airport will be located around 80 km south of Delhi and will be fundamental to accommodate the expected flight traffic growth rates in the National Capital Region," the company had said. "The capital investment associated with the first phase is expected to amount to roughly CHF (Swiss francs) 650 million during the construction period of approximately four years. The first phase will be able to accommodate around 12 million passengers per year," it added. The Noida International Airport will come up in a 5,000-hectare area and is estimated to cost around Rs 30,000 crore. The first phase of the airport will be spread over 1,334 hectares and cost Rs 4,588 crore. It is expected to be completed by 2023. UWs Biodiversity Institute Helps Coordinate Winter Moose Day Feb. 15 A cow and calf pair are observed in the Woods Landing/Jelm area during the 2019 Winter Moose Day. (iNaturalist Photo) Strap on your snowshoes or skis, and grab a friend to enjoy Wyomings national forests while searching for moose. For the sixth year, citizen scientists will be able to help track moose populations in the mountains outside of Laramie for Winter Moose Day. The event, coordinated in part by the University of Wyomings Biodiversity Institute, is scheduled Saturday, Feb. 15, in the Vedauwoo/Happy Jack and Snowy Range mountain areas. Preregistration is required by Saturday, Feb. 8. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit also coordinate the program and event. Volunteers adopt survey routes and ski or snowshoe those routes to record all observations of moose or signs of moose. These can include tracks/hoofprints in snow, bed areas, scat droppings and signs of browsing on aspen and willows. The volunteer observations can be loaded into iNaturalist so the public can view where moose were seen. iNaturalist is a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. There were 26 moose or signs of moose that were uploaded to iNaturalist from the 2019 Winter Moose Day, says Mason Lee, senior project coordinator of the Biodiversity Institute. The data gathered from the Winter Moose Day is shared with biologists at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and UW. Biologists use the data collected by citizen scientists to further their understanding of the population densities of local moose, reproductive rates, summer habitat quality, their winter ranges and how these variables change over time. According to a 2018 Wyoming Game and Fish Department report, there is an estimated 3,460 moose in Wyoming. That number is down from a 2014 Game and Fish report Lee cited that estimated the states moose population was at 4,050. Its a variety of issues, says Sara DiRienzo, public information officer for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department office in Cheyenne. The populations are really influenced by disease and some habitat changes. The carotid artery worm and winter ticks affect moose, especially in drier springs, she says. Moose can often become anemic when subjected to these parasites. Additionally, habitat loss or change can negatively affect moose populations, she says. A lot of shrub communities are old and overused, meaning there is less food available for moose in those areas. Wildfires also can have an adverse effect on moose by removing hard cover that gives moose shelter from the heat. The best conditions for moose are wet, cool shady areas, DiRienzo says. Predation from bears and wolves and, to a lesser extent, mountain lions, can affect moose numbers, she adds. DiRienzo says hunting has very little impact on Wyoming moose populations, as licenses to hunt moose are very limited within the state. Both the winter and summer Moose Day events are geared toward increasing the publics understanding of moose in the Laramie area, and involving the public in asking and answering questions. These events are an extension of the original program, Moose Day, held by Nature Mapping Jackson Hole (NMJH) in Jackson each winter. NMJH is a citizen science program created by the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation. For those interested in participating in Winter Moose Day, visit www.wyomingbiodiversity.org/moose-day and adopt a route by Saturday, Feb. 8. Required training for new participants is scheduled Monday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. in the Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center. To survey while moose are most active, participants are asked to get to their routes as early as dawn and to complete their surveys by noon Feb. 15. The UW Biodiversity Institute fosters conservation of biodiversity through scientific discovery, creative dissemination, education and public engagement. In this setting, scientists and citizens, students and educators come together to share a wealth of perspectives on the study and appreciation of biodiversity -- from microbes to poetry and ecosystems to economics. To learn more, visit www.wyomingbiodiversity.org. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Tue, January 28, 2020 13:06 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20614e322 2 Science & Tech Vine-app,Byte,mobile-application Free Three years after shutting down, Vine was resurrected this past weekend as a new six-second video service called Byte. Despite Vine's popularity over the four years it was operational, the brief video clip-sharing application was shut down in early 2017. The platform's demise saddened a significant population of loyal users and, as a result, the app has been resurrected -- this time, as Byte. The new service has been created by Vine's co-founder, Dom Hoffman, and, unlike TikTok, the app only lets users share six-second videos instead of 60-second videos; because of this short form, filters and heavy editing tools are not viable. It's likely that the app will eventually gain similar features in the future, but at the time of launch, the app is fairly primitive. very soon, we'll introduce a pilot version of our partner program which we will use to pay creators. byte celebrates creativity and community, and compensating creators is one important way we can support both. stay tuned for more info. byte (@byte_app) January 25, 2020 Similarly to its predecessor and other social media platforms, Byte has a newsfeed, an Explore section, and personal profiles. What's new is the company's focus on creators and their promise to ensure that these people are compensated for their success on the platform. On Twitter, Byte states that "very soon, we'll introduce a pilot version of our partner program which we will use to pay creators. byte celebrates creativity and community, and compensating creators is one important way we can support both." After beta testing since spring of last year, Byte is now available to download on Android and iOS. [January 28, 2020] Marshall, NASA to Honor Fallen Astronaut Heroes Jan. 30 HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Jan. 30, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the NASA family nationwide will honor the brave explorers -- including the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia -- who lost their lives in the pursuit of scientific discovery and the betterment of all humankind. Marshall will host a candle-lighting ceremony at 9 a.m. CST in the lobby of Building 4200. Speakers will include Marshall Associate Director Steven Miley and former NASA astronaut Jan Davis, now a program manager at Bastion Technologies of Huntsville. Johnny Stephenson, director of Marshall's Office of Strategic Analysis & Communications, will introduce speakers and lead a moment of silence. Members of the Huntsille-area media are invited to attend. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, along with other senior agency officials, will lead an observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia starting at 1 p.m. EST, including a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Video and still images of various agency observances will be available at: https://www.nasa.gov/mediaresources The agency also is paying tribute to its fallen astronauts with special online content available Wednesday, Jan. 29, at: https://www.nasa.gov/dor2020 Images and multimedia from this year's events will be added following the events. Media interested in covering the Day of Remembrance event should contact Janet Sudnik, public affairs officer in the Marshall Office of Communications, at 256-544-0034 or [email protected] no later than 4 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 29. Participating members of the media are asked to arrive at the Redstone Arsenal Gate 9 Visitor's Center by 8 a.m. on Jan. 30. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/marshall-nasa-to-honor-fallen-astronaut-heroes-jan-30-300994654.html SOURCE NASA On Feb. 4, from 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m., speaker Justin Bachman will be presenting his program to the students enrolled in the Holocaust Center's UpStanders program. This evening presentation is an opportunity for our community and the parents of students to hear his story of strength and determination as he overcame significant challenges. In elementary school, Bachman was a scared, insecure and lost child. He wasn't good at making friends, and never seemed to fit in. He told himself he was worthless, internalized those feelings and believed them wholeheartedly. He thought his life didn't matter. Today, at 22 years of age, Bachman is an accomplished broadcast journalist for Spectrum News in Syracuse, New York. He is a national storyteller who has a track record of halting suicide plans. His 60-minute program is moving, empowering, and uniquely impactful. As a suicide survivor, he will share his journey and discuss how he came to realize the underlying problems causing his feelings of worthlessness and how he embraces his differences today. He is open and honest and will take your questions following the program. Program is appropriate for adults and students age 10 and up. Bachman has done more than 150 full school assemblies in 16 different states. Throughout his speaking career, he has spoken to more than 125,000 people and reached millions over social media. This event, organized by the Holocaust Center of Florida, is free and will be held at the Roth Family JCC. To RSVP, visit http://www.holocaustedu.org/event/justin-bachmans-living-loud-can-you-hear-it. For more information, call 407-628-0555. Ivanka Trump looked somber as she watched her father, President Donald Trump, unveil his plan for peace in the Middle East on Tuesday amid his impeachment trial. The first daughter, who wore a variety of colorful designer outfits in Davos, Switzerland, last week, donned a demure all-black outfit when she arrived in the East Room of the White House. Ivanka, 38, had a serious look on her face as she spoke with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise ahead of the announcement. Support system: Ivanka Trump watched her father, President Donald Trump, unveil his plan for peace in the Middle East in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday Outfit of the day: Ivanka donned a black suit jacket and a matching skirt for the occasion Worried? The first daughter had a somber look on her face as she entered the East Room ahead of the announcement She had her hands clasped together, revealing her diamond engagement ring, which features a large, square, cushion-cut diamond. Ivanka has mostly steered clear of ostentatious jewelry since she started working as a White House senior adviser, and she rarely wears the 5.22-carat jewel that is rumored to be worth over $500,000. The eye-catching piece of jewelry was the only thing stood out from Ivanka's simple yet elegant outfit, which consisted of a collarless suit coat and a matching skirt. The first daughter wore her blonde lob center-parted and poker-straight, her go-to look as of late, and she stuck to her signature smokey eye and rose-colored lips. Ivanka tried to raise a smile as she mingled ahead of the announcement, but she seemed to have something on her mind. Company: Ivanka walked in with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (left) and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin (right) Her look: The first daughter wore her blonde lob center-parted and poker-straight, her go-to look as of late Not feeling it: Ivanka barely raised a smile as she walked by the crowd of photographers Senate Republicans plan to meet on Tuesday and are expected to discuss whether to call witnesses in the president's impeachment trial, NBC News has reported, citing four unnamed Republican aides. With Trump's defense team set to conclude their arguments on Tuesday afternoon, a vote on whether to call witnesses could happen later this week. President Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan Tuesday, calling for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in portions of east Jerusalem. He declared it a 'win-win' opportunity for both Israel and the Palestinians. The plan ends speculation as to whether his administration, in preparing a proposal without input from Palestinian leaders, would abandon a 'two-state resolution' to the conflict. Focused: Ivanka had a serious look on her face and her hands clasped together as she spoke with Scalise ahead of the announcement Bling ring: The White House senior adviser had her hands clasped together, revealing her diamond engagement ring, which features a large, square, cushion-cut diamond Special occasion: Ivanka rarely wears the 5.22-carat jewel that is rumored to be worth over $500,000 Trump released the plan before a pro-Israel audience at the White House with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side. He acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he explained he wanted the deal to be a 'great deal for the Palestinians.' Trump said the deal is a 'historic opportunity' for Palestinians to achieve an independent state of their own. The plan more than doubles the territory currently under Palestinian control, although it also recognizes Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank, something to which the Palestinians will almost certainly object. The Palestinians have already rejected the proposal, accusing Trump of being biased in favor of Israel as he has adopted policies that bolster Israel at their expense. The plan does call for a four-year freeze in new Israeli settlement construction, during which time details of a comprehensive agreement would be negotiated. Beauty routine: Ivanka stuck to her signature smokey eye and rose-colored lips Political partners: Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner, was also on hand for the announcement Failing to raise a smile: Jared, 39, also had a serious expression on his face as he made his way through the crowd Proud: Ivanka applauded her husband when he was recognized during the event Announcement: President Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side However, it was not immediately clear if the freeze could be extended if a final deal is not concluded in the four years. The 50-page political outline goes further in concessions to the Palestinians than many analysts had believed was likely, but it would require them to accept conditions they have been previously unwilling to consider, such as accepting West Bank settlements. It builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. Under the terms of the 'peace vision' that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared, has been working on for nearly three years, the future Palestinian state would consist of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of above-ground roads and tunnels. Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. On the go: Ivanka was seen leaving her Washington, D.C. home in a Secret Service vehicle straight from her garage on Tuesday morning Headed to work: Jared smile as he stepped out the front door of their home around 7:30 a.m. Backstage: Ivanka took her sons Joseph, six, and Theodore, three, to the Monster Jam show at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. on Sunday Say cheese! The mom snapped a photo of Theodore sticking his tongue out for the camera while sitting inside one of the monster trucks Ivanka was seen leaving her Washington, D.C. home in a Secret Service vehicle straight from her garage on Tuesday morning ahead of the announcement. Before starting the workweek, the first daughter enjoyed some quality time with her two sons at a monster truck show on Sunday. She took to Instagram Stories to share videos and photos from the Monster Jam event at Capital One Arena, including pictures of her sons Joseph, six, and Theodore, three, backstage. Ivanka looked happy to be back home with her children after spending most of last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos with her father and husband. She took the stage last Wednesday to promote her father's workforce initiatives wearing a blue polka-dot top with a large pussy bow under her $1,940 blue Max Mara suit jacket, which matched her $595 pants. Date night: Ivanka and Jared attended the exclusive Alfalfa Club Dinner in D.C. on Saturday evening before stopping by Jeff Bezos' after-party at his mansion Busy: Ivanka spent last Tuesday through Friday in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. She is pictured at the last plenary session on Friday, the final day of the meeting Feeling blue? Ivanka took the stage last Wednesday to promote her father's workforce initiatives wearing a blue polka-dot top with a Max Mara suit On Friday, the last day of the international conference, she donned a burgundy turtleneck underneath a $498 Brooks Brothers blazer and a pair of $595 blue checked trousers by Akris. Ivanka could be seen beaming from ear to ear as she sat alongside the World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab and Swiss defense minister Viola Amherd. If she was struggling with jet lag on Saturday after she arrived home, she pushed through it and enjoyed a night out with her husband, Jared. The couple attended the exclusive Alfalfa Club Dinner in D.C. on Saturday evening before joining the likes of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and actor Ben Stiller at Jeff Bezos' newly renovated mansion. The Amazon founder purchased the $23 million property in D.C. in 2016, and it underwent three years of renovations and construction. The 27,000-square-foot home is tucked in the city's wealthy Kalorama district near the residences of former President Barack Obama and the Trump-Kushner family. The state adopted its gun offender registry, or more exactly a deadly weapons offender registry, in those emotional months after the Sandy Hook massacre. It was a provision buried in the sweeping, historic gun-control measure that former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy shepherded through in 2013. Many lawmakers didnt know they had voted for a registry. Seven years later, my colleague Ken Dixon obtained a non-public summary of the 1,875 offenders by city, not by name and address. Surprise! Three out of every five people on the list live in Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven or Waterbury. Now the question is, should the state make the whole list names, crimes, addresses and all open to the public in the spirit of open disclosure and safety? The best answer is no not in the lists current form. As a news columnist and editor, Im all for release of public documents and I cant see a legal reason to withhold this list. But if were talking about fairness and the public interest, thats a different matter. This list probably shouldnt exist in the first place. Disclosure would do more harm than good if the goal were to prevent gun violence. Its not necessary. Its like a big waste of resources to do this, said Mike Lawlor, Malloys point man on criminal justice, who crafted much of the 2013 gun control act. His point is that police departments already know who to watch. Even since 2013, theyve gained a lot more data at their fingertips. Law enforcement should be in the neighborhoods all the time, working with people, knowing who the high risk people are, keeping an eye on them, said Lawlor, a former longtime Democratic state legislator from East Haven, then Malloy administration official, whos now associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven. The problem, he and others say, is that the list looks like a reasonable proxy for who might likely use guns in violent acts in the future. But thats not correct. Its a temporary, 5-year list of people who have been convicted of any of 42 gun offenses. Fair enough. Many, perhaps most, are on probation in those five years anyway and their status is freely available to anyone who does a simple search on the Judicial Branch website. A search, of course, requires a name and thats why some people want the list released. But what about the people on this list who failed or refused to register a gun, or who bought a gun improperly but otherwise have no record and no intent to hurt anyone? On the other side of the ledger, what about all the people who committed heinous gun crimes and did time for it, but werent convicted of gun law violations? It would be nice of we lived in a society that can make those distinctions. Sorry, we do not. So, what we would have is a list satisfying vigilante or prurient interests without much public good. The ACLU opposes public release of the list on privacy grounds. Some people who work with ex-offenders on post-prison re-entry to the workforce favored creation of the list, but making the list public could doom an ex-offenders second chance in some cases, unjustly. People who dont often agree with Lawlor on gun laws also say releasing the list is a bad idea. It could have the opposite effect than what you want, said Rep. Vin Candelora, R-North Branford because, in his view, too many people plead to lower, non-gun offenses and the specter of a public list could increase those plea bargains. If we make it public, were going to see even fewer convictions, said Candelora, the deputy House Republican leader. Members of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, who favor broader gun rights, oppose the list as redundant. Others say public documents should be public. What is the point of the list, Senate Republican leader Len Fasano asked, if its not open to the public? State and local police officials, for their part, are divided on whether the list makes sense as a law enforcement tool. Into this melange of opinions, lets insert some order suggested by Lawlor and endorsed by other people. The idea is to generate a list based not on who copped what plea to what laws, but on actual risk assessments done while an offender is in the prison system. Thats what some states do for their sex offender registries notably Minnesota, Lawlor said and thats what Connecticut should do for all criminal registries. It makes for a list based on whos a danger to society. Then wed have a useful list for the public. Until then, weve got countless violations of freedom of information laws, in letter and in spirit, that we can address. We could start with quasi-public agencies operating in secret, as Candelora suggested, and move to local school boards holding sham meetings, my personal favorite. That list is endless. dhaar@hearstmediact.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 06:39:48|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition on Holocaust researchers kicked off Tuesday at the UN headquarters on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The exhibition -- Crimes Uncovered: The First Generation of Holocaust Researchers -- presents the real-life stories of about 20 Jewish academics who documented, collected and secured evidence of the crimes committed against the Jewish people during the Holocaust. One of the exhibition board introduced Tuviah Friedman, a Polish-born researcher, who made an important contribution to the prosecution of Nazi perpetrators. He lost almost his entire family during the Holocaust. On another board was the story of Rachel Auerbach, a writer born in East Europe, who ran a soup kitchen in the Warsaw Ghetto and worked for an underground archive during the war. At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, UN Undersecretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming said the Nazis endeavored to remove all traces of their genocide actions, "but as we will see today, they did not succeed. They failed to silence the record." She said this exhibition tells "the history of how, even as the Nazis and their collaborators were carrying out their genocidal campaign, records were kept by their targets." German Permanent Representative to the UN Christoph Heusgen said that Germans understand their responsibility for keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive. "Let us pass on the learning from the past," he said. Also at the ceremony, a 92-year-old survivor of the Holocaust shared her personal story of the Jews being persecuted during World War II. The ongoing exhibition is produced by the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site and Touro College Berlin in cooperation with The Wiener Library. Its installation at the UN is organized by the UN Department of Global Communication and the German Permanent Mission to the UN. Tambe Enow Micheal Screenshot from HiTv Tambe Enow Micheal, one of the 41 candidates on the CPDM list ahead of the February 9 municipal elections has tendered his resignation citing health concerns. The resignation letter dated January 23, 2020 was read by the candidate on local television channel, HiTV Cameroon Monday, January 27, 2020. Resignation as would-be councillor on the Muyuka Rural Council list, I hereby tender this letter of resignation today the 23rd of January 2020 from the Muyuka list. This is as a result of health problems. Thanks for understanding, said Tambe Enow Micheal. Last week, Ndille Ngwese Joseph, Barrister-at-Law and outgoing councillor of the Muyuka Council said he will no longer be candidate to the February 9, 2020 municipal elections. With his name appearing on the fourth position on the list of the Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) party for Muyuka, Ndille Ngwese told Buea-based HiTV that he can no longer bear threats from Amba Boys. Armed separatists seeking to make of Cameroons North West and South West regions an independent country christened Ambazonia have since sworn to frustrate the February 9, 2020 municipal and legislative elections in the North West and South North West Regions. They went as far as calling for candidates in the said elections in the restive regions to withdraw or face dire consequences. Apparently scared of the unknown, Ndille Ngwese said: I think the benefits of becoming a councillor and the benefits of what I have acquired throughout my life my family and my property far outweighs. I think I prefer staying, not being a councillor, than to lose my properties. Because the amount of threats I have, I cant bear them. And I think it is good and time enough for me to say I cannot continue to allow my name to be on that list as a councillor. So, I better drop. I think if I want to be a politician anymore, might be I will give some time. Not now, at this time when my life and my properties are at stake. I wrote a resignation to the Minister of Decentralisation and Local Development. I wrote my resignation and I tendered it. I think when they get it; they will know that I am serious. I think for all intents and purpose, I dont think I want to continue. Writing to the Minister, Ndille Ngwese titled the letter Resignation as would-be councillor from the Muyuka Council list 2020 municipal elections. Ndille Ngwese writes: I hereby tender this letter of resignation today the 21st of January 2020 from the Muyuka Council list. This is as a result of insecurity to my life and my family and my property. Copies of the letter are said to have been sent to the Senior Divisional Officer for Fako, the Permanent Divisional Delegation of the CPDM, CRTV Buea, HiTV Buea, the South West Branch of ELECAM and other media organs. Ndille Ngwese in his concluding remarks prays that things will come back to normal and we live as Cameroonians henceforth. And we live as we used to live. I think it all depends on our Head of State. That is all I can say for now. Ndille Ngwese is former YCPDM Section President for Fako II, Muyuka. Mamata Banerjee upset after not being allowed to speak during PMs meet Missionaries of Charity itself requested SBI to freeze all bank accounts: Govt Mamata Banerjee on PM Modi's virtual hospital launch: We inaugurated it last year Ready for talks with PM on CAA, but the Centre has to withdraw the act first: Mamata Banerjee India oi-Deepika S Kolkata, Jan 28: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that she was ready for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the controversial amended Citizenship Act (CAA) , but has put a condition to do so. "I am ready for talks with the PM on CAA, but the Centre has to withdraw the Act first," PTI quoted her as saying at a protest meet in Kolkata. Bengal government on Monday passed resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the state assembly, becoming the fourth state administration to do so since the law was passed in December. "The time has come to put aside narrow differences and fight together to save the country," Banerjee said in her address in Assembly on anti-CAA resolution. Mamata tweets, 'couldn't recognise Omar Abdullah'; his bearded photo goes viral The resolution appeals to the Union government to repeal the amended citizenship law and revoke plans to implement NRC and update NPR. Three states Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan have already passed resolutions against the new citizenship law. The law has emerged as the latest flashpoint in the state, with the TMC opposing the contentious legislation tooth and nail, and the BJP pressing for its implementation. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 19:02 [IST] The PMO has obtained a copy of the 1993 Acquisition of Certain Areas at Ayodhya Act, enacted by the PV Narasimha Rao government, and the same is being studied by its officials. : The Prime Minister's Office is armed with a draft ordinance on Ayodhya, according to a highly placed source. The Modi government is obviously seized of the Ayodhya issue, especially after the RSS and the sadhus meetings have red-flagged the issue. As per the tentative schedule being looked at by the government, the ordinance is likely to be discussed at the Union Cabinet by the middle of November, after which it will be promulgated. The government is expected to summon the winter session of Parliament in the second week of December, after elections to the five states are over, and obviously it will discuss the ordinance. One school of thought is that the government, instead of taking the ordinance route, can straightaway move an Ayodhya Bill in the winter session. Either way, legal views are being sought on all options before the government. For the RSS and BJP, this tentative schedule helps them politically, as it will mean the Ayodhya issue will remain in the limelight and the momentum will carry forward till the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Election Commission of India is expected to kickstart preparations for the Lok Sabha polls from January. Rest assured, Ayodhya will remain in the headlines on almost all Hindi and English TV news channels till the polling is over. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, January 28, 2020 As most developed countries have steadily reduced their refugee intake, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is being forced to formulate "alternate pathways" to a third country. The newly appointed UNHCR representative to Indonesia, Ann Maymann, said the "alternate pathway" is an umbrella term her organization has been using to describe efforts to develop other solutions for refugees beyond the traditional approaches of resettlement, voluntary repatriation and local integration. It's actually not precisely defined because we are still working with states on finding more alternatives because as resettlement goes down, people cant go back because their countries are still at war and local integration is very difficult to obtain, she said at a media briefing on Tuesday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login BJP chief JP Nadda on Tuesday challenged the ruling AAP in Delhi to disclose its "connection" with the protest against the new citizenship law at Shaheen Bagh, hours after anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam was arrested in a sedition case for allegedly making inflammatory speeches. "Two days ago (Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader) Manish Sisodia dared Home Minister Amit Shah to arrest Sharjeel in 24 hours or answer what connection he had with the BJP. Sharjeel has been arrested by Crime Branch of Delhi Police, now you tell your connection with Shaheen Bagh," he said. "Galbahiyan Tum Karo aur Jawab Ham Dein (You hobnob with him and we give answer," Nadda said, slamming AAP leaders for allegedly supporting the protesters at Shaheen Bagh. He asserted nation comes ahead of elections for BJP, but for AAP and Congress, vote comes first. Sisodia had slammed the BJP, daring its government to arrest Imam, saying if he's not arrested it would seem he was sent by BJP to make inflammatory statements. Nadda addressed election meetings in Hari Nagar, Tilak Nagar and Shalimar Bagh on Tuesday, ahead of the assembly election scheduled on February 8. In one of the meetings, he said that the Kejriwal government did not give prosecution sanction for over an year in the JNU sedition case, which showed it was trying to "protect" anarchist elements. "Kejriwal has failed to give prosecution sanction against Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid in JNU case where 'Bharat Tere Tukde Honge' slogan was raised. He has been avoiding questions on this," alleged the BJP president. "Time has come to say good bye to this government which has lied and betrayed people," he said. He also slammed the Congress and the AAP for "spreading rumours" about the citizenship law. "They are saying crores of people will come to the country due to CAA and also that it will deprive people of the citizenship right. Those covered under the law are already living in the country and the prime minister has repeatedly said CAA is for giving citizenship to persecuted minorities not taking it." Nadda alleged the Delhi government "failed" to meet the basic needs of the people like public transport and clean drinking water in its five-year rule. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Bringing up sedition charges slapped against Sharjeel Imam, an activist and PhD student at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), in multiple states including Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said that the Centre wouldnt spare any anti-national elements. He urged people to vote wisely on February 8. Sharjeel advocated separating Assam from the rest of the country during an address at the ongoing protest at Shaheen Bagh, against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.Sharjeel Imam claimed to cut off Assam from India. A case of sedition has been filed against him. Will (Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal now save him? The votes of the people of Delhi will decide on February 8 whether they want a government sitting on dharna or a BJP government which will protect Delhi, he said. Shah was speaking at an election rally in west Delhi, in favour of BJPs Rithala and Janakpuri candidates Manish Chaudhary and Ashish Sood. Also present were Union ministers Giriraj Singh, Anurag Thakur, and Delhi MPs Parvesh Verma and Hans Raj Hans. In view of the suffering of refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, the Modi government passed CAA so that they get the benefits of central schemes. But opposition parties are playing politics even on this issue. Rahul and Kejriwal instigated the people protesting against this law, the home minister said. Shah also attacked Kerjiwal for allegedly not giving permission to prosecute former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar and others. A married bisexual couple have told how they started a three-way relationship with a school teacher they met in a yoga class before moving in together after just four months. Patrick, 31, a painter, and Samela, 28, an art illustrator, from San Diego, California, met at the University of Hartford, Connecticut, in 2009 and were 'instantly' attracted to each other, revealing they fell 'madly in love' before eventually tying the knot in 2017. The 'sexually explorative' couple, who are in an open relationship, had tried BDSM, swinging and foursomes with an older married couple as they explored 'new experiences and desires'. But Patrick and Samela were not seeking a 'third wheel' for their own relationship until they met Abbey Quincena, 26, at a yoga studio in March 2019. Despite being openly attracted to both sexes, Abbey had never considered polyamory - but her platonic friendship with the bisexual couple soon turned into a night of passion and she quickly became their girlfriend. Now the couple have moved in together with a pet Labrador and are planning a ceremony to declare their love after a whirlwind romance. Patrick (right), 31, a painter, and Samela (left), 28, an art illustrator, of San Diego, met in 2009 before meeting Abbey Quincena (center), 26, at a yoga studio in March 2019 'We got on really well at yoga class and we realized we were all Game of Thrones fans, loved art shows and had loads in common,' Abbey recalled. She started spending more time with the couple and their 'sexual chemistry' grew, but everything changed when she hosted a 'Beyonce Birthday Bash' to celebrate turning 25. 'Everyone had to come dressed up as their favorite version of Beyonce it was great fun,' she said. 'Throughout the night I noticed Patrick had been flirting with me quite obviously. 'I wasn't really sure what was happening then, all of a sudden, Patrick pushed me up against the wall and kissed me passionately. 'I wanted to kiss him, but at the same time I knew he had a wife and I felt so guilty. 'I pushed him away and ran to Sam and said, "I'm so sorry, I don't know what the heck is going on, but your husband just kissed me". 'All she said back was, "How was it was it good?" Abbey did not know that Patrick and Samela had already confessed to being attracted to her and had been discussing the possibility of 'spicing up their friendship'. The 'sexually explorative' couple, who are in an open relationship, had tried BDSM, swinging and foursomes before were not seeking a 'third wheel' until meeting schoolteacher Abbey Despite being openly attracted to both sexes, Abbey had never considered polyamory - but her initially-platonic friendship with the couple soon turned into a night of passion 'We both found Abbey attractive and thought she was really cool,' Samela said. 'We hadn't been looking for a third person, but it happened naturally, and our feelings developed organically. 'We'd spoken about whether or not we should ask her if she was interested in joining us - but we weren't sure. 'Then, on her birthday, Patrick decided to just go in for the kiss and see what happened.' Explaining to a bemused Abbey that no one had cheated on anyone and they were in fact in an open relationship, the couple then invited her to their house the following day. 'Abbey came round, we cooked a huge feast and then later we went to the beach to watch the sunset,' Samela said. 'It was a beautiful sunset and there was a lot of tension in the air. Patrick and I still weren't 100 per cent sure if Abbey just wanted a platonic friendship or if she'd be interested in more. 'We didn't want it to be weird or to be intimidating, with the two of us coming on to her. 'But something about watching the sunset was so beautiful and we shared a kiss and asked Abbey if she would be interested in having more.' Abbey says she started spending more time with the couple and their 'sexual chemistry' grew, but everything changed when she hosted a 'Beyonce Birthday Bash' to celebrate turning 25 Abbey did not know that Patrick and Samela had already confessed to being attracted to her and had been discussing the possibility of 'spicing up their friendship' Left on tenterhooks, the couple eagerly awaited Abbey's answer. 'If she said no then we knew we'd just keep it as a platonic friendship, but she said yes,' Patrick recalled. 'We wanted to take things slow that night, so we gave her a bath, kissed her all over and made her feel comfortable. 'We lit candles to make it romantic and it was a loving experience. It wasn't just about the sex it was much more than that.' Following their night of passion, Patrick and Samela asked Abbey if she wanted to be their girlfriend and she agreed. And in June, the three lovers took a 'crazy leap' and moved in together after four months together. 'We spent all our time together anyway, so we thought, 'Why not just have all our stuff in one place?' Samela explained. 'Now it's the three of us and our black Labrador in our double bed every night, but we're all quite small people, so it's not too squished. 'It's great to live together, so we can all just chill out at the house, but we love going out on dates, too. 'We go dancing or to the beach and we love going out for food and finding a happy hour at a bar. 'We do one-on-one dates, too, because it's important to tend to the individual as well but the real fun times are when we're all together.' In June, the three lovers took a 'crazy leap' and moved in together after four months together Abbey, of San Diego, California, said: 'It was quite intimidating going into a relationship with two people who were married. 'I found it daunting, because Patrick and Sam have true love their love is so deep and cosmic. Throuple's top tips for an open relationship Communication is key Always be honest with what you desire Have patience Be clear about your intentions Be happy for your partners love as well as your own Advertisement 'At first, I struggled to fit in, because their marriage took precedence - but it's been seven or eight months now and I've found my feet. 'There are so many different configurations to our relationship. There's me and Patrick, who are boyfriend and girlfriend, me and Sam who are girlfriends and then Patrick and Sam, who are husband and wife.' Meanwhile Patrick and Samela explained they have always been open to having a third partner. 'Samela and I have been together for 10 years, but for most of that time we've been in an open relationship,' Patrick explained. 'From the beginning, we explored non-monogamy - although when we got engaged in 2015, we were monogamous for about 18 months. 'Sam's had a girlfriend and I've had a boyfriend outside our marriage, but it's not been calculated. We've both been happy about it and we've always been honest with each other. 'We love each other, but at the same time, we want to be satisfied sexually. It's about new experiences and exploring our desires, too. The three-way couple have even launched their own podcast - aptly titled 'Throuple Trouble' and have received messages from people who want to open up their relationships Despite trying to explain what it means to be polyamorous to the world outside, Samela admits that not everyone understands 'We've tried polyamory, BDSM (bondage and sadomasochism), swinging and we've had a foursome with an older married couple. 'I was even the third-wheel for another couple for a while.' The three-way couple have even launched their own podcast - aptly titled 'Throuple Trouble' and have received messages from people who want to open up their relationships. Despite trying to explain what it means to be polyamorous to the world outside, Samela admits that not everyone understands. 'A lot of people get it wrong and think Pat's the main man with a wife and a girlfriend, but that couldn't be further from the truth,' she said. 'They think he's the mastermind behind it all, but actually I had the hots for Abbey before he did. He was actually trying to make it happen for us all not just himself.' Even with their admirable openness, jealousy has been known to creep into their threesome, although Patrick swears that good communication soon solves problems. Proving just how strong their bond as a threesome or 'throuple' is, the lovers have now planned a ceremony in February to declare their love 'It's about balance and if an element of jealousy does crop up, I take a step back and take a look at my insecurities, that have been bubbling away,' Patrick said. 'Communication is so important. If there's something I don't like I just have to communicate it and ask for it to be altered. 'Likewise, if I want to try something new, I need to first be clear on my intentions, like, "Why do I want to explore new things in the bedroom?", before telling my partners about those intentions and why I have them.' Proving just how strong their bond as a threesome or 'throuple' is, the lovers have now planned a ceremony in February to declare their love and to commit to each other for a year and one day. 'The love we share is rare. I know no matter what happens in the future they'll be in my life forever. They're my lovers and my best friends. 'They've bought me a crown to wear on the day of the ceremony and it's symbolic because Sam and Patrick treat me like royalty. 'I truly believe having two people in your heart is better than one.' Description GIS - 28 January, 2020: Mauritius will make a yearly voluntary contribution to the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund which supports the implementation of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety. Mauritius will make a yearly voluntary contribution to the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund which supports the implementation of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety. The Fund benefits the worlds citizens by leveraging the expertise of the United Nations system to achieve the road safety related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The objectives comprise strengthening road safety management capacity and supporting road safety programmes at the national and local levels across the five pillars of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety by providing financial support to participating institutions and organisations. They also include coordinating and harmonising initiatives for the SDGs, and maximising the effectiveness and efficiency of the goals. Other countries namely Hungary, Slovak Republic, Republic of Cyprus and organisations such as the European Commission, Russian Federation, Total Foundation, Agence Francaise de Developpement, also contribute to the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund. About the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund With regard to improving road safety, the UN General Assembly adopted, in April 2016, resolution 70/260 requesting the Secretary-General to consider the possibility of establishing, from voluntary contributions, a road safety trust fund, to support the implementation of road safety-related SDGs. Following the resolution, the United Nations Road Safety Fund was established in 2018 as a UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund. The vision of the Fund is to build a world where roads are safe for every road user, everywhere . Its mission is to finance and leverage further funding for high-impact projects based on established and internationally recognised best practices that increase road safety and minimize and eventually eliminate road crash trauma for all road users. The Fund was created to finance actions in low and middle-income countries to substantially reduce death and injuries from road crashes, and reduce economic losses resulting from these crashes. Mumbai: On resolutions passed against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act by Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar on Monday said that these states are ruled by one-party, unlike Maharashtra. He, however, added that "our CM has said there should be no problem for anyone in the state due to CAA and NRC, we're of this opinion." Notably, West Bengal became the fourth state to pass a resolution against the Citizenship Act in its Assembly on Monday. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asserted that the state government will not allow the CAA, National Population Register (NPR), and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal. Mamata said, "This protest is not only of minorities but for all. I thank my Hindu brothers for leading this protest from the forefront. In Bengal, we won't allow CAA, NPR, and NRC. We will fight peacefully." Live TV On January 25, the Congress government in Rajasthan passed a resolution against the Act in the state assembly. Prior to Rajasthan, Kerala and Punjab also passed the resolution against the CAA. The Supreme Court has refused to put a stay on the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, granting four weeks` time to the Central government to file a reply on the petitions regarding the same. The CAA grants Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The agenda for World Trade Organisation (WTO) reforms should be balanced and inclusive to address the historic asymmetries in the Uruguay Round Agreements, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said while participating in an informal ministerial gathering in Davos last week. According to a statement released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday, Goyal said a good starting point for the reform agenda will be removing the imbalances in the agreement on agriculture and ensuring a level playing field, particularly for developing economies. "As long-standing proponents of WTO reform, developing countries have, for almost 20 years, sought the elimination of unequal and trade-distorting entitlements in the agreement on agriculture. Another positive step will be, to build upon the work of the last several years and to implement existing mandates such as a permanent solution for public stockholding for food security purposes," he said. The minister further said that this will help in enhancing the trust of developing countries in the WTO's negotiating arm. During his intervention at the gathering, Goyal said that the current challenges throw up some key priorities for MC12 (The Twelfth Ministerial Conference will take place from 8-11 June 2020 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan), including WTO reform. He said that on the Appellate Body, India believes, that all must work collectively to achieve the vision of the founding fathers, for an effective multilateral trading system. "The early restoration of the full strength of the Appellate Body, will contribute to the realization of that objective," Goyal added. The Commerce and Industry Minister also said that developing countries, particularly the LDCs, have not been able to achieve an equitable share in world trade. "Therefore, the continued availability of special and differential treatment, for these countries, is imperative for them to address their development aspirations," Goyal said. "The reform process should not be used, to further restrict the flexibilities and policy space required by developing countries, to better integrate with the global trading system," he added. The Commerce and Industry Minister underlined that a significant outcome at MC12 is essential, for further strengthening the role of the WTO in global trade. The minister said that as an overall objective, the WTO must ensure transparency and fair practices in global trade, to ensure that our mutual economic engagement results in growth and prosperity for all. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The presidents team, meanwhile, has regularly toggled between the rhetoric of law and that of pure politics. Theres been plenty of President Trumps brand of political rhetoric, replete with hyperbole, untruths and personal attacks. The White Houses opening trial brief at times read like a speech written for a political rally, making the decidedly nonlegal point that the Democrats desperately need an illegitimate boost for their candidate in the 2020 election and insisting several times that the presidents phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was perfectly appropriate (though they didnt seem quite able to bring themselves to echo the presidents claim that the call was perfect). On the first day of the Senate trial, White House lawyers called the charges against the president ridiculous by my count at least seven times and the White House counsel Pat Cipollone falsely claimed that during House proceedings, not even Schiffs Republican colleagues were allowed into the S.C.I.F. (the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, a basement room in the Capitol where closed-door House committee sessions were held to get testimony in an earlier phase of the impeachment process). But the presidents team has simultaneously invoked legal standards: a requirement that articles of impeachment charge an indictable crime; a criminal-law standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt; a limitation to evidence considered in the House proceedings. All of these arguments are subject to debate, and in some cases have vanishingly little support; but as important, they all sound in law, not politics. This was the tenor of most of the first two days of the presidents teams opening arguments, as White House lawyers focused on both disputing the House managers characterization of the evidence against the president and making a litany of specific legal arguments that the Houses subpoenas were invalid, for example, and that the House proceedings failed to afford the president sufficient due process protections. What is gained and what is lost in having this fight in the language of the law? Theres certainly an argument that here the veneer of law serves mostly to obscure what is really an exercise in raw political power. On that logic, perhaps it would be better to acknowledge that this is at base a political affair; that in our age of hyperpolarization, no president whose party controls the Senate can be subject to a meaningful impeachment check, so that the Constitutions impeachment process is no longer (if it ever was) up to the task of checking a lawless president. But there may also be real value in the remainder of this fight occurring on the terrain of law and in its language. The Trump administration has shown little interest in adhering to settled norms and practices of governance; indeed, it has frequently evinced contempt for institutions that might serve as rivals or act as genuine checks on the president. But to the extent that the presidents lawyers choose to make their arguments for the rest of the trial in mostly legal terms, they will be acceding to the requirements of the institutional setting in which they are operating. And in doing so they will be implicitly acknowledging that the rules do apply to the president and his surrogates, and that law continues to matter. In a series of tweets, Trump also threatened to stop all American financial assistance to countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala from where illegal immigrants flow in, and blamed the opposition Democratic party for supporting such illegal migration. : US President Donald Trump threatened to close the US' southern border with Mexico and deploy the military to stop the flow of illegal immigrants from Central America. "I am watching the Democrat Party-led (because they want Open Borders and existing weak laws) assault on our country by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, whose leaders are doing little to stop this large flow of people, INCLUDING MANY CRIMINALS, from entering Mexico to US," Trump said in his first tweet. "In addition to stopping all payments to these countries, which seem to have almost no control over their population, I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the US military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!" said the president in a strongly-worded tweet. Trump said the assault on the US at its southern border, including the criminal elements and drugs pouring in, is far more important to him as president, than trade or the recently agreed upon US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. "Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border. All Democrats' fault for weak laws!" he tweeted. The tweets came as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to visit Mexico ahead of the December inauguration of President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, as well as Panama. Researchers discover that butterflies have specialized behaviors and wing scales to protect the living parts of their wings; nanostructures found in the wing scales could inspire the design of radiative-cooling materials to help manage excessive heat cond New York, NY--January 28, 2020--A new study from Columbia Engineering and Harvard identified the critical physiological importance of suitable temperatures for butterfly wings to function properly, and discovered that the insects exquisitely regulate their wing temperatures through both structural and behavioral adaptations. Contrary to common belief that butterfly wings consist primarily of lifeless membranes, the new study demonstrated that they contain a network of living cells whose function requires a constrained range of temperatures for optimal performance. Given their small thermal capacity, wings can overheat rapidly in the sun when butterflies cease flight, and they can cool down too much during flight in a cold environment. The study, published online today by Nature Communications, is the first to explore the implications of temperature in shaping the wing structure and behavior of butterflies. VIDEO: https://youtu.be/_J-uXQ6D8vQ "Butterfly wings are essentially vector light-detecting panels by which butterflies can accurately determine the intensity and direction of sunlight, and do this swiftly without using their eyes," says Nanfang Yu, associate professor of applied physics at Columbia Engineering and co-PI of the study. The team, which was co-led by Naomi E. Pierce, Hessel Professor of Biology in the department of organismic and evolutionary biology, and Curator of Lepidoptera at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, used their expertise in biology and optics to make a number of significant discoveries. By carefully removing the wing scales to enable them to peer into the interior of the wings, and by staining the neurons found within the wing, they found that butterfly wings are loaded with a network of mechanical and temperature sensors. The living tissues in the wings are actively supplied by circulatory and tracheal systems throughout the adult lifetime--in the case of painted lady butterflies, for more than three weeks. They also discovered a "wing heart" that beats a few dozen times per minute to facilitate the directional flow of insect blood or hemolymph through a "scent pad" or an androconial organ located on the wings of some species of butterflies. "Most of the research on butterfly wings has focused on colors used in signaling between individuals," says Pierce., "This work shows that we should reconceptualize the butterfly wing as a dynamic, living structure rather than as a relatively inert membrane. Patterns observed on the wing may also be shaped in important ways by the need to modulate temperatures of living parts of the wing." Yu's lab designed a noninvasive technique based on infrared hyperspectral imaging, with each pixel of an image representing one infrared spectrum, that enabled them to make--for the first time--accurate measurements of the temperature distributions over butterfly wings. "This has been difficult to do until now," Pierce notes, "because of the thinness and delicacy of butterfly wings." "This imaging technique enables us to examine physical adaptations that decouple the wing's visible appearance from its thermodynamic properties," Yu adds. "We discovered that diverse scale nanostructures and non-uniform cuticle thicknesses create a heterogeneous distribution of radiative cooling--heat dissipation through thermal radiation--that selectively reduces the temperature of living structures such as wing veins and scent pads." The effect of this regional and selective enhancement of thermal radiation was amply demonstrated in the team's thermodynamic experiments on butterfly wings. Experimental conditions that mimic the butterflies' natural environment were created in Yu's lab, and allowed the researchers to quantify the relative contributions of several environmental factors to the wing temperature. These included the intensity of sunlight, the temperature of the terrestrial environment, and the "coldness" of the sky, which can serve as an efficient heat sink of thermal radiation from heated wings. The team found that in all simulated environmental conditions, despite diverse visible colors and patterns, the areas of butterfly wings that contain live cells (wing veins and scent pads) are always cooler than the "lifeless" regions of the wing due to enhanced radiative cooling. "The nanostructures found in the wing scales could inspire the design of radiative-cooling materials to cope with excessive heat conditions," says Cheng-Chia Tsai, a PhD student in Yu's group who was lead author of the study. The researchers conducted a series of behavioral studies of living butterflies from six of the seven recognized butterfly families, to investigate responses to simulated sunlight applied to the wings. The team discovered that the insects use their wings to sense the direction and intensity of sunlight--the main source of warmth or overheating--and to respond with specialized behaviors to prevent overheating or overcooling of their wings. For example, all species studied exhibited a relatively constant "trigger" temperature of approximately 40oC (104oF), turning within a few seconds to avoid overheating of wings from a small light spot shone upon them. Yu and Pierce are now conducting a large-scale systematic optical study of the lepidopteran collections in Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. These include thousands of individual specimens of hundreds of butterfly species across the entire phylogenetic tree, each specimen with full hyperspectral imaging data taken from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared. In 1863, Henry Walter Bates, an English naturalist and explorer, wrote about butterfly wings in his book The Naturalist on the River Amazons, "On these expanded membranes Nature writes, as on a tablet, the story of the modifications of species ..." Just like deciphering enigmatic symbols on a tablet, the team hopes to gain a comprehensive understanding of the wing coloration and pattern, which are the results of many (and often conflicting) biological and physical factors: sexual selection, warning coloration, mimicry, camouflage, and thermoregulation. "Each wing of a butterfly is equipped with a few dozen mechanical sensors that provide real-time feedback to enable complex flying patterns," Yu says. "This is an inspiration for designing the wings of flying machines: perhaps wing design should not be solely based on considerations of flight dynamics, and wings designed as an integrated sensory-mechanical system could enable flying machines to perform better in complex aerodynamic conditions." ### About the Study The study is titled "Physical and Behavioral Adaptations to Prevent Overheating of the Living Wings of Butterflies." Authors are: Cheng-Chia Tsai 1; Richard A. Childers 2; Norman Nan Shi 1; Crystal Ren 1; Julianne N. Pelaez 2; Gary D. Bernard 3; Naomi E. Pierce 2, 4; and Nanfang Yu 1. 1 Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia Engineering 2 Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University 3 Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Washington 4 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University Currently at Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley4 Currently at Western Digital The study was supported by the National Science Foundation (no. PHY-1411445 awarded to N. Yu and N. Pierce, no. DEB-0447242 awarded to N. Pierce), and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (no. FA9550-14-1-0389 through the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative program and no. FA9550-16-1-0322 through the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program awarded to N. Yu). R. A. Childers was supported by the Graduate Research Fellowship Program of the National Science Foundation. Measurements were carried out in part at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under contract DE-SC0012704. The authors declare no competing interests. LINKS: Paper: https://nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14408-8 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14408-8 VIDEO: https://youtu.be/_J-uXQ6D8vQ http://engineering.columbia.edu/ https://www.nature.com/ncomms/ https://engineering.columbia.edu/faculty/nanfang-yu https://apam.columbia.edu/ Columbia Engineering Columbia Engineering, based in New York City, is one of the top engineering schools in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the nation. Also known as The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School expands knowledge and advances technology through the pioneering research of its more than 220 faculty, while educating undergraduate and graduate students in a collaborative environment to become leaders informed by a firm foundation in engineering. The School's faculty are at the center of the University's cross-disciplinary research, contributing to the Data Science Institute, Earth Institute, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Precision Medicine Initiative, and the Columbia Nano Initiative. Guided by its strategic vision, "Columbia Engineering for Humanity," the School aims to translate ideas into innovations that foster a sustainable, healthy, secure, connected, and creative humanity. The busy commuter station remained closed on Tuesday following the rush-hour attack. (SWNS) A 16-year-old boy stabbed to death at a busy train station in south London has been named by police. Louis Johnson was attacked outside East Croydon station in a senseless stabbing that lasted 40 seconds on Monday afternoon. He came into the station at around 4.30pm through the Ruskin Square ticket barrier, and was attacked minutes later. British Transport Police (BTP) said that while he was on the overbridge in the station, he met someone who immediately pulled out a knife and stabbed him. Emergency services were called at about 4.45pm, but despite the efforts of medics, including an air ambulance team, he died a short while later at the scene. The scene of the fatal stabbing in East Croydon, a hugely popular commuter route. (SWNS) The stabbing took place at around 5pm on Monday. (PA) No-one has been arrested. The force said the teenager entered the station via a ticket barrier on Monday afternoon and met his suspected attacker, who immediately pulls out a knife and stabs him. Two ambulances, two paramedics in response cars, an advanced paramedic practitioner, an incident response officer and Londons Air Ambulance were sent to the location. London mayor Sadiq Khan said the community will see an increased police presence and that extra police powers had been authorised. Sarah Jones, the MP for Croydon Central, said she was heartbroken. Deeply saddened to learn a young man has lost his life. My thoughts are with his loved ones. I'm in touch with senior Met officers. The community will see an increased police presence & extra police powers have been authorised. I urge anyone with information to come forward. https://t.co/HetLtM5qqS Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 27, 2020 Tragic: Blood was clearly visible on the floor of the station on Tuesday morning as police closed East Croydon. (SWNS) Detective Chief Inspector Sam Blackburn said: This was a senseless killing at an extremely busy time of the day, and my thoughts are with Louiss family at this painfully difficult time. For such a young man to lose his life in these circumstances is truly devastating, and I would like to reassure everyone that a thorough investigation is well under way. Story continues With that in mind, we continue to appeal for anyone with information to get in touch as a matter of urgency. The incident was over within a matter of 40 seconds, but I know many other passengers or members of the public would have seen what happened. The boys family have been told, and are being supported by police. No arrests have yet been made. Anyone with information can contact BTP by sending a text to 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 395 of 27/01/2020, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 19:26:40|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BANGUI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- About 50 people have been killed during clashes between rival armed groups in the town of Bria in the Central African Republic, local sources said on Tuesday. By Joseph Sipalan KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia imposed a temporary ban on Chinese nationals arriving from the city of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province on Monday to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. The government decided to impose the temporary ban with immediate effect following the rising death toll in China, which reached 81 on Monday, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's office. Malaysia has reported four confirmed cases of the virus, which can cause pneumonia. It is still unclear how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. Wuhan is the capital of Hubei. The ban would be lifted once the situation returns to normal, the statement read. (Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Catherine Evans and Nick Macfie) Iqbal wanted to land the smuggled goods by helicopter on the Andaman Islands. DK asked, 'Iqbal, a helicopter will bring the consignment to the island, drop it there and then return. Won't radars detect it?' 'No.' 'How?' 'Radars can't detect aircraft that fly at a low altitude. Our helicopter, after entering India's air space, will dive and fly at four feet above the sea level.' 'For that, I have a German pilot in mind. He was an ace aviator in the last world war.' An enthralling excerpt from Aabid Surti's Sufi: The Invisible Man Of The Underground. Illustrations: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com DK glanced at the catalogue again. 'These are old models of helicopters.' 'You can say these are the leftover scrap from World War II, which is why they are very cheap,' said Iqbal. 'The cheapest one, an eight-seater, is going for a song, for just Rs 7 lakh.' 'The cost is immaterial,' DK said, placing the catalogue on the coffee table. 'The problem is how to buy it.' 'Leave that to me.' But this catalogue is from Germany and we can't buy from them without the government's approval.' 'Says who?' 'If you buy it illegally, where will you keep it?' 'Why on earth would we want to keep it!' 'Then what's the point of buying it?' Iqbal suddenly realised that DK was under the impression that he wanted to buy the helicopter for his personal use. He wanted to laugh out loud, but didn't. Instead, he explained his idea. On one hand, there were omens of an imminent crash in the gold market, while on the other, the customs were tightening the noose on traffickers. These were the days for daredevils to mint money. These were the times for the clever mice to snatch away the cheese at the last second, without falling into the trap. He had opened two new avenues. One was to land the smuggled goods by helicopter on the Andaman Islands and the other was to open a new channel in Madras and smuggle in consignments from there Let us first look at the helicopter concept. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands comprise thirty-five islands, of which only eight are inhabited. The others are a no man's land, completely deserted. Iqbal, after days of intensive study, had presented this unique blueprint. Then he waited quietly while the boss made up his mind: DK was sceptical, experienced and extremely cautious. At heart, he was still a shrewd baniya. Playing with his thin gold necklace, DK asked, 'Iqbal, a helicopter will bring the consignment to the island, drop it there and then return. Is that right?' 'Absolutely.' 'Won't the radars detect it?' His question was not misplaced. Every aircraft, whether big or small, is bound to get detected on entering Indian air space. 'No.' 'How?' 'Radars can't detect aircraft that fly at a low altitude. Our helicopter, after entering India's air space, will dive and fly at four feet above the sea level. For that, I have a German pilot in mind. He was an ace aviator in the last world war.' 'Hmm...' DK was pleased. 'The consignment will have to be brought from the island to the city first. What arrangements have you made for that?' 'Every day, steam launches take day-trippers from Madras to these islands. I've appointed the boatman of one of these launches for our job. Only he'll know the 'drop' spot of the consignment on the island. He'll bring the goods back on his return trip. From there it will not be difficult to transport them to Bombay in a truck.' Iqbal's other stratagem was to smuggle goods in by hoodwinking customs officials in Madras. The customs department was on alert not only at the Bombay port but also in Madras, Calicut and Calcutta. It had become difficult for cargo ships, which were legally entering the Indian ports, to hide contraband goods. These ships were often raided, inspected and their captains subjected to interrogation. For instance, if the customs officials detected over a dozen boxes of wristwatches on the ship, the captain would have to provide a satisfactory explanation. He had to furnish an inventory of goods listing the names of the companies to which the cargo belonged. If there was no mention of the wristwatches in the inventory, these would be confiscated. The captain too would land into trouble. DK's gang smuggled in not just gold, but also whisky, wristwatches, transistor radios, Japanese fabrics and other such goods which were in demand in the Indian market. These contraband goods, like the gold biscuits, used to come in Arab launches or in cargo ships. After customs stepped up vigil, bringing smuggled goods in using cargo ships had become almost impossible. Iqbal realized that the customs officials inspected only those cargo ships that brought in goods imported by Indian firms. But if a ship anchored at an Indian port for refuelling or other valid reasons, the customs department would not touch it. DK gave Iqbal's plan the green signal. Iqbal took the plunge with passion as if he, like Faust, had signed a pact with the devil. He, who had so far grossed millions with Bombay as his centre, now spent most of his time outside Maharashtra. Sometimes he was needed in Calcutta and sometimes in Porbandar; sometimes it was Kanyakumari and, at times, Puri. Often, he would drive hundreds of miles on a truck loaded with contraband goods to Bombay. *** While Iqbal's idea of employing a helicopter had proved to be successful, the other idea of hoodwinking the customs officials in Madras did not last long. The last time, a dubious Chinese ship coming from Seychelles and heading for Hong Kong had entered the Madras port on the pretext of a problem in its boiler room. Iqbal was there to take the delivery. He was sitting in the dock's Udipi canteen, sipping tea with Dagdu. Both of them were chatting, having dosas for breakfast. Earlier, they had stuffed themselves with a plate of idlis. Dagdu had just opened his mouth wide to take the last bite of the dosa when his jaws froze. His eyes were fixed on a car that had just entered the dock. 'Aaichya!' He put back the dosa on the plate. 'We're screwed, boss!' The car stopped right in front of the canteen. The taut shouldered customs officer from Bombay, Khan, alighted. Despite his dark sunglasses, Dagdu had identified him. Dagdu was about to escape when Iqbal caught him by the wrist. He had almost got up from his seat but sat down again. Iqbal got up. 'Hello, Mr Khan!' Iqbal walked out with a smile to shake hands with him. 'What a pleasant surprise to see you here!' 'I'm pleased too.' The cat and mouse game started once again. Both knew the real reason behind the other's presence. Khan had come down to Madras following Iqbal. He had not anticipated running into him. He wanted to catch Iqbal red-handed, which would not be possible now. 'Would you like a cup of tea, sir?' Iqbal asked. Khan looked into the canteen. 'That guy sitting over there shivering like a dry leaf, is he your colleague Dagdu?' he asked. 'Yes, sir.' 'Has he seen a ghost?' 'He saw you and got scared,' Iqbal replied fearlessly. 'I tried to convince him that without proof nobody can touch us. But this nitwit won't believe . . .' 'He knows that I don't need proof to arrest him.' Khan shoved Iqbal aside and headed for Dagdu. According to the information Khan had received, Iqbal had become active in Madras, but he was unaware of the modus operandi the wizard had adopted. He was really surprised by what he learnt from his phone conversation with the Madras customs officials. According to them, it was true that Iqbal was in Madras, but he was apparently into the transport business. Fools! Khan thought to himself. If Iqbal was in any business, it could only be smuggling. Iqbal took one long stride and caught up with Khan. By this time Dagdu had relaxed a bit, yet he was shuddering inside. The apprehension was visible on his face. Khan sat opposite him. Iqbal sat on a third chair. Some flies had started hovering over the half-eaten dosa. Khan's penetrating gaze was fixed on Dagdu. 'Khan Sahib!' Iqbal said. 'The dosa here is to die for.' 'One can imagine, seeing the number of flies,' Khan shot back and asked for a cup of tea instead. Iqbal beckoned a lungi-clad boy and placed an order for two cups of tea and a glass of lime juice. Looking at Khan, Iqbal asked, 'Sir, may I ask a personal question?' 'Go ahead.' 'How many years of service do you have left?' 'Are you worried?' 'No, no, sir. I asked you in a different context. I just wanted to tell you that a senior officer from the navy recently retired. Can you believe that he will get only Rs 400 as monthly pension?' 'What do you mean?' 'He has four children, a wife and old parents. How will he manage in just Rs 400? Moreover, he has been asked to vacate his house.' 'What's new?' 'Will your honesty too go six feet under after your retirement?' 'No. I will go to my village, Jaawra, after retirement where I have my ancestral home. It's not difficult to live there on Rs 400 a month. Besides, by the time an official retires, his children are grown up and start earning. So, I don't have to look after mine. On the contrary, if needed, they will support me.' He paused for a while and then exposed Iqbal's game plan. 'If you are trying to buy me like this, you better take note of this. I'm not a gullible person like your navy captain friend who is rotting in prison. Also, once I've had my tea, I'm taking Dagdu with me.' Dagdu was shaken as if he had been electrocuted by a loose wire dangling from the roof of the canteen. Iqbal's brain too betrayed him. He had not anticipated the tables to turn so unexpectedly. As the canteen boy brought two cups of tea and a glass of lime juice, the captain of the Hong Kong ship appeared on the deck. As per instructions, this was the time to send a man from the ship to the canteen to establish contact with Iqbal. Iqbal was to disclose at what time and how he would be taking the delivery of the contraband goods, especially the wristwatches from Seychelles. From the deck, he focused his binoculars and saw Iqbal and Dagdu sitting with a customs official in the canteen. He presumed that the official was on Iqbal's payroll, else why would he be sitting there chatting over a cup of tea? He gave a crew member Iqbal's description and sent him down. From afar, Iqbal saw him approaching. This time, his knees buckled. Excerpted from Sufi: The Invisible Man Of The Underground by Aabid Surti, with the kind permission of the publishers, Penguin Random House India. When Hurricane Rene hits Florida, the Caribbean, and the Yucatan Peninsula, the Category 5 storm will set new records. It will be the strongest Atlantic hurricane in history, taking the lives of at least 107 people and racking up a staggering $27.1 billion in damage. Hitting just 10 days after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the winner will buckle under pressure to speak on the issue of climate change. The hurricanes impact on Florida will be so harrowing, the World Meteorological Congress will retire the name, and Rene will join Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, and Michael in a dubious hall of fame. Advertisement Of course, meteorologists cant predict hurricanes with such specificity so far in advance. Hurricane Rene isnt based on complex weather simulations or data-driven reports. Its a complete fabrication, and just one of more than 8,600 entries on the Hypothetical Hurricane Wiki, the home of an online community that writes elaborate hurricane disaster fiction just for fun. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since beginning in 2010, the wiki community has grown to more than 1,500 membersa majority of them apparently teenagersand tallies hundreds of edits each week. Any user can create a page for an invented storm season, with subsections for each storm and links, Wikipedia-style, to particularly interesting storms individual pages. As in real life, these hurricane, cyclone, and typhoon seasons feature a combination of named stormstypically pulled from the World Meteorological Organizations database of projected hurricane names, if theyve already been determinedand dozens of smaller tropical depressions. A team of moderators keeps the wiki in check, making sure users arent violating rules like cursing, spamming, or going out of their way to include other writers in their hurricanes death tolls. Advertisement Advertisement Writing detailed, sometimes ghastly, hurricane narratives demands the same level of emotional distance that lets you make memes out of tragic events. But just as 9/11 memes might become a critique of war, hypothetical hurricanes are a way to process our impending environmental disaster, and theyre dreamt up by young people who might be affected hardest in the future. Most of the contributors I spoke to were too young to remember landmark catastrophic events like Hurricane Katrina that ushered in the new age of hurricane destruction under climate change. Most had never experienced a hurricane, and many live in geographic regions where storms rarely make landfall, like Columbus, Ohio, and London. Advertisement But some HHW writers have felt the power of real storms. RestartingE, a 13-year-old boy in Mexico, told me that Hurricane Rosa caused flooding in his hometown. Sixteen-year-old FMcube was in Hurricane Wilmas eyewall, and a teenager residing in the Deep South, WeatherWill, lived through Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, but says he was too young for them to emotionally affect him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HHW writers insist that what theyre writing isnt callous, but rather a grounded understanding of a world we cannot control. Hurricanes are a meteorological anomaly and we just have to accept their existence imo, restartingE wrote to me on the HHW Discord server. 9/11 was preventable. No one causes hurricanes, he added (setting aside that humans exacerbate the severity of climate change). Imagining fictional hurricanes can also be a scientific pursuit. Rollback, a teenage hurricane enthusiast based in Lithuania, wrote to me via email to describe his storm-crafting approach: I aspire to make my articles as realistic as possible with a little unique flair, maybe a higher number of storms hitting Europe as an example. Like many writers on the wiki, Rollback spends a lot of time researching storms and teaching himself meteorology and physics. He studies emerging and historical hurricanes and cyclones, runs his own analyses of actual Atlantic storms, and looks up satellite imagery to get a feel for their patterns and scale. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hypothetical hurricanes are a way to process our impending environmental disaster, and theyre dreamt up by young people who might be affected hardest in the future. While Rollback goes for realism, another user, Hypercane, a 22-year-old from Ohio who joined HHW when he was 16, prefers to write outlandish scenarios. He created the 202021 South Atlantic Hurricane Season, storms that will brew between South America and the southern tip of Africa. As Hypercanes entry states, this would be the first official hurricane season for the South Atlantic Ocean in recorded history; hurricanes are rare in this region. But Hypercane keeps his fiction reined inonly three of the six tropical storms he describes will morph into full-fledged hurricanes, most forming off the coast of Brazil and traveling eastward to the shores of Angola and South Africa. Though the entries can read as quite earnest and dry, the conversations on the HHW Discord server show writers processing their subject without the emotional weight that follows tragedy. Instead, users playfully roast each others storms (Damian flopped kinda hard, one user says about anothers zig-zagging tropical storm) and help one another workshop in-progress entries. (Another user suggests the severity of a possible storm, considering much of the citys buildings were destroyed, you could argue a high-end [Category] 4 or maybe even [Category] 5.). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whether the wiki entries are outlandish like Hypercanes, or more believablefor untrained meteorologistslike Hurricane Rene, there are signs that somethings amiss for any visitor to the pages of the HHW. Though the website mirrors Wikipedias recognizable, clunky structure, its colorful instead of black and white, and it is hosted on Fandom, the same site that attracts dedicated Game of Thrones or BTS aficionados who channel their passion and knowledge into stand-alone encyclopedic repositories. More obviously, every page of the HHW begins with a warning written in bold red letters: Disclaimer: The Content on this wiki is fictional and is NOT a resource for real tropical cyclones. NONE of the content on this wiki should be believed to be a real forecast of inclement weather. Advertisement Nevertheless, at times contributors still manage to fool unsuspecting readers with their entries, and some readers have criticized HHW for spreading disinformation. Last September, meteorologist Ryan Maue tweeted about the wiki, calling it Fake News and outraged that it was coming up at the top of his Bing search engine results. Members of the community chimed in to say that the word hypothetical was clearly visible in the websites URL and header, and that Maue ignored the disclaimer in bad faith. But in one of Maues screenshots, the warning isnt there. Since then, the moderators enforce that the disclaimer appears on every single page, and a writer can be banned for deleting it. Advertisement Advertisement The community is adamant that it writes fiction, not hoaxes. Users never link to fake news sources, such as social media feeds that doctored photos of hurricane destruction, to fool unsuspecting readers. Moderators also make sure writers dont name public figures in their entries, which cuts down on the possibility that their hypothetical storms are accidentally picked up by the media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, after a real-world hurricane season concludes, the community doesnt delete its pages, and eventually the future becomes the past. A 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season created by CycloneRyne94 follows the common practice of using real-life storm names and has remained unchanged since it was completed in 2015. It says Hurricane Kirk was a Category 5, but the real Kirk only brewed into a mild tropical storm. More confusingly, multiple HHW contributors, who all want to put their own spin on things, will make their own pages for the same hurricane seasons, making the HHW a messy choose-your-own-adventure of ecological chaos. Diving back into the HHWs 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season, I find that Hurricane Michael was a weak, subtropical storm that hit Oct. 10, but also a Category 4 storm that developed around Sept. 30. Neither of the fake Michaels reflect that the real Hurricane Michael was even more horrificit reached Category 5 and made landfall on the Florida Panhandle, killing 74 people and causing $23.1 billion in damage. As a result, the name Michael was retired. Advertisement Advertisement StrawberryMaster, a 15-year-old from Brazil, defended these discrepancies. The wiki is called Hypothetical Hurricanes Wiki for a reason. The articles are obviously fake. If someone took a look around the wiki, or read the main page, they would have seen [the disclaimer] easily. But [Maue] never saw it, and others just blatantly spread that it was fake, thinking it was real or that we were fooling other users. I wondered whether hurricane writing could be a cathartic or educational exercise, or if the mere choice to conjure up such deadly events was inherently tone-deaf and insensitive. So I reached out to Ashlie Brown, a trauma therapist based in Houston, to see what she thought of hurricane fiction. Advertisement Advertisement As a trauma therapist working in this community, my first inclination is thats something really fucking insensitive, Brown said on a phone call with me. Then she took a moment to step into a writers shoes and rationalized the appeal. I think theres a lot of sensationalism or fascination with, a) things we dont know a lot about and b) things that are scary, twisted, dark. I could see how that might be entertaining to people who havent experienced it, Brown said. Advertisement Advertisement I pointed out that the writers were young and that a few of the teenagers had even lived through hurricanes. This didnt change Browns opinion. I think the healthy way [to deal] with something traumatic is to be able to talk about it and be real about the fear and the helplessness and the powerlessness felt when someone experiences something life-threatening, she said. Maybe writing a fictional story about something like that would give them an outlet to give them to express something they were feeling, but didnt get to express in therapy. Advertisement As hurricanes continue to build more frequently and intensely, the HHW has growing fodder to write bigger, wilder storms. Brown said that in Houston, theres no such thing as a safe place anymore: I think everybody is operating at a higher level of hyper-vigilance. Theyre in a more anxious state just about everything. Even people who havent flooded, just being in this community, living through that and watching humanity struggle and suffer. People havent been able to completely get away from the trauma even though theyve healed in other ways. As dispassionate or insensitive as their writing might seem, HHW users arent disconnected from the implications of hurricanes, though they do tend to see things on a more meteorological than human scale. Because many users closely study meteorology to improve their writing, the HHW user base is largely cognizant of the relationship between climate change and weather, and it understands that hurricanes will continue to plague communities across the globe. They can be quick to hear about tropical storms, or notice troubling weather patterns meteorologists flag, and will share information across their networks to help others in need. If a beast like Hurricane Rene comes to fruition, its author will face a bittersweet reality: Their research was solid and their writing spot-on, but wasnt the storm supposed to be a myth, a disaster written all in good fun? Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. This past year we dug into our membership data to look at how consolidation was impacting Idahos dairy demographics. What we found raised eyebrows within both our staff and board. Like many other dairy states, we are seeing consolidation, and it appears to be at an accelerating pace. However, we dont seem to be losing dairy farms at the pace other states are seeing, but we are losing a number of dairy owners. What we found In 2019, Idaho was home to 437 dairy facilities controlled by 304 owners/partnerships. Dairymen owning multiple facilities is becoming more and more common among our members. Of those 304 dairy owners/partners, 91 milked more than 1,500 cows, representing 85% of Idahos milk production. That means 213 milked fewer than 1,500 cows and represented only 15% of Idahos production. Digging a bit deeper, the 10 largest owners/partners milked 32% of Idahos cows and the largest 20 herds milked 47%! What is our takeaway? First, financial stress is still the No. 1 cause for Idaho dairymen to exit the business. There is something else going on and beginning to be talked about by members that is worth noting. We commonly hear the dairy business is not as enjoyable as it used to be. This is playing into decision making as farmers debate continuing operations or selling to a neighbor. When probed as to what is taking the fun out of the business, they added the culprit was expectations of how milk is to be produced. If you follow the narrative of the dairy consumers and customers creating additional demands of the industry, larger farms are believed to be less desirable than smaller farms. They believe that larger farms somehow dont do as good a job of being stewards, so practices need to be standardized, made mandatory, and verified. Singularly, these new expectations dont seem to be significant, but when you add them together, they create noticeable additional to costs, time, and stress, particularly for our smaller and medium size dairies. We are curious to see at what point these same, expectant consumers realize that their efforts have become one of the primary catalysts of the consolidation of the dairy industry. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2020 January 27, 2020 OTTAWA, Ontario, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Making healthy lifestyle changes is something most people recognize they should be doing but setting goals and taking action can be challenging. But what if there was a way to personalize your approach to goal-setting and health? A way that would allow you to stay on track and finally make the progress you have been hoping for? Nathalie Beauchamp Hack Your Health Habits: Simple Action-Driven, Natural Health Solutions for People On the Go! Internationally acclaimed speaker, author, and wellness expert Nathalie Beauchamp, D.C., IFMCP, an Ottawa-based doctor of chiropractic and certified functional medicine practitioner with the Institute of Functional Medicine, reveals how individual personality traits may be the reason you struggle to change habitsespecially those that relate to your health. Through her years of experience, Dr. Nathalie has uncovered four core personality types that come into play when changing health habits. Each personality type requires a different method of goal-setting and planning to ensure that individuals stick to their goals and never feel resistant to change. For example, people who are detail-oriented, one of the four personality types, require all the facts before beginning a program. They are not going to jump on board the latest health trend until they have consulted professionals and done the research. If they aren't careful, Dr. Nathalie says, they may suffer from analysis paralysis. Invite the author of Hack Your Health Habits: Simple Action-Driven, Natural Health Solutions for People On the Go! to share: What the four personality types are, which one your audience members are and what it means for their goals How to finally uncover hidden motivators based on their personality factors What each personality type should look out for to avoid getting off track Fun actionable ways to implement lasting lifestyle changes About Dr. Nathalie Dr. Nathalie is a chiropractor, a former professional natural figure/bodybuilder, a wellness consultant, speaker, author, and radio and TV personality. As a natural and holistic health-care practitioner, she recognizes that there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution for health. Everybody is different and therefore, their approach to hacking their habits should also be different. She's known as a no-nonsense, get-it-done doctor who simplifies complex health information into easy, actionable steps anyone can implement and feel a difference in their overall health and vitality. Contact: Nathalie Beauchamp, (613) 852-1770; [email protected]; Drnathaliebeauchamp.com SOURCE Nathalie Beauchamp Related Links http://Drnathaliebeauchamp.com Lucknow, Jan 28 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to set up 10-bed isolation wards in every district hospital and medical college of the state as a precautionary measure to deal with any suspected case of coronavirus. The directive came during a review meeting of the Health Department chaired by the Chief Minister, an official release said. Adityanath has also directed that special vigil must be maintained at airports and on the Indo-Nepal border. He has asked the Health officials to take necessary steps in coordination with the Union Health Ministry. Directions have also been issued to spread awareness about the virus and precautionary steps needed. US not ready to declare coronavirus a public health emergency: HHS originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The United States is not ready to declare the new coronavirus a public health emergency, health officials said Tuesday, although the option is available should the situation in the U.S. change. "I'll do it when it's appropriate," Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services, said during a news conference. MORE: New coronavirus 'not spreading' in the US, CDC says "It's very important to remember where we are right now," Azar continued, noting that only five people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with coronavirus, all of whom traveled to Wuhan, China, thought to be where the outbreak originated. There's no evidence of human-to-human transmission documented in the U.S. While viruses are unpredictable, Azar explained, "The risk to any individual American is extremely low" at this time. Several Congress members have called on HHS to declare coronavirus a public health emergency in order to free up additional CDC funding to address the virus. PHOTO: Confirmed Coronavirus cases (ABC News, CDC) Countries with Confirmed Coronavirus Cases (ABC News, WHO, CDC, NHC, Dingxiangyuan, Local Governments) In the meantime, the U.S. is stepping up airport screenings, as well as diagnostic and treatment efforts on U.S. soil. Airport screenings are being expanded to 20 airports -- passengers will be monitored for signs of illness, and travelers from China will be educated on coronavirus, in case they develop symptoms. Any traveler who's visited China and who develops respiratory symptoms should contact their health care provider. Health care workers caring for individuals with coronavirus, as well as those around them, should be vigilant about their health. There is still a lot we don't know about the virus, according to HHS. Health officials are still determining how infectious the new coronavirus is, as well as how long its incubation period lasts. For now, that incubation period is thought to be between two and 14 days, a wide range. There's also the question of how severe it is. Current disease assessments are based on early cases, and those cases are likely to be among the most severe, since patients sought out health care treatment. Story continues While China has reported evidence of coronavirus transmission in asymptomatic individuals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not been able to review that data and can't confirm it, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, said during the news conference. Even if that asymptomatic transmission is confirmed, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stressed that asymptomatic transmission is not health officials' primary concern. MORE: 5th US case of coronavirus confirmed as death toll rises to 80 in China "In all the history of respiratory viruses, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks," Fauci said. "An epidemic is not driven by asymptomatic carriers." In addition to a diagnostic test the CDC is developing to share with states and local health departments, the NIH is working to develop a vaccine. While a vaccine would take roughly months three months to develop and additional time to test, the agency wants to be prepared for a worst-case scenario. PHOTO: Countries with confirmed coronavirus cases (ABC News, WHO, CDC, NHC, Dingxiangyuan, local governments) The death toll from the novel coronavirus has continued to climb in China, where at least 106 people have died among 4,500 confirmed cases. The number of dead from the new viral disease includes the first death in, Beijing, the nation's capital, along with two dozen others in central China's Hubei province, where the first cases were detected in December. The epicenter of the outbreak is Wuhan, the sprawling capital of Hubei province, which Chinese authorities have placed on lockdown in an effort to contain the outbreak. With the influx of patients seeking treatment, the city is racing to build a 1,000-bed hospital by Feb. 3. A second 1,300-bed hospital is expected to be finished later in February. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced at a press conference Tuesday that train service to mainland China will be halted, starting at midnight Thursday. Lam said two train stations connecting the semi-autonomous Chinese city to the mainland also would be closed and some flights would be canceled. The outbreak has spread overseas, with cases confirmed in more than a dozen other countries. PHOTO: In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, medical personnel wearing protective suits work in the department of infectious diseases at Wuhan Union Hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 28, 2020. ( Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP) The U.S. Consulate in Wuhan will evacuate its staff along with their families and some other Americans on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State told ABC News. That charter flight will travel to California's Ontario International Airport, where everyone on board will be screened for symptoms at the airport prior to leaving. They'll also be subject to additional screening, observation and monitoring requirements by the CDC. MORE: US chartering evacuation flight out of Wuhan coronavirus zone to California for staff, some citizens The U.S. Department of State issued a new travel advisory on Monday urging Americans to reconsider traveling to any part of China due to the disease, rather than just to Wuhan and other affected areas. U.S. citizens are advised not to travel to Hubei province. The new coronovirus causes symptoms similar to pneumonia that can range from mild, such as a slight cough, to more severe, including fever and difficulty breathing, according to the CDC. ABC News' Conor Finnegan and Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report. A man found passed out in the drivers seat of a Cadillac was arrested after a teenage girl was found dead outside the car he was in early Sunday on the West Side. Steven Xzavier Medina, 18, was charged with intoxication manslaughter. His bail was set at $75,000. The Bexar County Medical Examiners Office identified the girl found dead as 16-year-old Jessica Sarah Medina. It was unclear whether the two were related. Police were called at about 3 a.m. to the 3600 block of Culebra for an assault in progress, where they found a Cadillac sedan parked at a tire shop. Steven Medina, who was passed out in the drivers seat, appeared to be highly intoxicated, police said. Jessica Medina was found outside the back right passenger door with her arm and neck caught in the seat belt, police said. Investigators said Jessica Medina, who had road rash all over her body, appeared to have been dragged by the car. Officers did not detail how she ended up outside the car and entangled by the seat belt. The Cadillac itself had no signs of impact, police said. EMS pronounced Jessica Medina dead at the scene. Her cause of death was pending as of Monday night. Steven Medina was taken to University Hospital and later arrested. In April, Steven Medina was found guilty after pleading no contest to driving while intoxicated in January 2019. He was on probation when Sundays incident occurred. Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA Home Minister Amit Shah dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhis criticism of the government on India-China tensions, saying his party and he had no right to point fingers on the issue. Shah said the Congress leader should first give an account to the nation on how much territory his party ceded to China when it was in power. Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra said the very fact that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is going around the "lanes and bylanes" of Delhi, seeking votes for BJP candidates, shows that the party has "failed on all fronts". Despite having seven MPs in the city and ruling the municipal corporations for 13 years, the BJP has not been able to implement the Modi government's "pet cleanliness campaign Swachhta Abhiyan", he alleged. "The very fact that the home minister is going around lanes and bylanes to canvas for votes shows that the BJP has failed on all fronts in Delhi," he said. "The people of Delhi are so upset and angry with the BJP that the home minister had to face black flags wherever he went," he alleged. Chopra claimed the Modi government passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill to divide people on communal lines, and the Kejriwal government did not say a word to oppose it. From Popular Action, and representing northern Tumbes region, Manuel Merino de Lama might return to Congress. He was first elected parliamentarian in 2001 while being endorsed by the same political group. Later, in 2011, he won the popular vote being part of Peru Posible. For his part, Omar Chehade was elected parliamentarian in 2011, while he was running supported by Gana Peru party. There are high chances that the Alianza Para el Progreso candidate will soon be part of Congress. Representing Union Por el Peru, Jose Vega became legislator in 2006, and he may soon return to Parliament. Virgilio Acuna may also have won a seat last weekend, after having represented Solidaridad Nacional in 2011. Fuerza Popular 's Martha Chavez was a chosen to become a legislator at the Democratic Constituent Congress in 1992. Since then, Chavez represented the Fujimori parties in 1995, 2000, 2001, and 2011. She has now secured a new seat. Martires Lizana who became a FP lawmaker in 2016 is also likely to go back to Parliament on this occasion. Concerning Podemos Peru party, Carlos Almeri may return to the Legislative Branch. He already served as Congressman in 2001 representing Peru Posible. Meanwhile, former Peruanos Por el Kambio representatives Alberto de Belaunde and Gino Costa will keep their seats now backed by Partido Morado. Former Peru Posible lawmaker Rennan Espinoza (2011-2016) may have become parliamentarian again, this time via Somos Peru party. Finally, Frente Amplio's Carlos Enrique Fernandez Chacon is also likely to return to Parliament. He was first elected Congress member back in 1980. Elections The new 130 legislators will serve the remaining period of the 2016-2021 legislative tenure, following the dissolution of Congress. (END) FHG/CVC/MVB More than 11 former lawmakers may come back to occupy seats in Peru's Legislative Branch during the 2020-2021 period, following the 2020 extraordinary parliamentary elections held last Sunday. Published: 1/28/2020 OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has paid tribute in the House of Commons to those who died on the Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet shot down outside Tehran earlier this month, as MPs from all parties demanded Iran bring those responsible to justice. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and house members observe a moment of silence for the victims of the Ukrainian Airlines plane shot down in Iran, before Question Period in the House of Commons, Monday January 27, 2020 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has paid tribute in the House of Commons to those who died on the Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet shot down outside Tehran earlier this month, as MPs from all parties demanded Iran bring those responsible to justice. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne introduced a motion demanding co-operation from Iran throughout the investigation into how the passenger jet was downed by Iranian surface-to-air missiles shortly after taking off, killing all 176 people on board, including dozens of Canadians. The motion called on Iran to respect the wishes of the victims' families and compensate them, too. The motion, which received unanimous consent, urged Iran to conduct an independent criminal investigation and hold open and impartial judicial proceedings according to international standards. MPs agreed to stand in solidarity with those who lost loved ones on Flight PS752 and ask Canada to continue supporting them. There were 57 Canadian citizens and 29 permanent residents who died in the crash, as well as many others with connections to the country. Trudeau said the spirit and values that motivated Canadians to come together to mourn the loss and help the families shows why those who boarded the flight had chosen to come to Canada in the first place. "Before any of this happened, they were not just shaping their own lives, they were building our country, building a future we all share, that is now diminished by their loss," Trudeau said in a speech to the House of Commons. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said Canada continue to fight for justice for the friends and families of those who died. "We must continue to demand accountability from those responsible within the Iranian regime," he said. "It was the Iranian regime and the Iranian regime alone who was responsible for this horrific crime." In the days after the Jan. 8 crash, Trudeau said in an interview with Global News that had it not been for the recently elevated tensions in the region, the Canadians who died would be home with their families. On Jan. 3, Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, was killed in a drone attack approved by U.S. President Donald Trump. On Jan. 7, Iran retaliated by firing missiles at two Iraqi military bases, where U.S. troops are based. Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said military tension was at the root of the tragedy and sustained peace would have avoided it. New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh said all MPs should acknowledge the loss by striving for peace. "The loss that we witnessed is an example of the horrible cost of war, the horrible cost of the escalation of tension and of violence," Singh said in the House of Commons. "Violence begets more violence." The Canadian Press has independently confirmed at least 93 victims with ties to Canada, many of them students and professors returning after spending the December break visiting relatives in Iran. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2020. Fine Gael has reinstated the founding member of its first Northern Ireland branch after expelling him for paying for Facebook ads to promote his father. Jude Perry, who set up a branch of Young Fine Gael in Queen's University Belfast, was informed last week that his membership had been cancelled and he was being removed from the Fine Gael officer board in Sligo-Leitrim. Mr Perry, who is currently on a student exchange programme in Washington DC, paid less than 100 to promote seven Facebook posts about his father John Perry's general election campaign in Sligo-Leitrim. John Perry is a former Fine Gael junior minister who is running for the Dail as an Independent after failing to get on the Fine Gael ticket. He was informed of the party's action via text message from its regional organiser which said he was in breach of Fine Gael rules and the party had decided to "cease" his membership. Mr Perry said he received no formal communication from the party. Fine Gael has now decided to reinstate him, a decision Mr Perry said he will now consider over the next number of weeks. Mr Perry said he received the news that the membership of both he and his mother Maria had been reinstated via a Whatsapp message from the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. The History and Politics student said substantial questions remain following the incident. "I would like to know who made this decision [to expel me] and why was it made," he said. "Why did cabinet members try to justify my unfair expulsion in the national media and did they know my mother had been expelled without any prior notice?" Mr Perry said he believed his reputation had been tarnished as a result of the expulsion and called for an apology from Leo Varadkar, the Fine Gael party and the North West Regional Organiser who informed him of his expulsion. Following his expulsion, Mr Perry said the party had shown a clear lack of a fair hearing and said he was shocked at the lack of due process from a party trying to encourage young people into politics. "The party took issue when Fianna Fail condemned Frances Fitzgerald without a hearing in 2017, and yet it is OK with doing it in this circumstance. I have been targeted and condemned without a hearing," he said last week. On Tuesday, a Fine Gael spokesman said the party would not be making any further comment on the issue. Anusha Ravi By Express News Service BENGALURU: Going by his very statements, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has a self-imposed deadline of barely three days to expand his cabinet and induct new ministers. The Chief Minister had said there would be cabinet expansion before the end of January on the day he returned from Davos, a statement he reiterated on Monday in Holenarasipur. Even as time is running out, cabinet expansion is still an uphill task with Yediyurappa having to choose just seven of the 11 newly-elected MLAs. Another challenge is dropping some incumbent ministers to make space for fresh faces. But the real struggle for him is containing dissent --- which is currently hush-hush but is threatening to spill over right after the expansion. Despite his assurance, sources close to the CM dont believe that the path is clear for expansion just yet. All 11 are unlikely to be inducted. Yediyurappa may pick just seven of the newly-elected MLAs, a BJP source said. This claim gives credence to the buzz within the BJP circles that the Delhi bosses have asked Yediyurappa not to prioritise party-hoppers at the cost of partymen. The notion seems to be that the defector MLAs have nowhere to go from the BJP and will wait if they are asked to for their turn. But, on the other hand, loyal party legislators may consider jumping to other parties if they dont get due recognition. Delhi leadership is too busy with national issues and B L Santhosh (BJP general secretary-organisation) in his meetings with Yediyurappa has already conveyed their decision. It is now up to Yediyurappa to decide who needs to be dropped and who can be accommodated. Delhi leadership wants Yediyurappa to handle the fallout, if any, a source said. Hence, he (Yediyurappa) is working towards strategies to assuage aspirants who may not be inducted. Back-channel communications and outreach efforts are on, said a source privy to the ongoings within the State and Central BJP. The delay in expanding the cabinet stems from Yediyurappas need to devise a please-all plan to keep his loyalists, party loyalists as well as the new entrants into the BJP happy. Yediyurappas repeated statements crediting the former disqualified MLAs publicly for him becoming Chief Minister is one such effort. ENGLEWOOD, CO / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Aytu BioScience, Inc. (AYTU), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on commercializing novel products that address significant patient needs today announced the acceptance of a scientific abstract reporting the results of the Natesto Spermatogenesis Study by the Endocrine Society for presentation at the Endocrine Society's Annual Meeting. Thomas Masterson, MD, Urology Fellow in the Department of Urology at the University of Miami School of Medicine, will present the Natesto clinical study results during a poster session at ENDO 2020, which will be held in San Francisco, CA March 28-31, 2020. The Natesto Spermatogenesis Study has been conducted under the direction of principal investigator Ranjith Ramasamy, MD, Associate Professor and Director of Reproductive Urology, Department of Urology, University of Miami School of Medicine. Presentation Details: Presenting Author: Thomas Masterson, MD, Fellow, Department of Urology, University of Miami School of Medicine Presentation Title: The Effect of Natesto on Spermatogenesis, Reproductive Hormones, and Hypogonadal Symptoms: A Phase IV Study Abstract Number: 5238 Additionally, Dr. Masterson has been selected to receive an Outstanding Abstract Award in conjunction with ENDO 2020 for this abstract. All abstracts presented at ENDO 2020 will be published after the conclusion of ENDO 2020 in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. About Aytu BioScience, Inc. Aytu BioScience is a commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on commercializing novel products that address significant patient needs. The company currently markets a portfolio of prescription products addressing large primary care and pediatric markets. The primary care portfolio includes (i) Natesto, the only FDA-approved nasal formulation of testosterone for men with hypogonadism (low testosterone, or "Low T"), (ii) ZolpiMist, the only FDA-approved oral spray prescription sleep aid, and (iii) Tuzistra XR, the only FDA-approved 12-hour codeine-based antitussive syrup. The pediatric portfolio includes (i) AcipHex Sprinkle, a granule formulation of rabeprazole sodium, a commonly prescribed proton pump inhibitor; (ii) Cefaclor, a second-generation cephalosporin antibiotic suspension; (iii) Karbinal ER, an extended-release carbinoxamine (antihistamine) suspension indicated to treat numerous allergic conditions; and (iv) Poly-Vi-Flor and Tri-Vi-Flor, two complementary prescription fluoride-based supplement product lines containing combinations of fluoride and vitamins in various for infants and children with fluoride deficiency. Aytu's strategy is to continue building its portfolio of revenue-generating products, leveraging its focused commercial team and expertise to build leading brands within large therapeutic markets. For more information visit aytubio.com. Story continues Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes 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, or the Exchange Act. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this presentation, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally written in the future tense and/or are preceded by words such as ''may,'' ''will,'' ''should,'' ''forecast,'' ''could,'' ''expect,'' ''suggest,'' ''believe,'' ''estimate,'' ''continue,'' ''anticipate,'' ''intend,'' ''plan,'' or similar words, or the negatives of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology. These statements are just predictions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual events or results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: risks relating to gaining market acceptance of our products, obtaining reimbursement by third-party payors, the potential future commercialization of our product candidates, the anticipated start dates, durations and completion dates, as well as the potential future results, of our ongoing and future clinical trials, the anticipated designs of our future clinical trials, anticipated future regulatory submissions and events, our anticipated future cash position and future events under our current and potential future collaboration. We also refer you to the risks described in ''Risk Factors'' in Part I, Item 1A of the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the other reports and documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Contact for Investors: James Carbonara Hayden IR (646) 755-7412 james@haydenir.com SOURCE: Aytu BioScience, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/574232/Aytu-BioScience-Announces-Acceptance-of-Natesto-Spermatogenesis-Study-Results-for-Presentation-at-ENDO-2020 The Jharkhand Police said that 16 accused have been arrested in connection with the incidents of violence in Lohardaga on January 23. The accused have been sent to judicial custody. Curfew was imposed in the area a day after violence erupted on January 23 in Lohardaga town after a march supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and Population Register (NPR) was taken out by members of Vishva Hindu Parishad, during which allegedly stone-pelting took place at Amla Toli. Meanwhile, Neeraj Ram Prajapati, who was injured in the violence, has succumbed to his injuries. Police informed that according to a primary investigation into the death of Prajapati, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences doctor has stated that he died due to cardiac arrest caused by a septic shock from brain stem bleed. External injury was not the reason for his death, police added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) TOKYO, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Zigmabit is growing fast in the crypto mining industry. The company recently launched three multi-algorithm mining rigs that assure maximum return on investment within just one month. Zigmabit just launched a customer care facility in Munich, Germany to serve customers better. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082473/Zigmabit_Launches_Revolutionary_Mining_Chip.jpg Company logo To view an enhanced version of this logo please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6802/50703_9878d9ea640a38b8_001full.jpg Zigbit Miners, the world's first DLC (direct liquid cooling) mining rig, is designed for the beginners as well as seasoned crypto miners. All three products are easy to use as they come pre-configured and the users only need to plug in and start mining. Though the popularity of crypto mining has increased by leaps and bounds over the years, earning profits consistently has been a concern for many mining enthusiasts. Zigmabit is the brainchild of a team of investors dedicated to making cryptocurrency mining simpler and profitable for all. Zigmabit ( www.zigmabit.com ) has a team of experts that have been actively involved in the crypto industry since its very early days. The company's three new crypto miners, ZigBit 2.0, ZigBit 3.0 and ZigBit 5.0 were designed with the goal of delivering products that will ensure higher profitability for the users. The company has accomplished this objective by maximizing the hash rate to a level that has never been achieved in this industry. These miners can operate under multiple algorithms and are capable of mining Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Dash. Mentioned below are the hash rate powers offered by the three miners. Bitcoin : ZigBit 2.0. 260 TH/s, ZigBit 3.0. 330 TH/s, ZigBit 5.0. 2000 TH/s : ZigBit 2.0. 260 TH/s, ZigBit 3.0. 330 TH/s, ZigBit 5.0. 2000 TH/s Litecoin : ZigBit 2.0. 44 GH/s, ZigBit 3.0. 55 GH/s, ZigBit 5.0. 300 GH/s : ZigBit 2.0. 44 GH/s, ZigBit 3.0. 55 GH/s, ZigBit 5.0. 300 GH/s Ethereum : ZigBit 2.0. 11 GH/s, ZigBit 3.0. 14 GH/s, ZigBit 5.0. 75 GH/s : ZigBit 2.0. 11 GH/s, ZigBit 3.0. 14 GH/s, ZigBit 5.0. 75 GH/s Dash: ZigBit 2.0. 6 TH/s, ZigBit 3.0. 9 TH/s, ZigBit 5.0. 50TH/s In order to stand out in a highly competitive market, Zigmabit Miners has also included smart features such as closed-loop cooling system, noiseless fans, silent high-pressure pumps, super-efficient radiators, and much more. About Zigmabit Inc.: Zigmabit Inc. is a manufacturer of high-quality cryptocurrency miners that deliver extremely high hash power without consuming a lot of power. Their team comprises of several top-level professionals from renowned organizations such as Samsung, Microsoft, IBM, and many others. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, the company currently has a manufacturing facility in the United Kingdom and Newly opened facility in Munich, Germany. Ken Naruto PR Manager Zigmabit Inc Ken Naruto PR Specialist Zigmabit Inc admin@zigmabit.com This release was issued through WebWire. For more information, visit http://www.webwire.com. The Jharkhand police on Tuesday arrested six more persons in connection with the violence in Lohardaga that occurred on January 23 during a march taken out by Hindutva groups in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act. With the police having arrested another 16 accused earlier in the day, the total number of persons arrested in the case so far stands at 22 now. Curfew was imposed in the area a day after violence erupted on January 23 in Lohardaga town after violence during a march taken out by BJP and Vishva Hindu Parishad in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Some miscreants hurled stones at the yatra at Amla Toli. The police had to resort to firing in the air to control the situation. Meanwhile, Neeraj Ram Prajapati, who was injured in the violence, has succumbed to his injuries. The police informed that primary investigations have revealed that Prajapati died due to cardiac arrest caused by "a septic shock from brain stem bleed", according to a medical report from Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences. The external injury was not the reason for his death, police added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested Sharjeel Imam, a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student booked in a sedition case, from Bihar's Jehanabad. The PhD student has been booked in sedition cases lodged in five states for alleged 'inflammatory' speeches made during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested Sharjeel Imam, a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student booked in a sedition case, from Bihar's Jehanabad. The PhD student has been booked in sedition cases lodged in five states for alleged "inflammatory" speeches made during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). "We have arrested Sharjeel Imam from Jehanabad," said Rajesh Deo, deputy commissioner of police, Crime Branch. The force had deployed five teams to locate Imam, a resident of Bihar. Earlier on Tuesday, Imam's brother was arrested by the police. On Monday, search operations were conducted in Mumbai, Patna, and Delhi for Imam, who was absconding after clips of him saying that the whole of the North East should be "cut off" from the rest of India went viral. JNU Student Sharjeel Imam has been arrested from Jahanabad,Bihar by Delhi Police. Imam had been booked for sedition by Police. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/7zFmWFbWIf ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020 News18 quoted Imam as saying that Assam should be cut off from the rest of India "and taught a lesson, because Bengalis, both Hindus and Muslims, are being killed or put into detention centres". He also reportedly said that if he can organise five lakh people, it would become possible to "permanently cut off Assam from the rest of India... if not permanently, then at least for a few months". Imam has been booked under Sections 124 A (an offence by words, either spoken or written causes disaffection against Government established by law), 153 A (promoting enmity between different religious groups with an intent to create disharmony) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) has been registered, Delhi Police was quoted as saying. Police claimed that Imam delivered "divisive" speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia university in December and at Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in January. Both universities have been at the centre of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act since the contentious law was passed by Parliament in December. Imam was also reportedly one of the organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protest against the CAA in Delhi, however, protesters at Shaheen Bagh on 25 January distanced the movement from his comments, stating that "no single person can be called the organiser". Soon after the arrest on Tuesday, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said that no one could be allowed to talk about the "country's disintegration". "Protests are one thing, but nobody can talk about the country's disintegration," he said. With inputs from agencies A German man who contracted coronavirus from a Chinese work colleague is thought to be the first person in Europe to catch the disease via human transmission, health officials have said. The 33-year-old infected man has not been to China or Wuhan - the city where the strain first emerged in December - but had been in contact with a Chinese colleague at a work training session who later became unwell and tested positive for the virus. The flu-like strain has so far killed 106 and infected more than 2,800 people and is spread though coughs and sneezes via droplets. Speaking at a press conference, Bavarian State head of health and food safety, Andreas Zapf, said the co-worker was a woman from Shanghai who started to feel sick on a fight home on January 23. A health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing / Getty Images Her parents from the Wuhan region had visited her a few days before her trip. The German man had attended a training session given by his Chinese colleague on January 21 at the office of a car parts supplier Webasto in Stockdorf in Bavaria. He tested positive for the virus, which has an incubation period of one to 14 days, on Monday evening. Travelling into Wuhan has been banned in a bid to try and control the outbreak / Getty Images Webasto confirmed that both the visiting colleague and the infected German man were employees of the company. CEO Holger Engelmann said: The health of our employees and their protection is most important to us. Both colleagues are doing quite well, considering the circumstances. They are both treated in hospital and we are in contact with them. Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP We are in close exchange with the relevant authorities and inform our employees regularly about the next steps. It is important to us, to inform our employees in a transparent and comprehensive way. In light of the coronavirus detection, Webasto has banned staff travel to China for the next two weeks. It has also said that all employees based in the Stockdorf office are free to work from home this week. Health officials are checking people that the two infected workers have been in contact with recently, including colleagues and family members. Health Minister Jens Spahn tweeted to say that it was "expected" that the virus would reach Germany, and the case in Bavaria showed Germany was "well prepared". Confirmation of any sustained human-to-human spread of the virus outside of China, as well as any documented deaths, would bolster the case for reconvening the World Health Organisation's Emergency Committee to consider again whether to declare a public health emergency of international concern. Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of the high speed train station in Hong Kong. / AP The independent panel last week twice declined to declare an international emergency. Outside of China there have now been 45 confirmed cases in 13 countries, with no deaths so far, the WHO's spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday. Cactus Communications, a global scientific communications company, announced that it has acquired UNSILO, a Denmark-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) company that specializes in text analytics, linguistics, and data science. UNSILO, co-founded by Mads Rydahl and Thomas Laursen, provides AI tools and solutions for publishers to grow their business and improve customer experience through products such as Classify which helps publishers package and sell content in new ways, Recommend which supports the discovery of new and existing research, and Evaluate which helps scale up the capacity of the journal editorial office. It has partnered with STM industry leaders like BMJ, Wiley, Clarivate Analytics, and Taylor & Francis to develop solutions for the publishing ecosystem. Co-founder Mads Rydahl headed product design at Siri before it was acquired by Apple. Thomas Laursen, Co-founder and CEO of UNSILO, said, "By combining CACTUS's scale and reach in the publishing and pharmaceutical industries with UNSILO's text intelligence platform, we can advance faster and improve both quality and time-to-publication to the benefit of our customers." CACTUS has, in the past, developed proprietary tools and platforms aimed at the pharma and publishing ecosystem. Its author-resource management system is used by 3 million researchers worldwide and its workflow management portal handles over a million assignments a year. CACTUS's complementary suite of products include Ada, an Automated Document Assessment solution to help publishers assess scientific content, and PubSURE, an AI-powered tool that evaluates a manuscript's journal submission readiness. On the eve of the announcement, Anurag Goel, CACTUS Co-founder and Executive Chairman, said, "CACTUS has evolved into a full-spectrum solutions provider for creators, publishers, and consumers of scientific content. AI algorithms will play a key role in helping us consume and make sense of rapidly increasing content. The acquisition of UNSILO allows us to increase the pace and quality of the AI products we are building for our target industries." Nishchay Shah, Chief Technology Officer at CACTUS and Head of Cactus Labs, said, "CACTUS has taken several steps to establish itself as a leading provider of machine learning and AI-driven solutions. I am very excited about this opportunity to work with the UNSILO team and further scale up the Cactus Labs team. For the next 5 years, our vision is to create technologies and products that will transform work through augmentation and automation." The acquisition is part of Denmark's strategy to attract foreign investments and showcase Denmark as a frontrunner in exciting technologies. Maria Tarp, Director of Invest in Denmark (investindk.com), said, "The investment will fuel the growth and internationalization of the budding AI environment in Denmark. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with CACTUS." ### About Cactus Communications Founded in 2002, Cactus Communications (CACTUS) is a global scientific communications company that collaborates with researchers across academic disciplines, universities, publishers, societies, and life science organizations to accelerate research impact. CACTUS's portfolio of products and services meet a wide spectrum of research needs: Editage provides editorial, translation, education, and training solutions for researchers; Cactus Life Sciences offers strategic and tactical scientific content solutions to global life sciences organizations; PubSURE is the first AI-powered scholarly publishing platform connecting journals and researchers; and Impact Science ensures wider research impact via dissemination solutions and research engagement with peers, public, and policymakers. Powering all CACTUS businesses with latest technologies is its innovation and R&D cell Cactus Labs. CACTUS also incubates seed and early stage startups that share its mission to solve global problems with science and technology solutions. CACTUS is an international enterprise with offices in London, Princeton, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, Bengaluru, and Mumbai; a global workforce of over 3,000 experts; and customers from over 173 countries. CACTUS has been consistently ranked as a Great Place to Work, with its best annual ranking of #1 in 2017 (Great Places to Work survey: http://bit.ly/2oaAUot). For more information, visit cactusglobal.com/. About UNSILO UNSILO is an artificial intelligence software company that develops advanced tools for text understanding and processing. UNSILO tools deliver dramatic workflow improvements by reducing processing time, while at the same time improving quality and accuracy. The UNSILO Document Enrichment service forms the basis of over 20 separate functional solutions and APIs for publishers, including identifying trending topics as they emerge, automated collections, locating precise relatedness, and now manuscript evaluation. UNSILO works with world-leading information services in research to improve discoverability across their platforms and internal publishing processes. For more information, visit unsilo.ai/. For more information, contact: Ai Kano newsroom@cactusglobal.com The High Court in England on Tuesday heard the Indian government's appeal for the extradition of a UK-based couple to face charges of murder of their adopted son in India to claim his life insurance payout. Arti Dhir and her husband Kaval Raijada are wanted in India for the murder of 11-year-old Gopal and brother-in-law in Gujarat three years ago. Their extradition request had been turned down by Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in July last year, with the Indian government later granted permission to appeal in the High Court. Justices James Dingemans and Robin Spencer reserved their judgment, to be handed down in the coming weeks, after hearing arguments from the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which represents the Indian authorities in court extradition proceedings. They were critical of the delays by the Indian government on meeting court timelines to submit the required assurances sought by the magistrates' court. Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot had ruled against extradition on the grounds that the couple would be subjected to a double life term without parole if convicted in India, which would be in breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). There were challenges faced due to complex matters involved, said CPS barrister Toby Cadman. He argued in favour of extradition on the grounds that the Indian government has provided assurances that the state policy in Gujarat, where the couple would be tried, would be over-ridden by the central government to overcome the irreducible life sentences hurdle. However, Dhir and Raijada's barrister, Edward Fitzgerald, contested the appeal on the grounds of such an exemption being applicable and also for the repeated delays on the part of the Indian government in submitting documents in a time-bound manner. The case dates back to June 2017, when Dhir and Raijada were arrested on a provisional warrant in the UK and released on conditional bail following substantial securities. According to details that emerged in court, the murder allegations against the duo relate to their adopted son Gopal Sejani and brother-in-law Harsukhbhai Kardani in February 2017 in India. An investigation by Gujarat police has claimed that the accused had hatched a plot to adopt Gopal and then insure him for around Rs 1.3 crores before staging his kidnapping and murder in India to split the life insurance payout. If the High Court judges uphold India's appeal, it will go back to Westminster Magistrates' Court for the District Judge to order the couple's extradition. However, if the decision goes the other way, the CPS said it would file an application to reissue the extradition proceedings. Back in July 2019, Judge Emma Arbuthnot had accepted there was a circumstantial prima facie case against the couple but turned down the extradition request on human rights grounds. She had warned the accused that they could be hauled before the UK courts again if the legal framework in the state of Gujarat, where the killing occurred, were to allow a process of parole in a life sentence for multiple murder in accordance with the ECHR. She had also pointed out strong evidence of money being sent from the London bank account linked with the accused to the man who organised the killing, which could mean the prospect of a prosecution being initiated in the UK. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Analysts have raised concerns over the safety of the nuclear facility and its potential to spawn a nuclear arms race. The United Arab Emirates delayed Barakah nuclear power plant is one step closer to coming online, after an operational readiness assessment confirmed the first of its four reactors is ready to start up, the UAEs state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Tuesday. Barakah has been plagued by delays and elicited warnings from analysts who have raised concerns over the safety of the reactors design as well as the potential for the facility to spawn a nuclear arms race in the region. The operational assessment of the reactor was reportedly performed by the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) centre based in Atlanta in the United States. The nuclear plants operator, Nawah Energy Company, is concluding the final requirements before commencing the loading of the first fuel assemblies safely into Unit 1 of the Barakah plant, scheduled for first quarter of 2020, WAM said. Once the fuel assemblies are loaded into the reactor, Nawah will raise power generation levels over a number of months before commercial operations begin. The UAEs nuclear regulator was in the final stages of issuing a licence for Barakahs first reactor, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation said last month. Originally due to open in 2017, Barakah Arabic for divine blessing is the first nuclear plant on the Arabian Peninsula. The first of its four 1,400-megawatt reactors has been completed. The reactors are being built by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and have prompted concerns over the potential impact on the environment in the event of an accident or attack. A recent report by Paul Dorfman, chair of the non-profit Nuclear Consulting Group, titled Gulf Nuclear Ambition: New Reactors in the United Arab Emirates, highlights myriad risks inherent in Barakahs design, including a lack of key improved safety design features normally expected on new European reactors but missing from those built by KEPCO. Such features include a so-called core catcher to prevent the nuclear reactor core from breaching the containment building in the event of a meltdown and other defences to guard against a significant radiation release in the event of an accident or deliberate attack on the facility. Further compounding these omissions, says the report, is the discovery of cracking in all 4 reactor containment buildings and the installation of faulty valves all of which cast doubt over the UAEs ability to provide adequate nuclear regulation. The UAE is the only country that has purchased a KEPCO reactor. In March, Qatars foreign affairs ministry reportedly sent a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency saying that a radioactive plume from an accidental discharge could reach its capital, Doha, within five to 13 hours and a radiation leak could devastate the Gulfs water supply due to the regions heavy reliance on desalination plants. Qatar is currently the subject of an ongoing diplomatic, trade and transport blockade by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt over allegations that Doha supports terrorism and is too close to Iran. Qatar has rejected such claims. The UAE insists its nuclear power programme is transparent, safe and only intended for civilian use. Police officers and medical workers check passengers leaving an infected Chinese city. (PA) The UK is among the most likely countries to be infected with the deadly coronavirus outbreak, a study has found. Experts in population mapping at the University of Southampton compiled a list of cities and nations they believe are at high risk from the virus - which has already killed over 100 people. Britain was 17th on the list, based on the number of air travellers predicted to arrive there from the worst affected cities in mainland China. Researchers believe over 190,000 air passengers will travel to the UK from 18 high-risk Chinese population hubs in the next three months. Matt Hancock has called for people who have returned to the UK from Wuhan to self-isolate. (PA) Among the other western nations to make the list, only the US, sixth, Germany, 15th and Canada 16th are more vulnerable to the outbreak. According to the study, Thailand is most at risk - with researchers predicting over two million people from the infected areas will attempt to enter the country. Hong Kong, which announced on Tuesday it would be severing transport links with China, is second on the list of high-risk cities. London, meanwhile, is 19th on the list of 30 cities, just behind New York and Los Angeles in the US. READ MORE FROM YAHOO NEWS UK: Andrew Tatem, a professor at the University of Southampton, said: Its vital that we understand patterns of population movement, both within China and globally, in order to assess how this new virus might spread. By mapping these trends and identifying high-risk areas, we can help inform public health interventions, such as screenings and healthcare preparedness. Dr Shengjie Lai of the University of Southampton added: The spread of the new coronavirus is a fast moving situation. We are closely monitoring the epidemic in order to provide further up-to-date analysis on the likely spread, including the effectiveness of the transport lockdown in Chinese cities and transmission by people returning from the Lunar New Year holiday, which has been extended to 2 February. Story continues It comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock has called for people who have returned to the UK from Wuhan to self-isolate even if they have no symptoms. He said officials could not be 100% certain the virus is not spread by people who are not displaying symptoms. The move means more than 1,400 people who have returned from Wuhan since January 10 should isolate themselves for 14 days from the date of leaving China. Some 1,561 people are now known to have entered the UK from Wuhan since January 10, including airline crew, although some have since left again. Just 10% of these people supplied an email address to the airline and have been contacted with advice on what to do if they feel ill. Mr Hancock said Public Health England officials are trying to trace the others. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK The Iranian government has made genuine efforts to persuade France, Germany, and the UK to preserve the JCPOA. In this context, Iran periodically announced several steps about reducing its obligations based on the nuclear deal. It expected to gain the support of the remaining parties of the deal by terrifying them. However, the JCPOA violations prompted the European signatories to follow the U.S. path for employing pressures. Now European powers hope to compel Iran to obey the JCPOA principles. On the other hand, the French president Emmanuel Macron revealed his eagerness for a new deal with Iran that includes the missile programs. The French president reiterated his claim about Irans efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. He called for the expansion of the [nuclear] agreement and the inclusion of Irans ballistic missile program, Parsineh website published on January 22. A new wave of concerns and regret has been seen after the possibility of triggering the dispute mechanism. In this context, the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani obviously expressed his regret about the JCPOA violations and reducing Irans obligations in this respect. He tried to justify that his government did not contradict the agreement. I am announcing to European countries that we remained in the JCPOA; we didnt withdraw from the JCPOA; we do not want to destroy the JCPOA. We abide by the JCPOA and the reduction of our obligations is in line with the JCPOA, Rouhanis website published his remarks on January 22. But the reality is the European shareholders of the accord took action in contrast with the ayatollahs expectations. For many years, the EU countries were publicizing the appeasement policy toward Iran. They believed that they could change Iranian leaders malign behavior by offering uncountable privileges. They turned a blind eye on the vast network of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and its proxies for exporting terrorism, smuggling, assassinating dissidents, etc. However, it seems that this time these countries decided to adopt a firm policy against the ayatollahs ambitions. During the recent days, after taking the fifth step [by Iran] in a reduction of the JCPOA obligations, Europeans intended to activate the dispute mechanism, which shows that they wont retreat, the state-run newspaper Arman concluded on January 23. In such circumstances, a government-linked expert stepped further and reckoned that the government should accept negotiations over Syria from the beginning. He pointed out officials claims about the ayatollahs meddling in the Middle East, particularly their relentless support for the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in his violent crackdown on protesters. Since 2011, the international community constantly criticized the Iranian governments involvement in Syrian conflicts by dispatching military advisors, and even elite military forces. In October 2015, one of the IRGCs Quds Forces commanders Hossein Hamedani was killed in Syria. Hamedani oversaw the oppressive operations in Syrian provinces like Aleppo. You [the supreme leader Ali Khamenei] have accepted specific international observations on a domestic issue [the nuclear program], You even accepted the U.S. observations. You specifically compromised with the U.S. and [inked a deal]. However, when Syrias issue is raised, you say we dont discuss Syria. How is it possible? How can I accept international negotiations about my domestic issue, but refuse talks over Syria that is far from us, Abbas Abdi, an advocate of President Hassan Rouhani, said in an interview with the state-run TV channel Three on January 21. However, he frankly admitted that the Iranian governments crises are much more than the nuclear program alone. And it should struggle to preserve its authority in the region, especially after the death of the former IRGC-QF commander, also, to deal with the peoples ceaseless, anti-establishment protests at home. Photo credit: DARPA From Popular Mechanics DARPA awarded Northrop Grumman $13 million to study defense against hypersonic weapons. Hypersonic weapons differ from other weapons in traveling at extremely high speeds through the atmosphere, passing under existing ballistic missile defenses. Russia's new Avangard hypersonic weapon system travels at up to Mach 27, or in excess of 20,000 miles an hour. The Pentagons main research and development agency is pushing to start testing anti-hypersonic weapons this year. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA for short, wants to test systems capable of countering hypersonic weapons as they zip through the atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound. Glide Breaker could be used against new Russian and Chinese weapons, including Moscows new Mach 27 Avangard hypersonic missile. According to Defense & Security Monitor , DARPA recently awarded Northrop Grumman $13 million as part of an anti-hypersonic weapon program called Glide Breaker. The contract provides for research, development and demonstration of a technology that is critical for enabling an advanced interceptor capable of engaging maneuvering hypersonic threats in the upper atmosphere. The National Interest reports DARPA wants to begin tests of Glide Breaker this year. One of the most technically ambitiousand potentially dangerousdevelopments of recent years is the pursuit of hypersonic weapon systems by the worlds major military powers. Hypersonic weapons are designed to move through the atmosphere at speeds greater of Mach 5, or 3,836 miles an hour, or greater. Mach 5 works out to just over one mile a second. Photo credit: TASS - Getty Images There are a number of ways to accelerate weapons to hypersonic speeds, one method being the boost glide system. Traditional ballistic missiles like the U.S. Air Forces Minuteman III are large rockets that boost their warhead payloads into low-Earth orbit. After a brief stay in space, the warheads come racing down to the ground, streaking back through the atmosphere to deliver their payloads on target. Story continues Boost glide weapons are similar except they never enter space, spending their entire time in the atmosphere. Boost glide weapons alter course just before reaching space, changing direction to aim their glide vehicle payloads (typically, an arrowhead-shaped vehicle with fins and an explosive warhead) towards a target back on Earth. The glide vehicle then glides back to Earth at hypersonic speeds. There are a lot of similarities between regular ballistic missiles and boost glide weapons. The main differenceand what makes them desirable to countries such as Russia and Chinais that boost glide weapons fly under existing ballistic missile defenses. Americas Ground Based Midcourse Defense system, based in Alaska and California, and the SM-3 interceptor on U.S. Navy ships are optimized to shoot down objects in low-Earth orbit, not in the upper atmosphere. Glide Breaker is meant to change that. Glide Breaker takes its name from two Cold War programs: Tank Breaker, a program designed to stop Soviet tanks and that resulted in the Javelin anti-tank missile, and Assault Breaker, a similar program that resulted in the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS). Like the previous two, Glide Breaker seeks to solve the urgent tactical problem of its time. Photo credit: Missile Defense Agency Intercepting a boost glide weapon system isnt hard: the weapon will certainly appear on radar and infrared sensors. Hypersonic weapons fly about as fast as incoming ballistic missile warheads, and systems such as the Armys Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and perhaps even the Patriot PAC-3 missile system should theoretically be able to knock them down. The problem is detecting a fast-moving threat that could come from a number of directions, including air, land, and sea. The ability to launch a large number of missiles against the U.S. from an unexpected direction complicates the defenders ability to shoot them all down. Its not clear what Northrop Grumman has in mind for Glide Breaker. The company is working on the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System for the Army. IBCS is designed to tie the Armys radars and anti-air weapons into a single integrated air defense system to defend Army ground units from drones, cruise missiles, and other air-to-ground weapons. If the system could be scaled upward to cover a much larger area it could be the basis for protecting against hypersonic weapons. Whatever it is, DARPA's $13 million is merely a down payment on what will almost certainly be a very expensive system. Source: National Interest You Might Also Like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he is withdrawing his bid for parliamentary immunity from prosecution on corruption charges. Israels longest-serving prime minister said in a statement the immunity proceedings in parliament would have been a circus and he did not want to take part in this dirty game. Netanyahu, who denies all wrongdoing, said: I informed the Knesset speaker that I am withdrawing my immunity request. The case now moves toward trial, a process which could take months or years. The right-winger, who faces a national election in March, is under no legal obligation to resign. Speaking from Jerusalem, FRANCE 24's correspondent Irris Makler said Netanyahu's decision may have been a strategic one. The Israeli PM knew "he didn't have the numbers in the parliament. He was going to lose the immunity request that he put there", Makler said. "He's taken a strategic decision, that it's better for him at the moment not to have to suffer that humiliation." Netanyahu is now in Washington for meetings with US President Donald Trump ahead of the release of Trumps long-delayed Israel-Palestinian peace plan, which the Palestinians have already rejected. Israels attorney general Avichai Mandelblit indicted Netanyahu on corruption charges - the first of their kind against a serving Israeli prime minister - last November following a long-running investigation. The charges included bribery, breach of trust and fraud. Netanyahus political opponents, including the centrist former general Benny Gantz, made his legal troubles a centrepiece of their campaigns against him in two Israeli elections last year. He is suspected of wrongfully accepting $264,000 worth of gifts, which prosecutors said included cigars and champagne, from tycoons and of dispensing favours in alleged bids for improved coverage by Israels biggest-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, and the Walla website. Netanyahu could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of bribery and a maximum three-year term for fraud and breach of trust. (FRANCE 24 with REUTERS) Station Houston, a startup organization that helped set Houstons revamped entrepreneurial agenda but has more recently taken a backseat to other organizations, is merging with Austin startup hub Capital Factory. In taking control of Station Houston, Capital Factory has taken another step in its effort to create a Texas Startup Manifesto, where the 11-year-old organization is seeking to unite the states major cities and market them as one startup region to better compete with the East and West Coasts. The Austin vision, the Houston vision, the Dallas vision, those are 10-year, 20-year visions, said Joshua Baer, founder and CEO of Capital Factory, a for-profit organization. The Texas vision is right here, right now. Texas can take on any other city, any other state, any other country in the world. That is the opportunity we have right now. On HoustonChronicle.com: Ion innovation hub gets new organizational structure The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Station Houston, located at 1301 Fannin, will keep its name with a small adjustment: Station Houston, powered by Capital Factory. This will be Capital Factorys second Houston location, it opened in the Cannon startup hub last year. Baer said it would like more Houston locations, perhaps including one in the Texas Medical Center. A catalyst for its Station Houston merger is the Ion, Rice Universitys $100 million project to renovate the former Midtown Sears into a startup hub thats intended to anchor a broader Midtown innovation district. Gaby Rowe, previously CEO of Station Houston, is executive director of the nonprofit that will oversee operations at the Ion. Station Houstons deeper affiliation with Ion coincided with Rowes move, and she retained oversight of it as its executive director. We are partnering together to make sure that our members and our entrepreneurs continue to have the best possible shot at accelerating and growing their companies, Rowe said of the merger with Capital Factory. Station Houston was founded as a for-profit in 2016 and seemingly became the poster child of Houston innovation, with many considering it a more modern approach to entrepreneurship, offering coworking space, startup events and entrepreneurial mentoring. Its business model included charging membership fees to startups and matchmaking fees to corporations seeking new technologies. And its emergence coincided with the closing of the Houston Technology Center, which had embodied Houstons previous innovation push. Station Houston currently has just under 200 startups actively participating in its programming or receiving mentoring sessions. In 2019, Capital Factory programs had roughly 200,000 participants in person and online, and it invested in 70 companies. The organization was initially privately funded by Baer and other angel investors and CEOs. Today, its supported by membership dues and corporate sponsorships. Release Notes: Get Dwight Silvermans weekly tech newsletter in your inbox each Monday Station Houston became a nonprofit roughly one year ago to attract more funding from grants and foundations. In October, it pared back to become a business incubator under the Ion umbrella, giving up its broader role of trying to develop a local innovation ecosystem. Continued support Thats partly why Tuesdays merger announcement wasnt surprising to Marc Nathan, vice president of client strategy for Austin-based law firm Egan Nelson, where he helps startups with legal services and fundraising strategies. He doesnt believe Station Houston had been actively fundraising or looking for operational funds. Instead of Station Houston just winding down its operations, which is clearly what has been happening, this gives the Station clients and sponsors a platform to continue growing in Houston, said Nathan, a mentor for both Station Houston and Capital Factory. Nathan ultimately thinks its a good union between two like-minded organizations, and he expects it will help market Texas as a region so the individual cities quit dividing capital and customers. Its a great move, Nathan said. It strengthens the community. It strengthens the connections between Houston and Austin. On HoustonChronicle.com: Can Houston avoid mistakes of the past as it tries to build its tech scene? Andrew Bruce, CEO of Houston-based Data Gumbo, a company that uses blockchain technology to automate business transactions, also praised the merger. Ultimately for Houston, I think its good to have a strong, recognized formula that works for startups, he said. Bruce was a Station Houston member when it first opened, and he liked the entrepreneurial buzz. But over time, he said, the organization lost its way, focusing on building the ecosystem and its personal brand more than assisting startups. He canceled his membership and relocated Data Gumbo to the Cannon startup hub in west Houston. He gave Station Houston another chance after Rowe was named chief executive in August 2018 but, still running his company from the Cannon, didnt feel plugged into the community and canceled again. He thinks Capital Factorys proven program will be useful to Houston startups. Rowe said the two organizations had long worked together and their merger is the best entrepreneur-focused transition for Station Houston during this exciting time for the city. Current members of Station Houston will be able to access mentors, educational programming, investors and coworking space at Capital Factorys Austin and Dallas locations. Station Houston members located downtown will stay downtown until the Ion opens in early 2021. They will then move into the Ion, where Capital Factory will become a founding tenant. As soon as we heard about the Ion, Baer said, we knew that we needed to find a way to be part of the Ion. andrea.leinfelder@chron.com Twitter.com/a_leinfelder On the Frontline Against China, the US Coast Guard Is Taking on Missions the US Navy Can't Do Competition with China has drawn more Pentagon resources to the Pacific, but the most visible U.S. military presence there... CLEVELAND, Ohio A mans dead body was found Monday wrapped in a tarp with his hands bound with rope, according to police. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner has not yet identified the man, nor determined a cause of death, but police reports say violence is suspected. The mans body was found behind an abandoned home about 4:30 p.m. on East 89th Street, south of Cedar Avenue in the citys Fairfax neighborhood. A contractor working on the vacant home called 911 and reported finding the body in a blue tarp. The mans hands were tied behind his back, according to a Cleveland police dispatch report. Cleveland police have not released additional details on the incident. UPDATED: Man found dead with hands bound in Cleveland was reported missing Christmas Eve To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page. Read more from cleveland.com: 70-year-old Cleveland veteran killed man who took him in off the streets, family says Cuyahoga County prosecutor defends prosecuting juveniles as adults amid ACLU criticism St. Edwards teacher accused of trying to meet teen for sex pleads guilty to felony charge Inside the stone walls of a 13th-century fortress, Albanian and Russian actors are striving to re-enact a little-known but troubling chapter of their shared history for the big screen. Co-written by Albania's acclaimed novelist Ismail Kadare, this historical drama is the first joint production between the two countries in almost 70 years. The working title for the love story is "Gjirokastra", the southern Albanian city where the story unfolds. It will be the first feature film to delve into the tragic fate of mixed couples persecuted by Tirana's communist regime. The trouble started after Tirana severed ties with Moscow in 1961, a diplomatic break that, overnight, turned young Albanians with Soviet-born wives into suspected traitors. "The characters I'm interested in are forgotten or little-known victims of communism: foreigners held in Albania and savagely persecuted by the regime," Kadare told AFP. While this is his debut as a screenwriter, the novelist and poet has won a string of literary prizes and is regularly mooted as a contender for Nobel honours. "So many individual fates were shattered by history," said Kadare, who co-wrote the script with the Russian screenwriter and director Yuri Arabov. In the 1950s many Albanian men studied abroad in the Soviet Union, some of them returning home with Russian, Polish, Hungarian or Bulgarian partners. The film follows the story of one such couple. - Executions and labour camps - For years, Albania and the USSR were close allies, and Tirana's communist dictator Enver Hoxha an admirer of Joseph Stalin. But after the Soviet leader's successor Nikita Khrushchev embarked on a series of de-Stalinisation reforms, Albania's dictator broke with "revisionist" Moscow and its satellite states in 1961. Foreign women living inside Albania, whose borders were locked down under Hoxha, were given a choice: return home or stay with their husbands and risk persecution. There is no data on how many couples joined the tens of thousands of perceived regime opponents jailed or sentenced to hard labour during Albania's 40 years of communism. Some 5,500 men and 450 women were also executed by the regime. One survivor, however, is Irina Sallaku, an 88-year-old who now lives in Tirana. Born in Soviet Russia, Sallaku married an Albanian who was studying engineering in Leningrad. The couple returned to Tirana in 1955 with twins. Their lives were shattered two decades later, when her husband was executed by the Albanian regime on charges of "sabotage". Sallaku was sent with their two daughters to a labour camp. They were not released until 1988. "Many foreigners who made an act of heartfelt resistance by choosing to live in Albania have had a tragic destiny," Sallaku told AFP. Like many, she still doesn't know the final resting place of her husband, a constant source of torment. But she welcomes the making of a movie that will tell a story similar to hers on a large scale. "This is a tragic episode in the story (of Albania) that needs to be told in order to understand the scale of the crime," she said, speaking in a hushed voice. - Real love - The film, which Kadare started writing in 2010, traces the story of Russian student Katia, who meets her future Albanian husband, Arjan, in Moscow. Years after starting a new life together in Albania, the husband is arrested for "spying" and executed. Katia, also accused of spying, ends up imprisoned in the Gijrokastra fortress, which at that time was used as a jail. While most of the filming took place in Gijrokastra, the birth place of both Hoxha and Kadare, some scenes were also filmed in the late dictator's villa in the centre of Tirana. Two Albanian actors play the Hoxha, who died in 1985, and his wife Nexhmije, still alive at the age of 99. Director Arabov describes the film as a "tribute to all the innocent victims of totalitarian regimes". With the shooting wrapped, editing starts at the end of the month. And the work has already given birth to a new love story -- between Polina Grishina, the Russian actress who plays Katia, and Besmir Bitraku, the Albanian actor who plays her husband. "We are our history," Bitraku, a popular actor in Albania, said with a smile. Loreta Mokini, the Albanian co-producer of the film, added: "Love is blind, it doesn't learn from history". Russian actress Polina Grishina plays Katia, the ill-fated wife The film is a 'tribute to all the innocent victims of totalitarian regimes', says director Yuri Arabov Shot on location in Gjirokastra, Albania, the film was co-written by director Arabov and the celebrated novelist Ismail Kadare HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Jan. 30, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the NASA family nationwide will honor the brave explorers -- including the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia -- who lost their lives in the pursuit of scientific discovery and the betterment of all humankind. Marshall will host a candle-lighting ceremony at 9 a.m. CST in the lobby of Building 4200. Speakers will include Marshall Associate Director Steven Miley and former NASA astronaut Jan Davis, now a program manager at Bastion Technologies of Huntsville. Johnny Stephenson, director of Marshall's Office of Strategic Analysis & Communications, will introduce speakers and lead a moment of silence. Members of the Huntsville-area media are invited to attend. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, along with other senior agency officials, will lead an observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia starting at 1 p.m. EST, including a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Video and still images of various agency observances will be available at: https://www.nasa.gov/mediaresources The agency also is paying tribute to its fallen astronauts with special online content available Wednesday, Jan. 29, at: https://www.nasa.gov/dor2020 Images and multimedia from this year's events will be added following the events. Media interested in covering the Day of Remembrance event should contact Janet Sudnik, public affairs officer in the Marshall Office of Communications, at 256-544-0034 or [email protected] no later than 4 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 29. Participating members of the media are asked to arrive at the Redstone Arsenal Gate 9 Visitor's Center by 8 a.m. on Jan. 30. SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov Hong Kongs chief executive, Carrie Lam, announces seven new measures to contain the outbreak. Chinas latest health crisis coincides with Lunar New Year celebrations. Tourists have been spreading the virus, causing panic in Southeast Asia. Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) Hong Kong has decided to drastically cut cross-border travel with the mainland. Railways have been closed, flights slashed and individual mainland travellers have been denied entry in an attempt to contain the 2019-nCoV outbreak. The deadly coronavirus is causing pneumonia in epidemic proportions. First identified in the Chinese province of Hubei, it has so far infected eight people in the former British colony. This morning, Chinese health authorities confirmed that, as of 28 January, 106 had died, whilst the number of confirmed cases in the country had reached 4,515. Hong Kongs chief executive, Carrie Lam, held a press conference to announce new measures to contain the crisis. Starting midnight on Thursday, flights from and to mainland China will be cut by half and cross-border tour buses will also be reduced. Train services between Hung Hom and Guangzhou will be suspended, whilst the Man Kan To and Sha Tau Kok checkpoints will be closed. In total, some seven new measures will be implemented, including mandatory health checks and temperature screening for travellers departing from all ports, including the airport. Chinese authorities had already implemented the same policy for those planning to leave the mainland. Beijing also agreed to stop issuing individual travel visas for mainlanders, who account for half of all mainland arrivals in Hong Kong. Making matters worse, the latest health crisis in China coincides with Lunar New Year festivities. At this time of the year, millions of people crisscross the country to visit relatives and friends whilst hundreds of thousands take this opportunity to travel to neighbouring countries. As a result, Chinas 2019-nCoV outbreak is also causing havoc in Southeast Asia. Last year Thailand welcomed Chinese 11 million visitors, making China its top tourist market. This morning, Thai authorities confirmed six more coronavirus cases among visitors from China for a total of 14 so far. This gives Thailand the second highest number of infections after China. Faced with a disgruntled public opinion, Public Health Permanent Secretary Sukhum Kanchanapimai yesterday held an emergency meeting with the ministers of Transport and Tourism. His department will now scan all passengers from China, Sukhum said. Although no case has been confirmed in the Philippines, local health authorities are monitoring 11 suspected coronavirus cases. Manila has stopped issuing visas on arrival for Chinese nationals, but there is no order barring them from entering the Philippines. In Malaysia, four pneumonia cases have been confirmed. Local authorities have boosted security measures at all points of access to the country, installing thermal scanners to detect travellers with a fever. The government also temporarily suspended granting visas for all Chinese residents of Hubei province. Yesterday, Singapore confirmed its fifth case of infection. All cases involve people from Wuhan who arrived in the city-state this month. Cambodia announced its first case, whilst in Vietnam, the government is facing a backlash for failing to implement effective health checks along the border with China. A 37-year-old arborist was killed in Mill Valley after a Eucalyptus tree he was cutting fell and struck him, marking what appears to be the first fatality this year in California for an industry known to be especially dangerous, officials said Tuesday. Edgar Martin Ramos Martinez, a Guatemalan native who most recently lived in San Rafael, was working for a contracting service hired by a homeowners association when he was struck by a falling tree in between Blue Jay Way and Chamberlain Court, according to the Marin County Sheriffs Office. Martinez suffered traumatic injuries to his head and body and was immediately rendered unconscious and unresponsive, officials said. First responders found Martinez in cardiopulmonary arrest and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Frank Polizzi, a spokesman for Cal/OSHA, said Martinez worked for Clements Tree Service Inc., based in Mill Valley. The tree he was cutting toppled over and hit other trees on its way down before Martinez was struck. Clements Tree Service Inc. could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. Polizzi said tree-cutting injuries and deaths have been on Cal/OSHAs radar for a while, because the work is hazardous and guided by specific regulations that are not always followed. People often think they possess the skills to cut trees because they know how to landscape or do other outdoor work. We have general safety regulations, as well as tree safety regulations, Polizzi said. Officials are probing to identify, and potentially correct, any violations of workplace safety regulations, Polizzi said. The incident was the first occupational tree-trimming fatality Cal/OSHA officials have received this year. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The most recent death before this weeks incident occurred in December, when a worker in Elk Grove (Sacramento County) was struck on the head by a falling tree limb and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy and toxicology test will be conducted later this week to determine Martinezs official cause of death. Alejandro Serrano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alejandro.serrano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @serrano_alej CHICAGO and MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amcor plc (NYSE: AMCR; ASX: AMC) will announce its fiscal 2020 half year results after the US market closes at 4.00 pm US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday 11 February 2020 / 8.00 am Australian Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday 12 February 2020. A conference call and webcast to discuss the results will be held at 5.30 pm US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday 11 February / 9.30 am Australian Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday 12 February 2020. For those wishing to participate in the call please use the following dial-in numbers: US and Canada: 866 211 4133 (toll-free) Australia: 1800 287 011 (toll-free) United Kingdom: 0800 051 7107 (toll-free) Hong Kong: 800 901 563 (toll-free) Singapore: 800 852 6506 (toll-free) All other countries: +1 647 689 6614 (this is not a toll-free number) Conference ID 1837796 Access to the webcast and supporting materials will be available via the Investors section of Amcor's website (www.amcor.com/investors). A webcast replay will be available at the conclusion of the call. For further information please contact: Investors: Tracey Whitehead Head of Investor Relations Amcor +61 3 9226 9028 [email protected] Damien Bird Vice President Investor Relations Amcor +61 3 9226 9070 [email protected] Jay Koval Vice President Investors Relations Amcor +1 224 313 7127 [email protected] Media Europe Ernesto Duran Head of Global Communications Amcor +41 78 698 69 40 [email protected] Media Australia James Strong Citadel-MAGNUS +61 448 881 174 [email protected] Media North America Daniel Yunger KekstCNC +1 212 521 4879 [email protected] About Amcor Amcor is a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home- and personal-care, and other products. Amcor works with leading companies around the world to protect their products and the people who rely on them, differentiate brands, and improve value chains through a range of flexible and rigid packaging, specialty cartons, closures, and services. The company is focused on making packaging that is increasingly light-weighted, recyclable and reusable, and made using a rising amount of recycled content. Around 50,000 Amcor people generate US$13 billion in sales from operations that span about 250 locations in 40-plus countries. NYSE: AMCR; ASX: AMC www.amcor.com I LinkedIn I Facebook I Twitter I YouTube SOURCE Amcor plc Related Links www.amcor.com Supporting its efforts to make advertising more appropriate for young audiences, SuperAwesome just received capital investment from Microsoft venture fund M12. We typically dont announce investments but we feel this transaction represents an important milestone, Dylan Collins, SuperAwesomes co-founder and CEO, stated on Monday. While the exact figure was not disclosed, M12s backing is part of a new round of funding for SuperAwesome, which totaled $17 million. That brings the for-profit companys total investment to $37 million, to date. M12 is positioning the investment as part a broader effort to pursue new business opportunities across Europe. The fund just opened its first office in London. UK-based, SuperAwesome provides a platform for companies interested in offering advertising, video and communities that are safe for children, as well as parental consent options. Launched in 2013, Collins said SuperAwesomes so-called kid-tech platform is now responsible for 12 billion kid-safe transactions -- including ad impressions -- every month. advertisement advertisement Technology and marketing companies have good reason to be investing in ways to make their offerings safer for children. Among other legal threats, the Federal Trade Commission reportedly investigated YouTubes handling of childrens content and data last year. In addition to SuperAwesome, M12 is targeting businesses involved in big data, analytics, business software as a service, cloud infrastructure, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and productivity and security. Led by Matthew Goldstein, one of M12s founding partners, the new London office is also expected to prioritize businesses in the Series A through C funding stages. Since its own founding in 2016, M12 says it has invested in 87 companies, from talent operating system Beamery to travel and tourism startup Comtravo. Two people in Haryana and another in Punjab with travel history to China have been kept under observation after they showed novel coronavirus-like symptoms, officials said. A 28-year-old Mohali resident has been admitted to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh after showing novel coronavirus-like symptoms, an official said on Tuesday. Two patients in Haryana have been kept under observation, said state Health Minister Anil Vij here. The health authorities of both states said there was no need to panic, asserting that all the district hospitals were prepared in terms of logistics, isolation wards and ventilator status. The Mohali resident, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, had returned from China last week and was admitted to the PGIMER on Monday. The patient complained of fever and respiratory discomfort, said Dr Gagandeep Singh, State Programme officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme. The patient, who is said to be a banker, himself went to the PGIMER for treatment in Chandigarh, official said. The patient has been kept in an isolation ward and is under observation, the official said, adding his samples have been sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology, Pune. The family of the patient has been contacted by the Mohali health authorities, the official said, adding they have not shown any such symptoms. Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said 16 people in the state had returned from China recently. Of them, one was admitted to the PGIMER while the rest 15 had not shown any coronavirus-like symptoms but they would be tracked for 28 days, a health official said. One child in Amritsar has died of swine flu on Monday, he said. Sidhu further said, "Advisories have been issued at the Attari-Wagah border and Dera Baba Nanak, asking travellers to get themselves checked at the district hospitals." The state government has installedthermal sensors at the Amritsar airport for the screening of passengers. Sensors will also be set up at the Chandigarh international airport. The minister said the Department of Health was fully aware of the situation and had made adequate arrangements to deal with any emergent situation. Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said advisories have been issued to all district hospitals. "Of five passengers with travel history to China, two have shown symptoms of the coronavirus infection and they have been kept in isolation wards," said Vij, adding that their families were also under observation. A Chandigarh resident with slight fever was admitted to a private hospital in Mohali, a Punjab health official said, adding that he had not shown coronavirus-like symptoms. There was no need for his sampling at this stage, yet he was under observation, he further said. Meanwhile,PGIMERDirector Jagat Ram wrote to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and UT Chandigarh, urging them not to refer suspected patients to the hospital, instead keep them at isolation wards in their states only. "If patients of all states come at the PGI, there will be panic," Ram said while talking to media here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Associated Press Today's top trending stories Read more about the CDC's travel warning to China, updates on President Trump's impeachment trial, and check out other stories trending online today. Don't Edit CDC issues warning The spread of the coronavirus has led to the CDC issuing its most urgent warning for travelers to avoid any nonessential visits to China. Read more about conditions in the areas hit by the coronavirus from The Hill Related: Dow sinks more than 400 points amid coronavirus uncertainty (ABC News) Don't Edit Impeachment updates Focus in the Senate was on the White House's defense team yesterday as President Trump's lawyers hammered away at the charges against him. See what Trump's team had to say from USA Today Related: What to watch for today (The Hill) Don't Edit More on Trump in the news A look at other trending headlines today pertaining to President Trump: Supreme Court allows Trump to enforce 'public charge' immigration rule (Politico) Trump peace plan: High stakes and low chances (BBC News) Don't Edit Kobe Bryant investigation New details continue to come to light in the tragic crash that took the life of Kobe Bryant and 8 other people. Get the latest: Helicopter pilot said he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer just before deadly crash (BuzzFeed News) NBA postpones Lakers-Clippers game (ESPN) Don't Edit Don't Edit Other headlines trending today McDonald's is fighting the breakfast war with chicken sandwiches (CNN Business) Atari wants to build video game-themed hotels (PC Mag) Single dose of psychedelic drug eased cancer patients' anxiety, depression for years (NBC News) Billie Eilish album sales surge following Grammy wins (Billboard) Hunter Biden agrees to pay child support in paternity case settlement (CNN) Rural mayors are "disappointed" and "confused" by the $300 million Drought Communities Program, with six grants last year awarded to local governments that didn't meet the federal government's employment criteria. The grants were approved by Senator Bridget McKenzie in her former role of regional services minister in the lead-up to the May federal election. Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, Drought Minister David Littleproud and Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie. Credit:Mick Tsikas. Drought Minister David Littleproud is currently responsible for the program. He said on Tuesday there had been "a clear definition of the criteria" in place to determine which local governments qualified for funding. "Originally, it was 17 per cent of your workforce had to be in agricultural employment. And there was a rainfall deficiency of 12 months within 24," he said. In the latest effort to stop students from puffing on e-cigarettes between classes, some New Jersey high schools are turning to a new form of security to act as a deterrent: vaping detectors. South Plainfield High School installed several detectors in the bathrooms and other locations on Friday, according to interim principal Robert Diehl. He declined to say exactly how many detectors are being installed or the specific locations, but said the bathrooms are a priority. What were doing is were trying to create a comfortable environment and a safe environment for all students, Diehl told NJ Advance Media. This maximizes our efforts to keep our students healthy and safe. The HALO vape sensors are highly sensitive and pick up different elements in the air, including humidity, temperature, and several chemicals, Diehl said. He said they wanted to keep the specifics of the detectors confidential, but essentially, they pick up chemicals in the air and send notifications to multiple administrators. The detectorswhich cost $1,000 each and were bought from A+ Technology & Security Solutionsare also tamper-resistant, according to Diehl. If someone attempts to tamper with them, a sound alert goes off and a notification goes out. Theyre hard to tamper with, he said. If you touch them, theres an alert that goes out immediately and the location is specific. The money for the detectors came from the districts security budget, he said. Both Diehl and Noreen Lishak, the districts superintendent, emphasized South Plainfield doesnt have a specific problem, but is looking at solutions for the general problem of vaping. Although only a handful of students have received consequences for vaping in school, we believe even a few is too many, Lishak wrote in an email to NJ Advance Media. Our intention is for the vape detectors to serve as a deterrent so that we can continue to foster good health and wellness in our student body. Other districts are doing the same. Sparta High School installed detectors earlier this year in two of its bathrooms, and plans to add more, principal Ronnie Spring said. Spring echoed Lishaks view that the detectors are meant as deterrents, and he said theyve been extremely effective in reducing the amount of vaping in bathrooms. Glen Rock High School is also planning to install the detectors later this spring, but more as a pilot program, with the option to add more detectors if proved effective. The district plans to buy the FlySense detectors from Soter Technologies, the other major company that sells vaping detectors, principal John Arlotta said. The school district in Cranford started installing the detectors in the high school the first week of January and anticipates finishing installation by late February, Superintendent Scott Rubin said. The hope is that if theyre successful in stopping /deterring vaping, Rubin wrote in an email. The Cranford Board of Education will look to budget for additional detectors throughout the District. Not everyone is convinced of the detectors effectiveness. Sayreville Superintendent Richard Labbe said the districts high school piloted the detectors in two bathrooms last spring, and theyve been effective to some degree. They have led to numerous investigations regarding code of conduct violations, including but not limited to, the use of vaping devices, Labbe wrote in an email. However, the district is still evaluating their overall effectiveness, he said. Kevin Schroth, an associate professor in health behavior at Rutgers University, who previously helped direct tobacco control policy in New York City, said he wasnt too familiar with the detectors, but still questioned their effectiveness or their existence as a solution. I can say that one of the challenges with Juul use is theyre very discreet and (that) contributes to use, he said. Cigarettes cant take place without being detected. He added that even if they are effective, students can recognize them and decide to vape in places that lack the detectors, whereas you can only get away with cigarettes in the bathroom. Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @briannakudisch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. (Support Free Thought) - Austin, TX For the last two months, cops across the state of Virginia made national headlines when they came together to tell lawmakers that they would refuse to enforce tyrannical and unconstitutional gun laws. This got them praise for many reasons, but it also made many skeptics point out the fact that all of these cops would still arrest you for a bump stock, fully automatic weapon, or any other number of gun bans enforced on a national level. It was essentially little more than a dog and pony show politicized into a circus. Now, we are seeing a similar refusal take place in Austin, Texas this week. In this case however, instead of refusing to arrest people, the Austin police department is promising to keep arresting peopledespite the city council voting to increase freedom by halting marijuana arrests. Just one day after Austin City Council approved a resolution to stop kidnapping, caging, and extorting people over marijuana, the chief of police fired back, proudly exclaiming that he would refuse to uphold the new law and will still conduct arrests and tickets of those dangerous marijuana smokers. [Marijuana] is still illegal, and we will still enforce marijuana law if we come across people smoking in the community, Chief Brian Manley said during a news conference Friday afternoon. Spoken like a true patriot Manley said that his cops will continue to either issue tickets under the citys cite-and-release policy or arrest people if officers come across it. Essentially, Manley and his team of badged enforcers inside Austin PD say they will continue to violate the rights of innocent people because the devils lettuce is still illegal at the state level. However, Manleys promise to disobey Austins new resolution is futile for many reasons, especially considering the fact that the city plans on doing nothing with the citations and letting go everyone the police arrest without charges. As the Texas Tribune reports: The difference, according to City Council member and resolution sponsor Greg Casar, is that the councils move now guarantees those actions will come with no penalty. Tickets will be meaningless pieces of paper, and any arrests will result in a quick release with no charges accepted from prosecutors, he told The Texas Tribune after the news conference. What has changed since yesterday is that enforcement, almost in virtually all cases, is now handing someone a piece of paper with no penalty or no court date, Casar said. Nevertheless, innocent people will still be kidnapped by Austin cops refusing to obey their democratically elected leaders, and this is little more then insubordinate tyranny. This change in Austins law comes after hemp was legalized at a federal level. Because cops on the street cant tell the difference between federally legal hemp and its psychoactive counterpart, Austin city council came up with the logical decision to stop all enforcement. This is the opposite of what other states like Louisiana are doing. In Louisiana, despite the state legalizing the growing of hemp, possessing the non-psychoactive flower or attempting to smoke it, can and will land you in a cage. Manley is apparently just like the cops in Louisiana and is too addicted to going after this plant thats never killed anyone, so he and his Austin police department will continue to arrest people for it. Doubling down on his tyrannical act, Manley then claimed at the press conference that the Austin police department is above any petty city ordinance. A City Council does not have the authority to tell a police department not to enforce a state law, he said. Sadly, the Austin police department is representative of many other departments across the country who are so addicted to the war on drugs that they are willing to openly disobey the democratic process that tells them to stop enforcing it. This is not only a boon for the prison industrial complex, but its also a gift to violent criminals who get to act in the background as cops go after weed. As TFTP has reported, when cops stop going after people for possessing substances deemed illegal by the state, real crimes are actually solved. In fact, a study out of Boston showed exactly that. The study indicated that the Boston Police Department has drastically increased the number of homicides they solved since they stopped making arrests for marijuana. The homicide clearance rate increase by 10% following the decriminalization of marijuana in the area. The BPD homicide unit increased the yearly Boston homicide clearance rate by nearly 10 percent [] and by more than 18 percent when the clearance rate definition was extended to include those cases awaiting grand jury decisions, the study said. Civil asset forfeiture pays. Busting low-level drug dealers by the dozen and confiscating their drugs, guns, cars, houses, and money pays. Writing tickets for victimless crime pays. Pulling you over for window tint, seat belts, arbitrary traveling speeds, and expired license plates; these are the things that pay solving murders does not pay. Sadly, many cops in Austin are perpetuating actual crime by continuing this war on weed. Hopefully they wake up to this reality soon enough so they end up on the right side of history. [January 28, 2020] Bold Penguin goes live with biBERK, A Berkshire Hathaway Company COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bold Penguin, a rapidly growing commercial insurance technology provider, is expanding coverage capabilities of its platform through a newly launched integration with biBERK, A Berkshire Hathaway Company. The partnership will enable agent and broker users of the Bold Penguin platform to triage, quote, and bind commercial insurance coverages available through an API integration. While the demand for Workers Compensation coverage continues to grow, to date there have been few strides made to enable digital availability. Bold Penguin's integration with biBERK addresses this challenge, allowing agents and brokers efficient digital access to biBERK's comprehensive suite of Workers Compensation products. "Efficiency is key in quoting small commercial," said Ilya Bodner, Founder and CEO of Bold Penguin. "By welcoming additional key carriers to our platform we're allowing them and their distribution partners to reduce the number of screens,portals, and access points necessary to get to a quick and accurate quote." Launched in 2016 and focused on simplifying the insurance experience of small businesses, biBERK Insurance Services, Inc. is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway Group. The company offers policies from the Berkshire Hathaway Group of insurance companies covering most industries and currently offering six lines of insurance: Workers Compensation, Professional Liability, General Liability, Business Owners Policy, Umbrella and Commercial Auto. About Bold Penguin Bold Penguin is where technology enhances the human touch in commercial insurance. With a heavy focus on agents, Bold Penguin upgrades the user experience for businesses, creates an easy tool for agents, and offers a streamlined process of underwriting for carriers. Founded by a group of entrepreneurs who spent their early days working with Allstate, Nationwide, and Progressive alongside regional carriers and established insurance agencies. For more details, please visit www.boldpenguin.com . CONTACT: Amber Wuollet, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bold-penguin-goes-live-with-biberk-a-berkshire-hathaway-company-300994753.html SOURCE Bold Penguin [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Virginia woman has sued a humane society that she says didnt properly restrain a caged dog that bit her finger. Marie A. Franco-Wisnewski, 55, of Portsmouth, is seeking $240,000 in damages, plus costs and interests, from the Portsmouth Humane Society, The Virginian-Pilot reported. In court documents, she said she was walking through the shelter 15 months ago when she felt a tug on her right arm. A caged pit bull was pulling her hand inside his pen, she said. The lawsuit says the shelter failed to properly restrain the dog, train him or otherwise make him less dangerous. Attorney David Abel, who represents the shelter, said in court documents that the lawsuit should be dismissed. He argued that Franco-Wisnewski was negligent and that the dogs presence was open and obvious. It is unclear what happened to the dog involved in the Oct. 14, 2018, incident. Sgt. Misty Holley, a police spokeswoman, said Animal Control investigated the bite and did not pursue charges. She didnt know where the dog went after quarantine. According to the lawsuit, Franco-Wisnewski went to the facility after church to look for a dog to adopt. She was wearing a blouse with French cuffs and a pearl bracelet that hung down several inches past her hands as she walked. She was invited to look around the shelter unaccompanied by any employees, according to the lawsuit. But as she walked past a kennel, the dog snatched the fabric of one of her sleeves and pulled her hand inside. The lawsuit said the dog then bit down on her finger, causing profuse bleeding. But Holley said Franco-Wisnewskis clothing became snagged on the kennel and that the dog bit her when she went to free it. The lawsuit said Franco-Wisnewski had an unspecified preexisting condition that causes both extreme bleeding and serious blood clotting. As a result of the attack, she continues to suffers numbness and pain, which appears to be permanent, the lawsuit said. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Virginia We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. In recent weeks, some Democratic Party elected officials and strategists have grown increasingly anxious about the prospect that Mr. Sanders could capture the nomination. Many believe that they have a limited window to thwart any possible rise or streak of victories in the primaries, and that a wait-and-see approach such as taking action after the Super Tuesday contests in early March could end up being too late and too divisive for the party. While there are informal discussions in Democratic circles about starting an organized effort to stop Mr. Sanders, so far no group of donors or organizations has stepped up to helm a broader campaign. On Tuesday, Third Way, a centrist think tank, sent an email to several hundred of its supporters in Iowa, encouraging them to highlight positions taken by Mr. Sanders that the group argues will repel swing voters in battleground states. Mark Mellman, the president of Democratic Majority for Israel and a longtime Democratic pollster, said his group began developing an ad several weeks ago, as Mr. Sanders rebounded from a slide in the polls last fall. The group did not work in conjunction with any other organization. The concerns about Mr. Sanders are two-pronged. The group and its allies worry that his questioning of the Democratic Partys longstanding support for Israel could damage the United States historically strong relationship with the country. If elected, Mr. Sanders would be the first Jewish president. Mr. Sanders, who doesnt often speak about his Jewish upbringing, has called for an American policy toward Israel that addresses both Israeli security and a pro-Palestinian perspective. He spent time working on a kibbutz in Israel as a young man and opposes the movement, supported by some liberals, to boycott, divest from and sanction the country. Mr. Mellman said his organization was equally concerned about the ability of the liberal septuagenarian to beat Mr. Trump, saying Mr. Sanders was in a uniquely bad position to win a general election. For many months people were saying he really didnt have much of a chance, but you have to look at the data now and say he does have a realistic chance of winning Iowa and potentially the nomination, he said. This is the point at which there could be room for someone else to make their case and have a better candidate emerge. In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, as many as 3756 passengers have been screened at the Mumbai International Airport till January 26. Out of these, 15 passengers belong to Maharashtra. They have been kept under observation over telephone for the next 28 days as per the Central government's instructions, the State government said. So far, six patients having symptoms similar to coronavirus have been admitted in hospitals across Maharashtra among which four are admitted in Mumbai's Kasturba hospital while two are admitted in Pune's Naidu hospital. These are the two dedicated hospitals for suspected patients of coronavirus in the State. Samples of three patients were found negative earlier while samples of two more patients have been sent for testing to NIV ( Institute of Virology), Pune, results of which are expected today. A meeting was conducted under the leadership of chief secretary of health ministry of Maharashtra in this regard which was attended by doctors and research scientists of NIV. It was decided to find out the passengers who returned to India between January 1 and 17 as screening at the airport started only from January 18. It was also decided that 104 helpline will be used to help and make people aware about the virus. A review meeting regarding coronavirus via video conference with the Central government officials was also conducted on Monday. Meanwhile, several States across the country have been taking precautionary measures to meet any eventuality in view of the swift spread of the virus. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a meeting with State health department officials on coronavirus on Monday. He directed the officials to set up a 10-bed isolation ward in every district hospital and medical college in the State. Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar also said that the state is "well prepared and is taking all precautionary and preventive steps." "So far, no case has been identified in the State as well as the country. I appeal to the public to not panic," Vijayabaskar said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "I keep saying," Carrie Coon tells me with a laugh, "if we all walk out at the same time, there's nothing they can do." She's kidding, of course or maybe not. Coon calls the production in question David Cromer's Steppenwolf Theatre Company revival of Bug, an early play written by her husband, Tracy Letts the hardest play she's ever done. Considering her resume, from the stunning drunk performance she delivered as Honey in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and her graceful, heartbreaking turn as a mom of a sick toddler in Amy Herzog's Mary Jane, that's saying a lot. In Bug, Coon plays Agnes, a waitress on the run from her abusive ex, who begins a love affair with a paranoid young drifter and descends into madness. There's nudity, drug use, and a lot of blood. It's been a very tough rehearsal process leading up to their first few previews, but you can tell that Coon and her cast are having a lot of funeven if the first aid kit they're installing onstage will have to constantly be restocked. Carrie Coon stars in Bug at Steppenwolf in Chicago. ( David Gordon) This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Is this the kind of production that was hatched with Tracy in your living room, or did you come into this the traditional way? They were looking for a famous actress in her 40s who had theater chops to come in. Nowadays, in order to promote theater, you need to create some sense of an event. That was the conversation, and they couldn't really get anybody to do it. It's too hard. Everybody said no. We were in the kitchen one day and I said, "Oh, I should do it!", and Tracy said, "You're too young." The character is 44, I'm 38 this year, and the actor they were considering for the role of Peter, Namir Smallwood, is actually a little older than the part as written, so Tracy was concerned about the age difference. But [artistic director] Anna D. Shapiro and Tracy got to talking about it, and they decided to offer me the part. And then I immediately regretted opening my mouth. Why? It's the hardest play I've ever done, by far. It's actually very precisely constructed, and quite elegant: You have this meet-cute; then the acceleration of the relationship; then the bugs appear in Scene 3; in Scene 4, you see her get isolated from her family; in Scene 5, it's the descent into madness; and in Scene 6, we're in full-on madness. It's very taut. There's not an extraneous bit of language in it. As an actor, you have to go from beat to beat and you can't skip any steps or have any extra gesture, language, or sound. That's really hard to do. There are also so many conditions in the play. There's nudity, there's drug use, there's jonesing for drugs, there's being hit in the face, bleeding. They're gonna put a first aid kit on set because there's already been so much bleeding and bruising. Tracy said when we first started rehearsing that we were gonna be so banged up, and he's absolutely right. We're just a mess. But it's a very well-written role. Tracy is an actor, so he writes very actable moments. It's very active. Even when you read the stage directions, you see they're filled with strong verbs, because Tracy understands that actors need something to do. You can't just play a mood. You can get really trapped in playing tone in something like this. Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood in rehearsal for the Steppenwolf production of Bug. ( Lowell Thomas) This role, Agnes, seems very different for you. It's not the same work that I'm always asked to do. Tracy's work is always very funny, and some people who've seen me onstage know that I have some sense of comic timing, but from my TV work Between The Leftovers and Fargo, you have become the prestige TV Grieving mom? I was gonna say "crier," but that's a better way of putting it. [Laughs] It's true; I do do a lot of crying and grieving. Where does Agnes fall on the spectrum of roles you take on and that you relate to? It's a working-class part and I'm from a blue-collar town. My dad was educated in seminary, but he ran an auto parts store, and my mom is a nurse. My people are working-class people. Agnes has her own street smarts, but she's not as smart as me. Sometimes, you don't get asked to play roles like that if you're known to be an intellectual actor, which is just sort of my reputation, for good or for ill. So it's fun to play around in that world. Tracy Letts and Carrie Coon in 2019. ( Janie Willison) Is being married to the playwright helpful for a show like this? Talking shop is very useful at home. He can answer my questions about the play and what he was thinking. We love working together. He's my most avid and ardent supporter. He thinks I'm a great actor and I get so intimidated when he's in the room, because I think he's an extraordinary actor. Even if he wasn't my husband, I would be nervous having him there, because I just respect his work so much. But it also means that he's really able to be helpful to me when I'm having trouble. Not only is he the playwright, so he knows what the intentions were, but he's also such a great actor that he has a great way of keying into my strengths and weaknesses that's really helpful to me. For him, it's more nostalgic than anything. This was the beginning of his career, and he's just remembering so vividly that time in his life. It's just this delightful romp through the past for him, while all of us are pulling our hair out over it. Do you want to take Bug to New York once the Chicago run is over? It's funny, it's very hard on one's body to do this play, but the runs at Steppenwolf are very short. We close March 8. In some ways, I think it would be unfortunate if we only got to do it for the eight or nine weeks. If we were gonna put that much work into it, you might as well do it a little longer. But I don't know. Martha Lavey [the late former Steppenwolf artistic director] said that Bug would never be done at Steppenwolf. She wasn't a big fan of what was considered "prurient" or "trashy" whatever words have been used to describe Bug. It's very in your face. So maybe it's too edgy for New York. Can they handle it? We would certainly love to come, but I really wonder. Ukrainian authorities on January 27 said they detained three men suspected of fighting with Moscow-backed armed formations in the eastern Donetsk region. They were detained in three separate incidents. The military said a member of a subversive reconnaissance unit was captured after he stepped on a mine near the front line in eastern Ukraine. His unit left him behind and returned to its rear position after the incident. The unidentified combatant received numerous land mine wounds and is being treated at a military hospital at an undisclosed location. The Security Services (SBU) counterintelligence unit the same day detained a grenadier from the Donetsk regional town of Horlivka. He was apprehended in the Azov Sea coastal city of Mariupol. The unidentified suspect fought against Ukrainian forces for nearly two years but was discharged after being wounded in 2016. Toward the end of 2019, the man made his way to government-controlled Mariupol in search of work, the SBU said in a statement. The internal security unit of the National Police detained another suspect in Kyiv on January 27 who fought with Russia-backed separatists. On the night of January 24-25, the alleged former commander of a reconnaissance unit shot at an off-duty police officer in the chest outside a cafe in Kyiv. The suspect was a former member of OPLOT, a pro-Russian militant organization that Ukraine has deemed illegal. A decision could be made on Tuesday regarding Huaweis possible involvement in the UKs 5G roll-out Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to make a decision on whether to allow Huawei to play a major role in Britains 5G network amid concerns from the US. The Prime Minister is due to chair a meeting of the National Security Council on Tuesday as he mulls over whether to grant permission for the Chinese technology giant to have involvement in the roll-out of the countrys communications upgrade. A decision on Huawei is due by the end of the week. The implementation of 5G is expected to bring with it download speeds 10 times faster than what 4G currently offers. The impending decision has caused trans-Atlantic tension, after the White House warned Mr Johnson away from adopting Huawei due to security fears. A number of senior Conservative MPs also voiced concerns during an urgent question in the House of Commons on Monday. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith said it was utterly bizarre to be considering giving Huawei the green light, while Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the last parliament, warned that the UK would be allowing the fox into the hen house if it gives the company 5G access. Mr Johnson stressed on Monday that he would not jeopardise the UKs security relationship with the US. 4) The US should feel proud of Huawei, they have the US management system exported and implemented. They should not be overly concerned about Huawei and our position in the world. @Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei #wef20 pic.twitter.com/zMrqX5Z6qc World Economic Forum (@wef) January 21, 2020 The pronouncement came after senior members of US President Donald Trumps administration warned that British sovereignty would be put at risk by allowing the firm to play a role in the UKs 5G infrastructure. They warned that the Chinese state could put pressure on Huawei to divulge information about the UKs 5G communications make-up. The PM has claimed it would be possible to give Britons access to fantastic technology while also protecting key partnerships with other security powers. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the choice facing the National Security Council as momentous in a last-ditch plea to ministers. Expand Close Tom Tugendhat has been critical of the Chinese technology firm (Niall Carson/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tom Tugendhat has been critical of the Chinese technology firm (Niall Carson/PA) The Financial Times reported the meeting is expected to agree the company can play a restricted role, with the Government looking to impose a cap on its market share to prevent over-reliance on its equipment. The US administration has previously urged allies in the Five Eyes intelligence community made up of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand not to use Huawei, claiming it would be a security risk something the company vehemently denies. But Mr Johnson told reporters on Monday: Theres no reason why we shouldnt have technological progress here in the UK, allow consumers, businesses in the UK to have access to fantastic technology, fantastic communications, but also protect our security interests and protect our key partnerships with other security powers around the world. The UK has a momentous decision ahead on 5G. British MP Tom Tugendhat gets it right: The truth is that only nations able to protect their data will be sovereign. https://t.co/8lLEUEUxdL Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 26, 2020 Mr Pompeo, who is due to visit Britain later in the week, said: The UK has a momentous decision ahead on 5G. He retweeted a comment by Mr Tugendhat, in which the MP said: The real costs will come later if we get this wrong and allow Huawei to run 5G. Mr Pompeo added: British MP Tom Tugendhat gets it right: The truth is that only nations able to protect their data will be sovereign. Washingtons ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, said Mr Tugendhats point was undeniable, adding that doing 5G right goes beyond data mitigation its about national sovereignty. Tory MP Bob Seely said data privacy issues needed to be considered. He told the BBC: People are going to be concerned when they find China is collecting data on them. We can control Facebook and we can influence Google because they are Western companies that operate under Western law, China isnt. We need good relationships, but it is also true that China is building a surveillance state, the kind of which the world has not seen. And I dont think we have thought through what that means for the next century in terms of human freedom and data privacy. Washington, D.C., Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Bahai International Community is deeply concerned by the surge in persecution by the Iranian authorities against the Bahai community recently, particularly a disturbing institutional decision impacting Bahais across the country. By restricting applicants of the new Iranian national identification card to select only one of the four recognized religionsi.e. Islam, Christianity, Judaism or Zoroastrianismthose belonging to other faiths, including Bahais, are forced to either lie about their beliefs or remain deprived of the most basic civil services, such as applying for a loan, cashing a check, or buying property. The Bahai teachings call on Bahais to be truthful, and therefore they cannot lie about their beliefs. Several reports confirm that Bahais have been, accordingly, prevented from obtaining their identification cards. Moreover, a court has ruled that all of the properties belonging to the Bahais in the village of Ivel be confiscated on the basis that Bahais have a perverse ideology and therefore have no legitimacy in their ownership of any property. This outrageous decision is despite the fact that Bahais have been resident in the area and owned properties there for generations, reaching as far back as the mid 1800s. In the last three months alone, dozens of Bahais were arrested and dozens more received religiously-motivated sentences, for a combined prison term of nearly one hundred years. Just this month, individual Bahais were sentenced to upwards of ten years in prison; in yet another case the gold used by a Bahai in his jewelry business was called for to be confiscated. The Bahai International Community is alarmed by the recent wave of persecution against the Bahai community in Iran and calls upon the international community to shine a spotlight on these issues which represent a major further deterioration, said Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the Bahai International Community. Story continues Diane Alai, Representative of the Bahai International Community in Geneva, further explained, Despite continuous claims by Iranian officials inside the country and in UN fora that Bahais have citizenship rights, the authorities are institutionalizing yet another mechanism which aims to destroy the Bahai community as a viable entity; thereby extending a four-decades long and relentless campaign of persecution against Bahais across virtually every dimension of lifethe cultural, social, educational and economic. Even so, the Bahais of Iran continue to strive to live in accordance with the Bahai writings, which uphold truthfulness as the foundation of all human virtues. How could Bahais that apply for their national identification ID cards, for public sector jobs, or to enroll in universities be punished simply for being truthful? In the past three months, Bahais also experienced multiple home raids, attacks on properties, confiscation of possessions, dismissals from employment, and continued denial of access to higher education. In one case, a Bahai home was entirely destroyed. In another instance, a non-Bahai employer was forced to provide a list of her Bahai employees and then to dismiss them from employment. Furthermore, a relentless campaign of misinformation about the Bahai Faith targeting the Iranian public has continued in full force in the news and social media. Thousands of such anti- Bahai propaganda have circulated in 2019 alone. A small fraction of such content is available on the Persecution of Bahais of Iran website. James Samimi Farr U.S. Baha'i Office of Public Affairs 202-833-8990 jsamimifarr@usbnc.org HOUSTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Houston-based Porter Hedges LLP is the first law firm to step forward with a major gift to support the newly planned John M. O'Quinn Law Building at the University of Houston Law Center. In recognition of the gift, the Law Center's career services office will be named the Porter Hedges LLP Career Services Center. Construction on the new facility is expected to begin this summer. "Porter Hedges is proud to support the UH Law Center and excited to associate our name with the career services center. As a Houston-based firm, we have grown with the city over the last four decades and welcome an opportunity to give back to its premier law school. We join the Law Center by investing in the students who will continue to leave their mark in Texas, across the country, and around the world," said Joshua Wolfshohl ('02), a partner at Porter Hedges. The new John M. O'Quinn Law Building is designed to enhance the educational experience while also serving as a hub to engage and serve the public in one of the nation's top legal markets. Recognized as the energy capital of the world, the city is also home to the world's largest health care and medical complex. There are 22 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Houston, fourth most in the nation. "I'm delighted that Porter Hedges has made this generous gift to help us to build a superior career services center attractive to both employers and students," said Leonard M. Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. "More importantly, it is an investment in our students, staff and administration who, along with the broader UH Law community, are working every day to make our school the premier law school in Texas." Along with firm support, UH Law Center alumni and faculty at Porter Hedges who were instrumental in this gift are Joshua Wolfshohl, Amy Wolfshohl ('06), Jackie Moy ('01), Corey Brown ('96), Ben Rajabi ('08), John Higgins ('83), Mandy Diaz ('06), Mac Marshall ('06), Blake Runions ('07), John Hawkins ('91), Brian Rose ('07) and Craig Bergez (adjunct professor). The Law Center's career services center provides a full range of resources and services to help both students and employers meet their employment goals. The staff guides students and alumni in the use of tools and strategies for successful job searches. They also assist employers in identifying and recruiting talented students and alumni to fill their employment needs. The office hosts career panels, networking events, workshops, mock interviews, job fairs, recruitment programs and an electronic job bank. Founded in 1981, Porter Hedges LLP is a full-service Houston-based law firm with an office in Oklahoma City. Media contacts: Carrie Anna Criado, UH Law Center Assistant Dean of Communications and Marketing, 713-743-2184, [email protected]; Elena Hawthorne, Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing, 713-743-1125, [email protected]; John T. Kling, Communications Manager, 713-743-8298, [email protected]; and John Brannen, Senior Writer, 713-743-3055, [email protected]. About the University of Houston The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter for excellence in undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city and one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse regions in the country, UH is a federally designated Hispanic- and Asian-American-Serving institution with enrollment of more than 46,000 students. About the University of Houston Law Center The University of Houston Law Center (UHLC) is a dynamic, top tier law school located in the nation's 4th largest city. UHLC's Health Law, Intellectual Property Law, and Part-time programs rank in the U.S. News Top 10. It awards Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees, through its academic branch, the College of Law. The Law Center is more than just a law school. It is a powerful hub of intellectual activity with more than 11 centers and institutes which fuel its educational mission and national reputation. UHLC is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. SOURCE University of Houston Law Center Related Links http://www.law.uh.edu Heres the rub, in case you need more reason to be disgusted with the self-serving culture of Illinois politics: How many drivers got hit with tickets near Oak Brook Shopping Center, not because the cameras were installed for safety but because a then-legislator threw his weight around? How many times with a straight face have elected officials promised the cameras are about safety, not revenue? Were some officials pocketing bribes from the camera industry? Note that the feds have charged Sandoval with intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with his continued support for the operation of red-light cameras in Illinois, as well as for opposing legislation that would have hurt the industry. Fifth annual Influential Leaders challenge recognizes 25 outstanding business school graduates TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AACSB International (AACSB)the world's largest business education alliancetoday announced its 2020 Class of Influential Leaders, a group of 25 business school alumni whose inspiring work serves as a model for the next generation of business leaders. An annual initiative, the Influential Leaders challenge recognizes notable graduates from AACSB-accredited schools. This year's honorees include a mayor, an inventor, an academic, and a brand expertshowcasing the variety of career paths supported by business education. "It is our privilege to amplify the stories of business school graduates who are serving as a force for good in the world," said Tom Robinson, AACSB president and CEO. "The 2020 Influential Leader honorees, well prepared by AACSB-accredited business schools, lead their industries and communities with enthusiasm and dedication. Their achievements, and the inspiration they provide to future business leaders, are to be celebrated, and AACSB is honored to recognize each honoree." Now in its fifth year, the Influential Leaders challenge has recognized more than 200 business school graduates for creating lasting impact in business and society. All honorees have earned an undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral degree from one of the more than 850 AACSB-accredited business schools worldwide. Each Influential Leader was nominated by his or her alma mater. Using rich and inspiring stories, the business schools demonstrated how the honorees lead and innovate within their industries, contribute to their communities, and inspire future business leaders. This year's class represents AACSB-accredited business schools in 13 countries, and the honorees have impacted more than a dozen industries including technology, media, hospitality, and healthcare. The unique stories of each honoree, and how they are creating meaningful, lasting impact in the world, are available at aacsb.edu/influential-leaders. About AACSB International Established in 1916, AACSB International (AACSB) is the world's largest business education alliance, connecting educators, learners, and business to create the next generation of great leaders. With a presence in more than 100 countries and territories, AACSB fosters engagement, accelerates innovation, and amplifies impact in business education. Learn how AACSB is transforming business education for a better society at aacsb.edu. SOURCE AACSB International Related Links http://www.aacsb.edu China confident in ability to handle novel coronavirus outbreak: FM Global Times Source:Global Times Published: 2020/1/27 17:57:40 The Chinese government is taking resolute and effective measures to effectively prevent and control the novel coronavirus epidemic though scientific approaches and maintaining close cooperation with the World Health Organization and other international partners. "We have full confidence that we can get it under control soon and eventually overcome the epidemic," said Hua Chunying, a foreign ministry spokeswoman. A few days ago, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted in Chinese praising China's work in dealing with the novel coronavirus. When asked to comment about the tweet, Hua said that Zarif's statement fully reflects the traditional friendly and sincere partnership between China and Iran. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has conveyed a message to Zarif in this regard and expressed his thanks to Iran. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address London: "Friends" alum David Schwimmer has defended the beloved 1990s sitcom after younger viewers called out the show for its "problematic" storylines, describing it as transphobic, homophobic and sexist, and the actor has suggested a more diverse remake of the series. "Maybe there should be an all-black 'Friends' or an all-Asian 'Friends'," Schwimmer told The Guardian. The show was a phenomenal hit during its decade-long run till 2004 and later went on to find cult status with new audiences through TV reruns and Netflix. Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller, one of the six leads in the NBC series, said he was "well aware of the lack of diversity" on "Friends" and even campaigned for years to have his character date women of colour. "One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part," the actor said. Ross dated Julie, played by Lauren Tom, in season two and Charlie Wheeler, essayed by Aisha Tyler, in season nine and ten. The actor also made a reference to a Christmas episode where the makers touched upon the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Ross and his sister Monica, played by Courteney Cox, were depicted as Jews in the series. "It's interesting also how the show handled the Judaism of the characters. I don't think that was earth-shattering or ground-breaking at all, but I for one was glad that we had at least one episode where it wasn't just about Christmas. "It was also Hanukkah and, even though I played the Hanukkah armadillo, I was glad that we at least acknowledged the differences in religious observation," he added. Schwimmer also expressed his frustration at older shows being judged out of context. "The truth is also that show was ground-breaking in its time for the way in which it handled so casually sex, protected sex, gay marriage and relationships. The pilot of the show was my character's wife left him for a woman and there was a gay wedding, of my ex and her wife, that I attended," he said. Ross' wife Carol Willick, who upon realisation that she is a lesbian, leaves him for her friend Susan Bunch (Jessica Hecht). Actors Anita Barone and Jane Sibbet played Carol in the show. "I feel that a lot of the problem today in so many areas is that so little is taken in context. You have to look at it from the point of view of what the show was trying to do at the time. "I'm the first person to say that maybe something was inappropriate or insensitive, but I feel like my barometer was pretty good at that time. I was already really attuned to social issues and issues of equality," Schwimmer said. The show also starred Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc. Two Class 10 students were killed on Tuesday after a car they boarded while returning from school crashed in Greater Noida, police said. The car driver and another passenger sitting on the front seat were injured in the accident that occurred at around 4.30 pm in Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar, they said. The deceased, both aged around 16 years, were returning home in Kishorepur from school when they hitched a ride on a Honda City car being driven by a man from their village, a police official told PTI. He said the car was overspeeding when the driver lost control and veered off the road, hitting a tree near a farmland. The injured have been hospitalised, he added. Uttar Pradesh had reported 22,256 deaths in 2018 in road crashes, with the state contributing the maximum 14.7 per cent such fatalities in the country, according to a central government data. The same data revealed that over 64 per cent of road crashes occurred due to overspeeding of vehicles. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Controversial JNU student Sharjeel Imam, who stoked controversy with his "cut off Assam from India" remark, was arrested by a team of Delhi Police from Bihar's Jehanabad on Tuesday. Earlier today, Jehanabad Police had detained Sharjeel's younger brother Muzammil Imam in the wee hours. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Sunday booked Sharjeel for his controversial speech that he allegedly made a few days ago. He has been slapped with charges of sedition and inciting enmity between communities under Sections 124A, 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Separately, a case has been registered against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police for his controversial speech delivered during the students' protest at Aligarh Muslim University on January 16 against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Register of Citizens (NRC). A series of videos have gone viral on social media in which Sharjeel Imam is heard saying: "If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannot do it permanently, then at least for one to two months, we can do this." "It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. When this happens, only then the government will listen to us," he is heard saying further in the video. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rhinoplasty, or cosmetic nose surgery, may make a woman look up to three years younger, according to a study that used artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse pictures of women who went under the knife. Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the US analysed the before-and-after photos of 100 female patients, aged 16 to 72, all of whom underwent rhinoplasty for cosmetic reasons. At 12 or more weeks later, standardised photographs were analysed using AI, which estimates a person's age by cropping the face from a photograph, and then extracting a prediction through an algorithm. "Rhinoplasty is widely recognised as a facial beautification procedure, but it isn't commonly known for its anti-ageing effects," said Robert Dorfman, lead author of the study published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal. Rhinoplasty involves making structural changes to the bone, and cartilage through small incisions inside the nose, and when necessary around the nostril, all while a patient is under general anaesthesia. The rhinoplasty procedures in the study were customised for each patient to fit the person's face best. Until now, Dorfman said, there has been little to no objective scientific evidence for the rejuvenating effect of rhinoplasty. "This technology allows us to accurately estimate age in an objective way, and has proven to recognise patterns and features of ageing beyond what the human eye can perceive," he said. The results were even more dramatic in women over 40, some of whom were estimated to look seven years younger after rhinoplasty. However, because the sample size of the 40-plus group was small (25 women), the researchers said further studies need to be done to validate the results. The nose is not usually a focus of anti-ageing treatment. However, like other features of the body, the human nose, which is made up of soft tissue, cartilage and bone, also ages. "The nose loses support as it ages and can take on a more prominent or droopy appearance," said Jason Roostaeian, an associate clinical professor at UCLA. The researchers noted that the nose is also affected when other features of the face age. "When we lose facial fat and volume in our cheeks, which are the canvas that our nose sits on, the nose becomes more prominent," Roostaeian said. By refining the nose, he said, the youthful appearance of the entire face can be refined. "This is something we have subjectively thought for many decades but now we have objective evidence through artificial intelligence to support this," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 08:32:39|Editor: yhy Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's postal industry will provide rural populations with wider service accessibility and contribute to the country's poverty alleviation, according to the State Post Bureau (SPB). A three-year project aiming to offer express delivery services to villages will be launched in 2020. It will cover 98 percent of townships with courier outlets at the end of 2020 and significantly increase courier services, according to the SPB. Projects designed to promote sales of local farm produce and specialties will be further developed via rural e-commerce channels and the postal network, which will also provide rural residents with life services such as online purchasing, mail deposit and bill payment. The industry also plans to create more than 200,000 new job opportunities at the end of 2020, encouraging postal and courier firms to increase employment in poverty-stricken areas, the SPB said. China has remained the world's largest express delivery market for six consecutive years, with some 20,000 express delivery enterprises and more than 3 million employees. 28-year-old banker shows coronavirus-like symptoms, admitted to PGIMER in Chandigarh India oi-Madhuri Adnal Chandigarh Jan 28: A 28-year-old Mohali resident, who returned from China recently, has been admitted to the isolation ward of PGIMER in Chandigarh after showing novel coronavirus-like symptoms, an official said on Tuesday. This is the first suspected case of novel coronavirus in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh region. The patient, who hails from Uttar Pradesh but lives in Punjab's Mohali, had returned from China last week. Coronavirus cure: Tamil Nadu doctor from Rathna Siddha Hospital claims to have invented medicine The patient complained of fever and respiratory discomfort, said Dr Gagandeep Singh, State programme officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, Punjab, on Tuesday. The patient, who is said to be a banker, himself went to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), for treatment in Chandigarh, an official said. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News The patient has been kept in an isolation ward and is under observation, the official said, adding his samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology Pune. The family of the patient has been contacted by Mohali health authorities, the official said, adding they have not shown any such symptoms. Novel coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has so far killed 80 people and affected 2,744 in China is a novel strain and has not been seen before. The agency estimates that so far this flu season there have been 9.7 million flu illnesses, 87,000 hospitalizations and 4800 deaths from flu, including 32 pediatric deaths. More than 170 million doses of the flu vaccine have been administered, they added. Source: Early 2020 Flu Season Statistics and Other Influenza News So with that news above, you see why I question the coronavirus issue Flu season is running all over coronavirus season so far. Looks like we should be doubling down and be worried about the flu and the coronavirus running at the same time. What happens when you get both at the same time? It might make a bad death scene issue https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm I ask and am not finding an answer about how many Chinese have the flu reported right now? Theres a deadly virus spreading from state to state. It preys on the most vulnerable, striking the sick and the old without mercy. In just the past few months, it has claimed the lives of at least 39 children. The virus is influenza, and it poses a far greater threat to Americans than the coronavirus from China that has made headlines around the world. When we think about the relative danger of this new coronavirus and influenza, theres just no comparison, said Dr. William Schaffner Source: Coronavirus vs. flu: Influenza deadlier than Wuhan, China, disease So why and what is the agenda to exasperate one over the other? Looks like the flu could be adding to the issue silently in the background and we are all running around like Chicken Little Worldwide, the flu causes up to 5 million cases of very serious illness all over the world and kills up to 650,000+ people every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) And yet, we arent particularly concerned about the flu and are riding the Coronavirus horse to death Personally, the flu is my concern right now and in Russia flu season has not started, yet.it will soon WtR Found this on Chinese and flu Interesting.that means 45+ million people in China in 2017 got the official flu Hmm (Bloomberg) -- In July, Facebook Inc. quietly hired Miranda Sissons, a 49-year old human rights activist whose previous work has included stints at the Australian diplomatic service and the International Center for Transitional Justice. The hiring, which was never formally announced, is part of a broader effort by the company to atone for more than once failing to stop online abuse on Facebook from spilling over into real-world violence. Human rights advocates in places like Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India and Brazil have long complained that the company has refused to acknowledge mounting evidence about the dangers of digital hate. As Facebook pursued world-changing growth, particularly in developing countries, it didnt always have local staff there, or even employees who spoke the language. In Myanmar, a wave of online hate preceded a campaign of violence against the countrys Rohingya minority that led to thousands of deaths and the displacement of over 700,000 people. An independent report Facebook commissioned in 2018 found that it bore partial responsibility for fueling the conflict. Immediately after taking the job, Sissons took a five-day trip to the country. I was deeply, deeply aware of the criticism of Facebooks inaction in Myanmar, and deeply aware of the struggles humankind is facing with the impact of social media, Sissons told Bloomberg News earlier this month in her first press interview in her new role. This is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Sissons work is part of a broader reckoning within the technology industry, which has been forced to reexamine its role in world conflicts. Several months before Facebook hired Sissons, Twitter Inc. brought on Cynthia Wong, a former researcher at Human Rights Watch, to be its human rights director. As with Facebook, Twitter never announced the hiring. In discussions with more than a dozen people familiar with Facebooks work on human rights, a picture emerges of a company that has been moving rapidly but, according to its skeptics, not always effectively. One Facebook employee, who asked not to be identified discussing private information, said its shortcomings have not always been the result of having too few people dedicated to human rights, but at times having so many people involved that theyre working at cross-purposes. Story continues Human rights advocates outside the company acknowledge Facebooks effort to hire experts, and say it has become far more responsive. But they worry that internal advocates like Sissons wont be adequately empowered, and many are withholding praise until the company makes more concrete changes. They are hiring people who have the right knowledge, experience and sensibility to tackle human rights problems, said Matthew Smith, chief executive of Fortify Rights, a human rights group. So far, though, thats clearly not enough. Sissons human rights education started early. Her father was a prominent Australian historian who served in the occupation force of Hiroshima after World War II, then worked as an interpreter in the Australian-led tribunals of Japanese officials accused of war crimes. My early childhood was completely taken up with discussions of war crimes, war criminals, the Second World War, and notions of justice, she said. After attending the University of Melbourne, Sissons spent time in East Timor, researched Middle Eastern issues and took several posts with the Australian diplomatic corps, including a frustrating stint answering phones at an Australian embassy in Egypt. My Arabic wasnt very good, she confessed. People would ring me up and shout at me about all kinds of things, and I would have to find a solution. Eventually, Sissons went on to work on her own high-profile tribunal as an independent observer of the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and she did stints at Human Rights Watch and the Australian diplomatic corps. In 2011 Sissons switched her focus to the relationship between human rights and technology. She had been working in the Middle East, where the Arab Spring was just getting underway, and many people believed social media could shift the balance of power between citizens and oppressive regimes. It was a time of unmatched optimism about the potential of social media in political organizing. The good feelings didn't last. As early as 2014 there were credible reports emerging of coordinated incitement on Facebook against the Rohingya in Myanmar. The online abuse foreshadowed a wave of violence that began in earnest in 2016. By the time Facebook began looking for a human rights director in 2018, the conventional wisdom on tech from a few years earlier had effectively reversed. The killings in Myanmar and elsewhere, coupled with Russian-led disinformation campaigns in Donald Trumps presidential election, had darkened popular opinion. Companies that were accustomed to being revered were suddenly being accused of simultaneously squelching free expression and tolerating active manipulation of their platforms. The tech industrys first halting steps to control the flow of abuse initially won few fans. In an online essay in late 2018 Cynthia Wong, then senior internet researcher for Human Rights Watch, said it was time for a moral reckoning in Silicon Valley. If regulators, investors, and users want true accountability, they should press for a far more radical re-examination of tech sector business models, especially social media and advertising ecosystems, she wrote. In some cases, the companies started hiring their critics. Twitter brought on Wong as its legal director of human rights in April 2019. The company declined to make her available for an interview, and said in a statement that it was uniquely positioned to help activist and civic-minded people around the globe make their voices heard." Other attempts at reform were wholly unsuccessful. In early 2019 Ross LaJeunesse, then Googles global head of international relations, saw Facebooks posting for a human rights director, and used it to argue for the creation of a similar structure at his company. He failed, and left the company soon after. LaJeunesse, who is currently running for the U.S. Senate in Maine, now says tech companies cant handle these issues on their own. There has to be government oversight, he said. Sissons, who reports to Facebooks head of global policy management Monika Bickert, has over the last several months been quietly incorporating human rights protections into Facebooks policies, and making sure that people with human rights training are in the meetings where executives sign off on new product features. She said the company had made progress before she arrived, including the reform of its 2018 decision to begin removing misinformation in situations where it could lead to physical harm. There are now a lot of resources in place, Sissons said. The challenge is to quickly identify local signs of trouble, then block or slow the spread of certain content, or take swift action against particular users. We are testing continuously in crisis environments to try and predict what resources well need, she said, and to ensure theyre in place. When Sissons went to Myanmar with Facebook she made a stop in Phandeeyar, a tech hub and community center in downtown Yangon. Jes Kaliebe Petersen, its CEO, said hes been meeting with Facebook employees for yearshe helped the company develop local community standards almost five years ago. But the encounters have calcified into a depressingly predictable routine. They send a bunch of people who have never been here before, and they talk to us, said Petersen. And we never hear from them again. A spokesman for Facebook said it has held many introductory meetings at the request of local advocates, and argued the company has taken significant strides in the country. Besides hiring Sissons, it shut down hundreds of pages and accounts, including that of the head of Myanmars army, for spreading misinformation and hatred. It has hired a Myanmar head of public policy for the first time. And it assembled a team of 100 content moderators who speak Burmese. That group will be able to support escalations in other languages used in the country as well, Sissons said. The company also set up an independent review board for thorny content moderation issues, and in an unusual step, commissioned independent human rights assessments of what happened in Myanmar and other trouble spots. In November 2018, it published a 60-page report on Myanmar from the nonprofit group Business for Social Responsibility, in full. They deserve praise for putting it out there, said Dunstan Allison-Hope the lead author of the report. You dont see that. But Facebook has never made the results of a similar assessment in Sri Lanka public, despite calls to do so. Sissons declined to say whether it had plans to publish those results. And there are currently no Facebook staff members working in Myanmar full-timesomething that many advocates have called for. Representatives for Facebook say its staff based in Singapore and elsewhere are regularly in Myanmar, and that it has spent well over a year taking hundreds of meetings with people in the country. One person who said he'd never gotten an invitation to meet with Facebook is Nickey Diamond, a local advocate working for Fortify Rights. Diamond said he has been the target of harassing posts from the government for years, and still faces a menacing atmosphere online. Theyre sharing my picture with the word traitor in Burmese, he said. Every human rights defender is in the same situation. The broader problem Facebook is confrontingthe vigilant monitoring of an ever-evolving social network used by 2.3 billion peoplecan seem almost impossibly daunting. The company now has content moderators examining posts in approximately 50 languages, Sissons said, a number that is unchanged from its count last April, and is fewer than half of the languages that Facebook actively supports. Facebook has said only technological improvements can combat problems at scale. It has automated tools that scan for hate speech, as well as image recognition technology monitoring for obscene content regardless of language. About 80% of the posts that Facebook acts on for violating its hate speech policies are now first identified by its automated filters, up from about 24% a year earlier. Soon, the challenges of monitoring the spread of abusive posts could become even more difficult. Facing pressure to increase user privacy, Facebook has prioritized private communications, meaning more content is encrypted so that even the company itself wont know what it says. In those cases, Sissons said the company is working on tools that will look for patterns associated with problematic content, so it can either remove such messages or impede them from spreading so rapidly. Facebook is aware of the scope of its challenges, said Rebecca MacKinnon, the director of Ranking Digital Rights, an online advocacy group. Facebook is making an effort to engage. Whether that will make a difference in the real world, well see, she said. Theyre dealing with some problems that no one knows how to solve. When Sissons met with members of the Phandeeyar team last November in Myanmar, they came prepared with a handful of suggestions for actions Facebook should take before the national elections there, which are expected to take place later this year. While Phandeeyar staffers had been deeply engaged in the specifics for months, Sissons was still just getting her feet under her, and there wasnt enough time in the hour-long meeting to get much resolution, said Phandeeyar CEO Petersen. Theres always lots of goals for improvements. Hopefully Miranda has a sound plan for how to get there, he said. The thing is, we dont really have that much time. (Clarifies that Petersen was not in the meeting with Sissions in the penultimate paragraph of article published Tuesday. An earlier version of this story corrected the dates of Sissons' hiring and trip to Myanmar.) To contact the author of this story: Joshua Brustein in New York at jbrustein@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anne VanderMey at avandermey@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Patricia O'Connor's daughter told gardai when she was arrested "you have someone for the murder" and he had "put his hands up". A Central Criminal Court jury heard when Louise O'Connor was arrested, initially on suspicion of killing her mother, she said she "didn't harm a hair on her head". Her partner Kieran Greene had already been charged with murder after telling detectives he had killed Patricia (61), dismembered her body and dumped the remains in the Wicklow mountains. "There's only two people who know what happened that day, me Ma and Kieran," Louise said in interview. "Me Ma's dead and Kieran's locked up." Four people are on trial over Ms O'Connor's death - Mr Greene (34) is charged with her murder, while Louise O'Connor (41), her daughter Stephanie (22) and Louise's ex-partner Keith Johnston (43) are accused of impeding the investigation. They all deny the charges. Ms O'Connor, a grandmother-of-seven, was allegedly murdered on May 29, 2017 at the house at Mountain View Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin, she shared with family including her daughter, granddaughter Stephanie and Mr Greene. Her remains were found scattered in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains between June 10 and 14 that year. The charge against Stephanie O'Connor is that she disguised herself as her grandmother on the night of the alleged murder to pretend that she was still alive, while her mother Louise is accused of agreeing to this. The jury heard when Louise O'Connor was interviewed on September 2, 2017, gardai asked if she understood why she was arrested. "No really," She replied. "For the murder? You have someone for the murder. Put his hands up. You have the daughter here." "I never raised a finger to her, never in my life," she said. She told gardai on the night her mother went missing she did not see her leave but heard her shouting and the door slamming. She went out to see her mother "down the end of the road". She had "a case or something" with her. She did not hear her mother come back, or anything after she went to bed. "I didn't harm a hair on her head, I never did," she said. Gardai asked if she'd had any suspicion Mr Greene might harm her mother. "No suspicion of murder," she said. "I knew something bad might happen. I was begging for us all to leave, for the council to give us a house. I never thought it would come to that." She was asked if she had her suspicions when her mother was missing that something had happened to her. "In the house? No. After she left the house? Yeah," she said, adding family birthdays had passed and there was "no contact from her. I started to get worried." In interview, she said CCTV footage of a person leaving her house with a suitcase at 9.43pm on May 29 "looks like my Ma". Someone was seen coming in the back door at 10.05pm carrying a "beach bag". "I haven't a clue who that is," she told gardai. The trial continues. Justice Stephen Hall - after a request from the media - has clarified a suppression order that prevents the reporting of some elements of the victims' post-mortems. The order was made out of respect for Jane and Ciara's families, and relates to information not relevant to their injuries, or the states case against Mr Edwards. Justice Hall has agreed it can now be reported there was no evidence Jane had been sexually assaulted before her death, however, her body was too decomposed for it to be excluded as a possibility. Janes body was found naked in marshy bushland 55 days after she went missing, and was in an advanced state of decomposition. In relation to Ciara, Professor Cooke has not yet been asked about whether there was any evidence of a sexual assault. Ciara's body was found fully clothed in dry bushland 19 days after she disappeared, and was in a state of decomposition. Justice Hall has previously queried if the state would be alleging the murders were sexually motivated, to which Ms Barbagallo replied: Im not sure that were necessarily nailing our colours to the wall on that. [There's] certainly evidence of it in terms of Ms Rimmer as in her body being found naked. Mr Edwards is convicted of the following offences, which the state will use as propensity evidence during his trial to show he allegedly had a tendency to attack women he didnt know when he was upset. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Mideast peace plan Tuesday alongside a beaming Benjamin Netanyahu, presenting a vision that matched the Israeli leaders hard-line, nationalist views while falling far short of Palestinian ambitions. Trumps plan envisions a disjointed Palestinian state that turns over key parts of the West Bank to Israel. It sides with Israel on key contentious issues that have bedeviled past peace efforts, including borders and the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements, and attaches nearly impossible conditions for granting the Palestinians their hoped-for state. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as nonsense and vowed to resist it. Netanyahu called it a historic breakthrough equal in significance to the countrys declaration of independence in 1948. Its a great plan for Israel. Its a great plan for peace, he said. He vowed to immediately press forward with his plans to annex the strategic Jordan Valley and all the Israeli settlements in occupied lands. Netanyahu said hed ask his Cabinet to approve the annexation plans in their next meeting on Sunday, an explosive move that could trigger harsh international reaction and renewed violence with the Palestinians. This dictates once and for all the eastern border of Israel, Netanyahu told Israeli reporters later. Israel is getting an immediate American recognition of Israeli sovereignty on all the settlements, without exceptions. U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak to the press on the West Wing Colonnade prior to meetings at the White House in Washington, DC. on January 27, 2020. Given the Palestinian opposition, the plan seems unlikely to lead to any significant breakthrough. But it could give a powerful boost to both Trump and Netanyahu who are both facing legal problems ahead of tough elections. Trump called his plan a win-win for both Israel and the Palestinians, and urged the Palestinians not to miss their opportunity for independence. But Abbas, who accuses the U.S. of unfair bias toward Israel, rejected it out of hand. We say 1,000 nos to the Deal of the Century, Abbas said, using a nickname for Trumps proposal. We will not kneel and we will not surrender, he said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through peaceful, popular means. The plan comes amid Trumps impeachment trial and on a U.S. election year, and after Netanyahu was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three separate cases. The longtime Israeli leader, who denies any wrongdoing, also faces a March 2 parliamentary election, Israels third in less than a year. He hopes to use the plan, and his close ties with Trump, to divert attention from his legal troubles. The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war for an independent state and the removal of many of the more than 700,000 Israeli settlers from these areas. But as details emerged, it became clear that the plan sides heavily with Netanyahus hard-line nationalist vision for the region and shunts aside many of the Palestinians core demands. Under the terms of the peace vision that Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, all settlers would remain in place, and Israel would retain sovereignty over all of its settlements as well as the strategic Jordan Valley. The Israeli military will continue to control the entire territory, Netanyahu said. No one will be uprooted from their home. The proposed Palestinian state would also include more than a dozen Israeli enclaves with the entitys borders monitored by Israel. It would be demilitarized and give Israel overall security control. In addition, the areas of east Jerusalem offered to the Palestinians consist of poor, crowded neighbourhoods located behind a hulking concrete separation barrier. Trump acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a great deal for the Palestinians. The plan would give the Palestinians limited control over an estimated 70% of the West Bank, nearly double the amount where they currently have limited self-rule. Trump said it would give them time needed to meet the challenges of statehood. The only concession the plan appears to demand of Israel is a four-year freeze on the establishment of new Israeli settlements in certain areas of the West Bank. But Netanyahu clarified later that this only applied to areas where there are no settlements and Israel has no immediate plans to annex, and that he considered the plan to impose no limitations on construction. Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza City ahead of the announcement, burning pictures of Trump and Netanyahu and raising a banner reading Palestine is not for sale. Trump said he sent a letter to Abbas to tell him that the territory that the plan has set aside for a new Palestinian state will remain open and undeveloped for four years. Its going to work, Trump said, as he presented the plan at a White House ceremony filled with Israeli officials and allies, including evangelical Christian leaders and wealthy Republican donors. Representatives from the Arab countries of Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates were present, but there were no Palestinian representatives. President Abbas, I want you to know, that if you chose the path to peace, America and many other countries ... we will be there to help you in so many different ways, he said. And we will be there every step of the way. The 50-page plan builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. It envisions a future Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of roads and tunnels. It also would give small areas of southern Israel to the Palestinians as compensation for lost West Bank land. But the many caveats, and ultimate overall Israeli control, made the deal a nonstarter for the Palestinians. Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. Mr. President, because of this historic recognition and because I believe your peace plan strikes the right balance where other plans have failed, Netanyahu said. Ive agreed to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of your peace plan. The Jordan Valley annexation is a big part of Netanyahus strategy and a key promise meant to appeal to his hard-line nationalist base, which mostly applauded the Trump plan. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the plans release, said they expected negative responses from the Palestinians, but were hopeful that Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab nations to have peace treaties with Israel, would not reject it outright. Jordan gave the plan a cool reaction, saying it remained committed to a two-state solution based on Israels pre-1967 lines. It also said it rejected any unilateral move by Israel, referring to the annexation plan. The reaction of Jordan, which would retain its responsibilities over Jerusalems al-Aqsa Mosque under the plan, is particularly significant. Located next to the West Bank, Jordan also is home to a large Palestinian population. Egypt, the first Arab country to reach a peace deal with Israel, urged Israelis and Palestinians to carefully study the plan. The European Union also said it needed to study it more closely. Saudi Arabia, another key Arab country, said it appreciated the Trump administrations efforts and encouraged the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians under the auspices of the United States. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations supports two states living in peace and security within recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, according to his spokesman. The Palestinians see the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Trump has reversed decades of U.S. foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centerpiece of his strategy was recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the American Embassy there. Hes also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programs. Those policies have proven popular among Trumps evangelical and pro-Israel supporters. But the Palestinians refuse to even speak to Trump and they called on support from Arab leaders. ___ Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Deb Riechmann in Washington contributed. The third Twenty20 international between Pakistan and Bangladesh was abandoned without a ball being bowled Monday because of bad weather in Lahore, giving the home side a 2-0 series victory. Murky conditions and drizzle delayed the scheduled 13:00 pm (0830 GMT) toss at the Gadaffi stadium pitch, but play was called off three hours later. Pakistan won the first match by five wickets on Friday and the second by nine wickets the next day. The series win helped Pakistan hang on to their number one ranking in Twenty20 internationals with 270 points, leading Australia by just one point. Bangladesh will fly out late Monday, but return on February 5 to play the first of two Tests, in Rawalpindi. They play a one-day international on April 3 in Karachi, and the second Test starting April 7. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Photo Illustration by Lyne Lucien/The Daily Beast The Senate impeachment trial hadnt been in session for an hour on Monday before the man famous for his drive to impeach Bill Clinton was lecturing senators on the solemn nature of impeachment and bemoaning the politicization of the process. Like war, impeachment is hellor at least, presidential impeachment is hell," said Kenneth Starr, the special counsel who investigated Clinton for years and is now serving as part of President Donald Trumps defense team. His words carried not a whiff of irony. Instead of a once-in-a-century phenomenon, which it had been, presidential impeachment has become a weapon to be wielded against ones political opponent. The combination of the declaration and the person making it seemed to stun Democrats in the chamber. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) looked up from his notes and glanced around at his colleagues as if to see if they too were in disbelief. It was appropriate that the second day of the White Houses defense of the president began with a bit of shock and awe. After all, the proceedings appeared designed not only as a vigorous challenge to the case laid out by House impeachment managers, but also an elaborate troll aimed at triggering them and the Senates Democratic jurors. By the end, at least one GOP senator had seemed to concede that the entire spectacle hadnt been about defending Trump at all, but, rather, damaging a leading Democratic rival to Trump on the eve of a contentious primary season. I'm really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Democratic caucus goers, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) told reporters. Will they be supporting Vice President Biden at this point? Biden Calls for Impeachment Investigation of Trump for Abuse of Power Well before then, the mood was highly charged, as Democrats who entered the chamber were already buzzing about breaking revelations in the New York Times detailing ex-Trump National Security Adviser John Boltons account of the presidents scheme to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. Story continues In addition to Starrs lamentations, Trumps team of attorneys threw out a number of topics seemingly designed to make Democrats blood boiland delight the president and his supporters. One of the first things mentioned by the presidents counsel Jay Sekulow, for example, was pens. Specifically, Speaker Nancy Pelosis decision to hand them out to lawmakers during the December signing of articles of impeachmenta common practice with significant legislationhas become proof beyond doubt among the pro-Trump internet that Democrats talk about the sadness and solemnity of impeachment was bunk. There were also, on Monday, discussion of the so-called basement bunkers where Democrats allegedly held the impeachment depositions without Republican participation (in reality, more than 45 House Republicans were permitted to attend and ask questions). Trump attorney Patrick Philbin at one point declared House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) a fact witness in the matter of the Ukraine scandal as Schiff sat just feet away, stone-faced. Then came White House lawyer Jane Raskins lengthy, back-handed defense of Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Guiliani, whom she described as a minor player in the scandal; that shiny object designed to distract you who had, in the end, been right more often than Schiff. The score, said Raskin. Rudy Giuliani, four. Adam Schiff, zero. Fox & Friends Desperately Tries to End Unhinged Giuliani Interview, Repeatedly Fails As the day wore on, Trumps lawyers turned the Senate floor into a corruption trial for former Vice President Joe Biden, his son, Hunter, and Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Hunters involvement on the companys board is relevant to the impeachment at hand in the Senate only in that Republicans charge that the story validates Trumps stated desire to get to the bottom of corruption in Ukraine. The Biden part of the presentation was no surprise: Sekulow telegraphed the attacks last week. And Republicans largely seemed to delight in the spectacle. I'm sure it's very hard for them to listen to all of these facts that the managers left out, said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND). But when it was folded into a case for why former President Barack Obama should be impeached, it became too much for some Democrats to take seriously. And as Eric Herschmann, another member of the presidents team, spoke, Democratic senatorswho had sat largely expressionless throughout the day tittered at the analogy drawn between Trump and President Obamas 2012 hot mic moment with then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, during which Obama said hed have more flexibility on issues like missile defense after winning re-election. Leaving the Senate floor afterward, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) described the presentation as a campaign ad, oppo research, and a little bit of owning the libs, just for yuks. They cant help themselves, he added. Beyond the political point-scoring, however, was some substance too. The presidents legal team spent time laying the legal foundation for their case that Trump should be acquitted, which leans hard on two claims: that the presidents July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reveals no quid pro- quo, and that any other evidence to that point is based on unreliable hearsay. Philbin, a member of the defense team who has impressed Capitol Hill Republicans, argued that House Democrats ran roughshod over law and precedent in pursuing Trumps impeachment. The Trump teams final presenter, Harvard Law professor and celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz, took a GOP argumentthat Democrats articles of impeachment are weak because they do not allege crimesto its logical extreme. "Purely noncriminal conduct, including abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, said Dershowitz, are outside the range of impeachable offenses." As Trumps legal team worked the Senate, outside the chamber his allies were busy trying to dull the impact of the explosive Times report on Boltons forthcoming book, which details how Trump himself linked Ukrainian aid to an investigation into the Bidens. Victoria Toensing, an informal legal adviser to Trump, posted to Twitter, It matters NOT AT ALL what @realDonaldTrump told John Bolton. We do not prosecute people for thoughts or words. Only for conduct. Giuliani, the presidents personal attorney whose role is at the center of the Ukraine saga that led to Trumps impeachment, messaged The Daily Beast on Monday evening that of course he agreed with Toensings analysis, but added that I am sure Backstabber Bolton is not telling the truth. What POTUS said when he was unknowingly tapped [sic] is definitive: no quid pro quo. Privately, numerous senior administration officials and Trump associates began to rally around a simple explanation for what was going onthat Bolton was merely a liar out to make a quick buck. Four White House officials who spoke to The Daily Beast since Sunday each independently denounced Bolton as a habitual double-crosser and notorious rat and leaker, an allegation he has emphatically denied in the past. All of which created a scene odd enough to match the moment: Democrats pining for a longtime GOP nemesis to come testify before them, Republicansmany of whom had been supported by Bolton in the pastacting as if he was suddenly persona non grata, and the presidents legal team simply ignoring the bombshell hed set off. This was out-of-body surreal, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said. The rest of America is talking about John Bolton, and not a single mention of him in this chamber. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. A deadly outbreak is affecting international travelers, workers and businesses in China. The United States and several other nations prepared Tuesday to airlift citizens out of the Chinese city of Wuhan, which is at the center of a virus outbreak that has killed more than 100 people. Several food and beverage businesses have temporarily halted operations there. McDonalds and Starbucks have temporarily closed locations in and around Wuhan. And multiple cruise lines have suspended trips that were slated to depart from China for the end of this month. From booked flights to accommodations, several businesses are allowing visitors to switch their plans. United Airlines is suspending several flights, Chicago Business Journal reported. Furthermore, key players in the auto industry have limited business travel to Wuhan, restricting or suspending visits. Meanwhile, China has cut off access to Wuhan and 16 other cities in Hubei province to prevent people from leaving and spreading the virus further. The U.S. government chartered a plane to fly out diplomats and other Americans from the U.S. Consulate in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak started. A U.S. State Department official told The Associated Press Tuesday that the plane departed and is en route to the U.S. The plane will make a refueling stop in Alaska before flying on to Ontario, California, the U.S. Embassy said. Video: Officials say more coronavirus cases are 'likely' in the U.S. U.S. health officials expanded their recommendation for people to avoid nonessential travel to any part of China, rather than just Wuhan and other areas most affected by the outbreak. The five American cases two in southern California and one each in Washington state, Chicago and Arizona are people who had recently arrived from central China. The new virus causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath and pneumonia. Experts worry that the new virus may spread more easily than originally thought, or may have mutated into a form that does so. It is from the coronavirus family, which also can cause the common cold as well as more serious illnesses such as SARS. Lagioias nod to Ferrante skepticism among Italys highbrow critics holds up even as momentum and media attention have been steady. Parties in the guise of reading vigils took place up and down the peninsula on the eve of the novels Nov. 7 publication. Robinson, the cultural supplement to Italian daily La Repubblica, closed out November with an exclusive Ferrante cover story and a tease of a title, My Brilliant Lie. In the months following, Ferrantes name has stayed front and center: Continued book sales have probably been fueled by the ubiquitous trailer for Storia del Nuovo Cognome Part 2 of the television miniseries adapted from the Neapolitan novels. After early screenings at select Italian cinemas, the new season will make its small-screen debut on Feb. 10 on Italian state broadcaster RAI. Voice recognition technology, artificial intelligence (A.I), blockchain and big data are the major trends at startups in Vietnam in 2020. A study by Tractica found that revenue of the AI-based apps may reach $59.7 billion by 2025, and the number of M&A deals in the AI field has been increasing. AI is considered a cornerstone of the 4.0 industrial revolution. Vietnam is expected to provide many excellent scientists starting up in the field. At present, there are many Vietnamese well-known names in AI, namely Dr Ha Anh Vu, technical director of AI 2 Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence in the US, established by Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft, and Le Si Quang, a software engineer, an expert in machine learning who works for Google in the UK. According to Ngo Quoc Hung, Creative Director of COTAI, center for talents in AI, who has been teaching AI to students of the Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted in HCM City, AI is no longer unfamiliar to highs school students. In their eyes, AI is now an interesting subject which could bring useful information and applications. Voice recognition technology, artificial intelligence (A.I), blockchain and big data are the major trends at startups in Vietnam in 2020. In just several more years, Vietnam will have many good engineers in AI and the number of startups in AI will be increasing, Hung said. According to the Global Research Institute of Kindsley Strategy Consulting Group, computers will undertake 60 percent of current workload, which means that 800 million people would lose their jobs. Meanwhile, according the World Economic Forum, 60 percent of workers would have to take work they have never been trained for, the majority of which relate to technology. Google Brain predicted that AI will need about 1 million workers, but only 10,000 high-quality workers can satisfy the requirements. Vietnam is predicted to lack 70,000-90,000 high-technology workers in 2020 out of the total 350,000 workers of the whole market. Tu Nguyen, managing director of VietA.I Community, who has been working for 10 years in emerging technologies, an expert in AI, said there were 25 workers in the international payment division of HSBC five years ago. Nowadays, when the work volume is five times higher, the division only needs three workers, because a big workload is now undertaken by computers. Also according to the expert, at Minh Long II Technical Ceramics factory in Binh Duong province, 70 percent of work is being undertaken by robots. This is the evidence which shows that AI has been penetrating into all areas in Vietnam, raising the need of developing the labor force in the field of AI, he said. The HCM City University of Information Technology, belonging to the HCM City National University, has begun enrolling students for some majors related to AI. Ha An VN Government encourages startup innovation: Deputy PM The Government will develop an innovative and business-centred ecosystem, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said at the Vietnam Business Forum 2019 in Hanoi on January 10. The conference will conclude with university leaders making a series of concrete commitments for their respective institutions. These will be discussed over the course of the conference and voted on by university presidents before they are presented for consideration as part of the G7 Summit discussions happening with world leaders at Camp David the following week. Russian business ombudsman proposes accelerate preparation of court records RAPSI 18:00 28/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 28 (RAPSI) Russias business rights commissioner Boris Titov has asked the chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev to pay attention to the trial within a reasonable time problem encountered in organization of transfer of criminal cases to appeals instances, the ombudsmans press-service informs. It is observed, as Titov has found out according to the statement, that lower courts are often late to submit the required materials to courts of appeal due to the fact that making court records takes too much time. Today, the Code of Criminal Procedure regulates the terms of appellation and hearing of appeals, and sets a 3-days deadline for making court records available; nevertheless, some Code provisions permit to extend this time. At the same time, there are no caps on the overall time lower courts require for preparing documents to be sent to appeals instances, the statement reads. Although the problem is caused mostly by courts overload affecting the needed paperwork, it cannot excuse delays, Titov believes, so he asks the Supreme Court chairman to analyze the relevant judicial practice and put forward an initiative to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure by introducing a provision setting time limits on the preparation of court records. Mark Decambre in Market Watch: Scientist and scholar Eric Toner, quoted above in an excerpt from a Friday interview with the business-news channel CNBC, explained that Chinas efforts to contain the current outbreak of a fast-moving upper-respiratory illness are unlikely to be effective. Cases of the illness, which is related to SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, and MERS, Middle East respirator syndrome, have now turned up in a number of countries beyond China, where the illness originated in Wuhan City. The number of infections of coronavirus, or CoV, in China has risen to nearly 4,500, according to the Wall Street Journal. On top of that, the official death toll has climbed to 106, from 56 as of Tuesday. The Journal reported that the outbreak was overwhelming Wuhan-area resources and hospitals. Beijing has shut down parts of the Great Wall, as well as more than a dozen cities, restricting the movement of tens of millions of people, and canceling events related to the Lunar New Year, one of the busiest periods of travel and consumerism in the country. More here. P rime Minister Boris Johnson has allowed Huawei to play a major role in Britain's 5G network. This means the Chinese technology giant will be involved in the roll-out of the country's communications upgrade. However, the decision could cause trans-Atlantic tension, after the White House warned Mr Johnson away from adopting Huawei over security fears. The US has blacklisted Huawei due to worries that it will act as a backdoor for the Chinese state to get access to western nation's data. The US has asked the UK not to use Huawei (Reuters) / REUTERS What has the UK said? Huawei has been branded a "high risk vendor". However, it will still be allowed to play a peripheral role in the UKs 5G network. Guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre states that high risk vendors should be excluded from all safety-related and safety-critical networks in critical national infrastructure and from sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases Huawei will also be limited to a minority presence of no more than 35% in the periphery of the network, known as the access network, which connects devices and equipment to mobile phone masts. What is Huawei? Chinese technology giant Huawei is the worlds second-biggest smartphone manufacturer and one of the worlds biggest suppliers of telecommunications equipment. It says it is a private company wholly owned by its employees, but questions have been raised about the mechanics of its ownership structure. It was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, who, before his career in industry, worked in the engineering branch of the Peoples Liberation Army. What is 5G? The implementation of 5G is expected to bring with it download speeds 10 times faster than what 4G currently offers. Huawei has invested billions of pounds into research and development around 5G network infrastructure and, as a result, is now considered the industry leader in 5G technology. It is also already part of the existing network infrastructure in a number of countries, including in the UK. As a result, using one of Huaweis rivals, and most likely alternatives Ericsson or Nokia for the building of 5G networks, is likely to cause a delay and add cost to the introduction of widespread 5G in the UK. In contrast, none of the four largest mobile carriers in the United States use Huawei equipment in their networks. What allegations has the US made against Huawei? US President Donald Trump's administration has blacklisted Huawei, calling the company "a national security concern". Indeed, the company has come under scrutiny over allegations of close ties to the Chinese state. Founder Mr Zhengfeis past links to the military have been cited as a concern, as has Chinas history of state sponsorship and surveillance. Chinese law can also compel firms to co-operate with Chinese national intelligence work, which some critics have suggested could see Beijing require Huawei to spy on people through so-called back doors in its telecoms equipment. Huawei has vehemently denied the allegations of any ties with the Chinese state and says it abides by the laws of every country in which it operates. What has the US said to the UK about Huawei? US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has directly urged the UK not to use Huawei. Mr Pompeo, who is due to visit the UK later in the week, said: The UK has a momentous decision ahead on 5G. British MP Tom Tugendhat gets it right: The truth is that only nations able to protect their data will be sovereign. He retweeted a comment by Mr Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee in the last parliament, in which the MP said: The real costs will come later if we get this wrong and allow Huawei to run 5G. What has Huawei said? Huawei has always denied having ties to the Chinese government, with the companys founder denying that Beijing has ever asked his company to help spy on its clients. Mr Zhengfei, in an interview last year, said: I love my country. I support the Communist Party. But I will not do anything to harm the world. He said Huawei had never been asked to share improper information about its partners by the government. I personally would never harm the interest of my customers, and me and my company would not answer to such requests. No law in China requires any company to install mandatory back doors. Listen to today's episode of The Leader: Shootout between drug lords, military police leaves one dead Nuevo Israel, Q.R. A plane loaded with drugs and weapons was surrounded by military police after it landed on a highway near the town of Nuevo Israel in the southern part of the state of Quintana Roo. According to la Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, officials detected the illegal entry of the plane in Mexican airspace. The twin-engine aircraft quickly landed on a roadway known as the Chetumal-Merida short track around 3:30 a.m. Elements of the Mexican Army rushed to the scene where they were met by two armed men guarding the aircraft where some of the planes cargo had already been unloaded into a van. Upon police arrival, shots were fired upon military personnel, killing one and injuring three, all of whom were airlifted by helicopter to hospital. Emiliano Medina Ramirez, cavalry corporal, died. In their report they said The personnel of Generals, Chiefs, Officers and Troops that integrate the armed institute express our solidarity to the relatives of the element that unfortunately lost their life in fulfillment of their duty, contributing to the objective of achieving peace and security that the people yearn for in Mexico. State governor, Carlos Joaquin, also expressed his sympathies with the family of the victim. Photos: la Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional La Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional said they were successful in detaining the two plane guards identified as G.G.C. and B.C.R., as well as its cargo, which consisted of nearly one ton of cocaine, three weapons, the aircraft and two vehicles. They noted that the plane arrived from South America. In 2019, approximately 80% of Hungarians aged 16-74 reported using the internet in the past three months, slightly below the European Union average of 87%, according to a report by statistical agency Eurostat. The share of internet users was the highest in Sweden (98%), followed by Denmark (97%), with Luxembourg, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in joint-third place with 96%. On the other end of the spectrum, the rate was only 68% in Bulgaria. The share stood at 74% in Romania, and 75% in Portugal. In the EU as a whole, internet use has grown rapidly over the years from just 57% in 2007 to 75% in 2013. The internet was mainly used in Hungary to send and receive e-mails (72%), to participate in social networks (69%), and find information about goods and services (also 69%). The Central Reserve Police Force, the Centres lead counter-insurgency force, had carried out a massive internal audit to check if there were any attempts of subversion within the force after the arrest of J&K police officer Davinder Singh, CRPF chief AP Maheshwari said on Tuesday. Davinder Singh, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the J&K Police, was arrested on January 11 on charges of colluding with terrorists. Singhs arrest had stunned the J&K police force but it had also underscored the possibility that there might be other officers as well who could collude with terrorists. Maheshwari, who had recently taken over the CRPF, said It was a grave incident....an area of extreme concern. No security grid should be allowed to be weakened by such episodes. So, all forces have to keep an internal watch. All forces should maintain vigilance so that there is no such type of subversion or some sort of intrusion within the force or somebody trying to collaborate with the adversaries. Its a serious matter, Maheshwari said. At the CRPF, which has deployed about 70,000 personnel in Jammu and Kashmir for security and counter-terror operations, Maheshwari said the force again ran a complete check again. We are further strengthening our systems, which were already in place, he said. Maheshwari said if something happens somewhere (such as the arrest of Davinder Singh), it is a case to revisit ourselves and thats what we have done and we have no doubt (after audit about integrity of our personnel). The central police force, the largest paramilitary force in the world, has a sanctioned strength of 3 lakh personnel and is the lead force to counter terrorists in J&K and the Maoists in the heartland. We constantly carry such audits because we know three security principles - which are - anti-sabotage; access control and anti-subversion. So, there is already an inbuilt system - We have a vigilance cell, we have an intelligence cell - It is their duty to keep checking (any subversion activities). Maheshwari said the Davinder Singh case did not reflect on the entire J&K force and was an isolated incident. If in an isolated incident, somebody does this, it should not be taken as any type of aspersion on the dignity of the force and on the strength of the force This is, yes, a matter of concern, and all (forces) should see that these things dont occur, he said. Firefighters were forced to smash both front windows of a minivan and stream their hose through the vehicle after it parked next to the water mains. Crews in Camden City, New Jersey, were called to a blaze on Saturday when they found the black car blocking access from the fire hydrant to the flaming apartment. Instead of snaking the thick yellow hose around the car, officers promptly shattered the windows and pumped water across the front seats, which were smothered with glass shards. Reminding drivers of the peril of parking beside a hydrant, Camden fire brigade shared the footage on social media. Fire crews in Camden City, New Jersey, run their hose from the fire hydrant through the car windows after smashing the glass It wrote: 'Camden firefighters extinguished a fire at an occupied dwelling on the 400 block of Chambers Street. 'CFD crews had to navigate through vehicles blocking hydrants during the incident. No occupants or firefighters were injured.' New Jersey state firefighters hammered home the warning and tweeted: 'DO NOT PARK IN FRONT OF FIRE HYDRANTS'. The footage from last Saturday, which has racked up thousands of views, shows the scene outside the blaze. A bright red fire engine with numerous flashing lights blocks the middle of the road just in front of the black minivan. The glass has crumbled into hundreds of tiny pieces and collects on the front seat of the car A bright red fire engine with numerous flashing lights blocks the middle of the road New Jersey state firefighters remind drivers of the perils of parking beside a hydrant From the front of the engine, the hose drapes along the cobbled street and into the driver's window of the minivan parked adjacent to the sidewalk. The camera then moves closer towards the minivan to lay bare the damage caused by the firefighters to the windows. The glass has crumbled into hundreds of tiny pieces, with only a few fragments left clinging to the rim of the window socket. The rest have collected on the seat after being sprayed inside when the officers clattered through. As the camera moves round the trunk, it shows the nozzle of the hose fixed on to the bright green hydrant. No water is yet pumping through, suggesting the video was captured before or shortly after extinguishing the fire. Canadians love to boast about our publicly funded health care system that puts universal access above ability to pay and we should be proud and safeguard it. But it often comes up short, particularly for persons with disabilities. Currently, the Canada Health Act does not consider home care access, pharmacare, pain management and palliative care as essential health services. Thus, levels of these services provided publicly vary widely by province, creating inequities in access nationally. Most Canadians do not have comprehensive access to these critical services and most cannot afford to pay for them privately. For a person with disabilities, for whom these services can mean the difference between living and thriving, or significant hardship, this shortfall can have catastrophic consequences. This is especially true when it comes to the choice of medically assisted dying. In 2016, in response to Carter v. Canada, Canada legalized Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) for persons with disabilities, illness and intolerable suffering within the context of nearing death. However, in 2019, the Truchon v. Canada decision by the Superior Court of Quebec ruled that it was unconstitutional to require foreseeable death for those accessing MAiD. This ruling has prompted the federal government to consider removing the criteria of nearing death from Canadas MAiD legislation. What is remarkable is that both of these landmark court decisions were made in the absence of addressing existing inequities in home care, pharmacare and palliative care across the country. Instead, the dominant discussion of MAiD has focused on issues of quality of life, capacity, and suffering largely to the exclusion of understanding the lives of people with disabilities within their full social, cultural and political contexts as inherently valuable citizens. The government is currently consulting Canadians across the country on what they think should be the eligibility requirements for MAiD. MAiD without a foreseeable death restriction, combined with significant shortcomings in health and social care for persons with disabilities, raises questions about what it means to live a dignified life, and for whom and what role the Canadian Government has in supporting people with disabilities in the context of legalized MAiD. It raises issues of systemic marginalization and violence as persons with disabilities are not adequately protected or valued. There are those who want to push MAiD to its limits. Yet current research into expanding the MAiD criteria to include mature minors, advanced directives and people with mental health issues is inconclusive and problematic unless inequitable accesses for disability services, health care, pain management, home care and end of life decision-making are also addressed. The truth is, there are several things we still dont know about MAiD where persons with disabilities are concerned and we should know given the gravity of the issue. Does access to home care and palliative care influence an individuals decision to choose MAiD? Is MAiD a choice or is it a decision in the absence of other choices? How can we ensure equity in MAiD? Canadians already have a legal right to die with the assistance of a physician. I hope our government will recognize the right to live a life that is livable for people with disabilities, with all the supports they need. A 22-year-old murder accused allegedly committed suicide inside a police lock-up at Kishanganj police station here in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, police said. Gopal Pachori allegedly hanged himself inside the lock-up and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival, Indore's superintendent of police (West) Awdhesh Goswami said. Pachori managed to cut a piece of cloth from his blanket and used it for hanging himself, the senior official added. The accused had been arrested on January 23 for allegedly stabbing his uncle Jaiprakash Mishra when the latter refused to lend him Rs 1 lakh and also severely injuring Mishra's wife Uma when she tried to intervene, the official said. Deputy inspector general (Indore) Ruchivardhan Mishra has requested the district judge to initiate a judicial inquiry into the incident, Goswami added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) STRATFORD Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson asked Board of Education members to approve a $6 million budget increase for the 2020-21 school year during a meeting of the boards finance committee. The budget request totals $120.6 million, an increase of 5.24 percent over the current $114.6 million spending plan. The board asked a handful of questions after Robinsons presentation Monday but didnt offer any detailed comments. They scheduled several workshops next month to revise the plan, which they will eventually vote to send to the Town Council, who has the final word on the budget. Town Council Chairman Christopher Pia said Tuesday he hadnt yet read the details of the superintendents proposal but is confident the Board of Education will deliberate the request carefully. When the (school) board eventually sends it over to the Town Council Im sure it will be a workable budget that benefits everybody, Pia said. Mayor Laura Hoydicks Chief of Staff, Michael Downes, said Hoydick is reviewing the proposal and looking forward to collaborating with the superintendent and Board of Education in aligning our goals going forward. Last year, Robinson initially requested a $4.3 million, or 3.85 percent, budget increase before the Town Council ultimately voted to increase the schools side of the budget by 2.8 percent. The major costs driving the increase, Robinson said, include a 3.17 percent increase in contractually obligated salaries, an 8.5 percent increase in health insurance costs and a 1.58 percent increase in special education costs that totals $1.9 million alone. The superintendent said the number of students identified as requiring special education services increased by 76 from October 2018 to October 2019. There are a total of 990 such students in the town, roughly 13 percent of those enrolled. Possible new positions Bunnell High School: one each for math, science and electives, plus half a position for English Stratford High School: one each for English, science and electives, plus 0.4 each for math and social studies A guidance department head split between the high schools See More Collapse The request also includes a handful of new teaching positions at each of the towns two high schools to meet new graduation requirements, as well as a new position heading the guidance department, which Robinson said was requested by school guidance counselors. There would be 3.5 new teaching positions at Bunnell High School one each for math, science and electives, plus half a position for English. At Stratford High School, there would be 3.8 new positions one each for English, science and electives, plus 0.4 each for math and social studies. The new guidance department head would split their time between the high schools, Robinson said. Robinson said administrators asked for more new positions, but after analyzing the costs, these are the only new staff that we feel we can bring aboard. While answering a question about scheduling from Board of Education Chairperson Allison DelBene, Robinson said shifts to high school enrollment might mean cuts in other places. We had a big influx this year in ninth grade, and that means there will have to be cuts in other positions elsewhere in the district, Robinson said. Weve got some work to do ahead of us as a board. There are currently 540 ninth graders in the district 253 at Bunnell, 282 at Stratford High and five in the alternative ALPHA program. The towns high schools have 526 sophomores, 546 juniors and 509 seniors. There are currently 585 eighth-grade students 299 at Flood Middle School and 286 at Wooster Middle School. As of Jan. 2, the school district had a total enrollment of 7,596, up slightly from 7,586 a year before. Of that total, 6,843 are enrolled in the towns public schools, and 753 are elsewhere, mostly magnet, tech and special education students in out-of-district placements. The town currently spends $16,601 per student annually, $387 less than the state average. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WLFI) - State Senator Ron Alting's pregnancy accommodations bill is making progress at the statehouse. It passed through the Family and Children Services committee on Monday, seven to two. As we previously reported, this bill would set reasonable accommodations for pregnant women in the work place. Senator Alting said more than 40 people, companies and organizations testified in favor of the bill. Purdue President and former governor Mitch Daniels wrote a letter of support, something Sen. Alting said he has never seen Daniels do before. The Indianapolis Chamber and the Kentucky Chamber both endorsed his bill, along with two other chambers. Kentucky is one of 27 states that currently has a bill like Sen. Alting's. The Indiana Manufactures Association and The Indiana Chamber of Commerce were the only two organizations lobbying against it, claiming the status quo is sufficient. "You don't rank third in the nation for maternal mortality and you don't rank seventh in the nation on infant mortality and say that the status quo is perfect because it's not," he said. "The facts are there to support it. This is not a matter of opinion." Governor Eric Holcomb said in his State of the State address that lowering Indiana's infant and maternal mortality rates is one of his priorities for 2020. Senator Alting said the bill will be read in another committee on Thursday. He said he's trying to remain optimistic that future committees will see the importance of the bill as is, and hopes it doesn't get stripped of its power. President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House (Susan Walsh/AP) US president Donald Trump has unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, calling for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in portions of east Jerusalem. He declared it a win-win opportunity for both Israel and the Palestinians. The plan ends speculation as to whether his administration, in preparing a proposal without input from Palestinian leaders, would abandon a two-state resolution to the conflict. Mr Trump, releasing the plan before a pro-Israel audience at the White House with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a great deal for the Palestinians. Mr Trump said the deal is a historic opportunity for Palestinians to achieve an independent state of their own. President Abbas, I want you to know, that if you chose the path to peace, America and many other countries... we will be there to help you in so many different waysDonald Trump But Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said a thousand noes to the plan. After the nonsense that we heard today, we say a thousand noes to the deal of the century, Mr Abbas said at a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Western-backed Palestinian Authority is headquartered. He said the Palestinians remain committed to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a state with its capital in east Jerusalem. We will not kneel and we will not surrender, Mr Abbas said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through peaceful, popular means. Expand Close Protesters burn tyres during a protest against the US Middle East peace plan (Adel Hana/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters burn tyres during a protest against the US Middle East peace plan (Adel Hana/AP) The plan more than doubles the territory currently under Palestinian control, although it also recognises Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank. The plan does call for a four-year freeze in new Israeli settlement construction, during which time details of a comprehensive agreement would be negotiated. However, it was not immediately clear if the freeze could be extended if a final deal is not concluded in the four years. Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza City ahead of the announcement, burning pictures of Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu and raising a banner reading Palestine is not for sale. The official Wafa news agency quoted Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as calling on Palestinian factions to set their differences aside and unite against the plan. Expand Close A general view of the West Bank city of Jericho (Oded Balilty/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A general view of the West Bank city of Jericho (Oded Balilty/AP) The 50-page political outline goes further in concessions to the Palestinians than many analysts had believed was likely. However, it would require them to accept conditions they have been previously unwilling to consider, such as accepting West Bank settlements. It builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. Under the terms of the peace vision that Mr Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, the future Palestinian state would consist of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of above-ground roads and tunnels. Officials said that both Mr Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. Mr President, because of this historic recognition and because I believe your peace plan strikes the right balance where other plans have failed, Mr Netanyahu said. Ive agreed to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of your peace plan. Its a great plan for Israel. Its a great plan for peace. Expand Close President Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for an event in the East Room of the White House (Alex Brandon/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for an event in the East Room of the White House (Alex Brandon/AP) The event cames as Mr Trumps impeachment trial continues in the Senate and Israels parliament had planned a hearing to discuss Mr Netanyahus request for immunity from criminal corruption charges. Mr Netanyahu withdrew that request hours before the proceedings were to begin, but Israels parliament, the Knesset, is still expected to meet. The body had been likely to vote against immunity, dealing Mr Netanyahu a blow. In the run-up to the March 2 election, Mr Netanyahu has called for annexing parts of the West Bank and imposing Israeli sovereignty on all its settlements there. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Jordan Valley in particular is considered a vital security asset. Security responsibility for the Jordan Valley would remain in Israels hands for the foreseeable future but could be scaled back as the nascent Palestinian state builds its capacity, under the terms of the plan, which says that statehood will be contingent on the Palestinians meeting international governance criteria. The Palestinians see the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Mr Trump has reversed decades of US foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centrepiece of his strategy was recognising Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the American Embassy there. Expand Close Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (Adam Davy/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (Adam Davy/PA) He has also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programmes. Those policies have proven popular among Mr Trumps evangelical and pro-Israel supporters and could give him a much-needed boost from his base as he gears up for a reelection battle this year. Saudi Arabia's government discussed the possible impact of the new coronavirus on the oil market on Tuesday, and said it was confident China and the international community would be able to eradicate it, state news agency SPA said. The cabinet reiterated that OPEC and its allies could respond to any impact from the virus on the oil market. Search Keywords: Short link: Microsoft's venture fund M12 has invested in the kid tech startup SuperAwesome. The investment adds an additional $17 million in funding. Others participating in the round include existing investors Mayfair Equity, Hoxton Ventures and Ibis, along with other angel investors. "Making the internet safer for kids is a sector-agnostic mission," wrote Dylan Collins, CEO at SuperAwesome. "As increasing numbers of companies outside of the core kids sector realize that children cannot be ignored, weve begun to shift our horizons to the wider internet." Collins wrote that in his first meeting with M12 it was clear that the two companies shared the same perspective and values on both privacy and responsibility in terms of design for children. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Eighty seven days after Stephanie Parze went missing, she was found by two teenagers on Route 9 near Old Mill Road in a wooded area in Old Bridge, New Jersey. Now, her parents say they will start a foundation for domestic violence victims and missing people in her name. At an emotional press conference Monday morning, Edward Parze, Stephanie Parzes father, said that his family will create the foundation in the coming weeks. Were not going to stop our efforts even though we know shes home, he said. The foundation, according to Edward Parze, will bring awareness to battered women and missing people, calling the issue of domestic abuse an epidemic. This is an extremely somber day for us, he said. Our family is devastated, our friends our community. Our lives are never going to be the same. Authorities and the Parze family had been searching on Staten Island and in New Jersey since her disappearance. In November, the NYPD and police and other emergency responders from all over New Jersey converged on Long Pond Park in Richmond Valley for a major canvass. It was at least the second search of that area by law enforcement personnel. The family and more than 100 volunteers also searched various South Shore locations on Staten Island, including Tottenville, Princes Bay and Wolfes Pond Park. We have searched over 60 locations, Edward Parze said, thanking the thousands of people who aided in the various efforts to find his daughter. Ive never seen such a devoted group of committed people in my life, he said. The communities have bonded together from here all the way out to Staten Island and all throughout the country. Stephanie Parze, 25, of Freehold, had been missing since October. Her remains were found in a wooded area off Route 9 in Old Bridge on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. Authorities believe that former Staten Islander John Ozbilgen was responsible for the death of the missing Freehold, New Jersey, resident. During the investigation, Ozbilgen, 29, of Freehold, was charged with possessing child pornography. He committed suicide at his home on Nov. 22. Authorities believe that Ozbilgen acted alone when he killed Stephanie Parze and disposed of her body, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said. Authorities had concluded that he was responsible for Parzes death, and a suicide note he left behind essentially reaffirmed their belief, the prosecutor said. Noting the difficulty of prosecuting a homicide without a body, authorities were working actively toward charging Ozbilgen prior to his suicide, he added. The Middlesex County medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of her death, the prosecutor said. I think the most important development to focus on was that Stephanie was found, Gramiccioni said. Of course, all of us hoped and prayed that we would find her alive, even against the odds and the evidence in this case. But today, we sincerely hope and pray that the Parze family can have some level of closure and lay their daughter to rest in peace. TEMPLE HILLS, Md. - A Maryland police officer who fatally shot a handcuffed man in the front seat of a police cruiser will face a murder charge, the police chief said Tuesday. Prince Georges County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said during a news conference that he asked his special investigations response team to file multiple charges, including a second-degree murder count, against Cpl. Michael Owen, Jr., a 10-year veteran of the force. Owen was also charged with voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, first-degree assault and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, according to a news release. He was arrested on Tuesday, department spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan said. The victim was identified as William Howard Green, 43, of Washington, D.C. Authorities did not reveal Greens race, citing department policy. Stawinski called the announcement the most difficult of his tenure as police chief. I am unable to come to our community this evening and provide you with a reasonable explanation for the events that occurred last night, the chief told reporters. I concluded that what happened last night is a crime. The deadly shooting occurred Monday night inside the cruiser after Prince Georges County police officers responded to reports that a driver had struck multiple vehicles near the Temple Hills community, department spokeswoman Christina Cotterman told news outlets during an earlier news conference. When officers located the driver, they smelled PCP and believed the man was under the influence, Cotterman said. However, Stawinski later said that PCP did not appear to have been involved. Stawinski also said he could not corroborate a witness account of a struggle in the cruiser. The officer got into the drivers seat after the the suspect was taken into custody and placed in the front passenger seat, according to Cotterman, who said that conforms with department policy. A short time later, for reasons that are now at the centre of the investigation, Green was shot seven times by the officers duty weapon, according to a news release issued Tuesday night. After the shooting, Owen and another officer removed Green from the cruiser and provided medical aid to Green, who died at a hospital a short time later. There are no circumstances under which this outcome is acceptable, Stawinski said. You have my assurance that all our methods and practices will be examined as this investigation proceeds. The shooting wasnt caught on body-camera video because the officer didnt have one, Cotterman said. Investigators were looking for surveillance cameras in the area that may have recorded the shooting. Owen had been placed on administrative leave prior to the announcement that charges would be filed against him. Owen has been involved in at least two other shootings during his time on the force. In 2011, he fatally shot a man who pointed a gun at him after Owen left an event at police headquarters, the department said. Owen was placed on administrative leave after that incident, but there is no indication whether additional action was taken. In 2009, Owen was off-duty when someone tried to rob him outside his home, The Washington Post reported. Police officials said the would-be robber fired, but Owen was not hit and returned fire. The assailant fled, according to police. Prince Georges County States Attorney Aisha Braveboy said in a statement Tuesday that her office will conduct a thorough and independent investigation. We will seek truth, and will vigorously pursue justice in a way that is fair and responsible, Braveboy said, according to The Washington Post. Once we have received all information and completed our own investigation and analysis, I assure you that my office will be transparent and accountable to the public about our findings and how we will move forward. Deborah Jeon, legal director for the the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, said in a statement that there is no reason for an officer to shoot a handcuffed suspect multiple times inside a patrol car. Jeon called it completely unacceptable that Prince Georges Countys police department doesnt equip all its officers with body cameras. These deaths are completely preventable, Jeon said. Police characterize them as unavoidable, but they are not. And body camera footage will show that. Donald Trumps defence team has denied that Rudy Giuliani was sent to Ukraine to do a political errand for the president, arguing that the former New York mayor was spot on about corruption there and at home. The omission of any mention of Mr Giuliani as the Trump team spoke on Saturday for three hours, and then during its first two hours on Monday, was striking given the former New York City mayors major role in the White Houses Ukraine policy push. It fell to Jane Raskin, a lawyer who also represented Mr Trump during former Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia election meddling investigation, to try to convince senators that Mr Giuliani was not sent to the Eastern European country to dig up dirt on US Democrats including the Bidens. He was doing what good defence attorneys do, Ms Raskin said. He was following a lead ... He was gathering evidence regarding Ukrainian election interference to defend his client against false allegations being investigated by Special Counsel Mueller. It had nothing to do with the 2020 election, she added, contending that Mr Giuliani was acting as Mr Trumps personal attorney as he investigated corruption the Trump camp believed existed during the last US presidential cycle. All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Show all 6 1 /6 All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Alan Dershowitz Dershowitz is a controversial American lawyer best known for the high-profile clients he has successfully defended. Those clients have included OJ Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. One longtime Harvard Law associated told the New Yorker Dershowitz "revels in taking positions that ultimately are not just controversial but pretty close to indefensible." Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Ken Starr Starr became a household name in the 1990s as the independent counsel who led the investigation that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment. That investigation began as a look into a real estate scandal known as Whitewater, and eventually led to impeachment after Mr Clinton lied under oath about having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. AP All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Jay Sekulow Sekulow is the president's longtime personal attorney, and, now, personal lawyer in the White House. He has been accused by former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas of being "in the loop" during the Ukraine scandal. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pam Bondi Bondi is the former attorney general in Florida, and a longtime backer of the president's. She made a name for herself in Florida for taking hyper partisan stances on issues, and her penchant for publicity. She is likely to be a prominent public-facing figure during the trial. AFP/Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pat Cipollone Cipollone is the White House counsel, and leading the president's defence team. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Rudy Giuliani While not officially named as one of the president's impeachment lawyers, it is hard to ignore Giuliani's outsized role in this process. The former mayor of New York has been making headlines for months as he defends his client, and for his apparent role in the effort to compel Ukraine to launch the investigation into Joe Biden. We'll see how he figures in the actual trial, which he has said he would like to be a part of. Reuters She noted that Mr Trump hired the man known as Americas mayor six months before former vice president Joe Biden announced his intention to seek the White House for a third time. Ms Raskin criticised the seven House Democratic managers for mischaracterising Mr Giulianis role and intent during their three days of case-making. She accused them of bias and taking a purely political view of the Ukraine affair. The House managers may not like his style. You may not like his style, Ms Raskin said, describing Mr Giuliani as everything ... a defence lawyer must be: outrageous, irreverent, blasphemous, a rogue, a renegade. Ticking off a list things Republicans say the Mueller investigation and probes by Justice Department internal watchdogs show internal bias against Mr Trump, she declared: Mr. Giuliani was spot on. And in a line that surely pleased her client, she declared the score is Mr. Giuliani 4, Mr. Schiff 0, referring to one of Mr Trumps leading Democratic foils, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff of California, his partys lead impeachment manager. In this trial, Ms Raskin said between audible sighs, Mr. Giuliani is just a minor player. House Democrats, however, have a very different view. As he closed the Democrats case on Thursday night, Mr Schiff said: This is why he needs to be removed: Donald Trump chose Rudy Giuliani over his own intelligence [agencies]. He chose Rudy Giuliani over his own FBI director. He chose Rudy Giuliani over his own national security advisers. When all of them were telling him this Ukraine 2016 stuff is kooky crazy Russian propaganda, he chose not to believe them. He chose to believe Rudy Giuliani. That makes him dangerous. GOTTINGEN, Germany, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sartorius, a leading international technology partner of biopharmaceutical research and the industry, has continued on its profitable growth track in fiscal 2019. The Group grew by double digits in sales revenue, order intake and earnings, recording gains in both divisions and across all regions. According to preliminary figures, Group sales revenue rose in constant currencies by 14.8% (reported: +16.7%) to 1,827.0 million euros. Growth was almost entirely organic as the acquisition of the cell culture media specialist Biological Industries completed in December 2019 contributed only marginally to this increase. Order intake1) also rose by 14.8% in constant currencies (reported: +16.7%) to 1,939.5 million euros. "In view of revenue, earnings and jobs, Sartorius developed very dynamically again in 2019 and even better than expected at the beginning of the year. We were also successful in expanding our portfolio and in adding further key technologies through the acquisition of Biological Industries," said CEO Dr. Joachim Kreuzburg. "For Sartorius, 2020 will be a special year, not only because of our 150-year company anniversary. We aim to further grow profitably and reach the two-billion-euro mark in consolidated sales for the first time, as we had already announced in 2012 in our mid-term forecast for 2020." Underlying EBITDA1) rose overproportionately again relative to sales by 22.4% to 495.8 million euros; the respective margin was 27.1% (previous year: 25.9%) in line with our guidance. As expected, slightly less than one percentage point of this increase was attributable to the IFRS 162) Standard required to be applied for the first time in 2019. Relevant net profit1) rose by 19.2% from 175.6 million euros a year ago to 209.3 million euros, yielding earnings per ordinary share of 3.06 euros (PY: 2.56 euros) and earnings per preference share of 3.07 euros (PY: 2.57 euros). Following the further expansion of our workforce in customer-facing functions, research and development, as well as operations, the number of Group employees rose significantly again by 11% or 900 people to 9,016. Business development in the regions All regions grew faster than in the previous year, contributing to the positive development of the Sartorius Group. EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) increased its revenue by 11.2% to 733.4 million euros, accounting for 40% of the Group's consolidated sales. The Americas region contributing around 35% to Group revenue achieved a 17.4% increase in sales to 629.9 million euros. In Asia | Pacific, Sartorius earned sales of 463.7 million euros (+17.4%), which equates to a share of around 25% of Group revenue. (All growth rates for the regions are in constant currencies.) Key financial indicators The Sartorius Group continued to make substantial investments in expanding its global capacity, even though, as expected, its CAPEX ratio1) decreased upon the completion of several large projects to 12.3% (PY: 15.2%). Due to strong net cash flow from operating activities and despite the intensive investment activity and successful acquisition, the company's ratio of net debt to underlying EBITDA1) was 2.0 and thus below the prior-year figure of 2.4. Equity rose from 973.4 million euros to 1,081.2 million euros at year-end. In connection with IFRS 16, the equity ratio decreased slightly from 38.5% as of December 31, 2018, to 38.0%. Sartorius therefore continues to have a very sound balance sheet and financial base. Business development of the divisions The Bioprocess Solutions Division that offers a wide array of innovative technologies for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals exceeded its already strong prior-year performance, increasing its sales revenue in constant currencies by 18.1% (reported: +20.0%) to 1,372.1 million euros. This gain was fueled by ongoing strong demand across all product categories, particularly in project business in Asia. The division's order intake1) rose significantly as well by 18.0% (reported: +19.9%) to 1,479.3 million euros. Underlying EBITDA1) for Bioprocess Solutions increased overproportionately to sales by 24.5% to 406.8 million euros. The division's respective margin rose due to economies of scale and as a consequence of the change in IFRS 16, from 28.6% to 29.6%.2) The Lab Products & Services Division that specializes in technologies and products for laboratories in the pharma sector and in life science research showed robust performance in a partly challenging economic environment, achieving sales growth of 5.9% (reported: +7.5%) to 454.9 million euros. The division's order intake1) increased by 5.7% (reported: +7.3%) to 460.3 million euros. Underlying EBITDA for Lab Products & Services rose year over year by 14.0% to 89.0 million euros. The corresponding margin was positively affected by IFRS 162) and stood at 19.6%, up from the previous year's level of 18.5%. (All growth rates for sales revenue and order intake are given in constant currencies.) Profitable growth projected for 2020 Sartorius projects that it will increase Group sales in fiscal 2020 on the basis of constant currencies by 10% to 13%, with the acquisition of Biological Industries, completed at the end of 2019, expected to contribute approx. 1.5 percentage points to this growth. Regarding profitability, Sartorius forecasts that its underlying EBITDA margin1) will increase year over year from 27.1% to about 27.5%. The ratio of capital expenditures (CAPEX) to sales revenue1) is expected to be around 10% (PY: 12.3%). For the Bioprocess Solutions Division, the Executive Board projects sales growth of 11% to 14%, with consolidation of Biological Industries expected to contribute about one percentage point to this gain. With respect to the division's underlying EBITDA margin1), management assumes that it will increase to around 30.0% (PY: 29.6%). The Lab Products & Services Division will likely increase its sales revenue by 7% to 10%, with Biological Industries projected to contribute around 2.5 percentage points to growth. For this division, the underlying EBITDA margin is forecasted at around 20.0% (PY: 19.6%). The above forecast does not consider the acquisition of parts of Danaher's life science portfolio, which was announced on October 21, 2019, and is currently undergoing antitrust clearance. Following the closing of this transaction, presently expected around the end of the first quarter of 2020, management will update its full-year guidance accordingly. All forecasts are based on constant currencies, as in the past years. 1) Sartorius publishes alternative performance measures that are not defined by international accounting standards. These are determined with the aim of improving the comparability of business performance over time and within the industry. - Underlying EBITDA: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and adjusted for extraordinary items - Order intake: all customer orders contractually concluded during the respective reporting period - Relevant net profit: profit for the period after non-controlling interest, adjusted for extraordinary items and non-cash amortization, as well as based on the normalized financial result and corresponding tax effects - CAPEX ratio: investment payments in relation to sales revenue for the same period. Since 2019 and as a result of the change in IFRS 16 accounting principles, CAPEX has been based on cash flow instead of balance sheet computation; CAPEX ratio restated for 2018: 14.9% 2) IFRS 16 required to be applied as of 2019 regulates accounting of lease contracts. Ultimately, this has led to a somewhat extended balance sheet and thus to a slightly lower equity ratio. Further, this has resulted in reporting longer-term lease payments as depreciation and, accordingly, in a somewhat higher EBITDA, but does not entail any material changes concerning the Group's relevant net profit or earnings per share. This press release contains forward-looking statements about the future development of the Sartorius Group. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Sartorius assumes no liability for updating such statements in light of new information or future events. This is a translation of the original German-language press release. Sartorius shall not assume any liability for the correctness of this translation. The original German press release is the legally binding version. The numbers mentioned above are still subject to final review by the auditors. Follow Sartorius on Twitter @Sartorius_Group and on LinkedIn. Conference call Dr. Joachim Kreuzburg, CEO, and Rainer Lehmann, CFO, will discuss the company's preliminary business results with analysts and investors on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at 3:30 p.m. Central European Time (CET) in a teleconference. You may register by clicking on the following link: https://services.choruscall.de/DiamondPassRegistration/register?confirmationNumber=6723567&linkSecurityString=63f6a9ef9 Alternatively, you can dial into the teleconference, without registering in advance, at: +49 (0) 69-566-03-7000 The presentation will be available on the same day starting at 3:15 p.m. CET, for viewing on our website at: https://www.sartorius.com/en/company/investor-relations/sartorius-ag-investor-relations Financial calendar February 18, 2020 Annual press conference March 26, 2020 Annual Shareholders' Meeting April 21, 2020 Publication of first-quarter figures (January to March 2020) Current image files https://www.sartorius.com/en/company/newsroom/downloads-publications Preliminary Key Performance Indicators for Fiscal 2019 Sartorius Group Bioprocess Solutions Lab Products & Services In millions of , unless otherwise specified 2019 2018 in % reported in % cc1) 2019 2018 in % reported in % cc1) 2019 2018 in % reported in % cc1) Sales Revenue and Order Intake Sales revenue 1,827.0 1,566.0 16.7 14.8 1,372.1 1,143.1 20.0 18.1 454.9 423.0 7.5 5.9 - EMEA2) 733.4 657.7 11.5 11.2 526.9 464.7 13.4 13.2 206.5 193.1 6.9 6.5 - Americas2) 629.9 520.1 21.1 17.4 504.9 410.0 23.1 19.3 125.0 110.1 13.6 10.4 - Asia | Pacific2) 463.7 388.2 19.4 17.4 340.3 268.4 26.8 24.8 123.3 119.8 2.9 0.8 Order intake 1,939.5 1,662.5 16.7 14.8 1,479.3 1,233.7 19.9 18.0 460.3 428.8 7.3 5.7 Earnings EBITDA3 495.8 405.0 22.4 406.8 326.9 24.5 89.0 78.1 14.0 EBITDA margin3) in % 27.1 25.9 29.6 28.6 19.6 18.5 Net profit for the period4 209.3 175.6 19.2 Financial Data per Share Earnings per ordinary share4) in 3.06 2.56 19.3 Earnings per preference share4) in 3.07 2.57 19.2 1) In constant currencies, abbreviated as "cc" 2) Acc. to the customer's location 3) Underlying EBITDA: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and adjusted for extraordinary items 4) Relevant net profit: profit for the period after non-controlling interest, adjusted for extraordinary items and non-cash amortization, as well as based on the normalized financial result and corresponding tax effects A profile of Sartorius The Sartorius Group is a leading international partner of biopharmaceutical research and the industry. With innovative laboratory instruments and consumables, the Group's Lab Products & Services Division concentrates on serving the needs of laboratories performing research and quality control at pharma and biopharma companies and those of academic research institutes. The Bioprocess Solutions Division with its broad product portfolio focusing on single-use solutions helps customers to manufacture biotech medications and vaccines safely and efficiently. The Group has been annually growing by double digits on average and has been regularly expanding its portfolio by acquisitions of complementary technologies. In fiscal 2019, the company earned sales revenue of some 1.83 billion euros according to preliminary figures. At the end of 2019, more than 9,000 people were employed at the Group's approximately 60 manufacturing and sales sites, serving customers around the globe. Contact Petra Kirchhoff Head of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations +49 (0)551-308-1686 [email protected] SOURCE Sartorius AG Northern Irelands Human Rights Commission lost almost half of its British Government funding during the last decade, it has revealed. Stormont Finance Minister Conor Murphy expressed concern over what he said was a service of critical importance. The commission has supported high-profile court cases in areas like abortion reform in recent years. Chief commissioner Les Allamby said: The commission welcomes the restoration of devolved government, but is mindful that it will increasingly be unable to fulfil its duties to advise Executive ministers and carry out its other functions, including supporting legal cases. He said the commission continued to have an impact despite losing almost half its funding from the Northern Ireland Office in the past 10 years. Given its critical importance in protecting everyones human rights, I have written to the Secretary of State seeking a meeting to discuss additional funding for the commissionConor Murphy Mr Murphy said he was concerned about the reduction in the funding provided by the British Government. This organisation is central to the rights-based society envisaged by the Good Friday Agreement and it has since acquired additional responsibilities. This includes a responsibility under the EU Withdrawal Agreement to ensure no diminution of rights. Yet I am advised that the commissions budget has nearly halved in real terms over the last decade. Given its critical importance in protecting everyones human rights, I have written to the Secretary of State seeking a meeting to discuss additional funding for the Commission. Please register or log in to keep reading. No credit card required! Stay logged in to skip the surveys. A waterfront Charleston property that once served as the site for a county jail has changed hands in a $9 million deal and is set to get a facelift. Town Creek Investors LLC acquired the property that includes the Seabreeze Building, an office space located off Morrison Drive near the Arthur Ravenel Bridge, earlier this month. The transaction also includes a dry stack for boats and a marina, which was added by the previous owners, Seabreeze Development of Charleston LLC. Mike Shuler, managing member with Town Creek Investors, said the property is one of the "gems" on Charleston's waterfront, and offered a great opportunity for his company. Located on Immigration Street, the site provides views of the Ravenel Bridge and access to the Cooper River. The general plan, Shuler said, is to renovate portions of the property, including the 102-year-old brick-cased office building, which was once capable of housing up to 158 prisoners. The property has a rich history. The federal government paid $70,000 to develop the building in 1912. It was intended to be a processing station for European immigrants but was never used for that purpose. Later, it was used as a manufacturing facility where coveralls were made. From 1939 to 1968, it was notably used as a county jail a use that earned it a nickname: "The Seabreeze Hotel." The last time the property was renovated was at the turn of the century, Shuler said. He credited the sellers owners with Seabreeze Development of saving the site with those renovations. When they purchased the property for $1 million in 1999, the building was described as pigeon-infested. It had been sitting vacant since Hurricane Hugo hit a decade earlier. They were forced to shovel piles of pigeon waste out of the building. "The previous owners deserve a lot of credit for preserving the whole compound and bringing it into the modern era," Shuler said. Now, Shuler believes the property is ready for another upgrade. In general, Shuler said his group plans to improve the appearance and function of the marina and office building. He said Town Creek Investors will also make the property "more approachable." The operating office building, Shuler said, already has tenants, and Town Creek Investors is working to fill up the leases on its dry stack boat storage. The new owners, Shuler said, also have a permit to add onto the marina, but no expansion is in the works for now. We too happen to feel joy "when we are with the Lord" and, perhaps in the parish or in the villages, people celebrate. "The Word of God is not ashamed of celebrations". "It is true sometimes the danger of joy is to go too far and believe this is it. No: this is the party atmosphere " Vatican City - (AsiaNews) The joy of receiving the Word of God was at the center of the homily of the mass celebrated this morning by Pope Francis at Casa Santa Marta. Pope Francis took the inspiration of his homily from the days First Reading, which speaks of the great joy with which David and all the people of Israel were celebrating the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem following its capture. The people felt that God was close to them and they celebrated, the Pope said and leading the procession was King David who sacrificed an ox and a fatling. He joined the people shouting, singing and dancing "with all his might". The fact that God was with them was the cause of their celebration, the Pope said. David dances before the people expressing his joy without feeling shy. The Pope said it is the spiritual joy of encountering the Lord, of His return to the people. David loves the Lord, and he is happy and joyful to bring back the ark of the Lord with dancing and singing like all the people. The Pope pointed out that we also experience this joy and celebrate when "when we are with the Lord" in our parishes or villages. In this regard, he recalled that at the time of Nehemiah, in the Old Testament, people wept with joy when the book of the law was found, and they continued their celebration at home. Continuing Davids story, the Pope said that one of his wives, Michal, Sauls daughter, reproached him with contempt saying he was dancing shamelessly like a vulgar, like one of the people. The Pope described Michals reaction as contempt of genuine religiosity and spontaneity of joy of being with the Lord. But David explained to her that he was rejoicing in the Lord as the ark was back home. The Bible says that Michal was punished for this and did not bear children. Without joy in the heart, the Pope said, a Christian is not fruitful. Pope Francis further explained that celebration is not only expressed spiritually but becomes sharing. After the blessing, David distributed to each person a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat and a raisin cake, so that everyone could celebrate in their homes. "The Word of God is not ashamed of celebration, the Pope said, warning, at the same time, of the danger of a joy that goes beyond limits, believing this is everything. The Holy Father recalled his predecessor, Saint Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation "Evangelii Nuntiandi," saying the Gospel will not go forward with boring, bitter evangelizers. It will only go forward with joyful evangelizers, full of life. The Pope thus urged for the joy of receiving the Word of God, the joy of being Christians, the joy of going ahead, the ability to celebrate without being ashamed and not being like Michal, formal Christians, prisoners of formalities. " " Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) is shown holding a globe in a detail from a painting by Peter Johann Nepomuk Geiger in the throne room of Miramare castle in Italy. DeAgostini/Getty Images Don't believe everything you learned in elementary school. Our rose-colored image of Christopher Columbus, daring discoverer of America, is largely based on Washington Irving's 1828 biography, "A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus," much of which was invented. The real history of Columbus is far more complicated, controversial and interesting. Let's dispel some of the most pervasive myths about the divisive figure of Christopher Columbus, starting with how people viewed the world in the 15th century. Advertisement 1. Columbus Set Out to Prove the World Was Round Contrary to what Irving wrote in his biography, Columbus was not a solitary geographical genius surrounded by a bunch of flat-Earthers. The fact that Earth is round was well-established in 15th-century scientific circles. What was still unknown was the size of the planet. Columbus's gamble was that the Earth was really small. He calculated that the distance from Spain to Japan, sailing West, was only 2,400 miles. In fact, it's closer to 11,000 miles and there are two continents in the way. Not only was Columbus wildly wrong about the circumference of the Earth, but he thought it was pear-shaped instead of a sphere. Advertisement 2. Columbus Was Italian This is a touchy subject, since Italian-Americans are some of Columbus's greatest supporters and defenders. But if we're going to be historically accurate, Columbus couldn't have been Italian, because Italy wasn't a thing until 1861. Columbus was born in Genoa, a port city in the northern region of Liguria in modern-day Italy. But the Kingdom of Italy wasn't unified until 1861, more than 350 years after Columbus sailed to America. In Columbus's day, Genoa was an independent republic with its own language and currency. Complicating matters was that Columbus left Genoa early and made his name in Portugal and Spain. Italian-Americans latched on to Columbus in the late 19th century to combat virulent discrimination against Italian immigrants. Italian-American communities in cities like San Francisco began holding annual Columbus Day parades to celebrate an American hero with Italian heritage, and to promote Italian contributions to American society and culture. Advertisement 3. Columbus Discovered America Ask any random first-grader, "Who discovered America?" and they'll proudly tell you it was Christopher Columbus. Heck, ask most 50-year-olds and they'll give the same answer. But there are several serious problems with that claim. " " Christopher Columbus lands at Guanahani, now known as San Salvador, island of the Bahamas, 1492. Kean Collection/Getty Images Even if we ignore the fact that millions of indigenous people had lived in the land now known as North America for more than 10,000 years before Columbus "discovered" it, Columbus was still not the first European to make landfall in the New World. Historians and archeologists agree that Viking explorers and possibly Leif Erikson himself established colonies along the eastern coast of Canada as early as the 10th century. But even if you ignore both the indigenous issue and the Viking claims, you're still stuck with the fact that Columbus never set foot in North America. Columbus's first expedition landed on a small island in the Bahamas Oct. 12, 1492. Subsequent expeditions came ashore in Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola, among other islands. While these islands are most certainly part of "the Americas," none of Columbus's expeditions found what most Americans would consider "America." Advertisement 4. Columbus's Ships Were the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria Well, this one is only half false. Columbus and his crew may have called the three ships the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria, but those were probably just nicknames. The Nina was not the ship's official name. The small caravel-style vessel was originally called the Santa Clara, but dubbed the Nina ("girl" in Spanish) by the sailors in homage to the ship's owner, Juan Nino. No one knows what the original name of the Pinta was, but some historians speculate that nickname was short for la pintada or "the painted lady," a possible reference to a prostitute. For the Santa Maria, one story is that it was a name given by Columbus to a ship originally called la Gallega or Santa Gallega because its owner was from the Spanish region of Galicia. The more colorful explanation is that the "saintly" name is another nod to a favorite prostitute named Maria Galante. Advertisement 5. Columbus Thought He Had Discovered a New Continent Nope. Columbus had no idea that he had accidentally found the edge of two massive continents equaling nearly 40 percent of the world's total landmass. Instead, he died convinced that he had discovered a Western sailing route to Asia or the "East Indies." That's why he called the local indigenous tribes "Indians," of course. " " This German map traces the four voyages of Christopher Columbus to the West Indies and the Caribbean Sea. The first voyage is represented with a dark unbroken line. Hulton Archive/Getty Images Instead of thinking that he had discovered some truly unknown "New World," Columbus believed that he had merely landed on some Asian islands that hadn't been described by Marco Polo. Incredibly, Columbus came this close to being the first European in South America, but he mistook the coast of Venezuela for mainland China and wasn't interested in pursuing it further. Advertisement 6. Columbus Was a Genocidal Murderer In recent decades, Columbus has been vilified by critics who blame him for the eventual deaths of millions of native people who contracted European diseases or fell to the sword of conquistadors and colonists. While that's a lot of death to place on the shoulders of one man, Columbus's direct interactions with the Taino natives on Hispaniola were also disastrous. It's estimated that 300,000 Taino lived on Hispaniola in 1492. Just 16 years later, that number had dwindled to 60,000. By 1548, only 500 remained, according to Columbus biographer Laurence Bergreen. As many as 50,000 are believed to have committed mass suicide rather than to live under Spanish rule. Columbus's fiercest critics label him a murderer who willfully committed genocide. Kris Lane, a historian of colonial Latin America, disagrees. Lane recognizes Columbus's personal crimes, which included rounding up and selling natives as slaves, and working some Taino to death in gold mines. But he doesn't believe that Columbus was intent on wiping the Indians out, even if that was the result. "Was Columbus an active protector of Native Americans?" wrote Lane in the Washington Post. "No. Did he wish to eliminate them? No. Did genocide directly result from his decrees and his family's commercial aims? Yes." Advertisement 7. Columbus Was a Respected and Beloved Leader It wasn't just American Indians who suffered under Columbus. Even if we include the caveat that he was "a man of his time," it's hard to dismiss the evidence that he was a tyrannical and even cruel leader who often imposed his will on his Spanish subjects through violence and fear tactics. In "Columbus: The Four Voyages," author Lawrence Bergreen published firsthand accounts of Columbus's oppressive methods as the leader of the Spanish settlement on Hispaniola. He was fond of public beatings and whippings, cutting out a woman's tongue for "speaking ill" of Columbus and his brothers, hanging other Spaniards for stealing bread, and ordering vicious lashings for crimes as petty as not properly stocking Columbus's pantry. When King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sent an officer of the Spanish crown to assist Columbus, the man found a colony devolved into rebellion and chaos. When Columbus refused to follow the officer's orders, Columbus was arrested and sent back to Spain in shackles. Now That's Cool The movement to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day started back in 1977 at a United Nations International Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations. At least eight states and 130 cities have now made the switch. Morton County Commissioner Bruce Strinden announced Monday that he will not seek a fourth term in this year's election. Strinden was first elected to the commission in 2008. He said he feels county commissioners should "self-impose" term limits and that after 12 years, it was time to give up his role for someone else. His announcement comes less than a month after Commission Chairman Cody Shulz announced he would not seek a third four-year term on the five-member group. Strinden served on the North Dakota County Commissioners Association board of directors -- a role that involves advocating for county governments during state legislative sessions. He was the group's acting president in 2017 and 2018. He also was elected to the North Dakota Insurance Reserve Funds' board of directors, which he served on for six years. The organization provides insurance for governments. My service to Morton County has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, Strinden said in a statement. I am grateful to the people of Morton County for their faith, support, and strength over these past 11 years. Strinden said he is proud of the "significant upgrades" in "technology, communications, transparency and security" Morton County has approved during his time on the commission, including placing security cameras and a full body scanner in the county building's entrance. The county has faced challenges during his tenure, Strinden said, referring to the 2011 Missouri River flood and the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests. He said the most significant accomplishment of the commission during his time has been its work with Burleigh County to build and operate the Burleigh-Morton Detention Center. This well-designed facility will serve the detention needs of our two counties well into the future, he said. In 2018, Strinden retired from a 30-year career with Newman Signs Inc., a company in Jamestown that manufactures traffic signs, billboards and posters. He and his wife, Lauren, will continue raising horses and operating their ranch west of Mandan. Reach Andy Tsubasa Field at 701-250-8264 or andy.field@bismarcktribune.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. WASHINGTON Sitting in the Oval Office last month, Rep. Jeff Van Drew promised his undying support to President Donald Trump as he announced he was joining the Republican Party. That wasnt the case during Van Drews first 12 months in Congress, when he was a Democrat. Since coming to Washington a little over a year ago, Van Drew has backed Trump on House votes just 12.5 percent of the time, according to Nate Silvers FiveThirtyEight. Even frequent Trump critic Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist., supported the president more often, voting with him 13.4 percent of the time. In the House, Van Drew voted with a majority of Democrats against a majority of Republicans 83 percent of the time, according to Congressional Quarterly, which called him a fairly reliable Democratic vote. No current House Republican has supported Trump less often than Van Drew, according to FiveThirtyEight. He understands I was a Democrat, Van Drew, R-2nd Dist., told NJ Advance Media. And gradual change occurred with me. The president asked if I would think of becoming a Republican, he said. "It made sense to me. I feel liberated. In the past, there have been some Democrats who said, Van Drew is more of a Republican than a Democrat and why doesnt he just become a Republican, so I did. Van Drew made the switch after becoming one of only two House Democrats to vote against both articles of impeachment against the president. In a poll conducted for Van Drews campaign before the vote and obtained by NJ Advance Media, 71 percent of likely Democratic primary voters indicated they would be less likely to support the incumbent if he opposed impeaching Trump. Weve known for decades that hes been a Republican in sheeps clothing, said Brigid Callahan Harrison, a Monmouth University professor who is seeking the Democratic nomination to take on Van Drew this fall. Opposing impeachment, though, was one of the few times he deviated from the Democratic Party line and backed Trump, who won the 2nd Congressional District in 2016 after Democrat Barack Obama carried it in the previous two presidential elections. Van Drew, for example, joined every other House Democrat in July and rebuked Trump for his racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color. The resolution was sponsored by Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-7th Dist., and was brought to the House floor after Trump told four Democratic congresswomen of color, three of them native-born Americans, to go back to where they came from. Elected officials on both sides need to stop with the name calling and hateful statements," Van Drew said a day before the vote. "Instead of focusing on real issues, we have heard all manner of appalling remarks from those who would rather distract from them. It is time to grow up. This behavior is shameful and disgusting. On the eight highest-profile House bills in the 116th Congress, Van Drew voted yes along with almost every other member of the Democratic Caucus. He ignored Trumps veto threats and voted to require that presidents disclose their income tax returns, to restore the full Voting Rights Act, and to mandate that Trump draft plans to meet U.S. obligations under the Paris climate change agreement he withdrew from. He also voted for two other bills over Trumps opposition, legislation to reduce drug prices, and to allow unauthorized immigrants brought as children to remain in the U.S. permanently despite Trump revoking their protection from deportation. Even when it came to expanding background checks for gun purchases, which Trump also threatened to veto, the one-time state lawmaker who once held an A rating from the National Rifle Association joined almost every other member of the House Democratic caucus in voting yes. Van Drew also was at odds with Trump over the need to protect against Russian intervention in 2020, which both Special Counsel Robert Mueller and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray warned Congress about. Trump has questioned the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies and instead has pushed a debunked argument that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in 2016. Testimony from administration officials who accused Trump of holding up congressionally approved aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate those bogus allegations helped lead to Trumps impeachment. Van Drew had co-chaired the national security task force of moderate House Democrats known as the Blue Dogs and called for holding Russia accountable for its actions in 2016 and deterring Moscow from future interference. We need to do everything in our power to assure the American people that the election system is secured and that outside forces will not interfere, he said in June. The founder of a group of ex-Democrats known as the #WalkAway Campaign, Brandon Straka of New York City, said Van Drew is going to have to explain some of those votes. I dont think you can be a Republican and support those positions, said Straka, who met with Van Drew in Washington after the congressman switched parties. The question is, Why did you vote that way? Did you feel some sort of internal pressure from the party and say I dont want that pressure any more? Straka said he and Van Drew both were feeling pushed away by a party that seemed to be charging more and more left. Van Drews earlier votes could lead to some uncomfortable moments when Van Drew chats with Trump aboard Air Force One on the way to Wildwood on Tuesday, said Ben Dworkin, director of Rowan Universitys Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship. Sure its awkward, but party switching can make strange bedfellows, Dworkin said. Then again, Dworkin said, Van Drews decision gave the president and the Republicans a nice victory. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Karl Stefanovic has slammed the newly released lamb ad as 'the worst he's ever seen'. The Today Show host made the comment on Tuesday morning after watching the annual Meat and Livestock Australia summer campaign. The television ad, which runs for two minutes, calls for tech-obsessed Aussies to ditch their screens and reconnect with others while devouring some lamb. The advertisement follows scientists at 'Lambalytica' as they force mobile phone users to pay attention to each other by hacking their devices Tech-obsessed Aussies are forced to ditch their devices and made to head to a barbecue, where they eat lamb 'That is the worst lamb ad I have ever seen,' Stefanovic said. Co-host Allison Langdon agreed she wasn't sure about the commercial. 'Theyre normally really clever,' she said. Stefanovic also pointed out how the iconic advertisements typically drop a few days ahead of Australia Day, but this year it was released on January 27 instead. 'They completely missed that. They spent too long filming it.' 'We still love lamb, we just hate that ad,' he said. The advertisement follows scientists at 'Lambalytica' as they force mobile phone users to pay attention to each other by hacking their devices. MLA domestic market manager Graeme Yardy said they wanted to use the power of lamb to disrupt social media, peel people away from their screens and get them together over a tasty lamb meal. He told the ABC they had wanted to shift away from it being an 'Australia Day thing' and more of a summer campaign instead. Karl Stefanovic was less than impressed, he even called it the worst ad he's ever seen 'It's a great time to consume lamb right through the summer, not just one day or one weekend.' Many thought the ad was delayed due to the ongoing debate over the Australia Day date. However, Mr Yardy said they weren't wanting to take part in the debate. 'We've always tried to find something that's proactive. This year it's not about that. We wanted to find something that's topical, that'' not the debate we're interested in this year.' Previously the ads have had a more political focus, addressing contentious issues like same-sex marriage, global warming and the war on terror. As Gary (pictured) discusses all that is wrong with the nation, a man in the background removes a painting of Malcolm Turnbull before removing a Scott Morrison painting The latest lamb commercial has sparked controversy after it called for the date of Australia Day to be changed and claimed New Zealand is a better place to live Last year it followed several politicians as they tried to unite Australia with New Zealand over a lamb meal after claiming the land Down Under has 'lost the plot'. 'We used to be the greatest country on earth, but we've lost the plot, one of the government officials, named Gary, laments at the start of the video. 'Cheating at sport, we can't even hang on to a prime minister.' As the officials discuss all that is wrong with the nation, a man in the background removes a portrait of Malcolm Turnbull before replacing it with a painting of Scott for a mere seconds. The politicians then claim the best way to make the country great again is to unite Australia with New Zealand over a lamb meal. After the politicans debate whether or not the government can afford to include a Hemsworth brother in the deal, the ad cuts to an inflatable barbecue in the ocean 'Genius, we create one nation!' Gary responds, to which one of his fellow politicians replies: 'We'll workshop another name'. After the politicians debate whether or not the government can afford to include a Hemsworth brother in the deal, the ad cuts to an inflatable barbecue in the ocean. Gary and his fellow official meet with two stereotypical New Zealanders - complete with exaggerated Kiwi accents - who happen to be floating by on inflatable chairs. The officials tell the two men the smell of the lamb is a representation of the two countries' 'unity'. Gary and his fellow official meet with two stereotypical New Zealanders (pictured) - complete with exaggerated Kiwi accents - who happen to be floating by on inflatable chairs 'As we all know Australia is the greatest country on Earth but frankly right now New Zealand is doing Australia better than Australia,' Garry's sidekick says. Garry then suggests the two countries should amalgamate under the new name 'New Australia', to which one of the Kiwis replies: 'the name doesn't go down well'. Garry's colleague is quick to interject and offer the suggestion of 'New Australialand'. To sweeten the deal, the officials propose a new Australia Day date that 'we can all agree on', which receives a round of applause from some Australians. Garry's colleague then suggests sharing New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Adern, to which a nearby Australian replies: 'tell her to come and join the party.' Assam government will allocate Rs 1500 crore in the forthcoming budget session to buy back 13 per cent shares in the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday. The state government had a share of 26 per cent in the NRL when it was established, but it later sold off more than 13 per cent of its share to Bharat Petroleum Company Limited (BPCL), the majority stakeholder, Sarma said. There were plans to sell off central PSU BPCL's stakes in NRL to private parties but the state government urged the Centre to keep the firm in the public sector and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to the proposal, he said. The Union Cabinet in November last year has decided to sell its 53.29 per cent stake in the BPCL after taking out the NRL from its portfolio. "Due to mysterious reasons, the then Congress government sold off more than 13 per cent of its share to the BPCL and kept its stake at 12.3 per cent," he said. He said each NRL share is currently valued at Rs 140 and the state will have to spend Rs 1500 crore to buy back the shares which will be a huge burden on the state exchequer. "But we will raise it somehow to restore the state government's initial stake of 26 per cent. The Centre is considering the matter sympathetically and the process is on with the state finance department to introduce the matter for allocation of funds in the next budget session," Sarma said. The minister, however, said if any other state-owned oil company, barring the Oil India Limited (OIL), was willing to buy the shares, the state government is ready to keep its stake at 12.3 per cent. "We have put forth these two proposals -- of buying back the shares (by the Assam government) and purchase of shares by a state-owned oil firm -- before the Centre. Discussions are currently on. But we want the people of Assam to be aware of the prevailing situation regarding NRL," Sarma said. The minister said if the then state government had not sold its share in the NRL, then valued at Rs 300 crore, "We would have had a decisive say in the growth and future of the company". Besides, if the state government had a share of 26 per cent, the annual dividend received from the NRL would have been much higher, Sarma added. The NRL is a joint venture PSU comprising the BPCL (61.65 per cent), OIL (26 per cent) and the Assam government (12.35 per cent). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India has initiated a probe into an alleged dumping of a chemical used in dyes and pharma industries from China following a complaint from a domestic player. Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd has filed an application before the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) for anti-dumping investigation on imports of Aniline originating in or exported from China. According to a notification of the DGTR, it has found evidence of dumping of the chemical from China. "The authority, hereby, initiates an investigation to determine the existence, degree and effect of any alleged dumping in respect of the product under consideration," it has said. If established that dumping has caused material injury to domestic players, the directorate would recommend imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of the chemical from the neighbouring country. Aniline is also known as Aniline Oil. It is an essential for vital industries such as drugs, pharmaceuticals, dyes and dye intermediates. Imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime. The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a- vis foreign producers and exporters. B ritons stranded in the Chinese region at the centre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak were today put on standby to be airlifted home. They were told to contact the British authorities by 11am tomorrow (local time) to get on an evacuation list. The airlift could happen quickly and with short notice, the British Embassy in Beijing stated. A flight is expected towards the end of the week, although the details were still being finalised. Evacuees in Hubei province are likely to undergo a health check before they board a chartered plane for Britain, in an attempt stop them bringing the killer infection to the UK. After arriving, they are expected to be quarantined for 14 days, the incubation period of the coronavirus. As the crisis escalated, the British Embassy in Beijing said: Due to the increasing travel restrictions and difficulty accessing medical assistance we are working to make an option available for British nationals to leave Hubei province. This may happen quickly and with short notice. People wearing masks at the Incheon International Airport / Getty Images At least 106 people are believed to have died from the virus, all in China, with the number of confirmed cases in the country currently 4,515. The numbers are rising sharply from the 81 dead and 2,835 with the virus reported yesterday. A further 37 cases have been reported in 11 countries outside China, including five in the US and five in Thailand, the World Health Organisation said. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told BBC Breakfast today: We will get people home as and when as need be. He added: In terms of safety, that has to come first. Measures will be taken to ensure that people are quarantined for a period of time. He urged some 250 to 300 Britons in Hubei province to contact the consulate in Wuhan, the city where the viral outbreak began, so they could be repatriated if they wished to be. Some stranded Britons have accused the Government of acting too slowly and failing to provide enough information. Children wearing face masks cross a road during a Lunar New Year of the Rat public holiday in Hong Kong / AFP via Getty Images Japan was sending a plane from Tokyo today to bring home some of the 650 nationals who said they wanted to leave. The first plane to repatriate French nationals from Wuhan will likely bring them back to Paris on Thursday, said junior transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari. There will be a first repatriation flight that will leave Paris tomorrow and most likely come back Thursday with people ... who have no symptoms, he told French television channel CNews. These people will be put under quarantine. And then there will be a second flight, at a yet undefined date, with people showing symptoms, thus possible virus carriers, who will be cared for in Paris, he added. US diplomats were expected to leave the consulate in Wuhan, along with some other US citizens, possibly as early as today. South Korea said it planned to send chartered planes to Wuhan on Thursday and Friday to bring home some 700 of its nationals. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has ordered Public Health England to trace 1,460 people who arrived from Wuhan in the last fortnight / PA Germany today confirmed its first case of the virus, a man from Starnberg, south of Munich, who was in a clinically good condition. German car parts supplier Webasto later said a second employee had become infected following the visit of another employee, from China, to the companys HQ in Stockdorf, Bavaria. In the UK, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has ordered Public Health England to trace 1,460 people who arrived from Wuhan in the last fortnight and told those who had returned to self-isolate to prevent spreading the virus. So far 70 people have been tested here for the virus and all have been negative. Professor Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia, said repatriating UK citizens from Wuhan would carry a small increased risk of importing the infection into the UK. LM55P4 Razor-Narrow Bezel LCD Monitor "In mission-critical situations, whether thats monitoring the flow of street or aviation traffic or operating intricate surveillance security details in command posts and law enforcement operations centers, the LM55P4 can be configured to match your needs. Josue Murillo, Product Manager Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. Visual and Imaging Systems Division announced today that it is now shipping the LM55P4 razor narrow bezel LCD monitors designed for utility, security, and other mission-critical control room applications. The divisions team will also demo the LM55P4s capabilities at Distributech in San Antonio, TX, Jan. 28-30, 2020, and will live-Tweet during the event using the official Distributech hashtag #DTech2020. These razor-narrow bezel LCDs are specifically engineered for 24/7 operation to address the needs of demanding mission-critical environments showing dynamic content with great image quality and unparalleled lifetime performance, said Josue Murillo, Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. Visual & Imaging Systems Division Product Manager. The razor narrow bezel LM55P4 monitors are rugged LCD panels for heavy use in commercial applications. Users can build individual or tiled video wall configurations and create large displays for large visualization applications. The LM55P4 55 displays have an operational lifespan of up to 100,000 hours, delivering Full HD resolution and 700 cd/m2 of brightness. With a razor-narrow bezel as thin as 0.44 millimeters, the image-to-image gap between the monitors is virtually seamless when placed in an array. These monitors also offer flexible and easy mounting installations in landscape or portrait mode. The LM55P4 monitors are as versatile as the demanding content you create or display, Murillo said. In mission-critical situations, whether thats monitoring the flow of street or aviation traffic or operating intricate surveillance security details in command posts and law enforcement operations centers, the LM55P4 can be configured to match your needs. The LM55P4 razor-narrow bezel is designed for control rooms requiring a cost-effective visualization solution that delivers high quality, 24/7 performance with high reliability, and low cost of ownership. The LM55P4 is the perfect solution for video wall systems where high-resolution images need to be viewed across an entire video wall display. Its reverse scan feature reverses the direction of the image to play enlarged videos smoothly within multiple displays such as surveillance, process, or traffic monitoring operations. A built-in Display Port 1.2a input terminal allows individual displays to be daisy-chained via a standard Display Port cable to create displays of up to 5 x 5 configuration with no external processing required. Additional versatility is offered by a built-in OPS slot and optional VC-LM1HD card; this supports HDCP long-distance transmission of up to 100m when using the CAT5e cable. The new LM55P4 video wall system joins an impressive line-up of control room display solutions, which includes a wide selection of high-end rear projection DLP cubes, direct view LED, UHD large-format LCD monitors, and both hardware and software-based screen controllers. The LM55P3, extreme narrow bezel models will continue to be available in parallel with the new LM55P4, offering value-based entry models for projects with more restricted budgets. *The content is true and accurate as of the time of publication. *Information related to products and services included in this article may differ by country or region. About Mitsubishi Electric US Holdings, Inc. Mitsubishi Electric US Holdings, Inc. principal businesses include factory automation equipment, semiconductor devices, automotive electrical components, elevators and escalators, heating and cooling products, electric utility products, water treatment systems, rail transportation equipment, data walls, printers and large-scale video displays for stadiums and arenas. Mitsubishi Electric group companies have 38 locations throughout the United States, with approximately 4,000 employees. Media Contact: Josue Murillo/Product Manager Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. Visual & Imaging Systems Division Office: 714-252-7826 Email: josue.murillo@meus.mea.com The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to start enforcing its ban on legal status and work permits for noncitizens who accept public benefits, such as food stamps and Medicaid, while legal challenges continue from immigrant advocates and states including California. The justices voted 5-4 to suspend an order by a federal judge in New York blocking the policy change, which had been scheduled to take effect in October. The judge, George Daniels, called the ban repugnant to the American Dream and a distortion of U.S. immigration laws that date back to 1882. But Justice Department lawyers told the Supreme Court that the new policy was consistent with Congresss direction that the availability of public benefits should not be an incentive for immigration to the United States. The courts conservative majority Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh did not spell out their reasons for letting the rule take effect. But Gorsuch, joined by Thomas, issued an opinion saying the court should curb the authority of individual judges like Daniels to thwart government policies with nationwide injunctions. Such orders provide a nearly boundless opportunity to shop for a friendly forum and promote gamesmanship and chaos, Gorsuch wrote. President Trumps Justice Department sounded the same theme. In a statement, the department applauded the courts decision to stay another nationwide injunction that prevented the administration from implementing an important immigration policy. Such nationwide orders by a single judge must be curbed, the department said. The courts liberal justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, dissented. The order allows the ban to take effect in every state except Illinois, where a federal judge has issued a statewide injunction. The administrations policy reinterpreted a 19th-century federal law denying legal residency and green cards to immigrants if they were a public charge or likely to become one. Previous administrations defined the term to cover a relatively small number of immigrants who drew a certain portion of their income from government sources, such as welfare or Social Security, or who received long-term care at government expense. The new policy adds anyone who has received non-cash benefits, such as food stamps, Medicaid or a low-income housing voucher, for at least a year. In addition, federal officials could consider a variety of negative factors low income, old age, a large family, the inability to speak English or the acceptance of benefits for any period to classify immigrants as public charges. Out of 544,000 legal immigrants who apply for green cards each year, the administration says 382,000 would be covered by the new rule and would have to submit forms showing their ability to support themselves. The policy also allows immigration officials to prevent noncitizens from entering the United States on visas issued to students, employees or tourists if they decided the newcomers were likely to use public benefits. Several federal judges had blocked the ban from taking effect, including U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton of Oakland. In an injunction in October covering California, three other states and the District of Columbia, Hamilton said the use of public benefits improves public health and welfare and noted that congressional Republicans had proposed to add an identical restriction to a 1996 immigration bill, but dropped it when President Bill Clinton threatened a veto. But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted Hamiltons injunction in a 2-1 ruling Dec. 5 and said the administrations reasonable definition of public charge should not be subject to judicial second-guessing. A federal appeals court in New York allowed Daniels nationwide injunction to remain in effect until the Supreme Court revoked it Monday. Gov. Gavin Newsom said California will continue to fight against these efforts to terrorize immigrant families. Since the announcement of the proposed rule, he said in a statement, families are already going hungry and people are avoiding needed medical care. And Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, whose parents were immigrants, said the Supreme Court has made clear that the United States no longer accepts your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko We encourage all of our team members to contribute to the greater good and take time to assist the less fortunate. Hes doing an excellent job of exemplifying our commitment to giving back. Jesse Miller, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Stratosphere Networks, is participating in a mission trip to Ecuador organized by Hosanna Church of Minnesota and Contigo International. Miller will be part of an all-mens team that will build a home for a family in an area of Quito called Pisuli. The trip will take place from Feb. 22 to March 1, 2020. This is Millers second time traveling to Quito: He also went on a mission trip last year to help the community in Pisuli, a neighborhood marked by poverty, violence and overall harsh living conditions. Many parents in this area lack the means to support their children and, as a result, end up abandoning them to the state-run orphanage system. Due to the lack of a foster care system in Quito, children whose families cannot support them must either live in an institution or on the streets. One of the goals of this years mission trip is to help a family stay together and keep their kids safe through the construction of a house. Miller and the other participants will also visit some of the institutions in the area and spend time with the children who live there. Upon returning from last years trip, I almost immediately knew I would be going back, Miller said. Theres so much to be done, and although I know my personal contributions of time and money only make a small difference in the grand scheme of things, its still making a change for the better. If we can all make a little bit of change, and sacrifice some of our comforts whether thats time, money, or possessions to help those in need, those little changes begin to add up, and I truly believe we will see our world transformed before our eyes. Miller has been personally tasked with raising $3,100 to fund the mission trip. Stratosphere has already donated to support the cause. To contribute, please visit https://hosanna.managedmissions.com/MyTrip/jessemiller1. Were extremely proud of Jesse for traveling to Ecuador again this year to help children in need, said Kevin Rubin, president and CIO of Stratosphere Networks. We encourage all of our team members to contribute to the greater good and take time to assist the less fortunate. Hes doing an excellent job of exemplifying our commitment to giving back. Stratosphere Networks provides comprehensive managed services (including Chicago IT support) and trusted advisor services to businesses of all sizes and across all industries. The company offers managed IT services, managed cybersecurity solutions, advisory and consulting services and more. About Stratosphere Networks Stratosphere Networks is a Chicago-based multifaceted IT managed service provider focused on delivering comprehensive technology services and solutions to meet and exceed always-changing, diverse business needs. Since 2003, Stratosphere Networks has grown exponentially and continues to provide best-in-class and cost-effective solutions to businesses in all industries. Visit http://www.stratospherenetworks.com for more information. For more information contact: Lori Leonardo 847-440-8608 LoriL@stratospherenetworks.com EC issues notice to minister for goli maaro remark. Protesters raise slogans during a demonstration against the amended Citizenship Act and National Register of Citizens at Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: As the BJP decided to make anti-CAA protests in Delhis Shaheen Bagh its main plank for the Assembly polls in the national capital, incendiary and hate speeches seemed to be growing with furious intensity. On Tuesday, BJP MP Parvesh Verma came up with a fresh hate rant. Lakhs of people gather there (Shaheen Bagh). People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. Raising the alarm, Mr Verma launched into a bitter verbal attack against the minorities, and he said: They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them... There is time today, Modiji and Amit Shah wont come to save you tomorrow. On Monday, anti-minority slogans like goli maaro saalo ko (sic) were raised by the public at a rally addressed by Union minister Anurag Thakur in support of the BJP candidate from Rithala, Manish Chaudhary. The Election Commission issued a showcause notice to Mr Thakur on Tuesday after Delhis chief electoral officer submitted a report to the EC on the provocative language used by the minister while canvassing for his party candidate in Rithala. He has been given time till 12 noon on Thursday, January 30, to respond to the notice. The Delhi CEO also submitted its report in connection with Mr Vermas comments against the Shaheen Bagh protesters and his tweet on religious places. Mr Verma, who is the partys MP from West Delhi, said what happened in Kashmir with Kashmiri Pandits could happen in the national capital too, warning that lakhs of anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh could enter homes to kill and rape women. What happened in Kashmir with Kashmiri Pandits could happen in Delhi also. Lakhs of people gather at Shaheen Bagh, they could enter houses, rape and kill your sisters and daughters. The people need to decide now, Mr Verma said. Mr Verma said the people of the country felt safe because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but he might not be able to save them if a situation like this arises. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia have supported Shaheen Bagh protesters and now it is time for the people of the national capital to decide who they want to vote for in the February 8 Assembly polls, Mr Verma added. Speaking at an election meeting in Janakpuri, in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday, Mr Verma had said that if the BJP formed a government in Delhi, the Shaheen Bagh protest site would be vacated on the night of February 11 itself. At the same meeting, Mr Verma further said there were 40 mosques, graveyards and mazars illegally constructed on government land in his West Delhi constituency, and if the BJP won the elections, the land would be vacated within a month. At a public rally in Rithala, Mr Thakur shouted desh ke gaddaron ko, to which the crowd responded goli maaro saalo ko (sic) (shoot down the traitors). Mr Thakur raised the pitch of nationalism as he linked the Opposition parties with the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh and with alleged anti-India slogans, and then asked the crowd to raise the controversial slogan. Mr Thakur was also heard telling the crowd to raise the slogan in such a high pitch that Giriraj Singh, a firebrand Hindutva leader and a Union minister, could hear it. The BJPs Rithala candidate is seen as a protege of Mr Singh. Last week, in a series of tweets, BJP Model Town candidate Kapil Mishra termed the coming Assembly polls as a contest between India and Pakistan. India vs Pakistan 8th February Delhi. There will a contest on Delhi Roads between India and Pakistan on February 8, Mr Mishra tweeted. The Election Commission imposed a 48-hour campaigning ban on Mr Mishra following his controversial tweets from Saturday evening. Union minister and BJPs Delhi poll in-charge Prakash Javdekar had said voters in the national capital need to decide on whether they want Jinnah wali Azadi or Bharat Mata ki jai. On Monday, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that Shaheen Bagh protest was emerging as a textbook case of a few hundred people trying to suppress the silent majority in Delhi. Mr Prasad said that elements trying to fragment India were getting cover at the Shaheen Bagh protest where the national flag was being waved. It is offering a platform to Tukde Tukde gang elements under the garb of opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act. This protest is not just a protest against the CAA, it is a protest against Modi, he added. RICHFIELD SPRINGS, N.Y. Otsego County Sheriff Richard Devlin says most of the evidence has been gathered in the investigation into a December crash involving a state fire vehicle. On Dec. 20, 2019, the seven-vehicle accident injured 10 people on State Route 20. Authorities have been investigating the cause of the crash since then. On Tuesday, Devlin said the sheriffs office is now waiting to meet with the district attorney, state police and accident reconstructionists before a final determination can be made. It will likely take at least another week for all of the groups to meet, according to Devlin. Purely from the perspective of UK plc, Boris Johnson has, for once, made the right decision by allowing Huawei to continue to supply parts to Britains 5G mobile network. The controversial company is already here in 4G, and the networks want that to remain so it can build on top of what already exists. Cutting it out would have proven ruinously expensive and time consuming, delaying the techs arrival by potentially two or three years. In the public mind 5G means faster browsing for a fee. But the applications go much further than that and the delay caused by Huaweis departure could have caused the UK serious economic harm. Its hard to imagine a worse time for that given the walls the government is bent upon throwing up between this country and its biggest trading partner, the EU, with all the economic disruption that will follow. Theres a sop to the Huaweis opponents, who worry about the influence the Chinese state has over the company (it denies any). Huawei has been branded a high risk vendor. Already out of the sensitive network cores, there are new restrictions being placed on what it can do in the periphery, with the masts and suchlike. A limit of 35 per cent has been placed on how much it can supply to each network. Huawei will also be excluded from areas near military bases and nuclear sites. You can probably file those under public relations. The limit? OK, but Huawei is still in. The ban near bases, sure, but again, Huawei is still in. The US has been making a fuss because it fears the lines between the 5G periphery, where the company is allowed to operate, and the cores will, as this potentially revolutionary technology develops, blur. The restrictions wouldnt appear to do much to address those concerns, motivated as they are by politics and America's rivalry with China. Ditto Johnsons Tory critics. The thing is, the UKs intelligence community has said that while there are risks, they can be managed. Network operators will tell you much the same thing. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. Johnson appears to have listened to them, and taken into account the economic imperative in making this decision too. This could, dare I say, be an example of something that a Conservative Party, hollowed out and re-shaped in his image, had apparently abandoned: pragmatic, evidence based policymaking. A little more of that, and Britain mightn't be headed for the fall Johnsons critics fear, with good reason, that hes setting the nation up for. But Im not holding my breath, particularly as he may now feel the need to throw a few more bones to his some of his more lumpen critics. System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048303a580)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04830a9ea8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048303a580)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04830a9ea8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f04830a5930)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04830a9ea8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04830a9ea8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482272888)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0482bf2d78)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0482bf2d78)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 The University of Regina has put restrictions on travel to China as post-secondary institutions in the province continue to monitor the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. The outbreak, believed to have started in the city of Wuhan, has resulted in at least 106 deaths in China, mostly in Hubei province. On Monday, Global Affairs Canada issued an alert calling for Canadians to avoid all travel to Hubei province due to transportation restrictions Chinese officials have put in place to try and stop the outbreak's spread. In Canada, one case of the virus has been confirmed in Ontario and another 19 people in the province are under investigation for possible infection. In Saskatchewan, both the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan are watching the outbreak closely. "As part of our regular emergency preparedness, the university already has an emergency management plan with protocols and procedures in place in the event that we need them," said a statement from Gord Hunchak, chief communications officer with the U of S. The University also noted in the statement that Student Health and Wellness, alongside the International Student and Study Abroad Centre, are following guidelines from the World Health Organization and Health Canada. China News Service photo via Reuters "There are no known cases of coronavirus linked to the University of Saskatchewan," the statement said. At the University of Regina, the school has cancelled all centrally-organized and funded travel to China scheduled over the next three months, according to a statement sent to CBC. Also, any travel to China by faculty, researchers and students funded or sponsored by the university will require approval from the dean effective immediately. This includes travel that had previously been approved, but has not taken place. A bulletin, which includes information about symptoms, risk and follow-up actions has been prepared and will be distributed to anyone coming to the University of Regina from China. Story continues "The U of R is continuing to monitor the situation in consultation with the appropriate health authorities and will provide the campus with any updates as required," said the university in the statement. In a statement, Saskatchewan's Ministry of Health said people returning from China can go to work or school if they are showing no symptoms, like fever or cough. The statement explained if they are entering Canada specifically from Hubei province or Wuhan and have questions or concerns, a public health official can go over their symptoms. Those individuals can get in touch with local public health by or a medical health officer on call after hours by calling Healthline at 811. The Ministry of Health says there are currently no suspected or confirmed cases of novel coronavirus reported in Saskatchewan. The US is reportedly planning to increase staff at nearly two dozen airports across the country, with the intent to screen close to every passenger travelling from China for the coronavirus that has caused concern around the globe. The decision by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention will mean that 20 US airports with quarantine facilities will have increased staffing from that agency, and comes after five people have been identified as carrying the virus. Meanwhile, the agency says it is monitoring or testing at least 105 people for the virus. The virus has been found in Canada, France, Australia and Japan, after the outbreak was discovered in Wuhan, China. So far, no cases have been reported in the United Kingdom, even as officials have held high level meetings and tested nearly 100 people for the disease. The death toll has soared to at least 106, with the number of infections nearly doubling in a day from Monday to Tuesday, when officials said there were more than 4,500 cases. Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Show all 154 1 /154 Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Paramedics wearing personal protective equipment carry patient on a stretcher on to an ambulance in North Point district in Hong Kong, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker wearing protective gear takes a rest as he waits for ambulances carrying patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at an entrance of a hospital in Daegu, South Korea YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker sprays disinfectant on an ambulance after carrying a patient infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Daegu YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective face masks shop at a supermarket in Casalpusterlengo, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A trolley bus is disinfected amid fears over the spread of the novel coronavirus in Pyongyang, North Korea REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus in a local market in Daegu, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective facemask walks outside a nearly empty shopping mall at lunch time in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing protective facemask and gloves puts a drawing made by a girl living in the area asking residents to wear protective gear, next to a quarantine notice for people who have travelled and a notice asking people to register outside a residential compound in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman is taken into an ambulance amid a coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulances and health workers are seen outside the Padua's hospital, northern Italy EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers in coaches leave MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire after being repatriated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus in Yokohama, Japan and head to Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People rest in a temporary hospital situated in the Tazihu Gymnasium in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buddhist monks wearing protective face masks pray during a blessing ceremony for the people affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient infecting with a new coronavirus to a hospital in Chuncheon, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Soldiers in hazmat suits sanitize cargo from a China Airlines plane at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, Taiwan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Barricades are seen to block the entrance a the gate of a local mall in a nearly empty area in Beijing, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor wearing a protective facemask waits for customers at a shop in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The body temperature of an Iraqi child returning from Iran is measured upon her arrival at the Najaf International Airport AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers hand out free facemasks at a shopping district in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient suspected of contracting the new coronavirus toward an ambulance at Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker disinfects a shop at a market in Shanghai AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A restaurant worker wearing protective clothing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus passing a bag of food to a customer on the street outside their restaurant in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for "urgent operational health and safety reasons", following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas', have both been designated as "isolation" facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan Xinhua News Agency/AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China's easter Shandong province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li's hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China's Wuhan province Vsluh.ru via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman's home in Qingdao EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan Malaysia's Ministry of Health/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine Italian Defence Ministry/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A young child wears a protective mask and is covered in plastic while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK Tom Maddick / SWNS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS Chinatopix via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An Indonesian health officer points at the screen of a thermal scanner for passengers China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China's central Jiangxi province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan STR/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting Yingtan North Railway Station, China China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, uses an electronic thermometer to check the temperature of passengers arriving by plane from Wuhan The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China's northern Hebei province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff and security personnel stop patients' family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A notice for passengers from Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market Getty The outbreak has led the US to warn passengers against travelling to China, and the Chinese government to effectively put Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province on lockdown. The disease is believed to have begun at a market in Wuhan, where animals are regularly kept and slaughtered. The virus causes severe and acute respiratory infections, and there is not yet a cure or vaccine. Chinese state media has said that a total of 60 people have been discharged from the hospital after recovery from the virus. The outbreak has led to strict measures by Chinese officials, including the suspension of certain rail lines in the country. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. When the leading Democratic presidential candidates marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day by linking arms and marching through South Carolinas capital, Michael Bloomberg was nowhere near the early primary state. The former New York mayor was instead in Arkansas, tossing out candy at a King Day parade and enjoying his status as the only presidential hopeful in town. Mike Boomerang? a woman asked, as the billionaire businessman walked by. Mike Bloomberg, a supporter clarified. Hes running for president. Bloomberg is running, but hes on his own track, essentially creating a parallel race to the nomination with no precedent. While his competitors are hunkered down in the four states with the earliest primaries, Bloomberg is almost everywhere else a Minnesota farm, a Utah co-working space, an office opening in Maine. Hes staked his hopes on states like Texas, California and Arkansas that vote on March 3, aiming to disrupt the Democratic primary right around the time its typically settling on a front-runner. Or, should Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, be that front-runner, Bloomberg could be a backstop to Democrats still looking for a moderate choice. Skipping the early voting states and banking on success in later delegate-rich contests has never been done successfully. But no candidate has ever brought the financial firepower that Bloomberg can he is worth an estimated $60 billion and has already spent more than $200 million building a campaign in more than two dozen states, taking him well past Super Tuesday. Every other campaign thinks about this as a sequential set of contests. They spend time in Iowa and New Hampshire hoping that theyll (get a) momentum bounce from one to the next, said Dan Kanninen, Bloombergs states director. Were thinking about this as a national conversation. Theres little public polling available to measure Bloombergs progress. National polls show his support in the mid-single to low-double digits, similar to that of former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. But interviews with voters and party officials across the Super Tuesday states show Bloomberg is still just starting to make an impression. While officials marveled at the inescapable ambition of Bloombergs advertising, many voters still do not know who he is, or know only what theyve seen on television. Others noted they were interested but were still waiting to see who emerged as a clear leader in earlier contests. Ive been trying to read up on him to figure out if hes going to be my key player, said Cassandra Barbee, a hotel worker who watched Bloomberg in the Arkansas parade. She said his ads about helping people access health care appeal to her. Bloomberg isnt the sole candidate campaigning beyond the first four states. Elizabeth Warrens campaign said it has more than 1,000 staffers, the same number Bloomberg has been touting, across 31 states. All the major campaigns have operations in California, the biggest delegate prize, and several are up and running in states like Texas and North Carolina. But no candidates reach matches Bloombergs. He had spent more than $225 million on television and digital advertisements as of mid-January, according to the tracking firm Advertising Analytics, and hes run television ads in at least 27 states. Thats 10 times what each of the other leading candidates has spent, according to the firms tracking. Bloomberg has already campaigned in every Super Tuesday state, in addition to states like Florida, Michigan, and Ohio, which vote later but are major general election battleground states where Bloomberg thinks his message will resonate. Meanwhile, his campaign pushes out a steady stream of endorsements, policy plans and ads that keep him in the headlines as Iowas caucuses near. Hes definitely piquing my interest, said Erica Moore, a guidance counselor at Little Rock schools. Moore said shes aware of Bloomberg because his ads air constantly but said she wasnt sure whether shed vote for him. How exactly Bloomberg plans to win enough delegates to capture the nomination is unclear. The campaign acknowledges public polls show he hasnt hit the 15% threshold he will need to win delegates, which are awarded proportionally statewide and by congressional district. Kanninen would not set hard targets for what success looks like on Super Tuesday, when a third of all delegates are awarded. Bloomberg needs to win some delegates, Kanninen said, but regardless of performance, were prepared to move on and compete vigorously. But winning a share of delegates isnt enough, said Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who argued that Bloomberg needs to win several Super Tuesday states to be credible. And Bloombergs anti-Trump advertising may not move voters his way in the primary, Carrick said. I think that people are going to separate out whether they want him to have a robust effort in the general election taking on Trump versus him being the candidate, he said. The best boost to Bloombergs chances may be what happens in the weeks leading up to Super Tuesday. As national and early state polls show Sanders in a strong position, Bloomberg could emerge as a moderate alternative should former Vice President Joe Biden or other candidates look weak. While Bloomberg has said he would support Sanders if he were the nominee, the two differ sharply on policy. Winning the primary isnt Bloombergs only aim. He hopes his ads and organizing soften the ground for whomever Democrats pick to challenge Trump and help Democrats in down-ticket races. Bloomberg has committed to continue to spend millions keeping offices and organizers in battleground states regardless of whether he is the nominee. One of those states is North Carolina, where the campaign announced this week it had more than 100 paid employees. Thats a staffing benchmark more typical for a general election campaign. Hardly a local newscast or game show passes by in a major TV market that a Bloomberg commercial isnt airing. Hes really giving North Carolina Democrats the chance to fight in the general election by running ads now, said Justin Vollmer, a top Bloomberg adviser in the state. Those ads tout his record on issues like health care and gun control and attack Trump, branding him a dangerous demagogue and calling for his removal from office. Mike will get it done is the former mayors slogan. A former Republican and a businessman, Bloomberg believes hell appeal to moderates and conservatives frustrated with the president. But he has clear competition on that argument from both Biden and Buttigieg. Judy Eason McIntyre, 74, who attended a Bloomberg speech last week in Tulsa, Oklahoma, thinks he would match up well against Trump, but thats not enough to win her vote. Im one of those older black folks thats going to stick with Biden, said McIntyre, a former state senator and longtime Democratic Party activist. But out of the candidates I see, being practical, he and Michael Bloomberg are the ones who could beat Trump, and thats what Im after. Bloombergs campaign says its not focused on comparison with other Democrats. Were not really running against the field were running against Donald Trump, Kanninen said. Bloomberg recently brought his anti-Trump message to Utah, where Democratic presidential primary ads are relatively unheard of, said Jeff Merchant, chair of the Utah Democratic Party. Speaking in Salt Lake City last week, Bloomberg appealed to left-leaning voters who feel overlooked in a state that hasnt supported a Democrat for president since 1964. We shouldnt be writing off any state no matter how red people think it is, Bloomberg said while speaking at a modern co-working space. In some Super Tuesday states, Bloomberg is coming with a history that wont necessarily help him court moderates and disaffected Republicans. In Virginia, which offers the third-most Super Tuesday delegates, he helped Democrats win full control of the state legislature for the first time in a generation last year through spending by his gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety. Democrats are now set to pass a slate of gun control measures, prompting the National Rifle Association to put Bloombergs face on a billboard. Such notoriety could serve to bolster his credentials with Democrats but turn off voters in gun-friendly southern states. Perhaps the biggest question of Bloombergs candidacy is whether an ad blitz is enough to win over primary voters. In California, Republican businesswoman Meg Whitman lost statewide in 2010 after spending nearly $100 million, losing to the better-known Democrat Jerry Brown. And in Texas, it wasnt a barrage of TV ads that laid the groundwork for Democrat Beto ORourke to nearly win a Senate seat in 2018. It was his up-close-and-personal campaign that took him to every single county that captured voters attention. A couple of former Texas officials former Houston Mayor Bill White and former El Paso Mayor John Cook endorsed Bloomberg after he finished a five-city bus tour through the state earlier this month, according to The Blast, a newsletter from The Texas Tribune. Garry Mauro, who was the Texas chairman for both Clintons presidential campaigns, sees Bloombergs strategy as sensible. Mauro, who supports Biden, says no candidate but Bloomberg has the money to saturate Texas many television markets, and theres no guarantee that a clear front-runner will emerge before Super Tuesday. Hes betting on nobodys getting the momentum, and he can get his own momentum on TV, he said. Thats a totally different approach than what weve ever seen before. ___ Ronayne reported from Sacramento, California. Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City; Alan Suderman in Richmond, Va.; Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, N.C.; Nicholas Riccardi in Denver; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; Sean Murphy in Tulsa, Okla.; and Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report. ___ Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game. The Forestry Commission laments unseen powerful figures are behind the resurgence of illegal mining in some forest reserves in the country. One of such affected forest is the Bekwai Forest Reserve in the Amansie Central District in the Ashanti Region, where illegal miners have destroyed about 7 hectares of land. The Bekwai District Manager of the Forestry Commission, Rexford Twum-Damoah, told journalists that the situation is getting out of hand as the illegal miners sometimes enjoy military protection. He said the illegal miners often refer to the powerful people as their bosses hence carry out the destructive activity with impunity. They [the illegal miners] will always tell you our bosses, our bosses. You will go there and meet the boys [in the forest]. We came here with all forces and they also had military protection. The actual entry started around 2nd January 2020, he said. Many forests across the country have been under threat of the activities of illegal miners who destroy tree cover and pollute water bodies in their quest to mine gold. Citi News Jonas Nyabor in a report on how illegal mining is wiping out Ghana's forests in 2019 found that several hectares of fertile forestlands across the country have been destroyed due to the activities of illegal miners, especially within the last decade. The Desiri, Kutukrom, Kobro, Oda, Jimira, Atewa, and Tano-Offin forests in the Ahafo, Western, Ashanti, Eastern regions have all suffered from the illegality. Many rivers, including the Birim River in the Eastern Region and other water bodies, that take their source from these forests have as a result been left heavily polluted depriving residents in nearby communities of a source of freshwater and putting at risk the lives of over five million other people in major cities in the south whose potable water are sourced from the forests. In the report, it was found that although the forestry commission makes some arrest and ensures prosecution of persons who mine illegally in forest reserves, some of those who cause the worst destructions are able to escape prosecution or sometimes arrest due to the influence of powerful people in society. ---citinewsroom The Election Commission of India (ECI) is examining the viral video in which Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur can be seen prompting the slogan "goli maaro", i.e., "shoot down" the traitors, at an election rally in Delhi. Delhi CEO has sought a report from the returning officer of Delhi's Rithala constituency over Union Minister and BJP MP Anurag Thakur's speech at an election rally yesterday. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/lr5a0zWyM9 - ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020 The controversial election rally took place in Rithala, North West Delhi, on Monday. In the viral video, the BJP leader can be seen prompting "desh ke gaddaron ko", to which crowd responds saying "goli maaron sa***n ko (kill the traitors)". Thakur is not seen the controversial part of the video but he eggs on the crowd and claps his hands. Several BJP leaders, party candidate from Rithala, Manish Chaudhary, were present while the sloganeering was on. After Thakur, the rally was addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. After Thakur's video spread on social media, the opposition leaders including Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Priyanka Chaturvedi took to social media to express disappointment and anguish over his conduct. National spokesperson of Congress, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, said on Twitter: "This seems to be the modus operandi of the entire party." Disappointing to see a young leader like #AnuragThakur provoking to make such poisonous slogans during electioneering. This seems to be the modus operandi of the entire party. https://t.co/SwoOSR6ytd - Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) January 27, 2020 Surjewala tweeted: "Deeply saddened by Anurag Thakur's conduct. Saw a remote ray of hope of sanity in him, only to realize today that ministerial posts and uprightness make strange bedfellows!" The Mumbai unit of the Congress party also took to Twitter to take a jibe on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Anurag Thakur's controversial statement. Dear Mr. @narendramodi, Seems like your own minister doesn't heed your Mann Ki Baat. Yesterday you talked about violence not being a solution. And today @ianuragthakur incites brutality. Either he doesn't agree with you OR He knows that Mann Ki Baat is nothing but Jumlebaazi! pic.twitter.com/L77STyqMLQ - Mumbai Congress (@INCMumbai) January 27, 2020 Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena tweeted: "Hope the junior Finance Minister will shoot the reasons for economic slowdown via the Budget 2020 when he's done shooting the 'traitors' or will the country again be taken for the 'Acche Din' ride?" '' ? - Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) January 28, 2020 Also read: Kejriwal Guarantee Card launched: AAP promises 24x7 drinking water supply, free buses, women safety Infected blood support schemes were set up across the UK in 2017 (NHS Blood and Transplant/PA) Campaigners have said the Government should be ashamed, after ministers refused to commit to compensation proposals for victims of the infected blood scandal. People who were infected or have been affected by the scandal met Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden and health minister Nadine Dorries in London on Tuesday. The contaminated blood scandal has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, leaving thousands of patients infected with hepatitis and HIV, and causing many early deaths. Campaigners said they were seeking a Government commitment to immediately begin working on a compensation framework, similar to one in the Republic of Ireland. But Jason Evans said the proposal put forward by his Factor 8 group were firmly rejected by the ministers. Mr Evans, whose father died in 1993 having contracted hepatitis and HIV, added: It was an unequivocal no. There was no reasonable explanation given and so once again victims and families have come here many in ill health and they were optimistic about today. They have been led up the mountain top again only to be brought back down no solution, no further forward, and as a result, if the Government maintains that position, hundreds of people will die over administrative paperwork years. I think the Government should be ashamed today. But the Cabinet Office stressed it had not rejected the proposal outright and was going to look into the issues and report back. I would urge the Government to re-think this extremely mean-spirited position, which has only broken any sense of trust that may have been built in recent monthsJason Evans Mr Evans said that the proposals put forward would have had no capital cost for the Government. He added: Our proposal to the Government bore no capital cost whatsoever and was simply a matter of engaging with our community, but ministers refused this whilst offering up no reasonable explanation for doing so. I would urge the Government to re-think this extremely mean-spirited position, which has only broken any sense of trust that may have been built in recent months. The Compensation Tribunal was set up in the Republic of Ireland in 1995 and became a statutory body two years later, to compensate people infected with hepatitis C. In 2002 it was expanded to include people infected with HIV through contaminated blood products. Infected blood support schemes were set up across the UK in 2017 with country-specific programmes in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland. It is a terrible missed opportunity that will have a real impact on those affecteds livesDes Collins, Collins Solicitors The England Infected Blood Support Scheme supports people historically infected with hepatitis C or HIV from NHS blood or blood products, as well as helping families, spouses and civil or long-term partners after the death of someone infected. But Des Collins, senior partner at Collins Solicitors, representing more than 1,400 people in relation to the Infected Blood Inquiry, said that the system in England was more like benefits than compensation. He added: The Government has made payments without admitting liability. Mr Collins said the Government was being intransigent and added: Today the Cabinet Office have said that their hands are tied in relation to the issue of paying compensation, because of the ongoing public inquiry. This couldnt be further from the truth. The inquiry cannot determine civil or criminal liability nor can it award compensation. It is a terrible missed opportunity that will have a real impact on those affecteds lives. A Cabinet Office spokesman said: The infected blood scandal should never have happened and we established this inquiry so that all those who suffered can get the answers they deserve. Campaigners raised a number of issues about the support that would assist them outside of the inquiry process. Ministers have committed to looking at these issues carefully and to report back on where rapid progress can be made. By PTI NEW DELHI: Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Monday said the payments he received from the Popular Front of India (PFI) had nothing to do with anti-CAA protests, and were made for his legal services offered in 2017 and 2018, much before the new law was passed. In a statement, the former union minister rubbished reports questioning the payments made to him by the PFI, and said he was paid for representing Hadiya in the famous case. "I was paid for professional services rendered and for nothing else. Any insinuations made to besmirch my good name and defame me will be taken seriously," he said in a statement. The Congress leader said the Enforcement Directorate has released a statement analysing the bank accounts of the Popular Front of India in which "my name has been mentioned as a recipient of Rs 77 lakh". He said several news channels are running stories suggesting that the PFI is funding the anti-citizenship (amendment) act agitations and the payments made to him were connected with the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). "The CAA became a law only in December 2019. In all matters in which I have appeared in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the CAA, I have not raised, till date, any invoice in any matter," he said. The Congress, however, maintained silence on the issue. Sibal said that he was paid Rs 77 lakh in respect to a litigation in SLP of 2017 titled "Safin Jahan (petitioner) versus Asokan KM and others (Respondents)", which related to Hadiya's marriage to Shafin Jahan, which was challenged upto the Supreme Court with the NIA and the father of Hadiya being parties. "In that litigation, I represented Hadiya, the wife. Ultimately, the marriage was upheld and Hadiya was given the liberty to live with her husband Shafin Jahan," he said. He said the cheques when received in his office were deposited and encashed by his staff. "The first invoice was raised on August 4, 2017, and the last of the seven invoices was on March 8, 2018," he said, adding that "The CAA was cleared by Parliament only in December 2019". "I have raised the invoices on my Advocate on Record Mr Haris Beeran for each of the appearances," he said, while releasing details of the payments he received from the PFI in the litigation. Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, "It is very easy to say something out of context. If somebody's name has come who happens to be in legal profession, you must first find out that in routine legal appearances somebody has received any payment at all. Can't just lightly damage somebody's reputation and cause defamation." Over the weekend, John R. Bolton burst into the news, and so, in a less dramatic way, did William B. Taylor. Taylor, as you remember, was U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009, and acting ambassador to that country more recently. (He returned to Kyiv last summer, and left his post on January 1.) For the New York Times, he penned an op-ed piece headed Yes, Secretary Pompeo, Americans Should Care About Ukraine. This piece says so much that should be said, in my opinion. I found it tremendously gratifying. I would like to quote just a little: Ukraine is defending itself and the West against Russian attack. If Ukraine succeeds, we succeed. The relationship between the United States and Ukraine is key to our national security, and Americans should care about Ukraine. A little bit more: Mr. Putin seems to want to return to the law of the jungle that characterized relations among nations for centuries before 1945, where powerful nations dominated and invaded less powerful nations, where nations established spheres of influence that oppressed neighbors, leading to war and suffering. That was how the Russian Empire and Soviet Union conducted international relations dominate, control and absorb neighboring lands. A return to jungle rules threatens not just Ukraine and the United States, but global stability itself. And finally, To support Ukraine is to support a rules-based international order that enabled major powers in Europe to avoid war for seven decades. It is to support democracy over autocracy. It is to support freedom over unfreedom. Most Americans do. Do they? I guess so, but its hard to be sure. I am no George Gallup. Anyway, read the whole thing, as they say on social media. And why did John Bolton burst into the news? Well, in short: President Trump told his national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens, according to an unpublished manuscript by the former adviser, John R. Bolton. Story continues (Article here.) The president, of course, has called Bolton a liar. So its Boltons word versus Trumps. Whom to believe? Those who are familiar with the two men have a quick answer to that. Truth has never been Trumps strong suit; Bolton is a straight-shooter whether you like him or not. Is there any doubt that the president is guilty of what he is accused of doing with respect to his handling of Ukraine? The only real question is whether his conduct merits removal from office. We can debate that till the cows come home. But the other . . . Needless to say, Republican wagons are circling around Trump, while Bolton is experiencing life as a heretic. But bless the person who tells the truth, whatever the consequences. Let me give you a tidbit about Bolton a clue to his character and cast of mind: When the first Reagan term came, Bolton went to work for the U.S. Agency for International Development. When he left the agency, his colleagues gave him a souvenir: a dummy hand grenade mounted on a little base. On the base were the words John R. Bolton, Truest Reaganaut. That comes from a piece I wrote about Bolton in 2010, here. One more little excerpt? On Election Day 1964, John Bolton, 15, got permission to be absent from school: in order to pass out leaflets for Goldwater. That was my formative political experience, he says, the Goldwater campaign. Unlike his fellow Goldwaterite, Miss Hillary Rodham, he remained a Goldwaterite, unalloyed. His favorite line from The Conscience of a Conservative, the senators 1960 book, is, My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. Bolton says, Individual liberty is the whole purpose of political life, and I thought it was threatened back then in 1964 and I think its threatened now. To repeat, Trump is saying that Bolton is lying about him, and the presidents loyalists are saying the same thing. I suppose they feel they must. I think of what Bill Buckley said when accused of having lied about Gore Vidal: Anyone who lies about him is doing him a favor. You recall the heading of Bill Taylors op-ed piece, referring to the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. What was that all about? This story from USA Today explains. Its headline: After interview, Pompeo cursed at reporter, yelled: Do you think Americans care about Ukraine? The secretary did not care for the reporters questions about Ukraine, and, specifically, about Marie Yovanovitch, the ousted and defamed ambassador. This is what I think: Americans may or may not care about foreign policy. But if youre secretary of state, shouldnt you expect questions about foreign policy? Whether citizens in general care about those questions or not? Shouldnt the agriculture secretary expect to be asked about ag policy? You see what I mean. The reporter in question was Mary Louise Kelly, of National Public Radio. I will quote from the USA Today story: After the interview, Kelly said she was taken to the secretary of states private living room, where Pompeo was waiting for her. He shouted at me for about the same amount of time as the interview itself. He was not happy to have been questioned about Ukraine, Kelly said . . . She said he used the F-word and many others when asking her if Americans cared about Ukraine. He then asked her if she could find Ukraine on a map. I said yes, and he called out for aides to bring us a map of the world with no writing. I pointed to Ukraine, she recounted. Later, Pompeo claimed she had pointed to Bangladesh which people who know Kelly seriously doubt. (Her education aside Harvard and Cambridge she has worked as a foreign correspondent throughout the world.) Also, may I ask: Could the president find Ukraine on a map, if Pompeo asked him to? A map marked or unmarked? How about Bangladesh? What was the point of that stunt? I know that government officials are under a great deal of pressure, and I am, as a rule, sympathetic to them, but I also think of the adage about the heat of the kitchen. Moreover, the role of secretary of state involves diplomacy. Further on this business of caring and not caring: I was reading President Trumps Twitter account, and saw that he had retweeted something from Dan Bongino. This was it: Regarding Bolton: 1) Nobody cares 2) The aid was delivered 3) The Ukrainians arent victims (just ask them) 4) The Democrats corruption in Ukraine is real 5) Nobody cares I will deal with just 1) and 5). Obviously, those who care, care, and those who dont, dont. Throughout my career, I have been told that nobody cares about what I am interested in: human rights, classical music, corruption in high places, or what have you. And the answer is: I care, and some others do too, and if you dont, fine. No one can care about everything. Something else I have always been told: that no one reads the publication I write for (whatever that publication happens to be). The answer is: Yes, no one reads it, except those who do. Why do people talk this way? I think that when people say, No one cares, or No one reads that, they are really saying, I and my friends dont. The Saudi dictatorship really doesnt like Jeff Bezos, at all. (See this report from the Associated Press: What we know, and dont, about the alleged Bezos phone hack.) Bezos is not only the founder of Amazon.com, he is the owner of the Washington Post which took the Saudis murder of Jamal Khashoggi rather hard. (Khashoggi wrote for the Post.) If I were that newspaper, Id wear the dictatorships scorn as a great badge of honor. Really, good for them, good for the Post. Would that MBS and that crew hated the rest of us as much. Three or four years ago, I did a report from Colombia about a peace agreement between the government and the FARC (the narco-terrorist group), a Nobel Peace Prize for Colombias president, Juan Manuel Santos, and related matters. About a month ago, an AP report out of Bogota caught my eye, which Id like to share with you and comment on. On a vacant grassy lot squeezed between several smoggy highways lies the property where Colombias government hopes to build a large museum paying homage to victims of the countrys long civil conflict. But for now, the terrain occupied only by a rusted cubic metal sculpture is a reminder of how polarized this South American nation remains. In recent weeks, the future of the Museum of Memory has become a public feud because of the director overseeing it. President Ivan Duques appointee history professor Dario Acevedo is a conservative who has expressed a view of the conflict that critics say could excuse the state of much of its responsibility for the violence. Acevedo has rejected a draft plan for the museums content and has questioned the number of victims of the five-decade war. In response, some victim groups vow not to work with the historical center. And so on. What a mess. Sticky. I said I wanted to comment on this, but I should have said I wanted someone else to a Colombian friend of mine, an intellectual and a very sensitive person. This is what he said, when I e-mailed the AP report to him: Very interesting thank you for sharing it! Itll be a very tricky debate. Memory politics truly is war by other means. Ive often wondered whether in a case like Colombias we shouldnt put off the museums for a few years, to let the dust settle a bit. Its a hard question, this one. Memory politics truly is war by other means yes. I dont know about you, but I didnt know until sometime last summer, I believe, that Karen had become a mockable name. People use Karen derisively. The name has become a descriptor for a basic white lady of a certain age who is insufficiently clued in to the sensitive cultural mores of the moment. I have quoted a piece by Christian Schneider, published at The Bulwark. Its called In Defense of Karens. One of my favorite pieces of the recent period. I wish I could give it some kind of award. What else? I have a lot more, but thats enough for one day, right? (Maybe more than enough.) Here at the end, Ill sneak in some music a review, that is: of a Damnation of Faust at the Metropolitan Opera. All politics and no play, or no music, makes Jack a dull boy. Thanks and see you. If youd like to receive Impromptus by e-mail links to new columns write to jnordlinger@nationalreview.com. More from National Review Iran is not ruling out negotiations with the United States even after an American drone strike that killed a top Iranian general, the country's foreign minister said in an interview released Saturday. Mohammed Javad Zarif told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine that he would ``never rule out the possibility that people will change their approach and recognize the realities,'' in an interview conducted Friday in Tehran. There has been growing tension between Washington and Tehran since in 2018, when President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal with Iran. The U.S. has since reimposed tough sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. But Zarif suggested Iran was still willing to talk, though reiterated his country's previous demand that first the U.S. would have to lift sanctions. ``For us, it doesn't matter who is sitting in the White House, what matters is how they behave,'' he said, according to Der Spiegel. ``The Trump administration can correct its past, lift the sanctions and come back to the negotiating table. We're still at the negotiating table. They're the ones who left.'' Trump has maintained that the 2015 nuclear deal needs to be renegotiated because it didn't address Iran's ballistic missile program or its involvement in regional conflicts. The other signatories to the nuclear deal _ Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia _ have been struggling to keep it alive. Following the U.S. drone strike on Jan. 3 that killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran announced it would no longer abide by any of the deal's limitations to its enrichment activities. It then retaliated Jan. 8, launching ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq housing American troops, causing injuries but no fatalities among soldiers there. Zarif did suggest Iran was also still prepared for conflict with the U.S., though was not specific. ``The U.S. has inflicted great harm on the Iranian people,'' he said. ``The day will come when they will have to compensate for that. We have a lot of patience.'' Search Keywords: Short link: Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], Jan 28 (ANI): Scores of students at University blocked the car of West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday morning. The Governor had come to attend the convocation ceremony at the University. The students with placards also raised slogans like 'Governor Go Back". Some of them also marked their protest against the Register of Citizens (NRC), Population Register (NPR) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). (ANI) (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.) WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum today announced an important new addition to its collection. The Sobibor Perpetrator Collection provides an unprecedented view into the operations of one of the six killing centers Nazi Germany established for the sole purpose of murdering Jews. Created by the camp's deputy commandant Johann Niemann, this large collection of recently discovered photographs and documents offers new insights into the implementation of the Final Solution and the workings of Sobibor, located in German-occupied Poland, and in operation from April 1942 until November 1943. Information on the collection is available at ushmm.org/sobibor-perpetrators. "At least 167,000 Jews were murdered at Sobibor. However, until now we had almost no photographic evidence of this Nazi killing center," says Museum Director Sara J. Bloomfield. "This groundbreaking collection will increase understanding about the killing center's operations and the complicity of many people, performing a wide variety of tasks, in order to make it function." The Sobibor Perpetrator Collection consists of 361 photographs and dozens of paper documents. The photographs show in new and vivid detail the topography of the killing center; interactions among the camp's SS staff, and between the SS and auxiliary guards; and the role of women including perpetrators' wives and local female civilians. During a prisoner uprising at Sobibor on October 14, 1943, Niemann was the acting camp commandant and the first to be killed. The collection documents an SS officer's career trajectory and how the Nazi system offered opportunities for advancement. "Like others, Niemann began working in the so-called euthanasia program and went on to play a role in the operation of a killing center. Many of the same personnel worked in multiple sites or programs and these connections served the genocidal aims of Nazi Germany," continued Bloomfield. The collection was originally owned by Niemann's widow, Henriette Niemann. In 2015, Niemann's grandson donated the photographs and documents to the Bildungswerk Stanislaw Hantz, a small non-profit German educational organization comprised of volunteer historians specializing in the history of Operation Reinhard, which included three of the six killing centers. A local historian, doing research about his hometown, facilitated the donation. With the help of Niemann's grandson, historians from the Bildungswerk Stanislaw Hantz and their partners at the Forschungsstelle Ludwigsburg of Stuttgart University were able to locate even more material in the summer of 2019. "The Museum is grateful for its important partnership with the Bildungswerk Stanislaw Hantz, as well as scholars from the Forschungsstelle Ludwigsburg of Stuttgart University," says Bloomfield. "Their team of dedicated researchers has devoted years of meticulous work to organizing and analyzing this collection. We look forward to bringing their findings to a broader audience and integrating this new knowledge into the historiography of the Final Solution." "International cooperation between large and small institutions can prove very fruitful," says Andreas Kahrs at Bildungswerk Stanislaw Hantz. "We chose to donate this collection to the Museum because we felt it would be best suited to care for it in perpetuity, while also making the material accessible to researchers from a wide range of disciplines." Items in the collection include: Approximately 50 loose photographs of the Sobibor killing center from winter 1942 to summer 1943. Besides Niemann, these images show camp commandant Franz Reichleitner, Erich Bauer (in charge of gassing operations), Gustav Wagner (in charge of the daily running of the camp), and more than two dozen additional perpetrators. (in charge of gassing operations), (in charge of the daily running of the camp), and more than two dozen additional perpetrators. The Sobibor photographs also depict several camp prisoners, local civilian female servants, German official guests, and auxiliary guards (among them possibly John Demjanjuk in two of the photographs). A series of 14 loose photographs showing the funeral held in the nearby city of Chelm for the eleven SS men killed during the Sobibor prisoner revolt in October 1943 . . An album of 80 photographs which depict an official trip to Berlin and Potsdam as an award for personnel from the Sobibor and Treblinka killing centers (including Niemann and his wife) and a group of twenty-two Trawniki auxiliary guards. and Potsdam as an award for personnel from the Sobibor and Treblinka killing centers (including Niemann and his wife) and a group of twenty-two Trawniki auxiliary guards. An album of 116 photographs depicting Niemann's early SS career in the Esterwegen and Sachsenhausen concentration camps, as well as his work in the "euthanasia" facilities of Grafeneck, Brandenburg, and Bernburg. Four images from the Belzec killing center from late 1941 to early 1942. Documents in the collection include correspondence between Niemann and his wife - some bearing a "Sobibor" stamp - and an inventory list of the contents of Niemann's estate sent to his widow, naming the two photo albums described above. A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors. For more information visit, ushmm.org. SOURCE United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Related Links http://www.ushmm.org The United States is the second biggest exporter on the planet right behind China. The U.S. managed to export products worth $1.666trillion in 2018. The country's exports had increased by 7.3% from 2017 to 2018 and by 10.7% from 2015 to 2018. The country's most valuable exports in 2018 were automobile parts, crude oil, petroleum, vehicles, and electro-medical equipment, among others. Shipments from the top-20 exporting states in 2018 were worth over $1.608trillion, representing 81.8% of the country's total exports. Some of America's major trading partners include Canada, Germany, China, Japan, and Mexico, among others. Top 10 Exporting American States Texas Other than being the second-largest American state by both population and area, Texas is the top exporting state in the country. The value of this state's exports equals 19.6% of the country's exports in 2018. Texas exported goods worth $315billion to other parts of the world in 2018. The value of the Lone Star State's exported products in 2018 increased by 19.2% from 2017 to 2018. The Lone Star State's exported products accounted for 17.8% of the state's GDP. Some of the top exports from Texas are Crude oils ($38.7billion), miscellaneous petroleum-oils ($28.1billion), light petroleum-oils ($24.7billion), liquefied-propane ($13.2billion) and computer accessories and parts ($10.8billion) among others. California Other than being the most populous American state, California is the second biggest exporter in the country. California managed to ship goods worth $178.2billion in 2018. The value of this state's exports increased by 7.9% from 2015 to 2018. California's exports contributed about 6.6% of the state's GDP in 2018. California's top exports include aircrafts ($7.3billion), diamond ($5.5billion), shelled almond ($1.9billion), integrated circuit ($3.4billion), and computer accessories and parts ($3.2billion), among others. California's top trading partners are Mexico, Canada, and North America. New York New York is the fourth-most populous American state and one of the third top exporting American states. New York exported goods worth $81.68billion in 2018. New York's total exports improved by 4.6% from 2017 to 2018. The value of this state's exported goods equals 4.9% of the country's total exported products. New York's total export in 2018 accounted for 4.8% of this state's real GDP. Some of the most valuable exports include diamond ($13.3billion), drawings and paintings ($8.5billion0, gold ($5.2billion), aircrafts ($1.2billion), and jewelry ($5.7billion) among others. New York's top trading partners include Canada, China, Britain, Switzerland, and Hong Kong, among others. Washington Washington State is the fourth largest exporter in the United States right behind New York, California, and Texas. Washington managed to ship goods worth $77.97billion around the globe in 2018. The value of Washington's exports in 2018 improved by 1.7% from 2017 to 2018. Washington's exports in 2018 accounted for about 13.5% of the state's real GDP. Washington State shipped a considerable percentage of their exports to China, Japan, and Canada. Some of Washington's valuable exports are aircraft ($41.8billion), soya beans ($2.4billion), corn ($3.7billion), wheat ($2billion), and petroleum oils ($1.2billion) among others. Louisiana Louisiana is one of the top exporting states in the country that is situated in the southeastern region. Louisiana had the twenty-fourth biggest GDP in the country in 2018 ($255.49billion). Louisiana managed to export goods worth $67billion in 2018. The value of Louisiana's exports in 2018 increased by 16.2% from 2017. Louisiana shipped a huge percentage of their exports to Mexico, Netherlands, and South Korea. Some of the most valuable exports from Louisiana are soya beans ($8.6billion), petroleum oils (15.3billion), crude petroleum oils ($8.6billion), and corn ($4.9billion), among others. Illinois Other than having the fifth-largest GDP in the country, Illinois was the sixth biggest exporting state in the United States. The GDP of Illinois was $879.95billion in 2018. Illinois managed to export goods worth $65.5billion to other parts of the globe in 2018. Illinois's total exports grew by 0.3% from 2017 to 2018. The value of this state's export accounted for 3.9% of the country's total export. Illinois's top trading partners are China, Germany, and Canada, among others. The most valuable exports from Illinois in 2018 are light petroleum oils ($3.2billion), cell phones ($1.24billion), miscellaneous medication ($1.3billion), and aircrafts ($1.15billion) among others. Michigan Michigan had a GDP of about $537.09billion in 2018 and managed to export goods worth $58billion to other parts of the globe. Michigan's exports decreased by 3.2% from 2017 to 2918. Michigan's leading trading partners include Canada, China, and Mexico. Michigan is the hub for the automotive industry in the country thanks to the 3main automobile companies based in the Detroit metropolitan region. Therefore, some of its top exports include large vehicles ($38.6billion), small gas-powered trucks ($48.1billion), automobile body parts ($29.5billion), and aircraft ($11billion) among others. Florida Other than being the third most populous American state, Florida is one of the top exporting states that managed to ship goods worth $57billion in 2018. Florida's export improved by 6.2% from 2015 to 2018 and by 4.2% since 2017. The value of this state's exported goods accounted for 3.3% of American's total exported goods in 2018. Some of the top exports from Florida in 2018 were gold ($billion), cell phones ($2.9billion), and aircraft ($6.6billion) among others. Florida's top trading partner is Brazil, Mexico, and Canada. Ohio Other than being the seventh most-populous American state, Ohio had the seventh-highest GDP in 2018. Ohio managed to ship commodities worth $54billion around the globe. The value of Ohio's exports increased by 5.9% from 2015 to 2018. Ohio's exports in 2018 accounted for 3.3% of the country's total exports. Ohio's exports represented 7.9% of the state's real GDP. Ohio ships a huge percentage of its exports to Canada, China, and Mexico. Some of the most valuable exported goods from Ohio include large vehicles ($1.6billion), aircraft ($5.2billion), soya beans ($1.6billion), and small automobiles ($1.12billion) among others. Pennsylvania Pennsylvania had the sixth-highest GDP ($803.3billion) in 2018 and managed to export goods worth $41billion to other parts of the world. Pennsylvania's exports increased by 4.1% from 2015 to 2018. Pennsylvania is the tenth-biggest exporting state in the country behind Ohio and Florida. The value of this state's exports equals 2.5% of the country's total exports in 2018. Pennsylvania shipped a huge percentage of its exports to Canada, Britain, Mexico, and China. Some of the most valuable exports from Pennsylvania are coal ($2.7billion), vaccines ($1.3billion), liquefied propane ($1billion), and aircrafts ($759million), among others. A teenager cleared of lying to police over the fatal stabbing of a grammar school pupil has lost a High Court bid to protect his identity. Identified only as "Boy B", he went on trial last year alongside Joshua Molnar after the death of their friend Yousef Makki in Hale Barns, Cheshire, on March 2 2019. He turned 18 last week but wanted to extend his anonymity until the end of his education in November 2021. Giving judgment in London on Tuesday Mrs Justice Steyn dismissed the application, saying it was justified by "public interest in open justice". Yousef, a 17-year-old who had won a scholarship to the 12,000-a-year Manchester Grammar School, was knifed in the heart by Joshua Molnar, now 18, during a fight. Joshua Molnar (centre) at Manchester Crown Court where he was acquitted of murder / PA Molnar was cleared of murder and manslaughter after a trial at Manchester Crown Court in July, telling the jury he acted in self-defence after Yousef pulled a knife on him. He admitted possession of a knife and perverting the course of justice by initially lying to police, and was given 16 months in custody. Boy B, then 17, was acquitted of perverting the course of justice. He was given a four-month detention order after admitting possession of a flick knife. Both he and Molnar were acquitted of conspiracy to commit robbery in the lead-up to Yousef's death. Boy B's anonymity was set to expire when he turned 18 last Friday, but asked the High Court to protect his identity. Mrs Justice Steyn ruled that "the curtailment of the claimant's and his family's right to respect for their private and family life is, in my judgment, clearly justified by the compelling public interest in open justice". However, Boy B cannot yet be named as his lawyers are pursuing an appeal against her decision. Mrs Justice Steyn said Boy B should not be named until any appeal is determined, as it would "effectively destroy his right to appeal". In her ruling, the judge said: "The most significant aggravating feature was that (Boy B) bought the knife with which Yousef was killed." She said possession of a knife "is a serious offence and there is a strong public interest in knowing the identity of those who commit serious offences". Mrs Justice Steyn found that "the prospect of being named in court, with the accompanying disgrace, is a powerful deterrent" to others. She added: "There is an important public interest in understanding the prevalence of knife crime. Such understanding depends, at least in part, on knowing who is committing such crimes." LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / MjLink.com Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Social Life Network, Inc. (OTCQB:WDLF), is pleased to announce Emerald Bioscience, Inc. (EMBI) as a Featured Presenter at their MjMicro Virtual Investor Conference hosted by MjInvest on Wednesday, January 29th at 1:00pm ET. The MjMicro Virtual Investor Conference, hosted by MjInvest.com, provides a platform for both public and private cannabis companies to pitch and present their stories to investors through an online virtual conference, while providing a unique opportunity for private and institutional investors access and deal-flow to the best-in-class cannabis companies in the world. The MjInvest digital platform also allows companies and investors the ability to communicate after the conference concludes through chat features and direct messaging capabilities. During the virtual conference, Dr. Brian Murphy, CEO of Emerald Bioscience, will host a featured presentation to update investors and analysts. Emerald Bioscience (EMBI) is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Long Beach, California, focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of bioengineered cannabinoid-based therapeutics for significant unmet medical needs in global markets. With proprietary technology licensed from the University of Mississippi, Emerald is developing novel ways to deliver cannabinoid-based drugs for specific indications with the aim of optimizing the clinical effects of such drugs while limiting potential adverse events. Emerald's strategy is to clinically develop a number of proprietary biosynthetic compounds, alone or in combination with corporate partners. CLICK HERE to add the Emerald Health online presentation to your calendar. To access the Emerald Bioscience Virtual Presentation through the MjInvest Platform, please click this link on Wednesday, January 29th, 2020 at 10:00am PST / 1:00pm EST. https://www.mjinvest.com/emerald-health-therapeutics-presentation About MjLink.com, Inc. MjLink.com Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Social Life Network, Inc. and is a cloud-based cannabis social network and digital media company based in Denver, Colorado. MjLink operates as a multinational cannabis technology and digital media organization with four industry specific social networks: WeedLife.com, a consumer-to-consumer social network, MjLink.com, a business-to-business social network, HempTalk.com, a business-to-consumer social network, and MjInvest.com, a cannabis industry investor network that produces the MjMicro Capital Conference. For more information about Social Life Network, visit www.SocialNetwork.ai Disclaimer This news release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to achieving corporate objectives, developing additional project interests, the company's analysis of opportunities in the acquisition and development of various project interests and certain other matters. No information in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of the Company's or MjLink's future financial results, revenues or stock price. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements contained herein. CONTACT: Investor Relations IR@Social-Life-Network.com 855-933-3277 SOURCE: Social Life Network, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574397/Emerald-Bioscience-to-Present-at-MjMicro-Virtual-Investor-Conference-hosted-by-MjInvestcom Nearly 500 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by two boats run by aid agencies were looking for safe ports in Malta and Italy, the groups said Monday. The Ocean Viking, a rescue vessel run by SOS Mediterranee in partnership with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was carrying 407 people rescued in a total of five operations carried out over 72 hours. Another 78 people were taken on board the Alan Kurdi, run by the Sea-Eye organisation based in Germany. They were rescued in two operations. Sea-Eye tweeted Sunday that the Alan Kurdi was headed for Italy after Malta refused them a safe port. "Ocean Viking has rescued 184 men, women and children in distress... on two inflatable rafts," off the Libyan coast, MSF tweeted. They pulled 82 of them out of the water in a zone normally covered by the Maltese authorities, they added. "With five night-time operations carried out in less than 72 hours, that's a total of 407 survivors who are now safely on board," MSF added. "As we approached, it was clear the people were highly stressed & panicking," MSF tweeted, quoting Catherine, one of the nurses on board the Ocean Viking. "Having been at sea for 22 hours, many were suffering from hypothermia & dehydration. Others had been exposed to fuel, which can develop into burns on the skin," she added. - Security 'deteriorating' in Libya - "Despite the winter, despite the bad weather, and despite the very few boats dedicated to the rescue in the area, boats are still leaving Libya in numbers," Aloys Vimard, MSF's coordinator on board the Ocean Viking, told AFP. "The survivors tell us about the deteriorating security situation in Libya where there is active conflict." MSF had refused an offer to land them at Libya as "it is not a safe place" and were looking for other destinations," he added. An internationally brokered truce between the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and rival eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar has already broken down. The Libyan capital's sole functioning airport came under renewed fire Sunday and fresh fighting broke out hours after the UN mission there condemned ongoing violations of an arms embargo. Since the summer of 2018, the European Union has tasked Libya's coastguard with coordinating search and rescue operations in a vast stretch of the Mediterranean beyond their territorial waters. But the conflict there means that these operations are beyond them, says SOS Mediterranee. In 2019, the International Organization of Migrants recorded 1,283 deaths in the Mediterranean, the deadliest route for migrants attempting the perilous crossing from North Africa to Italy. Over the past five years, at last 19,164 migrants have died there. The police are yet to zero in on the reason why CPI(M) activist Rameshchandra Prajapat allegedly immolated himself at a busy intersection in Madhya Pradesh's Indore city on January 24, dying two days later in a hospital. The police had found pamphlets denouncing Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the proposed National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) from the 72 -year-old's bag at Geeta Bhavan square, the spot of the incident. However, speaking to PTI on Tuesday, his son Deepak Prajapat (30) said the family was not convinced issues related to CAA-NRC-NPR may have been the reason for self-immolation. "My father may have had his own stand on issues like CAA, NRC and NPR. But we are not at all convinced that he could take a negative step like self-immolation because of this." Deepak claimed his father, a tailor by profession, always objected constructively on any issue. Prajapat was active in socio-political movements and also attended protests against the CAA, NRC and NPR in the city. Deepak said the police must investigate the case thoroughly to find out the circumstances under which his father took the extremely step, especially "whether there was any provocation or pressure from any person" Prajapat allegedly set himself on fire at Geeta Bhawan intersection on January 24, following which he was rushed to Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital, where he died during treatment on Sunday evening. Sub inspector Dashrath Singh Chauhan of Tukoganj police station said, "The reason for Prajapat's self- immolation is not yet clear. His family is not in a position to say anything about this at the moment. We are awaiting the autopsy report." Meanwhile, people protesting against the CAA, NRC and NPR for a fortnight at Barwali outpost here paid tribute to Prajapat. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) World News: Fishing Industry on the Agenda at Upcoming UN conference and at WTO Ministerial Meeting January 28,2020 | Source: Economist A United Nations conference to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 on the sustainable use of oceanic and marine resources, will be co-hosted by Kenya and Portugal in Lisbon from 02 to 06 June 2020. Senior Programme Officer of the Trade for Development Programme of the South Centre, Peter Lunenborg wrote in a South Centre circular that the conference will discuss Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions. The conference follows in the wake of a Western Indian Ocean regional meeting in Mombasa, Kenya, early in December last year, under the auspices of the UN High Level Panel. This meeting deliberated on issues that are unique to Africas fisheries, and to develop an African position on these issues to prepare for the UN conference in June. The High Level Panel on the Sustainable Ocean Economy is a group of world leaders from 14 countries and the UN Secretary Generals Special Envoy for the Ocean which aims to develop, catalyze and support solutions for Ocean health and wealth in policy, governance, technology and finance. South Centre Member States on the Panel include Ghana, Indonesia, Jamaica and Namibia, stated Lunenborg. A week after the UN conference, the 12th World Trade Organisations Ministerial Conference is slated from 08 to 11 June in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan where trade ministers are expected to reach agreement on fishing subsidies in response to SDG 14.6 which calls for states to by 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the WTO fisheries subsidies negotiation. Lunenborg wrote that the High Level Panel has a relatively broad scope. At the two upcoming conferences, Blue Papers will be released on such issues as the future of food from the sea, [the] impact of climate change on the ocean economy, marine genetic resources, ocean finance, IUU fishing, ocean energy and mineral resources. The Law of the Sea incorporates inter alia the principle that the ability of developing countries to develop their own fisheries as well as to participate in high seas fisheries should be enhanced, that there should be no disproportionate burden on developing countries resulting from implementation, and that the economic needs of coastal fishing communities and the special requirements of developing countries are to be taken into account. Furthermore, States are to promote the development of the marine scientific and technological capacity of developing countries, which may need technical assistance in this field, stated Lunenborgs report on the Mombasa meeting. Full report is available at: https://www.southcentre.int/western-indian-ocean-wio-regional-meeting-of-the-hlp-on-the-sustainable-ocean-economy/ Nobel laureate and economist Abhijit Banerjee on Monday said the country could be passing through a phase of recession, and there is "nothing in the data" that suggests otherwise. Banerjee, during an address at the Kolkata Literary Meet, also said the priority of the government should be on refinancing the banking sector, which is in "doldrums". "What I can say is that we could be in a recession. But, I don't know by how much. There is nothing in the data that suggests we could not be in a recession," the author of 'Good Economics for Hard Times' said. He also advocated imposition of wealth tax and more redistribution. "Given the current state of inequality in India, a wealth tax is completely sensible. In such a case, more redistribution is required, and I expect this not to happen soon," Banerjee said. The 58-year-old Indian-American economist said the banking and infrastructure sectors were in need of funding from the government. "The banking sector is in doldrums. It needs huge funding by the government. The Centre should also look at infrastructure sector funding," he said. Talking about the informal sector, the Nobel laureate said there is no reliable data on it. "The statistical apparatus is incapable of capturing short-term data on the informal sector." Banerjee also favoured the central government's move to privatise PSUs like Air India. On the recent cut in corporate taxes by the government, he said, "It seems the corporate sector is sitting on huge cash". Also read: Indian Railways to run 100% on electricity by 2024: Piyush Goyal Also read: India needs a better opposition: Abhijit Banerjee PARIS Renault's engineering boss will meet his counterpart at Nissan in Japan this week, two sources close to Renault said, as the carmakers seek to revive projects crucial to an alliance left reeling by the Carlos Ghosn affair. The Franco-Japanese alliance is wrestling with the fallout of the ouster and arrest of Ghosn, the architect of the partnership who now says it is at risk of collapse. Analysts say that in order to turn investor sentiment around, the firms need to make good on cost-saving joint engineering projects that have slowed since Ghosn's departure. According to the two sources, Gilles Le Borgne, who was hired on Jan. 6 from rival automaker PSA, will meet Nissan's Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, the Nissan executive in charge of delivering the joint engineering projects. Renault did not respond to a request for comment on Le Borgne's meetings. Renault-Nissan's cost-saving alliance is vital to both companies as the car industry battles a slowdown and huge investments in cleaner vehicles and automated driving. "The alliance has taken a hit, but the alliance engineering team is still there," said a third source, who is close to the alliance. "You cannot, from one day to the next, stop something that's been embedded so deeply." Japanese prosecutors arrested Ghosn who was at the time the head of the carmakers' alliance -- in November 2018 and accused him of financial misconduct. Ghosn slipped out of Japan and fled at the end of December to Lebanon. He says the charges were fabricated to force him out of an alliance in which the Japanese side no longer trusted its French partners. Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard has said both sides are determined to make the partnership succeed, with the joint projects a major focus. Those projects will be on the agenda when the board of the alliance, which also includes Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi <7211.T>, holds a regular meeting in Japan on Jan. 30. Story continues One area of focus will be hybrid power systems, a field where, analysts say, the alliance has not effectively pooled its research and development efforts. Each of the three members of the alliance has developed their own systems. "That's been among the sources of the friction," said the third source close to the alliance. "But now the three systems are there, we'll need to use them in the most efficient way possible." Nissan will use the E-Tech hybrid system developed by Renault on its Juke small SUV, while Renault will use the Nissan-developed e-Power system on its Kadjar model, particularly in Asia, according to the same sources. Mitsubishi is still using its own hybrid system on its best-selling Outlander. Related Video: Click here to See Video >> You Might Also Like Even Steve Hilton, a conservative commentator at conservative Fox News, said something that I can agree with for a change: For goodness sake, Mr. Secretary, dont be such a baby," said the onetime director of strategy for former British Prime Minister David Cameron. You should be able to handle tough questions by now, and dont be such a bully. Foul-mouth ranting at a reporter doing her job is an embarrassment to you and the administration. Sweden is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe, which borders with Norway to the west and north and Finland to the east and is connected to Denmark in the southwest. Living in Sweden have its own benefits such as free health care after a certain amount, care of nature and others. Here are a few amazing facts about the country. Also Read | Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary Is True Heaven For Bird Lovers | Know More Amazing facts about Living in Sweden Worlds longest Gallery Stockholm metro has is said to be the longest gallery in the world with around 110 kilometres (68.3 miles) in length. The tunnels are dug through stones and you can see the rough, unpolished surface inside. Over 90 of the 100 subway stations in Stockholm is decorated with mosaics, installations, sculptures, reliefs, paintings and engravings by more than 150 artists. Also Read | Swedish Activist Greta Thunberg Meets Prince Of Wales Maternity and Paternity leave According to Swedish law, parents are entitled to 480 days of parental leave for each child and if you have twins you are eligible for an additional 180 days. One parent can take up to 420 days of the 480 days, and to this, the other parents has to pass the days to other one. The days can also be split equally and the father is entitled to be home for 10 days during the first 3 months of the new baby. Also Read | London Travel Tips: 5 Best Modes Of Transportation In The City Protecting nature Sweden truly appreciated nature and does everything to protect it. As per reports, the parks can have rabbits, birds, and other wildlife too and humans are prohibited from harming them, not even an air rifle is allowed. Fishing is a sport there, but the one has to let the fish go after catching it. People do not argue or yell According to reports, Swedish people asks for a mediator when things get out of control instead of confronting someone directly. An example is writing the landlord a complaint when a neighbour plays loud music. It is rare of people there to shout or yell at anybody. People eat candies on Saturday As per the lordagsgodis concept, people in Sweden can eat a lot of candy, but only once in a week, which is Saturday. This tradition originated from the 1940s when the government found out candies were bad for teeth. It was after running tests on psychiatric hospitals patients. Also Read | Things To Do In Kilkenny: Places You Must Visit In The City When You Visit Ireland On a recent Sunday, Republican Melissa Beckett was planting two signs in her grassy front yard in Stone Oak: Thank God for our pro-life president. As a divided nation watches the Senate trial of President Donald Trump, who has been impeached by the House on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, Hearst Texas Newspapers interviewed more than two dozen women from across the political spectrum to hear what they think of the proceedings and what it all says about the state of American politics. Im angry at the process and I think, Oh my gosh, hes doing such incredible things that are being ignored, and I want people driving by to know he has our support, said Beckett, 47. As a country, we are so divided we cant think straight. Those of us who just want to talk about the truth, to talk about the facts, were being treated as the crazy ones. About 200 miles away in Houston, Bernadine Williams raised her hand in the back corner of a room and waited. Despite her frustrations with the president, she wanted to tell her fellow feminists how hopeful she was that Donald Trump would be a good leader after he was elected. This is what Sundays look like at the Houston Womens Group, a collection of progressive women who have been meeting for four decades. They debate current events such as the latest actions of the president and soak up stories about the experiences of the women around them. Congenial, yes. Always in agreement? Not so much. I thought it was possible for him to grow into the role of being a good president, said Williams, 51, a longtime legal medical secretary. The room burst into a cacophony of murmurs and chuckles. One woman openly laughed. Well, I was hopeful he would be able to put his past aside. Thats the best you can hope for when someone you dont vote for gets elected, is that they will do whats good for the country. Beneath the blistering criticism of Trump in the Womens Group are layers of fear: that the country could find itself in a war, that political divisiveness is worsening and that Americans are finding their own versions of the truth regardless of facts. As the impeachment trial continues this week a process rooted in political division in Washington, D.C., and across the country recent polling found Americans evenly split over whether Trump should be removed from office. Six percent of respondents were unsure, according to a poll by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist. The gravity of the impeachment captivates Stephanie Lolada, 45, who considers herself an independent conservative. She follows CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other outlets from around the globe. She reads stories about the same events from multiple sources, worried that few others bother to do the research. She sometimes wonders whether Republicans are interested in the truth, but Im sure that the Democrats are not. And shes proud that people have a hard time telling from her Facebook page which side shes on. This moment is rare in American history. Congress has impeached just two other presidents; neither was found guilty in a Senate trial and removed from office. Lolada said she could get behind the impeachment trial if there was evidence of wrongdoing, but shes not convinced. Other presidents and people in power have likely done much the same thing that Trump has, she said, and shes OK with that. For subscribers: Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar will give Democrats response to Trump State of the Union You shouldnt be giving aid to people who arent doing whats in the best interest of your country, she said. Its actually an important political tactic. Largely along partisan lines, the Democratic-led House accused Trump of withholding nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine as he pressured that nations leader to investigate Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who held a directorship for a Ukrainian gas company when his father was vice president. Trump did absolutely nothing wrong, his legal team wrote in a brief last week. Although Trump sought the investigation, the team argues that there is no evidence he linked his request for an investigation of Biden to military aid. His actions were constitutional, perfectly legal, completely appropriate and taken in furtherance of our national interest, according to his lawyers. The impeachment is a sham and a charade, they say. Hearing all the voices Dina Cortez used to be a Democrat. The 48-year-old former commodities trader who was raised in Edinburg in the heavily Democratic Rio Grande Valley grew more conservative as an adult. It started with reflecting on her Catholic faith during the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case in the early 2000s. Now, living in Shavano Park, she lets faith drive her politics, particularly on life issues. Trump wasnt her guy for president in 2016; U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was. She voted for Trump because she couldnt bring herself to vote for a Democrat and thus support that partys platform. She now thinks of Trump as a pragmatist whose business acumen has served him well. She knows people disapprove of his style, and some have told her it makes them consider whether Democrats may have a point. She cant shake the feeling that Democrats were on a mission from the very beginning to impeach him. For subscribers: Houston gets hotter in 2020 with up to 11 competitive Texas House races They were trying to catch him on anything and everything. Their intention was never to be fair. It was to catch him and thats it, she said. After being too busy to watch the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, shes watching the Trump trial to hear the cases the Democrats make. More than that, she wants to see how Republicans defend the president. Trump had a much tougher go if it at the Houston Womens Group, whose members have been waiting three years for someone to put him in check. If anything, the say impeachment is a stamp of approval for their long-simmering outrage. Christine Cadiz said her feelings about Trump stem from the male-centric culture she grew up with as a child from Trinidad, a small country off the coast of Venezuela. Her father was stern and dominant, her mother submissive. I just saw a lot of patriarchy and how that was affecting my life. Trump is the epitome of that patriarchy and so damaging and so oppressive of women Cadiz said. She said thats why it disappoints her that her brother, a police officer, likes Trump. He wasnt always right wing, she said. Now, she said, he picks political fights with her, but she no longer takes the bait. Its not that she wishes the Republican Party didnt exist, but she thinks the party needs a cleansing. She wants intellectual political debates on a balanced stage. Politics in America feels off-kilter, she said, likening Democrats and the president to a college professor debating with a 10-year-old bully. Hes getting lots and lots of attention because the fight is so absurd. Cadiz has hope that people are moving off the sidelines to engage in politics. Thats what theyre doing in the weekly meeting group, she said, and at womens marches. I think we should be really gung-ho at this point and pay attention to all the activism, all the voices. Everybody is doing something, and Im excited about that. The womens groups Williams, who identifies most with the Green Party, said she gave Trump a chance to earn her respect and that he failed. She said shes not patriotic but wants to make this a better place. She reads and watches and listens to the news, volunteers for Results.org, which works to end poverty, and gives her time to Health Care for All Texas. She leaves her home in Sunnyside to drive with those groups to Washington, D.C., to talk issues with her local congressmen, pushing for change. But she fears Trump, his macho nonsense and his willful ignorance. Hes a child at the steering wheel, she said. Shes afraid he could take the country to war and that education, health care and issues affecting women are under assault. Theres war against the poor, she said, against indigenous people, against black people, against the environment and against clean air and clean drinking water. There are some arguments where having all the facts on your side still isnt good enough, and a lot of Trump supporters are like that, she said. But she doesnt want to personalize it, she said. She wants to give people the facts. The idea of acknowledging a quid pro quo first surfaced in the Senate this past fall, as more than a dozen current and former Trump administration officials testified to House impeachment investigators that they believed a White House meeting and $391 million in congressionally appropriated money were being withheld to pressure Ukraine. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) told his colleagues in a private late-October meeting that by admitting the act occurred, Republicans could then argue that Trump did not have criminal intent, or perhaps that he even had a legitimate reason to ask for those probes. A graphic designer has illustrated what she believes famous historical figures would have looked like if they were alive today in a remarkable series of images. Becca Saladin, 29, from Dallas, Texas, started working on the project back in February 2019, and has seen it quickly grow in popularity. Sharing the original portraits along with the modern interpretations to her Instagram account, @royalty_now_, Becca now has more than 31,000 followers. Each post is inundated with thousands of likes, with modern depictions of Mona Lisa, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra all proving to be fan favourites. Speaking to FEMAIL, Becca, who creates the images through photo editing and digital painting techniques, said: 'The reaction happened very quickly and it's been very exciting! Graphic designer Becca Saladin, 29, from Dallas, Texas, creates modern interpretations of historical figures. Pictured: Anne Boleyn in the 16th century, seen left, and the former Queen of England in an adapted portrait, right Mona Lisa's iconic portrait, pictured left, and right, the young woman captured as how she would look like today, according to Becca A portrait of Henry VIII in the 16th century, compared to his modern day portrait, which was created by the Dallas-based graphic designer 'The most rewarding part is when someone reaches out to me and says they've used a piece in the classroom to make history come alive for students. 'A lot of people reach out just to say how interesting they find it and how it makes history feel closer to them, which is exactly my goal. She explained: 'My purpose really is to keep people's passion for history alive and show them that humans from the past faced the same struggles and triumphs we do today.' A bust by 16th century artist Andrea Ferrucci depicting Roman dictator Julius Caesar, pictured left, and Becca's modern-day interpretation of the military general, right A picture of Abraham Lincoln capturing the American President in the 19th century, seen left, and Becca's depiction of what the former lawyer would look like today, right Becca admitted that her design of Cleopatra (pictured right) was the most difficult as there were many differing descriptions. Pictured left: A bust of Cleopatra Becca uses photo manipulation and digital painting techniques to create her modern-day portraits - first finding similar-looking stock images before adding the face of the historical figure. She said: 'It's easy when I have a realistic portrait to work from, such as Henry VIII or others that clearly show the original hair and eye colour. Contemporary descriptions also help. 'The challenge is in the portrait busts that I create - specifically Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, for example. A bust of Alexander the Great (pictured left), who carved out a vast empire when king of Macedonia from 336 to 323 BC. From her research, Becca imagines he would appear as a blond, curly-haired adult (right) in today's society Another European royal which features in Becca's project is King Louis XV of France (pictured left in a portrait from the 18th century, and right, in the graphic designer's series) 'We just don't have a lot of information on hair, eye and skin colours on many of them, or the reports are conflicting. 'I do a lot of online research before I create - and some of that involves making an artistic decision at the end of the day if we don't have enough information.' Becca added: 'I just created Cleopatra because she is one of my most requested subjects, but we don't have much information on her looks. A bust of Nefertiti, one of ancient Egypt's most influential Queens, pictured left, and right, in a modern-day interpretation A statue of Agrippina the Younger (seen left), a Roman empress in the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and Becca's illustration of the young woman (pictured right) 'Even the information we do have, scholars still bitterly debate. Some of them involve making an artistic call, but at the end of the day I try to remain as historically accurate as possible.' Becca said her skills have improved 'immensely' since she started her account and revealed how she is looking forward to adding new content to her page. She said: 'I'm working on more diversity for the page in terms of rulers from all around the world - not just Europe and Egypt - to make sure my work remains exciting and accessible to my followers around the world. 'I have improved my own skills immensely since the inception of the account, which is fun for me.' In Canada, Blown Away (10 x 30) the hit Netflix Original competitive show about glass-blowing, created and produced by Distribution360s parent company, marblemedia , has been licensed to Bell Media for its Z-Tele French-language channel. Also in Canada, Rogers Media/SCN has licensed Innovation Nation (6 x 30). Produced by Partners in Motion, the series travels the globe to look at the scientific discoveries shaping our planet.In the US, Court TV Mystery (has picked up two true-crime titles; long-running true-crime series Crime Stories (76 x 60) which examines some of North Americas most horrifying crimes, tracking every detail of each dramatic criminal investigation right through to conviction, and 13 Seconds: The Kent State Shootings (1 x 60), which chronicles the events of May 4, 1970 in Ohio where a campus anti-war protest got out of hand, leaving four dead and many injured. Both titles were produced by Partners in Motion.Distribution360 has also finalised a package of 40 hours with Vobile in China, comprising Crime Stories (18 x 60); Legend Hunters (9 x 60), which looks for the truth behind real-life mysteries; Terror in the Woods (8 x 60), a Wild Dreams Films production examining paranormal encounters in the wild; plus Britains Ultimate Pilots: Inside the RAF (4 x 60) and Red Arrows Inside the Bubble (1 x 60) both from Archie Productions. Meanwhile, Phoenix TV in Hong Kong has acquired Londons Modern Buildings, the 5 x 30 series created by Zatzu Media.Finally, in Europe, Towercom in Slovakia has picked up season one of Flying Cork Medias Tomorrows World Today (11 x 30), which examines how pioneers are using technology to create a more sustainable society, Russias Kontent has taken Innovation Nation (6 x 30), while the AG Rubin Group, also in Russia, has committed to Puppy SOS (13 x 30) the puppy behaviour programme from White Iron Pictures.Continued strong interest in true-crime, paranormal, and technology - particularly where it relates to future sustainability - has driven many of these new deals, said Diane Rankin, Distribution360s SVP rights commenting on the deals.With the input of our international expertise and this market demand, we are supporting new development from marblemedia that also falls into these popular genres, plus others including history, and we look forward to discussing our new slate of projects with buyers next week in New Orleans. Well also be on the hunt for similar premium factual concepts from producers, for development and future international market launches. Detransitioner joins legal challenge against UK gender clinic, says trans medicalization 'torturous and unnecessary' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A British woman, who was given hormone blockers and opposite sex hormones as part of a gender transition, is suing the clinic that gave her the drugs, arguing she was medically harmed. As reported by the U.K. Times, Keira Bell, 23, a female who is among the increasingly visible chorus of what are known as "detransitioners" persons who once lived and identified as transgender and underwent experimental medical regimens to alter their bodies and now regret it is mounting a legal challenge against the lone gender clinic in the U.K., the Tavistock and Portman National Health Service Trust in London. Bell, who was given the puberty-suppressing drugs and cross-sex hormones during her mid-teens, now says she found the experience of gender-transitioning traumatic and that the clinic's approach to treating children is not lawful because the risks are not adequately explained and minors are incapable of giving consent to such interventions. She now very seriously regrets the process and feels that the way it was handled and her involvement in it was not appropriate, Bell's lawyer, Jeremy Hyam, told the U.K.'s highest court last week during the hearing. Bell said in a statement after the proceedings concluded that she does not believe "that children and young people can consent to the use of powerful and experimental hormone drugs like I did. "The treatment needs to change so that it does not put young people, like me, on a torturous and unnecessary path that is permanent and life-changing. Bell, who is currently an unemployed IT engineer from Cambridge, has become the most prominent claimant in a case now being adjudicated as to whether young people can give consent to such life and body-altering medical practices amid ongoing and intensifying debate over transgender ideology, particularly as it relates to medical care and the Gender Recognition Act. The case was brought about by a former Tavistock employee, psychiatric nurse Sue Evans, who blew the whistle on the clinic's internal practices. Evans and others, such as former Gender Identity Development Service-Leeds psychologist Kirsty Entwistle, have publicly expressed alarm about the troubling practices within the clinic, namely, the speed with which young people were being referred for hormone blockers and telling families that the treatments were "fully reversible" when, in fact, long-term side effects of the drugs remain unknown. Another claimant to the case is an unnamed mother of a child whose identities will continue to remain anonymous per court order presently awaiting assessment at Tavistock but is opposed to its clinical approach. In the past decade, the number of referrals of boys and girls for the treatment of gender dysphoria has grown exponentially, which led to a formal inquiry in 2018. Data at the time showed that from the years 2009-2010 to 2017-2018, referrals rose more than 4000 percent, a figure that disproportionately impacted young girls. Those numbers continue to rise. According to the U.K. trans-critical website TransgenderTrend, the number of girls referred to gender clinics increased by 6 percent in 2019. While the rise may seem small, each years percentage rise is based on a much larger base number each consecutive year. "In 2009/10 there were 32 girls and 40 boys referred to Tavistock GIDS. In 2011/12 the sex ratio reversed and the gap between boys and girls has continued to widen year on year ever since. The total number of referrals for 2018/19 in England alone is 624 boys and 1,740 girls. In less than a decade there has been a 1,460% increase in referrals of boys and a staggering 5,337% increase in girls," the site noted in a June 2019 post. Across the Atlantic Ocean, bills are now being introduced and considered in several U.S. state legislatures, most notably in South Dakota, to make the medicalized gender transitioning of minors a criminal offense. Meanwhile, teen detransitioners have been taking to YouTube to share how trans-affirmative therapies and drugs harmed their bodies and altered their psyches. My puberty was medicalized, recounted Elle Palmer, a detransitioner in an interview last week with transgender YouTube personality Blaire White. From a young age, I dealt with mental health problems that ultimately put me on a path of trying to fix myself to figure out what was wrong with me. Among her most significant of regrets Palmer said she had was the permanent deepening of her voice and the growth of facial hair due to taking testosterone. In October, Sky News reported on the growing number of such detransitioners who are seeking to desist and return to their biological sex. Charlie Evans, a female detransitioner and founder of the Detransition Advocacy Network, told the network that she has heard from "hundreds" of people who regret their transition, mostly females who are same-sex attracted, many in their twenties, and many are often autistic. Heavy armed forces deployed in Odishas Malkangiri after villagers killed Maoist India oi-PTI Malkangiri, Jan 27: The cut-off area in Odisha's Malkangiri district turned into a fortress with a huge deployment of armed forces on Monday, two days after villagers killed a Maoist and left another injured for attacking them for supporting development activities in the region. The unprecedented security arrangement was put in place to boost the morale of the villagers, who, for the first time, dared to challenge Maoists in their den. Maoists had threatened the villagers to observe Republic Day as "Black Day", which was rejected by the locals who held the ultras responsible for no development in the area. Maoist killed in encounter in Odisha The cut-off area under Chitrakonda block of Malkangiri, which is encircled by the Balimela reservoir from three sides and has a dense forest connecting Andhra Pradesh on another side, was considered as a den of Maoists ever since they spread their network in the mid 1990s. The people in the region earlier used to support the Maoists out of fear, but now they have found the courage to face them due to deployment of forces after the construction of the Gurupriya bridge, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police (SP) RD Khilari said. Security personnel belonging to the Border Security Force (BSF), Odisha's elite commandos of the SOG (Special Operation Group) and the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) were deployed in large numbers in the four villages of Jodamba, Janturai, Sindibeda and Tikarpada and the combing operation was intensified in the area, a senior police officer said. Besides the SP, Malkangiri District Collector Manish Agarwal and other senior district-level officers rushed to Janturai village, where a Maoist was killed and another left seriously injured by villagers on Saturday night. Top maoist commander involved in BJP MLAs killing eliminated in Chhattisgarh Agarwal said security was beefed up in Jodamba, Janturai, Sindibeda and Tikarpada villages to foil any retaliatory attack by Maoists. The collector also announced that the state government will provide financial assistance to the 10 families of Jodamba, whose houses were damaged by Maoists following the killing of the ultra. The deceased Maoist was identified as Ganga Madhi of the Kalimela area and the injured as Jipra Hatrika of Narayanpatna. Both were members of the Gumma Area Committee. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 9:43 [IST] D avid Walliams took some time off from preparing to host the National Television Awards for the first time to hilariously mock his friends Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell. The Britains Got Talent judge, who is also nominated in the TV Judge and Best Talent categories during tonight's (January 28) ceremony, appeared to be taking style tips from his fellow judges in a string of images posted on his Instagram. In the photos, the comedian, 48, dressed up as his fellow panellists Cowell, Holden and Alesha Dixon in an effort to kick off the annual TV's event. In costume as Cowell, Walliams sported his white shirt unbuttoned in the style of the 60-year-old music mogul and also wore the head judges famous aviator sunglasses. Elsewhere he impersonated Holden, 48, with a bedazzled pink dress with a plunging neckline and honey-blonde wig. For former Mis-Teeq member Dixon, he tied his wig half up, half down and posed in a sequinned gold dress. Television stars will be out in force tonight, as the NTAs will take place at London's O2 Arena. After hitting the red carpet, celebs will head into the ceremony to find out who has been victorious this year, and contenders include Ant and Dec (who are going for a record-breaking win) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Waller-Bridges Fleabag has received a nod in the comedy category, while drama series Killing Eve is also nominated. Jodie Comer is also up for Best Drama Performance for her depiction of assassin Villanelle in the BBC thriller. Walliams is stepping up to host the awards for the first time after Dermot OLeary, who held the position for nine years, announced last year he was stepping down from hosting duties. Standard Online will be bringing you all the latest pictures and updates from the red carpet at 5pm. Missed the most recent top news in San Diego? Read on for everything you need to know. Suspected coronavirus case being investigated in San Diego County Health officials said Monday they are investigating the first suspected case of coronavirus in San Diego County. Read the full story on FOX 5 San Diego. Report ranks San Diego as 5th most polluted large metro area in the US San Diego ranked as the fifth most polluted large metro in the U.S., with a median Air Quality Index number of 64, indicating moderate daily air quality. Read the full story on CBS 8 - San Diego News. Man whose face was bitten off by inmate files legal claim with county A former inmate who had a large portion of his face bitten off by a mentally ill inmate says the county of San Diego is liable for the attack. Read the full story on NBC 7 San Diego. Man pleads guilty to murder in San Diego homeless killings A man who killed four people, including three homeless men, and attacked several others throughout San Diego during a spree of attacks in 2016 pleaded guilty Monday to 15 felonies, including four counts of murder, and will be sentenced to more than four consecutive life terms later this year. Read the full story on CBS 8 - San Diego News. SDPD IDs officers involved in fatal shooting of suspect in Oak Park The San Diego Police Department has identified the two officers involved in the fatal shooting of a suspect Friday in Oak Park the officer who fired the fatal shot and the officer who wrestled with the suspect in the moments before the shooting. Read the full story on NBC 7 San Diego. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. By Trend Due to epidemiological situation in China, passengers who have booked tickets for Baku-Beijing-Baku flights to be performed by Azerbaijan Airlines until March 28, 2020 will be able to change the departure date or return the tickets without penalty, Trend reports with reference to the press service of the airlines. For refund tickets, customers may contact sales offices or contact support center via [email protected] and use feedback form on the website in case of online purchase: https://help.azal.az/hc/en-us/requests/new Azerbaijan Airlines temporarily stops operating Baku-Beijing-Baku flights every year in February. The reason is low demand due to holidays in this country. Thus, as in previous years,flights to the Chinese capital will be suspended from February and will be resumed starting from March 8, 2020. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Tuesday prevented by a section of students from attending the Calcutta University's annual convocation at Nazrul Mancha here, following which he left the premises. Dhankhar, who is also the chancellor of the university, said "those that compromised culture and decorum need to be in a reflective mode". Pleading helplessness, Vice-Chancellor Sonali Chakravarty Bandopadhyay later told reporters that "a section of students did not want to receive their degrees in the presence of the honourable governor". Shortly after Dhankhar had arrived at the venue around 12.30 pm, the students, with 'No CAA' and 'No NRC' posters in hand, waved black flags at him and raised 'go back' slogans. The governor headed straight towards the Nazrul Mancha green room, where he met Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee, who was on Tuesday conferred honorary D Litt (honoris causa) by the university. Minutes before the programme started, however, another group of students took to the stage and raised slogans against the governor, this time prompting him to leave the venue around 1.30 pm. The protesters claimed that Dhankhar was "the (BJP- led) Centre's representative, who doesn't deserve to be on the dais for CU's convocation ceremony". The VC, on her part, was seen trying to convince the students to withdraw their agitation. She later announced that the governor had left the venue. She later told reporters that there was a provision in the university statute, which said the VC could preside over a convocation ceremony in the absence of chancellor. "...And we are relieved that the convocation finally got over and we could hand over the citations to our invited dignitaries and academic degrees to students," she said. Taking to Twitter, Dhankhar later shared pictures of his rendezvous with the Nobel laureate and said, "The actions of those who created or stage managed unseemly spectacle would resonate for long in the ears of the cultured people of WB (West Bengal)". "The uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta University without attending the Convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of the immense respect we have for Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on whom we are conferring honorary D Litt (honoris causa)," he tweeted. The governor also showered praises on Abhijit Banerjee and said he was a "man of sterling qualities and disarming grace... greatly touched by his modest approach and depth". Eminent astrophysicist J V Narlikar, who was conferred 'Sir Asutosh Mookerjee Memorial Medal' on the occasion, when asked a question about Tuesday's students' agitation, said, "I will only talk about matters related to academics." Last month, Dhankhar had faced similar protests at Jadavpur University, also during the convocation ceremony. The state government, in December last year, trimmed the governor's powers as the chancellor of universities, notifying a set of new rules governing his interaction with vice chancellors. Under the new rules, the chancellor cannot intervene in the day-to-day affairs of universities, nor can he advise the university officials directly. All communication between the chancellor and senior university officials will also have to be routed through the state's higher department, it mandated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) by Zachary Hanshew | 76ers Correspondent | Tue, Jan 28th 5:52pm EST Joel Embiid will meet with a hand surgeon prior to Tuesday's matchup with Golden State to determine if he will suit up. (Tom Moore on Twitter) Funding for an additional 12 thermal scanners has been expedited through the Ministry of Finance at the behest of the Health Minister, who has said that Malaysia needs to ramp up efforts to monitor potential outbreak threats of the Wuhan coronavirus. Both ministers were able to agree to the request quickly, with Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng agreeing that the devices were necessary to protect public health. I have asked the secretary-general of the Treasury to provide every cooperation for this allocation to be channeled as soon as possible, Lim said in a statement today. Four cases in Malaysia have now been confirmed, with officials trying desperately to contain a possible outbreak on our shores by setting up thermal scanning stations at all of the countrys major entry points. Authorities have stressed that the four cases affecting Chinese nationals in the country are under control. Malaysia has also stopped issuing visas to Wuhan residents and those from the surrounding area seeking travel permits to the country while they try to contain the disease. Health Ministry officials also released a list of 26 hospitals across the country that will provide services to patients under investigation, and those who have been confirmed to be suffering from the virus. Fifteen of those hospitals are on the Malaysian peninsula, while four are in Sabah, six are in Sarawak and one is in Labuan. Confirmed infections have soared to more than 4,500 across China, mainly in Wuhan, which the authorities there have attempted to seal off, along with around 10 other Chinese cities in a bid to contain the virus. More than 50 million people have thus been locked in. Prior to government orders to de facto quarantine the city, 5 million managed to flee Wuhan, mayor Zhou Xianwang told reporters Sunday. Zhou also confessed to withholding information about the outbreak. The novel coronavirus has spread to at least 13 other countries outside of China the first case in Cambodia was confirmed last night a Chinese man from Wuhan who had visited Sihanoukville city earlier this month. Story continues Several nations including France, Thailand and Australia said they would evacuate their citizens from the quarantined Chinese city. China has been rushing to build a hospital in Wuhan to treat coronavirus patients and it is expected to be complete by this week. The SARS-like virus, also known as 2019-nCoV, is a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it also comes from animals, and is believed to have emerged from a now-shuttered market that sold exotic wildlife such as bats. China has temporarily suspended all wildlife trade. The head of the World Health Organization was in Beijing today to discuss the outbreak, days after he said the Wuhan pneumonia virus did not yet constitute a global health emergency due to the limited number of cases abroad. Canada, Germany and France are among countries outside of China with confirmed cases. In other parts of Asia, new cases have been confirmed in Cambodia and Sri Lanka, while Hong Kong now matches Thailand with the most number of confirmed cases eight. This article, More heat scanners to be approved, referral hospitals dealing with virus announced, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters! Great Wall Motors is one of the largest SUV manufacturer in China. They will make their first public showcase in India at the Auto Expo in a few days. GWM has already announced its big Indian debut at Auto Expo 2020 next week. Now, the Chinese brand has announced their highlight for the show. The manufacturer will showcase its Haval Concept H SUV which will make its global debut in India. Alongside the global premier. GWM will also debut its Vision 2025 concept vehicle. Great Wall Motor Co Ltd (GWM) commands a strong position in China as the countrys largest SUV manufacturer. With its entry here, the company will also outline its plans for India. Its Auto Expo portfolio will include a range of Haval SUVs, GWM electric products, and innovations in the area of intelligent safety, connectivity and advanced autonomous systems. The Haval marque, a GWM property, is best known for its wide SUV range. While talks had been ongoing, GWMs entry in India was announced as recently as January 17, 2020 following an agreement to acquire the General Motor Talegaon factory on January 17, 2020. This is a significant step forward considering the manufacturer will not have to wait for the stipulated period it takes to build a modern factory. Acquiring the GM plant is a strategic stepping stone. As the company awaits its grand entry to the Indian automotive market, it looks forward o limitless possibilities, and considers this an important market. GWM looks forward to setting new benchmarks in the Indian automobile industry. GWMs R&D centre is setup in Bangalore. At present, Great Wall Motor operates its sales network in more than 60 countries, and five regional marketing centres in Russia, Australia, South Africa, South America, and the Middle East. Indias largest auto show, Auto Expo will have its highest ever participation from Chinese companies this year. With large number of established Indian car and bike brands opting to not participate, its the Chinese companies like Great Wall Motors, BYD Motors, FAW Haima, Changan Automobile and SAIC Motors Corporation who have come to the rescue. These Chinese automakers have reserved nearly 20 percent of floor space at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh relating to 8,000 sq meters of a total of 40,000 sq meters. Apart from seeing India as a potential market to increase sales, experts cite the increased participation by Chinese companies in India as a way to combat lower sales in their own country; which has fallen for the 17th month in a row in November 2019. ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Location Services, LLC, a premier provider of loss mitigation solutions for the financial services industry, has made several changes to its senior management team. It was announced that Lee McCarty, CEO of Location Services, has decided to retire after 35 years in the auto finance industry. "I am very proud of our leadership team and the company we have created. Most importantly, I am proud of the Location Services team members, who through their commitment and tireless work, helped establish our footprint which now covers 26 states and Guam," said McCarty. Location Services is pleased to announce that Jerry Kroshus, Chief Client Relations Officer, has been named CEO of Location Services effective immediately. Kroshus brings a wealth of industry experience and strong relationships to this role, with more than 30 years in the auto finance industry. Kroshus' prior experience includes CEO of Auto Approve, an auto refinance company he co-founded, President and CEO of PAR North America, and senior leadership roles with HSBC Auto Finance and Citigroup. David Heller of Delaware Street Capital (DSC), the parent company of Location Services, said, "We couldn't be more pleased to have Jerry in the CEO role. He is a highly respected leader in this industry, and he will ensure that our teams service our clients at a high level and continuously deliver top results." Eric Gerdes, President and COO of Location Services will transition into a newly created position within Location Services' Holding Company, working with Delaware Street Capital (DSC). Gerdes joined Location Services in 2018 and has held leadership roles in operations, risk and compliance that were instrumental in the execution of Location Services' acquisition strategy. Location Services also announced that Shawn White, Vice President of Client Relations, will assume the role of COO of Location Services. White joined Location Services in 2017 and has held leadership roles in operations, compliance and client relations. White brings 15 years of experience in the auto finance industry including prior roles as Director of Collections at Exeter Finance and extensive experience at Ally Financial. Kroshus said, "Shawn's diverse experience in different areas of the business makes him uniquely qualified and I could not be more excited to have him in this role." About Location Services Location Services, LLC is owned by Delaware Street Capital (DSC), an investment group that has invested billions of dollars in business acquisitions. DSC provides unprecedented financial strength to Location Services, ensuring Location Services provides efficient, effective and compliant recovery-management and loss-mitigation services and solutions. Location Services offers a full range of auto financial services including recovery, transportation and remarketing services. SOURCE Location Services, LLC Uber Egypt said on Tuesday that it was testing incorporating existing taxi cabs into the ride-hailing services it offers in the country. The service had had success in other markets, Uber said in a statement. Taxis are an integral part of Egypts transportation system, Uber said, adding that the testing is part of its aims to meet the different needs of the Egyptian market, while continuing to create economic opportunities for drivers. The White Taxi Drivers and Owners Association, Egypt's biggest grouping of taxi drivers, said on Tuesday, however, that it was against the move. "Uber wants to take a 17.1 percent commission from white taxi drivers without any additional benefit to the driver, Mahmoud Abdel Hamid, head of the association, told Ahram Online. He said that taxi drivers at present are facing huge financial burdens, from fuel prices to taxes and insurance." Abdel Hamid also revealed to Ahram Online that his association, which includes 7,000 members, is planning to launch an app for riders in March, providing a set of benefits to the taxi drivers, including health insurance. "This app is for taxis only, and we have reached an agreement with the app company to take a percentage from the customer themselves as a commission, and not from the taxi drivers," he said. Uber and [ride-hailing app] Careem have already affected white taxis business in Egypt with the negative press they spread when they entered the market a couple of years ago, and now Uber wants to include us. Careem, which was acquired by Uber earlier this month, already tried to include the taxi drivers a couple of years ago, Abdel Hamid said, but the experience was a failure, such that no one remembers it. "Uber just took over the database of taxi drivers from Careem, he said. According to Abdel Hamid, there are nearly 376,000 taxis in Egypt, and more than 120,000 white taxis in Cairo alone. Uber started operating in Egypt in 2014. Egypt is among Uber's top ten markets globally, with 200,000 active drivers. The company plans to make $100 million in investments in the country over five years, starting in 2019. Search Keywords: Short link: Hong Kong on Jan. 28 announced it will drastically cut cross-border travel from the mainland in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus to the Asian financial hub. All rail links with the mainland will be cut from Friday with the closure of both the high-speed rail station and the regular train station, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in a Tuesday press conference. Flights to and from the mainland will also be halved, cross-border tour buses will be reduced, and cross-border ferries will be stopped. Beijing will also stop issuing tourist visas for mainlanders. The regulations will take effect on midnight Thursday. The measures come amid growing calls from local lawmakers and health experts for a total border shut downwhich North Korea and Mongolia have doneto control the virus spread. The deadly flu-like virus has, according to official figures, infected thousands in mainland China and killed more than a hundred. However, many experts believe the numbers could be far greater. Previously, the Hong Kong government said it would only bar entry to Hubei residents or non-Hong Kong residents who visited the province in the last 14 days. The city currently has eight confirmed cases of the virus. Far eastern Russian regions will also close their borders with China until Feb. 7, Tass news agency said, citing the regional government. Outside of China, cases of the virus have been confirmed in over a dozen countries across Asia and farther afield, with Sri Lanka and Germany the latest countries to be hit. No deaths have been reported overseas. Evacuations A growing list of countries are planning to evacuate their citizens from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. A chartered plane taking out U.S. consulate staff was set to leave Wuhan on Wednesday, a spokeswoman at the U.S. embassy in Beijing said. Japan and South Korea said they would send planes to Wuhan this week to evacuate their citizens. France, Mongolia and other governments also planned evacuations. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, however, said in a meeting with Chinas foreign minister in Beijing on Tuesday, that the body did not advocate for countries to evacuate their citizens from China, according to a statement from the foreign ministry. A WHO panel of 16 independent health experts twice last week declined to declare the outbreak an international health emergency. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) earlier this week expanded their recommendation for people to avoid non-essential travel to any part of China, rather than just Wuhan and other areas most affected by the outbreak. There are currently five confirmed cases in the United States, and the CDC is monitoring more than 100 people across 26 states for the coronavirus. The WHO said only one of 45 confirmed cases in 13 countries outside China involved human-to-human transmission, in Vietnam. But a Japanese official said there was a suspected case of human-to-human transmission there too. Chinese health officials earlier confirmed that the coronavirus is infectious during the incubation stage, which can last up to 14 daysmeaning that it is transmissible even when an infected person is exhibiting no symptoms. The development has raised fueled escalating concerns over the Chinese regimes ability to contain the spread of the outbreak, which has already reached nearly all of China. It has also raised questions about whether current screening measures, focused on measuring body temperature, can adequately detect the disease. The coronavirus family includes the common cold but also more severe illnesses, such as SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The new virus causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath and pneumonia. Although other non-respiratory symptoms, such as diarrhea and chest pains, have been noted in patients in China. The virus is thought to have spread to people from wild animals sold at a Wuhan market. China on Sunday banned trade in wild animals and urged people to stop eating meat from them. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. From The Epoch Times Louth County Council January meeting round up Rainwater harvesting systems Louth County Council has been called upon to approach Irish Water regarding a grant scheme for rainwater harvesting systems. In a motion tabled at the Louth County Council January meeting, Cllr Conor Keelan called on the council to approach Irish Water on such a scheme - one that is currently being tried in other local authorities. Cllr Keelan told the meeting that the grant could be in the form of a credit on metering or a reduction on a connection cost. Narrow Water Bridge Louth County Council has not had any updates on how the planned Narrow Water Bridge will proceed. Cllr Edel Corrigan raised the query, following the news that the project has been included in the New Decade, New Approach Stormont agreement. Chief Executive Joan Martin, said that she believed that a cross border review might need to be carried out, but she was pretty sure the wording in the New Decade, New Approach agreement is the same as was in the Fresh Start agreement. The Narrow Water Bridge project is a plan to construct a new bridge connecting the A2 near Warrenpoint, County Down to the R173 near Omeath in Louth at Narrow Water. As part of the Fresh Start Agreement in 2016, the project was included in a list of infrastructure projects for which cross-border funding would be made available. The project is one of a number of infrastructure projects for which councillors sought an update on at the January meeting. Park and Share facility Cllr Marianne Butler sought an update on the progress on the Park and Share facility off Junction 16 of the M1 Motorway in Dundalk. The meeting was told that a decision is due on the Part 8 planning application in February. N53 upgrade Cllr Tomas Sharkey raised the planned N53 upgrade and sought a timeline on when the preferred route report would be ready. Senior Engineer John O'Hagan told the meeting that one was due before the end of the second quarter of 2020. Anti-social behaviour Cllr Pio Smith raised the issue of anti-social behaviour in local authority housing in relation to drug dealing, and queried what communications there has been with An Garda Siochana on the matter. In response, Director of Services Paddy Donnelly, told the meeting that the council is engaged with the Gardai but can only act when a case has been proven through the courts. The council is then required to go through a number of procedures. Mr Donnelly added that Louth County Council is currently dealing with one such case. Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Cllr John McGahon raised the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan scheme at the meeting, and suggested that a walk-in clinic might help applicants. Cllr McGahon said that applications were lengthy and once submitted, applicants were waiting ages then for a response. In response, Cllr McGahon was told that the team who deal with the process do indeed offer a drop-in clinic and that it was a feature of what the Council does. Delivery of social housing Cllr Joanna Byrne raised the council's delivery of social housing at the January meeting. Cllr Byrne pointed to the council's target for the delivery of 520 homes in 2019, and the actual delivery of 324 houses, and asked if the balance would arrive in 2020. In response, Cllr Byrne was told that the target will be achieved over three years. Land banks Cllr Ruairi O Murchu sought an update on the land banks owned by Louth County Council. The meeting was told that the council was receiving options on the land banks and were dealing with it on a weekly basis. The International Space Station (ISS) is taking a big step toward increased commercial use. NASA has picked Houston-based company Axiom Space to build at least one habitable private module that will be attached to the orbiting lab, the space agency announced Monday (Jan. 27). NASA hopes the Axiom module helps spur the growth of an off-Earth economy, one that eventually extends far beyond the ISS in both time and space. Related: Low-Earth Orbit Commercialization Studies Show Wide Range of Markets and Demand "Axiom's work to develop a commercial destination in space is a critical step for NASA to meet its long-term needs for astronaut training, scientific research and technology demonstrations in low-Earth orbit, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement . "We are transforming the way NASA works with industry to benefit the global economy and advance space exploration," he added. "It is a similar partnership that this year will return the capability of American astronauts to launch to the space station on American rockets from American soil." Bridenstine was referring in that last sentence to NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which has funded the development of two private crew capsules, SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner . The agency is counting on these homegrown astronaut taxis to end American reliance on Russian Soyuz rockets and spacecraft to get folks to and from the ISS. Bridenstine has stressed that NASA wants to be just one of many customers for Starliner and Crew Dragon. The agency's vision is similar for these vehicles' destinations: If all goes according to plan, a variety of private companies, university groups and other customers will take advantage of the ISS and other outposts that eventually set up shop in Earth orbit. These other outposts are key, for the ISS won't last forever. Indeed, the station is currently funded only through 2024 (though operations could end up being extended through 2028, or perhaps even later). Axiom aims to build and operate its own space station in the near future, as do several other companies, including Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace. Bigelow already has some hardware attached to the ISS the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which arrived at the orbiting lab in April 2016 to validate the company's expandable habitat technology for crewed in-space use. BEAM has performed very well during its nearly four years in orbit, NASA officials have said, and the agency plans to keep it on the station (and use it for storage) through the late 2020s . The Axiom module will be affixed to the ISS' Node 2 forward port, NASA officials said. The main goal is to demonstrate the module's commercial potential and aid the transition toward greater private use of the orbiting lab a key agency priority and the final frontier in general. Axiom's winning proposal was submitted in response to a call via Appendix I of NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) 2 Broad Agency Announcement, which offered companies the use of ISS utilities and a port. "NASA and Axiom next will begin negotiations on the terms and price of a firm-fixed-price contract with a five-year base performance period and a two-year option," NASA officials wrote in the same statement. "Because commercial destinations are considered a key element of a robust economy in low-Earth orbit, NASA also plans to issue a final opportunity to partner with the agency in the development of a free-flying, independent commercial destination," they added. "Through these combined efforts to develop commercial destinations, NASA is set to meet its long-term needs in low-Earth orbit well beyond the life of the station." Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook . Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Just hours after the CEO of the manufacturing company that exploded on Jan. 24 pledged to repair damaged homes, he took it back. To correct comments I made earlier today, no claims process has been established at this time, John Watson said in an email through a spokesperson to the Chronicle. Who is at fault and who will pay for damages cannot be determined at this early stage. Houstons mayor and others say they will work to provide assistance to residents whose homes were damaged after a massive explosion at a warehouse that killed two workers and injured 20 others. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Saturday walked through the impacted neighborhoods in northwest Houston and spoke with residents who were cleaning up after Fridays explosion. Cleanup and repair efforts continued Sunday. These peoples lives have been devastated by the Houston explosion. We are not going to forget about them, Turner said. The explosion happened about 4:30 a.m. Friday inside a building at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing, which makes valves and provides thermal-spray coatings for equipment in various industries, authorities said. Employees Frank Flores and Gerardo Castorena were killed. In a statement released Saturday, Castorenas family said, Its with a heavy heart that we had to say goodbye to a loving father, son, brother, and friend yesterday morning. We do ask for privacy as we grieve during this time. Thank you all to those for your kind words and support as we get through this difficult time. Authorities say an additional 20 people were injured two other warehouse workers and 18 others from neighboring homes and businesses. The explosions cause is being investigated. More than 200 homes in surrounding neighborhoods were damaged as the force of the blast shattered windows, knocked down ceilings, bent garage doors and moved some homes off their foundations. Dozens of volunteers were out helping residents on Saturday. More than 80 of the volunteers were from Restore Houston, a network of area churches dedicated to assisting families whose homes were damaged from flooding during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Well be doing some work on homes, boarding up windows, tarping some roofs, but more importantly well be loving on our neighbors and making sure they are aware that they are not alone in this, Josef Klam, a pastor with Chapelwood United Methodist Church, told the Houston Chronicle. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah should have Sharjeel Imam, the former JNU student accused of spouting anti-India venom at the Shaheen Bagh protest, arrested instead of making unflattering political statements on the issue.Sharjeel advocated separating Assam from the country. It is a very serious issue. For him (Shah) to ask if I stand with Sharjeel or not (at a campaign rally) is nothing but crass politics. Being the home minister, it is his duty to have him arrested. It has been two days since he made the remark. Whats keeping him from arresting Sharjeel? Is he trying to play dirty politics on the issue? Kejriwal tweeted on Monday. The BJP has built its poll campaign around national issues, topping which is the citizenship law. Spearheading the campaign, Shah has been targeting Kejriwal for standing with anti-India elements. At a recent campaign event, the home minister even accused the CM of speaking the same language as Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. While backing the Shaheen Bagh protesters, the CM termed the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act frivolous and said his party would push along with his development narrative.BJP doesnt want to restore traffic movement on that road. It is indulging in dirty politics. Amit Shah should talk to Shaheen Bagh protesters to open the stretch, Kejriwal tweeted. EU to take on emissions with 'Fit for 55' Explained: What EU resolution on CAA means for India? India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Jan 27: A group of the European Union has proposed a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act and urged the Indian government to consider their demands to repeal it. A total of 626 of the 751 members of the EU Parliament have denounced not only the CAA but also the issue of Kashmir in its draft resolution. The resolution is likely to be debated in the European Parliament in Brussels next Wednesday and voted on the day after. But what exactly do these resolutions mean for India? Here is a brief explainer. What the 6 resolutions say? Six European Union (EU)who have passed resolution include the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) (PPE), Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D), European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR), Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance (Verts/ALE), European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) Group and Renew Europe Group (Renew). Entirely internal: India expresses reservation as EU lawmakers move Anti-CAA resolutions The resolution says the new act makes a dangerous shift in the way citizenship will be determined in India and is set to create the largest statelessness crisis in the world and cause immense human suffering. Instead of addressing the concerns, offering corrective action, calling for security forces to act with restraint and ensuring accountability, many government leaders have been engaging in efforts to discredit, rebuke and threaten the protesters, the resolution alleges. Impact of the resolutions If passed, the resolution may increase pressure on the Indian government at a time when the government is facing protests across the country and abroad, including key European Union (EU) members such as Germany. The EU is unhappy with the handling of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the citizenship law and the NRC implementation in Assam. Impact on India-EU relations The diplomatic backlash by the European lawmakers against India comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Brussels for the India-EU summit in March. The European Union may raise the issue during Modi's visit to the country. The EU has already expressed concern about the situation in Kashmir and it had also cancelled foreign delegates visit the valley. Reports stated that some EU Ambassadors didn't want to be part of the group of envoys visiting Kashmir as they felt "certain restrictions in the programme were unfounded and mischievous". Earlier it was reported that certain European envoys were not keen on a "guided tour" of the region and rather wanted to meet the people and interact with them. India's largest trading partner, EU accounts for 92 billion euros worth of trade in goods in 2018 or 12.9 per cent of total Indian trade. The union is also a key source of inward FDI, which was worth 5 billion euros in 2014. How has India reacted? India has said the CAA was an entirely internal matter of India and that the legislation was adopted through democratic means after a debate in both houses of Parliament. "Every society that fashions a pathway to naturalisation contemplates both a context and criteria. This is not discrimination. In fact, European societies have followed the same approach," a government source said, explaining why India is opposed to the resolutions at the EU parliament. New Delhi also hoped that the "sponsors and supporters" of the resolutions will engage with the government to get a full and accurate assessment of facts before they proceed further, the sources said. 'May create largest statelessness crisis: Draft resolution on CAA in EU The beneficiaries of the new legislation are the oppressed minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan. India is facing a major backlash with opposition parties, civil rights groups and activists saying granting citizenship based on religion is against the foundational principle of the Constitution. By ANI JEHANABAD: Jehanabad Police on Tuesday detained Muzammil Imam, the younger brother of, JNU student and one of the coordinators of the Shaheen Bagh protests, Sharjeel Imam. Muzammil was detained by the police team in the wee hours of Tuesday. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Sunday booked Imam, the co-ordinator of Shaheen Bagh protests, for his controversial "cut off Assam from India" speech that he allegedly made a few days ago. Imam has been slapped with charges of sedition and inciting enmity between communities under Sections 124A, 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Separately, a case has been registered against Imam by Uttar Pradesh Police for his controversial speech delivered during the students' protest at Aligarh Muslim University on January 16 against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). ALSO READ: Central agencies raid activist Sharjeel Imam's house in Patna, detain relatives Assam Police too registered an FIR against Imam for allegedly inciting people by making a provocative speech. A series of videos have gone viral on social media in which Imam is heard saying: "If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannot do it permanently, then at least for one to two months, we can do this." "It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. When this happens, only then the government will listen to us," he is heard saying further in the video. WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA and several partners announced Tuesday they have renamed a key ocean observation satellite launching this fall in honor of Earth scientist Michael Freilich, who retired last year as head of NASA's Earth Science division, a position he held since 2006. NASA along with ESA (European Space Agency), the European Commission (EC), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) made the announcement during a special event at the agency's headquarters. "This honor demonstrates the global reach of Mike's legacy," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "We are grateful for ESA and the European partners' generosity in recognizing Mike's lifelong dedication to understanding our planet and improving life for everyone on it. Mike's contributions to NASA and to Earth science worldwide have been invaluable, and we are thrilled that this satellite bearing his name will uncover new knowledge about the oceans for which he has such an abiding passion." The Sentinel-6A/Jason CS satellite, scheduled to launch this fall from Vandenberg Air Force base in California, will now be known as Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. The mission aims to continue high precision ocean altimetry measurements in the 2020/2030 timeframe using two identical satellites launching five years apart Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich and Sentinel-6B. NASA and its partners are developing the mission with support from the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France's space agency. ESA is developing the new Sentinel family of missions specifically to support the operational needs of the European Union's Copernicus program, the EU's Earth observation program managed by the European Commission. They will replace older satellites nearing the end of their operational lifespan to ensure there are no gaps in ongoing land, atmosphere and ocean monitoring, as well as introduce new monitoring capabilities. "Together with other missions of the European Union's Earth Observation Programme Copernicus, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will contribute to improved knowledge and understanding of the role of the ocean in climate change and for mitigation and adaptation policies in coastal areas," said Mercedes Garcia Perez, head of the Global Issues and Innovation of the European Union Delegation to the United States. "It will have a large societal impact worldwide as it supports applications in the area of operational oceanography including ship routing, support for off-shore and other marine industries, fisheries, and responses to environmental hazards. This new satellite within the Copernicus constellation will be an additional tool for implementing the European Green Deal to transition the EU to a carbon neutral economy." A secondary objective of the Sentinel-6 mission is to collect high-resolution vertical profiles of temperature, using the Global Navigation Satellite Sounding Radio-Occultation sounding technique, which derives atmospheric information from analyses of signals from international Global Positioning System satellites. Sentinel-6 measurements of temperature changes in the troposphere and stratosphere will be used by weather agencies worldwide to improve the accuracy of global forecasts produced by their complex, state-of-the-art computer models. The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite also will continue the existing 28-year data set of sea level changes measured from space. Before his retirement, Freilich was instrumental in advancing the collaborative mission to a critical stage of development and helping to strengthen its essential international partnerships. "This mission demonstrates what the United States and Europe can achieve as equal partners in such a large space project. Our suggestion to rename the mission to 'Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich' is an expression of how thankful we are to Mike. Without him, this mission as it is today would not have been possible," said Josef Aschbacher, ESA director of Earth Observation Programmes. Freilich's career as an oceanographer spanned nearly four decades and integrated research on Earth's oceans, leading satellite mission development, and helping to train and inspire the next generation of scientific leaders. His training was in ocean physics, but his vision encompasses the full spectrum of Earth's dynamics. "Earth Science shows perhaps more than any other discipline how important partnership is to the future of this planet," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for Science. "Mike exemplifies the commitment to excellence, generosity of spirit and unmatched ability to inspire trust that made so many people across the world want to advance big goals on behalf of our planet and all its people by working with NASA. The fact that ESA and the European partners have given him this unprecedented honor demonstrates that respect and admiration." During Freilich's NASA tenure, the agency increased the pace of Earth science mission launches and in 2014 alone sent five missions to space to study our home planet. The missions balanced many objectives from research to applications and technology development activities. Freilich also led NASA's response to the National Academy of Sciences' first-ever Earth Science and Applications from Space decadal survey in 2007, which expanded NASA's innovative Earth-observing programs and continues to guide the agency's global Earth observation efforts. "My NOAA colleagues and I enthusiastically support renaming Sentinel-6A after Mike," said Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "This is a fitting honor for a man who helped transform space-based Earth observation and has brought together the best contributions from our global Earth science community to improve our collective understanding of how our planet is changing." NOAA uses data from missions such as Sentinel-6 in a variety of ways, from monitoring the rate of global sea-level rise to producing more accurate weather forecasts. Freilich also established the sustained Venture-Class program of low-cost space and airborne science missions that is now a central feature of the NASA Earth Science Division's portfolio. He pioneered the broad use of the International Space Station as a platform for Earth-observing instruments, a unique observing platform for the Earth system. Unlike many of the traditional Earth observation platforms, the space station orbits Earth in an inclined equatorial orbit that is not sun-synchronous. This means the space station passes over locations between 52 degrees north and 52 degrees south latitude at different times of day and night, and under varying illumination conditions. This is particularly important for collecting imagery of unexpected natural hazard and disaster events such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, flooding and tsunamis, as well as for cross-calibrating other satellites in sun-synchronous polar orbits. Freilich also inaugurated a NASA activity to use data products from private sector, small-satellite constellations and commercial partners to supplement traditional government data sources. Under Freilich's leadership, NASA looked at new ways to carry out its critical mission and established cutting-edge programs to use small satellites and payloads hosted on commercial satellites to advance Earth science research and to demonstrate new technologies. All told, during Freilich's time at NASA Headquarters, he oversaw 16 successful major mission and instrument launches and eight CubeSat/small-satellite launches. The agency's Earth Science Division has 14 Earth-observing missions in development for launch by 2023, which includes eight major hosted instruments on other nations' satellites. NASA uses the unique vantage point of space and suborbital platforms to better understand Earth as an interconnected system for societal benefit. The agency also develops new technologies and approaches to observe and study Earth with long-term data records, research, modeling, and computer analysis tools to quantify how our planet is changing. NASA shares this knowledge with the global community, including managers and policymakers domestically and internationally to understand and protect our home planet. For more information about NASA's Earth science activities, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/earth SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked central government over the issue of unemployment and stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn't even speak about it. Addressing a rally in Rajasthan's capital, Gandhi scion said, "Prime Minister Modi had promised two crore jobs, but last year our youth lost one crore jobs. Wherever Prime Minister goes he talks of CAA, NRC but the biggest issue of unemployment is not mentioned, PM doesn't even speak a word on it." He also invoked the issue of demonetisation in his address. "Even today ask an eight-year-old, did demonetisation benefit you or harm you? A child will say harm. Earlier we were competing with China but now sadly, China has left us far behind. The whole world knows if there is anyone who can rival China, it is India's youth", Gandhi said. Rahul Gandhi arrived in Rajasthan earlier today to address the party's Yuva Aakrosh rally being held at Ram Niwas Bagh in Jaipur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The Purdue University Senate Equity and Diversity Committee proposed several resolutions at it's January meeting. The first one discussed would put free sanitary products in all campus women's and gender neutral bathrooms. The plan is to convert all the pay dispensaries so that female students wouldn't have to pay for their menstruation needs. There was also discussion about putting out baskets of free products. Professor Audrey Ruple is the head of the Senate's Equity and Diversity Committee. She said it would cost $20 to $70 to convert all 450 dispensaries on campus, bringing the total cost to about $30,000. "Considering it's a sanitary product just like a hygienic product like toilet paper, it doesn't really make sense that we would toilet paper but not provide sanitary products," she said. The Psychological Sciences building already provides free sanitary products in its bathrooms. She said during her speech that they only pay about $27 a month on stocking supplies. Students said they would be in full support of this effort. "I think it's a good idea especially because there are so many buildings there's a lot going on and just making sure that everyone is going to be take care of," said sophomore Vanshika Ramesh. "Not everyone can afford it especially in university," added Anjali Murali, also a sophomore. "You're already paying for books and tuition and maybe a dorm or an apartment and those expenses add up." The official vote on this resolution will happen at the February meeting. ______ The Equity and Diversity Committee is also looking to allow students to mark their gender with an "x" on all university forms. This would put Purdue on par with the state. Indiana became the 6th state to offer non-specific gender options for licenses and ID's. This change happened in March of last year. "This is telling Purdue's non-binary students that they are accepted for how they identify," said Ruple. The resolution specifies that this "x" option would be available on all physical or electronic forms for the university, which includes forms for both students, faculty and staff. This resolution will also be officially voted on in February. _______ One resolution proposed by the committee tonight was passed unanimously without a second reading. This resolution deals with basic needs security, which means food and housing insecurity. The resolution allows professors to put a statement on their syllabus urging students dealing with these issues to contact the Dean of Students for support. On campus resources include the ACE food pantry located on campus. The American Association of Colleges and Universities found that 61% of students at four-year institutions struggles with food/housing insecurity or even homelessness in 2018. Dr. Katie Sermersheim from the Dean of Students office spoke at the meeting, saying she and her colleagues support this effort. This resolution will now head to the Board of Trustees for final approval. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave its go-ahead to the National Tiger Conservation Authoritys (NTCA) project for the re-introduction of the African cheetah in MPs Kuno wildlife sanctuary, which was earlier identified for translocation of Asiatic lions from Gujarats Gir forests. Giving go-ahead to a long-pending project, a bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant constituted a three-member committee comprising Ranjit Singh, wildlife expert, Dhananjai Mohan, director, Wildlife Institute of India and DIG (Wildlife), MoEF, that would monitor the project. The committee to be headed by the Ranjit Singh will monitor the implementation of the project and report to the top court on its progress every four months. I will die a happy man said wildlife veteran Ranjit Singh soon after apex court passed the order clearing the way for the start of a project, which Singh said would start with National Tiger Conservation Authority undertaking a survey. The court was told by the NTCA that African cheetah that would come from Namibia an offer pending for a long time and alive would be introduced on an experimental basis in a carefully chosen habitat and nurtured and observed if he can adapt to conditions in Kuno sanctuary. In case of any difficulty there, the court was told that NTCA would move to another location. BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Clear Ballot announced today that the New York City Board of Elections selected Clear Ballot as their post-election audit system. New York City will use Clear Ballot's audit technology to do the state's required 3% audit of their election. New York City will begin using the Clear Ballot system in 2020 elections. New York City will join 11 other counties in the state using Clear Ballot, totaling 16 counties (including five boroughs) and 7.8 million registered voters in New York. Clear Ballot will work with New York City to improve their audit practices and increase efficiencies in their election processes. Previously New York City conducted their audit by hand which could take days or weeks depending on voter turnout. The New York City Board of Elections conducted a study and found that over a four-year election cycle, a manual audit takes all five boroughs approximately 100,000 hours to complete. The study found that using the Clear Ballot solution will reduce that to 99 hours over four years. New York City will use a high-speed tabulation and real-time reporting system that scans ballots with commercial-off-the-shelf scanners and allows election officials to visualize voter intent. The audit system allows election officials to view ballot images in ways that have never been possible before. For example, large-scale, independent audits can be conducted with ease, close elections can be resolved with full confidence in minutes, and election officials can now have a new class of visual tools to strengthen public trust. Clear Ballot CEO, Jordan Esten said, "We are honored to partner with New York City, a leader nationally in election administration. Creating technology that empowers our customers to improve democracy is the foundation of our company, so we're proud to work with them to strengthen public trust for New York City elections." About Clear Ballot: As the leader in election innovation, Clear Ballot has introduced a new class of tools and a modern approach to voting, enabling unprecedented speed, accuracy, and transparency that officials and the voting public have sought for decades. Clear Ballot entered the election industry with its first product in 2012, disrupting the industry with the nation's first independent, automated audit, and four years later has developed a complete voting system which is now the fastest growing voting system in the industry. Clear Ballot's commitment to ease of use and modern technology means that its browser-based software runs on the most modern operating systems in the industry and will always be up to date. Clear Ballot conducts statewide post-election audits in Maryland and Vermont as well as in counties across Florida and New York. The ClearVote voting system is federally certified and is used in Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Contact Hillary Lincoln Clear Ballot [email protected] SOURCE Clear Ballot Related Links http://www.clearballot.com The Election Commission (EC) issued a show-cause notice to Union minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday for his 'desh ke gaddaron ko' slogan at a poll meeting, saying prima facie the remarks had the 'potential of disturbing communal harmony' and the BJP MP had violated the election code and electoral law. The Election Commission (EC) issued a show-cause notice to Union minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday for his "desh ke gaddaron ko" slogan at a poll meeting, saying prima facie the remarks had the "potential of disturbing communal harmony" and the BJP MP had violated the election code and electoral law. Thakur has been asked to respond to the notice before noon on 30 January (Thursday), "failing which the commission shall take a decision without any reference" to him. In the show-cause notice, the Election Commission referred to Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, dealing with attempts to promote enmity or hatred between different classes of citizens on the grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language. The notice also said the Election Commission received a report from the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Tuesday, which said Thakur chanted "desh ke gaddaron ko" (the traitors of the country) and the crowd responded, saying "goli maro sa*** ko" (shoot them down) several times while addressing a public meeting in Delhi's Rithala Assembly constituency on Monday. It said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also made "certain other objectionable statements" at the meeting. The Delhi CEO Office on Tuesday said it had submitted a report to the Election Commission on the "provocative" language used by Thakur while canvassing for BJP candidates contesting the 8 February Delhi Assembly polls. West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma also came under the Election Commission's scanner after he said that the Kashmiri Pandit exodus from Kashmir could happen in Delhi, warning that lakhs of anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh could enter people's homes to "kill and rape women". Earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi Congress had approached the Election Commission, urging it to ban BJP leaders Thakur and Verma for making "provocative statements to incite communal violence" ahead of polls in the National Capital. "BJP's star campaigners Parvesh Verma and Anurag Thakur have used objectionable language. Top BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, are going around the lanes and bylanes of Delhi, making provocative statements to polarise the atmosphere and incite communal violence. The BJP is doing so out of frustration," senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said. "The Election Commission has promised us that it won't let it happen," Maken said, adding that they have called a meeting of all senior poll and police officials on 31 January. "The Election Commission has sought a report from the Chief Electoral Officer on Thakur and Verma's remarks and because they are 'star campaigners', the Delhi CEO cannot issue them a notice. Only the Election Commission of India can do so," Maken said. "The EC has accepted that they have made provocative statements and we have demanded that they be banned from campaigning," he added. With inputs from agencies Today, HiveMQ, developers of the popular enterprise MQTT platform, announced the much anticipated launch of their new HiveMQ Cloud service. HiveMQ Cloud is a major release that significantly simplifies the deployment and management of MQTT platforms. The new cloud-native service offers a fully-managed MQTT platform that can smoothly scale to meet the demands of large IoT applications and provides the reliability business-critical systems require. HiveMQ Cloud is a cloud-native IoT messaging service that enables bi-directional communication between IoT cloud applications and IoT devices. Based on the industry standard MQTT protocol, HiveMQ allows IoT devices to stream telemetry data to the cloud and IoT cloud applications to send notifications to IoT devices. The majority of developers use MQTT to establish connectivity and messaging between their IoT devices and IoT cloud applications. However, companies require considerable expertise and resources to deploy and manage an MQTT broker that is scalable, reliable, and secure. HiveMQ Cloud shields companies from the complexity of deploying and managing MQTT brokers. HiveMQ Cloud includes automatic scaling that can accommodate spikes in device activity. The advanced clustering architecture ensures a high degree of availability to guarantee that messages are not lost and user experiences are not interrupted due to intermittent network connectivity. The fully managed platform is immediately deployed as three different cluster nodes in three different data centers. Enterprise grade security is set by default to require communication through TLS as well as device authentication and authorization. HiveMQ Cloud is designed to run production IoT applications with no installation, setup, or configuration. Our mission at HiveMQ is to connect billions of IoT devices through MQTT and our HiveMQ technology, explains Dominik Obermaier, CTO and co-founder of HiveMQ. To accomplish this goal, we needed to make it easy and simple for any company to deploy a scalable, reliable, and secure MQTT-based IoT application on any cloud with a single click. HiveMQ Cloud is the service that will finally solve the challenges of building and deploying IoT applications at IoT-scale. "As enterprises furiously adopt cloud as part of their overall architecture, one of the choices they are forced to make will be whether to rely on services native to a single cloud vendor," said Stephen O'Grady, Principal Analyst with RedMonk. "While these can seem more convenient in the short term, they have the unfortunate side effect of locking buyers to a single platform. This is why customers are increasingly placing a high value on neutral, standards based software layers that allow for seamless operation across different cloud providers. This is, in essence, what HiveMQ Cloud is built for." HiveMQ Cloud features a transparent pricing structure that makes it easy for customers to budget their usage costs. Many IoT cloud platforms have complicated, consumption-based pricing structures that make it impossible to budget the cost of an IoT cloud service. HiveMQ Cloud will be available at an hourly price of US$7.50/hour. HiveMQ Cloud is available today on AWS (Frankfurt Region). Support for MS Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and other AWS regions will be available soon. About HiveMQ HiveMQ helps companies connect devices to the Internet. We make it possible to move data from device to cloud in a secure, reliable, and scalable manner. Over 130 customers, including many Fortune 500 companies, rely on our product in production for mission-critical use cases like connected cars, logistics, Industry 4.0, and connected IoT products. Visit hivemq.com for more details. The film director also addressed the issue of inhumane conditions in Russian penitentiary facilities. Ukrainian film director and former Kremlin captive Oleh Sentsov spoke in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday about his prison term in Russia. He also addressed overall conditions in Russian penitentiary facilities and spoke about the confessions of the Russian military involved in seizing from Ukraine the Crimea peninsula, the Voice of America reports. According to the Ukrainian film director, the Russian president grabbed Crimea when Ukrainian citizens toppled the regime of "Putin's direct subordinate" Viktor Yanukovych. Speaking about grave conditions in Russian prisons, Sentsov said: "One of the kinds of torture in Russian prisons is strangulation with a plastic bag. I had seen this in American movies, and I couldn't understand why people break down. But your primal instinct kicks in when you're deprived of the ability to breathe. And then you are overwhelmed with this extraordinary animal fear, which is hard to fight," Sentsov said. Read alsoEx-political prisoner Sentsov says not interested in politics The Ukrainian film maker added that it was in prison where he met with a Russian military intelligence operative who had been involved in the annexation of Crimea: "In prison I met a convicted GRU officer who told in detail how the Crimea seizure unfolded. He took part in this. Then this officer fought in Donbas he said that it was the Russians who were most brutal towards the Ukrainians." Earlier, Sentsov called on the United Nations to fight for the release of the rest of Ukrainian captives held in Russia. Sentsov, who was freed by Russia in a prisoner swap with Ukraine in September, is on a trip to the U.S. tp meet with State Department officials, members of Congress, and attend a meeting of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, RFE/RL reported earlier. Russia still holds 96 political prisoners, most of whom were detained in Crimea, including 69 Crimean Tatars, according to Ukrainian NGOs. Anywhere from 101 to 184 are still held in the occupied Donbas, according to NGOs and the Ukrainian government. Anil S By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On a day when the Left government made it clear that it will not change its stance over the inclusion of the CAA remarks in the governors policy address, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan told TNIE that he is aware that he is bound by the advice of the states Council of Ministers, except in cases where the Constitution or the law confers discretionary powers on him. In an interview with TNIE, he added that the state governments performance is highly satisfactory. I have not sought any explanation from the government. I have merely given them advice, he said. Excerpts: Q. Why do you think the concerns raised by the state government against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act are unfounded? A: Dissent is the essence of democracy. Anybody and everybody has a right to opinion and expressing concern on any issue. Unfortunately, on CAA, the amount of misinformation is massive. The CAA is merely an exercise undertaken to redeem the promise which Mahatma Gandhi and other national leaders had made to the minorities of Pakistan who due to oppression continue to enter India illegally to save their lives and honour. Those who say that this promise was made at the time of partition must know that the same promise was repeated by Sri Manmohan Singh on December 18, 2003. We also need to understand that as far as the minorities are concerned, the situation in Pakistan has continuously gone from bad to worse. According to AURAT Foundation, a leading NGO of Pakistan, and other human rights groups, more than 1,000 young non-Muslim girls were kidnapped and forced to change their religion in 2015. A report in Vatican News on August 17, asserted that at least 1,000 girls were kidnapped and forced to marry their tormentors in 2019. The CAA is an attempt to provide relief to these unfortunate people who became unwitting victims of the partition of the country. There are other illegal immigrants also, who have come for economic reasons. The CAA does not stop the government from considering their applications on merit. The state government has moved the Supreme Court against the CAA, terming it unconstitutional. You have already expressed your dissent over the same. Now, what further steps are you planning to take in this regard? I have not expressed any dissent. As the constitutional head of the state, I have pointed out that Article 166 of the Constitution requires that all actions or the decisions of the state government must be taken by the authorities in the name of the governor. It is not until this formality is observed that the action or decision can be regarded as that of the state. According to the Supreme Court, the Council of Ministers are advisors and as the head of the state, the governor is to act with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. Therefore, until the governor accepts the advice, views of the Council of Ministers do not get crystallised into action of the state. Would you consider submitting a report before the Supreme Court in the matter? I would not like to make any comment at this stage. But we have a robust legal system which ensures that due process of law is respected in letter and spirit. The rules of Transaction of Business framed under Article 166 (3) require that certain class of cases shall be submitted by the chief minister to the governor before the issue of orders and it includes cases which affect the relations of the state government with the Government of India. Further Article 167 provides, It shall be the duty of the chief minister to communicate the decisions of the Council of Ministers and furnish information to the governor. Q: The government has included its disapproval of the CAA in the governors policy address before the assembly on January 29. You have sought an explanation from the government regarding this. If the government refuses to remove these remarks from the policy address, what could be the next course of action from your end? A: I have not sought any explanation from the government. I have merely given them advice. I am fully aware that in the discharge of my functions, I am bound by the advice of Council of Ministers except in cases where the Constitution or law confers discretionary powers. Further, I have no hesitation to say that, generally, the performance of Kerala government is highly satisfactory and I am keen that they must continue to do the good work and have excellent relations with the Centre. The opposition UDF has approached the Speaker seeking to move a resolution urging the President to recall you. Do you think the oppositions move is constitutionally valid? It only shows that we are not only the largest but the liveliest democracy in the world and I feel proud of the fact that our people feel free to give expression to their views and opinions. In view of the ongoing developments relating to CAA in the state, would you be submitting a report to the Union Government? I believe in positivity and I am hopeful that my government will give due consideration to my advice. I do not feel the need to indulge in speculation about other eventualities. Arif Mohammed Khan Kerala Governor Artist Pages: Poetry - KC STUDIO Some readers feel intimidated by poetry. Maybe somewhere along the way, the emphasis was placed on what a poem means. What a poem "means" is the booby prize. It's the consolation prize. Besides, nobody knows - not the teacher, sometimes not even the author. The local poetry scene enjoyed a boom during the 90s before locals could take to social media to express their creativity. AND NOW the work isn't as widely celebrated but still merits the attention of a dedicated group of creative locals. Here's a sample of their work: What just happened? More companies are taking precautions against the Coronavirus by restricting travel to China. Facebook and Razer have stopped all non-essential travel to the country, while LG has introduced a complete ban. With more than 4,000 people infected across the world and the death doll having surpassed 100, the United States has advised Americans to reconsider visiting all of Chinamost cases have been in the city of Wuhan. Following the warning, Facebook asked employees to halt non-essential travel to the mainland and told any workers who had traveled there to work from home. Despite being one of many western websites banned in the country, Facebook has offices in China and local suppliers manufacture its Oculus headsets and Portal devices. Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken steps to protect the health and safety of our employees, a Facebook spokesman told Reuters. Another US tech firm, Razer, is implementing similar protective measures. A spokesperson told The Verge: Our company has already been restricting travel and advising employees to work from home. South Korean giant LG, meanwhile, has banned all workers from traveling to China, advising those on business trips to the country to return as soon as possible, and Korean chipmaker SK Hynix is also urging employees to avoid non-essential travel. Last week brought news that companies across China were taking extra precautions, including Huawei, which postponed its annual developer conference in Shenzhen. Following the Coronavirus outbreak, simulator game Plague Inc. experienced a surge in popularity, leading the devs to issue a statement reminding people that its a game, not a scientific model. A group has invited writers, culture enthusiasts and researchers to submit essays on Yoruba to honour Joseph Atanda, a renown African historian. A statement by the group said the award, tagged the J.A. Atanda Prize for the Best Essay, is to celebrate and honour Mr Atanda it said has made huge contributions to Yoruba studies. The statement by the Yoruba Studies Research said Mr Atandas work has enhanced the knowledge of Yoruba history, culture and spirituality, as well as their colonial and postcolonial relations. READ ALSO: Joseph Adebowale Atanda was a passionate historian who dedicated his scholarship to the historiography of Africa, especially that of the Yoruba. Popular among his publications are The New Oyo Empire: Indirect Rule and Change in Western Nigeria, 1894-1934, An Introduction to Yoruba History and Baptist Churches in Nigeria: Accounts of Their Foundation and Growth, the statement read in part. The J.A. Atanda Prize for the Best Essay on the Yoruba is worth $500 and will represent a solid and remarkable platform for the promotion and further development of Yoruba Studies. The objective is to promote and revive the socio-cultural and religious significance of the Yoruba, and as a result contribute to the stream of revivalist efforts geared towards the resuscitation of the African spirit. For it is in the history, language, culture and worldview that the spirit flourishes, the statement read. The submission of essays opened on January 1 and runs till April 15, while the longlist and shortlist will be announced in July and September, respectively. Also, the announcement of the winner is set for October. According to the statement, short-listed essays will be sent to a jury constituted by editors of Yoruba Studies Review, for final determination of the winner. The 2020 jury members include Akinloye Ojo (at the University of Georgia) as the chair; Segun Ogungbemi (a professor and independent scholar); Bose Afolayan ( a professor at the University of Lagos), and Kaosarat Aina (the University of Ibadan and the jurys secretary). Guidelines for essays Only the essays published (or to be published) in Yoruba Studies Review qualify for this award. While all submissions are acceptable in English, we especially encourage essays written in Yoruba. We also welcome translation of essays on the Yoruba, but the prize would be shared between the translator and original writer (if still alive). Where an unpublished essay receives the prize, the entrant gives the exclusive right to edit and publish the work upon selection for longlist in Yoruba Studies Review. While legal eagles claim that Sharjeel Imam did not commit a crime and FIRs against him must be quashed, it is worth remembering that Imam was not issuing a lecture during an academic discussion The sedition charges slapped against JNU scholar Sharjeel Imam, who was arrested from Jehanabad in Bihar, after multiple videos allegedly showing him making incendiary remarks and threatening the integrity of Indian state surfaced on social media, have raised the age-old debate over free speech all over again. Are the sedition cases filed against him in Assam and Uttar Pradesh justified? It's worth noting that police in six states Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Manipur have booked Imam under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. In the purported video, Imam is heard urging Muslims to cut Assam and the entire northeastern region off India by laying siege to the 'Chickens Neck' a 200-kilometre narrow strip of land also called the Siliguri Corridor that connects the North East with the rest of the country. At its narrowest, the strip is just 17 kilometres wide and remains one of Indias biggest strategic vulnerability. As we ponder on the veracity of the charges and interpret the law on sedition, it is worth remembering that from the platform of a site (Shaheen Bagh) which is ostensibly protesting against the division of India along religious lines, Imam was ironically urging Muslims to balkanise India. He later denied the statement claiming that he was merely calling for a "chakka jam". Regardless of Imams claims, lets take a look at his words in the video under discussion. In the clip, uploaded by several BJP leaders including Arunachal chief minister Pema Khandu, Imam is heard making comments aimed at disturbing Indias communal harmony, threatening its territorial integrity and undermining the sovereignty of Indian state. Firstpost has not independently verified the authenticity of the video. : ) )Chicken Neck ) Assam ) If this is not ANTI NATIONAL then what is? pic.twitter.com/kgxl3GLwx1 Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) January 25, 2020 According to a translation of the comments, published by India Today, Imam is ostensibly telling the crowd that ...if we can organise five lakh people, we will be able to permanently cut off Assam from India. If not permanently, then at least for a month or two... Create ruckus on railway tracks and roads so that it takes them (the government) at least a month to clear things on the ground. It is our responsibility to isolate Assam. They (government) will hear us only if we cut off Assam and India. He is further heard saying, The plight of Muslims in Assam is known to all of us. CAA and NRC have been implemented there. People are already being sent to detention centres. There is a bloodbath going on there. In six-eight months, you may find out that all Bengalis (Hindus and Muslims) have been killed. So, if we want to help Assam, then we will have to block the way for the Army to reach Assam... and also stop the supplies. We can do this. The chicken-neck corridor that connects the North East with the rest of India is inhabited primarily by Muslims... (excerpts)." These words are offensive at multiple levels. They seek to organise members of a community, give a call for action and target a strategic vulnerability to cut-off a part of India. Imam was also spreading fake news. The NRC implemented in Assam was ordered by the Supreme Court of India, and there is certainly no bloodbath going on. He was also indulging in fear-mongering by falsely claiming that Bengalis could be killed. Moreover, these very specific threats are not out of context remarks by an immature student (Imam, by all accounts, is not a minor). If we look at his social media posts and articles contributed to digital platforms, the Islamist nature of the individual clearly comes through. This is an individual who eulogises Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the architect of Partition and creator of Pakistan, and seeks to airbrush the crimes of a man who, among other things, created mayhem in India through his call for Direct Action in 1946 that caused a chain of violence across many parts in India. In a particularly relevant post on Facebook created on 8 January, 2018, Imam writes ...Jinnah who was an Indian Muslim for the first 71 of the 72 years of his life, is infinitely more relevant for the besieged Indian Muslim minority than for Pakistani Muslims. In very specific ways, as an Indian Muslim politician fighting for minority rights, his methods, his arguments, his successes and his failures are lessons for us.... Therefore, while legal eagles such as Markandey Katju split hairs to claim that Imam did not commit a crime and FIRs against him must be quashed, it is worth remembering that Imam was not issuing a lecture during an academic discussion. The Jinnah fanboy was seeking to capitalise on and even incite anger among members of a community at a sensitive spot and moment in history by a combination of victimhood narrative and fake news and had a very clear idea on how to translate the threat into action. Worth remembering that Article 19 (2) of the Indian Constitution allows the state to make laws that restrict freedom of speech so long as they impose reasonable restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. By threatening the integrity and sovereignty of India, Imam clearly is in breach of the conditions and the FIRs against him are justified. His comments may or may not be seditious, but he pretty much tests the limits of free speech. A former executive at a New Jersey-based publishing company admitted Monday that he embezzled more than $48 million from the business over a 17-year period. Nestor Charriez, 60, of Scotch Plains, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorneys Office for New Jersey said in statement. While federal authorities didnt name Charriezs employer in charging documents, he worked as the controller for Harrison Scott Publications, according to Bloomberg, The Hoboken company covers real estate, finance and investment news for people who work in those fields. Charriez submitted false instructions to an outside company that managed Harrison Scotts payroll authorizing huge bonuses for himself - hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time from June 2002 through June 2019, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. None of the bonuses had been approved, though. He deposited the funds into accounts he controlled and spent the stolen money on undisclosed personal expenses, authorities said. Charriez faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced May 11. A Harrison Scott Publications employee who answered the phone on Monday afternoon declined to comment. The companys publisher didnt immediately return a message seeking comment. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Charriez, faces 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced April 20. Flowers at the house on Parsons Court, Newcastle, Co Dublin, where the children were found dead. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin Gardai have not been able to interview the Dublin-based nurse whose three children were found dead at their home in Newcastle, Co Dublin, on Friday night. Deirdre Morley, aged in her 40s, remained last night in Tallaght Hospital, where she was being treated after a suspected overdose four days ago. She is expected to recover, after being found wandering in a disoriented state near a graveyard on Friday evening shortly before the bodies of Conchur (9), Darragh (7) and Carla (3) were discovered. "She has still not been deemed medically fit to be interviewed, but is expected to survive," a senior source told the Herald last night. "Gardai are conducting a massive investigation to collect evidence and gather a large number of witness statements, all of which can then be put to this woman when she is deemed medically fit to be questioned." Heartbroken Expand Close Heartbroken dad Andrew McGinley at the house in Newcastle. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Heartbroken dad Andrew McGinley at the house in Newcastle. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin Members of the community have rallied around to show their support, particularly to the children's heartbroken father Andrew McGinley. Gardai believe "some form of sedation" was involved in the deaths of the three children, but it has not yet been established what drug or drugs were used. This will be determined by the results of toxicology reports, which are not expected to be available until later in the week. It is not believed any drugs were administered by injection as no visible marks were found on the children's bodies. However, it is suspected that some or all of them may have been smothered after being sedated. Gardai are not looking for anyone else in relation to the tragedy, and have recovered two notes from the house, including one that read: "Call 999, don't go upstairs." The local Gaelscoil of Scoil Chronain in Rathcoole has said it is "deeply saddened by the sudden deaths of pupils Conchur (9) and Darragh (7) Mac Fhionnghaile and their sister Carla (3)". "It is a tragedy for our community," a spokesperson said. "Our sympathy, thoughts and prayers are with the McGinley and Morley families and all their friends." Speaking about the two boys, the spokesperson added that Conchur was a pupil in Room Three while Darragh attended Room One. "They were both wonderful boys and it was a pleasure to have them in our school. They will be greatly missed by all who knew them. "Offers of support have been pouring in and are really appreciated. "Our school has implemented our critical incident management plan. Psychologists "Psychologists from the National Educational Psychological Services (NEPS) have been with us over the weekend and will continue to support and advise us in the coming days." NEPS psychologists work with primary and post-primary schools to offer support in the areas of learning, behavioural, social and emotional development. The spokesperson added that the school will remain open and asked that people respect the need for privacy. Youngest child Carla attended the Happy Feet nursery in Rathcoole, and staff members from there and from the primary school attended a tribute mass over the weekend. Meanwhile, South Dublin County Council opened a book of condolences in the wake of the tragedy at the Town Hall in Belgard Square North in Tallaght. The government has made it clear that non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will have to provide proofs of their religious beliefs while applying for Indian citizenship under the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA), which is currently being drafted by the Home Ministry. The applicants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain or Parsi faiths will also have to furnish documents to prove that they entered India on or before December 31, 2014. Those who will seek Indian citizenship under the CAA will have to provide proofs of their religious beliefs and this will be mentioned in the rules to be issued under the CAA, a government official told news agency PTI. Twitter According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be given Indian citizenship. For example, if someone has enrolled his/ her children in a government school, he/ she would have declared their religion. If someone has acquired Aadhaar before December 31, 2014 and has declared his/ her religion as being from among the six mentioned in the Act, it would be acceptable Any form of government document declaring religion will be accepted, a Home Ministry official told The Indian Express. The legislation grants citizenship on the basis that these people have faced religious persecution in these countries. The central government is also likely to give a relatively smaller window of just three months to those who want to apply for Indian citizenship in Assam under the CAA, another official said. BCCL Some Assam-specific provisions are expected to be incorporated in the rules to be issued for the implementation of the CAA. Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and his finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had made a request about a fortnight ago to keep a limited period window for applying under the CAA and also incorporate some other Assam-specific provisions in the CAA rules. The move comes in view of continuing protests against the CAA in Assam that have been going on since the legislation was passed by Parliament in December last year. There has been a growing feeling among the indigenous people of Assam that the newly enacted legislation will hurt their interests politically, culturally as well as socially. The Assam Accord provides for detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants who have entered the country after 1971 and are living in the state, irrespective of their religion. The protesters in Assam say that the CAA violates the provisions of the Assam Accord. BERLIN and SANTA MONICA, California, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bird, the leader in micromobility, and Berlin based Circ, the leader in European micromobility, today announced Bird acquired Circ. The combined company will result in Bird adding more than 300 employees to its European operations to provide streamlined, sustainable, and safe operations for cities looking to reduce carbon emissions and congestion. Bird today also announced a $75 million extension to its Series D funding round, bringing the size of the round to $350 million. Leading European Company Joins Bird Founded by serial entrepreneur and investor, Lukasz Gadowski, Circ is a leading shared e-scooter company in Europe and the Middle East. With operations spanning across 43 cities in 12 countries, Circ has brought world-class city-centric solutions and customer service to millions of riders. Together, Bird and Circ will make it easier for cities to manage micromobility programs while continuing to scale and increase the reliability of its service to the tens of millions of people who have embraced shared e-scooters as a new form of sustainable and efficient transportation. Investors joining Bird's existing investors as part of the combined company include Target Global, Team Europe, Idinvest Partners, and Signals Venture Capital. "I founded Bird nearly three years ago because we need to change the status quo and take a transformative stance to combat the traffic and pollution that affect our cities and endanger people globally," said Travis VanderZanden, founder and CEO of Bird. "To further advance our mission, we're excited to acquire Circ which is the clear European leader. We like their laser focus on treating cities as their number 1 customer and their mindset of prioritizing profitability over growth." "With deep city partnerships and leading technology, we have established ourselves as the micromobility leader in Europe," said Lukasz Gadowski, founder and CEO, Circ. "As a combined company with Bird, we will be able to significantly accelerate our mission throughout Europe to provide safe, available, affordable, convenient, and sustainable rides." "This is a significant deal for both companies as well as the broader European technology and transportation industries," said Ben Kaminski, Partner at Target Global. "As the first investor in Circ, we were confident their vision and experience would propel them to the leadership position in micromobility throughout Europe. We are thrilled to invest in the global leader in micromobility and look forward to supporting the joint team as it transforms how people move about their cities." "Bringing together Circ's European roots with the added capabilities of Bird's technology and innovation, will ensure cities throughout Europe, such as Paris, will have world class partners to help them reach their climate action goals," said Nicolas Chaudron, Managing Partner at Idinvest Partners. "As investors dedicated to the growth of European business, we view Bird's acquisition of Circ as a testament to what Lukasz and his team have built as well as the positive impact they've had on the cities we call home." Bird Increases Series D to Meet Investor Demand Just three months after announcing an initial $275 million Series D investment led by CDPQ and Sequoia Capital, Bird is increasing the round to $350 million. Due to demand, the series remained open providing investors the opportunity to become part of Bird's global micro-mobility mission. Capital from the investment will be used to make rapid progress on the company's path to profitability, to increase its vehicle development and research initiatives, and to support European expansion plans. "Investors today are looking for financially disciplined companies with a clear path to profitability," said Travis VanderZanden, founder and CEO of Bird. "More than 12 months ago we shifted our focus from growth to profitability which put us in a position to deliver the strongest unit economics and longest-lasting custom-designed vehicles of any micro-mobility company today." Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082378/Bird_Circ_Scooters.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/659765/Bird_Rides_Logo_Logo.jpg Related Links http://www.bird.co SOURCE Bird New Delhi: A day after Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur invited Election Commission's attention with his controversial remarks on anti-Citizenship Act protesters during a Delhi Assembly election campaign rally, another BJP leader has triggered a row with his shocking statement on those protesting against the new Act. In an interview to news agency ANI on Tuesday (January 28), BJP MP Parvesh Verma said, "Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and make a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them. Parvesh Verma added, There's time today, Modi Ji and Amit Shah won't come to save you tomorrow." The BJP MP openly threatened Shaheen Bagh protesters as he addressed a rally during the Delhi Assembly election campaign in west Delhi's Ranhoula village under Vikaspuri assembly on January 27. Verma said if the BJP is voted to power in Delhi, it will only take an hour to clear off protests in Shaheen Bagh. "This election [Delhi poll] is not a small election but that for stability and unity of the country. If a government of the Bharatiya Janata Party is formed on the February 11, then after an hour no one will be seen in Shaheen Bagh," said West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma during the Delhi poll rally. Live TV Verma added that within one month all existing mosques built on government land in his constituency will be demolished if the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power in Delhi this year. On January 27, BJP leader and Union minister Anurag Thakur sparked a row after he egged on participants of an election rally to raise an incendiary slogan that 'traitors should be shot', as he lashed out at anti-CAA protestors. At the rally, the minister of state for finance, shouted "desh ke gaddaron ko" to which the crowd responded "goli maro sa*** ko" (shoot down the traitors). The controversial slogan has been raised by some junior BJP leaders of late, including Kapil Mishra, but this is the first time a party functionary of the level of a Union minister has participated in it. Thakur is also heard telling the crowd to raising the slogan in such a high voice that Giriraj Singh, a firebrand Hindutva leader and a Union minister, can hear it. The incident has triggered a row, drawing a sharp reaction from the following which the Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer sought a report from the returning officer of Rithala constituency over Thakur's speech. Korea reported its fourth case of coronavirus infection on Monday. Health authorities said the 55-year-old Korean man returned home on Jan. 20 after visiting the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. Only on Sunday another 54-year-old man was diagnosed with the Wuhan virus. He reportedly does business in the Chinese city including fashion and medical tourism. Around 2,900 cases of coronavirus infection have been reported around the world so far, and at least 81 have died. Unlike the first two cases -- a Chinese traveler and an Korean man from Wuhan who were quarantined on arrival at Incheon and Gimpo international airports -- the two men had moved around Seoul and surrounding areas for more than five days, raising fears that they spread the highly infectious virus. Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has rebuked elite private schools that have told pupils to stay home if they recently have been to China, saying their response over the coronavirus did not reflect the advice of health professionals. Trinity Grammar and Newington College are among the expensive Sydney schools that have told students who have visited China not to attend for two weeks along with at least 10 Victorian schools that have put their parents on alert. Minister for Education Dan Tehan has said Australia's international education market remains open, despite coronavirus and fires. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "I would say to all schools that they should be following the advice of the health department, that is the clear position of the Australian government," Mr Tehan told ABC radio. "In the end they will have to answer to their parents, but also they will have to answer to state and territory governments who have the responsibility for schools." Tom Smyth is an advocate of positive thinking. He's a believer that exercising gratitude is the foundation on which to build a happy, and in his case, successful life. It's a mindset that has served him well. Tom, a father-of-two, is the man behind private accommodation and serviced apartments firm Dream Apartments. He's also one part of a development firm that is creating a 2.5m residential scheme on the fringes of the new Tribeca project in Belfast. Read More According to Mr Smyth, the Gardiner Square development will help grow city centre living and offer investors guaranteed rental return. Dream Apartments is just one part of Tom's working life. He set up the business three years ago in Belfast to service the growing leisure and business tourism sector, as well as catering to the longer-staying visitor. Today Dream Apartments has expanded beyond the Obel building where it began and into other parts of Belfast. It's also made a move to other UK cities including Liverpool and Newcastle, while partnerships have seen it take up residence in places like Sao Paulo and New York. It has also branched out into a more economical offering called Dream Pods. They can be found in Bank Square in the city and provide basic accommodation including bunk beds. As for his personal philosophy, he says: "I think we could all do with living our lives with gratitude. "If you look around, you'll soon see how fortunate you are. "I had to remind my daughter recently about how lucky she was to have an iPhone. I told her when I was 10 I would've had to work 50 weeks to be able to buy that phone, and you could see it sinking in when she heard that." Tom admits that he doesn't listen to the news and he shuns anything Brexit-related to ensure he remains focused on his own goals. "I don't give Brexit any energy," he adds. "I think it's a load of nonsense but I would really love to see our MLAs evolve and form to help the growth of Northern Ireland. "They need to stand back and realise it's for the prosperity of Northern Ireland. Everyone needs to get to work or they're holding the country back from expanding and prospering." Tom's day begins at 5am when he writes a gratitude list and outlines his goals. That is followed by a trip to the gym, all before the working day begins. But it isn't just his morning routine that has attributed to the success of his business - it's also an inbuilt "savviness" he's had from his childhood. Tom grew up in Glengormley with his brother, sister and parents. His mum was care worker and his dad was a postman. "They didn't have 2d to rub together but I had an amazing childhood and decided from an early age that I wanted more. "I also knew that if I worked hard that effort would produce rewards." Tom studied at Glengormley High School and went on to take up a leisure and management course at Castlereagh Tech, which is now part of Belfast Met. "I always had that savviness. People would say I could sell sand to the Arabs and make money out of nothing. It was just there. "I grew up with a burning desire to succeed and I think that's either in you or it's not. I was 10 when I began working in a chippy. I stayed there for five years, throughout school," he says. After tech Tom got involved in the building trade, which is still part of his daily business. He says construction helped him to raise capital, after which the rest of his working life "has been a flash". "I worked in construction and then got into the property market. I went to work in Dubai before it was a really popular tourist destination, and saw what they were doing there with serviced apartments. That fuelled enthusiasm in me to expand and do other things," he says. He came back from Dubai and started working with Apple Apartments in Belfast. In June 2017 he went it alone with the launch of Dream Apartments, a business that he says he is "incredibly proud of". Dream Apartments have more than 350 apartments across the UK, with many more available globally through partnerships in Barcelona, Sao Paulo, America and Paris. Recently Tom has also opened up his own serviced apartments which provided the inspiration for the business in Dubai. The Dubai operation opened at the end of 2019, when 300 luxury serviced apartments flowed onto the accommodation market there. Located in the Jumeirah Beach Residence Marina, they feature a range of one, two and three-bedroom luxury apartments. "To launch in the place where the idea for Dream Apartments was born is simply a dream come true," says Tom. "The people of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates are to be applauded for their approach to business and the willingness of the local government to welcome foreign investment such as ours. We plan to lead the Dubai market," he adds. Tom says his client base is 70:30 business/leisure with some of his guests including famous actors to two-time Oscar winning directors who stay for an average of 20 days in some locations. "I'd say we would sign around 10 non-disclosure agreements a year in Belfast," he reveals. "The thing about a serviced apartment is that it gives a home from home feeling where you can cook your own breakfast, watch television, have a conference call and then you can fall back into the bedroom. "It appeals to many visitors because it's better than being in a boxed room. "We have guests who want to stay with us because they get the privacy they need. Nobody knows who they are and they can slip in and out. They're able to have a daily routine like ride a mountain bike to work. "They've a living room and a bedroom and it's this type of guest that is moving away from hotels. "It's also more economical so it's a win-win." In Belfast Dream Apartments have five separate offerings including the Obel building, the Gallery on the Dublin Road and Titanic Arc. And Tom isn't finished with expansion plans here. He's says he's really only getting started. Next on the agenda, as part of the construction operation he heads, is the new scheme on Gardiner Street. Gardiner Square will sit on the outskirts of the Tribeca regeneration project. It will be a mixed residential offering featuring two-bedroom apartments, as well as three-bedroom townhouses with associated car parking and amenities. Tom heads the company behind the scheme with business partner Gary Sinnerton. He says: "Belfast city centre is definitely underpopulated because of the Troubles. I think the City Council should make hay while the sun shines and expand on city living." He reveals that his Gardiner Street site is "well ahead of schedule and due to finish ahead of November 2020". "We want to create a thriving community targeting a range of sectors from young professionals, to property investors to people relocating to the city centre for work. "Home is so important and we understand that people want and deserve comfort, convenience and community, and in Gardiner Square, we are offering all these things and more. "The Gardiner Square project is located on the fringes of the hugely exciting Tribeca project which will combine the regions heritage with cutting-edge design to create a dynamic mixed-use space for people to live and work," Tom adds. "All of this will be within walking distance to the new homes." Elsewhere Tom is looking to bring Dream Apartments to Derry. And, subject to planning, 44 serviced apartments will launch there in May. "This project will feature our Dream Pods and it will work well. I love Derry and every time I go there it's full of tourists, by the busload. "We also have a great corporate market there, so this is a perfect move for us," he says. Other sites due to open this year include one in Middlesbrough. "If the opportunity comes along we'll open more. We're always looking," says Tom who employs around 115 people across his UK operations. At the recent World Travel Awards 2019, Dream Apartments Belfast was awarded the title of Northern Ireland's Leading Serviced Apartments for the third consecutive year. It's an award that Tom hopes to beckon for the sites he's opened elsewhere. He anticipates demand for his accommodation will grow in line with the changing demands of travellers. Tom adds: "Our success is in part down to a change in how many business and leisure travellers approach their travel arrangements, preferring the home from home experience to the more formal hotel offering. "I'm so proud of our city. "I'm so proud to be doing what I'm doing and I'm proud to represent the corporate market. "I'm so delighted that our country has come through conflict resolution and we have something to give in terms of tourism and it's definitely great to be part of that," he says. CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) today (1/27) announced that its Power and Energy unit served as sole lead arranger on a $42.8 million in debt financing to support NY Solar Farms, a 70-megawatt community solar portfolio located in central and northeastern New York State. The solar portfolio - one of the largest of its type comprising 10 projects across six different sites - is owned by True Green Capital's 3rd fund. Combined, TGC's funds have approximately 400 megawatts of solar projects operating and over 200 megawatts under construction or development, including an additional 80 megawatts of New York community solar projects. Debt financing for the portfolio was also provided by NY Green Bank, a state-sponsored financial entity working to increase investments into New York's clean energy markets. "Community solar projects are an important pillar of New York's clean energy strategy," said Chris Kirkman, head of project finance at TGC. "The NY Solar Farms portfolio is another example of how solar projects can support local economies and power homes and businesses while reducing our reliance on fossil fuels." "CIT is one of the leading banks financing renewable energy projects," said Mike Lorusso, managing director and group head for CIT's Power and Energy unit. "We are excited to be working in this vital industry and pleased to assist True Green Capital with a financing package that supports the growth of community solar power in New York." "NY Green Bank is pleased to be continuing its support of the rapidly growing community solar market in New York State by providing debt financing to TGC's 70-megawatt portfolio," said Alfred Griffin, NY Green Bank president. "With CIT taking the lead as sole arranger for this debt financing, it is clear that private sector investors are increasingly active in the New York State renewable energy market. This accelerated activity supports New York State's nation-leading climate and clean energy goals under Governor Cuomo." Power and Energy, part of CIT's Commercial Finance division, leverages its deep industry knowledge and expertise to offer comprehensive financing solutions for renewable and conventional power generation. The unit manages a large, diverse portfolio that includes investments in all asset classes across the energy sector. About CIT CIT is a leading national bank focused on empowering businesses and personal savers with the financial agility to navigate their goals. CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) is a financial holding company with over a century of experience and operates a principal bank subsidiary, CIT Bank, N.A. (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender). The company's commercial banking segment includes commercial financing, community association banking, middle market banking, equipment and vendor financing, factoring, railcar financing, treasury and payments services, and capital markets and asset management. CIT's consumer banking segment includes a national direct bank and regional branch network. Discover more at cit.com/about. About True Green Capital Management True Green Capital Management LLC is a specialized energy infrastructure asset management firm based in Westport, Connecticut. TGC is currently focused on the approximately $2 trillion distributed power generation market with an emphasis on the sub utility scale solar power segment. To learn more, visit www.truegreencapital.com. She was ready to celebrate another milestone with her friends leading up to her romantic wedding in Kentucky. But Brittany Cartwright was left shocked while out with her Vanderpump Rules friends at a club in Miami Beach for her bachelorette party. In a sneak peek clip from the upcoming episode of the hit Bravo program, Brittany broke down in tears while wearing an '80s-themed wedding dress Brittany Cartwright was left shocked while out with her Vanderpump Rules friends at a club in Miami Beach for her bachelorette party The video showed Brittany crying while wearing an elaborate white gown, with all of her gal pals listening on as she puts on an animated display. 'So, you're probably wondering how we all ended up here. Let's start from the beginning,' Stassi Schroeder said in a clip. She explained that the group (which also included Ariana Madix, Scheana Shay and Katie Maloney) went out to a nightclub during the joint bachelor/bachelorette festivities in South Beach. 'And then all of the VIP hosts come and they have this sign that says, "Don't do it, Brittany,"' Stassi said Oh no: The video showed Brittany crying while wearing an elaborate white gown, with all of her gal pals listening on as she puts on an animated display While the men did their own thing, the ladies dressed up in their best retro garb for a VIP send-off at a club, only for a simple sign to trigger Brittany's insecurities.. 'And then all of the VIP hosts come and they have this sign that says, "Don't do it, Brittany,"' Stassi said. 'At first, Brittany was laughing at the sign, but then, because of Kristen (Doute), Brittany started to think this was some big elaborate setup that the club did to make fun of her and Jax.' Kristen had previously slept with Jax while he was in a relationship with Stassi toward the beginning of the Vanderpump franchise. Not great: Kristen had previously slept with Jax while he was in a relationship with Stassi toward the beginning of the Vanderpump franchise 'At first, Brittany was laughing at the sign, but then, because of Kristen (Doute), Brittany started to think this was some big elaborate setup that the club did to make fun of her and Jax,' the Basic Bitch Handbook author said 'And that's how we ended up back here drunk, crying in our wedding dresses,' Stassi said Jax's history with infidelity has been widely documented on Pump, but he's remained relatively tamed since he admitted to cheating on Brittany with former SUR waitress and MTV reality star, Faith Stowers. Kristen told Brittany in the club: 'That is so tacky and so rude. It wasn't f***ing OK that they did that tonight.' 'And that's how we ended up back here drunk, crying in our wedding dresses,' Stassi said as the women tried their best to calm Brittany down after the episode. Brittany and Jax's wedding has been the main storyline of the eighth season of Vanderpump Rules, which airs tonight on the Bravo network at 9 p.m. ET. Guwahati, Jan 28 : The Assam government on Tuesday urged the United Liberation Front of Assam and its chief Paresh Barua to enter into a meaningful peace dialogue with it and the centre. "I appeal to both Paresh Baruah and United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) to have a meaningful peace dialogue with both the government of Assam and the government of India, ending decade-old militant movement," state Finance Minister and Convenor of North-East Democratic Alliance Himanta Biswasarma told mediapersons here. Biswasarma's offer to Barua came a day after the Centre inked a peace agreement with representatives of Bodo organisations, attempting to put an end to the decades-old Bodo insurgency based on the demand for carving out a separate state out of Assam. Complimenting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for helping formalise the "historic accord", he said: "It will ensure autonomy of Bodoland and reaffirm territorial integrity of Assam, besides ensuring justice for both Bodo and non-Bodo people". He said the Bodo Accord marks a new era of peace, progress and prosperity in Assam. Giving a message to Barua, Biswa Sarma said the Centre and the state government would reciprocate if he took part in the dialogue. Sarma said no non-Bodo village would come under the ambit of the proposed satellite council to be set up outside the Bodoland Territorial Council area. Monday's tripartite agreement was signed by representatives of the Union government, Assam government and representatives of banned Bodo organisation, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). The All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) is also a signatory to the peace accord. The peace accord signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, provides for the economic and political development of Bodos without affecting the territorial integrity of Assam. As per the peace plan, 1,550 cadres along with 130 weapons will surrender on January 30. Shah assured the Bodo representatives that all the promises made in the peace agreement will be fulfilled in a time-bound manner. Monday's peace accord is the third Bodo peace agreement to be signed since 1993. The demand for a separate Bodoland is almost five decades old. JOHANNESBURG - A South African billionaire businessman has apologized for telling U.S. President Donald Trump that Africa loves you during the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. A video of Patrice Motsepes remarks to Trump went viral on social media and sparked outrage from people who disagreed with Motsepe and lambasted him for speaking on Africans behalf. In the video, Motsepe can be heard telling Trump during a group dinner that Africa loves America. Africa loves you. It is very, very important. We want America to do well. We want you to do well. The success of America is the success of the rest of the world. In response to Motsepes introduction, Trump said: Youve done a great job, thank you very much. Motsepes comments drew criticism even among some South African cabinet ministers, with Finance Minister Tito Mboweni saying the billionaires views did not represent those of the government. KwaZulu-Natal province premier Sihle Zikalala was more blunt, saying Trump was not a friend of the ruling African National Congress party and that South Africa had nothing to benefit from the U.S. president. Trump has been criticized for his comments about Africa, including one comparing African nations to a dirty latrine, which led to widespread anger from Africans and even heads of state. In a statement released Tuesday, Motsepe said the debate over his remarks had exposed him to different views. I have a duty to listen to these differing views and would like to apologize. I do not have the right to speak on behalf of anybody except myself, he said. Motsepe said his remarks were partly aimed at encouraging discussions between the Trump administration and African political leaders amid increasing feedback from certain American political and business leaders that South Africa and some African countries are anti-America and its political leadership. Motsepe, the first black African on the Forbes billionaires list and brother-in-law of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, was attending a dinner of business leaders from around the world including FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the CEOs of Siemens and Saudi Aramco and the Ivory Coast-born CEO of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam. "Sun & Sea (Marina)," the Golden Lion-winning installation by Rugile Barzdziukaite, Vaiva Grainyte and Lina Lapelyte from last year's Venice Biennale, will come to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul in July. Courtesy of MMCA By Kwon Mee-yoo A variety of art exhibitions are lined up for the year 2020 as the nation commemorates the 70th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War. This year sees yet another biennale in Korea which is sure to generate diverse discourse on contemporary art and society. MMCA past-oriented Major exhibitions to be held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) will relate to Korea's modern art history, reflecting the specialty of new museum director Youn Bum-mo who is well-versed in the topic of Korean art history. On the 70th the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, the MMCA will present "Unflattening" (working title) from June to September, featuring Korean and international artists including duo Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho, Park Kyung-kun, Hsu Chiawei and Chto Delat, the exhibit aims to examine the nature of war and its consequences from various perspectives in collaboration with historians, scholars of women's studies and performers. As the museum strives to put together Korea's modern art history, artist Park Re-hyun will be presented through a retrospective commemorating the 100th anniversary of her birth. Art informel and abstract expressionism artist Lee Seung-jio and experimental artist Lee Seung-taek will also draw attention for their development of modern art in Korea. As noted in Youn's inaugural address, the museum shifted focus to some of the neglected genres of art such as calligraphy, craft and print. The MMCA will also hold two exhibitions on the effects of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, giving a new context to pieces from its collection. "Sun & Sea (Marina)," the Golden Lion-winning installation by Rugile Barzdziukaite, Vaiva Grainyte and Lina Lapelyte from last year's Venice Biennale, will come to MMCA Seoul in July. The opera-performance held on an artificial beach will raise consciousness on environmental issues. The state museum's effort to embrace diversity in contemporary art continues with "Museum for All, Museum for Dogs" showing at MMCA this May. The month-long exhibit will incorporate pets in the public space, questioning whether they can be accepted members of society. Lee U-fan's "Relatum a Corner" / Courtesy of Kukje Gallery Top Korean artists The Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) focuses on strengthening relations in the international art world. "Lee Bul Beginning," slated for opening in December, will rediscover the internationally known Korean artist's earlier performance works from the late 1980s to 1990s. The museum's 2017 exhibit on Korea's typography pioneer Ahn Sang-soo will travel to the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing, China in November and the SeMA aims to tour more exhibitions internationally including the Lee Bul show. The SeMA will also hold an exhibition on Rim Dong-sik, mainly with the artworks and archive donated to the museum by the artist in 2019. Kim Whan-ki's "05-IV-71 #200 (Universe)" was sold for 13.2 billion won at a Hong Kong auction last November, turning the status of Korean art up another notch. As Korean abstract art headlined by "Dansaekhwa" (Korean monochrome painting), major galleries are shedding light on a handful of famed ones. Kukje Gallery will reopen its main exhibition space in March with an exhibition of Park Seo-bo, who successfully finished a retrospective at the MMCA last year. Lee U-fan will hold a solo exhibition in Seoul in September for the first time in four years. The retrospective at Kukje Gallery will feature Lee's major painting series including "Dialogue" as well as sculptures resonating with the space. Quac In-sik, a theorist of the Japanese Mono-ha (School of Things) movement, will receive attention in his home country once again at Gallery Hyundai in September. Gallery Hyundai also commemorates its 50th anniversary this year with a special exhibition and archive exhibition from April to July. While Dansaekhwa artists continue to solidify their position in the art market domestically and internationally, Korean figurative painters are also being brought back into the spotlight. Hakgojae Gallery presents solo exhibition of Kim Sun-doo, who experiments with Korean traditional ink-and-color painting methods. Nam Hwa-yeon, who represented Korea at the 2019 Venice Biennale, will continue her research on the late Korean dancer Choi Seung-hee at a solo exhibition at Artsonje Center in February. Jenny Holzer's "Selection from Truisms: The most profound..." / Courtesy of Kukje Gallery The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has asked governors of the south-west to rename Amotekun because it has a biblical origin. Amotekun, the Western Nigeria Security Network is a Yoruba word which means leopard. In a statement on Monday, Ishaq Akintola, the director of MURICs director, said Muslims cant be part of Amotekun because it has its origin in the Bible. Read Also: Southwest Governors Turning Amotekun Into A Christian Militia: MURIC Jeremiah 5:6 says, A leopard shall guard over their city. Amotekun is mentioned in this verse with particular reference to guarding a city. Now, we have a sub-region where Muslims have been under persecution for ages coming up with a security outfit under the name of the same leopard mentioned in the bible as a guard over the city, he said. This is not a coincidence. The handlers of Amotekun picked the name deliberately from the bible in order to score a spiritual point. It is very critical. It calls for serious concern. So why give a security unit a religious name? We advise the planners of the new security outfit to give it another name in the interest of peace and harmony in the sub-region. This is necessary if they want to carry all stakeholders along. Amotekun as a name is already controversial. We do not need a Christian security unit. Neither do we need a Muslim security outfit. The security agency in the South West must not only be neutral, but it must also be seen to be neutral. We affirm that Muslims form the majority in the population of the south-west. They are therefore critical stakeholders and the unity of the Yoruba cannot become fait accompli without involving the Muslims in the sub-region. Muslims must be carried along in any security network in the zone. We are interested in security. We are security conscious. We will, therefore, join a South West security initiative if it is not tainted with Christian landmarks. We will have confidence in a security outfit that involves Muslim leaders, not one that parades pastors, bishops and archbishops alone. It must also be noted that a security group that starts with subtle threats to our brethren in faith in another part of the country cannot be safe for Muslims in Yorubaland. There is no racism or tribalism in Islam (Quran 49:13). It is a global brotherhood. Yoruba Muslims love Yorubaland. They also love Nigeria. But they owe their Creator, Allah, an unflinching and undiluted love towards their brothers and sisters in Islam no matter their race, tribe or colour. The exit and entry department in central China's Hubei Province has suspended the services for the application of ordinary passports and exit-entry permits and endorsements for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to better control the spread of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). No passengers have left the Chinese mainland for the past four days via the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport or the Hankou port, according to a release from the National Immigration Administration (NIA). The NIA said special channels will be opened for individuals who have to leave the mainland for urgent reasons. By the end of Sunday, a total of 1,423 cumulative confirmed cases of new pneumonia had been reported in Hubei, with 76 deaths and 221 cases in severe condition. Forty-four patients have been discharged from hospital. Advertisement Australians have been urged to reconsider any travel to China and not to visit Hubei Province under any circumstances as the country struggles to contain a deadly coronavirus epidemic. A coronavirus outbreak sweeping through China and around the world has the potential to become a pandemic in Australia - where five cases have been confirmed and several more are expected to emerge. About 400 Australians remain trapped in the Hubei province, the epicentre of the deadly outbreak which has killed 106 people and infected more than 4,000. Government website Smarttraveller updated its travel advice for China early on Wednesday morning. 'Due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus we now advise you 'reconsider your need to travel' to China overall and 'do not travel' to Hubei Province,' the Smarttraveller advice read. 'Chinese authorities have restricted travel for parts of the country and may extend these restrictions at short notice. 'Travellers may be quarantined, due to their health condition or previous location.' More than 11million people are stranded and unable to travel in or out of the region as China stepped up preventive measures to limit its spread. The virus, which belongs to the same family as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), has spread to 17 countries, with Sri Lanka and Cambodia the latest to announce cases on Tuesday. A second diagnosed case was also confirmed in Canada. No deaths have been reported outside of China so far. Scroll down for video The coronavirus has the potential to become a pandemic in Australia, health officials have warned. On Tuesday, paramedics completely covered in decontamination gear were called to a luxury Gold Coast hotel after receiving reports a guest had been exhibiting symptoms of the potential fatal disease Police were seen arriving at the scene to assist Queensland Ambulance Service Paramedics wearing Hazmat suits arrived at Peppers, on Elizabeth Street, Broadbeach, to reports of a suspected coronavirus case on Tuesday Five people are being treated in Australian hospitals for the virus but Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said they were all in a stable condition. Health Minister Greg Hunt warned the disease is of 'pandemic potential' and the number of cases in the country is expected to rise as more are tested every day. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THE CORONAVIRUS? Once someone has caught the virus it may take between two and 14 days for them to show any symptoms. If and when they do, typical signs include: a runny nose a cough sore throat fever (high temperature) The vast majority of patients at least 97 per cent, based on available data will recover from these without any issues or medical help. In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people. Advertisement 'There are a number of cases being considered in each of the states and territories, those numbers will literally change by the hour because some will be cleared and others will be tested,' he told Sky News. 'We do believe that there is a potential for further cases to be identified and therefore, to be announced. At this stage, the latest advice is that all five patients are being treated in isolation and all are stable and being well cared for. 'We have some of the strongest border protection measures in place around the world and we have biosecurity officials boarding all planes from China looking for symptoms. 'The Prime Minister has ordered all planes coming from China are boarded by security officials and that's an extremely important measure. 'Every passenger is met with by biosecurity officials and not only are they provided with information, but there is a review of their symptoms and the situation.' Foreign Minister Marise Payne issued a travel warning on Wednesday, advising Australians to stay away from Hubei. Minister Hunt said department officials are making 'significant progress' in finding a way for the Australians stuck in China to get home. A consular team in Shanghai has been dispatched to Wuhan to help negotiate their evacuation. 'They are being crosschecked to ensure there is no double-counting because sometimes you will have multiple family members report the same person, but at this stage, approximately 400 registrations have been placed with Foreign Affairs,' Mr Hunt said. On Tuesday, Western Australia was given the all-clear for the deadly coronavirus but public schools will take extra precautions to keep students safe. The state government on Tuesday confirmed four adult patients who were being closely monitored had tested negative to the virus. There are no further suspected cases. Emma Wei, from Melbourne, is trapped in Wuhan with her two children amid China's lockdown The family of two adults and two children were taken to Westmead Hospital in western Sydney on Monday afternoon after showing symptoms of the disease. The family was cleared Tuesday morning but six new cases are under investigation Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath In Queensland, paramedics were called to a suspected coronavirus case at a Gold Coast hotel resort after receiving reports a guest was showing symptoms of the virus. CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA NEW SOUTH WALES: 4 Four people in NSW have been diagnosed with coronavirus, including three men and one woman. January 25 Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China are confirmed to have contracted the disease. Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China. They are being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital and are in stable condition. January 27 A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW. The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms. She is being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital. VICTORIA: 4 January 25 A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia. The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19. He is now in quarantined isolation at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east. January 29 A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus. He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre. He was assessed as being well enough to stay at home. January 30 A woman in her 40s falls ill with the coronavirus. She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family. She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital. February 1 A Melbourne woman aged in her 20s is at home recovering. She returned from Wuhan on January 25 and fell ill two days later. She was not infectious on the flight, and has remained in isolation since being tested. QUEENSLAND: 2 January 29 Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national wass diagnosed with the virus. He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital. January 30 A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition. SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 2 February 1 A Chinese couple were placed in isolation in a public hospital. The man and a woman both aged 60, were from Wuhan and visiting relatives in South Australia. SA Health said the pair isolated themselves at home when they developed symptoms and awaited the results of the coronavirus test. Australia has raised the travel alert level to 'do not travel' for the city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak - and for the entire Hubei province. Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says unless people have contact with someone who is unwell and has come from that part of China, there is no need for current concern. Advertisement Paramedics clad from head-to-toe in decontamination suits were seen descending on Peppers Broadbeach, around 1.30pm on Tuesday. A Queensland Ambulance Services spokesman said paramedics attended a 'medical incident' on Elizabeth Street and a patient was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition. An ambulance source said the patient had recently returned to the Gold Coast from China and was displaying symptoms, The Gold Coast Bulletin reports. It is believed police were present to assist with crowd control and to establish a quarantine area if required. Two people wearing face masks were seen waiting for paramedics before escorting them into the building. Paramedics later emerged with a man who was pictured getting into the back of an ambulance. Queensland health tested a further six people across the state for the illness on Tuesday, all of which came back negative. The test takes up to six hours to complete and the results of the latest patient are yet to be confirmed. The Broadbeach division of the international hotel chain costs $911 a night for a penthouse suite with panoramic views of the ocean. The luxurious 4.5 star hotel is a hot-spot for celebrities, and is understood to have hosted popstar Taylor Swift and, then boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston in 2016. In NSW, a family of four and six others who were being tested for coronavirus were on Tuesday morning cleared but six new cases are under investigation. Parents and caregivers were asked to hold their children back from school if they had travelled to China in the past 14 days - the incubation period of the virus. Foreign Minister Marise Payne issued a travel warning on Wednesday, advising Australians to stay away from Hubei Medical staff are seen wearing protective clothing outside a hospital in Wuhan after the coronavirus outbreak The deadly Chinese coronavirus outbreak began at the Huanan Seafood Wholesales Market in Wuhan (pictured), tests confirm Members of the medical team of the Second Military Medical University pose for a group photo before entering the wards at Hankou Hospital in Wuhan Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the measure was voluntary and was taken to address worries expressed by the state's schools. He said the government would have liked to have made the decision sooner. There have been four confirmed cases of the potentially deadly virus in NSW. A 21-year-old UNSW student became the fourth case in NSW and fifth in Australia after she tested positive on Monday. The woman flew into Sydney Airport on Thursday on the last Australian-bound direct flight out of the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The student and three men who previously tested positive are being treated at Sydney's Westmead Hospital. All four people had either travelled to Wuhan or had contact with someone diagnosed with coronavirus in China. Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath. The outbreak has evoked memories of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003, another coronavirus which broke out in China and killed nearly 800 people in a global pandemic. The deadly Chinese coronavirus outbreak began at a wholesale animal market in Wuhan city, experts confirmed. Scientists from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said tests proved humans caught it from animals at the Huanan Seafood Wholesales Market. It is not clear which animal was carrying the pneumonia-like illness but the market was home to stalls trading dozens of different species, including rats and wolf cubs. The outbreak has even impacted the economy with Australian (ASX) shares plummeting by 1.7 per cent, wiping $36billion off the market amid fears the outbreak will reduce the number of tourists visiting from China. The companies that suffered most were those that depend on tourism, travel and the Chinese economy. China has already extended the Lunar New Year holiday to February 2 nationally, and to February 9 for Shanghai. NEW HAVEN The Board of Education unanimously elected Yesenia Rivera as the boards new president Monday. Rivera has served on the board for less than a year; she was tapped by former Mayor Toni Harp to fill a vacancy left by former board member Frank Redente. Riveras term expires this year. Rivera replaces Darnell Goldson, who won a second four-year term to the board in November and served two years as president of the board, but said at the start of Mondays meeting that he would not seek another term as president of the panel. He said he intends to seek the 10th District state Senate seat. Rivera has served for most of her term as chairwoman of the districts finance committee. Among issues she has highlighted was that a new hire to the choice and enrollment office spoke only English and was replacing a bilingual worker. The Latino community, she argued, was being overlooked in the city, including her being the lone Latina on the board. She raised her concerns as Latinos at City Hall protested the appointment of retired school principal Larry Conaway who is black to the school board to fill the seat of resigning Puerto Rican board member Joe Rodriguez. According to state data, 9,838 of the 21,264 New Haven students served by public schools here identified as Hispanic or Latino last year, making Latino students the districts ethnic plurality. However, only 8.6 percent of New Haven educators identified as Hispanic or Latino last year. Im taking a kids first outlook as president, Rivera said. Along with (interim Superintendent of Schools Iline) Tracey, we have to right the ship for our kids and address transparency issues so there arent that many questions about things. During her first meeting, Rivera admitted she was nervous about her fluency with parliamentary procedure. Before long, though, she was tested with a tense discussion between Goldson and Tracey, as Goldson pressed Tracey on an allegation that the hiring process for a director of transportation was handled improperly. Come on, she said, turning to Goldson as he repeatedly ignored her attempts to move on to the next speaker. Lets have a civil meeting. You are barraging Dr. Tracey. The board also unanimously elected Ed Joyner as its secretary. Matt Wilcox, who holds chairmanships on the most committees of the board, was elected vice president, with Tamiko Jackson-McArthur, the boards secretary for the last year, abstaining. I just abstained. No reason, Jackson-McArthur said after the meeting. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com Does Increased Productivity Lie in Limiting Employee Bathroom Access? There is some evidence that working humans have become about as productive as they can. Studies have shown that productivity has stalled in the last decade, yet employers are still searching for a magic solution that will squeeze a little more productivity out of them. They believe theyve found it: in bathroom breaks. Several years ago, a union in Chicago filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because its company limited employees bathroom breaks to 30 minutes a week, which works out to six minutes per day. Workers were required to use their swipe cards so management could monitor their bathroom habits. The union alleged the company disciplined 19 workers over the policy and managers even offered financial incentives to employees who didnt use the bathroom at all. Are Uncomfortable Toilets the Answer? More recently, the employers versus bathroom breaks issue came up in the UK with the announcement that a company had developed a toilet with a design just uncomfortable enough to discourage extended sitting. The idea was justifiable mocked in the press, and seemed to underscore endless employer greed, not to mention discrimination against employees with disabilities, illnesses or pregnancy. Meanwhile, in Scotland, call center staff were asked to sign a new contract limiting toilet breaks to one percent of their shiftjust two minutes for those working a four-hour part-time day, according to an article in Phys.org. In Norway one company required female employees to wear red bracelets while menstruating, to show they were allowed to visit the toilet more often. In the contact center, extra long breaks that throw off the carefully crafted schedule are certainly a concern. In the era of smartphones, a bathroom break can turn into an extended news-reading or social media scrolling event. But is limiting bathroom breaks even legal? Can You Legally Limit Employees Bathroom Habits? From a legal perspective, employers must pay workers for breaks shorter than 20 minutes, according to the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) dictates that employers cant enforce unreasonable restrictions on use while also acknowledging that employees cant take an excessive amount of extended bathroom breaks. Does It Even Work? One thing that most studies on the subject agree on: getting draconian about bathroom habits doesnt work and its likely to foster more resentment among employees. Experts recommend that productivity can be improved much more efficiently by streamlining work processes and giving workers more voice and agency over their jobs. A study conducted by the Living Wage Foundation concluded that standardizing tasks while at the same time empowering employees to use their discretion can improve both productivity and profits, improving staff retention and motivation. Edited by Maurice Nagle Washington: US President Trump has prepared his Middle East peace plan related to Israel and Palestine, he will make it public on Tuesday. On the occasion of Trump's announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Leader of the Opposition Benny Gentsz will be present. It is also being said that the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas has appealed to the powerful countries of the world to reject the initiative of Trump. Abbas fears that Trump will give Israel more rights to occupy Palestinian territories in the name of a peace plan, which will make the dream of establishing an independent Palestine far away. JDU calls a meeting on 28th January, CM Nitish Kumar will discuss At the same time, it is being said that Trump, sitting in his Oval Office with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday, said that his plan would be good for all people and from that the possibilities would open new doors. Trump refused to inform the Palestinians about the benefits of the scheme, but said that it will also have what they (Palestinians) want. Palestinian leaders have refused to talk to the Trump administration about the peace plan. He is strongly objected to Trump's decision to transfer him to the US embassy in Jerusalem. So now they are also suspicious of Trump's peace plan. The Palestinians fear that the peace plan will lead to the dream of becoming an independent Palestinian nation. War between AAP and BJP over Shahin Bagh According to the information received, in the peace plan, more rights can be given to Israel in the western side occupied by Palestinians, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Palestinian leaders have said that no peace plan in the area can be implemented without their cooperation. At the same time, it is noteworthy that America is a major party in the Israel-Palestine dispute. He works by keeping in touch with the leaders of both sides to prevent them from clashing. Nomination process not completed for 11 people, officers says, 'Kejriwal is responsible' Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) The House of Representatives on Tuesday agreed to ask Health Secretary Francicso Duque to appear before lawmakers to answer questions on the novel coronavirus. The House approved Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez' motion for Duque to attend the plenary on Wednesday for a "question hour," to learn about the Health Department's measures surrounding the issue. The lower chamber stressed that the move is not for the purposes of legislation nor investigation. "We are exercising our oversight function to allay the fears of our constituents brought about by reports of the Wuhan virus reaching our shores," the House said in a statement. It also emphasized that there is a need to clarify which reports regarding the virus were true or fake. "We are giving Secretary Duque a bigger platform to address the concerns of our constituents," the House added. It can be recalled that former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno was also summoned for a similar question hour in 2018 over controversies regarding budget insertions. Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan said it is pertinent for people to know if the government is prepared if matters get worse. "It bears asking if the government is ready, the Department of Health in particular, just in case coronavirus is declared a public health emergency of international concern," said Tan. Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo agreed that lawmakers should be informed about the situation. He added that the government may need a supplemental budget if the issue escalates. This comes just after Duque reported that there are 24 people in the country that the Health Department is monitoring for a possible Wuhan coronavirus infection. The number of people being monitored earlier reached 27, but 3 have been eventually been tested negative for the Wuhan coronavirus and discharged. Of the original 27 being monitored, 18 are in Metro Manila, three in Western Visayas, three in Central Visayas, one each in Mimaropa, Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao. Most of these patients are Chinese nationals and all of them had a travel history to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the outbreak. The Department of Health is still waiting for test results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City and the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Australia on samples from some of the patients. The DOH said that currently, local health officials run a fast track diagnostic test on throat swabs and blood samples from patients for 33 pathogens, including four types of coronaviruses. Those who test negative will have their samples undergo a pancoronavirus test, which indicates if a patient is infected with a coronavirus. The Immigration Bureau also ordered on Tuesday the suspension of issuance of visas upon arrival to Chinese nationals amid fears over the spread of the virus. DOH also advised against non-essential travel to China. CNN Philippines' Correspondent Xianne Arcangel and Multi-platform Writer Xave Gregorio contributed to this report. Call for "No War but Class War" in San Jose on International Day of Action Pt I by R. Robertson Tuesday Jan 28th, 2020 3:13 AM San Jose demonstrators broadcast their demands on an international day of action against war with Iran on January 25. Several hundred people with signs and banners met at City Hall for a brief program then marched through the historic downtown to the intersection of Story and King Roads where they rallied. Photos by Bernie Bob Jung. Please credit the photographer. Brown Berets with their signature "La Causa" yellow flag marched ahead of a bright blue banner displayed by the South Bay Anti-Imperialist Coalition. Many organizations and individuals displayed messages to show the world on a day of international action co-sponsored by CodePink and ANSWER. CodePink members came with a sign calling for global peace, while ANSWER volunteers hoisted placards reading "No Intervention in Iran." The Party of Socialism and Liberation's printed message said We Condemn the Pentagons Assassination of Irans Leaders while a Veteran for Peace held a hand-made sign "No Blood for Oil, Not Theirs Not Ours." Granny Essie of the San Jose Raging Grannies reminded young Americans of the consequences of a U.S. invasion with her sign "If they Bomb Iran You Can Get Drafted." Signs in Spanish included "Muerte Al Imperialismo" and "Imperio Yanqui Fuera del Medio Oriente." While there were many signs like the one "All War is Bullshit" calling for an end to every war, one sign said "No War but Class War." This last slogan is widely used by diverse groups as a means of underlining the priority of class struggle above other political aims and as a general anti-militarist expression. CHICAGO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ActiveCampaign, the leader in Customer Experience Automation (CXA), has raised $100 million in a Series B growth round led by Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE). Silversmith Capital Partners, which was the sole investor in ActiveCampaign's $20 million Series A in 2016, also participated in this round. ActiveCampaign will use the funding to develop the CXA category through product innovations that advance beyond legacy marketing automation, traditional CRM, and service technology, while continuing international expansion and building on its customer success team and partner ecosystem. Unlike competitors that focus on a narrow audience, ActiveCampaign makes its technology accessible to small, midsize, and enterprise businesses. The company offers the highest standards for service, trust, and value to its 90,000 customers who span 161 countries and diverse industries. Since its 2016 funding round, Chicago-based ActiveCampaign has: Increased annual recurring revenue sixfold, to more than $90 million . . Opened new offices in Indianapolis , Dublin , and Sydney , and significantly expanded its presence in Brazil . , , and , and significantly expanded its presence in . Expanded its partner ecosystem launching an app marketplace with over 260 technology partners and a recipe library with over 250 pre-defined automations. Grown from 65 to over 550 employees, adding almost 300 people in the last year alone. ActiveCampaign leads the category with unparalleled automation, orchestration, personalization, and segmentation across channels, making customer connections scalable so that businesses can treat every customer like they are their most important customer. By connecting tools that are usually disparate, they are able to provide functionality far beyond all-in-one solutions by allowing integration with a range of tools. "Customer Experience makes or breaks a business, and we're proud to be the critical piece that helps growing companies find success through CXA as they scale," said Jason VandeBoom, founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign. "This additional capital gives us the flexibility to continue to quickly adapt to our customers' needs in a very dynamic market while remaining focused on long-term investments in our core platform. I have built a relationship with SGE over the last 3 years and knew this was the right fit." "ActiveCampaign is blazing a trail in the customer experience market while running a rapidly growing and sustainable business," said Martin Angert, Partner at SGE who will join ActiveCampaign's Board of Directors. "It already has the talent, experience, and international footprint to be the leader in Customer Experience Automation." "ActiveCampaign and the CXA category have grown significantly and our investment in the Series B reconfirms Silversmith's commitment to ActiveCampaign's future," said Todd Maclean, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Silversmith Capital Partners. Lazard served as exclusive financial advisor to ActiveCampaign. About ActiveCampaign ActiveCampaign's category-defining Customer Experience Automation Platform helps over 90,000 businesses in 161 countries meaningfully engage with their customers. The platform gives businesses of all sizes access to hundreds of pre-built automations that combine email marketing, marketing automation, CRM, and machine learning for powerful segmentation and personalization across social, email, messaging, chat, and text. Over 70% of ActiveCampaign's customers use its 300+ integrations including Shopify, Square, Facebook, Eventbrite, and Salesforce. ActiveCampaign scores higher in customer satisfaction than any other solution in both Marketing Automation and CRM All-In-One on G2.com. Pricing starts at just $9/month. Start a free trial at ActiveCampaign.com. Press Contact: Amy Dardinger [email protected] SOURCE ActiveCampaign Related Links https://www.activecampaign.com System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
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These agreements are made in the context of investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption as well as compliance with the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations or ITAR. They remain subject to approval by French and U.K. courts and U.S. court and regulator. Airbus said it cannot make any comments on the details of its discussions with the investigating authorities for legal reasons. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. A North Carolina state trooper conducting a traffic stop on Interstate 95 in Robeson County says he was forced to shoot a knife-wielding man after the suspect refused to heed warnings, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety. Justin Lee Workman, 29, of Wilmington, was wounded in the incident and remained in a hospital Tuesday, according to a press release. His condition was not released. Investigators say the incident happened about 5:11 p.m. Monday, after Trooper Roderick McDaniel stopped on Interstate 95 to conduct a roadside safety inspection of a commercial motor vehicle, the press release said. During the course of a roadside safety inspection of a commercial motor vehicle, a trooper was approached by an uninvolved armed individual, according to the release. The individual, who was armed with a knife, advanced towards the (trooper) who then discharged his firearm after verbal commands were ignored. The trooper and driver of the commercial vehicle were not hurt, officials said. The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident to make sure procedure was followed, the release said. Trooper McDaniel is an 18-year-veteran of the State Highway Patrol, assigned to District 9 (Cumberland County), the release said. He has been placed on administrative duty pending an internal investigation which is agency protocol in all officer involved shootings. An earlier press release sent out by the department incorrectly identified the site of the incident as Cumberland County. A visit by US President Donald Trump to India is also expected to take place late next month. New Delhi: Numerous challenges await senior career diplomat and 1984 batch IFS officer Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who will take over as Indias foreign secretary for a two-year term on Wednesday. The government on Tuesday also appointed another senior diplomat, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, now high commissioner to Sri Lanka and a 1988 batch IFS officer, as the next ambassador to the United States. Mr Shringla was till recently Indias ambassador in the US. The most immediate challenge for the new foreign secretary will perhaps be to deal with the fallout of the forthcoming discussion on the resolutions tabled in the European Parliament on Indias Citizenship Amendment Act, which New Delhi is clearly worried about. The controversial debate will be on Wednesday itself, as Mr Shringla assumes charge, and the voting on these resolutions will be on Thursday. New Delhis views are that it is an internal matter of India. A visit by US President Donald Trump to India is also expected to take place late next month. Mr Trump visit is being viewed as a major step in further strengthening bilateral strategic ties. Also, strengthening ties with time-tested friend Russia will also be a major challenge at a time when US-Russia ties have hit rock-bottom. Other major challenges for the new foreign secretary will include the ties with troublesome western neighbour Pakistan, which have been on a downward spiral since 2016. Engaging with giant eastern neighbour China will be yet another. Mr Shringla is also seen as an expert on ties with Bangladesh and this is being seen as a huge positive, given Dhakas concerns over the CAA. Mr Shringla will succeed current foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale who retires on Tuesday. Bidding farewell to foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale who is retiring today. Thank him for his leadership of the Ministry and for his various contributions to Indian diplomacy. Wishing him all the best in his future endeavours, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar tweeted on Tuesday. The appointment of Mr Shringla as the next foreign secretary had been announced last month by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr Shringla had graduated from St. Stephens College in Delhi and had worked in the corporate and public sectors in India prior to joining the Indian Foreign Service. CHICO, Calif. - Chico State Campus Police say they are looking for three men who confronted a group of students and then pulled a handgun out of his pocket. It happened around 1 a.m. on Sunday morning, Jan. 26. Officials say three men in their twenties walked up to the group on the sidewalk at the southeast corner of the Shurmer Gym on Warner Street. During a physical altercation, one of the three suspects pulled a gun out of his pocket. According to officials, the gun was knocked out of the suspect's hand before it could be used. The loaded gun was found at the scene by police but the suspects had fled prior to university police's arrival. Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call campus police at 530-898-5555. Delhis election took a sharply divisive turn on Tuesday, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament from West Delhi, Parvesh Verma, alleging that protesters gathered at Shaheen Bagh where a sit-in against the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has continued for over a month will enter homes...rape...and kill and indicated that this can only be prevented if the BJP is elected to power in the state which goes to polls on February 8. Responding to a question from the news agency, ANI, Verma said, Lakhs of people gather there (Shaheen Bagh). People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. Theyll enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them. Theres time today, (Narendra) Modi ji & Amit Shah wont come to save you tomorrow. Vermas comments created a political stir, with both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress criticising him for hate speech. The Election Commission (EC) , too, took note of Vermas comments, as well as those of BJP leader and minister of state for finance, Anurag Thakur, who chanted and encouraged provocative slogans on Monday. The Delhi Chief Election Officer, on Tuesday, submitted reports to EC on the provocative language used by both the BJP leaders, and the suspected violation of the Model Code of Conduct, a senior official told news agency PTI. EC also issued a show cause notice to Thakur. The poll watchdog is likely to issue a show cause notice to Verma as well. Whereas, the Commission is, prima facie, of the view that by making the aforesaid statements which have the potential of disturbing communal harmony and aggravating the existing differences between social and religious communities, you have violated the provisions of the model code of conduct and Representatives of People Act, 1951, read the order served to Thakur. The Delhi Congress too approached EC and urged it to ban BJP leaders Thakur and Verma for making provocative statements with the aim to incite communal violence. Vermas comments appear in sequence with a string of controversial comment and, rivals allege, communally divisive rhetoric that the BJP has used over the past week in the Delhi election campaign. Analysts say that the BJPs turn to divisive rhetoric is an attempt to consolidate Hindus in an election where it was widely perceived to start with a disadvantage because of the AAPs contention of providing better governance. The BJP also does not have a CM face against the incumbent, Arvind Kejriwal, and is fighting the election in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. To be sure, the BJP is also trying to corner the AAP on governance issues, such as water, education and heath care on which the Delhi governments record is considered impressive by most civic watchers. The BJP, however, sees the protests against the CAA as its biggest opportunity. The partys Delhi chief, Manoj Tiwari, said, It is true. When Manish Sisodia says that we are with Shaheen Bagh, it is something which has helped us. This is coupled with the fact that their lies on their claims about promises in Delhi stand exposed. What Tiwari said is reflected in the statements made by party leaders over the past week. Verma himself, addressing a public meeting in Vikaspuri, said, If the BJP forms government on February 11, not a single person will be found at [the protest site] Shaheen Bagh. He also added, If our government is formed [on February 11, just give me one month. I will ensure that all the mosques in my constituency are removed from government land within a month, he said. Last year, Verma complained to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal regarding illegal mosques which have come up on government land. On Monday, Thakur, had, while addressing a campaign rally, created a controversy by chanting a provocative slogan and encouraging the crowd to do so. Thakur had said, Desh ke gaddaron ko, as the rally participants cheered on by saying, goli maaron saalon ko. A rough translation would be shoot the nations traitors. The slogan has been heard in recent weeks in processions taken out in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and outside the Jawaharlal Nehru University on the night of January 5, when a violent mob assaulted students and teachers inside the university premises. Last week, BJP candidate Kapil Mishra, in a tweet, said that the election contest on February 8 was one between India and Pakistan. The EC had acted, instructing Mishra to delete the tweet and banning him from campaigning for 48 hours. BJPs senior leader and Union home minister, Amit Shah, who has been an active campaigner in the Delhi polls, has, in his speeches, focused on the protests in Shaheen Bagh which are primarily led by Muslim women. Shah has said that a BJP government would deliver a Delhi which was free of Shaheen Bagh. In a rally, he also said, When you press the button on February 8, do so with such anger that its current is felt at Shaheen Bagh. When contacted on Tuesday, Verma stood by his remarks. The protest at Shaheen Bagh is no longer limited to CAA. Protesters there are raising slogans in support of jihad. Lakhs of commuters are facing inconvenience due to the ongoing protest, he said. Verma alleged that the protesters have the tacit support of the Delhi CM, and added that the CM should visit the site, speak to the demonstrators and ensure the blockade is cleared. The AAPs Rajya Sabha member, Sanjay Singh, said the BJP had launched a negative campaign because it has no real issue to talk about. They are engaging in communal politics only because they are scared of the fact that people are liking the AAP governments work done in the past five years. In all surveys, eight of 10 people are saying they are with AAP. They are scared and have no other issue to talk about. All this is a move to divert peoples attention, Singh said. Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said: BJPs star campaigners Parvesh Verma and Anurag Thakur have used objectionable language. Top BJP leaders, including home minister Amit Shah, are going around the lanes and bylanes of Delhi, making provocative statements to polarise the atmosphere and incite communal violence. Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) said there was no device to measure if a statement qualifies as hate speech or not. It will be at the discretion of election bodies to use their sensibilities, he said. Neelanjan Sircar, assistant professor of political science at Ashoka University and a senior visiting fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, said, There is a clear attempt by the BJP to polarise the electorate, especially as the BJP has no CM face to match Kejriwal. The AAP is also shaping its campaign on its service delivery record. Those who have benefited from AAPs schemes are more likely to vote for them. This, Sircar suggests, has led to a change in BJPs electoral calculation, which is primarily focused on turning the election on religious lines. Delhi has a large upper middle class and wealthy population that rarely avails of public services. Right now, AAP has done a good job of reducing polarisation, but if the BJP succeeds in polarising the electorate, it will lead to a greater turnout among this segment of the population. This could give the BJP a fighting chance in Delhi. 28.01.2020 LISTEN Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of using the country's police service to intimidate the party's Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi. According to him, there is a deliberate attempt by the Akufo-Addo led government to clamp down on dissenting views by targeting people such as the NDC Chairman. The statement was on the back of an invitation by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service extended to the NDC Communications Officer to report to the police on Monday [27th January 2020]. The intimidation has been taken a notch higher with yesterday's invitation from the CID on the outrageous basis that 'some persons picked up for interrogation and investigation in connection with alleged involvement in forgery and attempts to spread false information to cause fear and panic in the country of kidnapping and causing unlawful damage. We dismiss this claim as a sinister fabrication and lie, conjured up by the Police CID and its Director-General at the instigation of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo Government, Johnson Asiedu Nketia told Kwame Tutu on'Anopa Nkomo on Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7 Asiedu Nketia alleged that the police's invitation was also a diversionary tactic by the government to take the attention of Ghanaians away from growing lawlessness. The party further warned that the actions of the police and the government could undermine the country's democracy. He indicated that it was ready to assist the police to ensure that law and order prevail in the country; it will not stay unconcerned if its leaders are harassed. Background A statement issued by the Public Affairs Department of the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service said Mr Gyamfi was arrested in connection with the possession of forged documents and publication of false news with the intent to cause fear and panic and alarm. The statement signed by DSP Juliana Obeng said the offences were contrary to sections 166 and 208 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960. However, Sammy Gyamfi has been released by the police barely five hours of his arrest. Photo: Forsaken Fotos/Flickr Missed the most recent top news in Philadelphia? Read on for everything you need to know. Kobe Bryant honored with purple lights on city's landmarks The Ben Franklin Bridge and Boathouse Row were among the places illuminated in purple. Read the full story on CBS Philly. Health officials investigate possible coronavirus case at East Falls school A possible coronavirus case at William Penn Charter School is under investigation. School officials say a group of 18 students and three chaperones from China arrived at the Penn Charter campus last Tuesday. Read the full story on CBS Philly. Gun used to kill 2-year-old in Philadelphia seized in trafficking case The girl was struck by a bullet fired from an assault rifle outside her home last fall. Read the full story on 6abc Action News. 22-year-old woman missing from West Philadelphia Police are asking for the public's help in locating Siani Valentin, who was last seen on Jan. 19 on the 3900 block of Conshohocken Avenue. Read the full story on FOX 29. Amid asbestos fears, an elementary school's staff refuses to enter building Teachers and staff at an elementary school in Philadelphias Kensington neighborhood refused to enter their school building Monday amid fear that damaged asbestos has not been properly contained. Read the full story on Philadelphia Inquirer. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. By Rasana Gasimova Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission (CEC) has begun printing ballots for the upcoming parliamentary elections in the country scheduled for February 9. CEC Chairman Mazahir Panahov and CEC members got acquainted with the printing process at the Azerbaijani Parliaments printing office on January 27. As part of the open event organized for all interested parties including international organizations, observation missions and the media, Panahov held a briefing for media representatives. The CEC chairman informed them about recent activities and the steps taken for conducting free and fair elections, and then answered reporters' questions. Panahov noted that the requirements for the text, form, number and procedure for preparing ballots were set on the basis of a decision of CEC, and 5,387,600 ballots are planned to be printed. The CEC will hand the ballots over to district election commissions, and they will redirect the ballots to precinct election commissions. Meanwhile, submission of applications for observation of parliamentary elections in all constituencies will be completed by January 30. Both foreign and local citizens with active suffrage wishing to observe the election process should register with the Central Election Commission not later than 10 days before the day of the elections. Earlier, it was noted that Azerbaijan`s Central Election Commission (CEC) has accredited over 409 international and 55,492 local observers for their monitoring of the election. Several organizations have applied to Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission (CEC) to conduct exit-polls at the early parliamentary elections to be held in the country. According to the law, organizations willing to conduct exit-polls must contact the CEC not later than 20 days before the election day. The period has expired, and in the coming days the media will be provided with information about organizations that have submitted documents to the CEC for conducting exit-poll. Note that 2431 people have applied to take part in the elections to the Azerbaijani parliament. Currently, the number of candidates for the parliament is 1,374. The elections will be held on February 9. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 08:01:36|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close MIAMI, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Former world No. 3 Juan Martin del Potro was discharged from hospital on Monday after undergoing surgery on his troublesome right knee. The 31-year-old said he was going home to recuperate after the procedure at a Miami clinic earlier in the day. "Time to go home to rest. Once again, thank you for the love and support," Del Potro said in a Twitter post. The words were accompanied by an image of the Argentinian walking with the aid of crutches and with a splint supporting his knee. Del Potro has been sidelined since last June, when he suffered a fractured patella for the second time in nine months during the Queen's ATP 500 tournament in London. He underwent surgery in Barcelona just days later but has remained beset by pain and was forced to twice postpone his return to the ATP tour last year. The 2009 US Open champion has endured a wretched battle with injuries in recent years and extended periods on the sidelines saw his career ranking drop to 1,045th place in 2016. In 2018, he won two ATP titles and reached the final of the US Open, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic. Majority of the people sitting in protest against the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) in Shaheen Bagh, Delhi and Park Circus, Kolkata are from Bangladesh and Pakistan, BJP Secretary Rahul Sinha said on Monday. "Most of the people sitting at Shaheen Bagh and Park Circus are infiltrators from Bangladesh and Pakistan. They are protesting by using children and women as shields. The recent video has revealed they want to divide India and break off Assam. Will the people of this country ever want to talk about dividing this country?" Sinha told ANI on Monday. "Today, I also ask the leaders who went to Shaheen Bagh, did you go there to support these elements who talk about breaking the nation?" he added. Sinha also slammed the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led government in West Bengal for passing the anti-CAA resolution in the state Assembly. "Mamata Banerjee's government is formed under the Constitution, they took an oath on it before forming the government. Today by passing this anti-CAA resolution they have broken that oath and dishonoured the Constitution. An Act passed by the Centre cannot be challenged by the states," Sinha said. He further slammed Congress and CPM for supporting the resolution in the Assembly and added that his party will now expose the truth about these parties by visiting Hindu refugee families. "The work done by Mamata Banerjee, with the help of Congress and CPM is shameful. It has now become clear that they are anti-refugees. The three parties want to send the (Hindu) refugees away and want the illegal Muslim immigrants to settle here," Sinha said. "We will go to the Hindu refugees in West Bengal and tell them about this act by the three parties," he added. The West Bengal Assembly passed a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which was moved by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government. After Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan, West Bengal is the fourth state to pass a resolution against the CAA. The state assembly had on September 6 last year, passed a resolution against the Register of Citizens (NRC). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [January 28, 2020] Cellcom Israel LTD. Announces Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders NETANYA, Israel, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE: CEL) announced today that an extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") of Cellcom Israel Ltd. (the "Company") will be held on Thursday, March 5, 2020, at 4:00 p.m. (Israel time), at the offices of the Company, 10 Hagavish Street, Netanya, Israel. The record date for the Meeting is Friday, February 7, 2020. The agenda of the Meeting is as follows: Approval of the Remuneration to the Company's new Chief Executive Officer. Amendment of the Company's Compensation Policy. Quorum Two or more shareholders holding in the aggregate at least one-third of the outstanding voting power in the Company, present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote, will constitute a quorum at the Meeting. Voting Requirements Items 1 and 2 require the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the voting power present at the meeting, in person or by proxy, and voting on the matter, provided that either (i) at least a majority of the shares of non-controlling shareholders or who do not have a personal interest in the approval of the proposal voted at the meeting vote in favor of the proposal (disregarding abstentions); or (ii) the total number of shares among the shareholders described in section (i) above voted against the proposal does not exceed 2% of the aggregate voting rights in the Company. Proxy statements and proxy cards for use by shareholders that cannot attend the meeting in person will be sent by mail, on or about February 12, 2020, to the Company's shareholders that hold shares registered with the American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, including shares held via Depository Trust Company (DTC) members other than the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Clearinghouse. Shareholders that hold shares via the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Clearinghouse may access the proxy statement and a form of Hebrew ballot via the following websites: http://www.magna.isa.gov.il and http://maya.tase.co.il. About Cellcom Israel Cellcom Israel Ltd., established in 1994, is a leading Israeli communications group, providing a wide range of communications services. Cellcom Israel is the largest Israeli cellular provider, providing its approximately 2.767 million cellular subscribers (as at September 30, 2019) with a broad range of services including cellular telephony, roaming services for tourists in Israel and for its subscribers abroad, text and multimedia messaging, advanced cellular content and data services and other value-added services in the areas of music, video, mobile office etc., based on Cellcom Israel's technologically advanced infrastructure. The Company operates an LTE 4 generation network and an HSPA 3.5 Generation network enabling advanced high speed broadband multimedia services, in addition to GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks. Cellcom Israel offers Israel's broadest and largest customer service infrastructure including telephone customer service centers, retail stores, and service and sale centers, distributed nationwide. Cellcom Israel further provides OTT TV services, internet infrastructure and connectivity services and international calling services, as well as landline telephone services in Israel. Cellcom Israel's shares are traded both on the New York Stock Exchange (CEL) and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (CEL). For additional information please visit the Company's website http://investors.cellcom.co.il. Company Contact Shlomi Fruhling Chief Financial Officer [email protected] Tel: +972 52 998 9735 Investor Relations Contact Ehud Helft GK Investor & Public Relations In partnership with LHA [email protected] Tel: +1 617 418 3096 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cellcom-israel-ltd-announces-extraordinary-general-meeting-of-shareholders-300994146.html SOURCE Cellcom Israel Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Elizabeth Warren. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images Elizabeth Warren announced on Tuesday her endorsement of Kimberly Foxx, the states attorney for Cook County, Illinois, whose surprise win over Anita Alvarez in the 2016 Democratic primary launched a wave of progressive prosecutor candidates across the United States. It was one of two such cosigns for the Massachusetts senator. She also threw her weight behind Jose Garza in the race for Travis County, Texas, district attorney, where the public defender is challenging incumbent Margaret Moore. Both announcements came as Warren finds herself in a statistical three-way polling tie with Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg in the Iowa caucuses, and weathers progressive criticism over her praise for life imprisonment as a harsher alternative to the death penalty. Bernie Sanders is leading her in most polls. The endorsements signal Warrens growing appreciation for local prosecutor races and their importance to civic health. Faced with a seeming consolidation of left-wing support behind the Vermont senator, Warren has sought to distinguish herself through allyships with black women grassroots activists in cities like Chicago, much of whose advocacy has focused on criminal-justice reform. A large share of their electoral work has involved influencing local prosecutor races. District attorneys and their analogs (elsewhere theyre called state or states attorneys) hold outsize power in the criminal-legal system by deciding whom to prosecute, which charges to bring, and how severe a punishment to request from judges, in addition to playing a key role in deciding whether to charge police officers with whom they work closely for wrongdoing. But Warrens endorsement also comes at a crucial juncture for Foxx. During her roughly three years on the job, Foxx has made strides that wouldve been unimaginable during her predecessors punitive tenure. In a county thats long been wracked by gun violence, particularly in Chicago, Foxx has managed to both reduce crime and reduce incarceration. Shes made it a policy to prosecute fewer low-level offenses most famously retail theft, for which she doubled the prosecution threshold while focusing her newly available resources on reducing firearm-related violence. Shes established a Gun Crimes Strategies Unit, a group of prosecutors dedicated to tackling gun violence in police districts with the highest rates. And its working. Districts that house GSCU prosecutors have since experienced faster declines in gun violence than their counterparts, mirroring a downward trend in shootings and murders citywide. All told, its been a successful first term by both reformist and more traditional crime-reduction measures, but both are in peril. If you watched Monday nights primary forum in Chicago, youd be forgiven for having a different impression of Foxxs tenure altogether. According to WBEZ, the entire first 30 minutes of the hour-long program, hosted by the Chicago Tribune editorial board, was dedicated to a case that functions mainly as a culture-war hobbyhorse for conservatives: that of Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor who claimed in January 2019 that he was assaulted by two Trump supporters. The case took an abrupt turn after law-enforcement officials investigated and concluded that Smollett was lying and had paid two men to stage the attack. Public sentiment turned swiftly against the actor. Trump himself weighed in to condemn him. Foxxs office ignored the outrage and declined to prosecute Smollett. The prosecutor assigned to the case, Joe Magats (Foxx recused herself), said the decision was not an exoneration, but rather that the 16 hours of community service the actor had recently performed and agreement to forfeit his $1,000 bond was sufficient punishment for a nonviolent crime. A trans-partisan cross section of pundits and social-media personalities cried black privilege and leftist privilege, insisting that Smollett was let off the hook because he was a famous entertainer. That the SA offices decision not to prosecute was fully in keeping with the priorities and mandates Foxx had laid out during her campaign and was in the process of executing as head prosecutor was lost on most of her detractors. Nevertheless, the case wont go away. Chicagos police union staged a protest outside Foxxs offices in April, many of its members smarting from the embarrassment of dedicating considerable resources to investigating a hoax. Now its become a key theme of her reelection campaign. Bill Conway in particular, one of Foxxs challengers, has brought Smollett up repeatedly, including in ads. The Tribune editorial board has abetted these efforts, dedicating half their forum this week to amplifying a single instance of leniency in a region plagued by over-imprisonment and murder, and a police department that seems unable to solve either. This is hardly surprising. Despite Foxxs focus on implementing less-carceral reforms during her first election, her victory in 2016 is largely, and perhaps paradoxically, attributable to leniency on her predecessors part. Anita Alvarez famously declined to prosecute Officer Jason Van Dyke for murdering 17-year-old Laquan McDonald until a year after the crime, when public outcry over footage of the killing forced her hand. Foxx vowed to hold officers like Van Dyke accountable. She won the primary in a landslide. The optics of a mostly white panel of opinion writers grilling a black prosecutor because she failed to throw the book at a black man accused of a nonviolent and decidedly victimless crime illustrate the deficit from which Foxx is still operating. Three years of remarkable progress toward her stated goals have won her high-profile endorsements including from Warren and Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot but failed to alleviate skepticism from a criminal-legal establishment and pundit class used to treating prison as the solution to every misdeed. Its especially disconcerting given her competition. The bulk of Conways professional life has been spent pursuing a career in finance, interrupted by a brief stint as a prosecutor. His campaign is bankrolled by his billionaire father, William Conway Jr., whose investment firm the Carlyle Group boasts an almost cartoonishly villainous portfolio, including defense-contracting investments and partial ownership of the company that manufactures the tear gas used on protesters in Ferguson. Conway too is running as a progressive despite airing campaign ads notable primarily for restating tough on crime orthodoxy in a compassionate tone of voice over soft piano music. Given the abundance of substance and philosophical divergences on which voters could make their choice, its telling that conversations around this election have hinged so enormously on Jussie Smollett. Ideally, a national spotlight like that provided by Warrens endorsement will draw attention to its absurdity. But it seems as likely that outrage over Foxxs leniency will dominate. While meaningful reforms are taking shape in one of the places that theyre needed most, those reforms are being threatened by the very impulses that made them necessary in the first place. WASHINGTON (JTA)A decade ago, in a speech in Cairo addressing the Islamic world, President Barack Obama issued a call to understand Israels importance in the context of the Holocaustand it started a political firestorm in the world of Jewish politics. Not so this week. A nonbinding resolution on Holocaust education introduced recently by three Republican lawmakers essentially echoes Obamas call, but it has barely evinced a peep. Why the differing reactions? First, people tend to pay more attention to the leader of the free world making a signature foreign policy address than a pack of backbenchers introducing your everyday nonbinding resolution. Its also understandable to chalk up any inconsistency to our political culture of selective outrage. In this case, however, a third possibility should be considered: Maybe there was nothing wrong with what Obama said in the first place? Or, more to the point, maybe the president never said what his critics say he said. Heres what Obama said in a 2009 passage blasting the prevalence of Holocaust denial in Muslim societies: Americas strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied. Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were enslaved, tortured, shot and gassed to death by the Third Reich. Six million Jews were killedmore than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, ignorant and hateful. Threatening Israel with destructionor repeating vile stereotypes about Jewsis deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve. Obamas clear message to the Muslim world was to cut out the Holocaust denial and threats against Israel. But the execution upset some prominent Jewish organizations and Israeli commentators. The President implied that the Holocaust was the primary reason for Israels creation, the American Jewish Committees CEO, David Harris, said at the time. That is unfortunateand factually incorrect. While he made strong statements against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, it should have been made clear that Israels right to statehood is not a result of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, the Anti-Defamation League said then. Aluf Benn, who at the time edited Haaretz, wrote in The New York Times that the speech was especially offensive to Israelis. Here we are taught that Zionist determination and strugglenot guilt over the Holocaustbrought Jews a homeland, Benn said. Yossi Klein Halevi, the Israeli-American writer, said in The New Republic that Obama inadvertently reinforced Muslim misconceptions regarding Jewish indigenousness. The Holocaust helps explain why Israel fights, not why Israel exists. Obamas spokesmen endeavored afterward to make clear that he was not tying Israels founding directly to the Holocaust, nor was he saying that the Holocaust was the reason Israel existed. A close reading of his speech showed that he was noting the way the Holocaust shapes how Jews and Israelis view the world, and not setting up a causative sequence or an exclusive justification for Israels creation. Sort of the same way organizations that blasted Obama make a stop at Israels Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, a must-see on their Israel tours. The resolution introduced this week by Rep. Ted Budd of North Carolina and two Jewish lawmakers, Lee Zeldin of New York and David Kustoff of Tennessee, encourages Holocaust education as a way of stemming anti-Semitism, itself not noteworthythere are a number of efforts on the state level to get Holocaust education into the curriculum. It ends, however, on an Obama-esque note, encouraging public schools throughout the country to design and teach a curriculum about the history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, and the historic importance of the creation of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948 that served as a refuge for Jews all over the world to escape persecution following the Holocaust. When the Jewish Telegraphic Agency asked the congressmen about the resolution, each replied with a vehement affirmation of ancient Jewish claims to Israel, which did not obviate the message of the resolutionthat the meaning of Israel to Jews is wrapped up in the persecution that Jews have suffered. Of course, Israel has been the historic homeland of the Jewish people for thousands of years, Budd said. The resolution was simply intended to highlight that the State of Israel has also served and continues to serve as a refuge for Jews around the world to escape any form of persecution. That is why the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Zionist Organization of America endorsed this resolution. The Jewish homeland has existed for thousands of years, and the modern charter governing the State of Israel was no doubt made possible by the struggle and determination of the Zionist community, Zeldin said. It is thanks to these countless years of Zionist resolve that Jews from around the world were able to seek refuge in their rightful homeland during one of the darkest periods of our people. Kustoff said Israel has been the historic, rightful homeland of the Jewish people for thousands of years. Thanks to years of determination by many in the Zionist community, Jews from around the world were able to seek refuge in the State of Israel during times of persecution, including the Holocaust. We asked the ADL and the AJC for comment on the resolutionand how it does or doesnt echo Obamas Cairo speech. The AJC did not reply to multiple requests for comment, and the ADL said it would get back to the JTA, but had not by press time. Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America and a fierce Obama critic, said he did not have a problem with that passage in the presidents speech (although other parts, in which Obama recognized Palestinian grievances, angered him at the time), and he had no problem with the resolution. To say Israel serves as a refugeit does serve as a refuge, Klein said in an interview. Theres nothing wrong with that. JTA asked the Republican Jewish Coalition, which like the ZOA had looked over the resolution before its release, for comment. The RJC said the relevant congressional staffer was gone for the day. One factor mitigating controversy this time around might be that it has become consensus in recent years among Republicans and some Democrats, as well as some centrist Jewish groups, that bashing Israel is equated with anti-Semitism. Joining Holocaust education with Israels founding makes sense in that context. The resolution lists a litany of recent violent attacks and then also notes the boycott Israel movement, calling it a cause of rampant anti-Semitism. None of the violent incidents listed in the resolution, including the deadly attacks in Pittsburgh, Jersey City, New Jersey, and Poway, California, have had any link to the boycott Israel movement. The price of gas supplied by NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy for the needs of households and heat producers in January 2020 will be UAH 4.65 per cubic meter (VAT, pipe transportation costs and gas distributors' markups not included), which is 25% less than in January 2019. "The new price has been calculated by Naftogaz in accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 17 dated January 24, 2020. Thus, Ukraine is fulfilling its obligations to the IMF on the gradually transition to a gas market with free pricing and competition for domestic consumers between many gas suppliers," Naftogaz said in a press release. The company recalled that according to the new method, the price for the current month is determined according to the actual exchange trading that took place from the 1st to the 22nd day of this month. Naftogaz will continue publishing the price for the current month for several business days after the 22nd day. "Thanks to the signing of a contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, there was no price crisis on the gas market. Moreover, large unused gas stocks in European countries' storage facilities contributed to lower prices in European markets. The Cabinet of Ministers and Naftogaz found a solution that allowed them to reconsider January gas price for protected consumers towards decreasing. In fact, the price has been reduced to market conditions," Head of Naftogaz's integrated gas business unit Andriy Favorov said. MLA Manoj Kumar, who was denied ticket for the upcoming by the party, on Tuesday joined the in the presence of Defence Minister at a public rally here. After joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Kondli legislator said the Kejriwal government is showing "false dreams" to the people. "I want to urge people of Kondli that if they want the same development as done by me in the last five years, they should vote for the BJP," he said. The has fielded Kuldeep Kumar from the Kondli assembly constituency. Delhi will go to polls on February 8 and the votes will be counted on February 11. Suicide attempts, aggressive behaviour, sleep disorders and bedwetting these are just some of the symptoms displayed by many young asylum seekers and refugees in Libya who have faced violence and suffering at home as well as during their difficult and dangerous journeys. Children and their families have also often experienced or seen shocking levels of violence since arriving in Libya, which has suffered widespread conflict and instability since a 2011 uprising to overthrow former leader Muammar Gaddafi. Many have witnessed things that no child should ever see, leaving them highly stressed and anxious. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, supports activities to help refugees and asylum seekers address their mental anguish. One programme in the capital Tripoli was specifically designed for children at the Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF), which was established as a transit centre for refugees and asylum seekers awaiting evacuation flights out of the country. At a recent session, where youngsters were invited to draw pictures about themselves and their hopes for the future, one young girl mimics a boxers punches as she plays. This child, a cute little girl, told us she wants to be a wrestler, said psychotherapist Nadia Tabet, who works with UNHCRs local NGO partner in Tripoli, LibAid. "She is full of bad memories." We were surprised. When I asked her why?, she said: I want to hit all those who have hit us. This reflects the injustice she suffered. After fleeing Eritrea, the youngster and her mother had spent more than a year in Zintan detention centre, one of 16 active official detention centres in Libya, run by the Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM), which falls under the Ministry of Interior. UNHCR managed to secure their release, taking them to the GDF in Tripoli pending evacuation. She used to wake up at night crying. Her mother brought her to us, Tabet explained. The girl used to witness people fighting at night in the detention centre she had internalized this violence. She is full of bad memories. We are trying to treat the psychological traumas theyve experienced and modify their violent behaviour. In 2019, UNHCR, together with LibAid, started a psychosocial programme at the GDF trying to provide some normalcy and hope for many formerly detained youngsters. Other support programmes are available for adults at the facility as well as at UNHCRs Community Day Centre located in another part of the city. Children are encouraged to share their experiences through drawing. UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem Psychotherapist Nadia Tabet interacts with the children. UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem Staff and children pose for a photograph in the grounds of the GDF facility. UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem The children display their drawings at the end of one of the sessions. UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem Libya is not a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees. Refugees and asylum seekers are regarded as illegal migrants. They can be subject to arrest and detention, especially those who have been intercepted at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard while trying to cross the Mediterranean. They often languish in detention for months, or even years. There is no judicial review process, and those held often face abuse, torture and sexual violence. In addition, many children may have come to Libya via routes controlled by human trafficking gangs, where violence, exploitation and abuse are not uncommon. The support programme for children, funded by UNHCR, targeted youngsters aged five to 12 years old. It provided a safe space where they are encouraged to express themselves, take part in play activities that take their minds off the violence they may have witnessed and interact socially with peers. Books and toys were provided for the activities. Violence is a general problem in children here, explained LibAids Jamal Bashir, head of psychosocial support programmes at the GDF. In the programme, we worked to improve behaviour. We tried to create routines for them to bring a sense of normalcy because they have not had the chance to live a normal life. "Everyone died." Most of the youngsters have also lost out on schooling either breaking off their studies when they left home, or in many cases never having attended classes at all. This can also be an issue causing them a high degree of stress the knowledge they have missed out on opportunities for a better future. Children clearly enjoyed attending the sessions, opening up about their family experiences in the safe environment it provides. One nine-year-old boy, Mohammed*, told the psychotherapist that he does not like war, explaining that his mother and brother were both killed. We want to go to Europe because everyone died, he said. Now its me and my dad only. Parents have seen positive results from the programme, reporting their children are calmer and more motivated. Yusuf*, a single parent following the death of his wife, said he had seen improvements in his son since he began attending. Were very happy with the programme, he said. Before, my son had more aggressive behaviour, but now he behaves normally and respects everyone. "There's clear sadness in all the kids that are here." LibAids Bashir said that when they began the new programme, children were so keen that they began turning up an hour early for the classes. We see the children are passionate; this is something new for them. The poor conditions they grew [up] in, the trauma of the journey it all affects them, he added. The children are just observers who see what happens. You notice that theres clear sadness in all the kids that are here. They cant express it and let it out. Thats why we created these activities: to help. Due to worsening security in Tripoli, the psychosocial programme for children is being put on hold for the time being. UNHCR hopes to be able to find new alternatives to continue this important work. *Names have been changed for protection reasons. System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
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ED had earlier sent a note to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) mentioning that there is a direct link between the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in Uttar Pradesh and the PFI. ED's note to the Home Ministry came after an investigation into bank accounts of PFI in some districts of western Uttar Pradesh. During the investigation, ED found that a huge amount of money was transferred to bank accounts linked to the PFI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SCRANTON, Pa. A former Pennsylvania financial planner who was ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages to customers he allegedly tricked into high-risk investments took the stand at his criminal fraud trial Monday and blamed some of his woes on sloppy paperwork. Anthony Diaz, who was kicked out of the securities industry in 2015 over persistent customer complaints and rules infractions, is battling an 11-count federal indictment alleging wire and mail fraud. Prosecutors say he told customers he was putting their money in safe investments with guaranteed profits when, in reality, he invested it in high-risk alternative investments for which they werent qualified. Testifying in his own defense, Diaz said the investments he sold were vetted and approved by the brokerages he worked with. And he insisted he fully explained the risks to his clients. There's no scheme to try to hurt people, he said. Once regarded as one of the nations top brokers, Diaz earned millions of dollars over a 15-year career by pushing high-fee, high-risk alternative investments. Prosecutors said he had unsuspecting clients sign blank documents, then falsified their net worth, income, investment experience and risk tolerance to make it appear they met the suitability requirements of the products. Diaz denied criminal intent and chalked it up to paperwork errors. Im terrible at paperwork, he testified. That's been my plague through my whole career. He said he hired an operations manager to handle the administrative side of the business so that he could be freed up to do what he did best sell investments. When Wall Streets self-regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, eventually filed a wide-ranging complaint against him, Diaz said he wanted to fight the allegations. But he said he took his parents' advice and settled, agreeing to a permanent ban because he planned to exit the business anyway. In retrospect, Diaz said, it was a mistake. I shouldve fought it. I think if I wouldve fought the accusations that I might not be here today. ... I had all my ducks in a row, he told jurors. Diaz said his settlement did not require him to admit wrongdoing. Diaz was fired from five brokerages. Trying to explain why, he said he affiliated with companies that either couldnt handle the volume of business he was generating or that unfairly threw him under the bus when questions were raised about unauthorized trading. At least one brokerage stole his clients after terminating him, he said. I was used to getting kicked around, Diaz said. Prosecutors rested their case after calling 12 of Diazs former clients. One of them, Joseph McCloskey, testified that he invested his entire nest egg of $1.5 million with Diaz and has since lost about $800,000 of it. (Diaz denied McCloskey lost that amount of money, telling jurors that was the most bizarre statement of the trial.") McCloskey also said Diaz promised to put him into safe investments with guaranteed returns, including an energy exploration company and a real estate investment trust. Diaz, he said, did not explain to him that the investments were speculative and that he could lose his principal. McCloskey testified that he signed a series of blank forms at Diazs behest. Diaz, unbeknownst to him, vastly inflated his worth to qualify him for the investments, he said. The retired teacher and real estate investor acknowledged he didnt read the investment documents whose fine print spelled out the risk because I trusted Anthony Diaz." Diaz disputed he told McCloskey or any other client they couldn't lose money.He said some of the customers who testified against him were lying or greedy. And he said a lot of them made money in the high-risk investments he put them in. The jury is expected to get the case this week. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has already awarded some $4 million in damages to 19 former clients, but agency officials said Diaz hasn't paid up. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 By ANI NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday issued notice to Union Minister Anurag Thakur for his alleged inflammatory speech made at an election rally in the national capital. Union Minister Thakur has been given time till 12 noon January 30 to reply to the EC notice. The Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi said in a report to the ECI today that Thakur raised the slogans 'Desh Ke Gaddaro Ko, Goli Maaro Sa*** Ko' many times while addressing a public meeting here in Rithala on January 27. ALSO READ | Goli Maro row: Congress demands EC action against Anurag Thakur for instigating people Thakur, if found guilty, will become the second BJP leader to be pulled up by the ECI during the course of the campaign for the Delhi Assembly election. Earlier on January 25, the EC had placed a temporary ban on BJP candidate Kapil Mishra from campaigning for the Delhi assembly elections for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The voting for the Delhi Assembly will take place on February 8. The counting will begin on February 11. Nations pride: The first domestically assembled submarine, KRI Alugoro 405, traverses Bali Strait in Banyuwangi, East Java, on Jan. 21. (Antara/Budi Candra Setya) In Javanese puppet stories, the alugoro was the weapon of Baladewa, the older brother of Kresna, the focal figure in the Hindu Mahabharata epic. The weapon, a gada (club) with two pointy ends, was said to have magnificent and massive destructive power. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Update Jan 29: Aoife has been found. Gardai have thanked the public for their help in locating her. Earlier: Gardai and family members are concerned for the well-being of a woman who went missing today. (JTA)The 2020 Oscar nominations are out, and unsurprisingly, theyre already causing a firestorm on social media. The list, announced early Monday morning, didnt do much to quell longstanding concerns that the awards have issues with race and gender equality. Only one actor of color was nominatedCyntha Erivo, for her role in Harrietand the best director category is once again all male, despite the fact that Greta Gerwigs adaptation of Little Women was a massive critical and commercial success. The Jewish snub of the year goes to Uncut Gemsthe Diamond District thriller by the Jewish Safdie brothers, starring Adam Sandler, which earned rave reviews. The film, one of the most Jewish mainstream flicks in years, earned no nominations, not even for Sandler, who some critics had picked to win the best actor award. The full nominations list does include other Jewish names who have a decent chance of bringing home some hardware. Scarlett Johansson is the first actress in over a decade to be nominated in two different categories, and only the 11th ever. Sam Mendes, who already won big at the Golden Globes, is a strong contender in the director category for 1917, which garnered several other nominations as well. Here are the rest of the Jewish nominees: Sam Mendes Best Director, 1917 The renowned directors latest is set in World War I and has been lauded for its cinematography. Joaquin Phoenix Best Actor, Joker The acclaimed actor, born to a Jewish mother, is likely a favorite to win for his gritty, dark performance. Scarlett Johansson Best Actress, Marriage Story; Best Supporting Actress, Jojo Rabbit. In Taika Waititis anti-Nazi satire Jojo Rabbit, Johansson plays a German mother who hides a Jewish child in her home. Taika Waititi Best Adapted Screenplay, Jojo Rabbit Waititi, a Maori Jew from New Zealand, said in the films production notes that he experienced prejudice growing up for his dual identity. Noah Baumbach Best Original Screenplay, Marriage Story Baumbach partly based the film on his real-life divorce from Jewish actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. SPRINGFIELD The St. Francis of Assisi Chapel in Springfields downtown remains closed and its future as a worship site remains under review," according to a diocesan spokesman. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield is advertising 900 to 3,600 square feet within the building as available for lease. But that space doesnt include the chapel. It consists of office space left vacant after a previous tenant left, said Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the diocese. City records show the building, at 254-262 Bridge St., has 7,500 square feet of space listed as multi-use retail on the first floor, where the chapel is, and another 7,500 square feet of space listed as multi-use office on the second floor. The diocese owns the property. Dupont said Catholic Charities once had offices in the building, which was also home to offices for the dioceses outreach operation to the Latino community. A sign on the front door directs potential worshippers to the 12:12 p.m. daily Mass celebrated in the Holy Spirit Chapel at St. Michaels Cathedral on State Street, which is about a three-tenths of a mile away. The 60-year-old St. Francis chapel on Bridge Street has been closed since November, following the death of longtime sacristan Raymond Rivera. St. Francis had been without a regular priest for some time. The chapel was staffed by Capuchin Franciscan priests from its opening in 1959 until 2000, when the order no longer had enough priests to staff it. St. Francis was reopened by then-Bishop Timothy McDonnell in 2004. The Bridge Street neighborhood is undergoing a resurgence. The Springfield Innovation Center and Valley Venture Mentors are open next door, and New England Public Radio has its headquarters at the end of the block, at Bridge and Main streets. A block east, Grannys Baking Table opened late last year at 309 Bridge St. Love Island fans accused Paige Turley of 'double standards' during Monday's show, after she snapped at Finlay Tapp for laughing on his date with a new girl. The Islanders were left in shock earlier on in the day, when it was announced that bombshells Demi Jones and Wallace Wilson would be entering the villa. The newbies had to pick Islanders to prepare them a starter, main and dessert for a dinner date, with Demi choosing Finn to prepare her first course, and Wallace opting for Paige to cook his main. Fuming: Love Island fans accused Paige Turley of 'double standards' during Monday's show, after she snapped at Finlay Tapp for laughing on his date with a new girl Yet despite being chosen for a date of her own, Paige was left seething when her partner was picked as well, muttering: 'Obviously she chose Finn, obviously. 'I just hope he cooks something really s**t.' With Sophie Piper, Siannise Fudge, Nas Majeed and Luke M also preparing meals in the kitchen, Finn was quizzed on whether he was nervous about making a starter, but merely responded: 'I don't crack under pressure, me', prompting an eye roll from Paige. On a date: despite being chosen for a date of her own, Paige was left seething when her partner was picked as well, muttering, 'Obviously she chose Finn, obviously' Stepping in: The Islanders were left in shock earlier on in the day, when it was announced that bombshells Demi Jones and Wallace Wilson would be entering the villa The West Lothian native, 22, soon changed her tune, however, when Wallace walked into the villa, dancing around and squealing 'He's f***ing Scottish! He's Scottish, he's Scottish!' Despite her outburst, Paige was left seething when Finn, 20, went on his date with Demi, straining to listen as she exclaimed: 'I just heard them laugh... They're actual flirting!' Seething as she oversaw their dinner date, Paige raged: 'See if he f***ing mugs me off, I swear. 'This is why I just don't get invested with anything, because he's going to come back and prove me right. I can't be a***d to play games with him. I'm done with that!' They got a text! The newbies had to pick Islanders to prepare them dinner, with Demi choosing Finn to prepare her first course, and Wallace opting for Paige to cook his main Excited: The West Lothian native, 22, was delighted when Wallace walked into the villa, dancing around and squealing 'He's f***ing Scottish! He's Scottish, he's Scottish!' Viewers rushed to Twitter to accuse Paige of 'double standards' over her reaction, penning: 'Paige is p***ing me off, getting p***ed off as Finley for even getting picked while shes not stopped smiling since she got the text #LoveIsland' 'PAIGE WAS CHEERING THAT WALLACE IS SCOTTISH BUT IS ANNOYED ABOUT FINNN??! #loveisland'; 'Paige (being two years older than Fin) is gonna bring up their massive age difference while being very immature on tomorrow's episode. Watch. 'Paige going psycho on poor Finn only goes to show she really likes him and has been keeping a poker face this whole time #LoveIsland'; 'wow Paige is acc sooo fvcking toxic, "OHH YHH HE'S SCOTTISH!" but Finley giggles and it's 'men are trash'??#loveisland' Baffled: Viewers rushed to Twitter to accuse Paige of 'double standards' over her reaction 'Did Paige forget that she's also about to go on a date...with the new boy? #LoveIsland'; 'Paige youre always bringing up Finleys age but youre acting super chaldish #LoveIsland'; 'Paige is such an example of double standards #LoveIsland 'Was I the only one thinking Paige was too far tonight? Going off her nut at him being asked on a date, when she herself was asked on one AND went on one with that Bieber lookalike and went on about fancying him. 'Finn is just being nice to the girl and shes fuming #LoveIsland'; 'Does paige want finn to blank the new girl on their date or something?#loveisland' Flirting? Paige was left seething when Finn, 20, went on his date with Demi, straining to listen as she exclaimed, 'I just heard them laugh... They're actual flirting!' One fan did defend her, however, noting: '#loveisland to be fair Finn almost mugged Paige off for Rebecca so I think she has a right to be upset'. Tuesday's episode will see Wallace enjoy his main course with Paige, and dessert with Sophie, whilst Demi will be treated to dinner with Luke and pudding with Nas. Love Island airs daily on ITV2 at 9pm Eight people who arrived here from the coronavirus-hit China have shown no symptoms of the deadly virus but have been advised against mingling with public for another 28 days, officials said on Tuesday. The toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China has soared to 106 while nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed, even as those coming from the Asian nation are being screened for any possible symptoms of the virus. The eight people--six from the city including four of a family and two from nearby Pollachi and one each from Chennai and Dindigul, had landed at the city airport on Monday evening and were immediately subjected to medical checkup for coronovirus, Health department officials said. All the eight were safe with no symptoms, they said, adding officials will closely monitor them for the next 28 days. Though they were sent to their respective places, all the eight were asked not to mingle with people, attend public functions like weddings and visit places, where people congregate in large numbers. They have been asked to confine to their homes and immediately contact the health department in case they develop fever, cough and cold. The Health department officials in Chennai and Dindigul have also been alerted about the arrival of the passengers. A team from the Health department is camping at the airport to examine those coming from China. The number of fatalities caused by coronavirus in China has touched 106 in that country, even as the confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak stood at over 4,500 as of Tuesday. India has stepped up checks in major airports across the country to screen those arriving from China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Representative image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The State-owned telecommunications technology company, ITI (Indian Telephone Industries) was subscribed 9 percent on January 27, the second day of bidding. The Rs 1,400-crore further public offer (FPO) has received bids for 1.37 crore equity shares against offer size of 18.18 crore shares, as per data available on the NSE. The reserved category for retail investors has seen subscription of 50 percent and that of qualified institutional buyers 5 percent and non-institutional investors 1 percent. The price band for the issue, which will close on January 28, was fixed at Rs 72-77 per share. The company intends to use issue proceeds for funding its working capital requirements as well as repayment of existing debt. The government's shareholding will be reduced to 74.96 percent, from 90 percent currently after the issue. ITI has order book of Rs 11,051.12 crore as of December 2019, of which 29.09 percent comprises large turnkey projects, 57.87 percent comprises AMCs and 13.05 percent comprises other product and services orders. It has 5 manufacturing units located at Mankapur, Bengaluru, Palakkad, Naini and Raebareli. It also has an R&D center in Bengaluru. The company enjoys established relationships with customers such as Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), Bharat Broadband Network (BBNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), Indian Army, Defence etc. The company is also engaged in some government projects such as ASCON, BharatNet, Smart Energy Meters, and E-Governance Projects. "The company is transforming itself from a telecommunications equipment manufacturer to telecommunications Technology Company catering to diverse industry segments. The business of the company is capital intensive and the company has seen erosion in its profits. Even though it has healthy order book but the execution level is slow. A long term investor may opt the issue," said SMC Global which has rated the issue at 2 out of 5 in terms of ranking. Chandigarh, Jan 28 : Sixteen patients in Punjab and five in Haryana have been quarantined on suspicion of having Coronavirus, ministers in both the states said on Tuesday. However, one death in Punjab's Amritsar was due to swine flu. A 28-year-old man from Mohali in Punjab who had recently returned from China, was admitted to the PGI here after he was diagnosed with symptoms of Coronavirus. The blood samples of all the patients have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune. Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said 16 patients have been kept in isolation wards and are under observation. Their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology. He said sample reports of the child, who died in Amritsar on Monday, confirmed swine flu was responsible for the death. Sidhu's counterpart in Haryana, Anil Vij told the media that five people, who have a travel history to China, have been hospitalised on suspicion of having Coronavirus symptoms. According to him, two of them have shown symptoms closer to Coronavirus. The two cases from Gurugram and one each from Faridabad, Panipat and Nuh have been reported, said Suraj Bhan Kamboj, Director General Health Services, Haryana. "We have sent the samples of two people, who have shown symptoms, to National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing. But all the five are under observation," he said. PGI Director Jagat Ram told the media here that he wrote a letter to the Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh not to refer the suspected Coronavirus patients to the PGI but to keep them in isolation wards in their hospitals. He said the 28-year-old man was the lone suspected case and the virus could be confirmed only after getting the report by Wednesday. The man was admitted to the PGI with high grade fever and headache. His family has been quarantined in home. Ram said the swine flu is still prevalent and both swine flu and Coronavirus have almost similar symptoms. In Punjab, thermal sensors have been installed at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar and the Chandigarh international airport to screen coronavirus. The street value was about $59 million, and five men were arrested over the find. Police announced they arrested a 33-year-old senior member of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang on Monday, and later alleged he would be pinpointed as a kingpin in a drug operation they had been tracking since last year. A senior criminal network has been busted after more than a year of investigation by WA police. They were later alleged to have been part of a crime syndicate that was intending to distribute massive amounts of drugs in WA, and Police Commissioner Chris Dawson later said the crime syndicate was Australian-based. "We will be alleging (the drugs were) brought across from the eastern states ... we've dented a very organised crime syndicate here," he said. Detective Senior Sergeant Ray Horne said while the latest arrest was significant, there was still work to be done as detectives continued to investigate those further up the chain of command. Hes certainly someone that police have had an eye on for quite some time. Police Minister Michelle Roberts A criminal network involved in the movement of 59kg of meth presents a real and immediate risk to the WA community, and our investigation didnt stop last year when the first arrests were made we have continued to gather intelligence and evidence to target those further up the chain of command, he said. Investors are worried about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak (Chinatopix/AP) The death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 106, China's National Health Commission has said. Authorities reported 25 deaths on Tuesday, with all but one in Hubei province where the virus is believed to have originated. The number of total cases has now reached more than 4,500. China has locked down cities across the province, isolating some 50 million people in a sweeping anti-disease effort. The US Consulate in Wuhan, where authorities cut off most access last Wednesday in an effort to contain the disease, was preparing to fly its diplomats and some other Americans out of the city. A number of other governments including Japan, France and Mongolia are also preparing evacuations. China had expanded its already sweeping disease-control efforts by extending the end of this week's Lunar New Year holiday, the country's busiest travel season, by three days to Sunday to keep the public at home and reduce the risk infection will spread. Read More US health officials expanded their recommendation for people to avoid non-essential travel to any part of China, rather than just Wuhan and other areas most affected by the outbreak. Tests for students, including English proficiency, which are needed to apply to foreign universities have also been cancelled. Public schools and universities have been ordered to postpone reopening following the Lunar New Year holiday until further notice. China has confirmed more than 2,700 cases of the new virus, most in Wuhan, while more than 40 cases have been confirmed elsewhere in the world. Almost all involve Chinese tourists or people who visited Wuhan. Germany has confirmed its first case of Coronavirus. The health ministry in the southern state of Bavaria said late on Monday that the man from Starnberg, south of Munich, is "in a clinically good condition". Officials said the man is being medically isolated, and people who were in close contact with him are being informed about possible symptoms and hygiene measures. The ministry said it considers the risk to the general population in Bavaria to be "low". Authorities planned to hold a news conference in Munich on Tuesday where they would release further details. Independent.ie reported on Monday that a student who travelled from Wuhan to Waterford is in self-isolation as a precautionary measure. The student, from China, left Wuhan a number of days ago before the city was closed and arrived in Waterford on Sunday. Waterford Institute of Technology confirmed that the student is not ill or showing any symptoms, but is staying in isolation in his accommodation in the city area as a precaution. They said they have been in touch with the HSE about the precautionary measure. If the student does not develop symptoms within 14 days of arrival in Ireland, he is clear of the virus. Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Tuesday warned that corporate profits and factory production might take a hit from the coronavirus outbreak in China that has rattled global markets and chilled confidence. Asian stocks extended a global selloff as the outbreak in China, which has killed 106 people and spread to many countries, fuelled concern over the damage to the world's second largest economy - an engine of global growth. "There are concerns over the impact to the global economy from the spread of infection in China, transportation disruptions, ... They first met when he got involved with her brothers Pippin and Toby's Broadway theater company Naked Angels way back in 1991. And 29 years later, Sarah Jessica Parker and her husband Matthew Broderick have come full circle, working together on a reboot of the late Neil Simon's 1968 play Plaza Suite. The couple were pictured heading off to rehearsals in New York's West Village on Monday, as they prep for their February debut. Acting the part: Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick head to rehearsals for their new Broadway play Plaza Suite in New York on Monday Wrapped up warm in warm black coats, the pair walked side by side, chatting as they strolled. Set in New York City's Plaza Hotel in Suite 719, Plaza Suite is comprised of three one-acts involving three couples, which will all be played by the couple, who married 21 years ago. While best known for her long-running cult phenomenon Sex And The City, Sarah Jessica first appeared on Broadway at the age of 11 in The Innocents, played the lead role in Annie, and starred in Broadway's 1996 production of Once Upon a Mattress along with The Commons of Pensacola off-Broadway. Knows the scene: While best known for her long-running cult phenomenon Sex And The City, Sarah Jessica first appeared on Broadway at the age of 11 Sarah Jessica, 54, and Broderick, 57, previously worked together on the 1995 Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which earned the former a Tony award. The couple, who share three children, also both starred separately in A.R. Gurney's Sylvia - Parker in 1995 and Broderick in 2015. Broderick worked with Simon on the 1983 play Brighton Beach Memoirs, for which he earned a Tony award. He also starred in Simon's Biloxi Blues in 1985 and a revival of The Odd Couple with Nathan Lane. Former colleagues: Sarah Jessica, 54, and Broderick, 57, previously worked together on the 1995 Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which earned the former a Tony award Acting the part: The couple, who share three children, also both starred separately in A.R. Gurney's Sylvia - Parker in 1995 and Broderick in 2015 Plaza Suite will premiere at Boston's Emerson Colonial Theatre, where it first debuted in 1968. It will run from February 5 to 22, before hitting Broadway's Hudson Theater in April, where it will run for 17 weeks. The staging will mark the Broadway directorial debut of Tony award-winner John Benjamin Hickey. Plaza Suite is produced by the Ambassador Theater Group, Galvin Kalin Productions and Hal Luftig. Previews at Hudson Theater will begin March 13 and opening night is set for April 13. Sandy Hook shooting 'conspiracy theorist' arrested after tormenting families of victims: Police originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A school shooting "conspiracy theorist" was arrested on Monday after allegedly harassing families associated with the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, calling the children involved "crisis actors," according to police. Wolfgang Halbig, 73, was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of personal identification in Lake County, Florida, and accused of tormenting Sandy Hook parent Leonard Pozner and others connected to the deadly 2012 shooting. The arrest comes nearly a decade after 20-year-old Adam Lanza stormed into the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, with a Remington Bushmaster AR-15, killing 20 first-graders and six teachers. The tragedy is one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. PHOTO: Wolfgang Walter Halbig, 73, is pictured in a booking photo released by the Lake County Sheriff's Office in Florida, Jan. 27, 2020. (Lake County Sheriff) "Halbig is a conspiracy theorist who is investigating the Sandy Hook shooting that occurred on December 14, 2012," the Lake County Sheriff's Office wrote in an arrest affidavit. "Since the shooting, defendant Halbig has contacted the victim's family members and have continued to harass them, asking questions and alleging the children involved are crisis actors." Halbig is a former contributor to the far-right media outlet Infowars hosted by Alex Jones. He has spent years spreading false claims about the shooting, which he called a government hoax aimed at confiscating Americans' guns, according to court records. In a statement to ABC News, Jones said, "I think Halbig's obsessed with proving himself right, and I think back when he was first investigating it he was sane. But I think he's cracked under the pressure. I wish the media would just drop the Sandy Hook thing and stop putting words in my mouth and using stuff that's happened in the past as a way to bring Sandy Hook back up in my name while at the same time claiming I'm the one bringing it up." Story continues MORE: Trial set for Sandy Hook families, gun-maker Remington over school massacre When Pozner and other families associated with the tragedy tried to fight the unfounded claims, Halbig allegedly harassed them, released their personal information or emailed them images that he claimed showed their dead children. Among the identifying information was Pozners social security number and date of birth. Halbig allegedly sent the information to "hundreds of people via email," including law enforcement officers and members of the media, according to the arrest affidavit. PHOTO: A woman hangs candy canes on the 26 trees near a memorial for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 20, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. (Hartford Courant/TNS via Getty Images, FILE) Pozner, who lost his 6-year-old son, Noah, in the shooting, told police that he had to go through extensive measures to protect his personal identity in the wake of Halbig's alleged harassment. MORE: Sandy Hook mom pays emotional tribute to her son's memory on special day Halbig allegedly accessed a copy of Pozners Transunion background check report and emailed it to the FBI and other authorities, claiming Pozner had been using a dead woman's social security number illegally, according to police. The alleged harassment targeting Pozner dates back to 2017. Halbig was released on $5,000 bond after his arrest and scheduled to appear in court on Feb 24. He could face as much as a year in prison if convicted as charged. ABC News' Aaron Katersky contributed to this report. Chinese tourist hospitalised in Tuscany with suspected case of Coronavirus. A 53-year-old Chinese tourist was hospitalised in the Tuscan region of Italy on 27 January after passing out with flu-like symptoms and a light fever in what is being reported as a suspected case of Coronavirus. The tourist, originally from the province of Hubei - the epicentre of the fatal virus - fainted while at a service area at Serravalle Pistoiese on the A11 motorway which connects Florence to Pisa. Health authorities issued a statement saying that the woman was "transferred to the emergency room at Pistoia, where health professionals immediately activated the procedures foreseen by the ministerial protocol for these cases." The woman was travelling on a bus with a group of about 20 Chinese tourists, who resumed their journey to the Tuscan city of Lucca after the woman was rushed to S. Jacopo hospital in Pistoia. In recent days the Chinese community in Italy has called off celebrations for the Lunar New Year out of solidarity with China, which is battling to contain the virus that so far has claimed more than 100 lives and infected thousands of people in a dozen countries. Rome's Fiumicino airport has three flights each week to and from Wuhon, the capital of the Hubei region, with passengers subject to strict screening measures for symptoms of the virus. Italy's health ministry has issued a travel warning urging Italians to avoid all unnecessary travel to China. On Sunday, in the morning, at Jezzine Barracks, Townsville, His Excellency and Mrs Kaye de Jersey attended the Townsville City Council Australia Day Awards Ceremony, and the Governor presented the Citizen of the Year awards. Following, at the Army Museum, Townsville, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey attended the Official Party morning tea. Following, at Jezzine Barracks, Townsville, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey attended the Australia Day Flag Raising Ceremony, and the Governor received the Royal Salute, and addressed guests. In the afternoon, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey returned to Government House following official travel to Townsville. Advertisement The Duchess of Cambridge got stuck into an arts and crafts session on a visit to Evelina London Children's Hospital today. Kate, dressed in a Dolce & Gabbana jacket and skirt, posed for Instax instant photos and helped cut-out paper people with young patients and their families. The royal was also given a handmade 'rag wreath' by Luke Wheeler-Waddison, 10, and his little sister Savannah, four, which she promised to put up in her daughter Princess Charlotte's room. 'Wow! That's so lovely. Charlotte will love this,' Kate exclaimed, on being told it had taken the brother and sister between three and four hours to make. She also happily posed for a photograph taken by Luke using an Instax instant-print camera, which the youngster, who was first operated on for a congenital heart condition at the hospital when he was just five days old, proudly showed off. The duchess, who is patron of the hospital, was also there in her capacity as patron of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) which runs creative arts workshops for young patients at hospitals across London. Kate happily posed for a photograph taken by Luke using a Polaroid-style instant camera, which the youngster, who was first operated on for a congenital heart condition at the hospital when he was just five days old, proudly showed off Luke's four-year-old sister Savannah, pictured, took a look at the photo while Kate looked over her shoulder Ten-year-old heart patient Luke Wheeler-Waddison snapped a photo of the Duchess of Cambridge on an Instax camera The Duchess of Cambridge looked focused as she left the hospital following the visit which supported two of her patronages The Duchess of Cambridge looked elegant as she arrived for an engagement at a London children's hospital this morning Taking it all in her stride, the Duchess of Cambridge held down her skirt (left) as she walked towards the hospital, pictured The Duchess of Cambridge took part in a workshop put on with the National Portrait Gallery's Hospital Programme The Duchess of Cambridge helped a little boy make characters for a mini play, pictured, during the arts and crafts session The Duchess of Cambridge looked delighted to be involved with the crafts session at the children's hospital today The Duchess of Cambridge kept her look polished for the engagement today, plumping for a bespoke boucle tweed two-piece from Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana. The flattering jacket features sapphire-esque buttons while the skirt showed off her svelte legs. Kate first wore the ensemble on an engagement in February last year, but this time she's teamed it with 355 black block heel pumps by Gianvito Rossi and her Mappin & Webb earrings. Arriving at the hospital, the duchess was presented with a posy by Anna-Victoria Amoafa-Sennie, nine, who suffers from achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. She sunk to her heels to thank the youngster before spending an unscripted fifteen minutes chatting to staff, patients and parents who had lined the entrance hall to see what the fuss was all about. Unusually she also posed for several mobile phone pictures - something that was to become a theme of the day. Upstairs in the hospital she took part in a creative arts workshop led by the NPG, promoting health, wellbeing and happiness through art. The youngsters, all patients and their siblings, were colouring in their own stage sets which included a photograph of themselves on the stage. The Kensington Palace Twitter account shared photos of Kate meeting the young patients and their families today, pictured The Duchess knelt down to speak to one father, who was in the hospital with his son, pictured, who is a patient there The Duchess beamed at one little girl, who was making cut-out figures to go in a play theatre made by the children The Duchess of Cambridge smiled as she spoke to one of the little boys at the session, pictured, at the children's hospital The NPG gives each child receiving care at the hospital a free book, Playful Portraits, to encourage them to spend their time on the ward enjoying creative activities. The gallery also brings in artists for regular workshops across Evelina, Great Ormond Street, Newham University Hospital and The Royal London. Kate first sat down on a table where artist Jessica Rosenfield was instructing the children. 'Who is this here? ' asked Kate, pointing to a picture of a Kallum Stuart, six, who is being treated for kidney failure, and was accompanied by his twin brother, Blake. 'This is brilliant.' She added: 'What a treat it is for me to meet you all today. What a treat! I am so pleased. ' Kate then laughing responded to a 'high-five' from Kallum. Chatting with artist Jessica, the duchess remarked: 'It's wonderful to see what art therapy adds. To be able to paint, to draw, to be able to tell your story. ' Kate Middleton recycles elegant D&G skirt suit as she arrives for an art workshop at Evelina London Children's Hospital The Duchess held onto her skirt as it lifted up in a gust of wind - narrowly avoiding a wardrobe malfunction at the hospital Kate smiled and waved as she made her way inside the hospital (left and right) after being greeted by patient Anna-Victoria Moving to her second table Kate met Luke and Savannah, who was dressed in a pretty floral Monsoon dress bought especially for the occasion. She touched Luke's arm and admired his 'war wound' - a large scar he has as result of breaking his arm last autumn after falling off some monkey bars and having to have plates and pins inserted in. Luke's mother, Joanne Wheeler, 47, later explained that she discovered her son had a congenital heart condition in the womb and he was first operated on just five days after he was born. He still attends regular check-ups at Evelina and may require further surgery in the future 'This place saved my son's life, it's as simple as that,' she told Kate. 'We would do anything for the staff here. ' In fact Luke, from Rainham, Kent, has managed to raise more than 14,000 this year to donate towards the hospital's work by selling the rag wreaths he and his sister make, doing a sponsored swim, auctions and standing with collecting boxes at The Oval . The Duchess of Cambridge heard more about how art is used to help patients during the visit. Pictured, Kate leaving today The Duchess of Cambridge smiled and waved as she left the hospital today, pictured, following the creative workshop The Duchess wore her brunette locks in signature bouncy curls, which she kept away from her face in a chic half-up hairstyle The Duchess of Cambridge re-wore a chic D&G tweed jacket and skirt, pictured as she left the hospital following the visit Kate shared a lighthearted moment with a member of hospital staff as she said her goodbyes following the visit today The jovial duchess through her head back in laughter (right) as she left the hospital following the visit this morning He said: 'We just really wanted to say thank you to her for coming an spending time here. She was really touched, I think. I told her that I had the same birthday as her son, George, and my sister is four, like Charlotte. She said Charlotte would love to have the pink wreath up in her room. It would be amazing if they did that. 'Not many people get to see a princess in real life and she is going to be the Queen one day. It was really exciting.' Smiling at his father Anthony Waddison, 42, Luke's mother added: 'We just feel like we are family here. This is our extended family. I have just become an ambassador for the hospital. There's nothing we wouldn't do for them. We can't ever repay them for what they have done for us. ' Luke said he didn't feel nervous taking the duchess's photograph with one of the cameras provided to the children for their art project and felt very proud of the end result - which was picture perfect. The Duchess was met outside the hospital by nine-year-old patient Anna-Victoria, pictured, who handed Kate a posy The Duchess of Cambridge narrowly avoided a fashion faux-pas as she stepped out of the car on a blustery morning, pictured The Duchess of Cambridge re-wore a favourite D&G tweed skirt suit for the outing and paired the outfit with black court shoes The Duchess's bouncy brunette locks were whipped up by the wind (left) but she didn't let the elements phase her The Duchess of Cambridge previously wore the bespoke D&G creation, pictured, on an outing in February last year Well-wishers gathered to snap photos of the Duchess on her arrival at the Evelina London Childrens Hospital this morning The Duchess of Cambridge beamed as she made her way inside the hospital, where she will attend a creative workshop 'I will take it home and keep it forever,' he vowed. Tracey Sturt, Kallum's mother, said afterwards that it had been 'such a pleasure' to meet Kate, who had been 'brilliant' with the children. 'The staff here have saved Kallum's life so many times over, I can't tell you,' she said. Her husband Chris, from Romford, Essex, added: 'The support we have had from the hospital has been amazing. ' Kate also visited some of the patients on the hospital's Beach Ward, including 'little Clive', who was with his father, 'big Clive'. The 12-year-old from Gravesend, Essex had already had surgery at the hospital for a cleft palate and was preparing to go down again for a bone graft on his gum minutes after Kate left. The Duchess was given a warm welcome by one of the patients, pictured, who handed the royal a bouquet of flowers The Duchess of Cambridge beamed as she made her way inside the hospital, where she was given a tour The Duchess of Cambridge was greeted outside the hospital by a young patient, pictured, who led the royal inside His father, Clive Edwards, 59, said: 'She was lovely and probably helped to keep his mind off things. I even asked for a photograph and she posed for one. I didn't know if she would but thought 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' and she couldn't have been nicer. My wife is going to be furious she wasn't here for this but she is at home with the baby.' Kate also cooed over baby Rose Parker, 13 months, and as she made her smile by tickling her legs told her mother, Emily: 'My son Louis also has very tickly knees.' Little Emily suddenly went yellow on Boxing Day and her parents were told that she was suffering from liver failure and would probably die. Against the odds she pulled through, but was yesterday diagnosed with a rare genetic metabolic condition called glycogen storage disease, which is likely to affect her for the rest of her life. Her mother Emily, from Portsmouth, said: 'We have had some dark times in recent weeks and only got the prognosis yesterday, which as incredibly difficult. But today has been such a tonic. 'I'm trying to be cool about this but she [Kate] is really my favourite [out of the royals]. When I look back at this whole experience, for her to take the time to come and see us... it will be one of the things that stands out and keeps me going. It's been one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. The Duchess of Cambridge knelt down to greet Anna-Victoria who was waiting for her outside with flowers, pictured The Duchess of Cambridge made a beeline for the girl standing outside the hospital to thank her for the flowers Smiling Kate crouched down to speak to the girl (left and right) before making her way inside the hospital this morning The Duchess, a mother of three, appeared animated as she spoke to Anna-Victoria on her way into the children's hospital 'Rose was a completely healthy baby until Boxing Day and then she went bright yellow. I took her to A&E and they told me she was not going to make it. I was told she would need a liver transplant. And then miraculously and with the help of the medicines they gave us, she pulled through. We now just have to deal with this day to day. 'The work that has gone into it from all the staff here has just been incredible. 'You wouldn't know it to look at her. ' She also spent time with Benjamin Ibendahl, three, another seemingly healthy young boy who got a mild cold at Christmas which developed into a life-threatening auto-immune condition that has left him in a wheelchair. His mother, Sarah, from Blackheath, south east London, explained: 'He was completely normal and health and got a very slight cold but suddenly developed an autoimmune disease, which gave him paralysis in his legs up. He was misdiagnosed to start with but we eventually got him here to Evelina and they knew straight away what was the matter and started treatment within 12 hours .' She explained her Benji was undergoing therapy and had been using the hospital's sensory room, school and counselling service and the expectation was that he would walk again - but that it would be a tough few months. 'He has to remember how to move now, its been painful but we are hopeful. He is quite young and doesn't understand what is happening, fortunately,' she added. Anna-Victoria appeared delighted as she reached out to shake the royal's hand during the meeting outside the hospital Nine-year-old Anna-Victoria flashed a smile as she shook Kate's hand before the Duchess continued inside the hospital Kate beamed and waved to well-wishers who had gathered outside Evelina London Children's Hospital, of which she is patron The Duchess of Cambridge was greeted outside the hospital, which cares for children up to the age of 18 Sarah added of the Duchess: 'She was really nice. Very touchy, she put her hand on me. So lovely and down to earth.' But she admitted making one cheeky comment: 'I did tell her that our husbands had something in common - it had taken them nine years to ask us to marry them! ' Asked what Kate had said: 'She laughed politely and gave a knowing smile. ' Sarah added that her husband's name was Ralph - 'although he probably won't thank me for that!' Lastly she met Faith Morton, 14 who was also having cleft palate surgery. She also got Kate to pose for a picture and said; 'It was wonderful.' Her mother, Danielle Morton, added: 'She had been so worried when we went for something to eat that she was going to miss her that she nagged me to come back! 'And what a lovely woman she was! I didn't expect her to be so down to earth. 'I said to her 'can i just ask whether you can have normal days and just be you?' And she said 'Oh yes when we are in the countryside with the kids, yes we do.' She was just lovely to chat with. ' Dr Nicholas Cullinan, director of the NPG, said of the visit: 'It is an honour to share with our Patron, the Duchess of Cambridge, the vital work that we do at Evelina London. We are immensely proud of our Hospital Programme, which demonstrates the positive impact art and creativity can have on health and wellbeing.' Marian Ridley, director of Evelina London added that they were 'proud' to host the visit, adding: 'Art is an invaluable therapy for children and young people while they are in hospital, not only to develop their creativity but, but provide enjoyment that alleviates anxieties which they may be feeling. Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk counts on receiving EUR 500 mln of the second tranche of EU macrofinancial assistance in the first quarter of 2020. "This second tranche can be received in the first quarter of this year, in the near future, in the coming weeks or months," Honcharuk said at a joint briefing with Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis on Tuesday in Brussels. The prime minister said that the European Union confirmed that Ukraine has met all the conditions for receiving the second tranche of macrofinancial assistance in the amount of EUR 500 million. In turn, according to Dombrovskis, the assessment of the European Commission consists in the fact that all the conditions that were associated with the provision of the second tranche of the current program of macrofinancial assistance have been met. The European Commission has already begun an internal procedure in order to prepare the provision of the funds, he said. At the same time, the executive vice president said that the provision of this tranche is also linked to the program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, as the Ukrainian prime minister assured him, there is progress in this direction. "This [the provision of the tranche] will be possible in the first quarter of this year," the EU representative said. Asked by Interfax-Ukraine about a possible new macro-financial assistance program for Ukraine, Dombrovskis said that with regard to the new program, it is premature to start discussing what the next steps and the next macro-financial assistance program may be. He said that he thinks that the first step, which needs to be done, is to complete the existing program, get the second tranche, and only then discuss what the next steps will be. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Actor Rajinikanth suffered minor injuries during the filming of an episode of 'Man vs Wild' with Bear Grylls at the Bandipur Reserve. Forest officials said the shooting had to be stopped midway following the incident, adding that the actor was fine. "The shooting has been called off for the day for his safety. There is no permission for shooting on January 29 with the actor," a forest official said. ALSO WATCH: The Karnataka forest department, meanwhile, has sought an explanation from the 'Man vs Wild' crew over the use of drones without permission. The series caught people's attention after Prime Minister Narendra Modi shot for it in the forests of northern India with British adventurer Grylls. #WATCH Actor Rajinikanth arrives at Bandipur forest in Karnataka for a shoot of an episode of 'Man vs Wild' with British adventurer Bear Grylls pic.twitter.com/Eh2Lwd4BAI ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020 A senior forest department official had told The New Indian Express that permission for the shooting was granted for six hours on January 28 and 30. On Tuesday, the special guest was Rajnikanth, while on the 30th, noted Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is expected. (With online desk inputs) Nearly 100 were wounded on Sunday as they defended the small town of Abu Grein near Misrata, against Haftars forces. Fighting has erupted again in the area near the strategic western city of Misrata, as renegade commander Khalifa Haftars forces advance towards it. At least 11 government soldiers were killed and 100 others injured. This shatters a fragile ceasefire agreed to earlier this month, undoing the work of world leaders who tried to broker talks between Libyas rival governments. Al Jazeeras Tony Birtley reports from Misrata, Libya. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Popular movie star Rajinikanth is now busy and so is the Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The actor and a team of documentary makers from the popular international series Man vs Wild are in the tiger reserve to shoot the documentary since Monday evening. The shooting is scheduled for six hours on Tuesday and again on Thursday. The series caught Indian attention after Prime Minister Narendra Modi shot for it in the forests of northern India with British adventurer Bear Grylls. Speaking to The New Indian Express, a senior forest department official said permission for the shooting has been given for six hours on January 28 and 30. On Tuesday, the special guest will be Rajnikanth while on the 30th, noted Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is expected. "Permission for the shooting has been given for Sultan Batteri highway and ranges of Mulleholle, Maddur and Kalkere ranges. They will be shooting in non-tourist zones. If permission was given for the shooting of Wild Karnataka, then this can also be permitted. Also, no tourist or regular forest patrolling activities will be affected. The shooting will be done under special forest protection and no one will be aware of the locations," the official said. The shooting of films and documentaries inside forest areas of Karnataka is increasing and the department must exercise caution as this will only lead to more man-animal conflicts, warned conservationists. United Airlines Canceling Some Flights to China as Coronavirus Outbreak Continues Major carrier United Airlines announced it would suspend some flights to China due to a decline in demand amid the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan that has triggered a quarantine in several Chinese cities and alerts from several U.S. agencies. Due to a significant decline in demand for travel to China, we are suspending some flights between our hub cities and Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai beginning Feb. 1 through Feb. 8. We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops and will adjust our schedule as needed, United said in a statement. The airliner added that it will be canceling flights from San Francisco International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, Chicago OHare International Airport, and Washington Dulles International Airport, Fox News and CBS News reported. On its website, United said it is offering refunds for unflown flights to Wuhan until late March 2020. A spokesman for Canadian airline Air Canada told Yahoo Finance that the company will cancel some flights to match capacity with expected demand. Delta Airlines and American Airlines said it has not canceled any flights to or from China. We have not adjusted our flight schedule at this time, a spokesperson for American Airlines told Yahoo. We are continuing to monitor the situation very closely. Delta Air Lines similarly said it has not made any changes to its operating schedule. It comes as Health Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Tuesday that the United States might restrict travel to China amid the outbreak. Its important to not take anything off the table with a rapidly emerging novel infectious disease, Azar said. All steps have to be on the table, including travel restrictions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Department told Americans to avoid nonessential travel to China. Theyve also told Americans to not travel to Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital. Sustained person-to-person community spread with this virus is reportedly occurring in China, the CDC said in a statement. A number of travel-associated cases of 2019-nCoV infection also have been identified in other locations, including the United States. The State Department also organized a chartered flight into Wuhan to evacuate some of its citizens and diplomatic staff. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters Tuesday that the chartered plane will also provide protective suits and masks to Wuhan before carrying about 200 people to Tokyo on Wednesday morning. Motegi said approximately 650 Japanese nationals have expressed a desire to return to Japan. Tokyo will make arrangements to provide more chartered flights to Wuhan to evacuate nationals, he remarked. When those 200 nationals return to Japan this week, officials will have to monitor their health for the next two weeks to see if they develop any symptoms of the virus, reported the Japan Times. But her emails. Following the 2016 presidential election, those words entered American media lore as shorthand for one of the most grievous errors made by the press in its coverage of the campaign: that it overhyped Hillary Clintons use of a private email server to balance out Donald Trumps more serious indiscretions and dodge accusations of partisanship. As 2020 loomed, media-watchers feared a repeat performance. In September, when we first learned that Trump had asked the president of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, such fears started to crystallizewith Hunter Biden had ties to a dodgy Ukrainian gas company while his dad oversaw Ukraine policy playing the emails role. James Fallows fretted, in a widely shared essay in The Atlantic, that Hunter was Patient Zero of the next false-equivalence epidemic. Writing for The Bulwark, Tim Miller called the Bidens storyline a nontroversy that the media would nonetheless lap up. Some of the early coverage seemed to prove their points. Fast forward four months, and a full-blown crisis of false equivalence has not materializedat least, not yet. Yesterdayas Pam Bondi, a member of the defense team in Trumps impeachment trial, laced into the Bidens on the Senate floorthe press faced a fresh test of that proposition. Its coverage was not perfect. (Some toplines relayed Bondis claims of corruption without noting that theyve been debunked; others used insufficiently authoritative framingTrump says x, Biden says yto do the debunking.) Still, our media this morning is not saturated with phoney Biden claims; in many places, the ongoing drama surrounding John Boltonthe former national security adviser who will claim, in a forthcoming book, that he saw Trump doing what Democrats are impeaching him fortakes top billing. ICYMI: Bernie Sanders on his plan for journalism On Twitter and on cable news, meanwhile, pundits and anchors have been aggressive in tackling Bondis arguments. Jeffrey Toobin, CNNs chief legal analyst, said Bondi had aired a parade of liesjust outrageously false in every fact, in every insinuation. Jake Tapper pointed out that Republicans, who controlled Congress at the tail end of the Obama administration, only showed an interest in Joe Biden and Ukraine once Biden started running for president; over on MSNBC, Chris Hayes echoed the point. How many hearings were there on Burisma? Zero, Hayes said, referring to the gas company. How many in the House? Zero. How many in the Senate? Zero. The Biden arguments, we were told, were a distraction from the Bolton story, and a transparent effort to weaponize misinformation against a candidate on the cusp of primary season. Republican senators have scarcely bothered trying to hide that rationale: talking to reporters yesterday, Joni Ernst, Republican senator for Iowa, pointed to next weeks caucuses in her state and said she was really interested to hear how yesterdays Biden talk informs and influences voters. (A spokesperson for Biden said Ernst had said the quiet part out loud.) Its worth noting, of course, that Democratic votersbe they in Iowa or anywhere elseare not the primary audience for scandal-mongering about the Bidens. Rather, Bondis claims looked tailor-made for the right-wing mediasphere. Sure enough, Fox News, which has not consistently broadcast the trial since it started, stuck with Bondi yesterday; afterward, its pundits, including Jesse Watters and Sean Hannity, amplified what she said. Biden schlock pooled, too, across popular conservative websites, alongside lurid stories about Hunter Biden cruising around Beverly Hills in a Porsche despite the fact he owes child support. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Still, with the Iowa caucuses less than a week away, we shouldnt be complacent about the scope of the Biden-Ukraine story, or its potency. Conservatives arent the only direct consumers of conservative media: some 15 percent of Fox viewers, for instance, are not Republicans. Americans do increasingly dwell in partisan media siloes. Yet their walls are not rigidand smear campaigns have a nasty habit of spilling out across the media landscape. Nor does the mainstream press have to indulge in conscious, emails-level false equivalence to be complicit in their spread. Trumps root impulse, in asking Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, was to wage information warfare ahead of 2020. Even though he got caught, hes successfully seeded damaging word associationsBiden and corruption; Biden and investigation; Biden and sleaze; Biden and nepotismin the collective consciousness; it is, after all, extremely difficult to report the impeachment story without using them. Even when weve been vigilant enough to note that theres no evidence for the Biden claims (and thats not been all of the time), we might be doing Trumps work for him. Repeating misinformation, even when debunking it, can have the unintended effect of hammering it home. Its too soon to know whether his connection to the Ukraine affair has damaged Biden in Iowa, but as a prominent, long-running media narrative, its a safe bet that its factored into the calculus of at least some Democratic voters, one way or another. And whether or not Biden winds up as the nominee, the Ukraine story has been a wake-up call for the mainstream press: Trump and his media allies will aim to smear whoever runs against him in the fall, and fact-checking alone wont blunt such efforts. There are steps we can take to fight malign campaign narratives, but these will require deeper reflection than a simple pledge not to do the emails thing again. Were faced with some deep structural questions about our coverage: If the president says it, is it really news? We cant just ignore this, can we? What does balance look like, and should it be our central concern? The recent coverage of the Bidens hasnt revealed any answers. Below, more on impeachment: Other notable stories: ICYMI: Correcting the record Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. Transport networks across China have been shut down over fears of the virus spreading. (Getty) British nationals stranded in the Chinese province at the heart of the coronavirus outbreak are expected to be flown home this week. UK citizens in Wuhan have reportedly been given details of their forthcoming flights, some of which are set to leave as early as Thursday. Those who wish to depart the region have been told to urgently contact the British consulate before 11am on Wednesday. The Foreign Office confirmed on Tuesday evening it had made plans for the evacuation as it issued new travel advice for China which warned people to avoid against all but essential travel to the mainland. he British embassy in Beijing has said transport to get UK citizens out may happen quickly and with short notice. The British embassy in Beijing said the evacuation may happen quickly and with short notice. (Getty) A British teacher living in the city said she had been in contact with the British authorities who informed her that while she could return to the UK, her husband, who has a UK visa, would not be allowed to as he was a Chinese national. As a result, she decided that she would remain in China with her husband. She said: Its what we were expecting to be honest, as wed heard that it was like that for the American flight out. We had hoped it would be different, but oh well. READ MORE FROM YAHOO NEWS UK: If the situation stays as it is, or improves, then were fine. We just hope it wont get any more serious. She added that a number of other Britons she was in contact with had arranged to return home, with some scheduled on a flight at 7am on Thursday. So far almost 100 people in the UK have tested negative for coronavirus. The Department of Health and Social Care said 97 people have been given the all-clear for the virus, although scientists predict it may have entered the country. Earlier, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government was working on how to bring people home from the Chinese city. Story continues He told BBC Breakfast: For anybody who is there, one of the issues we have, working with our partners internationally on this, is actually identifying how many British citizens there are in Wuhan. One of the things were asking people to do is to contact the consulate there to make them aware. People have started to do that. We are working on arrangements as well. Officials estimate up to 200 citizens currently there will want to return to the UK. More than 100 people have now died in the country, with confirmed infections surging to more than 4,500. The US has urged its citizens to reconsider travelling to China amid coronavirus outbreak that has killed 106 people after its outbreak in the city of Wuhan. China on Tuesday said that 106 people have died from coronavirus epidemic as the confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak stand at 4,515. Barring Tibet, all Chinese provinces have reported the virus cases, posing a major challenge for the health authorities to contain it. "Reconsider travel to China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory," the State Department said in a travel advisory issued on Monday, which replaces the one issued only last week on January 23. "A novel (new) coronavirus is causing an outbreak of respiratory illness that began in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. This outbreak began in early December 2019 and continues to grow. Chinese health officials have reported thousands of cases throughout China," the State Department said. For the Wuhan province, the advisory has been raised to Level 4 and for China it has been from Level 2 to 3. Do not travel to Hubei province, China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China, it said. "There is an ongoing outbreak of pneumonia first identified in Wuhan, China, caused by a novel (new) coronavirus. In an effort to contain the novel coronavirus, the Chinese authorities have suspended air and rail travel in the area around Wuhan, it said. On January 23, the Department of State ordered the departure of all non-emergency US personnel and their family members. The US government has limited ability to provide emergency services to US citizens in Hubei province. Noting that Chinese authorities have imposed strict travel restrictions in the area around Wuhan, the State Department said that travellers should be aware that the Chinese government could prevent them from entering or exiting parts of Hubei province. "Travellers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice," it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The oil market hinges and moves on forecasts. Whether its an oil demand growth forecast or a production forecast, no forecast is more closely watched and scrutinized than that provided by one of the big three: the IEA, EIA, and OPEC. However, according to Oil Price, the problem is, these forecasts often vary wildly from one another, meaning at least one of these forecasts will be wrong. Bloombergs Julian Lee this week wrote in a column about the discrepancy between OPECs oil demand estimates for 2020 and those of the EIA and the IEA, noting that while the oil producing cartel expected global oil inventories to keep declining this year, both the International Energy Agency and the EIA expected these to continue building. Motive behind the forecasts? One might argue that there is some wishful thinking on the part of OPEC, which really wants its production cuts to work and shrink global inventories to put a firm floor under oil prices. Yet there is some wishful thinking on the part of the U.S. EIA, too, in light of the administrations energy dominance agenda. The EIA has had to revise downwards its oil production estimates before, when actual production data has turned out to be lower than earlier forecasts based on statistical modeling. It is a fact that U.S. production is growing, and OPEC acknowledges this grim reality. But its possible that US production might not be growing as much as forecasts show. That leaves the International Energy Agency. Does it, too, have a vested interest in one supply and demand forecast over another? Theoretically, it shouldnt. The authority seems to be increasingly busy with warning against continued inaction with regard to climate change to take sides in the oil supply and demand prediction game. Also, a lot of the time, its figures converge with the EIAs and/or OPECs. Demand growth and supply For this year both OPEC and the IEA see oil demand growth at some 1.2 million bpd. The EIA is in the middle, forecasting global oil and other liquid hydrocarbons demand this year to grow by 1.3 million bpd. For non-OPEC supply, the IEA is actually less bullish than OPEC. It expects production outside the cartel to rise by some 2.1 million bpd, while OPEC itself sees this growth at 2.35 million bpd. The EIA has the highest non-OPEC supply growth forecast for this year, at 2.6 million bpd. The inventory headache The differences, according to Lee, however, are striking when it comes to the state of global oil inventories over the last three years, since the first production cut deal entered into effect at the beginning of 2017. According to self-congratulatory OPEC, world oil inventories since 2017 have fallen by 653 million barrels. According to the EIA and the IEA, on the other hand, there has been no decline in the amount of global oil inventories. All the OPEC+ cuts have done, their numbers suggest, is to curb the size of the inventory builds in each of the three years since the cuts were introduced. The EIA, in fact, has estimated that global oil inventories have risen by some 100 million barrels over the last three years. The IEA has an even higher number, at 142 million barrels. Related: Why The Coronavirus Is A Real Threat To Oil Markets It appears the discrepancy comes from different methods of counting how much oil in storage there is in the world and the different things the IEA, the EIA, and OPEC actually count, according to Lee. Then there is the fact that not all oil inventories in the world are readily available for counting. Chinese oil in storage, for example, is notoriously secret as Beijing does not release public updates about it as the EIA does. So if there is no information about all the oil in the world, how much faith should one put in global inventory estimates, regardless of the authority making these estimates? Not too much would be a reasonable answer. The state of global inventories, after all, is just one piece of the puzzle. Supply and demand growth forecasts, along with consumption and production trends, are much more important than inventories for gauging where oil prices will go next. These tend to change more often and all of them affect inventories. The level of inventories itself is the end result of supply, demand, production and consumption. For those wondering if there is enough oil in the world in case a serious outage occurs, the answer is yes, with all three authorities in agreement. Thereports that thehas suspended one of its journalists after she tweeted a link to an article about a rape case related to Kobe Bryant.Felicia Sonmez posted the link to the article - dated April 2016 story from the news site The Daily Beast, which carried the headline: 'Kobe Bryant's Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser's Story, and the Half-Confession' - soon after the news of Bryant's death.Bryant was accused of rape in 2003 by a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado hotel prior to a scheduled knee surgery.Read more on Daily Mail In his recent visit to Houston with a couple of dozen producers in tow to showcase their 2017 wines, the Bordeaux negociant Ivanhoe Johnston sounded frustrated. Why? Because perception is reality. Because his iconic region got hammered by an early-spring frost, which indeed proved devastating for a smattering of unlucky vintners, many people are assuming its a terrible vintage and wont be eager buyers. What people have to know about frost, Johnston said, is that it affects quantity, not quality. Frost and quality are not linked to each other. Frost is not great or bad. It doesnt mean anything. Well, unless it zapped your grapes, and it zapped plenty of them in southwestern France three springs ago, particularly on the Right Bank of the Gironde River. The total harvest, reduced by more than half, would be the smallest in memory. But the grapes that survived, Johnston insisted, produced balanced, fresh and lively ready-to-drink wines. Consumers/collectors willing to give the 2017s a fair chance, he said, will love this vintage. And there were numerous options in the Rices Crystal Ballroom that evening to support his case. Johnston cited 1961, one of Bordeauxs most storied vintages, as an example of frosts irrelevance, although he quickly added that he wasnt in any way comparing the two apples-and-oranges vintages from dramatically different eras. After some thought, he decided the current release reminds him most of 1999, when stormy conditions in August wreaked havoc on the vineyards. But what Wine Spectator once called the year of rain and technology turned out just fine. Johnston doesnt much care for the word technology when its applied to wine because it suggests manipulation his word in the cellar. But if youre talking about smarter vineyard practices, such as separate vinification of particular parcels that have been precisely harvested at their maximum ripeness, determined by drones flying above the landscape thats a different story. In short, challenging conditions like those that beset Bordeaux in 2017 hardly make it impossible to deliver excellence. Johnston and his siblings, Archibald and Denis, are ninth-generation wine merchants, and they are as French as they can be despite their surname. William Johnston, who founded the business in 1734, was of Scottish descent. Going as far back as when Eleanor of Aquitaine acquired all of southwest France with her marriage to Henry Plantagenet, who subsequently became Englands King Henry II in 1154, the English and the Scots have been heavily involved in the Bordeaux wine trade. Johnston knows his stuff and though, as a prominent negociant (wine merchant), he clearly has a vested interest in putting the best possible spin on every Bordeaux vintage, what he said about frost couldnt be more spot-on. Generalizations on any topic are rarely accurate. Theres so much being done in the vineyards today that, despite challenging conditions, great wines can result. But, again, only as so long as there are grapes to crush. Johnston brought up how the road leading into St. Emilion offered a visually stark contrast with the vines on the right side of the road being black (as if) they had been burned, he said. But, over on the left, everything was green. Perfect. Interestingly, the more famous the chateau and their vineyards are, the seemingly less affected they were by the cold. The big guns from Pauillac, in particular, shine brightly, although the biggest ones, the Rothschilds Lafite and Mouton, for example, werent included in this Specs-sponsored tasting, so I cant vouch for them. But the Lynch-Bages I can, and it proved a favorite. One taster I bumped into when I arrived called it stunning, which sent me scurrying to the table lest soon there would be none left. The guy was right. It over-delivered for Specs current futures cash price good until March 1 of $109.85. Critics including Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator and Decanter along with James Suckling all scored barrel samples at least a 95. The latter called it a beautiful young wine, an excellent Lynch that starts off slowly and then drives at the end with dark fruit and hints of hazelnuts. Another property under the same ownership umbrella, Chateau Ormes de Pez from neighboring St. Estephe, was also proudly pourin, and it was my show-stealer of the night. Having garnered across-the-board barrel sample scores of 90-plus from five prominent critics, its a for-real steal at $29.52. Suckling, in awarding his 92-93, praised the velvety tannins and fresh, bright finish, calling the wine linear and driven. Vinous cited the pure red cherry, blackcurrant and cedar-scented bouquet, more Pauillac in style than Saint-Estephe. The palate is well balanced with ripe tannins that feel more malleable than previous vintages at this stage. And from Decanter: It doesnt take itself too seriously, just asking to be loved. The fruit spectrum is rich with blueberries and damsons, with integrity and a swirl of vanilla bean oak. Put me down for a case ($319.44) right now maybe. Prices are contingent upon resolution of the tariffs mess. If the 100-percent tax being threatened by the Trump administration on French wines were to be imposed it appears for the moment to have been tabled until 2021 wed be looking at $600-plus when taking delivery. The Lynch Bages, of course, would be priced north of $200 for a single bottle. sportywineguy@outlook.com twitter.com/sportywineguy 7.30PM: Police have lifted all cordons, residents are now able to head home. 6:28PM: A local resident is handing out water to the residents stuck outside the cordon on No 2 Road. 6PM: A Te Puke resident, who lives nearby the property where the reported shooting occurred, says he had to endure a similar situation on Sunday. He says police also raided the same property at dawn about nine months ago. I just want to get home. I am so close, but so far away. 5:08PM: Chris McCarthy, a resident who lives about 200 metres from the cordon says he has two teenage kids at home alone. I just want to get home to the kids, and I told the police there was no way I was going to leave home alone when its dark. Chris says he was told by police at the cordon he would just have to wait, and they would update him within the hour. 5.03PM: The cordon has opened on the corner of Dudley Vercoe Drive. 3.17PM: A number of armed police have cordoned off roads following reports of a shooting near Te Puke. "Police are in attendance at an incident in Te Puke where shots have reportedly been fired at a property," says a police spokesperson. "Police received several calls around 1.50pm to an address on No. 2 Road." Cordons are in place around the property and the Armed Offenders Squad has been called. "The Police Eagle helicopter is also on the way to assist. "Further information will be released when it is available." EARLIER Reports are coming in of a heavy police presence near Te Puke. A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says they have seen multiple police units heading towards No 2 Road. "There are lots of police with sirens heading up No 2 Road." A resident in the area says they heard what sounded like gunshots from their house. She says there was "heaps". "Sounded like semi automatics. Was a lot of rounds." A reporter at the scene says there are five police cars on Dudley Vercoe Road. "Police are armed." Another resident in the area says police are stopping cars from leaving via No1 Road. "My husband was stopped and told it was a different event from what happened on Sunday." This is the second time since Sunday police have responded to an incident in the area. There was a large Police presence in Te Puke Sunday afternoon, involving the Armed Offenders Squad and Police dog units. A SunLive reporter says that over 15 Police vehicles and the Armed Offenders Squad descended on a property near No1 and No 2 Roads. Read more here. SunLive has contacted police for more information and will update this story as soon as we have something more. In this age of upcycled, recycled, circular, slow fashion, theres still one sustainable mode of shopping that feels like its stuck in the past: vintage. Its a pursuit that requires time, patience and a skilled eye, sometimes a sewing machine and often several fruitless hours spent scouring market stalls and car boot sales, musty thrift shops and murky back rooms. In short, it doesnt fit neatly into the ethos of the busy working woman. For many of us, its not that we dont want that one-of-a-kind, little-bit-Gucci-meets-Little-Women floral prairie dress, we just dont want to find it, fix it or smell like moth balls and second-hand cigarette smoke when wearing it. It would also be nice if that dream dress was the first thing you spotted hanging on a rail. Or better yet, your Instagram feed. Well, this is 2020, and vintage shopping need no longer mean sifting through decades of dust and an avalanche of options. Instead, a new generation of vintage traders are offering hand-picked and hyper-curated collections in a bid to rebrand vintage fashion a more user-friendly experience. Another Matinee is among the pioneers. Founded by 31-year-old Scottish north Londoner Sarah Brand last year, this digitally native offering spans one-off dresses from the Sixties and Seventies capable of converting even the most hardened high street shopper. Sourced using Brands well-trained eye, Another Matinees clothes drop on-site in small, themed collections, each beautifully shot in locations across London including Rowans Tenpin Bowling. From psychedelic patchwork shift to a series of puff-sleeve, wallpaper-floral Laura Ashley finds, each item retails between 75 and 160 and features its own unique moniker, like the I Have Three Or Four Really Great Folk Albums In Me Dress. As each piece is unique, theres no option to choose a different size or shade once its gone, its gone. But Brands customers in her mind, someone who would wear a ruffled, full-length prairie dress down the pub embrace this ephemerality with gusto. Currently almost two thirds of the dresses on the website are sold out. Pieces are usually gone in about two to three weeks. The fastest sale was about 30 seconds, she says, reminiscing about a parma-violet prairie dress with a ruffled neckline and ditsy floral print. Im sad I parted with that one. Theres no denying theres an appetite for services that offer a gold mine of vintage gems on a platter. Even professional thrifters concede that the labour-intensive side of vintage fashion can often prove its downfall. People dont have time or the inclination to hunt rare pieces out, says Bay Garnett, the former Vogue stylist and founder of iconic Noughties magazine Cheap Date, who has built a career out of putting Oxfam finds at the forefront of glossy fashion editorial. Its hard to find an Ossie Clark dress in a charity shop. So if a seller has an edited collection of Seventies bohemian dresses, for example, they are going to get lots of customers. I think we will see much more of that happening. Certainly, brands which offer this service are multiplying at pace, each with their own USP. Youll find no petticoats or prom dresses at Retold Vintage (@retold_vintage), for instance, thanks to London-based founder Clare Lewiss love of a thoroughly modern and minimalist aesthetic. And They Wear, on the other hand, is home to an achingly cool archive of kidswear from cult OshKosh pinafores to tiny Calvin Klein jeans, sourced from LA to Antwerp by fashion buyer Lucy Mackay. Meanwhile, Le Vintage Collective was launched by fashion PR Sophia Greene last year as a series of trunk shows with the aim of connecting Londoners to the best vintage dealers worldwide. Its been incredible to see the response to something I started as a hobby to share my vintage contacts with friends, says Greene. Its been fascinating to see the demand for vintage when given to the customer in a beautiful, curated way. Alexa Chung and Adwoa Aboah were among those in the queue to get first dibs on treasures sourced by Miami-based dealer Eveliina Vintage. Future dates include an event with Levis next month, at which hundreds of pairs of jeans will be available to tailor on site, while Le Vintage Collective has plans to launch its own website later this year. Where the luxury market is concerned, William Vintage is the reigning king. From Yves Saint Laurents iconic 1968 Safari suit to the white gown which closed Tom Fords final catwalk collection for Gucci, the brand beloved by celebrities including Amal Clooney and Rihanna has collaborated with Matchesfashion.com on a collection of one-of-a-kind haute couture restored to museum-quality condition. Of course, with pieces starting at 875 and rising to an eye-watering 25,000, these are about as far from a bargain bin as you can get. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment We ended 2019 thinking the Taylor Swift "Cats" movie would be the biggest embarrassment to the legacy of T. S. Eliot. We began 2020 wishing it were. As you may have seen, Emily Hale donated the letters written to her by her pseudo-boyfriend, T. S. Eliot, to the Princeton University Library on the condition that they only be made public once theyd both been dead 50 years. Along with their release this month, an explanation from T. S. Eliot was provided to give context to their (non-sexual, but very real) affair. In his mea culpawhich is earnest, beautiful, and sad Eliot explains that he came to realize that he wasnt in love with Hale, he was in love with the feeling of being in love with her he experienced as a young man. At one point he says: I came to see that my love for Emily was the love of a ghost for a ghost, and that the letters I had been writing to her were the letters of a hallucinated man, a man vainly trying to pretend to himself that he was the same man that he had been in 1914. In his mea culpa which is earnest, beautiful, and sad Eliot explains that he came to realize that he wasn't in love with Hale, he was in love with the feeling of being in love with her he experienced as a young man. As a pastor, Ive walked along side many men and women who blew up their lives with an affair. In each case, they thought they were doing it because of a girl or a guy. But Eliot is right, as he so often is: its never about the other person, its about the feeling that other person gives them, the feeling of youth. As Milan Kundera put it in The Unbearable Lightness of Being, this sort of love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost. But, heres the thing: God puts an angel with a sword outside of Eden precisely because He knew Adam and Eve would want to go back there was eternal life back there, after all. We live in an age which particularly idolizes youth-culture, but the temptation to relive childhood is common to all man. Life is behind us, death is before us, why not turn around? Solomon encourages us not to pursue those things associated with youth (winking the eye, a quick temper), but rather the crown of grey hair gained through righteous living (Prov. 16:30-32). Dont chase adolescence, strive for maturity. Indeed, the whole of Scripture is eschatologically oriented thusly what youre looking for is in the future, so move ahead. Dont go back to Eden. Dont go back to Egypt. Dont look back at Sodom. Put your hand to the plow, the Celestial City is just ahead. But thats not the whole story, of course. Before Adam and Eve taste of life fully again, they have to die. To get to the Promised Land, Israel has to follow Gods appointed leader down to a watery grave. To experience resurrection, we have to do the same; we have to take up our cross. You see, nostalgia is often little more than thinly disguised doubt. To seek out the euphoria of youth is to question, Will He really part the sea? Is there really morning on the other side of this dawn? Bored and ungrateful for the provision God has given us in the moment, doubtful of the milk and honey in our future, we lust after the days where we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread. You see, nostalgia is often little more than thinly disguised doubt. To seek out the euphoria of youth is to question, "Will He really part the sea? Is there really morning on the other side of this dawn?" Bored and ungrateful for the provision God has given us in the moment, doubtful of the milk and honey in our future, we lust after the days where we "sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread." When preaching on the battle against sin, Thomas Chalmers stressed the expulsive power of a new affection. That is, to stop loving what we ought not to love, we need to fall deeper in love that which we ought to love. Until the gospel becomes believable and beautiful to us, no amount of gritting our teeth and doing the right thing for its own sake will do. Until we really believe theres a treasure in the field, we wont sell all that we have to buy it. You may recall the spies whom Joshua sent into Canaan before Gods people took possession of it. They brought back fruit from the land so all the people could see it, and eat it, and have their spirits buoyed by it. What they had in part, theyd one day have in whole. The Holy Spirit does nothing less for us today. Hes bringing the fruit of New Creation in glimpses, in tastes to strengthen us, to remind us of where were headed, to sustain us as we sojourn. Life is behind us and death is ahead of us, true, but one day well be able to say the reverse: death is behind us, now theres only life ahead. In perhaps my favorite Eliot poem, "The Rock," he speaks of the modern man growing closer to the dust and further from God, Nearness to death, no nearer to God. Ironically, by avoiding the grave we fall into it, and by walking confidently into the pit we escape it. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for the sake of Christ will find it. So, dont turn around. Stay faithful. Look ahead. Age. Mature. Turn grey. Die. Resurrect. This article was originally published at BreakPoint. [January 28, 2020] Former USC Law School Professor Files Appeal Over Alleged Botched Tenure Review Former University of Southern California (USC) law professor Shmuel Leshem recently filed an appeal against the university, alleging USC Gould Law School botched his tenure review and compromised the integrity of the scholarly process. The legal filing in California Second District Court of Appeal states that USC intentionally violated numerous tenure-review standards and rules and conducted a fundamentally unfair grievance hearing. Leshem is represented by Stewart and Musell, LLP. Leshem was a successful and well-regarded law professor at USC, who was hired on tenure track in 2006. Promoted to associate professor in 2009, Leshem's tenure review began in mid-2011. According to legal filings, a law-school tenure reviewer improperly solicited Leshem's confidential peer-review reports on false pretenses and distributed them without his knowledge or consent. In breach of trust and a documented promise not to use the reports for tenure evaluation, law-school tenure reviewers subsequently used the reports to negatively appraise Leshem's scholarly writings and to discredit the external letters of evaluation requested in accordance with standard procedures. According to filings, a USC grievance panel later "whitewashed th law school's wrongdoings." Law and Economics Professors from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Israel have signed an open letter to USC's leadership, voicing concerns over the asserted irregularities in Leshem's tenure review process and "calling on [USC] to investigate and rectify Leshem's tenure-denial case and thereby shore up norms of academic integrity, privacy and fair process, thus safeguarding the promotion process and securing the peer-review system." Signatories include professors from NYU, Columbia, Stanford, Texas, Harvard, Tel Aviv University and others. Leshem has been fighting this legal battle with USC for more than six years. Plagued by multiple scandals in recent years, USC has been widely criticized for its central role in the 'Varsity Blues' college-admissions scandal. Leshem said he had hoped USC's new administration would show commitment to fairness and integrity for all tenure candidates by resolving his case. "Breaking its own rules, USC enabled law school professors to exercise capricious judgment and seal the fate of an aspiring scholar," states the filing's conclusion. The legal filing and summary are available at www.LawsuitPressRelease.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005693/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Pakistani court on Tuesday rejected the transit bail plea of a prominent Pashtun minority leader, known for criticising the country's powerful military, and ordered his transfer to another jail, a day after he was arrested for alleged sedition, leading to calls for his immediate release. Manzoor Pashteen, chief of the rights-based alliance Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), attended a gathering on January 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan city where he had allegedly said that the 1973 Constitution violated basic human rights, Dawn newspaper reported. The 27-year-old activist, arrested along with nine other PTM workers from Peshawar, was earlier sent to Peshawar's Central Jail on a 14-day judicial remand by a magistrate. District and sessions judge Muhammad Younis accepted the police's request to shift Pashteen to a jail in Dera Ismail Khan, where a first information report (FIR) has been registered against him, Dawn newspaper reported. The request of a transit bail to Pashteen, who was represented by his lawyers, was rejected by the court, the report said. The PTM has been critical of the Army's policies in the restive northwestern tribal areas where a massive operation against terrorists was carried out in recent years, leading to large-scale displacement and enforced disappearances, the report said. It also calls for ending extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions besides holding the practitioners responsible. The PTM chief has been booked for criminal intimidation, promoting enmity between different groups, criminal conspiracy, sedition and condemning the creation of the country and advocating the abolishment of its sovereignty, the report said. The FIR said that Pashteen also made derogatory comments about the state. Human rights watchdog Amnesty International called for Pashteen's "immediate and unconditional" release. "Manzoor Pashteen has been arbitrarily detained for exercising his human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. He must be released immediately and unconditionally," it said on Twitter. Taking to Twitter, senior PTM leader and National Assembly member Mohsin Dawar said: "This is our punishment for demanding our rights in a peaceful and democratic manner. Manzoor's arrest will only strengthen our resolve. We demand the immediate release of Manzoor Pashteen". "We will devise a strategy after consultations. We are up against those who are most troubled by demands for constitutional rights, and we will continue doing that," he said. Soon after Pashteen's arrest, #ReleaseManzoorPashteen started trending on the micro-blogging site. In the past, PTM's leaders, including its elected members of Parliament, have been criticised by the Army which alleges it to be running an anti-national agenda and for playing into the hands of the state's enemies. The Army had launched a military operation 'Khyber-4' under 'Radd-ul-Fasaad', which roughly translates to 'elimination of discord', to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of counter-terrorism operations in the country's restive northwest tribal region. Meanwhile, the Opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), in a statement, demanded that Pashteen be released immediately and that a dialogue be initiated between the government and the youth of tribal areas. The statement said that PTM's demands were "legitimate" and "will not be swept aside by arresting Manzoor Pashteen". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DETROIT, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit Board of Trustees has filed a lawsuit in Federal Bankruptcy Court requesting an injunction against a 75% pay raise the PFRS Investment Committee is trying to give the retirement system's former Deputy Chief Investment Officer, it was announced today. The lawsuit alleges that the Investment Committee, established as part of the exit from city bankruptcy, has overstepped its authority, breached its fiduciary duty and thwarted PFRS Board and city personnel payment policies by entering into a purported independent contractor agreement with a former employee. On direction of the PFRS Board, a complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief was filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division and assigned Case No. 13-53846 with Honorable Judge Thomas J. Tucker. "This adversary proceeding is brought to remedy the breaches of fiduciary duty committed by the PFRS Investment Committee and its individual members and Chief Investment Officer, to obtain injunctive relief and declare the parties' rights and responsibilitiespursuant to the terms of the Eighth Amended Plan of Adjustment of Debts of the City of Detroit," the opening paragraph reads. The complaint was filed with the court by on behalf of the Board by outside special counsel Couzens Lansky. The conflict between the PFRS and its Investment Committee originally appointed as part of the City's bankruptcy and Chaired by Robert Smith -- arose from pay raises the Investment Committee granted to its Chief Investment Officer and Deputy CIO raising their respective pay levels to $315,000 and $285,000 annually. Chief Investment Officer Ryan Bigelow's compensation increased twice since last winter. The investment committee first adopted a proposal in December 2018 that took his annual $242,000 pay to $264,000. And in March 2019, it voted it up again to $315,000. The Investment Committee also approved a 75% pay raise for the Deputy Chief Investment Officer Kevin Kenneally from $162,781 to $224,000 annually. When the PFRS Board objected, the Investment Committee arranged a deal for Kenneally to resign as an employee and be hired as an "Independent Contractor" with fewer duties, higher pay and a $60,000 signing bonus. Further, the Investment Committee intimated it would seek to delay or prevent payments from the "Grand Bargain" totaling some $18.3 million unless the PFRS Board agreed to fund the pay raises. Kenneally resigned from the Pension Board staff position on December 27, 2019 and assumed a role as an Independent Contractor on January 6, 2020. The PFRS Board has refused to pay invoices submitted by Kenneally. The PFRS Board authorized the hiring of special counsel to assist in crafting the complaint to request the Federal Bankruptcy Court, which approved the "Plan of Adjustment" to rule on the validity of the contract and the ability of the Board to set employee wages. The PFRS Board is currently comprised of a 16-member Board of Trustees. The Board includes six elected active duty police and fire personnel (3 each); and two elected retired personnel (one each police and fire); one City Council designee appointed and seven ex-officio appointees of the City of Detroit. The Board oversees the $2.8 billion fund serving some 8,000 retired police and fire and approximately 3,000 active duty first responders. Twice a month public meetings of the PFRS are held on Thursdays at 9 a.m. Minutes and meeting records are posted on the PFRS website at www.PFRSDetroit.org. The Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit was founded under City Charter and is the fiduciary for the pensions of all police and fire personnel. The PFRS is a separate entity from the city's General Retirement System. For more information please visit www.PFRSDetroit.org. SOURCE Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit Related Links http://www.PFRSDetroit.org Update: The California News Publishers Association voted Tuesday to allow digital news outlets to participate fully in CNPA. AT THIS POINT, the online-only qualifier in the phrase online-only local news organization is unnecessary. The oldest such outlets have been around 15 years or more; by 2019, around 10 percent of local news was produced by sites without a print or broadcast arm, according to a study of more than 100 areas by the News Measures Research Project. But local news sites are very young when compared to newspapers, radio or television, and they still dont always get the respect theyre due. Last month, Ramona Giwargis, the co-founder and editor of the San Jose Spotlight, wrote a column criticizing San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and his staff for excluding the online-only Spotlight from a daily digest of news clips sent by the mayors office to more than 200 city staffers. A former mayoral spokesman told Giwargis that the city has a policy of not including online-only publications unless they are nationally recognized. ICYMI: How the Washington Post pulled off the hardest trick in journalism Giwargis alerted the Institute for Nonprofit News, of which the Spotlight is a member, about the situation; Sue Cross, the institutes executive director, wrote the mayor a letter calling the policy outdated and harmful to the public and urging him to reconsider. So far, he has not. The Spotlight is only a year old, but relatively well established. Giwargis covered San Jose City Hall for three years for the Mercury News, the areas dominant newspaper, and her nonprofit site has a staff of two full-time reporters and four regular freelancers. The omission of the Spotlight is indicative of how there is still a focus on legacy media, Giwargis says. Sign up for CJR 's daily email This is meant to inform San Jose city leaders and policymakers about how they can make the best decisions for the community, she says. And theyre being left in the dark. (Members of the mayors staff did not respond to an interview request from CJR.) Stories like Giwargis are becoming rarer. Scott Lewis, the chief executive and editor in chief of Voice of San Diego, says the angst about imposter syndrome, or gaining equal ground with legacy news organizations peaked 10 or 12 years ago. Voice of San Diego, which was founded in 2005 and which focuses on investigative and public-interest reporting, was among the very first local online news nonprofits; today, it is among the biggest. We had the good fortune when we launched of making our mark very early in City Hall politics, with our coverage of some scandals that were going on at the time, Lewis says. That really made us part of the insider culture in San Diego. The big fight is gaining the same name recognition among the general public as a major newspaper or local television station. Thats something we think about all the time, and we have a long way to go, Lewis says. I told them we might be interested, but we had no interest in joining an organization where were a partial member and had no voting rights. IN CALIFORNIA, the biggest association of news publishers was known until 2017 as the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Though CNPA began admitting online-only members in 2012, those members pay reduced dues and dont have voting rights. (The San Jose Spotlight is a member, under CNPAs digital category.) Things are changing there, gradually; CNPA is now the California News Publishers Association, and last year it broadened its annual awards to include online-only work. Today, the associations voting members will decide whether to give full, voting memberships to the digital-only publications. Were hopeful that a majority of the members will endorse this concept and get this done, says Tom Newton, CNPAs executive director. Tom Bolton is the executive editor and a co-owner of Noozhawk, a local-news site in Santa Barbara founded in 2007. CNPA invited Noozhawk to join about a year ago as a digital member, Bolton says, and he said no. I told them we might be interested, but we had no interest in joining an organization where were a partial member and had no voting rights, Bolton says. If the vote goes in favor of full membership for digital-only outlets, Bolton says hed reconsider. Noozhawk has a different business model than the San Jose Spotlight or Voice of San Diego. Its a for-profit enterprise, and rather than focus on City Hall or investigative reporting, it replicates most of the content bundle of a traditional print newspaper, with business, sports, and arts sections. Lewis predicts that the major players in comprehensive, newspaper-like bundles of online-only news will be the legacy newspapers themselves. A print newspaper that cuts back or eliminates its print edition will have a big head start on a start-up news site, even if the newspaper has suffered years of budget cuts and declining esteem in the community. The next frontier for online-only local news might be well-funded for-profit competitors to publications like Voice of San Diego. For $8 million or $10 million a year, he says, a well-heeled entrepreneur could fund a newsroom of 50 people and, in the right market, could make money at it. All of these rich people who wanted to buy the LA Timeswhy not take $20 million and start your own thing without all those legacy costs? Lewis says. PREVIOUSLY: Californias new 35-story limit for freelancers Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Tony Biasotti is a freelance writer in Ventura, California. Find him on Twitter @tonybiasotti. A Jackson man charged in a pair of 25-year-old murders at the Jersey Shore consented to being held in jail pending trial at a court hearing on Tuesday. Jose Carrero, 48, was arrested earlier this month and charged in the death of Long Branch woman Ana Mejia in December 1994 and the killing of her in-law Nicholas Connors in May 1995, authorities said. In court documents, police say Carrero confessed to the killings. Based on the admission from (Carrero), there is well-grounded suspicion that he committed the offense, Judge Paul X. Escandon said Tuesday in Superior Court in Monmouth County . Two others charged in the killings Nicholass wife Delores Morgan, 66, and her son Ted Connors, 47 made appearances Tuesday via video conference. Both are residents of Florida and were extradited to New Jersey last week. Delores Connors and Ted Connors are charged in the murders of Nicholas Connors and Ana Mejia in 1994 and 995.Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office The three are accused of stabbing Mejia nearly two dozen times on Dec. 8, 1994 in her Long Branch apartment while her two children, ages 3 and 1, were present, authorities said. A white substance smeared around her mouth and nose was later determined to be baby formula, authorities said. Five months later, Nicholas Connors was found shot to death on a couch in the Van Dyke Place home he shared with Morgan. Two of their children, 13 and 12, slept through the killing. A confession from Carrero, proof of an insurance payment to Morgan and a new statement from one of the suspects friends helped police solve the cold case, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Long Branch detectives. Its unclear when Carrero confessed to authorities. The attorney for Connors, Jonathan Petty, declined to comment on Carreros alleged confession and said he was unsure how Carrero knew his client. Petty said his office has to review between 700 and 800 pages of discovery. There have been pieces of this investigation that have happened in part over the course of the last two decades plus, Petty said. Delores Morgans stepfather appeared in court to support her, but declined to comment to NJ Advance Media. A row of Mejias family members also sat in the front row of the gallery. Morgan and Connors are scheduled to appear in court again on Feb. 5. Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Bengaluru-based InterviewBit on Tuesday said it has raised USD 20 million (over Rs 142 crore) in funding led by Sequoia India and Tiger Global among others. InterviewBit, a Surge 01 (a Sequoia program) start-up, offers an advanced online computer science program for college graduates and young professional software engineers called Scaler Academy. "The company will use these funds to scale up their enrolment and launch in new markets, while also investing in their curriculum and their live teaching product to enhance the student-teacher experience," a statement said. InterviewBit co-founder Anshuman Singh said a lot of young engineers don't always have access and exposure to the relevant technical skills or recruitment processes of global companies. "Our mission is to bridge that gap and help them grow in their careers. We are very pleased to be able to help young engineers expand their knowledge and coding skills and enable them to get top tier software engineering jobs at the best global tech companies," he added. Founded in 2015 by Abhimanyu Saxena and Anshuman Singh, InterviewBit is an online platform that teaches skills needed for technology jobs, mentors students to crack recruitment processes and provides referrals to opportunities in the software industry globally. It has more than a million registered software developers with over 3,00,000 monthly active users. Over 600 companies work with InterviewBit for their hiring requirements including Google, Uber, Amazon, Facebook, Flipkart, Myntra and Dunzo. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The common minimum programme worked out by the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress when they formed government in Maharashtra was signed by leaders of all three parties and it is not right to say just one party did so, NCP leader Nawab Malik said on Tuesday. Malik made the statement in the wake of Maharashtra PWD minister Ashok Chavan saying on Sunday that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had sought a written undertaking from the Shiv Sena that the new government in the state would work within the ambit of the Constitution. "All the three parties had held meetings in Delhi and Mumbai before forming the government and worked out the CMP. The CMP is signed by leaders of all the three parties. It is not right only a single party (the Shiv Sena) signed it," state Minority Affairs Minister Malik tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) When the Great Recession froze U.S. skylines in place in 2008, rapidly urbanizing China became an economic lifeline for many American architects, especially those who depend on skyscrapers and other major commissions for their livelihood. Even today, amid a construction boom in the U.S., some American firms, including those in Chicago, get an estimated one third of their annual billings from China. PHOENIXEntrenue is shipping two brand-new items from award-winning industry favorite We-Vibe: the remote-control Chorus couples vibe and the Wand, We-Vibes first-ever wand massager. Available in time for the romance holiday season, the Chorus and Wand round out We-Vibes offerings with user-friendly designs, powerful motors and app-enabled technology. The Chorus is the latest, most advanced couples vibrator from We-Vibe, featuring touch-responsive controls, hands-free vibration and an adjustable fit for stimulation on both the clitoris and the G-spot. Available in three colorsBlue, Purple, and Cosmic Pinkthe Chorus is the first We-Vibe powered with AnkorLink technology, creating the most stable connection between the vibrator and the We-Connect app so the signal stays strong the whole night through. The Chorus is equipped with a unique Squeeze Remote: the tighter you squeeze, the stronger the vibration getsand vice versa. When users want a little bit more (or less) stimulation, the Chorus responds. In addition to the remote, each Chorus purchase comes with a discreet storage and charging case, a USB power cable, We-vibes Quick-start user guide, and a 2mL sample of We-Vibe Lube made by pjur. Also shipping right now is the Wand by We-Vibe, an ultra-powerful cordless body massager. This waterproof, rechargeable silicone wand features a flexible head, seamless one-button intensity control, We-Vibes Smart Silence technology and integration with the newly simplified, gender-neutral We-Connect App. The Wand by We-Vibe is available in purple and comes with two attachments in a contrasting turquoise: Fluttery, designed for clitoral stimulation, and Stroke, designed for penis stimulation. We love our partnership and friendship with We-Vibe, and its exciting to see everything their design team comes up with, Entrenue CEOwner Joe Casella said. The products and the people are just a delight, and these two new releases have been highly anticipated. The Chorus offers important updates to the famous couples-shaped vibe and boasts the strongest wireless connection available, and the Wand is making major waves in the hand-held massager category. We are thrilled that the Chorus and Wand are shipping in time for the romantic holiday season! Testers, retail kits and eye-catching displays are available with minimum purchase. To place an order, call (800) 368-7268, email [email protected] or visit Entrenue.com. Entrenue is a passionate boutique distributor that supports retail businesses by offering the most unique, innovative and high-quality product lines available anywhere. Since 1994, the companys hand-selected collection of intimate products have educated, aroused, inspired and stimulated the senses, and it is Entrenues belief that these products improve relationships and help men, women and couples truly enjoy a more passionate life. Entrenue provides the information and tools necessary to help customers attain their goals and offers the highest level of customer service available on the market. Albert Mohler and His 'Woke' Seminary Feeling the Heat: Conservative Christians say Mohler No Longer Speaks For Us NEWS PROVIDED BY Cathy Mickels Jan. 28, 2020 SEATTLE, Jan. 28, 2020 / Standard Newswire / -- In response to the growing threat of political correctness and progressive politics within the conservative evangelical establishment, Peter Lumpkins, Associate Professor of Christian Studies at Truett McConnell University in Cleveland, Georgia, recently stated, "the little guy in the church" is "standing up against a massive network of big evangelicalism," which he believes is leaning excessively to both the theological and political left. This is not setting well for the traditional Southern Baptist and he states , "A denomination earthquake is imminent." Although Albert Mohler was once considered a credible voice for Christians, due to his move to the left, the tide appears to be changing. Lumpkins posted a chart of internet traffic suggesting the influence of Mohler and his fellow traveler, Russell Moore, president of Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, are losing support among conservative internet users. Instead, they are turning to other voices, such as Pulpit & Pen and Reformation Charlotte, who are exposing the activity of cultural Marxists and the politics of the social justice warriors coming from Southern Baptist Seminaries and council members of The Gospel Coalition. In addition, Reverend Thomas Littleton's thorough research has played a major role in the distribution of information that has methodically laid out the facts for Christians concerned about the liberal bent in once Christian Conservative bodies. In response to his own findings, Littleton was the first to raise the question in his 2017 article published in SBC Today titled " Is this the Evangelical deep state? " Littleton's research has also been instrumental in exposing Albert Mohler's compromise on LGBTQ issues. Christians outside of the United States are also warning about the extent of Albert Mohler's error. In November 2019, Dr. E.S. Williams, a member of Charles Spurgeon's London Metropolitan Tabernacle and author of many books released a video titled " The Stain of Albert Mohler ." This eye-opening documentary proves "False teaching is infiltrating the Southern Baptist Convention in the form of critical race theory, an offshoot of Cultural Marxism." Williams stated, "At the center of this compromise stands Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary." Christian conservatives emphasize there are two sides to Albert Mohler, and if he is elected the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention more deception and error is sure to follow. SOURCE Cathy Mickels Ahead of the February 8 assembly polls, four persons were arrested for allegedly supplying illicit liquor in the national capital, police said on Tuesday. Deepak (28), a resident of Bhiwani in Haryana, Sagar (29), Himanshu (20), both residents of Malkaganj and Mohit (21), a native of Shamli in Uttar Pradesh were held in separate incidents and 12,000 bottles of illicit liquor were seized from them, they said. In the first incident, Deepak, Sagar and Himanshu were nabbed from Jharoda Kalan area of Najafgarh while carrying 300 cartons of illicit liquor, they said. In a separate incident, Mohit was arrested with 60 cartons of illicit liquor in his car, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Honeys, the taproom at Enlightenment Wines Meadery in Bushwick, was almost full on a recent Saturday night despite the cold and snowy weather. Patrons sat comfortably at booths, and squeezed into seats at the bar drinking medieval honey wine, or mead. In the production area behind the bar, next to the fermentation tanks and oak barrels, there was a poetry reading. Its more or less exactly what Raphael Lyon had in mind when he and a partner decided to open a meadery in Brooklyn in 2015. Mr. Lyon is also Enlightenments lead mazer, which is what you call a person who makes mead. Basically it is the image of a world where it is totally normal to drink natural mead, said Mr. Lyon. And there is nothing weird about that. Its just one of several meaderies that have sprung up, it so happens, since Game of Thrones gave a major assist to honey wine when it first appeared on HBO in 2011. In late 2018, New York State recognized the burgeoning local mead scene and passed a law allowing meaderies that use 100 percent New York State honey to offer tastings by the glass, and to sell their mead to go. In addition to Enlightenment Wines there is All-Wise Meadery in Williamsburg, which opened in 2018. It is owned in part by Dylan Sprouse, of Disney Channel fame (he was Zack in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody). North of Manhattan, in Putnam County, there is Mysto Mead (slogan: Flowers make nectar. Bees make honey. We make mead). Craig Cazet has joined Coldwell Banker Brokers of the Valley as a sales associate in the companys St. Helena office at 1200 Main St. Cazet began his career in finance as business development officer for a large national lender in San Francisco. Later, he joined Sonoma National Bank in Santa Rosa as a vice president, heading up their SBA division. After spending 13 years in finance, Cazet started Cazet Builders, Inc., in St. Helena. The business developed and designed projects all over Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties. I am excited to be working with Coldwell Banker Brokers of Valley, Cazet said. Info: 707-258-5200 You can reach Jennifer Huffman at 256-2218 or jhuffman@napanews.com Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. What to expect from the Indo-China military commander level talks We will continue to deal with Chinese PLA in firm, resolute manner: Army chief India has everything needed to be hub for medical tourism: PM Modi India faced three times the cyber attack than the global average India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 28: Indian organisations have faced over three times more cyberattack than the global average, with cryptocurrency mining malware impacting most of the entities, according to a research. Most of the attacks have come on Indian companies via online medium, Israel-based firm Check Point Software Technologies said in its report for 2019. "An organization in India is being attacked on average 1,565 times per week in the last 6 months, compared to 474 attacks per organization globally. 93 per cent of the malicious files in India were delivered via the Web, compared to 35 per cent of malicious files globally," the report said. Twitter India appears before parliamentary panel examining cyber security of women The report cited cyber attack on Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) by a malware designed for data extraction as one of the major attacks in India. "The malware, linked by experts to the North-Korean group Lazarus, infected a computer in the plants external network, rather than the operational one," the report said. It said that on May 19, an "unprotected MongoDB database" has exposed over 275 million records of Indian citizens. "The exposed data included names, emails, mobile phone numbers, education details, professional info and current salaries. Despite the massive amounts of information, the database could not be linked to a specific owner," the report said. "The top malware in India is XMRig, impacting 17 per cent of organizations," the report said. On average, cryptocurrency mining malware accounted for 26.9 per cent, botnet 20.4 per cent, mobile malwares 20 per cent, banking 13.2 per cent and infostealer 8.7 per cent. In todays world of cyber terror, why the snoop order on computers is the need of the hour Check Point said that the Shade ransomware (also known as Troldesh), which historically targets Russian victims, has recently expanded to the United States, Japan, India, Thailand and Canada by English-language malspam. A ransomware takes over the victim's computer and demands payments to unlock it. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 7:51 [IST] Hundreds of British citizens trapped in the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan are expected to be flown home as early as Thursday. The Foreign Office has yet to confirm any details of how and when they will be evacuated, however a British teacher living in Wuhan has revealed UK citizens are being given details of forthcoming flights. Those stuck in Wuhan and surrounding areas have been urged to contact the British consulate before 11am on Wednesday if they wish to leave. The British embassy in Beijing has said transport to get UK citizens out may happen quickly and with short notice. Officials have estimated up to 200 citizens currently there will want to return to the UK. Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Show all 154 1 /154 Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Paramedics wearing personal protective equipment carry patient on a stretcher on to an ambulance in North Point district in Hong Kong, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker wearing protective gear takes a rest as he waits for ambulances carrying patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at an entrance of a hospital in Daegu, South Korea YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker sprays disinfectant on an ambulance after carrying a patient infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Daegu YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective face masks shop at a supermarket in Casalpusterlengo, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A trolley bus is disinfected amid fears over the spread of the novel coronavirus in Pyongyang, North Korea REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus in a local market in Daegu, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective facemask walks outside a nearly empty shopping mall at lunch time in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing protective facemask and gloves puts a drawing made by a girl living in the area asking residents to wear protective gear, next to a quarantine notice for people who have travelled and a notice asking people to register outside a residential compound in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman is taken into an ambulance amid a coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulances and health workers are seen outside the Padua's hospital, northern Italy EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers in coaches leave MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire after being repatriated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus in Yokohama, Japan and head to Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People rest in a temporary hospital situated in the Tazihu Gymnasium in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buddhist monks wearing protective face masks pray during a blessing ceremony for the people affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient infecting with a new coronavirus to a hospital in Chuncheon, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Soldiers in hazmat suits sanitize cargo from a China Airlines plane at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, Taiwan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Barricades are seen to block the entrance a the gate of a local mall in a nearly empty area in Beijing, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor wearing a protective facemask waits for customers at a shop in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The body temperature of an Iraqi child returning from Iran is measured upon her arrival at the Najaf International Airport AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers hand out free facemasks at a shopping district in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient suspected of contracting the new coronavirus toward an ambulance at Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker disinfects a shop at a market in Shanghai AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A restaurant worker wearing protective clothing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus passing a bag of food to a customer on the street outside their restaurant in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for "urgent operational health and safety reasons", following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas', have both been designated as "isolation" facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan Xinhua News Agency/AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China's easter Shandong province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li's hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China's Wuhan province Vsluh.ru via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman's home in Qingdao EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan Malaysia's Ministry of Health/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine Italian Defence Ministry/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A young child wears a protective mask and is covered in plastic while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK Tom Maddick / SWNS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS Chinatopix via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An Indonesian health officer points at the screen of a thermal scanner for passengers China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China's central Jiangxi province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan STR/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting Yingtan North Railway Station, China China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, uses an electronic thermometer to check the temperature of passengers arriving by plane from Wuhan The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China's northern Hebei province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff and security personnel stop patients' family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A notice for passengers from Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market Getty The British teacher, who asked not to be named, said she had decided to stay put because she was informed her husband, who has a UK visa, would not be allowed to travel since he is a Chinese national. It is understood this was a result of restrictions imposed by China, rather than the UK. She added that a number of other Britons she was in contact with had arranged to return home, with some scheduled on a flight at 7am on Thursday. The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice to warn against all but essential travel to mainland China. It advised British citizens wishing to leave the country to make plans to do so soon as it may become harder over the coming weeks. Almost 100 people in the UK have so far tested negative for coronavirus. The Department of Health and Social Care said 97 people have been given the all-clear for the virus, although scientists predict it may have entered the country. Earlier, transport secretary Grant Shapps said the government was working on how to bring people home from Wuhan. He told BBC Breakfast: For anybody who is there, one of the issues we have, working with our partners internationally on this, is actually identifying how many British citizens there are in Wuhan. One of the things were asking people to do is to contact the consulate there to make them aware. People have started to do that. We are working on arrangements as well. Hubei province, where the virus is thought to have originated in Wuhan city, has been on lockdown for several days as China seeks to contain the illness, as have other parts of China. Hong Kong also said on Tuesday it would temporarily close some of its borders with mainland China and stop issuing travel permits to mainland Chinese tourists. More than 100 people have now died in the country, with confirmed infections surging to more than 4,500. Additional reporting by Press Association The Red Sea releases 220,000 tons of harmful hydrocarbon gases into the atmosphere every year - more than human pollution produced by the UAE or Turkey Reservoirs of ethane and propane gases buried under the sea are rising up and leaking into the atmosphere, the study by the Max Planck Institute found. The gases are seeping up from hydrocarbon deposits in the Gulfs of Suez and Aquaba, then mixing with fumes from shipping traffic in the region. The ships release high levels of nitrogen oxides which mix with the ethane and propane to produce ozone chemicals that are harmful to human health. The researchers say that, with ship traffic through the Red Sea and Suez Canal expected to continue to increase, regional air quality will deteriorate significantly. The Red Sea is releasing 220,000 tons of polluting hydrocarbon gases every year - more than the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait or Turkey, a new report claims A 2017 direct study of the atmosphere above the northern Red Sea found a concentration of those chemicals 40 times greater than predicted by scientists. Very little research had been done into the chemistry in the atmosphere above the Red Sea until the 2017 expedition. Efstratios Bourtsoukidis, an environmental physicist at the German institute analysed every possible source of higher than expected emissions. They included traffic, agriculture, biomass burning, power generation and oil production - but couldn't link the levels of gases to any of those sources. 'Because there was no previous data from this region, we had to run numerous calculations in order to find the source,' said Bourtsoukidis. 'In the end we came to an unexpected conclusion: the high concentrations of the observed atmospheric ethane and propane originate from the bottom of the northern Red Sea,' he said. Bourtsoukidis said that the underwater emissions wouldn't have had an impact on air quality in pre-industrial times due to no marine traffic pumping nitrogen oxides. 'These gases interact with the ethane and propane and result in the production of tropospheric ozone and peroxyacetyl nitrates. 'Both of these elements are very harmful to human health,' said Bourtsoukidis. The underwater gas sources came from direct fluid seepage from hydrocarbon reservoirs deposited above offshore rocks, bottom-trapped density outflows from the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba and direct emissions from some brine pools. He said these hydrocarbons are then transported to the surface by water currents and eventually released to the atmosphere. Bourtsoukidis said that the underwater emissions wouldn't have had an impact on air quality in pre-industrial times due to no marine traffic pumping nitrogen oxides 'The amount of the released gases is exceptionally high and comparable to the total anthropogenic emissions from entire Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, United Arabic Emirates and Kuwait,' said Bourtsoukidis. The measurements took place in the summer and because of the way deep-water circulation works, the emissions in the winter would likely be higher, the team claim. They say with increasing shipping levels in the region, the impact of the underwater gases is only going to increase. 'In the coming decades, ship traffic through the Red Sea and Suez Canal is expected to continue to increase strongly, with a concomitant rise in nitrogen oxide emissions.' 'Such increase will amplify the role of this source, leading to significant deterioration of the regional air quality.' The study findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications. Checkpoints now surround China's lockdown area - home to nearly 60 million people - and the epicenter of the coronavirus's rising global health concerns. Every driver and passenger that passes in and out of Hubei province here is tested. Anyone found with a high temperature is told to go to a hospital immediately. Three Russian regions have also now closed their borders with China, and Hong Kong has suspended its high speed rail and ferry services to the mainland. Leader Carrie Lam urged all residents of the city currently on the mainland to return as soon as possible and stay home for two weeks. Telling, that everyone at her news conference was wearing a protective mask, including the leader herself. In Japan, the government is sending a chartered flight to Wuhan to evacuate its citizens. France, the U.S., Germany, and Spain are among other countries doing the same. The UK is expected to follow suit. The coronavirus has now killed over 100 people in China, and infected at least 4,500 there. Its president Xi Jinping told the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday (January 28) that the virus was a "devil" - and that China is confident of winning the battle against it. Thailand has the second highest number of cases after China. They're doing everything they can to contain its spread - disinfecting all planes returning from the country. Germany has become one of the latest countries to confirm its first case of the virus. The patient, a 33-year-old man, worked at an auto supplier and was infected by a visiting Chinese employee from Shanghai. More than a dozen countries now have confirmed cases. Even countries like the Philippines that don't currently have the virus are on high alert. At a Chinese language school in Manila, they're making their students and staff wear face masks as a precautionary measure. Back in Wuhan, where the outbreak began, the building of new hospitals to treat patients continues apace. In addition, the Buttigieg campaign made other employees available to discuss its handling of workplace issues. In a statement, Mr. Buttigieg, 38, who recently finished his second term as mayor of South Bend, Ind., nodded to those challenges and struck a progressive tone in emphasizing the importance of supporting his staff. Were proud of the staffers who stood up and made their voices heard to help our campaign improve and be more inclusive, Mr. Buttigieg said. We realize that we can always do better and these honest discussions are how we make progress, and we will continue to provide our staff the safe space to have them. His campaign provided the statement in response to questions about the operation. Vernon Gair, the accounting director for the campaign, who was made available by officials there, said that because of Mr. Buttigiegs struggle to attract black voters, the campaign had to meet a higher bar internally in addressing the concerns of minority employees. We cant just be good enough on these issues our candidates, and our teams, Mr. Gair, who is black, said in an interview. He said he was a member of what the campaign called bridge groups aimed at providing support to staff members who were members of certain affinity groups, including black and L.G.B.T.Q. employees. Mr. Gair said his group had conveyed some of its frustrations to the campaign manager, Mike Schmuhl, who took the time to listen. Mr. Gair declined to be specific about the frustrations. After this article was published on Tuesday, the Buttigieg campaign posted a lengthy explanation of its diversity efforts online. Pete for America is committed to creating trusted environments for issues to be raised and addressed within, across and outside the campaign, the campaign wrote. After a town-hall-style event in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Tuesday, Mr. Buttigieg dodged a question about whether or not he had discussed the article with his staff. A woman has been arrested four days after the bodies of three children were discovered inside their home in Dublin. The suspect in her forties has been detained on suspicion of murder after siblings Conor, 9, Darragh, 7, and Carla McGinley, 3, were found dead in the village of Newcastle on Friday. Irish police said the woman was found at the scene of the tragic deaths, and has been receiving medical attention at Tallaght University Hospital. She is currently being detained at Clondalkin Garda Station. Scene: An ambulance and police outside the property in Ireland / PA News of the arrest comes hours after the children's father spoke of his grief, saying all three had beautiful, bright futures ahead of them. In a statement issued through the Gardai (Irish police) Andrew McGinley said: There are no words. There is only devastation, grief and anguish. Every breath is a struggle. Conor, Darragh and Carla are adored. They all had beautiful, bright futures ahead of them with family, friends and a community who love them. To all parents, cuddle your children whenever you get a chance. Tell them how much you love them as often as you can, spend every spare minute with them reading, playing and enjoying their wonderfulness. The future has now become our enemy but we will battle it every day to keep the memory of Conor, Darragh and Carla alive. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said that then BJP president Amit Shah had asked him to induct political strategist Prashant Kishor into the Janata Dal-United (JDU). "Someone wrote a letter I replied to it. Someone is tweeting, let him tweet. What do I've to do with it? One can stay in the party (JD-U) till he wants. He can go if he wants...Do you know how did he join the party? Amit Shah asked me to induct him," said Kumar, while responding to a media question on Prashant Kishor. Kishor has more than once made his differences with the party known on the issue of the amended citizenship Act. JDU had supported the legislation in both the Houses of Parliament. Last month, Kishor had told ANI that it is only Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, who can tell under what circumstances the party supported the Citizen (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. On January 24 this year, the Bihar Chief Minister had hit out at senior party leader Pavan K Varma over the letter written by him to Nitish Kumar about the alliance of the party with the BJP for the Delhi assembly elections. When asked about the letter by media, Kumar had said: "That is not a letter. If a person is in the party, he writes a letter explaining the issue and then a reply is given to that person. Sending an e-mail without even informing and straight away going to the press doesn't make any sense to me. I don't consider that to be a letter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The global ATV drivetrain system is expected to register a decremental growth of USD 25.43 million during 2020-2024, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005497/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled global ATV drivetrain system market 2020-2024. (Graphic: Business Wire) Consumers are exhibiting a strong demand for four-wheel ATVs owing to their superior performance on rough and uneven terrains. This is encouraging ATV manufacturers to offer the four-wheel-drive system as an added functionality or as a full-time system. Vendors are offering viscous couplings, which automatically detect the need for a four-wheel-drive system on a real-time basis. The introduction of such innovative four-wheel ATVs is attracting the interests of many off-road enthusiasts. Therefore, the growing demand for four-wheeled ATVs is one of the key factors driving the growth of the global ATV drivetrain system. To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40827 As per Technavio, growing ATV experience zones will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024. Global ATV Drivetrain System Market: Growing ATV Experience Zones ATV experience zones are widely present in developed markets such as North America and Europe. In order to increase the awareness and demand for utility vehicles such as ATVs in emerging markets such as India and SEA countries, vendors are focusing on increasing the number of ATV experience zones. These facilities allow customers to experience ATV rides in an artificial off-road field. For instance, in 2018, Polaris opened an experience zone in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India with focus on expanding its customer base. Therefore, the rise in the number of ATV experience zones will become crucial in driving the growth of the market. "Increasing popularity of all-electric ATVs and advances in autonomous ATVs will further boost market growth during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Global ATV Drivetrain System Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the global ATV drivetrain system marketby geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America) and application (utility ATV and sport ATV). The North American region led the ATV drivetrain system market in 2019, followed by Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America respectively. During the forecast period, the APAC region is expected to register the highest decremental growth. This is due to the presence of prominent ATV manufacturers such as Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha in the region. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005497/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: https://www.technavio.com/ Advertisement The family of an avid porcelain collector are hoping to make 250,000 from their relative's lifetime haul of French ceramics. The late Judith Howard's passion for porcelain saw her walls, shelves and display cabinets adorned with hundreds of plates, dishes and bowls, leaving 'every nook and cranny' filled with unique collectibles. She was well known for having an eye for a bargain, so much so that a 250-year-old plate she bought for 13 at an antiques shop is now tipped to sell for 25,000. The item was once part of the 1,735-piece dinner service made for French King Louis XV and housed in the Palace of Versailles. Today most of the service remains in Versailles while a sizeable chunk of it is in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Boughton House, Northamptonshire. Mrs Howard, from Melksham, Wiltshire, died last year aged 73. Her husband Alvin and her daughter Charlotte have decided to sell her huge collection of French Sevres porcelain at Woolley and Wallis Auctioneers of Salisbury. The auction is taking place on February 4. Judith Howard, pictured on her 70th birthday, had a passion for 18th century French ceramics saw her walls, shelves and display cabinets adorned with hundreds of plates, dishes and bowls The 'Maximalist' interior of avid collector Judith Howard's modest terraced home in Wiltshire. Her family are set to make 250,000 from the sale of her collection Mrs Howard acquired most of her porcelain from dealers and antique shops but in her later years, when she was less mobile, she took to buying on eBay. Pictured are sets of porcelain collected over Mrs Howard's lifetime Her husband Alvin and her daughter Charlotte have decided to sell her huge collection of French Sevres porcelain at Woolley and Wallis Auctioneers of Salisbury Mrs Howard acquired most of her porcelain from dealers and antique shops but in her later years, when she was less mobile, she took to buying on eBay. Her daughter Charlotte described her mother's approach to interior design as 'maximalist', ensuring every bit of wall space in her end-of-terraced home was filled. Miss Howard said: 'She didn't have a lot of money or a massive budget but she did have a sixth sense when it came to finding the gems among the dross. 'She was a magnet for rare antiques where you would least expect to find them. Shopping was her greatest passion and she was on eBay all the time. 'She bought some awful things but she didn't care if she liked it. And she also found some treasures. 'She would be quite put out if visitors didn't compliment her on how the house looked. Avid collector Judith Howard, who used to be a curator at the V&A, is pictured above in the 1960s. In the 1970s the Howards found fame when they won a BBC1 competition to find the thriftiest family in the country Mrs Howard, from Melksham, Wiltshire, died last year aged 73. Her husband Alvin and her daughter Charlotte have decided to sell her collection Ceramic plates are seen at the 'Maximalist' bedroom of avid collector Judith Howard. She was well known for having an eye for a bargain, so much so that a 250-year-old plate she bought for 13 at an antiques shop is now tipped to sell for 25,000 A 25,000 cracked plate, bottom shelf, centre, is among the collection inside Judith Howard's Wiltshire home. Clare Durham, the ceramics experts from Woolley and Wallis, said: 'Most of [the collection] is 18th century and we are hoping it will do between 200,000 to 250,000' 'She used to dust once a year and we would all have to leave the house for the whole day. She hated that chore but it had to be done.' Clare Durham, the ceramics experts from Woolley and Wallis, said: 'Judith Howard used to be a curator at the V&A in the 1960s. 'That is where she acquired her love of French porcelain and she went on to mamas what must be one of the best private collections of Sevres in the UK. 'She had an incredible eye and was able to find pieces in random places. She did buy a lot of it from London dealers and in later years she scoured eBay 'Most of it is 18th century and we are hoping it will do between 200,000 to 250,000. 'She died a year ago and as much as her husband is selling it. The reverse of the cracked plate expected to sell for 25,000. The label reads: 'Platter: dated 1754 Vincenne painted by Pierre-Antoine Mereaud, 1754-1790' Among the highlights in the collection is a Sevres stand - or plateau Bouret - from a dinner service made for King Louis XV in about 1770, valued at 8,000 Another 1770 plate decorated with flowers and ivy and made for Madame du Barry, the last mistress of Louis XV, is also set to sell for 8,000 Another Sevres plate gifted by King Louis XVI to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in 1785 is expected to sell for 3,000 'We went to her home and it was rammed with it and I mean rammed. 'Her husband appreciates that it was her collection and not his and it is a strong reminder of her and must be difficult to live with it all.' Among the others highlights in the collection is a Sevres stand - or plateau Bouret - from a dinner service made for King Louis XV in about 1770, valued at 8,000. Another 1770 plate decorated with flowers and ivy and made for Madame du Barry, the last mistress of Louis XV, is also set to sell for 8,000. A 2ins tall ice cream cup also from the Madame du Barry service is valued at 3,500 A Vincennes circular dish (plat d'entremets) from the first Louis XV service date code for 1754-55, predicted to sell for up to 25,000 A 2ins tall ice cream cup also from the Madame du Barry service is valued at 3,500. Another Sevres plate gifted by King Louis XVI to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in 1785 is expected to sell for 3,000. In the 1970s the Howards found fame when they won a BBC1 competition to find the thriftiest family in the country. It led to them appearing on Blue Peter and Judith securing a regular column in Woman's Own magazine. A woman died last year at the same Jersey City home where a newborn girl was found dead Saturday morning, her sister told The Jersey Journal. Bayonne resident Michelle Macaluso died July 22, 2019 of causes related to fentanyl usage, according to an autopsy report. Her death had occurred at 33 Suburbia Court. After hearing about the recent death at the house and the death of the newborns mother hours later, her sister Lisa Macaluso said, I just started crying. I really didnt want another person to die in that house the same way my sister died, she said. On Saturday morning, police responded to a report of a woman in need of medical attention. There, they found a 41-year-old woman and her infant daughter, both unresponsive. According to police radio transmissions, they also found the house strewn with feces, needles, and maggots. The infant, who was described in police radio transmissions as still having its umbilical cord attached, was pronounced dead at the scene. The mother died that afternoon at Jersey City Medical Center. The Hudson County Prosecutors Office has not released the womans identity or the cause of death. Macalusos death last year a month after a city task force cited the house for a number of code violations in June is one of several new details that have emerged about 33 Suburbia Court. Jersey City officials appear to have inspected the house as recently as two weeks ago, according to screenshots of SeeClickFix, a platform where residents can report problems to city officials. On Dec. 27, 2019, neighbors reported on SeeClickFix that the house, otherwise vacant, was now occupied by squatters. An official with Jersey Citys housing code enforcement, identified on the program only as Valerie, replied the same day, saying, Officer will be going out next week to inspect. In two more messages from January 2020, Valerie mentioned an officer visiting the home. Officer going back out tomorrow to check if vacant and secure, she wrote in a message dated Jan. 16 She also said summonses were issued," without naming who was the recipient. Macaluso said shed been trying for months to get the house condemned, but said that the authorities hadnt taken enough action. (There are) people who do drugs in there, and they dont care about those people, she said. If they did, they would have boarded that house up after my sister died. Less than two weeks after the Jan. 16 message, authorities found the unresponsive infant and mother in the house. City officials listened to community concerns about the property and responded, said city spokeswoman Kim Wallace-Scalcione in an emailed statement. As a result, the homeowner was arrested on various charges. Despite the citys efforts, what happened this weekend is tragic, and its hard not to carry the burden of grief as the mayor described. Complaints and responses, with dates, from the SeeClickFix app, related to 33 Suburbia Court in Jersey City. An infant was found dead at the home Saturday morning, and her mother died hours later.EJA The homeowner Wallace-Scalcione referred to is William Kelly, the son of Mary and Vincent Kelly, the couple who owned the home before their deaths a couple years ago. He did not reply to requests for comment. According to an administrative warrant to access the property last year, Jersey City Health Inspector Orlando Diaz inspected the property six times dating back to April 2017. On Twitter Saturday, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop posted a link to The Jersey Journals story, writing, We were here at this same house last year w/violations. The system of local, county, state worked + yet here we are. It feels like we got it right technically and at the same time clearly got it SO wrong, he added in a second tweet. Kelly, 57, described the deceased woman as an acquaintance, and said that he had called the police Saturday morning. Macaluso said that her sister had also spent time with Kelly at the house. This is Catholic Schools week, an annual recognition and celebration of the important contributions made by these religiously-based institutions to the education of Americas children. In addition to fulfilling their faith-based mission, Catholic schools save taxpayers over $24 billion annually. Antagonism toward religious schools generally is nonetheless evident in todays America, operating not only to undermine their God-centered purpose but to threaten their very existence. Three cases currently before the U.S. Supreme Court illustrate different, but equally critical challenges facing them. Last Wednesday, the justices heard oral arguments in Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue, a constitutional challenge to the invalidation of a Montana program that provided a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $150 for donors to private scholarship organizations. These entities, in turn, awarded scholarships to students to use at either public or private schools, including those with religious affiliations. However, a state regulatory rule, predicated on a Blaine Amendment provision in Montanas constitution, was invoked prohibiting use of the scholarships at religious schools. That, in turn, led to the Montana Supreme Court striking down the scholarship program in its entirety. As Justice Brett Kavanaugh aptly noted during last weeks Supreme Court arguments, Blaine Amendments, which still exist in 37 states, are rooted in grotesque bigotry against Catholics. Championed by Rep. James G. Blaine of Maine in the 1870s, they were advanced at a time when Protestant religious tenets were widely taught in public schools. Ku Klux Klan When Catholic families, primarily immigrants, sought to counter this by devising a system of parochial schools, Blaine Amendments were enacted in several states to thwart them by barring the use of tax dollars directly or indirectly for their benefit. The Ku Klux Klan was among the most aggressive lobbyists for the Blaine Amendments. The lead petitioner in the Supreme Court case, Kendra Espinoza, works several jobs to keep her two girls in a Christian school. Espinoza was relying on the scholarship program to allow her to continue to do so. She argues on appeal that invalidating a neutral student-scholarship program merely because it gives students the choice of attending a religious school violates the First Amendments Free Exercise Clause as well as the Fourteenth Amendments Equal Protection Clause. The case is extremely important because a ruling in favor of Espinoza, depending on its scope, could doom Blaine Amendments in 36 other states. The transcript of last weeks oral argument suggests that the justices are divided along ideological lines, with the deciding vote likely belonging to Chief Justice Roberts. There is a chance, however, that Justice Stephen Breyer could be a surprise vote for Espinoza. All in all, theres reason to be cautiously optimistic that Espinoza will prevail here. Two other cases vital to religious education have been consolidated for review by the Supreme Court and await the assignment of a date for oral argument. Both involve the right of religious schools to hire and fire staff, including teachers, without being penalized under anti-discrimination laws. Ministerial exception Churches and affiliated religious organizations have traditionally enjoyed a right under the First Amendment to hire and fire religious ministers as they alone see fit. This ministerial exception was unanimously affirmed by the Supreme Court in its 2012 decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In a blunt rebuke to the Obama Administration, which was seeking to revoke the ministerial exception, the court said, We cannot accept the remarkable view that the Religion Clauses have nothing to say about a religious organizations freedom to select its own ministers. In determining who, precisely, qualifies as a minister, the court held that the duties performed by an employee, and not his or her title, is the primary factor. In that case, the court found that Cheryly Perich, a teacher who led students in prayer and taught a religious class several days a week was, indeed, a minister. She could not, therefore, pursue a claim for discriminatory dismissal under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While seven federal circuits have ruled similarly in light of the Hosanna-Tabor decision, the left-leaning Ninth Circuit denied ministerial exceptions to two California Catholic schools, Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. James School, even though the terminated employees in both cases performed substantial religious duties at the facilities, including teaching religious classes. Vindication of the ministerial exception in these cases is critical for religious schools since a contrary ruling would facilitate even more troublesome claims of discrimination based on such things as sexual identity and same-sex relationships. And those types of suits strike at the heart of the religious teaching these schools seek to impart. Daniel Leddys column On the Law appears weekly. Follow him on Twitter. His email address is column@danielleddylaw.com. by Melani Manel Perera The first case involves a woman from Chinas Hubei province who arrived on a tourist visa on 19 January. Visitors are not allowed in the countrys international airport. Two toll-free numbers provide information about the infection. Returning Sri Lankan students in China will be placed under quarantine. Colombo (AsiaNews) Sri Lankan health authorities have confirmed the first case of Wuhan coronavirus in the country. A 40-year-old woman from the Chinese province of Hubei tested positive at a screening. She had arrived on the island on 19 January on a tourist visa. As of this morning, security measures have been in place at Bandaranaike International Airport to prevent the spread of the disease that has claimed 106 lives in China, where the outbreak began. Sri Lankan Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi held a press conference today to illustrate the new procedures. Restriction have been imposed on Chinese visitors arriving at the airport. The airport will allow passengers to disembark but not transit through. The government and SriLankan Airlines, the countrys national carrier, are offering cheaper fares to Sri Lankan students in China to facilitate their return with discounts of up to 50 per cent with the possibility of payment through a third-party credit card. The Sri Lankan Embassy in Beijing has reported that at least 204 Sri Lankan students have left in the past two days. Others are expected to follow in the coming days. All returnees will be required to spend a two-week special quarantine period at the Diyatalawa army base. Two toll-free numbers (0710107107, 0113071073) are available 24 hours a day to ask information about the coronavirus and how to stem its spread (like wearing protective masks and frequent hand washing). The countrys 12 largest hospitals have been prepped to deal with the outbreak, health authorities announced, including the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Angoda where the first case was reported. China warns of faster spread of Coronavirus as toll climbs to 80 China on Sunday said the transmission ability of the novel Coronavirus is getting stronger as the number of new cases continued to grow and Beijing scrambled to contain the outbreak. By Monday the death toll from the deadly outbreak of Coronavirus has jumped to 80 with hard-hit Hubei province reporting 24 new fatalities, while total confirmed cases nationwide rose to 2,744. The national count of verified infections rose by 769, about half of them in Hubei, the National Health Commission said, adding that 461 of those infected were in a serious condition. Meanwhile, the Indian embassy has stepped in to the rescue of the Indian students of China's Wuhan University, who have been stranded after transportation services were shut down in the province following Coronavirus outbreak. The Indian Embassy in Beijing on Sunday told the students that they are trying to arrange vehicles to take them out of Wuhan. About 46 students of the Wuhan University in Hubei province of China, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, had been stranded for the past many days and had been calling out for help to get them back to their homes in India. In China, the number of cases continued to surge and Shanghai, a megacity of more than 24 million people reported its first death from the virus. The spreading ability of the virus is getting stronger, national health commission (NHC) minister Ma Xiaowei said Sunday, adding that the quickness with which the contagious infection is multiplying has put extra pressure on the ongoing efforts to contain it. Wuhan also reported severe shortages of resources, including protective suits, and officials in Beijing has asked factories across the country to increase their production capacities. Ma said the risks associated with the mutation of this previously unknown virus from the same family as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS were not clear and because it is a new virus, there could be changes. He said in the coming days, the number of infections might continue to grow. He added that containment measures across China will be stepped up in the coming days. China also on Sunday announced a ban on wildlife trade, until the outbreak is contained, over suspicion that the disease comes from a seafood and fish market in Wuhan that also sold wild animals. Addressing a packed press conference in Beijing on Sunday, Ma said the incubation period for the Coronavirus can range from one to 14 days, and that the virus is infectious during the period incubation defined as the time between infection and the onset of symptoms. This particular characteristic makes it different from the SARS, another Coronavirus that originated in China and killed nearly 800 people globally between 2002 and 2003. Speaking at the same press conference, the director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, the virus had shown little change since its discovery, adding that scientists will need more time to detect minute alterations if they occur. The virus has already spread to a dozen other countries with Canada confirming its first case on Saturday after a patient in Ontario tested positive. The man is said to have travelled from China recently. Besides Canada, the cases reported outside China were six in Hong Kong; five each in Thailand and Macao; four in Australia; three each in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal and France; two each in Japan, the US and Vietnam. Senators faced mounting pressure Monday to summon John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial even as Trump's lawyers brushed past extraordinary new allegations from Trump's former national security adviser and focused instead on corruption in Ukraine and historical arguments for acquittal. Outside the Senate chamber, Republicans grappled with claims in a forthcoming book from Bolton that undercut a key defense argument that Trump never tied withholding military aid to Ukraine to his demand that the country help investigate political rival Joe Biden. Trump is charged with abusing his power by asking Ukraine's leader to help investigate Biden at the same the president was ordering that millions of dollars in aid be withheld and then of obstructing Congress in its probe. In developments so far: The Bolton revelation clouded White House hopes for a swift end to the impeachment trial. But Trump tweeted on Monday that he never told Bolton such a thing. The Trump legal team declared anew that no witness has testified to direct knowledge that Trump's delivery of aid was contingent on investigations into Democrats. The lawyers attacked the business dealings of Hunter Biden, and made the case that Trump was right to seek an investigation. Democrats want Bolton to appear at the trial. Some Republicans want to call Biden and his father, presidential contender Joe Biden. Joe Biden, campaigning in Iowa, repeated that he sees no reason for testimony by him or his son. Read on for deeper details on the impeachment trial and related events. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A migratory fish-eating bird from Finland that flew more than 6,500 kilometres to Usalo village, Siaya County died on Sunday, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said Monday. In a statement, KWS communication Director, Mr Paul Udoto said a postmortem examination showed the four-year-old Osprey bird succumbed to starvation. A postmortem examination report conducted by veterinary teams attributed the death to long term starvation which precipitated systemic organ failure, KWS stated. Following the sad news, a fisherman who alerted KWS after spotting the bird trapped in a fishing net fainted. Mr Walter Oloo Tende, 72, said it was a big loss to him. Tende, who had volunteered to donate part of his land for conservation, said he was looking forward to seeing the bird being released to the wild. This was like a member of my family and it is a big loss for me. I had even planned to travel to the city to see the bird, said Tende. I love birds and thats why I decided to rescue it instead of killing it. In its statement, the wildlife agency said the Osprey bird also suffered minor injuries while trying to free itself from the net. It also weighed 950g against the normal range of 1.3 or 1.8 kg of an adult Osprey, Udoto said. We were feeding and treating the fish-eating bird back to good health with a plan to release it at the exact site it was rescued in the Lake Victoria catchment so that the bird dies not lose its bearing on the return epic flight northwards in early March, KWS said. A tag on the birds leg showed it was ringed in Finland at the Museum Zool in Helsinki. The group Open Doors has released the latest iteration of its World Watch List. The ranking covers the worst 50 nations with respect to religious persecution of Christians. Most nations on the list are perennials, instantly recognized by those who follow the issue. The details vary a bit year by year, but the outcome of this tragic sport rarely changes much. Indeed, one imagines religious persecutors involved in a competition to see which state can be more inhospitable to freedom of conscience. There is an aging champ, still in the lead but closely trailed by new aspirants. A previous contender reemerges for a new run at the top prize. Most of those seeking victory have different strengths. Some competitors emphasize direct government repression, others vicious social pressure. A favorite technique is mob violence with official acquiescence. There are more. Open Doors noted some broad trends. The Peoples Republic of China has been using technology for dramatically ill ends. Less dramatically, India, too, is using facial recognition. Overall, in the most populated countries on earth, Christians live in a surveillance state. Although the Middle East has traditionally been the fount of Islamist violence, sub-Saharan Africa is increasingly under threat from Islamic extremist groups. Particularly in countries or in regions where government control is weak or non-existent, these groups are killing, kidnapping and sowing chaos with impunity. Alas, the violence is not limited to Africa. Militant Islam spreads violence and fear in Southeast and South Asia. For instance, Sri Lanka, long the host of a brutish Buddhism that battered Christian believers, saw Islamist terrorist attacks on Christians. Perhaps the greatest tragedy, at least symbolically, is the threatened disappearance of Christians from the birthplace of the faith in the Middle East. Christians continue to leave Palestinian territories and are under siege in Syria but persist in areas ruled by Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, which is an offshoot of Shia Islam. Worst in the region is Iraq. Explained Open Doors: Years of conflict in Iraq continue to devastate Christian communities. In Iraq, there are now around 202,000 Christians, down from 1.5 million before 2003. Notably, this is the direct result of Washingtons ouster of Saddam Hussein, a secular dictator who cared nothing for Islam in practice. Story continues Some of the ratings are likely to be controversial. Is Saudi Arabia, which bans any public services by non-Muslims, really only number 13? And why is China, reverting to Mao-style totalitarianism, with a brutal ongoing campaign against religious practices, judged to be only number 23, behind Egypt and Laos, among others? The longtime champion of religious persecution, North Korea, retains the title. It is nominally a Communist state, but in practice the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea has enshrined Kim worship: Leaders of the Kim dynasty, now in the third generation, are treated as divine. Competitive beliefs are viewed very badly. If North Korean Christians are discovered, they are deported to labor camps as political criminals or even killed on the spot. Driven by the state, Christian persecution in North Korea is extreme. Closing the gap is Afghanistan, which after nearly two decades of U.S. support fell just short of overtaking the DPRK. The country is increasingly challenged by Islamic militants, the Taliban controls or contests more and more areas, and an ISIS-affiliated group also targets minorities. Islam continues to be featured by the No. 3 contestant, Somalia, which remains mired in civil war, tribalism, and violent Islamic militancy. Conversion is regarded as a betrayal of the Somali family and clan, and al-Shabab militants target converts. Next is another U.S. project, Libya. The absence of a single central government to uphold law and order contributes to the extreme levels of pressure in national and church life. Libyan Christians with a Muslim background face violent and intense pressure to renounce their faith. In fifth place is a perennial contender, Pakistan. Filled with extremists and militants, host of Osama bin-Laden, and long-term Taliban ally, this country seems destined to be inhospitable to Christians and other religious minorities. Christian churches are heavily monitored, and extremists regularly target them for attacks. Churches involved in evangelism face greater threats. Moreover, anti-blasphemy laws are disproportionately applied against the Christian minority making it difficult and dangerous to live out ones faith in public. Coming in at No. 6 is Eritrea, nearly equally divided between Christians and Muslims. It long has been called Africas North Korea. Everyone suffers at the hands of a suffocating totalitarian state. Hundreds of Christians who are members of unregistered churches are in prison; some have been held captive for over a decade. Next comes Sudan, in which persecution has worsened in recent years: The government has arrested or intimidated many Christian leaders, and numerous churches have been demolished. However, last year the Islamist dictator was overthrown. No one knows where Sudan will ultimately end up, but almost certainly at a better place than in the past. Sudan might fall dramatically in the ratings in coming years. Yemen is No. 8. Never known for religious tolerance, Yemen has been traumatized by nearly five years of war. Noted Open Doors: The war has allowed radical Islamic groups to expand their operations in certain areas, leading to Christians being abducted and killed. Open church activities are forbidden and leaving Islam is not allowed. Minority faiths are allowed to practice in Iran, which fills the No. 9 position. That contrasts with Tehrans primary antagonist, Saudi Arabia. However, life is not easy: Christians are forbidden from sharing their faith with non-Christians in Iran, and it is illegal to produce Christian literature or hold church services in Farsi. Converts from Islam face persecution, and those who attend house churches face the constant threat of arrest. India rounds out the top ten. Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned out to be a great disappointment. On economics, he proved to believe in abundant state control, just of a different sort. Worse, his philosophy was built around Hindu nationalism. Since his party has taken control, incidents against Christians have increased, and Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequence. Muslims, who make up a more substantial proportion of the population than Christians do, also face sometimes violent persecution. The next ten are: Syria, ravaged by war and led by Islamist insurgents; Nigeria, where two separate groups of Islamist militants have waged war on Christians and moderate Muslims; Saudi Arabia, where no public worship by non-Muslims is allowed; Maldives, which bases citizenship on practicing Islam and bars any other public worship; Iraq, where the U.S. invasion eliminated the secular dictator, opening the way for sectarian war; Egypt, where Christian Copts face official discrimination and community violence; Algeria, where the government has been closing churches while family pressure against conversion remains strong; Uzbekistan, where the government heavily restricts religious expression, outlawing all unsanctioned religious expression; Myanmar, where largely ethnic-minority Christians face intense pressure (and where the Muslim Rohingya have been murdered or dispersed); and Laos, where Christian gatherings are monitored, and even registered churches are often forced to meet in homes. The trends are evident as well in the next 30 persecutors cited by Open Doors: Vietnam, Turkmenistan, China, Mauritania, Central African Republic, Morocco, Qatar, Burkina Faso, Mali, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Nepal, Jordan, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Brunei, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Colombia, Oman, Kuwait, Kenya, Bhutan, Russian Federation, United Arab Emirates, Cameroon, Indonesia, and Niger. The fate of Christians and other religious minorities varies greatly across the globe. Believers in America suffer manifold frustrations, unfairness, and inconvenience; some even find their livelihoods threatened. Still, most U.S. Christians have never faced anything approaching the sort of persecution that is common elsewhere around the world. Intolerant interpretations of Islam are the greatest structural enemy of religious liberty. Second-greatest is authoritarianism in regimes that are determined to suppress freedom of conscience, thought, speech, and worship. A variety of other factors follow, such as Buddhist, Hindu, and Orthodox nationalism. Although the Americas have some problems, most notably Communist dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela, the region remains the freest when it comes to religious practice. Africa, Asia, and the Middle East all are filled with frequently worsening persecution. Americans should fight to preserve their own First Amendment liberties. However, U.S. believers also should support those abroad who are targeted for their faith. Winners of the international persecution contest should be criticized, embarrassed, and punished. Americans might be frustrated to find that even they cannot save the world. However, they can help individuals, families, and communities. And that always is an achievement worth celebrating. More from National Review India has begun preparations for the evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising from the coronavirus outbreak in China's Hubei Province. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Ravessh Kumar said the Indian Embassy in Beijing is in touch with the Chinese government, authorities and nationals on the matter. "We have begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China," he said in a tweet. "Our @EOIBeijing is working out the logistics & is in touch with the Chinese govt. authorities & our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For example, a victim could be involved in the prosecution of their abuser in Billings Municipal Court, while seeking a divorce in Yellowstone County District Court and turning to the countys Justice Court to sort out a resolution to a rented apartment they share with the abuser. Establishing a court where all of those legal needs could be answered would ease the burden on victims and streamline the legal process. That could take some work, however. A justice of the peace in Montana does not have the authority to order parenting plans or finalize a divorce. The group is looking for a solution, according to Ben Halverson, who prosecutes domestic violence cases for the city of Billings. In addition to Carter, Green and Halverson, the advisory committee is made up of Daniel Ball, a private attorney for civil and criminal defense, and Jessica Kraft, a coordinator hired through the grant. The group also aims to centralize victim services through the court, making it easier for victims to obtain housing assistance and other needs. Hyderabad, Jan 28 : Two persons, who had returned from China and were suspected to have symptoms of Coronavirus, were tested negative, Telangana health officials said on Tuesday. A total of four persons, who had visited China, and wife of one of them approached the Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical and Communicable Diseases, popularly known as Fever Hospital, here during last three days. They were kept under observation and swab samples of two of them were sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. "Both the samples tested negative," said Fever Hospital Superintendent K. Shankar. He told reporters that Telangana has not recorded any case of Coronavirus infection so far. "Only some people who suspected to be having symptoms of Coronavirus approached the hospital," he said. The official said after keeping them under observation at the isolation ward, the samples of only those really having the symptoms were being sent to Pune. He said those coming from China were being screened on arrival at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. Shankar said there was no need for any panic but people should take the precautions like washing their hands frequently, using a cloth while sneezing or coughing and wearing mask while going out in public. He said those carrying symptoms like running nose, fever, headache and breathing problem should avoid going at public places and should approach the hospital for treatment. He also advised people to drop plans to travel to countries like China, including Hong Kong, as well as Singapore and Vietnam, where the disease is endemic. An isolation ward with 40 beds has been set up at the Fever Hospital as a precautionary measure to deal with suspected cases of Coronavirus. Similar isolation wards have also been set up at Gandhi Hospital and Chest Hospital in Hyderabad. Meanwhile, three teams from Union Ministry of Health on Tuesday visited these hospitals to review the level of preparedness to deal with possible Coronavirus cases and suggested additional measures. CHICAGO Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday signed Executive Order 2020-02 to address racial disparities in responding to the opioid crisis by establishing the Governors Opioid Overdose Prevention and Recovery Steering Committee. Illinois is also dedicating $4.1 million state dollars to expand recovery and prevention services for individuals with opioid use disorder in all corners of the state. State Sen. Rachelle Crowe, D-Glen Carbon, praised Pritzkers actions. On Jan. 16, she hosted a meeting of the Senate special committee on Opioid Crisis Abatement in Granite City to hear testimony from state and local agencies. I commend the governors work to fight against opioid abuse, Crowe said. As members of the Senates Opioid Crisis Abatement Committee have studied this crisis, weve been able to identify areas lacking support and ways to improve access to opioid addiction prevention and treatment programs. Ive been meeting with experts from state and local agencies to draft initiatives addressing the discrepancies in resources and will soon introduce legislation to curb the opioid epidemic, she said. I thank Gov. Pritzker and his administration for prioritizing this burden affecting thousands across our state. I look forward to his partnership. This year, Illinois saw the first decrease in five years in opioid overdose deaths. Despite the decrease, opioid overdose deaths among white residents in Illinois decreased 7% in 2018 while deaths among African Americans increased 9.1% and deaths among Latinos increased by 4.3%. Pritzker said the state will coordinate innovative, evidence-based approaches in partnership with harm-reduction organizations, establish local systems of care in disproportionately impacted communities, and create a comprehensive statewide opioid plan. Illinois has made great strides in responding to the opioid crisis that has swept the nation,but our work wont be done until all our residents have the opportunity to live their most fulfilling lives, he said. The Governors Office in conjunction with the states Opioid Crisis Response Advisory Council will create an Opioid Social Equity Committee to make policy recommendations regarding how to address social and racial disparities in the opioid crisis response. They will also establish local recovery-oriented systems of care councils in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the crisis in order to reach out to and engage individuals in all stages of recovery. The Executive Order also focuses on harm reduction strategies that promote safer use of opioids to save lives. These strategies will help reduce both the risks of infectious HIV, HCV and Hepatitis A and fatal overdoses. This includes supervised consumption sites, where individuals with opioid use disorder are under the supervision of trained staff with the goal of ensuring the safety of both the individual and the general public. Last year Pritzker signed the Overdose Prevention and Harm Reduction Act which focuses on harm reduction and allows for the establishment and operation of a needle and hypodermic syringe access program or syringe services programs to help prevent the spread of infection and disease. An additional $500,000 will be invested in the syringe services programs. The administration will invest $550,000 to encourage doctors to prescribe medication assisted treatment (MAT) for individuals with opioid use disorder. Another $2.75 million will be invested in overdose prevention. This includes investments in the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to ensure that first responders and treatment providers can respond in real time when there is a spike in overdoses in a community. This response will include overdose prevention training, local public awareness messages, and the purchase of 50,000 doses of naloxone to put directly in the hands of community residents. To increase transparency and accessibility of resources, the state will also create a comprehensive online repository that streamlines and makes available all opioid use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery resources. The clear history button that Facebook has promised for nearly two years is finally here. Heres where you can push it. But dont assume it will change much about how Facebook uses your data to help power its business. On Tuesday, Facebook rolled out what its now calling its Off-Facebook Activity tools, allowing users across the globe to control how third-party apps and websites transmit data to the platform. This means that you can see what retailers, payment apps, news sites, and other online services have been sharing info about you with Facebook for ad targeting purposes, and also erase the user data that the platform has accumulated through these third parties. I found out, for example, that 977 apps and websites had shared my activity, including Venmo, Hulu, andyepSlate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Facebook has come under fire in the past for hoovering up sensitive user information from apps for Ring doorbells and menstrual tracking. This new feature wont end that practice, but it should hopefully give anyone who takes the time to use it a better sense of how digital services barter their data. Off-Facebook Activity marks a new level of transparency and control, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post. Weve been working on this for a while because we had to rebuild some of our systems to make this possible. Last year, Zuckerberg said that introducing such a feature would likely harm Facebooks extremely lucrative ad business, since it could limit how Facebook targets users interests. Advertisement Facebook initially announced Off-Facebook Activity at a developer conference in 2018 in response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal and rolled out a beta version of the tool to users in South Korea, Spain, and Ireland a year later. Facebook had originally called the feature Clear History, but the company worried that users would mistakenly think that they were removing content that theyd posted to their pages. A judge in Texas temporarily blocked the company from launching the controls in the U.S. in August over concerns that they would allow an alleged sex trafficker to erase evidence. Advertisement You can find the controls in the Facebook app or website by navigating to the settings menu. From there, you scroll down to the section titled Your Facebook Information and select Off-Facebook Activity, which will take you to a page where you can view the apps and websites that have been sharing your info, delete the associated histories, and set limits on how this data sharing occurs in the future. Theres a clear history button at the top of the page that will erase all the off-Facebook data presented, and you can click on each app or website in the list to see how much data theyve shared and stop them from doing so. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you choose to delete all the shared data and prohibit those third parties from providing Facebook with info tied to your account, youll still see ads on the platform, but theyll be less relevant to your interestsand, correspondingly, much less creepy. (If youre wondering why the last time you searched for blenders, it then showed up in your Facebook news feed, this is why.) Facebook has likened this to clearing cookies and histories from a browser. Note, though, that Facebook can still target ads at you using other data, like contact info, though you can limit this to a certain extent with the Ads based on data from partners setting in Ad Controls. The Off-Facebook Activity tools will still technically allow the platform to collect data from third parties, but if you set your controls to the strictest setting, that information will no longer be associated with your account. And they can only delete the info that Facebook storesyoull have to go directly to those third parties if you want them to get rid of the data they collected on you in the first place. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. by Brad Camara | Lakers Correspondent | Mon, Jan 27th 6:38pm EST Kendrick Nunn (Achilles) has been ruled out for Mondays game against Magic. (Miami Heat on Twitter ) Fantasy Impact: Nunn will miss his second consecutive game due to an Achilles injury. His next chance to return will be Tuesday against the Celtics. Dion Waiters should see an expanded role with Nunn sidelined. Delhi to ease restrictions, if Covid cases come down in next 2-3 days: Health Minister Lata Mangeshkar health update: Doctor says,'She in ICU with Covid-19 and pneumonia, will be under observation' Coronavirus scare: Govt formally requests China to start evacuating Indians from Wuhan India pti-PTI New Delhi, Jan 28: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said the central government is planning to send a plane to Wuhan in China to evacuate Indians. New Delhi has already begun preparations to evacuate its nationals affected by the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak in China's Hubei Province, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). In a statement later, the Health Ministry said the Centre has made a formal request to China to facilitate the evacuation of Indians from Wuhan. Flag carrier Air India has kept one of its 423-seater jumbo plane ready in Mumbai for the evacuation, an official source said. Coronavirus outbreak: China urges citizens to delay foreign travel over virus fears Jaishankar, a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat who is on a two-day visit to Kevadiya, the site of the Statue of Unity, said no student from India has been found to be affected by the virus till date. "The Indian Embassy is in constant touch with the Chinese government. To evacuate students and other Indians from Wuhan, we are planning to send a plane there. Our efforts are on to bring them back. It will take some days. I urge people to trust the government on this," said Jaishankar. "No Indian student has been found to be affected by this virus. Parents need not worry about their children," he added. Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar earlier on Tuesday said the Indian Embassy in Beijing is in touch with the Chinese government, authorities and nationals on the matter. "We have begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China," he said in a tweet. "Our Embassy in Beijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese government authorities and our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates," Kumar added. The toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in China has soared to 106 while nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed. Those coming from China are being screened for symptoms of the virus. The coronavirus is a new type of pneumonia, officially being described as 2019-nCoV. Wuhan and 17 others cities in Hubei Province remained the epicentre of the outbreak with most of the deaths having taken place there. Over 250 to 300 Indian students are reportedly stuck in Wuhan triggering concerns over their well-being. On Monday, a meeting, which was chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, reviewed India's preparedness to deal with the virus amid mounting global concern over increasing number of cases in China and several other countries. In India, no case has been detected so far though nearly 450 people have been kept under observation in the country, most of them in Kerala, following screening for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus. Some who returned from China in recent weeks have approached medical authorities as a precautionary step. (UPDATE: This article has been updated to clarify charges based on 1st District Court records in Monroe County.) MONROE COUNTY, MI - A Milan man was arrested Friday for possessing child pornography, as well as child abusive commercial activity, all with a computer, police said. Brian Scott Richards was arrested Jan. 24 at his Monroe County residence, according to Michigan State Police. He was arraigned on Saturday, Jan. 25, police said. The 30-year-old faces one count of child abusive commercial activity and three counts of aggravated possession of child sexually abusive material, police said. He is also charged with one count of using his computer for these felonies. The Michigan State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation started with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, police said. A search warrant of Richards home discovered evidence of child sexually abusive material, including multiple devices that use internet, police said. Richards is now lodged in the Monroe County Jail. If you suspect a child is being exploited sexually, you can report it to the Cyber Tip Line at www.missingkids.org/cybertipline. New Delhi, Jan 28 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed a non-resident Indian (NRI) petitioner who moved the court alleging corruption in 2019 General Elections to go to the high court. The woman, based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had filed the plea before a Bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant. It allowed her to withdraw the plea. "Why have you not gone to the high court, and also why is this petition under Article 32," it asked. The petitioner contended there was corruption in the elections and as a consequence the people were cheated. She also submitted that earlier orders of the top court were not complied. The Bench said the high court could take cognizance of the top court order. "You can withdraw this petition and go to the high court," it said. The petitioner said she had come from a foreign country to pursue this matter and insisted by moving the high court she might not get justice. The top court declined to entertain her plea and reiterated that she should move the high court. "Because you are from abroad, it doesn't mean you will not get justice," said the court emphasising on the process of law. When the woman insisted that she had proof to place on record that the people were cheated in the last General Elections, the bench said, "You don't represent the people of India, and you don't even live in this country. To this the woman replied her parents lived here. The court asked her to consult senior advocate Sanjay Parekh. The Department for Communities will no longer publish details of people who commit benefit fraud The DUP has backed a move from Communities Minister Deidre Hargey to stop naming people convicted of benefit fraud. The Irish News has revealed the Sinn Fein minister has decided to stop sending press releases following convictions and publishing the names of those convicted on the Department for Communities (DfC) website. However convictions can still be reported on if journalists are in court when the sentence is passed. Ms Hargey said that the department "is not required to publish information relating to individual benefit convictions through the Courts, which is already in the public domain". "I have therefore decided it is not necessary for my department to also publish this information. Instead, I have asked officials to consider how fraud and error information could be published in a more strategic way to reflect the wide range of work undertaken in this area," the South Belfast MLA said. "This could include not just the work we do to protect public funds and reduce loss, but also as importantly, correcting underpayments and delivering outreach services to make sure everyone is receiving their full entitlement to benefit. Expand Close Deirdre Hargey PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Deirdre Hargey It was revealed last summer that Northern Ireland was losing over 1m a week to benefit fraud. The 2018/19 accounts for the DfC showed that 56.2m was spent on false benefit claims. TUV leader Jim Allister raised concerns around the move, calling it a "retrograde step". "The reality is with tightening margins in journalism, many of these cases will be missed by the press simply because of a lack of resources," he told The Irish News. "Failing to continue the practice of publishing names sends out the wrong message to benefit cheats as it means that even if they are caught they are less likely to suffer the shame of friends and neighbours learning about their misdemeanour." Expand Close Jim Allister / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jim Allister DUP Communities Committee chair Paula Bradley said she was backing the move from the minister. Mrs Bradley told the Belfast Telegraph that she thought the move was "fair enough" and would stop vulnerable people being punished a second time. "There are often circumstances that we don't know about that can lead to people being convicted of benefit fraud," the North Belfast MLA said. "It can happen to anyone, single parents, families in crisis, they don't deserve to be prosecuted twice. Who are we to judge?" Mrs Bradley acknowledged that some people go out to deliberately commit benefit fraud and said they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. "Sometimes people make genuine mistakes and we can't just separate them like that," she said. Expand Close DUP MLA Paula Bradley / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp DUP MLA Paula Bradley SDLP Communities Committee member Mark H Durkan also welcomed the move and said that his party had tried to reduce the "naming and shaming" culture when Alex Attwood was Minister for Social Development. He said it would be up to reporters in court to decide if the story was of significant public interest. "There's much, much more money lost through error in the benefits system than there is through fraud," the Foyle MLA said. "If the department showed as much zeal in eradicating errors as they did in pursuing people over petty instances of fraud it would suit them a lot better." Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla believes that India should be a secular country and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella calls citizenship limits sad. FREMONT, CA: Two Indian-born business leaders; venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and Microsofts Satya Nadella have added their voices to criticisms of Indias new citizenship law that has tossed the nation and led to several violent protests. Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, who was born in India, said the countrys recent Citizenship Amendment Law is sad, adding his voice to criticism of a policy that has roiled the country and led to violent protests. The new law bans unregistered Muslim migrants from neighboring countries from seeking citizenship in India while allowing immigrants from other religions to do so. At a Microsoft event for technology editors in New York, Nadella mentioned about Indian citizenship bill that it is just wrong. He also said that he would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India, or becomes the CEO of Infosys. Another Silicon Valley venture capitalist Khosla echoed Nadellas comments on the topic. He firmly believes that India should be a secular country. The Indian Twitter account of the software makers later tweeted, which seemed to moderate previous comments, beginning with the thought that every country should define its borders, protect national security, and set immigration policy accordingly. It also mentioned that he is shaped by Indian heritage and growing up in a multicultural India and his immigrant experience in the United States. Meenakshi Lekhi, a spokeswoman and federal lawmaker for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, sought to dismiss Nadellas comments by commenting, How literate need to be educated! Perfect example. She also added that How about granting these opportunities to Syrian Muslims instead of Yezidis in the USA? Indirectly she was referring to the travel ban made by President Donald Trump that includes visa restrictions on five majority-Muslim nations: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as Venezuela and North Korea. (Alliance News) - BlueRock Diamonds PLC on Tuesday said production at its Kareevlei diamond mine in the Kimberley region of South Africa was not affected by a demonstration that took place on Sunday. Shares in BlueRock were down 4.2% at 104.00 pence each on Tuesday afternoon in London. The diamond exploration company said that following the demonstration at the mine, in which it holds 74% interest, it is in discussions with the local community to resolve any issues. The Kareevlei diamond mine consists of five known kimberlite pipes, BlueRock said, adding that Kareevlei is in the world's top ten kimberlite sites by carat value with 90% of diamonds found of gem or near-gem quality. Kimberlite is an igneous rock, which sometimes contains diamonds. BlueRock noted that it operates in an area of high unemployment and it therefore maintains regular dialogue with all its stakeholders and takes its corporate social responsibilities very seriously. "Production has not been materially affected and we remain confident of achieving our internal budget, whilst we develop longer-term mine plans to optimise the resource," said Executive Chair Mike Houston. "We are disappointed that a demonstration was deemed necessary given we maintain regular contact with the local community and government. Our plans, when implemented will result in additional employment, the increased use of local services and have a very positive impact on the community at large," he added. By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. The forum backs a group called the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020, which brings together household names like Mars, Nestle and Walmart alongside more than 100 other corporations, nonprofits and governments. It was founded to help an industry trade group, the Consumer Goods Forum, meet a commitment its members made 10 years ago to stop using ingredients that contribute to deforestation by 2020. But most of the retail and manufacturing giants that make up the alliance have been unable to fully achieve the goal. I dont think a single one can say theyve met their commitments 100 percent, said Justin Adams, executive director of the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020. Since the pledge was made a decade ago, at least 50 million hectares of forest, or 123.5 million acres an area twice the size of the United Kingdom have been destroyed for commodities, according to an analysis by Greenpeace International. Nestle, which makes Cheerios, Kit Kat bars and Haagen-Dazs ice cream, says over 90 percent of its key agricultural commodities will be deforestation-free by the end of 2020. Mars, best known for its chocolate bars but also responsible for many other products, says commitments for cocoa, beef and soy will be met by 2025 and, for palm oil, by the end of this year. Kelloggs, the company behind Pringles chips and Crunchy Nut cereal, said that like others, we will fall short of the deforestation goal. While Walmart is on track to meet the goal in its own-brand products that use paper and palm oil, a spokeswoman said soy and beef chains are more opaque and complex, impeding transparency and progress. Other multinationals, like Mondelez, PepsiCo and Unilever did not respond to requests for figures or declined to supply them. I dont think anybody, when they were making these commitments, envisaged it was going to be anything like as hard, Mr. Adams added. Riot police were used to quell protests in Hong Kong overnight as the death toll from the new coronavirus rose to 81. In the UK, 73 people have been tested for the coronavirus, although all tests have returned negative. A homemade bomb exploded at a hospital in Hong Kong, where protesters also set fire to a housing block that had been earmarked as a quarantine facility, Reuters reported. The device exploded in a toilet cubicle at the Caritas Medical Centre and caused the temporary evacuation of some patients but no one was hurt. Anti-government protesters in Hong Kong set alight the lobby of a newly built residential building that authorities were planning to use as a quarantine facility for coronavirus sufferers. (Reuters) Protesters set up a barrier to block the road outside of a newly built residential building in Hong Kong that authorities planned to use as a quarantine facility. (Reuters) Protesters threw petrol bombs at the empty housing complex while riot police moved in with tear gas. Chinese officials said the new coronavirus is infectious in its incubation period before symptoms show, making it more difficult to contain. The countrys health minister admitted the virus is getting stronger. Chinas National Health Commission said the death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 81 there were 769 new cases confirmed on Sunday, bringing the total number of infected to 2,827. The government also reported five cases in Hong Kong and two in Macau. (PA) Other cases have also been found in Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the US, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France, Canada and Australia. Read more: Coronavirus outbreak: What are the symptoms? What the coronavirus means for the economy How is the international media reacting to the coronavirus? The Department of Health and Social Care said 73 people across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been tested for the deadly flu-like virus, but all have returned negative. UPDATE on #coronavirus testing in the UK: As of 2PM on Monday 27 January 2020, a total of 73 tests have concluded: 73 were confirmed negative 0 positive Updated data will be published at 2PM daily until further notice. For latest information visit https://t.co/CZh5JdyN2Q pic.twitter.com/pq39TMIqUY Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) January 27, 2020 The current risk to the public remains low, the department said, adding that the government is continuing to monitor the situation closely. Story continues But England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said there was a "fair chance" cases would emerge in Britain. Police disperse Hong Kong protestors during unrest at the spread of the coronavirus (Picture: Getty) One medical expert said it is likely the coronavirus will be confirmed in the UK in the next few weeks. Britons trapped in the Chinese province at the centre of the outbreak have been urged to leave the area if they are able to do so. The Foreign Office updated its guidance to "advise against all travel to Hubei province", which has been on lockdown for several days as China seeks to contain the illness. But the guidance also added: "If you are in this area and able to leave, you should do so. This is due to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak." Chinese president Xi Jinping called the outbreak a grave situation and said the government was stepping up efforts to restrict travel and public gatherings. A medical official takes the temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, China. (Reuters) The spread of the coronavirus has come at China's busiest travel period of the year, when millions crisscross the country or head abroad for the Lunar New Year holiday. Chinese travel agencies have been told to halt all group tours, and concern is growing over the potential impact of millions of people travelling back to the cities after the Lunar New Year holiday ends on Thursday. The National Health Commission said anyone travelling from Wuhan is now required to register with community health stations and quarantine themselves at home for 14 days the virus's maximum incubation period. China cut off trains, planes and other links to the city on 22 January and has steadily expanded the lockdown to 16 surrounding cities with a combined population of more than 50m. Wuhan is building two makeshift hospitals with about 1,000 beds each to handle patients. VANCOUVERThe British Columbia government has appointed former New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen as a provincial liaison with Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs in an LNG pipeline dispute, a move welcomed by spokesmen for both the chiefs and the company. Cullen represented Skeena-Bulkley Valley, a sprawling part of northern British Columbia that includes the Wetsuweten traditional territory, until last year when he decided not to seek re-election. The premiers office said Monday that Cullen will work with Wetsuweten leaders, the RCMP, Coastal GasLink, the provincial public sector and other parties. Cullen will focus on de-escalating the conflict surrounding a court-ordered injunction regarding the companys access to a forest service road outside of Houston. Im pleased all parties have agreed to the appointment of a liaison, Premier John Horgan said in a statement. Nathan has agreed to act as an intermediary in the hopes of finding a solution to this challenging dispute. The premiers office said Cullen would not be available for an interview. Coastal GasLink has signed agreements with 20 elected First Nations along the pipelines 670-kilometre route from northeastern B.C. to an export terminal in Kitimat but the hereditary clan chiefs say it has no authority without their consent. Work on the project has been halted for about a month, since the court granted the injunction and the chiefs countered with an eviction notice to the company. Supporters of the chiefs have since built a new encampment along the road toward the work site and felled trees along the road. The RCMP have said patrol officers found stacked tires with jugs of accelerant and rags soaked in fuel nearby. Namoks, who is one of the five hereditary clan chiefs, said in an interview that Cullen is well informed and represented the community well in Parliament for 14 years. There is a level of trust that currently we dont share with many current elected officials or former, said Namoks, who also goes by John Ridsdale. It gives me more confidence than the premier of the province. Horgan has said that the rule of law must be respected and that the project will be built, but has not met with the hereditary clan chiefs since this years impasse began. Horgan offered to have a phone conversation and sent Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser for a meeting. But Namoks said the chiefs were in a conflicting meeting at the time of Frasers visit, and they prefer face-to-face meetings with fellow decision-makers. The Wetsuweten are a peaceful people but theres no scenario where a resolution will also involve a pipeline through their territory, he said. Coastal GasLink president David Pfeiffer said hes pleased with Cullens appointment and remains hopeful the chiefs will meet with the company. The dispute has not yet affected the projects schedule and it remains on track for service in 2023, he said. He declined to say exactly when the impasse would begin affecting the schedule. We know that time is getting short according to our schedule and we will start seeing impacts at some point, he said. Before the eviction notice was issued, the company was in the process of dismantling a temporary work camp in the disputed area and building a larger one that would allow major construction to begin this summer. About 500 workers were expected to work in the area over the next 18 months or so, he said. Small local route changes are possible, like a 40-kilometre or so diversion already approved south of Houston, he said. But a major reroute at this stage is not possible, Pfeiffer said, because the regulatory work required would have a major scheduling impact. The challenging terrain created by the Coast Mountains means the planned route would have the lowest environmental impacts based on river crossings and other considerations, he added. Every pipeline thats come along has looked through there because that is the area that is most technically viable, Pfeiffer said. The companys focus is on reaching a peaceful resolution and avoiding enforcement of the injunction by the RCMP. If the chiefs consent to a meeting, Pfeiffer said the company would like to discuss possible benefits for the Wetsuweten members they represent, he said. Read more about: CHICAGO (dpa-AFX) - Boeing (BA)and Embraer (ERJ) said that they received unconditional approval from Brazil for their strategic partnership. The companies noted that the partnership has now received unconditional clearance from every regulatory jurisdiction with the exception of the European Commission, which continues to assess the deal. Unconditional clearance has now been granted in Brazil, United States, China, Japan, South Africa, Montenegro, Colombia, and Kenya. The planned strategic partnership comprises two joint ventures. One joint venture made up of the commercial aircraft and services operations of Embraer (Boeing Brasil - Commercial) in which Boeing will own 80 percent and Embraer will hold 20 percent. The another joint venture will promote and develop markets for the multi-mission medium airlift C-390 Millennium (Boeing Embraer - Defense) in which Embraer will own a 51 percent stake and Boeing will own the remaining 49 percent. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Centre to introduce the African cheetah to a suitable habitat in India, including Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh, almost 10 years after the plan was envisaged by then environment minister Jairam Ramesh and put on hold by the apex court. The court was hearing an application filed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) seeking permission for the introduction of the African cheetah from Namibia as the court is monitoring the governments ambitious project. The apex court had set up a three-member committee, comprising of former director of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Ranjit Sinh, a retired Indian Forest Service officer, and having officials from the environment ministry to guide the NTCA in taking a decision on the issue. A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant said the apex court will monitor the project and the committee will submit its report before it every four months. The top court also said the decision for relocation of the African cheetah will be taken after a proper survey and the action of introduction of the animal will be left to the NTCAs discretion. The cheetah will be introduced on an experimental basis in the best suitable habitat to see whether it can adapt to Indian conditions, the court said. Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who envisaged the programme, welcomed the decision. It is a momentous occasion, he said, which has taken 10 years. Ramesh said cheetah is the only mammal hunted to extinction in India in modern times and during his tenure a lot of work was done to make their introduction in wild feasible. Indian Forest Service officer, Parveen Kaswan, said that the last cheetah sighted in India was in 1952. In 2010, the central government set up an expert panel for reintroducing the cheetah in India. This panel recommended that the home of the fastest animal in the world could be Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh, Velavadar National Park in Gujarat and Tal Chapar sanctuary in Rajasthan. Kuno Palpur was also the place prepared by Madhya Pradesh to house Asiatic lions from Gujarat, till the latter refused to share its pride. Kuno Palpur was the preferred location for introduction of cheetah. Wildlife activists had, however, claimed that none of these habitats were big enough to host cheetahs. Serengeti National Park in Tanzania has an area of 14,750 square kilometres brimming with prey base, while the Kruger National Park in South Africa is spread across 19,485 sq km, said a report submitted to the Supreme Court in 2018. Compared to them, the proposed Indian wildlife habitats do not have an area of more than 1,000 sq km, and with much less prey base than the African homes of cheetahs; the cats need an antelope every third day to survive, the report by a wildlife expert appointed by the court said. The report also dismissed claims made by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) that cheetahs could coexist with humans, survive on a low prey base and do not need vast grasslands. WII selected Kuno for reintroduction of the animal. The report also said that the cheetahs reintroduction was not examined by the national board for wildlife in detail as claimed by the government. It added that the National Wildlife Action Plan (2017-2031) is also silent on it. Delhi-based biologist Fayaz Khudsar, who had filed a petition in the SC against the NTCAs cheetah project, said the plan hasnt been thought through and claimed it is being pushed to fulfill the dream of a former Indian Forest Service officer. We cannot translocate lions from Gir, who are dying because of canine distemper virus. But, we want cheetahs with which we have no experience, Ravi Chellam, a Bangalore-based ecologist, had told HT earlier. However, the SC order on Tuesday has revived the hope for cheetah re-introduction in India with Sinh, who had floated the idea to Ramesh, said he was confident that cheetahs from Africa can survive. I will provide my best to ensure that cheetahs return to India, he said, refusing to comment further saying he wants to study the SC order first. Cheetahs roamed Indias grasslands till the 1950s when they were hunted to extinction from the country. Iran has a sub-species of the Asiatic cheetah but has refused to share them with India, forcing the government to look for African ones. The Asian and the African species separated between 30,000 and 60,000 years ago. (With PTI Inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China's first dedicated coronavirus hospital has opened in a city near Wuhan after workers and volunteers spent just two days converting an empty building to a 1,000-bed emergency facility. The first batch of coronavirus patients were transferred to the Dabie Mountain Regional Medical Centre in Huanggang at around 10:30pm local time on Tuesday. The extra capacity will be crucial for overwhelmed medical staff in Hubei, the locked-down province at the centre of the crisis. Another hospital is being purpose-built from scratch in Wuhan 47 miles (75km) away and is expected to be completed later this week after just a week of construction. More than 6,000 people around the world are now confirmed to have been infected with the Wuhan coronavirus and 132 have died in China. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become the latest country to declare cases an unknown number among a family travelling from China and Germany has now diagnosed four people with the infection. Germany also yesterday revealed it had hosted the first human-to-human transmission in Europe, between a German man and a woman travelling from China. The latest developments in the Wuhan coronavirus crisis include: Germany has declared a further three infections, bringing its total to four Australia has confirmed its sixth and seventh cases, with two in Victoria state British Airways has cancelled all flights between London and China The UK Foreign Office advises against all but necessary travel to China US and Japan officials have airlifted citizens out of the crisis-hit Hubei province Infections in the UAE mark the first time the virus has spread to the Middle East Scientists yesterday said Bangkok is the non-Chinese city most at risk of the virus The Dabie Mountain Regional Medical Centre is the first dedicated coronavirus hospital to have opened in China. Workers and volunteers spent two days revamping an empty building By Monday, all of the beds had been set up by volunteers, and water, electricity and internet had also been connected, according to the government of Huanggang A handout image from the Huanggang government shows workers from the city's electricity company working to connect the building to the grid so it can treat coronavirus patients A picture released by the Huanggang government shows construction workers installing necessary facilities on the site of Dabie Mountain Regional Medical Centre on January 25 The infection has spread to at least 18 countries or territories outside of China, including the US, Canada, France and Germany A pilot wearing a protective suit parks a cargo plane at Wuhan's Tianhe International Airport on Tuesday Medical workers are pictured treating a severely-ill coronavirus patient with pneumonia in Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak WUHAN CORONAVIRUS: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR What is this virus? The virus has been identified as a new type of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of pathogens, most of which cause mild lung infections such as the common cold. But coronaviruses can also be deadly. SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is caused by a coronavirus and killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in the early 2000s. Can the Wuhan coronavirus kill? Yes 170 people have so far died after testing positive for the virus. What are the symptoms? Some people who catch the Wuhan coronavirus may not have any symptoms at all, or only very mild ones like a sore throat or a headache. Others may suffer from a fever, cough or trouble breathing. And a small proportion of patients will go on to develop severe infection which can damage the lungs or cause pneumonia, a life-threatening condition which causes swelling and fluid build-up in the lungs. How is it detected? The virus's genetic sequencing was released by scientists in China and countries around the world have used this to create lab tests, which must be carried out to confirm an infection. Delays to these tests, to test results and to people getting to hospitals in China, mean the number of confirmed cases is expected to be just a fraction of the true scale of the outbreak. How did it start and spread? The first cases identified were among people connected to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan. Cases have since been identified around China and are known to have spread from person to person. What are countries doing to prevent the spread? Countries in Asia have stepped up airport surveillance. They include Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. Australia and the US are also screening patients for a high temperature, and the UK announced it will screen passengers returning from Wuhan. Is it similar to anything we've ever seen before? Experts have compared it to the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The epidemic started in southern China and killed more than 700 people in mainland China, Hong Kong and elsewhere. SCROLL DOWN TO SEE MAILONLINE'S FULL Q&A ON THE CORONAVIRUS Advertisement The hospital building in the city's Huangzhou District was originally built as a new branch of Huanggang Central Hospital and expected to open in May. But on Friday, the local authority ordered the complete but empty building to be used for treating coronavirus patients only and began preparations on Saturday. By Monday, all of the beds had been set up by volunteers and water, electricity and internet had also been installed, according to the government of Huanggang. More than 500 workers and a dozen heavy vehicles worked two days and nights in order to complete the task on time. Situated 47 miles (75 km) south-west of Wuhan, Huanggang has a population of around 7.5million and is one of the cities hit hardest by coronavirus. It went into lockdown last Thursday, the same day as Wuhan, and has seen at least 213 confirmed cases and four deaths. Much of the Hubei province, which contains both of the cities, now has no public transport and limited road traffic. Anyone from the province who does manage to leave is likely to be turned away or quarantined at their destination many, such as Hong Kong, are banning visitors from Wuhan, while the UK has told anyone travelling out of the area to isolate themselves at home. Governments around the world are taking drastic measures as fears of international spread continue to grow. Yesterday it was revealed that patients in Germany, Japan and Vietnam had all contracted the coronavirus without even travelling to China. This added a new dimension to the outbreak's danger because the third-hand spread catching it from someone else who had been to China had not been proven. The development means everyone who has been in contact with someone who has travelled to China's Hubei province could be at risk, rather than just the travellers themselves. If the person-to-person spread continues this could extend to people who only met the person who met the traveller, and so on, widening the web of potential infection. The first German patient, a man who caught the coronavirus from a woman who travelled from Shanghai after visiting relatives from Wuhan, was last night confirmed to have infected a further three people, bringing Germany's total to four. They became ill in spite of a third-degree separation from Wuhan. The Chinese woman had not even known she was ill until she was on the flight home. Australia has today confirmed its sixth case in a 44-year-old Chinese woman from the city of Wuhan. She is stable and in isolation at Gold Coast University Hospital. The project was complete within 48 hours thanks to the joint effort of staff from construction firms, utility companies and paramilitary police officers, the authority of Huanggang said Passengers arriving from China at Incheon Airport in South Korea are all seen wearing face masks as they have their temperatures checked at a quarantine gate All of the coronavirus hospitals are modelled on a temporary medical centre, which was built in Beijing in seven days to tackle SARS in 2003 and treated one-seventh of the country's SARS patient in the space of two months. In the picture above, dozens of diggers work to build the six-acre coronavirus hospital in the Caidian District in the western suburb of Wuhan, China WHERE HAS THE WUHAN CORONAVIRUS SPREAD TO? The vast majority of confirmed infections of the Wuhan coronavirus (4,515 out of 4,585, as at 11.40am GMT on January 28) have been diagnosed in China. But 17 countries or territories outside of the mainland have also declared infections: Germany: One case confirmed, diagnosed January 27 Sri Lanka: One case, diagnosed January 27 Cambodia: One case, diagnosed January 27 Canada: Two cases confirmed, first case January 25 Australia: Seven cases, first case January 25 Malaysia: Four cases, first case January 25 France: Three cases, first case January 24 Nepal: One case, first case January 24 Vietnam: Two cases, first case January 24 Singapore: Five cases, first case January 23 Macau: Five cases, first case January 22 Hong Kong: Eight cases, first case January 22 Taiwan: Eight cases, first case January 21 USA: Five cases, first case January 20 South Korea: Four cases, first case January 20 Japan: Five cases, first case January 16 Thailand: 14 cases, first case January 13 Advertisement The number of people confirmed to have been infected with the Wuhan coronavirus has skyrocketed over the past week. It was just 308 confirmed cases on six deaths on January 21, but has now, by January 29, risen to a total of 6,059 cases and 132 deaths. Experts caution this doesn't necessarily mean the spread of the disease is speeding up, but that medical workers are catching up with a backlog of cases or more people are visiting doctors. Hospitals in Wuhan, a city home to 11million people, have been overwhelmed with thousands of patients since the outbreak began in early January. Although the Huanggang's 'coronavirus hospital' was the first to open, it was not the first to be planned. The government in Wuhan announced last Thursday that they would build a coronavirus hospital in a week. There are at least four such facilities reportedly being completed across the country. All of them are modelled on a temporary medical centre in Beijing in 2003, which was built in seven days to tackle SARS and treated one-seventh of the country's SARS patient in the space of two months. The authority of Wuhan is building two special facilities to treat a total of 2,300 coronavirus patients. Incredible time-lapse footage captured the city's first coronavirus hospital, Huoshenshan or Fire God Mountain Hospital, starting to take shape after just four days of construction. The emergency facility is situated in the western suburbs of Wuhan. The authorities have instructed four construction companies to toil through the Chinese New Year public holiday in order to complete the six-acre, 1,000-bed medical centre in Wuhan's Caidian District in a week. It is expected to receive its first patients on February 3, according to state media. The second hospital in Wuhan, named the Leishanshan or Thunder God Mountain Hospital, will be in Jiangxia District, a suburban area to the south of the city centre. Construction started on Saturday and the hospital is set to have two buildings containing a total of 1,500 beds, according to Xinhua News Agency. Around 2,000 medical workers are expected to treat patients in the special 7.4-acre centre, it is reported. Another hospital is being built in Zhenzhou in central China's Henan Province, which borders Hubei. The man pictured has pneumonia caused by the Wuhan coronavirus. Most people recover from the illness without any serious complications or potentially without even knowing, but some are developing pneumonia, which can be deadly Production workers at Jiangsu Shuoshi Biotechnology in Taizhou City are pictured working on a coronavirus testing kit British Airways today announced it would stop all flights from London to Beijing and Shanghai because the UK Government has advised people against travelling to China at all People at a shopping mall in Bangkok are screened to try and spot anyone with a fever. Research yesterday revealed Bangkok is the city most at risk of coronavirus outside of China because of the number of travellers who go there A subway worker in Incheon, South Korea, disinfects a carriage. More than half a million people in South Korea have reportedly signed a petition to keep people travelling from China out of the country Everything we know we know about the deadly coronavirus in China: But how worried should we be? Someone who is infected with the Wuhan coronavirus can spread it with just a simple cough or a sneeze, scientists say. At least 132 people with the virus are now confirmed to have died and more than 6,000 have been infected in at least 18 countries and regions. But experts predict the true number of people with the disease could be 100,000, or even as high as 350,000 in Wuhan alone, as they warn it may kill as many as two in 100 cases. Here's what we know so far: What is the Wuhan coronavirus? A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people. Viruses break into cells inside their host and use them to reproduce itself and disrupt the body's normal functions. Coronaviruses are named after the Latin word 'corona', which means crown, because they are encased by a spiked shell which resembles a royal crown. The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It is currently named 2019-nCoV, and does not have a more detailed name because so little is known about it. BANGKOK IS THE NON-CHINESE CITY 'MOST AT RISK OF THE VIRUS' Bangkok faces the greatest threat of the killer coronavirus spreading there from China, scientists have warned. Academics at the University of Southampton used travel data to work out which cities around the world are most likely to see cases in the future. In a paper published yesterday they considered mobile phone records, mobile internet IP addresses and flight records. By doing this they could work out how many people travelled somewhere from the affected region the Hubei province and therefore calculate how likely it was that the infection would spread. The analysis was based on data from previous years, and did not take into account the effect of the coronavirus outbreak or the travel restrictions in Hubei province implemented on January 23. Los Angeles and New York placed in the top 20 and London is more at risk than any other city in Europe, researchers warned. Paris was 27th on the list and Frankfurt was 30th, despite cases having been confirmed in France and Germany already. The top 20 were: Bangkok Hong Kong Taipei Seoul Tokyo Singapore Phuket Osaka Kuala Lumpur Macau Denpasar Bali Sydney Chiang Mai Melbourne Los Angeles New York Dubai Nha Trang, Vietnam London Ho Chi Minh City Advertisement Dr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals. 'Until this new coronavirus was identified, there were only six different coronaviruses known to infect humans. Four of these cause a mild common cold-type illness, but since 2002 there has been the emergence of two new coronaviruses that can infect humans and result in more severe disease (Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses). 'Coronaviruses are known to be able to occasionally jump from one species to another and that is what happened in the case of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus. The animal origin of the new coronavirus is not yet known.' The first human cases were publicly reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where approximately 11million people live, after medics first started seeing infections on December 31. By January 8, 59 suspected cases had been reported and seven people were in critical condition. Tests were developed for the new virus and recorded cases started to surge. The first person died that week and, by January 16, two were dead and 41 cases were confirmed. The next day, scientists predicted that 1,700 people had become infected, possibly up to 4,500. Just a week after that, there had been more than 800 confirmed cases and those same scientists estimated that some 4,000 possibly 9,700 were infected in Wuhan alone. By that point, 26 people had died. By January 27, more than 2,800 people were confirmed to have been infected, 81 had died, and estimates of the total number of cases ranged from 100,000 to 350,000 in Wuhan alone. By January 29, the number of deaths had risen to 132 and cases were in excess of 6,000. Where does the virus come from? Nobody knows for sure. Coronaviruses in general tend to originate in animals the similar SARS and MERS viruses are believed to have originated in civet cats and camels, respectively. The first cases of the virus in Wuhan came from people visiting or working in a live animal market in the city, which has since been closed down for investigation. Although the market is officially a seafood market, other dead and living animals were being sold there, including wolf cubs, salamanders, snakes, peacocks, porcupines and camel meat. Bats are a prime suspect researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said in a recent statement: 'The Wuhan coronavirus' natural host could be bats but between bats and humans there may be an unknown intermediate.' And another scientific journal article has suggested the virus first infected snakes, which may then have transmitted it to people at the market in Wuhan. Experts say the difficulty of containing the coronavirus is that so many patients have mild, cold-like symptoms and don't realise they have the infection but it can quickly turn deadly Peking University researchers analysed the genes of the coronavirus and said they most closely matched viruses which are known to affect snakes. They said: 'Results derived from our evolutionary analysis suggest for the first time that snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir for the 2019-nCoV,' in the Journal of Medical Virology. So far the fatalities are quite low. Why are health experts so worried about it? Experts say the international community is concerned about the virus because so little is known about it and it appears to be spreading quickly. It is similar to SARS, which infected 8,000 people and killed nearly 800 in an outbreak in Asia in 2003, in that it is a type of coronavirus which infects humans' lungs. Another reason for concern is that nobody has any immunity to the virus because they've never encountered it before. This means it may be able to cause more damage than viruses we come across often, like the flu or common cold. Speaking at a briefing in January, Oxford University professor, Dr Peter Horby, said: 'Novel viruses can spread much faster through the population than viruses which circulate all the time because we have no immunity to them. 'Most seasonal flu viruses have a case fatality rate of less than one in 1,000 people. Here we're talking about a virus where we don't understand fully the severity spectrum but it's possible the case fatality rate could be as high as two per cent.' If the death rate is truly two per cent, that means two out of every 100 patients who get it will die. 'My feeling is it's lower,' Dr Horby added. 'We're probably missing this iceberg of milder cases. But that's the current circumstance we're in. 'Two per cent case fatality rate is comparable to the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 so it is a significant concern globally.' How does the virus spread? The illness can spread between people just through coughs and sneezes, making it an extremely contagious infection. And it may also spread even before someone has symptoms. It is believed to travel in the saliva and even through water in the eyes, therefore close contact, kissing, and sharing cutlery or utensils are all risky. Originally, people were thought to be catching it from a live animal market in Wuhan city. But cases soon began to emerge in people who had never been there, which forced medics to realise it was spreading from person to person. There is now evidence that it can spread third hand to someone from a person who caught it from another person. What does the virus do to you? What are the symptoms? Once someone has caught the virus it may take between two and 14 days for them to show any symptoms but they may still be contagious during this time. If and when they do become ill, typical signs include a runny nose, a cough, sore throat and a fever (high temperature). The vast majority of patients at least 97 per cent, based on available data will recover from these without any issues or medical help. In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people. What have genetic tests revealed about the virus? Scientists in China have recorded the genetic sequences of around 19 strains of the virus and released them to experts working around the world. This allows others to study them, develop tests and potentially look into treating the illness they cause. Examinations have revealed the coronavirus did not change much changing is known as mutating much during the early stages of its spread. However, the director-general of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, yesterday said the virus was mutating and adapting as it spread through people. This means efforts to study the virus and to potentially control it may be made extra difficult because the virus might look different every time scientists analyse it. More study may be able to reveal whether the virus first infected a small number of people then change and spread from them, or whether there were various versions of the virus coming from animals which have developed separately. How dangerous is the virus? The virus has so far killed 132 people out of a total of at least 6,000 officially confirmed cases a death rate of around two per cent. This is a similar death rate to the Spanish Flu outbreak which, in 1918, went on to kill around 50million people. However, experts say the true number of patients is likely considerably higher and therefore the death rate considerably lower. Imperial College London researchers estimate that there were 4,000 (up to 9,700) cases in Wuhan city alone up to January 18 officially there were only 444 there to date. If cases are in fact 100 times more common than the official figures, the virus may be far less dangerous than currently believed. Experts say it is likely only the most seriously ill patients are seeking help and are therefore recorded the vast majority will have only mild, cold-like symptoms. For those whose conditions do become more severe, there is a risk of developing pneumonia which can destroy the lungs and kill you. Can the virus be cured? The Wuhan coronavirus cannot currently be cured and it is proving difficult to contain. Antibiotics do not work against viruses, so they are out of the question. Antiviral drugs can, but the process of understanding a virus then developing and producing drugs to treat it would take years and huge amounts of money. No vaccine exists for the coronavirus yet and it's not likely one will be developed in time to be of any use in this outbreak, for similar reasons to the above. The National Institutes of Health in the US, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, say they are working on a vaccine based on what they know about coronaviruses in general, using information from the SARS outbreak. But this may take a year or more to develop, according to Pharmaceutical Technology. Currently, governments and health authorities are working to contain the virus and to care for patients who are sick and stop them infecting other people. People who catch the illness are being quarantined in hospitals, where their symptoms can be treated and they will be away from the uninfected public. And airports around the world are putting in place screening measures such as having doctors on-site, taking people's temperatures to check for fevers and using thermal screening to spot those who might be ill (infection causes a raised temperature). However, it can take weeks for symptoms to appear, so there is only a small likelihood that patients will be spotted up in an airport. Is this outbreak an epidemic or a pandemic? The outbreak has not officially been confirmed as either an epidemic or a pandemic yet. This is likely because, despite the global concern, the number of people who have been confirmed to be infected is still relatively low. A pandemic is defined by the World Health Organization as the 'worldwide spread of a new disease'. An epidemic is when a disease takes hold of a smaller community, such as a single country, region or continent. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said ssues related to pending forest clearances and banking facility in close vicinity of villages, particularly in Naxal-affected areas, will be resolved. He was speaking at the Central Zonal Councils meeting here today, officials said. The meeting was attended by Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. "The Union Home Minister exhorted the members (of the council) to resolve the issues relating to forest clearance and provide brick-and-mortar banking facility within 5-km radius in each village, particularly in Naxal areas," a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release said. If a particular town had more banks than needed, these may be shifted to deficient areas, he asserted. He called upon the states to adhere to the timeline of two months for completion of heinous offences under POSCO Act. In the meeting, Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat sought financial assistance from the Centre for development of 'char dhams' (Hindu pilgrimage centres), organising Kumbh Mela and modernisation of police forces, the release said. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath spoke about various initiatives taken by his government, including construction of 30 lakh houses under PM Awas Yoyana, 2.5 lakh toilets and giving 1.20 lakh electricity connections under Saubhagya. MP CM Kamal Nath discussed about the peculiar nature of his state having largest tribal area and requested that it not be compared with other states, it said. Nath sought more Central assistance for the crops destroyed due to excess rains, it added. The council first deliberated upon unconditional acceptance of procured coarse grainunder Price Support Scheme (PSS), revision of 'state cap' fixed for implementation of NSAP (Pension) Scheme, holding inter state coordination meeting to take prompt action against criminals, amendment in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) guidelines, amendment in section 78 of Information Technology Act, and declaration ofScheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The meeting had in depth scrutiny of issues relating to Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, particularly in Maoist affected areas, the statement added. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the Union Home minister assured to take necessary steps on issues raised. In the meeting, Shah gave consent for development of Raipur Airport as an international airport and also assured of discussing with the civil aviation ministry a proposal to start flights from Bilaspur, Baghel said. "I urged that a special package of Rs 11,443.76 crore, pending with the Union government, be approved as soon as possible for development of aspirational districts and Naxal affected areas. The home minister assured of all help in this," the Chhattisgarh CM said. "We have also demanded that investigation of Jhiram Ghati incident (wherein senior Congress leaders were killed in Naxal attack in 2013) should be given back to the state because justice was not given to us," Baghel said. NIA probed the case but overlooked several key points, he added. The issue of nearly one lakh tribal people, who have migrated from Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh to Telangana and were unable to avail benefits of caste certificates, was also raised in the meeting, he added. Baghel said he also requested the union minister to include Chhattisgarh in the group comprising Jharkhand, Odisha and Maharashtra for better development here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Every day, a small army of women and men rise to help meet the needs of Californians experiencing homelessness. These are people who work at California's hospitals: social workers, case managers, nurses, doctors and others. They are the frontline caregivers who dedicate themselves to tend to those in greatest need those individuals who don't know where they will sleep or when their next meal will be. The compassionate care that these health care professionals provide to the most vulnerable among us is highlighted in a new digital series "Homeless Guardians" now available online at www.HomelessGuardians.com. The series is a special project of the California Hospital Association and Our Health California, a community of more than 1 million Californians dedicated to advancing access to quality, affordable care for all Californians. The first two chapters of the series highlighting the work of social workers Brynn Jones at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento and Tonya Zelaya at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego is now available online. Two additional chapters, featuring caregivers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, will come online within the next few weeks. In simplest terms, Jones' job is to help people with needs beyond the injuries that can be mended in the hospital's emergency department. Things like helping the homeless access basic mental health counseling, connections to short-term homeless shelters, and often, just a sandwich or a pair of clean underwear. While these seemingly small gestures may be minuscule in the face of a crisis affecting some 134,000 people across the state an estimated 25% of the nation's total homeless population to Jones success means that those she has cared for have found secure footing and are healthy. "Homelessness is like a glass of milk on the table that keeps spilling over," Jones says, "I'm over here on the floor wiping up the milk, but the glass keeps overflowing so I have to keep wiping." Zelaya, an immigrant from Guyana and the daughter of two nurses, says her job is to inject reality into the conversation about how patients will tend to their needs after they've been treated at the hospital. Part of Zelaya's reality check-list is to determine whether temporary shelters will allow devices for breathing treatments, or where homeless individuals can go for follow-up care and stable access to nutritious food. Zelaya knows that if these questions aren't adequately answered before a homeless person is discharged, there's a good chance they will end up right back in the hospital. "Each patient is unique because of their unique circumstances," Zelaya says. "Our focus is on ensuring they can stabilize and recover after they leave the hospital." Jones and Zelaya are just two of the thousands of caring and compassionate health care professionals across California who work tirelessly day in and day out helping to protect vulnerable and disenfranchised people experiencing homelessness. They are the "Homeless Guardians" of the Golden State. SOURCE California Hospital Association The first plane to repatriate French nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus broke out, will likely bring them back to Paris on Thursday, junior transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebarri said, Trend with reference to Reuters reports. There will be a first repatriation flight that will leave Paris tomorrow and most likely come back Thursday with people ... who have no symptoms, Djebarri told French television channel CNews. These people will be put under quarantine. And then there will be a second flight, at a yet undefined date, with people showing symptoms, thus possible virus carriers, who will be cared for in Paris, he added. The Jan. 24 demonstrations against US forces where Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his followers to pull out of anti-government protests likely received an assist from Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba. The movement has been seeking to bridge gaps between a variety of rival Shiite movements following the assassinations of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), and Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba has been gaining greater prominence in part because of the appearances of its general secretary, Akram al-Kaabi, with Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani's successor. In the first week of January, a photo was circulated of Kaabi with Ghaani; this was one of the first of an Iraqi leader from the Iran-led "axis-of-resistance" with Ghaani and reflected Kaabis continued commitment to the Quds Force. Kaabi was also pictured with Soleimani several times in recent years. A year ago, the group, Kaabi and Al-Nujaba TV were named specially designated terrorists by the United States. After Muhandis and Soleimani were killed, Kaabi was pictured with Sadr at a high-ranking meeting held in Kaabis office in the Iranian city of Qom. Al-Monitor learned from a source close to the Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba office that other Iraqi militant figures such as the general secretary of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Abu Ala al-Walai, also attended. At the meeting, Walai who is under consideration to be sanctioned under the US Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act also represented other factions, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, Kataib al-Imam Ali and Kataib Jund al-Imam. The deputy general secretary of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Laith al-Khazali, attended the meeting on behalf of its general secretary, Qais al-Khazali (this month, the Khazalis were also named specially designated terrorists). The meeting included other pivotal figures such as Hadi al-Amiri, the general secretary of the Badr Organization, and representatives from Kataib Hezbollah. This high-ranking meeting aimed to create a united front against the presence of the United States in Iraq. Nasr al-Shammari, the assistant general secretary and spokesperson for Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, announced the meeting 24 hours ahead of time, according to Lebanese Hezbollahs Al-Manar Channel. Informed sources close to the PMU told Al-Monitor that the Qom meeting yielded positive results in terms of agreements and creating a state of consensus between factional leaders and representatives of resistance factions. The increased visibility of Kaabi, whether with Ghaani or in proximity to Sadr in the meeting mentioned above, is believed to reflect a special role for Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba in facilitating the reorganization of Iraqi factions of the Iran-led axis of resistance in the post-Soleimani/Muhandis era. With both leaders gone, there is a need for the facilitation of talks and mediation channels to resolve routine differences and disputes between resistance factions and it is believed that Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba has become a channel for this. Sadr has often been on the opposite side of pro-Iran groups. A senior adviser in a news outlet associated with the resistance axis told Al-Monitor that while Muhandis' Kataib Hezbollah militia had been a key facilitator between Iraqi factions, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba has been "assuming this role lately." However, Kataib Hezbollah was still described as the central nervous system of" Quds Force influence in Iraq. Playing the role of an inter-factional facilitator and mediator in the case of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba rests upon a number of comparative advantages that the entity and Kaabi have over other existing factions. First, the faction is uninvolved in politics and refuses to get involved in it; it said it separated from Asaib Ahl al-Haq because that organization got involved in party politics. Still, Shammari told Al-Monitor last year that Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba believes that resistance factions involved in party politics can serve the group's interests. Second, the role of facilitator and mediator is helped by the structural position of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba as a mid-sized entity that has a potent militant force but not a dominant one that makes it a competitor to mega militant groupings in the PMUs such as that of Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organization. Third, Kaabi belongs to an influential tribe in southern Iraq that extends into neighboring countries, including Iran, a feature that bolsters his credentials in the Iraqi inter-factional horizon. Fourth, as Kaabi was a student of Sadr's father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, and was a former commander in the Sadrist militia Jaysh al-Mahdi, he has network of contacts that includes both Sadr's movement and the axis of resistance factions. Fifth, Kaabi enjoys strong and direct ties with the Islamic Republic of Irans higher echelon, as exemplified by his recent appearances with Ghaani and previous ones with Soleimani. This month, Shammari spoke with Al-Monitor about the entitys vision for itself in the post-Soleimani/Muhandis era. Shammari said, His eminence Sheikh al-Kaabi and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba do not seek to lead other factions, but rather we aspire to a facilitating role in bridging gaps and unifying the factions efforts to counter the arrogance of the American administration and its occupying forces. Shammari added, Maybe what intercedes for us in playing this role is the substantial acceptability of his eminence Sheikh al-Kaabi and refraining personally and organizationally from political polarization and party politics, and apparently he is realizing satisfying successes in this realm, which is not the first move to unify efforts. This [effort] would not have succeeded without the generous attitude of Sayyed al-Sadr and the mujahid brothers among the leaders of Iraqi resistance factions. Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba appears well-suited to its role as a facilitor because of its strong connections with both the Sadr movement and the resistance factions and Kaabi's ability to convey messages between the two sides. Shammari said, Relations between Iraqi factions are positive overall; they do not need a mediator so much as they need coordination. Perhaps pertaining to his eminence Sayyed al-Sadr, continued communication is needed. The rising leverage of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba could be accompanied by an expanded military role for it in Iraq and beyond, such as in Syria. The 12th brigade in the PMU belonged to Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, but was disconnected from the movement and handed over to the PMU after Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdis executive order in July to integrate the PMU into the Iraqi armed forces, Shammari told Al-Monitor in September. In Syria, the movement has a presence through its Liwa Ammar bin Yasir Brigade. According to an interview with a Syrian fighter in the brigade conducted by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi that was published in October, the brigade has been engaged in Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Idlib, Daraa and the Syrian capital, Damascus. However, a senior adviser in a news outlet associated with the resistance axis told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba's role as a facilitator between Shiite factions has no relation to the group's military role in Iraq or beyond. In the aftermath of Muhandis' assassination, a continued role for Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba as a facilitation channel between resistance factions will be contingent first on whether a charismatic successor emerges to replace Muhandis in the PMU and in leading resistance factions. Second, the state of relations between Sadr and his Saraya al-Salam militia and resistance factions will determine the need for Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba to facilitate talks between both sides, with Tehrans blessing. BJP leader Shakeel Anjum Dehlvi moved a Delhi court Tuesday seeking action against AAP leader Shoaib Iqbal for allegedly cheating voters in his constituency by giving false information on "pending trial" in his nomination papers. Metropolitan Magistrate Prigya Gupta will hear the matter on February 19. Iqbal is contesting the upcoming legislative assembly elections from central Delhi's Matia Mahal constituency. The plea alleged that Iqbal, former Congress MLA and ex-deputy speaker of Delhi Vidhan Sabha, had concealed information about the six criminal cases against him, which are pending, in his nomination form filed for the elections. The petition, filed through advocate Neeraj Kumar, claimed that Iqbal had "illegally" and "malafidely" concealed the information of the pending FIR against him with the intention of "creating undue advantage and making wrongful inducement of the voters of his constituency encouraging corrupt practices". "The accused (Iqbal) had prior knowledge of the FIRs, and even after specific knowledge, he intentionally did not disclose it in his nomination form with intention of creating undue advantage and making wrongful inducement of the voters of his constituency encouraging corrupt practices. "The case at Jamia Masjid Police Station is "pending trial" but the accused has given its status as "pending investigation" in his nomination papers, thus giving false information... He intentionally omitted to give full information of pending criminal cases," it alleged. The plea sought cognisance of the offence committed under section 199 (false statement made in declaration which is by law receivable as evidence), 200 (using as true such declaration knowing it to be false), 202 (intentional omission to give information of offence by person bound to inform), 203 (giving false information respecting an offence committed), 171 G (false statement in connection with an election), 181 (false statement on oath) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant provisions of the Representation of People Act. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The states largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy group has revoked its endorsement of an East Bay lawmaker for his opposition to a bill that would have banned operations to change the genitalia of young intersex children. Equality California, which sponsored the bill, pulled its endorsement of state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, on Tuesday, after the measure died in his committee this month. Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California, said he hoped the decision would send a message to all legislators and candidates that the LGBT community is not to be taken for granted. Our support is not unconditional, Zbur said. Its not enough to vote for the things that are easy. Glazer said he supported stopping doctors from assigning a sex to children with ambiguous genitalia, but felt the bill went beyond that goal. He said he had a 100% record of supporting LGBTQ issues for the past four years and that Equality California had chosen to focus on their difference. I will continue to fight for equal rights for persons of all sexual orientations, Glazer said. Intersex people are born with a sex anatomy that doesnt fit the typical definition of male or female. The Equality California bill, which was carried by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would have banned doctors from performing surgeries or other medical interventions to change the sex characteristics of an intersex child younger than 6, unless an operation was medically necessary. Equality California and other supporters argued that intersex people should be able to give consent before undergoing surgeries that carry the risk of medical complications, sterilization and psychological damage. But the measure stalled in Glazers Business and Professions Committee in the face of objections from physicians groups, including the California Medical Association, which said the decision to operate was best left to young patients parents and doctors. Glazer expressed concerns that the types of surgeries that would have been prohibited under the bills definition of intersex were too broad, encompassing cosmetic procedures and nonsurgical treatments for minors who are clearly boys or girls. He sought amendments narrowing the scope of the measure, which Wiener rejected. The San Francisco lawmaker said the changes would have removed conditions, such as an enlarged clitoris or a urethra opening in the wrong place, that account for most of the people considered intersex. Glazer abstained from the committee vote this month that killed the measure. The panels vote was two in favor and four against, with two other members also not voting. Zbur said putting limits on surgeries for intersex youth is a human rights issue that is of national and international importance and was the organizations biggest legislative priority this session. He said Equality California worked so hard to educate Glazer about the issue and was frustrated that he did not try to bring doctors groups to the table to negotiate a compromise. Equality California will now consider backing Glazers Democratic opponent in the March 3 primary, Marisol Rubio. Rubio, a disability rights advocate, could present Glazer with a more significant challenge than he faced in his past election in 2016, when he won both the top-two primary and the general election by 2-1 ratios. Rubio is supported by labor unions and local liberal activists looking for an alternative to Glazer, who was first elected to the Senate in 2015 on a platform that included opposing transit strikes after a pair of BART labor stoppages crippled the commute in his East Bay district. This is not the first time that Equality California has revoked an endorsement. In 2016, the organization pulled backing from six lawmakers who voted against or abstained on a bill that would have required religious colleges to disclose if they had exemptions from federal antidiscrimination law. Two years later, the group withdrew its endorsement from a legislator who did not vote for a bill giving transgender foster youths the right to obtain hormone therapy and surgery. Equality California also pressured lawmakers last summer to rescind their endorsements for a state Senate candidate in Modesto, Mani Grewal, who made a campaign ad that the group considered homophobic. Several legislators pulled their support after Grewal refused to apologize. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff The chief justices passive acceptance of obvious lies does not show him to be a neutral arbiter. It instead shows to those who might come before him in his day job that bad-faith arguments are acceptable rhetoric. In calling out some of those lies, and Republicans abdication of their credibility in accepting them, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) was intemperate! Fotis Dulos was found unresponsive and sitting inside of a running car in his garage at 4 Jefferson Crossing on Tuesday afternoon. Dulos was discovered during a welfare check after he didnt show up for his bond hearing, according to States Attorney Richard Colangelo. "You never see anything like this coming," Colangelo said. Drone footage captured by Eyewitness News 3 shows Dulos lying unconscious at the foot his garage with three police officers around him. Police later erected two tents to cover the spot where Dulos was found. Sources close to Dulos said that he was pronounced dead at the scene, but his attorney Norm Pattis refuted those reports. Pattis said his client was found with a pulse but could not breathe on his own. Paramedics performed CPR at the scene, but he was later taken to the UConn Health center in Farmington. According to the Greek news outlet Proto Thema, Dulos sister Rena Dulos said he is being kept alive on life support and doctors are trying to save his life. As of 3 p.m., Fotis Dulos was being airlifted to the Hyperbaric Center at the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx for treatment. What we know: Fotis Dulos could have been sent back to jail on Tuesday Dulos had been scheduled to appear at an emergency hearing Tuesday in state Superior Court in Stamford, where a judge was expected to make a decision on whether or not Fotis Dulos bond was to be revoked. According to sources, the insurance company, Palmetto Surety Corporation, was not able to support the high bond for murder, felony murder and first-degree kidnapping charges in the May 24 death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos. Last week, Judge Gary White ordered Fotis Dulos to be on strict home confinement after States Attorney Richard Colangelo said he removed items from a memorial for his estranged wife that was set up near his home. White, who was filling in for Judge John Blawie, threatened to double the bond amount if Dulos violated the terms of his release again, pointing out he was previously warned about the battery running too low on the electronic device that is monitoring his movements. What we dont know: Whats next in the Jennifer Dulos homicide case? How will this incident affect Dulos court case? When asked what the next step in the case would be, Dulos attorney Kevin Smith said only that they would be back in court. Pattis, on the other hand, would speak only on Tuesdays events. This is a shocking and truly sad day. My heart goes out to his children and his family. Its just a horrible day, Pattis said. Attorneys representing his co-defendants Michelle Troconis and Kent Mawhinney could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. What we know: Fotis Dulos accused of killing his wife This month, 469 pages of search warrants in the case were unsealed for the first time since the investigation began eight months ago. The documents outline how police believe Fotis Dulos, 52, and his former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 45, and his close friend and former lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, 54, allegedly conspired to kill Jennifer Dulos and clean up the crime. Fotis Dulos and Troconis were charged last year with two counts of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. On the same day Fotis Dulos was charged with murder this month, Troconis and Mawhinney were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. According to arrest warrants, Jennifer Dulos was last seen on a neighbors security camera at 8:05 a.m. May 24, returning to her Welles Lane home after dropping off her children at a nearby school. Police believe Fotis Dulos was lying in wait and attacked her in the garage, the warrants indicate. Fotis Dulos and Troconis were caught on video that night in Hartford dumping bags that were later determined to contain Jennifer Dulos blood and clothing, according to arrest warrants. Jennifer Dulos blood was also found on the seat of a pickup truck belonging to an employee of Fotis Dulos, according to arrest warrants. Police say Fotis Dulos used the truck on the day his wife was killed, arrest warrants said. The search warrants revealed that Fotis Dulos 2015 black Chevrolet Suburban was was spotted on a residential security camera parked on Thurton Drive, a dead-end street about 600 feet from the backyard of Jennifer Dulos home. Police took 19 swabs from that vehicle, including ones from what appeared to be bloodlike stains, the warrants said. JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu withdrew his request for immunity from prosecution on Tuesday, hours before parliamentary proceedings on the subject were set to begin. Netanyahu, who was visiting Washington ahead of the launch of President Donald Trumps long-anticipated peace plan, said he decided not to let this dirty game continue, in a statement issued on his official Facebook page. Israels parliament, the Knesset, was set to convene to discuss the formation of a committee to debate the prime ministers immunity request. Its still expected to meet even after the withdrawal. The Knesset was widely expected to reject Netanyahus immunity request, which would have dealt a massive blow to the prime minister ahead of the March 2 parliamentary elections the third in less than a year. Netanyahus Likud party was planning to boycott Tuesdays Knesset session. Netanyahus retraction paves the way for legal proceedings against him to go forward. He was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in November in three separate cases. He has denied any wrongdoing. In this fateful hour for the people of Israel, when I am in the United States on a historic mission to design the permanent borders of Israel and ensure our security for decades to come, the Knesset is expected to start another spectacle in the circus of removing immunity, Netanyahu wrote. Trump, himself under the cloud of his impeachment trial in the Senate, appears poised to offer Netanyahu some needed help in the form of the most generous American peace proposal ever. The prime minister has sought to portray himself as a global statesman uniquely qualified to lead Israel through difficult times. He has tried to use his close friendship with Trump as a strategic asset to stay in power. Netanyahus chief political opponent, Benny Gantz, who leads the Blue and White party, said in a statement that Netanyahu is going to trial we must go forward. Nobody could run a country and simultaneously manage three serious criminal charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Gantz added. Netanyahu and Gantz are set to face off in a third round of national elections after two inconclusive elections in 2019. Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List of Arab parties in the Israeli parliament, said the path to trial is paved and no diplomatic public relations stunt in the world would prevent him from being brought to justice. Netanyahu and Trump were scheduled to meet later Tuesday at the White House for the peace plans announcement. CAMEROON, Cameroon - The U.N. special envoy for Yemen is urging a halt to the alarming military escalation in fighting between the Saudi-led military coalition and Houthi Shiite rebels, the U.N. spokesman said Tuesday. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said envoy Martin Griffiths warned the Security Council at a closed meeting that the recent drastic escalation jeopardizes progress made by the warring parties in de-escalating the conflict and on confidence building. In the video briefing, Griffiths reiterated the importance of stopping the ongoing military escalation before it is too late, Dujarric said. Diplomats said council members expressed serious concern at the upsurge in fighting and were working on a statement. Less than two weeks ago, Griffiths had reported to the council on a major reduction in military operations and other initiatives. He expressed hope then that this would lead to talks between the government and Iranian-backed Houthis on ending the five-year conflict in the Arab worlds poorest nation. The U.S.-backed Arab coalition battling to restore Yemens internationally recognized government stepped up airstrikes in recent days on rebel targets northeast of the capital, Sanaa, following a months-long lull, while the Houthis shelled government-held areas. The sudden spike in violence across long-stalemated front lines threatened to exacerbate the conflict and complicate indirect peace talks between Saudi Arabia and the rebels as well as Griffiths efforts to get both sides back to the negotiating table. On a positive note, the representative for the U.N. childrens agency UNICEF welcomed the Houthis release in Sanaa on Tuesday of 64 children allegedly captured during military operations, Dujarric said. He said UNICEF hopes this step also leads to an end to the Houthis recruitment and use of children. The Yemen conflict began with the 2014 takeover of Sanaa by the Houthis, who control much of the countrys north. The Saudi-led coalition allied with the internationally recognized government has been fighting the Houthis since 2015. The fighting has killed thousands of civilians and created the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine last year. On Jan. 16, a senior U.N. humanitarian official warned that Yemen could face the threat of famine again because of the rapid depreciation of its currency and disruptions to salary payments Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the U.N. humanitarian offices Coordination Division, said the rials loss in value was at least partially due to a dispute over bank notes printed after 2016 that the Houthis banned for use in the north in mid-December. This led the government to announce that it could not pay civil servants and retirees in the north, which means about a quarter of Yemens population who rely on these payments are getting no money, he said. A British man has died while being held in US immigration detention in Florida, the Guardian has confirmed. The death was first reported by BuzzFeed News, which said the man was 39 years old and that the cause was initially attributed to asphyxiation due to hanging. The incident was reported to have occurred on Saturday last week. Our staff are in contact with the US authorities following the death of a British man in Florida, said a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office in London. Foreign Office officials are understood to have been in contact with the deceased mans wife, as US officials investigate the circumstances of the death. Related: Seven months detained: seven-year-old is longest-held child migrant in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Guardian. In a statement to BuzzFeed, the agency identified the deceased man as Ben James Owen and clarified he had died at the Baker county detention center in Macclenny, Florida. Officials said Owen had entered the US on a temporary visa in July and had been arrested on suspicion of felony aggravated stalking, felony false imprisonment, domestic assault, and violating the conditions of his pre-trial release. The agency said the case remained under investigation. The incident marks the fifth death at a detention centre in the 2020 fiscal year, which begins in October 2019. There were eight deaths in Ice detention in the 2019 fiscal year. The immigration detention population in the United States has soared under the Trump administration. Last year Ice detained 510,854 people, compared with 396,448 in 2018. The administration has also increased its use of detention facilities, mostly run by private security companies, with a new concentration of detention centres opening in the deep south. Medical provision and mental health care at detention facilities has come under increased criticism under the Trump administration after a spate of high profile deaths since 2017. At the end of last year House Democrats on the oversight and reform committee launched an inquiry to investigate a troubling pattern of abuse and poor treatment of migrants in custody. CHICAGO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Corboy & Demetrio Partner Michael K. Demetrio and his client, a woman who was seriously injured when a light pole fell on her as she was walking in the Chicago Loop, were interviewed for a story by CBS2 Investigator Dave Savini with the hope of warning the public about the danger. Corboy & Demetrio filed a lawsuit in December on behalf of Maya Kirk, 47 years old, who suffered serious injuries after a light pole fell over and struck her as she was walking in downtown Chicago on Nov. 21, 2019. Courtesy of Corboy & Demetrio: City of Chicago Light Pole that fell on Maya Kirk on Nov. 21, 2019. Kirk was walking with co-workers at 1:30p.m. on LaSalle St., just south of Lake St., when the pole toppled, striking her and shattering her leg and hip in three places. In addition, she suffered a concussion. The lawsuit, filed in Cook Co. Circuit Court, alleges the city was negligent by failing to adequately inspect and maintain the light pole, allowing the support structure to deteriorate. The suit specifically alleges that the city allowed excessive and unsafe levels of water and/or debris to accumulate at the base of the light pole, resulting in a dangerous and defective lack of support. "Ms. Kirk was fortunate she wasn't killed when the pole toppled over. Corroding light poles hidden under decorative bases in the city of Chicago are hidden timebombs, and the city is aware this problem exists," Michael Demetrio said. Corboy & Demetrio also filed an emergency petition to protect and preserve the evidence in the case, including the light pole and city inspection and maintenance records. An order of protection was issued on Dec. 9, 2019. Case info: Kirk v. City of Chicago, 2019L013385, filed on Dec. 5, 2019. About Corboy & Demetrio Corboy & Demetrio is one of the nation's premier law firms. The personal injury law firm represents individuals and their families in serious personal injury and wrongful death cases and is renowned for its achievements in the courtroom and for its contributions to the community. The Chicago law firm has acquired more than $4 billion in settlements and verdicts and has attained more than 600 settlements and verdicts in excess of $1 million. To contact Michael K. Demetrio or another Chicago personal injury lawyer at the firm, call 312-346-3191 or toll free at 800-356-3191. We are available 24/7. For more information about the firm, go to corboydemetrio.com. Media Contact: Helen Lucaitis, Esq., Communications Director, Corboy & Demetrio, 312-346-3191 (office); 312-550-2077 (cell); [email protected] SOURCE Corboy & Demetrio Related Links http://www.corboydemetrio.com Express News Service MYSURU/BENGALURU: Superstar-turned-politician Rajinikanth on Tuesday completed shooting a sequence for Man vs Wild with British wildlife adventurer Bear Grylls in the core critical habitat of Bandipur Tiger Reserve. But minor scratches he suffered during the shoot became a talking point. Rajinikanth was shooting for the second part of the Man v/s Wild series, the first part of which gained popularity after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was featured in it. ALSO READ: Rajinikanth injured during filming of 'Man vs Wild' with Bear Grylls at Bandipur According to forest officials, Rajinikanth suffered minor bruises while walking on the Tiger Trail road in Mullehole, Chammanal, near the anti-poaching camp. He suffered scratches on his arm because of lantana weeds. The shooting time was cut down as the actor had to be attended to, the official said. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Sanjai Mohan, said: Rajinikanth will not be shooting another day because he had permission only for a day. His injuries are not serious and were immediately attended to. #WATCH Actor Rajinikanth arrives at Bandipur forest in Karnataka for a shoot of an episode of 'Man vs Wild' with British adventurer Bear Grylls pic.twitter.com/Eh2Lwd4BAI ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020 The day began with protests by conservationists demanding that permission to shoot not be given as it was the dry and forest-fire season, especially since forests of Karnataka were vulnerable to fire accidents this time of the year.But the forest department gave permission to shoot the documentary in the presence of Assistant Conservator of Forests or Range Forest Officer and directed the crew to follow the regulations as per the Wildlife Protection Act. ALSO WATCH: Rajinikanth started the shoot for the documentary directed by Bear Grylls, who flew in a helicopter to join the star who had stayed at a resort in Bandipur National Park.As soon as he arrived, the crew went into action as they reached Kemanahalla behind Himavath Gopalaswamy Hills, a core forest area in Maddur range of Bandipur National Park. Rajinikanth was taken on an interior forest road along with forest personnel to reach Kemannahalla behind Himavath Gopalaswamy hills. The forest personnel and crew members were on the road to ensure that vehicles were not parked on the national highway leading to congestion. Many were upset as the shooting was held deep inside the forest as they could not have a glimpse of their favourite hero Rajinikanth. Man vs Wild featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi had become a global hit after it was shot in Jim Corbett National Park of Uttarakhand. Sources said Rajinikanth and the crew packed up at 5.30 pm as the Forest Department imposed conditions on the makers of the documentary-- Banijay Group, one of worlds largest independent content creation group for television and multimedia platforms, and Mumbai-registered Seventaurus Entertainment Studio Private Limited -- that the shooting be done between 6 am and 6 pm. Rajinikanth suffering minor bruises and requiring first aid also contributed to the early pack-up, they said, adding that the star went by the rulebook to wind up the shoot much before the deadline. Bollywood star Akshay Kumar is scheduled to join the crew on Wednesday to shoot his part in the series. Meanwhile, former journalist and wildlife activist Joseph Hoover had opposed shooting inside Bandipur Reserve when forest officials were busy protecting Bandipur National Park from forest fires which damaged more than 4,800 acres last year. He felt shooting should have been allowed in the monsoon season when the forest personnel were free and the humidity and moisture content in the trees was high, posing a lesser risk of forest fires. He also appealed to Rajinikanth to prevail upon the Tamil Nadu government to ban night safari in neighbouring Mudumalai forest. A few others also objected to shooting in Bandipur that has seen worst forest fires in the past two years -- the forest is known for its rich wildlife density with 200 tigers, 2,000 elephants, sambars, leopards and other wild animals. However, the forest officials said directions had been issued to forest staffers to ensure that the exercise of creating fire lines and regular works in the department were not halted because of the presence of celebrities. The department stated that there was no damage to tree growth or disturbance to wildlife, and that they had banned use of fire explosives, lights and generators. The condition included the filmmakers would compensate the government for any loss during the shooting. An Irish author and well-known social media sketcher has admitted he has moved his family back to his parents home in order to save for mortgage approval. Funny man Rory O'Connor of Rory's Stories landed back to his childhood home last month when he couldn't find anywhere else affordable to rent in the area, after his landlord of seven years sold the house they were renting in Ashbourne, Co. Meath. Rory and his wife Emma decided to move back into his parents home with their two young children and take the opportunity to save enough to get mortgage approval and a deposit on their first home. The frank comedian who has been very open on mental health issues in his social media sketches says he decided to talk about moving home to take the stigma out of it for many people who feel embarrassed because they have to move back because of the housing crisis. "We have been renting for the last seven years, near where my parents live in Ashbourne and the rent was affordable but the landlord had to sell the house, which is understandable . "We were hoping to buy in the next few years anyway but it's hard to try and save while paying rent alongside all other bills and childcare costs. "So thankfully my parents were happy to let me and my wife and our two kids - who are seven years old and 16 months - move in with them which gives us breathing space to save a bit and apply for a mortgage, hopefully by the end of the year. "That said, getting a house in Ashbourne that we can afford is a different story but we're not going to move away just to get the first house we can afford. Ashbourne is my home. I'm born and bred here so if I can stay here, I'll wait it out until we get the right house for us. "Getting a house for our generation is so different from our parents time and being self-employed like me doesn't help. "Emma is off work at the minute to take care of our children because childcare costs would take most of her wage anyway but she is hoping to get back working this year.. The way I work is erratic so I couldn't commit to looking after the kids full-time because I could be down the country at gigs or filming a video. "The waiting lists for creches here are unbelievable anyway and most childminders would prefer school-going kids which are, I suppose, a little easier to manage. Hopefully we find someone soon, so my wife can go back to full employment. The reason I put this out there is that there are a lot in my situation. I don't reveal all my life but sometimes it's important to people's mental health to let them know they are not on their own - other people are under pressure in terms of rent and mortgages too. "And it's not our fault. We have to stop blaming ourselves for being priced out of the rental market or buying a home to rear our kids - we didn't make this problem which we were promised would never happen again. "There is very little options to rent in the area. If we hadn't got our parents, we could be very well declaring ourselves homeless like so many others and facing the prospect of emergency accommodation - and that's just how easy it can happen, its a thin line. "They tell you to chase your dreams. I'm doing something different and it's a risk I'm taking because I don't have this secure desk job that automatically ticks all the boxes for a mortgage. "Well keep ploughing on and hopefully secure a mortgage in 2020," he said. By Express News Service The most expected Marvel series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which is produced by Disney+, will be out ahead of the initial release date. According to reports, the streaming platform has pushed up the date to somewhere in August. The series will feature Anthony Mackie and Sebastian, who will be seen playing the Marvel superheroes Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, respectively. In addition to that, the series will also feature another character from the Marvel Cinematic UniverseBaron Zemo (played by Daniel Bruhl), who was one of the villains in Civil War. The series will have connections to the upcoming Marvel films, and it is likely to show Sam Wilsons transformation from Falcon to Captain America. The series will also feature Noah Mills, but details of her role is still undisclosed. Meanwhile, Marvel Studios is all set to release Black Widow in May. The film features Scarlett Johansson in the beloved character, Natasha Romanoff. In addition to that, Marvel also has WandaVision series lined up to release this year. President on Tuesday will ignore accusations of pro-Israeli bias and unveil what he says is a peace plan that can solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Long held secret, the plan was to be aired by Trump and visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in joint public remarks at the White House. Given that it has been emphatically rejected by the Palestinians, the latest of many US proposals to address the bitter, multi-generational Middle East conflict might seem to have little future. In Gaza, thousands protested, burning pictures of Trump and the American flag. In a rare event, rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah were set to meet in the West Bank city of Ramallah to discuss a response. Russia, a growing force in Mideast politics, sounded skeptical, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying that initial indications reflected "an approach that is totally different from what has been recognized by the community." Netanyahu's office said he would travel to Moscow on Wednesday to present the plan in person to President Vladimir Putin. Trump insists he is optimistic and whatever happens, both he and Netanyahu could reap political benefits as they battle respective domestic scandals. "It might have a chance," Trump said of the plan at an initial Oval Office meeting with Netanyahu on Monday. Trump, whose impeachment trial in the Senate is entering a critical phase, said his plan was getting widespread support from "many of the Arab nations" and claimed that even Palestinians would come round to the idea. "It's very good for them, in fact it's overly good for them," Trump told reporters. "We think we will have ultimately the support of the Palestinians." Netanyahu, praising Trump as "the greatest friend that Israel's had in the White House", described the plan as "the deal of the century". Netanyahu also faces corruption charges, as well as a tense election in just over a month, with his right-wing Likud currently neck-and-neck with Benny Gantz's centrist Blue and White party. On Monday, Trump also met separately with Gantz, but the limelight fell almost entirely on the incumbent prime minister -- as will any political dividends from a peace plan favoring No Palestinians have been invited to the White House event. They say they were never included in crafting the plan, which was overseen by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. While details remained under wraps right up to the White House unveiling, analysts say it is likely to formalize US recognition of Israel's occupation of swaths of land. Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Monday urged powers to boycott the plan, which he said was designed "to protect Trump from impeachment and protect Netanyahu from prison." "It is not a Middle East peace plan," Shtayyeh told a cabinet meeting. "This plan gives sovereignty over Palestinian territory." But speculation that it could also lay out the terms of an eventual Palestinian state was enough to spark immediate resistance from hardline Jewish settlers who form the vanguard of Israel's push into Palestinian lands. Israeli Transport Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the far-right Yemina union stressed in an interview with army radio that his party "won't under any conditions agree to recognition, whether explicit or implicit, of a Palestinian state." Trump has already thrown Netanyahu a string of political presents throughout his first term. He has broken with diplomatic consensus to recognize the disputed city of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. He recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, seized from neighboring Syria. And he has ended opposition to Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land. Ahead of Tuesday's announcement, the Israeli army said it was beefing up forces in the Jordan Valley, a swath of the occupied West Bank expected to feature in Trump's plan. The normally bustling supermarket in Wuhan was deserted, looking more foreign than ever. Dr Khamis Hassan Bakari walked the aisles and saw just two other shoppers, and fear sank in. Everybody is scared. Scared of seeing anyone, the Tanzanian PhD student said, as authorities around the world scramble to contain coronavirus, which began in the industrial Chinese city of 11 million. You don't even want the supermarket to touch the products you buy. Dr Bakari spoke with the Associated Press this week from his university housing in Wuhan as China's astonishing lockdown of more than 50 million people continues. Transport links have been cut. Streets are largely empty. Lunar New Year festivities have fallen flat. With thousands of foreigners stranded in Wuhan, and with richer countries like the United States and Japan preparing to evacuate some citizens, Dr Bakari has become a leader for hundreds of African peers with little chance of a similar escape. I'm feeling like I'm trapped here, said one Ethiopian student at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, who gave only his first name, Abel. He, like other students, cited worries that angering Chinese or their country's authorities could lead to retaliation, like loss of scholarships. Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Show all 154 1 /154 Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Paramedics wearing personal protective equipment carry patient on a stretcher on to an ambulance in North Point district in Hong Kong, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker wearing protective gear takes a rest as he waits for ambulances carrying patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at an entrance of a hospital in Daegu, South Korea YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker sprays disinfectant on an ambulance after carrying a patient infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Daegu YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective face masks shop at a supermarket in Casalpusterlengo, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A trolley bus is disinfected amid fears over the spread of the novel coronavirus in Pyongyang, North Korea REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus in a local market in Daegu, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective facemask walks outside a nearly empty shopping mall at lunch time in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing protective facemask and gloves puts a drawing made by a girl living in the area asking residents to wear protective gear, next to a quarantine notice for people who have travelled and a notice asking people to register outside a residential compound in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman is taken into an ambulance amid a coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulances and health workers are seen outside the Padua's hospital, northern Italy EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers in coaches leave MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire after being repatriated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus in Yokohama, Japan and head to Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People rest in a temporary hospital situated in the Tazihu Gymnasium in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buddhist monks wearing protective face masks pray during a blessing ceremony for the people affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient infecting with a new coronavirus to a hospital in Chuncheon, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Soldiers in hazmat suits sanitize cargo from a China Airlines plane at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, Taiwan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Barricades are seen to block the entrance a the gate of a local mall in a nearly empty area in Beijing, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor wearing a protective facemask waits for customers at a shop in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The body temperature of an Iraqi child returning from Iran is measured upon her arrival at the Najaf International Airport AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers hand out free facemasks at a shopping district in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient suspected of contracting the new coronavirus toward an ambulance at Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker disinfects a shop at a market in Shanghai AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A restaurant worker wearing protective clothing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus passing a bag of food to a customer on the street outside their restaurant in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for "urgent operational health and safety reasons", following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas', have both been designated as "isolation" facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan Xinhua News Agency/AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China's easter Shandong province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li's hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China's Wuhan province Vsluh.ru via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman's home in Qingdao EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan Malaysia's Ministry of Health/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine Italian Defence Ministry/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A young child wears a protective mask and is covered in plastic while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK Tom Maddick / SWNS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS Chinatopix via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An Indonesian health officer points at the screen of a thermal scanner for passengers China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China's central Jiangxi province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan STR/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting Yingtan North Railway Station, China China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, uses an electronic thermometer to check the temperature of passengers arriving by plane from Wuhan The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China's northern Hebei province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff and security personnel stop patients' family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A notice for passengers from Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market Getty Beijing's push to expand its influence on the youthful African continent means African people now make up the second-largest population of foreign students in China, behind those from elsewhere in Asia, according to China's education ministry. In 2018 African students numbered more than 80,000. More than 4,000 are estimated to be in Wuhan alone. None of them expected this. No one knows how long the lockdown will last, or all the ways the virus can spread. The southern African nation of Botswana has openly worried about its students' supplies of water and food. Kenya's government has had to defend itself against accusations it was not helping its students. So Dr Bakari and a small committee of fellow doctors from his east African country regularly send updates on social media about the outbreak to the more than 400 Tanzanian students in Wuhan, as well as hundreds of countrymen elsewhere in China. They don't have a clue what is going on, Dr Bakari said. And, because the updates are largely in Swahili, the lingua franca of east Africa, many beyond his country can follow them, too. Together we are one family, the association tweeted on Tuesday, encouraging fellow Africans to follow precautionary measures. The concerns are real. Even Africa's most developed economy, South Africa, has signalled it will not evacuate citizens. On Sunday it told students in China to adhere to university instructions, warning that leaving without permission can have far-reaching consequences. Morocco's King Mohammed VI, however, has ordered his government to repatriate 100 nationals of the north African nation from Wuhan. Speaking by phone, Dr Bakari sounded remarkably relaxed, even chuckling, as he described life under lockdown. For me as a doctor, I know how to cope with the stress, the specialist in nuclear medicine said. So we have initiated a way of going through this ordeal. To help keep people calm, the Tanzanian committee has recommended this: Exercise at least 20 minutes a day and don't spend too much time online. The committee looked into an online video showing an ill Congolese student at a Chinese hospital that quickly led to fears he had the virus. But that guy, he actually had kidney stones, Dr Bakari said. We don't have a foreign student here in Wuhan suffering from the virus, we haven't heard of any case. A Ghanaian student said campus authorities at Wuhan University of Science and Technology had warned students against sharing videos, photos or messages about the virus on WeChat, the popular Chinese messaging app, threatening to cut their wifi connections if they do. Students were only trying to learn about the situation, said the student, adding that he wants to leave China the moment transport links are restored. This is not the time to be adventurous, Ghana's ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, has warned. Let's not panic in the process. The African diplomatic corps in Beijing has been exploring options to help students, reaching out to the UN migration agency and others. Another Tanzanian on the grassroots committee, Dr Hilal Kizwi, described a situation full of panic especially for newer African students who don't yet speak Chinese. The new virus started out like a flu, he said. Then authorities told him and others doing their residency at a local hospital to be careful and cover their mouths. Patients started dying, and the number of patients soared. Supplies of masks and other items ran low. Finally, students were told to no longer report to work. It's like I'm locked up in a cell, Dr Kizwi said shortly after his evening prayers. The only thing I have is to talk to my family: 'I'm safe, I'm doing fine.' And he was, until he heard a local doctor had died of the virus. When he ventured outside after the death, he wore two face masks instead of one. Students have reached out to Tanzania's embassy about leaving Wuhan and were told authorities were working on it, Dr Kizwi said. But I don't expect it. Recommended The coronavirus shows China may not conquer the world after all There is little to do. Police are constantly monitoring people who are out and about, Dr Bakari said. Most supermarkets and pharmacies are closed. The one shop at his and Dr Kizwi's school, Tongji Medical College, quickly sells out every day. Mr Bakari said the Tanzanian committee has begun collecting phone numbers of international representatives for all universities in Wuhan so students can report on any shortages or which campuses are being especially helpful. Some students are given thermometers and visited every day for a temperature check, Dr Bakari said. At his school, they are given face masks daily. Our university gave us supplies the day before yesterday, he said, including two boxes of chocolate, cookies, sugar, cooking oil and bottles of water. Today there's new information that if we want to go around the city, we have to ask the local community. They have provided us with a phone number and we call them to ask for transport or supplies, if possible. He complimented Chinese authorities on their response: We really appreciate what they're doing. But Dr Bakari said he has no plans to go out again. With his new stash from his supermarket visit of fruit, vegetables, legumes and milk powder - to help combat protein deficiency now that eating eggs, fish or meat is not an option since the virus jumped from animals to humans he has settled into his role as an investigator, semi-therapist and amateur media outlet. This new reality can be tiring. But actually we don't sleep these days, he said. Associated Press LITTLE voices saying miss, miss, miss or sir, sir, sir could echo around Glenroe NS again after the minister of education made a commitment to reopen it. Minister of State Patrick ODonovan announced that Minister Joe McHugh has advised him that it is "his intention to reopen Glenroe NS". In January 2019 I along with members of the Glenroe NS working group met with Minister McHugh in Dublin with a view to reopening the school which had closed in 2015. In the intervening time I have been working closely with the minister and the local community group to have the school reopened under the new patronage of the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, said Minister O'Donovan. He said he was delighted that Minister McHugh was convinced by the argument they put forward to him to reopen the school. I have worked tirelessly on this issue and I like to thank the minister for education and the local community for all the work they have put in getting their school reopened, concluded Minister O'Donovan. Glenroe-Ballyorgan Community Council and Glenroe National School Working Group are also delighted with the news. Chairperson of Glenroe-Ballyorgan Community Council, Deirdre McSweeney warmly welcomed the announcement to open a new national school in Glenroe and described it as a marvelous achievement. The opening of the school as a community national school is not just a boost for our parish but for the surrounding areas as well as it gives parents another option where they will send their children to school. Great credit has to go to the working group who have put in so much effort over the last number of years to achieve the result we have today. Having a school in our parish again will provide a new focal point in Glenroe, said Ms McSweeney. Read also: Fortune favoured Patrick at Winning Streak on a lucky night for Limerick It will be under the patronage of the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (LETB) who are working towards opening it in September 2020, she said. Mary Hanley OBrien, chairperson of the Working Group, wishes to convey sincere thanks to George OCallaghan, CEO of LCETB, Bernadette Cullen, former director of schools (currently CEO of Tipperary ETB) and Donncha OTreasaigh, director of schools, for their steadfast commitment to this project. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to Minister for Education Joe McHugh for his commitment to opening the school and to Minister Patrick ODonovan for his representation and his unwavering support of this project. We also wish to recognise the background work undertaken by the DES officials, said Ms Hanley OBrien. It will open in the building and grounds of the former Scoil Mhuire. The Diocese of Limerick has been fully supportive of this project and the leasing of the building and grounds to the LCETB. Sincere thanks to Bishop Brendan Leahy and Fr Michael OShea, PP of Glenroe, for their support of this project. Thanks is also extended to the community for their continued support. We look forward to hearing that the legal issues have been cleared by the Attorney General and to supporting the LCETB as they open the school, concluded Ms Hanley OBrien. Irked by the behaviour of a fan who tried to click a selfie with him at the Goa airport, Bollywood actor Salman Khan on Tuesday snatched his mobile phone. The video of the incident has gone viral on social media. In the clip, a man can be seen approaching Khan and trying to click a selfie when the actor was walking out of the airport. Annoyed, Khan can be seen snatching the mobile phone from the man, who was later identified as a ground staff working for an airlines. "No formal complaint is lodged but when the video went viral, we inquired about the incident and confirmed it," said a senior official of the airport. When contacted, Airport Police Inspector Sagar Ekoskar said no formal complaint was lodged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Despite the once promising election of President Mauricio Macri, Argentinas first non-Peronist leader in 13 years, the country has largely returned to its embrace of leftist economic policies, including recently imposed capital controls and interventionist price fixing. The results have not been positive. Yet amid the constant meddling by legislators and government officials, everyday Argentinians are forging new paths of economic opportunity. While the top-down planners continue to tinker, the bottom-up searchers continue to innovate and serve, create and exchange. In a short film from the Atlas Network, we get a small taste of that activity through Cooperativa La Juanita, a private community-based cooperative focused on practical, trades-based education and entrepreneurship. Located in Buenos Aires La Matanza neighborhood, the cooperative was originally formed in resistance to a series of crisis-era government handoutsa way for workers and their families to maintain independence while creating new pathways for creative service in their communities. What I love about the people of Cooperativa La Juanita is that these people want to get out of poverty with their own work. They did not accept subsidies, explains Agustin Etchebarne, general director of Libertad y Progreso, a Buenos Aires think tank. They want to train and see how productive work is achieved, and be included in society by their own efforts. What you see in La Juanita is something very unique in Argentina, and it is very inspiring. Daniel Anthony summarizes the story: With a full slate of educational programming and growing business enterprises, the cooperative, which is located in a busy urban neighborhood about 5 miles outside of Argentinas capital city, is filled with people of all ages, many of them actively engaged in learning new trades or skills. The cooperatives roots reflect a commitment to entrepreneurship that is evident in the range of services, programs, and classes that residents can access. Begun in 2001, after a group of locals decided that they did not want to rely on government welfare handouts, today La Juanita features a bakery, a call center, a mechanical repair shop, catering services, and classes that teach people English, computing and animation techniques, beautician and barbering skills, music and dance, and even personal finance. We started as a cooperative formed by a group of unemployed workers who rejected the government cash transfers in the 2001 crisis, because we wanted to generate our own source of work and provide local people with a quality education, said Silvia Flores, who was one of the founders of the cooperative and now serves as its executive director. For some, La Juanitas philosophical rejection of government assistance may seem excessive or unnecessary, but such independence has allowed workers to take more ownership and, as a result, find more meaning and purpose in the various enterprises. For example, at La Masa Critica, La Juanitas onsite bakery, the founders were initially told by local officials that the business was doomed to fail. When La Juanita was in its infancy, regional government administrators told La Juanitas organizers that they couldnt form a cooperative without a critical mass of supportand they openly doubted that the neighborhood could support the founders vision, writes Anthony. Fortunately, the bureaucrats were wrong. The bakery has instead seen great success, serving high-quality Argentine specialties at lower prices than local competitors. But again, beyond any material fruits, bakery employees have discovered a new framework of work as service and the community has experienced a wide range of social benefits: Today, the bakery is part of a strong and vibrant community that serves the needs of thousands of local residents every year. They come in at 4 am to bake the best bread in the neighborhood, said Fabian Hamed, the cooperatives president. Its more than just a salary. Our colleagues know they are helping othersand because they are also earning money, they see the possibility of getting ahead. Hamed, who also runs Potrero Digital, La Juanitas technology and digital design management program, speaks proudly of one of his former students, Carlos, who now teaches baking skills to others. Hamed sees firsthand what a difference Carloss impact has on his peers in the neighborhood. Thanks to Carlos, these guys have a future. They are not on the corner drinking alcohol or using drugsthey have skills and can get jobs. But while La Juanita has managed to cultivate a community thats largely free from government interference, they have still faced their share of challenges that stem from poor policy decisions. After the government imposed a 35 percent tariff on laptops and small electronics, for example, computer products cost nearly three times as much in Argentina as they would in the United States, or 50% more than in neighboring Chile, according to Reuters. This caused a significant strain on the countrys consumers and businesses alike. Given La Juanitas reliance on computers for its educational programming and call center business, the tariff had created several obstacles. Fortunately, it was recently removed, allowing La Juanita to move farther faster in creating new opportunities for its students and workers. According to Etchebarne, whose think tank was instrumental in changing the policy, freer trade has already bolstered opportunity for many Argentinians. Many people believe that public policy that makes computers cheaper is an abstract achievement, he says. But there is nothing abstract about creating new jobs for poor people. Here, even as we are inspired by the bottom-up initiative of those at La Juanita and other on-the-ground enterprises, we are reminded that the political dysfunction at the top still matters. One small price-fixing scheme can make life extremely difficult for a specific enterprises and institutionsjust as removing it can bring plenty of new life. La Juanita reminds us of the God-given dignity and abounding creative capacity of the human personfeatures that endure despite government abuse and interference. But it also reminds us to stay mindful that the fight for economic freedom matters, and not just for the material gain thats bound to bring. In Juanita, lives are saved and, above all, souls are saved, through work and education, that always go hand in hand, says Hamed. The only thing we want is to be free, and that our children have opportunities that we could not have. Image: Used with Permission; Bakers of Panaderia Comunitaria La Masa Critica in Cooperativa La Juanita (AtlasNetwork.org Photo/Rodrigo Abd) The family of Detective Corporal Tim Anderson released a statement regarding his current condition as Anderson is suffering life-threatening complications from the flu that has turned into a rare form of pneumonia. Tim Anderson was admitted into a hospital in Mobile early last week with flu-like symptoms where his condition soon deteriorated. He was later transferred to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, Florida where he is receiving around the clock care. Initial medical reports gave him a 5 percent chance of survival. Baptist Hospitals entire staff have been phenomenal. Dr. Enrique Diaz, his pulmonologist, keeps constant watch on his progress. He is truly caring for him as if he were his own son with an extremely high level of expertise. Jon Neyman, ECMO Program Lead and Perfusionist, has volunteered to stay on call and work every day until Tim is off the machine. Dan Davis, ECMO specialist, has also played a crucial role in Tims care, said Kelly Anderson, wife of Tim Anderson a public statement. Kelly Anderson stated that her husband has been diagnosed with H1N1 combined with Group C Streptococci pneumonia, a very rare condition. This has resulted in a very severe form of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is a rapidly progressive disease occurring in critically ill patients. Its been reported that his condition is progressing slowly and no noticeable changes may be seen for several days. In the statement, Kelly Anderson stated that her husband did not receive a flu shot and advised for all individuals who havent yet to get the vaccination immediately. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, there were at least 3.7 million flu illnesses, 32,000 hospitalizations and 1,800 deaths from the flu in 2019. The family of Anderson set up a GoFundMe account to help cover expenses for travel, lodging, meals and medical expenses for Anderson and his family Saturday. It has currently raised over $8,700. New Delhi, Jan 28 : Five senior functionaries of the RSS primarily decide on the organisation's views on different economic issues facing the country, sources said. They believe in chalking out policies which lie between idealism and realism so that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Modi government do not cross each other's paths, as was the case during the rule of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the sources pointed out. These RSS cadres are: 1. Suresh Soni -- One of the senior functionaries working as RSS Joint Secretary, Soni has a good hold over economics and has even penned a book on the subject. Those associated with the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Laghu Udyog Bharati report to Soni. Soni has remained Sehkaryavah in the RSS, which is the second seniormost post after Sarsanghchalak. 2. Bajrang Lal Gupta -- Senior RSS Pracharak Gupta has been a professor of economics. Sanghchalak of the northern region, Gupta has been emphasising on the Indian economic model in his books, including "Bharat ka Arthik Itihaas' and 'Hindu Arth Chintan'. The sources said that Gupta plays an important role in determining the Sangh's views on economic issues. He is one of the RSS men who are quite active in Delhi. When the RSS held a programme 'Bhavishya mein Bharat Kaisa ho' in 2018, Gupta was present on the dais with RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat. 3. S. Gurumurthy -- He is counted among the old hands who have an important role in articulating the RSS viewpoint on all economic issues. Gurumurthy was made a board member in the Reserve Bank of India in 2018 due to his connections both within the RSS and the government. A chartered accountant by profession, Gurumurthy has in the past worked with the RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch. 4. Uday Rao Patwardhan -- He is considered among the RSS economic thinkers. Patwardhan has been general secretary in the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh for over two decades. He advises the RSS on economic issues from time to time. 5. Govind Lele: A general secretary of Laghu Udyog Bharti, Lele advises the central government from time to time. Sangh ideologue Dilip Deodhar told IANS that K.N. Govindacharya is still a useful asset for the RSS due to his experience. Govindacharya contributes inputs for domestic economic thoughts of the RSS. Though he is not quite active as in the past, there is a special arrangement in place for him, reporting directly to the Sangh chief. Clash of Sangh with Vajpayee government: RSS sources said that during the NDA government led by Vajpayee, senior ministers Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh had come together to emphasise on pro-capitalist and pro-socialist models of economy. On the other hand, Sangh ideologue and then BJP general secretary Govindacharya and RSS senior leader Dattopant Thengadi believed that the government should base its own model of Indian economy on the basis of domestic issues and not ape the western economic models. Both RSS leaders were convinced that the 'swadeshi' model of economy would benefit Indian industry. The RSS views used to clash with the Vajpayee government's stand on disinvestment, the sources pointed out. Deodhar maintained that the RSS does not pressurise the Modi government much on economic issues since the Sangh has become more liberal in view of the problems faced by the Centre vis-a-vis the global economy. He said that the government accepts its economic viewpoint wherever it feels like. On the RSS insistence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi backed out of the RCEP issue after it was felt that it would be detrimental to the Indian industry. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free-trade agreement between 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and five FTA partners Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. India, also an ASEAN FTA partner, opted out of the agreement in November 2019. The British gender pay gap has remained stubbornly high ever since the government legislated to force employers to publish their yearly numbers. The Office for National Statistics put it at 8.9 per cent for full-time employees last year. If also found that women are paid an average of 380,000 over their lifetimes compared with 643,000 for men. Thats a mismatch that ought to appal anyone with a belief in equality and social justice, regardless of their gender. The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked the AAP government to respond to a plea alleging that the selection criteria of its pilgrimage scheme MTYY was "arbitrary" and "discriminatory". Justice Navin Chawla issued notice to the Delhi government seeking its stand on the plea filed by the convenor of the legal cell of the Delhi unit of Purvanchal Morcha of BJP. The petitioner, Rajesh Kumar, has sought modification of the scheme's guidelines, saying that in its present form it was "unjust" and "unconstitutional". Kumar, also a lawyer, has claimed that under the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana (MTYY) scheme "the entire process of collection of forms, submission and selection are being controlled and undertaken by the ruling political party and its agents/ workers without any administrative control or supervision". The plea was opposed by the Delhi government, represented by its additional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose, which contended that it was "politically motivated" and Kumar has no locus to challenge the scheme. Ghose further told the court that around 35,000 people have already availed of the scheme and the role of an MLA, under the scheme, was only to forward an application. He said it was the SDM who applies his/her mind on whom to select. He further told the court that under similar schemes in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, an MLA or an MP is the forwarding authority. Kumar, in his plea, has claimed that under the scheme an applicant has to be submit a voter ID card of Delhi and certificate from an MLA or a minister of the Delhi government or the chairman of the Tirth Yatra Vikas Samiti (TYVS), who is also "an agent of the ruling party". The petition has said that the requirement under the scheme for a valid voter ID card disentitles all those senior citizens who have other forms of valid identification like Aadhaar cards. It has contended the scheme provides "unhindered power" to the political party to "arbitrarily discriminate and select their choice of people as beneficiaries in order to suit their political agenda". "The same are leading to illegal misuse of public money to facilitate the agenda of one political party and denying equal opportunity and level playing ground to other political parties," the petition has alleged. It has sought doing away with the mandatory requirements for a voter ID card and verification by an MLA, minister or chairman of TYVS. It has also urged the court to issue directions to the government to invite fresh applications under the modified guidelines and to rescind the ones received earlier. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was formally indicted on corruption charges on Tuesday, hours after he withdrew his request for parliamentary immunity in the three graft cases against him, becoming the first sitting premier to face criminal charges. Netanyahu, 70, has been charged with bribery and fraud and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit submitted the indictment in Jerusalem District Court. Netanyahu will be the first sitting prime minister to face trial in the country's history. A trial date has not been set yet, but the legal process could possibly take years. "The indictment was filed a short time ago as is required by law," Mandelblit's office was quoted by Times of Israel as saying. A spokesperson for the Justice Ministry told portal Ynet that once a member of Knesset (Israeli parliament) rescinds his immunity request, he must be treated like any other citizen and the ministry has to immediately file indictment against him with the court. Under Israeli law, Netanyahu does not have to resign upon indictment. He only has to resign if he is convicted and that conviction is upheld through the appeals process. The move came after Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, withdrew a request for parliamentary immunity from prosecution on charges. The Israeli leader made his decision public through a Facebook Post from Washington, where he is on a visit to meet US President Donald Trump before the latter announces his plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. During this fateful time for the people of Israel, while I am in the US on a historic mission to shape Israel's permanent borders and ensure our security for future generations, another Knesset episode is expected to begin in the immunity circus, Netanyahu wrote. Since I was not given due process, because all the rules of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) were trampled on, and since the results of the procedure were pre-dictated without proper discussion, I decided not to allow this dirty game to continue, he said. The indictment came less than five weeks before the unprecedented third round of parliamentary elections within a year slated for March 2. The date for Tuesday's Knesset discussion was set before Netanyahu announced that he would travel to Washington for the unveiling of Trump's long awaited peace plan. The timing of the announcement of the peace plan has been criticised by many analysts in Israel as an attempt to rescue Netanyahu from the immunity proceedings. The Israeli Prime Minister's main political rival, Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party, who also met Trump in Washington on Monday said that Netanyahu cannot run the country while standing trial in the three three cases against him. Netanyahu is going to trial. We must move forward. Israel's citizens have a clear choice: A Prime Minister who will work for them or a Prime Minister working for himself," Gantz, a former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces, said in a statement. "No one can run a state and at the same time manage three serious criminal cases for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, he emphasised. Mandelblit couldn't officially indict Netanyahu so long as his immunity request was pending and the Knesset hadn't voted on it. The Attorney General announced in November that he would indict Netanyahu in all the three corruption investigations against him. The prime minister is charged with fraud and breach of trust in all three cases, as well as bribery in one of them. Netanyahu has all through denied wrongdoing and has accused police and state prosecutors of participating in an attempted coup against him, orchestrated by the Left and a hostile media. The first case, dubbed Case 1000, involves accusations that Netanyahu received gifts and benefits from billionaire benefactors including Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan in exchange for favours. In Case 2000, involving accusations that Netanyahu agreed with Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper publisher Arnon Mozes to weaken a rival daily in return for more favourable coverage from Yedioth, the Premier is charged with fraud and breach of trust, while Mozes has been charged with bribery. In the so called Case 4000, widely seen as the most serious, Netanyahu is accused of having advanced regulatory decisions that benefited Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder in the Bezeq telecom giant, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, in exchange for positive coverage from the Elovitch-owned Walla site. Mandelblit has charged both Netanyahu and Elovitch with bribery in the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The head of Harvard Universitys chemistry department has been charged with failing to disclose funding from the Chinese government, according to an indictment unsealed on Tuesday. Charles Lieber, the department head, allegedly hid his participation in Chinas thousand talents program from officials in the Defense Department and the National Institutes of Health. China uses what it calls talent plans to encourage scientific research by providing government funding to select scientists. The U.S. government has charged a number of individuals funded by talent plans with attempting to steal U.S. intellectual property for the Chinese government. While association with a Talent Program is not illegal, it can create incentives to steal, violate export controls, or (at a minimum) conflicts of interest, said John Demers, chief of the national security division at the Justice Department, at a November presentation. In one case, the Justice Department revealed in November that federal agents in 2017 had stopped Haitao Xiang, a Missouri resident and employee of an agriculture-biotechnology company, from boarding a plane to China with a copy a proprietary algorithm belonging to his company. Also in November, the FBI admitted in a Senate hearing that it had not done enough to counter the threat of intellectual property theft by China. With our present-day knowledge of the threat from Chinese plans, we wish we had taken more rapid and comprehensive action in the past, said John Brown, assistant director of the counterintelligence division at the FBI, at the hearing. The time to make up for that is now. More from National Review Nando's has launched its own plant-based burger patty to compete with some of its biggest competitors - and the fast-food giant is giving them away for free. Following the likes of McDonald's, Grill'd, Oporto and Hungry Jack's, Nando's will begin selling its Great Pretender burger in Queensland next Tuesday. At just $9.95, the plant-based chicken alternative is an affordable option for people wanting to steer clear of meat. Brisbane-based food gurus will have the opportunity to try the burger for free this Thursday ahead of its official launch next week. Nando's has launched its own plant-based burger 'The Great Pretender' to compete with some of its biggest competitors Nando's will be offering 500 Great Pretender burgers with chips on the side from 11am at Nando's Festival Towers in Brisbane's CBD to promote the new product. Nando's Head of Food, Mario Manabe, told Daily Mail Australia the business is hoping to give its customers the option to 'switch up their protein source when the mood strikes'. 'We've used key ingredients from our signature PERi-PERi recipe to give the Great Pretender a kick of flavours,' he said. The protein patty is flavoured with lemon, herbs and garlic, as well as Nando's African Birds Eye Chilli. Mr Manabe said the flavour and texture of the patty has been reworked consistently recently to ensure it was perfect before hitting the market. Nando's Head of Food, Mario Manabe, told Daily Mail Australia the business is hoping to give its customers the option to 'switch up their protein source when the mood strikes' 'Unlike our veggie patty, the Great Pretender's texture is very similar to a minced chicken burger patty, and it caramelises and smells just like meat when it's cooked,' Mr Manabe said. For people who don't like burgers, the patty can substitute for chicken in any other wrap, pita, salad or paella for an additional $1. 'We're excited to be innovating our menu and providing an option for Nando's fans which still includes all the perks of our famous PERi-PERi flavour. 'Our aim is to make dining at Nando's as inclusive as possible, so this addition will certainly help in catering to Australia's ever-changing eating habits.' The business hopes the product will be ready to launch nationwide later in 2020. U.S. House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and House Clerk Cheryl Johnson, as they lead the seven impeachment managers, including House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), bring the two impeachment articles to the Senate chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 15. 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) With Impeachment, Democrats Fall for Russian Gambit Commentary With all media eyes on the Trump impeachment farce currently wending its way to an inevitable conclusion of exoneration, its crucial to remember where this whole charade started, not where its headed. From the moment that Donald Trump outraged Democratic sentiment in 2016 by having the effrontery to defeat Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, the entire apparatus of Leftism Inc. has collectively rallied to overturn the results. Democratic animus against Trump had many causes: Hillarys hurt feelings and incandescent rage; minorities baseless charges of racism even before Trump took office; open-borders advocates justifiable fears that the new president would start to take control of the border crisis; and the presss stunned shock in seeing its confident predictions of a Clinton victory evaporate on the night of Nov. 8. Indeed, on Inauguration Day 2017, The Washington Post helpfully announced that the campaign to impeach President Trump has begun. The Dossier In short order, the Democrats settled on the notion that Trump had somehow conspired with the Russians to influence public sentiment against Clinton and the Democrats, and possibly even affect the vote totals in polling places across the land. As proof, they offered an anonymously sourced dossier on Trump compiled by a former British spy at the behest of Fusion GPS, an opposition-research company staffed by former journalists, and sourced to Moscow. It was a salacious farrago of rumor, speculation, and outright falsehoods, helpfully shared sub rosa with members of Congress and left-wing journalists, as well as the intelligence community operatives sympathetic to Clinton and the outgoing Obama administration. Indeed, the late Sen. John McCain handed a copy to former FBI Director James Comey in December 2016. Most journalistic organizations at first hesitated to publish the dossier until the website BuzzFeed broke the barrier and ran it on Jan. 10, 2017just 10 days before the inauguration. The mainstream media then, of course, immediately abandoned their professional scruples and gleefully piled on, on the grounds that the dossier was now news. And it was news, of great importancejust not in the way the press and others in Washington thought it was. Because of its provenance, the inexpert reporters assumed the dossier was the product of old-fashioned journalistic shoe leather, with the added fillip of being funneled through a real spy. (Media types tend to swoon whenever a putative spy sidles up to them in a bar and whispers sweet disinformational nothings in their ears.) Because of Christopher Steeles apparent bona fides as a former MI6 agent, it had a patina of authenticity. But that was as far as both the press and politicians like McCain bothered to look. They should have gone one short step further: to Russia. The notion that the Russians would aid a Republican, any Republican, was always absurd on the face of it. Practically since the Bolshevik Revolution, the U.S. left has made common cause with Russians, both in their Soviet incarnation and now as a disruptive gangster state dedicated to electoral mischief. A parade of leftist red-diaper babiesSen. Bernie Sanders is just the latest incarnationhave advocated for the Russians, spied for the Russians, and worked for the Russians, some out of a sentimental attachment to the old country, some as true believers in the march of socialism and communism. From the anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti in 1920, through the ring of spies that stole the atomic secrets and funneled them to the Russians in the 1940s and 50s, to the Soviet penetration of the American Civil Rights movement, to todays resurgent interest in democratic socialism, the one thing the left has in common is a hatred of the United States as founded, and a desire to see it humbled. Russian Disinformation For the Russians (and, by extension, the Ukrainians, since that country has been part of a larger Russian/Soviet entity for hundreds of years) to work against the interests of the U.S. left makes no sense at all. But it all becomes clear when you view the dossier for what it really was: a disinformation operation of a particularly insidious kind, and one that the chess-playing Russians can manufacture in their sleep. As U.S. journalist David Satter put it in National Review on Jan. 12, 2017, the dossier was a carefully constructed attempt to disrupt American political life for years to come reading the Steele report, I was struck by the way his sources employed the standard techniques of Russian propaganda and manipulation. But why would the Russians, via Steeles imprimatur, implicate themselves? Simple: to give the fabrication the simulacrum of veracity, and thus conceal its larger purpose, which was and continues to be the destabilization of the West. There was foreign influence in the 2016 election, but it came from eastern Europe via Britain. Think of the dossier as a poisoned pawn gambit but on a larger scalesay, a rook or even a queensacrificed in the service of winning the chess match. Ones opponent, who would never dare such a risky move himself, is so dazzled by his good fortune that he falls right into the checkmate trap coming in two or three moves. The goal, in short, was to smear Trump with a chimerical notion of Russian support, thus allowing the Democrats to cry foul against ideological allies, while accomplishing the larger goal of sowing mistrust of the U.S. electoral system in the minds of people who never had given it a second thought. Classic Russian disinformation of this type has been going on since the twin defections of Anatoly Golitsyn and Yuri Nosenko to the United States in 1964, each with contradictory stories about the KGB and its roles in the Kennedy assassination, drove the CIAs counterintelligence director, James Jesus Angleton, nearly mad with his search for a Soviet mole within the agency, thus helping to cripple it. For the Russians, it didnt matter what happened to Golitsyn and Nosenko; what counted was creating confusion within the CIAa legacy that survives to this day. And now here we are again. That the pretense for the impeachment involves Ukraine ought to be a dead giveaway; despite the fact the Mueller investigation found no basis for the collusion charges, the lefts refusal to accept that verdict is all of a piece with their larger refusal to accept the results of the 2016 election. You can bet that even when Trump is found not guilty of the Houses baseless charges, the campaign to drive him from office in disgrace will last until the next election, and probably beyond. Michael Walsh is the author of The Devils Pleasure Palace and The Fiery Angel, both published by Encounter Books. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Former managing director of RTE Radio Clare Duignan has been appointed to the Irish Music Rights Organisation's board of directors. The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) announced her appointment as a non-executive external director on its board yesterday. In addition to the 15 non-executive directors of songwriters and music publishers, there are three external directors on the board who are appointed on the basis of the particular expertise and skills they can bring to the workings of the board. Ms Duignan has worked in leadership roles at RTE for over 20 years, including Head of Independent Productions, Director of Programmes TV, and Managing Director Radio and Performing Groups. Having previously served on the board of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, The Dublin International Film Festival, and The Arts Council, and she chaired the Advisory Board of ShinAwil Film and Television, she is currently a board member with Failte Ireland, The Irish Times DAC, The Chester Beatty Library, Business to Arts, and The Institute of Banking. Speaking on her new appointment, Ms Duignan said: I am delighted to be joining the board of IMRO at this exciting time. The Irish music industry accounts for over 13,000 jobs and contributes more than 700 million annually to the economy. It's a crucial sector for Ireland, both economically and culturally. "I hope to use my experience in broadcasting and film, the arts and business to support IMRO in delivering the best possible opportunities for songwriters, composers and music publishers in this digital age, including ensuring the speedy and effective enactment of the EU Copyright Directive so that members are properly remunerated and can reach their full potential at home, in Europe and across the globe. Eleanor McEvoy, chair of IMRO, said: We are thrilled to welcome Clare Duignan to the board. "Her extensive experience across the public and private sectors, and her passion for the arts and culture, make her a huge asset to IMRO. "We look forward to working with Clare and the rest of our board to ensure that music is protected and promoted and that our members, the best songwriters, producers, publishers and performers, are treated fairly. This appointment comes at an important time for IMRO as the vital EU Copyright Directive is due to be transposed into Irish law next year. "This directive will modernise copyright legislation and protect songwriters, artists, and creators by ensuring they are paid fairly for their hard and important work." Fuel Your Pipeline. Close More Deals. Our full-service marketing programs deliver sales-ready leads. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee! Learn more Amazon, Apple, Google and the Zigbee Alliance are teaming up on a new Internet Protocol-based standard for smart home device connectivity, they jointly announced Wednesday. Connected Home over IP will be an open source project. A working group will define a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification. The goal is to enable communication across smart home devices, mobile apps and cloud services. The project will leverage development work and protocols from existing systems such as Amazons Alexa Smart Home, Apples HomeKit, Googles Weave, and the Zigbee Alliances Dotdot data models. The standard will complement existing technologies. The message today to everyone already invested in current standards is to continue designing and bringing your products to market, said Zigbee Alliance CEO Tobin Richardson. Were here to support our flagship standards including Zigbee and address advancements as they develop. The working group does not intend to standardize smart home user interfaces such as voice assistants, smart displays, or desktop and mobile apps. Why IP? Although Internet Protocol is the most common network layer used in homes and offices, there currently is no widely adopted open smart home standard based on it. Devices typically use proprietary protocols that must be tethered to a home network, according to the Connected Home over IP Working Group. A standard based on IP will allow devices to connect directly with standardized networking equipment. There are multiple proprietary smart home device standards and three major platforms: Amazons Alexa, Googles Assistant and Apples Siri. Amazon, Google and Apple are committed to continue support for consumers and their existing products, but there is no indication yet whether any of the other major players involved will do so. Existing protocols on IP are out there, noted Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research. The key here is the ability to perform interoperably and deliver enterprise-class security as well. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Doing so is not an easy task, but its also not impossible and is very much needed, he told the E-Commerce Times. This working group is in its infancy, and, as work gets under way, well have more details to disclose, Zigbee Alliance spokesperson Heather Chesterman told the E-Commerce Times. First Look at Specs A draft specification and a preliminary reference open source implementation are scheduled for release in late 2020. The first spec release will focus on WiFi, up to and including 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), that is 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax; Thread over 802.15.4-2006 at 2.4 GHz; and IP implementations for Bluetooth Low Energy, versions 4.1, 4.2, and 5.0 for the network and physical wireless protocols. The reference implementation and its supporting tools will be developed and maintained on GitHub. Compliant devices must implement at least one supported technology, but not necessarily all of them. The standard likely will include other IP-bearing technologies such as Ethernet, cellular and broadband. Hope Springs Eternal Putting together a common industry standard typically requires a major player to drive the process, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. Apple and Amazon are of equivalent power, and they dont like each other, he told the E-Commerce Times. Google has the power but lacks the focus needed, and Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm dont appear to be playing, so the effort may also lack critical mass. Most devices in smart homes use WiFi and Bluetooth rather than Zigbee, pointed out Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research. So, if you want a solution that fits the home, you need the WiFi Alliance and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, he told the E-Commerce Times. Thats the first issue. Then you have the challenge of pulling hundreds or even thousands of viewpoints together. It would have been great if this was addressed five years ago. Keeping Things Secure Smart devices, including baby monitors, have been hacked for years, and frequent hacks of Amazons Ring device cameras led consumer groups to issue a warning. There are two aspects to the problem: Device manufacturers treat security as an afterthought, and consumers neglect basic security precautions, such as changing the factory-installed password, or they use easily guessed weak passwords. Security will be a fundamental design requirement for the upcoming standard. The new standard should leverage the cloud, Enderle said. If done right, this will take much of the security problem away from consumers and put it in the hands of the cloud providers, who are now taking security very seriously. However, I think the only solution is to have more intelligence in the home and not rely so much on the cloud, McGregor asserted. The combination of integrating AI and doing it locally is the only way to overcome some of the issues we see today with these devices. A Pre-emptive Strike? Is the emphasis on security a preemptive reaction to legislation? wondered Constellation Research Principal Analyst Liz Miller. California Senate Bill 37 and Assembly Bill 1906 require connected device manufacturers to equip each device with a reasonable security feature appropriate to its function, specific to how it collects, receives and transmits data, Miller said. There are no teeth to [the bills] but the reality is that legislation is coming, she told the E-Commerce Times. So is this move towards a unified standard meant to get out in front of the chaos and attempt to lay guide rails before legislation does it for us? US President Donald Trump discussed developments in Syria and Libya in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, a White House spokesman said on Twitter. "The two leaders discussed the need to eliminate foreign interference and maintain the ceasefire in Libya. The leaders agreed that the violence being carried out in Idlib, Syria must stop," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a tweet. A renewed drive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to recapture rebel-held Idlib province in Syria's northwest sparked a fresh exodus of many thousands of civilians toward Turkey's border on Monday amid heavy air strikes, aid workers and witnesses said. In Libya, military commander Khalifa Haftar moved forces on Sunday toward the city of Misrata, which is allied to the country's internationally recognized government, officials and residents said. The increase in fighting came a week after Turkey, which backs the government in Tripoli, and the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, which back Haftar, agreed with Western powers at a summit in Berlin to push for a lasting ceasefire and uphold an arms embargo. A Queensland pub has expressed its deepest condolences after a woman died while participating in a lamington eating contest during Australia Day celebrations on the weekend. The event was held at the Beach House Hotel in Hervey Bay on Sunday, when a woman collapsed during the all-you-can-eat contest. The participants were reportedly required to eat as many lamingtons as possible within a short time frame, with contestants shovelling the cake into their mouths. Tragically, a 60-year-old woman competing in the event choked and was rushed to hospital before being pronounced dead. The management and staff of the Beach House Hotel offer our deepest condolences to the friends and family of one of our patrons following the tragic event at our venue on Australia Day, the pub wrote on its Facebook page Monday. Contestants had to eat as many lamingtons as they could. Source: Facebook/Nine News We acknowledge and thank our supportive patrons, staff, and the Queensland Ambulance Service for their prompt and professional response while this tragic incident was unfolding. The hotel staff have been offered professional support while our thoughts firmly remain with the family at this challenging time. The Queensland Ambulance Service told Yahoo News Australia the 60-year-old woman was rushed to Hervey Bay hospital as paramedics performed CPR on her for 30 minutes but they were unable to save her. The festivities, which also included a pie eating competition, were done in collaboration with the nearby Top of the Bay Bakery which also expressed its heartfelt condolences to the womans family. The bakery took to social media to say it was saddened by the tragedy. Source: Facebook One witness who attended the pub recalled the shocking moment on Facebook. Sadly a lady died during the lamington eating competition, she wrote. This lady shovelled the lamington into her mouth with no restraint... inhaled the coconut and arrested. The pub was very quick to respond with CPR, and the ambulance rocked up... working on her for over half an hour. It didn't look good. One witness told News Corp that she noticed the woman dribbling and called an ambulance. Story continues I was filming and just as my friend finished I noticed she was dribbling so I rang 000 as she fell to the ground. I was talking to 000 until they arrived, she said. 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. : Private sector lender HDFC Bank has chalked out expansion plans in Tamil Nadu, including adding 125 new branches, taking the total network to over 400 in two years, a top official said here on Tuesday. With the opening of new branches, the bank is expected to create around 1,500 new jobs in the State, the official said. HDFC Bank zonal head Tamil Nadu R Suresh told reporters here that the bank achieved business milestone of Rs 1.51 lakh crore with a market share of nine per cent. The total business mix is Rs 89,000 crore advances and Rs 62,000 crore deposits. "We are committed to offer world-class banking services to remote parts of the state. Our plan (is) to open 125 more branches is a testament to this", he said. "With the opening of the branches, the bank will create another 1,000 to 1,500 jobs in the state, in addition to the 7,000 employees at present", he said. HDFC Bank, zonal head, Ramdoss Bharathan said, "as part of our commitment to offer convenience to the customers, we have installed cash deposit machines at over 100 branches in the state so far". The bank currently has a network of 284 branches and 1,172 ATM network in the State. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On Monday, Gov. Mike Parson appointed Sen. Gary Romine to the State Tax Commission. Romine will resign as state senator for the third district to serve as chair of the commission for a six-year term. The governor asked me to serve as chair thats not part of the original announcement I told him I would, I said. According to Romine, the appointment does require a confirmation from the state senate before being official. If the Senate confirms me, which I dont see any reason they wont, Ive talked to all the senators in the chamber and they all support the appointment, he said. It should be official Thursday and once Im confirmed, then I will resign my position and be sworn in later that afternoon. Romine was elected in November 2012 to serve Missouris 3rd Senatorial District and was re-elected for a second term in November 2016. He has served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Education, and vice chairman of the Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure, and Public Safety. By state law, he is term-limited and could not run for reelection. With the timing of the appointment and Romines resignation, his senate seat will remain vacant until after the election this year. A state representative and a state senator cannot be appointed by the governor, that has to be an elected position, he said. The governor and I talked about a special election; since there is already going to be an election for that seat this year, it didnt make sense to expend the extra taxpayer money to have a special election. We agreed not to call a special election for this seat. Romine previously served as president and CEO of Show-Me-Rent-To-Own, a business he founded more than 30 years ago. What began as a single store in Leadington, has grown to include nine stores throughout the state. Prior to starting his own business, he taught high school in the Branson and Farmington school districts. Romine served as chairman of the board for the Ste. Genevieve-based MRV Banks from 2007 - 2013 and was previously the president of the Mineral Area College Board of Trustees, of which he had been a member for several years. He has also been a member of the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations for 30 years, previously serving as president and public relations chairman. During this time, he participated in Federal Trade Commission and congressional hearings, an experience that gave him unique insight into navigating the federal legislative process. Additionally, he has served as a legislative liaison for the Missouri Rental Dealers Association and as a member of the Government Relations Committee for the Missouri Bankers Association. In this new role, Romine will actually be spending more time in Jefferson City than he does as a senator. Its a full time job in Jefferson City, he said. We obviously have some field work, and there will be some research work that can be done by computer, so I can manage my schedule according to that. One of the primary responsibilities of the state tax commission is coordinating the local taxing entities. They are the next authority above county assessors and rule on any appeals from the county boards of equalization. As most things in Missouri, municipalities and counties really have to work through the state if they want to make a lot of changes. They have to get the states permission, said Romine. The commission, its the relationship between the state and the county in getting our property tax issues resolved. The new role will be totally different than being senator, Romine explained. He will be able to focus on one subject matter instead of legislative topics that cover almost anything. Being in the tax commission I will have the ability to affect policy that deals with taxes and taxing entities within the counties, he said. The statutory responsibilities of the commission is to make sure we have the most up-to-date system of assessing taxes, which may mean modifying statutes that reflect that. "One of the things that we want to look at as well is the timeliness of assessments. Some of the issues across the state have been the tremendous increases that some businesses and residents have seen, because there has been a delay in assessments, and there is sticker shock when there is a big bump all of a sudden. Romine will go from proposing and voting on legislation to consulting with the house and senate on what tax reforms may be needed and then enforcing the laws enacted. The tax commission, because they are directly and intimately involved with the process, puts together recommendations on what changes might need to be made statutorily, he said. Then work with the legislative body and present that, and hopefully have a legislator that is willing to file a bill to address and deal with those issues. "We are more of a research and recommendation position, and then we enforce the statues as they are presented to us. Mark Marberry is a reporter for the Farmington Press and Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3629, or at mmarberry@farmingtonpressonline.com Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 3 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Yves here. The limited media reporting on protests in France over pension reform depicts Macron as having won by outlasting the opposition. This account indicates that while some players, like certain union leaders, have surrendered, the rank and file, as well as other interests, are carrying on. Im not in a position to validate whether the fight over pensions is still in play, but this piece does have a lot of detail on the history and recent developments. By Touraj Eghtesad, a French-Iranian teacher of History, Geography and Civic Education in Strasbourg (France). Formerly employed at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, he is an anthropologist specialised in education, social movements and youth. Originally published at openDemocracy Last October, I first started to get wind of a strike against Macrons pension reform. As I am under 30, I didnt think twice about it. I had yet to discover that this unprecedented call to strike is the clearest example to date of the changing nature of workers movements in France. Some call the shift a giletjaune-isation, because it comes from the bottom. A local assembly of trade unions at the RATP (Paris transport agency owned by the state) decided to strike on December 5. The strike was announced two months in advance and quickly rallied the railway workers. It has now lasted over 50 days. As I write, the strike is ongoing but has failed to produce concrete results, despite the very new modalities of action which express such profound human creativity and solidarity. Tensions have been extremely high since December 5, most notably in the first couple of weeks. On a couple of occasions, the Paris metro has been shut down and half of the trains in the country were not functioning. Companies have promoted working from home and university exams were either delayed for a month or even cancelled. The government and the reformist unions (centrists like the CFDT and UNSA) called for a truce during the Christmas holidays, which the workers in the major transport companies disobeyed. Both of those unions have since shown support for the reform, leading to a disconnect between their base and their leaders. Many have continued to strike and protest, while others have symbolically ripped up their membership cards and left the CFDT. The remainder of the unions, the Gilets Jaunes and individual citizens have called for a complete withdrawal of the pensions reform. The Pensions Reform The government had originally planned to present the pensions reform in 2019, but had to postpone this because of the Gilets Jaunes uprising. Since then, all that was known was that there would be a point-based system, which Belgium had rejected after mounting a large protest movement of its own. As the right-wing presidential candidate Francois Fillon famously told business owners in 2017, the only advantage of a point-based system is that it is easy to reduce pensions. Macrons campaign promise concerning pensions was that he would create a universal pension scheme instead of the many schemes for different professions. The government insists the reform is about justice between different pension plans. They will be calculated based on ones entire career, whereas it is currently the 25 best years in the private sector and the last six months of your career in the public sector where wages rise over time which are accounted for. Soon after the movement began in December, the government withdrew plans to change the pension scheme for stewards, police officers and the military to avoid trouble in key sectors. In all the precipitation and mishaps around the law, one thing has become apparent: there is little logic behind such a major law, as was expressed by the Conseil dEtat (highest administrative court) last week. It will open a market of 320 billion euros for private pension funds, in which people will have to invest to live decently through retirement. One of the major targets of the laws opponents is Blackrock, the famous American hedge fund, whose president of French operations received the Legion dhonneur, the French equivalent of a knighthood. Jean-Paul Delevoye, the minister in charge of the pensions reform, was pushed to quit once the public became aware of his multiple jobs including conflicts of interest regarding his involvement with insurance companies. So far, this has been the only true concession to the laws opponents. Banner. | Authors photo. Those mobilised are extremely determined for thelaw to be withdrawn. There is too much to lose for many professions: lawyers and chiropractors might no longer make enough to run their own independent offices, public sector workers will lose between 300 and 1000 euros a month, the pension system will be emptied of billions of euros from its wealthiest contributors (above 10, 000 euros per month) and all will have to work longer (up to 64 instead of 62 currently). Pensions have been capped at 14% of the GDP and with rising numbers of retirees, individual pensions will be reduced. A Radical Protest But this protest movement is about so much more than pensions: it is a struggle against neoliberalism and Macrons authoritarianism, although this is not explicit in terms of demands. Some people feel like a defeat in this struggle will make it difficult to mobilise in the future considering the momentum we currently have. Workers have been mobilised in many different sectors over the past two and a half years and their frustrations are intensifying. Macron has a 25% approval rating and while the wealthy have made record profits since he became president, over a million people have gone below the poverty line. While the wealthy have made record profits since he became president, over a million people have gone below the poverty line. It seems like power is hanging by a thread although the government shows no sign of compromise, with local elections approaching in March. The police have been heavily mobilised and have begun in recent days to repress some protests violently. Many unionists have had disciplinary measures taken against them, either by their employer or in court. Macron recently stated that if people think France is a dictatorship, he wished them to go live in a real dictatorship and see what its like. It is refreshing and motivating to feel the solidarity in the air over the past couple of months. Over 1.5 million people protested on December 5 and 17 and there has consistently been 500, 000 people on other days of cheerful protesting. Some energy sector workers have distributed free electricity to those who cannot pay their bill. Tens of thousands of people have contributed to various strike funds, with one of them famously reaching the symbolic 1 million euro mark. In my hometown of Strasbourg, the atmosphere has been very peaceful and positive despite there being few signs of victory. People seem to have faith in the determination of their friends and colleagues. While some people boast about the strike and protests lasting too long or being useless, over 60% of French people support the strike according to most polls. Strikers have it difficult at times: some people made 0 euros last month. Yet the strike is still strong but many have realised that modalities of action need to change for the movement to continue to build. Diverse and Creative Actions While the mainstream French media reports have been reporting for some time that the strike is dying down or becoming violent, the nature of the movement just seems to be changing. Several new sectors officially entered the battle in the past two weeks: university lecturers, lawyers, dockers, certain pilots and others. Strikes now focus on specific days and more creative actions are employed to gain visibility. For example, a weekly torch protest has begun on Thursday nights, adding a certain warmth and beauty to marches. The movement is intensifying, with more small-scale sectoral actions and shockupations. These occupations that last a couple of minutes or hours have taken over government buildings, the CFDT office, shopping malls, public squares, etc. This is often interpreted as violence by government officials, who have been overly represented on television the past couple of days, and television editorialists who sacralise private property and often lack nuanced analyses. Torchlight processions. | Authors photo. The strikers have been a great inspiration and every protest is a moment of reassurance which helps activists give meaning to their action. On strike days, the protest atmosphere has been much livelier than usual. Bridges are being built between experienced activists and newcomers from different sectors. All over France, feminists from the anti-globalization organisation ATTAC have put on their work overalls, performed choreographies and sang parodies of famous pop songs. LGBTQI+ activists have been quite visible in Strasbourgs protests and have been very vocal with chants emphasising the anti-feminist nature of Macrons reform. Students have brought plastic gasoline cans to use as drums. Archeologists and certain doctoral students have come dressed up in historical costume. Railway workers have been exploding air cannons and some in public works running electric chainsaws. Scarecrows and signs have been made to parody ministers and their reforms with great humour. Theatrics and sabotage have also been employed on work days or minor strike days. Firefighters have staged die-ins, in front of emblematic places such as courthouses. In Strasbourg, hundreds of them lay down on the floor and let off smoke bombs. Workers at Frances public radio sang the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves by Verdi to interrupt their director in the midst of a redundancy plan. Lawyers threw their gowns on the floor in front of the Justice Minister during her conference. Doctors then threw their scrubs on the floor and 1000 of them resigned from all administrative tasks in a letter to the Health Minister. Teachers threw backpacks, notebooks and chalk at certain schools and administrative buildings. The Opera of Paris performed a ballet in the street and have been on strike for over 6 weeks. President Macron had to be extracted from a theatre one night after a tip from a journalist on Twitter brought protestors to the door, which reminded observers of the tensions at the height of the Gilets Jaunes movement. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Robertson Stephens Wealth Management, LLC ("Robertson Stephens") has expanded its parent company board with the appointment of Carsten Kengeter, former Chairman and CEO of UBS Investment Bank, and Raj Bhattacharyya, former head of European and North American Capital Markets as well as Americas Foreign Exchange and Emerging Markets businesses for Deutsche Bank. For more information on Robertson Stephens, please visit https://rscapital.com/what-we-do/ Mr. Kengeter is currently chairman, partner and co-founder of Circuitus Capital, a London -based asset management firm specializing in infrastructure equity investments across Europe and Latin America . -based asset management firm specializing in infrastructure equity investments across and . Mr. Bhattacharyya is currently an early-stage investor and advisor for companies in the financial technology space as founder and CEO of YY Capital. Mr. Kengeter is a senior industry leader with three decades of experience growing and transforming businesses globally in investment banking, asset management and market infrastructure. He previously served as CEO of Deutsche Boerse Group and before that Chairman and CEO of UBS Investment Bank and member of the UBS Group Executive Board. Prior to UBS, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs and a credit derivatives trader at Barclays De Zoete Wedd. While at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Kengeter was Co-Head of the Securities Division Asia (ex- Japan). Mr. Bhattacharyya, who has over 25 years of financial services experience across trading and capital markets, spent 17 years at Deutsche Bank, most recently as the head of the Foreign Exchange franchise in the Americas and head of the Emerging Markets business in the Americas, and previously as head of Capital Markets in Western Europe and prior to that, in North America. He has also worked at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. "We are extremely pleased Carsten and Raj have joined the board," said Gaurav Bhandari, Robertson Stephens' Board Chairman and the Managing Partner of Long Arc Capital. "Their decades of experience leading some of the biggest franchises in the industry and their more recent entrepreneurial endeavors will prove invaluable as we continue to build Robertson Stephens into a firm of distinction, applying the best technology and industry resources available to transform the management of wealth for our clients." Mr. Kengeter said: "Robertson Stephens has made remarkable strides since its start in wealth management in 2018 and is positioned strongly to build on that momentum in 2020. I look forward to engaging actively with management on strategic direction and with the advisors to expand the business offering and harness the true value of their franchises for years to come." Mr. Bhattacharyya said: "The wealth management industry is undergoing significant change, and Robertson Stephens is poised to offer its advisors and clients a truly differentiated offering in this space. I look forward to adding my experience to help this great company." Mr. Kengeter holds an MSc in Finance and Accounting from the London School of Economics, a B.A. (Honors) from Middlesex University in the UK, and a Diplom-Betriebswirt from the University of Reutlingen in Germany. Mr. Bhattacharyya earned his B.A. in Computer Science and Engineering from Harvard University. With the additions, the firm expands its parent company board to seven members. Aside from Mr. Bhandari, other members include Stuart Katz, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Robertson Stephens, along with Long Arc Capital partners, Ranu Dayal, Kipp Nelson and Tobin Whamond. About Robertson Stephens Robertson Stephens Wealth Management, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Robertson Stephens Holdings, LLC. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management, LLC is an independent SEC-registered investment advisor with offices in San Francisco, CA; New York, NY; Sun Valley, ID; and Holmdel, NJ that provides wealth management solutions for high-net-worth individuals and family offices nationwide. Robertson Stephens is committed to transparent advice, strong investment outcomes, sophisticated digital solutions, and high-quality client services. For more information please visit: https://www.rscapital.com. CONTACT: Sarah Tremallo JConnelly (908) 967-0381 [email protected] SOURCE Robertson Stephens Related Links https://www.rscapital.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 18:00:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A Palestinian child plays in the wreckage of a car at Nahr al-Bared neighborhood, southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Jan. 25, 2020. The Nahr al-Bared neighborhood is one of the poorest and most marginalized areas in the Israeli-blockaded seaside territory. Bordered by a huge landfill from the south, and a cemetery from the east, it is home to more than 100 families living at shabby houses made of tin sheets. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) by Sanaa Kamal GAZA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Hamza Ferwana, 12 years old, from the Palestinian Gaza Strip, spends hours every day searching through trash piles at a municipal rubbish dump to earn a living from items he may find and sell. "I am digging out rubbish in search of food or items that can be sold such as iron, aluminum, or plastic," the little boy told Xinhua while working at a landfill site in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis. Ferwana lives in the Khan Younis city's Nahr al-Bared neighborhood, one of the poorest and most marginalized areas in the Israeli-blockaded seaside territory. The neighborhood, which is bordered by a huge landfill from the south, and a cemetery from the east, is home to more than 100 families living at shabby houses made of tin sheets. "We wait for garbage trucks so we can search for food between those piles, or collect metal tools to sell to feed my family," Ferwana said, holding an empty flour bag. The teen boy has been living, with his 10-member family, in a one-room house for 10 years after they were driven out of their home for being unable to pay the monthly rent. Ferwana wished that he could go back to school and continue his education. Not far from Ferwana's house, Lina al-Barqoun, 22, was busy cooking food for her two children over wood fire. Lina, who has been pregnant for eight months, described their living conditions as "tragic and non-human," saying that one of her children suffers from chronic asthma, while the other child suffers from atrophy of foot muscles because of scorpion sting. "My husband, my children and I live among harmful insects, scorpions, snakes and mice during summer," the lady said. "We are very poor; sometimes we cannot buy medicines and food for my children." She expressed hope to move with her family to a better house, urging aid organizations to help them get rid of "the humiliating" life. Outside of the worn-out tin homes, 34-year-old Mohammed Abu Nimer, a father of five, lit wood fire to his wife in order to cook for his children. "We do not want to live here, and we are looking forward to moving to a better place and having a better life," said the middle-aged man. "I want my kids to have a normal life, to find food whenever they are hungry." He appealed to all governmental and non-governmental institutions to work to end their sufferings and find solutions to the problems of the residents of the neighborhood. Gaza has been placed under a tight Israeli blockade since the Islamic Hamas movement seized the territory by force after routing forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip reached 52 percent in 2018, up from 44 percent in 2017. The United Nations has repeatedly warned of a humanitarian deterioration in Gaza. In 2019, it issued a report warning that the Gaza Strip will not be suitable for living if Israel continues imposing blockade on the enclave. - A clergyman, John Chinenye Oluoma, has spoken against political officer holders, civil servants and others in power that have hindered the progress of citizens - According to him, these set of people are the real witches and wizards that citizens of the country should be wary of - Oluomas preaching garnered mixed reactions from members of the internet community - Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in A video of Nigerian clergyman identified as Reverend John Chinenye Oluoma of the Wow Catholic church has gotten people talking on social media. In the video sighted by YEN.com.gh on the page of a Twitter user identified as Ogwuche Andrew Thomas, the man of God was seen preaching to his congregation about the real witches and wizards they should be scared of. Reverend John Oluoma preaching to a church congregation. Photo: YouTube Source: UGC READ ALSO: Ken Ofori-Atta is the reason why uniBank collapsed - Former deputy BoG governor Oluoma noted that the witches and wizards many pastors preach about are not the real ones, because the lord has granted humans dominion over them. He, however, stated that the reals ones that citizens of the country should be scared off are the ones at the helms of power. "The witches and wizard Im talking about are in the presidency, National Assembly, Senate, government houses. They are civil servants, politicians, Hausas, Ibos, Yorubas. They are Catholics, Pentecostals, Protestants, Christians, Muslims, those are the people that kill more people in Nigeria," the man of God said. PAY ATTENTION: Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana Speaking further, Oluoma said that he does not think the other evil forces he talked about earlier on have claimed lives like the long list of people he rolled out. He cited examples of office holders, who do not execute projects such as road construction, even when funds have been allocated to them. According to him, if people die from bad roads, then such politicians are responsible for their death. In a different portion of the clip, the clergyman while speaking about another set of witches and wizards mentioned fake pastors. He said many of them are responsible for a lot of broken marriages and failed business simply because of their wrong teachings. Watch the full video below: READ ALSO: Sikorsky S-76: 7 facts about helicopter in Kobe Bryant's fatal crash As expected, the video had triggered mixed reactions from internet users on the platform. Read what some of them had to say below: READ ALSO: Ernest Asuzu: Nollywood actor allegedly turns to roadside beggar after battling with stroke (video) Meanwhile, YEN previously gathered the report of a Nigerian man based in Switzerland who called out top Nigerian pastors for failing to do their work. The man identified as Akeem Amao noted that the pastors going to Europe and America should be sent back home to Nigeria. He claimed that the pastors have not shown the hand of God in Nigeria, adding that they travel to places where the hand of God is. Faces of Ghana: Art is Lucrative But Not Appreciated-Ghanas Incredible 3DMotion Designer| #Yencomgh READ ALSO: Osei Kwame Despite: More videos, photos from wedding of Anita, daughter of Peace FM owner Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Aubree Gordon of the University of Michigan and Florian Krammer of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai answer some of the questions arising from the coronavirus outbreak. Is there a vaccine under development for the coronavirus? Work has begun at multiple organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, to develop a vaccine for this new strain of coronavirus, known among scientists as 2019-nCoV. Scientists are just getting started working, but their vaccine development strategy will benefit both from work that has been done on closely related viruses, such as SARS and MERS, as well as advances that have been made in vaccine technologies, such as nucleic acid vaccines, which are DNA- and RNA-based vaccines that produce the vaccine antigen in your own body. Was work underway on this particular strain? No, but work was ongoing for other closely related coronaviruses that have caused severe disease in humans, namely MERS and SARS. Scientists had not been concerned about this particular strain, as we did not know that it existed and could cause disease in humans until it started causing this outbreak. How do scientists know when to work on a vaccine for a coronavirus? Work on vaccines for severe coronaviruses has historically begun once the viruses start infecting humans. Given that this is the third major outbreak of a new coronavirus that we have had in the past two decades and also given the severity of disease caused by these viruses, we should consider investing in the development of a vaccine that would be broadly protective against these viruses. What does this work involve, and when might we actually have a vaccine? This work involves designing the vaccine constructs for example, producing the right target antigens, viral proteins that are targeted by the immune system, followed by testing in animal models to show that they are protective and safe. Once safety and efficacy are established, vaccines can advance into clinical trials in humans. If the vaccines induce the expected immune response and protection and are found safe, they can be mass produced for vaccination of the population. Currently, we lack virus isolates or samples of the virus to test the vaccines against. We also lack antibodies to make sure the vaccine is in good shape. We need the virus in order to test if the immune response induced by the vaccine works. Also, we need to establish what animals to test the vaccine on. That potentially could include mice and nonhuman primates. Vaccine development will likely take months. Can humans ever be safe from these types of outbreaks? We expect that these types of outbreaks will occur for the foreseeable future in irregular intervals. To try to prevent large outbreaks and pandemics, we need to improve surveillance in both humans and animals worldwide as well as invest in risk assessment, allowing scientists to evaluate the potential threat to human health from the virus, for detected viruses. We believe that global action is needed to invest in novel vaccine approaches that can be employed quickly whenever a new virus like the current coronavirus and also viruses similar to Zika, Ebola or influenza emerges. Currently, responses to emerging pathogens are mostly reactive, meaning they start after the outbreak happens. We need a more proactive approach supported by continuous funding. Aubree Gordon is a Professor of Public Health, at the University of Michigan. Florian Krammer is a Professor of Vaccinology, at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai This article was originally published on The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here. Barbie manufacturer Mattel has launched a new line of dolls that its creators say will showcase a multi-dimensional view of beauty and represent global diversity and inclusivity. The new additions, which will be released throughout 2020, include a Barbie with no hair and the skin condition vitiligo. Mattel said that it aims to redefine what it means to be a Barbie or look like Barbie with the launch of its new doll with vitiligo, adding that it will allow children to play out even more stories they see in the world around them. To design this doll, Mattel worked alongside a dermatologist to ensure vitiligo was accurately represented. In 2019, a prototype of the new addition was debuted on Barbies Instagram account and it quickly became the channels most popular post ever, receiving more than 60,000 likes. Mattel worked alongside a dermatologist to ensure vitiligo was accurately represented (Mattel) Speaking of the new bald Barbie, Mattel said that it hopes the addition will resonate with any child experiencing hair loss for any reason and that they will be able to see themselves reflected in the line. The launch also includes an update of Barbies doll with a prosthetic limb. In 2019, Barbie introduced dolls reflecting permanent disabilities, including a doll with a prosthetic limb, by collaborating with Jordan Reeves, a then 12-year-old with a prosthetic arm who is on a mission to build creative solutions that help children with disabilities. This year, the brand has expanded the offering to include a second doll with a darker skin tone that uses a gold prosthetic limb. Mattel said it hopes the new bald Barbie will resonate with any child experiencing hair loss (Mattel) Mattel's inclusive campaign has flourished for the last five years, with Mattel now offering Barbie dolls that come in five body types, 22 skin tones, 76 hair styles, 94 hair colours, and 13 eye colours. Ken has been given an update for 2020 too, as Mattel has chosen to replace the dolls signature short, sculpted coif with the option of long blonde tresses. Now, Ken dolls are available in a total of four different body types, 13 skin tones, 9 eye colours and 22 hair colours. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years Show all 36 1 /36 Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1959 Original Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1959 Roman Holiday Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1960 Fashion designer Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1961 Flight attendant Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1961 Registered Nurse Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1961 Solo in the Spotlight Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1963 Career Girl Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1965 Astronaut Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1967 Twist and Turn Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1969 Christie Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1971 Malibu Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1973 Surgeon Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1975 Olympic Skier Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1980 African-American Barbie Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1985 Veterinarian Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1991 Air Force Pilot Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1991 Naval Petty Officer Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1992 Business Executive Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1992 Presidential Candidate Barbie Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1992 Totally Hair Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1993 Army Medic Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 1999 WNBA Player Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2000 Jewel Girl Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2001 Olympic Swimmer Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2004 Presidential Candidate Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2005 Producer Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2006 Ballerina Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2010 Computer Engineer Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2011 Architect Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2018 Robotic Engineer Barbie Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2019 Fashionista Barbie Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2019 Adwoa Aboah Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2019 Yara Shahidi Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2019 Karla Wheelcock Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2019 Tetsuko Kuroyanagi Barbie. Barbie turns 60: How the iconic doll has changed over the years 2019 Kristina Vogel Barbie. The new additions will further diversify Barbies Fashionista range, a conscious move by Mattel to detach itself from the sexist stereotypes and unrealistic beauty expectations once associated with the doll. As well as promoting diversity with the launch of dolls that feature physical disabilities, different hairstyles, skin tones and body types, Mattel recently launched a line of gender inclusive dolls to is Creatable World range. The toys come with a number of different clothing options, accessories and hairstyles so that kids can style their doll with short or long hair and dress them in a skirt, trousers or both. Barbie's doll with a prosthetic limb is now available in a darker skin tone (Mattel) Kim Culmone, senior vice president of Mattel's doll design, said the toys are a reflection of culture and that as the world continues to celebrate the positive impact of inclusivity, Mattel felt it was time to create a doll line free of labels. Fashionistas dolls RRP 11.99 each. The vitiligo doll will be available in spring, with the doll with no hair and doll with prosthetic limb available later this year. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Huckestein is a leading mechanical services provider offering a comprehensive suite of HVAC solutions, including design-build capabilities, comprehensive ongoing maintenance, and repair and replace support to the institutional, commercial, and government markets throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland. Huckestein's technical expertise and commitment to delivering industry-leading contract-secured maintenance services, paired with its focus on energy management, provide significant value add for customers. About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Brown Gibbons Lang & Company is a leading independent investment bank and financial advisory firm focused on the global middle market. The firm advises private and public corporations and private equity groups on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, capital markets, financial restructurings, valuations and opinions, and other strategic matters. BGL has investment banking offices in Chicago, Cleveland, and Philadelphia, and real estate offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, San Antonio, and San Diego. The firm is also a founding member of Global M&A Partners, enabling BGL to service clients in more than 30 countries around the world. Securities transactions are conducted through Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company Securities, Inc., an affiliate of Brown Gibbons Lang & Company LLC and a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information, please visit www.bglco.com. SOURCE Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Human dignity was the recent focus at Roosevelt Intermediate School, as the schools chapter of Girls Learn International (GLI) hosted an assembly celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Members of Girls Learn International outlined the history of the declaration including its first article, which states All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. At the assembly on Jan. 10, the GLI chapter also welcomed keynote speaker Alexandra Jackman, former Roosevelt student, now a 20-year-old junior at the University of Pennsylvania. Jackman is an autism advocate and the writer/director of the documentary, A Teens Guide to Understanding and Communicating with People with Autism, which she uses as a tool to teach autism awareness and acceptance at schools and organizations across the country. It was a moving assembly, said RIS social studies teacher Karen Lust who co-advises the GLI chapter with RIS science teacher Andrea Poppiti. Alexandras presentation included important messages linked to the Social and Emotional (SEL) competencies of self-awareness, social awareness and relationship skills. She emphasized to students how rewarding it can be to reach out to people they might view as different. Jackman told the students that meeting and getting to know people who are different from ourselves is how we learn. People are interesting. People are funny. People are worth the effort, said Jackman. Human rights begins with you and you can make a difference as middle schoolers. Jackman is president of the University of Pennsylvanias chapter of the Petey Green Program whose volunteers tutor incarcerated youth. She also is president of Penns chapter of Best Buddies International, an international nonprofit organization which, according to its website is dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Her message to our students was profound and empowering, added Lust and Poppiti about Jackman who has been advocating for people with autism since she was 10. Description GIS 28 January, 2020: No case of coronavirus has been detected up to now in Mauritius, affirmed the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, during a joint press conference held, yesterday, in Port Louis with regards to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China, particularly in the City of Wuhan, located in the province of Hubei. The joint press meet was organised by the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Nandcoomar Bodha, the Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Mauritius, Mr Sun Gongyi, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Mauritius, Dr Laurent Musango, the Chief Executive Officer of Air Mauritius, Mr Somas Appavou and other personalities were present. reassured the Mauritian population that all precautionary measures are being taken at the airport through strict temperature screening of passengers via detectors. Until now, he said, there have been nine symptomatic cases placed in the Quarantine Ward of Souillac hospital, out of which two persons have left for China and the remaining seven individuals have undergone screening and they are not suffering from the coronavirus. Minister Jagutpal He informed that all passengers coming from the city of Wuhan are being put in the Quarantine ward for an incubation period of 14 days and travellers coming from China are being monitored by Health inspectors. As regards the medical tests, Minister Jagutpal stated that these are being sent to Germany and South Africa and needful is being done so that they are processed in Mauritius in the upcoming days. For his part, Minister Bodha pointed out that from January till now, 5000 passengers have travelled from China to Mauritius. Out of 20 Mauritian students studying in Wuhan, three students have already returned to Mauritius, and 13 have written letters to his Ministry to be evacuated from the affected city, he underlined. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, will stay in touch with the other four students to know whether they would opt to come back to Mauritius. On this score, the Minister stated that his Ministry is working in collaboration with the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China with a view to helping the students return to Mauritius as Wuhan is locked down and travels are banned from the city. Minister Bodha further urged all Mauritians to submit the names of their relatives in Hubei province and China so as to trigger necessary actions to help them. As for Ambassador Sun Gongyi, he reiterated that the Chinese Embassy will work collaboratively with the Mauritian Government with a view to provide support to Mauritians in China. For his part, the WHO representative, Dr Laurent Musango highlighted that proper screening is being done at the airport of Mauritius and advised each and everyone to take precautionary measures while travelling. The Chief Executive Officer of Air Mauritius, Mr Somas Appavou, spoke of the precautions that are being taken by the national airline, which he said are in conformity with all established norms and protocols. He indicated that all flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong are being maintained. Mr. Biden responded to Ms. Ernsts comments head-on, presenting them as proof that Mr. Trumps team was using the impeachment trial to try to hobble his candidacy. She spilled the beans, Mr. Biden told the crowd, speaking in a room overlooking the Mississippi River on a gray winter day. She just came out and flat said it. You know, the whole impeachment trial for Trump is just a political hit job to try to smear me, because he is scared to death to run against me, and he has good reason to be concerned. By late afternoon Tuesday, his team had sent a fund-raising email from his campaign manager with the subject line Hey Senator Joni Ernst, let me answer your question directly. The campaign also released a digital ad highlighting Ms. Ernsts comments and accusing Republicans of spreading lies about Mr. Biden. The impeachment trial of Mr. Trump has paralyzed Washington and frozen much of the fluid 2020 Democratic field in amber, commanding nonstop news media attention and tethering the four senators in the race to Capitol Hill. But talk of impeachment has been largely absent from the campaign trail in Iowa in the final stretch before the states caucuses, including at Mr. Bidens events. Ms. Ernst was first elected to the Senate in 2014 in a victory that helped the Republicans take control of the chamber. As she gears up for her first re-election battle this year, she has the built-in advantage of running on the same ticket as Mr. Trump, who carried Iowa in 2016 by nearly 10 points, even after Barack Obama won the state twice. Kerala has the highest numbers of people returning from China due to the coronavirus outbreak. (PTI) KOCHI: With the global coronavirus scare beginning to singe India too, most of the people quarantined in the country are in Kerala, where the number of people returning from China is high. A total of 441 persons who had travelled to China in the last 28 days have been put under observation in 14 districts in Kerala. With 90 persons, Kozhikode tops the list while Kasargod has three cases of quarantine. Five people are in isolation wards in hospitals while others are being quarantined at home. Of the seven persons who showed symptoms like mild flu and whose blood samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, five returned negative while two have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus. The Kerala health authorities are continuing surveillance and quarantine operations. A Union Health Ministry delegation of doctors has reviewed the facilities for screening passengers from virus-affected countries. The team also inspected isolation facilities at the Ernakulam Government Medical College. A Malaysian teen leaves the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex as his father waves at photographers, after a court issued its decision in a 2017 arson case that killed 23 people at an Islamic boarding school, Jan. 28, 2020. A Malaysian court on Tuesday acquitted a teenage suspect but ordered another to enter his defense in an arson case that killed 23 people at an Islamic boarding school in Kuala Lumpur three years ago. Azman Abdullah, a Kuala Lumpur High Court judge, ruled that the prosecution had established enough evidence to prove its case against one of the two defendants, both 19-year-old males. The court has made a decision that the prosecution was only able to prove a prima facie case against the first accused on all charges. Meanwhile, the second accused is acquitted, Azman said in handing down the verdict. With this, I order the first accused to enter his defense on all 23 charges. The two defendants broke down in tears after hearing the verdict. I have no plans but Im grateful for this. Im a bit upset that my friend could not walk free, the freed teen told reporters outside the courtroom. The blaze broke out before dawn on Sept. 14, 2017, at the three-story Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah, a madrassa where Muslim boys study and memorize the Koran. Two teachers and 21 students, aged 6 to 16, were killed in the fire that trapped them behind barred windows and a locked door, officials said. Firefighters found the bodies piled up and charred beyond recognition. The blaze caused outrage on social media and led to calls for better regulation of religious schools, which are mostly privately run and not supervised by Malaysias Ministry of Education. Within days of the disaster, Malaysian authorities announced the arrests of seven suspects and declared a motive: Revenge. The motive was to cause a fire, not to kill. It was also prompted by mocking, Kuala Lumpur police chief Amar Singh said then during a televised news conference. It was likely that they were under the influence when they allegedly committed the offense. Singh did not elaborate. Police later filed murder charges against the two teens. If the court convicts him of murder, the remaining teen could face life imprisonment. In Malaysia, a murder charge carries a mandatory death penalty, but minors may only be sentenced to life behind bars. On Tuesday, the court ordered the trials defense stage to start on March 2. Juriani Tumin, the father of the acquitted teen, expressed gratitude over the courts decision. I thank Allah for this. Maybe after this, my son will continue his studies, Juriani told reporters outside the courtroom. He will be a better person. The mother of the other teen, who asked that her name not be used, expressed disappointment as she spoke to BenarNews outside the courtroom. I did not expect this outcome, she said. Of course, Im upset that my son is not off the hook while his friend walked free. Tuesdays verdict brought mixed feelings for the mother of one of the victims. Businesswoman Hartini Abd Ghani, whose 12-year-old son, Nik Muhammad Ridzuan Nik Azlan, died in the fire, said she would appeal the courts decision or move for a retrial. There must be reasons for the court to make that decision, but I will discuss with my lawyer to see if there are venues for appeal or a retrial, she told BenarNews in a phone interview. Those responsible for the loss of 23 lives must be found. Thats the fact 23 lives have been lost, but it wouldn't have happened if someone didnt start the fire, she said. JANUARY 28, 2020 While bird feeding is a popular activity across the United States with $4 billion spent annually on birdseed and an additional $10 billion on needed hardware for the activity very little is known about the impact wild bird feeding has on the ecology of birds in urban areas, especially in subtropical regions. UTSA masters student Amanda Lamberson is conducting research to evaluate the effects of wild bird feeding on the ecology of birds in San Antonio through her research project The San Antonio Bird Feeding Project. The project is based in the UTSA Smith Lab of Avian Ecology of Jennifer Smith, assistant professor in the UTSA Department of Environmental Science and Ecology. Previous studies have evaluated the effects of bird feeding on bird behavior, breeding success, disease transmission, bird abundance and species diversity. However, most of these studies have taken place in nonurban areas and temperate regions, such as in the northern U.S., Europe and New Zealand, which has left a need for research in urban areas and sub-tropical regions. San Antonio and the fantastic community scientists of San Antonio afford us a unique opportunity to address these knowledge gaps. AMANDA LAMBERSON, UTSA Masters Student Here in the U.S., we spend approximately $4 billion a year on bird food and the majority of people feed backyard birds, Lamberson said. However, the effects of bird feeding on birds in urban areas, especially in cities in subtropical regions like South Central Texas, are largely unknown. This project fills a very relevant knowledge gap. Lamberson said shes always wondered whether bird feeding is good for birds, but added that the question is a complicated one to answer. My project is not intended to provide an answer to this question, but I am interested in contributing research that helps get closer to better understanding birds and bird feeding, she said. For the project, Lamberson is looking at different types of species feeding at feeders and how different bird foods influence the diversity and abundance of birds at those feeders. In November, Lamberson started surveying 36 backyards on the northside of San Antonio and plans to continue doing so until the end of February, when breeding season begins. Learn more about the San Antonio Bird Project and other work in the UTSA Smith Lab of Avian Ecology. The 36 backyards are broken up into three groups with 12 homes providing mixed seed, 12 providing thistle seed and the last 12 homes serving as the control group and not providing any seed. During the week, the home residentsalso known as community scientistsmaintain the seed in the feeders and conduct surveys by marking down the different species they see in the backyards. Lamberson is conducting her own surveys as well. San Antonio and the fantastic community scientists of San Antonio afford us a unique opportunity to address these knowledge gaps and contribute to growing knowledge of how urbanization is affecting birds, Lamberson said. Some birds theyve observed include northern mockingbirds, orange-crowned warblers, golden-fronted woodpeckers, and ruby-crowned kinglets. Theyre not uncommon species, but it is interesting because we know little about what draws them into San Antonios more urban dense areas, Lamberson said. Its interesting to see what birds will show up, although surveying in urban areas can be a little tricky because there is more urban noise than you might think and it can make it harder to hear bird calls. Lamberson is also collecting sales data across San Antonio to see what feed is being sold in the city and when and where its being purchased. Wild Birds Unlimited and PetsBarn contributed sales data to the project. In addition, Wild Birds Unlimited also provided the supplies and equipment. No information relating to customers was collected. We assume that the most purchased types of wild bird seed are reflective of what residents in San Antonio typically prefer to feed to birds, Lamberson said. The data collected is being used to inform the backyard bird feeding component of the study to make sure that the foods provided in the study reflect those being provided by San Antonio residents. Once Lamberson concludes conducting surveys at the end of February, her next step is to statistically analyze the data and determine which species flock to the feeders, and how many are associated with the different seed types. I have collected other information in addition to counting birds, such as weather, temperature and structures of the backyards such as trees, cement fences, she said. So I will also be looking at whether these factors I could not control for potentially influence the data. The San Antonio Bird Project is something Lamberson said will help in the future as a professional in the field. My big takeaways from this experience has been how to establish and manage a research project that will definitely be invaluable to my future endeavors, Lamberson said. I also truly appreciate the support from the San Antonio and UTSA community and their passion for birds. Bollywood actor and director Pooja Bhatt has said that she doesn't support the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and asserted that dissent is the greatest form of patriotism. "My opinion of CAA and NRC is that I do not support it because it divides my house and whatever or anyone who divides my house I am going to stand up and protest against until my last breath," she said at a conference organised to demonstrate against the new law. The actor further lauded the student protesters and women at Shaheen Bagh and urged the leaders of the country to listen and have a dialogue with the protesters instead of demonising them. "I think students have given us a message to wake up, get up and speak up because to speak with silence when we should protest is what makes cowards out of men and the time has come to raise our voices," said Bhatt. "Please leaders wake up, listen to us, hear the women of Shaheen Bagh, hear the students, have a dialogue and don't demonise, stop demonising," she added. As a part of the conference, Bhatt and other members recited the preamble of the Indian Constitution to express solidarity with the anti-CAA protesters. Further invoking the Constitution of the country, Bhatt said, "We read this Constitution, either you tear it or burn it permanently or don't teach this to our children in the schools because whatever you are teaching, your actions and words are not matching." "This is the India I have grown up in and this is the India I will fight for. I'd rather die on my feet or than live on my knees," she added. Bhatt ended the speech by thanking the present Government of India for unifying the country. "I think dissent is the greatest form of patriotism. Isn't Hindustan our house? If we have some grievances from the government will it term us as anti-national or will it listen to us? I want to thank the ruling party that you have actually brought us together," said Bhatt "This solidarity was missing from the past five-six years, people were scared. Thank you to present Government of India for unifying us," the actor added. Pooja Bhatt and her father Mahesh Bhatt have earlier voiced their opinions about CAA and NRC with the latter one participating in demonstrations against the newly enacted law. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Tripura government on Tuesday sounded a coronavirus alert in the whole state especially along the Indo-Bangla international border, an official said. Health Secretary Dr Debashish Bose said, "We have received an advisory from the Union Ministry of Health regarding the standard procedure being prescribed to all states for combating the coronavirus. So, the alert was sounded today itself". Tripura shares an 856-km long international border with Bangladesh. "Many people enter our country through Agartala- Akhaura integrated check post (ICP). We have taken adequate measures to screen those people, if they were carrying the deadly coronavirus. We are also in the process of setting up of such mechanism in all the check posts along the border", Bose said. There are eight notified Land Custom Stations (LCS) in Tripura and about 1,500 people enter the state every day from Bangladesh. He said, with the availability of enough manpower the screening procedure could be adopted at Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport and railway stations of the state. Director of Family Welfare and Preventive Medicine Dr Radha Debbarma said that a medical team was already sent to Akhaura ICP, where they are checking Bangladeshis entering into the country to ascertain if they are carrying the virus. Debbarma said the authorities of the Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) were instructed to keep an isolation ward ready for admission of the patients carrying the suspected virus. He said the state government has also launched an awareness programme about the coronavirus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) First Chicago is celebrating a century of service with the launch of its centennial anniversary campaign, Cheers to 100 Years! First Chicagos STMM plan is ideal for those in search of a temporary, affordable solution to health insurance First Chicago Insurance Company (First Chicago) recently received authorization to offer its Short Term Major Medical (STMM) plan in the states of Illinois and Iowa. This year, First Chicago is celebrating a century of service with the launch of its centennial anniversary campaign, Cheers to 100 Years! This is a pivotal year for First Chicago. One hundred years ago, the visionaries who created First Chicago had a simple goal in mind to offer reliable insurance at a fair price. A century later, our mission hasnt changed. In fact, it has expanded. First Chicago continues to launch new insurance products in the states we currently do business, as well additional states throughout the Midwest, said Mike Rosenstein, President of First Chicago. First Chicagos STMM plan is ideal for those in search of a temporary, affordable solution to health insurance, such as individuals and families in between group or individual major medical coverage or waiting for the next Open Enrollment Period, those who cannot afford the high cost of a COBRA plan, those priced out of the ACA individual health insurance market, and young adults no longer covered by their parents plan. First Chicago - Illinois STMM Plan Highlights: Eligible to anyone up to 65 years old, including dependent children ages two to 26 years old. Lifetime maximum benefits up to $1 million with deductibles between $500 and $10,000. Visit any doctor or any hospital, including access to the PHCS PPO Network. Covers prescription drugs, home health care, laboratory services, and more. Coverage available up to a 6 months plan. First Chicago Iowa STMM Plan Highlights: Eligible to anyone up to 65 years old, including dependent children ages two to 26 years old. Lifetime maximum benefits up to $1 million with deductibles between $500 and $10,000. Visit any doctor or any hospital, including access to the PHCS PPO Network. Covers prescription drugs, home health care, laboratory services, and more. Preventative and wellness services provided after the policy has been active for 180 days. Coverage available up to a 364 day plan. First Chicagos STMM plan and its features may not be available in all states. Certain limitations and exclusions may apply, please refer to the policy for complete details. For more information regarding First Chicagos STMM plan, please contact your independent insurance agent. Consumers can also visit the company website http://www.FirstChicagoInsurance.com or call 1-888-262-8864. Independent insurance agents that would like more information about First Chicago should contact our marketing department at Marketing@FirstChicagoInsurance.com, 708-552-4400, option 8. About First Chicago Insurance Company First Chicago Insurance Company (First Chicago), whose roots trace back to 1920, is celebrating their 100th anniversary. Over the timespan, First Chicago has evolved into a multi-line insurance carrier, now offering General Liability, Workers Compensation and writing various classes of Commercial Auto, in response to the needs of the commercial segment. In personal lines, First Chicago has responded to the changing exposures and needs of their independent producers by adding niche insurance products such as Contents PLUS Renters and Transportation Network Coverage to enhance their personal lines auto offerings. First Chicago currently offers insurance via independent agencies and online throughout Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Headquartered in Bedford Park, First Chicago is located at 6640 S. Cicero, Ave., Bedford Park, IL 60638. 1-888-262-8864. http://www.FirstChicagoInsurance.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 15:05:13|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least nine Afghan policemen were killed and three others went missing after the Taliban stormed a security checkpoint in the country's northern Baghlan province overnight, a local official said on Tuesday. The incident happened on late Monday night, when a group of Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint in Khawja Alwan, an area on the outskirts of provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri, along the Baghlan-Samangan highway. At least nine police personnel were killed and three others wounded, the provincial official told Xinhua on the condition of anonymity. The source added that the militants also suffered casualties during the clashes. Jawid Besharat, provincial police spokesman, confirmed the overnight clashes but did not give details about the exact number of the victims. He said investigations were underway and more details would be disclosed later in the day. Fighting rages across Afghanistan as Taliban militants have been attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions during winter in the mountainous country. Taliban militants, who ruled the country before being ousted in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency, killing government troops as well as civilians. President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington on Dec. 18, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Trumps Attorneys Argue House Subpoenas for Financial Records May Not Be Used to Engage in Law Enforcement President Donald Trumps attorneys urged the Supreme Court to block several subpoenas that would give the House and a New York investigation access to the presidents financial records in significant cases dealing with separation of power and absolute immunity concerns that will be heard later this year. The presidents legal team filed briefs on Monday in three cases, arguing that three House committees and a Manhattan prosecutor should not be able to subpoena his accounting firm, Mazars USA, and two banksDeutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp.compelling them to release the tax and financial documents. Three cases relating to Trumps financial records reached the Supreme Court after appellate judges upheld the subpoenas. Two of the cases stem from subpoenas that were issued earlier in the year by three House committeesFinancial Services, Intelligence, and Oversightas part of their probes over allegations of the presidents dealings. Meanwhile, the third case deals with a criminal investigation in Manhattan. Trump has asked the Supreme Court to reverse the lower courts decisions in all three cases. In December, the Supreme Court agreed to take up the cases, consolidating the two House-related cases while ordering oral arguments for the cases to be scheduled sometime in March (pdf). The subpoenas are unrelated to the Senate impeachment trial where Trumps legal team has been presenting the defense case on the chambers floor. These cases could continue to cause concerns for the president as the 2020 presidential election ramps up later in the year. In one of the briefs (pdf), the lawyers argued that although House committees are claiming that they are seeking the records for a legislative purpose, they are instead engaging in law enforcement. These Committees are not legislating; they are avowedly engaging in law enforcement. All of themto one degree or anotherhave acknowledged that the purpose of the investigations is to determine whether the President engaged in wrongdoing, the lawyers argued. Relying on events leading up to the issuance of the subpoenas while citing public statements surrounding the House investigations, Trumps lawyers assert that the committees are demanding the records in an effort to find out whether the president had broken the law. In an interview last year, for example, Chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee Maxine Waters discussed the purpose of the House subpoenas with CNN. He refuses to turn over the tax returns, what does he have to hide? Has he been compromised in any way? Is there money laundering going on? There is enough that we know about him to have legitimate suspicion and we need to have documentation, Waters told the news network. The lawyers said it is of serious concern that the House is framing the subpoenas as having a legitimate legislative purpose when the investigations that the subpoenas were issued from were not routine. The attempt of the Financial Services and Intelligence Committees to obtain the private records of the President so they may broadly consider banking and money laundering legislation should be rejected, the lawyers said. These subpoenas are no more valid than would be demands for the Presidents medical records so Congress may consider healthcare reform. The lawyers added that the subpoenas are expansive, burdensome, and unfocused fishing expeditions that raise constitutional issues while keeping the president from fulfilling the obligations in his office. They also argued that publicly releasing information about individuals is a form of punishment. Exposing private details about individuals is not a power Congress holds, the lawyers argue. Yet that has been the goal here from the start. It is difficult to imagine a more blatant effort to expose for the sake of exposure than misusing the President and his family as a congressional case study.' Meanwhile, in the separate Manhattan investigation case, Trumps attorneys argued in their brief (pdf) that the president is immune from requests to hand over his financial records to the criminal prosecutor while he is in office. In that case, the subpoena was issued by District Attorney of New York County Cyrus Vance Jr., who is investigating hush money allegedly paid to two women during the 2016 presidential campaignadult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied the affairs and any other wrongdoing. The lawyers said, the Constitution vests in the presidentand in him alonethe Executive Power of the United States. It grants him unparalleled responsibilities to defend the nation, manage foreign and domestic affairs, and execute federal law. The President cannot effectively discharge those duties if any and every prosecutor in this country may target him with criminal process. They added that the only way to prosecute a sitting president as provided by the Constitution is through impeachment. Once he leaves office, the President may be subjected to criminal processbut not before then, they said. A prosecutor crosses a constitutional line when, as here, he initiates compulsory criminal process upon the President as part of a grand jury proceeding that targets him, the lawyers added. The criminal process, the lawyers argued, will also distract the president from his responsibilities and burden him to act confidently while in office. It also stigmatizes the President in ways that will frustrate his ability to effectively represent the United States in both domestic and foreign affairs, they added. High logistics cost impacts the competitiveness of domestic goods in international markets. New Delhi: The government may consider the announcement of national logistics policy to promote seamless movement of goods across the country in the forthcoming Budget, sources said. The policy is being worked out by the logistics division under the commerce ministry, they added. The policy, which also aimed at reducing the high transaction cost of traders, may propose setting up of a central portal, which will provide end-to-end logistics solutions to companies. The portal will be a single-window marketplace to link all stakeholders. The proposed policy will also focus on increasing the warehousing capacity, and identify gaps that could be bridged to bring down the cost of logistics for traders. Besides, there is a proposal to create a national logistics e-marketplace as a one-stop marketplace for exporters and importers, set up a separate fund for start-ups in the logistics sector and to double employment in the sector. High logistics cost impacts the competitiveness of domestic goods in international markets. The sources said that effective implementation of the policy would help provide an impetus to trade, enhance export competitiveness, and improve India's ranking in the Logistics Performance Index. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will unveil the Budget for 2020-21 on 1 February. Follow full coverage of Union Budget 2020-21 here SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Lawyers Association (CLA) is pleased to announce that its position in its first ever amicus brief was confirmed by the California Supreme Court in the recent Barefoot v. Jennings opinion. The brief, filed by CLA's Trusts and Estate Section, addressed issues of standing in revocable trust cases as dictated by the Probate Code. At issue was whether a disinherited beneficiary has standing to challenge in probate court the validity of a revocable trust's disinheriting amendments on grounds of incompetence, undue influence, or fraud. The opinion, authored by Justice Chin, is a unanimous reversal of the Court of Appeal's judgment and confirms that under the Probate Code a person who was disinherited indeed has standing in probate court to bring a challenge to the validity of the trust amendments that resulted in their disinheritance. "Our successful amicus brief in Barefoot demonstrates CLA's extraordinary expertise and the deep bench of legal talent among our members. I am incredibly proud of our Trusts and Estates Section and look forward to other amicus briefs filed by CLA," said Ona Alston Dosunmu, CLA's CEO. The brief was drafted by Howard Kipnis, Herbert Stroh, Ciaran O'Sullivan, and Bryan Phipps. Leah Spero of CLA's Amicus Committee and Greg Wolff of CLA's Committee on Appellate Courts provided invaluable assistance along the way. Many others were involved (including the entire Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section and Saul Bercovitch, CLA's Director of Governmental Affairs) in formulating the ultimate product. ABOUT THE CLA TRUSTS AND ESTATES SECTION CLA's Trusts and Estates Section and its over 6,000 members further the knowledge of practitioners in the areas of trusts and estate laws through educational opportunities, monitor and actively participate in the formation of laws and regulations that impact trusts and estates laws, and represent section members in the governance of CLA. ABOUT CALIFORNIA LAWYERS ASSOCIATION Established in 2018, California Lawyers Association is the bar association for all California attorneys. CLA's mission is to promote excellence, diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and fairness in the administration of justice and the rule of law. SOURCE California Lawyers Association Related Links http://calawyers.org Walking through the corridors at Cascade Heights in Longwood, most visitors get the sense that there is an abundance of activities and a variety of programs in which to engage. This is, in part, due to the tireless efforts of the Activity staff, one of whom is Allie Casey, lifestyle coordinator. Casey has been enhancing the lives of the senior residents at Cascade Heights for six years, wearing many hats and displaying many talents. She is the ambassador for Connected Living, which brings technology to seniors in the effort to enhance their lives by training them on computers and offering programs like "Amazing Feats of Engineering," "Plastic Brain" or "Destination China." These programs stimulate learning and encourage discussion each Monday morning both for the independent and assisted-living residents. Casey also leads a weekly exercise class that offers many modes that may include yoga and other forms of physical movement. Bringing her background in art, fashion design, print design, and make-up has developed into three art classes that are offered each week. One, called Community Crafters, enables participants to create crafts to enhance and decorate the building. The second class is called Quiet Art, which includes paintings and drawings that are displayed beautifully outside the crafts room. The third class is simply Arts and Crafts, and participants take home their crafts for themselves. Casey's skill in communication and background in public speaking enables her to know her audience and be an effective and positive leader in her role at Cascade Heights. The residents are truly lucky to have such a talented and caring professional in their lives and the Jewish Pavilion is blessed to have dedicated partners like Casey in its work with the seniors in the Orlando area. SBI and other PSU banks have notified their customers that services are likely to be affected due to the proposed two-day nationwide strike starting from January 31. Bank unions across the country have threatened to go strike from January 31 in order to press for wage revision. The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has given the call for the January 31 bank employees strike. The UFBU is an umbrella organisation that includes 9 bank unions such as All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers. According to a tweet by the AIBEA, the meeting with the CLC (Chief Labour Commissioner) was futile. So, the bank unions are going ahead with the strike. Today there was a conciliation meeting by CLC. IBA wanted to defer the strike after which they will call for further talks.We refused. CLC advised IBA to hold talks before the strike to try to resolve issue. There was no commitment from IBA. Hence go ahead with the strikes. All India Bank Employees' Association (@AIBEA_India) January 27, 2020 According to a statement issued by the AIBEA General Secretary CH Venkatachalam, wage revision for public sector bank employees is pending since 2017, and there's a lack of clear commitment from the Indian Banks' Association on the unions' demands. The statement made by Venkatachalam read, "IBA's rigid approach has left us with no option than to go on strike. We appeal to the banking customers to bear with us for this disruption in services due to the strike but the same has been forced on us by the bank managements and IBA." Many public sector banks such as SBI have informed their customers that the services could be affected owing to the strike. In case the proposed strike happens then it will coincide with the beginning of the Budget 2020 session and its presentation. The UFBU also alleged that the approach of the Indian Banks' Association on demands for wage revision settlements was rigid. The UFBU circular read, "In this background, the meeting of UFBU held at Mumbai on January 13 came to the unanimous and inescapable conclusion that intensified agitational actions have to be resorted to press our demands for reasonable resolution and satisfactory settlement." The unions are demanding 20 per cent hike on pay slip components with adequate loading. The past wage settlement happened in 2017 wherein the employees got a 15 per cent hike for the period November 1, 2012 to October 31, 2017. Earlier in January, several bank employees had gone on strike in support of ten trade unions against the "anti-people policies of the government". Also read: SBI customers take note! Banking services to be impacted on Jan 31st, Feb 1 Romania Concerned Over Its Partnership With Chinese Nuclear Power Company CGN Accused of Espionage and Blacklisted in the US The Romanian government expressed its concern over Romanias 5-year-old partnership with a Chinese company, China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), to build two new 700-megawatt reactors at the countrys nuclear power plant in Cernavoda. CGN has been accused of espionage and blacklisted by the United States. Its obvious to me that the deal with the Chinese wont work We will see with which partner well associate to [build reactors]. It is about partnering and financing, Romanias Prime Minister Ludovic Orban told Hot News, in a video interview on Jan. 19, referring to Romanias deal with CGN. Orban added that all of Romanias energy deals will, from now on, depend on the European Green Deal. Plans to Expand and Modernize Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant The construction of the Nuclear Power Plant in Cernavoda started in the 1980s, however, its first reactor was put into operation in 1996 and the second one in 2007. Both reactors were supplied by Atomic Energy of Canada (currently Candu Energy). The Cernavoda power plant supplies 18 percent of Romanian electricity. In 2014, Nuclearelectrica, the Romanian company that currently operates the Cernavoda power plant, chose CGN as an investor for the development of two new nuclear power units, according to Balkan Insight. CGN was the only bidder in the tender procedure organized by Nuclearelectrica, says Balkan Insight. In 2015, state-owned Nuclearelectrica and CGN signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction of two units (Units 3 and 4) at the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, Nuclearelectrica reported. With plans to build two new energy units, the plant will double its capacity, which will not only have a regional impact but will also transform Romania from an importer of electricity to an exporter. The project to expand the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant has entered a new phase, after Bucharest signed a preliminary investors agreement with the Chinese nuclear power corporation CGN in May 2019, according to World Nuclear News. According to the agreement signed between Romania and China, a new joint venture company should be established within 60 business days to carry out the project of constructing two new energy units, each with a capacity of 700 MWe. The new company will be owned 51 percent by CGN, and Nuclearelectrica will hold the remaining 49 percent, reported World Nuclear News. The agreement has not provided the cost of the investment, but Romanian media reported that the estimated cost could be about $7.7 billion (7 billion euros), according to Nuclear Engineering International. The agreement did not stipulate that the construction would begin shortly after. Romanian Minister of Energy Anton Anton, who signed it, said that over the next two years, the parties will define the structure of the project continuation model, as quoted by HotNews. Also, some technical and cost-related difficulties need to be resolved before construction begins, according to HotNews. The cost of constructing two new reactors is so high that some of it would need to be passed on to the energy consumers. Also, the existing unit 1 in the Cernavoda plant requires refurbishing, a high priority project for Nuclearelectrica that will cost $1.65 billion (1.5 billion euros), according to the same source. (L) Then Liberal party President and current Romanian Prime Minster Ludovic Orban and (R) Romanian President Klaus Iohannis wave on stage during a European Parliament electoral rally in Bucharest, Romania on May 18, 2019. (Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo, File photo) Deal With Chinas CGN Under Scrutiny Romanias President Klaus Iohannis and President Donald Trump discussed the cooperation of both states in the civilian nuclear industry in Washington in August 2019, and both presidents agreed that industries [of both countries should] work closely together to support Romanias civil nuclear energy goals, says the joint statement. A month later, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and former Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila signed a Memorandum of Understanding of cooperation in the civil nuclear energy field. Some Romanian officials raised their concerns about the terms of the Chinese investment and the trustworthiness of Chinese know-how. Especially after the United States accused CGN of spying in 2016 and blacklisted them in the United States in 2019, said Andreea Brinza, Vice President of The Romanian Institute for the Study of the Asia-Pacific, in her report in The Diplomat. The European Union wants to limit foreign investments, especially Chinese ones, in European critical infrastructure, so it may also be concerned with the Chinese investment in Cernavoda, wrote Brinza. A cut-away model of the Chinese Gen-III nuclear power technology HPR1000 by China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) is displayed at the World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE), the trade fair event for the global nuclear community in Villepinte near Paris on June 26, 2018. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters) CGN, along with its three subsidiaries, were blacklisted in the Federal Register because they have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States, effective Aug. 14, 2019. The Federal Register notice explains that each of these four Chinese entities has engaged in or enabled efforts to acquire advanced U.S. nuclear technology and material for diversion to military uses in China. This blacklisting prohibits American companies from doing business with CGN and its divisions unless they get special approval from the U.S. government, reported Bloomberg. In 2016, China General Nuclear Power (CGNPC)a subsidiary of CGNwas accused of leading efforts to steal U.S. nuclear technology, according to RWR Advisory Group. CGNPCs senior advisor, Allen Ho, was indicted for nuclear espionage in April 2016 and sentenced to 24 months in prison in 2017. He had recruited U.S.based nuclear experts to provide illegal assistance in developing and producing special nuclear material in China for a Chinese state-owned nuclear power company from 1997 to 2016, according to a statement from the Department of Justice. In 2009, Ho tried to recruit a U.S. nuclear expert and was caught saying, China has the budget to spend. They want to bypass the research stage and go directly to the final design and manufacturing phase. Iohannis said in a discussion with journalists, analysts, and political scientists at the Central University Library in Bucharest on Nov. 19, that the project and agreement for construction of two new units at the Cernavoda plant would be reviewed by the Romanian Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT), reported Universul.net. We will analyze them very carefully in the CSAT together with the new government and make the necessary decisions, so as to guarantee national security, Iohannis said. The project to add two units to Cernavoda Power Plant had been previously evaluated and approved by CSAT in May 2016, after the United States accused a CGN subsidiary of espionage. From the beginning, our place of Romania is in the Euro-Atlantic sphere, in the Euro-Atlantic sphere of values, we belong there. With China, we can have trade, economic exchanges, but we do not consider ourselves a part of the sphere of values promoted by them, we have no historical obligations to them, Iohannis said, according to Universul.net. So I dont think we can ignore certain signals, we dont have to go too far in the area of collaboration with Asian states, he added. Prosecutors and defense attorneys finished sifting through a pool of 250 Multnomah County residents to select 12 jurors and two alternates Monday for the trial of Jeremy Christian, who prosecutors say murdered two men during a loud, bigoted rant on a crowded MAX train. The trial is scheduled to begin with opening statements Tuesday. Among the jurors and alternates are a municipal employee, a former member of the Navy, a retiree, a nurse and a former Multnomah County jail employee. The judge and lawyers are referring to each juror by only a letter and a number to protect their privacy during what is expected to be a closely watched trial attracting international interest. The trial is expected to conclude by the end of February. Several of the jurors selected said during four days of questioning last week they had heard very little about the 2017 killings before entering the jury selection process. Others said they could set aside what theyve heard or read from more than 2 years of news stories to start the trial with a clean slate. One man, Juror E8, likened his knowledge of the case to words or a picture scrawled onto an Etch A Sketch: You erase it. It doesnt matter. Christian is charged with the first-degree murders of Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai-Meche on a packed Green Line train on May 26, 2017. He also is charged with attempted first-degree murder for seriously wounding a third passenger, Micah Fletcher, by stabbing him in the neck and second-degree intimidation for allegedly launching into a hate-filled tirade against two teenage girls, one who was wearing a hijab. Some of the 14 said they ride TriMet regularly or from time to time, and have encountered problems. E8, a retiree who uses public transportation almost daily, said hes had to directly tell an unruly person to leave, and the person did, without causing a greater disturbance. Juror B34 recalled a trip on her way home from the downtown Portland Waterfront Blues Festival when things got tense after an intoxicated couple caused a stir and others around them asked them to step off MAX. B34 said she didnt engage with the couple. I just stay removed, she said. The prosecution and the defense each were allowed to remove 12 jurors from the pool without cause. Approximately 250 prospective jurors filled out 22-page questionnaire earlier this month, and more than 40 were called back to be questioned face-to-face by the lawyers. Prosecutors Jeff Howes and Don Rees ousted a former foster mother who said she thinks of defense attorneys as hard working and prosecutors as mean and angry; a man who has been evaluated by psychologists and questions their reliability; and a Comcast worker who believes everyone is good at heart and no one wakes up in the morning with a plan to do horrible things. Defense attorneys Greg Scholl and Dean Smith rejected a young woman who said her brothers played with Micah Fletchers brothers in her home; a man who said hed previously worked as a Salem police officer for a year; and a woman who said she was an empath and she could read people by observing them. Among the people not chosen for the jury was a man who seemed unaware of -- or at least didnt acknowledge -- a video game he had in his pocket. The device went off several dozen times by playing an electronic tune while court was in session last week. The judge noted that the mans lack of awareness or willingness to turn off the device was concerning. After some discussion, she dismissed him from the jury pool. While some of the jurors chosen said they wouldnt have a problem viewing bloody photo and video evidence in the trial, others said it would be a challenge to endure. Juror A25 said hes not looking forward to it, but he knows that if he refuses to participate, someone else would have to in his place. That doesnt seem fair to me, he said. The defense attorneys signaled through their questions that they may suggest at trial that the men who confronted Christian on the train should have gotten the attention of the trains operator or called police instead of trying to intervene themselves. In turn, prosecutors suggested that coming to the defense of someone who is vulnerable is the morally right thing to do and sometimes there isnt time to get the attention of a train operator or wait for police. They also foreshadowed their response if Christian argues that he acted in self-defense. Say someone has to use deadly force in self-defense. How do we expect that person that had to use deadly force to act immediately afterwards? Howes asked. Some prospective jurors said they would expect someone to call police, summon medical care or act with remorse. What would we expect them not to do? Howes continued. If they run, would that delegitimize their claim of self-defense? Police and witnesses have said Christian didnt summon help, rather he fled the scene and was arrested a short while later. Also Monday, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht dismissed three counts of unlawful use of a weapon from the 15-count indictment against Christian, upon a request from the district attorneys office. Prosecutors said those three counts were duplicative of the more serious charges Christian faces for using the knife: First-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. -- Aimee Green, Maxine Bernstein and Piper McDaniel agreen@oregonian.com o_aimee Keep up with key trial events and takeaways by signing up for The Oregonian/OregonLives Jeremy Christian trial newsletter at oregonlive.com/newsletters. Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. By PTI LONDON: An independent expert panel tasked by the UK government to assess how a post-Brexit immigration system would work on Tuesday called for a drop in the salary cap imposed on professionals, majority of them from India, applying for a skilled worker visa. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) called for the current salary threshold of 30,000 pounds on such workers, a large chunk of whom are Indians, to be cut down to 25,600 pounds to bring it in line with pay levels in specific occupations. "Indian nationals accounted for 39 per cent alone, with Australia and the United States both accounting for 9 per cent each, Pakistan 7 per cent and South Africa, Nigeria and New Zealand 5 per cent each, notes the MAC report, in reference to workers accessing the Tier 1 (General) high-skilled category of UK visas so far. "The ambition behind programmes like the HSMP (now-defunct highly-skilled migrant programme) is often to recruit, global talent. Yet the successful applicants tend to be drawn from a relatively small number of countries - 42 per cent from India, 9.9 per cent from Pakistan, 8.8 per cent from Australia, 6.8 per cent from Nigeria and 4.5 per cent from New Zealand over 70 per cent of applicants came from just five countries," it adds, as a criticism of the UK's current visa regime. In its research-based report, which is expected to form the blueprint for a post-Brexit visa and immigration system once the European Union (EU) freedom of movement rules cease to apply to the UK as a non-member, MAC also cautions Prime Minister Boris Johnson against implementing a full-fledged Australian-style points-based system as he has repeatedly pledged. Instead, it proposes a more hybrid system where a minimum salary threshold would apply for applicants coming to the UK with a job offer, and a points-based system for those coming to the UK without a pre-arranged job. "The current packaging as a PBS (points-based system) is, forgive the pun, pointless and could be eliminated, notes Professor Alan Manning, chair of the committee, as he warns of reduced economic growth under a future full-fledged points-based system. "There are trade-offs and no perfect system exists The government should ensure that the mistakes of previous UK points-based systems are not repeated, he said. The Committee says that the changes it has recommended will very slightly increase GDP per capita, productivity and improve public finances. Its proposed changes are also expected to reduce pressures on the state-funded National Health Service (NHS), schools and on social housing, though they will increase pressure on social care. The government is not obliged to accept all the recommendations but the MAC report is likely to form the basis of the new visa regime to be put in place for once the UK has formally left the EU later this week. The government will introduce a firmer and fairer points-based immigration system from 2021 that welcomes talent from around the world while reducing low-skilled migrants and bringing overall numbers down. We will carefully consider the report before setting out further details on the new system, a Downing Street spokesperson said. A new Australian-style immigration system had been a central election promise during last month's General Election, which handed Boris Johnson a thumping majority. The system awards points to applicants based on their various qualifications including English language skills. While dropping predecessor Theresa May's pledge to bring immigration down to the tens of thousands, Johnson holds on to the Conservative Party's wider commitment to curb the numbers coming into the country an issue seen as a dominating factor in the UK's vote in favour of Brexit in June 2016. London: An inquiry into how Britain's post-Brexit immigration system should work proposes changes that could make it easier for lower-paid migrants to move to the United Kingdom yet falls short of endorsing a full "Australian-style points-based" system long promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The government needs to move quickly to implement a new regime once the free movement of European workers into Britain ends at the end of 2020. But it has been warned by its Migration Advisory Committee that "no perfect system exists" and "difficult trade-offs" are inevitable. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is likely to go much further than the Migration Advisory Committee has recommended. Credit:AP The panel of experts used a series of meetings with Canberra officials to help devise a potential new system, but their recommendations fall short of the hopes of Brexit hardliners. They want all potential migrants to be subjected to a "points" system that takes into account factors such as age, education, work experience and language skills in determining whether they can work and live in the UK. Essam al-Fahad was a commander in the Zakiya and Bakkara militia and had previously signed a settlement with the regime writes Baladi News. A commander of one of the prominent reconciliation militias in the Damascus countryside was killed on Saturday during the ongoing fighting with rebels on the southern Aleppo countryside fronts. He was from the al-Ghaith Forces in the Fourth Division, which is led by the brother of the regime president. The Sowt al-Asima website, quoting sources, said that Essam al-Fahad, a commander of the Zakiya and Bakkara militia was killed along with three fighters in an ambush by rebel groups on the Khalsa front in the southern Aleppo countryside. The site added that a commanders family had been informed about his death and withdrew his body from the site, and that the body is still in the Military Hospital in Aleppo along with the three other fighters, one of them from the al-Midan district and another from the city of al-Kaswah, and the third from eastern Ghouta in the Damascus countryside. Fahad had a militia of 130 fighters that signed contracts to fight with the Fourth Division under the name Zakiya and Bakkara after undergoing settlements during the deal that expelled rebel groups from the town of Zakiya to northern Syria at the start of 2017. After its formation it took part in battles in eastern Ghouta and the Hama and southern Idleb countrysides, before its recent participation in the battles in the Aleppo countryside. The Assad regime relies in most of its fighting on settlement fighters from Damascus and its countryside and Daraa, Homs, Qalamoun and Aleppo, putting them on the front lines in every attack. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Terry Gilliam tells Esther McCarthy about the mystery woman who helped him to finally get his Don Quixote film made after 30 years It's the movie that has come to define the film term development hell the project in gestation for over thirty years that filmmaker and Monty Python member Terry Gilliam seemed unlikely to ever get off the ground. At one point, a shoot for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote that was abandoned within days amid flash flooding, illness and financial setbacks even spawned a movie of its own, the behind-the-scenes documentary Lost in La Mancha. But Gilliam never lost faith, and in the end a female financier, who wishes to remain anonymous, was key to getting the movie into production once again, contributing the final amount needed to green-light, with Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce in the leading roles. We actually were able to make it because of a woman who had come into money late in life and had formed a company, he says. She really wanted to see the film because she had seen the documentary, she knew the tale of our difficulties. She just was like the fairy godmother who turns up in Cinderella and says: Bing! Youre going to the ball. Heres three million dollars. They saved our ass basically. I only want to have lunch with billionaires these days, adds the quick-witted filmmaker. People who can afford to have a flutter on a movie. The business side of filmmaking is very strange because something that has failed anyway, like our first attempt did, is like having a bad talisman, something thats going to bring bad luck. People kept talking as if its cursed and the longer it took to try to make, the more it smelled like last weeks or last months fish. "So that was very difficult. Actors wanted to be involved, creative people wanted to be involved... it was exciting, but the money people were very hesitant. That was always the problem. LOOSE ADAPTATION Loosely based on Cervantes novel, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote stars Driver as Toby, an advertising director forced to confront the fallout of a film he made in a small Spanish village years earlier. On returning, he learns that the villager (Pryce) he cast as the swarthy Spaniard still believes himself to be the character. Like many of his movies. including Brazil, Time Bandits, The Fisher King and of course, Monty Python & the Holy Grail, it looks set to garner a loyal and large cult following. After more than three decades of dreams dashed, it must have felt like a great relief when the cameras started rolling a little over a year ago. That was actually a worrisome time because I was so worried about other peoples expectations. The documentary Lost in La Mancha was kind of like the longest running trailer. And I felt the weight of that when we started. But luckily, within a day or two, youre just dealing with the daily nightmare problems and you forget about the audience or what the film might be. Youre just trying to survive. The movie was filmed on location and mostly exteriors in a sun-drenched Spain, Portugal and Fuerteventura because Gilliam didnt want to build sets as he wanted a world that was totally believable. To his pleasant surprise, his infamous project had gathered such chatter that people were queueing up to get involved. We got incredibly highly talented people on so many different levels who were working for a fraction of their normal fee because they wanted to be part of this thing. "I think the legend of the decades and trying to make it made people want to join in and be part of the impossible film. Aware at all stages of the projects gestation that he needed bankable stars to get it over the line (Johnny Depp starred in the abandoned five-day shoot almost 20 years ago), it was his daughter who suggested Driver, an actor currently at the top of his game. We met in Hampstead and we had lunch at a pub. I really liked him because he wasnt like any of the other people I had over the years wanted to work with. He just didnt seem like a normal actor. He actually seemed like a real person. He didnt look like a leading man in the normal sense. Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver in The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. "What really clinched it was the fact that when 9/11 occurred, the Towers went down, he went and joined the Marines, to defend his country. And I thought: Youre someone I think I want to spend time with. MONTY PYTHON MEMORIES Professionally its been a rewarding time but personally its been a time for goodbyes. We speak soon after the death of his close friend and Monty Python collaborator, Terry Jones. In the two months before, Nancy Lewis the woman he credits with bringing Python to an American audience, and Neil Innes, who contributed to the whistle melody for Always Look on the Bright Side of Life and was a regular Python collaborator, have passed away. Nancy Lewis and Neil Innes were complete surprises. It was such a shock because Neil and I had spent an awful lot of time in the same dressing room when Python was on tour, because Neil was part of the show. He was such a great songwriter, just a great human being because he was funny, he was concerned about everything that seemed to be wrong in the world. "And he put that into lyrics that were very clever and touching, he says. Terry, in many ways, I had said goodbye to almost two years ago. The dementia had consumed the Terry Jones that I knew. Terry had so much energy. He was so vibrant. That was gone. His body finally dying was not really as depressing as seeing his character, his spirit, his anima, vanishing over the years. I mean, thats what it was about we laughed. Life is full of horrible things and if you cant continue to find humour in it, you might as well pack up. Terry, he could wear you out because he had so many ideas. It was funny, at the beginning when we both set off to do Holy Grail, for years we had agreed on everything. We had agreed on everybody elses faults. When we started working together, we suddenly were aware of each others faults. "But I just loved the fact he was always questioning. He wouldnt accept thats the way it is or thats the way it should be. He always thought there were wrongs that needed to be righted. UK CITIZEN Having renounced his US citizenship years ago in favour of the UK, he finds it ironic that his probation period ended just months before Brexit. Were f**ked. Were f**ked is whats happening, he says, still managing a characteristic chuckle.Ten years after renouncing, I finally was 100% British, which to me was 100% European. That was 2016, the year of the referendum and its been downhill ever since. I think it is the most absurd thing that is happening to this country. I came here because I really believed in Britain and what it stood for, intelligence and pragmatism. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote opens in cinemas on Friday After five years at Allstate, Tennant ventured over to the retail side of the business, taking a position at Marsh. It was there that he started doing business with American International Group (AIG), where he would later spend 15 years of his career in various leadership positions. Looking back on his switches from Allstate to Marsh to AIG, Tennant said: When youre young and you dont have too many commitments, its a great idea to try different things and move around the industry. Dont just pigeonhole yourself in one place. I wanted to see what working at a retailer was like, and so I joined Marsh. Interestingly, gaining that experience and understanding the perspective of the retailers was what later got me the job at AIG. I learned, by chance, that moving through different aspects of the industry builds a skillset thats unique. Most people dont think about that. I certainly didnt. My thought process was that I loved what I was doing, and the more I could explore the industry, the better. Read next: A hundred years young It was at AIG where Tennants career really took off. He held leadership positions within various divisions of AIG, including National Union, Lexington, and Landmark Companies. During this time, he worked under the leadership of industry icons Brian Duperreault, current president, CEO and director of AIG, and Evan Greenberg, past president and COO of AIG, and present chairman and CEO of Chubb. In January 1998, Tennant parted ways with AIG with the aim of developing his own premier MGU facility for small to middle market contractors. This led to the birth of Tennant Special Risk in 1999. My original goal for Tennant Special Risk was to create the premier underwriting facility in the industry for small and middle market contractors because theyre often treated like dirt by other markets, and thats because those markets dont know how to underwrite the risks like we do, Tennant told Insurance Business. Weve been doing this day-in and day-out for over 20 years, and weve got accounts that have been on our books for over 15 years. Thats all down to the consistency and stability that were able to provide. It hasnt always been easy. Weve had some scary and challenging times, but as they say, what doesnt kill you makes you stronger. I absolutely love coming into work every day. I have a staff of 17 people, the youngest being 26 and the oldest 72. I see myself as an enabler for our staff and a leader by example. I believe in empowering our staff members and holding them accountable because thats the best way for us all to learn. And my team takes on challenges like you wouldnt believe theyre phenomenal. Every day I come to work with them is a blessing. Read more: Navigating the changing tides with Safety Nationals Gus Aivaliotis Tennants emphasis on staff training and development is somewhat of a dying trade in the wider insurance industry. He described todays lack of training as one of the most significant changes to impact the industry during his 45-year tenure. He also said its something that industry veterans can, and should, play a part in fixing. When I joined the industry back in 1974, all the big carriers sent staff to the home office for training. But at some point, that just stopped and, as a result, I believe theres been an overall decrease in terms of superior underwriting knowledge, said Tennant. Today, we compete against what I would describe as a lot of naive capacity. Look at the hard market thats upon us. The last time I saw anything like that was in 1986. How many people in insurance home offices or regional management positions worked through that market? Not many. And because of that, they dont know how to manage in the current market conditions. At Tennant Special Risk, a number of staff members experienced the hard market in 1986, so we can bring that knowledge and that value to our wholesale brokers, our clients, and, most importantly, to our underwriters. We lead by example and we incorporate our own experiences into our training and education. Taking advantage of training opportunities and learning from older, more experienced industry peers are two of Tennants core pieces of advice for budding insurance professionals. And he has called on long-tenured professionals to step up and be those role models and mentors. He said: This is a noble profession. It will never be a process thing, despite all the machines trying to push underwriting towards science. Underwriting is not a science; its an art, and its down to us to pass that knowledge down on to the younger generation. The New York Times Neither uttered the others name. But President Donald Trump and Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg took unmistakable aim at each other Tuesday at this conference of business and government figures, reprising their roles as antagonists on the global stage. The 73-year-old president and 17-year-old activist dominated the first full day of the gathering, painting starkly different visions of the future, and staking out opposite poles on the signature theme of this years forum: how best to manage a world of increasing temperatures, rising seas and catastrophic wildfires. Trump implicitly criticized Thunberg and other activists, saying they peddled warnings of doom at a time when his policies had ushered in a bright new era of economic prosperity for Americans. They are the heirs of yesterdays foolish fortunetellers, the president said. They predicted an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, a mass starvation in the 70s, and an end of oil in the 1990s. This is not a time for pessimism, Trump declared, adding, Fear and doubt is not a good thought process. Thunberg listened, sitting with three other climate activists in the sixth row. An hour later, Thunberg, addressing another Davos audience, rebuked leaders for failing to fix a problem of their own making. She said they had ignored pleas for the world to act on climate change. And she flatly rejected Trumps assertion that there was much to be optimistic about. You say children shouldnt worry, Thunberg said. You say, Just leave this to us. We will fix this. We promise we wont let you down. Then, a line that did not appear in her prepared remarks: Dont be so pessimistic. The last time the two encountered each other, at the United Nations in September, she glared as she watched him pass before her in the General Assembly building. Photos and video of her expression spread widely, only to be followed by what was widely seen as a sarcastic Twitter message from the president. She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future, he wrote. So nice to see! Thunberg struck back immediately with her nearly 2 million Twitter followers, briefly changing her bio: A very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future, she wrote. There was nothing so direct Tuesday, when Trump and Thunberg spoke to separate audiences. Trump celebrated his deregulatory agenda, which he said had unshackled the American economy, allowing the United States to build profitable new energy businesses and to wean itself from energy dependence on what he labeled hostile countries. Trumps impact on environmental protections has been wide-ranging. He has withdrawn from the Paris climate accord, rolled back a wide range of emissions regulations and empowered a bureaucracy that has sought to undermine the science of climate change. The United States is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in history. The closest Trumps speech at Davos came to environmental issues was his claim that the United States had the cleanest air and drinking water on Earth. In fact, the Trump administration has pushed through a plan to weaken clean-water regulations. And air pollution in the United States has worsened since 2016, reversing decades of improvements, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University. Trump dismissed the activists as advocating a form of radical socialism that Americans would reject. While he got only perfunctory applause, his message resonated with some in the business-heavy audience. Critics pointed to a contradiction that they said the corporate world had been unable to resolve: how to assuage the appetite for economic growth, based on gross domestic product, with the urgent need to check carbon emissions. Its truly a contradiction, said Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Its difficult to see if the current GDP-based model of economic growth can go hand-in-hand with rapid cutting of emissions, he said. Thunberg, for her part, largely repeated the warning she issued at the United Nations last year and for which she has drawn widespread global attention. She spent several weeks in the United States, joining school climate strikes, visiting Native American activists at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, which covers parts of North and South Dakota, and testifying in Congress. There, when asked to submit her remarks, she opted instead to submit a report issued in October by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change spelling out the threats of global temperature rise. Thunberg has always maintained that she has no interest in meeting Trump and suggested that he consult climate scientists if he wants to learn the facts. While the audience warmly greeted her call for action, she, too, was not without her critics. We have to be a little bit between optimism and outrage, said Oliver Bate, the chief executive of the German insurance giant Allianz. I cannot get up every day outraged. We have to do something. Earlier in the day, Thunberg, speaking on another panel, brushed off criticism, saying it was more important to pay attention to the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has warned how dangerously close the world is to overspending its carbon budget and triggering irreversible climate effects. Though Trump barely mentioned climate change, he did commit the United States to a World Economic Forum initiative to plant a trillion new trees as a way to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. The president pledged that the United States would work to manage and preserve its forests. On this, Thunberg withheld her praise, warning that such initiatives were often an excuse for inaction. We are not telling you to offset your emissions by just paying someone else to plant trees in places like Africa, while at the same time forests like the Amazon are being slaughtered at an infinitely higher rate, she said. Planting trees is good, of course, Thunberg said. But its nowhere near enough of what is needed, and it cannot replace real mitigation or rewilding nature. Mark Landler and Somini Sengupta. c.2020 The New York Times Company Thunderchief pilots of the Vietnam War Iwas 7 years old when the Vietnam War ended. I know about the war, as most my age do, from movies and documentaries. And most of what I encountered was about the ground troops, rarely about the pilots. So I jumped at the chance to attend a reunion in San Antonio for pilots who flew F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bombers on missions over North Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder, 1965-1968. These reunions are where the Thunderchief pilots have maintained their shared past and let each other into the lives theyve lived in the years since. I set up my camera in a hotel room. As the veterans talked to each other and later told their stories in our interviews, the things they said were echoed in what I saw through my lens. Once jet-powered cowboys, they are still walking with a swagger born of knowing themselves. While there are not many Thunderchief pilots left to give us a window through which to view and learn from their experiences, it is important that we do whatever we can to help future generations accurately see the war. This project, Over War, evolved from what I had envisioned as a series of Air Force pilot portraits50 in allinto a web collection (cademartin.com/overwar) that will be an enduring voice for these men whose experiences gave them a unique vantage point for observations on the Vietnam War. Cade Martin is an award-winning photographer specializing in people and location photography. He has traveled around the globe on assignments for a variety of brands, including Starbucks, Target, the Food and Drug Administration and NPR. Previous Next I finished first in my class, giving me first choice of assignment. I went to Gun School at Luke AFB in Phoenix. There, I was in a class of seven. Three years later only three of us were still aliveand this was before the war had begun.John Morrissey, U.S. Air Force My heroes growing up were soldiers and pilots. They played big roles in the movies and stories of the time, making aviation look exciting and romantic. I daydreamed and sketched airplanes through my early childhood. This led to building and flying models until finally in high school, I got a chance to take flying lessons.Ed Moose Skowron, U.S.Air Force We have since learned that our target list was shared through Switzerland with the enemy to ensure no civilians were harmed. Well, thats no way to win a war. The enemy would move out and set up somewhere else, ready to hit us on our way in and out. And, sometimes chiefs of staff would send us in five days in a row.John Poowaty, U.S. Air Force I put my life on the line for freedom, democracy and peace. The same things the protesters in the streets at home wanted.Tony Cushenberry, U.S. Air Force I arrived in sunny Vietnam with nine hours of [Wild] Weasel training [for strikes against enemy air defenses]. During the prior two weeks, my new squadron had lost two planes and one crew. I remember drinking a beer at the O Club [officers club] bar in the midst of about 50 young warriors, wondering if Id really have the guts to do what they were doing day in and day out.Frosty Sheridan, U.S. Air Force Finally, on Dec. 19, 1972, we were allowed to take off our gloves and fight. The North was stalling on attending the Paris peace talks, so we were ordered to go downtown,[Hanoi], and hit them with everything we had. After 11 days, their white flags went up, and they agreed to the terms of the peace accords. I still feel we let them off too easily.Bob Gadd, U.S. Air Force Operation Rolling Thunder the top brass had a list of the 250 most strategic targets, numbered and prioritized. They started us on No. 250 and worked their way up to the most strategically important target that would be the last one to strike. In my opinion, thats a totally defeatist mindset.Robert Nesbitt, U.S. Air Force This feature originally appeared in the February 2020 issue of Vietnam magazine. To subscribe, click here. Coronavirus: Millions on lockdown in China as virus spreads worldwide Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Authorities in China have imposed severe travel restrictions on 18 cities in and around Hubei province, including the city of Wuhan where the new coronavirus originated and killed at least 15 people on Friday alone. As the virus spreads around the world, at least three infections have been identified in the United States the most recent being one person in Orange County, California while 63 more potential cases remain under investigation. On Saturday night, the total death toll in China was reported to be 56, including a 62-year-old doctor who died from the virus while treating patients in Wuhan. Hundreds of new cases have also been reported over the weekend. Wuhan is also home to Chinas only known biological warfare lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has led to speculation that the virus might have originated in that facility, Bill Gertz of The Washington Times reported. Nearly all flights to and from the airport in Wuhan have been canceled and other checkpoints blocked while transport restrictions remain on almost the entire province of Hubei, where 59 million people live, according to Reuters. At least 1,975 confirmed cases have been reported in China, the National Health Commission revealed Saturday. The virus, which can lead to respiratory illnesses and can be deadly in some cases, has spread to other countries in Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal and Malaysia, as well as to Europe, the U.S., Australia and Canada, according to reports from these regions. The U.S. plans to evacuate some 1,000 American citizens from Wuhan this week, The Wall Street Journal reports. While videos posted on social media showed chaos in many hospitals in affected areas, the government announced Friday it will construct a 1,000-bed facility in 10 days to deal with the outbreak of the virus. Many celebrations planned for Saturday to mark the Lunar New Year in Beijing and other cities in China were canceled. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that 63 people from 22 states were being tested for the virus even as a second confirmed case from the U.S. was reported from Chicago. Only 11 had been tested negative as of Saturday morning. Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, was quoted by USA Today as saying that a 60-year-old Chicago woman tested positive about 10 days after she returned from Wuhan. She has been placed in isolation in a hospital but is clinically doing well and in stable condition. The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. is likely to go up, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said. However, she indicated there was no reason to panic as the risk to the U.S. public remained low. In the United Kingdom, 31 people had been tested negative for the virus while a handful of new cases were being looked at, according to The Telegraph, which quoted an expert at Public Health England as saying that the chances of the illness reaching the country were high. Three patients have been identified in France, and one in Australia. Canada confirmed its first case Friday night. The medical journal The Lancet said in an article based on a study that affected patients were geographically linked with a local wet market as a potential source, as game animals and meat are sold there. The study shows this new coronavirus is able to transfer between person to person, in a hospital setting, a family home setting, and also in an inter-city setting, Yuen Kwok-yung, one of the studys authors, told The New York Times. This is exactly what makes this new disease difficult to control. The makers of Barbie dolls are to sell a version that looks as if it has the skin condition vitiligo and another with no hair, in an effort to increase the diversity of the range. Mattel said it wants to provide a "multi-dimensional view of beauty and fashion" and "represent global diversity and inclusivity". The company added that the doll with no hair is "reflective of hair trends seen from catwalk to the sidewalk". "If a girl is experiencing hair loss for any reason, she can see herself reflected in the line. "A prototype was debuted on Barbie's Instagram channel last year, becoming the channel's most liked post ever," it said. The move is part of a broader effort by Mattel to make its toys more representative. The two bestselling Barbie Fashionista dolls in the UK last year were ones with wheelchairs, according to the company. Globally, the bestseller in the Fashionista range was a "curvy black doll with afro hair", it added. Also being added to the range that will be launched today is a Ken doll with "long rooted hair". Disabilities Last year, Barbie also introduced a doll with a prosthetic limb after collaborating with 13-year-old Jordan Reeves. They will now sell a second doll with a prosthetic limb that has darker skin. Jordan told the PA news agency: "I have always thought dolls are a really good way for kids to learn about disabilities. "Kids have a chance to grow up learning about limb differences and amputees while they play." Newly appointed Ambassador of Ukraine to Croatia Vasyl Kyrylych has presented copies of credentials at the Croatian Foreign Ministry. Kyrylych wrote this on his Twitter account. "The first day of the mission in Croatia is the presentation of copies of credentials at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia," the diplomat wrote. He added that Croatia is a strong partner of Ukraine because no one in recent history knows more deeply than Croatia and Ukraine the cost of independence, which is measured by the loss of thousands of human lives. The new ambassador arrived in Croatia on January 24. Handing over copies of credentials almost immediately after arrival is a sign of a high level of relations between the two countries. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Kyrylych as Ukraine's ambassador to Croatia on December 24, 2019. Prior to that, Kyrylych headed the consular support office of the Consular Service Department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. op Jerry, I just read your piece on Neil Peart in the Aurora Beacon News. Being a lifelong Rush fan, and fan of both Neils music (the lyrics and passionate drum beats) and his books, I simply loved how you centered the theme around Free Will and This life is enough for me, wrote Joe Potter. Neils death was a shock and saddened us all. What was unexpected was the reaction throughout the world. Who knew he has such a following? European aerospace giant Airbus said Tuesday it had reached "agreement in principle" with the French, British and US authorities over corruption investigations. "These agreements are made in the context of investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption as well as compliance with the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations," Airbus said in a statement. "They remain subject to approval by French and UK courts and (the) US court and regulator," it said. "For legal reasons, Airbus cannot make any comments on the details of its discussions with the investigating authorities," it added. Airbus has been the subject of corruption probes in all three countries over the past several years and said it issued the statement in response to press reports. Authorities declined to comment on the company's announcement when contacted by AFP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This is something that has brought us all together, Booker, who is also on the Maywood village council, told the Tribune last month. But heres the thing, weve been talking since July. So we are here in December and (were) still talking. ... And I think that light of everybody being, Yeah, we are going to do it, we are going to get it right, is slowly but surely dimming every day that the funding is not actually given to us. Strict measures are being implemented at Damascus airport and at land border crossings, to prevent the spreading of coronavirus writes Al-Watan. Syrian health centers will be on alert, especially at border crossings, to deal with any suspected cases of coronavirus, while Syrian public health authorities declared their full readiness to take strict measures at crossings, and adding that so far no cases of viral infection had been recorded. The Health Ministry has stressed in its instructions the need to monitor the health of expatriates and any suspected cases of infection, whose global spread is accelerating. It also sent notices to ports and medical centers near the land border crossings and to Damascus International Airport to investigate suspected cases, especially from countries and regions that have registered cases. In a statement to Al-Watan, Deputy Health Minister Ahmed Khelifaoui said health centers at all crossings had been put on alert, indicating that the necessary instructions should be sent to the doctors at the centers in the event that any cases are discovered to perform the necessary checks such as taking samples for analysis. The deputy minister said that this included border crossings, as well as Damascus International Airport, noting that the matter is being monitored and that to date no cases have been confirmed. He said that there was also readiness to deal with any cases in provinces, including at the border crossings in Homs, Daraa and the Damascus countryside. Khelifaoui stressed that preparations had been taken at all hospitals, in terms of having places for quarantine and the providing necessary procedures. He stressed the need to follow reports and information from official sources, and follow any measures regarding this matter. The director of the al-Mujtahid Hospital in Damascus, Haitham al-Husseini, said that instructions had been received from the ministry on the need to deal fully with this issue, while providing everything necessary and taking swift measures in the event of a suspected case. The director of Damascus airport, Nidal Mohamed, told Al-Watan that there was a meeting held on Sunday with the director of the Damascus Countryside Health Directorate and concerned officials, to develop the procedures to be taken by the health center at the airport which is under the authority of the Damascus countryside directorate. He also said that health measures had been circulated to the center in addition to taking care with passengers at the airport, as well as general health awareness for workers in the airport with a focus on the need to notify any unusual cases, adding that there was no direct flight from China, and that transit was by way of Beirut, Dubai or Kuwait. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes raised some eyebrows when they opted to walk the red carpet separately at Sunday's Grammy Awards. But the couple appeared to be doing just fine when they were spotted making out in the back of a bus on the way to an after party for the awards show. They had quite the night, as they ended up dancing on a bar together at 40 Love in West Hollywood. After party: Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes had quite the night Sunday, as they ended up dancing on a bar together at a Grammys after party Cabello and Mendes were also joined by fellow artists Niall Horan and Lewis Capaldi at the rager. They pulled Capaldi onstage as the room broke out into song over his nominated track Someone You Loved. It took a minute for Capaldi to get warmed up and join in the singalong, but he had a little liquid courage to help. Horan also jumped on the bar to help him get in the spirit of the festivities, planting a kiss on his cheek. Squad goals: Cabello and Mendes were also joined by fellow artists Niall Horan and Lewis Capaldi at the rager Singalong: They pulled Capaldi onstage as the room broke out into song over his nominated track Someone You Loved Liquid courage: It took a minute for Capaldi to get warmed up and join in the singalong, but he had a little liquid courage to help Kiss kiss: Horan also jumped on the bar to help him get in the spirit of the festivities, planting a kiss on his cheek Cabello arrived at the party in a risque black see-through netted mini dress, featuring fringe detailing. It was actually the same dress she wore on the red carpet earlier in the evening, without the detachable floor-length black lace skirt. Mendes changed into a blush satin dress shirt for the party with an untied black necktie draped down his chest. Party dress: Cabello arrived at the party in a risque black see-through netted mini dress, featuring fringe detailing Versatile look: It was actually the same dress she wore on the red carpet earlier in the evening, without the detachable floor-length black lace skirt They later carpooled over to Diplo's house party, where they were spotted putting on a loved-up display at the back of the bus. The couple received a Best Pop Duo/Group Performance nomination for their sexy collab Senorita, but they ultimately lost to Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus for Old Town Road. Capaldi also received his first ever Grammy nomination for Song of the Year, which ended up going to Billie Eilish for Bad Guy. The IIT Bombay administration on Tuesday issued circular warning students against participating in 'anti-national activities' within the campus or to 'distribute posters or leaflets/pamphlets' without permission The IIT Bombay administration on Tuesday issued circular warning students against participating in "anti-national activities" or to "distribute posters or leaflets/pamphlets" within the campus. Also banned within the IIT Bombay campus, according to the circular, are any form of speeches, plays and music, even if faculty is part of the gathering, without the prior approval of the Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA). The circular, which was sent via email by the Associate Dean of Student Affairs to the students list out 15 rules, which the students are expected to follow at all times. "No posters or leaflets/pamphlets distribution allowed in the hostel without permission from respective hostel council or DoSA (Dean of Student Affairs)," one of the rules in the email, which Firstpost has obtained a copy of, read. "Speeches/plays/music or any other activities that disturb the peace of hostel environment is strictly prohibited. Not allowed even if faculty is part of the gathering. Only matters that are approved from DoSA office will be permitted," said another rule. "Residents shall not participate in any anti-national, anti-social and or any other undesirable activities," another rule added. Speaking with Firstpost, one of the students said that the circular gives no clarity on what entails an anti-national activity or what is an undesirable activity. "There is no clarification on both of these terms. These are problematic because this can be used to clamp down on any student activity by calling it 'anti-national' or 'undesirable'," one of the students said, on the condition of anonymity. Adding further, the student claimed that the circular is a result of students' protests against CAA and the violence on other educational campuses. "These rules are coming to the campus at a time when students have spoken against CAA and the violence that has been happening on the other campuses. I believe these rules are framed so as to quell the protest," the student said, adding that these rules need to be questioned. "Any student activity which challenges any government policy would be clamped down in the name of being anti-national and undesirable until and unless we have a clarification on that. These are anyway politically loaded terms these days," the student said. Terming the circular as a violation of Article 19, the student said that these rules basically bars them from expressing their freedom of speech. "The administration needs to come up with more clarification. Otherwise, it tantamounts to declaring an internal emergency on campus. Because the moment you take out Article 19 and have put out a threat of 'anti-national' on everyone," the student added. Among other rules, which have been mentioned in the circular imposes restrictions on visits of IIT Bombay students to student hostels, as well as restrictions on the use of vehicles within the campus by student alotted hostel facility. "Any violation of the above can lead to partial or permanent hostel suspension," the circular warns. The IIT Bombay campus has been seeing protests against CAA as well as violence at the Jamia Millia Islamia, JNU and AMU. According to reports, around 1,500 students took part in a rally on the eve of Republic Day in order to create awareness about the Constitution, whereas, on Republic Day, another march was held by students and faculty, called 'Reclaiming the Republic'. Several posters in support of women protesting at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh were seen during the march. US Noncommittal on Keeping Troops in Africa By Jeff Seldin January 27, 2020 The United States is refusing to rule out shrinking the size of its military presence in Africa despite warnings that without Washington's help, critical counterterror efforts could fall apart. French Defense Minister Florence Parly delivered the latest plea for continued U.S. involvement in the counterterror fight Monday during talks with top U.S. military officials at the Pentagon. But following the meeting, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Washington had to take into account other urgent priorities. "We are focused on great power competition, first with China, then Russia," Esper told reporters. "My aim is to adjust our [military] footprint in many places. No decisions have been made." France currently has about 4,500 troops in Africa, taking a lead role in countering terror groups linked to Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaida across the Sahel region. Earlier this month, in response to the death of 13 French soldiers during a combat mission in Mali late last year, France said it would send another 220 troops to the region. And France is not alone in sounding the alarm about the growth of terror groups on the Sahel. A increasing number of Western diplomats have warned that IS, in particular, is using the region to regroup following the loss of its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq. The concern has run so deep, that during an anti-IS coalition meeting hosted this past November in Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that partner nations were already looking to West Africa and the Sahel as "a preferred, initial area of focus" outside of Syria and Iraq. U.S. and Western counterterror officials also caution the region is one of the few places where terrorists from IS and al-Qaida, usually fierce rivals, will work together to advance anti-Western plots. Standing alongside Esper at the Pentagon on Monday, Parly said that, as a result, Washington's support for the French-led efforts was "even more necessary," noting that countries like Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are already stepping up their campaigns to eradicate the terror groups. "The U.S. support is critical to our operations," she said. "Its reduction would severely limit our effectiveness against terrorists." U.S. officials have insisted they are not blind to the dangers. Still, for months, they have floated the idea of cutting some of the about 6,000 troops currently stationed in Africa. Publicly, U.S. officials have declined to say what potential cuts would mean for its bases in Africa, both in Djibouti and in Niger, home to many of the U.S. military's drones, which play a key role in gathering intelligence. "There is a lot of collaboration in terms of logistics but also in terms of intelligence," Niagale Bagayoko, a lead researcher and chair of the African Security Sector Network, told VOA. "That is one of the reasons why the French are presently eager to see the Americans to stay involved in the continent, in particular." French officials have also emphasized that while they understand Washington's desire to rebalance its forces across the world to better confront adversaries like China and Russia, they are not asking for a lot. "It's a classic case of burden sharing where a limited U.S. support leverages an immesnse effort carried out by France and Europe," Parly said Monday. Yet despite French officials expressing hope that "good sense" would prevail and that Washington would maintain its support for the French-led counterterror operations, U.S. defense officials have increasingly signaled such help may not be forthcoming. "France has reached out to other European allies. I think it's time for other European allies to assist, as well, in the region," Esper told reporters Monday. "That could offset whatever changes we make as we consider next steps in Africa." VOA's Salem Solomon contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more Ransomware tops the list of cybersecurity threats for 2020. While there have been efforts to convince individuals, corporations and municipalities not to pay ransoms, the simple fact is that whenever one is paid, the attack becomes asuccess that encourages cyberthieves to try again. Ransomware attacks increased 18 percent in 2019, up from an average 12percent increase over the past five years, according to research from cyber risk insurance firm Chubb. It accounted for 40 percent of all manufacturers cyber claims, and for 23 percent of cyber claims for smaller businesses last year. Ransomware has not only continued to grow over the years, but it hasalso attracted more organized criminals who have begun targetingspecific industries, said Javvad Malik, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4. That has not only increased successful infections, but has also made criminals more brazen in the demands theyve been making, he told TechNewsWorld. Easy Prevention One irony of ransomware is that it remains among the easiest threatsto control. Prevention would be effective if users would refrain from going tountrusted websites or from opening suspicious email attachments. Ransomware will continue to be an issue until such time that apreventative measure can be found or every user can be educated wellenough to not open files from unknown sources, said Tom Thomas,adjunct faculty member in Tulane Universitys Online Master of Professional Studies in Cybersecurity Management program. Ransomware is particularly nefarious because of its broad targets: individuals, businesses, government agencies and cities. The number of ransomware attacks increased in 2019 but worse, 22 of those cyberattacks shut down city,county and even state government computer systems. If it cant be stopped, the next best option is to make it lessprofitable. As a result of the attacks on municipalities, more than225 U.S. mayors last summer signed a resolution at the U.S. Conference ofMayors, pledging not to pay the hackers. Ransomware does not judge nor care if you are an individual,government or organization. Its about greed and lets be honest,organizations have more money than individuals, Thomas toldTechNewsWorld. The mayors pledge is so much political maneuvering and sound bites. Their pledge means nothing to threat actors and criminals, he added. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Those pledges are not the end of the story they are just the beginning, said KnowBe4s Malik. Like an animal that acquires the taste of human flesh after its firstkill, the rise and success of ransomware has given cybercriminals thetaste of data, he remarked. A pressing concern is what those criminals might do with the data. It will be common to see ransomware coupled with threats of dataexposure as ransomware strains developers and expands on new methodsto demand payment, predicted Erich Kron, security awareness advocate atKnowBe4. We have seen these threats for years; however, data exposure hasalready happened late in 2019 and will become a common practice in2020 for those who dont pay, he told TechNewsWorld. A Kings Ransom City leaders may have more leverage in deciding not to pay aransom than businesses, many of which have succumbed. For some companies, ransomware payouts now are factored in as an added cost of doing business. From the perspective of a business owner of any size, ransomware isa frightening proposition. Imagine all of the endpoints in anorganization failing in a few hours, warned Jason Kent, hacker inresidence at Cequence Security. Given that most organizations have difficulty doing the basics,knowing their assets, knowing if these assets are secured and patched,backing up data, etc. the rise of ransomware in the next few yearswill be most likely a foregone conclusion, he told TechNewsWorld. If we look at the organizations that have been hit with ransomware,the recovery process was painful and took huge amounts of effort toget back online, Kent added. If we are to make it through 2020 withour systems intact, we have to watch out for the ever-changing threatlandscape. Wipe Out Although not new, the very sinister wiperworms threat, which first appeared as a new form of malware in spring of2018, could be on the rise. Wiper worms, which can be very sophisticated programs, generally have three targets: files/data, the boot section of acomputers operating system; and system and data backups. A D V E R T I S E M E N T While not as common as ransomware, this type of malware is a majorrisk because of the devastating outcomes of such attacks, saidYaron Kassner, CTO of security firm Silverfort. One significant concern is that a wiper could be deployed on anetwork, and instead of merely locking out a user, it could be functionmuch like an even more insidious form of ransomware. I see wiper worms as one of the top cyberthreats for 2020, Kassnertold TechNewsWorld. Those hit by such an infection may not even be able to rely onbackups, which also are infected. If users restore data compromisedby the worm, that doesnt resolve the problem, as each resoration attempt only replicates the problem. Once attackers have a foothold, its easier for them to encrypt datafor ransom than to exfiltrate data to sell on the dark Web, notedWilly Leichter, vice president at Virsec. Cryptocurrencies now make it easy for criminals to monetizeattacks anonymously, he told TechNewsWorld. Recent attackshave encrypted data and threatened to expose it publicly if the victimdoesnt pay up. While this is probably a bluff, it raises theperceived stakes for victims, increasing their desperation andwillingness to pay. Recovery Efforts Lacking Another troubling component of ransomware and wiperware is the effort required to recover from such an attack. Few businesses have a strategy in place should such an attack occur. According to a recent Forrester report, most businesses are in denialabout their ability to recover from such an attack, said Sean Deuby, director of services at Semperis. Seventy-seven percent are confident or very confident, but only 21percent have contingency plans in place, and less than half that 11percent believed they could recover within three days of an attack,he told TechNewsWorld. Organizations must take a clear-eyed, hard look at how unpreparedthey are for a denial-of-availability malware attack and reshuffletheir priorities accordingly, Deuby added. Ransomware and otherwiperware is unprecedented in its ability to lay waste to a corporatenetwork without regard to physical location: NotPetya permanentlyencrypted 55,000 Maersk servers and other devices around the world in7 minutes. In latest sign of strained ties, Moscow accuses reporter of trying to steal information on military, which Japan denies. Russia expelled a Japanese journalist last month for trying to obtain secret information related to military capabilities in the Russian Far East, the RIA news agency reported. The expelled journalist worked for Kyodo News, the Japanese agency said on Tuesday, denying the accusation of attempted espionage. Kyodo did not identify the reporter but said he was detained on December 25 in Vladivostok and released after about five hours of questioning. The reporter was told to leave Russia in 72 hours, Kyodo said. For safety reasons, he left the country the following day. It is our understanding that he was engaged in standard reporting activities, Kyodo said in an emailed statement. Russias foreign ministry summoned a Japanese embassy official to make an official diplomatic protest over the incident, RIA reported. Japans Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it could not comment on the matter. Strained ties Ties between Japan and Russia have been strained for decades by a territorial dispute over a chain of islands in the Pacific. Known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles and in Japan as the Northern Territories, the islands were seized by the Soviet army in the waning days of World War II. The dispute has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty and developing their relations. The Japanese citizen was detained by Russian law enforcement officers in Vladivostok on Dec 25, 2019 trying to receive secret materials about Russias military potential in the Far East, RIA quoted the Russian foreign ministry as saying. The announcement came two days after Japanese telecommunications firm SoftBank Group Corp said one of its former employees had been arrested on suspicion of leaking company information. The former employee is suspected of passing information to Russias trade mission in Japan in exchange for money, the Nikkei newspaper reported, citing the police. A person familiar with Kyodos thinking said Russias announcement seemed to be revenge for SoftBank. Panic and pollution drive the market for protective face masks, so business is booming in Asia, where fear of the virus from China is straining supplies and helping make mask-wearing the new normal. Demand for face masks and hand sanitising liquid has soared, as both local residents and visitors from China stock up on such products as a reassuring precaution. Factories are rushing to boost production as the number of infections and deaths from the new virus first found in the central Chinese city of Wuhan climbs. In some parts of Asia, wearing of surgical masks has become mandatory, for now. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Sales of disinfectant products and hygiene masks have been rising since last week. First Chinese tourists came to our store to buy these products to bring back with them. They bought in bulk, like two or three boxes per person, said Varumporn Krataitohg, an employee of the NanBhesaj drugstore in central Bangkok. The outbreak began before the Chinese Lunar New Year, when tens of thousands of Chinese tourists visit Thailand, Japan and other parts of Asia. Demand has risen by 80% starting with this past weekends Chinese New Year, said Ms Varumporn. Now we are out of disinfectant gel for hands. The maker just sent just new lots this morning and by noon we were sold out, she said. People keep coming and asking for these products. Japanese often wear surgical masks to protect against colds, flu or hay fever. Shelves of some stores were scooped bare as Japanese health officials confirmed four confirmed cases of the virus. Christine Yuuki, a 25-year-old tourist from Hefei, west of Nanjing, was shopping in Tokyo for masks for friends and family back in China. In China, masks are very expensive, she said, adding that one little pack of masks costs more than 100 yuan (14 US dollars). They are cheaper here and easier to buy. Expand Close Passengers wearing face masks arrive at Tribhuwan International airport in Kathmandu, Nepal (Niranjan Shrestha/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Passengers wearing face masks arrive at Tribhuwan International airport in Kathmandu, Nepal (Niranjan Shrestha/AP) Iris Ohyama, a major maker of household goods and home appliances, said on Monday its mask sales last week had tripled from week before. It has asked some workers at one of its two factories in China to cut short their 10-day Lunar New Year holiday and get back to work, it said. Stocks of masks ran out quickly at outlets of South Koreas biggest 24-hour convenience store, CU, at airports, bus terminals and other transport hubs. Sales of soap, hand sanitisers and mouthwash more than doubled, said CUs parent company, BGF Retail. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Overall, though, there were no immediate signs of major shortages in South Korea, which has reported four cases of the illness. In Taiwan, likewise, the government said that there were enough masks and that current daily production capacity of 1.88 million face masks could be boosted to 2.44 million to meet any spike in demand. Authorities have announced seven confirmed cases of the virus on the island, which nonetheless has imposed a month-long ban on exports of two types of surgical masks to ensure the availability of domestic supplies. Everyday use of surgical masks, once mainly confined to Japan and parts of China affected by major dust storms or smog, has expanded in recent years, largely in response to worsening air pollution. In the Philippines, which so far has reported no cases of the virus, the recent eruptions of the Taal volcano have prompted many to wear masks to protect against ash. Cambodia, which registered its first new virus case on Monday, launched a campaign to give away one million masks to people entering the country at Poipet, on its border with Thailand. In Bangkok, consumers are faced with choosing between N95 masks, which are best for filtering out tiny dust particles in smog, or plain surgical masks that can help block transmission of the virus and are more breathable. Expand Close People wear masks at a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People wear masks at a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP) Thailand, a favourite Chinese vacation destination, has 14 confirmed cases of the illness, the highest national total outside China. While some stores were temporarily sold out, especially in places frequented by Chinese tourists, there is no absolute shortage of masks, said Prayote Pensut, the deputy director general of the Thai Commerce Ministrys Internal Trade Department. Whether or not masks do much to prevent the virus from spreading, they seem to reassure many. Wuhan is pretty much contained, said Ian Zhao, a 30-year-old engineer from Shenzhen who was visiting Bangkoks ornate Grand Palace. So, you just dont worry about it too much, wash your hands, put on masks, just keep your personal hygiene every day. And its mostly fine. Kola Ologbondiyan, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed that it should be the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that should consider changing its name. The spokesperson of the PDP said that his party is not considering a name change or logo ahead of the 2023 general elections. Also Read: PDP Spokesperson, Ologbondiyan Raises The Alarm Over Votes In Kabba He expressed that PDP remains the biggest party in Nigeria. Speaking with Daily Independent, he expressed that the APC should probably consider changing name because of its battered image across the country. A Wisconsin father begged the State Department to evacuate his wife and two daughters - one of whom is an infant - who are trapped in the locked-down city of Wuhan amid the coronavirus outbreak. Samuel Roth took to Twitter Monday, pleading: 'My family is currently in lockdown in Wuhan. 'When will my wife and two daughters, one of whom is only 10-months-old, be offered seats on the chartered flight?' Sam's wife, Daisy, and daughters Adalynn and Abigail, flew to China last week to spend Lunar New Year with Daisy's family in Wuhan. Shortly thereafter, the city was put in lockdown, leaving the Roth family stranded. And now, Sam's plea with the State Department has been turned down. The last flight out of Wuhan left Tuesday, and Daisy, Adalynn and Abigail weren't in any of its 240 seats. Now, 'There's no telling when they will be able to get out,' Sam wrote on Facebook. Just after Daisy (top left), Abigail (far left, age 10 months) and Adalynn (bottom right) arrived in Wuhan, China, the city was put in lock down amid the coronavirus outbreak. Now, father, Sam (right) is begging the State Department to let his family on the last flight out of the city so they can return home to Wisconsin Since emerging last month in Wuhan, China, the new coronavirus has rapidly spread around the globe, sickening more than 4,500 people in more than a dozen countries worldwide Sam told CBS News that he hoped that his daughters' young ages would help them get priority status to be flown back to the US on a chartered flight from Wuhan on Tuesday The Roth family's experience in Wuhan demonstrates just how quickly the coronavirus became a formidable health threat. Daisy and her two daughters touched down in Wuhan last week - well after after cases of a mysterious new 'pneumonia' had been identified and attributed to coronavirus. But the city wasn't yet cut off to the rest of the world, and US travel advisories hadn't been put into place. 'From the moment they set foot [in] Wuhan they were told, "stay inside, don't get in big gatherings,"' Sam told CBS News of his family's arrival in the now-besieged city. 'And then the city went on lockdown.' When public transportation within Wuhan and flights, ferries, trains and roads in and out of the city were shut down on January 23, some 1,000 Americans there were trapped along with the city's 11 million Chinese residents. Each day they stayed, the number of people infected climbed. Daisy (top left) arrived with daughters Adalynn, five (bottom left) and baby Abigail, 10 months (right) last week to spend Lunar New Year with family. Shortly after they got to Wuhan, the city was shutdown in an effort to contain the outbrak By midnight on Friday, 830 people were sick with the SARS-like coronavirus that seemed to have emerged at an open-air seafood market in the Wuhan, where live game and exotic fish and animals were sold. Now, the number of cases has surged well past 4,000. More than 100 people have died of the newly discovered respiratory infection, and most of them were in Wuhan. Gabriel Leung of the University of Hong Kong said 'draconian' travel measures are necessary to stop the spread of the virus. Few passengers are expected to still be trickling into the US from Wuhan, and the airports in the city are now closed, meaning travel to and from the city is nearly impossible for US citizens. Monday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a level three travel advisory, recommending that all non-essential travel to any part of China be avoided. Only travel to Wuhan's Hubei province was met with the agency's highest, level four advisory, with officials urging Americans not to travel there at all. The exception is the State Department's chartered flight, set to leave Wuhan. As far as we know, it's the last flight out of the city at the center of the outbreak. A US official 'with knowledge of the matter' told CNN that the plane is a Boeing 767, a plane that seats 240 people - less than a quarter of the Americans currently trapped in Wuhan. Young children like Adalynn (left) and Abigail (right) are typically more susceptible to viral infections, although it's not yet clear what the new coronavirus's effects on kids are On a video call with five-year-old Adalynn, Sam told his daughter he missed her, and asked if she was excited to see him soon. He hopes she'll be on the chartered flight from Wuhan to the US organized by the State Department It's primarily being sent to evacuate employees of the government, diplomants and US officials, but some seats are to be open to private citizens (who will be expected to repay the government for their spots at some future time). Sam's family faces tough odds getting on the flight, which is supposed to land somewhere in California. 'We've got a 10-month-old, we've got a five-year-old, they're susceptible and should be prioritized' Sam said. He's been advised on Facebook to write to the State Department as well as his local representatives. It's not clear if they've accepted Sam's plea, or if Daisy, Adalynn and Abigail will be coming heading home today. But Sam remains cheerful and positive, while FaceTiming with his older daughter, whom he just hopes to see safe, sound and in person soon. 'You excited to see me Adalynn?' he asks. 'Yeah I miss you too.' Wuhan mayor ready to resign if it helps to contain coronavirus epidemic Global Times Source:Global Times Published: 2020/1/27 17:37:54 Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang said that he and the city's Party secretary are willing to resign if it helps to contain the novel coronavirus which originated from the city and had infected 2,744 and killed 80 as of Sunday midnight. Zhou, mayor of the city at the center of the epidemic, made the remarks during an exclusive interview with China Central Television on Monday. Zhou admitted that the lockdown of Wuhan, a city with a population of more than 10 million, was a tough decision and a first in human history. "Maybe Wuhan officials will be nailed by history with a bad reputation for doing so and locking up the virus inside the city but as long as it helps contain the coronavirus, we are willing to take whatever responsibility including the resignation of Wuhan Party Secretary Ma Guoqiang and myself," Zhou said. He also admitted that information was not disclosed in a timely manner at the preliminary stage of the virus outbreak. But Zhou asked the public for their understanding as the local government could only disclose information after obtaining authorization. The mayor noted that after a meeting held by the State Council to recognize the coronavirus as a type B infectious disease and to manage it as type A infectious disease, work such as the lockdown of the city and suspension of public transportation has been progressing smoothly. He admitted there's still room for the Wuhan government to improve its crisis management. At a Sunday conference, Zhou said that demand for protective suits, masks and other materials in Wuhan had eased, contradicting a statement by Wang Xiaodong, governor of Hubei Province at the same conference, that said a lack of medical supplies was still the most pressing issue. The contradiction caused public outrage in China with many questioning the Hubei official's knowledge of front-line medical work. Some Chinese netizens said Sunday night's press briefing was a disaster, noting that the Wuhan mayor seemingly had put on his mask upside-down, then could not provide an exact number for medical supplies amid the public health crisis, thereby exposing significant holes in local governance. Zhou explained on Monday that he was thinking of the situation of Wuhan now that the entire nation has mobilized in supporting and ensuring supply of needed materials, while the governor was speaking about the province as a whole. Zhou also said that Wuhan residents would be doing the entirety of humanity a great favor if they could go outdoors less. Finally, Zhou gave his Monday interview a score of 80 out of 100, saying that "if I cannot explain myself clearly in front of your camera, it shows our incompetence as mayor and the city's Party secretary." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address We are incredibly proud of our growth, and we hope to carry this momentum into the future as we continue to expand. Scooters Coffee, LLC, the rapidly-expanding drive-thru coffee franchise, has recently been recognized in Entrepreneur magazines 41st annual Franchise 500, the first, best, and most comprehensive franchise ranking. Placement in the Franchise 500 is a highly sought-after accomplishment, as evidenced by the over 1,100 applications received this year, demonstrating how the franchise industry is more competitive than ever. Recognized as an invaluable resource for potential franchisees, the Franchise 500 ranks Scooters Coffee as 225th for its outstanding performance in areas including unit growth, financial strength and stability, and brand power. With this ranking, Scooters Coffee shot up 235 spots from 2019s ranking. We are incredibly proud of our growth, and we hope to carry this momentum into the future as we continue to expand, said Tim Arpin, Vice President of Franchise Sales of Scooters Coffee. I attribute our success to our unique focus on culture as well as our ability to foster and support emerging franchises. The Franchise 500 collects more than 150 data points on applicants across the five key factors of brand strength, support, costs and fees, size and growth, and financial strength and stability. The applicants with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500 in ranking order. The 500 companies on the list all have something in common: They understand what consumers want now, says Entrepreneur Editor-in-Chief Jason Feifer. They may be an upstart in a brand-new category, or a brand thats ranked highly on our list for decades. Either way, making our list means theyre a forward-thinking company, nimble, and closely in touch with their customers needs because, in an ever-changing business environment, thats what a franchise must do to thrive. Over its 41 years in existence, the Franchise 500 has become both a dominant competitive measure for franchisors and a research tool for potential franchisees. Scooters Coffees position on the ranking is a testament to its strength as a franchise opportunity. With over 200 locations across 14 states and a new relationship with KeyBank, Scooters Coffee is just beginning the strategic growth journey. To view Scooters Coffee in the full ranking, visit https://www.entrepreneur.com/franchise500/2020. ### About Scooters Coffee Founded in 1998 by Don and Linda Eckles in Bellevue, Nebraska, Scooters Coffee roasts only the finest coffee beans in the world at its headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. In more than two decades of business, Scooters Coffees success is simple: stay committed to the original business principles and company core values. The Scooters Coffee Brand Promise, often recited to franchisees, customers and employees, is: Amazing People, Amazing Drinks... Amazingly Fast! It represents the companys business origins from 1998 and reflects a steady commitment to providing an unforgettable experience to loyal and new customers. Scooters Coffee is at the dawn of a strategic growth phase in the Midwest and nationwide. The U.S. coffee market is an estimated $48-billion-a-year recession-resistant industry, and Scooters Coffee is striving to become the #1 drive-thru coffee franchise in the nation. Visit ownascooters.com to learn more about the benefits of owning a franchise of a well-established company. For more information, visit scooterscoffee.com, facebook.com/scooterscoffee, ownascooters.com or call 877-494-7004. Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are alternatives to hospital-based outpatient operating rooms. These centers are cost-effective and offer quality care & positive patient outcome. The global ambulatory surgical center market is estimated to account for US$ 112,823.4 Mn in terms of value by the end of 2027. Global Ambulatory Surgical Center Market: Drivers Increasing volume of ASC services is also expected to aid in growth of the market. For instance, According to Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the number of outpatient surgeries (in terms of volume) in hospitals from 2016 to 2021 is expected to rise from 8% to 16%, annually. Download the Sample copy Of Report with Table of Contents and Figures @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/3312 Global Ambulatory Surgical Center Market: Opportunities Increasing investment in ASCs is expected offer lucrative growth opportunities for players in the market. For instance, in January 2020, The Firmament Group announced an investment in three ophthalmology practices and an ambulatory surgery center in St. Louis, Missouri. Global Ambulatory Surgical Center Market: Restraints Recruiting surgeons that are more familiar with the hospital setting is challenging and such surgeons take time to transition into the ASC environment. This in turn may lead to low number of joint replacement surgeons in ASCs, thereby hindering growth of the market. Key Takeaways: The Multispecialty Centers segment in the global ambulatory surgical center market was valued at US$ 53,890.7 Mn in 2019 and is expected to reach US$ 75,977.2 Mn by 2027 at a CAGR of 4.4% during the forecast period. Rapidly increasing patient population suffering from chronic diseases and increasing demand for same day procedures is anticipated to assist the market growth during the forecasted period. Browse Press Release: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/press-release/ambulatory-surgical-center-market-2683 The Surgical Services segment held dominant position in the global ambulatory surgical center market in 2019, accounting for 67.9% share in terms of value followed by diagnostic services. Increasing number of surgical procedures in developed economies such as the U.S. is expected to drive the growth of the segment. The Gastroenterology segment held dominant position in the global ambulatory surgical center market in 2019, accounting for 29.6% share in terms of value, followed by Ophthalmology and Pain/Neurology, respectively. Rapidly increasing incidence and prevalence of gastrointestinal disorders is expected to drive the segment growth during the forecasted period. Market Trends The market is witnessing increasing launch of ASCs. For instance, in June 2019, IU Health announced to start a US$ 20 million ambulatory surgery center with five operating rooms and five procedure rooms for more than 10 different specialties in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Key players in the market are focused on adopting M&A strategies to enhance their market share. For instance, in January 2020, MedProperties Realty Advisors LLC, Capital Security Advisors, and Physicians Realty Trust acquired the Eden Hill Medical Center in Delaware. Regulations French Regulatory Decree no. 92-1101 and no. 92-1102 dated 2 October 1992 provided the regulatory framework for facilities providing anaesthesia or day surgery, by defining such facilities as providing alternatives to inpatient admission. This 1992 decree, which was partially repealed by the decree of 6 May 2005 concerning hospitals and equipment, was incorporated into the French public health code (PHC). Day surgery must meet technical criteria as defined in articles D. 6124-301 to 305 of the PHC concerning healthcare facilities that provide an alternative to hospital admission Article D. 6124-301 of the PHC states that facilities that carry out day anaesthesia or surgery provide, over a working day of less than or equal to twelve hours, services that do not include overnight accommodation, for the benefit of patients whose state of health is compatible with such management methods. Global Ambulatory Surgical Center Market: Competitive Landscape Major players operating in the global ambulatory surgical center market include, AmSurg Corp., HCA Holdings, Inc., Tenet Healthcare, Surgical Care Affiliates, Inc., Surgery Partners, Ambulatory Surgical Centers of America, Heathway Medical Group, Community Health Systems, Inc., and Vision Group Holdings. Global Ambulatory Surgical Center Market: Key Developments In December 2019, Montecito Medical Real Estate finalized the acquisition of a premier medical office building and the state-of-the-art ambulatory surgery center in Goochland, Virginia. The ASC is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, Inc. (AAAHC) and is licensed by the Virginia Department of Public Health. In December 2019, Trinity Healths St. Joseph Mercy Health System partnered with Schoolcraft College in Livonia to build mini-hospital ambulatory health center. Purchase a copy of Ambulatory Surgical Center Market Report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/3312 Segmentation Scope of the report Ambulatory Surgical Center Market, By Center Type: Single Specialty Centers Multispecialty Centers Ambulatory Surgical Center Market, By Modality: Hospital-Based Ambulatory Surgical Center Freestanding Ambulatory Surgical Center Ambulatory Surgical Center Market, By Services: Diagnostic Services Surgical Services Ambulatory Surgical Center Market, By Speciality Area: Gastroenterology Ophthalmology Orthopedics Pain/Neurology Urology Dermatology Others Ambulatory Surgical Center Market, By Region: North America Latin America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East Africa Company Profiles AmSurg Corp.* Company Overview Product Portfolio Key Highlights Financial Overview Strategies HCA Holdings, Inc. Tenet Healthcare Surgical Care Affiliates, Inc. Surgery Partners Ambulatory Surgical Centers of America Heathway Medical Group Community Health Systems, Inc. Vision Group Holdings About Coherent Market Insights: Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity. Contact Us: Mr. Shah Coherent Market Insights 1001 4th Ave, #3200 Seattle, WA 98154 Tel: +1-206-701-6702 Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com A passer-by walks past KakaoBank's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, in this 2017 file photo. / Yonhap Woori employees leave underperforming K bank By Park Jae-hyuk All 15 KB Financial Group employees sent to KakaoBank four years ago have refused to return to their previous workplace despite attractive incentives from their previous employer, according to industry officials, Tuesday. In April 2016, KB sent 11 employees from KB Kookmin Bank, two from KB Kookmin Card and two from KB Data Systems to the new KakaoBank. The financial group, which is the holding firm of KakaoBank's third-largest shareholder, KB Kookmin Bank, sent the workers to help the new digital bank begin operations successfully. The 15 were then assured of a return to their original positions. According to industry officials, KB, the nation's second-largest financial group by assets and profit, also offered them a 10 percent wage increase, promotion and deployment to their preferred branch. But KakaoBank said the employees decided to stay at their current workplace. Their decision is attributed to the internet-only bank's growth potential. Last year, KakaoBank employees were collectively given 26 billion won ($22 million) in employee stock options and 25.5 billion won in employee stock ownership in the form of stock options. The internet-only bank is also pushing ahead with an initial public offering in the second half. "KakaoBank posted 2.6 billion won net income in the third quarter of 2019, down 15 percent from the previous quarter, but its operating profit jumped to 6.4 billion won," Kiwoom Securities analyst Seo Young-soo said. "It is time to recognize KakaoBank as one of the major players in the market." In contrast, Woori Financial Group employees sent to K bank are opting to leave the internet-only bank as it faces a gloomy outlook. In March 2016, Woori sent 22 employees from Woori Bank and four from Woori FIS to the new K bank. Woori Bank holds a 13.79 percent stake in the bank. Among them, 16 returned to their original positions and two decided to leave both, as of December. Eight Woori Bank employees chose to stay at K bank last March. The staff exit is attributed to the financial difficulties K bank is suffering from. The current Internet-only Bank Act prohibits antitrust law violator KT from becoming the largest shareholder of K bank, so the mobile carrier has been blocked from increasing the bank's capital. Amid lingering capital shortages, K bank even stopped offering several loan products. Although the online bank anticipated a revision of the Internet-only Bank Act last year, the National Assembly failed to reach an agreement. F ive people are being given the chance to swap the office for an eco-friendly sabbatical in the Bahamas this spring. The group will live in ecological oases on island destinations Andros, Exumas, and Eleuthera throughout April and May 2020. Last summer, the 700 island archipelago was devastated by Hurricane Dorian, the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the country, which depends on tourism for rebuilding efforts. Projects helping locals to preserve natural resources and rebuild damaged areas and traditional industries with the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) will include freediving to help recreate an aquatic ecosystem, working on a coral reef restoration program, and traditional boatbuilding. The five winners will also get to help establish a bush tea farm, practice traditional pineapple farming and plant trees. The BNT protects 32 national parks in the country, and has partnered with Airbnb to offer the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When not volunteering, winners will be able to explore the famous destination during the months of sunshine. They will swim in clear-blue water off pink sand beaches and explore the worlds largest reef systems, as well as visit sites off the beaten tourist track. Eric Carey, executive director of the Bahamas National Trust, said: Partnering with Airbnb is an incredible opportunity to help further preserve our culture and resources and share our diverse country and the Bahamian way of life with the world. Airbnb is funding the trip because it aims to inspire people to give back to the people and places around them. More than 140,000 people from over 200 countries around the world applied for the last sabbatical offering from the site. A group will travel to Antarctica and become Citizen Scientists looking at the impact of plastic on the icy continent. Other previous sabbaticals have included a three-month programme in June last year, seeing volunteers help out in a small Italian village at risk of disappearing. The Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) activist and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam from Jehanabad in Bihar in a sedition case. Imam was booked in a sedition case lodged across several states for his alleged inflammatory speeches made during a protest against the new law. Imam, who was one of the initial organisers of Shaheen Bagh protests, has been asked to appear before the Proctorial Committee by February 3. "I have surrendered to the Delhi Police on 28-1-2020 at 3 pm. I am ready and willing to operate with the investigation. I have full faith in due process of law. My safety and security are now in the hand of the Delhi Police. Let peace prevail," said Imam. Reacting to this, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, "Nobody should do anything that is not in the interest of the nation. The accusations and the arrest, the court will decide on the matter." Live TV Patna ADG Jitendra Kumar said, "A team of the Delhi Police came to Bihar and have been getting full co-operation from the Bihar Police. Imam was arrested under the Kako Police Station in Jehanabad. Necessary legal actions are being taken. The Delhi Police is doing its research." According to news agency PTI, a case against Imam, who was one of the initial organisers of Shaheen Bagh protests, under IPC sections 124 A (an offence by words, either spoken or written cause disaffection against Government established by law), 153 A (promoting enmity between different religious groups with an intent to create disharmony) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) was registered by the Delhi Police on January 26. Apart from Delhi, the police of five states including Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Manipur booked Sharjeel under the relevant sections of the IPC. On January 27, a team of central probe agency conducted raids at the ancestral home of Imam in Bihar's Jehanabad when they picked up his younger brother. He was questioned at the Kako police station in Jehanabad, said reports. The police on Tuesday morning detained the brother of Imam. The video of Imam's speech was released by BJP on January 25 and in the video, he can be heard telling a small crowd that Muslims must get united and cut Assam from rest of India. In a series of videos that went viral on social media, Imam can be heard saying, "If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannot do it for permanently, then at least for 1-2 months we can do this. It will take the administration at least one month to disperse all of them." "It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. When this will happen, only then the Centre will listen to us," he further said in the videos. Imam was once an active volunteer at the Shaheen Bagh protest site but he ended his association with Shaheen Bagh protest on January 2 after the protesters refused to accept his call to end the ongoing anti-CAA protest. DECATUR Leaders of the Decatur teachers' union are asking the school board not to extend a contract for Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Jeff Dase, saying they would "give Dase a failing grade for his performance to date." The board is considering the move during tonight's open session meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Keil administration building, 101 W. Cerro Gordo St. Dase was hired in April 2019 for the 2020-2022 school years. The new contract would extend his employment through 2025. Dase did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Denise Swarthout, the district's chief communication officer, said the district did not have a comment Tuesday morning. The Decatur Education Association in a statement said Dase has "failed to provide evidence of success" in the board's established performance goals. "We have not seen data to be confident Mr. Dase has met his goals, which align to the Decatur Public Schools strategic plan," said Chrissy Petitt, DEA president. She said the union has had a collaborative relationship with the school district for years, but since Dase arrived, it has been "replaced with one of distrust, rancor, and frankly, a downturn in student performance from scores in the fall to scores in the winter." "The DEA Board of Directors and Association Representatives feel Mr. Dase is failing to create a culture where students and staff want to learn, teach and work," Petitt said. "At this time, we hesitate to support his contract being extended for five years." About 55 DEA leaders met Monday to discuss Dase's job performance, according to the statement. The DEA has about 650 members including teachers, school psychologists, speech and language pathologists, social workers and counselors. Dase's current salary, $156,715, would not change under the new contract but there is a provision for the administration to review wages at the start of each school year. The board would also pay 9.89% of the salary in pension costs. Prior to his time with Decatur Public Schools, he worked in Chicago Public Schools for 17 years, serving as the chief of schools for a period of time where he oversaw 30 elementary schools and five high schools. READ THE CONTRACT EXTENSION AGREEMENT: READ THE UNION'S FULL STATEMENT: Leaders of the Decatur Education Association (DEA) said Monday they do not want the Decatur School Board to extend the contract of Assistant Superintendent Jeff Dase for five years, based on the parameters of the boards own contract with him, and said they would give Dase a failing grade for his performance, to date. Dase, who was hired in April 2019 and who took over the position when Bobbi Williams retired from the position in June, has not been with the district for a full year. He came to Decatur from Chicago Public Schools where he had been the high schools network operations manager. His contract with DPS is a performance-based contract that states he must meet the student performance and academic improvement goals in his previous contract as well as establish a collaborative culture district-wide that improves the climate of learning in all schools. DEA believes that Dase has failed to provide evidence of success in any of the board-established performance goals in the first six months of his contract. Mr. Dase has not even been on staff for a full year. We have not seen data to be confident Mr. Dase has met his goals, which align to the Decatur Public Schools strategic plan, said Chrissy Petitt, DEA president. DEA prides itself on having a collaborative relationship with the school district. The relationship has been established and valued for years between DPS and the DEA. Since Mr. Dase arrived, the collaborative relationship has been replaced with one of distrust, rancor and, frankly, a downturn in student performance from scores in the fall to scores in the winter. The DEA Board of Directors and Association Representatives feel Mr. Dase is failing to create a culture where students and staff want to learn, teach and work. At this time, we hesitate to support his contract being extended for five years. On Monday, approximately 55 DEA leaders met to discuss Mr. Dases job performance. Leaders also met to develop a statement to Decatur School Board members and administration in regard to whether Mr. Dase can perform his job effectively. They determined, unanimously, there is not enough data for the board to make that determination and that the data available is not favorable to a contract extension. At the start of the school year, Mr. Dase told the Herald & Review he wanted to ensure our teachers are well-informed and trained about teaching and learning strategies that will prepare our students for the next grade level and/or content area that will ensure their success in life, Petitt said. Currently, this is the exact opposite of what his tenure is proving to be. We need an administrator who builds our district rather than tears down the foundation, and the evidence currently indicates that Mr. Dase is not prepared for that important task. The board must ensure that they have someone in this very important position in our district who will work to better our schools for staff, and most importantly, for students. Morale is down. Collaboration is hanging on by a thread. It is currently a failing performance which deserves a failing grade. The DEA is made up of about 650 members who are teachers, school psychologists, speech and language pathologists, social workers, and counselors. Contact Analisa Trofimuk at (217) 421-7985. Follow her on Twitter: @AnalisaTro Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Workers from local disease control and prevention department in protective suits disinfect a residential area following the outbreak of a new coronavirus, in Ruichang, Jiangxi province, China January 25, 2020. Picture taken January 25, 2020. (Photo : cnsphoto via REUTERS) China's health minister Ma Xiaowei had a few terrible news on the Wuhan coronavirus - human beings can spread it earlier than they have symptoms. "The transmissibility shows signs of increasing and the 'walking source of infection' [where patients show little sign of disease] has made it difficult to control and present the condition," Minister Ma Xiaowei, Dr. William Schaffner, a longtime adviser to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the new virus is a "game-changer." Schaffner said incorporating a virus is challenging if the patient was spreading the disease for weeks before they even realized they had it. "The infection is much more contagious than we originally thought," said Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The Wuhan coronavirus has killed more than 50 people in China and infected thousands there and expanded as far as Canada, France, and the United States. Health officials, according to long-time CDC adviser Dr. Paul Offit, should warn passengers on the flights from Wuhan before the outbreak might have traveled with someone who already had the virus. US to reevaluate strategy US health officials, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, deem the Wuhan virus has an incubation duration of about two weeks. Dr. Jennifer Layden, an epidemiologist with the Illinois Department of Health, said the health official's concern for transmission before symptoms develop is low based on what they know about Wuhan's coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Assuming that Ma is correct, Schaffner said they are going to have to reevaluate their strategy. Are Chinese officers right? Information often changes in a fast-spreading, ever-evolving outbreak like the Wuhan coronavirus. Ma, the Chinese health minister, didn't explain why he thinks the virus could unfold earlier than someone has the symptoms - leaving some experts skeptical. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy on the University of Minnesota, said he knows of no evidence - in his more than a decade of working with coronaviruses - where anyone has been found to be infectious during their incubation period. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) are both a consequence of coronaviruses. Both types of viruses - while each killed hundreds of humans worldwide - amounted to a handful of cases and no deaths in the United States. Offit, on the other hand, said it would not be surprising if the Chinese health minister is right and the Wuhan coronavirus may spread while people are asymptomatic. He explained that chickenpox, measles, mumps, and rubella spread that way. Despite that, Offit expressed his confidence that the US can control the outbreak earlier than it gets out of hand. Offit, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said the spread of the outbreak doesn't depend on the period of contagiousness. It also is based on how easily the virus spreads. Some illnesses, like measles, spread without difficulty even to humans on the other areas of a room. Other viruses spread easily with much nearer contact. A total of $35,137 will be retained in the Rotary Club of Tucson Foundations discretionary fund for smaller charitable grants to be made throughout the next two years. Over 25,000 people attended the 13th annual car show, which featured over 430 vehicles. The Rotary Club is already gearing up for next event, which will be held Oct. 17. Car entry and ticket information are available at: tucsonclassicscarshow.com Rather than dwell on such dilemmas, we must press forward if we want to live in a democracy that is truly representative of the people, or at least a true majority of the people. One practical way to do this is to inform voters early and often that their balloting options at least in realistic states like Illinois are not limited to a single 13-hour period on a Tuesday. BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on its partnership with Microsoft, Media3 announced that a full suite of AI Cognitive Services is now available with all of their cloud server offerings. Build More Intelligent Apps Designed with developers in mind, Media3 Cognitive Services utilizes the Microsoft Azure platform to provide highly scalable and highly available intelligence with a simplified process to enable and connect to each service. This service is best described as a collection of tools that allow developers of all skill levels to add features such as emotion and sentiment detection, vision and speech recognition, and language understanding to their applications with zero expertise in machine learning. "Our Cognitive Service offerings is about taking all of the machine learning and AI tools available and exposing them to developers through easy-to-use APIs in a simplified streamlined fashion, so that they can begin using them immediately," said Bob Hayes, Media3 CEO. "We've also included a free tier for each service so developers can get started at no additional cost as they develop." According to Media3, all it takes is a simple Web call to embed the ability to see, hear, speak, search, understand and accelerate decision making into apps such as: Content Moderator to Detect potentially offensive or unwanted content. Text Analytics to Detect sentiment, key phrases, and named entities. Transcribe and translate real-life conversations. Face AI to Detect and identify people and emotions in images. Computer Vision to Analyze content in images. Video Indexer to Analyze the visual and audio channels of a video, and index its content. Bing Autosuggest to Help users complete queries faster by adding intelligent type-ahead capabilities. By rapidly adopting the Azure platform, Media3 is keeping with its commitment to provide the most up to date stable editions of new products, platforms and services as they are released. Media3's network of worldwide resellers and partners will benefit as well with the ability to resell and bundle these services. ABOUT MEDIA3 Headquartered in Pembroke, MA, Media3 Technologies, LLC is one of the largest private web and application hosting providers in the world. Recognized as an industry leader, they are widely acclaimed for innovative technology and exceptional customer service. Media3's Web address is https://www.Media3.net. CONTACT: Bob Caldwell Corporate Media 781-826-1213 [email protected] SOURCE Media3 Taranjit Singh Sandhu, a career diplomat with more than 30 years of experience with two earlier stints in the Indian mission in Washington, was on Tuesday named Indias new envoy to the US. Among the key tasks he will have to take on after assuming his new position is coordinating US President Donald Trumps expected visit to India in February and guiding the talks for a new trade deal between the two countries that is aimed at addressing irritants and differences that have emerged in recent years. Sandhu, currently the high commissioner to Sri Lanka, was deputy chief of mission in Washington during 2013-17. He also served as the first secretary at the embassy in Washington responsible for liaising with the US Congress during 1997-2000. The post of ambassador to the US fell vacant when the previous incumbent, Harsh Shringla, was named the next foreign secretary. Shringla is set to take up his new assignment on January 29. Sandhu, who joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1988, was appointed as the envoy to Sri Lanka in January 2017 after the stint in Washington. He has also served as Indias consul general in Frankfurt during 2011-13 and in the external affairs ministry in New Delhi during 2009-11, first as joint secretary (United Nations) and later as joint secretary (Administration). He also served at Indias permanent mission to the UN in New York during 2005-09 and as head of the political wing in the high commission in Colombo during 2000-04. Sandhu has also had stints in the erstwhile Soviet Union. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, he was sent to open Indias new embassy in Ukraine and headed the political and administration wings in the mission in Kiev during 1992-94. His wife Reenat Sandhu is the ambassador to Italy. A trade union-backed arbitration process has imposed pay freezes on members of the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) and the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA). The decision, which means the ATAs 46,000 members will have had to ensure pay freezes for seven out of the last eight years, strengthens the hand of Jason Kenneys hard-right United Conservative Party (UCP) government as it presses ahead with ruthless austerity and public sector job cuts. The UNA and ATA had been campaigning for months for the arbitrator to issue his ruling. After unseating the unpopular New Democratic Party government in last Aprils provincial election, Kenneys UCP adopted Bill 9, the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act, an attack on collective bargaining that suspended arbitration proceedings until a review of provincial finances had been carried out. That review, led by former NDP Saskatchewan Finance Minister Janice MacKinnon, recommended sweeping public spending cuts of 20 percent in real terms by 2023, real-terms wage cuts for public sector workers, the gutting of student aid, and the closure of several higher education institutions. The Kenney government responded to MacKinnons report by promptly tabling legislation that empowers it to use replacement workersi.e. scabsto cover essential public services, rather than unionized workers, in the event of strikes by provincial government workers. In its first budget, which Kenney delayed until after the federal election for fear that the unpopular measures contained within it would damage the federal Tory campaign, the UCP announced plans to cut between 6,400 and 7,400 public sector jobs by 2023. The Kenney governments austerity drive enjoys the support of powerful sections of the Canadian ruling elite, which have actively encouraged the UCPs promotion of hard-right Alberta first regionalism. Kenney, together with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following his victory in the federal election demanding a renegotiation of the formula for determining equalization paymentsthe funds that Ottawa gives to so-called have not provinces to ensure minimum national standards for health care and public and social services. In effect, such a renegotiation would be used to eviscerate what little remains of federally-funded services. Trudeau and his Liberals have given credence to Kenneys pro-corporate, anti-worker agenda by accepting him as a spokesman for so-called western interests, which is in reality a euphemism for the interests of Albertas Big Oil and energy corporations. Determined to block working class opposition from developing into a direct challenge to the Kenney government, the unions have responded to the UCPs onslaught with bluster about Kenneys disregard for workers collective bargaining rights and with a court challenge to Bill 9, which ultimately failed. The bankruptcy of this strategy is now plain for all to see. Contract arbitration proceedings, which are always designed to meet the needs of the ruling elite at workers expense, have resulted in the imposition of further real wage-cuts for Albertas nurses and teachers. Needless, to say the UCP government has enthusiastically welcomed the arbitration decisions. These independent public sector wage arbitration outcomes reflect the current economic realities in the province, gloated Finance Minister Travis Toews. The pay freezes will impact the last year of both collective agreements, which were struck by the unions with the previous NDP government led by Rachel Notley. Like Kenneys Tories, Notleys NDP enforced wage and hiring freezes on the public sector. But in the hopes of garnering votes, it left open the door to modest wage increases in the contracts final year, by stipulating that pay levels for the 2019-20 contract-year would be decided by arbitration. The nurses collective agreement is scheduled to expire March 31, while the teachers contract runs until August 31. With their dead-end perspective of relying on favourable arbitration decisions thoroughly exposed, union leaders resorted to statements of disbelief at the process entirely predictable outcome. ATA president Jason Schilling said he was absolutely frustrated and deeply disappointedin this decision. The Association advanced a very strong argument in arbitration, and I was confident that a modest and reasonable salary increase was possible. The unions demobilization of working class opposition to Kenneys austerity agenda has emboldened the government to demand pay cuts from 180,000 public sector workers. On October 29, 2019, Toews announced that the government would seek an average two per cent wage-cut in some thirty upcoming public sector contracts. He added that the wage cuts will vary by bargaining group, meaning some workers could face wage rollbacks of as much as five percent. Talks with the UNA began January 15, while the ATA will begin bargaining in March. Even with these (arbitration) decisions, fiscal restraint and discipline must continue as we enter into new collective bargaining negotiations in 2020, stated Toews. As we said at Budget 2019, there is no new money for public sector raises in the fiscal plan. The UNA claimed in a press release that it is asking for a two percent raise in each year of a two-year deal and some improvements to contract language. The government, for its part, is demanding sweeping concessions. These include cuts to pay premiums for nurses with advanced degrees, the elimination of designated days of rest for part-time employees, and a reduction of overtime and premiums for working evenings, nights and weekends. UNA President Heather Smith noted that the last time the government pushed for such rollbacks was in 1988, when nurses went on a province-wide strike. The unions are well aware that the population is seething over wage freezes for workers and multi-billion dollar tax breaks and other handouts to the corporate elite. Last month, the leaders of six trade unions affiliated with the Alberta Federation of Labour told a meeting in Edmonton attended by some 300 workers that plans for a general strike were under discussion. Such militant-sounding rhetoric is aimed at preventing workers from breaking out of the straitjacket imposed by the unions. For decades, the unions opposed a working-class counter-offensive against the cuts and wage-restraint programs imposed by successive Progressive Conservative governments, claiming workers could do nothing till an NDP government came to provincial office. Then when the NDP did form government, the unions closely collaborated with the Notley government in its 2015-19 austerity drive. Far from initiating steps to mobilize the working class, the union bureaucrats are making worried warnings to Kenney that his class war assault is eroding their control over an increasingly restive membership. Responding to the latest arbitration ruling, Alberta Union of Public Employees President Guy Smith remarked with more than a hint of concern, The anger that has built up is now in danger of spilling out into the streets. Asian economies brace for a tough year as China deals with the latest coronavirus outbreak. Global financial markets continue to fall as investors fear a worsening coronavirus outbreak. And the likelihood of the virus disrupting global businesses and China, the worlds second-largest economy, appears to be growing. Al Jazeeras Rob McBride reports from Seoul. Patrick Perret-Green, an international economist at AdMacro, also joins us live from London to discuss the growing economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak both in and outside of China. smart motorways are death traps and their 6billion rollout should be halted immediately, a police leader said yesterday. John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation, said the roads were dangerous, putting both drivers and police at risk. Highways England insists smart motorways where the hard shoulder is used as a regular lane are safe because they have refuges for broken-down vehicles. But Mr Apter, who represents rank-and-file officers, insisted: 'They are a death trap. The country, police and we have been completely misled about the technology. 'A poorer system has been introduced and continues to be rolled out despite the clear dangers that they present. Smart motorways are inherently dangerous.' National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales John Apter (pictured) has urged the government to suspend all new smart motorways 'as a matter of urgency' Taking to Twitter the Police Federation chief said the evidence was clear that smart motorways were 'inherently dangerous' Ministers were already under pressure after a bombshell report warned of 'a shocking degree of carelessness' over the roads. MPs on the all-party parliamentary group for roadside rescue and recovery described smart motorways as a 'gross public policy failure'. Thirty-eight people have been killed on smart motorways in just five years, according to the BBC's Panorama. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is expected to face questions over the issue in the Commons tomorrow. He said yesterday: 'If we can't have smart motorways that are as safe, or better still safer than conventional motorways, then we should not have them at all.' Solicitors are understood to be preparing a number of legal cases against Highways England from families of victims and drivers who have suffered life-changing injuries in smart motorway accidents. Tory former roads minister Sir Mike Penning authorised the expansion of the programme in 2010 after a successful test on the M42 near Birmingham. In the pilot there were safe stopping points for motorists, called emergency safety refuges, on average every 600 metres. But when the scheme was rolled out some refuges were 2.5 miles apart. Mr Apter, who was a traffic officer, said: 'We were told that the technology would be so advanced that if there was an obstruction the system would automatically pick it up, help would be dispatched and the gantry would flash up a warning closing the affected lane. The mother of eight-year-old Dev Naran (left with mother Meera Naran), from Leicestershire, who was killed on the M6 when his grandfather's Toyota Yaris was struck by an HGV, said the government had to restore the hard shoulders until they could find a way to make them safe Highways England set up the new scheme to cut congestion and improve the flow of traffic. (Stock image) 'We were presented with a fait accompli based on the M42 model but we have been completely misled and a poorer system has been introduced. 'What we now learn is it takes an average of 17 minutes for an obstruction to be spotted and another 17 minutes for help to arrive. 'The public don't even call 999 when they break down as they assume they are being watched by some magic eye in the sky. The Government should order an immediate suspension of any smart motorway conversion until this review is completed.' Anthony Bangham, who speaks for the National Police Chiefs Council on roads policing, said: 'It is the right time now to be asking the questions as to the issues around safety on our smart motorways.' There are currently more than 20 sections of 'smart motorways' on seven different motorways MPs say a litany of failures have put motorists at risk because they leave drivers with no choice but to stop in the path of fast-moving traffic. They want to halt the construction of smart motorways for at least three years to collect proper safety data. They also want to more than double the number of emergency refuge lay-bys. Labour MP Lilian Greenwood, a former chairman of the Commons transport committee, said: 'Highways England have been unable to answer key questions. It's clear there are very serious safety concerns about removing the hard shoulder from motorways.' Richard Burnett, of the Road Haulage Association, said: 'They need bigger and more frequent refuge areas and better signage to ensure drivers understand when hard shoulders are closed to active running. Lives have been lost and that is totally unacceptable.' Shaun Coole, of the Road Rescue Recovery Association, said: 'I guarantee you I'd put my house on it that we're going to have another M25 catastrophe soon.' Sir Mike, who is now chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on road freight and logistics, said: 'They are endangering people's lives. People are being killed and seriously injured on these roads, and it should never have happened.' A Highways England spokesman said: 'Any death on our roads is one too many, and our deepest sympathies remain with the family and friends of those who lost their lives. 'The Transport Secretary has asked the Department for Transport to carry out, at pace, an evidence stocktake to gather the facts about smart motorway safety. 'We are committed to safety and are supporting the department in its work on this.' What are the three types of 'smart' motorways and how do they work? All lane running schemes permanently remove the hard shoulder and convert it into a running lane. On these types of motorway, lane one (formerly the hard shoulder) is only closed to traffic in the event of an incident. In this case a lane closure will be signalled by a red X on the gantry above, meaning you must exit the lane as soon as possible. All running lane motorways also have overhead gantry signs that display the mandatory speed limit. Should drivers break down or be involved in an accident there are emergency refuge areas at the side of the carriageway for them to use. Controlled motorways have three or more lanes with variable speed limits, but retains a hard shoulder. The hard shoulder should only be used in a genuine emergency. These variable speed limits are displayed on overhead gantry signs - if no speed limit is displayed the national speed limit is in place. Speed cameras are used to enforce these. 'Dynamic' hard shoulder running involves open the hard shoulder as a running lane to traffic at busy periods to ease congestion. On these stretches a solid white line differentiates the hard shoulder from the normal carriageway. Overhead signs on gantries indicate whether or not the hard shoulder is open to traffic. The hard shoulder must not be used if the signs over it are blank or display a red X, except in the case of an emergency. A red X on the gantry above means you must exit the lane as soon as possible. Overhead gantries on these types of motorway also display the mandatory speed limit which varies depending on the traffic conditions. Speed cameras are used to enforce these - no speed limit displayed indicates the national speed limit is in place. Source: RAC Advertisement Widow's plea for action The widow of a man killed on a smart motorway has called for Highways England to face a criminal investigation for corporate manslaughter. Claire Mercer's husband Jason, 44, was killed after stopping to exchange details with another motorist in June last year. He died along with Alexandru Murgreanu, 22, when a lorry hit them on a smart stretch of the M1 at Meadowhall in South Yorkshire. They were two of four people killed on the M1 in ten months. Claire Mercer and her late husband Jason Mrs Mercer, 43, from Rotherham, said last night: 'It was only after Jason's death that I started looking into what smart motorways were and understand what they are. 'Ever since I have been adamant that they are confusing, extremely dangerous and kill. 'To hear that some of those deaths, possibly including Jason's, could have been avoided is absolutely staggering. 'Highways England should be made to explain its actions or lack of action and the police should investigate the agency for corporate manslaughter.' The twin brother of man who was beaten to death and buried at a beach says he fears the same killers will soon come for him. Frankei Wade Palmer's brother Kerrie was tortured and killed by four men in 2003 over a $3500 drug debt on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. More than 17 years later, Frankei Palmer says he is still fearful for his own life. The 38-year-old faced court on Tuesday where he was fined $400 after pleading guilty for failing to dispose of a syringe, the Sunshine Coast Daily reported. Frankei Wade Palmer (pictured) lost his brother Kerrie in 2003 when four unknown men tracked him down and tortured him over a $3500 drug debt on the Sunshine Coast Over his lifetime Palmer has accrued more than 15 jail sentences to his name. Magistrate Maxine Baldwin said Palmer was risking wasting his life if he continued down the path of drug abuse. The Nambour man told the magistrate he'd made a huge turnaround since his brother's death. But he said he is still fearful for his life in the aftermath of the brutal murder. 'I'm scared they are coming after me,' he said. His brother's body was pulled from a shallow grave at Mudjimba beach on January 27, 17 years ago. He had been hog-tied, wrapped in a blanket, bashed with wood and then covered with limes. Four men were convicted on manslaughter charges for Kerrie's death and sentenced to jail after a trial at the Brisbane Supreme Court in 2005. Pastor collapses, tragically dies while preaching in South Africa Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A South African pastor tragically died after he collapsed while delivering a powerful sermon before hundreds of congregants gathered at his church on Sunday morning. Reverend Bassie Jackals died while preaching at African Methodist Episcopal Church in Kuruman, Northern Cape, on Jan. 19, according to video footage circulated on social media. The disturbing video shows the pastors sitting down in the middle of his sermon. Members of the church applaud him, thinking it's all part of the sermon. However, Jackals then falls to the ground. According to local media, Jackals was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The pastors autopsy showed he died as a result of high blood pressure and that he was also diabetic. "I pray that the family and congregants recover from this. #RIP Reverend Jackals. Indeed you have fought the good fight, a social media user captioned the video. Just 42 at the time of his death, Jackals is survived by his wife, Puleng Christina Jackals, and four daughters. According to The Zambian Dispatch, the pastor had attended Dr. EP Lekhela Secondary School and graduated from the University of Cape Town and was a candidate for the Master of Divinity degree from Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio. On Facebook, Zambian pastor and author Walter Mwambazi reflected on Jackals life and impact. He served as a vibrant and dedicated pastor of various congregations of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was later given an added responsibility to become a Presiding Elder in the church, he wrote. Passionate about lifting the souls of people through preaching and praise, he led various organizations till his untimely passing. Mwambazi said Jackals death should be a wake-up call to other pastors to rest and delegate tasks to others. The death of this man of God should serve us all as a wake up call - please rest! Take time off, have a break please please please! And find a way to share your responsibility and delegate. Raise lieutenants to help you with His work. It is His work after all, you and I are just vessels, he wrote. Other instances of pastors dying in the middle of preaching have made headlines in recent years. In 2015, a New Orleans pastor collapsed suddenly and died in the middle of preaching a sermon at Greater Saint Mary Baptist Church in the Algiers community after declaring to his congregation: "If the Lord called me now, I'm ready." That same year, a pastor in Texas dropped dead before some 200 people, including his sister, while preaching at the funeral of a church member after warning attendees of the need to be "ready for death." Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill during a Joint Ministerial Committee meeting at the Welsh Government Offices in Cardiff (Tom Martin/Welsh Government/Crown Copyright/PA) Northern Irelands First and Deputy First Ministers have insisted the regions voice must be heard in Brexit negotiations. Arlene Foster and Michelle ONeill presented a united front at the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) meeting in Cardiff between members of the UK Government and the devolved nations on Tuesday. Their appearance came just two weeks after devolved government in the region was restored following a three-year collapse. On Monday, the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier told an audience at Queens University in Belfast that new checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain are an indispensable consequence of the Brexit deal. Positive progress at Joint Ministerial Committee as First Minister and deputy First Minister secure dedicated new workstream on the implementation of the Ireland/ Northern Ireland protocol and commitments in New Decade, New Approach. Listen to them speak before the meeting pic.twitter.com/X7w6lWZihO NI Executive (@niexecutive) January 28, 2020 The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove told the BBC after the meeting in Cardiff that the UK Government will make sure that the unfettered access that we want to have for goods circulating within the UK is absolutely protected. He added: We will do everything we can in order to provide Mr Barnier with all the information he needs to recognise how thats going to work. Mrs Foster said there must be no barriers to trade, either on the border or on the Irish Sea. We have a key role to play in future negotiations to ensure our economy is protected and that there are no barriers to trade either north to south or east to west, she said. Our voice must be heard on all of these issues. On way to airport after a busy day in Cardiff discussing Brexit and next phase of negotiation. Standing up for the interests of people at home. pic.twitter.com/Wj4wn9E247 Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) January 28, 2020 Ms ONeill said: We have a mandate to speak on behalf of the people of the north who have put us into office. That mandate should be respected and our voice must be heard. We need real and meaningful engagement and we need our rightful place at the negotiating table to make absolutely sure that the rights of our citizens and the interests of our businesses are protected after Brexit. One of the first votes held by the newly reformed Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont was to reject Boris Johnsons Brexit deal. The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly have also rejected the Withdrawal Agreement. However, Mr Gove dismissed suggestions the meeting was one in crisis, after the UK Government said it would press ahead with Brexit despite the rejections of the deal by the regions. He said Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will have a say on future Brexit trade talks. OnScene.TV A south Houston man is expected to survive after he was shot during a robbery early Tuesday morning. The man, in his 70s, had just arrived home in the 3000 block of Dacca Drive around 2 a.m. when two men in a gray pickup pulled up to his house, according to Houston Police Department Lt. Christopher Bruce. The pair pulled a gun on the elderly man and demanded money, Bruce said. The Indian government on Tuesday handed over newly-built school buildings of two educational institutions in the Syangja district of central Nepal. Buildings of Tribhuvan Adarsha Multiple Campus and Shree Bhupu Sainik Community Academy was handed over to the Nepali government, an official release said. The institutions also provide Bachelor in Humanities, and Management as well as a Masters Degree programme in Management and The campus has over 400 students with 80 per cent of them being girls. "The new campus building constructed with the Indian government's grant assistance of 44.10 million Nepalese Rupees, is a two-storied campus building comprising of 20 classrooms, library room, office room hall, computer lab, compound wall, furniture and separate sanitation facilities for boys and girls on each floor," the release said. Meanwhile, the Shree Bhupu Sainik Academy provides from nursery to Class 12th. The school has over 690 students, about 47 per cent of whom are girls. "The new school building constructed with Indian government's grant assistance of 41.90 million Nepalese Rupees, is a double storied school building comprising of a pre-primary block, academy block having 36 rooms, compound wall, furniture and computers and separate sanitation facilities for boys and girls on each floor," the release said. "The Indian government is happy to be associated with the project which compliments effort of Government of Nepal in augmenting infrastructure in the field of education," it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 00:51:17|Editor: yan Video Player Close BRUSSELS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- More than 10,000 activists took to the streets of central Brussels on Tuesday, announced the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police on Twitter on Tuesday. The demonstration responds to calls from the General Federation of Belgian Labor (FGTB), a national trade union, for a "reinforced and justly funded social security". Traffic across Brussels is disrupted due to the closure of several road networks along the demonstration route, reports Belgian newspaper l'Echo. Bus companies STIB and TEC have also reported minor disturbances. However, the Belgian National Railway Company (SNCB) specified that all trains are running normally. According to the FGTB, the social security deficit in Belgium will reach 6.4 billion euros by 2024 if the current policy remains unchanged. "This means that without political and social decisions, our pensions, health care reimbursement plans and social benefits risk being scrapped", underlines the FGTB, reported by Belgian local press. The union calls for a reflection on the long-term financing of social security in Belgium. The Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB), a non-profit organization representing companies in all three regions of Belgium, advocates an increase in the employment rate to support social security, and disapproves national demonstrations to advance that cause. It is not even February and it feels like more news has happened since the start of 2020 than the whole of 2019 combined. The beginning of the new decade has seen Donald Trump play World War Three Chicken with Iran, Australia catch on fire amid dire climate forecasts, a US presidential impeachment trial, plagues of locusts devastate vast regions of Africa, and now the outbreak of a deadly virus from China. For some cryptocurrency analysts and enthusiasts, moments of global crisis and geopolitical turmoil have become an opportunity to explain the notoriously volatile price of bitcoin. The phenomenon has even inspired a popular meme, whereby a negative or seemingly unconnected event is arbitrarily attributed to the value of the cryptocurrency. The 'This is good for bitcoin' theory states that during times of uncertainty, investors look to non-sovereign assets and currencies in order to safeguard their wealth. For those that adhere to the belief that bitcoin is a safe-haven asset, it therefore may seem like no coincidence that its price has performed exceptionally well throughout the chaos of 2020, increasing its value by nearly a third since the start of the year. Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009 On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System' Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices Lazlo Hanyecz Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Silk Road opens for business Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin Screenshot Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The first bitcoin ATM appears On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The fall of MtGox The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's big split On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's price sky rockets Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures What goes up... Bitcoin price crashes spectacularly, losing half of its value in a matter of days Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin plunges The cryptocurrency eventually bottoms out below $4,000 in 2019 before slowly rebuilding momentum to outperform more traditional assets Getty Images Now, its price appears to be climbing in direct correlation with increasing fears over the global coronavirus epidemic. Bitcoin has risen in price every day since Wuhan was placed under quarantine on 23 January, gaining nearly 10 per cent in value in less than a week. At around $9,000, it is currently trading at its highest level since November. Other cryptocurrencies have also followed suit, with ethereum (ether), ripple (XRP) and bitcoin cash all experiencing considerable gains since the start of the outbreak. "Prices jumped to near three-month highs following turbulence on traditional stock markets, reinforcing cryptocurrency's growing position as a possible safe haven investment," said Simon Peters, an analysts at the online trading platform eToro. "Cryptocurrencies seem to be mimicking the reaction seen in gold, the classic safe haven, which has also soared in recent days due to fears that the coronavirus is now spreading globally." The price of bitcoin has risen by nearly 10 per cent since Wuhan was placed under quarantine on 23 January, 2020 (CoinMarketCap) Similar conclusions were made earlier in January amid growing tensions between the US and Iran, as well as in August during the escalating trade war between the US and China. Despite this, there is little research to actually support the theory that such events are related to bitcoin's fortunes. Market movements have instead been connected to developments within the cryptocurrency industry, such as favourable regulation being introduced, or rumours that a country is developing its own cryptocurrency. Its value has also been pinned to the whims of traders who own large volumes of bitcoin, known as whales. Cryptocurrency author David Gerard claims the cryptocurrency market is "rife with insider trading" and that a number of whales "have colluded for years" in order to manipulate its price. "The bitcoin price is a game for whales to wreck the smaller players," he wrote in a 2019 blog post. "Anyone who claims the bitcoin price is in any way organic, or follows real-world events, is simply talking nonsense." A federal employee cannot possibly be expected to understand the difference between the two, particularly where the employee could lose her job if she guesses wrong. In reality, the only safe course for federal employees is to censor their speech and avoid any discussion of impeachment, said the motion, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 21:20:55|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Photo taken on Jan. 28, 2020 shows the residential area hit by an indiscriminate shelling in Tripoli, capital of Libya. Indiscriminate shelling on Tuesday hit a residential area in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, killing two children and injuring two others, a local official said. The UN-backed government's forces accused the rival eastern-based army of the shelling, which has not been commented by the eastern-based army. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua) TRIPOLI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Indiscriminate shelling on Tuesday hit a residential area in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, killing two children and injuring two others, a local official said. "Indiscriminate shelling targeted Al-Hadba al-Badri area in central Tripoli, which killed two children and injured two others," Ameen Hashemi, information adviser of the Ministry of Health, told Xinhua. "The children were hit as they were on the way to school," Hashemi said. The UN-backed government's forces accused the rival eastern-based army of the shelling, which has not been commented by the eastern-based army. The eastern-based army, led by Khalifa Haftar, has been leading a military campaign since April 2019 in an attempt to take over Tripoli from the UN-backed government. Thousands of people have been killed and injured in the fighting, and more than 150,000 civilians were forced to flee their homes away from the violence. The two rival parties agreed to cease fire on January 12, but both have been accusing each other of breaching the truce. With a celebration of love songs that have made generations of theatre-goers swoon, the Chattanooga Theatre Centre is rolling out A Very Broadway Valentines Day, a romantic musical event set for Saturday, Feb. 8 at 8 p.m."Twenty-one stellar singers, all of whom have appeared on the Theatre Centre stage, will perform favorite love songs from Broadway shows past and present," officials said. "Arrangements from a whos who of composers, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Andrew Lloyd Webber, will be featured."Guests will enjoy complimentary champagne and a chocolate dessert reception in the theatres riverfront lobby.A cash bar will also be available.The event, which is a fundraiser for the theatre, will also feature a silent auction.The lineup of performers includes MacKenzie Ballard, Greer Caldwell, Normand Cassie, Rhonda Catanzaro, Scott Dunlap, Greg Glover, Joshua Harrell, Garrett Henson-Hinck, Judy LaMance, Joanna Lewis, Beth McClary-Wolford, Deb Meeks, Alexis Newson, Arden Oglesby, Mark Oglesby, Genna Raborn, Jason Russell, Christian Smith, Ian Taylor, Thaddeus Taylor and Rodney Van Valkenburg.The production is directed by Steve Ray with musical direction by Michael Huseman.Tickets are $40 per person and can be purchased by calling the box office at 423-267-8534 or visiting TheatreCentre.com An independent Mournes councillor is to contest charges of twice assaulting a female police officer. Henry Reilly (61), of Ballynahatten Road in Kilkeel, is further accused of resisting the female constable, resisting a male constable and causing criminal damage to a police radio and ear piece on September 30, 2019. The defendant is a councillor on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. Reilly has previously served on the council as a member of the UUP, the DUP and most recently Ukip, but had to resign as his job with a charity did not allow him to align with any political party. Reilly did not appear at Newry Magistrates Court for the hearing. The court had previously heard that police body camera footage was part of the evidence in the case. The defence provided two payslips to the court from the accused's pension and from local government. Legal aid was then granted. "Obviously these are significant charges," said Reilly's defence solicitor. "It is anticipated that there will be some issues. "He is a man with a clear record." District Judge Mark McGarrity adjourned the case to March 9. Birmingham will be home to a startup company matching jobs with workers launching later this year. GoodJob announced it has acquired Fetch Talent for an undisclosed sum. The companys GoodJob platform will use psychology and data science to fill jobs with candidates matching criteria. Right now, recruiting firms are exorbitantly expensive, while job boards create significant work for companies by dumping hundreds of resumes and candidates on them for each job," GoodJob CEO Stephen D. Johnston said. Johnston is the former CEO of SmartSynch, one of the largest venture-funded companies in the history of Mississippi, which sold to Itron, Inc. for $100 million in 2012. GoodJob uses software and a proprietary assessment process to make instant recommendations and to help companies determine the best candidate for each job. The company said its app will allow potential workers to filter jobs by their preferences for company culture or benefits, and see which positions are a fit for personal work styles. It will also use traditional criteria, such as skills, experience, industry, location and compensation. The GoodJob score, which calculates how successful and happy a candidate will be at a job, is based on 30 years of data science in human resources, Johnston said. We believe it will revolutionize the industry by increasing employee retention and reducing hiring costs. Fetch Talent has been in business for three years. Founder Chase Morrow said the company looks forward to serving the Fetch community with the GoodJob platform in the near future. With its innovative approach, Fetch has helped hundreds of companies and thousands of candidates find the right job opportunities," Morrow said. Economy minister: Ukraine gets EUR 1.25 bln from latest eurobond issue 16:41, 28.01.20 1156 The bonds were acquired by 200 investment funds from 31 countries. Director Reed Morano on the set of 'The Rhythm Section'. (Credit: Jose Haro/Eon/Paramount) Emmy-winning director Reed Morano has just helmed spy movie The Rhythm Section for James Bond producers EON Productions, but she also has her eye on 007 himself. The 42-year-old filmmaker told Yahoo Movies UK she agrees with producer Barbara Broccolis recent comments about the potential for a female James Bond. Broccoli told Variety she would rather work on creating new characters for women than gender-swap Ian Flemings superspy. Morano agrees, saying that transforming a male character into a woman would feel like a consolation prize rather than a step forward. Read more: The troubled production timeline of No Time to Die She said: James Bond is a man. Hes a male character. Men and women are different and we should celebrate those differences. Michael G Wilson, Daniel Craig and Barbara Broccoli attend the "Bond 25" film launch in Jamaica. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures) A female character is going to do very different things than what James Bond would do. Just keep James Bond as James Bond and have your other amazing iconic character start as a woman to begin with. What Barbara is trying to say is that women can have their own heroes. We dont need to settle for the one that has been a man forever. Were worthy of our own thing. Morano said shed jump at the chance to work with Broccoli again after their collaboration on The Rhythm Section an adaptation of Mark Burnells novel, in which Blake Lively plays a woman who becomes an assassin while investigating the mysterious death of her family in a plane crash. Read more: Most exciting movies coming in 2020 The director added that movies are genderless and that, with major tentpole action movies increasingly opening up to female filmmakers like Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman 1984), Cathy Yan (Birds of Prey) and Cate Shortland (Black Widow), shed love to take on cinemas most iconic secret agent. Reed Morano is the director of new thriller 'The Rhythm Section'. (Photo by Desiree Navarro/Getty Images) You dont need a female James Bond, but it would be fun to see James Bond through the eyes of a female director, she said. There used to be the excuse that women didnt want to direct huge tentpole action films, but thats simply not true. Story continues There are women who want to and I think were going to get a really, really interesting POV from these filmmakers. Read the full interview with Reed Morano, in which she discusses the production mishaps that delayed The Rhythm Section as well as the pressure of making a spy thriller with Barbara Broccoli and the character who ended up on the cutting room floor. Yahoo Movies UK: How difficult was it to distill the very complex narrative of the book into quite a tight thriller? Reed Morano: It was a really complicated narrative. It was a little tricky because the storytelling style was that we really wanted to tell it in a point-of-view type of way. Anything that Stephanie Patrick [Livelys character] doesnt see, we dont see, so were really in her shoes and typically only know what she knows. I think the genre doesnt normally do that because its quite complex. It was a bit of a creative challenge. It was inspired by the way that, when the script came to me, it was very POV-oriented. There really was only one, or maybe two, scenes in the whole movie that didnt have Stephanie in them. It felt like: weve come this far, so why not just try to make the audience understand whatever happens in those scenes? It was an interesting challenge creatively to try to make the audience understand the things they needed to understand to be able to track what was happening. You mentioned that script, written by Mark Burnell adapting his own novel. What was he like as a collaborator and how willing was he to sacrifice bits of his story? I would be so effusive it would probably sound like I wasnt telling the truth. But I couldnt love Mark more. He was the most amazing partner to have as a writer. He was beyond supportive. I think right away he felt safe, of course, in Barbara and Michaels hands. But when I came on board, he was so welcoming and I think he knew or had a hunch about the type of aesthetic I would want to bring. It was sort of what I think hed always hoped for. Read more: The Goldfinch director on adapting a tough script We became really close partners very quickly. The way that Barbara and Michael work is that theyre so hands-on as producers with the story and the script. Its always this close collaboration between them, Gregg [Wilson, Michaels son] and myself and Mark. Everybody works together to try to solve problems and everybody was really supportive about the point of view and style of it and pushing it into a place that felt like its own thing, separate from what Eon has done in the past in the genre. Mark stuck with us. He was there long before I came on board and he stuck with us every step of the way. He was completely gracious and would walk around the set with a huge smile on his face the whole time. He couldnt be happier and was a really great support to me. Blake Lively in 'The Rhythm Section'. (Credit: Jose Haro/Eon/Paramount) I think Blake Lively is terrific in this film, even though shes perhaps not the obvious choice in the role. What drew you to her for the movie? I think shes just amazing. What shes done here just blew everyone away, but I know its only scratching the surface of what Blake has in store for people. Shes quite an incredible person and fully committed. She wasnt actually one of the usual suspects to think of for this role. When I first got into a position to be able to think about who I would want to cast, when I directed my first film [2015 drama Meadowland], my mind automatically went to the usual suspects but then I ended up casting a group of people who were not the people you were thinking of. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 27: Reed Morano and Blake Lively attend the screening of "The Rhythm Section" at Brooklyn Academy of Music on January 27, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) So therefore, thinking about Blake doing this role, it was really because I had seen her work in The Town and The Shallows. You get that hunch about somebody that, if they were put in a different situation with a different story or a larger role, they could really shine. I just got that feeling from her and I know Barbara got it too. Read more: The Shallows director on turning a seagull into a star It was a little more complicated than that. Blake was on my mind anyway because, around the time Barbara and I were talking, Blake sought me out to do a meeting about trying to get me to direct a film she was already attached to. I was already on another job and, on top of that, talking about this with Barbara. I mentioned in passing a little about this job and said how excited I was about it. She went and found out what it was on her own shes super resourceful and came back to me and was like: I know you cant do my movie, but why dont we both do this movie together? I thought it was a great idea and it felt meant to be that we were all brought together that way. I never looked back. I was super excited to see what she would do and she just amazed me every day we were shooting. Blake Lively as Stephanie Patrick in 'The Rhythm Section'. (Credit: Bernard Walsh/Eon/Paramount) Her injury on the set was very well publicised. Looking back at the finished film, was that delay a blessing in disguise at all? I wouldnt say any injury to anybody is a blessing in disguise. There were many cons to it that I feel bummed about. We didnt have to take the hiatus as long as we did, but Barbara and Michael make these films all the time and theyve always said that on action movies, theres always at least one injury, and you have to be prepared for those setbacks. You hope for the best but, no matter how careful or steeled everybody is, these things tend to happen even to the best, most seasoned action stars. We were all bummed because youre in a rhythm when youre making a movie. No one was more bummed, obviously, than Blake. She really hurt her hand and was in all kinds of pain. It was really awful. The priority for me, Blake and Barbara was that we should take the necessary time to allow her hand to fully heal and not try to rush back into production. There were more stunts yet to come and we just wanted to be safe. It was all about being better safe than sorry. Read more: Morano discusses making Peter Dinklage drama We let a lot of time pass so that Blake could get better. In that time, we used it to prepare much better in all of the other countries we had to shoot in. We had this huge car chase sequence coming up that, in our original schedule, we didnt have a tonne of time to do all of the things we wanted to do with it. We wouldve got it done, but it just made everything run much more smoothly because we were able to have more rehearsal. There was just more time, and thats never a bad thing. What was so nice, and speaks to the experience of our shoot and how much fun we all had, is that literally our entire crew spread across several countries pretty much every single person came back after the six-month hiatus. Really, I could probably count the number of people who couldnt come back on one hand. It was so incredible and people just had an amazing time. I think they just felt the energy and the spirit of everybody banding together. I think a lot of that was rallying around the idea of when Blake is better, were all in, nobody is abandoning everyone and were going to bring this movie home. It would have been better if it couldve happened without an injury because that was very upsetting and painful. Blake Lively and Jude Law in 'The Rhythm Section'. (Credit: Bernard Walsh/Eon/Paramount) I interviewed Daniel Mays last year and he was talking about his excitement about this project, but he doesnt appear in the finished film. Were there bits of restructuring and difficult decisions made during the production delays? There are always difficult decisions to be made during the filmmaking process. When the film had to be shorter, we realised the storyline around Daniel Mays character was one that could be removed from the film without impacting on the flow of the story as a whole even though we were very attached to it. His performance was absolutely fantastic and Im so happy his scenes will be available for everyone to watch when the film is released on DVD and Blu-ray. This is obviously only the third non-Bond film made by EON. Does that name come with pressure? Oh yeah, of course! I think I approached it initially as just excitement. There was less pressure because they didnt want this to be another Bond movie. Thats such an iconic franchise the most iconic franchise in that genre. Barbara and Michael wouldnt even have considered me if they didnt want something different. It doesnt take much to see that theyre going outside the box if they look at the work Ive done prior. Read more: Bond studio MGM in talks with Netflix and Apple over buy out They wanted that and that was what was really cool about the opportunity. I got to work with the people who know how to do this better than anyone, but they also let me infuse myself and my vision into what is a new character and story. It was so nice because it was a really great collaboration of them giving me all of the knowledge they have and feeling so well taken care of by them, but also I was able to nudge them in a direction they mightve thought was crazy. They certainly said that to me on more than one occasion. But they always supported me. They always opened their minds to see a different way that might be completely different to what they have done for the past however many years. They are so creatively open-minded and supportive. I did really push it in a direction that feels very different to what they typically do. They embraced it, believed in it and I think they had a really fun time doing it. James Bond (Daniel Craig) prepares to shoot in NO TIME TO DIE. (Credit: Nicola Dove/MGM) Barbara made some comments recently about how James Bond should never be a woman, but that she wants to push original stories with strong female protagonists. Do you think your movie is proof of ethos? For sure. That has always been Barbaras stance. She makes an amazing point. Its easy to turn something like that into clickbait if you dont look at the whole statement, which is: James Bond is a man. Hes a male character. Men and women are different and we should celebrate those differences. A female character is going to do very different things than what James Bond would do. Just keep James Bond as James Bond and have your other amazing iconic character start as a woman to begin with. We dont need to take the shoes of a male character and adapt to that. We should just create the iconic action franchise through the eyes of a woman from its inception, not just try to please everyone. It doesnt really make sense. Read more: Sienna Miller says diversity-driven casting is dangerous The idea of a female Bond to me just feels like were getting a consolation prize and I know Barbara and Michael would never do that. Bond is Bond and Stephanie Patrick is Stephanie Patrick. Im not saying theyre comparable things. Theyre action films, but theyre very different and different aesthetics. I think thats what Barbara is trying to say is that women can have their own heroes. We dont need to settle for the one that has been a man forever. Were worthy of our own thing. And if Barbara rang tomorrow to ask you to do the next James Bond film, would you do it? Yeah... obviously. It would be very fun. Now heres one thing I would say. You dont need a female James Bond, but it would be fun to see James Bond through the eyes of a female director. DP Sean Bobbitt and director Reed Morano on the set of 'The Rhythm Section'. (Credit: Bernard Walsh/Eon/Paramount) On that note, this year with Cathy Yan doing Birds of Prey and Cate Shortland doing Black Widow as well as your movie, female directors are being given the chance to helm big action blockbusters. How important is that to you? Its very important to me and its huge for everyone because the more this becomes the norm, [the better]. There are a lot of places really pushing to pull up the female filmmakers who are capable. There are so many of us out there who can do this and who want to do this. There used to be the excuse that women didnt want to direct huge tentpole action films, but thats simply not true. There are women who want to and I think were going to get a really, really interesting POV from these filmmakers. Read more: How Trainspotting inspired Birds of Prey And it has been proven that they make money. Films are genderless. Yes, the perspective is not, but one is not less than the other. Everybody works with the same amount of support. I might technically know more than a male director and some male directors might know more than some other female directors, but it doesnt really matter if you come to the table with a drive, a passion for the story and a point of view. The way to keep this art alive is to keep pushing through new points of view and I am really happy to see thats happening. The Rhythm Section is in UK cinemas from 31 January. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing $24 million in financing, including a $12 million C loan for IFCs own account and a mobilization of a $12 million B loan through IFCs syndication program to Zalar Agri, one of Moroccos leading fruit producers, as part of an effort to create jobs and spur export-led economic growth in rural Morocco. The financing, announced last week, will help the company expand its fruit and nut growing operations, creating both permanent and seasonal jobs in Moroccos countryside. This impact is considered important in a nation where rural poverty rates are twice those of urban areas. We are proud of this partnership with the IFC, a high-profile international investor who will allow us to reinforce our Groups institutionalization and expand and diversify our farming operations into many highly-growing agricultural varieties, while enhancing in parallel our downstream capabilities, said Farouk Chaouni, Chairperson of Zalar Agri. IFCs support will also help us expand our processing operations and develop exports, creating good jobs and added value in the places that need them the most. The financing is part of a larger IFC push to spur the development of sustainable agriculture in Moroccos farming sector, which employs 37 percent of Moroccans, and helps local producers break into lucrative foreign markets. Poverty and unemployment remain major challenges in Moroccos countryside, said Sergio Pimenta, IFC Vice President for the Middle East and Africa. By helping agriculture companies grow and enter new markets, we can foster the type of sustainable, inclusive growth that Morocco is striving for, he said. Zalar Agri is one of the largest apple producers in Morocco (with a significant market share in the modern trade segment) and one of the countrys leading players in the agriculture sector overall, with well-established brands for apples and stone fruits. IFCs partnership with the company is part of an effort to support the growth of Moroccos private sector and create economic opportunities for Moroccans. Since 1962, IFC has been promoting inclusive private sector development and innovation to create markets in Morocco with advisory services and investments. AKRON, Ohio Police are searching for suspects in two robberies over the weekend. According to police, a man armed with a handgun robbed the Metro PCS store on the 1500 block of South Hawkins Avenue at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The suspect pointed the handgun at the 20-year-old clerk and demanded cash. The male ran from the store with an unknown amount of money and two cell phones, police say. The suspect was dressed in black clothing and was wearing a mask, police say. He was estimated to be 6-foot to 6-foot-2 and weighing about 120 to 150 pounds. At about 9:45 p.m. Saturday, police were called to a Family Dollar on the 900 block of Copley Road. The 42-year-old clerk tells officers a man in hooded sweat shirt acted as if he had a gun and demanded cash. No weapon was seen. The suspect escaped on foot. He is described as 20 to 30 years old and between 6-2 and 6-4 in height. He weighed between 180 and 200 pounds and was wearing a gray jogging suit. Anyone with information can call detectives at 330-375-2490 or Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS. Tips also can be sent by texting TIPSCO at 274637. Callers can remain anonymous. To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comments page. Read more crime stories: 70-year-old Cleveland veteran killed man who took him in off the streets, family says 70-year-old shoots man to death, takes his own life while holding child hostage in Cleveland apartment, police say Watch the full video of Cleveland Browns RB Kareem Hunts traffic stop in suburban Cleveland St. Edward High School teacher accused of trying to meet teen for sex pleads guilty to felony charge Man shot during attempted robbery near Cleveland bus stop, records say 51-year-old man fatally shot on Akrons South Side, police say Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 23:41:10|Editor: yan Video Player Close BERLIN, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- At the start of the year, sentiment among German exporters deteriorated as the ifo indicator for Germany's export industry decreased from 2.0 points to 0.9 points, the ifo Institute announced on Tuesday. Although uncertainty in world markets had recently declined, the improved situation had not yet resulted in an improved order situation for German exporters, ifo Institute said. The mood was "particularly bleak" among German data processing and optical equipment manufacturers as well as the pharmaceutical industry and food and producers of beverages. Among Germany's car manufacturers and automotive suppliers, there was "growing skepticism" about whether international sales could be increased, according to ifo. A positive development was only seen by a growing number of companies in the chemical and furniture industry that reported additional international orders. On Monday, the monthly ifo's business climate index which reflects the economic sentiment of around 9,000 German companies had already seen a decline although analysts had expected the index to rise. "The German economy is starting the year in a cautious mood", said Clemens Fuest, president of the ifo Institute. The speed at which work and employment is changing caught up with me at the weekend. I was delighted to hear a young relative of mine secured a job with a software company. He studied in Cork, travelled the world and is now settling down in Europe. The unusual point is that his new employer almost entirely exists online. Instead of operating from an expensive building in the middle of a congested city with super expensive accommodation this business offers unprecedented flexibility. Those working in this company only need secure access to fast broadband services. Equipped with that they can hook in to virtual offices and join teams across countries and time zones to complete projects for its clients. That allows individuals choose locations around the globe from which to work while living in different environments. Some like the sun, some live in rural locations with inexpensive housing and access to clean air and water. Others prefer the hustle of cities in various countries at different times of the year. This employment structure is revolutionary and opens up a myriad of opportunities for the Republic. Assuming and this is a big assumption currently there is ample broadband access across rural Ireland why can we not undergo an explosion in so called remote working? Last week it was disclosed over 23,000 people from around the world applied for two seasonal jobs on the Blasket Islands. The values of rural Ireland are reflected in the millions who visit our country each year. Remote isolated communities are the very antithesis of the always on stress cultures that define so much of city living. Add in the financial suffocation caused by hyper childcare and housing costs and you can appreciate why an increasing number of people will opt for an alternative lifestyle. Remote working offers this opportunity and it does not just apply in the private sector. The public sector is stuffed with people who grind their way through long commutes to park under expensive buildings and then sit all day in front of a computer. Aside from the environmental damage such work practices cause think about the financial cost and opportunity costs attached to those types of commuting. If just 20% of those civil servants opted to work from homes outside the pale imagine the benefits to schools, shops, restaurants and community life in rural Ireland. Yet, we continue to struggle with energising towns and villages across Ireland. Instead of new openings it seems new closures are the order of the day. Too few young families either are getting or seeing the opportunity to use technology to turn work upside down. It is probably the responsibility of others including politicians, community leaders and business people to turn this around. Identifying and empowering broadband hubs in towns and village is one quick route to travel. Promoting and flagging availability of access to schools and housing is another. Each town should shape its own efforts in this context. Twitter and Facebook accounts, to name just two social media platforms, are free to set up and run. I rarely see local communities using these to the full. Devising ways to boost the attractiveness of rural Ireland as a destination for jobs and families has to be a key priority as our core cities fill up. In days gone by we all thought bricks and mortar were needed to build factories and offices that could attract jobs. It now needs a warm comfortable desk and a physical or mobile connection to powerful broadband. My nephew is an example of how the potential is unfolding in many parts of the world. Ireland is a hot spot for tech but its countryside is a blackspot for employment. Lets warm it up. Joe Gill is director of origination and corporate broking with Goodbody Stockbrokers. His views are personal. TOKYO - Countries with citizens in the central Chinese city that's the epicenter of a viral outbreak are planning evacuations as the number of illnesses grow and China takes drastic measures to try to stop the spread of the virus. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 26/1/2020 (716 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Travelers from Beijing, wearing masks, use their cellphone as they arrive at Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, early Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. France's government announced Sunday it will repatriate up to hundreds of French citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a deadly new virus. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu) TOKYO - Countries with citizens in the central Chinese city that's the epicenter of a viral outbreak are planning evacuations as the number of illnesses grow and China takes drastic measures to try to stop the spread of the virus. A look at steps being taken: CHINA: The government cut transportation links to and from the city of Wuhan on Jan. 22 and has since expanded those controls to several nearby cities. Anyone travelling from Wuhan is required to register and quarantine themselves for 14 days the virus' maximum incubation period. Hong Kong barred entry to travellers from Hubei province and told Hong Kong residents returning from the area to quarantine themselves at home. JAPAN: Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said 560 Japanese citizens are confirmed in Hubei and chartered evacuation flights are being prepared to leave as soon as possible." The Japanese Embassy in Beijing said the initial evacuation is limited to those in Wuhan. Evacuees are expected to include employees of Honda Motor Co., Tokyo Electron, Aeon Co. and other Japanese companies operating in Wuhan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his Cabinet will designate the new coronavirus as an infectious disease subject to forced hospitalization and isolation. Such preventative measures appear to be preparation for the evacuation. UNITED STATES: The U.S. Consulate in Wuhan plans a charter flight to Southern California to for its personnel and some other Americans. The State Department said the flight will leave Wednesday morning for Ontario, California. The plane will refuel in Anchorage, Alaska, where the passengers will be rescreened, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Travelers from Beijing , wearing masks, arrive at Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, early Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. France's government announced Sunday it will repatriate up to hundreds of French citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a deadly new virus. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu) FRANCE: Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said French citizens who want to leave Wuhan will be taken on a direct flight to France in the middle of the week, and then held in quarantine for 14 days.France has some 800 citizens in Wuhan. French automaker PSA, which produces Peugeot and Citroen cars, said it was evacuating its expatriate employees and their families from Wuhan and quarantining them in another city. It didn't elaborate. SRI LANKA: The embassy in Beijing has applied for a Sri Lankan Airlines plan to be allowed to land at the Wuhan airport to airlift home 32 Sri Lankan students and their family members. The foreign ministry also said it was working to bring back all other Sri Lankan students throughout China. About 860 Sri Lankan students are in China. GERMANY: Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that his country is considering evacuating its citizens from Wuhan, with a government crisis response committee meeting soon with medical experts to evaluate the situation. He said the number of German citizens in Wuhan is in the double digits. The foreign ministry currently advises Germans to refrain from or postpone "non-essential travel" to China. EUROPEAN UNION: Portugal says it has joined with other smaller European Union countries to organize a possible evacuation of their citizens from Wuhan. Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said 14 Portuguese have asked to be taken out of the city. Santos Silva says other EU countries with low numbers of potential evacuees are considering a joint operation and have approached Chinese health authorities about gaining clearance for it. He did not identify the other countries. French health official Jerome Salomon says France may take non-French people on the flight it's trying to arrange. THAILAND: Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said his country's Defence Ministry was ready to evacuate its citizens from affected areas in China, but hadn't yet received permission from the Chinese government. The Thai Foreign Ministry says there are 64 Thais in Wuhan and 18 elsewhere in Hubei province. AUSTRALIA: Foreign Minister Marise Payne said her government is exploring all opportunities to help with evacuation of a number of Australians reportedly in Wuhan. She didn't elaborate. Australia doesn't have a consular presence in Wuhan. Union Home Minister on Tuesday accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government of not giving permission to prosecute those responsible for raising anti-India slogans in JNU and said Delhi Chief Minister should not teach patriotism to "They are spreading rumours and provoking people for violence. I repeat that citizenship of Muslims who are born in India and lived here cannot be taken away ... Kejriwal said that likes Pakistanis. He should not teach us patriotism," Shah said at workers meet here. "Two years back slogans against the country were raised in JNU. Should they be thrown behind bars or not? Modiji decided that Kahaiya Kumar and company should be sent to jail. But Kejriwal did not give permission to prosecute them... Everyone has seen the anti-national video of Sharjeel Imam. Today Delhi Police has arrested him," he said. Shah said that that is an ideology-oriented party unlike many others run by families. "I became a BJP worker at a very young age. BJP is the only party that entered politics for its ideology. Many parties are run by families. They have no ideology. BJP continues with the same ideology between 1950 to 2020," he said. The minister said the Modi government was decisive and referred to surgical strikes and airstrikes after terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama. "After Uri and Pulwama terror attacks, decisions were taken quickly and our soldiers carried out the surgical and aerial strike. The country for the first time realised that it can take its revenge. Modiji helped India to get into the list to countries - US and Israel- who have killed their enemies in their houses," he said. Shah said that India will become a $5 trillion economy by 2024. The BJP leader said that the party could win only two seats in 1984 was "mocked" by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress members had laughed. "Today, the position of Congress is that it does not have a leader of opposition (in Lok Sabha)," Shah said. From the outside, Chinas Communist Party appears powerful and effective. It has tightened its control over Chinese politics and culture, the economy and everyday life, projecting the image of a gradually unifying society. The coronavirus outbreak has blown up that facade. Staff members at prestigious Union Hospital in Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak, have joined others around China in begging online for medical supplies. Videos show patients in Wuhan beseeching medical staff for treatment. Residents of Wuhan and its province, Hubei, are being chased off planes and ousted from hotels and villages. Online critics are comparing current leaders unfavorably with past ones, even though the older generation had its own tarnished record on responding to emergencies. Some people have urged local party officials to kill themselves. As cracks show in Chinas veneer of stability, even some with ties to the party leadership are calling for those in power to shine light on divisions rather than papering them over. The crisis has shown that China remains riddled with vulnerabilities that no amount of censorship or strong-arming can hide. A former NASA astronaut has claimed that in decades to come, space tourism will become as common as travelling by airplane. Steven Lee Smith, 61, from Phoenix, Arizona appeared on Lorraine today, where he claimed that space tourism will become a 'normal thing' with people 'vacationing to the moon' in the same way they would other continents. He also said that NASA's next mission, which will see the first female set foot on the moon, is just 'a stopping point' on the way to Mars and said that we will 'absolutely' see astronauts on in the planet in coming decades. Former NASA astronaut Steven Lee Smith, 61, from Phoenix, Arizona appeared on Lorraine today where he claimed that in decades to come, space tourism will become as common as travelling by airplane Steven (left) is pictured with Mark Lee (right) with the Hubble Space Telescope in the backgound in the Shuttle's cargo bay during the third day of spacewalks to service the telescope in 1999 He said: 'Absolutely, space tourism will be a normal thing in the decades ahead. 'I think we're very close to multiple space ships flying, I think Sir Richard Branson hopes to fly this year.' He admitted that similar to early airline travel, which had it's first commercial flight in 1914, the price range will primarily be too high for the majority of people, but will soon decrease as space travel becomes commonplace. Steven told: 'I think the price range will be out of reach for many at the beginning, just as airline travel was. He admitted to host Lorraine Kelly (left) that in the same way as airline travel, the price range will primarily be too high for the majority of people, but will soon decrease as space travel becomes commonplace 'Airline travel was dangerous at the beginning and only for the select people, who could afford it. 'Just like airline travel, space travel will be very common one day. 'When they vacation, it will be - they can go to another continent on earth or to a space station or to the moon. That's the way it'll be in the future.' NASA is set to send the first woman and next man to the surface on the Moon by 2024 in the Artemis mission, with plans for additional lunar missions once a year thereafter, and a human exploration of Mars set for the mid-2030s. A group of 13 astronauts joined NASA under the mission that will bring the first female to the moon and some may be the first humans to step on Mars. The 13 astronauts, 11 from NASA and 2 from CSA, are the first candidates to graduate under the Artemis program and will become eligible for spaceflight, including assignments to the International Space Station, Artemis missions to the Moon Steven insisted it'll be a 'huge day' when a woman finally sets foot on the moon, and told how in the future, big space missions will be' international efforts'. He told: 'We're trying to go back to the moon in the next four or five years, the hardware has been delivered and tested. 'What's exciting is that it will carry the first woman to the moon. It'll be a huge day and for us, we won't do it just by ourselves. 'The big space programs in the future will be international efforts just like the space station, which the UK is part. 'All these grand adventures will include many countries and the moon is just a stopping point on the way to Mars.' Host Lorraine Kelly quizzed Steve: 'Do you think we're going to get to Mars?' 'Absolutely', he quickly replied. He continued: 'We won't be at Mars in five years, it'll be decades, but we'll be there. 'I don't know that we'll ever have tens of thousands of people living there, but we'll certainly have explorers and scientists there.' By Sunday evening, the marquee of the Clay Theatre was blank. Hours before, the signage for the theater bore the names of its final screenings the Academy Award-nominated documentary Honeyland and the last midnight showtime of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Now only a glowing ghost of a grid under blocky crimson lights that read Clay remains, as the theater has closed its doors for good after 110 years. I had to come and bear witness, said Michael Petrelis. The San Franciscan and self-described film junkie had turned 61 that day and felt compelled to celebrate the final hours of his birthday by paying his respects to a place that has been a fixture in his life for decades. The first film he ever saw at the Clay was Charlie Chaplins A Woman in Paris in 1978, an experience that held such a special place in his heart that we wore a string of pearls in honor of his favorite scene in the film. Cinema is not dead, Petralis said, standing outside the Clay on Sunday evening in a rainbow top hat with homemade signs reading AU REVOIR, CLAY THEATRE! in hand. Cinema is a communal experience. Cinema is coming to a theater, having it the film projected on a big screen and being in an audience that is cinema. RELATED: Clay Theatre projectionist recalls celeb-rich history of 110-year-old SF theater set to close Sunday A stunning film about a beekeeper in Macedonia (Honeyland) and a transgressive musical from the 1970s thats found its footing with witching hour screenings (Rocky Horror) made for a fitting final program at a neighborhood theater that championed independent cinema and cult favorites alike since 1910. Just a week prior, the Pacific Heights cinema house, owned by arthouse chain Landmark Theaters, announced the venues final day would be Jan. 26. Landmark President Paul Serwitz told Datebook the Clay had been losing money for the last six years. Unlike prior brushes with closure and despite some pressure from the community, there appeared to be no last gasp effort to keep the theaters lights on this time. It's been a week, said Michael Blythe, who has worked at the Clay Theatre for the last 15 years. I'm so emotionally and physically drained. All I can hope is that something good is going to come out of all of this. The single-screen theater originally opened as the Regent, but has changed names and hands several times over the years, ultimately coming under the ownership of the Landmark chain in 1991. With 110 years, there are certain time spans where we've lost, Blythe said. From 1910 to 1940, there's no one that can really tell us what happened in those years. The Clay holds a special place in the heart of San Franciscans not only because of decades of operation but because its helped cultivate one of the most peculiar movie-going experiences the midnight movie. The Clay hosted the citys first midnight movie in 1972 with John Waters famously filthy Pink Flamingos, a film that piqued the interest of underground cinema fans, became a staple of queer cinema and notoriously left some patrons nauseated in its wake. Pink Flamingos and its progeny, like the gender-bending Rocky Horror Picture Show and cult favorite The Room, were the kinds of films that thrived under the cover of night at the Clay campy and subversive pieces of cinema that required audience participation to succeed and grew richer with every new viewing. The reason the The Room and Rocky Horror work and draw crowds is because it's such a communal experience, Blythe, who hosted the monthly midnight screenings of The Room, said. His affinity for cult films has been one of the ties binding him to the Clay. You're getting the energy of everyone around you, and all the chaos that's going on in the movie theater. Its what cemented T.J. Fisher as a patron of the Clay. Its not strictly speaking a good film, but it's just so bizarre, Fisher said of actor, director, and writer Tommy Wiseaus 'The Room.' It has to be seen with people, you have to experience it together. Its popularity led Wiseau to appear at the Clay a number of times for a screening of the film. Fisher, who has lived in San Francisco for five years, first made his way to a midnight screening of The Room hoping to lift his spirits after a long, rough day of working in the Marina. He didnt know what he was in for. I just remember there was this sign, like, Absolutely no refunds, you'll see why, Fisher said. Despite the warning, Fisher was hooked. Hed run into familiar faces month after month at the Clay, whether to catch The Room, or whatever else was on the slate of the venues programming. People are always talking when they're coming out of here, Fisher said. At a lot of other theaters I think you kind of go back into your phone, you're like what's my work emails?' But here everybody is talking. This really activates people. RELATED: Major movie to film in downtown SF for three weeks in February For Ryen Victoria Skaggs, who sat on the single black leather banquet in the lobby after her showtime of Honeyland wrapped, the closure of the Clay was indicative of a larger battle against the arts and the changing landscape of the city. This place used to be a place that really was a champion of arts and culture, she said, tearing up. It used to be like a tapestry, like a quilt of many fabrics and shades and colors and textures. The last patrons of the Clay made their way into the hall for the final screening after milling about in the lobby, buying popcorn and chatting with the community of fellow cinema lovers that coalesced around the venue. One woman arrived about 15 minutes late. Shed just made it under the wire from Berkeley for her first, and final, visit to the Clay. Is this the last, last, last screening? she asked the employee manning the concession stand. This is the last, last, last screening, he replied with resignation. It was bittersweet. Many of those present in the Clays final hours carried a deep love for going to the movies and reflected on the communal, almost spiritual experience of watching films in a theater. To see a film is to experience culture with other human beings, Petrelis said. It brings us together. And I believe that part of what makes cinema so special is that you don't have a choice in terms of stopping the film and answering the phone or going to the bathroom. You have to go with what the projectionist does in terms of showing the film from beginning to end. Montse Reyes is a freelance writer based in Oakland. Email: Montse327@gmail.com | Twitter: @venusinfuzzz Cover Story 2019 was another busy year for a swarm of hackers who have attacked major cities, governments, businesses, hospitals, and schools around the globe. The annual threat report of Quick Heal for 2019 reveals that Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata experienced the largest number of cyber-attacks across India. It was also brought to light that trojans, standalone worms and infectors were the three biggest causes of cyber-attacks, with trojans topping the list. Besides cyber-attacks, our nation witnessed a ransom are attack every 14 minutes, 11 crypto-theft attacks every minute and a lot more untoward incidents that greatly escalated the threat of cyber terrorism. Mayank Singh By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Indian Armed Forces need just 10-12 days to defeat Pakistan in a war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said. Speaking in the rally of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in Delhi, Modi said: "We know our neighbouring country has lost 3 wars against us. Our armed forces don't need more than 10-12 days to defeat them." Pakistan has been fighting proxy wars against India for past many decades which claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and jawans, he further said, adding, Pakistan Prime Minister Iman Khan spoke about action but did nothing. The past governments in India too assured action against Pakistan. But they denied permission to the armed forces when they were ready for it, the PM said. "But today there is 'yuva soch', the country is progressing with youthful thinking. So, it did surgical strikes and airstrike to teach lessons to terrorists". India had launched a surgical strike across LoC and struck the terror launch pads there on September 29, 2016 and again on February 26, 2019 when the IAF Mirage fighters bombed Jaish-e-Muhammad training facility in Balakot in Pakistan. Prime Minister's NCC rally is held every year on January 28 to felicitate the cadets attending the Republic Day Camp in New Delhi. NCC has a total strength of 14 lakh which is planned to be expanded to 15 lakh by 2023. Wellington: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has named September 19 as the date Kiwis will go to the polls for the country's next general election, beginning a monster 235-day election campaign. "I will be asking New Zealanders to continue to support my leadership and the current direction of the government, which is grounded in stability, a strong economy and progress on the long-term challenges facing New Zealand," she said. Leader of the conservative National party Simon Bridges will be looking to make Ardern's coalition the first one-term New Zealand government in more than 40 years. He faces a tough task, given Ardern's polling stranglehold as preferred prime minister, New Zealand's relatively strong economy and the electorate's preference for stability in stark contrast to the past 15 years in Australian politics. Japans government will send a chartered flight to Wuhan, the epicenter of a virus outbreak in China, on Tuesday night to evacuate its nationals wishing to return home, Trend reports citing Reuters. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters the flight can carry around 200 passengers, but added about 650 Japanese citizens are hoping to come back to Japan. Motegi said the government is making arrangements for additional flights that will leave for Wuhan as early as Wednesday. Michael Palin dedicated his award to his late friend Terry Jones. (ITV) Sir Michael Palin paid tribute to his long-time friend and colleague as he dedicated his Special Recognition Award to the late Terry Jones at Tuesdays' National Television Awards. After the gong was awarded to the actor and presenter by Joanna Lumley, he used the opportunity to dedicate it to Jones, who died last week at the age of 77. "I want to dedicate this award to someone who taught me more about television than anyone else, my friend and erstwhile Python, Terry Jones," he shared. Read more: Terry Jones best lines from Monty Python Palin reflected on Jones' work ethic, noting: "Terry always worked to get something right and he had a skill at being very ruthless but also charming at the same time." Michael Palin (L) and Terry Jones arrive for the 25th British Academy Cymru Awards at St David's Hall on October 2, 2016 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images) After thanking others who had helped him throughout his career, he said: "Most of all, to the man without whom I might not be here tonight at all, my dear friend of 60 years, Terry Jones." Jones' death was announced last week after the performer had battled with dementia for a number of years. In the wake of his death, Palin appeared in a tearful interview with the BBC where he described Jones as a "wonderful companion". He shared: "I shall miss the sociable Terry - sorry - I just miss putting my arm around him and having a drink. The six members of the Monty Python team, 1969. Left to right: Terry Jones, Graham Chapman (1941 - 1989), John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) "He was just a wonderful companion, a terrific man and I shall miss our trips to the bar, I'll miss our pints and I shall miss our sessions putting the world to rights." Palin and Jones first met at Oxford University in 1962 before performing together for the first time at the Edinburgh Festival in 1964. They formed Monty Python along with Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, John Cleese and Graham Chapman, who died in 1989. 4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Republicans are starting to put together potential deals to take to Democrats for witnesses to appear at Trumps impeachment trial. The Washington Post reported: Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), an influential conservative in the Senate, has spoken with several colleagues in recent days about possibly summoning just two witnesses to President Trumps impeachment trial, with one called by Republicans and one by Democrats, according to three Republican officials. .. McConnell, however, is so far discouraging Toomeys suggestion from becoming the partys position. Instead, he told Senate Republicans during Mondays lunch to wait on any witness deal proposal until after Trumps legal team is done making its defense on the Senate floor, underscoring a position he has held for weeks, the officials said. Democrats arent going to accept a one for one offer on witnesses. Senate Democrats have a list of four witnesses that they want to hear from, and they are seeking witnesses who can offer new evidence such as Mick Mulvaney, Lev Parnas, and John Bolton. The one for one witness offer will be dead on arrival. The fact that Republicans are talking about a deal is proof that Mitch McConnell no longer has the votes to keep documents and witnesses out of the impeachment trial. The motion to subpoena documents and witnesses looks more likely to pass than ever. Mitch McConnell is trying to hold off the inevitable by waiting to cut a deal with Democrats until after Trumps lawyers make their case. The sham trial looks dead, and it is unlikely that the final vote on the articles of impeachment will happen before Trumps State Of The Union on February 4th. Witnesses are more likely than ever to happen. The negotiations will be centered on how many witnesses the Senate will hear from. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook A local court has remanded a 52-year-old man in police custody till January 29 for allegedly raping a 19-year-old woman and assaulting her with an iron rod in east Nagpurs Pardi on January 24, police said. According to the police, the accused was a resident of Gondia city, some 150 kms from Nagpur, and worked as a supervisor in the spinning mill where the woman was employed as a labourer. The woman and her brother had been sharing a rented accommodation with the accused and another girl for a few years, said police. Investigating officer Sunil Chavan said the incident took place when the woman was alone at home and the accused attempted to rape her. According to the complaint, when the woman resisted, the accused stuffed a cloth in her mouth and raped her. The woman has also alleged that she was assaulted with an iron rod, said Chavan. The accused later fled to Gondia early on January 25, he added. The incident came to light when the womans brother returned home from his village and approached the police. A medical examination of the woman has confirmed rape, said police. The Pardi police arrested the accused from Gondia, some 150 kms from Nagpur, on January 26 and booked him under various sections of Indian Penal Code. The woman is currently undergoing treatment at a private nursing home and her condition is stated to be stable, said Chavan. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 21:18:55|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JAKARTA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Affairs Mahfud MD Tuesday called for precautionary measures against the inflows of funds to the country for financing terrorist activities through channels using more sophisticated technology in the pretext of charity or economic purposes. Mahfud stressed that the militants have abandoned ways of sending funds through such conventional ways as transferring from one bank account to another which is easy to trace. "Therefore, be alert on the inflows of funds. The goals of the sending of the funds (can be pretended) for financing a building construction or for investment," Mahfud said. The inflows of funds for financing radicalism activities in the country, he said, have been proven by members of an Islamic organization, who met him weeks ago and gave lists of transfer notifications. Mahfud urged the country's anti-terrorism agency to step up their efforts in the battle against the militants, including preparing human resources who have skills in sophisticated information technology. Indonesia has in recent years been stricken by a string of suicide strikes, some involving women and children, killing dozens of people. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered the relocation of statues of folk dancers from the vicinity of the Golden Temple, days after they were vandalised, according to a government statement. It said Singh also asked the Punjab police chief to review the cases registered against the seven Sikh youths accused of the alleged vandalism and withdraw the stringent sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) slapped against them. "Taking into account the sentiments of the Sikh community which had taken exception to the statues of folk dancers at the Heritage Street in the vicinity of the holy Darbar Sahib Amritsar, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered the Cultural Affairs Department to shift and relocate the same to some other appropriate place in Amritsar," the government statement said. The statues were vandalised by a group of youths on January 15 in a fit of emotional outburst. The youths were objected to the installation of statues, displaying Bhangra and Giddha, close to the precincts of the Golden Temple. They had broken the platforms on which these statues were erected. Some people protesting over the location of statues, claimed they violated Sikh religious sentiments as they were installed near the Golden Temple. The Bhangra and Giddha diorama was installed by the previous SAD-BJP government in October 2016 on the pedestrian path of the heritage street. "The actions of the youth were not malicious but a reflection of the pain felt by the Sikh community which felt hurt at the statues," Singh said, taking a lenient view of the youths involved in the alleged vandalism. Following this vandalism, the Akal Takht, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Shiromani Ragi Sabha (including Kirtanis of Golden Temple), Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Shiromani Dhadi Sabha and Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Committees, had come out in the support of the accused arrested by police. The Jathedar (head priest) of Akal Takht (supreme temporal seat of Sikhs) has already formed a three-member committee to pursue the relocation of statues to some other place in Amritsar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MI A mother and child died in an overnight house fire southwest of Three Rivers. Emergency responders were dispatched to a Harder Road address near the intersection of Youngs Prairie Road in Fabius Township at around midnight Monday night, the Michigan State Police reported on Jan. 28. Troopers received information from fire personnel that three children were able to escape through a window to safety, the agency reported in a news release. Unfortunately, due to the location of the fire in the residence, responding police and fire personnel were unable to enter the residence to search for the mother and fourth child. The living room area of the house and the garage were both fully engulfed by in flames when troopers arrived, the release states. Once the fire was extinguished, the mother and child were found deceased. The three surviving children were transported to Three Rivers Health where they were treated for minor injuries, MSP reports. Identities of the mother and child have not been released by authorities. Troopers were assisted at the scene by the Constantine Police Department, the Three Rivers Fire Department, and the Fabius-Lockport Park Township Fire Department; the fire remains under investigation. A mother and child were killed in a fire at a Harder Road home overnight Monday, Jan. 27. The home is located near the intersection of Youngs Prairie Road in St. Joseph County's Fabius Township. (Google Maps image) Also on MLive: Former priest sentenced to two months in jail for tying up teen boy 2 teens critically injured in crash after police end pursuit of speeding, erratic driver Person arrested after likely starting fires in Walmart near Kalamazoo, officials say BEIJING - The Latest on the outbreak of a new virus from China: 10 a.m. The rival Koreas have agreed to suspend operations at their liaison office in North Korea until the new virus outbreak comes under control. South Koreas Unification Ministry said Thursday it plans to bring back 58 South Korean officials and workers from the office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong as soon as possible. The ministry says the Koreas have agreed to establish new telephone and fax lines between Seoul and Pyongyang to perform liaison duties. South Korea has reported four cases of the illness. North Korea hasnt officially reported a case, but its state media have called for intensive national efforts to prevent the virus from spreading to the country. ___ 8:35 a.m. The death toll has risen to 170 in the new virus outbreak in China, with 7,711 cases reported within the country. Thursdays figures cover the previous 24 hours and represent an increase of 38 deaths and 1,737 cases. Of the new deaths, 37 were in the epicenter of the outbreak in Hubei province and one in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The news comes as the 195 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, the Hubei province city of 11 million where the outbreak originated, are undergoing three days of testing and monitoring at a Southern California military base to make sure they do not show signs of the virus. World health officials expressed great concern Wednesday that the virus is starting to spread between people outside of China. The new virus has now infected more people in China than were sickened there during the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak. ___ 12:10 a.m. Thursday A plane evacuating 201 Americans from the Chinese city at the centre of the virus outbreak has arrived in California. The jet landed Wednesday morning at March Air Reserve Base east of Los Angeles after all passengers passed health screenings during a refuelling stop in Anchorage, Alaska. The passengers will undergo additional screenings in California and be placed in temporary housing. Officials have not said how long they will stay there. ___ 11:45 p.m. An 80-year-old Chinese tourist is on artificial respiration in a Paris hospital with a new virus that is rapidly spreading, after two French hospitals initially declined to test him for the sickness. France has four confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus, including two people in intensive care, and is seeking to repatriate hundreds of people from China. The 80-year-old arrived in France last Thursday and went to an emergency room in southern Paris on Saturday with a fever, said Dr. Yazdan Yazdanpanah, infectious diseases chief at Bichat Hospital. The man had a fever but no signs of respiratory trouble, and is not from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, but about 400 kilometres (240 miles) north of there, Yazdanpanah told reporters Wednesday. Because he didnt fulfil the definition of someone at risk of having the virus, two hospitals decided it was unnecessary to test him, Yazdanpanah said. If we have to hospitalize all patients who have a fever and come from China, thats dangerous for our hospital system in general, he said. The tourist developed respiratory trouble on Wednesday, and tested positive for the virus. The hospitals held an emergency meeting to identify any personnel or patients who had been in touch with the man, who was put on artificial respiration and has a severe case of the virus, Yazdanpanah said. Bichat Hospital is leading French efforts to treat patients with the virus but hospital officials said it only has nine beds equipped for infected patients. ___ 11 p.m. Germanys Lufthansa and its subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Swiss are suspending flights to mainland China through Feb. 9 as fears spread about a new virus that has killed more than 130 people. Lufthansa said in a statement Wednesday that the airlines will fly one last time to their destinations in China, giving passengers a chance to catch their flights and bringing crews back to Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The airlines will continue to fly to Hong Kong as scheduled. British Airways has also halted all flights to China and American Airlines has suspended flights to and from Shanghai and Beijing. They joined several Asian carriers that are either suspending or significantly cutting back service to China as fears spread about the coronavirus. Air India and South Korean budget carrier Seoul Air are also halting all flights to the country, and Indonesias Lion Air plans to do the same. Other carriers including Finnair, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, and Singapore-based Jetstar Asia are slashing service. ___ 8:30 p.m. Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged the countrys government to be prepared to deal with a possible outbreak of a new virus from China. It is a new phenomenon, and the question is how well we are prepared for this challenge, Putin said during a meeting with several Cabinet members. Russia shares a long border with China. Up to 2 million tourists from China visit Russia every year, with about the same number of Russian tourists travelling to China. So far there havent been any confirmed cases of the virus in Russia. Since the start of the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, officials have reported testing 1.3 million people who returned from China. More than 130 of them have been hospitalized with suspected coronavirus, but in the end were diagnosed with other conditions. ___ 8 p.m. German auto parts maker Webasto said Wednesday it has temporarily shut its headquarters near Munich after four members of its staff were confirmed to have been infected with a new virus earlier this week. The infections are believed to have occurred following contact with a Chinese employee from Wuhan who had travelled to Germany to lead a training session. The company said most of the 1,000 staff at the site in Stockdorf are working from home for the time being. Webasto has an annual turnover of about 3.4 billion euros from the sale of panoramic car roofs and other auto parts, about half of which goes to China. ___ 7:45 p.m. China has reported more infections from a new virus than it had from an outbreak of SARS in 2002-2003, although the death toll is still lower. China said it has confirmed 5,974 cases of the new virus, compared to 5,327 cases of SARS. It also reported another large jump in cases on Wednesday and a rise in the death toll to 132. That compares to 348 people killed in China during SARS. Severe acute respiratory syndrome killed nearly 800 people worldwide. Scientists say there are still many critical questions to be answered about the new virus, including just how transmissible and severe it is. More than 50 cases have been reported outside China. ___ 7:30 p.m. The British government is preparing to fly citizens back from the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak of a new virus, and will put them in quarantine for two weeks. Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted Wednesday that anyone who returns from Wuhan will be safely isolated for 14 days, with all necessary medical attention. Britains Press Association news agency reported that the returning Britons will likely be held on a military base. There are an estimated 200 British citizens in Wuhan, and a flight is expected to bring them home on Thursday. At least 132 people have died and more than 6,000 have been infected with a new type of coronavirus that appeared in Wuhan in December. The British government has advised against all but essential travel to mainland China, and British Airways on Wednesday said it is suspending flights to and from the country, apart from Hong Kong. ___ 7 p.m. Kazakhstan has suspended all flights, train and bus services to neighbouring China and stopped issuing visas to Chinese nationals due to the outbreak of a new virus. The government announced halting all flights to China starting Monday and all trains as of Saturday. Passenger bus service was suspended earlier Wednesday. Kazakhstan, a vast nation in Central Asia, shares a long border with China. Kazakh authorities have also rejected a proposal by the International Tennis Federation to move a series of the Federation Cup games to Kazakhstan from China. Thirty-five people who recently travelled to China remain hospitalized in Kazakhstan, but none has been confirmed to be suffering from coronavirus. ___ 6:15 p.m. Four members of a Chinese family who travelled to the United Arab Emirates are being treated for a new virus. The statement from health officials, carried by the state-run WAM news agency, comes after authorities earlier acknowledged the first cases Wednesday in the country thats home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Earlier, it said the family came from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. It did not explain how or when the family travelled from Wuhan to the UAE, the home of long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways. ___ 5 p.m. Australian health officials say the Chinese womens national soccer team is being quarantined in Brisbane city over concerns about the possible spread of a new virus. Queensland state Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says 32 people including players and staff travelled through the virus-effect Chinese city of Wuhan a week ago. The team will be kept in isolation in a Brisbane hotel until Wednesday next week. The group arrived in Brisbane on a flight from Shanghai on Tuesday before border officials placed them in isolation. They are travelling with a team doctor and none has shown symptoms. ___ 4:15 p.m. British Airways says its immediately suspending all of its flights to and from mainland China after the U.K. government warned against unnecessary travel to the country amid a virus outbreak. BA said in a statement Wednesday that we apologize to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority. The airline operates daily flights from Londons Heathrow Airport to Shanghai and Beijing. It took the measure a day after Britains Foreign Office updated its travel advice on China, warning against all but essential travel to the mainland, not including Hong Kong and Macao. China has cut off access to Wuhan and 16 other cities to prevent people from leaving and spreading the virus further. The outbreak has killed more than 130 people. ___ 11: 15 a.m. Australia and New Zealand will work together to evacuate their isolated and vulnerable citizens from Chinas virus-hit Hubei province. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday could not say how many or how soon citizens would be flown by Qantas from Hubei. The departures would be arranged in consultation with China. The citizens would be sent for 14 days to a quarantine centre on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean which has been used to hold asylum seekers and foreign criminals facing deportation. Australia and New Zealand have also ratcheted up their travel advice for China. Australia has advised its citizens to reconsider their need to travel to China and not to travel to Hubei. New Zealands government advised people to avoid all non-essential travel to China due to the coronavirus outbreak. _____ 10 a.m. Two Japanese men evacuated from a virus-hit Chinese city say they felt relieved but also exhausted upon their arrival in Tokyo. They were aboard a chartered flight Japan arranged to evacuate 206 Japanese citizens from Wuhan. Takeo Aoyama who works for Nippon Steel Corp. and Takayuki Kato, who works for Intec, both wore masks but said they felt fine. Kato said he was not panicking in Wuhan, but I was shocked when all transportation systems were suspended. Thats when the situation drastically changed. China cut off access to Wuhan and 16 other cities to try to contain the outbreak of the new type of coronavirus that has infected thousands of people. Aoyama said many people who wish to go home to Japan are still in Wuhan, including workers at a Japanese supermarket chain staying open to supply food. He said it is important to step up preventive measures in Japan, but I hope we can also provide support for the Chinese people, which I think would also help the Japanese people who are still there. Japanese health ministry officials say passengers on the government-chartered flight will receive medical examinations on board. The passengers will be divided depending on whether they have such symptoms as coughing and fever. Upon arriving at Haneda, those with symptoms will be hospitalized at a medical institution in Tokyo that is capable of handling infectious diseases. Those without will go to another hospital in Tokyo for virus checks. After the checks, people who live in or near Tokyo will be allowed to go home. Those who live away from the capital will stay at a hotel reserved by the government until they get the test result. Non-hospitalized returnees will be asked to refrain from going out for around two weeks. Ministry officials plan to interview them about their health. Some progressives dont want to join any party that would have him as a member. Photo: Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images Joe Rogan is one of Americas most influential dickheads. Over the course of a long career as a tedious comedian, mediocre game-show host, competent UFC commentator, and superlative simulator of smoked-out dorm-room bull sessions, Rogan has assembled a formidable following. His YouTube channel boasts more than 7.3 million subscribers, while his interview podcast attracts nearly 200 million downloads a month. Through his decade of work on The Joe Rogan Experience, he has established himself as a kind of Terry Gross for Americans who prefer muscle milk to lattes and purple haze to fresh air. His interviews cover a broad range of topics, from mixed martial arts and hallucinogenic mushrooms (subjects on which Rogan boasts hard-won expertise) to science and current affairs (subjects on which he doesnt). As a media personality who delivers long-form political discussions to millions of dedicated listeners a large percentage of whom do not seek out other political content Rogan has attained a rare form of influence. He has occasionally used this influence for progressive ends, as when he condemned president Trumps treatment of Central American migrants as a crime against humanity. But he has also used his platform to promote a wide variety of anti-PC demagogues, and broadcast his own bigoted sentiments about trans people and African-Americans. Thus, when Joe Rogan said last week that he would probably vote for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, the Vermont senators campaign was (understandably) pleased to see itself validated on a program with transpartisan appeal and many progressives were (understandably) offended by the campaigns gleeful promotion of a bigots affirmation. In fact, several of Sanders own surrogates criticized his campaigns decision to promote Rogans endorsement without simultaneously acknowledging and denouncing the podcasters most hateful public statements. Sanders has framed his candidacy as a vessel for left-wing social movements of every stripe. Unequivocally advertising the support of a man who has disseminated transphobic views to an audience of millions undermines that pitch. For this reason, there is a strong argument that the Sanders campaigns decision to promote Rogans endorsement through official channels was both insensitive and counterproductive. But some progressives have condemned the campaigns posture toward Rogan in more expansive and, in my view, misguided terms. In their account, Rogan is not merely unfit to star in a Democratic campaign ad; he and his ilk are unfit to stand beneath the Democrats big tent. The (excellent) New Yorker writer and historian Jelani Cobb was among those voicing this sentiment, tweeting, People who are the core of the Democratic Party, ie black people, reasonably do not [want] to be in a coalition that includes Joe Rogan. And reasonably are suspicious of anyone who does. This is not an argument against Democrats triangulating on policy as a means of gaining support among unenlightened voters; it is an argument against gaining the support of such voters, period. Bernie Sanders has made no substantive concessions to Rogans brand of conservatism. The senators platform is emphatically pro-LBGT rights, and his campaign has made common cause with the Dream Defenders, Movement for Black Lives, and other racial justice organizations. His critics ostensible concern is that attempts to accommodate unenlightened white voters rhetorically by declining to treat Rogan as a pariah, and by emphasizing the universalist aspects of his agenda will serve as a prelude to substantive betrayals: Once you let the bigots into Blue America, theyll begin remaking it in their own image. This fear isnt baseless. For much of U.S. history, our nations two major parties were not polarized on questions of racial justice. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the alignment of (many) conservative voters with the GOP, and just about all Southern ones with the Democrats, left African-Americans without meaningful partisan representation. Lyndon Johnsons embrace of civil rights ultimately cost the Democratic Party a lot of votes by leading the Solid South to change its colors. But the Donkey Partys loss was, in many respects, black Americans gain: Without the support of southern segregationists, the Democrats became less electorally dominant but also more responsive to the needs of African-American communities. If the dividing lines in U.S. politics were redrawn once again and racially unenlightened white people suddenly split their votes evenly between the two major parties African-Americans might once again find themselves without a true political home. But in 2020, there is no risk of that happening. The parties are more polarized on race now than they have ever been, while the median white liberals views on racial issues are now more progressive than those of the median black Democrat. Today, the threat that the two-party system poses to African-Americans, LGBT individuals, and other marginalized groups is not that it will fail to divide their friends from their adversaries, but rather, that it will do so too completely. The emerging Democratic majority is a little bit bigoted. If Democrats lost the support of every voter like Joe Rogan which is to say, every American who espouses liberal views on some issues, but reactionary ones on others the GOP would govern just about the entire country. In a 2017 analysis of survey data, Vanderbilt University political scientist Larry Bartles found that 33 percent of Democratic voters agreed with the statement, discrimination against whites is as big a problem today as discrimination against blacks and other minorities; 39 percent felt that people who disrespect the American flag dont belong in this country; and some 55 percent insisted that speaking English is essential for being a true American. A 2017 Pew Research survey, meanwhile, found that 34 percent of Democratic voters believe that whether a person is a man or a woman is determined by sex at birth. The American electorate is more progressive than it has ever been. But voters with uniformly progressive issue preferences remain a small minority of the U.S. public. David Shor, director of political data science at Civis, recently illustrated this point (in the following chart, the phrase Employers should be able to refuse to cover birth control and other health services should read as Employers should not be able to refuse to cover birth control and other health services): Most Democrats disagree with liberal orthodoxy on at least one major issue (from https://t.co/eLRgJnUvKn ) pic.twitter.com/LiC5nPSedY (((David Shor))) (@davidshor) April 21, 2017 Note, that chart exclusively lists Democratic positions that boast majority support among the public as a whole. If one added less mainstream progressive stances to the list (such as, illegal border-crossing should be decriminalized), the percentage of Obama voters with uniformly progressive views would be much lower than 28 percent. Its clear then that the Democratic Party cannot govern without the backing of many voters who espouse some regressive views. In fact, it cant even dispense with the support of voters who hold outright bigoted ones in a 2016 Reuters/Ipsos poll, 25 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters said that whites were more hardworking than blacks. Democrats can appeal to mildly racist voters and advance racial justice at the same time. And yet, it is also clear that the Democratic Partys reliance on such voters has not prevented it from moving left on racial justice issues. Without the support of voters who believe that anti-black discrimination is no more prevalent than anti-white discrimination in the U.S., Barack Obama would have never occupied the Oval Office; with their support, his administration was able to take major police departments to task for systematically violating the civil rights of their black constituents. If Democrats forswore the support of all Americans who believe that gender is dictated by sex at birth, the Christian right would soon control every branch of government. With the support of a significant minority of such voters, the Democratic Party was able to win the White House in 2008 and 2012, and then use executive authority to extend various civil-rights protections to trans individuals. The reason why the Democrats dependence on anti-trans and anti-black voters has not stopped the party from moving left on gender and race is simple: Ordinary voters have very little influence on party platforms unless they are highly politically engaged, and/or, organized into interest groups. Progressives dont have much trouble discerning this fact when they gaze across the aisle. Every liberal knows that the Republican Party could not govern without the support of voters who oppose tax cuts for the rich (in fact, a majority of GOP voters oppose the partys trickle-down policies). And yet, few were surprised when the GOP chose to make such tax cuts their top priority upon taking power in 2017. The partys reactionary plutocrats are well-organized and highly-engaged; the Trumpen Proletariat is not. Likewise, Democrats with socially conservative (and/or racially problematic) views tend to be much less politically engaged and informed than the partys social liberals and the former dont have one iota of the organizational or institutional support that the latter command. Bernie Sanders is not going to change that fact by courting Joe Rogans fan base. Voters whose partisan preferences are contingent on what a UFC commentator says on a podcast are, almost by definition, low-information, low-engagement voters. More broadly, given the stability of Donald Trumps approval rating, and the depths of partisan polarization, it is simply not possible for any Democratic candidate to drastically realign American politics in 2020. No matter who the Democrats nominate, the demographic and ideological composition of their coalition is going to look much the same in 2021. Different Democratic candidates and messages could change things on the margins, and those marginal differences could well determine the general elections outcome. But if Sanders, or any other candidate, were to improve the Democrats performance among low-information, culturally conservative white voters by a few percentage points, that would have no meaningful impact on the partys platform, nor on the balance of power between ideological tendencies within Blue Americas coalition. To protect the marginalized, Democrats must gain ground with marginal GOP voters. By contrast, if the Democratic Party continues bleeding support among culturally conservative white voters, it will struggle to win the presidency in 2020, and to secure control of the Senate at any point in the foreseeable future. Although the American public is growing more diverse and liberal, the Senate and Electoral College battlegrounds both award disproportionate influence to white rural voters with culturally conservative leanings. And as racial identity has become more electorally salient and ticket-splitting, more uncommon the biases of Americas governing institutions have become a bigger problem for the Democratic Party. In 2018, the Democrats posted their best midterm performance since 1974 and still suffered a net-loss of two Senate seats. Had the same Democratic incumbents been on the ballot in a neutral presidential year, the partys losses would have been closer to double digits. Simply put: The Democrats increasing inability to win voters like Joe Rogan is a crisis for the party, and thus, for the marginalized groups who depend on it for protection against reactionary rule. If Democrats do not increase their support among the unwoke, they will not win control of the Senate; and if they do not win control of the Senate, they will not be able to enact laws or judicial appointments that roll back the GOPs war on voting rights, LGBT equality, or reproductive autonomy. For this reason, progressives should see Rogans endorsement of Sanders as an encouraging development. It is one small sign that Democrats can win over voters who espouse reactionary views without making any substantive concessions to their prejudices. If the price of increasing the Democratic Partys vote-share among culturally conservative whites is not compromising on policy but merely, accepting the praise of problematic podcast hosts, and putting a bit more rhetorical emphasis on class than on race or gender then anyone invested in social justice should want the party to pay up. Some may counter this assertion by positing an inevitable trade-off between trying to accommodate white swing voters through forms of rhetorical moderation and inspiring higher turnout rates among nonwhite constituencies. But this is misguided for a couple of reasons. One is that increasing non-white turnout rates by any realistic margin would be insufficient to solve the problem that the Senate poses. And the second is that there is very little evidence that appealing to white swing voters, and mobilizing nonwhite nonvoters, require antithetical messaging strategies. Last November, a New York Times Upshot survey of Electoral College battleground states found that nonvoters who lean Democratic were both much less white and less progressive, especially on issues of race and immigration than reliable Democratic voters. In their broad attitudes, these nonvoting Democrats were actually quite similar to non-college-educated swing voters: Both groups evinced more sympathy for the progressive movements position on health care than its stance on immigration. None of this is to say that Bernie Sanderss approach to politics is electorally optimal. Just about all of the reasons why it would be unwise for the Democratic Party to disavow the support of Americans like Joe Rogan double as reasons why, all else equal, it would be better for the Democratic nominee not to identify as a socialist. Sanderss ideological self-description does not have any direct policy consequences, but does create a potential barrier to building a bigger Democratic tent (although, for now, it does not appear to be an insurmountable one). My point is merely that Democrats do not have the luxury of refusing to be a party that would have Joe Rogan as a member. Unenlightened, low-information white voters are never going to set the terms of the Democratic agenda. But they could very well give Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell a new lease on power this November. Efforts to cajole such voters out of Red America without flattering their prejudices are not only compatible with securing justice for Americas marginalized, they are likely a precondition for doing so. In a January 10 ruling, Indias Supreme Court gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government the greenlight to continue their now almost six-month long shutdown of internet access in Indian-administered Kashmir. While declaring access to the internet to be constitutionally protected as part of the Indian constitutions guarantees of free speech and expression, the judgment conspicuously failed to order the Modi government to restore internet services to Kashmir, or rule any part of its internet shutdown illegal. By so doing, Indias highest court has once again lent support to the BJP governments assault on basic democratic rights. The judgment was in response to a clutch of petitions challenging the validity of the government's imposition of sweeping weeksand, in many cases, months-long restrictions on media, communications, and movement in much of Jammu and Kashmir. The lead petitioner in the case was the Executive Editor of the Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin. When Bhasin first brought her case before it last August, the Supreme Court admonished her to have faith in the claims of the government and security services that the restrictions were only temporary and would soon be lifted. Months of stalling then followed. This ended with Indias highest court issuing a judgment that merely asked the Modi government to review all its orders suspending internet services in the Kashmir Valley within a week, put them in the public domain, and consider restoring internet connections to hospitals and institutions providing 128 other essential services. Following this judgment, the Jammu and Kashmir administration, which is now under the control of the central government, issued a brief three-page order reviewing its ongoing internet restrictions. Today, almost three weeks later, the internet remains almost entirely blacked out for the 7 million residents of the Kashmir Valley, with access to some 300 government-approved sites (but no social media sites) reportedly available beginning Sunday Jan. 26 or just two days ago. The Supreme Courts decision has implications that go far beyond Kashmir. No state in the world shuts down internet access more often than democratic India. According to the Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Centre, in 2019 Indian authorities blocked internet access in parts of the country 106 times, including more than fifty times outside of Jammu and Kashmir. In December, the BJP resorted to internet bans in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and several other states to suppress popular opposition to its anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). A stage of siege in Kashmir On August 5, the Modi government illegally stripped Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the country's only Muslim-majority state, of its special, semi-autonomous constitutional status and announced that it would soon be split into two Union Territories, placing it under permanent central government control. To enforce this constitutional coup, the entire region was placed under security lockdown and a communications blackout. Tens of thousands of troops were deployed, in addition to the half-million soldiers already in the state, to impose blanket curfews and violently suppress all signs of opposition. All mobile and landline connections and internet services were suspended. Severe restrictions were imposed on the movement and gathering of people, using a British colonial era lawSection 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)which bans gatherings of more than four people. Thousands of people, including leaders and members of Kashmirs political parties, professionals and youth, were arrested and detained without charge. Landline and mobile connections were eventually restored, first to Jammu, and only much later to the more populous Kashmir Valley. Hundreds of people, including three former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, remain under detention. The petitioners argued before the Supreme Court that the day-to-day lives of the people have been severely adversely affected by the government-imposed restrictions both on peoples movements and on their access to communications. At the height of the state-of-siege both patients and medical personnel had difficulty getting to hospitals and other health care facilities. The suspension of internet access has disrupted virtually every aspect of daily life, including patient access to and the resupply of medical facilities, banking services, and all manner of business transactions. Bhasin, in her petition, complained that because of the restrictions on peoples movements and the internet shutdown, the Kashmir Times could not be published from August 5, 2019 to October 11, after which a truncated copy of the newspaper is being published. The news portal/website is frozen till date. Countering the petitioners, the government justified the internet restrictions claiming that they were needed to prevent the spread of anti-India messaging from the across the border (i.e. from Pakistan), and to maintain peace and order. These arguments are an implicit admission that the Modi governments restrictions in Kashmir have been aimed at suppressing popular opposition to its unconstitutional moves and at preventing information about the Indian state repression in Kashmir reaching the outside world. Because the Indian Supreme Court in its January 10 ruling placed on record for the first time that internet access is constitutionally protected, declared the state must have valid security concerns to order internet access suspended, and ruled that these orders are subject to judicial review, much of the Indian press and opposition are presenting it as a blow for democracy. Typical in this regard were the comments of senior Congress Party leader and former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was himself one of the complainants in the multiple petitions challenging the state repression in Kashmir. Azad welcomed the judgment and thanked the Supreme Court for a very historic decision. This is all bunk. In reality, what the court has done is to create a democratic facade for the continuing repression in Kashmir and for routine suspensions of internet access across India. This is exemplified by the Supreme Courts aforementioned failures to declare any part of the governments then more than 5-month shutdown of the internet illegal, or even order it to immediately restore internet access to essential services and the media. In the text of its judgment, Indias highest court was at pains to provide the state with the legal arguments to justify repression. The right [to freedom of speech] provided under Article 19 (1) [of the Constitution] has certain exceptions, it declared, that empowers the State to impose reasonable restrictions in appropriate cases. Elaborating on those cases, i.e. pretexts under which the government can impose censorship, shut down the media and internet, and ban protests, it added: Such restrictions must be in furtherance of interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. Article 144 In its January 10 ruling, the Supreme Court dealt with the constitutionality of Article 144 much in the same way as it did the BJP governments months-long and ongoing suspension of internet service. It ruled that repetitive orders under Section 144 would be an abuse of power, that Section 144 should be imposed only if there is a genuine apprehended threat to public order or safety, and that it must never be used to suppress legitimate expression of opinion or grievance or exercise of any democratic rights. But the court scrupulously refused to rule any government order imposing Article 144 restrictions illegal. As in the case of its internet ruling, the import of its ruling that Article 144 orders must be made public and are subject to judicial review is to provide a democratic facade for the ongoing suppression of Indians basic democratic rights. The mainstream press has largely hailed the Supreme Courts ruling on the repression in Kashmir, just as it has supported Modis August 5 constitutional coup. There have been some critical voices, however. The Chennai-based Hindu, in its January 11 editorial, complained that the Supreme Court states categorically that an indefinite ban on the Internet is impermissible, but fails to direct the restoration of services. It also termed the courts failure to rule on the validity of the governments actions disappointing. In reality, the courts failure to rule any action in the governments state-of-siege in Kashmir illegal, when specifically petitioned to do so, is tantamount to Indias highest court giving the sweeping repression in Kashmir both its political and legal-constitutional backing. Moreover, this is entirely in line with its previous actions. India's apex court and the whole legal system have increasingly bowed to the demands of Modi's BJP government and its ideological mentors in the fascistic Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), just as they enforced sweeping attacks on worker and democratic rights under the previous Congress Party-led government. The Supreme Courts Kashmir ruling was preceded by its ruling in November that a Hindu temple must be built where the Babri Majid stood in Ayodhya, until Hindu fanatics, acting at the instigation of the BJP leadership and in direct contravention of a Supreme Court order, demolished it in 1992. In December, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court joined the BJP government in labelling protests against the anti-Muslim CAA violent, thereby legitimizing the polices violent repression of them. Predictably, the Indian Stalinists have joined the Congress and other right-wing bourgeois parties in seizing on the Jan. 10 ruling to proclaim the Supreme Court a champion of democratic rights. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM, in a statement issued on January 10, praised the court for making significant comments on the Kashmir lockdown. Needless to say, the Stalinists were silent about the courts failure to order the government to withdraw its internet ban or rule any of its Section 144 orders illegal. For decades, the CPM and its sister Stalinist party, the Communist Party of India, have suppressed the class struggle, while subordinating the working class to the Congress Party, a host of other right-wing regional and caste-ist parties, and the Supreme Court and the other putrefying institutions of the India capitalist state in the name of fighting the BJP and the Hindu supremacist right. New Delhi, Jan 28 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to 14 convicts in the 2002 Gujarat riots case wherein 23 members of a particular community were burnt alive in the Ode town of Anand district in central Gujarat. The court also asked them to take part in social work and spiritual services during the bail period to help reinforce moral guidance in them. It directed release of convicts on furnishing bail bonds of Rs 25,000 each, with a surety of equal amount. A Bench, headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant, has split them in two groups. While six will remain in Indore, where there was one eyewitness to the crime, and the rest will go to Jabalpur, where there were two eyewitnesses. They will, however, not be allowed to enter Gujarat. It also asked Indore and Jabalpur district legal authorities to ensure that the convicts engaged in spiritual and social work for at least six hours a week. The authorities were asked to help them find work for livelihood. Following this, the state legal authorities will file a compliance report and also on their conduct. The convicts were represented by senior advocate P.S. Patwalia and advocate Astha Sharma, whereas Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the state. In May 2018, upholding conviction 19 accused, the Gujarat High Court observed communal frenzy could turn perfectly normal human beings momentarily into murderous monsters. It acquitted three in the 2002 Ode massacre case. In 2012, a court found 23 people guilty, and awarded life-term to 18 for murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting and arson. Later, the high court upheld conviction of 14 and their life sentence, and acquitted Dilip Patel, Punam Patel and Natubhai Patel. One convict Harish Vallabhbhai Patel died in jail. All the accused belonged to the Patidar community. Just this month, more than 1,000 internally displaced people from Ituri fled to Uganda, and more than 60,000 since 2017. Hundreds of internally displaced people (IDP) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been forced to flee fighting in the Ituri region. It follows increased attacks by militias on several villages. Al Jazeeras Catherine Soi reports from a refugee reception centre in western Uganda. The father of three children who lost their lives at the weekend has said "every breath is a struggle" and reminded parents to "cuddle their children whenever [they] get a chance". Conor (9), Darragh (7) and little sister Carla McGinley (3) were found dead in their home at Parsons Court, Newcastle, Co Dublin, last Friday evening. The entire community has rallied around to show their support to the families after the deaths. Grieving father Andrew McGinley released a statement through An Garda Siochana today, writing; "There are no words. There is only devastation, grief and anguish. "Every breath is a struggle. "Conor, Darragh and Carla are adored. They all had beautiful, bright futures ahead of them with family, friends and a community who love them. Expand Close Flowers at the house on Parsons Court, Newcastle, Co Dublin, where the children were found dead. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flowers at the house on Parsons Court, Newcastle, Co Dublin, where the children were found dead. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin "To all parents, cuddle your children whenever you get a chance, tell them how much you love them as often as you can, spend every spare minute with them reading, playing and enjoying their wonderfulness. "The future has now become our enemy but we will battle it every day to keep the memory of Conor, Darragh and Carla alive." He signed the statement, "Andrew". Gardai have not been able to interview Dublin-based nurse Deirdre Morley whose three children were found dead at their home. Ms Morley, aged in her 40s, remained last night in Tallaght Hospital, where she was being treated after a suspected overdose four days ago. She is expected to recover, after being found wandering in a disoriented state near a graveyard on Friday evening shortly before the bodies of the children were discovered. Expand Close Tragic siblings Conor (9), Carla (3) and Darragh (7) with their dad Andrew McGinley / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tragic siblings Conor (9), Carla (3) and Darragh (7) with their dad Andrew McGinley "She has still not been deemed medically fit to be interviewed, but is expected to survive," a senior source said. "Gardai are conducting a massive investigation to collect evidence and gather a large number of witness statements, all of which can then be put to this woman when she is deemed medically fit to be questioned." Meanwhile, pupils who attend the same school that two of the three tragic siblings went to have been offered psychological support. Yesterday, the boys' school, Scoil Chronain in Rathcoole, said it was "deeply saddened" by the sudden deaths of the children. "It is a tragedy for our community," said a spokesperson. "Our sympathy, thoughts and prayers are with the McGinley and Morley families and all their friends." Speaking about the two boys, she added that Conor was a pupil in Room Three while Darragh attended Room One. "They were both wonderful boys and it was a pleasure to have them in our school. They will be greatly missed by all who knew them," she said. "Offers of support have been pouring in and are really appreciated. Our school has implemented our critical incident management plan. "Psychologists from the National Educational Psychological Services (NEPS) have been with us over the weekend and will continue to support and advise us in the coming days." NEPS psychologists work with both primary and post-primary schools to offer support in the areas of learning, behavioural, social and emotional development. The statement added that the school would remain open and asked that people respect the need for privacy. Carla attended the Happy Feet nursery in Rathcoole and staff members from the creche and primary school attended a tribute Mass for the children over the weekend. South Dublin County Council opened a Book of Condolences in the wake of the tragedy at the town hall in Belgard Square North in Tallaght for members of the public wishing to pay their respects. - Ghanaian students in Wuhan in China, are calling on government to evacuate them from the country - The city has been completely locked down for eight days and as a result, people have run out of food supplies - Coronavirus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in Wuhan in the Hubei Province of China. - It has killed about 81 people and infected more than 2,700 Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Information reaching YEN.com.gh indicates that Ghanaian students in Wuhan in China, are calling on government to evacuate them from the country since there is an outbreak of coronavirus in the country. According to a JoyNews report, the Wuhan Chapter President of Ghanaian students, Samson Opoku, the city has been completely locked down for eight days and as a result, people have run out of food supplies. We are 151 students in the city now, and for us, we want evacuation back home to Ghana. When the outbreak subsides or ends then we return and continue our academic work. We dont know how long this [coronavirus] is going to take. The number of cases and mortality rates increases each day so members are scared. We want to be evacuated back home, he stressed. READ ALSO: Ken Ofori-Atta is the reason why uniBank collapsed - Former deputy BoG governor The National President of the Ghanaian students in China, Felix Gyawu Addo, on Monday, January 27, 2020, told JoyNews the Ghanaian Ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, will be meeting the student leadership of Wuhan to discuss the issue and decide the best solution to the situation at hand. Speaking on the shortage of foodstuff, Mr Addo indicated some stores have been opened in the city so supplies will be restocked. And so that is the intervention now, and I believe that very soon they will be able to get these things [groceries] to the students who need them, the National President of the Ghanaian students in China stated. He also confirmed that so far, no Ghanaian student has been diagnosed with the epidermic yet. READ ALSO: Kumawood star Kyeiwaa marries in America (Video) In other news, Cote d'Ivoire has recorded the first African case of the Wuhan coronavirus which was first identified in China. Cote d'Ivoires Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene said in a statement Sunday, January 26, 2019, that an Ivorian student who traveled from Beijing to Abidjan experienced symptoms such as coughing, sneezing and difficulty breathing. The student was moved to a safe location on arrival at the airport and is currently under medical observation, the ministry said. According to Joy News reports, authorities believe it is a case of pneumonia and not coronavirus, but the final diagnosis will be made after the analysis of the test results, the ministry said. READ ALSO: New Coronavirus: First person in West Africa tested for deadly virus after showing symptoms Burna Boy's full performance at Manifestive 2019 | #Yencomgh Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Tariq Ahmad, the Foreign Office minister in the Boris Johnson government responsible for bilateral relations with India, on Monday hailed Indias diversity by addressing a Republic Day reception with four greetings: Namaste, Sat Sri Akal, As-Salaam-Alaikum, Good evening. India, the 1.5 million-strong Indian diaspora in the UK and India-UK relations came in for high praise, with speakers referring to their links with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modis idea of the diaspora being a living bridge between the two countries. The reception including cultural events in Guildhall was attended by leading lights of Britains political establishment, such as House of Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle, Conservative party chairman James Cleverly, besides Ahmad and MPs. Indian high commissioner Ruchi Ghanashyam recalled Indias achievements since the Constitution was adopted in 1950, and noted that they had been made possible by the four principles of liberty, justice, equality and fraternity enshrined in the statute. She said: To truly appreciate Indias journey and achievements they must be observed against the backdrop of persistent attempts to destabilise political, economic and social foundations. We have been facing the challenge of cross border terrorism now for over four decades. As technology advances, the faces of terrorism also mutate into subtle insidious forms, false narratives and propaganda are spread to create disharmony, threaten peace and prevent progress, she added. Ahmad, who was born and bred in Britain, paid tributes to Indias diversity, and noted that there is a bit of Made in India in me, since his mother is from the soil of Jodhpur and fathers origins lay in Gurdaspur. Namaste, Sat Sri Akal, As-Salaam Alaikum and Good evening: four greetings in four different languages a reflection of the diversity of the incredible India we celebrate today, he said, and went on to remind those in government across the world of Gandhis words. Gandhi was an inspiration not just to the region but to the world. You will see in my office mantelpiece an image of Gandhiji in front of 10 Downing Street. It is a reminder that those who govern should do so responsibly and with humility. I am reminded of one of his many inspirational words, when he said, the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. It is a poignant reminder to those of us who govern, who have the great responsibility, honour to make policy and have a role in running our great country wherever we may be in the world. His words have relevance as much as they did at the time of the foundation of the Constitution of India. According to Cleverly, Britain today has the most desi government, with three ministers of Indian origin in the Johnson government: Priti Patel, Alok Sharma and Rishi Sunak. The gathering included two MPs named as Padma Shri awardees last week: Conservative Bob Blackman and Labours Barry Gardiner, besides senior Labour MP Virendra Sharma and representatives of various diaspora organisations and professionals. Ghanashayam noted that the UK-India bilateral trade is worth over 20 billion pounds and that the UK remains among the topmost major investor countries in india. As many as 832 Indian companies are based in the UK with a combined turnover of over 48 billion pounds, paying over 680 million pounds in corporate tax and employing 105,000 people. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON PALM BEACH, Fla., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday morning, Republican Congressional Candidate Laura Loomer filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Twitter for providing in-kind corporate contributions to her opponent, Democrat Congresswoman Lois Frankel. Loomer was previously banned by Twitter as a private citizen and investigative journalist. As a federal candidate for office, Twitter's ban remains in place, providing a significant benefit to her opponent. Counsel for Laura Loomer for Congress, Charlie Spies stated, "This is a first-of-its-kind complaint and takes into account the influential role that social media corporations play in our elections." Spies continued, "Once Ms. Loomer became a federal candidate, it became illegal for Twitter to ban her while providing free access to her Democrat opponent. Corporate owned public forums like Twitter must either provide equal time and access for all candidates for public office, or charge market value. Twitter should not be exempt from Equal Time laws, and a violation like the one occurring with Ms. Loomer is an impermissible in-kind corporate contribution to her opponent." Laura Loomer stated, "It's time to challenge Twitter and put an end to what amounts to blatant election interference. While Democrats want to distract Americans with cries of 'Russian Bots' and 'Fake News' as influencing our elections, Jack Dorsey and his staff at Twitter are overtly giving massive benefits to Democrat candidates, including my opponent, Rep. Lois Frankel." Spies closed by stating, "Twitter has become a primary method of communication for candidates and elected officials to speak directly to their supporters without the filter of the media. President Trump proved this in 2016 and continues the practice today. Twitter's continued ban against Laura Loomer, prevents her campaign from having equal access that is required under the law." Laura Loomer is running for Congress in Florida's 21st Congressional District which is the voting residence of President and Mrs. Trump. Last week, Ms. Loomer was invited to speak by Florida State Senator Joe Gruters as he introduced legislation to stop social media bias and allow individuals to sue social media companies who ban individuals for political or religious speech. Senator Gruters stated his legislation was inspired by Ms. Loomer. The complaint filed by Mr. Spies on behalf of Ms. Loomer calls for Twitter to end its illegal, in-kind contributions provided to Rep. Frankel and enjoin the social media giant from any and all violations that impact all candidates for public office today and in the future. You can read the complaint here. SOURCE Laura Loomer for Congress Related Links http://lauraloomerforcongress.com KYODO NEWS - Jan 28, 2020 - 21:23 | All, Japan, Coronavirus (Chinese tourists walk in an area where face masks are sold at an electronics store in Tokyo's Akihabara district on Jan. 27, 2020.) TOKYO - The government confirmed three more cases in Japan of the new coronavirus on Tuesday, including a tour bus driver who has never been to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak of the deadly virus began in a seafood and poultry market. The bus driver in his 60s became the first Japanese to be infected with the virus in Japan, the health ministry said. He drove two groups of Chinese tourists from Wuhan earlier this month. The findings bring the total number of confirmed infections in Japan to seven. The tour bus made a round trip between Tokyo and Osaka during the period between Jan. 8 and 16, the ministry said. It briefly stopped in Nara Prefecture, western Japan, according to the prefectural government, which did not give details. The driver, who is from Nara, was diagnosed with pneumonia on Saturday and has been hospitalized in the prefecture. The ministry also said a man in his 40s from Wuhan has developed pneumonia and been in hospital in the central prefecture of Aichi. He arrived in Japan on Jan. 20. In the seventh case, a woman in her 40s from the Chinese city was diagnosed with pneumonia at a medical institution in Hokkaido on Monday, the ministry said. The three new patients are not in severe condition, the ministry said, adding that it is checking the health of people who had contact with them. A new insight into the causes of Downs syndrome was revealed today by London scientists. They found the genetic factors that cause the learning disability were more varied than previously thought. The University College London-led team of researchers described the findings as a complete surprise and said they could pave the way for different therapies. About one in 800 babies worldwide are born with Downs syndrome, with the prevalence rising due to older mothers. The condition is caused by a chance happening at the time of conception that results in an extra copy of chromosome 21. Pregnant women are offered NHS screening to check for the syndrome. The UCL team, supported by Cardiff university and the Francis Crick Institute, carried out memory and decision-making tests on genetic-ally modified mice. In mice, chromosome 21 and its 200 genes disperses into three other chromosomes, or regions, within the brain. The test mice were given an extra chromosome in one of the three regions. Then they were monitored as they navigated a left-right maze. Researchers found that one of the groups had worse memory and irregular signals in the hippocampus, a part of the brain known to be very important for memory. Another group had poor signalling between the hippocampus and pre-frontal cortex, which is needed for planning and decision-making. The third group had no unusual electrical activity in the brain. The findings were published today in Cell Reports. Co-author Professor Matthew Walker, of UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, said: Scientists have traditionally worked on the hypothesis that a single gene, or single genes, was the likely cause of intellectual disabilities associated with Downs syndrome. We have shown for the first time that different and multiple genes are contributing to the various cognitive problems associated with Downs syndrome. Therapies for people with Downs syndrome can include speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Holocaust survivors have revealed their encounters with a notorious SS officer who would hand-pick Jews to send to the gas chambers and taunt starving children with food. Irma Grese was nicknamed the 'Hyena of Auschwitz' before becoming head of Bergen-Belsen's women section, and at 22 she was the youngest woman to be sentenced to death for war crimes after the camps were liberated. Survivors Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and Maurice Blik have told about their encounters with the 'nasty piece of work' in new BBC2 documentary, 'Belsen: Our Story', which airs tonight. Maurice, now 80, was also sent to Auschwitz from his home in Amsterdam at the age of four, and told how Grese would leave her viscous dog guarding scraps of food, hoping that prisoners would attempt to steal it and be 'torn apart' by the animal. He said: 'I was sitting on the floor by the bunk and this woman walked in with her dog, the guard. She got this big apple she was eating and she'd eaten it down to a fairly juicy core. 'She took the core and put it on the floor and put the dog next to it to guard it, gave it instructions to guard the thing, unleashed it and runs off. 'It had the apple core between it's front legs and it was snarling and growling and so on, but I knew very well I couldn't make a grab for the apple core because that would be the end of me, it would literally tear me apart. Holocaust survivors have told of their encounters with the notorious SS officer, Irma Grese (pictured) who was the youngest woman to be sentenced to death for war crimes at the age of 22. She is pictured ahead of her trail in 1945 Irma is pictured at at the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp, with fellow female guard Herta Bothe (right) who was sentenced to 10 years for her crimes 'Then she came back and saw nothing had happened and thought this was amusing and so ground the apple core into the floor with her boots, so there was nothing left their to even scrape up. 'Many years later I recognized who she was - she was notorious'. Anita, now 90, was sent to Auschwitz in Nazi-occupied Poland, in 1943, where she survived by playing cello for the camp's Women's Orchestra, until she was moved to Belsen in 1944. By 1945, Soviet troops had began liberating camps in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, meaning many SS guards were sent West, to camps in Germany. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, 90, (picture) appeared on new BBC2 documentary, 'Belsen: Our Story' where she spoke about her experience in Belsen at 18-year-old Maurice Blik (pictured), 80, was imprisoned at Bergen-Belsen at the age of four. He appeared and told how Irma tormented him with food by leaving scraps in front of him, guarded by her dog who would 'tear him apart' Anita told how towards the end of her time at Belsen, Grese began to try and make amends and says she was shocked when all of a sudden began referring to the pair of them as 'we'. She said: 'She's actually the one, when it was going badly for the Germans, started talking to me, unheard of. She said - that I will never forget - she said "Now, we'll soon be home". We, suddenly we. We're in the same group of species. Who was Irma Grese, the Hyena of Auschwitz? Irma Grese worked as an assistant nurse for the SS after leaving school at the age of 15 before volunteering at Ravensbruck concentration camp, exclusively for women. There she found herself as a supervisor by the age of 19 and in 1943 Irma was sent to Auschwitz, to act as a guard. Known as the Hyena of Auschwitz, Irma Grese, was one of the most feared guards at the infamous concentration camp. A sadistic nymphomaniac who slept with SS guards, she participated in selecting prisoners for the gas chamber as well as exacting horrific punishment beatings. She was rounded up when concentration camp Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British army in 1945. She was hanged for war crimes in 1945 and many survivors testified against her, claiming she'd hand-selected prisoners for the gas chambers, trained half-starved dogs to savage prisoners, gave brutal beatings and arbitrarily shot prisoners. Advertisement 'I thought "My god, things must be going badly for you". She was trying to make herself room in my heart somehow'. She scoffed: 'Such a nice lady. She was such a b*****d.' She added that Irma is an example of how perfectly normal people were turned into monsters simply by being given a bit of power by the Nazis. 'You know someone like Irma Grese, how did she get into this position?' she said. She was one of the most feared guards at Auschwitz, before becoming the warden of the women's section of Belsen, located in Northern Germany, in 1945, alongside the 'Beast of Belsen', camp commander, Josef Kramer (pictured right) Many survivors testified against her, claiming Grese often gave brutal beatings and arbitrarily shot prisoners 'She comes from a village somewhere, she'd never heard of Jewish people, she had a job somewhere in a factory. Then she was approached by someone who was trying to get people to work in concentration camps. 'So she was given a uniform and black boots, a dog a, gun, better pay - fantastic, so she ends up as a guard. 'You see, very proud to suddenly be in charge of other people. Look at the psychology of these people who worked in the concentration camps. 'It's very interesting where they all came from.' Get this newsletter in your inbox Monday-Friday by signing up at subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters. Top stories for Tuesday, Jan. 28 Mark Graves POLICE SHOOTINGS: A Multnomah County grand jury has found no criminal wrongdoing in the fatal police shooting of Koben Henriksen, who was seen waving knives at cars near Mall 205 in late 2019. Meanwhile, the Washington County District Attorneys Office said Hillsboro officer Bobby Voth was justified in fatally shooting Jason Livengood, who followed another driver from Clark County to Hillsboro last fall. (Mark Graves/Staff) CATLIN GABEL: On the latest episode of our podcast Beat Check with The Oregonian, reporter Jeff Manning discusses how he landed the story, the flood of lawsuits he expects to arrive soon, where the story goes from here and whether Catlin Gabel can survive. Find more podcasts from The Oregonian/OregonLive at oregonlive.com/podcasts. JEREMY CHRISTIAN TRIAL: Prosecutors and defense attorneys finished sifting through a pool of 250 Multnomah County residents to select 12 jurors and two alternates Monday for the trial of Jeremy Christian, who prosecutors say murdered two men on a crowded MAX train. Opening statements are Tuesday. Keep up with the trial at oregonlive.com/crime, by subscribing to our free email newsletter, or via podcast or your digital assistant of choice - well have audio dispatches from the courtroom most afternoons. HOT SPRINGS DEATH: A 25-year-old woman died of a medical event Sunday at Terwilliger Hot Springs, a Lane County destination known for its scenic soaking pools set in the Cascade Mountain forest. JUDICIAL RACE: Four attorneys are now running for what will be a rare contested campaign for an open judicial seat in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Snap of the day Courtesy of Ezell's Famous Chicken WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER: Oprahs beloved Ezells Famous Chicken will open in Tigard on Feb. 4, marking the first Oregon location for the Seattle-based chain. (Ezells Famous Chicken) More news 8 great February Oregon wine events to help leap into spring Breakfast is back at Portlands best food cart pod Stoopid Burger, once voted Portlands best burger, will close after service Sunday Kobe Bryant honored by Moda Center, Lloyd Center with Portland buildings lit up in purple and gold as tribute Find more at oregonlive.com Weather and traffic Tuesday will start out wet, but rain should start to taper off later in the afternoon. It will be breezy with gusts up to 25 mph. High 52, low 44. In Southwest Portland, the eastbound lane of West Burnside Street will stay closed between Southwest Barnes Road and Skyline Boulevard for at least several more days" following a landslide Friday. Get the latest forecast at oregonlive.com/weather Stay up to date on traffic conditions at oregonlive.com/commuting Advice Ask Amy: Job seekers - disclosing a pregnancy is not required Dear Abby: Pregnant womans husband lives the life of a single man Dear Annie: Reader appreciates advice on healing from childhood abuse Find more, including today's horoscope, at oregonlive.com Today's comics Click here to see today's comics Today's obituaries Click here to find area deaths reported recently Today in history In 1813: The novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was first published anonymously in London. In 1973: A cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War, a day after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords by the United States, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. In 1986: The space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Two men were arrested accused of taking a male's vehicle by force, authorities said. READ MORE: Laredo man allegedly punched common-law wife in face following breakup Mark Anthony Rodriguez, 27, and Hector Ortiz Jr., 17, were arrested on Thursday morning in the 1900 block of Aransas Pass. Each was charged with aggravated robbery. Laredo police officers responded to a stolen vehicle report at about 9:12 a.m. in the 1900 block of Aransas Pass. Authorities learned that two people had assaulted a male and taken his vehicle. The complainant stated he and another person were inside a silver Nissan Altima when a male approached the witness asking for a phone to borrow, authorities said. Police said the complainant denied the request. The assailant then called another male. Both began punching and kicking the victim and witness, according to police. The two suspects then got into the Altima and drove off, authorities said. READ MORE: Bond granted for Laredo man that allegedly shot at police with AR-15 Officers said they canvassed the area and located the Altima a few blocks away but abandoned. While still canvassing the area, officers located and arrested the suspects: Ortiz and Rodriguez. Advertisement Thousands of people are today gathering for the world-famous Up Helly Aa fire festival on Shetland. The event, which attracts visitors from around the globe, takes place in Lerwick on the last Tuesday of January each year. People dressed as Vikings marched through the streets of the town to recreate its ancient Viking past, in a tradition dating back to the 19th century. The walk is led by the Guizer Jarl, or chief guizer, and culminates in a torch-lit procession and a replica longboat being set alight this evening. Volunteers were responsible for the building of the galley boat and the production of more than 1,000 torches. Those taking part in the festival will spend the night visiting a host of celebrations in halls around the town. Shetland and neighbouring Orkney were ruled by the Norse for about 500 years until they became part of Scotland in 1468. The festival stems from the 1870s when a group of young local men wanted to put new ideas into Shetland's Christmas celebrations. Fearsome-looking 'Vikings' marched through the frozen streets of Lerwick tonight carrying axes and shields (pictured, Guizer Jarl Liam Summers with members of the Jarl Squad march through Lerwick on the Shetland Isles during the Up Helly Aa Viking festival) The spectacle, which attracts visitors from around the globe, takes place in Lerwick on the last Tuesday of January each year (pictured, members of the Jarl Squad march through the town) The walk is led by the Guizer Jarl, or chief guizer, and culminates in a torch-lit procession and a replica longboat being set alight. Volunteers are responsible for the building of the galley boat and the production of more than 1,000 torches (pictured, the 'Vikings' ahead of the burning ceremony this evening) Those taking part in the festival spend the night visiting a host of celebrations in halls around the town. Shetland and neighbouring Orkney were ruled by the Norse for about 500 years until they became part of Scotland in 1468. The festival stems from the 1870s when a group of young local men wanted to put new ideas into Shetland's Christmas celebrations (pictured, a member of the Jarl Squad marches through Lerwick today) Even the young got involved in the procession, draped in traditional Viking attire as he marched through the town. Dozens of adults and children paraded through the town in matching green helmets, tunics and carrying axes this afternoon Those taking part in the festival spend the night visiting a host of celebrations in halls around the town (pictured, members of the Jarl Squad march through Lerwick on the Shetland Isles during the Up Helly Aa Viking festival) Guizer Jarl Liam Summers (standing) with members of the Jarl Squad after marching through the town of Lerwick during the Up Helly Aa Viking festival. The honorary role of the 'Jarl' was introduced to the festival in the early twentieth century People dressed as Vikings march through the streets of the town to recreate its ancient Viking past, in a tradition dating back to the 19th century. The walk is led by the Guizer Jarl (pictured, Liam Summers as Jarl), or chief guizer, and culminates in a torch-lit procession and a replica longboat being set alight. Members of the Jarl Squad wore red and black today for the festival, which sees fans flock from across the world to be part of the celebrations. Volunteers are responsible for the building of the galley boat and the production of more than 1,000 torches Guizer Jarl Liam Summers has a special hat which he wears to lead his fellow Vikings through the town of Lerwick on the Shetland Isles. He also has a unique shield and cape, while the others have similar attire The festival stems from the 1880s when a group of young local men wanted to put new ideas into Shetland's Christmas celebrations. At the time, squads of young men would drag barrels of burning tar through town on sledges, making mischief. But as the event became more raucous year on year concerns over public safety grew (pictured, the festival this year) A youngster participates in the Up Helly Aa Viking festival in Lerwick on the Shetland Isles. Shetland and neighbouring Orkney were ruled by the Norse for about 500 years until they became part of Scotland in 1468 Thousands envelop the streets to get a glimpse of the procession which passes through locations in the town of Lerwick on the Shetland Isles. Many had their smartphones out to get a picture or video the intriguing sight Guizer Jarl Liam Summers standing on a galley at the pier after marching through the town of Lerwick during the Up Helly Aa Viking festival. Originating in the 1880s, the festival celebrates Shetland's Norse heritage Guizer Jarl Liam Summers (centre) with members of the Jarl Squad. The leader of the celebrations, he speaks to fans during the procession through the town. Shetland was once the northernmost third of a Norse earldom Guizer Jarl Liam Summers addresses members of the Jarl Squad at the proclamation in the town centre ahead of marching through the town today Up Helly Aa celebrates the influence of the Scandinavian Vikings in the Shetland Islands and culminates with up to 1,000 'guizers' throwing flaming torches into their Viking longboat and setting it alight later in the evening In his final year, he was expelled for smoking and took a job at the Reserve Bank but was not happy there. In 1963, his mother died. Although severely depressed, he eventually felt free to pursue the career he had always dreamed of - cooking. At the age of 21, he went to Sydney, landed a job at J K (Johnny) Walkers Angus Steak Cave, first washing dishes, then running the kitchen at night and relishing bohemian Sydney. It was here, with Walker as his mentor, he began his wine education, an education that continued all his life. For Bilson, food without wine was unthinkable. His friend and wine writer Phillip White said he understood wine better than most of the wine writers in Australia. And that was because he had travelled and read everything. Tony Bilson at his Berowra Waters restaurant on the Hawkesbury in September 1981. Credit:SMH In 1971, he bought his first restaurant, The Pomme dOr in Hawthorn, which he sold in 1972, worked briefly at the Albion in Lygon Street (directly opposite La Mama Theatre) and then met Gay Morris, who later changed her name to Bilson without ever marrying him. They drove to Sydney and took the lease on what Bilson described as a "greasy spoon", a couple of rooms on the ground floor of the Mansion House Hotel, in the then sleazy end of Elizabeth Street near Central Railway. It was his first association with Leon Fink, whose family owned the building. A less likely site for what became the wildly popular Tonys Bon Gout could not be imagined. But luck was on their side. It was the beginning of the Whitlam era, and they soon attracted the political, artistic and literary crowd buoyed by the resurgence of Australian culture. Tony and Gays food was a harbinger of what was to become Mod Oz. As Leo Schofield wrote at the time: 'forget the aspics, the decorated foods, the chaud-froids. Todays food is different less got-up, less complicated." They knocked the stuffy out of French food. The success of Tonys Bon Gout meant they could make a long-desired pilgrimage to France and eat at those restaurants they had read about: La Pyramide, LOasis at La Napoule, Restaurant Troisgros and many others. Bilson wrote that the excitement after that first French trip "was life changing". Ideas spilled out. One was for a new restaurant in another absurdly unlikely site. A Glenn Murcutt-designed building on the shores of the Hawkesbury River (a site inspired by the painter Fred Williams), accessible only by punt. It put this new Australian food on the international map and had the world swarming to its tables. Bilson left Berowra in 1980. Next was Kinselas in 1981, financed by Leon Fink. Fink said, when we found the funeral parlour, we both knew it was the place to do something extraordinary. And they did. Two restaurants, a bar and a theatre. It was also where Bilson met his wife, Amanda Girling. They were married in January 1986, on his birthday. Kinselas grew into a machine that ran over Bilson. It was where he allowed his first great enemy to take control of him - the booze, said Fink. At Kinselas he became more of a restaurateur than a chef and spent a lot of time out front. His drinking habit became very difficult. He left Kinselas in 1987. A flurry of restaurants followed. Tony Bilson at his Elizabeth Bay flat in 1985. Credit:William MacGladrie Leo Schofield said: Tony had more restaurants than most people have had sex. And yet he had this incredible resilience of spirit and belief in what he was doing that was almost evangelical. Passion ruled everything. Passion also trumped profit. As kitchen doors slammed on the way out of all those restaurants, suppliers and staff were sometimes unpaid. While the food, the wine, the surrounds and the service were exquisite, the bills piled up. Lynelle Scott-Aitken worked for Bilson as a pastry chef at Fine Bouche and The Treasury. He always erred on the side of generosity, she said. As an example she recalled: hed go to the fish market on a Saturday and bring back thousands of dollars worth of fish, and wed ask 'wheres all this going?' And hed say 'its the best I can give'. That generosity surfaced in the work he did for Rabbi Dovid Slavin, who runs a charity called Our Big Kitchen. Tony came in and asked me where I got my recipes. From all over, I said. He told me hed spent years accumulating recipes. Would you like them? I said of course. He pulled out a USB stick and said 'theyre yours'. To just hand them over, asking nothing in return, never any recognition. That level of generosity is incredible. Along the way he employed and mentored some remarkable staff. A young recently arrived Japanese man was walking by Kinselas when he was introduced to Bilson. He said 'are you Japanese? Can you make Japanese dishes?' I said yes. He said 'why don't you come and work for us?' That's how my cooking career started. Tony taught me a lot. He's a very generous man. That was Tetsuya Wakuda. Pascal Barbot was a young chef Bilson employed at Ampersand, who went back to Paris to open the famed Astrance (three Michelin stars). He wrote from Paris that "Tony was one of my very important mentors and played a very crucial role in shaping who I am today. I am so proud to be one of Tonys proteges." Bilson admires the view from Bilson's Restaurant at Circular Quay in 1989. Credit:Doris Thomas In 2004, I interviewed him for his 60th birthday, and ate a meal with him at Bilsons at the Radisson Plaza. One the menu was an unforgettable lasagne of lobster with fresh truffles and zucchini flowers. The lasagne, two translucent brownish sheets below and above chunks of grilled lobster and shaved truffles, were made with agar agar and lobster bouillon. At an age when most chefs are hanging up their white coats, his was freshly starched, his bow tie bouncy, his enthusiasm and creativity undiminished. Hundreds of newly discovered photographs, including some taken at the Sobibor death camp, represent a quantum leap in research into Nazi crimes against humanity, historians at the Berlin museum Topography of Terror said Tuesday. Historians said the exceptional collection provided unprecedented insights into the Sobibor camp in German Nazi-occupied Poland, about which little is known even 75 years after the end of World War II. The trove, consisting of 361 black-and-white photos and several written documents, also includes photos believed to show convicted Nazi guard John Demjanjuk, who denied ever being at Sobibor. The photos were discovered by a descendant of SS officer Johann Niemann and handed over to Martin Cueppers, a historian at the University of Stuttgart, in 2015 who studied the material. This collection represents a quantum leap in our visual knowledge of the Holocaust in occupied Poland, Cueppers said at a press conference at the Topography of Terror, an archive and museum at the site of the former Gestapo headquarters in Berlin. Around 1.8 million Jews died at Belzec, Treblinka and Sobibor in Poland as part of Operation Reinhard, yet knowledge about the latter camp has been scarce. Where previously there had been only two surviving photos from Sobibor, the Niemann collection threw up a further 49 snapshots, said Stefan Haenschen from the Stanislaw Hantz organisation which runs tours at the camp. Haenschen said the photos offered a chance to widen public awareness of a Nazi crime which was still under-represented. Demjanjuk case There are two photos in the collection which Cueppers said probably showed John Demjanjuk at Sobibor. The historians were cautious however, saying that they could not be totally certain the photos showed the convicted Nazi guard. Ukrainian-American Demjanjuk was convicted of being an accessory to the murder of nearly 30,000 Jews at Sobibor by a German court in 2011. He died while his appeal was pending. Born in Ukraine in 1920, Demjanjuk emigrated to the United States after war. In 1986, he stood trial in Jerusalem accused of being Ivan the Terrible, an infamous Ukrainian guard at another death camp, Treblinka. An initial death sentence was overturned by the Israeli supreme court in 1993. But after evidence emerged that he served as a guard at other Nazi camps, Demjanjuk was stripped of his US citizenship in 2002 for lying about his war record on immigration forms. Extradited to Germany in 2009, he was later sentenced to five years in prison in a landmark case for the German justice system. The court ruled that as a guard at the camp, he was automatically implicated in killings carried out there at the time. The case set a new legal precedent and prompted several further convictions of Nazi officers, including that of the bookkeeper of Auschwitz Oscar Groening, on the basis they served as cogs in the Nazi killing machine. In 2019, Demjanjuk was the subject of the Netflix documentary The Devil Next Door. kih/mfp/boc NETFLIX Houston liquefied natural gas company Cheniere Energy hit a milestone 1,000th export shipment of LNG and the cargo is headed to France. The Norwegian-flagged LNG tanker Hoegh Galleon left the company's Corpus Christi LNG export terminal with the company's 1,00th cargo on Monday morning. Cheniere Energy CEO Jack Fusco told the Houston Chronicle that the tanker is headed to France and that the milestone shipment comes less than four years after the company's first cargo was sent out from Sabine Pass LNG in Louisiana in February 2016. The 1,000 cargoes, he said, carried enough natural gas to power all 7.4 million home in Texas for nearly five years. "In the LNG production industry, getting to 1,000 cargoes is something special," Fusco said. "We're the first LNG company in the world to hit that milestone in less than four years." Liquefied Natural Gas: Top 10 destinations for U.S. LNG exports in 2018 Cheniere plans to host celebratory events on Tuesday at its liquefaction plants in Texas and Louisiana as well as its offices in Houston, London, Singapore and Beijing. "We're pleased to hit that milestone reliably and safely," Fusco said. "We did it in a pretty tough four-year period -- we've had everything from hurricanes and freezing events to wind and fog. But we made it look easy." Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Houston, Cheniere Energy employs nearly 1,400 people. The company closed 2018 with a $471 million profit on $8.0 billion of revenue. Purchasing an average of 6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from more than 70 producers and shipped on 25 pipelines, Cheniere has emerged as the largest buyer of natural gas in the United States. Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com Anti-CAA stir: Sharjeel Imam arrested on sedition charges for inflammatory speeches at AMU India oi-PTI Jehanabad, Jan 28: The Delhi Police's Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested JNU student Sharjeel Imam, he has been booked in a sedition case, from Jehanabad area in Bihar, officials here said. Earlier, in the day a brother of Sharjeel was also picked up by police in fresh attempts to trace the anti-CAA activist, who has been slapped with sedition cases lodged across several states for his alleged "inflammatory" speeches. "We have arrested Sharjeel Imam from Jehanabad," said Rajesh Deo, deputy commissioner of police, Crime Branch. The force had deployed five teams to locate Imam, a resident of Bihar. Raids were conducted in Mumbai, Patna and Delhi. The PhD student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies has been booked in sedition cases lodged across several states for alleged "inflammatory" speeches made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Police officials were tight-lipped about the issue and Superintendent of Police, Jehanabad, Manish Kumar said, when approached with queries. JNU student Sharjeel Imam's house raided in Bihar, relatives detained However, residents of Malik Tola locality in Kako police station area of the district, where Imams ancestral house is situated, claimed that a heavy police contingent had raided the premises at about 4 am from where they took into custody Muzammil Imam younger brother of the JNU research scholar and another person, who have been taken to an undisclosed destination for questioning. The police had raided Imam's ancestral home on Sunday night after "help was sought by central agencies". Said to be in his early 30s, Sharjeel Imam has a degree from IIT Mumbai and later moved to Delhi for pursuing research at JNUs Centre for Historical Studies. He had been involved in organizing the protests at Shaheen Bagh but came into limelight after a video clip went viral wherein he could be heard making some disturbing comments while addressing a gathering at Aligarh Muslim University, following which he was booked under sedition charge in the UP town. The Delhi police claimed he had given an "inflammatory" speech earlier on the Jamia Milia Islamia campus and lodged an FIR against him in the national capital. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News Besides, another case was lodged under the stringent anti-terror law against him in Assam, taking cognisance of Imams remark that Assam could be "severed from India, even if for a few months" as a result of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)._ Police in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh had also lodged FIRs against the JNU scholar, over his speech in which he threatened to "cut off" Assam and the northeast from the rest of the country. Delhi police books Sharjeel Imam for 'cut off Assam comment His mother had appeared before the media and claimed that her son was "not a law-breaker and would surrender to the investigating agencies" and that he had been in favour of "calling off" the agitation at Shaheen Bagh, which has been in news for 24X7 protest, mostly by women. Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley is locked down Monday afternoon because of police action involving criminals in the area, police said. All students are safe, but residents within a half-mile of the school at 700 Miller Ave. should shelter in place, police said. Something to look forward to: While crypto enthusiasts are no doubt interested to see the effects of Bitcoin's 'halving' slated for later this year, it looks like others are joining the fray. The question on everyone's mind is whether 2020 is the year Bitcoin reaches new heights, and the increase in awareness might well send its price well above the $20,000 mark it reached in 2017... or not. A lot of people seem interested to see what 2020 will bring for the cryptocurrency industry. Arcane Research points out to how Google searches for related keywords have spiked this month and that might be because on May 20, 2020, the third Bitcoin 'halving' will occur. That means the rate at which new Bitcoins are generated will decrease by 50 percent of what's been for the past few years. Bitcoin is designed as a deflationary coin that is limited to 21 million units, the last of which will be mined in 2140. Historically, "halving" events have boosted the price of Bitcoin by an order of magnitude, while cutting rewards for miners that solve "blocks" of transactions. The current block reward is 12.5 BTC and takes place every 10 minutes, but in May it will go down to 6.25 BTC. Consider for a moment the current price of 1 BTC, which is hovering at ~$9,000 -- give or take a few hundred dollars -- as of writing. If history were to repeat itself, it could send Bitcoin higher than the already crazy peak of almost $20,000 reached in 2017, possibly even as high as $90,000 if you believe some enthusiastic German bankers. If that sounds impossible, it's worth noting that some of the people that bought this token for pennies close to its inception didn't exactly believe it would become so valuable over time, and nowadays even the most pessimistic investor doesn't see it falling below $5,000 for the foreseeable future. On one hand, you have people like Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, who thinks Bitcoin would still be undervalued even if it reached $100,000. And considering the sudden increase in public awareness, it's not hard to imagine people rushing to buy Bitcoin in the hopes of makings easy returns if it happens to skyrocket over night. On the other, you have the skeptics that believe the Bitcoin halving may have already been priced in, in which case there isn't much to gain by pouring your life savings into the cryptocurrency. Then there's the hypothesis that investors and companies will mostly trade in derivatives rather than speculate on Bitcoin. However, there's enough indication out there that newly mined Bitcoins would most likely be absorbed through Square's Bitcoin purchasing service and Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust. Add to that some 30 million Coinbase customers and people using trading apps like eToro and RobinHood, and you have a lot of variables that will affect Bitcoin's value. But let's forget the halving for a minute. In the last decade, the best investment you could make was Bitcoin, provided you jumped into the boat relatively early. Some were even able to ride the recent wave of miners that bought each and every capable graphics card on the market hoping to make a profit. Now you'd have to own a large mining operation with specialized equipment somewhere in a cold climate or in places like China where electricity cost is just a few cents per kWh. Companies like Starbucks and AT&T are slowly adopting Bitcoin as a payment method, while others like Apple might never integrate it into their services. Some would be quick to dismiss it based on how transactions are very slow and not at all energy efficient, but solutions backed by tech executives like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey are on the way to solve that in the near future. When that happens, there is a good chance the value of Bitcoin will rise, as it has the potential to offer inexpensive financial services for the 1.2 billion people in places like Africa who can't rely on the banking system. Governments don't like the idea of highly volatile and speculative assets like Bitcoin, but they are much more open to the idea of currency-pegged "stablecoins." After the 2020 halving, much of the effort that was previously devoted to mining will have to be directed towards greater adoption, so at least there's a low chance we'll see Bitcoin go down in price. In any case, expect more companies to follow in the footsteps of Facebook to launch their own cryptocurrencies, which is also known to cause surges in Bitcoin's price as soon as an announcement is made. If anything, 2020 might be the year cryptocurrency hits the mainstream and governments start to take it more seriously. iPod pioneer Tony Fadell is backing a battery company that says its found a way to store more energy using silicon scrap waste. Fadells investment firm, Future Shape, is among the contributors to Advanos $18.5 million Series A funding round. Its Fadells first battery investment. Silicon could be key to building more powerful batteries. The anodes of most existing systems are made with graphite. But silicon can hold far more lithium. The problem is silicon anodes tend to swell and crack. Thats set off a race among companies including Sila Nanotechnologies Inc. to figure out how to make them work better. Advano says it has a solution. Everyone wants at least some kind of silicon anode in the battery for better density, a better battery and lighter battery packs, Fadell, who also helped invent the iPhone and was a co-founder of Nest Labs, said in an interview. Advano has fulfilled the promise. Silicon can store 10 times more energy than graphite. That means less material is needed per battery, shrinking the size and cost of systems. Advano designed its silicon anode material to be incorporated into existing battery designs, said Alexander Girau, the companys founder. Part of the New Orleans-based companys strategy is using silicon scraps left over from semiconductor and solar manufacturing. That enables it to save money and sidestep silicon manufacturing. The funding will help Advano develop a pilot manufacturing facility and expand its staff by 50%. It also announced a partnership with battery-material supplier Mitsui Kinzoku of Japan. Other investors in the round include Mitsui Kinzoku SBI Material Innovation Fund, Thiel Capital and Y Combinator. Pharma Solutions on Tuesday said it will invest CAD 25 million (around Rs 135 crore) to expand its Aurora facility in with the addition of a active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing wing. The construction is expected to be completed by April 30, 2021, Pharma Solutions said in a statement. "This additional capacity will help us to strengthen our presence in as well as service other geographies such as North America and Europe, whilst enabling us to support our customer's API requirements and market demand for integrated solutions," Pharma Solutions CEO Peter DeYoung said. As a patient centric organisation, Piramal Pharma Solutions is committed to serving the patient community and reducing the burden of disease, he added. Apart from the existing production scale reactors, this expansion will include two new reactor suites as well as a dedicated filter dryer room and a portable filter dryer, the statement said. Piramal Pharma Solutions is a contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), offering end-to-end development and manufacturing solutions across the drug life cycle. A U.S. military plane crashed on Monday in Taliban-held territory in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan A U.S. Bombardier E-11A crashed today in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire. We will provide additional information as it becomes available, wrote Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, in a statement on Monday. A U.S. Bombardier E-11A crashed today in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire. We will provide additional information as it becomes available. USFOR-A Spokesman Col Sonny Leggett (@USFOR_A) January 27, 2020 He added that Taliban claims that additional aircraft have crashed are false. Provincial government spokesman Arif Noori told CBS News on Monday that the plane appeared to have been flying from Kandahar to Kabul, which is about 200 miles to the north. The only thing we can say is 385 is written in the wreckage and we dont know which country or company it belongs to, Noori said, reported The Associated Press. The bodies of two pilots were located at the crash site, he said, adding that the plane was totally destroyed. Ariana Afghan Airlines, the countrys state-owned airline company, issued a statement and strongly denied earlier reports that one of its planes crashed. All of Ariana Afghan flights are operating normally, the airline said on social media, as reported by CBS. Mirwais Mirzekwal, the head of Ariana, told Reuters, It does not belong to Ariana because the two flights managed by Ariana today from Herat to Kabul and Herat to Delhi are safe. And Ghazni provincial governor Wahidullah Kaleemzai told local media, There is no exact information on casualties and name of the airline, Reuters also reported. U.S. Army Maj. Beth Riordan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command, told the Military Times: U.S. Central Command is aware of the reports of a U.S. aircraft crash in Afghanistan. We are currently monitoring the situation and will provide additional information when possible. U.S. Central Command didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this month, two U.S. service members were killed and two others injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said in a statement. The Taliban immediately took responsibility for the attack. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, said it occurred in the southern Kandahar province. More than 2,400 U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan. Last year was one of the deadliest for the United States, with 23 American troops killed, even as Washington engaged in peace talks with the Taliban. U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been pressing the extremists to declare a cease-fire or at least reduce violent attacks. That would give a window in which the United States and the Taliban could forge an agreement to withdraw all of Americas troops. That agreement would also set out a road map for direct Afghan-to-Afghan talks, mapping out the countrys post-war future. The Associated Press contributed to this report. From The Epoch Times [January 28, 2020] GaN-on-Silicon Patent Landscape, 2020: 2,500+ Patents, IP Trends, Applications, Technologies, Ranking of Main Patent Assignees, Established & New Entrants, Key Players DUBLIN, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "2020 GaN-on-Silicon Patent Landscape" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. GaN-on-Silicon activity is now driven by micro-LED, GaN Power and GaN RF applications. Who is leading the IP competition in these different areas? Who are the emerging players? Key Features of the Report PDF with > 200 slides Excel file > 2,500 patents IP trends, including time-evolution of published patents, countries of patent filings, etc. Patent segmentation per application: Optoelectronics and Photonics, Power, RF, PV and Sensors Ranking of main patent assignees Key players' IP position and relative strength of their patent portfolios Established players and new entrants IP profile of key players, their key patents and their recent IP activity Patents recently expired and patents near expiration date Excel database containing all patents analyzed in the report, including technology and application segmentations GaN-on-Si intellectual property (IP): Historical players step back, leading to a substantial reconfiguration of the patent landscape. The 2015-2020 period has shown tremendous and decisive changes regarding the strategy of players in the GaN-on-Si landscape, beginning with Toshiba's withdrawal from the white LED market and the acquisition of International Rectifier (IR) by Infineon in 2015. At that time, Toshiba and IR were already leading the GaN-on-Si patent landscape, while several historical IP players including Panasonic, Sanken Electric and Toyoda Gosei had already slowed down their patenting activity in the field. Furthermore, after IR, Transphorm, Panasonic and GaNSystems started sampling and commercializing their first GaN-on-Si power devices in 2010-2015, a second wave of companies has entered the playground in the last few years, including ON Semiconductor, Dialog, Navitas, VisIC. More companies, such as STMicroelectronics, are expected soon, demonstrating the growing interest for GaN-on-Si technology from players in the power electronics business. In this report, the publisher has thoroughly investigated the patent landscape related to GaN-on-Si based optoelectronics and photonics, power electronics, radio frequency (RF) electronics, sensors and photovoltaics (PV) covering the whole GaN-on-Si supply chain. Today, interestingly, the GaN-on-Si patent landscape exhibits strategies differing substantially between the numerous IP players currently aiming at consolidating their IP position. Optoelectronics and Photonics: Emerging applications driving IP activity Starting in the late 1990s, GaN-on-Si patenting activity was driven by LED applications. The competition for GaN-on-Si LED intellectual property used to be a very Japanese affair, until the late 2000s when US players like Bridgelux and Micron Technology and Chinese players like Lattice Power emerged. At the same time, Japanese IP leaders sharply decreased their IP activity in the field, even shrinking the size of their portfolios, except for Toshiba, who remarkably accelerated patent filings in 2010-2015, while acquiring Bridgelux-related assets in 2013. Since Toshiba eventually stepped back from LEDs in 2015, the main IP players remaining active in the field are Samsung, Osram and a new entrant, Zhongtuo Optoelectronics. However, patenting activity is now powered by a new range of applications, related to displays, which involves micro-LEDs, including nanowire-based technologies, and smart lighting, moving towards a More than Moore market. Power Electronics: US and European IP leaders backed by patent portfolios of Japanese historical players Infineon made a giant step in the GaN-on-Si landscape by acquiring IR in 2015 but had to consolidte the move by licensing Panasonic's patented HD-GIT technology and by further strengthening its own portfolio as attested by significant IP activity since then. The next IP leader behind Infineon is Transphorm, which has taken several shortcuts as well, by establishing strong partnerships, including IP transfers, with Fujitsu and Furukawa Electric in 2010-2015. Likewise, multiple startups were established to develop GaN power technology based on GaN-on-Si, backed by academic and established industrial IP players in the patent landscape, such as Qromis, Navitas, EpiGaN and ExaGaN. Patenting activity in the field of power electronics remarkably peaked in 2017, due to the entry of several Chinese new entrants in the patent landscape, including FMIC, Innoscience, Peking University, Shenzhen Jing Xiang Technologies and South China University of Technology, focusing on different aspects of GaN-on-Si technology, and filing patents in China mainly. RF electronics: Macom and Intel have taken the lead on GaN-on-Si RF technology There is a large discrepancy between the RF GaN-on-Si patent landscape and the overall RF GaN patent landscape, described in our report RF GaN Patent Landscape Analysis 2019. Macom, which managed to keep IP rights on part of IR's GaN-on-Si portfolio after its acquisition by Infineon, is the main player continuing the development of RF GaN-on-Si technology. Fujitsu, an historical GaN-on-Si IP player, has strongly reduced its related IP activity. The next leading patent applicant in the field is Intel, which is particularly interested in novel approaches towards monolithic integration with Si CMOS for RF electronics for More-than-Moore systems-on-chips. Useful Excel patent database This report also includes an Excel database with the over 2,800 patents and patent applications analyzed in this study. This useful patent database allows for multi-criteria searches and includes patent publication numbers, hyperlinks to the original documents, priority date, title, abstract, patent assignees, patent's current legal status, and technological and application segments. Key Topics Covered 1. Introduction Market trends Scope of the report Objectives of the report Key feature of the report Main assignees cited in the report 2. Methodology Patent search, selection and analysis Terminology for patent analysis 3. Summary 4. GaN-on-Si Patent Landscape Time evolution of patent publications Leading patent applicants Main patent applicants by country of head office Main IP players: Number of patents and current legal status Geographic coverage of patent filings and corresponding current legal status of patents Main patent assignees vs. Countries of granted/pending patents Time evolution of main patent applicants IP profiles Patents recently expired Patents near expiration date Conclusion Patent applicants 5. Optoelectronics & Photonics Time evolution of patent publications Leading patent applicants Main patent applicants by country of head office Main IP players: Number of patents and current legal status Geographic coverage of patent filings and corresponding current legal status of patents Main patent assignees vs. Countries of granted/pending patents IP Leadership Time evolution of main patent applicants IP profiles Conclusion Patent applicants 6. Power Electronics Time evolution of patent publications Leading patent applicants Main patent applicants by country of head office Main IP players: Number of patents and current legal status Geographic coverage of patent filings and corresponding current legal status of patents Main patent assignees vs. Countries of granted/pending patents IP Leadership Time evolution of main patent applicants IP profiles Conclusion Patent applicants 7. RF Electronics Time evolution of patent publications Leading patent applicants Main patent applicants by country of head office Main IP players: Number of patents and current legal status Geographic coverage of patent filings and corresponding current legal status of patents Main patent assignees vs. Countries of granted/pending patents Time evolution of main patent applicants IP profiles Conclusion Patent applicants 8. PV Sensors Patent applicants Segmentations IP profiles Conclusion Patent applicants 9. Conclusion Companies Mentioned Toshiba Sharp Panasonic Sanken Electric Infineon/International Rectifier Intel Samsung University Beijing Transphorm Fujitsu Lattice Power FMIC - Founder Microelectronics imec South China University of Technology University of Technology Toyoda Gosei cea - French Alternatives Energies And Atomic Energy Commission Furukawa Electric Macom/Nitronex IQE TSMC Osram Opto Semiconductors CETC - China Electronics Technology Group Corporation Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications University of Posts & Telecommunications Zhongtuo Optoelectronics Technology Innoscience Shenzhen Jing Xiang Technology Showa Denko Aledia Fuji Electric LG Innotek Coorstek Qromis glo Institute of Semiconductors (CAS) Corning Sumitomo Electric HRL Laboratories EPC - Efficient Power Conversion MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Allos Semiconductors Nagoya Institute of Technology Navitas Semiconductor NGK Insulators NTT - Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Micron Technology Hitachi Toyota Central R&D Labs STmicroelectronics SK Siltron Enkris Semiconductor Shin-Etsu Bridgelux Rohm Epistar Oki Electric Industry Tsing Hua University ITRI - Industrial Technology Research Institute Samsung Electro Mechanics CNRS - French National Research Center Exagan IBM ETRI - Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute VisIC Technologies Mitsubishi Electric Renesas Electronics Texas Instruments Nanchang University University HiWafer Sino Nitride Semiconductor National Sun Yat Sen University Soitec/EpiGaN For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2p98wl Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gan-on-silicon-patent-landscape-2020-2-500-patents-ip-trends-applications-technologies-ranking-of-main-patent-assignees-established--new-entrants-key-players-300994493.html SOURCE Research and Markets [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Press Release 28 January 2020 MCLEAN, Va. - Canopy by Hilton, Hilton's (NYSE: HLT) upper upscale lifestyle hotel brand, announced it is targeting to open 20 hotels in 2020 across seven countries. Located in the most dynamic neighborhoods across the globe, every Canopy hotel becomes a natural extension of the community in which it calls home and provides an energizing atmosphere with thoughtfully local touches. Advertisements 20 in 20 Canopy's current and projected openings in 2020, which join the brand's 12 existing hotels in China, Croatia, Iceland and the U.S., include: Brazil : Sao Paulo-Jardins : Sao Paulo-Jardins China : Hangzhou-West Lake : Hangzhou-West Lake France : Paris-Trocadero : Paris-Trocadero Mexico : Cancun-La Isla (opened Jan. 28) : Cancun-La Isla (opened Jan. 28) United Arab Emirates : Dubai-Al Seef 1 : Dubai-Al Seef United Kingdom : London-London City : London-London City United States: Austin-Downtown; Baltimore-Harbor Point; Charlotte-SouthPark; Dallas-Frisco Station; Grand Rapids-Downtown; Jersey City-Arts District; Kansas City-Downtown; Memphis-Downtown; Philadelphia-Center City; San Antonio-Riverwalk; Scottsdale-Old Town; Tempe-Downtown University Area; Washington, DC-Embassy Row (opened Jan. 14); and West Palm Beach-Downtown "We've received resoundingly positive feedback from guests who have loved their local adventures while staying in our 12 existing hotels," said Gary Steffen, global head, Canopy by Hilton. "We are excited to create more of these authentic experiences with all that Canopy offers in 20 more vibrant neighborhoods this year." The Canopy Difference Following extensive consumer research, Canopy by Hilton was created to provide the uncomplicated comforts, thoughtful design and energizing atmosphere that today's travelers wanted but were unable to find under one roof. While each hotel is unique, they are all united by a few elements that make them "Canopy." Some of these features include: Residential-style design : Neutral color palettes, plenty of natural light, clean lines and open, flowing spaces that are inspired by how the locals live. : Neutral color palettes, plenty of natural light, clean lines and open, flowing spaces that are inspired by how the locals live. Extra comforts : In-room glass water bottles and filtered water stations on every floor; a "transfer lounge" where guests can store luggage, change or shower before or after their stay; and a pet amenity kit in partnership with BARK for four-legged travelers. : In-room glass water bottles and filtered water stations on every floor; a "transfer lounge" where guests can store luggage, change or shower before or after their stay; and a pet amenity kit in partnership with BARK for four-legged travelers. Top-notch food and drink : Evening tastings of wine, beer and spirits from regional producers and a cocktail program created in partnership with Proprietors LLC, the training arm of renowned bar chain, Death & Co. : Evening tastings of wine, beer and spirits from regional producers and a cocktail program created in partnership with Proprietors LLC, the training arm of renowned bar chain, Death & Co. Local know-how: Employees - called "enthusiasts" - are encouraged to share their local "insider" knowledge and experiences with guests. Bolstered by Local Experts No two Canopy by Hilton properties are alike, as each is designed to draw on the life of the locale and spirit of the neighborhood. The brand empowers its owners - many of whom are locals themselves - to shape their property's design and programming to tell the community's story. Owners work with local architects and designers to connect the property's aesthetic - from building materials to decor - to the neighborhood's roots. For example, Canopy Grand Rapids | Downtown leans into the town's former reputation of "Furniture Capital" of the U.S. with mid-century modern design and Canopy West Palm Beach | Downtown echoes Florida's citrus groves with its fresh, vibrant design, which includes a six-story fiber optic banyan tree in the lobby and a rooftop treehouse bar. Canopy owners also create their own food and drink concepts that can complement the neighborhood's current offerings and become the new go-to spot for locals. For instance, Canopy Columbus | Short North, which opened July 2019, attracts many residents with its rooftop bar and restaurant that is named after the Columbus' first doctor, Lincoln Goodale, and features some of the city's best views. Canopy by Hilton Kansas City | Downtown will revive the spirit of its century-old building with a champagne bar speakeasy. "By combining our research-backed Canopy 'pillars' with truly local execution, we are helping lifestyle travelers get the most out of their trips and experience the best of a great neighborhood," Steffen said. Growing Global Footprint Prior to 2020, Canopy by Hilton opened properties in Atlanta-Midtown; Chengdu-City Centre; Columbus, OH-Short North; Dallas-Uptown; Ithaca-Downtown; Hangzhou-Jinsha Lake; Minneapolis-Mill District; Portland, OR-Pearl District; Reykjavik-City Centre; Washington, DC-Bethesda North; Washington, DC-The Wharf; and Zagreb-City Centre. Beyond this year, the brand is working with local partners to develop hotels in dynamic neighborhoods across Bangkok, Boston, Cape Town, Chicago, Kuala Lumpur, Madrid, New Orleans, Riyadh, Toronto and more. Visit the Canopy newsroom to learn more about the brand and its portfolio and pipeline of hotels. 1 Hilton acquired Canopy by Hilton Dubai | Al Seef in Dec. 2019; the property will celebrate its grand opening this spring following minor renovations. About Canopy by Hilton Hilton's lifestyle brand, Canopy by Hilton, is a place in the neighborhood to relax and recharge, offering simple guest-directed service, comfortable spaces and thoughtfully local choices. Each hotel is designed as a natural extension of its neighborhood and delivers a fresh approach to hospitality and the guest experience. There are nearly 10 Canopy properties open around the globe and more than 40 under development across 13 countries and territories. Experience a positive stay at Canopy by booking at www.canopybyhilton.com or through the Hilton Honors mobile app. Learn more about the brand at newsroom.hilton.com/canopybyhilton, and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Pamela Anderson took to Instagram on Monday with a celebratory shot following her recent marriage to Jon Peters after the show business couple rekindled their romance after 30 years. The Baywatch alum, 52, wrote: 'You never regret saying yes,' adding the hashtag, #Honeymoon. In an accompanying black and white shot, the one-time Playboy Playmate glared into the camera with her wavy blonde locks while her ring tattoo with her ex-husband, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, 57, was visible. On Friday, the Canadian-American stunner - who is mother to sons Brandon, 23, and Dylan, 22 - shared a shot with her fifth husband, as she was previously married to Kid Rock and Rick Salomon (on two occasions). The blonde beauty beamed as she touched heads with the 74-year-old producer behind films such as Caddyshack, Flashdance, Rain Man and Wild Wild West, who kept his sunglasses on and failed to smile. The two have a long history as they dated 30 years ago, and she turned down his initial marriage proposal to her. She captioned the candid black-and-white photo with a heart emoji: 'Happy Couple.' Newlywed vibes: Anderson took to Twitter to share the first photo of herself and producer Jon Peters as husband and wife, following their secret Malibu wedding Long time coming: She also posted a photo from 1989, the first time they dated, which she adorably captioned: '#Pamela Peters' She also posted a photo from 1989, the first time they dated, which she adorably captioned: '#Pamela Peters.' Back when Hugh Hefner died in 2017, Peters recalled the first time he met Anderson at the Playboy Mansion. He told The Hollywood Reporter: 'I walked in and saw this little angel sitting at the bar. It was Pammy. She was like 19. I knew she would be a big star. 'We ended up living together. Of course, Hefner loved her and saw her beauty. Pamela was a girl who with no makeup was gorgeous. She was very smart and very talented.' He added: 'I tried to talk her out of doing Playboy. I said, "Dont do Playboy. Focus on a serious career." She said, "Youre nuts." She wanted to do Playboy, and she went on to do 13 covers.' Although Anderson originally turned down his proposal, he recalled to THR telling her: 'In 30 years, our age difference wont mean so much.' This marks Anderson's fifth marriage, notably marrying Tommy Lee from 1995 to 1998, Kid Rock from 2006 to 2007 and Rick Salomon from 2007 to 2008, before getting hitched again from 2014 to 2015. Peters has also had a colorful love life, which includes a 12-year relationship with Barbra Streisand, beginning when he did hair for her 1974 film For Pete's Sake. He's also been married four other times, including to actress Lesley Ann Warren from 1967 to 1977. First marriage: This marks Anderson's fifth marriage, notably marrying Tommy Lee from 1995 to 1998 Husbands past: She also married Kid Rock from 2006 to 2007 and Rick Salomon from 2007 to 2008, before getting hitched again from 2014 to 2015 Flashback Friday: Peters has also had a colorful love life, which includes a 12-year relationship with Barbra Streisand, beginning when he did hair for her 1974 film For Pete's Sake The A Star Is Born producer has also been accused of sexual harassment at least five times, losing one case in 2011, in which he was forced to pay $3 million. But Peters appears to have earned the approval of Anderson's son Brandon Lee, who recently made his reality TV debut The Hills: New Beginnings. Brandon told Fox News: 'Im incredibly happy for my mom and Jon. Theyve known each other for over 35 years and I wish them luck in this next chapter of their lives together.' The former Motley Crue rocker also offered his best wishes for his ex-wife and her new husband. A source told HollywoodLife: 'Tommy is happy for Pam even if they have their differences from time to time. 'Tommy has been able to move on with his love life so he feels that Pam should have that same opportunity and he hopes that she is happy and has got exactly the life she wants.' Mama's boys: But Peters appears to have earned the approval of Anderson's son Brandon Lee: 'Im incredibly happy for my mom and Jon' Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the response of the citys government and police and the Election Commission on a plea by an auto-rickshaw driver, who had challenged the challans and fines levied on him for putting I love Kejriwal posters. Justice Navin Chawla issued the notices on the petition by Rajesh, who was fined Rs 10,000 on January 15 for putting the poster on the back of his vehicle. Rajesh said he had put the posters and banners somewhere in September and October last year on his own will and without any allurement from any political party. He said on January 15 when he was travelling from Kalindi Kunj towards Apollo Hospital, he was fined by the traffic police saying that it was an advertisement for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejriwal. The assembly elections will be held in Delhi on February 8 and votes will be counted on February 11. He contended that despite his pleadings that the poster was not an advertisement for the party, the traffic police fined him following which he moved to the court. The plea also said that this was a violation of the fundamental rights of a citizen and sought setting aside of the challan. The matter has been posted for further hearing on March 3. Choose your country to get an overview of the legal status and resources on homeschooling with a list of local contacts that can help you find out about mandatory homeschool requirements. Select a country or click on the map below. The Kremlin reacted with fury on Tuesday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Soviet collusion with Nazi Germany led to the outbreak of World War II. "We categorically disagree with this statement," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, accusing Zelensky of backing the "highly erroneous" position of Poland on the historical events. The Soviet collaboration with the Nazis remains highly sensitive in the ex-Soviet bloc and frequently crops up in political rhetoric. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded and carved up Poland in September 1939 under a secret clause of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Nazi invasion prompted Britain and France to declare war on Germany. While visiting Poland on Monday to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz death camp, Zelensky said the Poles "were the first to feel the consequences of the criminal collusion of the totalitarian regimes". "This led to the start of World War II and allowed the Nazis to launch the lethal Holocaust machine," he told a joint briefing with Poland's President Andrzej Duda. Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz, where the Nazis killed more than 1.1 million people, most of them Jews. Peskov said Zelensky's comment had offended "tens of millions" of citizens of Russia, Ukraine and other post-Soviet states that battled against Nazi troops. "We do not accept this statement. We consider it erroneous and offensive from the point of view of our grandfathers' memory," he said. Zelensky met Putin for the first time in December at a summit in Paris on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian parliament's upper house, accused Zelensky of betraying the Ukrainians who helped liberate Europe and delivering a blow to Russian-Ukrainian ties. Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's foreign intelligence service, told reporters that Zelensky was getting increasingly drawn towards ideas of Ukrainian nationalism. Last month, Putin accused Poland of colluding with Hitler and contributing to the outbreak of World War II, sparking new tensions between Moscow and Warsaw. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar on Tuesday expressed confidence that Occupational, Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) code will get Parliament approval in the Budget session beginning this Friday. "We are quite hopeful of getting back the OSH Code from standing committee. It is most likely to be considered and passed by Parliament during this Budget Session scheduled to begin on January 31, 2020," Gangwar said on the sidelines of a conference on safety of mines. However, the minister said the labour ministry will push all three codes, including OSH, for passage in both the Houses of Parliament. There are greater chances of Parliament approval for Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2019 in the Budget session as it was referred to standing committee in October last year. The ministry is expecting that the committee would submit its report on the OSH Code during this Budget session. If no major changes are contemplated then it can be pushed for passage during this session only as it would continue till April first week. In December, the ministry had sent The Industrial Relations Code, 2019 and The Social Security Code to the standing committee for scrutiny. The three codes were introduced in the Lok Sabha last year and subsequently sent for the committee's scrutiny. The Code on Wages was also sent for standing committee's perusal. As per the recommendations of the 2nd National Commission on Labour, the ministry is codifying existing 44 central labour laws into four codes by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of the legislations. The Code on Wages has already been approved by Parliament last year. The law would be implemented after framing rules under the code. The process of labour reforms began after 2nd National Labour Commission gave its report in 2004. But the process was expedited in 2014 (when NDA government came in power at centre). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The European Commission recognises that ambitious climate action is this generations defining task. As such, it has proposed a European Green Deal, which aims to transform the EUs economy to produce zero net greenhouse emissions in 2050 and decouple economic growth from resource use, in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. To meet this ambition, the Commission announced a 10-year 1 trillion Investment Plan. From the estimated climate-associated risks that the worlds largest corporations face, to the estimated cost for the United Kingdom to become carbon neutral, to the European Investment Bank transition to Europes climate bank, to planting trees to capture carbon emission, trillion is the recurring headline-grabbing figure. Whether chosen to reflect the actual needs or for its sensational impact, the trillion-euro question is: does this Green Deal produce not just a transition, but a Just Transition? As President Ursula Von der Leyen has made clear, The transformation ahead of us is unprecedented. And it will only work if it is just and if it works for all. Because of this imperative, the Commission simultaneously announced a Just Transition Mechanism, which will mobilise at least 100 billion in investments over the period 2021-2027 to support citizens of the regions most impacted by the transition. In dialogue with the Commission, Member States will draw up territorial just transition plans that set out the social, economic and environmental challenges and detail needs and measures for economic diversification, reskilling and environmental rehabilitation. The Mechanism will operate through the Just Transition Fund, a dedicated window under InvestEU to leverage private finance, and a public sector loan facility by the European Investment Bank (EIB). Only 7.5 billion will be fresh EU funding provided to the Transition Fund, which Member States will need to match with between 1.5 and 3 from the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund Plus. The distribution of the Just Transition Fund will reflect the capacity of Member States to finance the necessary investments and already different Member States are scrambling to receive a significant share of this funding. However, the amount of fresh money is certainly insufficient to fulfil meaningful just transition plans. The European Trade Union Confederation noted that the funding proposed for 10 years is what would be needed every year to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 in a fair way. Unfortunately, prospects for increased funding are dire as Germany and the Netherlands oppose expanding the EU budget. Without additional funds lofty ambitions will remain just that. Questions also abound about how fair and in-line with decarbonisation the distribution will actually be. Poland and Germany are currently set to receive the most benefits from the Fund, 2 billion and 877 million respectively, even though Poland has infamously low decarbonisation ambitions while Germany ran a 13 billion budget surplus in 2019. This is especially problematic since the investments are not linked to a binding date for the phase-out of coal or other fossil fuels. Under current plans, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece will not have significantly lowered coal power capacity by 2030. In addition, the Just Transition Mechanism support can also finance projects for energy and transport infrastructure, including gas infrastructure, locking in emissions that directly contradict the Green Deals stated goal for the EU to become climate neutral by 2050. The Just Transition Plans will thus need substantial decarbonisation criteria, rule out funding gas infrastructure, and head the EIB President Werner Hoyers warning against a box-ticking approach to climate investments. The investments should equally avoid a myopic focus on economic diversification and reskilling but commit to addressing the socio-economic inequalities between and within Member States, a key component of any Just Transition. To echo the European Parliaments resolution on the Green Deal, a just transition should leave no person and no place behind and address social and economic inequalities. Climate change, pollution and environmental destruction have already exacerbated inequalities, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable communities. The Green Deals commitment to the European Pillar of Social Rights is a good start, but to veritably address socio-economic inequalities would require a re-forging of the social contract and concomitant shifts in power and wealth. The Green Deal must thus be much more ambitiously financed, incorporate planetary boundaries, and break with the narrow paradigm of the current economic model. This is the only way to ensure the Green Deal is indeed the pledge of solidarity and fairness promised by Executive Vice-President Timmermans. 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. Derry people are being invited to hear Miami Massacre Survivor, Stephen Travers who is scheduled to Address the annual Bloody Sunday Rally. This years Bloody Sunday march and rally is taking place in Derry on Sunday, February 2 Stephen Travers is a survivor of the Miami Showband massacre, which was a milestone event in the history of the conflict. It took place outside Newry town in July 1975. Stephen saw three of his band mates killed, along with two of the attackers. This murderous attack was perpetrated by serving members of the British armys UDR regiment at that time who were also members of the UVF and part of the notorious, Glenanne gang. The Glenanne gang was responsible for upwards of 150 murders over the course of the conflict, including: those of the Reavey and O'Dowd families in South Armagh in January 1976 and the killing of 34 people who died in the Dublin-Monaghan bombings in May 1974. To this day, the Historical Enquiries Team report into the activities of the Glenanne gang remains unpublished, despite demands from people like Stephen Travers, the Reavey and O'Dowd families, their legal representatives, NGOs and many, many more for it to be released it continues to be withheld from the public due to its national security implications and fears of how its content might adversely affect the peace we have. For further information contact: www.bloodysundaymarch.org Note: References to the coronavirus in this story have been updated to what evolved into generally accepted usage. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- How worried should you be about the coronavirus? Ohio officials are investigating two possible cases at Miami University, while the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls the disease -- from the same family as MERS and SARS -- an emerging, rapidly evolving situation. Coronavirus, also called the novel coronavirus, can have symptoms similar to the common cold, or the flu. It can also be as severe as pneumonia. The disease has killed more than 100 people in China, where there have been 4,500 cases. Outside China there have been 60 cases, including five in the United States. Its not time to freak out in the United States, obviously. But the disease can seem scary because of the unknown, said Dr. Elie Saade at University Hospitals. All these pictures and videos of space suits coming from China and from other areas, it makes people scared," Saade said. Theres a psychological component to that. Heres what you need to know about the coronavirus, and how to protect yourself if an outbreak happens in Ohio. Cleveland.com reporters Jeremy Pelzer, Andrew Tobias and Laura Hancock contributed to this report. What is a coronavirus? This virus is Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCov). As of now, its labeled as novel coronavirus because it has never been seen before. There is still much more to learn about this virus including regarding the extent of human-to-human transmission, said Dr. Steven Gordon of the Cleveland Clinic. The common coronaviruses that cause up to 30% of upper respiratory tract infection each year spread person-to-person through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread. Dr. Amy Ray, MetroHealths medical director of infection prevention, said though theres a tendency to try and find a benchmark for these kinds of new viruses, each one can behave differently. Health professionals just need to be up-to-date on the latest information. Where did the coronavirus come from? The city of Wuhan, China, has been quarantined as officials believe it is the origin city for the coronavirus. What are symptoms? Fever, cough and shortness of breath. Symptoms of the coronavirus may appear in as few as 2 days or as long as 14 after exposure, according to the CDC. Can I have the coronavirus without seeing symptoms? Though Chinese officials said that there is evidence of the virus being spread before symptoms show, nothing has been proven yet. If that is true, it would make the disease harder to contain. Ray said that its been confirmed that there the viruss symptoms are on a range of intensity. Symptoms can seem like a cold or feel like pneumonia. Whats not known yet is the viruss incubation period -- how long for symptoms to show after someone contracts the virus -- and the window of contagion -- how long the virus is contagious. How is it spread? Early on, many of the patients in the outbreak of coronavirus had some link to a large seafood and live animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread, the CDC says. The virus can be spread person-to-person, according to the CDC. Officials believe the disease is spread through respiratory droplets produced through coughs and sneezes. How can I stop the spread? Wash your hands. Washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds can help limit the spread of viruses. Make sure not to touch your nose and eyes, covering your mouth when you cough and sneeze, and dont go to work if you feel ill. Says the CDC: While the immediate risk of this new virus to the American public is believed to be low at this time, everyone can do their part to help us respond to this emerging public health threat... Its currently flu and respiratory disease season and CDC recommends getting vaccinated, taking everyday preventive actions to stop the spread of germs, and taking flu antivirals if prescribed. If theres an outbreak here, can I prevent contracting it by using a mask? Theres no conclusive answer. A mask can help, Saade said. Students at Miami University are already wearing them. But you need to make sure youre wearing a mask correctly, so heres how to do it. Currently, doctors say there is no need to wear a mask in public. Surgical masks the cheap, disposable masks sold at drug stores wont do a lot to protect you from coronavirus, according to news reports. The risk of catching coronavirus while outside, in the open air, is so low in the U.S. that the risk of catching it is low. Even in enclosed spaces, disposable masks often dont provide a tight fit, allowing small airborne particles to waft in through the openings. The masks themselves do block large droplets (from, say, a sneeze or a cough), meaning they can help you from spreading a disease, but theyre not nearly as effective at filtering out viruses in the air, according to NPR. If you want to get more heavy-duty, another option is an N95 respirator mask. But while theyre better than surgical masks, as the name suggests, they are only effective 95 percent of the time at catching particles as small as 0.3 microns (though the efficiency of N95 masks can vary significantly depending on the manufacturer), according to Slate. Coronaviruses in humans are between 0.1 and 0.2 microns large, meaning by themselves they can get through, but the viruses often travel on bits of mucus or other large particles that the mask can block. Will Purell help? The CDC lists alcohol-based hand sanitizer as a precaution if soap and water is not available, but the FDA has demanded Purell-maker GOJO Industries stop claiming the hand sanitizer can combat the flu and other diseases. Should I just stay home? No. Unless you or someone around you has recently traveled to China, your risk of getting sick is low, according to local and state health officials. Should I travel? Should I avoid getting on a bus or a plane? You shouldnt worry about traveling unless its to or from China. The Centers for Disease Control has issued a travel advisory urging Americans to avoid any non-essential trips to China, especially to Wuhan in Hubei Province. If you do travel to China, the CDC recommends talking to your health-care provider first, washing or sanitizing your hands often, and especially if you have an underlying medical condition avoiding sick people and animals (as well as animal markets and animal products). Should I stock up on antiviral medicine? There are no vaccines nor drugs specifically designed to treat the new strain of coronavirus. Some U.S. drugmakers have sent antiviral drugs used to treat HIV to China to assess their effectiveness, and a Chinese government panel has recommended that doctors treat coronavirus patients with an anti-HIV drug called Kaletra, the Wall Street Journal reports. Should I avoid meat? U.S. health officials have found no signs to date of the coronavirus in meat or other food products. The CDC has only warned against eating meat and other animal products if you are in China. Who is more at risk if it starts spreading? Like the flu, children, the elderly, and those with heart disease or autoimmune problems are more at-risk of complications from coronavirus. When should I go to the hospital? If you have recently traveled to Wuhan, China, or may have had contact with someone who did and are experiencing symptoms, call your local emergency room, Saade said. The CDC recommends telling a healthcare professional about your recent travel and your symptoms before going to the hospital. Health professionals will advise you on the best course of action to get help and to limit any potential spread. How is the disease being diagnosed and treated? Chinese health officials released the genetic sequencing for the coronavirus shortly after the first outbreak, which U.S. officials praised because it allowed them to develop a rapid diagnostic test. A potential vaccine is also in the process of being developed, although it will take months for trials and for U.S. officials to approve it. There is no proven therapy for the coronavirus infection, said National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci. Officials, however, are using drugs that treated symptoms of two previous coronavirus outbreaks -- Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. All samples of possible coronavirus are being sent to the CDC for testing. Will the government declare a public health emergency? Not right now, since there are only 5 confirmed cases, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Tuesday in a press conference. Americans should know that this is a potentially very serious public health threat but at this point Americans should not worry for their own safety, Azar said. Azar said that the first known cases in any disease outbreak skew to the severe. In other words, only the most sick tend to seek treatment. Will the outbreak continue to spread? Most likely. The coming days and weeks are likely to bring more confirmed cases here and around the world, including the possibility of some person-to-person spread, said Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield. What if it becomes a pandemic? While the CDC is not yet addressing this possibility, if the epidemic becomes a pandemic, the World Health Organization offers best practices: During severe pandemics, more extreme measures can be implemented: using facemasks when sick, schools closures, decreasing the amount of contacts among people." The U.S. government recommends that to prepare for a pandemic, people can: - store a two week supply of water and food. - check regular prescription drugs to ensure a supply - have medical supplies on hand, including pain relievers, stomach remedies, cough and cold medicines, fluids with electrolytes, and vitamins. - get copies of health records from doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and other sources and store them, for personal reference. - get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food. The only concession the plan appears to demand of Israel is a four-year freeze on the establishment of new Israeli settlements in certain areas of the West Bank. But Netanyahu clarified later that this only applied to areas where there are no settlements and Israel has no immediate plans to annex, and that he considered the plan to impose no limitations on construction. Wisconsin elected officials are going their separate ways on redistricting. Fracking could prove a weak point for Democrats, especially in Pennsylvania. And Ohioans are one step closer to voting on a minimum wage increase. Check-in Fight of the decade: Get ready for some drama coming out of the Wisconsin redistricting process. The Census hasnt even happened yet, but Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, is already taking shots at Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, and Evers plan to form a nonpartisan redistricting commission, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinels Patrick Marley reports. Vos is considering using secrecy pledges while doing the GOP process behind closed doors, like they did in 2011. Meanwhile, Evers signed his executive order creating the commission, which bars lobbyists, lawmakers and party officials from participating in his process. I just want the paper: Voters in Chicago and Cook County will be using new voting machines in time for the March 17 primary election, the Chicago Tribunes Dan Petrella writes. Like in other states, the largest county in Illinois is switching to machines that log paper ballots. Fracking up: In the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, how the candidates come down on fracking could be make or break for the Democrats presidential ambitions, the New York Times Lisa Friedman and Shane Goldmacher report. Climate change policy including banning fracking has become a key part in many of the candidates campaigns, but the reality of the situation is a lot of the Pennsylvania economy relies on natural gas extraction. At a minimum: Advocates for raising the minimum wage in Ohio got some welcome news on Monday, cleveland.coms Jeremy Pelzer reports. Ballot initiative language was approved by the attorney generals office and an initial batch of signatures was certified by elections officials, meaning the proposal to raise the minimum wage to $13 an hour could be on the November ballot provided several other requirements are met. Its electric: General Motors announced plans to invest $2.2 billion in its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant to retool it for building electric cars, the Detroit Free Press Jamie LaReau reports. GM announced there would be 2,200 jobs at the new facility, though the plant would idle on Feb. 28 for 18 months. Cant you see: Ohio lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing for more oversight and transparency for the states pension system, cleveland.coms Andrew Tobias reports. The Buckeye State currently has $24 billion in unfunded liability, which seems like peanuts compared to Illinois $137 billion. The issue is likely to dominate this year at the Illinois Legislature, which returns on Tuesday, per the Chicago Tribune. Seeing red: Not that they needed one, but Illinois residents have another reason to hate red-light cameras after former state Sen. Martin Sandoval was charged with two counts of bribery, per the Chicago Sun-Times. Sandoval is accused of accepting bribes to continue supporting the red-light camera program. Arrivals/Departures Billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer was in Ames, Iowa, on Monday, per the Des Moines Registers candidate tracker. Former Vice President Joe Biden was in Cedar Falls, Marion and Iowa City on Monday, per the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg was in Boone, Iowa Falls, Vinton and North Liberty, Iowa, on Monday, per the Des Moines Register. Former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland was in Cedar Falls, Tripoli and Waterloo, Iowa, on Monday, per the campaign. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang was in Orange City, Le Mars, Sioux City and Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Monday, per the campaign. Vice President Mike Pence will be in Madison on Tuesday to stump for private school vouchers at the state capitol, per the Wisconsin State Journal. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers wont be there to greet him. Biden will be in Muscatine, Davenport and Clinton, Iowa, on Tuesday, per the campaign. Buttigieg will be in Ottumwa, Osceola and Indianola, Iowa, on Tuesday, per the campaign. Steyer will be in Ankeny, Iowa, on Tuesday, per the Des Moines Registers candidate tracker. Yang will be in Perry and Nevada, Iowa, on Tuesday, per the campaign. Biden will be in Sioux City and Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Wednesday, per the campaign. Buttigieg will be in Jefferson, Ames, Webster City, Mason City and New Hampton, Iowa, on Wednesday, per the campaign. Steyer will be in Knoxville, Ottumwa and Fairfield, Iowa, on Wednesday, per the Des Moines Register candidate tracker. Yang will be in Iowa City, Burlington, Davenport and Clinton, Iowa, on Wednesday, per the campaign. President Donald Trump will be in Warren, Michigan, on Thursday to visit an auto parts supplier, per MLive. He will hold a re-election rally later that night in Des Moines, per the Des Moines Register. Pence will be in Sioux City, Council Bluffs and Des Moines on Thursday, per the Des Moines Register. Pence will join Trump on stage for Trumps rally. Much of Trumps cabinet will be in Iowa on caucus day, per the Des Moines Register. That includes acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Education Secretary Betsy Devos, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will also be in the state. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has a memoir dropping in May, per the Washington Post. Iowa Democrats will get to vote in Milwaukee before Milwaukee Democrats, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. America First, the primary super PAC supporting Trump, is targeting two Flyover state Democrats on impeachment, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. Curiously, neither of those Democrats is up for re-election until 2024. Democratic presidential candidates are adding staff in Michigan, per MLive. Maybe the real Iowa caucuses were the love we found on the way, per the Washington Post. This Is Your Captain Speaking "I just want the count to be accurate and correct, and if I need to wait a few days or a week after the election to get that, Im willing to wait. Were just going to have to all get used to this, of not knowing the winner on election night. -David C. Kimball, a political science professor at University of Missouri-St. Louis, quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the possibility of not knowing the presidential winner on Election Night in states like Pennsylvania. Absentee and provisional ballots may be counted a bit slower in the Keystone State as more people request them after the state legislature passed no-fault absentee voting. Enjoying The Flyover? Be sure and subscribe here. Email Seth at SRichardson@cleveland.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SethARichardson. Prev 1 of 5 Next Part 3 in a 3-part series: Revisiting the Nightmare Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal Overcrowding. A shortage of corrections officers. An inmate classification system that critics say doesnt accurately assess the threat level of prisoners and needs to be overhauled. A lack of meaningful training programs for prisoners who will be back on the street. These were some of the problems that plagued the state Corrections Department before the 1980 prison riot that claimed the lives of 33 inmates, traumatized guards who were taken hostage and left the main building at the Penitentiary of New Mexico a burned-out shell. And they still exist today although lawmakers have increased spending on corrections from about $20 million annually to about $328 million for the current fiscal year. But experts say the possibility of a riot on anything approaching the scale of the 1980 uprising that dominated headlines around the country for 36 hours is remote because of better design, improved technology, the way inmates are separated and much-improved training for corrections officers. We have some of the same problems they had before the riot, said Dirk Lee, president of the Correctional Officers Association. Were short-staffed in some prisons 24% across the board. Some of the prisons are overcrowded. The state went on a prison building spree after the riot adding state and private facilities with an emphasis on avoiding another uprising. We have the containment and social control of inmates down. It is what weve concentrated on for 30 years, said former Corrections Secretary Gregg Marcantel, a former Marine and retired Bernalillo County sheriffs captain who served as secretary from 2011 to 2016. But he said that came at a cost of reduced programs to help inmates change their criminal behavior. What the concentration on security did was encourage more violent social groups (gangs), he said. We were having people leave the prison system more violent than when they entered. To control gangs members of one gang have been convicted in federal court for plotting to murder Marcantel the use of administrative segregation, sometimes known as solitary confinement, increased where inmates are held in their cells 23 hours and allowed one hour out of their cells but no interaction with other inmates. When I came in we were releasing inmates directly from administrative segregation to the streets, Marcantel said. Those people were coming right back into our custody. That comes as no surprise to longtime inmate attorney Mark Donatelli. The emphasis after the riot was security, Donatelli said. And guess who all the lobbyists were working for. People who had land to sell the state, architects, builders. And the states newest prison, in Clayton, was unnecessary, Donatelli said. It was about jobs for the area, Donatelli said. The money would have been better spend reducing recidivism. The push for more prisons ignored many of the recommendations made in Attorney General Jeff Bingamans report on the riot and the Governors Commission on the Riot. Both recommended a greater emphasis on community corrections programs instead of prisons. In 1980 there were no lobbyists for halfway houses in New Mexico, Donatelli said. In the midst of the post riot paranoia we took an ass backward approach. Over the years, reports from the Legislative Finance Committee, an investigation of the Santa Rosa disturbance that led to the killing of a corrections officer in the 1990s and a corrections study commission appointed by then-Gov. Bill Richardson all recommended a greater reliance on community corrections programs and halfway houses for reintegration of inmates back into society. Alisha Tafoya Lucero, recently appointed Corrections Secretary by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, said, I believe our institutions are safer. We are focusing on reintegration and reduced recidivism. Fundamental changes Anything is possible if inmates gain control of master keys or firearms. But inmates, corrections officers and corrections officials agree that the changes over the last 40 years go right down to the foundations of the prison buildings. The telephone pole system housing inmates of all classifications, maximum, medium and minimum under one roof was one of the root causes of the riot. It was in effect at the prison due to a construction project even though it was a 1950s era holdover and already considered obsolete at the time of the riot. The state prisons built in the 1980s and the private prisons built in the 1990s are based on a pod design with a central control room for each group of pods. The new prisons are less reliant on keys. Instead officers in control rooms open and close doors electronically. The design fed into the culture of containment intended to prevent rioting inmates from seizing an entire prison. But security design didnt include space to create job training, education and other programs to provide inmates with skills that could be life changing, Marcantel said. The pods in state prisons hold as few as 16 inmates while most of the pods in the private prisons hold between 40 and 60. Sight lines in the old cellblocks made it difficult to monitor inmate activities. Dormitories were too large and poorly lit when the lights worked for corrections officers to patrol safely. The newer prisons are designed to give officers in the control rooms good sight lines and have good lighting. In the Old Main, the design and security failures at the start of the riot doors and riot prevention gates (called grills) were unlocked allowed the uprising to spread quickly. In the new design, if inmates manage to seize and open one door, they run into another door that is electronically locked. At the start of the riot, maximum security inmates were living in a dormitory meant for less dangerous inmates because their cellblock was being renovated. In the new prisons, inmates are separated by classification, with the exception of the Reception and Diagnostic unit at the state prison in Los Lunas. Thats where inmates receive their classification level so inmates in that unit are mixed. The classification system attempts to measure how much of a threat an inmate poses for escape or violence against other inmates and officers. Lee, the officers union president, said officers believe some dangerous inmates have been reclassified to lower threat levels because of overcrowding in certain areas of the prison system. But inmates and inmate attorneys say the classification system routinely gives inmates a higher threat level than deserved. Marcantel reduced the classification of some inmates in an attempt to reduce the number of prisoners in administrative segregation. In an interview, he said he knew some corrections officers were concerned about reducing the reliance on administrative segregation but that available evidence didnt support keeping them locked up 23 hours a day with an hour for exercise or a shower each day. The departments budget includes money for an ongoing review of the classification system with a contract with the University of New Mexico. Officer shortage A shortage of corrections officers has been a problem since before the riot. Understaffing varies from prison to prison, but the Legislative Finance Committee found the Department of Corrections was short more than 24% of authorized strength systemwide despite an 8.5% raise officers received last year. Cadets start at $15.55 an hour and that increases to $18.56 an hour once they complete an eight-week academy. Lee said there are people who want the jobs but it takes too long to get hired. It was taking between 90 and 180 days for people to get hired, Lee said. People cant sit around waiting for an application to be processed for six months. Thats too long. To address that problem, Corrections Secretary Tafoya Lucero said the department is no longer doing all screening of prospective employees in Santa Fe. Instead, it is conducting two-day on-site screening programs in towns that have prisons. Over the course of two days, a person goes through the physical fitness test, polygraph and psychological evaluation, Tafoya Lucero said. They will know if they are qualified at the end of the two days. Officers at prisons throughout the state are better trained than those who were on duty during the riot. At that time, only a few recently hired officers received 40 hours of training before being put on duty at the state prison. Some officers on duty the night the riot started had no training, except what they received on the job. Every one of our officers attends an eight-week academy where they are prepared to work in our prisons, Tafoya Lucero said. Everything from first aid to de-escalation techniques. Lee said the current training program for officers is very good and that officers go through a 40-hour refresher program annually. Officer safety has to be a priority, people are trained properly, Tafoya Lucero said. LFC concerned For more than a decade, the Legislative Finance Committee has pounded on the Department of Corrections on two issues too many inmates serving parole time inside prison and too many parolees returning to prison after their release. The LFC, which acts as the legislative watchdog on state spending, is concerned because each inmate, on average, costs the state between $34,000 and $35,000 a year. The state cost for an inmate on parole is less than $2,000. More than 9% of the inmate population male and female were in prison past their scheduled parole date. In some cases thats the inmates choice. Rather than two years on monitored parole, an inmate with good time credit can walk out after a year with zero restrictions. Or preparation. In some cases, parole is delayed by bureaucratic problems in the system. Either way, it defeats the reason for a parole system, which is to acclimate the prisoner to life on the outside while being monitored. These are people the state needs to have under supervision so the state can make sure they are participating in drug and other programs, Donatelli said. If they serve their parole in prison they are released to the streets without any supervision. They dont have to meet with their parole officers on a regular basis, have a job, provide urine samples and allow the parole officer to visit and inspect their residence. They dont have to participate in drug or alcohol programs that might be part of a parole plan. And that makes them much more likely to re-offend and end up back in prison. It also contributed to overcrowding and cost because inmates who could be out on parole are still inside. Prisons cant do anything to control the number of people arrested by police, prosecuted by district attorneys and sent to prison by judges. But Donatelli said Corrections can do a better job of reducing the number of inmates returning to prison. Little support About 300 inmates are released by the state prisons each month after finishing their sentences to serve parole. Based on history, roughly half will return to prison within three years. Marcantel said he found little support in efforts to improve pre-release and other programs designed to help inmates change their criminal behavior. They have to find places to live, jobs and most are required to enter drug or alcohol treatment programs. Some need psychiatric treatment. In contrast, most inmates released from federal prison are required to spend the last six months of their sentence in a halfway house, making the arrangements for treatment and contacts for jobs. They also get support in those job hunts and apartment searches while they adapt to being outside of prison. Once federal officers approve the arrangements, former inmates start serving a period of supervision, usually two to three years. The state does support halfway houses but they are used after someone has been paroled and may not have anywhere else to live. Donatelli said the federal system makes more sense. Attorney Peter Cubra, who represents inmates, says support and supervision are the key to keeping people from returning to prison. Marcantel says people need to think about how this affects not just inmates, but the entire community. These inmates are going to get released, he said. Thats 96 of every 100 people who enter the system. Theyre coming back to your neighborhoods. The oil and gas industry didn't have a great year in 2019, as crude oil prices dropped about 9% and natural gas prices dropped 18% amid a continued increase in supply. While that's good for consumers, it wasn't so positive for oil and gas companies and their investors. Over the past 12 months, the oil and gas production sector has declined about 6%. One of the laggards in the sector has been Cimarex Energy (NYSE:XEC), which was down about 14% in 2019 and is down roughly 8% year to date. Cimarex, based in Denver, is a shale oil and gas driller with operations in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. Most of its drilling and exploration activity is in the Permian Basin in Texas and the Anadarko Basin in western Oklahoma. Its production mix is more weighted toward gas, which saw even lower commodity prices than oil last year due to the continued boom in natural gas production in the United States. More supply means lower prices. It's been a tough road for Cimarex, which has seen its stock plummet the past three years -- and counting. Can the company turn it around? Direction of oil and gas prices Exploration and production companies like Cimarex make money by drilling oil and gas wells and selling the raw materials to companies that refine them. Generally, the higher the price of the commodity, the more money the drillers make. The company is very reliant on the direction of oil and gas prices and once again, but the forecast for the next two years doesn't look much different. Oil prices are expected to rise slightly as the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that Brent crude oil will average $65 per barrel in 2020 and $68 per barrel in 2021. Last year, Brent Crude averaged about $64 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) will average $59 per barrel in 2020 and $62 per barrel in 2021. Last year, WTI averaged $57 per barrel. On the other hand, natural gas prices are expected to continue to fall in 2020, by an estimated 9%, according to EIA. In 2021, gas prices are forecast to bounce back to near 2019. These are, of course, just predictions and these markets are fraught with uncertainty, but the signs point to little overall change. For Cimarex, which produces more gas than oil, it's even more bleak. Expense reductions Though a down year for the stock price, Cimarex has managed to increase its oil and gas production by about 40% while reducing costs. At the start of last year, CEO Thomas Jorden made a commitment to cut production costs and be cash-flow neutral without adding any debt. Through the third quarter of last year, the company had delivered on that goal, as production expenses dropped 12% year over year. The company had a positive cash balance of $24 million at the end of the quarter. Is it a buy? As the stock price has declined for the past three-plus years, it's become extremely undervalued, trading at just over nine times earnings. Analysts have taken notice as many rate the stock as a solid buy. While Cimarex seems headed in the right direction in terms of reducing expenses, investors may want to proceed with caution and watch the direction of commodity prices as the year progresses before jumping in. At least three activists highly critical of Armenias current leadership were briefly detained in Yerevan on Tuesday in what they denounced as a government attempt to intimidate them. They all were set free without charge after spending several hours in police custody. The Armenian police said two of the outspoken activists, Narek Malian and Konstantin Ter-Nakalian, were detained on suspicion of illegal arms possession. Both men shrugged off the explanation. An amateur video posted on the Internet showed masked officers of a special police unit toppling Malian to the ground outside his office in downtown Yerevan, handcuffing him and pushing him into a car. Another activist, Artur Danielian, was stopped by policemen while driving his car and airing a live video address on Facebook. Danielian said after his release later in the day that two of his associates were also forcibly taken to a police station. He said they were told that they are suspected of drug possession. Some opposition figures and other critics of the Armenian government condemned the detentions as arbitrary, saying the authorities are trying to stifle dissent in the country. Danielian and Ter-Nakalian are the leaders of the nationalist Adekvad movement, while Malian leads a separate group called Veto. Both groups rely heavily on social media in their campaigns against the government and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in particular. They also take a dim view of the 2018 Velvet Revolution that toppled Armenias former leadership and brought Pashinian to power. Malian worked as an adviser to the former chief of the national police, Vladimir Gasparian, before the revolution. Malian ridiculed the police actions against him when he spoke to reporters after his release. He accused the authorities of making last-ditch attempts to keep the situation under control. He also claimed that his arrest was demanded by the Armenian branch of U.S. billionaire George Soross Open Society Foundations (OSF). The OSF and its alleged ties to the Pashinian government have been the main target of Malians and Vetos activities. In September last year, the group for weeks picketed the OSF offices in Yerevan, deriding its employees and recipients of OSF grants. Earlier in 2019, the head of OSF-Armenia, Larisa Minasian, held a news conference to decry false allegations about its activities made by Malian and other anti-government activists. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Three Purdue University alumni will soon help more members of the U.S. Air Force advance critical communication skills to keep them safe in the cockpit. PlaneEnglish, a simulator created by the three Purdue alumni, has received a $1 million SBIR Phase II award, sponsored by the Air Force and AFWERX, the Air Force's technology and innovation hub. The technology addresses important communication and training needs for the Department of Defense. "This is a tremendous opportunity for us to play an even bigger part in helping the Air Force train pilots using a digital approach that's proven popular with users," said Muharrem Mane, one of the creators of the simulator. PlaneEnglish is an app-based aviation radio simulator to help new pilots acquire radio communication proficiency by developing advanced skills in more realistic environments. Mane, an alumnus of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Eren Hadimioglu, an alumnus of the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology; and Sam Dickson, an alumnus of the Department of Computer Science, created and developed PlaneEnglish. The technology's simulator is used in dozens of airports across the United States, and the team just launched a version of the technology for civilian pilots. PlaneEnglish lessons guide users through simple and complicated interactions with air traffic control on every phase of flight from taxi out, to takeoff, to airspace entrance, to approaches, to taxi in. Mane also said the technology comes at a time when the Federal Aviation Administration has put an increased focus on English language proficiency for pilots, and started asking instructors to test their students on their speaking and communication abilities. The PlaneEnglish team works out of the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, and the creators work closely with the Purdue Research Foundation as they develop their technology. ### About Purdue Research Foundation The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue's intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park and Purdue Technology Centers. The foundation received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org Source: Muharrem Mane, muharrem@planeenglish.net Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. English French Centennial College renames their centre for aerospace to The Bombardier Centre for Aerospace and Aviation Following donation of a CRJ200 aircraft in 2019, Bombardier donates The Architect Global 7500 flight test vehicle Announcements reinforce Bombardiers partnership with Centennial, further to R&D investment commitments TORONTO, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Following a decade of close collaboration in support of aerospace education, skills training and research and development, Centennial College is pleased to announce today that it is renaming its Centre for Aerospace and Aviation at Downsview Park to The Bombardier Centre for Aerospace and Aviation and is receiving a Bombardier Global 7500 flight test vehicle for training purposes. As the global demand for aerospace technicians and technologists continues to grow, the strategic advantage of Bombardier and Centennials relationship is only amplified, says Dr. Craig Stephenson, President and CEO, Centennial College. The commitment of both partners not only aims to support the increasing labour demands of the sector, but also bolsters Ontarios and Canadas leadership position in a competitive global sector. Known as The Architect, the Bombardier Global 7500 business jet (serial number 70004) was the fourth Flight Test Vehicle (FTV4) of the program and was used for interior validation testing. Since its maiden flight on September 28, 2017, the aircraft accumulated approximately 731 flight hours. Centennial students will receive hands-on experience working on the prototype of the worlds largest and longest-range purpose-built business jet with the industrys most advanced avionics and airframe features, including high-performance wings. The aircraft will have a permanent spot outside Centennials new hangar at its Downsview Park facility, which opened in January 2019. Bombardier is proud to continue supporting Centennial College in their mission to prepare the next generation of aerospace professionals. With this Global 7500 aircraft donation, students will receive incomparable hands-on training using the industrys latest advanced technology, said Alain Bellemare, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc. Global 7500 aircraft are assembled at Bombardiers facility in Toronto, using innovative and cutting-edge technology. The development of the aircraft has positively influenced the Ontario aerospace sector in the past decade, expanding the range of experience and capabilities of engineers, technicians and technologists, as well as mobilizing suppliers. In February 2019, Bombardier donated a CRJ200 to Centennial College for training purposes and is also providing the college with $150,000 for the completion of its Landing Gear Research project, while extending its existing educational program. The program is expected to train a minimum of 50 individuals for each of the next two years at Centennials facility, which serves as the anchor for Torontos new aerospace hub, the Downsview Aerospace Innovation and Research (DAIR) Hub. The Global 7500 FTV4 donation, and the educational value it provides, is possible due to the generosity of suppliers who donated their respective systems: Collins Aerospace for its Avionic suite; Parker Hannifin Corp. for its fly-by wire system; Safran Power Units San Diego for the Auxiliary Power Unit; Woodward Inc. for the rudder pedal; GE Aviation Systems for the Aircraft Health Monitoring Unit; and GE Passport. About Centennial College Centennial College is Ontarios first public college, established in 1966, primarily serving the eastern portion of the Greater Toronto Area through five campuses. It has a record of exemplary teaching, innovative programming and extensive partner-ship building. Centennial offers more than 300 diploma, certificate and degree programs on a full- and part-time basis in business, media, arts, community and consumer services, engineering technology, health care and transportation. The college enrolls more than 26,000 full-time students and 19,000 part-time learners annually. About Bombardier With over 68,000 employees, Bombardier is a global leader in the transportation industry, creating innovative and game-changing planes and trains. Our products and services provide world-class transportation experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Bombardier has production and engineering sites in 28 countries as well as a broad portfolio of products and services for the business aviation, commercial aviation and rail transportation markets. Bombardier shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Bombardier posted revenues of $16.2 billion US. The company is recognized on the 2019 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World Index. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier . Bombardier, CRJ200 and Global 7500 are registered or unregistered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. For Information Jessica McDonald Advisor, Media Relations and Public Affairs, Bombardier Inc. +514 861 9481, ext. 12009 Jessica.McDonald@bombardier.com The MEKs Resistance Units in Iran have increasingly proved that they are the key element in the regional and international balance of power. The continuation of the uprising to a new quality in January and the burning of the images of Qassem Suleimani, the eliminated Quds force commander, also affected the regimes international blackmail and deals and accelerated the upcoming events. The trigger mechanism and Europes departure from the policy of appeasement The three main European countries activated the trigger mechanism in response to Tehrans fifth step in reducing its commitments to the 2015 international nuclear deal known as the JCPOA. Europes distance from the regimes appeasement and its approach to American politics show itself in the sharp remarks of the British government and the Prime Minister. If were going to get rid of it, lets replace it and lets replace it with the Trump deal, Boris Johnson said. A threat without backing The regime that is drowning in the swamp of domestic and international self-made crises and the incomplete stalemate has no other option but a hollow bluff. The regimes foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, announced on 20 January in a propaganda campaign for domestic consumption that if the European countries send the regimes case to the UN Security Council, the regime will withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Irans President Hassan Rouhani, in response to the harsh words of the French president, who said that France will not be flexible on the nuclear ambitions of the Iranian regime and insisted In the current context, France is determined that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon, jumped the gun and threatened to exit the NPT. We are not looking for nuclear weapons! Rouhani is well aware that if the trigger mechanism is used and the regimes nuclear case is referred back to the UN Security Council, all past sanctions will be automatically restored. In a scathing retreat on the covert threat to reduce the consequences of the boast, he said: You are responsible for the consequences. I reiterate here that we are not seeking nuclear weapons. We were not seeking nuclear weapons. And again, we are not looking for nuclear weapons. Even if the JCPOA also disappears, we are not looking for nuclear weapons. Regardless of whether we have good or bad relations with the IAEA, we do not seek nuclear weapons, our leadership has issued a fatwa. The regime is well aware that by losing the key element (Qassem Soleimani) to maintain its strategic depth, its blackmail language is now shortened, and every step backward will have extreme consequences for the regime. The fact is that the mullahs regime has no choice but to bluff and show empowerment in a downward spiral. Because the weakness and inability of the regime are such, that Khamenei had to come to the scene to psychologically rebuild the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and prevent them from collapsing. A state-run newspaper described the purpose of Khameneis presence in preventing the psychological downfall of the Revolutionary Guards following the death of Soleimani and wrote: The effect that the leadership had on Friday prayers ceremony was, in fact, an attempt to psychologically rebuild the society. Psychological rehabilitation was the main goal of the leadership. (Jahan Sanat, 18 January 2020) What is remarkable is the regimes fear of its own hollow bluff. For this reason, Rouhani, in fear of further international isolation, ridiculously apologizes for a nuclear bomb six times. To untighten the rope of sanctions around the neck of the regime, he added: Power comes from people. Power comes from trying for the economy. Power will come to us by interacting with the world. (Rouhani, 22 January) Playing with burnt cards! The threat of leaving the NPT to blackmail against the activation of the trigger mechanism was not taken seriously by international actors but also had negative reactions within the regime. State-run daily Asr Iran wrote: Although leaving the NPT may convey the message to the great powers joined the JCPOA that Iran can also choose the fastest ways, but on the one hand it can bring closer Europe and the US and Israel to face Iran, and on the other hand provide valued justification for the US maximum pressure on Iran. (24 January) This newspaper only wrote elsewhere: Although playing with the tactics of withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NTP) can be considered part of Irans foreign policy to gain points and prevent Irans file from returning to the UN Security Council, but playing with this card at an inappropriate time and completely direct and clear can not only burn the card itself effect but turn it against itself and create more risks and costs that challenge Iran. Analysts say the regimes blackmail and intimidation tactics have passed their time, and the international community will only tighten the blockade. HEALTH insurer Vhi is to increase its prices for the second time in less than a year. The latest move will see premiums rise by an average of 2pc from March. This March rise will cost for a family of two adults and two children renewing between 75 and 150 more a year. It comes just months after the State-owned insurer raised prices. In August it pushed up premiums by 6pc. Expand Close VHI spokesman Declan Moran / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp VHI spokesman Declan Moran The company blamed a rise in the cost of paying out on claims for the latest hike. Director of marketing and business development in Vhi Declan Moran said: Vhi exists solely to meet the healthcare needs of our customers and where we can, we give back to our customers. However, in the last year we have seen a significant increase in claims paid on behalf of our customers. In particular there has been an increase in activity in private hospitals. He said primary care claims have also increased because Vhi customers are now using their day-to-day benefits more often. In 2018, we improved primary care cover on our health insurance plans and customers are now getting more value back from their health insurance, Mr Moran said. The latest rises will see the popular One Plan Family rise in price for a family by 74 from March. This is on top of the August rise. The Health Plus Access plan, which used to be called Plan B, will rise in price by 3pc. This will mean that a retired couple on this plan will face an extra 135 in premium payments due to the March rise. Independent health insurance expert Dermot Goode said those with Vhi cover where being hit with a double whammy due the latest rises and the ones in August. And Mr Goode, of TotalHealthCover.ie, predicted more price rises to come. Irish Life has announced three premium rate rises in the 12 months, with the latest taking effect on January 1. There have been two Laya increase. The Investment Nanny operation project will be based on the investment managers of the government organization UkraineInvest, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Tymofiy Mylovanov has said. "Operationally, this will be decided on the basis of UkraineInvest, there are investment managers there, over the past 12 months they have attracted 2.6 billion deals, and most of the "green energy deals" passed through UkraineInvest. This is an organization that is a fully state-owned investment promotion agency. The Investment Nanny project will also work on its basis," Mylovanov said on the air of the Freedom of Speech (Svoboda Slova) program on ICTV. According to him, a lot of investment managers are already working at the UkraineInvest agency, but their number needs to be increased. The minister also added that within a few weeks the bill on "Investment Nannies" will be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for consideration, and then sent to the Verkhovna Rada. "Fortunately or unfortunately, the Ministry of Economy has to prepare and is preparing this bill. The prime minister set clear deadlines when this bill should be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers and after that it, of course, will go to the Verkhovna Rada. This should take place next Wednesday, but in fact, I think it will take several weeks, because we need to work out all the points," he added. COLUMBUS, Ind., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Herman & Kittle Properties, Inc. is proud to announce the opening of Ashford Park Apartments, a brand new apartment development in downtown Columbus, Indiana. Ashford Park is currently taking applications for its 209 apartment homes. Ashford Park Apartments | Apartments in Columbus, IN | New Apartments in Columbus Indiana | Exterior Ashford Park Apartments | Apartments in Columbus, IN | New Apartments in Columbus Indiana | Interior Ashford Park is a new development conveniently located in downtown Columbus just north of 10th Street. Its 209 apartments feature one-bedroom apartments at 705 square feet, two-bedroom apartments at 1,020 square feet, and three-bedroom apartments at 1,334 square feet. Both the two- and three-bedroom apartments feature two bathrooms, and they offer spacious walk-in closets in addition to new appliances and a patio or balcony. The entire project was completed in 2019 and offers both market rate and affordable apartments. It's location is conveniently near the public bus routes offered by Columbus Transit and is just a few blocks north of the Columbus Cummins Engine Plant. This offers convenience to both work and leisure opportunities for residents. In terms of nearby opportunities for shopping and dining, Fair Oaks Mall is located nearby with dozens of retails options. The property is also located near Central Middle School and Columbus North High School. Ashford Park offers a wealth of amenities such as two fitness centers, an on-site library, a fully equipped business center, theater, billiard/game room, pet spa, car wash station and a baja shelf pool. Residents can also enjoy a wealth of opportunities for recreation in the community, as Columbus is well known for its modern architecture and public art. In 2004 it was named as one of "The Ten Most Playful Towns" by Nick Jr. Family Magazine. Columbus, Indiana is a growing city of just over 47,000 residents and is located in southern Indiana near one of the state's most popular state parks. Brown County State Park, located just 22 miles west of the city, offers natural beauty and a wide variety of outdoor recreational activities. Columbus is a city known for its modern architecture and public art. J. Irwin Miller, 2nd CEO and a nephew of a co-founder of Cummins Inc., the Columbus-headquartered diesel engine manufacturer, instituted a program in which the Cummins Foundation paid the architects' fees, provided the client selected a firm from a list compiled by the foundation. The plan was initiated with public schools and was so successful that the foundation decided to offer such design support to other non-profit and civic organizations. The city also has a number of public parks available for recreational activities. The city features 23 parks with over 1,000 acres of public lands. There are also 23 miles of maintained trails within the city. The city is also located roughly one hour from Indianapolis via Interstate 65 and 45 minutes from Bloomington and Indiana University. Interstate 65 offers easy access to both Indianapolis and Louisville, and both cities offer international airports with numerous destinations worldwide each day. Residents who are interested in leasing are encouraged to visit Ashford Park's website or call (833) 776-2465 for information. The property is currently looking to fill open apartments and help new residents find themselves at home in downtown Indianapolis. Media Contact: Eric Baker [email protected] 317-428-3858 SOURCE Ashford Park Apartments Hong Kong, Jan 28 : Hong Kong will drastically reduce cross-border travel with China in a bid to contain the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus, starting with the shutdown of the two railways and denying entry to individual mainland travellers, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday. Flights from and to mainland China will be cut by half and cross-border tour buses will also be reduced, the South China Morning Post quoted Lam as saying in a press conference as she listed the containment strategy that stopped short of a total shutdown demanded by legislators from across the political spectrum. Beijing has agreed to stop issuing individual visas for travellers, who account for half of all such mainland arrivals into Hong Kong. The measures will be effective midnight on Thursday. In her second press conference on measures to cope with the infection that has claimed 106 lives in China, Lam, wearing a mask, said that the through train services between Hung Hom and Guangzhou would be suspended, while the Man Kan To and Sha Tau Kok checkpoints would also be closed. According to China's state-run Xinhua news agency, eight confirmed cases have been reported in Hong Kong, seven in Macau and five in Taiwan. As of Tuesday, there were at least 106 fatalities due to the coronavirus in China, with 4,515 confirmed cases in 30 provincial-level regions, according to the country's National Health Commission. At the moment, Tibet remains the only Chinese province that has not registered any cases. [January 28, 2020] Lightspeed Retailers Grew Over Six Times Faster Than Industry Average in Canada Global POS leader shares insights on the success of North American retailers using cloud technology in its 2019 Year in Review MONTREAL, Jan. 28, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Lightspeed POS today revealed customer growth insights from its 2019 Year in Review, highlighting that retailers in Canada powered by Lightspeed saw 10.3% growth in year-over-year gross transaction volume (GTV) for January to October 2019 compared to the same time period in 2018. In contrast, industry average retail GTV during this time grew slightly (up 1.5% year-over-year), according to Statistics Canada, supporting the direct impact of cloud-based POS on retail sales amidst shifting global trends. When data was measured against Lightspeed's North American retail customers, the results also showed significant year-over-year GTV growth for retailers powered by Lightspeed in the U.S. (13.8% in the same period), suggesting the competitive edge offered by Lightspeed extends to retailers across the border, a market with a similar fundamentals, although much greater in size. ADDITIONAL NORTH AMERICAN HIGHLIGHTS Lightspeed's 2019 Retail Year in Review reveals how small and medium-sized retailers sustained growth, with noteworthy success in the sporting goods and health and beauty verticals: Sporting goods: The average number of transactions per merchant increased by over 22% for Lightspeed sporting goods retailers in 2019, reflecting how service offerings are attracting new customers while retaining loyal ones. The average number of transactions per merchant Health and beauty: With a massive rise in beauty influencers, overall sales for Lightspeed health and beauty retailers in 2019 increased by 24%. Dax Dasilva , Founder and CEO of Lightspeed. "It also reveals the degree to which Lightspeed has become an indispensable tool for SMBs in 2019 and showcases the strong prospects for retailers' continued growth in 2020 as they remain agile and competitive in the evolving retail industry." This new data is an indicator of how Lightspeed is impacting sales for SMB retailers, helping businesses create unique customer experiences that drive brand loyalty with solutions such as Lightspeed Loyalty, Lightspeed Analytics and Lightspeed Payments. Methodology The 2019 Retail Year in Review compiled data from a sampling of over 3,000 Lightspeed retail locations in Canada from 2018 to 2019. Additional data was obtained from Statistics Canada for comparison to retailer data with the goal of understanding Lightspeed retailers' sales growth and retail analytics in 2019. ABOUT LIGHTSPEED POS INC. Lightspeed (TSX: LSPD) is a cloud-based commerce platform powering small and medium-sized businesses in over 100 countries around the world. With smart, scalable, and dependable point of sale systems, it's an all-in-one solution that helps restaurants and retailers sell across channels, manage operations, engage with consumers, accept payments, and grow their business. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Lightspeed is trusted by favourite local businesses, where the community goes to shop and dine. Lightspeed has grown to over 900 employees, with offices in Canada, USA, Europe, and Australia. For more information, please visit: www.lightspeedhq.com On social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter SOURCE Lightspeed POS Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] JEFFERSON CITY The Missouri House endorsed a plan Monday designed to stop a company from building a high-voltage electric transmission line across the northern part of the state. On a 118-42 vote, the GOP-controlled House said no to the idea of a private company being given the ability to use eminent domain to take land for the project. The Legislatures bid to stop Chicago-based Invenergy from building the Grain Belt Express now moves to the Senate for further debate. The basis for this legislation is to stop any entity from having the power of eminent domain for the purpose of constructing an above-ground power line, said Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Frankford, who sponsored the proposal. Its a misuse of eminent domain, added Rep. Jeff Shawan, R-Poplar Bluff. A conglomerate of major civil society organisations and students' bodies of Mizoram on Tuesday asked the central and state governments to expedite the process of deletion of Bru voters living in relief camps of Tripura. The NGO Coordination Committee said nine attempts had been made to repatriate the Bru tribe people from Tripura to their homeland Mizoram but most of them refused to return. Now, following the quadripartite agreement allowing the Brus to permanently settle in Tripura, "their names should be immediately deleted from Mizoram's electoral roll", the Committee secretary Prof Lalnuntluanga said in a statement. The demand came five days after Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer Ahish Kudran said names of more than 11,000 Bru community people living in relief camps will be deleted from Mizoram voters' list following the signing of the pact. The January 16 agreement signed by representatives of the Centre, the governments of Mizoram and Tripura and Bru associations allows the Bru families who are living in six camps to permanently settle in Tripura. "The action regarding deletion of names of the Bru voters will be taken probably during the next roll revision following provisions of the Representation of the People Act and taking approval from the Election Commission," the CEO had said. There were a total of 12,081 Bru voters in six relief camps in Tripura during the Lok Sabha polls in April last year. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had said it will take at least six months to resettle the 34,000 odd members of the tribal community who are living in Tripura for 23 years. The vexed Bru issue started from September, 1997, following demands of a separate autonomous district council by carving out areas of western Mizoram adjoining Bangladesh and Tripura. The situation was aggravated by the murder of a forest guard in the Dampa Tiger Reserve in western Mizoram by Bru National Liberation Front insurgents on October 21 that year. The first attempt to repatriate the Brus from Tripura was made in November 2009. The Centre, along with the governments of Tripura and Mizoram, had been trying to repatriate them to their home state over the past one decade, with little success. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Himanta Biswa Sarma A day after the Bodo pact was signed, senior Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that the Centre is willing to hold peace talks with ULFA (Independent) faction and appealed to its leader Paresh Barua to come to the negotiating table. Sarma, also the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor, told reporters here that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had clearly said on Monday that if the anti-talk ULFA(I) faction is ready for negotiations, then "the Centre is more than willing to hold dialogue with them for the sake of permanent peace in Assam and the Northeast." "A historic Accord was signed on Monday through discussions with all the factions of the NDFB. The Centre and state government want peace in the region through dialogue," Sarma said, referring to the Bodo pact. Most of the militant outfits in the northeastern states, barring some in Assam and Manipur, are holding talks but "if we want peace in the region, it should be inclusive by involving all the factions and the outfits," he said. The offer comes a few days after ULFA(I) claimed responsibility for four serial blasts in Upper Assam districts on the Republic Day. TORONTO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Happy Birthday HBC! This year Hudson's Bay Company celebrates its 350th anniversary, marking an incredible milestone in the company's rich and complex history. To commemorate the occasion and thank our customers, Hudson's Bay will mount an exciting series of celebratory events throughout the year that bring people together, spark conversation, and inspire Canadians to live a colourful life. To kick things off, Hudson's Bay is re-issuing a series of limited-edition point blanket colourways inspired by previous decades, as well as new brand collaborations that will launch on the second day of each month. "The Hudson's Bay Company story is vast and interwoven with the history of this country", says Iain Nairn, President, Hudson's Bay. "Beginning this year with the launch of our blankets - which have been an indelible part of the company for nearly its entirety - is a fitting start to our celebrations. We look forward to marking this milestone year and celebrating with Canadians across the country." The Hudson's Bay Point Blanket For nearly two and a half centuries, the Hudson's Bay Point Blanket has been an iconic product in Canada and around the world. During the 18th century, wool blankets were among the most popular trade items in the Canadian fur trade and by 1779, HBC began shipping Point Blankets to company trading posts on a regular basis to keep up with demand. The Point Blanket had many practical uses during the fur trade; fur traders, voyageurs, and Indigenous peoples regularly styled blankets into custom wrap coats, called capotes, nearly 200 years before the first commercial blanket coat was introduced by Hudson's Bay in 1922. Throughout the 20th century, HBC continued to produce and sell Hudson's Bay Point Blankets in a variety of colourways. While the Multistripe design is the most iconic colourway, this year, Hudson's Bay has rereleased a series of special, limited-edition blankets in a variety of historic colourways and patterns. The Sky Blue Hudson's Bay Point Blanket - February Originally introduced as part of the Pastel Tones colourway series of 1929, the bold hue of the Sky Blue Hudson's Bay Point Blanket fit the modern interior design schemes of the time. Its tone-on-tone bars and points have not been available for sale since the 1980s. The blanket is meant to evoke and honour Canada, from the rushing rivers to the new morning horizons. The Camel Hudson's Bay Point Blanket - March First introduced to shoppers in the 1920s, the camel colourway features a bold, classic colour and bars and points in black and indigo. Embodying the timelessness and warmth of a classic camel coat, the enduring beauty of this reissued Point Blanket reflects Hudson's Bay's role as a fashion leader in Canada. The Ice Cream Hudson's Bay Point Blanket - April A perfect colourway for embodying spring's optimism, the pastel pink, blue and green stripes against the cream field conjures up images of fresh blooming flowers. This pattern was first introduced by Hudson's Bay in 1957, coinciding with the popularization of suburban shopping malls and all of the colourful fun they promised. The 350 Commemorative Hudson's Bay Point Blanket - May The newest Point Blanket design brings to mind one of the most enduring and popular point blankets, the Oxford, which featured a single black bar on a cream field. With its four gradient grey stripes, this 350 Commemorative Hudson's Bay Point Blanket reflects today's design preferences for neutral tones, ensuring it will adapt to changing tastes for years, and generations, to come. The Gold Hudson's Bay Point Blanket - June This radiant hue was originally released as part of the pastel series of 1929, along with a pale yellow dubbed Canary. The golden yellow field with darker gold bars and points enjoyed decades of popularity. Reissued once before in the mid-1980s, it is back, bringing to mind the joy of waking up to the bright, pure sunshine of an idyllic Canadian summer day. The Scarlet Hudson's Bay Point Blanket - July The bold red blanket embodies many cherished memories for generations of customers, having been in production continuously since the 17th century. As one of the first colourways introduced by Hudson's Bay, it actually predates the MultiStripes and the selection of red and white as Canada's national colours. It can also be seen in iconic Canadian artwork depicting Hudson's Bay Company's early trade days. Unique Collaborations Over the past decade, Hudson's Bay has worked with some of the world's most coveted brands and designers on limited-edition collaborations featuring Hudson's Bay's iconic stripes. To celebrate HBC's 350th anniversary, Hudson's Bay has collaborated with brands including B Yoga, Armor-Lux and Sesame Street to create unique products suitable for stylish Canadians of all ages. New collaborations will launch every month beginning March 2020. To learn more about HBC's 350 years of history, visit hbcheritage.ca and follow @hbcheritage. About Hudson's Bay HBC, incorporated in 1670, is North America's oldest company. Hudson's Bay has grown to become Canada's most prominent department store, today operating 89 full-line locations and thebay.com. Hudson's Bay has established a reputation for quality, service, and style by offering well-edited assortments of exclusive and popular fashion, beauty, home and accessory designers and brands, as well as exclusive food concepts. It is part of the HBC brand portfolio. The signature stripes are a registered trademark of Hudson's Bay Company. For HBC 350 Media Inquiries: [email protected] SOURCE Hudson's Bay By Trend A meeting with a delegation of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) was held at the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan, Trend reports referring to the service. The CENTCOM program for the exchange of experience in combating various types of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear, was discussed at the meeting. In recent years, the White House has embarked on a rapprochement with Turkmenistan. Political consultations are held on a regular basis. Cooperation continues in such areas as the supply of agricultural machinery, the modernization of the technical fleet of civil aviation in Turkmenistan and the import of electric power equipment. The White House previously expressed its support for regional gas pipeline projects from Turkmenistan, such as TAPI and the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline through Azerbaijan and Turkey to Europe. The diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and the US were established on Feb. 19, 1992. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz [January 28, 2020] Stephen D. Steinour Elected to Battelle Board of Directors Battelle announced today that Stephen D. Steinour, Chairman, President and CEO of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated, has been elected to the Battelle Board of Directors. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005108/en/ Stephen D. Steinour (Photo: Business Wire) Steinour joined the Columbus-based Huntington in 2009 from CrossHarbor Capital Partners where he served as Managing Partner. Previously, he served as President and CEO of commercial bank holding company Citizens Financial Group, Division Executive for Fleet Financial Group, and Executive Vice President at Bank of New England. Steinour began his career as an analyst for the U.S. Treasury Department and subsequently worked for the FDIC. "Steve will bring deep financial and business expertise to the Battelle Boar," said Chairman John Welch. "As the leader of one of Central Ohio's most successful and well-respected organizations, he will bring a wealth of experience and perspective to our team." Steinour serves on the Board of Directors of L Brands, Inc., Exelon Corporation, and is a member of the Bank Policy Institute. He is a Trustee of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Steinour is a member of The Columbus Partnership and serves on its Executive Committee, is Vice Chair of the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, and Vice Chair of the Ohio Business Roundtable. He also is a board member of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. He is a former Director of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank. "I am honored to be joining the board of a world-class research organization of Battelle's stature," Steinour said. "Battelle, through its innovative work, is helping to improve lives, keep people safe and healthy, and educate the next generation of scientists. I'm proud to be a part of advancing that mission." Steinour completed the Executive Program in Leadership at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and he holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Gettysburg College. He and his wife and children reside in Columbus. "Steve is a great leader in the Columbus business community and also understands its philanthropic needs," said Battelle President and CEO Lou Von Thaer. "We look forward to his insightful contributions as we execute on our business and philanthropic missions." About Battelle Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle makes the world better by commercializing technology, giving back to our communities, and supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. For more information, visit www.battelle.org. For more information contact Katy Delaney at (614) 424-7208 or at [email protected] or contact T.R. Massey at (614) 424-5544 or at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005108/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Health officials are dealing with a suspected case of coronavirus in Ivory Coast, the countrys health ministry has announced. An unnamed student, who returned to the West African country from Beijing on Saturday, is undergoing further tests after showing flu-like symptoms. If confirmed, it will be the first case of the deadly virus in Africa. The virus, which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has spread to over 2,000 people and killed 56. The 34-year-old woman is currently in isolation, officials said. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! has teased its biggest shock yet - a double elimination on Tuesday night. Channel 10 announced the news on Instagram, with the celebrities still in the dark over who will leave the South African jungle. In a promotional image for the episode, handsome host Dr Chris Brown looks stunned about the news while co-host Julia Morris laughs. Is this I'm A Celebrity's biggest shock yet? I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! has teased its biggest shock yet - a double elimination on Tuesday night. Pictured: Ryan Gallagher 'SURPRISE! The celebs won't know what hit 'em when we drop the news of a shock double elimination,' the caption of the announcement says. 'TWO WILL LEAVE THE JUNGLE TONIGHT!' American gossip blogger Perez Hilton was evicted on Monday night. And he wasted no time in leaving the jungle in haste, saying to his camp mates: 'Adios. It was a pleasure meeting most of you. Bye-bye!' Shock and awe! Channel 10 announced the news on Instagram, with the celebrities still in the dark over who will leave the South African jungle. Pictured: Ronda Burchmore Viewers branded Perez 'rude' and 'disrespectful' in a series of Tweets soon after. 'Jeez. What a poor sport, good riddance Perez,' one wrote. 'So bloody ungrateful and disrespectful,' was another comment, as well as 'that was plain rude'. The 41-year-old gossip king told 10 Daily after his elimination on Monday, that the real reason he was quick to leave was his extreme hunger. Shocked: In a promotional image for the episode, handsome host Dr Chris Brown looks stunned about the news while co-host Julia Morris laughs 'I was melting down because my brain is thinking it's starving, and I was! I lost 10lbs in eight days,' he added. Perez had started experiencing 'headaches and nausea' from the lack of food, so he was more than happy to be voted out. The camp mates who have been evicted so far are Dilruk Jayasinha, Nikki Osborne, Billy Brownless, Erin Barnett, Tom Williams, Tanya Hennessy. I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here continues on Channel Ten, Tuesday, 7.30pm. U.S. kicks off first human trial of monoclonal antibody to prevent malaria WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 -- The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) kicked off the first human trial of a monoclonal antibody to prevent malaria. NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced Monday that the Phase 1 clinical trial testing the safety and effectiveness of the drug called CIS43LS had begun enrolling healthy adult volunteers. "If proven safe and effective in this study and in larger trials, this monoclonal antibody might be used prophylactically by tourists, medical workers or military personnel who travel to areas where malaria is common," said NIAID Director Anthony Fauci. The investigators are going to enroll up to 73 volunteers aged 18 through 50 who have never had malaria. After receiving the antibody, most of the volunteers will be exposed to malaria parasite-carrying mosquitoes under carefully controlled conditions. "In the absence of a highly effective, long-lasting vaccine, preventing malaria infections for several months with a single dose of monoclonal antibody also could be valuable in specific parts of Africa where malaria cases increase greatly during annual rainy seasons," said Fauci. When tested in two different mouse models of malaria infection, the prototype of the antibody was highly effective at preventing infection by a deadliest malaria parasite. Modifications to it yielded the antibody, which lasts longer in the blood than the original antibody, according to the investigators. In addition to acquiring data about the safety and tolerability, they will also gather data about the blood levels of this antibody that are associated with protection from malaria, which may allow investigators to determine optimum dosage levels needed to achieve clinical protection from infection. In 2018, an estimated 228 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide, causing an estimation of 405,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. A woman who was allegedly attacked during a suspected burglary was heard yelling "get out of the house now" during the violent incident in Melbourne's north-east. Police say a man known to the woman rushed to her aid and restrained the alleged attacker, who is now fighting for his life in hospital. The 61-year-old woman died at the scene. Neighbours heard yelling and screaming about 8pm on Tuesday night before a man emerged from the Heidelberg West house on Liberty Parade with blood on his clothes. I heard her yelling, Get out of the house now," said a nearby resident, who was outside having a cigarette at the time. The spread of the coronavirus is causing concern for members of the public and global financial markets, but health experts are keen to put the virus into context. Chinese health authorities said Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak has killed 106 people and infected 4,515. The officials also said 60 people had been discharged. While the death toll is expected to continue to rise, and the virus to spread (Germany confirmed its first case on Monday, the second European nation to do so after France) most of the cases are so far contained to China and the authorities have put in measures to try to stop the spread, including quarantining several major cities and canceling Lunar New Year's events in Beijing and elsewhere. China's reaction to the health crisis is among the reasons why we shouldn't panic about the virus, experts say. "It appears to be very well contained," Mark Parrish, regional medical director of Northern Europe at International SOS, told CNBC Tuesday. "The Chinese have done some extraordinary things, identifying the virus and its molecular structures and then instigating those quarantine measures in China where they have shut down these huge cities and stopped all movement. It's come at a really bad time of the year ... It's likely to have moved around China." "It appears though that the death rate remains at about 2% to 3%, it seems to be very well contained at the moment," he said. "Putting it into perspective, 100 deaths or so, so far, all in elderly people and those that have other co-existing diseases unfortunately. And those are the ones that are most likely to be affected by this as their respiratory systems find it difficult to deal with these things." Parrish said that the death rate was relatively low compared to other coronavirus outbreaks (there is a family of coronaviruses) outbreaks in the past, like SARS that had a 10% death rate, and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus) that has a 35% death rate. "About 25% of people who get the virus become quite sick and require hospital admission and unfortunately a small percentage don't do very well and die," Parrish told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe." "The treatment is what we call in medical terms symptomatic and supportive, so we will look after you and give you fluids but there is no cure, there's no anti-viral that's working for that. I'm sure there is work being done developing a vaccine for this," he said, although he added that that would come in time and there would be mutations of the virus. Global media organizations have fixated on whether the outbreak will be declared a "global health emergency" by the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, the WHO has the virus at a "high risk" level after admitting on Monday its error in initially stating (last week) that the global risk was "moderate." Vigilant and calm Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the WHO, told CNBC Tuesday that the assessment was done by a group of independent experts and that the situation would be re-evaluated "very soon." He said there was definitely a crisis in China "but declaring this a public health emergency of international concern is another step. It means that internationally this is spreading and is transmitting from human to human internationally. "So not only a traveler carrying it from China into another country and it being contained there, but it spreading onward from there and this is something we've not yet seen, let's be very clear about this," he said. On Saturday morning, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone argued that the House impeachment case against Donald Trump had fallen apart because managers couldnt produce anyone with firsthand knowledge of the president withholding aid to Ukraine in exchange for that countrys help in flinging political mud. An hour later, Trump attorney Michael Purpura declared that not a single witness testified that the president himself said that there was any connection between any investigations and security assistance, a presidential meeting, or anything else. The following morning, Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Trumps head cheerleader on House Judiciary, crowed on Fox News that there was no firsthand witnesses that actually said the president did anything wrong. And then, as subtle as a blowtorch, John Bolton crashed the party. Almost on cue, the former National Security Adviser jumped into the impeachment melodrama with both feet Sunday, when a manuscript leak of his forthcoming book disclosed how Trump told him directly last August that he wanted to continue to freeze $391 million in military aid to Ukraine until our war-torn ally announced it was launching an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden. Just to recap: The primary defense from the presidents legal team against the charge that he abused his office almost lasted an entire weekend. Almost. The New York Times account also noted that Trump resisted release of the aid nearly a dozen times despite being pressed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who would also be illuminating impeachment witnesses. Bolton, regardless of his uber-hawkish countenance and affinity for war and torture, is a serious Republican hero, and testifying before the Senate would be a John Dean moment. He wants to testify, which means that Senators have an opportunity to hear Trumps chief foreign policy adviser obliterate the core Trump defense that there was no explicit quid pro quo when Trump withheld aid or no first-hand evidence of personal involvement. It would only take four Republicans to summon witnesses, and at least one Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) predicts that it is increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton." Only Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a human weather vane, had agreed as of Monday evening. The balance of GOP reactions, predictably, resides somewhere on the dingbat spectrum Bolton is disgruntled, hes trying to sell books, the House should have called him to testify, this doesnt change anything, and deposing witnesses takes too long and that the Senate must return to its urgent work of blocking House legislation. They are now in a box. They can vote to compel Boltons testimony, or play duck-and-cover after Boltons book comes out in March. We have a witness with firsthand evidence of the presidents actions for which he is on trial, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said. Anyone who says the House case lacks eyewitnesses and then votes to prevent eyewitnesses from testifying is talking out of both sides of their mouth. I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. With that being said, the... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2020 For his part, Trump tweeted: I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens....If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. That is easily settled just put Bolton under oath. Maybe Trumps dream comes true: Bolton could recant or perjure himself. Or maybe Bolton just repeats the story told by his Russian expert at the NSC, Fiona Hill, only this time wed hear it from that firsthand witness that everyone seems so eager to hear from. That doesnt mean that the McConnell wing of the Senate, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trump Inc., will come around. But it only takes 51 votes to change the narrative, which seemed scripted and tilted even after the managers expertly laid out the case for impeachment Friday. And the potential peril for those who want to silence Bolton suddenly looms larger. Panasonic India announced the launch of its two education-based solutions: CareerEx and XcelIT. CareerEx has been designed to address the needs of college and university students to advance their skillset with emerging technologies such Data Science, Cloud Computing, Machine Learning/AI and Internet of Things to name a few. XcelIT, on the other hand, is designed for school students primarily residing in Tier II & III cities, to ready them for all competitive exams. Centre for Monitoring Indian Economys (CMIE) recent data further validates that the unemployment rate in the urban youth is very high; in the age group of 20-24 years, an unemployment rate of 37 percent was reported whilst graduates amongst them reported an alarmingly higher unemployment rate of over 60 percent. Keeping that in mind these educational solutions have been designed and developed at Panasonics India Innovation Centre (IIC). These solutions have been developed for the students, colleges and universities, to bridge the existing skill gap between current education and employment needs for the future. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Atsushi Motoya, Head Panasonic India Innovation Centre said, We are committed towards contributing to the evolution of the communities we operate in. In India, we have already introduced innovative solutions in health care, retail, enterprise and asset tracking across industries. Through the launch of CareerEx and XcelIT, we hope to develop another innovative Edu-tech solution to upskill technology talent pool to address the unemployment rate amongst urban youth and at the same time cater to the demands of industry. We are looking to positively impact nearly 100,000 students over next 5 years. Mr Pankaj Rana, Business Chief, Sanyo and ecommerce, Panasonic India said, India is rapidly moving towards becoming a digitally advanced country and we are witnessing a significant change in the way businesses are transforming. Bridging the required skill gap and building a future workforce ready for the next phase of technology disruption, is the need of the hour. With this objective, we at Panasonic are focusing on the grassroots level and we will continue working with student communities across India to keep them informed of the emerging technologies, enhance skill-sets and provide career guidance. Panasonics educational solutions CareerEx and XcelIT are available on both Android and iOS application stores. Priced competitively, depending on the type of program, CareerX courses start at Rs 9999 per month onwards while, XcelIT starts at Rs 999 per month however, students can avail individual tests at Rs 99 too. Panasonic has collaborated with specialised educational partners to provide expertise for this program. While students can look at increasing their employability, educational institutions can enable students with on-demand job skills and thus, improve their rankings and the industry can save on fresher recruitment and training costs. What you need to know for Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Subscribe to get this free newsletter, Good Morning, Pennsylvania, delivered to your email inbox at 6 a.m. weekdays. Weather High: 43, low: 28. Mostly cloudy. Photo of the Day The 15th Annual Capital Area Polar Plunge hosted by Special Olympics PA Area M featured more than 300 brave souls who jumped into the freezing lake at Gifford Pinchot State Park Jan. 24, 2020. Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com Hello and goodbye Retailers closing stores: The retail apocalypse has been going on for several years and unfortunately it wont stop in 2020 as more stores are expected to close. Full coverage. Local meteorologist leaving station: WGALs Matt Moore announced he is leaving the Lancaster station following this week. Read more. Heavy metal band coming to Hershey: Disturbed is coming back to Hershey this summer for another concert, and is bringing bands Staind and Bad Wolves with it. Read more. Todays talkers Pence coming to central Pa.: Vice President Mike Pence will be visiting Cumberland County next week. Hell be joined by Trump administration spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Read more. Silent Sweethearts: Those favorite Valentines Day candies are back, but they dont have much to say. One study found that 65 percent are blank and have no sappy love phrase. Read more. Soldiers surprise: For the last 10 months, Alexander Knell, a lieutenant with the U.S. Army National Guard, had been deployed in Poland. On Monday, he returned home to surprise his girlfriend, a Harrisburg teacher, in front of her class. Read more. In brief Police officer sentenced for extreme abuse of dog | Fire caused by smoking kills woman | Penn States key dates | Pa.'s top 2023 football prospects | Local student could name Mars rover | Suspicious death at gas leak | Mr. Peanuts death put on hold The investment case for oil companies has been under attack recently. Climate change activists know that the dividends paid by the largest of these companies are among the most lucrative and stable over time, of any payers in the marketplace today. Further, they know these attacks will receive wide coverage precisely because of the criticality of the dividend stability to these companies stock price. Its a two-fer for these folks. The only thing isit isnt true. Dividends are the principle reason to own the shares of the major oil companies. The dividend payouts these days are yielding 4-7 percent, thanks to the depressed equity valuations of the oil majors. As you will note, this is well above most other options, like U.S. 10-year treasury notes as an example. Any threat to the dividend will absolutely bring a dog diving under the bed in a thunderstorm response from the typical investor. They will push the sell button lickety-split. And, of course, thats just the response hoped for. Smart investors in these companies will pause just a moment for a second opinion. Perhaps one with some facts behind it, like you will read in this article. Source "Sustainable" forms of energy are all the rage these days. You cant watch a money show without hearing from the bloviator de jour about how Green Energy will replace traditional hydrocarbon sources in about ten-years or so. Among these worthies are the CEOs of major institutional holders, like Blackrock or Norways Sovereign Wealth Fund and other large banking and fund management companies. These leaders will freely admit they are moving toward divestiture due to the political narratives regarding climate change, stating it as a fact. The truth is they have no rational basis, but are rather yielding to the out-spoken minority stake-holders, who are demanding action on their part to divest dirty energy sources. As noted above in this article, we will take a closer look at the investbility of some of the biggest dividend payers on the planet. In doing this we will look past the splashy headlines that the CEOs of these companies garner in watering-holes like Davos. Get ready for some real analysis, and prepare to sleep well at night knowing your retirement portfolio will be there when you need it. Climate change propaganda and misinformation The stimulus for this article was an article I chanced on by a climate change crisis group called the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, or IEEFA. A little research finds this is an organization that takes its mission as: The Institutes mission is to accelerate the transition to a diverse, sustainable and profitable energy economy. Hmmm, what the heck are they talking about, you may wonder? One thing is for sure they have an agenda against the petroleum industry, making their conclusions suspicious to this reader. Now, let's understand information can be completely accurate and still be misleading. I haven't gone back and fact-checked any of the information linked from this IEEFA article. Instead, I did my own investigation using company documents to see if I could justify my faith in the companies whose viability was being questioned. My results will be revealed in the next section of this article. Like most investigations that start with an agenda, the IEEFA article contains a grain of truth. This "grain" helps to anchor the disinformation that follows. To wit: many oil companies have outspent cash flows maintaining dividends over the time period measured. Source IEEFA course provides no context here, just raw data. This can be misleading. In the discussion that follows, we will provide some context to help evaluate the concerns that we really have. Related: Oil Bears Are Back As Demand Fears Go Viral What is the trend for the future? Are our investments safe, as safe as any stock investment can be, and are the dividends many of us rely upon to maintain our retired standard of living, likely to continue? That's what I want to know, and I expect if you are reading this article, you do as well. Reasons why super major stocks will remain investible Let me offer the following points that should give you more confidence in the ability of these companies to continue earning your trust and your capital on into the future. Dividend Payout Patios (Net income/dividend) Ratios below 1:1 are considered "safe, classically, but safe is a relative term. Over the past five years all of these companies with the exception of Total (NYSE:TOT) bonds sales have been the way they covered the dividend. Currently, they are in the range of or slightly above historical sub 1:1 levels. The context lacking in the IEEFA article, denoted by the hump in the middle of the chart above, represents the full impact of the "lower for longer" oil price. The impact of these lower price realizations, and the fact that these companies were also slow to whittle down their capex budgets, meant that the dividend was being supported by borrowing. So what is the truth, if that IEEFA article is so offbase? What are these companies telling us about coverage projections going forward? Let's look at a few cash flow projections from this cohort. Based on a Brent price of $60, Shell, (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) projects free cash flows to rise from around $28 bn in 2020 to about $35 bn by 2025. With current obligations of about $16 bn for dividends, that leaves an increasingly fat amount for stock repurchases. Dividend coverage should improve consistently over this time and shareholders should lose no sleep. The check will be in the mail. ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) recently has struggled to maintain a sub-1:1 cash flow to dividend ratio as my chart above shows. Currently, it is well above that and the current 5.15 percent yield notes the markets dissatisfaction with that situation. That will change and soon. With the Liza field coming on line and with break-even costs in the $30/bbl range, as much $5 bn of free cash could be generated from that project alone. XOM is on track to produce a million barrels a day from the Permian by 2025 with BE costs as low as $20/bbl. Bank America Merrill Lynch recently put out a bullish call on XOM with a price target based on increasing cash flow from these projects of $100/share. Chevron (NYSE:CVX) is a dividend champion that has been increasing its dividend in recent years and lowering capex resulting in its current 0.53 coverage ratio. Market sages will tell you that the safest dividend is one that's just been raised. CVX consistently ranks as one of the best-managed companies and has a project portfolio that will keep profits gushing in years to come. It grew cash flow by 50 percent YoY in 2018, and current management's fiscal discipline should maintain that trend over the next few years. It currently covers capex and dividends with a $52 oil price, and has been buying back stock currently at a clip of $4 bn per annum. This has turned into a long article so I will skip the same type of analysis for (NYSE:BP) and (NYSE:TOT) in terms of project portfolios and capex restraint. All of these companies have redesigned their upstream projects to be cash flow positive with oil prices much lower than they are now. In this core group of Super Major energy companies, investors should sleep well at night. Stock buybacks. These companies are all buying back billions of dollars of their common stock every year. This decreases the total dividend payout, and makes the dividend safer for each remaining share of stock. In the past year, Shell has bought back about $12 bn worth of its stock, on a 2018 commitment of $25 bn by 2020. Shell recently announced that weaker than expected oil prices might drag this out a bit. That knocked the stock price down a bit, which I saw as a buying opportunity. Shell will buy another ~$3 bn in Q-1 of 2020. Do investors care if this happens by the end of 2020 or takes a quarter or two more? They shouldnt. On the plus side, oil prices might rise more than anticipated and share repurchases could be accelerated. As you may have noted things can change rapidly in the oil market. Debt reduction. This is a priority for all of these companies and is being funded through free cash and assets sales with the proceeds going to debt reduction. Portfolio "high grading" is underway. It's not perfect and sometimes it one step back for every two steps forward. Picking on Shell once again, the official target for debt to capital is 25 percent. Moving toward that goal for most of 2018, the company has taken a stutter-step higher to the 28 percent range. Part of this was due to lease costs hitting the balance sheet in late 2018. There can be no doubt that lower than anticipated oil prices has slowed this process. Source Shell management reminds us of this regularly during the analyst calls. What matters to us is that they consider it a matter of the utmost priority. Ben Van Beurden comments in response to an analyst's question regarding the timing of stock buybacks and debt reduction: So, very clearly, we are still completely intent on buying back $25 billion of shares and we are also completely committed to strengthening the balance sheet by bringing debt down. Diversifying the product mix to include "Green Energy."Green energy or sustainable energy sources is the path to the future, or so we are repeatedly told. It is only prudent for the big oil companies to seed research and startup companies in this area. So far, none of these efforts have reached the level where they are accounted for separately on the balance sheet however, with the notable exception of LNG. Whether it's biodiesel in Brazil, or electrical charging stations in the UK, or wind farms in the Permian, or LNG, efforts are being put forth by them all. Whether any of these can turn a profit down the road remains to be seen. For now, it is enough that the exercise is underway, as it raises their ESG profile. Investing in new technologies. These companies all have and are developing more AI expertise with big data. The Shells and BPs of the world all generate huge amounts of data every day. Terabytes upon terabytes of it daily. Historically, the resources to manage this information efficiently just did not exist. Now it does these companies are moving rapidly to integrate and perhaps monetize this technology. AI can help find those cost reductions by tackling a range of problems. Its deployment in upstream operations could yield collective savings in capital and operating expenditures of $100 billion to $1 trillion by 2025, according to a 2018 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Most companies declined to discuss their exact spending on AI. As these resources are deployed in remote locations or refineries, costs will come down as the article quoted above notes. Risks Oil prices carry the key risk to dividend sustainability over the near and medium term. As we've seen in a plus-$50 environment they can all make money and cover their dividends. Source West Texas Intermediate- WTI, has fluctuated wildly in price over the last 10 years. For the last four however, it has been above $50 except for a couple of very brief periods. Im ok with economics built on $50 oil. Environmental and Social Governance-ESG, risk must now be built in to the risk profile in owning these stocks. It can be thought of as replacing the old exploration risk that modern technology has reduced dramatically. When I entered the oilfield 40+ years ago, dry holes- ones with no hydrocarbon shows, ran as high as 85 percent of the exploration wells drilled. Today that ratio has more than flipped with dry holes being a rarity. Just what is the extent of this risk? Related: Libya Oil Output Plummets To 280,000 Bpd No one really knows for sure. That said, a measure of comfort can be taken in the broad ownership of legacy oil stocks. For example, have a look at the top ten institutional holders of ExxonMobil below. Source Your takeaway These are the companies that hold the trillions of retirement dollars from 401Ks and Roth IRAs. They are invested in the big oil companies for yield, stability, and to an extent growth. I don't mind keeping company with the tens of thousands institutional holders of XOM and the other companies we've been discussing. The key takeaways for you as an investor in the big oil company dividend payers is that they are all on track to deliver the cash flow that underpins the dividends they are committed to pay. As investors, there is no doubt we need to keep an eye on this ESG divestiture movement. For the short term it represents little threat to the value of our investments. It is worth noting however, the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth fund has endorsed companies like Shell and BP expressly. In a recent Financial Times article Norway's Finance Minister, Siv Jensen commented that: Ms Jensen said the largest oil and gas majors were given a reprieve because Norway believed such groups were in all likelihood the ones that would make the main investments in renewable energy in the future. You have a responsibility here as well. That is the task of vetting what you read and take stock in. Ask yourself as read if there is an under-lying agenda that is masked behind the seemingly objective and forthright information being presented? Weve shown here that information presented this way can be completely factual and still be misleading. Potentially with portfolio damaging consequences if acted upon. Caveat emptor! Protect your wealth! By David Messler for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Kolkata, Jan 29 : Peeved at medical students protesting against him, a West Bengal minister - himself a doctor - on Tuesday used a popular Hindi proverb to dub them "dogs", triggering howls of protest from the students. Nirmal Maji, Minister of State for labour and West Bengal Medical Council President, faced "go back" slogans and was shown black flags by the students when he entered the venue of the 186th Foundation Day programme of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. Calling him "controversial", the protestors - mainly comprising leftist students of the medical college - claimed he had come "uninvited". "We don't recognise him. We don't want him here. He is no more connected in any way to the institution. He is unwelcome. Nobody invited him," said one of the protesting students. An angry Maji, chairman of the Patients' Welfare Committee of the hospital, however, eluded the protesters, and mounted the dais. As he started delivering his speech, the student protest intensified, and then Maji cited the Hindi proverb "Hathi chale bazaar, kutte bhonke hazaar" (an elephant walks on without heeding barks of dogs behind him). The students protest turned raucous and the slogan-shouting increased. "He always makes cheap comments about everybody, including us. We don't want to stoop to his level," said a protester. Power Minister Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay, another invitee at the programme, said: "Students make mistakes. They have the right to make blunders. But as elders, we should forgive them." BEIRUT The Islamic State groups self-styled caliphate across parts of Iraq and Syria seemed largely defeated last year, with the loss of its territory, the killing of its founder in a U.S. raid and an unprecedented crackdown on its social media propaganda machine. But tensions between the United States and Iran and the resulting clash over the U.S. military presence in the region provide a comeback opportunity for the extremist group, whose remnants have been gradually building up a guerrilla campaign over the past year, experts say. American troops in Iraq had to pause their operations against IS for nearly two weeks amid the tensions. From the other side, Iranian-backed Iraqi militiamen who once focused on fighting the militants have turned their attention to evicting U.S. troops from the Middle East. In the meantime, Islamic State group sleeper cells intensified ambushes in Iraq and Syria in the past few weeks, killing and wounding dozens of their opponents in both countries. Activists and residents say the attacks have intensified since the U.S. killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a Jan. 3 drone strike at Baghdads airport. It is not clear whether the uptick is related to the repercussions that followed from the strike, and it is possible some of the attacks had been planned before Soleimanis killing. U.S. officials deny seeing any particular increase in IS activities. They havent taken advantage of it, as far as we can see, said James Jeffrey, the State Department envoy to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State. Mervan Qamishlo, a spokesman for Syrias U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force, said the intensification of IS attacks began even earlier, since October, when Turkey began a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Still, the militants clearly gained at least temporary breathing room as the killing of Soleimani, along with a senior Iraqi militia leader, brought Iran and the U.S. to the brink of all-out war and outraged Iraqis, who considered the strike a flagrant breach of sovereignty. On Jan. 5, Iraqs parliament called for the expulsion of the 5,200 U.S. troops from the country who have been there since 2014 on a mission to train Iraqi forces and assist in the fight against IS. The U.S.-led coalition then put the fight against IS on hold to focus on protecting its troops and bases. It said last week that it had resumed those operations after a 10-day halt. This tension will for sure help Daesh, as all forces fighting it become busy with other matters, warned Abdullah Suleiman Ali, a Syrian researcher who focuses on jihadi groups, using the Arabic acronym for IS. Among other things, he said Iran-U.S. tensions help give IS the opportunity to restructure as its new leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, strengthens his grip. Al-Qurayshi was announced in the post after longtime leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by a U.S. raid in Syria in October. The day the American-Iranian clash began, Daesh started intensifying its attacks, said Rami Aburrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor. On Jan. 14, IS launched a cross border attack from Syria into Iraq, killing an Iraqi officer. A day later, IS fighters attacked an Iraqi force in the central Salaheddine region, killing two soldiers and wounding five. Two days later, an Iraqi intelligence major was killed in a car bomb north of Baghdad. One of the deadliest attacks occurred in Syria on Jan. 14, when IS fighters stole some 2,000 cattle from a village near the eastern town of Mayadeen. One of the four shepherds that own the cattle informed authorities, and a Syrian government military force was sent to the area, where they were met by IS fire. As the forces returned to their base, IS gunmen laid an ambush, killing 11 troops and pro-government fighters as well as two shepherds. IS published photos showing bodies of soldiers said to have been killed in the attack, along with a destroyed armored vehicle and an overturned truck. On the same day, seven shepherds were found shot dead west of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour. On Jan. 4, 21 shepherds were found shot in the back of their heads, their hands were tied behind their backs. Dozens of members of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian democratic Forces have been killed over the past months in attacks claimed by IS as well. With the painful strikes, IS is taking advantage to boost its influence and send a message to their supporters that they are still strong, said Omar Abu Laila, an activist from Deir el-Zour now based in Europe. Some civilians dont dare leave their homes after sunset because of fear of Daesh, Abu Laila said. The group is also trying to restore its presence on social media and the Internet a key component to its ability to raise financial support from abroad and recruit new fighters. IS members and supporters have for years sown fear and projected power with the grisly videos they released on social media showing beheadings, amputations and victims burned to death or thrown from buildings. In recent weeks, European authorities, coordinated by Europol, have shut down thousands of IS propaganda platforms and communication channels in an unprecedented crackdown. In particular, the crackdown forced ISs news agency and other channels off the Telegram text messaging system, the groups primary outlet since 2015. The Europol campaign of November had a massive impact on ISIS support networks on Telegram, said Amarnath Amarasingam, a terrorism researcher at Queens University in Ontario, Canada. Since then, the extremists have shifted to other messaging platforms including the Russia-based TamTam, Canada-based Hoop Messenger and BCM Messenger. They also tried to get back on Twitter using hacked accounts, Amarasingam said. So far, those efforts have not been very successful as international authorities work to chase them down on those outlets as well. None of this is really matching the presence they had on Telegram from 2015 onwards, Amarasingam said. The Agency for Payments and Intervention for Agriculture (APIA) has authorized the payment of over 92pct of the number of eligible farmers of the 2019 Campaign for single payment applications, with a total amount of 2.115 billion euros, informs the institution on Tuesday. According to an APIA press release issued for AGERPRES, of the total amount, approximately 1.65 billion euros come from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), 338.72 million euros from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), 67.35 million of euros from BN1 (co-financing from the National Budget), and 59.05 million euros from the National Budget.At the same time, as of January 21, 2020, the payments related to the Transitional National Aid for vegetables and animal husbandry were started, at the currency exchange rate of 4.7496 lei to one euro, established by the European Central Bank on September 30, 2019 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C329/03 of October 1, 2019.The aid granted to farmers from the national budget for crops located on arable land was set at 13.3202 euros / hectare, the total ceiling allocated to this aid - Transitional National Aid (ANT1) - being of about 93,832 million euros.The largest amount in the vegetable sector is granted to tobacco crops - ANT4 - 1,569 euros / ha, followed by hops - ANT5 - 400.26 euros / ha, sugar beet - ANT6 - 73.82 euros / ha, and to hemp crops for fiber (ANT 3) is allocated about 8.96 euros / ha.In the zootechnical sector, for ANT 8 - decoupled from production scheme, bovine species - meat sector, the amount is 69.11 euros / head, for ANT7 - decoupled production scheme, bovine species - milk sector, 17.72 euro / ton , and for ANT 9 - coupled production scheme, sheep / goat species - 4,716 euros / head.The total ceiling in the livestock sector is 162,522 million euros. AGERPRES MORE and more patients in the Philippines have been placed under investigation (PUI) for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), said the Department of Health (DOH) Tuesday, January 28, 2020. In a press briefing, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said that as of 12 p.m. Tuesday, a total of 27 PUIs have been recorded. Of the 27, three were discharged as "their laboratory results revealed other diseases," said Duque. The 24 other PUIs are as follows: * 18 NCR * 1 Western Visayas * 1 Mimaropa * 1 Eastern Visayas * 2 Central Visayas * 1 Northern Mindanao Duque said the DOH is awaiting results for 18 PUIs from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for screening, and six PUI laboratory results from the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory for confirmation. He also said that at present, there are 2,798 confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV globally. Of these cases, 37 were reported in 11 countries outside China. "The current global case fatality rate of the 2019-nCoV is 2.9 percent, with all 80 deaths recorded in China," said Duque. Reports from the Associated Press, however, revealed Tuesday that 1,771 new cases were confirmed on Monday, raising the national total to 4,515. Of the number, 976 were in serious condition. More than 45 cases have also been confirmed elsewhere in the world, and almost all involve Chinese tourists or people who visited Wuhan. Sri Lanka confirmed its first case Monday. Infections also have been confirmed in the United States, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France, Canada and Australia. With this, Duque said the World Health Organization has classified the risk level for the spread of the 2019-nCoV as very high in China, and high at the regional and global levels. "We are closely monitoring the patients under investigation," he said, but stressed that there is still no confirmed case of 2019-nCoV in the Philippines. Duque also revealed during the press briefing Tuesday that during their Inter-Agency Committee meeting, members have agreed to ensure support for overseas Filipinos in China, as well as comprehensive transport and quarantine plans for overseas Filipinos from Hubei province who wish to voluntarily return to the Philippines. Story continues The 2019-nCoV started in Wuhan in Hubei province in China and most of the cases are concentrated there. Reports said Wuhan is building two hospitals, one with 1,500 beds and another with 1,000, for the growing number of patients. The first is scheduled to be finished next week. Duque said the committee also agreed on proposing temporary restrictions on the issuance of visas for travelers from Hubei, and issuing advisories temporarily discouraging non-essential travel to China. I wish to inform our kababayans that the government will take care of you whether you choose to stay or return home. For those who choose to return, you will be taken care of in a health facility for monitoring and further medical management, he said. For Filipinos who wish to stay in China, the DOH reiterated adherence to advisories and cooperation with public health activities being done by local authorities. Duque said the DOH will ensure that all Filipinos in other countries will receive sufficient information and health support through telemedicine. I urge the public to remain vigilant. Let us continue practicing good hand hygiene, observing proper cough etiquette, maintaining distance from people manifesting flu-like symptoms, cooking food properly, and adopting healthy lifestyles, he said. The 2019-nCoV is from the coronavirus family that includes the common cold but also more severe illnesses like SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The new virus causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath and pneumonia. The virus is thought to have spread to people from wild animals sold at a market in Wuhan. On Sunday, January 26, authorities banned trade in wild animals and urged people to stop eating meat from them. (LMY/With PR/AP/SunStar Philippines) Metals continued to hammer Indian equities for the second straight session on Tuesday as investors weighed the impact of to China's and the world economy. Additionally, volatility in the indices ahead of the Union Budget for 2020-21, and disappointing December quarterly result by heavyweight invited more sellers in the than buyers. The S&P plummeted 188 points, or 0.46 per cent, to end at 40,967 level. On the NSE, the broader held the psychological mark of 12,000, and ended marginally above the level at 12,056, down 63 points, or 0.52 per cent. Heavyweight declined 4 per cent in the afternoon trade today and was the top loser after media reports suggested that the company has been blacklisted by Directorate General of Foreign Trade. Reports further said, the company has been put under 'Denied Entry List' on non-fulfilment of certain export obligations under Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme. The stock closed 4.5 per cent lower at Rs 491. So far, no clarification has been issued by the company. That apart, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, and were the other top laggards at the 30-share index. on Tuesday posted 4.1 per cent year-on-year gain in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,587 crore for the December quarter on account of cost reduction efforts, lower operating expenses, lower commodity prices and reduction in the corporate tax rate. The numbers, however, missed Street estimates. Analysts at ICICI Securities, for instance, had pegged Maruti's Q3 profit after tax at Rs 2,047 crore. The stock slipped 2 per cent after the results and ended at a 1-month low of Rs 6,997. On the upside, United Spirits jumped 15 per cent on the in the intra-day trade today after the company's net profit rose 15.3 per cent YoY to Rs 235.30 crore in Q3 FY20. The profit was led largely by sharp growth in sales of Prestige and Above portfolio. The company posted its biggest single-day gain in 27 months and settled 14 per cent higher at Rs 656. Overall, Nifty Metal index was the top drag on the NSE, down over 2 per cent at close. In the broader markets, weakness was witnessed in the mid-caps, while small-caps continued to fare better than the benchmarks. The S&P mid-cap index ended 0.50 per cent lower at 15,680 level, while the S&P BSE small-cap was at 14,827, down 0.16 per cent. Major corporate development: Media reports suggest that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the billionaire stock market investor, is under Sebi's scanner for insider trading in education firm Jhunjunwala and his wife own 24.24 per cent stake in the company. Consequently, shares of the education firm plunged 8 per cent in the intra-day trade, before settling 6.6 per cent lower at Rs 162 apiece. is also investigating the role his brother Rajeshkumar Jhunjhunwala, as well as some board members, including investor Ramesh Damani and director Madhu Jayakumar, reports said. So far, has not issued any statement regarding the case. Here is how global performed today: Asian stocks battered on Tuesday as the death toll from in China climbed, leaving investors fretting over the widening economic fallout from the outbreak. MSCIs broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slumped 0.8 per cent. Japans closed 0.6 per cent lower, while Australian shares ended 1.3 per cent down. South Koreas Kospi index skidded 3 per cent. In the commodities market, Brent Crude Futures were at $58.07 per barrel-mark, down 0.87 per cent. Chhattisgarh Elections: Over 60 per cent voting recorded in 15 urban bodies polls; counting on Dec 23 Chhattisgarh Gram Panchayat Elections 2020: First phase of polling underway; counting after 3 pm India oi-Madhuri Adnal Bilaspur, Jan 28: The first phase of polling for the three-tier Chhattisgarh gram panchayat elections 2020 is currently underway in 57 development blocks, housing a total of 4,847 gram panchayats. The counting of votes is expected to begin after 3 pm. State Election Commissioner Thakur Ram Singh has asked voters to reach out to the maximum number of polling stations and vote. In the first phase, 61,74,224 voters from 4,847 gram panchayats across 57 development blocks of the Bastar will exercise their franchise. These include 30 lakh 85 thousand 320 male voters, 30 lakh 88 thousand 835 female voters and 69 voters of the third gender. Chhattisgarh: Light-emitting drone-like object spotted over CRPF camp in Sukma The fate of 1,16,776 candidates will be decided in the upcoming election. 12,572 polling stations have been set up for the first phase of polling. For this, 80 thousand polling personnel and 976 sector officers have been put in place. All polling parties have been dispatched with polling materials. In the first phase, votes will be cast for 42,404 posts. These include 36, 473 posts for Panch, 4,620 posts of sarpanch, 1,144 posts of Janpad panchayat member and 167 posts of zilla panchayat member. According to the officials of the state election commission, the Panchayat elections in Chhattisgarh are to be held in three phases. Voting will be held on January 28, January 31 and February 3. Counting will take place an hour after the vote. Polling in naxal-affected areas will be held from 6.45 to 2 pm. In the rest parts of the state, voting will be held from 7 am to 3 pm. Voting in the panchayat elections will be held on ballot paper. Chhattisgarh govt moves SC seeking to declare NIA Act unconstitutional, arbitrary In the last two major elections, Chhattisgarh has thrown up extreme results. In the 2018 assembly polls, a landslide victory was registered by the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress. Barely five months after the Raman Singh-led 15-year-old BJP dispensation was uprooted, the saffron party ended up winning 9 out of the 10 parliamentary seats in the general elections. Faced with a mounting labor shortage and high employee turnover, restaurant chains have earned plaudits for offering incentives to workers to stay in the job longer tuition payments, bonuses, even a four-day workweek. But the shortage of workers also appears to have had a darker effect: a steady drumbeat of labor violations by operators who have cut corners to keep their restaurants fully staffed. In the latest example, Chipotle Mexican Grill was fined nearly $1.4 million on Monday over accusations that it routinely violated Massachusetts child labor laws, with the authorities estimating more than 13,000 violations from 2015 to 2019, the Massachusetts attorney generals office said. The authorities examined the records of six Chipotle locations across the state, finding that the chain regularly let dozens of 16- and 17-year-old employees work more than nine hours per day and more than 48 hours per week, in violation of state law, according to the Massachusetts attorney general. The authorities then used those findings to estimate that Chipotle had violated child labor laws 13,253 times across 50 locations in the state. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 23:26:08|Editor: yan Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said it is cooperating with the Chinese equivalent to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in Africa after a suspected case surfaced in Cote d'Ivoire. Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong told the press at the African Union (AU) headquarters here that his agency has been working with different parties, including the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, on the outbreak of the coronavirus, which began in China. The director said that the AU incident management system has been activated to control the spread on the African continent. Speaking of the suspected case in Cote d'Ivoire, the first possible case of coronavirus on the continent, Nkengasong said the Africa CDC is communicating with authorities of the country. "We are in touch with the authorities of Cote d'Ivoire directly by phone; and they assured us that once the case is definitely resolved, they will notify us officially," he said. "There will continue to be rumors about suspected cases because ... the initial symptoms that people who manifest will be very similar to those of a common cold, which is fever, coughing ... we have to be patient," he added. Reiterating that the virus is challenging and spreading rapidly, the director hailed the measures taken by the Chinese government in dealing with the situation. "The cooperation between China CDC and Africa CDC is good, strong, especially during this outbreak; we continue to get updates from China CDC colleagues who are working with us, right here in Addis Ababa on the situation," said the director. "For Africa this is uniquely important, because the relationship between China and Africa has evolved tremendously over the last 20 years," he said. "And the number of people travelling between China and Africa has really massively increased." "We in Africa are watching the situation very, very closely and also preparing ourselves to deal with any eventual outbreak or cases on the continent," he added. The Africa CDC has published a weekly brief on the outbreak and engaged the public health authorities in AU member states to improve airport screening, laboratory support and medical treatment, he said. In partnership with the Institute Pasteur Senegal, a non-profit foundation dedicated to the study of diseases and vaccines, the Africa CDC will hold a training for its 15 member states next week and maintain communications with the World Health Organization and other relevant bodies. New York City council members voted in favor of a bill Thursday that will prohibit businesses from only accepting credit cards for payment. Bill sponsor, Ritchie Torress is concerned that not giving customers the option to pay with cash is discriminatory against those who arent able to get credit. On the other hand, some are thinking about what the ban will mean for the business owners. One argument against the ban is that merchants who currently dont handle cash have decided for deliberate reasons such as minimizing employee theft or protecting the business from robbery. Data engineer Tory Ragsdale, told NTD, Merchants who are currently cashless and now are being forced to have to handle cash and manage a till. Its just creating other monitoring needs and other management needs and other issues for merchants to now have to evolve. Councilmember, Kalman Yeger, who is against the bill, is concerned about giving businesses the freedom to operate how theyd like. He says the bill, in his words, is overreaching. Philadelphia was first to ban cashless stores in March last year. New Jersey and San Francisco followed the trend shortly afterward. Mulberry and Vine are one of the businesses that have a card only payment policy, and consumers have mixed opinions on their business model. Aside from the argument that not accepting cash is discriminatory, some even find cashless stores to be cumbersome. One waitress, Carolyn Diana, said, I would like it more if places that didnt accept cash, started accepting cash because it is hard working a job with only cash tips and I cant use them in certain restaurants. Mayor Bill de Blasios spokesperson told the New York Times he is supportive of the bills intent, but his administration still plans to review it before signing into law. Now, other cities like Washington and Chicago are considering this ban. A European green deal and a European climate law will be part of Romania's to do list moving forward, and achieving new goals of the European Union, as established under this package of measures, entails major changes for Romania that deals with the environment, climate change, energy, industry, transport, agriculture, digitisation and the financial sector, Romanian senior official with the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forestry Iulian Octavian Stana said in Brussels on Tuesday. According to a press statement released by the ministry, Stana and a delegation from Romania attended a high-level public conference on the implementation of the European Green Deal Pact and the European Law on Climate in Brussels on Tuesday that focused on how the European Union will implement its European Green Deal.Politicians, NGO leaders, business leaders and civil society representatives discussed the benefits of the transition to a green economy and net-zero emissions by 2050, as well as how to achieve this ambitious goal.To Romania, the package will be an opportunity for investments and economic growth that will lead to the integration with the economies of the other member states. The available instrument to be used by the member states to get on track to achieving the objectives is the Just Transition Mechanism.Policies implemented in all areas will contribute to carbon neutrality through a socially just transition. The way to attract investments to finance the transition and to gain the trust of the citizens for their active participation in this process are essential."The European Green Deal and the European Climate Law will be part of Romania's to do list for the years to come. To Romania, achieving the new goals of the European Union, as established under this package of measures, entails major changes for Romania that deals with the environment, climate change, energy, industry, transport, agriculture, digitisation and the financial sector. Romania supports the EU's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, but at the same time we must attach special attention to the social and economic costs incurred by the transitions, "said Stana.At national level, the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forestry has initiated and will continue discussions with other public entities, business operators and civil society, for the most appropriate approach of the implementation of the European Green Deal in Romania. Love Island star Connor Durman sent a string of racist messages to his ex-girlfriend, friends have claimed. Durman, 25, broke up with his former lover Stevie-Leigh Pich, 22, months before going into the villa and was coupled up with Rochelle Humes's sister Sophie Piper, 21, until he was voted off the show last night. But friends claim the coffee bean salesman bombarded Miss Pich with abusive messages, branding her a 'sl**' and a sl**'. The texts also see him describe Miss Pich sleeping with black men as a 'rank', adding 'it makes me sick', reports The Sun. Love Island star Connor Durman (left) sent a string of racist messages to his ex-girlfriend Stevie-Leigh Pich (right), friends have claimed Friends of the make-up artist told the newspaper: 'It's disgusting that he can send messages like that given who he's paired up with on the show. 'He kept telling Stevie that it made him sick that she'd seen the guy and was really nasty.' Another of the texts seen by The Sun sees the pair discussing last year's Love Island contestant Ovie Soko, 28. Mr Durman, of Brighton, then says Miss Pich 'liking black boys' is 'such a put off', the paper reports. The couple were an item for four years and lived together during their time in Sydney, Australia. She claimed to be heartbroken at seeing her ex coupled up with another woman on national TV. But the 25-year-old was accused of 'gaslighting' Miss Piper during his time in the villa. Fans of the show branded him 'possessive' and 'controlling', before he was booted out. Reports claimed he had a 'fivesome' just days before entering the ITV2 villa after he bragged about sleeping with more than 100 women. A Love Island spokesman said they were unable to comment on the claims. Seamus Mallon was a mountain of a man, whose political magnitude will only be measured by history. He had many political personae: a civil rights activist; a member of the Sunningdale power-sharing Assembly; a member of Seanad Eireann; a long time deputy leader of the SDLP; a Member of Parliament for Newry and Armagh, an MLA and finally Deputy First Minister. There is no doubt as to the outstanding role played by Seamus Mallon as the SDLP's deputy leader for many years. He made a huge impact on Irish politics throughout his 32 years of dedicated public life. Often overshadowed by that other giant of Irish politics John Hume, leader of the SDLP, Mallon was at times not given the credit that he properly deserved for transforming our politics by successfully negotiating the Good Friday Agreement, and not least becoming Deputy First Minister. As Mark Durkan, former SDLP Deputy First Minister, observed: "John Hume was the architect of the Good Friday Agreement, but Seamus Mallon was its engineer." What was extraordinary about Seamus's death last Friday was the impressive range of tributes paid to him by very many people across the political spectrum, both at home and abroad. The depth and breadth of their comments are a huge tribute to him. DUP leader and First Minister Arlene Foster, in an unusually generous and powerful tribute, said that: "He was instrumental in bringing about peace for our people and that contribution should not go unrecognised." Former US President Bill Clinton described him as a teacher in heart and practice. He and his wife Hillary described him as a hero of the peace process, never wavering from non-violence. Pat Hume, wife of John Hume, wrote that: "Seamus was fearless in his condemnation of violence regardless of its source and was a rock of integrity throughout his career which spanned some of our most difficult days." Alan McBride, of the victims organisation Wave, pointedly asserted that: "Along with John Hume he was an architect of the peace we all enjoy today. How Stormont could do with his intellect today." SDLP leader Colum Eastwood MP, on behalf of the party, declared: "Seamus Mallon's life's work carved a pathway beyond our troubled past and gave us all the opportunity to build a shared home on our island." President Michael D Higgins stated: "Few people have influenced the peace process in Northern Ireland more than Seamus Mallon, a formidable opponent and a tough negotiator in speech and act, but always honest and honourable." He was all of those things and much more, as illustrated by his varied and rich political life. For that reason it is not easy to pin him down and make a definitive assessment of his contribution as a statesman. And statesman he was. He stood up to and courageously opposed the undemocratic and disastrous violence of the Provisional IRA, who saw his democratic Irish nationalism as a threat to their own divisive ethno-nationalism. He also condemned the abuses and violations of the Army, UDR and RUC. Without fear he raised the "shoot to kill" policy of the Army and RUC and the plight of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four on the floor of the House of Commons, to the deep anger of the Tory Government. For that and other issues of injustice that he highlighted, he became a hate figure with unionism and the right wing of the Conservative Party. It was a difficult and isolated position at Westminster, but he persevered and in doing so won the respect of the House. Indeed, his skilful use of Parliament is a good example of what can be done by a dedicated MP. Last year he made his final contribution by publishing his insightful political memoir, A Shared Home Place. Just as he challenged unionism and the British Government in the past, in this book he challenged the current state of nationalist thinking and was strong in contending that a simple majority in favour of a united Ireland was an insufficient basis upon which to build a new Irish state. He believed that a bare majority for unity in a border poll would not achieve an agreed and peaceful Ireland. Knowing that his life was coming to a close, Seamus poignantly wrote that he found comfort in the Greek proverb: "A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they will never sit." Before he died, Seamus insisted that his funeral service and burial should be in the modest parish church in Mullaghbrack, Markethill, where he was brought up, taught and lived for his whole inspirational life. Truly he had a sense of home and place. Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT), which is in the chemicals business, and is based in United States, saw significant share price movement during recent months on the NYSE, rising to highs of US$50.23 and falling to the lows of US$41.30. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Cabot's current trading price of US$41.30 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Lets take a look at Cabots outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change. View our latest analysis for Cabot What is Cabot worth? Great news for investors Cabot is still trading at a fairly cheap price. My valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is $57.06, but it is currently trading at US$41.30 on the share market, meaning that there is still an opportunity to buy now. However, given that Cabots share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us another chance to buy in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility. Can we expect growth from Cabot? NYSE:CBT Past and Future Earnings, January 28th 2020 Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so lets also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to grow by 54% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Cabot. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation. What this means for you: Are you a shareholder? Since CBT is currently undervalued, it may be a great time to increase your holdings in the stock. With a positive outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current undervaluation. Story continues Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on CBT for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its buoyant future outlook isnt fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means its not too late to buy CBT. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to make a well-informed investment decision. Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters the fundamentals before you make a decision on Cabot. You can find everything you need to know about Cabot in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Cabot, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. After Maher allegedly failed several field sobriety tests and refused to submit to a chemical breath test, he became immediately aggressive as the officer attempted to place him in handcuffs, according to the report. "As other officers assisted in placing the handcuffs on, Maher continued to physically resist and pull away from officers. Maher was then taken to the ground by officers to gain control of him," the report states. Maher remained verbally abusive toward officers on scene and attempted to take off his seat belt and open the car door once at the station, records show. "Maher also began yelling that we were at someone's house and not at a police station," the officer wrote. After police received a warrant to draw his blood and determine his blood alcohol content, he was then taken to Franciscan Medical Center in Chesterton. There, Maher allegedly remained uncooperative, refusing to sign paperwork or provide his name or date of birth to medical staff. Once the blood draw was completed, he was returned to jail staff for transport to the Porter County Jail. Ryanair has warned pilots of possible base closures and job cuts as the date for delivery of its first 10 Boeing 737 MAX jets slipped into the autumn. In a memo dated Jan. 27 and seen by Reuters, the low-cost airline said that Boeing would not deliver the first of the grounded model until September or October at the earliest. Ryanair does not take deliveries during its peak summer months of June, July and August. Ryanair had hoped to have up to 10 of the 737 MAX jets available from June and said in the memo that elimination of 10 aircraft from its roster could result in job losses for pilots and cabin crew, as well as possible base closures. "I have asked our commercial team to work up their proposals for these 10 aircraft reductions in summer 2020, and I hope to have their final recommendations over the next week," Chief Executive Eddie Wilson said in the memo. "We will do our best to avoid any more base closures, but this will mean eliminating at least 10 aircraft from existing bases, and so further pilot and cabin crew jobs losses cannot be ruled out." The 737 MAX, Boeing's fastest-selling aircraft, was grounded last March after 346 people died in two crashes attributed to anti-stall software. Ryanair has a fleet of more than 450 aircraft and is one of the biggest MAX customers, with 210 on order. The carrier's marketing chief Kenny Jacobs this month said he hoped the 10 aircraft would be delivered in March or April, though the timing would be dependent on regulators. Asked for comment, Ryanair told Reuters it had "nothing further to add to the memo." Boeing last week said that it did not expect to win approval for the 737 MAX's return to service until the middle of the year, having previously given an estimate of March or April. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Wave of the future? Photo: Visual China Group via Getty Images The U.K. announced on Tuesday that the Chinese technology giant Huawei would build some of the countrys burgeoning 5G network in the coming years a major rebuke to the Trump administration, which had urged European allies to ban the company altogether. Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government cast the decision as a compromise, emphasizing the fact that it will not allow Huawei to help construct the most important parts of its new network, and will put limits on the percentage any one company can build. Still, the decision is a clear setback for Trump, who now finds his maximum-pressure campaign against Huawei flagging. The White House has consistently cast the tech giant as a menace. It has warned that allowing it access to the new networks could create a backdoor for Chinese spying on Western countries, and the U.S. has threatened allies that it might withhold intelligence from them if they dont take a hard line. The U.S. has won some concessions from Japan and Australia on the issue. But while the Trump administration has been successful in pressuring Europe to effectively blacklist Iran in the aftermath of its decision to pull out of the Obama nuclear issue, Europe is showing considerably more assertiveness on Huawei. France has said that an outright ban of the company is not necessary, and Germany appears to be leaning in the same direction. Initial reaction to the announcement from Trump allies was predictably unfavorable. In a statement, Republican senator Tom Cotton said that the U.K.s decision was akin to allowing the KGB to build its telephone network during the Cold War. Panic and pollution drive the market for protective face masks, so business is booming in Asia, where fear of the virus from China is straining supplies and helping make mask-wearing the new normal. Demand for face masks and hand sanitising liquid has soared, as both local residents and visitors from China stock up on such products as a reassuring precaution. Factories are rushing to boost production as the number of infections and deaths from the new virus first found in the central Chinese city of Wuhan climbs. In some parts of Asia, wearing of surgical masks has become mandatory, for now. (PA Graphics) Sales of disinfectant products and hygiene masks have been rising since last week. First Chinese tourists came to our store to buy these products to bring back with them. They bought in bulk, like two or three boxes per person, said Varumporn Krataitohg, an employee of the NanBhesaj drugstore in central Bangkok. The outbreak began before the Chinese Lunar New Year, when tens of thousands of Chinese tourists visit Thailand, Japan and other parts of Asia. Demand has risen by 80% starting with this past weekends Chinese New Year, said Ms Varumporn. Now we are out of disinfectant gel for hands. The maker just sent just new lots this morning and by noon we were sold out, she said. People keep coming and asking for these products. Japanese often wear surgical masks to protect against colds, flu or hay fever. Shelves of some stores were scooped bare as Japanese health officials confirmed four confirmed cases of the virus. Christine Yuuki, a 25-year-old tourist from Hefei, west of Nanjing, was shopping in Tokyo for masks for friends and family back in China. In China, masks are very expensive, she said, adding that one little pack of masks costs more than 100 yuan (14 US dollars). They are cheaper here and easier to buy. Passengers wearing face masks arrive at Tribhuwan International airport in Kathmandu, Nepal (Niranjan Shrestha/AP) Iris Ohyama, a major maker of household goods and home appliances, said on Monday its mask sales last week had tripled from week before. Story continues It has asked some workers at one of its two factories in China to cut short their 10-day Lunar New Year holiday and get back to work, it said. Stocks of masks ran out quickly at outlets of South Koreas biggest 24-hour convenience store, CU, at airports, bus terminals and other transport hubs. Sales of soap, hand sanitisers and mouthwash more than doubled, said CUs parent company, BGF Retail. (PA Graphics) Overall, though, there were no immediate signs of major shortages in South Korea, which has reported four cases of the illness. In Taiwan, likewise, the government said that there were enough masks and that current daily production capacity of 1.88 million face masks could be boosted to 2.44 million to meet any spike in demand. Authorities have announced seven confirmed cases of the virus on the island, which nonetheless has imposed a month-long ban on exports of two types of surgical masks to ensure the availability of domestic supplies. Everyday use of surgical masks, once mainly confined to Japan and parts of China affected by major dust storms or smog, has expanded in recent years, largely in response to worsening air pollution. In the Philippines, which so far has reported no cases of the virus, the recent eruptions of the Taal volcano have prompted many to wear masks to protect against ash. Cambodia, which registered its first new virus case on Monday, launched a campaign to give away one million masks to people entering the country at Poipet, on its border with Thailand. In Bangkok, consumers are faced with choosing between N95 masks, which are best for filtering out tiny dust particles in smog, or plain surgical masks that can help block transmission of the virus and are more breathable. People wear masks at a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP) Thailand, a favourite Chinese vacation destination, has 14 confirmed cases of the illness, the highest national total outside China. While some stores were temporarily sold out, especially in places frequented by Chinese tourists, there is no absolute shortage of masks, said Prayote Pensut, the deputy director general of the Thai Commerce Ministrys Internal Trade Department. Whether or not masks do much to prevent the virus from spreading, they seem to reassure many. Wuhan is pretty much contained, said Ian Zhao, a 30-year-old engineer from Shenzhen who was visiting Bangkoks ornate Grand Palace. So, you just dont worry about it too much, wash your hands, put on masks, just keep your personal hygiene every day. And its mostly fine. C hinese tech giant Huawei will be able to play a role in Britain's 5G network despite US pressure to block its involvement, the government has confirmed. The US has long pressed Britain to avoid the firm when seeking equipment for 5G amid security concerns. Boris Johnson hosted a meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the decision today, after which he determined Huawei's involvement would be given the greenlight subject to a number of restrictions. The PM agreed that guidance should be issued by the National Cyber Security Centre laying out a number of measures. The US had warned Britain off the use of Huawei / REUTERS In a statement, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said such vendors, deemed "high risk", should be: Excluded from all safety-related and safety-critical networks in Critical National Infrastructure Excluded from security-critical core functions, the sensitive part of the network Excluded from sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases Limited to a minority presence of no more than 35% in the periphery of the network, known as the access network, which connects devices and equipment to mobile phone masts The implementation of 5G is expected to bring with it download speeds 10 times faster than what 4G currently offers. The prime minister has long talked of the "technological progress" he hopes the new network could enable, which coincides with his government's "levelling up" strategy in regards to nationwide infrastructure. Huawei has welcomed the decision / AFP via Getty Images Culture Secretary Baroness Morgan said: We want world-class connectivity as soon as possible but this must not be at the expense of our national security. High risk vendors never have been and never will be in our most sensitive networks. The Government has reviewed the supply chain for telecoms networks and concluded today it is necessary to have tight restrictions on the presence of high risk vendors." Huawei has welcomed the decision. The company's vice-president Victor Zhang said: Huawei is reassured by the UK Governments confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track. This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. It gives the UK access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market. We have supplied cutting-edge technology to telecoms operators in the UK for more than 15 years." Huaweis role in the UKs telecoms system has been subject to oversight since 2010 / AFP/Getty Images Expanding in its evaluation following the decision, the National Cyber Security Centre stressed that it was important to avoid the situation in which the UK becomes nationally dependent on a particular supplier. It added: Without government intervention, the NCSC considers there to be a realistic likelihood that due to commercial factors the UK would become nationally dependent on Huawei within three years. It said national dependence on a high-risk vendor would present a significant national security risk. Huaweis role in the UKs telecoms system has been subject to oversight since 2010. The analysis said: Due to the UKs mitigation strategy, which includes HCSEC as an essential component, our assessment is that the risk of Trojan functionality in Huawei equipment remains manageable. Placing backdoors in any Huawei equipment supplied into the UK is not the lowest risk, easiest to perform or most effective means for the Chinese state to perform a major cyber attack on UK telecoms networks today. The decision puts the PM on course for a clash with many Tory MPs as well as the US. President Trumps administration has lobbied against the UK allowing Huawei access. As it takes on China in a trade war, the US warned that British sovereignty would be put at risk by the move. It has issued threats over an impact on intelligence sharing. Nearly half of Brits disagree with the use of Huawei, according to a YouGov poll. Some 20 per cent strongly disagree while 23 per cent somewhat disagree, putting 43 per cent against it. In contrast 12 per cent somewhat agree and two strongly agree. New Delhi, Jan 28 : Indian ride hailing major Ola on Tuesday appointed Sanjiv Saddy as its Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs. Saddy has over 35 years of experience in corporate affairs and government relations, business development and finance. "Sanjiv will be responsible for building deep relationships with key authorities, government agencies and other related stakeholders and in closely engaging and working with them as a business. "Consequently, all our regional corporate affairs and law enforcement leads will report to him," Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Ola, said in a statement. In his previous role, Saddy was working with Flipkart, leading its government relations and corporate affairs mandate. He has also worked with Tata Communications, Emaar MGF Land Ltd and Freightwinds and Travels Ltd, among other companies. "Ola has emerged as one of India's most impactful homegrown companies from the last decade and at a very important phase as it expands globally and into newer businesses. I'm very excited to join Ola in their mission of building mobility for a billion people," said Saddy. An Extinction Rebellion protest at London City Airport. (PA) A judge has hit out at the abject failure of the Crown Prosecution Service following the collapse of a trial against several Extinction Rebellion protesters. Five climate activists were accused of gluing themselves to the concourse between London City Airport and its DLR station in October. They had been due to face trial at City of London Magistrates Court on Tuesday, but the charges were dismissed after a police officer who was due to be a prosecution witness booked time off. Deputy District Judge Vincent McDade said: There has been an abject failure by the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that this case has been properly managed. Extinction Rebellion protests brought London to a standstill last year. (PA) He said the absent police officer was required from the outset. Had the CPS acted efficiently and warned the witness as soon as possible after the case management hearing on November 7 this matter would proceed today with that witness giving live evidence, he said. The judge said the officer who made the arrests was a vital witness to establish the lawfulness or otherwise of the arrests. He said he had no option but to dismiss all matters against all defendants. READ MORE FROM YAHOO NEWS UK: The five defendants who faced a charge of aggravated trespass were Claudia Fisher, 57, from Brighton, Phoebe Valentine, 23, from Brighton, David Lambert, 60, from Gloucestershire, Senan Clifford, 59, from Gloucestershire, and John Burrage, 42, from West Wales. Former chief government scientist Professor Sir David King had been prepared to give evidence at the trial. Speaking outside the court before he took his seat in the public gallery, he said climate change is the most important issue humanity has ever had to face up to. Afterwards he said the five got off on a technicality, but added: On the other hand, the judge was relatively sympathetic, I thought. Story continues Earlier Sir David had said climate change requires leadership from the very top and described Brexit as a distraction. He said: What we are talking about is the most important issue humanity has ever had to face up to. And when I say humanity, I mean all of us. Were all in this boat together. Whatever we do over the next 10 years on climate change, actions that we do, will determine the future of humanity for the next 10,000 years. He described the actions of the Extinction Rebellion activists as a brave attempt to get the critically important issue to the forefront. After the charges were dismissed, Ms Fisher said: That did not go how I expected. It was a complete surprise. Asked if she plans to get involved in future protests, she said: Absolutely. Absolutely. This movement is going bigger and bigger. Its unstoppable. The Global Pulse Oximeters Market is likely to grow in the coming years due to increasing usage clearances from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to a report published by Fortune Business Insights, titled Pulse Oximeters: Global Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2018-2025, the market is likely to reach US$ 2,657.6 Mn by the end of 2025. Fortune Business Insights states that the market was valued at US$ 1,587.3 Mn in 2017 and will exhibit a CAGR of 6.7% in the forecast period. The research report gives an entire study of the Pulse Oximeters Market leaders with key statistics like sales, revenue, price, product picture and specifications, contact information, cost, capacity, production and company profile. The report offers critical information at the state of the enterprise. Marketing channels and development trends of the market is also well-found inside the report, making it a valuable source of information and path for agencies and individuals. Key Stakeholders: Raw material suppliers Distributors/traders/wholesalers/suppliers Regulatory bodies, including government agencies and NGO Commercial research and development (R&D) institutions Importers and exporters Government organizations, research organizations, and consulting firms Trade associations and industry bodies End-use industries Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/pulse-oximeters-market-100528 Masimo and Mindray Announce Partnership to Extend Sales Outside the US In May 2019, Masimo and Shenzhen Mindray Biomedical Electronics announced that they have reached an agreement to extend the distribution of Masimos devices. Through this agreement, Mindray will offer sales and distribution options in countries other than the United States. The increasing demand for Masimos wrist-worn pulse oximeters has triggered this agreement, which in turn is likely to favor growth of the global market in the forthcoming years. The report profiles several companies operating in the market and studies their growth strategies with regards to product launches and strategic collaborations. This is intended at evaluating the impact of these strategies on the overall market. Leading Players operating in the Pulse Oximeters Market are: Omron Healthcare, Inc. Philips Benelux General Electric Manufacturing Company (GEMAC) Masimo Messe Dusseldorf GmbH Vyaire Medical Opto Circuits India Ltd. Medtronic Nonin Medical, Inc iHealths Wristworn Pulse Oximeter to Witness Massive Demand iHealths wrist-worn pulse oximeters wide end user coverage can be attributed to its clinical efficacy and most importantly, its ease of use. The device is available on e-commerce websites such as Amazon and the ease of availability for iHealths latest device is a leading factor that has contributed to the growth of the global market. The device can continuously monitor blood oxygen saturation levels along with the pulse rate, both within a short span of time. The device is integrated with a LED display that shows the oxygen saturation readings. The device operated through the emission of infrared light onto the blood vessels of the fingertip. The device has won over many users and the increasing demand has led to the distribution on online retail chains as well as offline stores. iHealths latest device is likely to boost the global pulse oximeter market in the forthcoming years. Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts:https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/pulse-oximeters-market-100528 Pulse Oximeters Market Segmentation:: By Product Type Fingertip Oximeters Handheld Oximeters Tabletop Oximeters By End User Hospitals Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Clinics Home Healthcare Others By Geography North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa Reasons to Purchase this Report: Tracks the developments, such as new product launches, agreements, mergers and acquisitions, geographical expansions, and joint ventures. Comprehensive analysis of the Aesthetic Implants Market growth drivers, obstacles, opportunities, and other related challenges. Identifies market restraints and boosters. Identifies all the possible segments present in the market to aid organizations in strategic business planning. Order Full Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/100528 Related Reports: Drug Discovery Informatics Market 2020 Share, Size, Regional Trend, Future Growth, Leading Players Updates, Industry Demand, Current and Future Plans by Forecast to 2026 Anticoccidial Drugs Market Forecast to 2026 Size, Share Industry Development Analysis, Trends, Growth Factors, CAGR Status, Industry Insights by Top Key Players Operating Table Market 2020 | Global Top 20 Key Players, Size Estimation, Industry Share, Business Analysis 2019 and Growth Forecast to 2026 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data. At Fortune Business Insights we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We, therefore, offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US :+1 424 253 0390 UK : +44 2071 939123 APAC : +91 744 740 1245 Email:sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Fortune Business Insights Linkedin | Twitter | BLogs Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Moscow on Wednesday to present US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Netanyahu, who is meeting Trump on Tuesday in Washington where the initiative will be unveiled, will head to Moscow the next day "to convey (the) plan to Putin," said a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister. Given that it has been rejected by the Palestinians, the latest of many US proposals to address the bitter, multi-generational Middle East conflict might seem to have little future. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists earlier Tuesday that Moscow had not yet seen the plan. But if various leaks about its content are accurate, Lavrov said, "it reflects an approach that is totally different from what has been recognised by the international community as a basis for a solution to the conflict". Analysts expect Trump's initiative will reaffirm many of his administration policies, which already align closely with Israeli objectives. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON Former Air Force pilot MJ Hegar raised $1.1 million in the final quarter of 2019, pulling further ahead of the crowded field of Democrats vying to take on U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. Its the latest sign that Hegar is ahead of the pack in a crowded Democratic race, with 12 candidates who have so far struggled to gain statewide recognition, according to early polls. Hegar last month won the backing of the Senate Democrats campaign committee, setting her up as the establishment pick in the race and likely adding to her stream of donors. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Hegar has raised more than $3 million total in her second bid for office after drawing national attention in 2018 with her narrow loss to U.S. Rep. John Carter, a longtime Republican incumbent in Central Texas. Her campaign said she has $1 million left to spend ahead of the March 3 primary. I think I pretty clearly emerge as the person with the best chance to take on John Cornyn, Hegar told Hearst Newspapers on Tuesday, saying she believes she has a ton of momentum just weeks before voting begins. More Information Texas primary election dates Feb. 3 - Last day to register to vote in time for the Democratic and Republican presidential primary elections Feb. 18 - The first day of early voting Feb. 28 - Early voting ends March 3 - Election day See More Collapse Hegar said its important to raise the resources because it shows our ability to spread our message, but almost as important is how were raising our money. Hegars campaign said she has received contributions from more than 29,000 donors, the majority coming from within Texas. Nine out of 10 donations were under $100 and the average online donation was $22. Shes also sworn off money from corporate PACs. Thats incredible. Thats difficult to do. That doesnt just happen, she said. That is hard work and thats a message that spreads across the state like wildfire. Thats the grassroots enthusiasm it will take to retire John Cornyn. Hegar was the first Democrat in the Senate race to release fundraising totals from the final quarter. As of the end of the third quarter of 2019, however Hegar who was the first to enter the race was already miles ahead of other Democrats in fundraising, having brought in $2 million at the time, compared to the roughly $500,000 that state Sen. Royce West, former Houston council member Amanda Edwards and longtime Austin labor organizer Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez had brought in at the time. For subscribers: Democrats tout labor-friendly bona fides in U.S. Senate debate Wests campaign said on Tuesday that he had raised nearly another $400,000 and has more than $525,000 on hand. Royce West has the money to be able to do what we need to do to get in the runoff and win this race, said Vince Leibowitz, a spokesman for the campaign. Others in the field had raised significantly less, although many entered the race later and had less time to raise money by the end of September. West, meanwhile, earned the backing of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who said Wests 26 years of experience in the Texas Senate building coalitions to get things done for Texans is exactly what we need in the U.S. Senate during these trying times for our state and our nation. Turner endorsed the Dallas state senator over the Houston candidates in the race, including Edwards, who served on the city council, and Bell, who ran against Turner for mayor in 2015. ben.wermund@chron.com Houston's trendiest neighborhoods, like Montrose and Midtown, are definitely weekend destinations, but if you're looking for something new (that comes with free parking), take a trip to the suburbs. These Pearland restaurants and bars are more than just tried-and-true favorites among residents. You'll find newsmakers like Ronnie Killen's various projects, hidden gems like D'Caribbean's jerk chicken and Tex-Mex spots that have been serving generations. Former TV star Laura Csortan celebrated Australia Day in the sunshine on Sunday. Standing on the balcony of a Gold Coast apartment, the 43-year-old flaunted her trim pins in a black one-piece swimsuit. The beauty was positively glowing as she showed off her sun-kissed tan. Ageless beauty! Laura Csortan, 43, showcased her trim pins in a black one-piece during an idyllic getaway to the Gold Coast with her daughter over the weekend She appeared to be makeup free while her blonde tresses cascaded past her shoulders. She gently held daughter Layla Rose, 3, in her arms, as the duo gazed over the city all the way to the beach. Laura had a special message for fans during Australia Day, referring to her daughter. White on the mark! Another snap showed the beauty flaunting her toned midriff in an elaborate off-the-shoulder top with a matching white skirt She wrote: 'Hold them tight, love them hard.' Laura quickly snapped back into shape in early 2017 after giving birth to her daughter Layla Rose, who was born in November 2016. Despite her impressive weight loss, Laura downplayed the achievement at the time. The former Wheel Of Fortune host told Daily Mail Australia: 'It's taken me almost two years to start getting back somewhat of a routine.' Fitspo! Laura quickly snapped back into shape in early 2017 after giving birth to her daughter Layla Rose, who was born in November 2016 'And even still, I don't have much of one to be honest since I'm really busy! I mean I literally have a two-year-old stuck to my hip 24/7, so I just do not stop.' Despite having a very busy life, the leggy babe went on to say she tries to stay active by incorporating Layla into her workouts. 'We walk, [Layla is] really active, I'm really active. We try to keep outdoors as much as possible,' she said. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Despite decades of efforts to educate and warn, and despite the constant refrain of Never forget, much of Europe no longer remembers the Holocaust. Worse still, in some parts of Europe, it is dangerous for Jews to live as Jews. A headline (January 27) on Fox News reads, Holocaust survivors mark Auschwitz liberations 75th anniversary as their stories grow in relevance. The article cites these sobering words from Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress: Shame on us, he said. These survivors rebuilt lives. These survivors came out and they never believed that their children and grandchildren would suffer from anti-Semitism the way they did. Sadly, We have allowed the world again to have anti-Semitism. Then, with reference to Elie Wiesel, He told me the opposite of love is not hate, its indifference. What we have today in the world is indifference. Last week, it was reported that, A new survey claims the Holocaust is receding in collective memory, as few Americans know the death toll of Jews. According to the Pew Research Center report, What Americans Know About the Holocaust, only 45 percent of almost 11,000 Americans surveyed didnt know the Nazis killed 6 million Jews during World War II. But it gets worse. A 2019 survey indicated that, Most Austrian adults do not know 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Only 58% said the Holocaust referred to the extermination of the Jewish people, while 56% did not know 6 million Jews had been killed in the Holocaust; 10% said around 100,000 Jews were killed. Not only so, but, While 98% of respondents were familiar with Adolf Hitler, the chancellor of Nazi Germany, only 51% knew Adolf Eichmann, an Austrian who was one of the main organizers of the Holocaust. And 21% did not know Hitler originally came from Austria; only 14% knew Eichmann was Austrian. This is the kind of ignorance that leads to indifference. Or perhaps it is the kind of ignorance born out of indifference? All this, however, pales in light of the rising tide of European antisemitism. A headline from Germany one year ago announced, German Jewish leader decries anti-Semitism in Europe. Yes, The former head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany told EU lawmakers that anti-Semitism was resurfacing in Europe. She singled out the UK Labour Party's leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Underscoring the urgency of the warning was the fact that it came from 86-year-old Charlotte Knobloch, herself a Holocaust survivor. On January 26, a Times of Israel article announced, Germany warns of mass exit of Jews if anti-Semitism persists. Indeed, Insults and attacks against Jews both physical and online have become a daily occurrence, says Berlins foreign minister, calling for tougher action across Europe. A daily occurrence! And in Germany, no less. Shockingly, Almost one in two Jews has considered leaving Germany, [Foreign Minister Heiko Maas] said, a country that has long taken pains to confront its Nazi past. For several years now, religious Jewish men have been afraid to wear a yarmulke (or, in Hebrew, kippah) in Germany. Last year, a German official warned, I cannot advise Jews to wear the kippah everywhere all the time in Germany. Such is the growing, antisemitic sentiment in that country. Heiko Maas also claimed that, Research had shown that a third of young Europeans indicated knowing little to nothing about the Holocaust. So, it is not just Austria that is forgetting. Many young Europeans have never even learned. And in the midst of this ignorance and apathy, fresh hatred rises, some of it carried by Islamic immigrants, who have their own antisemitic history. Last July, the New York Timesreported that, France has a painful history of anti-Semitism, with its worst hours coming in the 1930s and during the German occupation in World War II. But in recent months, an impassioned debate has erupted over how to address what commentators are calling the new anti-Semitism, as Jewish groups and academic researchers trace a wave of anti-Semitic acts to Frances growing Muslim population. And a November, 2019 article in National Geographic was devoted to the subject of, Why French Jews Are Leaving France, noting that French Jews are fleeing the country. Writing in The Spectator earlier this month, Gavin Mortimer asked, How long until there are no Jews left in France? He noted, Two years ago I wrote on this platform that France is the most dangerous European country for Jews and so it remains. Anti-Semitic attacks in 2018 soared by 74 per cent on the previous year and the figures for the beginning of 2019 have revealed a 78 per cent increase on the same period in 2018. As for England, last June, the Jerusalem Postcarried this shocking headline: Jewxit: Could 300,000 Jews flee the UK? The article claimed that 1 in 3 British Jews have considered leaving the UK due to rising antisemitism. And on and on it goes, even as Holocaust survivors are still here to tell their stories firsthand. What will happen when they are gone? On the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, where more than 1 million Jews were slaughtered, this is a moment for sober reflection. Let the world be warned! Antisemitism is thriving in Europe again. The U.S. Attorneys Office announced Tuesday that Charles Lieber, the chairman of Harvard Universitys chemistry and chemical biology department, and two Chinese nationals have been charged in connection with aiding the Chinese government. Lieber was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with one count of making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement. Federal authorities say the chemist worked with a Chinese program aimed at encouraging scientists and researchers in the U.S. to share their expertise and research with Chinese government officials. Unlike the other two who United States Attorney Andrew Lelling announced charges against, Lieber is not a Chinese national or of Chinese descent. Lieber is also more widely known in his field than the others facing charges. The charges brought by the U.S. government against Professor Lieber are extremely serious. Harvard is cooperating with federal authorities, including the National Institutes of Health, and is initiating its own review of the alleged misconduct," said Harvard University spokesperson Jonathan Swain. "Professor Lieber has been placed on indefinite administrative leave. Lieber was named a university professor in 2017, Harvards highest faculty honor, one held only by 26 Harvard faculty members. Lieber had served as the principal investigator of the Lieber Research Group at Harvard University. The group specialized in the area of nanoscience and received more than $15 million in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense. He was awarded the Welch Award in Chemistry in October alongside Armand Paul Alivisatos. Lieber and Alivisatos shared the $500,000 award. These grants require the disclosure of significant foreign financial conflicts of interest, including financial support from foreign governments or foreign entities. From 2012 to 2017, Lieber became a strategic scientist at Wuhan University of Technology in China and during that time took part in the Thousand Talents Plan. The Thousand Talents program targets people under 55 years of age who are willing to work in China on a full-time basis. However, these talent programs seek to lure Chinese overseas talent and foreign experts to bring their knowledge and experience to China and reward individuals for stealing privately-owned information. Lieber had a three-year contract with Thousand Talents and during this time WUT paid Lieber $50,000 per month, $158,000 living expenses and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab at WUT. In the transcript released by the U.S. District Court in Boston, Lieber caused Harvard to tell NIH, that he had no formal association to WUT after 2012 and that WUT continued to falsely exaggerate, his involvement. The document also points out that Lieber is not and never has been a participant," of the Thousand Talents Plan. Lieber is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler in federal court Tuesday afternoon. Related Content: Job Title: Product Manager- Business Loans Organization: FINCA Uganda Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda About US: FINCA Uganda is a subsidiary of FINCA Impact Finance and part of a network of 21 microfinance institutions and banks that provide socially responsible financial services that enable low-income individuals and communities to invest in the future. FINCA Uganda currently offers loans, savings and money transfer services in Uganda, one of the most competitive and dynamic microfinance markets in the world. Job Summary: The Product Manager Business Loans is responsible for all Business Lending Credit activities within FINCA Uganda. This responsibility includes achieving all client, portfolio and PA.R targets while working directly with Regional Managers, Branch Managers, Credit Supervisors and Loan Officers allocated to the product and supporting the Credit Manager and the Regional Manager in the implementation of the products in compliance with the policies and procedures . Key Duties and Responsibilities: Developing, designing, and reviewing the Credit Analysis and Risk Management processes and tools. Training guiding and mentoring Credit Supervisors in line with FINCA Uganda lending policies and procedures and also work with Compliance to identify all aspects of non-compliance within the policies and procedures in the implementation of the products. Designing, innovating and ensuring quality delivery of business lending product lines and initiating implementation strategies and action plans for growth Executing Credit Committee processes in accordance to policies and procedures, reviewing appraising and approving loans above branch approval limits. In conjunction with the Legal Officer, preparing and drafting instructions for all delinquent client files to be sent to the external Lawyers and Auctioneers for litigation and closely following up on these cases including executions of warrant of arrests and attachment of collateral. Making periodical review of FINCA Ugandas credit processes and making recommendations to Management for the purposes of correcting any inadequacies. Setting up, supervising and coordinating the work of soft collections for the product to ensure quality loan portfolio at all times. Effectively organizing and attending regular head office based delinquency meetings and ensuring that all branches regularly hold the weekly and monthly delinquency meetings Conducting supervision visits to all branches and reviewing the lending process to ascertain level of compliance to policies and procedures, existence of the clients, businesses to which the loans have been disbursed, verifying the quality of collateral pledged and reviewing the loan field analysis conducted by the loan officer. Supporting the Credit Manager and Operations team in delivering superior customer experience across all FINCA service delivery channels. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The ideal applicant must hold a Bachelors Degree in Commerce, Accounting and Business Administration or an equivalent. At least two years work experience as a Branch Manager or one year in a similar role within a Financial/Banking sector. An Accounting professional qualification and an MBA is an added advantage Excellent communication and presentations skills. High level of numeracy, analytical and statistical skills, Strong organizational skills and ability to work on own initiative. Good business acumen, knowledge of the market and ability to align work with strategic goals. Must have integrity, ability to inspire the trust of others How to Apply: All candidates who so wish to take up this role in the aforementioned capacity are encouraged to send their applications with detailed CVS including present position and copies of relevant professional/academic certificates to ugJobs@fincaug.org Deadline: 31st January 2020 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline A koala who was saved and treated for burns after fires ravaged his Adelaide Hills home has been filmed being released back onto the property from which he was saved - the only koala to survive. But when the male koala, who workers from Adelaide Koala Rescue named 'Isaac', first saw his home on Saturday that was largely destroyed by fires in December, he paused and seemed to wonder where he was because of the devastation. And maybe wonder where all his friends and family had gone - because Isaac was the only koala to survive. In the clip, Isaac appeared to be confused by the lack of trees, burnt leaves and scorched earth that was now his home. 'Issac wasn't sure when we released him. It didn't look or smell like home anymore and the poor guy must wonder what happened last month,' the short clip is captioned. Isaac the koala (pictured) was saved and treated for burns by Adelaide Koala Rescue (AKR) when his habitat was devastated by bushfires in December last year and released back into the wild on SaturdayHowever At the start of the video, a koala handler opened up Isaac's carrier and gave him a pat to wish him goodbye before the koala quickly made his way to a gum tree. Once at the tree, Isaac surveyed the surrounding area, which was now made up of ashy ground and minimal trees. Eventually, the koala leaped onto the gum tree trunk and climbed up to settle on a comfortable branch. 'Although there's not much, there's enough habitat for one koala on the property,' the Adelaide Koala Rescue (AKR) said. The koala was freed back onto a property in the Adelaide Hills, a rugged area east of Adelaide, in a heartbreaking video shared to the AKR Facebook page 'He's probably so confused! He says 'my paddock's burnt!'' one handler said. 'You'll be okay, you've got lots of lovely people who are going to keep an eye on you and put water out. 'There's not much here but it's all yours - you're the last man standing.' Koalas do not normally drink water as they mainly eat Eucalyptus leaves, which have a high water content. However, since many of the leaves in Isaac's home are burnt or dried by the bushfires, he will get extra water from the property owners and neighbours. Isaac was one of the 'lucky ones' to survive the bushfires while all of the other koalas on the property perished in the flames. The AKR explained that 'although there's not much, there's enough habitat for one koala on the property'. Isaac is one of more than 80 successfully rehabilitated koalas that have been released into the wild by AKR following devastating bushfires in the region. The Adelaide Hills were severely impacted by the Cudlee Creek bushfire that started on Decemeber 20 last year. In addition to scorching bushland, the fire reached the towns of Lobethal, Woodside, Charleston and Mount Torrens but fortunately, the townships were saved. The fire has been since put out and marked as safe by the South Australian Country Fire Service, which is no longer in attendance. It is estimated that over a billion Australian animals have perished during the most recent bushfire season. Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Breakthru Beverage Florida, one of the largest distributors of wines, spirits and non-alcoholic beverages in the state, announced today that it is donating $35 million to the Step Up For Students Scholarship Program. Breakthrus donation will fund more than 5,028 scholarships for K-12 lower-income Florida schoolchildren for the 2019-20 school year. Breakthru Beverage Florida and Step Up For Students on Friday celebrated the ninth consecutive year of Breakthrus support at Abundant Life Christian Academy with students that benefit from a Step Up scholarship. Since 2011, Breakthru Beverage Florida has generously funded 55,882 Florida Tax Credit scholarships through contributions totaling more than $324 million to Step Up For Students. One of our core values at Breakthru is to do our part to better the communities we serve, said Eric Pfeil, executive vice president of Breakthru Beverage Florida. We are proud to support Step Up For Students and are dedicated to helping give Florida schoolchildren the opportunity to reach their highest potential. During the visit at Abundant Life Christian Academy, the students talked about all of the unique opportunities they have at the school and their goals for the future. A couple of students also shared their science fair projects that will be up for judging soon. One fourth grade student, who uses the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship through Step Up For Students, presented his science project on rocks and minerals to a very impressed crowd. Step Up For Students, a nonprofit organization that helps manage the income-based Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program . The program is funded by corporations with tax-credited donations and gives lower-income children the opportunity to attend a private or out-of-district school that best meets their learning needs. Step Up is serving more than 100,400 students for the 2019-20 school year. More than 1,800 private schools participate in the scholarship program statewide. Story continues Breakthru Beverage Florida continues to show their incredible commitment to deserving schoolchildren through their support of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, said Doug Tuthill, president of Step Up For Students. Breakthru understands how important this scholarship is to so many students in Florida. They are a critical part of the programs success and we are grateful for their continued support. About Breakthru Beverage Florida Breakthru Beverage Florida is one of the largest distributors of wines, spirits and other beverages in Florida. A member of the Breakthru Beverage Group, Breakthru Florida services a variety of accounts including hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, grocery and retail stores from offices and distribution facilities throughout the state. Breakthru Beverage Group was formed by joining substantial holdings of The Charmer Sunbelt Group and Wirtz Beverage Group. The company employs more than 7,000 associates and with its affiliates have operations in 19 markets across the country and Canada. For more information, visit www.BreakthruBev.com. About Step Up For Students Step Up For Students is a nonprofit organization that helps administer the income-based Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program. Students who qualify for the national free or reduced-price lunch, or those who are homeless or in foster or out-of-home care, may qualify. The scholarship program provides tuition assistance to the private school of their parents choice or financial assistance to offset the transportation cost to an out-of-district public school. Since 2001, Step Up has awarded more than 784,000 Florida Tax Credit scholarships. In February 2019, the Urban Institute, a Washington D.C. based think tank, released results of a study on the effectiveness of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, the nations largest private K-12 scholarship program. The study found that students on scholarship for four or more years were up to 99 percent more likely to attend a four-year college than their peers in public school and up to 45 percent more likely to earn bachelors degrees. Step Up also helps administer the state-funded Gardiner Scholarship for Florida students with certain special needs, plus three other scholarships, the Family Empowerment Scholarship for additional lower-income families, the Hope Scholarship for public school students who are bullied and the Reading Scholarship Accounts for third- through fifth-grade students enrolled in public school who struggle with reading. For more information, visit: www.StepUpForStudents.org. ### Attachments Ashley Zarle Step Up For Students 7274519837 azarle@sufs.org Editor's note: This story for a very brief time said the results of this test were issued. This was incorrect information released by the city. The test result has not yet been released. NEW HAVEN There are no results yet on a coronavirus test done on a high school student who participated in the Yale Model United Nations weekend conference, according to the director of Yale Health. A test was ordered to rule out infection with the novel coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, after the high school student from China who participated in the annual conference exhibited fever and cough and was evaluated in the Yale-New Haven Hospital Emergency Department over the weekend, Dr. Paul Genecin said in a statement Tuesday. Genecin said he would notify the community as soon as the result is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A Wesleyan student who had become ill tested negative for the coronavirus. The Wesleyan student is doing well, according to university spokesperson Lauren Rubenstein. While awaiting word from the CDC on the visiting high school student, Mayor Justin Elicker said Monday he and the citys Health Department are working closely with Yale New Haven Hospital, the state Department of Health and others to monitor updates on the outbreak. The Yale Model United Nations conference brought some 1,400 students to New Haven for the event that started on Thursday. The student from China tested positive for influenza. Genecin had previously said the student tested positive for influenza and that the test result suggests the student has influenza rather than 2019-nCoV, or coronavirus infection. However, out of an abundance of caution, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked that the student be tested for 2019-nCoV, Genecin said in a statement. Genecin said in his statement that Dean of Yale College Marvin Chun, in consultation with health experts, had requested that YMUN cancel all activities that had been scheduled for Sunday. Yale New Haven Hospital staff members are screening any patients with an acute respiratory infection to determine whether they have traveled to Wuhan, China, or have had contact with anyone arriving from the area, Dr. Richard Martinello, medical director for infection prevention at Yale New Haven Health, has said. More than 4,500 cases of the new viral respiratory illness have been confirmed since an outbreak began last month in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. The CDC reports it is closely monitoring the outbreak of the respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus (named 2019-nCoV) that was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and which continues to expand. Chinese health officials have reported thousands of infections with 2019-nCoV in China, with the virus reportedly spreading from person-to-person in many parts of that country. Infections with 2019-nCoV, most of them associated with travel from Wuhan, also are being reported in a growing number of international locations, including the United States. Nagpur, Chandrapur and Sindhudurg were allotted higher District Planning Committee Scheme funds to the tune of Rs 651 crore in 2019-20 by the then Maharashtra government after curtailing money of some of other districts, state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Tuesday. To set right the situation, these three districts will see less allotment for the fiscal 2020-21, Pawar said here after chairing a DPC meeting of Nagpur division. Pawar said, "as per my thinking", the funds for Nagpur were increased because then CM Devendra Fadnavis hailed from here, while it was done for Chandrapur due it being the home district of then finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar. "As per the formula (for 2020-21), Nagpur will get Rs 299.52 crore as against Rs 525 crore last year. As per the formula, Nagpur should have got Rs 288 crore last year," he said. Similarly, Chandrapur got Rs 375 crore last year against the ideal Rs 215 crore, while it would be allotted Rs 223 crore this year, he added. Sindhudurg, which got Rs 225 crore last year against the ideal Rs 113 crore, will receive Rs 118 crore worth of funds this year, Pawar informed. He said he would consult Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to see if the drop in funding for these districts can be set right in the next budget. "Special funds will be given to Gadchiroli, Washim, Osmanabad and Nandurbar as the per capita income of these districts is less," he added. Wardha would also get Rs 95 crore to celebrate various functions as part of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) I have been working in this way for more than 20 years, but I still am so impressed every time I hear the band playing my music, Fujii said in an email from Tokyo. Written sheet music is just a map. To travel, sometimes we need to have the map, but we also need to walk and explore to get real experience. This fresh feeling has never gotten rusty and this gives me more energy to write music. The man claimed police had hurt him by fitting handcuffs behind his back The Police Ombudsman has dismissed a complaint that police treated a man "like a lesser person". An investigator found no evidence police "deliberately inflicted pain" on the man following an incident in a Co Antrim village in March 2019. The exact location was not disclosed. The man claimed that an officer grabbed him by the shoulder after a verbal disagreement, despite having been told that his shoulder was painful from an earlier injury. He also accused police of inflicting pain by fitting handcuffs behind his back, rather than his front. The incident occurred after police responded to a report that a man had caused damage to a relative's house. When police arrived they found the man to be in an "agitated state" and restrained him, placed him into the back of a police Land Rover and took him to hospital for assessment. An ombudsman investigator obtained two accounts from the police officers involved and secured footage recorded by two officers using Body Worn Video (BWV) cameras. After reviewing the footage, the investigator noted it did not appear to show the complainant to be in any discomfort, and that he made no comment about the handcuffs causing him pain. She also noted that police policy allows for handcuffs to be fitted to the rear in order to minimise risk in situations where peoples behaviour has been volatile. As the Land Rover travelled round a bend the man's phone, which had been placed in an officer's cap for safekeeping, slid out onto the floor. The man accused officers of mishandling the phone leading to a cracked screen. However, the Police Ombudsman investigator noted that the floor of the vehicle was carpeted, and that there was no evidence that the screen had not been cracked before it was given to police. BWV footage showed a police officer placing his hand on the man's shoulder and advising him it was to stop him falling forward while police were turning a corner. The investigator found that the footage showed the officers treating the man with respect and that there was no evidence of misconduct by any of the officers involved. Aumni, Inc., a Salt Lake City, UT-based SaaS company developing a robotic process automation and data analytics platform for private capital investors, raised $10m in Series A funding. The round was led by SVB Financial Group, the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, with participation from existing investors Moneta Ventures, Next Frontier Capital and Quiet Ventures, who together previously led Aumnis $3.7 million Series Seed round, and new investors Kickstart Seed Fund, Blackhorn Ventures, Prelude and Service Provider Capital. The company intends to use the funds to expand adoption of its core product offering poised for scale and expansion in 2020. Founded by Anthony Lewis and Kelsey Chase, Aumni provides investors in private capital markets with a SaaS platform that extracts, audits, and tracks thousands of investment data points directly from definitive investment agreements. Today, the company works with traditional venture funds, corporate venture funds and family offices. FinSMEs 28/01/2020 Follow along for updates from Capitol Hill: (all times local) 3:00 p.m. After President Trump's defense team wrapped up its arguments, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out what will happen over the the next two days of the trial: 16 hours of questioning, eight hours for each side. McConnell went on to describe the process saying "the questions alternate between the majority and minority sides for up to eight hours" on both Wednesday and Thursday. McConnell reminded senators that their questions must be in writing and will be submitted to Chief Justice John Roberts. "During the question period of the Clinton trial, senators were thoughtful and brief with their questions and the managers and counsel were succinct in their answers," McConnell said. "I hope we can follow both of these examples during this time." Roberts added the attorneys must answer the questions in five minutes or less. He then adjourned the trial until 1 p.m. ET Wednesday. 2:50 p.m. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone just finished giving opening arguments for Trump's legal team. He urged senators to "come together on both sides of the aisle and end the era of impeachment for good." 2:30 p.m. After a short recess, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone urged senators to reject the impeachment articles against President Trump and defend "our Constitution." "You know what the right answer is in your heart. You know what the right answer is for our country. You know what the right answer is for the American people," he said. Cipollone then raised the issue of the upcoming 2020 election, and implored senators to allow "every American to vote and to choose their president." 2:15 p.m. The Senate impeachment trial will return following a 15-minute break. 1:45 p.m. Jay Sekulow, one of President Trump's lawyers, says removing the president from office would "lower the bar of impeachment." "What we are involved in here as we conclude is perhaps the most solemn of duties under our constitutional framework," he said. "The trial of the leader of the free world and the duly elected president of the United States. It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts. That's politics, unfortunately, and Hamilton put impeachment in the hands of this body, the Senate, precisely and specifically to be above that fray." Sekulow, speaking directly to senators, went on to say that legal scholars have weighed on the impeachment and they've have "a common theme with a dire warning: Danger. Danger. Danger." "To lower the bar of impeachment, based on these articles of impeachment, would impact the functioning of our constitutional republic and the framework of that Constitution for generations," he said. 1 p.m. President Donald Trump's legal team begins its final day of opening arguments in the impeachment trial. White House counsel Pat Cipollone said at the beginning of the proceedings Tuesday that the defense team's "goal is to be finished by dinnertime and well before." Cipollone said that Trump's team have three presentations to go first will be Pat Philbin, deputy White House counsel, then Jay Sekulow will give a presentation. After a break, Cipollone will finish the defense's opening arguments. This is the third day of the defense's presentation. CNN contributed to this report. Original story below ________________________________________________________ Following Monday's return to opening arguments, Tuesday will see a continuation of remarks as the president's defense team expands their case. Arguments Monday night ended around 9:00 p.m., and will pick up again 1:00 p.m. Tuesday. Here's what to expect as the proceedings continue: Opening arguments on the defense side will continue under the watch of Chief Justice John Roberts. The president's defense team will likely continue to push back against claims by former National Security Adviser John Bolton in an upcoming book that President Donald Trump tied Ukraine military aid to an investigation of his political rival Joe Biden. The manuscript previewing Bolton's book was touched on Monday night by Alan Dershowitz, one of Trump's impeachment attorneys, who pushed back on the relevance of Bolton's claims Monday night. "Quid pro quo alone is not a basis for abuse of power," Dershowitz said. He went on to argue that if any president, Trump or otherwise, were to have done what Bolton claims, it would not constitute an impeachable offense. "Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense," Dershowitz said. The defense will likely make further arguments for why witnesses aren't necessary. Calling witnesses has been the central issue of opening arguments for the impeachment trial, and Bolton's manuscript claims apply more pressure to moderate GOP senators like Susan Collins of Maine or Mitt Romney of Utah. Trump's defense team will also likely compare activities Trump has been accused of, namely tying foreign aid to a request or condition, to the administrations of former Presidents Obama and Clinton. The defense may reference times in either administration that White House visits were offered or refused to another country, or whether a country would be offered aid based in part or whole on perceived corruption. Dershowitz focused much of his opening arguments on the intentions of the framers, ending his presentation with a "nonpartisan plea" to "consider the arguments and counter arguments on their merits." He ended by asking senators to consider if "the shoe were on the other foot." Truancy rates have tripled in just one Australian state but only one case has been prosecuted as parents are being let off without 'consequences'. Figures released by the Tasmanian Government showed a jump in the number of conciliatory conferences for truancy from 51 to 142 cases. The sharp increase between 2018 and 2019 resulted in only one person prosecuted in relation to truancy and one Compulsory Schooling Order given by authorities. The state's Labor party has hit out at the Liberal government over the data, obtained by The Mercury under Right to Information laws. Truancy rates in one Australian state have tripled in Tasmania but only one case has been prosecuted (stock image) 'There are kids not going to school and there doesn't seem to be any consequences,' Labor education spokesman Josh Willie said. Tasmania's truancy problem is at its worst in years six to nine, according to parliamentary budget estimates heard last year. The estimates also revealed about three-quarters of students are reintegrated into school following conciliation. Mr Willie said the figures potentially showed schools were not referring serious truancy cases to the state's Office of the Education Registrar. The department is responsible for managing the conciliation conferences. The conferences were introduced by the Tasmanian Liberal government in 2017 as a way of involving parents and school staff in finding a resolution to non-attendance. The conference system has been defended by the state government, who said conciliation provided a better alternative to previous Labor policies. 'Under Labor the only option was to prosecute against truancy. The fact is it took a Liberal government to actually introduce a system that genuinely works with students and families,' Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff said. Jessica Hart is enjoying the perks of dating an American NASCAR driver. The supermodel and her boyfriend James Kirkham were spotted heading for breakfast in Beverly Hills on Tuesday in a $361,000 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT R. Former Victoria's Secret star Jess, 33, cut an edgy figure in jeans and a hooded jumper, which she teamed with a designer Goyard bag and a beanie. Start your engines! Model Jessica Hart and NASCAR driver boyfriend James Kirkham went for breakfast in LA on Tuesday in his $361,000 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT R Edgy: Former Victoria's Secret star Jess cut an edgy figure on the day in jeans and a hooded jumper, which she teamed with designer bags and a beanie Jess kept warm in a grey jumper and a black beanie, and made sure all eyes were on her by slipping on a pair of fluorescent sunglasses. The blonde completed her look with chunky white sneakers and had her long locks out and over her shoulders. Going strong: Jess and James were first spotted together on Valentine's Day last year, when the couple headed out for dinner in Los Angeles. They made their romance official shortly afterwards Meanwhile, James was also casual in a bright orange jumper with grey tracksuit pants and sneakers. He teamed the look with a green cap and dark sunglasses. Also joining the pair was Jess' adorable pet pooch, Floyd. Jess and James were first spotted together on Valentine's Day last year, when they headed out for dinner in Los Angeles. She's smitten: In August, Jessica revealed she was relocating to LA from New York to live with her 'supportive boyfriend' They made their romance official shortly afterwards. In August, Jessica revealed she was relocating to LA from New York to live with her 'supportive boyfriend'. Her last serious relationship before James was with billionaire Stavros Niarchos III. For several years, it was rumoured they were secretly engaged, but they split around July 2018. Man Accused of Killing 5 of His Babies in Cold Case That Has Haunted Investigators for Years A California man has been arrested for the killings of five of his infant children more than a decade after the infants deaths. Paul Allen Perez, who is a convicted sex offender already serving time at the Kern Valley State Prison for unrelated crimes, was arrested on Monday after new DNA technology helped investigators reopen a cold case from 2007, the Yolo County Sheriffs Office said in a press release. Thanks to new DNA technology, authorities were able to identify a deceased infant found by a fisherman in March 2007 in a sealed container weighed down with heavy objects as Nikko Lee Perez, authorities said. Little Nikko was wrapped in a Winnie the Pooh blanket, wrapped in plastic, and placed in a metal cooler that also contained pieces of metal rotors, a brick and U-shaped metal pieces, according to a coroners report. Nikkos cause of death was blunt force trauma, the report said, and Nikko was between one and three months old when he died. At the time, police were unable to identify the baby, who had already begun to decompose when he was pulled out by fishermen in Woodland, California, which is about 20 miles east of Sacramento. Victims provided by the Yolo County Sheriff's Office | Yolo County Sheriff's Office RELATED: North Carolina Man Charged with Human Trafficking and Accused of Keeping Sex Slave for 5 Years The identification of Nikko finally came in October 2019, and led investigators to discover that Nikko had four siblings, who were all also killed when they were less than six months old, the sheriffs office said. The siblings, all born in California, were identified as Kato Allen Perez, born in 1992 and known to be deceased; Mika Alena Perez, born in 1995; Nikko Lee Perez, born in 1997; and Kato Krow Perez, born in 2001. The remains of the last three infants are still unknown. Perez has been identified as the father of all five children, but it is still unclear whether they have the same mother, authorities said. RELATE VIDEO: Six People Killed in Jersey City Shooting Incident, Including Two Suspects Story continues While I am proud of the efforts of my investigators and coroners office, this is not a day that will bring joy to any one of us, Sheriff Tom Lopez said in a statement. In my 40 years in law enforcement, I cannot think of a case more disturbing than this one, Lopez added. There can be no victim more vulnerable and innocent than an infant, and unfortunately this case involves five. The allegations announced today are heartbreaking. There is absolutely no place in our society for horrendous crimes against children, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. RELATED: A Year Later, Ohio Woman Charged in Death of 3-Month-Old Baby with 6 Broken Ribs At the California Department of Justice, we will do everything in our power to track down criminals who think they have evaded the grip of justice, Becrra added. We are thankful for the hard work of our DNA team and our partners at the Yolo County Sheriffs and District Attorneys offices who are fighting every day to keep our communities safe. Perez could be sentenced with life in prison without parole or the death sentence, said District Attorney Jeff Reisig at a news conference on Monday, The New York Times reported. The DAs office did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment. Perez is set to be arraigned on Tuesday, according to NBC Station KCRA 3. It is not clear if Perez has a lawyer. The EU will "never, never, never" compromise on the integrity of the bloc's single market when it comes to negotiating a trade deal with the U.K., according to the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. "There will be no compromise on the single market. Never, never, never," Barnier said at Queen's University Belfast Monday evening. "It is our main asset on the EU side," he said. "Never will the EU compromise, (make) fragile or unravel the single market, never," he said. The EU's single market seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labor the "four freedoms" within the EU. With a collective population of over 500 million people and consumers, the value of single market membership and that unfettered movement of goods and services is a boon to businesses in the bloc. When the U.K. leaves the EU on Friday January 31, it will remain a member of the single market but only during a "transition period" until the end of 2020. During that time, the U.K. and EU will try to strike a trade deal although the short time frame is seen as ambitious and Brussels has warned London that the trading relationship will not be the same post-Brexit. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar suggested in an interview with the BBC Monday that the EU will be the "stronger team" in post-Brexit trade talks and that striking a deal would be "difficult." U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is bullish, however, saying the U.K. can "wrap up" a deal by its self-imposed deadline of the end of 2020. Rome, Jan 28 : The crumbling truce between Libya's warring factions worries Italy "deeply" and the ongoing oil blockade by eastern forces is "unacceptable", Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Tuesday, according to diplomatic sources. During phone conversations with his German and Austrian counterparts, Di Maio expressed "profound preoccupation" at the violations of the truce brokered earlier this month between militias backing the internationally recognised government in Tripoli and those loyal to eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar, according to the sources. Di Maio reiterated Italy's total commitment to getting Libya's warring sides to respect the ceasefire and return dialogue, said the sources. The ministers also discussed European Union follow-up to this month's peace conference in Berlin at which world powers backed the ceasefire, urged an end regional meddling in Libya and the upholding of a much-violated United Nations arms embargo. Haftar's response to the Libya conference was to shut down the oilfields and resume shelling of Tripoli, part of an offensive to gain control the capital, which he launched in April. Libya's oil chief Mustafa Sanalla warned Tuesday that his country faced "disaster" as a nine-day blockade of oil ports by Haftar's forces continued, causing output to plummet to 260,000 barrels a day from 1.2 million barrels previously. Six persons have been arrested here for allegedly duping several people on the pretext of providing them with fake jobs in the railways, police said on Tuesday. Acting on the complaint of a Kharagpur-resident, a probe was started by sleuths of Hare Street Police Station who arrested them on Monday night from their hideouts in the city, the police said. Of six arrested, three were residents of Jharkhand, two from the city while the other one was from Murshidabad district, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said. During investigation, sleuths found that six accused used to impersonate themselves as senior officials of the railways and call job seekers for interview ...," the officer said. During search several fake appointment letters, forged seal and stamp were seized, he said. "We found the gang was using forged government documents with a false promise to provide job to the unemployed youths in lieu of huge money," the police officer said. The arrested persons were produced at a city court, which remanded them to police custody till February 6. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To further contain the coronavirus epidemic, China has extended the Spring Festival holiday, postponed school openings and adopted transport restrictions. Donations, funds, medical supplies and teams have been sent to central China's Hubei Province to contain the epidemic. BEIJING, Jan. 27 -- China extended the Spring Festival holiday and postponed school openings on Monday, while transport restrictions have been adopted in various areas to further contain the coronavirus epidemic. The seven-day Spring Festival vacation, scheduled to end on Jan. 30, was extended to Feb. 2. Universities, primary and middle schools and kindergartens across the country will postpone the opening of the spring semester until further notice, according to the General Office of the State Council. Entrusted by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Premier Li Keqiang on Monday arrived in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, to inspect and direct the efforts for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak. In Wuhan, Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, thanked front-line medical workers for their all-out efforts in treating patients and urged them to pay attention to their own protection. He required efforts to guarantee medical resources supply, race against time to treat patients and ensure adequate market supply and stable prices. Chinese health authorities announced Monday that 2,744 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), including 461 in critical condition, had been reported in the country by the end of Sunday. The pneumonia situation has resulted in a total of 80 deaths. Fifty-one people have recovered. Besides the temporary closures of public venues such as tourist sites, museums and cinemas and cancellations of gatherings, transport restrictions have been imposed in various areas as the country is still in its Spring Festival travel rush period. Photo taken on Jan. 27, 2020 shows suspended buses at a bus terminal in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng) On Monday, the northern port city of Tianjin and the eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Anhui as well as the southwestern city of Chongqing began to suspend inter-provincial highway passenger bus services. Previously, Shanghai and Qinghai Province had halted similar bus services. Beijing has also launched temperature detection at 55 subway stations, including stops at railway stations and the Beijing Capital International Airport. Passengers with abnormal body temperatures will be sent to the hospital. Beijing's subway stations and buses have also stepped up cleaning and disinfection work. Each carriage of the train is ordered to be disinfected every day. The entrances and exits, escalators, self-service machines, toilets and other public areas of subway stations are disinfected three times each day. A staff member disinfects a bus at a bus terminal in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Ren Chao) Tianjin has asked all taxi drivers and passengers to wear masks and taxi drivers to disinfect the car after each passenger. The Lanzhou bureau of China Railway on Monday suspended 30.5 pairs of trains to cities such as Guangzhou, Zhengzhou and Xi'an until Feb. 8. Shopping malls are also reacting to the epidemic. Several malls in Beijing have shortened business hours in an effort to battle the novel coronavirus. China has stressed all-around community-based efforts to prevent and control the spread of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus. "We must give full play to the mobilization ability of primary-level communities, including rural communities, in personnel tracking and management among efforts to curb the spread of the virus," said He Qinghua, an official with the National Health Commission on Monday. Strict measures have been implemented in rural areas. A medical worker demonstrates how to correctly use masks in Wuying, a village of Miao ethnic group on the border of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang) "Our 96 grassroots staff members are all working right now. We have been visiting households and monitoring body temperatures of returning migrant workers every day," said Wu Lihui, Party official of a subdistrict office in the city of Shangrao, eastern China's Jiangxi Province. Yang Xiaoxia, a villager in Lantian county, northwestern Shaanxi Province, planned to hold a large dinner party for her one-month-old grandson during the Spring Festival. However, she decided to postpone it because of the spreading coronavirus. "A villager in our community canceled his wedding banquet," said Yang. "I will invite everybody over to celebrate when the outbreak is over." Online medical consultation platforms were launched in many different places in China in an effort to relieve hospital pressure amid the novel coronavirus spread. "Doctor, I have been coughing for two days. Do I have the coronavirus," Mr. Li from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, typed on his phone. "Do you have a fever? Have you had close contact with anybody from Wuhan?" doctor Lin Jianmei from the people's hospital of Sichuan Province replied through the online medical consultation system. After being told that he did not need to rush to the hospital and just needed to rest at home, Li was relieved. "I have 'seen' over 50 patients every day since the launch of the online medical consultation platform. Some of the patients are consulting because of their cold symptoms, others are just having psychological stress," said Liu Jie, a doctor from the city of Guangyuan in Sichuan. The online platforms can preliminarily screen the patients, relieve the pressure of some overly worried patients and allow patients in need to go to the hospital, said Fan Wei, a doctor from the city of Yuncheng in northern China's Shanxi Province. In eastern China's Shandong Province, which has reported 63 confirmed cases of the new pneumonia, 48 hospitals have opened online fever clinic services to help control the epidemic. Donations, funds, medical supplies and teams have been sent to Hubei to contain the epidemic situation. Medical staff members load luggages on a bus before heading for Wuhan of Hubei Province in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Jan. 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi) "The 2.4 million medical masks and over 100,000 items of protective clothing we produced have all been transported to Wuhan," said Che Jinjun, a worker at a medical equipment company in Rizhao, Shandong Province. All employees gave up their Spring Festival holidays. On Monday, 410 doctors and nurses in three medical teams were formed in Fujian, Yunnan and Jiangxi provinces to leave for Wuhan. A number of medical teams from other provinces and the military are already in Wuhan treating patients. (Reporting by Han Xiaojing, Li Laifang, Li Baojie, Wang Chenyang, Wei Yijun, Zhang Jianxin, Liu Weizhen, Li Jie, Liang Jun, Wang Bo, Zhang Zhilong, Wang Kai, Zhang Yizhi, Dong Xiaohong, Yue Wenwan, Yu Pei, Ji Ning) A safety blitz on waterways could result in new CCTV cameras being used to catch speeding boaties and jet skiers. The specialist boating cams were set up on the Gold Coast last week and used for the first time over the Australia Day weekend. The $230,000 smart camera trial is intended to improve safety and planning on the water, as well as spotting speeders putting lives at risk. But authorities are investigating how the cameras can be used to enforce speed limits on the waterways and canals. The cameras are currently at 20 locations including the southern end of the Broadwater and the Coomera River. Speeding boats have been known to cause problems in the area around the Southern Broadwater near Southport (pictured) Gold Coast Waterways Authority (GCWA) announced it was investing in the state-of-the-art smart cameras for the new trial, which it insisted was for 'research purposes'. That research will seek to establish whether a boat's speed can be accurately measured by a camera, and if so, may be provided to law enforcement in the future. It will use the cameras to take records of a boat's registration number to help identify its owner. The Queensland University of Technology will operate the cameras and gather the necessary data. WHY CAN'T RADAR GUNS BE USED TO CATCH SPEEDING BOATS? Measuring speed on-water is not the same as measuring point-to-point speed on land. A number of other factors need to be considered, including strength and direction of water currents. The direction a boat is travelling in is also important as well as weather conditions. The research hopes to develop a method for measuring on-water speed. Advertisement GCWA boss Hal Morris said the project hopes to keep locals and visitors safe, as well as protecting the environment. 'Its important because to successfully plan for the future we need to understand the impacts population growth and rising boat ownership are having,' he said. '[Then] we can plan for these changes, protect the environment and ensure locals and visitors continue to enjoy safe access to our beautiful waterways city. He explained the camera trial builds on a study released last year, which showed the Gold Coast was experiencing rapid population growth and more boats on the water.' 'That earlier study gave us a fairly broad idea of how the waterways are being used,' he said. The waterways around the Spit (pictured) in the Gold Coast are often full of recreational boats, with local officials now concerned about safety as numbers swell 'Now we need more detail to improve our future planning. 'Well be using the cameras to create a more complete picture of who is using the waterways, where theyre going, what type of vessel or watercraft theyre travelling in, and how theyre interacting with other users and the environment,' he said. 'This information hasnt been collected before to this level of detail on the Gold Coast.' Khalidis core thesis is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is best understood as a war of colonial conquest, one that closely hews to the pattern and mind-set of other national-colonial movements of the 19th century. As he points out, an early Zionist slogan calling for a Jewish homeland in Palestine a land without people for a people without a land not only discounted the presence of the estimated 700,000 Palestinians already there, but echoed a great body of settler lore that required conquered lands to be void of people, or at least inhabited only by lesser ones: Think of the expansion onto Indian lands in the American West, or white Australias long denigration of the Aborigines. Zionism had the added advantage, Khalidi argues, of adorning itself with a biblical coat that was powerfully attractive to Bible-reading Protestants in Great Britain and the United States. Consolidating this colonial settler paradigm, in Khalidis telling, was the 1948 Israeli War of Independence or the Nakba (Catastrophe), as the Palestinians call it. By seizing control of nearly 80 percent of the land that constituted the British Palestine Mandate, and overseeing the expulsion or flight of a similar percentage of its native Arab population, the Israeli pioneers were emulating the model of earlier victorious settlers. Once outside actors became involved, Khalidi contends, matters only turned worse for the Palestinians. After the 1967 war, for example, the United Nations passed Resolution 242, demanding Israel return to its prewar borders. As Khalidi astutely points out, while SC 242 is generally regarded as the foundational basis for future Arab-Israeli peace talks, for the Palestinians it represented a one-two punch: Nowhere in the resolution are they referred to by name they are merely refugees while a return to the 1967 borders meant the outside world was now legitimating their 1948 expulsion. In Khalidis view, each subsequent diplomatic breakthrough in the region has served only to further negate or marginalize the Palestinians. The 1979 Camp David peace treaty between Israel and Egypt meant that the Palestinians had lost a cornerstone ally in the region, while the much-heralded 1993 Oslo Accords served to co-opt the Palestinian leadership and maroon their followers into tiny enclaves under ultimate Israeli control. While many of Khalidis insights are thought-provoking, their persuasiveness is undermined at times by a tendency to shave the rhetorical corner. He quite justifiably labels the Irgun, an early Jewish paramilitary organization, as a terror group, but is markedly more charitable when similar tactics were used by armed Palestinian factions. There is also a slipperiness to some of his formulations. To cite one particularly stark example, Khalidi contends that vital to the settler-colonial enterprise has been an Israeli campaign to sever the link displaced Palestinians feel for their homeland. The comforting idea, he writes, that the old will die and the young will forget a remark attributed to David Ben-Gurion, probably mistakenly expresses one of the deepest aspirations of Israeli leaders after 1948. Well, if the writer himself notes that the source of a quote is probably wrong, then its deeply problematic to use that quote. But the bigger weakness of this book, to my mind, can be distilled to a simple question: Where does it get you? Even if one fully accepts Khalidis colonialist thesis, does that move us any closer to some kind of resolution? This may seem an unfair criticism. After all, it is not incumbent on a historian to offer up possible remedies except this is the closing task Khalidi sets for himself. It is also where his insights become noticeably threadbare. His most intriguing suggestion is that the Palestinians stop regarding the United States as an honest broker in negotiations with Israel, but recognize that Washington will always ultimately side with Israel. He further suggests that with American influence in the region waning, it might be one of the new powers emerging on the scene China or India or Russia that could more honorably fulfill the arbiter role. While Khalidis first point has considerable merit, its exceedingly hard to see the United States, waning influence or no, ever taking a diplomatic back seat in the region to another external power, or forcing Israel to make the sorts of concessions that a new intermediary would surely demand. And with the possible exception of the current occupant of the White House, its even harder to imagine anyone thinking a solution to their problems can be found in the tender embrace of Vladimir Putin. You surely know that riding with feet up on the dashboard is unsafe. The injuries in a crash could be severe, and even a minor accident in which airbags deploy could have dire consequences. But if you can't convince the person who rides shotgun with you, this image should do the trick. The X-ray, which, understandably, is careening around the internet today, shows the aftermath of a car crash in which a young woman in Wales was riding with feet up. One femur is snapped, while one hip is broken in the socket and the other has been dislocated far from where it should be. Police who released the X-ray described the woman's injuries as "life changing." The Daily Mail's account of the X-ray mentions that Audra Tatum, of Chickamauga, Georgia, was permanently disabled in 2015 by a minor accident. Everyone else in the car received minor scratches and bruises. But the deploying airbag threw her foot into her face, breaking her nose, femur, and her ankle in four places. "Basically my whole right side was broken, and it's simply because of my ignorance," Tatum said. "I'm not Superman. I couldn't put my foot down in time." A sad irony is that Tatum was herself an EMT, a job that, two years after the accident, she could no longer do. The Chattanooga, Tenn., Fire Department issued a vivid Facebook post years ago that has been widely shared. It said in part: "Airbags deploy between 100 & 220 MPH. If you ride with your feet on the dash and you're involved in an accident, the airbag may send your knees through your eye sockets." So: Seatbelt on. Sit up straight. Feet on the floor. That's how your car will best protect you. Here is an X-ray of horrific injuries sustained to the front seat passenger who had their feet on the dashboard at the time of a collision. If you see your passenger doing it stop driving and show them this. pic.twitter.com/f3XCT8ePvi Sgt 121 Ian Price (@DPGoSafeSkipper) January 22, 2020 You Might Also Like Twitter has taken more than once and closed more than 6,000 accounts. The accounts that Twitter has closed are all from Saudi Arabia. On closing these accounts, Twitter says that all these users were violating its policy and trolling on targeting other users. With this, the Embassy from Saudi Arabia has not yet commented on the matter. Twitter has said that 88,000 such accounts have been identified that spread spam. Spam content is served on a particular topic from these accounts. Apart from this, 5,929 of these accounts have been deleted. Let us know that in August this year, Twitter has closed two lakh Chinese accounts which were present in the Hong Kong Protest. Actually this account suspension is a part of the same decision in which social media companies said that they are getting objectionable and misinformation on their platform. Will not give place to content giving. In the year 2016 also during the US elections, many accounts were closed which were of Russia. The same account was being used to benefit political parties. The Delhi Police is said to have recently written a letter from various social media forums including Facebook and Twitter to remove and deactivate objectionable content from around 60 accounts. Apart from this, an official said on Thursday that Police are working to stem the rumors against the amended citizenship law (CAA). He said that the police has also appealed to people to give information about the accounts of users who spread rumors. Apart from this, the senior officer said, Delhi Police has written a letter from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to remove objectionable content on their platform. "We have been monitoring the social media handle for the last three-four days and identifying objectionable content and tense posts are being identified," he said. Also Read: Ensure Safety of Home & Family with Video Door Phones Samsung Galaxy A51 will be launched in India soon, Know expected price Motorola Razr's 5G edition can be launched soon in India Know why social media users are always worried Oakland will shut down a large homeless encampment in front of a Home Depot store in the Fruitvale neighborhood next month and, starting Monday, move most of its residents into a new safe RV parking site, The Chronicle has learned. City officials will offer shelter beds or space at a community cabin site to others living in tents, cars or small, makeshift homes in a shift expected to be completed by the second week of March. The encampment appeared at least three years ago. Its closure comes after six months of uncertainty for scores of residents of the encampment after the city announced in July that it would shut down the vast site. The encampment outside the Home Depot at 4000 Alameda Ave. is so large that it has transformed into a small village of sorts with designated residents who serve as unofficial leaders of the site and has attracted national attention for its size and duration. In September, then-Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro toured the encampment and called for compassion and resources to house people. City officials told The Chronicle Monday they will move RV-dwellers from the encampment at East Eighth Street and Alameda Avenue to a city-owned lot across the street at High Street. But just 41 sites will be available, said Daryel Dunston, a program planner for the citys health and human services department. Everyone is very worried and stressed, said Candice Elder, executive director of the East Oakland Collective, a community organization that addresses racial and economic equity. This closure has been looming for a long time, but now they finally set the date and, of course, no one is ever fully prepared for this no matter how much time you give someone. After months of conversations with encampment residents, city officials feel optimistic about the decision to create their RV Safe Parking Program, said Lara Tannenbaum, manager of the citys community housing services. The conditions (at the encampment) are really not healthy or safe for anybody, she said, adding that the RV site seemed like a good fit for a good number of those folks. The encampment attracted the citys attention after Home Depot complained in June about employee safety and store security. Residents come and go, and estimates range from 40 to 100. Councilman Noel Gallo warned at the time that the store would close unless the city cleared the tents and RVs from the area. Home Depot denied it will close but is paying for two Oakland Police Department squad cars, staffed by off-duty officers at $100 an hour each, to patrol the site. Markaya Spikes, 39, who has lived at the encampment for nearly three years in a tiny home donated by students of the Oakland School for the Arts, said the citys options arent viable for her because she wants to keep her home. So Spikes said shell move her home to another empty lot on High Street that isnt run by the city. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. There are really no options available for anybody like me in my situation, period, Spikes said. Its not just that I have a tiny home. I have dogs and I have a kid. Children are not allowed overnight in the RV safe parking site or community cabin sites. No overnight guests are allowed in the site. The RV site will be operated by the Housing Consortium of the East Bay, a housing nonprofit organization. This is the second safe RV parking location the city has opened. In June, city officials opened the first location near the Coliseum in East Oakland that offers 50 spots. That location allows residents to park for six months. Startup costs were about $150,000 for the new site and it will cost $600,000 a year to maintain. It might work for some and its definitely not going to work for some others, Elder said about the RV parking programs. So what do we do about the people who are not so cookie cutter? They have different experiences and they have different needs. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani Jan. 27 marks both International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. More than seven decades after the unspeakable tragedies occurred, the world continues to grieve for the victims and entire generations that perished. As world leaders urge for increased education of the genocide, we're also remembering those that worked valiantly in defiance -- and ended up saving hundreds and thousands in return. Keep reading to learn more about three reluctant Holocaust heroes and their life-saving actions. SIR NICHOLAS WINTON Nicholas Winton holds a child he rescued (AP) Nicholas Winton remained guarded about his work during the Holocaust, and it was only after his wife discovered a notebook of his work in 1988 did the world learn of his brave wartime efforts. In 1938, the British-born Jew, who changed his last name from Wertheim to Winton when his family converted to Christianity, was working as a stockbroker in London when he received a phone call from a friend outside Prague. That friend, Martin Blake, was working with refugees in Czechoslovakia after the anti-Jewish pogroms of Kristallnacht, and successfully convinced Winton to cancel his Swiss ski vacation to join him. After witnessing the deteriorating conditions of the refugees, Winton began his own rescue mission modeled after Britain's Kindertransport, which brought 10,000 Jewish children to Britain before the war's official start. Calling his little organization "The British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia," Winton received limited financial aid and supported the rest of the organization himself. The children, taken from their parents before they perished in concentration camps like Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, were transported to London to live with foster families. Because of Winton's work, 669 Jewish children survived. His New York Times obituary in 2015 explained: "It involved dangers, bribes, forgery, secret contacts with the Gestapo, nine railroad trains, an avalanche of paperwork and a lot of money. Nazi agents started following him. In his Prague hotel room, he met terrified parents desperate to get their children to safety, although it meant surrendering them to strangers in a foreign land." Story continues While the world was notified of his work after Winton's wife discovered a list of names and addresses in the attic, Winton never really gave an explanation for his heroism. "One saw the problem there, that a lot of these children were in danger, and you had to get them to what was called a safe haven, and there was no organization to do that," he told the New York Times in 2001. "Why did I do it? Why do people do different things? Some people revel in taking risks, and some go through life taking no risks at all. Winton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2003. He died in 2015 at the age of 106. HO FENG SHAN, THE CHINESE SCHINDLER Monto Ho (L) and his sister Manli Ho stand in front of the Righteous Among the Nations wall at the Yad Vashem Holocaust and point to the name of their father, Ho Feng Shan (Getty) Ho Feng Shan passed away in 1997 at the age of 96, but the Chinese diplomat never once mentioned his work with Jewish refugees to his wife, children or friends. From 1938 to 1940, Ho was working in Vienna as the consul general of the Nationalist Chinese government when he took the fate of thousands of refugees into his own hands. Historians estimate that he was the first diplomat to take action in the days preceding the war. Despite orders from his superior in Berlin, Chen Jie, he issued thousands of Shanghai visas, thus saving over 5,000 lives and effectively earning himself the title of "China's Schindler." While anyone could enter Japenese-controlled Shanghai without a visa, Ho was determined to issue Shanghai visas for the refugees as the documents were required for emigrants to leave Nazi Germany. Some recipients did travel to the open port city, but others were able to escape to places like Palestine, the United States, Italy and the Soviet Union because of Ho's efforts. Lilith-Sylvia Doron, who lived in Vienna with her family during the outbreak of the war, spoke to Yad Vashem about Ho's kindness and bravery as Hitler invaded Austria on March 11, 1938. Ho, who knew my family, accompanied me home, said Doron. He claimed that, thanks to his diplomatic status, the [Nazis] would not dare harm us as long as he remained in our home. Ho continued to visit our home on a permanent basis to protect us from the Nazis. He also saved her brother Karl after he was arrested and taken to Dachau. Ho's family only learned about his wartime efforts after he died. According to CNN, a brief mention of his work with the Jewish people surfaced after his daughter, Manli Ho, penned his obituary in 1997. Manli, a reporter, mentioned that her father once confronted the Gestapo at gunpoint in order to rescue his Jewish friends. Curators from an exhibition about diplomat rescuers contacted Manli, influencing her to learn more about her father's heroic work. In 2000, Ho was only one of two Chinese nationals to be included as "Righteous Among the Nations" by Israel for his work. JOHAN VAN HULST Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu honors Johan van Hulst (R) for his resistance work (Reuters) Johan van Hulst, who died in 2018 at the age of 107, is remembered for his valiant work with Dutch Resistance groups, an effort that he only "modestly" discussed in the years following the war. In January 1943, van Hulst was working as the principal of the Reformed Teachers Training College in Amsterdam when he devised a plan with Dutch Resistance groups to smuggle Jewish children who were taken from their parents at a deportation center to safety into the countryside. Most of their parents were taken to the transit camp in Westerbork before being transported to extermination camps. The efforts soon evolved into a large-scale rescue operation, with van Hulst doing the actual smuggling. Walter Suskind, a German refugee who ran the deportation center, effectively erased the children's names from records and lists. Henriette Pimentel ran the daycare and convinced the children's parents to let them be smuggled out. The nursery, housing children up to 12, shared a hedge and a fence with the college. Workers discreetly passed the children over the fence and into the school, where they were housed temporarily until they were transported out of the city. While the teacher was credited with saving the lives of 600 children, van Hulst often mourned the children he was unable to save; there were still 100 left in the nursery after it was shut down in 1943. Now try to imagine 80, 90, perhaps 70 or 100 children standing there, and you have to decide which children to take with you," he told Yad Vashem. "That was the most difficult day of my life." "You realize that you cannot possibly take all the children with you. You know for a fact that the children you leave behind are going to die. I took twelve with me. Later on I asked myself: Why not thirteen? Van Holst, who later became a Dutch senator, reluctantly opened up about his heroic work over the years. I was at the center of a particular activity, he said in an interview a few years before his death. Its not about me. I dont want to put myself in the foreground or play Resistance hero. All I really think about is the things I couldnt do the few thousand children I wasnt able to save. In 1972, he was also recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. Quarterly Activities Report 31 December 2019 Perth, Jan 28, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Horizon Minerals Limited ( ASX:HRZ ) is pleased to provide the December 2019 Quarterly Activities Report. Horizon is a gold exploration and development company with a key focus in the Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie regions of Western Australia and has a joint venture in place covering the world class 2.6Bt Richmond oxide vanadium project in North Queensland.HIGHLIGHTS- Horizon received formal notification from Focus Minerals Limited ("Focus") under the Exclusivity Deed that Focus is unlikely to obtain the required internal, board and regulatory approvals necessary for it to proceed with the proposed sale of the Coolgardie gold project before the expiry of the Exclusivity Period on 17 December 2019.- Horizon did not contemplate any further extension of the Exclusivity Period and the Exclusivity Deed has been terminated and the Exclusivity Deposit returned- Subsequent to Quarter end, Horizon reset its growth strategy focussed on near term cash generation from production at Boorara, reserve and resource growth and further asset consolidation in the West Australian goldfields- Agreement completed with Northern Star Resources to swap tenure in WA goldfields region with Horizon to acquire key strategic assets in Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie- Crake gold project continued to grow with an updated Mineral Resource Estimate of 1.27Mt grading 1.81g/t Au for 74,000oz at a 1g/t Au lower grade cut-off- Excellent drilling results received from the regional drilling program with two new prospects identified at Baden Powell north and Capricorn- Extensive 18,000m infill drilling program completed at the Boorara gold project with excellent results announced subsequent to Quarter end- Cash on hand of $3.65 million and listed investments totalling $4.4 millionTo view the quarterly report, please visit:About Horizon Minerals Limited Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed. Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline. Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage. Due to rapid decline in demand for travel to China, United Airlines announced today that it will suspend flights to Hong Kong and Shanghai from San Francisco International Airport beginning Feb. 1 through Feb. 8. For now, the airline will cancel 24 roundtrip flights during that week and says it will monitor the situation and will make further adjustments as needed. From San Francisco International, United also flies to Beijing and Chengdu, and currently those flights are unaffected. However, United is canceling flights to Beijing from its Chicago, Newark/New York and Washington-Dulles hubs. "Additionally, though we have implemented a temporary reduction, we are still operating flights between the U.S. and China to enable customers to continue to travel between the two countries," said a United spokesperson in a statement. Currently, the only other airline to cancel flights to China from SFO is China Southern. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the carrier flew from Wuhan nonstop to SFO. That flight originated in Guangzhou, then stopped in Wuhan on its way to SFO. Now that flight bypasses Wuhan. Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE bi-weekly email alerts A spokesperson for Cathay Pacific said that the carrier has not canceled any of its three daily nonstops between Hong Kong and SFO. Airlines are working with travelers hoping to change or cancel reservations for flights to China. For example, United said on its website that as a result of these warnings, "Weve issued a travel waiver for customers. Were also offering additional flexibility for other destinations in China. Customers traveling to and from China will need to complete additional health screenings." United's travel waiver currently applies to China flights scheduled between now and March see more here. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE biweekly email updates! SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. More than once, readers have written in, or people have stopped me, to complain about their fellow Americans ignorance of the basic functions of government. Incandescent with anger, theyll complain that, while their neighbors dont know the name of their local member of Congress, they can absolutely tell you what happened on the latest episode of The Real Housewives of Ulan Bator or wherever its now filming. The answer, as constant as the northern star, is that the kids need to be sent back to civics class. These complaints, while smacking of Old Man Yells at Cloud, arent without some grounding in statistical fact. In a May 2019 American Bar Association Survey, just about 49 percent of Americans could correctly identify U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Other respondents thought Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Clarence Thomas were chief justices. And just 44 percent knew that flag-burning was a constitutionally protected form of free speech. A further 38 percent of respondents knew that the U.S. Constitution, along with federal laws and treaties, was the final word on law in the United States, the Hill also reported. So for all those armchair Howard Zinns lamenting the state of their fellow Americans political knowledge, allow me to humbly submit that the ultimate crash course in civics is unfolding in real-time, right now, on your television screens, courtesy of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Putting aside your feelings about the personalities involved and there is no shortage of opinions there were undeniably living through a historic moment. Whether you believe him innocent or guilty, Trump is just the third president in the nations history to stand trial in the United States Senate. That mere fact alone makes it worthy of notice. Thats why its so distressing to hear pundits on Fox News repeatedly tell viewers that impeachment is too boring to watch. If you watch some of it there were snippets, and were showing you the good stuff it was unbelievably boring, Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy opined to viewers last week. I dont know how people can follow it. Its hard to know whether Doocy and his fellow anchors in the Foxhole really think their viewers are morons, or are merely trying to offer political cover to a White House that finds itself on the defensive. There may be some of the former but there is undoubtedly a heaping portion of the latter. Either by happenstance or design, telling viewers that impeachment is too boring for them to trouble themselves with, the Fox anchors will drive down viewership of the live Senate proceedings, where Americans can decide for themselves whos right and whos wrong. And into that information void, of course, steps soundbites, punditry and the bloviations of the Tweeter-in-Chief, whose relationship with the truth grows more abusive by the day. Thats no substitute for first-hand knowledge. And heres a newsflash: The impeachment proceedings are supposed to be boring. The Senate is governed by Byzantine operating rules. And floor debate, which has a rhetorical language and style all its own, is conducted under those Byzantine operating rules. And so, while it may seem that Rep. Adam Schiff and his colleagues are speaking in some dense, Chaucerian middle English, all it takes is a little careful listening to discern what theyre really trying to say. The same holds true for the opposing counsel. Ive covered court hearings and legislative debates for the best part of my working life, and I can tell you that the Mr. Smith Goes to Washington moments are a Hollywood invention. And while courtrooms are full of real-life moments of drama, they very rarely resemble Law & Order. The impeachment proceedings are not and should not -be viewed as Must-See TV. To frame them that way infantilizes both the audience in the Senate and those watching at home. Its the American democratic system at its purest form of expression. Despite three years of plot twists from our reality show president, the drama unfolding in the Senate, however preordained (or not) its final result, is the one thing that Americans keep asking for: A front-row seat to history and the ultimate civics class. Itll be no ones fault but our own if we fail the final. John Micek is the opinion editor and political columnist for PennLive/The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 FARGO Half a dozen Native and non-Native women alike sat around a table in the lobby of the Plains Art Museum for their monthly meeting on missing and murdered Indigenous people, or MMIP. Their group was formed shortly after a local Native American woman, Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, was brutally murdered in August 2017. The members of the group, known as the Fargo Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Task Force, have a shared trauma, said Ruth Buffalo, a member of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation and a Democratic state representative for Fargo. They all joined in the search for LaFontaine-Greywind, whose body was found by kayakers along the Red River nine days after she disappeared. The river, which runs from southern North Dakota into Canada, has been the dumping site of hundreds of Indigenous peoples bodies over the years, according to the Sovereign Bodies Institute, a group working to document such cases in North America. LaFontaine-Greywind was murdered, and her baby was cut from her womb. The child survived despite the violent ordeal. And the case sparked international outcry and even a bill in Congress that has yet to pass. After LaFontaine-Greywind's death, Buffalo helped form the local task force and a handful of women joined in the effort. Now, they help out with the annual MMIP March on Feb. 14, an event started locally by the awareness group Sing Our Rivers Red. They use their Facebook page to provide resources and raise awareness when people go missing. They set up booths at local events, and they organize viewings of relevant documentaries and artwork. ADVERTISEMENT "We have to be more proactive," Buffalo said. "And oftentimes, it takes a horrific thing for people to take action." Theyre not the only ones taking action, though. Grassroots movements are popping up across the Plains in the form of organizations, civilian search crews, and awareness walks and rallies. One local artist created a piece to start conversations about the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people. One group of activists walked 550 miles along the Red River from Wahpeton, N.D., to Lake Winnipeg, Canada, to pray for the water and the Indigenous people who have been dumped in it. One group of horseback riders traveled 200 miles from Santee, Neb., to South Dakota's capital city to honor missing and murdered women. One Indigenous designer has modeled entire fashion shows to raise awareness of missing aunties, moms, daughters and sisters. One North Dakota woman has dedicated her life to searching for missing and murdered Indigenous people. And hundreds of people have gathered to march in rallies and look for missing people as families across the Plains struggle with no answers when their loved ones go missing. "This is a spiritually motivated movement," said searcher Lissa Yellow Bird-Chase. Yellow Bird-Chase, 51, gave up her Fargo career as a welder to become a full-time searcher for what she calls the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives. "Every generation almost is missing a relative," she said. Even the license plate on her black SUV reads "SEARCH." Yellow Bird-Chase, a member of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation on the Fort Berthold Reservation, started searching for missing people almost a decade ago. Shes since created the Sahnish Scouts of North Dakota, a handful of people who help her search, and shes worked on cases across the country, from the Dakotas, Montana and Minnesota to Iowa, Oklahoma and Nebraska, all the way to California. ADVERTISEMENT She quit her job in Fargo, spent her retirement savings and the money made from selling her house all in the name of searching for the missing. "If theres someone out there missing, Ill do whatever I have to to find them," she said. Shes a self-taught sleuth. And shes tough. "I live, breathe and sing missing and murdered," she said. Olivia Lone Bear went missing on the Fort Berthold Reservation in the fall of 2017. The following summer, Yellow Bird-Chase took her boat, equipped with sonar, onto Lake Sakakawea. A young, hopeful searcher, who tagged along, watched the sonar and located the truck Lone Bear was last seen in underwater. Once pulled from the water, Lone Bear was found in the vehicle. Yellow Bird-Chase also helped in the search for Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, and in the search for Melissa Eagleshield, who went missing near Detroit Lakes, Minn., in 2014. Besides looking on her own, she trains new searchers. From that, she said half a dozen other search crews have sprouted. Over the years, shes gotten new resources for the Sahnish Scouts, too. Besides a boat and sonar, the crew now has access to a dozen dogs that can detect human remains, and soon shell learn how to use ground-penetrating radar. Yellow Bird-Chases family wanted her to stop searching for missing people a long time ago, though. Her mom said its a drain on her. But shes independent, determined. For Yellow Bird-Chase, the hardest part isnt the searching. Its watching the families devastated by the loss of their loved ones go into "dark places," she said. "Do you know how heartbreaking it is to watch families go through that?" ADVERTISEMENT Sixty-two-year-old Rose Grusing of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota has been in that dark place for 16 years. Her younger sister Beverly Ozuna Ulrich went missing on Oct. 17, 2003, and hasnt been heard from since. Grusing has long lived in Belle Fourche, S.D., just northwest of Rapid City. Her sister also lived in the town before she went missing. In the 16 years since Beverly was last seen, Grusing lost three of her brothers, and two sisters, too. Before that, she lost her mom, and another brother and sister to cancer. Now she and her oldest brother are the only two left. Grusing has long thought about leaving town, starting over. But she cant. "I cant leave her," she said of her missing sister. "Id be abandoning her." As the youngest girl, Beverly was the most spoiled growing up, Grusing said. And she was easygoing, like her mom, too. Grusing said after their parents divorce, their mother started heavily drinking alcohol, and eventually, the kids were split up into foster homes. Beverly, she said, was traumatized by her foster home experience. Two of Beverly's daughters, Stevie and Katrina, continue to update a Facebook page made for their missing mother. "Its another year without Mom," her daughter Stevie posted on what would have been her 69th birthday this year. "Just know we will never give up until we have you home and justice for you!" Once the family realized Beverly was missing, they tried figuring out where she was on their own, Grusing said. A few days later, they reported her missing to law enforcement. Butte County Sheriff Fred Lamphere said Beverly was last seen in the nearby town of Spearfish before a friend brought her back to Belle Fourche. He estimated law enforcement has conducted seven or eight separate searches since Beverly went missing. "We dont really have a crime scene. We dont have a location someone went missing from," he said. It's now considered a cold case. Lamphere said foul play is suspected in her disappearance and that law enforcement has a "very strong suspect." There's just not enough evidence to charge the person. The sheriff said his office is always open to any new leads or evidence. After 16 years, Grusing said she's lost faith in investigators. Shes often called on psychics or medicine men to help look for her sister and even ventured out to search with other family members. "It makes you crazy because you dont know what happened," Grusing said. Besides searching, Grusing helps organize an annual candlelight vigil in remembrance of Beverly each year at the First Congregational Church in Belle Fourche. And she tries to get the word out, telling her sisters story. "I dont want people to forget her," she said. Not knowing for 16 years has been the hardest part, Grusing said. She still thinks about Beverly every day, all day. "I even still have that little tiny glimmer of hope, that shell show up at my door." If you or someone you know is a victim of violence, please consider calling the National Indian Women Resource Center at 406-477-3896 or the StrongHearts Native Helpline at 1-844-762-8483. In an emergency situation, please call 911. We are still collecting stories on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. If you have a story to share with one of our reporters, send an email to MMIW@forumcomm.com or call toll-free 1-877-583-1817. Governments seek answers as crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women persists Melissa Eagleshield went missing 5 years ago. Thousands more Indigenous people have vanished since Introducing Itential Automation Studio Itentials primary mission is to provide software that enables network engineers, software developers & IT operations to participate in network automation, bridge the skills gap & enable the largest participation needed to rapidly & efficiently execute their day to day network management activities. Itential, the leader in intelligent automation for multi-domain networks, today announced at Cisco Live EMEA the availability of Automation Studio, a low-code environment for rapid development of end-to-end automations across multi-vendor and multi-domain networks. Automation Studio, a part of Itentials Network Automation Platform, can be used by developers and network engineers alike regardless of tribal network engineering knowledge or coding skills. With capabilities that enable users to quickly and easily design, build, and visualize automations leveraging its drag-and-drop interface and built-in network intelligence, further equipping IT and networking teams to contribute toward network automation goals. With the introduction of network programmability and APIs for everything from management systems to devices themselves, the modern network landscape has evolved to being managed like software. This shift from hardware-focused networks to software-centric functions has had a profound effect on network management techniques and skillsets required to keep pace with the changing complex ecosystem. By democratizing the skills needed to manage increasingly complex networks and saving time and money in the process, Itential is making the journey toward automated networks attainable in ways not previously possible. Itentials primary mission is to provide software that enables network engineers, software developers and IT operations to participate in network automation, bridge the skills gap and enable the largest participation needed to rapidly and efficiently execute their day to day network management activities, said Chris Wade, Chief Technology Officer, Itential. Automation Studios drag-and-drop low-code interface combined with out of the box pre-built automations enable organizations to shift from manual, CLI approaches toward programmable network management without needing to re-tool and re-train their workforce. Itentials Automation Studio capabilities include: Graphical Automation Canvas for arranging and connecting tasks in a workflow to define operations and maintenance processes, mitigating the complexity of software development and further simplifying network automation. Form Driven Automation for simplifying data gathering processes that are essential for automations; enables users to leverage drag-and-drop methodology or dynamically generate forms based on standard modeling languages such as YANG, TOSCA and YAML. Intelligent Templates to enable NetOps teams to define robust and rigorous Pre and Post checks for network changes as well as create configuration models that leverage data to dynamically generate device configurations. Open APIs and standards compliant data structures for allowing large teams to rapidly and easily collaborate and develop network automation workflows. Built-In Network Intelligence for eliminating the complexity required to build agnostic automations across multi-domain networks and technologies. Pre-Built Automations for dozens of common use cases such as software upgrade, golden config and compliance, service lifecycle and more to help NetOps teams jump start their network automation efforts and embed automation design best practices to ensure modularity and reusability. Additionally, Itential 2019.3 includes new platform features that improve overall usability, added support for Ansible 2.8 and 2.9 within the Itential Automation Gateway, as well as enhanced group-based access control and zero-touch auto remediation capabilities within its Configuration Manager application. Itential is currently showcasing their solution at booth #24A in the World of Solutions at Cisco Live EMEA. To learn more about Itentials Automation Studio, reserve your spot at the upcoming webinar or contact us to schedule a personalized demo. About Itential Itential provides powerful network automation software to companies worldwide, from Fortune 500 telecommunications and financial service companies to enterprises of all sizes. We are committed to building world-class products that accelerate the move toward software-driven networks and next generation, agile network operations. Itentials solutions leverage the latest thinking, open standards, open architectures, partners and best practices to drive network operations and maximize the impact of automation. Learn more at http://www.Itential.com. Advertisement Firefighters are facing a horror day in Canberra as an out-of-control bushfire threatens homes and temperatures soar to 36C. The capital is cloaked in choking smoke as the dangerous bushfire continued to rage south of Canberra on Wednesday morning. Firefighters were on Tuesday night bracing to defend properties as embers from the more than 8000-hectare Orroral Valley fire started spotting near Tharwa village, 30 kilometres south of Canberra. The ACT Emergency Services Agency said heavy smoke caused by the fire would likely linger in Canberra until midday on Wednesday. Scroll down for video Smoke rises from the Namadgi National Park fire burning south of Canberra on Tuesday. Residents of the small rural village of Tharwa had been told that it's too late to leave The 8,000-hectare blaze had been travelling east and northeast towards Tharwa, and growing at a rate of 400 hectares per hour. Pictured: The blaze on Tuesday evening Temperatures are forecast to rise as high as 36C on Wednesday, with the ACT's fire danger rating remaining at 'very high'. Authorities predicted the fire could come within one kilometre of the suburb of Banks on Canberra's southern outskirts. However, on Tuesday night they said the fire posed 'no immediate threat to properties in Canberra suburbs'. The warning level remained at watch and act level early on Wednesday morning due to moderate overnight conditions. Community members of Tharwa, Boboyan Road, Apollo Road, and Top Naas Road were told to remain vigilant while residents of Banks, Gordon, Condor, Calwell and Theodore should continue to monitor conditions. Operation Bushfire Relief's Lieutenant General Greg Bilton told reporters on Tuesday evening a defence reconnaissance helicopter was believed to have started the fire. Authorities said the blaze was the most serious Canberra has faced since the deadly 2003 fires. The blaze is threatening properties in Tharwa as well as properties on Boboyan, Apollo and Top Naas roads Residents Canberra's southern suburbs were warned the spot fires could get within one kilometre of the far southern suburb of banks. Pictured: Smoke rising from the Namadgi National Park fire on Tuesday Residents in Canberra's southern suburbs were warned on Tuesday evening the spot fires could get within one kilometre of the far southern suburb of banks. 'Helicopters and large air tankers are water-bombing, establishing containment lines and undertaking aerial surveillance,' Canberra's emergency services said in a notice. 'The fire may pose threats to all lives directly in its path,' Emergency Services Agency Commissioner Georgeina Whelan told reporters. 'Firefighters may be unable to prevent a fire from reaching your property. You should not expect a firefighter on your door.' Australia's Bureau of Meteorology and firefighting services were predicting temperatures to top 40C over the weekend. 'Worsening conditions are forecast for later the week so prepare now,' the NSW RFS said on Twitter. People should clear their properties of any flammable vegetation, while any broken roof tiles should be repaired to protect houses from airborne embers, it said. Chief minister Andrew Barr told reporters on Tuesday the blaze is the most serious Canberra has faced since the deadly 2003 fires. Wildfire smoke billows behind a mountain range on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, close to Canberra's southern outskirts Operation Bushfire Relief's Lieutenant General Greg Bilton revealed a defence reconnaissance helicopter was behind the blaze. He said the heat of the landing light likely started a grass fire under the chopper when it landed in the park, with the fire growing rapidly and damaging the craft before it took off. Lt Gen Bilton said defence would be further investigating the cause of the fire but had ceased use of that type of landing light in the meantime. Meanwhile, an evacuation centre has been set up at Erindale College in the Canberra suburb of Wanniassa. Caloola Farm manager Ralph Hurst-Meyers was desperately trying to convince three men still on the farm near the blaze to leave as they planned to defend the property. 'It just looks like a dragon, it's unbelievable. It's like a mushroom cloud with a red eye,' Mr Hurst-Meyers told AAP on Tuesday. He said firefighters had told him the farm would become a trap if the fire reached there and said it was too dangerous to defend it. Pictured: The Namadgi National Park fire on Tuesday January 28 Caloola Farm manager Ralph Hurst-Meyers said smoke billowing from the mountains looked like a 'dragon mushroom cloud' Fires cloaked Canberra in thick, hazardous smoke on Tuesday Mr Hurst-Meyers said he had been in Canberra for the catastrophic 2003 bushfire and he'd learned it wasn't worth holding your ground. 'I know what the beast looks like. I've seen this before. This is a shocker,' he said. At a Tharwa community meeting earlier on Tuesday, ACT Rural Fire Service chief officer Joe Murphy told residents it would be a lengthy campaign to get the fire under control. 'In all likelihood our worst day this week will be Saturday,' he said. 'We have some pretty ordinary weather this week.' ACT Emergency Services Commissioner Georgeina Whelan said ACT Fire and Rescue as well as ACT RFS personnel had all been recalled to help fight the fire. 'The fire is not contained. This fire will burn for several weeks,' Ms Whelan said. She said hot, dry weather and enormous fuel loads were making it difficult to fight the blaze. 'The heat and the erratic winds will only make the situation worse,' she said. The nation's capital is seen in the foreground with the raging Namadgi National Park fire behind on Tuesday A bushfire burns on January 23, 2020 in Canberra, Australia Thousands of French firefighters on Tuesday took to the streets of Paris in a pyrotechnic protest to demand better working conditions, igniting flares and even setting their fireproof jackets alight. The protest by firefighters, who in France also respond to general emergency calls, was the latest to hit Paris in recent weeks as unions battle controversial government pension reforms. There were clashes with security forces as some firefighters threw projectiles and police responded with tear gas. The firefighters want a special salary premium that acknowledges the risks of their job to be brought in line with that of the police, staff levels maintained, and the preservation of their existing pension system. "We are the final link in the chain of emergency aid in France and we are overwhelmed by callouts," said Frederic Perrin, head of the SPASDIS-CFTC union. "We need the staffing and means to respond to this and also a guarantee that we can concentrate on our core missions, emergency response, and not serve as a supplement to absent health services," he told AFP. In one of the most eye-catching protests in Paris in recent months, the firefighters set off multicoloured smoke flares while others wearing special protective vests set themselves on fire. Sporting helmets and protective gear, firefighters marched from Republic Square to Nation Square, clambering onto their central statues, and igniting their flares. Some protesters blocked the main ring road of Paris but were dispersed, Paris police said on Twitter. Two people were arrested. France has been gripped by protests and strikes since early December over President Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension reform plans. The worst of the strikes on the Paris public transport system have now petered out, but the hardline unions have vowed not to give in. Firefighters want a special salary premium that acknowledges the risks of their job to be brought in line with that of the police Some firefighters wearing special protective vests set fire to themselves Wearing their helmets and protective gear, firefighters marched from Republic Square to Nation Square, clambering on top of the statues in the centre of the busy hubs and setting off flares Photo: The Canadian Press Mark Norman The federal government rang up more than $1.4 million in legal costs during the failed prosecution of retired vice-admiral Mark Norman. Revealed this week by Justice Minister David Lametti in a written response to a question from the official Opposition Conservatives, the figure is the first to put any kind of dollar amount to the high-profile and politically charged case. Lametti did not provide any further details about the costs including whether the figure included the cost of covering Norman's legal fees, which the government has said it would pay. "To the extent that the information that has been requested is protected by solicitor-client privilege, the federal Crown can only reveal the total legal costs related to the case," Lametti wrote in response to the question from Conservative MP and leadership contender Erin O'Toole. "Based on the hours recorded, the total amount of legal costs incurred amounts to approximately $1,425,389.68, as of Dec. 9, 2019." The minister also did not respond to the Conservatives' question about how much the RCMP spent on the original investigation into allegations Norman leaked cabinet secrets about a $700-million federal shipbuilding contract. That investigation prompted chief of the defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance to suspend Norman as the military's second-in-command in January 2017. The popular vice-admiral was charged with breach of trust in March 2018. The Mounties and Crown prosecutors alleged Norman leaked information about the contract to pressure the newly minted Liberal government in 2015 to move ahead with the project to convert a civilian ship into a temporary support vessel for the navy, rather than cancel it. Norman pleaded not guilty before his lawyers spent months in court fighting the Crown and government for access to thousands of documents they said were essential for ensuring their client received a fair trial. Throughout the process, Norman's lawyers alleged the case against their client was politically motivated and that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government were interfering in it, a charge that was picked up by the Conservatives but which the Liberals denied. Crown prosecutors eventually stayed the charge in May 2019, telling the judge that new evidence they'd received from Norman's defence team had led them to conclude there was no reasonable chance of a conviction. Following the failed prosecution, Norman asserted that he wanted to return to duty. But he and the government instead reached a financial settlement, the details of which have not been made public, before the vice-admiral retired last year. "The Danube River is not a 'one-and-done' destination. It's just not," said Pam Hoffee, managing director of Avalon Waterways. "Whether traversing its ports for the first time or the fifth, there are always new places to explore and new experiences to try, just around the river bend. And, with nearly 30 cruise itineraries on the Danube, ranging from four (4) to 27 days, as well as Avalon Choice excursions on each and every itinerary, we offer the widest variety of vacations available on this legendary river." Making a Splash for First-Time River Cruisers Quite simply, there's no better place for travelers to dip their toes into river cruising than along the Danube River. Why?! No other river in the world flows through four (4) capital cities, making it an easy waterway to get to and navigate for a quick "test the river cruise waters" escape. Perfect cruising vacations for first-timers include these "short & suite" options: Avalon Waterways' 4-day A Taste of the Danube itinerary visits three (3) capitals and three (3) countries in just three (3) nights for as little as $874 , giving first-time river cruisers an incredible opportunity to sample river cruising and several Blue Danube delights without breaking the bank. itinerary visits three (3) capitals and three (3) countries in just three (3) nights for as little as , giving first-time river cruisers an incredible opportunity to sample river cruising and several Blue Danube delights without breaking the bank. Our 6-day Danube Symphony vacation sails down the most beautiful stretch of the Danube River, including the Wachau Valley (a world heritage site) with its vineyard-clad hillsides and picturesque villages. Seasoned Travelers Anchor Themselves to the Danube Not only is the Danube River Europe's second longest river, it also sails through nearly a dozen countries where more than a dozen languages are spoken along its banks. That means this extraordinary waterway offers exceptional diversity in food, architecture, culture and history and unparalleled choices from which to choose the perfect river cruise vacation. Our favorite 8- to 9-day Danube itineraries for the well-traveled cruiser, include: The Legendary Danube itinerary is a classic Danube cruise visiting Europe's most historic sites from Nuremberg to Budapest , including ancient Bavarian towns. Along the way, travelers will enjoy regional wine, music and masterpieces in Germany , Austria and Hungary . itinerary is a classic Danube cruise visiting most historic sites from Nuremberg to , including ancient Bavarian towns. Along the way, travelers will enjoy regional wine, music and masterpieces in , and . Perfect for travelers who have already traversed the upper Danube, Avalon Waterways' Balkan Discovery carries travelers from Budapest to Bucharest to discover the beauty and lure of the Balkan States of Croatia , Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania with thrilling views and experiences along the way. And, for travelers wanting to drift back to the Danube or go against the stream, Avalon Waterways offers an innovative and completely customizable Active & Discovery on the Danube vacation. This itinerary takes travelers to six (6) new ports (places other ships don't go) with a choice of nearly three dozen "Active," "Discovery" and "Classic" excursions throughout their journey. With its breadth of ports and palaces, villages and vineyards and cities and sights, the Danube offers a river cruise experience that every type of traveler can bank on. BOOK NOW & SAVE: For a limited time, travelers can extend select Danube vacations in Budapest or Prague for FREE (up to a $759 value). For details, click here. ABOUT AVALON WATERWAYS Travelers wanting to see the world need only cruise down its legendary rivers. For those interested in seeing more of the world, there's Avalon Waterways. Our entire fleet of Suite Ships proudly present Avalon Waterways' unique Open-Air BalconySMcruising's only bed with a view, more space and 24/7 access to open-air cruising. When travelers pair panoramic scenes with the widest-ranging excursion choices in river cruising, they're in for an experience as wide open as the view. On an Avalon cruise, schedules give way to whims, leaving travelers the freedom to do exactly as they please, when they please. Whether enjoying a guided walking tour of one of Europe's great cities, joining a cooking class or paddling a canoe, our Avalon Choice selections of Classic, Discovery and Active excursions offer a wide range of possibilities. When travelers prefer to explore on their own, Avalon helps with recommendations, information and the gear they need, thanks to Adventure Hosts, an Adventure Center and AvalonGO mobile app. And when it's time to refuel, Avalon's FlexDining program gives guests the choices they crave. When travelers sail the world with Avalon Waterways, every day is an adventure and every adventure is up to our guests. For more information, visit www.avalonwaterways.com; travel agents can visit www.globusfamilypartner.com. Avalon Waterways is a proud supporter of The Ocean Cleanup. SOURCE Avalon Waterways Related Links http://www.avalonwaterways.com US state attorneys general (AG) will meet with the Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers this week to discuss their respective investigations into Google. The web giant is under investigation in the stateside for several antitrust violations. A whopping 50 state AGs, as well as the DOJ, are investigating the Mountain View company. Even the companys Fitbit acquisition is being looked into. The state AGs and the DOJ have not shared information about their concurrent investigations into Google to date. However, this meeting could lead to the two groups joining forces, Reuters reports, citing people familiar with the matter. At least seven of the 50 state AGs will be attending the meeting. The Wall Street Journal had first reported about the meeting on Sunday. Advertisement Authorities may join forces against Google In a sign of growing scrutiny of technology giants, the Justice Department formally launched an investigation into Google last year. A few months later, attorneys general from 48 US states, led by the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as well as the AGs from the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico launched a separate investigation of their own into the Alphabet-owned company. Both the probes revolve around Googles control over online advertising markets and search traffic. They are also looking into the companys possible anticompetitive behavior in its Android OS. Advertisement Google dominates all aspects of advertising on the Internet and searching on the Internet, Paxton had said last year. Over 90-percent of Googles revenues come from ads. So if this investigation leads to the company being forced to make some changes in its ad policies, it could make a serious dent in the revenue numbers. The state AGs reportedly met in private in November last year to map out a strategy on the investigation. The DOJ is also investigating Googles acquisition of smartwatch maker Fitbit over privacy concerns. Advertisement The merger means Google will have access to a worrying amount of private data of Fitbit users, and thats not something authorities are willing to take lightly. The web giant is already under scrutiny over its data collecting practices. These investigations might well lead to Google being slapped with a huge fine, again. The company has been hit with multiple fines by the European Union in the last few years. Google may also require to make several changes in its business policies. However, itll likely be a while before any of that happens. These kinds of probes usually take a good amount of time. The newest J. David Tax Law office is located downtown and opens with tax attorneys that have vast experience in IRS Payroll Tax debt, IRS Personal Tax debt, IRS audits, and Florida Sales Tax debt representation and sales tax audit services. With the addition of experienced criminal defense attorneys to represent Florida Sales Tax felony and misdemeanor cases the firm will become one of the most well-rounded tax firms in Florida. This addition further solidifies J. David Tax Law's national footprint and strategically places the firm in several key markets in Florida including Orlando and Jacksonville with further Florida expansion to come. "Orlando has been a key piece to J. David Tax Law's statewide strategy as we implement our vision to be Florida's tax firm," said Jonathan D. Sooriash, J. David Tax Law's managing partner. "This is an ideal opportunity to introduce our full-service tax debt representation services into the Orlando market by assembling a team that brings vast experience in all tax controversy representation areas. This expansion solidly places us at the crossroads for individuals and businesses in Florida and provides our clients with better statewide coverage." The new staff all reside in the Orlando metropolitan area and are eager to fight for their Orlando clients facing the devasting effects of unpaid Federal or State tax debt. They are also excited to look at opportunities to support local charitable organizations and be a caring corporate citizen for the community they work and live in. J. David Tax Law has won various awards in Florida for client care and the Orlando staff are enthusiastic to accept the challenge to continue J. David Tax Law's commitment to client care and winning cases for their tax clients. About J. David Tax Law J. David Tax Law, is an award-winning tax firm that represents individuals and businesses in all 50 states that have IRS, State, and State Sales tax debt, including IRS Wage Garnishment and Bank Levy Prevention/Removal, 941 Payroll Tax debts, IRS Audits, Sales Tax Audits, Revenue Officer negotiations, Business Income Taxes, Civil and Trust Fund Recovery Penalties, Negotiated Affordable Installment Agreements, Penalty Abatement, IRS Tax Lien Removal, Offer in Compromise, Florida Sales Tax Warrants & Crimes, Fresh Start Program, and Back Tax Return Preparation. You will always work one-on-one with a tax attorney. For a no-cost consultation with a tax debt expert call 407-603-3962 or go to https://www.jdavidtaxlaw.com/orlando/. For more information about our reputation Google "J. David Tax Law Orlando Reviews" to see what our Clients are saying about their experience. SOURCE J. David Tax Law Related Links https://www.jdavidtaxlaw.com/ 4,515 The confirmed cases, almost 7 thousand await confirmation. In just 24 hours, 1,680 more people contract the lung infection. Another 6,000 medical staff members have been mobilized to combat the spread of the virus in Hubei province. Foreign governments devise ways to extract their citizens from the capital of Wuhan. Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Chinese health authorities are revising upwards the death toll from the coronavirus that is spreading across the country: to date, 106 deaths have risen sharply compared to 81 yesterday. Regarding the number of total infections, the National Health Commission reports that there are 4,515 confirmed cases. In just 24 hours, 1,680 more people contracted lung infection. According to the government agency, there are almost 7 thousand other suspected cases and awaiting clinical confirmation. This morning because of the epidemic, Beijing postponed the beginning of the spring semester for schools and universities across the country. At the moment, students are on vacation for the Chinese New Year and the Ministry of Education has not made public a date for the resumption of lessons. School leaders are required to "ask students not to go out, gather together, hold or participate in centralized activities," reads a government note. At today's meeting, the National Health Commission announced that another 6,000 medical staff members have been mobilized to combat the spread of the virus in the epicenter of the epidemic - Hubei province. To limit population flows and facilitate checks, yesterday the communist regime decided to extend the holidays by three days. They should originally have ended on January 30th. The virus, which first appeared in the city of Wuhan, has been identified in more than a dozen other countries. Last week Beijing isolated Hubei province in the largest registered quarantine operation and is building two new hospitals to treat patients with the virus. The government plans to finish building the structures in 10 days. President Xi Jinping created a special committee to deal with the epidemic. Meanwhile, foreign governments are devising ways to safely get their citizens out of Wuhan. The United States, France and Japan have announced plans for air bridges, but evacuations have yet to take place almost a week after the blockade. Today a charter flight was scheduled for the US that would take consular staff and some American citizens away. But the US State Department reports that the operation is postponed until tomorrow, without giving a reason. Conor (9), Darragh (7) and little sister Carla McGinley (3) pictured with their parents Deirdre and Andrew (Photo: McGinley family) The Co Dublin father of three children who lost their lives at the weekend has said "every breath is a struggle" and urged parents to cuddle your children and "tell them you love as often as you can". Conor (9), Darragh (7) and little sister Carla McGinley (3) were found dead in their home at Parsons Court, Newcastle, Co Dublin, last Friday evening. The entire community has rallied around to show their support to the families after the deaths. Grieving father Andrew McGinley released a statement through An Garda Siochana on Tuesday. "There are no words. There is only devastation, grief and anguish," he said. "Every breath is a struggle. "Conor, Darragh and Carla are adored. They all had beautiful, bright futures ahead of them with family, friends and a community who love them. "To all parents, cuddle your children whenever you get a chance, tell them how much you love them as often as you can, spend every spare minute with them reading, playing and enjoying their wonderfulness. "The future has now become our enemy but we will battle it every day to keep the memory of Conor, Darragh and Carla alive." He signed the statement: "Andrew". Expand Close Andrew McGinley with his children Conor (9), Darragh (7) and Carla (3) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Andrew McGinley with his children Conor (9), Darragh (7) and Carla (3) Gardai have not been able to interview Dublin-based nurse Deirdre Morley whose three children were found dead at their home. Ms Morley, aged in her 40s, remained last night in Tallaght Hospital, where she was being treated after a suspected overdose four days ago. She is expected to recover, after being found wandering in a disoriented state near a graveyard on Friday evening shortly before the bodies of the children were discovered. "She has still not been deemed medically fit to be interviewed, but is expected to survive," a senior source said. "Gardai are conducting a massive investigation to collect evidence and gather a large number of witness statements, all of which can then be put to this woman when she is deemed medically fit to be questioned." Meanwhile, pupils who attend the same school that two of the three tragic siblings went to have been offered psychological support. Expand Close Floral tributes outside the house Colin Keegan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Floral tributes outside the house Yesterday, the boys' school, Scoil Chronain in Rathcoole, said it was "deeply saddened" by the sudden deaths of the children. "It is a tragedy for our community," said a spokesperson. "Our sympathy, thoughts and prayers are with the McGinley and Morley families and all their friends." Speaking about the two boys, she added that Conor was a pupil in Room Three while Darragh attended Room One. "They were both wonderful boys and it was a pleasure to have them in our school. They will be greatly missed by all who knew them," she said. "Offers of support have been pouring in and are really appreciated. Our school has implemented our critical incident management plan. "Psychologists from the National Educational Psychological Services (NEPS) have been with us over the weekend and will continue to support and advise us in the coming days." NEPS psychologists work with both primary and post-primary schools to offer support in the areas of learning, behavioural, social and emotional development. The statement added that the school would remain open and asked that people respect the need for privacy. Carla attended the Happy Feet nursery in Rathcoole and staff members from the creche and primary school attended a tribute Mass for the children over the weekend. South Dublin County Council opened a Book of Condolences in the wake of the tragedy at the town hall in Belgard Square North in Tallaght for members of the public wishing to pay their respects. [January 28, 2020] Hitachi Vantara Federal Experts to Present at Microsoft Ignite the Tour Conference in Washington, D.C. Hitachi Vantara Federal, a leader in data-driven solutions and services for the federal government, announced today that Michael Coene, Chief Cloud Architect, and Andrey Aminov, Cloud Solutions Architect will present a session on leveraging DevSecOps methodologies in migrating to the cloud at the Microsoft (News - Alert) Ignite the Tour Conference in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, February 6, 2020. What: Hitachi (News - Alert) to Present: Implementing DevSecOps When Migrating to the Cloud Who: Michael Coene, Chief Cloud Architect and Andrey Aminov, Cloud Solutions Architect Where: Microsoft Ignite the Tour Conference Microsoft Ignite Theater 2 within the Hub Walter E. Washington Convention Center Washington, D.C. When: Thursday, February 6, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. ET Michael and Andrey's session focuses on problems typically faced when transitioning to the cloud and how to use DevSecOps to alleviate these challenges in conjunction with the automation and acceleration provided by Hitachi Cloud Services. Hitachi Vantara Federal will also exhibit their latest Hitachi Cloud Services at Booth 105 in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. In addition to their presence at the Microsoft Ignite the Tour Conference in Washington, D.C., executives from Hitachi Vantara Federal will attend the AFCEA Rocky Mountain CyberSpace Symposium, February 3-6, 2020 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Located in Booth #118, executives from the company are available to discuss the latest issues in cybersecurity, community cyber readiness and national defense while providing an overview of the company's portfolio. For more details about Hitachi Vantara Federal, and their presence at upcoming conferences, visit: https://www.hitachivantarafederal.com/about/events/ About Hitachi Vantara Federal Hitachi Vantara Federal implements data and analytics solutions that meet the federal government's needs today and tomorrow. Hitachi Vantara Federal provides pathways to the cloud and converged IT systems through virtualization, storage and DCC to reduce IT complexity and increase the efficiency of the U.S. government. Hitachi Vantara Federal is able to offer the best information and operation technology from across the Hitachi family to provide exceptional value to government agencies. Hitachi Vantara Federal Corporation is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. For more information, please visit: www.hitachivantarafederal.com. Follow Hitachi Vantara Federal on Twitter (News - Alert) @HVFederal. About Hitachi Vantara Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., utilizes technology, intellectual property and industry knowledge to deliver data-management solutions that help enterprises improve customer experiences, develop new revenue streams, and lower business costs. Only Hitachi Vantara elevates customers' innovation advantages by combining deep information technology (IT), operational technology (OT) and domain expertise. The company's experts work with organizations globally to drive data to achieve meaningful business outcomes. Learn more at www.HitachiVantara.com. About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, leverages its talent and proven experience in global markets to deliver innovative solutions and services to address society's greatest challenges. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2017 (ended March 31, 2018) totaled 9,368.6 billion yen ($88.4 billion). The Hitachi Group is an innovation partner for the IoT era and has approximately 307,000 employees worldwide. Through collaborative creation with customers, Hitachi powers Social Innovation solutions using digital technologies to deliver a new generation of smart businesses across a broad range of sectors. Learn more at www.hitachi.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005045/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Actor Salman Khan was seen snatching the phone of a fan who tried to take selfie with the actor without his permission at the Goa airport. The video of the incident has now gone viral. The video shows Salman exiting the airport even as the fan can be seen trying to take a selfie with the actor. Just then, an obviously angry Salman snatched the phone from his hand and walked away. Salman is in Goa for the shoot of his upcoming Radhe. The man was later identified as a ground staff working for an airlines, reported PTI. "No formal complaint is lodged but when the video went viral, we inquired about the incident and confirmed it," said a senior official of the airport. When contacted, Airport Police Inspector Sagar Ekoskar said no formal complaint was lodged. Radhe, which also stars Randeep Hooda and Disha Patani, is likely to be an action thriller. The team has been shooting in Mumbai. According to a Mumbai Mirror report said that for a 20-minute action sequence, the makers spent as much as 7.5 crores. It was a VFX-heavy sequence. the report said, Shooting in chroma key is an expensive process that only big-ticket filmmakers can afford. Baahubali (2015) and its sequel (2017) were two of the recent films that employed the technology. While the process of shooting a video on a blue or green background hardly burns a hole in the pocket, the lighting required for chroma is expensive. Then comes the VFX part, where the background is removed digitally and replaces with the background of ones choice. ALSO WATCH | Salman Khan gets into an argument during Bigg Boss Season 13 launch Also read | Grammys 2020 red carpet pics: Priyanka Chopras plunging neckline is too hot to handle, Nick Jonas is her perfect date. See best looks Salman was last seen in Dabangg 3 and Bharat, both of which turned out to be hits. Speaking about the film, the Hindustan Times review said, A lot like Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Salman emerges as an advocate for peace between India and Pakistan. A long drawn out sequence underlines how both the countries lost their own identities during the Partition, and how wounds are far from healed may feel manipulative, but it works. Dabangg 3 starred Sonakshi Sinha, Saiee Manjrekar, Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeep among others. The films initial business was hit by protests against Citizenship Amendment Act. Follow @htshowbiz for more Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is providing financial support for mercenaries who are allegedly aiding Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar in Libya. During German Chancellor Angela Merkels visit to Turkey, we thoroughly discussed the situation in Libya, he said. The Turkish leader noted that he told them that "Haftar is a liar and you enable pandering to this liar." "Egypt is the key supporter as well as authorities in Abu Dhabi," TASS cited Erdogan as saying. According to him, the United Arab Emirates is not only providing financial assistance but also "supplying arms and armaments." From left to right: David Lambert (left), 60, a historian from Gloucestershire, Phoebe Valentine, 23, a maths student from Brighton, Claudia Fisher, 57, a business woman from Brighton, Senan Clifford, 59, a former teacher from Gloucestershire, and Ben Bont (right), 42, a tree surgeon from West Wales, arrive at the City of London Magistrates Court, after they were arrested on 10 October 2019, during a peaceful demonstration in which they glued themselves to the concourse between the DLR station and City Airport in east London (Jonathan Brady/PA) A trial of Extinction Rebellion protesters has collapsed after what a judge described as an abject failure by the Crown Prosecution Service. Five climate activists were accused of gluing themselves to the concourse between London City Airport and its DLR station in October, and were due to go on trial at City of London Magistrates Court on Tuesday. But the charges were dismissed after a police officer who was due to be a prosecution witness was not given enough notice about the date of the trial and had booked time off. Deputy District Judge Vincent McDade said: There has been an abject failure by the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that this case has been properly managed. He said the absent police officer was required from the outset. Had the CPS acted efficiently and warned the witness as soon as possible after the case management hearing on November 7 this matter would proceed today with that witness giving live evidence, he said. The judge said the officer who made the arrests was a vital witness to establish the lawfulness or otherwise of the arrests. Expand Close An Extinction Rebellion protest at London City Airport (Kirsty OConnor/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An Extinction Rebellion protest at London City Airport (Kirsty OConnor/PA) He said he had no option but to dismiss all matters against all defendants. The five defendants who faced a charge of aggravated trespass were Claudia Fisher, 57, from Brighton, Phoebe Valentine, 23, from Brighton, David Lambert, 60, from Gloucestershire, Senan Clifford, 59, from Gloucestershire, and John Burrage, also known as Ben Bont, 42, from West Wales. Former chief government scientist Professor Sir David King had been prepared to give evidence at the trial. Speaking outside the court before he took his seat in the public gallery, he said climate change is the most important issue humanity has ever had to face up to. Expand Close Sir David King (back left), with Claudia Fisher, Senan Clifford, Ben Bont, David Lambert and Phoebe Valentine (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir David King (back left), with Claudia Fisher, Senan Clifford, Ben Bont, David Lambert and Phoebe Valentine (Jonathan Brady/PA) Afterwards he said the five got off on a technicality, but added: On the other hand, the judge was relatively sympathetic, I thought. Earlier Sir David had said climate change requires leadership from the very top and described Brexit as a distraction. He told the PA news agency: What we are talking about is the most important issue humanity has ever had to face up to. And when I say humanity, I mean all of us. Were all in this boat together. Whatever we do over the next 10 years on climate change, actions that we do, will determine the future of humanity for the next 10,000 years. Expand Close Sir David King arrives at City of London Magistrates Court (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir David King arrives at City of London Magistrates Court (Jonathan Brady/PA) What we have got now is a very short timeline to get ourselves out of this mess. And yet the public have been barely aware of it. And the reason is quite simple. Initially, during the Blair and Brown period, it was very much in the headlines and I was on television and radio very frequently. But with the Cameron government it was a concern about slippage to Ukip and this was not an issue that was felt to be relevant for the main theme of the day. And so it was taken off the front pages. I wasnt allowed on television and radio at that time. The result is that the public dont even know what good things the British Government are doing. Everyone thinks the British Government have been doing nothing. Its not true. Without Britain we would not have had the Paris Agreement. No government did as much as we did to achieve that. However, no government, including ours, is doing enough today. So what we need is much more action, much more clarity on the action that is needed, and we need it with a public voice. And thats what Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion have done. Theyve put it back on the front pages. That did not go how I expected. It was a complete surpriseClaudia Fisher He spoke about the importance of leadership, and said: Boris Johnson is perfectly capable of stepping into that role but of course he has to deal with this thing called Brexit in the meantime. So what we have is a distraction from this enormous challenge. Im afraid for future generations. Im afraid for my children and their children, my grandchildren. Im afraid because we havent been taking the actions that the science has been telling us to take for a very long time. He described the actions of the Extinction Rebellion activists as a brave attempt to get the critically important issue to the forefront. After the charges were dismissed, Ms Fisher told PA: That did not go how I expected. It was a complete surprise. Asked if she plans to get involved in future protests, she said: Absolutely. Absolutely. This movement is going bigger and bigger. Its unstoppable. CAMPBELL, Calif., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Groupware Technology, Inc. today announced it is the recipient of the Corporate Breath Award from the Northern California Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF). The annual honor is bestowed on a company who has supported the chapter for five years or more. Groupware was presented with the award at the CFF's Annual Meeting and Volunteer Appreciation Night, held last night in San Francisco. Groupware has previously also been honored with inclusion in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Great Strides Hall of Fame. Additionally, Groupware CEO Mike Thompson, who is a member of the Board of Directors of CFF's Northern Cal chapter, was recognized with the "Heart of a Champion" Award at the Breath of Life Gala in 2013 for his outstanding contributions to industry and innovation. Under Mike's leadership, Groupware has made a long-term commitment to support cystic fibrosis research in finding a cure for the genetic disease. Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disease that impacts the digestive and respiratory systems and occurs in approximately one in 3,500 live births. About 30,000 children and young adults in the United States and 70,000 around the world are afflicted with the illness. Although they exhibit no symptoms, more than 10 million people carry the defective gene. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the world's leader in the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis. It funds more CF research than any other organization, and nearly every CF drug available today was made possible because of Foundation support. When the CF Foundation was established in 1955, most children with CF did not live past elementary school. Due in large part to the Foundation's aggressive investments in innovative research and comprehensive care, many people with CF today are living into their 30s, 40s and beyond. "We are very humbled to receive the Corporate Breath Award and proud to continue our steadfast support of this invaluable organization in the fight against cystic fibrosis. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the CFF, there have been great strides made in research and providing a better quality of life for those afflicted with CF," noted Mike Thompson. About Groupware Technology Groupware Technology, Inc. is a leading IT solutions provider specializing in data centers, cloud, data and AI, networking, security, applications, rack integration services and first call support. We deliver these innovative technology services to world-class companies to help them achieve mission-critical objectives, lower costs, improve agility and increase competitive advantages. We are committed to help our customers optimize, integrate and automate their IT assets, as well as evaluate and implement robust new technologies and cloud-centric infrastructure models. For more information, contact (408) 540-0090 or visit www.groupwaretech.com Follow Groupware Technology: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn PR Contact: Shirley Ng, [email protected] ; 408-915-2446 SOURCE Groupware Technology, Inc. Related Links http://www.groupwaretech.com The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested Salim Maharaj, an associate of gangster Ejaz Lakdawala, in connection with an extortion case. A local court here on Monday sent Lakdawala to judicial custody till February 10 in connection with the case. This was the third case in which he has been arrested. Mumbai's Esplanade Court on January 21 had sent him to judicial custody till January 27. Lakdawala was produced before the court at the end of his police remand. He was arrested from Patna by the Mumbai Police's Anti-Extortion Cell earlier this month. Subsequently, the police produced him in a local court in Mumbai, which remanded him to police custody till January 21. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) What just happened? Security researchers from the University of Michigan have disclosed details regarding a new vulnerability affecting most Intel processors that could be exploited to leak sensitive data. CVE-2020-0549, dubbed CacheOut by the researchers, is a speculative execution attack that carries a severity rating of 6.5 (medium risk). As Intel highlights in its disclosure, this side channel variant could allow the data value of some modified cache lines in the L1 data cache to be inferred under the right set of circumstances. Unlike previous Microarchitectural Data Sampling (MDS) issues, an attacker can exploit this new vulnerability to select what data to leak rather than having to wait for the data to become available. Worse yet, the researchers demonstrate that it can violate nearly ever hardware-based security domain including co-resident virtual machines, the OS kernel and even Software Guard Extensions (SGX) enclaves. Jerry Bryant, director of communications for Intel Product Assurance and Security, said they are not aware of any use of the vulnerability outside of a controlled lab environment. Intel has published a list of processors that are and arent affected by the vulnerability. Notably, the researchers say that AMD chips are not affected by CacheOut as the company doesnt offer any feature similar to Intels Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX). ARM and IBM products do have a feature similar to TSX although the researchers said they dont know if any of them are affected. Intel is planning to release microcode updates for affected processors through its Intel Platform Update (IPU) in the near future. Those interested in digging deeper are invited to check out the full paper (PDF) on the issue. Masthead credit: CPU by Mau47. CacheOut logo by Marina Minkin. Research PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-28 20:59:38 Press Information Research Trades Office No.10, Wing C, Rajhans, Baner, Pune-45, India Nitin Business Development +1 6269994607 (US) +91 7507349866 (IND) email https://www.researchtrades.com/checkout/1824071 # 789 Words Office No.10, Wing C, Rajhans, Baner, Pune-45, IndiaBusiness Development+1 6269994607 (US) +91 7507349866 (IND) The report is the perfect asset that worldwide and local Christmas Lights And Christmas Decorations players and financial specialists need to peep into the eventual fate of their business and plan out successful development procedures. It is an assemblage of clever and precise research and examination contemplates that help players in the Christmas Lights And Christmas Decorations business to comprehend the development examples of driving portions and locales, nature of rivalry, and other huge viewpoints. Purchasers of the report are given dependable figures for complete income, utilization, deals, CAGR, creation, and other significant elements.Readers of the research report can get distinct information on important drivers, restraints, developments, and opportunities in the Christmas Lights And Christmas Decorations Enterprise. They can also study trending technologies, manufacturing strategies, investment strategies, products, and applications that Christmas Lights And Christmas Decorations key players should be taking note of. Every segment is deeply studied by the authors of the record to help key players identify key growth pockets and make the proper investment choices in their Christmas Lights And Christmas Decorations Commercial enterprise. All the segments taken into consideration for the research have a look at are analyzed on the basis of percentage, consumption, boom fee, client choice, and numerous other parameters.Request for sample with TOC @ https://www.researchtrades.com/request-sample/1824071 Scope of the Report:In 2017, the Christmas Lightings revenue was US$ 1896.55 million and the market share was 31.89%, and it will be US$ 2299.67 million and 30.23% in 2023, with a CAGR 3.26%from 2017 to 2023.The technical barriers of Christmas Lights and Christmas Decorations are not high. Because of low labor cost and raw material cost, Chinese enterprises have advantages to produce Christmas decorations, and export large amount of products to USA and Europe. USA is a large consumer and imported more than 90% of decoration in 2015. In local market, there are players such as Amscan, Balsam Brands, Barcana, Roman, Crab Pot Trees, Crystal Valley, Tree Classics, and Hilltop.The worldwide market for Christmas Lights and Christmas Decorations is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 4.2% over the next five years, will reach 7590 million US$ in 2024, from 6180 million US$ in 2019, according to a new GIR (Global Info Research) study.This report focuses on the Christmas Lights and Christmas Decorations in global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers : Amscan,Balsam Hill,Barcana,Roman,Kingtree,Crystal Valley,Tree Classics,Festive Productions Ltd,Hilltop,BLACHERE ILLUMINATIONMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers : North America (United States, Canada and Mexico),Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia),South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.),Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, covers : Artificial Christmas Trees,Christmas LightingsChristmas DecorationsMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into : Residential,CommercialThe content of the study subjects, includes a total of 15 chapters:*Chapter 1, to describe Christmas Lights and Christmas Decorations product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market driving force and market risks.*Chapter 2, to profile the top manufacturers of Christmas Lights and Christmas Decorations, with price, sales, revenue and global market share of Christmas Lights and Christmas Decorations in 2017 and 2018.*Chapter 3, the Christmas Lights and Christmas Decorations competitive situation, sales, revenue and global market share of top manufacturers are analyzed emphatically by landscape contrast.*Chapter 4, the Christmas Lights and Christmas Decorations breakdown data are shown at the regional level, to show the sales, revenue and growth by regions, from 2014 to 2019.*Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to break the sales data at the country level, with sales, revenue and market share for key countries in the world, from 2014 to 2019.*Chapter 10 and 11, to segment the sales by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2014 to 2019.*Chapter 12, Christmas Lights and Christmas Decorations market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2019 to 2024.*Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Christmas Lights and Christmas Decorations sales channel, distributors, customers, research findings and conclusion, appendix and data source.Answers that the research report acknowledges:- Market length and growth rate throughout the forecast period.- The important thing factors of the market of Christmas Lights And Christmas Decorations.- Key market trends have dampened the growth of the Christmas Lights And Christmas Decorations market.- Challenges for market boom.- The main vendors of the market of the Christmas Lights And Christmas Decorations .- Targeted swot analysis.- Possibilities and threats going through current vendors in the worldwide Christmas Lights And Christmas Decorations market.- Trend elements influencing the marketplace in geographic regions.- Strategic tasks focused on key suppliers. BRUSSELS - The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union cardboard boxes and Union Jack socks and all. With the Brexit moment set for Friday at midnight Brussels time ( 11 p.m. U.K. time) some U.K. legislators at the European Parliament in Brussels who have been fervent Brexit pushers were wasting no time getting ready to get out the door. Lawmaker Nigel Farages office on Tuesday was a jumble of boxes and mementos ready to be packed and shipped. His favourite souvenir? A framed Economist cover with him, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin marching to the big drums of populism. Its not meant to be flattering, but in a sense, what it sums up is the great battle thats going on, Farage said in an interview with The Associated Press. He was still wearing his Union Jack socks, ready for Wednesdays plenary when the EU parliament should overwhelmingly approve the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the last act needed before the U.K. leaves on Friday. Downstairs in the parliamentary halls, some fans of the Brexit party, also dressed in British colours were posing among the flags of the member states, laughing and shouting at anyone wanting to hear how the EU was a dictatorship. Yet for most of the parliaments legislators and many of the departing British lawmakers, the EU remains one of the greatest experiments in peace-building and democracy following the devastation across Europe from World War II. Among the British backers of the EU are members of the Greens party, who lit lights outside the European Parliament against the darkening sky, a symbolic Well leave a light on action in case British lawmakers ever do return to Brussels. For a more official occasion, EU Parliament chief David Sassoli will bid the U.K. legislators a formal farewell during Wednesdays plenary, where the Brexit vote will take place. Even the U.K.s representation offices will change their name and become the U.K. Mission to the European Union. For insiders, UKReps will become UKMis, and they will still be just as busy, since both Britain and the EU still need to figure their future relationship and trade deals. One thing is sure though. Were passing the point of no return, said Farage. Were leaving. Were never coming back. ___ Follow APs full coverage of Brexit and British politics at https://www.apnews.com/Brexit Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fiachra Gibbons (Agence France-Presse) Paris Tue, January 28, 2020 16:05 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206159ad9 2 Food Kei-Kobayashi,Michelin,Chefs,food Free Chef Kei Kobayashi became the first Japanese chef ever to win the maximum three Michelin stars in France on Monday. The flamboyant 42-year-old, who was born in Nagano, was the biggest winner on a night when Japanese cooks triumphed in the backyard of French haute cuisine. Kazuyuki Tanaka won two stars for Racine, his restaurant in the northeastern city of Reims, as did Yasunari Okazaki for his sushi and crossover cuisine at L'Abysee au Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris. Kobayashi -- a striking figure with bleached blond hair -- said Japanese cooks have earned their place at the top table of French cuisine. "There are lots of Japanese chefs now in France and you have accepted us and given us a place," he said as picked up the highest distinction in French cooking. "Thank you, France," he added. Kobayashi admitted that his perfectionism can make him a "difficult person" to work with. "I am quite hard. I ask a lot of my team, and then I ask a lot more," he joked. A dozen top Japanese cooks in France have shaken up the elite ranks of the Michelin in recent years, led by two-star chefs Takao Takano in Lyon and Masafumi Hamano at the Au 14 Fevrier near Macon in rural Burgundy. Last year, Keigo Kimura at the Asperule in Dijon and Takafumi Kikuchi at La Sommeliere in Lyon won their first stars for helping to re-define and re-invent French cuisine. Kobayashi opened his restaurant, Kei, in centre of the French capital nine years ago, and wowed diners with such dishes as sea bass cooked on its scales and smoked salmon with roquette mousse and a tomato vinaigrette with lemon emulsion. Read also: Hard cheese? French chef loses court case over lost Michelin star 'Virtuoso of flavors' Critics hailed the precision of his cooking and the way he made relatively simple dishes like gnocchi, truffle, bellota ham and parmesan cheese extraordinary. He told AFP after his Michelin victory Monday that he didn't like his cooking "categorized" as either French or Japanese, "just the best". The famous red guide described him as a "virtuoso of flavours" and his cooking as both "delicate and memorable". "It's very simple. Every dish that Kei turns the rigor of his attention to is called on to become a signature one," it added. But not all French gastronomes were quite as convinced of his genius. The influential culinary website Atabula said his cooking lacked "coherence and emotion", adding that although his restaurant was "a good two-star table, it's a thin three-star one". Kobayashi, however, is not one to be easily shaken. With its sparse grey interior, the chef said he did not need to hang pictures on the walls of his 30-seat restaurant, which he runs with his wife Chikako. "My cuisine provides the necessary touches of color," he declared. New French openness The son of a chef who worked in a traditional Japanese multi-course "kaiseki" restaurant, Kobayashi decided to dedicate himself to French cuisine after watching a television documentary about the nouvelle cuisine pioneer Alain Chapel, himself a three-star Michelin chef. He moved to France in 1998 after training in French restaurants in Japan, working under the legendary chef Gilles Goujon at the Auberge du Vieux Puits on the Swiss border and Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athenee in Paris before going out on his own. Michelin's rewarding of so many Japanese chefs again shows how French gastronomy -- once regarded as the best in the world -- has opened up to foreign cooks as its dominance has waned. Last year, the Argentinian Mauro Colagreco became the first foreign chef working in France to get three Michelin stars for his restaurant Mirazur, overlooking the Mediterranean at Menton near the Italian border. Two French chefs -- Christopher Coutanceau from the western port city of La Rochelle and Glenn Viel, who cooks at the Oustau de Baumaniere hotel in Baux-de-Provence -- joined Kobayashi this year in earning the maximum Michelin ranking. Only some 130 restaurant worldwide hold the prestigious guide's highest distinction. Pedestrians wearing protective masks to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, walk on a street in Tokyo's Ginza area on January 25, 2020. - Japan's health authorities on January 25 confirmed the country's third case of the coronavirus which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) The man in his sixties from Nara in western Japan drove two groups of Wuhan tourists earlier in January and was hospitalised on Saturday with flu-like symptoms, the health ministry said. Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the country had confirmed two new cases, bringing the total so far in Japan to six. "One of them has no record of visiting Wuhan, and drove tourists from Wuhan on a bus twice in January," he told reporters. A health ministry official confirmed to AFP that there was "no information" that the man had been anywhere in China recently, including Wuhan. "If this is true then he might have been infected by tourists from Wuhan. And if so, this would be the first person-to-person transmission in Japan," the official added. The other cases so far confirmed in Japan all involve people who have been to Wuhan. Japan has imposed new checks on travellers arriving from China, and is planning to dispatch a plane to Wuhan on Tuesday night to evacuate Japanese nationals from the city. The plane is expected to bring back about 200 nationals, of some 650 who have asked to be repatriated, authorities said. Sikeston, MO man accused of holding girlfriend against her will for three weeks "II know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:12-13 The apostle Paul had no design to urge the Philippians to give more but to encourage such kindness as will meet a glorious reward hereafter. Through Christ, we have the grace to do what is good, and through Him, we must expect the reward; and as we have all things by Him, let us do all things for Him, and to His glory! Why Did Paul Write Philippians? In AD 60, Paul was imprisoned in Rome, and for the next two years, he lived under house arrest (Acts 28:30-31), encouraging local churches via letters written from prison. His letter to the Philippians was just one of four Prison Epistles written during this time. Similar to Pauls letter to the Ephesians, his letter to the Philippians doesnt address any major behavioral concerns. It does, however, attempt to encourage the Philippian church, which was facing opposition from the outside as well as a fair amount of strife and division from within. This is why Paul writes often about the need to find joy, peace, and contentment in present circumstances. As someone living under house arrest at the time, he was perfectly situated to address these topics with both authority and grace. Pauls Relationship with the Philippian Church We know from the book of Acts that Paul had visited the church in Philippi during his second missionary journey (Acts 16) and again on his third journey through the region (Acts 20:1-6). Even after he departed, Paul continued to enjoy a warm relationship with the Philippians, who were diligent in providing financial support to the apostle during his ministry. In fact, upon learning that Paul had been imprisoned in Rome, the church in Philippi sent Epaphroditus to Rome with financial aid for Paul. Epaphroditus later returned to Philippi with a letter from Paul to the church. But why is this important to the context and understanding of Philippians 4:13? Paul Gives Thanks to the Philippians In the fourth chapter of Philippians, Paul shows his appreciation to the Philippians by writing, Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need (Philippians 4:15-16). This was a church that had gone out of its way to take care of Paul, and he wanted to thank them for their continued support. As one who shared such a loving relationship with the Philippian church, Paul also wanted to provide an update on his present condition and let his friends know that he was well cared for and doing all right. He writes, I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God (Philippians 4:18). But while their financial support was nonetheless appreciated, Paul also used his time in prison to remind his fellow believers that financial well-being and ones physical condition are not indicative of ones spiritual health and well-being. As he writes, For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want (Philippians 4:11-12). Paul Preaches on the Power of Contentment Finding contentment in difficult circumstances is difficult for even the most stouthearted believer. When times are tough and things arent going the way we plan, this is a fertile ground for frustration, despair, and discouragement to take root. That is why, as Matthew Henry writes, we need his (Christs) strength to teach us to be content in every condition. Paul understood this better than most. In his previous letter to the Corinthians, he wrote, Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christs power may rest on me. That is why, for Christs sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). And in Philippians 4:13, Paul follows his discussion on contentment with the now-famous words, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. In fact, in the NIV translation, it is written, I can do all this through him who gives me strength. And what is the this to which Paul was referring? It is the specific ability to find contentment whatever the circumstance, which Paul argues can only come from Christ who gives him strength. What Paul Really Means by "I Can Do All Things" Christians are not wrong to use Philippians 4:13 as a banner of Gods strength and power at work in their lives. It is true. The strength of Jesus Christ has the power to heal the sick, free the oppressed, move mountains (Matthew 17:20), break chains (Acts 12:7), and defeat death (Hebrews 2:14). Christs miracles were on display throughout His ministry as Gods power was evident from the very foundation of the earth (Psalms 77:14). And they were certainly at work and evident in the life and ministry of Paul as well. We Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Gives Us Strength In this specific instance, however, Paul looked to the spiritual provision of Jesus Christ to find strength, hope, joy, peace, and contentment in even his darkest situation. It is this power that transforms hearts and frees minds oppressed by the discouragement of present circumstances. And in a time when his own circumstances were limited, Paul turned to Christ for the strength to be content and still have joy. The same power that could deliver him from prison in an instant was the power that was daily transforming Pauls heart to become more like Christs own. In Christ, there is true strength. In Him, there is hope, joy, and peace that surpass all understanding and situations (Philippians 4:7), which Paul himself had experienced firsthand and later professed in his letter to the Philippians. If anything, Paul had revealed his greatest secret to some of his closest friends and supporters. And it is a secret Christians today share in, one that is just as encouraging and life-giving as it was the day it was first read by the early church. "I Can Do All Things" Bible Verses Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Mark 9:23 And Jesus said to him, If you can! All things are possible for one who believes. Philippians 4:11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? iStock/Getty Images Plus/kieferpix Joel Ryan is an LA-based childrens author, artist, professor, and speaker who is passionate about helping young writers unleash their creativity and discover the wonders of their Creator through storytelling and art. In his blog, Perspectives off the Page, he discusses all things story and the creative process. A woman who wrote a memoir about being groomed aged just 13 by a school teacher who was later convicted of sex offences, has accused a writer who secured a seven-figure deal with a major publisher of ripping off her work. Wendy C. Ortiz, 47, from California, released 'Excavation' through a small publisher in 2014, describing the five-year sexual relationship she had with an English teacher 15 years her senior, that began when she was 13. However this week the author took to Twitter to claim upcoming release, My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, is 'eerily similar' to her own book. My Dark Vanessa, which tells the story of 15-year-old student Vanessa Wye who had an 'affair' with a high-school teacher later accused of sexual abuse by a former student, is already being hailed as 'The Biggest Debut Novel of 2020' ahead of its March release, and secured its writer a seven-figure deal. Wendy claims that Kate Elizabeth Russell contacted her last week to say that she's read Excavation, prompting her suspicion that her story has been stolen. Wendy's memoir begins in September 1986, when a new English teacher by the name of Mr Ivers, 28, joins her school. He soon singles her out, and praises her 'talented' writing style, telling her that 'he needs something to get his blood racing' when she tells him that she's writing about 'making out with boys'. Wendy C. Ortiz, 47, (seen) from California, released 'Excavation' through a small press publisher in 2014, and claims a new book released this month is 'eerily similar' to her own The memoir describes the 'sexual relationship' she had as a young teenager, with an English teacher 15 years her senior. Wendy is seen aged 20 in 1993 By November that year he has passed on his home phone number though a classmate, and when she calls him at home he soon prompts her to have graphic phone sex with him after telling her he 'has a crush on her'. Revealing she had no more than kissed a boy at that point, she wrote: 'The conversation was punctuated by his heavy breathing, soft words. I heard intakes of sharp breath, like he was smoking a cigarette and exhaling large amounts of smoke, which was not how I smoked at all. 'He told me, as if I couldn't already guess, that this was our secret, not to be discussed with anyone, not even my best friend Abigail, and it definitely couldn't be written anywhere like my journal.' Wendy released 'Excavation' through a small press publisher in 2014. My Dark Vanessa tells the story of 15-year-old student Vanessa Wye who had an 'affair' with A high-school teacher, later accused of sexual abuse by a former student Speaking later in the book about having read headlines at the time about teachers being arrested for having sex with their pupils, she wrote: 'Nearing 40, a part of me just doesn't get it anymore. Another part of me gets it. Like, viscerally. 'I learned later - years after I had turned eighteen - that my former teacher had misdeeds with other underage girls'. She has more recently discovered that her former teacher is a registered sex offender. Wendy struggled to get a book detail with a mainstream publisher, saying that her book was rejected because the subject matter was too 'difficult'. Taking to Twitter, Wendy tweeted: 'I wrote a memoir that was roundly rejected by the traditional publishing industry more than 20 times but which has sold as well as it could without the machine of the publishing industry, making me a 'small press bestseller'. This week the author took to Twitter and appeared to imply that recently released book 'My Dark Vanessa' by Kate Elizabeth Russell, seen, published by William Morrow, an imprint of major agent HarperCollins, was 'eerily similar' to her own book The American writer, who is of Mexican descent, continued: 'And yet in an industry that is continually taken to task for being extremely white and making decisions that reflect as much, here is a 7 figure book deal for a fiction book that is being marketed eerily similarly to my book, and has made many of my readers ask, 'why does this sound familiar??'. She added: 'The author, who has read Excavation, thought that yesterday would be a good day to reach out to say she had read my book. 'I won't share everything else she said, but consider intentions here. Timing. Justifications offered. I've always been outside the publishing industry's gates. Even when they ask me to judge their big contests, blurb their books, etc. 'So now I'm standing outside the gates (as usual) shouting at their bulls*** industry that gives out 7 figure deals (consider how THOSE sausages get made) & then puts the machine into overdrive to sell it. 'The industry says, We want to do better. See our statistics, we will try! while they put certain white writers in the spotlight & nod at the people outside the gates. Well, f*** that.' Both authors have been contacted for comment. Sen. Diana DiZoglio, who during a debate on sexual harassment policies in 2018 broke the non-disclosure agreement shed signed when fired from a job as a House aide years earlier, filed a bill this session that would ban the use of public funds for silencing the complainant or concealing the details realted to claims of sexual harassment or assault. In the private sector, the bill (S 929) would also ban the use of NDAs in sexual harassment cases. It would allow for provisions that shield the complainant's identity and certain facts to be included in a settlement agreement, but only at the request of the complainant. "You should not be able to purchase somebody's silence, to be able to move from one victim to the next," DiZoglio said at a press conference where she urged the Judiciary Committee to endorse and advance the bill ahead of a Feb. 5 deadline. The Methuen Democrat said if her bill doesn't come out of committee, she'll pursue other ways of bringing its language to the floor, including potentially as a budget amendment. DiZoglio was joined by journalist Gretchen Carlson, political strategist Julie Roginsky, attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Congresswoman Lori Trahan and state Reps. Alyson Sullivan, Maria Robinson and John Rogers. Carlson filed a sexual harassment suit against the late Fox News CEO Roger Ailes in 2016, which led to other women coming forward with allegations and ultimately to his resignation. Roginsky sued the following year. The two women co-founded the Lift Our Voices Coalition, which advocates for the end of practices such as mandatory NDAs. Carlson said Monday that she received a public apology from 21st Century Fox but if she had known her complaint "would have helped ignite such a profound cultural shift," she also "would have fought to never sign that awful NDA." She said her agreement prevents her from consulting with filmmakers, journalists or anyone else telling her story. The Oscar-nominated movie "Bombshell" depicts the Fox harassment scandal, with Nicole Kidman playing Carlson. "The silence can feel suffocating," Carlson said. "No one should be penalized for having a voice, because buying silence instead of stopping harassment is immoral and unjust. We've lost hundreds of thousands of women workers in our country. We've lost them to harassment across every profession, while predators continue climbing the professional ladder." DiZoglio has been keeping the pressure on her colleagues for NDA reform since March 2018, when the then-representative revealed on the House floor that she had signed an NDA to receive severance pay after she was let go from a job as an aide. She said then that she had signed the agreement "under duress" and that she was fired because of discredited rumors about inappropriate behavior. The House rejected DiZoglio's attempt to impose a ban on NDAs two years ago, and voted instead to limit their use to cases when the NDA is requested by the victim of sexual harassment. At the start of this legislative session, in January 2019, the Senate voted to ban the use of NDAs. DiZoglio has been critical of Speaker Robert DeLeo over the incident. Offering a message to her fellow legislators Monday, she said, Your speaker lied to you and put you in a very bad position, both by unequivocally denying that he has given out NDAs for anything related to sexual harassment, when I have one from his office and my circumstances were widely publicized leading up to my wrongful termination, and also by exploiting victims need for confidentiality, to convice you, during a rushed and emotional debate, to allow these agreements to continue to be used by his office and elsewhere in our government. DeLeo's office responded to DiZoglio's remarks with a lengthy statement describing the process leading up to DiZoglio's agreement and the new House rule around NDAs. The statement said the House has not "executed an agreement with any current or former employee that contains a non-disclosure agreement since the adoption of House Rule 100." "It is also important to point out that at no time, either during her employment with the House or after her termination from the House, did Senator DiZoglio or her private attorney ever allege that she had been a victim of sexual harassment until March of 2018 when Sen. DiZoglio made her experience public," the statement said. DiZoglio singled out Gov. Charlie Baker as well, calling for him and DeLeo to both "get on board." "Politically speaking at least, they are the most powerful men in Massachusetts and they are the ones that hold the keys to whether or not this legislation passes," she said. Asked later in the day about DiZoglio's bill, DeLeo and Baker both reiterated that their policies are to allow NDAs only when a victim requests one. DeLeo said that decision "was not made in a vacuum." "It wasn't just made by certain leaders or chairs or whatever. Quite frankly, a lot of folks including myself spoke to national organizations of women, Jane Doe, BARCC -- Boston Area Rape Crisis Center -- and they were all unanimous in their support that they felt that should a person want a non-disclosure agreement, then they should have a non-disclosure agreement, so that is the policy that we went by after listening to the most important people of all, the victims of violence or abuse or anything of that sort," he said. Baker said the bill would prohibit any NDA "that involves anything associated with state money." "Then anybody who works for the commonwealth won't have access to the ability to get an NDA if they file a complaint," he said. Baker said he thinks it's a "good idea" to allow victims the opportunity to have an NDA if they want one. Sullivan, an Abington Republican, said there are other confidentiality protections available to victims that stop short of an NDA. You can redact the victims name from a settlement agreement, she said. You dont need a non-disclosure agreement in a settlement. I think the point around the non-disclosure agreements, the claim that its victim-driven is only to protect the employer and not the victim. A 29-year-old man has been charged following the deaths of three Indian nationals in a fight in a residential east London street. Sandeep Singh, of Chadwell Heath, Romford, has been charged by detectives investigating the trios deaths with conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The Metropolitan Police has said they believe five men were involved in another altercation the previous evening at the nearby Krystel Banqueting venue, with the clash spilling out on to the High Road. It is thought those involved were known to each other and were from the Sikh and Hindu communities. Singh will appear at Redbridge Magistrates Court later on Tuesday, Scotland Yard said. Gurjeet Singh, also 29, of South Park Crescent, Ilford, was charged on January 21 with possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. He appeared at Redbridge Magistrates Court the next day, was remanded to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court on February 19 and remains under investigation in connection with the murders. A second man arrested over the murders has since been eliminated from the investigation. UPDATE: This story now includes comments from Maxwell Murphy of Choice Labs, who contacted MLive following the publishing of this story. LANSING, MI -- Even though most marijuana for sale on Michigan medical dispensary and recreational store shelves came from state-registered caregivers, the state says it cant trace the outbreak of a potentially deadly contaminant back to its source. A recent recall of vaping cartridges that tested positive for vitamin E acetate, which the Marijuana Regulatory Agency has banned due to its association with vaping-related lung illnesses and deaths, illuminated a weakness in Michigans marijuana tracking system. The state knows where the tainted vape cartridges ended up, but not which caregivers they came from. A state database tracks registered medical marijuana caregiver identities, but regulators cant legally look up their names, Marijuana Regulatory Agency spokesman David Harns said. It is due to privacy stipulations written into the 2008 voter-passed medical marijuana law. The department shall verify to law enforcement personnel and to the necessary database ... whether a registry identification card is valid, without disclosing more information than is reasonably necessary to verify the authenticity of the registry identification card, the law says. The data in the (caregiver) registry is confidential, Harns said. We dont share it between the program areas without the caregivers consent, as it would be a violation of the law. Furthermore, the Marijuana Regulatory Agency doesnt limit how much marijuana a caregiver may sell into the licensed market. We do not regulate caregiver activities," Harns said. The only stipulation is that the marijuana, which can be flower or finished products, like vaping cartridges, be purchased, logged and tested to under state guidelines by a state-licensed marijuana grower or processor. Those businesses may then transfer or wholesale the marijuana to retail medical and recreational marijuana shops. The Marijuana Regulatory Agency ended a practice that lasted from January 2019 through April of last year under which caregivers were able to sell untested product directly to provisioning centers for sale, so long as customer signed waivers acknowledging they knew the risks. Beginning March 1, the Marijuana Regulatory Agency is further cinching the caregiver pipeline by only allowing them to transfer flower -- no edibles, vaping products or concentrates -- to licensed growers and processors. Over the first six months of the licensed medical marijuana markets existence, nearly 93 percent of all flower sales originated from caregiver product. As of December, that figure had decreased to about 63%, according to the Marijuana Regulatory Agency. There were 36,392 registered caregivers in Michigan as of December, according to the Marijuana Regulatory Agency. Antonio Mansor, the Director of Retail Compliance for Southfield-based Pharmaco, which operates eight medical dispensaries and a grow operation, said caregiver product is frequently bought and sold using LeafLink, an online marketplace for Michigans licensed marijuana industry. While marijuana may originate from a caregiver, its distributed and sold through licensed marijuana businesses, Mansor said. Any licensed grower or processor that purchases caregiver product must include the caregivers license number when transferring it into the state tracking system, according to screen shots of the process available on the Marijuana Regulatory Website. Twice, on Dec. 17 and Jan. 22, batches of Savage Cannabis brand Savage Sticks vaping cartridges were recalled for the presence of vitamin E acetate. Michigans marijuana industry uses Metrc, sophisticated tracking software that allows the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency to watch product as it flows through the supply chain and changes hands, beginning with seeds and seedlings to finished flower, concentrate, edibles, vaping cartridges or other products sold off recreational store and medical dispensary shelves. The system ensures only tested product makes it to market, and if there is an issue, that regulators are able to identify the source of marijuana products. However, this is not possible when the origin is a caregiver. The loophole allows large quantities of marijuana and marijuana products that originate from unlicensed, unknown caregivers to be sold in Michigan dispensaries and retail stores. Theres no way to tell if the caregiver personally cultivated the marijuana, since the product isnt tracked until after transfer to the licensed market, Harns said. This means caregivers may act as brokers of marijuana into the licensed market. Harns said its illegal to import out-of-state marijuana for commercial sale in Michigan. Despite the cloak of anonymity bestowed on caregivers, MLive attempted to identify the manufacturer of 9,380 vitamin E-contaminated Savage Sticks brand THC distillate vaping cartridges the state recalled Jan. 22. The search for Savage Sticks The website for a company calling itself Savage Cannabis advertises the Savage Sticks vaping cartridges that were distributed to licensed medical marijuana dispensaries across Michigan. The Savage Cannabis website lists more than 20 licensed medical marijuana dispensaries as customers. While theres a company website, the Savage Cannabis contact information doesnt lead to anyone willing to acknowledge a connection with the company. MLive visited the listed address at a Metro Detroit office plaza and found an accounting firm that denied having any affiliation with or knowledge of Savage Cannabis or Savage Sticks. The phone number on the website is answered by Choice Labs, a company that operates two medical provisioning centers in the Jackson area. Choice Labs location at 33331 Page Ave. in Leoni Township is also licensed for retail sales and Choice Labs operates grow and processing facilities in Jackson. Why would you call the dispensary here and ask about Savage Sticks, said a man who answered the phone Thursday, Jan. 23. He was unaware that the Choice Labs phone number was listed on the Savage Cannabis website. The man said he would have a representative from Choice Labs contact MLive to clear up any misunderstanding but MLive didnt heard back. Were proud to manufacture the following brands: CHOICE, Drip Premium Wood Tip Cartridges, Midnight Roots, Marys Medicinals, Dixie, Platinum Vape, and Savage Cannabis, Choice Labs website says. In response to this story, Maxwell Murphy, Choice Labs head of compliance, contacted MLive and issued this statement: Choice Labs is not named in the recall because we are not the manufacturer of the products that were recalled. Choice Labs has never used vitamin E acetate at our facility, and every vape cartridge Choice has manufactured has passed testing for Vitamin E Acetate. We support the changes (the Marijuana Regulatory Agency) has made to ensure patient safety. (the Marijuana Regulatory Agency) has long ago stopped allowing provisioning centers to purchased untested material from caregivers. More recently, (the Marijuana Regulatory Agency) has taken massive action to ensure every cartridge sold by a licensed provisioning center after November 22nd has passed testing for Vitamin E acetate. Murphy believes the recalled Savage Sticks are old inventory and the result of unlicensed caregiver sales direct to provisioning centers, a practice that is no longer allowed. He said there was a big problem with black-market producers mimicking packaging of and selling popular vaping cartridges, like Savage Sticks. Murphy had no explanation as to why the address on the Savage Cannabis website leads to an accounting firm that claims no connection with the brand. Savage Sticks are currently produced with marijuana grown by Choice Labs or caregiver product that is tested to state standards prior to distribution, Muprhy said. Vitamin E acetate, the contaminant responsible for the Savage Sticks recall, until last summer was considered a safe ingredient. A nationwide vaping-related lung illness outbreak that the Centers for Disease control said is suspected of killing 60 people, including two in Michigan, and hospitalizing nearly 2,700 nationwide, was strongly linked to the use of vitamin E acetate. Vitamin E acetate is a cutting agent that was used to inconspicuously adulterate THC distillate and increase its volume, and thereby profits. A Sept. 12 Instagram post on the Savage Cannabis page assured customers it doesn't use vitamin E acetate. The post was removed from the Instagram page Jan. 24. Following the lung illness outbreak, Savage Cannabis on Sept. 12 took to its Instagram page to post lengthy assurance to customers that it has never used vitamin E acetate in its vaping products. Our patients safety and health is our #1 priority with Savage Cannabis products, the post said. We ensure that all our cartridges do not contain vitamin E acetate and we use nothing but top-quality premium THC. The post appeared to be deleted from the Savage Cannabis Instagram page on the afternoon of Jan. 24. It was visible earlier the same day. The Marijuana Regulatory Agency on Nov. 22 issued a ban on vitamin E acetate and ordered all vaping products be pulled from shelves across the state until they could be tested for its presence. -- Gus Burns is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact him with questions, tips or comments at fburns@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, @GusBurns. Read more from MLive about medical and recreational marijuana. More on MLive: Michigan recalls Savage Sticks vaping products Michigan recalls nearly 65,000 vape cartridges Michigan bans vitamin E acetate in vaping products Michigan marijuana industry supports vitamin E acetate ban Michigan issued first recreational licenses Michigan marijuana, what it means for you New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/28/2020 -- Well-researched report on the Global Drone Market aims to educate the buyers and stakeholders about the current trends and ongoing developments in the industry for allowing them to plan profitable strategies for the forecast period 2019 - 2024. The study delivers detailed information on the major driving factors, expected to fuel the Drone Market in the near future. Experts have also provided analysis on the key opportunities for the industry players to explore and gain prominent position. Industry players can also improve their brand image by adopting growth strategies, such as innovations and new product development, while considering the environmental factors. This will not only support their goodwill, but also boost the company presence in the Drone market. Get More Details @ https://www.marketgrowthinsight.com/sample/71764?utm_source=akshay&utm_medium=sbwire Scope of the Report: In-depth research report also focuses on the key impacting factors, such as changing consumer requirements, product preferences in different economies, consumer spending power, and demographic details on gender, age, and income. This information will help the manufacturing companies to produce the required quantity of good, while reducing wastage and managing their resources effectively. The report also includes details on restraining factors and major challenges that will allow the industry players to plan policies and introduce products accordingly. In Market Segmentation by Manufacturers, the Report covers the Following Companies: Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, Textron, AeroVironment, IAI, Thales Group, Elbit Systems, Lockheed Martin etc. The literature offers deep analysis on geographic segmentation for the business owners to understand the ongoing trends in the regions. Researchers have also highlighted information on consumer demand pattern, their disposable income, and product preference. This will also help the players in the Drone industry to track potential customers, plan ideal promotional strategies for product awareness and creating product demand in short time. List of key players is also given in the report for helping the competitors understand their current status in the industry and planning policies for growth and expansion. The Study Objectives of the Global Drone Market Research Report are: To examine deeply on the existing status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and industry players. To display the current development in major economies, across the globe. To strategically profile the market players and comprehensively examine their growth and development plans. To define, describe and predict the Drone market by product type, application, end user, and key regions. Global Drone Market Report Highlights: Intact analysis of major driving factors and ongoing trends based on each Drone market segment and sub-segment. Deep evaluation of emerging technological advancements in the global Drone market. Extensive estimation of the key manufacturers in the Drone market with assessment of market size, share, growth rate, and revenue. Detailed study of historical market scenario of the Drone market including forecast estimations up to 2026. Order a Report Copy @ https://www.marketgrowthinsight.com/checkout/71764 Table of Content: Chapter 1 Abbreviation & Acronyms: Chapter 2 Key Points: Chapter 3 Status of Drone Industry: 3.1 Brief Introduction 3.2 Technology Introduction 3.3 Key Players and Products Analysis Chapter 4 Industry Chain of Drone Industry: 4.1 Industry Chain Overview 4.2 Upstream/Raw Material Analysis 4.3 Downstream/End-user Analysis 4.4 Distribution Chanel Analysis Chapter 5 2014-2024 Global Drone Market: 5.1 Market Size, Volume and CAGR of Drone 5.2 Demand and Consumption by Type/Application 5.3 Price Analysis 5.4 Trade Analysis Chapter 6 2014-2024 Global Key Regions Drone Market: 6.1 North America Drone Market 6.1.1 Market Size, Volume and CAGR of Drone 6.1.2 Market Share of Key Players 6.1.3 Demand and Consumption by Type/Application 6.1.4 In-depth Market Analysis by Country 6.1.5 Macroeconomic Analysis More Access 101 Pages Research Report @ https://www.marketgrowthinsight.com/71764/drone-market-review About Market Growth Insight Market Growth Insight is a one stop solution for market research reports in various business categories. We are serving 100+ clients with 10000+ diverse industry reports and our reports are developed to simplify strategic decision making, on the basis of comprehensive and in-depth significant information, established through wide ranging analysis and latest industry trends. We are striving to provide the best customer friendly services and appropriate business information to accomplish your ideas. Contact Us: 2nd Floor, Manikchand Ikon, B-Wing, Dhole Patil Road, Sangamwadi, Pune 411001 +1 347 767 5477 (US) +44 131 463 4161 (UK) + 91 8956 767 535 (IN) Email: sales@marketindustryreports.com The Government approved the final version, with amendments, of the draft law on the election of mayors in two rounds for which it plans to assume responsibility in Parliament on Wednesday, announced the head of Prime Minister's Chancellery, Ionel Danca. "The main amendments brought to the draft and adopted by the Government are related to the period of time during which non-resident voting is allowed, which was established at 60 days, the amendment belonging to the PNL (National Liberal Party). Another amendment was related to the number of signatures, which got reduced from 1 per cent down to 0.5 per cent of the electoral list in the respective locality where the candidates wants to run, after several civic organisations asked for the facilitation of the manner in which independent candidates can register to run in the elections, which amendment was agreed and adopted. The amendment was submitted by the USR (Save Romania Union," said Danca, at the end of the Government meeting.he specified another amendment that was adopted concerned the representation of national minorities in the Romanian Parliament of the political parties in Parliament in the structures of the Electoral Bureaus in order "to allow this representativeness for the national minorities and political entities with 7 Senators and 10 Deputies.""Another amendment was related to the accreditation of the observers at the polling stations so that this activity to be facilitated compared with the in force legislation that made it difficult, on the one hand, for the independent observes to get their accreditation and, on the other hand, allowed the presence near the polling stations of some political representatives who weren't supposed to be in the area. These were the main amendments adopted today and the procedure of the Government assuming responsibility for this draft law is ongoing. The Government will go before Parliament tomorrow," said Danca. The City of Collegedale Parks and Recreation will present their second season offering a Fireside Chat Storytelling program in Founders Hall at The Commons, 4950 Swinyar Dr. in Collegedale. On Saturday, Feb. 1 from 6:30-8 p.m., the community is invited to hear two entertaining storytellers from the famed Jonesborough Storytelling Guild. Jonesborough is the oldest town in Tennessee, home to the International Storytelling Center and host of the National Storytelling Festival. The masterful performer, Judy Butterfly Farlow has enthralled audiences in venues as diverse as backyard picnics to The White House. Audience members may find themselves laughing one minute and wiping a discreet tear the next. Judys versatility and passion are unmatched as she charms her listeners. Her mother has been noted to say that Judy was born telling stories. Storyteller Catherine Yael Serota is a native of Asheville, NC and currently resides in Flag Pond, Tn. She spent time working as a mental health therapist before becoming a Christmas tree and nursery stock grower. She presents original stories set in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Catherine entertains listeners with traditional tales, including Jack Tales. What is a Jack Tale? asked Collegedale Parks and Recreation Director Traci Bennett-Hobek. Come find out, and just maybe you will take home a bit of mischief. For more information, email thobek@collegedaletn.gov. Four graduates tell Siobhan Howe how their fine art degree has influenced their approach to their working life. What use is a degree in fine art? It's a discussion that Trish Brennan, head of Fine Art & Applied Art at CIT Crawford College of Art & Design in Cork, has had many times. She has made it her mission to change how we perceive art students and graduates. Brennan sees first-hand the wide range of careers that graduates of Crawford end up in, and how they contribute to society. She has had to work hard to convince some career guidance counsellors of the wide-ranging benefits of a degree in fine art, some of whom feel the need to offer alternatives to students who are considering it. With only 5% of fine art graduates managing to make a living from working as a full-time artist, are those guidance counsellors correct? An education in the creative arts pushes students to be brave, to question and to be ambitious with their ideas, says Brennan. This belief that a primary degree is about gaining the skills to jumpstart a career echoes the governments National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, which called for a changed approach to education where primary degrees are flexible, gateway educations that teach transferable skills. Brennan describes how students at Crawford are given the freedom to create and consider their art. This blank canvas or blank wall can be incredibly daunting, and represents a markedly different approach from a more conventional third level education. Students are encouraged to get involved, to comment, to make things and to make things happen this makes for graduates who are ambitious and do not wait for opportunities to present themselves; they will initiate projects that they are passionate about. Below, four graduates from the Crawford discuss how their fine art degree has influenced their approach to their working life. 'Elevate the ordinary into the extraordinary' Jack Hickey graduated in 2011 and has been a practising artist ever since. Most artists find it very difficult to be financially self-sufficient through their artwork, but in 2017 Hickey won the Hennessy Portrait Prize (now the Zurich Portrait Prize), with the award of 15,000, and the subsequent commissions helping him to continue working as a full time artist. The Cobh-born artist practically sold out his degree show and had his first solo show shortly afterwards. His portrait of state pathologist Marie Cassidy hangs in the National Gallery. Hickey's style is photo-realism. From a technical perspective it looks perfect, but thats not what draws you in. It is the subject, the concept and the focus of the piece that takes it from a painting to art. Being a photographer provides the raw material for his work. Other artists carry sketch pads but I document my life and travel through images, he explains. He uses these images to create his artworks and elevate the ordinary into the extraordinary. Hickey's incredible drive flies in the face of many peoples perceptions of the more easy-going approach to life of artists. He credits Crawford with instilling this work ethic and providing the facilities to hone his skills. He realises his career is just beginning but he can still take stock of his success to date. No matter what happens and where my art career goes I have a painting in the National Gallery, he says. Jack and his portrait of state pathologist Marie Cassidy. International success is the next step for Hickey, and his ambitions include having a painting in a gallery in London, Paris or New York. He is currently preparing work for an exhibition in New York in March, but his sights are set beyond that. As well as a residency abroad, he says he would love to represent Ireland at the Venice Biennale. As an artist you need to be on it all the time, while youre not working 24/7 you are constantly thinking about your next project, he says. A curatorial route 2016 Crawford graduate Enid Conway originally thought she would become a film-maker, but soon found she was more interested in taking a curatorial route. On the back of her degree show she was awarded two exhibitions and two residencies securing her position in the one to watch category of graduates. It is an independent publication that discusses the work of emerging female artists based in Ireland, she explains. Bloomers recently launched its fourth edition, and Conway says the magazine is evolving as she gains greater understanding of what artists need from the publication and the collective it has created. In fact, artists supporting artists is a regular theme that comes up in discussions with graduates of Crawford. So whats next for Conway? I want to continue to develop Bloomers and keep a connection with the rich arts scene in Cork but I also want to learn how to interact with larger cultural organisations and understand how they work this may involve working with them directly or in cultural consultancy capacity. As to what advice she would give someone considering a career in creative arts she says: Stimulate curiosity and follow your 3am rabbit holes that may bring you to 14 hours of experimental film; go to as many exhibitions as you can, and always have a self-initiated project on the go. 'Learning how to be creative on my own terms' Mike Hannon graduated in 2005 with an BA in Fine Art and completed a Masters in 2015. Even when he began in Crawford, Hannon knew he didnt want to be a full-time artist, but what he did want was the creative experience of coming up with my own ideas and learning how to be creative on my own terms. After graduation Hannon immediately took his new skills into the working world, as a graphic designer in an architects office. When that company ceased training in the recession Hannon was relatively unphased, and decided to go the freelance route. That spirit of independence that is fostered in art college really suits the freelance approach of working and coming up with your own rules of how to work, he says. In 2009 he set up his own freelance business, Mike Hannon Media. Freelancing felt like a much better fit for him. Hannon has been working as a freelance film-maker ever since. He credits his education in Crawford with much of his success. You learn to think independently and rely on yourself as its a relatively unstructured academic environment in terms of your studio time... the rules are imposed by yourself; you decide the parameters around what youre creating. You become self-reliant and trust your own judgement. Hannon keeps more than a foot in the door of creativity. He has made a number of short documentaries and in 2018, his cinematic documentary, The Cloud of Unknowing, was nominated for the Best British & Irish Short Film Award at the London Film Critics Circle Awards. Art as an outlet Ciara Wall has an BA and a Masters in Education from Crawford (2008), and she now works as the head of the Art Department in Midleton College, Co Cork. From a young age Wall says she used art as an outlet, and even now she finds expressions for her creativity in many areas. We meet for coffee in Montys Cafe in Midleton, Co Cork, where Wall does the menu design and also created their murals. She talks about how she initially struggled with the studio time at Crawford, but as she progressed she learned how to use it more effectively. Wall also believes her years in Crawford gave her great confidence. After initially thinking she would work as a full-time artist, Wall made the decision to go into teaching. She describes the importance of the art room in a school for giving students the space to create but also the space to experiment with art and make mistakes. You often learn more when things dont work out, says Wall who, as well as teaching, also keeps her hand in with her own artwork. Currently on maternity leave, when she's in the classroom, she encourages her students to document the journey of their artwork. Given that the motivation for creating art can be incredibly personal, it is often emotive for both the artist and the audience, and she strives to create an atmosphere where everyone will listen to each other in the room. Wall also talks about the importance of linking into a creative community, and maintains a WhatsApp group for fellow Crawford graduates who are based in classrooms across the country. A picture taken in a laboratory shows a biohazard sticker on the entrance of a room. Photo: Getty Images Europes first case of human-to-human transmitted coronavirus was confirmed in Germany on Tuesday. The infected 33-year-old man from the Starnberg area of Bavaria caught the virus from a company colleague visiting from China. Both work at automotive supplier Webasto, headquartered near Munich. The Robert Koch Institute said that the case in Germany is the first recorded instance of the virus being transmitted outside Asia. The Bavarian health ministry said that there appears to be no more cases in Germany, and that the risk of the infection spreading is low. The Chinese employee from Shanghai had come to Webastos German headquarters for a seminar on 21 January, but started to feel sick on the flight home on 23 January, head of the Bavarian state office for health and food safety, Andreas Zapf, said on Tuesday. READ MORE: 'Mild' rebound for stocks despite rising coronavirus death toll From left: Bavarian health and nursing minister Melanie Hum, president of state office for health and food safety Dr Andreas Zapf, and head of the task force of infectious diseases Dr Martin Hoch address a news conference in Munich, after Germany declared its first confirmed case of the coronavirus on 28 January. Photo: Michael Dalder/Reuters She tested positive for the coronavirus on her return to China. The womans parents, whom she had met in the days before she travelled to Germany, were from the Wuhan region of China, where the virus originated. With the death toll from the coronavirus rising, Chinese president Xi Jinping and World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus have met in Beijing to talk about how to protect foreigners and Chinese people from the illness and explore alternatives to evacuations, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said today. The coronavirus has killed more than 100 people in China so far, and infected over 4,500. It has spread to 13 other countries, including the US, Australia, Singapore, and Taiwan. Americans have been advised by the US government to avoid going to China, and Facebook has told staff not to travel to the country. A number of big car firms are planning to evacuate their employees: French automotive group PSA said it will bring home French workers from Wuhan, while Honda and Nissan said they will evacuate their Japanese staff from the city, which is at the epicentre of the virus. Story continues At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon in Berlin, federal health minister Jens Spahn said that Germany was very well prepared to deal with the virus, and no one should panic adding, theres no need for excessive worry. READ MORE: China builds hospital in just four days as coronavirus death toll passes 100 Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 22:34:03|Editor: yan Video Player Close ZAGREB, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic sacked the country's health minister on Tuesday after reports that the minister had misstated the real value of his properties. Plenkovic explained that Health Minister Milan Kujundzic concentrated on clarifying certain issues that have nothing to do with the health sector or his duties. "We also have a responsibility as the country who is presiding over the European Union," Plenkovic told reporters. Local news portal Telegram first reported last week that the minister and his family bought a new house in Zagreb in 2019, although it is not clear from the minister's property card where the money came from. Telegram later reported that the minister misstated the real value of his property and that the house was bought below the price from the minister's wife's failed company. Local media later revealed some other properties that haven't been declared, as well as alleged murky dealings. Kujundzic dismissed all allegations and said that he had just made a small technical mistake. He rejected media pressure to step down but offered his resignation on Monday. Appalachian Power this week (1/22) issued a second Request for Proposals (RFP) for up to 200 megawatts of solar energy resources that will reduce customer costs and further diversify its electric generation mix. The new RFP has a minimum bid size of 10 MW, extends the operational date to December 2022, and provides developers the option of including a battery energy storage system with their proposal. The company's original RFP issued in late 2018 did not result in any viable projects. "By expanding the RFP we expect to receive additional submissions from developers," said Chris Beam, Appalachian Power president and chief operating officer. "Having more proposals increases our ability to identify viable utility-scale solar projects that reduce customer costs and expands our renewables portfolio." Virginia Senate Bill 966, passed in 2018, requires Appalachian Power to construct or acquire solar resources prior to 2028. If the RFP results in suitable projects, the company will seek regulatory approval for them in Virginia and West Virginia. Under the RFP, Appalachian Power may acquire a single or multiple solar facilities from winning bidders who meet certain economic and operational criteria. Qualifying projects must be operational by Dec. 15, 2022, and qualify for the Federal Investment Tax Credit. To qualify for consideration, projects must be located in Virginia, have a minimum project size of 10 MW, and be interconnected to Appalachian Power's Virginia distribution system or PJM. PJM is the independent regional transmission organization that manages the electric grid in 13 states, including Virginia. Businesses seeking to submit a proposal can access criteria, required forms, and other specifics online at www.appalachianpower.com/go/rfp . Proposals must be submitted by March 12, 2020. Any solar project selected by Appalachian Power through the RFP process is conditional upon and subject to approval by the required regulatory authorities. Appalachian Power is a leader in renewable energy, producing approximately 1,900 Gigawatt- hours of energy annually from wind- and hydro-power. Appalachian Power has 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is part of American Electric Power, which is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions. AEP's more than 17,000 employees operate and maintain the nation's largest electricity transmission system and more than 219,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.4 million customers in 11 states. AEP is also one of the nation's largest electricity producers with approximately 32,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 4,300 megawatts of renewable energy. (Newser) As the coronavirus outbreak spreads, the State Department is warning Americans to avoid going to China. The State Department issued a Level 3 warning Monday, urging US citizens to avoid all nonessential travel to the country. A Level 4 warninga highest-level alertwarns against travel to Hubei province, which is at the center of the outbreak. The government warned it has "limited ability to provide emergency services to US citizens" in the province, the Hill reports. According to Chinese authorities, the number of confirmed deaths from the coronavirus jumped Monday from 81 to 106, including the first death in Beijing, the Guardian reports. The number of countries affected has also risen, with nations including Germany and Cambodia reporting their first cases. The total number of cases in China alone is now more than 4,500, reports the South China Morning Post. story continues below The US and other countries are chartering flights to get their citizens out of Wuhan, Hubei's capital. San Francisco native Doug Perez, however, tells the AP that since his girlfriend, a Chinese citizen, won't be allowed on the plane, he is staying put. "A lot of foreigners are stuck here," he says. "There is no way on Earth many of us, including myself, are going to leave our loved ones." He says they have been hunkered down in their apartment for daysand guards refused to let him leave the apartment compound Monday night. In Hong Kong, leader Carrie Lam rejected calls to completely shut down the border with mainland China Tuesday, but said cross-border rail services would be suspended and the number of flights and buses from China would be reduced. (Read more coronavirus stories.) Actress Dia Mirza has made a fresh fervent appeal to all netizens to come out and protest the Maharasthra government's decision to fell trees in Mumbai's Aarey Colony to build a Metro Rail yard, and also denounced the cutting of 400 trees in the dead Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, Jan 28 : In a surprise development, the Aarey Colony matter was "disposed off" by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi on January 24 with lawyers and activists claiming on Tuesday they were not given a chance to attend the hearing. The matter of Aarey Eco Sensitive Zone and other cases from the Western Region's Video-Conferencing Bench, were scheduled for a regular hearing on January 24. However, on around 4.pm. on January 23, the lawyers of all petitioners were telephonically informed from the NGT Registry, Pune (Tel. 020-39820126) that all the video-conferencing matters were postponed to March 3. Moreover, instead of the designated Western Region Bench, the Aarey ESZ matter would be heard by the Principal Bench (Court No. 1), New Delhi headed by NGT Chairperson Justice (retd) Adarsh Goel, the NGT New Delhi registry informed when asked about the change in plans. "Accordingly, most lawyers and activists cancelled plans to go to New Delhi or Pune. We learned about the directions to transfer the matter from the Western Region to the Principal Bench when I called up the NGT New Delhi," said advocate Zaman Ali, representing environmental NGO Vanashakti, told IANS. The NGT registry also said that in case the lawyers were not present, a fresh date of hearing would be given in the matter, according to Ali, who termed the telephonic instructions as "strange and unheard of". Much to the shock of the various petitioners, the case was "disposed off" by the NGT's Principal Bench, without lawyers from either the petitioners' side or the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) present, Vanashakti Director Stalin Dayanand said. MoEF lawyer Rahul Garg confirmed the developments, but said he did not receive any calls from the NGT registry. "It is also not clear how the case was suddenly transferred from the Western Region to the Principal Bench though there were no applications or any orders to the effect," Garg said. Another prominent activist-lawyer Surendra Dhavale said that in recent years, the NGT has been adopting a "negative, un-cooperative attitude" and rejects environmental cases even if "there is solid documentary evidence". "It is no longer advisable to waste time and resources with the NGT. It is better to move the high courts or the Supreme Court in environmental matters," said Dhavale, whose around a dozen major cases were "disposed off". anashakti and Ali had questioned the MoEF notification of December 5, 2016, which allowed "infrastructure projects, etc" to water down the stringent rules for 'eco-sensitive zones' around pertaining to all sanctuaries and national parks. The notification affected the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Aarey Milk Colony in Mumbai, since the latter is an eco-sensitive zone, acting as a "buffer for wildlife" in case of any natural calamities inside the reserved areas. Garg said that at the previous hearing, the Western Region bench had ordered the MoEF to explain how the green cover in the buffer zones outside the SGNP was reduced, but now the matter has been disposed off. The Aarey Colony matter had created a national furore after the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. had chopped off a staggering 2,141 of the permitted 2,185 trees on October 4-5, 2019, at the speed of one tree per minute. Dayanand and other activists plan to move the Supreme Court to challenge what they term the "arbitrary" manner in which the NGT Principal Bench had disposed off the matter that has raised doubts. (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in) A Philadephia private school says one visiting student has been tested for the coronavirus, but the school does not believe the student is in danger, according to a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer. The respiratory illness has been rampant across China, killing 80 people so far but has not killed anyone in the U.S. so far. A spokeswoman for the William Penn Charter School told the Inquirer that the sick student was a member of a group of 18 high school students and three adults that came from China to visit the school. The group had a connecting flight in Wuhan City, which is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. At this time, health officials said the groups time in the city was limited, and its more likely that another virus caused the students symptoms, the Inquirer reported. The student has been in the states since January 21 and will return to China on Feb. 4, the Inquirer reported. A representative for the school told the Inquirer that the students symptoms have already improved since last week. Test results could arrive this week. The symptoms of the coronavirus include a runny nose, headache, cough and fever, according to health officials. Shortness of breath, chills and body aches are considered symptoms of a more dangerous kind of coronavirus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said. The virus can cause pneumonia in some cases. The symptoms are treated with pain and fever medication, plenty of liquids and rest, according to the CDC. Read more on PennLive: Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants the power to declare a national state of emergency and call out the Defence force to deal with natural disasters as he says the cycle of dangerous fires "must be broken". In his first major speech for the year, the Prime Minister will attempt to take control of the national agenda that has buffeted him since the deadly bushfires started and the Bridget McKenzie sports rorts scandal began. Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants the power to call out the Defence force and declare national emergencies when natural disasters strike. Credit:AAP Mr Morrison flagged a royal commission into the bushfires that will audit previous bushfire inquiries to see what recommended work has not been done. The speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday will focus on practical measures to deal with the bushfire crisis, rather than setting out a policy agenda for 2020. Planned Expenditures in Line with Previous Guidance; Majority Allocated to High Return Investment Opportunities in Guyana and the Bakken Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) today announced a 2020 Exploration Production capital and exploratory budget of $3.0 billion, of which more than 80% will be allocated to high return investments in Guyana and the Bakken. Net production is forecast to average between 330,000 and 335,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2020, excluding Libya. Bakken net production is forecast to average approximately 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2020. "We continue to successfully execute our long term strategy, with the majority of our capital budget directed to Guyana and the Bakken -- two of the highest return investment opportunities in our industry that will become significant, long term cash generators for our company," CEO John Hess said. "We are well positioned to deliver industry leading cash flow growth while also achieving significant reductions in our unit costs, which will drive margin expansion and lower our breakeven oil price to below $40 per barrel Brent by 2025." Chief Operating Officer Greg Hill said: "In the Bakken, we plan to maintain a six rig program through the year, which is expected to result in our net production growing to approximately 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of 2020. Offshore Guyana, with the Liza Phase 1 development now on production, our focus in 2020 will be on the Liza Phase 2 development and on front end engineering design work to develop the Payara Field. We also will continue to invest in an active exploration and appraisal program in Guyana on both the Stabroek and Kaieteur Blocks and in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico." The $3.0 billion budget is allocated as follows: $1.69 billion (56%) for production, $860 million (29%) for offshore Guyana developments and $450 million (15%) for exploration and appraisal activities. Production $1.375 billion to fund a six rig program in the Bakken. The company expects to drill approximately 170 new wells and to bring online approximately 175 new wells in 2020. Funds are also included for investment in non-operated wells. $135 million for production operations in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, including development of the Esox-1 tieback (Hess 57.14% and operator). $170 million for production activities at North Malay Basin (Hess 50% and operator) and the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area (Hess 50%) in the Gulf of Thailand. Developments $100 million associated with the Liza Phase 1 development offshore Guyana (Hess 30%), where first production was achieved in December 2019. $400 million for the Liza Phase 2 development, where first production is expected by mid 2022. $360 million to progress development plans for the Payara Field, where production is expected as early as 2023, and for front end engineering and design work for future developments. Exploration and Appraisal $450 million to drill exploration and appraisal wells on the Stabroek and Kaieteur Blocks offshore Guyana (Hess 30% and 15%, respectively) and two exploration wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Funds are also included for seismic acquisition and processing in Guyana, Suriname and the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, and for license acquisitions. 2020 Estimated Capital and Exploratory Expenditures ($ Millions) By Segment By Region Exploration and Production Exploration and Production Production $1,690 United States $1,730 Developments 860 International 1,270 Exploration and Appraisal 450 Total $3,000 $3,000 Note: This budget excludes expenditures associated with the Midstream segment. Hess Corporation is a leading global independent energy company engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. More information on Hess Corporation is available at http://www.hess.com. Cautionary Statements This news release contains projections and other 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. These projections and statements reflect the company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance. No assurances can be given, however, that these events will occur or that these projections will be achieved, and actual results could differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risk factors. A discussion of these risk factors is included in the company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005434/en/ Contacts: For Hess Corporation Investors: Jay Wilson (212) 536-8940 jrwilson@hess.com Media: Lorrie Hecker (212) 536-8250 lhecker@hess.com The tweet had a photo of an Amazon order of five razors dispatched in Abdullah's name to his Gupkar Road residence in Srinagar. The tweet read: "Dear Omar Abdullah, its very disheartening to see you like this while most of your corrupt friends are enjoying life outside." New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) In a random move, the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP mocked former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his long beard in a sarcastic tweet before deleting it within an hour. It went on to state: "Kindly accept our sincere contribution, in case of any assistance feel free to contact your counterpart INC for further help in this regard." Within an hour, the tweet vanished. However, within that short time, it had 517 retweets and 1,272 'likes'. Sources say, the central leadership did not find the tweet in good taste. Just a day before Republic Day, on January 25, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister's latest photograph wearing a woollen cap and sporting a long white beard surfaced on social media and went viral. Omar was seen smiling with snow in the backdrop. The photo has a retro touch to it. According to sources the photograph was genuine. The National Conference leader, who has been in detention since August 5, when Article 370 was abrogated in the state, appears to have not shaved since. In October, a different photo of Omar had surfaced, in which he was sporting a smaller beard. abn/in The wave of migrants seeking asylum at New Mexicos southern border last summer posed an urgent humanitarian crisis, threatening to overwhelm local health care resources. That prompted the New Mexico Department of Health to turn to the UNM Health Sciences Center for help. UNMs Office for Community Health, the Department of Family & Community Medicine, the Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency Program and the New Mexico Primary Care Training Consortium (NMPCTC) partnered in a pilot project to recruit residents for an elective month-long rotation addressing health and social issues along the border. The Department of Health is so supportive of this skilled, professional resource that after this coming pilot year, it has committed to funding border resident rotations for years into the future, said Arthur Kaufman, MD, UNMs Vice Chancellor for Community Health. The Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency faculty have developed the curriculum and will supervise the residents on-site, and the NMPCTC will provide recruiting, logistical and administrative support, he said. Las Cruces native Erin Corriveau, MD, a 2009 graduate of UNMs family medicine residency and assistant professor in the University of Kansas Department of Family Medicine, had a preview of what they might encounter when she spent 10 days working in the Deming and Las Cruces shelters in early July. The shelter, housed in a rusting World War II-era airplane hangar at the Deming Municipal Airport, saw a steady stream of migrants arriving in U.S. Border Patrol vans many of them families with young children. Conditions were sweltering in the hangar, which had fans, but lacked air conditioning. After they were seated, the volunteers used scissors to cut off their detention bracelets, Corriveau recalled. One woman started sobbing. We let them know we would do our best to feed them, hydrate them, provide medical care and help with transportation planning. The visitors were able to shower and change into donated clothing. Many spent the night before finding transportation to their destinations. Corriveau treated people for a host of complaints, including dehydration, broken bones and the flu. We sent one very ill child to the hospital, she said. Interpreters were on hand to help her communicate with patients, but Corriveau didnt need any help figuring out how to kick a soccer ball around inside the cavernous building with the children. I think we had fun together, which helped with trust, she said. Volunteers from around the country were joined by New Mexico Department of Health nurses and staffers, as well as physicians donating their time through the New Mexico Medical Reserve Corps. John Andazola, MD 97, has headed the Las Cruces-based Southern New Mexico Family Residency since 2009. The program has seen asylum-seekers on and off for five years, he says. The new state funding will provide for two residents to rotate in Las Cruces at a time. Its not just focused on asylum care, he says. Were looking at the border health needs of the state and the bi-national health needs with Mexico. The residents will be asked to record and reflect on their experiences and draft suggestions to bring back to their home programs. Andazola also hopes that the new rotation will lay the foundation for creating a border health fellowship. Photograph: Canadian Press/REX/Shutterstock When Toronto resident Terri Chu tweeted that she and other Chinese mothers feared the inevitable wave of racism that would accompany the spread of coronavirus around the world, she didnt realize how visceral the reactions would be. My Twitter has just exploded with vitriol since this morning, she said on Tuesday. But its just par for the course, growing up as a minority when youre not part of a dominant class. Related: What is the coronavirus and how worried should we be? Canada has so far seen three confirmed cases of the virus, which originated in China, but members of the countrys Chinese community have already become the target of racism. What is the virus causing illness in Wuhan? It is a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals, or possibly seafood. New and troubling viruses usually originate in animal hosts. Ebola and flu are examples. What other coronaviruses have there been? Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers) are both caused by coronaviruses that came from animals. What are the symptoms of the Wuhan coronavirus? The virus causes pneumonia. Those who have fallen ill are reported to suffer coughs, fever and breathing difficulties. In severe cases there can be organ failure. As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work. If people are admitted to hospital, they may get support for their lungs and other organs as well as fluids. Recovery will depend on the strength of their immune system. Many of those who have died are known to have been already in poor health. Is the virus being transmitted from one person to another? Human to human transmission has been confirmed by Chinas national health commission. As of 27 January, the Chinese authorities had acknowledged more than 2,700 cases and 56 deaths. In the past week, the number of confirmed infections has more than tripled and cases have been found in 13 provinces, as well as the municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Tianjin. The virus has also been confirmed outside China, in Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam. There have not been any confirmed cases in the UK at present, with the more than 70 people tested for the virus all proving negative. The actual number to have contracted the virus could be far higher as people with mild symptoms may not have been detected. Modelling by WHO experts at Imperial College London suggests there could be as many as 100,000 cases, with uncertainty putting the margins between 30,000 and 200,000. Story continues How worried are the experts? There were fears that the coronavirus might spread more widely during the week-long lunar new year holidays, which start on 24 January, when millions of Chinese travel home to celebrate, but the festivities have largely been cancelled and Wuhan and other Chinese cities are in lockdown. At what point should you go to the doctor if you have a cough, say? Unless you have recently travelled to China or been in contact with someone infected with the virus, then you should treat any cough or cold symptoms as normal. The NHS advises that there is generally no need to visit a doctor for a cough unless it is persistent or you are having other symptoms such as chest pain, difficulty breathing or you feel very unwell. Should we panic? No. The spread of the virus outside China is worrying but not an unexpected development. It increases the likelihood that the World Health Organization will declare the outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern on Thursday evening. The key concerns are how transmissible this new coronavirus is between people and what proportion become severely ill and end up in hospital. Sarah Boseley Health editor and Hannah Devlin The country saw a similar wave of xenophobia during 2003 Sars outbreak, which also started in China. During that panic, many Chinese-run businesses in Canada took steep losses as fear overrode public health advice: Toronto lost an estimated C$1bn as residents and tourists avoided the city, especially areas with a high concentration of Chinese businesses. The irrational public worry that paralyzed much of the city seems to be returning, said Amy Go, the interim president of the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice. I was hopeful it wasnt going to be like 2003. But its is. Its happening now and its just going to be amplified [by social media]. When a popular Toronto blog, reviewed a new Chinese restaurant on Instagram on Monday, the post quickly received a torrent of racist comments. And nearly 9,000 parents in the York school district an area north of Toronto signed a petition demanding students who had traveled to China in the last 17 days be prevented from attending school. This has to stop. Stop eating wild animals and then infecting everyone around you, wrote one petition signer. Stop the spread and quarantine yourselves or go back. On Monday, the board which represents 208 schools condemned the petition amid fears students will be targeted based on their ethnicity. We are aware of an escalated level of concern and anxiety among families of Chinese heritage, wrote York board chair Juanita Nathan and education director Louise Sirisko. Individuals who make assumptions, even with positive intentions of safety, about the risk of others, request or demand quarantine can be seen as demonstrating bias and racism. Chu said fears about the coronavirus were disproportionate. Air pollution and the proliferation of STDs are far greater public health risk to my kids than the coronavirus right now its being completely blown out of proportion, she said. The total death toll of Sars in Canada was 44, she said. Last year in Toronto, 41 people got hit by cars. Related: Boarding schools with Chinese pupils urged to be alert for xenophobia Racist responses have also been seen in other countries with Chinese diaspora communities. In Australia, Queensland MP Duncan Pegg warned residents of false health bulletins circulating online that stoked fear of communities with high proportions Asian residents. But Go also said that the reactions in Canada which includes some of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world expose a current of everyday racism which is always present. Two or three months from now, the coronavirus will likely be gone. But this is not just a public health issue. This is an issue of racism in Canada. The best thing to come from this the best impact would be people collectively learning that we can do better. Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MP Hanuman Beniwal on Tuesday described Rahul Gandhi's Jaipur rally as "a flop show" and claimed that the Congress organised it to divert public attention from the real issues of Rajasthan. Beniwal, whose party is an NDA alliance partner, was speaking to reporters in Nagaur. "Rahul Gandhi's rally in Jaipur was totally a flop show. Congress planned this rally to divert the attention of people from the issues like locust attack, deteriorating law and order, deaths of children in hospitals," he said. Beniwal said there was massive damage to crops in western Rajasthan due to locust attacks but Gandhi did not even utter a word about it. He also kept mum on promises made by the Congress in the state like waiver of farm loans within 10 days of government formation and unemployment allowance among others, the RLP leader said. "The rally was named 'Yuva Aakrosh rally' but there was no 'aakrosh' among the youth who attended it," he added. The Nagaur MP said his party will hold a massive rally in the chief minister's hometown Jodhpur next month to highlight the plight of farmers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) GLEN CARBON With the proliferation of community solar farms and the uptick of general solar use in Illinois, Glen Carbons building and development committee discussed Monday how the village can prepare for future solar farms. No action or vote was taken. How does the village deal with regulation, with zoning, said Village Administrator Jamie Bowden. Bowden said they also want to learn how other communities address solar farms. Bowden said in other communities, community solar farms are usually zoned agricultural. Glen Carbons Cool Cities Committee Member Chris Krusa briefly attended Mondays meeting. It appears that the committee is moving ahead to work on solar/wind standards for the village, he said. Bowden said Tuesday that a draft ordinance or resolution regarding solar and wind farms will be submitted at the next building and development committee or the one after that. Solar farms are integral to Illinois Shines, a state-administered adjustable-block program for new photovoltaic (PV) systems. The program provides payments in exchange for 15 years of renewable energy credits (RECs) generated by community solar projects in other PV systems. Community solar allows multiple customers to subscribe to a single, large PV system and offset some of their own electricity use. Community solar is ideal for those who dont own their own homes or who cannot or will not install solar panels on their homes. Such a PV farm is under construction in Madison County by Nexamp, which offered two information sessions in November for prospective customers about its solar farm. It claims the two megawatts (MW) that it will generate is enough to power approximately 200 homes. Nexamp offers a 20 percent discount on RECs. With the Illinois mandate for 25 percent renewable energy by 2025, community solar is poised to make a significant contribution in generating capacity, noted Nexamps CEO, Zaid Ashai. By subscribing to a local solar farm, residents are helping to enable the growth of more clean energy while taking advantage of potential savings. We look forward to sharing more information about this new opportunity during the information session. Other areas that have taken a shine to solar include a $2.4 million solar project for Carbondales municipal buildings and John A. Logan College in Carterville. The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation launched a pilot program to provide PV systems to first responders and public agencies supplying water. Other area communities weighed in. The Village of Maryville does not currently have zoning related to solar farms, said Maryville Mayor Craig Short. Solar installations require an electrical permit and are handled in our zoning code as accessory buildings which means only a certain percentage of the property may be utilized for a solar farm or ground installation. There are no community solar farms in Maryville. In other action Monday, the village discussed and moved forward with an annexation of 3.09 acres at 6830 Bouse Road. Bowden said because the property is less than five acres and the property owners, Kent and Kelly Hayes, seek to connect quickly to the villages water system, the petitioners will pursue a rezoning to A-1 agricultural if they are allowed to annex. Bowden said Tuesday that the annexation will move forward to the village trustees, likely at their next meeting in February. This annexation is to be the last one done this way. Any future territory annexed to the village will automatically get single-family zoning until duly changed by amendment except under the following conditions: The village board, with the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission, may annex any territory as any other zoning district or districts herein established if all legal requirements for property zoning at the time of annexation are recorded Also, any existing agricultural area within Madison County of five acres or more may be annexed to the village as agricultural without a public hearing Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at (618) 659-5735 Airbnb is searching for five people to quit whatever they are doing and go on a free two-month trip to the Bahamas, where they will assist with ecological projects in the Caribbean nation. Those selected to take part in the "sabbatical" will spend April and May traveling to three Bahamian locations to help preserve the country's natural and cultural resources. Airbnb's latest "sabbatical program" was developed in partnership with the Bahamas National Trust, a local non-profit that protects 32 of the country's national parks. It follows the company's Italian and Antarctic projects, both of which saw volunteers take part in working vacations to help with rejuvenation and research. To be in the running for Airbnb's latest project, applicants must demonstrate a "commitment to contribute to island life," the company said. Successful applicants to the Bahamas Sabbatical will travel to Andros, home of the world's third-largest reef system, to help create a coral reef restoration program and install a new nursery to grown coral reef fragments. They will also spend time working on the conservation of reef-friendly species in Exuma, and assist with ecological and research projects in Eleuthera. The two-month trip is designed to help local leaders set up sustainable sources of economic growth, such as new experiences that tourists visiting the Bahamas can book through Airbnb. Those selected to join the sabbatical will also be given time off to take part in activities such as sailing and exploring marine caverns known as blue holes. The Bahamas, made up of more than 700 islands, is heavily dependent on tourism, and parts of the country were devastated by Hurricane Dorian last year. "This is a special place, and anyone who has spent time on any of the islands that make up the nation is moved by the air, the sun, the beaches, the food, the communities and most of all the people," Chris Lehane, senior vice president of global policy and communications at Airbnb, said in a press release Tuesday. Candidates must be over the age of 18 to take part in the scheme, and must be available throughout April and May 2020. Potential participants should also speak good conversational English and be from one of 34 eligible countries, which include China, India, New Zealand and the United States. Airbnb will announce who has been selected for the project on March 25. Inspired by Shaheen Bagh, the Thane district has been witnessing indefinite protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens. While scores of citizens are holding fort near the fire brigade office in Mumbra for the past nine days, hundreds have been protesting at Govindwadi in Kalyan over seven days. Lissan Ansari, 35, one of the protesters at Mumbra, said, On the first three days, at least 800 people joined the protest. As we dont have adequate police permissions, we are continuing with our protest silently, making sure we dont disturb the commuters or residents. We are down to 100 people. The police are also cooperating. Ladeeda Farzana and Ayesha Renna, the face of the anti-CAA protests at the Jamia Milia Islamia campus, motivated the group on Tuesday. The group is holding various activities like reading the preamble, discussions on various topics such as democracy, secularism and constitution, along with plays on these topics. The Kalyan protest sees the numbers rise by evening. This is our seventh day of protest. By evening, the crowd swells up to 3,000, said Rameez Falke, a protester. Meanwhile, the Bahujan Kranti Morcha has planned a shutdown in Mumbra on Wednesday. He didn't make many friends during his short-lived stint on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, but one person moved Perez Hilton to tears. Appearing on The Project on Tuesday, the 41-year-old gossip blogger had a meltdown while discussing his love for celebrity chef Miguel Maestre. Calling the 40-year-old 'one of the most phenomenal, inspiring people that I have ever met', Perez needed a moment to compose himself during the interview. Scroll down for video Emotional: He didn't make many friends during his short-lived stint on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, but one person moved Perez Hilton (pictured) to tears during Tuesday's episode of The Project He even considered Miguel to be up there with some world-famous figures, comparing him to Madonna and Oprah Winfrey. 'I have met Madonna. I have met Oprah Winfrey. I have met some of the most phenomenal people alive,' he said, before pausing and adding, 'I'm not going to cry.' After turning his back to the camera, Perez struggled to keep his emotions in check, prompting incredulous laughter from The Project's studio audience. Fan: Appearing on The Project on Tuesday, the 41-year-old gossip blogger had a meltdown while discussing his love for celebrity chef Miguel Maestre (pictured) 'He was home to me. He was healing to me. He is the heart of that camp, and I just pray that everybody watching today and every day gets it right and he wins,' he continued. Before adding tearfully: 'He really needs to win.' But Perez still wasn't finished heaping praise on Miguel, branding him 'as much an Australian as anybody else', despite the fact 'he comes from Spain originally'. Struggling: Calling the 40-year-old 'one of the most phenomenal, inspiring people that I have ever met', Perez needed a moment to compose himself during the interview 'To me, Miguel is just as much an Australian as anybody else in that camp and the most deserving person to win,' he said. Apologising for his meltdown, Perez said appearing on the hit reality show had been 'an emotional experience'. And ahead of the show's double elimination on Tuesday - which led to Ryan Gallagher, 31, and Myf Warhurst, 46, being booted off - Perez confessed he didn't care who went home, as long as it wasn't Miguel. For candidates outside the established parties, Cork South-Central might be too tough an ask. In fact, even for some of those in the established parties, it represents a huge challenge too. There are few constituencies that have such a high-profile selection of candidates. As well as the Tanaiste and the leader of the opposition, this geographically small constituency counts a popular TD who out polled his own party leader in 2016, the leader of the Seanad, and one of Sinn Feins brightest rising stars among its ranks. Five into four doesnt go. There are clear trends here over the years. Fianna Fail is, and always has been, strong. Between them, Michael McGrath and Micheal Martin took 41.6% of first-preference votes in 2016, both passing the quota on the first count. A repeat of this is not out of the question, though the pressure is on the latter now. While he has done well as party leader in the elections in 2014, 2016, and 2019, with Fianna Fail recovering locally and nationally, there is a sense of now or never for Mr Martins chances of becoming taoiseach. Another potential leader will also be keen to build on his 2016 result. Fine Gael was disappointed in 2016. While Simon Coveney won a seat, Jerry Buttimer missed out. The party will be keen to repair this damage. The most likely fly in the ointment for Fine Gaels plans to take two seats is Donnchadh O Laoghaire of Sinn Fein. He caught some off-guard in 2016. Then a first-term county councillor, he secured a seat when few people outside the party had given him a fighting chance. In the four years since, he has become a prominent member of his party, serving as a spokesman for justice and, later, education and he will not give up his seat without a fight. But if Sinn Feins polling slips, there could be space here for a second Fine Gael candidate a return to the Dail for Mr Buttimer, perhaps? Or maybe the Green Party. In 2016, Lorna Bogue, then an unknown, picked up 3.7% of the vote in the general election and the party polled very well in last Mays local elections on the southside of Cork city. Her stock is rising and she could be poised to cause an upset. The 2016 election saw Labour wiped out city-wide. Ciaran Lynch lost his seatin South Central and has stepped back from politics since. In the last few years, Peter Horgan has been the most visible Labour activist in the area, though he is focusing his efforts on securing a nomination for the Seanad, and the party is running newcomer Ciara Kennedy, who ran in last years local elections. Ms Kennedy got 3.54% of first preferences and was eliminated early on in that race. She may build on her early work here but it is hard to see Labour edging its way back into contention, at least yet. There have been outsiders that have caused a stir in this constituency in the past, but they dont make it over the line. In 2016, this was Independent candidate Mick Finn. He stayed in the hunt until the 10th count when he was finally eliminated. Mick Finn Since then, he has topped the poll in the local elections and served a year as lord mayor of Cork, raising his profile in the process. However, Mr Finn has confirmed that he has no plans to run this time, and says it is nigh impossible to break into the established political party order in Cork South-Central. The statistics back up his point. No Independent has ever won a seat in Cork South-Central, though Kathy Sinnott missed out by just six votes in 2002. But the constituency has long been dominated by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. When it was a five-seater, they often picked up four seats between them. Often, it is a scrap for the extra seat. It was Sinn Feins in 2016 and, in the past, the Green Party, Labour, and the Progressive Democrats have secured seats but, as Mr Finn said, it is hard to see the established order splintering much further than it already has. Two each for Fianna Fail and Fine Gael is not out of the question, nor is a direct repeat of the 2016 result. New footage has emerged showing the moment a Tesla electric vehicle driving on Autopilot crashed into the back of a truck in California earlier this month. The driver posted the video online, describing in a summary of the footage the moment when the unknown model Tesla experiences the Autopilot failure on January 13 while driving in Milpitas, in the San Francisco Bay area. The footage, posted on Rumble.com, shows the vehicle moving slowly in heavy, 'stop-and-go' traffic behind a car carrier truck. Scoll down for video Footage has emerged showing a Tesla vehicle driving on Autopilot crashing into the back of a truck in California earlier this month While driving in Milpitas, the Tesla inched closer to the car carrier truck The footage, posted on Rumble.com, shows the vehicle moving slowly in heavy, 'stop-and-go' traffic behind the truck, stopping for a moment before the collision takes place The driver writes in the summary posted with the video that the collision resulted after 'cameras, radar, and sensors' that the auto pilot relies on 'suddenly ignored the giant semi' The driver writes in the summary posted with the video that the vehicle was only only going about 10 miles-per-hour and that the 'Autopilot' distance was set to three car lengths. The driver writes that the collision resulted after the 'cameras, radar, and sensors' the Autopilot relies on 'suddenly ignored the giant semi'. A report was made to the EV maker, the driver said. A Tesla spokesperson did not immediately respond when DailyMail.com reached out. Drivers have reported several similar problems with auto pilot. A federal probe into a 12th Tesla crash in December, that was believed to be tied to the auto pilot system, which already had been blamed for four fatal accidents. Timeline of fatal crashes tied to Tesla Autopilot January 20, 2016 in China: Gao Yaning, 23, died when the Tesla Model S he was driving slammed into a road sweeper on a highway near Handan, a city about 300 miles south of Beijing. Chinese media reported that Autopilot was engaged. May 7, 2016 in Williston, Florida: Joshua D. Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio died when cameras in his Tesla Model S failed to distinguish the white side of a turning tractor-trailer from a brightly lit sky. The National Transportation and Safety Board found that the truck driver's failure to yield the right of way and a car driver's inattention due to overreliance on vehicle automation were the probable cause of the crash. The NTSB also noted that Tesla Autopilot permitted the car driver to become dangerously disengaged with driving. A DVD player and Harry Potter movies were found in the car. March 23, 2018 in Mountain View, California: Apple software engineer Walter Huang, 38, died in a crash on U.S. Highway 101 with the Autopilot on his Tesla engaged. The vehicle accelerated to 71 mph seconds before crashing into a freeway barrier, federal investigators found. The NTSB, in a preliminary report on the crash, also said that data shows the Model X SUV did not brake or try to steer around the barrier in the three seconds before the crash in Silicon Valley. March 1, 2019 in Delray, Florida: Jeremy Banner, 50, died when his 2018 Tesla Model 3 slammed into a semi-truck. NTSB investigators said Banner turned on the autopilot feature about 10 seconds before the crash, and the autopilot did not execute any evasive maneuvers to avoid the crash. Advertisement The most recent deadly crash happened in March in Delray, Florida, when Jeremy Banner's 2018 Tesla Model 3 slammed into a semi-truck, killing the 50-year-old driver. NTSB investigators said Banner turned on the Autopilot feature about 10 seconds before the crash, and the Autopilot did not execute any evasive maneuvers to avoid the collision. The three other fatal crashes date back to 2016. Tesla, on its website, calls Autopilot 'the future of driving'. 'All new Tesla cars come standard with advanced hardware capable of providing Autopilot features today, and full self-driving capabilities in the futurethrough software updates designed to improve functionality over time.' Other videos have surfaced revealing the technology's glitches. Footage posted on Reddit in March shows a driver having to take over the wheel of the vehicle because it kept veering towards a metal barrier while driving on Autopilot. Other videos have shown Teslas on Autopilot working with other on-board systems to avoid calamity. A Tesla owner in November posted video showing his vehicle's Autopilot detecting a group of ducks crossing the street and automatically swerving to save the unsuspecting animals. In footage captured from a TeslaCam, the vehicle's integrated dashcam feature, the owner of a Tesla Model 3 is cruising down an empty roadway on Autopilot. The vehicle easily navigates the obstacle-devoid highway at a steady speed, demonstrating the Tesla's ability to travel lengths without human direction. Using one of the eight cameras used to detect incoming objects, the Tesla quickly swerves to the right and barely misses the waddling group. Instantly, the car readjusts itself into the correct lane and continues to drive without any apparent incidents. The driver of the vehicle from the latest video footage showing the Tesla striking the rear of the car carrier truck said that the Autopilot feature had been used on the vehicle without fail for 20,000 miles with 'no incidents' before the collision. Business consultant Jeff Nock outlines the importance of employing a so-called scorecard, or balanced scorecard, in business. IOWA CITY, IA / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2020 / A business scorecard, balanced scorecard, or simply a scorecard is, in business, vital, according to marketing and product development specialist Jeff Nock from Iowa City, Iowa. An experienced executive and business consultant with a demonstrated history of growing startups, nonprofits, and established companies alike, Nock explains more about the process. "A strategy performance management tool, a business scorecard, balanced scorecard, or simply a scorecard is a semi-standard structured report," explains Jeff Nock, "that can be used to keep track of essential or otherwise important activities within a company or other organization." So-called business scorecards can be used, he says, by company owners and managers to monitor the execution of important activities by their staff. "The same semi-standard structured reporting process," adds the Iowa-City based expert, "can then be used to determine the consequences of these activities or other actions." The term balanced scorecard, according to Jeff Nock, stems from the fact that the reporting process can be used-by a company owner, business manager, management team, or other executives-to assess either strategy implementation management or operational management in equal measure. This, says business consultant Jeff Nock, is demonstrated in 2GC Active Management's annual Balanced Scorecard Usage Survey. "Last year's survey found that approximately half of respondents reported using business scorecards for strategy implementation management," Nock reveals, "while half reported using them for operational management." Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Berkshire, England, 2GC Active Management's mission, they say, is to understand and solve strategic and operational performance management issues for public, non-profit, private, and NGO sector organizations. "Interestingly, their most recent survey also reported a number of individuals using a business scorecard to track personal performance," reveals Nock, "although only 15 percent of respondents were found to use business scorecards or balanced scorecards in this way." Around twice as many, however, did report using corporate business scorecard elements to inform so-called personal goal setting and incentive calculations, the survey points out, according to the expert. Iowa City-based business consultant Jeff Nock says that the critical characteristics that define a business or balanced scorecard are threefold, and include, first and foremost, a focus on the strategic agenda of the company or organization concerned. "Elsewhere, the two other critical characteristics that define a business scorecard are," he adds, wrapping up, "the selection of a limited number of data items to monitor, and a mix of both financial and non-financial data items, in that order." CONTACT: Caroline Hunter Web Presence, LLC +1 7862338220 SOURCE: Web Presence, LLC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574262/Jeff-Nock-Reveals-the-Importance-of-Using-a-Business-Scorecard Electability is back in the news again thanks to a recent spate of attacks on Bernie Sanders, who seems to be the slight frontrunner in both Iowa and New Hampshire a week ahead of the first contest. The Pete Buttigieg campaign sent out a fundraising e-mail this past weekend warning his subscribers that Bernie Sanders could be the nominee, and the question of what constitutes electable candidates has re-entered the public discourse. Polling proves that the elusive term of electability is what Democrats prioritize most in 2020, which makes sense since none of this ideological infighting will matter much if Trump wins a second term. That has led candidates like Mike Bloomberg and Deval Patrick to make late entries into the race, asserting that their centrist politics have a better chance to win a general election than Sanderss universal programs. The fact that the Senator from Vermont is currently polling the highest he has yet in the race suggests that this kind of attack has not been very effective. The notion of what constitutes an electable candidate basically boils down to an older white guy with centrist politics. At least, thats the insinuation behind this term that only seems to challenge progressive candidates, women and people of color. The thing is, if you look at who has actually won presidential races in the 21st century, they look nothing like the safe candidate imagined by the beltway consensus. The 2000 Republican primary mainly pitted longtime maverick Senator John McCain against conservative firebrand George W. Bush. Al Gore ran against W. as the candidate to continue the legacy of the center-left Clinton coalition, and the man considered least electable by the beltway consensus in those two races won both of them, introducing the 21st century to the Republican Party. The 2004 election pitted a weakened incumbent president (Bushs approval/disapproval rating fluctuated between +8 and -2 throughout 2004) against longtime centrist Democratic Senator, John Kerry, who followed in John McCains footsteps in losing to a hard-right conservative Republican playing the kind of culture war politics deemed too extreme to win over the political center. McCain lost again in 2008, this time to a black man with Hussein for a middle name. Mitt Romney finished 2nd in the GOP primary that year, and in 2012 his center-right politics also could not defeat President Barack Hussein Obama. Come 2016 when the 2008 establishment candidate/runner-up to Obama, Hillary Clinton, chose centrist Senator Tim Kaine as her VP in order to signal her intention to win Republican votes against a game show host who couldnt stop telling everyone how badly he wanted to date his own daughter, Clinton and Kaine combined to make the most electable candidates 0 for 6 this century against those who have actually won the presidency. The election of Donald Trump should have ended the myth of the reasonable moderate electoral juggernaut. Heck, that belief really should have died with Obama. Thats not to say that a theoretical centrist candidate who can dominate electoral politics cant exist, but the point every 21st century presidential election stresses to us is that we dont know what constitutes an electable politician. The presidency has been controlled by a Texas cowboy, a Harvard educated community organizer and a reality TV show star. The words very definition (capable of being elected) is only knowable after the fact. Its more of a descriptive term than a predictive one. What makes our current discourse around electability especially frustrating is that if The Apprentices Donald Trump and brand new unknown Senator Barack Hussein Obama are the poles upon which that range rests, then its a term which encompasses the entire Democratic Primary. Its absurd to suggest that Elizabeth Warren or Amy Klobuchar cannot win the presidency, when a woman won the most votes in the last election. Picturing America electing a young gay man like Pete Buttigieg is not easy given how far we still have to go to ensure equal rights for everyone, but that seems more doable in 2020 than electing our first black president was in 2008, much less a black president who shared a middle name with the guy who made us so mad we renamed French fries just five years prior. To say, like George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum did yesterday, that Bernie Sanders cannot win is to not only ignore consistent polling which reveals that he is the candidate whom voters generally trust mostbut also his good polling with Independentswhich supports the beltways traditional electability argument. Because American politics distorts ideology and only measures it upon one left/right axis (when all ideological surveying done by political science operates on at least two axes), there exists a self-evident notion that the only way to win Independent votes is to have policies closer to the center. Sanderss appeal among Independents proves that its a lot more complicated than this simple facade makes it seem. The belief that centrist politics appeal to Independents obviously has ideological merit that is supported by hard data, but politics does not lend itself well to broad mandates, especially when talking about theuhcomplexity, that is American political ideology. Hard to overstate how unpredictable talking to voters can be: Melissa from Algona, Iowa, caucused for Bernie in 2016, then voted for a Trump; she supports Medicare for All but supports Buttigieg, but will likely vote for Trump again if Buttigieg doesnt win the Dem nomination. pic.twitter.com/ZgvQQ7NoW2 Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) January 16, 2020 In Monmouth Universitys latest poll (an A+ rated pollster by FiveThirtyEight), Joe Biden wins the largest share of moderate to conservative voters at 35%, but Bernie Sanders gets the second largest slice at 19%. Michael Bloomberg places third at 10%tied with dont knowand no one else polls above 6%. Bernie Sanders can appeal to Independents in part because he himself has been an Independent his entire career. Independent is not synonymous with moderate, and that assumption is a polisci 101-level mistake that got Howard Schultz laughed off the stage last year, yet still exists as an article of faith among many of the Very Serious pundits on TV who dream of The Great (White) Centrist Hope. The Bill Clinton presidency led the Democratic Party to declare that the era of big government was over in the wake of Reagans realignment, and this notion of centrism being an electoral inevitability took root in American politicsdespite the fact that Clinton only won 43% of the vote in 1992. To put that in some perspective, thats the exact same percentage of the Democratic Party that Bernie Sanders won in 2016. Neither should be considered a mandate, yet one was taken to be by a generation of political reporters. Longtime beltway journalist John F. Harris admitted that there is an unfair bias paid towards this ideology which has not proven to have a whole lot of purchasing power among the 21st century electorate. Per Harris in Politico: The right has been fulminating for decades about liberal bias in the media. More recently the left, including Bernie Sanders, has inveighed against capitalist bias caused by corporate ownership of news organizations. Meanwhile, a quarter-century covering national politics has convinced me that the more pervasive force shaping coverage of Washington and elections is what might be thought of as centrist bias, flowing from reporters and sources alike. It is a headwind for Warren, Sanders, the squad on Capitol Hill, even for Trump. This bias is marked by an instinctual suspicion of anything suggesting ideological zealotry, an admiration for difference-splitting, a conviction that politics should be a tidier and more rational process than it usually is. A confession: Ive got it. A pretty strong bout, actually. One hundred percent of the presidents this century won either a primary and/or general election race against someone whom conventional wisdom deemed to be more electable than them, proving that candidates like Donald Trump and Barack Obama are objectively more electable than electable presidential candidates like Mitt Romney, John McCain, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. The term is meaningless. If youre a Democrat who just wants Trump out of office, it may be more informative to look to recent history for your guide as to whether the incumbent president will win. Just before his reelection day in 1996, Gallup had Bill Clintons approval rating pegged at 54%. Super Tuesday 2004 saw George W. Bushs approval resting at 53%, and in 2012, Barack Obamas sat at 51%. George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carterthe last two first term presidents to lose reelectionboth saw their approval ratings hovering around and below 40% throughout the entirety of their reelection years. Trumps approval rating currently sits at 44%. It has not eclipsed 46% and his average approval rating throughout his entire presidency is 40%. If this trend continues through election day, its likely that any winner of the Democratic Primary will be definitionally electable in 2020, so leave the punditry to the pundits and just vote for who you think best represents your interests. Jacob Weindling is a writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling. WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump discussed developments in Syria and Libya in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, a White House spokesman said on Twitter. "The two leaders discussed the need to eliminate foreign interference and maintain the ceasefire in Libya. The leaders agreed that the violence being carried out in Idlib, Syria must stop," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a tweet. A renewed drive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to recapture rebel-held Idlib province in Syria`s northwest sparked a fresh exodus of many thousands of civilians toward Turkey`s border on Monday amid heavy airstrikes, aid workers and witnesses said. In Libya, military commander Khalifa Haftar moved forces on Sunday toward the city of Misrata, which is allied to the country`s internationally recognized government, officials and residents said. Live TV The increase in fighting came a week after Turkey, which backs the government in Tripoli, and the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, which back Haftar, agreed with Western powers at a summit in Berlin to push for a lasting ceasefire and uphold an arms embargo. New Delhi [India], Jan 28 (ANI): Senior BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday claimed that the protests against the CAA are being organised across the country to "create 1947-like conditions" when India was partitioned, and alleged that the Congress, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the "tukde-tukde gang" are behind the Shaheen Bagh protest. Singh also accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of allegedly backing the "tukde-tukde gang". "If a state refuses to implement a law passed by Parliament, will democracy remain in this country? The Congress party, Mamata Banerjee and the tukde-tukde gang have made democracy a joke. They are using Shaheen Bagh as a pawn to further their ambitions," Singh claimed while speaking with ANI. "The protests against the CAA are being organised to create a 1947-like environment as they want to break India into pieces," the Union Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries said. India was partitioned in 1947 and Pakistan was created amid the Muslim League's demand for a separate country for the Muslims. Thousands of people, mostly women, have been protesting against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh for over a month now. Shaheen Bagh has become synonymous with the anti-CAA protests across the country, with people in several other cities replicating the peaceful protest model. Commenting on the reports of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) allegedly funding the anti-CAA protests, Singh said: "There are five offices (of PFI) at Shaheen Bagh, what are they doing there? The country wants to know from where they got money. They have deliberately created a disturbance in the country by organising protests. It is a conspiracy to break India into pieces. The money from PFI came for riots and to disturb the peace in the country." Singh also accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of allegedly backing the "tukde-tukde gang". "The tukde tukde gang has full support of Arvind Kejriwal. Till now, he has not given clearance to prosecute (former JNUSU president) Kanhaiya Kumar and (JNU student) Umar Khalid who raised seditious slogans like 'Bharat tere tukde honge' in JNU. Why is Kejriwal backing Sharjeel Imam who gave a call to cut off Assam from India? Kejriwal should tell whether he will give prosecution orders against Kanhaiya and Khalid or not," the BJP Lok Sabha MP from Begusarai said. (ANI) Coronavirus has so far claimed 106 lives in China and an increasing number of confirmed cases are being reported each day. Several countries have issued advisories asking their citizens to avoid travelling to China. Let us take a look at five deadly viruses the world has faced in the last few years: MERS Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory illness that was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The virus soon spread to several other countries with people showing signs of severe acute respiratory illness, fever, cough and shortness of breath. MERS is more dangerous for the elderly and people with low immunity. Those with chronic diseases such as renal disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, and diabetes are also at higher risk. SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is also a viral respiratory illness first reported in Asia in 2003 and spread to other countries. Droplets from coughing and sneezing and close human contact are believed to transmit SARS virus. According to Medical News Today, the respiratory droplets are probably absorbed into the human body through the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose as well as eyes. Ebola Virus Also known as Ebola haemorragic fever, Ebola virus disease (EVD) is rare but highly deadly. It is transmitted to people from wild animals. Ebola has a fatality rate of roughly 50%. Vaccines to make people immune to Ebola are in the research stage. In 2014-2016, West Africa came under the grip of the Ebola outbreak. The virus is spread in humans through human-to-human transmission via direct contact with either blood or body fluids. The virus is also transmitted through things that are contaminated with body fluids (like blood, faeces, vomit). Initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, sore throat. These are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes and symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function. Some people diagnosed with the Ebola virus may witness both internal and external bleeding (for example, oozing from the gums, or blood in the stools). Zika The mosquito-borne disease was first reported from the Island of Yap (Federated States of Micronesia) in 2007. It became severe in French Polynesia in 2013 and other countries and territories in the Pacific. A total of 86 countries and territories have reported evidence of mosquito-transmitted Zika infection so far. Fever, rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, and headache that lasts for at least a week are also symptoms of the disease. Nipah Nipah virus is spread through contaminated food or directly through people and claimed several lives in Kerala in 2018. Fruit bats of the genus Pteropus are the main carriers of NiV. The NiV may be transmitted through consumption of fruit contaminated by the saliva of infected bats, from direct contact with infected bats or their faeces/urine, or human-to-human transmission through unprotected close contact with an infected patient in the community or hospital. Those infected with Nipah virus show symptoms such as fever, headaches, myalgia, vomiting and sore throat. These symptoms are followed by dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs that indicate acute encephalitis. Some patients also witness atypical pneumonia and severe respiratory problems, including acute respiratory distress. Swine Flu Another respiratory disease that is caused by one of the many Influenza A viruses, it is spread to humans who come in contact with infected pigs. It may also be spread through contact with infected humans. Symptoms of swine flu or H1N1 include body aches, chills, cough, headache, sore throat, fever and tiredness. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SALVADOR, June 22, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Chile's Alexis Sanchez celebrates after scoring during the Group C match between Chile and Ecuador at the Copa America 2019, held in Salvador, Brazil, June 21, 2019. (Xinhua/IANS) Image Source: IANS News Manchester, Jan 28 : Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer feels Alexis Sanchez can prove everybody wrong by returning to the club and regaining his best form. The Chilean forward was loaned to Italian side Inter Milan in the summer but sustained an injury while on international duty and has only recently returned to the fold for Antonio Conte's title-chasers, as per a report on Man United's official website. "We've got players here that are working hard to get back as well and, if there is something out there, then the club are pursuing that and looking at it," said Solskjaer, at his press conference ahead of Wednesday's Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Manchester City as quoted by www.manutd.com. "And, of course, it is the difficult window. It has always been. I can't remember how many good 'uns we've brought in, good deals that we've brought in during January. Henrik (Larsson) was good, Nemanja (Vidic) and Patrice (Evra), they were two (good) ones. Henrik was a loan. "It's hard, it's very hard. The clubs don't want to lose their best players, so Alexis will come back in the summer and prove you all wrong!" Solskjaer also turned down reports suggesting Marcos Rojo is on the cusp of moving out on loan ahead of Friday's deadline. "I wouldn't think so," he said. "Marcos has been injured and he's been working to get back and get fit again. At the moment, it doesn't look like it, no." ExxonMobil and Egypt have signed two oil and gas exploration deals in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum said on Tuesday, weeks after Exxon said it had secured exploration acreage offshore Egypt. The two exploration deals call for a total investment of at least US$332 million, according to a statement from Egypts petroleum ministry, carried by Reuters. At the end of 2019, ExxonMobil said that it had acquired more than 1.7 million acres offshore Egypt, adding upstream interests to its downstream business in the country. Exxon bought the 1.2-million-acre North Marakia Offshore block, five miles offshore Egypts northern coast and 543,000 acres in the North East El Amriya Offshore block in the Nile Delta. ExxonMobil, which will be the operator of both blocks with 100-percent interest, plans to start exploration operations this year. These awards strengthen our exploration portfolio in the Eastern Mediterranean, Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil, said in a statement at the end of December. Last year, Exxon made a natural gas discovery at the Glaucus-1 well in a block offshore Cyprus. Offshore Egypt, the discovery of the giant Zohr gas field in 2015 has sparked interest in more exploration in the Mediterranean. Exxons foray into Egypts upstream comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus are at odds over Turkeys claim to natural gas resources recently discovered offshore Cyprus. Turkey will continue exploring for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean waters around disputed Cyprus, and No project can be realised if Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are not involved, Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said in August last year. Since then, Ankara has been moving forward with its drilling plans despite criticism from not just Cyprus but also Greece and the European Union. Earlier this month, the EU warned Turkey to reconsider its drilling plans after Erdogan said drilling would start as soon as possible. The EU also called these exploration plans illegal. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Sen. Bernie Sanders appears to be surging in Iowa in the final days before the caucuses there launch the nations 2020 presidential voting -- and Sen. Elizabeth Warren is taking the long view. Halfway across the country from Iowa, Warrens Oregon campaign showcased its organizational prowess, announcing Tuesday that it had secured 13 endorsements from elected officials around the state, including Speaker of the House Tina Kotek. Oregons primary isnt until May 19, late in the front-loaded schedule. Sanders won the states Democratic presidential contest four years ago, easily beating eventual nominee Hillary Clinton. This time around, Warren is hoping to be the beneficiary of Oregons large progressive vote. Im grateful to have the support of longtime progressive champions who have fought to make Oregon a better place for working families, Warren said in a statement from the campaign. Were in this fight to create big, structural change -- and that means building a movement that makes our country work for everyone. Beyond Kotek, the other Oregon Democrats backing Warren are: Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle, state representatives Barbara Smith Warner, Julie Fahey, Karin Power, Andrea Salinas, Diego Hernandez, Alissa Keny-Guyer and Carla Piluso, and state senators Jeff Golden, Shemia Fagan, Michael Dembrow and Sara Gelser. Were endorsing Sen. Warren today because were inspired not only by her vision for our country, but by her plans to make that vision a reality, the politicians said in a joint prepared statement. Warren, from Massachusetts, and Vermonts Sanders are considered the most progressive candidates in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. And so conventional wisdom has it that if one of them is going to become the partys standard-bearer, the other must fall by the wayside -- long before the Oregon primary. Sanders leads in the latest Iowa polling, with Warren -- along with former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg -- just behind. But the caucuses in the cornfields remain fluid, especially with Warren landing the Des Moines Registers endorsement last week. Many of her ideas arent radical, the Register stated in its endorsement. They are right. The newspaper praised Warren for seeking fair markets, with rules and accountability. She wants a government that works for people, not one corrupted by cash. The Registers editorial board added the caveat that a few of her plans, such as her proposal to tilt corporate governance toward rank-and-file workers, go too far. Sanders plans, of course, tend to go even further to the left. The long-time independent, who popularized the Medicare-for-All proposal that Warren supports, calls himself a democratic socialist. Warren and Sanders are seeking to wrest control of the Democratic race from the leading centrist candidate, Biden, who has consistently led in national polls since joining the contest last spring. Twelve candidates remain in the race for the nomination, including Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer. -- Douglas Perry @douglasmperry Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. By Christopher Porrino and Elie Honig For decades across America, thousands of men and women have been jailed merely because they arent wealthy enough to afford bail. At the same time, this broken system has allowed violent and dangerous criminals to buy their way out of prison. Its an unfair program that destroys lives, crowds jails, endangers innocent victims and costs taxpayers billions of dollars. Thats why some states are moving forward on a bipartisan basis to reform Americas Dickensian bail system. New Jerseys bail reform program was implemented in 2017 after years of careful study and bipartisan negotiation. Already enormously successful, these reforms were championed by Republican Gov. Chris Christie, a Democratic legislature and the state judiciary with support from prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the ACLU. New Jersey has since enjoyed precipitous drops in violent crime, major decreases (over 29%) in pre-trial incarceration, and virtually no change in recidivism or court appearance rates. And New Jersey taxpayers save hundreds of millions of dollars by not having low-risk, non-violent offenders needlessly incarcerated. Seeing these results, California followed suit and adopted legislation that mirrors New Jersey. Many other states are expected to join what should become a national movement. These changes to Americas broken cash bail system can - and hopefully will - represent the most important criminal justice reform in the nations history. Last year, we called on New York to change its broken system and were gratified to see New York start the new decade by launching its own bail reform. But early indications are that their reform effort is in jeopardy. Two systemic flaws hamper New Yorks reform effort. First, the new system in New York entirely eliminates judicial discretion and has erased mandatory bail evaluations for shockingly broad categories of criminal offenses -- second-degree manslaughter, stalking, assault as a hate crime, grand larceny, and aggravated assault on a child under 11 years old, to name a few. Second, the New York system perpetuates a 1970s-era rule that only permits prosecutors to argue and judges to consider whether an individual poses a risk of flight, but not whether that person presents a danger to the community. The reason for this restriction was grounded in the wholly legitimate concern that danger was going to be a proxy for racial bias to overwhelmingly impose bail on non-white defendants. But with an overhaul of this magnitude to the criminal justice system, New York had an opportunity to dig deeper and do better. This flawed design is a head-scratcher because it runs counter to, and seemingly ignores, the already successful program that has been up and running just across the river in New Jersey for the last three years. New Jersey requires that risk of flight and potential danger to the community be measured. Prosecutors are empowered to seek and judges are empowered to grant pretrial detention based on the risk posed by each individual defendant. In lower-risk cases, the offender is released on non-monetary conditions, such as electronic monitoring, curfew and drug testing. In the highest-risk cases, prosecutors can seek and judges can grant pre-trial detention without bail. Viewed through the lens of race and ethnicity, the New Jersey Judiciarys 2019 annual Report to the Governor and Legislature on the State of Bail Reform reported that in 2018 approximately 3,000 fewer Black individuals, more than 1,500 fewer white individuals, and 1,300 fewer Hispanic individuals were incarcerated under bail reform. The New Jersey system determines release based on risk, not wealth, as it should. Criminal justice reforms are vital, but we cannot lose sight of the first and most important function of the criminal justice system: To protect our communities. In some widely reported cases over the last few weeks in New York, dangerous offenders have been automatically released and, predictably, are re-offending. In New Jersey, prosecutors and judges can assess the danger posed by each individual offender and, if necessary, hold that person without bail pending trial. While no bail system will ever be perfect, every system will benefit from experience and adaptation. We learned from our own experience and made adjustments and improvements along the way. New Yorks policymakers must now be flexible enough to make needed changes based on that states early experience. Willingness (or refusal) by all branches of government - executive, legislative and judicial - to adapt and evolve will make the difference between success (or failure) of the New York reform. If New York is prepared to bring its system in line with New Jerseys, the Empire State will likewise end up with an effective, workable system that both reduces unnecessary, unjust incarceration and protects the public. Failure is not an option, either for New York or for the larger bail reform movement nationwide that could be stifled if New York stumbles. We encourage its leadership to lean on the knowledge and experience from just across the river so that we may stand together as models of fair and effective bail reform, for the rest of the country to follow. Christopher Porrino, a partner at Lowenstein Sandler, served as the 60th attorney general of New Jersey. Elie Honig, the executive director of the Rutgers Institute for Secure Communities, is the former director of New Jerseys Division of Criminal Justice. They oversaw the successful implementation of New Jerseys bail reform beginning in 2017. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Nollywood actress Eve Esin is finally off the market. The beautiful actress just took to social media to announce her engagement by sharing a photo of her ring with a simple caption which read; Taken. Read Also: Reactions Trail Pictures Of Eve Esin And A Married Colleague In Compromising Position Many of her friends in the industry have since taken to social media to congratulate her. Moyo Lawal wrote; Congrats booo @eveesin , May this be the beginning of a rewarding and exciting new journey for you . Veteran actress Shan George commented on her post writing; Yyyaayyy Congratulations darln . My asoebi loading Big congrats to the actress. OTTAWAChris Moore has one big question for when he meets with federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau. Why did Transport Canada not ground the Boeing 737 Max sooner, after one of the jets operated by Lion Air crashed in Indonesia in October 2018? Such a decision, he says, might have saved his daughter, Danielle, 24, who was among the 157 passengers and crew on board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 as it departed Addis Ababa for Nairobi. The Boeing 737 Max crashed six minutes after takeoff, killing all on board, including 18 Canadians. It was only after that accident last March that nations moved to ban the Boeing 737 Max jets from their skies. Transport Canada was among the last to act. They should have been grounded after the first crash there should not have been a second crash, Moore, of Toronto, said in an interview. Moore hopes to put that issue to Garneau directly next month when the transport minister is expected to meet with family members of the Canadian victims of the Ethiopian crash. The families met earlier this month with Nicolas Robinson, Transport Canadas director general of civil aviation. While Moore says that meeting was useful, he wants to know more about what the federal transport department knew between the two crashes. The months since the March grounding have laid bare troubling questions around the jets design, whether the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had become too cosy with Boeing and whether other regulators such as Transport Canada were too trusting of FAAs certification process. But the question that haunts Moore the most is what if regulators had taken more aggressive action after the first crash, addressing the design flaw believed to be a factor in both accidents and perhaps prevented the second crash. What was discussed in Transport Canada? Was grounding an option? Did they seriously look at that? he said Monday. They have a big stick. They could have wielded it but they chose not to. The crash of the Ukraine International Airlines flight in Tehran earlier this month shot down by at least one Iranian missile brought back a flood of emotions for those who lost loved ones in the Boeing 737 Max accidents, Moore said. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been vocal in the wake of that disaster that killed 176, including 57 Canadians, promising to hold Iran accountable. Moore wonders why the federal government didnt make similar high-profile demands after the Boeing Max crashes. Why couldnt he ask the same thing of the Americans and have the same accountability and transparency? Moore said. Trudeau and Garneau should have stood up and pointed a finger at the FAA and said this plane is grounded. They had the moral authority, Moore said. Amy Butcher, a spokesperson for Garneau, said that the minister recognizes that the families want answers. Thats a lot of the questions. What did Transport Canada know after the first crash? What did the FAA know? What did the FAA share with Transport Canada? What was the international response after the first crash? she said. The minister is available to hear those questions and concerns, Butcher said Monday. She said meeting with the families is important for Garneau. We know that maintaining open lines of communication with families is essential and going forward that is our priority, she said. Moores daughter was headed to attend an environmental conference. She had a new partner and had been accepted into a university program to become a teacher. We could live happily ever after, Moore said. Now his days are devoted to trying to understand what happened. Theres nothing else I can do. I feel helpless, he said. Read more about: By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 01/27/2020 ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Zach Justice is explaining why he proposed marriage to Mindy Shiben at the beginning of their wedding on Season 10 of the Lifetime reality series.As shown on a previous episode of 10, Zach got down on one knee and popped the question to Mindy at the altar before they proceeded to exchange vows and say, "I do."Mindy was giddy with excitement when she was able to choose to say, "Yes.""Okay, Zach, you've got some swagger," : Unfiltered host Jamie Otis said during Wednesday night's broadcast. "If I wondered, now I know.""That was a player move, wasn't it?" noted expert Pastor Calvin Roberson, who worked with Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Dr. Viviana Coles to match the couple for matrimony."Yeah, all of it! Yeah!" MAFS Season 10 participant Meka added on Unfiltered.Zach seemed a little embarrassed by all the praise, but then Pastor Cal assured him, "That's a good thing! That's a good thing."And Jamie agreed it was an "adorable" gesture.When asked what inspired him to propose at his wedding, Zach explained he didn't want to totally miss out on the engagement phase that typically comes before a marriage."Well you skip all of these traditional moments, right? You skip the first date, you skip the first kiss, you skip all of these really neat memories," Zach said on Unfiltered."And to be able to create a memory right off the bat was kind of [the idea there]."Pastor Cal called it "such a cool move," as it was a first in history."He got points for that," Pastor Cal said. "He got mad points for that."Later in the Unfiltered broadcast, Zach watched an extended clip of 's tenth season in which his father asked Mindy to dance at the wedding reception while Zach was dancing with his mother.Mindy was heartbroken because her parents did not support her decision to wed a stranger on television, and so they -- along with one of Mindy's sisters -- chose not to attend the wedding."That is unprecedented," Pastor Cal said of Zach's father dancing with the bride, although last season of featured Amber Bowles ' mother dancing with the groom Matt Gwynne considering his parents were absent at the wedding."So you get your swagger from your daddy?" Jamie joked with Zach."I guess so," Zach replied."Wow, that is so heartwarming to see your dad reach out and dance with her," Jamie noted.Pastor Cal added it was a "very cool" thing to see, and Zach subsequently revealed his father is an "amazing" man."I'm glad my dad stepped up to do that and recognized the same thing, like, 'Wait a second, her father isn't here, so let me be that example,'" Zach said.Jamie called the scene "so sweet," and Pastor Cal agreed it "was the coolest" thing for Zach's dad to do.Mindy worried before the wedding her groom would see it as a red flag that her parents weren't present, but Zach revealed on Unfiltered, "I really didn't think too much of it."Zach was sure Mindy would explain the situation once she felt comfortable enough to do so, so he "didn't put any stock" in her parents not being there."[I wasn't like], 'Wait a second, this is a bad sign that her family is not here,'" Zach recalled. "I knew there had to be a good reason for it, so it didn't really bother me in the slightest."Meka -- who married Michael Watson on the series -- also gave Zach's father props for stepping up to the plate during a difficult time for the Mindy."I think that was really nice," Meka gushed."For me having such a big family and knowing that my family was there, I can't imagine having to do that without my family there. So I think it was really sweet that your dad did that."Jamie then asked Pastor Cal to share his thoughts, and the pastor just raved about how it was "great.""After I saw what [Zach] did at the wedding and then to see what your dad did at the reception, it's kind of like that whole 'apple not falling far from the tree' [phrase],'" Pastor Cal shared."I mean really, that kind of consideration is admirable."In addition to Zach, Mindy, Meka and Michael, 's tenth season also stars Taylor Dunklin and Brandon Reid Jessica Studer and Austin Hurd , and Katie Conrad and Derek Sherman currently airs on Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime.Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group A man points to a name while visiting the Vietnam War Memorial on Veterans Day in Washington on Nov. 10, 2017. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Last Full Measure Helps Redeem National Tragedy of Vietnam Commentary Though I am an infrequent movie theater-goer, I went with a friend to a preview of the new film Last Full Measure, a dramatized account of the spontaneous and ultimately successful effort to secure a posthumous Medal of Honor, the highest decoration for conspicuous combat bravery in the U.S. armed forces, for Airman William Pitsenbarger Jr. It sounds fairly humdrum, though the cast is led by Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, the ageless Christopher Plummer (90), William Hurt, and, in his last film, Peter Fonda, and was co-produced by 50 people, including Mark Damon. Any experienced person is fairly resistant to the normal allure of war pictures, but this one gains momentum after an ordinary start, builds gradually, strengthened by consistently good acting, and ends very affectingly. The emotional commitment of the actors and producers is communicated subtly by the plausibility of the narrative and the solid presentation of what are generally called traditional values: family, country, bravery in uniform, medical professionalism in the face of mortal danger, and quiet, dignified religious faith, the last personified by the deceaseds mother, portrayed by Diane Ladd, who is a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams. It actually happened, which is presumably why the film was made, and in the film and in fact, virtuous recognition of the cause eventually prevailed over cynical and venal politics. Its a great challenge to present all these sins and vices and noble qualities together and bring a positive outcome to a series of events that were on their face unexceptional, but personified the highest human qualities triumphing over the banal impersonality of official indifference. While it would be going too far to claim that any experienced person would undergo a substantial change of perception by watching this film, even the most hardened critic would have difficulty dismissing this movie as trite or cliched. Avoidable Tragedy Apart from the sensations mentioned, Last Full Measure had a particular effect on me as one of those who always supported the Vietnam War effort by the United StatesI was attending university in Canada at the time and was very much in a minority, although not a very inconvenienced one. I had the privilege of visiting Vietnam for six weeks in the autumn of 1970, in my very minor capacity as publisher of a small Canadian daily newspaper. But I had the invaluable advantage of a recommendation from former President Lyndon B. Johnson, whom I had visited and corresponded with. Because of LBJs patronage, I met all the leading U.S. and South Vietnamese figures, including President Nguyen Van Thieu, Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, and Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker. And I met and developed a great admiration for the patriotism and dedication of many American military and diplomatic personnel. This film, vivid in its detail, was haunting in its reconstruction of that magnificent effort that now seems to have been doomed, but was not. No tragedian has ever devised such an improbable plot as the Vietnamese hex on America. The Democrats under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson plunged into Vietnam, despite advice from its senior surviving generals, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur, not to do so. They shouldered aside the South Vietnamese army, but didnt follow the further advice of Eisenhower and MacArthur that if the United States did enter the war, it should cut the flow of supplies and reinforcements along the Ho Chi Minh Trail from North Vietnam through Laos and into the South. Kennedy had conceded the neutrality of Laos, which then-former Vice President Richard Nixon correctly called communism on the installment plan, and Johnson intermittently bombed military targets in North Vietnam. The authorization to send 550,000 draftees into this quagmire was the vague Tonkin Gulf Resolution in 1964, which was based on a bowdlerized version of an encounter with North Vietnamese torpedo boats, from which no damage to American ships resulted. Johnson failed to explain why the country was in the war, even as 200 to 400 Americans died in combat every week. In 1966, Johnson and Thieu met in Manila, Philippines, and agreed to propose a cease-fire and a total reciprocal withdrawal of all non-South Vietnamese forces, that is everyone except the South Vietnamese and Viet Cong. Hanoi rejected this, showing it was not so interested in uniting North and South Vietnam (which had never been united), but rather sought the military defeat of the United States, as they could have withdrawn and come back after a decent interval with no fear of a renewed American land presence. Completely flummoxed, Johnson withdrew from his reelection campaign and stopped the bombing of North Vietnam, having been substantially deserted by his party. Nixon came into office, having criticized the Democrats conduct of the war for many years, announced Vietnamization, won the support of the silent majority of Americans, trained up the South Vietnamese as he drew down the U.S. expeditionary force, triangulated the Great Power relationship with China and Russia, and recruited both countries to help push North Vietnam to peace. When the North invaded the South in April 1972, Nixon ordered 1,000 airstrikes a day on the North, and raised that to 1,200 a day every day he was on his state visit to the Soviet Union. The South Vietnamese defeated the communists on the ground, albeit with heavy U.S. air support but no ground support, and peace was signed. The Democrats, who entered the war, deserted Johnson and harassed Nixon, then seized on the piffle of Watergate to force Nixon from office, stopped all aid to South Vietnam and Cambodia, and helped bring on the communist seizure of Indochina and the massacre of millions of Vietnamese and Cambodians and scores of thousands of boat people fleeing for their lives. Terribly Misunderstood Chapter American history has largely written off the entire enterprise as a misconceived disaster, morally, as well as politically and militarily. But the United States was admirably motivated and was acting to defend an ally that had been invaded, and was joined by its South Korean, Thai, Filipino, Australian, and New Zealand allies. It won the war militarily, but was undone by the Watergate debacle. Nixon warned in his Silent Majority address on Nov. 3, 1969, that North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States; no power on earth can do that except the United States. It could, and it did. I sat with Americans in Saigon and listened as they played tapes from their families at home, and met some of the wounded men at the hospital at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, where Phantom jets took off four abreast. On one occasion, flying back to Saigon over the Mekong Delta, in one of about 50 helicopters more or less in formation at sundown, I was reminded of two famous French war observations. Charles de Gaulle, when he passed through Stalingrad in 1944, said, What a great people. His host, a Soviet general, said, The Russians? and he replied, No, the Germans, to have got to the Volga, a brave nation. And I also thought of Gen. Pierre Bosquet, who famously said of the charge of the Light Brigade (1854) as it unfolded, Cest magnifique mais ce nest pas la guerre. (Its magnificent, but it isnt war.) Vietnam was unsuccessful strategically, but it was a great human and national effort in an admirable cause. That it was an immense tragedy doesnt mean that those who served should be despised or ignored. In associating this war with Abraham Lincoln, by taking its title from the address at GettysburgLast Full Measure (by which Lincoln meant death in combat for the Union)and portraying these veterans and their families so poignantly, the numerous producers and brilliant cast have taken an important step in the redemption of a terribly misunderstood, and often distinguished chapter of American history. Its well worth watching. Conrad Black has been one of Canadas most prominent financiers for 40 years, and was one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world. He is the author of authoritative biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, and, most recently, Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. As China scrambles to contain the fast-spreading Coronavirus, which has already claimed more than 100 lives there, India is planning to evacuate its nationals, mostly students, stuck in Wuhan, the epicentre of the viral outbreak. Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday reviewed the preparedness to deal with the deadly virus after which the government said India has made a formal request to China for facilitating evacuation of Indians from Wuhan. The Civil Aviation Ministry will make necessary arrangements for evacuation after the approval of Chinese authorities is received, a release from the Union Health Ministry said. Asserting that there was no confirmed case of the novel Coronavirus (nCoV), Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said India was making all efforts to detect and check the spread of the virus. As part of the preparedness, India has also increased the number of airports from seven to 20 to do thermal screening of passengers for possible exposure to the deadly nCoV, and made four more laboratories functional other than NIV-Pune for testing samples. As the deadly virus continued to spread in various provinces in China, Indian students, hailing from various states including Gujarat, have expressed their desire to return. "Indian Embassy is in constant touch with the Chinese government. To evacuate students and other Indians from Wuhan, we are planning to send a plane there. Our efforts are on to bring them back. It will take some days. I urge people to trust the government on this," Jaishankar told reporters on his arrival at the Vadodara airport in Gujarat. "No Indian student has been found to be affected by this virus. Parents need not worry about their children," he said. The Indian nationals, mostly students, research scholars and professionals are working in Indian and international companies in China's Hubei province. As India started the preparations to evacuate over 250 Indians, mostly students, stuck in the province, its embassy in Beijing said these nationals will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine on their return. Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong retweeted foreign minister Wang Yi's message to say that the WHO does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact. "The WHO is confident in China's epidemic prevention and control ability," Sun tweeted. While more than a dozen countries around the world have confirmed cases of the deadly virus, India is making all efforts to detect and check its spread. Several states including Delhi, Haryana, Punjab Rajasthan have kept some people, with travel history to China, under observation after they showed novel coronavirus-like symptoms, There is no confirmed case of the nCoV detected in India so far, Vardhan said, adding,"like in 2014, because of our alertness we prevented Ebola from entering the country, we are making all efforts and taking all possible measures to ensure there are no cases of nCoV here." Vardhan said the government has made four more laboratories functional other than NIV-Pune for testing samples and it will be extended to 10 labs in the coming days. Apart from increasing the number of airports to do thermal screening of passengers, the Centre has stepped up vigil in areas bordering Nepal in view of a confirmed case of nCoV detected there, he said. The health minister said he has also written to all chief ministers, requesting them for personal intervention to review the states' preparedness for control and management of the spread of the virus. China has reported 24 more deaths on Tuesday from the coronavirus epidemic, taking the number of fatalities to 106 as the confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak stand at 4,515, the Chinese health authorities said. Chinese government has already locked down Wuhan as also other cities in the Hubei province with strict travel restrictions in and out of the area. As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The deadly virus has spread from a seafood and animal market in Wuhan, and is suspected to have spread to as far as the US. KENNESAW, Ga., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- You have a dream of a bustling business filled with dozens of great employees and so many customers you can't keep up. For now, it's just you, a couple of part time staff and your bookkeeper who's on you to get the paperwork to her before tax season. Founder & CEO of CuriousCheck CuriousCheck Banner Ad "Paper work!" laughs Carlos Crameri, founder of CuriousCheck. "The biggest problem small business owners complain about is paperwork and streamlining processes. They have a bookkeeper or an accountant using out-of-date software who tells them they need records of employment, invoicing or sales information and they don't realize there are easier to use software programs that can organize all of that information more effectively." As a US-born Hispanic American, Crameri always had a desire to modernize and simplify redundant processes. Whether that was in the Human Resources industry, or creating an app that logged your gameday bets, he wanted to utilize technology in the most efficient and modern way possible. CuriousCheck is a user-friendly site that aggregates online reviews of business software. Instead of business owners trusting reviews on just one website, CuriousCheck searches the web for independent, credible reviews and affordable packages that are specifically designed to help businesses find solutions in areas such as digital marketing, background screening, payment processing, virtual phone systems, website maintenance and other essential business needs. "The biggest benefit of finding software via unpaid, reliable reviews, is that you aren't relying on a quick Google search which tends to just bring up the companies that pay top dollar to be on the first page. You also aren't relying on some salesperson who is cold-calling and trying to push a pricey software package on you when there might be a better program available for half the price," explains Crameri. CuriousCheck is extremely user friendly, easy to navigate and best of all, free! Business owners can click on the category they're interested in learning more about, such as HR Software Solutions or Business Essentials. From there, they navigate to a sub-category, such as "Payroll" or "Increase Site Traffic", where they will instantly see a list of the most trusted software and business solutions. Each company will have a description, logo, location information, size accommodations, and most importantly, our CuriousCheck star rating. "I've been building the idea of CuriousCheck for over 5 years. While CuriousCheck started as something far different, I'm beyond pleased with where this product is today. When I worked at one of the fastest growing FinTech companies in America, I was able to see firsthand how a small start-up leveraged smart software solutions, to help them grow into one of the top 10 fastest growing tech companies in only 2 years. I want to share those easy to use solutions with the small business community. I'm happy to say CuriousCheck is already proving very popular amongst hundreds of small business owners and I am proud to be helping entrepreneurs grow their business. For more information, or to arrange for an interview, contact: Carlos Crameri 404-590-0329 [email protected] SOURCE CuriousCheck China has all the necessary means and resources to tackle the new coronavirus, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday during a meeting with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom. Adhanom is in China to assess the country's response to the virus as the death toll reached 106. Chinese health authorities on Tuesday also announced that 4,515 confirmed cases of the disease have been reported in 30 provincial-level regions by the end of Monday. Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Education (MOE) announced that the 2020 spring semester for schools will be postponed due to coronavirus outbreak. During the previous meeting, on Thursday last week, the Health Organisation (WHO) had said that it was 'too early' to declare the outbreak of coronavirus in China as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). The virus originated in Wuhan city of China in December and has since then spread to various cities around the China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year. Health authorities around the are taking action to prevent a global pandemic as the virus continues to spread, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and seven Asian countries besides China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Italian man was denied Swiss citizenship despite living there for 30 years because he was unaware that bears and wolves shared an enclosure at his local zoo. Authorities at Arth in the central canton of Schwyz asked the applicant a number of questions as part of the process, including some geared towards assessing his level of integration in the local area. Despite having lived in Switzerland for 30 years and running a successful small business there, his ignorance over the local zoo scuppered his application. At the Goldau nature and animal park in Arth, Syrian brown bears are housed in a two-hectare community facility with a pack of European wolves. The two species have lived together in the same compound for 11 years. An undated photograph from the Goldau nature and animal park shows a Syrian bear in the same enclosure as the European wolf According to thelocal.ch, the man also had trouble with local geography and the interviewers had concerns over some of his tax reports and foreign property. Despite the concerns, he'd never been summoned to court because of the irregularities. A court on Monday ruled that the Naturalisation Commission had failed to balance their decision fairly and had placed too much value on the social integration aspect of the test. Switzerland has been embroiled in citizenship controversies over recent years. Most recently, an Iraqi woman - who had lived in the country for over 20 years - was denied her citizenship after answering 'uh' over 200 times in her test. An undated photograph shows an image of a Swiss passport. Despite having lived in Switzerland for 30 years and running a successful small business there, the Italian man's ignorance over the local zoo scuppered his application In 2018, Switzerland clamped down on applications from people who had claimed welfare in the previous three years unless they paid back the money they'd received. A Dutch vegan was denied Swiss citizenship twice in 2017 for being 'too annoying' after she irritated authorities in her local village by campaigning against using cowbells. She claimed that tying a bell around the neck of cattle was cruel to animals. Aside from aggravating locals in her village of Gipf-Oberfrick, she had lived in the country for her whole adult life, spoke fluent Swiss-German and has children who are citizens. Jesse Little, associate professor and associate department head for graduate studies in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arizona, has been named a 2020 associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, or AIAA. The designation recognizes scientists "who have accomplished or been in charge of important engineering or scientific work, or who have done original work of outstanding merit, or who have otherwise made outstanding contributions to the arts, sciences or technology of aeronautics or astronautics." Little was inducted Jan. 6 at the AIAA SciTech Forum in Orlando, Florida. "AIAA has been an integral part of my professional life since I was a student, and it is an honor to be recognized as an associate fellow," Little said. "I am fortunate to have been surrounded by many excellent students, colleagues, mentors and friends throughout my career, and this recognition is due in no small part to their influence. I look forward to many more years of involvement with AIAA." Little has been a faculty member at the University of Arizona since 2010, where he leads the Turbulence and Flow Control Laboratory and conducts research on aerodynamics and propulsion in subsonic and supersonic flows. Department alumnus Rene Woszidlo, who earned his master's and doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering at the University of Arizona in 2007 and 2011, respectively, was also selected as an associate fellow. Woszidlo now works as a technical lead engineer for flow control technology at Boeing. ### Photo: Contributed The Sustainable Environment Network Society made a presentation to Vernon city council on Monday regarding their concern about the installation of 5G towers. SENS claims that 5G radiation will have serious and long-lasting health concerns. 4G frequencies are typically under 6GHz, while 5G can range between 30-100GHz. This raised some worrisome comments from members of the environmental group. "There are no studies proving that 5G is safe," said Tana Petersen, a member of SENS. "Without our consent, we will all be subjected to this radiation 24/7." Health officials in Brussels have similar concerns, and they have halted the construction of 5G towers indefinitely while scientists can examine this situation further. Upon hearing the presentation, however, Councillor Kari Gares had some comments of her own. "My brother works in this field as an engineer, so I reached out to him for more information on this," she said. "The established safety limit for human exposure to radiation as outlined by Health Canada is between 3KHz and 300GHz, which 5G's frequencies are within." SENS asked for a moratorium on 5G towers, which means temporarily postponing the construction until more information comes out and discussions occur. The discussion in council was cut short, and Councillor Gares offered to reach out to members of SENS to confer further. French plans for a digital tax are on hold for now France and the US have declared a ceasefire on their ongoing dispute over a digital tax, with plans to introduce the tariffs postponed indefinitely. In July last year, the French government passed a bill requiring technology companies with more than 750 million euros in global revenue and 25 million euros in local revenues to pay a 3 per cent tax on total annual income generated in France. The plan was slammed by the US before it was even passed, with claims it would be unfairly targeting the tax at certain US-based technology companies. The new digital tax would have likely impacted businesses including Facebook, Google and Amazon. In response, the US government had planned to introduce a series of significant tariffs on French products, including wine and champagne. The stand-off seems to now have been averted, at least in the short-term, with the two countries appearing to agree to resume discussions for global changes to international taxation instead of individual approaches to forcing tech giants to pay more tax. French president Emmanuel Macron tweeted last week that he had had a great discussion with US President Donald Trump. We will work together on a good agreement to avoid tariff escalation, Macron said. This ceasefire was formally revealed at the Word Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland late last week, with an agreement between US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and French finance minister Bruno Le Maire. The Wall Street Journal reported the US had dropped its requirement that any potential international taxation agreement should be optional, paving the way for more discussions on the matter this year. The US has also suspended its plans to introduce the tariffs on $US2.4 billion worth of French products. But Le Maire said the French digital tax would still be applied down the track if an international agreement isnt reached. I want to be very clear. There has been no suspension of the French taxation, no withdrawal of the French taxation, he said. Either there is an international agreement in 2020 and in that case the international agreement will replace the national taxation, or there is no agreement at the OECD, and in that case, since the French taxation remains in place, the companies will have to pay. In any case, digital companies in France will have to pay their due taxes in 2020. The US has clashed with a number of countries that have looked to pursue their own digital tax as international talks stalled. While the US government said these taxes would unfairly target their own companies and go against global norms, countries including France, the UK and Italy argue these firms dont pay nearly enough tax locally as they shift profits abroad. The United Kingdom is poised to introduce its own digital tax from April. The tax will be a 2 per cent levy on the sales of the big tech companies. The digital tax has also been slammed by US officials who have labelled it discriminatory and warned that tariffs could be applied. If people want to just arbitrarily put taxes on our digital companies, we will consider arbitrarily putting taxes on car companies, Mnuchin said. The UK government has said it will drop the digital tax when an international solution to taxing the giant tech companies is found. We plan to go ahead with our digital services tax in April, UK Chancellor Sajid Javid said. It is a proportionate tax, and a tax that is deliberately designed as a temporary tax. WASHINGTON Democrats on Tuesday sharply criticized a plan suggested by Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) that would effectively involve a witness trade in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, giving each party the chance to call one witness. Any such deal would likely lead to testimony from both John Bolton, the presidents former national security adviser, whom Democrats want to hear from, and Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden, whom Republicans hope to question. Democrats quickly rejected the suggestion, though majority Republicans could push it forward on their own. What can Hunter Biden tell us about the presidents conduct with Ukraine? What can Hunter Biden tell us about the presidents obstruction of Congress? Nothing," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said at a news conference Tuesday morning. "Obviously, the bottom line is very simple. They are always looking for a shiny object to divert attention from the facts. Schumer later added, Were not bargaining with them. We want four witnesses and four sets of documents, then the truth will come out. Appearing Tuesday morning on MSNBC and echoing a fellow Democratic senator who made the same argument, Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) said: Why on earth would we engage in that kind of a crazy quid-pro-quo where we trade a relevant witness for an irrelevant witness in the middle of a quid-pro-quo trial? The private maneuvering by Toomey and Democratic response comes as the Senate nears formal votes on witnesses, one of the only major remaining uncertainties in a trial that has largely played out as expected. After the White House concluded its opening arguments Tuesday, the Senate could vote on witnesses by the end of the week, deciding whether Bolton or others ever speak under oath about what they know. The pressure on the GOP has ratcheted up since the New York Times reported Sunday that Bolton, for a forthcoming book, wrote that Trump personally told him he was withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine unless the country began an investigation into the Bidens, confirming the central accusation in the impeachment charges. Bolton, who has said he would testify if subpoenaed, would be the first witness with firsthand information to directly link Trump to the plot. The report about his book has rocked the trial after weeks of Republican resistance to calling witnesses. We want the truth, Schumer said Tuesday, arguing that testimony from Bolton and other top White House officials is critical to understanding Trumps actions. Toomey offered fellow Republicans one way out of the jam Monday, privately floating a plan, reported by the Washington Post, to allow one witness for each party. The idea would give wavering Republicans an opening to call Bolton while also putting a spotlight on Hunter Biden aiding the White House defense. Even if Democrats reject the plan, the GOP majority could have enough votes to subpoena them both, and many Republicans will face pressure from conservatives to put a Biden under questioning. Toomeys office has not commented on the trade proposal. READ MORE: Pat Toomey vowed to be an independent voice. Trumps impeachment could raise the stakes. Democrats cannot call Bolton without support from at least four Republican senators. But its not clear how much support Toomeys idea has within the GOP. Some senators on Tuesday were looking at other options such as making Boltons book available to senators in a classified setting and others suggested that they still opposed the idea of having anyone testify. Democrats argue that Hunter Biden is not relevant to the central facts of the case: that Trump used his office to pressure a foreign country to harm Joe Bidens prospects in the 2020 election, and then blocked Congress investigation of the matter. The Trump team argues the president withheld aid because he was concerned about corruption in Ukraine, particularly Hunter Bidens high-paid role with an energy company, Burisma, that had previously come under investigation. Joe Biden, as vice president, led a push to oust a Ukrainian prosecutor while his son sat on the companys board. Biden was carrying out the official policy of the United States and its European allies in trying to oust a prosecutor noted for being soft on corruption. Hunter Biden was not accused of any wrongdoing, and the investigation into Burisma was dormant at the time. Toomey has been noncommittal when it comes to whether he will support calling witnesses. He hasnt closed the door, but has also raised concerns that issuing a subpoena could lead to a legal fight that drags out the trial. And hes said he sees a high bar for taking that step, arguing that any witness would have to have information so compelling it might change votes on the verdict . The criteria is not Does the witness have something interesting to say?" Toomey said Friday in an interview with The Inquirer and the Allentown Morning Call. "The criteria is, Are they likely to be able to shed definitive light on a disputed issue that is so central to this case that the resolution of it could change my final conclusion? So, thats a high bar. He also argued that Hunter Biden is a relevant witness. The Democrats argument ... largely rests on this notion that the only possible explanation for the presidents wishing to have an investigation is the presidents personal corruption, that there is no other possible explanation, Toomey said. On Monday, hours after the Bolton news broke, a spokesman said that Sen. Toomeys position remains unchanged and that he would decide about calling witnesses after Trumps attorneys conclude and senators ask their questions. Toomey did not answer reporters questions Tuesday. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday said that the government will "temporarily" close some of its borders with mainland China and stop issuing travel permits for Chinese tourists as the death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus jumped to 107 and reached at least 14 foreign countries. The latest announcement comes as part of Hong Kong's efforts to curb the spread of the virus, CNN reported. Individual travel permits allow residents of 49 cities on the mainland to "visit Hong Kong in their individual capacity." On Saturday, the China Association of Travel Services reported that all tours, including international ones, would be suspended starting Monday. China also stopped the domestic group and packaged tours on last Friday. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with ideal conditions for diseases to spread -- in tightly packed subway train carriages and people living cheek by jowl in the city's notoriously tiny apartments. The move also comes amid eight months of ongoing anti-government protests that began against a now-scrapped China extradition bill, a politically sensitive time for the city's government. China has issued travel restrictions for some 60 million people in Hubei province. The provincial capital, Wuhan, is under almost complete lockdown, with no movement in or out. In several cities, businesses and schools have been closed for the next few weeks. Numerous countries, including India and the United States, have stepped up airport screenings and advised their citizens not to travel to China. Other countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines, have restricted Chinese tourists. Others such as India has an evacuation process for their citizens from Wuhan -- the epicentre of the deadly virus outbreak. Hong Kong has confirmed eight cases of coronavirus, followed by six in Japan, five in Australia and the US, two in Vietnam and one in Sri Lanka. However, no deaths have been reported in the above countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Elnur Baghishov - Trend: The value of Iran's exports via Astara customs of its Gilan province in the current Iranian year (began on March 21, 2019), so far, amounted to $276 million, Director General of Astara Customs Administration Rasul Umidi told reporters, Trend reports via IRNA. The total weight of the exported goods was 535,000 tons, Umidi said. The director noted that 232,000 tons of goods worth $188 million were imported via Astara customs during the reported period. The launch of the eTIR project has facilitated the movement of vehicles between Iran and its neighboring countries, as well as increased trade turnover between them, the customs official said. Special attention is also paid to increasing the Iran-Azerbaijan trade turnover and facilitating the movement of vehicles between the two countries. Rasul Umidi noted that Astara customs has a territory of 27 hectares and a project is being implemented on its development. So far, 225 billion rials (over $5.3 million) have been allocated for the project and its completed by 20 percent, the director said. Th customs official added that attempts of exporting 22 tons of essentials goods via Astara customs have been been prevented in the current Iranian year, so far. Astara county of Iran's Gilan province is bordering the Republic of Azerbaijan. The customs of this county is the third most crowded in all Iran. Around 800,000 Iranians and foreigners go through Astara customs annually. After the US imposed sanctions on Iran in 2018, Iran banned exports of certain essential goods. TEHRAN, Iran - An Iranian military drone crash landed in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, the countrys semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Tuesday. A video Tasnim posted on Twitter showed the Iranian-made Shahed-129 drone had come to rest just before a steep drop-off, its nose hanging perilously over the edge. The drone seemed intact, however, and Tasnim did not say what brought it down. The Shahed-129 has a range of 1,700 kilometres (1,050 miles), a 24-hour non-stop flight capability and can carry eight bombs or missiles capable of hitting both stationary and moving targets. It was not clear whether the drone that crashed was armed. Shahed means witness in Farsi. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday filed a charge sheet against four cadres of separatist group NSCN (IM) at a court near here for killing a legislator from Arunachal Pradesh in an ambush in which 10 other people also lost their lives, the agency said. The charge sheet was filed against Luckin Mashangva, Jai Kishan Sharma, Yangte Josaham and Napong Jenpi under different sections of Indian Penal Code, Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention ) Act, the NIA said in a statement. The probe agency had in June last year registered a case related to the ambush on convoy of Tirong Abohm, MLA from Khonsa constituency, and others on May 21, 2019 near Pansum Thong village in Tirap district by armed cadres of NSCN (IM), it said. The convoy was moving towards Khonsa from Dibrugarh in Assam. In the attack, three persons sustained injuries. "Investigation has established that members of the terrorist group of NSCN(IM) conspired to commit the terrorist act of killing of Tirong Aboh, MLA Khonsa and 10 others. Investigation further established that the terrorist act was a result of larger conspiracy due to opposition by MLA, Khonsa of anti-development and extortion activities of NSCN(IM) in Tirap district," the statement said. Investigation has revealed that the members of NSCN(IM) faction led by self-styled 'major general' Absolom, who is an absconding accused in the instant case, along with Mashangva, Josaham and Jenpi formed a terrorist group which was financed by Sharma to execute this act, it said. NSCN(IM) cadres had on an earlier occasion threatened the MLA and his supporters for their opposition to criminal activities of the group, the probe agency said. In pursuance of this conspiracy, on May 21, 2019, the members of this group fired with sophisticated weapons in the ambush leading to the death of 11 people and injuries to three, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scott Harrison, CEO and founder of the non-profit organization, Charity: water, established his charity after seeking a more worthwhile path in life after working as a nightclub promoter. Courtesy of Charity: water By Lee Gyu-lee Scott Harrison was the life of the party in New York in the late 1990s. As a promoter for the Big Apple's 40-plus nightclubs, he was paid good money for drinking brand vodkas and was always part of good-looking crowds. Scott Harrison/ Courtesy of Charity: water That was until the day he decided to bring clean drinking water to those who could not get it. Now as CEO and founder of the non-profit organization, Charity: water, he looks back, telling himself and others that his two seemingly contrasting lives come down to the same principle sort of. "The act of promoting didn't stop," Harrison told The Korea Times, Friday. "I just started promoting something wildly different, the idea of humanitarian service." He founded his charity in 2006, and the organization has now provided clean water to more than 10 million people through 44,000 projects in over 28 countries. "If you think about your life without water, everything would be different But we take it for granted," he said. "Yet, that's not the reality for 10 percent of the world." Recent World Health Organization data estimates about 485,000 diarrheal deaths are caused by drinking dirty water each year, and 785 million people lack even basic drinking-water services. Charity: water has provided clean water to more than 10 million people in over 28 countries. Courtesy of Charity: water Growing up as an only child in a religious family in New Jersey, he recalled his childhood as being the main caregiver of his mother, who did not recover from a gas leak at their house. "I played by all the Christian rules," he said. Then, one day, he decided to flip the page onto the hard-partying nightlife of New York. "There was something about the music (at the nightclubs), a throng of people, the celebrities... Maybe it was just so opposite to my repressive Christian upbringing that there was something amazing about," he said. What he referred to as the "classic, cliche rebellion story" turned into a 10-year life as a nightclub promoter. "I picked up a lot of the vices smoking, drinking, gambling, pornography," he said. "I was having a double life; my life would look great on the outside, but I was rotting inside." He said a mixture of causes emotional destruction, death-threats from customers and an unhealthy lifestyle kept pushing him to end his dark life. At the age of 28, he felt the need for another life change but this time, to do some good. He went on a six-month transition, soul-searching and looking for a purpose in life. Children in Rwanda enjoy clean water after a Charity: water project. Courtesy of Charity: water Harrison began applying to volunteer at charities, hoping to try a year of dedication to helping others. After being rejected by several organizations, he was accepted by Mercy Ships in 2004 a medical aid charity with a non-governmental hospital ship to join its mission in Liberia, only if he agreed to pay $500 a month to the charity. "The idea of changing the environment completely felt like something I needed to do I had in my mind that I wanted to go to the poorest country in the world," he said. Harrison spent about two years in Liberia, serving as a photojournalist for the charity's mission. That is when he met former plastic surgeon and the ship's chief medical officer Dr. Garry Parker. The doctor became his mentor and a role model who inspired him to continue pursuing providing humanitarian aid. On his journeys, he witnessed people drinking dirty river and swamp water and learned that the root cause of people's disease was contaminated water. "(Dr. Parker) said 'if you really care about global health, then the number one thing you would pursue is clean water,'" he said. And so he did. After traveling to a few other countries, including Rwanda and Kenya, to learn more about the issue and the solution, he launched his own organization, Charity: water, two years later. A local drilling team that helps carry out Charity: water's projects. The charity has worked with 37 local partners. Courtesy of Charity: water Charity: water now has several different ways of bringing clean water to low-income rural areas. It has seen explosive growth in the past couple of years. "We grew 30 percent this year and 40 percent the year before," Harrison said. The organization runs on a 100 percent donation model that makes sure every penny donated goes to the clean water projects. Its website offers details of the projects and ensures people know how their money is being spent. A woman in Uganda poses for pictures with a water container on her head. Courtesy of Charity: water Such an emphasis came from his observation of young people's distrust of charities. "They didn't know where their money would go and how much of it would reach the people," Harrison said. "So I had this idea of taking the most common objection people have and eliminating it." Its visibility, using the power of social media, is another strength of Charity: water. Hundreds of stories, from donors and volunteers to beneficiaries, are shared through its website and Instagram, along with vivid images. "We were the first charity to use Instagram and get a million followers we approach the issue a little differently through storytelling and transparency," Harrison said. Using the "language of today," the organization spreads the act of good deeds by its supporters such as children selling lemonade to raise money or sending their allowances which leads to more support. Harrison published an autobiography about a year ago to share his transition to humanitarian service. The book was recently translated into Korean and hit shelves last week. "I hope my search for purpose and finding it will encourage people," he said. "Maybe for those who feel stuck or have done some bad things that keep them from a positive future, hopefully, they will realize they are not worse than me when they read this," he laughed. Wuhan China Virus Getty Images A coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China, has now killed at least 80 people and infected more than 2,700. The city of Wuhan and at least 11 others have been quarantined. The outbreak is damaging for the national economy, particularly as several large foreign and Chinese corporations are based in the city and its surrounding region. Companies including McDonald's, Ikea, and French carmakers Peugeot Citroen and Renault are temporarily shutting down operations and evacuating employees from the area. Here are the businesses who have been affected so far. See Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Businesses in Wuhan, China, are temporarily suspending operations and moving out employees in an attempt to limit the spread of a deadly coronavirus that has so far killed 80 and infected more than 2,800. The city of Wuhan, where the virus first broke out, is one of China's biggest industrial hubs. Several large Chinese and foreign corporations operate there. Household names including PepsiCo, German conglomerate Siemens, and French automaker Peugeot Citroen all have bases in Wuhan and the wider Hubei province. The spread of the virus is predicted to have a damaging effect on the economy, and many businesses in the area have suspended operations in an attempt to contain the virus. In this photo provided by Chen Yanxi, a nearly-deserted expressway is seen in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Chinas attempt to stop a deadly virus by cutting off access to cities with 25 million inhabitants is a step few other governments would consider but is made possible by the ruling Communist Partys extensive social controls and experience fighting the 2002-03 outbreak of SARS. (Chen Yanxi via AP) Associated Press Here are businesses who have been affected so far: Hotels, restaurants, and fast-food chains most affected The outbreak and quarantines came in the run-up to the Lunar New Year holidays, one of the busiest times for shopping, travel, and eating out in China. As a result, the travel, hotel, and restaurant industries are most likely to be impacted by the virus, The Hollywood Reporter said, citing forecasters. At least seven hotel companies including The Peninsula Hotels, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Hilton, and Marriott International announced they will waive fees for changes or cancellation during the outbreak, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. Story continues Didi, the Chinese ride-sharing service, also said it would halt services in Wuhan on at noon on Friday the day before the first day of the Lunar New Year at the request of local authorities, the SCMP said. McDonalds China AP Photo/Chien min Chung Fast-food chains operating in Wuhan and its surrounding area, including McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and KFC, are also among those affected. McDonald's suspended operations in five Chinese cities Wuhan, Ezhou, Huanggang, Qianjiang, and Xiantao it told Business Insider's Mary Hanbury last week. "We will decide on the time of resuming business in accordance with the development of the epidemic," the company said in its statement. It will also monitor the temperature of all employees and send home all those who show symptoms of the virus, such as cold or fever, McDonald's said. wuhan virus symptoms Samantha Lee/Business Insider KFC and Pizza Hut stores in Wuhan also shut down temporarily in response to the outbreak, Reuters reported. Retailers were also affected, with H&M closing down a total of 13 stores in the region, according to The Japan Times. Swedish furniture store Ikea also temporarily closed its store, which employs 500 people, last Thursday over concerns for workers' and customers' health, the SCMP reported. Tourism and retail stocks that rely on Chinese demand including Burberry, cruise giant Carnival, and British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) also dropped sharply on Monday. The car industry A total of nine car factories including Peugeot Citroen, Renault, Honda, and China's Dongfeng are based in Wuhan, according to the SCMP. Dongfeng is the third-largest car manufacturer in China. Honda told The Japan Times on Sunday it would evacuate 30 Japanese staff, family members, and employees on business trips in Wuhan. wuhan virus china travel Reuters Over the weekend, French auto conglomerate Groupe PSA whose brands include Peugeot and Citroen announced it would evacuate employees and their families from Wuhan and quarantine them in another unnamed Chinese city, before ultimately bringing them back to France, the Associated Press reported. Groupe PSA said a total of 38 people would leave Wuhan, according to a statement cited by the Japan Times. It's not clear whether the other auto companies in the region have plans to evacuate employees or shut down businesses. Dongfeng had already halted production for the Lunar New Year holiday, the SCMP reported. It's not clear whether it will resume operations after the holiday. Manufacturers are also suspending operations Big manufacturing companies operating in the area include German multinational conglomerate Siemens,Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, and the electronic component maker BOE Technology Group. Siemens said the company "adheres to the guidance from relevant authorities, and has furthermore put in place a series of measures to protect the health of our workforce," according to the SCMP. It is not clear what the series of measures is, or whether the company will later suspend operations. Street view after Wuhan government announced to ban non-essential vehicles in downtown area to contain coronavirus outbreak, on the second day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China January 26, 2020. cnsphoto via REUTERS Reuters Multi-national companies suspend travel To protect staff, major companies are suspending travel to China. On January 28, tax consultancy PwC stopped business travel to China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, for US and Mexico staff, per an email to employees reviewed by Business Insider. PwC staff who returned from China in the last two weeks were asked to work from home for three weeks, and they were told to use virtual meetings for clients who have been in China recently. Facebook also asked staff not to visit China and to work from home if they had traveled there. WeWork closed 70 of its locations in China, per a statement on the office company's website. 'Major panic in markets' Wuhan, which is home to 11 million people, is one of China's largest cities. Apart from being an industrial center, it's also known as a large travel hub due to its central location. S&P Global Ratings said last week that the coronavirus could knock 1.2 percentage points off China's growth rate, and market analysts warned that the virus could cause "shocks" to the national economy. "The virus has become deadly and it has caused a major panic in markets," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, said in a morning note reported by Markets Insider. "Shocks to the Chinese economy always have ripple effects and the commodity markets are deeply affected by it." Read the original article on Business Insider Since President Trump was inaugurated, leftists have brought a series of lawsuits on behalf of supposedly aggrieved partiesthemselves, mostlyseeking to enjoin enforcement of administration policies. District Court judges in venues remote from the issue at hand, like a federal judge in Hawaii who purported to block implementation of the administrations travel ban, have issued nationwide injunctions far exceeding the scope of any case or controversy actually before them (if any). This is a perversion of our legal system that encourages, to put it mildly, judge shopping. As a 41-year litigation veteran, I can tell you that judge shopping happens all the time. If a nationwide injunction is in prospect, the temptation to judge-shop is overwhelming. This practice has come under nearly universal condemnation from judges and legal scholars, and many expect that before long, the U.S. Supreme Court will take decisive action to stop such overreaching by District Court judges. Earlier today, the Supreme Court took a step in that direction. The Court ruled, on a party-line 5-4 vote, to grant a stay of a preliminary injunction barring implementation of the Trump administrations public charge initiative, which simply enforces century-old federal immigration law. The administrations rule shouldnt even be controversial, but left-wing judges sought out by left-wing activists have put it in play. What is newsworthy is Justice Gorsuchs blistering concurrence with the Courts order, in which Justice Thomas joined: On October 10, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security began a rulemaking process to define the term public charge, as it is used in the Nations immigration laws. Approximately 10 months and 266,000 comments later, the agency issued a final rule. Litigation swiftly followed, with a number of States, organizations, and individual plaintiffs variously alleging that the new definition violates the Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the immigration laws themselves. These plaintiffs have urged courts to enjoin the rules enforcement not only as it applies to them, or even to some definable group having something to do with their claimed injury, but as it applies to anyone. These efforts have met with mixed results. The Northern District of California ordered the government not to enforce the new rule within a hodge-podge of jurisdictionsCalifornia, Oregon, Maine, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. The Eastern District of Washington entered a similar order, but went much farther geographically, enjoining the government from enforcing its rule globally. But both of those orders were soon stayed by the Ninth Circuit which, in a 59-page opinion, determined the government was likely to succeed on the merits. Meanwhile, across the country, the District of Maryland entered its own universal injunction, only to have that one stayed by the Fourth Circuit. And while all these developments were unfolding on the coasts, the Northern District of Illinois was busy fashioning its own injunction, this one limited to enforcement within the State of Illinois. If all of this is confusing, dont worry, because none of it matters much at this point. Despite the fluid state of thingssome interim wins for the government over here, some preliminary relief for plaintiffs over therewe now have an injunction to rule them all: the one before us, in which a single judge in New York enjoined the government from applying the new definition to anyone, without regard to geography or participation in this or any other lawsuit. The Second Circuit declined to stay this particular universal injunction, and so now, after so many trips up and down and around the judicial map, the government brings its well-rehearsed arguments here. Today the Court (rightly) grants a stay, allowing the government to pursue (for now) its policy everywhere save Illinois. But, in light of all thats come before, it would be delusional to think that one stay today suffices to remedy the problem. The real problem here is the increasingly common practice of trial courts ordering relief that transcends the cases before them. Whether framed as injunctions of nationwide, universal, or cosmic scope, these orders share the same basic flawthey direct how the defendant must act toward persons who are not parties to the case. More at the link. This issue is under the radar, but it is critical for Americans to be liberated from the tyranny of shopped political judges. Justice Gorsuchs opinion today is a shot across the bow, but my guess is that before long, the Court as a whole will take decisive action to reform this abuse of the federal courts. Ali Al Asfoor, Governor of the Northern Governorate, has praised the support of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of HM the King, Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Women for the Agricultural Sector, and the contributions of Her Highness in enhancing the role of this sector in the Kingdom through the National Initiative for the Development of the Agricultural Sector. This came during the governors visit to the Center for Agricultural Incubators and the Farmers Market in Hoorat Aali, which opens its doors for visitors from Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 3 pm. The Governor praised the role of the Bahrain Center for the Development of Emerging Industries, the authority overseeing the organisation of work in the Center for Agricultural Incubators and the Farmers Market. He expressed his satisfaction for the distinguished Bahraini products produced by the agricultural incubators in Hoorat Aali and the farms, which reflect the extent of support enjoyed by this sector. We appreciate the role of the Bahraini farmer and his keenness to develop research in the field of agricultural diversification. The governor called for intensifying efforts to support such projects and promote them in tourism, and the importance of supporting the tourism sector and its role in attracting tourists to such projects that reflect the cultural facade of the Kingdom, thanking the administration for the good presentation and organisation. Former winners Hyderabad Hunters, led by world champion PV Sindhu, will face-off with North Eastern Warriors at home in the fifth Premier Badminton League (PBL) here on Wednesday. The Hunters have fond memories of lifting the trophy in the third season here and they will now look to begin their home campaign on a positive note. After four days of thrilling action in Lucknow, PBL caravan now moves to the final leg here where the GMC Balayogi SATS Indoor Stadium will be hosting the matches from January 29 to February 9. With the semi-finals and the final too scheduled to be held in the city, it will be a treat for the badminton-loving fans of the City of Pearls. The Hyderabad leg is set to witness 15 exciting ties on 12 days, including double headers on three days. With each of the seven teams playing, competition will be at its peak as they vie for the trophy. It will be a challenge for all the teams to topple the high-flying Chennai Superstarz who have looked solid in every department. The Chennai franchise has remained unbeaten in three outings and leads the standings with 13 points. Thailand Open men's doubles champion Satwiksairaj Rankireddy has entertained the crowd with not just his flurry of smashes but with his dancing skills as well and he is in no mood to stop any time soon. "I am thoroughly enjoying my time with the Chennai team. Beating the last two years' champions has elevated our confidence level and we are not going to settle for anything less than the title," said Rankireddy. In a blockbuster encounter between the top two teams, Chennai will be put to a stern test by Pune 7 Aces who have been sensational throughout the Lucknow leg, notching up a flawless 2-0 record. In the first of the double headers on January 30, Satwik could potentially meet his regular doubles partner, Chirag Shetty who has been phenomenal in his partnership with world champion Hendra Setiawan. "It has been a very good start for Pune 7 Aces. Our doubles combinations have worked out very well and singles too has fetched us wins. The Lucknow leg has boosted our confidence and we hope to carry on with the same momentum in Hyderabad," said Chirag Shetty of Pune 7 Aces. In the other match of the day, former runners-up Mumbai Rockets will have a tough task against the Guwahati-based franchise. Defending champions Bengaluru Raptors, who are currently No. 3 in the points table, will take the court on January 31 in a much-awaited clash that will pit World No. 6 Sindhu against the World No. 2 Tai Tzu Ying. With two more double headers scheduled on February 1 and February 4, the league will move into the knockouts from February 7. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tripathy, who had literally raised a banner of revolt by voting for a Bill moved by the treasuring bench in the state Assembly around three months ago, sparked unease in BJP by opposing CAA. Bhopal: Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Maihar in Madhya Pradesh Narayan Tripathy on Tuesday came out openly against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), causing a ripple in his party. Tripathy, who had literally raised a banner of revolt by voting for a Bill moved by the treasuring bench in the state Assembly around three months ago, sparked unease in BJP by opposing CAA. CAA is a divisive law. It is a threat to unity and integrity of India. Our Constitution makers wanted India to be secular, but CAA goes against the spirit of the Constitution. We now have to decide if we should honour our constitution or tear it apart against the backdrop of passage of CAA in the parliament. CAA has caused distrust among different communities. Muslims in villages who earlier used to attend Hindu functions are now turning their faces away, Tripathy told reporters. A video showing him making the statement has gone viral in social media, causing huge embarrassment to the BJP. However, the BJP sought to play down the issue. Tripathy is in BJP and will remain in BJP. He may seek clarification from the party leadership if he has any doubt on CAA, BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal told this newspaper. : Seven people have been arrested in Khammam district in connection with the alleged abduction and rape of a tribal woman, police said on Tuesday. The accused, all aged between 24-26, were rounded up on Monday. The seven had planned the gang-rape, the police said. Accordingly, on the night of January 24, two of them went to the 36-year-old woman's house, took her on a motorcycle to a cotton field near Raghunadhapalem village, where the five other accused were present, Khammam Commissioner of Police Tafseer Iqubal told reporters. Three of the accused raped the woman and when the fourth was about to commit the crime, the gang heard a patrol vehicle approaching and fled, the senior police official said. A complaint was filed by the woman on January 25 based on which a case was registered under sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 363 (kidnapping) and gangrape under section 376(D) of the IPC. The case would be tried in a fast-track court, the Commissioner added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) His tweet came in response to a news which says an auto driver was challaned for Rs 10,000 for writing "I Love Kejriwal" on his auto. New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused the BJP of taking "revenge" from the poor in the city and urged the saffron party to stop such actions. Responding to the news, Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi: "BJP is using its police for wrong challans of poor auto drivers. The only mistake of the auto driver was that he had written "I love kejriwal". Such maliciousness against the poor is not right. I appeal to the BJP to stop taking revenge from the poor." The 'I Love Kejriwal' campaign was started by the auto drivers in Delhi. According to AAP, they were writing 'I love Kejriwal' on the autos "to express their allegiance for the chief minister". nks/skp/ The dock is nothing more than a pile of charred rubble stretching more than 100 yards into Roseberry Creek. It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon, quiet and peaceful not far from the main channel of the Tennessee River. The agony was elsewhere. But the offers of help for those affected by the giant fire early Monday morning were everywhere. "Long after this is no longer news, there are still people who are going to be going through that long and hard process of recovery," said Khris Anderson, executive director of the American Red Cross in north Alabama. Khris Anderson, executive director of American Red Cross in north Alabama, discusses on Jan. 28, 2020, the deadly boat fire in Scottsboro. At KC's Bar-B-Q that overlooked the dock that burned at Jackson County Park, co-owner Jennifer Sanders said their neighbors in Scottsboro both individuals and businesses have reached out to help. Sanders said they got the call about 2 a.m. Monday about the fire, opened the restaurant soon after and have been provided food, beverages, a warm place to gather and whatever else they can to whoever may need it whether its first responders or fire victims. "We've just been really impressed with the community and the helped they've wanted to give," she said. "It's amazing to see how close we are as a community." Four children were among the eight people that officials confirmed died in the fire, Jackson County Coroner John Jordan confirmed. The names of those who died have not been released. Anderson said the Red Cross arrived at the park on Monday and has been meeting with those who lost everything in the fire. "They woke up yesterday and everything they owned was lost from their car keys to their clothes, their shoes, their driver's license, everything," she said. "And you add to that, the loss of loved ones. Really, this is an especially hard, tragic event that has happened. "Single-family fires are horrible in every single case. But when you see one that has this much fatality involved, it's especially sad. And the families are dealing with that grief. It's a process." The Red Cross is bringing in trained mental health and spiritual counselors to assist the fire victims, Anderson said. Those services are available for first responders, too. Anderson said that Red Cross is always looking for volunteers. Sanders said the restaurant at the park was open to any donations even as the park itself is closed to keep onlookers away and clear the way for recovery teams. Several boxes of doughnuts were dropped off Tuesday morning for first responders and recovery workers. "If anybody wants to bring anything," she said, "they are more than welcome to do so." AL.com news partner WHNT-Channel 19 said that First National Bank in Scottsboro has set up a recovery fund to help victims and donations can be made to the banks Jackson County Park Disaster Relief Fund. Federal prosecutors have charged Charles Lieber, chair of the Harvard University chemistry department, with lying about funds he obtained through a Chinese government recruitment program. Why it matters: Lieber's arrest marks one of the highest-profile cases yet in a sweeping U.S. government investigation of undisclosed ties between U.S. research institutions and China. Details: A celebrated scientist in the field of nanoscale electronics, Lieber is accused of making false statements to investigators in 2018 and 2019. Beginning in 2011, Lieber served as a "strategic scientist" at Wuhan University of Technology, according to a Justice Department press release on Jan. 28. From around 20122017, Lieber also allegedly participated in China's Thousand Talents program, a Chinese government program aimed at recruiting foreign experts in order to strengthen China's own research institutions. As the recipient of millions of dollars of Defense Department funding, Lieber was required by law to disclose foreign funding or conflicts of interest. But Lieber allegedly failed to do so. By the numbers: The Chinese university that Lieber partnered with allegedly paid him a monthly salary of $50,000 and as much as $158,000 per year for living expenses. He also received more than $1.5 million to build a lab in China. The big picture: The FBI is seeking to crack down on the rampant theft of scientific and biomedical research perpetrated by people with ties to a foreign government or entity. A recent report from the JASON program at MITRE Corp, which manages research on behalf of several U.S. government agencies, stated that foreign interference in and theft of U.S. research "represents a threat to our fundamental research enterprise and, in the longer run, our economic security and national security." But another concern, according to the report, is the potential for overreaction that might inhibit scientific collaboration. According to the report: "The benefits of openness in research and of the inclusion of talented foreign researchers dictate against measures that would wall off particular areas of fundamental research." Go deeper: FBI spied on Chinese students and scientists, new book reveals WASHINGTON Southeast Texas could soon be home to just the second National Historic Trail in the U.S. honoring African American history, thanks to an unlikely political partnership in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump on Monday night signed into law a bill authored by U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn a Houston Democrat, and a Texas Republican commissioning a federal study for a 51-mile Emancipation Trail between Galveston and Houston. Its a necessary first step toward establishing the national landmark, which commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Galveston. Houstons Naomi Mitchell Carrier tried hard not to break down as she explained what it could mean for telling the full history of Texas. Carrier has spent decades researching the history of the trail, including testifying before Congress last year. She said there were 300,000 men and women who helped build Texass wealth through slavery, and they have long been left in the shadows of history. Now Texas and the nation are on the cusp of finally giving them a voice, she said. Its about time we gave the same recognition for the contributions of African Americans to the economy of Texas, said Carrier, who is the founder and executive director of The Texas Center for African American Living History. There is so much history that the people need to know. For subscribers: Galveston unveils long-awaited Juneteenth marker The trail would begin at the former Osterman Building in Galveston, where Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 on June 19, 1865, declaring "all slaves free." President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years earlier, but slaves in Texas were not freed until the Union Army arrived to enforce it. The trail would extend along Texas Highway 3 and Interstate 45 to Freedmens Town and Emancipation Park in Houston. Freedmens Town was a center of opportunity for freed people in the years after Grangers order, home to more than 400 African-American businesses by 1915. By 1920, a third of Houstons population lived there. I feel like doing a dance, Rep. Jackson Lee said after Trump signed the bill. She said the fact that there has been such limited recognition of enslaved African Americans in the National Parks shows the legislation has been a long time coming. It is important to ensure that the public trust to preserve our nations history is also a commitment to preserving all of its history, including that which reflects both its best and worst moments, she said. For subscribers: 92-year-old woman brings Juneteenth campaign full circle to Galveston Even in partisan times, Jackson Lee said the legislation is evidence that Republicans and Democrats can come together to do whats important for the community. She praised Cornyn and U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Friendswood, for their work in helping the bill pass and getting it signed by the president. This law honors those Texas families who traveled from Galveston to Houston to share the monumental news that all slaves had been freed, Cornyn said in a statement. It would be just the second such trail in the U.S. focused on African American history, Jackson Lee said. The other is a 54-mile trek between Selma and Montgomery, Ala. The study is just the first step toward establishing the trail, however. Congress will have to vote again after the study is complete on whether to move forward with the project. Jackson Lee said her mission is to get money secured in the appropriations process this year to keep the project moving forward. Carrier said when people can see the full history of slavery and its aftermath, it has the power to move the nation forward. This is an opportunity to educate, to heal and to resurrect, Carrier said. No Indian student found to be affected by this virus. Parents need not worry: foreign minister Jaishankar People wearing face masks walk down a deserted street in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. China's death toll from a new viral disease that is causing mounting global concern rose by 25 to at least 106 on Tuesday. (AP) AHMEDABAD/VADODARA/NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said the central government is planning to send a plane to Wuhan in China to evacuate Indians stuck due to the coronavirus (nCoV ) outbreak there. He also said no student from India has been found to be affected by the virus till date. "The Indian embassy is in constant touch with the Chinese government. To evacuate students and other Indians from Wuhan, we are planning to send a plane there. Our efforts are on to bring them back. It will take some days. I urge people to trust the government on this," Jaishankar told reporters on his arrival at the Vadodara airport. "No Indian student has been found to be affected by this virus. Parents need not worry about their children," he said. The spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Raveesh Kumar tweeted, "Our @EOIBeijing is working out the logistics & is in touch with the Chinese govt. authorities & our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates." Sources told PTI that flag carrier Air India has kept one of its 423-seater jumbo planes ready in Mumbai for the evacuation of Indian citizens from Wuhan in China. They said the airline is awaiting necessary approvals from the ministries of external affairs and health to operate the special flight. The health ministry's nod is required because the operating crew has to fly to a virus outbreak territory. Some 250 Indians, mostly students, are to be evacuated from Wuhan. At a meeting of top secretaries called by the cabinet secretary on Monday, the government decided to be prepared for possible evacuation of Indian nationals in Wuhan. Accordingly, Ministry of External Affairs will make a request to the Chinese authorities for evacuation of Indian nationals, mostly students, stuck in Wuhan city. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Health will make arrangements for transport and quarantine facilities respectively, an official release said on Monday. Desperation in Wuhan Thousands of people from several nationalities are trapped in Wuhan and the surrounding provinces, which are under lockdown to stop the spread of the contagion. "It's deeply stressful," Joseph Pacey, a 31-year-old Briton who teaches English in Wuhan, told AFP. "The virus is scary, but the biggest fear for me is that this thing will go on for months, and it will get harder and harder to get supplies, and to live." The family of a man who died after a one-punch assault by a nightclub doorman have told a court their lives were "ripped apart" by the attack. After a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last November, Jonathan Dargan (49) was found guilty of killing Patrick Mullally (56) by knocking him to the ground with a single punch. Mr Mullally and another man, Jason Cunningham, had approached Dargan on the Harold's Cross Road at around 4am on March 6, 2016, to intervene in a row he was having with his girlfriend. The two men and others had been out celebrating Mr Mullally's retirement when they walked up to Dargan. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Dargan threw a number of powerful punches at the men. Mr Mullally put his hands up to shield himself, but at least one punch connected with him, shattering his jaw and cheekbone and knocking him to the ground. He suffered a subdural haemorrhage and brain trauma due to a blunt trauma to the face and head and died the next day. The defendant, a Taekwondo instructor who worked as a doorman at Lillie's Bordello nightclub for two decades, admitted "lashing out" with a punch. Vincent Heneghan, defending, told Judge Pauline Codd his client accepted the jury verdict, and he had indicated this to gardai in court on the day it was delivered. Dargan, of Belfry Manor, Citywest, denied the unlawful killing of Mr Mullally. He also denied assault causing harm to Mr Cunningham and to Mr Mullally's niece, Lauren Mullally, during the same incident. Insanity Judge Codd adjourned the case to tomorrow for sentencing after saying she needed time to read reports handed into court. Dargan has no previous convictions, and the court heard his mother was killed by a neighbour a few years earlier. The killer was later found not guilty by reason of insanity. Mr Heneghan said his client was not a person who drank regularly, but on the night he was "very intoxicated". Counsel said alcohol was not an excuse or a defence, but it was a factor in the events. Reading from her own victim impact statement, Mr Mullaly's widow Joan Shields repeatedly broke down in tears as she described the effects of the "brutal" killing. She said taking their young daughter to hospital to see her father one last time was the hardest thing she had had to do. She described having to wait more than three years for the case to come to trial and, when it did, her daughter asked: "Why is there a trial? Did he not admit he hit Daddy?" Mr Mullally's niece Courtney Mullally said of her uncle: "He was killed trying to do the chivalrous thing. One person ripped several lives apart with his bare hands." Mr Heneghan handed in character references from family and employers for Dargan. He said his client accepted responsibility for the death, but had not intended to kill him. Last November, the jury took four hours to return a unanimous guilty verdict on the manslaughter charge. It returned a majority verdict on the charge of assaulting Mr Cunningham. A half-hour before a Bernie Sanders rally on Saturday night in Iowa, a line snaked around the nearly 900-seat Ames City Auditorium, but no one else was being let in: The theater was full. Inside, the Grammy-winning indie rock band Portugal. The Man was playing. Rows of people were assembled on risers behind the musicians, waving Bernie signs. Sanders fans, most of them young, crowded the aisles; The Iowa State Daily reported that 1,400 people had crammed into the auditorium, with another 400 in an overflow room. The air buzzed with the intoxicating collective energy unique to social movements on the rise. Sanders has a reputation for focusing on class to the exclusion of all else; as David Frum put it in The Atlantic, Left but not woke is the Bernie Sanders brand. On the ground in Iowa, however, it is not the brand of his campaign. Sanders isnt just running the most economically left campaign; hes running the most unapologetically left campaign, period. And its surging, with Sanders leading in recent polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Its no longer far-fetched to think that he could be the Democratic nominee. When the band was done, three Indigenous women took the stage to pay respects to the Native Americans forced off the land that became Iowa. The filmmaker Michael Moore came on and described Donald Trump as the endpoint of a country founded on genocide and built on the backs of slaves. (The next day, at a campaign stop in Perry, Moore called womens underrepresentation in Congress a form of gender apartheid.) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke, saying, Im here because Senator Sanders has actually committed to breaking up ICE. Home Minister Amit Shah The Centre's intention is to maintain a "better coordination" with all states, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday while addressing the Central Zonal Council (CZC) meeting here in Chhattisgarh. Shah chaired the 22nd meeting of the CZC, a forum for the Centre and states to exchange ideas on multiple issues including security and infrastructure, at Nava Raipur. "The Centre intends to maintain a better coordination with all the states," Shah said in his address. He also said that the Centre will extend support to states on all the fronts for their betterment. The issue of cooperative federalism is currently debated in certain quarters in the context of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that several issues have led to confrontation between the Centre and states, though he avoided any specific mention. He said such confrontation not only causes harm to the country but also hampers its smooth functioning. Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are attend the meeting while Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel is present as the vice chairman. The regional councils of states were formed for maintaining better coordination and address various issues between the Centre and states, and of the states among themselves. Shah said the Centre has made efforts to hold such meetings regularly, "which would yield better results". "The chief ministers of the four states have put forth several issues. There are a lot of expectations in view of the lack of resources. In democracy, even people have lots of expectations from the elected representatives. However, it is not possible to meet the expectations every time," the Home Minister said. However, the Centre is intended to maintain a better coordination with all the states and stand by them in their problems "be it budgetary support, on development issue and law and order situation," he said. Besides the CMs, two ministers from each of the participating states, their chief secretaries, and senior officials are attending the meeting. According to an official, the CZC takes up the issues involving the Centre and the member states falling under respective zones. The zonal councils thus provide a forum for resolving disputes and irritants between the Centre and states, he added. A broad range of issues ranging from security and infrastructure to forests and environment are generally discussed at these meetings. Shah is set to address a meeting of BJP workers and intellectuals here at the Kushabhau Thakre Parisar, the state office of the BJP, in late afternoon. FOX LAKE, Wis. On a slightly overcast day last month, a La Crosse man pulled a sled of fishing equipment across frozen Fox Lake in search of the perfect spot. Jackson Baumgart, originally from Florence, Wis., said Dec. 22 was the most important fishing trip of his life, and he had planned it down to the very last detail. After drilling holes in the ice and putting bait on the line, he anxiously waited inside a portable shelter. He wasnt looking to catch pike or walleye, he had something else entirely in mind. Baumgart was preparing to ask his girlfriend, Rachel Lee, also of La Crosse to marry him. I guess from the moment that I realized I wanted to marry Rachel I wanted to do something very unique to propose, he said. Im a very big fisherman, and Rachel loves to go with me. We spend a lot of time outside on the water, doing things outdoors, so I thought it was the perfect fit. Lee is a native of Fall River. The couple, who both teach in the La Crosse area, met as students at UW-La Crosse and were in the Fox Lake area for the holidays. Baumgart told Lee she could sleep in as he and her cousin Logan Wright would head out really early to find a good location to set up camp. It was their first time ice fishing on Fox Lake. Using a Beaver Dam Original Tip-Up, Baumgart lowered a bottle of champagne into a hole before Lee arrived. He said the tip-up holds special meaning as it belonged to Doug Lee, Rachels dad who died in 2016 as the result of a traffic accident. Baumgart said the thought of possibly putting an engagement ring on the line made him uneasy. I did not want some big pike to swim by and be like, Thats a shiny minnow, Im going to try that, he said. Lee, her brother Tyler and his girlfriend arrived in Fox Lake later that morning. Wright was on the ice ready to film the action about to take place. Lee said she was not suspicious when she saw cameras because Baumgart and Wright are active outdoorsmen who regularly film for a YouTube channel. As she sat inside the shelter with Baumgart, Lee heard the call tip-up and went to check for a fish on the line. Then Baumgart removed his outerwear to reveal a suit and bowtie and quietly followed behind Lee. Because I do go ice fishing with them a lot and I get to pull the tip-ups a lot, too, I really had no idea what was going on, Lee said. She said she was completely shocked with what she found submerged in the water. She pulled up the bottle of perfectly chilled champagne and read the words Baumgart had written on it, Lets make this ofishial. Be my best catch ever. Turning around, she found Baumgart on one knee asking for her hand in marriage. He presented her with the diamond that her father had given to her mother, Carri. Calling it a very Wisconsinite proposal, Baumgart exclaimed to the camera, Went ice fishing today and caught myself a fiancee. Best catch of my entire life. The couple have set a wedding date of June, 26, 2021. Follow Kelly Simon on Twitter @KSchmidSimon or contact her at 920-356-6757. Love 33 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 2 Angry 7 Advertisement He revealed last week that Leonardo DiCaprio calls him 'Lover' as his nickname. And Brad Pitt and his buddy were reunited again at the Oscars Nomineee Luncheon in Hollywood on Monday. The 55-year-old star rocked an oversized grey suit while his 45-year-old side-kick kept things simple in a black and white combo. Scroll down for video Lunch with friends: Brad Pitt and best friend Leonardo DiCaprio reunited for the Oscars Nominee luncheon in Los Angeles on Monday Brad wore a white button-up shirt underneath his suit for the event. He completed the look with black patent leather shoes and styled his long hair swept back out of his face. And while most are very much aware of who Brad Pitt is, the actor was seen wearing a name tag. Hi, I'm Brad! And while most are very much aware of who Brad Pitt is, the actor was seen wearing a name tag when meeting with Cynthia Erivo Profile: 'Brad Pitt. Actor in a Supporting Role, Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood,' it read 'Brad Pitt. Actor in a Supporting Role, Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood,' it read. He wore his tag while greeting fellow nominee, Cynthia Erivo. The pair appeared very pleased to meet each other. While Brad wore a name tag, Leo tried to keep a low profile in a pair of dark shades. The Titanic actor kept his suit buttoned up and kept a poker face while walking the carpet. The duo's appearance comes after the ex-husband of Angelina Jolie revealed the pet name Leo had for him last week on the red carpet. '"Lover." He calls me "Lover".' Stylish: Brad wore a white button-up shirt underneath his suit for the event Leo, is that you? And while Brad wore a name tag, Leo tried to keep a low profile with a pair of dark shades Co-stars: Brad and Leo starred in Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood together Although, he opted not to share too much more about how the nickname came about. 'Its a bit confusing, but I roll with it,' he teased. Brad also gave his Once Upon A Time co-star a shout-out in his Golden Globes speech. 'I also have to thank my partner in crime, LDC,' he began. 'Before the Revenant, I used to watch year after year, his co-stars win awards and get up and thank him profusely and I now know why.' He continued: 'Hes an all star, hes a gent. I wouldnt be here without you, man.' The Oscar nominees posed for a group photograph at the luncheon H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media DANBURY A project that is expected to lessen congestion on White Street will be discussed at a forum Wednesday evening. The state is expected to cover the $2.65 million construction costs through a grant, while the city will cover roughly $270,000 to $300,00 in design, right-of-way acquisition and similar work, said Antonio Iadarola, public works director. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday (January 28) confirmed that India has started the process to prepare for the evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan City, which is located in Hubei Province of China. "We have begun the process to prepare for the evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China." tweeted MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. #CoronaVirusOutbreak Update We have begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China. (1/2) Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 28, 2020 Kumar also added that Indian Embassy in Beijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese authorities and Indians who are still in China. "Our @EOIBeijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese government authorities and our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates," Kumar noted. Our @EOIBeijing is working out the logistics & is in touch with the Chinese govt. authorities & our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates. (2/2) Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 28, 2020 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that Indian government is in contact with the Chinese government and efforts are being made to evacuate people, most of whom are students, from Wuhan city by sending a plane. Jaishankar assured that very soon all Indians will be evacuated from China. "Our Embassy is in contact with the Chinese government. We are trying to evacuate people, most of whom are students, from Wuhan city by sending a plane. Efforts are on, I can assure you that Govt of India is working on it and very soon some solution will be found," Jaishankar told ANI. Live TV Notably, no case of coronavirus infection has been detected in India so far but around 450 people have been kept under observation in the country, most of them in Kerala, following screening for possible exposure to the deadly virus. Some, who have returned from China in recent weeks, have approached medical authorities as a precautionary step. Till January 26, 29,707 passengers arriving in India in 137 flights have been screened for novel coronavirus infection symptoms and no case has so far been detected in India, PTI quoted an official saying. Meanwhile, Wuhan and 12 other cities have been completely sealed by the Chinese authorities to stop the virus from spreading. The death toll in China due to coronavirus has climbed to 106 with 4,515 confirmed cases. According to the World Health Organisation, the common symptoms of the virus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Top House Republican defense hawks warned Monday that Boris Johnson would risk a historic rupture in the United Kingdoms intelligence-sharing or trade relationships with the U.S. if he allows the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei a role in Britains super-fast 5G networks. But the White House offered no public sign of whether its prepared to unleash such harsh penalties on the United States closest ally even amid many expectations in London for Johnson to call President Donald Trumps bluff on Tuesday. Johnsons decision comes after a series of efforts by the U.S. to block the Chinese-owned company from gaining a foothold in 5G, amid warnings from national security leaders that Huaweis involvement could open the door for espionage. The Trump administration has described the issue as crucial to the West's struggle with Beijing for dominance of the technologies of the future, but has had only limited success in getting U.S. allies to go along. The latest warnings from Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Jim Banks of Indiana and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin echoed many months of similarly strong rhetoric from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is due in London on Wednesday. Theres reason to be skeptical of these threats from China hawks in Congress, as Trumps Pentagon and his Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, have said the U.S. should not punish those who are already doing business with Huawei, a global leader in telecom technology. The Trump administration's inconsistent response could allow Huawei to avoid repercussions if Johnson decides to work with the Chinese company, a person familiar with the companys thinking told POLITICO on Monday. A move by the United Kingdom to include Huawei equipment in its 5G networks could also give political cover for Canada, Germany and other countries to follow suit, the person said. The person acknowledged that such a decision could lead to more attacks from the Hill, "potentially even a congressional hearing. That wouldn't surprise me in the least." Story continues But the U.K. should not underestimate the risks of refusing to exclude Huawei, the three GOP lawmakers said. They said such a decision would be "short-sighted," harming the two nations' intelligence ties as well as prospects for a U.S. trade deal with the U.K. after it leave the European Union. The U.K. is one of the so-called Five Eyes countries, along with the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand an alliance whose members share many of their most sensitive intelligence secrets in an attempt to head off emerging threats. Our relationship with the U.K. right now is among our very closest, if not the closest in the whole world," said Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican leader. "I think that if they make the decision that if theyre going to have Huawei in their 5G that we have to recalculate [and] reassess whether or not they can continue to be among the closest of our intel partners. "We have no choice, she added. Its our own security at risk. Cheney and Banks introduced legislation last week to halt intelligence-sharing with countries that permit Huawei to operate their 5G networks. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) offered a similar bill this month, saying the U.S. shouldn't be sharing valuable intelligence information with countries that allow an intelligence-gathering arm of the Chinese Communist Party to operate freely within their borders. Pompeo has sent similar messages during the past year, including a February 2019 interview with Fox Business in which he said any country that allows Huawei into its critical information systems would pay a price: We wont be able to share information with them, we wont be able to work alongside them. In some cases, theres risk we wont even be able to co-locate American resources, an American embassy or an American military outpost. Theres real risk, and we want to make sure they know not only the risk to their own people but their risk of being able to work alongside the United States in keeping the world safe, Pompeo added at the time. Pompeo upped the pressure on the British on Sunday, tweeting in support of a Conservative member of Parliament who wrote in a Daily Mail op-ed that Huawei's 5G sets us on a path that undermines our autonomy and the repercussions could be grave. But such warnings have largely been met with skepticism in Britain. Andrew Parker, the head of MI5, told the Financial Times he has no reason to think that the U.K.s intelligence-sharing relationship with the U.S. would suffer if Britain adopted Huawei technology in its 5G network, as POLITICO Europe noted on Monday. And Trumps own words have undermined the message at times, including a February 2019 tweet in which he appeared to cast doubt on the strategy of excluding Huawei. I want the United States to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies, he wrote. Just last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trumps own Defense Department has been opposing tougher Commerce Department restrictions on U.S. companies sales to Huawei, for fear that the loss of revenue would harm defense contractors ability to invest in research and development. Defense Secretary Mark Esper acknowledged as much in a D.C. appearance on Friday, contending that we also have to be conscious of sustaining those companies, supply chains and those innovators. Thats the balance we have to strike. At the same time, Esper warned against the myriad threats China poses to U.S. technology and said the military regards Beijing as the United States top strategic challenge. Espers comments drew a sharp blowback Monday from Cotton, who joined Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ben Sasse of Nebraska in requesting a briefing on the Pentagons rationale for opposing the restrictions. "It's bad enough when capitalists are willing to sell the rope that will be used to hang us, but worse still when our military acts as their lobbyist," Cotton said. Besides cutting off intelligence-sharing, Trump has another potentially huge piece of leverage over Johnson: With the U.K. poised to leave the European Union, London needs to negotiate a new trade agreement soon with its biggest trading partner, the United States. And Trump could simply refuse to make a deal. However, Mnuchin has said repeatedly in recent days that the administration is interested in reaching an agreement with the U.K. this year. He has given no indication that the Huawei issue is a potential impediment. Trump could also wield his broad powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to threaten tariffs on U.K. exports, in the same way he used the law last year to threaten escalating tariffs on Mexican goods because of illegal immigration. But slapping tariffs on British goods would not be without pain for the United States: Two-way goods trade between the United States and the U.K. totaled about $127 billion in 2018, with the United States enjoying a slight surplus of about $5.5 billion. The United Kingdom is also the top source of foreign investment in the United States, helping to support an estimated 1.2 million jobs, according to the Commerce Department. Huawei has denied that it represents an espionage threat or is beholden to Chinas communist government. It has also staked out a crucial role in telecommunications networks throughout the West, including in much of the U.S. offering both a supply of relatively inexpensive equipment as well as a source of revenue to chipmakers such as Intel. That has helped create obstacles for the Trump administrations anti-Huawei crusade, both at home and abroad. In Europe, the Czech Republic agreed in December 2018 to label Huawei a national security threat, while Denmark chose the Swedish firm Ericsson over Huawei for a nationwide 5G contract. Both countries are members of NATO. Australia and New Zealand also banned Huawei from their 5G networks in 2018, and Japan effectively banned the company from receiving government contracts in 2018, according to news reports at the time though New Zealands government later hedged on whether the door to Huawei was forever shut. A move by the United Kingdom to rebuff Trump could open the floodgates to other countries feeling free to follow suit, the person familiar with Huaweis thinking said. The person added that its unusual to see the United States being so unpersuasive with its own allies. This just seems so unprecedented and so uncharacteristic of U.S. diplomacy and U.S. trade policy, the person said. I think it's largely been a flop. At home, meanwhile, Congress passed a government-wide ban on procuring equipment and services from Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese firms in 2018 as part of broader defense legislation. That doesnt prevent private telecom companies from using Huaweis equipment, however. And some of those companies have said they would need government assistance to rip out and replace all their Huawei-designed gear a bill that could come to as much as $2 billion. Even if Huawei is a cheaper option now, the GOP lawmakers argued Monday, adopting the Chinese technology in 5G networks will cost countries in the long run. And they noted that both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have called for clamping down on Chinese telecom firms. I sense that, in my three years in Congress, the Huawei discussion is as hot of a topic on Capitol Hill as its ever been, with a number of my colleagues taking a growing interest in the concerns that we all share, Banks said. EDWARDSVILLE Experimental trio of musicians and performance artists Chaos Magick will perform its piano-centered premiere at Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles Dunham Hall Theater. Chaos Magick, spearheaded by pianist Angela Kim, this performance will be a one-of-a-kind concert involving all of the senses. The performance includes classic repertoire, electronic sound, graphic design, animation and dance. Created by artists of different genres from across the country Michael Robert Boswell, a graphic designer, and Peter John Kearney, a visual/motion designer, of Brooklyn, New York, and Kim, an SIUE assistant professor. Chaos Magick will spotlight SIUE assistant professor of piano Angela Kim in an evocative, multi-media experience, featuring Boswell and Kearney. This performance also will incorporate the work of composer Dan Van Hassel and choreographer Kevin Hockenberry, an assistant professor in SIUEs Department of Theater and Dance. Chaos Magick starts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, at Dunham Hall Theater. Chaos Magick will take the conventional concert experience to a different level. Supplemental to the core trio are modern art and its interpretation. The group takes live piano performance and integrates it with design, animation, electronic sound and dance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is very good to their faculty, actively promotes scholarly work of their professors and that is why we chose to start here, Kim said. Kims road to Chaos started in Seoul, South Korea. I knew I wanted to be a pianist all along, she said. I made a serious decision to pursue it when I was five, she recalled. More Information If you go: What: Premiere of Chaos Magick, featuring pianist Angela Kim in a concert that involves all of the senses When: 7:30 p.m., Thursday Where: Dunham Hall Theater, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Info: Ticket information and more at www.siue.edu/arts-and-issues/current-season/ See More Collapse Kim started competing at 7 years old and won the Soong-Eui Competition at 9 years old. She came to the United States in high school to study with one of Koreas most recognized pianist and her pedagogue, Wha Kyung Byun, of Boston, who is a longtime faculty member of the New England Conservatory. Kim received the prestigious Henry Cobos Endowed Piano Prize for demonstrating excellence in piano performance at the Eastman School of Music in New York. In 2017, she received the Emerging Artist Award from the St. Botolph Club Foundation in Boston and the Free For All Concert Fund from the Boston Foundation, a fund that brings live classical performances to underprivileged communities in the greater Boston area. Also in 2017, Kim accepted her SIUE position. I have never lived in the Midwest before. It has been unique and great, she said. Thats the beauty of theUnited States. Korea is such a small country, but the U.S.A. is huge and every area has its own culture. Even through the years of practicing classical piano up to 10 hours a day, Kim had an interest in where classical music could go collaborating with experimental groups and artists, as well as performing new music. I am classical-trained, of course, but, I think, it is every musicians responsibility to promote and understand what is happening now with music, Kim said. I listen to all sorts of music, she noted. It is important to me and I like to bring it to my performance. It creates a better musical world for everyone. The collaboration that creates Chaos Magick pushes classical music into a modern realm. It started when Michael Boswell sent me a video with no sound and I instantly thought of Mozart, Kim recalled. For that video, she recorded four tracks of piano, including a Mozart piece, but also she incorporated improvisation, using a prepared piano. American composer John Cage used extensively prepared piano, when a pianos sound is altered by placing objects on or between the strings. The graphics result in projected modern visuals of computerized 3D images, such as pyramids and fire, accompanied by traditional Mozart compositions, interrupted by Kims percussive improvisation from a prepared piano for a full sensory experience. We want to bring people to classical concerts who do not traditionally come, Kim said. We are looking at venues that are different than the usual, like, immersive art spaces and studios and Dunham Hall in Edwardsville is the perfect place to start. For more information and ticket information, visit www.siue.edu/arts-and-issues/current-season/ . Midrar Ali, in a photo handed out by his family. (PA Images) Doctors can remove life support for a brain-damaged baby following a legal battle, a judge has ruled. Four-month-old Midrar Ali was seriously injured when the umbilical cord came out ahead of his birth and he was starved of oxygen. St Marys Hospital in Manchester has argued Midrar is brain dead and said his ventilation should be stopped for a dignified death, while his parents wanted treatment to continue and said he had shown signs of life. High Court judge Mrs Justice Lieven has ruled in favour of the hospital. Handing down judgment on Tuesday morning, she said the issue she had to decide was whether Midrar is dead, according to death by neurological criteria (DNC) as set out in clinical guidance. She said: Sadly, I have no doubt that Midrar is brain stem dead and meets the DNC criteria. The medical evidence is both clear and consistent. Those tests were entirely supported by other evidence that there was no electrical activity in the brain and the stem structure was fundamentally undermined which she said was undoubtedly irreversible. It is perfectly understandable that the parents should cling to hope by pointing to Midrars movements, including chest movements, she said. Karwan (left) and Shokhan, the parents of Midrar Ali, arrive ahead of a hearing at The Family Court in Preston. (PA Images) However, all four consultants who gave evidence said there was an obvious and well-known reason for these movements, namely spinal cord reflexes. She said Midrar has received expert care from hospital staff in the most difficult of condition and this appeared to be why his heart and organs still functioned. The hospitals trust argued in court last week that three tests, including one carried out independently, showed Midrar has brain stem death - which they argued means the child is dead. It said that to keep him under treatment would be undignified and applied to the Family Division of the High Court to have a judge make a ruling on whether they can end his life support. But Midrars father, Karwan Ali, 35, a biomedical scientist, told the hearing in Manchester that he and and his wife Shokhan Namiq, 28, had felt pressured by the hospital to end his support. Story continues He claimed a right to defend his son, and said: I am holding a rope of hope that burns in my hand every time I see Midrar, but why do the hospital and consultants keep taking the hope from us? He added: One of the consultants said there is only one door that Midrar can get out. It meant there was no choice but to take the ventilator off and if Midrar cannot open the door himself then they will help him open the door. We were saying from the beginning we had a feeling that Midrar is not dead. In fact if Midrar is dead then where is the death certificate? Shokhan Ali, the mother of Midrar Ali, arrives ahead of a hearing at The Family Court in Preston. (PA Images) I kept showing them signs of life. As a biologist I have never known a dead body, a dead person, who could live beyond four months. Circulation and heart regulation and breathing these three are controlled by the brain stem. If I was not a scientist, Midrar would have been dead or, I am sorry to say, killed in the first few days of his life, but I kept researching what was going on and I knew what they were doing was not correct. Midrar opened his eyes after being circumcised earlier this month, but the hospital said this was an involuntary nerve reaction as his brain cannot send signals to his body. Redness on Midrars body and neck, as well as swelling, were all involuntary reactions, the hospital argued, and not triggered by the brain - but Mr Ali insisted they were, adding that the boys heart rate had increased when he and his wife were near him. He said: Why? The reason is the connection between two close people, a mother and a baby. A senior consultant at the hospital told the court last week that there were a number of cases where people had ongoing heartbeat several weeks and months after fitting the criteria of brain stem death. The consultant said Midrars body was continuing to grow but pointed out that his head was getting smaller. Speaking on Tuesday, Ms Justice Lieven said: He and the mothers love and commitment to Midrar cannot be in any doubt. However, his desire to cling on to any hope does appear to have led him to interpret material in the way he wanted rather than at times listening to the evidence. She described the case as tragic and added that one can only have the greatest sympathy for what the parents are going through. Lets face it, learning math for many children can be akin to watching paint dry. The old paradigm of a math teacher standing at a blackboard doling out algebraic formulas and quadratic equations just hasnt worked for many students. Thats why its so encouraging the state Public Education Department is including a video-based, digitally animated math program on its official list of instructional materials to teach the states fifth- to eighth-graders core math standards. And the 21st century math program was developed right here in New Mexico. MidSchoolMath, launched by a Taos company in 2009, aims to replace traditional, text-based math lessons with computer games and videos. The program strives to make math relevant, and even fun, drawing kids into colorful, fantasy adventures where they use math to solve problems. MidSchoolMath LLC co-founder and CEO Scott Laidlaw told the Journals Kevin Robinson-Avila for a Jan. 24 story that his company has developed 139 different simulations that address the states 136 core math standards for middle schoolers, with different sets of questions and challenges posed to students based on grade levels. Dozens of scenarios were filmed with actors in New Mexico, such as an avalanche rescue scenario in Taos, a treasure hunt at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, and an Old West ranch outside Santa Fe complete with live mules and wagons. One game takes place in the 1600s on a sea vessel. Students learn algebra while sailing the open seas, trading spices and contending with pirates. Another game allows students to virtually ride a spaceship to Mars. In a state where just 20% of our K-12 students can do grade level math, and in the age of social media video clips and selfies, interactive storytelling in virtual worlds is a promising development. The innovative program is already being used in about 50 schools in 17 states, reaching nearly 40,000 middle school students. Central Consolidated Schools in the Four Corners Area and Turquoise Trail Charter School in Santa Fe use it. But its not just about making math popular or fun its about ensuring students grasp the concepts needed to advance in academics and ultimately the workplace. To that end, Laidlaw says a three-year National Science Foundation-funded assessment of MidSchoolMaths effectiveness showed impressive results in student learning and retention in randomized control trials involving more than 1,100 students, the curriculum earned the top scores in student achievement gains and engagement. Turquoise Trail math teacher Kristin Bruner says MidSchoolMath makes math much less intimidating. Other teachers have reported significant improvement in student math performance, adding students remember a lot more because theyre no longer memorizing formulas. Instead, they remember a story line with associated math. MidSchoolMaths inclusion on PEDs instructional materials list could mean many more school districts will adopt the program. School districts across the state should check it out and assess its effectiveness. Not only could it make math a whole lot more fun and meaningful for N.M. middle schoolers it could help them learn the math skills they need for the next grade, and stage, in life. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 05:10:41|Editor: zh Video Player Close People watch a Chinese New Year concert performed by China's Heilongjiang Art Troupe at Vilnius Town Hall in the Old Town of Vilnius, Lithuania, Jan. 28, 2020. Folk musicians of Heilongjiang Art Troupe from China staged a concert in Lithuanian capital Tuesday night to celebrate Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival. (Xinhua/Guo Mingfang) VILNIUS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Folk musicians of Heilongjiang Art Troupe from China staged a concert in Lithuanian capital Tuesday night to celebrate Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival. Held at Vilnius Town Hall in the Old Town, the concert attracted an audience of more than 300, including First Deputy Chancellor Deividas Matulionis and head of the Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with China Kestutis Glaveckas. In his opening speech, Chinese Ambassador to Lithuania Shen Zhifei talked about China's current fight against the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus, saying "We hope that the international community has full confidence in the firm determination and competent ability of the Chinese government and people in dealing with the epidemic." He also expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Lithuanian government and people as well as the international community for their sympathy, understanding and support towards the Chinese people. With the show in Vilnius as the last stop, the troupe kicked off its tour on Jan. 24 with six performances in Latvia and one in Lithuania. By Trend Crisis is observed in the Council of Europe, head of the parliamentary committee on international and interparliamentary relations, head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Samad Seyidov said. Seyidov made the remark during the PACE winter session in Strasbourg, France, Trend reports. It is necessary to think about the future of this organization, head of the Azerbaijani delegation said. This morning, for the first time, I have found out that the authority of the delegations of eight countries was disputed, Seyidov said. This is a vivid example that we are now in crisis. The main reason is that member states lack mutual respect, mutual understanding. A colleague from Armenia spoke about my country in an absolutely unacceptable way, head of the Azerbaijani delegation added. Such a statement made by a representative of the country that occupied the territory of other country that committed massacres, killed children, women, is absolutely unacceptable." Seyidov urged to refrain from such rhetoric. Speaking about the report on Azerbaijan, which was presented at the session, Seyidov stressed that the author of the report expressed her opinion in an absolutely unacceptable way for the organization. If you are unable to respect others, the crisis will only intensify, Seyidov added. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to refrain from such behavior. We must think about the future of the organization. We should abandon such rhetoric and only this way we will be able to ensure the future of PACE. A winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) kicked off on Jan. 27 and will last till Jan. 31. Azerbaijani delegation led by the head of the permanent delegation of the Azerbaijani parliament in PACE, chairman of the parliamentary committee on international relations and interparliamentary ties Samad Seyidov are taking part in the session. The commission included MPs Sevinj Fataliyeva, Sahiba Gafarova, Rafael Huseynov, Asim Mollazade, Sabir Hajiyev and Nagif Hamzayev. During the session, reports of the Bureau and the Standing Committee on the work done are being heard, the results of the parliamentary elections in Belarus, the activities of democratic institutions in Poland, the safety of journalists in Europe, media freedom and other issues are being discussed. Azerbaijani MPs are taking part in discussions and expressing their opinions. As part of the session, with the organizational support of the Azerbaijani delegation, an event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy is planned to be held on Jan. 28. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A local court in Haryana on Monday sentenced a man to death for raping and killing the five-year-old daughter of his employer in 2018. Palwal additional sessions judge Karuna Sharma also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict, Virender, 23. Virender was held guilty under relevant IPC sections, including 302 (murder), 376 AB (deals with the punishment for raping under 12 years of age) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the complainants counsel Rajesh Singh Rawat said. His mother Kamla Devi, who helped him in the crime, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in this case. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on her, the counsel added. Virender worked at the victims house in Palwal district of the state. On May 31, 2018, he lured the girl and took her to his home where he raped her. When she cried for help, Virender brutally killed her. He, along with his mother, then hid the body in a wheat flour container. Rohingya Muslims work near their makeshift shelters at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia, in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar district, Aug. 31, 2018. Twelve Christian Rohingya refugees who claim they were attacked by Rohingya militants due to our faith are undergoing treatment for injuries in southeastern Bangladesh, one of the alleged victims and a Christian group said Monday. Bangladeshi police confirmed the violence but denied that the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) was involved. Four Christians and one Muslim were wounded in an ordinary law-and-order incident, police said. The clash took place in a community of Christian families living in the Kutupalong refugee camp, dubbed the worlds largest after the latest influx of the mainly Muslim Rohingya who fled into Bangladesh from Myanmar in 2017. The ARSA early Monday attacked us, the Christians. They looted our houses, and beat up many Christian members. At least 12 Christians have been undergoing treatment at different hospitals and clinics, Saiful, a Christian, told BenarNews by phone from the Kutupalong camp. Saiful said most of his community converted to Christianity in Myanmar and that he and his family crossed into Bangladesh from Baulibazar in Myanmars Maungdaw district in 2007. We came under attack due to our faith, he said of the attack Monday. On May 10, 11 and 13 last year, this same group of terrorists attacked us. They want us to leave this camp. They have been attacking us systematically, he said. But police in Ukhia, a sub-district of Coxs Bazar where the Kutupalong camp is located, brushed aside the allegation that ARSA was involved, and said that Saiful himself had initiated the communal clash following an argument. Its not correct that ARSA launched the attack. This is an ordinary law-and-order incident, Mohammad Abul Mansur, the officer-in-charge of Ukhia police station, told BenarNews. Following an altercation, one Rohingya Christian named Saiful on Sunday attacked one Rohingya Muslim named Shukkur. The injured Shukkur was admitted to a hospital, he said. Shukkurs relatives then hit back at Saifuls family, he said. Four relatives of Saiful were injured in the counter-attack, said Mansur, without clarifying what caused the altercation. The Rohingya leader of the block of homes where the attack occurred confirmed the police account. The Christian members dragged and beat up one Rohingya Muslim, Shukkur, as he was passing by the Christians residence. Then the Muslim Rohingya gathered and attacked the Christians, Amin Majhi told BenarNews. The ARSA insurgent group, which purports to be fighting oppression of Rohingya Muslims, carried out attacks on police and army posts in Myanmars Rakhine state in August 2017, triggering the military crackdown that caused more than 740,000 Rohingya to flee. Bangladesh officially denies the presence of Rohingya rebels in the refugee camps, but government and police sources have privately acknowledged arresting several of the insurgents. Rights activists have accused ARSA of targeting fellow Rohingya with kidnappings, torture and threats. ARSA militants were behind the killing of almost 100 Hindus in Rakhine state in 2017, according to Amnesty International. Houses damaged BenarNews learned of the incident Monday from a group calling itself the Rohingya Christian Assembly from India. Last night the ARSA attacked the whole Christian community in Kutupalong Camp [located at] 2E Block B1. Approximately 25 Christian families are displaced. It is winter and very cold, the victims have many minor children with them, the group said in an email. It said that a mob of hundreds in many groups entered every Christian home in the dark of night and destroyed the houses using machetes. Twelve of the Rohingya Christians were severely beaten by ARSA, they are injured and now they are admitted to hospital, the email said. A local police inspector, Mobarak Hossain, told BenarNews that authorities had yet to capture any of the attackers. When informed, we rushed to the spot and saw some Christian houses damaged, Hossain said. The attackers fled the scene as we reached the place of occurrence, he said. In comments that appeared to confirm the existence of religious tensions, he said that the bone of contention between the two groups was that the Muslims viewed the Christians as being Muslims who follow Christian rituals. But the Christians assert that they are genuinely Christian, Hossain said. The Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist Christian Unity Council, an organization that advocates for religious minorities in the South Asian country, said it would investigate the incident. We have come to know that ARSA repeatedly intimidated the Hindu Rohingya refugees. So, its logical to assume that ARSA can attack Christians, said Rana Dasgupta, the associations secretary-general. Following the clash early Monday, some 444 Rohingya Hindu families housed at another settlement in Ukhia were placed under police protection, and some 25 Rohingya Christian families were also isolated from their Muslim neighbors, authorities said. Sunil Barua in Dhaka and Abdur Rahman in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh contributed to this story. Coronavirus has reportedly spread across Asia and other countries of the world with about 106 died and more than 4,515 cases confirmed in mainland China. Australia, Cambodia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, US and Vietnam are among the countries that have recorded cases of the disease. Authorities in Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the outbreak, said an additional 1,300 cases have been confirmed, bringing the total number in the region to over 2,700, with majority still in hospital, with more than 125 in critical condition, CNN reports. Read Also: Lassa Fever: 7 Doctors, 5 Nurses Quarantined In Adamawa CNN also reported that cases have been confirmed in every province and territory in China except for Tibet. William Schaffner, an adviser to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was quoted by CNN to have said the infection is much more contagious than they originally thought. This is worse than we anticipated, he said. However, Zhang Jun, Chinas ambassador to the United Nations (UN), has said the country has full capability and confidence in winning the battle against the epidemic. Putting the interests of the people first, China has taken rapid and strong measures, putting in place a nationwide prevention and control mechanism, he said. He added that China has been working with the international community in the spirit of openness, transparency and scientific coordination. With a great sense of responsibility, China is sparing no effort in curbing the spread of disease and saving lives. Now is a crucial moment, and China has full capability and confidence in winning the battle against the epidemic. Businesses around the world that have grown increasingly reliant on big-spending tourists from are taking a heavy hit, with tens of millions of Chinese residents restricted from leaving their country as the spreads. Hotels, airlines, casinos and cruise operators were among the industries suffering the most immediate repercussions, especially with the outbreak occurring during the Lunar New Year, one of the biggest travel season in Asia. What happens in means a lot more to the world economy than it did when the SARS outbreak struck nearly two decades ago. In 2003, accounted for 4.3% of world economic output. Last year, it accounted for 16.3%, according to the Monetary Fund. from China was already down before the virus hit due in part to the Hong Kong protests and the trade dispute between Beijing and Washington. But about 134 million Chinese traveled abroad in 2019, up 4.5% from a year earlier, according to official figures. Before the outbreak, the China Outbound Research Institute predicted some 7 million Chinese would travel abroad for the Lunar New Year this year, up from 6.3 million in 2019. Hong Hong, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam were top destinations, but Chinese tourists are big spenders in cities like London, Milan, Paris and New York. Economist and industry officials said the biggest threat so far is to China's closest neighbors, with the U.S. and Europe likely to face major repercussions only if the outbreak proves long-lived. In Thailand, a favorite destination for Lunar New Year travel, officials estimate potential lost revenue at 50 billion baht (USD 1.6 billion). Many drugstores in Bangkok ran out of surgical masks and the number of Chinese tourists appeared to be much smaller than usual for the Lunar New Year. The government announced it was handing out masks, and that the airport rail link would be disinfected. Spillover is also probable in Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines, said Tommy Wu and Priyanka Kishore, of Oxford Economics. Hong Kong is especially vulnerable because its economy and its appeal to tourists have already been weakened by months of sometimes-violent political protest. By November, inbound tourism to Hong Kong was already down 56% from a year earlier. Visitors from mainland China to the autonomous Chinese gambling capital of Macau was down 80% on Sunday from a year earlier, a threat to a regional government that depends on gaming revenue. Gaming and lodging operators in Macau reported higher-than expected cancellations over the weekend as the death toll from rose and the Chinese government extended travel restrictions, according to Instinet analyst Harry Curtis. Cancellations soared across all of the properties we contacted, Curtis said in a note. Pessimism rose on how long it could take for business to recover. Shares of Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts which all have operations in Macau have declined 18.3%, 14.6% and 12.1% since Jan. 17, respectively. But analysts said it was too soon to tell how deeply their finances would be affected. Adding to the uncertainty was the possibility that Macau's government could shut down all casinos. Jefferies, an equities research firm, predicted the virus outbreak would have affect first quarter results for the companies but how large and will it linger onward remain the questions. Wynn Resorts said it had scaled back Lunar New Year events in Macau, begun screening the temperature of all guests and taken other steps to comply with the directives of the Macau government. MGM and Las Vegas Sands also said they were following government guidelines. The companies declined to provide any cancellation figures in Macau. At least 80 people have died and 2,744 people have fallen ill since the coronavirus was first found in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. China extended the week-long Lunar New Year holiday by an extra three days to Feb. 2 to help prevent the epidemic from spreading. Travel agencies in China were told to cancel group tourism, and governments around the region were restricting travel from Wuhan, closely monitoring other travelers and helping arrange evacuations of some foreigners stuck in Wuhan. The outbreak comes just as hopes were rising that Chinese tourism to the U.S. would start to recover following two years of decline due to the prolonged trade dispute between the two countries. In 2018, travel from China to the U.S. fell for the first time in 15 years, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office, which collects data from U.S. Customs forms. The office has forecast a further decline of 5% in 2019 but had predicted a return to growth in 2020 and beyond. China remains the fifth-largest source of foreign tourism to the U.S., behind Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and Japan. Nearly 3 million Chinese traveled to the U.S. in 2018, spending more than USD 36 billion. Tourism industry officials said it was too soon to say whether the outbreak would significantly effect expectations for a recovery, saying much depends on how long the outbreak lasts and if the Chinese government extends travel restrictions to major cities such as Shanghai. Photo: Tom Stohlman/flickr Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Cambridge. Driver arrested in Cambridge after hit-and-run involving cyclist in Boston A driver was arrested Monday in Cambridge after allegedly hitting a cyclist in Boston and driving away. The crash happened near near the Longfellow Bridge. Read the full story on NBC10 Boston. Man arrested after allegedly spreading fentanyl across table at Central Square eatery Cambridge police report arresting a homeless man after he spread "a considerable amount of a white-looking powder substance over a table" at a Central Square fast-food outlet Friday morning. A test showed the powder was fentanyl. Read the full story on Universal Hub. Public Works to install backup cameras on garbage trucks Cambridges Department of Public Works will outfit 11 garbage trucks with backup cameras in the next few months, public works commissioner Owen ORiordan said Friday. Read the full story on The Harvard Crimson. Cambridge could jump on free-bus bandwagon The City Council will consider asking the MBTA to make at least one bus route through the city free as a pilot program to gauge the possibility of eventually having free fares on all buses. Read the full story on Universal Hub. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. U.S. oil producer Hess Corporation said on Tuesday it expects to allocate US$3 billion for production, development, and exploration in 2020, focusing on high-return investments in the Bakken shale play and offshore Guyana. Hess Corporation is boosting this years capital and exploratory budget from the 2019 E&P capital and exploratory expenditures of US$2.7 billion, as expected at the end of Q3 2019. More than 80 percent of Hesss capital and exploratory budget for 2020 will go for increased production and development of the corporations production in the Bakken in North Dakota and offshore Guyana, where Hess is a minority partner of ExxonMobil in the first development of the Latin American countrys oil resources. Hess expects its net production to average between 330,000 and 335,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) this year, excluding Libya operations. Net production in the Bakken is seen averaging 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2020. In the Bakken, we plan to maintain a six rig program through the year, which is expected to result in our net production growing to approximately 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of 2020, chief operating officer Greg Hill said in a statement. Offshore Guyana, Hess will focus on the Liza Phase 2 development, the front end engineering design (FEED) work to develop the nearby Payara oilfield, and on exploration. Hess plans to explore for resources in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, too, Hill noted. Just yesterday, Exxon and Hess said they had revised upward the estimate of recoverable resources offshore Guyana by 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent to 8 billion oil-equivalent barrels, also announcing the 16th oil discovery on the Stabroek Block. We also continue to see multibillion barrels of additional exploration potential remaining, said John Hess, chief executive of Hess, which holds 30 percent in the Stabroek Block, where Exxon is the operator. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: LIMERICKs only Social Democrat Dail hopeful, Jenny Blake, has called for a dedicated emergency department for mental health patients at University Hospital Limerick. Ms Blake, who was nominated by the party two weeks ago, suggested the proposed model, claiming that when 92 patients are on trolleys mental health issues are not seen as a priority. Every candidate is talking about UHL at the moment. What a dire situation it is, how unacceptable it is. Very few people are offering concrete solutions. One practical measure that will save lives is the creation of a dedicated A&E for mental health patients; somewhere people can be certain they will be treated with compassion and given the help they so desperately need, she said in a statement last week. Ms Blake, who has worked in frontline community services over the past 10 years and has been living in Limerick for 20 years, replaced fellow party member Sarah Jane Hennelly on the general election ticket in the Limerick City constituency. I have worked with people who have been turned away from hospital while suicidal. We have all read and heard stories of people being refused treatment, being sent elsewhere, and tragically taking their own lives a short time later. Its morally unjustifiable that someone who finds themselves in such a desperate and hopeless position is likely to be sent away without being treated. People go to hospital because they are ill, because they need help. It is the perfect illustration of the how dysfunctional our health service is that people who are at risk of suicide are not seen as being ill enough to be treated. Seven students have been booked for allegedly thrashing a classmate who was "bright" and "used to answer all questions asked by teachers", Pune police said on Tuesday. The 15-year-old boy was allegedly thrashed on November 22 last year but the parents approached police recently as they waited for the school to act against the group of seven, a Wanwadi police station official said. "The school is situated in Hadapsar. The parents have claimed the boy was hit with pipes. They have said the victim is a very bright student and used to answer all questions asked by teachers. This possibly caused jealousy among peers who beat him up, the parents have claimed," the official said. "We will speak to school authorities before taking further action. Seven students have been booked but not detained," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese Premier Visits Wuhan as Virus Death Toll Hits 80 By VOA News January 27, 2020 Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the city of Wuhan on Monday to meet with health officials and examine the response to the outbreak of a coronavirus that has killed 80 people. Wuhan is the center of the outbreak and people there and in several other cities face strict restrictions on movement as the government tries to prevent the virus from spreading. Officials took an extra step Sunday to extend the Lunar New Year holiday three extra days to cut down on group gatherings. The latest figures reported by Chinese health officials include more than 2,700 cases of people being sickened by the virus. Cases have also been reported in Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. The World Health Organization says most of those are people who had a travel history in Wuhan, with several others having contact with someone who traveled there. There have been no reported deaths linked to the virus outside of China. The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention respiratory disease office, Nancy Messonnier, said Sunday there were five confirmed cases in the United States, and that all five people had direct contact with others in Wuhan. The patients are isolated in hospitals as doctors and health officials try to find out more about the virus. The CDC says it is investigating about 100 suspected cases in 26 states. Chinese National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei said Sunday little is known about the virus. But doctors do know it has an incubation period that can range from one to 14 days. Ma said the virus is infectious during the incubation period, when no signs or symptoms of the disease are present.. President Xi Jinping said China is facing a "grave situation" and experts and other resources would be concentrated at specific hospitals to treat severe cases of the illness. The virus is believed to have emerged late last year in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, at a seafood market illegally selling wildlife. Chinese authorities have imposed a temporary ban on the selling of wildlife. The virus hit China just as it was beginning the celebrations of the Lunar New Year, resulting in the canceling or the scaling back of festivities for tens of millions of Chinese. Tourist destinations are closed and school closings have been extended, in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. Public transportation has been severely restricted. Many businesses have closed or asked employees to work from home. The WHO recommends several steps to help protect people against acute respiratory infections. They include avoiding close contact with those already infected, frequent hand-washing and avoiding unprotected contact with farm animals and wild animals. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address San Francisco, Jan 28 : With the Novel Coronavirus spreading fast across China which has claimed 106 lives so far, Apple supplier Foxconn has warned employees who were in Taiwan for the Chinese New Year not to return to its Wuhan plant in China. According to a report in AppleInsider, Foxconn facility in Wuhan "could quickly become overrun with an outbreak, potentially putting workers at unnecessary risk and effectively shutting down production". In addition to asking many employees to stay at home, the Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturing firm has also enhanced employee health monitoring at the Wuhan factory. "Foxconn has provided employees with face masks to prevent the spread of the virus. Employees must also have their temperature checked daily, as one of the first symptoms of the illness is a fever," the report said. According to Nikkei Asian Review, some five million Chinese jobs rely on Apple's presence in the country, including those of more than 1.8 million software and iOS App developers. Apple itself employs 10,000 people in China and more than 90 per cent of Apple's products are being assembled in China. Apple CEO Tim Cook has also tweeted that Apple will donate money to groups on the ground helping to support those affected by the virus. "As people in China and around the world celebrate the Lunar New Year, we send our love and support to the many impacted by the Coronavirus. Apple will be donating to groups on the ground helping support all of those affected," Cook tweeted. Apple has three main businesses in China -- iCloud data centres, retail outlets and a huge manufacturing base. Apple Cloud centres are not expected to be heavily impacted but fewer footfalls owing to the virus outbreak at Apple Stores will result in lower sales in the region. Apple has no stores in Wuhan and effective from January 27, the tech giant has already reduced operating hours for retails stores across Mainland China. Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday that the death toll due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in the country has increased to 106, with 4,515 confirmed cases in 30 provincial-level regions. The US has also raised its travel alert for China and recommended that Americans should "reconsider" travelling to the Asian giant. The U.S. Attorneys Office announced Tuesday that the chair of Harvard Universitys chemistry and chemical biology department and two Chinese nationals have been charged with concealing their connections to China. Charles Lieber who is the chair of the department of chemistry and chemical biology at the university, was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with making a false, fictitious and fraudulent statement. Chinese nationals, Yanqing Ye and Zaosong Zheng, were also charged. Ye is currently in China and Zheng has been detained since Dec. 30 when he was detained at Boston Logan International Airport. Ye has been charged with visa fraud, making false statements, acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy. Zheng was charged with attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological research to China. On Jan. 21, Zheng was indicted on one count of smuggling goods from the United States and one count of making false, fictitious or fraudulent statements. Related Content: Read the indictments below. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 23:56:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that China has full confidence and capability to win the battle against the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Xi made the remarks when meeting with visiting World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The Chinese people are now fighting a very serious battle against the epidemic, said Xi, adding that the people's safety and health always come first, and thus the prevention and control of the outbreak is the country's most important work for now. Xi said he chaired a special meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on the outbreak on Saturday, the first day of this lunar new year. He said the comprehensive deployment has been made for the containment and mitigation of the epidemic, and a central leading group on battling the virus was established. "The epidemic is a devil. We will not let it hide," said Xi. Chinese government has released information about the epidemic in a timely, open, transparent and responsible manner, responded to concerns of all sides actively, and enhanced cooperation with the international community, Xi said. Hailing the WHO's important role in coordinating global public health affairs, Xi said China attaches great importance to the cooperation with the WHO. The WHO is welcome to participate in the epidemic containment, Xi said, adding that WHO experts have visited Wuhan in central China where the virus first broke out. China is ready to work with the WHO as well as the international community to safeguard regional and global public health security, Xi said. Xi said he believes that the WHO and the international community will assess the epidemic situation in an objective, just, calm and reasonable way. China has the full confidence and capability to win the battle against the virus with concerted efforts, scientific containment and targeted policies under the strong leadership of the CPC, said Xi. Tedros said it is admirable that the Chinese government has shown its solid political resolve and taken timely and effective measures in dealing with the epidemic. President Xi's personal guidance and deployment show his great leadership capability, Tedros said. He said that China has released information in an open and transparent manner, identified the pathogen in a record-short time and shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus in a timely manner with the WHO and other countries. China's measures are not only protecting its people, but also protecting the people in the whole world, he said. Hailing the high speed and massive scale of China's moves are rarely seen in the world, Tedros said it showed China's efficiency and the advantages of China's system. The experience of China is worth learning for other countries, he said, adding that he believes the measures China has taken will effectively control and finally prevail over the epidemic. The WHO firmly supports China's measures against the epidemic and stands ready to enhance cooperation with China and provide all necessary assistance, Tedros said. He said the WHO will make assessment based on science and facts, and opposes overreaction and groundless accusations. The WHO speaks highly of China's major role in and great contribution to the cause of global public health, and is ready to further conduct strategic cooperation with China, said Tedros. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday advised travelers to avoid all nonessential travel to China, where the respiratory virus has killed more than 100 and sickened more than 2,700 people. Five cases have been confirmed in the U.S., all among people who traveled to Wuhan, the city where the virus was first detected, health officials said. One of those cases was a woman from Chicago. SALISBURY, Md., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Choose a college by design? Absolutely! The design of a college campus or its buildings can tell you a lot. -It tells you how serious the college is about offering you a good education. -It reaches back to our history and how committed the founders were about higher education. -A building that has its roots in European design speaks of heritage. More innovative campuses speak of the institution's boldness and creative spirit. The team at Great Value Colleges (GVC), a leading resource in the educational field, visited many resources in its quest to find the most inspiring college campuses. "A well-designed building or campus is both nurturing and inspiring," said GVC Editor Julie McCaulley. "While the design of a campus isn't your sole criterion when exploring colleges, it can be an important one. You're going to spend several years on that campus. It should make you feel good, at home, and proud to be a part of it." Here are ten of GVC's 50 Most Inspired College Campuses: Unique Designs to Enlighten Minds. University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi The campus is beautiful, thanks in part to the 18 Georgian buildings designed by architect Frank P. Gates. The original campus building, The Lyceum, dates back to 1848. Thrillist names The Lyceum as one of the most stunning college buildings in America. Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire In addition to its 27,000 acres of wilderness used for recreation, Dartmouth boasts the Baker Library, which USA Today considers to be one of the most amazing college buildings in America. Architectural Digest calls Dartmouth one of the 50 most beautiful colleges in America. Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan Michigan State has 5,200 acres and more than 550 buildings! USA Today calls the college's Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum one of the most amazing college buildings in America. United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland All students live in Bancroft Hall, the largest college dormitory in the world. Both USA Today and Architectural digest praise this building, noting its beauty and sheer size. The chapel at the Naval Academy is so distinctive it's been featured on a postage stamp! University of Washington, Seattle, Washington The Seattle campus of the University of Washington is filled with beautiful architecture, inspiring statues, and state-of-the-art facilities. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia The University of Virginia is the only campus designed by a founding father and President of the United States. Architectural Digest calls Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village at the college "one of the most important architectural projects in U.S. history." Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia Berry College has the world's biggest campus at 27,000 acres. Its buildings are also outstanding. USA Today calls its English Gothic Ford Buildings amazing. Architectural Digest considers the college to be one of the most beautiful in America. University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, Colorado This university offers wide open fields and a dining hall with cuisine from around the world. Thrillist considers Old Main to be one of the most stunning college buildings in the USA. And Architectural Digest names it one of the most beautiful colleges in America. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina Duke has 254 beautiful buildings on its 8,600+ acre campus. Architectural Digest names Duke University as having one of the 50 best campuses in America. Thrillist and USA Today call Duke Chapel one of the 25 most stunning college buildings in America. University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana Every building on the University of Notre Dame campus fits in with its original Gothic aesthetic. And each of the campus's 30 residence halls "is a world unto itself." The campus is on Architectural Digest's unranked 50 most beautiful colleges in America list. Methodology Our research covered a range of sources focused on campus design and architecture. For our ranking and links to resources consulted, see the full article: https://www.greatvaluecolleges.net/inspiring-campuses/ . About Great Value Colleges Great Value Colleges' mission is to help students get the best possible education for their money by presenting in-depth and well-researched college rankings along with information about scholarships and career options. Contact: Julie McCaulley, Editor Phone: 518-496-0845 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Great Value Colleges Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria, 28th Jan 2020 -The Intl Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law-INTERSOCIETY has strongly rejected the Federal Government (OSGF) written excuses over the Oraifite (Anambra) Police and Army Mayhem of 2nd Dec 2019 and insisted on setting up by same of an independent and impartial or credible Joint Investigation Board. The above was contained in our reply to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation-SGF, Barr Boss Gidahyelda Mustapha. The reply, referenced: INTERSOC/002/01/20/OSGF, was dated yesterday, 27th Jan 2020 and communicated to the recipient same yesterday and has since been received and acknowledged. The Intersocietys reply letter was signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi (Chair of the Board), Obianuju Igboeli, Esq., (Head of Civil Liberties & Rule of Law), Chinwe Umeche, Esq., (Head of Democracy & Good Governance) and Ndidiamaka Bernard, Esq., (Head of Intl Justice & Human Rights). The Principal Officers above also signed this statement. The OSGF reply to Intersociety, dated 20th Jan 2020, with communication or reference No. 56331/S.4/525; followed our earlier letter to Nigerian Government through same OSGF, dated 16th Dec 2029 and referenced: INTERSOC:001/12/19/OSGF/ABJ/NG. The OSGF reply was communicated to us through its Legal Unit/Legal Officer, Emmanuel E. Akissa, Esq. Intersociety had in its second letter appreciated the OSGFs non-denial of the fact that our letter was appropriately and properly channeled or rooted. In other words, the OSGF is the most appropriate body or authority to handle the subject matter or intervene in same. The OSGF had in its letter claimed that it cannot act or set up a Joint Investigation Board as demanded by Intersocietybecause of the pendency of a fundamental human rights suit filed by the Chief Victim (Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor) in which the OSGF was not joined as a party. However, we strongly rejected the OSGFs excuses particularly to the effect that all the judicial remedies available before relevant Courts shall be exhausted by us since our case is still pending in Court. The OSGFhad in his reply added that our letter to his office was well received and has been carefully evaluated. In other words, the OSGF is telling us that it shall not carry out its constitutional and statutory functions and duties in the instant case because a fundamental rights suit filed by the Chief Victim, Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor (not Intersociety) for purpose of preventing further police and army mayhem including attacks on his person and properties is pending in Court. Intersociety further maintained that the OSGFs reference to the matter as ours is wrong and strongly condemned and it was made it clear to SGF that we are Intl Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law-INTERSOCIETY and not Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor/I.C. Ejiofor Law Firm-and that we independently investigated the mayhem and findings made led to our letter to the OSGF, dated 16th Dec 2019. Our intervention, investigation and letter were all done as Public Interest Matter and must be treated so. We also pointed out that: (a) we did not file the said suit in Court and were not a party in same, (b) from our enquiry, the OSGF is also not joined as a party in the suit, and (c) there is no court order either from the referenced fundamental rights suit or any other restraining the OSGF from performing its functions in the matter including setting up a Joint Investigation Board as demanded. Further, our writing to the OSGF was well informed and most appropriate thing to do in the instant case. This is because the Nigeria Police Force cannot morally; correctly and competently investigate the same mayhem it was strongly and widely accused of masterminding, coordinating and perpetrating in complicity with the Nigerian Army and some troublesome and riotous billionaires. Intersociety, therefore, sees the excuses by the OSGF as escapist and its fall back on pendency of the matter in Court very despicable and condemnable. It is also nothing short of promotion of a culture of impunity and repeat-offense. It must be generally pointed out that under the extant laws of the country, no court can stop the OSGF from constituting and superintending such Joint Investigation Board and the investigation proper. We hereby call on the OSGFto rescind its decision, reverse and rewind same and do the needful as strongly demanded in the said letter of 16th Dec 2019. Again, it is our strong demand that A Joint Investigation Board Be Set Up By The OSGF Into The Oraifite-Anambra Police & Military Mayhem Of 2ndDec 2019 Contacts: Mobile/Whatsapp Line: +2348174090052 Email: [email protected] Website: www.intersociety-ng.org Before any new drug can be allowed on to the market, trials have to prove it is safer and more effective than a placebo, a pretend pill with no active ingredient. The seemingly sensible assumption is that as a 'sugar pill' can't have a physical effect on the body (or, if it does, the benefits are purely down to psychology), this makes it a useful comparison against the real drug. But recent groundbreaking research by scientists at Harvard University strongly suggests that this is a mistake they have found that placebos can have the same sort of physical effect on the brain as drugs do. In other words, far from being a trick of the mind, the placebo effect may have a very real, biological basis. So, could your doctor soon be writing prescriptions for sugar pills instead of expensive drugs that could also have side-effects? The seemingly sensible assumption is that as a 'sugar pill' can't have a physical effect on the body The placebo effect has hitherto been put down to the patient expecting or believing the treatment will make them feel better. Central to its success is how a treatment is given a kindly doctor, for instance, is thought to contribute to its effect. The first clue that taking placebos could cause an actual physical response showed up in patients' DNA records kept at Harvard. These revealed that a gene called COMT may be fundamental to the placebo response. COMT exists in two forms and analysis showed that patients who had conditions such as Parkinson's, depression and schizophrenia where typically people have responded well to placebos tended to have the same version of COMT. They also had similar levels of the enzyme it makes. COMT's involvement in the placebo effect was cemented by scanning studies which showed it to be more active when patients were responding to a placebo. Additionally, when given a drug that can block COMT, the patients stopped responding to a placebo. The research was led by Ted Kaptchuk, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of Harvard's Program in Placebo Studies. 'Placebos can specifically modulate bodily sensations, symptoms and emotions,' he told Good Health, adding that all sorts of healthy lifestyle activities can trigger the placebo response, including consciously eating well, exercising, practising yoga and making time for social contacts. Dr Jeremy Howick, a clinical epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, says there is no doubt that the placebo effect can be incredibly powerful. His own research has shown that drugs normally given for conditions that respond well to placebos are barely more effective than the placebos themselves. Dr Jeremy Howick, a clinical epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, says there is no doubt that the placebo effect can be incredibly powerful 'I reviewed 150 trials involving more than 15,000 patients with a range of illnesses, including IBS, depression and back pain, and the drugs showed up as little better than the placebos they were tested against,' he says. 'Your body is incredibly effective at healing itself.' Dr Howick believes the Harvard finding may increase the deliberate use of placebos. 'It busts the myth that benefiting from placebos is not real,' he says. Dr Ash Ranpura, a clinical neurologist with a private practice in London, would like to see doctors capitalise on the healing power of placebos but not necessarily by prescribing them instead of drugs. 'Being a good doctor involves creating a therapeutic relationship with each of your patients,' says Dr Ranpura. 'This is the driver for the physical effect of placebos, but it can also boost the effectiveness of drug treatments. We need to use both.' The discovery of the COMT gene connection also opens up the possibility of using placebos in a more targeted way. That's because of COMT's two versions faster and slower. If you have the slower one, you are likely to have a stronger placebo response and so are genetically programmed to benefit more from a placebo than someone with the faster version. However, COMT also creates difficulties for the way drugs are tested in trials. In randomised controlled trials the gold-standard way of determining how well a new medicine works patients are divided into two groups, with one group getting the drug the other a seemingly identical placebo. Researchers then check whether the patients on the drug fare better than those taking the placebo. But what if a disproportionate number of those in the placebo group had the slower version of COMT? This could make the drug look less effective than it really is and even mean it never comes to market. Similarly, if the new drug being tested was one that, unknown to researchers, could block COMT, that could make it look more effective than a placebo. For the moment, it's unlikely you'll find yourself being prescribed placebo pills, even though research shows they are still very effective. So, in the meantime, it might help to embrace the kind of lifestyle highlighted by Professor Kaptchuk to take advantage of your body's willingness to heal. Veteran war reporter Fergal Keane is to step down from his role as the BBC's Africa correspondent after revealing he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events. Keane, who has reported from war zones across the world over several decades, said that he'd taken the decision to help his recovery. He took to Twitter to thank those who wished him well and stated there would be "no more war or traumatising situations". His diagnosis was the result of "several decades of work in conflict zones around the world", said the BBC's head of newsgathering, Jonathan Munro. He added that Keane had "been dealing privately with the effects of PTSD for several years". Two people from Northern Ireland who live with PTSD say they feel he is doing the right thing. 'My sister's murder is in my head all the time, there's no escaping it... I have dreams that scare me' A Tyrone man who has battled severe PTSD for three decades after he watched his 20-year-old sister die in an IRA border bomb says the lasting impact of the horror that he witnessed is something he has to live with every day. David Kerrigan's sister Heather, a member of the UDR, was killed in a bomb attack on the patrol he was leading down a border road in the Corgaries area, near their home in Castlederg, in July 1984. Another UDR man Norman McKinley was killed instantly. David, whose wife Irene also served in the UDR, suffered severe injuries to his back in the blast and his sister died in the Army helicopter on the way to the hospital as David lay gravely injured and helpless by her side. Father-of-three David (62) says he still suffers flashbacks of that day and is yet to find a treatment that works for him. "I didn't get any help after Heather was killed in 1984," he says. "I struggled on by myself for around 16 years. It was around the year 2000 before I went to the doctor for the first time to talk about what I was going through. I wasn't sleeping and I was having nightmares and flashbacks for that entire time. I felt that there wasn't something right with me. "After speaking to my GP, I got a bit of counselling. I found that very hard, because it was all so very raw. I had never spoken to anyone about it for 16 years. It was just all going through my mind, over and over. "What happened has affected me for my whole life. It got to a point that I wished I had never joined the Forces. It just wrecked my whole life." David, who left the UDR and went on to join the RUC after his sister's death, has been treated for severe PTSD since 2000. He says the murder of his sister, the IRA murder of his brother-in-law Thomas Loughlin just four months before that, and his subsequent struggle with PTSD have shattered his family. "Irene and I have three boys and they weren't allowed to do things," he says. "There was still a very high threat in the area and before we would go out I would have to check under the car. Doors were locked. The kids weren't allowed to tell anyone what their mother and father did for a living. "One of the symptoms of PTSD is a heightened sense of alertness. I was alert all of the time. If someone banged the door I would jump. I just felt nervous all the time. Expand Close Heathers funeral / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Heathers funeral "I was never like that before Heather was killed. I had an outgoing personality. But now, even years later, I stay in the house. I don't want to go anywhere or mix with anyone. It's in my head all the time. There is no escaping it. I have the worst dreams, and they do scare me. And the next day I get up and my head is humming. "People don't understand. They might see you out and about, but they don't know what's going through your head. People ask you how you are. You say that you're fine. But in reality I might have been lying in my bed all day with a humming in my head and feeling very depressed." David says that he has tried everything to help combat his PTSD, but feels he can find very little to get on top of the condition. "I have been to counselling," he says. "That first time it helped me a bit to talk to someone about it. It helped me to get things off my chest and it was good that there was someone there to listen. I have done more counselling since, but I don't think it helps me. You're living through the whole thing every day and it just did me no good, so I just stopped. "Nothing has helped me. I just want my health back, and justice. And perhaps I know deep down that I won't get those things. And that gets me down too. Closure and justice are what I need. It's what keeps me fighting on. But that takes its toll too. One thing that does help me is to know that I'm not on my own. Other people have experienced this too. "I think it's good that Fergal is taking a step back from that line of work. "It's a good decision for him. When you have PTSD you need to look after yourself. Your health is your number one priority." A smell will come over me, the smell of the doorstep where I sat in a blood-soaked nightie beside my dead dad Expand Close Ongoing struggle: Denise Mullen / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ongoing struggle: Denise Mullen Mid-Ulster Aontu councillor Denise Mullen was just four years old when she witnessed her father Denis being shot dead on the doorstep of her family home. The former SDLP councillor says the nightmarish memories she suppressed and the childhood trauma she endured have resulted in PTSD. The 48-year-old mother-of-two witnessed her father, SDLP councillor Denis Mullen, being killed at their Moy home by the notorious Glenanne Gang in September 1975. She says she is certain that what she witnessed that night - she also heard them shoot at her mother Olive as she fled across fields to safety, then sat in her blood-soaked nightie at her dead father's side waiting for help to arrive - caused her to develop the PTSD that she has lived with since. "Growing up in the Seventies and Eighties in Northern Ireland, PTSD would have been unheard of," she says. "There was no counselling for people who suffered trauma. I think it wasn't until after the Good Friday Agreement that there started to be any real support for victims and survivors of the conflict. By that time I would have been on medication for anxiety every day, and I am still on medication. For me, it wasn't until I was around 23 years old that I got help. "I have had nightmares and flashbacks since childhood. I had panic attacks all the way through primary school though back then I didn't know what they were. But they used to leave me in such a bad way that I was always gasping for breath. "In later years they were really bad and I would have taken them all the time. I would sit at the back of the chapel because I was afraid of taking a panic attack if I went up for Holy Communion. It really came to a head for me when my son was a couple of months old. I was having such bad panic attacks, worrying about things like how I was going to teach my son how to tie his shoe laces or ride a bike. Finally, at the age of 23, I talked to my doctor about what I was experiencing." Expand Close Denise Mullen with mother Olive, brother Edward and father Denis / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Denise Mullen with mother Olive, brother Edward and father Denis Consequently, 19 years after seeing her father shot dead in front of her, Denise had a diagnosis. However, that was not the end of her problems; instead she says that she has continued to endure the worst symptoms. "For years before I went to the doctor I had a certain type of flashback," she says. "I still do at times. I could be anywhere at any time, I don't know when it is going to happen, but a smell comes over me. It's the smell of the doorstep that night, the smell of the whole scene. "Around 10 years ago I was speaking to a psychologist and they told me that I had one of the most severe cases of PTSD they have ever come across. They said the smell was one of the most significant symptoms." Denise says that the PTSD is always part of her life. "I'd describe it as an anger - not towards other people, but within myself. It's like an oppressed anger stemming that strong feeling of injustice. "I am involved in many organisations with other victims of the Troubles and other groups. Expand Close Denises parents on their wedding day / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Denises parents on their wedding day "What I notice above all else is that it affects you with regards to forming relationships. Trust issues are a huge thing. "In the days after my daddy was murdered I developed a sore on the back of my right knee. And every time I feel very stressed or anxious now I take the worst pain in the same knee at the same spot. I went for craniosacral therapy and I found out this place is where I harbour my pain. I found that therapy useful and it did help me overcome things. "Thankfully, I have now got away from the panic attacks - I've been helped a lot by holistic therapies like reflexology and aromatherapy. I still can't get rid of the smell flashbacks though." Denise says that Fergal Keane is right to take a step back and look after himself. "I have taken a step back myself," she says. "And I have learned to read myself really, really well. Hence I can identify what triggers me. I also feels it's good to talk." She adds: "It is something that you always have to live with. For me, I am just a stereotypical sufferer of PTSD. I am a workaholic, I work seven days a week. It's a coping mechanism and a way to block out things. But you just get on with life, because there is nothing else for it." What is PTSD and how is it treated? Someone with PTSD often relives the traumatic event through nightmares and flashbacks, and may experience feelings of isolation, irritability and guilt. They may also have problems sleeping, such as insomnia, and find concentrating difficult. These symptoms are often severe and persistent enough to have a significant impact on the person's day-to-day life. PTSD can be successfully treated, even when it develops many years after a traumatic event. Any treatment depends on the severity of symptoms and how soon they occur after the traumatic event. Treatment options include: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said "a thousand no's" to the Mideast peace plan announced by President Donald Trump, which strongly favours Israel. "After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand no's to the Deal of The Century," Abbas said on Tuesday at a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Western-backed Palestinian Authority is headquartered. He said the Palestinians remain committed to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a state with its capital in east Jerusalem. "We will not kneel and we will not surrender," Abbas said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through "peaceful, popular means." The plan would create a Palestinian state in parts of the West Bank, but would allow Israel to annex nearly all of its settlements in the occupied territory. The plan would allow the Palestinians to establish a capital on the outskirts of east Jerusalem but would leave most of the city under Israeli control. The Islamic militant group ruling Gaza rejected the "conspiracies" announced by the US and Israel and said "all options are open" in responding to the Trump administration's plan. "We are certain that our Palestinian people will not let these conspiracies pass. So, all options are open. The (Israeli) occupation and the US administration will bear the responsibility for what they did," senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said as he participated in one of several protests that broke out across the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Protesters burned tires and pictures of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Abbas held an emergency meeting with other Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to discuss a unified response to the plan. Abbas had rejected the deal before it was announced saying the US was hopelessly biased toward Israel. Jordan meanwhile warned against any Israeli "annexation of Palestinian lands" and reaffirmed its commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines, which would include all the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned of "the dangerous consequences of unilateral Israeli measures, such as annexation of Palestinian lands." Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries to have made peace with Israel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - Ridgestone Mining Inc. (TSXV: RMI) (OTCQB: RIGMF) ("Ridgestone Mining" or "The Company"), is pleased to announce results from a recently completed rock-chip sampling program conducted on its Rebeico Gold & Copper Project, Sonora, Mexico. The sampling focused on the New Year Zone, where reconnaissance rock chip sampling by Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM-T) in 2012 and later by Ridgestone's exploration team, returned up to 2 g/t gold and 0.63% copper. HIGHLIGHTS: Widespread gold and copper mineralization at surface distributed over and area of 125 meters by 175 meters (2.2 hectares); High-Grade gold, up to 12.95 g/t, including 8 rock-chip samples assaying > 4.0 g/t gold, 30 samples > 1.0 g/t gold and 33 samples between 0.1 to 1.0 g/t gold; Copper: 73 samples > 0.1% Cu, including 14 samples > 0.4% Cu (maximum 0.65 % Cu); and High Bismuth associated with significant gold and copper assays indicates a proximal intrusion-related mineralized system. The sampling program involved the initial collection of 115 rock-chip samples over a grid covering an area of approximately 200 meters by 180 meters. These averaged 1.0 meter in width and were collected from outcrops and weathered talus. Another 73 rock-chip samples, each of approximately 3.0 meters in width were then collected along road cuts and nearby outcrops. Altogether, a total of 188 samples, with an average weight of 4.5 kilograms, were collected and submitted to ALS Chemex for analysis for gold, copper and multi-elements. Significant gold and copper mineralization occurs over an area of approximately 125 meters by 175 meters in the eastern part of the sampled area as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. Mineralization is hosted by brecciated andesite with variable amounts of gossan +/- magnetite, +/- quartz as well as chloritized and fractured andesite peripheral to the brecciated zones. Bismuth is strongly elevated and associated with gold and copper as shown in Figure 3. Figure 1: Gold in rock-chip samples on New Year Zone To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5790/51853_11b46846549848ac_001full.jpg Figure 2: Copper in rock-chip samples on New Year Zone To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5790/51853_11b46846549848ac_002full.jpg Figure 3. Bismuth in rock-chip samples on New Year Zone To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5790/51853_11b46846549848ac_003full.jpg Table 1: Summary of Gold and Copper Sample Results To view an enhanced version of Table 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5790/51853_11b46846549848ac_004full.jpg A sample collected and analyzed by Agnico Eagle in 2012 from the northeastern part of the New Year Zone, that assayed 26.6 g/t gold has now been attributed to material believed to be from the southern part of the Alaska vein. Jonathan George, CEO, comments, "These excellent results showing widespread gold and copper mineralization over such a large area are very encouraging, and provide compelling targets for drilling to test the extent of mineralization at depth." Further, "The occurrence of highly elevated bismuth with gold and copper provides promising evidence of a proximal intrusion-related mineralized system". The Company intends to conduct detailed geological mapping to support a diamond drilling program to test this promising mineralized zone anticipated to commence in Q1/2020. The 2019 Rebeico sampling program was managed by Ridgestone's partner, YQ Gold S.A. de C.V. Samples were transported by YQ Gold personnel from the sample sites to a secure sample storage area on a daily basis. Blank samples were inserted into the sample stream for Quality Assurance / Quality Control ("QA/QC") purposes. YQ Gold personnel transported the samples to the ALS Minerals ("ALS") preparation laboratory in Hermosillo, Sonora. After preparation, sample pulps were air-freighted by ALS to their assay laboratory in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Gold was determined by fire-assay fusion with an atomic absorption finish. Samples with >10 g Au/t were re-assayed for gold by fire-assay fusion with a gravimetric finish. Silver and 31 major, minor and trace elements were determined by ICP-AES following 4-acid digestion. The technical information disclosed in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Steven I. Weiss, C.P.G., Ph.D., and consulting geologist for Ridgestone. Mr. Weiss is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and the author of the technical report filed on SEDAR titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Rebeico Gold-Copper Project; Central Sonora, Mexico." About Ridgestone Mining Inc. Ridgestone is a TSX Venture Exchange-listed junior mineral exploration company with offices in Taipei and Vancouver, B.C. The Company's focus is on precious metals and copper in Sonora, Mexico, and specifically the Rebeico Gold-Copper project. For further information, please contact: MarketSmart Communications Inc. Telephone: 877-261-4466 info@marketsmart.ca This news release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements"). Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. In this news release such statements include but are not limited to any ongoing drilling programs or exploration results, or any results from the MarketSmart program. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain expectations, estimates and assumptions which may prove to be incorrect. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the Company's regulatory filings available on www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the Company's assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of risks, uncertainties and other factors is not exhaustive. Unpredictable or unknown factors not discussed could also have material adverse effects on forward-looking statements. The impact of any one factor on a particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with certainty as such factors are dependent on other factors, and the Company's course of action would depend on its assessment of the future considering all information then available. All forward-looking statements in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change. 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51853 Minister of National Defense Nicolae Ciuca was in Portugal for a two-day official visit at the invitation of his counterpart, Joao Gomes Cravinho, to set the main steps for the strengthening of the Romanian Air Force F-16 multirole aircraft fleet by the purchase of the next five fighter jets, the Defence Ministry said in a release. In addition to the 12 aircraft already purchased, the Air Force will buy from Portugal four more F-16 Fighting Falcons this year and a fifth in 2021, said the Romanian minister."It is a visit that complements the steps initiated several years ago, when Romania decided to create an air combat capability on the F-16 platform," DefMin Ciuca said, referring also to the consolidation of the Romanian air industry."We haven't yet established the stages and technical phases for these developments. What has been established today is the general framework and the requirement that everything that happens next be targeted at the creation of this maintenance capability in the Romanian air industry," said the Defense Minister.He mentioned that Portugal's OGMA and the US Lockheed Martin have expressed their willingness to support the Romanian defense industry and that from the discussions coordinated by the Ministry of Economy, Aerostar Bacau and Romaero Bucharest have emerged as the possible locations for the maintenance works to be carried out in Romania."For Romania, this will also materialize in the transfer of knowledge and technology to its defense industry, enabling it to start during this contract everything related to the technical procedures for modernizing both the aircraft to be purchased, and the already existing 12 planes. (...) With the acquisition of these five jets we will be able to develop a maintenance capability of these platforms in Romania and this will be done by continuing the cooperation with the Portuguese side and also with the direct involvement of Lockheed Martin," Ciuca said.Portuguese Defense Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho said that two F-16 aircraft will be handed over to Romania in June, another two - in October, and a fifth one early next year.Portugal and Romania share the same vision regarding the challenges and threats to NATO, said Joao Gomes Cravinho.In December last year Romania and Portugal signed the contract for the purchase of a new lot of 5 F-16 Fighting Falcons which complement the 12-strong fleet acquired over 2014 - 2017 and are part of the major 'Romanian Air Force multi-role aircraft' endowment program. Photo: Patrick Tomasso/Unsplash Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Detroit. Iranian student detained after arriving in Detroit An Iranian Ph.D. student, who had planned to continue his studies at Michigan State University, was detained by Customs and Border Protection at Detroit Metro Airport and is being sent back to Iran, his attorney said Monday. Read the full story on CNN Politics. Zoo uses remote cameras to encourage empathy for local wildlife An important aspect of humane education is building students empathy for other animals, including wildlife. One method of building empathy for wildlife is providing experiences that allow people to observe the animals firsthand. Read the full story on Detroit Zoo. GM to invest $2.2B in first all-electric vehicle plant, create 2,200 jobs The plant, which was slated to be closed, will now build GM's electric Hummer pickup. Read the full story on NBC News. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. The Trump administration is poised to add several African countries, including Nigeria, to a US travel ban list. According to local media, the White House is considering Tanzania, Eritrea, Sudan and Nigeria for the new travel restrictions, to coincide with the three-year anniversary of Trumps original executive order, which targeted majority Muslim nations. Under the current travel ban, citizens of Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, plus some Venezuelan officials and their relatives are blocked from US visa programs. As a US anti-terrorism partner, and with a large number of citizens living and working in the USA, Nigerias inclusion on the list would sour US-Nigeria relations, according to observers. Nigeria had no warning from Washington that it could be added to the list, information minister Lai Mohammed said on Monday. Such a move would be hasty and send the wrong signal to investors, Lai Mohammed said. Nigeria has done very well in the area of fighting terrorism, Mohammed told Reuters, adding that Washington helps drive militant groups, such as the Islamic State, out of Nigeria. A senior official within the Trump administration stated that countries failing to comply with US security requirements, including the submission of biometrics and the sharing of information and counter-terrorism measures, would be subject to US visa and immigration restrictions. Some nations could be blocked from the diversity visa lottery program, a scheme, which issues green cards to citizens of countries with low US immigration levels. Trump wants to scrap the diversity visa program, claiming that it allows too many undesirable people into the US. Nigeria is Washingtons second largest African trading partner and the US is the largest foreign investor in Nigeria, according to USTR and State Department briefs. By Stuart Shapiro and Michael Greenberg Earlier this month, the Trump Administrations Council on Environmental Quality proposed changes to their regulations on the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler greeted the changes with glee, calling NEPA regulations a, Frankenstein of a regulatory regime and a welfare project for trial attorneys. The juxtaposition of the proposed changes and Wheelers comments demonstrate the problem with the possible reforms. NEPA passed overwhelmingly in the House and unanimously in the Senate in 1970, and was signed into law by President Nixon. NEPAs most important provisions required federal agencies to assess the environmental impacts of a wide variety of federal and federally-supported actions prior to moving forward on (or funding) those actions. The idea behind requiring this process was to inculcate an environmental mindset in federal agencies that would lead them to either abandon or mitigate some of their most environmentally harmful activities. We note that NEPA is said to be the U.S. law most widely emulated by other countries. Agencies must perform an assessment of their action and then either assert that there will be no environmental impact, or prepare a much more detailed, judicially reviewable report on the impact to the environment. These reports -- including Environmental Impact Statements or Environmental Assessments or declarations of exemption -- must be made available for public input and its inadequacy can be challenged in federal court. The actions affected by this requirement range from building dams, to the construction of the Keystone pipeline to the decision to allow the import of Beluga Whales. And NEPA has worked to improve the environment. Both of us have studied the effects of NEPA and one of us has written a book on the EIS process. There are a number of successful examples of EIS implementation but here are two that are particularly illustrative of the process working the way that drafters of the 1970 law imagined. First, shortly after NEPA was promulgated, a proposal was made for a major highway from central New Jersey to the New Jersey shore that would have disrupted a number of suburban and rural communities. The EIS itself and the process that followed persuaded then-Gov. Brendan Byrne to strongly oppose the project. What is especially noteworthy is that in a conversation Governor Byrne added that this process and tool prevented many badly conceived projects from being built because the agencies were unwilling to face the reality that analyses would identify the weaknesses of the proposals and communities would have an opportunity to view and use the information included in the EIS. Second, some projects seem like a good idea when first conceived but circumstances change. The reality that EISs take time to produce may lead to dropping the proposal because of these changing circumstances. A good example was the push to build a facility to import liquefied natural gas on a site that had been a massive steel mill at Sparrows Point, Maryland. By the time the EIS process was completed, the U.S. was a net importer of gas and oil, and the facility was not needed. The Trump Administration proposal is actually a collection of possible changes to the EIS process. If enacted, it will exclude some projects funded largely by private parties from the NEPA process. It attempts to preclude litigation from parties that did not comment on early stages of the EIS. It also directs agencies to minimize their consideration of the cumulative impacts of their work, a provision that appears directly intended to eliminate consideration of climate change in EISs. The EIS process is far from perfect. Critics of it are not wrong when they assert that it takes far too long, and the reports sometimes are excessive in order to avoid successful court challenge. Projects can be held up in litigation for years that are eventually approved. Review by courts has given agencies incentives to produce EISs that run into the thousands of pages and are incomprehensible to all but the most knowledgeable and dedicated parties. In other words, the way we assess the environmental impact of federal projects, permits, and regulations, is ripe for updating and improvement. But there is no reason to believe that the Trump Administration is capable of an objective, balanced assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the EIS process. After all, this is an administration that has in policy after policy moved to deregulate and wither away environmental protection, and has undermined the use of science in policy formation. Can we expect an administration whose EPA administrator, the individual who is supposed to put safeguarding the environment as his top priority, describes NEPA as a welfare program for lawyers to judge how to incorporate climate change concerns into environmental assessment? Can we expect objective analysis of any environmental policy questions? The good news for environmental advocates is that the recent proposal is unlikely to become law. Legal experts have pointed out that Trumps Council on Environmental Quality doesnt have the authority to tell courts what agencies should and shouldnt consider in their EISs. And the regulation itself is unlikely to survive legal scrutiny. After all, in the regulatory arena, the Trump Administration is a startling four out of 70 in defending their deregulatory initiatives in court. At some point in the near future, once this effort likely fails, hopefully a new administration will take a look at the NEPA process and suggest common sense reform. In doing so, perhaps they will follow the model laid out by NEPA itself. They will lay out options for reform. They will hold meaningful dialogues with all parties affected by government actions. And then they will come to a reasoned decision. Such a process is likely to produce a proposal that is very different than the one issued by the Trump Administration. Stuart Shapiro is the associate dean of faculty at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Michael Greenberg is a distinguished professor at the Bloustein School. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/27/2020 -- According to the new market research report "Smart Container Market by Offering (Hardware, Software, and Services), Technology (GPS, Cellular, BLE, LoRa WAN), Vertical (Food & Beverages, Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, Oil & Gas), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2024", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Smart Container Market is estimated to grow from USD 2.6 billion in 2019 and projected to reach USD 5.7 billion by 2024; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.9% from 2019 to 2024. The most significant factor driving the growth of this market is the rise in the adoption of IoT connected devices by major shipping companies. This trend is gaining momentum, as a large amount of data is collected during the entire transportation process, from which various important insights can be extracted. With these insights, issues can be pinpointed, downtime can be reduced, and procedures can be streamlined, thereby improving operational efficiency in the maritime industry. A few other significant factors driving the growth of the smart container market are the need for enhancing operational efficiency and safety in the shipping industry and growing concerns regarding the wastage of food and medical products due to temperature deviation. Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=194648249 "Hardware to hold the largest size of the smart container market during the forecast period." The smart container market for hardware components used in smart container solutions is expected to hold the largest market size since a wide variety of hardware components with varying prices are deployed to conduct container monitoring and tracking applications. Smart container solutions require a lot of sensors and other hardware components for effective network monitoring, and a few of these hardware components can be comparatively expensive. "Smart container market for pharmaceutical vertical to grow at the highest CAGR from 2019 to 2024." The smart container market for the pharmaceutical vertical is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This high growth is mainly due to the rising concerns of avoiding the losses caused during the transportation of pharmaceutical products. The need for effective monitoring solutions for vaccine transportation activities to maintain the potency of vaccines would drive the smart container market for the pharmaceutical industry. "Europe held the major share of the smart container market in 2018." According to the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA), European shipowners control over 40% of the worlds merchant fleet and operate shipping services around the world. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Europe is the second-largest region in terms of container port volumes. In 2017, it accounted for 16% of the total world container port volumes. Due to these major driving factors, the smart container market share of Europe is the highest among all regions. Europe held major market share in 2018 and is expected to continue dominating the smart container market during the forecast period. This is mainly due to the presence of major shipping companies in Europe, such as Maersk, CMA CGM, Hamburg Sud, and MSC, that demand for smart shipping container solutions. Browse in-depth TOC on "Smart Container Market" 121 Tables 43 Figures 164 Pages Enquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=194648249 Major players in the smart container market are Orbcomm (US), Smart Containers Group AG (Switzerland), Traxens (France), Globe Tracker (Denmark), and Nexiot AG (Switzerland). Other players operating in smart container market include Phillips Connect Technologies (Division of Phillips Industries) (US), SeaLand (Maersk) (Denmark), Robert Bosch Manufacturing Solutions (Robert Bosch GmbH) (Germany), Ambrosus (Switzerland), and ZillionSource Technologies Co., Ltd. (Cisco) (China) Please Explore Relevant Reports: Micro-Location Technology Market by Application (Asset Management, Proximity Marketing), Technology (BLE, UWB, Wi-Fi, RFID), Offering, Vertical (Retail and Hospitality, Healthcare, Industrial, Transportation, Sports), & Geography - Global Forecast to 2024 Cold Chain Monitoring Market by Component (Hardware (Sensors and Data Loggers) and Software), Application (Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Food & Beverages, and Chemicals), Logistics (Storage and Transportation), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com WASHINGTON - Sensational revelations from President Donald Trump's former national security adviser threatened to upend the Senate impeachment trial Monday, increasing the chances that senators would vote to allow witnesses in a perilous development for the White House. Inside the Senate chamber as the trial entered its second week, Trump's lawyers pushed forward with their defense of the president, largely ignoring the uproar caused by leaked details from a book by former national security adviser John Bolton. As part of their defense, they pivoted into a sharp line of attack on former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter over their involvement in Ukraine. But outside the chamber, GOP senators caught unaware by the Bolton news grappled with divisions in their ranks and fresh calls from a small group of moderates who want to hear from Bolton before the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history comes to a close. Details that became public Sunday from Bolton's unpublished book manuscript suggest that he could provide direct evidence that Trump sought to deny security assistance to Ukraine until Kyiv announced investigations into political opponents, including the Bidens. That linkage is at the heart of House Democrats' case that Trump abused his power in holding up the Ukraine aid for his personal political benefit and then obstructed Congress's subsequent investigation. "I think it's increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton," Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Monday, repeatedly calling Bolton's testimony "relevant." "It's important to be able to hear from John Bolton, for us to be able to make an impartial judgment." Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, another key moderate, said the reports about Bolton's unpublished manuscript "strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues." At least four Republicans would have to join with all Democrats for a vote to call witnesses to succeed, an outcome Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has sought to avoid because of the potential for the trial to devolve into a drawn-out mess. Trump himself has vehemently denied political motivation in stalling the Ukraine aid. He has insisted that he never told Bolton that he was holding up the nearly $400 million in aid to force Kyiv to announce political investigations, suggesting that if Bolton said otherwise, it was only to sell books. Trump's attorneys devoted some of their floor time Monday to arguing that Trump acted appropriately in delaying the security aid, and that he did so because of his concerns about corruption in Ukraine and whether other nations were doing their fair share in providing security support for Ukraine. The president's defense team referenced the Bolton news obliquely shortly after the impeachment trial opened at 1 p.m., with Chief Justice John Roberts presiding and the sergeant-at-arms intoning his customary order for senators to stay silent "on pain of imprisonment." "We deal with transcript evidence, we deal with publicly available information," said Trump attorney Jay Sekulow. "We do not deal with speculation, allegations that are not based on evidentiary standards at all." A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy, confirmed that Sekulow's comments were a reference to the Bolton news. Hours later, as constitutional-law professor Alan Dershowitz delivered the final arguments of the day, he briefly referenced the Bolton news as he argued that the charges against Trump do not constitute impeachable offenses. "Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense," he said. The signs of confusion among Senate Republicans over the Bolton revelations emerged early Monday at a news conference that was originally billed to have several Republicans but that dwindled to just Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana and John Barrasso of Wyoming. Both senators said Trump remained on track to be acquitted, but while Barrasso dismissed the Bolton news as a "so-called blockbuster report" that contained "selective leaks," Braun acknowledged its potency. "I think what it does is, it's taken an already hot topic and added some fuel to the fire," Braun said. Later, in a further sign of disunity, the newest Republican senator, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, who was appointed last month, criticized Romney on Twitter. Loeffler, who has been a major donor and supporter for Romney in the past, contended Monday that he wanted to "appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @realDonaldTrump during their 15 minutes of fame." Much of the Republican lunch that preceded Monday's trial proceedings centered on the question of witnesses, according to senators and other officials directly familiar with the meeting. The outcome of the witness vote in coming days could determine whether the trial is over by week's end or extends into an uncertain future. Romney spoke about the need to call additional witnesses, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., also raised concerns. Cassidy noted that the White House has argued that there were no direct witnesses to any allegation of a quid pro quo, but that now a potential direct witness in the form of Bolton has emerged, according to an official with direct knowledge of the lunch who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussion. Cassidy declined to comment about his remarks. Democrats say calling witnesses is necessary for a complete trial, especially since Republicans have accused Democrats of relying on hearsay. In addition to Bolton, Democrats would like to hear from acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and several other officials. "We want Bolton. We want Mulvaney. They heard from the president," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. One conservative senator, Pat Toomey, R-Pa., has spoken with Romney and other colleagues in recent days about possibly summoning two witnesses to the trial, one called by Republicans and one by Democrats, according to three Republican officials who spoke about the private discussions on the condition of anonymity. Toomey has argued that a "one-for-one" arrangement could force Democrats to accept a Republican witness against their wishes or else risk having Republicans move ahead to acquit Trump, the officials said. However the question of witnesses is resolved, there remains little doubt that Trump will be acquitted in the end. Although it would take only a simple majority vote to call witnesses, a two-thirds vote is required for conviction. As the debate over Bolton's testimony and the potential need to call witnesses raged outside the Senate on Monday, Trump's legal team inside the chamber delivered on its promise to turn its attention to Hunter Biden, and whether his role on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma gave the president good reason to ask his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate. Trump made that request in a July 25 phone call. Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who is a member of Trump's defense team, laid out a detailed chronology of Hunter Biden's five years on the board and how they dovetailed with the official actions of his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, in Ukraine, as well as the campaign to oust former prosecutor general Viktor Shokin over corruption allegations. Bondi relied heavily on illustrating the concurrent timeline of events, noting how many days transpired between Shokin's ouster and the elder Biden's announcements that the United States would provide security assistance to Ukraine. She used several clips from mainstream newspapers and television networks about Hunter Biden's Burisma connections to reinforce the idea that there was legitimate reason to scrutinize his hefty monthly paycheck, and played video clips from witnesses in the impeachment inquiry who testified that they found Hunter Biden's role on the Burisma board troubling. Joe Biden's actions with regard to Shokin were in line with official U.S. and European policy objectives. And though Bondi provided no proof that Joe Biden's actions regarding Ukraine were influenced by trying to help his son, that did not seem to be the ultimate goal of raising questions about the motivations behind the Bidens' activities. "All we are saying is that there was a basis to talk about this, to raise this issue," Bondi said at the close of her presentation. As Joe Biden's name was invoked on the Senate floor, he was campaigning in Iowa, where Democratic voters will caucus next week. Biden is a front-runner in the Democratic primary field, which Democrats say explains Trump's desire for Ukraine to announce investigations targeting him and his family. A Biden campaign spokesman released a statement deriding Bondi's remarks as a discredited "conspiracy theory." For members of the president's legal team, it was the second day of their defense, after they began Saturday with an abbreviated two-hour summary. Each side is allowed 24 hours to present its case, and the House Democratic impeachment managers took nearly all their allotted time last week, repeatedly pushing the trial late into the night, to the irritation of some GOP senators. Trump's team has promised to be more brief, although its presentation was continuing into the evening hours Monday and was expected to resume Tuesday. Last week, Trump's attorneys had to sit quietly and watch while the House Democratic managers delivered their arguments, but on Monday the roles were reversed and the seven House managers sat quietly looking on as one member of Trump's defense team after another rose to address aspects of the proceedings. The first Trump lawyer to speak at length was Kenneth Starr, the former independent counsel whose expansive investigation of Bill Clinton led to Clinton's impeachment by the House in 1998 and subsequent acquittal by the Senate. Starr talked about the constitutional basis for the impeachment process, contending that it is at risk of being abused unless today's Senate acts to stop it. Many Democrats viewed the presentation as the height of hypocrisy. "We are living in what I think can aptly be described as the age of impeachment," Starr said. ". . . Impeachment has now been normalized." - - - The Washington Post's Karoun Demirjian, Robert Costa, Rachael Bade, John Wagner, Elise Viebeck and Mike DeBonis contributed to this report. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 08:42:40|Editor: yhy Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's railway police have boosted security measures at railway stations across the country for the prevention and control of the pneumonia outbreak caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Apart from stepping up patrol and check efforts, railway police officers aided in work related to installing green and quarantine inspection facilities and measuring passengers' body temperatures, the railway public security bureau under the Ministry of Public Security said Monday. The railway police have been helping curb the pneumonia outbreak via intensified checks over live poultry and other animals and the detection of suspected novel coronavirus pneumonia cases and close contact on trains. Arrangements have been in place to ensure that railway police officers on duty are equipped with protective wear, the bureau said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Ilkin Seyfaddini Trend: Representatives of the international Cotton Campaign coalition will be visiting Uzbekistan for assessing the results of the 2019 cotton harvest in the country, Trend reported via Uzbek media. The Cotton Campaign is a global coalition of human rights, labor, investor and business organizations dedicated to eradicating child labor and forced labor in cotton production of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The delegation will stay in Uzbekistan from January 29 through February 6, 2020. Among its participants are members of Responsible Purchasers Network, Human Rights Watch, Uzbek-German Forum on Human Rights (UGF). Representatives of the coalition will meet with the leadership of the Ministries of Labour, Agriculture, Justice, Investment and Foreign Trade, as well as Uztextilprom Association, Confederation of Employers and Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan. A separate meeting is planned with National Commission for combating human trafficking and forced labor. Human rights activists intend to discuss the results of last year's cotton harvest and the effectiveness of measures taken to eliminate forced labor, in particular the process of implementing road maps in this area, said the Uzbek Foreign Ministry. [The stream is slated to start at 11:15 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] Top U.S. health officials and infectious disease specialists have scheduled a press conference Tuesday morning on the coronavirus outbreak. The briefing, hosted by U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar, is scheduled to start at 11:15 a.m. ET at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield will also speak, as well as representatives from the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The total number of cases of the coronavirus has now reached 4,682 worldwide with 106 deaths in China, Chinese health authorities said Tuesday. The majority of the cases are in mainland China, where local authorities have quarantined at least 10 major cities. Multiple cases of the virus have been confirmed in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, France and the United States. Cambodia, Canada, Germany, Nepal and Sri Lanka have each reported one case. German officials confirmed Tuesday what is believed to be the first person-to-person transmission of the infection outside of China. CDC officials said Monday that the number of "patients under investigation" in the U.S. has almost doubled since Thursday to a total of 110 across 26 states. The disease is not spreading through human-to-human contact in the U.S. and the risk to the public right now is still considered low, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said Monday. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. The Queen has reached a new milestone this week, after becoming the world's fifth longest reigning monarch. Her Majesty, 93, surpassed 19th century Emperor of Austria Franz Joseph I on Monday - with her stint on the throne so far lasting 67 years and 356 days. Franz Joseph I, who ruled the Austrian, and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1848 to 1916, reigned for 67 years and 355 days. The Queen (pictured in Sandringham on Sunday) has reached a new special milestone this week, after becoming the world's fifth longest reigning monarch The record joins the Queen's many other accolades - including her title as the longest-living reigning monarch. She also officially became the longest-reigning British monarch in September 2015, surpassing her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria. The longest-reigning monarchs 1. Louis XIV of France (reigned from 14 May 1643 to 1 September 1715) 2. Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand (reigned from 9 June 1946 to 13 October 2016) 3. Johann II of Liechtenstein (reigned from 12 November 1858 to 11 February 1929) 4. K'inich Janaab Pakal (reigned from 29 July 615 to 31 August 683) 5. Queen Elizabeth II (reigned from 6 February 1952) Advertisement The Queens new milestone was first pointed out by an academic via social media on Sunday. Adrian Hilton, a lecturer in politics, philosophy and political theology, took to Twitter to announce the news. He noted that the Queen - who officially started her reign on 6 February 1952 - had moved up to the fifth spot on the list of the worlds longest reigning monarchs. Mr Hilton tweeted a screenshot of the Wikipedia lead table with the accompanying caption: Just to say, today the Queen moved up a notch in the table of the worlds longest reigns, surpassing that of Franz Joseph I. God Save the Queen. Just ahead of the British monarch is K'inich Janaab Pakal, who was one of the most famous seventh-century Mayan rulers. Her Majesty, 93, surpassed 19th century Emperor of Austria Franz Joseph I (pictured) on Monday - with her stint on the throne so far lasting 67 years and 356 days The Queens new milestone was first pointed out by an academic via social media on Sunday. Adrian Hilton, a lecturer in politics, philosophy and political theology, took to Twitter to announce the news (above) In third place is Johann II of Liechtenstein, who ruled from 1858 and 1929, followed by Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. King Bhumibol reigned from 1946 until his death in October 2016 and was the world's longest living reigning monarch before the Queen. Holding on to the top spot is Louis XIV of France, with an impressive 72-year and 110-day reign. Known as Louis the Great, the French monarch became King at the age of four following the death of his father Louis XIII, and ruled from 14 May 1643 to 1 September 1715. Social media users were quick to congratulate the Queen on her new position on the list, and for reigning with 'dignity, duty and grace' Social media users were quick to congratulate the Queen on her new position on the list, and for reigning with 'dignity, duty and grace'. One person wrote: 'Would be well worthy of the top spot too! Our Queen Elizabeth II has reigned with dignity, duty and grace.' Another said: 'Go on Liz!', while a third royal enthusiast added: 'Long may she reign!' The list shown by Mr Hilton is thought to mention only monarchs of states that were internationally sovereign for most of their reign. Three and a half years have passed since I wrote the column whose headline is reprinted further down this page. Just a few days after the referendum result, it described my astonishment at waking to find that, against all odds, the Leave side had won the most momentous vote for decades. It felt bizarre, unreal. Straight away I felt a certain trepidation, a sense that whatever else this was, it was only the beginning of the process of disengagement from the EU. The ball was rolling; but the job was far from done. Indeed, as I observed then: Triumphalism was the last thing on my mind. Even so, there was certainly a sense of satisfaction that the people had been given a voice. A growing expectation, too to borrow a phrase that we would get Brexit done. That within a few months, agreements could be struck with our European partners, and the parties at Westminster would come together to honour the result, as theyd promised they would. This was democracy in action. Wasnt it? Sarah Vine pictured with her husband Michael Gove walking around London in June 2016 Well, Britain is finally leaving the EU on Friday. But by my calculation, it will be fully 1,317 days after the vote. And what a very long 1,317 days its been. I should, by rights, have the champagne on ice. After all, not only is it what my husband campaigned so hard for and what hes always believed in, its also what the majority in this country voted for. To see the result of that democratic vote finally honoured, in spite of such determined efforts to undermine it, is, in many ways, a victory in itself. For so long it seemed that the will of the people would be thwarted by a Remain establishment, both here and in Brussels, that was simply too powerful to resist. That democracy has at last prevailed feels both miraculous and just. And yet, as I sit here contemplating the beginning of the end to this seemingly endless journey, I feel remarkably sober. No feelings of victory, pride, elation. I dont much care if Big Ben bongs, or if there are fireworks over the White Cliffs. And no, there is still no triumphalism in my heart. If I feel anything at all, its just a huge sense of relief that at last, finally, the country can move on from the political quagmire of the past years and months. The rest, if Im honest, is a bit numb. Quite why this should be I cannot precisely say. Perhaps its just that, having journeyed so long towards a destination through such treacherous terrain, the prospect of imminent arrival inevitably feels anticlimactic. But its more than that. I think, like many Leave voters the length and breadth of the country, I have found the hatred and vitriol of the past few years ultimately very brutalising. Sarah Vine's husband Michael Gove at a Joint Ministerial Committee meeting in Cardiff There is something soul-destroying about being characterised as something you are not, and there is no question that in their efforts to overturn the result of the vote, the Remain side has shown no hesitation in defaming the character and motivation of anyone who dared, in their eyes, to defy their righteous superiority. We Leavers have been accused of innumerable crimes, cast as racist, short-sighted, xenophobic and, above all, thick and uneducated. Weve been compared to the Nazis, been blamed for the actions of every lunatic extremist, accused of lying not to mention held responsible for every stock market fluctuation (downwards, naturally) or passing economic squall. Politicians, celebrities, the media and, of course, all-powerful, divisive Twitter, have demonised every one of the 17.4 million British voters who dared to express their opinion, who refused to do as they were told and opt, like good little boys and girls, for a status quo that was slowly but surely sucking the life out of so many communities. We've had eggs thrown at windows, even death threats Of course, this is what happens when you dare to challenge, when you take on the vested interests of banks and institutions, of politicians and powerbrokers. When you try to break a monopoly, the monopoly will try to break you. But there is a difference between knowing that in the abstract, and experiencing it head-on. That is why I have such extraordinary respect for the courage of the British people. For their clear-sighted ability to stick, unwaveringly, to their decision to leave and to reiterate that choice so decisively in Decembers general election. For their sheer, admirable, belligerent defiance of authority, for their capacity to resist intimidation and litigation, ridicule and opprobrium and to stand up to an institution, the EU, that has ultimately proven, in the words and actions of people such as Michel Barnier and vitriolic Donald Tusk, to be all the things we feared: arrogant, entitled, bent on self-preservation at all costs. But Im glad they did. Not just because it makes so many of the personal and public sacrifices made by my husband for the cause he has always believed in finally worthwhile. But also because, for my part, I am exhausted. I just want the shouting to stop. Sarah Vine writes that when the UK finally leaves the EU this week it will be a victory When it comes to the issue that has in many ways defined me and my familys existence for the past three years and more, I can honestly say I have no fight left. Brexit has, in the end, defeated me. Its not just the death threats, the insults, the shouts in the street, the eggs thrown at our windows, the dirt left on the doorstep; its not just seeing my husband go through a thousand agonies, or having my kids dragged into it all through no choice or fault of their own. Its the attacks in print from colleagues, the slurs from former friends, having my reputation shredded and being characterised as a scheming, manipulative Lady Macbeth figure. And, of course, losing so many old and dear friends along the way. Like me, some have lost old friends forever The fact is that being on the winning side in the referendum hasnt felt like a victory at all even the celebrations in the week of the vote itself were merely a blip in the stream of abuse directed towards Brexiteers of all stripes. And yes, its taken its toll. Perhaps if I were a better, stronger, more intelligent person, none of these things would haunt me. But they do, and there is no point in pretending: I am changed. Where once I was the life and soul of any party, now I struggle to be in a room of more than two or three people. Most nights you will find me in bed by 10.30pm, sleeping for long periods being one of the very few ways I can find of silencing my anxiety. Where once my kitchen was a permanent hub of activity, a place where I would whip up a meal for unexpected visitors at the drop of a hat, something or other always on the boil, now I cook only for close family. I crave solitude and simplicity in a way that no one who has ever known me can really understand. Im not entirely sure I do either. In order to cope, I have had to shrink my world to more manageable proportions. I can almost count on the fingers of one hand those I trust, the people who have succeeded in seeing beyond the gossip and the headlines to the person I always was and still am. Sarah Vine's husband Michael Gove pictured arriving at Downing Street this month To these people I will always be unfailingly true. If I am in any way sane, it is largely thanks to them. No doubt there will be many who say this is no more than I deserve. No doubt the very words on these pages will be fashioned into knives to be thrown back at me. But they neednt waste their time. The truth is that, after so many years of being told what an unutterable piece of effluent I am, part of me believes them. That, Im afraid, is the nature of the beast. But while in many ways very painful, this change has not all been bad. If Brexit was all about taking back control of our laws and borders, it has also prompted a kind of taking back control of myself. Its almost as though, unable to influence the way other people see me I have turned my efforts inwards, altering what is possible. This internal focus has finally enabled me to lose the weight that Ive been struggling to ditch for years. I drink less, eat less, move more. And I spend all the spare time I have with my family, whose wellbeing and happiness is more than ever my focus. In particular I am so proud of the way our children have navigated through this storm, and of the feisty, free-thinking individuals they are becoming, in spite of what theyve had to endure. At its essence, the choice of whether to leave or remain in the EU was a political one that became, catastrophically for both millions of people and the country itself, intensely personal. All of us have, to a greater or lesser extent, felt its effects. All of us, I suspect, have felt tensions within our extended families over this benighted issue. Some people will, like me, have fallen out for ever with old friends. Others will simply have stopped calling those they know will disdain their views. None of those things seemed possible when I wrote that column three and a half years ago. I couldnt conceive of the rancour that would envelop Westminster and the country at large. So was it all worth it? Well, my hope for the future outside the EU is that Britain can at last begin to heal the rift caused by the referendum. As my own experience has taught me, while certain things may have changed for good, there is always a fresh and positive way forward to be found. So, at last, heres to Brexit. Thank goodness its all over . . . for now. NEW YORK (JTA)For centuries, anti-Semites have fetishized Jewish appearance. Using tedious racist tropesbe it smell, hooked noses, curly hair or traditional garbanti-Semites label Jews as grotesque and have constructed a particular Jewish appearance in an attempt to otherize and oppress Jews. An all too personal reminder of this demonization occurred this past summer when we received notification that Maital was among a slew of Jewish professionals, mostly women, pictured on a white nationalist, anti-Semitic website mocking how Jews look and calling them ugly. The website featured many Jewish professionals who do not wear Jewishly identifiable garb but had ethnic features which have been coded as Jewish. One trait that many of the women on the site had in commonMaital includedwas their dark, curly hair. Prominent historian Yosef Hayyim Yerushalmi traces the history of anti-Semitism linked to the perceived physical appearance of Jews in Assimilation and Racial Anti-Semitism: The Iberian and the German Models: The more vulgar forms of medieval anti-Semitism did express themselves more than occasionally in sheer physical termsthe notion of a distinct Jewish odor...[or that] Jewish descendants of each of the tribes of ancient Israel are born with physical defects. In The Jews Body, the authoritative book on the subject, the American cultural historian, Sander Gilman, quotes Moses Hess from the late 19th century, Jewish noses cannot be reformed, nor black, Jewish, curly hair be turned through baptism or combing into smooth hair. For anti-Semites, hooked noses or curly hair become metonymy for a repellent Jewish demonic character. These anti-Semitic tropes continue animating contemporary racial anti-Semitism. This year, for example, a historic Belgian carnival featured a float representing two Orthodox Jews with payot, hooked noses and surrounded by rats and bags of money (the carnival just lost its status on the UNESCOs Intangible Cultural Heritage list as a result.) These negative stereotypes have impacted our Jewish psyche and spawned a self-consciousness and communal shame about Jewish looks. If our intention is to be Jewish and visibly proud of it, we must on the one hand celebrate the many varied Jewish ways of presenting, and on the other, contest the essentialist notion of Jewish ethnic looks. It seems outrageous that in this day and age the idea of Jewish looks continues to existdespite overwhelming Jewish diversityand be demonized. Jews can look as different from each other as any two humans. Curly hair, like many characteristics, is not a universal Jewish trait, nor particular to Jews, nor inherently unattractive. Sadly, our own community has subconsciously internalized some of these harmful tropes. This has resulted in self-criticism and shame, as well as a narrow and exclusionary understanding of what Jews look like. All Jews should revel in their culture and appearance. As Jewish Ashkenazi women who proudly wear our thick dark curls in their natural glory, we have come to recognize that this choice generates anxiety in Jewish spaces. We both regularly receive unsolicited advice from peers: Why dont you straighten your hair? You would look so different! (aka better). In these comments, we hear a desire for Jewish women to adhere to the white standard of beauty privileged in our society, which mandates sleek straight hair. When a Jewish womens organization recently announced their top twelve leaders of the year, we were not surprised to scroll down a page of images of women with straight hair. This is the preferred professional look. This is common in Jewish spaces, and its not just about aesthetics. I have to tell my curly-haired friends that this is a safe place to work, one colleague observed after attending a staff event at Hartman filled with women who had not flat ironed their hair into submission. We appreciated the recent article in Tablet describing the trend in Israel of embracing natural hair positivity, ie, curls. It is a good start for hair stylists to learn how to cut and manage curly hair. But we need to go farther. We must embrace individuals sporting naturally curly hair or kippot or payot as acceptably groomed and professionaland the full range of Jewish ethnic, racial and denominational diversity as just that, Jewish. We know its a privilege that curly-haired women can straighten their hair to fit in or pass, while others cannot change their physical features. Straightening, coloring, and updos can also be fun, and women should delight in the many options that we have. But lets make sure we are doing it because we want to, not because we are subconsciously internalizing derisive tropes about Jews. Jewish looks have been demonized to justify bullying, shaming, marginalizing or even harming Jews. Within our own communities, these stereotypes have resulted in a self-mocking shame of looking too Jewishand simultaneously, the exclusion of Jews who dont look Jewish enough. We can combat these tropes by resisting our own impulse to correct, erase or otherwise hide the actual or perceived markers of our identity, embracing the full diversity of the Jewish community, and celebrating the unique and diverse beauty of a people long derided. Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield is executive vice president at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. Maital Friedman is Muslim Leadership Initiative co-director, along with Yossi Klein Halevi and Imam Abdullah Antepli. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media, or Heritage Florida Jewish News. Sony will launch a new set of portable high-grade picture monitors from its TRIMASTER range at this years BSC Expo in London. Both the 24 and 18.4 models will be showcased on the Sony stand. The PVM-X2400 (24) and the PVM-X1800 (18.4) monitors offer ultra-high definition with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and a brightness of all-white luminance of 1000 cd/m2. Their wide colour gamut matches the BVM-HX310 TRIMASTER HX master monitor but the new monitors are smaller and more portable. Sony is aiming the monitors at expanding footprints in 4K HDR production including applications such as on-set monitoring, non-linear video editing, studio wall monitoring, rack-mount monitoring of OB trucks or machine rooms. The monitors also feature new Black Detail High/Mid/Low, which helps maintain accurate colour reproduction by reducing the brightness of the backlight in three steps to reproduce the correct colours and gradations in low-luminance areas. Another new function, Dynamic Contrast Drive, dynamically changes backlight luminance to adapt to each scene or frame when transferring images from PVM-X2400/X1800 to existing Sony OLED monitors. This functionality allows filmmakers to check the highlight and low light balance of the contents with both bright and dark scenes. We are excited to return to BSC this year and launch our two new picture monitors at the show. At Sony, we always work closely with our partners, customers and the wider industry to offer solutions that help filmmakers overcome the real-life production challenges they face on set or in the editing room. Through the launch of these new monitors, Sony is now able to offer its customers an even wider range of compact 4K HDR monitors that provide reliable and faithful colour matching from start to finish, explained Daniel Dubreuil, Senior Product Manager at Sony Professional Solutions Europe. Here are Sonys key features of the new reference monitors: TRIMASTER technology offering precise greyscale and accurate colour reproduction, achieving 100% colour gamut coverage of the industry-leading BVM-HX310 master monitor 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and HDR capabilities New Black Detail High/Mid/Low to reproduce the correct colours and gradations in low-luminance areas Dynamic contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1 by Dynamic Contrast Drive, a new backlight driving system that dynamically changes the backlight luminance to adapt for each frame of a scene 4K/HD scopes with HDR scales that are Waveform/Vector Quad View display and User 3D LUT functionality 12G/6G/3G/HD-SDI with auto configuration The new monitors will be available in July 2020. Share this story File image Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) from the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency has said that Shaheen Bagh protesters on a sit-in against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at New Delhi's Shaheen Bagh will be cleared in an hour if his party comes to power in the national capital. Verma further made a sensational accusation that they (protesters) will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters. The BJP parliamentarian also said that all mosques built on government land would be demolished if the people of Delhi vote his party to power. "This is not just another election. It is an election to decide the unity of a nation. If the BJP comes to power on February 11, you will not find a single protester within an hour. And within a month, we will not spare a single mosque built on government land, he said. Talking about his remarks to news ANI, he said, "Lakhs of people have gathered there. That fire could reach the houses of Delhi at any time; it could reach our houses. The people of Delhi need to think through their decision. These people will enter your houses, they will pick up your sisters and daughters, rape them and kill them. Today, there is time. Tomorrow Modi ji and Amit Shah will not come to save you. Protesters who have gathered at Shaheen Bagh area in New Delhi for more than a month now, are primarily women and kids. The peaceful sit-in is against CAA which expedites the process of granting to citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from three neighbouring countries Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Delhi heads to polling on February 8. Counting of votes will happen on February 11. Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com. Protests took place across various cities calling for the release of a prominent rights activist. Islamabad, Pakistan Police in Pakistan have detained a member of parliament and at least 24 others at a demonstration calling for the release of a prominent Pakistani rights activist, a further step in its crackdown on the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) rights group. On Tuesday, thousands took to streets across Pakistan to protest the arrest of activist Manzoor Pashteen who accuses the countrys military of human rights abuses. Witnesses said police scuffled with protesters in the capital, Islamabad, when they attempted to lead a short march following speeches at the demonstration. More: The police just sort of attacked the protesters, said Khushal Khan Khattak, a protester. I ran towards my father thinking he was hurt. He was fine. I saw them dragging away Mohsin [Dawar]. Dawar, a prominent PTM leader, is a member of Pakistans lower house of parliament. He was elected from the northwestern North Waziristan district. Video footage from the protest showed him being dragged by the police and detained in a police vehicle. Other prominent activists to be arrested included Ammar Rashid, the provincial leader of the leftist Awami Workers Party (AWP), and Ismat Shahjahan, another AWP leader. Police confirmed to Al Jazeera that at least 25 protesters were detained but provided no further details. Protest leaders who managed to escape claimed the police used force to round up demonstrators. They were handling people roughly [and] they were forcibly putting them into the vans, said Afrasiab Khattak, a former senator who addressed the protest before the police action. Similar protests in Karachi, Pakistans largest city, and Lahore drew hundreds of demonstrators and concluded peacefully on Tuesday. Charges of sedition The demonstrators main demand was the release of Pashteen, who was arrested in a midnight raid on Monday by police in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Pashteen is charged with committing sedition and criminal conspiracy during a speech at a PTM rally in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan earlier this month. 180418080944584 On Monday, a Peshawar court rejected his application for bail and ordered he be transferred to Dera Ismail Khan. The PTM shot to prominence in 2018, when it championed the cause of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young garment trader who was shot dead by police who claimed he was a fighter allied with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or IS). Subsequent investigations revealed no such links. The PTMs primary demands centre around putting an end to enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and heavy-handed security policies in the countrys northwest, where the military has fought the Pakistani Taliban for years. Since last year, the PTM has faced increasing restrictions on its activities. Coverage of the groups protests faces an almost blanket ban in Pakistans local press, and leaders have routinely been accused of sedition and arrested. In May, a clash between PTM supporters and the military at a checkpoint in North Waziristan saw at least three protesters killed and several other people including at least five soldiers injured. Dawar, the PTM leader and member of parliament, and Ali Wazir, another PTM leader and elected member of parliament, were arrested in connection with that attack and kept in custody for more than three months. Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras digital correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim. Bengaluru, Jan 28 : Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth visited Karnataka's Bandipur Tiger Reserve to shoot an episode for Discovery channel's popular programme 'Man vs Wild' with host Bear Grylls, an official said on Tuesday. "We gave permission for 6-8 hours to Discovery Channel to shoot in Bandipur Tiger Reserve," T. Balachandra, the reserve's director and conservator of forests, told IANS. He said the one-day shoot began at 11 a.m. on Tuesday and ended by 4 p.m. "They paid as per the norms. Per day they have to pay documentary fee, vehicle fee and others. For four days, they paid Rs 10 lakh," Balachandra said. Balachandra said Rajinikanth spent five hours in the forest and will not return as his shoot was only for one day. Bandipur Tiger Reserve, an 874 sq km national park, was formed by integrating most of the forest areas of erstwhile Venugopala Wildlife Park established in 1941, and later enlarged to its current state in Chamarajanagar district, about 220 km southwest of Bengaluru. The tiger reserve lists 28 species of mammals to be present in the forest, including royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, common leopard, bonnet macaque, Indian pipestrelle and barking deer, among others. Meanwhile, the state's chief wildlife warden Sanjay Mohan said that this was not the first time a Discovery Channel documentary was shot in the reserve. "Lot of documentaries were shot in Bandipur. I have urged Discovery Channel that they must show the efforts being made by the Karnataka forest department day and night in saving the forest wildlife," Mohan told IANS. The chief wildlife warden is looking forward to a good name for the tiger reserve and recognition to the forest staff with this programme. In August 2019, Grylls had hosted Prime Minister Modi in the show, which was shot at the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand in February last year. In 'Man vs Wild', former British serviceman Grylls showcases survival strategies in extreme challenging conditions in the most remote locations around the world. Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston It's pretty incredible what a difference a year can make. At this time last year, cannabis stocks were flying high, and the expectation had been that most brand-name companies would push toward recurring profitability by the end of the year. Of course, hindsight being what it is, we know this didn't happen. High tax rates in select U.S. states, persistent supply issues in Canada, and a resilient black market weighed heavily on the cannabis industry in 2019 and pushed a number of popular pot stocks to two-year lows. However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Canadian weed sales just hit a monthly milestone Late last week, Statistics Canada released its monthly retail trade sales data for November. Since the marijuana industry is tightly regulated, but nonetheless legal, licensed cannabis store data is included in this monthly report. Aside from the fact that cannabis sales hit a new all-time high in November -- something not unexpected given that the Canadian pot industry is still ramping up -- what really stood out is that monthly sales finally eclipsed $100 million (that's U.S. dollars). Here's a snapshot of how licensed cannabis store sales have progressed since adult-use weed hit dispensary shelves on Oct. 17, 2018 (data is reported in Canadian dollars (CA$), with parenthesis featuring U.S. dollar equivalency). October (2018): CA$53.68 million ($40.83 million) CA$53.68 million ($40.83 million) November (2018): CA$53.73 million ($40.87 million) CA$53.73 million ($40.87 million) December (2018): CA$57.34 million ($43.61 million) CA$57.34 million ($43.61 million) January: CA$54.88 million ($41.74 million) CA$54.88 million ($41.74 million) February: CA$51.66 million ($39.29 million) CA$51.66 million ($39.29 million) March: CA$60.94 million ($46.35 million) CA$60.94 million ($46.35 million) April: CA$74.58 million ($56.73 million) CA$74.58 million ($56.73 million) May: CA$85.81 million ($65.27 million) CA$85.81 million ($65.27 million) June: CA$91.46 million ($69.56 million) CA$91.46 million ($69.56 million) July: CA$107.36 million ($81.66 million) CA$107.36 million ($81.66 million) August: CA$125.95 million ($95.8 million) CA$125.95 million ($95.8 million) September: CA$122.93 million ($93.5 million) CA$122.93 million ($93.5 million) October: CA$128.98 million ($98.1 million) CA$128.98 million ($98.1 million) November: CA$135.75 million ($103.25 million) It took more than a year, but November featured more than $103 million in sales for Canada, a market that Wall Street foresees generating $5 billion in annual sales by 2024. As a whole, the Canadian marijuana market has generated $916.6 million in revenue since sales commenced on Oct. 17, 2018. This makes it very likely that Canada surpassed $1 billion in aggregate pot sales since launch in December, but we'll have to wait a month to confirm. Here's why Canadian cannabis sales could make a major leap forward in 2020 The hope, among both Wall Street and investors, is that this uptick in sales is really just the tip of the iceberg. Two key changes in the cannabis market are expected to improve consumer demand and relieve a lot of the supply bottlenecks that've hindered pot sales to this point. The first is the launch of high-margin derivative products, which kicked off in mid-December. Derivatives are non-dried flower products, such as vapes, edibles, infused beverages, topicals, and concentrates. Not only do derivatives offer a new means of consumption that doesn't, necessarily, require smoking cannabis, but they're significantly more attractive to a younger generation of users who have shown a greater willingness to try or buy these higher-margin consumption alternatives. According to investment bank Cowen Group, half of all U.S. pot sales are expected to be generated from derivatives, with dried flower and pre-rolled cannabis making up the other 43% and 7%, respectively. If these figures translate similarly in Canada, then the launch of derivatives should begin to put some pep in grower's step by midyear, or maybe even sooner. The other major catalyst is the long-awaited dispensary license reform being undertaken in Ontario, the country's largest province by population. Having previously worked with a lottery system, Ontario, home to 38% of Canada's residents, only opened 24 cannabis retail stores as of the one-year anniversary of recreational weed sales. This created few channels for legal product to reach consumers and allowed the black market to thrive. Moving forward, Ontario has plans to issue dispensary licenses in a more traditional fashion. Licenses should start being issued by no later than April, with the expectation of 20 (or more) stores opening each month. By year's end, provincial regulators hopes to have around 250 open locations, representing about a 10-fold increase from where it began the year. Marijuana stocks may not be so quick to benefit On the other side of the coin, while sales are expected to march higher in 2020, there's no guarantee that we're going to see an immediate benefit to pot stocks. While higher revenue and improved margins via the sale of derivatives is a good thing, there's no assurance that we'll see meaningful progress in the bottom lines of pot stocks, which is what matters most. For instance, Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) has been a highly popular marijuana stock to this point. It was touted as the leading producer, a company with the broadest international presence, and a practical shoo-in to land a brand-name partner given that it hired activist investors and billionaire Nelson Peltz as a strategic advisor. Yet, in recent months we've seen Aurora Cannabis put its Exeter greenhouse up for sale, as well as completely halt construction on its massive Aurora Nordic 2 project in Denmark and Aurora Sun campus in Alberta. What had been a steadfast prediction that called for at least 625,000 kilos of run-rate output by mid-2020 now looks to be no more than 225,000 kilos, at best. Aurora Cannabis is also encountering the same issue as Canopy Growth (NASDAQ:CGC) and Tilray -- namely, that expanding internationally isn't paying any immediate dividends. Despite Aurora, Canopy, and Tilray having a presence in 24, 16, and 12, respective countries outside of Canada, many of these medical marijuana-legal markets are either still establishing their regulations or aren't ready to commit to large imports as of yet. Additionally, Health Canada is counting on its growers to satiate domestic production first before exporting abroad. And, of course, balance sheets for brand-name cannabis stocks remain a mess. Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth are both lugging around an inordinate amount of goodwill that stems from a number of overpriced acquisitions. Aurora Cannabis is also contending with fears that it may not have enough capital on hand to pay off its existing debt. Things may be improving for the Canadian pot industry as a whole, but individual marijuana stocks remain a dicey investment opportunity. CHICAGO and SAO PAULO, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Embraer [B3: EMBR3,NYSE: ERJ] welcome the unconditional approval of their strategic partnership by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE)'s General-Superintendence (SG) in Brazil. The decision will become final within the next 15 days unless a review is requested by CADE Commissioners. The partnership has now received unconditional clearance from every regulatory jurisdiction with the exception of the European Commission, which continues to assess the deal. "This latest clearance is yet another endorsement of our partnership, which will bring greater competition to the regional jet marketplace, better value for our customers and opportunities for our employees," said Marc Allen, Boeing's president of Embraer Partnership & Group Operations. "Brazil's approval of the deal is a clear demonstration of the pro-competitive nature of our partnership," said Francisco Gomes Neto, president and CEO of Embraer. "It will not only benefit our customers, but also allow the growth of Embraer and the Brazilian aeronautical industry as a whole." Unconditional clearance has now been granted in Brazil, United States, China, Japan, South Africa, Montenegro, Colombia, and Kenya. Boeing and Embraer have been in discussion with the European Commission since late 2018, and continue to engage with the Commission as it proceeds through its assessment of the transaction. "We have been productively engaged with the Commission to demonstrate the pro-competitive nature of our planned partnership, and we look forward to a positive outcome," Boeing's Allen said. "Given the positive endorsement we've seen from customers across Europe and the unconditional clearance we've received from every other regulator who has considered the transaction, we look forward to securing final approval for the transaction as soon as possible." The planned strategic partnership between Embraer and Boeing comprises two joint ventures: one joint venture made up of the commercial aircraft and services operations of Embraer (Boeing Brasil Commercial) in which Boeing will own 80 percent and Embraer will hold 20 percent; and another joint venture to promote and develop markets for the multi-mission medium airlift C-390 Millennium (Boeing Embraer Defense) in which Embraer will own a 51 percent stake and Boeing will own the remaining 49 percent. Forward-Looking Information Is Subject to Risk and Uncertainty Certain statements in this release may be "forward-looking" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the proposed terms of the transaction, the ability of the parties to satisfy the conditions to executing or closing the transaction and the timing thereof, and the benefits and synergies of the proposed transaction, as well as any other statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Forward-looking statements are based on current assumptions about future events that may not prove to be accurate. These statements are not guarantees and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. As a result, these statements speak only as of the date they are made and neither party undertakes an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, except as required by law. Specific factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include the effect of global economic conditions, the ability of the parties to reach final agreement on a transaction, consummate such a transaction and realize anticipated synergies, and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in the filings of The Boeing Company and/or Embraer with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact Allison Bone Boeing Communications [email protected] +1 312-544-2002 Valtecio Alencar Global Corporate Communications Embraer [email protected] +55 11-3040-6891 SOURCE Boeing Hyderabad: Finance minister T. Harish Rao on Tuesday requested that the 15th Finance Commission recommend to the Centre to grant Rs 12,000 crore towards maintenance of Mission Bhagiratha, the scheme to provide drinking water to all households. The minister, accompanied by principal secretary (finance) K. Ramakrishna Rao, met 15th Finance Commission chairman Nand Kishore Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday. The delegation handed over to him a letter from Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao seeking Central funds for development works undertaken by the state government as well as financial assistance for maintenance of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) and Mission Bhagiratha. According to a press statement from the state government, the states representatives sought more funds for infrastructure development and enhancement of credit limit to Telangana state. Mr Harish Rao said, The Finance Commission chairman lauded KLIS and Mission Bhagiratha as among the best projects in the country. Since the chairman will be submitting his report soon, I requested him to allocate funds for maintenance of these two projects. Reminding that the Niti Ayog had recommended that the Centre grant Rs 19,000 crore for Mission Bhagiratha, the minister also sought Rs 12,000 crore for maintenance of the scheme for the next five years. He explained to the chairman that water was being pumped to a minimum height of 80 metres and maximum of 600 metres through Kaleshwaram project, costing a huge amount on maintenance of the lift irrigation system. Mr Harish Rao further said, The formation of Telangana state itself was based on the need to ensure fair share in river waters. He sought Rs 5,000 crore for the speedy completion of Kalwakurthy and Nettempadu projects. With regard to Mission Bhagiratha, he told the commission chairman that the project was in line with the central governments proposed potable tapped water to every household in the country. Close Stephen Barclay dodges Andrew Marr's coronavirus airlift question 4 times Japan and the US have airlifted hundreds of their citizens from the virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose again to 132. Some 201 US citizens were airlifted to southern California where they will remain under medical observation. However the UK government has said it will not be launching an evacuation of its citizens anytime soon. It is understood China has not granted the necessary permissions to allow for the removal of British nationals on Thursday. Confirmed cases of the virus also rose sharply to more than 6,000 on Wednesday, overtaking the 5,327 confirmed cases of SARS during the same time period in the 2002-2003 outbreak which killed more than 750 people in 17 countries worldwide. Meanwhile the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it would reconvene officials to decide whether the outbreak constituted an emergency of international concern. Here are the days events as they happened... By Prakash Kotadia The Finance Minister is expected to announce a slew of measures in the forthcoming Union Budget 2020 at a time when the Indian economy is going through one of the worst phases of a slowdown. Individuals may get some relief in tax rates in line with the corporate tax cuts announced in September 2019. Consistent with the recommendations in the draft direct tax code, introductions of tax slabs of Rs 2.5-10 lakh 10% (with a full rebate up to Rs 5 lakh), Rs 10-20 lakh - 20%, Rs 20 lakh-2 crores - 30%, Rs 2 crores plus - 35% are expected. Deduction under section 80C provides for various types of payments such as PPF, fixed deposits, housing loan repayment (principal portion), insurance, tuition fees, etc are expected to be enhanced as well. The limit of deduction under section 80C of the Act was last increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.50 lakh in the Budget of 2014. As such, it is expected that the exemption limit would be enhanced to Rs 2 lakh. Higher HRA exemption is allowed in case of employees living in the four metros -- Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai. It is expected that cities like Pune, Bengaluru, Noida, Gurgaon etc. may be covered within the category of metro cities. Export growth shows a declining trend on account of global trade-wars, competition, Brexit, etc. The recent adverse finding of WTO Dispute Resolution Body on Indias export promotion schemes (MEIS, EPCG, EOU, DFIA, SEZ, etc.) has sent shock-waves among exporters. On the indirect tax front, it is expected that the Government would announce the roadmap on alternate schemes to allay concerns of the export community, while a detailed scheme would later be announced through Foreign Trade Policy. It is expected that Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on vital raw materials for steel, pharma API, EV components, cement, etc. would be reduced to make an even playing field. Higher customs duty rate on basic raw material poses a challenge to domestic manufactures. It is expected that the government would continue its drive of rationalisation of customs duty rates. (The writer Partner/ Tax & Regulatory Services at BDO India. With contribution from Dinesh Kumar, Associate Partner/ Indirect Tax, BDO) India offers growth and productivity opportunities for the global aerospace industry and there is extraordinary potential for the defence trade and partnerships to grow between India and the US, a top Boeing official has said. Dennis D Swanson, Vice President, global marketing Boeing Defense, Space and Security said the bilateral defence cooperation had evolved considerably in the last few years, driven by the growing convergence of American and Indian defence interests. He said at the international geo-strategic level, this convergence was occurring primarily because of the shifting balance of power in Asia. "There is extraordinary growth potential in US-India defence trade and on the defence-industrial partnerships front. We welcome that as an industry body," Swanson told PTI. Swanson - who is co-leading a high-powered delegation of US India Business Council to the 17th Defense Executive Mission to DefExpo 2020 along with David Sutton, director for the Indo-Pacific, Lockheed Martin International - said the opportunity was also as clear as the growth trajectory that has taken US-Indian defence trade from a mere USD 200 million in 2000 to over USD 18 billion in 2019. "In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership holds promise for greater US-Indian military and industrial cooperation. We welcome his commitment to 'Make in India', and offer our strong support through joint partnerships and investments to make it a success," he said. Swanson said that as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India offers growth and productivity opportunities for the aerospace industry. He said all the US companies that are part of this USIBC mission to India recognised that aerospace was a global industry and that they must continue to tap into the talent, innovation and technology in the US, India, and around the world to deliver high performance and affordability their customers expect. "The investments made by US companies in India in defence partnerships or investing in the manufacturing, skill development and engineering footprint in India is critical to our industry's long-term ability to sustain and grow jobs here in India and the US," he said. "We are encouraged by the growing defence relationship that has expanded under all US administrations and continues to grow under the Trump administration," he added. Swanson said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo along with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had reaffirmed the US recognition of India as a "Major Defense Partner" and a commitment to offer India defence technologies on par with America's closest partners and allies. In 2017, the Trump administration modified the Export Administration Regulations to facilitate defence trade with India and provided an unprecedented offer of Missile Technology Control Regime Category I Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to the Indian Navy, he said. In 2018, further progress was made through the granting of India as a "Strategic Trade Authorization 1" country and by the joint signing of the Communications, Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), which was over a decade in the making, he added. More recently, the Industrial Security Agreement (ISA) was signed during the 2+2 Dialogue which facilitates close technology transfer with the Indian private industry. The ISA, along with other foundational agreements such Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), and joint exercises between the two militaries, furthers bilateral industrial and military cooperation and elevates India's emergence as a stronger strategic partner, the top official said. Swanson said over the last 10 years, there had been great positive energy and strong participation across the two governments. "An expanded partnership between the United States and India allows us to create greater prosperity for both our nations and stand as mutually reinforcing engines of growth and innovation," he said. "We've seen the ease of doing business improve significantly under Prime Minister Modi's government and we welcome that. You see a lot of US aerospace and defence companies investing in India and partnering with industry as a result," he said. India's aerospace and defence market has tremendous growth potential and strong fundamentals to be globally competitive and develop into a leading hub and net exporter for design, manufacturing, engineering, technology development and services, he said. According to Swanson, Indian companies both in the public and private sectors are adopting global standards when it relates to quality, efficiency and cost competitive benchmarks required for the aerospace and defence industry. "They are also making the investments required for this industry and partnering with the right partners to build scale and capacity and develop talent to export defence products and services globally. As a result, they are becoming an integral part of the global aerospace supply chain," he said. The maritime security in the context of the military-to-military relationship had significant potential now and in the future. It offers the surest foothold to advance the broader security agenda and realise the value of being Major Defense Partner in the near-term, he added. The Malabar military exercises and the revival of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad) are a natural fit for collaboration, he noted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Democratic Representative from New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said in an interview with New York Magazine that she and former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, would be in different political parties in any other country. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, sworn in on the opening day of the 116th Congress flanked by Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., left, and Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H., right, [Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite] The comment came in response to a question about what role Ocasio-Cortez might play as a member of Congress should Biden win. She said in response, In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are. Ocasio-Cortez added that the Democrats could be too big of a tent and criticized the Congressional Progressive Caucuss standard for lawmakers. They let anybody who the cat dragged in call themselves a progressive, she stated, adding, theres no standard. The comments prompted a wide range of responses in the media. There were dozens of headlines touting (or lamenting) Ocasio-Cortezs radical left agenda, with many agreeing that the two prominent Democrats should not, in fact, be in the same party. Jacobin, the unofficial media voice of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), ran an article with the headline: AOC Is Right: She and Joe Biden Should Not Be in the Same Party, which outlined the supposed gulf between the politics of Biden and those of Ocasio-Cortez on numerous issues. Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the DSA, and Jacobin and the DSA regularly celebrate the congresswoman as the way forward for the socialist movement in the US. Jacobin concludes: She and Biden dont belong in the same party. No party is big enough for the both of them. The Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America The obvious question is why, if Ocasio-Cortezs political opinions are indeed so radically different from Bidens, are they in the same party? Jacobin responds by attributing this to the particularly anti-democratic form of the American two-party system, with its restrictive ballot access laws and the absence of proportional representation. In reality, Ocasio-Cortez, like Bernie Sanders, is playing a critical role that has long been assumed, in different forms, by supposedly left organizations and individuals within the Democratic Party: namely, channeling social tensions and opposition behind the oldest capitalist party in America. There is the experience of the Peoples Party and the presidential campaigns of William Jennings Bryan in the late 1890s, through which the populist movement was appropriated and smothered by the Democratic Party; the Farmer-Labor Party campaigns in the 1920s and 1930s in the upper-Midwest, which were absorbed by the Democrats; the Jesse Jackson campaigns in the 1980s; and most recently the campaigns of figures like Dennis Kucinich and Sandersall of whom served in one form or another to contain social opposition within the framework of the Democratic Party and the capitalist two-party system. The DSA itself, from its inception, has existed as an auxiliary arm of the Democratic Party, with no serious pretense to independence. The predecessor organization of the DSA, the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC), emerged out of a split within the Socialist Party of America in 1972. Michael Harrington was the founder of both the DSA in 1982 and its predecessor organization, the DSOC. Harringtons early political training came in the 1950s as a leader of the Young Socialist League, the youth organization of the Independent Socialist League, led by Max Shachtman. Shachtman had split from the Socialist Workers Party, the pioneer party of American Trotskyism, in 1940, leading a petty-bourgeois opposition opposed to the defense of the Soviet Union against imperialism. By 1950, the Shachtmanites were defending US intervention in the Korean War. In 1961, soon after merging his organization with the US Socialist Party, Shachtman supported the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. He soon was defending imperialist war crimes in Vietnam. Harrington broke with Shachtman over the latters vociferous support for the Vietnam War in the early 1970s. His criticisms were not based on principled opposition to imperialism, however, but rather on the view, shared by most sections of the Democratic Party, that the war was unwinnable and was undermining the interests of American capitalism. Both Shachtman and Harrington, despite their political differences, sought to keep the working class tied to the Democrats. They attached themselves to different wings of this party of imperialist reaction. Shachtman had become a top adviser to AFL-CIO President George Meany and to the most right-wing war hawks among the Democrats. Harrington was close to other sections of the trade union bureaucracy, and to the wing of the Democrats supporting George McGovern, the partys presidential candidate in 1972. The McGovern campaign played a critical role in the reorientation of the Democratic Party, abandoning all pretense of defending the working class and instead basing itself on privileged layers of the middle class on the basis of the politics of race, gender and sexual orientation. The first issue of Democratic Left, the flagship publication of the DSOC, laid out its orientation: to build a progressive majority for the Democratic Party in 1974 and 1976. In a prominent editorial in the same edition, Harrington explained the function of the newly founded group: We believe that the left wing of realism is today found in the Democratic Party. It is there that the mass forces for social change are assembled; it is there that the possibility exists for creating a new first party in America. The time period when Harrington was drawing the conclusion that the Democratic Party was the way forward for socialists and social change is of particular significance. American capitalism was entering a period of protracted economic decline. The Vietnam War spelled the end of the Great Society and the War on Poverty. By the late 1960s, the postwar boom had begun to unravel and the policies of the Democratic Party underwent a shift to the right. The ruling class was preparing to launch a social counterrevolution, beginning the process of tearing up all the gains workers had won in an earlier period. Further on in the same commentary, Harrington added: We do not want to purge the New Politics from the Democratic Party; we choose, rather, to help bring out its best potential. The New Politics to which Harrington referred was a reflection of the Democratic Partys attempt to absorb middle class elements emerging from the movement against the Vietnam War. None other than President Richard Nixon adopted a similar strategy after 1968 with his embrace of black capitalism, a program that included policies such as affirmative action and racial quotas aimed at promoting a layer of black businessmen and politicians who then helped preside over an immense increase in social inequality. Harrington articulated the views of a broad layer of 1960s radicals who were moving to the right. They had abandoned any conception, to the extent they ever had one, of socialism based on the working class. This layer did not want to be burdened by any principles, socialist or otherwise, that stood in the way of their entry into the upper-middle class. The role of Ocasio-Cortez The four decades since the founding of the DSA have seen an unbroken movement to the right on the part of the ruling class as a whole, and the Democratic Party in particular. The Democrats long ago rejected any association with social reform. Under the Obama administration (2009-2017), the Democrats oversaw the biggest redistribution of wealth from the working class to the rich in US history. There is mass popular opposition to inequality and war, which has erupted in the form of demonstrations and strikes throughout the world, along with a growing political radicalization of young people. More and more, young people are identifying themselves as socialists. The emergence of Ocasio-Cortez is completely in line with the traditional role of the Democratic Party as an instrument of the ruling class to capture and strangle popular opposition to capitalism. She herself is not the head of a mass movement that the Democratic Party is working to co-opt. She is rather the product of maneuvers by the DSA, operating inside the Democratic Party, to preempt the popular support for socialism that was revealed in 2016 in the 13 million votes for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primaries. Sanders, who calls himself a democratic socialist, is a long-time functionary for the Democratic Party. He ran as the supposed opponent of the billionaire class and champion of a political revolution, which turned out to be a campaign to hustle votes for Hillary Clinton, the candidate of Wall Street and the political establishment. Ocasio-Cortezs marching orders are to keep the growing opposition in the working class within the safe confines of the two-party system. Neither Ocasio-Cortez nor Sanders has anything to do with a genuine movement for socialism, which must be based in the working class and guided by a program to mobilize workers on an international basis against world capitalism. In her brief tenure in Congress, Ocasio-Cortez has already demonstrated that her politics are entirely compatible with those of the Democratic Party establishment. She has fully accepted the Democrats anti-Russia campaign and the right-wing, pro-war basis of their impeachment proceedings against Trump. She has dropped her demand to abolish ICE, which is spearheading Trumps war on immigrants, and cultivated a close relationship with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She has been silent on the persecution of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning and the associated attack on free speech, as well as the illegal military violence, mass spying and record deportations carried out by the Obama administration. She, along with Sanders, joined in the disgusting chorus of praise for arch-warmonger John McCain following the Arizona senators death, tweeting: John McCains legacy represents an unparalleled example of human decency. (See Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders praise McCain: An object lesson in the politics of the pseudo-left) Her signature legislation, the Green New Deal, was put forward as a non-binding resolution. It features left-sounding rhetoric but has zero significance in terms of resolving the global warming crisis. It promotes the fiction that it is possible to avert an environmental catastrophe within the framework of capitalism and the Democratic Party. At the end of the day, Biden and Ocasio-Cortez agree on all of the fundamental points that define the Democratic Party: support for imperialist war, which requires attacks on democratic rights and social programs; American nationalism and defense of the nation-state framework, which means attacks on immigrants and a buildup of police state repression; and the defense of capitalist ownership of the means of production, the source of the social evils that Biden and Ocasio-Cortez claim to oppose. Ocasio-Cortez has moved steadily away from any association with the term socialism. In a particularly revealing interview with NBC News Chuck Todd last year, she was asked if one could be a socialist and capitalist at the same time. Ocasio-Cortez replied that she thought it was possible. The working class has been repeatedly sold the same bill of goods about reforming the Democratic Party for more than a century. Ocasio-Cortez and the DSA are hoping they can pull off this political swindle one more time. As the new decade opens, the working class is facing enormous political dangers: the threat of a third world war, the rise of fascism, a looming ecological catastrophe, and the further destruction of jobs and social services. At the same time, strikes and protests against social inequality and attacks on democratic rights are taking place on virtually every continent. The growing international movement against capitalism shows the potential for a revolutionary socialist alternative. The critical question is the building of a revolutionary leadership, which requires the rejection and defeat of all those, such as Ocasio-Cortez and the DSA, who seek to trap working people within the confines of capitalist politics. Ahead of the 22nd meeting of the Central Zonal Council (CZC), Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday said discussions will be held on the resolutions passed earlier and some new agendas will also be decided. "We are having a meeting of Central zonal council, which will be attended by the Chief Ministers, chief secretaries and senior officials of the concerned state. It will be chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah," Baghel told the reporters. "There will be a discussion about the old agendas and the resolutions which were passed earlier and some new agendas will be discussed," he added. When asked about if discussions will be held on the newly-enacted citizenship law, the Chief Minister said, "We might have a discussion on the law." Earlier on Tuesday, Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Raipur to attend the meeting. He was received by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel upon his arrival. The meeting of the CZC comprising Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Chhattisgarh is scheduled to be held at Naya Raipur today. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the meeting. State Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is the vice-chairman of the CZC and the host of the event. The last meeting of the CZC was last held in Lucknow on September 24, 2018. The Council takes up issues concerning Centre and States and member-States of the zone. The Zonal Councils are thus an effective platform for the resolution of inter-state disputes as well as irritants between Centre and member-States. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There will be blood on the HSEs hands if it downgrades services at the largest hospital in West Cork, a public meeting has been told. And one of the organisers of the meeting on the future of Bantry General Hospital (BGH), which was attended by several hundred people, said the region has 'roared' and that roar must be heard in Dail Eireann. The meeting also dismissed assurances from the Health Minister and the HSE that there are no plans to downgrade the facility, which caters for a population of some 82,000 people. The meeting heard fears about the possible reduction in its acute services from 24-hours a day to a 9am-5pm service, and about delays in replacing consultant positions. Health Minister Simon Harris insists there are no plans to downgrade the hospital and hit out at those suggesting so: I think its very unfortunate that anybody would attempt to play politics with this and cause worry and concern to people in the area. I do hope the scaremongering stops and that people are absolutely reassured that there are no plans to downgrade Bantry hospital." But Dave Dineen, who helped organise the meeting and who credits a consultant based at BGH for saving his life, said people just dont believe the assurances: We are listening to experts on the ground and they are telling us that they are concerned about a reduction in certain 24-hour services. We are afraid of the hospital being turned into a glorified nursing home. We are not just fighting for the future of the hospital. We are fighting for the future of the region. Our campaign will be fought peacefully and with dignity and will be won. Fellow meeting organiser, Vanessa OSullivan, a carer who lives on Cape Clear, said the threat to BGH is real: The HSEs view is a seven-day service is not a downgrade. But reducing it from a 24-hour seven-day a week service to a 9-to-5 service is definitely for the people of this area a downgrade." Ber OSullivan said the geography of the region must be taken into account: We are two and a half hours from CUH. Reducing the hospitals 24-hour service would impact on the ability of patients to get to the already overcrowded CUH inside the golden hour." Getting there is life or death. There will be blood on the HSEs hands - its as simple as that. Thats not scaremongering, thats a statement of fact. The HSE insists that there are no planned changes to BGH's urgent care centre, comprising a medical assessment unit and a local injury unit, and that both units continue to operate seven-days-a-week. It said it has provided funding to replace a CT scanner and endoscopy equipment, and that there are plans to double theatre activity from 2.5 days per week to five. Firefighters in Paris have clashed with police amid protests over working conditions and a lack of pay reforms. Violent scenes were shared across social media, showing police using tear gas and batons against the protesters. The firefighters are demanding an increase to their hazard bonus to bring it in line with those granted to the police and gendarmes. Firefighter unions called for an increase in risk pay from 19 per cent to 28 per cent of the basic salary, as well as guarantees that their current pension plans remain in place. We are the last link in emergency services in France, and we are overwhelmed by calls and interventions, Frederic Perrin, president of the SPASDIS-CFTC union, told the news agency Agence France-Presse. We need more manpower and the means to respond to it, but also the guarantee that we focus mainly on our missions, the emergency, and not serve as supplements to absent health services. France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Show all 18 1 /18 France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Nantes Protestors disperse as tear gas is fired by French police during a demonstration on day 36 of a nationwide multi-sector strike over French government's plan to overhaul the country's retirement system in Nantes AFP via Getty France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Protestors face off with French Gendarmes in Nantes The French President's push for sweeping changes to the pension system has unleashed the longest transport strike in France in decades, causing weeks of travel chaos AFP via Getty France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Paris Protesters burn flares AFP via Getty France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Nantes French police use a water canon on people protesting AFP via Getty France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Paris AFP via Getty France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Paris A protestor is arrested by riot police AP France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Paris Protesters burn blue flares and wave a French flag AFP France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Nantes A protestor throws a rock towards French police AFP via Getty France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Lyon A picture of French President Emmanuel Macron burns during a demonstration AP France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues A woman reacts after tear gas was fired by riot police officers AP France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Paris AFP via Getty France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Paris A protester wearing a mask depicting French President Emmanuel Macron holds a spectre and a placard reading "Welcome to Macronia" AFP via Getty France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Paris A smashed window during a demonstration AP France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Paris Protestors clash with riot police officers AP France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Paris Protesters hold a banner reading 'People want the withdrawal of the reform' EPA France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Nantes French CGT dock workers on strike Reuters France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Protesters react AFP via Getty France strikes: Chaotic scenes as unrest continues Riot police officers clash with protestors AP It is the second time in four months that firefighters have protested in the French capital, having demonstrated in October for similar reasons. French firefighters have also been a consistent presence at nationwide protests against sweeping pension reforms in recent weeks, often marching at the front of the procession in order to prevent police and protesters from clashing. Tuesdays protests are expected to end at 6pm at Place de la Nation. The Paris police department posted a video appearing to show firefighters attempting to force down a barrier. Respect for the rules applies to everyone, no matter the nature of the protest, the force tweeted. WASHINGTON - Two Republican senators said Monday that new revelations from John Bolton bolstered their case for summoning witnesses in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, as fresh allegations from the former White House official left Senate Republicans scrambling as they faced renewed pressure to seek new evidence. In his forthcoming book, former national security adviser Bolton alleges that Trump directly tied the holdup of nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to desired investigations of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The disclosure upended the Senate as the second full week of Trump's impeachment trial began. Democrats insisted that the Senate must call the former White House official as a witness. Trump faces two charges - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Many senior Republicans dismissed details from Bolton's book as nothing new - and nothing that would change Trump's expected acquittal by the GOP-controlled Senate. A close Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he wanted to see the unpublished manuscript of Bolton's book or at least be briefed on it. But two key GOP senators - Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah - said they expect other Republicans to back a push for new evidence as part of the trial. "I think it's increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton," Romney said Monday, repeatedly calling Bolton's testimony "relevant." "It's important to be able to hear from John Bolton for us to be able to make an impartial judgment." Collins said reports about Bolton's unpublished manuscript "strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues." The book, "The Room Where It Happened," is scheduled for publication March 17, but the White House could attempt to delay its publication or block some of its contents. The manuscript has been submitted to the National Security Council for a standard review of classified material, and an NSC spokesman said Monday that no White House official outside the NSC has reviewed it. Two people familiar with the book, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the project, confirmed that it details Trump tying aid to the desire for Biden probes and details a number of conversations about Ukraine that Bolton had with Trump and key advisers, such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. But privately, some senior Republicans were left uncertain about how the revelations would ultimately affect a key vote expected later this week on whether to admit additional witnesses and testimony into the impeachment proceedings. GOP senators, apparently blindsided, have called the White House, asking who knew what and when, according to a senior administration official. "This sort of caught everybody by surprise," said Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D. Two other Republican senators being closely watched by Senate GOP leaders and the White House - Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska - were as noncommittal Monday on additional witnesses as they were before the news emerged about Bolton's book, which was first reported by the New York Times on Sunday. "I stated before that I was curious as to what John Bolton might have to say," Murkowski said. "From the outset, I've worked to ensure this trial would be fair and that members would have the opportunity to weigh in after its initial phase to determine if we need more information. She added: "I've also said there is an appropriate time for us to evaluate whether we need additional information - that time is almost here. I look forward to the White House wrapping up presentation of its case." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and most of his ranks have been aiming to wrap up Trump's impeachment trial later this week, with the White House legal team finishing its arguments later Monday or Tuesday and then senators engaging in up to 16 hours of questions for both sides. A protracted fight over witnesses and documents - should that key vote allow them later this week - could significantly drag out the length of Trump's trial. One idea floated by Graham was for senators to look at Bolton's unpublished manuscript. But for that to happen, Graham, said, the Bidens would also have to be investigated. That was the consensus, Republicans said, after a closed-door party lunch, when senators concurred that if Bolton were called, the Senate would similarly have to summon the Bidens, according to Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind. McConnell's message to the conference was that, "remember, we passed a rules package that gives us an opportunity to vote on this very issue of witnesses after we hear both sides and ask our questions," said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. "That seemed wise at the time and seems even wiser now," Cramer said. Numerous other Republican senators - including Joni Ernst of Iowa, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mike Crapo of Idaho and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia - reserved judgment on Monday, particularly on whether the Bolton revelations make them more likely to favor calling him and other witnesses. Thune said he did not "personally see it as a game-changer." "I think a lot of our members are going to look at it and say it doesn't change the basic facts of the case, and I don't think that it does," he said. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., dismissed it as "nothing new." Meanwhile, some Republicans also began questioning the credibility and motives of Bolton - a longtime figure in GOP national security circles. "You've got to keep in mind, for the first time in his life, he was fired," said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. "That does have an effect on people." Bolton has said he resigned. Sen. John Neely Kennedy, R-La., lumped Bolton in with Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani who has turned over a trove of documents to congressional investigators and has implicated the president in the Ukraine dealings. "Are Mr. Parnas and Mr. Bolton telling the truth? I don't know," Kennedy said. "But given the circumstances under which they are making the allegations, I wouldn't bet my house on it. And if I were betting your house, it would only be a maybe." Even as they used the latest revelations to pressure Republicans on calling additional witnesses, some senior Democrats were skeptical that enough GOP senators would ultimately acquiesce. "I think he has probably reached the point where he has fewer than four who will vote for the motion for witnesses and believes that he ultimately has all the votes he needs to exonerate this president," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said of McConnell. "If that's what these members of the Senate want to carry home from this experience, I think they're going to be surprised at the reaction." - - - The Washington Post's Erica Werner, Karoun Demirjian and Paul Kane contributed to this report. Nine days from the Iowa caucuses, Democratic presidential candidates are fighting bad winter weather and the headwinds of an impeachment trial that's dominating national headlines and latching the senators in the race to Washington instead of the campaign trail. Iowa Democratic voters, meanwhile, are still trying to make up their minds. Iowa has remained a four-candidate top tier featuring former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is still seeking to climb into that top tier. National and early state polls show Sanders at his strongest position of the race just days before voting begins -- a reality that this week was met with a sharper-than-usual rebuke from Biden and new criticism from his 2016 foe Hillary Clinton. Four in 10 likely Iowa caucusgoers say there is at least a moderate chance they'll change their minds about who they support between now and February 3, a recent Monmouth University poll found. "It's tough. I've got three top runners," said Ginger Thompson, a retired county worker in Osage who said she's considering Biden, Buttigieg and entrepreneur Andrew Yang. "I just want somebody that definitely has compassion, and doesn't split our country apart like it is now." Here are eight stories you might have missed in recent days: Bernie vs. Biden over Social Security It was the debate that Sanders hungered for, but -- until this past week -- was unsure of how to escalate. The Sanders team and its surrogates have been talking about Biden's past comments on Social Security, in which he has expressed a willingness to entertain cuts to the program in the interest of striking bipartisan deals for some time. Biden, though, seemed content to ignore it all before switching gears last weekend to denounce a misleadingly edited video of a 2018 speech that was being circulated by some members of Sanders' staff. With Biden rising to the bait, Sanders -- who distanced himself from the video clip in question -- responded by taking more direct aim at Biden's old statements. "I think anyone who looks at the vice president's record understands that time after time after time, Joe has talked about the need to cut Social Security," Sanders told reporters. "That's in the congressional record. He has said that many, many times. I don't think that's disputable." The back-and-forth took an unexpected turn on Monday night, when Sanders apologized to Biden over the content of an op-ed, written by a supporter and boosted by the campaign (which has since deleted their promotion of it from a campaign website), accusing the former vice president of having a "corruption problem." Biden accepted and it seemed like the candidates might be trying to deescalate. But one day later, Biden launched a digital ad accusing "Bernie's campaign" of "not telling the truth" about his record on Social Security. Within a few hours, Sanders tweeted out a video of his own, this one featuring audio of Biden talking on the Senate floor about freezing federal spending, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Hillary Clinton takes a(nother) shot at Sanders "Nobody likes him." Hillary Clinton unleashed on her 2016 primary rival once more this week. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the release of a new documentary about her life, Clinton went after Sanders again -- this time in sharply personal terms. "He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it," Clinton says in the film. Asked about the line by THR, she stood by it. Clinton also refused, in an interview published early Tuesday morning, to say that she would support Sanders if he won the nomination this year. Later in the day, though, she sought to tamp down the swirling uproar in a tweet, assuring Democrats that she "will do whatever I can to support our nominee." Sanders turned the other cheek throughout the day, first saying in a statement, "My focus today is on a monumental moment in American history: the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Together, we are going to go forward and defeat the most dangerous president in American history." Perhaps as notably, his campaign and top surrogates also held back, effectively putting a pin in what had the potential to be a major, pre-Iowa controversy. With senators 'stuck' in DC... The senators still running for president have put on a brave face as the impeachment trial consumes Washington and, almost uniformly, have talked about how they are fulfilling their constitutional obligations by sitting through hours of impeachment hearings instead of rallying supporters in Iowa. But underneath those solemn duties is concern: It's unknown whether the impeachment trial is better for people like Buttigieg, Biden and Yang who now have Iowa all to themselves, or for senators like Warren, Sanders, Klobuchar and Michael Bennet, all of whom have become regulars on cable television as the trial plays out. And this close to Iowa, that unknown is worrying. Sanders has talked about how the impeachment process is somber and serious, but his campaign blasted an email on Thursday telling supporters that the Vermont senator is "stuck" in DC -- and hoped to raise money off the predicament. Warren and Klobuchar have become regulars on cable television. Warren told MSNBC on Wednesday she was "pinned down here in Washington" but that the campaign was activating supporters and surrogates who want to "carry forward" her campaign because they believe she is "still in the fight." Klobuchar has also hosted a tele-townhall for 12,000 people, according to her campaign. For Bennet, whose campaign has struggle to gain any traction, impeachment has stopped him from his regular trips to New Hampshire, the second state in the nominating process. But it has also let him set himself apart: He pledged to stop fundraising during the impeachment proceedings, something the other candidates have not done. ... Buttigieg runs against DC experience Buttigieg, at the same time, is running against everything that is going on in Washington. The former mayor has kept up a blistering pace through Iowa in January, headlining 25 events alone. And at almost every town hall and rally, Buttigieg has made the case that his experience outside of Washington is more important in this current environment than years of federal government experience. Buttigieg has even taken it a step further, suggesting at an event on Thursday in Washington, DC -- just miles from the impeachment -- that it is time "to bring to the highest office in the land that perspective that only my fellow mayors can," a perspective that Buttigieg said was animated by "what to do when it's time for a decision and there is no one else to call and you are not in the comfort of a committee room, or a TV panel, but on the ground." All of this is part of Buttigieg's strategy to break through the constant impeachment coverage in Washington and deliver a message in Iowa and elsewhere that creates contrast between himself and the partisan fighting. Buttigieg defended these comments in an interview with CNN. "I don't think anybody's questioning whether folks who work in Washington are important. I think the question is one of a perspective," Buttigieg said in the interview. "The reality is, if your main criteria here is about time spent in Washington, and years of Washington experience, you've got your choice and it's not going to be me. I'm here to make the case for a different kind of perspective coming to Washington." Warren zooms out as Iowa bears down Warren is managing expectations ahead of the Iowa caucuses. In a memo released on Friday, Warren's campaign played down the importance of the early primary states and highlighted the number of delegates in play on Super Tuesday and in the weeks and months after. "We expect this to be a long nomination fight and have built our campaign to sustain well past Super Tuesday and stay resilient no matter what breathless media narratives come when voting begins," Warren campaign manager Roger Lau wrote, suggesting the primary could stretch well into the spring. The memo includes graphics breaking up the primary into four stages and notes that first four states -- Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina -- only make up 3.9% of the full delegate count. Warren remains in the top tier of candidates in Iowa, but her numbers, in the early states and nationally, have mostly stalled since her summer surge. Perhaps more troubling for the Warren campaign is a new poll, released on Thursday by Boston-based WBUR, which showed Sanders, at 29%, leading in New Hampshire with more than double her 13%. Both Sanders and Warren represent neighboring states and would take defeat there harder than Biden or Buttigieg. The Joe Rogan backlash Bernie Sanders is facing a backlash from some Democrats after his campaign trumpeted an endorsement from comedian Joe Rogan, a popular podcast and YouTube talk show host with a history of making racist, homophobic and transphobic comments. Rogan, a libertarian-leaning broadcaster with a public persona in the mold of Howard Stern, is a divisive figure who has said the N-word on his show and in 2013 questioned -- using offensive language -- whether a transgender MMA fighter should be able to compete against other women. In a statement Friday afternoon, Human Rights Commission President Alphonso David praised Sanders for running a campaign that has been "unabashedly supportive of the rights of LGBTQ people," but called on the Vermont senator to consider rejecting the endorsement in light of Rogan's "vicious rhetoric." The decision to highlight Rogan's support has divided opinion among Democrats and activists, particularly online, where it has sparked a heated debate over whether Sanders should have aligned himself with Rogan in any form or context. Bloomberg spends millions -- while waiting for March Looming over all of the Democrats fighting for primacy in Iowa and New Hampshire is Michael Bloomberg, who is avoiding the first four contests and spending hundreds of millions to position himself ahead of Super Tuesday in early March. The former New York mayor has spent an astonishing $235 million on television, radio and digital advertising, nearly $100 million more than Tom Steyer, a fellow billionaire running for the Democratic nomination, and nearly nine times as much as Buttigieg. That number will be dwarfed by how much his campaign -- in total -- has spent, a figure that won't come out until later this month when his first report is filed to the Federal Election Commission. Bloomberg ads have become omnipresent -- so much so that they have gotten under President Donald Trump's skin. His theory is this: In a race where Democrats want to beat Trump more than anything, they will give him a look if he performs well in early March and proves that he can take on Trump. It's a big bet, but Bloomberg -- who is worth over $50 billion, according to numerous estimates -- has the money. Tom Steyer just wants to say hi, Bernie Billionaire investor Tom Steyer's attempts to greet Bernie Sanders -- only to be brushed off by the Vermont senator -- have become a meme in recent days. It started at last week's Democratic debate in Iowa, when Steyer walked into the middle of a tense exchange between Warren and Sanders. "I just want to say hi, Bernie," he said. "Yeah, good. OK," Sanders responded as he turned to walk off stage. Then, at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in South Carolina on Monday, Sanders appeared to brush Steyer off again. Still, Steyer continues trying: After Clinton criticized Sanders, Steyer came to his defense. "At the risk of getting in the middle of it I like @BernieSanders," he tweeted. "Now let's move on, America." Residents have been warned they must act immediately as a bushfire burns near the City of Rockingham and the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale. The fire started near the intersection of Rowe Road and Hopeland Road in Hopeland about 2.19pm on Tuesday. Emergency services were able to control the blaze for most of the afternoon, but changing winds caused firefighters to upgrade the alert level just before 5pm. The areas bounded by the warnings. Credit:DFES The emergency warning has been issued for people north of Rowe Road, east of Casaurina Drive, south of Mundijong Road and west of Dairy Lake in the northern part of Hopeland and the western part of Mardella in Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale and City of Rockingham. Steven had to have emergency surgery on his infected finger [Photo: SWNS] Warning graphic content A dad was left fighting for his life thanks to a severe infection caused by his life-long nail biting habit. Steven MacDonald, 48, was rushed to hospital just days after noticing his left index finger had become infected. The former postman - who has bitten his nails all his life - was initially given magnesium sulphate by a pharmacist in an attempt to cure it. But his finger continued to swell and started oozing green puss. Four days later his fiancee, Karen Peat, 47, spotted a rash on her partner, which ran from his finger up his forearm. Steven was rushed to University Monklands Hospital, North Lanarkshire, where he was found to have an extreme case of paronychia an infection of the skin around the fingernail. Doctors were concerned the infection was spreading, so sent him straight to the Glasgow Royal infirmary where he had emergency surgery to save his life. Steven's infected nail was swollen and leaking green puss [Photo: SWNS] READ MORE: What is sepsis and what are the early signs and symptoms to look out for? Recalling discovering the seriousness of the situation mum-of-two Karen, a care worker, from Coatbridge, near Glasgow, Scotland, said: At first we weren't that worried as he'd had little swellings before where he'd been nail biting, but when it kept getting worse and then he showed me the rash, I really started to panic. I knew it was quite serious then so I rushed him into our local hospital. The doctor took one look at it and he was whizzed right through the A&E queue. After giving him a strong shot of antibiotics they told us we'd need to go straight to Glasgow Royal Infirmary for emergency surgery. They told us that if we'd left it even a few hours longer he might have been dead. I was so scared. Initially the couple werent worried when Steven's finger became red and itchy, but after noticing it turning green and swelling up Karen insisted on getting it checked at the local pharmacy. The pharmacist also didnt seem concerned and suggested magnesium sulphate, which can be used to draw out splinters, pus or infection from the skin. Story continues When the finger continued to swell Steven visited another chemist, where the worried pharmacist booked him an appointment at an out of hours doctors surgery. Steven recalls the doctor wasn't too concerned but did suggest the finger should be lanced and properly cleaned out at hospital. Having learned there would be an eight or nine hour wait, the couple decided to leave it until first thing the following day. But when I got up the next day there was a rash all up my arm, coming from the finger, it was a bit like sunburn, Steven remembers. I didn't think much of it but Karen seemed quite worried so we rushed into A&E. There, Steven was given antibiotics and sent straight to Glasgow Royal Infirmary for surgery. Following a two hour operation to remove the infected flesh on 6th January this year, Steven was kept in for observation for four further days, before returning home to recover. READ MORE: Mum saves son from potentially deadly sepsis by spotting early sign The two hour operation involved removing the infected flesh [Photo: SWNS] Doctors aren't sure if Steven's nail will grow back [Photo: SWNS] READ MORE: Woman's arms and legs amputated due to infection from dog saliva Following his ordeal Steven has now quit his nail biting habit. I've been tempted to bite a few times since, as its been a habit of mine for so long, but I've told myself not to. It's weird now that I'm not nibbling away at them, they're actually growing really fast. I keep joking that I might need to get myself down the salon for a manicure! But seriously, I really cannot thank the NHS enough, they reacted so fast, it was incredible. Despite the possibility that his nail might never grow back dad-of-one Steven remains positive. Hes chosen to share his experiences to warn other nail biters about the potential danger. This ordeal has taught me a huge lesson, to any nail biters out there, please just pull your finger away from your teeth! he said. I'd never had a problem like it before but it left me seriously considering life and death. I was quite jokey about it until I came around from the operation and realised what a close call it had been. Steven and his fiancee Karen were shocked at how quickly the infection escalated [Photo: SWNS] What is paronychia? According to the Patient.info paronychia is a common infection of the skin just next to a nail. The infected nail fold looks swollen, inflamed and may be tender. Treatment usually involves antibiotic medicines for germ (bacterial) infections, but occasionally an operation is needed to drain out any pus which has collected. Nail biting can make you more prone to infections such as paronychia because it can cause a break in the skin, which can allow the germs on the skin to get inside. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 02:23:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close WARSAW, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Vera Jourova, vice-president of the European Commission for values and transparency, met with Polish justice minister and heads of key courts here on Tuesday, discussing rule of law as part of a two-day visit to Poland. Jourova was scheduled to meet with Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, the heads of the Polish parliament chambers, as well as the heads of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Court. "This is my first visit since the new Commission took office. My main goal is to meet and discuss with our (Polish) partners the issue of rule of law, but also other aspects of my work, such as disinformation or external interference," she told Polish media on Tuesday. Jourova said that "the doors of dialogue are open" between the Commission and Poland, but she also expressed a wish "to do more to defend judges from the campaign led against them, because this is not an atmosphere in which judges can complete their demanding work." Poland has been embroiled in a conflict with Brussels over reforms of the justice system. While governing Law and Justice party says the reforms it has implemented are necessary to fix a corrupted system, the European Commission has started several infringement procedures against Poland, arguing the reforms have a negative impact on judicial independence. The Commission also asked the European Union's highest court to freeze the new law passed by Polish parliament that allows for disciplining judges who are critical of government changes to the judiciary. Jourova's visit to Poland started on Monday, when she took part in the event marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in southern Poland. A 53-year-old man, Saleh Magaji, has been sentenced to death by hanging by a court in Kaduna for slaughtering four of his children after a quarrel with his wife in November 2015. Saleh and his wife had an issue the night before the dastard act but she fled the home located on Ahmadu Bello Street in the Kawo area of Kaduna in the middle of the night. In anger, Saleh locked the door of the house and slaughtered four of his children who were between the ages of six and one. He thereafter tried to kill himself. One of his children, who was away alerted the ward leader of the area after he couldnt enter their home. The police were invited and when the door was broken, the children were found dead while their father was still alive but in a critical condition. Saleh was later arraigned before the court in a case of murder between himself and the state. READ ALSO Husband Killer, Maryam Sanda Sentenced To Death By Hanging Delivering judgment on Monday, January 27th, Justice Darius H. Khobo convicted Saleh on a 5 Count Charge which includes 4 Count Charge of Culpable Homicide punishable with death under section 221 of the Kaduna State Penal Code and the 5th Count Charge of attempted suicide against the defendant, also punishable under section 231 of the Same Penal Code Law. The court held that Saleh was convicted based on circumstantial evidence provided by 7 witnesses beyond a reasonable doubt. He was therefore sentenced to death by hanging on all 4 Counts and also convicted on the 5th Count Charge of an attempt to commit suicide. Tuesday, Jan. 21 0823 A PG&E employee asked to be escorted onto a Madrona Avenue property. The resident has been threatening in the past and said PG&E had to walk through the creek, not enter through the driveway. 2340 A caller saw a suspicious light in a neighbors backyard and house on Stockton Street. Wednesday, Jan. 220030 Medical aid for a person with a heart problem on Hunt Avenue. 1010 Report of a man passed out in a car near Main Street. Police cited him. 1106 Medical aid for a woman with a possible heart attack on Pope Street. 1203 Police cited a car parked in a blue zone on Hunt Avenue. 1235 Police notified Public Works of a broken water line on Main Street. 1515 Medical aid for a man having a seizure on Grayson Avenue. 1603 An emergency room nurse asked police to check on a Hunt Avenue woman who said she had radiations related to PG&E SmartMeters. 1712 Medical aid for a woman who couldnt stop shaking on Pine Street. 1824 Police took a vandalism report near Main/Fulton. 2029 Non-injury accident at Main/Pratt. 2146 Police checked on a noise complaint on Saint James Drive. 2357 Report of a loose dog on Hunt Avenue. Thursday, Jan. 230508 Medical aid for a woman having trouble breathing on Redondo Court. 0945 Medical aid for a man feeling dizzy on Valley View Street. 1049 Report of a drunk man walking around on Railroad Avenue. 1141 Report of a car parked at a 45-degree angle near Main/Pine. 1145 Report of a delivery truck speeding on Spring Street. 1626 Report of a suspicious car parked on Charter Oak Avenue for three days. 1702 A resident said he received a suspicious call claiming to be from a sheriffs department in Texas. The caller asked him to confirm the last four digits of his Social Security number. They also asked him how much was in his bank account. He told them. They said a U.S. marshal and someone from Social Security would come to his home the next day to give him a new Social Security number. The matter was referred to the Napa County Sheriffs Office. 1828 Police took a vandalism report on Crane Avenue. 2129 A woman said her ex-husband had been drinking and verbally abusing their daughter. Police took a report. 2136 A caller reported that a young person boarded a bus in Calistoga and loaded a bike belonging to a Calistoga resort onto the bike rack. The resort declined to press charges; they just wanted their bike back. 2142 A 16-year-old boy reportedly stole alcohol from a Hunt Avenue business. Police took a report. Friday, Jan. 241545 Someone claiming to be from PG&E called a local resident and said her power would be shut off unless she bought gift cards at Safeway. She didnt fall for the scam. Police advised her to block the phone number, follow up with PG&E, and never give information to unsolicited callers. 1628 Medical aid for a woman feeling sick on Pope Street. 1835 Police took a report on a car accident at Pope/Silverado. Saturday, Jan. 251105 Report of a reckless driver at Main/Adams. 1318 A man gave his credit card number to a scammer claiming to be from PG&E. He called his credit card company and blocked the card before any fraudulent charges were made. 1352 A big white couch with a free sign was left on a curb on Hunt Avenue. 2056 A suspicious truck was idling near Carpy Field. Sunday, Jan. 260137 Police arrested a 61-year-old St. Helena man for violating probation. 0930 A brown Thunderbird was seen speeding down the center lane of Highway 29 near Galleron Lane. 1057 Report of angry yelling and loud music on Magnolia Avenue. 1221 Medical aid for a person with a possible heart attack near Main Street. 1329 Police removed a large couch cushion from the elm tunnel. 1544 Report of a man panhandling on Adams Street. Police arrested the 55-year-old transient for an outstanding misdemeanor warrant from Long Beach. 1702 Medical aid on Rosebud Lane. 1719 Report of a black Jetta driving in the bike lane on Highway 29 near Larkmead Lane. 1922 Report of a possible drunk driver on southbound Highway 29. 1955 Report of a possible drunk driver on northbound Highway 29. Monday, Jan. 271319 Someones Target credit card was fraudulently used in another city. Police took a report. 1329 A brown mini-dachshund named Chica ran away from Fulton Lane. About 90 minutes later near Lyman Park, the community service officer found three people walking a dog matching Chicas description. They claimed the dog belonged to them. The dog was identified as Chica, and the people whod been walking her left the area. Chica was returned to her owner. 1423 A border collie was reported missing from Chablis Circle, but she turned up soon. 1823 Report of two large potholes on Crane Avenue. One is near the driveway to Crane Park and the other is near the primary school. 2026 Report of a possible drunk driver on Silverado Trail. The largest group in the Tunisian parliament, Ennahda, said this Tuesday the North African country could head towards new legislatives, noting that it will not back the cabinet of Prime Minister-designate Elyes Fakhfakh if he persists to form a government out of four political parties. The partys spokesman, Imed Khemiri reportedly told local media Shems FM, the scenario for snap elections is real and likely. Khemiri also stressed that the moderate Islamist movement will not vote for Fakhfakhs future government if he limits his choice of cabinet members to four political parties. The former finance minister was tasked this month by President Kais Saied to form a cabinet after Ennahdhas handpicked nominal Premier Habib Jemli failed to win parliaments approval. Jemli who failed to lure leading parties into his line-up, formed a cabinet largely made of technocrats mostly unknown to the public. Monday, Abdelkarim Harouni, head of the Ennhadha Choura Council, told Al-Wattania media the party does not fear snap elections and is even getting more and more popular in the North African country. The party won October parliamentary elections with 69 seats in the 217-member legislature short to form a single-party cabinet. The threshold for majority is 109 seats. The Prime Minister-designate Elyes Fakhfakh last Friday told a news conference he will form a small political government of no more than 25 members for the sake of efficiency and effectiveness. It will be a cohesive team with high talents open to youth and women and fully aware of this critical stage, he said. Fakhfakh said he set about harnessing political support for the new cabinet which, he said, involves parties that champion the values embodied by Kais Saied in the presidential runoff. The designated Prime Minister said he shaped the governing coalition. Some parties will necessarily occupy the opposition benches for there is no democracy without opposition, he added. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Roman Raynaldy (Agence France-Presse) Park City, United States Mon, January 27, 2020 22:04 716 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20613a724 2 Entertainment Hillary-Clinton,Sundance-Film-Festival,documentary,Hillary Free Hillary Clinton has returned to the political stage at the Sundance film festival with a vow to work to defeat her Republican antagonist Donald Trump in November. "Hillary," a documentary about the former Democratic standard bearer, was screened at the prestigious festival Saturday ahead of its world premier. Due to air in March as a four-part series on streaming site Hulu, it already has made waves in a turbulent election year. Clinton's caustic remarks in the documentary about Senator Bernie Sanders, her rival for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and now a frontrunner in the current race, received wide play in the US media, not all of it favorable. At the festival, though, Clinton kept her focus on Trump, whose shock victory a little over three years ago stunned the country and cut short her seemingly unstoppable political ascent. "I just think we have to win. I don't think we can afford another four years by the current incumbent," she told reporters. "I think that would be absolutely dangerous to our democracy, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure the Democrats win this time," she said. Backed by a phalanx of security unusual for such events, the former secretary of state and first lady extended her remarks in a clutch of red carpet interviews. "We have to be better than the other side, because they are highly organized and incredibly well funded, and they have foreign help," she told AFP. "We should win, because I think people can see the broken promises and the failed actions of this current administration," she said. "And so we should win, but we're gonna have to overcome all of the obstacles they are throwing our way," she said. Read also: Hillary Clinton posts parody Kennedy letter mocking Trump Blistering return After a period of relative quiet for one of America's most formidable political actors, Clinton's blistering remarks about Sanders announced she was back. "Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. "It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it," she said. She refused to take her comments back, but later said she would support whoever becomes the Democratic nominee. Sanders has since surged into first place in polling in Iowa, the first state to vote in the Democratic nominating process, on February 3. "The point of the documentary is what a polarizing figure Secretary Clinton is," Nanette Burstein, who directed "Hillary," told AFP. "She is both admired and vilified, and the whole top line of it is to break that down. So I had no illusions that in the reaction to this piece, it would be the same thing," she said. Burstein was nominated for an Oscar in 2000 for "On the Ropes," a documentary about three young boxers and their trainer. The Hillary project began as a behind-the-scenes look at the candidate's 2016 campaign, relying on some 1,700 hours of footage taken by Burstein's team. But as it progressed, the documentary's producers changed tack. "They came back and they said, 'You know, there's a bigger story here, and we want to tell your life, and we want to talk about the arc of women's lives and politics," Clinton said. "I said, 'Sure, let's do it.'" "I figured, let's tell our story, because we've got to do more to get people to understand what's going on in our country and the world, and if this can contribute to that, I'll be very happy," she said. President Donald Trump said early Monday that he "NEVER told John Bolton that aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into the Bidens or Democrats," contrary to assertions Bolton reportedly made in the manuscript of his soon-to-be-published book, aptly titled, "The Room Where It Happened." The president's tweet, just after midnight Monday, was his first reaction to a story in the New York Times about the forthcoming book by the president's former national security adviser. The book excerpt, and the leak, could increase pressure on the Senate to call witnesses in the impeachment trial of the president and, beyond that, to challenge the core defense of Trump, his lawyers and his supporters in Congress. The Times reported late Sunday that, in the manuscript, Bolton writes of Trump telling him in August that "he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped him with investigations" into Democrats including former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who had been employed by a Ukrainian energy company. That linkage is at the heart of the first article of impeachment against Trump, which alleges that the president conditioned the aid to Ukraine and a visit to the White House by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the promise of an investigation that would serve to discredit a political rival. Bolton's reported claim, if true, would seriously undercut Trump's attack on the reliability of the "abuse of power" charge. The president's lawyers have argued that claims of linkage between the aid and the investigations have come only from people with second or third-hand information, who are making assumptions and presumptions but have never directly heard the president make any quid-pro-quo connection. Bolton, as his book title suggests, says he was indeed in the room at a critical moment and that it did happen, according to the Times' account. Two people familiar with the manuscript, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of its sensitivity, confirmed to The Washington Post that it details Trump tying aid to his desire for probes into the Bidens. In his tweets and retweets early Sunday, Trump portrayed Bolton as a vengeful man just trying to sell books. He retweeted an apparent supporter comparing Bolton with former FBI Director James Comey, who published a book after being fired by Trump. Besides, he tweeted, "the Democrat-controlled House never even asked John Bolton to testify. It is up to them, not up to the Senate." Bolton, said the retweet, "is running the exact same revenge playbook . . . all because he's mad Trump fired him for leaking and trying to start new wars." Bolton's book appeared on Amazon overnight, available for preorder at $32.50 for the hardcover, $16.99 for the Kindle version and $39.99 for the audio CD, read by Bolton. While trying to discredit the impeachment in the House and Senate, in part for lack of firsthand witnesses, Trump's lawyers have simultaneously worked successfully to block any testimony by anyone who would have gotten close enough to fit that description. Bolton, at times tauntingly, has said he is ready to testify if subpoenaed and that he has plenty to testify about with regard to issues involved in the impeachment. But a subpoena never arrived. And the chances that it would were getting slimmer by the day as the Republican-controlled Senate appeared mostly unified in opposition to any witnesses. More News John Bolton's bombshell gives the GOP a glimpse of its nightmare scenario With only a few days remaining in the Senate trial and acquittal a near-certainty, it was beginning to look like the whole proceeding would come to an end with Bolton's secrets still concealed. People were beginning to wonder out loud and on social media whether any contents of the Bolton book would leak and, if so, whether that would happen in time. On Dec. 30, Bolton submitted his manuscript to the White House for a standard review of potentially classified information, according to his lawyer, Charles J. Cooper. The White House could have, and still might, stand in the way of publication of portions of the book on national security grounds. Sunday night, before that could happen, the leak occurred. The Times account was sparse, mentioned no other elements of the book besides Ukraine, and it did not directly quote the unpublished manuscript, offering only a broad description. It said "multiple people described" Bolton's account. In addition to detailing Bolton's account of what Trump told him - the linkage between the aid and the investigations - the Times said the manuscript portrays Attorney General William P. Barr and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney in a negative light. "For example," the Times said as it described the manuscript, "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged privately that there was no basis to claims by the president's lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani that the ambassador to Ukraine was corrupt and believed Mr. Giuliani may have been acting on behalf of other clients." "Mr. Bolton also said," according to the Times, "that after the president's July phone call with the president of Ukraine, he raised with Attorney General William P. Barr his concerns about Mr. Giuliani, who was pursuing a shadow Ukraine policy encouraged by the president, and told Mr. Barr that the president had mentioned him on the call. A spokeswoman for Mr. Barr denied that he learned of the call from Mr. Bolton; the Justice Department has said he learned about it only in mid-August." "I never told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens," Trump tweeted early Monday. "In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book." The report about the manuscript is fueling renewed demands by Democrats that witnesses, including Bolton, be subpoenaed to testify in the trial. Among pro-impeachment lawyers, it also triggered discussions about alternatives to a full Senate vote on calling witnesses, which has been considered likely to fail. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who is presiding over the Senate trial, "can easily subpoena these folks on his own," and he "can't even be overruled by Republicans in the Senate," Neal Katyal, a former acting solicitor general, said on MSNBC on Sunday night. In a New York Times op-ed Monday morning, Katyal, his Georgetown Law School colleague Joshua Geltzer and former Rep. Mickey Edwards, R-Okla., elaborated. They pointed to parts of the 1868 Senate rules of impeachment, still in force, that give the chief justice the power to issue subpoenas without being overruled by the Senate. Once a subpoenaed witness is deposed, and only then, the Senate has the final say on whether the witness also testifies. Such an aggressive assertion of authority by the chief justice in a proceeding where he presides over a trial committed "solely" to the Senate by the Constitution would be extraordinary, deeply controversial and therefore unlikely. But the story gave renewed hope to Democrats in the Senate and the prosecutors, or "managers," representing the House that they might yet be able to sway enough Republican votes to get the subject of subpoenas on the floor for discussion, which is the first hurdle, and then issued. The traders acknowledge that AAP has brought about certain reforms in education, but it is unlikely to influence their voting preference, because most of their children study in private schools In around 30-odd streets running perpendicular to the 60-feet road in Delhi's Vishwas Nagar area, the air is that of a Sunday. The windows are shut. Shutters are down with locks dangling at the bottom. Except it is a Tuesday. Further enquiries reveal the area has borne a barren look since December 2017. In 2006, the Supreme Court-monitored committee identified unauthorised commercial establishments running in residential colonies, which was followed by several factories being sealed. Former chief minister Shiela Dixit, in January 2012, stopped it by introducing the Delhi Master Plan of 2021, which aimed at regularising some of the factories. In December 2017, however, the Supreme Court observed that the unauthorised establishments had not been checked, and asked the committee to resume the "sealing drive". By January 2019, more than 10,000 units had been shuttered, putting thousands of traders and labourers in a quagmire. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi, run by the BJP, carried out the sealing drive on the instructions of the monitoring committee. The Delhi Development Authority, which is in charge of the master plan, reports to the BJP-run Centre. The traders, therefore, squarely lay the blame on the party they have traditionally supported. Dilip Bindal, who had a godown at Vishwas Nagar, one of the areas where the sealing drive transpired, said most of those who ran a business here are now out of work. "I had a place in Ghazipur, so I moved my material there," said Bindal, who runs a paper business. "But most of the people lived here as well as worked here. The rent was Rs 25,000 a month. Moving the factory to another area means tripling the rent. Most of the traders here have not been able to get back on their feet. The labourers have also gone back to their villages. The tea stall and small eateries have suffered because all of them were their customers." Bindal said the traders did not even get enough time to move out. "Three days notice, and we were out," he said. The peculiar thing, though, is that every trader says it would harm the BJP in the upcoming Assembly election, but conclude that their vote is still with Narendra Modi. "The BJP has taken our vote for granted," added Bindal, "They reduced the corporate tax but our taxes continue to be what they were. The BJP knows we are not going anywhere." The BJP is right. After complaining about the sealing drive, economic slowdown, and rising unemployment, none of the traders said they intend to desert the BJP when Delhi goes to polls on 8 February. There are around 10 lakh of them in Delhi, which may not be huge, but they run associations, and have the ability to influence several people working for them. Constituencies like Chandi Chowk, Karol Bagh and Sadar Bazar are replete with members of the trader community. While Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seems likely to come back to power, this is one community that continues to sit firmly in the BJP's corner. The traders acknowledge that AAP has brought about certain reforms in education, but it is unlikely to influence their voting preference, because most of their children study in private schools. Sanjay Bhargava, president of the Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal, said schools do not make a city and a chief minister should have a holistic view. He added that Kejriwal should have paid more attention to the traders and markets which he did not. Bhargava pointed outside his Raymond store that opens up to the densely-populated and crowded market of Chandni Chowk. "This is the condition of the markets in Delhi," he said. "It is pathetic. We are competing with shopping malls. Compare that ambience with the one here. Do you think people would get pleasure out of shopping in congested areas? You might provide free water and electricity but you cannot overlook infrastructure." But the traders have also been living through an economic slowdown. This reporter sat through a conversation where a trader called upon his friend to convince his son to leave India. "Your father and I have seen excellent days. Look at the condition of the economy. There is nothing left here," he said. A few hundred metres from Bhargava's store, Bharat Ahuja, president of Delhi's Electrical Traders Association, sitting at his office, said business is at 40 percent of what it used to be. "It collapsed after demonetisation, and never picked up," he said, "Our supply is connected with real estate and Industries. Both are struggling, therefore we are struggling. But the Centre is neglecting it. The ministers are inaccessible." Kejriwal has sought the opportunity to galvanise that discontent. AAP tried to exploit the sealing drive. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, according to Ahuja, even promised traders that no officer with the state government would harass them. Kejriwal himself belongs to the Bania community. But the party remains unpopular among traders because Kejriwal is "doling out freebies". "That is not a good practice," said Ahuja, "It is not in the national interest. It makes people lazy, and they stop working hard when they get everything easily." At which point two more traders walked into his office and the interview was interrupted. Both gentlemen, while chatting about the upcoming elections, said, "Logonko nikamma kar raha hai Kejriwal. If a man is competent and hardworking, surely he can pay his electricity bills." But the workers toiling hard at the factories of these traders know what it means to have the electricity bills subsidised. The traders know their workers are out-and-out AAP supporters. Bindal said he understands why they support Kejriwal. "It is perfectly legitimate," he said. "When we were enthusiastic about the BJP, we would tell our workers to vote for the BJP. If 10 people work for me, who knows? At least four might listen. But now, I do not tell them anything. The BJP government has not done anything for us, why should the workers feel hopeful about them?" Then why are the traders still backing the BJP? "It has become a habit of sorts," said Bindal. "Good or bad, a habit is a habit. When you are using the same product for decades, it is not easy to move away from it." Prince Charles has been addressing environmental issues throughout his life as an advocate. However, he recently caused controversy after doing something contrary to what he has been promoting. Aside from being an effective speaker, Prince Charles is also a great writer, having written "Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World" and "Climate Change (A Ladybird Expert Book)" in 2010 and 2017, respectively. He tackled his environmental concerns through those books, which he dubbed as "a call to revolution." However, to complete his duties to combat climate change, he needs to travel all over the world and present his goals and solutions related to the long-existing issues. In that regard, though, the way he jetted from countries to countries made other environmental activists call his attention. Prince Charles a Hypocrite? The heir to the throne faced another controversy after people learned that he traveled 16,000 miles in private jets and helicopters continuously before his climate change speech in Davos. The Mail on Sunday detailed how Prince Charles went through three trips by private jet and one by private helicopter before the aforementioned speech. In addition, the same newspaper allegedly got the news about him leaving Davos for Israel by riding another private aircraft. Interestigy, in his Davos address, he emphasized his call for "bold and imaginative action" to fight climate change. To defend Prince Charles and his use of private jets, a Clarence House spokesman said: "Global travel is an inescapable part of The Prince's role as a senior member of the Royal Family representing the UK overseas." They also clarified that all travels on His Royal Highness' schedule depend on the request of the British Government, and the way he advances from one destination to another is not for the prince to undertake. However, Muna Suleiman of "Friends of the Earth" condemned Prince Charles' behavior, most especially when he is one of the most admired people in terms of climate change advocacy. "Climate targets can't be met without cutting pollution from aviation emissions, and private jets are a particularly wasteful, polluting way to travel," Suleiman pointed out. However, Prince Charles is not the only royal family member to receive disapproval for using private jets while standing up against climate change. The Great Pretenders? Just like Prince Charles, both Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle also received numerous criticisms from the public. Previously, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex got slammed after using four private jets in just 11 days last summer despite the fact of being warned about using them. Following the report, the prince was called a "hypocrite" by Piers Morgan after he launched ecological travel plans. He put the fire out during the launch of his eco-tourism project at Google Climate Change Summit in Sicily and clarified that he needed to travel on private jets to protect his family. "I came here by commercial. I spend 99 percent of my life traveling the world by commercial," Prince Harry explained. "Occasionally, there needs to be an opportunity based on a unique circumstance to ensure my family is safe, and it's genuinely as simple as that." Whatever means they want to take, environmental activists can only hope that the royals will set an example for everyone to follow. The debate over rules governing the impeachment trial leaves this senior citizen perplexed. The presidents party is in power in the Senate. They control the trial process. If their rules eliminate evidence and witnesses, it will make the trial look like it was rigged. If the Senate votes not to remove the president from office under these conditions, reasonable people will conclude he was, in fact, guilty. Trump will claim exoneration, but the Senate, Republicans and the president will look complicit in covering up the truth. How is justice met under this scenario? How can American citizens profess these parties were honorable in the execution of their duties? How will democracy and the Constitution fair after the trial as it is currently being proposed? John R. Heapes, Susquehanna Township Police in Eldoret have detained over 90 youths who were arrested after showing up at the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Recruits Training School at Moi Barracks with fake calling letters. The military apprehended the young people in order to investigate the source of the alleged counterfeit documents. READ ALSO: Babu Owino: Rowdy supporters push court to adjourn MP's bail ruling KDF soldiers. The over 90 people were caught with fake calling letters. Photo: KDF. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Rare bird that flew from Finland to Kenya dies Addressing journalists in Eldoret on Sunday, January 26, KDF spokesperson Colonel Paul Njuguna confirmed the incident saying the affected youngsters got letters without going through recommended recruitment exercises in the places that were advertised by the government. "The recruitment exercise only took place at centres which were advertised in the print and broadcast media and different Kenya Defense Forces portals. "Any recruitment that took place outside the advertised centres is fake," Njuguna said. READ ALSO: Familia ya DJ Evolve yapinga kuachiliwa huru kwa mbunge Babu Owino Past recruitment exercise. The original source of the fake letters is yet to be determined. Photo: Daily Nation. Source: UGC He called on Kenyans to be keen and show integrity to avoid getting into shoddy deals that will drain their hard-earned resources, saying KDF has a publicly known way of recruiting new soldiers. Njuguna stated the recruitment exercise was usually free of charge and the recruits chosen on merit. Cases of recruits turning up with fake calling letters at the Eldoret-based military school have become an annual event. KDF recruitment exercise. KDF officials urged Kenyans to be careful not to fall prey of fake recruitment exercises. Photo: Daily Nation. Source: UGC Such incidences seem not to deter unscrupulous dealers and corrupt parents and guardians from getting in this illegal activity. Most give hundreds of thousands of shillings for their sons and daughters to acquire the fake documents only to later realise they were conned. In most scenarios, the victims are rarely prosecuted, only ending up to being released from police custody. Those prosecuted rarely proceed with the cases with investigating officers blaming military authorities of being uncooperative. Eldoret Chief Magistrate Charles Obulutsa in 2017 expressed his frustrations on similar matters, saying KDF officers never show up for such cases. "The military have always been uncooperative. Once the case is filed they don't show up. It is like they fear taking forward the matter as it would implicate senior officials who could be behind these happenings," said Obulutsa. Report By: Tim Kipkurui, TUKO Correspondent, Uasin Gishu Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. Kenyan woman forces traffic police officer out of her car | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke A London, Ont., psychiatrist was stripped of her licence Monday for sexual abuse after a discipline panel found she had repeated sexual encounters with a patient. Dr. Karin Kerfoot did not attend the hearing before a five-member panel at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, where she was represented by two lawyers. A plea of no contest was entered on her behalf, meaning she doesnt admit guilt but does not contest the facts and accepts that the panel can find them correct. Sex between a patient and a health care professional is prohibited under Ontario law, and requires the mandatory revocation of the professionals licence. The sexual encounters happened at various motels over the course of a year and a half, while the patient whose name is covered by a standard publication ban was in and out of the London hospitals inpatient adult mental health care program, according to a statement of uncontested facts filed at the hearing. The patient was dealing with a number of mental health issues, including depression, alcohol abuse and an eating disorder. Kerfoot was his attending psychiatrist. Receipts were entered into evidence at the hearing, showing Kerfoot paid for the motel rooms, sometimes in cash, sometimes with her credit card. The pair also travelled to Toronto on one occasion and stayed in a hotel, the panel was told. They also communicated through WhatsApp using plenty of heart, flower and kiss emojis, where the patient would refer to the doctor as my love, my dear girl, my lovely muse and babydoll while also discussing issues like his medication. Dr. Kerfoot engaged in a lengthy sexual affair with a vulnerable psychiatric patient, college prosecutor Morgana Kellythorne told the panel. She highlighted that maintaining proper boundaries is crucial in a physician-patient relationship, and even more so when the physician is a psychiatrist. Dr. Kerfoot failed miserably in this regard, Kellythorne said. The patient said in his victim impact statement that he no longer trusts the psychiatric profession as a result of Kerfoots conduct. I was in love with a woman whom I trusted and very much admired, said the patient, who read his statement to the panel. Dr. Kerfoot took advantage of me in a fragile state. The panel also found Kerfoot guilty of failing to cooperate and/or being dishonest with the college during its investigation. She had initially denied the existence of a sexual relationship to the hospital and the college, according to the statement of uncontested facts. In a statement to the Star, Kerfoot said she made the heart-wrenching decision two weeks ago not to mount a defence to the college allegations at the hearing. She said she intends to share the reasons why when she is ready. A physician whose licence has been revoked for sexual abuse can reapply in five years, though there is no guarantee they will get it back. Kerfoot has been suspended since September 2017 and her lawyer, Dara Lambe, argued that her revocation should be backdated to that time, so that she would be eligible to reapply in about three years instead of five. The college prosecution objected. There is no reason to reward Dr. Kerfoots abhorrent conduct by trying to find a way around the provisions in the legislation, Kellythorne said. Lambe also argued that Kerfoot should not have to post a letter of credit in the amount of $16,000 to cover potential therapy costs for the patient, saying there was no evidence the patient intends to seek therapy in relation to the sexual abuse findings. She also pointed out that Kerfoot has not been able to earn an income since her 2017 suspension. In a brief decision, the discipline panel rejected the defences arguments. They revoked Kerfoots licence immediately, ordered her to post a letter of credit for $16,000 for potential therapy costs, and ordered her to pay an additional $10,000 to the college for the costs of Mondays hearing. indiGO Auto Group Celebrates 10 Years of Perfecting Its Signature Luxury Car Buying Experience for Passionate Enthusiasts Continued long-term growth in the new decade propelled by innovative mobility solutions HOUSTON, Jan. 27, 2020, With 19 franchised dealerships in six U.S. markets, indiGO Auto Group celebrated its 10th anniversary on January 15th. Now wholly owned by Pon Holdings of the Netherlands, indiGO Auto Group, which was founded by current CEO Todd Blue, has created the most inspiring luxury retail automotive destinations in the industry. indiGO's "best brands, best locations, best people" philosophy goes far beyond the traditional dealership model by providing a more immersive and experiential ownership journey. Together with Kelly Wolf, President and COO, Blue created a company and nurtured a team dedicated to a mission that is built around the clients who have a desire to drive their dream each and every day. "When I started indiGO ten years ago, I vowed to create the luxury car buying experience I was looking for, but could not find," said Todd Blue, Founder and CEO of indiGO Auto Group. "This first decade has brought tremendous growth. We center everything we do around our passion for great luxury brands and those who drive them. We have reimagined the retail experience by focusing on exceeding expectations and enlightening our clients." Blue credits the indiGO team along with its loyal and passionate clients for contributing to the company's tremendous success. If the first decade in business is any indication, indiGO is destined to continue its trajectory. Further solidified by the fact that indiGO is now part of global mobility powerhouse Pon Holdings, Blue says, "As the auto industry makes the shift toward electrification, personalization and digitalization, indiGO will be able to continue to embrace the exciting changes and have every opportunity to thrive because of Pon's strong financial backing." With the recent expansion of three more dealerships in Northern California Porsche Marin, Audi Marin and VW Marin along with the new McLaren Houston dealership, indiGO continues to connect their unique philosophy and approach to the car buying experience. About indiGO Auto Group indiGO offers the world's most sought-after automotive brands in one signature experience from the exotic and elite to the ultimate in performance and luxury. indiGO's sterling reputation for innovation and care is fueling its growth in key markets nationwide, giving clients additional access, opportunity, and trust in our long-term commitment to them. indiGO stands for a level of expertise beyond traditional dealerships, combining intimate brand knowledge with an authentic automotive passion for enriching every client, every day of their ownership. indiGO Auto Group represents 19 franchised dealerships in six United States markets, including Houston, Texas, and St. Louis, Missouri plus Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Riverside, and Marin County, California. Dealership destinations include Porsche North Houston, Lamborghini Houston, McLaren Houston, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars North Houston, Porsche St. Louis, indiGO Classic Cars, Jaguar Riverside, Porsche Marin, Audi Marin, Volkswagen Marin, BMW of Palm Springs, Porsche Palm Springs, as well as Bentley, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Aston Martin, McLaren, Lamborghini, Jaguar, Land Rover and Audi of Rancho Mirage. For more information, please visit www.indigoautogroup.com indiGO Auto Group is proud to be part of Netherlands-based Pon Holdings B.V., a global business of mobility products, services, and solutions, including passenger cars, commercial vehicles, automotive parts, earthmoving equipment, marine, power generation, and financial services. Pon's strong nancial backing and global presence complement indiGO's unique strengths, a combination of which ensures further long-term growth. NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading global strategic consulting and communications agency BPCM, is proud to announce the launch of its new cannabis division. Specializing in brand strategy and communications in the luxury, fashion, sustainability, beauty, travel, wine and spirits sectors, BPCM is ideally positioned to design the roadmap for cannabis brands and its intersection with the luxury and lifestyle industries. Agency partners Carrie Ellen Phillips, Vanessa von Bismarck, Ali Taekman and Julian Vogel, together with founding cannabis division partner, Lisa Gabor, are creating a blueprint for innovation based on their decades of expertise and international reach in the luxury, lifestyle and editorial sectors. The division will be focused on advising and educating brands on how to position their products for today's lifestyle consumers, as well as offer BPCM's core services including multi-faceted communication strategies, event management, celebrity and influencer engagement and digital services. BPCM will connect pioneering cannabis companies with lifestyle industry thought leaders and facilitate introductions to potential brand partners, media and purpose-driven organizations, as well as hone messaging around sustainability-related efforts and goals. Similarly, BPCM will work with luxury and lifestyle clients, advising them on the ever-expanding possibilities to create products with purpose that incorporate cannabis, cannabinoids and hemp. The division is led by Lisa Gabor, one of the founding editors of InStyle who covered beauty, style and travel for the magazine before becoming editor of its digital division, Instyle.com. Lisa's experience also includes American Express publishing, where she was Editor in Chief of the "Black Card" magazine for Centurion Card members as well as special projects editor on Departures. Thanks to Island Records founder, Chris Blackwell, who Gabor joined as Vice President of Creative Strategy for the design, launch and marketing of Jamaica's luxury resort GoldenEye, Gabor was well aware of the movement towards cannabis legalization. She joined Arcview, described as the first and largest community of investors, advising companies and sharing ideas around cannabisand has invested her own time evaluating and understanding the new world of business opportunities created by cannabis, CBD and hemp. "Cannabis, as an ingredient in an array of products no one ever dreamed of, is going to disrupt the lifestyle industries as we know thembeauty, wellness, fashion, travel, cultureand more. Right now, we have a unique opportunity to shape this new industry as it sits on the brink of federal and international legalization. And, how thrilling to be doing this with BPCMcultural tastemakers who define innovation," says Gabor. With offices in New York, Los Angeles and London, BPCM has a rare vantage point from which to see how the culture, and the cannabis industry, are evolving together. BPCM Co-Founders Carrie Phillips and Vanessa von Bismarck add, "There is a unique opportunity in the ever-evolving fashion, beauty and lifestyle spaces. The new cannabis division is dedicated to championing brands, products and people with purposeas BPCM's existing client roster doesand helping them to define their brand, promote sustainability and sync with today's cultural ideals." BPCM is a fully integrated agency with offices in New York, Los Angeles and London and a global network of partner agencies, specializing in brand strategy and communications. Founded by Carrie Ellen Phillips and Vanessa von Bismarck in 1999, BPCM has helped brands become leaders in the fashion, beauty, travel, lifestyle, wine and spirits and luxury markets. In today's changing world of communications, BPCM looks at the business of each clients to establish goals and create strategies how to reach the consumer and increase brand recognition. BPCM offers 360 point of view on all aspects of communications including brand strategy, CSR and sustainability programs and consulting, regional and national media relations, influencer engagement and celebrity relationships, special events and large scale retail activations, collaborations and partnerships, brand ambassadors and digital content strategies. For more information on the BPCM Cannabis Division or inquiries about our clients, please contact: Leah Lefco Media Director [email protected] BPCM 537 WEST 25TH STREET, 3RD FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10001 T + 212 741 0141 F + 212 741 0630 WWW.BPCM.COM SOURCE Bismarck Phillips Communications & Media Related Links www.bpcm.com She plays the bride in the upcoming romantic comedy, Palm Springs. And on Monday, Camila Mendes stepped out for the film's Sundance premiere in Park City, Utah. The Riverdale star was the epitome of class in a structured and timeless ensemble. Her big night: On Monday, Camila Mendes, 25, stepped out for the Sundance premiere of Palm Springs in Park City, Utah Camila, 25, tucked in a fitted, green Chinti & Parker sweater into a pair of wide leg trousers. The Latina beauty matched her manicure to her pants, choosing black nail varnish. Camila accessorized with silver dangle earrings from Kendra Scott and cinched in her waist with a fabric belt. The Charlottesville, Virgina native wore her parted down the middle and pulled back. For make-up, she added a touch of drama to her natural features with deep brown shadow, and brought out her lips with a pink shade. Her look: Camila, 25, tucked in a fitted, green Chinti & Parker sweater into a pair of wide leg trousers Beautiful: The Charlottesville, Virgina native wore her parted down the middle and pulled back. For make-up, she added a touch of drama to her natural features with deep brown shadow, and brought out her lips with a pink shade Keeping warm: Jacqueline Orbadors, 53, tucked in a cream sweater into a pair of distressed jeans and accessorized with a Fendi scarf and jewelry, while Tyler Hoechlin, 32, layered an oatmeal colored T-shirt underneath a trendy jacket Dressed up and down: Cristin Milioti, 34, chose a ruffled, blue dress and snakeskin print boots, while Andy Samberg, 41, looked like a Silicone Valley tech in a grey pullover, plaid shirt and jeans and sneakers Jacqueline Orbadors, 53, tucked in a cream sweater into a pair of distressed jeans and accessorized with a Fendi scarf and jewelry, while Tyler Hoechlin, 32, layered an oatmeal colored T-shirt underneath a trendy jacket. Cristin Milioti, 34, chose a ruffled, blue dress and snakeskin print boots, while Andy Samberg, 41, looked like a Silicone Valley tech in a grey pullover, plaid shirt and jeans and sneakers. Boots were the hot trend for the evening, as Meredith Hagner, 32, added a pair of cowboy boots to her bright purple dress. Cowgirl: Boots were the hot trend for the evening, as Meredith Hagner, 32, added a pair of cowboy boots to her bright purple dress Their roles: In the film, Andy plays the boyfriend to Cristin's character, who's the maid of honor at the wedding of Camila's charater, Tala Camila rose to fame as Veronica Lodge on CW's Riverdale. The show has been renewed for a fifth season, and the cast are now high school seniors. In an interview with IMDB, the star revealed if the show will see them in college. 'I'm very curious to see what's gonna happen. I have a feeling we're gonna do a time jump, but I'm not sure. But I think that would be the best. I mean, I'm not gonna tell them what to do...It be nice to have a reset.' She did say the show 'will cross over with Katy Keene,' which premieres on February 6. Joining together: The cast rounded up to celebrate their big night Buds: Andy and Jacqueline enjoyed themselves at the cast premiere party, presented by Audible Speakeasy Hanging out: Cristin later caught up with fellow actor Tongayi Chirisa, 38, at the party Pakistan on Monday expressed concern over what it described as "interference" by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in the country's "internal affairs" with respect to the arrest of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen and his colleagues. In a tweet on Monday, Ghani had said that he was "troubled" by the arrest of Pashteen and his colleagues and hoped for their immediate release, adding, "While our region is suffering from atrocities caused by violent extremism and terrorism, governments in the region must support and encourage peaceful civilian movements for justice and must avoid any means of force and violence against these movements." Islamabad responded followingly, describing the statement as unwarranted, a clear interference in Pakistan's internal affairs, and "not helpful to the promotion of good neighbourly relations between the two countries." "We have noted with serious concern the recent tweets by President Ashraf Ghani, which are a clear interference in Pakistan's internal affairs and hence, unwarranted," read a statement by Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson. "We believe that such statements are not helpful to the promotion of good neighbourly relations between the two countries." "Pakistan wishes to maintain close and cordial relations with Afghanistan based on the principles of non-intervention and non-interference and urges the Afghan side to work together for the common objective of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region," it added. Pashteen was arrested from Shaheen town in Peshawar in the early hours of Monday. PTM is known for its strident criticism of the country's powerful military for alleged enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, according to Al Jazeera. Along with Pashteen, the police also arrested nine other PTM workers who were identified as Muhammad Salam, Abdul Hameed, Idrees, Bilal, Mohib, Sajjadul Hassan, Aimal, Farooq, and Muhammad Salman. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A new report out today warns that Alabama faces a frightening shortage of skilled workers within the next five years if there isnt more collaboration between business, education and career tech training programs. The Business Education Alliance of Alabama, a public policy group, is out with its report, Education Matters, the first in a series of reports from the Alliance on workforce development in Alabama. BEA Chairman and President Joe Morton unveiled the report today for business executives at the Alabama Workforce Council. The Public Affairs Research Council conducted research for the report, while the A+ Education Partnership provided additional research support and consultation. Morton said Alabama is on pace to have a shortage of close to 200,000 highly-skilled workers by 2025-26 if nothing changes. Our report sought to discover whether the state has the right tools in place to produce an increased number of highly skilled workers, and what needs to change to ensure those workers are qualified for the jobs that will become available, Morton said. A shortage in properly trained, skilled workers has been a concern in multiple industries for several years nationally. Alabama has a goal of preparing 500,000 highly-skilled workers within five years - the number of workers the state expects to need to compete for new industries and replace retiring workers successfully. But standing in the way are other factors, such as the states low third-grade reading proficiency, and its worst-in-the-nation math and reading scores in the National Assessment of Education Progress. The report calls for new investments in Alabamas First Class Pre-K program, a more targeted effort to improve reading and math foundational skills, and increased collaboration to improve student outcomes. It also encourages policymakers to develop a more meaningful college and career readiness measurement, as well as calling on more local conversations on what career pathways, credentials, and certificates are needed. Although the state has an ambitious goal of training 500,000 highly-skilled workers by 2025, BEAs report shows that we must do more to prepare workers than try to reach a target number," Tim McCartney, the chair of the Alabama Workforce Council, said. "It is equally important the workers gain the critical skills they need to be competitive in the workplace as Alabama strives to be even more successful in the future. Two especially challenging roles are at the center of Matilda the Musical, which will be presented five times between Jan. 31 and Feb. 9 as Friendswood High Schools 53rd annual spring musical. Taylor Greny, 17, tackles the title role of a 5-year-old bookworm with extraordinary powers, while fellow senior Eric Jensen, 18, portrays Miss Trunchbull, the cruel headmistress at Matildas school. These two kids are the ones who are going to make me famous, said their theater teacher, Kathy Powdrell, who directed the show. Greny, who is 5 foot 1 inch tall, said shes been dancing since I was little. This is her fourth year in FHS musicals. A meaty, starring role is what Ive looked for, said the daughter of Kenneth and Kimberly Greny. Everything about Matilda is fascinating, she said. Circumstances have made her extremely strong and wise beyond her years, but shes still just a child; so she gets excited about little things. Want to go? What: Friendswood High School's production of "Matilda the Musical" Where: Dr. Myrlene Kennedy Auditorium, Friendswood High School, 702 Greenbriar, Friendwood When: 7 p.m. Jan. 31, Feb. 1 and 7; 2:30 p.m. Feb. 2 and 9 Admission: $15 (Tickets will be available for purchase at the school information desk during school hours and will also be sold at the door. Only cash will be accepted. There is an ATM on site.) Information: 281 482-3413; https://myfisd.com See More Collapse Jensen arrived at Friendswood High as a sophomore from New Zealand, where he played rugby. First, he appeared in the ensemble of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, for which the school set a record by winning 10 Tommy Tune Awards at the 16th annual Tony Awards-style ceremony, which honors the best in Houston-area high-school musicals. Matilda the Musical will represent Friendswood high at this years awards, to be presented April 28 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston. Last year, the son of Steven and Nancy Jensen portrayed Motel, the tailor, in Fiddler on the Roof. This show, an adaptation of Roald Dahls 1988 childrens book Matilda, was commissioned and first produced by Londons Royal Shakespeare Company in 2010, with the part of Miss Trunchbull explicitly created for a male actor to play. It is exaggerated and grotesque and fun, Jensen said. To portray a woman seemed like a great way to break out of my comfort zone. You let the voice go higher, you walk with better posture, you sit with your legs crossed. Other featured cast members are seniors Taylor Campbell, Thomas Massey, Brittany Harris and Robbie Hope. Student designers and technicians include seniors Margaret Otto, Ethan Evans, Gabriela Weakley, Keana Jazdyk, Jana Ryan, Meg Dodson and Soleil Gignac. Matilda the Musical is not recommended for children under age 4, Powdrell said. Also, the show uses special effects such as fog, haze, strobes and black lights. Powdrell said the inspiration for FHSs production of the musical comes from the shows dialogue itself: Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world. Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be contacted at donmaines@att.net Greece And Turkey In Conflict Turkish hackers from a group calling itself Anka Neferler have recently claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on Greek government sites in claimed retaliation to the Greek governments stance on a recent Turkish agreement with Libya. Greek officials confirmed that the Turkish attacks had taken place and said that measures would be taken to prevent similar ones in the future. The attacks have included the Greek National Intelligence Services (EYP), Greek Parliament, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. Within 12 hours of these attacks a Greek group, known as Anonymous Greece, retaliated with cyberattacks on a number of Turkish websites. As the Turks hit yesterday, so did we the day after in response. Let it be known that the attacks have just begun. For every new attack, we will be posting a new article, the group wrote on their website. Sources in the Greek government said that the attacks used Denial of Service (DOS) as a means to disrupt normal Internet operations. The flood of network traffic was detected by government authorities who disconnected servers before additional damage could occur. Attackers were unable to steal data or post messages, however the Greek Parliament website was overloaded and went offline. The investigation into the hacks is ongoing, and despite the Turkish groups claims to be behind the hacks there has been no data to indicate their involvement so far. Following the cyberattack on Greek government websites, many key websites such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are still down leading to major headaches for both citizens and the government. According to reports, all Greek embassies and diplomatic missions such as Consulates, will be faced with a major communication problem as a consequence of the server of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs being offline. All communication such as that between Consulates and Embassies with the outside world will be impossible, leading to a major operational issues. NeosKosmos: Greek City Times: CSHub: EURActiv: You Might Also Read: Turkey Using German Spy Software On Opposition Politicians & Activists: Phineas Fisher Fingered: Hacking the Turkish Government: New Delhi, Jan 28 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against four persons linked to NSCN (IM) in the murder of Arunachal Pradesh MLA Tirong Aboh in an ambush that left 10 others dead in May last year, the agency said on Tuesday. The agency filed the chargesheet before a special court in Arunachal Pradesh on Monday naming Luckin Mashangva, Jai Kishan Sharma, Yangte Josaham and Napong Jenpi under charges of criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The NIA took over the case on June 10 last year from Arunachal Pradesh Police which lodged an FIR on May 21 last year related to the ambush on the convoy of MLA Tirong Aboh near Pansum Thong village in Tirap district by armed cadres of terrorist group of NSCN (IM). The attack took place while the convoy was moving towards Khonsa from Dibrugarh and a total of 11 persons, including MLA, were killed with injuries to three persons. "The investigation has established that members of the terrorist group of NSCN(IM) conspired to commit the terrorist act of killing of Tirong Aboh, MLA Khonsa, and 10 others. It was also established that the terrorist act was a result of larger conspiracy due to opposition by Aboh to anti-development and extortion activities of NSCN (IM) in Tirap district," the NIA said in its chargesheet. The members of NSCN(IM) led by self-styled Major General Absolom of NSCN(IM), who is an absconding in the case, along with other accused formed a terrorist group which was financed by Jai Kishan Sharma to execute the attack, it said. The NSCN (IM) members had on an earlier occasions threatened Aboh and his supporters for their opposition to criminal activities of the group, said the NIA. Senator Doug Jones (D., Ala.) told reporters Monday night that President Trumps defense-team lawyer Alan Dershowitz made some good points relating to the second article of impeachment against Trump, and implied he could split his vote over concerns with the obstruction of congress charge. He did make some good points on a couple of things on factual issues that Ive got concerns about with, especially with regard to Article II, Jones told USA Today. But Jones criticized the defense team for its efforts to dispute the first article of abuse of power. Theyre focusing solely on the [July 25th call] transcript and theres so much more to the story than the transcript, and they continue to talk about cross-examination of witnesses but yet they continue to block witnesses that have first-hand knowledge. Thats disingenuous, he continued. The freshman Senator added that he just dont buy Dershowitzs assertion that Trumps impeachment was based on a non-literal reading of the Constitution. Dershowitz said during arguments Monday that the president did not commit an abuse of power even if he did demand a quid pro quo as a condition to sending aid to a foreign country a claim John Bolton makes in his upcoming memoir. He explained that convicting Trump for abuse of power over the withholding of military aid would require that jurors assume Trumps motive for orchestrating the quid pro quo was self-serving and not in the national interest. Jones, who faces a stiff reelection challenge in Alabama, said last month that gaps in testimony after the Houses case left him trying to see if the dots get connected before the vote in the Senate. The Alabama Democrat also seemed to imply that he could vote to convict Trump on abuse of power, but could acquit him on obstruction of Congress. I try to keep these separate, he explained. My training as a judge is saying, each count stands on its own. And thats how Im trying to continue to look at this. Story continues Jones said that he had taken several hundred pages of notes during the trial, but was still not sure how he would vote. I ask myself a lot of questions and Ill go back, Ill argue with myself a lot tonight, he said. Its the way I do things. More from National Review EUGENE, Ore. -- Nathan Oeming, a well-known financial advisor in the Eugene area, entered a not guilty plea in court Tuesday to charges of online sexual corruption of a child. An affidavit of probable cause in the case said a detective posted an ad on a website solely for prostitution and Oeming responded with a text. The detective told Oeming he was a 15-year-old girl, and they agreed to meet at the Dairy Queen near Sheldon High School. RELATED: CHILDREN'S NONPROFIT BOARD MEMBER ARRESTED IN EUGENE CHILD SEXUAL CORRUPTION STING Oeming, 40, said he wasn't there to have sex with the girl, but he was found with condoms and $128 in cash. He is scheduled to appear in Lane County Circuit Court again on March 11 at 2:30 p.m. (Newser) A Florida man obsessed with harassing the parents of murdered children has been arrested and charged with unlawful possession of the personal identification of another person. Authorities say Wolfgang Halbigwho has long claimed that the December 2012 massacre of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoaxsent personal identification details of Leonard Pozner, including his Social Security number and other information, to hundreds of people, Spectrum News reports. Noah, Pozner's 6-year-old son, was killed in the Connecticut mass shooting. Halbig, 73, faces up to a year in prison if convicted. He was released on $5,000 bond Monday and is due back in court in late February. story continues below Halbig, a former public school security administrator, has tormented Sandy Hook parents who challenged his conspiracy theories by releasing their personal details and sending them photographs he claimed were of their children "all grown up," the New York Times reports. "For five years, he has used my most personal and private details to incentivize and enable other hoaxers and conspiracy theorists to hunt, abuse, and terrorize myself and my family," Pozner says. "We have a long way to go, but this is a positive step in the right direction." Halbig is a former contributor to Alex Jones' Infowars website, though a lawyer for Joneswho has Sandy Hook legal woes of his ownsays Halbig and his views "have long been in the rearview mirror." (Read more Sandy Hook stories.) PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-28 19:31:40 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 755 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 CHARLOTTE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / North Carolina based Queen City Pet Sitting & Dog Walking - Charlotte is currently recruiting new pet sitters to address the demand for their services. The company provides high-quality dog walkers and pet sitters across Charlotte and the surrounding areas. Their reliable, loving pet caregivers provide top-quality visits and services for many types of animals in the comfort of a client's home as well as luxury boarding in the sitter's home. Read more about their services at https://www.qcpetsitting.com/ Owner Stacey Fisher says, "We have been expanding our services over the past 11 years. We are now able to offer real careers to those who love looking after pets. If you have what it takes to look after those who don't understand why their owners are away, to give them the love and care they need until they are together again, please apply to join our team. We are seeing those who love animals and want to help provide them with the much-needed exercise and companionship while their owners are away, please apply." Queen City Pet Sitting & Dog Walking - Charlotte is loved by their dedicated team of sitters as well as their many clients. Many testimonials can be read on their website, Google and other dedicated review platforms. One of their most recent reviews is from Stacey Leach. In her highly positive Google review, she says, "I wanted to give a shout out to Ms Genny! She was awesome! She took great care of all my precious kitties and sent me daily texts letting me know that they were all ok, and that they were starting to warm up to her. That in itself is a huge thing! When I came back from the trip to CA, I walked in; the house was clean, the cats were like so chill. That told me that they were well cared for, as they were not freaked out or upset or anything." She continues, "I will also be recommending your services to the guests here at our hotel that are in need of pet sitters, walkers, etc. (We allow pets here in our property) Thank you, again, for being such an upstanding, quality company. Your employees reflect your business and, I must say, color me impressed!"Those interested in becoming one of the pet sitters that their clients rave about may visit the following link to learn more: Join Our Team. Applicants must be at least 19 years old, with at least two years of pet care experience and a willingness to learn on the job. They must also pass a background check as well as have a car. Becoming a Pet Sitter provides the flexible schedule many people need in their own busy lives while being part of a supportive team. Those with their own pets can also take advantage of the staff pet sitting discount offered by the company when they need to put the care of their own animals in the very best of hands.Their busy customers are using their services when they need to be away on business or vacation to avoid the stress of going to a kennel. Often, pet sitters are asked to stay overnight or even board pets in their own home. In some cases, they visit the animals in the home two, three, or four times a day. They provide care for cats and dogs as well as fish and small animals, including rabbits, gerbils, ferrets and more.Daytime companion services are perfect for puppies, kittens and other new pets who need to be left at home all day. They also provide park playtime, pet taxi services as well as errand services for those that need them. All Queen City Pet Sitting & Dog Walking - Charlotte services are licensed, bonded and insured.To become a pet sitter for Queen City Pet Sitting & Dog Walking - Charlotte, please apply through their website. Those who want to hire a local pet sitter are invited to call directly from their website or use their online contact form to make a reservation. Those who are active on social media may connect with the company on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with their latest news and announcements.###For more information about Queen City Pet Sitting & Dog Walking - Charlotte, contact the company here:Queen City Pet Sitting & Dog Walking - CharlotteStacey Fisher980-202-2745stacey@ queencitypetsitting.com 7418 Edenbridge LaneCharlotte, NC 28226SOURCE: Queen City Pet Sitting & Dog Walking - Charlotte President Muhammadu Buhari says no one in government should be afraid of audit if they have done the right thing, saying public servants must see audit as a means of improving their performance. The president stated this when he declared open the second edition of the conference of Auditors-General in Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday. Mr Buhari challenged auditors to adhere to the professional code of conduct guiding their operations, while ensuring timely and quality review of financial performance of public officers. He also charged Auditors-General in Nigeria to maximise the use of their constitutional powers in the fight against corruption. As accountability institutions in the Federal, States and Local Governments, and as the institutions empowered under the Constitution to review the financial performance of public officers even where there has been no petition or allegation, you are uniquely placed to tackle corrupt practices. Through your audit findings and recommendations, corrupt practices would be discovered early and loopholes blocked before they are exploited. Furthermore, you have the full range of audit tools at your disposal including financial compliance, performance and information technology audits. There is literally no aspect of government performance or expenditure you cannot examine. What may be missing is the will to properly deploy the powers that you have. In which case, I will remind you that under-performance by auditors, or ineffective audits, contribute largely to governance problems. Auditors therefore need to decide not to be part of the problem but the arrow to the solution, he said. While commenting on the 2016 and 2017 Annual Reports of the Auditor-General of the Federation, the president noted that the audit opinion was in line with the reality of corruption, mismanagement and misappropriation facing the nation. Mr Buhari commended the Auditor-General of the Federation for his efforts, saying: I want to encourage you to continue to do your best. It is important that all Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are kept on their toes through timely and high-quality audits. The president said his administration is fully aware of the value that audit and scrutiny brings to the performance of governance functions. He, therefore, assured the professionals that regular and constant monitoring of performance would be prioritised as the federal government rolls out its Development Plan. We know that MDAs charged with delivery of activities that impact the lives of Nigerians can all monitor and report their own performance, but the most reliable measure is an accurate and independent assessment by external auditors. READ ALSO: This is one key reason all tiers of government in Nigeria need a strong external audit function, he said. The president also highlighted some key achievements in the fight against corruption through government anti-corruption agencies, especially the EFCC, ICPC, Code of Conduct Bureau and others. He said: These successes include significant arrests, recoveries of cash and properties purchased with stolen funds and the blockage of loopholes through which people siphon public funds. You may also have noted the progress made by the Judiciary in the trials of several cases and the sanctions and sentences being handed out to offenders. You will also be aware of this administrations Financial Transparency Policy and the launch of the Open Treasury Portal at the end of 2019. This again is to improve on accountability, access to information for all citizens and the timeliness of financial information. You can see that a lot has been done, but there is so much more to do, as the cancer of corruption has deeply affected our country and our governance practices, and the fight cannot be won until all tiers of government and indeed the generality of Nigerians are determined to join the fight against corruption. While acknowledging that auditors are facing several challenges, the president noted that very few states had the operational and financial independence necessary to deliver high level performance. He assured the auditors that efforts are being made to strengthen the independence of their offices, encouraging them to strive to achieve maximum impact with the powers they currently have. My expectation for the future is to see audits conducted at all tiers of Government with more impactful findings. Advertisements I expect audit institutions to be able to report the amount of financial impacts and savings they have achieved for their government, along with non-financial impacts, he said. Emphasising the need for quality audit, Mr Buhari asked the conference to reflect on the following: Has any annual Financial Statements produced by any of the states received anything other than a clean audit opinion as far back as you can remember? You will admit this is strange, in view of the significant cases of misappropriation that have been uncovered, the huge balances that have been recovered and the sentences being served by convicted officials including past state governors. One can either assume the audits are not thoroughly done, the auditors have been compromised, or the auditors are constrained in some way or other. You will know best what your constraints are, but I encourage you to reflect on this issue. What will it take to do a thorough job for the sake of your Local Government, your State, Nigeria and for the sake of future generations? In his remarks, the Auditor-General of the Federation, Anthony Ayine, identified the absence of an Audit Act, which is a basic requirement for Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Nigeria, as a major impediment for audit institutions in the country. According to him, the Audit Ordnance of 1958 which the country was using is no longer in the statute books of Nigeria. Mr Ayine, therefore, called for the enactment of Audit Laws to further strengthen the audit institutions to perform better. The Auditor-General pledged total support of auditors to the administrations fight against corruption. He acknowledged that the presidential directive in 2015 to MDAs to ensure prompt response to audit queries has been very effective in ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of the countrys resources. Mr Ayine also noted other successful initiatives of the federal government to promote accountability and transparency in governance, including Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and other electronic platforms that ensure blockage of leakages. A major highlight of the event was the presentation of Champion of Transparency and Anti-Corruption Award to Buhari by the Conference of Auditors-General in Nigeria. (NAN) Amidst concerns over India's new citizenship act and the NRC, Luxembourg, a European Union member, on Tuesday said it doesn't want to "interfere in the domestic policy" of this country but has asked New Delhi to "do everything" to not increase stateless people. This was conveyed by visiting Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn during talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar. "What I said to the minister (Jaishankar) this morning is 'do everything you can do to not increase stateless people'. That is something that we have to fight against. Rest concerns India," Asselborn said during an interactive session at the India International Centre after his meeting with Jaishankar. With six resolutions being moved in the European Parliament against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Asselborn said Jaishankar could explain his point of view when he visits Europe in February and March. Replying to a question about the resolutions, Asselborn defended the move, saying the EP also criticises its members often, and takes up "aggressive" positions against them. "The problem is if you have an addition of migration and religion, it is very difficult to find a solution, the minister said in reference to the Indian context. "I don't want to interfere, but if we have the possibility as foreign ministers to have this discussion with him (Jaishankar), if he is also going to the European Parliament...I saw this morning that there is a will not to increase the number of stateless persons," the Luxembourg Foreign Minister added. "He (Jaishankar) explained me his position this morning and I think that if we are able to have a discussion for instance on what is happening with this bill in Assam. We have similar problems in the European Union...," Asselborn said. In a release, External Affairs Ministry said Asselborn met Jaishankar during which they reviewed the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries and discussed ways to further strengthen the ties, including in the areas of trade and economic cooperation, space, political and strategic relations and cooperation in mulilateral forums and in the European Union. The Ministers agreed to the further intensification of high-level political contacts, the release added. One of the longest serving foreign ministers in Europe, Asselborn has had close associations with the Indian leadership and has visited India four times. Talking again about the India-specific resolutions in EU Parliament, Asselborn said the machinery of the European Union is very complex and complicated. "I don't want to say that the EP is not European Union...But we have to see the reality, the EP is elected in 28 countries and they have their own opinions, they have political parties, they create coalitions inside," he said, asserting that the EP is free to take up resolutions. In Europe or in India, things concerning migration are always not only very emotional, but also very difficult, he noted. Close to 600 lawmakers in the 751-member EP moved six resolutions against the CAA, saying its enactment marked a dangerous shift in India's citizenship regime, following which Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla wrote to European Parliament President David Maria Sassoli, asserting that it was inappropriate for one legislature to pass judgement on another and the practice can be misused by vested interests. Birla had also asserted that as members of the Inter Parliamentary Union, "we should respect sovereign processes of fellow legislatures". India has been maintaining that the CAA was an entirely internal matter of India and that the legislation was adopted through democratic means after a debate in both houses of Parliament. In his remarks at the IIC, Asselborn also said that the foreign ministers of the European Union had recently emphasised on the importance of Asia and to have robust ties with India. He also hoped that after the India-EU Summit that is likely in March, there would be a possibility to re-launch negotiations for a free trade agreement that was stalled. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Cora Pagendam-Turner proudly walks the streets of Brisbane wearing colours of the rainbow, bright heart-shaped sunglasses, a beanie and bows. Depending on the day, her attire chops and changes but the 20-year-old confidently identifies as part of the kawaii subculture in Brisbane. Brisbane resident Cora Pagendam-Turner has grown an online following after embracing kawaii. Credit:@vessmess_create, Instagram "Generally, its about unapologetically embracing and reinventing motifs commonly associated with childhood and femininity, often with a focus on Japanese pop culture, she said. Kawaii, which celebrates all things cartoon and cute, abounds in the hip neighbourhood of Harajuku in Tokyo. Social Democrats joint leader Roisin Shortall arrives ahead of the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire Solidarity People Before Profit politician Richard Boyd Barrett, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire Irish Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin arrives ahead of the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire Fine Gael leader, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire (left to right) Fine Gael leader, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, Solidarity People Before Profit politician Richard Boyd Barrett, Social Democrats joint leader Roisin Shortall, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin and Irish Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin, during the seven way RTE leaders debate Niall Carson/PA Wire After a two hour long RTE debate from NUI Galway, we assess how each of the party leaders fared as General Election 2020 edges closer. Here are their marks out of 10: LEO VARADKAR: 5/10 Expand Close Fine Gael leader, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fine Gael leader, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was a low key presence for much of the first half of the debate and was outshone by Micheal Martin in attacks on Sinn Fein. But he deftly got over his drugs slip-up from the first debate quipping: "Ill try to avoid a long pause this time". He also drew a laugh when asked about one of his ministers branding some in the Green Party as "nutters" saying: "Theres a fair few nutters in every party including my own." MICHEAL MARTIN: 7/10 Expand Close Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire The Fianna Fail leader started off strong by highlighting serious concerns about Sinn Feins objection to special criminal court because of their links to the provisional IRA. However, he did seem under pressure when Mary Lou McDonald attacked him for supporting Fine Gael and failing to securing his promised housing budgets. But over all it was a solid performance. MARY LOU MCDONALD: 6/10 Expand Close Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire The Sinn Fein leader was on shaky ground when she compared her Ard Comhairle to a GAA club especially after Mr Martin highlighted her partys links to the Provisional IRA. She did receive applause from the audience during the section on housing when she criticised Mr Martin and when she criticised the Taoiseach over the National Childrens Hospital. EAMON RYAN: 3/10 Expand Close Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire The Green Party's Eamon Ryan was his usual thoughtful, reasoned presence, but in all likelihood bored the audience with rambling answers on housing and crime. He faces an uphill battle persuading farmers they can cut suckler cattle herds, change practices and make greater incomes. BRENDAN HOWLIN: 4/10 Expand Close Irish Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin arrives ahead of the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Irish Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin arrives ahead of the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire Brendan Howlin made a bid to get into the debate when he complained that the focus was on Fine Gael and Fianna Fail's rejection of a coalition deal with Sinn Fein. But it only served to highlight a depleted Labour's own likely lack of clout in the post election deal-making. RICHARD BOYD BARRETT: 4/10 Expand Close Solidarity People Before Profit politician Richard Boyd Barrett, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Solidarity People Before Profit politician Richard Boyd Barrett, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire The audience seemed to take to the People Before Profit TD especially when he was critical of the banks and Nama. However, he did seem to be playing catch up on the other left wing parties when he was trying to offer alternative polices. ROISIN SHORTALL: 2/10 Expand Close Social Democrats joint leader Roisin Shortall arrives ahead of the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Social Democrats joint leader Roisin Shortall arrives ahead of the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire Roisin Shortall was all but invisible for large periods of the debate. She was perhaps strongest when outlining the "barbarity" of the serious crime on Ireland's streets in recent weeks. She argued that people want decent services and lists problems in health, housing and homelessness but the solutions being put forward by her party didnt get much more than polite applause at the end of the night. State Police says a problem that prevented some people making 9-1-1 calls has been resolved Tuesday morning. Preliminary information is that one of the carriers was attempting an update that action may have initiated the disruption, said Brian Foley, executive aide to state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner. We expect more details from the carrier today to determine the root cause. State emergency officials issued an alert late Monday warning state residents that some Comcast customers were having difficulty accessing the 9-1-1 emergency number throughout Connecticut. The issue impacted multiple states, state police said, and Comcast worked to restore 9-1-1 calling to its customers. Officials said residents who were having an emergency should try calling 9-1-1 first, but if the call does not go through, use a cell phone to call 9-1-1 or contact their local police or fire department by dialing their local number, state police said. People could also text 9-1-1 from their cell phone. Residents should always have the local number to their police department and fire department handy in case of a 9-1-1 outage, troopers said. Former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig on Sunday said that there can never be a referendum in Jammu and Kashmir and that Pakistan and the United States (US) have also accepted the fact that J&K is an integral part of India. There can never be any referendum in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump are advocating for autonomy to J&K. It means theyve accepted that J&K is an integral part of India. We demand that J&K should be given what Constitution guarantees us, Baig said after unfurling Tricolour at the headquarters of Peoples Democratic party (PDP) in Jammu on Sunday. On this day of Republic Day, we the people of J&K urge the Centre that we do not want anything out of the purview of this book (Constitution). Whatever are our problems, solutions lie in this book, he added. He also dedicated Padma Bhushan award conferred upon him to the people of the Union Territory. This award has not been conferred upon me but upon the people of J&K, Baig said. This year there was a big change in the country. Our state was bifurcated into two UTs. We hope that statehood is restored again. We appeal the Centre to make Jammu and Kashmir a state again, so that we can walk with dignity and government elected here can get power to work for the welfare of the people, he said. Baig has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to public affairs. This was the first Republic Day in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 last year. Shanghai: The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has reached 100 in Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, where a confirmed cases now total 2714 according to the province's health commission. Global stocks fell, oil prices hit three-month lows, and China's yuan dipped to its weakest in 2020 on Monday as investors fretted about damage to the world's second-biggest economy from travel bans and an extended Lunar New Year holiday. On the Australian Stock Exchange, companies exposed to China's economy and Asian travel bore the brunt of a share sell-off this morning that saw the market dip in early trade. An exercise class in Wuhan continues in spite of the march of the deadly virus. Credit:Getty Images With the death toll estimated to be at least 107 across China, local authorities in China taking increasing flak from the public over their initial response, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Wuhan city, the epicentre of the outbreak, to encourage medical workers and promise reinforcements. News broke Jan. 23 that US President Donald Trump planned to unveil details of his deal of the century for Israeli-Palestinian peace five days hence, on the day the Knesset was to vote on forming a committee to debate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus request for immunity from prosecution. Initially, most references to the plan were political in nature. Trumps move appeared to be a blatant intervention in Israeli elections. It would have been far more appropriate to present the plan after the March 2 elections and subsequent formation of a new government. The political context was further underscored by the surprising White House invitation to Netanyahus rival, Blue and White party Chair Benny Gantz, whose acceptance meant absenting himself from the crucial Jan. 28 Knesset debate. When US Vice President Mike Pence mentioned, perhaps unintentionally, that Gantz had been invited to Washington at Netanyahus request, the political overlay was even clearer. The sense in Israel, in general, and particularly among the Blue and White leadership, was that Netanyahu and company had engaged in a political ploy, setting a trap to help Netanyahus reelection prospects and hurt Gantz. By asking to meet separately with Trump on Monday, Jan. 27, so he could get back to Israel immediately for the Knesset vote, Gantz somehow emerged unscathed from the ambush. Gantzs need for this move reflected beyond doubt that the timing of the plans unveiling was, indeed, an election show. So as not to be upstaged, Netanyahu was quick to arrange a meeting with Trump on Monday, just ahead of the Gantz White House meeting, of course, in addition to his previously scheduled one on Tuesday. For many Israelis, these maneuvers simply illustrate that the US plan is a political game unlikely to lead to a peace agreement. Following their meetings with Trump, the two good competitors, as Trump described Netanyahu and Gantz, issued praise for the presidents courage and hailed the feasibility of a historic agreement with the Palestinians. However, they seemed more concerned with the effect of the plans unveiling on the upcoming elections, and until then, everyone will play along. That is not the case with Israels defense agencies. Publication of the US blueprint, which has been in the works for two years, is expected at 7 p.m. in Israel (noon in Washington) in the presence of Trump and Netanyahu. In other words, in the presence of one side only, in the absence of the Palestinians. In fact, the Palestinians regard this decision as a humiliating slap in the face. Meanwhile, calls on the Israeli political right for immediate implementation of the plan (even before its details are revealed) by annexation of West Bank territories, and on the other hand rage and frustration in the Palestinian Authority (PA), do not bode well. A former top Israeli security official told Al-Monitor that during his many years in the field, the accepted premise was that the more the Palestinians despair over the lack of hope for an independent state, the greater their motivation for escalation. This is an undisputed equation, he said on condition of anonymity. The peace agreement with Egypt and the historic visit by President [Anwar] Sadat in Jerusalem only occurred after the [1973] Yom Kippur War that wiped out the humiliating defeat in the [1967] Six-Day War. Egyptian honor was restored, and talks on an agreement could begin. With his deal of the century, the source said, Trump was behaving like an aggressive businessman, exerting pressure on the other side the Palestinians without giving it any choice. This shows a basic lack of understanding. When working on an explosive diplomatic process, so complex and sensitive, humiliating the other side achieves the exact opposite. Honor plays the most important role in such cases, not only in the Middle East, he added. At his Jan. 27 White House meeting with Netanyahu, Trump noted that he had already slashed funding for the Palestinians. Trump argued that once the Palestinians feel the effect of the cuts, they would accept the terms of his deal. They are not living well. As you know, we cut off aid to the Palestinians, something I don't like to do, but we did that. And we think there is a very good chance theyre going to want this, the president said. It'll be a tremendous tribute to everybody. If we don't, life goes on. But life is unlikely to go on as usual if Israel unilaterally annexes territories. On Jan. 27, while Gantz and Netanyahu were conducting their festive White House talks, the Palestinian factions, including the leading Fatah movement, called for mass demonstrations throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The organizing committee of the March of Great Return a mass anti-Israel protest launched a year ago in Gaza even announced the resumption of the demonstrations and marches. The call, stemming from despair and frustration, is perceived in Israel as green lighting violence, an initial spark that could result in escalation. Although the Palestinians are not talking in terms of a new intifada, growing despair generates a corresponding rise in motivation for terrorism and violence. Another substantive point to consider, which is a direct outcome of the Trump plans anti-Palestinian bias, is the affinity it creates between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, much to Israels displeasure. Israel is pleased, to put it mildly, at the prevailing deep rift between Hamas and Fatah and between Gaza and the West Bank. The plan, according to early reports, proposes construction of a tunnel linking the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The Trump administration is also demanding that the PA restore its control over Gaza and demilitarize the enclave. Trump views the regime of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a troublesome entity that must be forced to accept his plan. At the same time, the plan does not refer to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which control Gaza, at all. As far as the blueprint is concerned, they do not exist as actors, and they have no influence on developments in the Palestinian arena. That not only makes the plan unrealistic and unworkable, it contradicts the Israeli interest in having two separate and divided Palestinian entities, and brings the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah almost to the point of a union of forces. The process of Palestinian reconciliation could intensify if Israel moves on to the execution phase of the plan and annexes settlements and territory. At that point, the violence could accelerate and the two bad competitors Hamas and Fatah could draw significantly closer. If this were a feasible peace plan, it would dwarf all these dangers. However, such is not the case given that no peace is likely to emerge from the deal of the century, only growing tensions, which could culminate in a clash. At this point, no one in Israels defense agencies seems interested in raining on the Trump-Netanyahu parade. When the majority of politicians talk about a historic moment and the US president hands the Israelis the plan of their dreams on a silver platter, the generals prefer to keep their criticism to themselves and out of the public arena. But on the day Palestinian despair is translated into violence on the ground and blows up in Israels face, the generals will not be surprised. ST. JOHNS, N.L.A case of DNA cross-contamination in Newfoundland and Labrador has prompted a police review of homicide files and has defence lawyers scrutinizing how DNA evidence is handled. The chief medical examiner confirmed in a Monday email that his office was notified by the RCMP on Sept. 30 that DNA from one homicide victim had surfaced in another case. "It is, to the best of our knowledge, the first time there has been DNA cross-contamination implicating the office," Dr. Nash Denic's email read. A spokesman for the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said in light of the news, the police force's director of forensics reviewed homicide cases dating back to January 2016 and found no cause for concern. Denic, who did not hold the chief examiner position at the time of the incident, said based on a review of the collection process at the office, he believes the DNA could have been transferred from a glove to a wooden tool used to scrape fingernails during an autopsy. However, Denic noted his office "cannot be absolutely certain that this is the source of contamination." Lloyd Strickland, the province's assistant director of public prosecutions, said his office received the report on homicide cases and will share the findings with legal teams in "appropriate cases." One unrelated homicide trial was delayed last week as legal teams considered possible implications, but Strickland said he's not aware of any other cases affected. "This incident has not, as far as we know, affected the strength or reliability of evidence in any particular case," Strickland said by phone on Monday. He said the public prosecutions office will advise defence counsel in cases where the issue "might be relevant." He said lawyers "can deal with it in any way they want." "They may choose to ignore it and they may choose to question the medical examiner about it," Strickland said. Last week, the St. John's murder trial of Steve Bragg was postponed after an application from the Crown. Bob Buckingham, Bragg's lawyer, said the police investigation into past homicide cases encompassed the time period of the Bragg case and he agreed it was necessary to wait for the results. On Monday, Buckingham said he hadn't yet seen the report from the police, but he hoped to have a chance to review it before an arraignment date next week to decide how to proceed. Buckingham said the incident raises questions about how easily mistakes can be made when handling DNA evidence and how lawyers should interrogate that evidence. "We become complacent in terms of assuming that things are done properly," Buckingham said. "We have to have more expertise development among defence counsel about DNA and the handling of crime scenes." Buckingham said the incident has highlighted the margin for error in what's considered a solid, reliable science. He said lawyers will have to fill in knowledge gaps about crime scene handling, DNA collection and storage and forensic training, and develop skills to address those questions at trial given that the public including potential jurors are now aware of the mix-up. "That's going to require, in my opinion, extra training and extra money for defence counsel," Buckingham said. DGAP-Ad-hoc: Airbus SE / Key word(s): Miscellaneous Airbus SE: Airbus' statement regarding media reports on French, U.K. and U.S. investigations 28-Jan-2020 / 07:17 CET/CEST Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Ad-hoc release, 28 January 2020 Airbus' statement regarding media reports on French, U.K. and U.S. investigations Airbus confirms that it has reached agreement in principle with the French Parquet National Financier, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office and the U.S. authorities. These agreements are made in the context of investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption as well as compliance with the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR"). They remain subject to approval by French and U.K. courts and U.S. court and regulator. For legal reasons, Airbus cannot make any comments on the details of its discussions with the investigating authorities. * * * About Airbus Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2018 it generated revenues of 64 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world's leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide. Contacts for the media Guillaume Steuer guillaume.steuer@airbus.com +33 6 73 82 11 68 Stefan Schaffrath stefan.schaffrath@airbus.com +33 6 16 09 55 92 Bird flu in poultry farms: Odisha to cull chickens in and around agri tech university India oi-Madhuri Adnal Bhubaneswar, Jan 28: The state government is all set to start culling of chicken after confirmation of avian influenza or bird flu in the poultry farms of the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT) located here, official sources said. The culling will be conducted within one kilometre of the OUAT poultry farm located inside the campus of the College of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry at Siripur locality. "We had sent the blood sample of the birds to the High-Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal and these were tested positive to the H5N1 virus," said Prof Susen Panda of the OUAT. An official of the Fisheries and Animal Resources department said, "All the poultry birds within one km radius of the infected site will be culled and disposed of by deep burial method with application of disinfectants like lime and bleaching powder." Swine flu: 15 deaths in Punjab, eight in Haryana this year Panda said the blood sample was sent to for the test to the HSADL following unusual death of chicken in the poultry farm. "So far, about 1500 birds have died in the farm and they were buried deep inside the ground," Prof Panda said adding that the state government would undertake culling procedure after confirmation of the bird flu in the state capital. PM Modi: 2-3 families nurtured Kashmir problem and thousands died| OneIndia News The OAUT authorities have sealed the poultry farm which houses above 15,000 chickens. The government also appealed people not to panic over the bird flu outbreak as all measures were being taken for its control. Meanwhile, sources said, the authorities of the Nandankanan Zoo located at the outskirt of the state capital have decided to close the Bird Park from Tuesday in view of the avian influenza outbreak. Considerable publicity is being given to an article by Byron Lamont and Tianhua He titled 'Why prescribed burns dont stop wildfires'. Professor Lamont and Dr He are academics from Curtin University in Western Australia, the former a botanist and the latter a molecular biologist. They argue against the use of fuel reduction burning in bushfire management because it does not stop bushfires. Fires threaten homes in Umina on the state's Central Coast this month. Credit:Nick Moir The article exposes the fact that the authors have no experience or operational understanding of fire behaviour, and have not got the faintest appreciation of how a prescribed burning program works, or how bushfires are controlled. Their baseless and inhumane opinions, if given any credibility, would give rise to dangerous fire management policies, a continuation of the cycle of devastating bushfires in Australia, and to further losses of lives and beautiful forests. Tuesday, January 28th, 2020 (12:25 pm) - Score 2,250 After a protracted period of uncertainty the UK Government has today confirmed that kit from Chinese technology giant Huawei and other high risk vendors will be banned from the sensitive core of future UK 5G and gigabit-capable fixed broadband ISP networks, although non-core 5G kit (antennas, street cabinets etc.) will be exempt. The decision appears to uphold an unofficial ruling made by the former Prime Minister, Theresa May, last year (here). Some had been wondering whether the new PM, Boris Johnson, would take a tougher line, particularly given his close alignment to Donald Trump (President of the USA), although in the end he appears to have upheld Mays decision. Part of the reason for todays decision is likely to be because completely banning Huawei could make the rollout of new gigabit-capable 5G, and possibly also fixed broadband ISP networks, both much slower and more expensive to achieve. This in turn would have impacted Boriss recent 5bn pledge to ensure that every UK home can access gigabit (1Gbps) speed broadband networks by the end of 2025. On the other hand 5G networks do seem set to increasingly blur the lines between core and non-core components, especially with the rising adoption of cloud-based and software defined networking (SDN) methods. Policing the new non-core rule could thus prove to be quite a challenge as networks evolve. The Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) today, where it was agreed that the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) should issue guidance to UK Telecoms operators on high risk vendors following the conclusions of the Telecoms Supply Chain Review. The advice is that high risk vendors should be: * Excluded from all safety related and safety critical networks in Critical National Infrastructure. * Excluded from security critical core functions, the sensitive part of the network. * Excluded from sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases. * Limited to a minority presence of no more than 35% in the periphery of the network, known as the access network, which connect devices and equipment to mobile phone masts (this will be kept under review to determine whether it should be further reduced as the market diversifies). The government will now seek to legislate at the earliest opportunity to put in place the powers necessary to implement this tough new telecoms security framework. However at first glance that 35% rule might force some mobile operators to diversify their supply chains more, which may be harder to do in the mobile than fixed line environment (Openreach already seem to be doing this here). Baroness Morgan, UK Digital Secretary, said: We want world-class connectivity as soon as possible but this must not be at the expense of our national security. High risk vendors never have been and never will be in our most sensitive networks. The government has reviewed the supply chain for telecoms networks and concluded today it is necessary to have tight restrictions on the presence of high risk vendors. This is a UK-specific solution for UK-specific reasons and the decision deals with the challenges we face right now. It not only paves the way for secure and resilient networks, with our sovereignty over data protected, but it also builds on our strategy to develop a diversity of suppliers. We can now move forward and seize the huge opportunities of 21st century technology. The government said they were certain that these measures, taken together, will allow them to mitigate the potential risk posed by the supply chain and to combat the range of threats, whether cyber criminals, or state sponsored attacks. Todays decision marks a major change in the UKs approach that will substantially improve the security and resilience of our critical telecoms networks, said the announcement. The move follows an earlier report from the oversight board of the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC), which warned that further significant technical issues had been identified in Huaweis engineering processes, leading to new risks in the UK telecommunications networks (full summary). At the same time it also said that no material progress has been made by Huawei in the remediation of the issues. The board said it could only provide limited assurance that all risks to national security from Huaweis involvement in the UKs critical networks could be sufficiently mitigated long-term. Naturally Huawei has always denied accusations that they are a security threat and in a public letter said, Huawei has never and will never use UK-based hardware, software, or information gathered in the UK or anywhere else globally, to assist other countries in gathering intelligence. We would not do this in any country. However, critics of the company often point toward Chinas new National Intelligence Law, which was passed in 2017 and demands that organisations support, co-operate with and collaborate in national intelligence work. The absence of true democracy in China might thus, they argue, make it very difficult for any company to refuse such a request. Meanwhile Donald Trump has taken a much stricter line and effectively banned companies around the world from working with Huawei, with some exceptions. The move has stunted the firms Smartphone and other consumer products, such as by removing access to Googles popular Apps, although that aspect is less relevant to their mobile and broadband infrastructure business. The difficulty for telecoms operators is that Huawei makes generally good and affordable kit. A lot of operators and broadband ISPs are already working closely with the Chinese firm in order to deploy new networks (e.g. 5G and fibre broadband) and any aggressively imposed restrictions would thus impact those plans. The alternatives from Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung are not as attractive to many operators (ZTE is another but theyve already been effectively banned). Meanwhile BT (EE) has already confirmed that theyve removed related kit from their core mobile network (here) and Vodafone have paused similar deployments, albeit reluctantly, into their core (here). So far none of the operators have applied such measures to the less sensitive non-core part of their networks. For its part O2 has decided to skip the debate and go with 5G kit from Ericsson and Nokia. Closing Thoughts Operators have long warned that they cant do 4G without 5G and any impact on the supply chain would thus have far reaching consequences. As such it looks like Boris, who was told by operators that his plans for gigabit-capable broadband might be in jeopardy if he didnt show some flexibility, has blinked in the face of such a stark reality. Meanwhile many will be watching to see how the USA reacts. At this point we havent really touched on the substances of the key security fears that surround Huawei and which are the trigger for all of this. One reason for that is because such issues are a matter for national security and intelligence agencies (i.e. theyre secret), which is virtually impossible for ordinary folk to judge. We wouldnt be so bold as to assume we know better than they. Furthermore it seems unlikely that so many countries would be creating such a fuss if there wasnt a serious concern. At this point its worth remembering that such concerns have been around since long before Donald Trump came to power, although he has seemingly now linked much of it to the USAs trading relationship with China, which adds a political dimension to what was once more of a debate about security. UPDATE 2:12pm Openreach has declined to comment but O2 (Telefonica UK) has responded. (Newser) Nazia and Faisal Ali marked their 10th anniversary with a trip to Paris, but things took a turn when they tried to return home to Ohioand what happened next is now costing Delta. The US Transportation Department fined the airline $50,000 over that and a second incident involving Muslim fliers that the department said violated federal statutes against discrimination. In the case of the Alis, a fellow passenger on Flight 229 indicated to a flight attendant that the couple's behavior unnerved them and that the husband seemed to "insert something plastic into his watch," per USA Today. The flight attendant said she walked by him as he was texting and noted the word Allah "several times." The US citizens were asked to leave the plane, where they were questioned by security and then OKed to reboard the flight to Cincinnatiexcept the pilot wouldn't let them back on. story continues below That first incident happened on July 26, 2016; the second, just five days later, reports the New York Times. A Muslim man boarded a Delta flight in Amsterdam that was headed to New York City. Other fliers told flight attendants that it looked as if someone of a "similar ethnicity" who did not board the plane gave him a package; flight attendants noted that the man moved to a window seat and seemed to be sweating. Delta Corporate Security said the man "had no red flags" and the plane left the gate, only to return, at which point the captain asked that the man be rebooked on another flight. The department's consent order, issued Friday, also requires Delta to have some staff undergo civil rights training. Delta maintains its behavior wasn't discriminatory but allowed "our best customer service was not reflected" in the incidents. (Read more Delta Air Lines stories.) Alabama Sen. Doug Jones said attorney Alan Dershowitz made some good points in his defense of President Trump during his impeachment trial. Speaking to USA Today, Jones said during the Senate trial hed highlighted concerns related to the impeachment, specifically the charges tied to the president obstructing justice. (Dershowitz) did make some good points on a couple of things on factual issues that Ive got concerns about with, especially with regard to Article II, Jones said. The defense related to Article I charging the president with abuse of power were less persuasive, he said. "And Article I, they're focusing solely on the (July 25th call) transcript and there's so much more to the story than the transcript, and they continue to talk about cross-examination of witnesses but yet they continue to block witnesses that have first-hand knowledge. That's disingenuous, Jones said. The comments indicate Jones, who faces a battle for reelection against a host of Republican contenders, is open to splitting his vote on impeachment. I ask myself a lot of questions and Ill go back, Ill argue with myself a lot tonight. Its the way I do things. You can read the complete interview here. Ukraines Embassy to China is looking into the possibility of evacuation of its citizens who remain in the cities of Hubei province The Embassy of Ukraine to China, in view of the rapid spread of a disease caused by a new type of coronavirus (2019-nCoV), strongly recommends that Ukrainian citizens who are located in China leave this country if the opportunity arises. The Embassy stated this on its Facebook page. "The Embassy monitors the development of the epidemiological situation in China and maintains contacts with relevant Chinese authorities. All possible options for assisting citizens who remain in the cities of Hubei province and are subject to quarantine restrictions are being explored. Among other things, the possibility of evacuation is also being discovered, in case such a decision is made by the leadership of our state," the statement said. As we reported earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend evacuating foreign citizens due to the massive spread of the coronavirus, Xinhuanet agency informed. "We have noted that some countries have expressed their desire to withdraw citizens of China, and WHO does not advocate this. In the current situation, we should remain calm and there is no need to overreact. WHO is confident in the Chinese government's ability to prevent and control the epidemic," the statement said. Users can operate bicycles from their home, just like their personal cycles for daily chores or health or leisure. MYBYK, an Ahmedabad based company providing sustainable mobility solutions, is now looking to expand aggressively in the entire city of Ahmedabad. It applied for and received permits under the 'Amdabike' project of Smart City Ahmedabad Development Limited (SCADL) to provide its fully automated IoT enabled dockless bicycle sharing service. The company has already set up a network of 30 HUBS connecting to the BRTS in Ahmedabad where users can DROP the bike at the boarding station and similarly PICK up another bike from the station where they alight to go to their destination. For this, the company has already deployed a fleet of 500 cycles and another 500 cycles are on their way. Over the coming months, MYBYK plans to connect to all the remaining BRTS and AMTS stations as well as the upcoming Metro (in future). Users can operate bicycles from their home, just like their personal cycles for daily chores or health or leisure. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. A Manitoba man is suing the Anglican Church of Canada, alleging he was subjected to repeated sexual and physical abuse while a student at a now-shuttered boarding school nearly 40 years ago. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. PARKS CANADA, CANADIAN HISTORIC PLACES St. John's Cathedral Boys' School, originally known as St. Peter's Dynevor Anglican Church Rectory, is a 2 1/2 storey stone dwelling on sprawling grounds overlooking the Red River near Selkirk. In a statement of claim filed earlier this month, a Manitoba man alleges he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Kenneth MacKinnon Mealey, a teacher at St. Johns Cathedral Boys' School from 1981 to 1982. (Parks Canada, Canadian Historic Places) A Manitoba man is suing the Anglican Church of Canada, alleging he was subjected to repeated sexual and physical abuse while a student at a now-shuttered boarding school nearly 40 years ago. In a statement of claim filed earlier this month, the man alleges he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Kenneth MacKinnon Mealey, a teacher at St. Johns Cathedral Boys' School in Selkirk from 1981 to 1982. Mealey performed oral sex on the student, then in grades 9 and 10, and fondled him while he slept, the lawsuit alleges. Mealey is also alleged to have assaulted the student by striking him on the buttocks with a stick. Mealey was convicted 20 years ago of sexually assaulting other boys at the school during the same time period. The school known for its harsh discipline and physically grueling outdoor exercises has been closed for 30 years. In 1978, 12 students and one volunteer at an affiliated school in Ontario died after their canoes capsized on Lake Timiskaming. In addition to the Anglican Church of Canada and Mealey, the lawsuit also names as defendants the Diocese of Ruperts Land and St. Johns Cathedral School (Manitoba) Inc. "He internalized this for a number of years and finally said, Enough is enough," said the alleged victims lawyer, Israel Ludwig. "Hes suffered a lot of psychological difficulties as a result of this, and thought one of the ways to deal with it was to bring it out in the open." Ludwig said Mealeys whereabouts are unknown. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "We havent been able to find him," he said. "Weve searched obituaries and found no record. He may have changed his name, for all we know." Bishop Geoff Woodcroft said St. Johns Cathedral Boys School was privately-run and had no affiliation with the Diocese of Ruperts Land. "We are deeply grieved and will do what we can to make sure the claimant receives closure," he said. "We want to see justice for him and healing, but we have no connection to that school." The alleged victim claims he suffers from depression, suicidal thoughts, alcohol addiction and sexual disfunction as a result of the assaults. He is suing for special damages including medical and pharmaceutical costs, loss of wages and loss of future income. The allegations have not been proven in court. dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca Burma Myanmar Troops Order Civilians to Leave Rakhine Camp: Witnesses A camp for internally displaced people at a monastery in Sittwe, Rakhine State. / Min Aung Khine / The Irrawaddy SITTWE, Rakhine State Myanmars military on Saturday evening ordered internally displaced people (IDPs) to leave their camp in the village of Sahnyin in Rakhine States Myebon Township, according to the IDPs and humanitarian organizations. More than 500 people from nearby villages are taking shelter at the camp due to the fighting between Myanmars military and the Arakan Army. Around 100 troops came to the camp on Saturday, threatening to destroy tents, according to camp residents. Soldiers shot into the air and told us to come out. They said they did not want to see us here the next day and would destroy our tents, said Daw Moe Than Tin, who is originally from Li Thun Village. We had to flee our homes due to heavy clashes. They say we cant stay here but where are we supposed to go? We have no food and are helpless, she told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. According to the IDPs, the soldiers destroyed three temporary shelters made from bamboo. On Monday, around 20 troops of Myanmars Light Infantry Division 66 came to the camp and told people to leave, according to Ashin Thabawa Nadi, a Buddhist monk helping the IDPs. The troops said Rakhine States military-appointed minister for security and border affairs had not permitted the camp to be opened, the monk added. Yesterday [Monday], troops counted the people. They said an IDP camp cannot be opened there because the security and border affairs minister had not given permission. When the IDPs asked to see an official notice and asked the minister to offer an alternative site, the soldiers said they would report to their commanders, said the monk. I think they just came to instill fear in IDPs, he added. In Rathedaung Township, residents from several villages also fled from their homes after Myanmar troops entered a village on Friday. Lower House lawmaker U Pe Than of Myebon Township said it was unacceptable to abuse civilians. The government is responsible to help the IDPs. But now, far from helping them, they are forced and threatened to leave their camp. This tarnishes the image of the government and the Tatmadaw [military], which is a government body, U Pe Than told The Irrawaddy. The militarys Western Command spokesman, Colonel Win Zaw Oo, Rakhine State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Min Than and Rakhine State government spokesman U Win Myint were unavailable for comment. Although the Rakhine State government has said it is working to accommodate the IDPs, civilians are normally forced to find their own shelter. Rakhine State Municipal Minister U Win Myint earlier told The Irrawaddy that the state ministers had not visited northern areas of the state since the hot season last year due to the fighting. The Rakhine Ethnic Congress on Jan. 25 said more than 160,000 people had fled their homes in northern Rakhine State since late 2018. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko You may also like these stories: Myanmar Military Denies Using Drones to Attack Arakan Army Troops Myanmar Military Says It Needs to Study ICOE Report Before Investigating Rakhine Crimes Bahrain's labour fund Tamkeen has signed a key agreement with Hilal Conferences and Exhibition (HCE) confirming its strategic sponsorship for the Gulf Property Show 2020. A dedicated boutique showcase for real estate and property development in Bahrain and the Northern Gulf, the exhibition is being held under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain, from April 14 to 16 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre. The Gulf Property Show 2020 will see top firms showcase property assets, in addition to providing investors with international opportunities in commercial and residential real estate., said the event organisers HCE. Tamkeen CEO Dr Ebrahim Mohammed Janahi said: "The Gulf Property Show is recognized for providing a unique platform to promote Bahrains real estate sector, not just in the kingdom but across the world." "The event creates an opportunity to highlight the advanced level of investment in the kingdoms real estate sector as well as the developing expertise and professionalism that is showcased through Bahrains real estate companies," he added. On the collaboration, HCE Managing Director Jubran Abdulrahman said: "Tamkeens endorsement for the Gulf Property Show 2020 not only reflects their faith in our events but also the importance of real estate and property sector contribution to the national economy which is a key contributor to Bahrains development plans for the future." The show also carries the strategic organisational support of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority of Bahrain (Rera), Survey and Land Regulatory Bureau (SLRB), Urban Planning and Development Authority of Bahrain, Tamkeen, Bahrain Property Developers Association (BaPDA) and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.-TradeArabia News Service Facebook Inc. and other global companies including LG Electronics Inc. and Standard Chartered Plc. are restricting travel to China, as the death toll from a flu-like virus rose above 100 on Jan. 28. Airlines are also canceling flights and adjusting schedules as a growing number of countries raise travel warnings to not just Hubei province where the new coronavirus broke out, but also to the rest of mainland China. The United States warned on Monday that Americans should reconsider visiting all of China, while South Korea elevated its travel warning on Tuesday, advising its citizens to refrain from visiting China. Facebook became the first major U.S. company to announce a travel suspension after the U.S. governments warning. The U.S. social media company asked employees to halt non-essential travel to mainland China and told employees who had traveled there to work from home, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken steps to protect the health and safety of our employees, the spokesman told Reuters. South Korean home appliances maker LG has put a complete ban on travel to China and has advised employees on business trips in the country to return home as quickly as possible, a company spokeswoman said. South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. said it was urging employees to avoid all non-essential travel to China, while banking group Standard Chartered restricted travel to both mainland China and Hong Kong. In Germany, auto supplier Webasto, which has 11 sites in China, including in Wuhan, has halted all corporate travel to and from China following the virus and the infection of an employee. Japans Honda Motor Co Ltd. said it recommended employees avoid travel to China, while Nissan Motor Co. said it plans to evacuate its Japanese staff and their families in Wuhan via a government-chartered flight. As companies reassessed the risk of travel to China, some airlines said demand for flights was falling and they were adjusting schedules. South Korean budget carrier Air Seoul said it will halt all flights to China, while Taiwans China Airlines. announced a further rescheduling of its flights to China from Friday to Feb. 10, canceling five flights and rearranging the schedules of others. Taiwans Eva Airways also said some flights to China may be canceled. Germanys Lufthansa said on Jan. 27 bookings for its flights to and from China were slightly subdued due to the coronavirus outbreak. Hong Kongs Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said it was reducing overnight layovers for the crew at all points in mainland China as much as possible, resulting in some changes to its flight schedule. International SOS, a medical and travel security services firm that advises companies on travel, said its guidance, for now, was that business travel to China outside Hubei province could continue. But this could be updated if there were major flight cancellations throughout China and more disruptions to ground transport, including rail, International SOS Regional Security Director James Robertson said. Many of our clients have chosen to defer or cancel upcoming travel based on their own individual assessments, Robertson said. If people do choose to travel they need flexible itineraries accounting for extra time for temperature and health screenings. By Josh Horwitz and Heekyong Yang Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday outlined the steps she would take to prevent and contain infectious diseases, as authorities across the globe race to address the new coronavirus. Warren's plan, released less than a week before the Iowa caucuses, calls for increased public health funding for agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services. The coronavirus, a flu-like respiratory infection which was first diagnosed last month in China and has been found in the United States, has killed more than 100 people and sickened more than 4,500, Chinese health authorities said Tuesday. The State Department is advising U.S. travelers to reconsider travel to China. On Monday, major U.S. stock indexes the Dow and the S&P 500 suffered their worst days since October. Warren's infectious diseases plan also draws on her previously released plans to address climate change and the opioid epidemic, issues which exacerbate the spread of diseases, as well as her health-care agenda. The Massachusetts senator wrote that her health-care plan, "Medicare for All," will remove financial barriers for patients who may be contagious. "We can invest at home to ensure our public health agencies, hospitals, and health care providers are ready to jump into action when outbreaks strike," Warren wrote. "And we can help build strong public health systems abroad." The plan comes just days before the first delegates are awarded in the Democratic primary contest. Iowa hosts its caucus on Feb. 3, a contest that is traditionally seen as shaping the contours of the race. Read more: Coronavirus vs. SARS: Health experts on the key differences between the two outbreaks Warren has declined in Iowa and national polls in recent weeks as her progressive rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has gained momentum. She is in third place in national polls and in fourth place in Iowa, behind Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. The top four candidates have struggled to gain an edge in the race's final weeks before voting begins. For senators like Warren and Sanders, the difficulty has been compounded by President Donald Trump's ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate, which has kept the lawmakers in Washington and away from voters in the early states. Warren took on a number of Trump administration policies in her new plan, saying his approach so far has been a "mess." She said that Trump has tried to "nickel and dime" federal programs geared toward public health and eliminated the position that coordinates global health security, which former President Barack Obama created in response to the Ebola epidemic. Warren tweet "As President, I will bring it back, with a formal senior lead in my White House who focuses solely on global health security and oversees this work across the entire federal government," Warren wrote. The plan also calls for the U.S. to contribute to a number of international efforts, including a global vaccine alliance. Warren will also establish a "global health security corps," she wrote, to handle outbreaks in regions that are experiencing conflict, following the recommendation of a commission established by Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. "Diseases like coronavirus remind us why we need robust international institutions, strong investments in public health, and a government that is prepared to jump into action at a moment's notice," Warren wrote in the plan. "When we prepare and effectively collaborate to address common threats that don't stop at borders, the international community can stop these diseases in their tracks." Coordinator of the working group on humanitarian issues in the Trilateral Contact Group Toni Frisch has said that the exchange and mutual release of detainees are among the priority topics discussed in the framework of the humanitarian subgroup of the TCG in Minsk. Indeed, many different humanitarian issues are being discussed, including the exchange of detainees, access to people in need of help, especially representatives of the most vulnerable segments of the population. He reminded that the main humanitarian issue was the exchange and simultaneous release of detainees, and the issues of missing people, the opening of new checkpoints were also discussed. And, of course, one of the urgent issues was the issue of Stanytsia Luhanska, Frisch told reporters on the sidelines of the "OSCE in Ukraine in 2019" conference in Kyiv on Tuesday. In his speech, he emphasized that one of the important and constantly discussed issues is access to persons held in Russia-occupied territories not controlled by the government of certain regions of Donetsk (ORLO) and Luhansk (ORLO) regions. BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan says six university students have returned home from neighboring China and are going through medical checks, as governments scramble to control the spread of a new coronavirus that has killed more than 100 people in China. The six students from the Xinjiang University in China's northwestern city of Urumqi arrived on January 28 in Bishkek, where they are being kept in quarantine in separate isolated rooms, the Kyrgyz government said on January 28. Meanwhile, the chief physician of the Kyrgyz State Sanitary Center, Ryspek Sadygaliev, said a 28-year-old Bishkek resident who was hospitalized earlier with pneumonia symptoms, tested negative for the virus. Kyrgyzstans main airports in Bishkek and the southern city of Osh are screening passengers for signs of infection. The death toll from the virus now stands at 106, with more than 4,500 cases confirmed across China and at least 16 other countries. PARIS (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday he hoped the United States would have the "good sense" not to withdraw its support for French military operations in West Africa, where al Qaeda and Islamic State-linked groups are expanding their foothold. France has about 4,500 troops operating in the Sahel region. He also told a news conference he had no new information on three French nationals who went missing last week in Iraq. (Reporting by John Irish; Writing by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina With rates starting at $246 per night for stays in February, Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina offers a destination within a destination. The freshly reinvented, iconic, 14-acre Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina, located oceanfront in Islamorada, Fla., proudly welcomes travelers with a Winter Ciao Down offer. The resort is extending special rates for a foodie getaway and events-filled energy to escape February weather. With rates starting at $246 per night for stays in February, Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina offers a destination within a destination. With the Winter Ciao Down program, guests enjoy 25 percent off ocean-view rooms, including a $50 food and beverage voucher to enjoy fresh island cuisine at the new double-deck Raw Bar or signature Italian restaurant Ciao Hound. As an ideal time to visit the Florida Keys, resort guests find Islamorada bustling with events and attractions. On Feb. 22-23, just three miles from the resort, the Gigantic Nautical Flea Market features great, one-of-a-kind finds for boating, fishing, diving and nautical-themed gear. The event raises money for college scholarships for Upper Keys Youth. More information can be found at https://www.islamoradatimes.com/event/gigantic-nautical-flea-market-3/. On Saturday, Feb. 29, 7-11 p.m., guests celebrate the Leap Year 80s style with live music by Hairdaze, playing covers from the most iconic bands of 1980s while the resorts legendary Tiki Bar will serve signature cocktails. Whether guests are enjoying Postcard Inns private beach or on the water with one of the resorts charters, Bimini Row will host an evening of big guitars, big hair and big hooks. Known as the Sport Fishing Capital of the World, Islamorada is home to the freshly renovated resort with 151 beach-chic guestrooms and suites, including private cottages outfitted with personal fire pits and direct access to a quiet beach. Perched oceanfront on its own Ocean Ave., the resort offers non-motorized water sports, a dive center, life sized games, a swim-up pool bar, an expansive walk-in beach and cabanas. For more information on the events in Islamorada this February and accommodations at Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina, please visit https://www.holidayisle.com or call {305} 664-2321. Follow Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Dr Anmol Kapoor, who was recently conferred with the prestigious award of Immigrant of Distinction from Immigrant Services Calgary in Canada, has now received Global Icon Award 2019. This year, he has also launched BioTech products amongst many of the products but many others that are in pipeline. It would help the doctors, who are starting the startups to help heart patients. In Los Angeles, an Indian website launched his magazine cover page of Passion Vista amid a grand ceremony in the presence of actress Neetu Chandra. "My work focuses on heart disease prevention, particularly among the South Asian community and women. It is quite difficult and challenging to raise awareness," said Dr Anmol Kapoor, while expressing his emotions after receiving the award. "Doctors in clinical settings aren't used to looking at it from the patient's angle. We're always giving them advice and treatments but sometimes we fail to understand their background, their ethnicities, and their risk factors. Some have more demands from a heart disease point of view and some have less," he said. "The challenge also is making minorities and immigrants aware of the resources available for them. They only come in contact with health-care professionals when the damage is done. I want to make them aware earlier, so we can prevent disease and the damage," added Dr Kapoor. It is interesting to know that he helped in establishing a clinic in Marlborough run by nurses, which deals with some 200 heart failure patients, thereby taking the strain off hospitals. He's also involved in developing an app that will allow patients to be triaged at home. It's a groundbreaking project, deploying artificial intelligence that will undergo a clinical trial. Besides this, Dr Anmol has produced some interesting films like Patiala Dreamz (2014), Phullu (2017) and is all set to bring yet another society issue-based wedding drama Saroj Ka Rishta that revolves around the challenges of a fat girl to find a groom. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe UPDATED: Mar. 12, 2020 If the speed and spread of the coronavirus pandemic has you deeply concerned, please know that we are right there with you. On Wednesday night, President Trump banned travelers coming from Europe. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, who have been filming in Australia, told the world they have tested positive for the coronavirus. And the NBA suspended the season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for COVID-19. All on the same day, the World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic. So, believe us, our heads are spinning too. One very important way we can all combat fear is to get prepared. That's what we are here to help you do. So here's our promise to you. We will: Do our best to bring you the most recent and accurate information Explain what's happened so far, using language that we hope you understand (but let us know if we are falling short). Continue to update this comprehensive explainer as new information becomes available Answer your questions So here's what we know so far: THE NITTY GRITTY A "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" was declared on Jan. 30, 2020 by the World Health Organization over an outbreak of a new, deadly, novel coronavirus which began in Wuhan City, China. The virus was identified as SARS-CoV-2, which causes a disease called COVID-19 (which is an abbreviation of "coronavirus disease 2019"). As of mid-March, there were more than 4,000 deaths and over 110,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world. The vast majority of cases are located in China. On Mar. 4, L.A. County declared a local and public emergency, and Governor Gavin Newsom made the call to declare an emergency for the state of California on the same day. On Mar. 11, WHO made it official: COVID-19 is a pandemic. You can track the global scope and spread with this map and list. And these U.S. numbers are updated daily. WHAT IS SARS-CoV-2? SARS-CoV-2 is in the family of coronavirus pathogens that usually cause short-lived illnesses. They get their name because of how they look, which is spiny around the edges, like a crown. And some coronaviruses are scarier than others. Scientists are still trying to figure out how dangerous this new (or "novel") coronavirus is. "Most people get infected with these viruses at some point in their lives," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms may include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, runny nose, and headache. But they can vary in severity. Thousands of people have died, but "other patients have had milder illness and been discharged," the CDC said. DO I NEED TO BE WORRIED IF I LIVE IN THE L.A. AREA? The main message from national and local health officials is: don't panic. But L.A. is taking precautions. County officials declared a local and local public health emergency on March 4. The declaration, in part, was a way to "enhance our ability... to seek future reimbursement from both the state and federal government, should the funding become available," said the Director of L.A. County's Department of Public Health, Barbara Ferrer PhD, MPH, MEd. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in L.A. County are being announced during regular press conferences, and on the public health department website. L.A. County announced its first death from COVID-19 on March 11 -- a woman over 60 with underlying health conditions who was visiting friends in the area, Ferrer said. She was not a resident, and she had an extensive travel history over the past month, including a long layover in South Korea. The first possible community spread case -- meaning the source of infection was unknown -- was announced at a press briefing on March 9. A second community spread case was announced March 12. Ferrer said the department was recommending "that people with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, and people who are elderly should adopt some social distancing practices immediately. And this would include avoiding non-essential travel, avoiding public gatherings or places where large groups of people are congregating, and avoiding event venues." HOW DOES IT SPREAD? This photo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a microscopic view of a coronavirus. (CDC/Getty Images) Coronaviruses generally jump from person to person on the droplets from coughs and sneezes. The CDC's current best guess is that the incubation period for novel coronavirus -- that's the time from exposure to when symptoms first start showing up -- is somewhere between two and 14 days. Federal health officials are stressing the importance of good hand hygiene. Locally, the L.A. County Department of Public Health has guidance for travelers, health care workers, school administrators, colleges and universities, employers, parents of young kids, ships, congregate living, faith based organizations and more (and it's also stressing the importance of hand washing). HOW LONG DOES IT LIVE? One study -- not yet peer reviewed -- has found that COVID-19 can live up to three hours in the air, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel. That doesn't mean anyone has contracted the coronavirus through breathing it in the air or touching a contaminated surface, scientists involved in the study said. The research does show that "aerosolized transmission" is "theoretically possible," study leader Neeltje van Doremalen of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told the Associated Press. A team from the National Institutes of Health, Princeton and UCLA conducted the study. Its findings were published Mar. 9 on a site where researchers can quickly share their work before it's published. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19? Common symptoms can include: low-grade fever, body aches, coughing, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat. Severe symptoms can include: high fever, severe cough, shortness of breath, persistent chest pain or pressure, confusion, bluish lips or face These Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure. However, some people infected with the virus have no symptoms. And there also may also be additional symptoms to what we've listed above. The CDC and Harvard Health have additional details. WHAT DO I DO IF I THINK I MIGHT HAVE IT? Doctors are recommending that people who think they might have been exposed, or have COVID-19 symptoms, call their physician first so hospitals can efficiently triage patients and give health care workers time to prepare protective equipment (masks, gowns, gloves). If you experience severe symptoms, get immediate medical attention. IS THERE A VACCINE? No. Not yet anyway. But there are several companies working on varying approaches to a vaccine. DO MASKS HELP? They might. But they're not a for sure way of protecting yourself. The problem is that most surgical masks are loose-fitting and those pesky respiratory droplets can slide through the gaps. Still, some studies have shown that masks and respirators can reduce the risk of infection. The N95 surgical mask is probably the most effective. BUT, masks should be prioritized for health care workers, per the surgeon general. WHICH DISINFECTANTS CAN I USE AGAINST SARS-CoV-2? The EPA released a list of products "qualified" for use against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Clorox Multi Surface Cleaner + Bleach is on the list. So is Lysol Brand Clean & Fresh and dozens of other consumer products. "Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses, meaning they are one of the easiest types of viruses to kill with the appropriate disinfectant product," according to the EPA. "Consumers using these disinfectants on an enveloped emerging virus should follow the directions for use on the product's master label, paying close attention to the contact time for the product on the treated surface (i.e., how long the disinfectant should remain on the surface)." As far as keeping your hands virus-free, the CDC says hand-washing for at least 20 seconds is still your best bet. If that's not possible, it recommends using an "alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol." HOW ARE LOCAL HOSPITALS RESPONDING? Hospitals are preparing for a possible surge of patients and making sure there are areas set aside where people can be quickly isolated. Those could be "designated rooms where these patients are going to be evaluated so that both the patient and the healthcare worker are safe and they feel safe while doing that," said Dr. Neha Nanda, a medical epidemiologist with USC Health System. Nanda said ideally, patients would be checked out in negative pressure rooms. Those are rooms that prevent cross contamination. But they aren't always available. Dr. Nancy Gin with Kaiser Permanente Southern California said facilities that don't have the special rooms might opt to set up temporary isolation units. "Then you can put up tents, much like you see tents for events or a wedding reception, you can use those same kinds of tents to help to cordon off individuals," Gin said. WHAT ARE THE OFFICIAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PREPPING AT HOME? Here's what the L.A. County Department of Public Health is recommending: Have provisions that will last a few days (water, food, essential hygiene, etc.) Get immunized against the flu. This will relieve what could be a highly stressed healthcare system Stay home when you're sick (don't wait until you are VERY sick) Make sure you are using a robust, regular cleaning schedule for frequently touched surfaces Wash your hands frequently Wash your hands! (Chava Sanchez / LAist) At a press conference on March 4, Ferrer said she was recommending simple "social distancing" measures. "Use verbal salutations in place of handshakes and hugs," Ferrer said. "Don't share utensils cups and linens. And whenever possible, try to keep six feet between you and other people that you don't know at large events." It's also a good idea to have ibuprofen or acetaminophen on hand to help with fever. You can read more about what you should have on your shopping list with our guide here. ARE ALL EVENTS CANCELED IN CALIFORNIA? Not all, but many (and counting). Below is the official mandate from Gov. Gavin Newsom's office, and the recommendations from state health officials and Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the L.A. County Department of Public Health, as of Mar. 12 through the end of the month. Events with 250 or more people should be canceled or postponed. Smaller events should be canceled or postponed if the venue can't accommodate social distancing. Avoid gatherings or places where you can't keep a 6-foot distance from other people. Avoid gatherings or places where there will be 50 or more people. Avoid gatherings or places where there will be 10 or more people if you are pregnant, immunocompromised or elderly. WHAT ARE L.A. EMPLOYEES DOING TO FLATTEN THE CURVE?City and county leaders announced new rules for themselves at a press conference on March 12. The changes were framed as precautionary steps designed to protect the community and the most vulnerable among us. New protocols include: No more than 50 visitors in city buildings at a time Events and conferences held on city property must have fewer than 50 people. Non-essential travel by city and Los Angeles Sheriff's Department employees is canceled City Hall is closed to all non-city employees Hand-washing and sanitizing facilities available at all city properties 911 operators will screen callers about COVID-19 exposure to help reduce the risk to first responders County Emergency Operations Center is moving to Level 1 (which means it will be fully staffed with leaders and experts from every county department, as well as with outside experts) THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU CAN DO TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE Stay home if you're sick (or think you might be, even if you only have mild symptoms). Wash your hands frequently. HOW ARE WE HELPING OUR HOMELESS NEIGHBORS WHO ARE SICK?The county hopes to be able to announce as soon as Friday that it has secured temporary housing for homeless people who have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as for homeless people who need to be quarantined. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUARANTINE, ISOLATION, AND SOCIAL DISTANCING All are actions designed to stop or slow down the spread of a contagious disease. Here's how they differ, according to the CDC and Harvard Health. - Quarantine: a separation for people who have a contagious disease, have symptoms consistent with a contagious disease, or were exposed to a contagious disease. A person's movements are restricted when they are quarantined. - Isolation: a less restrictive separation that keeps people who are sick away from sick people who are not sick. - Self-Isolation: a voluntary action to stay at home by people who are sick (or are likely to be sick) and are experiencing mild symptoms. - Self-Quarantine: a voluntary action to stay at home by people who may have been exposed but are not experiencing symptoms. - Social Distancing: keeping your distance from other people. The distance reduces the risk of breathing in droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or in some cases, breathes. It can also mean cancelling events or gatherings. THE TEST L.A. County's lab has tested 100 people over the last week and a half, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the L.A. County Department of Public Health, said on March 12. There is a significant backlog -- "we're swamped," she said, and encouraged people to use commercial labs that have recently started offering tests. Commercial labs have tested 120 people so far in the county. The county is in the process of submitting an application to the Food and Drug Administration for drive-thru testing. When testing began it took the CDC about four to six hours to test for the coronavirus, but samples had to be shipped to the Atlanta facility -- which could take days. To speed up testing, the agency began shipping COVID-19 testing kits to states with confirmed cases. Kit results take about 24 hours, and the ability to test quickly is crucial in situations where many people might have been exposed -- for example, if someone went to work infected. "You could go to that work place and you could test everybody else there to see if they've been infected," said Dr. Timothy Brewer, an epidemiologist at UCLA. Brewer says stepped up testing could lead to more people being placed in isolation. And that could slow the spread of the disease. The kits utilize a technique called a real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. It "can diagnose this new coronavirus" in samples from clinical specimens, the CDC's Messonnier said. IS THIS CORONAVIRUS LIKE SARS OR MERS? MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) are two members of the coronavirus family that tend to make people sicker. "About 3 or 4 out of every 10 patients reported with MERS have died," according to the CDC. And SARS was responsible for a global outbreak in 2002-2003 that killed 774 people. "The novel coronavirus is more genetically-related to SARS than MERS," said Dr. Messonnier. But scientists don't know yet if novel coronavirus will act the same way as SARS or MERS; they're using information from both pathogens to guide their research. DID NOVEL CORONAVIRUS COME FROM... A BAT? Dr. Messonnier said the novel coronavirus "does look like it may be somewhat similar to a bat coronavirus." But she said researchers will need to conduct more genetic sequencing before she can be confident of how the virus started. Some researchers think pangolins might have transmitted the new coronavirus to humans. But we just don't know for sure yet. AND A LOT OF OTHER QUESTIONS, ANSWERED What Does Coronavirus Do To Your Cells? What Do I Need To Buy To Prep For Coronavirus? Can The Coronavirus Be Transmitted On Paper, Coins, Or Mail? What Do I Do If I Can't Find Any Hand Sanitizer? How Much More Cautious Should I Be About Coronavirus If I Have An Underlying Condition? Is It Safe To Take LA Metro In The Age Of Coronavirus? Should I Skip The Gym Because Of Coronavirus? What's The Cost Of A Coronavirus Test If I Have Medi-Cal? So, When Is Coachella Now? What Is LAX Doing To Protect People From Coronavirus? How Should I Talk To Little Kids About Coronavirus? What Is LAUSD Doing About The Coronavirus? How Are Schools Trying To Keep Things Clean? Which Local Colleges Have Shifted To Online Classes Because Of Coronavirus? WHAT ELSE? SEND US MORE OF YOUR QUESTIONS. UPDATES: Mar. 5, 2020: This article was updated with the most current information available about COVID-19 and confirmed cases in Los Angeles. Mar. 9, 2020: This article was updated with Dr. Ferrer's remarks about the first possible case of community transmission. Mar. 11, 2020 10:55 a.m.: This article was updated to include WHO's pandemic classification, "qualified" disenfectants, and updated case figures. Mar. 11, 2020, 2:18 p.m.: This article was updated with details about the first related death in Los Angeles County. Mar. 11, 2020 3:48 p.m.: This article was updated with details from a preliminary report about how long the virus can live. Mar. 11, 2020 4:40 p.m.: This article was updated with a new section of community questions. Mar. 12, 2020 6:44 p.m.: This article was updated with information about symptoms, quarantine, homelessness, social distancing, event cancelations, L.A. County announcements, and local testing numbers. Robert Garrova, Paul Glickman, Lisa Brenner, Megan Erwin, Brian Frank, Megan Garvey, Kyle Stokes, and Adriene Hill contributed to this story. This article was originally published on January 28, 2020. Ministers have pledged 500million to reopen closed railway lines in the North of England. Lines earmarked for restoration include many which were axed in the controversial Beeching closures of the early 1960s. Dr Richard Beeching, then the chairman of the British Railways Board, closed more than 4,000 miles of the network - mainly branch lines - in an efficiency drive. One of the first lines to reopen will be the Ashington and Blyth Valley to Newcastle connection - benefiting the Blyth Valley seat won by the Tories after 69 years under Labour. The government is funding proposals re-opening 2 lines in the near future: 1.5 million to the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne Line in Northumberland, and 100,000 to the Fleetwood line in Lancashire. Last the government mooted proposals for opening new rail lines in 2017 they suggested 12 that could re-open (pictured) A map showing the British Railway network before and after the controversial Beeching closures of the early 1960s Dr Richard Beeching, (pictured) then the chairman of the British Railways Board, closed more than 4,000 miles of the network - mainly branch lines - in an efficiency drive Ministers are also working to reopen the track linking Blackpool and Fleetwood. The Transport Secretary will announce the plans on a visit to Fleetwood and Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire today. He said: 'Many communities still live with the scars that came from the closure of their local railway more than five decades ago. Today sees work begin to undo the damage of the Beeching cuts by restoring local railways and stations to their former glory. 'Investing in transport links is essential to levelling up access to opportunities across the country, ensuring our regions are better connected, local economies flourish and more than half a century of isolation is undone.' Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: 'This is an exciting moment as we look to revitalise our railways, reconnect communities and reinvigorate our country. Dr Richard Beeching, former chairman of British Railways, with driver Herbert Griggs at Haywards Heath Station on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex on April 1, 1962 'Local MPs, councillors and community leaders are the greatest champions of their local lines, and we want to work closely together to ensure the projects with the greatest potential have the support they need. Long campaign to reopen lines closed by Dr Beeching Rail campaigners have long called for many of the lines axed following the 1963 Beeching Report to be re-opened. In February, the Campaign for Better Transport urged the Government to invest 5billion in adding 33 lines and 72 stations to the rail network through re-openings, new projects and by running passenger trains on freight lines. It claimed this would bring more than half a million more people within walking distance of a station. Examples of lines identified as a priority include March to Wisbech in Cambridgeshire; Totton to Fawley in Hampshire and Ashington to Newcastle, Northumberland. In November 2017, then-transport secretary Chris Grayling announced that a new development programme would identify opportunities to restore some of the routes axed under Beeching. Proposals being discussed included suburban lines around Bristol, a freight route that runs through central Birmingham, and the line from Okehampton to Exeter. The report by British Railways chairman Dr Richard Beeching was published in 1963. Between 1964 and 1970, 5,224 route miles and 1,434 stations were closed. In the year before the report, there were 4,347 stations and 34,150 miles of track. Now there are 2,566 stations and 19,319 miles of track. Three stations were added to the mainline network in the 12 months to the end of March. Kenilworth in Warwickshire and Maghull North in Merseyside were new stations, while Dorset's Corfe Castle was an existing station served by a heritage rail service which was added to South Western Railway's network. One of the last major re-openings of a line in Britain was the Borders Railway in September 2015. The 294 million link between Edinburgh and Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders re-established part of the former Waverley line, which fell victim to the Beeching cuts. In December 2016, Chiltern Railways began operating trains between London Marylebone and Oxford city centre on a newly established rail link, providing competition to Great Western Railway's service between the cities. The 320 million project included upgrading an old 20-40mph branch line to a 100mph main line. Advertisement 'There will also be opportunities for towns who have lost stations to receive a boost, as we launch another round of our new stations fund.' MPs, local authorities and community groups across the country are being invited to come up with ideas about how to reinstate others axed rail lines and stations. The thousands of miles of railway that were axed under the Beeching cuts are in various states of repair. Some still maintain freight services, some sit unused and overgrown whilst others have been built over or converted to cycle routes or pathways. Ministers have also vowed to spend 20million to develop new stations in areas which don't have a rail connection. The announcement forms part of Boris Johnson's plans to 'level up' the country by drastically improving rail links in the regions. It comes as the beleaguered Northern Rail faces being renationalised this week after running into severe financial problems. Northern Rail, which stretches from Newcastle and Hull in the east to Liverpool, Blackpool and Carlisle in the west, has faced repeated disruption caused by strikes, delays and the botched introduction of a new timetable. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said earlier this month that the service offered by the operator, which carries 101million passengers per year, was 'completely unacceptable'. Andy McDonald MP, the shadow transport secretary, described the announcement as a meaningless distraction from the likely collapse of Northern Rail. He said. 'The funding pledged by the government would reopen just 25 miles of railway. 'The Conservatives claim to have been reversing Beeching cuts since 2017 despite not reopening an inch of track. 'Investing in the railway is a fantastic policy but this is meaningless without a serious funding commitment of billions of pounds. 'The timing of this announcement is also suspicious and seems designed to distract from the imminent collapse of the Northern rail franchise.' Critics have previously warned that the 500 million allocated by the Government, a manifesto promise being acted on by Mr Shapps, was well short of the mark if all of Beeching's cuts were to be reversed. Sim Harris, managing editor of industry newspaper Railnews, said that reopening many of the lines which fell victim to the Beeching cuts would cost 'billions'. Wrexham Glyndwr University to host Welsh Language Music Day community event This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jan 28th, 2020 Wrexham Glyndwr University is celebrating National Welsh Language Music Day next month with a free community event at the Plas Coch campus in Wrexham. A variety of performances will be taking place at the event on February 7th, including sets from local pop band The Gogs, hip hop act Eight Star Music and the university choir. The universitys on- site restaurant, United Kitchen, will be offering a Welsh-themed menu including Welsh rarebit and cawl plus Welsh cakes will be available at the campus cafes. Local businesses including Piccolos Crafts and Gifts, Billies Jewellery, Live Green with Rosadonna and Fizzing Fragrances will also have stalls at the event with an array of products available to browse. Wrexham Glyndwr University Welsh Language Champion, Elen Mai Nefydd said: Were really excited to be holding our first National Welsh Music Day event and look forward to welcoming the local community to the university to celebrate with us. Theres something for everyone with a mix of pop, hip hop and traditional Welsh music being performed plus the chance to sing along with our Wrexham Glyndwr University choir. We also have a variety of stallholders showcasing their products and a delicious Welsh-themed menu available throughout the day. The event will run 11.30am 2pm with the first performance taking place in The Gallery at 11.30am. Performances will then be every 30 minutes. The stalls will be in the reception area for the duration of the event. Johnson poised to defy US and approve Huawei 5G The prime minister is about to formally announce that the government will allow Huawei technology in the UKs 5G network, despite intense lobbying from the Trump administration. He said yesterday that a very important strategic win was possible to provide the benefits of a faster internet to consumers without compromising our critical national infrastructure. The decision, which is expected to be confirmed at a meeting of the National Security Council, will draw a formal rebuke from the US government. President Trumps administration, which has previously threatened to restrict intelligence sharing, warned yesterday that the move could hamper a post-Brexit trade deal with the US. Mr Johnson will seek to placate his key ally by insisting that he shares Washingtons determination to curb Chinas strategic advantage in telecoms technology. The US has banned Huawei from government contracts. The Times PM to ignore warnings from Trump and own MPs Daily Telegraph Spies v MPs on Huawei deal Daily Mail Johnson controversially hints hell allow Huawei to build Britains 5G network The Sun And he feels increasing heat over UK 5G role for Huawei FT Comment China could show us how to get HS2 done, Melanie Phillips The Times Tory conflict poses Boris Johnsons biggest test, Rachel Sylvester The Times Of course Huawei is getting an easy ride. The British establishment has been bought up by China, Nigel Farage Daily Telegraph Allowing our infrastructure to be infected by Huawei is a far bigger risk than the coronavirus, Charles Moore Daily Telegraph >Today: ToryDiary: Weve avoided making up our minds about how to deal with China. Hence the Huawei quandary. Brexit 1) EU demands its judges keep control after Brexit An internal Brussels diplomatic document, seen by The Times, reveals that the EU will insist that the European Court of Justice be able to enforce the terms of a trade, fishing and security deal. The move, which comes days before Britain leaves the European Union at 11pm on Friday, has been condemned by Brexiteers, who called on Boris Johnson to walk away from the talks rather than accede to the demands. Downing Street sources also rejected the proposal, saying that the European court was by very definition not a neutral arbiter. Talks between Brussels and the UK will not formally start until after the European governments agree a negotiating mandate late next month. EU negotiators have previously demanded that Britain follow the blocs rules and regulations in areas such as state aid and environmental protection in an attempt to prevent unfair competition. The Times Johnson to take control of trade talks with Brussels after closing Brexit ministry on Friday The Sun >Today: Comment: Philip Davies: Better Off Out the campaign that shattered Westminsters taboo about leaving the EU >Yesterday: Video: WATCH: The Brexit Story 1) Cameron resigns WATCH: The Brexit Story 2) Johnson pulls out of the Conservative leadership contest WATCH: The Brexit Story 3) Brexit means Brexit Mays victory speech WATCH: The Brexit Story 4) May It is up to the Government to trigger Article Fifty and the Government alone WATCH: The Brexit Story 5) May says: We do not seek membership of the Single Market Brexit 2) Watchdog questions impact of 46m Get Ready for Brexit campaign A multi-million pound publicity blitz to prepare the public for leaving the EU appears to have had little impact, a spending watchdog has said. The National Audit Office said 46m was spent on the Get ready for Brexit campaign ahead of the UKs expected departure at the end of last October. But the campaign was halted three days before the UK was supposed to leave after the EU granted another extension. The NAO said it was not clear it left people significantly better prepared. But if the Cabinet Office, which is in charge of Brexit preparations, was said to have not done anything in the run-up to the 31 October deadline it would have risked significant and unnecessary disruption. The department estimated the campaign reached 99.8% of the population, with every member of the public having the opportunity to see the range of billboard, print, TV and online adverts 55 times. BBC News Brexit 3) Hague: Heres what it will mean to be a truly global Britain post-Brexit When 11pm on Friday arrives, the corks of fine English wines are popped, and Brexit finally happens, the era of Global Britain is due to begin. This weeks announcements about bringing in more scientists and far more funding for mathematics are an excellent start for making this country attractive to brilliant, innovative, entrepreneurial people will be the most crucial task of all. But what should be the foreign policy of Global Britain? What will be the fixed points of our vision for international relations, so that we are not just buffeted between the demands of an assertive America, a powerful China and a recently rebuffed Europe? I suggest there should be four vital fixtures in a foreign policy for this decade. Daily Telegraph Brexit 4) UK must come to terms with being a small country after Brexit, says Varadkar Leo Varadkar also suggested the UK could rejoin the EU if Brexit does not work out for them and said Brussels would have the stronger hand in trade negotiations. The Taoiseachs comments, which come before trade talks begin in March, appeared to be deliberately provocative in a week which will end with Britain celebrating its new-found freedom from the EU. One former Brexit minister suggested he would serve the Irish people by trying to work in harmony with Irelands biggest trading partner rather than trying to provoke it. It came as Downing Street announced that ministers would be bypassed in the Brexit trade negotiations, with a team of civil servants called Taskforce Europe, headed by Mr Johnsons chief Brexit adviser David Frost, carrying out the talks. Daily Telegraph Shapps to restore Beeching rail cuts Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will visit Fleetwood to announce 21.9m for two railway lines and a New Stations Fund. The 500m fund was promised in the Tory election manifesto in November. But Labour called the plan meaningless, adding that 500m would reopen just 25 miles of railway. And the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) described the funds as a drop in the ocean. The government is giving funding to develop proposals for two historic railway lines 1.5m to the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne Line in Northumberland, and 100,000 to the Fleetwood line in Lancashire. And communities will be able to apply for some of the remainder of the 500m pot to restore their lines. Roughly 5,000 miles of track was closed and more than 2,300 stations were axed in the 1960s, mainly in rural areas, following the Beeching report. BBC News Ministers set to renationalise failed Northern rail franchise FT >Today: Comment: Harry Benson: Number 10 needs a Family Policy Unit Labour defeat due to gimmicks and division, say members Gimmicky policies, horrible inefficiency and factional promotions are among the catalogue of errors behind Labours dismal performance at the general election, according to party members. The damning comments on Labours campaign form part of an early release of views gathered by a team headed by the former party leader Ed Miliband consisting of MPs, union leaders and party members. They have tasked themselves with analysing Jeremy Corbyns campaign and suggesting ways the party might find a path back to power. More than 8,000 people have replied to the nationwide call for members experiences and reasons that led to Labour suffering its worst defeat since 1935. A full analysis of the findings will be conducted by the Labour Together Review commission after it closes on 21 February. The Guardian Long-Bailey refuses to accept voters have rejected socialism The Times Comment Labour are going nowhere until they wake up and grasp this simple truth about Brexit, Michael Deacon Daily Telegraph Though Labour is split, unity may now be easier than it looks, Polly Toynbee The Guardian >Today: Local Government: Stephen Greenhalgh and Nick Botterill: Under Labour, Hammersmith & Fulham has become a borough of missed opportunity Prince Andrew refused to speak to us about Epstein, says FBI Geoffrey Berman, the US prosecutor investigating Epsteins crimes and alleged accomplices, said Prince Andrew had provided zero co-operation. The Times understands that the FBI has been trying to speak to Andrew, 59, since late November when he promised to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations if required following his television interview over his relationship with Epstein. Mr Bermans intervention, as he answered questions from reporters outside Epsteins New York mansion, was deliberately designed to put the duke under pressure to co-operate with the criminal investigation. In taking the unusual step of naming someone the authorities want to speak to, the prosecutor also added to the sense of crisis around the royal family in the wake of the withdrawal from official duties by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The Times More Coronavirus: China death toll passes 100 Daily Telegraph Auschwitz survivors gather to warn of hatred that comes by stealth The Times Expansion of smart motorways must stop now, MPs warn The Times Lineker says BBC should make licence fee voluntary The Times >Yesterday: Comment: Nicola Richards: What I learned from my haunting meeting with a Holocaust survivor Bob Seely: How to make our foreign policy really work for Britain News in Brief What it means to be descended from Holocaust survivors, Hugo Rifkind The Spectator The deranged rage against the Brexit 50p coin, Brendan ONeill The Spectator Davey ahead in Liberal Democrat leadership race, Stephen Bush New Statesman Violent extremism is a mental health issue, Ian Acheson CapX After all the Remainer legal chicanery, Ill be closely monitoring the next stage of talks with Brussels, Martin Howe Brexit Central Sinn Fein TDs have "zero" influence over policy decisions despite being elected to the Dail, according to a former party member. Aontu party leader Peadar Toibin, who resigned from Sinn Fein over his views on abortion, said key policy decisions are made by a "very tight circle" of six or seven people and are then "handed down" to TDs. In a rare insight into how the secretive party works, Mr Toibin said most Sinn Fein TDs are not permitted to choose their own staff members. Instead, he said the party picks their parliamentary assistants who can have even more influence than the TDs they are working for. "TDs don't come together to make decisions on a regular basis. At least the important decisions are not made by TDs," he said. "TDs and staff gather on a weekly basis, but the staff would have as much say, with regards the direction of policy." Mr Toibin said he knew of one TD who was effectively directed to make Dail speeches by their assistant as she did not agree with the policy. "That TD actually decided to give a speech in Irish so that the policy wouldn't be associated with her," he said. On another occasion, Mr Toibin said TDs sought to have an internal debate over a proposal to support a Dail motion on banning religious ethos in schools. However, after the discussion they were told what the party position was. "The decision was obviously pre-written before the TDs had asked to have a discussion so at that point it was quite clear to me that my influence as a TD representing the people of Meath was pretty much zero," he added. "Sometimes you'd be in meetings and you'd feel like everyone was talking from text books and those who spoke outside of the textbook were frowned upon." He said paid organisers have too much power over the organisation and regularly seek to influence the outcome of internal elections. He said organisers regularly tell cumainn who to vote for ahead of elections and also seek to influence the outcome of motions being voted on by local branches. "When you have paid organisers mobilising membership in a certain direction that radically skews the outcome of an election," he said. Mr Toibin said he was told to vote against the party's housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin when he put his name forward for the Sinn Fein general secretary contest. He also highlighted the fact Sinn Fein MLA John O'Dowd was denied an opportunity to address the membership when he ran against Michelle O'Neill for deputy leader. He said he always pushed for a "less hierarchical" decision-making structure when he was in the party but was only supported by a few of his colleagues, including Mr O Broin and Waterford TD David Cullinane. "When I founded Aontu, the objective was actually to flip that around and make it a grassroots, people-powered organisation where actually the members drove the direction of the party," he said. Sinn Fein did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, Mr Toibin was forced to withdraw a High Court action seeking to be included in last night's leadership debate on RTE because there was not enough time to hear his case. Mr Toibin said it was "frustrating" that the broadcaster excluded his party from the debate after it polled higher than the Social Democrats and People Before Profit in the recent by-elections. "We are very radical compared to establishment politics and we believe there is a herd mentality in Leinster House and we are probably the only political party challenging that," he said. The Meath West TD said Aontu was a party of "Irish unity" and "economic justice". He also hit out at "political correctness" and "culture wars" which he said are distracting left-wing parties from the "bread-and-butter issues" faced by voters. He said this was shown by the lack of traction for left-wing parties in working-class communities. He also said immigration should not be a "taboo subject". He added that immigration should be "managed and sustained". "We got lacerated for raising it as an issue earlier this year and then you have a summer of communities protesting outside closed-down hotels," Mr Toibin said. Amid rising gun violence, mayors and police chiefs from across the Greater Toronto Area are calling for changes to border security, tougher bail laws and smarter investments in programming for families and at-risk youth. Mayor John Tory initiated Tuesdays meeting at city hall which included mayors from Brampton, Mississauga, Pickering and Markham, regional chairs from Peel, Durham and York to discuss solutions to combat the unacceptable level of shootings across the GTA. The closed-door gathering saw sobering new statistics about those victimized and allegedly causing the rising violence: across the region, perpetrators and victims have been getting younger and younger. It doesnt really matter what the age is if these things are happening, by definition, thats bad, Tory said. But itseven more disconcerting and more challenging for us to deal with a group of people principally who are much younger. Toronto has recently seen record-level violence, with 292 people killed or injured in a total of 492 shootings in 2019, the highest number in at least 15 years. According to the most recent Toronto police statistics, there have been 23 shootings so far this year, four of them fatal. Of the four people killed, all were in their 20s or younger, including Safiullah Khosrawi, 15, who was shot dead after leaving Scarboroughs Woburn Collegiate Institute last week, allegedly by another 15-year-old. Tory said Tuesdays meeting is the beginning of a concerted approach among municipal, provincial and federal governments to reduce the violence spiking across the GTA a problem growing, the mayors and chiefs say, in part thanks to gun smuggling over the U.S. border. Theres a real job to do at the border, Tory said. According to Toronto police statistics, 82 per cent of the handguns they seized in 2019 and traced originated in the U.S., with the remainder coming from Canada. However, of the 453 handguns Toronto police seized, nearly a quarter 107 were not traced, according to the data. Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said Ontario Provincial Police figures put the number of traceable illegal guns slightly higher, at 84 per cent coming from the U.S. Next steps include a meeting between local police services and the Canadian Border Services Agency. Joel Lightbound, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, said the federal government is listening, and admitted there should be improved intelligence sharing between the border agency and local police to allow them to collaborate more efficiently. Lightbound also referenced the forthcoming $250 million federal dollars earmarked for crime prevention strategies, promised by the Liberals during last years election. He said that money is specifically intended for crime prevention. Tory said the GTA mayors agree that further and more co-ordinated investments are needed in programming for at-risk youth, families, communities, and stressed that federal funds are needed now. We cant do this alone, he said. Property taxes were never meant to fund what amounts to social programs, and this is very much a shared responsibility. Tory has repeatedly called for greater federal funding for youth programs while facing criticism about city money handed to police to combat violence. Last year, municipal, provincial and federal governments each gave $1.5 million to Toronto police to beef up the services guns and gangs task force, an initiative that police say led to meaningful gains but did not result in a reduction of shootings. According to the city budget presented earlier this month, there are few youth violence prevention initiatives set to receive new city funding, though nearly $1 million will be spent on four new, dedicated youth spaces this year. The city wants the federal government to fund another $1.5 million for youth violence prevention and intervention but has promised to backstop those programs with reserve funds this year if those investments dont come. The GTA mayors are also calling for substantially tougher bail laws, a frequent suggestion made by Tory and Saunders in recent months that has drawn significant pushback from lawyers and other justice experts. According to Toronto statistics released Tuesday, during a four-month period starting Aug. 1, 2019 Toronto police arrested 97 people who were out on bail for a firearms offence. Of those 97, 17 were charged with a new firearm offence; four of those 17 were released again on bail, and one of whom was later charged for a third time for a firearm offence. It deflates the police officers and community representatives, to have to look people in the eye and say after all the work is done, all the money thats expended on bringing these people to justice, that then people see them and police officers see them in the community hours later, Tory said. Its a system that is not working, he said. Some legal experts have said, however, that the limited data released by police does not give a full enough picture of whether changes to bail will make a difference in crime reduction. Meanwhile, there is a dearth of provincial data: Ontarios Ministry of the Attorney General does not track the number of people who are granted bail for firearm offences and go on to be charged with a new offence, whether its another firearm offence or otherwise. Irvin Waller, a University of Ottawa criminology professor, told the Star late last year that more data could help the debate between police and defence lawyers regarding bail. Regardless, he said, while there may be cases of a person living a gang lifestyle reoffending while on bail, this does not account for the level of homicides that were seeing in Toronto for the last three or four years, and for the shootings that are continuing. In general, Crown attorneys must seek detention at a bail hearing for anyone charged with a firearm offence unless there are exceptional circumstances. The mayors are also calling for greater use of electronic monitoring bracelets to help people out on bail stay on track. But the system is not functional in part because the bracelets must be paid for by the accused, something those gathering Tuesday said should change, Tory said. Correction Jan. 28, 2020: This article has been updated from a previous version that mistakenly referred to Canadian Border Services Agency as Canadian Border Service Authority. With files from Jennifer Pagliaro. Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis Read more about: Data privacy is both a trend in regulation, and a growing consumer demand. As such, it is one of the most important global themes for marketers in 2020. While new regulations change the data landscape, there are opportunities for brands to present themselves as privacy first to consumers who are wary of how their data is being used. Ahead of Data Privacy Day, privacy-first marketing is the focus of the Policy chapter of WARC Marketer's Toolkit 2020, which takes a deep dive into the regulatory drivers affecting marketing activity, and offers an evidence-based and practical guide for marketers to plan for the year ahead. The report is based on a survey with almost 800 client and advertising agency practitioners around the world and insights from CMOs. Lawmakers in many markets across the globe are implementing stronger data protection rights which will have significant implications for marketers. Specifically in the US, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) comes into force this month. Like the EUs General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the CCPA limits how companies can collect, store, use and share customer data and gives consumers more control over their personal information. While the new regulations change the data landscape, there are opportunities for brands to present themselves as privacy first to consumers wary of how their data is being used. More than half of respondents to the Marketers Toolkit 2020 survey (52%) believe they need to strengthen their data policies. Almost a quarter (23%) of respondents in Asia have no form of data protection in place, compared with 14% globally. David Tiltman, VP - Content, WARC, commented, In this final chapter of our Marketers Toolkit 2020, weve taken a closer look at the regulatory drivers affecting marketing activity.Whilst provisions around data protection are now in place for the majority, there is still work to do. The Policy chapter of WARCs Marketers Toolkit 2020 brings to light the following findings: Marketers anticipate greater privacy regulation in 2020 45% of respondents to WARCs Marketers Toolkit survey expect advertising and marketing regulation to become more strict next year, with 88% agreeing, or strongly agreeing that digital privacy will be increasingly important in 2020. The major development in 2020 will be the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This will give stronger data protection rights to consumers, and affect companies that rely on the collection, usage, buying and selling of consumer data including social media giants, third-party data brokers, and online behavioural advertisers. Companies that fail to comply risk a hefty fine and, as the survey suggests, a loss of consumer trust. Home to over 39 million people (10% of the US population), Californias act is causing a ripple effect across other states several have already drafted similar data privacy legislation. Industry bodies are lobbying for a federal privacy law, preferable to marketers having to navigate different state regulations. Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, Procter & Gamble, commented, Were doing [with CCPA] just as we did on GDPR. We really take a very high standard when it comes to data. What we would prefer is a common privacy approach [in theUS], because itd be ideal to have one privacy approach and not 27, or, worse, 50. Dave Grimaldi, Executive Vice President, Public Policy, Interactive Advertising Bureau, cautioned, The misuse of consumer data under this new CCPA regime could be the death knell for a company. We hope it wont be, but this is why marketers must act now. In China, meanwhile, the Personal Information Security Specification proposes an unbundling of data protection consents, which will affect the ability to use consumers personal data for marketing purposes. Marketers can expect greater scrutiny, particularly on data that are deployed for personalised marketing, such as transaction data, location and device data, and behavioural data. Consent management and small data are top priorities for 2020 Consent, permissions and transparency will be the new normal for marketers in 2020. The WARC survey finds 57% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they are readdressing consent management practices inlight of privacy regulation. Some are investing in consent management platforms (CMPs), which collect and store customers consent data, enabling marketers to keep track of peoples privacy preferences and permissions. Marketers are also prioritising first-party data, with 58% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that they have a strategy foractively collecting first-party data from customers. Not only is first party data compliant with regulations, it also gives brands the opportunity to identify and engage with opt-in customers who actually want to hear from them. Like Europes GDPR before it, CCPA encourages companiesto have a data minimisation strategy, that is, companies should not keep data they do not need. In this environment, marketers may pivot from big data, to smaller, smarter, more secure data, enabling marketers to nurture relationships with lots of smaller, niche communities of opt-in consumers. Jill Baskin, Chief Marketing Officer, The Hershey Company, said, For us, a big part of it is whether we agree with how our partners are using data. We just want to get a lot more transparency from our partners. How are they keeping [data]? We want to have not just whats the legal thing, but what we ethically think is right. Ivan Pollard, Chief Marketing Officer, General Mills, added here, Were going to keep making sure were doing the right thing with data. I dont think it is enough to do a click here and accept our terms and conditions, knowing that 90 per cent of people never read them. Weve got to be clear about what were asking for and what were going to do with it. Thats number one. Regulation of big tech is welcomed by marketers as well as consumers Big tech firms are under increased scrutiny by consumers and lawmakers. Facebook, in particular, has been embroiled in a series of privacy scandals. GroupMs Rob Norman, Senior Advisor and Brian Wieser, Global President, Business Intelligence, noted, The issue of privacy and exploitation of data is among the most complex of our time. Even if consumer privacy is not being unjustifiably violated, the monetisation of data by major platforms has become a social, political and regulatory lightning rod. A study by YouGov found that just over half of global consumers want to see more regulation of tech and social media companies. This attitude is shared by marketers: 86 per cent of WARCs survey respondents think big tech companies should be subject to greater regulation. Consumers will take more control over their data and their digital identities Several surveys have found that consumers are being much choosier about where and how they share information. Research by Dentsu Aegis revealed that 44 per cent of global consumers have taken steps to reduce the amount of datathey share online. The Advertising Research Foundation found that US consumers have become less willing to share various aspects of personal data. Recent research by Fudan University and Publicis Media China showed Chinese consumers are most likely to share basic demographic or behavioural information, but they are most concerned about sharing highly-sensitive biometric/ healthcare or legal/ financial data. And a recent study by consulting firm Accenture found consumers are suspicious of emerging technologies that promise to make their lives easier while collecting more data about them. Brands recognise this shift. 66 per cent of respondents to the WARC Marketers Toolkit survey agreed or strongly agreed that consumers will take greater control of their data in 2020. New tech has driven fresh concerns. Connected devices such as Googles Nest thermostat, Amazons Alexa and Facebooks Portal TV are capable of gathering rich consumer data and are increasingly common in private spaces such as peoples homes or cars. Marketers engaging in emerging tech should review how they are using consumer data, and ensure they are compliant with data privacy laws. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were on Tuesday locked in a tussle over the quality of Delhi government schools, with the former claiming to expose on video various shortcomings in seven such institutions, and the latter contending that the BJP sting was a hoax shot selectively in abandoned buildings that once housed schools. The AAP cites the improvement in the infrastructure and performance of Delhi government schools as one of its biggest achievement over the last five years. In an attempt to put that claim to test, union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday released a reality check video that would ostensibly show how several schools lacked lack basic amenities. In the video, uploaded on social media, Delhis seven Lok Sabha MPs (Manoj Tiwari, Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Bidhuri, Meenakshi Lekhi, Gautam Gambhir, Parvesh Verma and Hans Raj Hans) and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goyal were seen leading inspection drives to collect video evidence from schools. In the video and in individual tweets put out by them, the MPs were seen walking through the buildings and pointing out purported flaws -- leaking taps, dirty toilets, dilapidated ceilings -- in these institutions. It exposes their (AAPs) false claims on revolution in Delhi government schools, Shah wrote while tweeting the video. But chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and deputy CM Manish Sisodia countered on Tuesday afternoon that the BJP MPs had either visited buildings where schools existed before being shifted to upgraded facilities, or purposely walked through sections of the school complex that were not in use rather than those that were functional. Out of 1,024 government schools in Delhi, BJP found only eight schools with some deficiencies, and even those turned out to be false I invite Union minister Amit Shah once again to visit government schools with us and see the transformation. But that does not mean he should insult the 16 lakh children, 32 lakh parents and 65 thousand teachers of Delhi by lying I am very happy that Amit Shah sent all his MPs and workers of his party to all schools to investigate the deficiencies, Kejriwal said. HT reporters and photographers, who visited the buildings shown in the BJP video, found that actual schools were not being run from most of those compounds. In one case (Khichripur, where Gambhir visited), the school moved four months ago. In two cases (Tughlaqabad, where Bidhuri went; and Matiala, where Verma visited), the video showed the schools old building rather than the functional new one. In one case (Mangolpuri, where Hans went), the video showed an empty multi-purpose hall as a classroom). The school where Tiwari visited, in Khajuri Khas, did have a drinking-water shortage as he pointed out. Both Lekhi and Vardhan appeared to visit the same school in Prem Nagar. They showed a dilapidated building, but that too turned out to be abandoned block of the building next to a newly built school where classes were being held. One part of the building is demolished for renovation. The work is expected to begin after the elections. The other part of the school is functioning well, the principal of the schools evening shift, MK Meena, told HT. The Delhi government is claiming to make the schools world class only by getting it repaired and painted from the outside. This is cheating. I challenge the education minister to visit these schools with us instead if they want to know the reality. You stand exposed and you should be the last person to question our evidence, Tiwari said. Ramesh Bidhuri and his team went to the under-construction premises of a school and could clearly see construction materials lying around. But surprisingly that did not stop him from making the false video, Sisodia said. On Gambhirs allegations, he said: Construction of a new building is on. A notice has been pasted on the school gate. Classes were shifted to the neighbouring school building six months ago. Bidhuri, however, contended that the AAP government was threatening the school staff and forcing them to lie about the state of the school. Gambhir contended that the state of the building did not suggest it housed a model school just a few months ago. A son of Policing Board member and DUP MLA Mervyn Storey has admitted charges of assaulting a PSNI officer and resisting another officer. Philip Storey (24), of Seacon Road in Ballymoney, also pleaded guilty to being disorderly in a public place - The Diamond in Portstewart. The defendant was in the dock at Coleraine Magistrates Court where a defence solicitor said her client had a previously clear record. A prosecution lawyer said that at 12.50am on Sunday, December 8 last year police were on duty in Portstewart where they spoke with the defendant, who was intoxicated and "stumbling" in the middle of a road. The defendant told officers to "f*** off" and was shouting and swearing with his fists clenched. He was advised to calm down and walk away but swung his arm with a clenched fist, narrowly missing an officer. He told an officer: "You are a f***ing dead man." Limb restraints had to be applied and the defendant was taken to Coleraine Police Station where he replied "sorry" when charged the following morning. The defence lawyer said it was probably luck that the defendant had not connected with the police officer. Two references were handed in to court - one from the defendant's church minister and the other from his employer. Deputy District Judge Sean O'Hare noted the references said the incident had been "totally out of character" and that the defendant made a valuable contribution to "society in general". The defence lawyer said her client had initially not wanted to use a reference from his minister as he felt that was "inappropriate because of his behaviour that night". The solicitor said there had been incidents in the defendant's life and he had "turned to alcohol". She said the defendant came to police attention because officers were concerned for his safety on a road but her client had "reacted very badly". The lawyer said her client had said sorry the next day and accepted his behaviour had been unacceptable and he now wished to put the matter behind him. Judge O'Hare said when he first heard the facts it seemed as if it was a "depressingly familiar" case of a young man getting himself "stupidly drunk" but he said the references "paint a very different picture". The judge added: "I'm told this was a one-off, out-of-character, incident that won't be repeated." Fining the defendant 450 Judge O'Hare told Storey: "Alcohol is no solution to any problem." The Policing Board holds the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of policing in Northern Ireland. On the occasion of Uttar Pradesh Day, prominent entrepreneur of Gorakhpur, Amar Tulsiyan, founder of Shudh Plus Hygiene Products and Niine, was honoured for his commendable contribution to the industrial development of the state on UP Foundation Day at Avadh Shilpagram, Lucknow. The Governor and Chief Minister also honoured five other entrepreneurs of the state at the ceremony. These entrepreneurs were given honours for making maximum investments in the state and giving employment to maximum people. UP Governor Anandiben Patel and the Chief Minister of the state Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the three-day ceremony on the state's foundation day by lighting the lamp. During this, many ministers including Deputy Chief Minister of the state Dr Dinesh Sharma were present. After the inauguration, Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath felicitated select entrepreneurs for their contribution in shaping the industrial growth in the state. Amar Tulsiyan, founder of Shudh Plus Hygiene Products, has not only played an important role in industrial development in Gorakhpur but has also employed more than 1000 people. He has delivered the brand of 'Made in Gorakhpur' to 20 states of the country. It will soon expand to many more states of the country. Amar Tulsiyan says that it has been possible to invest due to the positive policies of the government-run textile industry. The company has invested 80 crores in the super mega category. The company started production in May 2017 and today employs over 1000 people. The company plans to invest Rs 100 crore next year. This will further expand the production unit. Gaurav Bathwal and Sharat Khemka co-founders have expressed happiness over getting the honour on the occasion of UP Foundation Day. "Uttar Pradesh came into existence on January 24, 1950. Today, the state has completed 70 years of its establishment. The Chief Minister said that no society and nation can ever progress by forgetting the past. The glorious traditions of the past inspire us, so based on the experiences of the past, we make plans for the future," said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi, Jan 28 : JNU student Sharjeel Imam, who has been accused of making controversial statement "cut off Assam", leading to sedition charges, was arrested on Tuesday from his home town Jahanabad in Bihar by Delhi Police after a four-day manhunt. This was confirmed to IANS by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Crime Branch Rajesh Dev. Dev told IANS: "Our team present in Bihar has caught Sharjeel. He was arrested from the Kako police station area in Jehanabad. "At present, the team has taken him to the Kako police station for legal proceedings. He will be brought to Delhi after we get a transit remand." Unconfirmed reports, however, said that he had surrendered before the police. Imam had been booked for sedition by the police on January 26 after a video of his Assam comment shot on January 25 in Delhi went viral on social media. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, besides Delhi Police had registered cases against Imam under various sections, including sedition. Imam was on the run since then. On Monday, the police arrested some of his acquaintances and relatives from Bihar. Imam had disappeared from the police radar on January 25 evening. He was last seen in a meeting in Phulwari Sharif, Bihar. Delhi Police had served a notice to him under Section 160 to record his statement in connection with the video. (Sanjeev Kumar Singh Chauhan can be contacted at sanjeev.c@ians.in) NEW YORK - President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pompeos battle with National Public Radio and tweeted out more media criticism, one target familiar and the other less so. Trump introduced Pompeo at an East Room announcement of the administrations Mideast peace plan, saying it was very impressive that he got a standing ovation from the White House workers and guests. That reporter couldnt have done too good a job on you, the president said. I think you did a good job on her, actually. NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly angered Pompeo with a short interview Friday, then he reportedly berated her afterward in his office. The State Department then notified NPR reporter Michele Kelemen on Monday that she would not be allowed on Pompeos upcoming trip to Europe and Central Asia. John Lansing, NPRs president and chief executive officer, wrote to Pompeo on Tuesday, seeking an explanation for why Kelemen had been left off the trip. Without an answer by Wednesday, when the trip is scheduled to depart, NPR will have no choice but to conclude that Ms. Kelemen was removed from the trip in retaliation for the content of NPRs reporting, Lansing wrote. There was no immediate response from the State Department to requests for comment. Earlier Tuesday, the president tweeted an insult at CNNs Don Lemon, who received some criticism in conservative media for hosting a segment over the weekend where two of his guests made fun of the rube demo that backed Trump. Trump also tweeted criticism of his favourite network, Fox News Channel, for trying to be politically correct by having a Democratic senator discuss impeachment on the network. He also said Foxs Chris Wallace, who on Monday challenged a Fox contributor for not having her facts straight in a discussion about impeachment witnesses, shouldnt be on the network. What the hell has happened to Fox News? Trump tweeted. Only I know! ___ Associated Press correspondent Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. Nicki Minajs brother Jelani Maraj has been sentenced 25 years to life for ruining his 11-year-old step-daughter. Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Robert McDonald used very strong language to condemn Maraj for repeatedly raping his stepdaughter who is now 13-years-old. My view is that you ruined this child. You raped this child. You raped her over and over again, McDonald stated. Maraj was convicted for predatory sexual assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child two years ago. Nicki was not present at the sentencing, but her brothers lawyer read a 2016 letter in which the rapper pleaded for a lighter sentence calling her brother the most patient, gentle, genuine, giving selfless man I know. At the sentencing, Maraj maintained his innocence while stating, Id like to apologize for the pain that I caused. I had an excessive drinking problem. Im just asking for mercy from the court. Maraj claims the story was concocted to extort money from his famous sister. Mexico's military confiscated a $20 million cocaine shipment that was unloaded off a jet parked on a Mexican highway near the Belize border on Monday. The Mexican National Defense Secretary said Monday night that the two-seater aircraft used in ferrying the drugs was registered in the United States. The drug traffickers landed the Beechcraft King Air aircraft on a two-lane road in Bacalar, a municipality in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo. The crew had ample time to load a van that was filled with 26 bags containing between 30 to 40 kilos of cocaine. Officials also revealed that the twin-engine jet departed South America at an unspecified time, most likely Sunday, and was detected in Mexican airspace Monday approximately at 3.30am. It is unknown if the suspected traffickers were the actual owners of the plane. Scroll down for video The Mexican National Defense Secretary said that the twin-engine aircraft (pictured) that was landed by drug smugglers on a highway in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo on Monday was registered in the United States. At least $20 million worth of cocaine was seized Security forces arrested two men and confiscated almost $20 million worth of cocaine that was flown in to Mexico from South America The cocaine was split into 26 bags, each containing between 30 to 40 kilos The suspects engaged a unit of the 34th Military Zone and killed one of the soldiers, who has not been publicly identified. Wounded in the attack were 34th Military Zone Commander Jose Luis Vazquez Araiza and two other servicemen, who were only identified as Sergeant Celestino and First Lieutenant Gabriel. At least two male suspects were arrested following the confrontation. The National Defense Secretary also found that the aircraft recently made stops at four airports in Monterrey, Tampico, Toluca y Chetumal without its illegal use being detected by authorities. 'The General and the other two troop members are in military facilities out of danger with a stable health,' the National Defense Secretary said. Located on Mexico's Caribbean coast, Quintana Roo is home to some of the country's top tourist destinations, including Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Tulum and Isla Mujeres. Jose Luis Vazquez Araiza, commander of the 34th Military Zone, was injured during a shootout Monday with drug traffickers after they landed a modified Cessna on a two-lane road in Quintana Roo, a state on Mexico's Caribbean coast that is a favorite destination for tourists However, the state's tourism image has taken a hit in recent years due to the ongoing violence with local gangs and cartels competing for the lucrative control of drug turf. On Sunday, authorities came across six dead bodies that around Cancun. Responding to a call at a home in the northern part of the resort city, police discovered three dead people. In separate incidents, two other bodies were later located found several streets from each other on a dirt road. Law enforcement encountered the sixth body on the side of a highway that connects Cancun and Punta Sam, not too far from where a new resort is being built. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East plan Tuesday, winning immediate praise from a beaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but a swift rejection from the Palestinians, who called it nonsense. Trump's plan calls for the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, but it falls far short of minimal Palestinian demands and would leave sizable chunks of the occupied West Bank in Israeli hands. Netanyahu said he would move forward on Sunday and ask his Cabinet to approve plans to annex West Bank territory an explosive move that is likely to be met with harsh international reaction. Trump called his plan a win-win for both Israel and the Palestinians, and Netanyahu called it a great plan for Israel." At a speech in the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as nonsense. We say 1,000 no's to the Deal of the Century," Abbas said, using a nickname for Trump's proposal. We will not kneel and we will not surrender, he said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through peaceful, popular means. The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war for an independent state and the removal of more than 700,000 Israeli settlers from these areas. But as details emerged, it became clear that the plan sides heavily with Netanyahu's hard-line nationalist vision for the region and shunts aside many of the Palestinians' core demands. Under the terms of the peace vision" that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, all settlers would remain in place, and Israel would retain sovereignty over all of its settlements as well as the strategic Jordan Valley. The proposed Palestinian state would also include more than a dozen Israeli enclaves with the entity's borders monitored by Israel. In addition, the areas of east Jerusalem offered to the Palestinians consist of poor, crowded neighborhoods located behind a hulking concrete separation barrier. The only concession the plan appears to demand of Israel is a four-year freeze on the establishment of new Israeli settlements in certain areas of the West Bank. But Netanyahu clarified later that this only applied to areas where there are no settlements and Israel has no immediate plans to annex, and that he considered the plan to impose no limitations on construction. With Netanyahu standing beside him, Trump presented the plan at a White House ceremony filled with other Israeli officials and allies, including evangelical Christian leaders and wealthy Republican donors but no Palestinian representatives. The ceremony came amid Trump's impeachment trial and a U.S. election year, and after Netanyahu was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three separate cases. The longtime Israeli leader, who denies any wrongdoing, also faces a March 2 parliamentary election, Israels third in less than a year. Trump acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a great deal for the Palestinians." He said his vision gives the Palestinians the time needed for them to meet the challenges of statehood. Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza City ahead of the announcement, burning pictures of Trump and Netanyahu and raising a banner reading Palestine is not for sale. Trump said he sent a letter to Abbas to tell him that the territory that the plan has set aside for a new Palestinian state will remain open and undeveloped for four years. "It's going to work," Trump said. "If they do this, it will work. Your response to this historic opportunity will show the world to what extent you are ready to lead the Palestinian people to statehood." "President Abbas, I want you to know, that if you chose the path to peace, America and many other countries ... we will be there to help you in so many different ways. And we will be there every step of the way," Trump said. The 50-page plan builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected. The plan envisions a future Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of roads and tunnels. It also would give small areas of southern Israel to the Palestinians as compensation for lost West Bank land. But the many caveats, and ultimate overall Israeli control, made the deal a nonstarter for the Palestinians. Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan. Mr. President, because of this historic recognition and because I believe your peace plan strikes the right balance where other plans have failed, Netanyahu said. I've agreed to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of your peace plan. It's a great plan for Israel. It's a great plan for peace. Tuesday's developments set the contours for his election campaign. Netanyahu will highlight his close relationship with Trump and the historic opportunity provided by the peace plan, while Gantz will focus on Netanyahu's legal woes. Netanyahu will soon go on trial for a series of corruption charges. The Jordan Valley annexation plan is a big part of Netanyahu's strategy. Annexing West Bank land is a key promise meant to appeal to his hard-line nationalist base. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the plan's release, said they expected negative responses from the Palestinians, as well as Turkey and Iran, but were hopeful that Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab nations to have peace treaties with Israel, would not reject it outright. Jordan gave the plan a cool reaction, saying it remained committed to a two-state solution based on Israel's pre-1967 lines. It also said it rejected any unilateral move by Israel, referring to the annexation plan. Egypt, the first Arab country to reach a peace deal with Israel, urged Israelis and Palestinians to carefully study the plan. The European Union also said it needed to study it more closely. Officials said they expected Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others to cautiously welcome the plan. Arab League chief, Ahmed Abuel-Gheit said the Palestinian reaction would define the Arab response. He spoke after meeting with Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo. The reaction of Jordan, which would retain its responsibilities over Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque under the plan, is particularly significant, according to the officials, who said Kushner and others were reaching out to Arab leaders ahead of the rollout. The Palestinians see the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Trump has reversed decades of U.S. foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. The centerpiece of his strategy was recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the American Embassy there. He's also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programs. Those policies have proven popular among Trumps evangelical and pro-Israel supporters. But the Palestinians refuse to even speak to Trump and they called on support from Arab leaders. The Palestinian leadership also has encouraged protests in the West Bank, raising fears of a new round of violence. Ahead of the announcement, the Israeli military said it was reinforcing infantry troops along the Jordan Valley. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Swati Pandey and Wayne Cole (Reuters) Sydney, Australia Tue, January 28, 2020 11:20 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2061488e3 2 Business stock-market,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,China,bonds,US-Treasury,Japanese-yen,Australian-dollar Free Asian stocks extended a global selloff on Tuesday as China took more drastic steps to combat a deadly new coronavirus, while bonds shone on expectations central banks would need to keep stimulus flowing to offset the likely economic drag. As the death toll reached 106 in China, some health experts questioned whether Beijing can contain the virus which has spread to more than 10 countries, including France, Japan and the United States. No deaths have been reported outside of China so far. China has already extended the Lunar New Year holiday to Feb. 2 nationally, and to Feb. 9 for Shanghai. On Tuesday, the countrys largest steelmaking city in northern Hebei province, Tangshan, suspended all public transit in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus. With Chinese markets shut investors were selling the offshore yuan and the Australian dollar as a proxy for risk. Oil was also under pressure as fears about the wider fallout from the virus mounted. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slumped 1 percent in early Asian trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei was 0.9 percent down, Australian shares stumbled 1.4 percent and South Korea's Kospi index skidded 3 percent. Read also: China virus death toll jumps to 106, nearly 1,300 new cases The wildcard is not the fatality rate, but how infectious the Wuhan virus is, Citi economists wrote in a note. The economic impact will depend on how successfully this outbreak is contained. Analysts said travel and tourism would be the hardest-hit sectors together with retail and liquor sales though healthcare and online shopping were seen as likely outperformers. On Monday, key indexes for British, French and German equity markets slid more than 2 percent, as did pan-European markets on worries about the potential economic impact from the deadly virus. Stocks on Wall Street fell more than 1 percent. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 reversed some of the losses after slumping 1.6 percent overnight for their biggest single day percentage loss since last October. They were last up 0.25 percent. Investors were still trying to figure out the potential impact from the coronavirus, given it would be at least a couple more months before official economic data are released. How do we fully price risk, if we have such limited visibility on how bad this could get, not just in terms of contagion, but the impact this will have on economics? said Chris Weston, strategist at broker Pepperstone. Analysts at JPMorgan said the coronavirus outbreak was an unexpected risk factor for markets though they see the contagion as a regional rather than a global shock. Read also: Indonesian stocks take a hit as global markets grapple with coronavirus concerns The rise in risk aversion and worry of a region-wide demand shock ... means the knee-jerk market reaction will likely be to richen low-yielding government bonds, JPMorgan analysts wrote in a note. Concerns about coronavirus contagion has driven yields lower and is the latest risk of a series that have driven US Treasury (UST) yields far below what fundamentals indicate. We remain short 30-year UST. Treasury 10-year note yields dived as deep as 1.598 percent on Monday, the lowest since Oct. 10. Yields on two-year paper also fell sharply while Fed fund futures rallied as investors priced in more risk of a rate cut later this year. Futures imply around 35 basis points of easing by year end FEDWATCH. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to stand pat at its policy meeting this week, but markets will be sensitive to any changes to its economic outlook. Australian and New Zealand bonds gained on Tuesday as did Japanese government bonds (JGB) with yields on 10-year JGBs set for their fourth straight day of losses. JPMorgan said they have not yet altered their developed or emerging markets forex forecasts though they were taking profits on their bullish EUR/USD positions and remain considerably long on Swiss francs which benefits from safe-haven demand. Read also: Indonesia tourism, trade prone to Wuhan coronavirus impact Short build-up in the Aussie was another risk hedge. The currency was last down 0.1 percent at US$0.6752, on track for its third straight day of losses. The euro was steady at $1.1018. The yen, which has been rising for the past five sessions, dipped slightly to 108.98 per dollar. In commodities, Brent crude was off 27 cents at $59.05 while US crude eased 22 cents to $52.92. Spot gold was flat at $1,581.60. With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle no longer a part of the Royal household, reports suggest that the duties might be taken up by Princess Beatrice and Eugenie. According to Royal biographer, Robert Lacey, both Beatrice and Eugenie could be asked to take over positions previously held by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Lacey further added that the two princesses are the most probable choice as their father Prince Andrew was removed from Royal duties following his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Not considered to be senior working Royals In the present scenario, both Beatrice and Eugenie are not considered to be senior working Royals because they still don't fulfil official duties on behalf of the Queen. The Princess' are ninth and tenth in line to claim the throne. Princess Beatrice and Eugenie are working and do not receive financial support from the Sovereign Grant(a government-supported fund that supports Queen Elizabeth II's official duties). The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on January 8 said that they will be stepping back as 'senior members' of the Royal family. In addition to this, the couple also said that their goal will be to become financially independent in the near future. Read: 'I Believe I Can Fly': Prince Harry, Boris Johnson's Image Becomes New Internet Sensation Read: Meghan Markles Father Claims His Daughter, Prince Harry Stepped Down for Money Not the first time royal members have relinquished their titles However, its not the first time that members of royal families have relinquished their titles to live a relatively common life. Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Phillip was born a Royal to Greece and Denmark but had to relinquish the title to marry the Queen and accepted English title. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philips daughter, Princess Anne, married a commoner Mark Phillips who turned down the offer of Earldom to Phillips. King Edward VIII abdicated this throne to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite and divorcee, in 1937 which threatened a constitutional crisis in the United Kingdom. The couple lived together until Edwards death in 1972 and Wallis died in 1986 at the age of 89. Read: Prince Harry And Meghan Start New Life In Canada, Launch Legal Warning To Media Read: Serena Williams Avoids Question On Meghan Markle-Prince Harry's Royal Family Exit (with inputs from agencies) With the 24x7 Mumbai plan rolled out, heres another first for the city a body to find more opportunities; better the security, transport and give suggestions to make the most of the initiative, similar to Londons Night Time Commission. Environment and tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray exclusively told HT, I have suggested that we set up a night commission with an additional municipal commissioner (AMC) to be given charge for coordinating the basics with all agencies concerned in regards to implementing Mumbais nightlife plan. The London Night Time Commission, in its report on 6pm to 6am published in January last year, came up with suggestions for the mayor to improve the nightlife. The recommendations included a night test for all new policies to rate their impact on Londons culture, sociability, well-being and economy, a Night Time Guidance for boroughs (areas), and a London Night Time Data Observatory on the economy, transport, licensing, infrastructure, safety and health. The commission said the mayor should help establish new partnerships to improve safety, reduce violence and make London welcoming for everyone at night, along with setting up of a working group for smoother and safer commute. The idea was discussed during one of the meetings of the authorities on the 24x7 plan. On January 16, Thackeray, with civic chief Praveen Pardeshi and city police commissioner Sanjay Barve, announced the implementation of the 24x7 policy that allows shopping malls, eateries, commercial complexes in defunct mills and other gated communities to operate through the night. HT was the first to report that the Mumbai Police and the BMC would permit the establishments to stay open all night. A senior BMC official said, Eventually, we will require a team to focus on the functioning. It could look at all aspects such as the days when it will be feasible, the plan during festivals or IPL matches and way to boost revenue. Pankaj Joshi, city-based urban planner, said, The plan needs inter-departmental coordination. Such a commission should be top priority. A Co Armagh man will go on trial today for the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe seven years ago A Co Armagh man will go on trial today for the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe seven years ago. Aaron Brady (28) of New Road, Crossmaglen, is charged with the murder of the detective at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth on January 25, 2013. The accused is also charged with the robbery of 7,000 in cash and cheques at the same location on the same date. Mr Brady stood up and pleaded not guilty to both charges when they were put to him by the registrar at the Central Criminal Court yesterday morning. The court heard the first count relates to the capital murder of a police officer, Det Gda Donohoe, in the course of their duty contrary to the Criminal Justice Act 1976. Justice Michael White notified the pool of prospective jurors that the trial will take up to 16 weeks and may run to May 28. The trial will break for two weeks over Easter and will not sit on St Patrick's Day. A panel of six men and nine women - three more jurors than usual - were sworn in after midday, with the trial due to begin this morning. The jury members were warned by Mr Justice White not to go on social media or the internet to carry out research in relation to the case. The jury must, he said, concentrate solely on the evidence it hears in court. The extra jurors were there in case someone is forced to drop out through illness or any other reason. If more than 12 jurors remain at the end of the trial, there will be an open ballot to decide the final make-up of the jury, Justice White said. Petoskey High School closed for in-person classes until at least Jan. 17 There was no school for high school students on Wednesday, while virtual classes will take place on Thursday, Jan. 13, and Friday, Jan. 14. JCDecaux Australia and New Zealands head of technology, Andrew Walls, has been promoted to the outdoor advertising companys executive leadership team. JCDecaux revealed details of the move today. Walls has been the IT director at the company since November 2018. He joined as a result of JCDecauxs $1.12 billion 2018 buyout of APN Outdoor Group, where Walls had been head of technology, after a stint as the chief information officer at oOh! The chief executive of JCDecaux Australia and New Zealand, Steve OConnor, today revealed details of the Walls of promotion. Technology already plays a significant role in our business and this will only increase; Andrews appointment to the executive leadership team is recognition of this, the CEO said in a statement. We look forward to welcoming Andrew to the ELT he joins a group of strong and experienced leaders, well placed to steer the company as we navigate significant change and growth over the coming years. Walls said he was excited at the move, which comes at a time when technology can deliver real efficiencies and growth for JCDecaux Australia and New Zealand. The IT executive is responsible for delivering large-scale ICT and business projects and pioneering the companys digital transformation, a statement from JCDecaux said. JCDecaux in February 2019 unveiled a new sales and marketing leadership structure in the wake of the APN Outdoor acquisition. JCDecaux JCDecauxs Andrew Walls Along with OConnor and Walls, the companys current executive team comprises: General manager people & culture, Alissa Bartlett; head of trading & sales operations Cassandra Cameron; chief commercial officer Max Eburne; chief operating officer Andrew Hines; corporate counsel Peter Karcher; director of government & public relations Tess Phillips; chief marketing officer Essie Wake; NZ country head Mike Watkins; and finance director David Watkins. Thomas Valva died last week after being made to spend the night in a freezing garage. The eight-year-old suffered hypothermia Social services are under investigation in connection with the death of a cop's autistic son who died of hypothermia after being locked in a freezing garage overnight as a punishment despite years of claims from his mother that he was being abused. Thomas Valva died after losing consciousness in his father's garage last week in Long Island. The eight-year-old boy had been forced into the frigid garage with no bedding by his father, Mike, and his father's fiancee, Angela Pollina. At first, the couple claimed he died as the result of a 'tragic accident' and they even collected money for his funeral on a GoFundMe page. They were charged with his murder after an autopsy revealed Thomas's injuries and condition when he died were not consistent with the story they gave. Now, questions have turned to why the pair were allowed to look after him after his mother and teachers made repeated allegations of abuse. The boy was taken away from his mother, who is a Rikers Island correctional guard , when she and his father divorced. It is not exactly clear what specific reason the judge used for putting them in Valva's care but Justyna has suggested it is because she is a Polish migrant and was on the back-foot during their custody case because she did not have a lawyer. She also alleged that her ex falsely accused her of abuse. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said on Monday night that he would launch an investigation into how her complaints were handled. 'As a parent, I am horrified by what happened to this beautiful boy. 'As county executive, I want to know if there is anything else that could have been done under existing law to prevent this from happening. 'Beyond that, I want to know if anything in this case suggests that changes should be made to existing policy or law,' he said. Mike Valva (left) and Angela Pollina (right) are being held on murder charges for the young boy's death. They taunted him as he froze to death in their garage Thomas' mother Justyna had regularly reported her concerns to child services but her son was allowed to carry on living with his father Thomas was one of six children in Mike and Angela's care. All have now been removed from the home After news of her son's death emerged last week, Justyna wrote on Twitter: 'I want to personally thank each one of you for love and support towards me and my children. 'I am still extremely heartbroken, and devastated over the cruel and tragic death of my little angel Thomas that could have been preventable. 'Please continue keeping us in your prayers.' Since 2018, she has been publicly accusing Valva of abusing their boys on a Twitter page where she showed videos of them telling her they had been told to hate her. The videos also showed the boys saying they were scared they were going to be put 'outside' by their father. Teachers also reported their concerns to Justyna. They claimed in letters to her that the boys showed up at school hungry, dirty and sometimes in urine-soaked clothes. Letters from school psychologists and teachers paint a worrying picture of the boys' life with their father Another teacher wrote a letter laying out her concerns for Thomas and his brother Disturbing tweets from Justyna's account, like this one, date back to more than a year before her son's death It remains unclear why nothing was done to take Thomas out of the care of his father and his father's fiancee Angela Pollina Justyna reported her concerns but nothing was done to take the boys away from thei father. Her last tweet before that was in November 2018, when she wrote ominously: 'I don't even know if my children are alive at this point.' According to police, cameras and microphones that had been set up in Mike Valva's home captured audio of him and Angela taunting Thomas as he froze to death. They sniggered 'he's hypothermic' and laughed when he 'face-planted' the floor. Pollina remarked: 'You know why he's falling?' to which Valva replied: 'Because he's cold.... boo f*****g hoo'. S uccess can be a strange whirlwind; the sort of thing you only acknowledge in hindsight. For Sex Education creator Laurie Nunn, it was an innocuous work email chain that made her take stock of the improbable phenomenon she had created. There was an email for season two that was to do with costumes, and the title of it was just, Vagina Hats, she says, with a light, disbelieving laugh, in an oddly barren Holborn hotel room. At that point I thought, This is strange. This is a really strange job. Indeed it is. But perhaps one of the greatest victories of Nunns acclaimed show which, at its core, is the funny, filthy tale of socially awkward sexual savant Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield), who doles out intimacy advice to his dysfunctional teenage schoolmates is that it turns ostensible strangeness into something vital, rousing and compulsively watchable. With a 2019 debut season that was devoured by 40 million Netflix viewers in one month, it is one of those rare shows that manages to walk a wobbling tightrope between sneaky creative boldness and genuine mass appeal. Its a thrillingly progressive, thorny exploration of modern sexual mores, sprawled across the soothing, John Hughesian world of locker-lined high school halls and suspiciously enormous houses in the fictional town of Moordale. Acclaim: Nunn's show has proved a huge hit with Netflix viewers / Getty Images Which is another way of saying that the pressure was truly on Nunn, 33, when it came to the eight-part second season, which launched (vagina hats and all) on Netflix earlier this month. As those who have already sprinted through it will now know, the new episodes begin with an uproarious montage concerning Otiss new-found fondness for al fresco self-pleasure, culminating in an, um, ill-timed interruption from his sexual therapist mother Jean (Gillian Anderson). Was Nunn deliberately trying to ratchet up the shock factor, as quickly as possible? I definitely knew that the show needed a strong opening, she says, smartly dressed in a dark blazer and frilly roll neck. Her voice is just slightly tinged with the Aussie accent that betrays a childhood partly spent in Melbourne. That scene is actually based on a story that a friend of mine told me. It stuck in my head as such a funny, horrific thing. But it also tapped into that story with Otis; hes a bit of a late bloomer [and now] hes hit the part of puberty where he feels like hes lost control of his body and his brain, but hes still trying to be a good young man. This tussle between reason and the hormone-addled monster of adolescence is just one of the arresting themes strung through a season that also covers (deep breath) chlamydia, bisexuality, middle-aged desire, douching in the gay community and, memorably, baba ganoush-based dirty talk. However, Nunn (who, alongside the shows other writers, works closely with intimacy co-ordinator Ita OBrien) is conscious that Sex Educations unflinching frankness never tips over into prurience that may worry actors. Representation: Nunn wants teens to see themselves on screen / PA Were constantly having open conversations, navigating the sensitive material, and if anybody did feel uncomfortable then its a very safe space for them to be able to voice that, she says. I also have a rule that sex scenes have to push the story forward or be educational in some way. That stops the show ever teetering into a gratuitous space or being titillating which, when youre dealing with teenage characters [is a line] you have to tread very carefully. Last year, Game Of Throness Emilia Clarke spoke of her terrifying early nude scenes on the show and inadvertently launched a wide debate about the pressure placed on inexperienced female actors to strip off on screen. Was Nunn conscious of this? Its something I take very seriously, she says. Working with the intimacy coordinator is key to it. I feel that theres a very interesting conversation to be had about whether we need as much gratuitous nudity on screen or whether we could pull back on that. Not just in our show but the industry in general. Nunn feels that there is a purpose to the shows graphic content, both dramatically and as per its name educationally. Her decision to make horny sci-fi obsessive Lily (Tanya Reynolds) a sufferer of a sexually inhibiting condition called vaginismus has led to quite a lot of messages from grateful sufferers who didnt realise they had a highly treatable medical condition. Tellingly, one of the most praised subplots from this new batch of episodes concerns a character who experiences a traumatising sexual assault that she initially tries to brush off with humour. Sex Education 2: In Pictures 1 /10 Sex Education 2: In Pictures Asa Butterfield as Otis Milburn and Ncuti Gatwa as Eric Effiong Netflix Kedar Williams-Stirling as Jackson Marchetti Netflix Aimee Lou Wood as Aimee Gibbs and Emma Mackey as Maeve Wiley Netflix Gillian Anderson as as Dr Jean F. Milburn Netflix Tanya Reynolds as Lily Iglehart and Patricia Allison as Ola Nyman Netflix Connor Swindells as Adam Groff Netflix That storyline came from a very personal experience in my own life, she says, her voice dipped low. So it was something that I knew I wanted to write about in a sort of cathartic way. Its a plot that also ends with a Breakfast Club homage that can be read as a pointed middle-finger to the critics that found the era-less, Americanised aesthetic of the first season (its actually shot in the Wye Valley in Wales) bothersome. For Nunn who was born in the UK, moved to Australia at 14, and returned to Britain at 23 to study an MA in screenwriting Sex Educations dreamlike, Mean Girls-indebted look is both a reflection of her teenage dislocation and an integral part of the shows DNA. I think the hook of Sex Education is so heightened that it always needed a heightened world to match it, she says. I mean, its about a kid whos giving out sex advice in a toilet cubicle; theres not a social-realist version of that show. To Nunns mind, Moordale is like a teenage utopia. Theres certainly something hopeful about the fact that it is a wildly diverse, Laurence Fox-baiting rural enclave peopled by black jocks, lesbian parents, teenagers with disabilities and breakout star Ncuti Gatwas openly gay African character Eric. All of them are matter-of-factly presented as flawed people who are much more than ciphers for their under-represented communities. Sex Education - Season 2 Official Trailer Netflix Because its a teen show, and its about that universal feeling of being 16, its really important that people see themselves reflected on the screen, she says. Its a diversity that extends to the team behind the camera, too (Sex Educations writers rooms have been predominantly female and notably BAME), and Nunn, especially in light of the controversy around the very white, very male recent BAFTA nominations, credits Netflix with helping make this possible. Kate Herron, who directed on our first season, had only made short films before and now shes directing a Marvel show in America, notes Nunn. It really takes somebody like Netflix to take a risk. But I do think that its a combination of making sure that new talent, myself included, is supported. Amazingly, its not yet been confirmed whether that support will officially extend to a third season of Sex Education. Nunn (a north Londoner who can normally be found, on her rare days off, at Islingtons Screen On The Green) has already started writing episodes, but is understandably tight-lipped about what will become of Otis, Eric, Jean, Emma Mackeys Maeve and the various plot seeds frantically scattered in season two. But, as our time comes to an end, she confirms that theres one teen show trope she wont explore. I feel like I probably wouldnt want to take them to university, she says, smiling wryly. You know, like in Dawsons Creek where it got to the point of, I think you guys are 40 years old. She laughs. But I love writing these characters, and so I think there are more stories. More stories. More sexual proclivities. And, youd wager, more very bizarre email chains. He stares hard at the camera, his clenched fist full of sand. The mother of the boy in this ubiquitous meme sent a cease-and-desist letter to Representative Steve King on Monday, demanding that the congressman remove her sons copyrighted photo from websites and campaign materials. The mother, Laney Griner, sent the letter through her lawyer on Monday after discovering that the picture of her son, Sam, had appeared in an ad for Mr. King, a Republican from Iowa with a long history of making racist remarks. In the original photo, an 11-month-old Sam is on a beach, looking at the camera with an expression of intense concentration and his fist raised. As is the way with memes, the image has been repurposed and shared all over the internet, used by people to express relish over a hard-won victory or demonstrate an iron determination to bounce back. It is a baby photo that says, You havent seen the last of me. Last week, Sam appeared on the King for Congress Facebook page, in an ad that superimposed him over an image of Congress, with the text Fund our memes!!! Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images At the March for Life last Friday, Donald Trump sounded much like a typical Evangelical president. Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House, he told a massive audience. Sadly, the far left is actively working to erase our God-given rights, shut down faith-based charities, ban religious believers from the public square and silence Americans who believe in the sanctity of life. Not far from where Trump stood on the Washington Mall, impeachment proceedings continued. The evidence for Trumps abuse of power is at this point overwhelming, but it did not seem to trouble the anti-abortion activists who gathered to hear the president speak. Trump himself only referred obliquely to his troubles. They are coming after me because I am fighting for you, he said. In response, the crowd chanted four more years, Reuters reported. Trump is the first president to appear in person at the March for Life. Like all Republican commanders-in-chief before him, he had previously delivered the usual rote remarks by proxy or by video link. There is a cynical edge to his history-making decision to change habits. Mere weeks ago, the outgoing editor of Christianity Today called for Trumps removal from office. The criticism outraged Trump, who prides himself on his high level of Evangelical support. The fact is, no President has ever done what I have done for Evangelicals, or religion itself! he tweeted, and while the statement is bizarre theres a logic to his bombast. Trump faces impeachment proceedings during an election year. He needs the support not just of Evangelicals but of the other conservative Christians who make up the pro-life movement, so off to the march he went. The rationale for Trumps field trip is easy enough to diagnose. But while the presidents cynicism is obvious to his critics, his Christian supporters see something else entirely. Trumps enthusiastic reception by Fridays marchers clarified the Christian case for his presidency. What looks like hypocrisy to the average liberal can look like a redemption arc to others. Republican dealings with the Christian right have always had a transactional quality to them. The effect is far more pronounced under Trump than it was under George W. Bush, who was, if nothing else, a true believer. Trumps appearance at the march, then, resurrected a familiar conundrum. Why would any devout Christian support a man like Trump? His language is foul; his affairs, plentiful. Asked by Maureen Dowd in 2016 if hed ever paid for an abortion, the future president demurred. Such an interesting question, he said. It is. But if his refusal to provide a direct answer troubles pro-life Christians, their angst is invisible to the naked eye. The usual answer, of course, is that for white conservative Christians, Trumps actions as president obscure his personal transgressions. Maybe he paid for an abortion, maybe he didnt, but at least he put pro-life justices on the Supreme Court. Indeed, the elevations of Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch are only two entries in the ledger of Trumps contributions to the pro-life movement. He appointed pro-life conservatives to influential roles within the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security, sided publicly with the Little Sisters of the Poor in its fight to deny birth-control coverage to its employees, and indulged the pro-life movements most hyperbolic instincts to better cast Democrats as infant-murdering villains. Nearly every top Democrat in Congress now support taxpayer-funded abortion all the way up until the moment of birth, he said at the march, before repeating his much-loved but entirely false claim that Virginias Democratic governor Ralph Northam, a former pediatric neurologist, wants to execute babies after birth. In return for his efforts, the crowd promised him another term. But a purely transactional understanding of Trumps appeal to the Christian right may understate his true importance to the cause. Even if he embraced Christ and the pro-life cause rather late in life, his evolution is a testament to the regenerative work of the Gospel. God can use anyone, even Trump. A few of the presidents Christian supporters have even identified what they believe to be a biblical precedent for his role. Hes a new King David, a morally complicated but divinely anointed figure who had his own problem with infidelity. God uses imperfect people through history. King David wasnt perfect, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Fox News last year. Trump, then, isnt a hypocrite, at least not to the Christians who truly embrace him. He was lost, but is now found. He is a convert, and a convert is a powerful figure indeed. To his supporters, Trumps trajectory only confirms the rightness of their own beliefs. He is proof that God works through the Christian right to draw in and transform men and women of influence. Impeachment proceedings present a sliver of Trumps character, and show it to be a present horror, not an artifact from an older, less pious stage of life. But the trial itself may be taken by some as additional proof of his merit. When Trump complained on Friday that they were out to get him, his tone of vexed martyrdom was perhaps familiar to marchers. The Gospel of Christ crucified is foolishness to the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul wrote. Unbelievers attack what they do not understand. The chairman of the House committee that oversees U.S. health agencies told CNBC on Tuesday that he's skeptical of information coming out of China on the coronavirus outbreak. "We have to be concerned about the Beijing government," Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said on "Squawk Box." "They are not often forthcoming, often don't tell the truth about what's really happening." Chinese officials on Tuesday sharply increased the number of confirmed coronavirus cases to nearly 4,700. The death toll there rose to 106. The virus, which causes flu-like symptoms, was first identified less than a month ago in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province. Most of the cases are in mainland China, where local authorities have quarantined at least 10 major cities. Multiple cases of the virus have been confirmed in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, France and the United States. Pallone is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is not alone in his mistrust of China. Earlier on Tuesday, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told "Squawk Box" that there could be "tens of thousands" of cases in China. "I think the Chinese haven't been fully sharing." Medical experts have compared the current coronavirus outbreak to the 2003 SARS epidemic. SARS, which stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome, also began in China. However, even after SARS had spread around the world, China sought to conceal the number of actual cases and worked meticulously to avoid detection by World Health Organization experts. It wasn't until a physician spoke out that the concealment became known. China has said this time will be different. Last week, the ruling Communist Party's central political and legal affairs commission warned that "whoever deliberately delays and conceals reports will forever be nailed to history's pillar of shame." Chinese President Xi Jinping added that people's health must be put first. "It is necessary to release epidemic information in a timely manner and deepen international cooperation." By sharing information quickly, health experts can work to stop the spread of the disease and drugmakers can begin working on vaccinations. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNBC on Friday that China is "doing much better this time" than with SARS. "From the feedback we're getting, in a real-time basis, it's an enormous difference, in a positive way," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. WASHINGTON The Trump administration on Tuesday expressed disappointment after the U.K. announced it would allow Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei limited access to some British 5G mobile networks. "The United States is disappointed by the U.K.'s decision," a senior Trump administration official wrote in an emailed statement to CNBC. The official added that the Trump administration will work "with the U.K. on a way forward that results in the exclusion of untrusted vendor components from 5G networks." The U.K. said equipment made by Huawei would not be banned but that access will be restricted from "sensitive functions." U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government made the decision despite warnings from President Donald Trump, who has called Johnson a "friend," key figures in the Republican Party and members of Johnson's own Conservative Party. The latest development comes as the Trump administration works to isolate Chinese tech firm Huawei from developing a larger foothold in U.S. partner countries. The administration has specifically worked to keep members of the "five eyes" intelligence-sharing group, which includes the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, from working with Huawei. In 2018, the Pentagon halted sales of Huawei and ZTE mobile phones and modems on military bases around the world due to potential security risks. "We continue to urge all of our partners and allies to carefully assess the multifaceted impacts of allowing untrusted vendors access to important 5G network infrastructure," Pentagon spokesman U.S. Army Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn wrote in a statement to CNBC. "It's been assessed that there is no safe option for untrusted vendors to control any part of a 5G network," Eastburn added. Long-standing concerns U.S. officials have long complained that Chinese intellectual property theft has cost the economy billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of jobs and that it threatens national security. China maintains that it does not engage in intellectual property theft. When asked about the issue by CNBC on his first day as secretary of Defense, Mark Esper said he was "very concerned about Chinese technology getting into our systems or the systems of our allies." "Huawei is the poster child right now for that," Esper said, adding that the U.S. trade war with China is as much about national security as it is about the economy. "When I was in Brussels three weeks ago we talked about this among defense ministers, on how do we preserve the integrity of our networks as an alliance, and so that will continue to be important for me as we go forward," he said in July, referring to a NATO visit he made while acting Defense secretary. Read more: New Defense secretary: 'We need to be very concerned' about Chinese tech Last year, in spite of national security warnings, then-U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May reportedly approved a plan to let Huawei build part of the U.K.'s 5G network. Her decision was leaked, resulting in the dismissal of then-Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson. Williamson has denied that he was the source of the leak. A month prior to Williamson's departure, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said that if U.S. allies proceed with Huawei's equipment, intelligence cooperation could be undermined. "One of the things that underlines an alliance is the ability to share information and when we share information with allies and partners we have to have common standards of information assurance. We have to be sure that our secrets are protected, whether it be intelligence or technology transfer," Dunford told a House Appropriations subcommittee in April 2019. Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan and Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, give testimony on the Department of Defense budget posture in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2020 and the Future Years Defense Program at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, March 14, 2019. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique Pineiro | Department of Defense photo Echoing Dunford's sentiments, then-acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told lawmakers that "China aims to steal its way to a China-controlled global technological infrastructure, including 5G." "Huawei exemplifies the Chinese Communist Party's systemic, organized, and state-driven approach to achieve global leadership in advanced technology." What's more, the Director of National Intelligence, alongside the heads of the FBI, CIA, NSA, Defense Intelligence Agency, and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency testified before lawmakers in 2018 on potential security risks posed by Huawei and ZTE. "We're deeply concerned about the risks of allowing any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments that don't share our values to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks," FBI Director Christopher Wray told the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. "It provides the capacity to maliciously modify or steal information. And it provides the capacity to conduct undetected espionage," Wray added. Huawei's denials ROWAYTON, Conn., Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eaton Partners, one of the worlds leading private capital advisory and fund placement firms and a wholly owned subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corp. (SF), is pleased to have acted as the placement agent for GLS Capital LLCs (GLS) first institutional fund, GLS Capital Partners Fund I, LP (together with its affiliates, the Fund). The Fund exceeded its initial fundraise target of $250 million, holding its final close with $345 million in capital commitments. The Fund received strong support from investors across North America and Europe, including notable global asset managers, foundations, and large family offices. GLS has differentiated itself through its deep experience and diversified strategy within litigation finance, said Michael Pilson, Managing Director and Head of GP Advisory at Eaton Partners. Investor appetite for this niche, uncorrelated strategy was in high demand from institutional investors. We look to partner with unique and discerning investment platforms like GLS and it has been a pleasure to work with this team on a successful fundraise, added Peter Martenson, Partner at Eaton Partners. GLS will harness the deep experience of its founders to invest in complex situations involving commercial litigation and arbitration, as well as intellectual property disputes in both the technology and life sciences industries. The firm will structure creative and flexible solutions for businesses and law firms that are looking to better manage litigation and balance-sheet risks. We are grateful for the participation and continued support of our clients and partners, said David Spiegel, Managing Director of GLS. Many thanks to the Eaton Partners team for its energy and commitment. We appreciate our relationship. About Eaton Partners Eaton Partners, a Stifel Company, is one of the worlds largest capital placement agents and fund advisory firms, having raised more than $100 billion across more than 125 highly differentiated alternative investment funds and offerings. Founded in 1983, Eaton advises and raises institutional capital for investment managers across alternative strategies private equity, private credit, real assets, real estate, and hedge funds/public market in both the primary and secondary markets. Eaton Partners maintains offices and operates throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Story continues Eaton Partners is a division of Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, Member SIPC and NYSE. Eaton Partners subsidiary Eaton Partners (U.K.) LLP is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Eaton Partners subsidiary Eaton Partners Advisors (HK) Limited is approved as a Type 1-licensed company under the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong. Eaton Partners and the Eaton Partners logo are trademarks of Eaton Partners, LLC, a limited liability company. Eaton Partners, 2019. About GLS Capital, LLC Formed in 2018, GLS Capital is one of the worlds largest private investment firms focused on legal and regulatory risk. We provide bespoke financial solutions to meet the unique needs of each investment opportunity. For more information, please visit: www.glscap.com Stifel Company Information Stifel Financial Corp. (SF) is a financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that conducts its banking, securities, and financial services business through several wholly owned subsidiaries. Stifels broker-dealer clients are served in the United States through Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, including its Eaton Partners business division; Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.; Miller Buckfire & Co., LLC; Century Securities Associates, Inc., and in the United Kingdom and Europe through Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited. Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited owns MainFirst Bank AG, which is authorized and regulated by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and whose London Branch is authorized by BaFin and supervised by the Financial Conduct Authority for the conduct of UK business, whose Milan Branch is authorized and regulated by BaFin and supervised by CONSOB/Bank of Italy, whose Paris Branch is authorized and regulated by BaFin and supervised by AMP/Autorite de Controle Prudentiel. Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited also owns MainFirst Schweiz AG, which is authorized by the Eidgenoessische Finanzmarktaufsicht to act as an introducing broker for MainFirst Bank AG, MainFirst Securities US Inc., an introducing broker that is a member of FINRA and the SIPC, and Stifel Europe Geneva S.A. The Companys broker-dealer affiliates provide securities brokerage, investment banking, trading, investment advisory, and related financial services to individual investors, professional money managers, businesses, and municipalities. Stifel Bank and Stifel Bank & Trust offer a full range of consumer and commercial lending solutions. Stifel Trust Company, N.A. and Stifel Trust Company Delaware, N.A. offer trust and related services. To learn more about Stifel, please visit the Companys website at www.stifel.com . Senator Graham walks to the Senate Chamber as the Trump impeachment trial continues in Washington. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Britain's decision to give Chinese telecoms giant Huawei a limited role in building its 5G networks could greatly complicate a free trade agreement with the United States and jeapordize intelligence sharing with one of its closest allies, Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Tuesday. "This decision has the potential to jeopardize US-UK intelligence sharing agreements and could greatly complicate a US-UK free trade agreement. I hope the British government will reconsider its decision," Graham said in a tweet. (Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Hickorys past life sets the stage for what it is today which in turn becomes a good predictor of what it will become in the days ahead. In this sesquicentennial year, its time to appreciate all that Hickory has been and how it got to be the city that has attracted many for a century and half. This year, the publishing arm of Catawba Valley Community College, Redhawk Publications is preparing a book to commemorate what both was and is Hickory. Titled Hickory: Then & Now, the volume will compare what we remember with what we have become. Using images and stories, we are working to piece together a mosaic of Hickory in all its triumphs and tragedies, as well as everyday life. To produce this book on Hickorys past, we need input. After all, Hickory is no more than the people who inhabit it. Your images and stories will broaden our vision of what made Hickory a place so important that you have chosen to be a part of it, whether you work here, live here, or are just visiting. Egypts National Press Authority has said that a recent controversial decision to stop hiring at national press institutions is a temporary measure until the matter is carefully studied as part of a broader plan to overhaul national papers. The decision, announced by the cabinet earlier this week, has raised questions over the future of hundreds of journalists and staff members who have worked for years at state-run papers without permanent contracts. In a statement on Tuesday, head of the authority Karam Gabr said the move is intended to help under-resourced institutions meet their financial obligations towards employees with contracts, and to avert adding large numbers of staff to newspapers, which would further strain their finances. He said the papers are obliged to present a count of those working without permanent contracts, the duration of their service, as well as their job tasks in order to study the necessary steps that need to be taken on the matter. The papers will still accept "young members who are capable of [keeping up with] technological developments, while taking into account the current circumstances regarding the inability of institutions to provide salaries for basic employees," he said in the statement. The step aims to avoid the mistakes that occurred in recent years in supplying institutions with large numbers [of employees], which has led to the current situation, the statement added. The Authority, which regulates state-run publications, will take measures in the next few days to implement a financial and administrative reform programme and develop editorial content for state papers, Gabr said. The five-year reform scheme aims to "salvage the institutions, make the best use of untapped assets and address their decades-long chronic problems." Under the constitution, the Authority has the right to upgrade press institutions, develop their assets and ensure their independence and impartiality. The current difficult circumstances experienced by the institutions require the necessity of accelerating the implementation of the financial and administrative reform plan and the developing of editorial content in a gradual manner, in order to ensure the institutions will continue carrying out their tasks and to preserve the rights of its workers, it said. "The reform plan aims at gradually reaching a balance between revenues and expenditures, reducing losses, addressing accumulated debt problems, and maximising benefits from assets, the statement concluded. There are hundreds of informal trainees and journalists who have been working for many years in Egypt's national press institutions. Under Egypt's 2014 constitution, TV, radio, print and online media are regulated by three regulatory bodies: the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR), the National Press Organisation (NPO), and the National Media Organisation (NMO). Earlier this week, Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madboluy urged the immediate implementation of a plan to reform and develop national press institutions to contain expenditures. One of the most important parts of the plan was to stop hiring at press institutions, prohibiting the extension of the retirement age except in special cases and for veteran journalists, which should be done in coordination with the National Press Authority. The plan also included programmes to settle debts via a programme aimed at maximising unused assets, studying the financial plans of press publications and separating editorial and administrative roles. Search Keywords: Short link: Donald Trumps rancid reputation will flourish long after he slinks away, ranked somewhere between historical Caligula and fictional Voldemort. He will relish infamy so long as he retains the blind adoration of 40 per cent or so of US voters who cling to his pricey garments. This tinsel messiahs only creed is personal gain. Knowing nothing else, he treats government like a big-business enterprise, i.e. as a tinpot tyranny, and is running the shambles into the ground, like his earlier bankrupt enterprises. Yet, for all his flaws, in one crucial respect Trump is a rational and shrewd operator. He scrupulously confers on the American upper class whatever they desire tax cuts, military toys, anti-labour measures, environmental disregard, welfare cuts, deregulation and every advantage short of reinstating slavery. From force of habit Trump cheerily adds misogyny, racism and bigotry to the mix. If youre a tycoon, whats not to like? Less financially fortunate Republicans hail the orange-haired chief despite, or more likely because of his mean bluster. His impulsive foreign policy acts do dismay some supporters, but plenty of Ivy League professionals and pundits applaud his audacity. Presidents may be impeached for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours. An inept or appalling performance does not count. The problem for impeachment-obsessed Democrats was finding a charge against Trump that did not apply to most or all prior Presidents. They flubbed it. This impeachment is little more than a show trial mounted by establishment Democrats to distract attention from their unwillingness to offer working Americans anything they need. Even progressive reformer Elizabeth Warren has backed off a promise for universal healthcare (and cost her popular support). Rival Bernie Sanders, still staunchly progressive, is being pelted with baseless accusations of anti-Semitism (a tactic that worked against Jeremy Corbyn) and sexism to divide supporters and thus boost conservative candidates. The impeachment process is predicated on the belief that it would inhibit Trump, but it only goaded him into wag-the-dog manoeuvres. All that it will accomplish is to ensure that every future US administration facing an Opposition majority in Congress will be impeached for whatever reason. Trumps alleged offence was to strong-arm the Ukraine regime to dig up dirt on Joe Bidens son, who in 2014 landed a $50,000-a-month post with Ukrainian natural gas consortium, Burisma. Was it because of daddys connections? You be the judge. Like it or not, every presidential candidate plays dirty with opponents; how else did the titillating Steele dossier wind up in the possession of Clintons camp? Every President since the FBI was formed in 1908 utilised it and other agencies to surveil opponents. In 1968, LBJ learned that Richard Nixon interfered with Vietnam negotiations in order to prevent a deal before the election. The irony is that he could not disclose the Republican candidates treachery without admitting he spied on him. Nixon then spied on anyone he fancied a foe. Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon, thereby condoning his activities. After presiding over the colossal security failure of 9/11, George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act that placed virtually all presidential or security agency activity beyond public scrutiny. Its not just his aggrieved acolytes who ask whats so different about Trump. The anticlimactic end of the tedious circus this month hopefully permits a turn of critical attention to policy issues. If impeachment follows strict and scripted partisan lines, as it does, it is self-invalidating so far as outsiders can see. Abuse of power? How do you know you have power unless you abuse it? Thats the whole point of exercising power to most of those who seek it. The only way to get rid of Trump is to vote him out, and this distraction has not helped. By arrangement with Dawn The pilot of the helicopter that crashed into a California hillside and killed Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and six other passengers has been identified as Ara Zobayan. However, according to his pilot friend Jared Joachim, the 50-year-old Huntington Beach native was "great" at flying and "always remained cool, calm and collected" in the air. The grieving friend wrote in a Facebook post, "Ara was an incredible pilot, instructor pilot, charter pilot, and a truly great man. He was not your typical egotistical helicopter pilot like most of us honestly are." He also added that Zobayan, as people knew him, "you'll only hear words like professional, calculated and loving." Ara Zobayan. He taught aspiring heli pilots to fly and was very much loved in the aviation community. They wrote rest easy as you take your final flight to heaven.#KobeBryant pic.twitter.com/8pQh9eNJTk Friends have identified the pilot asAra Zobayan. He taught aspiring heli pilots to fly and was very much loved in the aviation community. They wrote rest easy as you take your final flight to heaven. @KTLA Christina Pascucci (@ChristinaKTLA) January 27, 2020 Joachim furthermore said that the loss is not only his, but a community as a whole. "Ara impacted so many people and only in a positive way. I'm sorry that you never got to meet him. You would've loved him," Joachim added as he posted photos of himself and a few of their friends while celebrating a friend's birthday. It was not clear when the photos were taken. "Whoever would've thought that would be our final beer together," he furthered. A friend confirmed that the pilot was close to the Bryant family. "Working for the aviation business has allowed me to meet some pretty amazing people and pilots. Ara was one of them. Always so nice, talkative, and especially attentive when it came to Kobe and his family," Twitter user @__bella113_ said. Before the crash, the pilot and flight instructor had no accidents or flight incidents, according to the spokesperson of the Federal Aviation Administration, Ian Gregor. Zobayan first received his pilot license with a helicopter rating in January 2001 and his commercial pilot license in December 2007. He learned to fly at Group 3 Aviation, a private flight school in California. Claudia Lowry, the president of the institution, said Zobayan came to the academy in 1998 and quickly became embedded in their community. Speaking to The Daily Beast, "This is where Ara learned to fly. This is where Ara worked. We've known him since 1998. He's a dear friend and family." After learning to fly, Zobayan worked at Group 3 as a flight instructor. Darren Kemp, one of his students, told Los Angeles Times that "Bryant doesn't let anyone else fly him around but Ara." Zobayan later worked at Island Express Holding Corporation as a pilot for a family-owned helicopter charter company that contracts with Catalina Island to do local tours. It was also listed as the owner of the vehicle that crashed last Sunday. The helicopter that was used was a Sikorsky S-75B and was nearing 30 years old at the time of its crash. Zobayan was also a licensed instrument pilot, which means he trained on the safety and navigational tools needed to fly under poor weather conditions. According to reports, on the day of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board member Jennifer Homendy was asked what he planned to do, but "there was no reply." "Radar data indicates the helicopter climbed to 2,300 feet and then began a left descending turn. Last radar contact was around 9:45 AM and is consistent with the accident location," Hemendy said in a statement. Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong on Tuesday urged the international community to "remain calm and not overreact," hours after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved the Air India flight to Wuhan for the evacuation of Indian citizens from the coronavirus hit city. "The World Health Organisation (WHO) does not recommend the evacuation of nationals," the ambassador told ANI, calling upon the international community to "remain calm and not overreact." "The WHO is confident in China's epidemic prevention and control ability," added Sun Weidong. Earlier ANI, quoting Air India (AI) officials, had reported that "Air India Boeing 747 is on standby for the evacuation of Indians from Wuhan (China). Carrier is waiting for the government decision." Air India has currently four jumbo double-decker Boeing-747 aircraft on its fleet, and one of them has been kept on stand by for evacuation from Wuhan. Following the outbreak of the deadly virus, China has imposed a lockdown in the city. However, the virus has spread to several other countries. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that the Indian Embassy in Beijing is in close contact with the Chinese government in order to facilitate the evacuation of the Indians, mostly students, from Wuhan by sending a plane due to coronavirus outbreak. The toll from the deadly coronavirus rose to 80 in China with 2,744 confirmed cases of the disease reported from the country on Monday. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year. India's Civil Aviation Ministry has also opened health camps at seven Indian airports across the country to screen passengers arriving from China as well as Hong Kong. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There are too many unknowns in the recent Wuhan corona virus outbreak that now threatens to become a pandemic. Scientists dont fully know where the virus came from. They dont know how virulent it is. Public health officials dont know how many people have been infected. They dont know whether the virus can be shed to the environment before the symptoms show up. All these factors are important to how the world manages to control or limit a pandemic. Yet there is one aspect of the outbreak that is now known clearly: Chinese officials underestimated the ... Decades are needed for holding a court reform and thus, while it is carried out, international investors should receive the right to appeal to international arbitrages, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Tymofiy Mylovanov reported. "We need investments, but they will not come until there is a judicial system. Reform of the judicial system will not take place in one year, because it is a matter of trust, a matter of new judges, their training, and a matter of law enforcement. Even in the countries that have successfully passed law enforcement and judicial reforms, this took decades. Therefore, we offer a system that does two things at the same time. For those who are ready to work today, but do not completely trust the judges, they will be able to use international arbitration. This means that they simply choose an arbitrator an international judge. By the way, this applies to small investors too, and it will cost them less than going to London. But in parallel we will carry out judicial reform," Mylovanov said on the air of the Freedom of Speech (Svoboda Slova) program on ICTV. As the dream of banning cars becomes a reality Wednesday on San Franciscos Market Street an idea dating to when horse-drawn buggies jockeyed for space among puttering Ford Model Ts one top transportation official is already pitching ideas for the next car-free thoroughfare. During a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board meeting Tuesday, Chair Malcolm Heinicke called for automobiles to be purged from Valencia Street, a bustling strip in the Mission District. Im not very patient here. I want the next one, Heinicke told The Chronicle outside the meeting where he and the other six directors discussed themes for the coming year. He predicts that Market Street sans cars will reap huge benefits for pedestrians, cyclists and buses. Analyses by SFMTA suggest that Munis buses and streetcars will run 15% to 25% faster. Planners also expect to substantially reduce collisions, providing a safe path for the 500,000 people who walk along Market Street daily. Residents and visitors could enjoy similar advantages on Valencia if cars no longer ruled the road, Heinicke said. His pitch had activists cheering on social media. But the vice president of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association was stunned. I personally think it would be devastating to our business, said Jonah Buffa, co-owner of Fellow Barber at 18th and Valencia streets. Many of his customers arrive by car, whether driving their own vehicles or riding an Uber or Lyft. The strip has long been contested ground, where cyclists, scooter riders and pedestrians weave between ride-hail vehicles and delivery trucks. Bike advocates who pressed for protected bike lanes found a champion in Mayor London Breed, who two years ago directed the SFMTA to place barriers along a four-block segment between Market and 15th streets. Since then, improvements have been insanely slow, said cyclist Matt Brezina. He and other activists routinely pack City Hall hearings and rally on social media, pressuring the city to build more car-free infrastructure. On Sunday, Brezina helped lead a protest ride along John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park to call for the removal of cars on that roadway as well. State Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblyman David Chiu, both San Francisco Democrats, attended. Heinicke said he is open to banning cars on JFK Drive, though its slightly more complicated because the citys Recreation and Park Department would have to approve. Now, however, Valencia is his chief target. When you look at the maps and the presentations ... one street cries out to me, he said. And thats Valencia Street. Though city officials widely embrace the Better Market Street car ban, calling it an expression of their leadership on traffic safety, environmentalism and urban design, the idea took years to gain momentum. Last year Heinicke asked the SFMTA to develop proposals for other car-free streets, but the plans have yet to materialize. Hes frustrated with the lack of progress. As Ive learned from pushing this Market Street thing for all of these years, if you dont get started now, it wont get finished, he said. Tom Maguire, director of the agencys Sustainable Streets division, said hes taking Heinickes comments seriously, and said his division would come up with a list of potential car-free streets in two months. But he cautioned that the agencys first priority is extending the protected Valencia Street bike lane. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. City transportation chief Jeffrey Tumlin said changes to Valencia could come in a more nuanced form than an outright vehicle ban, such as removing cars at certain times or days. And we dont think about the whole mile and a half of Valencia, Tumlin said. We can think about it block by block. He cautioned that any dramatic change to the street should have support from the community, rather than being a top-down directive from City Hall. Successive waves of gentrification have rattled the Mission District for decades, and many longtime residents see any reconfiguration of the roadway as part of the problem, saying it could drive up property values. Heinicke, by contrast, is losing patience with the endless political compromises that can waylay a big transportation project. He had pushed for nearly a decade to banish cars from Market Street, and now he wants to see that replicated on boulevards throughout the city. We need to look at another street to make a complete transit, bike and pedestrian priority, he said. And Im not talking about two blocks. Were thinking big here. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan During an emotional sentencing hearing Jan. 2 before Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer, Glands parents, Matthew and Jessica Gland, talked about the pain caused by the death of their daughter, described as someone who had a way about her that always made those around her smile and laugh. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Republican leaders and legal experts have been inconsistent in their claims over whether or not the president and his party intended to leverage false allegations of misconduct in Ukraine against Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden. In December, the GOPs lead counsel in the House impeachment inquiry Steve Castor disagreed with the notion that President Trump had pushed for an investigation in Ukraine in order to hurt Bidens shot at the White House in 2020. Other Republicans, including Senator John Kennedy and Trumps own legal team, have frequently argued that a notoriously corrupt president simply wanted to clean up duplicity in a country more or less immaterial in the big picture of American foreign policy a claim undermined by the fact that three of Trumps surrogates are either facing federal charges or are the reported target of a federal investigation for their actions in Kiev. But in a break from the impeachment trial, Joni Ernst quite explicitly set the record straight. Referring to the defense teams opening statements depicting the Bidens as Americas number-one family for nepotism and corruption, the Iowa senator pondered how the days developments would inform caucus-goers in her home state: Iowa caucuses, folks. Iowa caucuses are this next Monday evening, and Im really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Democratic caucus goers. Will the be supporting Vice President Biden at this point? ERNST: "IA caucuses are this next Monday evening. And I'm really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Demcaucus goers. Will they be supporting VP Biden at this point?" H/T @JaxAlemany pic.twitter.com/tYYkSPuIDY Alan He (@alanhe) January 28, 2020 Senator Ernst just said the quiet part out loud, Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement. Republicans are terrified that Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee, defeat Donald Trump, and help progressives up and down the ballot win seats in the House and take the Senate. Theres one glaring flaw to Ernsts proposition that the impeachment process will slash Bidens support in the first-in-the-nation caucus: Americans arent watching the Senate trial of President Trump. According to TVNewser, Nielsen ratings for Wednesday and Thursday of last week showed that ABC, CBS, and NBC lost a total of 3 million viewers each day by broadcasting the historic political event, instead of normal daytime soaps like The Bold and the Beautiful and General Hospital. A team of students from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) BeltaMom has designed a belt for pregnant women that monitors the condition of the fetus from the 2nd trimester. It helps to keep track of the baby's heart rate, his or her movements, weight and water volume. The innovation was labelled as the best in the healthcare field at the annual Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge organized by San Jose State University, US. The belt has four ultrasonic sensors (to count fetal weight and water volume) and one stethoscope sensor (to count motion and heart rate). All the information collected is transmitted via Bluetooth to a mobile application that performs data analysis, tracks dynamics and reports changes. The idea came from the personal experience of our family members and the desire to make pregnancy easier and calmer. This topic is also relevant to us as future moms." Paulina Bistrickaite, one of the BeltaMom team members BeltaMom is a joint team of students from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and biomedical engineering students of San Jose State University. KTU students are representing the School of Economics and Business, Faculties of Mechanical Engineering and Design, and Civil Engineering and Architecture: Paulius Sudintas, Simonas Burneika, Mantas Murauskas, Arnas Pranckevicius, Vytaute Razutyte, Samanta Cepononyte, Paulina Bistrickaite. Healthcare innovations are needed by society Rita Juceviciene, associate professor at the KTU School of Economics and Business (SEB) says that the innovation was born out of a desire to improve the environment. "Seeing the hardships our dear people are facing, we wanted to come up with a solution to alleviate these negative experiences. The competitions like this demonstrate, that one doesn't need to be a medical professional in order to generate ideas and solutions to improve human health. In our case, the students of business, finance and engineering developed the concept for monitoring the health of a pregnant woman", says Juceviciene. According to her, the KTU students of Technology Entrepreneurship study module are successfully representing the university at the "Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge" for several years in a row. This tendency is especially visible in the healthcare innovations field. "It is obvious that healthcare innovations are relevant and welcome to the public", Juceviciene. 40 teams from all over the world participated in the competition, and most of them introduced medical devices. Acquired knowledge from the medical field According to the students, although there was a lot of work to be done on this project, the result is very encouraging. "When we heard that there was an opportunity to go to America, to take part in an innovation competition, we started thinking seriously about the idea and its development to achieve that goal. We have been working hard since September, so we are very pleased with our achievements and feel well appreciated. This is proof that when you want something very hard and you work hard - everything is possible", says Bistrickaite. According to the students, preparing the project for the competition required a lot of effort to develop the technical part of the belt, and to encounter a little-known medical field. However, the latter aspect was also one of the most interesting parts of the project. "In my opinion, the biggest challenge, but also the most exciting part of our whole job, was the medical field because we had little knowledge about pregnancy, the importance of the health of the fetus, and how medical devices work. Because of this, I have had a lot of interest, consultations with doctors and specialists of other fields, and I am very happy to have acquired new knowledge from them," says Samanta Cepanonyte, another member of the team. KTU teams among the best for several years Since 2013, "Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge" has been successful for the KTU students attending the Technology Entrepreneurship study module. BeltaMom is already the 5th KTU student team among the winners with their idea and performance. According to Juceviciene, this only shows that KTU students can successfully compete in the global arena. "Technology Entrepreneurship, which has been taught at KTU for the 7th year, brings together a team of renowned scientists from various departments of the University who provide the students with not only updated, up-to-date study content but also help developing skills that are particularly needed in business," says Juceviciene. Children account for up to 61.7% of all the flu and acute respiratory infection cases (58.3% last week). One school in Kyiv has been closed and quarantine regulations have been introduced for 13 classes in eight more schools over flu and acute respiratory infection outbreaks in Ukraine's capital city. "As Kyiv's Education Department reported, the educational process has been suspended in one school completely and in eight schools partly," First Deputy Chairman of Kyiv City State Administration Mykola Povoroznyk said at a briefing on the epidemiological situation in the capital city, according to an UNIAN correspondent. Read alsoFlu kills seven in Ukraine In particular, the school was completely closed in Svyatoshynsky district, as well as 13 classes were suspended in eight schools in Holosiyivsky, Darnytsky, Obolonsky, and Pechersky districts. As was the case before, a decision to suspend the educational process at a school or a separate class is taken by principals jointly with parents' committees, he said. According to him, children account for up to 61.7% of all the flu and acute respiratory infection cases (58.3% last week). "The incidence [of flu cases] among students increased by 35.6%, to 2,869 cases, which is 42.6% of the total number of sick children and 26.3% of the total number of people seeking medical assistance," he said. In total, almost 11,000 patients with flu and acute respiratory infection were registered in Kyiv last week, which was 19% more compared to the previous week. At the same time, Povoroznyk noted that in general the intensity of the epidemic process was low, which did not require the introduction of additional measures. Global aviation consultancy firm CAPA has termed the government's decision to sell 100 per cent stake in Air India a "bold reform" and said it expects "significant" response from the prospective bidders. "The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) expects significant response (to Air India's stake sale) as the offer structured by the government is attractive," CAPA India chief Kapil Kaul told PTI on Monday. He said the time given for due diligence and submitting bids is also reasonable. The government on Monday announced sale of 100 per cent stake in debt-laden Air India as it issued the preliminary bid document for the strategic disinvestment and has set March 17, as the deadline for submitting expression of interest. As part of the strategic disinvestment, Air India would also sell 100 per cent stake in low-cost airline Air India Express and 50 per cent shareholding in joint venture AISATS, according to a bid document issued on Monday. The airline's management control would also be transferred to the successful bidder. This is the second time in less than two years that the government has come out with proposal for selling stake in Air India, which has been in the red for long. The government has set March 17 as the deadline for submitting the expression of interest. AISATS is an equal joint venture between Air India and Singapore Airlines. It offers ground-handling services. "Clean exit by the government and entire non-aircraft-related debts taken out of AI (Air India) balance sheet, particularly as entire debt excluding aircraft is taken out and this signals a determined effort to exit Air India to allow taxpayers funds be utilised for social agenda of the government," he said. Noting that this may be the single-biggest write-off by the government but for the right reasons, Kaul said, "CAPA see this as a very bold reform. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UN has called for international help as the countries in East Africa are under Locust attack. It has been reported that millions of swarms of locusts have descended into Kenya from Somalia and Ethiopia, making it the worst outbreak of desert locusts in the region in 70 years. According to a report by the UN, the pests are feasting on crops and destroying farmlands by consuming enough food for 35,000 people in a single day. While the locals have been left with threats of facing devastating hunger, farmers are reportedly afraid to let their cattle out for grazing. Read | Swarm Of Locusts Descend On Ethiopian Town The number of locusts to increase by 500 times by June 2020 It has been further reported by the UN that there is a likeliness of the locusts growing in number up to 500 times by June this year. The probability of this happening is there as rains in the month of March will bring new vegetation across much of the region. It has been estimated in the UN reports, that a single swarm can contain up to 150 million locusts per sq km of farmland. Abubakr Salih Babiker, a Nairobi-based climate scientist, has claimed that climate change has contributed to the exceptional breeding conditions for the bugs. Read | Locust Swarms Threaten East Africa's Food Security The UN believes that aerial pesticide spraying is the only effective means to reduce the locust numbers. It has further said that around $70 million will be required for the resources. The UN has urged for a collective campaign effort to deal with the crisis amid fears the swarms will spread into more countries in East Africa. The UN further pointed out the difficulty they will have to face while targeting some of the infested areas in Somalia, which are gripped by the al- Shabab extremist groups. Read | 'This Is Huge': Locust Swarms Destroy Crops In East Africa Locust swarms are breeding in other countries too According to official reports, apart from East Africa, there are other countries like India, Iran, and Pakistan that have been witnessing breeding of desert locust swarms since June 2019. There are substantial breeding activities taking place among insects in countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen. Read | Locusts Spotted In Punjab's Fazilka, Muktsar; Farmers Worried (With inputs from Agencies) Image Credits: Shutterstock Scottish National Party leader and Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon wants another referendum (Picture: Reuters) The former deputy leader of the SNP has accused Nicola Sturgeon of pretending there will be a second referendum on Scottish independence this year. Jim Sillars said the Scottish National Partys leadership was misleading its members by talking up indyref2 in 2020. In a letter to the Scottish Daily Mail, Mr Sillars said there is division within the SNP between the majority of supporters who believe there will be a vote before 2020 is over and the minority of those who do not. Mr Sillars claims that it is the responsibility of SNP members to convert those who are not behind Scottish independence, rather than marching every weekend a reference to recent All Under One Banner (AUOB) marches across Scotland which have attracted tens of thousands. Scotlands first minister Nicola Sturgeon and SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford have been among the party leaders who say they want to see another vote soon, despite the rejection of the prime minister to devolve the necessary powers. Mr Blackford has accused Boris Johnson of denying democracy for his refusal to grant a request for a section 30 order. Prime minister Boris Johnson rejected Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon's request for a second referendum (Picture: Reuters) Mr Sillars wrote: That 45% can march every weekend, while the Unionist majority goes shopping and remains unpersuaded. We in the minority know it is those shoppers we need to discuss things with, in a civilised manner, and convert. Read more Boris Johnson rejects request for second Scottish independence referendum Why Nicola Sturgeon is pushing so hard for indyref2 Legal advice suggests Holyrood could legislate for indyref2 without PMs consent A longer process than a few months; and one that cannot have any worth until we know the final details of the Brexit negotiations. The former deputy leader also questioned if there was enough intellectual rigour in the arguments for another referendum. That quality is sadly missing, if it ever was there, in todays SNP leadership, he said. Just a few minutes study of the idea of an illegal referendum that scrapes past the courts (most unlikely) shows what a nonsense it is. Story continues The Unionist majority will take no part, so the SNP ends up with a majority of a minority. What happens then? I have yet to learn of plan B. SNP leaders have been pushing for another vote since the general election in December, which saw the party win 47 seats north of the border. After laying out the democratic case for another referendum, Ms Sturgeon sent an official request for a Section 30 order to Westminster which was rejected by Mr Johnson this month. Ms Sturgeon will lead a debate on Scotlands future on Wednesday, where the Parliament will be asked to back the mandate for another referendum, before laying out the next steps for Scottish independence on Friday the day the UK is due to leave the European Union. ---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK--- A Florida circuit judge has freed Antonio Brown from house arrest. (David Santiago/Miami Herald/TNS) A Florida circuit judge is giving Antonio Brown a measure of freedom after his arrest last week on burglary with battery, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and criminal mischief. Via the Associated Press, Judge Michael Usan freed Brown from house arrest and allowed him to remove his GPS ankle monitor. Instead he will have to check in with court personnel every day. Other conditions remain Usan reportedly made the decision so that Brown can fulfill contractural obligations with ESPN and comedian Kevin Hart. But the other conditions imposed during Browns arraignment remain: his $110,000 bail, the surrendering of his passport, submitting to a mental health evaluation and random drug tests, and giving up possession of weapons and ammunition. Details of incident emerge On January 21, police in Hollywood, Fla. responded to a disturbance call at Browns home in a gated community. A moving truck driver alleged that the altercation began when Brown refused to pay $4,000 to release his goods on the truck. When the driver got back in his truck to leave, Brown allegedly threw a rock at the vehicle, causing a small dent and chipping paint. The driver returned to Browns home when the manager of the moving company assured him that Brown would pay the $4,000 plus an additional $860 for the damage to the truck and the drivers time. According to police, when the driver returned Brown paid the $4,000 but refused to pay the additional amount. The driver went to his cab to call the company and thats when Brown started another argument, according to police. Police say Brown climbed into the cab to try to pull the driver out, causing injuries to his neck, shoulder, arm and stomach. Browns trainer, Glenn Holt, grabbed the keys from the ignition and used them to open the back of the truck while Brown and other unidentified friends began removing boxes. But those boxes belonged to another client, police said, not Brown. When the driver told Brown they werent removing his boxes, the 31-year-old and his group started tossing the items back into the truck, causing damage to some of the property. Story continues Police were called a second time, and when they arrived Brown retreated inside of his residence and shut the door. Holt was arrested that day and posted bail; Brown was charged on January 22 and turned himself in the next day. More from Yahoo Sports: [January 28, 2020] $87bn of Global EdTech Funding predicted through 2030; $32bn last decade NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Education Market Intelligence Platform, HolonIQ released its annual insights into Global Venture Capital Trends in Education Technology this morning. The study is based on HolonIQ's proprietary dataset of 18,500+ investments and transactions in the global education market, available from Q2 as an annual SaaS subscription. The analysis looks back over the past decade of Global VC investment in Education and found over $32B in funding that backs a vision to transform learning, human capital development and powers UN Sustainable Development Goal four (SDG4). EdTech started the decade with $500M of Venture Capital investments in 2010 and finished 14x higher at $7B in 2019, down 18% off a 2018 high of $8.5B in VC funding. China made up 52% of the last decade's EdTech VC funding, the US represents 33% followed by Europe, India and the Rest of the World, each investing around 5% of the global funding total. Key Stats $32bn of VC invested in EdTech over the last decade (2010-2019) of VC invested in EdTech over the last decade (2010-2019) 85% of the $32bn was over the last 5 years (2015-2019). Nearly 50% of the last decade's funding occurred in the last 2 years (2018-2019); $87bn of global EdTech funding is predicted over the next 10 years (2020-2029); $87bn predicted global venture capital investment over the coming decade is based on modest assumptions. HolonIQ has normalized China's 2018-2019 investment surge as a one-off, growing investment at 7% CAGR to reach $10bn in 2029. China has already delivered two $100m EdTech VC rounds in January 2020 pushing against the modest assumptions and as such, HolonIQ sees significant upside potential to the outlook if China's investment trend continues at recent levels. The latter half of the next decade may also see significant investment traction in large emerging markets, particularly Southeast Asia , India , Latin America and progressively Africa , where multi-billion dollar funds are being set up to deploy capital into education and other ESG and impact sectors. More information about HolonIQ is available at https://www.holoniq.com/notes/87bn-of-global-edtech-funding-predicted-to-2030 About HolonIQ HolonIQ is the world's smartest source of global education intelligence to power decisions that matter. HolonIQ supports organizations that are engaged in the new learning and talent economy with a market intelligence platform that is built to evaluate billions of data points to help them make the best decisions for their organizations at critical milestones of innovation, growth and sustainability. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/87bn-of-global-edtech-funding-predicted-through-2030-32bn-last-decade-300994266.html SOURCE HolonIQ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Haiti - FLASH : Haiti 12th most corrupt country out of 180 In the latest Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2019 report, Haiti ranks at the bottom of the 12 most corrupt countries in the world in 168th place out of 180 countries (ex tied with Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea Bissau). With a score of 18 out of 100. Haiti ranks 1st among the most corrupt countries in the Caribbean and 2nd on the podium in Latin America between Nicaragua 161st and Venezuela 173rd. The index ranks 180 countries on a scale of 0 to 100, depending on the level of perceived corruption in the public sector. More than two thirds of the countries studied obtain a score below 50, which means that they operate in a corrupt environment. For Haiti it is a decrease of 7 places compared to 2018 2018 Haiti 161st (score of 20/100) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26793-haiti-flash-haiti-2nd-most-corrupt-country-in-the-caribbean-latin-america-zone.html 2017 Haiti 157th (score 22/100) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23641-haiti-corruption-haiti-ranked-157th-out-of-180-countries-progresses-slightly.html 2016 Haiti 159th (score 20/100) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19908-haiti-economy-corruption-haiti-poorly-rated.html 2015 Haiti 158th (score 17/100) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16465-haiti-economy-world-ranking-haiti-among-the-most-corrupt-countries.html 2014 Haiti 161st (score 19/100) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12662-haiti-economy-corruption-still-a-bad-ranking-for-haiti.html 2013 Haiti 163rd https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-10013-haiti-economy-corruption-haiti-improve-its-international-ranking.html TOP 3 of the least corrupt countries : 1 - Denmark (score 87/100) 2 - New Zealand (score 87/100) 3 - Finland (score 86/100) Note that the United States is 23rd (score 56/100) and the Dominican Republic 137th out of 180 countries with a score of 28/100, a decrease of 8 places compared to 2018 (129th). TOP 3 of the most corrupt countries in the world : 1 - Somalia (score 9/100) 2 - South Soudan (score 12/100) 3 - Syria (score 13/100) Transparency International, deplores that for the year 2019 the nearly 70% of the countries stagnate or retreat, that progress against corruption is almost zero in the world because the majority of the countries do not make any effort to really tackle this plague. Download the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (PDF) : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/2019_CPI_Report_EN.pdf See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26793-haiti-flash-haiti-2nd-most-corrupt-country-in-the-caribbean-latin-america-zone.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23641-haiti-corruption-haiti-ranked-157th-out-of-180-countries-progresses-slightly.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19908-haiti-economy-corruption-haiti-poorly-rated.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16465-haiti-economy-world-ranking-haiti-among-the-most-corrupt-countries.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12662-haiti-economy-corruption-still-a-bad-ranking-for-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-10013-haiti-economy-corruption-haiti-improve-its-international-ranking.html SL/ HaitiLibre According to the govt current recommendation, EU nationals who want to work in Britain should earn almost $40,000. Britain should cut a salary threshold for migrants to 25,600 pounds ($33,650) a year to help fill jobs after Brexit, a government-commissioned report said, while warning a planned overhaul of the immigration system could hit economic growth. With Britain leaving the European Union on Friday, the government is introducing the biggest shake-up of its border controls in decades, ending the priority given to migrants from the bloc over those from other countries. The proposed changes would make it harder for EU nationals to work in Britain after Brexit while benefiting those outside the bloc by lowering the amount they have to earn. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), an independent body which gives the government advice, recommended lowering the minimum general salary threshold for skilled migrants by 4,400 pounds a year from 30,000 pounds. Our recommendations are likely to reduce future growth of the UK population and economy compared to freedom of movement, by using skill and salary thresholds, MAC chairman Alan Manning said. No perfect system exists and there are unavoidable difficult trade-offs, he added in a statement. The recommendations are intended to help guide Prime Minister Boris Johnsons new immigration policy, which will be implemented from the start of next year. Johnsons spokesman said the government would carefully consider the report before setting out more details of its new system. The government will introduce a firmer and fairer points-based immigration system from 2021 that welcomes talent from around the world while reducing low-skilled migrants and bringing overall numbers down, he said. The MAC was tasked with drawing up new salary thresholds for migrants and devising a points-based immigration system, based on that used in Australia, to be put into place once freedom of movement for EU nationals ends. If the government wanted to bring in a points-based system, then it should also allow a route for skilled workers who did not have a job offer, the committee said. There should be different minimum salary requirements for certain highly paid professions, the report said. Teachers and healthcare workers should benefit from lower salary thresholds based on national pay scales, it added. Manning said the proposals would lead to a very small increase in GDP per capita and productivity, and slightly improved public finances. But while demands on the state-run health service, schools and housing would slightly ease, there would be increased pressures on social care. For highly skilled migrants those described as having exceptional talents such as musicians and scientists the advisers recommend a more open system, saying the current cap on visas is too restrictive. SHREVEPORT, La. and NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shreveport-based Enterprise Computing Services LLC ("ECS") and New-Orleans-based My IT ("My IT"), today announced they have joined forces to create a premier IT managed service provider serving Louisiana and the surrounding Gulf South region. Led by Kevin Cook, CEO of ECS, the combined company will rank among the leading IT managed service providers nationally, and serve a diverse base of small and medium-sized business ("SMB") customers across a wide variety of industries including professional services, healthcare, automotive, architecture, engineering and construction. "ECS and My IT have each forged successful, growing businesses by establishing enduring customer relationships, solution-oriented service and support, and professional and responsive teams," Cook said. "Together, the merged company will expand our offerings and service platform to the growing base of small and mid-size businesses in the Gulf South region and beyond." Customers will continue to rely on their existing partners for outsourced IT support needs, working with the same local technicians and professionals as in the past. At the same time, the company's larger platform means enhanced resources to invest in and adapt to the dynamic technology environment. Rapid change in the areas of cybersecurity, cloud and the internet of things makes it harder than ever for small and medium-sized businesses to develop and maintain reliable and cost effective information technology systems to run their business. "There's a reason that our customers continue to depend on us year after year we know the importance of true partnership with our clients, working as an extension of their team to ensure their IT systems are reliable, secure and help drive their business forward," Cook said. "We are now better positioned than ever to manage the complexities of today's technology environment so customers can focus on what they do best." After a short transition period, the merged company will adopt the My IT brand company-wide. Members of both management teams will join to run the combined business, ensuring continuity of service, relationships and customer experience. As CEO, Cook will lead with a combined team of senior staff from both companies, including ECS Chief Operating Officer Jon Katz and Director of Operations Holly Lawrence, as well as My IT Chief Operating Officer Chris Gonzales, Chief Technology Officer Nick LaVerde, and Chief Strategy Officer Perryn Olson. My IT CEO Patrick Leonard will lend his rich experience and knowledge to help ensure a smooth transition before exiting the business. "This merger is about taking two premier IT managed service businesses and forging them into a single platform from which to better serve our customers," Leonard said. "I've had the pleasure of leading My IT for the past many years, growing our business and solidifying our place among the best IT service providers in the industry. I think it's a testament to the deeply rooted vision and values shared by these two companies that they've chosen My IT as the go-forward brand. I couldn't be more excited for what's in store for the combined company, team and its customers in this next chapter. Our customers are in great hands." About Enterprise Computing Services LLC Founded in 1994, ECS is a managed service provider for IT services to small and mid-sized businesses. ECS offers a broad set of services including managed IT, hosted cloud services, disaster recovery, virtual CIO and security services. The Company is headquartered in Shreveport, Louisiana and consists of more than 45 highly trained team members serving North Louisiana and East Texas. For more information, visit www.ecs-net.com. About My IT LLC Founded in 2000, My IT is a managed service provider for IT services to small and mid-sized businesses. My IT offers a broad set of services including managed IT, hosted cloud services, disaster recovery, virtual CIO, VoIP and security services. The Company is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana and consists of more than 25 highly trained team members serving South and Central Louisiana. For more information, visit www.myitsupport.com. SOURCE ECS Related Links http://www.ecs-net.com KALAMAZOO, MI -- Kalamazoo Township approved recreational marijuana business on Monday, Jan. 27. The Board of Trustees voted to opt-in for marijuana growers, processors, retailers, transporters, excess growers, event organizers and testing facilities with a 4-3 vote. Supervisor Donald Martin and Trustees Nicolette Leigh and Steven Leuty voted against the opt-in. Leuty said while he was impressed with the amount of time and money spent by the township in considering recreational business, he still wanted to exert an abundance of caution. His hangup, he said, was not with the townships decision to opt-in but with the states unpredictability. Leuty said he fears that The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs will come back to burn them with regulations leaving the township in a deal with the devil. We can feel confident we protected ourselves and then the devil will poke us, he said. LARA (Licensing and Regulatory Affairs) has a history of being arbitrary and taking state powers and ignoring local control. The township will accept applications for recreational business starting Saturday, Feb. 1. An annual fee of $5,000 will apply to all businesses to offset administrative and enforcement costs. However, all applications must be submitted to the clerks office which is closed on weekends. John Taylor, owner of the medical marijuana provisioning center KKind, jokingly asked Township Manager Dexter Mitchell if he could drop his application off right at his doorstep Saturday morning so he wouldnt have to wait. During public comment Taylor thanked the board for its diligent work in becoming the first municipality in Kalamazoo County to approve recreational business. The city of Kalamazoo and Portage have not yet opted-in. On Dec. 1, Michigans first recreational marijuana customers camped outside store overnight in Ann Arbor. Earlier this month, the states largest marijuana retailer became licensed to sell cannabis products for recreational use at its Ann Arbor store. Park Place Provisionary in Muskegon became the first recreational marijuana shop in West Michigan when it opened its doors to recreational customers on Jan. 17. Kalamazoo Townships board still faces decisions on if the township will allow mircobusinesses, temporary events and consumption establishments. The Planning Commission continues to work on ordinances for all three business models and will eventually present them to the board. The commission expects that the temporary events ordinance will be the hardest to craft since theres no blueprint from other municipalities to work off of, Trustee and Planning Commission member Jeremy Hathcock said. Marijuana business is on the agenda for the next Planning Commission meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30 at 1720 Riverview Dr. Also on MLive: Former Kalamazoo County commissioner opens medical cannabis business Recreational marijuana sales arrive for enthusiastic customers in Muskegon Race is on as shops vie for first recreational cannabis sales in Southwest Michigan Michigans first recreational marijuana customers camped outside store overnight The movie is based on the ballad of famous Ukrainian poet and writer Taras Shevchenko The creators of the Ukrainian film Toloka presented the second trailer of the movie and started a joint initiative with the Come Back Alive fund. Seven hryvnias ($0,28) from each film ticket will be transferred to the fund to support the army. The movie of film director Mykhailo Illenko will run from March 12, 2020. Ivanna Illenko, Bohdan Beniuk, Dmytro Linartovych, Dmytro Rybalevsky, Oleh Primohenov, Serhiy Romaniuk, and Vasyl Kukharsky will star in the movie. Taras Shevchenko wrote a little ballad telling about three Cossacks fell in love with Kateryna. Kateryna entrusts her choice to destiny: she promised to become a wife of the one who can free her brother from the captivity. Two of the Cossacks died trying to fulfill of agreement and the third one succeeded in saving her brother. But it turned out that this person was not Katerynas brother, but her lover. The end of the ballad is moved away for a long time Kateryna will have to wait several centuries growing old and not losing hope. This tale as a parable traverses the history of Ukraine, reproduces its grammatic and heroic episodes. Each test destroys Katerynas house. But she persistently, as hundreds of generations of Ukrainians, rebuilds it against and again. The age of Ukrainian khata (house) from war to war. If it wasnt for toloka (toloka is a one-time free of charge work which is done urgently. It is an old Ukrainian custom, a form of cooperation between farmers), there would not be a place to meet your beloved. The creators have also published official posters of the movie: Earlier it was reported that the Ukrainian film Stranger won an award at Hollywood Blood Horror Festival. Ukrainian esoteric detective Stranger won the Best Original Screenplay nomination at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival, which took place in Los Angeles. Dmitriy Tomashpolski is the director and author of the script. This is the second award that Stranger got for its script: the first was presented in Colombia at Festival De Sci-Fi, Terror u Fantasia in Bogota. Turnover rises in NSE F&O segment The Nifty January 2020 were at 12,075, a premium of 14.75 points compared with the Nifty's closing of 12,060.25 in the cash market. In the cash market, the Nifty 50 index declined 58.75 points or 0.48% to 12,060.25. Turnover on the National Stock Exchange's & options (F&O) segment was Rs 15.65 lakh crore compared with Rs 11.67 lakh crore reported in the previous session. The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.37% to 17.24. On the options front, the Nifty option chain for 30 January 2020 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 61.48 lakh contracts at the 12,200 strike price. Maximum put OI of 40.38 lakh contracts was seen at 12,000 strike price. The option chain indicates that Nifty will hover between 12,000 and 12,200 in the January 2020 series. Yes Bank (down 2.12%) was banned from trading in NSE's F&O segment for today after the security crossed 95% of market wide position limit. ICICI Bank, HDFC and State Bank of India were the top traded individual stock contracts in F&O segment of NSE for January expiry. ICICI Bank January 2020 futures were at 528.30, compared with spot closing price of 528. HDFC January 2020 futures were at 2,436.50, compared with spot closing price of 2433.40. SBI January 2020 futures were at 316.50, compared with spot closing price of 316.40. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Theresia Sufa (The Jakarta Post) Bogor, West Java Tue, January 28, 2020 16:51 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20615abf8 1 City student-protest,RKUHP,KPK-Law-revision,Criminal-Code,police-interrogation Free A defendant accused of assaulting a police officer during the September student protests has claimed he was assaulted and coerced into making false testimony during questioning by the police. Ariyanto, 22, who is currently undergoing trial at the Bogor District Court, told the panel of judges on Monday that he was under pressure from the police while they questioned him for their investigation report. The trial continued on Monday with presiding judge Friska and judges Arya and Melisa conducting the questioning of Ariyanto, during which his lawyer, Ardin Firanata, provided proof of the alleged assaults against the defendant, including photographs of Ariyanto's bruised face. The case started when Ariyanto wanted to participate in the large student protests on Sept. 25, 2019, in front of the House of Representatives complex in Central Jakarta. Ariyanto and some of his peers wanted to go to the capital by using the commuter line trains from Bogor Station in West Java, but they were dispersed by police officers stationed there. He and his peers then went to Bogor City Hall to stage the protests there instead. Ariyanto testified that during the rally he hit a Bogor City Police officer named Chandra Nelson in response to being bumped by someone from behind, Ardin said. Ariyanto told the judges that he only hit the police officer once. Have you read the police investigation report? It is said there that you hit a police officer twice, which the eyewitnesses said was so, Friska said during the trial session on Monday. I only hit him once. I was under pressure during the making of the police report, Ariyanto told the court. Ariyanto said he wanted to join the protests after seeing posts on Facebook calling for people to rally against controversial bills, including the revision to the Criminal Code and the revision of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law. Read also: Police torture, electrocute to coerce false confession: Student flag bearer The court is to summon Chandra Nelson, who reported Ariyanto, and other police officers who questioned Ariyanto during the investigation, to testify. Ariyanto worked as an employee for a convenience store in Bogor, which his family relied on. Sahata, Ariyanto's father, said that he did not expect that his son was going to be arrested by the police. I had [...] forbidden Ariyanto from joining the protests. I wanted him to focus on his job. I only knew Ariyanto was arrested by the police after he did not come home for two days, Sahata said. Ariyanto was charged under Article 170 and Article 212 of the Criminal Code for assault against state officials, which upon conviction can result in a five-year prison sentence, seven years if grave wounds were caused and 12 years if the actions resulted in death. The defendant is not the only person claiming to have been pressured by the police during interrogation after being accused of attacking officers during the September student rallies. Dede Luthfi Alfiandi, whose picture became an emblem of the student protests after he was photographed clutching an Indonesian flag to his face, also told the judges at the Central Jakarta District Court that he was tortured by police officers to falsely confess to having attacked authorities. He was accused of violating articles 212 and 218 of the Criminal Code for resisting officers orders more than three times. According to the prosecutors, Luthfi and the other student protesters were asked to disperse but resisted and instead attacked the police officers by throwing stones. Luthfi was also charged under Article 170 of the Code for allegedly taking part in destroying public facilities. (ami) Xiaomi continued to lead the market for the second successive year with 28 per cent market share. (Photo: ANI) India has surpassed the US to become the second-largest smartphone market in the world, according to the latest Counterpoint Research report. The country recorded 158 million shipments in 2019 with 7 per cent year-on-year growth, attributed to Chinese brands introducing smartphones with flagship-grade features in the mid-tier segment. The combined share of the top smartphone brands reached the highest ever level at around 84 per cent. Xiaomi continued to lead the market for the second successive year with 28 per cent market share. Samsung secured the second spot with a 21 per cent share. The fastest-growing brands included Vivo at 16 per cent which recorded 76 per cent y-o-y growth, Realme at 10 per cent which recorded 255 per cent growth and Oppo at 9 per cent which recorded 28 per cent y-o-y growth. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called the coronavirus a "demon" which should be brought under control as he met the World Health Organisation chief who assured all necessary help to contain the virus outbreak that has killed 106 people and infected over 4,500 others. Under stress in dealing with the spiralling coronavirus which virtually brought the whole country to a grinding halt, Xi on Tuesday got the crucial support from WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who said the UN health body "does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact." Ghebreyesus' remarks came as India and several other countries were preparing to evacuate their citizens from the Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus outbreak. China has reported 24 more deaths from coronavirus, taking the number of fatalities to 106, health authorities announced on Tuesday. A total of 4,515 cumulative confirmed cases of the new pneumonia had been reported in Hubei, while 2,567 patients are hospitalised, with 563 in severe conditions and 127 in critical conditions, the Hubei Provincial Health Commission said. Barring Tibet, all Chinese provinces have reported the virus cases, posing a major challenge for the health authorities to contain the outbreak. The virus, which emerged last month in Wuhan, has created a war-like situation in China, which analysts say is far worse than during the SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak that had claimed over 800 lives in 2003. "Chinese people are currently engaged in a serious struggle against an epidemic of a new type of coronavirus infection," Xi said. "The epidemic is a demon, and we cannot let this demon hide," Xi told Ghebreyesus. "And for the Chinese government, this is something that we take very seriously, because in our view, nothing matters more than people's safety and health for us," Xi said. Ghebreyesus assured Xi all necessary help to contain the virus outbreak as he asked the global community to remain calm and not to overreact. From January 23, Wuhan and 17 other cities with a population over 40 million have been virtually shut with suspension of all public transport to prevent the virus from spreading to other parts of the country. The government is also mobilising thousands of doctors and medical staff including the army medics to cope up with the increasing rush of cases in which there is no definitive cure yet to treat the patients. China has full confidence and capability to win the battle against the outbreak of pneumonia caused by novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), he said. WHO's support at this juncture is crucial for China as few days ago the global health body considered an option of declaring the virus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), like Ebola and Swine flu. Such designation would have had seriously dented China's image and ability as the world's second largest economy. The WHO, after a lot of discussion, termed the risk of the virus as "very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level." The virus has spread across China and to at least 16 countries globally with over 37 cases, according to the official media here. Ghebreyesus, who is visiting Beijing for talks with Chinese officials on the crisis, appreciated China's efforts in curbing the spread of pneumonia. During his meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Ghebreyesus said the WHO and the international community speak highly of and fully affirm the decisive measures China has taken. Crucially from China's point of view, he said the WHO "does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact," according to state-run Xinhua agency. The WHO chief also praised China's system and the effectiveness of its measures "rarely seen in the world" and are "admirable." Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antnio Guterres said the United Nations appreciates China's effort, has full confidence in China's ability to control the outbreak, and stands ready to provide any support and assistance. Guterres made the remarks after he was briefed about the virus control measures by China's Permanent Representative to the UN Zhang Jun on Monday at the UN headquarters in New York. China is also refurbishing a hospital in Beijing built during the 2003 outbreak to prepare for larger number of cases after the capital city of 20 million people reported its first death on Monday. Chinese experts say the incubation period of the new virus was on average three to seven days, with the longest being no more than 14 days. The National Health Commission said the coronavirus strain was 85 per cent similar to SARS. Talking to the media here on Tuesday, Jiao Yahui, the deputy head of the NHC's medical administration bureau, said the shortage of medical supplies was a major constraint in China's efforts to contain the virus outbreak. A risk assessment report based on the analysis of 2,744 infections recorded up to Sunday by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said the main route of transmission was respiratory droplets and close physical contact. "It is very difficult to estimate when the outbreak reaches its peak. But I think in one week or about 10 days, it will reach the climax and then there will be no large-scale increases," respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan told official media. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The prime minister's office called in a renowned marketing guru to help sell the government's climate change policy a week before Scott Morrison's disastrous holiday to Hawaii. All staff in Mr Morrison's office were present at the workshop hosted by Russel Howcroft - a media personality and chief creative officer at PwC Australia. Topics discussed at the mid-December meeting included marketing the Coalition's position on climate change which has come under fire during the nation's bushfire crisis. Scroll down for video Prime Minister Scott Morrison's (pictured with NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons) office attended a workshop hosted by a renowned marketing guru about selling the government's climate change policy The meeting was followed by a difficult Christmas and New Year period for Mr Morrison's public image and intense criticism of his handling of the fires. Mr Morrison is believed not to have been in attendance at the meeting, the Australian Financial Review reported. Mr Howcroft is recognisable through his appearances on the ABC panel show The Gruen Transfer and Network Ten series Recipe to Riches. The topic of climate change policy reportedly was a smaller part of a workshop session largely focused on sales strategy. The marketing session was followed by Mr Morrison being criticised for a secret holiday to Hawaii as blazes burned in New South Wales. On January 2, he was thrown into the spotlight when he was refused a handshake by a fireman who lost his home while battling bushfires. Controversy came again when a January 4 government advert revealed 3,000 Defence reserves were being deployed to help with the bushfire crisis. Russel Howcroft - a media personality who has appeared on the ABC and chief creative officer at PwC Australia - hosted the meeting where both sales strategy and marketing of climate change policy were reportedly discussed NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said he had not received word from Mr Morrison the enforcements were being deployed. The meeting with Mr Howcroft in December also came during the rise of the prime minister's new nickname 'Scotty from marketing'. The term was used to mock the Liberal leader by referencing his former role as managing director of Tourism Australia. In an interview last week, Mr Morrison said Labor was responsible for the moniker, even though it was later pointed out the phrase was created by satirical website The Betoota Advocate. 'That's what the Labor Party is saying and if others want to repeat those slogans, well, they're basically just running a Labor Party campaign,' he said in an interview with 3AW's Neil Mitchell. As pressure mounts over the unprecedented bushfires this summer, Mr Morrison has rejected the idea of net zero emissions by 2050, saying that he doesn't know the cost it would have on the economy. 'What troubles me is that there are plenty of people at the moment who will go out and make a glib promise about that and they can't look Australians in the eye and tell them what it will mean for their electricity prices, what it will mean for their jobs,' Mr Morrison told reporters last week in Canberra. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the prime minister's office for further comment. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Increasing popularity of innovative and non-toxic tableware products. The growth can be attributed to the increasing pollution caused by the widespread use and disposal of plastic. Governments are also taking initiatives to minimize the use of plastic tableware. For instance, the Indian government has replaced plastic cutlery, teacups, and water bottles with steel and biodegradable products in all government offices. The UK government is also planning to ban plastic cutlery and plates to reduce the impact on the environment. Biodegradable Tableware Market Growth is projected to reach USD 990.6 Million by 2025 at a CAGR of 5.98% between 2019 and 2025. Growth Opportunities in the Market Expanding foodservice industry: The foodservice industry has witnessed substantial growth over the last few years, especially in emerging economies. The demand for takeaway food has been increasing in developing nations due to the preference by the youth. The busy lifestyles of consumers have led to the popularity of convenience and takeaway food. For example, Chinas foodservice industry was valued at USD 583 billion in 2017. The demand for online food delivery has also been rising. According to MRFR analysis, the sales of online food delivery services was valued at USD 39 billion in 2018 and the market is expected to register a growth rate of 16% over the next decade. Several fast-food chains such as KFC and Starbucks have increased the number of outlets in India. Online food delivery service providers are also expanding their presence in the country. These factors are expected to drive the demand for biodegradable tableware as an environment-friendly alternative to plastic. Product Innovation: The key manufacturers of biodegradable tableware are continuously launching products to stay competitive and meet the changing requirements of consumers. For instance, in July 2019, Huhtamaki Oyj launched a new biodegradable double-wall cup for hot beverages made from paperboard that is certified by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification with a plant-based lining which is certified biodegradable. The product is manufactured in the UK and available only for European consumers. Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/biodegradable-tableware-market-8629 Key Players Huhtamaki Oyj (Finland) Dart Container Corporation (US) Georgia-Pacific LLC (US) Lollicup USA Inc. (US) Solia, Inc. (US) Natural Tableware (Netherlands) Reynolds Consumer Products LLC (US) Pactiv LLC (US) Eco Guardian (Canada) Genpak, LLC (US) Biotrem (Poland) Better Earth LLC (US) Vegware (UK) Papstar GmbH (Germany) Bionatic GmbH & Co. KG (Germany) About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country-level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Over 2,000 Pakistani students stuck in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus, have appealed to the Imran Khan government to rescue them immediately, according to a media report. Wuhan has been under a virtual lockdown for days, with transport suspended and citizens told to stay home as the death toll from the viral epidemic that originated in the city soared to 106 on Tuesday morning and the the confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak touched 4,515. Hafsah Tayab, one of the students stuck in the city of Wuhan, said that other countries are planning to get their citizens out of the city through special flights. "Embassies of other countries (excluding Pakistan) are rescuing their citizens. There are over 500 Pakistani students in Wuhan. If even one of them gets affected, the others will be in danger," she told Geo on Monday. "There is a shortage of essentials and if this situation persists, we will run out of food very soon," Tayab said in a video message uploaded on social media, adding that she and her fellow students have been confined to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. New infections are being reported as many countries step up efforts to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan. The US, Germany and France are among several countries planning to take such measures. "We plead that the authorities take notice of our situation on a humanitarian basis and do something about it. We will be grateful to you all our lives," another student was heard saying in the video. According to a student from the Wuhan University of Science and Technology, there are about 200 Pakistani students in the institute, and a total of 2,000 in other universities in the city. "A few days ago, Pakistani students stuck in Wuhan were very scared. However, the Pakistani embassy in Beijing has made efforts to provide us with what we need," Tayab was quoted as saying. The Foreign Office in Islamabad has confirmed that efforts are being made to help out the students. The officials are in constant touch with Chinese authorities in order to make necessary arrangements for Pakistanis struck in the affected areas, Foreign Office Spokesperson Aaisha Forooqui said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After Israeli Channel 13 reported Jan. 23 that the Donald Trump administration would reveal its plan for Middle East peace, Palestinian leaders reiterated their rejection of the so-called deal of the century even before learning of the details. In the lead up to elections in Israel scheduled for March 2, Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White, to visit the White House Jan. 28 for details and unveiling of the deal. With Palestinians publicly rejecting the proposal even before its public presentation, approval of it at some later date appears unlikely and will deepen the current rupture with Washington. According to recent media reports, Abbas is refusing to take Trump's calls. On Jan. 15 in Ramallah, Fatah deputy leader Mahmoud al-Aloul had said in a meeting with members of the international press that the Palestinian leadership still has no specifics about the plan's proposals, but nonetheless feels certain that it neither includes the establishment of a Palestinian state, East Jerusalem as the capital of that state or the right of return for refugees. For these reasons, he said, the Palestinian leadership will oppose the plan. On Dec. 19 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had told Fatahs Revolutionary Council of his rejection of Trump's deal and of the tremendous pressure he was under by the United States to accept it. Abbas has consistently refused to communicate with Trumps representative to discuss the plan's details despite the negative consequences he stands to suffer. In a Jan. 23 press statement, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem pledged that his organization would foil any deal. Khalil al-Haya, a top Hamas official, had said at a Jan. 16 press conference that on a recent tour of capitals, Hamas' political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had sought to raise awareness about the threat that the US proposal poses to the Palestinian cause. Bassem Naim, former Palestinian health minister and head of the Gaza-based Council of International Relations, told Al-Monitor, Palestinian reactions to the imminent declaration of the deal of the century are not serious enough. The Palestinians are preoccupied with their internal disputes, and the discussions about the deal are not Palestinian-Israeli or US-Palestinian but rather US-Israeli. Palestinians are present absentees, and they cannot accept the deal of the century, as it does not grant them components of an independent entity, even if Israelis were to retreat from parts of the West Bank. The deal of the century is not a viable solution, and people should revolt to nip it in the bud. One reason the Palestinians oppose Trump's proposal is the belief that it will render the cantonization of the West Bank permanent. Instead of Israeli exploitation of the territories through overt occupation, the deal would uphold the status quo in the West Bank with areas remaining under Israeli military and security control and Palestinian civil administration. It would also strike the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem and maintain Gazas isolation and the blockade against it. Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the PLO's Executive Committee, told Al-Monitor, The implementation of the deal began before its declaration, when the US declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel in December 2017, moved its embassy there in May 2018 and declared Israeli settlements legal in November 2019. It is therefore not surprising that the Palestinians reject the deal without even knowing its details. He further stated, At best, it would give us limited self-rule rather than an independent state. We initially rejected the deal, and we are aware of the repercussions. Even if withdrawals from Palestinian areas take place, they will only give rise to a Palestinian state lacking sovereignty and will maintain Israels occupation of most West Bank areas. Palestinians view the timing surrounding the presentation of the peace proposal, ahead of Israeli elections, as part of the Trump administration's support for the Netanyahu-led right in Israel, given their strategic political alliance. Palestinians also envision the deal as backing Israels intention to annex Jewish settlements on the West Bank, including in the Jordan Valley, designate the West Bank and Gaza as the territory of a transitional state, New Palestine, and grant Palestinians limited administrative powers. Mahmoud Mardawi, with Hamas National Relations Office, told Al-Monitor, If Israel wants to withdraw from part of the West Bank without the Palestinians signed approval of the deal, the resistance will take advantage of this without facilitating an Israeli move or participating in it. It is inconceivable to stand in the way of Israels retreat from an area. Even if the Palestinians have not signed the deal or made commitments to the US and Israel, nothing stops them from benefiting from the potential outcome of the deal. Emad Abu Awad, a researcher at the Istanbul-based Vision for Political Development, told Al-Monitor, The declaration of the deal of the century will put Palestinians, whether Hamas or the [PLO], in a quandary. The [PLO] will not be able to make serious decisions against the deal, save for condemning it, which might push a current within Fatah to revolt against the official leadership and demand that it take serious stances. Hamas is also in a pickle, as its organizational presence is limited in the West Bank, and in Gaza it cannot take a stand regarding the deal. Add to this that Hamas will not jeopardize its understandings with Israel aimed at improving the situation in Gaza. The Palestinians stances will not technically affect the deal, as relations between the PA and Hamas are tense, and each will work single-handedly toward a response. Trump took office in 2017 promising the deal of the century, and as his deal has been unfolded, the Palestinians have had no serious public reactions to it, except for expressions of anger and condemnation. This is unlikely to change after the proposal's unveiling although its presentation could pave the way for implementation through US-Israeli agreement without the Palestinians' consent, imposing the deal as a fait accompli as with the US actions on Jerusalem and the settlements and suspension of US financial assistance. Florida could turn to the sky to fight Burmese pythons on the ground under a bill that would allow state agencies to use drones in the effort to eradicate invasive plants and animals. The bill, which was unanimously approved by a Senate committee, would create an exception to a current law that prohibits law enforcement from using drones to gather information and bans state agencies from using drones to gather images on private land. It would allow the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Forest Service to fly drones to manage and eradicate invasive species on public lands. Senator Ben Albritton said he has been told that drones equipped with Lidar, an acronym for Light Detection and Ranging, might be able to identify pythons. As you know, chasing those nasty critters down there in the Everglades is a difficult task, Mr Albritton said. It would help these folks do their job. He said drones would also help the agencies spot a fern native to Asia that's destroying Florida's natural vegetation. The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Show all 30 1 /30 The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Black salamander Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth White-lipped island pitviper Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Mossy frog Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Colourful rhinoceros viper Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Albino alligator, USA Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Siamese Peninsula pitviper Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Golden dart frog, Colombia Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Satanic leaf-tailed gecko, Madagascar Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Purple harlequin toad Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Red salamander Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Two-headed corn snake Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Plumed basilisk Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Cameroon dwarf gecko Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Rock monitor Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Strawberry poison frog, Panama Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Tokay gecko Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Western blue-tongued skink Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Guiana Shield Leaf Toad Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Boelen's python Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Baja Blue Rock Lizard, Mexico Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Blue beauty snake, Vietnam Blue beauty snake - not the reptile bitten by a man in Uttar Pradesh Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Azure Dart Frog, Suriname Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Doi Suthep bent-toed gecko, Thailand Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Blue rock iguana Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Costa Rica nelson frog Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Yellow-banded poison dart frog Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Gran Canaria blue-tailed skink Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Hairy bush viper, DR Congo Matthijs Kuijpers The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Photographer Matthijs Kuijpers on a trip many years ago Supplied The most rare and strange cold-blooded creatures on Earth Photographer Matthijs Kuijpers with a galapagos tortoise Supplied There's this plant called lygodium old world climbing fern which is wreaking havoc all over Everglades National Park and many other places in the state. I've flown over it in a helicopter and I recognised that it was pretty easy to discern where it is, Mr Albritton said. The state wildlife agency's website warns that lygodium spreads rapidly and is a severe threat to Everglades tree islands and puts other forests at greater risk for wildfires because it serves as a fire ladder. The fern's ability to grow up and over trees and shrubs and to form dense horizontal canopies allows it to cover whole communities of plants reducing native plant diversity, the website says. Some Everglades tree islands are so completely blanketed by the fern that it is not possible to see trees and other vegetation beneath the fern canopy. The bill would also allow the agencies to use drones to fight wildfires. During a fire they can use these drones to look for escape routes for employees, if needed, if they get trapped in, Mr Albritton said. They can measure tinder on the ground. There's a lot of different opportunities for that technology to yield a safer environment for those folks. Associated Press (@ChaudhryMAli88) Advisor to Minister for Science & Technology, Syed Hassan inaugurated "Physics Labs on Wheels" a project of Physics department in Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) here on Tuesday RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Jan, 2020 ) :Advisor to Minister for Science & Technology, Syed Hassan inaugurated "Physics Labs on Wheels" a project of Physics department in Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) here on Tuesday. This special lab can move to distant areas to train government teachers and students who did not have the facility to practice science experiments. The major goal for this project was to enhance the interest of government school students in science subjects. Almost all basic physics experiment can be performed with the help of apparatus available in this mobile physics lab. All these science experiments (including light, friction, gravitation, forces) which will be performed are taken from curriculum of Punjab Text Book board, National Book Foundation and Oxford Syllabus. Vice Chancellor, Dr. Saima Hamid in her closing remarks thanked the guests and hoped that this will be beneficial for students. She appreciated the efforts of department for this project and congratulated them. Meanwhile, Young Pakistan Physicists Tournament' also arranged by Office of Research, Innovation & Commercialization (ORIC) office in which students of various institutes showcase their projects. A 19-year-old has been choked unconscious, raped and sexually assaulted with an iron rod in India, in an horrific attack that bears similarities to the infamous New Delhi bus attack. The accused, Yogilal Rahangdale, 52, who works as a supervisor at the spinning mill where the victim is employed, also lived with the woman, her brother and another woman at rented accommodation in the Pardi area in Nagpur. On the night of January 21, the other two had gone out and this is when the teenager says that Rahangdale assaulted her. When she resisted, Rahangdale stuffed a wad of cloth into her mouth and she fell unconscious. He is then alleged to have raped her and used an iron rod to sexually assault her further. Indians protest against rape and sexual violence in December following the case of a 27-year-old vet who was gang-raped and murdered in Hyderabad The victim told her brother about the attack three days afterwards and he accompanied her to the police station, NDTV reported. The disturbing detail about the insertion of the iron rod is similar to the New Delhi bus attack in 2012 during which six men gang-raped a 23-year-old woman and caused organ damage by penetrating her with an iron rod. Earlier this month two of the men who participated in the barbaric assault, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh, lost a final appeal to have their death sentences quashed. The supreme court's ruling comes amid a revived debate over sexual violence in India after several headline-grabbing cases in recent weeks. A woman in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was doused with gasoline and set on fire by five men, including two she had accused of gang rape and who were out on bail, on her way to attend a court hearing in her case. She died earlier this month at a hospital in New Delhi. The harrowing New Delhi bus case caused a surge of protest movements across India with women coming out across the country to report their own experiences of sexual violence (pictured: protests in 2012) The burned body of a 27-year-old veterinarian was found in late November near the city of Hyderabad in southern India. Police later fatally shot four men being held on suspicion of raping and killing the woman after investigators took them to the crime scene. It drew praise from people frustrated by the pace of the 2012 New Delhi case and condemnation from those who said it undermined the courts' role. As you head to your local grocery store, you will notice a group of young female entrepreneurs wearing vests filled with patches standing by the entrance with a table stacked with colorful boxes. Those boxes contain the one thing many of us have been looking forward to all year: Girl Scout Cookies. China has reported 24 more deaths from coronavirus epidemic, taking the number of fatalities to 106 as confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak stands at 4,515, the health authorities announced on Tuesday. Barring Tibet, all Chinese provinces have reported the virus cases, posing a major challenge for the health authorities to contain it. Overseas confirmed cases have been reported in Thailand (7), Japan (3), South Korea (3), the United States (3), Vietnam (2), Singapore (4), Malaysia (3), Nepal (1), France (3), Australia (4) and Sri Lanka (1). The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China has soared to 106 while nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed, authorities said Tuesday. The provincial authorities in the virus epicentre of Hubei province, of which Wuhan city is the capital, said 24 more people had died from the virus with 1,291 more infections. By the end of Monday, a total of 4,515 cumulative confirmed cases of the new pneumonia had been reported in Hubei, while 2,567 patients are hospitalised, with 563 in severe conditions and 127 in critical conditions, the Hubei Provincial Health Commission said on Tuesday. Hospitals across the province received 31,934 fever patients on Monday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. As of now, 4,200 confirmed cases of the virus have been reported from China. China's top cities of Beijing and Shanghai reported their first deaths on late Monday first from the novel coronavirus. The health commissions in both Beijing and Shanghai reported. A 50-year-old male died of respiratory failure in Beijing on Monday. He was diagnosed on January 22, and was in Wuhan City from January 8 to 15. Shanghai authorities have yet to release details of the deceased patient, state-run CGTN reported. As of Monday night, Beijing had eight more confirmed cases of the disease, bringing the total number to 80. Two patients have been discharged from hospitals after treatment, while 63 patients were in stable condition. Shanghai had 66 confirmed cases as of Monday night, aged between seven and 88 years old. A sense of disquiet prevailed in Beijing as officials announced the capital's first death from the deadly virus, a grim reminder that the epidemic has begun to take toll outside Hubei province. On Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Wuhan, the first such trip by a top leader to the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, to boost the morale of millions of beleaguered people and medical staff. The World Health Organisation on Monday admitted an error in its assessment of the global risk of a deadly virus in China, saying it was "high" and not "moderate", reports said. The Geneva-based WHO in its latest situation report said the risk was "very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level." The organisation attached to UN admitted that it had stated "incorrectly" in its previous reports that the global risk was "moderate". WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is currently visiting Beijing to discuss how to contain the outbreak. He was quoted as saying on Thursday that "this is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency". Meanwhile, the train and bus services between Beijing and neighbouring Tianjin have been suspended. China has also extended the New Year Festival holidays till February 2 to prevent reverse migration of millions of migrants works to return to their work from holidays. Universities, primary and middle schools and kindergartens across the country will postpone the opening of the spring semester until further notice. The government is focussing efforts to prevent mass gatherings and mass travel to ensure the virus is not spread fast. Beijing has also launched temperature detection at 55 subway stations, including stops at railway stations and Beijing airport. Passengers with abnormal body temperatures will be sent to hospital. President Akufo-Addo has urged Ghanaians not to abuse the new 112 emergency services number. President Akufo-Addo made the call when he commissioned 307 ambulances procured by the government for distribution to all constituencies in the country on Tuesday. I will appeal that this improvement in the provision of emergency services not be abused. We are told that 90 percent of calls made to the providers of emergency services are usually prank calls. This is not right as it only endangers the lives of Ghanaians in need, the President stressed. Emergency service providers have had cause to complain about prank calls from the public. The Ashanti Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), for example, is now collaborating with the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) and the National Security to track, arrest and prosecute persons engaging in such activities . The Police administration has also said the introduction of a Location-Based Systems (LBS) into the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at the Police Emergency Command Centres will enable the call-takers to know the exact location of callers on-screen. Over a three month period in 2019, the Police said more than 750,500 prank calls were recorded at the three Police Emergency Command Centres. Out of the 761,101 calls made to the three PEECs in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale, 751,217 were prank calls, while only 9,884 were genuine calls. Centralised emergency hotline The government has also decided to merge the country's emergency response channels into a single hotline which is 112. The new number will now handle cases that require the services of Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service and the National Ambulance across all mobile networks. This means the 191, 192 and 193 which hitherto were dedicated to the Police, Fire and Ambulance services will be replaced. ----citinewsroom Apple has recently revealed a stunning change to its mobile device line with the introduction of iPhone 12 Pro in a Navy Blue finish which replaces the Midnight Green that apple has rendered in its iPhone 11, according to an article by Forbes. Max Weinbach, XDA Developers' industry insider who has teamed up with popular YouTuber Filip Koroy (aka EverythingApplePro), revealed the iPhone 12 Pro series will look a shade different than many buyers expect. Forbes further reports, this simple change is a surprising one because Midnight Green was reported to be the most popular finish for the iPhone 11 Pro models at launch and Apple only introduced it last year. But the good news is the new blue looks superb with Koroy's renders which suggests this color will be saleable in 2020. Aside from this change, Apple has many other upgrades lined up for its new iPhones such as screen size changes, new 120Hz OLED ProMotion displays, exciting long-range 3D mapping cameras, long-awaited 5G connectivity across the range, a potentially transformative new A14 chip and Touch ID via an in-display sensor. Furthermore, a press release published by Gartner noted that mainstream availability of 5G phones will drive the smartphone sector to growth for the first time in several years. Additionally, a research note from Wedbush released by AppleInsider shows reports to seeing "overwhelming positive data points" from the supply chain. According to Wedbush, 350 million iPhone owners are currently in the market for upgrades and they just need a catalyst which, they claim, will be the 5G iPhone 12 series. Forbes further advised that if you want the Navy Blue iPhone 12 Pro or Pro Max, you should move fast before it runs out of stock. Meanwhile, according to an article published by CNET, the iPhone 12 is still expected to come in three different screen sizes: one 5.4-inch, two 6.1-inch and one 6.7-inch phone. However, the largest iPhone which they dubbed, 'iPhone 12 Pro Max,' is expected to be taller and slimmer than the current iPhone 11 Pro Max. On the question of iPhone 12 being identical to iPhone 11, according to CNET article, it won't exactly be the same, but close enough. A new report by Japanese publication Mac Otakara claims that the iPhone 12 will have a very similar metal chassis to the iPhone 11, but with slightly bowed edges, citing an unnamed Chinese supplier as the source of this information. Due to this reveal, Apple looks set to increase prices once again. Also, there are already big discounts on the iPhone 11. According to Bloomberg, the iPhone 9, a cheaper iPhone would fill a gap in Apple's lineup that has existed ever since the iPhone SE was discontinued in 2018. CNET reported that it would be the same size as the 4.7-inch iPhone 8 and sport the same overall design. This model could go on sale sometime in March. An author who conducted 12 interviews with the notorious former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic claims she found him 'handsome and likeable' and even gave him her phone number - but had to think like a 'fellow war criminal' to get inside his head. American-born Jessica Stern, 61, a research professor at Boston University who specialises in terrorism, penned the controversial new book My War Criminal: Personal Encounters with an Architect of Genocide. She met with Karadzic, known as the 'Butcher of Bosnia', who is currently serving a life sentence for war crimes including genocide in prison at The Hague, in a unit sardonically referred to as the 'Hague Hilton'. Karadzic, 74, was jailed for his atrocities in his country's devastating 1992-1995 war - Europe's bloodiest conflict since the Second World War - including the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, which saw 8,000 Muslim men and boys slaughtered. American-born Jessica Stern, 61, a research professor at Boston University who specialises in terrorism, has penned the forthcoming My War Criminal: Personal Encounters with an Architect of Genocide Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was known as the 'Butcher of Bosnia' (pictured in 2008). He is currently serving a life sentence for war crimes including genocide in prison at The Hague, in a unit sardonically referred to as the 'Hague Hilton' The warlord was arrested in Serbia in 2008 after spending 13 years on the run disguised as a new-age therapist called Dragan Dabic, during which he sported a long silver beard and grew his white hair, tying it up in a bun with a black ribbon. He has always argued that the Bosnian Serb campaigns during the war, which included the bloody siege of the capital Sarajevo, were aimed at defending Serbs. According to Ms Stern, he refers to this 'sacred duty' again and again. Karadzic also maintains what happened in Yugoslavia was 'not a genocide but a civil war'. In her book, Ms Stern - who admits to having a 'deep curiosity about the causes of evil' - tells how over the course of two years, she grows to refer to Karadzic as 'my war criminal'. Karadzic, his general Ratko Mladic (first left) in Serbia in April 1995, has always argued that the Bosnian Serb campaigns during the war, which included the bloody siege of the capital Sarajevo, were aimed at defending Serbs She develops a 'kind of intimacy' with him - to the point where she gives him her mobile phone number and he likens her to his wife 'when they were young'. But this closeness, critics have argued, gives rise to moral quandaries. Having interviewed terrorists in the field before, Ms Stern explains how she tries to enter an 'altered state' when speaking to perpetrators, whereby their feelings become more central to her experience than her own. 'I try to sense his every move, his every expression. I follow his moral logic so closely that it becomes my own, at least when I'm with him,' she explains at the beginning of the book. A conflict which claimed 100,000 lives The Bosnian War was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following a number of violent incidents in early 1992, the war is commonly viewed as having started on April 6, 1992 and ended on 14 December 14, 1995. The main belligerents were the forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of the self-proclaimed Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska and Herzeg-Bosnia, which were led and supplied by Serbia and Croatia, respectively. The war was part of the breakup of Yugoslavia. The most recent estimates suggest that around 100,000 people were killed during the war and more than 2.2 million people were displaced. In addition, an estimated 12,00020,000 women were raped, most of them Bosniak. Advertisement 'Afterward, I'm disgusted. I dread returning to my notes, to the person I was when I embraced his subjectivity, when I became a fellow perpetrator. It doesn't always work this way, but it did with Karadzic. Later, I return to my notes, and the person I became when I was with him. A fellow war criminal. 'This process - of embracing the perpetrator's subjectivity - feels necessary to me, in order to come fully to know how he thinks... You need to sustain that feeling, go into it completely, but at the same time trust that you will recover yourself at the end of the conversation.' She adds that it can't be a 'superficial feeling' - you need to 'become the terrorist'. Ms Stern recalls the sensation of taking in her interviewee's presence, describing him as 'tall' and 'good-looking', and 'a likable man when you're with him one-on-one'. She deduces Karadzic is not a 'demonic psychopath' - despite the fact that when she grills him on whether he'd do anything differently or has any regrets, his answer is a flat-out no. 'When you're with him one-on-one, Karadzic is not repulsive. He's a likable man. Magnetic. Charming. And there was a kind of intimacy established between us, even if I still couldn't look into his eyes,' she writes in one of her final chapters. 'Karadzic has shown me sides of himself that he correctly perceives are interesting to me. He knows that I am moved.' One of these 'sides' he readily shows her early on is his 'skill' in bioenergetic healing - from his time as a faith healer during his 13 years on the lam. The warlord was arrested in Serbia in 2008 after spending 13 years on the run disguised as a new-age therapist called Dragan Dabic, during which he sported a long silver beard and grew his white hair, tying it up in a bun with a black ribbon (right) He explains how he and his wife became interested in the phenomenon as young psychiatrists before offering to show Ms Stern how it works. 'He was still looking at me, indicting me with his gaze. It came to me that he wanted me to sense his power, maybe to frighten me,' she writes. 'By then I already knew, having spent many days watching him in court and some 10 hours speaking with him one-on-one, that whatever this man was, whatever evil he might have committed or supervised, he was also a believer in the divine.' She describes how Karadzic stood behind her and directed her to put her hands out flat, palms up, parallel to the table before touching them with the 'clean hands of a doctor or a gentleman'. Ms Stern recalls the sensation of taking in her interviewee's presence, describing him as 'tall' and 'good-looking', and 'a likable man when you're with him one-on-one' He demanded her to think of God or a loved one repeatedly until she felt a sensation in her palms, admonishing her when she experienced nothing. Ms Stern admits she followed his direction 'like a star student' and was desperate for an 'A' from him, likening the power struggle between them to 'cat and mouse'. At one point she claims he tried to entice her with the prospect that her book would be a bestseller if she 'behaved' and wrote nice things about him. Witness accounts of the horrors caused by Karadzic 'They made 20 prisoners dig their own graves before cutting their throats. Two men would kick us in one part of the body and another would use a baton to beat you over the head until you became unconscious.' - Ahmet Zulic, held at Betonirka detention centre in Sanski Most, testifying at Karadzic's trial in 2009. 'I was shot from the left side, but the bullet passed through me and killed the little one. It was against his cheek and it came out of his head.' - Dzezana Sokolovic, who was shot during the siege of Sarajevo in 1994, with the bullet killing her son Nermin. 'The last two that remained were my son and another boy. His hands were tied behind his back. First they killed the guy in front of him and then they shot him once and a second time and then I started screaming.' - Nura Alispahic, whose son's murder in Srebrenicva was broadcast on national television. 'When we heard the news that Srebrenica had fallen, that's why we had to leave, because everybody would be killed. Some old people stayed behind and ended up being killed. They could not get away.' - Protected witness 'KDZ039' [Identity protected], who survived Srebrenica massacre in 1995, at the 2009 trial. 'A single man survived among thousands.' - Protected witness of the Srebrenica massacre, via Prosecutor Julian Nicholls at the 2009 trial. 'I don't know exactly, Mr Karadzic, who was killing with what intentions in mind. As far as I could see, some persons really enjoyed torturing others.' - Ex-Bosnian Serb army soldier Drazen Erdemovic who participated in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Advertisement 'He didn't say what would happen if I wrote a "bad" book,' she explains. 'He just hinted that God would be unhappy with me. As with his infamous highway-to-hell speech, he wasn't exactly "threatening". He was issuing a "warning" to me.' Ms Stern concedes she became 'confused' by the mass murderer's 'love of poetry and culture', and is 'simultaneously impressed and nauseated' by his attempts to manipulate her when he lies about the number of Muslims killed in Srebrenica. It was, of course, her desire for Karadzic not to lie to her; in fact she wanted 'grandiosely to be the one person to whom he would tell the truth', going on to reveal she readily gave him her phone number and wrote to him in prison. She admits to seeing 'the logic' of much of what Karadzic told her in order to justify his barbaric actions. 'Mixing of cultures to create new hybrids does entail loss. Grave loss,' Ms Stern muses when her war criminal rejoices in Donald Trump's successful election campaign - despite her own disappointment. 'In my country and in much of Europe, what "white advocate" Jared Taylor refers to as "white European culture" could indeed be eclipsed due to immigration and cultural mixing.' It is these concessions which led to a scathing critique of her work in The New York Times, with the reviewer accusing her of trying 'so strenuously to empathise with her subject that she loses control of her own book'. 'It's exasperating to watch a smart woman play possum like this not just in the interviews but in the writing, especially when her conclusions don't tell us anything we didn't know before,' book critic Jennifer Szalai writes, branding it an 'abject failure' on social media. 'Karadzic weaponised history and identity to stoke hatred and fear and turn the people who listened to him into killers. Stern wants the truth to be more complicated and less banal than it is.' It seems more likely Ms Stern is less set on evoking a new truth than she is on perpetuating the idea that Karadzic could be a born-again saint. 'I want to believe in the possibility of a transformation from bad to good, for all of us,' she writes, highlighting how many of the friends Karadzic made when he was posing as Dabic refused to believe his true identity when he was captured and exposed. One of these friends, editor of the magazine Healthy Life, told Ms Stern he was deeply troubled by learning that the 'gentle spiritualist' he had known was a war criminal, arguing it's possible he was redeemed. Jo Brand says she 'wouldn't consider' replacing Sandi Toksvig as presenter of The Great British Bake Off. (Venla Shalin/Redferns) Jo Brand has said she has no desire to replace departing Sandi Toksvig as presenter of The Great British Bake Off. Brand, 62, host of Bake Offs sister show An Extra Slice, has declared she "wouldn't consider" stepping into Toksvig's shoes on the show following the Danish-born star's announcement that she would be leaving the competition after three series. "I actually really love doing Extra Slice," Brand told Claudia Winkleman on BBC Radio 2. "I think there's a lot more freedom to muck about, there's so many different elements to the show. There's a lovely team of people, I love working with Tom Allen." Read more: Prue Leith says Bake Off is easy money "So Tom, if you're listening, you better not get that job!" she went on to jest. Jo Brand and Sandi Toksvig attend the Women of the Year Awards 2015 in London. Toksvig, 61, had been one-half of the show's presenting duo alongside Noel Fielding since its move from BBC One to Channel 4 in 2017. Announcing her departure on Thursday 16 January, the comedian said she wanted to spend more time with [her] other work. Fielding paid tribute to his colleague on social media, telling his Twitter followers he felt "like Tom without Jerry". I feel like Tom without Jerry ! Mick without a Keef :( gonna miss yooooooooooooooooo and the wonderful times we got to play together in the tent ! Double acts are rare and magical beast and working with you was a pleasure x x x all my love Mr Noel x pic.twitter.com/nkbuLpvQMs noel fielding (@noelfielding11) January 16, 2020 He also posted a picture of the original cartoon cat and mouse Tom and Jerry to Instagram, writing: Good double acts are a rare and magical beast! Im gonna miss Sandi comically and personally but i also know we were lucky to have her for 3 amazing years! Wish you all the best in your next adventures x x love Noel x. Other names tipped to replace Toksvig include former GBBO winner Nadiya Hussain and presenter Emma Willis, but there has been no official word on who it will be. When will we start talking about the perpetrators? Its strangely quiet in Germany. As the first German head of state ever, Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks at Yad Vashem about the Holocaust. As the highest representative of his country, he figuratively falls on his knees and pleads guilty before of the whole world. The perpetrators were Germans. Those who murdered, those who planned and helped in the murdering, the many who silently towed the line: They were Germans, Steinmeier confesses. The worst crime in the history of humanity, it was committed by my countrymen. Nobody is shaken, however. On the biggest stage in the world, Steinmeier argues that the Germans have not drawn the right lessons from their history. He wishes he could say: We Germans have learned from history once and for all. However, he confesses, he cannot say that . A head of state calls his country to account, rubs pounds of salt in the deepest of German wounds, but Germany doesnt even twitch. Lesen Sie auch 75. Jahrestag der Auschwitz-Befreiung Ist Judenhass wieder alltaglich? Heute vor 75 Jahren befreiten die Sowjets die Haftlinge des deutschen KZ Auschwitz-Birkenau. Heute noch werden Juden Gewalt ausgesetzt. Auschwitz-Uberlebender Kann nicht schlafen, die Nazis kommen wieder Eigentlich wollte er nicht zuruck. Aber Hermann Hollenreiner will gegen Antisemitismus kampfen. BILD begleitete ihn nach Auschwitz. On the contrary. Instead of analyzing Steinmeiers words, weighing them and reading between the lines, German journalists indulge in euphoric praise. The German head of state hits the right tone with every word, German radio broadcaster Deutsche Welle says of Steinmeiers remarkable, historic speech. A correspondent of Germany's main public broadcaster ARD praises the impressively sensitive and clear speech given by the President of Germany dignified and convincing while simultaneously observing that national self-interests dominate in the case of other nations. While other countries' narratives of the Holocaust and the Second World War may be partial, Germanys is not? Of all the nations there are, only Germanys commemoration is truthful and pure? There must be something wrong here. Auch Interessant If the President of Germanys supposedly sharp words lead to neither objection nor debate in his country, they cannot have been sharp. If the President of Germanys accusations against his country are just nodded along in agreement, they have not hit the mark. Germany has cloaked itself comfortably in its culture of remembrance as if in a cocoon a culture of remembrance that hurts nobody and no longer even inspires thought. In its brute rhetoric, it tries to impress, when in fact it detracts from the nature of Germanys crime. The President of Germanys talk of his countrymens being responsible for the Holocaust, his observation that the perpetrators were Germans, may be met with acknowledging nods abroad. In Germany, sentences like these also evoke pride: Yes, we Germans acknowledge our historical guilt. But how serious is the historical processing if it remains so abstract? How effective is an acknowledgement of guilt if it doesnt identify the guilty by name? Ida Goldis and her three-year-old son Vili, Samuel Tytelman and his sister Rega Steinmeier spoke their names in Jerusalem, the names of the murdered, and told their stories. He did not speak the names of the perpetrators. Not a single one. Germany still prefers to remember its victims over its perpetrators. Their stories are simple in the feelings they evoke, in the honest tears one can cry for them. Lesen Sie auch Israels Botschafter Es gibt keine Befreiung von der Erinnerung Zum 75. Jahrestag der Befreiung von Auschwitz. Ein sehr personliches Gesprach mit Jeremy Issacharoff und seiner Frau Laura Kam. 75 Jahre Auschwitz-Befreiung Gesichter des Uberlebens In Jerusalem portratierte der Fotograf Martin Schoeller in Zusammenarbeit mit der Holocaust-Gedenkstatte Yad Vashem 75 Uberlebende. It is the perpetrators who wrote these stories, however, and whose own stories have hardly been researched and told, compared to those of their victims. How could craftspeople, accountants, and officials, German fathers who were socialized long before the Third Reich, willingly and voluntarily murder Jews when given the first opportunity? How is it that these very men could then return from their SS units, their Einsatzkommandos and Sonderkommandos, to help rebuild peace in the young Federal Republic of Germany? 75 years after the end of the Holocaust, we still dont even know how many of them there were. If you ask Germans about the number of Holocaust victims, youll commonly hear a clear number as the answer: six million. If you ask about the number of perpetrators, their faces stare back at you, clueless. Out of fear of this confrontation with the issue, Germany buries the question about the perpetrators under a collective acknowledgement of guilt. This used to be due to the perpetrators fear of prosecution, due to the shame of their families and of countless accessories but why still today? The German culture of remembrance has ignored what is the core of any criminal investigation: determining the perpetrators and their motives. Germany went straight to the historical lessons. Auschwitz taught us: Never again! After Auschwitz, there must never be antisemitism again, no hatred against human beings, no genocide, no war. In the first place, however, Auschwitz cannot teach us anything. Auschwitz was not a university, not a sanatorium. Not for Jews and especially not for Germans. However, this is exactly how Germany wants to interpret its murder of more than 1.1 million Jews in Auschwitz alone. Holocaust survivors are referred to in order to warn of dangerous political developments. Germany derives its moral claims primarily by processing its own crimes. Lesen Sie auch Ronald Lauder in BILD Auschwitz war der Zenit alles Bosen Vor 75 Jahren wurde das KZ Auschwitz befreit. BILD fragte den Prasidenten des Judischen Weltkongresses, was dieser Tag bedeutet. Besuch in der BILD-Redaktion Sheindis Botschaft an die Welt Die Holocaust-Uberlebende Sheindi Miller-Ehrenwald (90) richtete bei ihrem Besuch in der BILD-Redaktion bewegende Worte an die Welt. As Steinmeier himself said in Jerusalem: I wish I could say that our remembrance has made us immune to evil. What Steinmeier said could have been said by almost every top-ranking politician but this doesnt make it less wrong. Why assume that remembering the Holocaust will make the Germans better human beings? If this were so, it would mean that there was something good about Auschwitz after all. But no there was nothing good about Auschwitz. And as long as Germans neither raise nor answer the question about the perpetrators, they wont even understand what Auschwitz really was. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, photographer Martin Schoeller has portrayed 75 Holocaust survivors inimitably, as only Schoeller can. We see their faces more clearly than ever before. The colour of their pupils, their age spots, every crease. The perpetrators faces remain blurry. We do not know them. West Bengal minister Dr Nirmal Maji courted controversy on Tuesday for describing medical students as "dogs" after facing their protest at the 186th Foundation Day programme of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. Alleging that Maji, the minister of state for labour, was not related to the institute in any way, students shouted "Go Back" slogans and waved black flags at him when he was about to enter the venue of the programme. The chairman of the Patients' Welfare Committee of the hospital, Maji, however, managed to get past them. During his speech, he gave a detailed list of his contribution to the development of the Calcutt Medical Collge and Hospital. While delivering his speech, Maji referred to the Hindi proverb "Hathi chale bazaar, kutte bhonke hazaar" (an elephant walks on without caring for barks of dogs in his trail) triggering further uproar among the medical students. A student of the institute, Sayantan Mukhoti, said "Even though Mr Maji has made such a cheap comment, we should not return it by making another crass comment. That is beneath our dignity." He said the student community of the medical college does not consider Maji as a part of their own fraternity and he is an outsider for them. Power Minister Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who was also present at the programme, said, "Elders should forgive students for small mistakes". Maji was embroiled in a controversy for referring a relative's dog for dialysis at the state-run SSKM Hospital in 2015. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nigerian senate According to The Nation, the Senate on Tuesday exclusively dedicated Wednesday to debate the worsening security situation across the country. Senate President Ahmad Lawan disclosed this after a closed-door session of the Senate on Tuesday. Lawan said that the Senate also resolved to prioritise the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Power sector reforms to provide energy to Nigeria, agricultural enhancement across Nigeria, Electoral Act Amendment Bill and legislations to boost solid minerals development. Details shortly The government of Ukraine is accelerating its crackdown on cryptocurrency crime as it looks to introduce a new law to block wallets and seize illegal assets. Over the past several months, the nation has been taking steps to greater increase transparency surrounding the industry. Back in November, the government announced a new law forcing citizens to disclose not only their own crypto holdings, but also those of their close relatives. A month later, lawmakers then legalised cryptocurrency. The move was part of the countrys ongoing efforts to control economic grey areas while also adopting international anti-money laundering (AML) practices in crypto transactions, effectively legitimising them. Now, Ukraines finance minister has revealed yet another new law that will allow the government to block cryptocurrency wallets and seize assets it deems illegal. In a statement, Oksana Markarova said the country will ramp up its surveillance of the industry to further reduce crime related to the sector. SFMS to lead the way The enhanced surveillance activities will be conducted by Ukraines state financial monitoring service (SFMS). The SFMS reportedly has an analytical tool that can investigate the origin of a particular cryptocurrency. The tool has already been implemented and has led to the completion of several cases already both locally and internationally. Speaking on the legalisation of crypto in the country, Markarova revealed: The purpose of public financial monitoring is to prevent money laundering, including through cryptocurrencies. But I think that our criminals and corrupt officials are quite conservative and still keep the funds mostly in cash. Therefore, in the legalisation of cryptocurrencies, I see opportunities for the development of this industry in our country, not a threat. Interested in reading more cryptocurrency-related news? Discover more about Japanese lawmakers making a u-turn on the countrys CBDC plans. The post Ukraine continues crypto crime crackdown appeared first on Coin Rivet. A good Samaritan went viral on social media for lifting rock after rock to reach the couple who was buried under the rubble in the Elazig province.Anadolu Agency. They say not all heroes wear capes. Durdane and her husband Zulkuf Aydin owe their lives to a young Syrian man who rescued them after a powerful earthquake shook eastern Turkey on Friday. The man with his bare hands lifted rock after rock to reach the couple who was buried under the rubble in the Elazig province. Durdane Aydins video thanking this good Samaritan went viral on social media touching hearts worldwide. Anadolu Agency managed to reach the young man, Mahmud al-Osman, who left Syrias city of Hama two years ago to Turkeys southern Hatay province and then to the city of Elazig for his university education. After the earthquake tremors stopped, I went to the affected area. I heard people screaming for help from under the rubble. Then I heard the woman and her husbands voice. I tried to pull the rocks away with my hands. I asked young people around to help me and we worked together. First we managed to save the man, then I tried to clear the rubble away for the woman. I lifted a big pile of rocks with my hands, freed the womans legs. Then I managed to save her. The rescue team then got her to the hospital. When asked if the wounds he got from the rescue effort hurt him, he brushed the question aside. They do not matter. What matters is they are saved. I lost my cell phone after the quake but it does not matter. It is important for me to save those people. I used my phones torch at the scene, so [Ms. Aydin] and her husband understood that they can be saved when they saw the light. This has a special place in my heart. Emotional meeting Anadolu Agency then took Osman to meet the family who was living temporarily at their relatives house in a nearby village. It was an emotional meeting with Durdane Aydin bursting into tears and crying: You are our hero. When she learned Osmans mother is in Syria, she said: Dont worry. I am both your mother and sister now. I will not let you go. Describing the time when they were buried under the rubble, she said she had hugged her husband and said her final farewell. When my husband saw a light above, he whistled and cried for help. Mahmud first saved my husband and then myself. His hands were bleeding but still he was telling me to be careful because of pieces of glass around. He is our hero. When I got out of the rubble, I immediately asked my husband where the boy went. Also talking to Anadolu Agency, Zulkuf Aydin said seeing the torch light from the phone gave them hope. When Mahmud saved me from under the rubble, he first could not do the same for my wife because her legs were stuck. Then people sent him down and he worked hard to save her. Time passed so quickly for us, but Mahmud tried for 3.5 hours to save her. He tried to help others after saving us. Death toll from the quake rose to 35 on Sunday with more than a thousand injured. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Allergan has officially opened a new 145m facility today in Westport to boost production of Botox and develop a new generation of products using the blockbuster product. Daylong events and tours involving visitors from the US, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East are running at the Allergan campus in the Co Mayo town, where the pharmaceutical firm opened its doors in Ireland in 1977. Westport has been Allergans only production facility for Botox since 1994, after the product was approved for cosmetic use to reduce face wrinkles. Since then the neurotoxins ability to paralyse nerves has made it increasingly important as a treatment for dozens of conditions, including for involuntary tremors and spasms. The new building, called Biologics 2, increases Allergans capacity to make Botox, which generates annual sales topping $3.5bn (3bn) by far the companys top-selling product. While a majority of Botox sales today are for therapeutic rather than cosmetic purposes, both segments enjoy double-digit sales growth, according to Allergans most recent accounts. Expanded R&D labs at the site seek to use other strains of the botulinum toxin to invent new Botox products. With the addition of a new microbiology and cell-based laboratory, the team here in Westport are looking forward to contributing to product innovations that will make a difference to patients lives all over the world, said Paul Coffey, managing director of Allergan Westport. Our primary role in Westport is manufacturing, but we are also heavily involved in the late-stage development of new products that Allergan have in the pipeline. We would be hopeful that a number of those products will end up getting launched and supplied out of the Westport site. Allergan employs more than 1,300 people in Westport - equivalent to a quarter of the towns entire population - and 700 in Dublin and Galway. The firm says its adding 63 positions to staff Biologics 2. Speaking as someone from Westport, I know Allergan has had a remarkably positive impact on the town and on the region, said rural development minister Michael Ring, who is attending todays events. Allergans executive vice president of global operations, Wayne Swanton, said the Biologics 2 opening represents the next chapter of growth and innovation for Allergans botulinum toxin brand and other biologics products. Ireland is an outstanding country for investment and expansion for all our products that are manufactured here in Westport, Mr Swanton said. Ireland has made education, training and investment in its biopharma workforce a priority. Todays event comes just weeks before Allergans takeover by Chicago-based pharma firm AbbVie. That $63bn (57bn) deal, originally announced in June 2019, is expected to close by March. AbbVie, however, said earlier this month it will create a standalone Allergan Aesthetics division that will develop, produce and market cosmetic products. This means the Westport site is likely to produce Botox bearing both the AbbVie and Allergan monikers well into the future. When sold for therapeutic purposes, it is expected that Botox will become an explicitly AbbVie product, while Botox when used in its original wrinkle-busting role will continue to bear the Allergan name. Home Minister Amit Shah dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhis criticism of the government on India-China tensions, saying his party and he had no right to point fingers on the issue. Shah said the Congress leader should first give an account to the nation on how much territory his party ceded to China when it was in power. Those seeking Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will not only have to prove that they came from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, but also submit proof of religion, reports suggested. Applicants will have to submit any document acquired before December 31, 2014, in which they have declared their religion. This is being mooted as part of the rules for CAA currently being drafted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, and faced religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be eligible for Indian citizenship. The law excludes Muslims. Giving an example, an official told The Indian Express: if someone has enrolled his/her children in a government school, he/ she would have declared their religion. If someone has acquired Aadhaar before December 31, 2014, and has declared his/her religion as being from among the six mentioned in the Act, it would be acceptable Any form of government document declaring religion will be accepted. The report adds that under CAA rules, applicants are unlikely to be asked for evidence of religious persecution. It would be instead presumed that those who entered India either faced persecution or feared that they would be persecuted. On Assams short window demand Multiple reports also suggest that the MHA has accepted a demand from the Assam government that application for citizenship under CAA should be time-bound. Assam had reportedly asked the Home Ministry to cap the time period for such applications to three months. The state felt that keeping application period open-ended could lead to an increase in apprehensions over CAA in the state. CAA was notified on January 10. However, the rules have not been finalised and notified yet. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the reports. North Korea has named a sharp-tongued former army officer with little foreign policy experience as its top diplomat, in a possible indication it will take a harder line with Washington in stalled nuclear negotiations. Ri Son Gwon's new title as foreign minister was disclosed Friday in a Korean Central News Agency dispatch that said he attended a reception for foreign diplomats in Pyongyang the previous day. South Korean and other outside media outlets have recently reported North Korea informed foreign diplomats in Pyongyang of Ri's job last week. In his speech at the banquet, ``Comrade Ri Son Gwon said that the Korean people have turned out in the general offensive to break through head-on the barriers to the advance of socialist construction by dint of self-reliance ... and made public the foreign policy stand of the (North Korean) government,`` KCNA said. Ri, an outspoken retired army colonel who previously headed a government body responsible for relations with South Korea, has taken part in numerous inter-Korean military talks over the past 15 years. But Ri, who is also an alternate member of the ruling Workers' Party Central Committee, lacks experience in negotiations with the United States and other countries. In South Korea, he is most known for what were seen as rude remarks to South Korean businessmen visiting Pyongyang in September 2018. While they were eating naengmyeon, Korean traditional cold noodles, Ri asked them: ``Are naengmyeon going down your throats?'' in apparent dissatisfaction with a lack of progress in efforts to promote inter-Korean economic projects, according to South Korean officials and lawmakers. Many conservatives in South Korea strongly criticized him. Ri replaced Ri Yong Ho, a career diplomat with broad experiences who had taken part in nuclear negotiations with the United States since early 2018. It wasn't immediately known what happened to Ri Yong Ho, whose name was last mentioned in KCNA last August. Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at South Korea's private Sejong Institute said Ri Son Gwon's appointment signaled North Korea would further harden its stance toward the US and bolster a push to cement its position as a nuclear state. ``From now on, it's difficult to expect meaningful progress in North Korea-US diplomacy,'' Cheong said. Nuclear talks between the US and North Korea have progressed little since the breakdown of the second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam in February 2019. Kim recently said North Korea would strengthen its nuclear arsenal and unveil a new ``strategic weapon'' after the US failed to meet a year-end deadline set by him to make concessions. A senior State Department official told reporters Wednesday that Washington was aware of Ri Son Gwon's reported appointment and hopes North Korea will understand the importance of resuming diplomacy. ``There's nothing to be gained by not talking. It's only to their benefit, so we encourage them to talk,'' the official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly to the matter. ``It is slow, patient, steady diplomacy. We're going to stick with that plan.'' Search Keywords: Short link: CLEVELAND, Ohio A man found dead wrapped in a tarp with his hands tied behind his back on Monday was missing since Christmas Eve. Bruno Collins Jr. was found dead about 5 p.m. behind an abandoned home on East 89th Street, south of Cedar Avenue in the citys Fairfax neighborhood, according to police. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner identified him Tuesday, but has not determined how he died. Police reports say violence is suspected. A contractor working on the vacant home called 911 after he discovered the body in a blue tarp. Collins niece reported him missing Dec. 27. She told police that family members last saw him about 3 a.m. Christmas Eve leaving a home on Eliot Avenue near East 103rd Street in the citys Kinsman neighborhood. He was driving a white 2005 GMC Envoy at the time. His two nieces reported that they hadnt heard from their uncle in three days and that they were unable to reach him on his cellphone. Cleveland police on Jan. 6 released a photo of a man and woman spotted with Collins at a Family Dollar on Clark Avenue and West 65th Street. Police at the time said they wanted to talk to the couple to see if they knew of Collins whereabouts. Read more from cleveland.com: Dead body found wrapped in tarp with hands tied behind abandoned Cleveland house Mother, daughter accused of attacking student at John Marshall High School in Cleveland 70-year-old Cleveland veteran killed man who took him in off the streets, family says JERUSALEM - The Latest on the Trump administrations release of its Mideast peace plan (all times local): 10:35 p.m. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the United Nations remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis in resolving their conflict on the basis of U.N. resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements. He says the U.N. is also committed to realizing the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, according to his spokesman. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general saw the announcement of the U.S. plan for the Middle East, which was presented Tuesday by President Donald Trump. Trumps plan calls for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in east Jerusalem while recognizing Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank, and was immediately rejected by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Dujarric said: The position of the United Nations on the two-State solution has been defined, throughout the years, by relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions by which the Secretariat is bound. Those resolutions call all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal and call for a solution based on borders before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, with agreed land swaps. ___ 10:30 p.m. Israels liberal parties are coming out vocally against the Trump proposal and calls by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex West Bank land. Amir Peretz, leader of Israels Labor Party, says Israel needs a diplomatic compass and a renewal of the peace process in the way of Rabin, the countrys assassinated prime minister who spearheaded the Oslo Accords in the 1990s. Peretz cautioned that the Trump peace plan cannot be executed unilaterally. We must thank President Trump for his honest intentions, and after the elections start direct negotiations with states in the region and the Palestinian Authority, Peretz said. Meretz party leader Nitzan Horowitz said that as an interim prime minister under indictment, Netanyahu doesnt have a mandate to make any decision, and certainly not to annex significant parts of the territories. There is and wont be an alternative to direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the basis of the two-state solution, a key principle that appears in the Trump plan, and avoidance of any unilateral steps, he said. ___ 10:10 p.m. Turkey strongly rejected the U.S. plan, describing it as an annexation plan aiming to destroy the two-state solution and seize Palestinian territories. A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement also rejected U.S. President Donald Trumps declaration to keep Jerusalem as Israels undivided capital, saying Jerusalem is our red line, The United States so-call peace plan was still-born, the ministry said. The people and land of Palestine cannot be bought off. The ministry statement said: we will not support any plan that does not have the support of Palestine. There will not be any peace in the Middle East without ending Israels occupation. Protests were planned near the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Ankara and Istanbul. ___ 10:05 p.m. Germanys foreign minister is reacting cautiously to the Middle East peace plan announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, saying it raises questions that need to be addressed. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement Tuesday that only a negotiated two-state solution that is acceptable to both parties can lead to lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He added that on that basis, every impetus laid out in such a way as to set the long-stalled Middle East peace process in motion again is to be welcomed. Maas said the U.S. proposal raises questions that Germany will discuss with its European partners. Those, he said, include the involvement of the two sides in a negotiating process and its relationship to recognized international parameters and legal positions. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas resoundingly rejected the U.S. plan on Tuesday. ___ Hezbollah has denounced what it labeled as the deal of shame announced by the savage Trump administration. In a statement issued in Beirut Tuesday, the Iranian-backed militant group described the plan as dangerous, adding that it will have very negative repercussions on the future of the region and its people. It said the U.S. has capped decades of blind support for Israel, its occupation and aggression against Arabs by trying to eliminate the historical and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. This deal would not have taken place had it not been for the complicity and betrayal of a number of Arab regimes, secretly and publicly involved in this conspiracy, it added, in a reference to Gulf Arab countries. The statement said the deal announced in Washington Tuesday confirms that resistance is the only option to liberate occupied land. ___ 9:25 p.m. Israels Blue and White party, the largest in the Knesset and the chief opposition to Benjamin Netanyahus Likud, is throwing its support behind the Trump peace plan. The party said in a statement that the Trump plan is entirely consistent with its positions, and provides a strong, viable basis for advancing a peace accord with the Palestinians, while preserving the existing arrangements between Israel and Jordan and Egypt. In order for implementation to be possible, Israel must move forward toward a strong and stable government, led by an individual who can direct the fullness of his time and energy toward ensuring the countrys security and its future, the Blue and White party statement said, discounting Netanyahus fitness to lead while facing corruption charges. Blue and White is led by former army chief of staff Benny Gantz, Netanyahus main political opponent. Gantz met with President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this week to discuss the presidents peace proposal. ___ 9 p.m. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus hard-line nationalist allies are calling for the immediate annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank in reaction to President Donald Trumps Mideast peace plan. Naftali Bennett, Israels defence minister, said the proposal offers Israel an opportunity to determine the territory of our country and include all the Israeli settlements in the land of Israel within the sovereign state of Israel. Bennett, a hawkish member of the religious nationalist Yemina party, said that Israel cannot wait until after the elections, and wont be satisfied with partial sovereignty take it all now. Ayelet Shaked, Israels former justice minister and Bennetts running mate, said Israel is at a historic moment and also called for unilateral annexation of West Bank land. The dangerous part of the plan, that is the establishment of a Palestinian state or recognition of a Palestinian state, wont happen, she wrote on Twitter. ___ 8:55 p.m. Naftali Bennett, Israels defence minister, has called for the immediate annexation of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank in response to the Trump peace plan. Bennett, a hawkish member of the religious nationalist Yemina party, said the proposal offers Israel an opportunity to determine the territory of our country and include all the Israeli settlements in the land of Israel within the sovereign state of Israel. He said that Israel cannot wait until after the elections, and wont be satisfied with partial sovereignty take it all now. Bennett also said that his party would not allow the government of Israel to recognize a Palestinian state under any circumstance and wouldnt allow any transfer of territory to a Palestinian control, both of which are outlined in the Trump plan. ___ 8:34 p.m. The U.S. Embassy in Israel has issued a warning to American citizens following Trumps peace plan announcement. The embassy statement prohibits U.S. government employees and their families from travel in most of Jerusalems Old City, the West Bank and Gaza Strip in light of widespread calls for demonstrations by Palestinians. United States citizens should avoid areas where crowds have gathered and where there is increased police and/or military presence, the embassy statement said. ___ 8:10 p.m. Liberal Israeli group Peace Now is calling the Trump peace plan as detatched from reality as it is eye-catching and says it will not bring stability to the region. The plans green light for Israel to annex isolated settlements in exchange for a perforated Palestinian state is unviable and would not bring stability, the organization said in a statement issued after the presidents announcement. The group restated its call for a two-state solution with east Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state. Any other proposal, Peace Now said, will find its way into the dustbin of history. Jeremy Ben-Ami, head of the liberal pro-Israel organization J-Street, responded on Twitter by calling the proposal a scam. People of good will hear Trump say two state solution and get excited. Need to understand what Netanyahu just outlined: Israel intends to move forward with immediate application of sovereignty to 30% of the West Bank, he said. ___ 6:55 p.m. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has received a call from the leader of the rival Hamas movement, who pledged support in rejecting the Trump administrations long-awaited Mideast peace plan. The official Wafa news agency quoted Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as saying his group supports the presidents steadfast positions and rejects the White Houses peace plan, which is expected to strongly favour Israel. Haniyeh called on Palestinian factions to set their differences aside and unite against the plan. Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israels destruction, seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after a weeklong battle with forces loyal to Abbas and his Fatah movement. Several attempts at reconciliation have failed. Abbas plans to hold an emergency meeting after Trump announces his peace plan later Tuesday. He has invited Hamas officials in the West Bank to attend. ___ 3:30 p.m. Thousands of Palestinians are protesting in Gaza City ahead of the Trump administrations announcement of its peace plan, which is expected to strongly favour Israel. The protesters burned pictures of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and raised a banner reading Palestine is not for sale. During the rally, Gazas Hamas rulers expressed rare support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah movement, welcoming his call for a broad meeting of Palestinian factions. Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said Hamas and all the factions would join the meeting, planned for after the Trump plan is announced later Tuesday. He says: When we are united, neither Netanyahu nor Trump dare to take away our rights. Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israels destruction, seized Gaza from forces loyal to Abbas in 2007. Several attempts to reconcile the two factions have failed, which many say has weakened the Palestinian cause. ___ 2:50 p.m. The Israeli Prime Ministers Office says Benjamin Netanyahu will travel from Washington to Moscow on Wednesday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Netanyahu was set to meet with President Donald Trump on Tuesday for the announcement of the White Houses Mideast peace plan. The Prime Ministers Office said Netanyahu would update President Putin on diplomatic developments and the Deal of the Century. It was not clear whether Netanyahus visit was connected with developments in the case of Naama Issachar, an American-Israeli sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for possession of cannabis. Netanyahu asked Putin last week to pardon the 26-year-old amid a public campaign seeking her release. Putin told Issachars mother during a visit to Jerusalem that everything will be alright. ___ 1:45 p.m. Vandals set fire to a Palestinian school in the occupied West Bank and left behind graffiti, in an attack that appears to have been carried out by Israeli settlers. Hebrew graffiti scrawled on a wall reads: Demolishing homes? Only of enemies, and contained a reference to a nearby settlement outpost that was recently dismantled. Similar graffiti was left outside a mosque that was torched on the outskirts of Jerusalem last week. Riyad Shkokani, a teacher at the school, said it is located in a village outside the West Bank town of Nablus close to the Yitzhar settlement. Yitzhar is a bastion of hard-line settlers, who in the past have clashed with Israeli forces and Palestinians. The Israeli police said in a statement that security forces will enter the area to investigate reports of vandalism. The attack overnight Tuesday came hours before President Donald Trump is set to announce a Mideast peace plan that is expected to strongly favour Israel. ___ 1:35 p.m. Russias foreign minister is calling for multilateral efforts in helping negotiate peace in the Middle East. The Trump administration is set to announce its long-awaited peace plan on Tuesday. The plan is expected to strongly favour Israel and to pave the way for it to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank. Asked about the U.S. plan, Sergey Lavrov said the so-called quartet of Middle East peacemakers America, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations should analyze the proposal. Lavrov also emphasizes that its essential to listen to the Palestinians position. He says its also important for the Arab League to weigh in. The league has already put forth its own peace initiative. President Donald Trump is expected to release the proposal alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Tuesday. Netanyahu has hailed it as a chance to make history and define Israels final borders. ___ 1:20 p.m. The main political body representing Israeli settlers is coming out against President Donald Trumps peace plan because it reportedly includes the formation of a Palestinian state. Yesha Council Chairman David Alhayani said in a statement Tuesday ahead of the peace plans unveiling that settler leaders were very disturbed after meeting with American officials in Washington. He says: We cannot agree to a plan that includes the formation of a Palestinian state that will constitute a threat to the state of Israel and a greater threat in the future. He is calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject any plan that includes the creation of a Palestinian state. Most of the international community supports a two-state solution to the conflict and views the settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace. More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements scattered across the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war and that the Palestinians want for their future state. ___ 1 p.m. The Israeli military is deploying security reinforcements in the occupied West Bank ahead of the release of the Trump administrations Mideast peace plan. The Palestinians have already rejected the plan, which is expected to strongly favour Israel and to pave the way for it to annex large parts of the West Bank. President Donald Trump is expected to announce the plan later Tuesday. The Palestinians are planning protests across the occupied territories on Tuesday and Wednesday, raising the possibility of clashes with Israeli troops. The military said Tuesday it has decided to reinforce the Jordan Valley area with infantry troops. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex the Jordan Valley, which accounts for about a quarter of the West Bank. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war. The Palestinians claim the West Bank as the heartland of their future state. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. If it aint broke, dont fix it. Susan Crowell, Farm and Dairys former editor, evoked this saying when she accepted the 2020 American Sheep Industry Associations Shepherds Voice award for print, in Scottsdale, Ariz., Jan. 24. Crowell was honored for her work with the newspaper for more than 30 years, and her support in covering the sheep industry, both regionally and nationally, throughout that time. She also served on the advisory council for Ohio State Universitys College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Be bold She arrived at the conference, wearing a T-shirt that read Be Bold. That was intentional, she said. Nows not the time to be timid, Crowell said. She pointed to the other award winners and their accomplishments. They werent afraid to think creatively or take risks in growing their businesses or in supporting the industry. That old saying? If it aint broke ? Crowell advised looking at it another way. What if it aint broke, but its slowing you down or holding you back? The industry honored others with 2020 awards as well: Frank Moore Moore, of Wyoming, was named the 2020 McClure Silver Ram award winner. Moore helped to found the Mountain States Lamb cooperative in 2001, and has continued to be active on the board of directors for the cooperative. More than 100 sheep farmers and ranchers are members. The group purchased its own processing facility under Moores leadership, in 2016. Bill Sparrow Jr. Sparrow, of North Carolina, earned the 2020 Distinguished Producer award. He is a longtime representative for his state on the national level. He has served with the national organization. He was instrumental in helping with the merger of the American Sheep Producers Council and the National Wool Growers Association 31 years ago that created ASI. Reed Anderson Anderson, of Oregon, earned the 2020 Industry Innovation award for his work as a sheep farmer and processor. He raises sheep, but also built his own processing facility, named Kalapooia Valley Processing, and now has control over the entire process, from birth to plate. Mike Caskey Caskey, of Minnesota, won the 2020 Camptender award. He is a second-generation sheep farmer, who has worked for 40 years with the Pipestone Lamb and Wool Program. He was chairman of the board that produced the sheep production handbook, which is used industry wide. Joe and Aggie Helle The Helles, of Montana, were honored as the 2020 winners for Wool Excellence. The family has been active in the American Wool Council and the National Make It With Wool program over the years. Their flock is the basis for the Duckworth clothing company. Lane Nordlund Nordlund, of Montana, was named the 2020 Shepherds Voice, in broadcasting. He has been an industry advocate for the industry, covering many events around the country and sharing stories through various media outlets. ANN ARBOR, MI The University of Michigan has has issued travel restrictions to China due to the recent outbreak of novel coronavirus. The restrictions, for undergraduate and graduate students, cover the entire country, the university said. Under the restrictions, undergraduate students are prohibited from traveling to China on school-related trips. Graduate students can only travel to the country if they have an International Travel Oversight Committee (approved safety plan, which ensures they are aware of the health risks, have developed strategies to stay safe and are prepared to shelter in place should China impose additional travel restrictions. The university has pulled together a team of experts from the University Health Service, Washtenaw County Public Health, Michigan Medicine, the Provosts Office Global Engagement Team and other colleagues to monitor the situation, officials said. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a level three warning for the virus and recommends travelers avoid all nonessential travel to China. Chinese officials have closed transport within and out of Wuhan the city where the outbreak is believed to have started and other cities in the Hubei province. This includes buses, subways, trains and the international airport. In Washtenaw County, tests for the virus in two residents have come back negative. One resident in Macomb County also tested negative for the virus. One additional test from Washtenaw County was sent to the CDC on Monday, Jan. 27, but due to a backlog in processing, the turnaround on test results may take several days. Three coronavirus tests in Michigan ruled negative, officials say There is not a high level of concern" for the statewide spread of coronavirus, said Susan Ringer-Cerniglia of the Washtenaw County Health Department, though health officials do not currently know how efficiently the virus travels. Since its cold and flu season, health officials recommend people wash their hands frequently, stay home if they feel sick and avoid close contact with people who are sick, if possible. Coronavirus: What University of Michigan professors are saying UHS has posted a novel coronavirus FAQ, and UM Public Affairs maintains the most recent updates on the key issues on its webpage for coronavirus. WEBB, N.Y. A man from New Jersey is facing more than 10 charges after police say he led officers on a snowmobile chase in Old Forge. Manuel Alvarez, of Franklin Lakes, N.J., failed to stop for a compliance check along a trail in the town of Webb around 3:15 p.m. on Sunday. Police say Alvarez sped away from patrol units and was seen shortly after on North Street in Old Forge. Alvarez again failed to stop, even when emergency lights were activated. A passenger, 26-year-old Stephanie M. Kirk, of Manchester, N.J., was thrown from Alvarezs snowmobile when he abruptly turned to elude the officers that were pursuing him. Kirk was not injured, but police say she was uncooperative and initially would not provide any information about Alvarez. As police continued to search for Alvarez, they found his snowmobile at Schuelers Sled Shed on Route 28, where he rents storage space. Police followed a lead provided by another snowmobile driver who Alvarez allegedly almost hit head-on while he was evading police. Alvarez was later found walking down Route 28 wearing only shorts and a T-shirt after discarding his snowmobile clothing under a parked vehicle at Schulers Sled Shed. Alvarez was taken into custody and processed at the Town of Webb Police Department on the following charges: Unlawfully fleeing a police officer Reckless endangerment Reckless operation (snowmobile) Failure to comply Unregistered snowmobile Uninsured snowmobile No registration validation sticker Imprudent speed Operating without headlights No trail permit Fail to cross highway at 90 deg. Inadequate/modified exhaust The defendant was released on appearance tickets without bail, in accordance with bail reform guidelines. Town of Webb Police Chief Ron Johnston says its hard to enforce the law after the implemenation of bail reform earlier this month. "Unfortunately, we've had someone whose been charged on multiple offense from the state of New Jersey, and because of the new New York bail reform, we weren't able to get any type of retainer from him. But it's very frustrating when you're trying to serve your community, and make sure these people come back for court," said Johnston. Alvarez is scheduled to return to Town of Webb court at a later date. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government brought in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act to correct "historical" injustices and recalled the Nehru-Liaquat pact to assert that the law fulfills India's "old promise" to religious minorities in neighbouring countries. Addressing the Annual Prime Minister's National Cadet Corps (NCC) Rally 2020, Modi also said the Jammu and Kashmir problem had persisted since Independence with some families and political parties keeping issues in the region alive. This had resulted in terrorism thriving. He slammed Pakistan and said it lost three wars but continues to wage proxy wars against India. "The Indian armed forces won't take more than a week-10 days to make Pakistan bite dust," the prime minister told the gathering. Attacking opposition parties over their stand on the CAA, the prime minister said India had assured minorities in Pakistan and Afghanistan when it got Independence that they could come to the country if needed. "This was Gandhiji's wish and also the intention behind the Nehru-Liaquat pact," Modi said. The pact signed in 1950 between then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Pakistan counterpart Liaquat Ali Khan was aimed at allowing refugees to return to dispose of their property, return abducted women and looted property and unrecognise forced conversions. "It is India's responsibility to give refuge to those people who have been oppressed due to their faith. These people have faced historical injustice... and to stop this and fulfil our old promise, we have brought the CAA," Modi said. According to the amended citizenship law, members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. The law leaves out Muslims. "Our government brought in CAA to give citizenship to such people but some political parties are in competition to do vote bank For whose interest are they working? Why can't they see atrocities faced by these people in Pakistan "There are many Dalits (among those who have been oppressed). These people have been oppressed... ," Modi said. Modi said a sanitation job advertisement by Pakistani Army stated it was only open to non-Muslims, implying it was for Dalits. He also referred to the Enemy Property Act and said those opposing this legislation are also against the CAA. After partition, those who left India for Pakistan could still lay claim to their properties. The Enemy Property Act 2016 allows transfer of enemy property from the enemy to other persons. Targeting previous governments, Modi said they treated the proxy war by Pakistan as a law and order problem. "But even when our armies would ask for action, they would not go ahead," he said, slamming the "inaction" of previous governments at the Centre. The prime minister said not just Jammu and Kashmir but other parts of the country are also peaceful right now and his government had managed to address the aspirations of the northeast region which were neglected for decades. Listing the achievements of the government, the prime minister referred to the Bodo agreement, triple talaq and the abrogation of provisions of Section 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. He also termed "historic" the pact signed by the Centre with insurgent group National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) and two other outfits. Modi said his government has taken a series of steps for the northeast region of the country and is holding talks with all stakeholders with an open heart. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) John Musker, one half of directing duo behind Disney's original "Aladdin" and "The Little Mermaid", says he would like the studio to create original content rather than remaking its classics. Musker, who last worked on Disney's "Moana" with his directing partner Ron Clements, said he is "bemused" by the series of live-action remakes the studio is producing. "I am bemused by the live-action remakes, although the more successful ones to me are the ones ironically that reinterpret the source to a greater degree, like 'Maleficent'. I think (Jon) Favreau's a brilliant filmmaker, but the shot-for-shot fealty to the hand-drawn 'Lion King', as well as the inexpressive animation in his film, left me uninvolved," the filmmaker told The Hollywood Reporter. "In general, I would rather see more original content, and fairy tales particularly by their nature don't seem to accommodate or demand the extension and/or repetition of their self-contained narrative arcs," he added. Clements said he wants hand-drawn animation features to make a comeback. "I do miss hand-drawn features and hope that there's a future for this unique and very special kind of animation. I think people really do miss it, and it's poised for a potential comeback," he said. Disney has been strategically remaking its animated classics since 2010''s "Alice in Wonderland". So far, it has revived iconic films such as "Lady and The Tramp", "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast". In 2020, the studio will release "Mulan" remake as well as "101 Dalmatians" prequel "Cruella", starring Emma Stone. Live-action adaptations of "The Little Mermaid" and "Bambi" are also in the works. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Africa is home to some of the most renowned universities in the world. Here are a few places you can visit while studying over there. So you got accepted at one of the many world-renowned universities in Africa and you find yourself wondering how can you take advantage of the opportunity to experience some of the many marvels that the continent has to offer? Don't worry, we got you covered. While going through college, there are often budget limitations that we need to consider, and although cheap traveling for students is possible, one can never finish exploring such a rich and meaningful place in a lifetime. There are 54 countries in Africa, and it is the third-largest landmass on the planet with over thirty-million square kilometers in it. First things first: Make time for traveling. No Africa travel guide, regardless of how good it is, will be enough to help you enjoy your life as a student in an African university if you don't have the time to travel around. Paper writing is the kind of assignment that consumes the most time in a college student's life. You can solve this by delegating that work on a reliable partner such as SpeedyPaper.com. It works. Try it out. If you are unsure, feel free to read a speedy paper review or two from the many available out there. South Africa Being so far to the south means that traveling to South Africa can actually be expensive. But if you are able to get there, you will soon find that the less developed areas of the country are extremely cheap to be at and move around. Which makes it a great destination for students that want to have a chance at seeing some of the impressive landscapes that Africa has to offer while keeping things budget-friendly. If you are into wildlife, the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park will surely satisfy your safari cravings. The Drakensberg, or "dragon mountains" have some of the highest peaks in the country and the landscapes they offer are breathtaking. For adrenaline junkies, Cape Town offers one of the biggest industries for cage diving with white sharks. South Africa has it all, and it is a major representative of what Africa has to offer. Morocco The gap between Spain and Morocco is only about 14 kilometers, which makes it one of the cheapest locations to get to when traveling to Africa from Europe and it is also a very cheap country to visit and stay at with many astonishing places to visit and experience. Do you want to see a real desert? Then you have to lay foot on the Sahara, it is spectacular and Morocco has multiple spots to experience it from. Home to ancient imperial cities, such as Marrakesh, you can spend entire days exploring their beautiful architecture, their traditional bazaars (souks). For me, the Moroccan experience can't be complete without a visit to one of the many traditional hammams, or Turkish baths, which have all the services you need to get a relaxing, memorable and fully north-African experience. Egypt As foreigners, Egypt is probably one of the first countries that pop in our minds when visiting Africa. This is due to the profound historical heritage that the country has, and there is virtually no one who won't value an opportunity to visit the Great Pyramids of Giza or the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. But Egypt has more to offer than just ancient history. You can do things like riding a camel around, tasting the local cuisine (try the Kushari, it is delicious), or hunting for bargains at one of the most traditional bazaars in Cairo, the famous Khan El-Khalili. Traveling around the country is fairly cheap, with the average room around the Cairo center being at the $13 USD range. Getting around is extremely cheap and it can be even cheaper if you present your Student ID card at ticket points of sale, you can get significant discounts that make it even cheaper. POINTE BLANCHE:--- Port St. Maarten in collaboration with the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), will be organizing a Townhall meeting for Tuesday, February 4 from 6.00 pm to 7.30 pm at the Homeporting Terminal in Point Blanche at the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facilities. Entrepreneurs, business owners, managers, and the public are invited to attend the town hall meeting. To register, use the following link which will take you to the Port St. Maarten Web Portal: http://201.220.14.28/sxm/MainMenu.aspx?SpecialEvent=1 Cruise sector experts will be present to share their views about the industry as well as other related information that would be beneficial to persons in the tourism-cruise-hospitality sector or to those who would like to enter the local cruise business. The town hall meeting approach is a new format that Port St. Maarten has implemented in 2020 with respect to stakeholder and community engagement and knowledge sharing in order to stimulate greater awareness about the cruise industry that would be beneficial to persons interested in breaking into the industry. The format of the town hall meeting will afford persons the chance to gain first-hand insight from cruise experts on the current state of the industry, developments and destination trends. Cruise tourism is an essential pillar of the national economy. At the heart of the economy are small, medium-sized and large businesses. The townhall meeting is an opportunity for existing mature businesses to be appraised of the latest and new trends and developments related to the interests of cruise passengers when they visit a destination. At the same time, the engagement session is also an opportunity for would-be aspiring entrepreneurs and should be considered a road to entrepreneurship in developing niche markets, services, and products to an ever-changing cruise demographic. Come out and hear what the cruise industry experts have to say and what they are looking for and what cruise passengers expect from destinations. For an entrepreneur in the making, this could help bring that vision to fruition and fill a need in the cruise tourism sector on the island which keeps us at the forefront as a destination. Register today, Port St. Maarten Management said on Monday. The FCCA is a not-for-profit trade organisation composed of 19 Member Lines operating over 100 vessels in Floridian, the Caribbean, and Latin American waters. Created in 1972, the FCCAs mandate is to provide a forum for discussion on tourism development, ports, safety, security, and other cruise industry issue and to develop bilateral relationships with destinations private and public sectors. By fostering an understanding of the cruise industry and its operating practices, the FCCA works with governments, ports and private sector representatives to maximize cruise passenger, crew and cruise line spending, as well as enhance the destination experience and increase the number of cruise passengers returning as stay-over visitors. Neighbors of a veterinarian accused of fatally bludgeoning two dogs in his back yard in a year say they want the man's veterinary license revoked. Mircea Volosen of Colleyville killed a miniature dachshund Friday with a log-splitting mallet, said the dog's owner, Kevin Ball. Ginger had escaped from the Balls' back yard, which is behind Volosen's, but Ball said he screamed for the vet to stop hitting the 2-year-old dog. Volosen, 44, was arrested Friday and released that day pending further investigation. Police said he will be re-arrested on a warrant issued Tuesday alleging animal cruelty. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of two years in jail and a $10,000 fine. Volosen, a veterinarian at Pet Doctor in Richardson, did not return telephone calls to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In September, Volosen used a blunt object to kill a black Labrador retriever that killed seven rabbits and a chicken in his yard, according to a police report filed by Volosen. The Labrador had lunged at Volosen and tried to bite him, the report stated. Michelle Ball, Kevin's wife, said she plans to file a complaint with the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, which licenses veterinarians. She said the family is not seeking revenge. "He is showing a disturbing manner of behavior, and we think the community needs to know about this," she said. Ron Allen, executive director of the board, said a license is not automatically revoked over accusations of animal cruelty but that the board would investigate any complaint. Volosen has no history of disciplinary action, according to the veterinary board. At his office in Richardson, a woman who declined to identify herself said Volosen is "a very gentle and awesome doctor" and that he was justified in defending his animals in September. She said she was not familiar with Friday's incident. Colleyville police Detective Doug Huseman said Volosen had a right to protect his animals in September but that none of his animals were dead or injured after Friday's incident. The pet owners whose dogs got into Volosen's yard received no citations in either incident. Moscow lawyer accused of $15 mln embezzlement to stay in detention till late March RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 15:22 28/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 28 (RAPSI) The Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld extension of detention of Sergey Yuryev, the president of Moscow's bar association Mezhregion charged with embezzling 1 billion rubles (over $15 million) from the State Air Traffic Management Corporation (ATM), RAPSI was told in the courts press service. Previously, Yuryevs detention was prolonged until March 29. Earlier, members of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers Council and heads of several regional bar associations stood bond for Yuryev. He is an honest and reputable attorney, the Chambers statement reads. One of the lawyers bail bondsmen was Chair of the Federal Chamber of Lawyer Yury Pilipenko. They proposed a 1-million-ruble bail for Yuryev, but their motion was rejected. Investigators claim that in 2008, the State ATM Corporation signed a contract for legal services with one of the bar associations. The bar chairman working connections in the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) submitted a conclusion with a write-up value of legal services for the completion of tender documentation. The signed agreement has been repeatedly prolonged in violation of the established procedure. The contract overpricing resulted in unjust receipt of more than 1 billion rubles by the bar association from 2008 to 2018, investigators claim. A Rosaviatsiya employee involved in the case has been arrested and detained as well. Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday while addressing a 'Yuva Aakrosh' rally in Jaipur, repeated the 'Rape Capital' remark for which he has received a lot of flak earlier. He also slammed the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He repeated, "Today, India is considered as the rape capital of the world." Speaking at the rally, he said, "The reputation and image that India had in the world was that it is a country of brotherhood, love and unity, while Pakistan was known for hatred and divisiveness. This image of India has been damaged by Narendra Modi." On Unemployment The Congress leader slammed PM Modi for not addressing the issue of unemployment. He said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised two crore jobs, but last year our youth lost one crore jobs. Wherever the Prime Minister goes he talks of the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens but the biggest issue of unemployment is not mentioned. The Prime Minister does not even speak a word on it." He added that the Centre's policies have destroyed the youths' potential. Read: Bhima Koregaon: Rahul Gandhi slams case transfer, says 'NIA can't erase resistance' Rahul Gandhi slams PM Modi over economy Attacking PM Modi over the slowing economy, the Congress leader claimed that the Prime Minister has "no knowledge" of the economy. He said, "During the UPA, India grew at 9 per cent. The entire world was looking towards us. Today, you have different parameters to measure GDP and you have a 5 per cent rate. If you use old parameters, then India is growing at just 2.5 per cent. The Prime Minister probably has not studied or understood economics." He added that "A person who can go for demonetisation, ask an eight-year-old and he would tell you that notebandi did more harm than good." Read: Jaipur school cancels all classes to attend Rahul Gandhi's 'Yuva Aakrosh' rally on Jan 28 Rahul Gandhi's earlier statement In an attempt to decry PM Modi for the offences against women in the country, Rahul Gandhi had labelled India as the 'rape capital' of the world. Addressing a public rally in Kerala's Wayanad, the senior Congress said that the global nations are questioning India's ability to protect women. The statement had come amid an unfortunate upward trend in crimes against women, but the remark - and wordplay - involving a 'Rape In India' spin to 'Make In India' was heavily criticised. Read: BJP startled by Congress admitting to arm-twisting Shiv Sena, getting written 'surrender' Read: 'Ask an 8-year-old if demonetisation benefited you or harmed you?': Rahul Gandhi (WITH ANI INPUTS) By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday asked five states sharing borders with Nepal to tie up with hotel associations and get travellers from the neighbouring country to self-report any flu-like symptoms amidst the Novel Coronavirus scare. One confirmed case of Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) in a 31-year-old MBBS student in Nepal has forced the Indian government to increase vigil on its border. In a video conference, Union health secretary Preeti Sudan asked health secretaries of states to identify tertiary healthcare centres, where patients suspected with nCoV, can be kept for observation, diagnosis and possible treatment. Later, Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba too held a meeting with secretaries of different ministries over the preparedness where he was informed that 29,707 passengers from 137 flights have been screened at seven airports for infection. Also, 12 samples have been tested at the National Institute of Virology for the virus but none have tested positive. The development comes even as nearly 3,000 people have been diagnosed with nCoV in China and 81 have died of the infection. During the video conference, Sudan along with home secretary Ajay Bhalla and Indian Council of Medical Research head Balram Bhargava reviewed the preparedness of these bordering states in terms of orientation of health and other agencies; adherence of various prevention and management protocols; awareness regarding prevention among the people being screened and those transiting the border with Nepal; self-reporting by these people; isolation wards and availability of protective gear. by Sara Guaglione , January 28, 2020 Flipboard is creating a new hub for local news, offering readers a way to follow regional news on the platform, while supporting local publishers looking to reach and grow their audiences. The content aggregation platform, which lets users create their own magazine-like packages with aggregated content from other sources, is bringing together regional publishers and national stories of local interest through the new Local initiative. At launch, Flipboard will offer local coverage on news, sports, dining, weather, real estate and transportation in 23 cities. "We wanted to bring them all together because it is really part of what shapes your day, Marci McCue, vice president of content and communications at Flipboard, told Publishers Daily. Flipboards Local hub will include content from regional newspapers, TV stations, radio stations, college news sites and blogs. It will also feature national publishers coverage of local topics, such as coverage of Denver's food scene from Vox Media's Eater brand, for example. advertisement advertisement (Last fall, Flipboard created a destination dedicated to food called The Tastiest.) Flipboard tested the initiative in Toronto last spring. The team found that when users were shown the Toronto topic and followed it, they were 10% more engaged. They were finding stuff that really meant something to their day, McCue said. People who are engaged locally are engaged nationally, she added. Research shows readers trust local news more than national news. Since the Toronto test, Flipboard has added hundreds of sources to the platform. Content will come from a combination of machine learning, RSS feeds, Twitter feeds and editorial curation. Flipboard can recommend local stories to followers of the relevant cities, based on their IP address. The initiative serves as a way for larger publications to reach regional audiences via the Flipboard platform. We applaud Flipboards thoughtful efforts to elevate local news to its users and are delighted that two of our largest metros, the Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee, will be part of this inaugural initiative, stated Jessica Gilbert, senior director of product and experience at McClatchy. Some publications curate Flipboard magazines which can serve as verticals on the platform to organize their content based on local interests and relevant city topics. The Miami Herald, for example, has 15 different Flipboard magazines, ranging from The Miami Heat to Cuba. The Mercury News has 37 magazines on topics like The San Francisco 49ers and California Wildfires. When articles are tagged by publishers, Flipboards topic engine classifies the content and surfaces it to people interested in related subjects, driving traffic to publishers' stories. Now, when new users download Flipboard in one of the 23 cities, they will be offered the Local section as an option to follow. Existing users will find the city sections in the Explore Tab inside the Flipboard app. Flipboard is also using topic recommendation cards in users' feeds to encourage them to follow their city. For the first time, Flipboard will also email its users in those 23 cities. In the future, McCue wants Flipboard to let users tune their local content, allowing them to choose "more Houston food and dining content, less Houston sports," for example. The goal is to expand to micro communities, where you only have five to 10 bloggers aggregating content for the area," she said. McCue wants users to be able to get more granular" too. For example, someone who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area can follow news about Palo Alto. This is just the first step, McCue said. The first 23 cities to be a part of the initiative are Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. The secret lies with Dutch parents, whose approach is radically different from that of American parents. In 2013, Unicef released a report card that assessed childrens wellbeing in 29 of the worlds richest countries. It concluded that Dutch children are the happiest of all, based on five categories: material wellbeing, health and safety, education, behaviors and risks, housing and environment. The Netherlands scored highest in both behaviors and risks and education, and its excellent scores in the other categories put it firmly in the leading position, followed by four Scandinavian countries. (The United States was at the bottom, worse than Greece but better than Lithuania.) Even Dutch children vouched for their own happiness, with 95 percent reporting a high level of life satisfaction. There is nothing more wonderful than thinking of children who are joyful about their own existence. Thats precisely how it should be. Childhood is a time for making memories, pushing boundaries, having great fun. Whats tragic is that Dutch childrens innate happiness stands in such contrast to many children in North America, who seemed to be plagued by chronic unhappiness. Kids may be similar the world over, but their parents are not. The way in which a child is raised has everything to do with how a child turns out, particularly when it comes to happiness. It seems the rest of the world (are you listening, USA?) could learn a thing or two from the Netherlands. After all, isnt happiness what every parent ultimately wants for their child? So whats different? Two mothers, one American and one British, both married to Dutchmen and raising families in Amsterdam, have weighed in on the conversation. In an article for The Telegraph, Rina Mae Acosta and Michele Hutchison, describe what defines a typical Dutch childhood and why its so successful. Dutch parents dont stress out about school. There is little pressure to meet goals, and education isnt even structured until age 6, when a child has been in school for three years. If a kid is slow to read, no one worries; he or she will catch up eventually. The environment is friendlier overall, since the competitive element just isnt there. The Unicef study found: Dutch children are among the least likely to feel pressured by schoolwork and scored highly in terms of finding their classmates friendly and helpful. Dutch parents are happy, which means their kids are happy. Dutch parents dont try to be perfect. They accept the fact that theyll make plenty of mistakes while parenting. Culturally, there are many more fathers who take an active role in parenting, which takes pressure off mothers. Acosta and Hutchison write: The Dutch work on average 29 hours a week, dedicate at least one day a week to spending time with their children, and pencil in time for themselves, too. You wont find a Dutch mother expressing guilt about the amount of time she spends with her children she will make a point of finding time for herself outside motherhood and work. These parents are also authoritative. They tell their kids what to do; they do not ask them. The idea is to not give the child a choice of options but to give clear directions. This approach eliminates many of the battles of wills that occur in American households multiple times days. While Dutch kids opinions are heard and respected, the kids still know whos boss. Getting outside Dutch kids are given a lot of independence from a young age. Theyre encouraged to go places on their own, usually riding their bicycles. Sporting activities are rarely cancelled due to bad weather, which means that kids learn to adapt with proper rain gear. They play outside unsupervised, as parents believe it develops important independence skills. (This is smart because it takes a huge burden off the parent, too.) Independent outdoor play is seen as the antidote to breeding passive, media-addicted couch potatoes. It sounds like the Dutch have really struck the perfect balance. For all those high-strung American and Canadian helicopter parents out there, its time to take a step back and realize that, maybe, doing less of everything is your kids ticket to true happiness. MILL VALLEY (BCN) The Marin County Sheriff's Office has identified a tree service business worker who died when a tree fell on him Monday morning as Edgar Martin Ramos Martinez, 37, a native of Guatemala who was living in San Rafael. Martinez was removing trees on behalf of a homeowners' association between Blue Jay Way and Chamberlain Court in Mill Valley. He was struck by a falling tree and suffered traumatic head and body injuries, Chief Deputy Coroner Roger Fielding said. Martinez was in cardiopulmonary arrest when paramedics arrived and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Sheriff's Office and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) are investigating the death. Cal/OSHA spokesman Frank Polizzi identified Clements Tree Service Inc. of Mill Valley as the tree removal business. He said the fatality occurred at 803 Chamberlain Court in Mill Valley, and the investigation will cover worker safety and training procedures. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. A total of 633 people, who returned to Kerala from China in recent days, are under observation for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus, state Health Minister K K Shylaja said on January 28. Of the 633, seven are under observation in isolation wards at different hospitals, according to officials. The situation in the state was under control but the state needs to be vigilant, the minister told reporters. "A total of 633 people are under observation in the state. As of now everything is under control. But we need to remain vigilant until the World Health Organisation says its safe," the minister said. She asked those who have returned from China or other affected areas like Nepal or Sri Lanka to approach the health department without any hesitation. "Those who have returned from China should approach the health department and follow the instructions of the officials.It has been learnt that the particular virus will be inactive in the body for a few days initially. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show So it is better to stay under observation," the minister said. Meanwhile, a senior health official told PTI that seven people are in isolation wards. "Out of the 633 persons who reached the state, seven are in different hospitals--two in Kochi, four in Thrissur and one in Malappuram district. The rest are home quarantined," the official said. He also said of the ten samples sent for testing at the National Institute of Virology at Pune, six tested negative for the virus while results of the others are awaited. A three-member central team on Tuesday held a meeting with Kerala Health authorities, including Principal Health Secretary Dr Rajan N Khobragade, here and discussed the preventive measures taken against the backdrop of the Coronavirus outbreak in China's Wuhan province. A thermal screening facility was opened at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on Tuesday to scan passengers coming from the neighbouring country, they told reporters. "So far, no case of coronavirus has been reported in the country. There is nothing to worry about in the state as of now," Union Health and Family Welfare Adviser Dr M K Shoukath Ali, a team member, said. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed happiness at the Centre's decision to airlift Indians from Wuhan. He also said the NORKA (Non-Resident Keralites Affairs) department has been in constant touch with central government authorities and Keralites in China. According to a new report from the Kansas City Star, the University of Missouri (MU) has started using an app called SpotterEdu to track students to determine attendance in classes. Individual professors will choose whether or not to use the app. If they choose to use it, students in those classes will be unable to opt-out and therefore forced to install the software on their mobile phones. The unprecedented Orwellian move requires students to install the app with no option to opt-out of the potential privacy-invasive software. A student will have to participate in this recording of attendance, Jim Spain, vice provost for undergraduate studies at MU said in a statement to the Kansas City Star. SpotterEDU is designed to monitor a users attendance by pinpointing students within a classroom until they leave, providing continuous, reliable and non-invasive attendance, according to the apps website. While the app guarantees that students are in the classroom during class times, it claims it does not track the locations of students after hours. However, the two-star rated app found in the Google Play store that has thus far been reviewed by 35 students, states that the app uses the GPS permission on Android to function with many complaining the app doesnt even work. Yeah I havent been able to get into this app. I need it for my stupid science class, but it wont let me get past the turn on location page. My location and Bluetooth is on. The worst app that I havent been able to use. Theres a reason it only has 2 stars. Not losing points on attendance because of this bullcrap. In the Apple Store SpotterEDU received three and a half stars, many users complaining about the app and its tracking. An iOS user named peeboo wrote: Good in Theory But in practice it needs some work. My phone recently gave me a notification that Spotter tracked my location 88 times in previous 3 days (which was mostly the weekend). Why is it tracking my location when I do not have class? I will change my review once this is fixed. Thanks. Still, the company claims that it cant locate students anywhere but in their classrooms. We only care if students are in class during class; no GPS tracking means we cant locate them anywhere else, the apps website states. SpotterEDU works with short-range Bluetooth sensors and campus-wide WiFi networks according to Boston.com. However, if the app is requesting the GPS function on the phone it can be assumed it collects all location data of the phone as a commenter above expressed. This is because the software is not open source and we cant see the code. The program automatically notifies professors if a student skips a class or shows up more than a few minutes late. SpotterEDUs CEO Rick Carter told the Washington Post that professors can look specifically at attendance patterns for students of color or out of state students for retention purposes. Sara Baker of the ACLU of Missouri told the Kansas City Star the organization has deep privacy concerns about the app. Any time you use surveillance technology, the question always is who is watching the watcher, Baker said, adding that such technology could be used for abusive purposes like monitoring which students are participating in protests, for example. Were adults. Do we really need to be tracked? asked Robby Pfeifer, a sophomore at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, which recently began logging the attendance of students connected to the campus WiFi network. Why is this necessary? How does this benefit us? . . . And is it just going to keep progressing until were micromanaged every second of the day? In a statement to The Washington Post, Carter, who also happens to be a former Mizzou basketball coach, said that his company already works with nearly 40 schools including major schools likeAuburn, Central Florida, Indiana, and Missouri. The most frightening aspects of the use of SpotterEDU are that students are unable to opt-outthus giving up their privacy in a time when the right to privacy is being continually assaulted by tech companies, the government, and now schoolsand that it is unknown just what happens with the data that the company collects. Harvey Weinstein got offended when his repeated advances were rebuffed, former production assistant Mimi Haleyi has told the trial of the former movie mogul. I did reject him, but he insisted, said Ms Haleyi, whose allegations against Weinstein led to his charges and trial. Every time I tried to get off the bed, he would push me back and hold me down. Ms Haleyi said she thought Im being raped and considered different options. If I scream rape, will someone hear me? she said. I couldnt get away from him at all, let alone get away. I checked out and decided to endure it. That was the safest thing I could do. Harvey Weinstein (Mark Lennihan/AP) Weinstein, 67, is charged with forcibly performing oral sex on Ms Haleyi in his New York City apartment in 2006 and raping another woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013. He insists any sexual encounters were consensual. Ms Haleyi, 42, whose legal name is Miriam Haley, is the first of the two women whose accusations are at the heart of the charges against Weinstein to give evidence at the closely watched trial. Last week, Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra told the court that Weinstein overpowered and raped her after barging into her apartment in the mid-1990s. Ms Haleyi went public with her allegations at an October 2017 news conference, appearing in front of cameras alongside lawyer Gloria Allred, who also represents Ms Sciorra and other Weinstein accusers. Annabella Sciorra (Kathy Willens/AP) Ms Haleyi, born in England and raised in Sweden, said she met Weinstein while in her 20s at the 2004 London premiere of the film The Aviator. They crossed paths again at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 and, when she expressed interest in working on one of his productions, he invited her to his hotel room and asked for a massage. She said she declined, telling the court: I felt stupid because I was so excited to go see him and he treated me that way. More meetings followed, and Weinstein secured her a job helping on the set of Project Runway, the reality show he produced. Story continues She told the trial that before the alleged assault, Weinstein showed up at her apartment and begged her to join him a trip to Paris for a fashion show. At one point, because I just didnt know how to shut it down, so to speak I said, You know you have a terrible reputation with women, Ive heard. Weinstein got offended, she said. He stepped back and said, What have you heard? Asked by prosecutor Meghan Hast if she had any romantic or sexual interest in Weinstein, Ms Haleyi firmly answered: Not at all, no. Ms Haleyi will have to deal with a defence team that said it plans to confront Weinsteins accusers with messages they exchanged with him after the alleged assaults. The jury of seven men and five women also heard evidence from Barbara Ziv, a forensic psychiatrist who said most sex assault victims continue to have contact with their attackers, often under threat of retaliation if the victims tell anyone what happened. Can't make it to the big game? No need to settle for a comfortable sofa and a bag of stale chips. As the San Francisco 49ers face off against the Kansas City Chiefs on Super Bowl Sunday, enjoy chicken wing and fajita specials plus an all-day happy hour deal at a casual spot near The Heights. Or head to a Lindale Park bar offering Cajun-style crawfish by the pound. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Miami, January 28, 2020 Cuban authorities should immediately drop all criminal charges against journalist Iliana Hernandez, return her equipment, and allow her to report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 8, at around 7:50 a.m., agents from the National Revolutionary Police and Cuban Intelligence Directorate raided the Havana home of Hernandez, a contributor to the independent Cuban news website CiberCuba, and confiscated documents and equipment, including her computer and cell phone, according to Hernandez, who spoke with CPJ via phone. Following the raid, agents gave Hernandez a citation saying she had been charged with receiving stolen property, and ordering her to appear before police on January 13, according to Hernandez and a copy of the citation that she posted to Twitter. Authorities released Hernandez later on January 8 on 1,000 Cuban pesos ($39) bail, but did not return her equipment, she said. The crime of receiving stolen property, which relates to the possession of goods that a person could rationally suppose were obtained illegally, is punishable by up to one year in prison, according to the Cuban penal code. On January 13, Hernandez presented herself at the police station and provided agents with documentation certifying that she had lawfully obtained the computer, phone, and other items, but said the officers would not accept the documents. Officers then took her to see an inspector from the Ministry of Communications, who threatened to fine her for having breached Decree 370, which criminalizes disseminating information contrary to the social interest, morals, good manners and integrity of people on public networks, she said. Since January 13, Hernandez told CPJ she went to the provincial and municipal prosecutors offices to ask about her case, but has not been informed of a future date to appear in court, and described her situation as limbo. Cuban authorities should immediately drop their trumped-up charges against journalist Iliana Hernandez and cease threatening her with further legal action, said CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick in New York. Working for independent media and possessing basic reporting equipment is not a crime. Cuban authorities must return Hernandezs computer and phone, and allow her to work freely. CiberCubas website is blocked in Cuba, CPJ has documented. Hernandez told CPJ that readers access the page through Facebook or by using proxies. Hernandez told CPJ that she has reported for CiberCuba since December 2018, and has reported pieces on issues such as crime, community news, and corruption allegations. She added that she hosts a live-stream program on CiberCubas Facebook page, where she provides commentary on the news of the day. Hernandez told CPJ that she has both Cuban and Spanish citizenship, and said that she informed the Spanish consulate in Cuba of her situation. CPJ emailed the Cuban Ministry of the Interior for comment, but did not receive a response. CPJ also called the National Revolutionary Police, but no one answered the phone. Cuba is one of the most hostile environments for the press in the world, and ranks among CPJs 10 Most Censored Countries. VV Balakrishna By Express News Service HYDERABAD: BJP State president K Laxman dared TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to go in for the next general elections on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Do so if you have guts, he challenged KCR in a freewheeling chat with the TNIE team here on Tuesday. Finding fault with the State governments decision to adopt a resolution against the CAA in the State Legislature, a combative Laxman wanted KCR to clarify, while adopting the resolution, whether Pakistani Muslims should be included in the CAA. ALSO READ| Civic polls proved party is emerging as alternative to TRS: Telangana BJP chief K Laxman He averred that if the State Legislature adopted the resolution for the withdrawal of CAA, all nationalists in the State would rally behind the BJP. Laxman further said, "If KCR is in favour of merger of Pakistan with India, I will prevail upon the BJP Central leadership to see to it that Pakistani Muslims are included in the CAA." He alleged that the TRS was hand in glove with the MIM. The MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi was trying to divide the society on the lines of religion following in the footsteps of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. "The TRS chief said that Muslims are not included in the CAA and that is the reason the TRS opposed the Act. Which Muslims should be included in the CAA? The Muslims from Pakistan? No Indian Muslim is getting affected because of the CAA. We (BJP leaders) are going to conduct door-to-door awareness campaigns on the Act," Laxman said. ALSO READ| Congress is mother-son party, TRS is father-son party: Telangana BJP chief K Laxman He alleged that MIM chief Owaisi was creating a rift between citizens in the name of religion. "Hindus are a majority in India, yet they are tolerant. We (BJP) do not want to make the country a Hindu Rashtra. Prime Minister Narendra Modis wish is Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. We are not dividing the society. But Owaisi is and the TRS is supporting him. I dare the TRS government to adopt a resolution in the Legislature requesting the Centre to include Pakistani Muslims in the CAA," Laxman said. He recalled that the first Law Minister of Pakistan, Jogendra Nath Mandal, who was a Dalit, was persecuted in Pakistan and he migrated to West Bengal where he breathed his last as a refugee. Pakistan is an outright Muslim country, he pointed out. He also alleged that the TRS was helping the MIM in expanding its base in the State. The MIM used to be limited to Old City of Hyderabad. But now, its candidates have won in Bhainsa, Nizamabad and Karimnagar civic bodies, thanks to the TRS. It is responsible for the growth of the MIM. Press Release January 28, 2020 After Sin Tax Law passage: Pia to push for a comprehensive approach to address binge drinking, smoking Following the landmark passage of the Sin Tax Reform Law last week, Senate Ways and Means Chairperson Pia S. Cayetano said she will push for a more comprehensive approach to continue protecting Filipinos' health and well-being. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed into law last January 22 Republic Act No. 11467, which imposes heavier tax rates on alcohol, heated tobacco products (HTPs), and vapor products. "Part of the task is to get this law signed. We now have accomplished that. I thank all of the [health] advocates and everybody who spent so much time in helping us see this through," Cayetano said during a press conference in Intramuros on Tuesday (January 28). The senator in particular thanked her colleagues in Congress for supporting the provision under the law that mandates the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate e-cigarette products. RA 11467 provides for the establishment of a framework for the regulation of HTPs & vapes by the FDA, including banning the sale to non-smokers and persons below 21 years old. "One of the successful provisions that we have been able to include in this law is for the FDA to regulate these products. And I am very happy about that... We have now provided the legal mechanism for FDA to take the lead," she stressed. "The challenge is now with them. And I implore upon all the stakeholders, both on the side of the advocates and the industry, to support FDA to allow them to do their job," she added. Meanwhile, Cayetano said the campaign to protect Filipinos from the dangers of sin products should not stop with imposing higher taxes. Taxation, she noted, should be complemented by a comprehensive public health strategy. "The journey is not over because the effectivity of the law is in its implementation," she said. The senator then expressed her commitment to work with her fellow legislators as well as with government agencies and advocacy groups to assess and strengthen the country's smoking- and drinking-cessation programs. "I would like to work with our Committee on Health in the Senate and our counterparts in the House to strengthen our existing regulations and, to the extent necessary, [implement] new laws for the protection of our youth against these harmful products - alcohol, HTPs, and vapes," she stressed. "I am also calling on the education and health departments, community officials, and parents, [to guard the youth against e-cigarette products]... It is supposed to be for those who want to shift from cigarettes to another product. It is not there to encourage the youth to take on a brand new vice," the senator added. A South 24 Parganas district court on Tuesday sentenced two persons to death on the charge of raping and murdering a minor girl, in the second such punishment since Monday in West Bengal. Additional district judge, fast track court, Baruipur, Ramendra Nath Makhal awarded capital punishment to Palan Ali Laskar and his friend Sabir Ali Laskar who had raped and killed the girl in 2007. The victim is a cousin of Sabir. Another accused, who is a minor, was acquitted by the court. The girl was abducted from near her home at Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district on September 22, 2007. They then raped and killed her before dumping the body in a canal. A Hooghly district court had on Monday sentenced two persons to death on the charge of raping and murdering a minor girl in 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The terms immunohistochemistry, immunocytochemistry and immunofluorescence are often confused. When it comes to immunostaining these terms should not be used interchangeably regardless of the method. The key differences are outlined below to ensure that anyone new to the field does not use the wrong term in an abstract or presentation. Firstly, consider these terms broken down into prefixes, roots and suffixes. Root Word Meanings: Immuno an immunological technique (for example, the binding of antibodies to an antigen) Histo tissue (cells with the extracellular matrix) Cyto cells (cells without the extracellular matrix) Chemistry a method of detection using chemicals (for example, a change in color) Fluorescence using emission of light from an excited fluorophore for detection Generally, the terms immunohistochemistry and immunocytochemistry are most often used correctly for their broad meaning to use an antibody to detect an antigen in a tissue or cell, respectively. It is when people use a fluorophore for the detection of the primary antibody, be this through a direct conjugation to the primary antibody or through a labeled secondary antibody, that the problem arises. The term immunofluorescence is then used to label this technique. However, this does not reveal the sample type, only the method of detection that was used. Primary antibodies are often designated by biotech companies as being tested for use in immunofluorescence. This does not tell us very much. When choosing a product based on whether they have been validated for use in a particular application, the most important thing to consider is whether the product has been validated for the particular sample type in use (i.e. tissue or cells). The detection system (-chemistry or -fluorescence) comes secondary. In this sense, immunofluorescence as an application term for primary antibodies is particularly useless. If it were possible to replace -chemistry with -fluorescence at the end of each term then the visualization method used would be much better indicated, whilst maintaining the sample type information. Proposed Nomenclature for Immunostaining Techniques Source: StressMarq Biosciences . Tissue (-histo) Cells (-cyto) Chemical detection (-chemistry) Immunohistochemistry Immunocytochemistry Fluorescent detection (-fluorescence) Immunohistofluorescence Immunocytofluorescence Key Definitions Immunochemistry (IC) Definition The use of an antibody and subsequent visualization of a chemical reaction that produces a color change in order to detect a target. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Definition The use of an antibody and subsequent visualization of a chemical reaction that produces a color change in order to detect a target in tissue. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) Definition The use of an antibody and subsequent visualization of a chemical reaction that produces a color change in order to detect a target in cells. Immunofluorescence (IF) Definition The use of an antibody and subsequent visualization using a fluorophore in order to detect a target. Immunohistofluorescence (IHF) Definition The use of an antibody and subsequent visualization using a fluorophore in order to detect a target in tissue. Immunocytofluorescence (ICF) Definition The use of an antibody and subsequent visualization using a fluorophore in order to detect a target in cells. It is apparent from Google searches that it will be a while before these terms are used as the norm. The term immunofluorescence (IF) is still widely used and so, as such, it has been reluctantly grouped with the immunocytochemistry (ICC) application term here, as those two techniques are often combined. The ICC/IF abbreviation is used throughout our website as a result. If an antibody is labeled as being tested for use in ICC/IF this means that it has been validated using cells with a secondary antibody conjugated to either a fluorescent or enzyme/protein tag. The abbreviation IHC for immunohistochemistry means that the antibody may be used in tissue with a secondary antibody conjugated to any tag, as the binding of the primary antibody is not affected. Acknowledgments Produced from materials originally authored by Leslie Rietveld from StressMarq Biosciences Inc. About StressMarq Biosciences Established in 2007, StressMarq Biosciences Inc. is a supplier of life science products that operates out of Victoria, Canada with a small, but dedicated group of scientists. Headed by our CEO and President Dr. Ariel Louwrier, StressMarq provides the research community with high-quality reagents backed with rigorous quality control data, expert scientific support, and fast international delivery. Discovery through partnership, Excellence through quality With over 7,000 products, our growth can be attributed to the continual production of cutting edge research products. Our diverse portfolio of primary antibodies, antibody conjugates, proteins, immunoassay kits and small molecules bridges across the life sciences, including products for cancer research, cardiovascular disease, cell signaling and neuroscience. To aid research worldwide, StressMarq has an extensive network of international distributors that allow us to supply reagents to over 50 countries. In the years to come, StressMarq will continue to aid life science research by providing Discovery through partnership, and Excellence through quality. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 Trend: A meeting has been held in the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers on the instruction of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, dedicated to preventive measures against the coronavirus outbreak announced by the World Health Organization and the Chinese government, spread in Chinas Wuhan city and recorded in other parts of the world, Trend reports referring to the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers. The meeting, chaired by Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov, was attended by heads of the relevant government agencies. Discussions on measures to prevent the epidemic from entering Azerbaijan were held at the meeting. It was decided to carry out the following measures provided for such cases: - transition to enhanced mode at border crossing points; - mandatory thorough medical examination of all persons coming from China, in particular, epidemic zones, and taking them under control; - preparation of a list of food products from the high-risk category through which the virus may spread and strengthening control over these products in food markets; - creation of a hotline in health-care facilities; - enlightening the population about the virus and methods of combating it; - regular informing the population about the situation. The population has been informed that there are enough medical supplies in Azerbaijan required in such cases. Presently, there are no cases of infection with the mentioned virus in Azerbaijan. The situation regarding the populations healthcare is under Azerbaijans full control and there are no grounds for concern. A decision was made at the meeting to create a working group under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and with the participation of appropriate structures. The WHO relevant recommendations are taken into account, close contact is maintained with the Azerbaijani embassy in China and the Chinese embassy in Azerbaijan within the ongoing measures. The Azerbaijani embassy in China maintains constant contact with the Chinese state structures and the Azerbaijani citizens who are in China. BJP state unit president Satish Poonia on Monday said that the Congress party is trying to gather people for the party's MP Rahul Gandhi's rally here on Tuesday. "The Congress party does not believe in its workers and they have demanded that at least 100 students from every college should be made available for the rally," Poonia told ANI. "The kind of atmosphere which is being created against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), I think Rahul Gandhi must be doing a rally here regarding that," he said. "Businessmen in Jaipur have told me that their workers have also been asked to come to the rally. Even schools are closed. In Ajmer, students of government colleges have been asked to reach the rally," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Subscriber content preview By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO Shelters made of cardboard start popping up in the basement of Tokyo's Shinjuku train station right before the shutters come down at 11 p.m., in corridors where salarymen rushing home and couples on late-night dates have just passed by. Dozens of homeless people sleeping rough in such spots worry that with Japan's image at stake authorities will force them to move ahead of the Olympics. Already, security officials have warned them they will likely have to find less visible locations by the end of March. . . . For almost one month during my fun filled, all-expense paid visit to Vietnam in 1970, I was a member of an aircrew. President Richard Nixons program of Vietnamization was in full swing, and things were rapidly changing. The program was an attempt to extricate the U.S. by turning the war over to the South Vietnamese military, in full. And the very first day the program was signed, military supplies and equipment for the unpopular war began to dry up. Of course, the South Vietnamese were nowhere near being prepared for the handoff, so the American forces at hand had to continue all of their missions, albeit with fewer supplies and equipment. Assigned to various functions in supply, I spent most of my time in or near the Phu Cat airbase in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Scrambling for supplies and equipment was a way of life, but soon after Nixons program unfolded, we came in dire need of many additional items just to keep the birds flyingand the Vietcong at bay. One of the first airbases to shutdown was Nha Trang, a few hundred miles south of Phu Cat. In addition to being an airbase, Nha Trang was home to a large Special Forces operation. Around September of 1970, I was sent to Nha Trang to scrounge any materials which they may have had, that we were in need of at Phu Cat. I was looking forward to the detail, I thought it would be a piece of cake. But as with most things in the war, it turned out to be anything but that. Nha Trang, an in-country R & R center, was right on the coast of Vietnam and was famous for its beautiful white sand beaches. Armed with only a pile of paper work, I hopped on a C-130 Hercules and landed at Nha Trang several hours later, eager to carry out my mission. The best laid plans of mice and men Upon my arrival at Nha Trang, I headed right over to the supply warehouse, to lay claim to the materials that Phu Cat needed. When I arrived at the warehouse, I was surprised to see a long line of both air force and army personnel sent as scavengers from military posts all over South Vietnam. Thats when I realized this wasnt going to be as easy as I had thought. The airmen assigned to the warehouse had been worked to a frazzle, they were spread thin .and in foul humor. Realizing I would not be able to submit my material request until at least the next day, I went through the warehouse, looking for the materials needed at Phu Cat. I hoped to find and mark them so they could be readily identified and shipped off asap. Surprised again, I found none of the supplies and equipment on my list. I got in line once more, and when it was my turn to submit my requirements, I was told to just leave my report and come back the next day. With nothing else to do, I found my quarters, and then took a nice swim in the South China Sea. It was wonderful. I also found a Red Cross center, occupied by two American donut dollies. Not having seen any Western women for quite some time, I hung around their compound like a love struck school boy. The next couple of days were spent trying to wrangle the needed materials from members of the other U.S. military facilities who had shown up looking for goods. Most were disappointed at what was available at Nha Trang and full-scale bartering and trading activities ensued. As it turned out, few if any had anything, we were in need of at Phu Cat, and many were short of the same items we were. The best I could do was leave my list of requirements with the ill-humored on-site staff, who said they would look at it at some time in the future and ship whatever they could find. True to their word, they eventually sent a large amount of materials and equipment to Phu Cat, unfortunately it was surplus junk they didnt want to deal with at Nha Trang, not what we needed or requested. So, the whole detail turned into a bungled mess. Shanghaied Packed up and ready to head back to Phu Cat on the third or fourth day, I was stopped on the flight line by an Air Force officer. Campo is it? He asked, trying to read my nametag. Campolo, sir, I replied. He looked me over and ordered me to head back into the small Nha Trang air terminal. Damn, what the hell did I do now? I wondered. As it turned out, the officer, a major, had no issue with anything I had done, he just needed another body to load cargo aircraft for the next couple of days. (A beefy guy, wide in the back with a distinctive brow ridge, apparently) He explained that I would load and unload any and everything at each base or airfield on designated flight routes. He officially dubbed me an assistant loadmaster. (In other words, a pack mule) When I put up concerns, he assured me he would contact my superiors at Phu Cat and let them know I would be unavailable for a short time. He sweetened the pot by guaranteeing me flight pay for three months-time. That along with my regular pay and the hazardous duty pay I was already receiving for being in Nam, translated into a nice round figure. Now he had my interest. Most of the money we made over there was put into bank accounts for us, as there wasnt any place to spend much of it anyway. I was building up a nice fat nest egg. And apparently I wasnt as invaluable as I thought, because no one from Phu Cat put up a fuss over my abduction by the Major. So, the next three weeks found me flying around the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, loading and unloading aircraft. It was almost one month before the major released me and I was able to return to Phu Cat. Joe Campolo Jr., a lifelong Kenoshan, is an accomplished author of three books, historical fiction, relating to the Vietnam War. This item from his blog is reprinted with his permission. For more, visit his website, namwarstory.com Joe Campolo Jr., a lifelong Kenoshan, is an accomplished author of three books, historical fiction, relating to the Vietnam War. This item from his blog is reprinted with his permission. For more, visit his website, namwarstory.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 She went from baker to pub landlady after purchasing a brewery in Bedfordshire last year. Yet Candice Brown enjoyed a night off from serving drinks and was able to enjoy a couple as she attended pal Frankie Bridge's book launch in London on Monday. The Great British Bake Off winner, 35, looked in very high spirits as she left the party clutching her coat and scarf. Landlady: Candice Brown enjoyed a night off from serving drinks and was able to enjoy a couple as she attended pal Frankie Bridge's book launch in London on Monday Candice couldn't control her giggles as she strode out of the venue, stumbling on the way in her patent heeled boots. Showcasing her hourglass curves, she slipped into a leopard print wrap dress that cinched in at her slender waist and highlighted her tanned and toned pins. She completed the look by sweeping her ombre locks away from her face and donning a slick of her signature bold red lipstick. Stumbling: The Great British Bake Off winner, 35, looked in very high spirits as she left the party clutching her coat and scarf Making an exit: Candice couldn't control her giggles as she strode out of the venue, stumbling on the way in her patent heeled boots Candice was at the event supporting her pal Frankie, who has released, Open: Why Asking For Help Can Save Your Life, a book detailing her battle with depression. Last year, Candice, who previously worked as a PE teacher, purchased a pub that she runs alongside her brother, Ben. Speaking to Hello magazine about her new venture, she revealed: 'Sometimes people do recognize me and look shocked when I deliver their puddings personally,' Leggy lady! Showcasing her hourglass curves, she slipped into a leopard print wrap dress that cinched in at her slender waist and highlighted her tanned and toned pins Brunette beauty: She completed the look by sweeping her ombre locks away from her face and donning a slick of her signature bold red lipstick Two's company: Candice was at the event supporting her pal Frankie, who has released, Open: Why Asking For Help Can Save Your Life, a book detailing her battle with depression 'I don't shy away from hard work, and I never wanted to just lend my name to this and then disappear.' The star hasn't given up her love of baking, however, and revealed that she has created several desserts for the menu. 'I wouldn't want anybody to do something I wasn't prepared to do myself,' she said. JLL expects Vietnams fastest growing cities to maintain the level of interest from overseas investors, and continue on its growth trajectory, particularly with the help of government policy to resolve infrastructure deficit and city sustainability. A view of downtown Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi continue to lead the momentum in Southeast Asia, ranking third and seventh respectively among the most dynamic cities in the world, according to the latest JLL City Momentum Index, now in its seventh year. The results show a continued shift in global influence from West to East, with Indian, Chinese and Vietnamese cities dominating the top positions, property service firm JLL has said in a note. Vietnam with two cities in the top 20, the most of any country in the SEA region featured highly in the global ranking. This is driven by soaring exports to the US as Vietnams economy is said to profit from the China-US trade war, which is forcing companies to shift their supply chains. The Index combines socio-economic and commercial property metrics of 130 markets to identify the worlds most dynamic urban centers. The Index identifies a number of key growth drivers, including talent attraction, the expansion of innovation hubs and better urban planning, that cities can employ to meet the challenges faced by rapid momentum. Over recent years, Vietnam has entered a journey of international integration and creating an export-driven economy. Securing a large number of FTAs has set Vietnam up for a partnership with 60 countries worldwide, and supports Vietnam on its path to become the new global manufacturing hub. These successful trade pacts are also expected to boost Vietnams GDP by 2.18-3.25% annually by 2023 and by 4.57%-5.30% annually between 2024 and 2028. Stephen Wyatt, country head of JLL Vietnam, comments on the achievement: This has strengthened Vietnams leading momentum in South East Asia, with Ho Chi Minh City (3rd) and Hanoi (7th) retaining their status as the top two cities leading the Index and are set to have among the highest economic growth globally over the next several years. However, rapid urbanization and strong economic growth in Vietnam are putting huge pressure on existing infrastructure. While many other cities are struggling to keep pace with the growing demands for high-quality transport and utilities, both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are responding to the infrastructure deficit by investing heavily in new metro networks to create large, commuter-intensive public transport systems. A new Long Thanh Airport is also being constructed in Ho Chi Minh City to supersede Tan Son Nhat as the citys international airport. In response to demographics growth and the need for quality of life enhancement, smart-city technologies are presented as an appropriate measure to improve a citys efficiency, livability and sustainability. In Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are pushing smart cities initiatives and districts to promoted sustainable development. This has attracted foreign investors such as Sumitomo, Lotte Group, and ABB Group. Notable developments in progress include Eco Smart City in Ho Chi Minh City and BRG Smart City in Hanoi. JLL expects Vietnams fastest growing cities to maintain the level of interest from overseas investors, and continue on its growth trajectory, particularly with the help of government policy to resolve infrastructure deficit and city sustainability, concluded Stephen Wyatt. Hanoitimes Minh An Radical Republicans pushed for aggressive military policy, emancipation, and Western expansion On March 4, 1861, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives convened as the 37th Congress the day Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as president. In his inaugural address, Lincoln took a conciliatory stance and promised not to interfere with slavery in states where it existed, but the antislavery congressional Republicans who became known as Radicals insisted that the power to shape the course of the war resided in the legislative branch, not the White House. In Congress at War: How Republican Reformers Fought the Civil War, Defied Lincoln, Ended Slavery, and Remade America, historian Fergus M. Bordewich explores how the 37th and 38th Congresses pushed the president to fight the Confederacy aggressively, emancipate the four million African Americans in bondage and protect their civil rights, and enact legislation that made the federal government stronger. You identify four legislators who were central characters during the Civil War. Who were they? Two were leading Radicals, Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Senator Ben Wade of Ohio. Both were consistent advocates for an aggressive war policy and forceful action to liberate the Souths slaves. Another, Senator William P. Fessenden of Maine, a conservative by nature, only belatedly and cautiously aligned himself with the Radicals; as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, he was a pivotal figure in raising money to carry on the war. The fourth, Ohio Representative Clement L. Vallandigham, a staunch Copperhead, was a northern Democrat with southern sympathies and the leading advocate for a negotiated peace. What were the main challenges facing Congress in 1861? The challenges that Congress faced were existential: How could the North be mobilized for a war it never expected to fight? How could the war be paid for? Could the Constitution survive the suspension of fundamental civil rights in the name of national security? Should the war be fought with respect for the sanctity of Southern propertyincluding slavesor with a ruthlessness that would bring the seceded states to their knees? Suspicion of central government, distrust of a strong executive, and traditions of states rightsin the North as well as the Souththreatened to undermine the countrys war-making ability, while deep-seated racism threatened to infect every war policy that touched on the future of black Americans. What were the main achievements of the special session of the 37th Congress that met July 4, 1861-Aug. 7, 1861, and what was the backdrop for their actions? In effect, the special session made the war a reality. Passage of the Confiscation Act facilitated the liberation of enslaved people as contraband of war, and began the march toward general emancipation. The biggest war loan in American history to that date was approved, and the first income tax was enacted. Money was appropriated to pay the troops, buy arms and ordnance, construct fortifications and develop armored ships. The size of the Navy was dramatically increased. The president was given the authority to mobilize state militias for the wars duration. Federal employees, for the first time, were required to swear a binding oath of allegiance. The Philadelphia Daily News proclaimed, This extra session has been, in many respects, the most remarkable of any held since the adoption of the Federal Constitution. Congress supported unilateral actions taken by President Lincoln in the opening weeks of the war, except for his decision to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Can you explain the significance of habeas corpus and how the presidents decision affected the war effort? Lincolns suspension of habeas corpus was an emergency response to acts of sabotage and subversion by southern sympathizers in Maryland. Suspension enabled the military to arrest and hold civilians as suspected saboteurs without due process. Democrats and some Republicans protested at this perceived assault on civil liberties, but if Lincoln had not acted Washington and its small military garrison would have been cut off from reinforcements from the North. It took many months for Republicans to rally behind Lincoln on the issue of suspension, and many did so with lingering moral qualms. Congress, with Republican majorities in both houses, was ahead of the president on emancipation. What actions did legislators in the 37th Congress take that pushed Lincoln toward freeing slaves? In passing the Confiscation Act, Congress invented a strategy for giving runaway slaves safety within Union lines, in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Law. In 1862, Congress voted to free all remaining slaves in the nations capital, while powerful Radicals such as Thaddeus Stevens urged Lincoln to adopt general emancipation as a war measure. This the president finally committed to a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862 and formalized the proclamation on January 1, 1863. Although it applied only to areas under federal control, the proclamation made clear federal determination to destroy slavery everywhere. As early as 1862, Radicals in Congress also began pressing for the recruitment of former slaves and free African Americans as soldiers, which became official policy in 1863. One of the most controversial moves of the 37th Congress was formation of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. Why was the committee so significant to military policy and public opinion? The Joint Committee was the driving engine of congressional war policy, prodding and pressuring Lincoln to take more aggressive military action and to act more decisively against slavery. The committee interviewed hundreds of serving army officers about their strategy, tactics, and management, and publicly challenged those, such as Maj. Gen. George McClellan, who it considered insufficiently committed to a hard-war policy. The committee also vigorously investigated war profiteering, the treatment of federal prisoners in the Confederacy, and the horrific massacre of black federal troops at Fort Pillow, in 1864. The committee was criticized both during the war and afterward as an example of unjustifiable civilian interference in war-making. Its defenders replied that through the committee Congress was in fact carrying out its constitutionally mandated duty of oversight. Had the committee been less forcefully ledit was chaired by the Radical Sen. Ben Wade of OhioMcClellan and cautious generals of his type would likely have remained in command far longer and pressure to the recruitment of black troops would have been far weaker. Congress enacted innovative legislation that continues to affect the country in the 21st century. Can you talk about those bills? The Civil War era was one of the most dynamic periods of legislative activism in American history. Congress made the Union victory possible by raising the astronomical sums necessary to keep the war effort afloat by enacting the innovative sale of war bonds and the countrys first income tax. It also reinvented the nations financial system, in part through the issuing of the first national currency, and passed far-reaching legislation that was long blocked by prewar southern intransigence: in particular, western homesteading, the Transcontinental Railroad, and the establishment of land-grant colleges. By its determined support for emancipation, Congress also initiated the racial revolution that would overthrow the Souths cotton economy and eventually make citizens of nearly 4 million former slaves. One of the most difficult and controversial issues that Congress debated was what to do with people perceived to be traitors because they supported the Confederacy. Talk about how Congress dealt with Copperheads. Copperhead agitation against the war ranged from argument on the floor of Congress, to polemics in the press, to organized subversion. A few Copperheads were summarily expelled from Congress, and the movements most prominent leader, Rep. Clement L. Vallandigham, was arrested and deported to the Confederacy. (He later returned to participate in the 1864 Democratic convention.) Beginning in 1861, after bitter debate, Congress sustained the suspension of habeas corpus, first in Maryland and parts of the Northeast and eventually across the country, enabling military authorities to crack down on extreme Copperhead activity. Enforcement varied widely and was sometimes capricious. Hundreds were arrested and jailed, and several newspapers suspended, though usually for only brief periods, prompting widespread uneasiness about the curtailment of civil liberties. Another act that caused public unrest was the Enrollment Act of 1863. What happened as a result of this new law? The Enrollment Act enabled the War Department to draft men between 20 and 45 by lottery. It was the first conscription act in American history and a radical departure from the tradition of depending on volunteers to fill the armys depleted ranks. In some areas, most notably those with large Copperhead populations, the public reaction against was intense, most violently in New York City, where hundreds were killed during days of rioting in July 1863. The Enrollment Act also established a system of provost marshals charged with arresting deserters, punishing treasonable practices, and seizing traitors and enemy spies. It further provided steep penalties for anyone who concealed a deserter, resisted the draft, or counseled anyone to do so. In some localities in the Midwest, the act led to rioting and bloodshed, including attacks on recruiting officers and draft offices, and the murder of 38 provost marshals by the end of the war. Clement Vallandigham is seen most often as a reprehensible proponent of slavery and a traitor. You have a more nuanced view. Vallandigham, who represented Dayton, Ohio and became the most outspoken leader of the Copperheads in Congress, was an unapologetic racist and white supremacist who vigorously opposed the Union war effort in the most scathing terms. But he was a complex figure. He opposed capital punishment, advocated for the immigrant working class, and protested the brutal treatment of seamen on American ships. He tirelessly attacked racial amalgamation and negro equality, and charged that emancipation would cause millions of blacks to move north to steal white mens jobs. At the same time, he defended traditional civil liberties against the actions of federal provost marshals and repressive measures such as the closure of Copperhead newspapers and the jailing of antiwar men for exercising the right of free speech. Had he espoused more enlightened policies on race and the Union, he might well be celebrated as one of Americas great wartime dissenters. An abbreviated version of this interview appeared in the May 2020 issue of Americas Civil War. https://www.aish.com/jw/s/Blaming-Jews-for-Murder-Modern-Blood-Libel.html Jews have been blamed for violence in cases where theyve been victims or tried to help. Recent weeks have seen a slew of accusations against Jews for murder, in complete contravention of the facts. The accusations are chutzpah on steroids. Here are four horrible examples of Jews being blamed for deaths, both of others and at times for their own. When the parents of Qais Abu Ramila, an eight-year-old Arab boy living just outside Jerusalem, didnt know where he was on Friday, January 24, 2020, they called the police. A few hours previously, theyd given the boy a 50 shekel and told him to pick some items at a nearby grocery store. When he still hadnt returned home hours later, his parents feared the worst and turned to local officials as well as Jewish volunteers for help. Israeli first responders leapt into action, searching his neighborhood. After appealing for help, hundreds of Israelis joined in the search overnight. Some local residents began to blame Jews. While the search was still going on, police were forced to use precious resources to block an angry mob of Arab men from attacking a nearby Jewish neighborhood after false allegations that Jews had murdered the boy whipped up hatred. By the early hours of Saturday morning, Israeli first responders feared the boy might have fallen into a pit that recent rains had rendered full of water. Searchers pumped water out of a rainwater-filled area, and found Abu Ramilas lifeless body. The 50-shekel note was still in his pocket. Magen David Adom ambulance workers tried to revive him but tragically he was declared dead. Abu Ramilas parents mourned their son, telling local Israeli journalists that he was the flower of their family. They acknowledged that his death was a horrible accident. Yet while the Abu Ramila family was grieving, an anonymous social media post declared the completely fabricated lie that Israeli Jews had murdered the boy, kidnapping and assaulting him before throwing him into a well to drown. This lie was reminiscent of medieval accusations that Jews poisoned wells and killed Christian children. Despite its obvious falseness, the post gained traction, being shared and re-tweeted by prominent figures around the world. Palestinian official Hanan Ashwari re-tweeted the false accusation. Former British MP and radio personality George Galloway took the lie even further, asserting that the boy (whose age he got wrong) was murdered by illegal Israeli settlers (sic) and - in what sounded a lot like an incitement to violence - called for anyone (to) check this evil rampage against the people of Palestine. Anyone? In the US, Rep. Rashida Tlaib also re-tweeted the slanderous lie that the eight year old was murdered by Jews. She deleted the tweet when its grotesque accusation proved to be false, but not before it was seen by supporters, baselessly smearing Israeli Jews as murderers. Blaming Jews for their Own Murders After two domestic terrorists who were members of a Black-supremacist cult-like religion attacked a kosher grocery store and murdered four people in cold blood on December 5, 2019, some locals blamed the Jewish victims. That morning, the two terrorists first shot Det. Joseph Seals, a father of five. They then drove a short distance to a heavily Jewish area in Jersey City, where a note later found in their car revealed they intended to attack a Jewish school. Instead of the Jewish school, the murderers entered a kosher grocery store next door, where they murdered three people: Mindy Ferencz, the owner of the store and a mother of three young children; shopper Moshe Deutsch; and worker Douglas Miguel Rodriguez. A manifesto found in the killers car showed they set out to murder Jews - yet as news of the horrific murder unfolded, many locals turned their anger not on the murderers whod attacked their community, but on Jews themselves. I blame the Jews one woman at the scene of the attack said that night. The founder of a group that combats anti-Semitism filmed a crowd of Jersey City residents. One by one locals railed against the Jewish victims, not the terrorists who attacked them. Four of yours are dead, right one local asked the obviously Jewish cameraman, before spewing If they were dead, thats great. Other passersby said they blamed Jew shenanigans and yelled Get the Jews out of Jersey City. These horrific statements were made in the hours after the murders, when emotions were running high. Yet even later on, when it became apparent that this was a premeditated attack aimed at Jewish children and adults, one member of the Jersey City Board of Education, Joan Terrell Paige, posted on social media calling Jews brutes and said she empathized not with the victims but with the murderers: What is the message they were sending? she asked of the killers. Are we brave enough to explore the answer to their message? When local officials and fellow Board of Education called on Paige to resign, residents rallied to her support, attending a board meeting in order to defend her and repeat her odious message. Attacking Israel on International Holocaust Remembrance Day As Israelis and world leaders prepared to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, one BBC reporter took the opportunity to seemingly attack Israelis for remembering the Holocaust at all. In her internationally-broadcast report on January 22, 2020, BBC reporter Orla Guerin interviewed a Holocaust survivor inside Yad Vashem, Israels memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Her report concluded with images of young Israeli soldiers entering the memorial; many were visibly moved as they looked at pictures of victims who might have been their great grandparents or other relatives. These young soldiers, who every day put their lives on the line to defend the Jewish state, understand the history of the Jewish people they are defending. Its appropriate that they learn about the Holocaust and its role in recent Jewish and Israeli history. Yet instead of commenting on the fact that Jews continue to face horrific anti-Semitism and that Israel, as the homeland and refuge of the Jewish people, is an indelible part of Jewish survival, Ms. Guerlin used the end of her report to trot out tired tropes attacking the Jewish state. For decades, it (Israel) has occupied Palestinian territories Ms. Guerlin asserts, in one sentence seemingly erasing any Jewish connection to the land of Israel, and smearing Israel as an illegitimate country with no right to its land. ...but some here will always see their nation through the prism of persecution and survival, Ms. Guerlin concludes, apparently denying Israelis the right that every other nation in the world takes as their right: providing a refuge from persecution and fighting for their survival. This report, viewed by millions of people world-wide, was a smear on Israeli sovereignty and legitimacy. Coming at the end of a report about the Holocaust, in which millions of Jews were murdered because there was no Jewish state to which they could flee, was an especially offensive example of chutzpah. Jew-Killer Goes Scot-Free in France After Sarah Halimi, a 66-year-old Orthodox Jewish teacher and grandmother living in Paris was murdered on April 4, 2017, her killer jubilantly announced Ive killed the shaitan (Arabic for demon) and Allahu Akbar! before throwing her battered body off her third-floor balcony to her death below. The killer was Kobili Traore; he lived in Mrs. Halimis building and often insulted Mrs. Halimi and her family. Despite the fact that he recently told a judge his hatred was fueled by seeing Jewish objects in Mrs. Halimis home, he was recently released by a judge, who declared him not culpable for the murder due to marijuana use. Traore broke into Mrs. Halimis apartment after first forcing his way into another apartment in a building next door. The terrified family there barricaded themselves in a bedroom. They, like Traore, were Muslim immigrants from Africa, and they heard Traore ranting and quoting passages from the Koran. They phoned the police, but not before Traore stepped out onto their balcony and climbed on Mrs. Halimis balcony. He attacked her and beat her mercilessly before throwing her to her death. Despite the clearly anti-Semitic nature of the murder, Traore wasnt charged with a hate crime. He pleaded not guilty, telling the judge that he wasnt responsible for his actions because hed smoked marijuana before the murder. In an apparent contradiction of his marijuana defense, he also told the judge presiding over his case that viewing Judaica in the Halimis apartment, such as a Jewish candelabra and a siddur (Jewish prayer book) enraged him, making him feel he had no option but to kill Mrs. Halimi. In December 2019, a French court ruled that Traore was not criminally responsible for his actions. Hes avoided jail time, receiving psychiatric counseling instead. On January 5, 2020, hundreds of Jews marched through the streets of Paris, protesting this outrageous decision. My sister was massacred, Mrs. Halimis brother William Attal told the crowd: the killer targeted my sister because she was Jewish. The Torah exhorts us to Distance yourself from a false word (Exodus 23:7). Its up to all of us to stand up and point out the truth and dispel these slanderous lies. Belgiums former King Albert II is no longer fighting a claim that he is the father of artist and sculptor Delphine Boel, bringing a major breakthrough in the decades-old royal paternity scandal after years of court battles. A statement delivered by his lawyers to Belgian media on Monday said that scientific conclusions indicate that he is the biological father of Mrs Delphine Boel. It came after the monarch last year finally agreed to a DNA test. Boel had tried to establish paternity for years, and Albert never publicly denied being her father but had long refused to provide DNA. The king, who abdicated in 2013 for health reasons, said Monday that even if there were judicial arguments left to pursue, legal and biological paternity was not necessarily the same thing. He added that even if the case could be continued on procedural grounds, he decided not to do so to end with dignity this painful procedure". Rumours about Albert and Boels mother, the aristocratic wife of a well-heeled industrialist, had been around for years. But the news that the king may have had a child with her broke into the open with the publication in 1999 of a biography of Alberts wife, Queen Paola, who passed away in 2014. King Albert alluded to past infidelity in his Christmas message to the nation in 1999. He said he and the queen lived through a crisis in the late 1960s that almost wrecked their marriage, but that a long while ago they overcame their marital problems. Six years ago, Boel, who bears a striking resemblance to some members of the royal family, opened court proceedings to prove that Albert is her father. Boel has always said that she brought the paternity case in protest at being cold-shouldered by the royal family. To promote Gujarat as an hub, the department organized a roadshow on "study in Gujarat" here on Tuesday. The study in Gujarat campaign has been initiated by the state government to invite students from other states and abroad to Gujarat. The roadshow was organized to provide a glimpse of the thriving sector in Gujarat and enable candidates interested in pursuing higher education to explore opportunities that the state has to offer, a release said. Speaking at the roadshow,Gujarat's Minister of Tribal Development, Forests, Ganpatsinh Vasava said that "From a place in the 1990s when students of Gujarat had to go to other states for higher education, we have developed institutes which can not only accommodate our students but also students from other states and outside India." He said keeping this in mind, the state, under the guidance of our Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has now undertaken an initiative to promote Gujarat as an education hub of India. The number of sectoral universities in Gujarat is amongst the highest in the country, giving credence to the fact that the state has ensured the simultaneous development of generic as well as specialized colleges, the minister claimed. The Department of Education organized Study in Gujarat roadshows in Kuwait and Dubai earlier this month to attract more students from the countries to the state, Vasava said. It has hosted a similar roadshow in Guwahati and Indore and will also be hosting similar roadshows in cities including Ranchi, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Raipur, and Nasik in January, he added. Fifteen universities from Gujarat participated at the roadshow and interacted with university representatives from Patna, the release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 11 officers killed and six injured after Taliban fighters storm police base in Baghlan capital Pul-e Khumri. At least 11 Afghan police officers have been killed after Taliban fighters stormed a police base in Pul-e Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province, local government officials told the Associated Press on Tuesday. The fighters first overran a checkpoint near the base late on Monday and were apparently able to breach the compound with ease because a sympathetic policeman opened a door for them. Details were provided by Mahbobullah Ghafari, a Baghlan provincial councilman. A local police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief reporters about the attack, also gave the same account. Six others were wounded in the overnight attack in Pul-e Khumri, provincial council member Samiuddin Nazir told DPA news agency. A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, however, put the death toll at 17, adding that one officer was taken hostage. The group has, at times, exaggerated its claims. The attack comes one day after the Taliban claimed it shot down an American military plane in Ghazni province a claim the US military denies. Frequent attacks Insider attacks have been steady throughout Afghanistans 18-year conflict, with US and NATO troops the most frequent targets. Last July, two US service members were killed by an Afghan soldier in the southern province of Kandahar. The shooter was wounded and arrested. In September, three US military personnel were wounded when a member of the Afghan Civil Order Police fired on a military convoy, also in Kandahar. The Taliban have a strong presence in Baghlan, one of the most troubled provinces in Afghanistan last year, and frequently target Afghan security forces in and around the capital. Last September, Taliban fighters attacked Pul-e Khumri city in a bid to overrun it and were driven out by security forces only days later. The Taliban currently control or hold sway over approximately half the country. The US and the Taliban are currently attempting to negotiate a reduction in hostilities or a ceasefire. That would allow a peace agreement to be signed that could lead to the withdrawal of US troops and open the way to a broader post-war deal for Afghans. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, January 28, 2020 18:02 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20615e97d 1 World coronavirus,China,travel-warning,Wuhan-coronavirus Free Indonesia has officially issued a travel warning for citizens intending to visit Chinas Hubei province, where the new coronavirus first emerged in the city of Wuhan, after the death toll from the SARS-like virus climbed to 106 and the number of confirmed cases rose to more than 4,500 as of Tuesday. "Yes, a travel warning has been imposed for Hubei province, including its capital Wuhan," Foreign Ministry acting spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah confirmed on Tuesday. The warning will only be revoked once the Chinese government announces that the region is safe, he added. Chinese President Xi Jinping stated on Saturday that the country faced a "grave situation". Travel restrictions have been put in place for several affected cities in Hubei province to try and contain the virus. In addition to issuing a travel warning, the Indonesian government also issued a travel advisory for those planning to visit other regions in China. "Indonesian citizens who are still at home should reconsider their plans to visit China and have the wisdom to respond to the information about the outbreak," Teuku said on Monday as quoted by Antara. He also encouraged those planning to visit China to use the SafeTravel app to access the information about their planned destinations. Hubei province has been marked red in the application, meaning it is strongly not recommended to visit. (vny) DUBLIN, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "SafeRail: Ensuring Mission Critical Safety and Security Across the Rail and Transit Network" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The SafeRail Congress is a forum for railroads, transit agencies and solution providers to collaboratively work together to create safe, secure and reliable networks. SafeRail will feature a number of important topics in the rail industry including digitalization, PTC implementation and asset management. The SafeRail Congress will be co-located with the SmartTransit Congress which looks at how digitization and technology are revolutionizing transit. Featuring C-level Speakers Dedicated to safety and security in the industry SafeRail brings together leading experts to discuss the challenges faced by the industry, the latest solutions and best practice. 2019 Agenda for Reference Day 1 08:30 Registration 09:00 Welcoming address Plenary: Delivering a safe and secure service in a digitalized world The transportation industry is becoming increasingly digitlized, this has had a positive impact on efficiency and customer satisfaction. However, with so many devices becoming connected it has left transportation networks exposed and vulnerable to attack. This session will focus on ways operators can uphold customer expectations whilst ensuring security and safety. Moderator: Michael Lowder, Principal, Michael W. Lowder & Global Associates LLC 09:10 How is safety and security changing in the digital age? Understanding and mitigating the risks of a digitalized transport network Adapting to the modernization of equipment across your network Making use of new technologies for greater efficiency and effectiveness Timothy Weston, Cyber Security Policy Coordinator, Transportation Security Administration 09:25 Bridging the gap between government and industry Are more regulation and standards needed to improve security across the transportation sector? Improving the reporting of security incidents Why joint collaboration will strengthen overall security Too little too late? Why we shouldn't wait until after a breach before drafting security standards Kyle Malo, Chief Information Security Officer, WMATA 09:40 Cyber - we are at war! Can an operational military perspective help YOU protect YOUR transportation systems? A special opportunity to hear from Bruce Wynn who has extensive experience at the very highest level within the UK MoD, US Homeland Security and other high security organizations. He will synthesize thoughts about cyber security priorities for today, ROI across the spectrum of cyber security, where to think about refocusing your resources to better protect YOUR transportation systems, and perhaps stimulate a concrete action plan! Bruce Wynn OBE, Senior Cyber Advisor, United Kingdom Ministry of Defence 10:10 Working with regulatory bodies: data sharing and regulatory oversight Gary Wade, Vice President Security, Atlas Air 10:25 America's transportation infrastructure: a matter of national security The economic importance of transportation networks: what is the financial impact of disruption? The changing nature of the security threat Giving the right support and regulatory oversight to transportation operators John Young, Director of Freight and Surface Transportation Policy, American Association of Port Authorities 10:40 Panel discussion: Technology: friend or foe? Is the rapid advancement of technology putting your network at risk? Keeping up and keeping safe: embracing innovation without neglecting safety and security Integrating new technology with existing legacy systems Bruce Wynn OBE, Senior Cyber Advisor, United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Gary Wade , Vice President Security, Atlas Air , Vice President Security, Atlas Air Kyle Malo , Chief Information Security Officer, WMATA , Chief Information Security Officer, WMATA John Young , Director of Freight and Surface Transportation Policy, American Association of Port Authorities , Director of Freight and Surface Transportation Policy, American Association of Port Authorities Timothy Weston , Cyber Security Policy Coordinator, Transportation Security Administration 11:10 Networking coffee break 11:20 Positive Train Control: Ensuring You Meet The Deadline The deadline for PTC has been extended once again and every railroad is expected to have installed PTC on all mandated trains and trainlines by December 2020. This session will look into the difficulties which hindered train operators from meeting the 2018 deadline by looking at reoccurring challenges surrounding testing, installation and industry collaboration. It is crucial now more than ever to identify the disparities between theoretical planning and practical implementation and to find ways to overcome these issues to ensure the next deadline is met. Moderator: Mike Ogborn, Senior Advisor, ASLRRA 11:55 Working with the industry to oversee delivery of PTC Ensuring the right assistance and communication is in place at government level Allocating sufficient time to hit project milestones Using information to prioritize resources using a risk based approach Susan Zimmerman, Assistant Director, Physical Infrastructure, Government Accountability Office 12:10 Advisory Session 12:25 Overcoming the challenges to successfully implementing PTC Upholding an efficient and reliable service during testing and certification Interoperability between host railroads and their tenants Ensuring all components needed for PTC are seamlessly working together 12:40 Maintaining Configuration Management in a Post PTC World A change management approach to PTC The intersection of PTC and product lifecycle management What does a post-PTC world look like? Ever A. Diaz, Digital Solutions Director, Keolis 12:55 Panel discussion: Post-deployment strategies, what opportunities does PTC present? What additional capabilities can be achieved on PTC's wireless systems? Attaining a return on investment from PTC installation Is there potential for upgrading PTC in the future Keith Millhouse, Attorney, Millhouse Strategies Susan Zimmerman, Assistant Director, Physical Infrastructure, Government Accountability Office Ever A. Diaz, Digital Solutions Director, Keolis 13:25 Networking Lunch 13:55 Reliable and Well Maintained Infrastructure It is crucial that all railroads and transit agencies remain in good state of repair to avoid derailments and fatalities. It is beneficial for operators to develop individual strategies to ensure they are permanently meeting government requirements. This session will look at how operators can do this efficiently whilst being as cost-effective as possible. Moderator: Mischa Wanek Libman, Executive Editor, Mass Transit 14:25 Case study: Implementing a Safety Management System at Amtrak Theresa Impastata, Senior Director of System Safety, Amtrak 14:40 Using predictive maintenance to sustain a good state of repair Leveraging data analytics to predict repairs and reduce costs Developing assets knowledge from historic data to avoid recurring issues Creating meaningful and timely alerts and alarms leading up to repairs and maintenance Ernest Piper, Chief Mechanical Officer, Keolis Commuter Services 14:55 Advisory Session 15:10 Panel discussion: Collecting and using data effectively How are well maintained assets a precursor to safer operations? Setting appropriate standards, benchmarks, and reporting How to aggregate data from multiple sources to establish the big picture? Onboard vs trackside technology: what's the best way of gathering data about your network? What is the use case for automated technologies in rail maintenance? How to communicate with the trackside effectively (cellular or own trackside network) Ken Glover, Senior Vice President of Safety & Compliance, Genesee & Wyoming Theresa Impastata,Senior Director of System Safety, Amtrak Ernest Piper, Chief Mechanical Officer, Keolis Commuter Services JJ Williams, Chairman, Fiber Optic Sensing Association Robert Hanczor, CEO, Piper Networks Leonhard Korowajczuk, CEO, CelPlan Technologies 16:10 Networking Break 16:40 Roundtable discussion: Getting the most out of fiber optic sensors for asset monitoring across transport infrastructure JJ Williams, Chairman, Fiber Optic Sensing Association Day 2 08:00 Registration 09:00 Welcoming address Plenary: Using technology To Mitigate Human Error Accidents and incidents caused by human error are an avoidable risk. Increasing digitlization and automation are one way of reducing mistakes, as is ensuring the regular trainings and the constant upskilling of staff. This session will look at different strategies that can be put into place to help secure your network from the dangers caused by human error. Moderator: Chris Hart, Former Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board 09:10 Business continuity planning Identifying the threats and risks to your business A risk based approach to asset protection Having back ups in place when disaster strikes Gene Sun, Corporate Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer and Risk Management, FedEx Corporation 09:25 Using technology to assist in reducing security risks How to use data to predict, detect and deter Managing the balance of effective event management and delivering a safe and secure rail service The challenges of operating in an open transport system Frank Ibe, Head of Line Operations & Performance, Transport for London 09:40 Diagnosis, Protocol, Compliance and Regulation - A guide to better understanding sleep apnea Sleep Apnea diagnosis and compliance for safety sensitive employees in the rail industry and the importance of reducing a leading cause of human error-fatigue. State of the Industry - The current guidance, upcoming updates to the handbook and the NTSB Most Wanted List Evaluation of the Employee - Review scientifically established risk factors, current assessment tools and protocol creation Compliance and its Importance - What is it? How having the full picture can protect against potential legal action and the employee. Dr Alan Lankford, Chief Science Officer, SleepSafe Drivers 09:55 Implementing and managing a successful safety management programme Sharing and managing safety data more effectively Detecting and correcting safety problems earlier Benchmarking safety performance Jim Hopkins, Chief Safety Officer, Transportation Services Department, City of Ottawa 10:10 Panel discussion: Can we run a safe and efficient service with minimal human intervention In what circumstances is automation safer than manual operation Understanding the limitations of humans and using technology to compensate for them What will automation look like in the future? Jim Hopkins, Chief Safety Officer, Transportation Services Department, City of Ottawa Frank Ibe, Head of Line Operations & Performance, Transport for London Gene Sun, Corporate Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer and Risk Management, FedEx Corporation Dr Alan Lankford, Chief Science Officer, SleepSafe Drivers 10:40 Networking coffee break 11:00 Interactive Workshop Sessions: Led by a facilitator, workshops offer a perfect platform for interaction, debate, and sharing of best practice. Following the moderators' introductory presentation, delegates will sit on tables of no more than 10 to discuss specific challenges. Each table will then feed their conclusions back to the whole group. 11:40 Robotics and artificial intelligence to enhance safety oversight Autonomous alternatives to repetitive and arduous tasks How could robotics solve the challenges of reliability, downtime, and costs? What safety benefits can be achieved by replacing human intervention in maintenance activities? Case studies of robotics and automation in action Workforce and human capital challenges of increased automation Steve Evers, VP Sales & Marketing, Reliabotics 12:40 Networking Lunch 13:10 Tackling Rail Related Fatalities Trespassing and suicide are a tragic issued faced by railroad operators in North America. The number of rail related accidents and incidents have decreased significantly. However, rail trespassing - intentional and unintentional is still the primary cause of fatalities on North American railroads. The sensitivity of this topic means that discussions about it are limited. This session will tackle this problem head on, looking at different tactics which can be adopted in order to prevent reduce the risk of collisions with pedestrians. Moderator: Chris Hart, Former Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board 13:40 Strategies for reducing trespassing and suicide incidents The importance of spotting and understanding trends to prevent accidents and incidents on railroads Understanding the demographic and environmental characteristics of rail suicide Working in partnership with local charities to prevent railroad related deaths Hilary Konczal, Chief Safety & Environmental Officer, Metra Commuter Rail 13:55 Mitigating worker accidents and fatalities What are the leading causes for worker accidents and fatalities Incorporating data and analytics to identify risks and threats Creating and adhering to a roadworker protection plan Adhering to government protocols when reporting accidents 14:10 Advisory Session 14:25 Technology and engagement to improve grade crossing safety Changing behavior through technology: better warnings, monitors, and deterrents Employing analytics to identify frequent problem areas Raising awareness and changing perceptions of grade crossings Patrick Warren, Chief Safety Officer, MTA New York 14:40 Raising public awareness of the dangers of railroads Challenging preconceptions about the perpetrators and motives of trespassing Developing on-board and static technology for monitoring trespassing incidents Results from the study: developing a profile of the average trespasser and new ways to tackle the problem Sarah Searcy, Program Manager, Bicycle and Pedestrian, Institute for Transportation Research and Education 14:55 Panel discussion: What are the factors contributing to the reduction of suicide and trespassing incidents and how can we build on these Understanding how pedestrian safety at highway - rail grade crossings has changed over time Sharing data with public authorities to gain an overall picture Using empirical evidence and examining the behaviour of pedestrians involved in accidents and incidents to prevent recurrence Hilary Konczal, Chief Safety & Environmental Officer, Metra Commuter Rail Michael Allen, Director, New Jersey Operation Lifesaver Elayne Berry, Assistant General Manager - Safety & Quality Assurance, MARTA Patrick Warren, Chief Safety Officer, MTA New York Sarah Searcy, Program Manager, Bicycle and Pedestrian, Institute for Transportation Research and Education 15:25 End of Conference For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/c2xsbb Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday January 27, 2020. See PA story IRISH Election. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Solidarity People Before Profit politician Richard Boyd Barrett, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday January 27, 2020. Niall Carson/PA Wire Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday January 27, 2020. See PA story IRISH Election. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire FIANNA Fail leader Micheal Martin has launched a stinging attack on Sinn Fein claiming the party is "extremely arrogant" to think his party and Fine Gael owe them a place in power. And he hit out at Sinn Fein's opposition to the Special Criminal Court (SCC), claiming the rival party hates it because it defeated the Provisional IRA in the South. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald was under pressure to defend her party as she sustained attacks from both Mr Martin and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of Fine Gael. It came as seven parties leaders clashed on the RTE Claire Byrne Live Leaders Debate in the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG). Both Mr Martin and Mr Varadkar have ruled out forming a government with Sinn Fein. Ms McDonald called this "incredibly arrogant" and "obnoxious" saying it disregards the party's voters. She also said it's "deeply hypocritical" given that the other leaders "shake hands with Sinn Fein ministers in the North". Expand Close Fine Gael leader, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fine Gael leader, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. Niall Carson/PA Wire She said her party would speak to everyone after the election. Mr Varadkar said his opposition to Sinn Fein "isnt anything personal" and is entirely based on policy and principle. He claimed the party is "soft on crime and hard on taxes" and pointed out that Sinn Fein doesn't support the SCC which he said will be used to "lock up drug lords". Mr Martin went further saying: "I would say SF extremely arrogant to say we or Fine Gael owe them a place in power. We dont." He added: The reason Sinn Fein opposed the Offences Against the State Act and Special Criminal Court since they came into Dai Eireann is because the Provisionals within their movement dont allow them vote for it, Mr Martin said. The old provos hate the special criminal. Why? Because the Special Criminal Court defeated the Provisional IRA in the Republic, he added. He also argued that the role of the Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle "can't be glossed over" and he claimed that "unelected people" dictate policy to the partys politicians. Ms McDonald was asked by host Ms Byrne if she has taken a pledge to take all directions from the Ard Comhairle. The Sinn Fein leader insisted the Ard Comhairle is "not some shadowy unelected entity". She said it's elected at the Ard Fheis and claimed it's "no different to the GAA". Mr Martin insisted it's "fundamentally different". HOUSING On housing, Mr Martin said young people are saving with great difficulty but they need help. Labour Party Leader Brendan Howlin said Fianna Fail hollowed out the ability of local authorities to build house. Mr Howlin said social houses should be built on public land and his party would build 80,000 new homes. Mr Varadkar said he wanted everyone to be able to buy their own home. He said lots of people could afford a mortgage but cannot save because of high rents. The Taoiseach said Fine Gael is building new homes and social housing and will continue to do so if returned to power. Mr Martin said the Taoiseach promised the exact same thing four years ago and he was promising the same thing again . Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan said he would contract private developers to build homes on public land. He said he would pull in every single resource to tackle the housing crisis. Expand Close Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday January 27, 2020. See PA story IRISH Election. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday January 27, 2020. See PA story IRISH Election. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Ms McDonald said there was a housing emergency and said the country needed the biggest house building programme that the state had ever seen. The Sinn Fein leader said housing schemes being offered by Fine Gael and Fianna Fail sound great but will only push up prices. She called for action for renters who are being fleeced by run away rents adding that Sinn Fein would freeze rents for three years. Mr Howlin and Ms Shortall also said they would freeze rents. Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall said large scale tracks of land are being hoarded by site owners. People Before Profit member Richard Boyd Barrett received a round of applause for saying the government should not sell off land to developers like it did through Nama. Mr Boyd Barrett said a stigma had been created around social housing. Expand Close Solidarity People Before Profit politician Richard Boyd Barrett, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday January 27, 2020. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Solidarity People Before Profit politician Richard Boyd Barrett, during the seven way RTE leaders debate at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) campus in Galway, Ireland. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday January 27, 2020. Niall Carson/PA Wire He said publicly owned banks are racketeering on the back of people who are trying to buy homes at high mortgage rates. Ms McDonald said the country needs a government that acts in the common good to solve the housing crisis. Mr Ryan said improved public planning was needed before new housing was built. Ms McDonald said for four years Mr Martin claimed he had secured housing budgets during his budget negotiations with Fine Gael. You have allowed the situation to get to this point that people were degraded by this crisis, Ms McDonald said. Mr Varadkar said we need housing for everyone including social, affordable and private housing. He told Mr Martin that Fine Gael had to clean up the appalling mess Fianna Fail made of the economy when they took office. CRIME On justice and crime the leaders were asked if they would reopen rural garda stations that were closed over the last decade. Mr Martin offered no commitment on that and said he would be more interested in restoring community gardai saying they're the lynchpin of tackling rural crime. Mr Howlin said communities like Drogheda that have seen serious crime want gardai to be visible in their areas. Mr Ryan recalled the words of the first garda commissioner Michael Staines who said: The Garda Siochana will succeed not by force of arms or numbers, but by their moral authority as servants of the people. The Green Party leader stressed the importance of community gardai and investment in technology. Mr Varadkar said Fine Gael don't intend to reopen any rural garda stations but added: "We won't close any more". He said more staff and gardai are needed and his party will ensure 700 are recruited every year. Mr Varadkar was asked about the decriminalisation of drugs and the first TV debate where he hesitated when asked if he himself had taken illegal drugs. The Taoiseach quipped: "Ill try to avoid a long pause this time". Mr Varadkar who previously confirmed that he smoked cannabis in his college years said Fine Gael wouldn't go as far as decriminalising drugs. However, he also said his party would focus on a health and education approach saying it's not a good idea to give a young person a criminal conviction for possessing small quantities of drugs. CLIMATE At one point Mr Ryan complained that climate change, the "crisis of our time" was not being debated. Ms Byrne promised it was coming up and he was later challenged on the need to reduce the national suckler herd to cut greenhouse gases. Mr Ryan said there would have to be a smaller suckler herd but said farmers should be paid properly for environmentally friendly measures through the EU's Common Agriculture Policy. He insisted the herd could be reduced while farmers got increased incomes by focussing on premium products, Mr Varadkar was asked about a claim by junior minister John Paul Phelan that there are "nutters in the Green Party." He replied: "Theres a fair few nutters in every party including my own". Mr Martin chipped in: "Thats an awful thing to say about John Paul Phelan". More to follow... US Condemns Attacks in Syrias Idlib, Calls for Cease-Fire The United States has condemned unjustifiable attacks against the people of Idlib province in northwest Syria this week and said its prepared to take the strongest diplomatic and economic actions against President Bashar Assads regime. In a statement issued Jan. 27, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said tens of thousands of people are being forced to flee their homes following intense attacks, and called for a cease-fire so that humanitarian organizations can help those who have been affected. The United States is monitoring with grave concern the situation in northwest Syria where the combined forces of Russia, the Iranian regime, Hezbollah, and the Assad regime reportedly are conducting a large-scale assault upon the people of Idlib and western Aleppo provinces, the statement reads. These forces reportedly are conducting indiscriminate aerial bombardment and ground attacks that have trapped thousands of civilians under bombardment in Marat an-Numan, leaving them nowhere to flee. Pompeo said tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes; the Anadolu Agency reported the number at roughly 21,000. While many civilians have reportedly fled to tent camps set up near the Turkish border, the camps fail to meet the needs of the thousands of displaced Syrians and many are still in urgent need of shelters, tents, blankets, and beds. The destabilizing actions of Russia, the Iranian regime, Hezbollah, and the Assad regime are directly preventing the establishment of a ceasefire in northern Syria, as called for in UNSCR 2254, and the safe return of hundreds of thousands of displaced persons in northern Syria to their homes, Pompeo said. He added that the United States strongly condemns the attacks and is prepared to take strong action against the Assad regime and any state or individual that aids its brutal agenda. Idlib has been devastated by the attacks in recent days as Assad, backed by Russian air power, attempts to recapture the last rebel-held territory in Syrias northwest. In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a deescalation zone, prohibiting acts of aggression. However, more than 1,300 civilians were killed in airstrikes and shelling by the regime and Russian forces between May and August 2019 alone, as the cease-fire continues to be violated, according to the United Nations. The latest renewed fighting comes just a week after Turkey, which backs the government in Tripoli, and the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Russia agreed with Western powers to push for a lasting cease-fire and uphold an arms embargo. Turkey already hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and there are growing concerns that millions more could soon cross the border. On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump discussed developments in Syria and Libya in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two leaders discussed the need to eliminate foreign interference and maintain the ceasefire in Libya. The leaders agreed that the violence being carried out in Idlib, Syria, must stop, White House spokesman Judd Deere wrote on Twitter. Syria has been embroiled in civil war since March 2011, when anti-government protests broke out across the country, which has been ruled by the Assad family for more than four decades. Dictator Bashar Assad violently suppressed protests against his regime, triggering an armed conflict that has ravaged Syria since and allowed for a number of political and opposition groups to emerge and for the ISIS terrorist group to gain territory. The United States, which continues to advocate for a negotiated settlement (pdf) between the government of Syria and opposition forces, has directed more than $9.1 billion toward Syria-related humanitarian assistance. Congress has also appropriated billions more for security and stabilization initiatives in Syria and neighboring countries. Between 2015 and late 2017, the United States gradually increased its military presence in Syria to roughly 2,000; in late 2018, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. troops would begin to withdraw after the defeat of ISIS. A Rohingya Muslim family waits for transportation in front of the U.N. refugee agencys transit center in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar district, Jan. 28, 2020. Bangladeshi authorities have relocated at least 17 Christian Rohingya families to a U.N. shelter as a temporary measure to safeguard them, officials said Tuesday, after machete-wielding Muslim Rohingya men attacked a community of Christians in a refugee camp and wounded at least 12 people. The attack took place Monday at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Coxs Bazar district, one of the victims and a Christian group told BenarNews. But police said only four Christians and one Muslim were wounded, and described the violence as an ordinary law-and-order incident. The Christian Rohingya families have been taken to a UNHCR transit camp, Mahbub Alam Talukder, the refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told BenarNews on Tuesday. He said the refugees would be given temporary shelter at the U.N. refugee agencys transit camp for their security and would be taken back to their makeshift homes at the Kutupalong refugee camp when the tense situation is over. If we think they can live at the old camps without danger, they will be going back to the old camps, he said. If they do not feel secure at the old camps, they can be shifted to other camps. One of the alleged victims, Saiful Islam Peter, a Christian Rohingya, said the attackers had destroyed victims homes and stolen their ration cards, computers and documents. He also repeated allegations in an interview with BenarNews that members of the militant group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) had perpetrated the attack. The Muslim terrorist group ARSA destroyed our homes and church. They were armed and they looted all of our household goods, he said. Saiful said that out of the 25 families living in the Christian community, 17 families had taken shelter at the UNHCR transit camp. Mostafa Mohammad Sazzad Hossain, the UNHCR spokesman in Dhaka, declined to comment on the relocation of the refugees at the agencys transit camp, saying the issue was sensitive. A BenarNews correspondent was also blocked from entering the U.N. refugee agencys office in Coxs Bazar as he sought comments from officials related to the incident. No arrests The ARSA insurgent group, which claims to be fighting oppression of Rohingya Muslims, carried out attacks on police and army posts in Myanmars Rakhine state in August 2017. In response to the militant attacks, Myanmars security forces launched a crackdown that drew global attention after more than 740,000 Rohingya fled their homes and crossed into neighboring Bangladesh. On Monday, police in Ukhia, a sub-district of Coxs Bazar where the Kutupalong camp is located, brushed aside the allegation that ARSA was involved, and said that Saiful himself had initiated the communal clash following an argument. Selim Adnan, another Christian Rohingya, told BenarNews outside the UNHCR transit camp in Ukhia that the attack injured at least eight Christian refugees. The Rohingya terrorists suddenly attacked us, he said, adding that they had informed the police but they [police] did not take any action. Mohammad Abul Mansur, the officer-in-charge of Ukhia police station, rejected allegations that the security forces took no action after the attacks. None has filed any case regarding the attack on the Christians. So, we havent arrested anyone, Mansur told BenarNews. We will take action if allegations have been registered. Iqbal Hossain, an additional superintendent of police in Coxs Bazar, dismissed reports that militants attacked the Christian community. This is a crime of ordinary nature, he said. The situation at the place of occurrence is in total control of the police. Bangladesh officially denies the presence of Rohingya rebels in the refugee camps, but government and police sources have privately acknowledged arresting several of the insurgents in recent months. Libya: UN report urges accountability for deadly attack against migrant centre 27 January 2020 - Warring parties in Libya, as well as foreign governments supporting them, are being urged to investigate deadly airstrikes last July which killed at least 53 migrants and refugees at a detention centre in the northwest of the country. The appeal was made by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the UN human rights office in Geneva, which on Monday published a joint report calling for accountability for the attack targeting the Daman building complex, which houses the detention centre. "As I have said previously, the Tajoura attack, depending on the precise circumstances, may amount to a war crime," said Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. "Libyans, migrants and refugees are trapped amid violence and atrocities that are in turn fuelled by impunity. Those guilty of crimes under international law must be held to account." 'Tragic example' of use of air power The Daman complex is in Tajoura, a town in the Tripoli district in north-western Libya, and comprises various facilities belonging to the Government of National Accord (GNA). The UN-backed administration is battling the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA), which is aligned with a rival government in Benghazi, located in the east. Fighting between the two sides intensified in April 2019, after the LNA laid siege to southern Tripoli. The attack on the Daman complex occurred on 2 July 2019 when an "air-delivered bomb" struck a vehicle repair workshop there operated by the Daman Brigade, an armed group allied with the GNA, according to the report. Minutes later, a second airstrike hit the Tajoura Detention Centre, a large hangar which at the time held some 616 migrants and refugees. Three sections of the building were impacted. One of the sections, which housed 126 people, sustained a direct hit. Forty-seven men and six boys were killed, and 87 other male migrants and refugees were injured. It was one of the deadliest incidents since the start of the new round of hostilities in April. The report found that while it appeared that the airstrikes were conducted by aircraft belonging to a foreign State, "it remains unclear whether these air assets were under the command of the LNA or were operated under the command of that foreign State in support of the LNA." Regardless, international humanitarian law still applied. The report recalled that parties to the conflict knew the precise location and coordinates of the detention centre, which had suffered a previous hit just months before. Airstrikes behind most civilian casualties "The July 2019 attack at Tajoura is a tragic example of how the use of air power has become a dominant feature in Libya's civil conflict, and of the dangers and direct consequences on civilians of foreign interference", said UNSMIL chief Ghassan Salame. "This is why the commitments made in Berlin on 19 January to end such interference and uphold the UN arms embargo must take hold." The international community met in the German capital last Sunday in efforts to find a political solution to end the Libya crisis, which has seen increasing foreign interference. The UN joint report found at least 287 civilians were killed and around 369 others injured last year alone, with airstrikes accounting for 60 per cent of those casualties. New attack condemned The situation shows no sign of abating as UNSMIL on Monday condemned a missile attack against Mitiga Airport, near Tripoli's centre. At least two civilians were injured, while the tarmac and several buildings were damaged. "UNSMIL reiterates that attacks against civilian targets, especially public facilities, represent a blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law, and that repeated attacks against Mitiga Airport deprived two million residents in the capital of their only functioning airport," the mission said in a statement posted on Twitter. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Air War In Afghanistan Expands On Both Sides By Moon Of Alabama January 28, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - Under the Trump administration U.S. air attacks in Afghanistan have sharply increased. But it now seems that the Taliban have acquired some means to counter them. Last year the U.S. dropped a record number of bombs on Afghanistan leading to ever increasing casualties among civilians: According to the Combined Forces Air Component Commander (CFACC) 2013-2019 Airpower Statistics released in late January, 7,423 missions flown in Afghanistan in 2019 resulted in weapons being released. There were more weapon releases in most months of the year than in any corresponding months since records were first released in 2009, with September recording the most for the year at 948. The previous annual record was 7,362 set in 2018, and the last two years together have seen more weapon releases over Afghanistan than the combined number for 2012 through to 2017. Twenty bombing strikes per day is a quite astonishing number. Many civilians get killed in this U.S. bombing campaign. The U.S. often seems not to know who it is hitting. This report from last week is typical: A drone attack carried out by U.S. forces earlier this month in western Afghanistan that apparently targeted a splinter Taliban group also killed at least 10 civilians, including three women and three children, an Afghan rights official and a council member said Wednesday. ... There was no immediate comment from the Afghan military or the U.S. forces. But Wakil Ahmad Karokhi, a provincial council member in Herat, said the Jan. 8 strike also killed the commander of a Taliban splinter group, known as Mullah Nangyalia, along with 15 other militants. ... The commanders funeral the following day was held in the Herat provincial capitals Guzargah neighborhood, and was attended by dozens of militants. Karokhi criticized the strike as huge mistake saying the commander had been a useful buffer against the Taliban in Shindand district, taking up arms with his fighters against the insurgents when no one else would do it" and leaving the area's civilians in peace. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The U.S. military and its allies and Afghan proxies are not the only ones fighting. The Taliban can hit back at helicopters and planes and, judging from the number of recent air incidents, they now have found effective means to do so. Two days ago they destroyed another helicopter: Drexluddin Spiveyzai @RisboLensky - 9:44 UTC Jan 25, 2020 Helicopter hit by missile in Kajaki area of #Helmand 4 soldiers wounded via @TOLOnews #Afghanistan Its #Moldova flag. Helicopter got hit pretty bad. True miracle there are no deaths #Taliban took responsibility for shooting down of military helicopter in #Helmand #Afghanistan This is the 4th helicopter that went down in January Video from Kajaki Four helicopter losses in one month is quite significant. Earlier today there were reports that a civilian Afghan airliner had come down. Those turned out to be false. But a plane had indeed crashed in Ghazni province south of Kabul. It was a military one: Harry Boone @towersight - 12:37 UTC Jan 27, 2020 Wreck of plane crashed today in Afghanistan looks like to be a USAF Bombardier Global 6000 / E-11A "BACN" (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node) Four U.S. E-11As are assigned to the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron and operate usually from Kandahar AB. There are video of the burning and burned out plane. bigger Afghan sources say the Taliban claimed that they shot down the plane. Others deny that. What is sure though is that the plane crashed into Taliban held territory. At least two persons on board were killed. bigger The "BACN" flying radio relay stations have been in Afghanistan for a while. A military report from March 2017 said: Called as essential to mission success as bullets, the E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node flew its 10,000th sortie Feb. 24, 2017 at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, since arriving in Afghanistan eight years ago. The 430th Expeditionary Electronic Squadron operating out of Kandahar is the only unit in the U.S. Air Force that operates the E-11A with the BACN payload. It was created to fulfill what is called a joint urgent operational need, when it was identified that the terrain of Afghanistan posed serious communication challenges. E-11A bigger There appear to exist only four of these planes which are heavily modified Bombardier Global 6000 ultra long-range business jets. They are only used in Afghanistan. The loss is significant. The ground troops depend on radio communication when they direct bombers to their targets. Without the flying relay stations they have no chance to do so in Afghanistan's mountainous terrain. It is not known what new means the Taliban have to take down planes and helicopters. In 2018 a few Stinger anti-air missiles were found during a raid on some Taliban. But those seem to have been old and were probably no longer functioning. Helicopters can be brought down with machine guns or even with anti-tank missiles (RPGs). But the E-11A usually fly at a significant altitude and the crashed plane was not near an airport. The usual man-portable air-defense missiles (MANPAD) like the U.S. made Stinger reach a maximum altitude of only some 3.500 meters. That opens the possibility that the Taliban have acquired new supplies of larger missiles. One wonders where those would come from. On January 5 Hizbullah leader Hassan Nazrallah announced how the 'resistance axis' would respond to the U.S. murder of the Iranian General Soleimani and the Iraqi PMU leader Al-Muhandis. The response to the blood of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis must be expulsion of all U.S. forces from the region. Using effective means to take down even high flying U.S. planes would be one possible way to achieve that aim. But Iran is not the only possible source of such missiles. China and Russia also produce effective anti-air missiles and the military in Pakistan and in Tajikistan have bought those in significant numbers. All these countries usually hold back from providing anti-air missiles to militants as they could also endanger their own (civil) airplanes. But the loss of five aircraft in one month in Afghanistan might well mean that this has changed. This article was published by "Moon Of Alabama" - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== As President Donald Trump met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White opposition leader Benny Gantz to discuss the imminent release of his Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, pro-Israel Democrats signified reservations about the White Houses long-awaited proposal. A two-state solution cannot be born on the backs of unilateral actions from either side, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Senate Foreign Relations Committee top Democrat Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said in a statement. Unilateral actions do not contribute to a sustainable peace and would not serve US interests. Unilateral steps would make it harder to come back to the negotiating table and could set unrealistic and unachievable demands. The top Democrat on the House Middle East panel, Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., also urged a return to direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, warning against unilateral action by either party that could damage the prospect for peace. Deutch noted that hes been trying to get the White House to brief him on the closely held plan for two years. Why it matters: While Democrats are calling for a return to direct negotiations between the two parties, the Palestinians have boycotted negotiations with the Trump administration since the United States moved its embassy to Jerusalem in 2017. Netanyahu praised the plan as an opportunity after the meeting, but Trump acknowledged that it does not currently have buy-in from the Palestinians. They probably wont want it initially, said Trump. I think in the end they will. I think in the end theyre going to want it. Its very good for them. In fact, its overly good to them. The president also noted that many of the Arab nations have agreed to it. Bahrain hosted a US summit in July to unveil a $50 billion economic component of the plan a summit that the Palestinians also boycotted as it did not include a political solution. Whats next: Trump is set to unveil the peace plan alongside Netanyahu on Tuesday. The Jerusalem Post reports that the plan is expected to include the annexation of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, along with most of the Jordan Valley, and a demilitarized Palestinian state in the rest of the occupied territory. The Palestinians have threatened to withdraw from key provisions of the 1995 Oslo Accord. Know more: Trump is unveiling his plan as his rival guests Netanyahu and Gantz gear up for the third round of Israeli elections in less than a year. Yossi Beilin a former Israeli Cabinet official has thoughts on the state of Israeli democracy. SEATTLE, WA / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2020 / Infosys (NYSE:INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting announced it will introduce the new Infosys C+C Award at the Unleashing the Power of CIOs + CMOs event on January 30. The international award, managed by WONGDOODY, Infosys' award-winning creative agency and human experience company, will honor transformative collaborations between chief marketing officers (CMOs) and chief information officers (CIOs), as they partner to elevate customer experience at their organizations. Traditionally, CMOs are responsible for company brand and consumer needs, and they control the majority of the customer experience (CX) budget. Yet, a recent Nielsen report showed that, "Seventy-four percent of CMOs have little to no confidence they have the right technology to achieve their marketing goals. Meanwhile, many CIOs share ownership of CX and they often feel unsupported, without design resources or creative insights. Frequently, there is pressure to deploy new technologies quickly, with limited budgets, and without in-depth analysis of enterprise-wide implications. The new Infosys C+C Award is part of a CMO+CIO partner program created by Infosys to offer resources that foster effective relationships between C-level marketing and technology leaders to successfully navigate digital transformation. The January 30 event will give tips for how to win the inaugural competition, and also feature a CMO predictions report from featured speaker Shar VanBoskirk, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, serving CMO Professionals. Consulting expert Kevin Carroll will discuss best practices for C-suite collaboration. Ravi Kumar S, President, Infosys, said, "Effective collaboration between CMOs and CIOs is critical for digital transformation. Leveraging our creative firm WONGDOODY, we're delighted to launch the first Infosys C+C Award to celebrate global thought leaders that are integrating technology and marketing across digital enterprise to help bridge this gap." Ben Wiener, CEO, WONGDOODY, said "CMOs and CIOs are becoming more interdependent because consumers expect innovative user experiences that understand their needs. And this is impossible without the right technologies. The new Infosys C+C Award recognizes C-suite leaders who have mastered the powerful relationship between marketing and technology to create customer loyalty in changing markets." Infosys C+C Award Categories: The Infosys C+C Award will evaluate global companies with a minimum of $250M in revenue, and will include categories for the following CMO and CIO partnerships: C+C Relationship Changes : Celebrates innovative changes for collaboration in budget allocation, cross-training, communication, decision-making or strategic planning. : Celebrates innovative changes for collaboration in budget allocation, cross-training, communication, decision-making or strategic planning. C+C Experience Innovators : Highlights partnerships, work, and accomplishments that transform the customer experience. : Highlights partnerships, work, and accomplishments that transform the customer experience. C+C Company Transformers : Recognizes relationships that have company-wide impacts. Important Dates and Information: The Infosys C+C Award opens globally in January, and the submission deadline is June 2020. Winners will be announced in September at the Infosys Confluence conference. For more competition details, visit: https://cpluscaward.com/. To register for Unleashing the Power of CIOs and CMOs, go here. Safe Harbor Certain statements mentioned in this presentation concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law. For further information, please contact: PR_Global@infosys.com About Us About Infosys Ltd Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over three decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE:INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next. Contacts PR_Global@infosys.com SOURCE: Infosys View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/574279/Infosys-Announces-New-Industry-Award-to-Celebrate-CMO-CIO-Synergies The White House released Tuesday its proposal for the future borders of Israeli and Palestinian states as part of President Donald Trump's controversial peace plan. The map shows the West Bank area containing some 15 Israeli settlements, connected to the Gaza Strip area by only a tunnel. This would technically fulfil Trump's promise of a contiguous Palestinian state. Palestinian leaders have resoundingly rejected the US plan, which Trump unveiled in a joint address with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ministry of National Defense is asked to establish 9 field hospitals across the country to receive and treat nCoV patients. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered government agencies to take bolder measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus (nCoV), even at the expense of economic benefits. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Photo: Quang Hieu/VGP We accept potential economic losses, and consider our peoples health and lives the most important, PM Phuc said at a government meeting late on January 27, the third day of the Lunar New Year. The nCoV, first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan on December 31, 2019, has claimed more than 80 human lives and infected some 2,800 others. The virus has been reported in 15 countries and territories around the globe, including in the US, Canada and Australia. PM Phuc acknowledged the high possibility of the virus becoming an epidemic in Vietnam given the fact that the country shares more than 1,000 kilometer of land border with China and Chinese account for one third of foreign tourists to Vietnam annually. The head of the government requested the Health Ministry to ensure medical supplies and build more detailed contingent plans to deal with the nCoV. We consider fighting against the epidemic like against the enemy, PM Phuc stressed. A national steering committee will be set up, led by Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam, to tackle the deadly virus. In addition, the Ministry of National Defense is asked to establish 9 field hospitals across the country to receive and treat nCoV patients. Fever scanners will be installed at all international ports and major border gates as the first layer to detect the virus. A ban has been in place against the import of wild animals into Vietnam. Tour operators and airlines are required not to accept tourists from nCoV-hit areas. All persons who enter Vietnam from China are required to fill in medical declaration forms from January 25. The foreign and labor ministries will have to investigate the number of Vietnamese in China for further protection measures. Vietnam has so far recorded 63 cases that have fever and have come from nCoV-hit regions. Of them, 25 have been determined not to carry the virus while the other 38 need further tests and are under quarantine. Two Chinese nationals who are infected with the virus are being quarantined in a Ho Chi Minh City hospital and in stable condition, according to a Health Ministry report. Hanoitimes Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 03:09:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak may reach its peak in one week or around 10 days, renowned Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan said Tuesday. By the end of Monday, 4,515 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been reported in 30 provincial-level regions. A total of 106 people had died of the disease, according to the National Health Commission. GUANGZHOU, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak may reach its peak in one week or around 10 days, renowned Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan said Tuesday in an exclusive interview with Xinhua. "It is very difficult to definitely estimate when the outbreak reaches its peak. But I think in one week or about 10 days, it will reach the climax and then there will be no large-scale increases," Zhong said. Zhong is the head of a national team of experts set up for the control and prevention of the novel coronavirus-caused pneumonia and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Renowned Chinese respiratory scientist Zhong Nanshan receives an interview with Xinhua in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei) "There are two keys to tackling the epidemic: early detection and early isolation. They are the most primitive and most effective methods," he said. Zhong said fever and weakness are the typical symptoms of the novel coronavirus infection for the majority of patients. Ten to 14 days is a sound period for isolation and observation: When the incubation period ends, those who fall sick will get timely treatment and those who do not will be just fine. He suggested that hospitals should be staffed with not only infectious disease specialists, but also specialists in treating severe cases to better save patients. By the end of Monday, 4,515 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been reported in 30 provincial-level regions. A total of 106 people had died of the disease, according to the National Health Commission. Aerial photo taken on Jan. 28, 2020 shows the construction site of Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. The construction of Huoshenshan Hospital, a makeshift hospital for treating patients infected with the novel coronavirus, is underway in Wuhan. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu) Among the total, Hubei Province in central China reported a total of 2,714 confirmed cases of the pneumonia caused by the virus. Wuhan, the provincial capital, is the center of the outbreak. Epidemiologically, the novel coronavirus is homologous to the virus discovered in a type of bat in 2017, said Zhong, adding that the 2019-nCoV probably has an intermediate host that may be a certain kind of wild animal. "The SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak lasted about six months, but I don't believe the novel coronavirus outbreak would last that long," said Zhong. The country has taken a series of powerful measures, especially early detection and early isolation. "We have sufficient confidence in preventing a major outbreak or a recurrence as long as the two measures are in place, although we still need to conduct much scientific research," he said. Noting that a key for Wuhan is how to reduce infections inside hospitals, Zhong said he supported the construction of makeshift hospitals in the city to control the infectious disease. Members of a medical team heading for Wuhan of Hubei Province board the plane in Xining, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Jan. 28, 2020. A team comprised of 135 medical workers from Qinghai left for Wuhan on Tuesday to aid the novel coronavirus control efforts there. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) Zhong said the activation of top-level public health emergency response was aimed at reducing the chance of infection. The vaccine development may need three to four months or even longer, said Zhong. "Now scientists are speeding up research of neutralizing antibodies of the virus, but it takes time." "With help from across the country, Wuhan, a heroic city, will pull through," Zhong said. (Reporting by Wang Pan, Xiao Sisi, Li Laifang, Lou Chen, Cui Enhui;Video reporters: Wang Pan, Wang Ruiping; Video editor: Liu Ruoshi) Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the Congress is playing politics on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), accusing the party of waging a "war" against Hindu community in the country. "Today, Congress is playing its politics. They are now totally against Hindu. In my view, Congress and its leadership have now waged a war against the Hindu majority community in this country. They allegedly are taking funds from the PFI," Sarma told reporters here when asked about anti-CAA protests. Responding to a question over allegations against the Popular Front of India (PFI) for sponsoring anti-CAA protests, Sarma said: "In Guwahati, PFI has actively associated themselves with movement. We have seen certain documents from the PFI office... PFI was also a part of destruction that the people of Guwahati have seen on December 10, 11, 12." The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent a note to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) mentioning that there is a direct link between the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in Uttar Pradesh and the PFI. Protests against the CAA turned violent last year, resulting in damages to public property at several places across Uttar Pradesh. Earlier this month, the MHA had received a report from the Uttar Pradesh government on the activities of PFI in the state. UP DGP OP Singh had also said that PFI was actively involved in violent protests against the CAA. He had also added that some members of the party had been arrested in this regard. Singh also wrote a letter to the MHA seeking a ban on the PFI for its involvement in anti-CAA protests last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In some conservative circles, bets are that Bolton wouldnt just be willing to testify, as he has said he would if subpoenaed by the Senate. Hed love to. One way or the other, his story, supported by the paper trail he created as national security adviser, will come out. It wont be good for Trump, but it wont necessarily hurt him in the immediate future. Everybody knows what Trump is. The only issue is whether enough senators care enough to convict him. A solid group of seven squared off in Mondays $28,000 featured trot at Woodbine Mohawk Park, and trainer Richard Moreau sent out the top two finishers in the rich affair. Big Rich, who was sent off at odds of 26-1, weaved through traffic in deep stretch en route to posting the upset score for driver Louis Philippe Roy. Big Rich managed to sit a two-hole trip behind On The Ropes through fractions of :29, :58.3 and 1:26.3 before going on the attack. On The Ropes had a comfortable lead coming off the final turn before the Moreau pupils started to power up. B Yoyo came storming down the centre of the track, but Big Rich split through late to post the nose decision over his stablemate. Taking home the show dough was On The Ropes. The eight-year-old son of Donato Hanover-Kidman Hall improved his 2020 record to 2-0-1 from four tries for partners Ecurie CSL and Frank Spagnolo. The 30-time winner pushed his lifetime earnings over $600,000 with the win. Noteworthy is the fact that caretaker Lynn Cameron takes care of both of the charismatic Moreau trainees. Big Rich was one of three winners sent out by OBrien Award finalist, Richard Moreau. Roy guided the Moreau-trained Allstar Seelster to an upset score in Race 5 and that trainer/driver duo struck again in Race 8 with Hemi Seelster. To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results Woodbine Mohawk Park. OMAHA, Neb., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To mark the five year milestone of the Elevated Lifestyle program, Jet Linx , the preeminent private jet management and Jet Card membership company, introduced five new partners to its signature member benefits program. Elevated Lifestyle offers members a portfolio of exclusive offerings from their network of partners in travel, transportation, libations and fare, health and wellness, fashion, and other categories. The new program additions include Go Rentals , the only car rental company specializing in the private jet industry; Yoshi , the car concierge offering gas delivery, servicing and support; PerUs , a community of wine enthusiasts who converge on all things viticulture; Petrossian , the finest caviar curated from across the globe; and WatchBox , the leading destination for pre-owned luxury timepieces. "Our fifth year has already proven to be a record-high for bringing new partners into the Elevated Lifestyle private jet benefits program," said Jamie Walker, President & CEO of Jet Linx. "And, we are thrilled to launch five within the first quarter of 2020 the most partners we've ever launched within a three-month span." Each of the five partners share the company's core values of exclusivity, luxury and attention to detail, and bring personalized experiences to the Elevated Lifestyle program, including: Go Rentals: Providing guests with a professional, aviation-knowledgeable and friendly 'Carcierge,' Jet Card members and aircraft owners have access to exclusive benefits at Go Rentals locations throughout the U.S., including 90 airports and a selection of fine hotels. Providing guests with a professional, aviation-knowledgeable and friendly 'Carcierge,' Jet Card members and aircraft owners have access to exclusive benefits at Go Rentals locations throughout the U.S., including 90 airports and a selection of fine hotels. Yoshi: A personal car concierge on-hand 24/7, Jet Linx jet program members and aircraft owners receive automotive services delivered wherever their vehicle is parked. A personal car concierge on-hand 24/7, Jet Linx jet program members and aircraft owners receive automotive services delivered wherever their vehicle is parked. PerUs: A collective of dynamic individuals sharing stories over wine, the PerUs wine allocation provides Jet Linx clients with a community of wine enthusiasts, access to vibrant experiences and a selection of premium wines not normally available to the public. A collective of dynamic individuals sharing stories over wine, the PerUs wine allocation provides Jet Linx clients with a community of wine enthusiasts, access to vibrant experiences and a selection of premium wines not normally available to the public. Petrossian: As the only company that matures caviar to its peak potential, resulting in truly superior batches, Jet Linx Jet Card members and aircraft owners can enjoy preferred pricing on caviar and all Petrossian products. As the only company that matures caviar to its peak potential, resulting in truly superior batches, Jet Linx Jet Card members and aircraft owners can enjoy preferred pricing on caviar and all Petrossian products. WatchBox: As one of the largest buyers of pre-owned timepieces worldwide fueled by technology, innovation and unmatched global experience clients in the Jet Linx jet membership or management program will receive access to WatchBox's ever-changing selection of thousands of pre-owned watches. For more information on Jet Linx and its Elevated Lifestyle benefits program, visit www.jetlinx.com or contact a local Jet Linx Base. About Jet Linx Aviation Jet Linx Aviation is a locally-focused private jet company founded in Omaha, NE in 1999 as a more personalized approach to national private jet companies. Jet Linx offers two different ways to experience private aviation a guaranteed Jet Card and a jet management program providing its clients with an all-encompassing, local solution to all of their private jet travel needs. Jet Linx is an IS-BAO Stage 3, ARGUS Platinum and Wyvern Wingman safety rated operator, an accomplishment earned by less than one percent of all aircraft operators in the world. It is headquartered in Omaha, Neb. and has bases in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Ft. Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Nashville, New York, Omaha, San Antonio, Scottsdale, St. Louis, Tulsa and Washington D.C. For additional information, please visit the Jet Linx website ( www.jetlinx.com ). SOURCE Jet Linx Related Links https://www.jetlinx.com An Irish couple, Cllr Christopher O'Sullivan and Cllr Holly Cairns are set to stand as rivals for February 8 elections which according to them is a 'bad rom-com'. Cairns, a Social Democrat candidate is running against her husband, O'Sullivan, who is a candidate for Fianna Fail, both for the Cork South-West constituency. While talking to an Irish newspaper, Cairns said that 'all's fair in love and war'. Read - Irish PM Leo Varadkar Expresses Doubts With Boris Johnson's Fast-track Timetable While O'Sullivan reportedly led the polls last year for the centrist party and became mayor of the council, the same year Cairns was elected as a Cork county councillor with Social Democrats making them rivals for the upcoming general election and fighting for Dail seats. Cairns told the Irish newspaper that she saw the possibility of her husband getting added to the ticket, and now when it has finally happened, she feels like being 'in a badly written rom-com'. According to international reports, O'Sullivan has not responded to interview requests and Cairns declined for a face-off. However, there is a possibility that both could win since the constituency has three seats. Read - Irish Leader Says EU Will Have Upper Hand In UK Trade Talks Varadkar trailing in elections According to a poll conducted by an Irish local media outlet shows the party of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar trailing with its main rival. The poll also discloses that Varadkar's Fine Gael party had fallen seven per cent points to 23 per cent since its last poll in November while fellow centre-right rival Fianna Fail was up two points to 26 per cent. The poll also indicates that the few voters, however, still trust the ruling party because of its key issue relating to housing and health. According to reports, it is the first time that Varadkar's party has fallen behind its rival in the polls. Varadkar's Fine Gael party came into power in 2017 and has been praised for its handling of Brexit negotiations and overseeing of economic growth. People also still trust the party on the issues of housing and health which has also dominated their campaign so far. The poll further reportedly suggested that Fine Gael was the best party equipped to handle Ireland's crisis over the next five years. Read - Essex Lorry Deaths: Irish Judge Approves Extradition Of Suspect To UK Read - Things To Do In Waterford: Here Are The Places To Visit In The Southeastern Irish City (With inputs from Agencies) (Alliance News) - Georgian Mining Corp on Tuesday said it secured two tenures at the Bolnisi copper & gold project in Georgia but failed to secure three others. Shares in the company more than doubled on Tuesday in London, closing at 2.09 pence each. The company said its 50%-owned joint venture Georgian Copper & Gold JSC secured the tenure at Kvemo Bolnisi East and Dambludi, "two key deposits". The firm said: "Kvemo Bolnisi East has been the focus of much of the company's investment to date, including a significant discovery in 2017, and it is the deposit which is envisaged to commence production first." However, Georgia's National Agency of Mines said it seeks to return Kvemo Bolnisi West, Tsitel Sopeli and Balichi to the state. The company said: "GCG strongly disagrees with this position, particularly as GCG has received previous ministerial endorsements, and written confirmation from NAM that GCG had met all of the licence requirements for all five named deposits in the licence area. "GCG intends to appeal to the Minister of Economy & Sustainable Development to seek to secure its rights to the remainder of the licence area." By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. LONDON -- The British government announced Tuesday that it plans to allow the Chinese telecom giant Huawei to build non-core infrastructure for the countrys coming super-fast 5G network, although the company may be designated a high-risk vendor with a capped market share. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been under tremendous pressure from the U.S. government -- notably from President Donald Trump -- to ban Huawei from building Britains 5G communications network. The British government is essentially seeking a middle path, wanting to allow Huawei to supply and build 5G but ban it from core systems, including intelligence, military, and nuclear sites. It seeks to limit the companys market share to 35%. The plan to allow Huawei to participate in developing Britains 5G network was approved by the countrys National Security Council at a Tuesday meeting chaired by Johnson. The British government will now seek to legislate the proposals through Parliament. It is possible that the House of Commons could amend Johnsons plan -- loosening or strengthening Huaweis hand. But after a landslide win in the December general election for Johnson and his Conservative Party, Parliaments ability to challenge government plans has been weakened. Johnson has been under growing pressure from the Trump administration to ban Huawei outright from the entire network. The United States claims that the Chinese telecom giant poses a security risk and threatens U.S.-British intelligence sharing. The U.S. government has called Huawei a threat to national security, saying the Chinese government could tap into Huawei equipment to spy on the West or disrupt critical infrastructure. Huawei, which has dismissed this concern as unfounded, and described Britain's announcement Tuesday as a win. Huawei is reassured by the U.K. governments confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G rollout on track, said a statement from company vice president Victor Zhang. "This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. It gives the U.K. access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market," the statement added, noting that Huawei has been in Britain for more than 15 years. The United States has been pressing key European allies to bar Huawei from their 5G networks on national security grounds. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted Sunday that Britain had a "momentous decision ahead on 5G." On Friday, Trump himself called Johnson to talk about Huawei. The American pressure has not won Britain over, largely because of concerns that pulling Huawei out of existing 4G networks will be cumbersome and costly. Major providers such as British Telecom are heavily invested in Huawei technology, and Britain does not want to fall behind in the coming 5G world. The coming super-fast 5G networks are expected to power the coming "Internet of Things," enabling industrial, transport and everyday devices to be connected, to "talk" to each other and to share data constantly, powering future technologies such as driverless cars and smart household appliances. Supporters say 5G may usher in a fourth industrial revolution. Critics worry that the systems will allow for widespread spying, data harvesting, and loss of privacy. In addition to banning the sale of some U.S. technology to Huawei, Washington has also blocked Huawei from installing telecom equipment in the United States. Japan and Australia have also effectively banned Huawei from their 5G networks. Britain has long signaled it intended to take a middle way, barring Huawei from government systems and "core" networks that contain routers and switches handling massive volumes of traffic, while allowing the Chinese equipment-maker into the "edge," where radio antennae connect with user devices. But the U.S. government has argued that even a limited presence is too much in a 5G network in which, officials say, the distinction between core and edge is virtually meaningless because so much more data can be processed at the network periphery. As London neared a decision, the Trump administration stepped up its campaign to persuade its ally to bar Huawei. A high-level delegation including deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, special representative for international telecommunications policy Robert Blair, and Robert Strayer, deputy assistant secretary of state for cyber and international communications policy, flew to London this month to make their pitch. They reiterated their case that having a Chinese company that is beholden to potential Chinese government demands for access would pose not only a surveillance risk but also a threat of network disruption if a conflict escalated. They shared technical information aimed at persuading officials that the national security risks of using Huawei technology could not be adequately mitigated. The U.S. delegation stressed that if Britain were to let Huawei into its 5G network, the U.S. government would have to reassess whether the British could sufficiently protect shared intelligence. Also amping up the pressure is the U.S. Congress. A group of Republican lawmakers this month introduced legislation that would bar U.S. intelligence-sharing with any country that allows Huawei into its 5G network. Although it is not expected to pass -- at least not in current form -- the threat sends a signal that Congress does not intend to sit on the sidelines on the issue. British lawmakers, industry lobbyists, and privacy activists are themselves divided. Intelligence officials last March delivered a scathing assessment of the security risks posed by Huawei in telecom networks, saying they found significant technical issues in the firms engineering processes as well as concerning issues in its software. Many European countries, including Britain, have long used Huawei gear in their 3G and 4G networks. British officials and lawmakers wrestled with the decision for more than a year, with some signaling skepticism about a full ban. In a June speech, the head of Britain's National Cyber Security Center, Ciaran Martin, said the country needed to consider a broad range of threats. "The most significant attack on U.K. [telecommunications] in recent years that we know of was Russian, and we don't have any Russian-owned or -flagged kit in our [telecommunications] networks," he said. Last summer, Parliament's Science and Technology Committee said Britain should ban Huawei from the most sensitive, core operations of its 5G network. It said it saw no technical grounds for completely excluding the Chinese company's gear, although it added there could be "geopolitical or ethical grounds for the government to decide to enact a ban." The British decision comes as a host of other countries, including Germany and Brazil, continue to debate Huawei's role in their 5G networks. In Brussels, European Union policymakers are set to unveil a set of draft guidelines Wednesday that would give EU countries the tools to exclude Huawei from their networks should they choose to do so. The EU has been skeptical of the role of Huawei in the development of 5G networks, but it lacks the ability to ban the Chinese company across the bloc. Instead, individual capitals make the decisions, giving Beijing greater leverage to pressure countries. Conakry, Guinea (PANA) - Guinean religious leaders have called on the government to postpone the legislative election scheduled for 16 February, believing that this could bring calm to the country Happy PhD top Khalistan terrorist who killed Hindu leaders shot dead in Lahore India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 28: Harmeet Singh, a top Khalistan terrorist involved in the killing of several Hindu leaders in Punjab has been killed near Lahore. He was killed by a local gang over a financial dispute that stemmed out of a drug deal, sources tell OneIndia. The source said that he was shot by a local gang near the Dera Chahal Gurudwara near Lahore. Harmeet alias Happy PhD took over as the chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force in 2014 after the outfit's boss Harminder Mintoo was arrested by the Punjab Police from Thailand. Mintoo had managed to escape from jail, but he was arrested again. He died of a cardiac arrest in 2018. Khalistan terrorists using online accounts of jail inmates to transfer money, fund terror Singh, who was killed was living in Pakistan for the past 20 years under the patronage of the ISI. In 2018, several Hindu leaders were killed. The police said that these were acts of terror carried out by the Khalistan groups. The National Investigation has seized off a probe involving the killing of several Hindu leaders in Punjab. The NIA probe revealed that the plan was hatched in Pakistan, while the funds came in from Canada, UK and Italy. In Punjab, there have been such murders galore and the year 2017 has seen five such incidents. In 2016, there were two such incidents. The NIA probe into these incidents suggests that the mastermind is a person called Gursharanbir Singh who is a British national. He is the one who roped in Ramandeep and Hardeep Singh and directed them to kill Hindu leaders. The handlers who directed the killing of RSS and other Hindu leaders have been traced to Italy, Canada and the United Kingdom. The Punjab police which is probing the case learnt that there is a systematic approach that has been followed to eliminate Hindu leaders by ISI agents. The motive behind the killings is to destabilise the state, the police say. The ISI wants to cause communal tension in Punjab. Once the state becomes volatile then it could be used as a platform to launch the Khalistan forces, the police also said. The police got information about the modus operandi following three very high profile arrests. Recently the NIA took over the probe into the killing of two persons-Satpal Sharma and his son Ramesh Kumar at Ludhiana. An NIA officer explained to OneIndia that the during the investigation it was found that killings of Satpal Sharma, his son Ramesh Sharma and Durga Gupta were part of trans-national conspiracy hatched by the senior leadership of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). Eight incidents of such killings were executed as part of this conspiracy between January 2016 and October 2017 in Punjab. The objective of the conspiracy was to destabilize the law and order situation in Punjab and to revive the fledgling terrorism in the state. It was found that the conspiracy had its foot-prints in several countries including, Pakistan, UK, Australia, France, Italy and UAE. As part of the conspiracy, large amounts of funds were supplied through Italy, Australia and the UK to the perpetrators of the Killings/ Attempted Killings, viz. Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh. K2 cocktail: Why Pakistans Kashmir-Khalistan operation should worry India These funds were used by them to purchase weapons for executing the killings and other logistics. The conspiracy included recruitment and training of Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh in Italy, Dubai and UAE. Accused Hardeep Singh is a permanent resident of Italy while accused Ramandeep Singh belongs to Ludhiana. Both these persons were trained by one Gursharanbir Singh, a UK national. Another UK national, Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been arrested in the case was involved in the funding of the conspiracy. Day to day co-ordination of the conspiracy was done by Pakistan based Harmeet Singh @ PhD, the NIA had said. Deal of century meant to protect Trump from impeachment: Palestinian PM Iran Press TV Monday, 27 January 2020 2:02 PM Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh says US President Donald Trump's so-called deal of the century on the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict aims to protect him from impeachment and the Israeli premier from imprisonment. "This plan does not form the basis for resolving the conflict, and is presented by a party that has lost its integrity and credibility. It is a plan to protect Trump from impeachment and [Benjamin] Netanyahu from prison. It is not a Middle East peace plan," Shtayyeh told a weekly cabinet session in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday. "This plan gives Israel sovereignty over Palestinian territory," he said. The high-ranking Palestinian official urged international community to boycott the so-called deal of the century, describing it as biased in favor of the Israeli regime. "We call on the international community to not be partners in this, because it contravenes international law. The rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale," Shtayyeh said. He noted that President Mahmoud Abbas would call a meeting of the Palestinian leadership to discuss the best ways to respond to the US-crafted deal. 'Netanyahu, Gantz reception at White House shows US plan is racist' Meanwhile, the secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) political party, Mustafa Barghouti, said Trump's reception of Netanyahu and his main political rival Benny Gantz at the White House on January 28 to unveil "the deal of the century" is proof that the plan is an Israeli "racist" project with an American cover. "This contradicts the decisions of the UN Security Council and even the positions of previous US administrations. It seems that the US president is trying to persuade Netanyahu and Gantz to form a coalition cabinet in order to pass the deal to liquidate the national rights of Palestinians," Barghouti said in a statement released on Monday. "What we are witness to indicates that the negotiation process under US auspices has ended, and talks on the rights and future of the Palestinian nations have finished off," he highlighted. Barghouthi stressed that "the Palestinian people will not allow the conspiracy against their national rights to proceed. Palestinian rights constitute a decisive element in the equation. It is the duty of all peoples and nations to stand by it and refuse to deal with normalization projects at the expense of the Palestinians." Even though the full plan has not been released, Israeli media outlets have described it as a deal that meets nearly all of the Tel Aviv regime's demands in exchange for the possibility of maybe, someday recognizing a Palestinian state. "Peace has nothing to do with it," said Haaretz journalist Amir Tibon said in a tweet last week. According to the English-language online newspaper Times of Israel, the deal drastically undermines Palestinian hopes for restoring land seized by Israeli settlements and allows Israel to expand its territory even further. The US plan on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has already been unanimously rejected by all Palestinian factions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kapil Wadhawan The fall of Kapil Wadhawan, whose family built one of the most fascinating mortgage businesses in India, came much quicker than his rise. Even if one sets aside the criminal element to the story, DHFLs collapse is an important case study on how promoters can destroy even successful businesses by growing too big and too fast. "An NBFC is always at the mercy of its financiers. It needs be careful at all times. Somewhere, DHFL forgot this cardinal rule," said a senior analyst who have been tracking the firm for years. For almost two decades, DHFL was an enviable story in Indias booming housing finance space. With total assets under management of over a trillion rupees, and an aggressive approach to the fast-growing affordable housing market, DHFL was able to stand apart from the new crop of competitors, and even some of the established ones. Banks and investors once queued up before Wadhawans office for business. The firms shares hit a peak of Rs 690 on September 3, 2018 valuing it higher than some of the competing full fledged banks. Kapil, who nearly two decades ago, inherited the legacy of the firm--set up by his father Rajesh Wadhawan back in 1984--was a sought after man in Mumbais financial world. How the cookie crumbled All of it collapsed like a pack of cards soon. The first shock came in September, 2018 when DHFL plunged into a deep liquidity crisis and began defaulting to investors. But, that was only one side of the story. Not long after that, stories of Wadhawans sailing to the forbidden waters flirting with Mumbais underworld surfaced. When I took up my first day, it was like being put into the deep sea with no land in sight but when I look back, the last 20 years have not only been challenging but also satisfying. Kapil Wadhawan had told The Economic Times in an interaction just the month before the shares hit their peak. That was probably the last time Wadhawan made it into the press for the right reasons. DHFLs liquidity crunch triggered fresh defaults and panic in markets. As in the case of any housing finance company, the biggest funding sources of DHFL were banks and mutual funds. Both began to shut doors to DHFL one by one in the following weeks. Rating agencies flashed warning signals to investors, adding to the woes. The IL&FS crisis, which occurred following years of mismanagement and dangerous over-leveraging by Wadhawans, weighed down DHFL heavily. When the mess deepened, the RBI finally superseded the board on 20 November, 2019 and later pushed the firm to the NCLT for insolvency resolution ten days later. The company was admitted for IBC proceeding on 3 December. The writing on the wall was clear by now. Iqbal Mirchi link But DHFLs misery wasnt confined to its financial situation. There was more than meets the eye. The Wadhawans -- Kapil and his brother Dheeraj -- were allegedly engaged in a web of unlawful transactions involving the underworld. According to the Enforcement Directorate, Wadhawans had real estate dealings with gangster Dawood Ibrahims aide and drug trafficker Iqbal Mirchi whom they allegedly met in London. Kapil allegedly created a string of shell companies to facilitate illicit financial transactions and purchase prime real estate properties belonging to Mirchis family in Mumbais Worli area. Wadhawans also routed money from DHFL to the shell companies in which Kapil Wadhawan had shared. DHFL, at one stage, was used like a piggy bank by Wadhawans, who had unquestionable control over it. On Monday, the ED arrested Kapil Wadhawan in connection with the Mirchi real estate transactions. The fate of DHFL is now up to the bankruptcy court. With its share price nosediving to Rs 15 apiece, the market capitalisation of DHFL is just about Rs 470 crore, making it an easy buy for any prospective bidder. But question is if even that price is worth for taking over the mess. With a total debt of Rs 80,000 crore and half of it to commercial lenders, banks are a worried lot and, sure, wouldnt be mute spectators as the process progress. Total collateral, banks can claim from DHFL, is worth only a few billion rupees against a debt of Rs 40,000 crore. Whoever buys the DHFL, if it comes to that, will have to have a deep pocket to set the course of the ship in rough waters. For the second time in his life, Kapil Wadhawan has been pushed into the deep sea with no land in sight. L ondon will face lower economic growth and a drop in the inflow of foreign workers under sweeping migration changes unveiled today by government advisers. The Home Offices Migration Advisory Committee said that its blueprint would focus migration on the recruitment of skilled workers who would pay higher taxes. But despite a series of concessions to employers worried about filling labour gaps, the committee warned that growth would fall nationwide, with the biggest impact on the capital. The committee also admitted that employers who used lots of Europeans in low-skilled jobs are ... not going to be happy. The minimum salary for employing skilled workers from abroad should be cut by a sixth to 25,600, the advisers said. There should also be special lower salary thresholds for the recruitment of workers under the age of 26 and for teachers and skilled NHS staff to ensure that labour gaps could be filled, they said. The changes are expected to lead to a drop in the overall levels of migration into both the capital and the rest of the country. Other key changes proposed include allowing some talented individuals to come to Britain without a job offer. Businesses leaders are likely to be alarmed, however, by the absence of plans for the admission of lower skilled workers, who are not covered in todays proposals. The committee also ruled out a London visa backed by some businesses in the capital. Announcing the proposed reforms today, Professor Alan Manning said: Our recommendations are likely to reduce future growth of the UK population and economy compared to freedom of movement, by using skill and salary thresholds. We estimate very small increases in GDP per capita and productivity, slightly improved public finances, slightly reduced pressures on the NHS, schools and on social housing, though slightly increased pressure on social care. No perfect system exists and there are unavoidable, difficult trade-offs. The largest impacts will be in low-wage sectors and the Government needs to be clear about its plans for lower-skilled work migration. On London, the report said that if the proposals in it had been implemented in 2004, when Poland and other Eastern European countries joined the EU, it would have led to a 3.3 per cent drop in Londons GDP over that period. It declined to give specific predictions but confirmed that growth in the capital will be lower because of the planned new curbs. The report adds: The estimated impacts of our recommendations also vary across the regions ... with the largest predicted impacts in London, driven by the larger share of migrants living and working there. The report was commissioned by ministers to help them design a new points-based system after Brexit. A Home Office spokesman said: We will deliver on the peoples priorities by introducing a points-based immigration system from 2021 to attract the brightest and best talent from around the world, while reducing low-skilled migration and bringing overall numbers down. Listen to today's episode of The Leader: India, Brazil eye $15 billion bilateral trade by 2022 India and Brazil on Saturday signed 15 agreements to deepen cooperation in defence and security, trade and investment, agriculture and energy, civil aviation, energy, environment and health and innovation The agreements followed talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who was also the chief guest at Sundays Republic Day parade. Brazil is the largest country in Latin America covering nearly half of South America and, by building up relations with Brazil, India will be a major boost to its relations with Latin American countries. The two countries signed 15 agreements covering a wide range of areas, including bio energy, oil and gas, mineral resources, traditional medicine, animal husbandry, trade and investment. The major focus was on boosting bilateral trade and investment as both the large economies have been hit by economic slowdown. India and Brazil also drew up ambitious plan to boost their stuttering economies by expanding trade and set a target of $15 billion in bilateral trade by 2022. Bilateral trade between India and Brazil in 2018-19 was $12 billion which included $8 billion worth of Indian exports to Brazil and $4 million as imports by India. The two leaders see great synergies between India and Brazil, the two large economies with a combines GDP of around $4.5 trillion and having a total population of 1.5 billion. Your visit to India has opened a new chapter in ties between India and Brazil, Modi said. Tweeting later, Modi said, Apart from bilateral cooperation, India and Brazil are working together at various multilateral forums. We see immense synergies on various issues including the need to uproot the menace of terrorism. India and Brazil will keep working together for a better planet. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of bioenergy besides co-operation in the field of petroleum and natural gas. An investment cooperation and facilitation treaty b/w the Republic of India and the Federative Republic of Brazil The two countries signed an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. They also signed agreements on cooperation in the field of health and medicine and in the field of early childhood. Indias ministry of AYUSH and Brazils ministry of health signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine and homeopathy. India and Brazil also announced a cultural exchange programme Brazil for the period 2020-2024. The two countries entered into an MoU on cooperation between the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) of the ministry of electronics and information technology (MEITY) and the General Coordination of Network Incident Treatment Centre, Department of Information Security, Institutional Security, Cabinet of the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil (CGCTIR/DSI/GSI) on cooperation in the area of cyber security. India and Brazil will also announced a programme of scientific and technological cooperation for implementing the agreement on scientific and technological cooperation during 2020-2023. Indias Geological Survey of India (GSI) and CPRM of Brazils ministry of mines and energy. An MoU was signed between Invest India and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex Brazil) for mutual investment promotion. A joint declaration of intent between Indias Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Brazils ministry of agriculture, livestock and food supply aims at a big boost to cooperation in the fields of animal husbandry and dairying. US dollar exchange rates advanced against currency peers on Tuesday afternoon after US durable goods orders for December surpassed expectations, increasing by 2.4% against an expected 0.5%. The American currency was higher against the Malaysian Ringgit 4.08600 (+0.58%), Thai Baht 30.83000 (+0.39%), Pound Sterling 0.76861 (+0.38%), Swiss Franc 0.97295 (+0.31%), Japanese Yen 109.11800 (+0.17%), NZ dollar 1.53013 (+0.14%) and Australian dollar 1.48066 (+0.12%) The euro managed to stay firm against the strengthening American dollar, quoted at 0.90763, just 0.02% higher on the day. "A big gain for defense aircraft salvaged an otherwise lackluster if not outwardly weak durable goods report for December" said Econoday, Inc. "New orders rose 2.4% in a monthly gain offset in part by a sharp downward revision to November, from an initial decrease of 2.0% to a drop of 3.1%." The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased in January. The Index now stands at 131.6, up from 128.2 in December and beating forecasts of 128.2. The euro-to-dollar exchange rate has remained steady at 1.10103 while the pound-to-dollar exchange rate has fallen back to trade below the key 1.3 level, quoted at 1.29948. The US dollar continued to trend higher on Tuesday morning, as demand remained buoyed by ongoing fears over the coronavirus outbreak in China. With the death-toll in China rising to 106 and an increasingly number of cases reported outside of the country continuing to rise, investors are growing increasingly jittery, fueling demand for the safe-haven US Dollar. Russ Mould, investment director at the stockbroker AJ Bell, comments: The market is back in panic mode about Chinas coronavirus. An extended lunar New Year holiday is nothing to celebrate for China, instead it represents an escalation of attempts to contain the deadly virus by restricting travel and locking down major cities. The difficulty for investors is that it is extremely difficult to predict what turn events might take in the coming days and weeks. Until there are signs the virus has been contained equities look set to be dogged by uncertainty. Previous experience of global health crises does at least suggest there could be a fairly rapid recovery once the number of cases has peaked. Analysts have also expressed concern about how the outbreak could impact growth in the world's second largest economy as the Chinese government attempts to contain the virus by extending the Lunar New Year holiday and restricting travel. Economists have already begun to speculate on the chances of Chinas economy contracting at the start of 2020 as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Freya Beamish. chief Asia Economist at Pantheon Economics suggests: The bottom line here is that China could even see a contraction in quarterly real GDP growth in Q1, in reality, depending on the timing of factory closures and how long it takes to contain the virus. This could have a major knock on effect for global growth and further bolstered demand for the US Dollar on Tuesday. Inversion in US Yield Curve Stokes Fed Rate Speculation Slightly undermining the US Dollars advance on Tuesday was a surprise inversion of the US Treasury yield curve for the first time since October. The inversion of the yield curve is traditional viewed as an early indicator of a recession and so this will be watched closely by USD investors. While most analysts remain confident that the next recession remains some way off, it has stoked some speculation that the Federal Reserve may need to consider another rate cut this year in order to main the US economys current momentum. In fact, some USD investors have already begun to price in a rate cut by September, with CME Groups FedWatch tool placing the odds of a cut happening by then at over 65%. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will conclude its latest policy meeting on Wednesday evening. While no policy changes are expected from the Fed this month, USD investors will be paying close attention to its forward guidance for any clues on the banks future policy. Rebound in US Durable Goods to Extend USD Exchange Rate Gains? Likely bolstering the appeal of the US Dollar (USD) on Tuesday afternoon will be the publication of the latest US durable goods figures. Economists forecast Decembers release will reveal goods order growth rebounded last month, rising by 0.3% after a sharp 2% contraction in November. Should they print in line with expectations this will be the strongest goods figures since August and will help to limit concerns about the recent slowdown in the US manufacturing sector. (Repeats story that ran on Monday, with no changes to text) By Rajendra Jadhav MUMBAI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - India's monthly palm oil imports from Malaysia could fall to the lowest level in nearly nine years in January as traders stopped buying the tropical oil from Kuala Lumpur following informal instructions from New Delhi, traders and refiners told Reuters. Lower imports by India, the world's biggest palm oil importer, could weigh on Malaysian prices that have corrected nearly a tenth after hitting a three-year peak earlier this month. In the second week of January New Delhi privately urged palm oil importers to boycott Malaysian products after the country's Prime Minister criticised India's actions in Kashmir and its new citizenship law. Some traders had been hoping state-run trading firms could buy refined palm oil for the public distribution system by floating tenders, but this does not seem to have materialised. "No one is buying Malaysia's crude palm oil (CPO) or palmolein for February shipments. There are no open tenders from state agencies yet," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader. India is set to import less than 70,000 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia in January, the lowest since April 2011 and significantly lower than the 253,889 tonnes it imported in January 2019, traders and refiners said. In February imports could be negligible at less than 10,000 tonnes as almost every Indian buyer has switched to Indonesia, they said. "Traders stopped buying from Malaysia after the government gave verbal instructions. This month's shipments are from the contracts signed before the government instructions," said a Mumbai-based dealer with one global trading firm. In 2019, India imported 4.4 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia, with average monthly imports of 367,459 tonnes, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) data showed. Indonesian sellers are currently charging a premium around $25 per tonne over CPO supplies from Malaysia, but "we have little choice but to buy," said an Indian refiner, which had shifted its entire buying to Indonesia. Story continues India's palm oil imports from Indonesia could be around 550,000 tonnes in January, said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of the Sunvin Group, a Mumbai-based vegetable oil importer. Indonesia is the world's biggest producer of palm oil, followed by Malaysia. Palm oil accounts for nearly two-thirds of India's total edible oil imports. India buys more than 9 million tonnes of palm oil annually, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia. "Even in coming months, Indian imports would be negligible from Malaysia, unless the Indian government changes its stance," said an importer based at Indore in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav Additional reporting by Mei Mei Chu in Kuala Lumpur Editing by David Holmes) SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The new strain of coronavirus spreading across China claimed its first victim in Beijing, officials said on Tuesday, as the death toll climbed to 106, the United States warned citizens against trips to the country and financial markets recoiled again at the potential impact on the worlds second-biggest economy. Amid mounting concern about the virus on Chinese social media, the National Health Commission said in a statement that all but six of those killed by the previously unknown flu-like virus were in Wuhan, Hubei province. Though cases of the virus have been confirmed in other countries, no fatalities have been reported outside China. The city of 11 million, where the virus emerged late last year, is now under effective lockdown. Footage shared on Chinas Twitter-like Weibo social media platform showed residents of apartment compounds in the city chanting Wuhan, you can do it! and singing the national anthem out of their windows. Tuesdays death toll was up from 81 as of the day before, while the number of total confirmed cases in China surged to 4,515 as of Jan. 27, from 2,835 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said. Global stocks fell, oil prices hit three-month lows, and Chinas yuan dipped to its weakest level in 2020 as investors worried about damage to the economy from travel bans over the Lunar New Year holiday period, which China extended in a bid to keep people at home. Canada, which has two confirmed cases of the virus and is investigating 19 more potential cases, warned its citizens to avoid travel to Hubei province. Authorities in Hubei, home to nearly 60 million people, are taking increasing flak from the public over their initial response to the virus, while much of the province is now under travel curbs. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Wuhan on Monday to encourage medical workers and promise reinforcements. The most senior leader to visit the city since the outbreak, Li was shown on state TV leading medical workers in chants to boost morale. By Caitlin Johnstone January 28, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - During the George W Bush administration it was popular in conspiracy circles to speculate that events might be orchestrated which would allow the Bush family to complete a coup against the US Constitution and hold on to power indefinitely. Such paranoia and suspicion of government power in the wake of the extraordinary post-9/11 advancements in Orwellian surveillance programs and unprecedented military expansionism were perfectly understandable, but predictions that the younger Bush would not cede power at the end of his second term proved incorrect. In todays hysterical Trump-centric political environment we now see mainstream voices in mainstream outlets openly advancing the same conspiratorial speculations about the current administration, and those will prove incorrect as well. What these paranoid presidential prognostications get wrong is not their extreme suspicion of government, but their assumption that Americas real power structures require a certain president to be in place in order to advance depraved totalitarian agendas. As anyone paying attention knows, intense suspicion of the US government is the only sane position that anyone can possibly have; the error is in assuming that there is no mechanism in place to ensure that the same agendas carry forward from one presidential administration to the next. Schiff dwelling on the fact that Trump departed from the talking points prepared for him by national security officials so he could act "contrary to official US policy," which is to "deter Russian adventurism." Glad to know even the president is not permitted to change US policy Michael Tracey (@mtracey) January 23, 2020 In a sense, the conspiracy theories about a Bush coup were actually correct: the Bush administration didnt truly end. All of its imperialist, power-serving agendas remained in place and were expanded under the apparent oversight of the following administration. The same thing happened after the Obama administration, and the same thingwhether in 2021 or 2025will happen after the Trump administration. The disturbing fact of the matter is that if you ignore election dates and just look at the numbers and raw data of US government behavior over the years, you cant really tell who is president or which political party is in power at any given point in time. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The mechanism which ensures the perpetuation of the same policies from administration to administration used to be referred to by analysts as the deep state, back before Trump and his supporters hijacked that term and began using it to essentially mean something like Democrats and anyone who doesnt like Trump. Originally the term deep state referred not to one political party, nor to some shadowy cabal of Illuminati or Satanists or reptilians, but to the simple and undeniable fact that unelected power structures exist and tend to influence Americas official elected government. It wasnt a conspiracy theory, it was a concept used in political analysis to describe how US government agencies and plutocrats form loose alliances with each other and with official Washington to influence government policy and behavior. It is inevitable that such a permanent second government would exist in the current iteration of the United States, if you think about it. Its impossible to have a globe-spanning empire of the sort America now has without long-term plans spanning years or decades for securing control of world resources, undermining rivals, securing more compliant allies, and ensuring military and economic hegemony. If the US were a normal nation which simply minded its own affairs, a permanent government wouldnt be necessary. But because it isnt, one is. I very seldom use the term deep state anymore, because its meaning in mainstream discourse has been completely corrupted. Now when I want to point to Americas permanent unelected power structures I usually use the word oligarchy or empire, or simply establishment. This is why I havent been especially focused on the US presidential race, despite the Democratic primaries hitting fever pitch intensity. While I believe the race can be a useful tool for forcing establishment propagandists to expose themselves (virulent never Trump neocon Bret Stephens just came out in support of Trump if the Democratic nominee is anyone to the left of Pete Buttigeig, for example), the result of the 2020 election isnt going to change a whole hell of a lot. This might be a bit offensive to both Trump supporters and Sanders supporters, but its true. Whenever I point out that the current administration has been advancing many longstanding agendas of the CIA and neoconservative war pigsagendas like military expansionism, imprisoning Assange, regime change interventionism in Iran and Venezuela, and reigniting the Cold Warhis supporters always come in saying If hes working for the establishment how come the establishment is working so hard to get rid of him, huh? Well, for starters, theyre not. Nobody who can count Senate seats believes Trump will be removed from office in the current impeachment sideshow, and everyone who understood Russiagate knew it was going to dead-end at nothing. If they really wanted Trump gone they wouldnt be pussyfooting around with a bunch of kayfabe combat that they know will never hurt him. Obviously he wasnt the preferred 2016 choice of certain factions within the establishment, but there are mechanisms in place to ensure that the empire can tick right along with a less-than-ideal president in the White House. This will also hold true if Sanders miraculously makes his way through another rigged primary, and then through whatever sabotage gets thrown his way in the general election. Sure he might be able to sign a few somewhat beneficial executive orders and we probably wouldnt see him flirting with an Iran war, but US imperialism will march on more or less unimpeded and his popular progressive domestic policies would require congress to successfully implement. At best hed be a mild reformer who uses the bully pulpit to help spread awareness while being narrative managed on all sides by the billionaire media, and any changes he manages to squeak through which inconvenience the establishment at all will be reversed by a subsequent administration. Obviously the establishment would rather have someone in the White House who doesnt constantly put an ugly face on the empire by accidentally exposing its mechanics all the time as Trump does, and obviously it would rather have an incompetent oaf like Trump in office than someone who actively points out the evils of oligarchy and imperialism like Sanders. But the establishment which runs the US-centralized empire is not afraid of Trump, and it is not afraid of Sanders. Its afraid of you. The unelected power establishment has ways of ensuring its dominance amid the comings and goings of Americas official elected government; they are perfectly capable of dealing with one man being a less than ideal steward of the empire. What they absolutely cannot deal with, at all, is the prospect of ordinary people finally rising up and using the power of their numbers to force real change. That is what they are really fighting against when they try to sabotage populist candidates: not the candidates themselves, but populism itself. You wouldnt know it from reading the billionaire media, but the Yellow Vests protests in France are still going on and have remained widespread for more than a year now. This lack of coverage is partially due to the fact that establishment narrative managers are responsible for conveying the idea that the only governments whose citizens dislike them are those which havent been absorbed into the imperial blob like China and Iran. But its also because the propagandists dont want us getting any ideas. The reason the propagandists work so hard to manufacture the consent of the governed is because they absolutely do require that consent. If enough people decide that the status quo isnt working for them and begin rising up to force it to change, theres not really anything the establishment can do to stop them. Right now the only thing keeping people from rising up in this way is the fact that theyve been successfully propagandized not to, and the propagandists intend to keep it that way. But eyes are beginning to open. If real change is coming, it will come from there. Not from electing anyone president, but from a large-scale awakening to the reality of our situation. The only thing standing in the way is a thin layer of narrative fluff. Caitlin's articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking her on Facebook, following her antics on Twitter, checking out her podcast, throwing some money into her hat on Patreon or Paypal, or buying her book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. https://caitlinjohnstone.com Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== 3 things you should know after Monday's impeachment trial proceedings originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The impeachment trial spilled into its second week on Monday, as President Donald Trump's counsel presented more opening arguments on the Senate floor. It was the first day back following The New York Times' bombshell report on Sunday that Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, had detailed in an unpublished manuscript a conversation where the president reportedly tied the release of Ukraine military aid to investigations into the Bidens. MORE: Trump impeachment trial: President's defense team goes after Bidens ABC News has not independently reviewed the manuscript, but according to the Times, Bolton wrote that he had a conversation with Trump about the Ukraine aid and investigating his political rivals in August 2019. The news put more pressure on the question of whether or not there will be witnesses during the impeachment trial. PHOTO: White House adviser Pam Bondi presents her opening argument on day 6 of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, Jan. 27, 2020, at the Capitol. (ABC News) Here's three things to know from Monday: Impact of Bolton's reported conversation with Trump Bolton's unpublished manuscript, which reportedly contradicts Trump's defense about the withholding of military aid, created a firestorm in Washington and put increased pressure on Republicans to make way for witnesses at the Senate trial. Some Republicans on Monday indicated they'd support hearing from Bolton, like Utah Sen. Mitt Romney. "It's pretty fair to say that John Bolton has a relevant testimony to provide to those of us who are sitting in impartial justice," Romney said. MORE: Supreme Court allows rule to turn away immigrants who may need public assistance Similarly, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said in a statement: "The reports about John Bolton's book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues." Although there appeared to be a shift toward the possibility of allowing witnesses among Republicans on Monday, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said if they were going to add Bolton, "then we're going to go to Hunter Biden, Joe Biden and all these people." Story continues "If there's a need to add to the record, then my view is that we're going to completely add to the record, not selectively, and I'll let you know Thursday if I think there's a need," Graham said. "If the Senate needs to secure testimony from John Bolton, then I will say so. If I think that's necessary for fairness, but I also have said for weeks that if we call one witness we're gone call witnesses requested by the president," he continued. Jay Sekulow, the president's personal lawyer, said during opening statements that the defense team planned Monday to continue using the same "pattern" that they used when dealing with the case on Saturday, and did not mention Bolton. PHOTO: Sen. Mitt Romney speaks to reporters as he arrives at the Capitol, Jan. 27, 2020, during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) "We deal with transcript evidence," Sekulow said. "We deal with publicly available information. We do not deal with speculation -- allegations that are not based on evidentiary standards at all." Trump's lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, argued Monday evening that even if Bolton's revelations are proven true, they are not an impeachable offense. "Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense that is clear from the history that is clear from the language of the Constitution," Dershowitz said. "You cannot turn conduct that is not impeachable into impeachable conduct simply by using words like quid pro quo and personal benefit." Trump's team takes aim at Biden Trump's defense team went after Joe Biden's son, Hunter, on Monday, going through the numerous questions that surround his time serving on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. Pam Bondi spent a significant amount of time on the Senate floor addressing the rumors floating around regarding the Bidens, despite telling the Senate, "We would prefer not to be talking about this. We would prefer not to be discussing this, but the House Managers have placed this squarely at issue, so we must address it." Bondi questioned Hunter Biden's qualifications to hold the position, and his salary while serving on the board. MORE: Key GOP senators express new support for witnesses following Bolton book report She also discussed when Joe Biden disavowed the former Ukrainian prosecutor general during his time as vice president, alleging that Biden wanted the official out because he was investigating the company where Hunter Biden served on the board. However, there was widespread criticism of the Ukrainian prosecutor general at the time, including from European governments, and Biden was implementing U.S. policy. Trump and fellow Republicans have appeared to attempt to shift the narrative of impeachment away from the president and onto the Bidens since the impeachment inquiry was first launched last year. Abuse of power Dershowitz, the former Harvard Law School professor who is playing a role on Trump's defense team, argued that a sitting president cannot be impeached for abuse of power on Monday, saying, "Even if criminal conduct were not required, the framers of our Constitution would have implicitly rejected, and if it had been presented to them, explicitly rejected such vague terms as abuse of power and obstruction of Congress as among the enumerated and defining criteria for impeaching a president." The concept of "abuse of power" was raised at several points during Monday's opening arguments, including a direct response to Democrats' arguments from last week. PHOTO: Alan Dershowitz speaks on the Senate floor during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, Jan. 27, 2020, in Washington, DC. (ABC News) Trump team lawyer Eric Hershmann said, "If Manager Jeffries' standard applies, then where were these same Democrats' calls for impeachment when uncontroverted 'smoking gun' evidence emerged that President Obama had violated their standard?" "The American people understand this basic notion as equal justice under the law. It's as American as apple pie," he said. ABC News' Quinn Owen, Mariam Khan, Stephanie Ebbs, Allison Pecorin, Katherine Faulders, Sarah Kolinovsky, John Santucci and Olivia Rubin contributed to this report. Minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur led the audience of an election meeting in Rithala, Delhi on a chant that said traitors would be shot -- Desh ke gaddaron ko; goli maro salon ko -- although he himself didnt utter the second part of the slogan. Warming up the crowd for a meeting by home minister Amit Shah, who was yet to arrive at the venue, Thakur took to the microphone and screamed out the first part of the slogan, exhorting the audience to finish it , which they did. Another union minister Giriraj Singh was also there at the time. A video of Thakur went viral. The minister himself was not available for comment but a member of his team pointed out that Thakur had not uttered the second part of the slogan. BJPs Rithala candidate Manish Chaudhary said he too was not present when the slogans were being chanted. It wasnt immediately clear whether the Election Commission would react to the statement. The Delhi chief electoral officer (CEO) has sought a report from northwest district election officer (DEO) on the statements made by Thakur at the public meeting. Though we havent received a complaint so far, but we took cognisance of the incident and have sought a report from the DEO on the same. The slogan was heard during a protest march led by AAP rebel Kapil Mishra, who is BJPs candidate from Model Town, in Connaught Place in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act in December. Thakurs behaviour came in for criticism from other parties. The Aam Aadmi Party refused to comment on the issue. Delhi Congress chief spokesperson Mukesh Sharma said that Thakurs act shows the BJP is losing the plot. BJP leaders are making desperate attempts as they can see their defeat. Thakur must name who all are traitors. The home minister, who addressed two public meetings at Rithala and Janakpuri on Tuesday, once again trained his guns at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for not giving permission to prosecute those who shouted slogans at the Jawaharlal Nehru University to divide the country. Reacting to Kejriwals recent response to him on Twitter, Shah said, I talk about water problems, schools CCTV camera, you tweet instantly. Today, I want to ask you if you are going to give permission to prosecute the tukde-tukde gang who wants to divide the country. Talking about measures taken by the Centre to the provide relief to lakhs of people in unauthorised colonies, Shah said, Kejriwal stalled the process for years. But it was our government which has ensured that people get registry papers by paying just R 500-1000, he said. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill and First Minister Arlene Foster The DUP and Sinn Fein are planning to voluntarily cut the number of special advisers in The Executive Office. Under the proposal, Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill and their junior ministers will employ six Spads in the office rather than the eight they are entitled to. Stormont sources said both the First Minister and Deputy First Minister were opting for the move in response to public criticism over the number of Spads in the administration. Read More Every other Executive minister has a Spad, bringing the previous total number at Stormont to 16. With the proposed cut, that will fall to 14. The behaviour and accountability of some of these powerful unelected advisers at Stormont was called into question at the RHI Inquiry. TUV leader Jim Allister's bill to reduce the number of Spads in The Executive Office from eight to four will be introduced in the Assembly on Monday. The Belfast Telegraph can also reveal that two former DUP Spads are set to return to Stormont. Former South Belfast MP Emma Little-Pengelly, who lost her seat to the SDLP's Claire Hanna last month, will work in The Executive Office for Mrs Foster. She had previously been a Stormont Spad for eight years and has also served as a junior minister. She will be joined in The Executive Office by former hospital doctor and ex-Craigavon councillor Dr Philip Weir. He has previously worked as a Spad for three DUP Health Ministers - Edwin Poots, Jim Wells and Simon Hamilton. Stormont sources said that former Sinn Fein special advisers Stephen McGlade and John Loughran were likely to return to their roles. Ms Little-Pengelly last month told the Belfast Telegraph that she hadn't decided if she would remain in politics following the loss of her Westminster seat. She said she needed time to "reflect and recharge" after her defeat and to consider her next career move. The DUP woman also outlined her plans to head to the jungle to volunteer with an animal wildlife sanctuary. She said she hoped to spend a few weeks working in an orangutan sanctuary in Borneo. "I think it will be a really interesting challenge and I want to learn about animal sanctuaries and conservation," Ms Little-Pengelly said. She was special adviser to both the Rev Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson in the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister from 2007-15. She then returned to Stormont as a South Belfast MLA and was appointed a junior minister in The Executive Office, but lost her seat two years later. She was elected South Belfast MP in 2017 but was defeated by Ms Hanna in December. DUP Ards and North Down councillor and lecturer Peter Martin will become Spad to Education Minister, Peter Weir. DUP staffer Mark Beattie, who had worked in MEP Diane Dodds office, is on course to be appointed special adviser to Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots while Mid-Ulster councillor Kim Ashton is tipped to work for Mrs Foster in The Executive Office. Eoin Rooney is set to be Spad to Sinn Fein Finance Minister Conor Murphy. The partys Mid-Ulster group leader, Ronan McGinley, is due to become Spad to Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey. He recently announced he would be stepping down from his council role to take up other responsibilities at a senior level within the party. Alliances head of policy, Claire Johnson, who previously worked for the human rights organisation Liberty, will be Spad to Justice Minister Naomi Long. Mark Ovens, who worked in the UUP policy team, will become special adviser to Health Minister Robin Swann. Spads have secured salaries of up to 92,000. Mr Allister's bill seeks to reduce the maximum salary to around 70,000. It would also create a specific criminal offence for a minister or special adviser to communicate confidential government information to a third party. Finance Minister Conor Murphy last week published an updated code for Spads but Mr Allister believes this doesn't go far enough. The new code includes an 85,000 salary cap. The three broad paybands for Spads - up to 54,999, 55,000-69,000 and 70,000-85,000 - will be set independently by Department of Finance officials. The new code makes it clear that ministers are responsible for the appointment, conduct and discipline of Spads. It will also require special advisers to declare details of gifts and hospitality and meetings with external organisations, to keep good records, use official email accounts and serve the Executive as a whole, as well as their appointing minister. (Natural News) As public health officials have been desperately trying to reassure the public that coronavirus isnt necessarily being spread from human to human outside of China, new reports out of Canada strongly suggest otherwise. In Ontario, the wife of Canadas first coronavirus patient recently tested positive for the virus herself, foreboding that the next step of this contagion and a possible global pandemic has now been reached. Reports indicate that this individual had previously traveled to China with her husband, and upon returning decided to voluntarily quarantine herself with just him. But because he contracted it first, and her later, it would seem as though he transmitted it to her while in Canada. Some media outlets are officially reporting the incident as the first offshore person-to-person case of coronavirus transmission and based on the evidence it does appear as though this is the case. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) is reluctant to classify the ongoing spread of coronavirus as a global pandemic, insisting that China has the resources to contain it which is laughable considering coronavirus cases are now popping up all around the world. According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the agency still needs more information to reach a consensus on whether to declare a PHEIC (Public Health Emergency of International Concern), according to one report. Specifically, the organization wanted to see evidence of human-to-human transmission outside of China before declaring a global emergency, this same outlet reported. Well, it seems as though weve now reached this point, but time will tell whether or not the WHO actually acknowledges it. For more breaking news about coronavirus, be sure to check out Outbreak.news. American health officials starting to panic, say Chinese quarantines arent enough With the markets tumbling and new cases of coronavirus popping up constantly, health officials here in the United States are starting to panic as they worry that quarantines in China arent enough to stop this thing from creating a global pandemic. The latest reports indicate that more than 100 people are now being evaluated here in the U.S. for potential coronavirus infection. This is on top of the five confirmed cases that have been identified in Washington, Arizona, California, and Illinois. In China, more than 80 people have died from coronavirus, while another 3,000, at least, have contracted the disease. Most of the deaths, 76 to be exact, occurred in the central Chinese province of Hubei. Beijing, Chinas capital and the home of about 21 million people, announced its first death from coronavirus on January 27. A 50-year-old man who had recently traveled to Wuhan, the individual developed a fever after returning to Beijing and died of respiratory failure just a few days later. Besides the U.S., coronavirus has breached the borders of China and struck Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Canada, France, Vietnam, Nepal and Cambodia. Thus far, nobody outside of China has died from coronavirus. According to researchers from The University of Hong Kong, the actual number of coronavirus cases is likely upwards of 44,000, despite the much lower numbers being reported by the mainstream media. These researchers claim that the communist government of China is covering up the truth in an effort to keep people in the dark about the seriousness of this deadly outbreak. University of Hong Kong academics on Monday estimated that the number of patients in Wuhan had reached 43,590 by Saturday, including those in the incubation stage of the virus, which causes pneumonia, The South China Morning Post reported. Lead researcher and dean of HKUs faculty of medicine Gabriel Leung said his team estimated there were 25,630 patients showing symptoms in Wuhan and that the number would double in 6.2 days, according to mathematical modelling based on infection figures worldwide as of Saturday. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com NYTimes.com BusinessInsider.com NaturalNews.com INVISIBLE AMERICANS The Tragic Cost of Child Poverty By Jeff Madrick Its a paradox of American childhood poverty that experts routinely devise the most complex solutions for it or in recent parlance innovations most of which are elaborate, costly or otherwise impractical to implement. Jeff Madrick is an exception to this rule. In his new book, Invisible Americans: The Tragic Cost of Child Poverty, he argues for a solution for children so simple that even a child could understand it: Give poor families money for their kids. In clear, spare prose, he lays out a proposal for something akin to a basic income guarantee for parents of children under 18. Poor children have many requirements, but above all they need money, he writes. He returns to this point repeatedly: Child poverty is too punishing and harmful to wait years for results especially when cash distributions can help today. Madricks idea is essentially a subset of universal basic income, a concept championed by an increasing number of prominent Americans from the presidential candidate Andrew Yang to the conservative social scientist Charles Murray and the Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. Madrick, a veteran journalist and economic analyst, imagines a government-funded allowance to families that would equal $4,000 to $5,000 per child each year. Every family with children would get some money, which would avoid the problem of only offering the stipend to the guardians of poor youth. After all, there are millions of near poor and struggling middle-class families as well, trying to pay for their kids out of stagnant incomes. (According to current guidelines, a family of four living on $25,750 or less qualifies as poor; realistically, Madrick argues, the number should be closer to $50,000.) In addition, he would have the allowance ladled out according to a principle of non-paternalism; in other words, it would be unconditional, like love. Lawyers for President Donald Trump were set on Tuesday to wrap up their arguments urging acquittal in his U.S. Senate trial after making the case that explosive allegations by former national security adviser John Bolton - even if true - do not represent an impeachable offense. The impeachment trial has been roiled by New York Times reporting about an unpublished book manuscript written by Bolton, who left his White House post last September. The trial will determine whether the Republican president is removed from office after being impeached by the Democratic-led House of Representatives last month on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress arising from his conduct toward Ukraine. Senate Republicans, who have so far refused to allow any witnesses or new evidence in the trial, faced mounting pressure from Democrats and some moderates in their own party to summon Bolton. Directly contradicting Trump's account of events, Bolton in the manuscript said the president told him he wanted to freeze $391 million in security aid to Ukraine until Kiev helped with investigations into Democrats including Democratic political rival Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden, the Times reported. Trump has said he fired Bolton. Bolton said he quit after policy disagreements. Trump is expected to be acquitted in the 100-seat Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats and a two-thirds majority is needed to remove him from office under the U.S. Constitution. Trump's lawyers delivered about seven hours of arguments before the Senate on Monday. Bolton's allegations go to the heart of impeachment charges against Trump. Democrats have said Trump abused his power by using the security aid - passed by Congress to help Ukraine battle Russia-backed separatists - as leverage to get a foreign power to smear a political rival. Alan Dershowitz, a constitutional law professor who is a member of Trump's legal team, told the Senate on Monday: "Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense. That is clear from the history. That is clear from the language of the Constitution. You cannot turn conduct that is not impeachable into impeachable conduct simply by using words like 'quid pro quo' and 'personal benefit.'" Trump has denied telling Bolton he sought to use the Ukraine aid as leverage to get Kiev to investigate the Bidens. He has denied any quid pro quo - a Latin term meaning a favor for a favor - in his dealings with Ukraine. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who was at the White House on Tuesday morning, wrote on Twitter that he supports a proposal that Bolton's manuscript be made available to the Senate if possible in a classified setting. Republican Senator James Lankford late on Monday urged Bolton to speak publicly outside of the impeachment trial. "John Bolton is no shrinking violet," Lankford said in a video posted to his Facebook page. "My encouragement would be: If John Bolton's got something to say, there's plenty of microphones all over the country - that he should step forward and start talking about it right now." Trump's lawyers were due to deliver their third and final day of arguments. It was not clear when senators would begin submitting their questions to U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, the next step in the trial. Roberts is presiding over the trial. Lawyer Pat Cipollone concluded Monday's session with Republicans' argument that Democrats were using impeachment as a way to nullify the results of the 2016 election that Trump won. Trump is seeking re-election on Nov. 3. Biden is a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination to face Trump. WITNESSES OR NO WITNESSES? The Senate may resolve the issue of whether to call witnesses in a vote on Friday or Saturday. The Bolton disclosures prompted Democrats to intensify their calls for Bolton and other witnesses to testify. Some moderate Republican senators, including Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, said the disclosures were likely to sway at least four Republicans to call Bolton to testify, which would give Democrats the votes necessary in the Republican-led Senate to summon him. The focus was on whether two other moderate Republicans, Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski, would vote to hear from Bolton. Romney told Reuters on Tuesday that the idea of a "one-for-one" witness deal, with one witness called by Democrats and one by Republicans, "has merit," but added: "I wouldn't suggest any particular names." "There are senators of good conscience who are wrestling with this," Democrat Adam Schiff, who is leading the House team prosecuting the case against Trump, told MSNBC. "The question is: Will they prevail? Because if they don't no one can call this a fair trial." While the impeachment drama has consumed Washington, it seems to have done little to alter voters' views of Trump in at least one election battleground state. More than two dozen voters interviewed in Michigan said they were most focused on jobs, healthcare and education. "It mainly only comes up after we're done talking about everything else," said Larry Nearhood, a volunteer for Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. "It's just in the background." Still, most Americans want to see witnesses in the trial, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Search Keywords: Short link: The states oldest teenagers would still be considered juveniles under proposed legislation announced Tuesday that would raise the age to 20 for adult prosecution. Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, said the measure would amend state law by designating 18- and 19-year-olds as juveniles in criminal proceedings, ensuring they get support services for youth rather than punishment for adults. We have 21 as the age for alcohol. We have 21 as the age for tobacco, Skinner said. The research definitely shows that theres an age difference in things like impulse control. While there should be consequences for young people who commit crimes, processing older teens in the juvenile system ensures they will receive appropriate counseling, treatment and other services, she said. Exactly how that would work, or what it would mean for county juvenile justice systems, is unclear. Juvenile offenders are processed at the county level and can be placed in juvenile halls or, for the most serious offenders, in state youth prisons. The proposed legislation comes amid a long-term drop in youth crime that has left almost every juvenile hall in California more than half empty a trend The Chronicle explored in its Vanishing Violence series. But as the population in custody has declined, the amount of money spent on many facilities has remained flat, causing the annual cost to house a youth to skyrocket. The Chronicle found that some counties are spending as much as $500,000 a year per child. San Franciscos Board of Supervisors voted to close the countys juvenile hall by the end of 2021. So far, Skinners legislation, SB889, is a placeholder bill and lacks specifics. The state senator said she will work closely with juvenile justice reform advocates to suss out the details, as well as the California Probation Officers Association, which in November proposed raising the states adult prosecution age to 20. This is a reform whose time has come, said David Steinhart, director of the Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program, which advocates for alternatives to youth incarceration. It will improve public safety by putting thousands of Californias youth back into education and on job tracks that are blocked when they are processed as adults. Some experts, however, question how such a major change can be implemented without overwhelming juvenile courts and probation caseloads. Others, including Steinhart, worry the change would put more young people in Californias juvenile halls and say the legislation needs to address such concerns. In 2018, there were 17,200 arrests for felony crimes of young people ages 10 through 17 in California and roughly 14,400 arrests of 18- and 19-year-olds for similar offenses, according to state Department of Justice data. Moving those young adults and others accused of less serious offenses into the juvenile system would require major planning and changes, Steinhart said after the state probation chiefs recommendation in November. Overall, there were about 38,000 felony and misdemeanor arrests of young adults ages 18-19 in 2018, which could increase the caseloads in juvenile court by 82%, according to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice advocacy group. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. In addition, there are currently about 1,000 18- and 19-year-olds admitted to state adult prisons each year, a number that would more than double the number of juveniles in state youth prisons. Meanwhile, several states plan to raise or are considering raising the maximum age of their respective juvenile courts jurisdictions. Vermont was the first to raise the age of juveniles in criminal court to over 18, and the measure will be phased in over the next two years to ultimately include all those under age 21. The goal is to make sure kids are treated like kids, said Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods, who supports Skinners bill. Under California law, teenagers cant buy cigarettes, beer, or even rent a car, yet they can be sent to prison for the rest of their lives, he said. When a young person gets in trouble, they need our help. They dont need to be locked in a cage. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker Gujarat Energy Minister Saurabhbhai Patel has requested Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Qatar, to provide gas to the state at a reasonable price on a long-term basis. Lately, a bilateral meeting was held between Union Minister of Petroleum, Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan and Saad Sherida, and Saurabhbhai also attended the meeting. In the meeting, Saurabhbhai apprised Saad Sherida that the state government owns about 2500 MW while the private sector owns around 1500 MW gas-based power plants. This makes a total of 4000 MW gas-based power plants in Gujarat. Approximately, if 70 percent of plants run, then about 3.5 million tons of gas per annum would be required for the state. Saurabhbhai further stated that Gujarat supplies gas through a pipeline to approximately 18 lakh households and thus, a target has been set to reach a minimum of 22 to 24 lakh households. Moreover, the country has the capacity to generate a total gas-based power more than 24,000 MW and Gujarat's share would be 21 percent of the total gas-based power generated. Throughout the discussion in the meeting, Saurabhbhai demanded Qatar to supply gas to Gujarat at a reasonable fare. In response to the request, the Qatar Minister assured Saurabhbhai that he would consider his request, analyse the matter and do the needful. Authorities in Delhi isolated on Monday three people at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital with flu-like symptoms after they returned from China, the first time anyone has been quarantined in Indias national capital over the coronavirus outbreak that has infected nearly 3,000 people across the world in less than a month. A confirmed coronavirus case is yet to be discovered in India but a series of similar hospitalisations in four cities Kolkata, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Patna as well as the death of a Thai national in West Bengals capital on Monday raised fears of the pathogen having arrived on Indian soil. The outbreak has expanded alarmingly since it began less than a month ago in China, where at least 2,840 people have now been infected and 81 have died, officials said on Monday. The infections were at 2,000 and fatalities at 56 a mere 24 hours before that. Outside the country, infections have been confirmed in 11 countries, taking the total number of sick to at least 2,901. Three people with suspected coronavirus were brought to the hospital today. They had shown no symptoms after they came back from China and were living with their families in Delhi-NCR. They were brought to the hospital after they started showing some respiratory symptoms, said Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, medical superintendent of RML hospital, which has been designated as the main facility in the city to deal with such cases. Two of these patients arrived in the last week, while the third had returned from China nearly a month ago. In Kolkata, a Chinese tourist was admitted to the isolation ward of a government hospital while another woman a citizen of Thailand died after developing a respiratory illness. Thailand accounts for the highest number of reported infections outside of China. A patient each were also isolated in Jaipur, Chandigarh and Patna, with all three being Indian citizens who returned from China recently and now have symptoms such as fever. Samples from all of the patients have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) for testing and results were awaited. So far, NIV-Pune has received 17 samples from across India. Of these, 14 have been tested and none was positive. EVACUATION CONSIDERED The virus, titled the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV), is believed to have infected the first human in late December in the central China city of Wuhan. The city and at least 17 others like it are now under a near-total lockdown, stranding millions of people including approximately 200 Indians. On Monday, chief ministers of two states, Kerala and Gujarat, appealed to the Union government to airlift Indian nationals stranded in Chinese cities. The Union cabinet secretary also held a meeting of top bureaucrats from several ministries on Monday, according to officials who asked not to be named, and asked for preparations to start for possible evacuations soon. In Beijing, Chinese officials briefed a group of diplomats including from India about efforts to contain the virus and discussed possible evacuations of foreign citizens. Various options for evacuating foreign nationals from Wuhan/Hubei province were also discussed. We continue to engage with the Chinese authorities to ensure the safety and well-being of Indian nationals in Hubei province. We will update you when we have more information from the Chinese authorities, said a message from the Indian embassy in China sent to Indian residents who remain in Wuhan. BIGGER RISK THAN SARS According to a new assessment of the outbreak by researchers from Chinas Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in Guangdong, the pandemic risk appears to be higher than the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak which, too, began from China before it killed nearly 800 people globally in 2002 and 2003. The average incubation period, the report added, was 4.8 days which means people could be infected during this period, and possibly be infecting others, before they show the first signs of the disease. On Sunday, another group of Chinese health officials said the pathogens ability to spread was becoming stronger a claim that was backed up by the Guangdong CDC, which said each infected person was, on an average, passing it on to nearly three other people. To be sure, the fatality ratio the number of deaths for every infection will determine whether the virus is deadlier than the SARS virus, which, too, belonged to the coronavirus family and manifested in similar flu-like symptoms. The Lunar New Year period, when millions travel outside of China, the ability of the virus to spread while patients are asymptomatic, and symptoms that can easily be mistaken as a case of the common cold make containing the outbreak a difficult task. India has joined most other countries in screening airline passengers from flights originating in Chinese cities. In the two weeks since the screening began, 33,552 people in 155 flights have been checked for signs that they may be infected. [January 28, 2020] Protective Life Realigns Operational Structure with Focus on Customer Needs Protective Life Corporation (Protective), a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (TSE:8750), today announced a new structure that organizes its life and annuity retail businesses into two distinct operating divisions based on customer needs: Protection and Retirement. The new structure will go into effect on February 1, 2020. "In recent years, Protective has experienced unprecedented growth, enabling us to reach more customers in new ways with an expanded product portfolio and new distribution channels," said Rich Bielen, Protective's President & Chief Executive Officer. "We are excited to announce this new operating structure, which we believe will help us better serve customer needs, develop our next generation of leaders and drive strategic growth." The newly created Retirement Division will focus on helping people achieve financial security during retirement through the sale of products that provide the protection and growth of retirement assets, guaranteed income and efficient wealth transfer. Aaron Seurkamp will step into the role of President, Retirement Division, leading all new business aspects of the segment, including product development, sales and new business operations. Seurkamp, who joined Protective in 2004 and most recently served as Senior Vice President, Life & Annuity Executive, will continue leading the marketing and distribution operations functions for the enterprise and overseeing management of Protective's three distribution companies: ProEquities, Inc., First Protective Insurance Group and Protective Distributors. The newly created Protection Division will fous on helping families and business owners provide financial security to those they care about through protection-focused insurance products. Wade Harrison will step into the role of President, Protection Division, leading sales, new business operations and product development for this business segment. Harrison, who joined Protective in 2014 and most recently served as Senior Vice President, Chief Product Officer, will also continue leading the shared service platforms of underwriting and data science. These changes follow the 2019 announcement naming Mike Temple as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer. In November 2019, Protective also expanded the roles of Cissy Williams, Senior Vice President, Chief Customer Officer, and Matthew Kohler (News - Alert), Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer. Williams and Kohler are responsible for providing vision and leadership for critical parts of Protective's business - serving millions of customers and strategically deploying technology to support the company's mission, goals and business priorities. Scott Adams, Executive Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Strategy & Innovation, and Scott Karchunas, Senior Vice President and President, Asset Protection Division, will continue reporting to Temple. "In aligning our retail businesses around customer needs, we are building a foundation for Protective's strategic plans," said Temple. "Customers are at the heart of our business, and we are confident that the changes we are announcing today will help put us in the strongest position to continue solving customer needs and providing a great customer experience for years to come." About Protective Life Corporation Protective Life Corporation (Protective) provides financial services through the production, distribution and administration of insurance and investment products throughout the U.S. Protective traces its roots to its flagship company, Protective Life Insurance Company - founded in 1907. Throughout its more than 110-year history, Protective's growth and success can be largely attributed to its ongoing commitment to serving people and doing the right thing - for its employees, distributors, and most importantly, its customers. Protective's home office is located in Birmingham, Alabama, and its 3,000+ employees are located in offices across the United States. As of September 30, 2019, Protective had assets of approximately $120 billion. Protective Life Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (TSE:8750). For more information about Protective, please visit www.Protective.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005267/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] After another tie vote Tuesday night, the Boyertown Area School Board abandoned its plan to narrow its seven applicants for a board vacancy down to two finalists, and instead picked from the entire list, thereby choosing Marianne Scott as the newest member. Chinese telecoms firm Huawei and other 'high risk vendors' have been given the green light to play a role in the UKs 5G and gigabit-enabled networks, but with several key restrictions after the government issued guidance for telecoms providers today. Following a long awaited call-to-action, prime minister Boris Johnson announced at a meeting with the National Security Council (NCS) that Huawei will be given a limited go-ahead, despite pressure from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the US government, which is currently embroiled in a trade war with China. The decision will result in a ban from Huawei supplying equipment to any core sensitive parts of the networks, sensitive locations such as nuclear sites and military bases, and to be limited to "a minority presence of no more than 35 percent in the periphery of the network, known as the access network, which connect devices and equipment to mobile phone masts." This guidance follows the Telecoms Supply Chain Review, first published in July 2019 and conducted by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport with input from industry, international partners, and the National Cyber Security Centre. The next step for the government is to take legislation to parliament to ensure that this new telecoms security framework is put in place. Striking a compromise The decision is essentially a compromise between assuaging security concerns surrounding the Chinese vendor and the need to maintain momentum with the UKs 5G rollout plans. It arrives this week after escalating rhetoric, largely led by the US, that painted Huawei as an existential threat to national security but was contradicted by close cooperation between the British government and Huawei for more than a decade, where the vendors networking equipment and code has been under close scrutiny for security reasons. Victor Zhang, vice president at Huawei, said in a statement: Huawei is reassured by the UK governments confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track. This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. It gives the UK access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market. Huawei currently has its equipment present in three of the four major UK 5G networks: EE, Three and Vodafone. We have supplied cutting-edge technology to telecoms operators in the UK for more than 15 years, Zhang added. We will build on this strong track record, supporting our customers as they invest in their 5G networks, boosting economic growth and helping the UK continue to compete globally. To date, there has been little in the way of hard evidence that Huawei poses a security threat, but nevertheless, countries considering adopting its 5G infrastructure have been riven by debate on the matter. For example, although the German IT watchdog could not find any proof that the company was spying, the country has postponed a decision on the firm. But chancellor Merkel has acknowledged that a diversity of choice in the 5G market is critical for a successful rollout. There has been no outright ban of Huawei anywhere in the EU to date, but countries are weighing their options and taking their own approaches. Partly state-owned telco Orange does not use Huawei in France, for example, but Reuters points out that it relies on the vendor for its operations in Spain and Poland. What does the decision mean? The guidance also calls for a ban on equipment from high risk vendors being present in all "safety related and safety critical networks in Critical National Infrastructure," which includes any sectors related to chemicals, civil nuclear, communications, defence, emergency services, energy, finance, food, government, health, space, transport, and water. Thats a wide range of sectors that will be prevented from working with the company, and could possibly introduce headaches in the public sector for network modernisation efforts, especially as they seek to take advantage of the potential benefits of 5G in the internet of things. The NCSC does not provide a list of what it considers high risk vendors (HRVs), instead encouraging telecoms operators "who are considering introducing new vendors into their networks to discuss that with us as soon as possible". It does however directly encourage companies "whose Huawei estates currently exceed the recommended level for an HRV, to reduce to the recommended level as soon as practical. We understand that this takes time, but consider that it should be possible for all operators to reduce their use of HRVs to the recommended levels within three years." Although its involvement remains limited, the potential of Huawei having any involvement in the UK network at all has caused months of controversy with concerns spreading as far as the US. Whilst the US has taken a more hard-line stance, the reality is that a lot of the major UK operators (Vodafone, EE and Three) have already purchased Huaweis 5G infrastructure which means a ban would have more impact in the UK than the US, Jimmy Jones, telecoms cybersecurity expert at Positive Technologies said. Despite this, together with the NCS, Boris Johnson will hope that the new restrictions will mitigate any potential risks posed to national security and the supply chain. If Huawei was taken away as an option, this whole process including testing would have to be started all over again. Ultimately any country that does that is facing a more expensive network and a delay that could result in its national infrastructure being inferior compared to other countries, Jones added. The government has also committed to diversifying the supply chain when it comes to 5G and gigabit-enabled networks, which will commit further to "attract established vendors who are not present in the UK, supporting the emergence of new, disruptive entrants to the supply chain, and promoting the adoption of open, interoperable standards that will reduce barriers to entry." And the fact remains that Huawei is at present the leader in 5G networking technologies. There are other players out there, but in terms of capability and price, Huawei is ahead. So the impact here is multifaceted, from forcing companies to reassess their next generation network architectures in light of the new guidance, to political and national security pressures. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Jerusalem "will remain Israel's undivided capital" as he unveiled his Middle East peace plan aimed at solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, describing it as historic and a "giant step" towards peace. Standing along with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, Trump proposed a two-state solution and said no Israelis or Palestinians would be uprooted from their homes. He said that under his vision, Jerusalem "will remain Israel's undivided, very important capital." He proposed Palestinian capital in Eastern Jerusalem and that US will set up its embassy there. "My vision presents a realistic two-state solution," he said. Together we can bring a new dawn in the Middle East, Trump said as he urged the Palestinians to accept his deal and bring peace in the region. Calling it a "historic opportunity" for the Palestinians to achieve an independent state, Trump said he has written to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in this regard. No Palestinian official was present at the launch. The ambassadors from three Arab nations -- Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain -- were at the White House. Palestinians have already rejected the leaked proposals. Thousands of Palestinians protested in the Gaza Strip earlier on Tuesday. The plan, Trump said, calls for a four-year freeze in Israeli settlement activity, doubling of Palestinian territory. Asserting that his peace plan will more than double the size of Palestinian territory, Trump said that Palestinian people deserve a far better life" than being trapped in a cycle of terrorism and violence." Lamenting "the amount of needless bloodshed and squandered opportunity" in the Middle East, Trump said it's time for this sad chapter in history to end quickly and end now. Netanyahu hailed Trump's plan as 'historic day' for Israel. He compared Trump's Plan with the day to May 14, 1948, when the then President Harry Truman became the first world leader to recognise the State of Israel. The plan, he said, will strike the "right balance" where other plans have failed. Netanyahu said that he is now willing to negotiate peace with the Palestinians "on the basis" of the US peace. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Huawei 5G Decision Prioritises Highway to Silicon UK The UK government has prioritised future infrastructure needs over security concerns in giving the greenlight to Huawei to bid for contracts to build the country's 5G network. On the eve of officially leaving the EU (Friday 31 January) and thus able to strike independent trade deals, the UK was cornered into choosing between the markets of China and the US. Its decision to allow Huawei into non-core elements of the 5G networkmobile phone antennas and base stationsand to restrict its involvement there to 35% of the total is a compromise which will nonetheless please Beijing more than the White House. From the new Boris Johnson-led Conservative government's point of view, however, it is making good on its pre-election promise to accelerate the country's investment in high-speed broadband. If the UK wants to be a nationwide high-tech Silicon Valley by 2030 using 5G as the platform to build a post-Brexit digital economy, its government calculates that that this outweighs securing a quick or favourable trade deal with the US. The decision goes against fierce lobbying from the Trump administration, which calls Huawei a national security threat and which blacklisted the Chinese tech firm last year. Yet the UK already has significant Huawei technology (about 28% by some calculations) built into its nascent 5G network and the 3G and 4G networks that underpin it. A total ban would have required massive amounts of infrastructure to be torn out at eye-watering expense, and would have set the UK's 5G rollout back by years. "It was simply never a practical option to ban Huawei completely, but a restriction to non-core areas of the technology enables the UK to bow in part to the US' wishes," says Lucy Ingham, technology editor at data and analytics company Globaldata. In its announcement today, the UK government designated Huawei a high-risk vendor' and says it will be excluded from supplying kit to military bases and nuclear sites although these are restrictions the company is already subject to. There is general acceptance that the Chinese-owned company does pose some risk, but the government has concluded that with tightened checks these can be mitigated. "There is no hard evidence of any espionage using Huawei technology, globally," says Malcolm Taylor, director of cyber advisory at ITC Secure and former intelligence officer for GCHQ, quoted by GlobalData. "The UK's security apparatus believes the risk can be managed. What more do we need?" The UK decision has global significance. Germany, New Zealand, and other countries are going through similar debates. Like the UK, they would like to use Huawei because it is cheap and the acknowledged technology leader, but fear the security risks and the wrath of the US. "Few others though have the technical experience of monitoring Huawei that the UK has built up," observes Gordon Corera, the BBC's security correspondent, in a blog post: Some people ask how we have got to a position where we are needing to even consider using Chinese technology. The answer is because Western countries failed to think strategically about protecting or nurturing their own full spectrum telecoms industry over the last two decades. Companies went bust or were taken over. Meanwhile Beijing pursued a focused long-term strategy to become a leader in the technology. Naturally, Huawei welcomed the decision. Vice president Victor Zhang said, "This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure, and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. It gives the UK access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market." Its decision will be scrutinised in years to come. The opposition Labour party suggest that the government refused to take the UK's technological sovereignty seriously and failed to invest in home-grown alternatives to Huaweiwithout specifying what those home-grown alternatives might be. Swedish supplier Ericsson, for example, has 5G equipment contracts with O2 and Vodafone in the UK. Yet its 5G technologies, and those of rival Nokia, are considered either more expensive or less advanced than Huawei's, or both. Further questions about the UK strategy remain: According to The Guardian, Labour culture secretary Tracy Brabin, for instance, issued a statement demanding of the government: "It must now give specific reassurances to workers and businesses that a 35% market cap will not stop 5G becoming widely available by 2027, as planned-and that it will support communities whose access to 5G will be delayed by this decision." Right wing British commentator Charles Moore wrote feverishly in the Daily Telegraph that "the Huawei virus will infect us much more widely and far longer [than the Coronavirus]." US condemnation was swift. Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton), a Republican senator from Arkansas, tweeted that the decision was like 'allowing the KGB to build its telephone network during the Cold War.' Nonetheless, with Sec. of State Mike Pompeo expected for a pre-arranged visit to Downing Street tomorrow, the UK government would have been damned whichever way it went and can be applauded for standing up to perceived bullying from the White House. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Related Articles Howard Simpson Howard Simpson set the standard for SGH. His critical thinking, technical expertise, and leadership were guideposts for SGH for his entire career and continue to inspire us today. Howard Simpson, a founder and first president of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH), died on 23 January 2020. Dr. Simpson established SGH in 1956 along with Frank Heger and Werner Gumpertz. His expertise in structural engineering and mechanics as applied to precision structures such as radars, antennas, and radio and optical telescopes and development of computer models of significant structures led SGH to quickly become one of the leading firms for solving complex engineering problems in structural mechanics. Dr. Simpsons brilliant and business-minded outlook strongly contributed to the companys success during his tenure as SGHs first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from 1983 to 1995 and as the head of the firms Engineering Mechanics division until 1989. Howard Simpson set the standard for SGH. His critical thinking, technical expertise, and leadership were guideposts for SGH for his entire career and continue to inspire us today, said Charles Russo, SGH CEO and Senior Principal. Dr. Simpson entered Cornell at the age of sixteen, where he earned his B.C.E. with Distinction. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned both his S.M. and his Sc.D. in Civil Engineering. He served as a professor at MIT for twelve years, where he taught graduate courses in reinforced concrete, shell design, and structural analysis. He then brought his expertise in these fields to SGH, where his perseverance and technical acuity led to groundbreaking accomplishments on notable projects, such as NASAs Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in 1963, the Multiple Mirror Telescope at the Whipple Observatory in 1975, and the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Haystack radar antenna. Dr. Simpson remained very active in his profession throughout his career, serving as a member and leader of many professional associations, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, Boston Society of Civil Engineers, Applied Technology Council, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Building Seismic Safety Council, American Arbitration Association, American Concrete Institute, and New York Academy of Sciences. Howard was a leader and innovator who helped push the AEC industry in many ways, including using computers in finite element analysis, said Mehdi Zarghamee, SGH Senior Principal. He set a great and lasting example for his peers at SGH and for all future engineers. Aside from his prestigious career and accomplishments, Howard had a true passion for traveling, poetry, and photography. He brought his enthusiasm for art and painting to SGH, where he co-led a museum art-lending program at the companys headquarters. # # # Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. (SGH) is a national engineering firm that designs, investigates, and rehabilitates structures, building enclosures, and materials. Our award-winning work encompasses building, energy, civil/infrastructure, and science/defense projects in the United States, Canada, and more than thirty additional countries. SGH has offices in Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York City, San Francisco, Southern California, and Washington, DC. For more information, please visit http://www.sgh.com. Pakistan on Monday expressed concern over Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani's 'interference' in the country's internal matters with regards to the arrest of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen and his associates. Taking to Twitter on Monday, Ashraf Ghani had said that he was "troubled" by the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen and his colleagues and hoped for their immediate release. He also suggested that governments in their regions "must support and encourage peaceful civilian movements for justice." I am troubled by the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen and his colleagues. I fully echo the concerns raised by Amnesty International in this regard and hope for their immediate release. While our region is suffering from atrocities caused by violent extremism and terrorism Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) January 27, 2020 governments in the region must support and encourage peaceful civilian movements for justice and must avoid any means of force and violence against these movements. On the contrary, differences with such peaceful movements must be resolved through dialogue and engagement. Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) January 27, 2020 READ | Pakistani Pashtun Minority Leader, Who Criticised Army, Arrested For 'sedition' Pakistan's response Following Ghani's tweet, Islamabad responded describing the statement as "unwarranted, clear interference in Pakistan's internal affairs" and "not helpful to the promotion of good neighbourly relations between the two countries." A statement by Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We have noted with serious concern the recent tweets by President Ashraf Ghani, which are a clear interference in Pakistan's internal affairs and hence, unwarranted." "We believe that such statements are not helpful to the promotion of good neighbourly relations between the two countries," it added. The statement further said that Pakistan is willing to maintain cordial relations with Afghanistan on the basis of non-intervention. Pakistan also urged Afghanistan to work together towards the common objective of peace and stability in the countries. READ | Pak Court Adjourns Hearing In Hafiz Saeed's Terror Financing Case Till January 27 About Manzoor Pashteen's arrest A 27-year-old Pakistani Pashtun minority leader, known for criticising the country's military power, was arrested on Monday for alleged sedition, media reports said. Manzoor Pashteen, chief of the rights-based alliance Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), attended a gathering on January 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan city where he had allegedly said that the 1973 Constitution violated basic human rights, Dawn newspaper reported. He was arrested along with nine other PTM workers from Peshawar Monday, police said. The other workers were identified as Muhammad Salam, Abdul Hameed, Idrees, Bilal, Mohib, Sajjadul Hassan, Aimal, Farooq, and Muhammad Salman. The PTM has been critical of the Army's policies in the restive northwestern tribal areas where a massive operation against terrorists was carried out in recent years, leading to large-scale displacement and enforced disappearances, as per reports. READ | Another Forced Conversion & Marriage In Pakistan: Hindu Bride Abducted, Forcibly Wed READ | Republic Day: No Exchange Of Sweets With Pakistan At LoC, IB (With inputs from ANI) (Image source: AP) Highlights of Ukraine House Davos included the visit of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky who acknowledged the UHOC for their efforts in promoting Ukraine. Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksii Honcharuk chaired an invitation-only meeting of the National Investment Council of Ukraine, where the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and Germany's largest railway operator, Deutsche Bahn signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the cooperation and development of Ukrzaliznytsia. Top government officials who spoke on panels during the week included David Arakhamia , Secretary of the National Investment Council of Ukraine, Member of Parliament; Yuliya Kovaliv , Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; Vladyslav Kryklii , Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine; Oleksandr Bornyakov , Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine; Dmytro Sennychenko , Head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine; Members of Parliament Kira Rudik and Solomiia Bobrovska ; Olga Magaletska , Head of the Office of the National Investment Council of Ukraine, and Daniel Bilak , Member of Supervisory Board, UkraineInvest. Finance Minister of Ukraine Oksana Markarova , Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Tymofii Mylovanov , Oksana Nechyporenko, Chair of Supervisory Board, UkraineInvest, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, and many esteemed MPs participated in events. Ukraine House Davos 2020 surpassed the success of last year's event, strengthening the image of Ukraine as a modern, European country offering a wealth of opportunities. Ukraine House Davos hosted sixteen engaging panels on investment, infrastructure, IT and education, as well as evening receptions and cultural diplomacy events featuring top Ukrainian CEOs and leaders, as well as notable international speakers including: John M. Beck , Founder and Chairman of Aecon Group Inc. Founder and Chairman of Aecon Group Inc. Amy Bernstein , editor of Harvard Business Review , editor of Harvard Business Review Dr Margareta Drzeniek , Senior Fellow of The Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils , Senior Fellow of The Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils Sha r on Easky, Chairwoman, Supervisory Board of PrivatBank Chairwoman, Supervisory Board of PrivatBank Johan Eliasch , Chairman and CEO of HEAD , Chairman and CEO of HEAD Daniel Gilbert , Professor of Psychology at Harvard University , Best-Selling Author Professor of Psychology at , Best-Selling Author Cynthia Hansen , Head of the Adecco Group Foundation Head of the Adecco Group Foundation Tristan Harris , Co-Founder & Executive Director, Center for Humane Technology Co-Founder & Executive Director, Center for Humane Technology Ambassador John Herbst , Director, Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center Director, Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center Ian O. Ihnatowycz , President & CEO of First Generation Capital, Inc. President & CEO of First Generation Capital, Inc. Rashad Kaldany , Partner, CIO and Founder of Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital , Partner, CIO and Founder of Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital Shannon Kalayanamitr , Venture Partner of Gobi Partners , Venture Partner of Gobi Partners Fred Kempe , President, Atlantic Council President, Atlantic Council Andriy Kobolyev , CEO, Naftogaz of Ukraine , CEO, Naftogaz of Janez Kopac, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat Director of the Energy Community Secretariat Yuriy Kosyuk , Founder and CEO of MHP , Founder and CEO of MHP Jean-Christophe Laloux , Director General and Head of Lending Operations of EIB , Director General and Head of Lending Operations of EIB Gideon Lichfield , Editor-in-Chief, MIT Technology Review Editor-in-Chief, MIT Technology Review Oksana Lyniv, Chief Conductor of Graz Opera and Graz Philharmonic Orchestra Chief Conductor of Opera and Graz Philharmonic Orchestra Andrew McAfee , Co-Director and Co-Founder of MIT's Initiative on the Digital Economy and Principal Research Scientist at MIT , Co-Director and Co-Founder of Initiative on the Digital Economy and Principal Research Scientist at Alain Pilloux , Vice President, Banking of EBRD , Vice President, Banking of EBRD Gerard Seijts, Executive Director of Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership, Ivey Business School Executive Director of Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership, Ivey Business School Noa Gafni Slaney , Executive Director of Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation Executive Director of Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation Oleg Sentsov Roy Sosa , Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Rev Worldwide Inc Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Rev Worldwide Inc Michael Yurkovich , CEO of TIU Canada At the press briefing, the UHOC unveiled its Ukraine House Davos in Figures statistics. In summary, Ukraine House Davos was open for 94 hours and hosted 16 engaging panels with speakers from 12 countries. The panels, together with evening receptions and cultural diplomacy events, welcomed over 8,000 registered guests. Ukraine House Davos livestreams on social media channels gathered nearly 400,000 views and posts received nearly 2.2 million impressions. "This year, the House exceeded our expectations and reached new heights," said Jaroslawa Johnson, President and CEO of WNISEF. "From world-renowned speakers, such as Amy Bernstein of Harvard Business Review and Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Best-Selling Author, to thousands of international guests, potential investors, and new friends of Ukraine, the House is now a landmark platform, and well-known brand in Davos." Evaluating the results and impact of Ukraine House Davos, Svitlana Grytsenko of Victor Pinchuk Foundation said: "I truly believe that strong partnership is a key to success and long-lasting sustainability of every project. For the third consecutive year, UVCA, WNISEF, Victor Pinchuk Foundation, and Horizon Capital joined efforts, and the results speak for themselves. We managed to attract 13 sponsors, which is more than ever before; our venue this year was 10 times larger compared to the first year, allowing to host the largest number of guests to date. Moreover, we've already seen increased interest among new potential sponsors in joining this successful project." Olga Afanasyeva, Executive Director of UVCA, underlined the goal of Ukraine House Davos: "The House is an outstanding opportunity to showcase to global business leaders that Ukraine is a hub for IT, infrastructure, and agriculture. Today, the Ukrainian tech sector boasts the largest financial round in Ukraine's history (Gitlab), topped by the emergence of a new unicorn (Grammarly), and the advances of other innovative startups and established product platforms, including Petcube, BetterMe and Ajax Systems. All that said, the best time to invest in Ukraine is Now." "Ukraine's President chose Davos to announce bold new initiatives to further attract foreign direct investment to Ukraine, including an international court of arbitration in Ukraine, tax and other incentives for investors and personal attention by dedicated personnel to guide investors through market entry to project execution. Based on the recently introduced concession law, two port concession tenders have been won - by Swiss-Georgian and Qatari investors. A window has opened that will be closed in the near term once the 30-35-year concessions are awarded, and marketing of assets slated for large-scale privatization has also begun. Many export-oriented companies, particularly in IT, food and agro, light manufacturing, e-commerce, pharma and healthcare are delivering 20-50% top-line growth per year," emphasized Lenna Koszarny, Founding Partner and CEO of Horizon Capital. "Ukraine House Davos has put a spotlight on investment opportunities that are powered by the new generation, especially the $4.5 billion IT industry, and much more." Speaking about future plans, Alexa Chopivsky, Executive Director of Ukraine House Davos, said: "Our ability to deliver at such a high level is only made possible by the commitment and financial support of our Gold Sponsors: Temerty Foundation, TIU Canada, MHP, Naftogaz/UFEOGI; and, of our dedicated Panel Sponsors: CEO Club Ukraine, EBS, First Generation Capital Inc, Hillmont Partners, IT Ukraine Association, UNIT.City, and Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Family Foundation. Thank you to Zirkova Vodka, Carlsberg and Oksana Karavanska for hospitality and cultural diplomacy support. Building on this year's success, Ukraine House Davos will continue its mission of promoting Ukraine in 2021 and will surprise the world with even more opportunities that Ukraine has to offer!" www.ukrainehousedavos.com Follow the event via social media on #ukrainehousedavos and at: Twitter: @UAHouseDavos Facebook: @ukrainehousedavos Instagram: @Ukraine.House.Davos LinkedIN: UkraineHouseDavos YouTube: ukrainehousedavos SOURCE Ukraine House Davos The row between the Centre and the Uddhav Thackeray led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra over transferring the Bhima Koregaon case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) escalated on Tuesday after a senior BJP leader threatened that the state government could be dismissed over its intransigence. Senior BJP leader and former finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwars warning came after the Pune police denied access to documents relating to the case to the NIA saying that they did not get any instructions from the state police chiefs office. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has said that the state government has not received any communication for the transfer of the case to the NIA. Mungatiwar warned that said such decisions have the potential to create constitutional crisis. If the state government is acting against the Centres decision then there could be a constitutional logjam. The governor will have to look into this issue. We all know that during the tenure of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, state governments were dissolved as many as 97 times. When the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government came, the law was amended to ensure that the state governments are not easily dismissed easily. But, even then our existing law says that if states are acting against constitutional provisions then the Centre can interfere, said Mungatiwar Earlier, Deshmukh had said: We have not received any official communication from the Central government. We have learnt the transfer of the Elgar Parishad probe to the NIA from media reports. There is no official communication or letter from any central agency to Maharashtra government or the state police. Until then it is not possible for us to cooperate with the central team, Deshmukh told Hindustan Times. He also said that the state government has sought legal opinion in this regard and further course of action will be decided after that. The Congress and NCP who are partners in the MVA government slammed Mungantiwar and BJP over the issue. Congress leader and PWD minister Ashok Chavan described Mungantiwars veiled threat as day dreaming by the BJP leaders. In first place there was no reason for the Centre to hand over the case to the NIA. They needed to take consent from the state government while handing over the case central agency. It is interference by the Centre in state subject, he said. NCP minister Nawab Malik dared the Centre to dissolve the MVA government in the state. REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. and SUVA, Fiji, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As the telecommunications industry rapidly advances toward a 5G world, digital disruptors are challenging communication service providers' (CSPs) traditional business models and customer relationships. To address this challenge, Telecom Fiji Limited (Telecom) is looking to Oracle to better serve their customers, orchestrate memorable events, and develop new revenue streams. Owned 100 percent by Fijians, Telecom is the leading South Pacific island provider of Internet and communications services to consumers, businesses and the Fiji government. The company is committed to its mission of delivering innovative services and improved customer experiences so the people of Fiji can benefit from the best of the world's technology in their remote island location. Acting on these goals, the century-old service provider is embarking on an end-to-end digital transformation with Oracle from lead acquisition to revenue realization. Telecom's transformation journey involves full digital customer lifecycle processes from registering for services to zero-touch provisioning to digitally coordinated service delivery, all with real-time digital notifications. Customers benefit from convenient bundling options like combining voice and data, and any service issues that arise can be quickly resolved with self-care portals, chatbots, and live digital interaction with agents. Better visibility and orchestration across their field workers will also help Telecom reduce costs and improve customer service with reduced truck rolls and increased fleet and technician availability. "We chose Oracle Communications because of Oracle's international track record of reliable and innovative technology solutions," said Charles Goundar, chief executive officer, Telecom. "Oracle's entire ecosystem has been built by adopting best practices over time, which gives us standardized processes that work seamlessly with each other. With a platform based on best international practices, we will provide our customers with the very best in service delivery. That is what Fijians deserve." Telecom will deploy Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management, Oracle Communications Order and Service Management, Oracle Communications Network Charging and Control, Oracle Field Service Cloud, Oracle Live Experience Cloud, and Oracle Marketing Cloud as part of the Oracle Digital Experience for Communications suite, to enable a transformative digital customer experience coupled with communications-grade modern monetization and service fulfillment. Digital Experience for Communications has been proven to scale in real time across even the most challenging industries and business models. The solution is delivered on Oracle Private Cloud Appliance and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and will be implemented and managed by Oracle Communications Consulting, the trusted partner of hundreds of service providers around the world. "As service providers transform their end-to-end processes, they're seeking more connected customer experiences and ways to engage via new digital channels," said Jason Rutherford, senior vice president and general manager of Oracle Communications. "Innovative service providers like Telecom are reimagining communications by adopting real-time, scalable solutions to bring new services to market and simplify and automate their business." About Oracle Communications Oracle Communications provides integrated communications and cloud solutions for Service Providers and Enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation journey in a communications-driven world from network evolution to digital business to customer experience. www.oracle.com/communications To learn more about Oracle Communications industry solutions, visit: Oracle Communications LinkedIn, or join the conversation at Twitter @OracleComms. Join Oracle Communications at Mobile World Congress booth in #2H40 to demo the Digital Experience for Communications suite. About Oracle The Oracle Cloud offers a complete suite of integrated applications for Sales, Service, Marketing, Human Resources, Finance, Supply Chain and Manufacturing, plus Highly Automated and Secure Generation 2 Infrastructure featuring the Oracle Autonomous Database. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at oracle.com. Trademarks Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. SOURCE Oracle Related Links http://www.oracle.com Journalist Maxwell Nashian of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) FM Station, also known as Fombina FM, died at the hospital where he was taken after being found unconscious with serious injuries. The journalist was abducted by unknown assailants on 15 January. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in condemning this heinous crime and calling for the killers to be brought to justice. According to local reports, Maxwell Nashian was abducted from his residence in the Lainde Badirisa community of northern Adamawa State, where he was later found unconscious with signs of beatings and cuts on his body. He was spotted by a group of women going to their farms, who then alerted the Civil defense operatives at the radio station. He was rushed to hospital but died on arrival. The police have reportedly retrieved a message from Nashian on his phone, saying that his life had been threatened. A computer was taken from his house when he was abducted. The Chairman of the NUJ Adamawa State Council, Ishaka Donald Dedan, condemned in the strongest terms the killing of their colleague and called on the Adamawa State Government to Set up measures that will stem the tide of increasing insecurity most especially kidnapping and armed banditry in the state. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: Maxwell Nashion's horrifying death is further proof of safety crisis in Nigerian journalism. Maxwell is the second journalist killed within a week in the country and we are deeply concerned about the fate of our colleagues on the ground. We urge the Nigerian government to do its utmost to protect the press and ensure Maxwell's killers are brought to justice." Travellers at major entry points to Hong Kong did not have to hand in health declaration forms on Monday, as officials admitted they were still working on measures to spot those coming from the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The cracks in the citys defences against the virus were visible despite Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor declaring the highest level of emergency two days earlier, ordering health declarations at all border crossings. Those included six road-based control points at the border with Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, and three cross-border ferry terminals. The Hong Kong Immigration Department said as of 5pm, it had turned away 394 residents from Hubei, including those who had visited the province in the last 14 days. The city of Wuhan, identified as ground zero of the outbreak, is located in Hubei. The ban was enforced at midnight on Sunday, with an exemption for local residents. Meanwhile, all eight infected patients in Hong Kong were at Princess Margaret Hospital on Monday night, and one patients condition had changed from stable to serious, the Hospital Authority revealed. The declaration forms had previously only been required for anyone flying from Wuhan and arriving rail passengers at West Kowloon station. Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable diseases branch of the Centre for Health Protection, admitted in an afternoon briefing on Monday that Hong Kong authorities were still making arrangements for the checks. We are working with all related departments on the logistics, she said. At the airport, no staff or signs showing passengers where to drop their signed health declaration forms, distributed during some flights, were visible. The forms required passengers to declare any symptoms and give their contact details, but did not ask if they had been in Wuhan recently. Chuang said it was not yet policy for plane passengers to fill in the forms, but some could have been handed out by flight attendants, having been sent to airlines in preparation for the roll-out. Story continues Except flights from Wuhan [which have stopped already], all other flights have not yet implemented this measure yet, she said. A Department of Health spokesman confirmed that airline staff had mistakenly distributed the declaration forms to passengers. At Lo Wu, the most popular border crossing, which connects with the MTRs East Rail line, there were no health declaration forms being handed out on Monday afternoon. To screen arrivals, workers relied on the existing temperature-checking equipment, and officers at immigration counters asking non-residents whether they had visited Hubei in the past 14 days. One immigration officer, who asked to remain anonymous, criticised the measures as toothless. We have no way to identify mainlanders who lie to us, especially if they are coming to seek better medical treatment, he said. Despite visitors from Hubei being barred from midnight, the officer said it would be difficult to enforce the ban as they relied on checking the place of issue shown on travellers permits. If they live in Wuhan but their permits were not issued there, we cannot pick them out from the crowds, he said. A Hong Kong resident surnamed Cheng was returning to the city with three relatives via Lo Wu after visiting family on the mainland. He said he was surprised the government had not required mainland travellers to sign health declarations. I dont feel that Hong Kong has ramped up measures at the borders, Cheng said. If I am a Wuhan resident who suspects I am infected, its quite easy to get through the border, as even declaration forms are not required. On the mainland side of the border, travellers were only required to fill in health declaration forms provided by the central authorities before entering Hong Kong. But officers were seen allowing several people without forms to get through immigration on Monday. Travellers on the mainland side of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border fill in health declaration forms from the central government. Photo: Nora Tam No temperature-checking equipment was installed at the mainland border. An officer at a health screening counter admitted she had not barred travellers who reported low fever from entering Hong Kong, but only collected saliva samples from them for examination. With very few staff at the counters helping travellers to fill in the new forms, a travel agency at the mainland control point was charging HK$6 to borrow a pen and HK$10 for help with the forms. The Centre for Health Protection said later on Monday evening that mainland authorities had implemented health declaration forms for those entering Hong Kong as part of overall plans to screen those leaving with symptoms. Hong Kong announced no new coronavirus infections on Monday, leaving the local total at eight. According to mainland health authorities, more than 2,800 cases have been confirmed there, with 82 deaths the latest case reported in Beijing. Hubei, with 1,423 confirmed patients, has the most cases among the 30 provinces. Cases have also been confirmed in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Nepal, Taiwan, Malaysia, France, Australia and the US. Dr Chung Kin-lai, the Hospital Authoritys director of quality and safety, said the local patient whose condition had worsened was the second confirmed case, a 56-year-old Hong Kong man who had been to Wuhan to visit relatives. Other patients remained stable. Chung added that 69 more people who met the reporting criteria for the coronavirus were admitted to public hospitals in the 24 hours to Monday noon. In total, 110 patients were under isolation. He also confirmed that people who met the reporting criteria for the new coronavirus would have their medical fees at public hospitals exempted, even if they were not local residents. The intention of the measure was to encourage people to be treated, Chung said. Treating and isolating the patients would not only benefit them, but also Hongkongers. The authority later added that similar arrangements had been implemented for other major infectious diseases in the past, including the outbreak of human swine flu in 2009. Chung urged patients to be honest in declaring their travel history to medical professionals, saying staff responsible for legal matters were looking into whether there would be liability for those who failed to do so. Law Cheuk-yiu, vice-chairman of the HA Employees Alliance, said there was also a humanitarian reason for the exemption of medical fees for non-Hongkongers with specific conditions. We cannot decline patients treatment or contravene humanitarian grounds by charging exorbitant amounts, Law said. But he also expressed concern that the measure could attract a rush of mainlanders to the citys hospitals seeking free treatment. Thats why we need to close the border [connecting with the mainland], he said. Macau had since Monday begun implementing more stringent measures on more than 1,000 visitors from Hubei province. So far, 144 Hubei visitors who presented no symptoms had left Macau with the assistance of local authorities, while four others who chose to remain were placed in a designated youth hostel for forced quarantine. Secretary for Food and Health Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee told a radio programme on Monday that top officials would meet that day to discuss whether further preventive measures would be needed. Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific revealed on Monday night that it had a passenger who flew from Wuhan to Hong Kong then to Los Angeles and was later confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus. The local airline said it had notified health authorities in Hong Kong and the US. The passenger in question flew from Wuhan to Hong Kong via KA855 on January 20, then took a flight to Los Angeles on CX880 the next day. We are following the health authorities prescribed procedures in conducting disinfection of both aircraft and informing the operating crew and employees, as well as assisting efforts in tracing people who were in close contact with the concerned passenger, a statement from Cathay read. Just before midnight on Monday, the Department of Health issued a statement advising Hong Kong residents who had been to Hubei in the last 14 days to contact health officers at control points when returning home. They would then be assessed and asked to wear masks immediately even if they have no symptoms, and isolate themselves for two weeks. The Hospital Authority also urged anyone in Hong Kong who had visited Hubei in the last 14 days to contact the Centre for Health Protection on its hotline at 2125 1122 for advice. Additional reporting by Danny Lee This article Checks lacking at Hong Kong borders, as officials work out Wuhan coronavirus response first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Employment law firm Outten & Golden LLP announced today the promotion of Michael J. Scimone to partnership, and the promotion of Michael N. Litrownik to Counsel, effective January 1, 2020. Michael J. Scimone is a member of the firm's Class Action Practice Group. He is based in the New York office. His cases have focused primarily on wage-and-hour litigation, including employee misclassification, off-the-clock and expense reimbursement claims, and litigation on behalf of restaurant employees. He is also currently co-lead counsel in litigation against a private prison contractor alleged to have committed forced-labor violations in an ICE immigration detention facility. Mr. Scimone has extensive experience coordinating class action trials with multiple co-counsel and utilizing complex expert witnesses. For example, Mr. Scimone was a key member of the trial team in Strauch v. Computer Sciences Corporation, where O&G and its co-counsel won a jury verdict finding that the defendant had willfully misclassified over 900 technical support workers. He is a member of the Sedona Conference's Working Group 1, and has participated in drafting Sedona publications on civil discovery. Prior to law school, Mr. Scimone was a union organizer for UNITE HERE, a major North American union. Mr. Scimone received his B.A. from Vassar College in 2001 and received his J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law in 2009. Mr. Scimone is admitted to practice in New York, in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of New York, the District of Colorado, and the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit. Michael N. Litrownik is a member of the firm's Class Action Practice Group, focusing primarily on class action discrimination and wage theft matters, including a series of pathbreaking employment and lending discrimination class actions on behalf of DACA recipients. Mr. Litrownik has also served as trial counsel in individual and class action matters and co-authored an amicus brief on behalf of academic sociologists and economists urging the U.S. Supreme Court to protect DACA. He is based in the New York office. Before joining the firm in 2013, Mr. Litrownik represented consumers, workers, and victims of police misconduct in individual and class action litigation at Bromberg Law Office, P.C. Mr. Litrownik received his B.A. from the University of Rochester in 2004 and his J.D. from Washington University School of Law in 2010. Mr. Litrownik is admitted to practice in New York and Massachusetts and before numerous federal district and appellate courts. "These promotions are extremely well deserved and represent our continuing efforts to provide career path and development opportunities for our attorneys," said Adam T. Klein, Managing Partner. Outten & Golden LLP focuses on advising and representing individuals in employment, partnership, and related workplace matters both domestically and internationally. The firm counsels individuals on employment and severance agreements; handles complex compensation and benefits issues (including bonuses, commissions, and stock/ option agreements); and advises professionals (including doctors and lawyers) on contractual issues. It also represents employees with a wide variety of claims, including discrimination and harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, disability, national origin, religion, and age, as well as retaliation, whistleblower, and contract claims. The firm handles class actions involving a wide range of employment issues, including economic exploitation, gender- and race-based discrimination, wage-and-hour violations, violations of the WARN Act, and other systemic workers' rights issues. Outten & Golden has nine practice groups: Executives & Professionals, Financial Services, Sex Discrimination & Sexual Harassment, Family Responsibilities & Disabilities Discrimination, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Workplace Rights, Discrimination & Retaliation, Whistleblower Retaliation, Class & Collective Actions, and WARN Act. Outten & Golden has offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. For media inquiries, contact Managing Partner Adam T. Klein at (212) 245-1000 or [email protected]. SOURCE Outten & Golden LLP An ambitious new study of genes in Asian populations is filling in big gaps in our understanding of human genetics, shedding light on the history of human migration and ultimately aiming to improve our ability to treat disease. Researchers from dozens of institutions around the world, including the University of Virginia School of Medicine, are seeking to address the under-representation of Asian populations in genetic research. Working as the GenomeAsia100K Consortium, they have examined the genomes of 1,739 people from 219 different population groups in 64 countries across Asia. The ultimate goal, as the group's name suggests, is to sequence the genomes of 100,000 people across Asia. This will produce a treasure trove of genetic information to help medical researchers and doctors better understand and treat genetic diseases, identify those at risk and even determine how patients will respond to drugs. "Under-representation of Asian populations in genetic studies has meant that medical relevance for more than half of the human population is reduced," said researcher Aakrosh Ratan, PhD, of UVA's Department of Public Health Sciences and the Center for Public Health Genomics. "The main goal of the project is to increase the number of people included in these genetic studies, primarily to boost our knowledge about medical genetics but also to understand human migration and human origins." Natural Gene Mutations There are natural gene mutations among and between different populations, Ratan explained. This partly explains why certain populations of different ancestry seem to have a greater risk of certain diseases. Creating detailed reference databases for Asian populations will be a big benefit for medical genetics for all human populations, but especially for efforts to understand rare diseases in Asia. "For example, in our new paper, we talk about MODY, which refers to maturity-onset diabetes of the young. This is a rarer type of diabetes that usually develops before the age of 25, and often you do not require insulin," Ratan said. "What we showed was that if doctors wanted to treat patients in India with the disease, they would greatly benefit from having information about genetic mutations found in Indian populations to identify the genetic differences that could be causing the disease. If you only look in databases that contain mutation data from European individuals, you are more likely to see false-positive results, and you will find it harder to pinpoint the exact gene causing the disease." Not only does the research shed light on the cause of diseases, but it will also help doctors better care for patients. For example, some groups may be more prone to an adverse reaction to a particular drug. Identifying the genes responsible could help doctors know which patients should not get that drug, or should not get that drug in certain doses. "We also studied the genetic differences associated with an adverse reaction to several common drugs and were able to identify Asian populations that showed large variation in their response," Ratan said. "These reference databases are vital to predict or understand why some drugs should not be dispensed in certain dosages to people of certain populations." Findings Published Ratan and his collaborators in the GenomeAsia100K Consortium have published their early findings in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. They expect their research will continue for several years. "I am excited that sequences from several Asian populations will become available as a result of this project," Ratan noted. "It was my first time working in an international consortium, and it was an amazing learning experience." ### To keep up with the latest medical research news from UVA, subscribe to the Making of Medicine blog at http://makingofmedicine.virginia.edu. An important randomized trial shows that when vitamin D is supplemented at high doses in the last three months of pregnancy, there is a fall in the occurrence of enamel defects in the deciduous (milk) and permanent teeth of the offspring by half, over the next 6 years, compared to a low dose supplementation. However, the incidence of caries was not affected. Image Credit: NatchaS / Shutterstock The research titled 'Vitamin D Supplement During Pregnancy and Enamel Defects in Offspring' is published in the jounral JAMA Pediatrics. Enamel defects refer to enamel breakdown, opacity in the molars, and other characteristic findings. are among the most prevalent of dental problems the world over, affecting almost 40% of schoolchildren. The lack of durable enamel results in toothache, pain on consuming hot or cold foods or beverages, the rapid onset and progression of tooth decay and cavities, and the need for tooth extraction in some patients. It is a matter of intense research to find the factors possibly contributing to its occurrence. This could be possibly counteracted by providing vitamin D supplements at high doses in the third trimester of pregnancy. The study The Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2010 cohort (COPSAC2010). Enrollment ran from March 2009 onward. This was a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial. There were 623 participants, all women at 24 weeks of pregnancy given 2400 IU of vitamin D from this point to 1 week after delivery. This was in addition to the standard supplement of 400 IU/day. 588 of their children were also followed up throughout the study period. At 6 years of age, the teeth of the children were examined in 84% of cases, making up 496 children. At follow up, enamel defects were looked for. The finding It was found that the risk of enamel defects in both the milk teeth and the permanent teeth was cut by half. However, there was no change in the risk of caries. Even though the two groups of patients were randomly assigned, to avoid any bias in the composition of the groups, other oral health habits were also considered. For instance, the use of fluoride toothpaste has been shown to reduce enamel defects, by another team of researchers. In fact, the presence of stannous and chitosan in toothpaste is also beneficial in this regard. The frequency of brushing the teeth, and the use of flossing and other oral hygiene practices is also associated with better dental health. The impact of differences in these parameters on the prevalence of enamel defects in the two groups was therefore ruled out by analysis of possible confounding factors. The results show that lifestyle factors like the above are equally present in both groups. Secondly, sunlight is a key factor in ensuring that vitamin D is present at adequate levels in the blood, including those who are at high latitudes and who are on high doses of the vitamin. However, this is not a source of bias in this study as equal numbers of patients in both groups were exposed to sunlight at similar levels. Significance After ruling out potential sources of bias due to lifestyle factors, the administration of high-dose supplements is found to reduce the risk of enamel defects in the children at 6 years of age, in both the milk teeth and the permanent teeth. This suggests an effective means of intervention during pregnancy to reduce the rate of dental disease in later life. A father and son have died in a camping accident in Western Australia. The pair were found dead by friends at a campground near Wedge Island, 90 minutes north of Perth, at around 11am on Monday. A woman who was sleeping in the tent with them was air lifted to Royal Perth Hospital where she is being treated. A father and son have died in a camping accident in Western Australia. Pictured: The scene Police believe a faulty piece of equipment in their tent is to blame and are not treating the deaths as suspicious. WA Police Minister Michelle Roberts said the tragedy, which also killed the family dog, was caused by a gas leak from a faulty fridge. 'I understand there may have been some kind of gas leak from a fridge that was being used in the tent,' she said. 'Unfortunately that's resulted in the tragic deaths of two people and their dog and I understand the mum is in a serious condition.' A WA police spokesman said: 'At this time, the two deaths are not being treated as suspicious. 'Initial investigation at the scene suggests there may have been a fault with an item of camping equipment located inside the tent the family were sleeping in. This aspect of the investigation is ongoing. 'The Department of Fire and Emergency Services attended to assist with the safe removal of the camping equipment.' The couple had two other children who were not on the trip. Lawyers representing alleged victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Tuesday urged Britain's Prince Andrew to help US investigators, after a prosecutor said he had given "zero cooperation". US lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents five women allegedly assaulted by Epstein, said the Duke of York has "a moral obligation" to meet with the FBI and that his failure to do so was "a disservice to the victims". "It's long overdue for him to do it, or to explain why he will not do it, and he's done neither," she told BBC Radio. "If he's done nothing wrong, which appears to be what he has claimed, then why won't he talk to law enforcement?" Andrew, 59, has strenuously denied claims he had sex with a 17-year-old girl procured by Epstein, a disgraced financier found dead in prison last August while awaiting charges of trafficking minors. Queen Elizabeth II's second son, who was a long-time friend of his, said in November he was "willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required." But New York attorney Geoffrey Berman, who is leading an investigation into possible co-conspirators of Epstein, said Andrew was yet to respond to a request by the FBI and his office for an interview. "To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation," Berman, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters. Berman made the comments during a conference outside Epstein's former Manhattan mansion, which Andrew has admitted staying at. He said he would not normally comment on whether individuals were cooperating but made an exception for the prince because of his statement offering help. "It's fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that public commitment," said Berman. Buckingham Palace has not immediately respond to request for comment. Epstein, a multi-millionaire hedge fund manager, was convicted in Florida in 2008 of paying young girls for massages but served just 13 months in jail under a secret plea deal. The 66-year-old, who befriended countless celebrities over the years including US President Donald Trump, killed himself in a New York jail in August while awaiting trial on new sex-trafficking charges He had denied the charges and was facing up to 45 years in jail if found guilty. Determined to obtain justice despite his death, dozens of women who say they were abused by Epstein have sued his estate while prosecutors have pledged to pursue any accomplices. Andrew, who is eighth in line to the British throne, has long been dogged by his links to the convicted paedophile, having stayed at his various homes around the world. He stepped back from royal duties in November after facing outrage over an unconvincing interview with the BBC in which he defended the friendship with Epstein. The scandal has engulfed Andrew at a difficult time for the royal family, following Prince Harry and Meghan's decision to withdraw as frontline royals and other crises. British newspapers on Tuesday prominently featured the latest turmoil. "FBI: Why won't Andrew speak to us?" screamed the front page of the Daily Mail, while the Daily Mirror said: "Andrew snubs FBI". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) French Economy and Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, will visit Morocco on Jan.31 for talks with several Moroccan officials on cooperation prospects and partnership between the two longstanding friends and allies touting strong exceptional ties. The visit comes after the 14th France-Morocco high-level meeting held in Paris on Dec.19th during which an economic forum was organized by MEDEF (French employers association) and its Moroccan counterpart (CGEM). These meetings, which were crowned with the signing of several cooperation accords in various sectors, were held following the controversial remarks made by Bruno Le Maire who had criticized the decision of French carmakers Renault and PSA to move some of their productions overseas, including to Morocco. French President Emmanuel Macron is also expected to pay a two-day visit to the North African Kingdom on February 12-13. This will be Macrons second visit to Morocco after his first official trip in November 2018, when he inaugurated with King Mohammed VI, the Tangier-Casablanca high-speed train. French media reported recently that during Macrons visit, the two countries will announce armament contracts worth 400 million that Morocco has sealed with different French arms manufacturers. The two countries will also discuss the participation of French companies in the extension of the high-speed train railway as far as Agadir. France remains among Moroccos major trading partners. There are nearly 900 subsidiaries of French companies installed in the Kingdom, employing about 100,000 employees. As Morocco becomes gateway to foreign investment in Africa, Moroccan-French and African partnership gained momentum. The two countries are also partners in the fight against terrorism, illegal migration, drugs trafficking and work together towards enhancing regional and international peace and stability. (https://ecardiologos.gr) - Dr Kaffa IIham, an experienced cardiologist in Athens, is opening a new cardiology medical office at the center of Athens, Greece near acropolis museum. Her mission here is to offer cardiology health care solutions that optimize the total health of each patient. The new office will assure every individual in Athens has the very best medical care available in an environment dedicated to them, with Gazprom delivers 1st billion cubic meters of gas Russian Gazprom said it has supplied its first billion cubic meters of gas via the TurkStream gas pipeline. Gazprom supplied its first billion cubic meters of gas via the TurkStream gas pipeline, the company announced late Monday. PIPELINE HAS A 31.5- BILLION-CUBIC-METER OF CAPACITY The Russian company said that of that amount, about 54 percent went to the Turkish gas market while the remaining 46 percent was delivered to the Turkey-Bulgaria border. TurkStream is an export gas pipeline stretching from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea with a design capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Commercial supplies via the gas pipeline commenced on Jan. 1, 2020. On Jan. 8, the presidents of Russia and Turkey held a grand opening ceremony for the TurkStream pipeline in Istanbul. ViewSonic announces that it becomes a Microsoft Education partner. As a result, ViewSonics myViewBoard whiteboard software will be further integrated with the Microsoft Education ecosystem to offer educators a seamless digital teaching experience, and myViewBoard for Windows 10 is currently available as a Desktop application. The Windows Store version is in development and will be available later this year. The integration will also see closer cooperation with Microsoft to promote and advance digital learning. Eric Wei, Sr. Sales Director, ViewSonic Asia Pacific, said, We are pleased to announce that ViewSonic is partnering with Microsoft Education to help the students and educators realize the importance of EdTech. myViewBoard for Windows will help creating a seamless whiteboard experience that is cloud storage integrated with multifunctional feature and high security. It is a one-stop solution for enhancing how educators prepare, present, and interact with students. For schools committed to the Microsoft ecosystem, ViewSonic offers myViewBoard for Windows. The solution is an easy-to-use and incredibly secure software solution designed specifically for interactive displays, including ViewSonics ViewBoard interactive displays. myViewBoard for Windows lets users write, highlight, edit, and transform documents and images on-screen in real-time leveraging interactive displays to create more engaging lessons and lectures. To improve overall learning experiences, myViewBoard for Windows has specific integration with Microsoft Education tools. For example, users can use Immersive Reader, a learning tool that provides a full-screen reading experience to increase readability of text to assist in teaching. In addition, myViewBoard for Windows is fully integrated with Bing Image Search, Text to Speech, Microsoft Office 365, OneDrive, and Skype for Business. Three Delhi-NCR residents with a travel history to China have been kept under observation in an isolation ward at RML Hospital for possible exposure to the deadly novel coronavirus, officials said. The three all men aged between 24 and 48 were admitted on Monday and their samples have been sent for testing to ICMR-NIV laboratory in Pune, said Minakshi Bhardwaj, the hospital's medical superintendent. While two of the men are residents of Delhi, one hails from NCR. All the three patients have respiratory problems like cold and cough along with fever and they self-reported at the designated health facility to deal with such cases. According to Bhardwaj, two of the patients had returned from China about a week ago while the other about a month back. They came from Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzou in China. At home, they complained of mild cough and cold and thereafter approached the hospital, she said. "We are completely ready for such cases. We have eight beds in our isolation ward which can be expanded if a need arises. We are following all infection control practices and using protective equipment while dealing with the suspected cases," Bhardwaj said. Till Monday, a total of 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened. As per the data received on January 14, a total of 17 samples have been received by the ICMR-NIV lab, out of which 14 have been found negative. Several people have been kept under observation in several states including Kerala, Kolkata and Maharashtra following screening for a possible exposure to respiratory virus, which has spread in China. The Centre has stepped up vigil in areas bordering Nepal in view of a confirmed case of novel coronavirus (nCoV) detected there. The Prime Minister's Office on Saturday reviewed India's preparedness to deal with any situation amid mounting global concerns over rising cases in China. More than 100 people have died in China due to the virus, that spread after breaking out in the city of Wuhan. A 24x7 NCDC Call Centre (+91-11-23978046) has been made operational to monitor the list of contacts furnished by the Ministry of External Affairs, provide details of district and state surveillance officers to those who seek them, and in case of any clinical query, direct the concerned to the relevant Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officer. Thermal screening is being done at seven designated airports -- New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi. Vardhan, who held a review meeting to analyse the preparedness for prevention and management of nCoV in India, also spoke to the chief minister of Uttarakhand on Saturday and assured him of all support for screening at the border with Nepal. The health ministry has urged passengers, who have a travel history to China since January 1, 2020, to come forward for self-reporting to the nearest health facility if they experience fever, cough, respiratory distress, etc., and also inform the doctor treating them. On Saturday, the Union Health Ministry issued a fresh advisory asking passengers to follow certain dos and don'ts if they are in China or if they are travelling or returning from China. The advisory stated that during their stay in China, if they feel sick and have fever and cough, they should cover their mouth while coughing and sneezing, seek medical attention promptly and report to the Indian Embassy in China. The advisory also said that if they feel sick on flight, while travelling back to India from China, they should inform the airline crew about their illness, seek mask and self-reporting format from the airline crew, avoid close contact with family members or fellow travellers and follow other directions of crew and airport health officer. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ana Beaven could have spent $50,000 on raises or bonuses last year for her 45 employees at Cuchara, a Mexican restaurant in Montrose. Instead, most of that money went toward electric metal shutters for her windows, a frequent target for burglars whove nabbed anything from laptops to iPods to a $10 roll of quarters. Beaven said she never leaves cash in the restaurant at 214 Fairview, but last year that did not prevent four separate burglaries at her business, in addition to constant car break-ins outside. Its ridiculous, Beaven said. Theres no punishment for these thieves. Surveillance cameras have become a familiar sight at bars and restaurants such as Beavens in the Montrose area, where some businesses have stopped using cash altogether because of thieves. Most often, police say they strike in the wee hours of the morning after straggling patrons head home and workers close up shop. MORE FROM JULIAN GILL: Despite dropped lawsuit, Turkey Leg Hut smoke concerns persist. The restaurant is working on a solution. Beaven is among dozens of business owners who have become frustrated with what they contend is a spike in break-ins in the Heights and Midtown as well as Montrose. At a town hall meeting Monday at The Historic Heights Fire Station, more than 100 business owners aired their complaints to Police Chief Art Acevedo and members of his command staff. Police first considered hosting the event about three weeks ago because of a noticeable uptick in emails and online complaints about break-ins, Acevedo said. Crime data for 2019 is not yet available, but burglaries have steadily dipped citywide from 2014 to 2018, according to the FBIs Uniform Crime Reporting System. Neighborhood-level statistics from 2017 to 2018 also do not reflect major spikes in burglary and theft in Montrose or the Heights. The data, however, does not single out commercial properties. Police officials said that in the last three months they have seen a jump in break-ins in the central division, which includes the Heights and Montrose. Since then, more patrol officers have been stationed near the hardest-hit areas. Business leaders say they want better communication with detectives, who they say rarely follow up after the initial report. Acevedo, who lives in the Heights, said hes crafting solutions that include upgraded technology and more funding for overnight patrols. Dont stop calling. Dont stop complaining. And dont stop reporting the crime, Acevedo said at the meeting. Because if you let the frustration get to you, well never know the true nature of the problem. MORE LOCAL NEWS: Basketball players reminisce about Kobe Bryant over pickup games in Houston Multiple Montrose businesses say car break-ins are their most common concern. Broken glass is often found in parking lots. Jacob Smith, a bartender at Ripcord on Fairview, said five cars were burglarized two months ago behind the bar. Theres definitely been a spike in the last year, he said. Business owners at Mondays meeting provided more anecdotal evidence about the problem. The discussion was lively and at times tense, with many owners saying their concerns have been simmering for years. I operate nine to 10 restaurants in the city currently, said Bobby Heugel, whose businesses include Anvil Bar and Refuge. Of those nine to 10 restaurants that have been broken into over the last three years, when weve really seen the spike increase, Ive had a detective reach out to me one time. Li Luong said her Heights business, Teapresso Bar on West 18th Street, has been broken into five times since opening in May 2018. To combat crime, she hired security guards. Workers learned to leave cash registers open so would-be burglars would see there was no money in the store. Still, she said break-ins continue to hammer the business. She went to the forum hoping to get answers, but became more frustrated after learning so many other business owners share her plight. I know you care, but what are you actually going to do, she said to Acevedo. Gerry Doiron, who owns Nourish Juice Bar in the Montrose area with this sister, said hes grown accustomed to standing in his shop with a gun and watchful dog. If you want to protect your business, you have to be the one to do it because who else is going to be there for you, Doiron said. MORE FROM JULIAN GILL: Harry Vroulis never stopped running, even with a tumor. He died on Mile 16 of the Houston marathon. Acevedo tried to placate residents, taking names and sharing his email with the crowd. He said the officers in the central division made 315 burglary arrests in the last 36 months. Assistant Police Chief Pete Lopez added that his patrol officers in the Heights made 10 arrests in the last week alone. Police vowed to better share case updates on social media platforms such as NextDoor. Acevedo said he wants to find more efficient ways to share crime information with businesses. The chief said he wants more patrol officers in the affected neighborhoods between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Patrol officers also may be given more leeway to investigate burglaries, police said. Acevedo emphasized throughout the event that Harris County judges and prosecutors share the burden of keeping repeat offenders off the streets, and he hopes to host future meetings with the Harris County District Attorneys Office. With this energy, I want to keep it going, Acevedo said. Any time you have community members who show an interest in their own safety and an interest in whats going on, thats a win for everybody. St. John Barned-Smith contributed to this report. julian.gill@chron.com The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Edward E. Matthes, a former Wisconsin-based registered representative and investment adviser, with defrauding 26 of his mostly elderly retail brokerage customers and investment advisory clients out of approximately $2.4 million. Matthes has agreed to settle the SEC's charges, with monetary relief to be determined by the court at a later date. According to the SEC's complaint, Matthes convinced his brokerage customers and advisory clients to invest in what he described as a safe investment that would earn a guaranteed minimum yield of 4% per year. As alleged in the complaint, the purported investment did not exist, and Matthes stole approximately $1.4 million for his personal use. Matthes allegedly stole an additional $1 million by making unauthorized sales and withdrawals from his customers' variable annuities. To cover up his fraud, Matthes allegedly created fake account statements and paid approximately $170,000 in Ponzi-like payments. The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, charges Matthes with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, Matthes consented to the entry of a judgment that permanently enjoins him from violating the charged provisions and orders him to pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and penalties in amounts to be determined by the court at a later date. The settlement is subject to court approval. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Som P. Dalal, Jean M. Javorski, and Anne C. McKinley of the Chicago Regional Office. The litigation will be led by John E. Birkenheier, Ms. McKinley, and Mr. Dalal. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. You may also like these stories: Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng told a press conference that the virus was detected by the Pasteur Institute in a 60-year-old Chinese man who arrived from Wuhan on Thursday. PHNOM PENHCambodia and Sri Lanka on Monday reported their first confirmed cases of the deadly new coronavirus that has been rapidly spreading from the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Airport employees and a passenger are seen wearing masks in a departure lobby at Beijing international airport on Jan. 27, 2020, amid the outbreak of a new pneumonia-causing coronavirus that has spread overseas. / Kyodo Airport employees and a passenger are seen wearing masks in a departure lobby at Beijing international airport on Jan. 27, 2020, amid the outbreak of a new pneumonia-causing coronavirus that has spread overseas. / Kyodo Banana Ban and Meatless Menus, but How Green Is Davos Summit? 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Using state-of-the-art technology, the eight-strong team managed to carefully catch and scan five of the massive tiger sharks out in the wild in December 2019. Holding the shark close to their boat using straps, the researchers used a portable ultrasound to scan each animal, observing the results in real-time with a headset. The expedition will provide experts with valuable insights into the movements of tiger sharks in the region and will aid in their future conservation. Using state-of-the-art technology, the eight-strong team managed to carefully catch and scan five of the massive tiger sharks out in the wild in December 2019 'Performing the scans was absolutely incredible,' said Arizona State University marine biologist James Sulikowski. 'It's mind blowing to know I am using technology that was once confined to a laboratory setting to see if a shark is pregnant in the field.' 'To see baby sharks within the mother is like Christmas morning for me, that excitement never gets old.' 'Its incredibility difficult to keep everything steady sometimes. We often get soaked.' The team wondered weather the high number of tiger sharks seen around Tiger Beach at certain times of the year was a behaviour influenced by humans. Sharks are purposely fed at the popular beach so that tourists can dive with them. 'Tiger sharks at Tiger Beach are fed by scuba divers year-round to lure tiger sharks within close proximity of dive tourists,' explained marine biologist Neil Hammerschlag of the University of Miami. 'I wanted to know if the movements of tiger sharks were impacted by the dive tourism,' he added. 'This led me to wonder what the other possible reasons that tiger sharks were so abundant at Tiger Beach and why they were exhibiting high residency there during the cold months of the year.' 'Given that most of the sharks there were female with a 9:1 female-to-male ratio and large, I suspected it could be related to reproduction.' 'We have been assessing the reproductive biology of tiger sharks at Tiger Beach by carefully taking non-invasive blood samples and performing in-water ultrasounds.' Holding the shark close to their boat using straps, the researchers used a portable ultrasound to scan each animal, observing the results in real-time with a headset, pictured The experts had set out to discover why so many Tiger Sharks swarm to the waters off of the so-called Tiger Beach in the Bahamas a popular locale for dive tourists The expedition will provide experts with valuable insights into the movements of tiger sharks in the region and will aid in their future conservation 'Performing the scans was absolutely incredible,' said Arizona State University marine biologist James Sulikowski. 'It's mind blowing to know I am using technology that was once confined to a laboratory setting to see if a shark is pregnant in the field' 'This work has revealed that a large proportion of the female tiger sharks at Tiger Beach are in fact pregnant,' Dr Hammerschlag added. 'Knowing the reproductive strategies and mating behaviours of animals is crucial for management and conservation.' "Historically, the reproductive biology of sharks has been studied by sacrificing the animals,' he notes. 'However, in this study, we have been performing ultrasounds on tiger sharks as well as taking blood samples for hormone analysis to determine reproductive status of these large predators.' 'Coupling these techniques has allowed us to examine the reproductive state, cycle and length of gestation of sharks during our ongoing research without having to kill them.' 'After their "pregnancy check-ups," we have been tagging the pregnant tiger sharks with satellite transmitters to track their movements and evaluate behavioural patterns to reveal possible gestation and pupping grounds.' 'This work has revealed that a large proportion of the female tiger sharks at Tiger Beach are in fact pregnant,' Dr Hammerschlag said. 'Knowing the reproductive strategies and mating behaviours of animals is crucial for management and conservation' The team wondered weather the high number of tiger sharks seen around Tiger Beach at certain times of the year was a behaviour influenced by humans. Sharks are purposely fed at the popular beach so that tourists can dive with them 'After their "pregnancy check-ups," we have been tagging the pregnant tiger sharks with satellite transmitters to track their movements and evaluate behavioural patterns to reveal possible gestation and pupping grounds,' said Dr Hammerschlag The experts had set out to discover why so many Tiger Sharks swarm to the waters off of the so-called Tiger Beach in the Bahamas a popular locale for dive tourists A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine on January 2020 suggests that Parkinsons disease developing before the age of 50 years could be due to an abnormality in certain brain cells that remains dormant until the age of onset of the disease. It also indicates the potential usefulness of a specific drug to prevent this by correcting the brain cell disorder. Clive Svendsen, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, right, and Nur Yucer, PhD, a project scientist, discuss a microscope image of dopamine neurons. Image Credit: Cedars-Sinai What causes Parkinsons disease? Parkinsons disease affects about 500,000 people in the US every year, and unfortunately this number is rising. In most cases the illness begins after the age of 60 years, but it can occur between 21 and 50 years in about a tenth of cases. Parkinsons disease is due to the impairment or loss of brain cells that make dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is involved in the coordination of voluntary muscle activity. The reason for this loss is not clear as of now. It is characterized by insidious but progressive muscle symptoms which include slowness of movements, muscle rigidity, tremors and a loss of balance. There is no cure for this condition. The study of Parkinsons disease is complicated by the fact that cells that are lost are impossible to study. As a result, research centered on the use of tissues taken from patients who have died, from experimental animals and from immortalized cell lines, which show how these tissues differ from those in healthy tissue. In this regard, the emerging field of iPSCs has opened up new possibilities to help researchers understand how cell changes cause Parkinsons disease in humans. The study The current study focuses on the subset of Parkinsons disease which starts earlier than 50 years. The researchers looked at induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are a form of stem cell derived from mature or adult blood cells that are exposed to a program that turns the cell clock backward, restoring the primitive, undifferentiated or embryonic state of the cell. This means that the cell can now give rise to any of the numerous cell types in the human body, all of which will be genetically identical to the cells of the patient. In this case, the mature cells were taken from patients with young-onset Parkinsons disease. These were transformed into iPSCs which were then used to create dopaminergic neurons. The neurons formed from the stem cells of each patient were then cultured in a petri dish so that their function could be studied. This was in order to allow the scientists to see how the neurons might have operated from embryonic life onwards. Researcher Clive Svendsen says, Our technique gave us a window back in time to see how well the dopamine neurons might have functioned from the very start of a patient's life. The findings Analysis of the working of the neurons formed from the iPSCs showed that they differed from normal nerve cells in two ways: They were filled with a waste protein called alpha-synuclein, that is typically found in most forms of Parkinsons disease They contain poorly functioning lysosomes, which are bags of enzymes that collect unwanted materials from the cell and break them down to recycle useful parts and dispose of the rest. This type of malfunction is suspected to be possibly the reason for the accumulation of alpha-synuclein. If so, these changes could be revealing, for the first time, the earliest changes that occur in young-onset Parkinsons. Says Svendsen, It appears that dopamine neurons in these individuals may continue to mishandle alpha-synuclein over a period of 20 or 30 years, causing Parkinson's symptoms to emerge. A potential solution In addition, the iPSCs were also pressed into service to test the effects of several drugs on these abnormalities in the metabolism of the dopaminergic neuron. For instance, they found a drug named PEP005 that is currently FDA-approved for the treatment of precancerous conditions of the skin. This was found to reduce alpha-synuclein levels within dopamine neurons, in culture as well as in living mice. Not only so, PEP005 also corrected the levels of activated protein kinase C, an enzyme found to be abnormally high in these patients, though what it does is currently unknown. The future The next step is to find out how this drug can be administered so as to evaluate whether it can be used to treat or to prevent young-onset Parkinsons disease. Additionally, the researchers want to see if the brain cell abnormalities present in this form of Parkinsons are shared by other forms as well. According to study co-author Michele Tagliati, Young-onset Parkinson's is especially heartbreaking because it strikes people at the prime of life. This exciting new research provides hope that one day we may be able to detect and take early action to prevent this disease in at-risk individuals. SPRINGFIELD Former state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago, pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting more $250,000 in bribes over several years to protect the red-light camera industry and filing a false tax return. Sandoval said he wanted to be the red-light camera companys protector and worked with a cooperating witness with an unnamed red-light camera company and an unnamed co-conspirator in the exchange of money. In addition to the red-light camera company, Sandoval took bribes from other people to benefit other industries, according to the plea agreement. Sandoval named the company in court Tuesday as SafeSpeed LLC, the Chicago Tribune reported. I used my office as state senator to help SafeSpeed er, company A (and) be its protector in the Illinois senate and influence other officials to roll out the red-light camera program in Illinois, he said. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois released the plea agreement Tuesday, the same day Sandoval pleaded guilty in federal court. From 2016 through September 2019, Sandoval took bribes in exchange for continued support for the operation of red-light cameras in the State of Illinois. The agreement said Company A was a Chicago-area company that provided red-light cameras that enabled municipalities to enforce certain traffic violations and issue traffic-violation tickets and noted the company would get proceeds from approved-and-paid-for violations. While he legislative committee Sandoval was on addressed red-light camera operations in the state, he began to solicit and accept money and other benefits from someone with an unnamed company, referred to as Company A in the documents, in return for favorable legislative outcomes, including to block legislation harmful to the red-light-camera industry and to advise and influence [Illinois Department of Transportation], according to court records. Sandoval was the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, a position that essentially acts as the gatekeeper for transportation-related legislation. Sandoval had repeatedly sent legislation to the Subcommittee on Special Issues, a panel with no members, virtually ensuring the bill wouldnt advance. An employee with Company A had been a cooperating witness in the investigation since 2018, unbeknownst to Sandoval, according to the plea agreement. In 2016, the plea agreement said Sandoval asked for $20,000 in campaign contributions, which the cooperating witness agreed to provide. In one call with the cooperating witness, Sandoval asked for smaller increments to avoid scrutiny. I can see if I can find out from anyone when the next reporting period, and we will do it right, right after that. Kind of, just kind of not make it obvious, Sandoval said, according to court records. After Sandovals relationship with the company became public knowledge, he tore up the check and arranged for an unrelated company to make a $10,000 contribution to a campaign associate. In March 2018, Sandoval agreed to block legislation harmful to the red-light camera industry and to accept $10,000 in cash to be used for campaign-related expenses, according to the documents. Sandoval assured the witness that the company shouldnt worry about the legislation and said: Ill have a [co-schemer A] call ya. That co-conspirator collected $10,000 later that day, according to the plea agreement. A few months later in July 2018, Sandoval asked for $5,000 per month from the company in exchange for continued favorable outcomes. The document said Sandoval met with the cooperating witness at a Burr Ridge restaurant where they discussed payments. Can I bring up something personal with you? Sandoval asked at the meeting. Youve been good to me, politically. But Ive learned that there are people who helped [Company A] who get a monthly, um Consulting fee, sales-consulting fee, the cooperating witness said. When they have helped with the sighting of a camera on a monthly basis, infinitum, Sandoval said. One hundred percent, the witness said. They get a percentage of the revenue that is brought in by specific community. Like I did in Oakbrook [Terrace], Sandoval said. Sandoval then asked why he didnt get that kind of offer. Its hard for me to swallow how [people] make so much off of you. Right? And I gotta do the work. He later discussed being paid to be the companys protector. Im not trying to be dramatic, but Im telling you the vultures would be all over that (red-light cameras) if you had the wrong person there, Sandoval said. If theres a bill or something like that, if you set a fee, a protector fee, unless theres something really [expletive extraordinary. Sandoval then asked for $5,000 a month, which the cooperating witness agreed to pay. In August 2018, Sandoval met the cooperating witness at a restaurant and accepted $15,000 cash. By September 2019, the plea agreement said Sandoval had accepted about $70,000 in protection money. In total, Sandoval accepted more than $250,000 in bribes as part of criminal activity that involved more than five participants, the plea agreement said. Sandoval also pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return in 2017. However, court documents said he underreported his income by thousands of dollars from 2012 to 2016. On the 2017 return, Sandoval said he had income of $125,905, but actually made $259,255. More than $10,000 of that total was from bribes. That meant a loss of $38,682 for the IRS and more than $5,000 loss from the Illinois Department of Revenue. Sandoval could face up to 10 years in prison and a maximum of $250,000 in fines. For the tax charges, he could face up to three years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. However, U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood agreed to postpone a sentencing hearing in the case until Sandoval was done cooperating with federal prosecutors. Sandoval agreed to cooperate in any matter in which he is called upon to cooperate, according to the agreement. The cooperation shall include providing complete and truthful information in any investigation, it said. Sandoval agreed to pay $72,441 restitution to the U.S. Treasury. He will get credit for more than $21,000 the federal government seized from him in 2019. James Corden attends the 2020 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at NASA Ames Research Center on November 03, 2019 in Mountain View, California. (Photo by Liu Guanguan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images) James Corden has admitted to behaving "like a brat" upon his first taste of fame. It comes as Corden, who became host of The Late Late Show in the US in 2015, has reflected on his past behaviour and attitudes when his star was on the rise. He shared with the New Yorker: I started to behave like a brat that I just dont think I am. Its so intoxicating, that first flush of fame. And I think its even more intoxicating if youre not bred for it. Read more: James Corden reveals the rudest celebrity he's ever met The 41-year-old grew up in Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire as the son of Malcolm, a musician in the Royal Air Force band and later Christian book salesman and Margaret, a social worker. The Late Late Show with James Corden airing Thursday, January 23, 2020, with guests Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, and standup comic Demetri Martin. (Photo by Terence Patrick/CBS via Getty Images) His mother Margaret also added in the interview: "You can try and say, Look, James, youre making a prat of yourself, but you can only do so much. Corden's Gavin and Stacey co-star Rob Brydon said back in December that the host had "lost his way for a bit" when fame hit following the success of the sitcom, leading the Welsh actor to giving him a talking-to over lunch. Brydon told The Independent: "You would hear people saying, Hes this, hes that, he says with a sigh. So I took him out for lunch, and I was sitting there thinking, When am I going to bring this up? And I just said, I dont like hearing people saying this, because thats not the person I know. James Corden (r) and Rob Brydon with the award for Best TV Comedy, won by 'Gavin and Stacy', at the British Comedy Awards 2008, ITV London Television Studios, Upper Ground, South Bank, London "So you need to be careful. And he took it in the spirit that it was intended." Corden had previously credited Brydon with helping him out during an appearance on Desert Island Discs in 2012, where he described how he had become "spoilt" after his 2008 Bafta win for Gavin and Stacey. The actors career has gone from strength to strength in recent years with the hugely popular Carpool Karaoke as well as roles in big budget films, including the infamous Cats. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Delhi Police for imposing challans on auto-rickshaw drivers who sported 'I Love Kejriwal' on their vehicles. Taking to the micro-blogging site, Twitter, Kejriwal stated that the police aided by the BJP issued false challans to the poor drivers, adding that the party should not harbour ill-feelings towards the poor. He appealed to the party to stop taking revenge from the poor people. Live TV "BJP apne police se gharib auto waalo ko jhootha challan karwa rahi hai. Inka kasoor kewal yeh hai ki unhone I love Kejriwal likha hai. Gharibo ke khilaaf itni durbhawna theek nahi. Mera BJP se appeal hai ki gharibo se badla lena bandh kare. (The BJP is making its police isue fake challans to the poor auto drivers. Their fault is that they wrote I love Kejriwal on their vehicles. It is not to have ill feelings towards the poor. I appeal to the BJP to stop taking revenge from the poor people)," tweeted Kejriwal. On the other hand, a notice has been issued to the Aam Aadmi Party-led government, Delhi Police and the Election Commission (EC) by the Delhi High Court over a political advertisement displayed on autorickshaws that states, "I Love Kejriwal". The notice was issued on a petition filed in the court, that challenged challans imposed on auto drivers who sported this statement on their vehicles. A group of auto-rickshaw drivers have challenged the challans issued to them for displaying this poster. The petitioners in their petition have pleaded that they can't be penalised for expressing themselves, adding that displaying such posters were not prohibited and that they have been exercising their Right to Free Speech in doing that. A petitioner named Rajesh was challaned with Rs 10,000 for painting words "I Love Kejriwal " on the back of his auto-rickshaw, which he said he did with his free will without any pressure and monetary benefit. The matter is put up for further hearing on March 3. CALGARY - Alberta's premier says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to move swiftly to approve the Teck Frontier oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is shown in Calgary, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. Alberta's premier says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to move swiftly on approval of the Teck Frontier mine north of Fort McMurray or confirm the government is planning to phase out the oilsands. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol CALGARY - Alberta's premier says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to move swiftly to approve the Teck Frontier oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray. Jason Kenney says there is no reason to delay the go-ahead for the $20.6-billion project near Wood Buffalo National Park in northeastern Alberta. A federal-provincial review last summer determined Frontier would be in the public interest, even though it would be likely to harm the environment and the land, resources and culture of Indigenous people. "Their current deadline is the end of February for a decision ... and I've been very clear to the prime minister ... if they say no to this project, then they are signalling his earlier statement that he wants to phase out the oilsands," Kenney said Monday. Trudeau commented at a town-hall meeting in January 2017 that his government was attempting to balance economic and environmental concerns. We cant shut down the oilsands tomorrow. We need to phase them out. We need to manage the transition off of our dependence on fossil fuels, but its going to take time, and, in the meantime, we have to manage that transition, Trudeau said at the time. The Frontier mine north of Fort McMurray, Alta., would produce 260,000 barrels of oil a day and about four million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year, for more than 40 years. The federal government must make a decision on the project by the end of February under the Environmental Assessment Act. Kenney said it's time that the federal Liberals start listening to the majority of First Nations leaders who support projects such as Teck, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northeastern British Columbia. "I implore the federal government. If reconciliation means something, surely it means saying 'yes' to economic development for First Nations people." Kenney was speaking at an announcement of the new board of directors for the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corp. The Crown corporation plans to allocate up to $1 billion in support, such as loan guarantees, to qualified First Nations seeking an equity position in major resource projects. The communities need to come up with $20 million for investment, but can receive support of up to $250 million. Kenney said the corporation could provide financial support to a group seeking to buy a stake in the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain project. "We continue to discuss this with the federal government," he said. "The prime minister has expressed an interest in selling a stake to First Nations. If that future potential First Nations consortium comes forward to the (Alberta corporation) with an application, I'm sure it will be given serious consideration." At least three different groups in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan are seeking full or partial ownership of the pipeline, which carries crude oil from Alberta to the west coast. The federal government is studying the best options for Indigenous communities to reap economic benefits from the project, but Ottawa isn't planning to sell the pipeline while legal and political risks remain. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2020 Follow @BillGraveland on Twitter The U.S. Justice Department announced its first-ever enforcement actions against telecommunications operators for facilitating robocalls, including two groups "originating in India, and operating out of residential addresses in New York and Arizona," said Jody Hunt, Assistant Attorney General for the department's civil division. The groups were responsible for hundreds of millions of calls per month, Hunt said. The Justice Department is seeking court approval to stop the organizations from making further calls, he said. The companies include two Arizona-based companies and three Long Island, N.Y.-based companies, all of which were operated out of residential addresses in those states, according to the press conference. The Arizona defendants are TollFreeDeals.com, SIP Retail and their owner-operators, Nicholas Palumbo and Natasha Palumbo of Scottsdale. The New York defendants are Global Voicecom Inc., Global Telecommunication Services Inc., KAT Telecom Inc. and their owner-operator Jon Kahen of Great Neck, N.Y. The defendant companies and individuals could not immediately be reached for comment. The accused companies serve "gateways" for the fraudulent call operators, and take payment for facilitating the calls and passing them into the regular U.S. telecommunications network using digital voice over IP technology, according to the Justice Department. Companies like AT&T and other large telecommunications companies had already advised the companies they were facilitating fraudulent calls, the department said. Through these gateways, overseas fraudsters used fake numbers to mimic emergency lines or government agencies like the IRS or social security administration, hoping to rope U.S. residents into financial scams based on the premise that the victims owed a government agency money or were subject to some kind of law enforcement action if they did not pay, the DOJ said. The robocalls have led to losses of hundreds of millions of dollars, Hunt said. A free range chicken farm that supplies major supermarkets has had its licence suspended by the RSPCA after animal rights activists found rotting corpses, bleeding hens and filthy conditions at the business. RSPCA investigators intervened at Hoads Farm near Hastings, East Sussex, after they were 'shocked' and 'appalled' by the apparent state of the farm's chickens. Supermarkets including Tesco's, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons sell free range eggs from the farm, according to its website, at around 2 for a box of six. Tesco today said it was 'deeply disturbed' by the images inside the farm and would not sell any of its eggs until an investigation was completed. Sainsbury's and Asda also said they would halt sales. Scroll down for video Hoads Farm near Hastings, East Sussex, has been suspended by RSPCA investigators after rotting corpses, bleeding hens and filthy conditions at the farm were revealed (pictured) Animal rights activists from Direct Action Everywhere filmed dead and partially decomposed birds lying on wire and the floor inside the farm They also photographed an egg sorting machine left surrounded by cracked eggs and their contents. RSPCA Assured, which made the decision to suspend the farm, said it was 'shocked' and 'appalled' At least 150 activists from Brighton-based animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) stormed the farm on Monday morning, after publishing a video of conditions there, and demanded action from the authorities. The activists sat inside chicken enclosures wearing protective gear and were later filmed carrying 50 birds out of the farm. The birds have now been pictured inside their homes on social media. Footage of the grim conditions inside the farm was captured by DxE activists during a six-month investigation, which involved several visits. A shocking seven-minute video published by the group shows partially decomposed corpses on a barn floor and lying on racks, dirty living spaces and hens with bleeding vents from which they lay eggs. One heartbreaking scene shows a bird with a bloodied head and back standing in a corner, while another shows piles of eggs and chicken corpses inside a trailer. At least 150 activists from Brighton-based animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) stormed the farm this morning. They are pictured here surrounded by chickens Eggs produced by Hoads Farm are sold to Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons according to the farm's website. They tend to be priced at around 2 for six A dead and decomposing chicken photographed at the farm near Hastings, East Sussex Photos of birds from the farm, published on Monday night, also show a hen with difficulty walking, another with a deformed face and a third with a curled foot. RSPCA Assured, which oversees the charity's certification of free range egg farms and made the decision to suspend the business from the scheme, said: 'We are shocked and appalled by this footage and we understand why people are upset. 'Any allegations of poor welfare issues on RSPCA Assured certified farms are taken extremely seriously, which is why we have suspended the farm's accreditation while we urgently investigate.' The RSPCA said it had 'very serious concerns' about Hoads Farm after viewing the footage. 'On any farm, it's important that any sick or injured animal receives attention quickly and that if any birds die their bodies are removed promptly. 'We would encourage anyone with concerns about animal suffering to report it to us at the time so we can take swift action.' DxE said they visited the farm several times over a six-month period to investigate it. Pictured above is a mostly decomposed body of a chicken inside one of the barns Chicken corpses and piles of eggs inside a trailer were also photographed by activists Hens missing feathers were also seen crammed on perches in the barn while they slept Describing their visit to the farm, a DxE spokesman said: 'One night we found a hen huddled in the corner, motionless and shaking. 'She had blood all over her head. She was in clear pain and shock and hadn't received any medical attention.' DxE added that every time they visited they found 'piles of dead birds in the walkways among living hens' and hens with bleeding cloacae that they claim were 'visibly infected'. Police officers arrived 30 minutes after the activists protested at Hoads Farm was reported but, according to activists, did not intervene. As well as a protest inside the farm, six other activists locked themselves into heavy chains on the farm's driveway and were surrounded by more protesters. During their protest activists took 50 free range layers out of the farm in Hastings One bird taken from the farm had a facial deformity (left) while another struggled walking (right), posts of birds taken from the farm on social media revealed A third bird taken from the farm and pictured online had a deformed foot At 11am protesters entered a Sainsbury's store in Hastings and held up images of the conditions at free range Hoads Farm. Many members of the public appeared disgusted, they said, but a group of youths responded by throwing chicken nuggets at the protesters. Hoads Farm claims on its website that it ensures 'high welfare standards' using the British Egg Industry Council 'Lion' Code. 'We are constantly striving to ensure that we suppl the freshest and tastiest free range eggs to our customers,' they said online. 'This not only means adhering to highest industry standards, but also implementing our own unique standards of quality control.' The remains of a chicken at the farm. This image was taken by activists. When asked, Hoad Farm said that it complied with high welfare standards Protesters pictured sitting inside the free range hen house at Hoads Farm in Hastings Hoads Farm told MailOnline: 'We are both shocked and saddened at the recent imagery linked to Hoads Farm and have launched a full investigation into all the allegations. 'The imagery is by no means reflective of the hygiene and welfare standards on any of our farms, in which we are held in high regard. We question both the validity and integrity of the images portrayed. 'We have had a fully qualified poultry vet visit the site yesterday and raise no concerns, apart from the consequences of the protesters actions. 'We have also requested an audit from the RSPCA Freedom Foods, which has now been completed and stated 'the birds are in good health, with good feather cover'.' The farm released an updated statement on Wednesday. 'Following this incident, we asked the RSPCA to carry out an inspection of our site, which they completed yesterday. As we expected, they reported the hens being in good health and with good feather cover. 'Additionally, we also had a fully qualified poultry vet visit the site yesterday, and, apart from the consequences of the protestors' actions, again he raised no concerns. 'DEFRA also visited the site, accompanied with an independent vet, who reported the following: "No none compliance for animal welfare noted at time of inspection, all compliant for welfare or free range birds. Compliant production unit and egg collection area. No issues identified.'' 'The welfare of our birds is of paramount importance to us, and we strongly refute the allegations made by these so-called animal rights activists. We also question the integrity of the images used.' A Tesco spokesman said: 'These are deeply disturbing and unacceptable images. We expect all brands sold at Tesco to uphold high animal welfare standards and will closely review the results of the investigations into this farm.' Sainsbury's said: 'The welfare of our animals is extremely important and we are investigating these allegations.' MailOnline contacted Hoads Farm, Asda and Morrisons for comment. New Delhi: There was panic at Shaheen Bagh protest site Tuesday afternoon after a man carrying a pistol was reportedly caught by protesters. Police said the man was allowed to leave the venue after he assured protesters that the gun was a licensed one. The video of protesters shouting that a man in the crowd had brought a pistol was widely circulated on social media platforms. Deputy commissioner of police (Southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said, As of now, nobody has filed any complaint or made any call to the police control room about the incident. Still, we are looking into the incident and are trying to identify the person who was seen holding the gun. We will take action as and when a complaint is received. A police officer, who did not want to be named, said around 2.30pm, 60-70 people, mostly local residents, had reached the protest venue and insisted that the agitation be called off.Some of them began removing the barricades . During the melee, someone screamed that one of them was carrying a gun. They tried to snatch the weapon. At this, the man took out his pistol and claimed that it was his licensed weapon. The protesters assaulted him and later allowed them all to leave, the officer said, adding that the man was a local property dealer, who was accompanying a local politician. Meanwhile, at Shaheen Bagh, most protesters had a different version of what had happend. One of the protesters said the man was handed to the police, while others said he was let off. Some said the man went on the stage and wielded a gun, while others denied this. Taseer Ahmad, a protester, said a group of people came there demanding that the barricades be removed. While we were dealing with them, a man with a pistol got on stage and threatened to kill people if the protests werent called off, he said. FORMER COP MAKES ANOTHER VIDEO A former Delhi Police sub-inspector who was arrested last month for putting out a video in which he threatened to shoot anti-CAA protesters, purportedly put out a live video on Tuesday saying he and a group of men were headed to Shaheen Bagh to take on the people gathered there. In the video posted on Facebook, former policeman Rakesh Tyagi is heard saying he is heading to Shaheen Bagh with a motorcade of 19 cars, each with four occupants. The location of Tyagis shoot is yet unknown. In December, a video of Tyagi in police uniform threatening to shoot anti-CAA protesters had surfaced. The Delhi Police had arrested him but he was released on bail the same day. Police had said the 43-year-old constable, who belongs to Baghpat, had taken voluntary retirement in 2014. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda will hold three rallies each in the capital on Tuesday to campaign for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal will hold roadshows at Karawal Nagar, Gokalpur, Mehrauli, Chhatarpur and Delhi Cantt today. The Assembly elections in Delhi are scheduled to take place on February 8. The votes will be counted on February 11. In 2015 Assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party had registered a landslide victory by winning 67 out of a total of 70 seats in the capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) C aroline Flack has wished the cast and crew of Love Island good luck ahead of tonights National Television Awards. The 40-year-old presenter stepped down from the show after she was arrested for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend at her London home. She later took a step back from social media too but briefly returned to send a message ahead of the annual bash. Posting on her Instagram story, Flack wrote on Tuesday (January 28) afternoon: Good luck to all the team and cast at tonights NTAs. Its such a fun night cmon @loveisland. Caroline Flack wished the Love Island team good luck on Instagram / @carolineflack The current winter season of Love Island is being hosted by Flacks friend Laura Whitmore. The reality series is nominated for the Best Challenge Show award and will fo up against MasterChef, The Apprentice, The Circle and Great British Bake-Off. Love Island 2020: Series 6 - In pictures 1 /126 Love Island 2020: Series 6 - In pictures ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV Siannise ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV Paige plays the couple challenge. ITV Connagh and Mike chat. ITV ITV Sophie interrupts Connagh, Mike and Nas' chat. ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV Twins Jess and Eve on their double date ITV Leanne and Mike chat after his date ITV ITV Rex Features ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV Love Island contestants were flabbergasted as it was revealed XX's favourite sex position was the butter churner ITV2 Eve and Jess Gale ITV Laura Whitmore ITV Leanne Amaning and Mike Boateng ITV The girls around around the fire pit ITV Shaughna enters the villa ITV Paige and Ollie ITV Sophie ITV Shaughna and Callum ITV Siannise and Nas ITV Sophie and Connor ITV ITV Leanne enters the villa ITV ITV ITV ITV Flack announced in December that she was stepping down from her role as Love Island presenter, a week after she was arrested for the alleged assault. Flack is accused of hitting her boyfriend Lewis Burton, 27, over the head with a lamp while he was sleeping. She has denied the allegation. Sharing the news of her resignation on her Instagram profile, Flack wrote: "There have been a significant number of media reports and allegations in regards to my personal life. Caroline Flack leaves court after pleading not guilty to assaulting boyfriend Lewis Burton / Jonathan Brady/PA "While matters were not as have been reported, I am committed to co-operating with the appropriate authorities and I can't comment further on these matters until the legal process is over. "However, Love Island has been my world for the last five years, it's the best show on telly. In order to not detract from the upcoming series I feel the best thing I can do is to stand down for series 6. "I want to wish the incredible team working on the show a fantastic series in Cape Town." "Maximizing the stunning views was one of our goals for our all-new Benihana," said Benihana Chief Executive Officer and President, Tom Baldwin. "We also wanted to update our design to couple the unique, modern character of Miami and the traditional atmosphere guests have come to know and love from our Benihana brand." Our new Benihana opens just in time for Miami to host the upcoming 54th annual "Big Game" weekend, and boasts nearly 10,000 square feet of dining space that includes 20 teppanyaki tables and an inviting sushi lounge. An exciting new addition is an indoor-outdoor cocktail bar and patio that offers breathtaking views of beautiful Biscayne Bay and neighboring skylines. In total, the new Benihana seats 267 guests each will have amazing waterfront views a characteristic that is surprisingly rare among Miami-area restaurants. "Miami waterfront views are one of the most popular requests among diners," continued Baldwin. "Our North Bay Village / Miami Beach restaurant is a one-of-a-kind location that not only delivers on spectacular scenery, but also delights guests with our iconic, performing chefs and our delicious, high-quality menu items." The restaurant will be open Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Friday until 11 p.m.), Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Happy Hour is Monday through Thursday 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Guests may contact the restaurant directly at 305-866-2768 or may make reservations through www.benihana.com. Guests can also enjoy the delicious Japanese cuisine at home, at work, or on the go with Benihana online ordering through their website or by downloading the Benihana app. "We proudly served Miami and Miami Beach guests for close to 50 years in this location," finished Baldwin. "We are now proud to unveil a new Benihana to serve for the next 50 years and beyond!" About Benihana Benihana Inc. is the nation's leading operator of Japanese Teppanyaki and Sushi restaurants with more than 100 Benihana, Haru Sushi, RA Sushi and Samurai restaurants operating throughout the United States, Caribbean, and Central and South America. To learn more about Benihana Inc. and its four brands, please view the corporate video at www.benihana.com/about/company-video/. Benihana fans looking for more ways to enjoy and share their love of the experience can download digital stickers at http://apple.co/2lml8Dg. Media Contact: Peyton Sadler 786-605-9240 [email protected] SOURCE Benihana Related Links http://www.benihana.com Troubled Quebec-based Nemaska Lithium let go of 29 staff in order to preserve cash. The company said it has retained 30 employees. Nemaska is looking for alternatives to re-start its Whabouchi project. Last month Nemaska entered creditor protection so it could find more time to develop the project. Cost of development is budgeted at C$1.269 billion, including C$392 million already invested. CEO Guy Bourassa said he hopes the employees who were let go can rejoin Nemaska. This difficult decision was inevitable at this point," said Bourassa. "We are offering all the support and guidance to the employees that are leaving us, and which may help them towards their next steps. We sincerely hope to have the privilege to welcome back many of them once we are able to resume the project." Lithium producers have been staggering under low lithium prices. Last week Australia-based lithium producer Galaxy Resources (ASX:GXY) is slashing output at its Mt Cattlin operation to conserve mineral resources until market conditions improve. The special Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act court sentenced five people, including a couple, to five years of rigorous imprisonment for duping 300 investors of Rs 10 crore. While the accused couple Narayandas and Nalini Thakkar have been fined Rs 2 crore each, others were fined Rs 1 lakh each. The court also ordered them to refund 75 per cent of the amount they owe to the investors. The offence under section 420 (cheating) of the IndianPenal Code and relevant provision of The Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act was duly proved against the accused, the court said. The court also observed that the Thakkars had been absconding for the last 15 years after they fled to Africa. Special public prosecutor (MPID) Vivek Kadu informed the court that the accused, who owned a grocery shop, lured investors with the promise of high returns from the export business of medicines in Africa and cheated them. After the case was registered, the Thakkar couple had filed an affidavit taking responsibility for their actions and agreed to pay back theinvestors by selling their property. Although the crime was registered in 2004, the property was sold after almost 10 years and Rs 5.92 crore was transferred in theaccount of a competent authority for disbursement towards 75 per cent of the amount to the concerned investors. As per legal sources, this is perhaps a unique case, wherein all investors are likely to get back their money. The Thane collector and prosecutor also received praise from the Special MPID court for their work in the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 20:47:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Palestinian students are seen in a classroom burned by Israeli settlers inside Orif School near the West Bank city of Nablus, Jan. 28, 2020. Israeli settlers set a Palestinian school classroom on fire, Palestinian sources and witnesses said on Tuesday. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) RAMALLAH, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israeli settlers set on fire on Tuesday one of the classrooms at a Palestinian school near the northern West Bank city of Nablus and painted anti-Arab graffiti on its walls, Palestinian security officials said. Spokesman of the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education Saqed al-Khadour said in a press statement that the ministry condemns the settlers' act and considers it "an awful crime." Al-Khadour told Xinhua that the fire caused severe damage in the classroom, adding that the ministry calls on international rights groups "to bear a responsibility and protect the Palestinian pupils from the Israeli settlers' assaults." There has been no immediate Israeli comment on the incident. A man was hospitalised in Pune on suspicion of possible exposure to the novel coronavirus during his recent visit to China, taking the total number of such admissions to six in Maharashtra so far, a senior official said on Tuesday. The man was admitted in the isolation ward of the Naidu Hospital on Monday night for the symptoms similar to the novel coronavirus infection, Dr Pradeep Awate, Maharashtra state Disease Surveillance Officer, told PTI. "The number of the persons under observation in hospitals in Maharashtra has now gone up to six," he said. Four of the six persons are currently under observation in Mumbai while two in Pune, Dr Awate said. He said blood samples of none of them has tested positive to the virus so far. No case of coronavirus infection has been found in Maharashtra yet. A Health department official had said on Monday that the Maharashtra government will prepare a list of passengers who have returned to Mumbai from China, especially from the Wuhan region, since January 1 this year, and will enquire about their health condition. As many as 3,756 passengers arriving from China were screened for the coronavirus at the Mumbai international airport between January 18 and 26, but no confirmed case of the deadly disease has been found so far in Mumbai. Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has so far killed 80 people and affected 2,744 in China is a novel strain and not seen before. It has emerged from a seafood and animal market in China's Wuhan, and is suspected to have spread to as far as the United States. According to the World Health Organisation, the common symptoms of the novel coronavirus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 00:35:16|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The surge in armed violence across Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger is having a devastating impact on children's survival, education, protection and development, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday. The agency reported that a surge in violence in the central Sahel region in Africa means nearly 5 million children will need humanitarian assistance this year, up from 4.3 million in 2019. According to the report, children have been attacked, abducted or recruited into armed groups due to the spike in armed conflict and insecurity in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Since the start of 2019, more than 670,000 children across the region have been forced to flee their homes because of armed conflict and insecurity. The UNICEF called for "renewed, increased and concerted efforts" to curb the ongoing violence and to stop it from spreading into neighbouring countries. The UN agency has appealed for 208 million U.S. dollars to support operations on the ground, where it is working with partners in the areas of protection, education, health, nutrition, and water and sanitation. One of the most powerful and beautiful experiences for me in Istanbul is the Eyup Sultan Mosque. People from all over the Muslim world come here to recognize the burial place of Eyup Sultan (also known as Abu Ayyub al-Ansari), the Prophet Muhammad's standard-bearer and companion, who was buried here during the siege of Constantinople in the 670s. This is where new Ottoman sultans received their sword of sovereignty as they took the throne (comparable to being crowned). It attracts a very conservative, religious crowd, humble in mood and attire, who are looking for spiritual fulfillment. It's a place to feel the pulse of the faith in Istanbul, and to recognize what an important spiritual capital this great city is. Croatian Military Helicopter Crashes, Killing Crew Member Defence Ministry Sputnik News 15:07 GMT 27.01.2020 BELGRADE (Sputnik) - A Croatian Air Force Kiowa Warrior helicopter has crashed in the Adriatic Sea, near the city of Sibenik, killing one crew member while a search operation is in the process to find the second person who was on board the helicopter, Croatia's Defence Ministry reported on Monday. "A Kiowa OH-58 D helicopter crashed near Zlarin Island and Zablace during a training flight on Monday January 27, 2020 at 10:30 [09:30 GMT]," a Defence Ministry statement read. In a later statement, the Ministry confirmed that one of the two crew members on board the helicopter had died in the crash. A search rescue involving Croatian Air Force and Coastguard personnel is ongoing, the ministry stated. At 14:30 local time [13:30 GMT], the Ministry of Defence will hold a press conference to discuss the incident. The Croatian military received 16 Kiowa Warrior helicopters from the United States' military surplus. The final delivery of 11 helicopters was received in December 2016, with the US donating the equipment to bolster Croatia's air capabilities. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DETROIT, MI Police in Detroit are cracking down on illegal marijuana sales after law enforcement officials blame them for a spike in violent crime. Targeted enforcement has resulted in 19 felony arrests since Wednesday, the police department said Tuesday in a release. According to the Associated Press, four of the arrests were for carrying concealed weapons. Two rifles, nine handguns and 10 vehicles were seized. Officers also recovered eight grams of suspected cocaine, six grams of suspected methamphetamine, 132 suspected pills and 150 grams of suspected marijuana. Another 36 zip-lock bags of suspected marijuana also were seized, AP reports. Police Chief James Craig announced earlier this month that marijuana deals have been a common theme in many of the homicides reported so far this year. Marijuana is legal under Michigan law, but small recreational sales aren't legal yet in Detroit. Detroit City Council has banned recreational marijuana sales through Friday. READ MORE: Detroit police link early 2020 homicides to illegal marijuana sales Recreational marijuana stalled in Michigans largest city as police blame black-market weed for violence The number of emergency call-outs for suspected drug overdoses in Northern Ireland has increased over the past three years, figures show The number of emergency call-outs for suspected drug overdoses in Northern Ireland has increased over the past three years, figures show. The NI Ambulance Service (NIAS) dealt with 1,010 calls in 2017, 1,394 a year later and 1,494 calls made by the end of November last year. That was an increase of 47% in two years. A charity has now called for a drugs task force, more support to be made available to vulnerable people and a safe consumption facility. There was also a 40% increase in the number of times naloxone, which temporarily reverses the effects of opioid overdoses, was administered. In 2017 the Ambulance Service administered the drug 628 times. It was used 873 times in 2018 and 876 times last year. The Simon Community, which works with the homeless, said the figures were only a "brief glimpse into the drugs crisis" in Northern Ireland as other organisations also handle drug emergencies. "Our experience is that those seeking support for their mental health who also have substance use issues struggle to get the support they need as they are deemed not to meet the threshold for treatment until their substance use issues are addressed," said Eoin Ryan of the Simon Community. Dr Nigel Ruddell, medical director of the NIAS, said it had been working with the Public Health Agency and other statutory bodies to address underlying issues as well as improving emergency response times. "The rise in the number of times our crews have administered this life-saving treatment over the past few years reflects the growing social issues we see in relation to mental health and related usage of both drugs and alcohol," he told the BBC. Chris Rintoul, manager of Extern's drugs and alcohol consultancy service, said the charity was concerned at the number of deaths, especially in Belfast. "We need a new approach," he added."The first thing I'd recommend is to establish a drug task force similar to that available in Scotland. "In particular there needs to be more support for those who are homeless. We need a service like a drug consumption facility where those using drugs can be observed in a safe, sterile environment which will help prevent infections and overdoses." The Public Health Agency is in talks to start a pilot of the nasal-spray version of naloxone. Alliance health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw expressed her concern at the rise in serious overdose cases. The South Belfast MLA said: "If we wish to tackle the rise in serious overdose cases we will need different and more wide-ranging services. "In the short-term, we need to ensure that those at risk and those around them have access to naloxone, ideally through the nasal spray, to save lives. "In the longer term, we need to raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of overdose and where the support is available, as well as addressing the issues in areas such as mental health and homelessness where too many people are still living without adequate support." French English JCDecaux wins 10-year exclusive advertising concession at Libreville International Airport in Gabon Paris, January 28th, 2020 JCDecaux S.A. (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, announced today that JCDecaux Gabon, its subsidiary jointly owned with Bollore Group and in partnership with the Gabonese Strategic Investment Fund (FGIS), has been awarded the exclusive advertising contract for Libreville International Airport in Gabon (current and future airports) by ADL (Aeroport de Libreville), a subsidiary of Arise Infrastructure Services. Under the 10-year contract, JCDecaux now manages the interior and outdoor advertising spaces for the countrys biggest airport. It will provide a premium digital offer and a range of sponsored services for passengers (such as charging points for phones, tablets, screens with flight information, laptops and a smoking lounges). Libreville International Airport is the gateway to Gabon, serving 24 destinations in 16 countries with close to 1 million passengers passing through the airport every year. With a presence in more than 170 airports, including 10 of the top 15 global hubs, JCDecaux, the number one worldwide in airport advertising, covers 27% of global air traffic. This new contract brings JCDecauxs African airport portfolio to 32 and consolidates its presence in Gabon, where it operates advertising street furniture in Libreville, Akanda and Owendo (for a total of 1 million people), since entering the market in 2017. Indranil Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of ADL, said: We took over management of Libreville International Airport in October 2018. We have since embarked on a huge programme to enhance the passenger experience, improve service quality and increase the reliability, safety and security of airport operations. Following a consultation process with a range of operators, we selected JCDecaux to partner with us for the next 10 years to bring these aims to fruition. We chose JCDecaux, the world number one in airport advertising, to raise standards at Libreville through its high-tech offering. Jean-Charles Decaux, Co-Chief Executive Officer of JCDecaux, said: We are extremely proud to be selected as the exclusive advertising operator at Libreville International Airport. Testament yet again to the expertise of our teams, this win marks a milestone in our growth strategy in Gabon. The contract will boost our airport presence in Africa and our position in Gabon. We look forward to going live with an innovative, premium and highly digital offer in the countrys largest airport, which is set to grow into a major hub in a few years. Our offering will enhance the passenger experience and deliver benefits to advertisers and their brands. Our cutting-edge solutions here will make Gabon a showcase for JCDecaux in this region of Africa. About Libreville airport Leon Mba international airport is the only international airport in Gabon and an important gateway for air traffic to other African countries and to Europe. The airport is served by 15 airlines with regular flights from Gabon to 24 destinations in 16 countries. www.libreville-aeroport.com Key Figures for JCDecaux 2018 revenue: 3,619m, H1 2019 revenue: 1,842.3m Present in 4,030 cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants A daily audience of more than 800 million people in more than 80 countries 13,030 employees Leader in self-service bike rental scheme: pioneer in eco-friendly mobility 1 st Out-of-Home Media company to join the RE100 (committed to 100% renewable energy) Out-of-Home Media company to join the RE100 (committed to 100% renewable energy) JCDecaux is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris and is part of the Euronext 100 and Euronext Family Business indexes JCDecaux is recognised for its extra-financial performance in the FTSE4Good index and the MSCI and CDP A List rankings 1,061,200 advertising panels worldwide N1 worldwide in street furniture (528,660 advertising panels) N1 worldwide in transport advertising with more than 170 airports and 277 contracts in metros, buses, trains and tramways (326,970 advertising panels) N1 in Europe for billboards (137,020 advertising panels) N1 in outdoor advertising in Europe (645,540 advertising panels) N1 in outdoor advertising in Asia-Pacific (239,300 advertising panels) N1 in outdoor advertising in Latin America (72,880 advertising panels) N1 in outdoor advertising in Africa (24,170 advertising panels) N1 in outdoor advertising in the Middle East (16,450 advertising panels) For more information about JCDecaux, please visit jcdecaux.com . Join us on Twitter , LinkedIn , Facebook , Instagram and YouTube . Communications Department: Agathe Albertini +33 (0) 1 30 79 34 99 agathe.albertini@jcdecaux.com Investor Relations: Arnaud Courtial +33 (0) 1 30 79 79 93 arnaud.courtial@jcdecaux.com Attachment [January 28, 2020] U.S. Rep. French Hill Joins Banks in Presenting $475K Affordable Housing Grant U.S. Representative French Hill, AR-2, joined Arvest Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) last week for a ceremonial check presentation of a $475,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant to help renovate 51 residential units in the World Services for the Blind facility in Little Rock, Arkansas. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005749/en/ Congressman French Hill joined representatives from FHLB Dallas and Arvest Bank to contribute $475K in Affordable Housing Program funds to World Services for the Blind to renovate 51 residential units in their aging facility. (Photo: Business Wire) The AHP grant was awarded to World Services for the Blind, a nonprofit that operates one of the most comprehensive rehabilitation centers in the world for the blind and visually impaired. The ceremonial check presentation took place at a community development roundtable hosted Friday in Little Rock by FHLB Dallas and attended by local dignitaries. Also, at the roundtable, a check for $34,500 in Partnership Grant Program funds was presented to the University District Development Corporation for a revitalization program benefiting the residential and commercial neighborhoods adjacent to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "World Services for the Blind is an organization known around the world for the outstanding work it does to help the blind and visually impaired learn to live independently," said Congressman Hill. "With this generous grant from Arvest Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, World Service will be able to continue to offer its programs in a safe, modernized building for years to come." Sharon Giovinazzo, president and CEO of World Services for the Blind, said, "This grant will help fund improvements to the residential facilities we provide our clients and we are very grateful to Arvest for their partnership and to FHLB Dallas for recognizing the impact the environment has on our clients during the rehabilitation process. For the first time in the 72-year history of our organization, our residential clients will be able to control the temperature of their apartment on their own, rather than being served by one central heating and air system. That is certainly a convenience they will enjoy." Jim Cargill, president and CEO of Arvest Bank in central, northeast and southwest Arkansas, said, "The team at World Services for the Blind truly changes lives. They serve children and adults, who were born visually impaired, as well as people who lost their vision due to a life event. World Services prepares these individuals to live independently and to secure employment. Arvest is proud to partner with FHLB Dallas to provide such a significant grant toward the mission of helping people achieve these goals, and we look forward to continued examples of success." The AHP assists FHLB Dallas member institutions like Arvest Bank in financing the purchase, construction or rehabilitation of homes, benefiting households with incomes at or below 80 percent of the area's median income. FHLB Dallas awards AHP grants annually, through member institutions, to support the creation or rehabilitation of affordable housing units, among other projects. In 2019, FHLB Dallas, in partnership with its member financial institutions, awarded $17 million in AHP grants to 35 projects in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas, which will result in the creation or rehabilitation of 2,122 housing units. "World Services for the Blind is a well-known provider of critical services for the blind and visually impaired in Little Rock," said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. "They needed some help to renovate their residential facility, and we were thrilled to join with Arvest Bank to help fund that work." Visit fhlb.com/ahp for more information on the AHP. About Arvest Bank Arvest Bank, named by Forbes magazine as one of the "World's Best Banks" for 2019, operates more than 260 bank branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas through a group of 14 locally managed banks, each with its own board and management team. These banks serve customers in more than 135 communities, with extended weekday banking hours at many locations. Arvest also provides a wide range of banking services including loans, deposits, treasury management, credit cards, mortgage loans and mortgage servicing. Arvest is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $73.8 billion as of September 30, 2019, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 815 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005749/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] India on Tuesday said it was preparing to evacuate its citizens from the central Chinese province of Hubei, the epicentre of the novel Coronavirus outbreak that has killed 106 people so far. More than 200 Indians remain in Hubei, mostly in the capital city Wuhan. A large number of Indian students were based in Wuhan, though many of them had recently left the city for the Chinese New Year holidays. In a message circulated among Indian nationals in Hubei, the Indian embassy said the process of evacuation had begun and the mission was in touch with the Chinese government to work out logistics for moving them out of the province. It said the evacuated people would be quarantined for a fortnight on return to India. Government of India has begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus (Coronavirus) outbreak in Hubei Province, China. Embassy of India, Beijing is in touch with the Chinese government authorities to work out date and logistics of the evacuation, said the message which was circulated among Indians via WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app. Please be informed that those availing of this option will have to undergo a mandatory 14-days quarantine on arrival in India, it said. The message said details regarding the date and logistics of the evacuation would be communicated in due course. The Indian nationals were told to be patient and wait for further updates and instructions. In a similar message on Twitter, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: We have begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China. Our @EOIBeijing is working out the logistics & is in touch with the Chinese govt. authorities & our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates. Our @EOIBeijing is working out the logistics & is in touch with the Chinese govt. authorities & our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates. (2/2) Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 28, 2020 People familiar with developments in New Delhi said the Indian embassy in Beijing was ascertaining the exact number of Indians to be evacuated. They also ruled out a blanket evacuation of all Indians from across China. Hubei and its capital city Wuhan are under an unprecedented lockdown to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus that has also sickened more than 4,500 people in China. Tens of millions in Hubei are either in lockdown or facing public transport restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Pingry School has reached a settlement with 13 additional victims of alleged sexual abuse at the school; nearly one and half years after the elite private school settled with 21 victims. No details on the terms of the settlement were disclosed in the joint statement released Monday by the school and lawyers representing the 13 victims. The lawyers for the survivors are pleased that The Pingry School has listened to their clients, acknowledged the suffering that they endured dating back to the time of the abuse in the 1970s, and taken measures to address their pain, the statement read. The school, which has campuses in Millburn and Basking Ridge, released a report in 2017 that said a teacher, who was also a Boy Scout leader, was accused of abusing at least 27 boys over six years in the mid 1970s. Thad "Ted Alton allegedly targeted preteen boys in his class at the schools Short Hills campus and in his Boy Scout troop. Some students alleged that they were assaulted anywhere from 25 to 100 times. The investigative firm hired by Pingry to write the report also found alleged sexual misconduct by two other teachers at the school. The alleged victims filed a lawsuit in 2018 alleging the sexual misconduct and abuse was well known at the elite school, though no one did anything about it. The firms investigation found that school officials were not aware of the alleged abuse at the time, except for one board member who heard about Altons behavior, but never officially reported it. Alton, a registered sex offender from a 1990 conviction for deviate sexual misconduct in upstate New York, was not named as a defendant in the suit. Since engaging a firm to conduct an independent investigation into the sexual abuse allegations and circumstances surrounding the tenure of former faculty member Thad Alton and others, Pingry has worked with its survivors to bolster the Schools safe-environment practices, including establishing a Student Safety Advisory Committee, Mondays statement said. Moreover, as a result of the input from survivors, the School has undertaken an audit of its child protection policies, including a review of methods to report suspicions of abuse or inappropriate behavior, among other actions. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Austrian investors could be interested in Azerbaijans special economic zones, Austrias Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs told Trend. "Azerbaijans plan to develop the non-oil sector and to focus on sectors such as infrastructure, water supply, renewable energy, agriculture, expansion of railway and environmental protection could offer new spheres of cooperation and an attractive investment potential. The special economic zones and industrial parks in the regions, which offer investment incentives, could also be of interest for Austrian investors," said the ministry. Moreover, the Federal Ministry said that the memorandum of understanding between Austrias OBB Rail Cargo Group and Azerbaijan Railways in December 2017 is an important milestone towards strengthening cooperation and provides a good basis for further steps, which "hopefully will result in joint projects." Further, the ministry said that the volume of bilateral trade and investment is well below the current potential. "In 2018, bilateral trade volume reached around 422 million euros ($469.5 million). During the first ten months of 2019, there was an upward tendency for both exports and imports: Austrian exports to Azerbaijan was worth around 69 million euros (+52 percent). Imports from Azerbaijan totaled around 423 million euros (+28 percent), with petroleum and petroleum products accounting for the largest share at 99.8 percent. Austrian exports to Azerbaijan include iron and steel, machines, medical and pharmaceutical products, electrical machinery and equipment. About 15 Austrian companies are currently operating on the Azerbaijani market," said the Federal Ministry. The volume of bilateral trade between Azerbaijan and Austria stood at $268.1 million as of 2019. The volume of exports from Azerbaijan to Austria stood at $185.7 million, while the imports from Austria amounted to $82.3 million, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn San Francisco, Jan 27 (IANS) In a sensational revelation, an investigation on Monday claimed that the popular Avast antivirus -- installed on nearly 435 millions Windows, Mac and mobile devices globally -- harvested users' data via browser plugins and then sold it to third parties, including Microsoft and Google. The joint investigation by Motherboard and PCMag that relied on leaked user data and other company documents found that "the sale of this data is both highly sensitive and is, in many cases, supposed to remain confidential between the company selling the data and the clients purchasing it". The leaked documents accessed for the investigation were from a subsidiary of the antivirus giant Avast, called Jumpshot. The Avast antivirus programme was installed on a person's computer which collected the data, and Jumpshot repackaged it into various different products which were sold to big companies. "Potential clients include Google, Yelp, Microsoft, McKinsey, Pepsi, Sephora, Home Depot, Conde Nast, Intuit, and many others," the report claimed. In a statement, Avast said it has stopped providing browsing data collected by the extensions to Jumpshot. Some clients even paid millions of dollars for products that include a so-called "All Clicks Feed", which can track user behaviour, clicks, and movement across websites in detail. In copies of contracts with Jumpshot clients, one marketing firm paid over $2 million for data access last year. Avast offers a selection of free and paid-for antivirus and security tools, in both free and in paid-for formats. According to the investigation, Avast also recorded "porn site visits that are anonymized, offered the date and time the user visited the sites, as well as search terms and viewed videos in some instances". Multiple Avast users told Motherboard they were not aware that Avast sold browsing data, raising questions about how informed that consent is. The investigation also that Avast is still harvesting the data, but via the anti-virus software itself, rather than the browser plugins. na/vd Beijing, Jan 28 : Visiting WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday said that the global health body was confident in China's epidemic prevention and control ability, amid the novel coronavirus outbreak that has claimed the lives of 106 people in the country. Ghebreyesus made the remarks while meeting Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi here, reports Xinhua news agency. He said the World Health Organization and the international community lauded the decisive measures the Chinese government has taken. The WHO does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact, Ghebreyesus noted. After the outbreak, China identified the pathogens in record time, shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus with the WHO and other countries, and carried out a series of effective measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, he said. He said the WHO was willing to provide all necessary help. On January 23, an Emergency Committee set up by the WHO over the virus which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, had concluded that the outbreak did not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). As of Tuesday, there were at least 106 fatalities due to the coronavirus in China, with 4,515 confirmed cases in 30 provincial-level regions, according to the country's National Health Commission. At the moment, Tibet remains the only Chinese province that has not registered any cases. Meanwhile, Thailand on Tuesday reported another six cases of coronavirus, taking the total to 14 - the highest number of infections outside China, Efe news reported. On Monday night, respective health authorities reported first cases in Germany (a man from Starnberg in the state of Bavaria, who is said to be in good condition), Cambodia (a 60-year-old Chinese man who travelled from Wuhan to Sihanoukville who is in "normal" condition) and Sri Lanka (a 43-year-old female Chinese tourist from Hubei). Other countries with confirmed cases include Australia, Singapore, United States, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, France, Vietnam, Canada, Ivory Coast and Nepal. There are also several cases in Taiwan, although Chinese authorities consider Taiwan a province of China and therefore include it in the national count. No deaths have been reported outside of China. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The federal government has announced a buyback program for military-styled assault rifles. Doctoral candidate Noah Schwartz argues the program is flawed and will not achieve its goals, while Public Safety Minister Bill Blair insists there is no place for such weapons in Canada and the buyback is part of a greater public safety campaign. Noah Schwartz Researcher at Carleton University YES The Trudeau government has promised a ban and buyback of what the Minister of Public Safety calls military-style assault weapons. On its face, this sounds like something that progressives should get behind. The buyback, however, wont achieve its stated goal of reducing gun violence. It may also harm national unity and pay dividends for the Conservatives in the next election. Buying back 250,000 firearms from licensed gun owners, at a cost of $400-$600 million, will not make us safer. Canada already has strong gun control laws in place and gun owners must meet strict requirements in order to purchase a firearm, including continuous background checks. Crime in Canada is largely committed by unlicensed individuals buying illegal American handguns on the black market. For example, 75 per cent of all crime guns successfully traced by the Toronto police came from the United States. For handguns, the firearms that are most often used to commit murders in Canada, 84 per cent came from south of the border. We cannot avoid the fact that we share the largest undefended border in the world with the country that has the largest civilian stock of firearms. These types of buybacks usually dont work as they face issues of low compliance and funnel guns onto the black market. To make matters worse, the guns this buyback is targeting (assault-weapons) dont technically exist here. While guns like the AR-15 in Canada look like their counterparts south of the border, they are missing a key part; magazine capacity. When the United States banned assault weapons in the 1990s, they defined them as semi-automatic weapons with a large magazine of ammunition. In Canada, rifle magazines are limited by law to five rounds. Given that rate of fire is what makes assault weapons more dangerous, this difference is a big deal. So whats the harm in the ban? Fewer guns cant be a bad thing, right? But we need to consider whether this policy is worth the political and financial costs. The recent election demonstrated there is a sharp political divide between east and west in this country. The current fissure is climate change: how can we fight it while also preserving western jobs? But this flashpoint is a symptom of a deeper division that this ban will worsen. Attachment to firearm ownership in the Western provinces is much stronger than it is in central Canada. Abandoning the proposed ban could be a way for the government to show that it is sensitive to Western concerns and make it easier to negotiate on tougher issues. If the proposed ban goes ahead, the government will be spending at least $400-600 million to buy back rifles that will likely never be used to commit a crime. Recall that Canadas last major gun control project the long-gun registry was projected to cost only $2 million and ended up costing over $2 billion. Gun control is expensive, and resources should be allocated where they can do the most good. This money could be better spent fighting the deeper social roots of crime by tackling the systemic issues facing disenfranchised young people in places like Toronto, who see gangs as their only viable pathway to prosperity in a Canada that has turned its back on them. Share your thoughts Targeted intervention programs in at-risk communities, like Operation Ceasefire in Boston, have shown a lot of promise. To its credit, the government has increased funding to the provinces and territories to help tackle gang crime. But these commitments will be dwarfed by the cost of the ban. Finally, the Liberals are gambling that young people care about gun control, which they do. But gun owners facing the confiscation of their personal property care a lot more. Conservative Party strategists could hardly ask for a better fundraising tool. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is struggling. The Conservatives won the popular vote in the last election and a new leader is sure to energize them for the next. This ban will no doubt motivate hundreds of thousands of gun owners to join the party, volunteer their time and help fill the Conservatives coffers. It might just be enough of a wave to ride them back into government. Noah Schwartz is a doctoral candidate in political science at Carleton University. His research focuses on understanding the gun culture in North America. Bill Blair Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness NO Prior to my current role as the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, I served for a decade as the chief of the Toronto Police. Ive spent my life trying to keep people safe, and I have seen first-hand the devastating impact gun violence can have on families and communities. Most firearms owners are conscientious and law-abiding, and they have my utmost respect, but when their guns get into the hands of someone with violent criminal intent, tragedy results. This isnt limited to urban centres, either rural gun violence is a problem as well. And so we must take decisive action to strengthen gun control. Criminals obtain guns three ways: they are smuggled, stolen, or diverted. We will act decisively to cut off this supply. In addition, we will end the proliferation of military-style assault rifles in Canada. These weapons were designed to kill people they have no place in our communities. Ecole Polytechnique, Sainte-Foy, and Moncton these guns have been used in Canada to kill women, religious minorities, innocent civilians, and police officers. They have been used all over the world to commit horrendous atrocities look no further than Sandy Hook Elementary School and Pittsburghs Tree of Life synagogue. Chiefs of police have been calling for a ban on military-style assault rifles for decades. We intend to ban these guns and offer a buyback option to Canadians who currently own them. A buyback program would allow us to safely dispose of these weapons, ensure fair compensation for owners, and ensure that these powerful guns are removed from our communities and rendered inoperable. It is money well spent to protect the public. We know that the large majority of firearms owners are responsible in how they acquire, store, and dispose of their weapons. They have our full support, and we will work with our partners to develop a buyback program that works for everyone. But thats not all weve promised Canadians. In the last election, we vowed to make our communities safer, and that requires more than just banning military-style assault rifles. We also said we were committed to giving cities the ability to ban or restrict handguns, and increasing our governments already historic investments to fight gang-related violence. THE BIG DEBATE: For more opposing view columns from Toronto Star contributors, click here. But let me be equally clear about what we will not do: We will not bring back the long gun registry, and we will not target guns designed for hunting. Hunters, farmers, law-abiding recreational gun owners these people deserve our respect, and we will ensure that they are treated fairly. Our governments commitment to safer streets is not new. In the last four years, weve already taken important action to address gun violence. We invested $327 million to give police and prosecutors new resources and tools to fight gang-related violence and address gun smuggling. We also brought in legislation that ensures stronger background checks. But we have even more important work ahead of us. Banning military-style assault rifles, giving cities the ability to ban or restrict handguns, and doing even more to tackle gang violence are just pieces of our larger, holistic plan to make our streets safer. We intend to make unprecedented investments in kids and communities, because we know that improving social conditions goes a long way in reducing crime and violence. We will empower police to take preventative steps to keep a dangerous situation from becoming deadly. Well strengthen our border, tackle the criminal diversion of handguns, and see stricter storage laws act as a deterrent to theft. And through it all, we will work closely with provinces, territories, and municipalities, empowering them to take actions necessary and appropriate to their circumstances. Strengthening gun control demands thoughtfulness and careful consideration. But we cannot be afraid of change. Canadians are asking for real leadership to address gun violence, and real leadership is exactly what we will deliver. Bill Blair is the federal minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. Read more about: 7 confirmed cases of Wuhan coronavirus in Singapore Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed seven cases of the Wuhan coronavirus infection in the country on 12 pm, January 28. The sixth confirmed case is a 56 year-old male Chinese national from Wuhan who arrived in Singapore with his family on January 19. He reported that he was asymptomatic during the flight to Singapore and subsequently developed symptoms on January 25. He self-presented to CGH in a private car on January 26, was classified as a suspect case and immediately isolated. Prior to hospital admission, he stayed with his family at their home at Pasir Ris Grove. He is currently warded in an isolation room at Changi General Hospital (CGH) and his condition is stable. The seventh confirmed case is a 35 year-old male Chinese national from Wuhan who arrived in Singapore on January 23 with family and friends. He was asymptomatic during the flight to Singapore but subsequently developed symptoms on January 24 and self-presented to Raffles Hospital via public transport on the same day. Prior to hospital admission, he stayed at Marina Bay Sands Singapore located at 10 Bayfront Avenue, and had travelled on public transport, though the MOH has said that the risk of infection from transient contact, such as on public transport or in public places, is assessed to be low. He is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and his condition is stable. The fifth case, which the MOH confirmed on January 27 is a 56 year-old female Chinese national from Wuhan who arrived in Singapore with her family on January 18. She is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and her condition is stable, MOH said in a press statement. National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). Photo courtesy: NCID The woman reported that she was asymptomatic during the flight to Singapore, but subsequently developed symptoms on January 24. She was conveyed by ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital on January 26. The hospital classified her as a suspect case and she was immediately isolated at NCID. Subsequent test results confirmed Wuhan coronavirus infection on January 27. She has no known links to the other confirmed imported cases. As of 12pm on January 27 in Singapore, 62 of the suspect Wuhan coronavirus cases have tested negative for the Wuhan coronavirus. Five have tested positive. Photo courtesy: unsplash Prior to hospital admission, the woman stayed with her family at their home at Ceylon Road. Since onset of symptoms on 24 January, she had remained in her home until she was conveyed to hospital on 26 January, MOH said. Authorities have initiated epidemiological investigations and contact tracing to identify individuals who had close contact with her. As of 12 pm on January 28, 91 of the suspect cases have tested negative for the Wuhan coronavirus. Seven have tested positive. Test results for the remaining 72 cases are pending. MOH has created a WhatsApp channel, which residents can subscribe to for the latest updates and clarifications. Singapore bans travellers from Hubei Province in China Starting from noon on Wednesday, January 29, all new visitors to Singapore with recent Hubei travel history within the last 14 days, or those with PRC passports issued in Hubei, will not be allowed entry into Singapore, or transit through Singapore. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will suspend the issuance of all forms of new visas to those with PRC passports issued in Hubei with immediate effect. Additionally, previously issued short-term and multiple-visit visas, as well as visa-free transit facilities, for those with PRC passports issued in Hubei, will also be suspended with immediate effect. During this period of suspension, they will not be allowed entry into Singapore. Travellers from Hubei already in Singapore The Ministry of Health (MOH) is attempting to contact all recent travellers from Hubei province who are in Singapore, estimated to be about 2000 people who arrived in the island nation in the last two weeks. Of these roughly 1,000 are on short-term visas. MOH will assess who among this group are at higher risk and will place them under quarantine with Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents and foreigners on long-term visas to be quarantined at home or other suitable facilities, while those on short-term visas to be housed at Government Quarantine Facilities. This article is part of David Leonhardts newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it each weekday. President Trump lost Colorado by 5 percentage points in 2016, and hes on pace to lose it by more this year. His most recent approval rating there was 39 percent, according to Morning Consult. His unpopularity creates a problem for Cory Gardner, a first-term Republican senator from Colorado, who will be running for re-election this year which makes Gardners behavior during the impeachment trial especially striking. Rather than act as the senator he is, with his own power to shape events, Gardner has served as a Trump loyalist. Gardner has not expressed skepticism about the obvious lies Trumps lawyers are telling. Gardner doesnt seem concerned about Trump perverting foreign policy for his own personal interests. And Gardner has shown no interest in hearing all the relevant evidence by calling witnesses to testify. Annapolis, MD; January 28, 2020--Many species of North American bumble bees have seen significant declines in recent decades. Bumble bees are essential pollinators for both native and agricultural plants, and their ability to fly in colder temperatures make them especially important pollinators at high elevation. Bumble bee declines have been attributed to a handful of factors, including lack of flowers. Not all flowers are used equally by bumble bees, and determining which flowers bumble bees use can aid bumble bee conservation by identifying the specific plants they need to thrive. New research published in the journal Environmental Entomology examines which flowers bumble bees select in the Sierra Nevada region of California. Researchers from The Institute for Bird Populations, the University of Connecticut, and the USDA Forest Service compared which species of flowers the bees used relative to the availability of each flower species across the landscape. They found that each bumble bee species in the study selected a different assortment of flowers, even though the bees were foraging across the same landscape. This information can be useful to land managers who are restoring or managing meadows and other riparian habitat for native bumble bees. This study of bumble bee floral use was unusual because it factored in the relative availability of each plant species to the bees. "It's important to consider the availability of plants when determining what's selected for by bees," says Jerry Cole, a biologist with The Institute for Bird Populations and lead author of the study. "Often studies will use the proportion of captures on a plant species alone to determine which plants are most important to bees. Without comparison to how available those plants are, you might think a plant is preferentially selected by bees, when it is simply very abundant." The researchers captured, identified, and released bumble bees at over 400 sample plots in the Plumas National Forest. They recorded which flower each bee was captured on and estimated the availability of flowers in the plot. Though they captured bumble bees on over 100 different species of flower, only 14 of these plant species were preferentially selected by any of the bumble bee species. Thirteen species of bumble bees were captured; among the five most common species, each selected a different assortment of flowers, and each selected at least one flower species that was not selected by the other bumble bee species. In addition, the study found some previously undocumented bumble bee-plant associations; for instance, Bombus bifarius (sometimes known as the two-form bumble bee) preferentially selected thickstem aster flowers Eurybia integrifolia, while the black tail bumble bee (Bombus melanopygus) preferentially selected Rydberg's penstemon flowers (Penstemon rydbergii). They also found that bees use different species of flowers at different times in the summer, as early blooming flowers are replaced by late-blooming flowers. "We discovered plants that were big winners for all bumble bee species but, just as importantly, plant species that were very important for only a single bumble bee species," says Helen Loffland, a meadow species specialist with The Institute for Bird Populations. "This study allowed us to provide a concise, scientifically based list of important plant species to use in habitat restoration that will meet the needs of multiple bumble bee species and provide blooms across the entire annual lifecycle." The USDA Forest service has already put the study's results to use. "Restoration planning on the Plumas National Forest is already using these results to identify areas where restoration efforts may increase availability or improve quality of bumble bee habitat," says co-author Matthew Johnson, who is the Wildlife, Fish, Rare Plants and Invasive Species Program Manager at the Plumas National Forest. In addition, Forest Service personnel have collected seed from plants favored by bumble bees and are experimenting with the best way to use in them in seed mixes. Johnson says he also hopes to work with students at Greenville High School in Greenville, California, and Feather River College in Quincy, California, to propagate bumble bee-friendly plants for use in restoration. A better understanding of bumble bees' flower preferences will aid in conservation of declining bee species. "This sort of knowledge can really increase the effectiveness of restoration for bumble bees," says Loffland, "and in a way that is relatively easy and cost-effective to implement." ### "Plant Selection by Bumble Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Montane Riparian Habitat of California" will be published online on January 28, 2020, in Environmental Entomology. Journalists may request advance copies of the article via the contact below or download the published paper after 10 a.m. on January 28, 2020, at https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvz159. CONTACT: Meredith Swett Walker, The Institute for Bird Populations, mswalker@birdpop.org, 970-712-9699 Joe Rominiecki, Entomological Society of America, jrominiecki@entsoc.org, 301-731-4535 x3009 ABOUT: The Institute for Bird Populations is a California based 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation founded in 1989 to aid science-based conservation of species and habitats by studying the abundance, demography, and ecology of birds and other wildlife. We collaborate locally, nationally, and globally with government agencies, universities, and NGOs to assess the effects of climate change, land management actions, and other ecological stressors on bird and wildlife populations, and prescribe practical solutions to conservation challenges. For more info, visit: http://www.birdpop.org The Entomological Society of America is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA today has more than 7,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, the Society stands ready as a non-partisan scientific and educational resource for all insect-related topics. For more infor, visit http://www.entsoc.org. Environmental Entomology publishes reports on the interaction of insects with the biological, chemical, and physical aspects of their environment. For more information, visit https://academic.oup.com/ee, or visit http://www.insectscience.org to view the full portfolio of ESA journals and publications. (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. shares jumped to a record high Wednesday after reporting holiday-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street expectations on rebounding iPhone demand and surging sales of wearable devices. The results are a remarkable comeback from a year ago, when the most valuable technology company missed its own targets. A sales forecast for the current quarter also exceeded analysts projections, while services revenue came in slightly below expectations. The shares, which have more than doubled over the past year, gained as much as 3% to $327.25 at 9:37 a.m. in New York. Thats the highest intraday valuation since the stock started trading in the 1980s, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The strength is coming from the iPhone and continued really strong growth in wearables and the App Store, said Shannon Cross of Cross Research. The iPhone was very strong. The Cupertino, California-based company reported $91.8 billion in revenue for the fiscal first quarter, up 9% from a year earlier. Wall Street was looking for $88.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profit was $4.99 a share, also beating analysts expectations. For the fiscal second quarter, Apple said sales will be between $63 billion and $67 billion. Analysts estimated $62.3 billion, on average. After years of rapid growth, Apples expansion has slowed as demand for smartphones waned and competition from Chinese rivals intensified. Under Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, the companys strategy has evolved. It now aims to sell new handsets to customers every three to five years, and then offer as many services and accessories as possible in the intervening years. On Tuesday, Cook said Apple saw strong demand for the latest iPhones and noted that a base of more than 1.5 billion devices has been a great driver of our growth across the board. Cook addressed the coronavirus during a conference call with analysts, saying Apple is following developments in China. The company is working closely with employees and partners in the region, he added. Virtually all iPhones are made by Foxconns Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. in Zhengzhou, China, and by Pegatron Corp. at an assembly site near Shanghai. Story continues Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said the revenue range projected for the fiscal second quarter was wider than usual due to uncertainty created by the spread of the virus. Apple Supply Chain Braces for Disruption From Coronavirus Analysts have been particularly excited about wearable accessories, such as the Apple Watch and AirPods. However, the iPhone still generates the majority of Apples revenue. And this crucial business has improved from a dire performance in last years holiday period. The iPhone 11 and 11 Pro models were well received in their debut in the fall and demand in China has been particularly strong, outselling 2018s releases in a market that has otherwise been shrinking. Apple Is Raising TSMC Chip Orders to Meet Strong IPhone Demand Apple generated $56 billion in revenue from the iPhone in the fiscal first quarter, up 8% from a year earlier. That was a lot better than the 2018 holiday period, when sales of the handset dropped about 15%. Apple cut the price of its entry-level flagship iPhone by $50, luring buyers. There are also millions of older iPhones that are losing software support from the company, spurring new purchases. Apples Lower Prices, Users Aging Handsets Drive IPhone Demand Wearables, including AirPods, and other accessories generated $10 billion in revenue in the holiday quarter, up 37% from a year ago. The company reported Services revenue of $12.7 billion, up 17% from the same period last year. That missed analysts forecasts. This business still mostly relies on older offerings such as the App Store, iCloud storage and Apple Music. Its unclear how well Apple TV+, the Apple Card and the Apple Arcade gaming subscription are performing, but there have been signs of weak demand for Apple News+, the companys digital magazine subscription. One note of caution in an otherwise strong report was that Services, which included Apple TV+, grew slightly below expectations, said EMarketer principal analyst Yoram Wurmser. This miss could be attributed to the competition from Disney+, which launched at roughly the same time. Bob Iger Takes the Gloves Off for Disneys Streaming Debut (Updates with share gains starting in the third paragraph) To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Gurman in Los Angeles at mgurman1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Amy Thomson For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 01:22:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China will enhance cooperation with the international community over the battle against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in an open, transparent and responsible manner, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday in a phone talk with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. Kang said that South Korea speaks highly of the Chinese government's and people's joint resolute efforts to control the epidemic of the novel coronavirus, and commends China's strong measures in the battle against the virus. Noting that neighbors should support and help each other in difficulties, Kang said South Korea stands ready to tackle the challenge with China to quell the epidemic at an early date. South Korea would supply the needed medical resources in accordance with China's requirement, the minister added. For his part, Wang said that under Chinese President Xi Jinping's leadership and deployment, China has activated a nationwide system, giving full play to its institutional advantages to resolutely curb the outbreak, so that the efforts in all aspects are moving forward productively. The Chinese people are not afraid of any difficulty and have both the confidence in and the capability of overcoming the epidemic outbreak as soon as possible, Wang added. Wang expressed his gratitude to South Korea for its willingness to provide necessary help to China, adding that the Chinese side will continue to protect the health and safety of all foreigners in China, including those from South Korea. The plan was warmly welcomed by Israel's prime minister, who called it a "historic day" for the Jewish state President Donald Trump Tuesday unveiled long-awaited details of a US plan for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning it may represent the last chance at statehood for the Palestinians (click here to read the full document in pdf). "Today, Israel takes a big step towards peace," Trump told a White House news conference, standing alongside visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he revealed key points of the plan already strongly rejected by the Palestinians. "My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood to Israel's security," Trump said. The plan was warmly welcomed by Israel's prime minister, who called it a "historic day" for the Jewish state. The plan, Trump said, proposes a four-year freeze of Israeli development in the area eyed for a future Palestinian state. "Jerusalem will remain Israel's undivided, very important, undivided capital," Trump stressed. But the plan would also provide the Palestinians with a capital in occupied East Jerusalem, he said, while indicating that the West Bank would not be cut in half under the plan. "We will also work to create a contiguous territory within the future Palestinian state, for when the conditions for statehood are met, including the firm rejection of terrorism," Trump said as he called on the Palestinians to turn their back on the radical Hamas movement. Calling it a "historic opportunity" for the Palestinians to achieve an independent state, Trump said he had written Tuesday to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to enlist his support for the plan. No Palestinian official was present at the launch although the ambassadors from three Arab nations -- Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain -- were at the White House. "I explained to (Abbas) that the territory allocated for his new state will remain open and undeveloped for a period of four years," Trump said. "This could be the last opportunity they will ever have." "Palestinians are in poverty and violence, exploited by those seeking to use them as pawns to advance terrorism and extremism," the president added. "They deserve a far better life." Search Keywords: Short link: Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Tuesday said the Centre is setting up a task force to address visa-related issues of foreign students. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a national conference on 'Destination India - Making India the preferred hub of education, organised by Indian Council For Culture Relations in association with Symbiosis International University and Savitribai Phule Pune University. "We are soon setting up a task force comprising ICCR, AICTE, UGC, officials from Foreign Affairs ministry and HRD to redress issues related to visa among others foreign students," he said. Suggestions from stakeholders such as teachers, students, institutes, government, elected representatives, government officials, village committees etc have been received on the new policy and the draft is in the final stage, Pokhriyal said. The HRD minister said India has been a 'vishwa guru' (world leader) due to ancient universities like Takshila, Nalanda, and foreign students who come to India should go back with our knowledge, science, research, the ancient traditions. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants India to emerge as power centre and the HRD ministry was working on several fronts to achieve the goal. The country's heritage should be promoted in order to attract foreign students, Pokhriyal said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chennai Rains: Depression over north coastal region weakens, light rain very likely across TN Chennai: Actor Suriya's house in T Nagar gets police protection after 'Jai Bhim' threats US Consulate General Chennai promotes South India for US Study abroad students Chennai Police restrict New Year's celebrations in hotels and public places Explained: What is the Coast Guard ship, Annie Beasant India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Chennai, Jan 28: Coast Guard ship Annie Besant, which was commissioned recently by the Defence Ministry, was given a grand welcome on its maiden arrival here. The ship has been named in honour of theosophist and champion of women's rights during the freedom movement, Annie Besant. The ship was received with 'pomp' and 'splendour' on her arrival to her base port at Chennai by top officials of the Coast Guard District headquarters, a release said. Explained: How FASTag-like technology will help you avoid queues at petrol pumps? The third fast patrol vessel of 'Priyadarshini' class has been indigenously built and was commissioned by Defence Secretary, Ajay Kumar on January 12 in Kolkata. The 48.9 metre long ship is equipped with state-of-the-art navigational and communication equipment and sensors. The vessel has an Integrated Bridge Management System and has 40/60 Bofors gun with a 12.7 mm Stabilised Remote Control Gun fitted to enhance its fighting efficiency. The ship carries one Rigid Inflatable Boat and one Gemini Boat each and can undertake maritime operations. Explained: How thermal screening is used to diagnose disease? It is manned by five officers and 34 men and will be commanded by Commandant (JG) Sunny Deo. The vessel has been placed at Chennai under the administrative and operational control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (East), the release said. Department of Theatre and Dance presents 'Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America' BUFFALO, N.Y. The University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance presents a free film screening of, "Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America," a feature length documentary about an inspiring young man whose story is exceptional, although not unique. "Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America" reflects the life of Moises Serrano. As a baby, his parents risked everything to flee Mexico in search of the American dream. Forbidden to live and love as an undocumented gay man in the country he calls home, Serrano saw only one option to fight for justice. The screening will take place at the Center for the Arts Screening Room in Amherst, New York on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a Q-and-A with the director and subject of the film, Moises Serrano. Forbidden was produced by Sisters Unite Productions and Pony Pictures. The small team of local and national filmmakers were inspired to produce the film after a chance encounter with Serrano. The award-winning documentary is directed by filmmaker and guest dance artist Tiffany Rhynard, who will be in residence with UB Theatre and Dance from Feb. 2-7, 2020. Rhynard is an artist, dancer, and filmmaker compelled to make work that examines the complexity of human behavior and addresses social issues. Having created numerous works for stage and screen, Rhynards choreography, dance films, and documentaries have been presented nationwide and internationally. Her recent dance documentary short, "Black Stains," about black male identity in the United States, is currently screening at film festivals. The film was created in collaboration with Trent D. Williams, Jr. As a performer, Rhynard has danced for choreographers including Gerri Houlihan, Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians, and Chavasse Dance and Performance Group. She taught at colleges and universities throughout the country and currently is an assistant professor in the School of Dance at Florida State University. Moises Serrano served as a producer and one of the cinematographers for the film. He is an openly queer and undocumented activist and storyteller. His mission is to de-criminalize and humanize the issue of migration while advocating for immediate relief to migrant communities. Serrano quickly became one of the most requested speakers in the state of North Carolina. Described as a "consummate orator," his advocacy has led him to lead a TedX talk in Greensboro and to be named a notable Latino of the triad. "Forbidden" is currently available on Amazon Prime, Kanopy, and Pragda, and has aired on LogoTV with sponsorship from the American Civil Liberties Union. The film earned the first ever Social Justice Film Award from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Freedom Award from Outfest Film Festival. Date and Time: Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. Location: UB Center for the Arts Screening Room University at Buffalo North Campus Directions: ubcfa.org/directions-maps2019 Tickets: Free Advance reservations required by email: rachelol@buffalo.edu General Information: 716-645-6897 Media Inquiries: Jackie Hausler 716-645-6775 hauslerj@buffalo.edu Group Sales: Mike Formato 716-645-0611 formato@buffalo.edu theatredance.buffalo.edu WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Tuesday appeared to congratulate his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, for shouting and cursing at a reporter for National Public Radio who had asked Pompeo questions about Ukraine. Trump made the remarks during a White House event to unveil a Middle East peace plan. After thanking Pompeo for his work, Trump was surprised when Pompeo received a standing ovation from the room full of guests. "Oh, that's impressive. That was very impressive, Mike," Trump said of the applause. "That reporter couldn't have done too good a job on you yesterday, huh? Think you did a good job on her, actually. That's good. Thank you, Mike. Great. Are you running for Senate? I guess the answer's no, after that." Pompeo had long been considering a run for Senate in his home state of Kansas, and Trump's comments drew laughter from the audience. Beyond the White House, however, Pompeo's decision to call NPR's Mary Louise Kelly into a private room at the State Department on Friday to yell at her has been condemned by journalists and news organizations. "This is an attack on news organizations from the top US diplomat, someone who is supposed to defend press freedoms. It's obvious he's playing to an audience of one Trump," New York Times diplomatic correspondent Edward Wong posted on Twitter. The incident took place on Friday, after Kelly pressed Pompeo in an interview about why he had not defended Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who was abruptly pulled from her post last spring. Trump's removal of Yovanovitch is now a central issue in his impeachment trial, part of a pattern, Democrats say, of Trump clearing the way for a pressure campaign to force the U.S. ally to investigate his political rivals. After the Friday interview, Kelly said an aide to Pompeo called her to his private living room. "I was taken to the Secretary's private living room, where he was waiting, and where he shouted at me for about the same amount of time as the interview itself had lasted," Kelly told NPR later that day. "He asked, 'Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?' He used the F-word in that sentence and many others," Kelly said. "He asked if I could find Ukraine on a map. I said yes. He called out for his aides to bring him a map of the world with no writing, no countries marked." "I pointed to Ukraine," she said. "He put the map away. He said, 'People will hear about this,' and then he turned and said he had things to do, and I thanked him again for his time and left." Pompeo later falsely accused Kelly of having agreed before the interview with Pompeo not to ask him questions about Ukraine. "It is shameful that this reporter chose to violate the basic rules of journalism and decency," Pompeo said in a statement. "This is another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt President Trump and this Administration." Trump has made his disdain and distrust of the mainstream media a central part of his presidency, accusing the press repeatedly of being the "enemy of the people." CNBC's Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report. The Senate resumed on Tuesday after a five-week recess. The lawmakers resumed with a closed-door session which lasted for about an hour, held plenary for a brief period and then adjourned their sitting to Wednesday. After the closed session, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said matters discussed during the session are on some of the plans that lawmakers will act on, in 2020. He said the Senate would prioritise tackling deliberations on security across the country. He also said the Senate will work towards passing the Petroleum Industry Bill and amending the Electoral Act. Mr Lawan said the Senate would legislate on improving the power sector, solid minerals development strategies as well as agricultural enhancement across Nigeria. READ ALSO: This is even as he promised that lawmakers would engage Ministries, Departments and Agencies to ensure full implementation of the 2020 budget. While he welcomed his colleagues from the break, Mr Lawan admonished them to maintain the tempo which they exhibited last year for optimal performance in 2020. The adjournment followed a motion by the Senate Leader, Abdullahi Yahaya, who prayed his colleagues postpone plenary in honour of a House of Reps member, Muhammadu Gawo, who died on December 31. Mr Gawo who represented Garki/Babura Federal Constituency of Jigawa State, reportedly died in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The late lawmaker was a member of the All Progressives Congress and a ranking member of the House. The Senate Leader also prayed his colleagues to observe a one-minute silence in honour of the deceased. The senators, after the minute silence, adjourned the plenary around 12 noon, after a voice vote. The lawmakers are expected to resume legislative activities on Wednesday. An image taken of the victim on the hidden camera. Arancha (fictitious name) was working as a receptionist at a dentists clinic in Alcorcon in the Madrid region. Every day, she would change into her uniform in a small storage-laboratory space that was made available for that purpose. One day, as she was beginning to undress with the door ajar, her boss grabbed the handle on the outside of the door. Can I stay? I would like to, he asked her. No, no, she replied, laughing cautiously. Close [the door]. In January 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the dentist to pay the victim 62,500 in damages This conversation was recorded on a pen drive camera that had been placed in the room by the dentist to spy on Arancha. Months later, the exchange would stand out for Judge Jose Pedro Vazquez, from the criminal court in nearby Mostoles. These are words that, said jokingly, enclose an unfathomable truth to the human soul. What is colloquially known as half serious, half joking, he wrote in his verdict. In the present case, the accused is truly anxious to see [the victim] without the cover of clothing. The judge has sentenced the dentist, identified by the initials J. A. R. R., to three years in prison for crimes against privacy, aggravated by abuse of trust. According to the verdict, issued in December and to which EL PAIS has had access, the judge found the 53-year-old guilty of placing a camera in the storage room to film his employee while she got changed. Vazquez agreed with the public prosecutor that the recordings were made with lewd intentions because no other kind of intention makes sense. The judge dismissed the dentists claims that the camera was put there because money had gone missing from a safe in the room, pointing out that the pen drive was positioned to give an optimum close-up view of the worker. The victim said she discovered she was being recorded in February 2016, when she found the USB device on the floor of the clinics reception area. Arancha told the court that she thought the pen drive had been lost by someone, and connected it to a computer to see if she could find out who it belonged to. Instead, she found out that she had been recorded on a hidden camera: the device contained video of her undressing down to her underwear. She decided to leave the USB on the floor, reviewed the angle of the camera and later swapped it. Although the judge doubted whether the hidden camera was found this way, given that her lawyer had tried to reach a settlement with the dentist before going to court, he did not believe the videos had been tampered with. According to Vazquez, Arancha had been completely unaware of the situation. He added that the details over how the USB was found do not undo the reality that the accused used a device to record private scenes of the complainant. Aranchas lawyer, Juan Antonio Jimenez-Piernas told the court: We never wanted to get to this point, but the accused preferred to make my client relive what happened, forcing us to have to defeat him in court. Aranchas victory in the criminal court comes on the back of a victory in civil court. In January 2019, the Supreme Court sentenced the dentist to pay her 62,500 in damages for seriously and repeatedly breaking her basic rights as a worker. The judge ruled that the recordings were made with lewd intentions In his ruling, Judge Vazquez also banned the 53-year-old from practicing as a dentist for three years and ordered him to pay a fine of 7,500, plus 3,000 in compensation to the victim. You only have to look at the great divide between the compensation that we won through in the labor court, and what was offered by the criminal court, to recognize that the procedural strategy was a complete success, said Jimenez-Piernas. In his ruling, Vazquez also rejected another line of defense from the dentists lawyers, who accused Arancha of filming herself to get money out of [the accused] in the most despicable way. The judge replied: But that does not explain the recordings in which [the dentist] is seen at [Aranchas] side, or when he is seen when she has just disappeared from the scene. He added in his verdict that on at least six occasions, before the time that [the victim] began work, the accused activated a device to record image and sound, which he left running. When she left the storage room, the accused returned and stopped the recording. All of this evidence ended up recorded. English version by Melissa Kitson. Proximity to Nazi concentration camps during World War II made people more likely to conform to the Third Reich's racist and intolerant philosophies, a study claims. Moreover, these values may be being passed down the generations by parental and peer influence, experts concluded after studying archive, survey and election data. According to the researchers, the values of individuals near the camps could have been affected via a form of psychological stress known as 'cognitive dissonance'. This is the mental discomfort that occurs when one's beliefs are challenged by contradictory information or values. For example, someone committed to the values of multiculturalism will experience psychological stress when placed in a xenophobic society. The researchers argue that those living near concentration camps may have ended up adopting more intolerant beliefs to minimise this mental distress. The findings may help to explain the resurgence of xenophobia, political intolerance and radical political parties seen today, the team conclude. Scroll down for video Proximity to Nazi concentration camps during World War II made people more likely to conform to the Third Reich's racist and intolerant philosophies, a study claims. Pictured, the main gate of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland (stock image) In their study, political scientist Jonathan Homola of Rice University in the US and his colleagues analysed recent and historical election results, census data, social surveys and information on the location of Nazi concentration camps. The researchers were particularly interested in explaining intolerance toward Jews, Muslims and foreigners as well as support for radical right-wing parties. Although the team focused mainly on Germany, they also considered other parts of Europe studying, for example, both responses from the German General Social Survey and the European Values Study. The team found consistent evidence that present-day Germans who live closer to the sites of concentration camps are more likely to exhibit higher levels of xenophobia and be less tolerant of Jews, Muslims and immigrants. Similarly, they were more likely to support extreme right-wing political parties. The researchers also found signs of similar associations between such views and concentration camp proximity elsewhere in Europe. The findings may help to explain the resurgence of xenophobia, political intolerance and radical political parties seen today, the team conclude. Pictured, supporters of the far-right and neo-Nazi party 'Der Dritte Weg' (The Third Way) march in Plauen, Germany, on May 1, 2019 'We believe that individuals living near concentration camps during World War II were more likely to conform to the beliefs system of the regime,' Professor Homola said, noting that the Nazis increasingly integrated the camps into local economies. 'We think this was because of cognitive dissonance,' he added. This term refers to the mental discomfort people experience when exposed to information and beliefs that conflict with their own understanding or values. To address this psychological stress, individuals with cognitive dissonance typically act to change, rationalise or ignore the conflicting concepts. This principle, the team argue, incentivised citizens living near active concentration camps to reconcile their own personal attitudes with the reality of what was occurring in their surroundings. This was specifically achieved, they added, by adopting more negative attitudes towards so-called social 'out-groups' as to match the racist philosophies espoused by the Third Reich and realised in the form of the concentration camps. 'These newly acquired values and beliefs were then transmitted across generations through parental and peer influence a prominent mechanism for long-term persistence of attitudes,' the researchers wrote in their paper. 'While the causes of the Holocaust have attracted ample scholarly attention, its long-term sociopolitical consequences are less understood,' Professor Homola said. 'Our evidence proves that when it comes to political attitudes, these consequences are real and measurable even today.' Pictured, far-right demonstrators march in Magdeburg, Germany, on January 17 'While the causes of the Holocaust have attracted ample scholarly attention, its long-term sociopolitical consequences are less understood,' Professor Homola said. 'Our evidence proves that when it comes to political attitudes, these consequences are real and measurable even today.' 'The prejudice that this racist and inhumane institution instilled in the local population is hard to erase even after the institution itself is long gone.' Previous studies focused on the United States have similarly demonstrated links between both racism and extreme political beliefs and proximity to areas in which large numbers of slaves were once kept, Professor Homola noted. 'It is important to understand both contemporary factors and historical legacies that make exclusionary political appeals attractive,' he added. The full findings of the study were published in the journal American Political Science Review. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka. Saturday, Jan. 25 10:41 p.m. A deputy responded to a car-deer crash in the area of N. Castor Road near W. Shearer Road in Warren Township. 9:46 p.m. A deputy responded to a car-deer crash on N. Meridian Road near W. Dague Road in Jerome Township. 9:31 p.m. Officers performed a warrant arrest in the 100 block of Fast Ice Drive. 8:19 p.m. Officers responded to car-deer crash in the area of Dublin and Saginaw roads. 1:36 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of East Indian and Cronkright streets. 8:53 a.m. A deputy arrested a 30-year-old City of Midland man for operating while intoxicated after a single-vehicle traffic crash in Ingersoll Township. 5:32 a.m. A 33-year-old Midland woman was arrested for operating while intoxicated following a traffic stop in Homer Township. Friday, Jan. 24 10:14 p.m. Officers responded to a report of domestic violence in the 4200 block of Melody Lane. 9:34 p.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Larkin Township. 6:50 p.m. A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township roadway area for a report of an injured deer near the roadway. The deputy found the deer and euthanized it. 5:05 p.m. Deputies, EMS and Lee Township Fire Rescue were called to a Lee Township home after it was discovered a 16-year-old girl had consumed a bottle of ibuprofen. The 16-year-old said she took the pills to harm herself because she was depressed. She was transported to MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland for treatment by ambulance with her 35-year-old mother following to sign her in for treatment. 5:01 p.m. Deputies responded to a vehicle crash causing injuries in Homer Township. 4:42 p.m. A deputy stopped a vehicle in the City of Midland when the plate attached came back unregistered. The deputy made contact with the driver, a 42-year-old Isabella County man, who informed the deputy that his license was suspended. The deputy confirmed the man was suspended and dispatch informed the deputy he also had an active warrant that was out of range. The deputy arrested the 42-year-old for driving while license suspended, and cited him for driving with no insurance and having an improper plate. 1:45 p.m. Officers responded to vehicle crash causing injuries in the area of George and E. Buttles streets. 1:08 p.m. A deputy was dispatched to the Midland County Law Enforcement Center in reference to a possible fraud. The deputy spoke with a 76-year-old Lincoln Township woman who reported paying a contractor, a 26-year-old Sanford man, for services, but still received a bill. The matter was handled civilly. 1:04 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 2600 block of N. Saginaw Road. 12:50 p.m. Officers responded to a retail fraud in the 6800 block of Eastman Avenue. 12:10 p.m. A deputy was dispatched to the area of E. Stewart Road near S. Badour Road in Homer Township to complete a crash report for a two-vehicle traffic crash. 9:16 a.m. A 34-year-old Lee Township resident wanted to report her 30-year-old estranged brother sent a text message to another sibling threatening to come kick the complainants door in if he did not get some family photographs he had been asking for. The complainant said she did not want her brother in trouble but told him to quit sending threatening messages. A deputy called the 30-year-old brother, who agreed to leave his siblings alone. 8:56 a.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Homer Township. 8:39 a.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Midland Township. 8:26 a.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Larkin Township. 7:39 a.m. Deputies responded to a vehicle crash in Ingersoll Township. 7:04 a.m. Deputies responded to a vehicle crash in Greendale Township. 2:38 a.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Lincoln Township. 2:14 a.m. A 63-year-old Larkin Township man was arrested for operating while intoxicated following a car-deer crash in Edenville Township. The new statistics showing a devastating doubling of overdose deaths in San Francisco in just a year are grim but an expert in drug addiction and overdoses warns that theyre going to get worse. Last week, the medical examiners office released data showing that 290 people died in 2019 from overdoses of fentanyl, heroin or a combination of the two. That jumped from a total of 134 in 2018. This isnt a blip or a one-off. This is the new reality on San Franciscos drug-riddled streets, and one that begs for stronger, quicker action from City Hall and Sacramento. A key way to eliminate overdoses is to move the drug use out of back alleys and off sidewalks and into supervised facilities. Safe consumption sites are a simple solution that we know works, said Alex Kral, an epidemiologist at the nonprofit research institute RTI International and a resident of San Franciscos Glen Park neighborhood. This is a huge crisis, he continued. These numbers are not some leveling-off plateau. Were still hugely in the up-cycle, and this will get worse. Hes adamant that opening safe injection sites for drug users more commonly called safe consumption sites now because people can smoke crack cocaine or fentanyl inside, too is the answer. There are scores of safe injection sites in 10 countries around the world, including in Australia and Canada and throughout Europe. People must buy their drugs elsewhere, but they can obtain clean drug paraphernalia and referrals to drug treatment inside. The sites first sprang up in the 1980s, and people have used drugs tens of millions of times inside these kinds of facilities, Kral said. And guess what? Nobody has ever died of an overdose inside one. Not even from super-potent fentanyl. Not once. Kral said safe consumption sites are successful in connecting drug users to services, pointing to the facility in Vancouver connecting 443 users to an adjoining detox facility in 2017-18 alone. A heroin overdose takes about an hour, giving onlookers plenty of time to call for help or administer naloxone, which reverses overdoses, Kral said. But after fentanyl use, an overdose can occur almost immediately, which is why using the drug under supervision like at a safe consumption site is critical. Eric Risberg/Associated Press Literally, you will see people die with needles in their arms still, Kral said. Having that monitoring is really, really important. San Francisco, like several American cities, has been mulling opening a safe site for drug use for years. Just about every city official supports it, polls show residents embrace it and even the Chamber of Commerce is on board. So whats the holdup? Mayor London Breed is understandably concerned that President Trumps Department of Justice will come down on such a facility, perhaps even arresting staffers or drug users. But considering the dire status quo on our sidewalks and our city attorneys strong track record of winning in court, its a risk worth taking. Breeds office is working with Supervisor Matt Haney on a plan to create a permitting system run by the Department of Public Health. Haney said he plans to introduce legislation creating the system and setting city standards for safe consumption sites on Feb. 11. Laura Thomas, director of harm reduction policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said her organization, as well as Glide and Healthright 360, one of the largest providers of residential drug treatment programs in the city, would likely create a new nonprofit to run a safe consumption site. And theyre ready to do that if they have strong support from the city. We need to accept, move forward and open overdose prevention sites, she said, using another common moniker for safe consumption sites. Its such a no-brainer of a solution, and we have to find the political will to get past the legal and policy concerns. Haney would like to see such a site open as soon as possible, but Breed isnt sold on the idea of opening one while Trump is still in office. Jeff Cretan, spokesman for the mayor, said safe consumption sites can save lives but they also pose a big legal risk. If we move forward with a site under this current administration, we could be putting nonprofit workers, residents, and people who would use these facilities at risk of being thrown in jail, Cretan wrote in an e-mail. That is not something that anyone should take lightly. He said the mayor wants to get more people into treatment with the help of outreach workers and by making it easier to obtain a drug treatment bed. The mayor has also launched a program to train staff and tenants at SRO hotels to use Narcan nasal spray a brand name for naloxone to reverse overdoses. More Information To hear the latest episode of the San Francisco City Insider podcast featuring Alex Kral, a safe injection site expert, visit sfchronicle.com/insider. See More Collapse Other ideas? Requiring that the Department of Public Health release information about overdoses as soon as they happen like the Police Department does with homicides or pedestrian fatalities. The doubling of overdose deaths wouldnt have been such a shock if wed been notified of the uptick throughout last year, and changes could have come quicker. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Sacramento needs to move a lot faster, too. State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, has tried to secure state permission for San Francisco to pilot a safe consumption site. In 2018, then-Gov. Jerry Brown wrongheadedly vetoed the legislation. Then, last year, Wiener held his proposal for a year to consider adding other cities to the legislation. Apparently, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf wanted Oakland to be included, but why adding and Oakland to the legislation would require a year is unclear. Wiener said that with a new governor and new members of the Legislature, he wanted to make sure an expanded pilot program would win approval. This bill has always been on the head of a pin, he said. We just need to make sure were going to have the votes to pass it. On Thursday, Haney will send Gov. Gavin Newsom a letter asking him to issue an executive order giving cities coping with the drug crisis authorization to open safe consumption sites. This is not a time for us to move slowly or delay action, Haneys letter reads. A safe consumption site is already operating in an American city without permission, and Kral has been studying it for five years. He wouldnt say whether its in San Francisco. The surrounding neighborhood doesnt know its there, and hes not sure whether the mayor of the city its in is aware of it, either. Like those in foreign countries, the mysterious American site has seen nobody die inside from an overdose. Krals currently studying the impacts on the sidewalk and wider neighborhood around the site, but has seen at the foreign sites that they tend to result in less open-air drug use and reduced dirty needles and drug paraphernalia around them. He said the sites dont tend to draw more drug dealers. Clearly, San Francisco needs to do a better job prosecuting and convicting drug dealers, too. They just had a hand in killing 290 people, after all. But City Hall has no control over the district attorneys office or Superior Court and City Hall does have control over opening safe consumption sites. When London Breed called two or three years ago to do something like this, we had a lot of overdose deaths, Kral said of finally opening a site. It is more urgent now, no doubt. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Instagram: @heatherknightsf Surveys show that consumers are worried that smart speakers are eavesdropping on their conversations and day-to-day lives. Now University of British Columbia researchers have found that people are also concerned about something else: friends, family and others who may have access to these devices. The team spoke to 26 Canadian adults who used shared smart speakers at home, including Amazon Echo, Google Home and Apple HomePod. They found that participants not only worried about keeping their data safe from the manufacturer or other entities; they also feared potential misuse of the device from people they actually live with and know. "They worried that their housemates could order stuff online, overhear private conversations or access other people's reminders, calendars and phone contacts," explained senior author of the study Konstantin Beznosov, a professor of electrical and computer engineering who specializes in cybersecurity at UBC. "Of course, they were aware these actions could well be unintentional -- such as a child accidentally using the last-number-dialled feature to call up their parent's employer, for example." Interestingly, the nature of the concern depended on the participant's "mental model" or technical understanding of how smart speakers work, notes study primary author Yue Huang, a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering. "Participants who were very familiar with shared smart speakers were more worried about how technology shortcomings could affect the security of their devices," said Huang. "An example is a smart speaker that occasionally fails to distinguish the main user's voice from another, which means it could grant people access to information they shouldn't have." However, users with more basic knowledge of how smart speakers work were more focused on their housemates' potential actions, and this sometimes meant seeing a threat where there was none. "One participant who worried his family member could redial a number was unaware the feature was not even available on the device," said Huang, noting that the study is the first to explore these mental models about shared smart speakers and link these models to attitudes. These results suggest more work is needed to improve consumers' understanding of shared smart speakers and to make the technology more reliable, adds Beznosov. "One in four U.S. adults and one in five Canadians say they own a smart speaker. People like being able to stream music, obtain weather forecasts, control other smart devices, and get the news with simple voice commands. But since smart speakers are commonly shared among housemates, technology developers should take into account these consumer concerns. And manufacturers should provide more technical support to help users manage their risks." The study will be presented in April at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Honolulu. Senator Ron Johnson (R., Wisc.) on Tuesday called on former White House national security adviser John Bolton to speak publicly regarding information that may be pertinent to the impeachment trial of President Trump. Now that what has unfolded with the manuscript [of Boltons book] being leaked by the way, exquisite timing, maybe suspicious timing the Wall Street Journal has called for John to just come forward, Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill. I think that would actually be a smart thing. Id encourage John to do that. Johnson said it would be better for Bolton to speak directly to the media without involving the trial about his knowledge relating to impeachment. The New York Times reported Monday that Bolton had written, in the manuscript draft of his upcoming book, that President Trump told him that military aid to Ukraine was contingent on the countrys commitment to investigate corruption allegations against Joe and Hunter Biden. The leak, which Bolton denied coordinating, has led some Republican senators to reconsider the possibility of calling witnesses to testify at the trial, presumably with Bolton among them. However, Johnson did not comment on Tuesday as to whether he would vote in favor of summoning witnesses or additional documents as evidence in the trial. Johnson was a minor player in the lead-up to the impeachment proceedings. In October the Senator told the Wall Street Journal he was contacted in August by then-U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. Johnson said Sondland had described a quid-pro-quo between Trump and Ukraine, conditioning military aid on investigations into the Bidens. Alarmed by the suggestion, Johnson asked President Trump in a subsequent meeting whether the quid-pro-quo was in fact part of Trumps Ukraine policy. [Trump] said, Expletive deletedNo way. I would never do that. Who told you that?' Johnson recalled in the interview. More from National Review The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China increased to 106 on January 28. Nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed, authorities said. The health commission in Chinas central Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic, said 24 more people had died from the virus and 1,291 more people were infected. This has taken the total number of confirmed cases to over 4,000 across China. Hospitals across the province received 31,934 fever patients on January 27, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Barring Tibet, all Chinese provinces have reported the virus cases, posing a major challenge for the health authorities to contain it. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show China's top cities of Beijing and Shanghai reported their first deaths on late on January 27 first from the novel coronavirus. On January 27, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Wuhan city becoming the first top leader to the visit the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak to boost the morale of millions of beleaguered people and medical staff. Chinese governments attempts China has also extended the New Year Festival holidays till February 2 to prevent reverse migration of millions of migrants to return to their work from holidays. Universities, primary and middle schools and kindergartens across the country will postpone the opening of the spring semester until further notice. The government is focussing efforts to prevent mass gatherings and mass travel to ensure the virus is not spread fast. Whats happening elsewhere? Many cases have also been confirmed outside China: Thailand (7), Japan (3), South Korea (3), the United States (3), Vietnam (2), Singapore (4), Malaysia (3), Nepal (1), France (3), Australia (4) and Sri Lanka (1). The World Health Organisation (WHO) on January 27 admitted an error in its assessment of the global risk of the virus in China, saying it was "high" and not "moderate". The Geneva-based organisation in its latest situation report said the risk was "very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level." The organisation attached to United Nations admitted that it had stated "incorrectly" in its previous reports that the global risk was "moderate". (This is a developing story. To be updated when more details are available) (With inputs from PTI) A Faith and Recovery event, Unlocking Potential for Recovery Mission, will be held at Hixson United Methodist Church on March 12. The community is invited to attend and bring questions. Panelists will lead a conversation on how to address addiction in the faith community. The panelists will be Chaplain Jim Lewis, Hixson United Methodist Church; Chris Jackson, Celebrate Recovery; Catrina Cabe, Cry For the Broken; Marty Walker, Oxford House Tennessee; Sarah Keel, Faith-Based Initiatives, TN Dept. of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services; Dave Hodges, Project Lifeline and Theresa Biggs, Exodus Ministries. Here is the agenda: 6-6:15 p.m. Coffee/Desserts/ Find seating/ Registration 6:15-6:30 p.m. Testimony (Sarah Keel) and discuss Faith Based Initiatives 6:30-7 p.m. Table sharing/ write down questions 7-7:45 p.m. Panel Q & A 7:45 p.m. dismiss/network Registration is available here. Learn more about Tennessee Recovery Congregations here. Italian artist Umberto Romano painted the mural above in 1937 in the original Springfield, Massachusetts post office, now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Office Building. Titled "Mr. Pynchon and the Settling of Springfield," it's actually the first in a series of murals telling the story of Springfield's history from 1636 to 1936. More details at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum site. But if Romano painted this in 1937, how come the Native American in the bottom middle appears to be staring at a smartphone? From Brian Anderson's riff on the matter in Vice: My introduction to the man came recently by way of New York City-based writer and historian Daniel Crown, who published an illuminating essay on William Pynchon in The Public Domain Review in 2015. Crown's piece makes one passing mention (in an image caption written by a PDR editor) to the object the man holds, noting how it bears a striking likeness to a smartphone. Romano, who died in 1982 at the age of 77, appears to have made no remarks specifically about the man; whatever clarity the artist could've offered he likely took with him to the grave. Crown's nod to the sitting man, near as I can tell, is the first and only such reference to date. I figured I'd start by reaching out to him. "To put it in the kindliest possible terms, Romano's so-called 'abstract' aesthetic was willfully ambiguous," Crown told me over email. But it could very well be, he added, that the man quite literally sees himself in the handheld object, looking back at him. "When Romano painted the mural, Americans were obsessed with the 'noble savage' trope," Crown told me. "Given the scene's focus on the founding of Springfield, Romano, in reductive fashion, was probably trying to capture the introduction of modernity into a curious but technologically stunted community, which was instantly bewitched by Pynchon's treasure trove of shiny objects." The shiny object in question? He thinks it's a mirror. Beverly Hills, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/28/2020 -- Serving the residents of California, Counsel One P. C is a law company with years of experience in helping their clients to achieve maximum compensation in cases concerning their employment. The company has a proven track record of success. Having over 15 years of experience, the law firm has won millions in remuneration for their clients, achieving recognition for their superior representation in the process. Their California employment law attorneys handle most cases on a contingency basis. That means that clients don't pay until they recover compensations for the clients. "Generally, consumers report telemarketing fraud to federal agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission or the Federal Trade Commission," commented the company spokesperson. "In California, the state's general theft statute does not explicitly speak to the method of telemarketing but is still applicable to it. And it criminalizes fraud where individual acts knowingly and by design, uses false or fraudulent representation, where the action results in the defrauding of any person and involves money, labor, or real or personal property. Senate Bill 208 has been submitted that requires telecommunications companies to crack down on robocalls that are designed to appear as a local caller. Besides, it gives telecom companies until July 1, 2022, to take the steps necessary to stop such illegal scams. It is important to note that in the state of California, robocalls are strictly regulated and are only to be used under limited circumstances. For example, robocalls may be used by a school to inform parents of a student's attendance or a police department issuing a public safety alert. Besides, robocalls are restricted between the hours of 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Individuals who have been a victim of telemarketing fraud and want to file a lawsuit for unwanted robocalls contact a law firm of renowned professionals to represent their interests. "Our California employment law attorneys handle most cases on a contingency basis. That means clients don't pay us a cent until we recover compensation for them. We have won millions of dollars in compensation for our clients, achieving recognition for our superior representation in the process," commented the company spokesperson. "At CounselOne P.C, we believe that our clients deserve nothing less than the most aggressive, solution-oriented representation. Our experience and expertise in California employment law and consumer class actions ensure that their case will always be in good hands." The company lawyers have vast experience in their practice areas, which include wage and hour matters, wrongful termination, consumer protections, false advertising, and discrimination. They are widely experienced class-action litigators, having tackled many cases successfully in various industries. They include automobile, gambling, environmental, and retail. About CounselOne P.C. CounselOne P.C. is a law firm of professionals who specialize in consumer protection and employment law. Their focus is on employment and consumer class actions and is committed to securing what is rightfully due to their clients. For legal advice with regards to an unpaid lunch break laws, contact the Counsel One P. C. today. Contact Information CounselOne P.C. 9301 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 650, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Phone: 310-277-9945 Fax: 424-277-3727 Website: https://www.counselonegroup.com/ Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 04:51:23|Editor: yan Video Player Close DUBLIN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A national campaign was launched in Ireland on Monday to address the HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)-related stigma in the country. Organized by Health Service Executive (HSE), a state agency responsible for public health in Ireland, the campaign is aimed at removing the negative attitudes towards people living with HIV, said Maeve O'Brien, an official with the HSE. During the campaign, posters with the tagline "Effective treatment means you can't pass HIV onto partners" will appear in public transport, social venues, and college locations as well as on digital platforms across the country, said the HSE in a press release, adding that the campaign also references the global U=U campaign, which stands for undetectable equals untransmittable, meaning reducing the level of virus in the body to an undetectable level so that HIV cannot be transmitted to sexual partners. Developed by the HSE in consultation with local community groups and sexual health non-governmental organizations, the campaign is funded by the Irish Department of Health as part of the HIV Fast Track Cities Initiative. "There is still a lack of understanding around HIV and what it means to live with HIV today and it's important to address this. This public awareness campaign will improve people's understanding of HIV and highlight the importance of early testing and treatment for HIV," said O'Brien at the launch ceremony of the campaign. According to the HSE, a record number of 531 people were diagnosed with HIV in Ireland in 2018 with historical data showing a rising tendency in the number of new HIV cases found each year in the country since 2011. [January 28, 2020] UNINTERRUPTED Canada debuts HIDDEN OPPONENT in partnership with Bell Media to support mental wellness in advance of Bell Let's Talk Day Signature series features Canadian Olympic stars Andre De Grasse, Alysha Newman, and Lanni Marchant TORONTO, Jan. 28, 2020 /CNW/ - Athlete empowerment brand UNINTERRUPTED Canada today announced the launch of HIDDEN OPPONENT in partnership with Bell Media. The on-going short-form video series will be released today in support of mental health awareness in advance of Bell Let's Talk Day tomorrow, Wednesday, January 29. The series profiles three-time Olympic sprint medallist, Andre De Grasse, national pole-vaulting record holder, Alysha Newman and Olympic distance runner, Lanni Marchant, each chronicling their personal journey with mental wellness, self-doubt and the healing power of sharing. "UNINTERRUPTED Canada is honoured to partner with Bell Let's Talk and our country's finest athletes to shed light on one of the most pressing, but marginalized issues of our times," said Vinay Virmani, Partner and Chief Content Officer of UNINTERRUPTED Canada. "Our approach for the HIDDEN OPPONENT series was to keep the focus solely on the athlete and their powerful personal journey of how they broke their silence and the stigma surrounding mental health and took action towards recovery. We hope that this honest, raw and unfiltered one-on-one experience helps Canadians realize that they're not fighting this attle alone." The content will debut throughout this evening and during Bell Let's Talk Day across Bell Media programs and social media platforms. "The experiences of the past three years tested me both physically and mentally," said De Grasse. "I'm fortunate to have inherited an ability to open up to the people closest to me, but everyone processes things in their own way. I hope that by sharing my journey I can remind people that they're not alone and the simple act of talking can brighten up even the darkest days." UNINTERRUPTED Canada invites everyone to join in the mental health conversation on Bell Let's Talk Day. For every re-tweet of HIDDEN OPPONENT videos that includes the hashtag #BellLetsTalk featuring the special Bell Let's Talk emoji, Bell will donate 5 cents to Canadian mental health programs. Learn more at Bell.ca/LetsTalk. About UNINTERRUPTED Canada: UNINTERRUPTED Canada is the first international expansion of the athlete empowerment brand, UNINTERRUPTED, founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter. The company is built upon the radical idea that all athletes should have a platform to express themselves without intermediaries. From this premise, a mission was born: to empower athletes from all walks of life to communicate in an unimpeded way and to be More Than an Athlete. UNINTERRUPTED is upending the world of sports media by working with athletes to tell unique, human stories from their point of view. Through content, products, events, partnerships and educational opportunities, UNINTERRUPTED is changing the way athletes engage with the public and empowering them to be known and valued for more than the sport they play. https://www.instagram.com/uninterrupted/ https://twitter.com/uninterrupted https://www.facebook.com/Uninterrupted/ https://www.youtube.com/uninterrupted SOURCE UNINTERRUPTED Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 05:07:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close BERLIN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Following a three-week suspension over security concerns, the German armed forces Bundeswehr commenced its training mission in Iraq, German media reported on Monday. The operation of training Kurdish security personnel has been continued since Sunday morning German time, the Bundeswehr announced on Twitter. According to the German army, around 100 soldiers were deployed in Erbil, the most populated city in Iraqi Kurdistan, as part of the international coalition against the terrorist organization the Islamic State (IS). "If we let up on this fight now, we must expect that IS will again be able to strike more heavily in Europe," German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine on Monday. Following the killing of Iranian senior general Qassem Soleimani by a U.S. drone, the parliament in Baghdad had initially voted for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the country. However, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that head of the Iraqi government Adel Abdul Mahdi had signaled a continuation of the Bundeswehr mission. "We will always respect the sovereignty of Iraq," Maas told members of the Bundestag but stressed that the German government was advocating the support because "anything else will contribute to instability in Iraq." Germany's armed forces said that Kurdish security forces, with German support, could operate more independently in the future and "pass on what they have learned" after the training courses. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday that the city of San Francisco's public works director and a restaurant owner have been charged with a scheme to bribe a San Francisco International Airport commissioner for help in obtaining an airport restaurant lease. Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, 58, of San Francisco, and Lefty O'Doul's restaurant owner Nick Bovis, 57, of San Mateo, were each charged with one count of honest services wire fraud. U.S. Attorney David Anderson said at a news conference in San Francisco that the two men were arrested on Monday and were each released on a $2 million bond by a federal magistrate in the city on Tuesday. Anderson said a criminal complaint filed Jan. 16 alleges that either Nuru or Nuru and Bovis together engaged in four additional schemes. But he said the defendants have not been charged with those schemes and that the allegations were included in the complaint to show an alleged pattern of corrupt intent. The fraud charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison if the men are convicted. The airport commissioner is not named in the complaint and the defendants did not win the airport concession lease, Anderson said. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed the creation of a Palestinian state with a capital in eastern Jerusalem, in an effort to achieve a peace breakthrough with Israel that will be a tough sell for Palestinians. Under Trumps proposed Middle East peace plan announced at a White House ceremony attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the United States will recognize Israeli settlements on the occupied West Bank. In exchange, Israel would agree to accept a four-year freeze on new settlement activity while Palestinian statehood were being negotiated. Today, ... Authorities in the US, the UK, and France have been investigating alleged fraud and bribery at Airbus for several years. Photo: AP Photo/Francois Mori Airbus (AIR.PA) on Tuesday confirmed that it had agreed to settle bribery and corruption investigations with authorities in the US, the UK, and France. The European aircraft maker said that the agreements remain subject to approval in the various jurisdictions, and that it could not make any comments on the details of the discussions. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, however, that the settlements could cost Airbus in the range of $3bn (2.3bn), citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. Analysts, meanwhile, suggested that the company could pay upwards of $4bn in the probes. Airbus declined to comment on the figures on Tuesday. The agreements comes after years-long probes in the three countries. The UKs Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launched an investigation in 2016 after Airbus revealed it had discovered inconsistencies in disclosures made about external consultants. The company allegedly failed to notify authorities about the use of the consultants in aircraft deals it was asking the UK government to cover with financing guarantees. Because major Airbus components are manufactured or assembled in the UK, France, and Germany, the company has access to wide-ranging finance support from all three governments. French and US authorities launched probes in 2017 and 2018, respectively. It is likely that Airbus has reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the SFO, something that would see the manufacturer admit wrongdoing and pay a large fine while avoiding a lengthy and costly criminal trial. The fines in the UK are likely to overtake the record 497m paid by Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.L) after a years-long probe into claims the jet-engine maker paid bribes to secure export contracts. Airbus has been clearing its senior executive ranks in recent years. Though they were not implicated in the scandal, the manufacturer hoped that an overhaul in management would give it a better chance of securing agreements with the authorities in relation to the probes. Tom Enders stepped down as CEO in April 2019, while Airbus commercial aircraft president Fabrice Bregier stepped down in 2018. Neither have been accused of wrongdoing. UTICA, N.Y. The Irish Cultural Center in Utica had its liquor license reinstated Tuesday after it was temporarily revoked over the weekend. The center lost its license due to an issue with the format of the space, but has now resolved the problem. The Liquor Authority has the centers license listed as active after it was marked inactive on Saturday. It is not clear if the license is permanently reinstated, as the expiration date of is listed as Feb. 11. The center is also waiting for a $1 million grant from the state, that Sen. Joseph Griffo says is on hold for now. According to Griffo, the center hasnt lost the funding, it will just be held until the parties involved can address the problems with the building configuration in relation to serving alcohol. Giffo says efforts are being made to resolve those issues. Technavio has been monitoring the global outdoor advertising market and it is poised to grow by USD 8.26 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200127005779/en/ Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global outdoor advertising market 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire) Growing penetration of LED mobile billboards has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, growing popularity of digital ads on mobiles might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report Outdoor Advertising Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Outdoor Advertising Market is segmented as below: Type Billboards Shelters Transit Displays Street Furniture Geographic segmentation Americas APAC EMEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30315 Outdoor Advertising Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our outdoor advertising market report covers the following areas: Outdoor Advertising Market size Outdoor Advertising Market trends Outdoor Advertising Market industry analysis This study identifies use of analytics to increase the effectiveness of ads as one of the prime reasons driving the outdoor advertising market growth during the next few years. Outdoor Advertising Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the outdoor advertising market, including some of the vendors such as Clear Channel Outdoor, JCDecaux, Lamar Advertising, OUTFRONT Media and Stroer. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the outdoor advertising market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Outdoor Advertising Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist outdoor advertising market growth during the next five years Estimation of the outdoor advertising market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the outdoor advertising market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of outdoor advertising market vendors About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200127005779/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: https://www.technavio.com/ A rookie white Nashville police officer was charged with fatally shooting an armed black man who was running away, after being reprimanded by supervisors months earlier for not shooting another armed suspect in a similar case. Officer Andrew Delke, 26, will soon stand trial for first-degree murder in the shooting of Daniel Hambrick, 25, in July 2018. He will be the first Nashville police officer to face a murder charge for killing someone in the line of duty. Nine months before Delke shot and killed Hambrick, supervisors gave the rookie officer an 'informal counseling session' and told him he should have drawn his gun in a similar case involving an armed black man running away. A white police officer Andrew Delke, 26, shot armed black man Daniel Hambrick, 25, in the back, torso and the back of his head as he ran away from police officers on July 26, 2018 Nashville Police officer Andrew Delke sits at his preliminary hearing on Jan. 4, 2019, in Nashville. He is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of Daniel Hambrick Delke had been on the force for about a year when he used a stun gun to arrest an armed suspect, Terry Crowell, who ran from him in November 2017, WPLN News reports. His supervisor Sgt. Matthew Boguskie later held an 'informal counseling session' with Delke, stating that his should have used his firearm. Delke told the sergeant that he didn't pull his service weapon because of what he called 'the hostile climate towards police use of force throughout the country'. Just nine months later he would pull his gun to shoot and kill Hambrick as he ran away. Officer Delke pleads not guilty to the first-degree murder of Daniel Hambrick nine months after supervisors reprimanded him for not pulling his gun on a suspect in a similar case Video footage shows Delke shooting Hambrick in the back as he runs from police officers On November 4, 2017, Officer Delke was patrolling the north side of Nashville when a call came in from the owner of Caribbean Splash Reggae Cafe on Clarksville Pike. The owner said a former employee was standing outside the cafe with a gun and called on cops to come immediately. 'The guy that worked in my place, he's on my property now with a big .45 gun in his pocket,' the man said. 'I need somebody to get this guy immediately. 'Please, I hope someone catches him, please.' The former employee was said to be wearing a black hoodie and black pants and had an Afro and a beard. Several officers, including Delke, were dispatched to the scene. Delke spotted a man who fit the description with his hands in his pockets. The rookie officer asked the man to show his hands twice but the man ran away and Delke radioed in: '11 running. Male black. Black hoodie. Beard.' Catching up with the suspect, Delke used his taser instead of his gun and arrested Terry Crowell, who it emerged had three outstanding warrants. A few days after the arrest, Delke was called in by his supervisor Sgt. Matthew Boguskie for what the department called an 'informal counseling session', telling the officer that he would have been 'justified' to have pulled his gun on the suspect as per his training. Delke responded that he didn't for a reason, namely 'the hostile climate towards police use of force throughout the country'. He also told Boguskie that at the time he was thinking of Officer Josh Lippert, the former Nashville officer who shot Jocques Clemmons, a black man, after a traffic stop. Defense attorney David Raybin demonstrates during a preliminary hearing for Nashville Police officer Andrew Delke at the Justice A.A. Birch Building Friday, Jan. 4, 2019, in Nashville. Family members of Daniel Hambrick, the 25-year-old black man fatally shot by white Nashville police officer Andrew Delke, sued the city and the officer for $30 million in March 2019 When the district attorney decided not to prosecute Lippert in this case, demonstrations and protests lasted for months calling on the department to fire anyway. 'I discussed with Officer Delke that we cannot allow outside factors to detract us from our training and what we know we should do in dangerous situations, particularly situations that could quickly rise to a deadly force situation,' Sgt. Boguskie said in the report. In a memo sent later that month, North Precinct Cmdr. Terrence Graves agreed with the sergeant, and suggested more training across the force, but Metro police said that was never implemented. Delke has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of Daniel Hambrick, 25, who was shot from behind while running from officers in July 2018. An arrest affidavit said Nashville officer Andrew Delke, 25, pulled into an apartment parking lot on July 26, 2018 after seeing a car he mistook for one he had been following in North Nashville. Delke had been following a 'suspicious' white Chevrolet Impala and had run plates and found it was not a stolen vehicle. But he followed it regardless 'to see if he could develop a reason to stop the Impala'. Daniel Hambrick, also 25, was in the area at the time when Delke mistook his car for the Impala and pulled up in the parking lot. Hambrick began to run when he saw the cops and can be seen gunned down from behind on a surveillance video. Delke shot Hambrick in the back, torso and the back of his head. Vickie Hambrick, mother of Daniel Hambrick, cries during the second day of a preliminary hearing for Andrew Delke, the officer who shot and killed him, in January 2019 Retired Metro Nashville Police Officer Robert Allen testifies during the second day of a preliminary hearing for white police officer Andrew Delke in January 2019 The case sparked an outcry that led to a November referendum approving the creation of a citizen oversight board for Nashville's police force. Delke had been charged with criminal homicide, which includes murder, voluntary manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide but in January 2019 Judge Melissa Blackburn ruled that the evidence presented in a preliminary hearing showed that Hambrick's behavior 'certainly didn't justify (Delke's) use of lethal force', the Tennessean reported. The grand jurors selected first-degree murder, showing they believe a premeditated illegal killing was committed by the police officer. A trial has been set to begin March 16. It's the first time a Nashville officer will face a murder charge for killing someone in the line of duty, WPLN News reported. Hambrick's family is suing Delke and the city of Nashville for $30 million. - Kenya Airways will place its KQ flight code on Alitalias services from Rome to Tirana and to other destinations in Far East - Alitalia is widening its codeshare network in Africa, by placing its AZ flight code on Kenya Airways service to Malindi - Customers can now fly seamlessly to their desired destination with a single unique ticket - KQ already has a codeshare agreement with Delta Airways for Amsterdam, Paris, London, and Accra to Nairobi destinations Kenya Airways (KQ) has signed with Alitalia (partner airline in the SkyTeam alliance), an enhanced codeshare agreement creating additional connectivity to the networks of the two airlines. This new partnership is bound to boost business travel and tourism between African points into Europe, the Far East and South America, giving tourists and businessmen additional travel options and better flight schedules when travelling to Central and Southern Africa to the other continents through the two airlines hubs in Rome and Nairobi. READ ALSO: Kajiado: Nurse, driver suspended after expectant woman jumps to her death from moving ambulance Alitalia will widen its network in Africa, by placing its AZ flight code on Kenya Airways service to Malindi. Photo: Alitalia. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Actor Will Smith's son Jaden Smith confirms he's gay, gushes over boyfriend The new codeshare flights are available for sale through the airlines reservation systems and in travel agencies. Alitalia is widening its codeshare network in Africa, by placing its AZ flight code on Kenya Airways service to Malindi. READ ALSO: Magazeti ya Jumanne, Januari 28: Tangatanga wanataka vijana wasio na kazi walipwe Kenya Airways will place its KQ flight code on Alitalias services from Rome to Tirana. Photo: Kenya Airways. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Remembering Kobe Bryant: 7 heartwarming photos showing the legend's happy times Kenya Airways launched flights to Malindi in June 2019 specifically to connect with the Italian market. Similarly, Kenya Airways will expand its offer by placing its KQ flight code on Alitalias services from Rome to Tirana Albania, Podgorica Montenegro, Santiago Chile, Buenos Aires Argentina, Sao Paulo Brazil, Rio de Janerio, Seoul South Korea. The expansion of this partnership after such a short period reflects the opportunities that have been unlocked since the inception of the Nairobi to Rome flight and serves as a testament to our continued commitment to create access for travellers to Africa, said Kenya Airways Chief Commercial Officer, Ursula Silling. KQ already has a codeshare agreement with Delta Airways. Photo: UGC. Source: Facebook Customers can fly seamlessly to their desired destination with a single unique ticket, checking in at the airport of departure, and collecting their checked through baggage at the end of their trip in the arrival airport. Besides the new codeshare services and more convenient flight connections, Kenya Airways and Alitalia customers will have the opportunity to earn and redeem miles on the entire network operated by both airlines. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. Behind the scenes in babu Owino's Day in court | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. By Choi Sung-jin American ambassadors to South Korea have often played a role far bigger than just head of the country's diplomatic mission here. Vancouver, British Columbia and Denver, Colorado--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - Cannabis One Holdings Inc. (CSE: CBIS) ("Cannabis One", "CBIS" or the "Company"), an emerging, premier "House of Brands" in North America, is pleased to report that it has completed construction and build out of the second branded flower cultivation facility, also known as "Fox Street". Fox Street is a state of the art, 13,000 sq ft craft quality cultivation facility that has the capacity to produce 4,800 lbs of flower per year, an increase in cultivation capacity of 200%. This will allow the Company to achieve average monthly flower production of 600 lbs, leading to an annual top line Colorado cultivation revenue of USD$11,700,000 and a gross profit of USD$7,560,000 at the current Colorado per pound average of USD$1,500. First harvest is expected in March with monthly harvests planned thereafter. This facility was built to cater to the demand of the three specific strains that Cheech Marin selected for the Cheech's Stash line. The Company further expects to drive margin growth through the expansion of its Cheech pre-roll and other craft cannabis lines that are currently sold in over 175 dispensaries across Colorado. The Company is also pleased to announce that due to exceptional demand of the above-mentioned Cheech's Stash-branded flower and pre-rolls in the state of Colorado, it has begun plans to expand the Kingston cultivation facility from 8,500 sq ft to over 16,500 sq ft. This expansion will more than double the production at Kingston, exceeding 400 pounds of flower per month or 4,800 pounds annually. The expansion of Kingston will be funded through cash flow from operations. Cannabis One expects to exit 2020 with over 9,600 pounds per year of branded flower production from its Colorado operations with an exit 2020 cultivation run rate of USD$14,400,000 and a gross profit of USD$10,080,000. Jeffery Mascio, CEO, and Joshua Mann, President of Cannabis One jointly commented, "With demand for our branded flower at an all-time high coupled with flower prices in Colorado that have steadily been climbing over the last 12 months, our entire team is extremely pleased to see the Fox Street facility come on line. With further expansion of our branded cultivation in Colorado, we expect to show strong cash flow generation as the year continues, allowing us to further expand our offerings within the state. Over the coming weeks and months, we are looking forward to showcasing further cash flow drivers that are fully funded and require no further dilution. About Cannabis One Cannabis One Holdings Inc. (CSE: CBIS) is focused on aggregating and optimizing popular cannabis brands throughout North America. With its unique retail brand, The JointTM, and through targeted acquisition and partnership opportunities, Cannabis One intends to become the premier, globally-recognized "House of Brands", holding a client portfolio of award-winning products with an extensive market footprint. Through the Company's The JointTM retail concept, Cannabis One intends to leverage the consumer and brand data harvested from its retail locations to bring data-driven analytics to an emerging, branded industry. For consumers, Cannabis One desires to become the definitive source for unparalleled product selection and renowned service in an otherwise fragmented market. Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Information Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "potential", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the parties' current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. These statements are only predictions. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the parties are not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. To the extent any forward-looking information in this press release constitutes "future-oriented financial information" or "financial outlooks" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, such information is being provided to demonstrate the anticipated product sales of the Company and the reader is cautioned that this information may not be appropriate for any other purpose and the reader should not place undue reliance on such future-oriented financial information and financial outlooks. Future-oriented financial information and financial outlooks, as with forward-looking information generally, are, without limitation, based on the assumptions and subject to the risks set out above under the heading "Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Information". Cannabis is legal in certain States in the United States ("U.S."), however cannabis remains illegal under U.S. federal laws. Cannabis One intends to conduct its U.S. cannabis operations in a manner consistent with the applicable State laws and in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements applicable in the applicable State. However, the readers should be aware that any change in federal guidance on enforcement actions could adversely affect Cannabis One's ability to access private and public capital required in order to support continuing operations and its ability to operate in the U.S. Unlike in Canada which has Federal legislation uniformly governing the cultivation, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis under the Cannabis Act (Federal), readers are cautioned that in the U.S., cannabis is largely regulated at the State level. To the knowledge of Cannabis One, there are to date a total of 33 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have legalized cannabis in some form. Notwithstanding the permissive regulatory environment of medical cannabis at the State level, cannabis continues to be categorized as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act in the U.S. and as such, cannabis-related practices or activities, including without limitation, the manufacture, importation, possession, use or distribution of cannabis are illegal under U.S. Federal law. Strict compliance with State laws with respect to cannabis will neither absolve Cannabis One of liability under the U.S. Federal law, nor will it provide a defense to any Federal proceeding, which may be brought against Cannabis One. Any such proceedings brought against Cannabis One may materially adversely affect its operations and financial performance in the U.S. market. This press release is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States. The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an available exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") and applicable U.S. state securities laws. The Company will not make any public offering of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Further Information: For investment inquiries, please contact Scott Koyich, Investor Relations at Scott@briscocapital.com or (403) 619-2200. Related Links www.cannabisone.life THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF UNITED STATES SECURITIES LAW. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51878 Tamkeen Labour Fund has announced its strategic partnership with Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH) to support MEET ICT and BITEX 2020, the leading ICT event in Bahrain. Held under the patronage of Kamal Ahmed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, the event will take place on 24-26 March 2020 at the Gulf Convention Centre. The tenth edition of the gala event is jointly organised by BTECH and WorkSmart for events management under the theme Leading the Way to a Digital Economy. Dr Ebrahim Janahi, CEO of Tamkeen, stressed the importance of Tamkeens support towards such initiatives and projects since theyre aimed at accelerating Bahrains economic and knowledge growth as it is aligned with the Kingdoms vision towards building a digital economy. Supporting initiatives and events like MEET ICT and BITEX aims to increase the contribution of technology companies in the private sector, enhance their competitiveness, develop their business which will in turn contribute to our society, as well as encourage them to further improve the rendering of their services and innovations, Dr Janahi added. For his part, the chairman of BTECH Ubaidly Ubaidly said that MEET ICT and BITEX is being held for the tenth consecutive year to shed light on the importance of the ICT sector to accelerate and boost the transition towards digital economy, allowing us to take advantage of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, block chain, the Internet of things, robots, etc. Chairman of BTECH stated, It has been our passion contributing to the ICT industry in Bahrain as it enables us to understand the current situation of our economy and how Digital Transformation has an impact on it. We know that the partnership and Tamkeens generous support will help us accomplish a positive change locally and regionally. Mr Ubaidly assured that BTECH constantly strives towards contributing in enhancing the ICT field in Bahrain while looking into various ways to accelerate the Kingdoms transformation towards digital transformation. As such, BTECH calls on all ICT companies and organisations to take this opportunity of aligning their objectives through this event. MEET ICT Conference will host numerous activities catered towards growing business and ICT professionals, including seminars, workshops, a virtual reality and game centre, demo space, and a special robot and media corner. During the conference, specialised workshops and discussion sessions will be organised, in addition to meetings and networking sessions for emerging companies and technical and educational institutions. Meanwhile the exhibition will include pavilions for participating countries, and a display area for entrepreneurs and student projects in the ICT field, as well as a video space and innovative games. Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, is due to meet with Ukraines president in Kiev this Thursday as part of a five-country tour that includes neighbouring Belarus. The trip is significant on account of it being the first official contact a senior Trump official has made with Ukraine since the impeachment inquiry began in September. But it takes on additional piquancy on the back of scandal In Washington. On Friday, Mr Pompeo was reported to have shouted at an NPR journalist after she questioned him on Ukraine. He is then alleged to have snapped: Do you think Americans care about Ukraine? An expletive is said to have been used somewhere in that sentence. A day later, the secretary of state accused the journalist of lying, but did not actually dispute the substance of what she reported. For Ukraine, the views of a man considered to be Mr Trumps closest lieutenant are not entirely unexpected. But they come as a body blow to the Ukrainian leadership, which has spent much of the last four months contorting itself to accommodate the Trump administration in the impeachment scandal. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, is one of several of the countrys officials to have denied that Mr Trump offered an explicit quid pro quo an investigation into rival Joe Biden in exchange for military aid even though evidence suggests the contrary. In a now infamous telephone call on 25 July, Mr Trump asked Mr Zelensky to do us a favour, before mentioning the desirability of investigating a bogus conspiracy theory involving Mr Biden and Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company that employed Mr Bidens son from 2014. Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Show all 26 1 /26 Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Donald Trump Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Whistleblower Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Second Whistleblower The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rudy Giuliani Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Volodymyr Zelensky The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pence The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rick Perry Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Joe Biden The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Hunter Biden Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Barr The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pompeo The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Nancy Pelosi The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Adam Schiff Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Taylor The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal George Kent A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Marie Yovanovitch One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things. Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Alexander Vindman A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Jennifer Williams A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Kurt Volker The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Tim Morrison An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Gordon Sondland In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: Was there a quid pro quo? Yes, said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the presidents political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a great American a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Laura Cooper A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August undermining a Republican argument that there cant have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didnt know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Hale The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Fiona Hill Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was being involved in a domestic political errand. She said: I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up. And here we are. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Holmes The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line because his voice was so loud and distinctive and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear asking about the investigations and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS As The Independent has previously reported, Mr Zelenskys officials knew about vital military aid being stopped before the news went public in August. For his part, Mr Trump has denied that a freeze on $391m of military assistance was tied to the premise of an investigation into his rival. This weekend, that already tenuous argument was made even less respectable with the publication of extracts of a new book by former security adviser John Bolton. The adviser, who fell out with Mr Trump and resigned in the summer, said the president made such a link clear and explicit. He also suggested that Mr Pompeo recalled Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch while knowing that there was no basis to the criticism against her. Ms Yovanovitch was ousted following pressure from Rudy Giuliani, the presidents personal lawyer, who increasingly seems to be Mr Trumps main point man on Ukraine. Ahead of Mr Pompeos trip, speculation has centred on what message the secretary of state may deliver from Mr Trump when he meets with Mr Zelensky, ministers and other civic society leaders. According to state department briefings, Mr Pompeo is expected to reaffirm US commitment to Ukraine. Beyond that, all the traditional themes will be on the table: progress in war-and-peace negotiations with Russia; the domestic reform agenda; energy and military cooperation. It remains to be seen whether the scandals over impeachment will be touched in any significant way. It is difficult to imagine Pompeo bringing up the issue given the current atmosphere, said Volodymyr Fesenko, an independent political analyst in Kiev. Perhaps he will pass a message from Trump in a tete-a-tete scenario with Zelensky, but it would be too risky while other staff are around. Kiev certainly wont be bringing up the NPR scandal. Since being caught up in the US political storm, Ukraine has maintained a position of increasingly strained neutrality. There is certainly little affection inside the Ukrainian elite for an American president who has sided with Moscow on many key foreign policy issues. But there is also growing acceptance that Mr Trump will weather the impeachment inquiry, and is well placed to win a second term. The leadership understands they will likely have to deal with this administration for another four years, said David Marples, a professor at the University of Alberta, Canada. All they can do is smile, and hope that the US continues to give them weapons. The mantra is: dont argue with Trump, agreed Mr Fesenko. Recommended How a wild conspiracy theory led to Trump impeachment proceedings The more pragmatic among Ukraines leaders suspect the impeachment scandal could eventually play out in Kievs favour so long as they avoid making concrete commitments. There is a sense that because of the growing scandal, Ukraine is protected against the most outrageous of Trumps wheezes, said Nataliya Gumenyuk, commentator and founder of Hromadske.tv, a prominent news outlet in Kiev. Trump cant openly go against Ukraine. He cant freeze aid. So while Thursday is likely to bring little in the way of progress, it also wont be awful. One thing that may also finally be put on the table is a visit to the White House. Evidence released during the impeachment inquiry suggested that carrot was repeatedly dangled in front of the new Zelensky administration as part of a quid pro quo. For a long time, Kievs new leadership was very keen on the idea. A visit to Washington would have been a key endorsement for the war-torn country, especially in light of tired alliances in Europe. Now, with Kiev keen to limit exposure to the impeachment scandal and an American election campaign, the calculus has changed. A visit would arguably serve only Trumps interest. But if a White House visit was offered, Mr Zelensky would surely find it very difficult to refuse. One party enjoying the increasingly entangled and complex state of US-Ukrainian relations is Russia. All they can do is smile, and hope that the US continues to give them weapons David Marples, University of Alberta Since becoming public on Friday, Pompeos comments have been cycled on state propaganda networks. Alexei Pushkov, an influential senator and former head of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, took particular delight in noting how quickly the United States was ready to dispense of an ally. Pompeo asked if Americans f*****g cared about Ukraine, and basically admitted that Ukraine means nothing for US national interests, he wrote. It is the invented priority of a ruling elite. Others suggested that Moscow was more focused on Mr Pompeos intentions for the next stop of his itinerary. After leaving Kiev on Friday, the secretary of state is scheduled to make a short stopover in Belarus. The trip is the highest level visit since Bill Clinton visited as president in 1994, and it comes amid growing tensions between the Russian and Belarusian leaderships. For the time being, Vladimir Putins attempts to bring Minsk into an ever closer union with Moscow appear to have reached a dead end. The Belarusian president is meanwhile desperately looking for new leverage in his countrys negotiations with Russia, especially for discounted energy products. Recommended Fears of another Chernobyl at new Russian nuclear plant That, perhaps, is where the United States comes in and much to the chagrin of Moscow. We frankly dont f*****g care about Pompeos visit to Kiev, said Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat. But we really do f*****g care about Minsk. HARTFORD - Firefighters battled a massive fire near Brainard airport Tuesday morning. The fire broke out in Central Auto & Transport business at 195 Maxim Road around 5 a.m. Flames could be seen shooting out of the building from I-91. Thick smoke from the fire forced the closure of Hartford-Brainard Airport. The airport is expected to reopen at 10 a.m. No injuries were reported. Firefighters were still at the scene at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Fiction inspired from real events, a good dose of comedy, romance, action and a positive message for society are some of the traits of Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi's new book, "Balwa". The Hindi book, published by Diamond Books, is first of Naqvi's three-novel series to be out this year. The other two -- "Raj Leela" and "Cyber Supari" -- revolve around social and political exploitation of tribals, and fake news, respectively. "Writing is my passion. Be it late in the night or early morning -- after reading the newspaper -- I make it a point to write at least one hour for sure. I write for over three hours if it is a holiday. Also, noise or crowded place never distracts me, I can write anywhere," Naqvi told PTI. The veteran BJP leader said that he always carries a small diary with him, and whenever an idea be it about the plot or character of the story strikes he instantly jots it down. Talking about the plot of his new book, Naqvi said "Balwa" is a story set in the 90s which centres around two religious leaders Maulana Mushtaq and Sankata Prasad who for their own vested interests try to create communal conflicts. "Though it is set in the 90s, the story is very relatable in present times too. It brings to light the story of two religious leaders, who act as enemies in public life, but behind the scenes are together in creating communal strife among the common people. Beside, it also talks about the positive role played by administration, media and police to expose their sham," he explained. Naqvi, who wrote his last book "Vaisali" in 2008, said it took him almost "two years" to finish "Balwa" and "Raj Leela". "Cyber Supari", he added, would take another month to finish. An all time fan of physical books, the 62-year-old said he never feels at home reading online and would always pick the good old solid hard-bound over reading on a screen. "Reading on a screen can never match the experience of reading a physical book. It is like you deciding to watch a movie on phone over watching it in a multiplex theatre. Which one will you pick," he asked. Asked if he would like to see any of his book adapted into a movie, the minister replied that each of his new three books are apt enough to make for a hit Bollywood movie. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) The celebration of the 150th anniversary of Golden Gate Park kicks off Tuesday in San Francisco with the planting of 150 trees, according to parks officials. The kickoff begins at 11 a.m. with Mayor London Breed and others on John F. Kennedy Drive at Eighth Avenue. People who attend will get a peak at what's to come in the yearlong celebration that includes attractions and events. The trees will be planted by 150 volunteers and 150 improvements to the park will be announced. A free community celebration will be held April 4, 150 years to the day after the state Legislature created the American treasure. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. DUBAI, UAE, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Samantha Bartel, Managing Partner & CEO Instinctif Partners MENA, has been appointed to the Regional Board of leading industry body Public Relations and Communications Association MENA (PRCA MENA). The regional board is composed of senior agency and in-house leaders who are encouraged to help set the strategic direction of PRCA MENA as the organisation continues its expansion plans. Samantha joined Instinctif Partners in 2013, founding the MENA regional team. The team has since grown to 20 people, servicing a breadth of clients across the entire region. She has 20 years of financial and corporate communications experience in a range of markets in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Prior to joining Instinctif, Samantha was a senior member of M:Communications Gulf team and Managing Director of Buchanan Middle East, where she advised numerous local, regional and international clients on their corporate, financial and crisis communications strategies. In addition to her new role on the PRCA Regional Board, Samantha also holds Board Memberships at MEIRA (Middle East Investor Relations Association), Saudi Chapter and Global Women in PR MENA. Samantha Bartel, Managing Partner & CEO Instinctif Partners MENA said: "I am delighted to join the PRCA MENA regional board. This is an excellent opportunity to help shape the thinking of the future communications industry, encourage collaboration and further support future PR leaders from across the MENA region." She added: "We are committed to best practice PR and to raising the standards in the work we do with our clients. I am particularly looking forward to driving positive change in our industry by working with the Board." Melissa Cannon MPRCA, General Manager, PRCA MENA, said, "It's my pleasure to welcome Samantha as PRCA MENA's latest Board Member. Her experience across a variety of regional boards and wealth of industry-knowledge will offer strategic guidance and insight to support our growth throughout the MENA Region." The PRCA is currently the world's largest PR professional body, with the membership of over 30,000 consultants from across the world, including leading European companies and UK public sector organizations, as well as hundreds of public relations, communications and media professionals. It launched its MENA branch in 2016 and operates in 66 countries around the world, with main offices in the UK, Singapore, and Dubai. About Instinctif Partners Instinctif Partners is a leading international business communications consultancy with expertise across diverse practice areas: capital markets, corporate, public policy, content & creative and insight & research. It is a specialist in reputation and influence, with experience across numerous sectors. It works with clients across multiple and complex audiences combining deep insights, expert storytelling and creative delivery to change behaviours, emotions and perceptions. Instinctif Partners currently employs over 330 people in 12 offices across Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. The company is one of the fastest growing consultancies in its industry, and over the past two years has won or been shortlisted for over 30 awards, recognising both client work and the growth of the business as a whole. Accolades include International Agency of the Year 2018 & 2017 at the PR Week Global Awards, Outstanding Large Consultancy of the Year 2018 at the CIPR Excellence Awards, Corporate Consultancy of the Year 2017 at the EMEA SABRE Awards, and City Agency of the Year at the PRCA City and Financial Awards 2016 & 2017. Instinctif Partners also won Gold at the PR Week Best Places to Work 2018 for Large Agency and was named by the London Stock Exchange as one of 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain. www.instinctif.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082448/Samantha_Bartel.jpg Egypt signed on Tuesday two deals with major US oil company ExxonMobil to explore for oil and gas in the Mediterranean region with a minimum investment of $332 million, the petroleum ministry said on Tuesday. The first agreement is for exploring the North East Amiriya offshore block, with a minimum investment of $220 million for the drilling of four wells, the ministry said in a statement sent to Ahram Online. The second deal will involve the drilling of three wells in the North Maracea block, with a minimum investment of $112 million. The ministry said the agreements with Exxon Mobil bring the total number of deals with investors to 82 since 2014, with a total minimum investment of around $16 billion for the drilling of 340 wells. Egypt's Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla, who witnessed the signing, said the return of the US company to the exploration business in Egypt after a long hiatus work marks a major success for the petroleum sector. ExxonMobil has for decades been a major distributer of fuel and car oils in Egypt. The 2015 discovery by Italy's Eni of the massive Mediterranean gas field Zohr, which holds an estimated reserve of 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, has significantly boosted Egypt's energy sector and its production of natural gas. Egypt announced in 2018 that it had achieved self-sufficiency in natural gas after the increase in production at recently discovered gas fields. Search Keywords: Short link: Franklin Graham is scheduled to preach the gospel in eight cities across the United Kingdom later this year, but one of those stops is now in jeopardy after the venue canceled the booking over his biblical views on LGBTQ issues. ACC Liverpool, an arena and conference center, dropped Graham and said in a statement, Over the past few days we have been made aware of a number of statements which we consider to be incompatible with our values. He was scheduled to preach in Liverpool on June 12. In light of this we can no longer reconcile the balance between freedom of speech and the divisive impact this event is having in our city, the statement said. We have informed the organisers of the event that the booking will no longer be fulfilled. Graham, though, said in a Monday statement that everyone is welcome. The Gospel is inclusive, Graham wrote. I'm not coming out of hate, I'm coming out of love. A Change.org petition that labeled Graham a homophobic hate preacher had gathered more than 350 signatures as of Tuesday morning. We fear that with such a high-profile event gaining traction, Grahams appearance may incite hateful mobilisation and risk the security of our LGBTQ+ community, the petition said. Liverpools mayor, too, wanted the event canceled. The Liverpool City Region Pride Foundation wrote to city leaders and said of Grahams beliefs, [T]hese types of dangerous views are not welcome in, or representative of, our great city. The website for the Franklin Graham tour said the evangelist will share the hope of Jesus Christ in eight cities. Churches throughout the country are involved. The Planetshakers and Michael W. Smith are scheduled to sing. Graham is the son of the late Billy Graham and the president and CEO of Samaritans Purse, a humanitarian relief organization that is known for distributing shoeboxes full of toys and other gifts to impoverished children around the world. Graham, on Monday, posted an open letter to the LGBTQ community in the UK. It is said by some that I am coming to the UK to bring hateful speech to your community. This is just not true, Graham wrote. I am coming to share the Gospel, which is the Good News that God loves the people of the UK, and that Jesus Christ came to this earth to save us from our sins. The rub, I think, comes in whether God defines homosexuality as sin. The answer is yes. But God goes even further than that, to say that we are all sinners myself included. The Bible says that every human being is guilty of sin and in need of forgiveness and cleansing. The penalty of sin is spiritual death separation from God for eternity. Thats why Jesus Christ came, Graham added. He became sin for us. He didnt come to condemn the world, He came to save the world by giving His life on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sins. And if were willing to accept Him by faith and turn away from our sins, He will forgive us and give us new life eternal life in Him. Everyone, including the LGBTQ community, is welcome to attend his events in the UK, Graham said. Admission is free. My message to all people is that they can be forgiven and they can have a right relationship with God. Thats Good News, Graham wrote. That is the hope people on every continent around the world are searching for. In the UK as well as in the United States, we have religious freedom and freedom of speech. Im not coming to the UK to speak against anybody, Im coming to speak for everybody. The Gospel is inclusive. I'm not coming out of hate, I'm coming out of love. I invite everyone in the LGBTQ community to come and hear for yourselves the Gospel messages that I will be bringing from Gods Word, the Bible, he concluded. You are absolutely welcome. As of Tuesday, Liverpool remained on the tour schedule, with TBA listed as the location. Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com. Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Pool Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Married father-of-three Ihenagwa was described as the lynchpin of an operation exploiting a trend among young people to dabble in prescription-only medication A pharmacy worker who sold prescription medication worth more than 2million to drug dealers was yesterday jailed for six years. David Ihenagwa, 40, used his position as a medicines purchaser at his mothers respected high street pharmacy to buy more than 1.65 million highly-addictive Class B and Class C pills. His buyers collected the painkillers and sleeping pills by the van-load and paid in cash. Married father-of-three Ihenagwa was described as the lynchpin of an operation exploiting a trend among young people to dabble in prescription-only medication. His conviction is the first following a crackdown by the governments Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency [MHRA]. In 2018 the Daily Mail told how pharmacists and wholesalers were working with criminal gangs to sell dangerous drugs to youngsters. Last year, this newspaper revealed that 50 pharmacies across Britain were under investigation and 86 people, including 14 pharmacists, had been arrested. Croydon Crown Court heard yesterday how Ihenagwa purchased pills to sell to a mystery third party who picked them from Norlington Chemist in east London. Over eight months to April 2016, Ihenagwa, of Edmonton, north London, bought 356,000 Class B codeine phosphate tablets and at least 1.3 million Class C tablets including tramadol, diazepam, sleeping drug zopiclone and lorazepam. All of the drugs are highly addictive, yet are sold on the streets or online for as little as 1 per pill. Users suffer horrific withdrawal symptoms, including insomnia, tremors, vomiting and suicidal thoughts. An undated file photo of Croydon Crown Court. The court heard yesterday how Ihenagwa purchased pills to sell to a mystery third party who picked them from Norlington Chemist in east London Ihenagwas criminality was exposed when an MHRA raid on an address in Stoke-on-Trent discovered 13,000 pills in a box with his pharmacys details. Ihenagwa claimed that he had been approached by an unnamed third party, who said they needed to buy medication for troops in Africa and Iran. He said he believed the buyers were bona fide, but there is no paper trail and Ihenagwa has declined to identify them. A 2013 photograph shows a packet of highly addictive Codeine Phosphate, which Ihenagwa bought by the truck-load during a one-year period Ihenagwa claimed he only sold drugs worth 70,000 and made a 20 per cent profit. But the MHRA valued the street value of the drugs at 2.2million. Defending Ihenagwa, John Benson QC said: This was a very unsophisticated way of going about what was unquestionably illegal activity. Ihenagwa admitted one count of supplying a Class B drug and four of supplying Class C controlled drugs. Sentencing him to six years in prison Judge Daniel Flahive said: You were the lynchpin, the conduit, without whom the drugs would not have ended up in the hands of those who were not authorised to have them. The MHRA said: Those who sell medicines illegally are exploiting vulnerable people and have no regard for their health. [January 27, 2020] Copper Announces General Availability of G Suite Add-ons to Make Business Relationship Owners More Productive SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Copper , the leading provider of CRM for G Suite, today announced the availability of all of its features via G Suite Add-ons. The added features give Copper users contextual information for their business relationships from inside emails, calendar events and more automating some of the most data entry intensive aspects of sales, business development and customer management. Copper operates natively within G Suite so that users never have to leave Gmail or interrupt their everyday workflow, thereby eliminating the tedious, time-consuming data entry that causes entrepreneurs, small business owners, sales and marketing teams to abandon CRM deployments. With today's announcement, Copper users have access to the following Add-on features: Gmail Homepage Copper displays a quick summary of all follow-up tasks for the day see them, mark them complete and add new tasks as they come up. Users can also access their recently viewed records on the homepage and navigate to them easily. Copper displays a quick summary of all follow-up tasks for the day see them, mark them complete and add new tasks as they come up. Users can also access their recently viewed records on the homepage and navigate to them easily. Gmail Contextual Email When users receive emails, they are able to tell which recipients are already in their CRM, giving them access to their details, add notes and log activity. Users can quickly add any email recipients who aren't in Copper. When users receive emails, they are able to tell which recipients are already in their CRM, giving them access to their details, add notes and log activity. Users can quickly add any email recipients who aren't in Copper. Calendar Homepage Similar to Gmail, users are now able to see a list of to-dos and add, edit or mark them complete. And like Gmail, users can revisit the records they most recently viewed. Similar to Gmail, users are now able to see a list of to-dos and add, edit or mark them complete. And like Gmail, users can revisit the records they most recently viewed. Calendar Contextual Event By clicking on any calendar event, users can see which guests are already in their CRM, look at their details, add notes and log activity. If event guests aren't already in Copper, users can add them with one click. Drive Homepage Get a quick summary of recently viewed documents and see follow up tasks for the day. Users have the ability to view, complete or add new tasks. "At Copper, we've been a CRM partner with Google since 2014, and we are thrilled to deepen our partnership by offering greater functionality in the incredibly popular G Suite Add-ons," said Wyndham Hudson, VP product at Copper. "We've entered an age of productivity where people want applications to work together natively and for data entry to be automated, and that is the vision for where we are taking Copper with G Suite. Copper G Suite Add-ons make it even simpler for teams to collaborate with external partners and customers, and build strong relationships rather than worry about administrative tasks." This news comes shortly after Copper unveiled its 2020 Partner Ambassador Program , which is focused on bridging the gap between CRM and productivity for the small business ecosystem using G Suite. The company also recently welcomed Olga Lykova as its Global Vice President of Partnerships and Hudson as its Vice President of Product. About Copper Copper is the CRM that works for you. Recommended by Google, it's the leading CRM for G Suite. Copper CRM puts the productivity of its users first by providing a seamless integration with G Suite, a beautiful user experience, and by helping teams and businesses build long-lasting relationships. Copper services more than 12,000 paid businesses in more than 100 countries. Headquartered in San Francisco with over 200 employees, the company has raised $87M in venture capital financing from leading investors like GV, NextWorld Capital, Norwest Ventures and True Ventures. For more information or to sign up for a free trial, visit www.copper.com. Media Contact [email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/copper-announces-general-availability-of-g-suite-add-ons-to-make-business-relationship-owners-more-productive-300993925.html SOURCE Copper [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The man convicted of a murder and three rapes in Winnipeg four decades ago died last week while in the custody of a psychiatric facility in Saskatoon. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The man convicted of a murder and three rapes in Winnipeg four decades ago died last week while in the custody of a psychiatric facility in Saskatoon. Edwin Dennis Proctor died Jan. 24, at the age of 68. Since Feb. 9, 1979, hes been serving an "indeterminate sentence" for first-degree murder, attempted murder, rape and buggery. Proctor was arrested in 1979, after abducting and raping Tracey Walsh and her friend both 15 and leaving them to die in a ditch outside the city. Both young women survived. He also raped and killed Catherine Cluney, 21, a few weeks prior. Her body was found naked and bound with clothesline in a flax field near a dirt road on the outskirts of Winnipeg. "My wife was tied up, raped and murdered," Cluneys widower, Douglas Cluney, said at the time. "I feel like breaking something but I cant do it. Ive cried so much I dont know whether I have any tears left. I feel nothing. A void." After years of court proceedings following Proctors arrest, he was convicted in 1995 of first-degree murder, attempted murder, rape and buggery in connection to the cases. Proctors death in custody of the Regional Psychiatric Centre was announced by the Correctional Service of Canada, which notifies the public whenever an inmate dies. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. He died "of apparent natural causes following an illness," CSC said in a news release. Proctor's next of kin have also been notified. While the names of sexual assault victims are not usually published, Walsh who did not immediately respond to a request for comment got the court to remove the publication ban on her name in 2006. In the past, Walsh explained it was important for her to speak out on the case, so Proctor "would never get free again, so that I would be his last victim." Walsh read victim-impact statements at a number of court proceedings over the years. ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe The cheapskate Pittsburgh Pirates, whose owners seemingly opted to give up on the 2020 season before spring training, spent the winter shopping their most expensive player and adding nothing significant other than hire a new GM and manager. For months, the hot rumor had star outfielder Starling Marte being dealt to the New York Mets. When the Mets reportedly gave up on Monday morning, the Pirates promptly swung a deal on Monday afternoon that sent Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks for two touted prospects who arent close to being major league ready. Pittsburgh also is paying $1.5 million of Martes $11.5-million salary in 2020 and receiving $250,000 in international pool money. By passing on Marte, the Mets missed an opportunity to uplift their fanbase almost two weeks after firing new manager Carlos Beltran because he was a ringleader of the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal in 2017 during his final season as a player. Meanwhile, Arizona continued to strengthen its club after earlier this offseason tapping into the free-agent market to sign star left-hander Madison Bumgarner, right fielder Kole Calhoun, relievers Hector Rondon and Junior Guerra, and backup catcher Stephen Vogt. The Diamondbacks are hoping the moves get them back to the playoffs for the first time in three years after their 85-77 record in 2019 left them four games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the second National League Wild-Card spot. Arizonas addition was applauded by MLB Network insiders. I like (Marte), John Hart said on MLB Now. Id take him. I think he can play center field. I like his offense. I dont think hes a superstar like a lot of people thought he might be, but hes a good winning player who will help this club and allow them to move (2019 All-Star) Ketel Marte back to the infield (after a year mostly as a center fielder). Startling Marte, 31, is a career .287 season over eight big-league seasons, all with Pittsburgh. He was suspended for 80 games in 2018 for testing positive to a performance-enhancing drug, but rebounded with 20-homer, 20-steal seasons in each of the last two years. In 2019, the Dominican established new career highs with 23 homers, 82 RBI and an .845 OPS while batting .295 with 31 doubles and 25 steals in 31 attempts. I just like Arizonas offseason, Jayson Stark added on MLB Now. It feels like theyve been dropping pieces into a puzzle. I dont know that theyre the favorite to beat the Dodgers (in the NL West), but theyre still a very competitive club. "Why can they not be a playoff team? They were very close to being a wild-card team last year. Its not a perfect team, but Im favor of any team that thinks, Its time to win. Its trying to win. Its refreshing. The Pirates return is a pair of 19-year-olds, right-hander Brennan Malone and shortstop Liover Peguero. According to MLB Pipeline, Malone was the Diamondbacks ninth-best prospect while Peguero was ranked 18th. Pirates did well, tweeted MLB insider Jon Heyman, who first reported the trade. Brennan Malone is a high-ceiling pitcher with big fastball. Dbacks trading from strength. Peguero also has nice potential, but Dbacks have a big shortstop prospect in Geraldo Perdomo (who is ranked No. 7). This Pirates deal practically guarantees most everyone will pick them to finish last in the NL Central for the second year in a row. They were 69-93 last year. The Bucs projected $50 million payroll for this year is only ahead of the Miami Marlins after dealing Marte, who is will make $11.5 million this year (through a club option that was exercised). He has two years of team control due to a second club option in 2021 for $12.5 million. Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook. In a reel-to-real story, a Bangladeshi man, on a two-day visa to India, ran from pillar to post in West Bengal's Nadia district to trace the family of a mute Indian man he had rescued 14 years ago from a then unfenced portion along the international border. However, unlike the Bollywood flick 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', where protagonist Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi -- portrayed by Salman Khan -- slipped into Pakistan and returned a mute girl to her mother, the Bangladeshi man had entered India legally last week for his search but had to go back dejected after his visa expired, sources said. Md Ariful Islam, a resident of Chhaigharia village in Chuadanga district of Bangladesh, was seen showing the photograph of a 28-year-old man to people on the streets, in the shops and tea stalls in Nadia's Hanskhali and Gede areas. On the day of his return, January 24, a few people told Islam that a 14-year-old boy had gone missing from a village in Gede 14 years ago but when he went there, the family did not recognise the man in the photo and concluded it was not their missing son, the sources said. However, before returning, Islam had left behind his phone number and address with a few people in India, they said. "I was working on my agricultural field one day, 14 years ago, when I saw a boy standing alone and crying on the Indian side of the border. "I rushed to him as the border was not fenced then. I felt pity for him upon finding that he was mute. So, without thinking of anything else, I took him home. Later I came to know he is a Hindu. Nevertheless, he is like my other sons," Islam had said before returning to Bangladesh. Islam said that he could not come earlier as he failed to arrange the money needed to travel to India. "Though he is an inseparable part of my family now and it would be very painful for us to let him go, I felt as he is a young man now, it is my duty to return him to his parents," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Quantum Genomics (Euronext Growth - FR0011648971 - ALQGC, OTCQX - QNNTF), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in developing a new drug class that directly targets the brain to treat difficult-to-treat and resistant hypertension and heart failure, today announced the appointment of Benoit Gueugnon as Vice-President Finance. He will succeed Marc Karako who is leaving the Company. Benoit graduated from the Normandy Business School and holds a Masters II Degree in Audit & Corporate Finance. Benoit brings strong financial experience to Quantum Genomics senior management team, having previously served as Senior Financial Auditor at KPMG Paris. He joined Quantum Genomics in 2018 as Group Financial Controller and worked closely with Marc Karako. Jean-Philippe Milon, Chief Executive Officer of Quantum Genomics said: I thank Benoit, who since beginning with Quantum Genomics in 2018, has demonstrated enthusiasm and his efficiency, particularly in driving the execution of Quantum Genomic's recently signed partnership with Biolab. I am very pleased to promote him to this strategic position. His energy and skillset are strong assets for our Company. Benoit Gueugnon commented: "I express my gratitude to Jean-Philippe, the Quantum Genomics management team and its board of directors for this opportunity. I look forward to continue supporting Quantum Genomics in this new capacity, and at this exciting time for the Company in which it is launching a Phase III clinical trial in difficult-to-treat and resistant hypertension, and looks to sign new partnerships in 2020". About Quantum Genomics Quantum Genomics is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of a new class of cardiovascular medications based on brain aminopeptidase A inhibition (BAPAI). Quantum Genomics is the only company in the world exploring this innovative approach that directly targets the brain. The company relies on 20 years of academic research from the Paris-Descartes University and the laboratory directed by Dr. Catherine Llorens-Cortes at the College de France (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM)/ the Scientific Centre for National Research (CNRS)). The goal of Quantum Genomics is to develop innovative treatments for complicated, or even resistant, cases of hypertension (around 30% of patients have poor control of their condition or receive ineffective treatment) and for heart failure (one in two patients diagnosed with severe heart failure dies within five years). Based in Paris and New York, Quantum Genomics is listed on the Euronext Growth exchange in Paris (FR0011648971- ALQGC) and trades on the OTCQX Best Market in the United States (symbol: QNNTF)For more information, please visit www.quantum-genomics.com, or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn Contact information Quantum Genomics Jean-Philippe Milon CEO +33 (0)1 85 34 77 70 | jean-philippe.milon@quantum-genomics.com Benoit Gueugnon CFO benoit.gueugnon@quantum-genomics.com So Bang (Europe) Nathalie Boumendil Financial Communications +33 (0)6 85 82 41 95 | nathalie@so-bang.fr Samuel Beaupain Media Relations and Scientific Communications +33 (0)6 88 48 48 02 | samuel@so-bang.fr LifeSci (USA) Dan Ferry Financial Communications +1 (617) 535-7746 | Daniel@lifesciadvisors.com Mike Tattory Media Relations and Scientific Communications +55 11 3573 6316 | mtattory@lifescipublicrelations.com ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: lG6dkZSbZW6XmnGakp1qbWFkaZhkmWPIl5PGxWOZap+Ua2pjlZeSm5jJZm9inWxu - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-61878-qgc-pr-bg-nomination-28012020-en.pdf Mainly Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province & Ringing Trips to Bahrain The Irish Cancer Society is asking its supporters across Ireland to bring up the issue of cancer on the doorsteps during the election campaign to improve the experiences of patients and save lives. Breeda OConnor from Galway will be asking candidates who call to her house about supports for those who have gone through a cancer diagnosis: Youre discharged from hospital and youre left to your own devices with very little guidance on how to move forward, said Breeda, who is a survivor of breast cancer. The Society is contacting 100,000 of its supporters nationwide about its #CancerMatters campaign and is urging the people of Waterford to make cancer an election issue. Averil Power, Chief Executive of the Irish Cancer Society said: Unfortunately, there isnt a family in Ireland that hasnt been affected by cancer. In Waterford, 570 people are diagnosed with cancer every year. Over 200,000 Irish people will get cancer over the five-year term of the next Dail. It is critical that our newly elected TDs make cancer a priority and ensure every family affected by the disease has the support they need. The Irish Cancer Society has asked candidates to commit to three actions that could make a big difference to people in Offaly. Firstly, the Irish Cancer Society wants the quality of life for cancer patients and survivors to improve. To help achieve this it is asking for a reduction in government charges like the 80 in-patient charge for chemotherapy and radiotherapy patients. A lower Drug Payment Scheme threshold, reduced hospital parking charges and greater availability of medical cards for cancer patients would also help ease the financial burden of cancer. Secondly, it is asking that the National Cancer Strategy and Slaintecare are fully funded so that cancer services are improved, creating a fairer health system for all. Lastly, it says that more needs to be done to protect children from the tobacco and alcohol industries which still use clever marketing to make their products attractive to young people. Any General Election candidate who wants to sign up to the Irish Cancer Societys campaign can do so at www.cancer.ie/GE2020 BIG SKY by Kate Atkinson (Black Swan 8.99, 512 pp) BIG SKY by Kate Atkinson (Black Swan 8.99, 512 pp) For many years, Jackson Brodie has dreamed of returning to his Yorkshire roots, and in the fifth of Kate Atkinsons novels about the policeman turned private detective, his wish has been granted. Hes renting a cottage near Whitby, not far from his former partner, Julia, an actress, her 13-year-old son, Nathan (whose father, Julia has belatedly admitted, is Jackson) and their elderly labrador, Dido. Jacksons work is mostly low-grade debt tracing and surveillance, plus a lot of following cheating husbands on behalf of their suspicious wives. But almost by chance he finds himself involved in a couple of much darker cases a historic child sex abuse ring known as the Magic Circle, and a trio of local villains involved in sex trafficking. Darkly funny and packed with vivid characters, Big Sky is a sharply observed account of the grotesque underside of what passes for ordinary life. EVERYBODY DIED SO I GOT A DOG by Emily Dean (Hodder 9.99, 304 pp) EVERYBODY DIED SO I GOT A DOG by Emily Dean (Hodder 9.99, 304 pp) When you wake up one day with nothing, in a sense you have everything, writes Emily Dean. It may sound like a line from a self-help book, but for Emily, it was a devastating truth. In the space of three years, she lost her beloved sister, Rachael, to cancer, her mother to motor neurone disease, and her father to a stroke. At her mothers funeral, the priest remarked, I did tell Emily that we must stop meeting like this. A journalist, podcaster and co-host on the Frank Skinner radio show, Emily is resilient, funny and engaging, but it is hardly surprising that this immense loss had hurled up things that felt overwhelming. Her honest, compassionate and sparkling memoir describes the experience of love, loss and rediscovering joy with a shih-tzu named Raymond. FRANKISSSTEIN FRANKISSSTEIN by Jeanette Winterson (Vintage 8.99, 352 pp) by Jeanette Winterson (Vintage 8.99, 352 pp) On a rainy holiday in Switzerland in 1816, Mary Shelley had a dream about a scientist who creates a monster. The dream inspired her novel, Frankenstein, and the idea of creating an artificial life has fascinated and appalled humans ever since. Here, Jeanette Winterson takes up Shelleys theme, and gives it an exuberantly futuristic workout. Her protagonist is Ry (short for Mary) Shelley, a transgender doctor and self-described hybrid, who attends a conference on robotics to interview Ron Lord, a sexbot manufacturer and a comically unreconstructed sexist. Wintersons playful and hugely ambitious novel explores questions of gender, love, the meaning of consciousness and the marvellous or monstrous creatures that might emerge in a future in which humans are no longer the cleverest in the universe. LATHAM There are few things Republicans and Democrats in Albany can agree on these days but as budget hearings begin in Albany this week, state lawmakers across the aisle are calling to reform the budget process. Unlike most states, New Yorks budget negotiations are notorious for including policies that may have little or nothing to do with the states finances. For decades, governors have utilized the executive budget as a tool to push forward policies and legislation that may not otherwise pass the Legislature the most recent example being last years wide-reaching bail and pre-trial discovery reforms. The budget negotiations are a largely secretive process involving the governor, Assembly speaker and Senate majority leader the latter two with the backing of their respective conferences. While the governor proposes an executive budget each January detailing his fiscal priorities, it also includes a plethora of legislative and policy proposals that become fodder in the final budget agreement state lawmakers are expected to deliver by April 1 each year. On Monday, state Republican lawmakers now with minority status in both chambers and lacking a seat at the budget negotiating table cried foul. And some Democrats have concurred. The budget is the legal authority for our state to spend money, period, Sen. Daphne Jordan, R-Halfmoon, said at the Conservative Partys conference in Latham. It's not a vehicle for the executive to circumvent the policy process by holding funds hostage in tying appropriations to unpopular and often controversial measures. Jordan introduced two bills Monday to alter the process; the first would be a constitutional amendment requiring two-thirds of the state Legislature to back tax increases, and the second would mandate that budget bills only focus on fiscal matters. She also introduced a constitutional amendment last year to similarly restrict the governors power in the budget process. All of those bills are currently in committee. The resurrected fight to amend New Yorks budget process reached its peak in 2004, when the Court of Appeals ruled on two cases commonly referred to jointly as Silver v. Pataki and decided that the governor has sweeping authority in the budget process and can include policies unrelated to finances. The following year, New Yorkers overwhelmingly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to give state legislators a leg up in the budget process, generally restoring legislative funding if lawmakers did not reach an agreement by the April 1 deadline. Critics said the process would have given lawmakers a motive to disregard the governors proposals altogether. In the years since the decision, governors have utilized the budget as a legislative instrument, with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo appearing to ramp up the number of proposals included each year. In the executive budget Cuomo rolled out last week, he included plans to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, ban single-use Styrofoam products and close a legal loophole related to voluntary intoxication and sexual assault cases, among other policy initiatives. "Anyone accusing us of bypassing the Legislature with a budget the Legislature votes on must have flunked middle school social studies, Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi said in an email. We're proud of the nine balanced, timely and fiscally responsible budgets that also included reforms and protections that improved the lives of New Yorkers. The last time someone tried to change this process, they were dealt an embarrassing rejection by New Yorkers." But still, Albany legislators are looking for some sort of middle ground perhaps mandated public hearings where everyone gets a chance to voice their opinion, or a requirement that the governor only put forth financial matters in the budget. The timing is likely attributed to Republicans increasing discomfort with their lack of influence in Albany seven GOP state senators have announced that they will not seek re-election this year, several of them citing the changing political dynamic in a newly liberal chamber. Just because we've done it in the past doesn't mean it's the right thing to do going forward, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay said. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Spokespeople for Senate Minority Leader John J. Flanagan, who was not at Mondays press conference, did not respond to a request for comment asking whether he would support changes to the budget process and, if so, why Senate Republicans had participated in it without calls for reform while they held control of the chamber. When asked whether Flanagan supported her proposals on Monday, Jordan replied: Yes, I would assume so. But across the aisle, another group of progressive state lawmakers is increasing calls for budget reforms. In an interview earlier this month, State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, D-Bronx, said the process is very peculiar, noting that no other state allows policy actions in budgets. "I'm glad that the Republicans feel that way, because I dont feel that this is an issue that is just one party," she said. State Sen. James Skoufis, D-Orange County, said concerns over the budget process have been a longstanding concern that, quite frankly, predates the current governor. Silver v. Pataki, he said, completely unleveled the playing field and gave a disproportionate amount of power to (the) executive. I do support leveling that playing field again and making sure that the Legislature has coequal power. Other Democrats have also hinted at the possibility of reform, with several bills slightly adjusting the process up for consideration in committees. But overall support for adjusting the process in the caucus is unclear spokespeople for both Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie did not respond to requests for comment Monday. Amanda Fries contributed reporting. Facebook will now tell users what it has learnt about them from the rest of the internet. A new tool, known as "Off-Facebook Activity", collects the information that has been gathered from other websites and apps and linked with their accounts. Facebook uses such data collected as users browse around other sites and services to target its advertising, which has led to criticism from privacy experts. The tool was initially launched as part of tests in Ireland, South Korea and Spain last August, but is now being pushed out to the rest of the world. Using the tool, people can see and remove information about themselves that has been sent to Facebook by other apps and sites and is used to serve adverts. Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty When first announced, the tech giant said the feature allows users to disconnect future off-Facebook activity from their account, either in its entirety or just for specific apps and websites. Facebook also said at the time that it expected the tool "could have some impact on our business", but believed that giving people control over their data was more important. Much of the advertising on the internet is served to users based on previous online viewing habits, with businesses paying for sites such as Facebook to use this activity information to place adverts in front of users it believes are relevant to them. The launch of Off-Facebook Activity controls universally coincides with Global Data Privacy Day. Steve Hatch, vice president of northern Europe at Facebook, said: "There are a number of ways you can control your information on Facebook and we're always looking at more ways for you to do this. "That's why from today, our Off-Facebook Activity tool will make it easy to manage which apps and websites can access your information. "We're also marking Global Data Privacy Day by reminding millions of UK users to check their privacy settings with our simple Privacy Checkup so you're in control of what you share, and who with." Additional reporting by Press Association India's potato production increased 51 per cent to 52.5 million tonnes (MT) in over a decade, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Tuesday. Its production had stood at 34.7 MT in 2008, the minister added. Tomar pegged the potato output to grow about 3 per cent annually till 2050. Addressing a Global Potato Conclave here, the minister said the production of potato rose 34 times in seven decades while the area under cultivation grew by 9.3 times. India is the second-largest producer of potato after China in the world. Together, both the countries contribute 38 per cent to the world's total potato production. Tomar expressed concerned over crop losses, saying the damage to the crop currently stands at 16 per cent that needs to be reduced. Moreover, experts and researchers will have to find a way out to develop high-quality and disease-resistant variety of potato seed which would consume less water and meet the challenges of global warming, Tomar said. He lauded the contributions made by the Shimla-based Central Potato Research Institute for the growth of potato production in the country, saying that it contributed to its development since inception in 1949. The area under cultivation grew from 2.2 lakh hectares in 1949, to 21.8 lakh hectares at present. Also, its production went up from 1.54 MT in 1949 to 52.5 MT currently, he said. To meet the growing demand, experts said potato production needs to increase 89 per cent to 711.5 MT by 2050. Gujarat has emerged as the second-largest producer of potato in India, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said. Besides, Gujarat is also the largest exporter of potato contributing to about 25 per cent of the total export at one lakh tonnes annually compared to the country's 4 lakh tonnes, he added. The state also saw a sharp growth in potato production, growing six times from 6.12 lakh tonnes to 37 lakh tonnes in one-and-a-half decade, he said. Area under potato cultivation also grew from 38,700 hectares to 1.18 lakh hectares in the same period, Rupani said. Experts said Gujarat has also emerged as one of the leading players in the processed potato sector. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Police have launched a massive manhunt to nab controversial JNU student Sharjeel Imam, booked on sedition charges for his alleged inflammatory speeches during anti-CAA protests. A top Delhi Police officer told IANS on Monday that the police feared that Sharjeel Imam has fled to Nepal. "If he has sneaked into Nepal, then it will be very difficult to bring him to India," the police said. Delhi Police teams conducted multiple raids in Mumbai, Delhi and Patna in search of Imam but so far he has been elusive. " Sharjeel Imam was last seen in Bihar's Phulwarisharif between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on January 25. He has disappeared since then," the officer also claimed. According to a source in Delhi Police, Imam practically disappeared from between their fingers. "Our teams were waiting for the right time to nab him. We had our eyes on him, but in the meantime, he disappeared." Delhi Police, however, on Tuesday claimed that Imam will soon be nabbed. Delhi Police spokesperson told IANS on Tuesday, "Soon he will be arrested. We have been raiding the possible hideouts where he could be. Five teams have been formed. They conducted raids in Maharashtra, Delhi and Bihar. We are questioning his kin also to get an idea about his whereabouts." In a video that went viral on January 25, Imam was seen talking about splitting the northeast from India to block the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). "We know how Muslims are being treated in Assam. We have to save people from the NRC. The only way to do this is by cutting off northeast from India." The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police registered a case against Imam for the provocative video on Republic Day. Law -- positive law -- is examined in a Christian framework by this professor of law who has a PhD in theology. It is not uncommon to hear the word law in Christian circles to be a bad thing. Law v. grace, for instance. Saved by faith, not by law. Yet nearly all such Christian circles appreciate and subordinate themselves to constitutional law in the USA. They think Christians should live by the law and they also think Christians are not under the law. How do these two sense of law work together? That is one of the many questions at work in David W. Opderbecks new book, Law and Christian Theology: Classic Questions and Contemporary Perspectives. David is well-known to this blog for his former contributions and comments. But he has now added to his law degree and professorship in law a degree in theology from Nottingham. As a young professor I remember hearing a Hebrew Bible professor discuss the laws of Israel as a constitution and thus the laws were not unlike contemporary laws. Since then I have always tried to keep that larger constitutional perspective in reading what the Bible says about law as covenant obligation for Israel. However, few have been the books that crossed my desk that seriously took up the discussion of how the Bible's law emerges into or relates to contemporary law -- natural, positive -- and how Christians relate to laws of the land. David Opderbeck offers to Bible professors as well as to pastors and serious readers a full-orbed discussion of law in the Christian tradition. The book will generate much light and many discussions. Image: Fortress cover It has two sections: Theology, which covers the narrative of Scripture and how law fits into it, a chp on the law in history, and then a constructive theologiy of law after modernity. The second section, Praxis, which covers the praxis of law in ordinary time, slavery and race, and then abortion and LGBTQ rights. The focus of this book is on positive law, that is, how common law (or how humans inchoately learn to live with one another) forms into positive laws that emerge consciously, intentionally, and locally. More or less (unless Im mistaken), divine law can be discussed along with positive law. Positive law is to be distinguishes from natural law, which he as a Christian, sees at some level born into the essence of who we are as made in the image of God. Heres a fundamental idea of Opderbecks: Prior to the eschaton, humans positive law is therefore necessary to restrain evil, mirror Gods righteousness, guide human conduct, and promote human liberation. Opderbeck approaches Scripture with a keen eye to all discussions among evangelicals. His approach is to sketch the narrative of Scripture with a view to where law fits and how it fits. This opening chapter is admirable in breadth and helpful in orienting us to how law fits into the narrative. Esp when performed by someone like Opderbeck who understands law in its modern legal framework. From beginning to end, from Gen 1 to Rev 22, law is part of the Bibles narrative. It is neve shaken loose. Here are the major themes of his first chapter: The natural law is built into creation; legal relationships between people, tribes, and nations help secure peace; and God establishes his people through a legal code after they have been freed from the injustice of Egyptian slavery. God judges his people when they ignore the law, particularly the laws requirement of justice for the poor and oppressed. Jesus fulfills the law and restores justice for the community of Israel, and Paul explainshow that justice extends not only to Israel but the gentiles and the whole cosmos (67). It seems, at one level, that all is well. But there are wrinkles in this law in Scripture study. Some of the specific laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy [and Exodus and Numbers], read naively at face value, seem strange and harsh to modern ears. The narratives of conquest of Canaan in the Old Testament are to difficult to understand in light of what we might think about natural law, justice, and international law today. The New Testaments critique of the Roman Empire seems to counsel withdrawal from the world, including from any sanguine assessment of the positive law, except for Pauls otherwise strange and perhaps subtly subversive [he uses Barth here] admonition to respect the ruling authorities in Romans 13. The point for us today, for positive law? These complications counsel us to exercise caution about using any specific biblical text as a proof text for positive law today. Nevertheless, the broad narrative arc of the canon of Scripture suggests that law is central to the missio Dei. Join us for this series with David Opderbecks book. 28.01.2020 LISTEN For over half a century, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) serves as a focal point for its member states (MS) and as a clearinghouse between its members and the rest of the world. The Organisation does that by providing a standing forum and diplomatic tools to solve disputes, and to address challenges in accordance with its charter. Being the second-largest intergovernmental multilateral system after the United Nations (UN), whose members largely occupy the most fascinating part of the globe (that of its geographic and spiritual centre as well as the rich energy deposits), gives to the Organisation a special exposure and hence a distinctive role. The OIC Charter clearly states that it is important to safeguard and protect the common interests and support the legitimate causes of the Member States, to coordinate and unify the efforts of its MS in view of the challenges faced by the Muslim world in particular and the international community in general. For that reason, the Organisation may consider expanding its activities further. One of the most effective ways to do so is by setting yet another permanent presence in Europe. This time it would be by opening its office in Vienna Austria, which should be coupled with a request for an observer status with a Vienna-based Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as prof. Anis H. Bajrektarevic tirelessly advocates in his statements. The OSCE itself is an indispensable security mechanism (globally the second largest after the UN) whose instruments and methodology would be twinned or copied for the OIC. Besides, numerous members of the OSCE are members of the OIC at the same time. Finally, through its Mediterranean partnership dimension, this is a rare international body that has (some) Arab states and Israel around the same table. Presence means influence Why does the OIC need a permanent presence in Vienna? The answer is within the OIC charter; to ensure active participation of the Member States in the global political, and socio-economic decision-making processes to secure their common interests. Why Vienna in particular, when the OIC has an office in Brussels (Belgium) and Geneva (Switzerland)? When it comes to this city, we can list the fundamental importance of Vienna in Europe and the EU, and globally is because it homes one of the three principal seats of the OUN (besides Geneva and New York). Moreover, a number of important Agencies are headquartered in Vienna (such as the Atomic Energy Agency, UN Industrial Development Organisation, Nuclear Test Ban Treaty organisation, etc.) as well as to segments of the UN Secretariat (such as Outer Space, Trade Law, the ODC office related to the issues of Drugs-Crimes-Terrorism, etc.). Surely, there are many important capitals around our global village, but after New York, Geneva and Brussels, Vienna has probably the highest representation of foreign diplomats. Many states have even three ambassadors accredited in Vienna (bilateral, for the UN and for the OSCE.) The OIC has nine member states who are the OPEC members as well. Four of those are the Founding Members of the OPEC. Vienna hosts OPEC as well as its developmental branch, the OPEC Fund for Development (OFID). Some of the OIC MS have lasting security vulnerabilities, a fact that hampers their even development and prosperity. The OIC places these considerations into its core activities through co-operation in combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, organised crime, illicit drugs trafficking, corruption, money laundering and human trafficking. Both the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UN ODC) and the OSCE have many complementarities in their mandates and instruments in this respect. As an Islamic organization, that works to protect and defend the true image of Islam, to combat defamation of Islam and encourage dialogue among civilisations and religions, the tool for that is again Austria as it is the first European Christian country to recognise Islam as one of its state religions due to its mandate over (predominately Muslim) Bosnia, 100 years ago. Back to its roots The Organization was formed by a decision of the Historical Summit in Rabat, the Kingdom of Morocco on 25 September 1969 after the criminal arson of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem. Today, after fifty years of this vicious incident, the OIC has as one of the main cases to support the struggle of the Palestinian people, who are presently under foreign occupation, and to empower them to attain their inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination, and to establish their sovereign state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital while safeguarding its historic and Islamic character, and the holy places therein. When we look back to Austria, it was Chancellor Bruno Kreisky (himself Jewish) who was the very first western leader to receive that-time contemporary Yasser Arafat, as a Head of State, and to repeatedly condemn many of the Israeli methods and behaviours. As prof. Anis H. Bajrektarevic wonderfully reminded us during his recent lecture with Amb. Goutali of the OIC and Excellency Elwaer of the IsDB Presidents Office; Past the Oil embargo, when the OPEC in an unprecedented diplomatic move was suspended of its host agreement in Switzerland, and reuqested to leave, it was that same Chancellor, Kreisky who generously invited the OPEC to find Austria as its new home. The OIC is also heavily involved in environmental issues, such as water implementation. According to the Stockholm International Water Institute, around two-thirds of the worlds transboundary rivers do not have a cooperative management framework. The OIC Science-Technology-Innovation (STI) Agenda 2026 has also called on the MS to first define water resource quality and demand by planning national water budgets at the ' local ' level where appropriate. In this regard, certain MS lack the ability to conduct a thorough exercise. An organized and focused action plan to adopt the OIC Water Vision is introduced to help Member States address water-related issues. As for the implementation plan for OIC Water Vision, Vienna is a principal seat of the Danube river organisation which is important for the Muslim world as an effectively water-managing mechanism and instrumentation to learn from and to do twinning. So far, the OIC covers Vienna (but only its UN segment) non-residentially, from Geneva respective officers are residentially accredited to the UNoG. A permanent presence, even a small one and co-shared with the Developmental arm of the OIC that of the IsDB, would be a huge asset for the Organization. That would enable both the OIC and the Bank to regularly participate in the formal and informal multilateral formats, happening daily in Vienna. Absence is the most expensive International security is a constant global challenge that is addressed the best way through the collective participation in multilateral settings. It is simply the most effective, cheapest, fastest therefore the most promising strategy to sustainability and stability of humankind. According to the Global Peace Index (2019 figures), the economic impact of violence on the global economy in 2018 was $14.1 trillion. This figure is equivalent to 11.2% of the worlds GDP, or $1,853 for every person. The economic impact of violence progressed for 3.3% only during 2018. Large sways of it were attributed to the Muslim Middle East. The OIC fundamental purpose is to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security, as embedded in its and the UN Charter and other acts of the international (human rights and humanitarian) law. In this light, requesting the Observer status with the largest Security mechanism on the planet, that of the OSCE, which has rather specific mandates; well-elaborated politico-military, early prevention and confidence-building mechanisms; net of legally binding instruments, extensive field presence (incl. several OIC member states), and a from Vancouver-to-Vladivostok outreach is simply the most natural thing to do. This would be very beneficial to the OIC Member States, as well as one of the possible ways to improve its own instruments. Among its 57 members, 21 of them are listed within a top 50 countries in the Global Terrorism Index for 2019. (With a ranking of 9.6 points, Afghanistan is infamously nr. 1 on the global terror index making it the nation most affected by terrorism on Earth. The OIC member state Afghanistan, scored the most terror attacks in 2018 - 1,294; and the most terror-related deaths in 2018, with 9,961 casualties.) The OIC Charter (article 28, Chapter XV) clearly states that the Organisation may cooperate with other international and regional organisations with the objective of preserving international peace and security and settling disputes through peaceful means. As said, Vienna is a principal seat of the second-largest security multilateral mechanism on earth, OSCE. This is a three- dimensional organisation with its well elaborated and functioning: politico-military, economy-environment; and the human dimension that is extensively developed both institutionally and by its instruments. No doubt, the OIC successfully contributes to international peace and security, by boosting understanding and dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions, and by promoting and encouraging friendly relations and good neighbourliness, mutual respect and cooperation. But for this, it needs more forums to voice its positions and interests. Many of the OSCE Member states have even three different ambassadors and three separate missions in Vienna. Presence of the relevant international organisations follows about the same pattern. The strategic importance of the MENA (Middle East- North Africa) lies on its diverse resources, such as energy, trade routes, demography, geography, faith and culture. The OSCE has a Mediterranean partnership outreach, meaning some of the LAS and OIC members states are already participants, where Central Asian states, Caucasus as well as Turkey, Albania and Bosnia are fully-fledged member states of the OSCE. Taking all above into account, the OIC should not miss an opportunity to open another powerful channel of its presence and influence on the challenging and brewing international scene. It would be a permanent office to cover all diplomatic activities and within it the observer status before the OSCE. This would be to the mutual benefit of all; Europe and the Muslim world, international peace and prosperity, rapprochement and understanding, present generations and our common futures. About the authors: Emmy Latifah is a professor of international law and is an international relations coordinator of the UNS University of Indonesia. Sara Al-Dhahri is an International Relations scholar of the Jeddah-based Dar Al-Hekma University and the Project Coordinator for Sawt Al-Hikma (Voice of Wisdom) Centre of the OIC. Signal Mountain Mayor Dan Landrums annual State of the Town address was a mostly-positive recap of what the community had accomplished in 2019, while also highlighting its most notable problem. Throughout the address, Mayor Landrum praised the work of the various Signal Mountain departments. But in the end, a unifying theme became apparent for the state of Signal Mountains government. Despite of the success the town has experienced, many of the boards and departments are understaffed and struggling to fill roles, he said. For instance, Mayor Landrum spoke of the police department, who had difficulty finding enough qualified applicants to fill three vacancies. In the case of the police department, the mayor noted that the department ranked at the bottom when it came to pay when compared to nearby police departments. Mayor Landrum called upon himself and his fellow council members to do their part in spreading awareness of these empty spots, saying its our responsibility to encourage participation. One thing the council did to help alleviate this issue was to amend the rule around nepotism. Before Monday night, a department could not hire someone on their staff if one of their family members was currently employed there. With the new amendment, family members can work together as long as one is not in a position of authority over the other. On a more positive note, Mayor Landrum spotlighted the success of the Signal Mountain Library. According to a report done by the library, 63,000 books and items were circulated in 2019. He also joked that, while some say the library does not collect fines, the library collected $2,400 in fines during the year. With 261 new patrons added to the list, the library now boasts 5,529 patrons. In addition to their productivity, the friends of the library have raised half of the $580,000 needed to fund a new reading room. The new addition will be in the back of the library, and there will be an elevator added too. Mayor Landrum gave a special shout out to the 60 volunteers who help make the library thrive. Within the realm of public works, Mayor Landrum discussed the good work that was done by the leaf collection workers. However, he again pointed out that public works received no interest from ads put out about the need for additional workers, and he said the crew was constantly short-handed. The lack of pay is especially an issue with the fire department, which recently opened another station to help with response time. While the advances in technology have helped the stations efficiency, the department has faced difficulties with finding employees. Like the police department, the fire departments salaries are quite low compared to their peers. Despite the negativity surrounding this one issue, the mayor emphasized that the staff the town does employ is well-trained. From the fire department to public works, each department is well-informed on what they need to know in order to best serve their community, he said. There is constant training going on in every department to keep our town up on everything they need to be up to date on, said Mayor Landrum. Why are wildlife activists upset with Rajinikanth's 'Man vs Wild' episode India oi-Deepika S Bengaluru, Jan 29: Superstar Rajinikanth is all set to feature in an upcoming edition of ace adventurer Bear Grylls's 'Man vs Wild' show, for which the shooting has begun in Karnataka's Bandipur forest, noted for its tiger reserve and biodiversity. While the news has got the actor's fans excited, wildlife activists have expressed concern over the timing of the episode. Activists fear that the crew's presence not only endangers animals but may ignite forest fires that could spread quickly due to the prevailing dry conditions. "Like Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Corbett, superstar Rajinikanth is promoting the documentary inside the core habitat of Bandipur, which is home to an estimated 140 tigers. They could have filmed in the monsoons," Joseph Hoover, popular wildlife activist from Karnataka posted on Facebook on Tuesday. Rajinikanth injured while shooting for Bear Gryll's 'Man vs Wild' "The beginning of the summer is a crucial time for the entire forest force. Everybody is working his but off to protect wildlife what little is left of our precious forest species, the activist wrote. NEWS AT NOON JAN 29th, 2020 "Major forest fires in 2013, 2017 and 2019 have damaged around 8,000 hectares in the southern state, the last three uncontrollable fires have consumed as much as 8,000 hectares. But the decision-makers at the Ministry of the forest seem to have no clue of what prevails in our forests at the advent of summer," he further added. Karnataka tops the list on forest fire It may be recalled that the Forest Survey of India (FSI) has ranked Karnataka state as No. 1 in the number of forest fire cases in the year 2018. With 77 forest fires in the Karnataka tops the list, then follows Maharashtra with 34 cases. In 2017, Karnataka reported 1,333 forest fires, a whopping 350% increase compared to 295 in 2015 and a 60% increase compared to 2016, when it was 831. This means Karnataka reported at least three forest fires every day, which experts say is quite high. Compared to the overall situation in India, the number seems insignificant: There were 35,888 forest fires in India in 2017, at the rate of 98 every day. The FSI is a central government agency that monitors forest fires using satellite-based remote sensing technology. What the forest officials say? However, the forest department has said they have put a lot of conditions while permitting the shooting such as filming at own risk and not allowing the crew to use explosives and inflammable materials. Reportedly, only five people from the special tiger force were part of the shooting. Rajinikanth is the second high profile figure to appear in Man Vs Wild after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Former minister of Bihar and Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) MLA from Mahishi assembly constituency in Saharsa district Dr Abdul Ghafoor died on Monday. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has expressed sorrow on the demise of Ghafoor. In a tweet, Yadav said, "I am in grief with the news of the demise of former minister and MLA Abdul Ghafoor. The RJD family has lost a wonderful man and a strong companion with his demise. It is a great loss for the party. I pray for peace to his soul and courage to his family members in this hour of grief." Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also expressed sorrow in a statement. Kumar said Ghafoor was a great political leader as well as a social worker. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahmedabad-based financial consultant, Natarajan TG, has always had a spotless repayment record. His credit score, he says, has been higher than 830 (a score of 900 is typically the maximum). In mid-2018, however, he was surprised to learn that his score had slipped, when he applied for a home loan transfer. While the loan was sanctioned, the officials pointed out that my credit score had dropped to 810 in two months. I was taken aback as I have never defaulted on any loan or delayed paying my EMIs, he says. Upon going through his credit report, he zeroed in on the bank whose data had dragged down the score. It was the bank from which I had taken an education loan for my daughter. The data showed that I had not paid EMIs for two months, which was not the case at all. Even in those two months, the EMI amount had been deducted from my savings account, he adds. Enquiries showed that while the savings account was debited, it did not reflect in the loan account. The culprit? Glitch in the banks systems due to the software migration being carried out. I approached the bank and obtained a letter stating that the error was at their end. Subsequently, the issue was resolved, as the credit bureau made the necessary changes, he explains. This is not an isolated case. For Chennai-based marketing consultant, Kannan Srinivasan, monitoring his credit history is a regular activity. He checks his credit report and score once in four months something that most individuals dont. According to him, his credit score has always been upwards of 800. Despite his diligence, however, in 2019, he was surprised to note that the score had slipped below 760. After going through his report, he traced the discrepancy to a 16-year-old episode. He had closed a personal loan in 2002, after paying all the 36 instalments. Says Srinivasan: However, the bank claimed that I owed them around Rs 4,000. I had paid this amount back then, got a letter from the bank and the issue was resolved. Or so he thought. He received a court notice in 2019 from the bank, asking him to clear the dues of Rs 4,000. This affected his credit score adversely. He wrote to the bank and furnished the letter on loan closure issued by them in 2002. They apologised to me, gave a letter certifying that I had no outstanding dues and informed CIBIL too. My credit score has started going up again, says Srinivasan. While these two gentlemens stories had happy endings, this is not the case for many. Often, they do not know their rights and recourses available to get errors corrected. Need for awareness The level of awareness on the impact of credit reports and scores not only on loan applications, but also your insurance risk assessment and even employment prospects has been rising constantly. However, the same cannot be said about getting past errors rectified. Individual customers have a lot of ground to cover on this front. Credit report and score, which are based on your repayment track record across lenders, are indicators of your creditworthiness. While credit information companies that compute this score get data from banks and not individual customers, constant vigilance at your end can ensure that errors are rectified at the earliest. Grounds for complaints Since banks are the entities that provide data to the credit information companies Credit Information Bureau of India (Limited), Equifax, Experian and CRIF Highmark any inaccurate reporting or failure to update can result in an unfavourable credit history. There could also be instances of mixed files; that is, data related to someone elses accounts reflects in your credit report. At times, credit bureaus mistakenly create two identical accounts linked to a single credit report, says Hrushikesh Mehta, Country Manager, ClearScore. That is, the same credit card account could get reported twice, inflating your amount due and reducing your loan eligibility. In several instances, the borrower gets to know of the impaired credit history only while applying for a new loan. Often, there is an unresolved issue. Unfortunately, many times, people do not have documents in place. For example, they pay off or settle loans, but do not collect the no-dues certificate, explains Ramachandra. Then, there could be cases of fraudulent transactions that are not reversed in time, thus adversely affecting your credit history. Merchants are obligated by Visa/MasterCard guidelines to provide customers signatures or proof of delivery of goods and services. If they cannot furnish it, the transaction will not be valid. If you notice fraudulent transactions, you must intimate your bank immediately and get it reversed, says Mehta. Complexities in loan as well as credit card terms and conditions constitute another cause for disputes. Often, users do not fully understand the late fees and penalties. They do not realize that these could snowball into significant amounts if they remain unpaid over a period of time. Issuers might waive them off, but could report them as settled. When other lenders see this, they might be reluctant to sanction loans, explains Mehta. Such instances are not treated as closures, potentially pulling down your credit scores. The lender will waive off the interest, report you as a settled case with outstanding dues written off. When a lending institution pulls a credit report, it only sees the red flags and not details, adds Aparna Ramachandra, Founder, RectifyCredit Services. Also, if you are a guarantor and not the actual borrower, your credit history will reflect the information. While computing your loan eligibility, this loan will also be taken into account by lenders. You might suddenly find that you are entitled to a much lower loan than desired, despite not having taken one, she adds. Tread with caution For one, you must monitor your credit history closely. You can get a credit report for free, from any of the credit bureaus, once in a year. Also, keep track of your credit card account statements, especially if you are relocating. Update your mobile numbers and opt for e-bills. There have been cases where credit card users moved abroad without closing their cards or informing their card issuers. The annual maintenance continued to accumulate, and years later, they found that their credit history was adversely affected, says Mehta. Be especially careful in cases where you arrive at a settlement with your bank. Ensure that you collect a no dues certificate, so that you can furnish the same to get records updated to reflect your dues-free status, says Ramachandra. If the dispute is over trivial amounts such as late fee, you could even consider paying them off. My recommendation is that you should pay up fully instead of accepting a settlement, says Mehta. The final recourse In case of a dispute, use the dispute resolution mechanism offered by the credit bureaus. You can raise a complaint online or write to them. For example, in case of CIBIL, such entries be tagged as under dispute. They then approach the respective banks for their response. If the bank accepts your contention, the records will be suitably updated. You can also approach the lender and seek a rectification. We have seen that in most cases, banks do agree to rectify the records after verifying documents. This is why having documentation in place is important, points out Ramachandra. If your request is rejected, however, you can approach the banking ombudsman office in your city. However, the banking ombudsman will not entertain any complaint unless you have first approached the bank. If you are dissatisfied with the banking ombudsmans order, you can knock on the appellate authoritys door, which in this case is the RBI deputy governor. If you are still unsuccessful, you can head to the consumer courts. The evidence Ive seen does not support an attempted murder case, because he wasnt trying to shoot anybody, Murray said after new charges were filed. I cant really share with you what Matts intent was at that time, but I can tell you what it wasnt. And it wasnt to shoot anyone. Air India on late Tuesday night suspended Indian comedian Kunal Kamra from flying on any of the Indian aviation companys flight until further notice, citing unacceptable conduct after the comedian posted a video trolling television anchor Arnab Goswami. In view of the incident onboard @IndiGo6E, Air India wishes to inform that conduct of Person concerned is unacceptable.With a view to discourage such behavior onboard flts, Mr Kunal Kamra is suspended from flying on any Air India flight until further notice, said Dhananjay Kumar, Air Indias spokesperson. Air India is the second aviation company to have restricted the comedians access to its airline services. Earlier on Tuesday, Kamra was suspended from travelling on IndiGos airline for six months after a video of Kamra surfaced online where he was seen heckling the TV presenter Arnab Goswami on board a Mumbai-Lucknow flight. WATCH | Comedian Kunal Kamra trolls TV anchor Arnab Goswami on flight, faces action Air Indias decision came shortly after civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a tweet that Kamras behaviour was totally unacceptable. Offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers. We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned. https://t.co/UHKKZfdTVS Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 28, 2020 The video showing Kamra confronting the TV anchor prompted swift action from IndiGo, the airline on which the incident took place, which has barred him for travelling for six months, terming his conduct onboard unacceptable behaviour. Democrats in one of Michigans top presidential battleground counties expressed their support for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as early voting is underway in the March primary. U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, said Warren is the best choice for Democrats seeking to win back Macomb County, one of the key swing areas that put President Donald Trump in the White House in 2016. Macomb County Democratic Party Chair Ed Bruley also endorsed Warren this week and was included on a list of Michigan surrogates released by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee Monday. Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green said the endorsements help make the case that Warren can win back swing voters in key battleground states. Macomb is Michigans third-largest county and the site of a dramatic electoral shift between the 2012 and 2016 elections. Trump increased Republican margins there by 16 percentage points, picking up nearly 33,000 more votes while Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton dropped nearly 32,000 votes from 2012. Levin represents Warren and other Democratic-leaning cities in the southern part of Macomb County. He predicted the eventual Democratic nominee will win his slice of the county by 20,000 votes or more. What Macomb County voters are best at is always surprising people, Levin said. That is their superpower. It wont be a surprise to me -- they are going to deliver the presidency to Elizabeth Warren. Levin said voters in his district want to hear a direct, strong economic message from an authentic source. They want someone whos going to tell it to them like it is and bring about the change they think needs to happen, Levin said. They dont have a lot of faith in Washington. They dont have a lot of faith in Lansing. The predominantly white, working-class county is considered a must-win area for Trump in 2016. Trump vowed to grow businesses associated with the automotive industry and condemned trade agreements that allowed manufacturing jobs to move across the U.S. border. (Trump) tapped into a very real shake up the system anti-establishment sentiment that Democrats need to tap into if we want to win back swing voters, Green said. Someone like Elizabeth Warren, who used to be a Republican but came to the Democratic Party because she realized that Republicans were in cahoots with giant corporations to hurt working-class people and cheat them out of their jobs and money is a perfect messenger to win back swing states like Michigan. Green said Trump railed against corrupt trade deals and the Washington swamp, but hasnt delivered. Warren has made fighting corporate interests one of the central themes of her campaign. The president is set to deliver remarks at a Warren auto parts manufacturer this week after signing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a replacement for the universally scorned NAFTA deal. The trade rewrite makes good on one of Trumps top campaign promises. Levin said Trump will try to sell the USMCA as a silver bullet that will revitalize manufacturing, but the congressman said it ultimately amounts to a modest rewrite of one of the worst trade deals in the countrys history. Levin, who voted against the USMCA, said the new deal wont prevent companies from taking advantage of cheaper labor outside the United States. Levin hit the campaign trail for Warren in New Hampshire and the Republican-leaning Clinton Township. He said Warrens background, rising from middle-class beginnings in Oklahoma to fight corruption and income inequality in the U.S. Senate, resonates with voters in Midwest states struggling to make ends meet. State Rep. Bill Sowerby, D-Clinton Township, said Warren articulates a clear plan to restore the middle class and make capitalism work for all people. Sowerby said Warrens proposal to impose a 2% tax on the wealthiest Americans will open more opportunities for working Americans by funding universal child care and reducing student loan debt. She isnt going to kowtow to the big billionaires who are trying to control this economy, Sowerby said. Warrens ability to mobilize women voters is also significant, Levin said. Women generally vote at higher rates compared to men and were a decisive factor in 2018 midterm victories by an all-female slate of statewide candidates. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, both narrowly won Macomb County in 2018. Warrens most transformative policy proposal is Medicare for All, which would put every American on a government-run health care system. The Democratic senator argues the government insurance plan would dramatically reduce costs for treatment and drugs. Levin said voters are open to Warrens ambitious agenda. I dont think incrementalism works for this moment, Levin said. However, Republican National Committee Spokesperson Michael Joyce said voters will reject Warrens health care plan because it eliminates their employer-provided insurance plans. Medicare for All is expected to be a tough sell for union autoworkers because they generally negotiated generous benefits packages over the years. Other endorsements released by the Progressive Change Committee include former congressmen Sander Levin and David Bonior, Macomb County commissioners Elizabeth Lucido and Robert Mijac, several Democratic state lawmakers and local officials in suburbs north of Detroit. Read more on MLive: Democrats add more staff in Michigan as presidential primary approaches How Michigan voters can request absentee ballots for presidential primary Trump to visit Michigan auto parts supplier in Warren Fine Gael Senator Catherine Noone is said to be mortified and humiliated after she described Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as autistic to a journalist. Sources close to Senator Noone have told the Irish Examiner that she is very regretful and fearful of the impact the episode will have on her campaign following her unequivocal apology. Mr Varadkar refused to discipline Ms Noone after her comments were published by the Times website. The Taoiseach said he accepted her apology and hoped people would still vote for the Dublin Bay North candidate. While canvassing in Galway, he said: "I haven't spoken to her yet, I'm sure I will over the course of the next couple of days. She has withdrawn her remarks and apologised and that's good enough for me. It's not about me. I just think that we all need to be very aware and very respectful of people who have autism, people who are on the autism spectrum and we need to understand that those terms should never be used in a pejorative way at all. Pressed by journalists as to whether the senator would be sanctioned, Mr Varadkar ruled this out. No, she has withdrawn her remarks in full and she has apologised to those people who she offended. That's enough." Asked whether he would still encourage people to vote for the Dublin Bay North candidate in the election, Mr Varadkar said: I encourage people to vote for all of our Fine Gael candidates. Richard Bruton and Catherine Noone are our candidates in that constituency." He also said he would probably go canvassing with Ms Noone, but it was not on the schedule yet. Ms Noone unequivocally apologised this morning in a terse two-line statement. I unequivocally apologise and withdraw all of my remarks, as reported by theTimes.ie, which were completely unacceptable. My choice of language was inexcusable and wrong. I am truly sorry. "I will not be making any further comment, she said. The former running mate of Mr Varadkar in Dublin West made the comments when asked by the reporter about Mr Varadkar's performance on last week's Virgin Media head-to-head debate with Micheal Martin. Ms Noone said Mr Varadkar is a very good politician but conceded that he was a bit wooden. Hes autistic like, hes on the spectrum, theres no doubt about it. Hes uncomfortable socially and he doesnt always get the in-between bits, she said. If I do say so, I am much more natural than he would be. Ive been in rooms with him and he doesnt know what to do with himself. Hes naturally shy. But hes actually a very good politician. I didnt mean it in the sense of the actual illness or anything. I just mean he can be a bit wooden and lacking in empathy," she said. I shouldnt have even said it in that way. Ms Noone explained that her comment had been taken out of context. Sometimes I say, Oh God, Im a bit special but I dont mean it to be derogatory, she said. Outgoing Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath strongly criticised the Senator's comments. They were ill-informed and extremely damaging to a section of Irish society, said Mr McGrath. People with Autism are a part of Irish society and should always be treated as equals in line with the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with a Disability." US Senators faced mounting pressure on Monday to summon former National Security Advisor John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trumps impeachment trial even as Trumps lawyers brushed past extraordinary new allegations from Bolton and focused instead on corruption in Ukraine and historical arguments for acquittal. Bolton took centre stage on the seventh day of the trial, even though he was nowhere near the United States Capitol building. Inside the Senate chamber, Trumps defence team mounted more than seven hours of arguments in favour of the president, but outside, Republicans grappled with claims in a forthcoming book from Bolton that Trump had wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it committed to helping with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. That assertion could undercut a key defence argument that Trump never tied the suspension of security aid to political investigations. The revelation clouded White House hopes for a swift end to the impeachment trial, heightening Democratic demands for witnesses and possibly pushing more Republican legislators to agree. It also distracted from hours of arguments from Trumps lawyers, who declared anew that no witness has testified to direct knowledge that Trumps delivery of aid was contingent on investigations into Democrats. Bolton appeared poised to say exactly that if called on by the Senate to appear. This still image taken from a US Senate webcast shows Counsel to the President Jay Sekulow speaking in the Senate Chamber at the US Capitol during the impeachment trial [US Senate TV/AFP] We deal with transcript evidence, we deal with publicly available information, lawyer Jay Sekulow said. We do not deal with speculation. Trump is charged with abusing his presidential powers by asking Ukraines leader to help investigate Biden at the same Trump was ordering that millions of dollars in aid be withheld. A second charge accuses Trump of obstructing Congress in its probe. No basis to remove Trump Trumps legal team on Monday launched a wide-ranging attack on the entire impeachment process. They said there was no basis to remove him from office, defended his actions as appropriate and assailed Biden, who is campaigning for the Democratic nomination to oppose Trump in November. The lawyers focused particular attention on Biden and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukraine gas company at the same time his father was vice president. They argued that Trump had legitimate reasons to be suspicious of the younger Bidens business dealings and concerned about corruption in Ukraine and that, in any event, he ultimately released the aid without Ukraine committing to investigations the president wanted. Democrats say Trump did so only after a whistle-blower submitted a complaint about the situation. Ken Starr, whose independent counsel investigation into President Bill Clinton resulted in his impeachment Clinton was acquitted by the Senate bemoaned what he said was an age of impeachment. Impeachment, he said, requires both an actual crime and a genuine national consensus that the president must go. Neither exists here, Starr said. Its filled with acrimony and it divides the country like nothing else, Starr said of impeachment. Those of us who lived through the Clinton impeachment understand that in a deep and personal way. Debate within Republican party Even as defence lawyers laid out their case as planned, it was clear that Boltons book had scrambled the debate over whether to seek witnesses. Bolton writes that Trump told him he wanted to withhold security aid from Ukraine until it helped him with investigations. Trumps legal team has insisted otherwise, and Trump tweeted on Monday that he never told Bolton such a thing. Republican senators face a pivotal moment. The pressure is mounting for at least four to buck Republican leaders and form a bipartisan majority to force the issue. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. John Boltons relevance to our decision has become increasingly clear, Republican Senator Mitt Romney told reporters. Senator Susan Collins said she has always wanted the opportunity for witnesses and the report about Boltons book strengthens the case. At a private Republican lunch, Romney made the case for calling Bolton, according to a person who requested anonymity because they were unauthorised to discuss the meeting. Other Republicans, including Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, said if Trumps former national security adviser is called they would demand reciprocity to hear from at least one of their witnesses. Some Republicans want to call the Bidens. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared unmoved by news of the Bolton book. His message at the lunch, said Republican Senator Mike Braun, was, Take a deep breath and lets take one step at a time. Once the presidents team wraps its arguments no later than Tuesday, senators have 16 hours for questions to both sides. By late in the week, they are expected to hold a vote on whether or not to hear from any witnesses. White House cover-up While Democrats say Boltons revelations are reminiscent of the Watergate drip of new information, Republicans are counting on concerns subsiding by the time senators are asked to vote. They are being told that if there is an agreement to summon Bolton, the White House will resist, claiming executive privilege. That would launch a weeks-long court battle that could drag out the impeachment trial, a scenario some Republican senators would rather avoid. Trump and his lawyers have argued repeatedly that Democrats are using impeachment to try to undo the results of the last presidential election and drive Trump from office. Trump tweeted for viewers to tune in to the hoax, advertising the trials start time. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [File: J Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press] Some in the White House had hoped the legal team would steer away from the Bidens but acknowledged the Bolton revelations contributed to the decision to stay focused on the family. They worry about squandering what goodwill they have earned with the Senate, where Biden served for decades. Democrats meanwhile say Trumps refusal to allow administration officials to testify only reinforces that the White House is hiding evidence. The White House has had Boltons manuscript for about a month, according to a letter from Boltons lawyer. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: Were all staring a White House cover-up in the face. Representative Adam Schiff, who leads the House prosecution team, called Boltons account a test for the senators sitting as jurors. I dont know how you can explain that you wanted a search for the truth in this trial and say you dont want to hear from a witness who had a direct conversation about the central allegation in the articles of impeachment, Schiff said on CNN. Boltons account was first reported by The New York Times newspaper and was confirmed to The Associated Press news agency by a person familiar with the manuscript on the condition of anonymity. The Room Where It Happened; A White House Memoir is to be released March 17. Trump denied Boltons claims in tweets Monday. I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens, Trump said. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton had said he would testify if subpoenaed in the Senate trial [File: Peter Nicholls/Reuters] Joe Biden, campaigning in Iowa, said he sees no reason for testimony by him or his son. I have nothing to defend. This is all a game, even if they bring me up, he told reporters. What is there to defend? This is all the reason hes being impeached is because he tried to get a government to smear me and they wouldnt. Come on. Trump said people could look at transcripts of his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to see there was no pressure for investigations to get the aid. According to a summary of the call, Trump asked Zelenskyy to do us a favour with the investigations as he was withholding nearly $400m in military aid to the US ally at war with Russia. Trump falsely claimed on Monday that the Democrat-controlled House never even asked John Bolton to testify. Democrats did ask Bolton to testify, but he did not show up for his deposition. They later declined to subpoena Bolton, as they had others, because he threatened to sue, which could have led to a prolonged court battle. Eventual acquittal is likely in a Senate where a two-thirds majority vote would be needed for conviction Democrats argued their side of the impeachment case for three days last week, warning that Trump would \persist in abusing his power and endangering American democracy unless Congress intervenes to remove him before the 2020 election. [January 28, 2020] Datadobi Eases NAS Migrations with New DIY Starter Pack Datadobi, the global leader in unstructured data migration software, is making its purpose-built NAS migration technology - already in use by hundreds of the world's largest organizations for the biggest, most complex projects - available to companies of all sizes via a Starter Pack. The channel-ready pack enables an entirely new class of companies to reap the benefits of fast, easy, and secure migration between any NAS platform, regardless of the size or complexity of their project. The DobiMigrate Starter Pack is available in three sizes: SMB (up to 50 TB), Commercial (up to 200 TB), and Enterprise (up to 500 TB). The Starter Pack contains the DobiMigrate software plus live services for installation, initial migration, and cutovers to the new platform, plus ongoing support services as needed. By reducing the risk of complex manual migration processes, the Starter Pack allows organizations to more quickly realize the ROI in new hardware with minimal disruption to business. "An enterprise NAS migration has a ton of complexity involved, high costs, data integrity risks, and possible disruptions to your business," said Charles Bass, VP of business development at Lifeboat Distribution. "Datadobi introducing the DobiMigrate Starter Pack is a game changer for our channel partners by simplfying the enterprise NAS migration conversation with their customers. Resellers now have the ability to capture some of the growing data migration market and have a trusted partner like Datadobi behind them to grow that business." The Starter Pack also helps organizationsmake informed decisions about project objectives, easily adapt to changing business priorities, and facilitate communication between all levels of the organization. In addition, the Starter Pack comes with access to the world's best NAS migration experts. "When it comes to today's complex migrations, outdated tools, scripts, and processes simply won't suffice. What's required is software that is purpose-built for the task, and that's what the DobiMigrate Starter Pack provides," said Michael Jack, co-founder, Datadobi. "By removing the risk and pain of manual NAS migrations, DobiMigrate minimizes disruption to daily business, so organizations can focus their time on more important tasks. And by getting them there faster, they can very quickly realize the ROI of their new storage platform." For additional details, visit www.datadobi.com. About Datadobi Datadobi, a global leader in data management and storage software solutions, brings order to unstructured storage environments so that the enterprise can realize the value of their expanding universe of data. Their software allows customers to migrate, archive, and protect data while discovering insights and putting them to work for their business. Datadobi takes the pain and risk out of the data storage process, and does it ten times faster than other solutions at the best economic cost point. Founded in 2010, Datadobi is a privately held company headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, New York, and Melbourne. For more information, visit www.datadobi.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005185/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Google Duo continues to expand its list of features with the latest addition of Notes to Androids built-in Video messaging platform. Google Duo allows for voice calls, video calls, as well as the sending of recorded messages of either voice or video. Google realized that it may not always be the right time to hear messages, so it is launching a new feature called Notes. Under the recording menu, a new tab appears along the bottom called Notes and you type out messages in a Stories-like canvas, which you can then doodle or draw on before sending to your recipient. Just like voice and video, Notes expire after 24 hours. Google is actively working to expand the use and accessibility of Duo. Not long ago, it let users call friends on Duo with only an email address (no phone number required). It supports end-to-end encryption of messages on both iOS and Android and supports a web-based desktop interface. Grab the latest update for Google Duo to try sending Notes. Google Duo for Android | iOS STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A new NASA spacecraft will journey to the sun to take the first photos of the suns north and south poles, according to a news release. Solar Orbiter, a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), will have its first opportunity to launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Friday, Feb. 7, at 11:15 p.m., on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The spacecraft will use Venus and Earths gravity to swing itself out of the ecliptic plane -- the swatch of space, roughly aligned with the suns equator, where all planets orbit. From there, Solar Orbiter will give the first-ever look at the suns poles. Up until Solar Orbiter, all solar imaging instruments have been within the ecliptic plane or very close to it, said Russell Howard, space scientist at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C., and principal investigator for one of Solar Orbiters 10 instruments. Now, well be able to look down on the sun from above. According to NASA, the sun plays a central role in shaping space around us. Its massive magnetic field stretches beyond Pluto, paving a superhighway for charged solar particles known as solar wind. When these bursts of solar wind hit Earth, they can spark space weather storms that interfere with GPS and communication satellites, and even threaten astronauts. To prepare for arriving solar storms, scientists monitor the suns magnetic fields -- but their techniques work best with a straight-on view. The sidelong glimpse we have of the suns pole leaves major gaps in the data, NASA said. The poles are particularly important for us to be able to model more accurately, said Holly Gilbert, NASA project scientist for the mission at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. For forecasting space weather events, we need a pretty accurate model of the global magnetic field of the sun. After years of technology development, NASA said the Solar Orbiter will be the closest any sun-facing cameras have ever gotten to the sun. Over the missions seven-year lifetime, the spacecraft will reach an inclination of 24 degrees above the suns equator, increasing to 33 degrees with an additional three years of extended mission operations. It will pass within 26 million miles of the sun at closest approach. Solar Orbiter has a custom-designed titanium heat shield with a calcium phosphate coating that withstands temperatures over 900 degrees -- 13 times the solar heating faced by spacecraft in Earths orbit. It will be NASAs second major mission to the inner solar system in recent years -- following the August 2018 launch of the Parker Solar Probe, which has completed four close solar passes and will fly within four million miles of the sun at closest approach. The two spacecrafts will work together. As Parker Solar Probe samples solar particles up close, Solar Orbiter will capture imagery from farther away. FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. While the demand for Workers Compensation coverage continues to grow, to date there have been few strides made to enable digital availability. Bold Penguin's integration with biBERK addresses this challenge, allowing agents and brokers efficient digital access to biBERK's comprehensive suite of Workers Compensation products. "Efficiency is key in quoting small commercial," said Ilya Bodner, Founder and CEO of Bold Penguin. "By welcoming additional key carriers to our platform we're allowing them and their distribution partners to reduce the number of screens, portals, and access points necessary to get to a quick and accurate quote." Launched in 2016 and focused on simplifying the insurance experience of small businesses, biBERK Insurance Services, Inc. is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway Group. The company offers policies from the Berkshire Hathaway Group of insurance companies covering most industries and currently offering six lines of insurance: Workers Compensation, Professional Liability, General Liability, Business Owners Policy, Umbrella and Commercial Auto. About Bold Penguin Bold Penguin is where technology enhances the human touch in commercial insurance. With a heavy focus on agents, Bold Penguin upgrades the user experience for businesses, creates an easy tool for agents, and offers a streamlined process of underwriting for carriers. Founded by a group of entrepreneurs who spent their early days working with Allstate, Nationwide, and Progressive alongside regional carriers and established insurance agencies. For more details, please visit www.boldpenguin.com . CONTACT: Amber Wuollet, [email protected] SOURCE Bold Penguin Related Links https://www.boldpenguin.com Press Release January 28, 2020 De Lima bats for pet-friendly apartments, condos seeks to revisit antiquated 'Condominium Act' Senator Leila M. de Lima has expressed interest to revisit the 53-year-old "Condominium Act" to make it attuned to the changing lifestyles of Filipino families, especially among tenants who want to keep pets in their condominiums or apartments. In revisiting the antiquated law, the lady Senator from Bicol underscored the need to look into the powers of the property management or landlords to impose restrictions, which include a total ban of well-behaved pets in condominiums or inside the building. "While it is the right of landlords and property managers to protect their properties from damages, they should be more flexible and responsive to the changing needs and demands of modern Filipino families renting or owning condominium units," she said. "With more and more young people opting to live in rented condominiums and apartments, the law regulating condominiums should be carefully looked into, especially on restrictive policies that are detrimental to the general welfare of tenants," she added. Under Republic Act No. 4726, also known as the "Condominium Act," which was enacted in July 1966, property owners are granted power to impose restrictions to protect their properties and enforce rules and regulations in the buildings. "The law, however, does not have provisions highlighting the possible needs and concerns of responsible animal-loving tenants that may arise because of several restrictions applied in condominium or apartment units," De Lima pointed out. "The complete ban policy implemented by condominium management on renters with pets should be revisited, except probably in small flats where owning a pet may be impractical. But we need to find creative ways to allow them to keep their pets" she added. The pre-sold residential condominium units in Metro Manila, with prices ranging from PhP1.7 million to PhP5.9 million, hit a historical high of 54,000 in 2018, according to Colliers International Philippines. According to Lamudi, an online real estate marketplace with operations here in the Philippines and in 13 other countries, property seekers from 25 to 34 years old make up the bulk of prospective buyers of condominium units in 2019. Lamudi likewise projected that the development of high-rise condominiums is expected to soar in the coming years as the demand for the property, especially among young professionals and young families, continues to increase. De Lima, who has an undeniable soft spot for dogs and cats, pointed out that landlords and property managers may reconsider putting up a special area or nursery for pets inside their buildings or properties. "Finding pet-friendly accommodation in the country could be challenging because oftentimes, management or owners of apartments and condominium units ban pets in the vicinity. But that should not be the case because pets are often considered part of the family already," she said. "We hope that the government would promote and support a tenancy agreement that would allow apartment or condo occupants to bring their pets with them as long as they abide by certain rules to keep their pets under control at all times," she added. De Lima, a social justice and human rights champion, said she is currently studying the "Condominium Act" and is looking into possible amendments that would ensure that both the rights of landlords and tenants are respected. Chennai, Jan 28 : The doctors at the VGM Gastro Centre in Coimbatore were baffled when they saw a ball of hair and empty shampoo sachets in the stomach of a 13-year-old girl after a CT scan followed by endoscopy. Couple of weeks back, the girl from an upper strata family was brought to the hospital by her parents for severe stomach pain and lack of appetite. "On preliminary physical investigation, we felt a lump inside her stomach and decided to do a CT scan. It was followed by endoscopy," surgeon R. Gokul Krubashankar told IANS over phone from Coimbatore. The doctors found the endoscopy tube being blocked. "We told the parents that there is a ball of hair inside her stomach which has to be taken out by operating her. But the parents -- well educated and both employed -- were in a denial mode and went away. The next day they came back as the girl was suffering from severe pain," Krubashankar said. The doctors took out a ball of hair and empty shampoo sachets from her stomach weighing about half a kilo. On further enquiry, it was learnt that the child was upset after her maternal uncle, who used to live abroad and was supposed to meet her soon, died suddenly some six months back. "The girl was very much attached to her uncle and vice versa," Krubashankar said. He said the girl went into depression due to that trauma and started the strange habit of eating her own hair and empty shampoo packets. The parents did not notice the behavioural changes in their daughter. She had thick hair and hence the hair loss was also not noticeable, he said. According to Krubashankar, the girl has gone back home. The parents and the girl have been advised to undergo counselling. "The parents have to undergo counselling so that they do not start pointing accusing fingers at their daughter, nor should they start monitoring her strictly as that could push the girl into further depression," Krubashankar added. The take home message from this case is that parents have to be alert in spotting any behavioural changes in their child. The other point is that even children could get into depression owing to a trauma, Krubashankar said. OEUR is how I own global companies in Europe - large companies like Nestle, Unilever, Roche, and Novartis1. Why own Europe now? Quality stocks in Europe now look cheap to me; I need to own them before they potentially go up, said Kevin OLeary, Chairman, OShares ETFs. Right now, European stocks have very attractive dividend yields relative to cash, very attractive valuations for global mega caps, particularly compared to U.S. listed peers. Dividend yields of 3.5% in Europe2 are almost double those for U.S. large caps. Some of these stocks are trading at large discounts simply because their headquarters and stock listings are in the wrong zip code. As the Brexit dust settles, these stocks could do very well, said Connor OBrien, CEO of OShares ETFs. OEUR is the quality Europe large cap strategy provided by OShares ETF Investments, a family of ETFs that includes OUSA, OUSM and OGIG. OEUR seeks to track the performance (before fees and expenses) of its target index, the FTSE Developed Europe Qual/Vol/Yield 5% Capped Factor Index (the Target Index). The Target Index is designed to reflect the performance of publicly-listed large capitalization and mid-capitalization dividend-paying issuers in Europe exhibiting high quality, low volatility and high dividend yields, as determined by the index provider. The quality and low volatility factors are designed to reduce exposure to high dividend equities that have experienced large price declines. OShares ETF Investments OShares Investments provides ETFs for long-term wealth management, with an emphasis on quality across our family of ETFs. The OShares ETFs are designed for investors with objectives ranging from wealth preservation and income to growth and capital appreciation. Each OShares ETF reflects our rules-based investment philosophy, including quality as an important characteristic. OShares ETFs are all managed according to rules-based indexes, and all are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more Information please contact info@oshares.com OShares ETFs: OUSA | OUSM | OGIG | OEUR 1. OEUR, Top 10 Holdings. 2. Source: Bloomberg Finance L.P. Data as of 12/31/2019. Computed as the gross dividend per share aggregate 12 month divided by the current security last price. Europe represented by the STOXX Europe 600 Index. It represents large, mid and small capitalization companies across 17 countries of the European region. U.S. Large Caps represented by the S&P 500 Index. The dividend yield for the STOXX Europe 600 Index as of 12/31/2019 was 3.5% vs. 1.8% for the S&P 500 Index. Before you invest in OShares ETF Investments Funds, please refer to the prospectus for important information about the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. To obtain a prospectus containing this and other important information, please visit http://www.oshares.com to view or download a prospectus online. Read the prospectus carefully before you invest. There are risks involved with investing including the possible loss of principal. Concentration in a particular industry or sector will subject the Funds to loss due to adverse occurrences that may affect that industry or sector. The Funds may use derivatives which may involve risks different from, or greater than, those associated with more traditional investments. A Fund's emphasis on dividend-paying stocks involves the risk that such stocks may fall out of favor with investors and underperform the market. Also, a company may reduce or eliminate its dividend after the Fund's purchase of such a company's securities. Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Exposures to foreign securities entail special risks, including political, diplomatic, economic, foreign market and trading risks. In addition, a Fund's investments in securities denominated in other currencies could decline due to changes in local currency relative to the value of the U.S. dollar, which may affect the Fund's returns. See the prospectus for specific risks regarding the Funds. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), are not individually redeemable, and owners of Shares may acquire those Shares from the Funds and tender those shares for redemption to the Funds in Creation Unit aggregations only, consisting of 50,000 Shares. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. The market price of Shares can be at, below, or above NAV. Market Price returns are based upon the midpoint of the bid/ask spread at 4:00 PM Eastern time (when NAV is normally determined), and do not represent the returns you would receive if you traded Shares at other times. OShares ETF Investments Funds are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC. Foreside Fund Services, LLC is not affiliated with OShares ETF Investments or any of its affiliates. Putin's new aide Kozak, unlike his predecessor, is neither a political person nor a schemer, Ponomarev says. Former member of the Russian State Duma Ilya Ponomarev has said the resignation of Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide Vladislav Surkov may indicate the Russian president's intention to "surrender Donbas" to Ukraine. The Russian politician believes the issue of Surkov's resignation was decided at the Normandy Four summit in Paris on December 9, 2019. Read alsoPutin's aide Surkov leaves civil service over Ukraine expert "It was clear from Surkov's reaction that the Ukrainian side had outplayed him, because he had promised Putin that various documents would be signed, but that didn't happen... So they appointed Dmitry Kozak, who had been relieved of his duties in government, who was responsible for gas negotiations. So that he further develops this line," he told the Ukrainian-registered Apostrophe online media outlet. Putin's new aide Kozak, unlike his predecessor, is not a political person and not a schemer, Ponomarev says. "Kozak is definitely not the person who will be building up the 'Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics' ('DPR' and 'LPR'). Kozak's task is to tie up loose ends. The fact that Kozak is being appointed is a 100% sign what Putin wants... and he will surrender both the 'DPR' and the 'LPR.' Now the new person's task is to achieve the most acceptable conditions, to reach an agreement...," the Russian politician said. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NetBase, the industry leader in social media analytics, announced today it will merge with Quid, a leader in AI driven text analytics. The combined company is the next generation consumer and market intelligence platform. The platform will deliver contextual insights that reveal business trends from across all forms of structured and unstructured data. The two companies will join forces under their new collective name, NetBase Quid. In today's age of information overload, NetBase Quid will deliver businesses an unprecedented solution that is faster, more accurate and actionable and with access to billions of indexed resources from social media posts, consumer reviews, product reviews, news articles to business filings, to patent applications, and forums - which can be aggregated, analyzed, and visualized in order to discover consumer and market insights. The enhanced platform will deliver clear, real-time and actionable results so that customers can distinguish between critical and non-essential business issues, ultimately empowering them to make smarter, data driven decisions quickly and efficiently. "Like us, Quid has a client-first focus, is deeply connected to technology, driven by purpose and acts as a leader in the evolving consumer and market data analytics landscape," said Peter Caswell, Chairman & CEO of NetBase. We have always been impressed with Quid's technology and leadership. We are confident this merger will help our customers accelerate the growth of their businesses, while enabling them to benefit from the highly personalized service experience they have always enjoyed." "Joining forces just makes sense," said Bob Goodson, CEO of Quid. "We see a great opportunity to transform the landscape of business intelligence using unstructured data. This merger gives our clients the best possible tools and resources to make them as fully informed as possible while making complex business decisions." Following the completion of the merger, Caswell will lead NetBase Quid as Chairman & CEO. Quid CEO Bob Goodson will be assuming the role of President. NetBase Quid's leadership team will include senior executives from both NetBase and Quid, reflecting both companies' commitment to their customers. "Merging Quid and NetBase will help enable the next wave of innovative customer analytics," added Pamela Mittoo, Manager of Technical Consumer Research at Coca-Cola. "This new company will provide the ultimate resource in understanding consumer context." "Both NetBase and Quid enable the strategic work we do at FleishmanHillard. Combining NetBase's and Quid's contextual AI and breadth of data sources will give us unparalleled visibility into any landscape analysis, including our clients' brand coverage, the industries they serve, and new areas of opportunity for our clients and their customers" said, Brian Mossop, Senior Vice President, FleishmanHillard. "This will definitely be a game changer for our business and our clients." "This kind of platform is sure to attract a slew of new, innovative customers," said Don Butler, Managing Director at Thomvest Ventures, the leading VC funding NetBase. "New, growing businesses have an abundance of unstructured data they don't know what to do with, and NetBase Quid is addressing the need of the evolving landscape." For more information on NetBase Quid, please visit here. ABOUT NETBASE NetBase is the award-winning social analytics platform that global companies use to run brands, build businesses, and connect with consumers every second. Its platform processes millions of social media posts daily for actionable business insights for marketing, research, customer service, sales, PR, and product innovation. NetBase is a trusted partner to American Airlines, Arby's, Coca-Cola, Ogilvy, T-Mobile, United Airlines, and YUM! Brands. Learn more at netbase.com. ABOUT QUID Quid is an artificial intelligence company in San Francisco founded in 2010 and enables organizations to understand the story behind their customers, competitors, markets, and brand. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence and natural language processing to illuminate key information and drive insights in areas like competitive intelligence, market landscapes, and trend analysis. Quid is a trusted partner to Walmart, Hyundai, Wunderman Thompson, Golin, Microsoft, BCG and The New York Times. Learn more at quid.com . SOURCE NetBase Related Links https://www.netbase.com Anuradha Shukla By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Struggling to achieve the revenue target, the Income Tax (I-T) department is planning to intensify its drive against tax defaulters. It will target small businesses and high net worth individuals after big corporate houses suspected of evading taxes. Last few weeks had been very crucial and we have orders to come down heavily on those who are evading tax, while protecting honest taxpayers. We have a list of 400 small businesses and some high net worth individuals which we will investigate in coming weeks, a senior official, Income Tax department, told this publication. The official claimed that the list of small businesses had been prepared using data analytics by matching invoices from the GST returns. The Income Tax department last week conducted raids on a famous hotel brand and claimed to discover foreign assets of over Rs 1,000 crore and unaccounted domestic assets worth Rs 25 crore. ALSO READ | Will government implement Direct Tax Code report on taxes? The department also conducted raid on a Chennai-based educational group. The officials claimed that they have found unauthorised income worth Rs 7,000 crore in last two months. Direct tax revenues Corporation Income Tax and Personal Income Tax together according to the Budget estimate has been pegged at Rs 13.35 lakh crore, which is 16 per cent higher than the Budget estimate (Rs 11.50 lakh crore) and 11.25 per cent higher than the revised estimate (Rs 12 lakh crore). After the last year Budget, the government reduced base corporate tax for existing companies to 22 per cent from 30 per cent, and to 15 per cent from 25 per cent for new manufacturing firms incorporated after October 1, 2019, and starting operations before March 31, 2023, expecting a shortfall of Rs 1.45 lakh crore to the revenue department of government officials. In brief: Despite pressure from the US to shun the company, the UK government has announced it will allow Huawei to build parts of Britains 5G network, albeit with some restrictions. The Chinese giant will be banned from supplying equipment for the core, or sensitive areas, of the network. Additionally, Huawei will have a limited presence of no more than 35 percent of the networks periphery, which includes radio masts, and it is prohibited from operating at locations such as nuclear and military facilities. Even though the UK is allowing Huawei limited access, it still designated the firm a high-risk vendor. It seems there was little alternative other than to use the companyThe Guardian writes that officials feared a ban would have delayed the 5G rollout by two to three years and affected economic growth. Beijing had warned of substantial repercussions to trade and investment plans had Huawei been banned outright. Our world-leading cyber-security experts know more about Huawei than any country in the world and they are satisfied that with our tough approach and regulatory regime, any risks can be managed, said a government source. Back in April 2019, the US warned that it could cut intelligence ties with the UK if it used Huaweis 5G tech. The announcement will likely strain ties between the Trump administration and Boris Johnsons government. Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, called the decision a strategic defeat for America. British decision to accept Huawei for 5G is a major defeat for the United Statees. How big does Huawei have to get and how many countries have to sign with Huawei for the US government to realize we are losing the internet to China? This is becoming an enormous strategic defeat. Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) January 28, 2020 As noted by the BBC, Three out of four of the UK's mobile networks had already decided to use and deploy Huawei's 5G products in the periphery. Huawei is reassured by the UK government's confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G rollout on track, said Huaweis UK chief Victor Zhang, in a statement. It gives the UK access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market. In May last year, former UK Prime Minister Theresa May fired defense secretary Gavin Williamson for allegedly leaking details of a National Security Council meeting regarding Huawei and its role in the UKs 5G network. Megastar Rajinikanth twisted his ankle while shooting for ace adventurer Bear Grylls's Man vs Wild show at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve on Tuesday, forest officials said. IMAGE: Brtish adventurer Bear Grylls arrives at Bandipur National Park. Photograph: ANI/Twitter "Rajinikanth lost his balance, twisted his ankle and suffered minor bruises to his hand below the elbow," a forest official said. "The actor is okay now," he added. Meanwhile, the actor left Mysore and reached Chennai late on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters at Chennai, he said he had suffered the bruises due to thorns, apparently at the shooting spot in Bandipur. SEE: Rajinikanth at Bandipur forest for shoot with Bear Grylls The forest department put a lot of conditions while permitting the shooting such as filming at own risk and not allowing the crew to use explosives and inflammable materials, according to officials. Rajinikanth is the second Indian high profile figure to appear in Man Vs Wild after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A forest department official said the shooting started on Tuesday and would go on till the afternoon of January 30. After the first day's shoot on Tuesday, the crew left the venue and would be back on Wednesday morning, he said. Boris Johnson is enjoying a Brexit honeymoon with a poll showing the Tories now have a massive 20-point lead over Labour. Six weeks after the dramatic election victory, YouGov research for The Times put the Conservatives on 49 per cent, far ahead of their main rivals on 29 per cent. The parties received around 44 per cent and 32 per cent respectively in the national vote on December 12. The towering advantage, in a poll conducted this week, emerged as Labour descends into infighting over who should succeed Jeremy Corbyn as leader and a blame game over the disastrous election performance. An internal review has received complaints from activists about 'gimmicky and distracting' policies and the promotion of officials based on 'factional loyalty'. YouGov research for The Times put the Conservatives on 49 per cent, far ahead of their main rivals on 29 per cent According to the Guardian, the Labour Together commission, headed by former leader Ed Miliband, has also been told that the party's 'rhetoric around ''elites'' and who we didn't like or support made us look negative and aggressive'. There were also gripes that Labour's tech was glitchy, with a phone system said to have gone down at the start of the campaign and an online uploading platform described as 'clunky'. Its final report is expected to be published later this year. Meanwhile, the contenders for the party's top job have been delivering their own assessments. Rebecca Long-Bailey said it was 'b******s' to claim December's disastrous election result shows voters do not want socialism. The hard-left Labour leadership candidate said she had been in a 'state of shock' over the Tory win because 'everybody loved the Labour Party' in her northern constituency. She said she believed that in the 'worst case scenario it would be a hung parliament' but the exit poll left her 'crushed'. Miss Long-Bailey, the party's business spokesman, made her comments at the retirement dinner of ex-Blyth MP Ronnie Campbell on Saturday evening. At the same event she was praised by Jeremy Corbyn as 'totally dedicated' - a sign that the Labour leader wants her to take over. The comments will do little to allay fears she is merely a Corbyn continuity candidate. In a recording leaked to HuffPost UK, Miss Long-Bailey said: 'We had a few wobbly people on the doorstep because of Brexit, but I thought everything was going to be alright. 'I was in a state of shock and it was as if everything I believed [was] being ripped up before my very eyes, that everything we fought and we're so proud of was suddenly invalidated, [that] no-one wanted us, no-one wanted socialism. 'And then I pushed that thought out of my head because I thought 'that's b******s'.' Ms Long-Bailey also hit out at leadership rivals who resigned from the shadow cabinet in 2016 as part of a bid to force him out. Boris Johnson (pictured on a visit to London today) is enjoying a Brexit honeymoon with a poll showing the Tories now have a massive 20-point lead over Labour Rebecca Long-Bailey (pictured left at an event in Oxford yesterday) and Keir Starmer (right in London last night) are the front runners to replace Jeremy Corbyn Lisa Nandy resigned as shadow energy secretary and Sir Keir Starmer as a shadow home office minister, forcing a leadership contest which Mr Corbyn won. And she claimed one Labour MP who resigned as a shadow minister deleted files she needed to be able to fight against a Tory finance bill being debated in Parliament. Mr Corbyn said that, despite this, she went on to give an 'absolutely brilliant performance, because she was totally dedicated to standing up for our party against the Tories'. He added: 'It's an absolute pleasure to be here alongside Becky Long Bailey, our candidate for leader. 'I've known Becky since we came in to parliament and we've worked very well together. She has done the most to develop our trade union policies.' DZ BANK AG Frankfurt am Main - Pre Stabilisation RNS Number: residue number system Frankfurt am Main, 28. Januar 2020 Not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful. 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Six years after Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS) head Ashutosh Maharaj was declared clinically dead by doctors, his body continues to be preserved in a freezer at Nurmahal, around 34 km from here, and his disciples and the dera management still believe that the self-styled godman is in samadhi (deep meditation) and will return on his own. On the night of January 29, 2014, a team of doctors was called from Satguru Apollo Hospital in Ludhiana after the dera head suffered uneasiness. Later, he was declared clinically dead. Even as eminent political leaders were given the message about the last rites of Maharaj, the dera leaders who arrived from Delhi started claiming the next morning that their spiritual guru was not dead but had gone into meditation. NO ACCESS TO EVEN VIP VISITORS The room where the dera heads body has been kept is guarded by a group of followers round the clock and the people are not allowed to go inside it. The Punjab Police personnel are deployed around the dera. Even the VIP visitors are kept away from the closely guarded room, dera insiders revealed. Chief ministers of Haryana and Himachal, Manohar Lal Khattar and Jai Ram Thakur, and Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singhs wife and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur were among the eminent leaders who visited the dera last year. Only three to four persons from the top management of DJJS are allowed to go inside the room. Besides, government and private doctors go there for routine check-ups after three months, dera sources said. NO SIGNS OF BODY DECOMPOSITION Jalandhar civil surgeon Dr Gurinder Kaur Chawla, who is part of the doctors panel, told HT that there are no signs of decomposition of the body yet. The check-ups are conducted on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana high court, which had allowed the dera to keep the body in a freezer. Temperature is maintained regularly in the freezer and we have been told that DJJS functionaries apply some medicines on the body on a regular basis, a doctor who visited the dera said, on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, sect members remain busy in various chores at the 50-acre dera and some shops situated inside its premises. Some disciples told HT that they have firm belief that Ashutosh Maharaj will return from his samadhi despite the fact that he has been declared clinically dead. Some others, however, said that they are only concerned with his teachings. Swami Narinder, a dera functionary, said Ashutosh Maharaj had announced during his discourses that he would go into samadhi and will return later to spread his message around the world. Meanwhile, Narinder denied that a rift in the management over controlling the dera was behind the decision to keep Maharajs body in a freezer. There are around a dozen members of the management that runs the DJJS affairs, he said. He claimed that all followers are still associated with the sect as they know that Maharaj will return. However, some insiders admitted that that there has been a slight dip in the followers of DJJS. PRO-MODI APPROACH Meanwhile, the biggest change DJJS has witnessed in the past four-five years is that its top functionaries strongly defend the policies and decisions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and support Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on key issues. Dera spokespersons are often seen on TV debates and social media extending whole-hearted support to Modi and his government. NAIROBI, Kenya For all his 73 years, Ahmed Khalil Kafe lived as a citizen of Kenya. Born in the capital, Nairobi, Mr. Kafe worked as a police officer and even served with the presidential guard, court documents show. But last April, when he tried to register for a national ID in the giant biometric database that President Uhuru Kenyatta has said will be the single source of truth on Kenyas population, he was turned away. Now, Mr. Kafe said, My life is in limbo. In an ambitious new initiative, the Kenyan government is planning to assign each citizen a unique identification number that will be required to go to school, get health care and housing, register to vote, get married and obtain a drivers license, bank account and even a mobile phone number. In preparation, nearly 40 million Kenyans have already had their fingerprints and faces scanned by a new biometric system that ramped up last spring. But millions of ethnic, racial and religious minorities like Mr. Kafe, who is a Kenyan of Nubian descent are running into obstacles and facing additional scrutiny when they apply for the documents required to get a biometric ID. Many have faced outright rejection. Now the biometric ID plan is being challenged in court by civil rights organizations, which say it is disenfranchising members of minority groups. The high court is expected to rule Thursday on whether the project is constitutional. New Delhi: The top court has given permission to bring African Cheetah for Indian sanctuaries. The court has said that it is not against the ambitious project of bringing African cheetahs from Namibia to India and settling in Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. The court said that there is no evidence of a collision between tiger and leopard. It is noteworthy that leopards are no longer in the country. The cheetah was last seen in the jungles of Surguja in 1948. Now the Modi government is engaged in efforts to restore this species. In the year 2010, the Center asked the Madhya Pradesh government to prepare a sanctuary for the cheetah. The Forest Department had earlier proposed the Kuno Palpur Sanctuary for the Cheetah project, but the top court stopped it from doing so. Because Kuno Palpur Sanctuary has been prepared for Asiatic Lion (Babbar Lion). After this, the department started preparing Nauradehi for the cheetah. The Wildlife Institute of India Dehradun had chosen Kuno Palpur and Nauradehi Sanctuary for this project. Both the sanctuaries have long open grasslands. To hunt the leopard requires small wildlife and an area with long and open ground. They need grass to hide. The department has fulfilled this requirement by removing ten villages from Nauradehi. Also Read: Coronavirus wreaks havoc in China, America alerts its citizens Chhattisgarh Gram Panchayat election voting continues, results will come soon PM Modi spoke to NCC cadets, says, "Now it will not be postponed, will be collided, will be dealt" Rahul's youth outrage rally against unemployment and inflation today The estranged husband of missing Connecticut mom Jennifer Dulos who is charged with her murder was found unresponsive on Tuesday after attempting suicide by sitting in his running car inside his garage, police said. Fotis Dulos, 51, is currently in critical condition with carbon monoxide poisoning, Tim McKenzie of the Farmington police said at a Tuesday press conference. Officers performed CPR on Dulos, who was alone at his residence at the time, said McKenzie. Officers went to his home for a well-being check because he did not show up for a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday. Dulos was charged with murder on January 7 in the presumed death of his estranged, still-missing wife. He was out on $6 million bond. Fotis Dulos | Connecticut State Police He was in court last Thursday after the prosecutor filed a complaint that Dulos had violated the earlier terms of his house arrest by going beyond the edge of his driveway to remove a makeshift shrine to his estranged wife, reports CBS New York. In court, Fotis pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, reports the Stamford Advocate. RELATED: Husband of Missing Mom Jennifer Dulos Along with His Lawyer and Girlfriend Charged in Death Jennifer Dulos | National Center for Missing and Endangered Fotis was charged with murder in Jennifers presumed death seven months after the Connecticut mother of five vanished from her New Canaan home after dropping her children off at school. His girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, and his civil lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, also were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, according to Connecticut State Police. The Courant reports Mawhinney has pleaded not guilty, and Troconis has not yet entered a plea to that charge. Fotis and Troconis were charged earlier with evidence tampering in connection with Jennifers disappearance. Both have pleaded not guilty to that charge. Fotis Dulos and Michelle Troconis | New Canaan Police Department(2) Jennifer last was seen on May 24. Bloodstains were found in the garage of her home, indicating a violent struggle, say police. Shortly afterward, her black Chevy Suburban was found abandoned near a local park several miles away. Story continues She and Fotis were involved at the time in a contentious divorce and custody battle. Police allege that Fotis was lying in wait and attacked his estranged wife in her garage on the day she died, court documents show. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLEs free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. RELATED: Im Afraid of My Husband: What Missing Conn. Mom Said About Estranged Spouse in Divorce Papers After the murder charge was filed, Pattis told PEOPLE: A preliminary review of the warrant leaves us relieved and saddened. Were relieved that there was nothing we didnt expect or have heard about; saddened because its obvious the state police really have no idea what became of Jennifer. This remains an open case in our view. An attorney for Troconis and Dulos did not immediately return PEOPLEs calls for comment. - A 50-year-old man, Emmanuel Amega, has died after he set fire to a residential apartment belonging to his father, Kwame Amega, aged 70 years - The fire was set after two failed attempts and Emmanuel's sister reportedly sustained injuries as a result - Attempts by the Ghana National Fire Service to douse the fire failed and they had to call on the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Fire Station for help Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in A 50-year-old man has lost his life after he set fire to a residential apartment at Achiase, in the Nwabiagya North District of the Ashanti Region. YEN.com.gh understands that Emmanuel Amega, who is believed to have mental challenges, burnt a five-bedroom house belonging to his father, Kwame Amega. Investigations conducted by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) show that Emmanuel deliberately set the fire. Source: myjoyonline.com Source: UGC READ ALSO: Mfantsiman SHS Science student blows everyone away with impressive art of Akufo-Addo and Shatta Wale Per a report by myjoyonline.com, the fire was set after two failed attempts. Kwames sister managed to escape but suffered some burns and her fathers charred body was spotted on a wooden bench in one of the rooms. Information available suggests that the incident follows a similar one that ocurred at Damang, near Asante Mampong. Andrews Atta Kwadwo Atta, a former teacher at the St. Monicas Senior High School, lost her life in a bush fire. GNFS officials responded to distress calls at about 11:40 pm on Sunday, January 26, 2020. The intensity of the fire, however, compelled them to call for help from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Fire Station. In other news, a video that has since gone viral on social media shows the deplorable conditions in which some Senior High School (SHS) students are living. Information available suggests that the residents of such places are students of the Accra Wesley Girls School. The video shows a portion of the uncompleted building which is believed to a hostel, with cooking utensils, footwear, beddings, and clothing displayed around. Some Ghanaians, surprised by the content of the video, reacted to it on social media. READ ALSO: 60-year-old single woman finally finds love; beautiful photos emerge from wedding ceremony Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Playstore now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Ghanaian Traders Share Thoughts on Sales During Christmas | #Yencomgh Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish on YEN.com.gh? Please contact us on Facebook or Instagram now! Source: YEN.com.gh Palestinian presidential adviser Nabil Shaath reflected on the dilemma facing President Mahmoud Abbas following the unveiling of the Peace to Prosperity plan for the Middle East. The president has re-emphasized the need for national unity, and has agreed to a request to go to Gaza to attend a unity meeting, has supported the need for popular struggle and has called for [revisiting] the functions of the Palestinian Authority, he told Al-Monitor. He added, The decision to implement the decisions of the Palestine national and central councils will obviously include the decision to suspend security coordination. What Shaath was unable to say is whether the decisions that Abbas will make will force him to choose between political, or even personal, survival as part of the process of reviewing relations with Israel. In a televised speech on Palestine TV the night of Jan. 28, Abbas listed the actions that can be taken in reaction to the American plan. Abbas spoke about the upcoming Arab League meeting Feb. 1, to be followed by a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the nonaligned countries and then a meeting of the African Union. But Abbas emphasized that Palestinians cant expect help from outside without doing our own part. Diana Bhutto, a former legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team, described in much sharper language the choices facing Abbas. In the past, President Abbas has been reluctant to do what is needed to hold Israel accountable for its actions," she said. "If he decides to change and pursue a strategy of holding Israel accountable, then he has no choice but to begin supporting the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement and to suspend security coordination with Israel. When asked, Shaath was hesitant to say whether Abbas would support BDS. BDS is an act by activists or factions such as Fatah and Hamas but not by the government," he said. "When we stopped importing calves a few weeks ago, the Israelis implemented harsh revenge on us. The Palestinian Authority banned the import of calves from Israel in October 2019, instead importing them from other countries as part of an economic disengagement plan. Israel responded with a number of measures that negatively impacted the Palestinian economy. Bhutto understands that if Abbas were to pursue these steps it would provoke Israels wrath. The question that needs to be answered is whether he is backed by a strong, unified people willing to bear the consequences of such a courageous decision. Bhutto told Al-Monitor she is not confident that Palestinian factions are willing to unite. If the 2014 war against Gaza didnt get them to unite, nothing will, she said. Hani al-Masri, the executive director of Masarat think tank, believes the idea of national unity cannot be addressed simply by a one-off meeting. There has to be a wide net that encompasses the largest possible representation of Palestinians, he told Al-Monitor. According to Masri, for national unity to work, it can't be limited to a few leaders but must include representatives of civil society, the womens movement and youth activists, as well as union leaders and community organizers throughout Palestine. Salwa Hudaib, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, told Al-Monitor that while the participation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the leadership meeting Tuesday was welcomed, she doesnt believe this will lead to unity. I dont trust that Hamas will continue in the unity process, she said. Meanwhile, Kayed Maari, director of the Witness Center for Citizens Rights in Nablus, told Al-Monitor that what is needed is strategic and continuous action, not an isolated reaction to Donald Trump's speech. Abbas addressed the popular struggle in his speech, but it was not clear if the Palestinian leadership is willing to commit to an escalation of unarmed attacks against Israel. Palestinians have long discussed and debated nonviolent struggle, but without a clear consensus on guidelines. In Gaza, unarmed attacks in the form of the March of Return were often politically manipulated and failed to stay totally nonviolent. The choices available to the Palestinian leadership are not easy. While the Palestinian side has a strong and effective negative power in saying no to policies and ideas that are presented, the latest effort by the United States might not be easy to overcome. Although the Trump plan reflects his support for the reelection of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, what is worrisome is that such a detailed plan, with its many gifts to Israel, will become the new reference point. It risks prompting a shift away from international resolutions to a pro-Israel plan that might result in the annexation of more Palestinian land. This is what makes the Palestinian leadership's position so difficult. Strong national unity and a willingness to make even more sacrifices are needed. (Natural News) If youve been following the progression of the coronavirus outbreak, then you likely know that authorities are blaming tainted meat sold at the Wuhan, China, Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market for causing it. This market, in case you didnt know, sells all sorts of exotic meats derived from rodents, as well as from animals that most people consider to be pets, not food and many of these animals undergo extreme abuse before being slaughtered for their meat. As you can see from the animal meat visual presented at this link, the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market sells not just the usual meats like chicken, pork and beef, but also meat derived from foxes, koalas, dogs, scorpions, snakes and horses. Other reports also say that the meat of wolves, bats, and rats is sold at this market as well. While the media is mostly focusing on the gross factor associated with eating rodent meat, which can harbor all sorts of infectious diseases, what theyre not diving into is the horrific lives that the more sentient animals have to endure before being carved up and consumed by the Chinese. More than 10 million dogs and four million cats are slaughtered every year in China, and many of these are family pets that unscrupulous Chinese traders steal and force into cages before later slaughtering them and selling their meat. Reports indicate that many of these dogs and cats have their limbs broken as theyre stuffed into these cages, and are transported very long distances without being given any food or water. When they arrive to meat markets like the one in Wuhan, these poor animals are often injured, dehydrated and exhausted, and are forced to watch other dogs and cats in terror be bludgeoned to death or tossed alive into boiling water to remove their skins. Such horrific practices take place every day in China, which has some people asking themselves: is coronavirus a type of divine payback for this extreme animal abuse? Yulin, China, actually holds an annual Dog Meat Festival to celebrate canine consumption If you can even believe it, theres a city in China known as Yulin that holds an annual Lychee and Dog Meat Festival to celebrate the eating of dog meat. And, sadly, the number of dogs slaughtered at this event represents just 0.01 percent of the total Chinese dog trade, which occurs all across the country. The dog meat industry has long claimed that it farms dogs for their meat, boasting more than 100 registered dog meat farms,' reports the group Animals Asia. But in 2015, a four-year undercover investigation by Animals Asia into the Chinese dog meat trade exposed these claims as false. None of its registered farms had more than 30 dogs on-site and such small scale operations cannot possibly meet such a demand. In other words, China is lying about how many dogs its abusing and killing so their meat can be harvested and sold at a premium. Its these and other horrific practices taking place in China that suggest coronavirus might just be the beginning of sorrows for China, so to speak. Other abused animals sold in China for their meat include civets, which are similar to cats. Civets, along with rats and bats, are considered to be a delicacy throughout China, as well as in other nearby Asian countries. Poorly regulated, live animal markets mixed with illegal wildlife trade offer a unique opportunity for viruses to spill over from wildlife hosts into the human population, reads an official statement from the Wildlife Conservation Society about Chinas filthy and abusive animal meat underground. To keep up with the latest coronavirus news, be sure to check out Outbreak.news. Sources for this article include: SCMP.com NYPost.com AnimalAsia.org NaturalNews.com BusinessInsider.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 10:44:52|Editor: zyl Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- California e-scooter startup Bird said Monday that it has acquired European scooter rental provider Circ to expand its operation in European cities. Bird announced its purchase of the Berlin-based Circ, a leading e-scooter company in Europe and the Middle East, without disclosing details about the deal. The transaction will add more than 300 employees to its European operation to provide better mobility services to European riders who can unlock dockless scooters via a smartphone app for convenient transportation needs, said Bird. The California e-scooter sharing company also said it has raised an additional 75 million U.S. dollars in its latest funding round to bring the total to 350 million dollars. Bird said that the fund will be used to increase its profitability, vehicle development and business expansion in Europe. The BJP Tamil Nadu handle tweeted a screenshot of an online order of razors in response to the image of a heavily-bearded former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah. The tweet was later deleted The BJP Tamil Nadu handle tweeted a screenshot of an online order of razors in response to the image of a heavily-bearded former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah. The tweet was later deleted. A picture of Abdullah in which he had a heavy beard surfaced on Twitter on Saturday and soon went viral. In response, the BJP posted a screenshot of the Amazon order bearing the address of the Kashmiri leaders Srinagar residence. The tweet said it was disheartening to see Omar in his current state and offered a "sincere contribution". Additionally, BJP leader Giriraj Singh took a jibe on Monday at the picture and said that Articles 370 and 35A were removed from the Valley, not razors. Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and other leaders of Jammu and Kashmir have been in detention since August when the government scrapped Article 370 and divided the state into two Union Territories. This was the first picture of the leader to have emerged in five months. On 15 January, Omar Abdullah was reportedly shifted to his Gupkar residence in Srinagar. 370 35a .. (Razor) ?? https://t.co/q9tDgMCbeh Shandilya Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) January 27, 2020 The picture evoked anger and shock from many leaders. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she could not recognise Omar Abdullah in the picture, while DMK chief MK Stalin called upon the government to release all political prisoners in Jammu and Kashmir. Shiv Sena spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said that it was sad to feel happiness at just a photo of the former chief minister. How bad must it be that we are feeling happy just to see a smiling pic of the former CM of J&K @OmarAbdullah . Would truly be a happy moment when he and the rest are out and about, not under house arrest, hear them speak and read his tweets. Till then just the pic brings hope! Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) January 25, 2020 "This picture points to a very disturbing fact about the central government. A former CM, who is also a former Union minister, has been detained for months without any charge. And he and his party have been the biggest votaries of India," CPIM leader Sitaram Yechury said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-27 22:40:50|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close LONDON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected Monday to promise that his country will open to the world's best talent, one day after he unveiled plans to celebrate Britain's departure from the European Union (EU) on Jan. 31. Accused by opponents of trying to "rub the noses of Remainers in their defeat," Johnson appears determined to face down industry protests over immigration as he sells his vision of a more agile country able to exploit new technologies in a new era with potentials. BIG PLAN Johnson will deliver a special address to the nation and Downing Street will be illuminated with a count-down light display marking Britain's exit from the EU this coming Friday at 11 p.m. (2300GMT). The move is designed to symbolise the strength and unity of Britain's four nations -- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. "Next Friday marks an important moment in the history of our United Kingdom," the prime minister said Sunday night. "No matter how you voted in 2016, it is the time to look ahead with confidence to the global, trail-blazing country we will become over the next decade and heal past divisions." "That is what I will be doing on January 31 and I urge everyone across the UK to do the same," he said. Union flags will line Parliament Square and the Mall in central London while government buildings on Whitehall will be lit up in red, white and blue throughout the evening. A countdown clock will be projected onto Number 10's black bricks from 10 p.m. (2200GMT) on Jan. 31. To coincided with the date, the new commemorative 50p (about 65 U.S. cents) coin will also go into circulation. Big Ben, however, is not set to ring, as many Brexiteers had desired. Johnson's proposal of crowdfunding the bill of 500,000 pounds (653,450 dollars) for restoring Big Ben to working order for Brexit day had backfired badly. DEEP DIVISION British politicians who fought for Britain to remain in the EU said the events are deeply inappropriate. Tory peer and former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine told the Observer: "Brexit is the most divisive issue of modern times. Those of us who fought to remain did so sincerely in the interests of our country and subsequent generations who we believe should be influential at the heart of Europe." "I think it is unwise of the government to rub our noses in it by celebrating our defeat at this hour, whilst talking about unifying the country," he said. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats' acting leader, Ed Davey, accused Johnson of using public money for an inappropriate, divisive event. "The prime minister should be seeking to pull the country together, not gloat with an expensive party on the public purse," he said. The leader of the Scottish National Party at Westminster, Ian Blackford, said "It grieves me that we should be leaving the greatest postwar peace project ever created. That is not something we should be celebrating." Claude Moraes, who has served as a Labour MEP for more than 20 years and will attend the European Parliament for the last time on Thursday, said the British government events to mark Brexit were wrong. "All this make me feels very uneasy. The country is still bruised and divided," he said. "The British thing to do would be to mark the occasion in a way that respects the views of both sides, and that recognises the national divide," he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesnt speak about rising unemployment in the country and is responsible for the destroying Indias image abroad, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday. Keeping his focus on the state of the countrys economy under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, Rahul Gandhi said the Prime Minister probably hasnt studied or understood economics. He pointed out that economic growth has dropped since the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power. India grew at 9% during the UPA. The entire world was looking towards us. Today, you have different parameters to measure GDP and you have a 5% rate. If you use old parameters, then India is growing at 2.5%, he said. Ask an eight-year-old whether demonetisation benefited you or harmed you? The child will say the note ban did more harm than good, he said. Gandhi made the comments while addressing a Yuva Aakrosh Rally (youth anger) in Rajasthans capital, Jaipur. The address is a part of his proposed plan to hold similar rallies across the country in a bid to reconnect with the masses and corner the Centre on the nationwide protests over the new citizenship law and economic slowdown. The current government at the Centre has ignored the countrys biggest asset, the youth, the 49-year-old leader said. Prime Minister Modi had promised two crore jobs but last year our youth lost one crore jobs. Wherever the PM goes he talks of CAA and NRC but doesnt mention the biggest issue of unemployment. The PM doesnt even speak a word on it, Gandhi said. Earlier, we were competing with China but now sadly China has left us far behind. The whole world knows if there is anyone who can rival China, it is Indias youth, he said. The senior Congress leader also accused PM Modi of tarnishing Indias image as a country of peace. The reputation and image that India had in the world were that it is a country of brotherhood, love and unity, while Pakistan was known for hatred and divisiveness. This image of India has been damaged by Narendra Modi. Today, India is considered as the rape capital of the world, he said. When our youth question the PM on our reputation being adversely affected, on joblessness, they target you, they shoot at you. I challenge the PM to visit any Indian university and face students questions before he speaks. He cant but he can make false promises. After Jaipurs Yuva Aakrosh rally, Gandhi will lead an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rally at Kalpetta in his Lok Sabha constituency Wayanad in Kerala on January 30, the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi. He would highlight the NDA governments failures on the economic front, rising unemployment and agrarian distress apart from talking about the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), the two issues that have triggered nationwide protests. Popular anti-virus company Avast has been selling user data that includes specific web browsing history to major companies around the world. According to a joint investigation by Motherboard and PCMag, Avast, which claims to have more than 435 million users, has been using a subsidiary called Jumpshot to sell user data to companies including Google, Microsoft, Home Depot, Pepsi and more. Documents and leaked user data obtained in the investigation reveal that information collected by Avast on tens of millions of its users include details that most consider to be sensitive, such as web browsing history, and that some of that data is granular enough to track individual clicks on a web page. In addition to search histories, location histories, and which videos a user watched on YouTube, documents show that Avast tracked visits to porn sites like PornHub or YouPorn and in some cases logged the time a user visited the site and which specific video they watched and queries they entered. Though the data is reportedly not personally-identifiable, meaning it's not accompanied by a name or other identifier, experts interviewed by Motherboard say the level of detail tracked by Avast may undermine its anonymity. Antivirus company Avast and its subsidiary Jumpshot funnel data to companies around the world including Microsoft, Google and more WHICH COMPANIES BOUGHT AVAST'S DATA? Companies that bought Avast's user data include: Google, Yelp, Microsoft, McKinsey, Pepsi, Home Depot, Conde Nast, Intuit, Trip Advisor, and many more. Many of those companies chose not to respond to inquiries about what they did with Avast data. Advertisement 'De-identification has shown to be a very failure-prone process. There are so many ways it can go wrong,' Gunes Acar, who studies large-scale internet tracking at the Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography research group at the Department of Electrical Engineering of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven told Motherboard. 'Most of the threats posed by de-anonymizationwhere you are identifying peoplecomes from the ability to merge the information with other data. Acar tells Motherboard that with the specificity of timestamp data and other points, identities can feasibly be reconstructed. Depending on the specificity of that data, Avast would adjust its pricing and packages, selling more granular information for millions of dollars. Comprehensive packages purchased by a New York-based media company called Ominicom total upwards of $4.5 million and in Jumpshot's own words, give access to 'Every search. Every click. Every buy. On every site.' That package gave Omincom access to data of users from 14 different countries and some personal data like gender which is inferred based on browsing data. While Jumpshot says it 'hashes' - encrypts - device IDs of its users, it also said that those IDs never change, meaning they're permanently linked to a user's information, making it more likely to identify a subject. Just what each company used the data for varied, according to Motherboard. Home Depot, one of a handful of companies to respond to inquiries about Avast's services told Motherboard: 'We sometimes use information from third-party providers to help improve our business, products and services. We require these providers to have the appropriate rights to share this information with us. In this case, we receive anonymized audience data, which cannot be used to identify individual customers.' Microsoft didn't elaborate on what it used data for but reportedly has no ongoing relation with Avast while Yelp says it used Avast data to help it in an antitrust suit with Google. 'In 2018, as part of a request for information by antitrust authorities, Yelp's policy team was asked to estimate the impact of Googles anticompetitive behavior on the local search marketplace. Jumpshot was engaged on a one-time basis to generate a report of anonymized, high-level trend data which validated other estimates of Googles siphoning of traffic from the web. No PII was requested or accessed,' a Yelp spokesperson told Motherboard. Avast and its subsidiary Jumpshot have been selling user data from its antivirus software and web browser plugins to companies around the world (Stock photo) Until recently, data was reportedly being collected by anyone who downloaded a plugin in their web browser before the extensions were removed from the stores of Google and Mozilla. Now, Motherboard reports that Avast has turned to its actual antivirus software to achieve the same end where it asks customers to opt-in to their data collection program through what the outlet describes as a 'pop-up.' 'We ensure that Jumpshot does not acquire personal identification information, including name, email address or contact details. Users have always had the ability to opt out of sharing data with Jumpshot,' a spokesperson told MailOnline. 'As of July 2019, we had already begun implementing an explicit opt-in choice for all new downloads of our AV, and we are now also prompting our existing free users to make an opt-in or opt-out choice, a process which will be completed in February 2020.' Despite a tweak in its policies that asks for permission to track web data, some users say they were unaware that Avast had ever engaged in the practice (Stock photo) Despite their new policy on informing users, customers interviewed by Motherboard say they were unaware that Avast was intent on tracking their data. This is not the first time that Avast has faced scrutiny for its practices. In December, Senator Ron Wyden called upon the company for greater transparency after it stopped collecting data via its web browsing plugin. 'It is encouraging that Avast has ended some of its most troubling practices after engaging constructively with my office. However Im concerned that Avast has not yet committed to deleting user data that was collected and shared without the opt-in consent of its users, or to end the sale of sensitive internet browsing data,' Wyden said at the time. 'The only responsible course of action is to be fully transparent with customers going forward, and to purge data that was collected under suspect conditions in the past.' CAIRO - The U.N. food agency said Tuesday that one of its warehouses in the Houthi-controlled part of Yemen had been looted. The World Food Program statement described the culprits simply as militias and said 127.5 tons (over 115,000 kilograms) of aid were stolen in the northern province of Hajja. A senior aid worker, however, said Houthi militiamen were behind the looting. The worker spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. Millions of Yemenis live just a step away from famine and rely on food aid. The WFP began a partial suspension of food aid to areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels last June, amid accusations they were diverting aid from the war-torn countrys hungriest people. The Houthis denied the accusation. Aid deliveries resumed in August. Across Yemen, factions and militias on all sides of the conflic t have blocked food aid from going to groups suspected of disloyalty, diverted it to front-line combat units or sold it for profit on the black market, The Associated Press reported in December 2018. The WFP confirmed the report. The WFP provides food assistance to 12 million people every month. The agency spoke out repeatedly last year about aid diversion at the hands of Houthis and accused them of impeding its operations. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been at war with Yemens internationally recognized government since 2014, when the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa. That move prompted a coalition of Gulf Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to begin a military campaign the following year in support of the internationally recognized government. A drastic escalation in fighting between the Saudi-led military coalition and Houthi rebels in Yemen has killed and wounded hundreds of people over the past week, officials and tribal leaders said Monday. ROME, N.Y. State police have made a second arrest in connection with cases of stolen car parts in Rome. Colton L. Shaffer, 21, was arrested on Saturday, Jan. 25, and charged with auto stripping, criminal mischief and grand larceny for allegedly damaging vehicles and stealing catalytic converters for scrap. Police say Shaffer worked with Richard D. Tennant Jr., 26, who was arrested on Jan. 17 and is facing similar charges. Schaffer was also charged with burglary for allegedly entering a barn and stealing catalytic converters from several vehicles. Police say he then sold the converters to a business in Marcy. Shaffer was arraigned in the Oneida County Centralized Arraignment Court and was remanded to the Oneida County Jail on $5,000 bail. He is scheduled to return to the city of Rome court on a later date. All assets owned by late industrialist KK Modi, including cigarette-maker Godfrey Phillips, are up for sale, his son Lalit Modi confirmed on January 27. Godfrey Phillips India, which manufactures Marlboro cigarettes in India, currently has two major stakeholders Phillip Morris (which owns 25.1 percent) and the KK Modi Group (47.09 percent). Just to set the record straight. Yes all Assets of the #kkmodi group are going on sale. I mean all. The other 3 trustees wanted to continue running the Business But I felt post my father passing away - the value will deplete. I voted for sale. https://t.co/dJOIYsevJR. Sale On pic.twitter.com/lKOKZXP04z Lalit Kumar Modi (@LalitKModi) January 27, 2020 Krishan Kumar Modi, who was chairman of Modi Enterprises, passed away in November last year. His wife Bina was appointed as Chairperson following his death. The group will not be selling its stake in Colorbar, Ego Italian, Beacon Travels and the education businesses, Lalit Modi said in a tweet. Bina Modi, her son Samir and daughter Charu will retain these remaining brands. Other companies where the promoter stakes are up for sale are Modicare, Modicare Healthcare Placement and 24Seven convenience stores. All companies/ land / investments in any other companies - and assets listed on https://t.co/ZiEHDaVnkT will be on sale except - #colorbar / ego / Beacon Travels and education businesses. Which will be retained to be run by Samir / BINA / Charu. Rest on sale. Including #indofilpic.twitter.com/6tl6xNKV5M Lalit Kumar Modi (@LalitKModi) January 27, 2020 The investment banker will have mandate to sell to highest bidder. The banker will be assisted by group CEO RK Malhotra, Lalit Modi said. Another tweet by Lalit Modi indicated possible differences in the family, where he says he did not approve of his mother Bina running the business. I did not approve #Binamodi to run the #empire as she is not qualified to run such large corporation and will dilute our value. Thus the sale of all companies, properties etc,has been approved at the first trust meeting on 30/11/2019. the full sale must be completed by 29/11/2020 pic.twitter.com/SqWoTkUF3V Lalit Kumar Modi (@LalitKModi) January 27, 2020 At 09:23 hours, Godfrey Phillips India was quoting Rs 1,416.15, down Rs 22.60, or 1.57 percent. B oris Johnson was warned a US-UK trade deal could be blocked in Congress as senior ministers met today to give the green light to Chinese tech firm Huawei to help build a new 5G data network. The nine-member National Security Council, meeting in Whitehall, was expected to agree to a major role for the company, albeit restricted to the periphery of the infrastructure project and subject to constant monitoring. Senior ministers and officials were also likely to promise that future contracts will go to rival telecommunications companies such as Nokia and Ericsson once they have developed similar capabilities, ensuring that Huaweis share in the 5G roll-out will diminish slightly over time. However, members of the NSC were served with a stern warning from the US that Britain could be punished for handing such a sensitive network to a firm the White House argues is beholden to the Chinese state, which western intelligences agencies say is guilty of serial hacking and espionage. Three Republican senators, Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton and John Cornyn, wrote a letter to the NSC urging members to bar Huawei and warning: We do not want to feed post-Brexit anxieties by threatening a potential US-UK free trade agreement when it comes to Congress for approval. Nor would we want to have to review US-UK intelligence sharing. The facts on Huawei are clear. We hope that your government will make the right decision and reject Huaweis inclusion in its 5G infrastructure. 5G is the name for the fifth generation of mobile telecoms technology, promising vastly higher speeds and bandwidth. It promises lightning-quick downloads, with a movie taking just three seconds, and to make possible driverless cars. But there are concerns that China could order Huawei to steal data or, in a conflict, create gridlock. Cabinet minister Grant Shapps stressed the decision was entirely guided by the security and intelligence services, which have publicly signalled their confidence that any risks can be managed. We are determined to have the worlds best 5G network, the Transport Secretary told Sky News. Whatever is built, it is a question of making sure the network is robust and cannot be hacked by a foreign government or anyone else. Huawei already has a major role in the existing 4G network but, in a unique agreement, it pays the costs of running a special monitoring centre at Banbury where UK security experts study its code to ensure there are no back doors for Chinese hackers. Ex-Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith has said it is utterly bizarre to approve Huawei, while fellow Tory MP Tom Tugendhat said the UK would be allowing the fox into the hen house. A formal announcement of the decision was expected this afternoon from Culture Secretary Baroness Morgan. Speaking to reporters last night, the Prime Minister said: Theres no reason why we shouldnt have technological progress here in the UK but also protect our security interests and protect our key partnerships with other security powers around the world. Calaveras Public Health View Photo San Andreas, CA Calaveras County Health Officer Dr. Dean Kelaita spoke about what is being done locally in response to the worldwide outbreak of the Coronavirus. Dr. Kelaita addressed the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors at this mornings meeting. Coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China last month. The death toll has increased to 106 in China, there are 4,565 cases in 16 countries, five cases in the United States and two in California (in the greater Los Angeles area). Dr. Kelaita says all of the US cases have been linked to residents who recently traveled to China. He adds, Calaveras County Public Health has been working with our state, and our federal public health partners, in monitoring the situation. We have sent information to local hospitals, and the medical community, about surveillance for suspect cases. It includes encouraging health providers to learn about the travel history of patients, especially those with fevers who have been to China in recent weeks. Dr. Kelaita notes that the CDC and Department of Homeland Security are monitoring travel through airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta, especially for people coming from China and showing symptoms of illness. Dr. Kelaita concludes, It is a rapidly evolving situation and our local health department is working with our local partners to ensure the safety of the residents. To read more about the Coronavirus from the CDC, including symptoms, transmission and prevention, click here. To find the CDCs guidance to health providers, click here. The CDC is recommending all non-essential travel to China be avoided during the current outbreak. New driving force for cooperation and development The visit to France by NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and the high-ranking Vietnamese NA delegation was of importance, as a continuation of the high-level external activities between leaders of the two countries following the official visit to France by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the visit to Vietnam by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in 2018. The parliamentary cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and other countries, including France, is considered a pillar of Vietnams development cooperation and economic integration. During the visit, the top Vietnamese legislator held talks with President of the National Assembly of France Richard Ferrand, met with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, and received National Secretary of the French Communist Party Fabien Rousse and Secretary-General of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association Jean-Pierre Archambault. She also presented the first-class Independence Order to the Association of Vietnamese People in France and met the Executive Board of the Union of Vietnamese Associations in Europe and the organisers and delegates who attended the "Influential Vietnamese Forum". Within the framework of the visit, the NA leader attended the 11th edition of a conference on the decentralised collaboration between localities of the two countries, in Toulouse, with the participation of 25 Vietnamese localities and 18 French localities. This kind of cooperation has become a special highlight of the bilateral relations and has continued to achieve many results over the past 30 years. Within the visit to Vietnam in 2018, the French Prime Minister affirmed that the effectiveness of cooperation between Hanoi and French localities was a vivid proof of the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and France. This was the second time the NA Chairwoman attended the Vietnam France decentralised cooperation conference. As a "historical predestination, the people of Vietnam and France have a close relationship and the two countries have gone through many periods of ups and downs and are overcoming obstacles together to become more reliable companions. The relationship between the two countries has become comprehensive at both central and local levels with practical results. It can be affirmed that the cooperation between Vietnamese and French localities is on the largest scale among the local cooperation networks between Vietnam and foreign countries. The power of national roots The Vietnamese NA delegation visited France on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Vietnamese Association in France, which was marked at a ceremony in Paris with the participation of nearly 1,000 overseas Vietnamese from across France. The association of Vietnamese people in France is the successor of the group of Annamese patriots founded by Nguyen Ai Quoc (late President Ho Chi Minh) in 1919. The group resonated with progressive people as Nguyen Ai Quoc drafted and sent the Claims of the Annamese People to the Versailles Peace Conference. At the emotional meeting between the NA leader and overseas Vietnamese in France, all were touched to recall the heroic historical period of the nation. At that time, the first-generation Vietnamese intellectuals in France followed Uncle Ho's call to return to Vietnam to join the resistance, and the spirit has continued to spread today. Overseas Vietnamese people today are deeply attached to their roots and care for the homeland while respecting and integrating into French society. The development of the Vietnamese Association in France is a vivid illustration of the Vietnamese Party and States policy of great national unity. Speaking at the meeting with overseas Vietnamese, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan emphasised that, following the previous generations, many dignitaries and intellectuals have continued to contribute to the development of the country. Many professors and doctors from France have devoted their time, efforts and resources to many areas of national development, including activities of the NA and the Government. "The fatherland always acknowledges and appreciates the dedication, talent, and valuable contributions of the generations of Vietnamese expatriates in France," the NA Chairwoman stated. Within the framework of the NA Chairwomans visit to France, the delegation attended an archive exhibition entitled "Ho Chi Minh World Cultural Celebrity" at the head office of UNESCO in Paris. On this occasion, the Vietnamese Association in France held a photo exhibition featuring 100 years of its operations and activities and introduced a book entitled "A Century - A Road (1919-2019)" showcasing precious documents about President Ho Chi Minh and overseas Vietnamese in France as well as the movements of the overseas Vietnamese. Right at the entrance of the exhibition was a bilingual panel featuring an excerpt from the records of the 24th session of UNESCOs General Conference in Paris in 1987, which stated that "Ho Chi Minh is a great personality who has left an imprint on the development of humanity. The event also showcased research works by foreign authors about Ho Chi Minh, vivid images and documents of events with the presence of President Ho in France, and images of Vietnamese expatriates preparing to welcome President Ho Chi Minh during his visit to Biarritz, France, from June 12 - 22, 1946. The exhibition also featured images of President Hos participation in the celebration of the French National Day on July 14,1946; President Ho and French Prime Minister Georges Bidault posing for a photo together in Paris on July 2, 1946; President Ho placing wreaths at the Arc de Triompheon July 3, 1946; President Ho Chi Minh meeting with French High Commissioner Georges Thierry dArgenlieu on the cruiser Emile Bertin in Ha Long Bay on March 25, 1946; and a copy of Viet Nam Doc Lap (Independent Vietnam) Newspaper founded by Nguyen Ai Quoc in 1941. The affection of the French people for the beloved Uncle Ho can be seen in many places throughout Paris and the surrounding areas. The NA Chairwoman and the NA delegation also laid a wreath at the President Ho Chi Minh Statue in Montreau Park, Montreuil City. The city government has held meetings at this park in the past to show solidarity with the people of Vietnam. Through visits to foreign countries, leaders of the Party, State and National Assembly of Vietnam are determined to promote friendship and lift bilateral cooperation to new heights. They are also opportunities for the leaders to listen to the thoughts and aspirations of "special voters" to draw lessons on foreign affairs and contribute to enhancing Vietnam's position in the international arena. A delegation from Appalachian State University (ASU) in the United States visited theAmerican University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) for a campus tour and discussions with the leadership on deepening their cooperation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005378/en/ Professor Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim, the President of AURAK, and Dr. Sheri Everts, the Chancellor of Appalachian State University, during the visit. (Photo: AETOSWire) Sheri Everts, the Chancellor of Appalachian State University, led the ASU delegation. Professor Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim headed the AURAK contingent. One of AURAKs goals is to enter into partnerships with premier U.S. and international universities in order to foster academic exchange of students and faculty and research opportunities for AURAK. AURAK and Appalachian State University have been cooperating since 2015. AURAK and Appalachian State University recently agreed to establish a 3+1 Student Transfer Program (TSP). The agreement is due to be valid for a period of five years. AURAK is delighted to deepen its cooperation with Appalachian State University. This program will help our students deepen their education, broaden their experience and enable them to pick up important life skills. Spending an extended period abroad will also help students learn about other cultures and how to work with people from different backgrounds, Prof. Hassan said at the time. Appalachian State University offers a challenging academic environment and energetic campus life. Known for its affordability, Appalachian enrolls about 18,000 students and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors. Small classes and close interactions between faculty and students create a strong sense of community. Appalachian, located in Boone, North Carolina, is one of 16 universities in the University of North Carolina system. AURAK is a nonprofit, government-owned institution of higher education which provides the local, regional and international communities with a North American-style education integrated with Arab customs and traditions. AURAK is licensed by the Ministry of Education in the United Arab Emirates and has been accredited in the United States of America by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) since December 2018. AURAK offers a total of 22 accredited undergraduate and graduate programs across a wide range of disciplines. *Source: AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005378/en/ The Odisha government Tuesday began culling of chicken in the state capital, a day after bird flu was confirmed in a poultry farm of Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT), officials said. Culling is underway in areas within one km radius of OUAT campus, a member of the Rapid Response Team (RRTs) said, adding We have culled about 2,000 birds in the OUAT farm by 3 pm Tuesday". There are about 15,000 chickens in OUAT farm, sources said. While one km radius from the OUAT poultry farm has been declared as infested zone, the area within 10 km radius comes under surveillance zone, the officials said. After culling the chicken are being buried inside 12 feet ditch as per the standard operating procedures of the central government. Salt, lime and bleaching power are used to prevent the possible spread of the H5N1 virus to the nearby areas, they said. The culling process is being monitored by the Khurda chief district veterinary officer and is being carried out in the presence of senior officials of the animal resources and revenue departments, the source said, adding all chicken in the infested zone will be culled. As many as 12 RRTs have been engaged for the exercise. While seven teams are engaged in culling, the rest five carry out door-to-door survey and advise the people to allow the culling of chicken they have reared in their backyards. The state government has banned the sale of chicken and eggs in any counter in 1 km radius of OUAT. The outbreak of bird flu came to the fore after the Bhopal based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) confirmed presence of H5N1 virus in the sample of the OUAT chicken sent to it. Meanwhile, forest department officials of Chilika wildlife division and animal resources department, Balugan, collected stool samples of some migratory birds from the Nalabana area of the lake for tests to confirm whether the avian influenza has hit the lagoon. The authorities of the Nandankanan Zoo Tuesday closed its bird park in view of the avian flu in the state capital, sources in the forest department said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taylor-Made Broker Welcomes Scott Wilson First Home Mortgage Taylor-Made has an outstanding reputation in the community, and I am honored to have the opportunity to work alongside some of the most knowledgeable individuals in this business, states Wilson. Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales is pleased to announce the addition of Scott Wilson, of First Home Mortgage, as their full-time, in-house loan officer for real estate clients. First Home Mortgage is the largest private lender in the state of Maryland. The corporate office is located in Baltimore although they lend up and down the East Coast. The partnership began when Mike Archer, of First Home Mortgage, connected with his childhood friends Chad Taylor and Jodi Refosco, Taylor-Made owners. Mike operates out of the Millersville, MD office but began working with Taylor-Made's Deep Creek Lake real estate clients a few years ago. Recently, First Home Mortgage brought on Scott Wilson as a full-time, in-house loan officer for the Taylor-Made office. His background includes six years as a Trust Administrator at First United Bank & Trust and then as a Wealth Advisor. During that time, he also completed classes at Cannon Financial Institute to better help clients plan for their future. With nearly a decade of experience, he has the knowledge and attention to detail that ensures clients are provided a loan program that best suits their wants, needs, and lifestyle. Taylor-Made has an outstanding reputation in the community, and I am honored to have the opportunity to work alongside some of the most knowledgeable individuals in this business, states Wilson. The Taylor-Made team is equally happy to have Scott on-hand. Sales agents and their clients will benefit from the convenience of having easy access to the financing information they need. His expertise will contribute to the success of this rapidly growing Deep Creek Lake real estate company. Scott is a great community asset and brings exceptional customer service and skills stemming from his previous experience at First United Bank & Trust. I look forward to his success and continued support in this community, said Bob Carney, Taylor-Made Broker and Sales Manager. Scotts community involvement aligns with Taylor-Made's company culture as well. Active in the community, he is currently President-Elect for the Oakland Rotary Club (President starting in July) and actively volunteers for other local organizations including HART for Animals, Inc. and Cindys Fund. About Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales is a leader in Deep Creek Lake vacation rentals, real estate and property services. Taylor-Made rental homes and sales listings are conveniently located within a few hours drive from Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. Newlywed couple and parents-to-be Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson are opening up about their plans to raise a family and it involves moving to another country. In an interview with the Sunday Times published on Sunday, the breakout Queen & Slim star, 33, talked frankly about her outlook, revealing that she and Jackson, 41, are actively considering raising their baby outside of the U.S. The actress and model, who is seven months pregnant, said, 'The racial dynamics over here are fraught. White supremacy is overt. It's the reason I don't want to raise my kids here. Parents-to-be: Newlywed couple Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson are opening up about their plans to raise a family and it involves moving to another country 'I don't want my kids to grow up doing active shooter drills at school,' she added. When asked where they're considering as an alternative, Smith quickly dismissed her native UK. 'England has gone off the rails,' she said, 'so I was thinking maybe Canada.' Joshua, in fact, was born in Vancouver, Canada. Frank: The actress and model, who is seven months pregnant, said, 'The racial dynamics over here are fraught. White supremacy is overt. It's the reason I don't want to raise my kids here' At the start of the year, the sweethearts made their first major joint appearance as a couple at W Magazine's pre-Golden Globes party at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, California. Before that, while they were on vacation together in Jamaica, Jodie posted a racy nude shot on New Year's Day to her Instagram that Joshua took, in which she's silhouetted against a beautiful beach and sky view. 'Happy New Year & Happy New Decade,' her caption read. 'the last 10 years have been quite the ride!!! i laughed, i cried, and, most importantly, I LEARNED. keep going,' she continued. 'May we all see that our wildest dreams *continue* to come true ' Jodie concluded, adding the cheeky hashtags #LiveFootageOfMeInMyElement and #ItsNotAThirstTrapIfYourManTakesThePhoto. In love: Jodie and Joshua were first seen out as a couple at a pre-Golden Globes party earlier this month In December, it was reported that Turner-Smith and Jackson tied the knot after picking up a marriage license in Beverly Hills in August. Nonetheless, as of this weekend, Turner-Smith still refused to officially confirm her nuptials to the media. 'People are assuming whatever they want, but when people tell me "Congratulations," I say "Thank you,"' she allowed. The Times article also goes in to the Peterborough, England-born actress's upbringing and move to the U.S. at an early age. Before that: While they were on vacation together in Jamaica, Jodie posted a racy nude shot on New Year's Day to her Instagram that Joshua took, in which she's silhouetted against a beautiful beach and sky view Stunner: The Times article also goes in to the Peterborough, England-born actress's upbringing and move to the U.S. at an early age The daughter of Jamaican parents, Turner-Smith relocated to Maryland with her mother and siblings after her parents' divorce. 'So I was really excited when I came to America about meeting black people. But it was a huge culture shock, because I was rejected by the black community. They were like, "You talk like a white girl." People would call me an Oreo. All I wanted was acceptance,' she remembered. And she says she still experiences prejudice and incidences of racism. 'There was this wave of people who were upset that I was possibly married to a white man. In America, interracial dating or marriage is not something that is as accepted. Certain people feel strongly against it, in both communities,' Jodie said. 'I felt it from the black community. It is so complicated. I don't want to give it too much energy. The horrific things that people were saying, it makes you. I'm learning there are certain things I have to really keep for myself.' A brother of Sharjeel Imam was picked up by the police early on Tuesday in fresh attempts to trace the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act activist, who has been slapped with sedition cases lodged across several states for his alleged "inflammatory" speeches. Police officials were tight-lipped about the issue and Superintendent of Police, Jehanabad, Manish Kumar said, when approached with queries, "There are some developments taking place and we will give details at an appropriate time." However, residents of Malik Tola locality in Kako police station area of the district, where Imams ancestral house is situated, claimed that a heavy police contingent had raided the premises at about 4 am from where they took into custody Muzammil Imam, the younger brother of the JNU research scholar and another person, who have been taken to an undisclosed destination for questioning. The police had raided Imam's ancestral home on Sunday night after "help was sought by central agencies". Said to be in his early 30s, Sharjeel Imam has a degree from IIT Mumbai and later moved to Delhi for pursuing research at JNUs Centre for Historical Studies. He had been involved in organising the protests at Shaheen Bagh but came into limelight after a video clip went viral wherein he could be heard making some disturbing comments while addressing a gathering at Aligarh Muslim University, following which he was booked under the sedition charge in the UP town. The Delhi police claimed he had given an "inflammatory" speech earlier on the Jamia Milia Islamia campus and lodged an FIR against him in the national capital. Besides, another case was lodged under the stringent anti-terror law against him in Assam, taking cognisance of Imams remark that Assam could be "severed from India, even if for a few months" as a result of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Police in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh had also lodged FIRs against the JNU scholar, over his speech in which he threatened to "cut off" Assam and the northeast from the rest of the country. His mother had appeared before the media and claimed that her son was "not a law-breaker and would surrender to the investigating agencies" and that he had been in favour of "calling off" the agitation at Shaheen Bagh, which has been in news for 24X7 protest, mostly by women. HOLYOKE With School Receiver and Superintendent Stephen Zrikes departure slated for June 30, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will hold two public forums on the search for a successor. The forums will take place Feb. 3 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. at Enlace de Familia, 299 Main St., and Feb. 13 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Holyoke High School North Campus, 500 Beech St. Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said in a letter that the citys public schools would remain under state-mandated receivership after Zrikes resignation. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education appointed Zrike five years ago when it took over Holyoke schools in response to poor standardized test results. I am grateful to him for the five years he has spent in Holyoke, and for the improvements his team has led with the help of educators, families and community members, Riley wrote. He added, Students in Holyoke have greater opportunities now than they did when he arrived, and we will continue to build on the foundation that he helped create. The new receiver would begin their tenure in the summer. Riley said he wants a receiver who will contribute to the ongoing process of turning the Holyokes public schools around. He asked for the publics help in selecting the new receiver. We will be in touch with details about how the community input process will work, Riley said. The state hired Great Schools, an educational consultant, to coordinate the search and facilitate multiple opportunities for families, staff, students and community input in February. The process will include an online staff survey available in English and Spanish. The Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) on Tuesday called for the creation of a ' Register for Unemployment' (NRU) and demanded that the Centre disclose data on jobs created during the last six months. Congress MLA and MPYC president Kunal Chaudhary said the Modi government has failed on job front. "Unemployment rate has reached its highest point in 45 years while the Centre is busy trying to divert attention from grave issues like falling GDP growth by introducing the controversial law CAA," Chaudhary told reporters here. The Modi government had promised to create two crore jobs for youths, but on the contrary over 3.64 crore people have been rendered jobless during the BJP regime, he said. Chaudhary claimed the rate of unemployment has gone up to 7.6 per cent, while this incidence in Madhya Pradesh has come down to 3.9 per cent under the one-year-old Congress government. The Youth Congress has started a campaign in support of the demand to create an NRU, raising the issue of ever- increasing unemployment, Chaudhary said. A phone number has been issued on which people can give a missed call to extend their support to the campaign, he said. REGINAThe lawyer for a Saskatchewan man accused in the death of his wife is asking the trial judge to consider a manslaughter conviction. Jason McKay is charged with second-degree murder in the September 2017 slaying. Jenny McKay was stabbed numerous times and there was evidence she had been beaten. Court heard during McKays trial in Regina that the couple had been drinking and that he was also on a prescribed antidepressant. The defence is suggesting he was too drunk to form the intent necessary to prove murder. The Crown argues that evidence at the crime scene and statements by McKay after his arrest leave no doubt he intended to kill his wife. Justice Michael Tochur is to give his verdict on Friday. Defence lawyer Thomas Hynes said during his closing arguments that theres no question that (McKay) committed an unlawful act. But the focus should be on his clients thought process, or lack thereof, that led to Jennys death, Hynes said. The lawyer said intoxication, mental health and other factors can influence intent. Hynes argued that McKay, 47, made comments to police about killing his 33-year-old wife out of shock and the statements dont speak to intent. Jason McKay must have been so low functioning, so bizarre in terms of behaviour and sequence, that there has to be a doubt as to specific intent. Prosecutor Adam Breker said the case is simple. He said McKay was aiming to confuse, distort and distract in his testimony. Breker noted evidence that Jason was advised not to consume alcohol while taking the antidepressant, but was instead drinking more than ever. Multiple knives were found broken at the scene, Breker said, and bruising around Jenny McKays face and head suggests blows from something other than a knife. Jason McKay could only have intended one thing. The prosecutor pointed to several comments made my McKay after his arrest, including one in which he said: Itll be the last time she (expletive) with me. Breker said there is no evidence, medical or otherwise, to support McKays testimony that he blacked out. This can and should be rejected as a guilty-minded man saying whatever he can to get this thing down to manslaughter. The U.K. will allow Chinese technology giant Huawei restricted access to its infrastructure to assist in the construction of Britains 5G network, Boris Johnsons government announced Tuesday. The deal, which labels Huawei a high-risk vendor, comes after months of diplomatic pressure from the U.S. to resist Huaweis advances over national security concerns. A Whitehall source told The Telegraph that the risks can be safely managed, and that banning Huawei outright would have pushed 5G roll-out back two to three years with significant delays and cost to the consumer. Huawei will reportedly be banned from accessing the core network control plane, and will be capped at 35 percent market share. We are clear-eyed about the challenge posed by Huawei, which we today confirm is a high-risk vendor, the source said. It will be banned from those parts of the 5G and full-fiber networks that are critical to security. Brexit Party leader, Nigel Farage, called the move a terrible decision. A terrible decision. This is bad for national security, an insult to our closest friends and a sign that our establishment have been paid off by China. https://t.co/PacF8tkXFM Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) January 28, 2020 Johnsons decision, which comes after a poll of Conservatives found 77 percent opposed giving Huawei access to Britains network, mirrors that of former prime minister Theresa May. In April, Mays government announced that it would allow Huawei to build certain non-core components. The Trump administration has been outspoken in its criticism of Huawei and has warned allies against caving to the Chinese, arguing that doing so would disrupt their cooperation with the U.S. If a country adopts this [Huawei technology] and puts it in some of their critical information systems, we wont be able to share information with them, we wont be able to work alongside them, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last February. In some cases theres risk we wont even be able to co-locate American resources, an American embassy, an American military outpost. Story continues But the results have been mixed, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel deciding to ignore efforts by FCC chairman Ajit Pai to block Huawei in October. More from National Review Japan's health ministry announced on Tuesday that a bus driver in Japan who had not visited the Chinese city of Wuhan has contracted the new coronavirus. The Japanese man in his 60s, a resident of Nara Prefecture, is believed to be the first case of the virus in Japan not linked to recent travel to China. The infected person drove tour buses for Chinese groups from Wuhan in January, ferrying them from Osaka to Tokyo and back. On Jan. 17, he saw a doctor for symptoms including chills and a cough that had appeared three days earlier, but he was told only to monitor his condition, according to the ministry. His condition had worsened by Saturday, and he was admitted to an area hospital. Holy Holy Bonus Arena, Hull Rating: In the annals of British pop, Woody Woodmansey is far from the most famous name. But when he performs in Hull, near his birthplace in Driffield, he achieves a rare distinction: fans arriving by train pass a blue plaque in his honour. Perched on the station wall, just behind the statue of Philip Larkin, the plaque commemorates David Bowies early-Seventies backing group The Spiders From Mars, who were actually The Spiders From Hull. A cheery figure in a flat cap, Woodmansey is the last surviving Spider. These days hes the drummer with Holy Holy, who are somewhere between a supergroup and a tribute band. Four years after Bowies death, they are part of a small industry keeping his magic alive. Holy Holy, featuring Woody Woodmansey, Tony Visconti and Glenn Gregory (above with Visconti), are somewhere between a supergroup and a David Bowie tribute band Every January, several of his old sidemen and women tour under the banner A Bowie Celebration but theyre not as old as the senior members of Holy Holy. Woodmansey, 70 next week, forms the rhythm section with the 75-year-old Tony Visconti, Bowies producer, on and off, from 1968 to 2016. Those two bring the history, while Glenn Gregory from Heaven 17 brings relative youth (hes a mere 61) and takes on the most daunting task in music: replacing Bowie on vocals. It could all go horribly wrong, and to begin with it does. Somebody thought it would be fun to play The Man Who Sold The World in full, as it turns 50. The title track is a classic, a singalong shimmering with ambiguity, but the eight other songs are just heavy non-events. Their focus is Bowie's (above in 1973) catalogue from 1969-73 and it's down to Heaven 17's Glenn Gregory to try and replace Bowie's vocals on stage And Holy Holy stick to the original running order, forcing us to sit through seven duds before the title track comes along. Reader, I saw Tin Machine, and they werent this bad. But as soon as The Man Who Sold The World is out of the way, Holy Holy do what Bowie did with his next album, Hunky Dory: they go from the ridiculous to the sublime. Five Years is soulful, Moonage Daydream bracing, and suddenly its a different show. Unfortunately they decide to perform The Man Who Sold The World album in full After a quirky Lady Stardust sung by Jessica Lee Morgan, daughter of Visconti and Mary Hopkin its a cavalcade of hits. Theres a charming Space Oddity, a swaggering Ziggy, a stirring Starman and a barnstorming All The Young Dudes. The glam-rock anthem that Bowie gave away to Mott The Hoople always lights up a crowd. These songs, like Woodys plaque, are pieces of our heritage. Gregory rises to the occasion, matching Bowies knack of building suspense by hanging behind the beat. He can even handle Life On Mars?, which often induces vertigo. Those well-loved lyrics (Its a God-awful small affair) join Changes and Rebel Rebel in a platonic ideal of an encore. Before that, theres a surprise a song not from 1969-73 but from 2013: Where Are We Now?, the ruminative ballad that became Bowies last big hit. Among all the glam stompers, it comes as a shaft of wintry beauty. If only Holy Holy had started halfway through, theyd be getting five stars. Holy Holy play the Roundhouse, London, on March 11 THIS WEEK'S CD RELEASES By Adam Woods Louis Tomlinson Walls Out Friday Rating: Not even Louis Tomlinson would back himself to be the breakout star of One Direction. Last out of the blocks, his voice recalls Take Thats Mark Owen, whose solo career fizzled. But this debut stacks up all right not too cool for school like Zayn, not trashily sex-addled like Liam, just chunky, post-Oasis anthems and down-but-notout ballads, like a more unassuming take on early Robbie Williams Drive-By Truckers The Unraveling Out Friday Rating: Georgias Drive-By Truckers arent the type to turn a blind eye to social matters, so this is a continuation of 2016s Trump siren American Band, this time written in the wreckage and aftermath. Like Springsteen, they find the political in the personal and tell those stories with urgency and compassion, whether on the thunderous Armageddons Back In Town or the ambling, empty-eyed 21st Century USA Blossoms Foolish Loving Spaces Out Friday Rating: Bands like Blossoms five blokes, guitars, album every two years are an endangered species, and you sense they know it. You dont hear much guitar instead: smooth pop grooves, galloping disco bass, pounding, Stonesy piano. Theyre smart, breezy songwriters. It would be no surprise if they keep sneaking on the radio Kesha High Road Out Friday Rating: The Israeli military is reinforcing parts of the West Bank with extra infantry as Donald Trump prepares to reveal his long-awaited peace plan for the region. Palestinians are protesting in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip ahead of the US president's announcement, which is expected to strongly favour Israel. Demonstrators in Gaza City burned pictures of Mr Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and raised a banner reading "Palestine is not for sale". In a statement, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said it had decided to reinforce the Jordan Valley area of the West Bank with infantry troops following an "ongoing situation assessment". The Jordan Valley constitutes a strip of land in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and is home to both Palestinians and Israeli settlers. The status of the Jordan Valley is likely to form one central part of Mr Trump's so-called "deal of the century", a peace proposal for the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The details of the plan will be released on Tuesday night at a White House meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu, who was formally indicted in court earlier on corruption charges. The plan is the consequence of three years of work by a small White House team led by Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Palestinian academics and analysts have been consulted through the process but no Palestinian Authority officials are in Washington for the unveiling. Leaks from the American plan to the Israeli media have suggested that it will be heavily weighted towards Israel. In the leaks, it is suggested that the plan will propose that all Israeli settlements in the West Bank would become sovereign Israeli territory. Israeli sovereignty would also be given to the whole of Jerusalem with the city being officially recognised as the Israeli capital. Palestinians would be granted statehood but only on condition that they recognise Jerusalem as being the capital of the Jewish State of Israel and subject to Gaza being demilitarised with Hamas giving up its weapons. Story continues The Palestinian leadership has rejected the plan outright. Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), said: "President Trump is trying to make peace between Netanyahu and [opposition leader Benny] Gantz, in order for the three of them to dictate an apartheid regime on the Palestinian people. "They know what is the best for the Palestinian people more than the Palestinians. This is the hoax and fraud of the century." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for a meeting of Palestinian officials at his headquarters in Ramallah for 7pm. The Palestinian Authority have refused to talk to the Americans since the Trump administration moved the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, giving legitimacy to the Israeli claim that Jerusalem is the capital of their Jewish state. In a highly unusual move, leaders of the Hamas movement, who govern Gaza, have also been invited to the Ramallah meeting. Hamas and Fatah, who govern the West Bank, are themselves bitterly divided. Star Trek would be a lot less interesting if we found out the Enterprise didn't run on an advanced isolinear computing system but instead ran on something like MS-DOS. We might laugh at how incredulous that work of science fiction would be. But in today's U.S. Air Force, the F-22 one of the most advanced fighters ever made runs on a similar disparity. But of course, the Air Force will remind you that it isn't science fiction, it's what they do every day. Every. Day. The F-22 program was killed at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in an effort to reshape the U.S. military. The F-22 was designed as an air superiority fighter to take on advance fighters from China and Russia in air combat, not support troops on the ground. At the time, American troops were focused on insurgencies and ground combat. Until the terrorists started flying F-14s, there was little perceived need for such a fighter. Now that the U.S. military is refocused on great power wars, the need for such a program is becoming more apparent. The F-22 is one of the fastest combat aircraft in the U.S. Air Force, even after the development of the F-35. It can detect and attack enemy aircraft from miles away, even if the enemy isn't yet able to detect the incoming Raptor. In one instance, a Raptor was able to pop up from underneath two Iranian F-4 Phantoms and tell them to go home, which they promptly did, presumably to change their shorts. It wasn't like this, but it could have been. Just the presence of a Raptor in a battlespace is enough to clear the skies of enemy aircraft. In a great power war with a country like China, the Raptor would be an indispensable part of the Air Force order of battle. Raptors will quickly disperse in order to keep China from targeting them with ballistic missiles. Their stealth and air combat abilities would then be used to escort C-17s and frustrate Chinese fighters, as well as any Chinese efforts to jam their communications. That's due in large part to the pilots' advanced training and the advanced stealth technology aboard the airframe. But the reason Chinese hackers couldn't hack their computers is something different altogether. The technology is more than 35 years old. Like this, except on one of the world's most advanced killing machines. When the $65 billion fighter was cut from the Pentagon budget, there was a lot of joking surrounding the fighter, that the United States had developed a weapon it would never use in combat after all, until that point the F-22 hadn't flown a combat mission over either of the two wars the U.S. was actually fighting. Former Navy Secretary John Lehman, found a silver lining, telling the Wall Street Journal that at the very least, the plane's computer technology was safe from Chinese hackers. "No one in China knows how to program the '83 vintage IBM software that runs them," he said. Ten years later, the F-22 has definitely flown combat sorties over Syria and the rise of China and Russia, and their fifth-generation fighters, some of the technology stolen from the United States, might have the Pentagon wishing they had more Raptors. MORE POSTS FROM WE ARE THE MIGHTY: This 'Einstein Box' helps F-22s secretly communicate with unstealthy planes The F-22 is getting an awesome avionics upgrade This airman gave his life to rescue soldiers from a massive firefight We Are The Mighty (WATM) celebrates service with stories that inspire. WATM is made in Hollywood by veterans. It's military life presented like never before. Check it out at We Are the Mighty. by Nirmala Carvalho The Archdiocese of Mumbai celebrated the first Sunday of the Word of God at the Archdiocesan seminary in Goregaon. Jesus is the light of the nation, he said, whilst The Bible gives us the faith experience of the apostles and the communities they founded. The prelate also highlighted the values enshrined in the Constitution as the celebration fell on Republic Day. Mumbai (AsiaNews) The Word of God is a message of salvation, said Mgr John Rodrigues, Auxiliary Bishop of Mumbai and President of the Archdiocesan Bible Commission, who spoke on the first Sunday of the Word of God, which the local Church marked at the Archdiocesan seminary in Goregaon. In his homily, the bishop noted that "the significance of the Bible lies in the fact that it is no ordinary book for it contains the message of Salvation". Since last Sunday was also Indias Republic Day, Mgr Rodrigues used the opportunity to highlight another book, the Constitution of our nation. In view of its importance, the prelate urged the faithful to pray that the values enshrined [therein] may always be upheld and that the Light of Christ may always shine on us. Citing the First reading from the book of Isaiah, he added: Isaiah tells the People of Israel, the people who walked in darkness and saw a great light that among those who live in shadow, a light has shone. Isaiah goes on to say that their hearts will be glad at harvest time. Indeed, Light dispels darkness. Light guides our path. Light is a symbol of Gods presence showing us the way, setting us free from darkness. Light fills us with joy. In Jesus the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled. Jesus is the light of the nations. Jesus, eternal Word of God, is our light. What was promised to the people of Israel is now fulfilled in him. The Bible gives us the faith experience of the apostles and the communities they founded. They share their experience of the glory of God as they encountered the Word made flesh. In concluding, the archbishop quoted Pope Francis who warns against a tendency to monopolize the sacred text by restricting it to certain circles or to select groups. It cannot be that way. The Bible is the book of the Lords people, who, in listening to it, move from dispersion and division towards unity. The word of God unites believers and makes them one people. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP When Volodymyr Zelensky won Ukraines presidential election in April 2019, President Donald Trump was one of the first world leaders to call to congratulate him. For officials inside Ukraine and out, Zelensky represented a chance for the country to rebuild its anti-corruption institutions and a chance for Kyiv to develop better, stronger relationships with Western countries, including the United States. But in the weeks and months that followed, efforts to construct a partnership between the Zelensky and Trump administrations, one focused on fighting corruption, crumbled. It crumbled in part because the Zelensky team was pulled into an American domestic political fight spurred by Trumps push to have Ukraine investigate his rival Joe Biden, Bidens son Hunter, and supposed interference in the 2016 election. Thats according to Oleksandr Danylyuk, the former chairman of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, who said the requests rattled Zelenskys team. Danylyuk spoke to The Daily Beast last week in his first on-the-record conversation since impeachment proceedings began in Washington, saying he resigned from his post in Kyiv in September in part because of the situation with the U.S. When Danylyuk answered my FaceTime call, he appeared to be in his office in Kyiv, with pictures of the city in the background. The former Ukrainian official was supposed to have traveled to the U.S. to meet me but caught a virus at the World Economic Forum in Davos and flew home to recover. (We plan on meeting in person for our second interview.) Over the course of two hours, Danylyuk laid out his reasons for joining the Zelensky team and why he decided to leave the administration. The former official said his hope was that he would get to change lives as a part of the Zelensky government, helping develop Ukraines anti-corruption institutions and promoting the country as an international powerhouse worthy of respect. Danylyuk, a self-described technocrat, said the U.S.-Ukraine shakeup set an uncomfortable background but that the two countries can still forge ahead with a new, better roadmap. Story continues There is no other way besides just continuing on, Danyluk said. Because what else is there? What else? Emotions? Theres no place for emotions. Looking back almost four months after his resignation, Danylyuk says theres one person in the Trump administration he trusted to help secure a new pathway forward for the U.S. and Ukraine: former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton. Bolton departed the Trump administration in September, just two weeks before Danylyuk left his post. Trumpworld Gloats as Bolton Bolts I would say it was definitely John who I trusted, Danylyuk said. I think John, because we worked together on trying to set up an official framework for a U.S.-Ukraine relationship. Bolton is now the subject of intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill, where senators are sitting through the impeachment trial of Trump. Over the weekend, The New York Times published an article saying the former national security advisers upcoming book reveals that Trump tied Ukraines aid to President Zelenskys opening of the investigations. Senators are now considering calling Bolton to the Hill for questioning. Bolton Leak Sends GOP Scrambling to Justify Quick Trial Danylyuk said he and Bolton arranged a meeting to discuss a roadmap for U.S.-Ukraine cooperation on July 10, 2019. Several former U.S. officials have testified in front of House impeachment investigators that U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland first broached the topic of Trumps demands for investigations. Fiona Hill, the administrations former top Russia adviser, said during her testimony that Danylyuk appeared alarmed during Sondlands interjections about the investigations. He didnt look like he knew what was going on. When I designed it, and drafted it, I discussed it with Zelensky, Danylyuk said of his roadmap for the U.S. and Ukraine to cooperate on a range of issues. We went through it very thoroughly. He said, Yeah, I fully support this it should be the basis of the relationship. Danylyuk wouldnt discuss the military component of the plan but said the plan was very broad and included proposals for the U.S. to export American natural gas to Ukraine. This roadmap... it covered several areas. But at its core it is about national security, Danylyuk said. So if anywhere you can talk about this holisticallyits with the U.S. National Security Council and Bolton. And he was the person to discuss the vision. Danylyuk said he and his team, which included Zelensky aide Andriy Yermak, couldnt conclude [the meeting] properly because as The Daily Beast previously reported, Sondland interrupted the conversation to bring up the demands from Trump that Zelensky agree to the investigation of the Bidens. Soon after Sondlands interjection, Bolton ended the official meeting. Thats when the group, which included Hill, Sondland, and other Trump officials, moved into the Ward Room of the White House and Sondland again, but more ferociously, pushed the investigations further, telling Danylyuk and Yermak that it was the only way the two countries could develop a meaningful relationship. This roadmap should have been the substance but... [the investigations] were raised, Danylyuk said. Danylyuk said he maintained contact with Bolton and his aides at the National Security Council in Washington in the following weeks in an attempt to get a meeting between Zelensky and Trump on the books. But Team Zelensky grew more and more concerned as the days rolled on, Danylyuk said. Trumps personal attorney Rudy Giuliani had for weeks appeared on television shows, saying Ukraine should open an investigation into the Bidens and claiming it was Ukraine that interfered in the 2016 election, not Russia. (The claim is a widely debunked conspiracy theory that national-security officials say has been propagated by Russian intelligence services.) At that time it was clear to me that we should not be dropped into into this battle at all, Danylyuk said. If we were dragged into this internal process that would be really bad for the country. And also, if theres something that violates U.S. law, thats up to the U.S. to handle. On July 21, Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor sent a text message to Sondland, pointing to a conversation he had with Danylyuk about the U.S. taking Ukraine seriously. Gordon, one thing Kurt and I talked about yesterday was Sasha Danyliuks point that President Zelensky is sensitive about Ukraine being taken seriously, not merely as an instrument in Washington domestic, reelection politics, Taylor wrote to Sondland. At the time I said there are some serious things that we need to discuss and agree on between the two countries. And that needs to be where the attention goes, Danylyuk told The Daily Beast about his conversation with U.S. representatives at the time. And if were talking about dragging us into internal politics using our president who was fresh on the job, inexperienced that could just destroy everything. Then came the now-infamous July 25 call between Zelensky and Trump, the one in which Trump asked for a favor and suggesting Ukraine investigate whether individuals in the country interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Things grew worse after that, Danylyuk said. One thing I can tell you that was clear from this call is that that issue [of the investigations] is an issue of concern for Trump. It was clear, Danylyuk said. And then in August, Danylyuk said, he thought that partnership with the U.S. and the roadmap he had designed with Bolton was doomed. Danylyuk said he first found out that the U.S. was withholding aid to Ukraine by reading Politicos article published Aug. 28. U.S. officials and Ukrainian diplomats, including the countrys former Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal, have said publicly that Kyiv was aware there were problems with the U.S. aid as early as July. I was really surprised and shocked. Because just a couple of days prior to that I actually had a meeting with John Bolton. Actually, I had several meetings with him. And we had extensive discussions. The last thing I had expected to read was an article about military aid being frozen, Danylyuk said. After that... I was trying to get the truth. Was it true or not true? Danylyuk said that it was a panic inside the Zelensky administration after the initial news broke, saying Zelensky was convinced there had been some sort of mistake. Danylyuk put in calls to the National Security Council and asked other officials in Washington what to make of the news. The next time we met in September... it was in Poland for the commemoration of the beginning of the Second World War, Danylyuk said, adding that he met with Bolton on the sidelines of the commemoration. I had my suspicions. There was a special situation with one of our defense companies that were acquired by Chinese. And the U.S. was concerned about this. Bolton actually made the public comments about this as well. So somehow I linked this to things and tried to understand. OK, maybe this could be related to this. I never got an answer, Danylyuk said. Danylyuk left the Zelensky administration in September, citing multiple triggers that pushed him to quit, including the ongoing struggles with the Trump administration. I was committed to develop a constructive agenda, Danylyuk said. It was a big investment. I invested my reputation, I invested my time. When the situation changed [with the U.S.], I didnt like it. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Hungarian border guards on Tuesday fired warning shots to deter dozens of people from crossing from the Serbian side following a reported spike in attempts to get into the EU's passport-free zone. Police presented camera footage dated 05:30 am local time (0430 GMT) showing people, many wearing backpacks, jumping over a wall and running past an iron gate at the Roszke border-crossing point. "A group of some 60-70 illegal migrants tried to enter Hungarian territory from Serbia in an organised and aggressive way," Karoly Papp, a senior police official, told reporters in Budapest. "One of the three armed security guards on duty fired three warning shots into the air, after which most of the group ran back into Serbia, while police reinforcements arrived," he added. Four men who ran some 60 to 70 metres into Hungary were later caught and arrested, he said, adding that police had "hermetically sealed off" the area around Roszke. A police spokesman for the area Gergely Varkonyi told AFP that "some" of the group were still at large. Meanwhile in neighbouring Serbia border police "found 37 migrants who tried illegally to cross into Hungary early in the morning around 5:00 am". The group had tried to cross by cutting the fence on the Hungarian side near the Horgos 2 border crossing, Serbia's interior ministry said in a statement. They were later handed over to a police station in the nearby town of Kanjiza. Gyorgy Bakondi, an adviser to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, cited police statistics which he said showed a sharp rise in attempts to cross Hungary's southern borders. There had been 3,400 attempts made so far this month, compared to just several hundred a month last year, he said. Earlier this month, Hungarian police said it had sent reinforcements to the border and launched a boat patrol on the river Tisza, which forms part of its frontier with Serbia. In 2015, at the peak of the migration surge in Europe, would-be migrants and asylum seekers clashed with Hungarian riot police at Roszke, a day after the border was sealed with a razorwire-topped fence. The hardline anti-immigration Orban says he is defending a border of the EU's passport-free Schengen zone. But he has been criticised by Brussels and rights groups for his tough border security policy. In 2015 after the border was sealed with a razorwire-topped fence at Roszke, would-be migrants and asylum seekers clashed with Hungarian riot police Karma Automotive, the China-based carmaker born from the ashes of Fisker, will enter the electric off-roader segment in the coming years. The company plans to build a pickup and an SUV on the same platform. The yet-unnamed truck is on track to make its debut as a concept before the end of 2020, according to Bloomberg. How accurately the design study will preview the production model remains to be seen. Kevin Pavlov, Karma's chief operations officer, told the publication the model will ride on a new platform developed to underpin electrified vehicles, and it will be available with all-wheel drive, which is a must in the pickup segment. Karma previously aired plans to make a truck, it even released a dark teaser image (pictured) to preview the model, but it outlined a model equipped with a gasoline-electric powertrain. "Extended-range powertrains represent a smart alternative to full battery systems," affirmed company CEO Lance Zhou in 2019. Autoblog learned that project, which is called EREV internally, remains on-going, and it's a higher priority for Karma than the electric model detailed in Bloomberg's report. The SUV will use the pickup's architecture, though it sounds like it won't make its debut until 2021 at the earliest. Building a concept is relatively easy, but making thousands of off-roaders reliably and profitably is far more difficult. Karma's advantage is that it's not starting from scratch, because it currently sells a 403-horsepower plug-in hybrid sedan named Revero that's an updated version of the ill-fated Fisker Karma released in 2011. It's hardly mass-produced: The firm sold 1,000 cars in 2019, though its $135,000 price tag inevitably limits sales. The truck will cost less than the Revero, though that could mean $134,999 or $35,000. There's no telling how much the SUV will cost yet, but Bloomberg learned it will be a high-end model, so don't expect it to land in the same segment as the Nissan Kicks. Story continues As it stands, buyers in the market for an electric pickup have zero options to choose from, and the electric SUV segment remains relatively small. But both segments will expand during the early 2020s. Rivian, Tesla, Ford, General Motors, and Lordstown are among the companies hoping to electrify the off-roader segment. The stakes are high, because trucks have ruled America's sales charts by a huge margin for decades, and SUVs are in hot demand. Related Video: Click here to See Video >> Saudi Arabia keeps existing travel ban to Israel Over the past few months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has touted progress in normalizing relations between Israel and unnamed Arab countries. Despite permission from Israel to visit, Israeli citizens are not welcome in Saudi Arabia for the "time being," said the Saudi foreign minister on Monday. "ISRAEL IS NOT WELCOME" "When a peace agreement is reached between the Palestinians and the Israelis, the issue of Israel's involvement in its regional environment will be on the table," Faisal bin Farhan told CNN. He stressed the kingdom's policy of not having ties with Israel, saying holders of Israeli passport are not welcome for now. On Sunday, Aryeh Deri, Israel's interior minister, signed a groundbreaking decree allowing Israeli citizens to officially visit Saudi Arabia to participate in trade meetings or search for investments, for visits no longer than nine days, in addition to Muslims in Israel who wish to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. The presidential candidates that were in the Democratic primary debate on Jan. 14, 2019, clockwise: former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden; former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.); Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), billionaire Tom Steyer; and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (JNS)-In the seventh and final Democratic debate before the Iowa Caucus on Feb. 3, hosted on Tuesday by CNN and The Des Moines Register at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, the six candidates on stage slammed U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East policies, especially regarding the Iranian threat. "We're in a situation where our allies in Europe are making a comparison between the United States and Iran, saying both ought to stand down, making a moral equivalence. We have lost our standing in the region. We have lost the support of our allies," said former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. "The next president has to be able to pull those folks back together, re-establish our alliances and insist that Iran go back into the agreement, which I believe with the pressure applied as we put on before, we can get done." Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) warned that amid the increasing tension between the United States and Iran, "Donald Trump is taking us pell-mell towards another war." Tensions between the United States and Iran have increased since the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018, reimposing sanctions lifted under it, along with enacting new financial penalties in what Washington has called a "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran. When asked by moderator and CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer, host of the program "The Situation Room," if they would keep U.S. troops in the Middle East, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said they would not, while Biden and Klobuchar said they would keep a small number of troops in the region. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and the only candidate on stage who served in the U.S. military, said the United States "can continue to remain engaged without having an endless commitment of ground troops." The debate then turned to whether or not Iran should be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Although he criticized Trump for withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear agreement, Buttigieg said that "ensuring that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons will, of course, be a priority, because it's such an important part of keeping America safe." "But unfortunately, President Trump has made it much harder for the next president to achieve that goal," he continued. "By gutting the Iran nuclear deal-one that, by the way, the Trump administration itself admitted was working, certified that it was preventing progress towards a nuclear Iran-by gutting that, they have made the region more dangerous and set off the chain of events that we are now dealing with as it escalates even closer to the brink of outright war." Klobuchar, who called Iran "a terrorist regime," said she would restart negotiations to get America back into the 2015 nuclear agreement that would include improving its sunset clauses. "You have to have a president that sees this as a number one goal... and then you have to get an agreement in place," she said. The sunset provisions in the 2015 accord include, but are not limited to, lifting the U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports and imports as early as next year; most nuclear sanctions being lifted in 2026; and all restrictions being lifted in 2031. The candidates called for Congress to use its authority to either approve or reject the use of U.S. military force as it pertains to Iran. The Authorization for the Use of Military Force from 2001 has been subject to debate since the U.S. killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3 at Baghdad International Airport. The Democratic candidates previously slammed the decision to eliminate Soleimani. Also tackled: Trade, health care and education Additional topics discussed during Tuesday's debate included other foreign-policy issues such as North Korea, as well as trade, health care, education and a CNN report on Monday that Sanders told Warren in 2018 a woman can't win the White House. "I was pleased to see Iran was the first issue to be discussed. This shows that foreign policy will be a crucial issue in November," David Adelman, an Iowa Democratic political consultant for state and federal clients who was at the debate, told JNS. "Also it was very telling to see certain candidates say they would remove troops from the Middle East and others understand the disastrous impact this move would cause." However, continued Adelman, "I was disappointed the moderators did not ask the candidates about their plan to combat anti-Semitism." The Greater New York area has experienced a spate of anti-Semitic attacks, including a Dec. 28 machete attack that injured five people at a home and prayer hall in Monsey, N.Y. "The candidates on tonight's debate stage expressed a promising vision for the future, including strengthening our national security with principled leadership," Jewish Democratic Council of America executive director Halie Soifer told JNS. "The Democratic presidential candidates may differ on some issues, but they are united in their desire for a foreign policy that begins with restoring our alliances, returning to diplomacy and only deploying the power of the U.S. military in times of need." "The candidates agreed that President Trump's reckless and irresponsible foreign policy, including his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, has put our national security at risk," she continued. "The American people agree with this view, and a majority of Americans believe that the Soleimani strike has made us less safe." The Hollywood industry delivers a series of amazing films for its fans every year. War dramas are now quickly picking up as a popular genre among the crowd. With a range of films to pick from, here are a few war dramas to watch if you liked the Sam Mendes' latest directorial, 1917. Hollywood war films to binge if you liked 1917 Fury Starring Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf and Logan Lerman, Fury is directed by David Ayer. The film revolves around Wardaddy, who embarks on a mission with five of his men that puts many lives in danger. The crew members then realise that the odds are against them, but they still make a choice to attack the Nazi Army. ALSO READ | 1917 Box Office Collection In India And Total Collection Over The Weekend Midway Midway revolves around the Battle of Midway during World War 2. Released in 2019, the film is directed by Roland Emmerich. In December, 1941, the Japanese forces launched a devastating attack on Pearl Harbour. Six months later, in the Battle of Midway, the Japanese navy once again plans a strike against American ships in the Pacific. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Nick Jonas and Luke Evans. American Sniper Starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller and Jonathan Groff, the film released in 2015. American Sniper is directed by Clint Eastwood. Even after returning home from the war in Iraq, Chris Kyle, a SEAL sniper, does not seem to let go of the horrors he faced there. This further begins to affect his life and marriage. ALSO READ | After 'Dunkirk', Here's When Christopher Nolan's Next Film Is All Set To Release Dunkirk Starring Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Harry Styles and Fionn Whitehead, Dunkirk is directed by Christopher Nolan. The film was released in the year 2017. During World War 2, soldiers from the British Empire, Belgium and France try to evacuate from the town of Dunkirk during an arduous battle with German forces. 12 Strong Starring Chris Hemsworth, Trevante Rhodes and Micheal Pena, the film was released in 2018. 12 Strong is directed by Nicolai Fuglsig. The film revolves around Captain Mitch Nelson, who in the wake of the September 11 attacks, leads a US Special forces team into Afghanistan for an extremely dangerous mission. ALSO READ | Quentin Tarantino Places Christopher Nolan's 'Dunkirk' At Second On His Best Films Of Decade List ALSO READ | Tamilrockers Leak Highly-awaited Hollywood War Movie '1917' Before It Hits Theatres 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. ITHACA, N.Y. Ithaca police are asking the public for help finding out who was involved in a drug-related attack that left a 37-year-old man with several serious stab wounds. Polcie arrived at 2:13 a.m. on Friday to the 400 block of West State Street. There they found the victim with several wounds, in and out of consciousness. Police quickly moved to stop his bleeding until an ambulance arrived. The victim was transported via ambulance to Cayuga Medical Center, then airlifted to another hospital. Investigators met with the victim over the weekend, but he declined to cooperate Police believe a group of suspects targeted the victim in a drug-related assault. Police have not identified the suspects. As a result, police are asking anyone with information to call the police department at (607)272-9973 or use the departments tip line at CityOfIthaca.com/Tips. [January 28, 2020] National Geographic Learning Partners with NWEA to Provide Teachers with Data and Actionable Insights to Improve Student Learning BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- National Geographic Learning, a Cengage company, has partnered with not-for-profit assessment organization NWEA to help teachers assess student proficiency and personalize learning paths across K-12 reading instruction. NWEA assessments will be integrated with National Geographic Learning's Panorama reading program, giving teachers immediate insight into what each student knows and how they can differentiate instruction and customize assignments to close English Language Arts achievement gaps. "This partnership boosts our impact on student learning. With the data from NWEA's assessments, teachers can create informed, custom lesson paths with our engaging, researched-based content," said Vincent Grosso, Managing Director of National Geographic Learning, U.S. K-12. Starting this fall, the MAP Growth assessment from NWEA will be administered as a benchmark test and then paired with National Geographic Learning's exclusive skill lessons to give teachers the ability to use the MAP Growth results to create customized assignments for students. Educators will have access to valuable progress reports up to four times a year to offer ways to close achievement gaps. National Geographic Learning's Panorama reading program uses authentic fiction and National Geographic nonfiction, as well interactive text and video, to help students learn how to read science and social studies content. MAP Growth provides a precise measure of a K12 student's academic achievement and growth. A computer-adaptive assessment, it adjusts to each student's responses to provide personalized results about what each student knows, can do, and is ready to learn next whether on, above, or below grade level. Teachers receive immediate and actionable information in easy-to-use reports to help differentiate instruction for students in need of remediation and those high performers requiring additional enrichment. Because MAP Growth tracks individual student growth over time, it can provide insight into each student's proficiency and college and career readiness. "We are really excited about our new partnership with Cengage," said Erin Antonius White, Director, Curriculum Partnerships at NWEA. "The high-quality National Geographic content, paired with their approach to addressing the common core standards, is going to provide a powerful solution for our partners who use both of our products." MAP Growth was awarded the 2017 THE Journal Readers' Choice Award (best assessment category), an award that recognizes the best education technology products and services used by teachers throughout the country. MAP Growth was also named a winner of the 2017 Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence, which recognizes the best new and upgraded education tools that help educators in teaching, training and managing with technology. For more information, please visit NGL.Cengage.com/panorama. About Cengage and National Geographic Learning Cengage is the education and technology company built for learners. The company serves the higher education, K-12, professional, library and workforce training markets worldwide. National Geographic Learning, a Cengage company, is a provider of quality core and supplemental educational materials for the U.S. K-12 market. Visit us at www.cengage.com or NGL.Cengage.com. About NWEA NWEA is a mission-driven, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide by creating assessment solutions that precisely measure growth and proficiencyand provide insights to help tailor instruction. Educators in more than 10,000 schools, districts, and education agencies in 141 countries rely on our flagship interim assessment, MAP Growth; our progress monitoring and skills mastery tool, MAP Skills; our reading fluency and comprehension assessment, MAP Reading Fluency; and our new assessment solution that combines growth and proficiency measurement. Visit NWEA.org to find out how NWEA can partner with you to help all kids learn. Media Contact: Kristina Massari Cengage (203) 965-8694 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-geographic-learning-partners-with-nwea-to-provide-teachers-with-data-and-actionable-insights-to-improve-student-learning-300994499.html SOURCE Cengage [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A medical worker in protective gear checks a patient suspected of being ill with coronavirus at a community health station in Wuhan (Chinatopix via AP) People who have returned to the UK from coronavirus-hit Wuhan in China should "self-isolate" even if they have no symptoms, the Health Secretary has said. In a significant ramping up of the precautions in the UK around the virus, Matt Hancock said officials could not be 100% certain that the virus is not spread by people who are not displaying symptoms. The move means around 1,500 people who have returned from Wuhan since January 10 should isolate themselves for 14 days from the date of leaving China for the UK. One man has been tested for the virus in Northern Ireland, and proved negative. All 73 people tested in the UK have proved negative. Mr Hancock told MPs in the Commons: "Coronaviruses do not usually spread if people don't have symptoms - but we cannot be 100% certain. "We are therefore asking anyone in the UK who has returned from Wuhan in the last 14 days to self-isolate. Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people - and to contact NHS 111. If you are in Northern Ireland, phone your GP." China has extended the Lunar New Year holiday in efforts to contain the coronavirus as the death toll rose to 81. Hong Kong announced it would bar entry to visitors from the province at the centre of the outbreak following a warning the virus' ability to spread was growing. The death toll rose yesterday when Hainan in the South China Sea reported its first fatality, an 80-year-old woman. The spread of the illness is being watched around the globe, with a small number of cases appearing in several other countries. South Korea has confirmed its fourth case. Public health officials in Canada said the wife of the man who is Canada's first case of the virus from China has also tested positive. Scattered cases also have been confirmed in Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, the US, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France, Canada and Australia. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has refused to open a case upon inquiry of 53 Members of Parliament on the compliance of the law on the special procedure for local self-government in certain regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions with the Constitution of Ukraine. "At the plenary sitting of the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court on Monday [January 27], the court ruled to refuse to open a case upon the inquiry," the Constitutional Court told Interfax-Ukraine. On December 10, 2019, the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court held a sitting, during which it continued considering the issue, however, the court did not make a decision on it. The inquiry was submitted to the Constitutional Court on July 19, 2019. Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oksana Syroyid said that 53 MPs, including all members of the Samopomich faction, signed the inquiry. The board of the Constitutional Court at first refused to open the case, however the decision was not unanimous and the issue was sent to the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court. The Shiv Sena on Tuesday hit out at the Centre over its decision to sell its entire stake in Air India as it questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government for failing to run the company. The government released a document inviting expressions of interest in Air India said India would sell a 100% stake in the carrier, which operates both domestic and international routes. Mondays bid is a renewed attempt to sell its national carrier after a similar move to sell a majority stake in the airline failed to draw a single bid in 2018. In an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, the Shiv Sena questioned the Centres inability to run Air India. The Sena, a former ally of the BJP, also asked why privatisation was the only option. Also Watch l Govt to sell entire stake in Air India; Congress hits out at Modi Govt Air India was once the pride of the country... But due to changing circumstances, the mountain of debt rose to 80,000-90,000 crore. There are several challenges in the aviation industry and theres stiff competition. But in all this, private companies are managing to survive. Then a question arises that why cant the government run a company like Air India properly, it said. On one hand there are promises of becoming a $5 trillion economy and on the other sell-off of debt-ridden companies is like digging cavities of teeth to fill your stomach. The Sena also warned that the staff of Air India should not suffer in the privatisation process started by the government. The important question is the future of thousands of employees working with Air India. They should not suffer. Everyone knows what happened with Jet Airways and such things should not happen with Air India, it said. It should be ensured that people dont go jobless. Even after Air India is sold off completely it will still remain the pride and remembered always, the editorial said. Several other opposition leaders have already hit out at the Centre over the proposed sale of Air India, with the Congress accusing the government of misleading the people. The Congress demanded that the Centre lay out a clear plan for the Air India, saying that the proposed sale of the national carrier has been going on since 2014. The CPIs general secretary D Raja blamed the NDA governments bad policies for the problems of the national carrier. The Centre has also come under attack by its lawmaker Subramanian Swamy who threatened to go to court against the sale, calling it anti-national. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON [January 28, 2020] CM.com opens its first US office in Los Angeles, California LOS ANGELES, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CM.com, the global Conversational Commerce platform, has opened its first US office in Los Angeles, California. The communication and payments innovator is ready to conquer the US market, after its successful track record in Europe and Southeast Asia. The organisation has appointed Brian Grushcow as Director of North America. He will lead the US office in securing a foothold in the new market. Brian has a long track record of helping innovative tech brands grow their US market presence. CM.com will build relationships with US enterprises in retail, banking and finance, transport and logistic, media and marketing. From day one, the company will offer its full-service package, which includes Conversational Commerce, ticketing software, signing options and voice technology for all kinds of platforms. With teams across three continents, CM.com gives ts clients access to a global marketplace. Banking on 20 years experience in delivering clients Conversational Commerce solutions, CM.com is well placed to help its customers achieve success in the US and North America. To do business in America, you need to be in America, said Hodny Benazzi, General Manager at CM.com. In todays fast-moving, globalised market its important for CM.com to be close to the worlds largest and most exciting tech companies. Weve received strong interest from US companies in the past, and our new office will enable us to make good on those opportunities. Jeroen van Glabbeek, CEO at CM.com, said: Were seeing significant growth potential and the chance to gain fresh market share in many new regions, such as Southeast Asia and now the US. Were in close contact with Californias most important tech brands, so opening a new office here is definitely the right investment. We look forward to strengthening our relationships in the region, and to starting new ones. About CM.com CM.com is a Conversational Commerce platform that connects enterprises and brands to the mobile phones of billions of consumers globally. The company provides messaging channels, such as SMS, RCS, WhatsApp and Apple Business Chat combined with a Customer Data Platform and other platform features. CM.com is the first CPaaS platform in the world with integrated Payments functionality. Almost ten thousand clients trust CM.coms products to deliver better marketing, better sales and better service to their customers. Contact: Molly Ryner [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] US State Dept. confirms rocket hitting dining facility of its Baghdad embassy Iran Press TV Monday, 27 January 2020 2:38 AM At least one rocket has struck a dining facility at the US embassy compound in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a US official has reportedly confirmed without pointing to possible casualties. "We are aware of reports of rockets landing in the International Zone," said a State Department spokesperson Sunday evening as cited by US-based news outlets, noting that the official did not specifically mention the American embassy but pointed to "reports of minor damage." A US official told CNN that one person was injured in the attack, but that the injury was minor and the individual had since returned to duty. The security situation remains tense," added the unidentified spokesperson, pointing to persisting "threat" by local armed groups. The US is calling on the government of Iraq "to fulfill its obligations to protect our diplomatic facilities," the official further underlined while noting that the department will not make further comment on the security situation in Baghdad. It was the third such attack on the US embassy this month but was the first time the complex had been directly hit. The US State Department says there have been more than 14 attacks on American personnel based in Iraq, accusing "Iranian government or militias backed by Tehran." The fervently anti-Iran Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has become notorious for making false allegations to demonize Tehran and justify harsh US actions against it. Meanwhile, earlier reports pointed to as many as five rockets targeting the US embassy in Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone, with other reports saying that three rockets had hit the compound directly. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. This is while Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has condemned the attack and ordered a probe into the incident amid growing demands across the nation for immediate withdrawal of thousands of US forces in the Arab country and the closure of their military bases throughout Iraq. Abdul-Mahdi further announced that Baghdad was "committed to protecting all diplomatic missions and taking all necessary measures to achieve this." The American embassy in Baghdad -- the world's largest -- lies within the fortified neighborhood, also known as the International Zone, which is surrounded by concrete walls. The development came two days after nearly a million Iraqis took part in a huge march in the streets of Baghdad to demand immediate withdrawal of all US forces from the country. The massive rally came after influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Iraqis to stage "a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations." Also on Friday, a senior official of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) issued a statement warning the US president to voluntarily order the withdrawal of US troops from the country before being forced out. "Today all Iraqis, men and women, have poured out onto the streets to send out one clear message to the whole world: There is no place for foreign forces to be present on the Iraqi soil. Thanks to all Iraqis who heeded the call to attend the demonstration and participated in it. Thanks to the support offered by politicians, tribal figures, academics as well as journalists," Qais al-Khazali, leader of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, which is part of the PMU, said in the statement. Nearly 5,200 US troops still remain in Iraq while the Iraqi parliament voted earlier this month to expel all American forces from the terror-ravaged country. This is while US President Donald Trump has refused to discuss the troop withdrawal with Iraq's acting Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi, threatening instead to illegally seize some $35 billion of Iraqi oil revenues held in a bank account in New York. The January 3 US assassination of the Middle East's most prominent anti-terror commander General Soleimani prompted tens of millions in Iraq, Iran, India, Pakistan and elsewhere to take to the streets and vent their anger at the hawkish US government. Iranians also turned out in massive numbers, unmatched in its history, to honor the charismatic commander revered for his reputation as the leading hunter of Daesh (ISIL) terrorists across the region -- and demand what they described as "hard revenge." Iran's military forces responded to American terror killing of Iranian and Iraqi officials by pounding two US military bases in Iraq with a volley of precision-guided missiles that sent ripples throughout the world. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address WASHINGTON - Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, R-Pa., an influential conservative in the Senate, has spoken with several colleagues in recent days about possibly summoning just two witnesses to President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, with one called by Republicans and one by Democrats, according to three Republican officials. Toomey has confided to GOP senators that proposing a "one-for-one" deal with Senate Democrats may be necessary at some point, particularly with pressure mounting for witnesses to be called, according to the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. He has argued that such an arrangement could force Democrats to accept a Republican witness against their wishes or else risk having Republicans move ahead to acquit Trump, the officials said. Toomey has spoken about his idea with Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and others, the officials added. Toomey's office declined to comment Monday. Separately, two Senate GOP aides, who requested anonymity to speak frankly, said Romney is in touch with Toomey and generally supportive of a witness deal that he believes is fair to the GOP but has not yet signed on to any specific plan. The proposal also came up in private conversations at Monday's closed Senate GOP lunch, according to the officials and a Senate aide briefed on the meeting. Toomey, who is not up for reelection until 2022, is close to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. He is not close with the president or top aides in the White House. McConnell, however, is so far discouraging Toomey's suggestion from becoming the party's position. Instead, he told Senate Republicans during Monday's lunch to wait on any witness deal proposal until after Trump's legal team is done making its defense on the Senate floor, underscoring a position he has held for weeks, the officials said. Still, Toomey's willingness to discuss bringing in witnesses, even under a "one-for-one" scenario, raises new questions for Trump's team and Democrats as the trial proceeds. Will more Republicans join in and call for a contained and brief witness arrangement, such as Toomey has outlined to his colleagues? And would Senate Democrats be open to a trade after weeks of sharply criticizing Republicans for seeking witnesses they see as irrelevant to the trial? Romney and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said early Monday that they expected other Republicans to back a push for new evidence, but they did not specify Toomey as one of the Republicans who might call for witnesses. Those statements came after new revelations from former national security adviser John Bolton, who in his forthcoming book alleges that Trump directly tied the holdup of nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to desired investigations of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter. "I think it's increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton," Romney told reporters, repeatedly calling Bolton's testimony "relevant." "It's important to be able to hear from John Bolton for us to be able to make an impartial judgment." Collins said reports about Bolton's unpublished manuscript "strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues." Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has taken the lead this month in calling for trading testimony from Bolton for testimony from Hunter Biden. He has called the arrangement "witness reciprocity." The House impeachment charges center on the allegation that Trump withheld military aid and a White House meeting to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, as well as a discredited theory that Ukraine worked with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 election. Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma, when his father served as vice president. Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have promoted an unfounded allegation that Biden tried to stop a corruption investigation in Ukraine to protect his son, who is no longer on Burisma's board. Hunter Biden was not accused of wrongdoing. Most Democrats have shot down Cruz's suggestion - which has been echoed by other supporters of the president - as an obvious gambit to prod Democrats toward a deal that would swing the spotlight away from Trump. "Hunter Biden is not accused of withholding $391 million of congressional authorized defense spending for one of our allies who's under attack by Russia," Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., said last week. "Donald Trump is. We need to keep that in mind." Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 13:04:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China has sent nearly 6,000 medical workers from across the country to Hubei Province in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, a health official said Tuesday. A total of 4,130 medical workers, in 30 teams, have arrived and started working, said Jiao Yahui, an official with the National Health Commission, at a press conference held in Beijing, adding that an additional 1,800 medical staff will arrive by the end of Tuesday. The first batches were sent from Shanghai and Guangdong last Friday. These teams were sent to support the medical personnel in Hubei where the outbreak has taken a heavy toll. By the end of Monday, a total of 2,714 confirmed cases had been reported in Hubei and 2,567 patients have been hospitalized, the Hubei Provincial Health Commission said Tuesday. Hospitals across the province received 31,934 fever patients Monday. The ADB has signed a 37.8 million-USD loan deal with TTC Energy Development Investment JSC (TTC Energy) to provide long-term financing to develop and operate a 50-MW photovoltaic solar power plant in Tay Ninh. Participants in the loan deal signing ceremony pose for a photo (Photo: adb.org) TTC Energy, established in 2017, is 90 percent owned by the Gulf Energy Development Public Company (GED) a leading private power generation company that has the largest portfolio of gas-fired power projects in Thailand. The project will develop and operate the 50 MW solar power plant and its associated facilities in Tay Ninh, which is about 50 kilometers northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. The solar power plant will directly serve the electricity demand of residents and businesses of Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding areas. It will reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 29,760 tonnes annually when operational in 2020. The Government of Vietnam plans to increase the share of renewable energy sources, such as hydropower, solar, wind, and biomass, as a percentage of total installed capacity to 21 percent by 2030 to meet rapidly growing energy needs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent by 2030. GED Executive Director Yupapin Wangviwat said We are confident that the project will be developed successfully according to plan. ADBs assistance for the Gulf Solar Power Project was provided through an innovative project finance structure, which ensured the bankability of the project. The loan is composed of an A loan of 11.3 million USD and a B loan of up to 18.9 million USD. An additional 7.6 million-USD loan was provided by the Leading Asias Private Infrastructure Fund, which is supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The loan marks the first transaction under the funds Non-Parallel programme and improves the bankability and financial viability of the project to allow other lenders to provide long tenor, US dollar-denominated financing. The B loan will be funded by Bangkok Bank PCL, Siam Commercial Bank PCL, and Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) PCL. Jackie B. Surtani, Director of Infrastructure Finance Division of ADBs Private Sector Operations Department, said ADB is excited about this transaction because the project will have a significant impact on the sustainability and security of Vietnams energy sector for years to come. Apart from providing much-needed financing to develop solar power in Vietnam, the project will also help reduce perceived risks in the countrys renewable energy sector./. Theo en.vietnamplus.vn The Senate impeachment trial has resumed. Refresh here for updates. Republicans mum on witnesses following a meeting with McConnell Coming out of a roughly hour and a half-long, closed-door meeting in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells office after the conclusion of todays impeachment trial, Republican senators appeared not to have reached a decision on calling witnesses. The meeting was a kind of recap of whats happening and then get time to be able to talk together, said Sen. James Lankford, R-Ok. Lankford declined to discuss how his proposal about viewing the manuscript in a closed setting was received among his colleagues. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters, we werent whipping [votes] in there. Graham suggested he would support calling Hunter Biden as a witness if Republicans motioned to do so. I dont need any more evidence, but if we do call witnesses, were just not going to call one witness, theyre going to call a bunch of witnesses, cause if we get down to expanding the record, I want to add to what was left out in the House, Graham said. Hunter Biden was not called in the House, he said. For those who say he was not relevant, I could not disagree with you more. If you can prove that the president had a legitimate concern about the Bidens conduct, then their whole case crumbles. Senators will speak for themselves, said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., when asked if any senators had advocated for witnesses in the meeting. Asked if there was enough support in the caucus to call additional witnesses, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said, uh, I dont know that either. Another Republican senator, John Hoeven of North Dakota, put his hand on a reporters shoulder and smiled when asked by him if the concerns of moderate Republicans like Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, had been addressed. I think on any of those senators, you should ask them how theyre going to come down, he said. The key swing vote Republican senators on witnesses, however, slipped out a different door of McConnells office than the doors reporters were allowed to stand outside. Story continues - Nicholas Wu Ex-Giuliani associate wants to give impeachment investigators more documents Former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas isn't just battling government lawyers prosecuting him in an alleged campaign finance scheme. He's also butting heads with his co-defendants as he tries to provide more material to House investigators for Trump's impeachment trial. The Ukraine-born businessman and three associates were indicted in October on charges of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars of foreign money to U.S. election candidates and committees. They have pleaded not guilty. Parnas has given House impeachment investigators reams of material about the search that he and Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, undertook in Ukraine and elsewhere for potentially damaging information about the family of former Vice President Joe Biden. The middleman: How Lev Parnas joined Team Trump and became Rudy Giuliani's fixer in Ukraine Now, according to federal court filings, Parnas wants to give impeachment investigators materials from his Apple iCloud account, including photos and documents. "Review of these items is essential to the committee's ability to corroborate the strength of Mr. Parnas's potential testimony," defense attorney Joseph Bondy wrote in a letter to the judge overseeing the case. Federal prosecutors objected, arguing the iCloud material was never in Parnas' possession. Apple held the records and disclosed them to the government in response to search warrants, the prosecutors wrote in a letter to the judge. Igor Fruman and Andrey Kukushkin, two of Parnas' co-defendants, argued the iCloud material could include records involving them. Neither has waived attorney-client privilege that covers such material. The arguments set the stage for a potential ruling at a preliminary hearing Monday. - Kevin McCoy A look at how the Senate chamber cleared after adjourning for the day Flashes of bipartisan comity could be seen as Trump's attorney Jay Sekulow concluded his remarks to the chamber Tuesday afternoon. Pat Cipollone walked over to the House managers' table and shook hands with Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler. Democratic counsel Daniel Goldman walked over to the defense table and shook hands with lawyers at the table. Democratic counsel Barry Berke embraced Sekulow. Other senators who occupy moderate positions in their party could be seen huddling together in the chamber as well. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., a moderate Democrat, made her way across the aisle to sit in chairs at the back of the chamber with Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., where the two appeared to have an intense conversation. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Me., John Thune, R-S.D., and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., talked together, and once Thune left, Manchin and Collins continued talking with their backs to reporters. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, sat for a while talking with Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kans. Murkowski said "thank you" to Sekulow as he left. Cipollone, who had criticized Nadler by showing videos of his remarks on Bill Clinton's impeachment, patted Nadler on the back as he went and shook hands at the Democratic table. - Nicholas Wu Trump defense team uses videos to show Democrats once opposed single-party impeachment Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, closed the defense of President Donald Trump in the Senate trial with a warning that lowering the bar for impeachment and removal from office would set a historic precedent that would leave future presidents vulnerable to a Congress led by a different party. He argued that the accusations in the two articles of impeachment abuse of power and obstruction of Congress were too vague to justify removing a president from office. They fall far short of any constitutional standard and they are dangerous, Cipollone said. To make his point, Cipollone played a series of videos from Democrats decrying the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton in 1998. Clinton was tried, but not removed from office. Two of the lawmakers Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York and Zoe Lofgren of California are managers prosecuting Trumps case. Three others Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Chuck Schumer of New York and Bob Menendez of New Jersey were Democratic House members at that time and are now senators sitting in judgment of Trump. Nadler warned against an impeachment of Clinton that would be supported by one party. So far no Republicans have supported Trumps impeachment in committee or on the House floor. Such an impeachment will produce the divisiveness and bitterness in our politics for years to come, and it will call into question the very legitimacy of our political institutions, Nadler said. Lofgren said removing Clinton would be unfair to the American people and undo the 1996 election. Future presidents will face election, then litigation, then impeachment, Lofgren said. The power of the president will diminish in the face of the Congress, a phenomenon much feared by the founding fathers. Markey suggested that Republicans were pursuing a constitutional coup against Clinton. Menendez warned against making impeachment a political weapon. Schumer feared that lowering the bar for impeachment would make it a routine tool to fight battles between Congress and the White House. You were right, Cipollone said to laughter in the Senate chamber. But Im sorry to say, you were also prophetic. - Bart Jansen Dershowitz: Elizabeth Warren doesnt understand the law A day after Sen. Elizabeth Warren derided as nonsensical the arguments of Alan Dershowitz, one of several lawyers on President Donald Trumps, the famed constitutional attorney bit back. Warren doesnt understand the law, the Harvard University Law professor wrote in a series of tweets Tuesday afternoon. She claims she could not follow my carefully laid out presentation that everybody else seemed to understand. This says more about Warren than it does about me. Dershowitz did not stop there. Warren doesnt understand the law. My former colleague, Senator Warren, claims she could not follow my carefully laid out presentation that everybody else seemed to understand. This says more about Warren than it does about me. (1 of 2) Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) January 28, 2020 She also willfully mischaracterized what I said, claiming that I spoke about intent. I challenge her to find that word anywhere in my presentation. I talked about the difficulty of discerning mixed motives, he continued. If Warren knew anything about criminal law she would understand the distinction between motives which are not elements of crimeand intent, which is. Its the responsibility of presidential candidates to have a better understanding of the law. On Monday, Dershowitz told the Senate that the articles charging Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are unconstitutional because they dont allege a violation of federal crime. It is inconceivable that the framers would have intended so politically loaded and promiscuously deployed a term as abuse of power to be weaponized as a tool of impeachment, Dershowitz said. It is precisely that the kind of vague, open-ended and subjective term that the framers feared and rejected. Warren told reporters that Dershowitz is nonsensical. "His characterization of the law simply is unsupported, she said. He is a criminal law professor who stood in the well of the Senate and talked about how law never enquires into intent and that we should not be using the president's intent as part of understanding impeachment. - Ledyard King Trump lawyer Sekulow says Bolton book manuscript 'inadmissable' WASHINGTON Jay Sekulow, one of the presidents attorneys arguing on his behalf at the trial, told senators that the manuscript that was leaked from John Boltons book would be inadmissible. Responding to an unpublished manuscript that maybe some reporters have an idea of maybe what it says, he said. I dont know what youd call that. Id call it inadmissible. Thats what it is. He pushed back on assertions reportedly made in a book by Bolton, Trumps former national security adviser, that included that the president personally told Bolton that military aid for Ukraine was tied to investigations in Ukraine helpful to Trump. Sekulow cited a tweet the president sent, where Trump denied ever making such comments to Bolton and suggested that Bolton was only trying to sell books. Impeachment is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts. That is politics unfortunately, said Sekulow, who added that the Senate has to be above that fray. Sekulow also argued to senators that even if the allegations against the president were correct, it still would not rise to the level of an impeachable offense, pointing to remarks made by Alan Dershowitz. Even if it was a quid pro quo, which we have clearly established there was none, Sekulow argued. Even if everything in there was true, it constitutionally doesn't rise to that level. - Christal Hayes Trump lawyer rejects Democrats' 'reckless allegations' over documents Patrick Philbin, a deputy White House counsel, responded Tuesday to what he called reckless allegations from House Democrats about how two key documents were handled in the impeachment inquiry. One document summarized a July 25 call, during which President Donald Trump urged Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden. . The call summary was placed on a secure server in the White House, which Democrats argued demonstrated a cover-up. But Philbin said Trump released the call summary two months later and that officials still had access to it for their jobs. A National Security Council staffer, Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who reported concerns about the call to the council's lawyers, told the House inquiry he saw nothing improper with storing the call summary on the secure server. His boss, Tim Morrison, a former National Security Council expert on Russia, also testified there was no malicious intent in storing the summary on the secure server. The other document was the whistleblower complaint to the inspector general of the intelligence community, which focused on the July 25 call. House Democrats said the complaint should have been provided to Congress as soon as the inspector general found it credible. But Philbin said the Justice Department reviewed the complaint and found that it didnt meet the legal definition of an urgent concern that had to be turned over to Congress. Trump eventually provided the complaint to Congress about the same time he released the call summary. When something gets sent over to the Justice Department to examine, you cant call that a cover-up, Philbin said. Everything was handled entirely properly. - Bart Jansen Trump team: House impeachment charges are too vague President Donald Trumps defense team picked up its third and final day of arguments in the Senate impeachment trial on Tuesday by arguing the charges from House Democrats are too vague to be enforced. Patrick Philbin, deputy White House counsel, said the potential impeachment offense of maladministration was rejected in drafting the Constitution because it was too vague. Philbin argued as other Trump lawyers had before that impeachable offenses should be enumerated and well defined. Vague standards are themselves an opportunity for the expansion of power, Philbin said. House Democrats charged Trump with abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rival while withholding $391 million in military aid. Constitutional scholars have said impeachable offenses need not be based on criminal statutes, although House Democrats said the abuse of power was based on action akin to bribery or extortion. But Philbin argued that the framers of the Constitution would have rejected those arguments as too vague to be enforced. It is so malleable that it in effect recreates the charge of maladministration, which the framers rejected, Philbin said. - Bart Jansen Congressman Adam Schiff. Trump team will leave time on the table President Donald Trumps defense team said it expects to finish its third and final day of arguments by dinner, without using all of the 24 hours it was given. The president's defense team began arguments Tuesday afternoon with 15 hours and 33 minutes of time left to make its case. But it expects to take up just a few hours on their final day. White House counsel Pat Cipollone said the arguments could be finished by dinner. "Our goal is to be finished by dinner time and well before," he said. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial, told Trump's team, "it will not be possible to use the remainder of that time before the end of the day. - Bart Jansen Graham: if Bolton called, There will be 51 Republican votes to call Bidens Sen. Lindsey Graham said if Democrats are going to try to bring John Bolton as a witness at the Senate impeachment trial then Democrats should be prepared to see former Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and other key Democrats hauled in as well. If were going to open this up to additional inquiry, were going to go down the road, the Republican senator from South Carolina told reporters in the Capitol Tuesday. Was it legitimate for the president to believe there was corruption and conflicts of interest on the Bidens part in the Ukraine? Well explore that and whether or not theres any credibility to the idea that he (Democratic National Committee) may have been working with Ukraine. President Donald Trump's defense team began its third and final day of arguments about 1 p.m. EST. Graham said he doesnt need to hear from more witnesses, saying he was comfortable with what hes already heard. But Graham added, Im just telling everybody who thinks you can surgically deal with this: its not going to happen, he said. Ill make a prediction. Therell be 51 Republican votes to call Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, the whistleblower and the DNC staffer at a very minimum. Barr-Bolton: Justice Department says Bolton 'grossly mischaracterizes' Barr's take on Trump's talks with Xi, Erdogan Democrats are eager to hear directly from Bolton, Trumps former national security adviser, who in a forthcoming book alleges Trump told him directly that he wished to continue withholding nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine unless the country announced investigations the Bidens. Republicans have countered that Trump had ample rationale to hold up the aid, in part because Hunter Biden worked for a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings, that the countrys top prosecutor Viktor Sholkin had investigated for corruption. Republicans allege Hunter Biden was hired solely because he was the son of the then-vice president and that Joe Biden had tried to get Sholkin fired to protect his son. Ukrainian officials and anti-corruption activists say Burisma wasnt under investigation at the time Shokin was fired. Democrats counter that those allegations against Burisma have been widely debunked because Bidens effort to have Shokin fired was part of the U.S. national policy to root out corruption in Ukraine and was supported by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. - Ledyard King John Kelly: 'I believe John Bolton' President Donald Trump is denying that he told former National Security Adviser John Bolton he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until the country launched investigations into Joe Biden and his son, allegations that Bolton levies in his new book, according to news reports. But one of Trumps former top aides told a Sarasota, Florida, crowd Monday evening that if the reporting on what Bolton wrote is accurate, he believes Bolton. If John Bolton says that in the book I believe John Bolton, said retired Gen. John Kelly, who served as Trumps chief of staff for 18 months. Kelly spoke Monday at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall as part of a lecture series in Sarasota, Florida. The general worked with Bolton during his time as chief of staff, which ended in early 2019. Kelly said Bolton is an honest person. Every single time I was with him ... he always gave the president the unvarnished truth, Kelly said of Bolton, who has become a figure of intense interest in the impeachment inquiry. According to the New York Times, Bolton writes in a new book that Trump personally told him he did not want to release nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine until the country investigated Democrats, including the former vice president and his son. - Zac Anderson, Sarasota Herald Tribune 'I believe John Bolton': Former Trump chief of staff John Kelly backs Bolton in Ukraine dispute Graham 'totally' supports giving senators Bolton book A proposal floated Tuesday by GOP senators to allow access to John Bolton's manuscript is being shot down by leading Democrats who say they want the former national security adviser as a witness in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. Sen. Lindsey Graham, an ally of Trump, tweeted out his support for giving senators access to the material alleging the president told him he didn't want to release nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine until the country announced investigations into political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. I totally support @SenatorLankfords proposal that the Bolton manuscript be made available to the Senate, if possible, in a classified setting where each senator has the opportunity to review the manuscript and make their own determination, tweeted Graham, R-S.C. Democrats need at least four GOP senators to vote with them to subpoena Bolton as a witness, a showdown expected in the Senate later this week. Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican who serves on the intelligence committee, told The Oklahoman that Boltons manuscript is pertinent, and senators should be able to read it. That could be done in a classified setting since the manuscript is undergoing a pre-publication screening process to ensure it doesnt reveal classified information, Lankford said. I totally support @SenatorLankford's proposal that the Bolton manuscript be made available to the Senate, if possible, in a classified setting where each Senator has the opportunity to review the manuscript and make their own determination. https://t.co/e18nUfSMgI Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 28, 2020 He also encouraged Bolton to step forward on his own if he has something to say. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Graham's proposal "absurd" at a Tuesday press conference. "It's a book. There's no need to read in a (secure setting) unless you want to hide something ... Nothing is a substitute for a witness under oath, in person, testifying. That's what we want." Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., also told USA TODAY it was an effort to prevent "full disclosure that comes from having the process of having a witness questioned and exploring the details. After the Bolton news broke Sunday, many GOP senators dismissed it as irrelevant to the bottom line and said it would unnecessarily prolong the impeachment trial to subpoena Bolton. Some senators who have expressed interest in hearing from Bolton including Maines Susan Collins and Alaskas Lisa Murkowski said they will wait to decide on witnesses until after the defense finishes its presentation Tuesday and senators have had a chance to ask questions of both sides. Maureen Groppe, Nicholas Wu and Ledyard King Why didn't House managers subpoena Bolton? One of the refrains Republicans have been making about John Bolton is that if Democrats were so eager to call in President Donald Trumps former national security adviser, they should have subpoenaed him during their impeachment inquiry last fall. House impeachment managers Tuesday said he threatened to sue when they asked to appear before them. And they did not want a protracted court battle that would have likely stretched beyond the presidential election in November. The essential (element) of what the president is doing is to cheat for the 2020 election, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, told reporters on a conference call Tuesday morning. And to engage in a court process that would allow him to continue to cheat between now and the election was really not consistent with our oath to the Constitution. The New York Times reported Sunday that Boltons forthcoming book alleges Trump told him directly that he wished to continue withholding nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine unless the country announced investigations into his 2020 political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Lofgren said they also didnt view Boltons testimony at the time as crucial because they had substantial evidence (from other witnesses) about the scheme." Another manager, Jason Crow of Colorado, pointed to the already lengthy court battle to compel former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify about potential actions Trump took to obstruct justice as outlined in special counsel Robert Mueller's report. Lets not forget the House subpoenaed Don McGann in April and were still litigating that, Crow told reporters on Tuesdays call. Ledyard King Trump team hopes to wind up defense in 2-3 hours The White House is signaling a relatively short trial session Tuesday as President Donald Trump's impeachment lawyers prepare their final day of arguments. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump's private attorney Jay Sekulow will make the case for the president for no more than two to three hours, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because final preparations are still evolving. Attorneys are still trying to address how to approach a key issue: Their argument that witnesses are not needed. Officials said they do not know whether enough Republicans will support calling witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton, whose forthcoming book alleges Trump told him directly that he wished to continue withholding nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine unless the country announced investigations into his political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The trial could stretch into into next week or beyond if enough Republicans decide to support calling witnesses. Trump's attorney's are expected to call for a dismissal of the case later this week. David Jackson Lawyers: Trump justified in asking Ukraine for probe On Monday, the president's team slammed the impeachment process as partisan and argued Trump was justified in asking the Ukrainian government to open investigations into his political adversaries. House Democrats impeached Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in mid-December. They allege Trump withheld military aid and an Oval Office meeting with the Ukrainian president to get Ukraine to open investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, and that the Trump administration stonewalled Congress' investigation into Trump's actions. Trump's team goes into day three Trump's defense team will offer its final arguments in this phase of the trial, concluding the three days maximum of presentation time allowed under the rules for the first phase of the impeachment trial. Trump's team has offered a vigorous defense of the president's actions while also asserting Trump's lack of wrongdoing. Dershowitz makes the case: Alan Dershowitz tells Senate Trump's impeachment is unconstitutional Tuesday's presentation will not be the last chance to convince senators, however. The rules for the impeachment trial allow for 16 answers of questions of both sides submitted by senators following the presentations by the impeachment managers and the defense. What Trump's team has said so far Members of Trump's spent their part of their Monday presentation arguing Trump was justified in asking for investigations into the Bidens and withholding aid to Ukraine, and concluded it with a presentation from Alan Dershowitz, a celebrity lawyer on Trump's team. Dershowitz argued the articles of impeachment were unconstitutional because they did not charge Trump with a federal crime. Response to his arguments split along party lines. "I liked Dershowitz," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters as she left the Capitol on Monday night. Senate Dems: Key Senate Democrat says Trump team made 'persuasive' argument against obstruction article "The job is being done, and the case is being well-presented," Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., a member of the president's defense team, told reporters following the trial. So far, Trump's team has not addressed most of the allegations from former national security adviser John Bolton's upcoming book, which says Trump told Bolton military aid to Ukraine would be linked to the opening of investigations. Democrats vigorously disagreed when Dershowitz claimed on Monday that Bolton's testimony was unnecessary because the new revelations would not "rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, whose education at Harvard Law School overlapped with Dershowitz's tenure as a professor, laughed at the declaration, shaking his head and taking off his glasses to rub his eyes. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., formerly a Harvard Law School professor, told reporters as she left the Capitol that Dershowitz's presentation was "contrary to both law and fact." Bolton bombshell: 'We want to hear that': News of John Bolton's book casts shadow over Trump impeachment trial What happens next Following the conclusion of presentations from the defense, the Senate will hold 16 hours of questions from senators, which will be read out by the Chief Justice. "We'll be able to combine questions, and it'll be up to the Chief Justice to combine them in an orderly fashion, both sides having equal opportunity for asking questions," said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. What happens after the question phase is uncertain. At that point, the Senate will take votes on whether to allow additional witnesses and documents in the trial, and the outcome of that vote is up in the air. Some Republican senators have signaled their willingness to hear from witnesses like Bolton Any vote to call witnesses would require four Republicans to vote with all Democrats because Republicans control the Senate 53-47. Murkowski, a potential swing vote on witnesses, told reporters going into Republicans' daily lunch meeting on Monday she was "curious" about Bolton's testimony. During their daily lunch meeting on Monday, several senators floated the idea of a witness trade, where Democrats would get to call a witness like Bolton in exchange for a witness Republicans have wanted like Hunter Biden. Some Democrats, however, are hesitant to engage in witness-trading. "I'm not going to be party to the same scheme that the President is being impeached for, and that's what they're trying to get us to do," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Ct., told reporters Monday, describing witness trading as part of a Republican scheme to "destroy the Bidens." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Impeachment live updates: Trump defense team presents for last day New Delhi, Jan 28 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the introduction into India of African Cheetah, as a pilot project, on a carefully chosen location which suits its habitat and also examine if the animal could adapt to Indian conditions. The court was hearing a plea by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) stating that the Indian Cheetah has become extinct, and seeking the court's permission to relocate the African Cheetah from Namibia. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, modifying an earlier order, said the cheetahs from Namibia could be introduced in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, or any other part of the country following a detailed study on the all the aspects. "In case of any difficulty, a habitable location would be found," said the court. The apex court also sought a progress report every four months from an expert panel on reintroduction of Cheetah in India, as a pilot project. After a tussle of nearly seven years, during which the apex court had declined to permit the introduction of the African Cheetah -- terming it a foreign species, the bench took the decision. The apex court also constituted a three-member committee former Director, Wildlife India Ranjit Singh, Wildlife India DG Dhananjay Mohan, and the DIG, Wildlife, Ministry of Environment and Forests to guide the NTCA in taking a decision after conducting a thorough survey. After this process, the introduction of the foreign species will be on the discretion of the NTCA. In 2013, the top court had declined the plea seeking relocation of African Cheetah at Kuno National Park. "Kuno sanctuary is not a natural habitat for African Cheetah. Experts say no species be considered for introduction to a new habitat until the factors which limit its distribution and abundance in the native range have been studied and understood by competent ecologistsa, said the top court in its 2013 order. Citing this order, the top court said this court struck down an order by MoEF, as it had not conducted a detailed study on the introduction of foreign species, "this application presumably remedied the defect". Advocate A.D.N. Rao, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae, submitted the reasons behind raising objections of relocation of African Cheetah in the Indian condition. In 2018, the NTCA informed the apex court it has secured approval from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for the relocation of cheetahs from Namibia. It contended that IUCN had extended its full cooperation on this project. Startup Minister Park Young-sun, fourth from left, poses with Simon Kahn, fourth from right, chief marketing officer of Google APAC, and other officials during a startup support event in Seoul, July 25, 2019. / Courtesy of Google Korea By Baek Byung-yeul The government is seeking to launch a state-run startup accelerator program with renowned IT companies Microsoft, Amazon and Nvidia among others in a bid to offer burgeoning local firms scalable opportunities to compete with the technology giants, the startup ministry said Tuesday. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups, which supervises the business growth of small enterprises here, said it is considering seeking partnerships with the U.S.-based tech giants to set up a support program that funds local firms and helps them make inroads into overseas markets. "We are currently in talks with Microsoft, Amazon and Nvidia to set up startup accelerator programs. The plan is not finalized yet but we are making progress," a ministry official said. The government has been trying to create disruptive innovation and bolster the sagging economy by strengthening support for local startups. In its operational plan for 2020, the startup ministry announced Jan. 2 that it will set up an accelerator program for companies, with those in the manufacturing and smart factory sector receiving support from Microsoft, and firms in logistics and commerce being assisted by Amazon. Seeking cooperation with Nvidia is also in line with its plan to nurture firms in artificial intelligence and graphic processing. The official added the startup ministry has decided to expand the support program as the initial program launched with Google Korea in 2019 has created many successful examples. "In conjunction with Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development and Google, we launched a startup accelerator program and those companies supported by the program made forays overseas. So we are trying to expand the scope of the program with other IT giants," the official added. In March, 2019, the startup ministry launched the "ChangGoo Program" and provided financial and technical support to local startups specializing in developing mobile apps and mobile games. Through the support program, 60 firms that had been up and running from between three and seven years received 700 million won ($600,000) of funds for research and development activities, as well as consulting and marketing support from Google. Google played a significant role in making the program a success as it provided consulting services to the startups. CatchItPlay, the developer of the mobile English learning app "Catch It English" was able to secure a Series A investment of 3.5 billion won from investors and advanced into Asian countries such as Japan and Vietnam. Thanks to the successful cases, the total budget of the ChangGoo Program in 2020 will be 40 billion won, a 10 billion won increase from 2019. The startup ministry allocated a budget of 1.5 trillion won in 2020 to help startups develop technologies. Of the budget cost, 200 billion will be used for firms in non-memory semiconductor, biotechnology and AI sectors, areas which the government has tried to foster. New Delhi: Congress delegation led by party leaders Ajay Maken and Subhash Chopra arrive after meeting the Election Commission and submitting a complaint against BJP leaders', including Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, over their statemen Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Congress delegation led by party leaders Ajay Maken and Subhash Chopra arrive after meeting the Election Commission and submitting a complaint against BJP leaders', including Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, over their statemen Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Jan 28 : The Congress has complained to the Election Commission about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders', including Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, statements during the campaigning for the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls. "The way Thakur, Pravesh Verma and Amit Shah is using the language to polarise voters, it seems the BJP wants to communalise the elections. It's unacceptable. The BJP has lost balance due to impending poll loss. We have requested the EC to take action against them," said Congress leader Ajay Maken. The poll panel had sought a report from the Delhi Chief Election Commissioner, he added. BJP MP Verma has kicked off a row by claiming if the BJP came to power in Delhi it would only clear the Shaheen Bagh of the anti-CAA activists within an hour, but also remove within a month all mosques in his parliamentary constituency built on government land. Verma represents West Delhi in the Lok Sabha. Addressing a private gathering in the Vikaspuri Assembly constituency, Verma said, "Its not just any another election. It's an election to decide the unity of the nation." "If the BJP comes to power on February 11, within an hour you will not find a single protester. Within a month, you will not spare a single mosque built on government land in my Lok Sabha constituency." Verma's rhetoric seems to be in line with the BJP's new-found poll plank in Shaheen Bagh protest and came soon after Union Minister Thakur's "shoot the traitors" barb. In a video that has gone viral, Thakur, sporting a grey kurta and saffron stole, is seen raising slogans, like "Desh ke gaddaro ko" and the crowd completing that with, "goli maaro ... ko" (Shoot the traitors). Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday accused opposition parties of misleading people on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Population Register and the National Register of Citizens. Addressing an election rally in Kondli ahead of the assembly elections next month, he said citizenship rights of anyone will not be taken away under the CAA. "Some people are playing politics over the CAA, but we will not allow them to succeed," the defence minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dismissed: Oliver Morley had claimed RBS's controversial Global Restructuring Group placed him under 'economic duress' A propertydeveloper who was trying to sue Royal Bank of Scotland for ruining his business has lost his case. Oliver Morley had claimed RBSs controversial Global Restructuring Group (GRG) placed him under economic duress, which led to some of his properties being seized by the bank and sold for a profit. But in a High Court judgment yesterday, the claim was dismissed. Mr Justice Kerr found that RBS did not breach its duty to exercise reasonable care and skill when dealing with Morley, that its actions were rationally connected to its commercial interests, and that the bank did not engineer a default on Morleys loan. The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Gbebreyesus, will be meeting with the Chinese government and health experts over the outbreak of coronavirus on Tuesday. Mr Gbebreyesus, on his Twitter handle @Dr_Tedros on Monday, said he was on his way to Beijing to meet with the government and health experts supporting the coronavirus response in the country. My WHO colleagues and I would like to understand the latest development and strengthen our partnership in providing further protection against the outbreak, he tweeted. We are working 24/7 to support China and its people during this difficult time and remain in close contact with affected countries, with our regional and country offices deeply involved. He added that WHO is updating all countries on the situation and providing specific guidance on what to do to respond. China, since December has been battling the scourge of a new disease coronavirus (2019-nCoV) which has infected about 1,975 people in the country, with death toll rising to 56. The disease, which originated in Wuhan city, has found its way out of the country and has been exported to about 11 countries with the first suspected case in Africa reported in Cote d Ivoire on Monday. Currently, millions of people in China have been quarantined as many cities are on lockdown. The rapid spread and lack of adequate information on the pattern of the disease has raised concerns among the public and health workers across the globe. READ ALSO: People are also beginning to clamour for WHO to declare the disease a global threat. Mr Gbereyesus said building on experience and systems already in place for related pathogens, WHO has activated global network of experts, quickly developed advice for countries everywhere and is working with them to activate their response system to coronavirus. Funding In another development, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $10 million in emergency funds and corresponding support to assist frontline responders in China and Africa in their effort to contain the global spread of the disease. The international NGO, in a statement released via its website, said the funds are divided into equal half to assist African and China in the prevention and surveillance against the disease. The foundation said it is immediately releasing $5 million to assist Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in scaling up public health measures against coronavirus among African Union member states. The measures will include technical support to implement the screening and treatment of suspected cases, laboratory confirmation of 2019-nCoV diagnoses and the safe isolation and care of identified cases, it said. The other half of the $ 5 million is committed to coronavirus response in China. The foundation said it is already working with a range of Chinese public and private sector partners to accelerate national and international cooperation in areas of critical need, including efforts to identify and confirm cases, safely isolate and dare for patients and accelerate the development of treatments and vaccines. The Tata Nexon is arguably one of the most popular compact SUVs on sale in Inia right now. And without a doubt, electric vehicles, or EV, are what is said to be the future of automobiles. As a result, Tata Motors has decided to bring these two things together in the form of the Tata Nexon EV, the electric version of the Tata Nexon SUV. This has been launched in India today at a price tag of Rs 13.99 lakh (ex-showroom) which makes the Tata Nexon EV as the most affordable electric SUV in India, and also, one of the most affordable EV in India right now. The Tata Nexon EV joins the newly launched Electric Vehicle club that currently only existed of the MG ZS EV and the Hyundai Kona. However, the Tata Nexon EV is the most accessible of the lot. We brought you all the updates from the launch event of the Tata Nexon EV, including its price, features, variants, design details and the rest. Heres how it happened. Renowned Indian environmental economist and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) goodwill ambassador Pavan Sukhdev has won the 2020 Tyler Prize, regarded as the Nobel Prize for the Environment, for his ground-breaking "green economy" work. IMAGE: Pavan Sukhdev. Photograph: Courtesy Pavan Sukhdev on Twitter. Sukhdev, 59, who will receive the award alongside conservation biologist Gretchen Daily, has been acknowledged for his work on bringing the economic consequences of environmental degradation and loss to the attention of corporate and political decision-makers. The duo will receive the award at a private ceremony on May 1 in the United Nations in the presence of the Tyler Prize Executive Committee and distinguished members of the international environmental community. They will each receive a gold medallion and share a USD 200,000 cash prize, it was announced on Monday. They will deliver a public presentation of their work at the New York Academy of Sciences in April. Sukhdev was the special adviser and head of UNEP's Green Economy Initiative, a major project launched by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to demonstrate that greening of economies is not a burden on growth but rather a new engine for growing wealth, increasing decent employment and reducing persistent poverty. Sukhdev was also appointed Study Leader (2008-2010) of the landmark initiative on The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity' (TEEB), a global UNEP-hosted study. The TEEB report became a foundation for the Green Economy movement - an achievement for which Sukhdev is being awarded the 2020 Tyler Prize. This award is equally a recognition of UNEP and its vibrant and active TEEB community, Sukhdev said. You don't have to be an environmentalist to care about protecting the environment. Just ask a farmer who now must rent beehives to pollinate his crops, because there are no longer enough bees in wild nature to do the job for free. But bees don't send invoices, so the value of their services is not recognised, he said. The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is one of the oldest international environmental awards, recognising individuals who have contributed in an outstanding manner to the scientific knowledge and public leadership to preserve and enhance the global environment. Often described as the "Nobel Prize for the Environment', the Tyler Prize is administered by the University of Southern California. Achim Steiner, former UNEP chief, said Sukhdev and Daily have generated ground-breaking insights into the economic value of our natural environment -- prompting decision-makers to implement new measures to protect our planet's ecosystems and biodiversity. Having worked closely with Sukhdev over many years, Steiner, who is currently the Administrator of United Nations Development Programme, added that he considered his work on the TEEB to be truly transformative -- it has generated a new narrative on the economic and social importance of nature's services, and a new community of practice. Sukhdev currently serves the World Wildlife Fund as President and Chairman of the Board as well as Board Member for TEEB Advisory Board, Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. Yoshita Singh works for PTI. She can be contacted at money@rediff.co.in. FORT COLLINS, Colo., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Project management lays at the heart of many different fields. It has become one of the most important degrees that you can get if you want to go on to have a management career. The field started as a subtype of the MBA program and has expanded into its own field in itself. Project management degrees can be used across a range of fields and offer a variety of specializations based on the field that you may want to enter into. OnlineCollegePlan recently created a ranking of The 30 Best Online Masters Degrees in Project Management, which is a great place to start looking for which project management degree is best for you. You can check it out here: https://www.onlinecollegeplan.com/rankings/best-online-masters-degrees-project-management/ This ranking features a combination of business degrees that all have something different that they bring to the table. A Master's degree in project management is the perfect way to build on your undergraduate background in business and prepare yourself for management roles. There are even programs that offer a select set of 'bridge' courses for those students who don't have any academic experience in the business field. These are the featured schools presented in ascending order: 1. Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO) 2. Bellevue University (Bellevue, NE) 3. The College of St. Scholastica (Duluth, MN) 4. Granite State College (Concord, NH) 5. Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (Winona, MN) 6. Lasell University (Auburndale, MA) 7. Liberty University (Lynchburg, VA) 8. Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, TX) 9. New England College (Henniker, NH) 10. University of Wisconsin - Platteville (Platteville, WI) 11. University of Maryland (College Park, MD) 12. Florida Institute of Technology (Melbourne, FL) 13. University of Denver (Denver, CO) 14. City University of Seattle (Seattle, WA) 15. University of Mary (Bismarck, ND) 16. Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester, NH) 17. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach, FL) 18. Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, NC) 19. Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) 20. Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (Harrisburg, PA) 21. University of Texas at Dallas (Richardson, TX) 22. Northeastern University (Boston, MA) 23. Pennsylvania State University (State College, PA) 24. Brandeis University (Waltham, MA) 25. Regis University (Denver, CO) 26. Georgetown University (Washington, DC) 27. Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) 28. Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ) 29. Boston University (Boston, MA) 30. American University (Washington, DC) To explore more online business degrees, you can read the guide created by OnlineCollegePlan at the link below: https://www.onlinecollegeplan.com/online-business-degrees-mba-programs/ Anne Velusa, Research Editor http://www.onlinecollegeplan.com/ [email protected] 864-245-0751 SOURCE OnlineCollegePlan The legendary Russian conductor, artistic and general director of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiev shared his thoughts on the future of the Caucasus with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza. "I've been to Baku, Yerevan, and Tbilisi many times. My lesser motherland in the North Caucasus is Ossetia, and I mean both North Ossetia-Alania and South Ossetia, Ossetians live there too. And I can say that a huge number of people in the Caucasus want peace above anything else," he emphasized. "The situation in the Caucasus today is better than it was, but there is still a lot to think about. We should thinks about how the Caucasus will look in 3, 5 and 10 years. I want to believe that it will be prosperous, rich and healthy region - but there's much to do for that to happen. I am not a politician, but I know that this is our collective concern - peace in the Caucasus and its economic growth," Valery Gergiev drew attention. He also commented on the Mariinsky Theater's relations with Azerbaijan. "These are our neighbors. I performed in Azerbaijan once, I have friends there. Now we are considering that the Mariinsky Theater should have more works of Azerbaijani authors, including ballet scores on its repertoire than in the past 20 years. We have such plans, and we are moving towards them," the famous conductor said. "I would like to add that I'd love to visit Baku again. I was recently in Yerevan, and it seems to me that everyone wants these two peoples to live in peace. This also applies to the entire Caucasus. Therefore, I wish them every success," Valery Gergiev concluded. France will send a plane this week to start evacuating its citizens from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, the government said Tuesday as a fourth case was reported on French soil. Health director Jerome Salomon told reporters in Paris an elderly Chinese tourist in a "serious condition" was receiving emergency treatment in a hospital in the capital. He was visiting France from the Hubei province hardest hit by the outbreak that has killed more than 100 people and sickened thousands. The Chinese government has sealed off Wuhan and neighbouring cities, effectively trapping tens of millions of people, including thousands of foreigners, in a bid to contain the spread of the virus. France will send a plane to Wuhan on Thursday, Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said, where about 500 to 1,000 French citizens were eligible for repatriation. The first plane will likely return to France late Friday or early Saturday, she said. Those on it will be brought to a holding facility in Paris, where they will stay for 14 days -- the estimated virus incubation period -- to ensure they do not have the virus and therefore cannot pass it on to others. Any who display symptoms, which are similar to the flu and include a fever, will be hospitalised immediately. Deputy transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari told CNews television the first flight would bring only passengers "who do not have any symptoms" of illness. Another flight to bring home "people who may be carrying the virus" is planned but no date has yet been set, he said. "Several planes will follow," added Buzyn, so as not to mix potentially infected people with healthy ones on the same flight. The European Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that EU citizens would also be flown out of Wuhan. "Initial numbers indicate that around 250 French citizens will be transported in the first aircraft and over 100 EU citizens from other countries will join the second aircraft," it said in a statement. The airlift, at France's request, will now be co-funded by the EU under its civil protection mechanism and broadened with the second plane for EU citizens. It said "only healthy or asymptomatic citizens will be authorised to travel" on the flights. - 'Won't close the doors' - France was the first European country to report imported cases of the new coronavirus. The first three were people who had recently been to China. On Tuesday, officials said a German man, who has not been to China, was infected with the virus by a colleague visiting Bavaria from China, in what is believed to be the first human transmission on European soil. Buzyn said several European countries had asked France to bring their nationals home on its planes. "Obviously, we won't close the doors of our planes to foreign nationals if they request it and if we have the possibility" to help them, Buzyn added. Among the French in Wuhan, some may not be keen on leaving, however. "Some have family members who are not necessarily French nationals, so it is necessary to know if they want to return, and if the Chinese government accepts it," Buzyn said. "All of this is being discussed with the Chinese authorities." Others are put off by the mandatory 14-day quarantine period. burs-mlr/klm France has deployed a medical team to Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport to take charge of arrivals who showed symptoms of the contagious virus By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 21 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Jan. 28, Trend reports. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST Bazaar Corporate Radar Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Jeyhun Alakbarov - Trend: Due to epidemiological situation in China, passengers who have booked tickets for Baku-Beijing-Baku flights to be performed by Azerbaijan Airlines until March 28, 2020 will be able to change the departure date or return the tickets without penalty, Trend reports with reference to the press service of the airlines. For refund tickets, customers may contact sales offices or contact support center via [email protected] and use feedback form on the website in case of online purchase: https://help.azal.az/hc/en-us/requests/new Azerbaijan Airlines temporarily stops operating Baku-Beijing-Baku flights every year in February. The reason is low demand due to holidays in this country. Thus, as in previous years,flights to the Chinese capital will be suspended from February and will be resumed starting from March 8, 2020. KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- The Better Business Bureau recommends paying inside instead of at the pump when getting gas. They say it's a way to avoid credit card skimmers thieves use to steal your bank information. When pumping gas, it is known to be wary of the credit card skimmer at the pump. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan is solely a deal between the United States and Israel, an adviser to Iran's president said on Tuesday, dismissing the proposal as one of "imposition and sanctions". "This is a deal between the Zionist regime (Israel) and America. Interaction with Palestinians is not on its agenda. This is not a peace plan but a plan of imposition and sanctions," Hesameddin Ashena tweeted after Trump unveiled details of plan in Washington. Search Keywords: Short link: DUBLIN, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Certificate in Employee Relations Law Seminar" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Certificate in Employee Relations Law Seminar provides the most comprehensive, practical, up-to-date employment law training available. This is a 4 day seminar geared to the real-world needs of human resource professionals, attorneys, and managers. The seminar provides "best practices" insights and information on the full range of employee relations law issues. This seminar has been presented hundreds of times to tens of thousands of professionals since 1979, undergoing continuous improvements, updating and refinement. The seminar is presented by prominent employment law attorneys who are also excellent presenters. They focus is on the practical implications of the law and what steps participants can take on the job to cope with the complex requirements of the various laws and regulations. Since 1979, the Certificate in Employee Relations Law Seminar has been widely regarded as the professional's choice for employment law training. The Certificate in Employee Relations Law Seminar is designed to provide participants with a broad base of practical knowledge in all facets of employment law. The seminar provides participants with: A comprehensive understanding of all of today's significant employment laws and regulations, and the ability to know what to do about them in their own workplace. The skills to recognize and deal with problem situations. Subjects include coping with federal and state regulatory agencies and their requirements, compliance reviews and agency injunctions, negotiating and settling complaints, and minimizing exposure to litigation by learning what steps and policies to implement in the workplace. Complete information regarding current and expected future regulations, enabling your organization to anticipate and plan for the future. Benefits Tens of thousands of past participants have told the organiser that participating in the seminar: Enables participants to take concrete and specific actions to substantially reduce their organization's downside risk to expensive, time-consuming and risky litigation. Improves on-the-job performance and skills...immediately. Provides virtually all the information needed to function effectively in the employment law aspect of a job. Increases confidence in dealing with complex employee relations law issues. Helps participants to deal more pro-actively with employee relations law issues. Increases the participant's value to their organization. Provides participants with an excellent environment to meet colleagues and share ideas. In short, this seminar provides the perfect vehicle for both experienced and less experienced HR professionals and attorneys to get the information and the insight they need to achieve the highest level of professional performance. Agenda Block I - Labor Law in the Union & Non-Union Workplace - (Monday and Tuesday) Overview of Laws Governing the Employer-Union Relationship Analysis of the provisions of the Labor Management Relations Act and other applicable laws Practical guide to understanding and successfully dealing with the National Labor Relations Board Practical Guidance for Managing Non-Unionized Employees How to minimize legal risk through good hiring practices Identification of the most important employment policies How to use performance evaluations effectively The keys to avoiding an employment-related lawsuit How to conduct effective internal investigations Managing leaves of absence effectively Why employees unionize-recurring problems in the non-union workplace Preventive measures to avoid union organizing efforts Changes in the Law and How they Affect You - The Election Process Examination of election procedures-statutory provisions and NLRB processes How to conduct a legal and effective campaign against unionization Collective Bargaining What should management want in a collective bargaining agreement? How to get what you want out of the collective bargaining process Extent of responsibility to bargain in good faith The correlation between collective bargaining agreements and employee handbooks Strikes and Picketing Activity Legal limits on strikes, picketing, and employer responses Legal remedies and best strategies for dealing with actual or threatened strikes, picketing, and boycotts Operating Under a Collective Bargaining Agreement Living with a collective bargaining agreement Making effective use of the grievance procedure Preparing for and winning arbitration cases Successorship and the Law Buying a business whose employees are unionized Understanding your rights and liabilities in mergers and acquisitions Ending the Union Relationship The decertification process Other non-election means through which to legally end the relationship Block II - Employment Discrimination Law - (Wednesday and Thursday) A survey course that examines legal theories under Title VII and other Civil Rights Acts, including discrimination and harassment based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, age, and disability. Analyzes race, color and national origin discrimination claims under Title VII and the Post-Civil War Civil Rights Acts Examines the various theories of sex discrimination, including such issues as pregnancy discrimination, employee benefits design and equal pay Discusses sexual and other types of harassment, investigations and policies employers need to mitigate their risk of liability Reviews trends in protecting the rights of persons based on sexual orientation Updates religious discrimination issues, including employer obligations to accommodate employees' religious practices Strategies and Practical Advice for Dealing with Issues Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act A thorough examination of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the effective handling of the disabled employee, including a discussion of the changed standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act An analysis of current decisions interpreting an employer's rights and responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act An examination of the Family and Medical Leave Act, its regulations, and recent cases dealing with leave issues An Update on Developments in the Law Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act An examination of developing legal issues, including disparate impact claims and defenses A review of issues associated with employee benefits designs, especially severance benefits Resolving Discrimination Claims Without Litigation Resolving complaints internally and encouraging employees to use your procedures Avoiding litigation through binding arbitration A discussion of recent court decisions concerning the enforceability of agreements to arbitrate employment claims and class claims Litigating Discrimination Claims A review of the case handling process under EEOC regulations How to win your case at the administrative level An examination of effective litigation strategies Avoidance of retaliation claims Settlement strategies, including pre-charge settlements as well as settlements in conjunction with agencies An Examination of Affirmative Action A detailed discussion of voluntary affirmative action trends An examination of the requirements of Executive Order 11246 for government contractors How to prepare affirmative action plans Dealing with the OFCCP effectively Update on judicial opinions regarding affirmative action and "reverse discrimination" Block III - Special Issues in Employee Relations Law - (Friday) This block will address specific employment law/labor law issues of interest to participants not covered in Blocks I and II plus up-to-the-minute laws, regulations and court decisions. Topics may include: Wage and Hour Issues An examination of the Fair Labor Standards Act and regulations affecting the categorization of employees as exempt from minimum wage and/or overtime premium pay and calculating overtime premium pay under various pay arrangements. Wrongful Discharge Litigation An examination of the various theories of recovery arising from employee discipline and discharge. An examination of litigation prevention techniques including practical suggestions regarding employment policies, internal review procedures, and discipline/termination decision making and implementation. Assessments of effective litigation strategies in response to these developments A discussion of post-employment inquiries and the use of separation agreements as a litigation avoidance tool Employment-Related Tort Litigation Defamation claims arising from communications to employees, other employers, customers and others Intentional infliction of emotional distress Intentional interference with contract or prospective business advantage Fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation Negligent hiring, supervision entrustment and supervision Alternative Dispute Resolution Pros and cons Utilization of arbitration agreements Features of an effective ADR System Substance Abuse in the Workplace Legal restrictions and considerations in developing and implementing effective policies and programs Workplace Privacy Claims Workplace searches and related issues Employee monitoring and pending legislation Emerging types of claims Protecting Confidential Information What is protectable How to protect it For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/igbbw3 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com A man admitted in court Monday that he posted racist online threats toward a mother and her 6-year-old daughter, authorities said Tuesday. Kyle Powell, 31, pleaded guilty to a second-degree bias crime charge and a separate aggravated assault charge, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner said in a news statement. Powell saw photos of the girl, who is biracial, on MeetMe.com. On June 28, 2018, he posted racially offensive words and threatened violence under those photos, Tyner said. The girls mother notified the New Jersey State Police, who worked with the prosecutors office to find Powell based on his profile on the app. Powell later gave a statement to officers that he is offended by interracial relationships. As part of Powells plea, he admitted he made the posts specifically to intimidate the mother and daughter because of their race. After he was arrested, Powell was sent to the Atlantic County Justice Facility. On Nov. 7, 2018, he punched and kicked an inmate at the jail, causing significant bodily injury. He also resolved that charge with the plea Monday before Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Waldman. Kyle Powell represents the worst that our society has to offer, Tyner said in the statement. Like a coward, he hid behind his keyboard and targeted an innocent six-year-old girl with racial slurs simply because she was bi-racial. I firmly believe that love will always overcome hate and that justice will always prevail. Hate has no place in Atlantic County or in this world. Sentencing is scheduled for March 6, when Powell is expected to receive five years in state prison. Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A Bali tourist has drowned after being swept off a scenic selfie hot spot where other travellers have been killed or badly hurt by deadly waves. Chinese traveller Xu Xin Yue drowned after climbing a security fence to get the perfect selfie at 'Devil's Tear' on the Indonesian island of Nusa Lembongan. The 21-year-old was part of a guided tour visiting the landmark with her partner on Tuesday morning. The horrifying aftermath was caught on film by a bystander watching from nearby rocks. Footage shows a crowd of people waving their arms to draw attention to the body of a woman floating in the water. Screams of distress can be heard, including one person asking for someone to 'help her'. The Head of the Klungkung Police AKP Putu Gede Ardana told local media outlet Kumparan the woman fell into the sea after being struck by a large wave. Footage shows a crowd of people watching as a woman's body floats in the water at Devil's Tear on the Indonesian island of Nusa Lembongan (pictured) 'Around 10:20am, the victim was with her husband and a couple of their friends trying to take some photos before leaving, but suddenly a huge wave hit and swept her away to sea,' he said. Her husband apparently panicked after seeing her fall in the water and shouted for others to help her, according to local media reports. Bystanders did not venture into the ocean due to the notoriously dangerous conditions, instead waiting for emergency crews to respond by boat. Rescue crews (pictured) eventually retrieved the woman aboard the Ocean Seven Boat and a Klungkung Water Police Boat, but Xu Xin Yue was pronounced dead on scene Rescue crews eventually responded with the arrival of the Ocean Seven Boat and a Klungkung Water Police Boat, but Xu Xin Yue was pronounced dead on scene. The head of the Klungkung Tourism Office, Nengah Sukasta told the Bali Sun they want to see tour operators take greater responsibility for educating tourists visiting the spot. 'Tour guides must provide an understanding of the geographical conditions and their biological threats,' he said. Authorities had only just installed guardrails and fencing along the coastline in October as a safety measure after a series of incidents at the tourist hot spot. Chinese tourist Li Huiling, 38, was killed after being swept off the rocks in August 2019. Dramatic footage captured the moment a young tourist was almost killed after being hit by waves at the same location in March 2019. Dramatic footage captured another moment a young tourist (pictured) was almost killed after being hit by waves at the same location in March 2019 Parliament meets to approve the state budget. Lebanese forces announce boycott, but deputies reach quorum. From an initial 0.6%, deficit now at 7%. Maronite Patriarch: the executive must "regain lost trust" and "turn the page" by archiving a "black chapter" in Lebanese history. Beirut (AsiaNews) - There were fresh clashes this morning outside Parliament between anti-government protesters and security forces, while inside the deputies had gathered for the approval of the state budget, one of the reasons that fueled the protests of these months. The demonstrators threw stones and metal barriers at police in riot gear, who blocked access to the area in a context of growing tension. The Lebanese forces have announced the boycott of the parliamentary session dedicated to the budget. The leaders of the bloc contest the absence of a confidence vote for the new government, announced last week but yet to receive the go-ahead from the Assembly. However, the latest information shows that teh deputies have reached the necessary quorum and Parliament has been able to start the two-day work, which should then end with the final vote on the state budget. A fundamental step for a nation marked by a very serious financial crisis, exacerbated by widespread corruption within the ruling class. The Maronite patriarch Card. Beshara Rai again spooke out in his Sunday homily about the critical situation stating that the executive must face a "tough test" while the "peaceful revolt" of young people continues on the streets. The new government, said the cardinal, "has undertaken a difficult task" having to respond to the requests of a people "who have lost confidence" in their leadership. "Nonetheless - continues Card Rai - the government must be judged and held responsible for the consequences of its actions [...] This does not mean the end of the protests" but rather "take a position of control and demand". The cardinal's words come in a context of renewed violence for a people exasperated by months of serious political and economic crisis, which has resulted in hundreds of layoffs, wage cuts and the banking system collapsing. The government must "regain lost trust" of a population that wants to "turn the page" and archive a "black" chapter of "our national life and write a new story". Exacerbated by economic hardships, anti-government protests escalated in mid-December, when it became clear that, largely because of cross-vetoes, no one was going to be able to form a government to replace the one that resigned on 29 October. On several occasions, top Church leaders have reminded politicians about their responsibility and the urgency to stir the ship of state in a country that is dangerously close to a cliff. The birth of a new executive did not appease the widespread feeling of discontent among the population, which continues to accuse its leaders of "ignoring" their demands, including "fight against corruption and an independent government". MPs must vote on the budget, the first draft of which dates back to the past few months and the previous government led by then-Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. Since then, changes have been made, however deemed insufficient by protesters. House president Ibrahim Kanaan spoke of a budget with a deficit set at 7%, far higher than the 0.6% expected at first. Oil continued to slide on Monday, with Brent dropping well below $60 per barrel, as panic around the coronavirus continues to mushroom. The number of casualties in China continues to climb, as do cases of the virus elsewhere in the world. The Chinese government has tried to quarantine Wuhan and other cities, affecting tens of millions of people. Multinational businesses in China are also implementing lockdown procedures. Brent has cratered by around $7 per barrel in a week, a steep drop that is 100% down to the coronavirus, Edward Marshall, a commodities trader at Global Risk Management, told the Wall Street Journal. I think were close to peak hysteria, so yes the move is justified. Were in full panic mode. The Economist Intelligence Unit said that the coronavirus could reduce Chinas GDP growth rate this year by 0.5 to 1 percentage point. Chinas GDP was already expected to slow to a three-decade low below 6 percent this year. S&P Global Ratings said that the effect of the virus could balloon to a 1.2 percentage point reduction in GDP. A supply glut of fuel in China would filter through to the rest of the world through exports and on that basis the market is reacting in this defensive manner, Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S, said in a statement. The Saudis can try to stem the sell-off but while its being driven by the need to mitigate losses that will be difficult to control. Saudi Arabias energy minister tried to tamp down the panic, noting that there is very little impact on global oil demand. He added that there was also extreme pessimism during the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s but that ultimately the impact on oil consumption was not significant. In an official statement, the energy ministry said that the Saudi government is closely monitoring the developments in the global oil market related to the outbreak. Other analysts agreed with the notion that the effect would be temporary. Raymond James pointed out in a report out on Monday that the impact to Chinese oil demand in 2002-2003 lasted for only about one quarter. Related: Can Europes Largest Economy Survive Without Coal? However, the investment bank suggested that the demand impact could still be rather substantial. Hypothetically applying the same 1.9% impact for one quarter would equate to global demand growth of 0.5% on a full-year basis, all else being equal, Raymond James wrote, referring to demand growth forecasts for 2020. If the situation were to last two quarters, global demand growth could approach zero, something that has not happened since the global financial crisis. The bank reiterated that it is just a guesstimate, not an official forecast. OPEC+ upped the rhetoric just a bit compared to last week. They are prepared to do anything if there is a need, one senior Opec source told reporters on Monday, according to the FT. They are watching the market closely. One of the rumors is the possibility of the extending the latest production cuts which expire at the end of March until the end of the year. Another option is to actually cut deeper from current levels. But the predicament facing OPEC+ is rather surprising given the supply outage in Libya. The North African OPEC member has lost around 800,000 bpd earlier this month because of the blockade of ports and infrastructure by the Libyan National Army (LNA). The OPEC+ rumor mill swirls about deeper cuts, but Libya itself just provided such a cut and the oil market barely noticed. As compared with the previous production level, the oil market is thus short of nearly 900,000 barrels per day, which equates almost to the implied oversupply in the first quarter, Commerzbank wrote in a note. But in the current environment, oil market-specific news is falling on deaf ears. A few weeks ago, such news would have pushed prices up noticeably. By Nick Cunningham, Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Prudential Financial, Inc. (Prudential or the Company) (NYSE: PRU) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the District of New Jersey, and docketed under 20-cv-00545, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired the securities of Prudential between February 15, 2019 and August 2, 2019, inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased Prudential securities during the class period, you have until January 27, 2020 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased. [Click here for information about joining the class action] Prudential describes itself as providing a wide range of insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both individual and institutional customers throughout the U.S. and in many other countries. The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding Prudential's business and prospects. Specifically, defendants failed to disclose the following facts: (a) the Company's reserve assumptions failed to account for adversely developing mortality experience in its Individual Life business segment; (b) the Company was not over-reserved, but instead, its reported reserves, particularly for the Individual Life business segment, were insufficient to satisfy its future policy benefits liabilities; and (c) the Company had materially understated its liabilities and overstated net income as a result of flawed assumptions in calculating mortality experience. As a result of this adverse information being withheld from the market, the price of Prudential common stock was artificially inflated to more than $105 per share during the Class Period. On July 31, 2019, after the close of the market, Prudential issued a press release announcing its financial results for the second quarter of 2019. The Companys financial results included EPS of $3.14, which missed analyst consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. In addition, the Company reported it would take a pre-tax charge of $208 million as a result of its market experience update and that the Individual Life business segment had lost $135 million, but did not provide information concerning the impact of the revised mortality assumptions on the Companys financial performance going forward. On August 1, 2019, Prudential held a conference call (with presentation slides) for analysts and investors to discuss the Companys second quarter 2019 financial results, including the $208 million charge to earnings because of changes in mortality assumption, which was entirely attributable to the Individual Life business segment. On the call, Defendants noted the impact of the change in mortality assumptions on the Companys quarterly results. Following Defendants prepared remarks, analysts sought further details regarding the surprise earnings miss, the reserve charge in the Individual Life business segment attributed to the changed mortality assumptions, including its impact during future periods, and why the Company was not updating guidance despite indicating the negative future financial impact of the reported results. Even more significant, Defendants explained that the change in mortality assumptions would require a negative earnings impact of $25 million per quarter for the foreseeable future, wiping out approximately one third of the earnings attributable to the Individual Life business segment. On August 1, 2019, J. P. Morgan issued a report on Prudential and its second quarter 2019 results, titled 2Q Results Poor, 3Q Guidance Atrocious, which described the Companys second quarter results as poor and its EPS guidance [as] even worse. Also on August 1, 2019, Evercore ISI issued a report on the Companys second quarter results, titled A Challenging Quarter, noting the significance of the forward earnings drag expected as a result of the changed mortality assumptions in the Individual Life business segment. Evercore also noted that the slides accompanying the conference call contained a new revelation that the Company was seeking to reinsure certain blocks of its Individual Life business segment. As a result of these disclosures, including the $208 million reserve charge, the earnings miss, the negative $25 million earnings impact in each quarter for the foreseeable future, and the implied reduction in guidance, Prudentials share price declined more than 10%, from a close of $101.31 per share on July 31, 2019 to a close of $91.09 per share on August 1, 2019, on massive volume of more than 7.6 million shares traded. On August 2, 2019, Prudential filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the second quarter of 2019, which provided additional details concerning the Companys adjustments to operating income by segment. As set forth in the Form 10-Q, the Individual Life business segment performed $178 million worse in the second quarter of 2019, as compared to second quarter of 2018, primarily due to the $208 million reserve charge from the annual review. As a result of these further negative disclosures in the Form 10-Q, Prudentials share price declined another 5.64%, from a close of $91.09 per share on August 1, 2019, to $88.56 per share on August 2, 2019, and to $85.95 per share on August 5, 2019 (the next trading day), on massive volume of more than 4.2 million shares traded on each of August 2, 2019, and August 5, 2019. On August 6, 2019, Deutsche Bank issued a report, titled Lowering Estimates Post Earnings, which revealed that Prudentials Investor Relations had been in communication with sell-side analysts concerning their financial models for the Company and, as a result, Deutsche Bank was reducing its fiscal year 2019 EPS guidance for Prudential by more than 4% to $12.25. These continuing disclosures revealing Prudentials true financial condition caused its share price to continue to decline, from a close of $86.23 per share on August 6, 2019 to a close of $85.17 per share on August 7, 2019, and to below $83.00 per share by August 15, 2019. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com. China clearly wants to get it right this time. President Xi Jinping and his government have taken direct control of measures to stamp out the coronavirus epidemic that began in Wuhan about Dec. 1. Residents of Wuhan and 14 other cities of Hubei province are now blocked from leaving their cities. The New Year shut-down of schools and businesses throughout China has been prolonged by a week. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. China clearly wants to get it right this time. President Xi Jinping and his government have taken direct control of measures to stamp out the coronavirus epidemic that began in Wuhan about Dec. 1. Residents of Wuhan and 14 other cities of Hubei province are now blocked from leaving their cities. The New Year shut-down of schools and businesses throughout China has been prolonged by a week. China was severely criticized in 2003 when it was slow to announce the appearance of a comparable virus and slow to act against the spread of the resulting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). This time, the Chinese authorities have been much more generous with the information and much more muscular with the control measures. Muscular, but not necessarily effective. By bottling up 60 million people, sick and healthy alike, in the 15 most affected cities, China is treating those 15 cities as immense isolation wards and condemning those 60 million people to exposure to the virus in the hope of protecting people in other parts of China. The benefit to people in other Chinese provinces is unclear, since cases of coronavirus infection have already been reported in all provinces except Tibet. The barn door has now been locked but the horses are long gone. The danger to people in the isolation-ward cities is more evident. They are required to stick around where the disease is raging and accept the risk that they, too, will be infected. The risk that a significant proportion of 60 million people will get sick is evident. This could be called public-health management with Chinese Communist Party characteristics. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. It is prudent to prevent infected people from travelling because they could endanger both their fellow passengers and people they would contact at their destination. By preventing everyone from leaving, however, the Chinese authorities are probably preventing healthy people from taking prudent steps of their own to protect themselves from infection. Legitimate complaints may be raised by people who were free of infection before the central government imposed the travel ban. The travel ban is also hard on doctors and nurses in the affected cities, who already bear a crushing burden of triage and treatment. Let people from Hubei travel if they seem healthy, then teach the health authorities in other cities to keep an eye on them and care for them if they start to show symptoms. This will distribute the burden more widely through the Chinese health-care system. A paramilitary police officer wearing a protective mask to help stop the spread of a deadly SARS-like virus, stands guard at the exit of the Forbidden City in Beijing. (Nicolas Asfouri / AFP files) As China plays a larger and larger role on the world stage, it grows steadily more important for Canadians to understand what makes China tick. In the present case, the masters of China have taken dramatic steps apparently aimed at confining the coronavirus mainly within one province. The travel ban may, however, be more dramatic than effective, and it may prevent people of Hubei province from protecting themselves. These measures may also be aimed in part at showing that President Xi Jinping, his Communist Party and his government are alert, forceful and decisive. Canadians should assess Chinas coronavirus management by how many people are infected, how many die and how much economic and social damage is inflicted by the disease and by the governments preventive measures. We should not be overly impressed by a travel ban that seems more brutal than useful. He raises up the firearm, and approaches the SUV and fires seven shots, Newman said, clapping his hands for each shot. She was hit in the head and the chest, and later died at the hospital after another partygoer dragged her out of her vehicle and took her there, he added. Thomas McGees push for transparency in government hiring has been an exercise in persistence. The Western Massachusetts mans bill that would require all state government jobs to be posted publicly before theyre filled has failed to get enacted every session since 1995. Still, he renewed the push for the legislation in 2019 through his local lawmakers, Sen. Jo Comerford and Rep. Dan Carey. If you dont know where the job is, you cant apply for it, said McGee, a retired professor at Bay Path University in Longmeadow. In 1995, McGee said he found only 25 state jobs were listed in the states unemployment bank, including two in Western Massachusetts. At the time, the bill would have required state agencies to post various job vacancies on state agency walls, Rep. Tom Conroy told MassLive in 2017. More than two decades later, a statewide computer system contains job postings. As of Monday, the job bank currently has 695 listings, dating from July 12, 2017, to the present. According to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the state also has career centers throughout the state where job seekers can access JobQuest, the state job bank for state and federal government job openings, as well as the Commonwealth Opportunities Employment website. The states hiring guidelines require state agencies to post job opportunities in the online database, according to testimony by the sponsors submitted to the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development on Monday. But Comerford and Carey argue that Massachusetts residents still dont know about the database and that several state agencies work around the requirement through exemption waivers. Transparency about state employment vacancies will not only garner greater trust from the public in government hiring processes, but will also benefit state agencies which will receive applications from more diverse and qualified candidates, wrote Comerford, a Northampton Democrat, and Carey, an Easthampton Democrat. McGees bill, S.2336, would make all state agencies and institutions submit job notices and opportunities in a statewide computer system. No state job would be allowed to be filled without complying with this requirement. McGee has gained support from legislators over the past 15 years, but his push for the bill has been largely a lonely one. Hes not armed with lobbyists and advocacy groups who can champion the cause. Now 84, he said sheer persistence is driving him to continue promoting his bill. McGee said he keeps a memento on his desk that references a quote by the late U.S. president Calvin Coolidge. The white marble slab states, Persistence and determination alone will bring success." For McGee, that means reviving the bill even if it stalls, again. Thats the one thing you need to do, to stay on topic," he said, "to stay and see that something needs to be fixed and keep at it until the state legislature fixes it. Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor on Tuesday revolted against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, charging him with having "lied" about his induction into the party and questioning if it was tantamount to admitting capitulation before the Bharatiya Janata Party. Photograph: PTI Photo In his first direct attack on the Janata Dal-United national president, Kishor, who joined the party in September 2018 and was elevated to the rank of its national vice-president just weeks later, lashed out at Kumar for saying that he was inducted into the party at the instance of Union home minister and the then BJP chief Amit Shah. Kumar had made the comment earlier in the day in response to queries by scribes about the attack by Kishor on Twitter against Shah and its possible impact on the JD-U's alliance with the BJP as also his working for Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi where the National Democratic Alliance partners are contesting the February 8 assembly polls together. "@NitishKumar what a fall for you to lie about how and why you made me join JDU!! Poor attempt on your part to try and make my colour same as yours! And if you are telling the truth who would believe that you still have courage not to listen to someone recommended by @AmitShah?," he wrote on microblogging site Twitter. Kishor has been rankling the BJP for quite some time, questioning his own party's decision to support the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament and insisting that the JD-U contest a significantly higher number of seats than the saffron party in the assembly polls in Bihar due later this year. There was no immediate reaction from leaders of the JD-U, who were stunned by Kishor's action. The development, however, is an indication that Kishor may have burnt his bridges as Kumar is a stickler for party discipline and does not brook any dissent. Talking to reporters earlier in the day after a meeting of JD-U workers in Bihar, Kumar refused to be drawn into the controversy over Kishor engaging in a "Twitter war" with top BJP leaders, including Union home minister Amit Shah. "He remains in touch in his professional capacity. I have learnt through newspapers that he is working for the Aam Aadmi Party. But he remains in touch with so many people. I inducted him into my party upon Shah's recommendation," Kumar claimed. "I will be happy if he remains in the party. I would be okay if he chooses otherwise. But if he has to stay he must do so respecting the party's structure," Kumar said replying cryptically to further queries. U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu arrive at joint remarks at the White House in Washington on Jan. 28, 2020. Trump proposed the creation of a Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem. Read more If anyone doubts President Donald Trumps long-awaited Israel-Palestine peace plan was mainly an election-oriented political document, he shattered those doubts Tuesday. On the very day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Bibi Netanyahu was indicted for bribery and fraud, and Trumps impeachment trial was upended by the first-hand evidence he blackmailed Ukraine, the president rolled out his deal of the century. In a stagey production, as he stood beside Netanyahu, the president was clearly pitching his evangelical base for the 2020 election and pumping for Netanyahu in the tight March 2 Israeli elections. (Bibis opponent, Benny Ganz, got a short meeting, whose brevity clearly demonstrated which man the president favored.) Indeed, Trumps proposal sticks closely to the very plan Bibi has been touting for years, which the Israeli leader calls state-minus, autonomy-plus. That means the Palestinians can have something they can call a state, but without any normal trappings of statehood, other than embassies and passports. READ MORE: Will Trump peace plan hasten a one-state reality? | Trudy Rubin Ive covered the Israel-Palestine issue for decades and dont pretend there is any easy solution at this stage. But this plan ignored Palestinian input. And it depended on first-son-in-law Jared Kushners naive belief that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman could deliver the Palestinians. The plan claims to affirm the concept of a two-state solution but actually endorses Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza in perpetuity. Take a close look at the proposal and you will see what I mean. In theory, it would give Palestinians nominal control over a shrunken portion of the West Bank. But it endorses Israels right to extend sovereignty over the entire Jordan Valley (one-third of the West Bank) and more than 120 Jewish settlements and towns that crisscross that territory. Given the green light by Trump, Netanyahu wants to start annexing those areas soonest, irrespective of any negotiations. The idea of annexation adds high stress to this situation, says David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. But Bibi has front-loaded annexation. Adds the institutes Ghaith al Omari, a former Palestinian negotiator, If there is annexation, it would be the coup de grace of the two-state idea. Even the state-minus idea is a joke under the Trump plan. Palestinian-controlled areas would be divided into a series of cantons separated by Israeli towns, settlements, and roads. These cantons would be connected only by tunnels and bridges, a long-standing vision of the Israeli right. They would be completely surrounded by sovereign Israel territory. Israel would control all entry to and exit from this state-minus-minus, as well as air space and sea access. (For the foreseeable, the Palestinians would continue to depend on Israeli ports.) In addition, Israel would maintain overall control of security for the Palestinian statelet. And Israel would also retain almost all of Jerusalem, including the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, with any Palestinian capital consigned to far suburbs beyond the Israeli security wall that girds the city. Israel would retain overall control of the holy sites, in Jerusalems Old City, which alone guarantees Palestinian rejection. As for Gaza, the one bright spot is revived proposal to finally connect this sad territory with the West Bank via special rail or road something that was supposed to have happened decades ago under the Oslo peace plan. However, the Trump proposal specifies that the whole plan is void unless the Palestinian National Authority disarms the Hamas faction in Gaza and takes full control there. Great idea but with whose army? (The authority has only a police force that helps the Israeli army keep Hamas down in the West Bank.) The Gaza proviso practically screams that the whole Kushner plan is designed to fail. In fact, the plan basically offers Palestinians a dressed-up status quo sweetened by billions of dollars that will supposedly flow in from the gulf to build a Palestinian Singapore. That, too, is a mirage. Without real political sovereignty, this state-minus-minus would confront the same economic barriers it does now: Investors dont want to hassle with complex border crossings and checkpoints that hamper movement of goods and workers. Palestinians dont even control their bandwidth now and probably wouldnt under this plan. As if to illustrate the cynicism of Kushner, the plans godfather, it proposes that several Israeli Arab towns that abut the West Bank be transferred to the new Palestinian entity. This idea to expel tens of thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel has been roundly rejected in the past by Israeli Arab leaders. But it is the pet dream of right wing Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman, whose party Netanyahu needs to form a coalition government. So Kushner offered Lieberman an incentive. READ MORE: Trump impeachment: The view from Ukraine isn't pretty | Trudy Rubin This conveys the essence of the Trump-Kushner peace sham a collection of right-wing Israeli ideas that dont address core issues but try to legitimize annexation, or continued Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza. Rather than produce peace, Kushners plan will set Israel on the dicey path to a one-state Greater Israel - where Palestinian Arabs outnumber Jews. The HPT is a new electric space propulsion technology that can provide a competitive alternative to the thrusters currently in use and one that awakens the interest of diverse companies and institutions. SENER Aeroespacial and the UC3M have already developed a HPT prototype, the first ignition of which was carried out in the Electric Propulsion Laboratory of the European Space Agency (ESA) in late 2015. Since then, various evolutions have been carried out on the first prototype design that have been tested in the University's facilities. The latest design update will be captured in a new engineering model that is in development. Now, the European Union has granted a project to a consortium led by SENER Aeroespacial which will continue the development of the HPT in the framework of the European Union Research and Innovation Programme, Horizon 2020 (GA870542). It is the project HIPATIA (HelIcon PlasmA Thruster for In-Space Applications), in which the Spanish scientific team SENER Aeroespacial-UC3M is going to collaborate with Airbus, the National Centre of Scientific Research, both in France, and the company Advanced Space Technologies in Germany. This consortium began its activity on the 1st of January 2020 and will work jointly for the next 30 months to test the functioning of the new prototype for its use in small space platforms, aiming to fit the needs of the market. As a first activity, representatives of all the organisations involved in the project met for the first time in the SENER Aeroespacial premises in Tres Cantos (Madrid) and in the UC3M on the 28th and 29th of January. A thruster for small satellites In the words of Mercedes Ruiz Haro, Coordinator of the HIPATIA project and Project Manager in the Flight and Avionics Systems Division at SENER Aerospace: "HIPATIA is a step further towards the development of HPT technology for commercial uses. At the end of this project, financed by the European Union, we will have a completely validated propulsion system ready for the first demonstration of its potential in orbit". "Bearing in mind the relatively simple and resistant design of the HPT technology, the HIPATIA project has the potential to offer an affordable thruster solution for small satellites that weigh less than half a tonne and require less than 750 watts of electric propulsion power", explains Pablo Fajardo of the Plasmas and Space Propulsion Team (EP2) from the UC3M's Bioengineering and Aerospace Engineering Department. This model could be used in future constellations of non-geostationary satellites, a new idea that is in the development process and entails important initiatives. For example, to deploy groups of satellites located in different orbital planes at an altitude of 1,200 km to provide internet broadband with global coverage, which includes all people living in areas where these types of connections are not currently available. Functioning of the HPT thruster The HPT thruster is comprised of an antenna that emits radiofrequency waves within a cylindrical chamber where hot plasma is generated, and a magnetic nozzle that supersonically accelerates said plasma. It is a device without grids, electrodes or solid nozzles, which provides big advantages in terms of operating simplicity and extension of useful life. Being an electric propulsion device, the helicon plasma thruster uses less propellant than a chemical rocket engine, which allows for a reduction in satellite launch costs and, for the same price, increases their effective load capacity. At the same time, this is expected to present a higher thrust capacity per unit of power than other electric propulsion systems, such as Gridded Ion Engines and Hall Effect Thrusters, reducing spacecraft maneuvering times. In the framework of the HIPATIA project, the HPT prototype that is going to be tested is optimised for its application in a medium power range of 400-600 watts. This technology "could be of value for different types of satellites or for interplanetary journeys", points out Pablo Fajardo. In the future, versions of higher power HPT could be used for manned missions to Mars or freight vehicles between Earth and the Moon, as well as possible space debris disposal programmes or refuelling in space. In the framework of this project, scientists and technologists will face challenges related to the integration of a complete electric propulsion system, formed of a thruster unit, another for radiofrequency and power generation and control, and a unit for propellant flow management. ### Zeppelin Communications managing director Michael Caputo has signed on to help organize a working visit to Washington in March for a delegation of 10 to 15 Ukrainian political campaign pros to meet with US Senators, Congressmen and members of the Trump administration. The group is part of the Institute for Democracy and Development, a non-government organization that says it wants to promote democracy and civil society in Ukraine. Zeppelin, which is based in East Aurora, New York, began its work on Jan. 13 and will continue to represent the Institute through April 30. It will receive $1 from the Institute and all reasonable expenses, according of its representation agreement. Caputo is a long-time Republican operative who served in the Reagan administration as an aide to Oliver North and was director of media services for George Bush I's 1992 presidential campaign. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he moved to Russia and as a staffer for the US Agency for International Development advised Boris Yeltsin's president run. Caputo, who led Trump's GOP primary campaign in New York State, is the author of "The Ukraine Hoax: How Decades of Corruption in the Former Soviet Republic Led to Trump's Phony Impeachment." The book 's publicity blurb says it exposes how corrupt Ukrainian politicians, rigged elections and billions gone missing led to the enrichment of global insiders like Hunter Biden and George Soros. - The Ministry of Health has selected the Ridge Hospital and the Tema General Hospital as centres to manage possible cases of coronavirus in the country - The ministry said it is part of Ghanas plans to prevent and control any case that may be detected in the country Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in The Ministry of Health has selected the Ridge Hospital and the Tema General Hospital as centres to manage possible cases of coronavirus in the country. According to a report by Citi News, the ministry said it is part of Ghanas plans to prevent and control any case that may be detected in the country and ultimately protect the Ghanaian population. In a statement dated Monday, January 27, 2020, the Ministry said it has triggered the countrys emergency preparedness and response plan amidst the rising number of infections from the novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in other countries of the world. The Ministry however added that Regional Directors must make it a point designate treatment centres in their respective regions to deal with cases if they arise. READ ALSO: Sammy Gyamfi speaks after bail by police Ridge Hospital and Tema General Hospitals have been designated as initial case management centres. Regional Directors have been instructed to designate holding/treatment centres in their respective regions. We are preparing to designate more centres in the highly populated areas of Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale, the Ministry said. Meanwhile, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIR) has indicated that it has the capacity to diagnose coronavirus infection and has since been designated as the laboratory for investigating the virus. The Ministry said it is closely collaborating with the World Health Organization, Veterinary Services Department, Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention among others to execute the countrys emergency response plan. It said healthcare workers at the points of entry are being trained while training for other healthcare workers will be scheduled subsequently. READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Gov't should come to our aid; we want to come home - Ghanaian students in China In other news, Ghanaian students in Wuhan in China, are calling on government to evacuate them from the country since there is an outbreak of coronavirus in the country. According to a JoyNews report, the Wuhan Chapter President of Ghanaian students, Samson Opoku, the city has been completely locked down for eight days and as a result, people have run out of food supplies. We are 151 students in the city now, and for us, we want evacuation back home to Ghana. When the outbreak subsides or ends then we return and continue our academic work. We dont know how long this [coronavirus] is going to take. The number of cases and mortality rates increases each day so members are scared. We want to be evacuated back home, he stressed. READ ALSO: New Coronavirus: First person in West Africa tested for deadly virus after showing symptoms Burna Boy's full performance at Manifestive 2019 | #Yencomgh Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh As the tensions in regard to Citizenship Amendment Act increases, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday launched her book 'Why We Are Saying No CAA, NO NRC, No NPR' at 44th International Kolkata Book Fair. Earlier on Tuesday, West Bengal CM agreed to have talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) but has put a condition to do so. The CM has asked the Centre to revoke the contentious Act prior to holding any such talks. READ | Mamata Wields Paintbrush To Protest Against CAA, NRC Slamming the Centre for terming the Opposition parties as anti-national, Banerjee said that protesting against the Centre's decisions does not make anyone anti-national. "It is good that the Prime Minister is ready for talks but first take back the CAA. They did not call an all-party meet before taking a decision on Kashmir and CAA. NRC, NPR, and CAA -- these three are bad for the country. We are ready for talks but first withdraw NRC," said the Chief Minister at an event. READ | Mamata Banerjee Says 'Ready To Talk With PM Modi On CAA' If Centre Revokes The Act West Bengal passes anti-CAA resolution The West Bengal Assembly on Monday passed a resolution against the CAA, which was moved by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government. After Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan, West Bengal is the fourth state to pass a resolution against the CAA. The Citizenship Amendment Act grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. READ | West Bengal Becomes Fourth State To Pass Anti-CAA Resolution As Mamata Banerjee Ups Ante PM Modi meets Mamata post-CAA Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on January 11 at Kolkata's Raj Bhavan and had a 20-minute chat on the current issues plaguing the state. Post-meeting, Banerjee stated it was a courtesy meet and that she had raised her government's concern against the Centre's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR). She further stated that the PM assured her that further discussions will be held in Delhi. The Prime Minister was on a two-day visit to Kolkata on the occasion of 150 years of Kolkata Port Trust. Anti-CAA resolution READ | 'Do Not Commit Such Blunder': Rajnath On Anti-CAA Resolutions Passed By Non-BJP States (Inputs from ANI, Image source: ANI) loading......... Malibu, CA, Jan 28, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Join Ellis Martin for a conversation with Alex Klenman the President and CEO of Nexus Gold Corp ( CVE:NXS ) ( OTCMKTS:NXXGF ). Nexus Gold Corp is an active explorer and developer with four projects (over 560 kms of highly prospective ground) in gold-rich Burkina Faso, West Africa, and five projects (over 5,000-ha), in three proven and prolific mining districts across Canada including the 100% owned McKenzie Gold Project, a 1,300-hectare exploration target with multiple high-grade (up to 331 g/t Au) samples to date in the historic Red Lake mining camp of Ontario, Canada.Ellis also speaks with James Pettit, the President and CEO of Aben Resources ( CVE:ABN ) ( OTCMKTS:ABNAF ). Aben's flagship 23,000 hectares FORREST KERR GOLD PROJECT is located in the heart of a region called the GOLDEN TRIANGLE in northwestern British Columbia. This region has hosted significant mineral deposits including: Pretium (Brucejack), Eskay Creek, Snip, Galore Creek, Copper Canyon, Schaft Creek, KSM, Granduc, Red Chris and more. Aben has acquired a 100% interest in the Forrest Kerr Project located along the Forrest Kerr Fault which consists of a 40 km long north-south belt overlying rocks of the Hazelton and Stuhini Groups, a complex assemblage of volcanic accumulations with intervening sedimentary sequences which are host to significant gold deposits in the Golden Triangle region.Both Mr. Klenman and Mr. Pettit were interviewed at the recent Vancouver Resource Investment Conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada.To view the interviews, please visit:About Aben Resources Ltd Aben Resources (CVE:ABN) (OTCMKTS:ABNAF) (FRA:E2L2) is a Canadian gold exploration company developing gold-focused projects in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. Aben is a well-funded junior exploration company with over $1.5 million in the Company's treasury. For further information on Aben Resources Ltd. (CVE:ABN), visit our Company's web site at www.abenresources.com. About Nexus Gold Corp Nexus Gold Corp (CVE:NXS) (OTCMKTS:NXXGF) is a Canadian-based gold development company with an extensive portfolio of nine exploration projects in West Africa and Canada. The Company's West African-based portfolio totals over 560-sq kms (56,000+ hectares) of land located on active gold belts and proven mineralized trends, while it's 100%-owned Canadian projects include the McKenzie Gold Project in Red Lake, Ontario, the New Pilot Project, located in British Columbia's historic Bridge River Mining Camp, and three prospective gold-copper projects (3,300-ha) in the Province of Newfoundland. The Company is focusing on the development of several core assets while seeking joint-venture, earn-in, and strategic partnerships for other projects in its growing portfolio. For more information please visit www.nexusgoldcorp.com. About The Ellis Martin Report The Ellis Martin Report (TEMR) is an internet based radio program showcasing potentially undervalued companies to an audience of potential retail investors and fund managers that comprise our listening audience. TEMR is broadcasted on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel and The Opportunity Radio Network. CEO and company interviews are paid for by those represented on the program. China on Tuesday (January 28) approved Centre's request to fly Indians out of Wuhan City, which has been worst affected by the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Sources told Zee Media Air India plane will soon head to China soon to evacuate the Indians from Wuhan City and other parts of China. On Monday (January 27), Air India had said that a Boeing 747 has been kept on standby for the evacuation of Indians from Wuhan and the aircraft is waiting for the Centre`s decision regarding the evacuation."Air India Boeing 747 is on standby for the evacuation of Indians from Wuhan (China) due to scare of Coronavirus. Carrier is waiting for the government the decision," an Air Indian official told ANI on Monday. Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had made a formal request to China for the evacuation of Indians from Wuhan City. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said that India has started the process to prepare for the evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan City, which is located in Hubei Province of China. "We have begun the process to prepare for the evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China." tweeted MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. Kumar also added that Indian Embassy in Beijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese authorities and Indians who are still in China. "Our @EOIBeijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese government authorities and our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates," Kumar noted. Live TV It is to be noted that no case of coronavirus infection has been detected in India so far but around 450 people have been kept under observation in the country, most of them in Kerala, following screening for possible exposure to the deadly virus. Some, who have returned from China in recent weeks, have approached medical authorities as a precautionary step. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have put Wuhan and 12 other cities under complete lockdown to stop the virus from spreading. The death toll in China due to coronavirus has climbed to 106 with 4,515 confirmed cases. According to the World Health Organisation, the common symptoms of the virus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. L ondon will not be as well-off as it would have been. Nor will there be as many jobs. Thats not a miserable warning about the future from some discontented group of Remainers. Its official policy. Today the Migration Advisory Committee, which shapes the Governments immigration rules, set out plans for policy after Brexit. We expect the changes to reduce the levels of immigration, the size of the UK population and total GDP, it says. Its no surprise that London, the most international part of the British economy, will be hardest hit. The planned 30,000 salary cap on migrants should be reduced to 25,600, with a lower rate of 17,920 for those under 26, the committee says. That sounds like a step in the right direction but the big difference is that European citizens will now be caught by it. The committee forecasts that the capitals economic output will be lower overall than it otherwise would have been because of the changes the Government wants to bring in although it also adds that GDP per head in the capital will continue to rise. This is the sharp end of the promise to take back control of immigration, which worked so well for Brexiteers during the referendum. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, stuck to the familiar script at the weekend, complaining that businesses have become too reliant on low-skilled and cheap labour from abroad. Thats another way of saying a lot of people have come here to do jobs that need doing and which, with record employment, arent easy to fill with workers here at home. Many voters like the sound of an Australian-style points system, which is why ministers keep talking about one. But it is essential this still lets the workers we need into Britain. Thats why, beneath the tough talk, the Government is actually finding ways to keep the door to the world open. A new visa for people judged to have global talent will allow unlimited numbers of scientists, researchers and mathematicians to come here. Thats good news. It is also good news that overseas students will be able to stay here and work after their degree is finished, a freedom which Theresa May foolishly denied. This Prime Minister says that Brexit isnt about cutting Britain off from the world, but reaching out to it. Immigration will be the test. Unhappy travellers How was your journey to work today? Did you enjoy it? Was it a good use of money? Its hardly a shock to find out that a lot of people say no. The rail watchdog Transport Focus has just published its latest findings. Only just over a third of travellers on strike-hit South Western Railway say they get value for money. For Thameslink and Great Northern, recovering from the calamitous introduction of the new timetable a couple of years back, it is just under half. If you end up paying thousands to stand every day, its easy to be unhappy. The glimmer of light in the tunnel is that overall satisfaction has risen a little over the last year, to 82 per cent. Thats for all train travel: a trend to keep on track. The lady with the lamp It is a golden time for the arts with new venues opening. The latest hot ticket is Raymonda, the first production choreographed by Tamara Rojo for the English National Ballet. The dancer turned artistic director will adapt the 19th-century ballet and set it during the Crimean War. She has been inspired by Florence Nightingale and wants to give the female lead more of a voice. Rojo has shown her considerable talent and ambition for ballet in this country, opening a new HQ for the ENB in east London, always with an imaginative, nimble eye on keeping the art form relevant, finding new contexts for it. We wish her the best of luck and look forward to seeing what she does with the show. Listen to today's episode of The Leader: Residents living in a smart street in Florida are seeing more than just red after a neighbor painted his house by splattering tins of brightly colored paint at the walls. Neighbors of the home in Il Regalo Circle in Naples, Florida, say they are in shock after the man spent a week splattering paint of all manner of colors over the walls of his half-million dollar house. The walls were turned from a boring beige to a psychedelic mix on the outside of 41-year-old Geoffrey Liebman's home. An extreme home makeover in a posh Florida neighborhood left locals upset after the homeowner ended up turning his walls into a multicolored mess The man even turned his van into a travelling rainbow and scrawled 'Who is Omar?' on the side The man splatter-painted his Naples home over the course of a week Even the lawn and trees got a splash of color but local residents are not happy The tiles on the roof have been painted a vibrant shade of orange, pink and indigo The half-a-million dollar home has now been turned into technicolor nightmare The colors couldn't be further apart than the original boring beige the house was originally Here's is what the $500,000 home used to look like before it was painted over Court records show the homeowner, Geoffrey Liebman, is already facing drug charges Liebman has already been arrested on drug charges and is no longer living in the house. The budding artist didn't just stop at the walls and windows of the house - the paint also ended up on a van parked in the driveway which was also bathed in color and had each of its wheels painted a different color and the question 'Who is Omar?' scrawled on the outside. The mailbox was jazzed up after being coated in a splash of pink, orange and blue. A friend of Liebman's was astounded by what he saw and was unable to explain his behavior. 'I can't believe it. I absolutely can't believe someone would do something like this. I haven't seen the inside yet!' said Alan Klawans to NBC 2. 'Obviously he has a drug issue or something going on. I've just never seen anything like this in my life. 'The guy wanted to take something out on the home instead of getting help. I don't get it. I don't get it at all why someone would go to this extreme ' A friend of Liebman's was astounded by what he saw and was unable to explain his behavior I can't believe it. I absolutely can't believe someone would do something like this. I haven't seen he inside yet!' said Alan Klawans, pictured Even the home's mailbox was an indescribable mess of confused colors The house at number 69 appears to have been turned upside down by what's happened Every single nook and cranny now appears to have been splashed with color There's nothing cookie-cutter about this Naples, Florida home after the paintjob that was done A confusing question was spray painted onto the van that sat outsider the home The lawn was turned into a shade of brilliant blue while a 30ft high palm tree was also doused in yellow, pink and blue paint. The homeowners association is now suing Liebman who they say trashed the house, however the city say there is nothing that can be done because he no longer living there. Liebman is already facing drug charges, including smuggling contraband into a detention facility. The Collier County Code Enforcement Division is investigating and said violations exist on the house, but it won't be taking action at this time. The home looks to have come straight out of a cartoon like The Simpsons with its color scheme Every object was given a touch up including the van that was sitting in the home's driveway A small tower rising atop the roof was also blased with colors of pink and orange The homeowners association are attempting to sue the person they believe to be responsible WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in health rankings and data-driven community health analysis, will convene stakeholders with a shared interest in improving the health of communities around the country for the inaugural Community Health Leadership Forum, on April 7, 2020 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Community leaders, policymakers, corporate social responsibility officers, public health officials, and hospital and health system executives will come together to discuss the social determinants of health, programs companies are implementing to give back to their communities and how to make a lasting impact on the well-being of populations. The forum will draw on the analysis and journalism of the Healthiest Communities platform, developed by U.S. News in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation, an independent charitable and philanthropic affiliate of CVS Health. The 2020 Healthiest Communities rankings will be featured during the forum. The program will include discussions on battling gaps in life expectancy based on race and segregation, how employers and investors are making a difference in community health, tackling the maternal mortality crisis, building effective health equity partnerships and the power of data to understand localized risk factors. Confirmed speakers and moderators include: David Ansell , M.D. , senior vice president and associate provost for community health equity at Rush University Medical Center , senior vice president and associate provost for community health equity at Medical Center Bechara Choucair , M.D. , senior vice president and chief community health officer at Kaiser Permanente , senior vice president and chief community health officer at Kaiser Permanente Carol Cone , CEO of Carol Cone On Purpose and host of "Purpose 360" podcast , CEO of Carol Cone On Purpose and host of "Purpose 360" podcast David J. Erickson , Ph.D. , senior vice president and head of outreach and education at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York , senior vice president and head of outreach and education at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kim Fortunato , vice president of community affairs at Campbell Soup Company and president of the Campbell Soup Foundation , vice president of community affairs at Campbell Soup Company and president of the Campbell Soup Foundation Shirley Franklin , former mayor of Atlanta and executive chairman of Purpose Built Communities , former mayor of and executive chairman of Purpose Built Communities Garth Graham , M.D. , vice president of community health and impact for CVS Health and president of the Aetna Foundation , vice president of community health and impact for CVS Health and president of the Aetna Foundation Donald Hinkle-Brown , president and CEO of Reinvestment Fund , president and CEO of Reinvestment Fund Jennie Joseph , executive director of Commonsense Childbirth , executive director of Commonsense Childbirth Elliott Main , M.D., medical director of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative medical director of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative Caitlin McCarthy , vice president for global philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase & Co. , vice president for global philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Graham McLaughlin , vice president of social responsibility at Optum , vice president of social responsibility at Optum Rhonda Medows , M.D. , president of population health management at Providence and CEO of Ayin Health Solutions , president of population health management at and CEO of Ayin Health Solutions Wes Moore , author and CEO of the anti-poverty organization Robin Hood author and CEO of the anti-poverty organization Anand Parekh , M.D. , chief medical advisor for the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former deputy assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , chief medical advisor for the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former deputy assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Carmen Perez , senior director for data insights at Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) , senior director for data insights at Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) Donald F. Schwarz , M.D. , senior vice president of program for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation , senior vice president of program for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Seth Serxner , Ph.D. , chief health officer and senior vice president of population health at Optum , chief health officer and senior vice president of population health at Optum Trenor Williams , M.D. , founder and CEO of Socially Determined , founder and CEO of Socially Determined Deborah Winshel , managing director and global head of social impact at BlackRock "At its core, community health relies on the individuals working on the ground," said Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News. "The U.S. News Community Health Leadership Forum convenes public health leaders and their allies to discuss effective ways of improving the local condition of their communities." The forum will also feature a presentation of the 2020 Community Health Leadership Awards recognizing local leaders across the country who are making incredible strides to improve public health. View the full slate of sessions and speakers and register for the event here. Media interested in attending the Community Health Leadership Forum should connect with the forum on Twitter and LinkedIn using #USNCommunityHealth. About U.S. News Live U.S. News Live builds on more than 85 years of trusted journalism and in-depth data and rankings from U.S. News & World Report, convening forward-thinking executives, decision-makers, policy officials, engaged citizens and other leaders to share promising solutions and best practices. U.S. News created its live events division in 2012 to inspire action on important national and regional issues in healthcare, education, workforce development, community health and more. For more details, please visit: www.usnews.com/events. About U.S. News & World Report U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. A digital news and information company focused on Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars and News, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C. SOURCE U.S. News & World Report Related Links https://www.usnews.com A businessman has consented to being disqualified as a company director after admitting being the frontman for a massive VAT fraud involving the purchase of millions of euro worth of plant machinery. But the High Court heard Kevin Rabbitte is claiming another person, who he is petrified of and refuses to name, directed him and was behind the illegal operation. In an affidavit Mr Rabbitte (48), of Clonberne, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, claimed this person threatened very serious consequences for himself and his family and that his wife had recently been run off the road. He also claimed he only received a commission of 10,000 for his role in the fraud, and that his company, Westman Plant and Civils Ltd, never benefited. Mr Rabbittes firm was wound up in 2017 following an application by the Revenue Commissioners. An investigation by official liquidator Myles Kirby, of Kirby Healy Chartered Accountants, found the company had been used as part of a major VAT carousel fraud. This involved exploiting provisions between EU member states which facilitate trade by allowing a purchaser to pay VAT in their own country on goods purchased abroad. Mr Rabbitte used his firms VAT number to purchase plant machinery at auctions in the UK and import them to Ireland, but no VAT was paid. Mr Rabbitte instructed his accountants to file nil VAT returns. Mr Kirby found that between July 2014 and June 2015, the companys VAT number was used to import nearly 8m worth of plant and machinery into Ireland, but some 3.2m in VAT payments were evaded. The High Court heard Mr Rabbitte had robustly denied fraud until shortly before an application by the liquidator was due to be heard on Tuesday morning. Mr Justice Brian OMoore was informed the businessman was now admitting to attending 18 auctions where the value of machinery purchased was just over 4m. The court was told the loss to the Revenue due to unpaid VAT on these transactions was 1.2m. The liquidators counsel, John Kennedy SC, instructed by Sam Saarsteiner of Clarke Hill Solicitors, said Mr Rabbitte had consented to his disqualification as a director and the only question for the court was how long the disqualification should be. He said given the nature of the fraud and Mr Rabbittes behaviour as a company director, a lengthy disqualification was in order. Mr Kennedy said Mr Rabbitte also consented to a declaration that while an officer of Westman Plant and Civils Ltd he was knowingly a party to the carrying on of the business of the company with intent to defraud creditors, including the Revenue Commissioners. The barrister said Mr Rabbitte was also consenting to an order making him personally liable for the debts of the company, capped at 1.5m. There is now an acceptance of fraud on the part of Mr Rabbitte and that his actions warrant his disqualification as a director, said Mr Kennedy. The barrister said the sole activity of the company in its life was as a vehicle for fraud. Mr Kennedy said Mr Rabbittes actions made him a wholly unsuitable person to act as a director in the long term. Not alone has he committed fraud. You must look at how he has conducted himself in terms of his duties as a director to this company. There have been consistent, persistent and deliberate failings of his duties as a director of this company. There are no books and records, he said. Mr Kennedy said the companys email records had been wiped, but Mr Rabbitte had denied doing this. The barrister said Mr Rabbitte had also ignored court orders to file a statement of affairs and annual returns for the company and had hired a man called Michael Grimes to unsuccessfully agitate against its winding up. Mr Rabbitte was not in court for the hearing, but his solicitor Robert Dore said his client accepts the gravity of what is involved here. He has put his hands up, but in circumstance where there is a particular background. I would ask you to take that into account, he told Mr Justice OMoore. Mr Dore said the personal liability of 1.5m being accepted by Mr Rabbittee was a very draconian relief. He urged the judge to give his client credit for making admissions and sparing the court a three-day hearing and to consider a disqualification in the lower to middle level. The court heard Mr Rabbitte had filed an affidavit referring to an unnamed person who he claimed was behind the scheme. I stupidly committed myself to be the frontman for the purchase of machines by this third party, which were never paid for by the company and for which I received a very modest commission payment, the affidavit said. Both myself and my wife are petrified of this third party who has threatened me in no uncertain terms. It is no coincidence my wife was driven off the road recently. I have been threatened with very serious consequences, both for myself and my family, in the event that I disclose this third partys name. Mr Justice OMoore will decide on the period of disqualification later this week. Xana Antunes, a veteran business journalist whose varied career included serving as executive editor of CNBC Digital during a period of significant transformation, growth and improvement, died Monday night in New York after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. She was 55. Antunes, who at a relatively young age became editor of the New York Post, most recently was executive editor of the news site Quartz, where she spent the last six years. "Xana was the soul of our newsroom," Quartz CEO Zach Seward said in an email to the site's staff, lauding her "amazing and frankly badass career in journalism." A native of Britain and longtime resident of New York City, Antunes held multiple top news positions, including at Crain's New York Business, where she was editor, and at Fortune Magazine and CNNMoney.com, where she was executive editor. Survivors include her husband, Scott Schell, and their daughter, Elisabeth. Dan Colarusso, senior vice president of business news at CNBC and Antunes' fellow New York Post alumnus, said, "Xana was a unicorn before people began throwing the term around she could discuss celebrity gossip or Wall Street scandals with equal enthusiasm and smarts." tweet 1 "That made her not only a hilarious lunch date but a true role model for those of us who love journalism and the people in it," said Colarusso. During a talk to Quartz staff recently, Colarusso told a story, at Antunes' insistence, about her failure to hire him at the New York Post in the 1990s and years later being hired by someone else only to find his resume in Antunes' old desk, marked up with her notes about him. With a pixieish appearance, a perplexing first name and a piquant wit, Antunes would note that her given name begins with a "sh" sound and then "rhymes with 'banana." Her family background was Scottish and Portuguese. Antunes had a rapid rise in journalism after graduating from Trinity & All Saints College at the University of Leeds. Antunes several months ago described how, when she was 15, a school guidance counselor reacted to her plan to become a journalist. "She said, 'Oh no, that's ridiculous. Why don't you think about teaching or nursing?' It was by no means the first time or the last time that I and thousands of women have been brought short by low expectations," Antunes said in a speech accepting her lifetime achievement award from the Newswomen's Club of New York in October. "But low expectations, it turned out, also had an upside. Because the cost of failure was negligible, I could just try anything and then just be completely shocked when I succeeded. And that really has been the story of my career," she said. Her former colleague David Yelland, a London-based public relations executive, agreed, saying: "She had great success at lots of different places." Early in her career, Antunes had reporting stints at the English newspapers The Independent and The Evening Standard, and was a newscaster on Channel 4 in Britain. She joined the New York Post in 1995 as deputy editor on the business desk, working under Yelland. During her next six years there, she became editor of the business section, then deputy editor of the newspaper and finally editor in 1999, a year after Yelland left that slot to become editor of The Sun in London. Antunes was only in her early 30s when News Corp. Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch tapped her to run the Post's newsroom. "She was so charming and so hardworking that Rupert took to her and kept promoting her," Yelland said. At the time of her ascension there, the editorial echelons at the notoriously gritty tabloid were dominated by men. So were the upper ranks of more sober-toned print outlets. Antunes was just one of three women in charge of a top 100 newspaper by circulation in the United States when she became the Post's editor. "She was a tough cookie," Yelland said. But "the staff loved her, old and new," he said. "She was brilliant at managing people." "She was a journalist who got right to the top of the tabloid game, but never compromised herself in terms of being a kind human being." Antunes also had "an absolute understanding and love of New York ... even though she was born in Europe," he said. "She took New York, right to the streets, the restaurants, the movies, the theater, to everything." Tweet During her stint at the Post, Antunes told Harper's Bazaar for a photo essay featuring her and other successful women that she "felt a lot more stress when I was a reporter than I have as an editor." "As a reporter you have to get the story, and your competition may beat you to it. As an editor, you're taking all that talent and molding it into the best product," she said. In that article, Antunes named "Scoop" Evelyn Waugh's bitingly satirical novel about English journalism as a professional touchstone. "It puts this industry in perspective," she said of the book. "Never take yourself too seriously." Antunes joined CNBC in 2012, at a time when its digital news site had a bare-bones, black-and-white appearance, with few images and graphics, and routinely relied on wire service copy for a large portion of its content. During her two-year tenure, Antunes oversaw a dramatic redesign of the outlet's website, expanding the digital news staff and areas of coverage, and in the process increasing readership sharply and scoring a number of journalism awards. One of her early hires there was Jeff Nash, now a managing editor at CNBC. Nash called Antunes a "dynamo," who had an "infectious" enthusiasm "for telling great stories." "You learn a lot of things from Xana, but several of them rise above the rest. The first is how to identify a journalist's talents and skills often ones that they might even be unaware of and develop them," Nash wrote in an essay for Antunes' lifetime achievement award last fall. "She wants the best stories and will hire people who are good at telling them, even when they don't fit the traditional mold of a business reporter," he wrote. "And her reporters and editors know that she has their backs and wants them to succeed. This is how she built incredible newsrooms at Fortune, Crain's, CNBC, Quartz and others," he wrote. "It's also why journalists gladly follow her wherever she goes which is maybe the highest compliment of all." In October, in what turned out to be her final Twitter post, Antunes pointed followers to a Quartz article about the recent death of a young colleague. Her comment on the piece could easily serve as her own epitaph: "Remembering a strong, passionate, deeply caring woman who left us far too soon." Tweet ALBANY With sweeping statewide climate change promises and an increasingly strained group of forest rangers in the Adirondacks and Catskills, a number of lawmakers at a public hearing on Monday asked the leader of the state Department of Environmental Conservation if he had enough staff to carry it all out in the 2021 budget. Absolutely, said Commissioner Basil Seggos. Lawmakers seemed skeptical and continued to press the commissioner during his approximately three hours of testimony during the first of 13 state budget hearings in Albany. In Gov. Andrew Cuomos proposed budget, the DEC is slated to get 47 full-time employees added tomostly to handle the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and shoreline flooding in New York. The climate legislation aims for the state to reduce its fossil fuel use by 85% below 1990 levels by 2050. Assemblyman Steve Englebright, D-Setauket, pointed out that DEC has lost almost one-third of its personnel in the past decade, while the agencys obligations have increased. Were now looking at taking on the world, literally, in the sense of the climate-change challenge, Englebright said. I would just urge you to take another look at that aspect of the budget, the personnel aspect. I believe we would be receptive to a conversation to add personnel, but I dont believe we can do that if you tell us you dont need anybody and everything is just swell. State Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury, also addressed Seggos and said she would hope some of them (the new positions) would go to the forest rangers. In a list of those new positions provided to Adirondack Explorer by the DEC, none were forest rangers. In a meeting with reporters following the budget hearing, Seggos said he expects to add an academy in the coming year, but would not say more forest rangers were needed. Ill tell you how concerned I am, he said about the staffing of forest rangers. When I took office we had 120 forest rangers. Now we have 141. Addressing overuse in the High Peaks and elsewhere in the Adirondacks is a priority, Seggos said, because it could help forest rangers focus on doing the jobs they were intended to do. For example, addressing parking problems would alleviate the need for rangers to write parking tickets. Then the rangers can go into the backcountry and educate more, and do rescues during their patrols, Seggos said. Weve done more in the last year, also, in working with other state agencies the Department of Transportation, State Police, even having our ECOs (environmental conservation officers) come up and help out. So, were maximizing our existing resources, so simply adding numbers isnt always a solution. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Local municipalities, Seggos added, want to continue to see increased tourism numbers, but without the problems that come with bad planning. The commissioner pointed to the new High Peaks Advisory Group, a hodgepodge of Adirondack-related stakeholders and state employees who are meeting privately to address overuse. The group has had a few meetings so far, and vague minutes with no names of who said what have been posted on the DECs website. Some meetings will be open to the public, but arguably these were meetings we have assembled to get candid advice and our commitment is to ensure that we get as much of that there for the public as quickly as possible, Seggos said. Several environmental groups and the union representing forest rangers feel more staff is needed in the Adirondacks. Written budget testimony by Scott van Laer, a union representative for the rangers, said there were 10 more rangers in the 1970s patrolling Region 5, which includes most of the Adirondacks. Search-and-rescue missions are up, and the popularity of the High Peaks is increasing. In written testimony, Protect the Adirondacks Executive Director Peter Bauer said the state should increase ranger staff to 175 people, with a special focus on the High Peaks in the Adirondacks. Bauer also called for a greater investment in staff to build and repair trails. The Adirondack Council also called for more rangers, in its written testimony. The Council also wants to see more foresters, planners and biologists working on the overuse of the Adirondacks. This article originally appeared on AdirondackExplorer.org, a nonprofit news magazine covering the Adirondack Park. DES MOINES, IowaMichael Moore got to break the news on Saturday morning. Let me get right to it and tell you, if you didnt wake up and see the good news this morning: the New York Times poll, for Bernie, ahead in Iowa, the filmmaker, surrogating for a D.C.-stranded Bernie Sanders during a town hall at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, said to a loud round of applause. And I mean way ahead, way ahead. As the applause escalated to election night victory levels, Moore had to dial it back. Advertisement All right, all right, no end zone dancing on the second yard line, right? Moore said. Weve seen what happens when you do that. This isnt over yet. It was nine days until the Iowa caucus, and the data dump from numerous pollsters that weekend showed a Sanders surge, a phenomenon reflected in national and New Hampshire polls as well. That energy was apparent in the campaigns events throughout the day on Saturday, which culminated with an evening rally in Ames where about 1,000 people watched Sanders, finally able to get away from impeachment trial duty, in the main auditorium while another 400 milled about in the gymnasium serving as an overflow room. If the Sanders campaign is having any problem in Iowa, its the high expectations it has created: The state, in the final sprint to the finish line, is becoming Sanders to lose. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sanders nearest rival in the Iowa polling average is Joe Biden. And though Sanders and Biden rarely take direct snipes at each other during events, the others campaign, and the others theory of change, looms over each candidates events. On the surface, the homestretch debate between Sanders and Biden is one over perceived electability, and each candidate and his respective surrogates have contrasting cases to make for their viability. But at the core, the dispute between the two is about fear. The possibility of Donald Trump winning another four years as president is either the reason why the party cant take the risk on a nominee like Sanders, or the reason why it must. The Biden campaign has stopped being subtle, to the extent that it ever was, about positioning him as the necessary person to stop Trump. Over the weekend, the campaign began running a new television ad in Iowa called Threat. Its a direct appeal to Bidens ability to beat Trump, displaying graphics of nine separate polls showing him doing that nationally and in swing states. Biden is emphasizing not just his head-to-head strength against Trump, but his pull at the top of the ticket. Advertisement Advertisement On the campaign trail over the weekend, Biden campaigned with a carefully selected group of surrogates: Iowa Reps. Cindy Axne and Abby Finkenauer, Texas Rep. Colin Allred, and Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan. All four are freshman front-liners who flipped seats for Democrats last cycle, and all four spoke about how they need Biden not just to win the presidency, but to hold the House and flip the Senate. The transactional nature of their pitches was refreshingly direct. We need a leader at the top of the ticket who understands the importance of moving our country in the right direction, but also somebody who will ensure Democrats, like Abby and I, will get reelected, and that were able to grow the majority, Axne said at an ironworkers union event in Des Moines Sunday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Allred, meanwhile, at a later event in Marshalltown, told the hundred or so attendees that Joe Biden puts Texas in play, and only Joe Biden puts Texas in play. I know people in my community who are looking for another option, Allred, who represents northern Dallas suburbs, said. And Joe Biden is the only person running for president who will get their vote. So we need you to send him [to] us. While Allred focused on the tantalizing prospect of Biden expanding the map, Houlahan reminded voters that Biden, and only Biden, can reconstruct the Rust Belt blue wall that Donald Trump smashed through in 2016. Advertisement Advertisement The eyes of the world are on you, Allred told the Iowans, assembled in a barn on the Central Iowa Fairgrounds. Advertisement This stuff works. Many of the Iowa caucusgoers I spoke to at events talked about feeling more pressure this cycle, with another four years of President Donald Trump on the line, to get it right than they have in cycles past. Some, like Kristin Tracy of Des Moines, whos between Biden and Amy Klobuchar, are thinking beyond their interests as Iowans and hoping to propel the candidate with the best chance nationally. Its a big pressure, Tracy said, to be mindful of representing the Democratic Party in general, and picking somebody that everybody can get behind, and not just all the white people in Iowa. Other Biden supporters think about their Republican relatives. Susan Judkins, a Biden supporter who serves on the City Council of Clive, a Des Moines suburb, grew up in the rural town of Vinton, Iowa, and spoke about how registered Republican members of her family back home are looking at the Democratic primary. Advertisement When they hear candidates talking about programs that seem very expensivethere isnt that much income difference between professionals or businessmen and individuals working for them in Vinton, Judkins told me at an event in Des Moines. And they all look around to imagine who pays for programs like that, and they figure that means them. She appreciated how Biden, in contrast to certain candidates, has expressed an understanding of that, and a willingness to stake out a position that might not be as popular on a front end. Advertisement Advertisement Bidens events draw older, more staid crowds. Theyre more intimate, and thats not just a euphemism for smaller. Maybe hes lost a step since his prime, but Biden is still a world-class charmer who can convince people hes never met that theyve known each other their whole lives. When one woman, in Marshalltown, told Biden after the rally that her daughter reluctantly missed the event because she had to work, Biden had her call up her daughter, and the two had a conversation on the phone. (Its a trick hes likely used since the day cellphones were invented. It works.) He has a calming effect for those who just want to be calmed and who want to believe that the country isnt brokenit just has the wrong guy leading it. Advertisement Im 66, so I kind of lived through the era that Joes talking about, Ann Harms told me at the end of Bidens event in Marshalltown, speaking about Bidens pitch that he can bring the country back together. She understood why young people are flocking toward more confrontational candidates, like Sanders and Warren. Its just not for her. Advertisement Advertisement I know that [young people] are really needing the help for college tuition and health care and things like that, she said. But I guess Im such a traditionalist. I have enough faith in our democracy and our government that, if we have the right person leading us, that we can meet those challenges and still bring us all the help we need. Advertisement Bernie Sanders does not grab peoples cellphones to call their daughters. He preaches the gospel of political revolution, impersonally, to overflowing crowds, imploring them to imagine something better. The atmosphere, especially during warmup acts, is often indistinguishable from protests outside the U.S. Capitol. At the University of Iowa on Friday night, in Iowa City, attendees participated in a hand-squeezing exercise with their neighbors followed by a call and response; there was an acoustic rendition of Bob Marleys Redemption Song. The following night, in Ames, there was a moment to recognize that the territory now known as Iowa used to be Native American land, and a call for land reparations. Advertisement Advertisement With Sanders mired in Washington for Trumps impeachment trial, it was up to two surrogatesMichael Moore and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezto carry the load on Friday and the first half of Saturday. They did not struggle to draw crowds. One attendee at a town hall in Cedar Falls on Saturday afternoon told me that he was choosing between Biden and Buttigieg. So why was he there? Advertisement Advertisement Im really excited to see AOC, he said. Ocasio-Cortez does not spit fire at rallies. She tells stories and tries to get the audiences minds working. She told one story about how she couldnt afford to get a blood test she needed, and when the doctor asked what her job was, she said, Im running for Congress. She gives behind-the-scenes looks at how Congress works, like how prospective congressional candidates are told not to bother running if they cant raise $300,000 immediately, or how her more cautious colleagues tell her, privately, that they dont oppose single-payer health care per se. They just say that if Democrats run on it, we will lose. Advertisement Its not that we cant, Ocasio-Cortez said in Iowa City. Its that were scared. And Sanders supporters hate the arguments made against their candidate on electability grounds, which have been around for five years and are reaching a new pitch as Sanders rises in the polls. I remember 2016, everybody said, Weve got to put Hillary in, Mel Underbakke, from Decorah, told me in Cedar Falls. And look where we are now. I think if Biden gets in, I think Trump will win, and I think it will be an easy win. Advertisement Advertisement Sanders supporters, and the Sanders campaign, argue that Joe Biden doesnt have any energy behind him, and that hes too much of an establishment politiciantoo connected to elites and wealthy donorsto marshal the populist energy necessary to win over the working people lured away by Trump. And with Sanders surging, so are fears about how the Democratic Party wont allow him to be the nominee. Advertisement Advertisement My biggest concern is the Democratic Party will not give it to him. Its like they dont want to give it to him. And Im afraid that theyre just going to give it to Biden, Alyce Shearer said in Marshalltown. I feel like they promised Joe, Were behind you, we got you. Sanders is comfortable stoking certain fears about the establishment himself. At his rally in Ames on Saturday night, after he had returned quickly on a chartered flight from D.C., he spoke about how nervous the establishment was getting as they saw his rise in the polls (correct). Popping into the overflow room in Ames to address the crowd there, before giving a much lengthier speech to the main crowd in the auditorium, Sanders laid out his path to securing the nomination, whether party officials like it or not. Advertisement Advertisement I believe, with your help, we have an excellent chance to win here in Iowa, Sanders said. And if we win here in Iowa, I believe we have a very good chance to win in New Hampshire. I think were going to win in Nevada, I think were going to win in California. (Note that he skipped saying anything about South Carolina.) And I think were going to win in a number of other states and capture the Democratic nomination. Sanders despises political pundits. But he was speaking in the same terms the horse race observers have been using. This particular cascade of events he describedpositioning himself to win the first three early states, giving his campaign momentum that not even Bidens barricades in South Carolina can haltis the exact scenario that politics handicappers are looking to see if he can pull off, and the exact scenario that is giving mainstream Democratic officials nightmares. None of that can happen, though, if he cant close the deal in Iowa, and he cant close the deal if voters listen to the ever-louder arguments about the risks of nominating Sanders in the next week. Polls show that Democratic primary voters still think Biden has the better chance to beat Trump than Sanders. It will be hard for Sanders to flip that pragmatic belief. It would go against too many years of received knowledge for a majority of voters to believe that the socialist could be a better general election candidate than Uncle Joe. What Sanders and his surrogates have to do, instead, is convince people that hes worth taking the chance on, and that its all right to want more than just to beat Donald Trump. If the simple slogan of hope hadnt been so co-opted by a certain presidential candidate in 2008, it would be a useful one for Sanders now. At the Iowa City rally on Friday, Michael Moore was joking about how nervous Democrats once were at the thought of a candidate with the middle name Hussein, as though voters would have convulsions upon seeing it in the ballot booth. We only win, Moore said, when we take risks. Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - In a continuation of the violation of the truce between the two warring parties in Libya, a military drone belonging to the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, was shot down on Tuesday east of Misrata, 220 km east of Tripoli, after attempting to target positions of the Government of National Accord troops inside the city, a government military source said A Florida man transformed a $500,000 home in Naples into a Pollockian nightmare when he splattered it with garish, colourful paint. According to neighbours, Jeffrey Leibman, the homes owner, spent a week transforming the house, the lawn, nearby trees and a van in his driveway into the multi-colour spectacle. Red, yellow, orange and blue stripes layer the house and a nearby palm tree has vertical blue and pink stripes decorating its trunk. A van in the driveway, similarly splattered with bright colours, bears a cryptic, white spray-paint message: Who is Omar? Neighbours in the community are complaining about the property and the Il Regalo Homeowners Association managing the area have filed charges. The neighbourhood management organisation said Mr Leibman who no longer lives in the house likely caused thousands of dollars worth of damage. In their complaint, the homeowners association claims that Mr Liebman is in violation of a rule prohibiting homeowners from parking a commercial vehicle in their lot for more than 8 hours, barring some exceptions. The complaint goes on to discuss Mr Liebman trashing his property. Neighbors have complained about the unsightly paint job (NBC2) The painting, trashing and commercial vehicle are unsightly and obnoxious, the complaint reads. There is blue streak and red blotches of paint and spray paint on the house and trashed yard which is unsightly, obnoxious and not in conformity with the neighbourhood scheme. Speaking to CNN, Alan Klawans, a neighbor, shared his shock at the houses new look. I cant believe it. I absolutely cant believe someone would do something like this, Mr Klawans said. He obviously has something going on. I have just never seen anything like this in my life. Court documents reveal that in the months leading up to Liebmans repainting of the property, he and his father, Dennis Liebman who each own half of the property were in a fight over control of the house. In a complaint filed with the 20th Circuit Court in Collier County last July, Dennis Liebman sought to partition his half of the property from Jeffrey Liebmans. The partition was granted and the court ordered the property sold and that Jeffrey Liebman provide reasonable access to the home for facilitating the sale. In December, Dennis Liebman filed a motion to hold his son in contempt of court for not allowing realtors into the house and for damage he had allegedly already caused to the property. Jeffrey Liebman claimed his father had lied and was trying to force him out. Recommended In an email exchange between the two, Dennis Liebman demanded access codes to the house and told his son to check into a rehab. In a response to his father and his lawyers, Jeffrey Liebman claimed his father was blocking his attempts to talk and that his father had forced him into a situation where I would lose everything. If you want me out of this house then they will remove me in a body bag because Im not leaving. You can explain to the rest of the world why youve done this, he wrote. Mr Liebman was arrested last November on a number of charges, including possession of crystal meth, possession of drug paraphernalia and for smuggling contraband meth into a county detention facility. Britain's 30,000 minimum salary threshold for migrants with firm job offers should be slashed by 4,400 after Brexit to address staff shortages of teachers and NHS staff, an independent report said today. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) outlined a package of measures it said would help cut inflows to the UK and reduce pressure on the health service and schools. It included an Australian-style points-based system, but said it should only be applied to the brightest and best migrants who want to come to the UK without a firm job offer, to create a pool of 'talented individuals'. It also suggested reducing the base salary to 25,400 for skilled workers with firm offers of jobs in key sectors, to address shortages that may emerge after Brexit but pay under the current 30,000 limit. It said its proposals to replace EU freedom of movement could slow the growth in the UK population and make individuals slightly better off. But it said it would also see the economy grow more slowly than if freedom of movement was retained. Boris Johnson has pledged to introduce a points-based system modelled on that used in Australia, where applicants are given a personal score based on their skills and age. The blueprint should come into force once the Brexit transition period ends in December, at which points EU citizens will be subject to the same restrictions as the rest of the world. The report, which was commissioned by the Government last year, does not bind the Government and it is free to adopt or ignore its recommendations as it sees fit. A Number 10 spokesman said: 'The Government will introduce a firmer and fairer points-based immigration system from 2021 that welcomes talent from around the world while reducing low-skilled migrants and bringing overall numbers down. 'We will carefully consider the report before setting out further details on the new system.' Boris Johnson (pictured in London yesterday) wants to introduce a points-based system modelled on that used in Australia, where applicants are given a personal score based on their skills and age The report, A Points-Based System and Salary Thresholds for Immigration, suggest creating a talent pool of highly skilled workers interested in coming to the UK It urged the government to make a final decision soon to allow firms time to prepare to implement the new system in January next year. MAC chairman Professor Alan Manning said: 'The Government has to have soundbites to summarise their immigration policy. 'But there has to come a point where we say 'how are we going to translate that into rules?'... Our recommendations are likely to reduce further growth of the UK population and economy compared to freedom of movement, by using skill and salary thresholds. 'We estimate very small increases in GDP per capita and productivity, slightly improved public finances, slightly reduced pressure on the NHS, schools and on social housing, though slightly increased pressure on social care. How does the Australian immigration system work? The Australian immigration system has been designed to allow people into the country who the government believes will contribute to the economy and fill skills shortages. Skilled worker visas are available to people if they score enough points across a number of categories in a points-based assessment with 60 the magic number. One of the key categories is age, with all applicants having to be under 50. Younger applicants are automatically awarded 30 points while those approaching the age of 50 get zero, making it much harder for them to be accepted. Another key category is the ability to read and write English to a satisfactory level. Points are awarded to people who are particularly 'proficient' while even more are awarded to those deemed 'superior'. Then there are qualifications and skilled employment history. This is where people must get most of their points from. For example, five years of skilled work outside Australia is worth 10 points and a PHD qualification receives 20 points. The Migration Watch think-tank has warned there is little evidence the Australian-style scheme would address public concern over immigration levels. It said: 'This statement just ducks all the key issues. There is no mention whatsoever of reducing net migration, let alone how it might be achieved. 'The UK has had a points-based system for almost ten years and it hasn't worked.' Advertisement 'No perfect system exists and there are unavoidable, difficult trade-offs. 'The largest impacts will be in low wage sectors and the Government needs to be clear about its plans for lower-skilled migration. 'The Government should ensure that the mistakes of previous UK points-based systems are not repeated.' Prof Manning said salary thresholds were important. 'They prevent undercutting in the labour market, ensuring employers are not hiring migrants simply because they are cheaper,' he said. The news comes after the Prime Minister announced that top scientists, researchers and mathematicians will be given fast-tracked entry to the UK from next month. Meanwhile, most Britons think nurses, doctors and dentists should score highly under a points-based immigration system to get a UK visa, according to a poll carried out for think tank British Future. Some 2,305 British adults including 427 people from Scotland, were quizzed between January 10 and 13 on their thoughts about the post-Brexit immigration system plans. The report suggests that its recommendations would hit London the hardest, because of its higher immigrant population. But it rejects varied regional salary thresholds because it would be 'too complex' and risked labelling some areas 'low wage' and adding to current problems. However, it suggests special consideration could be given to Northern Ireland because of its land border with the EU. Teachers and skilled NHS workers 'would continue to benefit from lower salary thresholds'. But a higher threshold should be kept for higher paid occupations, the report also recommends. The report, A Points-Based System and Salary Thresholds for Immigration, suggest creating a talent pool of highly skilled workers interested in coming to the UK. They come under the Tier One level for 'exceptional talent'. It recommend a 'monthly draw' from the pool, with those selected invited to make a full application to come to Britain. Among the criteria for points would be age, the level and quality of qualifications, whether they are seeking work in a priority area like science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem), and whether they have previously studied in the UK. The Tier Two visa scheme for people with job offers should remain largely the same. On lowering the salary threshold, the report says the 25,400 level 'strikes a reasonable balance' but admits 'there are trade-offs'. 'For example, a government very concerned about the impact of the new immigration system on low-wage sectors might want to use a salary threshold lower than the general threshold. For some public sector occupations in the NHS and schools, we recommend using national pay scales as the relevant salary threshold.' The British Chamber of Commerce's head of people policy, Jane Gratton, said: 'While a reduction in the salary threshold is welcome and the list of eligible jobs has been expanded, it is disappointing that recommendations did not take account of regional salary differences. 'This risks limiting access to skills for companies in regions and nations across the UK. 'The MAC has also backed our call for a points-based route for skilled workers to enter the UK without a job offer. 'Businesses should be consulted on how points are awarded to ensure the economy has the right skills at the right time. 'While companies are investing more in homegrown skills, they will continue to need access to migrant skills at all levels for the foreseeable future. 'At a time of critical skills shortages, the government must be clear about its plans and allow businesses ample time to adapt.' A mother has spoken about the horror of discovering her boyfriend had killed their young son. Tracy Ray, 31, from Farringdon, Oxfordshire, has revealed how she forgave her former boyfriend for cheating, so that their son Jayden could grow up with both parents. Speaking for the first time in Take A Break magazine after her ex, Jordon Saxton, was convicted of manslaughter for the death of their 11-week-old baby in 2015, she said that he'd been an 'amazing' father from the moment their son was placed in his arms and would help with nappies and night feeds. She says that accepting that Jordan, who was 22 when he was sentenced to nine years in prison, had been violent towards their 11-week-old baby was difficult. Tracy said: 'I found it hard to come to terms with Jordon's violence towards Jayden. I'd never seen him angry and it made me wonder if I'd ever really known him.' Tracy Ray, 31, from Farringdon, Oxfordshire, questions if she ever really knew the father of her son, after Jordon Saxton (pictured) was convicted for the death of Jayden, 11-weeks-old Tracy who had ended her relationship with Jordon after discovering that he had been sleeping with his ex-girlfriend around the time she had become pregnant, had agreed they should rekindle after he persuaded her to give him another chance. She admits that she questioned if she had made the right decision, when the 22-year-old said he was unsure if he was ready to have a baby. Tracy recalled that Jordon seemed besotted when Jayden was born, despite his initial hesitation. She said: 'At home, Jordon helped out with nappies and night feeds. He couldn't do enough for our son.' Tracy Ray (pictured right) broke up with Jordon despite being pregnant, after discovering that he had been unfaithful - but soon took him back to ensure Jayden would have both a mother and a father Jordon (pictured) who was left alone with Jayden while Tracy went to her father's house, said the baby had stopped breathing after chocking However, when Jayden was ten weeks old he became difficult to settle after contracting a sickness bug. Jordon offered to look after a poorly Jayden, while Tracy went to her father's house. She remembers Jordon sounding 'odd' when she rang to check on the newborn, as he explained that an ambulance had just arrived because Jayden had stopped breathing. Jayden was rushed to hospital, where a doctor explained to Tracy that he wasn't going to survive. In a state of disbelief, she initially felt certain that Jodron had nothing to do with her son's death, and reassured herself that he 'loved' Jayden. Jordon (pictured) was sentenced to nine years in prison, as a postmortem determined that Jayden had 18 fractures, several broken ribs and a brain injury A postmortem determined that Jayden had 18 fractures, several broken ribs and had been blinded by a severe brain injury. Tracy who had left Jayden with Jordon for just an hour and a half, was told by her boyfriend that their son had suddenly started choking when he tried to feed him. However, Oxfordshire Crown Court head that Jayden's injuries were the result of being violently shaken with force, 'similar to a high-speed car crash'. The jury heard that Jayden was also found to have a number of older injuries, dating back to between two and four weeks before he died. Mr Justice Rabinder Singh said that having failed to explain his actions, nobody but Jordon would ever really know what happened to Jayden that night. He said: 'I am satisfied you acted as you did in frustration you could not settle Jayden. 'Jayden had been unwell, having suffered from a vomiting bug earlier in the week and it may be he became more difficult to settle than normal, although you must have acted with sufficient force.' Five years on, Tracy who has had two children with someone new, is trying to get on with her life, but will never be able to come to terms with her grief. She added: 'I'll never stop missing my baby and wondering about the little boy he would have been. I don't think my heart will ever mend.' United States President Donald Trump unveiled his long-delayed Middle East plan on Tuesday a proposal Palestinian leaders called a conspiracy that will not pass. Today, Israel has taken a giant step towards peace, Trump said as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood by his side. My vision presents a win-win solution for both sides, he said, adding that Israeli leaders have said they will endorse the proposal. Before the proposal was announced, Palestinians called it dead on arrival, saying it was an attempt to finish off the Palestinian cause. Following Trumps announcement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said a thousand nos to the plan. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he delivers a speech following the announcement by Trump on his Middle East plan [Raneen Sawafta/Reuters] Netanyahu meanwhile said it was a historic day and thanked Trump for his proposal. He said if Palestinians agree to the plan, Israel will be willing to negotiate right away. Jerusalem undivided capital Trumps initiative, whose principal author is his son-in-law Jared Kushner, follows a long line of efforts to resolve one of the worlds most intractable issues. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014. Palestinians have refused to engage the Trump administration and denounced its proposals first stage a $50bn economic revival plan announced last June. The 50-page political outline recognises Israeli sovereignty over major illegal settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank, something to which the Palestinians will almost certainly object. Trump said Israel would be granted security control of the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. Trump said Jerusalem will remain Israels undivided capital. But he also said under the plan, eastern Jerusalem would serve as a capital of a State of Palestine. He did not elaborate on what he meant by eastern Jerusalem. He later said on Twitter the a Palestinian capital could be in parts of East Jerusalem. Trump had already recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the city. Palestinians take part in a protest against the US Middle East peace plan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] Responding to the plan, Abbas said, Jerusalem is not for sale; all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain. Sami Abu Zhuri, a Hamas official, said Trumps statement was aggressive and will spark a lot of anger. Trumps statement about Jerusalem is nonsense and Jerusalem will always be the land of the Palestinians, Zhuri told Reuters News Agency. The Palestinians will confront this deal and Jerusalem will remain a Palestinian land. Earlier on Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians rallied in the besieged Gaza Strip to protest the expected plan. Protests also took place in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeeras senior political analyst, said the the devil is not in the detail in this case. The devil is in the headlines, Bishara said. What we have here is a very clever, devilish clever, repackaging of the chronic problems in Israel and Palestine and promoting them as solutions. Dangerous consequences Most regional leaders slammed the plan, but others cautiously offered encouragement for the Israelis and Palestinians to come to the negotiating table. Jordan warned against annexation of Palestinian lands with the kingdoms foreign minister warning against the dangerous consequences of unilateral Israeli measures that aim to impose new realities on the ground. Numan Kurtulmus, deputy chairman of Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AK), also slammed Trumps statements on Jerusalem, saying: No, Trump! Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state and the heart of the Islamic world! Demonstrators hold pictures of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a protest against Trumps Middle East plan, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters] Lebanons Hezbollah movement called the proposal a deal of shame, adding that it was a very dangerous step that would have negative consequences on the regions future, according to Al Manar TV. It also said the proposal would not have happened without complicity and betrayal of several Arab states. Egypt urged Israelis and Palestinians to carefully study the proposal. The foreign ministry said in a statement that the plan favours a solution that restores all the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people through establishing an independent and sovereign state on the occupied Palestinian territories. The United Arab Emiratess ambassador to the US said in a statement that the UAE believes Palestinians and Israelis can achieve lasting peace and genuine coexistence with the support of the international community. The UN said it was committed to helping Israelis and Palestinians broker peace on the basis of UN resolutions, international law, bilateral agreements and the vision of two states based on pre-1967 borders. One such UN resolution was adopted by the Security Council a month before Trump took office in January 2017. The resolution demanded an end to Israeli settlements, with 14 votes in favour and one abstention by former US President Barack Obamas administration. Honest broker? Palestinians have previously said the US cannot be an honest broker for peace in the region, accusing it of pro-Israel bias. In addition to moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, the Trump administration has also slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Israel-occupied Golan Heights. The Trump administration in November reversed decades of US policy when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Washington no longer regarded Israeli settlements on occupied West Bank land as inconsistent with international law. Kushner told Al Jazeera that the US believes Trumps proposal is the last chance for the Palestinians to have a state. Its time [for Palestinians] to let go of past fairy tales that quite frankly will never happen, he added. The proposal comes as Trump and Netanyahu face political issues at home. Trump was impeached in the US House of Representatives last month and is on trial in the Senate on abuse of power charges. He also faces reelection in November. Netanyahu faces corruption charges and a national election on March 2, his third in less than a year. Both men deny wrongdoing. Netanyahus election rival, Benny Gantz, who was also in Washington, DC, this week said he, too, supported the proposal. The presidents peace plan is a significant and historic milestone indeed, Gantz told reporters on Monday. MADISON, N.J., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC today announced that its independently owned and operated affiliate, Warren Lewis Sotheby's International Realty in Brooklyn, has merged with local firm, Brooklyn Bridge Realty. Warren Lewis Sotheby's International Realty has rebranded the combined operations and will operate going forward as Avenue Sotheby's International Realty. "Warren Lewis Sotheby's International Realty, now Avenue Sotheby's International Realty, has achieved notable success in its local market," said Philip White, president and chief executive officer, Sotheby's International Realty. "The merger strengthens the firm's position to serve its clientele and we are proud to support their continued growth." Aroza Sanjana and Jose Nunez are broker/owners of Avenue Sotheby's International Realty and will remain at the helm of the operation. J. Jean Austin, former broker/owner of the merged office will also join the company. "Brooklyn Bridge Realty is a valued company that has been serving the community for nearly 30 years," said Aroza Sanjana. "We are proud to welcome J. Jean Austin and her team to our organization. We share a likeminded approach in marketing properties in the best possible light and providing our clients with astute market insight. The merger further allows us to build our team and continue to offer an unparalleled level of service to our clients." Avenue Sotheby's International Realty now has a total of 48 sales associates and three office locations in Park Slope, Williamsburg and Cobble Hill. The company is also actively involved in the community supporting initiatives such as the Shield Institute, which works to help children and adults on the autism spectrum, and the Real Estate Board of New York. The Sotheby's International Realty network currently has more than 23,000 affiliated independent sales associates located in nearly 1,000 offices in 71 countries and territories worldwide. In 2018, the brand achieved a record global sales volume of $112 billion USD. Avenue Sotheby's International Realty listings are marketed on the sothebysrealty.com global website. In addition to the referral opportunities and widened exposure generated from this source, the firm's brokers and clients will benefit from an association with the Sotheby's auction house and worldwide Sotheby's International Realty marketing programs. Each office is independently owned and operated. About Sotheby's International Realty Sotheby's International Realty was founded in 1976 as a real estate service for discerning clients of Sotheby's auction house. Today, the company's global footprint spans nearly 1,000 offices located in 71 countries and territories worldwide, including 44 company-owned brokerage offices in key metropolitan and resort markets. In February 2004, Realogy entered into a long-term strategic alliance with Sotheby's, the operator of the auction house. The agreement provided for the licensing of the Sotheby's International Realty name and the development of a franchise system. The franchise system is comprised of an affiliate network, where each office is independently owned and operated. Sotheby's International Realty supports its affiliates and agents with a host of operational, marketing, recruiting, educational and business development resources. Affiliates and agents also benefit from an association with the venerable Sotheby's auction house, established in 1744. For more information, visit www.sothebysrealty.com. The affiliate network is operated by Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC, and the company owned brokerages are operated by Sotheby's International Realty, Inc. Both entities are subsidiaries of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY) a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services. Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC and Sotheby's International Realty Inc., both fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. CONTACT Melissa Couch PR Manager Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC 973-407-6142 [email protected] SOURCE Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC Related Links http://www.sothebysrealty.com President Donald Trump's long-awaited Middle East peace plan calls for a state of Palestine with a capital in east Jerusalem, he said during an event Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The plan calls for the recognition of Israeli settlements in the West Bank in exchange for a four-year freeze on new settlement activity. It will double the territory under the control of the Palestinians, Trump said. The president also said that the U.S. will "proudly" open an embassy in the new Palestinian capital. He claimed that the plan would lead to $50 billion in new commercial investment in Palestine and that "if executed well" it could create 1 million new Palestinian jobs. The proposal favors Israel and was immediately rejected by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "After the nonsense that we heard today, we say a thousand no's to the Deal of The Century," Abbas said, according to the Associated Press. Palestinians have cited Trump policies such as moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem as evidence of pro-Israel bias that prevents the administration from being a neutral party in negotiations. Dampening the plan's chances further, the foreign minister of Jordan, Israel's neighbor to the east, on Tuesday rejected the proposed recognition of Israeli settlements. Trump had suggested during the news conference that Jordan's King Abdullah II would play a key role in aspects of the peace plan related to maintaining Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, but that now appears unlikely. Despite the deal's long odds of success, Trump suggested that the peace plan marked a historic step forward. "This is an unprecedented and highly significant development," Trump said Tuesday during the news conference with Netanyahu. "Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for having the courage to take this big step forward." Trump video clip Trump has been more friendly to Israel than previous U.S. presidents. The administration reversed decades of American foreign policy in November when it declared that it did not consider Israel's settlements in the West Bank to violate international law, contradicting the conclusions of international bodies such as the United Nations. The Israeli side welcomed the deal. Netanyahu, speaking alongside Trump, called the peace plan "exceptional" and a "realistic path to a durable peace." "This is a historic day. And it recalls another historic day," Netanyahu said. "We remember May 14, 1948, because on that day, President Truman became the first world leader to recognize the state of Israel." Netanyahu's spokesperson said later in the day that the prime minister would move forward with a vote on annexing parts of the West Bank covered in the peace plan as soon as Sunday. The high-profile meeting between Trump and Netanyahu was seen as an effort to shore up Netanyahu's electoral prospects as he competes against rival Benny Gantz for reelection in a contest scheduled for early March. Gantz also met with Trump at the White House this week. The visit also came as Netanyahu faces legal troubles at home. The prime minister was formally indicted earlier Tuesday on bribery and corruption charges brought by Israel's attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit. Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing. Trump has promised to broker a peace deal in the Middle East since the first days of his administration, and assigned his son-in-law, White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, to oversee it. An economic portion of the peace plan was released in June. Abbas dismissed that plan at the time as well. Boris Johnson spoke to Donald Trump this afternoon as he tried to heal relations with the US after his decision to allow Huawei to help build the UK's 5G network sparked fury on both sides of the Atlantic. The Prime Minister had faced intense lobbying from the US President and from Tory MPs to ban the Chinese tech giant from the network amid security concerns. But he decided to press ahead and give Huawei a limited role in the construction of the network, prompting both Republican and Democrat politicians in Washington to call for a review of intelligence sharing arrangements with the UK. Former presidential challenger Mitt Romney said the decision was 'disconcerting', Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik said it was 'wrong' and 'a shortsighted mistake', while Senator Tom Cotton said it was like asking the KGB to help build a telephone network during the Cold War. Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, told the Commons this afternoon the network had 'nothing to do with how we share classified data' as he tried to assuage US concerns. But he admitted that all the risks 'cannot be eliminated' as he insisted a new regulatory system would be able to mitigate them. Mr Johnson desperately tried to head off anger from Britain's allies by pledging to work together to create future alternatives to Huawei's 5G technology. He tried to placate Mr Trump with an afternoon phone call which he is thought to have used to set out his reasoning for making the decision. A Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump this afternoon and updated him on the outcome of the UKs telecoms supply chain review. 'The Prime Minister underlined the importance of like-minded countries working together to diversify the market and break the dominance of a small number of companies.' The UK's Huawei move sets the stage for a potentially stormy visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who is due to meet Mr Raab for talks in London tomorrow. Mr Johnson and his most senior minister signed off limited involvement for the controversial firm at a 90-minute meeting of the National Security Council this morning. Huawei was branded a 'high risk vendor' but will now be able to take a limited share in 'non-core' parts of the scheme. The US administration has urged allies to ban Huawei from their infrastructure, claiming it would be a security risk - something the company vehemently denies. The PM has promised to deliver better broadband and the Government believes that if it were to choose another provider for 5G, it would take years to get the same result, at a higher cost Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the Commons that the network had 'nothing to do with how we share classified data' Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (left) and Chief of the Defence Staff Major General Nick Carter were among those at the NSC meeting today Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, a close ally of Mr Trump, said the decision was 'an insult to our closest friends'. Tom Tugendhat, Tory former Foreign Affairs Committee chair, warned that the UK's network was being left open to a 'frequently malign international actor' Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, a close ally of Mr Trump, said the decision was 'an insult to our closest friends' and a 'sign that our establishment have been paid off by China'. Conservative MPs voiced deep disquiet about the step. Tom Tugendhat, former Foreign Affairs Committee chair, warned that the UK's network was being left open to a 'frequently malign international actor'. Ex-Cabinet minister Sir Iain Duncan Smith said it 'beggars belief' that a strategic threat was being invited into such an essential area. A YouGov poll suggested the public is uncomfortable with the role for China, with 43 per cent saying they disagreed with it and just 14 per cent in favour. However, senior officials from MI5, MI6, GCHQ and the National Cyber Security Centre were adamant that the risks of Huawei's involvement can be managed. Why is Huawei's involvement in UK 5G controversial? Huawei has come under scrutiny over allegations of close ties to the Chinese state. Founder Ren Zhengfei's past links to the military have been cited as a concern, as has China's history of state sponsorship and surveillance. Chinese law can also compel firms to co-operate with Chinese national intelligence work, which some critics have suggested could see Beijing require Huawei to spy on people through so-called 'back doors' in its telecoms equipment. Huawei has vehemently denied the allegations of any ties with the Chinese state and says it abides by the laws of every country in which it operates. Advertisement A Whitehall source insisted the government was 'clear-eyed' about the challenge posed by Huawei, while the company praised the 'evidence-based decision' taken by ministers. 5G, the fifth generation of mobile internet connectivity, should provide much faster speeds than 4G, with experts saying wider coverage and more stable connections could revolutionise the country. Better broadband and comms is a crucial part of the PM's pledge to 'level up' the UK, and there are concerns that blocking Huawei altogether could delay the project for years and send costs spiralling. However, the US and Australia have banned Huawei from their 5G networks over security fears. US officials have warned British ministers that proceeding with Huawei could undermine UK-US intelligence sharing. Both Mr Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - who is due in London for a visit tomorrow - have publicly urged the UK to thing again. The Prime Minister heard from spy chiefs at a meeting of the NSC before the announcement was made. The advice being issued to UK telecoms operators is that 'high-risk vendors' should be: Excluded from all safety related and safety critical networks in critical national infrastructure; Excluded from security critical 'core' functions, the sensitive part of the network; Excluded from sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases; Limited to a minority presence of no more than 35 per cent in the periphery of the network, known as the access network, which connect devices and equipment to mobile phone masts. National Cyber Security Centre chief executive Ciaran Martin said the measures would put in place 'strong, practical and technically sound framework for digital security in the years ahead'. Senior officials from MI5, MI6, GCHQ and the National Cyber Security Centre are believed to be advising that the risks of Huawei's involvement can be managed. PIctured is the company's office in Reading 'High risk vendors have never been and never will be in our most sensitive networks,' he said. 'Taken together these measures add up to a very strong framework for digital security.' In its evaluation, the National Cyber Security Centre stressed it was 'important to avoid the situation in which the UK becomes nationally dependent on a particular supplier'. Restrictions being placed by ministers on 'high-risk' 5G vendors The advice being issued to UK telecoms operators is that 'high-risk vendors' should be: Excluded from all safety related and safety critical networks in critical national infrastructure Excluded from security critical 'core' functions, the sensitive part of the network Excluded from sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases Limited to a minority presence of no more than 35 per cent in the periphery of the network, known as the access network, which connect devices and equipment to mobile phone masts Advertisement It added: 'Without government intervention, the NCSC considers there to be a realistic likelihood that due to commercial factors the UK would become 'nationally dependent' on Huawei within three years.' National dependence on a high-risk vendor would present a 'significant national security risk', the NCSC said. Huawei's role in the UK's telecoms system has been subject to oversight since 2010, including the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC). The NCSC analysis said: 'Due to the UK's mitigation strategy, which includes HCSEC as an essential component, our assessment is that the risk of Trojan functionality in Huawei equipment remains manageable. 'Placing 'backdoors' in any Huawei equipment supplied into the UK is not the lowest risk, easiest to perform or most effective means for the Chinese state to perform a major cyber attack on UK telecoms networks today.' Digital Secretary Baroness Nicky Morgan said: 'We want world-class connectivity as soon as possible but this must not be at the expense of our national security. 'The government has reviewed the supply chain for telecoms networks and concluded today it is necessary to have tight restrictions on the presence of high risk vendors. Tory fury over 5G greenlight for Huawei Tory MPs expressed fury this afternoon after the government gave the green light to Huawei to help build the UK's 5G network. Numerous senior Conservative backbenchers took the government to task over the decision. David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, said: 'Yes, I do think Huawei should be banned from our networks. 'It was founded by a member of the PLA, even if it were not an arm of the Chinese government a 2017 law requires it to take instruction from the Chinese intelligence agency and in the future the size and complexity of the problem we are trying to protect against is enormous.' He added: 'The only way to protect our safety is to ban it.' Penny Mordaunt, the former defence, said the decision was 'regrettable' and added: 'This country must never find itself in this position ever again.' Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, echoed a similar sentiment and said: 'I am deeply disappointed in this decision now. 'I have spoken at length in the past to security officials and they will always tell you that defending in cyber security is a game of catch up. 'Always catch up against the next algorithm change. You can never guarantee that you spot it and sometimes not until too late. 'The reality about the 5G network is that it is fundamentally different. There will be less and less centralised function and more and more goes to the periphery which is exactly where Huawei will be.' He demanded a guarantee that the government will move to 'drive Huawei out of our future systems progressively as quickly' as it can. Advertisement 'This is a UK-specific solution for UK-specific reasons and the decision deals with the challenges we face right now. 'It not only paves the way for secure and resilient networks, with our sovereignty over data protected, but it also builds on our strategy to develop a diversity of suppliers. 'We can now move forward and seize the huge opportunities of 21st century technology.' Huawei vice president Victor Zhang, said: 'Huawei is reassured by the UK government's confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track. 'This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. It gives the UK access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market.' 'We have supplied cutting-edge technology to telecoms operators in the UK for more than 15 years. We will build on this strong track record, supporting our customers as they invest in their 5G networks, boosting economic growth and helping the UK continue to compete globally.' 'We agree a diverse vendor market and fair competition are essential for network reliability and innovation, as well as ensuring consumers have access to the best possible technology.' Mr Tugendhat wrote on Twitter that the government's approach represented 'progress'. He said it would be 'near-impossible' to shut Huawei out entirely, and the 35 per cent limit was welcome. But he added: 'If we're to avoid finding ourselves in a similar position with 6G in the future, we will need to act now. I will be talking to ministers urgently.' During a bruising session in the Commons, former Cabinet minister David Davis took Mr Raab to task over the Huawei move. 'I am afraid the only way to protect our safety is to ban them,' he said. Sir Iain said he was 'deeply disappointed'. 'The reality about the 5G network is that it is fundamentally different.' Speaking outside the chamber he said ministers should be ordering the removal of Huawei equipment from Britain's communications network - it already plays a part in 4G connections. 'We have a cyber war going on with China, they are constantly trying to break into our systems, they are constantly trying to put misinformation about,' he told ITV. 'Therefore it slightly beggars belief that, while we know they are trying to mess with our systems as a nation, why we're using an organisation that itself has strong and deep connections to the government in China and therefore is involved also in their secret state apparatus. Why is Huawei so important to 5G? Huawei has invested billions of pounds into research and development around 5G network infrastructure and, as a result, is now considered the industry leader in 5G technology. It is also already part of the existing network infrastructure in a number of countries, including in the UK. As a result, using one of Huawei's rivals, and most likely alternatives - Ericsson or Nokia - for the building of 5G networks, would likely cause a delay and add cost to the introduction of widespread 5G in the UK. In contrast, none of the four largest mobile carriers in the United States use Huawei equipment in their networks. Advertisement 'We should be taking them out of this system. Every one of our close allies across the world, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America... even Vietnam does not want Huawei in.' Senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney tweeted: 'The UK's decision to incorporate Huawei into its 5G network is a disconcerting sign. 'By prioritising costs, the UK is sacrificing national security and inviting the CCP's surveillance state in. I implore our British allies to reverse their decision.' Elise Stefanik, a Republican US congresswoman, tweeted: 'The decision by (Boris Johnson) to allow Huawei into the UK's telecommunications network is wrong, dangerous, and a grave shortsighted mistake. 'Congress must work on a bipartisan basis to push back on this decision by the UK to open their arms to China's surveillance state.' Senator Tom Cotton told the Telegraph that the decision was 'like allowing the KGB to build its telephone network during the Cold War'. Senior Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney - daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney - claimed Mr Johnson 'has chosen the surveillance state over the special relationship'. She said: 'Tragic to see our closest ally, a nation Ronald Reagan once called 'incandescent with courage', turn away from our alliance and the cause of freedom.' However, the criticism was not universal. Tory former prime minister Theresa May said the government had taken a decision 'which protects our national security, but also recognises the interests of our economy'. 'That is right for the UK because it recognises the construction of our networks and our capabilities and gives us the toughest regime in the world,' she told Mr Raab. 'He has already referenced the fact that we never have had and never will have high-risk vendors in our most sensitive networks and that this decision has no effect on our ability to share intelligence with our allies. 'But he also referenced the current market failure, he set out the steps the UK Government will take to rectify this. 'Will he agree with me that is essential that our Five Eyes partners, all our Five Eyes allies are willing to work with us and other like-minded countries to ensure the very market diversification that is in all our interests in the long term.' Many Tory MPs are furious at the prospect of the Chinese firm being allowed access What is 5G, why do we need it... and can we trust the Chinese to build it? ROSS CLARK analyses the controversial impending tech deal with Huawei By Ross Clark for the Daily Mail What is 5G? 5G is the 'fifth generation' upgrade to mobile telecommunications. It does not consist of a single new operating system but a 'system of systems' that will so dramatically increase data speeds you'll be able to download a movie in just three seconds. It will also increase internet capacity a thousand-fold when it's fully operational. What is the difference between 4G and 5G? 4G, like all the 'G's before it, is principally designed for smartphone browsing. But 5G is far more ambitious, linking together all kinds of devices, from household appliances such as fridges and washing machines to cars and electricity meters. It is supposed to create what has been termed the 'internet of things', where everything we use in our day-to-day lives can be controlled remotely. For example, you could use the 5G network to control your washing machine from the other side of the world. It could also speed up the development of driverless cars by allowing vehicles to interact with each other. Why do we need it? In its strategy document for 5G roll-out, published in 2017, the Government predicted that global data traffic would grow from 3.7 exabytes (3.7 billion billion bytes of information, where one byte is equivalent to a short email) in 2015 to 30.6 exabytes in 2020. That's the same as if the number of passengers on London's Tube network grew by 53 per cent every year. Without an upgrade, existing systems face being overloaded. But there are also government policies which are dependent on 5G. If we are to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 the ambitious target unveiled by outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May last summer. For example, we will need to make much smarter use of the electricity grid. The 5G network would allow appliances like fridges and electric car chargers to switch in and out of the grid when needed. Are there risks? Yes. An 'internet of things', where every appliance is inter-connected, provides new opportunities for hackers to interfere with electronic systems. They could potentially seize control of vehicles and cause them to crash, or hack smart door locks to gain entry to a house. Hostile nations could exploit 5G to try to disrupt our utility supplies, nuclear plants or airports. There are also serious privacy issues as 5G will make it easier for governments and corporations to track our lives one click at a time. But there are also advantages 5G networks involve far more secure data encryption. So while there will be more appliances for hackers to target, doing so won't be easy. Huawei has repeatedly denied that it is an arm of the Chinese state, but as a Chinese company it is vulnerable to the control of a dictatorship with an appalling human rights record What's the problem with Huawei? Whoever builds the 5G grid, or supplies equipment for it, could potentially plant bugs to allow interference with the network or enable mass surveillance by accessing data. Huawei has repeatedly denied that it is an arm of the Chinese state, but as a Chinese company it is vulnerable to the control of a dictatorship with an appalling human rights record. We wouldn't allow a Chinese company to supply fighter jets for the RAF, goes the argument, and therefore we shouldn't allow one to supply vital communications infrastructure. Former national security adviser Lord Ricketts has dismissed the fears, however, saying: 'I personally think we can find a solution which does allow them to have some role.' Another serious concern is what it would mean for Britain's role within the 'Five Eyes' network of security partners the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Britain who exchange intelligence. Canada has yet to make a decision, while New Zealand initially stopped Huawei providing 5G equipment but has since said it has not imposed a complete ban. Why is the US worried? Donald Trump doesn't trust Huawei to build even the smallest part of our 5G network and the US has warned that it might be reluctant to share intelligence with the UK if we employ the Chinese company although MI5 chief Andrew Parker recently claimed that this is an unlikely consequence. Some have argued that the US is only saying this as a protectionist ruse in its trade war with China. But that doesn't explain why Australia, too, has banned Huawei from building its own 5G network. The chair of Australia's intelligence and security committee, Andrew Hastie, claims it is a question of 'digital sovereignty', while his colleague James Paterson points out: 'Successive Australian governments banned Huawei from our broadband and 5G networks with very little controversy.' In any case, no US company currently makes 5G network equipment. Instead, the US is considering subsidising Swedish firm Ericsson and Finnish company Nokia in order to help develop its own 5G network. In the US T-Mobile has already switched on a slower version of its 5G network, claiming it covers 200 million people. What about our other allies? German Chancellor Angela Merkel is reluctant to ban Huawei, fearing retaliation against German companies exporting to China. France, too, has said it will allow Huawei to build parts of its 5G network. Donald Trump doesn't trust Huawei to build even the smallest part of our 5G network and the US has warned that it might be reluctant to share intelligence with the UK if we employ the Chinese company although MI5 chief Andrew Parker recently claimed that this is an unlikely consequence Isn't Huawei already involved? Under Theresa May's premiership, the Government announced that Huawei would be allowed to provide equipment for the periphery of the 5G network, such as masts, but not the control systems at the core of the network. These security services claim that the risk to 5G from using a Chinese supplier is manageable. But one complication is that our existing 3G and 4G telecoms networks already contain equipment manufactured by Huawei. In 2005, for example, BT signed a contract with Huawei that allowed it to connect customer lines to the main part of the network. Does 5G have to include Huawei? Our government claims that Huawei has such a technological head-start in creating 5G equipment that shunning it would delay the introduction and increase costs. Alternative, though significantly more expensive, suppliers are ZTE, which is owned by the Chinese government, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung (South Korean) and Viettel (owned by the Vietnamese military). The cost to the Government of Huawei's input into 5G is unknown, as is the time frame. Restricting Huawei's involvement would delay the launch of 5G by up to two years and cost the economy between 4.5billion and 6.6billion, according to a 2019 report by the telecoms industry body, Mobile UK. What is the most likely outcome? The Government is most likely to stick to its existing policy, which is to allow Huawei to build communication towers and other peripheral equipment for the 5G network but ban it from the core parts of the network. There may also be measures to reduce future reliance on China by imposing a cap on Huawei's share of the market. What are our alternatives? We could upgrade the existing 4G network which would give extra capacity for now. But in the long run it would lead to Britain lagging behind in telecommunications. Area nonprofit The Patient Is U Foundation Inc., which advocates for patients and caregivers in the medical industry, recently released a PSA, Skills to Treat, Heart to Care at a Sensible Cost, according to a release. The PSA provides number of suggestions, aimed at patients, caregivers and medical providers, to enhance patient experience, the release said, including: A user-friendly phone system. The art of human communication by having a compassionate human answer the phone. Clear and understandable directions to the office building as well as directions to the office within the building. Convenient parking with parking attendants who show compassion. Simple scheduling of appointments and tests without a long waiting period. Open and available modes of communication between the patient and the caregivers including the attending doctor. Doctors representatives who are knowledgeable in that specialty and well versed in that patients case. All caregivers for any patient communicate with each other. Obtaining results of tests promptly. Being informed of the pros and cons of the recommended procedure, the preoperative, operative and postoperative care. To be offered alternative treatments and their pros and cons of those tests and treatments. Making Electronic Health Record user-friendly and eliminating unnecessary government and insurance mandates so that the doctor can once again focus on the patient. It is helpful for patients to prepare a written summary of the ailment and a list of questions before seeing the doctor. For more information, visit www.TPIU.org. Womens club offers scholarship CHESHIRE The Women's Club of Cheshire is offering a scholarship to a Cheshire woman who is seeking to further her education at an accredited college for a better employment opportunity. If interested, call Jane Richards at 203-272-8249 to receive an application. Applications must be returned by March 31. Seymour Oxford Rotary offers scholarships SEYMOUR The Seymour Oxford Rotary Club will present scholarships to two graduating high school seniors and/or continuing education college students residing in the Town of Seymour and/or Oxford. High school graduating seniors and/or continuing education college students attending a four-year college or university full time in August/September 2020 are eligible. Rotary Internationals theme is Service Above Self. To submit an essay, it must address the theme of SERVICE ABOVE SELF: your personal experience, the importance of service in your community, the state and throughout the world. Essay is limited to no more than 500 words. Scholarship is $500 to two individual students. Checks will be made payable directly to the college/university upon verification of students attendance, i.e, presenting an invoice from college/university indicating students name, address and ID number. The deadline for essay submission is April 9, to be submitted via email to jmb167@gmail.com. Essay must include your name, address, telephone, email address, college/university name, address and year of attendance. Scholarship recipients will be notified by end of April and recipients will be requested to attend a club meeting to share their essay and college goals. Dancing Under the Stars set for March 13 NEW HAVEN Ronald McDonald House of Connecticut presents the 11th Annual Dancing Under the Stars, set for March 13 at Anthonys Ocean View in New Haven. Dancing Under the Stars is an RMH signature event providing a night of dinner, dancing and competition. The show features six local celebrities who have been paired with professional partners from Dance in Rhythm Studio to compete live in front of a sold-out audience. Gil Simmons will host the evening as the events well-respected Master of Ceremonies. An esteemed panel of judges will share remarks and score each performance leading up to an awards ceremony where one dancer will ultimately be crowned the Overall Winner. Tickets are $125/person; $1,250/table (10). To purchase, call 203-777-5683 or visit https://secure.qgiv.com/for/duts/event/810654/ Evening begins at 6 p.m. with a seated surf & turf meal (vegetarian option offered) and cash bar. For additional information, visit www.rmh-ct.org or please call 203-777-5683. 2020 Celebrity Cast includes John Buckley - Buckley Wynne & Parese; Michael Canning - Aegis Wealth Partners, an Office of National Financial Network; Marcello Delmonaco - Anthonys Ocean View; Valerie Goodkin - Town of North Haven; Natalie Mazzanti - Anthonys Ocean View; Lisa Searles - American Medical Response; and Larry Lazaroff - Arnolds Jewelers, Dancing Under the Stars chairman. Long-married couples wanted WEST HAVEN The city will honor couples who have been married for at least 50 years during its 30th annual Valentines Day party from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at West Haven Elks Lodge 1537, 265 Main St. The couples will receive chocolates and roses from the mayors office. The party will feature music by the Clam Diggers and include hors doeuvres and refreshments. Mayor Nancy R. Rossi will recognize the oldest and youngest couples. For reservations, call Elderly Services Director Sharon R. Mancini at 203-937-3507 by Feb. 10. NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seatrade Cruise Global , the cruise industrys leading annual business-to-business event, announces its 2020 State of the Global Cruise Industry Keynote lineup launching its 35th anniversary edition opening session on 21 April 2020 with dynamic dialogue and executive leaders from the largest and most luxurious cruise lines. Sponsored by the Hong Kong Tourism Board and presented in partnership with Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the event kicks off with the State of the Global Cruise Industry panel, an exclusive round-table discussion joining senior leadership representing the worlds four largest cruise lines. The second panel, The Future of Luxury Cruising, will bring together five leaders in luxury liners to discuss the rapid growth and increasing demand for living the highlife on the high sea. Our keynote opening session sets the tone for Seatrade Cruise Global 2020, welcoming attendees with a multifaceted dialogue reflective of our educational programming, says Chiara Giorgi, Global Brand and Event Director for Seatrade Cruise. As a marquee start of the conference, the State of the Global Cruise Industry panel will highlight the latest and greatest advancements and forward-thinking in the world of cruising. Lucy Hockings, BBC World News broadcast journalist, is the returning keynote panel moderator at Seatrade Cruise Global 2020. Cruising continues to gain popularity for leisure travelers, with more than 30 million guests expected to sail this year, says Hockings. Our discussions will take a deeper dive into how the industry is reimagining ships and partnering with destinations to embrace these changes and evolve the cruise experience for years ahead. KEYNOTE DISCUSSION | Overtourism Case Study: A Partnership Approach? Mato Francovic, Mayor of Dubrovnik, and Adam Goldstein, Vice Chairman, Royal Caribbean Cruises and CLIA Global Chair, join Seatrade Cruise News Editor Anne Kalosh to discuss how the city of Dubrovnik partnered with CLIA to tackle overtourism while establishing the city as a bellwether for destination-cruise line partnerships. KEYNOTE PANEL | State of the Global Cruise Industry Insights, expertise and perspectives on the future of cruising touching on themes such as innovations on land and at sea, technologys role in transforming customer experience, development on environmental improvements, collaborations for sustainable tourism and exciting new ship launches for 2020. Panelists include: Frank Del Rio , President & CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings , President & CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Arnold Donald , President & CEO, Carnival Corporation & PLC , President & CEO, Carnival Corporation & PLC Richard Fain , Chairman & CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. , Chairman & CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises KEYNOTE PANEL | The Future of Luxury Cruising The demand for luxury cruising is on a rapid upward trajectory, with the market projected to more than double its capacity over the next decade. Cruise lines are making strides to offer unprecedented luxury at sea from reaching uncharted destinations through adventurous expedition cruising to dishing out five-star dining experiences with onboard celebrity chefs. Leaders from todays luxury liners will engage the audience in an insightful discussion exploring the new wave of advancements in this growing market and how to create distinct experiences that continue to charm discerning travelers. 2020 Registration Now Open Seatrade Cruise Global offers flexible attendee registration options. Those who register by 21 February 2020, can take advantage of Early Bird pricing savings as much as $400. For pricing options and to register, CLICK HERE . Press registration information can be found at seatradecruiseglobal.com/press-registration . To learn more about Seatrade Cruise Global, visit seatradecruiseglobal.com . Follow Seatrade Cruise Global on social media: @SeatradeCruise on Twitter and @SeatradeCruiseEvents on Facebook and Instagram . #STCGlobal About Seatrade Cruise Global Seatrade Cruise Global 2020 is taking place 20-23 April 2020 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The exhibition is the leading annual global B2B event for the cruise industry. Bringing together buyers and suppliers for a four-day conference and three-day exhibition, the gathering draws more than 13,000 registered attendees, over 700 exhibiting companies from 140 countries and more than 300 international journalists to become the cruise industrys epicenter of ideas, products and services. Movers and shakers of the industry participate in a comprehensive panel of discussions featuring experts, leaders and thought-makers including the State of the Global Cruise Industry Keynote with the chief executives of the worlds largest cruise companies. Seatrade is organized by Informa Markets, a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B Events organizer in the world. To learn more and for the latest news and information, visit www.informarkets.com . MEDIA CONTACT: FINN Partners Virginia Sheridan / Luz Castillo 954-765-3636 seatrade@finnpartners.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cb7d03eb-cb92-4f26-a3ad-05bd03779e8c https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5cf92605-f0f0-4090-a4d7-94af5e8590fe The DPP is expected to appeal the leniency of jail sentences handed down yesterday to a married couple convicted of the female genital mutilation (FGM) of their daughter in the first case of its kind in the nation's history. The couple both pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of carrying out an act of FGM on a one-year-old girl at an address in Dublin on September 16, 2016. The 37-year-old man and 27-year-old woman also pleaded not guilty to one count of child cruelty on the same day. They are both originally from an African nation but cannot be named to protect the identity of the child. On the eighth day of the trial, the jury returned unanimous verdicts of guilty on all counts after almost three hours of deliberations. Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Elma Sheahan sentenced the man to five-and-a-half-years' imprisonment. Judge Sheahan sentenced the woman accused to four years and nine months' imprisonment. The maximum sentence for these offences would have been 14 years each and senior sources said gardai expected the DPP to appeal the sentences because of concerns of the "precedent" they may set. "This couple fought the case all the way - tooth and nail, if you like - the nature of the assault offence that they were convicted of is also what is described as 'type one'. "The big concern is that if people come before the courts here again and plead guilty to these type of offences they may receive much lighter sentences than today for what is in essence a truly shocking crime," the source explained. The investigation into the crime was led by Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan, who was then based at Crumlin garda station, and yesterday Detective Inspector Danny Kelly, who was a key member of the Garda team, told the Irish Independent it was "a complex case" and a crime which gardai had a "lack of knowledge about" at the start. However, the decision was made to treat it as any other serious assault and senior officers enlisted the help of police in London and Dr Deborah Hodes, who helped set up a clinic in the UK which helps young FGM victims, and who provided crucial expert evidence in the case. Det Insp Kelly told the Irish Independent gardai were "not aware of any other" current FGM cases in Ireland. But he also pointed out it is against Irish law for the offence to be carried out abroad and if gardai become aware of such cases involving Irish victims who return here, they will investigate the cases. Evidence was given by a medical expert in the trial that the injury sustained was not consistent with falling on a toy. Judge Sheahan said the child underwent a "severe and invasive procedure without cause" and this would have a real impact on her life in the future. She said the true significance of what had occurred may not become apparent for years to come. Outside the court following the sentence being passed, Detective Chief Superintendent Declan Daly of the Garda National Protections Services Bureau made a statement regarding the case. He said the conviction "sends a strong and important message that female genital mutilation, which is the mutilation of young girls and children, is not tolerated, it cannot be tolerated in Ireland. "It is a heinous and barbaric practice," he said. "Ireland has a very long tradition of embracing customs and traditions from other countries. "This practice is not one where we can extend the welcome mat." He asked communities, social workers, medical personal and parents "to be vigilant for this type of crime". He said it was a crime from which "we must protect our children". For many, Hawaii is the ultimate bucket-list destination. The allure of the Pacific Ocean paradise lies in its island spirit, the warm sense of aloha enveloping every big wave, swaying palm, and volcano. But actually planning a trip to Hawaii can be daunting: There are over 100 islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and at least six of them are major destinations. So, how can a savvy traveler ensure their once-in-a-lifetime journey to Hawaii covers all the bases, making a dream trip well spent? The answer may surprise you: Book a cruise. Seeing the Hawaiian islands by ship is a travel hack of sorts the kind of adventure reserved for visitors who have done their homework. There are a lot of perks to exploring Hawaii by ship. One of the main benefits and part of the reason cruising has such a devoted fan base around the world is that the planning and hassle involved is negligible. Find an itinerary that hits your main points of interest, then book. From there, you dont have to worry about anything other than packing your favorite flip-flops and picking out excursions. On a Hawaiian cruise, transportation between islands is (obviously) included, allowing you to cover more ground during your trip with no extra work (nor unpacking) on your part. Instead of visiting just one island because hopping between them sounds like a logistical headache, booking a cruise allows you to hit multiple, thereby maximizing your vacation time. Exploring the islands by ship allows travelers the opportunity to visit multiple destinations while only ever having to unpack once, explains Harry Sommer, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line. Plus, when cruising Hawaii, you can check off another bucket-list destination or two if you plan it right. Norwegian Cruise Line offers a seven-day round-trip cruise out of Honolulu that docks in Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island of Hawaii. Or, if you opt for their 14-day cruise, you can combine Hawaii with French Polynesia and visit exotic, only-in-your-daydreams destinations like Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Moorea all on one ship. Story continues Norwegian Cruise Lines Pride of America ship the only vessel sailing the Hawaiian islands offers weekly, seven-day round-trip voyages from Honolulu, providing guests nearly 100 hours of port time and the benefit of exploring four islands in a weeks span in a beautiful port every day of the week, shares Sommer. Travelers can also enjoy more time on Maui and Kauai, with overnights in each port, allowing for more immersive experiences on land. Pride of America also features an onboard cultural ambassador that provides guests the opportunity to learn more about the native Polynesian culture of Hawaii. And believe it or not, cruising is a surprisingly cost-effective way to explore Hawaii. Norwegians 14-day Hawaii cruise (yes, the one that also includes a jaunt to the French Polynesian islands) starts at $846 per person. Another point for seeing Hawaii by ship? Youll always have an ocean view. Even if you book an inside cabin with no porthole, cruise ships have a plethora of public spaces and decks where anyone can go to take in uninterrupted views of the Pacific. The views of Hawaiis volcano-dotted islands from sea, especially along the Na Pali Coast, are spectacular a perspective youd miss if you only explored Hawaii by land. North Korea is still trying to build intercontinental ballistic missiles tipped with a nuclear warhead, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has warned. "Clearly they are trying to build long-range ballistic missiles with the ability to carry a nuclear warhead," he said. "So it's something we're watching very closely." Esper was speaking at an international security forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington last week. Asked how far the North has gotten in the development of a new strategic weapon it has threatened to build, he said, "They have an aggressive R&D program and test program, to say the least, and we monitor it very carefully and very closely." But he added, "It still remains to be the case that we're pursuing a diplomatic initiative with them. We think the best way forward is through a political agreement." "At this point we need to get back to the negotiating table and really figure out the best way forward to denuclearize the peninsula," he said. CNN quoted U.S. officials on Sunday as saying that recent satellite imagery shows vehicular activity at the Sanumdong missile research center near Pyongyang "that could potentially signal early preparations for a missile or missile engine test." A large blue shipping container appeared, disappeared, and reappeared in images several times in January, and vehicular activity has been intermittent. The "activities are consistent with what we've seen prior to other missile tests," said one senior U.S. official. But other officials said that "there is no indication of an imminent test launch," but added they still "cannot rule it out." The Sanumdong missile research center is thought to be the North's key facility for the development of ICBMs. Doctors are a boon to the society given their expertise in saving lives. One such saviour is Dr Sushovan Banerjee. Better known to the residents of West Bengal's Bolpur as 'Ek Takar Daktar' (one rupee doctor) for treating poor patients for just a rupee, on Sunday gave credit for his Padma Shri award to the people "for whom he has dedicated his life". Dr Banerjee is among the four Padma Shri awardees from West Bengal this year. swarajyamag "I have been treating patients for 57 years. The Padma Shri was possible only because of them. I dedicate the award to them," Dr Banerjee told PTI over the phone. The ex-Congress MLA from Birbhum district's Bolpur seat said he received a "congratulatory call" from former President Pranab Mukherjee, with whom Banerjee says he shares a cordial relation. "Mr Mukherjee sees me as his younger brother. He had called me up to congratulate me on Saturday evening. I told him that when one brother is a Bharat Ratna, then another should also get something," Dr Banerjee chuckled. The former MLA said he was surprised on knowing that he was in the list of Padma awardees this year. "I was a Congress MLA. It was surprising for me that the BJP government at the Centre chose me for this award. Nevertheless, I am grateful to them," he said. Dr Banerjee said getting selected for the Padma Shri award was the "third memorable moment of his life". medicaldialogues "The first was when I had received a gold medal in DCP degree and second was when people of Bolpur voted me as their MLA in 1984," he said. Banerjee had graduated from RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata before completing a PG degree in Pathology from Calcutta University after which he headed to London for a diploma in Haematology. After working as a senior registrar in London for four years, Dr Banerjee chose to return to his native Bolpur to serve the needy. Apart from Dr Banerjee, the Padma Shri was conferred on three others from West Bengal -- Dr Arunoday Mondal (Medicine), Kazi Masum Akhtar (Literature and Education) and Manilal Nag (Art). WASHINGTON, D.C., January 28, 2020--Students' high school grade point averages are five times stronger than their ACT scores at predicting college graduation, according to a new study published today in Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association. The authors of the new study, Elaine M. Allensworth and Kallie Clark, both of the University of Chicago, also found that the predictive power of GPAs is consistent across high schools. The relationship between ACT scores and college graduation depends on which high school a student attends; at many high schools there is no connection between students' ACT scores and eventual college graduation. "It was surprising not only to see that there was no relationship between ACT scores and college graduation at some high schools, but also to see that at many high schools the relationship was negative among students with the highest test scores," said Allensworth, who is the director of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. Across all high schools in the study, each incremental increase in GPA is associated with an increase in the odds of graduating college. The chance of graduating from college ranges from 20 percent for students with high school GPAs under 1.5 to about 80 percent for those with GPAs of 3.75 or higher, after controlling for student backgrounds and college characteristics. "While people often think the value of GPAs is inconsistent across high schools, and that standardized test scores, like the ACT, are neutral indicators of college readiness because they are taken by everyone under the same conditions, our findings indicate otherwise," Allensworth said. "The bottom line is that high school grades are powerful tools for gauging students' readiness for college, regardless of which high school a student attends, while ACT scores are not." According to the authors, their study confirms prior research that finds high school GPAs are more predictive than SAT and ACT scores of college freshman GPA and college graduation. This study is the first to explicitly test whether standardized assessments are comparable across high schools as measures of college readiness. The study examined 55,084 students who graduated from the Chicago public school district between 2006 and 2009 and immediately enrolled in a four-year college. The Chicago district contains schools with varying academic profiles, ranging from extremely high-achieving, selective schools to schools with very low average test scores. At the time the study students were in high school, all students in Illinois took the ACT in the spring of 11th grade. In the authors' view, the fact that high school GPAs are based on many factors--including effort over an entire semester in many different types of classes, demonstration of academic skills through multiple formats, and different teacher expectations--might be why GPAs are strong indicators of college readiness. "GPAs measure a very wide variety of skills and behaviors that are needed for success in college, where students will encounter widely varying content and expectations," said Allensworth. "In contrast, standardized tests measure only a small set of the skills that students need to succeed in college, and students can prepare for these tests in narrow ways that may not translate into better preparation to succeed in college." "Extensive time spent preparing for standardized tests will have much less pay-off for postsecondary success than effort put into coursework, as reflected in students' grades," said Clark, a doctoral student at the University of Chicago. "The more that middle and high school educators can support strong engagement in school--helping students overcome barriers to engagement in class, helping them succeed at different types of academic tasks, so that they earn strong grades--the better these educators are supporting academic skills broadly and preparing students for college." The authors also note that most states and districts in the United States rely heavily on standardized test scores in their accountability systems as indicators of whether students are meeting state college readiness goals. Because the relationship of test scores with college graduation is not strong or consistent, states and districts that choose this metric may misestimate the effects of policies and school practices on students' college readiness. The authors suggest that measures of students' actual performance in college would provide better information. Above and beyond students' individual achievement on high school coursework and the ACT, Allensworth and Clark found that students are more likely to graduate college if they come from some high schools rather than others. These school effects may be the result of more rigorous academic programs at some high schools, different non-academic supports for preparing students for college, or simply a tendency of families with more resources for college to send their students to particular high schools. "There are large high school effects on college graduation that are not explained by students' high school GPA, their individual ACT scores, or the two of them combined," Clark said. "Understanding why students from some high schools succeed in college more than students at other schools is an important next step for better supporting all students' ability to earn a college degree." ### Funding note: This research was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. About AERA The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Seabourn The bucket list appeal of an Alaska cruise is as clear as the state's pristine glacial waters: You can admire rugged, unspoiled scenery; cover vast distances without being trapped in a car (Alaska is about 2 1/2 times as large as Texas); and, if you're lucky, experience one-of-a-kind moments in hard-to-access places. "We sailed right up to the glaciers and heard the thunder as they were cracking and crashing into the water, says Andy Gibson, 50, an IT consultant in Fairfax, Virginia, who traveled with Royal Caribbean in Alaska and has also cruised in the Caribbean and Hawaii. He calls it the coolest cruise experience I've ever had. It's like you're watching a nature documentary, but it's real life." These trips are also a big draw for multigenerational family groups. What kid wouldn't want to see orcas and towering glaciers? For most Alaska travelers, the Inside Passage is the most popular route. Weaving among the islands of the narrow southeastern strip of the state, the voyage offers intimate views of glaciers, islands and fjords, with stops in towns such as Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway. Other routes take guests along more of the Gulf of Alaska, but you'll still typically sail through the passage. Inside Passage cruises frequently go round trip from Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia; the latter is the port of choice for luxury lines. These are some top-rated options (note that prices are subject to change): The UK will allow China's Huawei to build what are described as 'non-core' elements of a British 5G network, but the Chinese company is not allowed to operate at what are defined by the government as sensitive sites. As Dan Sabbagh tweeted today, "Boris Johnson and the spies have their way." From reporting by Heather Stewart at The Guardian: The Chinese tech firm Huawei has been designated a "high-risk vendor" but will be given the opportunity to build non-core elements of Britain's 5G network, the government has announced. The company will be banned from the "core", of the 5G network, and from operating at sensitive sites such as nuclear and military facilities, and its share of the market will be capped at 35%. "We are clear-eyed about the challenge posed by Huawei, which we today confirm is a high-risk vendor," said a Whitehall source. But the source insisted a "market failure" meant there was little alternative in the short term. Read the rest: Boris Johnson gives green light for Huawei 5G infrastructure role [theguardian.com] Huawei already plays a large role in the UK's 5G networks. Every major carrier is currently using Huawei equipment. The UK also setup a special committee to monitor Huawei years ago, so the US scaremongering is not relevant. https://t.co/2AhR7VHTC5 Tom Warren (@tomwarren) January 28, 2020 So the UK govt hasn't named Huawei but says its National Cyber Security Centre can name "vendors" (such as Huawei) as being "high risk" whereupon restrictions kick in.https://t.co/75xTIGmkUy pic.twitter.com/kdYXcU4QmQ Adrian Weckler (@adrianweckler) January 28, 2020 Boris Johnson and the spies have their way: Huawei allowed to supply 5G but, as expected, formally designated a 'high risk' vendor supplying non core kit and subject to a 35% market share cap (the same level it is at on 4G)https://t.co/PWqB3SQT4a Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) January 28, 2020 December 2019: "A Labour government would be a threat to national security!" January 2020: "Let's hand access to our secrets to China" says party that also received 3.5m in donations from Russians and won't reveal details of Russian interference. https://t.co/8Jd9wwzjKN David Schneider (@davidschneider) January 28, 2020 "If you're worried about China, what you need to do is look much more broadly at the security of our telecoms supply chain," says former culture secretary Jeremy Wright "It may be a sensible compromise"https://t.co/p9uo5lOkPz pic.twitter.com/QgSaoWH6g7 BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) January 28, 2020 Bad decision. Will damage the UK-UK alliance regardless of who is president https://t.co/z8AYQOz9CC Tom Wright (@thomaswright08) January 27, 2020 "The starkest sign that an American campaign against the telecommunications company is faltering." Via @satarianohttps://t.co/d6tEuovsyZ via @NYTimes CeciliaKang (@ceciliakang) January 28, 2020 BREAKING: #Huawei is allowed limited access to UK #5G networks. Details: restricted from security critical "core functions" 35% cap on non-core so-called radio access network (RAN) https://t.co/bR6m6jarHM Arjun Kharpal (@ArjunKharpal) January 28, 2020 Boris Johnson has betrayed the US and endangered the special relationship at a time when he needs a US-UK trade deal the most. I hope the Chinese cash was worth it because there are lot MOC's who will not be happy about thishttps://t.co/PUUDEP67X5 Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 28, 2020 The Brits have a fundamentally different approach to the Huawei problem. They believe they can manage the risk. There are actually a number of US intelligence officials who agree with them. https://t.co/YX9RSbeeVn Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) January 28, 2020 [via Techmeme] A tree snake has severed its own tail after being caught inside a paper shredder at an office. Snake Catchers Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan and Gold Coast were called after the snake named 'Shredda' was found in a paper shredder at an office in Logan, Queensland on Thursday. The snake catcher tasked with rescuing Shredda explained how the snake would have found itself in the life threatening situation. 'Shredda, being a common tree snake, loves inspecting little holes and crevices looking for skinks to eat,' he wrote. A common tree snake named 'Shredda' (pictured) had a lucky escape from a paper shredder after getting its tail caught and accidentally turning the machine on Snake catchers were called the the office in Logan Central, Queensland, luckily a worker heard the machine turn and and managed to unplug it before it shredded the whole snake 'After coming through the bottom of the shredder and trying to exit through the top, he needed traction to pull his body through the tight blades.' However it just so happened Shredda had applied pressure on the on/off switch to the machine while his tail was still between the blades. 'Luckily for Shredda someone heard the machine start, seen what was going on and quickly turned it off at the wall,' the snake catcher continued. 'When I arrived, the tip of tail was still stuck in the blades, and after putting the blades on reverse he was released.' Despite the wound looking bad social media users were assured Shredda would be able to make a full recovery, just a touch shorter than before. 'Although the injury looks bad, it is in a great position for the vets to trim and clean up the wound,' he wrote. 'It will leave him a little shorter, but he will be perfectly fine and make a full recovery!' Victorian paramedics are threatening to hit state government revenues in a battle over ambos' ability to join bushfire relief efforts. The paramedics' union is demanding among other improved conditions paid leave for the almost 30 paramedics who are also army reservists, about 15 of whom have been deployed to bushfire-hit areas this summer, assisting the Australian Defence Force's relief efforts. Union boss Danny Hill says paramedics "shouldn't be taking a hit to their hip pocket" for aiding bushfire relief efforts. Credit:AAP Union boss Danny Hill said professional paramedics were likely providing a "far higher" standard of care than ADF medics because of their day-to-day expertise in treating patients. "We've got some of the best paramedics in the world. For them to be using their skills to assist in a time of crisis provides an immeasurable benefit to the community," he said. The visit of the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, is a sign of the growing importance of the India - Brazil bilateral partnership said Union Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways, Piyush Goyal, during his address at the inaugural session of the India-Brazil Business Forum held in New Delhi yesterday. He hoped that as Brazil is one of the most important trading partners of India in the entire LAC (Latin America and Caribbean) region trade between the two countries will grow to USD 15 billion by 2022. The 15 MoUs signed during the visit of the President of Brazil shows the power of democracy, demography, leadership, the talent pool available in India, India's market and the aspirations of one billion Indian citizens for a better life said the Commerce and Industry Minister. The MoUs of cooperation that have been signed during the presidential visit on investments, trade facilitation, social security, agriculture, defence and double taxation makes this the most productive visit by a Brazilian Head of State. Commerce and Industry Minister hoped that investments will also grow in the sectors of clean energy, startups, railways and creation of value chains between India and Brazil where goods may be semi assembled in one country and finished in another. Piyush Goyal informed that the entire Indian Railway will be fully electrified by 2024 and by 2030 the railway network in India will run completely on clean energy with zero emission. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The court had on 20 January convicted Brajesh Thakur of several offences including aggravated penetrative sexual assault under section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and offences of rape and gang rape under the Indian Penal code (IPC) New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday deferred for a week the hearing of arguments on quantum of sentence of Brajesh Thakur and 18 others, convicted of sexually and physically assaulting several minor girls in a shelter home in Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Additional Sessions Judge Sudesh Kumar adjourned the hearing till 4 February as Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha, who had conducted the trial, was on leave. The court had on 20 January convicted Thakur, who once unsuccessfully contested assembly polls on Bihar People's Party (BPP) ticket, of several offences including aggravated penetrative sexual assault under section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and offences of rape and gang rape under the Indian Penal code (IPC). In its bulky judgement running into 1,546 pages, the court had also convicted Thakur of offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and abetment under IPC, section 21 (failure to report commission of an offence) of the POCSO Act section 75 (cruelty to child) of Juvenile Justice Act. The offences entail a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. It, however, acquitted one Vikki in the case for want of evidence. One of the female accused, Rosy Rani, former assistant director of child protection unit in Muzaffarpur, was convicted of offences under section 21(1) (failure to report commission of an offence) of the POCSO Act. Since the maximum punishment for the offence was six months, which she had already undergone, she was granted bail by the court. Dillip Kumar Verma, former chairman of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Muzaffarpur, child protection officer of District Child Protection Unit Ravi Roshan, member of CWC Vikas Kumar and other accused Vijay Kumar Tiwari, Guddu Patel, Kishan Kumar and Ramanuj Thakur were held guilty of the offences of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under POCSO Act, criminal conspiracy, rape, gang rape, causing hurt, abetment to rape under IPC and POCSO Act, and section 75 of the JJ Act. Two of the accused Rama Shankar Singh and Dr Ashwani were convicted of the offences of criminal conspiracy and abetment to rape. Rama was also convicted under sections 323 of IPC, 75 of JJ Act and 21 of POCSO Act. Female accused Shaista Praveen, Indu Kumari, Minu Devi, Manju Devi, Chanda Devi, Neha Kumari, Hema Masih, Kiran Kumari were held guilty of criminal conspiracy, abetment to rape, cruelty to child and failure to report commission of an offence. Advocates PK Dubey and Nishaank Mattoo, appearing for Thakur, had told reporters that they will challenge the verdict in the higher court. Advocate Gyanendra Mishra, representing Dillip, too had said there was no evidence against the accused and he will challenge the judgement in the higher court. The court had recorded the statement of 69 witnesses produced by the CBI which was represented by Public Prosecutor Amit Jindal. It had recorded the statement of 44 girls who were physically and sexually assaulted at the shelter home, of which around 13 were mentally disabled. It had examined 20 defence witnesses, said advocate Dheeraj Kumar, appearing for some of the accused. The court had on 30 March, 2019, framed charges against the accused in the case in which former Bihar Social Welfare Minister and the then JD(U) leader Manju Verma also faced flak as allegations surfaced that Thakur had links with her husband. She had resigned from her post on 8 August, 2018. The case was transferred on 7 February, 2019 from a local court in Muzaffarpur in Bihar to a POCSO court at Saket district court complex in Delhi on the apex court's directions. The matter had come to light on 26 May, 2018 after Tata Institute of Social Sciences submitted a report to the Bihar government highlighting the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls in the shelter home for the first time. The report had been submitted to the Bihar Social Welfare Department by TISS in February that year. On Monday, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said that most of the people sitting in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh and Kolkata's Park Circus are Bangladeshi and Pakistani. Tragic accident: Strong collision between bike and Bolero, youth's condition critical In his statement, Sinha said on Monday, 'Most of the people sitting in Shaheen Bagh and Park Circus are infiltrators from Bangladesh and Pakistan. They are protesting using children and women as shields. Recent videos have shown that they want to divide India and break Assam. Can people living in the country ever speak of dividing this country? Kerala CM wrote letter to PM Modi due to this reason Regarding this matter, the BJP National Secretary further said, 'Today I also ask the leaders who went to Shaheen Bagh, did you go there to support those elements who talk about breaking the nation?' Sinha also targeted Lake Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for passing the anti-CAA resolution in the West Bengal Assembly. He said, 'Mamata Banerjee's government is formed under the Constitution, she took an oath on it before forming the government. Today, by passing an anti-CAA resolution, they have broken that oath and brought the Constitution into disrepute. An Act passed by the Center cannot be challenged.' SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi retiring next month, government ask for application to fill the post New Delhi [India], Jan 28 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, alleging poor infrastructure in state-run schools of the national capital and said that claims of education revolution have been 'exposed' during visits by Delhi BJP parliamentarians at different schools. "Arvind Kejriwal ji, you had called me to visit the schools run by the Delhi government. Yesterday, eight MPs of Delhi had toured different schools and showed the conditions. The ground situation has exposed the claims of 'revolution in education'. Now, you have to give an answer to the public of Delhi," the Union Minister said in a tweet. Shah also posted a four-minute-long video of the schools in which the eight Delhi BJP MPs, including Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel, have toured the schools outlining poor infrastructure and lack of facilities at these facilities. The eight Delhi BJP parliamentarians who visited these schools were- Dr Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel, Parvesh Sahib Singh, Meenakshi Lekhi, Gautam Gambhir, Hansraj Hans, Manoj Tiwari and Ramesh Bidhuri. Yesterday, BJP leader Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma while touring the school strongly refuted AAP's claim that Delhi state-run schools have become world-class. He visited a school in Matiala area of the national capital. Verma visited school with a couple of journalists and pointed towards the cracked building and a ceiling of the classrooms. The BJP MP from West Delhi constituency also presented a letter sent by PWD to the school, warning that the school building was dangerous and could collapse anytime. The voting for Delhi Assembly elections will take place on February 8. The counting of votes will take place on February 11. In 2015 assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party had registered a landslide victory by winning 67 out of a total of 70 seats in the national capital. (ANI) T he government is looking at plans to repatriate Britons in Wuhan "as soon as possible" amid the fatal coronavirus outbreak, a cabinet minister has confirmed. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, was pressed on the gravitas of the situation this morning and on the return of British nationals who wish to come home. He said he spoke with the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, last night and vowed the government would do everything which is "needed to be done" in order to protect citizens. Amid reports of plans to evacuate Brits from the worst affected area of China, where the virus is believed to have originated, he said work was being carried out to establish the exact numbers who are in the region. Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus / AFP via Getty Images "We don't automatically have a list of people who happen to be in the region," he told Sky News, as he appealed for anyone in the region to contact the British consulate. "We keep having to push the message out... to ask people to get in contact. Not everyone wants to be repatriated, and we're working with international colleagues to do that." Asked about the timescale for plans, he said: "As soon as possible. "They've obviously put the region on lock down, which is a further complication." Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP He added that it was a "complex and moving situation" with circumstances changing each day. The Standard has contacted the Foreign Office for its latest comment on the situation. Later in the morning, the Government said details were being finalised for a plan to help Britons leave Hubei. A Downing Street spokesman said: The FCO is urgently exploring options for British nationals to leave Hubei province. Details are being finalised and the FCO (Foreign Office) will confirm these as soon as they can. The death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 106, Chinas National Health Commission has confirmed, while more than 4,500 people have been infected. Those who have flown to the UK from the centre of the outbreak have been told to "self-isolate" - even if they show no symptoms of the virus. [January 28, 2020] AM Best Assigns Credit Ratings to Danielson National Insurance Company; Affirms Ratings of Worth Casualty Company AM Best has assigned a Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of "a-" to Danielson National Insurance Company (Danielson National) (San Diego, CA (News - Alert)). The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. Concurrently, AM Best has affirmed the FSR of A- (Excellent) and a Long-Term ICR of "a-" of Worth Casualty Company (Worth Casualty) (Fort Worth, TX). The outlook of this rating remains stable. These rating actions follow the sale of Worth Casualty from Agricultural Workers Mutual Auto Insurance Company (Ag Workers) to Incline Insurance Group, LLC, a Texas program writer, which has also acquired Danielson National, a California insurance carrier. AM Best notes these companies pending name changes from Worth Casualty Company to Incline Casualty Company, and Daniel National Insurance Company to Incline National Insurance Company, which are awaiting regulatory approval. Danielson National and Worth Casualty are collectively referred to as Incline. The ratings reflect Incline's balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. Incline is owned collectively by Merfax Financial Group, LLC (Merfax) and Ag Workers, with Merfax having majority ownership. The ratings and outlooks consider the financial support and capital contribution provided by Merfax and Ag Workers. Fundamental to the successful execution of Incline's business development plans is its management of program business being assumed from multiple managing general agents. Additionally, these ratings reflect Incline's comprehensive reinsurance program, which is designed to provide horizontal and vertical protection against severe weather-related events. Based on management's near-term financial plan, the projected net probablemaximum loss comprises a modest amount of surplus. The current level of risk-adjusted capitalization supports the underwriting, credit and investment risk of Incline. The company's business plans consist of writing program business in the Southwestern United States. While strict risk selection criteria and underwriting guidelines are in place, its start-up nature creates execution risk. The company's near-term business plans consist of writing property, workers compensation and auto business in California, Texas and New Mexico. Although in the initial stages, comprehensive underwriting and claims processes are in place to support growth. Negative rating actions could result if the operational and financial plans anticipated by management do not materialize as projected and result in adverse operating results or a decline in risk-adjusted capitalization. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2020 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005547/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Can your Amazon Alexa or Google Home measure and predict if you are in the early stages of cognitive impairment? LEBANON, NH - Researchers from Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) and the University of Massachusetts Boston were recently awarded a four-year grant award totaling $1,179,714 from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, to use Voice Assistant Systems, such as Amazon's Alexa and Google Home, to detect early cognitive impairment. The project aims to improve early detection using voice and language to identify individuals in an early stage of cognitive impairment before they present to clinical providers as the diagnosis is often difficult and made late in the disease process. The team includes John A. Batsis, MD, a D-H Geriatrician and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Robert Roth, PhD, a D-H neuropsychologist and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Geisel, and Xiaohui Liang, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts Boston. This team will develop the system, use machine and deep learning techniques, and collect data on patient participants to provide feedback to patients, caregivers and clinicians. If successful, the outcomes of this project will allow the team to conduct widespread testing of this system, complementing existing diagnostic modalities that could enable long-term patient and caregiver planning to maintain an individual's independence at home. "Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are a major public health concern that lead to high health costs, risk of nursing home placement, and place an inordinate burden on the whole family," says Batsis. "The ability to plan in the early stages of the disease is essential for initiating interventions and providing support systems to improve patients' everyday function and quality of life." Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) in older adults living alone is essential for developing, planning, and ensuring adequate support at home for patients and their families. This project aims to develop a low-cost and practical home-based assessment method using Voice Assistant Systems (VAS) for early detection of cognitive decline. "We are tackling a significant and complicated data-science question: whether the collection of long-term speech patterns of individuals at home will enable us to develop new speech-analysis methods for early detection of this challenging disease," says Liang. "Our team envisions that the changes in the speech patterns of individuals using the voice assistant systems may be sensitive to their decline in memory and function over time." The team will conduct an 18-month laboratory evaluation and a 28-month home evaluation with a focus on whether the Voice Assistant Systems tasks and features can measure and predict an individual's decline in the home participants over time. Additional collaborators on this project include Brian MacWhinney, PhD, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, and David Kotz, PhD, from Dartmouth College. Research reported in this release was supported by the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01AG067416 ### DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK HEALTH (D-HH), New Hampshire's only academic health system and the state's largest private employer, serves a population of 1.9 million across Northern New England. D-H provides access to more than 2,400 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. DHMC was named in 2019 as the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and recognized for high performance in 13 clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health also includes the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, one of only 51 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation; the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the state's only children's hospital; affiliated member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, and New London, NH, and Windsor, VT, and Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and 24 Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinics that provide ambulatory services across New Hampshire and Vermont. The D-H system trains nearly 400 residents and fellows annually, and performs world-class research, in partnership with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. About UMass Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston is deeply rooted in the city's history, yet poised to address the challenges of the future. Recognized for innovative research, metropolitan Boston's public university offers its diverse student population both an intimate learning environment and the rich experience of a great American city. UMass Boston's 10 colleges and graduate schools serve 16,000 students while engaging local and global constituents through academic programs, research centers, and public service. To learn more, visit http://www.umb.edu. GOP Senators Call for Copy of John Bolton Book Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said the White House should hand over a copy of former national security adviser John Boltons upcoming book after The New York Times published alleged details on Jan. 26, claiming Bolton wrote that he was told by President Donald Trump about a freeze on aid to Ukraine. I am encouraging the White House, anybody that I can talk to, to say: That manuscript is pertinent and we should get access to that manuscript to see what theyre actually saying, Lankford said in a Facebook video. I think getting that information firsthand would be really important for us. My encouragement would be: If John Boltons got something to say, theres plenty of microphones all over the country that he should step forward and start talking about it right now, he said. The NY Times, citing the book, claimed Bolton said he was told about a linkage between military aid and investigations, renewing calls among Democrats to call Bolton to testify in the Senate impeachment trial. However, several White House officials and Trump have disputed Boltons assertion, and the newspaper didnt provide any excerpts from the book. Lankford echoed a statement made by Graham, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, who publicly urged the White House to deliver a copy of the manuscript. I think what we have to do here is evaluate the manuscript. I want to know whats in the manuscript, Graham told The Hill. The White House said there was no direct evidence of communication. Maybe this suggests that one person said there might be. What Ive said all along is, if youre going to add to the record, were going to do it in a balanced way. If we add to the record, were going to call Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, and all these other people. Graham also took to Twitter to call for the manuscript, writing that it should be made available to the Senate, if possible, in a classified setting where each Senator has the opportunity to review the manuscript and make their own determination. I totally support @SenatorLankfords proposal that the Bolton manuscript be made available to the Senate, if possible, in a classified setting where each Senator has the opportunity to review the manuscript and make their own determination. https://t.co/e18nUfSMgI Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 28, 2020 In response to the report, Trump wrote on Twitter that he NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book, the president wrote on Jan. 26. Legal Counsel for President Donald Trump, Alan Dershowitz, speaks during impeachment proceedings against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 27, 2020. (Senate Television via Getty Images) Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard professor and Trump legal team member, referred to the book while defending the president on Jan. 27 on the Senate floor. If the president, any president, were to have done what the [New York] Times reported about the content of the Bolton manuscript, that would not constitute an impeachable offense, Dershowitz said. Let me repeat: Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense. That is clear from the history. That is clear from the language of the Constitution, he continued. You cannot turn conduct that is not impeachable into impeachable conduct simply by using words like quid pro quo and personal benefit.' Thirteen of the 17 people convicted and sentenced to life for the 2002 post-Godhra massacre in which 33 people were burnt alive in Sardarpura have been ordered to be released on bail by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The top court told the 14 people to do social service but ruled that they will have to stay out of Gujarat. The 13 convicts will be split into two groups. One would be sent to Madhya Pradeshs Indore and the second, to Jabalpur 500 km away. Thirty-three members of the minority community were burnt alive at Sardarpura village in Vijapur tehsil of Mehsana district on the night of February 28, 2002, following the Godhra train carnage the previous day in which 59 people, mainly karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, were killed. The 33 dead, who had taken shelter in a pucca house to escape from the mob that attacked the community members, included 22 women. They were holed up inside the house that was set afire by the mob using petrol. The Supreme Court-mandated Special Investigation Team had arrested 76 people in this case. Charges were framed against 73 in June 2009. When the special fast track court that initially convicted 31 people in 2012, 10 years after the massacre, the conviction was hailed as one of the rare instances of the prosecutions success to prove a 2002 riots case. Some of this sheen wore off four years later when the Gujarat High Court acquitted 14 of the 31 convicts. The high court ruled that the prosecution had failed the two-witness test prescribed by the Supreme Court. According to this, at least two witnesses should have testified against an accused in a riot case for the court to convict him or her. The high court, however, had upheld the conviction of 17 people on the basis of this principle. More than four decades ago, a U.S. service member spent nearly a month's salary on a watch he wanted to use for scuba diving. Instead, the watch sat in a safety deposit box unworn for years. Now, that watch could be worth up to $700,000, according to Monday's episode of "Antiques Roadshow." The unnamed veteran of the U.S. Air Force said he was stationed in Thailand from 1973 to 1975, where he often flew on Air America and Continental Airlines and saw pilots wearing Rolex watches. However, he wanted a Rolex so he could wear a watch while scuba diving. "I knew that the Rolex watch was good for scuba diving," the man told "Antiques Roadshow" appraiser Peter Planes of Luxe Auctioneers. The 1971 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Oyster on "Antiques Roadshow." Photo by Meredith Nierman for WGBH, (c) WGBH 2020 He ordered the 1971 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Oyster in November 1974 through the exchange store on the military base where he was stationed. He even saved the receipt, which shows he paid $345.97 for the Rolex after receiving a 10% discount. While that price pales in comparison to the watch's current value at auction (and even a new Rolex Cosmograph Daytona starts at $17,400), the man says it "was a lot of money for myself" at that time. His monthly military salary in those days ranged from about $300 to $400, he said on the show. After receiving the watch, though, he says he decided it was "too nice" to use diving. "I never used it. I looked at it and I said, 'You know, this is really too nice to take down in the salty water,'" he told Planes. "I just kept it." Even after getting out of the Air Force a few years later, the man says he decided to keep the Rolex in storage rather than wear it regularly. He put the watch, along with its original case (even the outer cardboard box), as well as accompanying documents like the sales receipt, his warranty paper and the original brochure, in a safety deposit box. The 1971 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Oyster, with accompanying documentation, appearing on PBS' "Antiques Roadshow." Photo by Meredith Nierman for WGBH, (c) WGBH 2020 "I only took it out like two or three times to look at it, and that was about the extent of it before I brought it here," he says. Flash forward more than 45 years, and the man brought the nearly pristine watch to a taping of "Antiques Roadshow" that took place in Fargo, North Dakota last July. Planes told the man that Rolex Daytona watches have become especially valuable over the years, partly due to an association with the late actor Paul Newman. The actor wore a Rolex Daytona in the 1969 racing movie "Winning" and that variety of watch is now nicknamed the "Paul Newman" Daytona. (In 2017, the Rolex Daytona that Newman actually wore and owned for years sold at auction for $17.8 million, a record for wristwatches that stood until a Patek Phillippe sold for $31 million in 2019.) Planes told the Air Force veteran that his watch is not the exact type that Newman wore in the film, and that those watches typically sell at auction for up to $200,000. However, the veteran's watch is actually worth more, Planes said, because it is an "extremely rare" variety that features screw-down buttons that make it more water resistant than other varieties. "You've gotta be kidding me," the veteran said. JERUSALEM Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has withdrawn his request for immunity from prosecution on corruption charges, he said Tuesday morning, complaining that he would not have gotten a fair shake from Parliament and had therefore decided not to let the dirty game continue. The move, which was not unexpected, ensures that Mr. Netanyahu, who is running in Israels third election in a year after the first two ended in deadlock, will have to campaign as a defendant in a criminal case heading into the March 2 ballot. But it also deprives his political opponents, led by Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party, of one stick with which they had hoped to beat Mr. Netanyahu. Blue and White is now the largest party in Parliament, giving it the upper hand in setting the agenda for debate, but it will no longer be able to keep the criminal cases involving Mr. Netanyahu in the news by holding weeks of embarrassing parliamentary debate on immunity. Like a puppy chasing its tail, some new investors often chase 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without revenue, let alone profit. And in their study titled Who Falls Prey to the Wolf of Wall Street?' Leuz et. al. found that it is 'quite common' for investors to lose money by buying into 'pump and dump' schemes. If, on the other hand, you like companies that have revenue, and even earn profits, then you may well be interested in Space Hellas (ATH:SPACE). While that doesn't make the shares worth buying at any price, you can't deny that successful capitalism requires profit, eventually. Conversely, a loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the sweet milk of external capital may run sour. Check out our latest analysis for Space Hellas How Fast Is Space Hellas Growing? If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price will eventually follow. Therefore, there are plenty of investors who like to buy shares in companies that are growing EPS. We can see that in the last three years Space Hellas grew its EPS by 16% per year. That growth rate is fairly good, assuming the company can keep it up. Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. While Space Hellas did well to grow revenue over the last year, EBIT margins were dampened at the same time. So it seems the future my hold further growth, especially if EBIT margins can stabilize. You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. For finer detail, click on the image. ATSE:SPACE Income Statement, January 28th 2020 Since Space Hellas is no giant, with a market capitalization of 36m, so you should definitely check its cash and debt before getting too excited about its prospects. Are Space Hellas Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders? Story continues Many consider high insider ownership to be a strong sign of alignment between the leaders of a company and the ordinary shareholders. So as you can imagine, the fact that Space Hellas insiders own a significant number of shares certainly appeals to me. Actually, with 50% of the company to their names, insiders are profoundly invested in the business. I'm reassured by this kind of alignment, as it suggests the business will be run for the benefit of shareholders. In terms of absolute value, insiders have 18m invested in the business, using the current share price. That should be more than enough to keep them focussed on creating shareholder value! Should You Add Space Hellas To Your Watchlist? One important encouraging feature of Space Hellas is that it is growing profits. Just as polish makes silverware pop, the high level of insider ownership enhances my enthusiasm for this growth. That combination appeals to me, for one. So yes, I do think the stock is worth keeping an eye on. Of course, just because Space Hellas is growing does not mean it is undervalued. If you're wondering about the valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry. You can invest in any company you want. But if you prefer to focus on stocks that have demonstrated insider buying, here is a list of companies with insider buying in the last three months. Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Air quality ratings may need an overhaul with new research finding even short-term exposure to air pollutants increases a person's risk of cardiac arrest. University of Sydney researchers have found just three days of low-level particulate matter exposure increased the threat of cardiac arrest, with people over 65 at higher risk. Report author Kazuaki Negishi said there was 'no safe threshold' for PM 2.5 exposure - tiny particles or droplets in the air that are 2.5 microns or less in width - such as those found in bushfire smoke or air pollution. 'We need to re-evaluate these regulatory standards because it might give us a false reassurance,' Professor Negishi said. University of Sydney researchers have found just three days of low-level particulate matter exposure increased the threat of cardiac arrest, with people over 65 at higher risk. Pictured: Woman wearing a mask in Melbourne on January 14 WHO guidelines say anything above 25 micrograms per cubic metre of PM 2.5 over 24 hours is unhealthy. Pictured: Smoke hanging over Melbourne on January 14 Slide me Melbourne's CBD is typically gives clear views of the Yarra River and surrounding buildings - however smoke in January rendered the city unrecognisable He said the study, drawing on Japanese health data of about 250,000 people along with other research, may prompt an overhaul of international air quality guidelines. Prof Negishi said for every 10 unit increase in PM 2.5 levels, there was a 'significant' increase in cardiac arrest risk. Air quality concerns have skyrocketed as thick smoke blankets cities and towns around Australia. Prof Negishi said even days below World Health Organisation thresholds could still pose a threat. WHO guidelines say anything above 25 micrograms per cubic metre of PM 2.5 over 24 hours is unhealthy. The researchers found a one to four per cent increased risk associated with every 10 micrograms per cubic metre increase in PM 2.5. Thick smoke shrouded the Sydney Harbour Bridge on November 21, 2019 Pictured: the smoke from Australia's bushfires (in yellow) drifting over the Pacific Ocean New Year's Day in Canberra saw levels reach more than 800 micrograms, with Sydney once recording 500 micrograms in December. The study may mean a rethink of how buildings are designed to keep out PM 2.5 and the use of masks to prevent exposure, Prof Negishi said. While Australians may be more familiar with PM 2.5 as a result of the recent bushfire crisis, the matter is primarily generated by pollution, with motor vehicles being a major source. A month after the bushfire began the Sydney CBD was covered in thick smoke daily Report author Kazuaki Negishi said there was 'no safe threshold' for PM 2.5 exposure - tiny particles or droplets in the air that are 2.5 microns or less in width - such as those found in bushfire smoke or air pollution. Pictured: Bushfire in the Blue Mountains in 2019 'The main trigger is obviously climate change, global warming. Everything should be tackled,' Prof Negishi said. 'We need to try and use cleaner energy.' The professor said more research was needed and welcomed the government's recent announcement of $5 million in research grants. The smoke from Australia's bushfires was so intense it turned the sky orange in Auckland, New Zealand, on January 5 Nicola Sturgeon has ordered officials to keep the European Union flag flying over the Scottish government headquarters after the UK leaves the bloc on Friday. The Scottish First Minister and leader of the SNP sparked Tory fury with the decision as she was accused of 'cynical political opportunism'. Ms Sturgeon is vehemently against Scotland being taken out of the EU and has repeatedly argued it is happening 'against our will'. Scotland voted 62 per cent in favour of Remain and 38 per cent in favour of Leave at the EU referendum in 2016. Nicola Sturgeon will mark Brexit day with a speech in which she will set out the next steps in her bid for Scottish independence. The First minister is pictured at the Scottish Parliament on January 23 Ms Sturgeon has reportedly told Scottish government officials to fly the EU flag above St Andrew's House in Edinburgh after the UK leaves the bloc The UK government has set out its own plans to mark the moment Britain splits from Brussels with plans for a Downing Street countdown clock and light show on Friday evening. A commemorative Brexit 50p coin has also been minted with three million due to enter circulation at the end of the week with more to come later in the year. Boris Johnson is expected to address the nation on Friday night in a bid to unite the country and help heal the divisions of the last three years. Ms Sturgeon will deliver her own speech to mark the occasion in which she will set out the next steps in her bid for Scottish independence. She wants a second breakaway referendum to take place before the end of 2020 but Downing Street will not grant the First Minister permission to hold the vote. As well as her speech, the EU flag will reportedly continue to fly over St Andrew's House after 11pm on Friday, remaining in place for the duration of next weekend. According to The Telegraph, Ms Sturgeon said: 'Friday will be a sad day for Scotland as we are taken out of the European Union against our will. 'It will also be clear that a future in Europe can only be achieved by Scotland becoming an independent country - and it is hope of a better future that must now be our focus.' Boris Johnson, pictured during a visit to King's College London University yesterday, has refused to give Ms Sturgeon permission to hold a second Scottish independence vote The proposed flag stunt sparked anger among Scottish Tories. Interim leader Jackson Carlaw said: 'This is yet another cynical and obvious display of political opportunism from the First Minister.' He said the SNP was 'obsessing about flags' and Scottish independence instead of improving healthcare and schools. It comes ahead of a symbolic but non-binding vote in Holyrood tomorrow when MSPs will be asked to back plans for a second referendum. Gurugram: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has planned to increase the number of FASTag lanes at Kherki Daula toll plaza from one in the extended lanes to two in the next few days, raising the total number of FASTag lanes from the present 21 to 23 with one cash lane each on either side of the toll plaza. FASTag trials are going on at the toll plaza and the electronic toll collection system will be fully implemented from February 15. NHAI officials said that they dont expect another extension being given to commuters to get FASTags. The NHAI officials said that more commuters are doing transaction through FASTag and once the collection at the toll plaza goes beyond 80% target, the highways authority will make one more lane in the canopy lanes FASTag compliant. Ashok Sharma, project director, NHAI Gurugram, said, Cash lane has to be ultimately reduced to one on each side depending upon results of trial. Presently, we are at about 80% tag penetration, so we may achieve the target very soon. However, the Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL), concessionaire of the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, said that the canopy lanes dont fall in the original plan of the Kherki Daula toll plaza and should not be counted by NHAI. S Raghuraman, chief executive officer, MCEPL, said, The canopy lanes should not be even considered as part of the FASTag plan. We had constructed them in 2015-16 to ease out traffic congestion. On January 8, MCEPL wrote to the NHAIs independent consultant (IC) asking them to tell NHAI that the 19 lanes at the toll plaza be counted as FASTag lanes and not the extended ones which came up later. After going through the concessionaires letter, IC wrote to NHAI on January 9 asking it to consider only 19 FASTag lanes at the toll plaza and not the six extended lanes. NHAI officials said that the matter is in consideration with their headquarters. MCEPL officials said that having FASTags in canopy lanes is a wastage of lanes even though they have put visible signboard about it here. Anish John, systems manager, MCEPL, said, Commuters who come across the canopy lanes think that these are cash lanes. Two senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Maharashtra warned on Tuesday that the state government might face serious consequences, even dismissal, if it failed to cooperate with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Elgar Parishad probe, ratcheting up an ongoing tussle with the ruling Shiv-Sena-led government over the high-profile cases. The comments by former finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and state BJP president Chandrakant Patil came on a day the state government received formal communication from the Centre that the NIA was taking over the cases related to the violence that broke out on January 1, 2018, in Maharashtras Bhima Koregaon village. Director general of police (DGP) has received the letter from the central government. It has been forwarded to us. We are seeking a legal opinion on it before deciding on the further course of action, state home minister Anil Deshmukh told HT. The state government will decide in a scheduled cabinet meeting on Wednesday if it will set up a special investigation team (SIT) to review the Pune Police probe in the cases. Earlier in the day, Mungantiwar told media that the NIA Act allowed the Centre to take over a case from a state government. Patil said the Uddhav Thackeray government will have to face legal consequences if it does not cooperate with the NIA. If the state government is acting against the Centres decision then there could be a constitutional logjam, Mungantiwar said. The governor will have to intervene. The existing law says that if states act against constitutional provisions, then the Centre can intervene and dismiss the state government, he added. The tussle began last Friday, when the Centre announced the NIA was taking over the cases from the Pune Police, which has arrested nine prominent activists and others for allegedly plotting the violence and conspiring to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decision came just a day after the Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress alliance government held a meeting to review the cases. The Congress and the NCP criticised Mungantiwar and the BJP. Congress leader and PWD minister Ashok Chavan said Mungantiwars threat was a case of day-dreaming by BJP leaders. NCP leader and state minister Nawab Malik dared the Centre to dissolve the state government. . A teenage boy who was stabbed to death in a "senseless" attack at East Croydon station has been named. British Transport Police (BTP) said Louis Johnson, 16, died following the incident on Monday afternoon. Officers said Louis entered the station via a ticket barrier and met the suspect on the overbridge, who "immediately pulled out a knife and stabbed him". Despite efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead at the scene at around 5pm. Police outside East Croydon station after a young man was stabbed during rush hour / PA Media Police said the incident lasted only 40 seconds. A murder investigation has been launched. No one has been arrested. Detective Chief Inspector Sam Blackburn said: This was a senseless killing at an extremely busy time of the day, and my thoughts are with Louiss family at this painfully difficult time. For such a young man to lose his life in these circumstances is truly devastating, and I would like to reassure everyone that a thorough investigation is well under way. Officers will step up patrols around the station / BTP With that in mind, we continue to appeal for anyone with information to get in touch as a matter of urgency. "The incident was over within a matter of 40 seconds, but I know many other passengers or members of the public would have seen what happened. If you have not already spoken with police, please get in touch. Importantly, if you have any mobile phone or dashcam footage of the East Croydon area either just before, during or after the attack we want to hear from you. The boys family have been told, and are being supported by police. BTP willl be increasing patrols in the East Croydon Area. Prime Minister on Tuesday said the government has brought the Citizenship Amendment Act to correct "historical injustice" and to fulfil the BJP's "old promise" to religious minorities living in neighbouring countries. Speaking at the Annual Prime Minister's Cadet Corps (NCC) Rally 2020, Modi said the problem in Jammu and Kashmir persisted since Independence and some families and political parties kept issues in the region "alive", as a result of which terrorism thrived there. He said the present government has been trying to solve decades old problems plaguing the country. Slamming Pakistan, the prime minister said the neighbouring country has lost three wars, but continues to wage proxy wars against India. Previous governments, he said, treated the problem as a law and order issue. "But even when out armies would ask for action, they would not go ahead," he said, slamming the "inaction" of previous governments at the Centre. He also said that currently, not only J-K, but other parts of the country are also peaceful and the government has managed to address the aspirations of the northeast region which were neglected for decades. Listing out the achievements of the government, the PM referred to the Bodo agreement, Triple Talaq, abrogation of Section 370 in Jammu and Kashmir among them. If the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, wants to chat on WhatsApp, politely decline. Thats the lesson from a series of reports this week based off a forensic examination of Jeff Bezos communications with the crown prince. The investigation conducted at Bezos request by FTI Consulting found that his phone had most likely been attacked in 2018 after he received a WhatsApp message from the princes personal account. While my colleagues in the Times newsroom have pieced together details of the investigation, theres still a great deal unknown. And cybersecurity experts have serious questions about FTIs report, which, according to CyberScoop, has not impressed the information security community. Still, the story seems to have everything: from lighthearted, embarrassingly earnest texts, divorced guy memes and world leaders who awkwardly sign their text messages with their full names to the deeply problematic issue of revenge porn and stealing of private nude photos. Although its a gilded example of digital theft, theres something troubling and relatable about it all. Billionaires, theyre just like us! Or maybe not. Looked at one way, the attack on Bezos phone could be seen as yet more proof of what my colleague Kara Swisher called the death of privacy. If the richest man in the world the man who sells listening devices used in millions of homes and whose servers create the internets infrastructure can be hacked, what hope is there for us mere mortals? Turns out, theres some. Yes, your personal privacy and security are constantly under threat. And yes, you should be trying to safeguard against malware, phishing and bulk data collection. But the Bezos attack is an example of extremely targeted surveillance, the potentially expensive and risky kind that is aimed at high-value targets like executives, government officials, celebrities and billionaires. And as it turns out, many of those with the most to lose are woefully inept at safeguarding their privacy. Not long after the Bezos news broke this week, I spoke to Christopher Pierson, who founded BlackCloak, a cybersecurity company for high-net-worth and high-profile individuals executives, celebrities and billionaires. According to Pierson, few people take their digital lives as seriously as they should. The majority of clients we onboard come on in some kind of hacked state, he told me. Their computers are compromised or their login credentials are available on dark web. Their home camera systems are accessible to people on internet or their entire home and appliances are vulnerable and viewable by persons remotely. Pierson suggests thats in part because high-value targets choose to focus on physical security over digital and invest in private bodyguards, camera systems and protections like kidnapping insurance. How bad is it? We see passwords in little black books on desks by the machines and in files on the computers. We see passwords that are the same everywhere. We absolutely do not see good use of dual-factor authentication on email, health care and financial accounts. Id say we see less than 1% of high-net-worth individuals using dual factor. Pierson said BlackCloak has found more than 82% of its clients current passwords on the dark web when it ran an initial search. In the case of high-net-worth individuals, the same compromised password is frequently used by 20 to 40 different accounts some of those are personal, some are in the office. What Pierson describes is low-hanging fruit the kind of security flaws that can quickly be fixed with a little knowledge and attention to detail. Even then, he said, it takes time for the true nature of clients vulnerability to sink in. Theyre shocked when we give them their password and tell them where we found it, but it doesnt hit as hard as when we tell them their entire home automation system has been potentially online and viewable for three or five or eight years, he said. Of course, its not just wealth that turns somebody into a person of interest for hackers. Journalists, government employees, workers at energy companies and utilities could all be targets for someone. Those who work for financial companies, airlines, hospitals, universities, Hollywood studios and tech businesses are all potentially at risk. You can take steps to secure yourself from corporate data collection by using privacy settings on your phone. And to protect yourself from cyberattacks there are helpful guides you can use that have been vetted by security professionals. The internet has long been thought of as a truly democratic tool, flattening and democratizing the ability to publish and communicate. Its also the great privacy equalizer. Money can buy a lot of things. But on a dangerous internet full of exploits, flawed code, shady actors and absent-minded humans, total, foolproof security is not one of them. Charlie Warzel is a columnist for The New York Times. WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC) today (1/27) announced that the company has agreed to acquire an 80% ownership interest in Blooming Grove Wind Farm. The project is being developed in McLean County, Illinois by Invenergy -- a leading developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions. Commercial operation is expected to begin by the end of 2020. The wind farm has long-term offtake agreements for all the energy produced with affiliates of two investment grade multinational companies. The Blooming Grove site will consist of 94 GE wind turbines with a combined capacity of 250 megawatts. WEC Energy Group's investment will total $345 million for the 80% ownership interest. "This is the latest in a series of investments that fit exceptionally well with our strategy of deploying capital in renewable energy assets that will serve strong, vibrant companies for years to come," said Gale Klappa, executive chairman of WEC Energy Group. Under the tax rules, the WEC Energy Group investment is expected to be eligible for 100% bonus depreciation and production tax credits. The transaction is subject to receiving all necessary regulatory approvals. WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC), based in Milwaukee, is one of the nation's premier energy companies, serving 4.5 million customers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. The company's principal utilities are We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas, Michigan Gas Utilities, Minnesota Energy Resources and Upper Michigan Energy Resources. The company's other major subsidiary, We Power, designs, builds and owns electric generating plants. WEC Energy Group (wecenergygroup.com) is a Fortune 500 company and a component of the S&P 500. The company has approximately 45,000 stockholders of record, 8,000 employees and more than $34 billion of assets. Forward-looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release 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. These statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning management's expectations and projections regarding tax impacts, investment amounts, and completion of the project. In some cases, forward-looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "guidance," "intends," "may," "objectives," "plans," "possible," "potential," "projects," "should," "targets," "will" or similar terms or variations of these terms. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions, including business and competitive conditions in the company's service territories; timing, resolution and impact of rate cases and other regulatory decisions; the company's ability to continue to successfully integrate the operations of its subsidiaries; availability of the company's generating facilities and/or distribution systems; unanticipated changes in fuel and purchased power costs; key personnel changes; varying weather conditions; continued industry restructuring and consolidation; continued adoption of distributed generation by the company's customers; energy conservation efforts; the company's ability to successfully acquire and/or dispose of assets and projects; cyber-security threats and data security breaches; construction risks; equity and bond market fluctuations; changes in the company's and its subsidiaries' ability to access the capital markets; the impact of tax reform and any other legislative and regulatory changes, including changes to environmental standards; political developments; current and future litigation and regulatory investigations; changes in accounting standards; the financial performance of American Transmission Co. as well as projects in which the company's energy infrastructure business invests; the ability of the company to obtain additional generating capacity at competitive prices; goodwill and its possible impairment; and other factors described under the heading "Factors Affecting Results, Liquidity and Capital Resources" in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and under the headings "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" contained in the company's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2018, and in subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 18:54:37|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lauded Somalia's sustained economic reform progress, bringing Mogadishu closer to debt relief. In a statement issued on Monday evening, the lender said Somalia has enacted several critical bills, including on revenue, public financial management, and anti-corruption crucial for economic reforms. IMF team, led by Allison Holland which last week met Somali authorities to discuss recent economic developments and reform progress, said Somalia's sustained commitment to economic reforms brings debt relief under the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) Initiative closer. "The mission welcomed the authorities' ongoing efforts to deepen inter-governmental fiscal relations at both political and technical levels," Holland said. She said domestic revenue collection of Somalia has remained strong, with domestic revenues through November 2019 reaching 194.6 million U.S. dollars, relative to a full-year target for 2019 of 196 million dollars. Holland said the Somali authorities and IMF staff team reached a preliminary agreement on policies that could constitute the basis for a new three-year macroeconomic reform program with the IMF. Holland said key policy pillars of this new program will include further strengthening public financial management; continuing to increase domestic revenue mobilization; continuing deepening of capacity at the central bank, and further efforts to enhance governance and reduce the perception of corruption. William Wood Jr., who killed two workers at a Chilis restaurant in DeWitt in 2018, has worn out his welcome at the last Upstate jail that would take him. Warren County is done with him. The final straw: He threw his urine on a deputy. The CRPF has carried out a mega check amongst its over 3 lakh personnel to audit any possible "subversive" elements in its ranks in the wake of a JK Police DSP being caught with terrorists recently, the chief of the force said here on Tuesday. CRPF Director General (DG) A P Maheshwari said the apprehension of DSP Davinder Singh is "a graveincident and an area of extreme concern" for the security forces. "No security grid should be allowed to be weakened by such episodes. So, all forces have to keep an internal watch," he said. "All forces should maintain vigilance so that there is no such type of subversion or some sort of intrusion within the force and to see that somebody is trying to collaborate with the adversaries," the DG told reporters here. He added that DSP Davinder Singh being caught by JK Police along with terrorists was "a serious matter." "But, if something happens somewhere, it is a case to revisit ourselves and that is what we have done and we have no doubt about our personnel." "An isolated incident should not be taken as branding of any particular force (JK Police). The JK Police has tremendous contributions to normalising the situation (in Kashmir)," the DG said at a force camp here. Maheshwari said it was "common sense" to carry out such an audit of its manpower, deployed as lead force for counter-terrorist and anti-Naxal operations across the country, when any incident of an armed force personnel is caught in company of terrorist elements. "We are further strengthening our systems...which were already in place," he said referring to the vigilance and intelligence checks conducted on their personnel in Kashmir valley and other places. The Central Reserve Police Force has deployed close to 70,000 personnel in Kashmir valley for counter-terrorist and law and order duties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde said on Tuesday that the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court constituted to hear legal issues relating to entry of women into Sabarimala temple and similar practices in other religions will try and complete its hearing within 10 days. Chief Justice Bobde had set up the nine-judge bench earlier this month to decide constitutional questions raised last year by a five-judge bench that had heard the review petitions against the 2018 Sabarimala verdict. When the Centres second senior-most law officer, solicitor general Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter in court, the CJI made it clear that the parties will have to wrap up their arguments early next month. The five-judge bench, in its November 2019 judgment, observed that the practices entailing restrictions on entry of women in places of worship was not limited to the Sabarimala case, but also arose in respect of three other cases pending before the Supreme Court. One was on entry of Muslim women in a durgah/mosque and another case was Parsi women married to non-Parsi men into the holy fire place of an Agyari. The third case, the court noted, was regarding the practice of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community. Thus, the court said in its order, that the issues concerning womens rights vis-a-vis religious practices require consideration by a larger bench of not less than seven judges so as to ensure that a judicial policy is evolved to do substantial and complete justice. The court also framed seven questions to be decided by the larger bench. When the nine-judge bench assembled for hearing on January 13, CJI Bobde asked the parties to reframe the questions that the nine-judge Constitution bench should answer, just as they had done for the Ayodhya land title dispute. A meeting was convened by the Registrar General of the top court on January 17 in this context. However, Mehta on Tuesday told the court that the lawyers who attended this meeting could not arrive at a consensus on the issues and requested the court to frame and finalise the questions. Mehta also handed over to the CJI a chart containing inputs of the lawyers on the issues to be considered. CJI Bobde agreed to the request to finalise the issues while remarking that the case will not be heard for more than 10 days. The 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court is expected to reconsider a 65-year-old judgment delivered by it - The Commissioner, Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras v. Shri Lakshmindar Thirtha Swamiyar of Shri Shirur Mutt. This judgment, rendered in 1954, laid down a test called essential religious practices test which has been the basis for courts pronouncing upon issues touching upon religion and religious practices. As per this test, whether a practice is integral to a religion or not should be decided with reference to the doctrines of that religion. A religious denomination or organisation, the court held, enjoys complete autonomy in the matter of deciding as to what rites and ceremonies are essential according to the tenets of the religion and no outside authority has any jurisdiction to interfere with their decision in such matters. However, in the subsequent years, the court in various matters sat in judgment over what would constitute an essential or integral practice of a religion thus assuming a theological mantle. Thus, the judgment led to a judge-centric approach when dealing with matters touching upon religion and religious practices. The Sabarimala temple, which is the abode of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity is one of the busiest pilgrimage sites in South India. Ayyappa devotees believe that the deity has vowed celibacy, what they call naishtika brahmacharya, which is the basis for barring the entry of women between 10 to 50 years of age into the temple. The top court in its 2018 judgment struck down Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965,which was the legal basis for the entry restrictions in Sabarimala. Attempts by the ruling left front government in Kerala to implement the judgment by facilitating the entry of women into the temple led to widespread protests and violence across Kerala. Ayyappa devotees and the BJP and Congress parties had accused the state government of hurting religious sentiments of Hindus. Subsequently, at least 60 review petitions were filed in Supreme Court challenging the September 2018 verdict which was heard by the five-judge bench in open court before it delivered its verdict on November 14 last year framing seven questions to be considered by a larger bench. The review petitions will be decided after the nine-judge bench answers the legal questions referred to it. But Yazdani told her that federal agents at the Romulus airport detained and questioned him for roughly six hours, eventually pressuring him to sign a document considered a voluntary withdrawal of admission for entry, she said. "They deemed him being inadmissible, but they never said under what grounds. They just told him it's better to withdraw his admission. That's what he did." Quick, resolute measures are also needed for firms While the government is making all-out efforts to prevent the spread of a new strain of coronavirus here, concerns are also growing that the global reach of the virus will hit Korea Inc. hard. The new virus has so far had a limited impact on the domestic economy, but it may do much damage to exports, consumption and overseas production, especially in China, in the coming days possibly for months. This is surely not good for the export-oriented Korean economy. Fears of a global pandemic may reduce outbound shipments considerably. Quick and resolute responses are necessary in all economic sectors to minimize the damage and to ensure a speedy recovery. Reflecting those concerns, the country's main KOSPI index plunged 69.41 points, or 3.09 percent the biggest one-day loss since Oct. 11, 2018 to close at 2,176.72, Tuesday. In particular, firms which are more dependent on demand from China, such as retailers and tour, healthcare and cosmetics companies, suffered bigger falls. Major Korean companies operating in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province in central China, where the virus emerged, have pulled their staff out of the provincial capital, and banned business trips to China. The government also decided to send four chartered planes to evacuate hundreds of South Koreans staying in Wuhan, which is on lockdown. President Moon Jae-in has sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, in which he pledged to provide all possible support to Beijing to contain the virus, according to Cheong Wa Dae. While visiting the National Medical Center in Seoul, Tuesday, President Moon urged the health authorities to mobilize all possible measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Especially, he called for thorough monitoring of all people who have recently flown into South Korea from Wuhan, saying the importance of "quick and broad" precautionary measures in dealing with such a highly contagious virus cannot be emphasized enough. It is good to see the government working with a sense of crisis in fighting the virus. South Korea reported its fourth confirmed case of infection, Monday, a week after confirming its first patient with the disease. All the patients recently returned from Wuhan, and fortunately, any secondary infection has not yet been reported here. The first thing the health authorities should do is to check all people who entered the country from Wuhan in the two weeks following Jan. 13 because, according to experts, the incubation period for the new virus could be up to 14 days. The fourth patient, a 55-year-old man, had not shown any symptoms of illness when he returned from a trip to Wuhan, Jan. 20. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Jerusalem "will remain Israel's undivided capital" as he unveiled his Middle East peace plan aimed at solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, describing it as historic and a "giant step" towards peace. Standing along with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, Trump proposed a "realistic" two-state solution to solve one of the world's longest-running conflicts, saying it would bring lasting peace in the Middle East. He said no Israelis or Palestinians would be uprooted from their homes. He said that under his vision, Jerusalem "will remain Israel's undivided, very important capital." He proposed Palestinian capital in Eastern Jerusalem and that US will set up its embassy there. "My vision presents a realistic two-state solution," he said. Together we can bring a new dawn in the Middle East, Trump said as he urged the Palestinians to accept his deal and bring peace in the region. Describing his plan as historic and deal of the century, Trump claimed that his proposal has the support of the world leaders in particular those in the region. Calling it a "historic opportunity" for the Palestinians to achieve an independent state, Trump said he has written to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in this regard. No Palestinian official was present at the launch. The ambassadors from three Arab nations -- Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain -- were at the White House. Palestinians have already rejected the leaked proposals.Thousands of Palestinians protested in the Gaza Strip earlier on Tuesday. The plan, Trump said, calls for a four-year freeze in Israeli settlement activity, doubling of Palestinian territory. Asserting that his peace plan will more than double the size of Palestinian territory, Trump said that Palestinian people deserve a far better life" than being trapped in a cycle of terrorism and violence." Lamenting "the amount of needless bloodshed and squandered opportunity" in the Middle East, Trump said it's time for this sad chapter in history to end quickly and end now. Netanyahu hailed Trump's plan as 'historic day' for Israel. He compared Trump's Plan with the day to May 14, 1948, when the then President Harry Truman became the first world leader to recognise the State of Israel. The plan, he said, will strike the "right balance" where other plans have failed. Unveiling his plan, Trump said, "I was not elected to do small things or shy away from big problems." Netanyahu said that he is now willing to negotiate peace with the Palestinians "on the basis" of the US peace. In the joint address to the media, Trump said he delivered to Netanyahu his "vision for peace, prosperity, and a brighter future" for the Israelis and Palestinians. This vision for peace is fundamentally different from past proposals. In the past, even the most well-intentioned plans were light on factual details and heavy on conceptual frameworks, he said. Stating that his 80-page plan "presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two-state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood to Israel's security." Referring to his meeting with Israeli leaders, he said this is the first time Israel has authorised the release of a conceptual map illustrating the territorial compromises it's willing to make for the cause of peace. Trump said the US will form a joint committee with Israel to convert the conceptual map into a more detailed and calibrated rendering so that recognition can be immediately achieved. We will also work to create a contiguous territory within the future Palestinian state for when the conditions for statehood are met, including the firm rejection of terrorism, he added. The White House later in a statement said that if the Palestinians have concerns with this vision, they should bring them forth in the context of good-faith negotiations with the Israelis and help make progress for the region. "For the first time in this conflict, Trump has reached an understanding with Israel regarding a map setting forth borders for a two-state solution," the White House said. "Trump has been bringing historic enemies in the region closer together, and his actions are promoting normalized relations between Israel and its neighbors," it said. "It will be up to Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take courageous and bold actions to end the political stalemate, resume negotiations on the basis of this Vision, and make lasting peace and economic prosperity a reality," the White House said. If the Palestinians have concerns with this Vision, they should bring them forth in the context of good-faith negotiations with the Israelis and help make progress for the region, it said. In his remarks, Trump said that the his vision incorporates the massive USD 50 billion Peace to Prosperity economic plan, which will spur the Palestinian economy. Under this Vision, Palestinian refugees will be given a choice to live within the future State of Palestine, integrate into the countries where they currently live, or resettle in a third country. He said beyond territory, the plan provides for Palestinian use and management of facilities at the Haifa and Ashdod ports, Palestinian development of a resort area on the north shore of the Dead Sea, and continued Palestinian agricultural activity in the Jordan Valley. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The board of directors of St. Francois County Joint Communications met Jan. 15 to discuss the Simms Mountain Tower Project, the budget and the statewide regionalization effort, for which Director Alan Wells is an integral part. Wells said last year, state statute allowed for the formation of up to 11 regions around the state that would push 911 services forward into next generation. St. Francois Countys 911 services have led the way in not just the state, but the nation in terms of next-gen technology. Wells said currently, eight regions have been identified, with the potential for some to split if the need becomes apparent, forming up to 11 regions. In his capacity as chairman of the statewide committee for regionalization, hes been traveling to all corners of the state to discuss what gaps might exist among the other 911 centers, and how banding together could lead to group efforts on federal grants. Missouri was a county-by-county solution (for funding 911 centers) forever, and it depended on each countys funding mechanism to determine the level of 911 service provided, he said. With this state initiative, we want to get everyone to a minimum standard in training and technologies, and to move everyone toward next-generation 911 where the wireless world has forced us to go anyway. So on the regional level, weve been hosting those meetings to get in line with our first opportunity to apply for federal dollars here in Missouri for grants. That opens in February. Wells said federal grants usually require a 40% match by recipients, but the obstacle for smaller, rural centers is that the grants are usually reimbursed. The centers would need to come up with all of the funding initially, to be paid back by the federal grant at a later date. Wells said, for less-populated, rural areas in the northern and southern portions of the state, revenue streams sufficient to make that initial investment could prove to be an insurmountable obstacle. At this point, hes traveling around the state to fact-find. In terms of the St. Francois County 911 Centers budget, it seems to be in good shape, according to board member and treasurer Ginger Taylor. It turned out to be an excellent year (2019), she said. We did a lot of new projects but at the same time, we were able to enhance a lot of the services in the expense categories such as staffing and changes in insurance. Taylor said sales tax collections for the calendar year were solid. The tax started in April 2015, and in comparing full calendar years, collections were about $2.85 million in 2016, dipped to $2.81 million in 2017, and in 2018, collections rose to $2.98 million. This year, returns were $3.03 million. Were doing quite well, she said. Board Chairman Ron Bockenkamp observed how dependent the center is on the tax revenue generated, and discussed the idea of asking voters to maintain it in the future. As to whether we consider asking the voters to make the tax a permanent thing, the first thing is, it is, in fact our revenue stream, he said. Second, I think we can demonstrate to the public excellent use of the taxpayer dollar. In our effort to get the tax passed, there was a list of things we wanted to accomplish. Weve accomplished that list and exceeded the list. I thought sunsetting it was the way to go, we got 68% of the vote. But now I think we can make the case that A, it is our revenue stream, and without it, wed have to shut the place down, and B, I think when we can produce a list of added-value items for our taxpayers, theyll appreciate the service were providing them. We take their support very, very seriously. Taylor acknowledged that about $400,000 from the 2019 budget was carried over to this year, since it had been intended for the Simms Mountain Tower project. The need to replace the decades-old tower the center shares with Southeast Missouri University for its public radio station was made even more apparent recently when it began to have generator problems. A new generator was ordered, and Southeast will provide one-third of the cost, Wells said. Also, he said the architectural firm is once again working on the plans to rebuild the tower. He said the state of Missouri might also want to lease about 30 feet of it, which would produce a nice rental fee to aid in the centers continued projects. In other news, the board approved retaining Joe Goff as its attorney, and approved keeping liability insurance through First State Insurance. Sarah Haas is the assistant editor for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at 573-518-3617 or at shaas@dailyjournalonline.com. Love 2 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. During the 2016 presidential election, I had the feeling that Barack Obama was not very enthusiastic about the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. His rare rallies in support of Hillary were not energetic enough and were held in the same style. Obama told the audience about the successes of his administration, and in the end, he casually introduced Hillary and asked supporters to vote for her in the election. It seemed that he was simply fulfilling his duties to the party but would have preferred to spend time elsewhere. A hypothesis was formed in my head that, in reality, Obama did not want Hillary to win and, if possible, sabotaged her election campaign. At first glance, this proposal seems unrealistic; however, even Hillary herself gently hinted that Obama could have used his time and authority more efficiently in supporting her. In recent years, facts have been revealed that both support and refute this theory. Let us consider arguments in support of the suggestion. First of all, it should be noted that the Democratic Party was not homogeneous; it consisted of many clans and poles of influence. During the 2008 election campaign, the party was divided into two major camps: the left-centrist and more traditional wing supporting Clinton and the openly far-left, more energetic, and younger wing backing Obama. These two wings were quite hostile to each other; their undercover bulldog fights often went outside. Clinton's clan considered Obama a new, inexperienced individual whose time had not yet come and who had the audacity to block the road to the future first female president. They tried to bring him down with all possible measures. For example, the movement that questioned Obama's birthplace and citizenship, so-called "birthers," originated among Clintonites. Only much later did this movement begin to include Republicans in its core. Obama humiliated Clinton during the debate and his rallies. The situation had reached a boiling point, as hatred between clans could cost the Democratic Party elections. Formal reconciliation and the unification of groups around Obama took place in the house of the skilled apparatchik Dianne Feinstein. It was decided that Obama would become the candidate for the Democrats, and Clinton would receive an important and prestigious post of secretary of state in the case of a victory. Obama followed Sun Tzu's advice, keeping his friends close and his enemies closer. Of course, formal reconciliation did not lessen Obama's and Clinton's deep hostility to each other, but they played the roles of good comrades in front of the public exceptionally. After eight years in the White House, Barack and Michelle Obama emerged as charismatic leaders, greatly respected by a significant number of Democrats and many foreign nations. At some point in time, the couple decided that they have fairly broad support and popularity, which could be converted into Michelle Obama's presidency. However, Michelle could not run for president immediately after Barack, according to early agreements with Hillary and the Democratic elite. Besides, it would not look very good in the eyes of voters. She had to skip a term but somehow keep soldiers in the trenches. It is known that the president becomes an informal leader and representative of the party that wins the election. Obama worked hard to appoint his people to all branches and levels of power, including the Democratic Party. In other words, he had strengthened the clan that was supposed to benefit him after the presidency. He laid the foundations for Michelle's presidential bid. What would the Obama couple face if Hillary Clinton won the presidential election? Knowing the history of their relationship, the personal qualities of Hillary, and her harsh actions to destroy her enemies, we can assume with great certainty that Clinton would begin to methodically and systematically dismantle Obama's clan and legacy. As a new head of the Democratic Party, she would start by assigning her functionaries to all levels of the Democratic hierarchy and redirecting financial flows to Clintonites. Remember, during a rally, Bill Clinton once said, "We have to leave behind these horrible eight years." After that revelation, Bill was not seen at Hillary rallies anymore. Obama understood that the only person who had guts to tear off a structure built by the first black president and encroach on his legacy would be an unforgivable and vindictive Hillary. Therefore, Obama faced a dilemma to sincerely support Clinton, but in the end, to lose both the party infrastructure and financial flows, or to pretend he supported the candidate of the Democratic Party but at the same time wished her a loss. This article posits that it was more profitable for Obama in the 2016 election cycle to have a Republican as the next president. Several logical constructs support this proposition. They are based on the assumption that Obama was more concerned with his own legacy, his wellbeing, and the political future of his family than with the prosperity of his party or country. First, Obama knew very well that Trump would criticize him and pursue a policy contrary to his. It was inevitable. But, having a Republican president would preserve Obama's party infrastructure, his influence on it, and his relationship with sponsors. Besides, Obama would have many leftovers in the executive branch of bureaucracy. All of the above would strengthen Michelle's bid for returning to the White House. Secondly, as far as his political and economic heritage is concerned, Obama would prefer that his legacy not be altered. However, if someone dared to touch it, he would favor Republicans doing so rather than Democrats. In the former case, he would have an excellent talking point, blaming a political turn on malicious Republicans. Obama could claim that if it had not been for the interference of Republicans, his policies would have made America prosper, but, unfortunately, the progress was stopped by these evil right-wingers. Michelle, as a presidential candidate, would greatly capitalize on such an explanation of events. Even if we assume that Michelle will not run, Obama would stick to such an interpretation of his reign. He has already started to claim that he saved the country from depression and that current economic success is due to his policies. Thirdly, Obama hoped that Trump would be a weak president who would be easy to overthrow in four years. To the disappointment of the Obama couple, Trump turned out to be a great president. The success of the country under his leadership is impressive, and it will be almost impossible to defeat him in the 2020 elections. Obama's political strategists are pretty smart guys and advised Michelle to skip the 2020 elections. She would have easily defeated the current Democratic candidates, who are strikingly weak and vulnerable, but she would have stumbled on Trump. As he did in 2016, Obama keeps a low profile and does not support anyone, not even his vice president, Joe Biden. It seems that Obama understands that not one of the Democratic candidates has a chance in 2020. As a side effect, this hypothesis explains the erratic and illogical behavior of the former FBI head James Comey. He closed the Clinton case, then opened it again, and, at the same time, was unable to bring charges against her. As an Obama man, he somewhat undermined Clinton's chances of winning, but at the same time, he saved her from prison. This was a subtle game that does not have a rational explanation unless you remember that it was beneficial to Obama's goal. This theory can be partially falsified if Michelle does not run in 2024, or if future investigations find a piece of evidence that Obama personally directed spying on Trump's campaign to overthrow him. Time will tell, but, for now, this theory seems plausible. Anti-government protesters in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya say they will not back down despite the destruction of their camp by gunmen in an attack that left at least two people dead. Unidentified gunmen in four vehicles tore through the camp late on Sunday and set the protesters' tents on fire, police and medical sources said. The incident came a day after security forces had made a violent nationwide attempt to close down such settlements. The protesters said they now intended to make their camp more permanent and on Tuesday they began to clear the ruins and build new huts out of bricks and mortar that would provide better protection. "After they burned our tents, we started building with bricks. And if they destroy the brick-built camp, we will use the bricks of our houses, I swear by God. We do all that for the sake of our motherland, Iraq," said one protester, who declined to give his name. Mass protests against corruption, economic decline and foreign political interference have rocked Iraq since October. Nearly 500 people have been killed while demonstrating against the largely Iranian-backed ruling elite. After a lull this month, protests resumed in Baghdad and other cities, including Nassiriya, Basra and Najaf. Nassiriya has been a major flashpoint with frequent violent clashes between protesters and security forces. As they began to put their protest camp back together, volunteers turned al-Haboubi square in central Nassiriya into a construction site. A giant billboard overlooking the scene reads: "The fearful do not create freedom". "We will build with bricks, and if they destroy bricks, we will build with concrete. Iraqis won't step back until they regain all rights," another protester said. Search Keywords: Short link: Three persons with a travel history to China have been kept under observation at an isolation ward of the RML Hospital here for a possible exposure to novel coronavirus, officials said on Tuesday. The three -- all men aged between 24 and 48 -- were admitted on Monday and their samples have been sent for testing to ICMR-NIV Pune laboratory, Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital, said. While two of the men are residents of Delhi, one hails from NCR. All the three patients have respiratory problems like cold and cough along with fever and they self-reported at the designated health facility to deal with such cases. According to Bhardwaj, two of the patients had returned from China about a week ago while the other about a month back. Till Monday, a total of 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened As per data received on Jan 14, total 17 samples have been received by the ICMR-NIV Pune Lab, out of which 14 have been already been tested and found negative. Several people have been kept under observation in several states including Kerala, Kolkata and Maharashtra following screening for a possible exposure to respiratory virus, which has spread in China. ALSO READ: China records first coronavirus death in Beijing as toll climbs to 106 The Centre has stepped up vigil in areas bordering Nepal in view of a confirmed case of nCoV detected there. The Prime Minister's Office on Saturday reviewed India's preparedness to deal with any situation amid mounting global concerns over rising cases in China. A 24x7 NCDC Call Centre (+91-11-23978046) has been made operational to monitor the list of contacts furnished by the Ministry of External Affairs, provide details of district and state surveillance officers to those who seek them, and in case of any clinical query, direct the concerned to the relevant Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officer. Thermal screening is being done at seven designated airports -- New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi. Vardhan, who held a review meeting to analyse the preparedness for prevention and management of nCoV in India, also spoke to the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on Saturday and assured him of all support for screening at the border with Nepal. The health ministry has urged passengers, who have a travel history to China since January 1, 2020, to come forward for self-reporting to the nearest health facility if they experience any symptoms such as fever, cough, respiratory distress, etc., and also inform the doctor treating them. On Saturday, the Union Health Ministry also issued a fresh advisory asking passengers to follow certain dos and don'ts if they are in China or if they are travelling or returning from China. The advisory stated that during their stay in China, if they feel sick and have fever and cough, then they should cover their mouth while coughing and sneezing, seek medical attention promptly and report to the Indian Embassy in China. The advisory also said that if they feel sick on flight, while travelling back to India from China, they should inform the airline crew about their illness, seek mask and self-reporting format from the airline crew, avoid close contact with family members or fellow travellers and follow other directions of crew and airport health officer. Birmingham voted for Brexit by a trifling margin in 2016, defying the narrative that ethnically mixed, economically buoyant cities dont want to leave the EU. Ahead of the UKs departure from the bloc on January 31, there is concern here about Brexits impact on business and jobs but also a sense of relief that Brexit is finally happening. The metropolis of the Midlands confounded expectations when it voted Leave by 50.4 percent in the 2016 Brexit referendum. Birmingham has one of the UKs most ethnically mixed populations (just 53 percent of residents were classed as 'White British' in the most recent census, in 2011). Business is thriving: many big international companies are based in the Birmingham area, including hi-tech exporters like luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover and engineering firm IMI. The city centre gleams with new glass buildings, towered over by the cranes constructing even shinier edifices. Now that Britain is leaving the European Union before embarking on the next set of talks, the locals seem to be more anxious about the economic risks Brexit entails. Theres worry about the impact on jobs, particularly in the car sector, said Tom Pratt, convener of local anti-Brexit campaign group EU in Brum (Brum being a nickname for Birmingham). Our business imports metal components from Europe and the volatility that Brexit has brought has not made it easy from a business point of view, added a marketing executive for a small company owned by a German firm, who preferred to remain anonymous. Automotive sector concerned These concerns may well intensify as the UK goes through the final stage in the Brexit process. When Britain leaves the EU on January 31, it enters the so-called transition period a mechanism to prevent a cliff-edge exit by keeping the UK under European rules while it negotiates a new trading relationship with the bloc. Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly vowed that he will not extend this period beyond its current deadline December 31, 2020 -- which, analysts say, risks crashing the British economy out of the European bloc in a de facto no-deal Brexit. Earlier in January, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid told the Financial Times that there will not be alignment with EU rules after Brexit. In effect, this means that access to the single market in any new commercial deal will have to be limited, as Brussels has consistently warned, creating barriers to trade with the continent. Javid can say the UK is not going to follow EU rules as much as he likes, but the simple fact of the matter is that any company based in the UK that wishes to export to Europe will have to play by European rules, said Alex de Ruyter, director of Birmingham City Universitys Centre for Brexit Studies. Story continues He added that if the government is true to its word in pursuing divergence from EU laws, this would threaten to wreak serious damage on companies like Jaguar Land Rover in particular. It could cost the automotive sector billions, de Ruyter warned. For some in the Birmingham area, the social impact they expect from Brexit is even more worrying than economic concerns. The further divisions in society that Brexit can cause will be at the forefront of my mind when Britain withdraws from the EU, said a resident of leafy Birmingham suburb Sutton Coldfield, who asked to be kept anonymous. I feel that many politicians populist arguments for Brexit were based around emotive topics that were morally questionable and bordering on scaremongering; the seemingly key issue of immigration being one, he continued. Living in a multicultural city which has benefitted from immigration both culturally and economically, I find what I see to be the clinching immigration argument hard to swallow. Groundhog Day However, others in the Birmingham area see January 31 through a very different perspective. Brexit could provide additional capital to be spent domestically once we are no longer contributing to the EU budget; hopefully this money could be put to better use, said a Brexiteer from Solihull, a commuter town just outside Birmingham that voted Leave by 56 percent in the 2016 referendum. Of course, the Brexit debates most well-known reference to the EU budget was a slogan on a Vote Leave bus that claimed the UK sent 350 million per week to the EU which could be better used to boost spending on the NHS, Britains cherished public healthcare system. This claim was soon revealed to be a lie. In any case, the impact on the economy from changes to trade after leaving the EU is likely to be far bigger than savings from the UKs membership fee, states the non-partisan fact-checking website FullFact. But by this point, it seems that issues like the precise nature of the Britains contribution to the EU budget are of diminishing interest, because for many Brexit has simply dragged on for too long. It is significant that the Eurosceptic from Solihull described January 31 as a matter of the UK finally leaving the EU at the end of a long, drawn-out, laborious process. After then-prime minister Theresa May spent two agonising years negotiating a withdrawal agreement with the EU, the House of Commons rejected it three times as her lack of a parliamentary majority tied her hands. When Johnson forged a slightly modified deal with Brussels in October, the Commons rejected its timetabling, leading the prime minister to try and escape the impasse through the ballot box. It was in this context that Get Brexit Done the flagship slogan on which Johnson won his crushing electoral majority in December emerged from a focus group in the northern English town of Bury. As a Tory strategist recollected to the Financial Times, the voters who inadvertently came up with the slogan just wanted to get Brexit out of the way, out of their lives after the issue had monopolised British politics for three years. Theres an element of Brexit fatigue, de Ruyter observed. Even the small business executive who decried the effect Brexit is having on the company she works for said that overall she has mixed feelings on finally leaving [the EU] at the end of the month. There might be more clarity and stability now that Brexit is happening, she said, instead of being the subject of repeated parliamentary disputes. For many people, there has been a restlessness with politicians not getting on with it, added one of the Birmingham areas most prominent politicians, Andrew Mitchell, Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield. He voted Remain in the 2016 referendum, but is supporting Johnsons policy to Get Brexit Done from "a feeling that we have any more of that Groundhog Day approach, we will all go bonkers. In the run-up to the 2016 elections, many of us(Muslims) vehemently supported and campaigned rigorously for the New Patriotic Party(NPP) and its success. We were of the firm belief and assertion that Muslims that are the second-largest religious denomination in Ghana deserved a fair representation in the top hierarchy of the leadership ladder in Ghana. We especially rooted for the NPP because that was the only political party going into the 2016 elections that had a Muslim as its running mate to the presidential candidate. We, therefore, saw that campaigning and voting for the NPP will break the jinx of having the president, vice president, speaker of Parliament and chief justice who are at the top echelon of leadership in Ghana under the NDC being only Christians. We indeed wanted someone from amongst us who we will perform ablution with, stand shoulder to shoulder and feet to feet with to offer Salat. We were in desperate need of one who we will fly to Makkah with to go round the Kaaba, run between the two hills of Safa and Marwa, stone the devil and stand on mount Arafat with. We yearned for a regime where we will together perform the Eid prayers with one of the two most powerful people in Ghana (The President and Vice president). We were bent on rejecting a regime that both the President and Vice President will stand at a corner waiting for us to finish the Eid prayer so that they will address us. We were in dire need of a regime where one of them will pray with us and undergo all rituals with us. We saw this becoming true and realistic through the NPP. It is worthy to note here that we did not throw our weight behind the NPP only for the reason that Dr Bawumia is a Muslim but that he is competent, able and capable. The Chief Imam of Bia in the Western Region, Alhaji Yakubu Abdulai on Thursday, August 12, 2016, rightly puts it when Alhaji Dr Bawumia and Nana Addo paid a courtesy call on the Chief Imam and the Muslim Ummah in Bia " We are convinced that you and Dr. Alhaji Bawumia represent hope because we are aware of your track record and your unfailing commitment to see a prosperous Ghana. We have no doubt that Alhaji Bawumia desires the same for mother Ghana". Imam Haroun Abdul Mumin, the Ashanti Regional Chief Imam on 17th October 2015 summarised the credentials of Alhaji Dr. Bawumia when he stated " Alhaji Bawumia's father was Abdul Mumin and I am also Abdul Mumin; this is why I sometimes say he is my son. He is a politician and he is an economist too. If a nation's finances and economy end up in a ditch, he goes there and he turns things around. I know Zimbabwe, where they used to buy common items with wheelbarrows of money; he went there and that is no more the case. So he's not just anybody; he is a God's gift to us. Let us protect him and take good care of him because he is God's gift to this nation. If we don't him and take proper care of him and reject this gift from God, God will not bless us". We realised that the Christian-Muslim partnership of Nana Addo- Bawumia was not a political strategy to woo Muslims to vote for the NPP but one that can forge the mutual benefit of the two major religions in Ghana. Tracking his events and activities in the Muslim communities in Ghana prior to the 2016 elections, gave us the assurance that our quest shall not be in vain. Evidently, we saw and heard him on countless occasions visiting Muslim communities and contributing his widow's mite to the growth and development of Islam. He voluntarily supported the Hajj trip of various Imams and devoted Islamic clerics. Specifically, in April 2016, he sponsored the Hajj trip of four Imams in the Bia District of the Western region and donated 400 bags of cement and an amount of GHS10,000 for the construction of an Islamic Senior High School for the Bia district. In April 2016, we were delighted again when he donated 200bags of cement and an undisclosed amount of money to support the construction and rehabilitation of mosques in Akyem Kukurantumi, Osiem Old Tafo and New Tafo in the Abuakwa North Assembly. Smiles were also on the faces of the management of Suhum Islamic Girls' Senior High School and the Muslim community in Suhum when Alhaji Bawumia donated several quantities of iron rods, packets of roofing sheet, 100bags of cement and an amount of GHS20,000 to the school. Bawumia's love and quest to see the forward match of the Muslim community in Ghana saw him donated a colossal amount of GHS50,000 to the Muslim community in Cape Coast. This was in response to a request for assistance made by the Muslim community in Cape Coast to site a new cemetery. In a colourful ceremony, the Sarkin Zongo of Cape Coast, Mahmoud Dandey Mazawajay IV at the Kotokuraba central market stated that Dr. Bawumia's gesture has helped them secured a befitting cemetery for the Muslim community in Cape Coast after that land used for 40 years was exhausted. Dr. Bawumia also in opposition built a giant mosque and other auxiliary projects for the Muslim community in Nankpanduri in the North East region. On Friday, 14th October 2016, Alhaji Bawumia visited Larabanga, the home to the oldest mosque and sought for the prayers and blessings of the Chief Imam and elders of the community. From historical records, the visit of Alhaji Dr. Bawumia to Larabanga was the first of its kind that a politician in Ghana seeking for such high office visited the elders of Larabanga to seek for their prayers and blessings. The difference between his visit to Larabanga and that of others is that while others came purposely to address rallies and attend campaign programmes, he came specifically to seek for prayers and blessing from the Chief Imam and the elders of Larabanga. In a realistic manner, the Muslim Ummah in Ghana is benefiting immensely from the partnership of Nana Addo and Alhaji Dr. Bawumia administration. On a national scale, his presence at the presidency has seen the enactment of policies that are geared towards the betterment of Muslims and Muslim settlements. The almighty Zongo Development Authority, that is a well calculated and a deliberate policy aimed at improving the social and economic progress of the Zongo communities in Ghana where the majority of the people are Muslims is his brainchild. The Zongo Development Fund and Ministry of Zongo and Inner Cities are possible because of him. Through his efforts and initiative, the GES and NaCCA have provided schools that are currently offering Arabic and those that wish to do the same with a curriculum. This has ensured the harmonisation of the study of Arabic in all schools and that the teaching of Arabic will no longer be based on the individual schools. Additionally, Alhaji Dr. Bawumia Mahamudu has also secured a scholarship package specifically for Zongo communities by extension Muslim communities. Per this package, annually, at least 40 youth mostly girls from Zongo communities to be trained as medical doctors in Cuba. The Vice President made this proposal when he had bilateral talks with the president of Cuba, H. E. Miguel Diaz- Canel as part of his two-day official visit to the Carribean in 2019. The first batch just left to Cuba in December. He has also used his good office to lobby with the Saudi Arabia monarchy to construct a medical school and 42 Senior High School in Northern Ghana where the majority of the people are Muslims. Through his initiative, there is the construction of an Islamic Senior High School which is about 90% complete in Larabanga, an almost 100% Muslim community and the home to the oldest mosque in Ghana. On his personal score, he has done a lot to many Islamic communities in Ghana. The following attest to this assertion. 1)He donated $40,000 for the kidney transplant of the Western regional deputy Imam of Ahlussunna wal- Jamaa, Sheikh Abdul Karim Yusuf who was bedridden for months at the Effia Nkwanta Hospital undergoing dialysis three weeks as the Muslim community tried to raise $36,000 needed to help fly him to India for a kidney transplant. 2) On June 15, 2018, Dr. Bawumia donated 1,000 bags worth GHS30,000 of cement to Muslims in Prestea-Huni-Valley municipality of the Western Region to complete the second phase of the two-storey Mosque at Prestea. 3) In November 2018, Bawumia also donated 1,000 cement bags for the expansion and rehabilitation of the Bawku Central Mosque which was built in the 70's. 4) In August 2019, the Vice President delivered on his promise of an ambulance each for the Muslim communities in Cheriponi and Saboba. The ambulances are to serve as hearse for Muslims in the two districts. 5) On Friday, 30th August, 2019, Alhaji Bawumia donated a 32 Seater Bus to T I Ahmadiyya Islamic Senior High School(T. I Amass) , Kumasi. 6) On 28th June, 2017, Alhaji Bawumia donated a minibus to the Northern Region premier women's Islamic Institute, Hajia Mariam Alolo Islamic Institute headquartered in Tamale. 7) In 2018, he gifted the National Chief Imam a brand new Toyota Avalon customized C Imam 1 on the occasion of his 61st annual Maulid celebration. 8) In May, 2017, Vice president donated an amount of GHS 300,000 to support the completion of the Central Regional Mosque in Cape Coast. 9) In Jan, 2020, he contributed GHS 20,000 towards the establishment of the Islamic College of Education initiated by the Ghana Muslim Mission in Kukuom. 10) On Friday, July,5 2019, Dr. Bawumia donated an amount of GHS 10,000 towards the renovation of Kwamekrom Central Mosque in Biakoye district of the Oti Region. 11) He has sponsored the live telecast of 2018 and 2019 Ramadan Tafsirs( Commentary on Quran) of some selected Imams in Tamale. The selected Imams are Sheikh Abdul Mumin Dalhu, leader of the Shia Muslim community in Tamale, Sheikh Abubakari Zakaria, leader of Ahlul- Sunnah Muslim community in Tamale and Sheikh Ibrahim Basha, leader of the Al- Bayan institute. Others are Sheikh Baba Dua, a scholar from the Tamale central mosque, Sheikh Amin Sawaba, a scholar from Tijaniyya Muslim community and Hajia Mariam Alolo, an Islamic scholar and founder of a Muslim women movement in Tamale. 12) The Vice President's annual Ramadan tour has been exceptional. This affords him the opportunity to worship, pray and interact with his colleagues in the Islamic faith. He has toured all the 16 regions of Ghana and worshipped with his fellow Muslims. His visit to some communities has been described as historic and unprecedented since he is the first of such a high calibre of personality to visit those communities. The Chief Imam for Konongo in the Asante Akim Central Municipality, Alhaji Mahamadou Mustapha on Wednesday, 23rd May, 2019 stated inter alia when Dr. Bawumia as part of his Ramadan tour visited Asante Akim Zongo " Since the inception of this Zongo over hundred years ago, from Gold Coast days through Kwame Nkrumah's time till date, we have never been visited by either a president or a vice president. Some of us are third and fourth generation dwellers of Asante Akim Zongo and we have never seen this before. This is very very historic 13) The performance of Hajj has been spectacular. He voluntarily sponsored the feeding of all Ghanaian pilgrims in 2017, 2018 and 2019 Hajj. In 2017, when he embarked on Hajj, he was seen personally serving Pilgrim food and water in their various hotel rooms. All in all, the Muslim community in Ghana have had their fair share of the national cake because Dr. Bawumia is the second gentleman of Ghana. His love for Islam is just phenomenal. It is no doubt that the National Chief Imam who is very careful with his praise of personalities surprisingly heaped praises on Dr. Bawumia on 8th December 2018 when he stated: " His Excellency the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has done so much and this presentation is to acknowledge and appreciate his contribution, passion and commitment to the cause of Islam". The Chief Imam heaped this praises on the Vice President when he( National Chief Imam) presented a special batakari during the 61st Annual Maulid Celebration to mark the birth of Prophet Muhammad( SAW) in Fadama, Accra. Authored by Iddi Adam Osman Mobile Contact: 0249230125 Email: [email protected] Georgia resident Michael Watson said his aunt lived with her husband and five children on a boat that burned. He said that his aunt was confirmed among the dead and that authorities are still looking for the other family members. Officials have not released the names of any of those killed or missing. 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Colonel sonny Leggett, a spokesperson for US forces in Afghanistan, has confirmed the crashed plane was American, a Bombardier E-11A, but said the cause of the crash was being investigated and they were no indications yet it was caused by enemy fire. Reuters reported Tuesday the United States had recovered the remains of an unspecified number of individuals from the wreckage site. But they have not been identified yet. The death of CIA officers in the crash was first claimed by the Taliban, who control that region. Their spokesperson said in a statement on Monday multiple CIA officials were killed in the crash. But no names, ranks or the number of victims were specified. Casualty figures have ranged from two to seven in reports. But Iranian media has named Michael DAndrea, a top CIA official who has also been called the Dark Prince and Ayatollah Mike, as one of these officers. BBC Monitoring, which tracks news reports around the world, said Tuesday morning that Irans State TV, which is government-run, was claiming the officer was killed in the crash, and had used in the report the image of the actor who played a character based on him in Zero Dark Thirty, a film about the killing of bin Laden in Pakistans Abbottabad in 2011. The State TV report also said DAndrea had masterminded the drone strike on Soleimani. Veterans Today, a website that describes itself as an independent alternative journal on US foreign policy, also claimed, citing Russian intelligence sources, DAndrea was among the victims. This report was cited by other Iranian news outlets . Irans Tasnim news also cited Russian sources to say the assassin of Soleimani was on the plane and killed in the crash. DAndrea as named to head the CIAs Iran operations in 2017, which was taken to signal the start of a tougher posture taken by the Trump administration on Iran. The president would shortly withdraw the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also called the Iran nuclear deal. DAndrea led the manhunt for bin Laden and oversaw the American drone campaign that is understood to have killed thousands of terrorists and hundreds of civilians, according to a 2017 news report by the New York Times, which had subsequently been criticized for naming a covert operative. Security officials and experts on the region have called for caution with regards to claims about in connection to the crash or reports that suggested the plane was brought down by enemy. We should wait for US confirmation, or denial, said one of them. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. After nearly 11 months in orbit, the astronaut holding the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman cant wait to dig into some salsa and chips, and swim and surf in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA astronaut Christina Koch told The Associated Press on Tuesday her 319th consecutive day in space that taking part in the first all-female spacewalk was the highlight of her mission. Shes been living on the International Space Station since March and returns to Earth on Feb. 6, landing in Kazakhstan with two colleagues aboard a Russian capsule. Koch said she and fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir appreciated that the Oct. 18 spacewalk could serve as an inspiration for future space explorers. We both drew a lot of inspiration from seeing people that were reflections of ourselves as we were growing up and developing our dreams to become astronauts, Koch said from the space station. So to recognize that maybe we could pay that forward and serve the same for those that are up and coming was just such a highlight. Kochs astronaut class of 2013 was split equally between women and men, but NASAs astronaut corps as a whole is male dominated. Right now, four men and two women are living at the space station. Diversity is important, and I think it is something worth fighting for, said Koch, an electrical engineer who also has a physics degree. Kochs 328-day mission will be the second-longest by an American, trailing Scott Kellys flight by 12 days. Shes already set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. She took time out for a pair of news interviews Tuesday, the 34th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger accident that claimed all seven lives on board. She said she loves her work she conducted six spacewalks and tended to science experiments but she also misses her friends and family. If they could visit here, I would continue staying for a very long time, said Koch, a first-time space flier. For their sake, I think that its probably time to head home. Her biggest surprise is how easily and quickly she adapted both mentally and physically to weightlessness. I dont even really realize that Im floating any more, she said. Why do chips and salsa top her most-missed food list? Crunchy food like chips are banned on the space station because the crumbs could float away and clog equipment. I havent had chips in about 10 1/2 months, she explained, but I have had a fresh apple thanks to regular cargo deliveries. Another thing she misses: the ability to put things down and not have them float away. Shes gotten used to using Velcro and tape to make things stay put, so I hope that when I go back to Earth, I dont accidentally drop things, especially when Im handing them to people. Kelly, whose mission spanned 2015 and 2016, has given her advance notice of what to expect. Its a great reminder to keep mentoring, Koch said. When her record is broken, I hope to mentor that person just as Ive been mentored. Koch said it was crucial staying connected to loved ones through phone calls and video conferences. She watched as her nieces and nephews opened their Christmas presents. But its also special celebrating holidays in space, she noted, which kind of takes any sting off of missing your family. Koch grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and now lives near the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, Texas, with her husband, Bob. She said she cant wait for their next wedding anniversary, Christmas at home and his birthday. Her 41st birthday is Wednesday. How does she plan to celebrate? Playing Scrabble with her U.S., Italian and Russian crew mates, as challenging as that might be in weightlessness. She packed a travel version of the game and has been too busy to enjoy it. ___ 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. ___ This story has been corrected to fix the number of spacewalks to six, not five. A 21-year-old Indian-origin female students body has been recovered from a lake on the campus of a premier university in the US state of Indiana. Annrose Jerry, an accomplished musician, was a student at the University of Notre Dame. She was missing since January 21, CBS Minnesota reported. Jerry, who has relatives in Kerala, topped her class at Blaine High School. She was majoring in science and business. On Thursday, the authorities issued a silver alert, believing she was in extreme danger. In a statement, Notre Dame News, the universitys media relations office, said, Jerry had been missing since the evening of Tuesday and Notre Dame police scoured the campus and pursued multiple leads in an effort to find her. Public safety personnel found her body in an on-campus lake on Friday. St. Joseph County Coroner Michael J McGann positively identified Jerry. McGann said external examination of the body revealed no apparent signs of trauma. Devastated. Very saddened. ... She was one of the best students in my class, actually, WNDU channel quoted Phil McCown, who taught Jerry biochemistry as saying. In her obituary, Jerry was described as a skilled musician, with expertise in playing the piano. She also played the flute for her universitys Folk Choir. Annrose was a sweet, intelligent, strong, passionate, kind-hearted friend and she will be so dearly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and loved ones, the University of Nore Dam Folk Choir said in a Facebook post. Jerry was going to graduate this year and was looking to pursue dental studies. Local reports said Jerry could have died after accidentally falling into the lake. An attendee wears a badge strip with the logo of Huawei and a sign for 5G at the World 5G Exhibition in Beijing, China on Nov. 22, 2019. (Jason Lee/Reuters) UK Grants Huawei a Limited Role in 5G LONDONPrime Minister Boris Johnson on Jan. 28 granted Chinas Huawei a limited role in Britains 5G mobile network, resisting U.S. pressure to exclude the company from next generation communications on fears China could use it to steal secrets. In the biggest test of his post-Brexit foreign policy to date, Johnson ruled that high-risk vendors would be allowed into the non-sensitive parts of 5G networks, but their involvement would be capped at 35 percent. They would be excluded from the sensitive core of networks, where data is processed, and banned from all critical networks and sensitive locations such as nuclear sites and military bases, the government said. The decision will dismay President Donald Trumps administration which fears China could use Huawei to steal secrets and which has warned that if London gives Huawei a role then it could scale back intelligence cooperation. This is a UK-specific solution for UK-specific reasons and the decision deals with the challenges we face right now, Communications Secretary Nicky Morgan said following a meeting of the National Security Council chaired by Johnson. Huawei was not mentioned by name in the British governments statement, but British cyber security officials said they had always treated the company as a high risk vendor. The White House and U.S. state department did not immediately respond for a request to comment. Huawei is reassured by the UK governments confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track, said Victor Zhang, Vice-President, Huawei. Sources told Reuters last week senior British officials had proposed granting Huawei a limited role in the 5G networka calculated compromise which could be presented to Washington as a tough restriction but also accepted by British operators already using the companys equipment. The United States has argued that as 5G technology evolves, the distinction between the edge and core will blur as data is processed throughout the network, making it difficult to contain any security risks. Huaweis equipment is already used by Britains biggest telecoms companies such as BT and Vodafone, but it has been largely deployed at the edge of the network and excluded in the core where data is processed. Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson reacts as he listens to students solving maths questions during his visit to the Department of Mathematics at Kings Maths School, part of Kings College London University, in central London, Britain on Jan. 27, 2020. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool via Reuters) US Warns UK U.S. officials this year have increasingly spoken out about countries opening their arms to Chinese companies for key infrastructure such as artificial intelligence and 5G. Lawmakers have also publicly warned that Chinese companies, under the regimes law, have to provide data to Beijings intelligence services. U.S. national security adviser Robert OBrien said any move by the UKs government that would allow Chinese telecommunications companies into a 5G network would benefit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), by giving access to private data from British citizens or other sensitive information. U.S. officials have long voiced concerns about national security threats posed by certain foreign communications equipment providers, and of hidden backdoors to networks in routers or other equipment that could allow foreign powers to inject malware or steal private U.S. data, Pai said on Nov. 5 in remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations (pdf), a nonprofit think tank. By Jack Stubbs. Epoch Times reporter Bowen Xiao contributed to this report. Photograph: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images A federal court has ruled Arizona Republicans ban on mail-in ballots is illegal and unconstitutional, calling it intentionally discriminatory toward people of color, who already face increased barriers to voting. Related: Trump impeachment: president dismisses John Bolton's Ukraine claims as 'false' live The ruling is a major victory for the Democratic party, which filed the suit, and will likely make it easier for minorities to get their ballots counted in the largely red state. Four years ago, Arizona Republicans made it a felony, punishable by prison time, for third-party groups to collect mail-in ballots during elections a process often called ballot harvesting. Marginalized communities in the state may rely more on ballot harvesting, the court noted. Native Americans, for example, benefit significantly from third-party ballot collection efforts because just 18% of registered voters have mail service at home, and reservations can be far from polling stations. Some minority communities also have widespread distrust in the mailing system: in San Luis, a city that is 98% Hispanic, a major highway separates 13,000 residents from the nearest post office. The adverse impact on minority communities is substantial. Without access to reliable and secure mail services, and without reliable transportation, many minority voters prefer instead to give their ballots to a volunteer, the court said. And Hispanics and Native Americans make up nearly 37% of the states population promising to be a key demographic in this years presidential election. The ruling noted that the Republican effort to restrict third-party ballot collection appeared to be part of a longstanding effort to suppress black, Hispanic and Native American votes. Republicans passed a similar law in 2011, but abandoned the effort after a state election official admitted that the measure was designed to target voting activity in Hispanic areas. Story continues The court also struck down a separate state policy that required election officials to throw out ballots if someone voted in the wrong precinct. But voters faced some egregious challenges. At times they were directed to the wrong precinct, without being told their vote wouldnt count, the court noted. And Arizona changes its polling locations with unusual frequency and rejected 38,355 ballots from people who voted in the wrong place between 2008 to 2016. (Minority voters were more than twice as likely than their white counterparts to cast a ballot out of their precinct.) Arizona has a long history of voter discrimination and until 2013 was required to submit any voting changes to the federal government for approval under a provision in the Voting Rights Act. But after the supreme court gutted that provision, Arizona was free to implement changes like the discriminatory ballot harvesting ban without federal oversight. Republicans have claimed that several of those changes, including the Arizona ballot harvesting ban, were created to avoid voter fraud. But voter fraud is exceedingly rare in the United States, and there was no evidence it was connected to ballot collection in Arizona. No one has ever found a case of voter fraud connected to third-party ballot collection in Arizona, the court wrote. This has not been for want of trying. A package of seized fentanyl in the evidence room of the Pinal County Sheriffs Department in Florence, Ariz., on Nov. 12, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Justice Department Urges House to Extend Fentanyl Ban Set to Expire in February The Justice Department (DOJ) has called on the U.S. House of Representatives to extend the illegal status of fentanyl and related substances, which is set to become legal next week without a vote to extend the ban in the lower chamber. Sadly, in 2017, more than 1,000 Americans died every two weeks from fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said in a statement on Monday. If the House fails to act by midnight on February 6, traffickers of deadly opioids will again have the upper hand. This cannot be allowed to happen. The House of Representatives needs to act to help save Americans from more overdoses and deaths. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroinwhere two milligrams of the drug can be lethal for a non-opioid user. The drug was subject to a temporary emergency order that lasts two years that made it and other related substances illegal. The substance, which is primarily manufactured in China, was responsible for 40 percent of around 70,500 drug overdose deaths in 2017, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The temporary order issued by the departments Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in February 2018 places all fentanyl-like substances under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Following the temporary classification, the United States saw a 50 percent decrease in fentanyl-related substance encounters across the country, Rosen said. The order is set to expire at midnight on Feb. 6. The Senate passed a bipartisan bill, known as the Temporary Reauthorization and Study of the Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act, on Jan. 16, extending the DEAs temporary scheduling of fentanyl-related substances for another 15 months. The House now faces a tight deadline to pass an extension on the temporary scheduling given that it only has less than a week of legislative days before the ban expires. The House is scheduled to hold a hearing on fentanyl analogues on Tuesday. Along with Rosen, many prominent leaders are urging the lower house to act on passing an extension. Among them are Patrick Yoes, president of the National Fraternal Order of Police; Lorraine McNeil-Popper, Addiction Policy Forums New York ambassador; Doug Griffin, Addiction Policy Forums New Hampshire ambassador; Jessica Hulsey Nickel, founder of the Addiction Policy Forum; multiple U.S. attorneys, and eight law enforcement organizations (pdf). Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, expressed concerns over the looming deadline to The Washington Times. He accused his Democratic colleagues of putting impeachment proceedings over addressing the issue of fentanyl, saying that the committee and House leaders have failed to do their jobs. Chairman [Jerrold] Nadler and Speaker Pelosi have been so consumed with impeachment, theyve failed to do their job. While Democrats are playing politics, the ban on a deadly drug hangs in the balance, Collins told the newspaper. Failing to extend the ban of this dangerous drug will put countless lives at risk, which is why Congress must act now. Im calling on Chairman Nadler and Speaker Pelosi to bring this bill to the floor for a vote immediately, he said. The Epoch Times has reached out to Pelosi and Nadlers offices for comment. The DOJ head, Attorney General William Barr, wrote an op-ed published in the Washington Post earlier this month, urging Congress to reauthorize the scheduling of the drug under the act. He said that the House has yet to make public any rationale for the delay, while adding that without congressional action, the Justice Department would not have the legal tools to prevent an onslaught of newly legalized fentanyl. By attacking the overdose crisis on a broad front, the Trump administration in 2018 was able to stop the increase in overdose deaths, and even slightly reduce them, for the first time in several decades. Much of that success stemmed from substantial progress in controlling the abuse of legal opioids. But the progress will be reversed if the country is hit by a tsunami of newly legalized fentanyl analogues, Barr wrote. The Senate is poised to act, and the House should follow suit. Thousands of American lives are in the balance, he added. Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report. Third Way, a center-left think tank, will send roughly 300 prominent Iowa Democrats a memo on Tuesday warning that supporting Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary is what Trump wants you to do. The memo, which was obtained by TIME and first reported by Iowa Starting Line, comes less than a week before the first-in-the-nation caucuses in Iowa on Feb. 3, just as Sanders appears to be solidifying his support in early states. Multiple polls now indicate that Sanders is among the top two candidates, either narrowly leading or narrowly trailing former Vice President Joe Biden. Before you vote, we urge you to consider at least a few of the many things in Bernie Sanders long record in public life that make him the Trump teams ideal Democratic opponent,' the memo reads. It then offers a list of attacks that the Trump campaign could use against the Vermont senator, who identifies as a democratic socialist: They will call him a socialistThey will say that he thinks the middle class wants to pay more in taxesThey will say hes backed anti-American radicals. Committed Democrats, like us, would vote for Sanders against Trump, the memo warns. But no Democrat remotely as far left as Sanders has ever won the presidency, and swing voters in crucial states would reject the radicalism of Sanders background and ideas. Third Way has long been critical of Sanders, but the timing of the memo is indicative of a renewed concern as Sanders prospects rise in the days before the primary officially begins. Third Way is not alone: others in the Democratic establishment have also begun ringing alarm bells about Sanders ability to win against Trump. The Sanders campaign, which TIME reached for comment, largely dismissed the Third Way memo, arguing that Republicans could label any of the Democratic candidates socialist. Story continues All Democrats, even Wall Street-funded groups like Third Way, should be ecstatic to witness [Sanders] movement attracting new supporters to strengthen the party and expand the electorate, Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement. To win seats up and down the ballot, we need to generate excitement and enthusiasm that drives a huge voter turnout among working people, not stifle it to protect special interests. Bernie Sanders has demonstrated over the course of this primary that this campaign is able to do thatand thats why Donald Trump is nervous. The Sanders campaign also pointed to recently reported audio in which Trump said it would have been tougher to win had Hillary Clinton chosen Sanders as her running mate. The Third Way memo criticizes Sanders for calling for tax increases on the middle class and warn that vulnerable Democratic lawmakers would be forced to break with Sanders, splitting Democrats as they battle challengers in key districts. The think tank also cites some of Sanders decades-old writings, which the memo warns will be described as truly offensive and crazy. (Sanders grappled with much of that criticism in his first presidential run.) The memo also argues that some of Sanders proposals are so ambitious that he does not know how much they will cost or how they will be paid for, citing a Sanders quote from a recent CBS News interview. The memo pushes Democrats to use the hashtag #GoogleBernie, urging potential supporters to dig into the Senators record. Sanders supporters often cite his long record as a reason for backing him. Right now, in a very crowded field, Sanders is able to get enough support that he could potentially win Iowa. And that would be very bad for the Democratic party and its chances of beating Trump, Jonathan Cowan, the president of Third Way, told TIME in an interview. A lot of what is in the memo, Cowan argues, is unknown to most voters. The memo does not mention a recent incident in which Sanders tweeted a supportive comment from problematic podcast host Joe Rogen, and quickly came under criticism from groups including the Human Rights Campaign and progressive group MoveOn. Its unclear whether Third Ways memo will impact the outcome of the Iowa caucus. The Sanders campaigns base of support is drawn largely from a grassroots movement, unlikely to be fazed by admonitions from a Washington-based think tank. No doubt, Sanders and his supporters will impugn our motives rather than respond to the facts in this memo, the memo says. But its not about us; its about him. If Bernie Sanders becomes the nominee, Trumps odds of winning a second term go up dramatically. US President Donald Trumps Middle East plan offers the last chance for Palestinians in their quest for statehood, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. This is the first time that Israel has ever agreed to a Palestinian state and its the first time Israel has agreed to a map so this is an amazing opportunity for the Palestinian leadership, Kushner said. If they truly want to create a good opportunity for their people, theyd be wise to pursue it. Kushner, who is also Trumps son-in-law, made the comments shortly after the US president unveiled the long-delayed plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinian leaders from rival factions called the deal dead on arrival, rejecting it as an attempt by the US and Israel to finish off the Palestinian cause. The plan recognises Israeli sovereignty over major illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, something which the Palestinian leadership has repeatedly rejected. Under this plan, what weve done is weve capped the growth of the Israeli settlements for four years, said Kushner, who is the initiatives principal author. Theres never been a four-year freeze before. Israel has agreed to do that in exchange for us recognising those settlements the reality is that those settlements are never going to be uprooted. We are willing to recognise the reality of the map. This is, if theres ever going to be a two-state solution, I believe that this is the only map that can work, he said, adding that there may be some leeway with regard to some border demarcations. The Palestinian Authority would rather go and complain as opposed to come to the table and negotiate which quite frankly shows that they are not ready to have a state. Project details have been classified. Modern mobile jamming stations will soon start operating in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region to block the signal of separatist television channels and radio stations, says Chairman of Luhansk Administration Serhiy Haiday. "We are moving in the direction to provide both our military and relevant law enforcement agencies with modern technology to repel information attacks [being waged against us]," Haiday told Donbas News. Details of the project have been classified, the official added. Read alsoUkrainian radio stations jammed in occupied Crimea monitoring report "But I can say that the developments we'd like to implement are better than those at disposal of our Israeli and American colleagues," he said. As UNIAN reported earlier, the Russian Federation had seized and been misusing more than 500 Ukrainian frequencies and hundreds of transmitting antennas that are government and private broadcasters' property, that's according to Valentyn Koval, who is a member of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine. "The numbers on the frequencies captured and misused by Russia are as follows: 503 frequency seizures. Moreover, it's 503 transmitters and hundreds of antennas that are property of state and private Ukrainian broadcasters. Also, in the east of Ukraine, about 50 television and 20 radio transmitting stations were seized and reset, which broadcast across Donetsk and Luhansk regions," the official said. State Sen. Scott Wieners legislative effort to place new restrictions on utility fire-prevention blackouts cleared the Senate floor on Monday. Senators voted overwhelmingly in favor of advancing the bill carried by Wiener, D-San Francisco, which would create a way to make Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and other large investor-owned electric companies in California pay customers for losses they incur during power shut-offs. The bill, SB378, now heads to the Assembly for consideration. Wiener proposed the legislation last year as PG&E warned it could turn off power to swaths of California when dry and windy weather conditions made the companys power lines more likely to start devastating wildfires like the disasters of 2017 and 2018. PG&E subsequently left millions of people without electricity over the course of multiple preemptive blackouts in October. SB378 would require state regulators to set up a process for homes, businesses and local governments to seek compensation from PG&E and other electric companies after blackouts. If state regulators determined that a company did not turn off power in a reasonable and prudent manner, the bill would subject utilities to a $250,000 hourly penalty per 50,000 homes or businesses affected by the blackout. This is about ensuring that these blackouts are not broader and longer than they need to be as a matter of public safety, Wiener told his Senate colleagues. Supporters of the bill included the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the cities of San Jose and Oakland, the Berkeley City Council, and Alameda County. PG&E, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and a utility workers group were among the bills opponents. In a formal opposition message to lawmakers, PG&E said SB378 would put customers in a very dangerous position by punishing utilities for turning off power when weather conditions and fire risks warrant such action. The company said Wieners bill might force it to turn power back on before it could finish necessary patrols and inspections that are designed to protect public health and safety. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California SB378 would taint the utilities (power shut-off) decision-making processes, and could ultimately lead to future tragedies, PG&E said in its opposition message. Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber (Lassen County), said he would lay off Wieners bill for the time being but voiced concern about its focus. He said the Legislature should be looking at regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission instead. (The commission is already conducting its own formal investigation into last year's power shut-offs.) Wiener responded that he had had his fair share of criticism for the commission, but pinned the responsibility to prevent fires and keep electricity flowing squarely on utilities such as PG&E. It is PG&E in particular that has allowed its system to fall apart, that has put everyone in this terrible position where we now have to have these kinds of conversations, Wiener said. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris While the Grammys saw no shortage of excess when it came to menswear cowboy hats, harnesses, crystal jumpsuits and veiled du-rags all made a loud impression BTS made a different kind of statement in some of the more pared down looks of the evening. The group dazzled in coordinating, minimalist separates by one of the biggest breakout brands of the past year: Bottega Veneta. It was a rare red carpet moment for the Italian label, who's known more for their leather goods and killer accessories than their evening-wear. The brand is currently under the creative direction of Daniel Lee, who virtually made BV an It-brand overnight thanks to his introduction of best sellers like the pouch bags and square-toed heels. His vision for the company's menswear translated effortlessly on BTS last night, who arrived in everything from trench coats to turtlenecks in neutral hues like camel, black, ivory and gray. There were no button-downs or neck-ties on the group in sight. It was another case of menswear's rapid evolution in occasion dressing, where the typical norm of black tie rules are being challenged outright. Last spring, a Baltimore underwent a grinding, long-term government shutdown after the city's systems were hijacked by ransomware. This was exacerbated by massive administrative incompetence: the city had not allocated funds for improved security, training or cyberinsurance, despite having had its emergency services network taken over by ransomware the previous hear, and five city CIOs had departed in the previous four years either through firings or forced resignations. The ransomware itself was built using a leaked NSA cyberweapon based on a bug in Windows that the Agency had identified, but not reported, so that it could retain the capacity to attack its adversaries. Once that cyberweapon leaked, it became a weapon that could and did shut down cities, businesses, hospitals, universities and private networks across the USA. Now, Maryland's Senate Bill 30 attempts a belated, and ill-considered, response to the problems of ransomware. Rather than requiring cities to allocate funds for security, training or insurance, or protecting those who disclose bugs so that they can be patched before they're weaponized, the bill prohibits cybercrimes that are largely already defined in US federal statutes, and is so broadly worded that it "prohibit[s] vulnerability disclosure unless the specific systems or data accessed by the helpful security researcher were explicitly authorized ahead of time and would prohibit public disclosure if the reports were ignored," in the words of disclosure expert Katie Moussouris, creator of Microsoft's bug bounty program. The bill would be a good response if the bug that ransomware exploited was a legal one that is, if using ransomware was somehow legal and that was why we were seeing so much of it. But ransomware is a crime already, and thus the problem is technical and institutional, erupting from the fracture line where poor quality software meets poor security practices. Regrettably, Maryland SB 30 makes software worse (by banning third-party disclosures without permission, effectively giving companies a veto over those who can truthfully reveal that their products are defective) and does nothing to improve security practices within city governments or other public institutions. Additionally, the bill would outlaw unauthorized intentional access or attempts to access "all or part of a computer network, computer control language, computer, computer software, computer system, computer service, or computer database; or copy, attempt to copy, possess, or attempt to possess the contents of all or part of a computer database accessed." It also would criminalize under Maryland law any act intended to "cause the malfunction or interrupt the operation of all or any part" of a network, the computers on it, or their software and data, or "possess, identify, or attempt to identify a valid access code; or publicize or distribute a valid access code to an unauthorized person." Maryland bill would outlaw ransomware, keep researchers from reporting bugs [Sean Gallagher/Ars Technica] It was once described as the place where Europe reached the darkest ends of hell. Seventy five years since the liberation of Auschwitz, the remaining survivors of one of the most evil chapters in modern history returned yesterday to the 'Gates of Death' to remember more than a million murdered there by the Nazis. Wearing blue and white striped scarves - echoing the colour of the uniforms they were forced to wear by Adolf Hitler's sadistic SS - they recalled the horrors of the Holocaust during what, for many, would be the last major commemoration on the site of the world's biggest mass extermination site. Survivors wept and held their heads in their hands as memories were recounted of the crimes committed at the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland from 1940 to 1945. As President Michael D Higgins joined royalty including Britain's Duchess of Cornwall, and the King and Queen of the Netherlands, and world leaders joined delegations from 61 countries at the camp in Poland, survivors gave heartbreaking testimonies of the cruelty they endured. Batsheva Dagan (94), a Polish Israeli who was deported to Auschwitz in May 1943, told how she barely recognised herself after being tattooed with the number 45554 and having her head shaved. Covered in lice, her hands would bleed as she was forced to pick nettles. She described how Josef Mengele, the camp doctor, would make children "stand in rows naked and be driven to death". She said: "I hid under a bed and somehow I saved myself." She was applauded as she asked: "Where was everybody, who could hear that, who could see that, but still did nothing?" Stanislaw Zalewski (94), who was arrested aged 18 in Poland and sent to the camp, said he could still hear the screams of naked women at the gas chambers. Expand Close In attendance: President Michael D Higgins at Auschwitz / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp In attendance: President Michael D Higgins at Auschwitz "I remember nicely dressed people with Star of David armbands being led to the crematorium. I saw sick prisoners killed in the hospital. I saw the suicide of prisoners who electrified themselves on the barbed wire fence. I witnessed executions. It was premeditated," he said. Elza Baker (83) was eight when she was taken to Auschwitz in 1944 from her home in Hamburg because the Nazis considered her to be a gipsy. Sight-impaired, someone read a speech she wrote "from the heart" on behalf of the 21,000 Romany people murdered: "We saw a large area of open fire blazing. I overheard adults saying, 'They must have run out of gas and are burning people alive'." In August 1944, Lodz-born Marian Turski (93) was sent to Auschwitz with his father and brother, who were murdered upon arrival. He admitted younger generations "can find talk of the Holocaust and genocide boring", but pleaded, "do not be indifferent". Opening the event, Andrzej Duda, Poland's president, praised his nation for preserving the site. Half of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis were Polish and six million Poles perished altogether. Expand Close Holocaust survivor Renee Salt. Photo: Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Holocaust survivor Renee Salt. Photo: Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters "We are speaking about numbers but these numbers represent people, their life stories and their suffering. "We will certainly never get to know the exact figures but we are speaking about numbers because we are in the factory of death - that is the industrial nature of the crimes committed here," he said. "For years the factory of death operated at full capacity - smoke bellowed from chimneys, people walked in their thousands to meet their deaths. The magnitude of crime perpetrated is terrifying, but we must never walk away from it and we must never forget it." Ronald Lauder (75), the American heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics empire, reminded the audience that 1.5 million Jewish children were murdered. The president of the World Jewish Congress, which paid for many of the 200 survivors to be at the ceremony, asked: "What could they have created for us all, what symphonies, what new technologies, what medical breakthroughs?" Pointing out that "not one German was killed in retribution" by the 200,000 Jews liberated from the camps, he called for tougher laws to combat a rising tide of anti-Semitism. "Now I see something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime: the open and brazen spread of anti-Jewish hatred again," he said. After the service, survivors and foreign dignitaries took a 750-yard walk along the infamous railway lines that led to the 'Gates of Death', to place candles at the main memorial at Auschwitz-II Birkenau, the largest of the three camps at the site. They included survivor Renee Salt (90) who made her home in Britain after the war and said this would probably be her last visit to Auschwitz. "It breaks my heart every time I come back here. I say I'm still alive, Hitler is dead. That's my satisfaction." She said her father "disappeared into thin air" when they left the train. "Without a kiss, without a goodbye. I never saw him again," she said. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Grocery shopping is overwhelming these days. When theres 12 brands of tortilla chips and five different variations of chicken breasts, how do you know which is the best one? And most importantly, how do you know which is the best bang for your buck? But then it dawns on you as youre staring up at the shelves, maybe you could be getting a better deal altogether if youd just walked an extra two blocks. We set out to survey five grocery stores in San Francisco Safeway, Whole Foods, Foods Co., Trader Joe's and Gus's Community Market and see which gave us the best prices when picking up five grocery staples. Spoiler alert: Foods Co., the discount grocery chain owned by Kroger with only two locations in San Francisco, may be worth driving the extra mile for. What the large, big box store lacks in Trader Joes-esque personality, it certainly made up for in prices. If youre not picky about brands or whether the item is organic, you will likely find most of your items for the cheapest price around. Walking into each grocery store, we examined the price of a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, a Fuji apple and boneless skinless chicken breast. Americans bought 47 billion pounds of milk in 2018 (though, as plant-based milk sales rise, perhaps we should have altered this unofficial study). For many households, especially with kids, its a staple. Milk prices at all stores hovered around $3.50, with Foods Co. having the cheapest per-gallon price at $3.29, while Guss had the highest at $5.59 (and it wasnt even organic). A basic loaf of bread can feed you all week and is an incredibly versatile staple for families, making everything from toast to croutons to sandwiches. Foods Co. won in this area too with basic wheat and white loaves for just $0.89. You couldnt find a loaf for under $4.79 at Guss. Looking at a carton of eggs, Trader Joes pulled ahead with a dozen eggs for $1.99. Every other store sold a dozen for $2.99 except for Guss, which were $3.69. Apples were having a big sale the day I visited Foods Co. and were available for $1.19 per pound (I compared Fuji apples at all stores). All other stores except Trader Joes were selling them for $1.99 per pound, which comes out to about $0.66 per apple. Notably, Trader Joes prices apples by the apple, not the pound. Almost all varieties there were selling for $0.69 per apple. Foods Co. also won when we looked at prices for boneless skinless chicken breasts, which was priced at $3.99 per pound. Guss was $7.99/lb, but it was free-range. Safeway and Whole Foods fell solidly in the middle range for all of these items, with Whole Foods ending up just slightly more expensive than Safeway on most items. Foods Co. had the lowest total overall cost at $11.55 for the bag of groceries, with Trader Joes just a dollar more at $12.55. Safeways bag cost $13.13, Whole Foods will charge you $17.23 and Guss came in at a whopping $22.73. Its important to remember prices fluctuate often at grocery stores and a few of these items were on special that week. This study occurred during the second week of January, and while we were checking the cheapest price on the most generic items, this analysis would come out much differently if you were looking for only organic items (which some of these stores didnt even have). Foods Co. only serves Northern California and the chain has said its dedicated to keeping prices as low as possible, so much so that for almost all of 2019 they stopped allowing Visa credit card transactions because the fees would have forced them to raise prices. Each location here (theres one in the Mission, which we visited, and one in Portola) has a large parking lot, making it easier for those that want to stock up on essentials. But, while Trader Joes is often lauded as the most popular grocery store largely due to the price of its items, it may be worth taking a trip to the to save a few bucks every once in awhile. Where do you shop for groceries? Let us know in the comments below! Tessa McLean is a digital editor at SFGATE. Email: tessa.mclean@sfgate.com | Twitter: @mcleantessa The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) on Tuesday condemned the arrest of Sharjeel Imam and stated that his arrest is "shameful" and "shows the brute and draconian character" of the government. Sharjeel, who stoked controversy with his "cut off Assam from India" remark, was arrested by a team of Delhi Police from Bihar's Jehanabad earlier in the day. "The arrest of Sharjeel is shameful and shows the brute and draconian character of the state. The BJP-RSS wants to criminalise Muslims on an unprecedented scale through witchhunts and media trials. The arrest of JNU student Sharjeel Imam under draconian charges of sedition shows that Islamophobia, selective amnesia and bias matter more than anything for a state apparatus under control of RSS-BJP. BJP and RSS want to criminalise Muslims on an unprecedented scale," JNUSU said in a statement. "Many organisations and individuals might have expressed their difference with his point of view but the alacrity shown by the Delhi Police and the JNU administration in this matter shows how brazenly hypocritical and one-sided they are," the statement read. The JNUSU asserted that the arrest and "witch-hunting" of Sharjeel, his family members, and through him the entire Muslim community. It also said this showed that the highlighting of his speech, as well as the arrests, are "politically motivated actions" with a view to criminalise the peaceful and democratic upsurge against the CAA, NRC, NPR and reap electoral dividends based on communal polarisation. "While the Delhi Police have arrested Shajeel, the JNU administration in their characteristically shameful fashion, has served a student witch-hunted by the state with a proctorial notice. If the JNU administration is so enamoured of media narratives than perhaps it could have served notices to Akshat Awasthi, Anima Sonkar and other ABVP activists who have admitted on camera about their role in JNU attack on January 5," JNUSU said. "The police has not yet converted the complaints of students and teachers grievously injured and attacked by ABVP hoodlums into any FIR and no one has been arrested despite the incidents of 5th January creating a outrage," the students' union added. Meanwhile, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) has expressed its concern at the arrest of Sharjeel. "The JNUTA notes that while there may be considerable scope for disagreement with the remarks allegedly made by the student, it has been persuasively argued by legal experts that these remarks do not warrant a charge of sedition and there are other reasons behind the sedition law being invoked," JNUTA said in a statement. "The urgency which the Delhi Police has shown in the case of Sharjeel Imam has also been conspicuous by its absence when it comes to bringing the culprits of January 5 criminal violence in JNU to book," JNUTA added. A Jehanabad court has granted Delhi Police transit remand for Sharjeel. He was brought to the court after he was arrested by the police. A civil surgeon also reached the court for Sharjeel's medical examination. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian government has decided to evacuate over 250 Indians from the Chinese city of Wuhan where the outbreak of deadly coronavirus has killed several people. Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba, in a meeting, has decided to take a series of precautionary measures, including screening of people at international airports, coming from China, as well as integrated check posts across the border with Nepal. The Ministry of External Affairs is also going to make a request to the Chinese authorities for evacuations of Indian nationals, especially students, stuck in Wuhan. As per reports, over 250 to 300 Indian students are reportedly stuck in Wuhan triggering concerns over their well-being. The civil aviation ministry has been told to ask the airlines to make in-flight announcements and distribute "health cards" to all flights with direct or indirect connectivity to China. The home ministry has been asked to ensure integrated check posts initiate screening of visitors across the Nepal border. Also read: Gold price today: Yellow metal extends gains as coronavirus spreads "States have been requested to provide health staff for these check posts. SSB/BSF/immigration officers manning integrated check posts have been sensitised," the statement said. The Union health ministry has also urged passengers who have a travel history to China since January 1 to come forward for self-reporting at the nearest health facility if they experience any symptoms such as fever, cough, respiratory distress etc. The ministry has issued a 24X7 helpline number for any query on coronavirus, which is 91-11-23978046. "A signage display for advising travellers from China for self-declaration in case of symptoms of coronavirus, is put up at Trichy airport", health ministry tweeted. Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan spoke to chief secretaries and police chiefs of the five states bordering Nepal -- Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim to review their preparedness for prevention and management of the coronavirus. Till Sunday, 29,707 passengers arriving in India in 137 flights have been screened for novel coronovirus infection symptoms and no case has so far been detected in India, officials said. Also read: First coronavirus suspect reported in Punjab What is coronavirus virus The coronavirus, which was first discovered in the city of Wuhan in December, has spread to every province in China. The new coronavirus-named 2019-nCoV-is thought to have originated in the food market of the central China metropolis and has since infected more than two thousand people. Symptoms of coronavirus According to the World Health Organisation, the common symptoms of the virus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Also read: China Coronavirus scare in Eastern UP as two cases reported in Nepal Also read: Coronavirus outbreak: More than 2000 people infected globally, 56 dead in China Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 15:20:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Multiple countries and international organizations have expressed support for China in its fight against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) while measures are stepped up to prevent the spread of the virus. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said the UN appreciates China's effort to battle against the novel coronavirus and has full confidence in China's ability of controlling the outbreak. The World Health Organization's (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has tweeted, before heading for Beijing, that "We are working 24/7 to support China and its people during this difficult time," adding that his team would strengthen the partnership with China in providing further protection against the spread of the virus. Pakistani President Arif Alvi on Monday said that the Pakistani people "stand with their Chinese brothers in this difficult hour." The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Sunday expressed wishes that China would curb the spread of the virus, saying that Palestine will always stand by China and its people. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said in Washington on Monday that the U.S. people "stand with" the Chinese people. The new virus broke out first in China's central city of Wuhan and then quickly spread across the country. The Chinese health authorities announced Tuesday that 4,515 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been reported in 30 provincial-level regions by the end of Monday. Meanwhile, many countries, including India, Bangladesh and Lithuania, have set up a 24x7 helpline to respond to public queries on the novel coronavirus. Sri Lanka's Health Ministry has appointed a special 22-member national action committee to prevent the spread of 2019-nCoV, saying that the new committee will hold an urgent meeting to discuss how to keep Sri Lanka safe from the virus. Bulgaria has established "an operational working group" to address issues related to the novel coronavirus, the country's Chief State Health Inspector Angel Kunchev said at a press conference on Monday. Screening measures have been stepped up at international airports in multiple countries. The Baghdad International Airport on Sunday began screening travelers arriving from infected areas, while in Saudi Arabia, authorities have strengthened monitoring and control efforts at border entries, although the kingdom has not reported any case of infection. Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtech said that Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague will continue to operate as normal but preventative measures will be put in place. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Facebook that the country is "monitoring the situation systematically and continuously and we are in close connection with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and with experts from the World Health Organisation." Germany confirmed the first case of the novel coronavirus infection Monday night, according to the health authorities of Bavaria. New cases have been confirmed in several other countries, including the United States, Canada, South Korea, and Australia. The WHO has already activated global networks of experts, quickly developed advice for countries everywhere, and is working with them to activate their response systems, the WHO chief said. (JNS)The Boycott, Divest and Sanctions zealots targeted yet another academic institution to promote their hate-filled agenda against the Jewish state. It began in August 2019, when a group of professors within the Foundations of Political Theory section of the American Political Science Association proposed a resolution for an academic boycott and censoring of Israel. Just a few weeks later, the resolution was struck down at the APSAs annual conference. In fact, it never made it to a vote and was deemed a colossal defeat. Social-media reports claimed that more than 120 conference attendees participated in a discussion on the resolution, with a majority opposed to it. The self-proclaimed academics behind the boycott described their proposal as a righteous defense of academic freedom, yet the resolution proposed ending the freedoms of academics from Israel. These professors attempted to justify this hypocrisy with an FAQ sheet arguing that the Israeli state consistently and brutally denies academic freedom to Palestinians, and that the colonization of Palestine is the silencing of Palestinian scholarly contributions to knowledge. The Academic Engagement Network, an organization dedicated to promoting free expression on campus and combating anti-Israel bias, rebutted this claim in a letter opposing the resolution. The letter argued that the BDS supporters ignored how the Palestinian Authority and Hamas routinely infringe upon the academic rights of students and scholars on Palestinian campuses. They called out the resolutions failure to mention that academic inquiry on Gazan and West Bank campuses is severely restricted by intimidation, harassment and even violence perpetrated by activists and groups linked to terrorist organizations that are often allowed to operate with impunity on campuses. AEN executive director Miriam Elman helped draft the letter, arguing that the resolution inequitably discriminates against and punishes individual Israeli scholars and students on the basis of their nationality and the policies of their government. Elman is one of the only professors I have had so far at Syracuse University who has not conflated her politics with her teaching. And she is the only faculty member at our school with enough chutzpah to stand up for Jewish students and call out campus bias whenever the administration fails to do so. Elman has experienced firsthand the hypocrisy of BDS academics. In the name of free speech, a confederacy of leftist professors demanded a retraction of a special journal issue she contributed to that questioned the anti-Israel orthodoxies corrupting Middle Eastern studies in modern academia. The professors launched a smear campaign against Elman and her co-contributors, even demanding that the journal editors resign. The proponents of the APSA resolution repeatedly emphasized that their boycott would only target institutions, not individuals, adding that they do not intend to harm anybodys individual career. However, a tweetstorm by the leader of the effort, McGill Professor William Clare Roberts, shows otherwise. Making it harder to have a normal academic career at an Israeli university seems like a good thing, he tweeted. It *should* be hard for a lawyer to have a normal career in Trumps Justice Department. Same goes for an academic in the Israeli system. Roberts tries to justify destroying lives and careers with twisted rhetoric that paints his cause as an undeniable social good. He equates APSA boycotting Israel to African-Americans boycotting Southern white merchants during the civil-rights movement. The analogy was also used in the BDS resolutions FAQ sheet, equating Israeli academics harmed by an academic boycott to bus drivers in Montgomery, Alabama who felt alienated or upset by black folks boycotting their segregated buses. The APSA resolution ratchets up the rhetoricgoing from targeting academics to justifying violence against Israelis, calling it the exercise of the internationally recognized right of self-defense by a people facing eliminatory colonial and military violence. It also suggests that the internationally recognized terrorist organization, Hamas, has a right to fire rockets at Israel. To bolster the call for violence, the resolution accuses Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians. This outrageous, inflammatory claim completely ignores demographic data showing a rapid increase in the Palestinian population in Gaza and in the West Bank, coupled with a declining mortality rate. Also contradicting the genocide claim are U.N. reports that demonstrate the increase of youth population in the Palestinian territories during the past 20 years. In fact, this reflects the highest increase in the Arab countries, and Palestinian fertility rate remains one of the highest in the Arab region. The BS in the BDS movement is that it cares anything about furthering academic freedom and nonviolence. The mental gymnastics of this agenda is simply Orwellian: Censorship is free speech, and violence is justified. Perhaps the BDS movement should change its motto to Ignorance is strength. CAMERA Fellow Justine Murray is a sophomore at Syracuse Universitys Maxwell School. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Heritage Florida Jewish News. A father and his 11-year-old son who were found dead in a tent after their camping trip turned to tragedy hadn't been seen for weeks, neighbours say. Their bodies were found at a campground near Wedge Island, 90 minutes north of Perth, at about 11am on Monday. A woman, the child's mother, was found in need of urgent medical assistance and was air lifted to Royal Perth Hospital where she is being treated. A father and son have died in a camping accident in Western Australia. Pictured: The scene Police believe a faulty piece of equipment in their tent is to blame and are not treating the deaths as suspicious. WA Police Minister Michelle Roberts said the tragedy, which also killed the family dog, was caused by a gas leak from a faulty fridge. 'I understand there may have been some kind of gas leak from a fridge that was being used in the tent,' she said. 'Unfortunately that's resulted in the tragic deaths of two people and their dog and I understand the mum is in a serious condition.' Ms Holmes said the local community were all campers and boaties, so the tragedy had hit hard. 'Our whole community is rocked,' she said. The bodies were found at a campground near Wedge Island, 90 minutes north of Perth, at about 11am on Monday The family was not supposed to be camping on the beach as it is part of an army firing range, but is 'heavenly,' Ms Holmes said. 'They where a long way from anywhere,' she said. Leslee Holmes, the president of the local Shire of Dandaragan, said a first responder saw a gas bottle outside the tent, which had its flaps up amid hot weather. 'It's just leaked in,' Ms Holmes told AAP. 'People have mentioned a fridge - it may be the gas bottle that powered the fridge. A woman, the child's mother, was found in need of urgent medical assistance and was air lifted to Royal Perth Hospital where she is being treated 'Just how it's happened, I don't know.' Neighbours told The West Australian the family had left with their car packed for the believed camping trip about one or two weeks ago. The neighbours said they have not seen the family or heard their pet dog since. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services attended to help safely remove the camping equipment. Police are informing next of kin and a report will be prepared for the coroner. [January 28, 2020] Pie Insurance Named a Top Colorado Company in 2020 DENVER, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pie Insurance, an insurtech company that provides workers' comp insurance to small businesses, today announced it has been named one of the 100 Best Places to Work in Colorado and one of 50 Startups to Watch in 2020 by Built in Colorado. Each year, Built in Colorado , the online hub of the Colorado tech industry, selects the 100 Best Places to Work in Colorado based on data submitted by companies and their eployees. The list reflects the state's companies that provide the best benefits, culture, and growth opportunities for Coloradans. "We're thrilled about this honor because it reflects our efforts to make Pie a great place to work," says Lauri Putt Needleman, VP of People. "We care deeply about building a fantastic culture and work environment, even as we grow incredibly fast." Pie fosters its unique culture in many waysproviding team members with benefits both inside and outside of the office walls. These include offering modern workspaces, comprehensive health plans, and a "piece of the pie" (equity) to employees. "One of the best things about working for Pie is how quickly we can go from ideation to delivery," says Mark Rogers, Engineering Team Lead. "There's not a lot of red tape, and my team has the opportunity to create solutions in an encouraging and innovative environment." Built in Colorado has also published 50 Startups to Watch in 2020 which lists 50 companiesfounded no earlier than 2017that it believes are on the brink of significant growth and development. Already one of the nation's fastest-growing insurtechs, Pie is rapidly expanding its headcount in Downtown Denver. The company, with almost 150 employees, plans to hit a 250 employee milestone by the end of the year. Pie is actively hiring for its engineering, underwriting, and customer care departments, among others. Interested candidates can see open positions and learn more about the company on Pie's Careers page. About Pie Insurance Pie Insurance provides workers' compensation insurance directly to small businesses and also partners with local, regional, and national insurance agencies to provide coverage to their clients. The company began offering policies in 2018 with a goal of helping small businesses experience true savings and an unmatched level of service. Pie operates as a managing general agency for Sirius America Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Sirius Group, offering A.M. Best "A" (Excellent) rated workers' compensation insurance. Pie's investors include SVB Capital, Greycroft, Aspect Ventures, Sirius Group, Moxley Holdings, and Elefund. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pie-insurance-named-a-top-colorado-company-in-2020-300993894.html SOURCE Pie Insurance [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New Delhi, Jan 28 (UNI) Urging South Asian nations to unite to defeat terrorism in the region, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday attacked Pakistan for using "terror as a state policy" against India. However, Mr Singh vouched for settling the disputes through dialogue. Pakistan must take demonstrable steps against terror groups, the Defence Minister said. Addressing the 12th South Asia conference, Mr Singh said that it is essential that terrorists and their ideological and financial networks are cut off and do not receive any state support. Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri, and Pulwama attacks are grim reminders of state-sponsored terrorism by a neighbouring country. India is engaged in conversations with its neighbours except one country in order to develop a joint approach for regional peace and security, he said. True pathway to regional peace and security lies in understanding each other's sensitivities and following basic principles of non-interference in each other's internal affairs, the minister added. "Pakistan must take demonstrable steps against terror groups," Mr Singh said. UNI ASH ADG 1435 MEDFORD, Ore. Since heading off to Australia several weeks ago, U.S. Forest Service staff from the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (RRSNF) have been writing home with updates on the trip and ongoing efforts to curb devastating bushfires down under. The RRSNF team consisting mostly of aviation and line crew support staff were scheduled to begin their flight to Australia on Thursday, January 16, on a mission that will likely last for 30 days. Since then the team has been getting acclimated and started working with the crews already on the ground. There are currently more than 200 interagency personnel, including 123 from the USDA Forest Service, in Australia assisting with the #bushfires. pic.twitter.com/WD27EA5OV5 USDA Forest Service (@forestservice) January 27, 2020 Based on their first message, the local team arrived at their ultimate destination on January 21, after several days filled with travel and training. Finally, they got settled in at their post on the Tambo Complex in the southern state of Victoria, Australia. "Some hotshots that had pulled together to form a crew arrived yesterday, and have merged together with Aussie crews," RRSNF posted on Facebook Tuesday. "As for the team we RRSNF folks arrived with, we are now running operations." As hard and unpleasant as the work can no-doubt be at times, it also isn't without reward. "They give us one day of rest after 6 days of work. One day off, then after the next 5 on, we will get 2 days off, and so on. So, we had Sunday off this is different than our system where there are typically no days off during an assignment," the team posted. "We went to an island called Raymond Island in Victoria AU, where they put koalas to save them from disease transmission. This preserve has been operating since 1953, and today, they have up to 300 koalas. They may relocate some soon." RRSNF posted some pictures of koalas lounging in trees on the island, a location untouched by the fires that have ravaged much of the creature's natural habitat throughout Australia. At least 21 people, including nine women, were killed when a speeding state transport bus collided with an auto-rickshaw, causing both the vehicles to fall into a roadside well in Maharashtra's Nashik district on Tuesday, police said. More than 18 people also suffered injuries in the accident which took place at around 4 pm at Meshi Phata on the Malegaon-Deola Road in the North Maharashtra district, around 200 km from Mumbai, an official said. The speeding ST bus (MH06 S 8429), packed with passengers, crashed into the auto-rickshaw (MH15 DY 4233), he said, adding the injured were mostly bus passengers. The deceased included passengers travelling in both vehicles, he said, adding that the bus driver also lost his life in the crash. Nine women and a seven-year-old girl were among the deceased, the official said. The impact of the collision was so severe that the bus dragged the auto-rickshaw along with it and both the vehicles fell into a roadside well, the official said. The state government has announced Rs 10 lakh compensation each to the kin of the deceased. "At least 21 bodies have been pulled out of the well and injured are being treated at state-run hospitals," Arti Singh, Superintendent of Police, Nashik Rural, told PTI. "We are drawing out water from the well with the help of pumps to check if more passengers are still stuck in the mud," she said. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC)-run bus was on its way to Kalwan town in Nashik from the adjoining Dhule district, while the auto-rickshaw was coming from the opposite direction, another official said. A rescue operation with the help of police, fire brigade and local teams was on at the crash site, he said. Both the vehicles have been pulled out of the water body, police said. Meanwhile, the MSRTC, in a release late in the evening, said the bus driver was prima facie responsible for the devastating crash. "It seems the bus driver, P S Bachhav, from Kalwan depot, was prima facie responsible for the accident, said the release. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the administration to provide all possible help to the people injured in the accident, the state's Directorate General of Information and Public Relations said in a late night tweet. Thackeray has also asked the administration to take help of the National Disaster Response Force to speed up the rescue operation, according to another tweet. Transport Minister and MSRTC chairman Anil Parab termed the accident as unfortunate and announced Rs 10 lakh compensation each to the kin of the deceased. He said the MSRTC will bear the entire cost of treatment of the injured people. The Texas Department of Insurance has reminded carriers that provide personal auto insurance in the state about the need to comply with new temporary vehicle coverage provisions contained in House Bill 3420. HB 3420, passed by the Legislature last year, requires personal auto policies to provide primary liability coverage for temporary vehicles as defined in the bill. TDI said personal auto insurers need to revise and file their policies to comply with the bill. Under HB 3420, personal auto policies must include the definition of temporary vehicle as given in Insurance Code Section 1952.060: Temporary vehicle includes a vehicle that is loaned or provided to an insured by an automobile repair facility for the insureds use while the insureds vehicle is at the facility for service, repair, maintenance, or damage or to obtain an estimate and is: in the lawful possession of the insured or resident relative of the insured; not owned by the insured, any resident relative of the insured, or any other person residing in the insureds household; and operated by or in the possession of the insured or resident relative of the insured until the vehicle is returned to the repair facility. Because the required definition of temporary vehicle includes the terms repair facility and resident relative, insurers may want to include the statutory definitions for those terms, found in Subsection 1952.060(a). Although coverage can always be broader, parameters for vehicles that are required to have temporary vehicle coverage are listed in Subsection 1952.060(c): private passenger auto; or a pickup, utility vehicle, or van with a gross vehicle weight of 14,000 pounds or less that is not used to deliver or transport goods, materials, or supplies, other than samples, unless: the delivery of the goods, materials, or supplies is not the primary use of the vehicle; or the vehicle is used for farming or ranching. Subsections 1952.060(b) and (d) require primary, not excess, coverage for temporary vehicles in the liability section of the policy. Subsection 1952.060(d) requires coverage for: the insured; resident relative of the insured; licensed household residents. Subsections 1952.060(d) and (e) require coverage (up to policy limits) for the insureds legal liability for bodily injury, property damage, and damage to the temporary vehicle. Insurance Code Section 1952.057 prohibits insurers from paying some insureds who were convicted on drug offenses. TDI is prioritizing approval of form filings that only make changes required by HB 3420. TDI expects insurers that have not already submitted filings to submit them quickly. Include this statement in the Filing Description field (under the General Information tab) in SERFF: We made this filing to comply with HB 3420. There are no other substantive changes. One possible way is to include this language for liability coverage: This policy provides primary liability coverage for temporary vehicles and insures: the person named in the policy, any resident relative of the insured, and any licensed operator residing in the household. The liability coverage for temporary vehicles provides primary, not excess, coverage for the insureds legal liability for: bodily injury; property damage; and damage to the temporary vehicle. Source: TDI Topics Carriers Auto Personal Auto By Bernard Rowan It's hardly an easy matter. South Korea's position as a middle power between China and the United States I mean. It's not easy to navigate a nation and society between two powerful rivals. I want to talk about the influence of China on South Korea in the present context. It's a presence that poses challenges and opportunities. China and South Korea are rising powers. While China's power potential dwarfs every nation's, with the exception of India, South Korea also has an outlook that envisages a different and better world than the present. There are serious challenges facing the restructuring of South Korea's economy away from powerful chaebol and the serious demographic challenges of an aging population with fewer births. There are greater challenges for China. Nonetheless, South Korea rises, as does China. South Korea needs positive and prosperous relations with China. She should cooperate in the Belt and Road initiative, work together for the future of the disastrous state and society of North Korea, and create trade relations and commerce to benefit both peoples, the region and the world. All strike me as core national interests for both countries. South Korea needs China as a trade market and supplier of raw materials. Key industries depend on China too much. Caution attends any friendship of peoples, and it should characterize Sino-Korean relations. China is not a country whose political culture South Korea wants to copy. South Korea is not a communist ally. The future of a united Korea should be democratic, even if Korean democracy looks different from Euro-American versions. Here, overtures to a "strategic cooperative partnership" from China suggest constant caution. South Korea's strategic military-political interests rest with the United States at the present, and, yes, with Japan. The possibility of a grand or regional Pax Asiana hasn't emerged and isn't likely. Stepping too closely with China isn't advisable, to say the least. South Korea's alliance with the U.S., though complicated by Trump administration policies, should remain strong. Overtime, as South Korea assumes even greater responsibility for allied military affairs on the peninsula, this alliance shouldn't end. The roles of partners change overtime, but the purpose of the friendship remains. The United States welcomes peace and unification in a future friendly to Korean democracy. Nothing in the Sino-North Korean orbit bodes this possibility today. The fundamental commitment of the Korean people to democracy, wrought with blood and civil strife, shouldn't be lost on citizens and friends alike. Look at Hong Kong. Look at Xinjiang and Tibet. Democracy as a foundational interest of South Korea puts South Korea squarely in the community of democratic and freedom-loving nations. These aren't the commitments of rising Chinese power. We needn't speak of the North's totalitarian monstrosity. If China blusters about THAAD, it also transparently calms the North for Chinese interests. South Korea is correct to take part in cooperative economic projects with China while leaving space and buffers in military and political matters. South Korean and Chinese interests have limited convergence at best. I think it prudent the Moon government has shown targeted and limited cooperation with the recent "Hormuz decision." Democratic nations predict China's development will see a leavening from rising expectations rooted in economics. That movement should lead away from authoritarian repression and antidemocratic norms. The Chinese government has its own gambit in an opposite direction, that economic development doesn't conflict with communist, one-party, centralized command and control of society in the Xi era. I'd argue the historical evidence sides in the former direction. We'll see. A recent U.S. Pew Center report of global opinion also shows a rising China, with qualifications. About as many people worldwide have favorable views of China as unfavorable. China may take heart that her large global investments and forming ties with developing countries see rising favorable ratings. However, unfavorable ratings remain in nations, such as Canada, with high emigre Chinese populations and nations with high GDP and democratic cultures. South Korea should continue her successful habits of syncretism. She must cultivate prudent and positive relations with all comers, including powerful neighbors such as China. All evidence points to the foresight of this grand strategy for the good of Korea's national interest and her people in the present context. Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University. OTTAWA - Britain is granting Huawei partial access to its next-generation wireless network, but it still considers the Chinese telecom company a security risk that requires special attention, U.K. government officials said Tuesday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Mobile network phone masts are visible in front of St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. The Chinese tech firm Huawei has been designated a "high-risk vendor" but will be given the opportunity to build non-core elements of Britain's 5G network, the government has announced. The company will be banned from the "core", of the 5G network, and from operating at sensitive sites such as nuclear and military facilities, and its share of the market will be capped at 35%. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) OTTAWA - Britain is granting Huawei partial access to its next-generation wireless network, but it still considers the Chinese telecom company a security risk that requires special attention, U.K. government officials said Tuesday. The British decision had phone lines burning between London and Ottawa because Canada is now the last of the "Five Eyes" intelligence allies to decide the companies that will provide the equipment for its 5G network. Upgraded wireless technology is expected to provide much faster data transfers for numerous purposes, from smart phones to autonomous vehicles to remote medical care. But only a handful of companies make the equipment needed to operate those next-generation networks, and the question is whether western allies that share top-secret data and worry about their citizens' security are willing to let a Chinese company supply theirs. The United States, Australia and New Zealand have all said no. Britain's decision to allow Huawei partial access to its 5G industry changes the landscape. The Trudeau government said it was studying the British decision but gave no indication about whether its long-awaited decision is coming soon. Its decision is complicated by China's imprisonment of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were arbitrarily detained on spying charges more than a year ago. That came after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant. Britain said Tuesday it would attempt to limit "high-risk" vendors' access to the new upgraded network coded language for Huawei, which it did not directly name to 35 per cent of its less sensitive parts. But U.K. officials, who briefed The Canadian Press on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, made clear that regulating Huawei was the intent. They had no comment on what Canada ought to do, but said Huawei is being treated carefully, not like an ordinary British company. Huawei Canada says firmly that it is a Canadian entity, entirely independent of Beijing's influence. "It is important to remember that in our 10 years of operation in Canada, there has never been a security incident or a lapse of any sort. Not one," Alykhan Velshi, a company vice-president, said in a statement. He noted the company employs more than 1,200 Canadians. The statement urged Canada to make its own independent decision, "based on technology and security, not politics" or pressure from the U.S. government under President Donald Trump. Like Britain, Canada has been under pressure from the United States to ban Huawei, which deems the Chinese tech giant to be a national security threat a charge the company denies. A former Canadian envoy to China said Britain's decision gives the Trudeau government an "easy out" to make the same choice. David Mulroney said that would be a bad decision that would amount to caving in to more than a year of bullying from Beijing. "This is just the latest, albeit one of the most consequential, in a series of bad decisions and false compromises that western governments have made in respect to China," said Mulroney, who was the Canadian ambassador to China from 2009 to 2012. "The result is that Chinese technology, and with its potential Chinese influence, is embedded ever more deeply in the governance structures of the West." The Trump administration has said that China's 2017 national intelligence law, which requires Chinese entities to co-operate with state security agencies, means communist leaders could force Huawei to conduct cyberespionage on behalf of the country's government. Britain agrees with that characterization, but because there are not enough companies to serve the country's 5G needs, it has opted to allow Huawei to participate, the U.K. officials said. The officials stressed that Britain would like to see the Huawei footprint diminish over time because new companies enter the market. Alan Woodward, a British cybersecurity expert at the University of Surrey, said there is no such thing as "a zero-risk solution" for Canada or the U.K. "We have limited indigenous telecommunications manufacturers who can supply 5G," he said. "The bottom line is that the market is broken. We need more suppliers." While Canada will take Britain's decision into consideration, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair stressed that there are "a number of very significant, important considerations unique to the Canadian environment." He declined to specify what those are. Asked if the fate of the two jailed Canadians is a consideration in deciding whether Huawei should be involved in the development of Canada's 5G network, Blair said: "I will tell you I think it's very important that we get the two Michaels back but it's not directly tied to that." The Liberal government has said the safety and security of Canadians is its top concern, a talking point Industry Minister Navdeep Bains reiterated without offering any timeline on when the government will decide. "They (Britain) are an ally; we're engaged with them," Bains said. "So, of course, we're looking at what decisions they've made and how they plan to implement those decisions." Ottawa is carrying out a review of 5G that involves Public Safety Canada; the Canadian Security Intelligence Service; the Communications Security Establishment; Global Affairs; and Innovation, Science and Economic Development. Canada faces the exact same set of calculations that Britain did around economic impact, geopolitics and security, said Wesley Wark, a security expert and visiting professor at the University of Ottawa who has followed the issue closely. "My hope is that in Canada, as in the U.K., the government will listen to its security professionals and adopt a made-in-Canada version of a risk-mitigation strategy, avoiding the imposition of a ban on Huawei." The government's decision will in part depend on what happens next with the U.S. pressure campaign against allies, he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2020. With files from Jim Bronskill and Joan Bryden Representative image The World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia has urged countries in the region, including India, to remain vigilant, strengthen readiness to rapidly detect the coronavirus and prevent its spread. It is time to focus all efforts on readiness guided by whatever is known about coronavirus, said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region. As in the case with any new virus, much remains to be understood, she said, adding that globally WHO has prepared interim guidance on case detection, testing, clinical management of cases, infection prevention and control during health care, home care for people suspected of having the virus, and guidance on reducing transmission. WHO is working with countries in the region to rollout these guidelines, prioritising reviewing and building capacities for laboratory diagnostic, including referral of specimens and diagnosis; trainings in case management, specimen collection and transportation, and infection prevention and control; logistics support and communicating risks and promoting desired behaviour in the community. WHO regional office has been in contact with regional health ministers since the onset of the outbreak. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Last week, she took stock of the preparedness and support being extended by WHO to countries. Two countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region Thailand and Nepal - have reported confirmed cases of the new coronavirus. Globally, WHO continues to work with networks of researchers and other experts to coordinate global work on surveillance, epidemiology, modelling, diagnostics, clinical care and treatment, and other ways to identify, manage the disease and limit onward transmission. Though this coronavirus, which is being called novel coronavirus-2019, was not declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) by the Emergency Committee of the International Health Regulation that met last week, its risk was assessed to be high. WHO is keeping a close watch on the evolving situation and remains committed to work with member countries to scale up readiness and implement IHR core capacities to respond to any importation, Dr Khetrapal Singh said, emphasizing that we should continue to be vigilant and ready to contain and prevent any further spread. WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Jan. 15, in an article by John Rampton, Culture Is The Bass: 7 Steps to Creating High Performing Teams by Gerald J. Leonard was lauded as one of the top business culture books entrepreneurs need to read today to improve their corporate culture. Gerald Leonard Rampton wrote: "Music already serves as a relatable metaphor for so many things in life, so it makes sense that this newly released book uses music to explain how to develop high-performing teams for your company. Leonard sees the creation of high-performing teams as the pathway to an effective project management culture that delivers a symphony of balance, unified vision and harmony for an organization. He shares seven key principles based on his experience as a professional musician, culture change expert, and certified Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP). The seven-step process includes tips on enhancing leadership skills, thriving in a difficult workplace, eliciting productive feedback from others and reclaiming your time from tasks that otherwise waste that valuable resource." While delighted with the endorsement, Leonard believes the seven principles in his book can be applied to any culture and that includes education, the culture within individual families and even government. The latter is apt as the nation's attention is turned to the Senate impeachment trial of the president. Leonard says the country's vision starts at the top as do the values that back up that vision. "In order to change our national values, we first must change our vision," he says. "If truth is really valued then we must make it more important than the expediency of just getting ahead through politics. If our vision and values are off then we will continue to have a negative culture." In an interview, Leonard can discuss the seven principles that can be used to create any culture.including at the highest levels of government and how they can be applied to changing our national culture. In addition to Culture Is the Bass, Leonard is the creator of its complementary eight-module online course, "Creating a Culture of Execution: 7 Steps to Overcoming Team Resistance and Accomplishing More Every Day." His media one-sheet can be viewed here. He also delivered a 2018 TEDx talk on the value of deliberate practice and the neuroscience behind how practicing rewires the brain. About Gerald J. Leonard Gerald J. Leonard is president and CEO of Principles of Execution), a Washington, D.C.-based Certified Minority Business Enterprise and strategic project portfolio management and IT governance consulting practice. He attended Central State University in Ohio where he received a bachelor of music degree and later earned a master's in music for classical bass from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. After graduation, Leonard moved to New York City, where he worked as a professional bassist and studied with the late David Walters, distinguished professor of double bass at both the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools of Music. During the last 20-plus years, he has worked as an IT project management consultant and earned his PfMP, PMP, MCSE, MCTS, CQIA, COBIT Foundation, and ITIL Foundation certifications. He has also acquired certifications in project management, business intelligence and more from the University of California, Berkeley, Goldratt Institute, Cornell University, and The Wharton School. Contact: Gerald J. Leonard, (443) 622-4740; [email protected]; http://www.geraldjleonard.com SOURCE Gerald Leonard Related Links http://www.geraldjleonard.com A boy who was stabbed to death at a train station allegedly spent the day as a 'walking target' after escaping another attempt on his life that morning. Louis Johnson, 16, who was murdered outside East Croydon station last night, told friends he was set up in an attempt on his life at 11am on the morning of his death. He was on his way to a Youth Offending Team meeting in Battersea that morning when he was left with a ripped Gucci pouch after a scuffle with a stranger. Staff had offered him a 50 Tesco voucher if he arrived home by 6pm that night, and he was supposed to take a taxi but decided to get the train home. Louis, of South Norwood, was then fatally stabbed at East Croydon station in a suspected targeted machete attack at about 4.45pm that same day yesterday. His death was likely due to be a postcode wards, according to friends who said Louis was seen as an 'opportunity' having lived in Tooting and Lewisham before moving. The scene at East Croydon railway station last night after a teenager was stabbed to death Police officers stood next to a cordon last night put in place near East Croydon railway station Best friends Mia and Ashanti, who knew Louis since beginning secondary school aged 11, laid flowers at the scene today. They said Louis would have been excited to get home and give the Tesco voucher to his mum who was 'his whole world' and who would have been in his final thoughts before he died. They described him as a loving, caring person who lifted people up by pulling funny faces and liked making lots of money in whatever way possible. Ashanti, 16, from Catford, said: 'When he told us in the morning, I felt scared and wasn't sure what to do. We wanted to know who did it but he said he didn't know. 'We know he was scared for his life and he knew he was going to lose his life. 'He said someone had come and spoken to him at about 10 or 11am and that something didn't feel right and they laid hands on him and his Gucci pouch was ripped. 'The YOT team gave him a 50 Tesco voucher for him to be home before 6pm and he was stabbed at 4.36pm. 'He would have been getting the train to Norwood Junction to give the Tesco voucher to his mum. 'He would have been happy to look after his mum. She was the only person he really cared for. He cared for his friends but his mum was his world. 'I saw a picture of him on social media after it happened and it broke my heart. You don't expect to be lying in bed and find out your friend has died. 'It is difficult, it happened less than 24 hours ago. Other friends from school are sad but don't have the strength to come here today.' Best friend Mia, 16, from Lewisham, said Louis was clearly targeted by a man carrying a machete in a stupid postcode war. She said: 'The person had a machete, clearly knowing they were targeting Louis. 'The police think they are doing everything they can to stop knife crime but it is so easy to buy a machete online within five seconds and click and collect. 'Louis would never approach someone he was unsure of. If he knew something was going to happen, he would take himself out of the situation. He was set up. 'He was the tallest, skinniest person ever and they stabbed him with a machete. That would have gone straight through him. 'It was probably just postcode wars and it is that stupid. We are living in 2020 and still there are people who carry a knife and trying to prove they are a big bad person. 'Louis lived in Tooting and Lewisham before moving to South Norwood and people probably saw him as an opportunity but he was a living person and a loving person. 'He was on tag recently and the YOT team just wanted him to be safe. He has come so far. 'He used to be badly behaved kid and this year was his year to step up his game and prove everyone wrong. We are 28 days into January and now he is gone. 'He just wanted to make it in life. He liked making money in whatever ways he could. He just wanted to live a peaceful life. Everyone just wants to come off the streets and feel they can go home safely.' The friends recalled Louis pulling funny faces to make people laugh and always being a shoulder to lean on. Mia, who saw Louis just days before his death, said: 'We went to school together and then we started speaking again in September after losing contact. 'I saw him just the other day when he went to get his hair cut and he was so happy to have it done. 'We would speak every day on Snapchat. He was always there for everyone, he could turn your frown upside down and make you laugh. A heavy police presence outside East Croydon station last night after Louis Johnson was killed One witness said they saw a man with a machete and another on the floor near the ticket office 'He was happy looking after his mum and the kindest, loveliest person.' Louis was not in school and instead attended a pupil referral unit, according to a charity worker who laid flower tributes by the police cordon today. Chantal Goodridge, who supports children affected by violence at Croydon-based charity Off The Record, said Louis was supposed to be getting a taxi home. She said: 'It is really sad. He was meant to be getting a cab home from Battersea but he ended up catching the train instead. 'We don't know if this was gang related at this time but one thing that is really clear is that youth related violence is a big issue at the moment. 'I did not know him personally but I know that he was not in school and he went to a PRU (pupil referral unit) in Wandsworth. 'I don't know the reason why but such units are for young people who might have been excluded from school or not have had access to a school for other reasons.' The boy's death was the ninth murder to hit London this year, and the second in Croydon, following the killing of 60-year-old Krasimir Kartikov on January 13. Police said Louis entered the station via a ticket barrier yesterday afternoon and met the suspect 'who immediately pulls out a knife and stabs him'. Emergency services, including paramedics and the air ambulance, were sent to the station but he was pronounced dead at the scene. No one has been arrested. A young woman who witnessed the incident claimed today that Louis was stabbed in the face, but British Transport Police said this was not the case. The witness, from East Croydon, said: 'I just passed through the ticket barrier and somebody was shouting and screaming. 'I don't think he was stabbed in the body, I think he was stabbed in the face because he was holding his face and he was bleeding from the face. 'At first I thought it was a joke but then I looked and he had blood on his face and hands so I don't think he was stabbed in the body.' The witness added that Louis had been screaming out in pain after the attack. Police have launched a murder investigation after Louis was stabbed to death in East Croydon A forensics officer at the scene at East Croydon station after a teenager was stabbed to death Another witness claimed they saw a man with a machete at the busy south London commuter station and then saw a person 'slumped near the ticket office' with 'blood everywhere'. Detective Chief Inspector Sam Blackburn said: 'This was a senseless killing at an extremely busy time of the day, and my thoughts are with Louis's family at this painfully difficult time. 'For such a young man to lose his life in these circumstances is truly devastating, and I would like to reassure everyone that a thorough investigation is well under way. 'With that in mind, we continue to appeal for anyone with information to get in touch as a matter of urgency. 'The incident was over within a matter of 40 seconds, but I know many other passengers or members of the public would have seen what happened. If you have not already spoken with police, please get in touch.' Social media users took to Facebook today where they paid tribute to the youngster, with many saying 'rest in peace'. A sign at one of the entrances to East Croydon station today following the stabbing last night= An entrance to East Croydon train station is cordoned off by tape today due to the probe Another user said: 'At a boy at the start of adult life, such a senseless tragic waste. Thoughts are with his family and friends.' One called it a 'tragic waste', while a third added: 'Hope they catch them.... condolences to his family'. A shop worker told how she pulled down the shutters in fear and saw the knifeman flee onto the platform and possibly catch a train as commuters screamed. The woman, from East Croydon, said: 'I saw the guy who was stabbed. He was screaming and shouting in pain. He was bent down, he was bleeding a lot. 'He was not saying anything, he was just shouting. There were people helping him, he was surrounded by people. 'Station staff were shouting and I pulled the shutters down because I was afraid the guy with the knife might come and do something to us. WHERE THE NINE MURDERS IN LONDON DURING 2020 HAVE BEEN COMMITTED # NAME AGE DATE INCIDENT TIME STREET LOCATION 1 William Algar 53 Jan 3 4.57pm Nowell Road Barnes 2 Takieddine Boudhane 30 Jan 3 6.50pm Charteris Road Finsbury Park 3 Krasimir Kartikov 60 Jan 13 8.50am Whitehorse Road Croydon 4 Harinder Kumar 22 Jan 19 7.38pm Elmstead Road Seven Kings 5 Narinder Singh 26 Jan 19 7.38pm Elmstead Road Seven Kings 6 Baljit Singh 34 Jan 19 7.38pm Elmstead Road Seven Kings 7 Beverley Denahy 61 Jan 22 11.35pm Waverley Avenue Chingford 8 Unnamed man 60s Jan 24 11.29pm Mount Pleasant Lane Clapton 9 Louis Johnson 16 Jan 27 4.45pm East Croydon station Croydon LONDON MURDERS 2020 Where the nine murders across the capital this year have happened William Algar, 53, Jan-03, Barnes Takieddine Boudhane, 30, Jan-03, Finsbury Park Krasimir Kartikov, 60, Jan-13, Croydon Harinder Kumar, 22, Jan-19, Seven Kings Narinder Singh, 26, Jan-19, Seven Kings Baljit Singh, 34, Jan-19, Seven Kings Beverley Denahy, 61, Jan-22, Chingford Unnamed man, 60s, Jan-24, Clapton Louis Johnson, 16, Jan-27, Croydon 'He ran off down onto the platform. I think he got onto a train. I am not sure if it was the same guy. There seemed to be two other people who were shouting. 'I was on the kiosk serving a customer when I first heard the shouting. There were so many customers at the time.' Another local resident, who was visiting a station coffee shop this morning, said: 'It's all too common these days. I think if you are found carrying a knife there should be an automatic prison sentence.' A witness told MyLondon yesterday: 'I was passed by someone with a machete when walking up to East Croydon station, as I reached the top of the stairs there was blood everywhere and a lad slumped in the ticket office by the barriers. It didn't look great, staff and security were on hand.' Detective Superintendent Gareth Williams from British Transport Police said: 'Clearly this was a deeply shocking incident, outside a very busy transport hub in Croydon. 'Tragically, a young man has lost his life tonight and I know this will be heart-breaking news for his family. We have now launched a murder enquiry and I am urgently appealing for any witnesses to get in touch. 'We believe the assault happened near the back entrance to East Croydon station near Ruskin Square, shortly after 4.30pm. If you were in the area and witnessed any altercation, please contact us as soon as possible.' The force also authorised additional Section 60 Stop and Search powers. Rail services and Tramlink into East Croydon were not disrupted by the incident. Anyone with information is asked to contact British Transport Police by sending a text to 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 395 of 27/01/2020. Or you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. The nation paid tribute to freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai on Tuesday on his 155th birth anniversary. Popularly known as Punjab Kesari, he played a pivotal role in the Independence movement of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage and stated that tales of his commitment towards the nation will always inspire countrymen. Taking to the micro-blogging site, Twitter, the Prime Minister wrote, "Salute to the brave son of mother India, Punjab Kesari Lala Lajpat Rai on his birth anniversary. His saga of sacrificing his life for the independence of the country will always inspire the countrymen." Live TV Calling him an exceptional leader, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paid tribute to the great freedom fighter. "I bow to great freedom fighter and a true nationalist, Lala Lajpat Rai on his jayanti. The nation pays heartfelt tributes to Lalaji, an exceptional leader and mentor, for his immense contribution to Indias freedom struggle," Singh tweeted. The freedom fighter died on November 17, 1928, of a heart attack. Pilot models of the Uber self-driving car is displayed at the Uber Advanced Technologies Center on September 13, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Instead ATG plans only to introduce self-driving to new markets when it's technologically feasible, safe and cost effective. A long-term vision with short term goals, Uber ATG is focused on limited geographic presence and limited "autonomous capabilities." ATG doesn't want to solve every self-driving problem, everywhere, all-of the time as they compete with the likes of Tesla , Alphabet 's Waymo, Lyft , GM and Didi Chuxing. Learning from their much documented downfall thereafter, including a fatal crash involving a self-driving Uber car in Tempe, Arizona, Uber's ATG has a new scaled down, multi-pronged approach for its self-driving ambitions. "ATG is a growth play for Uber," said Eric Meyhofer, the head of ATG at Uber. He was among the 40 to 50 people, many from Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, who left academia to fulfill the promise of bringing to market the new concept of a robotaxi. In 2015, under then-CEO Kalanick, the company had an ambitious target of achieving autonomy at scale by 2020. If done right Uber's looking at a sizable slice of a very big pie. Realistic estimates for autonomous ride-hailing are still tough given regulatory hurdles. Yet, investment firm ARK's research suggests that the 10-year net present value of this opportunity exceeds $1 trillion today and should hit $5 trillion by 2024 and $9 trillion by 2029. Of note, ARK is historically bullish on next generation technology bets, using the thesis to make investments. The driver represents the single largest expense in non-autonomous ride-sharing at 80% of the total per mile cost, according to estimates by research firm Frost & Sullivan. By removing the driver from the equation, fully autonomous vehicles dramatically lower the cost of a ride while boosting its addressable market. Already offering software as a service, Uber plans to take the bet further by making the cost of rides so low (between its fleet of human and robot cars) that vehicle ownership becomes obsolete. So why the hub-hub around self-driving, especially for a money losing ride hailing platform like Uber? And yet, Uber's management or even the analyst community rarely discuss it. But speaking to those in the know you get a sense that this group which houses Uber's self-driving car ambitions is the real key to Uber owning the future of mobility, a space that's now seeing fierce competition from tech and automakers alike. Khosrowshahi's goal is to get Uber to profitability by 2021. And the sharpest arrow in the company's arsenal to achieving profitability is also the least understood. Uber's self-driving unit, the Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), has an estimated valuation of over $7 billion , representing more than10% of Uber's current market cap of about $61 billion. "The vision for growth is absolutely there. But growth where it makes sense." Dara Khosroshahi, Uber's CEO told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Unsaid in Khosrowshahi's statement is the pivot to profitability in a market environment that's stopped giving loss making "unicorns" a free pass. Its co-founder and ousted CEO Travis Kalanick sold all his stock and left the company's board late last year. Uber sold its much fast-growing food-delivery Eats division in India and public markets have voted by sending the stock steadily down since its debut as investors question its path to profitability. "The goal is to create a cheaper, better and safer automated option for consumers using Uber's ride-hailing service," Meyhofer said, adding that the technology has to pass through three stages: developing, piloting and commercialization. Uber's ATG unit is currently in the development stage. Cheaper means reducing the cost per mile of a self-driven ride to below that of an UberX ride today. A goal that's still "ways off," according to Uber ATG's spokeswoman. Better indicates making the ride a luxurious experience while reducing customer wait times. To this end Uber, partnered with Volvo and Toyota to co-engineer what Meyhofer calls the most "opulent" self-driving ride experience on the market. Goal three, and probably the most important for Uber's ATG unit, is safety, which could make or break the company's self-driving ambitions. Regulators could also cause delays over safety concerns. Today, Uber tests self-driving cars on roads in Pittsburgh. But before a self-driving Uber car even hits the road, ATG performs multiple rounds of software simulations to make sure its nearly perfect. "But this is a mistake," Jeff Schneider, a former Uber ATG engineering manager, said. "The pull back in road testing across the industry is not what will make the technology better. Those who get back on the road and test will take the lead." Schneider left the company in 2018 to return to academia as a faculty professor with a specialization in machine learning and robotics at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute. But Meyhofer said getting the software right is equally as important. "We've amassed petabytes of data by now, probably far more than Netflix," Meyhofer said. Developing a self-driving vehicle has two components: the software (the driver) and the hardware (the vehicle to be driven), Meyhofer said. Various ATG teams in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Toronto are working on building 3D maps, databases for machines to learn from and creating software for "perfect driving." For testing, humans drive the Uber's modified Volvo XC90 on the streets. The first pass on a route is to map out the area. The second pass by a human-driven vehicle through the previously mapped areas is for the "perfect drive," or the best version of perfect human driving. The data collected from "good driving behavior" feeds into Uber's self-driving algorithm to teach the software how to drive on its own in the mapped area. In many ways building self-driving technology is like teaching a teenager how to drive, equipping them with all the essential information, rules of the road, driving temperament and hours of practice in the hope that there will be no incidents once a computer takes the wheel. Engineers run through real-world simulations to test the software's navigational capabilities in "auto" mode if left on its own. Each simulation leads to software tweaks to make the driving better. Internally, the ATG units' policies are scrutinized by their self-driving safety and responsibility advisory (SARA) board created in the aftermath of the Tempe crash. The board reviews, advises and suggests changes to ATG's policies on a quarterly basis. Finally, the self-driven vehicle is ready to take the road, but only with a human driver, known in the company as a "mission specialist" behind the wheel. While human driver provides no input unless required, they stay with their hands floating above the steering wheel, so engineers back at home base can compare simulation to actual performance. "The ultimate north star for the company is Level 4 autonomy," Meyhofer said. The industry defines Level 4 as "attention off" driving, that is the vehicle can take control under most circumstances and performs all critical functions, even making decisions like when to change lanes, and using a turn signal, on its own. But a key point to Level 4 is that the vehicle cannot operate in 100% of the conditions and therefore a human is required. Sounds ambitious? It is. But don't expect Uber to be on the sidelines until it achieves complete Level 4 autonomy. Meyhofer brought about a radical new approach to thinking about autonomy. Think about a self-driving car that's completely autonomous, but only when making right turns on a predetermined route. In the Uber ATG-defined autonomous world, this is a "limited operational domain" vehicle that could be deployed as a "self-driven ride" in Uber's fleet. It also underscores the out-of-the-box thinking Uber has deployed to retain investor confidence in its future bets while it still struggles to make a profit in its current business verticals. "I worry that ATG is throwing good money after bad. Even in my conversations with them there seems to be almost of a 'we have to do it' versus 'we want to do it' approach," said Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik. Shmulik rates the stock as "outperform" with a price target of $40, while estimating the company will grow at a 30% rate over the next three years. "ATG is not trying to build a robot car," Meyhofer said. The grand plan is to build a self-driving ride sharing service that's better, cheaper and safer than available transportation options, and integrate it to complement Uber's current human-driven fleet. But competition is building fast around the company with Waymo, GM and several others all working on self-driving technology. "Essentially it comes down to the way the market plays out," Shmulik said. "If Waymo becomes the predominant Autonomous Vehicle Operating System, then Lyft (and their partnership with Waymo) should realize margin expansion faster than Uber." Uber's strategy is to be selective about where it launches self-driving cars. Instead of launching everywhere, Uber plans to map pockets of various cities that fit the most favorable profile for a self-driven vehicle, taking factors like weather, population density and road conditions into account. For example, the company has identified the residential neighborhood of Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh for deployment of self-driving cars with plans to expand in future. There are similar pockets identified in San Francisco, Toronto and Dallas, while simulating simulations for each of those cities takes place first at ATG's offices in Pittsburgh. This is also where Uber outshines the likes of Tesla or GM's Cruise unit, which don't have comparable riding data to leverage. An opportunity for Uber, as it analyzes its own ride-hailing usage patterns to identify opportunities most conducive for the self-driving unit to offer a self-driven ride that's cheaper than riding with a human. This caps the big shift for the ATG in the last two years: a multi-pronged, cost-driven approach to self-driving where they aren't trying to be all autonomous, everywhere, at all times. Instead, Uber plans to make bets where it's the most efficient to deploy self-driving cars The future of the Uber ride-hailing app is to offer a menu of services to get people and services around. That ranges from the human-driven UberX car to a self-driving car on a predetermined route to a fully autonomous vehicle that can take you anywhere. Overall, the hope is that spectrum can help reduce Uber's costs and bring it to the profitability investors have been looking for over the past year. Inspectors observed cockroach activity inside a Houston nursing home during inspections in the last four weeks, according to health inspection records. At another facility, inspectors found black and pink slime in an ice machine. Each week, Houston health inspectors distribute violations that carry a weight between 1 and 25, increasing in severity. Seriously, is there anyone Liam Neeson won't take on? Dude's 62 years old and still kicking the asses of terrorists, wolves and Sith lords all over the galaxy. (You have to wonder how he never made it into any of the Expendables films.) While Neeson has been busy snapping necks and cashing checks across his vast filmography, he has run across some of the most dangerous villains ever put up on the silver screen. To celebrate this Friday's release of his latest action romp, Taken 3, we decided to look back at Liam Neeson's 10 Greatest Foes from over the years: 10. Lynch (The A-Team) In the A-Team movie, Neeson's Hannibal, leader of the wrongly-accused A-Team, uncovers a conspiracy within the American military, lead by Patrick Wilson's Lynch. Lynch always seems to be a step ahead, but Neeson gets by with a little help from his friends. Winner: Neeson and his band of misfits. 9. Hades (Clash of the Titans) Neeson sparred for a second time with Ralph Fiennes, this time as Olympian gods Zeus and Hades respectively. After Neeson frees Hades to condemn mankind for blasphemy, he seeks out the help of his half-human son Perseus (Sam Worthington) to banish his brother back to the underworld. Winner: Zeus, though his son did all the work. 8. Wolves (The Grey) As John Ottway, Neeson tries to protect plane crash survivors from a huge pack of vicious wolves in the Alaskan wilderness. But as Neeson struggles against the wolves' force-of-nature, it's soon apparent that they're just stand-ins for his own internal struggle. Winner: Unknown. Neeson's fate and that of the alpha wolf are both left ambiguous. 7. Javert (Les Miserables) As bread-thief-set-free Valjean, Neeson spars with a prison guard who later becomes a policeman obsessed with returning him to prison. Javert, played by Geoffrey Rush, is relentless in his pursuit for almost 20 years. Valjean's kindhearted nature finally convinces Javert to give up the chase. Winner: Neeson, thanks to his virtue. 6. Emmet (The LEGO Movie) Bad Cop gave Neeson a rare opportunity to show off his comedic talents, since he also voiced Bad Cop's goofy alter-ego Good Cop. His pursuit of average guy Emmet (Chris Pratt) on behalf of Lord Business (Will Ferrell) ends when he decides to be Good and help Emmet in the end. Winner: Emmet, thanks to a pure heart, though Neeson doesn't technically "lose" since he's never defeated. 5. The White Witch (The Chronicles of Narnia) Neeson gets his Jesus on, voicing the righteous, powerful lion Aslan. Tilda Swinton's wicked White Witch executes him in an elaborate ceremony, but it turned out that this god-like cat still had at least one life left. He later kills the Witch in battle. Winner: Neeson. 4. Albanian Mafia (Taken & Taken 2) CIA Agent Bryan Mills keeps getting tangled up in international kidnapping after his daughter (Maggie Grace) is abducted by an Albanian human trafficking ring. After he rescues Grace and executes her kidnapper in the first movie, the kidnapper's dad comes after Neeson and his wife (Famke Janssen) in Taken 2, but with Grace's assistance, Neeson regains the upper hand. Winner: Neeson and his particular set of skills. 3. Batman (Batman Begins) One of Neeson's rare villainous roles, his bait-and-switch as Batman's mentor-turned-enemy Ra's Al Ghul was unforgettable, mainly because he was convinced that his heinous task was a righteous one. He proved to be the Bat's equal in combat and would have destroyed Gotham, save for some quick-thinking on Bruce Wayne's part. Winner: Batman. Because duh. 2. Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) George Lucas' stilted direction made even the charismatic Neeson seem bored to be there. Thankfully things livened up during his final battle against Ray Park's Darth Maul. Unfortunately, despite some power meditation and slick lightsaber moves, Maul's double-bladed saber proved too much for ol' Qui-Gon. Winner: Maul, though it was short-lived thanks to a spry and energetic Ewan MacGregor slicing the dark lord in half a few minutes later. 1. Nazis (Schindler's List) Initially a Nazi party member himself, Neeson's Oskar Schindler used his connections to start a business in pursuit of profit. But over time he grew a conscience and spent his entire fortune keeping 1,200 Jews from execution by bribing Nazi officers like Ralph Fiennes' Amon Goeth. Winner: There were no winners in the Jewish Holocaust, but we're calling this one for Neeson/Schindler for saving as many lives as he did. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google Pay India has announced its apps for Android and iOS now support FASTag accounts via the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) facility. The app will allow users to link their FASTag accounts for purposes such as the amount recharge and payments record. Google India has said that users will be able to link the FASTag accounts by navigating to the 'Bill Payments' section inside the app, followed by choosing the bank that has issued FASTag and linked it to their bank account. Users will be required to enter the vehicle registration number after they have set up their FASTag account in the app. After the details have been filled out, users can proceed to recharge FASTag using UPI for as much as the maximum limit. All the recharge details, amount remaining in FASTag, and other support links will be available inside the app. While Google Pay has now added support for FASTag, other peers, such as Paytm, also provide sales of the FASTag chip to their users via their apps. After it was mandated by the government, FASTag chips have been put on sale by almost all vendors, including banks, digital payments services, and offline retailers. Essentially, FASTag is a digital toll collection tool that is attached to the windshield of a car or a truck. It used the Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID) to enable contactless payments when vehicles zip through toll plazas across highways in the country. These devices are linked to the owner's bank account, which is used for instant payments. Additionally, digital payments accounts can also be linked as a prepaid method for FASTag payments. The Indian government issued the mandate wherein all cards sold after December 2017 must use FASTag for toll payments. The implementation of FASTags across the country was supposed to be completed by January 15, 2020 the last deadline for the rollout. FASTag devices are being provided to customers free of charge, however, there is a minimum account balance amount that has to be maintained. According to a report by Livemint, FASTag system is now operational in over 500 state and national highways in the country. Moreover, the same technology is now being implemented for payments at fuel stations and parking plazas across the country. When that child is hungry, its very hard to focus on academics, said Luis Torres, principal for 15 years at Benjamin Franklin School, an elementary campus in the South Bronx that participates in the community school program. He said children cannot learn if they are worried about food, shelter, safety or health. Thats the real power of the community school. Youre not just focusing on academics. Youre focusing on the overall well-being of the children. Burma Bangladesh Police Bust Intl Gang Trafficking Rohingya Women Into Sex Work in Malaysia Two Coxs Bazar men arrested on suspicion of trafficking Rohingya women are seen with Bangladeshi police at a house in Dhaka on Sunday. / Supplied DHAKAOfficials from the Bangladesh polices Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said on Monday they had broken up a syndicate trafficking young female Rohingya refugees to Malaysia via India, mostly to be sold into sex work. The announcement followed Sundays raid by an RAB team on a house in Dhakas Aftabnagar neighborhood that led to the arrest of two suspected human traffickersKabir Ahmed, 40, of Coxs Bazar district and Mohammad Emran, 28, of Teknaf subdistrict of Coxs Bazarand the rescue of 13 young Rohingya women. The officials claimed the raid foiled a bid to send the women to Malaysia. During interrogation, Kabir reportedly told police that a man named Abdur Sabur based in Malaysia led the operation with the help of a Coxs Bazar-based relative, Mohammad Foyez and a man named Sultan based in Kolkata, India. They lured Rohingya women aged between 18 and 22 living in refugee camps in Coxs Bazar with promises of a better life abroad, Bangladeshi officials told The Irrawaddy. We arrested [Kabir and Emran] and investigators are still searching for their accomplices, said RAB-3 operation officer ABM Faijul Islam, adding that a case had been filed in connection with the arrests and that the rescued Rohingya women had been handed over to local police. The case investigation officer, Police Sub-inspector Fewdous Alam, told The Irrawaddy that all 13 Rohingya victims appeared on Tuesday in the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court, where they said they had been brought to Dhaka with the promise of being given lucrative jobs in the capital and elsewhere. We are keeping them at the Victim Support Center in Dhaka, but it has not been decided whether they will be sent back to the camps or not, he said. RAB officials said they found the Rohingya women at the house, which had been rented out seven months ago. They said forged documents including birth certificates and passports were seized at the scene. During his primary interrogation, Kabir told investigators that he and Emran were responsible for getting the Rohingya women to Sabur in Malaysia, where he would sell them into forced sex work, according to an RAB official who requested anonymity, as the investigation was ongoing. The selected girls were taken from Coxs Bazar and kept in Dhaka for weeks until their international travel documents were ready. They would be taken to Kolkata by bus from Dhaka via the Benapole [border crossing] and then flown to Malaysia. They have been doing it for a long time, said the RAB official. According to the RAB, at least seven Rohingya women were flown to Malaysia via this route in December, and another five last week. Kabir told us that the Rohingya girls were not aware that they would be sold for prostitution; they thought they would be given better jobs in Dhaka or abroad, said the anonymous official. We will be able to provide more details if we can have Sabur arrested in Malaysia. Kabir also had planned to go with the team as he had submitted his passport for an India visa, the RAB official said. The officials said Foyez, based in Coxs Bazar, was engaged by the group to lure young women from the camps with the promise of travel. The women were told they need not pay a single penny but will pay in future once they are settled abroad, said one of the officials, adding, Once the girl reaches Malaysia, the syndicate will receive 20,000-25,000 [Malaysian] ringgit [about 7 million-9 million kyats] per victim. The RAB said another person named Aiyub reportedly forged documents from various Bangladeshi offices required for passport issuance. Badda Police Station officer-in-charge Parvej Islam said both the rescued victims and suspects were sent to the court on Monday. We want court permission to interrogate the two suspects for 10 days in police custody, Parvej said. According to the RAB officials, Kabir and Emran are both of Rohingya parentage. Kabir was born in Myanmar and moved to Bangladesh many years ago, while Emran was born in Bangladesh to a Rohingya mother. The RAB officials said they were searching for more suspects in connection with the operation, adding that it was likely that a number of corrupt officials were involved in the process of arranging Bangladeshi passports to send forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals to a third country. Bangladeshs Airport Armed Police Battalion has increased its checks at Dhakas Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in recent years, making it far more difficult for Rohingya to leave the country by air, even if they have managed to obtain travel documents. We check them based not [only] on their documents but rather by looking for suspicious signs, especially by talking with them personally and seeing who is behind their travel, said Additional Superintendent Alamgir Hossain of the Airport Armed Police. He added that for Rohingya it is now also very difficult to use sea routes to leave Bangladesh, so the only alternative was Kolkata airport. Refugee camps in Coxs Bazar are currently home to more than 700,000 Rohingya who fled Myanmar in August 2017 when the Myanmar military launched security clearance operations targeting the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, after it attacked police outposts. You may also like these stories: Rohingya Women Killed by Artillery Shell in Myanmars Rakhine Highlights From the Summary of Myanmar Report on Human Rights Violations in Rakhine Artwork filled a room that not too long ago was empty on Main Street in Worcester. A painting of Tupac Shakur depicted the late rapper giving a side-eye stare to the U.S. Capitol. A few feet down on the same wall, a painting on the subject of the 13th Amendment showed a black man ripping apart two metal bars with the Kenyan and American flags in the background. The inspiration came from the minds of Worcester residents: One, an immigrant Air Force veteran, the other, a teacher in Cambridge. Each used the opportunity to show their work - that otherwise may not be seen - within the space on the first floor of the Aurora Apartments to fill a void within the art community. I grew up thinking there were lots of things missing from art spaces, but I didnt always know what they were, Jennessa Burks said. As Ive grown, I realize its people like me and those that Ive been around, that I feel like have been missing from these spaces. So although Ive loved art, Ive never felt completed with it. This painting by Jennessa Burks is an expression of the 13th Amendment in the United States. Saturday night sparked the beginning of a four-month series inside the space where local artists can display their work through Creative Hub Worcester. The non-profit frames and displays the work at no cost, while allowing the artists to retain 100 percent of the commission if the work sells. Saturday began with works of art described as The Feeling of Otherness. Beginning Feb. 15, the work transitions to Main South Residents. The third leg of the artwork is Multi-theological Perspectives before the final segment begins on April 4 with Female Artists, Female Empowerment. The work in the first installment included references to identity, Kanye West and Tupac. Black and white photos lined the walls. Paintings large and small filled the space. Burks, who grew up in Worcester and lives in West Boylston, is a teacher but not in the subject of art. Growing up, while she felt a passion for it, she said she wasnt exposed to it as an opportunity to pursue. Then working two jobs, going to school and raising a child, led her to put her paintbrushes down for a decade. I only continued a couple years ago because I got encouragement from one person, Burks said. It really only takes encouragement from one person to get you back going. If one person within the community draws inspiration from her work, Burks believes the art series is worth it. This piece of work was completed by Monyenou Tehoue of Worcester as part of a gallery that kicked off last weekend inside The Aurora. Monyenou Tehoue, who emigrated from the Ivory Coast to Worcester 15 years ago, shares that belief. Beautiful people need to see beautiful things, Tehoue said. I believe that sometimes people may be addicted to drugs, or may not have money at all. They may be just going to work. They dont have time to go to the gallery. But you as an artist can come to them. Tehoue painted the piece that included Tupac with his eyes locked on Worcester City Hall within the coffee shop The Brew On The Grid. Hes painted on the commuter rail from Worcester to South Station. Hes sat in Worcester Common. I call myself a journalist of color. I tell stories with colors, Tehoue said. I do my interviews on the train. I do my interviews outside. The best interviews are when you listen not when you talk. As a child, Tehoue said he always drew sketches of what he saw around him, but art never appeared as a future opportunity. He came to the United States from the Ivory Coast as a 15-year-old, graduated from North High School, then joined the Air Force. His father, also in the military but in the Ivory Coast, unleashed the artist within Tehoue. He said, Whatever you do, if youre the best at it, Ill be proud of you, Tehoue said. 'If youre a garbage man, but youre the best garbage man, Ill be proud of you. When he told me that, everything dropped. Monyenou Tehoue explains the inspiration behind his work at Creative Hub Worcester's gallery at The Aurora. Using the G.I. Bill, Tehoue enrolled at Harvard Extension School. He plans on earning an art degree at Yale. The Ivy League school requires an art background to enroll, so Tehoue plans on taking art classes in Worcester. A lot of my friends who joined the military died. They werent able to have this. I feel like I kind of owe this to them to kind of make it, Tehoue said. I also owe it to my son so he knows you can change the trajectory of your life if you want to. Creative Hub Worcesters gallery at The Aurora represents a small boost in that trajectory. I dont call myself a struggling artist because as human beings we struggle period," Tehoue said. If Im a struggling artist that means Im blessed, because Im an artist. When Edward Protzman arrived at Mason (Ohio) High School in 2017, the band program had experienced a whirlwind of director turnovers. As director of bands, Protzman helped foster relationships to build the program back up, resulting in his receipt of the George N. Parks Leadership in Music Education Award at the Bands of America (BOA) Grand Nationals in November 2019. The National Association for Music Education and Music for All, BOA organizer, have teamed up since 2011 to give the award to a band director who embodies the characteristics of the late George N. Parks, past director of the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band and founder of the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy. Parks was known for his enthusiasm, collaboration, perseverance, and dedication to students. Protzman says he was surprised and humbled by the award, crediting administrators and faculty for helping him mend vital relationships in the school district and community. The award was especially memorable as it tied together a couple of my worlds with nominations and supporting letters from a past band director, former student, and current band parent, he says. The Mason Band is a consistent finalist at BOA Grand Nationals, placing 7th in 2019, and the Mason Wind Symphony has been commended by The Foundation for Music Education National Wind Band Honors. Protzman says the key is teamwork and a consistent teaching approach. For example, all of the middle school band directors help with the high school marching band. Its one of the few places where we all work as one big team, so for the students, its a very consistent approach from 6th grade all the way through 12th grade, Protzman says. We all get along really well, so theres a deep friendship and support system, and I think that helps because were so united. Learn more about George N. Parks and the legacy he left behind. Photo courtesy of Mason Band Photo Team. By Stephen Kalin RIYADH (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states have long channelled funds into Lebanon's fragile economy but its rich neighbours, alarmed by the rising influence of their arch-rival Iran's ally Hezbollah, now appear loath to help ease Beirut's worst financial crisis in decades. Prime Minister Hassan Diab, whose cabinet took office last week with the backing of the Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah movement and its partners, said his first trip abroad would be to the Arab region, particularly the Sunni-dominated Gulf monarchies. He is unlikely to be received warmly. None of the Gulf Arab countries, allies of Washington, has officially commented on the new government formed after weeks of wrangling nor extended public invitations to Diab. A regional source said because of Hezbollah's influence, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will not step in to help heavily indebted Lebanon, which has been without effective government since protests prompted Saad al-Hariri to quit as premier in October. "These states now say he is not welcome," Ahmad Jaralah, editor-in-chief of Kuwaiti newspaper al-Siyasa, wrote last week about Diab. "They will not agree to resurrect the snake called Hezbollah and they will not submit to its blackmail under the banner of helping the Lebanese people." Prominent Emirati billionaire Khalaf Ahmad al-Habtoor chimed in on Twitter, predicting no aid would come "As long as Lebanon is in the grip of Hezbollah and the Amal movement, and as long as its streets and universities display pictures of the criminal Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the slogans of Iran's mullahs." In Saudi Arabia, columnist Tariq al-Hamid wrote in the Okaz daily: "Why is it now demanded from the international community and the Gulf to support Lebanon without demanding the same of Iran which got Lebanon into this situation?" Lebanon's crisis is rooted in decades of official corruption and waste. A hard currency squeeze has pushed up prices, hit the Lebanese pound, and driven banks to impose controls. Story continues Heavily armed Hezbollah and its allies, including President Michel Aoun, nominated Diab last month after efforts failed to strike a deal with Hariri, the country's main Sunni leader and a traditional Western ally. Foreign donors have said any support depends on enacting long-delayed reforms. Hariri came away empty-handed from talks in Abu Dhabi in October. Emirati political analyst Abdulkhaleq Abdullah said Beirut should ask its backers in Iran for help with its economic troubles. "Let #the_party_of_Iran_in_Lebanon and Tehran serve you," he tweeted. "The gates of the Gulf capitals are still closed." (Additional reporting by Ghaida Ghantous in Beirut; Editing by Giles Elgood) Technology giants Facebook, Google and Twitter are desperately tying to stop misinformation about the Wuhan coronavirus spreading online. Viral posts have been doing the rounds on Twitter, including claims the killer condition can be treated with oregano oil and people calling it a 'fad disease'. Other outlandish hoaxes doing the rounds on social media include the implication the US government has patented coronavirus. Fact-checkers have found this to be completely untrue and the Silicon Valley tech firms are battling to stop such claims from spreading to avoid mass hysteria. A total of 18 nations including the US, Australia, Canada and France, have confirmed cases of coronavirus. The disease is now confirmed to have infected at least 4,500 people around the world and to have killed 106 in China since the outbreak a month ago. Scroll down for video The above picture shared by China's National Microbiology Data Centre shows the first-ever specimen of the novel coronavirus, known as '2019-nCov', extracted from a patient Thai Airways employees are pictured disinfecting an empty plane cabin at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok today, January 28. Thailand has 14 confirmed coronavirus cases the most outside of China The Washington Post reports that the cyber-world has also been infected with various factually incorrect conspiracy theories. Facebook confirmed to the Post that seven partner organisations had issued nine fact-checks on coronavirus. When these were brought to the attention to Facebook, they were labelled as inaccurate and downgraded in users' feeds. 'This situation is fast-evolving and we will continue our outreach to global and regional health organisations to provide support and assistance,' Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said in a statement to the newspaper. One post claimed oregano oil was effective against coronavirus. This is false and experts have said a vaccine could take as long as two months to create. The post was widely shared across several closed groups on Facebook but dates back to an original post more than ten years old. The killer coronavirus outbreak has now killed 106 people and struck down more than 4,500. Cases have been spotted in Canada, US, France and Australia Experts say the difficulty of containing the coronavirus is that so many patients have mild, cold-like symptoms and don't realise they have the infection Twitter is also trying to guide users away from nonsense posts that could threaten people's safety, and towards legitimate sources. In the US, this includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Google-owned YouTube said its algorithm also prioritises more credible sources. Despite these efforts, false information is still getting a lot of traction in dark corners of the sites, with some videos racking up hundreds of thousands of views. For example, a prominent Twitter user called coronavirus a 'fad disease' and alluded to the claim of the government buying a patent. Fact-checkers comprehensively disproved this, but the tweet still received 5,800 likes. A YouTube video, accusing the 'deep state' government of using coronavirus to draw attention away from President Trump's impeachment has also been viewed more than 2,000 times. While tech companies can screen these posts from mainstream view, by deprioritising them in search results, they still exist on the web and, once found, can lead users into a labyrinth of conspiracy theories. Farshad Shadloo, a spokesperson for YouTube, said the company is 'investing heavily to raise authoritative content on our site and reduce the spread of misinformation on YouTube'. While Twitter's spokesperson, Katie Rosborough, added policies are in place that prohibit co-ordinated efforts to mislead people. She said the company also is expanding a feature in the Asia-Pacific region so that 'when an individual searches a hashtag they're immediately met with authoritative health info from the right sources up top', the Washington Post reports. Social media firms have recently come under criticism for failing to take stern enough action on health misinformation. Anti-vaxxers influencing people to not give their children routine jabs have found a devoted following on social media. Health experts have repeatedly called for action to stop the spread of these claims, which contradict all of modern science. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 29) Philippine Ambassador to China Chito Sta. Romana advised Filipinos residing in Wuhan, China on Tuesday, to stay put and avoid further exposure to the virus by going outdoors. But according to him, the government also offers an option of repatriation for those who intend to come home. "Stay safe and sound where you are. Avoid going outside the house. Avoid social contact with people who might be affected. Stay healthy. Stay put as much as possible. At present, there are 30 to 50 Filipinos in Wuhan - the ground zero of the novel coronavirus -- who expressed intent to head home. "I can understand the feelings of our countrymen, that's why we try to keep in contact with them to make sure they are safe and sound. Sta. Romana said. He advised those who want to fly back home to weigh their decisions, including the risks of being further exposed to the virus by traveling. He added that they will not be able to reunite with their families immediately when they arrive in the country as they have to undergo a period of quarantine. University of the Philippines professor Jan Robert Go presently resides in Wuhan as he studies his doctorate degree in Political Theory, and is one out of the two Filipino students in his university. According to Go, he stays in his dormitory all the time unless he has to buy food at a nearby grocery store. He is one of the Filipinos who chose to stay. As far as our university is concerned, no one has contracted the virus yet inside the university. So more or less, its safe inside the university, he told CNN Philippines. There have been no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the Philippines. Mostly dry and partly sunny skies returned to northern California today. Most areas stayed dry while some light scattered showers continued to brush through the Northern Mountains. Temperatures topped out in the 50's to low 60's in the valley, while mountain and foothill areas ended up in the 40's to 50's. Winds are out of the South to around 15mph this evening. Clouds will start to fill back into our region this evening ahead of the next chance for showers that is expected to move into the Northern Mountains later tonight. The potential for showers will return to the northern end of the valley by around midnight, and then a chance for scattered showers will sag South through early in the day on Tuesday. Shower chances look much better in northern zones of our region. Redding will have a 70 percent chance for showers early in the day tomorrow compared to a 30 percent chance for some showers in Chico. The best chance for showers will be during the morning, and then will slowly diminish through your afternoon. Overnight low temperatures are projected to drop in to the mid 40's in the valley, and into the low to mid 30's in most mountain areas. High temperatures are projected to end up in the high 50's to around 60 degrees in the valley, and mountain areas will mostly top out in the mid 40's. The potential for showers is currently expected to wrap up head into tomorrow night. Dry and warming weather is projected for the remainder of the week. Skies will trend partly to mostly cloudy from Wednesday through Saturday. Temperatures will top out in the low 60's in the valley on Wednesday and will climb into the high 60's to low 70's for your Friday and Saturday. Mountain areas will be in the 40's to low 50's on Wednesday and will also slowly warm through the end of the week. Most mountain areas will end up in the high 40's to high 50's for the end of your work week and start of the weekend. We'll also have a slight chance for some overnight and early morning fog development in valley areas, but the cloudy skies and moderate winds could limit that potential. The next chance for showers is projected to return to the north state just in time for Super Bowl Sunday. Mountain and North Valley areas are currently projected to have the best chance for wet weather on Sunday, but that still is a ways off and is subject to change. A man believed to have just burglarized a nearby home was found shot to death inside a Greenspoint apartment complex early Tuesday morning . Officers were called to the Breckenridge at Cityview Apartments in the 500 block of Seminar Drive around 1 a.m. after a neighbor found the man nearly lifeless on the second-floor entryway to an apartment, according to Houston Police Department Lt. Christopher Bruce. The man had been shot at least three times, Bruce said. Officers performed life-saving efforts on the man, but paramedics who came soon after pronounced him dead, Bruce said. MORE FROM JAY R. JORDAN: Young man shot, killed while hanging out with friend in SE Houston. The victim was found along with several stolen items, including a stolen ID card in his pocket, Bruce said. The items were linked to a burglary of another apartment across the street from Breckenridge at Cityview Apartments that happened moments before the man was found. What led to the gunfire was not immediately clear, Bruce said. Anyone with information is urged to call Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477). Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com New Delhi, Jan 28 : The Congress that is trying to reclaim its lost ground has drafted party leaders from Gujarat to campaign for the February 8 Delhi Assembly elections. As many as 30 Gujarat leaders have been campaigning and attempting to change the narrative on the Gujarat model by sharing with the people the reality about it. These leaders have been assigned specific constituencies after a meeting with General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal. They will visit the areas where Gujarati people live and try to convince them to vote for the Congress. The Congress that is facing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the polls has not been able to marshal senior leaders. Thus the party is focusing on micro campaigning in each constituency. It would benefit more, said a leader. The party has nominated fresh faces in most seats to protect itself from adverse image of earlier leaders and also because many senior leaders were not keen to contest. The Congress is trying to make the election Delhi-centric, like in Jharkhand and Haryana, whereas the BJP is pitching national issues. It is also banking on the work done by late three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Montgomery), the lead Senate sponsor this year and vice chair of Judicial Proceedings, said he is committed to working with advocates to gain Senate approval. He said plans to meet with Patterson and other colleagues to speak openly and honestly about the merits of the bill, which is modeled after an Oregon law that applies to terminally ill patients whose doctors say they have six months or less to live. The patients are residents of Delhi and they have been kept under strict health monitoring and isolation for the medical treatment.Speaking to ANI, Dr Meenakshi Bhardwaj, Medical Superintendent said: "All three patients are residents of Delhi-NCR. They all have revealed the history of returning back from China. They have come to the hospital for the medical treatment on their own after they faced some kind of respiratory illnesses. We are taking care of them and they are kept under the isolation."All three patients are between the age group of 24 to 48 years."While one patient is a student, the other two have gone for the business work trip to China and returned," said Bhardwaj.Dr Sujeet Singh, Director of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) told ANI that all the suspected samples of coronavirus reported at RML, have been sent to National Institute of Virology (Pune)."We are hoping that the report should come by tonight or else tomorrow morning," he said.Speaking about preventive measures taken up by the hospital authorities, the Medical Superintendent said: "We have set up a dedicated isolation coronavirus isolation ward. Our team of doctors and nurses have been instructed to monitor such patients, if the need arises. Also, the centre is making all important actions for preventive measure. However, as of now, no positive case of coronavirus has been reported to us."He also elaborated on preventive measures that can be adopted by people to safeguard themselves from such viruses."As a part of preventive measure against coronavirus infection, people are advised to cover their mouth with the mask, maintain a good standard of hand hygiene and should avoid travelling in crowded places. Any kind of fever, cough, cold and illness should be reported immediately to the nearest doctor," said Dr Bhardwaj.The hospital preparedness with regard to management and infection prevention control facilities was reviewed during high-level meetings on Monday.Following this, advisories, and IPC guidelines have been shared with the states and adequate stocks of logistics including PPE is available.The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has been conducting the thermal health screening of passengers arriving from China including Hong Kong to seven airports in India.These airports include: Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata respectively. All seven identified airports have virus screening and prevention signage displayed boldly at the strategic locations.This is being done as a preventive measure against the outbreak of deadly novel coronavirus Disease (nCoV) outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province of China where more than 2000 cases have been reported and the virus has claimed over 80 lives. (ANI) WASHINGTON A former police chief, a prosecutor who won the conviction of an F.B.I. agent and one of Texas first Latina representatives. A constitutional law professor who once defended O.J. Simpson against a murder charge, a former special prosecutor who pursued the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and a litigator for the Christian right. For the third time in American history, the Senate has convened as a court of impeachment to consider whether to remove a sitting president, and two teams of lawyers are facing off in a confrontation with heavy political and constitutional consequences. The seven House Democratic impeachment managers, handpicked by Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, have argued that President Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to help smear his political rivals and obstructed Congress to conceal his actions. Mr. Trumps defense team drawn from the White House counsels office and outside lawyers, including a few who frequently appear on television has argued that the president did nothing wrong and accused Democrats of using impeachment as a tool to remove an opponent they could not defeat at the ballot box. Here is a look at the opposing legal teams and how they see impeachment, in their own words. The House Impeachment Managers A South African billionaire businessman has apologised for telling US President Donald Trump that Africa loves you during the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. A video of Patrice Motsepes remarks to Mr Trump went viral on social media and sparked outrage from people who disagreed with Mr Motsepe and lambasted him for speaking on Africans behalf. In the video, Mr Motsepe can be heard telling Mr Trump during a group dinner that Africa loves America. Africa loves you. It is very, very important. We want America to do well. We want you to do well. Statement by Dr Patrice Motsepe on his remarks to President Donald Trump at Davos dinner. Full Story: https://t.co/qfllGkKd2U pic.twitter.com/FpZd5W3agl Motsepe Foundation (@MotsepeFoundtn) January 28, 2020 The success of America is the success of the rest of the world. In response to Mr Motsepes introduction, Mr Trump said: Youve done a great job, thank you very much. Mr Motsepes comments drew criticism even among some South African cabinet ministers, with finance minister Tito Mboweni saying the billionaires views did not represent those of the government. KwaZulu-Natal province premier Sihle Zikalala was more blunt, saying Mr Trump was not a friend of the ruling African National Congress party and that South Africa had nothing to benefit from the US president. I do not have the right to speak on behalf of anybody except myselfPatrice Motsepe Mr Trump has been criticised for his comments about Africa, including one comparing African nations to a dirty latrine, which led to widespread anger from Africans and even heads of state. In a statement released Tuesday, Mr Motsepe said the debate over his remarks had exposed him to different views. I have a duty to listen to these differing views and would like to apologise. I do not have the right to speak on behalf of anybody except myself, he said. Mr Motsepe said his remarks were partly aimed at encouraging discussions between the Trump administration and African political leaders amid increasing feedback from certain American political and business leaders that South Africa and some African countries are anti-America and its political leadership. Expand Close Marine One carrying US President Donald Trump to the Davos landing zone in Switzerland (Evan Vucci/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Marine One carrying US President Donald Trump to the Davos landing zone in Switzerland (Evan Vucci/AP) Mr Motsepe, the first black African on the Forbes billionaires list and brother-in-law of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, was attending a dinner of business leaders from around the world including Fifa president Gianni Infantino, the chief executives of Siemens and Saudi Aramco and the Ivory Coast-born chief executive of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam. More than 60 students attended the second meeting held by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) January 21 in its campaign for this years student parliament elections at Berlins Humboldt University (HU). Christoph Vandreier, the author of the book Why Are They Back?, spoke on how the ideological preparations for war and fascism are taking place 75 years after the end of World War II. A section of the meeting at Humboldt University Vandreier began by noting that right-wing extremist forces have always sought to falsify history and trivialise the Nazis crimes. But over recent years, these efforts have been seized upon and supported by broad sections of the media and politicians, said Vandreier. In this, Humboldt University is playing a key role. The deputy leader of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) dealt in detail with an article published by Der Spiegel in 2014 headlined The transformation of the past. The article cites the Humboldt University professor, now emeritus, Herfried Munkler, who stated that Germany did not pursue any imperialist interests during World War I. However, Vandreiers main focus was Jorg Baberowski, a professor of Eastern European history at Humboldt University, who declared his support for the most well-known Nazi apologist Ernst Nolte with the justification, Hitler was no psychopath, and he wasnt vicious. He did not want to talk about the extermination of the Jews at his table. Vandreier cited these statements and demonstrated the grotesque lies and historical falsifications they contain. If Hitler was not vicious, then this word no longer has any meaning, he stated. He cited the professor of law Andreas Fischer-Lescano, who argued that cruelty is a characteristic of murder that certainly applies to the Holocaust and found expression in the Nuremberg Trials. Vandreier demonstrated with a series of citations that the trivialisation and relativisation of the Holocaust and the Nazis war of annihilation against the Soviet Union are themes that feature again and again throughout Baberowskis work. An article appeared in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung one week earlier, Vandreier pointed out, which defended Baberowski and cited him as saying that Hitler did not want to know anything about Auschwitz. Christoph Vandreier speaking at the meeting Once again, it is a scandal that such a statement can appear in one of Germanys largest newspapers, stated Vandreier. It is the old argument of Nazi apologists, who claim the Holocaust was implemented in practice without Hitlers knowledge. As evidence, he cited the report written by the historian Peter Longerich for the trial of British Holocaust denier David Irving. The report confirms that the murder of European Jewry was the outcome of a systematically pursued policy, and that this policy was decisively pursued by the highest authority of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler. In addition, Vandreier also demonstrated that Hitler not only gave orders to kill Jews at his dinner table, but also subsequently watched specially prepared films of the worst acts of brutality carried out by the SS. He cited several statements from Hitler and the Reichsfuhrer of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, which prove beyond doubt that Hitler gave the orders to murder Jewish men, women and children, and that extreme cruelty was to be used. Many attendees responded with shock when Vandreier stated that Baberowskis statements trivialising Hitler in Der Spiegel went unchallenged for years by a single professor. On the contrary, the German government and large sections of the media defended Baberowski against any criticism. It was the IYSSE that was attacked for its critique of historical falsification, he said. On May 4 this year, a further step will be taken in transforming Baberowskis historical falsification into official state doctrine, continued Vandreier. On that date, the Foundation of Memorials in Saxony has invited Baberowski to deliver the main address at its main commemoration event for the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, along with German Defence Minister and leader of the Christian Democrats Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. This grotesque falsification of history and the rehabilitation of right-wing extremist ideology can only be understood in the context of the deepening capitalist crisis, continued the speaker. In order to return to policies of war and extreme levels of inequality, the ruling elite must, in the final analysis, resort to authoritarian and fascistic forms of rule and trivialise the crimes of the past, Vandreier explained. Professors Munkler and Baberowski have been in the front rank of attempts to propagate the return to militarism and drive to war. While Munkler urges the government to become Europes disciplinarian, and denounces politicians who talk about human rights as lollipop suckers, Baberowski declares that the war on terror can only be won if one is prepared to take hostages, burn villages, hang people and spread fear and terror. The lead candidate for the IYSSE in the student parliament elections, Sven Wurm, added to the lecture with a few points on concrete developments which make clear the extent of the revival of German imperialist foreign policy and the attacks on social conditions. The illegal murder of Iranian Gen. Suleimani at the beginning of January, as well as the Libya conference in Berlin last weekend, mark a qualitatively new stage of imperialist aggression by the major powers, said Wurm. The IYSSE opposes the growth of militarism with a socialist programme and is waging an unrelenting struggle against historical falsification and the trivialisation at HU of the Nazis crimes. Therefore, I call on all of you to support this struggle, the lead candidate concluded. The meeting was followed by a lively discussion. Those present asked questions about the character of fascism, the history of the workers movement and the decline of the Weimar Republic. Discussions continued long after the end of the meeting in the hallways and many participants stocked up on placards and flyers for the election campaign. The next and final election campaign meeting takes place today at 6:30pm and will focus on the revival of the class struggle and the perspective of international socialism. Information on how to vote and a list of all polling stations can be found here. Trump Offers China 'Any Help' to Fight Coronavirus By VOA News January 27, 2020 U.S. President Donald Trump has offered China any help needed to combat a deadly outbreak of a coronavirus that has killed 81 people. In a Monday tweet, Trump said, "We are in very close communication with China concerning the virus," adding, "We have offered China and President Xi (Jinping) any help that is necessary. Our experts are extraordinary!" Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the city of Wuhan on Monday to meet with health officials and examine the response to the outbreak. Wuhan is the center of the outbreak and people there and in several other cities face strict restrictions on movement as the government tries to prevent the virus from spreading. The head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, arrived Monday in Beijing, where he is expected to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the outbreak. The agency said there is still a chance to get ahead of the virus if there is strong cooperation. Beijing authorities also reported the capital's first death from the virus. Separately, in an effort to stop the virus from spreading, Mongolia closed its vast border with China, while Hong Kong and Malaysia announced they would ban entry to visitors from Wuhan. Global stock markets plunged Monday as investors feared the economic impact from the coronavirus. Chinese officials took an extra step Sunday to extend the Lunar New Year holiday three extra days to cut down on group gatherings. Global spread The latest figures reported by Chinese health officials include more than 2,700 cases of people being sickened by the virus. Cases have also been reported in Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. The World Health Organization says most of those are people had a travel history in Wuhan, with several others having contact with someone who traveled there. There have been no reported deaths linked to the virus outside of China. The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's respiratory disease office, Nancy Messonnier, said Sunday there were five confirmed cases in the United States, and that all five people had direct contact with others in Wuhan. The patients are isolated in hospitals as doctors and health officials try to learn more about the virus. The CDC says it is investigating about 100 suspected cases in 26 states. Chinese National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei said Sunday little is known about the virus. But doctors do know it has an incubation period that can range from one to 14 days. Ma said the virus is infectious during the incubation period, when no signs or symptoms of the disease are present. 'Grave situation' President Xi Jinping said China is facing a "grave situation" and experts and other resources would be concentrated at specific hospitals to treat severe cases. The virus is believed to have emerged late last year at a Wuhan seafood market illegally selling wildlife. Chinese authorities have imposed a temporary ban on the selling of wildlife. Wuhan is the capital of China's Hubei province. The virus hit China just as it was beginning celebrations to mark the Lunar New Year, resulting in the canceling or the scaling back of festivities for tens of millions of Chinese. Tourist destinations are closed and school closings have been extended in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. Public transportation has been severely restricted. Many businesses have closed or asked employees to work from home. The WHO recommends several steps to help protect people against acute respiratory infections. They include avoiding close contact with those already infected, frequent hand-washing, and avoiding unprotected contact with farm animals and wild animals. VOA's Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'It is very clear that Air India cannot be managed by the government.' 'Air India should be run as a separate profit entity.' On Monday, January 27, the Narendra Damodardas Modi government issued a bid document to divest the Centre's 100 per cent stake in Air India. The move comes two years after the government's attempt to sell 76 per cent of Air India's equity came a cropper, with no airline or banker showing any interest in buying the national carrier. Learning from the experience, perhaps, the government has now sought to sweeten the deal, by reducing the airline's debt from Rs 62,000 crore (Rs 620 billion) to Rs 23,286 crore (Rs 232.86 billion), offering employees ESOPs, and relaxing the bidding norms. "It is a win-win situation for the successful bidder. In return for the money they put in, Air India has good (parking) slots in premium airports across the globe," Sankalp Sinha, director Aero Compliance, and head of sector research, Martin Consulting, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com. How do you see this move to fully divest the government's stake in Air India? Any investor would want complete control of the airline or at least management control. If you look at foreign airlines or the guy who has money, they would want management control. The earlier rule restricted that. Now (under the new rule) the government will completely offload its ownership of Air India. That is a positive move. Does this point to government desperation to sell compared to its 2018 position? The government made its intent very clear from the very beginning, that Air India cannot be run by the government. It does not have the financial leverage to keep pumping public money into an airline which is running in a loss for the last 10 years ever since the merger happened (between Air India and Indian Airlines in July 2007). In 2018, the divestment attempt was a failure on two counts. First was lack of ownership right for bidders, and second was the fear among Air India employees who are highly unionised. These were the two major concerns for investors who wanted to put their hard-earned money in Air India. The government has also reduced its debt from Rs 62,000 crore to Rs 23,286 crore before putting Air India on the block. Do you feel it is a good deal for buyers? If you look at it purely from an economic perspective, this was bound to happen. The government cannot be expected to take a hit of Rs 62,000 crore, with the public paying for it. Now it is a win-win situation for the successful bidder as well. In return for the money they put in, Air India has good (parking) slots in premium airports across the globe. Air India has its own plus points which the successful bidder will get. It cannot be a zero sum game or win all for the successful bidder. But the unions won't be very happy, and can be expected to launch some sort of industrial action. How do you get the labour unions on board? Obviously, the unions won't take this lying down. They have the backing of the current state government in Maharashtra because the Shiv Sena is one of the biggest supporters of the Air India union, from a political perspective. Even the employees and unions know that if they start blocking everything the government would have no option but to close down the airline. That is a double-edged sword which the employees and union will have to consider. Pawan Hans was also put on the divestment block a while back and the employees there decided to be a part of the process by being one of the bidders. That can be explored by the Air India employees too. They can look at that, but being totally against this move can be counterproductive for everyone. An ageing fleet, an ageing crew, low morale. Does Air India have a future? Air India is pretty okay. It is not an ageing fleet as such. It is just the 747s which are pretty old and they generally don't fly them on their main routes. The 777 and 787 form the bulk of international flying, they are pretty new, especially the 787 Dreamliner. On the domestic front they are pretty okay. It is just that the ageing fleet is highlighted because the maintenance part is a question mark as they do not have adequate funds to kind of support that. Air India has the infrastructure and is one of the best, but they do not have the money to support that from the airline perspective. From the safety perspective, no airline would compromise on an aircraft in service which is not fit to fly. That is a no-go area for everyone. In Indian aviation as such safety is paramount and is the number one for every operator. In the last five years the Modi government infused Rs 16,000 crore (Rs 160 billion) in the airline, but still failed to revive Air India. Given that, do you think a sale is the only option left? Yes, as far as the government running the airline is concerned, it is very clear that Air India cannot be managed by the government. Air India should be run as a separate profit entity. They tried to sell earlier and failed. Hopefully the new guidelines will get a better response. Considering the current economic situation, lending agencies, banks and financial institutions are negative on the aviation industry as a whole. It will be a challenge to see how a bid can be put in. Jet Airways went bust, before that Kingfisher Airlines too went under. Is running an airline that difficult in India? Why is India's aviation sector in crisis? It is a legacy issue. The Indian aviation sector has been very challenging to operate from the very beginning. In the airlines, whether promoter driven or board run, there is a lack of professional leadership. Professional management is not there. The ability to take an informed and better decision on how to run an airline is generally lacking in all operators. Secondly, with fuel being one of the major components of airline expense, though fuel prices were deregulated, still the amount of taxes the operators have to pay is pretty significant, which is much higher than the world average or what other airlines pay across the globe for. Here the operating environment is not the best. What is needed to be done to revive the sector? If you look at the last quarter, October-November-December is considered one of the busiest quarters besides April-June. But still you had airfares on the lower side. Why was this? Because airlines are chasing passengers rather than looking at profitability. The government has in the past sent Air India aircraft to rescue Indian citizens trapped overseas, to universal praise. What happens in such a scenario now, where the government has no aircraft at its disposal? The government can always issue a general directive that in case of an emergency all operators will have to release their aircraft to the government to fulfil its obligations. Yes, Air India is the backbone of such operations as it is owned by the government and comes first. In times of crisis the government can issue orders and the private sector will have to release aircraft for rescue operations. How do nationalised airlines in other countries fare? For example, you see the USA. They have the largest market and it is totally different dynamics. They have chapter 11 bankruptcy which allows airlines to restructure quickly and come back into business. If you see all major airlines, United or Delta, they have gone to chapter 11 bankruptcy and come back. It helps them. British Airways was privatised. Air France is government owned and so is Alitalia, which are making losses. There are very few examples of government-owned airlines actually making a profit. It generally happens when there is no competition. Private players are much more lean and efficient. It becomes a huge challenge for a government-owned airline to survive. They either end up being privatised or fold up. Generally what happens is, the government has sovereign guarantee so if an airline shuts down it restarts with a new airline. This has happened in many countries in Eastern Europe where a lot of airlines are government-owned. A man is in custody for allegedly sexually assaulting an intellectually disabled woman earlier this month in her The Woodlands home after he told her he was selling magazines, authorities say. Benjamen Bruce Gilbert, 37, of Houston, is being charged with sexual assault, a second-degree felony. The unknown assailant approached the intellectually disabled 48-year-old woman at her apartment door trying to sell her magazines in the 4500 block of South Panther Creek Drive. The two spoke momentarily and took a seat at her sofa and when, she told deputies on Jan. 6, he sexually assaulted her, according to a press release from the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office. She went on to tell her family of the alleged incident, the sheriffs office stated. BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: Get your Houston breaking news alerts delivered to your Inbox Detectives with the sheriffs office found that on Jan. 2 the agency received a call about an aggressive male selling magazines door-to-door in The Woodlands area. A resident called after the man, who fit Gilberts description, reportedly became agitated and she thought he was trying to enter her home. Deputies at the scene identified Gilbert as the supposed salesman but he was not taken into custody on account no criminal offense had taken place, according to the news release. On Jan. 8, investigators determined Gilbert was the sexual assault assailant and an arrest warrant was issued. Sheriffs patrol deputies were dispatched to a suspicious person at West Laurelhurst Circle in The Woodlands where they apprehended Gilbert. As of Tuesday afternoon, Gilbert is being held on a $250,000 bond at the Montgomery County Jail, according to jail records. jose.gonzalez@chron.com twitter.com/jrgzztx Press Release 28 January 2020 German Fund Manager Acquires Sebel Canberra Hotel for AUD48 Million in Australia Advertisements German-based fund management group, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA ("DWS"), the mutual funds arm of Deutsche Bank's Asset Management division, and Australia-based Pro-Invest Group ("Pro-Invest"), have joined hands to acquire the Sebel Canberra Hotel at AUD48 million in an off-market deal. Developed by Australia-based Zapari Group, the 144-key Sebel Canberra Hotel commenced operations in June 2019 with new serviced apartment style rooms spanning across eleven floors. The 126 studio rooms feature kitchenette facilities, while the 18 one-bedroom suites include full kitchen facilities. In addition, the property also features a ground-floor restaurant, bar and teahouse. The property is situated in a prime location within the Civic Square precinct in the heart of Canberra's CBD. The Civic Square is home to ACT Legislative Assembly, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Civic Library and Canberra Theatre, along with many local cultural organisations and a new office development. The acquisition represents the first Australian hotel purchase for DWS and the first Canberra hotel purchase for Pro-Invest. Temburong Bridge Drives New Tourism Investments in Brunei The 30km Temburong Bridge and causeway is nearing completion. The South-east Asia's longest overseas bridge will link the capital Bandar Seri Begawan with Temburong district, eliminating the need for travellers to pass through borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak and reducing travel time from two hours to less than 30 minutes. Currently, people visiting Temburong from Bandar Seri Begawan must pass through four border checks and catch a 45-minute speed boat to complete the journey. The BND1.6 billion (USD1.2 billion) bridge will shave 70km off the journey. Brunei-based property development company, Eco-Green Development Sdn. Bhd. ("Eco-Green") has announced to construct Temburong's first luxury eco-resort with 30 chalet-style villas. The BND4.5 million two-hectare project will begin construction this month, slated to be completed by the end of 2020. Eco-Green has committed an additional BND300,000 to refurbish Temburong's old district office into a tourist information centre. The Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism also plans to invest BND387,000 into developing a river centre in Batang Duri to service boats cruising to Ulu Temburong National Park. Chalet Hotels to Acquire Belaire Hotels, Owner of the Novotel Pune Nagar Road India-based Chalet Hotels ("Chalet") has entered a Share Purchase Agreement ("SPA") to acquire India-based Belaire Hotels Private Limited, which owns the 223-key Novotel Pune Nagar Road, and its affiliate Seapearl Hotels Private Limited for an enterprise valuation of INR2.9 billion. The hotel will continue to be operated by India-based AAPC India Hotel Management Private Limited, part of France-based hospitality group, Accor S.A. ("Accor") under a management agreement. This deal marks the beginning of Chalet's tie-up with the Accor Group. The completion of the transaction is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions as outlined in the SPA. Upon the acquisition, Chalet plans to fit out 88 rooms which are currently in bare-shell condition. The room count will increase to over 300 keys over the next 6-8 months with an estimated cost of INR220 million. The acquisition is in line with Chalet's growth strategy of strengthening and expanding its portfolio to new destinations with strong demand potential. Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines Announce Codeshare Expansion Starting 27 January 2020, Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines will expand their codeshare cooperation. Currently, the mutual codeshare cooperation allows Malaysia Airlines' passengers to book travel to ten US-based destinations served by Qatar Airways. The expanded codeshare agreement will allow passengers travelling with the Malaysian flag carrier to travel to 20 more destinations in Europe, America and Africa. The service departs from Doha to twelve destinations including Vienna, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Munich, Athens, Rome, Oslo, Barcelona, Madrid, Geneva and Zurich. The other eight destinations are Sao Paulo, Montreal, Paris, Lisbon, Moscow, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Stockholm, which are subject to regulatory approvals at this stage. Qatar Airways' customers will also have access to four new destinations in Southeast Asia, including Sibu and Alor Setar in Malaysia, as well as Medan and Surabaya in Indonesia. This brings the total number of the airline's codeshare routes in Malaysia Airlines' network to 24. Japan Airlines Announces New Codeshare Agreement with Shanghai Airlines Japan Airlines ("JAL") has signed a new codeshare agreement with Shanghai Airlines ("SHA"), a wholly owned subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, to expand its international network in China. The codeshare agreement covers two new flight routes between Shanghai Pudong International Airport in China and Kansai International Airport as well as Toyama Airport in Japan. With daily services starting from 17 January 2020, both codeshare flights are operated by SHA. The Toyama-Shanghai route is operated on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Currently, JAL flies to five destinations in China, including Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou while SHA flies to three destinations in Japan, including Osaka, Tokyo-Haneda and Toyama. Israeli prime minister says he is withdrawing his bid for immunity hours before Knesset due to hold debate. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is withdrawing his bid for parliamentary immunity from prosecution on corruption charges, paving the way for a trial to begin. Israels longest-serving prime minister issued a statement on Facebook on Tuesday saying the immunity proceedings in parliament would have been a circus and he did not want to take part in a dirty game. I informed the Knesset speaker that I am withdrawing my immunity request, Netanyahu said. Israels parliament, the Knesset, had been set to convene to discuss the formation of a committee to debate the prime ministers request for immunity from prosecution on Tuesday. The Knesset was widely expected to reject the request, which would have dealt Netanyahu a blow ahead of a parliamentary election scheduled for March 2 the third national vote in less than a year. Netanyahus Likud party was planning to boycott the session. His retraction paves the way for legal proceedings against him to go forward. A trial could take months or years and the 70-year-old leader is under no legal obligation to resign. Netanyahu was indicted in November on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust over allegations that he granted state favours worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Israeli media barons in return for gifts and favourable coverage. He denies any wrongdoing, saying he is the victim of a witch-hunt by the media and the political left aiming to remove a popular right-wing leader. The prime ministers political opponents made his legal troubles a focus of their campaigns in the previous two elections last year. Netanyahu hates to be the loser The prime ministers chief rival Benny Gantz, who leads the Blue and White party, said in a statement: Netanyahu is going to trial we must go forward. Nobody could run a country and simultaneously manage three serious criminal charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, he added. Akiva Eldar, an Israeli columnist at Al-Monitor, said Netanyahu had no choice but to withdraw his immunity request as he lacked sufficient support in parliament. Netanyahu hates to be the loser. He wanted the immunity and he wasnt able to get it. He stood no chance. He doesnt have a majority in the Knesset to get the immunity, Eldar said. The Knesset was still expected to assemble despite Netanyahus withdrawal of his request to form the committee, which will also address former welfare minister Haim Katzs request for immunity from prosecution in his own corruption cases. Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List of Arab parties in the Israeli parliament, said the path to trial is paved and no diplomatic public relations stunt in the world would prevent him from being brought to justice. Netanyahu is currently in Washington, DC, where he is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump later on Tuesday at the White House, for the announcement of Trumps plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians have already rejected the plan. South Korea's government on Tuesday said it has contingency plans to send a chartered aircraft to evacuate its citizens from the Chinese city that's the epicenter of a viral outbreak. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said South Korea had raised the alert level and was running "pre-emptive preventive measures". China cut transportation links to and from the city of Wuhan on 22 January and has since expanded those controls to several nearby cities. Anyone travelling from Wuhan is required to register and quarantine themselves for 14 days - the maximum incubation period of the virus. As the number of cases grow and China takes drastic measures to try to stop the spread of the virus, other countries planning evacuations include Japan, the US, France, Germany, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Australia. Hong Kong has barred entry to travellers from Hubei province and has told Hong Kong residents returning from the area to quarantine themselves at home. ALBANY Like many environmentalists, Eric Goldstein is applauding New Yorks pending ban on single-use plastic grocery bags, but he also thinks the ban should be delayed beyond its March 1 implementation date. Why? He doesnt think the state Department of Environmental Conservation has done enough to inform the public that the ban is actually imminent. He fears the confusion and possible backlash that could result. Nobody wants to see the state fumble on the initial kickoff, Goldstein, senior attorney for the National Resources Defense Council, said Monday during a hearing before DEC on the new law. The state needs to take an extra month or two and should hold off on enforcement so that businesses and consumers can adequately prepare for a smooth transition, he added. By the same token, Goldstein and others stressed the ban shouldnt include what activists say is a potential loophole in the new regulations: allowing the use of plastic bags that are 10 mils or thicker since they are considered reusable under the regulation. One mil is 1/1,000th of an inch. Most grocery store bags are a fraction of that, and 10 mil bags arent even manufactured for the most part. Some, however, fear that bag makers may start making them and selling them to grocery stores. Eliminate the 10 mil provision, said Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator and founder of Beyond Plastics, which aims to reduce and eliminate the proliferation of plastic in the waste stream. To demonstrate, Enck held up a soon-to-be banned grocery bag and a 4 mil bag from an Ulster County pharmacy that might be considered reusable. They looked almost the same. That county earlier banned bags thinner than 4 mil, so some stores there switched to the 4 mil bags. I was dismayed to see the 10 mil thickness would be allowed, added Caitlin Ferrante, of the Sierra Club. In some locations, such as Chicago and Honolulu, there are plastic bag bans, but bags thicker than 2.5 mils are considered reusable and can still be given out for free. On the other end of the spectrum, representatives of retailers and bag makers predicted a different set of problems. There is concern about a paper bag shortage, said Mike Durant, president and CEO of the Food Industry Alliance of New York. They may have enough, they may not. Also speaking was Phil Rozenski of Novolex, one of a handful of paper bag makers in North America. He had earlier offered a report predicting a paper bag shortfall in the billions thanks to a plastic ban in New York. While he expressed concern about not being able to meet demands, another producer was concerned the ban would ruin his business. It would mark the end of our business, predicted Peter Levy president of Poly-Pak Industries, a Long Island-based maker of plastic bags that are used by retailers other than grocery stores. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The idea behind the pending ban is to get people to switch to the heavier reusable bags such as those made of canvas or woven fibers, available for $1 or $2 at many supermarkets, rather than traditional single-use grocery bags. Further spurring the use of reusable bags are the fees that supermarkets in some spots will be charging for traditional paper bags which are not banned under the new law. Supermarket chains including Price Chopper and Hannaford have said they will charge 5 cents per paper bag at all their locations in New York state. But the grocery chains will not be able to keep the 5 cent charge in Albany County, where the bag tax will be split between the state (3 cents) and the county (2 cents). New Yorks pending ban was passed during last years legislative session after years of debate. Speakers at Mondays hearing were offering comments on the final rulemaking that stems from the ban set to start on March 1. DEC officials say they will review the comments before finalizing the rules. Comments can be submitted through Feb. 3. The agency also noted that they have been running a public awareness campaign about the upcoming ban. For more information go to on.ny.gov/byobagny. Lauren Stanforth contributed. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU UK-based Rober, a company specialising in the development and manufacture of zero pressure technology, will be launching a new innovative paediatric mattress at the Arab Health 2020, to be held later this month in Dubai, UAE. The event will take place from February 27 to 30, at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Following months of feedback from its global partners, Rober is delighted to announce that they have launched a three cell-cycle alternating pressure mattress replacement system designed to support children aged between 0 to 13 years old. Catering for a weight range between 0 to 60 kg, the AirFlex Trio Junior mattress has been designed to be used as a pressure relieving support mattress in childrens hospitals and paediatric units worldwide. Rober has also updated two of its key mattresses NoDec AirStream3 and NoDec Wizard creating reduced height versions of the mattresses. The enhanced versions offer the same zero pressure as the originals but with a reduced height of 20cm to meet the BS EN 60601-2-52:2010 bed frame requirements of global hospitals. All Rober mattresses feature clinically proven technology that prevents pressure injuries from developing. They also have therapeutic properties that promote the healing of established ulcers. Offering zero pressure protection, the mattresses replicate the bodys natural movements by responding to a patients weight, spontaneous movement pattern and body position. They provide enhanced comfort and complete pressure elimination at regular intervals. Mike Hutson, chief executive of Rober, said: Arab Health is one of our key export events of the year so we are delighted to be launching our new mattresses at the exhibition. Like all our mattresses, the new AirFlex Trio Junior is fully automatic, and anyone nursed upon it requires less frequent manual repositioning, thus relieving the pressure on busy nursing staff. Its the first time we have used our technology to create a paediatric mattress so its an exciting time for us. TradeArabia News Service New Delhi [India], Jan 28 (ANI): After the Opposition expressed dismay over the leaked photograph of National Conference leader Omar Abdullah with a greyish-white long beard, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday responded sharply stating that Article 370 was removed from Jammu and Kashmir, not razors and salons. "If Omar has a long beard...Did we remove razors or salon from Jammu and Kashmir after scrapping Article 370? We did not! These people are a member of tukde-tukde gang... They have made democracy a joke," said Singh while speaking to ANI. Soon after Omar's photo was viral on social media, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Monday said: "This is sad and unfortunate that this is happening in our democratic country". Responding to this, Singh said: "Banerjee is the one who is tarnishing India's democratic image. She has refused to accept the law sanctioned by our Parliament. She has passed a resolution against the Citizenship Act." The photo of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister emerged on social media on Monday and in which the usually clean-shaven Omar is sporting a greyish-white long beard. The source of the photo, however, could not be ascertained. Omar, who has been under preventive detention along with his father and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah since August 4, a day before the Centre announced the scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by abrogating Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution, is seen smiling in the photo. (ANI) President Trumps former chief of staff, retired General John Kelly, told a Florida crowd Monday night that he believes the account of President Trumps behavior outlined in former White House national security adviser John Boltons upcoming book. In an excerpt In The Room obtained by the New York Times, Bolton reports that he personally witnessed Trump link the provision of $400 million in Ukrainian military aid to the opening of politically advantageous investigations. If John Bolton says that in the book I believe John Bolton, Kelly said, as first reported by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Kelly, who served in the White House from July 2017 to January 2019, also praised the former national security adviser. Johns an honest guy. Hes a man of integrity and great character . . . he always gave the president the unvarnished truth, Kelly said. Trump immediately denied discussing the quid pro quo with Bolton following the Times report and suggested that his former adviser was seeking to drum up sales of his book ahead of its March 17 release. I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination, the president tweeted early Monday morning. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. Following the bombshell, moderate Republicans signaled willingness to subpoena Bolton, while more prominent Trump allies said they would also like to call Hunter Biden and the whistleblower. Kelly said Monday that he thought witnesses should be called. If there are people that could contribute to this, either innocence or guilt I think they should be heard, Kelly stated. The retired Marine general added that some of the conversations seem to me to be very inappropriate, but I wasnt there. But there are people that were there that ought to be heard from. More from National Review Vanessa Nakate is an African climate activist who was cropped out of a news agency photo at the World Economic Forum in Davos, a manifestation of the erasure of Black and brown voices that symbolizes environmental racism. Nakates story deserves our attention, because we cannot achieve environmental justice without addressing racial justice. The erasure of Black and brown voices in conversations surrounding climate change is too common and symbolizes the impact of environmental racism, even though racialized communities are most vulnerable to rising global temperatures. As former president of the Toronto Environmental Alliance, we addressed anti-Black racism in our environmental movement by telling racialized stories through platforms like Zero Waste Spotlight: Mayfair on the Green, which went viral. The educational video focused on the efforts of racialized community members taking action in a 25-year-old highrise showing us all how zero waste is possible: with more than 1,000 residents, the building generated only one dumpster of garbage per month. Africa has contributed the fewest carbon emissions, but will suffer the most from the climate breakdown. We should promote marginalized voices like Nakate, not erase their important role in promoting global co-operation and community-led solutions to the climate crisis. Walied Khogali Ali, past president, Toronto Environmental Alliance Read more about: You are here: China Taiwan confirmed a fifth case of the novel coronavirus-related pneumonia, the island's epidemic monitoring agency said Monday. A woman in her 50s from Taiwan returned from central China's Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, showing symptoms of fever and muscle ache on Jan. 25, the agency said in a press release. The hospital placed her in an isolation ward on Jan. 25 and confirmed the infection Monday. The patient has been in stable condition, and authorities are monitoring the health condition of people who had contact with her. Currently, the island still has 207 suspected cases under quarantine. As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to rise globally, Houston-area experts are confident the city is well-equipped to handle a pandemic. Were pretty prepared for it, said Dr. Sarfraz Aly, infectious disease physician with Houston Methodist, who pointed out proactive measures being taken, including screening areas at airports for symptoms. Were ready for this. Worldwide, more than 6,000 people across 17 countries have been infected with the flu-like virus, and the death toll hit 132 on Tuesday, according to the National Health Commission. Five people have been diagnosed in the U.S. There have been no confirmed cases in Texas; after students at Baylor and Texas A&M each tested negative earlier this month. Its kind of a perfect storm. Its a brand new disease, so the general public doesnt have a pre-existing immunity, and it occurred in China when literally everyone goes home to celebrate Lunar New Year, said Dr. James Le Duc, director of the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Theres a lot of reasons why its a concern, but the world is doing its best to control it. On Monday, the George Bush Intercontinental Airport announced it would start screening travelers for the coronavirus as a precaution. The Houston airport is among 15 nationwide chosen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for virus testing. The largest concentration of patients is in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province of China, where the virus originated. Its possible that the virus, which results in severe cold and flu symptoms, was hiding in an animal before spilling over to infect the human population in December. The 2019 novel coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, is considered a brand new virus to the global scientific community, said Le Duc. Its called novel because weve never seen it before, he said. This means theres no vaccine for it yet. On HoustonChronicle.com: Oil prices fall to 3-month low as coronavirus adds to downward pressure After SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) spread to 24 countries in 2003, the U.S. began strategically placing stockpiles of supplies around the country in the event of future pandemics. In the past two decades, the U.S. government has invested heavily in preparedness issues, Le Duc said. Stored across the country are various products masks, personal protective equipment that are very appropriate if an outbreak started. The Strategic National Stockpile is the nations largest supply of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a public health emergency severe enough to cause local supplies to run out, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal, Le Duc said, is to be able to deliver supplies to cities like Houston within 12 hours of a federal decision to deploy. And Houston is uniquely situated to be even better prepared than other cities. The area is home to Galvestons Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, one of only a handful of high-level containment laboratories in the country. Scientists at the facility have been working on a number of vaccines for different pathogens, including known coronaviruses, since before the outbreak in Wuhan. Vaccine experiments for novel coronavirus havent began, Le Duc said. But he does know that scientists will build upon what they learned during similar outbreaks with Ebola, SARS and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS. Chinese health officials quickly published genomic sequences of the coronavirus isolates, or a culture of microorganisms, but its not the same as the actual virus that causes infection, Le Duc said. On Tuesday, the Chinese government finally allowed the World Health Organization to send international experts to help with research and containment, a move that had been delayed for weeks. If we want to seriously develop therapeutics, antiviral drugs or a vaccine, we need to have access to the real virus that comes from a sick person, Le Duc said. Were well-positioned to do that work here in the appropriate levels of bio-containment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus is in the same family of coronaviruses as SARS, which originated in civet cats, and MERS, which jumped from camels to people. Similarly, this novel coronavirus likely originated from an animal source, and is now quickly transferring from person to person. On HoustonChronicle.com: Chinese film 'The Rescue' pulled in Houston due to the coronavirus Experts agree that common-sense hygienic practices, such as washing your hands multiple times a day and not going to work or school when sick, will help stave off its spread. The key is monitoring the severity of the symptoms and getting tested early, said Aly of Houston Methodist. If you have been in airports and the symptoms are mild, youre a limited risk, so put on a mask and go to a primary care office, he said. Once in the hospital, most patients are isolated efficiently. There are masks and gowns readily available, and they would be isolated in a pressurized room. julie.garcia@chron.com Twitter.com/reporterjulie Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the availability of diagnostic tests. While the CDC has created a test, it is not yet available in Houston hospitals. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal Two 7-Eleven stores have agreed to stop selling bottles of alcohol in the mini and pint sizes, in response to neighborhood complaints and the citys muscle in using its nuisance abatement authority. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said Monday that the two convenience stores at Kathryn and San Mateo SE, and at Solano and East Central generated a combined 1,127 complaints to the citys 311 citizen help line from January 2018 to April 2019. Those calls resulted in Albuquerque police officers responding 733 times and Albuquerque Fire Rescue responding 189 times, mostly for people who were down and out. In an agreement with the city, the two stores will police and clean up their areas daily, and will have employees undergo additional training so that they can avoid selling alcohol to already inebriated individuals, Keller said. The mayor also said the city is not targeting any particular group of people who frequent these stores; rather, the effort is to target a particular type of drinking. The majority of challenges in these locations, is people buying these sizes for almost immediate consumption consumption right outside or in the immediate neighborhood. The measure is something of an experiment, Keller said, to determine if limiting alcohol sales in mini and pint sizes will result in fewer complaints from the surrounding neighbors and a better partnership between the neighborhoods and the stores. Gary Eyster, president of the Nob Hill Neighborhood Association, said the store at Solano NE has been a problem for 25 years. People know if they can put together a couple of bucks they can go buy a mini, even though they may already be intoxicated, and then theyll walk a half-block or a block away and sit down and consume it and spend the rest of the day under some bushes or in a driveway or in someones yard. Parkland Hills resident Melinda Frame said that in the 10 years shes lived there she and her neighbors regularly encounter people passed out amid empty alcohol bottles, food wrappers and other trash. In my own yard, we have found bottles, needles and a semiautomatic rifle in our bushes. District 6 City Councilor and council President Pat Davis, in whose district the two stores are located, led the effort in the City Council to respond to complaints from residents in the South San Pedro, Parkland Hills and Nob Hill neighborhoods. For years, weve been using the citys nuisance authority to go after abandoned properties, he said. But for the city to go after an existing business was extraordinary. Thats why we took this process through the City Council for public hearings, because our neighbors, quite frankly, were saying, Were getting organized to build a better neighborhood; we want to be better neighbors; and we expect our businesses in our communities to do the same. Keller called the agreement a great example of the One Albuquerque spirit and cooperation between city government and the private sector. Davis said the two stores, under new ownership and new management, came forward and said, Were willing to do whats right in the interest of being a good neighbor. However, it may not have been quite so voluntary on the part of the stores. Davis noted that the agreement keeps the stores owners from having to go to court, which could have forced them to close, put people out of business and left an abandoned property. Further, the resolution isnt just a handshake, Keller said. The accountability is through our legal team and our inspectors who will check on it and work with them to hold them accountable. We have a signed legal settlement. The two 7-Eleven properties are owned by Southwest Convenience Stores LLC. No one from the company attended the outdoor news conference held along San Mateo just north of the Kathryn SE location. However, company representative Mark Rhodes said in a news release that the company cares about the communities in which we operate and looks forward to working closely with the city. Together we will improve the experience for our customers, employees and neighbors. Regarding Vintner-neighbor spat highlights Napa strains (Business, Jan. 26): The tension your article describes in Napa Valley is real but not quite as simple as viticulture versus environmentalism. Locals concerned about Napas environment also appreciate good wine. The problem is that Napa supervisors have not placed meaningful limits on visitors or wine industry events. A county that claims to put agriculture first now bows to the tourism dollar. With the valley floor planted out, big money increasingly plants vineyards (with visitors facilities) on the hills. Now, 500 wineries blanket the little county. Consequently, traffic in supposedly semi-rural Napa has become as legendary as its wine. Incredibly, even after recent devastating wildfires, wineries still receive permission to host visitors on remote hilltops up winding, rural, residential roads not meant for commerce let alone evacuation in an emergency. Donald Williams, Calistoga Out of touch investment Regarding Car-free era arrives on Market Street (Page 1, Jan. 26): In light of the Bay Area homeless crisis, isnt spending over $600 million on remodeling 2.2 miles of Market Street (yet again) a bit out of touch with the current reality of people living on the streets and under freeway overpasses? Carla Woodworth, Berkeley Obvious diversion Regarding Last word from Schiff oust him or it wont stop (Page 1, Jan. 25): When Rep. Adam Schiff closed his argument in the impeachment trial, he cogently illustrated the specious arguments he expected to hear when the presidents counsel presented their defense. Predictably, the first point from the presidents defense was that the Democrats lengthy arguments omitted evidence, like the reference in the transcript of the infamous phone call that other nations had not contributed as much to Ukraine as the U.S. President Trumps defender, of course, failed to note that what other nations have contributed is absolutely immaterial to the charges of Trumps abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, an obvious diversion from the issues the Senate must decide. As the defense continued, the diversions and obfuscations continued. How unfortunate that many who listen will be unable to differentiate these irrelevant and immaterial diversions from the truth that matters. While I can understand how ignorant or uneducated people can be taken in, its beyond me that those who are intelligent enough to be U.S. senators can put their own self-interest (re-election) above what is best for their country. Jacquelyn Gentry, Foster City Not above the law Regarding President operated within the law (Letters, Jan. 25): A letter writer referring to President Trumps request for an investigation into the Bidens activity in Ukraine completely misses the point of the impeachment. One can argue that the Bidens should be investigated and that the president is within his rights to request such an investigation. One can argue that the Bidens are likely guilty of malfeasance (though I would not share the writers seeming certainty). But the president cannot use bribery, extortion or other means of coercion to force the investigation. Regardless of whether former Vice President Joe Biden placed himself above the law, the president most certainly has. Brian Wright, Belmont Barriers to housing Regarding Oakland ends a bar to housing (Page 1, Jan 22): Oaklands fair chance housing ordinance and similar laws in other cities are steps in the right direction. As of Jan. 1 of this year, they are not the only legal restrictions on using criminal history to screen out prospective tenants in California. The first regulations clarifying Californias 57-year-old fair housing law are in effect and include guidance about the use of criminal history in housing. Too often, people with criminal records face barriers to housing even if their history bears no relationship to their ability to be responsible tenants. The new regulations make clear that landlords cannot deny housing based on an applicants prior conviction unless it is directly related to a legitimate concern such as the safety of other tenants. This means that landlords must consider the nature of the crime and the amount of time that has passed before screening out a tenant, among other factors. These rules apply across the state, and people who have been denied housing because of criminal history can file complaints with the agency I lead, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Kevin Kish, director, California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Elk Grove Unobstructed devotion Republicans, in their unobstructed devotion to President Trump, are willing to give up the democratic principles we hold dear, in fact democracy itself. For what? They will give up democracy for guns. They will give up democracy for their religion, though not all beliefs, I am sure. They will give up democracy to deprive women of their reproductive rights. They will give up democracy because of fear of losing their re-election bids. They will give up democracy to be uncivil and demeaning to patriots who demonstrated the courage to stand against the vileness of a president who prides himself on cruelty and incivility and in order to garner the praise and protection of a man who will throw them under the bus any time they cross him. And so they will ignore a powerful case and probably vote to acquit. All of us will suffer for their fecklessness. Christine DeLapp, Aptos Focus on impeachment The Democratic candidates who are senators have a significant disadvantage in the coming primaries as they must do their duty and attend the impeachment trial. The honorable thing for the rest of the candidates to do would be to stop campaigning while the trial is in progress and, in particular, not campaign in critical states during these times. Their public statements that they would do this would raise their profile to offset the reduced campaigning. Stuart Pawsey, Berkeley Inept government Regarding Our democracy depends on news literacy (John Diaz, Insight, Jan. 26): Who is John Diaz kidding? From watching the impeachment trial, in which Republicans have so far denied the introduction of facts and witnesses, the most basic components of any fair and just trial, who could conclude we even have a democracy? With hundreds of bills passed by House Democrats that succumb to a quiet death in the Senate, how can any conscious American claim literacy is key to a democracy that does not exist? The Senate is the most undemocratic institution in our government. In most cases, it requires a three-fifths vote to pass any legislation, while its composition of primarily conservative, wealthy, white men clearly does not represent the interests of the majority of Americans. Until pundits stop writing fantasies and begin to recognize the structural problems with our three branches of government that create gridlock rather than check and balance competing powers, there will be no fundamental change in our failing and inept government. PUNE The Hinjewadi police on Monday arrested a 23-year-old college student for outraging the modesty of a 22-year-old friend. The incident allegedly took place inside the students rented flat in a housing society in Bavdhan on Sunday. According to police, the accused took the victim for dinner and then outraged her modesty. The girl resisted to his moves, but the accused forced himself on the woman, the complaint alleges. The police have identified the accused, a resident of Bavdhan. Police said that both, the accused and the victim knew each other very well. . A mother killed her one-year-old son before shooting herself dead in the Rocky Mountains National Park. Tristen Watson, 24, died of a gunshot wound to the head last Friday after shooting herself and her 17-month-old son Christopher. Her mother Christy Coakley said the tragedy in Colorado had brought 'pain and heartbreak' to the family. Park rangers had been searching for the mother after they were warned of a possible suicide attempt on Friday afternoon and found an abandoned vehicle nearby. But Tristen and Christopher were both dead by the time they were found, the National Park Service said. Tristen Watson and her son Christopher (pictured together) died in Rocky Mountains National Park in Colorado last Friday Tristen had announced she was pregnant in November last year and an online funeral notice says that three lives were lost. The third victim was named as Aspen Ann Watson, apparently referring to the unborn child. 'As many have heard by now, our sweet Tristen and Christopher are no longer with us,' said Tristen's mother, Christy Coakley. 'There aren't words to describe the pain and heartbreak our family is going through.' She added: 'The last words I said to my daughter was I love you.' In a separate post on social media she said: 'I wish I would've made her get help but we couldn't force her because she was an adult and all the stupid rules. 'I have so many questions that I'll never get answers to. I just keep asking myself why? 'She had so many people that loved her and would've done absolutely anything to help her.' Tristen Watson (left) died of a gunshot wound to the head in Colorado after shooting herself and her 17-month-old son Christopher (pictured together right) Derrick Watson, the husband of Tristen and father of Christopher, said three lives had been 'taken far too soon'. 'I have been trying to find the words, but I simply have no words for the pain that this family is going through right now,' he said. A family friend, Hailey Pearson, said: 'I am so glad to have gotten the chance to meet the both of you and hang out on occasion. 'Y'all are both beautiful on the inside and out. Christopher always lit up the room that he was in and I could tell Tristen absolutely loved being his momma. Rest easy you two.' Another friend, Destany Reppel, said: 'My heart truly breaks for their family. A family I consider my own, and have been so welcomed and loved by them all through the years.' Tristen had announced her pregnancy last November, saying: 'The Watson family is proud to announce that there will be another bundle of joy coming June 2020.' Her second child was due to be a girl, she revealed at the time. Rangers in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado had held up two entrances to the park (file photo) after they were warned of a possible suicide attempt on Friday afternoon Rangers in Rocky Mountain National Park had been searching for the pair after they were notified about a suicidal person in the park on Friday. They found Tristen's car near Upper Beaver Meadows Road and held up two entrances to the park for around an hour while they searched for the 24-year-old. But the search ended when Tristen and Christopher were found dead and the bodies turned over to the Larimer County coroner's office. The coroner's office said both had died by a gunshot wound to the head, ruling the mother's death as suicide and the child's as homicide. According to the website of a funeral home, Tristen's friends and family are due to pay their respects at a memorial service in Louisiana on February 1. The family has asked for donations in Tristen's memory to be made to the National Alliance of Mental Illness in St Tammany, Louisiana. Officials say they are not planning to release any further information. For confidential support in the US call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 For confidential support in the UK call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details. SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Calvac Paving, a Bay Area Asphalt and Concrete Maintenance company is proud to announce that they will be exhibitors and a sponsor at the California Association of Community Manager's (CACM) Northern California Law Seminar and Expo which will be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center on February 6th and 7th. To learn more about CACM's Northern CA Law Seminar & Expo, please visit : https://cacm.org/events/northern-california-law-seminar-2/ The Calvac Paving team will be exhibiting at Booth #1014 on both Thursday and Friday and will also be a Bar Sponsor for the Vision Awards Banquet taking place on Thursday evening. The Vision Awards will include both a Nominee VIP reception and a Champagne reception. Representatives from Calvac Paving are really looking forward to participating in the event as well as networking during the Vision Awards banquet. A Calvac company spokesperson added, "We have been in the Asphalt and Concrete maintenance business for over four decades, and we thoroughly enjoy having the opportunity to spend time with many of our current clients as well as meet new clients. We hope that everyone will take the time to visit our booth at the Expo as this is also a great opportunity to share knowledge and answer questions in a casual setting." About Calvac Paving: Calvac Paving is a full-service asphalt and concrete maintenance company that has been serving the greater Bay Area since 1974. For more information, please visit https://www.calvacpaving.com/ Calvac Paving 2645 Pacer Lane San Jose, Ca 95111 408-225-7700 SOURCE Calvac Paving Related Links http://www.calvacpaving.com Just weeks after selling off her popular beauty brand, Kat Von D was spotted with her husband Rafael Reyes. Kat, 38 (real name Katherine Von Drachenberg) and her tattoo artist husband Reyes, 44, stepped out after meeting at Cafe Gratitude in Los Angeles on Monday. The couple, who have been married since February 2018, shared a kiss before going their separate ways at the cafe. Cafe time: Just weeks after selling off her popular beauty brand, Kat Von D was spotted with her husband Rafael Reyes Kat Von D was wearing a black halter top under a slightly sheer black oversized off-shoulder sweater as she walked arm in arm with her husband. The beauty mogul also rocked a pair of black leggings with a pair of black shoes with black bows on them. She also carried a small clutch as she parted ways with her husband, who was wearing a black Redux shirt, black pants and black sneakers. Kat's look: Kat Von D was wearing a black halter top under a slightly sheer black oversized off-shoulder sweater as she walked arm in arm with her husband Earlier in January, Kat Von D took to Instagram to reveal that she was selling all of her shares of her Kat Von D Beauty brand to Kendo, her partners for the past 11 years. 'This past year has been one of great change for me. As many of you know, I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy, launched my vegan shoe line, and am now busy prepping to release my long awaited album in the Spring, followed by an international tour!' Kat began. 'As much as I wish I could balance all of this, on top of continuing my makeup line, it has become clear to me that I just cant do everything at the maximum capacity. It's hard to admit this, since Ive always said "You can do everything and anything." But I dont think admitting one's limits is a bad thing,' she added. With that said, Ive decided to sell my shares of the brand, turning it over to Kendo, my partners for the past 11 years,' she revealed. Brand sale: Earlier in January, Kat Von D took to Instagram to reveal that she was selling all of her shares of her Kat Von D Beauty brand to Kendo, her partners for the past 11 years 'This was not an easy decision, but after careful consideration, I decided I wanted the makeup line to continue to thrive and grow, and I believe Kendo is primed to do just that,' she added. She made it clear that the transition for her 'loyal customers' will be 'seamless' and her Kat Von D Beauty line will rebrand itself to KvD VeganBeauty. 'I'd like to thank my beloved fans+followers who supported my vision to create a brand that stood for compassion, true artistry, and challenged modern ideals of beauty most of which I never could relate to,' she added. Not easy: 'This was not an easy decision, but after careful consideration, I decided I wanted the makeup line to continue to thrive and grow, and I believe Kendo is primed to do just that,' she added Kat Von D and Rafael Reyes, from the band Prayers, were married in February 2018, and the couple announced they were expecting their first child in May 2018. She gave birth to their son Leafar Von Drachenberg Reyes in November 2018. She is best known as a tattoo artist who was featured on the TLC reality TV series LA Ink, which ran for four seasons from 2007 to 2011. IRR Information Filter by Category All Company Announcement - General Additional Listing AIM Admission AIM Notice Base Rate Change Block Listing Interim Review Capital Reorganisation Change of Name Conversion of Securities Drilling/Production Report Final Announcement Released Geographical Distribution Intention to Float Issue of Debt Issue of Equity Joint Venture Net Asset Value Portfolio Update Price Monitoring Extension Product Launch Publication of a Prospectus Publication of Final Terms Research Update Restoration Rights Issue Stabilisation Notice Statement Suspension Tender Offer Trading Statement Treasury Stock All Mergers, Acquisitions and Disposals Acquisition Merger Form 8 (DD) Form 8 (OPD) Form 8.3 Form 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI) Form 8.5 (EPT/RI) Form 8.6 Rule 2.9 Announcement Offer By Offer For Offer Update All Results and Trading Reports 1st Quarter Results 3rd Quarter Results AGM Statement Annual Report Final Results Half-year Report Notice of Results Result of AGM Result of EGM Result of Equity Issue Result of General Meeting Result of Tender Offer Syndicate Results All Dividends Dividend Declaration Dividend Currency Election All Executive Changes Directorate Change Change of Adviser Change of Registered Office All Directors' Dealings Director/PDMR Shareholding All Advance Notice of Results Notice of AGM Notice of GM Notice of EGM Notice of Results All Non-Regulatory News All Transaction in Own Shares All Holding(s) in Company Total Voting Rights Notification of Major Holdings Babikov did defend the ex-president in court, documents show. Yanis Simonov, an official with the Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine, has confirmed that the newly appointed deputy director of the State Bureau of Investigation, Oleksandr Babikov, represented Ukraine's fugitive ex-president Viktor Yanukovych in court. In a comment to Hromadske, Simonov said Babikov had defended Yanukovych's interests at several court hearings, including those where lawyers petitioned to challenge the judge. "I partook in hearings on the Yanukovych case, where he [Babikov] was also present. In particular, there was a hearing where a motion was considered to conduct a pre-trial investigation in absentia into the events of February 18-20, 2014, (violence against Euromaidan protesters]," he told Hromadske. Read alsoYanukovych's ex-lawyer appointed SBI's first deputy director Earlier today, during a Kyiv briefing, Babikov refuted reports on his contractual relationship with Yanukovych. "I did not represent the rights and interests of Yanukovych, especially in the Maidan cases... I have never met him personally and I have not entered into any contractual relations with him," Babikov emphasized. As UNIAN reported, on January 20, a lawyer for victims in the Maidan violence case, Yevhenia Zakrevska, said that Babikov's appointment to the post of SBI first deputy director could lead to the collapse of Yanukovych criminal cases. Acting Director of the State Bureau of Investigation, Iryna Venediktova, said orders had been signed on the appointment of her deputies, while not specifying the names of newly-appointed officials. On January 20, former lawyer of Viktor Yanukovych, Oleksandr Babikov, was appointed first deputy director of the State Bureau of Investigation. DENVER, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercer Global Advisors, Inc. ("Mercer Advisors"), a national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA), today announced the acquisition of First Ohio Planning, LLC ("First Ohio"), a respected wealth management firm located in Columbus, Ohio. First Ohio serves approximately 280 households with assets under management (AUM) of approximately $350MM. First Ohio is owned by James S. Ryan (Ryan), J.D., CFP, AIF. Ryan will be joining Mercer along with his staff of five dedicated wealth management professionals. First Ohio will be merging with Mercer Advisors' existing office in Columbus where Mercer has had a presence for over 20 years. First Ohio, founded by Ryan in 1979, recently celebrated its 40th Anniversary. Since that time, he and his team have been comprehensively servicing the wealth management needs of their high net worth clientele. Commenting on the transaction, Ryan stated: "We are a dedicated financial planning firm with extraordinary expertise in ERISA plan vehicles. We were looking for a partner that would allow us to continue to flourish in these areas, as well as to provide growth opportunities for the firm and my staff. I met with Dave Barton, Mercer Vice Chairman who leads Mercer Advisors' M&A activity, on many occasions. We "hit-it-off" and, as a past CEO of Mercer Advisors, he understood the business in detail and also knew first-hand the challenges I was facing as a business owner. Together we walked through the pros and cons of a business combination and my conclusion was Mercer Advisors was a great fit for me, my staff, and most important for our clients. The transaction was additive for all concerned and we couldn't be more excited to join the Mercer Advisors team." Barton stated: "Jim had a number of suitors interested in his business, as he should have. He built a first-class business and I admired the expertise in the ERISA space which complemented our own. We manage over $1 billion in ERISA plan assets and Jim and his team bring concentrated sophistication in a complex area building out for us an all-star ERISA team. Jim also had a strong team and G2, making this an attractive combination for both parties that unlocks potential with myriad career development opportunities at Mercer Advisors. A great partnership for both parties." Dave Welling, Chief Executive Officer of Mercer Advisors said, "Jim's extensive experience as a business leader, planner, and community influencer are talents we look for. Combining his operation with our Columbus office affirms our dedication to our clients in Ohio and establishes us as one of the leading firms in that area. We are delighted to join forces with the First Ohio team and look forward to serving their clients with expanded wealth management services for years to come." About Mercer Advisors Established in 1985, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ("Mercer Advisors") is a total wealth management firm that provides comprehensive, fee-based investment management, financial planning, family office services, retirement benefits and distribution planning, estate and tax planning, asset protection expertise, and corporate trustee and trust administration services. Mercer Advisors Inc. is a parent company of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (RIA), majority owned by both Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital, one of the largest Registered Investment Advisors and financial planning firms in the U.S. With the acquisition of First Ohio, Mercer Advisors' total AUM will be more than $18.7B. Headquartered in Denver, Mercer Advisors is privately held, has over 400 employees, and operates nationally with nearly 50 offices across the country. For more information, visit www.merceradvisors.com. Data as of January 28, 2020. AUM includes affiliates and wholly owned subsidiaries. Contact: Chris Tofalli Chris Tofalli Public Relations, LLC 914-834-4334 SOURCE Mercer Global Advisors Inc. Related Links https://www.merceradvisors.com In an interview, Hurley said Old St. Pats is now in a very healthy fiscal position that has allowed the parish to grow, support and sustain the parish and its programs. Although the two-day festival is a cherished tradition, the demographic change and the growing number of festivals in the area has made it harder for the church to host its iconic block party year after year, he said. Devastating bushfires have resulted in a series of trees crashing down onto busy highways. Crews from the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service have been working tirelessly to remove the branches and logs that have caused several road blockages. On Tuesday crews were seen using chainsaws to remove a tree that had fallen down in Alpine Way, in Kosciuszko National Park in the state's Snowy Mountains. But an environmental scientist is calling for the trees to remain as they can be used as shelter for struggling wildlife. Crews from the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service shared a photo removing a tree that feel across Alpine Way, in Kosciuszko National Park After NSW NPWS shared the photo to Facebook, one person suggested residents in the area be able to use the wood for their own use. 'Now I believe this is where the public should be allowed to enter and take the timber that is left on the side of the trails.... Obviously no cutting down trees but collecting fallen timber for fire wood etc at home would help to reduce the fuel loads around national parks,' one man said. Tracy Chapman, an environmental scientist from Glenreagh in north-eastern NSW said the idea to take the wood or use it as mulch was 'plain ridiculous'. 'I would never advocate rashly going in and taking [wood] out,' Ms Chapman told Yahoo News Australia. 'We miss something so simple with the importance of habitat. We've got this massive issue at the moment with these hollows, and it's not imbedded in a policy that we should be considering these as valuable resources rather than mulching them.' Fallen trees cover the Monaro Highway north of Cann River in Victoria in the wake of bushfires Ms Chapman said the crews should be working to chop up the trees into smaller, hollow pieces to be placed in the bush for wildlife to find shelter in. She said they would otherwise be 'sitting ducks' for prey like foxes. 'It's pretty dire, if you don't give shelter... they won't be able to start breeding again and they won't survive,' she said. The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment said that part of the trees would be used as mulch but a larger proportion would be left for wildlife. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for further comment. The bushfire crisis has taken the lives of 33 people and destroyed more than ten million hectares of land. Environmental scientists say the branches should be chopped up into smaller pieces for wildlife to find shelter in (pictured: tree across Monaro Highway in Cann River VIC) Three Indian-Americans are among eight people sentenced by a US court for their roles in a sophisticated India-based call center fraud scheme that defrauded thousands of Americans, resulting in over $3.7 million in losses. Those sentenced on Monday were Mohamed Kazim Momin, 33, (Georgia); Rodrigo Leon-Castillo, 46, (Texas); Mohmed Sozab Momin, 23, (Georgia); Drue Kyle Riggins, 24, (Georgia); Nicholas Alexander Deane, 26, (Georgia), Palak Kumar Patel, 30, (Georgia), Jantz Parrish Miller, 25, (Georgia) and Devin Bradford Pope, 25, (Georgia). Their sentences ranged from six months to four years and nine months in prison. US Attorney Byung J "BJay" Pak said that according to the charges and other information presented in the court, these defendants were involved in a sophisticated scheme organised by co-conspirators in India, including a network of call centers in Ahmedabad. Using information obtained from data brokers and other sources, call center operators called potential victims while impersonating officials from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or individuals offering fictitious payday loans, federal prosecutors said. The call center operators would then threaten potential victims with arrest, imprisonment, or fines if they did not pay taxes or penalties to the government. "IRS and payday loan phone schemes seek to profit by exploiting United States citizens, including the elderly and most vulnerable members of our community," said US Attorney Pak. The US will prosecute companies and individuals in India and in this country who choose to steal from vulnerable victims, he said. These eight people were charged along with five Indian call centers and seven Indian nationals in a 27-count indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in september 2018. The government is seeking extradition of Indian nationals. "If the victims agreed to pay, the call centers would immediately turn to a network of US-based co-conspirators to liquidate and launder the extorted funds by purchasing prepaid debit cards or through wire transfers, including through MoneyGram and Western Union, to the attention of fictitious names and US-based defendants and their co-conspirators," said the Department of Justice. (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.) Population expert finds decline in births for ninth year in a row Credit: Paul Craine An expert in population studies has said IOM Government figures reveal a decline in the number of births for the ninth consecutive year. Paul Craine, who's published 'Manx Population Atlas', said that in 2010, the total number of babies born on the Island peaked at 1,023. He also highlighted that last year, the number of births registered was just 710. Births have fallen by 30.6% in nine years, which Mr Craine said the effects of which will be 'long-lasting.' He explained: 'One inevitable, and relatively short-term effect, will be a reduction in the size of the primary school population. The oldest of the 1,015 pupils born in 2009 (see graph) are now turning the age of 11 and those still resident on the Island will soon be moving on from primary school. 'The pupils replacing them will be those born early in 2015 who are now reaching age 5 a much smaller group of just 785. Total primary school numbers could fall by around 200 per year over each of the next five years.' One longer-term effect will be a gap in the current 0-4 years age group as it passes up the population pyramid graph which will still be visible in 70 years time in the same way that the post-war baby boom is visible today. Although a global effect, Scotland and Wales had declines of approximately 15% and 13% respectively, whilst England and Northern Ireland both had declines of around 10%. Mr Craine found that the number of deaths recorded in the Isle of Man in 2019 was 850, giving a natural population decline (excess of deaths over births) of 140 - the fifth consecutive year that the Island has experienced more deaths than births. The Islands population would be shrinking except that, according to government estimates, this is compensated by modest migration flows. The Isle of Man is not the only country to be faced with an ageing population and natural population decline but its ageing is happening at a faster rate than in most other countries. A Nigerian doctor, Dr Anenga has shocked many on Twitter while reacting to the news of Maryam Sanda being sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of her husband. According to the doctor, if for any reason his wife murders him, she should be spared and allowed to take care of his kids. Read Also: Nigerian Women Only Argue About Who Does The Cooking, Not About Who Pays The Rent, Kids Fees And Utility Bills, Says A Nigerian Doctor (Video) In his words; I know my wife will never kill me. But if for any reason this happens, let her be allowed to live and take care of my children. This is me Dr Anenga Ushakuma Michael writing this, and I want this tweet to be admissible in court as evidence. OTTAWAThe number of Canadians asking Ottawa to help get them out of the coronavirus quarantine zone in China has surged over the past 24 hours and could keep growing as the federal government tries to figure out how to respond, Liberal cabinet ministers said Tuesday. As of Tuesday afternoon, 126 Canadians have asked the Global Affairs department for assisted repatriation from Chinas Hubei province, the region where the deadly new strain of respiratory illness emerged in December, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said. Champagne said government officials still need to speak with the Canadians asking for help to determine what exactly they need, whether any of them are sick, and whether it makes sense to deploy resources to get them out of China. The 126 is up from eight Canadians who had asked for help on Monday. Speaking Tuesday outside the House of Commons, Champagne and Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Canada is for the second straight day still considering all options to help citizens stuck in the Chinese region where authorities have imposed strict travel restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. The options include sending a plane to repatriate them or co-operating with other countries to share transportation out of the country, Champagne said. The United States and Japan have already chartered planes to remove citizens from the region, while France, South Korea and Mongolia have also planned evacuations, The Associated Press reported Tuesday. There are some countries that are proposing various solutions to bring back their citizens. We are in contact with them, Champagne said, adding that the number of Canadians seeking help could go up overnight Tuesday. Once we have the number, we will contact them, assess their individual needs, look at the options we have in front of us, tailor a response that would be a Canadian response, he said. Champagne declined to estimate how long it would take for Canada to figure out its response, saying it will depend on when officials speak with all the individuals seeking help. Hajdu, meanwhile, said the risk for Canadians in China goes beyond contracting the novel coronavirus that, according to the World Health Organization, has killed 106 and infected more than 4,500 around the world. Because of the strict quarantine imposed by Chinese authorities, Canadians in the region may have trouble obtaining needed supplies, moving around within cities or be unable to access family members, Hajdu said. She said health and Global Affairs officials are also developing a plan for what to do if Canadian citizens are repatriated from the affected zone in China. This is of utmost priority for me to make sure were protecting the health and safety of Canadians, whether theyre abroad and whether theyre here, she said. Earlier Tuesday, health officials in British Columbia reported the first case of the coronavirus in that province: a man who was in isolation at home after travelling to the affected region in China. He is the third case confirmed in Canada, after officials reported a couple in Toronto contracted the virus in recent days. B.C.s Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry told reporters in Vancouver Tuesday that the man did not show symptoms of illness until after he returned to the Vancouver region. That means there is no risk of infection to others on his flight from China, she said, because there is no evidence the coronavirus can spread before an infected person has symptoms of respiratory illness, such as coughing and sneezing. Henry stressed that British Columbians should not be alarmed. Officials have planned to see cases of the illness and are well prepared, she said. This does not change what we are doing in British Columbia. It confirms that our surveillance is working, said Henry. I would have been surprised if we did not have one of two cases. Meanwhile, Air Canada announced it will be cancelling some flights to China. The cancellations will impact travel to Beijing Capital International Airport, Pudong International airport in Shanghai and Wuhan Tianhe International airport. Anyone holding tickets to Shanghai between now and Feb. 29 will see their flights cancelled. For those planning to travel to Wuhan, all flights will be cancelled until March 29, according to Air Canada. With files from Bruce Campion-Smith, Miriam Lafontaine and The Associated Press Read more about: Advent Health Foundation announces new board members The AdventHealth Hendersonville Foundation welcomed nine new members to its board of directors recently. The Foundation supports AdventHealths mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ through community support, partnerships and fundraising opportunities. New members are Rachel Balson, Chick-fil-A, Executive Operations Director; Vicki Banks, Biltmore Estate, Vice President of Human Resources; J. Scott Benyon, Community Volunteer; Adriana Chavela, Founder, Hola Carolina magazine; Jill R. Cody, Keller Williams, Realtor; Donna Gibbs, Summit Wellness Centers, Co-Owner Dr. William Frank McKemie, AdventHealth Hendersonville, Hospitalist; Lisa Parham, Champion Credit Union, Regional Branch Manager; and Rickey E. Parker, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Operations Manager. We are able to establish access to convenient and innovative care for people across Western North Carolina thanks to the dedication of the incredible members of our Foundation Board, Foundation Director Sherri Holbert said. With the addition of these new community leaders, our board moves to a total of 21 people who are helping us connect with even more members of our community who want to support patient care and wellness services for our region. AdventHealth Hendersonville's Foundation builds community support, forms partnerships, and raises funds to discover new and groundbreaking ways to treat illness while supporting the organizations aim to help everyone feel whole by caring for their body, mind and spirit. The recent generosity of donors has allowed the Foundation to raise funds for new vital-scan monitors in AdventHealth Hendersonvilles cancer services infusion centers, cancer diagnostic equipment, Spirit Smart Beds to improve the comfort and care of those in our Behavioral Health Unit, enhancements to patient rooms, nursing education, and free community health screenings. On Jan. 28 the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the coronavirus 2019-nCoV had spread from China to about 11 countries, had killed 80 people and had infected 2,798 worldwide. The day before, stories propagated in a large number of Russian domestic news outlets began suggesting the United States might be behind the outbreak. The Chinese believe the coronavirus is created by the Americans, the popular Komsomolskaya Pravda reported, citing as proof that the virus was genetically shaped in the American laboratories, the claim that all the infected are Asians! and there are no Europeans. The virus has been confirmed in the U.S., Australia, Canada and France, where reports of three cases incited fear of a contagion in European capitals, according to reports by the Guardian and Bloomberg. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of Jan. 27 also had confirmed five cases of 2019-nCoV in the United States with 73 pending diagnosis. Some Russian media reports suggested U.S. bioterrorism. The expert saw signs of the American bioterrorism in spreading of the coronavirus, Moskovsky Komsomelets newspaper reported. The story featured Igor Nikulin, a Russian biochemical and military expert and former adviser to the United Nations commission on biological and chemical weapons. Nikulin was the same scientist who claimed the United States, not Russia, was behind the March 2018 poisoning, using a military grade nerve agent, of the ex-KGB spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter in the U.K. (Amid Moscows denials, a U.K. investigation determined that Russian military intelligence was behind the Skirpal poisoning.) Russias oldest state-owned news agency, RIA Novosti, reported, The spread of coronavirus might have been a sabotage, the expert [Nikulin] thinks. The RIA Novosti report, citing Nikulin, speculated that U.S. diplomatic staff may have delivered the dangerous cargo from the American lab to Wuhan. Others joined in. Leonid Savin, featured as a foreign policy expert at the shadowy Strategic Culture Foundation, speculated that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation may have helped finance creation of the coronavirus bioweapon. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and a popular veteran politician, told Moscow radio that Americans were surely behind the outbreak. He suggested pharmacists were gaining billions while the U.S. military reaped an opportunity to test weaponizing the virus. The Russian media reports appeared to be part of a domestic disinformation campaign. The coronavirus conspiracies did not appear in the Kremlins foreign language news agencies. Anti-U.S. conspiracies are common in Russia. They include a thoroughly refuted story about the Central Public Health Reference Laboratory, known as the Lugar lab, in Georgia, the former Soviet republic. Russian sources claimed the Pentagon was using the lab to create and test biological weapons, causing hundreds of deaths in the local population. That conspiracy was proven completely fabricated by multiple investigations and fact checks, including by Polygraph.info. In reality, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the drug company Gilead were working a joint project with Georgian health officials to combat hepatitis C using antiviral medicines. Other discredited conspiracy theories circulated by Russian media claimed the U.S. created the Ebola virus as a biological weapon and tried to infect Latin American leaders with a deadly cancer virus. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: In the wake of suspected coronavirus cases in different parts of the country including one in neighbouring Bihar, the Uttar Pradesh government is gearing up to face any eventuality. It has decided to set up isolation wards of 10 beds in each and every district hospital and medical college of the state in view of the threat looming large. However, no cases have been reported in UP so far. Presiding over a meeting of health department officials late on Monday evening, CM Yogi Adityanath reviewed the measures to deal with the situation and issued directives to keep a tight vigil on the states border with neighbouring Nepal. A suspected case of the deadly coronavirus has been reported from Nepal. The CM also asked the officials to keep extra vigil on the airports of the state where foreigners were landing. Varanasi and Lucknow airports have already been put on high alert. UP shares a long, porous border with Nepal with heavy traffic flow between the two nations. Special screening arrangements have been made in seven districts -- Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Balrampur, Bahraich, Gonda, Pilibhit and Shravasti -- bordering Nepal. The CM instructed officials to monitor the tourism flow from Thailand, China, Nepal and Vietnam. On finding anyone sick, they were asked to inform district administration officials immediately. The DMs and CMOs of border districts have been asked to inquire if those coming to India from Nepal were in China during the last two weeks. Those coming from China would be monitored for four weeks at their destination. If the symptoms are detected, they would immediately be shifted to isolation wards in district hospitals. The CM also directed health officials to work in close coordination with central health agencies. He also asked them to make everyone aware of the coronavirus and remain vigilant. Passengers with coronavirus symptoms have been advised to restrict their movement and contact the 24-hour helpline number 011- 23978046. Principal Secretary, Health, Devesh Chaturvedi, said an advisory was issued to all seven airports across the state to set up medical camps equipped with thermal scanning facilities. Panchayati Raj officials have been asked to reach out to the rural population and sensitize them about the symptoms of the ailment caused by the coronavirus. A question that often crops up is - What is the difference between monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies? Good question! Both the way in which these antibodies are produced and what they can be used for, differ greatly. Here the two types are broken down and all the relevant information about polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies is outlined. Key differences between Polyclonal and Monoclonal Antibodies. Polyclonal Monoclonal Heterogeneous population of antibodies with differing paratopes for an antigen Homogenous population of a specific antibody with one paratope Not Epitope Specific Epitope Specific Increased likelihood for cross-reactivity with similar antigens Low cross-reactivity Increased likelihood for background noise Low background noise Lot Variability Identical lots Inexpensive to develop Expensive to develop Quick to produce (approx. 3 months) Slow to produce (approx. 6 months) Many host species options Few host species options What are Monoclonal Antibodies? Monoclonal Antibodies Definition: One (mono) type of antibody that binds to a specific epitope on the target antigen makes up a monoclonal antibody. Monoclonal Antibody Production To create monoclonal antibodies an immunogen is first injected into a host animal. Once an immune response has been caused by the immunogen, the B-cells from the spleen are extracted and fused with myeloma cells (cancer B-cells). Healthy spleen cells would not survive indefinitely in cell culture and so this fusing process is carried out to make an immortal cell line. A hybridoma cell line is created through this process. A mono-culture of B-cells all producing the same specific antibody are created by fusing and culturing single B-cells from the spleen into their own hybridomas. A specific clone number is assigned to each hybridoma now producing a monoclonal antibody such that the particular antibody and the specific epitope that it binds can be identified. The B-cells excrete the monoclonal antibodies into the cell culture media. Here, they are extracted for further testing and purification. The creation of a monoclonal antibody hybridoma clone provides a stable renewable source of antibodies ensuring that each batch is identical to the previous. In order to create a tumor that secretes a fluid rich in antibodies called ascites fluid, hybridomas may also be injected in the peritoneal cavity of a mouse. Best Uses of Monoclonal Antibodies: To detect a specific antigen To detect a single member of a protein family To create consistent results between experiments/batches To stain cells with less background excellent for immunohistochemistry, immunocytochemistry, and immunofluorescence experiments To quantify protein expression (ex. Flow cytometry or fluorescence-activated cell sorting) To detect changes in molecular conformation To detect changes in phosphorylation states To detect a target for x-ray crystallography To create animal models lacking a specific cell type Immunotherapy Monoclonal Antibodies are not Recommended for: To detect target proteins across different species based on homology To detect low levels of a target proteins To detect a protein in an altered conformation What are Polyclonal Antibodies? Polyclonal Antibody Definition: Many (poly) different antibodies that bind to many different epitopes on the target antigen make up polyclonal antibodies. Polyclonal Antibody Production An immunogen is injected into a host animal to create polyclonal antibodies. An immune response in the animal is caused by this immunogen activating multiple B-cells, all of which target a specific epitope on the immunogen. A large number of antibodies with varying paratopes result from this, and therefore varying affinities for the target protein. After immunization, it is possible to use these polyclonal antibodies straight from the serum (blood with the clotting proteins and red blood cells removed) or alternatively, they can be purified to obtain a solution free from other serum proteins. New animals will have to be immunized with the antigen to create a new batch meaning that there is a high level of variability from batch to batch. Best Uses of Polyclonal Antibodies: Detecting a known or unknown isoforms of antigens with high antigen homology Detecting low levels of a particular antigen Capturing as much antigen as possible (ex. Immunoprecipitation or chromatin immunoprecipitation) Detecting denatured proteins Detecting targets with possible genetic polymorphisms, glycosylation or conformational changes Detecting a native protein across multiple assay types Detecting a target in solutions with varying pH and salt concentrations Polyclonal Antibodies are not Recommended for: Quantification experiments, for example flow cytometry, as incorrect results will be caused by the amplification of the signal due to the multiple binding sites Cases where there are problems with cross-reactivity with high homology proteins Acknowledgments Produced from materials originally authored by Leslie Rietveld from StressMarq Biosciences Inc. About StressMarq Biosciences Established in 2007, StressMarq Biosciences Inc. is a supplier of life science products that operates out of Victoria, Canada with a small, but dedicated group of scientists. Headed by our CEO and President Dr. Ariel Louwrier, StressMarq provides the research community with high-quality reagents backed with rigorous quality control data, expert scientific support, and fast international delivery. Discovery through partnership, Excellence through quality With over 7,000 products, our growth can be attributed to the continual production of cutting edge research products. Our diverse portfolio of primary antibodies, antibody conjugates, proteins, immunoassay kits and small molecules bridges across the life sciences, including products for cancer research, cardiovascular disease, cell signaling and neuroscience. To aid research worldwide, StressMarq has an extensive network of international distributors that allow us to supply reagents to over 50 countries. In the years to come, StressMarq will continue to aid life science research by providing Discovery through partnership, and Excellence through quality. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. Motorola unveiled the Moto G8 Plus last year in October. While Motorola said it had no plans to launch the Moto G8 then, the device has popped up online now. Moto G8 renders, specifications as well as colour options have leaked. The arrival of the Moto G8 in the rumour mill hints at its imminent launch. Alongside the Moto G8, the Moto G8 Power has been leaked. According to a report from 91Mobiles, the Moto G8 will feature a 6.39-inch display with support for 720 x 1560 pixels HD+ resolution. It could be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chipset. The Moto G8 may come in multiple RAM choices of 2GB, 3GB and 4GB and storage options like 32GB and 64GB. It may pack a 4000mAh battery with 10W charging. Moto G8 leaked render On the optics front, the Moto G8 is said to sport a triple rear camera setup: a 16MP lens with f/1.7 aperture + an 8MP ultrawide shooter with f/2.2 aperture + a 2MP macro lens with f/1.7 aperture. As for the Moto G8 Power, it is tipped to feature a 6.36-inch display with support for 1080 x 2300 pixels Full HD resolution. It is likely to be powered by the Snapdragon 665 chipset as well. The Moto G8 Power could come with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It may pack a 5000mAh battery with 18W fast charging support. The Moto G8 Power is rumoured to sport a quad rear camera setup: a 16MP lens with f/1.7 aperture + an 8MP ultrawide shooter with f/2.2 aperture + an 8MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture + a 2MP macro lens with f/1.7 aperture. Both Moto G8 and Moto G8 Power are said to run Android 10. There is no word on the launch date of the two devices yet. [January 28, 2020] The Journal of Investment Management and New Frontier Advisors Name 2019 Harry M. Markowitz Award Winners The Journal Of Investment Management (JOIM) and New Frontier Advisors LLC today announced the winners of the 2019 Harry M. Markowitz Award. The winners are finalized by a Special Selection Panel comprised of Nobel (News - Alert) Prize Laureates. The Markowitz Award is sponsored jointly by JOIM and New Frontier Advisors and recognizes the seminal and transcendent impact of Dr. Markowitz's work as a financial economist and mathematician on both theoretical finance and the practice of asset management. The award was established to honor his legacy and to support future research and innovation in practical asset management. Candidates for the annual award are chosen from among papers published in JOIM in a calendar year. An honorarium of $10,000 is bestowed for the winning paper. Two additional finalist papers receive a Special Distinction Award along with a $5,000 honorarium. 2019 Markowitz Award Winners This year's top recognition was awarded to "Funding Long Shots," by John Hull, Professor of Derivatives and Risk Management at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, Andrew W. Lo, the Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor of Finance and the Director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering at the MIT (News - Alert) Sloan School of Management, and Roger M. Stein, Adjunct Professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. The winning paper examines the increased difficulty in funding long shots, which the authors define as investment projects that have low probabilities of success, significant delays before cash flows are realized, large initial investments, and large payoffs-relative to up-front payments-in the unlikely event of success. Though the undertaking of such investments is crucial to battling some of today's most pressing societal challenges, even high-risk investment vehicles such as hedge funds and venture funds are struggling to finance these investment projects. The paper aims to both examine the problem and offer a possible solution: pooling long shot investments into a single portfolio financed by securitized debt and examining the conditions under which such funding mechanisms are likely to be influential. Special Distinction Awards In addition, two 2019 Special Distinction Awards were given for the following papers: "Does Trading By ETF and Mutual Fund Investors Hurt Performance? Evidence From Time and Dollar-Weighted Returns," by Ananth Madhavan, Managing Director, BlackRock, and Aleksander Sobczyk, Director, BlackRock. "Quantifying the Skewness Loss of Diversification," by James X. Xiong, Head of Quantitative Research at Moningstar Investment Management and Thomas M. Idzorek, President of Morningstar Investment Management. The first paper analyzes the "return gap" between internal rate of returns that account for intermediate investor flows and buy-and-hold returns that funds typically must report. The authors utilized a sample consisting of all US-domiciled open-end mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fixed-income and equity funds, as well as active and index styles of management. The paper concludes that the cross-sectional pattern of the return gap can be explained by return chasing behavior and that high turnover of liquid ETFs does not lead to sub-par returns for investors in these funds. In the second paper, the authors examine skewness loss. Many view diversification as the "only free lunch" of finance, yet the authors argue that skewness is typically positive for individual stocks and negative for diversified portfolios. The paper defines the move from positive to negative skewness that comes from diversification as the skewness loss of diversification and quantifies its economic value using option pricing models. The authors conclude that skewness loss is in fact a meaningful cost for investors. "We are pleased to recognize the outstanding work of the 2019 Award Winners who exhibit the influence of Harry Markowitz and honor his work in the financial community," said Dr. Richard Michaud, President and Chief Executive Officer at New Frontier Advisors. "Now in their tenth year, the Markowitz Awards continue to expand, with the winners reflecting the kind of high-quality research being done in the market today." About New Frontier Advisors New Frontier is a Boston-based institutional research and investment advisory firm specializing in the development and application of state of-the-art investment technology. Founded in 1999 by the inventors of the world's first broad spectrum, patented, portfolio optimization process, the firm continues to pioneer new developments in asset allocation, equity portfolio optimization and long-term investment policy decision making. About The Journal Of Investment Management (JOIM) The Journal Of Investment Management (JOIM), established in 2003, is a high quality, fully refereed publication, which bridges the theory and practice of investment management. The JOIM offers rigorous research with practical significance, drawing from the disciplines of finance, economics and accounting. Special issues on timely topics including distinguished authors who have both impressive academic and professional experience are a highlight. The JOIM's overall goal is to be mindful of the need to present the very best quality material in a form appealing to the practitioner, student and academic. Upcoming: March 22 - 24, 2020 Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego Asset Allocation & Supporting Risk Analysis https://www.joim.com/conference-series/ About the JOIM Conference Series The mission of the JOIM Conference Series, founded in 2006, is to extend the mandate of the Journal Of Investment Management (JOIM) in bridging the theory and practice of investment management. Whereas the JOIM journal is a rigorous peer reviewed publication, the JOIM Conference Series showcases very high quality presentations and a platform for interactive discussions of current topics in the investment management arena. Prevalent throughout both activities is the highest quality material suitable for the academic, practitioner and student. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005166/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Egypt's Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem met her Senegalese counterpart Abdullah Jub and the Ambassador of Senegal in Egypt Elie Saibi on 23 January at the 51th Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), which opened on 22 January and continues until 4 February. During the meeting, the Senegalese minister praised the Egyptian cultures role in Africa, and said that a series of celebrations is being held in the Senegalese capital to consolidate cultural relations between the two countries. Minister Jub also expressed keenness on benefiting from the Egyptian experience in various creative fields, including on national libraries, printing PHD theses for Senegalese researchers in Egypt, translation and the exchange of authors in the celebration of the International Day of Book, as well as offering scholarships to Senegalese students at the Academy of Arts. The minister also expressed admiration for the organisational measures of the 51th CIBF and expressed gratitude for the choice of his country as a guest of honour for this year's edition, which is titled, 'Egypt, Africa, the Culture of Diversity.' Present at the meeting were a number of senior officials from the Ministry of Culture, including head of the Academy of Arts Ashraf Zaky and head of the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces Ahmed Awwad. Members of the delegation discussed increasing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of culture, arts and integral partnerships in all creative fields. Minister Abdel-Dayem said, "the relationship between Egypt and Senegal is one of the distinctive forms of cooperation between the peoples of the African continent." The minister also welcomed the Senegalese invitation to participate in the Dakar Biennale for Arts in 2020, and also accepted the invitation for Egypt to be the guest of honour at the Dakar International Book Fair to be held in 2021. She added that a discussion was held between the two sides to prepare for a protocol of intellectual and cultural cooperation in order to organise mutual activities that reinforce relations between the two nations and allow the exchange of knowledge in the cultural scenes in the two societies. Search Keywords: Short link: Taliban claim responsibility for downing 'US aircraft' in Afghanistan's Ghazni Iran Press TV Monday, 27 January 2020 10:30 AM An aircraft has crashed in Afghanistan's eastern province of Ghazni, with Taliban militants claiming they have shot down a US forces plane in an area controlled largely by the militant group. "An aircraft of American occupiers has crashed in Ghazni province," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a Pashto-language statement, adding that all the crewmembers on board have been killed, AFP reported. Initially Afghan government officials suggested that a Boeing plane belonging to the Ariana Afghan Airlines had crashed and exploded into flames. But shortly after news broke of the crash, Ariana Airlines Acting CEO Mirzakwal denied that one of the company's jetliners had went down. "There has been an airline crash but it does not belong to Ariana because the two flights managed by Ariana today from Herat to Kabul and Herat to Delhi are safe," Mirzakwal was quoted by Reuters. The Civil Aviation Authority of Afghanistan also denied reports that the plane was a commercial flight. "According to our information from the Control Tower and Traffic Regulatory Authority, no commercial airline crash has been recorded. And Ariana Afghan Airlines have reassured us that all their planes are accounted for," read a statement by the organisation. There is no information yet available on the number of passengers or crew. The aircraft is said to have crashed in territory under the Taliban control and the militants were reportedly seen helping to put out the fire at the crash site. Afghan special forces were headed to the site to investigate the incident A senior official in Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office was quoted by Reuters as saying that the plane had crashed near Ghazni province and authorities were still seeking details. Before Mirzakwal's denial, Arif Noori, a spokesman for the provincial governor's office in Ghazni city, had said: "A Boeing plane belonging to the Ariana Afghan Airlines, has crashed in the Sado Khel area of Deh Yak district of Ghazni province around 1:10 p.m. local time (0840 GMT)," Reuters said, adding that it was not immediately able to contact Noori again. Later on Monday, two officials from Ghazni province said the crashed aircraft appeared to belong to a foreign company, and not to state-owned Ariana Afghan Airlines. "There is no exact information on casualties and name of the airline," Ghazni provincial governor Wahidullah Kaleemzai told TOLOnews. Meanwhile, a senior defense official in Kabul said no U.S. or NATO forces' flight had crashed. An AP report quoted the US military as saying that it is investigating reports of the airplane crash in Taliban-controlled territory in Afghanistan. US Army Maj. Beth Riordan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command, said it was not clear whose aircraft was involved in the crash, though she declined to immediately comment further. Officials from the United States Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT) also declined to comment on the incident, but pictures on social media purportedly from the crash site showed what could be the remains of a Bombardier E-11A aircraft, which the US military uses for electronic surveillance over Afghanistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday lashed out at Pakistan for using "terrorism as a state policy" towards India rather than peacefully settling disputes through dialogue, and said it must take "demonstrable steps" against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India from its soil. Addressing a conference here, Singh also targeted Pakistan over the SAARC impasse, saying the full potential of the bloc has not been realised due to the "behaviour and policies of a single country". He said it is essential that terrorists and their ideological and financial networks are cut off and do not receive state support. "We have made it clear that talks and terror cannot go together and that Pakistan must take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India from its soil," he said at the 12th South Asia Conference on 'India's Neighbourhood First Policy: Regional Perceptions'. Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama attacks are "grim reminders of state-sponsored terrorism by a neighbouring country", Singh said, while asserting that the South Asia region must unite in its efforts to defeat terrorism. In a statement released by the Defence Ministry in the evening, Singh was quoted as saying that India is fully capable of giving a firm response to cross-border terrorism, and strikes against terrorist attacks in 2016 and 2019 have demonstrated the nation's firm resolve to tackle the menace. On India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, the Union minister said, "India is engaged in conversations with its neighbours except one country in order to develop a joint approach for regional peace and security. "True pathway to regional peace and security lies in understanding each other's sensitivities and following basic principles of non-interference in each other's internal affairs," he said. "With exception of one country, and I would like to say frankly Pakistan, our region has adhered to the principle," Singh said. The defence minister cited how the SAARC motor vehicles agreement was stalled at the last Kathmandu session in 2015, in a direct reference to Pakistan. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. "The same country has preferred to use terrorism as a state policy towards India, rather than peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue. Its use of terror as an instrument of its foreign and security policy has promoted radicalism and terrorism in the region and posed critical challenges to security of all states," he said, targeting Pakistan. Singh said that the Easter Bomb attacks in Colombo in April 2019 were the latest instance of how dangerous such a policy has been for the region and beyond. Emphasising further on India's 'Neighbourhood First' Policy, he quoted Sanskrit slokas to underline India's ethos of inclusivity and unity, and said it has always harboured the philosophy of hospitality driven by 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'. In the Modi government's second term, the country's neighbourhood has been recognised as the most important priority of its foreign policy, he said. Leaders of SAARC were invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his swearing-in ceremony in 2014 and BIMSTEC leaders were invited for the 2019 oath-taking event, indicating his personal commitment to the neighbourhood, the Union minister said. The government has committed about USD 13.14 billion in credit lines and about USD 4 billion in assistance, in the neighbourhood over the last decade, Singh said. He asserted India is willing to play a "leading and critical role" at the development front under this Policy, by making resources available to neighbours to build necessary infrastructure that will enable connectivity and easy flow of region-wide movement of goods, services, people and ideas. "As the largest country of the region, mindful of its asymmetric preponderance, and development aspirations of its neighbours, India has always made efforts to share its prosperity with the neighbourhood," Singh said. India regards peace and prosperity in the neighbourhood as "critical" to its own growth and self-interest, he said in his address at the conference hosted by defence think-tank IDSA (Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses), which was also attended by Bhutanese Ambassador V Namgyel, and Sanjaya Baru, former media advisor to ex-prime minister Manmohan Singh. "Under the Neighbourhood First Policy, intensifying bilateral developmental partnership with countries in the region may create the necessary impulse for regional cooperation in South Asia in the long run," the minister said. The minister also asserted that South Asia is at a "critical juncture of history". "We should not hold regional prosperity hostage to the interests of states who are obstructing all efforts aimed at regional cooperation. Our intra-regional trade has been abysmally low. We have to transcend these limitations," he added. The minister flagged that the South Asia region faces the threats of "military conflict, terrorism, piracy, climate change, natural disasters and energy security". "Our intra-regional trade flows are among the lowest in the world. All this can change if we build cooperative structures that deepen mutual trust," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An investigation has found that Monaghan County Councillor Hugh McElvaney breached ethics laws. The Standards in Public Office (SIPO) Commission probe followed an RTE Investigates programme in 2015. Undercover footage showed the councillor pledging to act as the "conduit" between a fictitious company and the county council, claiming he would want "loads of money" if the process was successful. It featured an undercover reporter posing as an international investor interested in acquiring sites for wind energy production in Ireland. In meetings with a number of county councillors, the 'investor' said she needed help with local opposition and reducing planning permission risks. Cllr McElvaney detailed the process that would need to be undertaken in order to obtain planning permission for a wind farm. During the SIPO investigation, Cllr McElvaney and his legal counsel had argued that as a local councillor and local businessman the politician was "anxious if possible to ensure that any such investment would enure for the benefit of his County and the local economy". In a report published today, SIPO says it found against Councillor McElvaney in respect of four alleged contraventions. It says he "failed to maintain proper standards of integrity, conduct and concern for the public interest". In relation to one of the four findings, the report states: "The Commission finds that Councillor McElvaney conflated his roles as Councillor and businessman and used his position as Councillor in order to promote his private interests by agreeing to provide information and assistance to the fictitious investment company in respect of the planning process in return for a financial reward." Copies of the report have now been sent to Cllr McElvaney, the Cathaoirleach and Chief Executive of Monaghan County Council, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. ANN ARBOR, MI Before he left for the Big Apple, Jason Polan left his mark on Tree Town. The most visible physical sign of the artists lasting Ann Arbor legacy is the giant ant mural he and friend Jacob Brege painted in 2004 in a downtown alley off Maynard Street, on the back of what was then Borders Books, Music and Cafe. Polan, 22 and graduating from the University of Michigan that summer, covered the wall with 10 ants as tall as garbage trucks, big and black and crawling silently, Ann Arbor News reporter Amy Whitesall wrote, documenting the process as Polan used blue masking tape to outline the figures. Polan liked the clean look of the black on white, the simplicity of the insects and the idea of a really big portrayal of something normally really small. Plus, it just seemed funny. The mural endures to this day, delighting passersby. Polan, a visual artist known for his goofy side, died Monday, Jan. 27, in New York after a battle with colon cancer. He was 37. After graduating from UM with a dual degree in art and anthropology, Polan made a name for himself as one of New York Citys most offbeat artists. His illustrations were featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times and other publications, as well as a line of T-shirts featuring Marvel Comics characters. The Times published a story about his life and career on Monday, describing him as one of the quirkiest and most prolific denizens of the New York art scene. University of Michigan alumnus and New York artist Jason Polan.Fritz Swanson Perhaps most famously, the former Ann Arborite set out several years ago on a quixotic quest to draw everyone in New York City, filling sketch pads with quick doodles of people at Grand Central Terminal or wherever he found inspiration, including a Taco Bell off Union Square. Other illustrators coalesced around Polan, who founded the weekly Taco Bell Drawing Club. He eventually drew more than 30,000 people, many of whom didnt know they were being sketched, and published his book Every Person in New York, Volume 1 in 2015. If they are moving fast, the drawing is often very simple, Polan explained in the intro. If they move or get up from a pose, I cannot cheat at all by filling in a leg that had been folded or an arm pointing. This is why some of the people in the drawings might have an extra arm or leg it had moved while I was drawing them. I think, hope, this makes the drawings better. Early in his career in New York, he published The Every Piece of Art in The Museum of Modern Art Book." It didnt land him the museum job he wanted, but it earned him a following, The Times reported. Polan was born in July 1982 in Ann Arbor and grew up in Franklin, Michigan. His father Jesse worked in real estate development and his mother Jane did volunteer work, The Times reported. Ann Arbor-area residents Sharon Popp and Robert Frank said they knew Polan since he was a young boy, as their daughter was friends with one of his sisters. They later followed his career in New York and collected his books. When he was a kid, he was always drawing, he was into comic books and he was drawing even before he was a teenager, Frank said. He was just such a sweetheart, Popp said, fighting back tears. He was a real nice guy, just very loving." As a UM student, Polan spent his free time putting art in unexpected places. That included improv art contests, art on toilet paper displayed in a port-a-potty, a graffiti tour, and a lecture series featuring venues like Taco Bell and Buschs. He doesnt try to constrain himself in any way, which is very noble for an artist to do, Gregory Steel, director of UMs Work Gallery on State Street, said in 2004. Jason's just out there doing whatever. Ultimately, I think that's where the creative process lies, in having the courage to put yourself out there." A lot of art show openings aren't much fun, Polan once told The News, so he tried to make sure his were. For his port-a-potty show, he served up Twix candy bars and gum. "If people are giving you their time, I feel like you should reward them, he explained. In 2003, Polan got 16 people to sign up for an art battle on the Diag side of State Street. He'd call out a theme and, while a friend played the banjo, two artists would draw until the music stopped. Polan would hold up both drawings, and the one that got the loudest applause won the round. His mom served apple cider. "I support my kids any way I can," she said at the time. "But he does have some strange ideas." Polans final art show as a UM student ran at the Work Gallery in summer 2004, consisting of 100 tiny drawings of his little sister's clothes on dry-cleaning receipts, called "Clothed." The opening night reception was held outside on the sidewalk because the gallery was actually closed for two weeks, so people had to look at his work through the windows. Polan served water and Snack Pack chocolate pudding, as some probed for the deeper meaning. "Its Clothed its like closed, but with a lisp, the artist explained. His artwork has been exhibited in numerous galleries and public places. His first solo show in New York in 2011 featured 31 drawings of everyday objects, plus a life-size depiction of King Kongs head and animals drawn on a Ping-Pong table available for use. In addition to the ant mural, Polan had various works scattered around Ann Arbor when he left town. He painted a series of upside-down faces with the mural club in the Michigan Union computer lab, and he and his friend Brege did a profile of a face on a wall in East Quad. Fritz Swanson, an English lecturer at UM, said Polan took his freshman composition class, when Swanson was still a grad student, and they quickly became friends, discovering similar tastes in literature and illustration. Polan ended up taking two other writing classes Swanson taught. We just immediately learned from each other, Swanson said. He was an illustrator and I wanted to be an illustrator, and I was a writer and he wanted to be a writer. They once teamed up to make a $13 bill featuring Millard Fillmore, the 13th U.S. president, using Polans drawing and Swansons letterpress studio. They printed 400 on card stock and sold them for $13 apiece, then another special batch of 26 on paper imported from India. Each of us carried 13 of them around in our wallet for a week, and then we sold those for $113, Swanson said. Jason Pollan and his friend Fritz Swanson, a University of Michigan lecturer, once teamed up to create these $13 bills featuring Millard Fillmore, the 13th U.S. president.Fritz Swanson Over the years, Polan kept coming back to Ann Arbor to visit. Polan had an obsession with finding where artists once lived and going to those places to draw, Swanson said, recalling how they worked together to track down the house where the 1970s punk band and art collective Destroy All Monsters got its start in Ann Arbor. They went through old phone books and news articles to find the house, then sat outside, ate burgers and drew the exterior, Swanson said. In addition to collecting comics, Polan collected memories, images and fragments of knowledge, and he delighted in simple things, Swanson said, recalling the time Polan dumped out a bag of popcorn and drew every kernel. The artist then made a booklet, An Entire Bag of Popcorn, which he took to the New York Book Fair. Basically if there was a thing he loved, he wanted to catalogue it, Swanson said. He was an artist of happiness. That was the thing that he really loved was capturing the things that made him happy and then sharing them with everybody else. He worked his tail off and he took big risks, Swanson added. He was my best friend. Polan is survived by his parents and sister Jamie MacDonald. Another sister, Jennifer, died in 2000. MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Michigan funeral planned for New York artist Jason Polan Vintage photos showcase downtown Ann Arbors historical charm Ann Arbor officials arent eager to sponsor psychedelic mushroom resolution Briarwood Mall Papyrus among store closures nationally Signature crossing over Ann Arbors Main Street focus of new Treeline trail study The Year of the Bible underway as ministries look to spark 'Bible revival' in 2020 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Year of the Bible is underway as missions organizations, churches and other ministries are seeking to usher in a grassroots Bible revival. One evangelist believes many, including Christians, have yet to learn to love the Word of God. I just think we've taught a generation how to love good preaching and how to love good worship, but we've never learned how to love the Bible, said Nick Hall, who some have referred to as the Billy Graham of the next generation. I think in a lot of our churches and ministries, the majority of the people just aren't reading the Bible for themselves. And so as biblical literacy has gone down, it has had a domino effect on a million things in our church and in our culture. We find that when people read the Bible more, they love their neighbors more, they're more involved in compassion and justice initiatives and they're more involved in evangelism. The Year of the Bible movement was established by a coalition of international ministry networks called The Table Coalition, formerly known as the Mission America Coalition. It hopes to be the largest digital next-generation biblical marketing campaign in history. The aim of the movement is to inspire people to make 2020 the year they make the Bible a "foundational part of their lives." It's one of those deals where a lot of us have these understandings that the Bible is boring or the Bible is judgmental or the Bible is archaic, Hall told The Christian Post. We just want to help people see that there's a different narrative. The goal, he said, is to inspire as many people as possible to dedicate their year to Gods word and listen to what He has to say in their life. As the movement aims to end Bible poverty worldwide, one of the problems in Western cultures today, organizers say, is that the Bible is becoming less significant as more children are growing up without exposure to the Gospel or a biblical worldview. Barna research suggests that while almost half of Americans identify as Christian, only a small fraction of Americans hold a biblical worldview. Hall explained that the aim is to inspire people to form a biblical foundation for themselves at a time in history when it is so easy to be led by feelings and emotion. He said it is important for the next generation to be anchored on the rock and not on the shifting sands of culture. The story of King Josiah has kind of been our biblical framework, Hall, the founder of PULSE and the visionary behind the Together ecumenical Christian events, said. We just see that in that passage and in that time in the history of Israel, they had lost God's Word. For an entire generation, people didnt have the Word of God. And then there was this discovery of this ancient book and then it brought them to repentance. And then there was this mass [of people] coming back to the word and reading it in public. And the public reading of Scripture is a big part of this. So far, entire denominations such as the Assemblies of God have declared 2020 as the Year of the Bible. Additionally, some churches are planning to read through the entire Bible in one year through reading plans. We really see that a big problem that's happened in the Church is that we have really started to turn to a lot of secondary sources instead of looking to the main thing, Hall said. And so we just want to kind of drive this conversation that there's something better than hearing somebody talk about God. And that's hearing from God for yourself. According to Hall, several youth organizations are rallying around the effort, including InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. In June, thousands of Christians will gather at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to read the Bible and worship at Together 2020, an event that will feature some of the days most well-known Christian leaders and musicians. Hall said that the entire day will be a tribute to the Bible as each speaker has agreed to dedicate half of their remarks to extended readings of Scripture. Its a ton of just reading the Bible and really showcasing for a generation that this word is worth basing your life upon, he said. In addition to the sermons and performances, Together 2020 will feature three hours of a public reading of Scripture from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I would just say what we're praying for and what we're seeing is a Bible revival, he said. Plans are in the works to hold about 10 or more Let It Speak summits for Christian leaders, most of which will be held in the U.S. A few will likely be hosted internationally. The summits will allow Christian leaders to discuss how to improve Scripture engagement in their churches. So far, a Let It Speak Summit is scheduled for March 4 at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Hall said that they plan to hold summits in Los Angeles, Pheonix, New York, Kansas City and somewhere in the northwest. People are also being encouraged to hold their own community events where the focus is put on the Word of God. People can fill out [online] if they want a gathering near them and we can come alongside them or we can resource them to do their own, Hall noted. What we're trying to do is to drive a discussion among leaders in the church and ministry around Scripture engagement. We're trying to feel like a grassroots movement. So we're building out everything from yard signs to if people want to put up a billboard in their city. If people want to do events, we will help promote them on our pages. If they want to bring in a speaker or artist, we'll make that available. The organizers are working on obtaining state and federal declarations proclaiming 2020 as the Year of the Bible. However, such a declaration faces objections from atheists. Earlier this month, a lawmaker in Oklahoma introduced a bill to declare 2020 as the "Year of the Bible." The Year of the Bible Movement has also taken to social media as followers are being encouraged to post selfies of themselves and their Bibles. Through the Bible selfie campaign, we've already had people from Australia, several countries in Africa, different parts of Asia, different parts of Europe, all throughout the Americas, Hall said. And so it's a global movement. The Year of the Bible Movement comes as another movement called the AD 2020 Year of the Bible was launched by a coalition of missions organizations and networks such as World Evangelical Alliance, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Youth With a Mission and American Bible Society. The movement also seeks to inspire people worldwide to engage with the Bible in their own lives. The evangelical-led initiative has been endorsed by leaders from over 200 countries and Roman Catholic Pope Francis. JACKSON, MI One year after a foot chase by police ended with a suspect being fatally shot, the American Civil Liberties Union is asking the Jackson Police Department to upgrade its policies. On Jan. 28, 2019, Jackson police responded to a 911 call about domestic violence and suspect Joey Ramirez fled the scene. Police ran after Ramirez and fatally shot him after he opened fire on officers. The officers use of deadly force was justified, the Jackson County Prosecutors Office later ruled. The anniversary of that incident was a trigger for the ACLU of Michigan to address the broader issue of the methods Jackson police use in foot pursuits, ACLU Racial Justice Project staff attorney Mark Fancher said. The three-page letter was sent to the Jackson Police Department and the Jackson County Sheriffs Office. Video shows suspect opening fire on police prior to fatal shooting We dont know what absolutely would have happened, but were pointing out what we believe to be best practices, Francher said. Theres a whole range of consideration that officers might take into account before giving chase and were encouraging the department to work toward a policy which encourages, if not requires officers, to go through that analysis. The Jackson Police Department does not currently have a policy about foot pursuits, Director Elmer Hitt said. There is a policy regarding vehicle pursuits, he said. Its been talked about a lot, Hitt said. Not just within our department but in law enforcement in general over the last few years. We have looked at some different policies that are out there, but at this point we have not adopted a formal foot pursuit policy. We of course have procedures when an officer is in foot pursuit, but not one of our formal policies. De-escalation is a preferred method of interaction with suspects because violence often occurs when emotions are high, the ACLU said. If arrest and other law enforcement measures that will have a detrimental impact on a member of the public are postponed until emotions and tempers have cooled, the chances are greater that the encounter will end peacefully, the ACLU letter states. Officers justified in killing man who opened fire on them, prosecutor rules The letter also suggests using a helicopter to track a fleeing suspect. Jackson police do not have the budget nor resources for aerial monitoring, Hitt said. A trained negotiator should be used whenever possible in high-risk and high-emotion situations, the letter states. The Jackson County Negotiator Response Team is used when there are high-risk incidents that leave time for the team to respond to the scene, Hitt said. Ive read the letter and we will take into consideration what the letter says and some of the recommendations and ideas, Hitt said. Im definitely open to looking at different ideas and options to see if there is a need for us to change the way we currently are handling foot pursuits. Im obviously not going to promise anybody at this point that theres going to be a change but Im always open to different ideas and new ways of potentially doing things. This is something that well be looking at. READ MORE JACKSON NEWS: City considers nearly 50 percent water rate cut for Consumers Energy plant Suspect in sexual assault in Jackson College housing identified by victim, police say ATM stolen from Jackson-area business found emptied, police say Clerk taken off probation, gets council support after perfect storm problem With the first test of the United States presidential election less than a week away, Democratic hopefuls fanned out across Iowa over the weekend hoping a last-ditch bout of rallies and stump speeches will pay off when Iowans huddle for their biennial caucuses on February 3. The number of candidates to choose from has narrowed from more than 25 earlier this year to a field of 12, but little else has changed in the Democratic dynamic over the last year. Who will walk away with the coveted top spot is as unclear today as it was a year ago. Polls released over the weekend only muddied the waters. One had Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders with a seven-point lead. Another had former Vice President Joe Biden up by six points. Yet another was showing a dead heat between Sanders, Biden and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was in fourth place in all the polls. Theres still plenty of time for movement, Kurt Meyer, a Democratic official in northern Iowa, told The Associated Press news agency. Every part of the ground game counts. Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate and US Senator Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Sioux City, Iowa [Ivan Alvarado/Reuters] Complicating that ground game for candidates Warren, Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, and Michael Bennet is the fact that, after just one day in Iowa, the US senators were forced back to Washington, DC, to hear more of the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump. As sitting senators, all four are constitutionally obligated to be present during the proceedings and will have to rely heavily on surrogates during the final week of campaigning in Iowa. Biden, free from such constraints, kicked off a statewide bus tour the Soul of the Nation on Sunday with scheduled stops in 20 cities in 17 counties before heading back in Des Moines on February 2. Currently leading most national polls, Biden has avoided targeting his fellow Democrats and focused instead on the November vote. I dont believe we are the dark, angry nation that Donald Trump tweets about at night, Biden told a crowd just outside Des Moines Sunday. We are so much better than Donald Trump. The Buttigieg campaign, for its part, announced a series of events in so-called pivot counties that voted for Barack Obama in 2012 but switched to Trump in 2016. Iowa has more such counties than any other state in the country, and the effort is intended to show that the political newcomer can siphon off disaffected Republicans from the president in November. Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten Buttigieg attend a campaign event in Boone, Iowa [Eric Thayer/Reuters] In an advertisement released on Sunday, billed as his last before the Iowa vote, the 38-year-old Buttigieg tries to turn his status as the youngest of the candidates to his advantage. Its time to turn the page from a Washington experience paralysed by the same old thinking, polarized by the same old fights, to a bold vision for the next generation, Buttigieg says in the advertisement. We need to break from the old politics and unify this nation. Even President Trump, who as incumbent faces no realistic challenge in Iowas Republican caucuses, was eager to get in on the action, dispatching dozens of family members, cabinet officials and other GOP dignitaries to the state to try and capture some of the limelight. Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Cedar Falls, Iowa [Carlos Barria/Reuters] The other major Democratic candidate, former New York City Michael Bloomberg, has taken the unconventional approach of largely ignoring Iowa in favour of bigger states such as Florida and Texas that vote in early March. In a bid for the sizable Puerto Rican vote in Florida, Bloomberg said Monday that he would support a bid by the island nation to become the 51st American state. The first-in-the-nation exercises in Iowa, while not direct votes for individual candidates, can make or break campaigns in such a crowded field with no clear frontrunner. Since they began in 1972, the first-place winner has gone on to secure the nomination in seven of the last 10 primary contests, including the last four. Democratic officials in the state have said they are expecting a heavy turnout next week, largely because of the organising efforts of the candidates and the polarising nature of Trumps presidency. State Chairman Tony Price told Politico that the party is expecting even more than the 239,000 caucus-goers who turned out in 2008, a record. Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate and US Senator Elizabeth Warren reacts to the crowd after speaking at a campaign town hall meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa [Brian Snyder/Reuters] A win in Iowa for either Sanders or Warren would solidify the candidates status as the torch-bearer for the more progressive wing of the party. But first place is not the only prize. For centrists such as Buttigieg and Klobuchar vying for the same voters as Biden, merely showing up in the top three would give them a boost. Already last week, the Warren camp seemed to sense the hurdles ahead of it in Iowa and began downplaying the results of the next weeks caucuses. In a memo released on Friday and obtained by The Hill newspaper, Warren campaign manager reminded supporters the four early states contests are just the beginning, and that the Massachusetts senator was in the race for the long haul. This new location will give us an opportunity to showcase the Tony Romas brand in the mall restaurant area, as well as the fast-growing areas around it. Romacorp, Inc., the parent company of Tony Romas the worlds largest casual dining concept specializing in ribs announces today the relocation of its Torreon location from Blvd. Independencia to inside the popular mall, Centro Comercial Galerias Laguna. We opened the original Tony Romas in Torreon nearly 20 years ago and the overwhelming support from our fans in Mexico have necessitated a move to a larger, more centralized location, said Saul Bello, general manager of the Torreon restaurant. This new location will give us an opportunity to showcase the Tony Romas brand in the mall restaurant area, as well as the fast-growing areas around it. The restaurant is located at Local 306 Centro Comercial Galerias Laguna, where it is conveniently situated in Torreons No. 1 mall, which welcomes more than 750 thousand visitors each month. Tony Romas invites locals and tourists to indulge in its World-Famous Baby Back Ribs, delicious steaks and famous seafood dishes at its new location. Other menu classics that have become fan favorites include the Onion Loaf appetizer and Romarita cocktails. Guests can also enjoy indoor seating and a full-service bar with liquor, beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks. Tony Romas has attracted thousands of fans throughout Torreon with our American Ribs, top quality burgers and original recipes, President and COO of Romacorp, Inc. John Brisco said. We have an exceptional international reputation and look forward to continuing that tradition of excellence in this new location. The new Torreon location is near a number of recognizable Torreon landmarks, including Plaza de Toros, Christ of the Noas, Museo de Los Metales and Museo Paleontologico de la Laguna. It will be open from 12:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, from 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. on Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. ABOUT ROMACORP, INC.: Romacorp, Inc., is the parent company of Tony Romas restaurants, the worlds largest casual dining concept specializing in ribs. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Romacorp, Inc. has more than 135 restaurant locations in more than 25 countries and is one of the most globally recognizable names in the industry. The first Tony Romas restaurant opened 46 years ago in North Miami, Florida. For more information about Romacorp, Inc. and Tony Romas, visit http://www.tonyromas.com. Please visit http://www.tonyromasfranchise.com or call (866) 628-1694 for information about Tony Romas franchising opportunities. For information about retail sales licensing opportunities with the Tony Romas brand, contact Bill Cross, SVP, Broad Street Licensing Group at (973) 655-0598. Media Contact: Kaleigh DeHart Uproar PR for Romacorp, Inc. (321) 236-0102 kdehart@uproarpr.com PUNE, India, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The space for real estate crowdfunding is constantly growing and even non-accredited investors have been able to participate in this booming activity through companies such as Fundrise. In short, real estate crowdfunding is a way of investing in assets using small amounts of capital from multiple individuals. This is done mostly through crowdfunding platforms that bring sponsors and investors together. Since properties typically increase over time, investors may earn better rentals or greater profits once the property is sold to the market. Before the emergence of internet-based real estate crowdfunding platforms, crowdfunding allowed an investor to have access to a network of trusted partners and a lucrative offer they could buy shares off. It may, therefore, be difficult to communicate with stakeholders with minimal links. Request a [email protected] https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/request_sample.php?id=358 RealtyShares is an online market place for real estate investments and is engaged in connecting accredited and institutional investors to real estate investment opportunities. In the recent past, the company released data on crowdfunding projects in Florida. The company is duly engaged in working with local developers, wherein they leveraged its network of 20,000 investors to fund over 200 properties in Florida for US$ 28.1 million. It's a technology-driven marketplace where Sponsors are vetted through a strict underwriting process. The deals on the platform average around 55 investors each. The Florida-based opportunities largely focused on residential projects. Such factors gives developers and borrowers an efficient alternative opportunity to provide their finances around the state. The RealtyShares investor community has their presence on 43 properties in Orlando. Factors such as lack of inventory at a remarkably lower price point makes Orlando a lucrative market for the type of residential projects. The detailed research study provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of United States real estate crowdfunding market. The market has been analyzed from demand as well as supply side. The demand side analysis covers market revenue across regions and further across all the major countries. The supply side analysis covers the major market players and their regional and global presence and strategies. The geographical analysis done emphasizes on each of the major regions across United States. Enquiry Before [email protected] https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=358 Key Findings of the Report: In terms of revenue, the United States real estate crowdfunding market is expected to reach over US$ 868.9 billion by 2027, over the forecast period due to limitations in traditional real estate investments. real estate crowdfunding market is expected to reach over by 2027, over the forecast period due to limitations in traditional real estate investments. Institutional Investors segment is expanding its presence in the real estate crowdfunding market. The Residential property type segment is expected to reach over US$ 147.6 billion by 2027, growing at an estimated CAGR of over 55% during the forecast period. by 2027, growing at an estimated CAGR of over 55% during the forecast period. Industrial buildings of commercial property type, is expected to witness considerable progress over the next eight years growing at an estimated CAGR of over 60% during the forecast period. Some of the players operating in the United States real estate crowdfunding market are American Homeowner Preservation LLC, Cadre, CrowdStreet, Inc., Fundrise, LLC, Groundbreaker Technologies, Inc, and REALCROWD, INC amongst others. Request for [email protected] https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/request_for_customization.php?id=358 Market Segmentation: By Investors Individual Investors Institutional Investors By Property Type Residential Commercial Schools Hospitals Shopping Centers Industrial Buildings Others By Region Northeast Midwest West South Get Full Information of this premium [email protected] https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/reports/Real-Estate-Crowdfunding-Market-2019-2027-358 About Us: Absolute Markets Insights assists in providing accurate and latest trends related to consumer demand, consumer behavior, sales, and growth opportunities, for the better understanding of the market, thus helping in product designing, featuring, and demanding forecasts. Our experts provide you the end-products that can provide transparency, actionable data, cross-channel deployment program, performance, accurate testing capabilities and the ability to promote ongoing optimization. From the in-depth analysis and segregation, we serve our clients to fulfill their immediate as well as ongoing research requirements. Minute analysis impact large decisions and thereby the source of business intelligence (BI) plays an important role, which keeps us upgraded with current and upcoming market scenarios. Contact Us: Company: Absolute Markets Insights Email id: [email protected] Phone: +91-740-024-2424 Contact Name: Shreyas Tanna The Work Lab, Model Colony, Shivajinagar, Pune, MH, 411016 Website: https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/ SOURCE Absolute Market Insights ... are you reading now? The Egyptian by Mika Waltari, which was first published in English in 1949. It has long been a favourite and is always worth revisiting. I love reading about ancient Egypt, both fiction and non-fiction, and Waltari captures the culture with great historical accuracy. He follows the life of a foundling child, Sinuhe, who rises to become the Pharaohs personal physician, from Thebes to Crete, Babylon to Jerusalem, encountering people from all parts of society. Waltari believed that the basic characteristics of human beings never change but relationships do. Wilbur Smith (pictured) revealed that he would take My African Journey by Winston Churchill to a desert island. Writer also shared the book that sparked his interest in reading I prefer books that take me on a journey, whether its across vast distances and epic landscapes or one that twists and turns and surprises me with what happens on each page. Lynda La Plante is excellent for that. I recently finished Backlash and I believe she is a master of suspense. I read a lot. This is vital for any novelist. It keeps the mind fresh and flexes the muscles of imagination. ... would you take to a desert island? My African Journey by Winston Churchill. We forget to recognise all of Churchills skills and talents, many eclipsed by his time as Prime Minister. He wrote My African Journey when he was a young man in his 30s, as a log of his travels in East Africa in the early 1900s, and he really captures the natural beauty of Africa, the wilderness and the people. He was an Under Secretary of State at the time and he discusses his development ideas as well as documenting his travels. He was an insightful man. I would enjoy spending time on my desert island comparing Churchills journey with my own experiences in Africa. ... first gave you the reading bug? Wilbur said that King Solomons Mines by H. Rider Haggard, is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time King Solomons Mines by H. Rider Haggard. I still consider it to be one of the greatest adventure stories of all time. My mother used to read to me as a child, even when too much reading was frowned upon for a young boy growing up on his fathers ranch in Northern Rhodesia. At that age I was especially attracted to explorers and their adventures. I admired courageous people and I still do. King Solomons Mines is a quest filled with danger and great bravery, particularly in the face of the unknown, and it showed me heroes other than my father and grandfather. Haggard was a real storyteller. He gets you in his grip and you cannot escape. ... left you cold? As a writer, I look at it another way. I am constantly impressed by other writers and their work, and those whose books Im not impressed by I can still learn from. If a book doesnt capture my imagination, I try to decipher why. What is it that I did not appreciate? Ive learnt something from every novel Ive read. Evaluating it in this way is research for my own writing. I always finish a book. The Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize is open for submissions of published and unpublished novels until March 2, 2020. 15,000 or publication can be won. Find out more at wilbur-niso-smithfoundation.org Global television brand, Coocaa TV has notched up yet another glory in India ever since its launch in October 2019. After making its debut on Flipkart in India, Coocaa TV has earned a customer rating of 4.3-star ratings with commendable consumer reviews and ratings. Coocaa is a Shenzhen-based company. It is a subsidiary of Skyworth and has been in existence since 2006. Coocaa, as a registered trademark of the market-leading TV manufacturer Skyworth, is an epitome of modern design with advanced technologies that have been extremely popular among masses. With a 31-year history, the company was valued at over $19 billion last March and says it employs over 40,000 people worldwide. Owing to its wide range of affordable televisions, Coocaa dominates the open market. Sushovit Ranjan, Business Head E-commerce, Coocaa TV is pleased with the way the brand has started to become a household name in India. He said, Coocaas entry in the Indian market was an ambitious move for the brand. But am glad our products competitive features ensured us an edge amongst other acclaimed television brands. For instance, Coocaas 55-inch 4K Android TV (Coocaa 55S3G) available at Rs 30,999 (during Republic day sale) comes with bezel-less screens, Dolby Vision, Dolby Audio, Dual AI & Voice functionality, quad-core processor. Coocaa TV is working on maximising customer satisfaction All of which has caught viewers attention since, despite such excellent features, it is placed in a reasonably priced category. It also avoids harm to the viewers eyes and also reduces eye weariness through its exclusive anti-blue-light technology. The price points have been specially reduced with the objective of maximising customer satisfaction during the festive mood this season. With exciting discounts on key product models on the purchase of select products across categories, we expect the year 2020 to be a bright one for our customers in India, added Mr Ranjan. Comments and reviews on Flipkart from coming from Coocaa TVs users are evidence of its appreciable performance in the Indian television market. This, I am definite, will be the turnaround in TV sales. Nice picture quality, Clear and amazing Sound, connectivity very fast, and the Android system is very. Overall fabulous Item .. I highly recommend to purchase this. valuable for your money picture and sound quality are awesome friendly uses. Awesome experiencevalue for money..best price go for it without thinking. Alongside the two Android TVs, Coocaa has also launched two more Smart TVs which run Linux platform, besides launching an entry-level Smart TV with a 32-inch HD Ready LED display and YouTube app preinstalled. Source: Digpu Disclaimer: This content is distributed by Digpu News Network. No Hindustan Times journalist is Involved in the creation of this content. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Twelve hours after a Brooklyn man was arrested on charges of stealing from a vehicle in Oakwood, he was arrested again on the same allegations in Great Kills. Evgeny Belov, 21, of Williamsburg, faces charges that include petit larceny, unauthorized use of a vehicle and criminal possession of weapons in connection with several incidents this month on Staten Island, according to an NYPD spokeswoman. Police first arrested Belov at about 1:14 a.m. Thursday following an alleged incident on Elmira Street in Oakwood, in which hes accused of removing items from two different Jeep vehicles. He was issued a ticket to appear in court. Then, at about 1:10 p.m., he was arrested again outside a home on Hartford Street in Great Kills, where he allegedly removed items from a 2017 Hyundai. Police said that during that arrest, he was found to have brass knuckles and a small dagger. He was kept in police custody and arraigned by a judge in Richmond County Criminal Court, then released without bail, per state law that prohibits bail for non-violent offenses, according to court records. Prior offenses Belov was arrested in connection with a Jan. 4 incident on Peter Avenue in Oakwood, where he allegedly removed $2 from a 2017 Ford, the spokeswoman said. Based on a phone and tablet police found in his possession, he also was charged with petit larceny in connection with a Jan. 3 incident, she said. According to authorities, Belov was arrested in February on a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle, and again in May, charged with reckless endangerment. VPS Healthcares medicine manufacturing arm, LIFEPharma, will explore entering into the European and American markets, as part of a major step towards transforming the region as a hub for pharmaceutical production and export. Initially, the company will be exporting around 25,000 bottles of Acetazolamide collaborating with Eywa, a leading pharmaceutical production company in the US, company officials said here at the Arab Health Summit. The summit which opened yesterday (January 27) will run until January 30, at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The first batch of the medicines, locally produced at LIFEPharmas production plant in Jebel Ali, will be exported in this week. Subsequently, the unit will be manufacturing and exporting more products, particularly in the cardiovascular and diuretic therapy areas. Apart from this, on the backdrop of Arab Health, LIFEPharma struck a major deal with leading European multinational company, XO Laboratory, based in France. As per the MoU signed between the entities, LIFEPharma will be producing a significant number of XOs products locally in the UAE and import unique medicines such as Alendronic acid solution, Mynocycline, Alginic acide sachets and Ketoprofen/Omeprazole from France to the UAE market. The MoU was signed by LIFEPharma CEO Dr Madgy Fahmy and XO Laboratory director general Karine Pinon in the presence of VPS Healthcare chairman and managing director Dr Shamsheer Vayalil. In 2019, LifePharma had signed a significant deal with Canadian giant Apotex, the largest producer of generic medicines in North America, to produce generic medicines to be exported to North American markets. The pharmaceutical manufacturer has started producing a billion tablets annually to be exported to North America. Dr Shamsheer said that LifePharma has become a crucial player in the Middle East and has contributed immensely to transform the region in becoming a hub for pharmaceutical production. The year 2019 has seen one of our products being exported to the North American markets. It was a great achievement for us. In 2020, we will be exporting six more products to North America. We are the first in the region to do this. This year, we expect to get into more markets and improve our global footing, he added. Speaking about the tie-up, Pinone said XO Laboratory was honoured and privileged to partner with LIFEPharma. We believe that our joint venture will make a difference for the patients in the future. We are confident our agreement will pave way towards a higher level of collaboration between France and the UAE, he added. TradeArabia News Service Flash A Chinese man from the central Chinese city of Wuhan was confirmed as the first person in Cambodia infected with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng announced at a press conference here on Monday evening. He said the Chinese man, 60, was tested positive for the virus by the Pasteur Institute in Cambodia on Monday afternoon. "The patient is currently in a stable condition, and he has cold only," Bunheng said. According to the minister, the patient, along with his three family members, arrived in southwestern Cambodia's Preah Sihanouk province on Jan. 23 by a direct flight from Wuhan to Preah Sihanouk province and he showed the symptoms of fever and runny nose on Jan. 25. Bunheng said the patient's three family members have not showed any symptoms of the novel coronavirus yet and doctors are closely monitoring their health situation. He said the patient was placed in a quarantine room at the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Hospital. The novel coronavirus is mainly transmitted via the respiratory tract and can be transmitted through human contact, Bunheng said, adding that symptoms of the disease include high body temperature (above 38 Celsius), runny nose, sore throat and shortness of breath. Pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. Chinese health authorities announced Monday that 2,744 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), including 461 in critical condition, had been reported in the country by the end of Sunday. The pneumonia situation has resulted in a total of 80 deaths. Fifty-one people have recovered. Prime minister Boris Johnson during his visit to the Department of Mathematics at King's College London on 27 January. Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas-WPA Pool/Getty Images UK prime minister Boris Johnson is on Tuesday expected to take a final decision on whether to allow Huawei to work on Britains 5G infrastructure. The prime minister will chair a meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the issue, culture minister Matt Warman told parliament on Monday. A decision is expected but may not be immediately announced. The decision comes at a hugely sensitive time, with Brexit looming, and is likely to be one of the defining early moments of Johnsons premiership. READ MORE: US warns UK over 'momentous' Huawei decision The UK has faced intense and sustained pressure from the US to block Huawei on security grounds. Despite this, Reuters and the Financial Times report the government is set to recommend Huawei be allowed to work on 5G infrastructure in a limited capacity. Johnson is considering mandating a cap on Huaweis market share in a bid to contain risks, the FT reported. Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei. Photo: Aly Song/Reuters At issue are concerns that Huaweis involvement in critical communications infrastructure could leave the UK vulnerable to spying or at risk of cyber attacks. Huawei is an independent company based in Shenzen, China. However, the company was founded by a former Peoples Liberation Army engineer and Chinese law says individuals and corporations must cooperate with intelligence gathering operations if asked. It has lead to concerns that Huawei may be asked to install secret backdoors in its technology to allow the government to spy on sensitive communications. READ MORE: UK officials formally recommend limited role for Huawei in 5G networks Huawei insists this isnt the case. However, many governments are unwilling to take the chance. The company has been banned from working on 5G networks in Australia and New Zealand. The US placed sanctions on Huawei last year and US president Donald Trump has explicitly called the company a national security threat. There is a cyber war going on Even if Huawei doesnt cooperate with the Chinese government, experts warned having key parts of its supply chain based in China could allow security operatives to intercept and compromise equipment. Story continues Huawei could be a totally innocent provider that could be misused, but once the equipment is in place the risk exists, Joe Hancock, head of cyber at law firm Mischon de Reya, told Yahoo Finance UK. The nature of 5G increases this risk further, Hancock added. The super-fast wireless internet will allow more and more devices to be online and interconnected. It means even parts once seen as dumb hardware could now theoretically be used as a way into systems. A GCHQ official told the BBC last year that Huaweis software development standards were shoddy, adding to concerns. Former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith was strident in setting out the risks in a speech in parliament on Monday. We are at war in a sense, there is a cyber war going on at which China is arguably the single biggest participant, Sir Iain said. That we should think about giving a company which is heavily subsidised by China, a country that has set out to steal data non stop and also technology; that we think of giving to them that right to be in what is essentially a very, very delicate area of our technology, the idea that we would do that seems to me utterly bizarre. In a doomsday scenario, experts fear the Chinese government could use its access to Huawei to shut off critical communications infrastructure at times of international tension. First mover advantage On the other hand, banning Huawei could see the UK fall behind in the global technology race. China pioneered 5G technology and Andrew Tsonchev, director of technology at cyber security firm Darktrace, said a boycott would set the UK back by five years in technology terms. They simply have a significant first mover advantage, he told Yahoo Finance UK. Experts believe 5G will revolutionise society by allowing everything from fridges to pacemakers to connect to the internet, and other devices, 24/7. The speed and reliability of 5G should allow for a step-change in the way technology can operate and communicate. [Disclosure: Yahoo Finances parent company Verizon is a vendor of 5G technology.] Huawei, the worlds biggest telecom equipment maker, is one of only a handful of 5G equipment manufacturers globally, and rivals such as Ericsson and Nokia are more expensive. UBS said in a note on the technology last year that the pace of rollout [in Europe] has been impacted by uncertainties around Huawei. Huawei logo in Davos, Switzerland. Photo: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters UK officials accept there are threats from Huawei but believe they are overblown and can be managed. The head of MI5 has publicly downplayed any risks and the government is expected to allow Huawei to work on non-core areas of infrastructure such as antennae. READ MORE: Verizon exec: 5G will be 'transformational' for society, not just economy Boris Johnson hinted at such a compromise during an event on Monday. The way forward for us clearly is to have a system that delivers for people in this country the kind of consumer benefits that they want through 5G technology, or whatever, but does not in any way compromise our critical national infrastructure, our security or jeopardise our ability to work together with other intelligence powers around the world, said the prime minister. Mischon de Reyas Hancock said: The most pragmatic route is to allow Huawei into the low risk areas of the new 5G networks and to restrict access to the higher risk core. This balances the cyber security risks against the risk of 5G equipment not being available domestically and a rollout being delayed. Tsonchev agreed that limited approval was likely the most reasonable decision. Brexit trade deal concerns Even so, Johnson will have to tread carefully to ensure he doesnt anger Britains international partners. The UK is part of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence sharing network, which includes the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Partners fear that any possible compromise in the UK could expose the whole network. The looming Brexit deadline makes all this particularly sensitive. The UK is about the enter trade talks with Five Eye partners and an unnamed Trump administration official told the Wall Street Journal last week the appetite for a US-UK trade agreement could be diminished if the UK approves Huawei. You have the political motivations, driven by very legitimate national security concerns, Tsconchev said. You also have motivations that are not so much about national security but about international dominance and foreign relations. You have economic arguments about protectionism about trade wars and tariffs and those types of concerns. And then finally you have, strictly speaking, the information security concerns. US president Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, on 27 January. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images Johnson is gearing up to thread the needle. We are going to come up with a solution that enables us to achieve both those objectives and thats the way forward, Johnson said on Monday. Theres no reason why we shouldnt have technological progress here in the UK, allow consumers, businesses in the UK access to have access to fantastic technology, fantastic communications, but also protect our security interests and protect our key partnerships with other security powers around the world. A spokesperson for Cabinet Office said it wouldnt comment on any matters involving the National Security Council. Huawei declined to comment on the process and its dealings with the UK government. READ MORE: Huawei CEO: We will survive further US sanctions Photo: Courtesy of the retailer When it comes to water bottles that do it all, Zojirushis stainless-steel model is one of our favorites for both cold and hot beverages alike. We first heard about the Japanese brands thermos from writer Laura Perciasepe, who told us that it kept her coffee scalding hot during a wintry commute and her vodka soda ice-cold during a day at the beach (remember those?). Lucy Liu is also a fan, calling the water bottles heat-retention capabilities insane and adding, You put hot tea in it at 6 a.m. and at 6 p.m. its so hot, youll burn your tongue. Strategist editor Alexis Swerdloff is on Team Zojirushi, too: Its truly mind-boggling how cold my water stays in this thing, she wrote of the sleek, lightweight, and leakproof thermos. And while all sorts of Zojirushi favorites are on sale today, only the lavender-hued 16oz model is more than 60 percent off the cheapest price weve ever seen it. get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Ukraine's economy minister says IMF Executive Board may approve new program soon 10:47, 28.01.20 1900 Ukraine's authorities and the IMF staff earlier reached an agreement on policies to underpin a new three-year US$5.5 billion Extended Fund Facility. Britain on Tuesday announced that it will allow Chinese telecom giant Huawei to help build the country's next generation of super-fast 5G networks with some restrictions, despite intense pressure from the US to block the firm over security concerns. 5G allows greater and faster data processing, and is seen as an integral component of new interconnected technologies such as automated vehicles and smart appliances. Last month, India said it would allocate airwaves to all telecom service providers for conducting trials of 5G networks, a move welcomed by Huawei. In Brussels, a top European Union official said on Tuesday that the bloc will not ban Huawei or any other company in Europe. The mobile operators in the UK will be able to use Huawei equipment in their 5G networks but the company will be excluded from "security critical" core areas, according to a statement from the government. The announcement follows months of public debate in the country over how to respond to concerns raised by the US government about potential national security risks posed by Huawei components. The Trump administration had been pressing for a total ban on Huawei products, alleging that Beijing could use the equipment for snooping. The choice has been described as the biggest test of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's post-Brexit strategy to date, the BBC reported. Johnson was under intense pressure, including from within his Conservative Party, to agree to US demands on Huawei. He discussed the issue with President Donald Trump in a phone call on Friday. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted on Sunday that Britain faced a "momentous" decision on 5G. Huawei, based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, has consistently denied that it would help the Chinese government to spy. Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, has previously worked with China's People's Liberation Army and has ties with the ruling Communist Party of China. The Trump administration has previously warned that US-UK intelligence sharing could be put at risk if London allowed Huawei to participate in the 5G networks. A Trump administration official said on Tuesday that the US "is disappointed" with the UK's decision, the report said. China has previously warned the UK that there could be "substantial" repercussions to other trade and investment plans if Huawei was banned outright from the country's 5G market. "Huawei is reassured by the UK government's confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G rollout on track," the firm's UK chief Victor Zhang said in a statement after the government announced its decision. "It gives the UK access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market," he said. Under the restricted approval, Huawei will be banned from supplying kit to "sensitive parts" of the network, known as the core. In addition, it will only be allowed to account for 35 per cent of the kit in a network's periphery, which includes radio masts. Huawei will be excluded from areas near British military bases and nuclear sites. Huawei, which is a leader in 5G technology and also one of the world's biggest sellers of smartphones, has seen its business targeted in a concerted campaign by the US. But Huawei's products are often described as superior and cheaper than those sold by European rivals Nokia and Ericsson, CNN reported. It also quoted some experts as saying that Huawei owes part of its success to favourable loans from the Chinese state, an assertion the company disputes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Personal History Of David Copperfield Cert: PG, 1hr 59mins Rating: As nomination season for the big film awards comes to a close, it is clear there are both winners basically Joker, 1917, The Irishman and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and losers. Unfortunately, Armando Iannuccis The Personal History Of David Copperfield finds itself in the latter camp, having picked up no major nominations at all in America and only one Bafta nod here at home, where a major Dickens adaptation might reasonably expect to do better. But please do not let that put you off, because this is an unbridled joy that will surely brighten the cold winter weeks that lie ahead. Yes, Iannucci and his regular collaborator Simon Blackwell (they worked together on In The Loop, The Thick Of It and Veep) have played fast and loose with Dickenss much-loved plot. Dev Patel (above with Aneurin Barnard) leads a classy cast as the title character in Armando Iannuccis The Personal History Of David Copperfield Characters are combined, exiles either shortened or cancelled altogether and some sadnesses and tragedies never happen at all. But the end result which Ive seen twice now is just delicious, packed through with energy, intelligence and a deeply touching good humour. Literary purists may wince but its clear the pair hold the great English novelist in the very highest regard. The one Bafta nomination the film has received (Best Casting for Sarah Crowe) is richly deserved the film is packed with wonderful performances but not without controversy too. For in a year when Bafta has so conspicuously failed to nominate a single black or Asian actor or actress for an award, this new version of David Copperfield positively revels in the ethnic diversity of its fine cast. Theres a moment when David, the lovely Agnes and her drunken father, Mr Wickfield, are on screen together and you realise that all three characters are being played, rather brilliantly, by performers of three different ethnicities that is just wonderful. Casting is rarely singled out for mention but this thoroughly 21st-century example is right out of the top drawer. He's joined by Hugh Laurie who is a befuddled delight as the constantly distracted Mr Dick (above) in a film that bounces along with an infectious vitality & is full of surreal visual touches Dev Patel he of Slumdog Millionaire and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel fame leads the consistently classy way, exuding openness, optimism and an underlying kindness that makes him a hugely engaging Copperfield. Mind you, hes helped considerably by Jairaj Varsani, who is fabulous as the younger David and first demonstrates the characters passion for words he scribbles phrases he particularly likes on scraps of paper that he keeps in a wooden box that will one day lead to him becoming a writer. Just as with the semi-autobiographical novel, this is a film where youre never quite sure where David Copperfield ends and Charles Dickens begins. But in a production that bounces along with an infectious vitality and the sort of surreal visual touches that could have come straight out of Monty Python (look out for the giant hand smashing through the roof of Peggottys brothers upside-down houseboat), there are lovely performances everywhere. In fact, there are lovely performances everywhere: Tilda Swinton demonstrates her talent for comedy as Betsey Trotwood (above) while Peter Capaldi is one of the best Micawbers ever Hugh Laurie is a befuddled delight as the constantly distracted Mr Dick (he cant get King Charles I off his mind) and Tilda Swinton demonstrates her talent for comedy as the donkey-phobic Betsey Trotwood, while Peter Capaldi is quite simply one of the best Micawbers Ive ever seen. In a film packed full of fun (but possibly not enough sadness for Dickens devotees) the acclaim goes on and on Ben Whishaw as the ever-so-umble Uriah Heep, Daisy May Cooper as Peggotty, Rosalind Eleazar as Agnes, Benedict Wong as Wickfield and Morfydd Clark as the gloriously dim and yet ultimately heartbreaking Dora. All fabulous. Its certainly not Dickens as we know it, but the great man would definitely approve. ALSO OUT THIS WEEK The Turning (15) Rating: Theres nothing worse than a film that plucks cinematic failure from the jaws of commercial success, but thats whats happened here. Which is a shame as, until the disastrous last ten minutes or so, this watchable reworking of Henry Jamess classic chiller The Turn Of The Screw has a lot going for it. With Jamess basic plot retained but its setting updated to the mid-1990s, the Terminator: Dark Fate star Mackenzie Davis does a good job of convincing as the young woman hired as a governess at a remote country house; Finn Wolfhard, of The Goldfinch and Stranger Things fame, introduces a disconcerting sexual undercurrent to the spooky goings-on as the older of her two charges; and Barbara Marten is iciness personified as the unbending housekeeper, Mrs Grose. The Turning is a reworking of Henry James's classic chiller The Turn Of The Screw which sadly plucks cinematic failure from the jaws of commercial success. Above: Brooklynn Prince As Davis wanders prettily but ever more nervously through the spooky corridors, the Italian director Floria Sigismondi seems to have a modest success on her hands, despite one or two distinctly heavy-handed touches and an obvious over-abundance of broken china dolls. But then, presumably in a misguided attempt to replicate Jamess own unresolved ending, Sigismondi serves up a succession of climactic scenes that will leave most people scratching their head and stumbling grumpily out into the street in frustration. The Grudge (15) Rating: If the title sounds familiar, it should, given that this is a little-awaited sequel to a 2004 film starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, which itself was a remake of a 2002 Japanese horror film, Ju-On. And, fair dos, Nicolas Pesces co-written screenplay acknowledges both, as a frightened American woman flees the cursed house in Tokyo and returns to her family in America. Of course, the curse has come with her. This is a little-awaited sequel to the 2004 horror starring Sarah Michelle Gellar which springs few real surprises and it's hard to keep up with all the nastiness unfolding. Above: Lin Shaye The British actress Andrea Riseborough is unlikely casting as an American police detective restarting her career after the death of her husband, and its hard to keep up with the nastiness unfolding in at least three different timelines. But while it springs few real surprises, the film probably delivers sufficient jump-scares for a young audience, despite a rather predictable ending. With sea level rise already lapping at its door, the city of Miami made its first significant commitment to address the root cause of climate change, not just the symptoms. The city government plans to go carbon neutral by 2050, a pledge that will change everything from what city employees drive to how the city builds and how it powers itself. Miami became the first city in Florida and 96th in the world to join C40 Cities, an international climate organization that helps cities lower their carbon footprint. Mayor Francis Suarez, who signed the agreement, called it a moral imperative for the city to cut its emissions. If we really want to be here forever we cant just react to what mother nature is doing, he said. We have to do everything in our power not to make matters worse, but to make matters better. Exactly how the city plans to go carbon neutral, a hefty goal for a large and car-centric community, comes later. Miamis Climate Ready Plan will be released soon, and it tackles broad actions the city can take, like switching out gas-powered city cars for electric vehicles, installing more solar panels and enforcing energy efficiency in city buildings. In recent years, Miami has largely chosen to address the two feet of sea level rise expected by 2060 with adaptation measures that address the effects of climate change, such as flooded streets, rising groundwater and hotter days. The force driving them excess greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere has not been on the agenda. Under activist pressure, that is starting to change. Miami just declared a climate emergency, a symbolic gesture at the citys increased focus on the topic. Advocates have since pressed the city to commit to cutting its carbon footprint. Susan Glickman, Florida director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, called it a significant goal for the city. Its key to have local governments commit to meaningful targets to move the needle backwards on carbon emissions, she said. Its key to have cities like Miami show leadership. It shows the state of Florida, that has yet to take on any targets toward carbon emissions, that its possible and its important to do to avoid the worst implication of climate change. Emily Gorman, chair of the Miami Climate Alliance, said her organization is more skeptical about the citys plans. Theyre waiting to see the exact steps the city plans to take. We are obviously very hopeful and glad to see the mayor is interested in bold climate action, she said. But frankly, implementation is the nature of true leadership. She hopes to see the city commit to 100% renewable energy, like South Miami had pledged to do. That doesnt include nuclear power from Turkey Point, which provides energy for much of South Florida. Nuclear power doesnt create emissions and is considered renewable energy, but some environmentalists like Gorman think the safety and pollution concerns declassify it as clean energy. Another priority for activists: that the transition to renewable energy doesnt just benefit the rich. Gilbert said the city plans to work with C40 to come up with policies that both lower emissions and provide jobs and business opportunities for low-income parts of the community. Its important to frame our actions in how theyre going to give us an economic return on investment and provide a source of living-wage jobs, she said. Were not going to be able to spend a lot of money on something that only provides carbon mitigation. Its got to provide other returns. Laura Jay, deputy regional director for C40s North America program, said her team helps cities put numbers on the side benefits of mitigation, like the health benefits of cleaner air or the new jobs a solar farm could provide. That makes it easier for mayors to pitch policies to their commissions. That helps bring cities to the table and showcase their leadership, Jay said. They also connect staffers at cities across the globe to share success stories or tips. C40 tracks cities like Boston, Paris and LA to see if they meet their commitments. Miamis last attempt to cut its emissions didnt go well. A 2008 plan to address climate change and the citys emissions called for Miami to cut emissions 25% below 2006 levels by the year 2020, to 3.6 million metric tons. The plan also called for annual updates on the citys progress. Then came a recession and a new mayor. The mayor and manager at that time decided that was not the priority, Gilbert said. In the meantime, Gilbert said, the city did a few things to lower its carbon footprint, like making older buildings more energy-efficient and switching park lighting to LEDs. Last year, the city swapped out 90 gas-powered cars in its fleet for electric hybrids. But exactly how much better or worse the citys carbon emissions became in the last decade is unclear. Miami is in the process of accounting for its greenhouse gas emissions now and hopes to be done by April. After that data is available, Gilbert said, the city will set specific, new targets for reductions. Miami-Dade County set its own emissions goals shortly after Miami first did, in 2010. The countys Greenprint plan called for a 10% reduction from 2008 levels by 2015. The County did not achieve this goal. In fact, emissions increased over this period, wrote Miami-Dades Chief Resilience Officer, Jim Murley, in a statement. That came from a combination of more people driving more cars, more aviation emissions and higher emissions from industrial activity, he said. So far the county has tackled its emissions with a new purchase of 33 electric buses and various energy efficiency programs, including one that requires buildings over 20,000 square feet to benchmark their use of electricity. In order to reach the 2050 goal of an 80% reduction, the community will need to implement meaningful resource conservation measures that include fuel, energy and waste reduction as well as investments in renewable energy like solar and transitioning to more electric vehicles countywide, he said. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Trends Florida Climate Change Energy The Taliban on Monday claimed that it had shot down an American military plane in Deh Yak district of Ghazni province in Afghanistan, killing everyone on board, a media report said. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that high-ranking officers were among the dead after the aircraft was shot down around 1.10 p.m. (local time), Mail Online reported. The US military said it is investigating the crash but did not confirm that the aircraft was American or gave an estimate on the deaths. Mujahid spoke after footage was posted online by a Taliban-affiliated journalist appearing to show plane wreckage with the US Air Force symbol. Whilst most of the jet was a charred wreck, a USAF symbol was clearly visible on an engine attached to the tail fin of the plane, which could be a Bombardier E-11A aircraft used by the US military for electronic surveillance over Afghanistan. Initial reports had said a Boeing jet belonging to state-owned Ariana Afghan Airlines had caught fire and crashed in central Ghazni province in Afghanistan on Monday. The passenger plane had 83 people on board when it crashed due to technical reasons, the Mail Online report had quoted officials, with no information as yet on the casualties. Arif Noori, a spokesman for the provincial governor's office in Ghazni city, said: "A Boeing plane belonging to the Ariana Afghan Airline crashed in Sado Khel area of Deh Yak district of Ghazni province around 1.10 p.m. (local time)." Ariana Airlines, however, said all its planes were safe. The crash site was around around 130 km south west of Kabul, and reported to be under Taliban control. In Vietnam, customs and tax authorities are increasingly sharing information to ensure tax compliance of business entities with operations in the country. This practice is not new as several countries also have agreements in place spanning multi-jurisdictions to ensure corporations and even individuals are in tax compliance. In Vietnam, customs and tax authorities information sharing is continuously being strengthened in part due to better enforcement of Decision No. 2413/QD-BTC (Decision 2413), which allows for further cooperation between the two entities as well as frequent tax inspections and audits. Businesses such as manufacturing companies and export processing enterprises (EPEs) should ensure they are in compliance with local tax rules and seek professional help for issues that may be complicated. Decision 2413 While Decision 2413 was implemented a while ago, enforcement has become more prominent, in part due to increased scrutiny on origin fraud and tax evasion. With several manufacturers shifting operations to escape US tariffs, there have been increasing cases of tax and origin fraud, forcing Vietnamese authorities to act. We highlight key aspects of Decision 2413: Automatic data transmission: this includes connecting the data systems of both customs and the tax departments and transmitting them periodically; Data search: Online data search on each others databases so that information is transparent; and Direct communication between the two entities In addition, customs and tax authorities will implement criteria for assessing businesses and will rate risk levels for businesses to gauge high-risk enterprises. The two entities are also expected to cooperate in verifying value-added tax (VAT) refunds as well as violations in customs and tax laws. For VAT refunds, tax authorities can offset the refundable amount by checking the tax that is payable, late payment and fines which are related to import and export of goods owed to customs authorities. This will be done via information sharing between both entities or the recovery of tax information from the customs website. This also helps reduce costs for local authorities as they can use tax inspections by the local customs department particularly for companies that import specific input materials and export to business entities. CIT and VAT Businesses can use different ways to calculate corporate income tax (CIT). One way is to make use of incentives and not declare inputs on the basis for determining deductible expenses for CIT. However, tax authorities have the right to clarify the companys CIT calculation. The tax audit done by customs officials for business entities that have been operational might differ to the tax audit done by tax authorities at the time to impose a tax, which would be a disadvantage for companies using CIT incentives. For VAT, business entities typically declare VAT on imported input goods, which can be claimed back if the imported goods are used to produce the finished product subject to VAT. However, business entities cannot claim VAT if the exported goods are not exported in designated custom areas such as non-tariff zones. Compliance is key With the government increasingly stepping up scrutiny on entities evading tax payments, it is imperative that business entities review their documents and ensure compliance to avoid penalties and long administrative procedures. Most recently, locally owned electronics manufacturer Asanzo was accused of several violations including origin fraud as well as tax evasion. Tax authorities fined Asanzo, accusing it of not issuing VAT invoices and purchasing input goods that were subject to higher excise taxes but declaring them as finished goods. The company is also accused of issuing higher invoices to evade tax. While investigations are still on, the case was an example of information sharing between customs and tax authorities to ensure compliance. Investors should therefore carefully study all transactions and documents issued by the authorities and cross-check documents with official guidance. This will ensure that investors do not face sudden shocks and penalties. Investors may also use professional firms with knowledge of local laws to ensure compliance. 11th Joint Ministerial Council in London The eleventh meeting of the UK-Gibraltar Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) took place in London this afternoon. This will be the last meeting of the Council before we leave the European Union at midnight next Friday. The Gibraltar delegation was led by the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and included the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia, as well as the Attorney General Michael Llamas, the Financial Secretary Albert Mena and the Directors of Gibraltar House in London and in Brussels, Dominique Searle and Daniel DAmato. The United Kingdom team was led by Minister for Europe Chris Pincher MP and included Minister at the Department of International Trade Connor Burns MP and representatives from a number of different UK Government departments. The two Governments discussed our exit from the European Union as well the negotiations on the future relationship. There was also an update on contingency planning issues. The structure of the JMC is the highest inter-governmental forum between the two Governments in respect of our departure from the European Union and it has worked extremely well. There was a willingness to continue this format going forward. New Delhi, Jan 28 : As governments the world over deliberate over how to tackle growing nation-state cyber attacks and protect sensitive data, a top Microsoft official said on Tuesday that collaborations between the governments, tech companies and third-party cybersecurity agencies can help address the growing menace. According to Rob Lefferts, CVP-Program Management M365 Security at Microsoft, the company takes nation-state cyber attacks very seriously. "We have a whole research team dedicated to understand the behaviour of nation-state attacks. We partner with governments around the globe to help protect citizens against such attacks," Lefferts told IANS during an interaction. Microsoft spends over $1 billion annually on cybersecurity and uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in a big way to gain accurate insights and faster automated response to real-time threats. "We are using AI and ML as a tool to empower defenders and to more effectively protect organizations. When we talk to companies in India, 92 per cent of organisations have either already adopted or looking to adopt AI in their approach towards cybersecurity," said Lefferts. For Microsoft, it is a strategic investment for the company. "We took a very, very strong approach over six years ago around investing over $1billion a year in research and development of security technologies. The goal is to help us better protect, detect and respond to real-world threats in today's environment," stressed the Microsoft executive. The company deploys a number of sensors that are looking for information from cyber incidents around the world -- sort of metadata about what's going on -- whether it's from PCs, servers or in the Cloud. "We do not collect actual content but metadata of behaviours. We collect more than 8 trillion of those signals every day. And then, we use those models to better protect organisations," informed Lefferts. "Every day, 3,500 Microsoft security professionals track threats and provide better enforcement protection for our customers," he added. According to him, Microsoft learns from its customers and actual users. "What's exciting is the ability to turn that information around at incredible speed to protect customers. Since we're using Cloud-powered technologies, those updates and new protections come to customers almost instantaneously. In fact, in many cases, we use behavioural analytics to detect problems before they're even problems," Lefferts told IANS. Collaboration is very critical in the cybersecurity space. "One is collaboration across the security industry. Then there is collaboration around actual incidents and problems as they occur. This is a place where it's not just a matter of machines; we need machines to empower humans," he noted. In 2018, top 34 global technology and securities firms, led by Microsoft and Facebook, signed a "Cybersecurity Tech Accord" to defend people from malicious attacks by cybercriminals and nation-states. The 34 companies include Cisco, HP, Nokia, Oracle, VMware, Dell, CA Technologies, Symantec, Bitdefender, F-Secure, RSA and Trend Micro, among others. "This tech sector accord will help us take a principled path towards more effective steps to work together and defend customers around the world," said Microsoft President Brad Smith. Her Excellency (HE) Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao MD is a medical doctor and an activist with the voice of African Lion. She is a public speaker, educator, diplomat, founder of several medical clinics, an entrepreneur and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. In 1977 she moved to the United States from her birthplace of Zimbabwe. And almost 2 decades down the line in 1996, she received an award from the late President Nelson Mandela of the Republic of South Africa in recognition of her contributions to Africa. As the CEO and founder of Bell Family Medical Centers in the United States, she was appointed the African Union representative and Ambassador to the United States in 2017. On October 7, 2019, however, she received a letter from the African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki that notified that she was no longer Permanent Ambassador. HE Ambassador Chihombori Quao MD who is the second African Union Representative to hold this position succeeded Ambassador Amina Salum Ali of Tanzania who assumed office in 2007. The Doctor holds a bachelor's degree in General Chemistry, a master's degree in organic chemistry, and a Doctor of Medicine degree. She worked as a family medicine specialist where she practiced medicine for 29 years in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in the United States. Read also: Outrage over the sacking of AU Ambassador Chihombori-Quao The Activist who grew up in the village of Chivhu in Zimbabwe is noted for her outspoken stance on the implications of the Berlin Conference that took place in Berlin, Germany, in 1884 and how it continues to negatively impact Africa to date. A matter she speaks on in her numerous lectures. She seeks to reunite African states and Africans in the Diaspora. From 2012 to 2016, the Ambassador served as the Chair of the African Union-African Diaspora Health Initiative where she worked on mobilizing African health professionals in the Diaspora to assist with healthcare crisis in Africa. In January 2019, HE Ambassador Chihombori Quao MD launched the Wakanda One Village Project to begin in Zambia and Zimbabwe as a result of both countries offering land in support. The Wakanda project which seeks to engage Africans in the Diaspora will consist of five African Centers of excellence in the five regions on the continent. These Centers are to be centers of development with state-of-the-art healthcare facilities, hotels, industrial homes, and shopping centers among others. At the African Union Summit In 2015, she received the Women of Excellence Award as she worked on her mandate to promote Africa in the Americas by particularly mobilizing the African diaspora including all people of African descent living outside of Africa. Besides this and other numerous awards won, the former African Union Representative to the United States was declared 2019 Person of the year by the reputed publication the Guardian Nigeria. HE Ambassador Chihombori Quao MD is seen in this late January 2020 video with storyteller and blogger Oral Ofori whom she shares some of her passion during an interview in Washington, DC. There's been a roaring global call for H.E. Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao MD to become the African Union Commission Chairman, find out her response in the video below and what the future holds Kindly watch/share/comment on video -- https://youtu.be/D5_xjyfm1MU Source: Various compilations Delta College has kicked off its winter 2020 semester by welcoming 7,328 students to its main campus and satellite centers. The overall enrollment is down another 4.7% from last year, but Delta officials point to encouraging signs that may foretell better days ahead for a community college that, like many of its contemporaries, has faced steep challenges for years due in large part to Michigans declining population. Its a scenario not likely to change anytime soon since the number of high school graduates in Michigan and freshman college enrollment across the state is expected to continue trending downward for years to come. Despite the demographic challenges the state is facing, our enrollment continues to be strong, said Russ Curley, dean of enrollment management at Delta. Most community colleges of our size are experiencing enrollment declines. Delta projected 72,625 contact hours this semester and, according to Curley, surpassed this budget-critical figure. We are pleased to again surpass our projections, he said. Were more than 1.5% over estimate this semester, and we were about 2% over our goal in the fall. A robust economy also plays an important part in Deltas enrollment. Historically, when the unemployment rate dips, community college enrollment tends to decrease. Conversely, when the economy is tanking, (think Great Recession of 2008) people turn to community colleges to gain new skills. Delta, Curley said, is gaining more enrollment traction in Saginaw since the opening of its new $12.7 million educational center in downtown Saginaw. Delta had leased space since 1990 at the Ricker Center in Buena Vista Township in Saginaw County before opening its own Saginaw Center last fall. There are 467 students attending the new Downtown Saginaw Center this semester, which is more than double from last year (at the Ricker Center), and the new Downtown Midland Center is scheduled for classes in January 2021. The college also is experiencing an influx of dual enrolled students. These are students who are taking college courses while still in high school. Hundreds of area high school students are continuing to take advantage of our Dual Enrollment programs, Curley noted. They recognize the benefits of getting college credit before graduating high school. This semester, 11.6% of our students are also high school students. Bangladesh: Hopes and fears as crab hatcheries proliferate in Bangladesh by Banani Mallick January 28,2020 | Source: The Third Pole Artificial hatcheries have started producing crabs for the first time in Bangladesh. This is seen as a successful step for making local fisher communities financially solvent, by having crab farms, and avoiding the risk inherent in fishing at sea or rivers. This takes on additional significance because the government has taken tough measures to ban fishing for certain periods to preserve stock. Most crab farmers live in coastal regions where the ban has a serious impact on their means of livelihood. Another serious issue is the intrusion of sea water. A large number of water bodies in Bangladeshs coastal areas have turned extremely saline causing the extinction of multiple fish species. Prawn cultivation, too, has been affected, by a virus possibly exacerbated by extreme salinity. So far, only crabs have been able to successfully adapt to these changes. Following this logic, some experts are recommending a government-supported effort to push the farming of crabs as an adaptation measure to climate change, as well as a livelihood supplement mechanism. This could also help balance out the ecosystem of south western coastal Bangladesh, from where the booming soft-shelled crab industry is exporting crabs to Japan, China and Indonesia. This is threatening the survival of natural born crabs in many parts of Sundarbans areas like Datnakhali and Gabura in Sathkhira district under Shamnagor thana. The farming of crabs could offset this decline. Talking to thethirdpole.net, Paval Partha, a researcher of ecology-biodiversity and conservation of Bangladesh, said, The soft-shelled crab industry will destroy the crab species in Sundarbans. Hard shelled crabs have the ability to lay eggs but soft cell crabs are only for eating. If [the transformation of soft-shelled crabs into hard-shell ones is interrupted] the breeding process will be stopped and our marine eco-system will be seriously imbalanced. COAST Trust, a national non-government organisation, has established the crab hatchery in Coxs Bazar with the technical and financial support of the Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF). Md. Moshararaf, the assistant general manager of PKSF said that the crab hatchery programme has been undertaken at the entrepreneurial level to create opportunities on a large scale to create income and employment opportunities targeting to the local people. Mizan Rahman, senior coordinator of crab project, told thethirdpole.net that at first they had collected about 30 mother crabs from Maheshkhali River Island eight months ago. They nurtured these crabs for 42 days in the mother unit of hatchery until they had laid their eggs in their abdominal sacs. The eggs hatched after 32 days. Approximately 1,000 juvenile crabs survived. The lack of sufficient electricity, inadequate salt content in the water, and the unavailability of medicine and food for eggs are main reasons for not being able to hatch more crabs. The ideal salinity level for crab hatching is 28-30 parts per thousand (PPT) but the water from Maheskhali Island River has a salinity level of around 24 ppt, causing significant mortality of eggs, he added. In the time from January to June the salinity level rises, so crab hatcheries may work better then. In the coastal areas there has been a rapid decline in naturally available crabs due to overexploitation. The local fishing communities have caught fish and crabs without any rest since last ten years, and the number drastically fallen, said Sudhamoy Manjhi, an elderly fisherman, from Sathhira district. At the same time new disease strains, and unethical practices have damaged Bangladeshs prawn exports. At this point of time only crab production due to the huge demand in the international market, can help, said Jakia Rahman, a scientific officer at the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute based in Coxs Bazar. At present the sale price of a crab BDT 600-700 (USD 7.07-8.25) per kilogramme, but this can climb as high as BDT 1,500- 2,000 (USD 17.67-23.56) in April due to demand from China, where a major festival takes place then. Words of caution Not everybody is convinced that crab hatcheries are the way to go. Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmed, a leading forest and nature expert, said that the country has not conducted any research assessment yet if crab hatcheries would cause any long-term negative environmental impact. We need some time to understand the impact of crabs farming, he said. But he also noted that the crab hatcheries are being put up on agricultural land of coastal area which is ultimately increasing saline salt concentration in future. This agricultural land currently being used for crab farming will gradually turn into barren land like many others land. There will be no future expectation of growing agricultural products such as rice or vegetables, said Ahmed, former country representative of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Asked what steps should be taken, he said there should be a specific land zoning system in the coastal area for commercial crab farms, shrimp farms and agricultural production. Sheikh Rokon, Secretary General, Riverine People (A Dhaka based civil society organization dedicated to river, wetlands and water issues) said that, crab farming has two adverse impacts on coastal riverine environment. Firstly, crab farmers catch a huge amount of juvenile crabs and other small aquatic creatures from the natural mangrove eco system as food the hatching crabs. This destroys the food cycles of other species. This collection puts intense pressure on the natural sources of crab population and affects the entire eco system, he said. Secondly, the water in the farm where crabs are being raised is often brackish untreated and polluted water. This is being dumped into natural water bodies either by digging holes through the embankment or through pipes, posing a serious threat to the environment and to the health of the coastal communities. The role of primary care needs to be improved to help young stroke survivors return to work, according to a new study from Queen Mary University of London and the University of Cambridge. Many people of working age who have a stroke want to return to work, but encounter difficulties. In the study, published in the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP), the researchers describe a number of causes behind this. To do this, they took the results of a previous study looking at issues with returning to work after stroke at UK level to all stakeholders from a local community. They found there was a mismatch between patient and carer needs and what is provided by primary care. This included lack of GP awareness of invisible impairments, uncertainty how primary care could help in time-limited consultations and complexity of return-to-work issues. Primary care physicians were also not aware of relevant services they could refer patients to, such as occupational therapy support. In addition, there was an overall lack of coordination between different stakeholders in the returning to work process. Linking with other services was considered important but challenging due to ongoing changes in service structure and the commissioning model. A quarter of all strokes happen in working age, with a general practice of around 6,000 patients containing on average 15 stroke survivors aged between 18 and 65 years. Stroke rates are increasing in people aged under 55 while it is known that enabling people with stroke to work has positive effects on health. Dr Anna De Simoni, lead author of the study from Queen Mary University of London's Institute of Population Health Sciences said: "Primary care is in a crucial position to support stroke survivors successfully returning to work and address inequalities in access to vocational rehabilitation support. "Through group discussions with stakeholders from a local community, patients, carers, GPs, occupational therapists, employer representative and clinical commissioners we are able to put forward concrete proposals to address the barriers identified. " Suggestions for improvement include a central contact in primary care for signposting to available services, a rehabilitation assessment integrated with the electronic record, and a patient-held share-care plan at discharge from stroke wards. The Equality Act 2010 obliges employers to consider whether 'reasonable adjustments' could help stroke survivors return to work, provided there is an assessment of their impairments/disabilities. However, the researchers found evidence of employers asking clinicians for sick notes rather than undertaking work adaptations. Dr De Simoni added: "This is more straightforward for physical impairments. Primary care might be the only source of help for patients whose invisible impairments have not been highlighted and are exacerbated by return to employment and for self-employed or business owners." The researchers say that more work is needed to develop the three suggestions emerged from this study into interventions, addressing potential problems together with their evaluation in terms of cost-benefit. Georgina Hill, Research Communications Manager at the Stroke Association, said: "Stroke can strike at any age, and about a quarter of stroke survivors are of working age. This study highlights the unique challenges that stroke survivors may face in getting the support they need when returning to work. While this study looked at a small number of people in the UK, it builds on existing evidence that too often, stroke survivors and those close to them, can't get the support they need to rebuild their lives. "Last year, our largest ever survey of people affected by stroke was published as the Lived Experience of Stroke report, which also showed that many stroke survivors experience fatigue and problems with memory and concentration which need consideration when stroke survivors return to work. ### If you're looking for information and support, visit the Stroke Association website at stroke.org.uk." The study was funded by the Evelyn Trust and NIHR. Research paper: 'How primary care can help survivors of transient ischaemic attack and stroke return to work: focus groups with stakeholders from a UK community'. Chantal Balasooriya-Smeekens, Andrew Bateman, Jonathan Mant, Anna De Simoni. British Journal of General Practice. For a copy of the paper please contact below. Contact: Rupert Marquand PR Officer Queen Mary University of London r.marquand@qmul.ac.uk Tel: 020 7882 3004 About Queen Mary University of London: At Queen Mary University of London, we believe that a diversity of ideas helps us achieve the previously unthinkable. In 1785, Sir William Blizard established England's first medical school, The London Hospital Medical College, to improve the health of east London's inhabitants. Together with St Bartholomew's Medical College, founded by John Abernethy in 1843 to help those living in the City of London, these two historic institutions are the bedrock of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Today, Barts and The London continues to uphold this commitment to pioneering medical education and research. Being firmly embedded within our east London community, and with an approach that is driven by the specific health needs of our diverse population, is what makes Barts and The London truly distinctive. Our local community offer to us a window to the world, ensuring that our ground-breaking research in cancer, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, and population health not only dramatically improves the outcomes for patients in London, but also has a far-reaching global impact. This is just one of the many ways in which Queen Mary is continuing to push the boundaries of teaching, research and clinical practice, and helping us to achieve the previously unthinkable. HOLLAND, MI -- A 30-year-old man who led a conspiracy in Holland to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine will spend nearly two decades in federal prison. Matthew James Boeve received that sentence Friday, Jan. 24. He was also sentenced to 10 years for aiding and abetting obstruction of justice. That sentence will be served at the same time as the meth conspiracy conviction. Boeves stint in the meth trade lasted just under 90 days, his attorney, Christopher Gibbons, wrote in the sentencing memorandum. Gibbons said that Boeve first used meth after meeting people who used it in late 2018 in the Ottawa County Jail. Gibbons wrote that Boeve started to use meth daily and eventually ended up selling it to pay for his habit and procure the drug. West Michigan has recently seen an increase in the distribution of methamphetamine, which is an extremely dangerous drug that destroys lives, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said in a statement. Those who choose to sell methamphetamine are on notice that it will result in serious consequences. While awaiting a resolution of the case, Boeve mailed out investigatory documents with the names of cooperating witnesses underlined and instructions to post the names on Facebook, prosecutors said. Mark Adrian Baker was sentenced to five years, three months in prison for aiding and abetting obstruction of justice after he published those documents to Facebook. He wrote captions: LETS PLAY A GAME HOW MANY SNITCHES DOES IT TAKE TO CATCH Matt Boeve??? READ THE DAMN FACTS . He used a rat emoji and urged friends to share the documents on social media. One witness feared retaliation and contacted police. Facebook post naming snitches in drug probe brings federal prison sentence When Boeve was initially arrested and charged in March 2019, he immediately wanted to cooperate with law enforcement, according to prosecutors. That cooperation fell apart after the government learned Boeve intentionally withheld information and didnt provide a complete statement on his meth supplier in Grand Rapids. The government also learned about him encouraging the publication of witness names. Boeve pleaded guilty Sept. 3 to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting obstruction of justice. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped the charge against him of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and agreed not to oppose a sentencing scoring reduction. Boeves co-defendants in the drug conspiracy case have been sentenced as well. Philip Noah Bell received nearly six years in prison, and Kayde Joseph Metzler received three years in prison. Read more: Half of Michigans questionably calibrated breathalyzer machines returned to service New retail specialist wants to lure more businesses to Grand Rapids Off-duty police officers in bar fight get jail time UPDATE: Michael Bennet dropped out of the 2020 presidential race on Feb. 11, 2020. Click here for a look at the remaining presidential candidates. Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet is running in the Democratic primary for president Bennet has served as a U.S. Senator from Colorado since 2009. Prior to his Senate career, Bennet was the superintendent of Denver Public Schools. Here are some fast facts about Michael Bennet: Birth date: November 28, 1964 Hometown: Denver Education: Wesleyan University (B.A.) Yale University (J.D.) Career: Before going to work for the City of Denver, he served as a Managing Director of the Anschutz Investment Company, helping turn around failing companies and saving jobs. Prior to that, he was an attorney with a major international law firm and served in the United States Department of Justice. Family: Wife (Susan) and three daughters: Caroline, Halina and Anne. 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 What hes saying about: Health care: The best way to cover everyone and lower costs is with my Medicare-X plan, which builds on the Affordable Care Act, instead of ripping out the progress weve made over the last 10 years. It would establish a true public option giving families a choice to purchase a more affordable public plan on the exchange, or keep the insurance they receive through their union or employer. It would also help bring down costs for all Americans, including by requiring the federal government, for the first time in history, to negotiate lower drug prices through the Medicare program. Climate Change: I have released an ambitious climate change plan with a detailed timeline for action that starts on my very first day in office to achieve achieve 100 percent clean, net-zero emissions as soon as possible, and no later than 2050, drive economic growth for the 21st century, create millions of high-paying jobs, and conserve our land. This includes engaging a broad coalition of Americans including the agricultural community to ensure that our approach to climate change not only is ambitious, but will also endure across elections and administrations. Opioid Crisis: Not only do we need to invest in more treatments facilities, but we also need to ensure they are equipped with the resources to combat opioid addiction and drugs of abuse that are on the rise. We also need to hold manufacturers and distributors accountable for the problem they fueled by requiring them to pay in to a fund for the treatment and prevention of opioid use disorders, holding them criminally liable, and increasing fines for future illegal marketing of addictive opioids. Thats why I have a plan to create a $20 billion fund that is paid into by manufacturers and distributors and directly benefits communities most affected by opioids. National Security: Russia is our greatest near-term threat because they attacked our democracy, and continue to interfere in our and other Western democracies and the current administration has no strategy to stop it or protect our elections. China is the greatest long-term strategic challenge we face, and if we do not develop a long-term strategy to outcompete China, our children will live in a very different world. China is stealing our technology, spying on our companies, expanding its military presence, exporting its surveillance state, and working to set international technology standards. The answer to Chinas expansion is a strong American economy and democracy not inciting a trade war or failing to protect our elections from Russia, as the current administration has done. Gun Laws: There are many steps we need to take to address the gun violence epidemic that continues to plague communities across the country. My top priorities include expanding and improving universal background checks, limiting the size of magazines, and keeping weapons of war off the streets with an assault weapons ban. College Tuition: We should provide targeted relief for those for whom the debt is crushing, including limiting student debt payments as a share of income and forgiving debt for those engaged in public service. We also need to invest in the nearly 70% of Americans who do not have a four-year college degree to ensure they can earn a living wage, not the minimum wage. Immigration: I support a comprehensive immigration reform plan similar to the 2013 Gang of Eight bill I authored, which passed the Senate with 68 bipartisan votes. That includes a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people in this country, $46 billion in smart border security, the most progressive Dream Act every conceived, and a solution to our visa backlog. We could do this again, starting on day one in a Bennet administration, by bringing all voices to the table from farmers to immigration advocates just as we did in 2013. Presidential candidate comparisons: -- On the issues -- Fun facts -- Watch Bennet answer New Hampshire voter questions face to face in an installment of "Conversation with the Candidate." Donald Trump speaks to Alan Dershowitz as he arrives for a Christmas Eve dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2019: AP For Republican senators jolted by a former White House official's shocking revelations about military aid to Ukraine and Donald Trump who are looking for a reason to acquit the president, his made-for-television legal team has them covered. A half dozen GOP senators responding to former national security adviser John Bolton's bombshell revelations about what Mr Trump said about a military aid package for Ukraine and investigations of US Democrats, there is no evidence any one is mulling a vote to remove the president. Several are facing tough re-election races. A few want to make sure the Senate is fulfilling its traditional role as a check on the presidency. No matter their concerns and motivations, Mr Trump's lawyers is offering them an a la carte menu from which they - eventually - will be able to pick their own reason for beating back Democrats' attempts to follow the House's party line impeachment with the removal of the 45th president. Alan Dershowtiz, a celebrity Harvard University professor whom Mr Trump recruited after watching his cable news appearances, essentially rolled an acquittal dessert cart onto the Senate floor Monday night. At one point, he told senators of Mr Trump's actions towards Ukraine's new president that nothing the US commander in chief did "would by itself constitute an abuse of power." But Mr Dershowitz, who has flip-flopped from an impeachment advocate to a staunch opponent, wasn't finished. "A quid pro quo alone is not the basis for an abuse of power," he said near the end of the defence team's second day of case-making. Translation: Mr Trump might have linked a $391m military aid package for Ukraine to investigations of the Bidens and other Democrats, but doing so is within the legal authorities of the office to which the American people voted him. Jay Sekulow, another of the president's lawyers, also served up a he-did-nothing-wrong dish earlier on Monday. "Asking a foreign leader to get to the bottom of issues of corruption is not a violation of an oath [of office]," he said. "The president was at all times acting under his constitutional authority, under his legal authority, in our national interest, and according to his oath of office." Story continues What the entire Ukraine and impeachment affair is "really about" is not any potential wrongdoing by Mr Trump, but "deep policy differences" between Republicans and Democrats, Mr Sekulow said. "But we live in a constitutional republic where you have deep policy concerns and deep differences - that should not be the basis of an impeachment." Mr Sekulow also took umbrage with House Democrats' contention and gripes that Mr Trump largely ignored US intelligence agencies over 2016 election meddling and instead listened to "people he trusted." (That includes former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, another personal Trump attorney whom he made the point person for all things Ukraine.) In short, the president did not "blindly trust" his intel services - but his lawyers argued it is not wrong for any chief executive to trust outside counsel. On the other hand, Mr Trump's legal team also offered GOP senators another rationale for voting to acquit a Republican president who remains exceedingly popular among their shared political voting base. Monday's prime example of this rationale also came from Mr Dershowitz, who waited until around 8.30pm to be the first Trump lawyer to bring up the revelations in a Sunday New York Times article that Mr Bolton's coming book will report he heard Mr Trump directly link Ukraine aid to investigations of his domestic political enemies. "If a president, any president, were to have done what the Times reported about the content of the Bolton manuscript, that would not constitute an impeachable offence," Mr Dershowtiz said in a comment that lit up Twitter. "Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level and abuse of power or an impeachable offence," he said in a remarkably candid moment. "That is clear from the history, that is clear from the language of the Constitution." If that were not a seeming acknowledgement that his client might have exceeded the traditional and legal bounds of his office, Mr Dershowitz went even further when he said "alleged political sins" do not amount to "constitutionally impeachable offences." That's a far cry from Mr Trump's declaration of innocence earlier in the day when asked to comment on Mr Bolton's allegations by a reporter in the Oval Office. "False," the president replied. A reporter sought more, asking simply, "False?" Mr Trump doubled down on his denial, saying: "Totally false." False or not, it doesn't have to matter much for Senate Republicans. Voting to allow a couple witnesses to assuage voters back home is one thing - voting to make a popular-among-GOP voters president the first to be formally ousted from his office likely is political suicide. And Sen. Joni Ernst reminded everyone that, in the words of Mr Dershowitz, impeachment is a political weapon. That's true for a president's defence team, who can use their allotted time to attack one of their client's chief Democratic rivals. "Iowa caucuses, folks. Iowa caucuses are this next Monday evening," Ernst told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday evening. "And I'm really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Democratic caucus-goers. Will they be supporting [former] Vice President [Joe] Biden at this point? Not certain about that." So, backed by the defence team's a la carte menu, acquittal still looms ahead. That means the Senate's impeachment trial essentially has become just another 2020 campaign stop. "Iowa caucus-goers take note," Mr Biden tweeted Monday night. "Joni Ernst just spilled the beans. She and Donald Trump are scared to death I'll be the nominee. On Feb. 3rd, let's make their day." Read more Trump lawyer claims impeachment is tantamount to domestic war 'Increasingly likely' John Bolton will be called to testify in trial Trump hits back at 'explosive' Bolton book as pressure mounts on GOP Democrats face a crucial week in Trumps impeachment trial Analysis: Presidents impeachment defence case is vintage Trump When one installs anti-virus in their mobile, laptop or computer- the idea and the assurance is that the devices will be protected from external threat, turns out the same antivirus that you think protects your device, has been selling your information. A joint investigation by Motherboard and PCMag claimed that the popular anti-virus company Avast has been selling the information of its 435 million users, using a subsidiary called Jumpshot. The user data has been sold to companies including Google, Microsoft, Home Depot, Pepsi and more. IndiaTimes The user data obtained in the investigation reveal that information collected by Avast include sensitive details, like web browsing history, and some of this data cam be used to individual clicks on a web page. According to Daily Mail, Avast also tracked individuals visits to porn sites like PornHub or YouPorn and their searches. Though the data is reportedly not personally-identifiable, meaning it's not accompanied by a name or other identifier, experts interviewed by Motherboard say the level of detail tracked by Avast may undermine its anonymity. Cultura RF De-identification has shown to be a very failure-prone process. There are so many ways it can go wrong, Gunes Acar, who studies large-scale internet tracking at the Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography research group at the Department of Electrical Engineering of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven told Motherboard. Acar said that most of the threats posed by de-anonymizationwhere you are identifying peoplecomes from the ability to merge the information with other data. And this is not the first time that Avast has faced scrutiny for its practices. Last year, Senator Ron Wyden asked the company for greater transparency after it stopped collecting data via its web browsing plugin. Cultura RF It is encouraging that Avast has ended some of its most troubling practices after engaging constructively with my office. However Im concerned that Avast has not yet committed to deleting user data that was collected and shared without the opt-in consent of its users, or to end the sale of sensitive internet browsing data. The only responsible course of action is to be fully transparent with customers going forward, and to purge data that was collected under suspect conditions in the past, Daily Mail quoted Wyden as saying. Many people in India use Avast anti-virus in their devices too, so if you are not keen on sharing your personal info, you might want to reconsider your anti-virus choices. Iconic drink duo reimagined in Jameson Cold Brew The elements of a classic Irish coffee are being brought together in a new product from Jameson. The brand, produced by Irish Distillers, unveiled Jameson Cold Brew to an American audience to coincide with National Irish Coffee Day, celebrated in the US on January 25. Following successful trials in Australia and Ireland, Jameson hopes the product will be a hit with bartenders and whiskey drinkers across the pond. The beverage infuses triple distilled Irish whiskey with cold brew coffee, made with Arabica beans from Colombia and Brazil, and is bottled at 30% ABV with no added sugar. Jameson says the drink's coffee aromatics complement the vanilla nuttiness of its whiskey. Serving suggestions include neat over ice, with cola and a wedge of orange, or in a cold brew martini for a low-sugar take on the classic espresso version. Brendan Buckley, international marketing director at Irish Distillers, said: "While coffee and Irish whiskey are no strangers in the glass, we wanted to modernise this iconic duo in a refreshing way which will appeal to curious whiskey drinkers looking for new flavours and experiences." Jameson Cold Brew will be available in on-trade and through retailers across the US. 28 January 2020 - Bethany Whymark Are churches tax exempt as a matter of privilege or right? What does tax exception cost communities and churches? Christianity Today has been hosting an interesting debate on these issues. Paul Matzko, Assistant Editor for Tech and Innovation at the CATO Institute, argued in the cover story of this months issue that tax exemption comes at a high a cost to the communities in which they are located: This feeling that churches dont contribute to the common good is not uncommon in America. There are many municipalities that view churches as basically parasitical, receiving all the protection and benefits of local government without bearing their fair share of the financial burden. Cash-strapped towns have frequently tried to use zoning laws to block the development of new churches and are only stopped when the federal government enforces the religious land-use laws that Christian groups advocated for in 1993 and 2000. Matzko also argues that these tax privileges are harmful to the church itself as, ..the churchs prophetic witness is certainly harmed when its clergy are not free to condemn corrupt politicians who prey on the poor, the vulnerable, and the sojourner tax exemption will always be a potential tool for majoritarian political interests to suppress minority interests. The argument is clever invoking many historical and legal details which, while factual, are misleading. Michael Wear, chief strategist for the AND Campaign, ably points this out in his response essay, No Friend of Tax Collectors: Contrary to Matzkos portrayal of an across-the-board religious tax exemption as a vestige of European-style establishmentarianism, houses of worship are tax exempt to respect religious freedom and the separation of church and state. What offends American sensibilities about the European tradition is not tax-exemption, but the practice of taxing disfavored denominations, and using those funds to prop up the state and its favored religion. Consider Isaac Backus, who Matzko invokes as an evangelical dissenter against government favors for religious groups. He was that, but hardly because he felt churches should pay taxes. Wear also notes that the restrictions on political speech for tax exempt organizations, which apply equally to all non-profits, prohibit only the explicit endorsement of a candidate or lobbying for a particular piece of legislation. They do not, prevent pastors or churches from teaching on issues like poverty, abortion, the environment, or any other issue of public import. Wear and Matzko both acknowledge halo effects, indirect ways in which congregations contribute to the economies of their local communities, but such an appeal to utilitarian calculus to justify tax exemption seems to miss the point. Life is economic, but economics is not all of life. What is most disturbing about Matzkos essay is not the economic reductionism but the impoverished sense of the political and common good it demonstrates. It is a classic example of seeing like a state, reducing the complex interdependencies of our social life to a single state-centered public life. It is only by misunderstanding our life together as the bare relationship between citizen and sovereign, subject and ruler, that our contribution to the common good could be calculated by a tax receipt. The Christian conception of the common good encompasses, as Lord Acton said best, a society beyond the state with individual souls above it. The common good is the product of both individual persons living out their vocations and institutions exercising their God ordained roles, fulfilling their duties, and sharing their own unique gifts. Paul Matzko is concerned that the tax exemption breeds resentment, Michael Wear fears his proposed remedy would accelerate polarization, but Jesus has told us, ye shall be hated of all men for my names sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. (Matt. 10:22) It is in the nature of haters to hate, and money will not change that. Ceding to the state sovereignty over all of civil society including the family, the church, school, business, and community groups guarantees their destruction. The common good can never be realized without the work of diverse and interdependent persons and institutions doing their own part in all spheres of human life. WASHINGTON (AP) Senators faced mounting pressure Monday to summon John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trumps impeachment trial even as Trumps lawyers mostly brushed past extraordinary new allegations from the former national security adviser and focused instead on corruption in Ukraine and historical arguments for acquittal. Outside the Senate chamber, Republicans grappled with claims in a forthcoming book from Bolton that Trump had wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it committed to helping with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. That assertion could undercut a key defense argument that Trump never tied the suspension of security aid to political investigations. The revelation clouded White House hopes for a swift end to the impeachment trial, fueling Democratic demands for witnesses and possibly pushing more Republican lawmakers to agree. It also distracted from hours of arguments from Trump's lawyers, who declared anew that no witness has testified to direct knowledge that Trump's delivery of aid was contingent on investigations into Democrats. Bolton appeared poised to say exactly that if called on by the Senate to appear. We deal with transcript evidence, we deal with publicly available information," attorney Jay Sekulow said. We do not deal with speculation." Trump is charged with abusing his presidential power by asking Ukraine's leader to help investigate Biden at the same Trump was ordering that millions of dollars in aid be withheld. A second charge accuses Trump of obstructing Congress in its probe. Trump's legal team on Monday, including high-profile attorneys Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz, launched a wide-ranging historical, legal and political attack on the entire impeachment process. They said there was no basis to remove him from office, defended his actions as appropriate and assailed Biden, who is campaigning for the Democratic nomination to oppose Trump in November. Former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi focused particular attention on Biden and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukraine gas company at the same time his father was leading the Obama administrations diplomatic dealings with Kyiv. They argued that Trump had legitimate reasons to be suspicious of the younger Biden's business dealings and concerned about corruption in Ukraine and that, in any event, he ultimately released the aid without Ukraine committing to investigations the president wanted. Democrats say Trump did so only after a whistleblower submitted a complaint about the situation. Trump has sought, without providing evidence, to implicate the Bidens in the kind of corruption that has long plagued Ukraine. Though anti-corruption advocates have raised concerns, there has been no evidence of wrongdoing by either the former vice president or his son. Ken Starr, whose independent counsel investigation into President Bill Clinton resulted in his impeachment Clinton was acquitted by the Senate bemoaned what he said was an age of impeachment." Impeachment, he said, requires both an actual crime and a genuine national consensus" that the president must go. Neither exists here, Starr said. It's filled with acrimony and it divides the country like nothing else," Starr said of impeachment. Those of us who lived through the Clinton impeachment understand that in a deep and personal way." Dershowitz the final speaker of the evening argued that impeachable offenses require criminal-like conduct, a view largely dismissed by legal scholars. He said that even if Bolton's allegations were true, the president still would not have committed an impeachable offense. Purely non-criminal conduct, including abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are outside the range of impeachable offices," Dershowitz said. Even as defense lawyers laid out their case as planned, it was clear that Bolton's book had scrambled the debate over whether to seek witnesses. Bolton writes that Trump told him he wanted to withhold security aid from Ukraine until it helped him with investigations. Trump's legal team has insisted otherwise, and Trump tweeted Monday that he never told Bolton such a thing. Republican senators face a pivotal moment. Pressure is mounting for at least four to buck GOP leaders and form a bipartisan majority to force the issue. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. John Bolton's relevance to our decision has become increasingly clear, GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told reporters. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she has always wanted the opportunity for witnesses and the report about Bolton's book strengthens the case. At a private GOP lunch, Romney made the case for calling Bolton, according to a person unauthorized to discuss the meeting and granted anonymity. Other Republicans, including Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, said if Trump's former national security adviser is called they will demand reciprocity to hear from at least one of their witnesses. Some Republicans want to call the Bidens. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared unmoved by news of the Bolton book. His message at the lunch, said Indiana GOP Sen. Mike Braun, was, "Take a deep breath, and let's take one step at a time. Once the presidents team wraps its arguments no later than Tuesday, senators have 16 hours for questions to both sides. By late in the week, they are expected to hold a vote on whether or not to hear from any witnesses. While Democrats say Boltons revelations are reminiscent of the Watergate drip of new information, Republicans are counting on concerns subsiding by the time senators are asked to vote. They are being told that if there is agreement to summon Bolton, the White House will resist, claiming executive privilege. That would launch a weeks-long court battle that could drag out the impeachment trial, a scenario some GOP senators would rather avoid. Trump and his lawyers have argued repeatedly that Democrats are using impeachment to try to undo the results of the last presidential election and drive Trump from office. Trump tweeted for viewers to tune in to the hoax, advertising the trials start time. Some in the White House had hoped the legal team would steer away from the Bidens but acknowledged the Bolton revelations contributed to the decision to stay focused on the family. They worry about squandering what good will they have earned with the Senate, where Biden served for decades. Democrats, meanwhile, say Trump's refusal to allow administration officials to testify only reinforces that the White House is hiding evidence. The White House has had Bolton's manuscript for about a month, according to a letter from Bolton's attorney. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: Were all staring a White House cover-up in the face." Rep. Adam Schiff, who leads the House prosecution team, called Bolton's account a test for the senators sitting as jurors. I don't know how you can explain that you wanted a search for the truth in this trial and say you don't want to hear from a witness who had a direct conversation about the central allegation in the articles of impeachment, Schiff said on CNN. Bolton's account was first reported by The New York Times and was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the manuscript on the condition of anonymity. "The Room Where It Happened; A White House Memoir" is to be released March 17. Trump denied Bolton's claims in tweets Monday. I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens," Trump said. "If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. Joe Biden, campaigning in Iowa, said he sees no reason for testimony by him or his son. I have nothing to defend. This is all a game, even if they bring me up," he told reporters. "What is there to defend? This is all -- the reason hes being impeached is because he tried to get a government to smear me and they wouldnt. Come on. Trump said people could look at transcripts of his call with Ukrainian President Zelinskiy to see there was no pressure for investigations to get the aid. In that call, Trump asked Zelinskiy to do us a favor with the investigations as he was withholding nearly $400 million in military aid to the U.S. ally at war with Russia. Trump falsely claimed Monday that the Democrat-controlled House never even asked John Bolton to testify." Democrats did ask Bolton to testify, but he didnt show up for his deposition. They later declined to subpoena Bolton, as they had others, because he threatened to sue, which could have led to a prolonged court battle. Eventual acquittal is likely in a Senate where a two-thirds majority vote would be needed for conviction Democrats argued their side of the impeachment case for three days last week, warning that Trump will persist in abusing his power and endangering American democracy unless Congress intervenes to remove him before the 2020 election. _____ By Eric Tucker, Zeke Miller and Lisa Mascaro. Alan Fram, Mary Clare Jalonick, Andrew Taylor, Matthew Daly, Laurie Kellman and Padmananda Rama contributed. President Klaus Iohannis presented on Monday evening three Roma Holocaust survivors and several Holocaust memorial institutes with decorations; in remarks on this occasion, the President said that the danger of a revival of xenophobic and anti-Semitic attitudes is always present, and Romania should continue the progress made in recent years. "The progress Romania has made in recent years is remarkable. We have successfully fulfilled the chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the legislation on the fight against anti-Semitism has been improved, the National Museum of Jewish History and the Holocaust in Romania has been created, and education on the Holocaust is a national priority. Yet we must not stop here, because the danger of xenophobic and anti-Semitic attitudes returning is always present. Jewish cemeteries are vandalized, public actors claim the supremacy of particular races, there is a public relativisation of the Holocaust monstrosities, horrendous criminals are given praise, and it's not infrequent that fellow citizens of Roma ethnicity are being humiliated or discriminated against. These developments represent a frontal attack on the rule of law and the democratic principles, which is precisely why the counter-offensive must be firm and in line with European values. Therefore, we need even more education, because this is the only firm commitment that we will put in all our energy to defend in the future democracy, individual rights and freedoms," said the head of the state at the Cotroceni Palace at the decoration ceremony occasioned by the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp complex.Klaus Iohannis went on to say that 75 years after the liberation of the Auschwitz camp, "Europe has not yet healed from the scourge of anti-Semitism and the affliction of extremism.""To build an 'other' and define him as the absolute evil is not difficult. The lesson of the Holocaust is not that far away. In the same way, anti-Semitism, racism and hatred have been transformed in the last century into state politics. Building today's society on sound foundations can only be done with our attention constantly directed to the past, as in a rear-view mirror. The evil must be cut off from the root, and the poisonous seeds of hatred and intolerance, which could sprout anytime, must be destroyed by promoting tolerance, respect for the other and for diversity. Only by cultivating memory do we keep alive the drama of the Jews and the Roma and assume a history traced with thick lines, a painful past that we do not ignore or conceal, but are fully aware of with all responsibility," Iohannis said.The President assured that he will advocate with the same determination as so far the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust and the combat of anti-Semitism, and emphasized that Romania has owned up to the Holocaust and has taken concrete steps regarding the recovery of the memory of this phenomenon, the strengthening of education and research on the Holocaust, the fight against extremism, anti-Semitism and intolerance, the improvement of legislation in the field, and pointed out that the entities awarded this Monday have played a decisive role in achieving this progress."The terrible sufferings endured by the Roma community in our country in the Transnistria camps are still insufficiently known and evoked. It is time to bring the Roma Holocaust to the public attention and to honor the survivors, each of whom represents a voice of humanity raised against racism and xenophobia," Iohannis said, pointing out that he wants the decoration of the Roma Holocaust survivors Constantin Braila, Florica Craciun and Traian Craciun to represent "a powerful gesture of condemnation by the Romanian state of the tragedy" they and Romania's Roma community have experienced during World War II.At the end of the speech the head of state asked the participants to observe a moment of silence in tribute to the Holocaust victims.President Iohannis awarded the Order of Cultural Merit in the rank of Knight, Category E - "National Cultural Heritage" to the Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Order of Cultural Merit in the rank of Knight, Category F - "Culture Promotion" to the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania, the Order of Cultural Merit in the rank of Knight, Category H - "Scientific Research" to the "Elie Wiesel" National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania.Also, the head of state presented Holocaust survivors Constantin Braila, Florica Craciun and Traian Craciun with the "Faithful Service" National Order 3rd class. AGERPRES UK Spurns EU Copyright Directive: Square One For Value Gap In UK According to recent reports, the UK will be eschewing implementation of the European Copyright Directive, putting it back to square one of the value gap as the country Brexits through the gift shop. Guest post by Chris Castle of Music Tech Solutions Sometimes it sucks to be right. According to PRS, the UK government has confirmed that the UK will not be implementing the European Copyright Directive (which passed the EU Parliament and is currently in the implementation stage). Remember that the whole point of a big chunk of the Copyright Directive was to rein in Googles abuse of Europes version of the DMCA safe harbor. Called the value gap, the idea was that Google profits from the safe harbor whack a mole that were all familiar with due to a loophole in both US and EU copyright law. Having passed the EU Parliament, the 28 (soon to be 27) countries of the EU have a two year window to transpose the Directive into national law which is currently underway. Howeverbecause Brexit will become effective after the Directive was passed but before the UK has promulgated transposing legislation, the position of the newly elected Johnson government is that the UK will not be adopting transposing legislation and instead go its own way. The PRS/M Magazine site tells us: [I]n a written parliamentary exchange MP Chris Skidmore, confirmed that any changes to the UKs copyright framework would fall under the domestic policy process. Written questions allow Members of Parliament to ask government ministers for information on the work, policy and activities of government departments. He was responding to a question from Jo Stevens, MP for Cardiff Central, who enquired: What plans the Government has to bring forward legislative proposals to implement the EU Copyright Directive in UK law. Chris Skidmore, Minister of State at the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, responded: The deadline for implementing the EU Copyright Directive is 7 June 2021. The United Kingdom will leave the European Union on 31 January 2020 and the Implementation Period will end on 31 December 2020. The Government has committed not to extend the Implementation Period. Therefore, the United Kingdom will not be required to implement the Directive, and the Government has no plans to do so. Any future changes to the UK copyright framework will be considered as part of the usual domestic policy process. The statement follows Culture Minister Nigel Adams pledge for a new music strategy to ensure the UK music industry remains the envy of the world, but he also hinted that the Directive was under threat. Adams said: We support the overall aims of the Copyright Directive. But our imminent departure from the EU means we are not required to implement the Copyright Directive in full. I anticipated this might happen in a post on Artist Rights Watch critical of the incorporation of the DMCA and Section 230 safe harbors into the US Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA). What it means is that the UK is back to square one on the value gap. It also means that USMCA is a bad precedent for artists in US bilateral trade agreements which it seems will now have to be negotiated with the UK. Getting the DMCA incorporated into USMCA is, lets face it, a major lobbying victory for Google that takes the sting out of big losses in the European Parliament on the European Copyright Directive. But see what they did there? Google are having trouble stopping the headlong defense against its safe harbor abuse through the front door, so they make an end run by lobbying for language in USMCA that gives them their treasured groovier than thou safe harbor privilege. That privilege saves Google and other Big Tech publishers from complying with the law same as anyone else, from copyright infringement to profiting from illegal goods to advertiser fraud. And now of course they want USMCA to become a model for all other trade agreementsincluding, no doubt the coming bilateral agreement with the UK after Brexit. That is what we need to stop cold in its tracks. And by we I mean all creatorsnot just music, but artists in all copyright categories. This is one to keep an eye on and there will be more on this in coming days. Share on: According to earlier testimony and court documents, Weigel emailed the Valparaiso woman to tell her Browne had accessed his phone and downloaded compromising pictures the woman sent to him. Browne allegedly then sent these images to the woman and threatened to send them to her childrens school. The Valparaiso woman also sought an order of protection against Browne. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The blood libel is one of the most hateful and destructive lies launched against the Jewish people over the centuries. While it takes on many different forms, it boils down to the false accusation that the Jews would kidnap and kill a non-Jewish child (or adult), using the victims blood for some ritual purpose. In the last week, it has raised its ugly head once again. According to the ADL, The blood libel refers to a centuries-old false allegation that Jews murder Christians especially Christian children to use their blood for ritual purposes, such as an ingredient in the baking of Passover matzah (unleavened bread). It is also sometimes called the ritual murder charge. The blood libel dates back to the Middle Ages and has persisted despite Jewish denials and official repudiations by the Catholic Church and many secular authorities. Blood libels have frequently led to mob violence and pogroms, and have occasionally led to the decimation of entire Jewish communities. I have documented this as well in my book Our Hands Are Stained with Blood: The Tragic Story of the Church and the Jewish People. But the blood libel goes beyond Christian manifestations of anti-Semitism. It reaches into the Muslim world as well, but with this variation: the victim is Muslim, not Christian, and there may be no accusation of the victims blood being used. To be sure, Israelis are regularly accused of kidnapping Muslims, killing them, and selling their organs for profit. As announced in an October 21, 2018, headline on Iranian-run Press TV, Belgian official: Israel steals organs of Palestinian kids. According to the story, A Belgian officials remarks that Israel steals the organs of Palestinian children, whom it kills, have made headlines again after the news website which published them decided to stick to the story. Robrecht Vanderbeeken, the cultural secretary of Belgiums ACOD trade union and a philosophy of science scholar, had made the comments back in August in a column published by Belgian website De Wereld Morgen. The population of the Gaza Strip is being starved to death, poisoned, and children are kidnapped and murdered for their organs, he wrote then. And despite an outcry over the charge, De Wereld Morgen stuck to the assertion that Israel kidnapped and murdered Palestinian children and used organs belonging to the Palestinians its forces killed. He is among the most recent of many to make similar charges, charges which portray the Israelis as murderous organ harvesters, if not literal blood suckers. This past week, however, there was another variation of the kidnap and murder libel. An 8-year-old Palestinian boy went missing, only to be found dead at the bottom of a flooded ditch near his house. As reported by Haaretz (a leading left-wing Israeli publication that gladly criticizes its own people), the facts were tragic but straightforward. An eight-year-old boy from East Jerusalem was pronounced dead early Saturday morning after falling into a flooded ditch a day earlier. Rescue forces found Qusai Abd Abu Ramileh at the bottom of the pit after pumping out rainwater flooding it adjacent to a construction site near the eight-year-old boy's house. Unfortunately, Abu Ramilehs relatives initially claimed that the boy was kidnapped, while providing the police video footage in which he is allegedly seen walking alongside an unidentified man. Later, Abu Ramilehs father said that the boy seen in the footage is not his son. But the word was out, and this was all the fuel the Jew-haters needed. Israeli settlers have kidnapped and killed a Palestinian child! British anti-Semite George Galloway tweeted to his 342 thousand followers, This child, aged 7, has just been fished out of a well dead in #Jerusalem murdered by illegal Israeli settlers. Will anyone in power cry with his mother and father today? Will anyone check this evil rampage against the people of #Palestine? Anyone? In the States, Rashida Tlaib retweeted Palestinian leader Hanan Ashrawis tweet, which in turn retweeted the tweet of @RealSeifBitar. (This also caught the attention of the Jerusalem Post.) The original tweet read, KIDNAPPED & EXECUTED. 7 year old #Palestinian child Qusai was kidnapped by a Herd of violent #Israeli settlers, assaulted & thrown in a water well was found this morning frozen to death in Beit Hanina, #Jerusalem after #Israeli forces assaulted search teams. The blood libel lives! Subsequently, Dr. Ashrawi tweeted, My apologies for retweeting something thats not fully verified. It seems that the news of his being kidnapped is not certain. What an understated apology in light of the barbarous, unsubstantiated, and ultimately false accusation she so quickly retweeted. As for Rep. Tlaib, her post was up for several says before she was pressured to take it down. But she never issued an apology for posting the false story. Easier to spread libels against the Jews than correct them. (Claire Voltaire on Twitter wrote, Rashida takes a spot between Marwa, the Hezbollah mouthpiece, and Galloway, the Labour anti-Semite.) Responding to George Galloways reprehensible tweet, WylieDeeds tweeted: Irrational, virulent antisemitic [sic] passes off bald-faced lie to own the Jews. The child drowned. There is no evidence that he was murdered and even less that an Israeli had anything to do with it. Blood libel. Then, with a shout-out to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, he added: @jack: this gets Jews murdered. Claire Voltaire tweeted, From the people who deny the Syrian genocide and Assad's use of chemical weapons on his people, I bring you, blood libel against Jews is genocide. This was followed by a series of tweets from Seif Bitar, George Galloway, and Syrian Girl. They wrote, respectively: These are NOT rumors. Unless you accept the false #Israeli narrative published by a far right #Zionist news paper owned by settlers are TRUE. (I imagine that would include the far-left Haaretz?) And, There are no words that can fully convey the evil of this story. And, The world is witnessing genocide. Now you see how anti-Semitism works. Now you see how the lies spread and the myths are built. Now you see why so many Jews throughout history have been slaughtered by angry Christians and Muslim crowds. What will you do to stop it? Government worker Iorliam Shija sits in one of the ramshackle bars along the banks of the Benue river in central Nigeria sipping from a gourd filled with frothy burukutu. The vinegary alcoholic beverage has been made here for generations from the fermented grains of sorghum and millet and consumed as a traditional alternative to beer. Now, as Nigeria's economy struggles to grow, the local brew is enjoying a boom from clients looking for a cheaper option. "If you have beer or burukutu, I will go with burukutu," Shija told AFP. "It is natural and it is what our people are used to drinking." Even though it is still early, the makeshift joints are already filled with drinkers young and old, male and female. Women ladle the brownish liquid -- which typically varies in strength from around four to 10 percent alcohol -- out of large clay pots into dried calabashes for customers to drink alone or in a group. Typically burukutu -- which has its roots with the Jukun people of central and north Nigeria -- is consumed by all stratas of society and serves as an important focal point for social gatherings. But those partaking say that as Nigeria's economy limps along more people in this rural area are turning to it instead of the more expensive mass-produced beers. - Economic hangover - Emmanuel Anthony has come to join friends even though he admits he has no money in his pockets. "The reason why I am taking it is that I want to cut cost," he says. "The economy is bad for now. I cannot go outside and start living above my means." Nigeria's economy is still struggling to shake off its hangover after emerging from its deepest recession in decades in 2017. The government is predicting that growth will reach 2.93 percent in 2020, but that is still well below earlier levels and poverty rates are increasing as population numbers surge. "With just 200 naira ($0.55, 0.5 euros), two or three people will take the drink and be satisfied," Anthony explained. "A bottle of beer is from 200 naira to 350 naira." Artisan Chris Achochi, who lives close to Nigeria's capital Abuja, said the drink was a cheap way of bringing friends together. "Burukutu is very cheap and it is an advantage to us, the way we are living in the country now," he said. "With just 1,000 naira, you sit out with friends and drink enough but with the same amount, you cannot cope with beer." - Not to all tastes - Mary Ngoo has been in the business of brewing burukutu for over 30 years. To keep her thirsty customers satisfied she wakes up in the early hours of the morning each day to begin the cooking process. Production involves steeping the seeds in the water, before washing, grinding, fermentation, filtering, boiling and re-filtering. As she stokes firewood to keep the flames high, she insists the brewing process is not too complicated -- but it demands time. "It takes an average of three days to get the liquor ready for consumption," she says. The traditional method of production means that burukutu is not to everyone's tastes -- and possibly poses more health risks than beer. A 2017 study by Nigerian academics comparing "chronic" beer and burukutu drinkers suggested it had a greater impact on the livers of consumers "due to its relatively high alcoholic content obtained by local and unstandardised brewing process". It is the lack of hygiene standards or quality control that has put off businessman Hilary Achia. "I don't drink burukutu. I am a very conscious hygienic person. I don't think I agree with the method of processing it so I am a little cautious and choosy in this aspect," he said. "I rather go with beer which I have at least a fair idea of the production method and hygienic nature to some extent. I think I will go with bottled beer instead of burukutu." Every morning, Melbourne horse trainer Rui Severino has his temperature taken by a guard posted outside his building. He is among hundreds of Australians stranded in the Chinese province of Hubei, ground zero of the coronavirus outbreak. "Anyone who has a temperature higher than normal, you get reported and you get taken away," he said. Melbourne horse trainer Rui Severino is stuck in Wuhan amid the coronavirus outbreak. Mr Severino travels by car to nearby horse stables each morning, where his temperature is taken again upon arrival and he is made to wash his feet. A news release taped to the front doors of the closed location in Orland Park states, "After very careful consideration, we have made the tough but necessary decision to discontinue operations at the Orland Park location. This is never an easy decision to make and one driven by many business factors." The same message was taped to all of the other locations with the name of that location changed in the release. drone flying in blue sky Oscar J.Barroso/Europa Press/Getty The Federal Aviation Administration closed the airspace surrounding the area where the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant crashed. The crash killed Bryant and eight other passengers, including his daughter Gianna "Gigi" Bryant. News, rescue, and law-enforcement helicopters are a common sight above crash scenes, but the FAA told Business Insider that a large number of aircraft, including drones, operating around the crash site led to the airspace closure. Drones have been involved in numerous recent incidents involving aircraft and bystanders. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. After the crash of a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant on Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an airspace restriction for 5 nautical miles in every direction from the crash site, effectively closing the airspace above Calabasas, California. The crash killed Bryant and eight other passengers, including his daughter Gianna "Gigi" Bryant. The restriction, known as a temporary flight restriction, was placed at 2:15 p.m. PT, according to the FAA's website, shortly after the crash as news, rescue, and law-enforcement helicopters flooded the scene. While those types of helicopters frequently fly near crash sites, a spokesperson for the FAA told Business Insider that the agency decided to close the airspace, partly because of the "significant number of aircraft, including drones, operating over the accident site." The restriction extends 5 nautical miles in each direction from the site up to 5,000 feet above sea level. While it's unclear how many drones were operating in the area, the devices have become commonplace in the skies because they can be used for aerial photography and videography. Most drones feature cameras with video-recording capabilities, enabling their operators to get closer footage of the crash scene than a normal helicopter could. The drones are lightweight, nimble, and don't produce the downdrafts that helicopters do, making them favorable for filming. Story continues Drones, however, have proven to be unreliable and dangerous for nearby aircraft and bystanders on the ground. As the operator does not typically have a 360-degree point of view, preventing a crash with a nearby aircraft, of which at least five were operating in the vicinity of the crash according to data from FlightRadar24, becomes difficult. Though mostly small and compact, drones can have a devastating effect on aircraft. Researchers from the FAA released a report saying that the harder materials found in drones often do the most damage. In response to the threat, airports and airlines have been coming up with ways to detect and avoid drones, CNN reported. Lawmakers have even recommended mandating the installation of devices on drones to keep them out of sensitive airspace. In 2018, drone sightings at London's Gatwick Airport shut down operations. Aircraft were not allowed to take off or land at London's second-largest airport for three days during the busy Christmas rush. About 140,000 passengers were affected, and police were unable to effectively mitigate the situation, BBC reported. Gatwick Airport planes Aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group/Getty Images Source: BBC News Police were not able to find the operators, and a similar situation occurred a few months later with similar results, BBC reported. Gatwick Airport Tim Ireland/Associated Press Source: BBC News Drones colliding with news helicopters is also a fear. A drone was sighted "a few feet above" a news helicopter in Washington in 2015, KOMO News reported. The FAA later told the news agency that it received reports of similar incidents around 25 times per month at the time. AS350 helicopter aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group/Getty Source: KOMO News A drone crashed into Seattle's Space Needle in 2016, PCMag reported. The drone hit just feet from bystanders on the roof of the landmark, rendering the aircraft immovable, video acquired by GeekWire shows. seattle space needle construction Elaine Thompson/AP Sources: PCMag and GeekWire The White House also had a drone incident when a government employee inadvertently lost control of the aircraft, which then crashed on the South Lawn, The New York Times reported. It was the first time since former President Bill Clinton's administration that an aircraft had crashed in front of the White House. white house drone Secret Service Source: New York Times The restrictions on Calabasas' airspace are scheduled to remain in effect until the end of the month, though that could change depending on guidance from the FAA and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office. A customized DJI Agras MG-1S drone sprays water over a rice field during a pilots training flight, as part of a test in using drone technology in the fight against malaria, near Zanzibar City, on the island of Zanzibar, Tanzania, October 31, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner Reuters Read the original article on Business Insider UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the United Nations remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis in resolving their conflict on the basis of UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements. He says the UN is also committed to realising the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security within recognised borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, according to his spokesman. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general saw the announcement of the US plan for the Middle East, which was presented Tuesday by President Donald Trump. Trump's plan calls for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in east Jerusalem while recognising Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank, and was immediately rejected by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "The position of the United Nations on the two-State solution has been defined, throughout the years, by relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions by which the Secretariat is bound," Dujarric said. Those resolutions call all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal and call for a solution based on borders before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, with agreed land swaps. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rexach: Real Madrid are top, but they only won 1-0 at Valladolid and were lucky Barcelona Barcelona behind in title race Carles Rexach has played down Real Madrid moving above Barcelona in the LaLiga Santander title race. Los Blancos overtook the Catalans at the top of the table with a narrow win over Real Valladolid on Sunday night. "Real Madrid are really in a rush. They've gone ahead in the table, but they [only] won 1-0 yesterday and were lucky," Rexach said. "No team is winning easily this season." Barcelona have surrendered their lead just a couple of weeks after replacing Ernesto Valverde with Quique Setien. "Every change has its surprises and maybe the problem Barcelona have had is that they've had lots of possession but lacked goals in their first few matches," Rexach said. "Sometimes it's not easy to change things very quickly because sometimes the players don't pick it up. "Abrupt changes are always apparent." Barcelona are currently without a recognised striker due to Luis Suarez's injury, but Rexach has a solution. "Let [Antoine] Griezmann play up front, it's his position," he said. "He can play in his position and I don't know what the hurry is." FAIRFIELD They didnt have any food. There was no water, Sari Jaffe said of her fathers January 1945 forced march from Auschwitz to another concentration camp further away from the advancing Red Army. One of the things that I remember him always telling us was that they had to cross a river and, in the boat that he was in, somebody with a good voice was singing Hebrew songs about next year in Jerusalem, Jaffe said. Jaffe was one of three people invited to talk about their family on the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Armys liberation of Auschwitz. The Holocaust remembrance event was hosted by UNESCO Center for Global Friendship, as well as regional partners, at the Fairfield Public Library. The panel was led by Elissa Kaplna, president of the The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County. With her on the panel were Jaffe, Susan Unrad and Peter Lilienthal. At one point in the night, Kaplan asked the audience of 40 to stand if they had family members at Auschwitz, and about half the room stood up. The essence of why we are here is to remember something we should never forget, and honor all of you, who are impacted directly, and all of us, who are impacted indirectly, said Master of Ceremonies Sabine Januski. Harm to one, is harm to all of us. The discussion was pared with a screening of the film, Who Will Write Our History, a documentary about the lives and deaths of Jewish residents in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. Jaffe said she took her fathers story of the man singing in the boat as evidence the people in the Holocaust still had hope that they would survive. She said her father ended up in the Ebensee concentration camp. By that time, out of approximately 6,000 prisoners (in her fathers group) who had started the walk from Auschwitz, only a few hundred survived, Jaffe said. They knew the Americans were very near but the question was, would they have enough strength to hold on until the Americans arrived? Well, I guess they did, because my father survived and I was born in 1948. Lilienthal, who is on the board of the The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County, said he was very moved by the stories told in the film and by the panel. He said his fathers family was partially lucky because they were never sent to a camp. According to Lilienthal, his father was a firefighter in Vienna, Austria. He said his father was fired from the job for being Jewish. Afterward, he said his fathers family escaped to Switzerland where they lived with a family that had taken care of his fathers brother during World War I. That family was instrumental in getting our entire family out of Europe, said Lilienthal. My aunt married a non-Jew and lived here in the States. They provided affidavits for most of the family. They all got out. Lilienthal said his mothers side of the family had a harder time. He said his uncles family were all murdered in the death camps. Both Unrads parents were Hungarian-Romanian Holocaust survivors from with two very different experiences. She said her father was married before the war and had children. She said his family was taken out of their home in 1944 by Hungarian soldiers who were allied with the Axis powers. According to Unrad, her father was brought to a camp in Serbia. My father told me that one of his jobs was to take gold teeth out of peoples mouths and take whatever possessions they had that were of any value, Unrad said. She said when her father returned home, he found out his mother, wife and children had all been killed in Auschwitz. She said her mother, grandmother, aunt and uncle were taken to Auschwitz in May 1944. My mother did not speak (in English) very much about her experiences but I began to understand Hungarian and learned certain words and things that had happened, said Unrad. I sort of understood that something horrible had happened to them. Unrad said her mothers brother and parents were killed but her sister survived. She said her fathers sister was in Auschwitz with her mother. She must have seen my fathers first wife pass away or be taken away, along with the children, said Unrad, because she said to my mother, If we get out of here, I want you to meet my brother. Well, that exactly what happened. Ghislaine Georges, a member of the advisory board of the UNESCO Center for Global Friendship, said donations were integral to the non-profits aim to provide similar programs. UNESCO is an organization that is part of the United Nations, Januski said. It exists as an agency that tries to promote education, science and culture amongst different cultures and countries. UNESCO works to try and increase a sense of universal respect for the dignity of different people, different cultures. For more information about the organization or to donate, visit unescogf.org or call 475-470-4751. An employee at the PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, takes the temperature of a Chinese worker, Jan. 28, 2020. A Chinese-controlled firm said Tuesday it had quarantined all 3,000 of its Chinese employees who work at an industrial complex in Indonesias Central Sulawesi province, amid fears that the new coronavirus could spread here after hundreds of new workers arrived from China last week. The workers at the plant in Morowali regency were being monitored for any signs of infection, said Dedy Kurniawan, a spokesman for the Chinese-owned company, the PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP). Chinas Tsingshan Holding Group holds the majority stake in the park, which produces nickel and stainless steel. When the news of the outbreak came to the fore, the management immediately implemented strict procedures, Dedy told BenarNews. To facilitate the examinations, 3,000 foreign workers have been quarantined. If they are found to be free from the virus, they will be released from the quarantine, he said, adding that so far, no one was found to be infected. Dedy said the move followed the arrival of 600 workers from China last week, including 15 from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province in China, considered ground zero for the virus. The quarantine began on Jan. 25, the same day the company announced a temporary freeze on bringing workers from China. Production continues despite the quarantine of the Chinese workers who are housed in dormitories on the campus of the industrial park. The plant also employs 28,000 Indonesians, according to officials. While the government so far has confirmed no cases of the coronavirus in Indonesia, Central Sulawesi health chief Reny Lamadjido said her department was in touch with IMIP officials and that two local hospitals were ready to treat patients in case of an outbreak. Because there are thousands of foreign workers, the majority of whom are from China, the area is our focus. But we are also on alert in other places, Reny told BenarNews. Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the Philippines was monitoring more than two dozen people but none had yet been diagnosed with the coronavirus, officials said. Malaysia and Thailand, on the other hand, had confirmed seven and 14 cases, respectively, as of Tuesday. Globally, there were at least 4,690 confirmed cases, including 80 in countries other than China as of Tuesday, according to a tracking map created by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The World Health Organization has classified the risk level of spreading the coronavirus as very high in China, where the government reported the death toll had reached at least 106. Johns Hopkins University is mapping the flow of the coronavirus across the globe. (Courtesy Johns Hopkins University) Stuck in Wuhan The Chinese government has imposed a lockdown on Wuhan, where public transportation and other services have stopped as authorities struggle to contain the spread of the virus. Indonesian students have urged their government to help them return from China. Government officials said 243 Indonesians were in Hubei province, including many in its capital, Wuhan. We really hope that the Indonesian government will immediately repatriate us, or at least get us out of Wuhan first, Siti Mawaddah, a student at Hubei University, said on Kompas TV. She said she and other Indonesians had been confined to their rooms for eight days because of a government lockdown. Being confined to our room is not good for our health. Every day we hear that the number of victims continues to increase, as if we were just waiting for our turn to be infected, she said. Meanwhile, about 50 Filipinos in Wuhan were seeking help to return home, government officials said. I wish to inform the public that the government will take care of you whether you choose to stay or return home. For those who choose to return, you will be taken care of in a health facility for monitoring and further medical management, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said. Thai officials reported that 54 students and 10 workers were in Wuhan, and none had been diagnosed with the virus. Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand In Manila, Philippine health authorities said they were monitoring people for possible coronavirus infections, as the government implemented tougher security at ports of entry. We now have 27 persons under investigation in the Philippines, Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo told reporters, adding they included Chinese, Brazilian, American and German nationals who had travelled to Wuhan recently. Of that total, several have been cleared and none have been found to be infected with the coronavirus. On Tuesday, immigration and coast guard authorities said two cruise ships from China carrying hundreds of tourists were allowed to dock in Manila, but were later turned back after pressure from local officials. The latest developments also forced immigration officials to take steps to slow the flow of Chinese immigrants, including indefinitely suspending flights between the Philippines and Wuhan. We are now temporarily suspending the issuance of visas upon arrival for Chinese nationals to slow the influx of group tours, Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement. On Tuesday, The Malaysian Ministry of Health confirmed three new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the nationwide total to seven. Among the most recent cases is the daughter-in-law of a 66-year-old Chinese man, who was the first to be diagnosed with the coronavirus in Singapore. The man, a resident of Wuhan, traveled to Singapore with his family on Jan. 20 and tested positive for the virus. Meanwhile, Thai officials on Tuesday confirmed new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 14. We found another six cases, all of whom are Chinese patients. Interestingly, these six are from Hubei, five are from the same family, and are between the ages of 60 and 6, said Dr. Sukhum Kanchanapimai, permanent secretary for the Public Health Ministry. Thai officials said the outbreak and subsequent travel restrictions could mean a loss of 50 billion baht (U.S. $1.6 billion) in tourism dollars from Chinese visitors. They estimate about 2 million fewer Chinese likely will visit the country this year. Luis Navales and Jojo Rinoza in Manila and Wilawan Watcharasakwet and Nontarat Phaicharoen in Bangkok contributed to this report. "From the inception of Avea Solutions, we have worked to take the operational burden away from addiction treatment facilities so they can focus on patient care. This partnership with Inbox Health brings us one step closer to doing that for our customers and the industry. Avea Solutions, a revenue management platform built specifically for behavioral health facilities, announced its partnership with Inbox Health, a leading patient billing software platform. This partnership will aid Behavioral Health, Addiction Treatment and Eating Disorder billing departments, patients and practitioners alike by removing the stress and inefficiencies of patient billing and payments. For facilities seeking a better way to collect patient balances or who have private pay patients, the AveaOffice and Inbox Health integration offers a simplified solution that demystifies patient balances and what is owed. The integration creates continuity in the collection process by eliminating duplicate manual entry of data and inaccuracies that commonly cause facilities to abandon collection efforts, leading to unnecessary write-offs of patient balances. The solution allows behavioral health and addiction treatment businesses to increase collections and get paid faster, improve the patient experience and streamline billing and payment processes through one consolidated system. From the inception of Avea Solutions, we have worked to take the operational burden away from addiction treatment facilities so they can focus on patient care, said Avea CEO, Ben Dittman. This partnership with Inbox Health brings us one step closer to doing that for our customers and the industry. With this powerful platform, Avea customers can offer a completely customized billing experience to their patients, meeting them where they are at, using modern ways to communicate and make payments. Patients will have immediate, real-time access to account status and balances and be able to engage and act on their medical bills through their preferred channel without having to go through a cumbersome portal login process. Blake Walker, CEO of Inbox Health said, "Healthcare is about caring for people. Industry-standard billing systems are designed to not care about our unique circumstances and just send a bill. We need to be building billing systems that are thoughtful about giving patients the treatment they deserve, from a billing standpoint as well as a care standpoint. Our partnership with Avea Solutions will allow behavioral health practices to improve the way they interact with patients and we are excited to be a part of that. About Avea Solutions AveaOffice is a cloud-based comprehensive revenue management platform designed specifically for the needs of the behavioral health community. By optimizing claim submissions, A/R reporting and reimbursement tracking through a transparent, analytic-driven automation engine, Avea Solutions is changing the way behavioral health facilities manage their revenue. Avea Solutions enables facilities to get paid faster and better, frees up employees with its claims-automation engine and frees up resources allowing facilities to truly grow their business. About Inbox Health Inbox Health is transforming the Medical Billing world one patient at a time with personalized and intelligent interactions that deliver a clear and convenient billing experience for every patient. Founded in 2014, Inbox Health is quickly becoming the industry standard for medical billers and practices that want to increase collections and shorten revenue cycles while reducing administrative costs. Inbox Health is a venture backed software company supporting billers across the United States. The Inbox Health platform automates the patient communication process using bi-directional correspondence, proprietary algorithms, machine learning and artificial intelligence so every patient understands their medical bills and has access to different payment mechanisms, and medical billers and providers achieve optimal patient receivables. Learn more at Inboxhealth.com For more information, visit AveaSolutions.com. Police in Bihars Jehanabad on Tuesday detained the brother of Sharjeel Imam, a student of Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) booked for sedition after his alleged inflammatory and instigating speech. Delhi Police have booked Imam, one of the organisers of the anti-citizenship act protests in the citys Shaheen Bagh, for his alleged remarks threatening to cut-off Assam from the rest of India. Cases have also been registered against him in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. If convicted under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) he could be imprisoned for life. Before this, he had been booked on similar charges by Aligarh Police in Uttar Pradesh for a speech he delivered on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus. Police picked up his brother Muzzamil Imam, a political worker associated with the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in Jehanabad, for questioning, officials said. Muzzamils detention came a day after a police team from Delhi and Bihar had raided several places from Jehanabad to Patna in search of anti-citizenship act activist Sharjeel Imam on Monday. The police after searching different locations at Jehanabad and his native village at Kako, raided some places in Patna including Sabzibagh area, after getting information that he was hiding in the state capital. Officials had said that Sharjeel Imams last mobile location was found to be in Patna on Saturday and later some people spotted him in Jehanabad as well. Jehanabads superintendent of police Manish Kumar said police raided on Imams ancestral house under the Kako police station area on Sunday night after help was sought by central agencies. Imam, the son of former Janata Dal(United) leader late Akbar Imam, could not be found but two of his relatives and their driver were detained for interrogation and let off thereafter, the SP said and added that his family has been advised to ask him to surrender. His mother, Agsan Rahim, had alleged on Saturday that the media had distorted his statements and the police were unnecessarily harassing the family. My son is innocent. I do not know about his whereabouts but can swear by God that he is innocent. He is a bright young man. But I can guarantee that upon learning about the cases, he will appear before the investigating agencies and fully cooperate in the probe, she said. She said it has been a long time since she met her son though she had a telephonic conversation with him a few weeks ago. He was obviously disturbed by the CAA and fears over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) being implemented across the country which, he said, would affect not just Muslims but all poor people, she said. His uncle Arshad Imam said the entire village and community respect the judiciary and Constitution. He, however, rued that fact that the statements have been distorted to suit the political needs. A 40-second video of the 40-minute speech is being presented. It is being exaggerated. Every Indian has the right to protest, said Imam, who was also interrogated by the police. Sharjeel Imam is a graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai After remaining in the teaching profession for some time, he joined a software company. He resigned from the service and joined JNU in 2017 do PhD in modern history, a villager, who did not want to be named, said. Sharjeel is the eldest of two brothers and his father contested the October 2005 assembly polls on JD(U) ticket. He passed away five years ago, the villager said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An angry father has slammed a primary school for serving his two young sons plain jacket potatoes for lunch because they have allergies to gluten and egg. Jorj Braese said his four-year-old Alvin and five-year-old Victor have been repeatedly served the nutrient-deficient dish at St Peter's Primary School in Aylesford, Kent, despite his complaints to the headmaster. They started constantly receiving spuds when a new catering company took over the school lunch hall - and even got the meal as other children received meals like fish and chips. Father Jorj Braese, 56, said his four-year-old son Alvin (left) and five-year-old son Victor (right) have been receiving potatoes for lunch at St Peter's Primary School in Aylesford, Kent Their father (pictured outside the school with his boys) has complained regularly to the school The 56-year-old father said they had no problems when Alvin started at the school in 2018. But once Victor, who has an egg white allergy, joined they have had problems. 'We filled in these allergy forms before school started, but then when term began they just got given baked potatoes,' Mr Braese said. 'It was fine in the first week but then we started to get nervous, especially our boys. 'They seem to be incompetent to give the children what they should be entitled to by law.' Mr Braese first complained four weeks into the winter term and, three to four weeks later, Victor and Alvin were given alternative menu options by the school's dinner company. After the Christmas break, however, the boy's food reverted to jacket potatoes. 'As of yesterday, theyve just been served baked potatoes since then,' said Mr Braese. The school managed to change the menu for the boys eight weeks into the winter term. However, since the start of January it has reverted to offering potatoes only to the boys The boy's had been given an alternative menu, following a complaint to the head teacher, but still received potatoes when they sat down for lunch yesterday. Catering at the school - which has been rated good by Ofsted - is provided by The Contract Dining Company. 'We dont understand why it is happening again,' he said. 'Its frustrating, and it hurts so much to see our boys suffering.' 'They are really sad. They dont want to go to school, and the other boys are always laughing at them. Its such a shame, because they always loved going to school. 'We have spoken to the school and they have promised to do something about it, but still they keep getting the same baked potatoes every meal. 'Im from Germany, and Ive lived in the UK for ten years. Im the director of a food wholesaler, and my wife is a medical researcher. 'She does a lot of research about food, so we try to give them the right food at home - lots of fruit and veg - but their school keeps letting us down..' The school is pictured above. Problems began when The Contract Catering Company took over the school's lunch hall Other kids at the school are served a range of meals - including fish-and-chips Jorj said he isnt aware if there are other children at the school enduring the same difficulties, but hopes his intervention will encourage other parents to speak out. Both the school and the catering company have been asked for comment. Recovery and cleanup at Jackson County Park continues Tuesday as officials work to determine the cause behind a horrific fire that killed eight people and destroyed at least 35 boats at a Scottsboro marina. Scottsboro Fire Chief Gene Necklaus said it could take several days to confirm the identities of the victims of the blaze, which broke out around 12:40 a.m. Monday morning at the marinas B-Dock. Heres the latest on the blaze: Eight people killed, including minors Eight people were killed in the fire. Officials said Monday there arent any people listed as unaccounted for. No additional victims are expected to be found. Identifying all the victims could take several days, Necklaus said. Jackson County Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen told the Jackson County Sentinel some of the victims are minors. Coroner John Jordan told AL.com on Tuesday afternoon the children were aged 7, 9, 10 and 16. Jordan said it was not immediately clear if the children were siblings and that family notifications are continuing. Update on deadly Scottsboro boat fires that killed 8 people before dawn on Monday. Jackson County EMA Director Paul Smith and Scottsboro Fire Chief Gene Necklaus expected at briefing. Posted by al.com on Tuesday, January 28, 2020 Its always tough when people lose their life. Its even worse when its young people, which we had in this case, Harnen said. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families that lost loved ones today. On Tuesday, Jackson County coroner John Jordan said four of the eight victims were children ranging in age from 7 to 16. At least seven injured Seven people were rescued from the water following the blaze and taken to a local hospital for treatment. Their injuries, which included symptoms of hypothermia from being in the cold water, werent considered serious. Substantial access problems Necklaus said the fire was on the shore side of the dock, creating substantial access problems for firefighters trying to get to the boats and for those trying to escape the blaze. A number of boats destroyed At least 35 boats were destroyed by the fire. The boats ranged from 20 to 40 feet long and included houseboats and pontoons. Some of the boats were used as primary residences, officials said. Multiple boats sank while others floated away and went down in Guntersville Lake. Crews are working to pull the boats from the water. Contaminants in the water Containment measures were put in place to prevent the spread of fuel and plastics in the water. The Emergency Management Agency will oversee the cleanup once all vessels are checked. What caused the fire? As of Monday afternoon, the cause of the fire remains unknown. The Alabama Fire Marshal, Scottsboro fire investigators and police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will coordinate on the investigation. Why is the ATF involved? Michael P. Knight, spokesman for the National Center for Explosives Training and Research, explained the ATFs role: ATF Certified Fire Investigators (CFI) from the National Center for Explosives Training and Research (NCETR) located in Huntsville, AL responded to the fire related incident. The CFIs will work with our state and local counterparts to determine the origin and cause of the fire scene. The determination will be based on the combination of the items recovered as part of the scene processing along with interviews and witness accounts. The CFIs regular train and conduct research on fire related issues with our state and local fire counterparts at the NCETR facility in Huntsville, AL. The presence of ATF does not necessary indicate there was a crime committed. Avoid the area Officials are asking people to avoid the area of Jackson County Park for the foreseeable future. It's the eye in the sky helping Queensland police find missing people, search for evidence in murder cases and identify buildings that could be used as a sniper's nest when dignitaries visit. The secret weapon is Nearmap, an aerial imagery company that flies aircraft over urbanised areas and takes thousands of photos, which are collated into a high-resolution view. The Queensland Police Service has used Nearmap in a range of investigations. Credit:FILE IMAGE/AAP Police search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Lindsay Kuhrt said the software was used extensively last year in the search for a person missing for three weeks. "[Nearmaps imagery] greatly assisted us in determining areas which were considered the highest probability in which to search, and to brief the on-the-ground search team on the exact conditions they were going to experience," he said. Prashant Kishor in viral video: With or without Modi, BJP will be centre of Indian polity for decades Free to go: Nitish Kumars clear message to Prashant Kishor India oi-Deepika S Patna, Jan 28: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sent a clear message to Prashant Kishor, saying that the JD(U) leader is free to go wherever he wants. Responding to the question, the Bihar Chief Minister said: "Someone (Pavan Verma) wrote a letter I replied to it, someone is tweeting, let him tweet. What do I have to do with it? One can stay in the party (JD-U) till he wants, he can go if he wants. Do you know how did he join the party? Amit Shah asked me to induct him," Nitish Kumar said. ""Already he works as a strategist for various parties, but I'm making one thing clear, if he wants to remain in the party he will have to adopt the basic structure of the party," warned the Janata Dal United (JDU) chief. Stick to old format of NPR, do not add new questions: Nitish Kumar tells Centre The development comes just days after Nitish Kumar told his colleague and former party MP Pavan Kumar Verma to join any party of his choice. Responding to Nitish Kumar's statement, Prashant Kishor said: "Nitish Ji has spoken, you should wait for my answer. I will come to Bihar to answer him." Kishor has relentlessly attacked ally BJP on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act - which the JDU supported in parliament -- and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 18:41 [IST] Palestinian politicians and activists slam the proposal, with many promising to fight against the plan. Jerusalem United States President Donald Trumps Middle East plan, also known as the Deal of the Century, has been denounced by the Palestinians as a new Balfour Declaration. Trump revealed his plan on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing by his side at the White House. Introducing the proposal as a win-win solution for both Israelis and Palestinians, he said the deal would ensure the establishment of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Trump led his statement by introducing the Israeli side of the plan, announcing that Jerusalem would remain the undivided capital of Israel, adding that this has already been done. He also said he hoped to implement the plan immediately. Netanyahu, speaking after Trump, thanked the US president for a historic day and said the plan would see Israeli law implemented in the occupied West Banks Jordan Valley as a means to ensuring the security of Israel. Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military sent troops there as reinforcement in anticipation of possible clashes following the announcement. Already in the works Palestinian politicians and activists slammed the proposal, with many pledging to fight against the plan. He [Trump] is giving away what he does not own, to people who have no right to it, Fakhry Abu Diab, a Palestinian activist in Silwan neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera. It is obvious that Trump is repeating history by establishing new Balfour Declaration. Following Britains pledge to establish a national home for the Jewish people, the Balfour Declaration was issued on November 2, 1917. It turned the Zionist aim of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine into a reality. The British pledge has been viewed as one of the main catalysts of the Nakba translating as The Catastrophe, al-Nakba refers to the mass exodus of at least 750,000 Arabs from Palestine and regarded as one of the most controversial and contested documents in the modern history of the Arab world. Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus protest against US President Donald Trumps propossed plan [Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP] This deal only secures Israeli interests while violating international law and some of the main pillars of a Palestinian state Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley, Abu Diab said. After decades of sacrificing our lives for this cause, we want our freedom and a Palestinian state along the 1967 border, not some economic gains. We completely reject this plan and will continue to fight it, he added. In June 2019, the economic aspect of the deal was revealed at a summit in Bahrain. It promised Palestinians $50bn in investment. Former Palestinian Authority minister Ziyad Abu Zayyad said the plan was completely unacceptable to the Palestinians. We will never give up Jerusalem as our capital, nor the Jordan Valley and areas in the West Bank as part of our state, he told Al Jazeera. Trump and Netanyahu have no right to give away Palestinian rights, he said, adding that he expects a strong reaction on the streets across Palestine. According to Sami Abu Shahada, a Palestinian member of the Knesset, the plan has long been in the works. The deal has been under implementation long before its announcement, said Abu Shahada, referring the US move of its embassy to Jerusalem and its annexation of the Golan Heights. The goal of this deal is to try to end the Palestinian question. All Palestinians, whether inside Israel, the West Bank or Gaza, reject it, he added. We will all fight against this. The Arab Joint List, an alliance of Palestinian parties in Israel, issued a strong statement condemning the plan. The Deal of the Century reinforces Israeli occupation and violates Palestinians rights, read the statement.It has nothing to do with peace and is far from establishing a path towards negotiations. Houndreds continued to demonstrate in the Gaza Strip [Walid Mahmoud/Al Jazeera] Rising tensions Shortly after the announcement, mosques across the occupied West Bank launched the call to prayer in a move to announce their rejection of the deal and their readiness to fight against it. Dozens of Palestinians took to the streets in Ramallah to denounce the plan, while hundreds of others continued to demonstrate in the Gaza Strip. Palestine is not for sale, crowds in Gaza chanted earlier in the day, raising banners and burning photos of Trump. The unveiling of the Israeli-US plan for the region comes at a crucial moment for Trump and Netanyahu, both of whom are facing upcoming elections and domestic tensions. Netanyahu realises that this is the final stage of his rule as prime minister and so he wants to leave a legacy behind by ensuring the success of this deal, Israeli analyst Mayer Cohen told Al Jazeera. 200128132133636 Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu was formally indicted in court on corruption charges after he withdrew his request for parliamentary immunity from prosecution. When it became clear that he was going to be humiliated in the Knesset, he decided to drop his request, said Yair Wallach, senior lecturer In Israeli studies at the University of London. The deal is, therefore, very useful for Netanyahu because it may distract from the corruption charges, added Wallach. For Cohen, the deal is equally important of Trump who faces an impeachment. The timing of this announcement is a way to push back against his (Trumps) opponents by telling them that while they try to isolate him, he is still trying to look at the bigger picture and leave a legacy behind, explained Cohen. Shortly after the announcement, Hamas, which has led the Gaza Strip since 2007, released a statement saying it will take measures to resist the plans implementation. As the announcement began, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas started an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah an unprecedented move which also included West Bank-based officials from Hamas, which pledged to resist the deal in all its forms. Speaking from Ramallah following the meeting, Abbas said Washingtons proposal will not pass as it aims to end the Palestinian cause. Palestine is not for sale. The Deal of the Century belongs to the dustbin of history, said Abbas, who added that he is only open to negotiations if they are in line with international legitimacy. This deal is the final phase of the Balfour Declaration, he added. Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of the Fatahs Central Committee, said the Palestinian Authority has proposed an emergency Arab League summit to be held in Cairo on Saturday. The Arab League must refute this plan and all Arab states must unite against it, said Ahmad. We call on the Gulf states specifically to reject this plan, especially that some of them have recently moved to normalise relations with Israel, he told Al Jazeera. Both Trump and Netanyahu thanked Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates for sending their ambassadors to attend the meeting at the White House. The Battleship Texas, the last surviving dreadnought that fought in two world wars, is officially looking for a new home. The nonprofit Battleship Texas Foundation on Tuesday announced that it had put out a request for proposals (RFP) for a new berth. The USS Texas current berth at the San Jacinto State Historic Site does not draw enough visitors to financially support its annual maintenance costs, which have skyrocketed in recent years due to the ships decaying condition. The foundation, which runs the battleship museum, hopes a new home port will ensure sufficient paid visitor revenue can be generated to support the operation and maintenance needs of the ship well into the future. The battleship, which has been closed to the public since August, typically attracts about 88,000 visitors annually and generates $1.3 million in revenue at its current location. The whole strategy has been at some point the battleship has to operate with a (high) level of visitation, said Bruce Bramlett, the foundations executive director. Thats not the only way money comes in but its probably the biggest bucket. If were gonna maintain her going forward, you dont do it at 80-90,000 paid visitors. The purpose of the RFP is to solicit proposals from various candidate organizations, after which the foundation will conduct an evaluation and select the location. Parties wishing to submit an RFP must contact the Battleship Texas Foundation through info@battleship.org. Bramlett declined to identify specific locations vying to be the battleships new landlord, saying only that it will remain berthed on the upper Texas coast. Galveston is among the cities expected to make a bid to host the vessel. The foundation commissioned an economic study by Deloitte in 2016 that projected as many as 283,000 visitors and $3 million in annual revenue if the battleship moved to Galveston. Strategically you want to look where people already have great traffic and visitation numbers, you would certainly put Galveston up on any list in my mind, Bramlett said. Wherever the ship ends up relocating, customers may have to wait as long as two years before they can visit its museum again. While the USS Texas was considered one of the more formidable vessels of its time, serving admirably during both world wars including famously shelling the Normandy coast during D-Day age has not been kind to the ship. Years of saltwater corrosion have laid waste to the ships steel hull. A system of pumps constantly pushing water out of the hull is the only thing keeping the ship upright at its current berth at San Jacinto. The ships future has divided state and local officials. Opponents of moving the ship from a heavily industrial area 25 miles east of downtown Houston argue that it provides significant economic value for La Porte and Harris County. Those in favor of a new location emphasize the ship must eventually generate enough revenue to be self-sustaining and not buoyed by taxpayer dollars. Texas Parks and Wildlife has spent at least $54 million maintaining and repairing the ship since 2009, an agency spokeswoman said. The work included two phases of critical repairs to engine rooms as well as the installation of an emergency generator, additional pumps, and fuel storage to help address leaks. The Houston Chronicle previously reported that the foundation was considering a costly and potentially dangerous operation: towing the 104-year old vessel from its berth down the Houston Ship Channel and into the Gulf of Mexico before eventually berthing at a dry dock, possibly in Louisiana, Mobile, Ala., or Tampa, Fla. Bramlett confirmed that the battleship foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife are preparing the ship for transportation to a shipyard where its hull will be replaced from the waterline down and repainted, along with other necessary repairs and improvements. The ship is tentatively scheduled to depart its current berth between April and August and be in the shipyard for approximately one year. The ship is currently being stripped of all its artifacts and weapons systems in preparation for its eventual towing, Bramlett said. He expects the foundation board will decide on a shipyard, in consultation with the Texas Historical Commission, in the next two months. Once the battleship leaves the shipyard, the foundation anticipates the ship arriving in the new berth around August 2021 . The plan is to have it receiving visitors by early 2022. But the cost of the repairs has not yet been determined, and the battleships line of credit from the state is limited. Senate Bill 1511, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott last year, appropriated $35 million to tow and repair the battleship at a dry dock. It also ends the parks and wildlife departments stewardship, transferring day-to-day operations to the Battleship Texas Foundation, effectively getting the state out of the museum business. Bramlett said that money from the state should be enough to cover the replacement of the hull. The foundation would look to private donors to raise funds for any additional repairs. We dont have the states deep pockets, this thing has to work like a business, which means we have to cover the cost, he said. nick.powell@chron.com Is any outfit truly shocking on the red carpet any more? We've seen huge princess dresses and tiny minidresses, Bjork's swan halter-neck and Lady Gaga's meat gown. "Naked" dresses (those comprising little actual material, and slashed to show off the figure) have been normalised on famous women of all ages. The original palm dress at the 2000 Grammys. Credit:AP But 20 years ago, the story was quite different. Jennifer Lopez wore Versace's slashed-to-the-navel jungle print dress to the Grammys in 2000, outdoing all of the other celebrities in attendance and causing a shock-and-awe reaction in the media. The dress went on display at the V&A, as well as at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. Eric Schmidt, the president of Google, would later say that the dress had prompted the creation of Google Images. "It was the most popular search query we had ever seen," he said. Before then, Google had only offered text results when people used the search engine. How's that for a fashion moment? Firstly, Mark Mennemeyer, who has had a host of management roles since 2014 and is currently steering the firms New York life insurance consulting and technology business, will become a North America practice division leader. He is already heading up the economic capital division of the life practice. Meanwhile, also taking on leadership duties is Kim Steiner, who has seen her role span the companys Hartford and Atlanta offices over a period of 12 years. She currently heads up the Atlanta Life Insurance consulting and technology business while running the practices analytics and experience analysis initiatives. Mark and Kim are well-positioned to assume significant leadership responsibilities in our Life practice, and were thrilled to appoint them to their new roles, said Dominique Lebel, North America Life practice lead, Willis Towers Watson. Marks expertise in enterprise risk management, embedded value and financial modeling has served our life insurer clients across a range of risk and capital management issues. Kim is one of our companys experts across several areas pertinent to our life insurer clients, including predictive analytics, mortality and life assumption setting, and principles-based reserving. Both are set to continue in their roles as office line business leaders until replacements are named. A CNN segment that had host Don Lemon in stitches Monday night divided some viewers and even drew the ire of President Donald Trump and his family via Twitter. The segment focused on the recent story involving Secretary of State Mike Pompeos interview with NPR reporter and All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly, who said Pompeo berated her and asked her to point out Ukraine on a map afterwards. The State Department has since removed NPR correspondent Michele Kelemen from Pompeos plane on his upcoming trip abroad. To discuss, Lemon invited CNN contributor Wajahat Ali and GOP strategist Rick Wilson, author of Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump -- and the Democrats from Themselves. Ali and Wilson were both critical of Pompeos response to the interview, which Wilson described as media hatred" and Lemon later referred to as disdain for the press. Then Wilson explained Pompeo was attempting to appeal to Trumps voter base, even using a fake Southern accent to emphasize. [Pompeo] knows deep in his heart that Donald Trump couldnt find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter 'U' and a picture of an actual physical crane next to it, Wilson said, as Lemon and Ali laughed. He knows that this is an administration defined by ignorance of the world. Thats partly him playing to their base and to their audience, the credulous boomer rube demo that backs Donald Trump that wants to think that Donald Trumps the smart one and yall elitists are dumb! Ali would join in, while Lemon laughed through it: 'You elitists with your geography and your maps and your spelling...your readin, your geography, knowin other countries! Only them elitists know where Ukraine is!' Wiping tears from his eyes, Lemon said to Wilson, Rick, that was a good one. I needed that. Trump later tweeted about the segment: Don Lemon, the dumbest man on television (with terrible ratings!). Watch the full video above, and see the tweet responses below. Don Lemon, the dumbest man on television (with terrible ratings!). https://t.co/iQXCc7lvCt Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020 You consistently make fun of half the country and then complain that it is divided. The arrogance, mocking accents and smug ridicule of this nations Real Elites is disgusting. https://t.co/p3RQzymx4s Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) January 28, 2020 More Proof that CNN is utter trash, and hates half the country. Rick Wilson: those dumb southern guys liking trump hur durr durr Don Lemon: laughing out of controlpic.twitter.com/y3U7Zaw8Sh Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) January 28, 2020 The arrogance, the dismissiveness, the smug cackling, the accents. If Donald Trump wins re-election this year, Ill remember this brief CNN segment late one Saturday night in January as the perfect encapsulation for why it happened. pic.twitter.com/8kQ6zN9AZV Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) January 28, 2020 Because of Rick Wilson and Don Lemons mockery of Trump supporters... @realDonaldTrumps base just grew 10 times stronger Keep it up and let history repeat itself - make fun of us all you want but you wont be laughing when we come to the polls in masses this November Students For Trump (@TrumpStudents) January 28, 2020 Arrogant, elitist snobs w/ noses so high in the air a good rain would drown them. Keep up your contempt of us deplorable "hillbillies." Laugh at us loud now. Election night when @realDonaldTrump wins in landslide reelection, I'm sure you won't look so smug. https://t.co/bstNxKF9Xq Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) January 28, 2020 She's recently returned from a laughter filled holiday to Thailand with her Love Island pals. And Francesca Allen, 24, complemented her deep tan by wearing a peachy power suit as she stepped out for a sushi dinner at Amazonico London, in Mayfair, London on Monday. With a cheeky sheer floral shirt revealing a bright yellow bra and a pair of strappy purple heels the Love Island star brought the sun to an otherwise rainy night. Colourful: Francesca Allen, 24,wowed in a peachy power suit as she stepped out for a sushi dinner at Amazonico, in Mayfair, London on Monday She shared a snap of her colourful apparel to Instagram with the caption: 'Being that rainbow in someones cloud #morecolourmorelife #stylingwithfran.' It is not known who that 'someone' is that Francesca met to brighten up their day however she has recently said she is happily single. The star dined at the exclusive Latin themed sushi restaurant, a favourite of actor Jamie Foxx. The joker teased her 514K Instagram fan's last week after donning a blonde wig after being asked if she'd ever consider changing her dark locks. '#stylingwithfran': The star wore a flare of colour with a cheeky sheer floral shirt revealing a bright yellow bra the Love Island star brought the sun to an otherwise rainy night Brighten up their day: Fran shared a snap of her colourful apparel to Instagram with the caption: 'Being that rainbow in someones cloud #morecolourmorelife #stylingwithfran' The beauty, 24, shared several short clips of her chatting about trying out a new hair do on Wednesday night, but wrote on one of her posts: 'I'm a really ugly blonde'. During a question and answer session on her Instagram Stories Francesca was asked if she had ever thought about changing up her look and going blonde. She explained: 'I thought I could do blonde because I've got light eyes but it doesn't work ... omg I've got a blonde wig.' Clearly excited, Francesca quickly jumped up and the next Story showed her with a light blonde wig on her head. Bringing sunny vibes: Not put off by the drizzly London weather on Sunday the reality TV personality made a bold statement in a peach & Other Stories outfit Power stance: Francesca, who owns her own Essex boutique looked every inch the business woman as she stepped out in London for the evening In her finest American accent, the beauty said: 'When I've got this wig on I feel like a Kardashian, like I'm American ... I don't think it suits me to be honest, it's fun though.' During the videos Francesca appeared to be relaxing on a cream bed while wearing a chic mustard yellow blazer. The stunner had perfectly curled her brunette locks and wore a slick of makeup including a touch of nude lipstick to accentuate her pretty features. Peachy lip: Fashionable Fran wore a peachy tone lip along with her signature strong brow Since Love Island wrapped several months ago, Francesca has become recognised for her love of vintage fashion, with the star landing her very own collection. As well as owning her own Essex boutique and online store Bonnie & Clyde with her sister Claudia Allen, Francesca has launched multiple collections with In The Style alongside Anna, Amy Hart, Yewande Biala and Joanna Chimonides. However, Francesca claims that while going on the ITV2 dating show has boosted her profile on the fashion front, it's actually hindered her chances of getting a boyfriend, despite her initially signing up to the series to find love. Mixing it up: Francesca looked sensational as she donned a blonde wig during an Instagram question and answer session last week New look? The Love Island star said she made a 'really ugly blonde' (left) but joked that she did find it fun wearing a wig (right) and felt like a Kardashian She told MailOnline some men are too intimidated to approach her at parties but after years of being in relationships she's learned to be content on her own. Francesca said: 'You go out and you'll see guys and they look at you because maybe they recognise you but then they're shyer. I'm not going to meet anyone at an event! 'I'm still single but I was always in a relationship prior to going on Love Island. 'I feel like now after being on the show that I've got much more confidence and I feel it is OK for me to be myself. I'm quite content with being on my own.' Family and friends of Harold Jermaine Easter, who died Sunday after his arrest in Charlotte, demanded transparency on Tuesday and said they want an external law enforcement investigation into his death. Easters death is currently under investigation by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. Four officers and a sergeant are on administrative leave while an internal review proceeds. Easters loved ones on Tuesday said there are many unanswered questions about what led to his death. Police investigating death of Charlotte man who had medical emergency after arrest We will not allow this to be just swept under the rug, said Gemini Boyd, a friend of Easters. We want justice for this family and this community. Boyd is also a community activist in Charlotte who works with formerly incarcerated people and who has advocated for changes within the criminal justice system. Easter, 41, was arrested last Thursday morning and died on Sunday, according to police. He leaves behind a fiance, four children, siblings, cousins and a community of people who cared for him, Easters loved ones said Tuesday. His fiance Valecia Mobley said Easter had a heart of gold and loved his family. Harold Jermaine Easter, 41, died on Jan. 26, 2020 in Charlotte, N.C. Words cant really express the type of person he was, his sister Andrell Mackey said. I miss him. Easter fell unconscious while inside a police substation where he was being interviewed and processed for arrest, according to a statement from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Officials have said officers rendered medical aid to him before he was taken to the hospital by Medic. One of Easters cousins, Tyrone Sifford, said his family was told by hospital doctors that Easter died from a heart attack. Sifford said his family members were told Easter had one heart attack while inside the sub-station and another one while he was being transported to the hospital. CMPD officials have said he experienced a medical emergency after his arrest and lost consciousness while in police custody but declined the detail what kind of medical issue Easter experienced. Story continues Police have not said how long Easter was in their custody before he fell ill or whether he was alone or accompanied by officers at the time he lost consciousness. His arrest happened on the same block as Easters grandmothers house on Burton Street, where he spent a lot of time, according to Frances Berry, 71, a neighbor. Easter was arrested around noon but Sifford said his family didnt know that Easter was in the hospital until later that evening. It hurt us to our heart because we really didnt know what was going on, he said. Standing outside the police substation where Easter was held, Boyd called on the chief of police and city officials to be transparent over what led to Easters death and whether he received medical attention quickly enough. He was a brother, son, father, uncle, cousin and a best friend to a lot of people, Boyd said. Behind him, a woman began to cry. Community members, including some who didnt know Easter but are angry over his death, held posters calling for justice. Gemini Boyd leads a press conference protest for the death of Harold Easter, in front of the Metro Division of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on Tuesday, January 28, 2020. Easter died on Sunday after being arrested on Thursday. Officers involved were put on leave as part of the investigation. An investigation ongoing Easter was arrested on drug and traffic charges near Whisnant Street and Burton Street, just north of uptown, after a traffic stop. Before the arrest, officers had observed a suspected drug transaction, according to CMPD. Easter was pulled over during the traffic stop, police have said. Easter was driving the car and officers have said they found him in possession of cocaine and marijuana, according to CMPDs statement from Friday. CMPDs homicide detectives and internal affairs bureau are separately investigating the death to determine whether their actions were consistent with CMPD policies and procedures. Placing officers on administrative leave during internal investigations is standard procedure for CMPD. One of the officers placed on leave, Brentley Vinson, was the officer who shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott in September 2016. Scotts death set off two days of demonstrations across the city. Vinson was later cleared by then-Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray, who ruled that the use of deadly force was legally justified. The other officers placed on administrative leave were Michael Benfield, Michael Joseph, Shon Sheffield and Sergeant Nicolas Vincent. Activity in the Northern Ireland mergers and acquisitions market will increase this year with the technology sector set to be the busiest, according to a new survey. KPMG's annual M&A Outlook found that 93% of respondents expect M&A activity to remain at or above 2019 levels, up from just 76% last year. A major deal last year saw IT company Novosco sold to a German business CANCOM Group in a 70m deal. Other large deals included UK-based energy company InfraStrata saving Harland and Wolff in a 6m purchase, Jo Bamford buying Wrightbus for 6m, and Bombardier selling its Northern Ireland operations to Spirit AeroSystems as part of a deal worth around 850m. Around one-third (31%) of dealmakers surveyed named technology as the busiest sector for 2020, while agribusiness & food (22%) and energy & infrastructure (17%) were placed second and third respectively. Participants noted a "definite sense of change", with 17% viewing 2020 as a sellers' market compared to 38% last year. This is markedly different from the Republic where 38% of respondents said 2020 would be a sellers' market. Russell Smyth, deal advisory partner at KPMG, said 2020 had started with the "prospect of relative stablity" following a "turbulent" 2019. He named "a return of the devolved institutions, a stable conservative majority in Westminster and clarity that Brexit is at least going to happen" as reasons for the stablity. He added: "That said, US trade policy, exchange rate fluctuations and the uncertain implications of Brexit will ensure strategists, and corporate dealmakers, won't have an easy time. "The scale of available capital in the market has undoubtedly contributed to survey respondents' optimism for the year ahead, which is equally optimistic among both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland respondents. "Private equity involvement and the robust lending market, with ever-developing debt options, will be key enablers for deals in 2020." A large majority (85%) said any Brexit outcome which provides more certainty or one which sees the UK leaving the EU with a deal would prompt more activity in the M&A market in 2020. At least nine people were killed and eighteen sustained injuries after a passenger bus overturned on a highway near Isfahan, Iran today at 4:39 am. The bus was travelling from Tehran to Shiraz, Tasnim News Agency reported citing emergency services. An ambulance crew, as well as Red Crescent vehicles, have been dispatched to the scene to transport the injured to hospital. Seventeen people were admitted to local hospitals, while two were treated by paramedics. Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Malian Prime Minister Boubou Cisse arrived on Monday in Gao 1,200 km from Bamako, the first stage of a visit that will also take him to the Timbuktu region K-pop super band BTS' new song " " landed at 57th on Billboard's latest main singles chart. "'Black Swan' by BTS debuts at No. 57 on Billboard Hot 100. This becomes their eighth entry to the chart," Billboard said on its social media accounts Tuesday (Korean time), with its weekly chart results to be officially updated later in the day. The song released Jan. 17 is a track from the band's upcoming "Map of the Soul: 7." Last year, "Boy With Luv," the septet's title of the previous album "Map of the Soul: Persona," ranked eighth on the Billboard Hot 100, the highest position that the K-pop band has ever achieved. The album's other track, "Make It Right," placed 76th. BTS first entered the chart with "DNA," which reached the 67th spot in 2017, and later with "Mic Drop," which rose to 28th. The group also ranked 11th with "Idol" and 10th with "Fake Love." "Waste It On Me," a collaboration with American musician and DJ Steve Aoki, advanced to 89th in 2018. BTS will appear on U.S. broadcaster CBS' "The Late Late Show with James Corden" to showcase their new single "Black Swan" on Tuesday (U.S. time). The band's fourth full-length album and second "Map of the Soul" album is scheduled to be released on Feb. 21. (Yonhap) Health bosses will investigate a further 26 cases of baby deaths after it was found that the death of a week-old baby after an emergency delivery was 'wholly avoidable'. Health Minister Nadine Dorries said an investigation into the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, which consists of five hospitals and community clinics, would conclude next month. It comes after a coroner ruled that the death of Harry Richford, who passed away a week after he was born in November 2017 at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, could have been prevented. Last week Harry's father Tom Richford read a statement outside County Hall in Maidstone saying that the trust had failed to learn from Harry's death and previous similar cases and tried to avoid outside scrutiny. A further 26 cases will be investigated after it was found that the death of a Harry Richford (pictured with parents Sarah and Tom Richford), at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, was 'wholly avoidable' Last week Harry's father Tom Richford (pictured with Harry's mother Sarah) read a statement outside County Hall in Maidstone and said the trust had failed to learn from this and previous similar cases Speaking outside the court he said: 'Sarah had a text book pregnancy and Harry was born on his due date with no abnormalities.' 'But due to failures of both the delivery and resuscitation of Harry, he died seven days later. 'Since then, the trust has tried to avoid outside scrutiny, and failed to learn from this and previous similar cases. 'They refused to call the Coroner, despite being asked numerous times. They filled out the statutory child death notification form to say that Harry's death was expected. 'Accidents happen everyday, but failing to learn from them appears to have become part of the culture of this NHS trust.' East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust apologised over the baby's death and it was reported that at least seven preventable baby deaths may have occurred since 2016. Tom Richford said the hospital had refused to call the Coroner, despite being asked numerous times Mr Richford said in his statement that accidents happen everyday, but failing to learn from them appears to have become part of the culture of this NHS trust During health questions, Labour MP Rosie Duffield (Canterbury) said: 'Following the desperately upsetting news headlines last week about preventable baby deaths in east Kent, including Harry Richford aged just seven days old whose death was described by the coroner as wholly avoidable. 'Will the Secretary of State join me and Harry's family in calling for a full transparent public inquiry?' Responding, Ms Dorries said: 'I'd like to reassure the honourable lady that the CQC (Care Quality Commission) has conducted a further investigation of the whole trust last week and will take enforcement action if necessary. 'I've asked them to provide a summary report in 14 days, that was on Monday. 'Also, the Health Service inspection board has examined 26 individual maternity cases at the trust and have already reported on 15. 'They have also been asked on Monday to complete their work within 14 days and send a summary report to give us further information.' Trumps plan, negotiated without the Palestinians, aims to revive the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. After more than two years of discussions and various delays, US President Donald Trump has unveiled his long-awaited Middle East plan, which he has also referred to as the deal of the century. Trumps plan, negotiated with Israel but without the Palestinians, aims to revive the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The Palestinian leadership rejected the proposal even before its release as the plan is expected to be favourable to Israel, and Netanyahu has hailed it as a chance to make history and define Israels final borders. Here are the latest updates: Tuesday, January 28 Trump is giving away what he does not own Palestinian politicians and activists slammed the proposal, with many vying to fight against the plan. Fakhry Abu Diab, a Palestinian activist in Silwan neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera: It is obvious that Trump is trying to repeat history by a establishing new Balfour Declaration. [Trump] is giving away what he does not own, to people who have no right to it, said Abu Diab. Read full story here. Palestinians protest as tires burn ahead of the announcement by President Trump [Mohammed Salem/Reuters] Abbas to visit the Gaza Strip Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promised Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in phone call on Tuesday that he will visit the Gaza Strip and meet him. This deal is the final phase of the Balfour Declaration, he said referring to the Balfour declaration, a statement issued by the British government supporting the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. World leaders react to Trumps plan US President Donald Trumps long-awaited Middle East plan was denounced by some as aggressive and one-sided while others say the initiative could prove a positive step forward. My vision presents a win-win solution for both sides, Trump said, adding that Israeli leaders have said they will endorse the proposal. Read full story here. Palestinian PM Abbas: We reject this proposal Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas has rejected the proposal put forward by Trump, saying it will not pass. After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand nos to the Deal of The Century, he said. We will not kneel and we will not surrender, Abbas said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through peaceful, popular means. Kushner: The last chance for Palestinians Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser and craftsman of Trumps Middle East plan, said the US president termed the proposal a last chance for Palestinians to have a state and to find peace and prosperity. Kushner, Trumps son-in-law, said convincing Israel to agree to a Palestinian state and to put a four-year freeze on the growth of Israeli settlements were Trumps biggest achievements. A cap on Israeli settlements provides the most realistic opportunity for the creation of a Palestinian state, the best chance that they have ever had and may ever have. This is what a future State of Palestine can look like, with a capital in parts of East Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/39vw3pPrAL Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020 Trumps statement is nonsense Trumps statement is aggressive and it will spark a lot of anger, Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesperson for the Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip. Trumps statement about Jerusalem is nonsense and Jerusalem will always be a land for the Palestinians The Palestinians will confront this deal and Jerusalem will remain a Palestinian land, he added. This is a deal between the Zionist regime and America, tweeted Hesameddin Ashena, an adviser to Irans President Hassan Rouhani. Interaction with Palestinians is not on its agenda. This is not a peace plan but a plan of imposition and sanctions. . . . . Hesameddin Ashena (@hesamodin1) January 28, 2020 British Prime Minister Boris Johnsons spokesperson said the plan could be a positive step after a phone call on Tuesday between Johnson and President Trump. The leaders discussed the United States proposal for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, which could prove a positive step forwards. Trump unveils so-called Middle East peace plan The US president, speaking at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, unveiled his US-Israeli plan for the Middle East, saying it was a win-win opportunity for both sides. The peace plan for Israel and Palestine is a powerful path forward, Trump said. President Trumps Middle East plan foresees East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital and that the US would eventually open an embassy there. Jerusalem will be Israels undivided capital under the plan, Trump added. Trump says US vision will end the cycle of Palestinian dependency on charity and foreign aid, urges peaceful coexistence without mentioning Israeli occupation and the decades-long blockade. Netanyahu talks about Trumps plan Israeli PM Netanyahu said he hoped Palestinian and other Arab neighbours would embrace Trumps plan. He added that Palestinians need to recognise Israel as a Jewish state. Netanyahus comments came on the same day as he was formally indicted in an Israeli court on corruption charges. Netanyahu: Its a historic day Netanyahu called the announcement a historic day, comparing it to May 14, 1948 when then-US President Harry Truman recognised the state of Israel. Netanyahu thanked Trump for being the first president to recognise Israels sovereignty over Judea Samaria, Jordan Valley and other strategic areas and to recognise settlements as part of Israel. Netanyahu said that if the Palestinians took the path towards recognising Israel as a Jewish state, Israel was willing to negotiate right away because the proposal is balanced. Protests in Gaza Trumps plan has not been welcomed in the Gaza Strip where thousands of demonstrators took to the streets on Tuesday, burning photos of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and raised banners reading Palestine is not for sale. During the rally, Gazas Hamas rulers expressed rare support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah movement, welcoming his call for a broad meeting of Palestinian factions. Read full story here. Palestinians protest as smoke rises from burning tires before the announcement by US President Donald Trump of his Middle East peace plan [Mohammed Salem/Reuters] Netanyahu indicted The 12-page document will be rolled out at a sensitive time for both Israel and the US. Trump is in the middle of an impeachment trial, while Netanyahu had been formally indicted in court on corruption charges. Netanyahu was in Washington for meetings with US President Donald Trump in advance of the release of the proposal when Israels attorney general filed the charges in a Jerusalem court on Tuesday. Both leaders are also facing re-election. Israelis are due back in the polls on March 2 and Trump is gearing up for US presidential elections on November 3. Plan will finish off the Palestinian cause Palestinian Prime Minister has decried President Trumps plan as an effort to finish off the Palestinian cause. We reject it and we demand the international community not be a partner to it because it contradicts the basics of international law and inalienable Palestinian rights, Palestinian PM Mohammad Shtayyeh said. Palestinians fear the plan will dash their hopes for an independent state in the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem, and the besieged Gaza Strip. Palestinian leaders say they were not invited to Washington, DC, and no plan can work without them. Read full story here. Arab League to hold meeting The Arab League said it will convene a meeting on Saturday in response to Trumps US-Israeli plan. Hossam Zaki, the pan-Arab bodys deputy secretary, told reporters on Tuesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would attend to discuss the so-called Deal of the Century. The meeting comes on the back of a Palestinian request to hold the meeting. A television journalist has returned to the screen after surgery 'more painful than childbirth' to remove a cyst on her throat which was spotted by a viewer. Network Ten reporter Antoinette Lattouf received a letter from grandmother Wendy McCoy in November saying she had spotted a lump protruding from her neck. Lattouf, who was previously unaware of the lump, decided to get it checked and discovered she had a potentially deadly cyst on her throat. The married mother of two has since had a painful surgery to remove the cyst and is now having to carefully manage a life-long autoimmune disease as she recovers. On Tuesday, Lattouf returned to Studio 10 to speak about her diagnosis and recovery which left her unable to talk for days. Network Ten reporter Antoinette Lattouf (pictured on TV with the lump on her neck), a married mother of two, was shown a message from the viewer to her editor in November Lattouf received a letter from grandmother Wendy McCoy (pictured with flowers from Lattouf) in November saying she had spotted a lump protruding from her neck 'The recovery, I must say, was incredibly painful,' she said. 'For anyone who has given birth, I have to say it is 10 times more painful than childbirth. Nothing prepared me for how painful it would be, but I am glad it is out.' Also on Tuesday's show, Lattouf spoke over the phone to Mrs McCoy, who revealed what sparked her to intervene. 'I don't have any medical background but a girlfriend of mine had thyroid cancer, she said. 'I happened to be sitting down when you came on, and the first thing I saw was the lump on the side of your neck and I thought oh, my God, that's not normal. 'I thought I have to do something, and I had to have quite a severe talk with myself, because I was trying to talk myself out of it, because I didn't want to sound like I was interfering.' The journalist (pictured today) has returned to the screen after surgery 'more painful than childbirth' to remove a cyst on her throat which was spotted by a viewer Lattouf (pictured after surgery) is now waiting for her voice to come back after invasive surgery to remove the lump and a bone in her voice box Lattouf thanked Mrs McCoy for sending her editor a letter. 'It was so caring and considerate. I think the reason so many people reacted to our story, because it is a story about you and me, because you are just so kind to somebody you didn't know.' Mrs McCoy said her friends are calling her 'doctor Wendy'. 'I am pleased I did something about it,' she said. Last week Lattouf posted a message on Instagram thanking Mrs McCoy for speaking out and revealing that the pair are now friends. She wrote: 'In November, a remarkable woman alerted me to a serious health issue that I was not aware of. Lattouf sent this bunch of flowers with a thank you note to Mrs McCoy Hashimoto's disease Hashimoto's disease is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid gland. Your thyroid is a small gland at the base of your neck. Your thyroid gland makes hormones that control many activities in your body, including how fast your heart beats and how fast you burn calories. In people with Hashimoto's disease, the immune system makes antibodies that attack the thyroid gland. This damages your thyroid gland, so it does not make enough thyroid hormone. Source: Women's Health Advertisement 'She's a grandmother from regional Victoria with no medical training, but felt compelled to contact Network 10 after spotting a lump on my throat while I was on air. Wendy McCoy and I are now friends.' Recognising Mrs McCoy's good deed, she added: 'Wendy demonstrated just how much impact being kind to a stranger can have.' Lattouf revealed she will 'also have to manage a life-long autoimmune disease' as she battles Hashimoto's disease, a rare condition when the immune system attacks the thyroid gland in the neck. The journalist told Daily Mail Australia that her and Wendy have kept in touch throughout her ordeal. 'I sent her thank you flowers and checked in on her because the Victorian fires were close to where she lives in Bairnsdale. 'She wished me luck shortly before I went in the operating theatre,' Lattouf said. The journalist has also been made an Ambassador for the Australian Thyroid Foundation for her work in raising awareness about the dangers of cysts in the neck after her story made headlines around the world. In her letter to Network Ten in November, Mrs McCoy from Werribee, Victoria, said she was not a doctor but that Lattouf's lump reminded her a friend who had a cyst. 'Has Antoinette Lattouf had her thyroid checked? I am not being smart or trolling just concerned with what I saw on TV today? 'I felt concerned and thought I should say something,' Ms McCoy wrote. Antoinette Lattouf (pictured) noticed a large lump protruding from the left side of her neck after she watched herself on TV When she saw the message, Lattouf watched back her television section in which she discussed artist Kyle Montgomery's controversial sculptures of the Virgin Mary. Sure enough, she noticed a large lump protruding from the left side of her neck. Writing for 10daily, she explained: 'I was left shocked. It looked like I had an Adam's Apple. Something was definitely protruding from my neck.' Lattouf said she had a family history of thyroid cancer so went to see her GP. What is a thyroglossal duct cyst? A thyroglossal duct cyst happens when your thyroid, a large gland in your neck that produces hormones, leaves behind extra cells while it's forming during your development in the womb. These extra cells can become cysts. This kind of cyst is congenital, meaning that they're present in your neck from the time you're born. In some cases, the cysts are so small that they don't cause any symptoms. Large cysts, on the other hand, can prevent you from breathing or swallowing properly and may need to be removed. Source: Healthline Advertisement After three blood tests, an ultrasound and a CT scan, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease a large cyst that needed surgery. Lattouf explained that her cyst, just above her voice box, was not cancerous but even benign growths can cause serious harm if left untreated. More common in women, they can affect muscle strength, bone health, heart rate and can be deadly in extreme cases. She said it probably has been growing since she was a child and could affect her ability to speak, swallow and breath if she did not have it removed. In a moving Instagram post, Lattouf thanked Ms McCoy for speaking up. 'She wrote: Thank you for caring lovely Wendy!' Lattouf said she also contacted Ms McCoy directly, who told her that she almost said nothing because she didn't want to 'seem to be interfering or meddling'. 'But then I thought bugger it, because it stood out like a dog's hind leg,' Ms McCoy said. Lattouf signed off her article with a plea for people to get checked if they notice a lump on their neck. The Associated Press Britain faces a crucial choice on Tuesday over whether to allow China's Huawei Technologies to build its next-generation wireless networks. The decision has implications for the country's diplomatic relations with the United States, which is pushing allies to shun the Chinese company over cyber-security concerns. And Britain's choice will feed into a wider battle between the US and China over technological supremacy that has seen the world's two biggest economies engage in a damaging trade war. What's happening? Britain's National Security Council is poised to decide whether to allow Huawei to build parts of its new high-speed cellular network known as 5G, an infrastructure program the country sees as critical to its economic future. But Huawei has come under scrutiny because of worries that communist leaders in Beijing could, under China's 2017 national intelligence law, compel the company to carry out cyber espionage. The United States has been pressing allies to shun Huawei and has threatened to cut off intelligence cooperation with Britain if it gives Huawei access. Supporters say Britain needs Huawei's expertise and that security issues can be managed. The company denies it would give data access to the Chinese government. Why is this so important? Days away from leaving the European Union and desperately needing to secure its future outside of the trading bloc, Britain is now caught in the middle of a geopolitical battle between the US and China both important trading partners. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government finds itself in the awkward position of risking the fury of its closest ally at just the moment it really needs President Donald Trump's administration to quickly strike a trade deal. Britain is also loathe to insult Beijing. The UK made a point of courting Chinese investment with the State Visit of Xi Jinping in 2015, a gilded affair meant to underline the dawn of a new era. Johnson hinted Monday that he wants to thread a middle route. The way forward for us clearly is to have a system that delivers for people in this country the kind of consumer benefits that they want through 5G technology or whatever, but does not in any way compromise our critical national infrastructure, our security or jeopardise our ability to work together with other intelligence powers around the world, he said. We are going to come up with a solution that enables us to achieve both those objectives and that's the way forward." What is 5G? Don't be fooled by the name. The fifth generation of cellular networks is not merely an upgrade from existing 4G wireless network technology. It's billed as a radical transformation delivering ultrafast download speeds combined with a vastly reduced signal lag the slight delay that occurs between, say, tapping out a command on your phone and getting a response. The other difference is that it will be built into thousands of new devices, like thermostats and sensors in medical devices. The aim is for 5G to be instrumental for self-driving cars or for telemedicine, allowing doctors to control robots in remote surgery on patients thousands of miles away. Underpinning all this new connectivity will be a lot more software that can lead to more vulnerabilities. Why is 5G important? It's not just about letting smartphone users download a high-definition movie in seconds instead of minutes. This next generation of mobile infrastructure promises to usher in a new wave of innovation that can drive economic growth. Supporters say Huawei, the world's biggest maker of networking equipment such as switches and antennas, can help countries meet that goal because it makes cheap, good-quality gear that appeals to wireless carriers. Banning Huawei puts Britain at risk of falling behind economically, they say. Complicating matters, some British wireless carriers have already started installing Huawei 5G gear and don't want to spend more money ripping it out. What are the cyber-security risks? Cell networks have traditionally consisted of two parts. There's the radio access network made up of antennas and base stations on rooftops and masts. There's also the core, the brain keeping track of smartphones connecting to the network so account holders can be billed along with managing data traffic flowing across the entire network. With 5G, US officials worry that the core will run extensively on software. Millions of lines of computer code would present a huge attack surface and it could be nearly impossible to spot an accidental vulnerability or a malicious backdoor that can be used for siphoning information or crippling vital connected infrastructure like a power grid. These fears aren't entirely unfounded. Huawei equipment has for years been inspected at a lab overseen by British officials, who said in their latest annual report that the company's software was buggy. Aren't there other options? Not many. Huawei mainly competes with two Scandinavian rivals, Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson, for wireless infrastructure contracts. South Korea's Samsung and Cisco in the US are smaller competitors. A big reason the Huawei decision has become so fraught is that the global telecom equipment industry has been whittled down to just a handful of players. UK security officials have been hesitant to ban Huawei completely because they want to maintain a diverse range of suppliers to guard against risks. One less company means the security risks are concentrated in the remaining players. Is it just Britain? A similar debate has been playing out in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, whose decision could influence smaller neighbours. And the European Union's executive Commission is set to release on Wednesday non-binding guidelines for 5G. Europe is Huawei's biggest market outside China and it has effectively been barred in the US. As fears of a deadly virus sweep the globe, panicked members of the public are depending on a flimsy first line of defence -- surgical masks that are coveted, but in short supply and of limited use. While Asian commuters cover their noses and mouths with the blue-green paper-thin covers -- and social media buzzes with mask emojis, rumours of stockpiles and shortages -- the humble medical mask has become an essential weapon in the battle against an invisible enemy. Cheap, mass-made and usually readily available at convenience stores, experts dispute the usefulness of masks as a tool to block transmission of the new SARS-like virus. While the basic, loose-fitting mask can help restrict the spread of cough droplets from infected people, they are a "one-way" defence and do not create an effective barrier to breathing in dangerous airborne microbes. "It is not one of the recommended barrier measures" for people who have not been contaminated, according to France's health minister Agnes Buzyn. Satoshi Hiroi, a senior researcher at the Osaka Institute of Public Heath, told AFP, that high-quality masks could be effective, referring to more expensive, tight-fitting respirators used to filter fine particulates of dust and pollution. "But as always, there is no 100-percent guarantee," he said, adding, the science was still out on exactly how the virus -- which has so far killed 106 people and infected over 4,000 -- is transmitted. Still, on Bangkok's streets many members of the public put faith in surgical masks on Tuesday, an act of self-defence in worrying times. "I'm very concerned about the virus," Tanyamon Jamophast, 28, told AFP. "Everywhere I go (in addition to a mask) I also bring alcohol and gel sanitiser to clean my hands and avoid areas with Chinese tourists." Others wore heavier duty -- and more effective -- PM2.5 or 3M (N95) masks, in a city shrouded for weeks by damaging pollution. Fourteen infections, all but one detected in Chinese visitors, have been reported in Thailand, a peak season destination for the tour groups from the mainland. - Sold out - For chemist Suphak Saphakkul that has led to the most intense panic-buying of medical items he has witnessed since the SARS epidemic in 2002/3. "All our (mask) suppliers are out of stock. These masks are made in China and the country itself is out of stock," he said. "We know that it does not provide 100 percent protection but it is better than nothing... (and) it can also reassure the public." Even for those who have one, there is a proper method to masking up. On Monday the mayor of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, took an online battering after wearing his mask inside-out. "You can inhale the virus if there is a gap between the mask and the face," added Satoshi Hiroi of the Osaka Institute of Public Heath. Meanwhile the Hubei provincial governor was pilloried for not wearing a mask during a press conference -- contravening an order to cover-up in public. Regular hand washing with soap, alcohol rubs and avoiding touching one's face as well as crowded places are endorsed by the World Health Organization as effective personal hygiene habits against infection. The advice has not stopped a run on the shelves, stockpiling or price hikes for medical masks, from Cambodia to Tokyo and Hubei to Hong Kong, where queues stretched outside the remaining retailers with stocks. In Bangkok, it is a case of better safe than sorry. "I just want to be as careful as I can," said 50-year-old commuter Apinya Sukprasitchai. burs-apj/fox Masked Cambodian students line up to disinfect their hands with an alcohol solution before entering class at a school in Phnom Penh Main types of popular protective masks used as the number of cases of 2019 novel coronavirus continues to rise. Chinese tourists wearing face masks watch a traditional Thai dance at Erawan shrine, a popular landmark in Bangkok Police officers wearing face masks under their riot protection gear Customers bulk-buying face masks from a drugstore in Tokyo's Akihabara district OTTAWADoes the next Conservative leader need to be fluent in both of Canadas official languages? Its the question that has defined the early days of the race to replace Andrew Scheer, with the front-runners fluency in French or lack thereof making headlines in Quebec and beyond. Peter MacKay was ridiculed in Quebec newspapers Sunday for some linguistic stumbling at his official campaign launch. His main competition, Erin OToole, displayed what one professor described as token French rehearsed but hardly comfortable in a video announcing his candidacy Monday. Theyre not really conversant in French. Theyre not fluent, thats for sure, said Maxime Prevost, director of the University of Ottawas Department of French, after reviewing both candidates campaign launches. After Pierre Poilievre and Jean Charest bowed out of the race, the Conservative leadership contest is looking decidedly Anglo. Richard Decarie, a social conservative, is the only declared candidate so far who is bilingual. Not everybody is convinced that the inability to speak French is a deal-breaker. Indeed, author and publisher Ken Whyte argues the Conservative party should give up trying to win seats in Quebec pointing out that it has had little success in that province, anyway and focus on Atlantic Canada, Ontario and its base in the west. However, Graham Fraser, the former official languages commissioner, argues that there are issues at stake beyond winning the next election. The revival of the Bloc (Quebecois) has been one of the factors that kept the current government from winning a majority, Fraser said in an interview. And one of the constant themes of the Bloc since its creation is that the federalist parties, the so-called national parties, cannot truly represent Quebecs interests. To have a unilingual party leader simply reinforces that message. For those looking to lead the Conservative Party, theres an even more pressing reason to pay attention to Quebec. Under the Conservatives rules, each of Canadas 338 ridings has equal weight in selecting the partys next leader. As CBC polling analyst Eric Grenier pointed out, that means a Montreal-area riding with 20 Conservative members has just as much influence as a Calgary riding with 2,000 members. With Quebecs many ridings and relatively few party members, each leadership vote cast in the province is worth considerably more than one cast in, say, Alberta where OToole launched his campaign Monday. So while Quebec votes may not be decisive for the Conservatives in a general election, they are very valuable for Conservative leadership candidates and will almost certainly be hard to win for candidates who dont speak French. The Conservatives will select their next leader on June 27 at a convention in Toronto. Candidates will have to raise $300,000 and obtain 3,000 signatures of support from across the country to have their names on the ballot. She was crowned queen of the villa during the 2019 series of Love Island. And Amber Gill was ruling the red carpet on Tuesday, as she attended the National Television awards with her pal Anna Vakili and their fellow Islanders in London. The reality star, 22, ensured all eyes were on her in a stunning khaki green semi-sheer gown which highlighted her stunning hourglass frame underneath. Sizzling: Amber Gill was ruling the red carpet on Tuesday, as she attended the National Television awards with her pal Anna Vakili and their fellow Islanders in London Amber's eye-catching dress was almost completely covered in a pretty leafy embroidered design with sequins and decorated with small feathers. Keeping the attention on her gown, Amber teamed the garment with a pair of simple black strappy heels, opting to forgo any further accessories. She sleeked her brunette tresses up into a high plaited ponytail and wore a glamorous coat of make-up with lashings of dark liner and mascara. She's on fire! Following the green theme, Anna wowed in sparkling emerald gown which tightly hugged her curvaceous physique as she sashayed down the red carpet Work it: he reality star, 22, ensured all eyes were on her in a stunning khaki green semi-sheer gown which highlighted her stunning hourglass frame underneath Mermaid chic: The spaghetti strap dress complemented her raven tresses which were styled in loose waves, while her pretty visage was coated in a thick layer of make-up Following the green theme, Anna wowed in sparkling emerald gown which tightly hugged her curvaceous physique as she sashayed down the red carpet. The spaghetti strap dress complemented her raven tresses which were styled in loose waves, while her pretty visage was coated in a thick layer of make-up. Elsewhere, Maura Higgins and her boyfriend Curtis Pritchard were among the first to hit the red carpet for the biggest night in the TV calendar. Leading the way: Elsewhere, Maura Higgins and her boyfriend Curtis Pritchard were among the first to hit the red carpet for the biggest night in the TV calendar So glam! The Love Island star, 29, pulled out all the stops in a sheer purple sequin gown, which came complete with feathered cuffs and a high neckline, while Curtis, 23, looked dapper in a black suit with matching purple pocket square The Love Island star, 29, pulled out all the stops in a sheer purple sequin gown, which came complete with feathered cuffs and a high neckline, while Curtis, 23, looked dapper in a black suit with matching purple pocket square. Maura, who is currently competing on Dancing On Ice, took a night off from rehearsals to attend the glittering ceremony. The Irish beauty put on a dazzling display as she sauntered down the red carpet in the see-through number, which was adorned with thousands of lilac beads. Maura slicked her brunette hair back into a sleek, low ponytail and finished off her show-stopping look with silver drop earrings. Dazzling: Maura, who is currently competing on Dancing On Ice, took a night off from rehearsals to attend the glittering ceremony Sequin sensation: Season five alum Belle Hassan looked nothing short of sensational as she joined her pals at the event, wearing a midnight blue slip dress with a lace-up black Busty babe: The plunging number was covered in a delicate black sequin pattern and teamed with a pair strappy nude heeled sandals, which inched out from underneath Season five alum Belle Hassan looked nothing short of sensational as she joined her pals at the event, wearing a midnight blue slip dress with a lace-up black. The plunging number was covered in a delicate black sequin pattern and teamed with a pair strappy nude heeled sandals, which inched out from underneath. Belle wore her blonde tresses in a sleek loose poker straight style and opted for an expertly-applied coat of make-up in neutral shades with thick black eyeliner. Pink princess: Gabby arrived wearing a tiny pink feathered mini dress which was accessorised with a solid silver belt wore around her midriff Gabby arrived wearing a tiny pink feathered mini dress which was accessorised with a solid silver belt wore around her midriff. Going all out on the evening, Gabby teamed her thigh-grazing dress with a matching floor-length jacket and a pair of towering metallic platform heels. Gabby carried her evening essentials in a pale pink Yves Saint Laurent bag, which also featured a silver chain strap. She wore her bright blonde tresses swept up into a chic bun and opted for a heavy coat of make-up, including a dramatic dark eye look. Leggy: Going all out on the evening, Gabby teamed her thigh-grazing dress with a matching floor-length jacket and a pair of towering metallic platform heels Barbie girl: Fellow blonde bombshell Lucie Donlan looked lovely as she hit the red carpet in a black and green dress, which boasted a plunging black lace top Fellow blonde bombshell Lucie Donlan looked lovely as she hit the red carpet in a black and green dress, which boasted a plunging black lace top. She wore her signature platinum locks in loose ringlets and coated her delicate features with a thick coat of make-up, including a perfect contour and dramatic eye. In the accessories department, Lucie rocked a selection of costume rings in and carried her belongings in a simple black clutch bag. Stunner: She wore her signature platinum locks in loose ringlets and coated her delicate features with a thick coat of make-up, including a perfect contour and dramatic eye Beaming: In the accessories department, Lucie rocked a selection of costume rings in and carried her belongings in a simple black clutch bag Montana Brown, who appeared in the third series of the dating show, left little to the imagination in her barely-there nude gown was was heavily adorned in gems. The showstopping dress also had white feathered shoulders and flashed her enviable pins with its semi-sheer skirt. Montana sleeked her ombre tresses into a neat bun, while leaving some curled strands loose to frame her striking features. Beaming: Montana Brown, who appeared in the third series of the dating show, left little to the imagination in her barely-there nude gown was was heavily adorned in gems Glowing: The showstopping dress also had white feathered shoulders and flashed her enviable pins with its semi-sheer skirt Sleek: Montana sleeked her ombre tresses into a neat bun, while leaving some curled strands loose to frame her striking features Samira Mighty looked lovely in a tangerine thigh-slit dress, which she teamed with a pair of perspex heels and gold bangles, which she wore around her bicep. The reality star beamed with delight as she posed on the red carpet, flaunting her radiant complexion which was enhanced with soft touches of make-up. Also in attendance and opting for a killer thigh slit gown was Megan Barton Hanson, who looked stunning in a form-fitting silver dress. Nice: Samira Mighty looked lovely in a tangerine thigh-slit dress, which she teamed with a pair of perspex heels and gold bangles, which she wore around her bicep Dewy glow: The reality star beamed with delight as she posed on the red carpet, flaunting her radiant complexion which was enhanced with soft touches of make-up Megan put on a very busty display in the plunging dress which she teamed with a pair of barely-there heels in the same silver shade. She wore her brunette tresses swept back off her striking face, which was heavily coated in a dramatic make-up look. Megan, who ruffled feathers during her stint on the show where she ultimately found love with Wes Neson, is now dating Chelcee Grimes. Silver siren: Also in attendance and opting for a killer thigh slit gown was Megan Barton Hanson, who looked stunning in a form-fitting silver dress Dazzling: Megan put on a very busty display in the plunging dress which she teamed with a pair of barely-there heels in the same silver shad Oh la la! Georgia Steel oozed Gothic glamour in her strapless black lace dress Ensuring she stood out from the crowd, Molly-Mae opted for a slinky white gown with dramatic feathered sleeves as she attended with beau Tommy Fury. Molly-Mae's dress was semi-sheer and covered in a glitzy pattern and she styled her brunette locks in glam curls as she posed for photos. The couple, who came second on the show to Amber and Greg O'Shea, are one of the only couples still in a relationship six months after the show. Wow! Ensuring she stood out from the crowd, Molly-Mae opted for a slinky white gown with dramatic feathered sleeves as she attended with beau Tommy Fury All white on the night! Molly-Mae's dress was semi-sheer and covered in a glitzy pattern and she styled her brunette locks in glam curls as she posed for photos Going strong: The couple, who came second on the show to Amber and Greg O'Shea, are one of the only couples still in a relationship six months after the show Matchy matchy: Laura Anderson and Kaz Crossley both opted for sexy black gowns Wow! Kaz's dress was all sequins while Laura's featured sultry cut-out sections HARTFORD A judge has temporarily suspended the law license of the attorney charged for his alleged role in the Jennifer Dulos homicide, a court ruling Tuesday indicated. Brian Staines, the states Chief Disciplinary Counsel, filed a motion this month for the law license of Kent Mawhinney to be temporarily suspended and another attorney appointed as a trustee for his clients while the criminal case is pending. Due to his incarceration and any conditions that may be imposed upon his release from custody cannot attend to the legal needs of his clients and there exists a substantial threat of irreparable harm to his clients or to prospective clients, Staines said. Since the law firm he ran with attorney David Markowitz closed in October, Mawhinney is considered a solo practitioner operating out of Bloomfield and does not have a trust account with his clients money pooled with a financial institution, according to Staines, whose agency oversees grievances filed against attorneys. A judge heard arguments Tuesday on Staines motion in state Superior Court in Hartford. The judge appointed attorneys Anthony Collins and Nancy Martin as co-trustees giving them the power to take necessary steps to protect the interests of Mawhinneys clients. The ruling said Collins and Martin may also inventory the client files, receive the business mail and take control of respondents (Mawhinney) clients funds, IOLTA (Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts) and all fiduciary accounts. The attorneys, the ruling said, cannot make any disbursements from any accounts without authorization from the court. Collins and Martin must notify all active clients of Mawhinneys suspension and tell them of the need to arrange for their self-representation or successor counsel, the ruling said. Mawhinney is being held on $2 million bond after being charged Jan. 7 with conspiracy to commit murder in the disappearance and death of Jennifer Dulos. The New Canaan 50-year-old was last seen on her neighbors security camera returning home after dropping off her five children at a nearby school around 8 a.m. May 24. Police believe her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, was lying in wait and attacked her in the garage of her Welles Lane home, according to arrest warrants. Fotis Dulos is considered a close friend and former client of Mawhinney, who represented him in a $2.5 million lawsuit filed by Jennifer Dulos mother, Gloria Farber. Mawhinney is accused in arrest warrants of attempting to provide an alibi for Fotis Dulos on the morning his estranged wife disappeared and was also linked to what a witness described as a human grave at an East Granby gun club. According to the warrant, Mawhinneys cellphone pinged off a tower near the Windsor Rod & Gun Club around 11 p.m. on May 31 hours after police visited Fotis Dulos Farmington home and conducted an intense search in Hartford where they say clothing and other items were found in the trash containing Jennifer Dulos blood. The next day, Fotis Dulos and his former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, were arrested on tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution charges. Fotis Dulos, 52, was additionally charged Jan. 7 with felony murder, murder and kidnapping in his estranged wifes homicide. Troconis, 45, and Mawhinney, 54, were charged the same day with conspiracy to commit murder. Fotis Dulos and Troconis are each on house arrest after posting bond, while Mawhinney remains incarcerated, unable to post bond. States Attorney Richard Colangelo said he considered Mawhinney a flight risk after he tried to avoid being arrested and was eventually taken into custody at gunpoint in Tolland. Staines pointed out in court papers seeking a hearing on the suspension of Mawhinneys law license that even if the attorney makes bond, he would like be on house arrest, preventing him from adequately representing his clients. Staines is seeking to have the court appoint a trustee to inventory Mawhinneys files, secure his clients funds and to take such action necessary to protect the interests of them. Mawhinney, who lost custody of his children last week, is also facing charges stemming from his own contentious divorce. Last January, Mawhinney was charged with spousal sexual assault, disorderly conduct and unlawful restraint. Mawhinney was then charged in June with violating a protective order after Fotis Dulos reached out to his estranged wife on his behalf in an apparent effort to mend his friends marriage. In Mawhinneys June arrest warrant, police said the woman believed Fotis Dulos was working with her husband to get rid of her. She stated that she believed that Mawhinney wanted her dead, police said in the arrest warrant. According to the womans affidavit in a court filing for a restraining order against Mawhinney, Fotis Dulos first contacted her on May 16 and then reached out several more times before arranging to meet at a bar on May 19. The woman refused Fotis Dulos offer to come back to his Farmington home, where he said she and Mawhinney could use a room to be intimate, the affidavit said. The woman said her last conversation with Fotis Dulos, whom she had only met once before in her husbands office in 2014, occurred on May 22 two days before Jennifer Dulos vanished, according to court documents. Around the same time, two members of the Windsor Rod & Gun Club discovered a large hole near the woods on the 25-acre property that Mawhinney helped acquire more than a decade ago, according to his arrest warrant in Jennifer Dulos homicide. In early June, one of the men noticed the hole was gone, covered as neat as a pin with leaves and sticks, the warrant said. When state police searched the property in August, no human remains were found. Independent TD Noel Grealish is on course to lose his Dail seat while the Social Democrats or Greens could make a breakthrough and win a place in Galway West. Mr Grealish recently faced strong criticism for claiming African asylum seekers were economic migrants who came to Ireland to "sponge off the system". He has also supported the Government in a number of key Dail votes, including opposition confidence motions against ministers. However, according to a TG4 Ipsos/MRBI this evening, Mr Grealish will likely struggle to retain his seat and is currently in eighth place in the five-seater, when it comes to support. The indications in the poll show all five sitting TDs in the constituency could be set for a battle to hold their seats, with only Fine Gael's Hildegarde Naughton getting anywhere close to the 17% quota there. The poll puts potentially up to 10 of the 15 candidates running in Galway West in contention for a place. But it still looks like it will be a scramble and transfers will be vital after polling day on February 8. Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail look in contention to take at least one seat each for their parties. According to the poll, support for Ms Naughton is highest on 13%, almost double her first preference vote of 7% in the 2016 general election. Fianna Fail 's Eamon O'Cuiv should also comfortably get elected, with support at 12%. This is slightly lower than the 15% he won in 2016. But Niall O Tuathail from the Social Democrats or Pauline O'Reilly, the Green Party spokesperson for Children and Youth Affairs, could both cause the biggest upset in Galway West, with the poll giving them 12% and 10% respectively. This could put both in contention to win the third and fourth seats. Nonetheless, support for O'Reilly is at the same level as that for government chief whip and the second sitting Fine Gael TD in the constituency, Sean Kyne. Transfers could be crucial from his running mate Ms Naughton, if Mr Kyne hopes to secure the fifth seat or do better. Just trailing Kyne, according to the poll, is Independent Catherine Connolly on 9%, who could still win back her seat once transfers start coming her way during the count. This, like many other constituencies in the election, will also reveal a lot about who will lead the next government if either of the two main parties can win or come close to winning that all-important second seat. While support for Fine Gael altogether in Galway West is 23% and 20% for Fianna Fail, both parties fall well short of two quotas. This could make it an especially tough ask for Fianna Fail to get Galway City Councillor Ollie Crowe across the line, with his individual support at just 8%. But sitting TD Noel Grealish, on just 7%, down from 11% in the last election, also faces an uphill battle to retain his seat and could likely lose out. There are other candidates at that level or just lower, according to the poll, including Sinn Fein's Mairead Farrell and Labour's Niall McNelis. Galway West is always hotly contested. It was count nine when the first TD was elected there in 2016, and Count 13 before anyone else was elected. Since 2016, the constituency boundaries have been tweaked once again with some areas transferred to Galway East and some Mayo areas transferred back to Mayo. Some 15 names are on the ballot this time around and the competition for seats will be even more intense. As ever, transfers will be vital. The TG4 Ipsos MRBI Galway West constituency poll was conducted among a sample of 525 adults aged 18 upwards. Interviewing took place on January 24 and 26 and the margin of error was 4% in the poll. The Palestinians rejected Trump's initiative and said that no peace deal could be made without their approval The Arab League will hold an extraordinary meeting on Saturday to discuss a Middle East peace plan that the Trump administration is expected to come out with on Tuesday evening, the Arab League assistant secretary-general told reporters. The Palestinian Authority's permanent representative at the Arab League submitted the request for a ministerial-level meeting with the aim of hearing Palestinian President Mamoud Abbas on the so-called "Deal of the Century," said Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki. The Palestinian leadership, which was not invited to the talks on the peace plan in Washington, has rejected Trump's initiative and said no peace deal could be made without "the approval of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian leadership." Tensions between the Palestinians and Trump intensified following his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and his administration's announcement last year that it no longer regards Israeli settlements on West Bank land as a breach of international law. US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he will announce his long-delayed Middle East peace proposal on Tuesday and that he believes the Palestinians will eventually go along with it despite their refusal to engage on the subject. Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza City against Trump's proposal on Tuesday, stepping on posters of the US president. Search Keywords: Short link: Its dark and the path is rocky. I stumble, but catch myself, intent on the destination. Its 5 a.m. in Siem Reap, and the dim outline of Angkor Wat looms in the distance. My husband, Benjamin, and I have joined others hiking toward the famous ancient icon of Cambodia. Sunrise is the best time to see the temple, and thats what we aim to do. One of the largest religious monuments in the world, Angkor Wat casts a commanding presence. Originally built as a Hindu temple, it became a Buddhist temple in the 12th century. As we reach our destination along a lake near the temple, the gray sky slowly turns to pink above Angkor Wat. The scene reflects in the lake, creating a stunning double image that draws oohs and aahs from the crowd. Trees have overtaken some temple buildings at Ta Prohm. (Janna Graber) Angkor Wat is just one of the many ancient temples at Angkor Archeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples were built from the 9th to the 13th century by the kings of the mighty Khmer Empire, which once ruled what is now Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and southern Vietnam. Their sheer power is evident in the massive stone complexes that climb toward the sky. Like most visitors, we start our exploration at Angkor Wat itself. Our hotel, FCC Angkor, has provided a guide, and he has a wealth of knowledge. As we clamber up narrow stairs and walk along ancient hallways, he regales us with stories of those who built this place. Bayons giant stone faces. (Janna Graber) From there, we visit other templesBayon, with its giant stone faces, Banteay Srei and Ta Prohm, where Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Tomb Raider were filmed. Lesser-known temples such as Beng Mealea, Srah Srang, and Preah Khan have few visitors. It feels like were alone, stepping back into the past. Visiting Angkor Archeological Park is an all-day event. Fortunately, were just 10 minutes from our hotel, so we can go back for breakfast after sunrise before returning to the park. FCC Angkor by Avani Hotels and Resorts is our base for the first part of the week. Once the elegant mansion of the French colonial governor, and home to the Foreign Correspondents Club, FCC Angkor has been beautifully renovated as a small luxury resort. Its prime location along the river near the Royal Residence is just a 10-minute walk from Pub Street, which is ever popular with locals and tourists, and near many shops and restaurants. Set amid tropical flora, fountains, and trees, the resort has a peaceful feel. Its 80 colonial-style rooms and suites are decorated with hints of its past. Im thrilled to find an old typewriter in our room. We enjoy sitting at the Scribe, a contemporary take on the colonial-era bar, and dining on the terrace at the Mansion, the hotels signature restaurant. The hotels newly expanded Visaya Spa offers treatments that combine ancient Khmer techniques with modern spa treatments. Pub Street. (Janna Graber) Exploring the Community Im most impressed, though, by FCC Angkors involvement in the local community. Its recommendations of activities allow us to meet locals and experience Siem Reap in an authentic way. Though Cambodia went through an unimaginable war a generation ago, Im touched by the Cambodians resiliency. They have a well-earned reputation for being friendly and gentleand I see this firsthand when we explore the city. Were treated with kindness and a welcoming smile. Getting around in Siem Reap is simple. Tuk-tuksmotorbikes with passenger cartsare everywhere, and cost just a few dollars to ride. Street scene, Siem Reap. (Janna Graber) The hotel recommended we dine at Haven, a restaurant with a mission. Listed by TripAdvisor as one of the top restaurants in the city, its goal is to train young Cambodians from orphanages, shelters, and poor communities in the restaurant business. Founded by Sara and Paul Wallimann, a Swiss couple who fell in love with Cambodia, Haven trains young men and women to be chefs and restaurant professionals. Chatting with Paul and the staff, its clear this is a labor of love. And the food? Its excellent. I almost wish we lived in Siem Reap so we could dine here often. Jewelry class at Ammo Jewelry. (Janna Graber) From there, we visit Ammo Jewelry. The small shop makes exquisite jewelry and offers 90-minute jewelry classes. While Ben and I try our hand at engraving on brass, we learn that the shop trains disadvantaged youth in the art of jewelry design. We chat with several young artisans as they work, then visit the Ammo store. I go home with several pieces, including a silver necklace that has my own name written in Khmer. Just a short tuk-tuk ride from there is Kandal Village, Siem Reaps rising arts district, filled with galleries, cafes, and boutiques. Tribe Urban Art Gallery, among the best-known, showcases established and new local artists. Phare, the Cambodian Circus In the evening, we find ourselves sitting under a big-top tent. Phare, the Cambodian Circus, is one of the top tourist attractions in Siem Reap. Phare uses modern circus acts, music, and theater to tell authentic Cambodian storiesand it has an altruistic goal too. The nightly events support free schools, professional arts training, and social programs in northwest Cambodia. The circus is professional and entertaining, and it feels good to support its endeavors. Khmer dancers at Anantara Angkor Resort. (Anantara Angkor Resort and Spa) Anantara Angkor Wanting to experience a different side of the city, we head to Anantara Angkor Resort for a few days. The boutique resort has 39 luxury suites and is known for its first-class service and top restaurant. Our large room, with teak wood trimming and Khmer-inspired design, includes a patio overlooking restful pools, tropical foliage, and colorful flowers. All guests receive chauffeured round-trip airport transport, and a ritual footbath upon arrival, as well as unlimited tuk-tuk transfers to and from the city center. The hotel staff gives us a private mobile phone to use while were in Siem Reap, and we can call anytime we need a ride. The Experience Butler helps us create a list of places to visit during our stay. Haven trains young people to be chefs and restaurant professionals. The food is excellent. (Janna Graber) As a spa lover, Im eager to visit Anantara Spa. Cambodias identity and culture are intrinsically linked to its beliefs, and those beliefs can be seen in all aspects of life, including the treatments at the Anantara Spa. Each treatment and the rituals that are part of it follow Khmer healing practices and traditions in a holistic approach. The goal is to be able to focus the mind, harness your energies, and emerge refreshed and purified. The spa at Anantara Angkor Resort. (Anantara Angkor Resort) For me, that means a soothing footbath, followed by a relaxing massage. Afterward, while Im enjoying hot jasmine tea, Im invited to write my prayers or wishes on small waxy green leaves, which the staff will present later at the temple. The whole experience is moving, and I walk out refreshed. Cooking lesson at Anantara Angkor Resort. (Janna Graber) Organic Farms and Cooking Class Cambodia is a mostly agrarian society. Fertile farmland, especially along the Mekong, produces rice, fruits, and many vegetables. Today, we get to visit one of those farms with Chef Sotho, the head chef at Anantara Angkor. Its part of Spice Spoons, Anantaras Signature Cooking School. Sometimes, the class visits a bustling local market with the chef to purchase fresh produce; at other times, like today, we get to visit a local organic farm. Chef Sotho, Ben, and I hop into a tuk-tuk and head onto the streets of Siem Reap. Even though there are few stoplights, the neverending flow of motorcycles (some with whole families aboard), tuk-tuks, rickshaws, and cars flow well together. In minutes, weve left the city behind and drive on dirt roads through the countryside. Were eventually met by a farmer with his oxcart. Hell take us the rest of the way to the farm, so we happily climb aboard. Paul Wallimann and the cooking staff at Haven. (Janna Graber) Oxen are an important part of farming here. Unlike horses, they can work in wet fields, and their lanky, but strong frames and docile manners make them easy to work with. When we arrive, Chef Sotho greets a woman hand watering a row of leeks with dual cans hanging from her shoulders, then we walk through tidy rows of lettuce and fragrant herbs. We duck through a tunnel of cucumbers climbing with gusto over a wooden frame and pick several for our dinner. All the while, he tells us of growing up on a farm just like this. It was only after an injury, when he couldnt farm, that he got a job at a hotel restaurant. The chef there saw his raw talent and taught him all he could. Sothea Suite, Anantara Angkor Resort. (Anantara Angkor Resort and Spa) Today, its Chef Sotho who is sharing his expert knowledge of cooking with us. Back at Anantara, he shows us how to prep the ingredients and make fresh spring rolls, Khmer chicken curry, and taro root with sago. While Ben and I are not known for our cooking, we enjoy the class immensely. We cant wait to take this little bit of Cambodia home with us. Entrance to the FCC Angkor hotel. (Avani Hotels & Resorts) Treasures of Siem Reap All too soon, its time to head home. At the airport, we find that our flight has been canceled. We wonder aloud how well make our connecting flight home to the U.S. The local gate agent hears us and quickly says in English, No problem. Well take care of you. And he does, quickly and efficiently. As he hands us our boarding passes, he says, You know, I really like your people. Thanks for visiting Cambodia. We laugh and reply, We like your people too! As I walk to our gate, I mull this over. The Cambodian people, Ive found, are the real treasures of Siem Reap. Janna Graber has covered travel in more than 55 countries. She is the editor of three travel anthologies, including A Pink Suitcase: 22 Tales of Womens Travel, and is the managing editor of Go World Travel Magazine. The author was a guest of Avani Hotels & Resorts and Anantara Angkor. FAIR HAVEN, Vt. - It's Lincoln the goat versus Sammy the dog in the race for honorary mayor of one Vermont town. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In this Jan. 24, 2020, photo, Sammy, a police dog, sits in the lobby of the Fair Haven police station with Sergeant Dale Kerber, in Fair Haven, Vt. Sammy is running for honorary mayor of the town against an incumbent goat as a playground fund-raiser. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke) FAIR HAVEN, Vt. - It's Lincoln the goat versus Sammy the dog in the race for honorary mayor of one Vermont town. The Nubian goat had won the post in Fair Haven, Vermont, last year after the town manager came up with the pet mayor election to raise money to rehabilitate a community playground and to get kids civically involved. "In Fair Haven, just like everywhere else, voter participation is not always as high as we want it," said Town Manager Joe Gunter. Resident Cheryl Daviau said the race has gotten children involved in the election process. Her granddaughter got her picture taken with the goat mayor and loved it, she said. To up the ante, this year the police chief nominated K-9 Sammy, a German Shepherd, who visits local schools daily with a resource officer, attends concerts in the park and is beloved around town. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The town announced the goat would run again after police debuted Sammy's campaign. Both Lincoln and Sammy are popular so it could be a tight race. "We're definitely look more forward to Sammy winning the race," said Sharai Thayer, who has three kids in school. The friendly canine sits at the school when the kids are going in and out and even goes through the halls, she said. A driver who was stopped for inspection violation on Friday told the police chief that he was voting for the dog. The election is on March 3. People pay $1 to vote and a GoFundMe page has been set up to raise more funds for the playground. Last year, $200 was raised from the race, according to Gunter. Combined with other donations the town has about $10,000 of the $80,000 needed for the playground, he said. The position comes with responsibilities, said Gunter. The mayor "marches in parades, manages the playground fund, and on occasion meets with the Board of Selectmen, just to keep an eye on them," he said by email. New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on January 28 called for an election on September 19. The Jacinda Ardern led centre-left Labour Party-led coalition came to power in the year 2017 and is now looking for a second term in power ahead of the elections in September. Ardern wants citizens to show her support While talking to a local media outlet, Ardern said that she will ask New Zealand's citizens to show their support for her government along with supporting the direction in which the government is headed. The New Zealand Prime Minister also said that she will ask for the citizens to support a strong economy and progress the country is making on challenging issues. Jacinda Ardern has been applauded for her stance on issues plaguing the world such as climate change, women's rights and gun ownership. The 39-year-old leader was also applauded for her response in relation to the mosque attacks in New Zealand in 2019 that resulted in decisions which tightened gun laws. Read: New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern To Put More Restrictions On Gun Ownership Read: Around 100 Tourists Present Near New Zealand Volcano When It Erupted: Jacinda Ardern Ardern's part will launch a positive political campaign According to reports, the politician has also stated that her party will launch a positive political campaign, adding that her party had also signed up for social media platform Facebook's transparency tool created to fight the issue of misinformation or fake political advertisements. However, the current New Zealand government has faced problems such as immigration, urban poverty, economic growth that will be her party's key agendas ahead of the elections in September 2020. According to reports, the Jacinda Ardern led government made an announcement in relation to infrastructure projects worth $12 billion New Zealand dollars in an attempt to boost the economy. Apart from the September elections, New Zealand will also be conducting a double referendum at the 2020 polls ahead of voting on whether recreational marijuana and euthanasia should be legalised or not. Read: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Condemns Donald Trumps Tweets On Democratic Congresswomen, Says She 'utterly Disagrees' With Him Read: World Cup | 'Traumatised': New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Shares Her Country's View On The Manner Of England's Win Over New Zealand (With inputs from agencies) 3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Alan Dershowitz argued his theory that there has to be a crime for a president to be impeached by telling the Senate, that his theory is not bonkers. Dershowitz said, Im arguing. Is that purely noncriminal conduct, including abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, are outside the range of impeachable offenses. That is the key argument Im presenting today.Similar views were expressed by some state courts, others disagreed. Curtis considered views and those of Dwight Russell and others based on careful study of the text in history are not bonkers, absurdists, legal claptrap or other demeaning epithets. Video: Dershowitz literally argues on the Senate floor that his theory is not "bonkers." When a lawyer has to argue before the jury that his theory isn't nuts, it's never a good sign. #ImpeachmentTrial pic.twitter.com/puOMlNhN5J Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) January 28, 2020 Dershowitz argued that if academics and constitutional scholars disagreed with him, it was their problem and it meant that they were wrong. Dershowitz is a man alone on a sinking intellectual island of his own construction. No other scholar or expert agrees with Dershowitz, and it is never a good sign when a lawyer has to defend his argument as not bonkers. This is the argument that Trump wanted in primetime for the country. What has been presented on the presidents behalf is a sort of constitutional fan fiction that has no relationship to the accepted legal and constitutional interpretations of impeachment. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced that he was withdrawing his request for parliamentary immunity in the three graft cases against him to stop the "dirty game" over the issue, paving the way for legal proceedings against him to go forward. The Israeli leader made his decision public through a Facebook Post from Washington, where he is on a visit to meet US President Donald Trump before the latter announces his plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in November in three separate cases. He has denied any wrongdoing. During this fateful time for the people of Israel, while I am in the US on a historic mission to shape Israel's permanent borders and ensure our security for future generations, another Knesset episode is expected to begin in the immunity circus, Netanyahu wrote. Since I was not given due process, because all the rules of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) were trampled on, and since the results of the procedure were pre-dictated without proper discussion, I decided not to allow this dirty game to continue, the 70-year-old leader stressed. The indictment is now expected to be filed with the Jerusalem District Court by the end of the week, less than five weeks before the unprecedented third round of parliamentary elections within a year slated for March 2. The date for Tuesday's Knesset discussion was set before Netanyahu announced that he would travel to Washington for the unveiling of Trump's long awaited peace plan. The timing of the announcement of the peace plan has been criticised by many analysts in Israel as an attempt to rescue Netanyahu from the immunity proceedings. The Israeli Prime Minister's main political rival, Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party, who also met Trump in Washington on Monday said that Netanyahu cannot run the country while standing trial in the three three cases against him. Netanyahu is going to trial. We must move forward. Israel's citizens have a clear choice: A Prime Minister who will work for them or a Prime Minister working for himself," Gantz, a former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces, said in a statement. "No one can run a state and at the same time manage three serious criminal cases for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, he emphasised. Netanyahu, who rejects all the charges, may have withdrawn his request to avoid the embarrassment of a certain defeat at the floor of the Knesset with almost 65 out of 120 parliament members reportedly likely to vote against it, according to reports. His move to seek for immunity was also seen as contrary to his pleadings that he was innocent and nothing would come out of these cases. Despite that he announced in January that he would ask the Knesset for parliamentary immunity, as he faced a legal deadline to do so following Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit's decision to charge him. Mandelblit couldn't officially indict Netanyahu so long as his immunity request was pending and the Knesset hadn't voted on it. The Attorney General announced in November that he would indict Netanyahu in all the three corruption investigations against him. The Prime Minister is charged with fraud and breach of trust in all three cases, as well as bribery in one of them. He has all through denied wrongdoing and has accused police and state prosecutors of participating in an attempted coup against him, orchestrated by the Left and a hostile media. The first case, dubbed Case 1000, involves accusations that Netanyahu received gifts and benefits from billionaire benefactors including Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan in exchange for favours. In Case 2000, involving accusations that Netanyahu agreed with Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper publisher Arnon Mozes to weaken a rival daily in return for more favourable coverage from Yedioth, the Premier is charged with fraud and breach of trust, while Mozes has been charged with bribery. In the so called Case 4000, widely seen as the most serious, Netanyahu is accused of having advanced regulatory decisions that benefited Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder in the Bezeq telecom giant, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, in exchange for positive coverage from the Elovitch-owned Walla site. Mandelblit has charged both Netanyahu and Elovitch with bribery in the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) has announced the launch of its eWallet, a new online payment method for government eServices. The eWallet is being made available in cooperation with The BENEFIT Company, which runs the Credit Reference Bureau network and provides the electronic funds transfer system between banks, and CrediMax, a pioneer in credit card and payment gateways. The announcement was made during a meeting between iGA Chief Executive Mohammed Ali AlQaed, BENEFIT CEO Abdulwahid Janahi, and CrediMax Chief Executive Yousif Ali Mirza at iGAs headquarters in Muharraq, which was also attended by iGA Deputy Chief Executive of Electronic Transformation, Dr. Zakareya Ahmed AlKhajah and other executives from the partnering entities. AlQaed stated that the eWallet was created by iGA to complement its existing smart payments program, which it seeks to continuously improve: The new eWallet is in accordance with our strategy to offer comprehensive digital government eservices to the public across a range of channels, while remaining committed to the highest standards of security and privacy. Our cooperation with the private sector is a realisation of the vision of the Kingdoms senior leadership, which is aimed at encouraging businesses to take the lead in the ICT sector, with the government playing the role of regulator. AlQaed expressed his gratitude to BENEFIT and CrediMax for their continuous cooperation with the Authority in offering payment solutions for digital services. BENEFIT CEO, Abdul Wahid Janahi stated that the company greatly values its ongoing cooperation with the iGA, which comes within the framework of a partnership between the two organisations that includes several joint initiatives: "The payment options available through BenefitPay continue to be expanded upon. Our goal is to provide innovative electronic payment options which reduce the need for physical cash translations, thereby contributing to the governments national plan to promote online services. We would like to see a future in which electronic payments are central to the culture and financial infrastructure of the country. CrediMax CE Yousif Ali Mirza said that he was happy to continue to develop CrediMaxs effective partnership with the iGA and its cooperation with BENEFIT by discussing ways for the organisations to work together and provide innovative solutions that contribute to the national economy: This joint initiative is in line with our vision to provide an advanced digital environment that offers customers easy and convenient payment options. The eWallet is the latest addition to a range of payment options for government eServices, including credit and debit cards. To pay by eWallet, users can scan the QR Code that appears on the payment page of the service next to the other payment options. The new payment channel is currently available for approximately 20 eServices via the National Portal, bahrain.bh. Notable among these are payments for traffic violations, ID card services, University of Bahrain book purchasing, and school student report card services. It will be made available for other services on the National Portal in the near future. Online transactions via the eWallet are faster than payment methods that rely on cards, which require inserting card numbers with every transaction. Users can also review their previous transactions via the eWallets log. To benefit from the service, follow these steps: Download the BenefitPay or MaxWallet apps onto your smartphone and create an eWallet account by filling in the details. Then follow the steps until reaching the payment page, where regular payment options such as debit and credit cards will appear. The eWallet will be available as a third option. When choosing to pay by eWallet, users must choose either BenefitPay or MaxWallet, depending on the app on their smartphones, where they will see the QR Code. Users must choose Scan Code then Agree to complete the payment process when using smartphones. When using other smart devices, scan the QR Code using the camera, which will open the payment app. Then, press Agree to complete the transaction.-- Tradearabia News Service TEANECK, N.J. (JTA)-Jason Greenblatt, President Donald Trump's former Middle East negotiator, made his first public speech since leaving the White House on Sunday night. Greenblatt, 52, who worked as a lawyer for Trump for two decades prior to joining the administration, spoke at Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, New Jersey, the Modern Orthodox synagogue where he is a member. The event was raising money for a new Holocaust memorial in the township, which has a significant Jewish population. Sporting a black yarmulke and an American and Israeli flag lapel pin, Greenblatt delivered a long and wide-ranging speech that recounted how his Hungarian-born parents survived the Holocaust and how their stories had impacted him. As his wife and four of his six children listened in the audience, he also denounced the recent spike in anti-Semitic attacks, though he cautioned against pointing fingers at anyone in particular for the increase. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency spoke with Greenblatt after the event. Here is the conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity. JTA: What has your life been like since leaving the White House? Greenblatt: I'm really enjoying it. I have breakfast with my wife every morning. I'm having a lot of very interesting meetings. But mostly spending time with my family, trying to catch up on three years and really just trying to be a father and a husband again. What are your career plans now? I don't know yet. I'm doing some consulting. I want to explore what the opportunities are and where my talents best lie. But I'd like to keep my foot in the region. I'd like to be involved with that to the extent I can and support the White House to the degree that they continue to work on this file. People recognize that Israel and its neighbors are doing business today in ways they weren't doing three, five, seven years ago. And people would like to get involved in that, so a lot of people are approaching me, [asking]: "How can I do business in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar? What does it take and how do we deepen the connections between Israel and the region and bring it forward?" In your speech, you talked about how well-received you were as an observant Jew in the Arab world. Did that surprise you? I'm not sure I was surprised, but I learned with each visit just how much more alike we are than we are apart and how much more willing they are to be open minded and accepting. And that doesn't mean that all of a sudden we are going to create peace-it's far more complicated-but on a human-to-human basis, the interactions were amazing. Palestinian, Saudi, Emirate-it doesn't matter. Are you hopeful about peace between Israel and the Palestinians? I think they have a lot of very tough issues to work out. I don't know if the two sides will come to agreement on those tough issues. I don't think anybody can be sure. These are complex issues that the two sides are extraordinarily divided on, and even within the two societies, so I don't think anybody can sit here and say peace can be achieved. But I think it would be a shame if we didn't continue to try desperately. Do you think you brought Israelis and Palestinians closer to that goal? I think we've gotten closer to creating a plan that both sides should take seriously. And if they really spend time on it and actually talk to each other, they could make progress. Will they do that? That remains to be seen. Why hasn't the peace plan been released yet? Will it be released before Israel's third election this year? I'm not in the White House, so I don't know. And if I knew, I couldn't tell you anyway. But I think they're going through the analysis that we went through the two last elections and I think they have to make a decision. Is it going to help the peace plan to release it pre-election, or post-election pre-government, or is it not? I don't know what the results of that analysis are. What's your proudest accomplishment and biggest regret from your time in the White House? My biggest regret is not being there for the launch [of the peace plan]. That is a shame, but I do have a wife and children, so I had to return. Proudest? I would say probably being part of the decision regarding the Jerusalem recognition, the embassy, the Golan, probably speaking at the United Nations Security Council in a way that needed to be spoken to it for years. Did your view about the possibility of peace change? I became more hopeful because of the interactions with ordinary Palestinians and Israelis, particularly the Palestinian side. The everyday people that I met and the everyday Arabs and the Arab leadership-not the Palestinian Authority, certainly not Hamas-gave me a lot more hope than when I went into the job. What are your concerns ahead of the 2020 election, specifically as it relates to Israel or Jewish issues? I think it's hard to answer that question until we see who the candidate is on the Democratic side. [There are] a lot of candidates still left in the field. Some of them who would be probably very not helpful to Israel, others I'm not sure about. ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Monday he did not believe that a slump in support for the coalition 5-Star Movement would lead to instability in his government. "Absolutely not, I do not think (5-Star) is a factor of instability," Conte told reporters, in his first comments following regional elections on Sunday. 5-Star won just 3.5% of the regional vote in Emilia-Romagna and little over 7% in Calabria. In the 2018 national vote it was the single largest party with 33% backing. (Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Crispian Balmer) We flew to Denmark in October from Dusseldorf, via a connecting flight from Amsterdam. We missed our connecting flight from Amsterdam due a delay in our flight from Dusseldorf. Ultimately we landed at Amsterdam two hours and 55 minutes late, but we were de-planed in the cargo area in Amsterdam and bussed to the 'gate area', which wasn't really near any gates at all. This then put us over three hours late, which is the cut off time for EU compensation on a short-haul flight. Our claim then depends on whether the law takes into account the actual landing time or the time we arrived at a gate after being transported from the cargo area. Can you help clarify this? K.B., via email Departure boards at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands. A couple missed a connecting flight to Copenhagen after their flight from Dusseldorf was delayed George Nixon, This is Money, replies: There are two specific elements in your case which could potentially give you grounds for 250 compensation under EU law, but first of all let's recap how the rules work surrounding delayed flights. Under EU Regulation 261, airlines may have to provide compensation if a short-haul flight - one travelling 1,500km or less - arrives at its destination more than three hours late, and the delay is the fault of the airline. This is provided you are either departing from an EU airport, or arriving at an EU airport and an EU airline is operating your flight. We asked the Civil Aviation Authority and it told us that the three hour delay time is calculated using the time the flight arrives at its destination, rather than the time it takes off. For example, if you were due to land in Amsterdam on a flight from Dusseldorf at 3pm local time, if the plane arrived later than 6pm you would have grounds for compensation. The Civil Aviation Authority told This is Money that the delay time is calculated not from the moment the plane touches down on the runway, but the time the plane arrives at the stand and when at least one door of the aircraft is open. If you touched down at Schiphol airport two hours 55 minutes later than you should have done, but were taken off the plane three hours later than your supposed arrival time then you should be entitled to compensation. Meanwhile, you might also be entitled to compensation based on separate guidelines relating to connecting flights, also under EU Rule 261. Delay time for compensation claims is based on when at least one plane door opens, not when the aircraft touches down on the runway According to the CAA, 'under EU law you may be entitled to compensation from your airline if you miss a connection, even if the initial delay was under three hours.' This is provided you are booked on a 'through' ticket, or one ticket and one reservation. Got a question for the experts? Email us: experts@thisismoney.co.uk If you bought one ticket from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam and then another from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, you would have to rely on the compensation rules relating to single flights. If this the case and you have bought a 'through' ticket, the three hour delay time is calculated at your final destination, Copenhagen, rather than Amsterdam. The CAA states that the 'rules depend on how late you arrive at your final destination and what caused the delay'. This is governed by the same rules as other flight compensation, meaning if you arrived at your final destination more than three hours after you were supposed to and it is the fault of the airline, you should complain to the airline responsible for your first delayed flight, and you should be entitled to a 250 payout. Read more: Ransomware demands spike, much to the chagrin of municipalities The bill was introduced by state senators Phil Boyle, George Borrello, and Sue Serino with the goal of funding necessary upgrades to a city or municipalitys cyber defences and thereby mitigating the incentive for ransomware operators to target them at the cost of preventing local governments from paying ransomware demands. A small investment in local government cybersecurity now, can help stop cybercriminals from profiting on the backs of New York State taxpayers and protect important state and local government services from disruption, the bill said. To incentivize these upgrades, the bill will prevent state and local governments from paying ransoms for ransomware attacks after January 01, 2022, by which time they should be able to sufficiently upgrade their cybersecurity systems. However, Colin Bastable, chief executive officer of cybersecurity firm Lucy Security, told Threatpost that municipalities have a loophole in the form of cyber coverage. Of course, insured municipalities can get around this, as they dont pay the ransoms, he said. The terms of their policies require that they cede control of the situation to the insurance company. Minister Licudi at Education World Forum and BETT Show in London The Minister for Education, Gilbert Licudi QC, attended last week the Education World Forum and the BETT Show in London. The Education World Forum is held in January each year and brings together Education Ministers and other professionals from almost 100 countries representing over two-thirds of the worlds population to debate future education policy. This years theme at the Forum was One generation - what does it take to transform education? Whilst in London, Mr Licudi, accompanied by Senior Education Adviser, Keri Scott, attended a reception hosted by the Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE. Mr Licudi and Ms Scott were then joined by Education Adviser, Christopher Gomila, at the BETT Show. BETT is one of the leading shows in the world showcasing education technology and innovation. A series of presentations and discussions on education are also held at BETT. The Gibraltar delegation attended a panel discussion entitled Educating the Workforce of the Future - Made by Dyslexia. They then met with Made by Dyslexia founder and CEO, Kate Griggs. Mr Licudi said: Both the Forum and the BETT Show have provided valuable insights into developments and technological advancements in education. We were glad to meet with Ms Griggs following the signing by the Chief Minister of the Made by Dyslexia Pledge. We discussed plans by the Department of Education for the training of teachers on dyslexia awareness as well as the holding of a full day seminar on dyslexia in Gibraltar later this year." On Monday, a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, by the Red Army took place at the memorial site of the former death camp. The heads of state of Poland, Germany, Israel, Ukraine and Hungary attended at the ceremony. About 200 survivors of the camp, most of whom are now in their late 80s and 90s, were in attendance. Auschwitz was a central site of the crimes of Nazism and above all its genocide of European Jewry: between 1.1 and 1.5 million Jews were gassed at Auschwitz. An estimated 140,000 Poles, 20,000 Sinti and Roma and 10,000 Soviet prisoners of war, as well as hundreds of homosexuals and Jehovahs Witnesses were deported to Auschwitz. Thousands of them were gassed and tens of thousands died from hunger, diseases, forced labor, exhaustion or torture. Millions around the world are moved by the memory of horrors of fascism and profoundly troubled by the recent resurgence of anti-Semitism and fascist forces internationally. On Twitter, hashtags like #NeverAgain and #Auschwitz75 were trending on Monday, and millions were reading the extensive coverage in the media and interviews with the few remaining survivors. Several survivors spoke powerfully and urgently at the ceremony, warning of a repetition of the crimes committed by the Nazis and a resurgence of fascism and anti-Semitism today. However, the politicians speaking at the ceremony form part of governments that are directly responsible for the resurgence of fascist and anti-Semitic forces and far-right historical revisionism. In opening the ceremony, the Polish president Andrzej Duda from the ruling far-right Law and Justice Party (PiS) stated that the crimes perpetrated in Auschwitz were historically unprecedented and that a repetition of these crimes had to be prevented. He referred to the organized, systematized mass murder of the Jews, and the murder of Soviet prisoners of war, Poles and gypsies. Unlike five years ago, when the Polish government explicitly denied recognizing that the camp was liberated by the Red Army, Duda acknowledged in a half-sentence that soldiers of the Red Army liberated Auschwitz. A substantial portion of his speech was devoted to highlighting that Poland, which was invaded by the Nazis on September 1, 1939, was the first victim of Nazi aggression. Duda also insisted that Poles had offered the largest organized resistance movement against the Nazis in Europe. He denounced historical falsifications and Holocaust denial, and the instrumental use of Auschwitz for some other aims. Israeli president Reuven Rivlin also spoke, condemning a resurgence of anti-Semitism. The German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who visited Auschwitz for the first time on Monday, stated: Auschwitz, that is the sum total of voelkisch thought, racial hatred and nationalist madness. Steinmeier described Auschwitz as a place of horror and German guilt and urged preventing a resurgence of similar horrors today, including in Germany. Dudas and Steinmeiers condemnations of fascism and anti-Semitism stand in stark contrast to the political record of their own governments. In the past few years, the Polish and German governments have spearheaded a massive shift to the right and a systematic promotion of historical revisionism in Europe. In Germany, the neofascist Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) was consciously built up by the bourgeoisie and made the main opposition in parliament. The German state has been funding and directing neo-Nazi terrorist networks that have assassinated and targeted immigrants and left-wing politicians. The far-right positions of professor Jorg Baberowski, who claims that Hitler was not vicious and who has most recently stated that Hitler didnt want to hear anything about Auschwitz have been promoted by the media, while it unleashed a massive campaign against his critics. The German ministry of education has explicitly backed Baberowski. (See also: Seventy-five years since the liberation of Auschwitz) In Poland, the PiS government, which includes several notorious anti-Semites, has systematically built up far-right paramilitary formations. In 2018, President Duda signed a bill into law that criminalizes mention of Polish participation in crimes by the Nazis against the Jews. Polish government representatives, including Duda himself, have repeatedly participated in marches by the far-right. Last year, a group of fascists was allowed to march in Auschwitz on the 74th anniversary of its liberation. The Ukrainian government of Volodymyr Zelensky maintains close ties to neo-Nazis and has recently named a number of Nazi collaborators and anti-Jewish pogromist national heroes. In Hungary, Viktor Orbans government spearheaded the Europe-wide shift of the bourgeoisie toward authoritarianism and a brutal oppression of refugees and has similarly promoted racism and anti-Semitism. The mass popular revulsion and opposition to these policies is the main reason that these politicians felt forced to pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and fascism and refrain from blatant historical falsifications at the ceremony on Monday. Nevertheless, the ceremony was overshadowed by the advanced preparations of the imperialist powers for war. Just days before the commemoration, the US began moving its troops across Europe in preparation for the NATO Defender-Europe-20 exercise in the spring. With an estimated 37,000 troops from the US and other NATO powers, it will be the largest NATO military exercise in a quarter century, openly aimed at war preparations against Russia. The commemoration in Poland on Monday had been preceded by one in Jerusalem, where US Vice President Mike Pence and the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu agitated for war against Iran. Duda had boycotted the ceremony in Jerusalem because he was not invited to speak, whereas Russian president Vladimir Putin was invited to speak. Dudas boycott of the ceremony was part of an increasingly heated diplomatic row between Warsaw and the Kremlin over World War II. Following an EU resolution from September 2019, which blamed both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany for World War II, and equated the crimes of communism with those of Nazism, the Kremlin has initiated a major campaign to justify the Hitler-Stalin Pact of August 1939, and argue that Poland was in part to blame for World War II. In response, Warsaw has doubled down on the claim that both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany started World War II. Both are based on historical falsifications about the character of both Stalinism and the origins of the war. The Hitler-Stalin Pact, which significantly facilitated the Nazi attack on Poland, was the culmination of a series of disastrous betrayals of the working class by Stalinism, which were rooted in the nationalist betrayal of the 1917 October revolution by the Soviet bureaucracy. The Stalinist policies of the Comintern had made it possible for Hitler to come to power in Germany in 1933 without encountering organized opposition from the 6 million-strong working-class movement. In 1936-1938, the Stalinist bureaucracy engaged in a campaign of mass murder against revolutionaries in the USSR and Spain, targeting centrally Trotskyists, and socialist and Marxist workers and intellectuals. It culminated in August 1940 in the assassination of Leon Trotsky by a Stalinist agent. However, despite the counterrevolutionary role of Stalinism, the Soviet Union remained a degenerated workers state. The Trotskyists defended it against the attack of German imperialism which followed in June 1941 and the Red Army played a central role in the fight against Nazism. The Russian oligarchy, for which Putin speaks, emerged out of the Stalinist bureaucracy which dissolved the USSR in 1991. Riddled by crisis and terrified by the prospect of social upheavals by the working class, it now ever more aggressively promotes the counterrevolutionary politics of Stalinism. The false equation of Nazi Germany with the Soviet Union has long served as the basis for right-wing historical falsifications, especially in Eastern Europe, combining the promotion of aggressive anti-Communism with a relativization of the crimes of fascism. While Nazi Germany was no doubt the aggressor that started World War II and responsible for the worst crimes in human history, the root causes of the war lay in the irresolvable contradictions and crisis of the world capitalist system. It is this same crisis, which is much more advanced today, that underlies the resurgence of fascism and the danger of a third world war. A bartender friend once complained to me that too many men at his bar would get drunk and try to pull a Kobe. I picked at the phrase. Did he mean yelling Kobe! while trying to throw trash away from downtown the hobby of an entire generation or talking shit or refusing to pass the bottle, the conversation, or the spotlight? None of the above, actually. What he meant was his lubricated customers would sometimes act invincible and to see if the world might cooperate. Pulling a Kobe lacked a moral vector; these were just tossed-off attempts at immortality. As the world mourns the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, killed in a helicopter crash on their way to a youth game, Kobe stories are everywhere. In all cases, these stories are about pulling a Kobe, something Bryant did consistently enough to warrant the phrase. Theres a lot to be said about Kobe Bryant, a titan of Los Angeles, and a heel, and an institution. But its easier and perhaps better to just let the stories do the talking. Almost any two Kobe Bryant stories, held up next to each other, chart a confounding and gifted man in two data points. Here are the two Im thinking about in the wake of his death. 2018, Newport Beach Bryant witnesses a car crash. Without thinking animated by the indestructible confidence that defined him Bryant rushes to help the injured parties. He helps pull a dad out. Maybe he doesnt save the dads life, but he makes a bad day a lot better. A week passes and he runs into the same dad, Ryan Williams, who related this on Twitter and to TMZ, at a Starbucks. He talks to him and fist-bumps his kids. This becomes a habit. Bryant goes out of his way to find these kids and acknowledge them. A while later Bryant gets a hiring recommendation from the same dad. It goes well and he hires the friend. Bryant keeps finding this person he met on the side of the road to thank him. He sees him at a stoplight and shouts the praises of his new assistant. Story continues A month ago, the dad sees another accident and theres Kobe, helping out. Hes talking to the kids and making sure everyone is alright. Hes being a good neighbor. 2003, Eagle, Colorado Kobe Bryant meets a 19-year-old hotel employee at the Lodge and Spa at Cordillera. They talk for a while and go back to his room. He assaults her and is subsequently charged with sexual assault. He is formally cleared of criminally rape charges in 2003 but releases a long statement prior to the start of a civil case. Its an unusual statement by any measure. It reads as follows. First, I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident. I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences, she has suffered in the past year. Although this year has been incredibly difficult for me personally, I can only imagine the pain she has had to endure. I also want to apologize to her parents and family members, and to my family and friends and supporters, and to the citizens of Eagle, Colorado. I also want to make it clear that I do not question the motives of this young woman. No money has been paid to this woman. She has agreed that this statement will not be used against me in the civil case. Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter. I issue this statement today fully aware that while one part of this case ends today, another remains. I understand that the civil case against me will go forward. That part of this case will be decided by and between the parties directly involved in the incident and will no longer be a financial or emotional drain on the citizens of the state of Colorado. Bryant settles the civil case out of court. Bryant is accused of not apologizing for his behavior. He is also lauded by some for declining to question his accusers story, a low bar but one few famous men accused of wrongdoing ever clear. Kobe goes back to playing. He doesnt speak about the case much presumably because he doesnt want to. Commentators dont speak of it much either. They dont know what to make of it. Its not like other cases because its not he said, she said. This confounds people. Kobe is reviled and loved. He keeps playing. He dominates. He is reviled and loved. What can be said of Kobe Bryant? Plenty, but its possible that not much needs to be said. With Bryant, what you saw was largely what you got. There was good and bad and legendary. There was an attentive father and a good guy and an insane competitor and a bad guy. There was a man who tackled the world head-on and was celebrated for it make of that what you will. Ultimately, what can be said is that Kobe Bryant pulled a Kobe. Its tautological and simplistic, sure, but thats the size of it. Theres little worth adding. Related Articles: The post Two Stories About Kobe Bryant appeared first on Fatherly. Taranjit Singh Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently posted as High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka. New Delhi: Seasoned diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu has been appointed as India's Ambassador to the US, replacing Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday. Shringla is set to take over as the next foreign secretary on Wednesday. Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently posted as High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka. His appointment to the high-profile job comes at a critical time when the US-India strategic partnership is deepening and also tensions are simmering in the Gulf region after the US killed top Iranian commander General Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad. Also, Indian and US officials are engaged in talks to finalise dates for a possible visit by US president Donald Trump to India. Prior to his current assignment in Colombo, Sandhu was Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy of India in Washington D.C. from July 2013 to January 2017. He also served as the Consul General of India in Frankfurt from September 2011 to July 2013 and worked at the Ministry of External Affairs from March 2009 to August 2011 as Joint Secretary (United Nations) and later as Joint Secretary (Administration) heading the Human Resource Division. Sandhu was also posted at the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations, New York from July 2005 to February 2009. He was also a first secretary (Political) at Embassy of India, Washington, D.C. responsible for liaison with the United States Congress from 1997-2000. In a distinguished career spanning nearly thirty years, Sandhu has worked in the former Soviet Union (Russia) and following the breakup of USSR, he was sent to open a new Embassy in Ukraine. Earlier this month, Shringla had called on Donald Trump and thanked him for his "steadfast support" for strengthening the strategic bilateral ties. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday thanked outgoing Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale for his contributions to the Indian diplomacy. Shringla has been appointed as the new foreign secretary for a two-year fixed term. T Muruganandham By Express News Service CHENNAI: The State government is yet to convey its decision to the Census Operations Department on the updation of National Population Register (NPR) along with the ongoing process for the census. The State says updation of NPR is still under consideration. The Census department has conveyed to the State government that it wants to carry out NPR along with the Census process. But it is up to the State government to decide on the same. Whatever be the decision of the State government, the Census exercise will go as scheduled, Census officials told Express. On Monday, CM Edappadi K Palaniswami held discussions with senior ministers including Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar and Commissioner of Revenue Administration J Radhakrishnan. Though there were speculations that the State government may request the Centre to defer NPR until the apprehensions of the people are allayed, officials were tight-lipped about what transpired during the meeting. Asked whether a State can refuse to update NPR, official sources said, In 2010 and 2015 when NPR was carried out, there was no opposition to it. Now, a few states like Kerala and West Bengal, have conveyed that they would not carry out NPR. So, we will act as per the directions of the Census headquarters. In all, 1.5 lakh to 1.8 lakh government personnel would be engaged in the census exercise. Identification of these personnel and appointing them, has to be completed by the first week of May. Following this, the Census department will impart training to the collectors, corporation commissioners, tahsildars, municipality commissioners and others as per the convenience of the Revenue department. Informed enumerators Most of the enumerators and supervisors who will be from the school education department, have informed the public department that during the first two weeks of June, they would be busy with new admissions A Burlington County man was sentenced Tuesday to 10-and-a half years in prison for impersonating a federal agent while selling fake gold bars and coins in South Jersey. Jonathan A. Kirschner previously pleaded guilty in Camden federal court to charges of falsely impersonating an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and one count of unlawfully bringing counterfeit coins and bars into the U.S. Kirschner admitted he sold the bogus gold bars to a coin collector for $11,000 in cash in May 2017, according to information in the case. In written messages with the victim, Kirschner claimed to be a federal agent and wore a supposed ATF badge on a chain around his neck when they met. The imposter also admitted that he sold 49 counterfeit Morgan dollar coins to two others in Mount Laurel in June 2017, officials said. Kirschner told the scam victims, I have my badge on, when he described himself to them. Officials said Kirschner posed as an agent to calm any concerns his victims might have about buying gold coins and bars from him that they believed were real. Kirschner, of Moorestown, admitted he imported the counterfeit valuables from other countries. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler also ordered Kirschner to serve three years of supervised release, pay restitution of $14,600 and forfeit the counterfeit goods, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Agents arrested Kirschner in a 2017 undercover sting involving a real ATF agent, the Courier-Post reported. The 35-year-olds badge was fake. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. In just more than a decade of existence, Twitter has gone from being a fun place to get occasional updates from Shaq , to a foundational tool for local government to inform and engage with its citizens.Mayor Steve Adler of Austin, Texas, for example, notes that he personally finds his own contentious relationship with the governor of his state playing out in that space, in between steady updates from the president. In other words, Mayor Adler finds Twitter to be one of the most consequential arenas of public discourse, one that he and his administration take seriously.And Mayor Adler is not alone.In fact, use of social media within local government has become such a pressing topic, that it was the subject of a panel discussion earlier this week at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C. The discussion marked the first time since 2012 the event had hosted programming about social media, and, as such, a packed room turned out to listen at the Capital Hilton.Adler moderated the panel, which included other mayors, and, perhaps most importantly, representatives from Twitter and Facebook who shared tips, tricks and advice for how best to use their sites, specifically tailored for local government. Indeed, both of the massive companies now have full-time staff dedicated to advising and interfacing with local government, so prominent has social media become in the space.Lauren Devoll, a public policy associate with Twitter, gave a rapid-fire presentation that was filled with best practices. She started by reminding the officials that their tweets are now being used as direct sources for television reporting and articles online, giving them reach that extends far past users of the platform.Devoll went into a series of very specific tips, including changing cover photos regularly; using a display name as valuable real estate; tweeting like an actual human talks; getting comfortable with threads; embracing first person media updates; and turning live photos into GIFs. The overarching message of her presentation seemed to be that really using Twitter as a real person might is vastly superior to just blasting out information in a stilted way to residents.Make your audience feel like youre talking with them, and not just at them, Devoll said.One specific example of how to do that was to have a mayor post a picture of their dog, along with an invitation for residents to do the same, because, Devoll accurately noted, Dogs are an easy win.So, while the idea that Twitter and Facebook are important tools for local government is certainly not new, a concept that emerged during the panel was that there are several different ways that local government continues to approach using the platforms, and that social media in local government continues to lack a series of accepted best practices or at least best practices that are widely known and firmly in place.Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt asked the mayors in the room how many of them had staff manage their social media accounts. A number of hands went up. He next asked how many of them take a personal interest in their social media while also having staff managing it. A roughly equal set of hands went up. Finally, he asked how many mayors do all of their social media themselves. Again, a number of hands went up.Mayor Holt, he told the crowd, manages all three of the social media platforms that represent him himself: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The reason being that he finds it adds a higher level of authenticity. Sometimes, he very politely and very cautiously even corrects misinformation about the city that residents sometimes share online. Holt strongly suggested that mayors across the country do the same.Youd never let your staff put on a mask and run around town giving speeches for you, Holt said. Would you? The United States is "disappointed" by London's decision to approve plans to use technology from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in the country's 5G cellular network, a US official said Tuesday. "There is no safe option for untrusted vendors to control any part of a 5G network," a senior administration official said in a statement to AFP. "The United States is disappointed by the UK's decision." Washington has banned Huawei from the next generation mobile network's rollout because of concerns that the firm could be under the control of Beijing, an allegation it strongly denies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Armed men killed two people in Nassiriya; three more died in the capital, where there were violent clashes for the third consecutive day. Over 500 people have died since the start of the protests in October. The weak condemnation of the international community, inert in the face of violence. Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Violent repression of anti-government protests by police and security forces continues in Iraq, causing at least five victims nationwide in a few days. Armed men killed two demonstrators in Nassiriya yesterday, while in Baghdad there was a fight for streets and squares for the third consecutive day: at least three confirmed victims, following the rocket launch on the US embassy. Diplomatic representations from 16 nations, including the United States, Great Britain and France, have condemned the use of bullets and live ammunition by Iraqi security forces. Foreign ambassadors have asked for credible investigations into the death - according to latest figures - of over 500 demonstrators since last October, when protests began. On January 25, Iraqi authorities launched a massive offensive to try to end the protest, which broke out in the capital and southern cities on October 1. The protesters call for the expulsion of the entire political class, the fight against widespread corruption and free and fair elections. Eyewitnesses say that some armed men, on board four trucks, attacked the heart of the protest in Baghdad, killing two people and setting fire to the tents. In response, the demonstrators started building "permanent" shelters using bricks while others raided a nearby police station, setting fire to five vehicles. The new violence is part of a turbulent context in the country's political and institutional life. On January 24, tens of thousands of people, according to some over a million, took to the streets in response to the appeal of the radical Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr, asking for the expulsion of US troops. A demonstration separate from the anti-government protests that have been going on for months against corruption and bad business. The internal tensions come amid international tensions, in particular the head-on collision between the United States and Iran which is taking place (also) on Iraqi territory. In the capital, protesters threw Molotov cocktails and stones at security forces, who responded by using tear gas and bullets. This revolution is peaceful. They use all kinds of weapons against us, bullets and tear gas. I was wounded in the face, screamed Allawi, a hooded protester who wanted to provide only his name. Protests and clashes have characterized other cities in the south, despite attempts by security forces to clean up the streets and drive out the permanent garrisons of protesters. The government therefore seems willing to use force to end months of demonstrations, while the international community seems to remain inert except for some isolated attempts at condemnation. The whole population - shouted Hussein, a demonstrator in Baghdad - took to the streets to protest the government. We demand that all the ruling class resign and leave. We do not want anyone, neither Moqtada [al-Sadr] nor others for him. In this screengrab taken from a Senate Television webcast, Legal Counsel for President Donald Trump Jay Sekulow speaks during impeachment proceedings against President Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 28, 2020. (Photo by Senate Television via Getty Images) Its Dangerous to Set the Impeachment Bar so Low, Trump Lawyer Argues President Donald Trumps lawyer, in concluding his opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial, said that if the bar for impeachment is set too low, future presidents wont be able to exercise executive power, while addressing allegations reportedly contained in former national security adviser John Boltons book. Danger, danger, danger, Jay Sekulow, Trumps personal attorney, said in front of the Senate. I want to focus today, on my section, on what youre being asked to do. You are being asked to remove a duly-elected president of the United States and youre being asked to do it in an election year, Sekulow said. In an election year, he asserted. Whats more, the current case against Trump, if successful, would permanently damage the executive branchs power as future House majorities could dangle impeachment over future presidents heads. Future presidentsDemocrats and Republicanswill be paralyzed the moment they are elected. Before they can even take the oath of office, he said. The bar for impeachment cannot be set this low. Impeachments cannot be done over policy disagreements or based on unsourced newspaper reports, Sekulow continued. Sekulow said Trumps July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskya key component of the impeachment inquiry against the presidentwas more about foreign policy. You cannot impeach a president on an unsourced allegation, he said, referring to an allegation that is reportedly contained in former national security adviser John Boltons forthcoming book. The New York Times, without quoting any excerpts from the book, reported on Sunday night that Bolton said he was told by Trump about a linkage between a freeze on military aid to Ukraine and investigations into political opponents. Trump has categorically denied the report. Then-national security adviser John Bolton speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington on Jan. 28, 2019. (Holly Kellum/NTD) On Monday, other members of Trumps defense team, which includes former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Trump attorney Eric Herschmann assisted in defending the president in front of the Senate. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Trumps legal defense team would conclude their arguments before dinner. Dershowitz on Monday and Cipollone on Tuesday argued that the two articles of impeachmentabuse of power and obstruction of Congressfall short of any Constitutional standard and set a dangerous precedent. Democrats have alleged Trump withheld military aid to push for investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, a former board member for Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company that was owned by an oligarch who has long been under investigation for corruption and money laundering. Some Republican senators have said they would vote to compel testimony from the Bidens while Democratic senators and some swing-vote Republicans have suggested calling Bolton to testify. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), in a Tuesday morning press conference, pushed back against a suggestion that Bolton should be able to testify in exchange for the Bidens testimony. Cipollone, in his closing opening argument, called on the senators to defend the Constitution and reject the impeachment articles. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has amended a resolution on imposing public service obligations (PSO) on the natural gas market, pegging the price of gas sold by NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy to households and heat suppliers to the Dutch TTF hub quotes. The relevant changes are enshrined in resolution No. 17 dated January 24, 2020, the text of which was posted on the government website on Tuesday morning. "From January 1, 2020, NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy sells/supplies natural gas in accordance with paragraphs 7, 8 and 11 of the Regulation at the prices set by the seller (supplier) and buyer (consumer), but no higher than the level that, in particular, takes into account arithmetic average of the actual prices of natural gas (End of Day) for the next day of gas supply (Day-Ahead and Weekend) at the Dutch TTF gas hub for the period from the first to 22nd days of the month when gas is supplied, according to the Powernext/EEX exchange information, the difference (spread) between the price on the TTF hub and the border of Ukraine, as well as the tariff for gas transmission services to the point of entry to Ukraine on interconnection border with Poland/Slovakia/Hungary," the government said in the document. The Cabinet said that from January 1, 2020, the purchase price of natural gas under PSO cannot be higher than its sale price in accordance with the above conditions, plus the Naftogaz Ukrainy's trade markup at 1.917% of this price. Thus, the price of Naftogaz Ukrainy under PSO will be set on the basis of TTF quotes plus the difference in the price between TTF and the border of Ukraine plus the entrance fee to the Ukrainian gas transmission system plus the trade margin. [January 28, 2020] Leading utility Alectra Inc. invests $5M in Grid4C via its professional services company Util-Assist Inc. to scale its #1 ranked AI-powered energy analytics As part of the deal, Util-Assist will partner with Grid4C to resell and guide development of leading AI solutions MISSISSAUGA, ON, Jan. 28, 2020 /CNW/ - Grid4C, a worldwide leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning solutions for the energy industry, has announced that Util-Assist Inc., a leading professional services and managed services company to North American utilities, has invested $5M USD in Grid4C. As part of the investment, Util-Assist, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alectra Energy Solutions Inc., a branch of the Alectra Inc. family of companies, will resell and develop products built on Grid4C's leading AI solutions. Util-Assist joins previous investors such as ICV, Grid4C's seed investor which has leading utilities in Europe and Asia among its partners, and iAngels, all of which have collectively invested $12.5M USD in the company. Ranked as the #1 Predictive Analytics Solution for Utilities by GTM Research, Grid4C is working with the leading utilities on four continents, delivering billions of predictions for millions of smart meters every day. The company's analytics solutions leverage a prowess in AI and data science to provide utilities with granular predictions and actionable insights for their operations and customer-facing applications. Grid4C's award winning SaaS solutions use smart meter and IoT data to model each meter and endpoint and predict its individual behavior. The models automatically disaggregate and predict usage for appliances behind the meter and are aggregated to deliver predictions for grid assets. By building predictions from the most granular level up, the core technology drives applications ranging from granular load forecasting and distributed energy resources optimization, to the prediction, detection, and diagnostics of faults and inefficiencies for grid assets and home appliances. The company's solutions improve operational planning, reduce peak demand, increase energy savings, deliver new revenue streams, and increase customer engagement. Grid4C is currently working with the leading smart meter vendors to embed its algorithms inside smart meters, at the edge of the grid, where the data is more granular and available in real time. "We are extremely honored to be selected by such a strategic player in the energy industry," said Dr. Noa Ruschin-Rimini, founder and CEO of Grid4C. "This is another sign of the industry's recognition of Grid4C's market-leading AI and machine learning-based software solutions to address both grid-side and consumer-side challenges utilities are facing on a worldwide scale." This investment and partnership with Util-Assist will enable us to offer the market the technological AI edge of Grid4C's solutions, with te leading domain expertise and financial backing of Util-Assist and Alectra Inc." Brian Bentz, president and CEO of Alectra Inc. and chair of the Util-Assist board, also commented on the investment. "We researched AI solution partners that complement our customers' energy management goals, and we believe Grid4C's unique AI and machine learning capabilities will continue to lead the energy industry on a worldwide scale," he said. "Together with Util-Assist's utility domain expertise and digital innovation solutions, this technology will increase energy savings and customer satisfaction, better balance supply and demand, and deliver value-added services to utility customers." This increase in investment provides the capital to extend the global reach of Grid4C's AI solutions. It will also be used to broaden Grid4C's AI capabilities at the grid edge, extend the current product portfolio, and deepen its unique AI capabilities as more IoT data becomes available. About Grid4C Selected as a leader in AI solutions for utilities by market research firms such as Greentech Media and Navigant Research, Grid4C empowers energy providers and consumers by enabling the power to foresee, leveraging advanced AI and machine learning capabilities to deliver accurate, granular predictions, which are crucial for tackling the rising challenges of today's energy industry. Grid4C's award-winning plug-and-play solutions analyze the massive amounts of sub-hourly data collected from millions of smart meters and IoT data, and together with customer data, pricing information and more, delivers new revenue streams, enhances customer value, improves the efficiency of energy operations, and maximizes profit. Its portfolio consists of Predictive Home Advisor, which includes non-intrusive household appliance fault detection and load disaggregation capabilities, Predictive Operational Analytics, enabling better decisions for coordination of DERs with meter, sub-meter, and asset-level forecasting, Predictive Customer Analytics, which predicts adoption of new rate plans and utility programs, and more. For more information, please visit www.grid4c.com About Util-Assist Inc. Util-Assist is a recognized innovator in technology and data-driven solutions for utilities. Util-Assist's solutions merge technology with strategy to streamline processes, boost productivity, enable data-driven business decisions, and deliver enhanced customer experiences, transforming how utilities operate and deliver value to their customers. With professional services and managed services for electric water, and gas, utilities rely on us to help them drive digital innovation that shapes the utility of the future. Util-Assist is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alectra Energy Solutions Inc. which is a branch of the Alectra Utilities family of companies. For more information, please visit www.util-assist.com About Alectra Inc. Alectra's family of energy companies distributes electricity to nearly one million customers in Ontario's Greater Golden Horseshoe Area and provides innovative energy solution to these and thousands more across Ontario. The Alectra family of companies includes Alectra Inc., Alectra Utilities Corporation and Alectra Energy Solutions Inc. For more information, please visit www.alectra.com About ICV Established in 2006, ICV invests in seed and early stage companies leveraging technology and business model innovation to deliver disruptive efficiencies to global markets. ICV manages more than $225M across three funds and has completed more than 25 investments. ICV funds are backed by leading institutional investors, multinational corporations and family offices in Europe, the US, Asia and Israel. For more information, please visit www.icv.vc. About iAngels Founded in 2014 by Shelly Hod Moyal and Mor Assia, iAngels is a women-led venture capital firm and investment platform. iAngels offers accredited investors worldwide exclusive access to tech startups and scaleup investment opportunities originated in Israel and curated through a streamlined due-diligence process. Through iAngels' various investment offerings, investors can choose to invest in specific startups, create a personalized VC portfolio of tech companies or join our iNgenuity Fund, partnering with some of the highest caliber entrepreneurs in the nation. With over $200 million AUM, iAngels is one of the most active investors in the Israeli tech ecosystem. As leading investors in emerging technology, iAngels searches for innovative solutions in existing industries and top-tier entrepreneurs, with a focus on opportunities where both the global impact and returns are high. SOURCE Alectra Utilities Corporation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The BJP on Tuesday protested over the death of a Dalit man in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district and alleged the Kamal Nath government in the state was adopting a policy of minority appeasement. Dhanprasad Ahirwar (24) was doused with kerosene in Dharmshri Colony, some 170 kilometres from here, on January 14 allegedly by four people who wanted him to take back a police complaint. All four, identified as Chhuttu, Ajju Pathan, Kallu and Irfan, were arrested. Ahirwar, who sustained 70 percent burns, was initially treated in Sagar, then shifted to a hospital in Bhopal, and later air-lifted to a facility in New Delhi where he succumbed on January 23. Addressing a protest rally here, former chief minister and senior BJP leader Shivarj Singh Chouhan said a mob of 20- 25 people had set Ahirwar on fire. "These persons also wanted to kill Ahirwar in 2019 but police did not take action. It was the government's duty to arrest the accused but it did not touch them because they belong to a minority community. The voice of a poor Dalit was not heard," Chouhan alleged. He said crimes against Dalits were rising in MP under the Kamal Nath dispensation and the party's high command, comprising Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi would have to answer. He asked if the Gandhi family would come to Sagar to meet the kin of the deceased. State BJP chief Rakesh Singh said Ahirwar had approached police three times claiming that his life was in danger but the police did nothing. He said the state government should give Rs 25 lakh as compensation to Ahirwar's family as well as a job. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Subscriber content preview The project is part of a larger plan to revamp the site of the former Ketchikan Pulp Mill into a welcoming center, museum and shopping attraction. KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for a cruise ship dock in southeast Alaska, but the dock's opening date is unclear, agency officials said. The permit was issued last Tuesday for the 1,300-foot, two-berth cruise ship dock in Ward Cove, about 300 miles south of Juneau, Ketchikan Daily News reported Thursday. . . . Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants Indias envoys to foreign nations to focus more on international trade which , he believes, is an intrinsic and crucial part of the countrys diplomatic outreach. In a meeting with his ministers and bureaucrats earlier this month, the Prime Minister also spoke about how diplomats posted in foreign countries can try to boost inflow of tourists and technology from foreign shores to the country. Modis focus on the three Ts, trade tourism and technology comes at a time when New Delhi has drastically improved its ease of doing business and opened up more avenues for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). The government, which is also dealing with an economic slowdown , is keen to attract investment to push growth. According to an official present in the meeting, which took place on January 17, there was also a discussion about greater synergy and cooperation between the external affairs ministry and ministries which have international exposure -- trade, finance, and defence, for instance. Currently, ministries such as finance and defence have a permanent post allocated to foreign service officers. According to official data available till FY 18-19, India has exported goods worth USD 52,458.60 to USA, its largest export destination, followed by UAE (USD 30,077.70). Apart from China, Hong Kong and Singapore, Indian exports have not reached USD 10,000 in other countries. During the meeting, Modi spoke about leveraging diplomatic resources more to boost trade. According to a senior bureaucrat who was present at the meeting, the PM even suggested that the external affairs ministry could perhaps work with state governments, and help them find markets for exporters whose factories or facilities are based in their states. The Prime Minister also stressed on the need for better cooperation between the Centre and the states to boost trade and economy and pointed out how Gujarat faced apathy of the then UPA government in economic and trade developments. Modis comments assume significance as the NDA government last month announced sops for exporters. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a World Trade Organisation (WTO)-compliant plan to reimburse taxes paid on exports -- the Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) effective from January 2020. It would replace the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). The government will also contribute Rs 1,700 crore to offer higher insurance cover to banks for lending working capital for exports. The Prime Minister also spoke about the need to bring foreign tourists and technology to India. According to data from the tourism ministry, arrival of foreign tourists grew by 3.2 % between January and November 2019. Last year, the government took a host of measures including reduction in GST in luxury hotel rooms and e-visa fees to lure tourists. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Karachi: A 24-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly abducted by armed assailants from her wedding venue in Pakistan's Sindh province and forcefully converted to Islam before being married off to a Muslim man, community members said, in the latest such incident in the country. Sindh Minister for Minorities Affairs, Hari Ram Kishori, on Tuesday took cognisance of the incident, which took place last week in Hala town of Matiari district in Sindh province, and asked for a police report. The All Pakistan Hindu Council (APHC) on Sunday said Bharti Bai was abducted from her wedding ceremony last week and then married off to a Muslim man, named Shahruk Gul, after forcibly converting her to Islam. Bharti is of 24 years, her father Kishore Das said. According to local media reports, the girl was abducted by armed men, some of whom were in police uniforms. Meanwhile, Gul has posted pictures of documents on social media showing that Bharti was converted to Islam in December 2019 and had taken the name Bushra. According to documents, her conversion took place at the Jamiat-ul-Uloom Islamia in Banori town. Police are investigating whether the girl travelled to Karachi around the dates mentioned in the certificate. Hindus, which comprised approximately 2 per cent of Pakistan's population, are mainly concentrated in Sindh province. There have been periodic reports of their forced conversion to Islam. Earlier this month, a 15-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly abducted from Jacobabad district in Sindh and forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man. The girl was later sent to a women protection centre following a court order. In a similar incident, two Hindu minor girls were reportedly abducted from a village in Sindh province on January 14. India has expressed its concern over the abduction of minor Hindu girls in Pakistan. A senior official of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi was summoned on January 17 to lodge a strong protest over the recent cases of abduction of minor girls belonging to the Hindu community in Pakistan. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Sept. 30, 2019. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) White House Officials Challenge Leaked Details From Bolton Book Top White House officials, including Attorney General William Barr, challenged details that were leaked from an upcoming book from former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who was ousted last year. Bolton allegedly told Barr he was worried that President Donald Trump was granting favors to the leaders of China and Turkey, an anonymously sourced report in The New York Times claimed. Bolton reportedly claimed that Barr responded that he was also concerned. The conversation didnt go as Bolton described, the Department of Justice said. There was no discussion of personal favors or undue influence on investigations, nor did Attorney General Barr state that the presidents conversations with foreign leaders was improper, department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement late Monday. If this is truly what Mr. Bolton has written, then it seems he is attributing to Attorney General Barr his own current viewsviews with which Attorney General Barr does not agree. Attorney General William Barr speaks at a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 13, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) A lawyer for acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney also challenged claims that are apparently part of Boltons manuscript. The book reportedly alleged that Mulvaney was present when Trump spoke with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, about former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who was fired last year. No excerpts from the book were published by any of the outlets that reported on leaked details. John Bolton never informed Mick Mulvaney of any concerns surrounding Boltons purported August conversation with the president, Mulvaneys lawyer, Bob Driscoll, said in a statement. Nor did Mr. Mulvaney ever have a conversation with the president or anyone else indicating that Ukrainian military aid was withheld in exchange for a Ukrainian investigation of Burisma, the Bidens, or the 2016 election. Furthermore, Mr. Mulvaney has no recollection of any conversation with Mr. [Rudy] Giuliani resembling that reportedly described in Mr. Boltons manuscript, as it was Mr. Mulvaneys practice to excuse himself from conversations between the president and his personal counsel to preserve any attorney-client privilege, the statement said. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as National Security Adviser John Bolton listens in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Aug. 20, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) The statements came after Trump took to Twitter to rebut a Bolton allegation, writing: NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book, Trump added. Bolton hasnt denied the leaked details from his book but did deny coordinating with media outlets. An Amazon page that enabled pre-orders of the book, which will be published in March, went live just hours after the first story about book details. Ambassador John Bolton, Simon & Schuster, and Javelin Literary categorically state that there was absolutely no coordination with The New York Times or anyone else regarding the appearance of information about his book, THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED, at online booksellers. Any assertion to the contrary is unfounded speculation, a spokesperson for Bolton said in a statement. Vice President Mike Pences office, meanwhile, also rebutted allegations that were recently floated. Pence wasnt aware of any link between pausing congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine and Trump asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into corruption allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and Bidens son, Hunter, the office said. Vice President Mike Pence (L) speaks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Jan. 24, 2020. (Alessandro Di Meo/AFP via Getty Images) As a matter of policy we dont typically share or discuss conversations between the president and vice president, but given the journalistic fury over alleged conversations, the president has given me permission to set the record straight, Pences spokesman Marc Short said in a statement. In every conversation with the president and the vice president in preparation for our trip to Poland, the president consistently expressed his frustration that the United States was bearing the lions share of responsibility for aid to Ukraine and that European nations werent doing their part. The president also expressed concerns about corruption in Ukraine. At no time did I hear him tie aid to Ukraine to investigations into the Biden family or Burisma, the statement added. The corruption and burden sharing issues were the only ones that Pence discussed with Ukrainian officials, because thats what the president asked him to raise, Short said. Lev Parnas, a former associate of Giuliani, has claimed that Pence was told to go to Poland to meet with Zelensky in September 2019 to pressure Ukrainian leaders to investigate the Bidens. Parnas, who was indicted for campaign finance fraud last year, didnt provide evidence for the claim. Andy Stanley talks politics ahead of 2020 election; 4 interesting takeaways Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment North Point Community Church Senior Pastor Andy Stanley recently preached a sermon series centered on how Christians should handle politics and political differences, in advance of the 2020 presidential election. I have found it very difficult to stay away from the topic of religion in church, explained Stanley during the first part of the series. But I have found it very easy to stay away from the topic of politics in church. Stanley noted that he felt obligated to preach on this issue in part because his church was becoming more and more diverse and thus was set up to be divided because of what were about to experience within the next few months. Nothing divides like politics because nothing divides like fear, said Stanley, recalling concerns he heard right after the 2016 presidential election. Titled Talking Points: The Perfect Blend of Politics & Religion, the three-part sermon series was preached over the course of three Sundays in January. Here are four important points made during Stanleys sermon series on how American Christians should handle political differences during the 2020 election season. 1 2 3 4 5 Next Actor Pooja Bhatt on Monday said dissent is the greatest form of patriotism and asserted that students protesting against the CAA-NRC acts are giving the message that the ruling party has actually united us. Bhatt was among a host of noted personalties who spoke at a conference organised in the backdrop of the ongoing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). The event in Colaba, south Mumbai, was organised by the Parcham Foundation and We the People of Maharashtra. Speakers later submitted a memorandum to government representatives, seeking to know the stand of state authorities on the CAA-NRC-NPR within 30 days. Watch | I dont support CAA & NRC as it divides my house: Pooja Bhatt Also read: Pooja Bhatt says shes 3 years sober, opens up on battle with alcoholism: Kal kisne dekha Bhatt said "Our silence will not save us and neither will the government's. The ruling party has actually united us. Students (protesting against CAA-NRC) are giving us the message that it's time to raise our voices. We will not stop until we are heard loud and clear. Dissent is the greatest form of patriotism." The aim of the conference was to discuss the need to preserve and safeguard the values of the Constitution and educate the masses about them, its organisers said. Bhatt added, according to ANI, I implore our leaders to listen to the voices that have risen in the country. The women in India, at Shaheen Bagh and Lucknow... Well not stop until we are heard loud and clear. Id implore people to speak up more. I dont support CAA & NRC as it divides my house. Follow @htshowbiz for more Ahead of the 2020 Academy Awards, Vulture is revisiting the endings of this year's Best Picture nominees. Its a typical World War I battle scene, but flipped 90 degrees. Photo: Universal Pictures When it comes to 20th-century military conflicts, theres no question which one Hollywood prefers. Cinematically, World War II has everything: dramatic battles, dastardly villains, a pivotal role played by the United States, and ultimately, a resounding victory for the good guys. Its predecessor has proven a tougher subject for movies to crack, especially American ones. (For the British, it occupies a more prominent place in the collective historical memory.) We remember World War I as a military stalemate that exemplified the utter meaninglessness of war, and while the day-to-day drudgery and existential despair of life in the trenches inspired plenty of lasting poetry and literature, it doesnt necessarily lend itself to blockbusters. What grabs modern audiences about the conflict is either the gross stuff Dan Carlins Hardcore Histories podcast dives deep into the disgusting sights, smells, and sensations of the Western Front or the sense of grand tragedy. When they do show up onscreen, World War I battles traditionally share a similar pattern: Our heroes climb out a trench, run a pitifully short distance, then get machine-gunned to death. Think of the famous ending of the BBCs Blackadder Goes Forth, in which Rowan Atkinson and company go over the top, their grim fates elided with a dissolve to a field of poppies: Or the heartbreaking conclusion to Peter Weirs Gallipoli, which follows Australian troops in the wars Middle Eastern theater: More recently, Steven Spielbergs War Horse gave us both a doomed cavalry charge and a doomed infantry charge. Even Wonder Woman barely makes it five feet before being struck by a German bullet that would have been fatal for a non-superhero: In other words, if youre making a World War I movie that doesnt end with your heroes dead or grievously wounded, youd better have a good explanation. These depressing depictions are in keeping with what became the dominant historical narrative of the First World War in Britain and the U.S., which painted the troops on the ground as victims of their own generals, idiots who senselessly sent their men into a meat grinder. However, this view has come in for reappraisal as military historians like Brian Bond argue that, contrary to popular belief, the war as a whole was necessary and successful (though that wider lens in turn has been critiqued for erasing the experience of those who actually served). With the Great War recently celebrating its centenary, projects like Peter Jacksons They Shall Not Grow Old have attempted to sidestep these historical debates by concentrating solely on the day-to-day experiences of the men in the trenches, avoiding making any wider claims about what, if anything, the war itself meant. Into this fraught landscape steps Sam Mendess 1917, which is trying to accomplish that rarest of feats: telling a feel-good World War I story. The director based his film on the memories of his grandfather, who served as a messenger on the Western Front, and that family connection seems to have left him determined to present a version of the war where an individual soldier could still act heroically, rather than simply be a lamb for the slaughter. Other people have made that movie, the blood and guts, the movies Oscar-nominated production designer Dennis Gassner told me earlier this month. This wasnt that. This is a story about integrity, the willingness to do anything even in the harshest conditions. Mendes has spoken of the film as a tribute to those who made it back home, which requires him to pull off the tonal balancing act of reclaiming the war as an arena for nobility and sacrifice, while not glorifying the conflict itself. Never is that tension more clear than in the films conclusive action setpiece, which is tasked with giving viewers a happy ending in a conflict that offered few uncomplicated victories. 1917 follows two British soldiers, Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Schofield (George MacKay), who are handed the perilous task of traversing no-mans-land to deliver a message to another regiment calling off their attack. (Though the plot is fiction, the German withdrawal that acts as the inciting incident actually happened.) The films first act supplies many of the genre tropes weve come to associate with the First World War. Blake is a cheerful naif who still hopes to be home by Christmas, while Schofield has the thousand-yard stare of a shell-shocked Somme veteran. They navigate trench networks that have evolved into a microcosm of society, and the dialogue covers familiar territory: unclear orders, no supplies, thousands of men dying to gain a single inch. An officer on the front line (played by Fleabags Andrew Scott, in the films best performance) has been so numbed by constant fire that he no longer knows what day it is. Once Blake and Schofield go over the top, the no-mans-land sequence is a horror show, as the men must trace a path past a dead horse, plentiful corpses, and massive craters that scar the landscape. In 1917s purest gross-out moment, Schofield accidentally plunges his bloody hand into the open stomach of a dead soldier. After they cross through the German trenches a sequence that starts with the men staring at bags of shit and only gets more harrowing from there Blake and Schofield arrive in the open countryside. Its a view not often seen in World War I movies, which rarely venture beyond the trenches, and it provides an opportunity for the film to slow down and relax. The soldiers get into a debate about whether theres any meaning to be found in the war. Blake, who, true to his name, is the romantic of the pair, has learned that Schofield traded his Somme medal for a bottle of wine, and berates him. You should have taken it home, Blake says. You should have given it to your family. Men have died for that. If Id got a medal Id take it back home. Why didnt you take it home? Schofield disagrees, with the bitterness of a war poet: Look, its just a bit of bloody tin. It doesnt make you special. It doesnt make any difference to anyone. Subsequent events seem to prove Schofield correct: Blake is stabbed by a German pilot whose life hed just saved, and his prolonged, pitiful death carries no meaning and no glory. But as Schofield continues on alone, the sheer difficulty of the obstacles he faces spurs him to carry on. Hes shot by an enemy sniper, and only narrowly survives. He stumbles upon a German sentry, and kills the lad in close combat. Like Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, he evades his pursuers by jumping into a river, at which point he goes over a waterfall and nearly drowns. Mendes gives Schofield plentiful opportunities to give up including one slightly eye-rolling sequence with a young woman and a baby but he never does. Its an abstract, existential view of the Great War: The struggle itself is what gives the experience meaning. Then, in the films closing sequence, Mendes takes the tropes of trench warfare and twists them 90 degrees. Schofield has finally made it to the regiment he needs to find, only to discover that their attack has already begun. He tries to push his way through a crowded trench while Dunkirk was a movie about standing in line, 1917 is a movie about cutting in line but its no use. He wont be able to deliver the message, and hundreds of men will die as a result. Unless he takes a shortcut. As the music swells, Schofield decides to go over the top a second time, a sequence that encapsulates both Mendess creative revisionism, as well as the sheer scale of his technical undertaking. (The scene features 50 stuntmen and 450 extras.) Unlike most onscreen World War I battles, Schofield is not charging out toward the German lines; hes sprinting across, parallel to the trench. Thematically, too, the final run flips what were used to seeing. Our hero is not heading toward the enemy and certain death; hes going back to his own men, to redemption. In a sequence that has traditionally been cinematic shorthand for futility, Mendes goes for hope. But the film is also careful not to turn this individual triumph into a wider victory. Having defied death by going over the top, Schofield gains his reward: an audience with the officer in charge of the advance (Benedict Cumberbatch). Weve been set up to see this character as a villain, but the movie gives us something more complicated. This one is just as worn down as his men; the folly of his attack was born out of the hope that this time, things would be different. (With one notable exception, the much-maligned officer class gets a sympathetic treatment in 1917.) Zoom out, and the movies happy ending is not very happy at all. Yes, a massacre has been averted, but the bloody stasis endures. Viewers know the war will continue for another year and a half. 1917 begins with Schofield dozing under a tree, before hes awoken by Blake, and the two men go to meet the general who gives them their mission. The films conclusion offers a mirror of this structure possibly one reason the film scored that surprise Screenplay nod. Next, Schofields arc with Blake comes full circle, as well. Having completed his perilous journey, Schofield searches the casualty tent for Blakes older brother. After informing the brother of Blakes death, Schofield hands over his effects to be returned to his family. These mementos are not meaningless, after all. The magnitude of his efforts has brought Schofield around to Blakes way of thinking. (The bookend effect of these closing scenes is also enhanced by the films casting. The two commanders are played by Cumberbatch and Colin Firth, British heartthrobs of two different generations; Blakes brother is played by Richard Madden, who acted with Dean-Charles Chapman on Game of Thrones.) Finally, the film ends just as it began, with Schofield enjoying a moment of rest under a tree. This time, hes alone, but not really: He pulls out a photograph, revealing for the first time that hes been carrying around a memento of the wife and children waiting at home. Theres an inscription on the back: Come back to us. Finally, the sun rises, and the film fades to black with a dedication to Mendess grandfather, who told us the stories. This closing moment of catharsis encapsulates all thats proven divisive about 1917. While the film has received generally positive reviews, its also received a few high-profile dissents from the likes of Richard Brody, Manohla Dargis, and our own Alison Willmore, all of whom have taken issue with the film turning the industrial bloodbath of the Western Front into a celebration of individual perseverance. Of course, sending viewers out on such an emotional high note is also whats made 1917 our presumptive Oscars front-runner, as the film been hitting voters hearts in a way that its predecessors havent. And if the film takes home Best Picture over Parasite in two weeks time, you can bet that this debate will only intensify. After all, theres no such thing as an uncomplicated victory. NEW HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN), a clinicalstage biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative, latestage product candidates targeting neurological diseases, including rare disorders, today announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of $250 million of its common shares. All of the common shares to be sold in the offering will be offered by Biohaven. In addition, Biohaven expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $37.5 million of common shares at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or the actual size or terms of the offering. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is acting as the book-running manager of the offering. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, copies of which, when available, may be obtained from the offices of Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: 1866-471-2526, facsimile: 212-902-9316 or by emailing [email protected]. The shares will be issued pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3. Before investing in the offering, interested parties should read the prospectus and related prospectus supplement for this offering, the documents incorporated by reference therein and the other documents Biohaven has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the applicable securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. Contact Dr. Vlad Coric Chief Executive Officer Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. Phone: (203) 404-0410 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. Part of what were trying to do is honor the beauty of Mexican music and honor the Mexican-American culture thats right here in Chicago, right around our neighbors and our neighborhoods, said Miller, who lives in Downers Grove. Were not just importing music from Mexico to sing in our concert, were celebrating Mexican-American culture, which is all around us. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 Trend: The 90th anniversary of SOCAR's First Vice-president, academician Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh a living legend of Azerbaijans petroleum industry who has made a significant contribution to the development of this sphere was widely celebrated at Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS). A ceremonial event dedicated to this anniversary was held in the congress hall of Baku Higher Oil School. The event was attended by SOCAR and BHOS leaderships, prominent scientists and public members. Speaking at the event, Rector of Baku Higher Oil School Elmar Gasimov noted that the huge contribution made by Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh to the successful implementation of the new oil strategy of independent Azerbaijan, as well as his rich experience serve as an example for all oil workers. The merits of academician Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh were recognized at the highest level. The 90th anniversary of the academician was solemnly celebrated at the state level in accordance with the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh was awarded the Heydar Aliyev Order for his merits to the country. He has made an invaluable contribution to the exploration and development of rich oil and gas fields in our country, development of the oil industry and oil science, the successful implementation of large-scale geologic exploration activities in the Caspian Sea. Under his leadership and with his direct participation, 20 oil and gas condensate fields were discovered, including such fields as Bahar, Gunashli, Azeri, Chirag, Kapaz and others. In addition, as a scientist, Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh, who is known as the author of about 200 works, 18 monographs and 8 inventions included in the gold fund of the oil science of Azerbaijan, has made an invaluable contribution to the resolution of pressing problems of the petroleum industry, development of oil and gas geology, field development and the improvement of geophysical research methods. And today, Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh continues working as a scientist and specialist in the oil industry, the rector said. Then, Elmar Gasimov presented a diploma of the Honorary Professor of Baku Higher Oil School to Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh in accordance with the decision of the BHOS Academic Council to confer the title of Honorary Professor of Baku Higher Oil School to academician Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh for his contribution to the development of the petroleum industry, science and education in Azerbaijan. After that, SOCARs Vice-president on Human Resources, Regime and Information Technologies Khalik Mammadov told the gathering about the historically significant achievements of academician Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh and shared his impressions of him as a colleague. While working with Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh, I witnessed how highly foreign experts regarded his opinion and how attentively and with great respect they listened to his advice and recommendations. Thanks to his efforts, large-scale exploration works, which have been carried out jointly with partner companies in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea over the past 25 years, have always been crowned with success. Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh is still marching at the forefront of the glorious army of oil workers. He tirelessly works on the development of the petroleum industry of Azerbaijan and, as one of SOCARs leaders, continues to make a significant contribution to the economic prosperity of the country. We believe that, thanks to his inexhaustible energy and exceptional industriousness, our dear academician Khoshbakht Yusifzade will continue to work for many years in the name of a bright future for our people, taking a direct part in the development of our company,Khalik Mammadov said. Among the speakers at the event were Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev, First Vice President of ANAS, Academician Ibrahim Guliyev, Deputy Minister of Education Idris Isayev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalaf Khalafov, Deputy Chairman of the Milli Majlis, MP Valeh Aleskerov, Deputy Minister of Energy Elnur Soltanov, BP Vice President for Exploration Greg Riley, Rector of Azerbaijan State Economic University Adalat Muradov, Rector of Azerbaijan Technical University Vilayat Veliyev. In their speeches, the speakers noted that academician Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh is a well-known oil expert not only in Azerbaijan, but also abroad. They also emphasized that national leader Heydar Aliyev and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev deeply respected Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh not only as a specialist well-known in Azerbaijan and in the post-Soviet space, but also as an internationally recognized expert. Fourth-year student of the Process Automation Engineering Department of BHOS Nargiz Huseynova performed a poem dedicated to Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh. After the speeches, a film was shown about academician Khoshbakht Yusifzadehs activities. At the end of the event, the academician expressed gratitude to the organizers and participants of the jubilee. Talking about interesting moments of his life and work, Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh noted the strong support, respect and care shown to him by the national leader Heydar Aliyev and his worthy successor, President Ilham Aliyev. Rector Elmar Gasimov presented academician Khoshbakht Yusifzade with his portrait, painted by the famous artist Tair Efendiyev with oil colors on canvas. UPDATE TUESDAY: Suspected N.J. coronavirus patient tests negative New Jersey health officials are investigating a possible case of coronavirus, the deadly virus responsible for an outbreak in China that has spread to more than a dozen countries. The state Department of Health told NJ Advance Media on Monday that testing is being conducted to determine if the unidentified person has the novel coronavirus. Test results are pending from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No further details on the patient have been released. Meanwhile, U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker are continuing to demand answers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about its response to the outbreak and the steps the agency is taking to ensure public safety, according to a statement issued Monday. We write to express concern about the rapidly evolving 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), to urge your continued robust and scientifically driven response to the situation, and to assess whether any additional resources or action by Congress are needed at this time, the senators wrote in joint statement to Alex Azar, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A quick and effective response to the 2019-nCoV requires public health officials around the world to work together to share reliable information about the disease and insight into steps taken to prevent, diagnose and treat it appropriately. The outbreak of the new coronavirus is intensifying, with the death toll reaching 106 in China where the outbreak began and thousands more infected. There have been five confirmed cases in the U.S.: a man in Washington State; a woman in Chicago; a patient in Los Angeles County, California; a man in Orange County, California; and a patient in Arizona. More than 100 additional people in 26 states are being tested for the disease. New Jersey health officials had been investigating another suspected case in the state late last week a woman in her mid-20s who was ultimately cleared by doctors after being taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. There is also a suspected case in Philadelphia involving an exchange student from China. Test results remain pending in that case. James Garrow, spokesman for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said in an email that it was notified Friday night that an exchange student being hosted at William Penn Charter School might have coronavirus. Montgomery County (where the student presented for care) submitted a sample to the State for confirmatory testing," Garrow said. "We (the state, us and Montgomery County) have not received the results yet. We were told that it would take days to get those results back. Cases have been reported in at least 16 countries, according to the CDC. In China, cases have been mounting, with more than 4,500 confirmed so far, roughly half of which are clustered in the central Chinese province of Hubei. Its believed that the new form of the coronavirus spread from a seafood market in Wuhan, where live animals are often sold in close contact with others, like dogs, hares, raccoons and civets. The market was shut down Jan. 1. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Advertisement China's deadly coronavirus outbreak will carry on for at least another six months and infect tens of thousands of people at a minimum, according to scientists. The Wuhan coronavirus is now confirmed to have infected at least 4,500 people around the world and to have killed 106 in China. Germany, Sri Lanka and Cambodia yesterday became the latest countries to declare cases. Now a report written by an expert at the University of Toronto has said the 'best case scenario' is that the outbreak dies down after summer this year. With almost 5,000 cases confirmed already in January, this could mean another 25,000 cases if the infection continues to spread at the same rate. Experts, however, believe there have already been at least that many cases in China and some predict up to 40,000. The prediction comes as other researchers say they are at least two months away from trialling a vaccine against the coronavirus. By that time, hundreds more could have died and numerous other countries been infected. Today's coronavirus developments include: India is preparing to evacuate all willing citizens from the Hubei citizen, of which Wuhan is capital Russia has closed its border with China in the east, in the regions of Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Khabarovsk and Amur Hong Kong will halve the number of flights to mainland China and stop its high-speed rail service and ferries. It has urged citizens to return home from the mainland and stay at home for 14 days Japan has declared a case of coronavirus in a man who didn't travel to Wuhan but met visitors from the city More than 500,000 South Koreans have signed a petition calling for travellers from China to be turned away at the border Japan, South Korea and France have all planned charter flights to pull their citizens out of Wuhan later this week World Health Organisation chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was happy with China's efforts to contain the outbreak after visiting with politicians in Beijing yesterday. He urged the world to stay calm More than 4,500 people around the world are now confirmed to have caught the coronavirus and 106 people have died, all of them in China. Germany, Sri Lanka and Cambodia yesterday became the latest countries to declare infections Thai Airways employees are pictured disinfecting an empty plane cabin at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok today, January 28. Thailand has 14 confirmed coronavirus cases the most outside of China Passengers arriving at Nanjing Railway Station in China have their temperatures checked by staff who are looking to see if anyone has a high fever, a sign of infection Security guards stand beside a disaster relief tent in Hunan province, near the border of Hubei where Wuhan is the capital. Photographed today, January 28 Traffic queues at a checkpoint outside the city of Yueyang in the Hunan province where police and government staff check travellers for illness SCIENTISTS 'TWO MONTHS AWAY' FROM HUMAN VACCINE TRIAL A scientist in the UK claims a coronavirus vaccine she is developing could be tested on humans in two months' time. Dr Kate Broderick, from Inovio Pharmaceuticals in Pennsylvania, US, thinks her team is the closest to developing a vaccine to protect against the Wuhan coronavirus, The Times reports. They are testing the jab, named INO-4800, on animals this week and hope to start human trials in eight weeks' time. Dr Broderick and colleagues have been working on the vaccine since the outbreak was announced on December 31, and they won a $9million (6.9m) research grant from a funding program backed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. They used information about the genetic code of the coronavirus, which was shared by China, to try and develop a vaccine which they knew would destroy the virus. The team believe the vaccine could be 90 per cent effective. If they're right, they will try to get emergency approval from the US's Food & Drug Administration. Advertisement Toronto scientist Professor David Fisman, who wrote a report for the International Society for Infectious Diseases, said: 'The best case scenario, you would have something... where we go through the spring into the summer, and then it dies down.' Physicist Alessandro Vespignani, from Northeastern University in Boston, added: 'It's not something that's going to end in the next week or the next month.' The outbreak situation appears to be getting rapidly worse both in China and internationally. At least 4,500 people are infected in China and the official figures are believed to only be the tip of the iceberg. Hospitals in Wuhan have been overwhelmed for more than a week and two more are under rapid construction. People are fast losing the ability to move around or leave China, with many areas putting public transport restrictions in place and stopping flights. Those travelling from Wuhan are likely to be turned away at their destination. Elsewhere in the world, 17 countries and territories outside of mainland China have declared the coronavirus infection has spread there. Germany is the latest country to admit someone there has been infected, along with Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, France, Nepal, Vietnam, Singapore, the US, South Korea, Japan and Thailand. The Chinese territories Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau are all also treating coronavirus patients. Experts expect the illness to continue to spread around the world. Hong Kong today announced it was taking extraordinary steps to try and stop any more people bringing the coronavirus into the city, which is technically part of China but has its own government. Carrie Lam, the city's chief executive, gave an announcement today while wearing a face mask. She said the number of flights to the mainland would be cut in half, and the high-speed trains and ferries would stop. She also advised Hong Kong citizens currently in mainland China to return home and isolate themselves at home for two weeks. Chinese people will no longer be allowed holiday visas to enter the city. Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam, gave a press conference today while wearing a face mask and announced drastic travel restrictions between the city and mainland China The US Government is planning to send a private chartered plane into crisis-hit Wuhan to retrieve up to 240 citizens later this week Children in Cambodia, which confirmed its first case of coronavirus yesterday, are now wearing face masks at school to stop the virus spreading. Schools in China are still closed Many roads in China are being closely monitored if not closed by the authorities to stop people transporting the coronavirus around the country. Pictured today, January 28, a man is screened by officials at a checkpoint at the city of Yueyang, Hunan A China Eastern check-in desk at Incheon International Airport in South Korea is pictured deserted today, January 28. Normally, the Lunar New Year period sees millions of people travel around the Far East to visit family Men in face masks stand guard at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka the country declared its first coronavirus case yesterday CORONAVIRUS: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR What is this virus? The virus has been identified as a new type of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of pathogens, most of which cause mild respiratory infections such as the common cold. But coronaviruses can also be deadly. SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is caused by a coronavirus and killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in the early 2000s. Can it kill? Yes. Eighty-one people have so far died after testing positive for the virus. What are the symptoms? Its symptoms are typically a fever, cough and trouble breathing, but some patients have developed pneumonia, a potentially life-threatening infection that causes inflammation of the small air sacs in the lungs. People carrying the novel coronavirus may only have mild symptoms, such as a sore throat. They may assume they have a common cold and not seek medical attention, experts fear. How is it detected? The virus's genetic sequencing was released by scientists in China to the rest of the world to enable other countries to quickly diagnose potential new cases. This helps other countries respond quickly to disease outbreaks. To contain the virus, airports are detecting infected people with temperature checks. But as with every virus, it has an incubation period, meaning detection is not always possible because symptoms have not appeared yet. How did it start and spread? The first cases identified were among people connected to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan. Cases have since been identified elsewhere which could have been spread through human-to-human transmission. What are countries doing to prevent the spread? Countries in Asia have stepped up airport surveillance. They include Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. Australia and the US are also screening patients for a high temperature, and the UK announced it will screen passengers returning from Wuhan. Is it similar to anything we've ever seen before? Experts have compared it to the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The epidemic started in southern China and killed more than 700 people in mainland China, Hong Kong and elsewhere SCROLL DOWN TO SEE MAILONLINE'S FULL Q&A ON THE CORONAVIRUS Advertisement Scientists cannot predict the true course of the disease and are only able to use mathematical models to compare the current number of cases to past outbreaks of similar diseases, such as SARS. But because new information is appearing all the time, these estimates change as their understanding of the disease develops. Until the past weekend, researchers thought that infected people were not contagious until they got symptoms such as fever, coughing or pneumonia. But Chinese authorities said on Sunday they had established the opposite. There is also growing evidence that people can infect others without knowing they're ill and there are 'super-spreaders' who pass the coronavirus on to multiple people. In recent days experts around the world have been trying to work out how many people each infected person contaminates, and have come up with figures between 1.4 and 3.8. This makes the Wuhan coronavirus more infectious than the flu, which has a basic reproduction number of 1.3. Whereas SARS, a coronavirus similar to this one which resulted in 8,000 cases and 774 deaths in China in 2002 and 2003, had a reproduction rate of between two and five. For measles the figure is 12 to 18. Quarantines and isolation measures, systematic hand washing and masks could help drive down the average number of infected people. If the rate falls below one, the epidemic will die down as it becomes unable to sustain itself. But the effect of the control measures China has implemented won't be felt for another week or two, researchers say, based on the virus's cycle. 'The more we learn about it, the more it looks like SARS,' said Professor Fisman. 'SARS was controllable; hopefully this will be too. But we won't know for a few weeks. 'It's going to be many weeks, probably months, and nobody knows where this will go.' The actual number of Chinese cases, including those not yet detected, is likely to be more than 25,000, said Professor Vespignani, according to the analysis of the group coordinated by Northeastern. And researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) estimate the number of actual cases has currently passed 40,000. 'It's easy to get to twice or three times as much, even just in the city of Wuhan,' the virus's epicenter, said Professor Vespignani. 'If we start to have other larger areas affected, then those numbers are going to be much, much bigger.' He said he doesn't want to estimate the number of possible deaths. The mortality rate, until now, has hovered around three percent, but rates tend to fluctuate: they increase at the beginning as the most vulnerable patients die, then drop, and then rise again as others die. The disease's spread has seemed all but unstoppable over the last week, and scientists at Hong Kong University say more drastic action needs to be taken. There is a risk the virus could trigger a global epidemic when the illness spreads uncontrollably around the world if the Chinese government doesn't clamp down on the movement of people, the researchers said. 'We have to be prepared that this particular epidemic may be about to become a global epidemic,' said Dr Gabriel Leung. 'Substantial, draconian measures limiting population mobility should be taken sooner, rather than later.' Nurses in India are pictured wearing protective gear as the country is on high alert for potential coronavirus cases none have been diagnosed there yet A subway station in Seoul, South Korea, is disinfected by masked workers. More than half a million people in the country have petitioned for visitors from China to be turned away at the border A family travelling near the border of China's Hubei province, where Wuhan is, have their temperatures taken in their car Concerns about the virus have been growing as scientists say people may be passing on the virus before they even realise they are ill, and the number of predicted cases has soared dramatically. China's health minister Ma Xiaowei said 'it seems like the ability of the virus to spread is getting stronger' and that it can be passed from person-to-person even before symptoms appear. And researchers at Imperial College London have estimated that more than 100,000 people may be infected around the world already. The same team had previously thought the number was around 4,000, up to 10,000. Professor Mark Harris, from the University of Leeds, said: 'Its true that the numbers... look scary. 'One positive spin is that if we are only aware of five per cent of the total cases, the implication is that 95 per cent of cases have only resulted in either mild symptoms such that the infected people did not consider it serious enough to seek medical help, or indeed the virus may be causing an inapparent infection. 'This would significantly reduce the apparent [death] rates.' The mayor of Wuhan, where the outbreak started, yesterday admitted he and the ruling Chinese Communist Party did not react quickly enough to the coronavirus danger. Mayor Zhou Xianwang offered to resign when he revealed five million people managed to leave the city before he put it into lockdown. He said: 'On one hand, we did not reveal [information] in time; on the other, we did not use effective information to improve our work to a satisfactory level.' And he added: 'Regarding the untimely disclosure, [I] hope everyone can understand. [Coronavirus] is a contagious disease. Contagious diseases have relevant law and information needs to be disclosed according to law.' What do we know about the deadly coronavirus? What are the symptoms... and how worried SHOULD the world really be? Someone who is infected with the Wuhan coronavirus can spread it with just a simple cough or a sneeze, scientists say. Eighty-one people with the virus are now confirmed to have died and more than 2,800 have been infected in at least 11 countries. But experts predict the true number of people with the disease could be 100,000, or even as high as 350,000 in Wuhan alone, as they warn it may kill as many as two in 100 cases. Here's what we know so far: What is the Wuhan coronavirus? A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people. It is an RNA virus (RNA is a type of genetic material called ribonucleic acid), which means it breaks into cells inside the host of the virus and uses them to reproduce itself. This coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It is currently named 2019-nCoV, and does not have a more detailed name because so little is known about it. Dr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals. 'Until this new coronavirus was identified, there were only six different coronaviruses known to infect humans. Four of these cause a mild common cold-type illness, but since 2002 there has been the emergence of two new coronaviruses that can infect humans and result in more severe disease (Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses). 'Coronaviruses are known to be able to occasionally jump from one species to another and that is what happened in the case of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus. The animal origin of the new coronavirus is not yet known.' The first human cases were publicly reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where approximately 11million people live, after medics first started seeing cases on December 31. By January 8, 59 suspected cases had been reported and seven people were in critical condition. Tests were developed for the new virus and recorded cases started to surge. The first person died that week and, by January 16, two were dead and 41 cases were confirmed. The next day, scientists predicted that 1,700 people had become infected, possibly up to 4,500. Just a week after that, there had been more than 800 confirmed cases and those same scientists estimated that some 4,000 possibly 9,700 were infected in Wuhan alone. By that point, 26 people had died. By January 27, more than 2,800 people were confirmed to have been infected, 82 had died, and estimates of the total number of cases ranged from 100,000 to 350,000 in Wuhan alone. Where does the virus come from? Nobody knows for sure. Coronaviruses in general tend to originate in animals the similar SARS and MERS viruses are believed to have originated in civet cats and camels, respectively. The first cases of the virus in Wuhan came from people visiting or working in a live animal market in the city, which has since been closed down for investigation. Although the market is officially a seafood market, other dead and living animals were being sold there, including wolf cubs, salamanders, snakes, peacocks, porcupines and camel meat. Bats are a prime suspect researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said in a recent statement: 'The Wuhan coronavirus' natural host could be bats but between bats and humans there may be an unknown intermediate.' And another scientific journal article has suggested the virus first infected snakes, which may then have transmitted it to people at the market in Wuhan. Peking University researchers analysed the genes of the coronavirus and said they most closely matched viruses which are known to affect snakes. They said: 'Results derived from our evolutionary analysis suggest for the first time that snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir for the 2019-nCoV,' in the Journal of Medical Virology. So far the fatalities are quite low. Why are health experts so worried about it? Experts say the international community is concerned about the virus because so little is known about it and it appears to be spreading quickly. It is similar to SARS, which infected 8,000 people and killed nearly 800 in an outbreak in Asia in 2003, in that it is a type of coronavirus which infects humans' lungs. Another reason for concern is that nobody has any immunity to the virus because they've never encountered it before. This means it may be able to cause more damage than viruses we come across often, like the flu or common cold. Speaking at a briefing in January, Oxford University professor, Dr Peter Horby, said: 'Novel viruses can spread much faster through the population than viruses which circulate all the time because we have no immunity to them. WHAT ARE COUNTRIES DOING TO GET THEIR CITIZENS OUT OF CHINA? British ex-pats and tourists stuck in Wuhan have begged officials to 'get us out of here', venting their frustrations at the Government's response so far. About 300 Britons who live in the city are growing increasingly anxious after the number of virus cases soared by 50 per cent in just 24 hours. They accused the UK of dithering as it emerged the US, France, Spain, Australia, Japan, Thailand and Sri lanka had already organised evacuations for its citizens. France France's health minister Agnes Buzyn said officials will put 'hundreds' of citizens on a direct flight to the country later in the week. She said authorities were working on arranging a bus service to get the expats to the airport. There are some 800 French citizens stranded in the Wuhan area. She said French nationals will be held in quarantine for two weeks on arrival to stop the virus spreading on home soil. French car manufacturer Peugeot Citroen, which has a factory in Wuhan, said it was moving foreign employees and their families by bus to be quarantined in another city. The US The US State Department is organising a single flight out of Wuhan on Tuesday directly to San Francisco. It said in the event there are not enough seats, priority will be given to to individuals 'at greater risk from coronavirus' - those already showing symptoms. Officials invited US citizens with a valid passport to contact the embassy in Beijing. Private citizens are expected to later repay the travel costs, the notice said. It is reported that a Boeing 767 jet - that can carry around 230 passengers - will fly the citizens home. There are roughly 1,000 Americans living in and around the Wuhan area. Germany The German government said it was 'considering a possible evacuation of all willing German citizens' from Wuhan. On Monday January 27 it advised all citizens to avoid travelling to China at all unless the trip was necessary. Japan Japan said it planned to evacuate all of its citizens using chartered flights. It claimed it was in final discussions about the logistics with Chinese authorities. Some 430 Japanese nationals reside in or near Wuhan. The government is also considering evacuation by road from Hubei Province, and have Japanese nationals take flights home from other places, according to Japanese media. Spain Spain's foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez tweeted this morning that Spanish official are trying to evacuate 20 Spaniards stranded in Hubei province. She did not provide further details. Thailand The government is meeting today to discuss how to evacuate the 70 known expats living in Wuhan, most of whom are students. Air force commander ACM Manat Wongwat said that up to four planes with medical staff are on stand-by to evacuate its citizens in the coming days. Sri Lanka Officials have applied for a chartered plane to be allowed to land at Wuhan airport and pick up 32 Sri Lankan students and their family members stranded in the outbreak's epicentre. Its foreign office also said it was working to bring back all other citizens living in the wider Hubei province. There are about 860 Sri Lankan students are in China. Australia Foreign Minister Marise Payne said her government is 'exploring all opportunities' to help with evacuation of a number of Australians reportedly in Wuhan. There are thought to be a small number of citizens living in the central Chinese city. India India has asked China if it can make arrangements for its expats to leave. It is not clear how and when India plans to evacuate its citizens if approval is granted. Around 250 Indians are still in Wuhan. Advertisement 'Most seasonal flu viruses have a case fatality rate of less than one in 1,000 people. Here we're talking about a virus where we don't understand fully the severity spectrum but it's possible the case fatality rate could be as high as two per cent.' If the death rate is truly two per cent, that means two out of every 100 patients who get it will die. 'My feeling is it's lower,' Dr Horby added. 'We're probably missing this iceberg of milder cases. But that's the current circumstance we're in. 'Two per cent case fatality rate is comparable to the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 so it is a significant concern globally.' How does the virus spread? The illness can spread between people just through coughs and sneezes, making it an extremely contagious infection. And it may also spread even before someone has symptoms. It is believed to travel in the saliva and even through water in the eyes, therefore close contact, kissing, and sharing cutlery or utensils are all risky. Originally, people were thought to be catching it from a live animal market in Wuhan city. But cases soon began to emerge in people who had never been there, which forced medics to realise it was spreading from person to person. There is now evidence that it can spread third hand to someone from a person who caught it from another person. What does the virus do to you? What are the symptoms? Once someone has caught the virus it may take between two and 14 days for them to show any symptoms but they may still be contagious during this time. If and when they do become ill, typical signs include a runny nose, a cough, sore throat and a fever (high temperature). The vast majority of patients at least 97 per cent, based on available data will recover from these without any issues or medical help. In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people. What have genetic tests revealed about the virus? Scientists in China have recorded the genetic sequences of around 19 strains of the virus and released them to experts working around the world. This allows others to study them, develop tests and potentially look into treating the illness they cause. Examinations have revealed the coronavirus did not change much changing is known as mutating much during the early stages of its spread. However, the director-general of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, yesterday said the virus was mutating and adapting as it spread through people. This means efforts to study the virus and to potentially control it may be made extra difficult because the virus might look different every time scientists analyse it. More study may be able to reveal whether the virus first infected a small number of people then change and spread from them, or whether there were various versions of the virus coming from animals which have developed separately. How dangerous is the virus? The virus has so far killed 82 people out of a total of at least 2,800 officially confirmed cases a death rate of around three per cent. This is a higher death rate than the Spanish Flu outbreak which, in 1918, went on to kill around 50million people. However, experts say the true number of patients is likely considerably higher and therefore the death rate considerably lower. Imperial College London researchers estimate that there were 4,000 (up to 9,700) cases in Wuhan city alone up to January 18 officially there were only 444 there to date. If cases are in fact 100 times more common than the official figures, the virus may be far less dangerous than currently believed. Experts say it is likely only the most seriously ill patients are seeking help and are therefore recorded the vast majority will have only mild, cold-like symptoms. For those whose conditions do become more severe, there is a risk of developing pneumonia which can destroy the lungs and kill you. Can the virus be cured? The Wuhan coronavirus cannot currently be cured and it is proving difficult to contain. Antibiotics do not work against viruses, so they are out of the question. Antiviral drugs can, but the process of understanding a virus then developing and producing drugs to treat it would take years and huge amounts of money. No vaccine exists for the coronavirus yet and it's not likely one will be developed in time to be of any use in this outbreak, for similar reasons to the above. The National Institutes of Health in the US, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, say they are working on a vaccine based on what they know about coronaviruses in general, using information from the SARS outbreak. But this may take a year or more to develop, according to Pharmaceutical Technology. Currently, governments and health authorities are working to contain the virus and to care for patients who are sick and stop them infecting other people. People who catch the illness are being quarantined in hospitals, where their symptoms can be treated and they will be away from the uninfected public. And airports around the world are putting in place screening measures such as having doctors on-site, taking people's temperatures to check for fevers and using thermal screening to spot those who might be ill (infection causes a raised temperature). However, it can take weeks for symptoms to appear, so there is only a small likelihood that patients will be spotted up in an airport. Is this outbreak an epidemic or a pandemic? The outbreak has not officially been confirmed as either an epidemic or a pandemic yet. This is likely because, despite the global concern, the number of people who have been confirmed to be infected is still relatively low. A pandemic is defined by the World Health Organization as the 'worldwide spread of a new disease'. An epidemic is when a disease takes hold of a smaller community, such as a single country, region or continent. China on Tuesday urged its citizens to postpone travel abroad as it expanded unprecedented efforts to contain a viral outbreak that has killed 106 people and left other governments racing to pull their nationals from the contagions epicentre. The epidemic, which experts believe emanated from a wild animal market in the city of Wuhan last month, has spread around China and to more than a dozen other countries despite the extraordinary travel curbs. Authorities initially sealed off Wuhan and other cities in central Hubei province late last week, trapping more than 50 million people, in a bid to contain the virus as the high-travel Lunar New Year holiday unfolded. China then halted international and domestic group tours. It also imposed a wide range of travel restrictions inside China, including on long-distance buses.- But, with the death toll climbing and more fatalities reported in Chinese cities far away from Wuhan, authorities on Tuesday called for all overseas travel to be postponed. This was to protect the health and safety of Chinese and foreign people, the National Immigration Administration said. The National Health Commission on Tuesday announced 26 new deaths mostly elderly bringing the nationwide total to 106. Deaths have been confirmed in Beijing and Shanghai. The commission also said Tuesday confirmed infections nearly doubled from the previous day to 4,515. Another 7,000 more cases are suspected and awaiting confirmation. Escape plans Many thousands of foreigners have been trapped inside Wuhai, an industrial hub of 11 million people that has been turned into a near ghost-town under the lockdown. With a ban on car travel to try and stop people infecting others, the streets of Wuhan are mostly deserted although its hospitals are overwhelmed. Its deeply stressful, Joseph Pacey, a 31-year-old Briton who teaches English in Wuhan, told AFP. The virus is scary, but the biggest fear for me is that this thing will go on for months, and it will get harder and harder to get supplies, and to live. Escape plans A range of foreign governments have been trying to draw up plans to safely evacuate their citizens, but have faced major logistical and bureaucratic challenges. Japan announced it would send a chartered flight on Tuesday evening to evacuate about 200 of 650 Japanese nationals. We will also bring with it aid supplies such as masks and protective suits for Chinese people as well as for Japanese nationals, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in Tokyo. Motegi said the plane would leave Wuhan on Wednesday morning and that more flights may follow. If the mission succeeds, Japan would be the first country to airlift its citizens out of Wuhan. A US-chartered flight bound for California had been scheduled to leave Wuhan on Tuesday with consular staff and some American citizens. But the State Department said it was postponed to Wednesday, without giving a reason. France has said it also intends to fly its citizens out at mid-week, and several other countries including Germany were considering doing so. To minimise close contact between people, authorities have suspended more than 2,000 train services as well as shut down many bus services. China has also extended the Lunar New Year holiday into next week to keep people at home, indefinitely postponing classes at schools and universities. Yet the virus has showed little sign of slowing down. Global concerns Germany, Canada and Sri Lanka announced their first infections on Monday, bringing the total number of countries with confirmed cases to 15. With global concern mounting, governments around the world have started to try and quickly build defences. The United States, Turkey and Germany have urged their citizens to reconsider all travel to China. Landlocked Mongolia which is heavily dependent on trade with China took the drastic step of closing the border with its huge neighbour to cars, as well as shutting down school and large gatherings. Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the Philippines have also announced tighter visa restrictions for people coming from China. The World Health Organization last week stopped short of declaring the outbreak a global emergency, which could have prompted a more aggressive international response such as travel restrictions. But it now says it erred in originally calling the virus worldwide threat moderate, upgrading that late Sunday to high. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is now in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials on the crisis. SOURCE: AFP | PHOTO: AFP Taoiseach Leo Varadker leaving a public house while canvassing for the general election in the village of Tyrellspass in Co. Westmeath PhotoNiall Carson/PA Wire CANVASSING BEFORE lunch means that the chances of food-related insults to the opposition are high. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar arrived in Tyrrellspass, Co Westmeath, shortly before lunchtime today. But its a long way away from Dublin and while he waited for his Fine Gael colleagues to arrive, he sipped coffee at Brownes On The Green, a restaurant in the town. With lunch having to wait until after the canvass, food stays on the agenda. Expand Close Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaking with local farmer James Geoghegan while canvasing with local candidate Peter Burke In Tyrellspass, Co Westmeath. Picture: Arthur Carron. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaking with local farmer James Geoghegan while canvasing with local candidate Peter Burke In Tyrellspass, Co Westmeath. Picture: Arthur Carron. Fresh out of the restaurant, a farmer confronts him about carbon tax. Carbon tax is a pay cut on farmers and its going to close rural Ireland, says farmer contractor James Geoghegan. Its one of the things we need to do to take climate action and take down emissions, so we just need to find other ways to find farmers, answers Mr Varadkar. Expand Close 27/1/20 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar getting cash from an ATM while canvassing with local candidate Peter Burke In Tyrellspass, Co Westmeath. Picture: Arthur Carron. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp 27/1/20 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar getting cash from an ATM while canvassing with local candidate Peter Burke In Tyrellspass, Co Westmeath. Picture: Arthur Carron. The crew then wander into a supermarket. The Fine Gael leaders impulse canvass purchases have remained a common thread over the past few weeks and he makes a pit-stop at the ATM for cash. It only dispenses 50 notes. Tyrrellspass must be doing okay, he jokes. He adds that he is still to give Mary Mitchell OConnor her lamb chops back, which he bought on a previous canvass. Schoolboys file into the shop, still in their uniforms. Are ye just off for lunch? asks the hungry taoiseach. No, schools finished there now, thank God, answers one of the lads. Well, it is 4pm. Finally, Mr Varadkar can have lunch at Brownes. He orders chicken wings and prawns pil pil before hopping back on the motorway to the big leaders debate in NUI Galway. But not before he talks to reporters briefly. He makes a cheesy insult at Fianna Fail after their finance spokesperson claimed Fine Gael was engaging in Project Fear during their campaign. I can understand why theyre getting involved in name calling because they dont want to talk about their Swiss cheese manifesto that really has been found out in this election, says the taoiseach. Moons, a Mexico City-based startup that's angling to be the Invisalign for the Latin American market, has joined the ranks of Y Combinator as part of the accelerator's latest cohort. The company already has $5 million in financing in the bank from an international group of investors, including Jaguar Ventures, Foundation Capital and Tuesday Capital, along with a whole host of strategic individual investors from Latin America's dental community. "We provide dental services throughout Mexico, Colombia and soon throughout Latin America," says Moon co-founder and chief executive officer, Tommaso Tomba. Like Invisalign, Moons conducts free initial conversations with potential patients and does a free scan of their teeth. "We have a team of orthodontists that take a look at the patient and determines whether the patient is a good candidate," says Tomba. If there's a good fit, then the company creates a treatment plan and consultation schedule with a patient and fits them out with a pair of 3D-printed aligners -- all for around $1,200. That's far lower than the treatment costs using established vendors, says Tomba. Already the company has 18 locations in Mexico and another two in Colombia -- where Tomba expects operations to expand at a rapid clip. "We're turning more cases than Invisalign in Mexico because we've brought the price right down," says Tomba. A graduate of Cambridge and Oxford Universities, Tomba and his founding team chose Latin America to launch their dental business after months of market analysis. Latin America is host to three of the most active destinations for cosmetic surgeries in the world. Tomba market-tested by creating a website advertising the launch of his new business and taking pre-orders for the service in Europe, Latin America and the U.S. He settled on Mexico in part because of the demand he saw and in part because he'd had experience in the market previously as an early employee of Linio -- a Rocket Internet-backed competitor to Amazon on the continent. Story continues During his time at Linio, Tomba met his co-founder Leonardo Miron, a serial entrepreneur whose previous business was a mobile phone repair service called Rescata. Alex Clapp, a university friend of Tomba's with experience in investment banking and healthcare-focused private equity in London and New York, rounded out the founding team. The team chose to apply to Y Combinator because of the firm's access to capital and ability to open doors in the U.S., Tomba said. "In LatAm, access to capital to build long-lasting companies is still relatively limited compared to the U.S., so we think it makes sense to YC so that they help us with investors and attracting talent going forward," he said. And Moons has bigger dreams than just the dental market. "We plan to go into other healthcare verticals," says Tomba. "Always with the core tenet of providing high-quality healthcare and making it accessible." Three people were missing after two barge towing vessels collided Sunday on the Mississippi River in an accident that also may have released a small amount of toxic vapor into the air, the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard said in a news release that the two vessels collided Sunday morning near Luling, Louisiana. The towing vessel, RC Creppel, sank, and three crew members were missing. A fourth person aboard the vessel was rescued by a private boater. The Coast Guard did not release the names of the missing mariners. The section of the river was closed to vessel traffic. We will continue to keep covering the area, searching the area until we find these individuals, Commander Robert Trevino told reporters at a news conference. The RC Creppel was pushing two barges carrying sulfuric acid and the barges broke away during the accident. One of those barges was damaged in the incident and reportedly released a small amount of vapor into the air, the Coast Guard said. Trevino said it was determined to be a a small acute release after a pressure valve was damaged and that air quality was being monitored as a precaution. He said there are no indications of a leak. The barge was above the waterline and penned against the bank. St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell said there were no immediate health concerns. He said the waterworks and industries along the river were told to close water intakes from the river as a precaution. This is a complex response that has a search-and-rescue component, as well as a pollution component that will require planning and coordination to execute, Capt. Kristi Luttrell, the Commanding Officer of Sector New Orleans, said in a statement. The other towing vessel involved in the accident is named the Cooperative Spirit. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Louisiana Mississippi You remind me of my favorite actor, John Malkovich. Doesnt do much for me. It feels too easy, somehow, to lead a review of an episode of television as rich as The New Popes third installment with the cheap pop of a fourth-wall break. But thats the thing about The New Pope: It can make easy meta-jokes, like Cecile de Frances Vatican PR maven Sofia Dubois telling John Malkovichs character that he looks like John Malkovich, and still be an enormously affecting and visually spectacular meditation on desire, duty, family, sex, and the need for human connection even in the face of extraordinary obstacles. Hell, it even can crack wise about Megan Markle floundering in her role as royaltya reference that wound up being unbelievably timelyand still feel more like a poem than a gossip rag. That is its power. And what is the power of Sir John Brannox, the man who at long last travels to the Vatican and is crowned the new pope by the time this episode ends? Suffering. After spending decades living with parents who despise him for what they feel was his role in the death of his twin brother Adam, the one for whom theyd constructed grand plans that John himself now appears to have commandeered, hes uniquely suited for the role of Holy Father. All my life I have negated myself in the pathetic attempt to alleviate your suffering, he says to his parents in a monologue that bursts into a one-sided shouting match. To no avail! I became my brother in the hope of bringing a smile to your faces, even just once. To no avail! But now, it all makes sense, for it has served to make me pope. Me, not Adam! I will be pope and I will continue to forsake myself, as Ive done for you for all these yearsonly now I will be doing it for all the Catholics in the world. For that is what love means to me: forsaking myself. Youre the ones who taught me that, hating me every day. And so, after living my life in the service of my mother, my father, my brother, and receiving nothing but contempt, I should now live my life in the service of the Church and its people, hoping to receive, for the first time, an ounce of affection! I can be pope, because I know how to endure suffering. Others dont. Its a startling and remarkable speech for several reasons. First and foremost, its the first, and thus far only, time weve seen Sir John display any passion, or allow his voice to rise above the volume of a murmur or a purr or a sigh. Secondly, it connects him to his predecessor Pius XIIIaka Lenny Belardo, an orphan abandoned by his parents and in constant search of them. Turns out you can be abandoned by your parents even if you never leave their side. Third, it presents a stark contrast with the speeches he delivers upon his ascension to the papacy, first to the faithful gathered in St. Peters Square, then to the College of Cardinals in his first formal address to them. To the public, he espouses the value of family, something denied him, and the need to protect everything that is fragile in the world, a protection obviously never extended to him by the people whose job it is to protect him. To the cardinals, he offers his vision of ideal love: tenderness, something he has never been shown, as opposed to passion, which despite outward appearances he obviously harbors in spades and unleashes upon his parents in that fiery diatribe. Passion is the eternal enemy of humility, he says, and judging from what he said to Mommy and Daddy Dearest, hes not far off the mark. The lynchpin of Sir Johns psychology is suffering, yes, but just as key is who hes willing and able to suffer for. Gentle Cardinal Gutierrez (an absolutely phenomenal Javiar Camara) tells Brannox that his lack of dismay over the Catholic victims of a terrorist attack indicates that perhaps you are committed to suffering only for those who are close to you. Brannox himself repeats this as self-condemnation during his long dark night of the soul prior to accepting the role of pope when he communes with the spirit of Pius XIII; good old Lenny suggests this simply means he has been given the opportunity to learn and grow, which will endear him to God. The big question of his papacy is whether, as the father of the Church, he now considers the world his family, and thus takes its suffering seriously. Suffering and passion are the throughlines for the entire episode, as a variety of subplots reflect back on Sir Johns dilemma. One of the Vaticans cloistered nuns requests a small amount of money to be able to visit her dying mother, but shes denied this by Cardinal Voiellos majordomo Don Cavallo, who lies and says this was Voiellos decision when in fact hed never been informed of the request at all. In response, she gets a tattoo of a nun with a raised fist, auguring rebellion within the heart of the Church. Another nun, Caterina, makes good on the furtive glances she exchanged with a handsome young refugee named Faisal, whos stayed hidden on the Vatican grounds after all the other migrants have been forced out. But when she offers herself to him, he runsclearly out of fear rather than revulsion. Its as if he cant bear to bring passion into this womans life. Finally, Esther, Lenny Belardos biggest fan, accepts an offer set up by her goofy-looking new boyfriend Fabiano to have sex with the deformed son of a rich woman in exchange for a life-saving infusion of cash, now that shes broke and homeless with a son to worry about. The young man stays mostly shrouded in darkness, though it appears he suffers from hypertrichosis (colloquially known as werewolf syndrome); when he reaches out to touch her bare breasts, she too breaks and runs away. And again, it doesnt appear that fear or revulsion is a factor: Esther is too devout and too ashamed to prostitute herself in this way, no matter the lofty purpose of it all. I have decided not to choose, Sir John tells the Vatican delegation before he accepts their offer, not choosing being the only thing at which I truly excel. What bedevils him (before Voiello finally wins him over by appealing to his English chauvinism and effectively threatening to crown a French pope instead, something Brannox gets a good laugh out of when he learns the cardinal in question is dead) appears to be the tension between what he wants to do, what he needs to do, and what is right to do. Faisal and Esther could no doubt relate. In all three cases, passion distorts and clouds judgmentbut without passion, what kind of people would we be? OTTAWACanadian police agencies use of cutting-edge facial recognition technology presents enormous potential for abuse, the opposition New Democrats say. The NDP is calling on federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien to launch a probe into how the RCMP and other Canadian law enforcement agencies use the controversial tool, which can allow police to quickly check citizens faces against databases of mug shots or social media profiles. The power of this technology to radically alter the basic notions of privacy is evident The potential for abuse is enormous, NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus wrote in a letter to Therrien that was obtained by the Star. Any use of such technology must be carried out under clear judicial oversight. However, this technology is being tested and implemented in a legislative and judicial background. Numerous police agencies, including the Toronto Police Service, have facial recognition programs already up and running, but theres been little public debate about acceptable uses for the powerful technology. In a report last year, Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders said his force only uses facial recognition technology in criminal investigations, and sharply limits the number of officers with access to the database. Only lawfully obtained mug shots are included in the database, Saunders said. However, police forces in other jurisdictions are less restrictive in their use of the technology. The New York Times recently reported on a U.S. company called Clearview AI, which offers facial recognition databases to law enforcement agencies, the contents of which have been scraped from social media profiles and websites. According to the Times, Clearview has a database of more than three billion images scraped from websites including Facebook and YouTube. Police agencies or anyone else Clearview sells its services to simply upload a photo of their target to find a match. According to the company, more than 600 law enforcement agencies have started using it in the past year. Read more: London police to use face scan tech, stoking privacy fears How the police use facial recognition, and where it falls short School districts facial recognition raises privacy concerns Its not clear if any Canadian agency has purchased Clearview AIs services, but Angus said its imperative Canadians understand more about how this type of technology can be used. At this time, the RCMP has refused to state whether or not they are using this technology. If they are, it could represent a real risk to Canadians privacy, Angus wrote to Therrien. Its not hard to understand the appeal such technology has for law enforcement the ability to quickly identify victims or perpetrators of a crime, to track down publicly available but difficult to find information online, or even to identify individuals from images taken of large crowds. But for all the technologys potential, studies have also raised questions about its accuracy. Internet freedom advocacy group OpenMedia noted that some facial recognition software has a higher error rate when attempting to identify people of colour and women. Theres also little clarity about which police forces use facial recognition, how they use it, and which Canadian laws and regulations apply to the use of such tools. Angus has also asked the federal privacy watchdog to provide recommendations on the permissibility, limits and scope of the use of facial recognition by law enforcement agencies. In 2018, Therriens office launched an investigation into the use of facial recognition technology in malls owned by Cadillac Fairview. The company was using mall directories to capture the age and gender of shoppers, as well as monitoring traffic through its properties. The privacy commissioners office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. TORONTO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - ArcTern, Canada's leading cleantech fund, is pleased to announce an investment in Vancouver-based Terramera as an extension of Terramera's Series B round, closing out the round at a total of US$48.5 million. Other investors in the round include Ospraie Ag Science and S2G Ventures. This is ArcTern's fourth investment from its Fund II, which has raised $200 million. Terramera is developing revolutionary technologies to transform how food is grown and disrupt the economics of agriculture. With their Actigate targeted performance technology, Terramera is committed to reducing the global synthetic pesticide load by 80% by 2030. ArcTern is focused on investing in breakthrough clean technology companies addressing climate change and sustainability. Its latest investment in Terramera was driven by the company's bioplatform approach fusing science, nature and data collection. This innovative approach has the potential to positively impact farming practices that will not only lead to more efficient farm operations with respect to water, nutrient and pesticide use, but it can also lead to the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices. "Terramera has the technology platform and expertise to transform commercial agriculture in systematic ways", said Tom Rand, Managing Partner of ArcTern. "Their strategy to scale their technology to have the greatest impact will lead to healthier plants and soil, which will drive improved farm productivity, and the potential to sequester carbon in well-managed soils. That's really exciting, and why we invested." "We're happy to welcome ArcTern to the Terramera investor family as they have a mission and vision that closely aligns with our own long-term view of solving some of the world's most pressing problems through improved agriculture practices," said Karn Manhas, Terramera Founder and CEO. "Agriculture is ground zero for climate action. I believe we are eating our planet to death, but we have the potential to eat our planet back to life." About ArcTern Ventures: ArcTern Ventures is a Toronto-based venture capital firm investing globally in breakthrough clean technology growth companies addressing climate change and sustainability. ArcTern was founded by Murray McCaig and Tom Rand around the belief that the accelerating transition to a greener economy will disrupt all industries and present a multi-trillion dollar opportunity for both outsized financial returns and positive environmental impact. For more information, please visit www.arcternventures.com. About Terramera: Terramera is a Vancouver-based agtech leader fusing science, nature and artificial intelligence to transform how food is grown and the economics of agriculture in the next decade. With its revolutionary Actigate technology, Terramera is committed to reducing the global synthetic pesticide load by 80% by 2030 to protect plant and human health and ensure an earth that thrives and provides for everyone. The privately held company was founded in 2010 and has grown to include a world-class bench of engineers, scientists, advisors and investors. Terramera is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has integrated operations that include research labs, greenhouse and farm, and has more than 195 patents in its IP portfolio. For more information, please visit terramera.com About Ospraie Ag Science LLC: Ospraie Ag Science LLC (OAS) identifies solutions to help farmers "Do More With Less". By increasing profitability, improving quality-adjusted yield, and reducing environmental impact, our companies not only benefit producers, but generate smarter, healthier, and more efficient food for consumers globally. Utilizing our extensive network and 25 years of experience investing in agriculture, OAS is positioned to help farmers achieve a sustainable future. About S2G Ventures: S2G Ventures (Seed to Growth) is a multi-stage venture fund investing in food and agriculture. The fund's mission is to catalyze innovation to meet consumer demands for healthy and sustainable food. S2G has identified sectors across the food system that are ripe for change, and is building a multi-stage portfolio including seed, venture and growth stage investments. Core areas of interest for S2G are agriculture, ingredients, infrastructure and logistics, IT and hardware, food safety and technology, retail and restaurants, and consumer brands. For more information about S2G, visit s2gventures.com or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn. SOURCE ArcTern Ventures BAGHDAD A nighttime mortar attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad injured one staff member and caused some material damage, officials said Monday. Gen. Frank McKenzie, a top U.S. commander for the Middle East, told reporters traveling with him that the mortar attack started a fire that was put out. He said no U.S. military members were injured, but one U.S. national received a minor injury. The U.S. Embassy is within the Iraqi capitals Green Zone, and has been a flashpoint amid wider regional tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which have played out inside Iraq in recent weeks. Iraqi supporters of an Iran-backed militia stormed the embassy compound on Dec. 31, smashing the main door and setting fire to the reception area. Violence between Iraqi security forces and antigovernment protesters also continued to seethe overnight, with one protester shot dead in a violent crackdown in the countrys south. Unrest was also ongoing in the capital, with new clashes erupting Monday and security forces firing tear gas and live bullets to disperse crowds. At least 22 protesters were wounded, five due to live fire, security and medical officials said. Security forces also chased after demonstrators and beat them. A female protester was dragged by the hair and pinned down outside Baghdads municipality building. In the south, a protester was killed amid a violent pre-dawn crackdown by security forces in the city of Nasiriyah, an activist and an official said. Iraq has been roiled by demonstrations over government corruption, high unemployment and Iranian influence in Iraqi politics. Security forces have killed at least 500 protesters. The country is also facing a political clash over naming the next prime minister, after Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi resigned. An initial military statement said at least five Katyusha rockets had landed inside the Green Zone late Sunday. It was the third attack targeting the U.S. Embassy this month, and the perpetrators were not immediately known. Perpetrators had used Katyusha rockets in previous attacks and caused no injuries. There was no claim of responsibility for any of the attacks. But the U.S. has accused Iran-backed militias of targeting U.S. interests by attacking military bases housing Americans and diplomatic missions. Samya Kullab and Qassim Abdul-Zahra are Associated Press writers. 28 Jan 2020, 12:43 PM Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala summoned by Sebi over 'insider trading' charges Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is probing "insider trading" charges against billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala regarding shares of a family-owned education firm, Aptech Ltd. Apart from the ace investor and Aptech Chairman Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the market regulator is also investigating the role of his family members, including his brother Rajesh Kumar Jhunjhunwala and wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala, Mint reported. ED arrests DHFL boss Kapil Wadhawan in Iqbal Mirchi money laundering case The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Kapil Wadhawan, the CMD of crisis-hit Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL), in connection with its money laundering probe against the late underworld gangster and Dawood aide Iqbal Mirchi. Wadhawan has been arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as he was allegedly not cooperating in the probe, officials said. Air India Sale: Employees to be given 3% shares under ESOP Air India Sale: The government, while inviting bids for Air India for the second time after two years, has said the selected bidder will have to ensure that 3 per cent of the equity shares of the acquired company are offered to its permanent employees as per terms of employee stock options or ESOP. Four months after 'Howdy, Modi!', some Indians abroad protest over citizenship law Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a thunderous reception when he addressed a crowd of more than 50,000 Indian-Americans in a stadium in the U.S. city of Houston last September. But four months after the event dubbed "Howdy Modi!," intended to deepen relations with the wealthy Indian-American minority which has influence in India, some members of the diaspora have been protesting against a new citizenship law. According to a Reuters report, in the past month, small demonstrations from Harvard to San Francisco have underlined criticism of what detractors say are Modi's divisive identity politics. Coronavirus infects Asia stocks with exposure to China Shares of companies highly exposed to China's economy tumbled across Asia on Tuesday on rising concern about the impact of global travel bans associated with a new virus outbreak, and even as some stocks involved in preventative health spiked. After the United States and Canada warned against travel to China where the new coronavirus is thought to have originated, Australian stocks resumed trading sharply lower after a public holiday the previous day. Shares of airlines and travel agents were sharply lower amid freezes on travel into and out of the world's second largest economy. Maruti Suzuki launches BS-6 compliant S-CNG Alto; price starts at Rs 4.32 lakh Homegrown automobile manufacturer Maruti Suzuki launched BS-6 compliant S-CNG variant of Alto on Monday. The new variant claims to offer a mileage of 31.59 km per kg. The new Maruti Alto CNG is available in two different models. The launch of Maruti Suzuki's Alto BS6 S-CNG is aligned with the government's vision of reducing import of oil and enhancing the share of natural gas in the country's energy consumption to 15 per cent by 2030 from 6.2 per cent currently. Just Eat will deliver McDonald's' meals across the UK and Ireland from 2020. Photo: Getty McDonalds (MCD) is partnering with online ordering and food delivery company Just Eat (JE.L) to deliver Big Macs and McMuffins across the UK and Ireland. Just Eat beat rival Deliveroo to become McDonald's second exclusive partner for their McDelivery service in Britain. The fast food giant launched its home delivery service with UberEats in 2017. Deliveries are expected to get under way during 2020, according to Just Eat. The win follows Just Eats recent 6bn ($7.8bn) acquisition by Amsterdam-based Takeaway.com (TKWY.AS) after a months-long battle with rival bidder Prosus (PRX.AS). READ MORE: Takeaway.com has finally won its battle to acquire Just Eat for 5.9bn Just Eat announced a similar delivery partnership with bakery Greggs (GRG.L) earlier this month and Just Eats interim CEO Peter Duffy said Tuesday that both deals would help accelerate our growth. We are delighted to announce that we have agreed to partner in the UK and Ireland with McDonald's, Duffy said. This partnership, along with our recently announced relationship with Greggs, will require significant investment but will accelerate our growth ambitions and enhance our market position by offering our customers the widest choice available. In a trading update, Just Eat announced UK order growth of 8% last year, along with good momentum in Australia, Italy, and Switzerland and continued strong growth in Canada. The company said it expected to report 2019 core earnings of about 200m, towards the top of its guidance range of 185m-205m. It also forecast total revenue of approximately 1bn for 2019. We are pleased to confirm uEBITDA towards the top end and revenue broadly in line with the guidance range we provided at the start of 2019, notwithstanding the significant developments during the year, Duffy said. READ MORE: Greggs joins up with Just Eat for nationwide delivery rollout "Female students are not allowed to put on lipstick." That was the order issued to female students at a university in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. "If seen, they will be fined at the spot," said the notice issued by the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, adding that students would be penalized 100 rupees ($0.65) for each violation. Issued on January 21, the notice sparked outrage, with social-media users, students, and rights activists saying it infringes on students' rights. On social media, activists condemned it as another curb on women's rights in the deeply religious and conservative region. Possibly due to the brouhaha it caused, the order was revoked on January 27 by the university, whose main campus is in Muzaffarabad. But the temporary ban was just the latest attempt to enforce Islamic dress codes at schools and universities in Pakistan and Kashmir, which are predominantly Muslim. 'Regressive Actions' A teacher at the university, who did not want to be named, told RFE/RL that administrators took the step following complaints of vulgar graffiti written in lipstick in classrooms and in the women's bathrooms. Photos sent to RFE/RL by the teacher showed smudged graffiti. The authenticity of the photos could not be verified. Attempts by the university to explain the ban failed to prevent a barrage of criticism. "Is this for real?" asked Pakistani Senator Sherry Rehman, adding, "Doesn't the university board have better things to focus their time and energy to?" Aurat March, a collective of women's rights groups, said that "Such regressive actions by institutions that should be bastions of freedom is alarming and violate fundamental rights of students!" Ashgar Hayat, a reporter at Pakistan's GNN TV network, called the ban "extremely ridiculous." "Instead of providing quality education to our youth, [the] administration is putting [a] ban on lipstick." Ali Kashmiri, a human rights activist, said the move was "another attack on freedom of choice." Hijab Controversy The temporary lipstick ban was the latest controversy surrounding schools and universities in Pakistan, where some institutions have attempted to segregate female students and impose a strict dress code for women. In September, authorities in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province issued orders making it compulsory for schoolgirls in two cities to wear garments covering their heads. District education officials in the provincial capital, Peshawar, issued a circular directing the heads of government girls schools to "instruct all students to wear the gown/chador to veil/conceal/cover up themselves in order to protect them from any unethical incident." "The matter may be treated as most urgent and important," it added. The district education department in the city of Haripur, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, had previously issued a similar directive. The moves sparked a backlash on social media, with activists condemning them as yet another curb on women's rights. But once again, following a nationwide uproar, authorities reversed the orders. Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh visited the police headquarters here on Tuesday and complimented the force for maintaining peace and working alongside other forces to eliminate terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Lt Gen Singh, General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, is retiring from service on January 31 and will be replaced by Lt Gen Y K Joshi. Lt Gen Joshi is currently serving as the Chief of Staff of the Northern Command which takes care of the overall security scenario along the border with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir as well as with China in Ladakh. "The GOC-in-C visited Jammu Kashmir Police Headquarters, where he interacted with Director General of Police Dilbag Singh and other senior officers," a police spokesman said. Lt Gen Singh complemented the DGP and his entire team for the outstanding work being done for peace and welfare of the people in the Union territory, he added. "Police personnel have always remained on the forefront while dealing with anti-militancy activities and there exists great synergy and coordination with the Army and the Central Armed Police Forces, and the counterinsurgency grid is moving like a well-oiled machine," Lt Gen Singh said, adding that the police have a huge role to play in maintaining peace and eliminating terrorists in the Union Territory. The Army commander expressed his gratitude to the DGP for providing the opportunity to interact with the officers and wished the entire force good luck. He also extended good wishes to the families of the police personnel, the spokesman said. The DGP thanked the Army commander for his cooperation and support in maintenance of public order and the security environment, and said Lt Gen Singh was a wonderful team leader and it was a privilege to work with him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Members of the Afghan Air Force crew stand next to a helicopter at the military airport in Kabul on Dec. 18, 2014. (Mohammad Ismail/Reuters-File) Afghan Forces Launch Air, Ground Attacks on Taliban, Killing 51 KABULAfghan forces used ground attacks and airstrikes in multiple recent operations against the Taliban, killing 51 fighters in an escalation that signaled renewed deadlock in peace talks. Afghanistans Defense Ministry said on Sunday, Jan. 26 that government forces had conducted 13 ground offensives and 12 airstrikes in nine provinces, adding that 51 terrorists had been killed, 13 wounded and six arrested. Members of a Taliban delegation leaving after peace talks with Afghan senior politicians in Moscow, Russia on May 30, 2019. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters-File) Local officials in the northern province of Balkh said at least three women and four children were killed in the airstrikes, prompting protests in front of the provincial governors office. The government pledged to send a fact-finding mission to investigate the reports of civilian deaths. Meanwhile, the Taliban said it had staged two more attacks targeting security forces over the weekend, following sporadic assaults last week. Afghan security forces checkpoints in Kunduz were attacked on Saturday night, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement, adding that 10 members of the security forces were killed and three wounded. Taliban fighters also captured a large weapons cache, he said. In a separate statement, the Taliban said its fighters had ambushed an Afghan forces patrol in Balkh, killing eight security personnel. The spike in hostilities comes as U.S. and Taliban negotiators in Doha take a two-day break for consultations about how to overcome recent hurdles in the talks, a source close to the process told Reuters. Negotiations between the two sides began last year in Doha but have been interrupted at least twice after Taliban attacks on U.S. military personnel in September and December. Last week, another round of talks kicked off with U.S. Special Representative on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad meeting repeatedly with the Talibans chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Multiple sources close to the talks said the Taliban had agreed internally to halt attacks against U.S. forces and reduce assaults against Afghan government interests. Over the last week, however, reports of attacks by Taliban fighters on government installations, including police stations, continued to filter in from different parts of Afghanistan. By Abdul Qadir Sediqi Israeli citizens are now allowed to travel to Saudi Arabia for the first time in the countrys history, according to a statement Sunday by the countrys Interior Minister Aryeh Dery. The rule applies to business meetings, including searching for new investment opportunities, as well as for Islamic pilgrimages, and can allow travel to the kingdom for up to 90 days. Business trips are conditional on the traveler receiving an invitation from a Saudi official as well as not having outstanding warrants that bar visits to the country. Israelis particularly Arab-Israelis have already been traveling to the kingdom in modest numbers for religious trips, yet in the past this required special permission from the government. Questions on implementation remain. In response to Israels announcement, Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told CNN that Israeli passport holders cannot visit the kingdom at the current time. He noted Riyadhs policy remains the same and that integrating Israel into the regional context is contingent on a peaceful resolution between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Why it matters: The decision is part of a broader Israel strategy to soften relations with its Arab neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia, which shares enmity toward Iran. Despite no formal diplomatic relations, Jerusalem and Riyadh have warmed in recent months, highlighted by Israel congratulating the kingdom in September of 2019 during their national day. May this holiday take place again in safety, security and a climate of peace, cooperation and good neighborliness, read one tweet from an Arabic-language Twitter account run by the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. We ask God, the exalted, that your efforts to develop, prosper and advance will be successful. Before the announcement, Israeli pilgrims to Saudi Arabia have gone through Jordan to arrange travel, according to a comment in Haaretz by Sheikh Abd al-Rahim Fukara, a spokesman for The Hajj and Umrah Committee. Diverting travelers from Jordan, Fukara said, could affect Israels relations with the country. The committee estimates that around 30,000 Israeli pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia every year. Whats next: The decision came one day before the Trump administration hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Trump also received a visit from Netanyahus political challenger, Benny Gantz. The White House is expected to unveil its plan for peace in the Middle East on Tuesday. Know more: Earlier this month, Israels Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and his Egyptian counterpart Tarek El-Molla announced that Israel would begin sending natural gas to Egypt. Read the story from our Israel Pulse columnist Mazal Mualem. Oxford University Press (OUP) on Tuesday named Samvidhaan (Constitution) the Oxford Word of 2019, saying it received widespread attention in the year which was witness to the spirit of the being embraced across segments of the society. It said the word was chosen as 2019 saw the values of democracy, secularism, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity being tested on the touchstone of the Constitution or Samvidhaan'. The Oxford Word of the Year is a word or expression that has attracted a great deal of attention and reflects the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the past year. OUP said 'Samvidhaan' means a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organisation is acknowledged to be governed. The word Samvidhaan' first received widespread attention in August 2019, with the abrogation of two key constitutional provisions - Article 370 and Article 35(A) of the Indian Constitution, on August 5, which effectively removed the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir. Some major decisions by the Supreme Court also significantly contributed to Samvidhaan's prominence in 2019: the Sabarimala verdict, the floor test in Maharashtra and upholding of the order of the former Speaker of the Karnataka legislative assembly disqualifying 17 MLAs under the anti-defection law, an OUP statement said. According to Kritika Agarwal, Language Champion for Oxford Languages, The Hindi Word of the Year for 2019 is a fitting choice reflecting the mood of the masses as also the focus of the decision makers... In 2019, the Constitution moved from being an academic concept to a movement in real time. The Oxford dictionaries team invited entries for the Oxford Hindi Word of the Year through its Facebook page and received several hundred diverse and thoughtful entries. The Oxford Hindi Word of the Year was chosen by the Oxford Dictionaries team in India with the help of an advisory panel of language experts. GREENWICH, Conn. and NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lapetus Capital II LLC (together with its affiliates, "Atlas"), along with other participants in its solicitation, including BW Coated LLC (together with its affiliates, "Blue Wolf"), is the beneficial owner of approximately 9.43% of the outstanding common stock in Verso Corporation (NYSE: VRS, the "Company" or "Verso"). Atlas and Blue Wolf today outlined several critical reasons why stockholders need to act decisively to protect their investment and elect its three highly qualified director candidates Tim Lowe, Sean Erwin and Jeffrey Kirt to the board of directors of Verso (the "Board"). The 2019 annual meeting of stockholders of Verso (the "Annual Meeting") will be held this Friday, January 31, 2020. This is the 2019 annual meeting, which was supposed to be held in September of 2019, but was unilaterally delayed by the incumbent Board multiple times in violation of Delaware law. This is a pivotal Annual Meeting for Verso stockholders as they will vote on whether to elect Atlas' director candidates to the Board. We believe the results will have a profound impact on stockholders' ability to realize the value they deserve from their investment in Verso. We believe that the critical issues for stockholders to consider fall into three main categories, each of which clearly underscores the need for change at the Company and the shortcomings of the incumbent directors: Governance In approaching this election, the Board has proposed a series of long overdue governance reforms and board composition enhancements at Verso. However, these proposals have been advanced in what is at best a belated effort to convey a false sense of commitment to the principles of good governance in a disingenuous attempt to placate stockholders. Leading proxy advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") also emphasized the dubious timing of the Board's recent corporate governance changes. In fact, in its recommendation that stockholders vote on Atlas' BLUE proxy card, ISS stated: "The timing of the board refreshment and [the two Co-Chairs'] subsequent decision to step down appear directly linked to this proxy contest. The company's executive succession planning looks subpar, as shown by its CEO changes in 2019. This fact pattern calls into question whether the company would have improved corporate governance, absent pressure from the dissident."1 Another leading proxy advisory firm, Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC ("Glass Lewis"), has shared the exact same concerns about the incumbent Board's corporate governance practices. In fact, in its report, also recommending that stockholders vote on Atlas' BLUE proxy card, Glass Lewis said: "we believe a litany of questionable corporate governance practices at the Company over the last two years, including failing to hold the 2019 annual meeting in the required timeframe, excessive director compensation, a lack of demonstrated effort to undertake shareholder-friendly changes without the threat of a proxy fight and recent entrenchment tactics, justify further board change."2 The Board waited almost a year before proposing these changes, and conveniently did so after the proxy contest had begun and just before the election of directors at the Annual Meeting. The timing is not coincidental and stockholders should look at the Board's true track record on governance, and motivations for belated improvements, before believing they have truly turned over a new leaf. In addition, the Delaware Chancery Court found that Atlas presented facts sufficient to establish a credible basis for the Court to infer that there may have been entrenchment motives and possible wrongdoing by the Board of Directors of Verso. Stockholders should not forget that all of the incumbent directors up for election have actually proposed to stockholders at the Annual Meeting at least two defensive measures that are hidden entrenchment devices and extremely unfriendly to stockholders. These two entrenchment devices are: (1) the ability of the incumbent Board to ignore the stockholder vote on whether to keep the current poison pill in place (also known as a "strawman vote"); and (2) the lack of a plurality carveout for contested director elections in the proposed majority vote in director election proposal, which can mean no directors get elected in future election contests and the incumbent directors remain in place (while the Board also made no recommendation on the proposal they put forth). Incumbent directors who own virtually no stock in Verso, including Nancy Taylor, Jay Schuster and Steven Scheiwe, put forth these proposals that are antithetical to the principal of stockholder democracy. This further calls into question whether, without sufficient board-level change and ownership perspectives in the boardroom, the incumbent directors are capable of fostering an environment where best-in-class corporate governance practices can thrive. Business Performance We also believe that Verso has been operating well below its potential and that the Board's multi-year and all-consuming strategic review process, culminating in the proposed sale of Androscoggin and Stevens Point mills (the "Specialty Mills"), has resulted in the absence of a defensible and thoughtful long-term business strategy for the remaining assets of the Company. This is likely why Verso's stock trades at the lowest EV/EBITDA multiple among its peers3 and the Company has had three CEOs in as many years. Furthermore, the Board touting improved stock and financial performance rings false to us as we believe the performance was driven by a higher net selling price ("NSP") as a result of tighter market conditions as opposed to the Board's execution of a successful operating strategy. ERA Forest Products Research, a leading independent financial research company focused exclusively on Pulp, Paper and Forest Products, noted that "Verso had nothing to do with the changes in the supply and demand dynamic, but clearly benefited from it. To take credit for it is disingenuous."4 Verso operating results demonstrate that it failed to implement the appropriate cost controls and right size its cost structure to match the ongoing sales volume decline. For instance, despite removing its highest cost mill (Luke), Verso's cash cost per ton increased by $47 from 2017 to 3Q 2019 LTM.5 We believe this failure to exercise appropriate cost control led to the Company underperforming by ~$128 million of EBITDA in the 3Q 2019 LTM period. Verso Actual ($MM except per ton figures, rounded) 2017 3Q'19 LTM Delta Net Revenue $ 2,461 $ 2,552 $ 91 Tons Sold 2,959 2,732 (227) NSP/Ton $ 832 $ 934 $ 102 Cash COGS1 $ 2,221 $ 2,179 $ (42) Cash COGS/Ton $ 751 $ 798 $ 47 Adj. EBITDA $ 134 $ 273 $ 139 Adj. EBITDA/Ton $ 45 $ 100 $ 55 1. Cash cost calculated by subtracting Adjusted EBITDA and SG&A from Net Revenue. Verso's Uncaptured Upside Cost Increase/Ton $ 47 3Q'19 LTM Tons Sold 2,732 EBITDA Impact $ 128 Further, as noted by RISI, the Coated Paper (Coated Freesheet and Coated Mechanical) markets continue to decline with the rate accelerating above 10% for the ten-month period through October 2019.6 We believe that the largest players in the Coated Paper markets, including Verso, will face the brunt of these adverse forces and will either need to remove supply to balance such markets or face significant price erosion. Such an environment requires a Board with significant industry experience specific to such markets and a comprehensive long-term strategy. Unfortunately, the Board's lack of industry experience already has led to what we believe was an egregiously poor capital allocation decision in the conversion of the A3 paper machine at the Androscoggin mill. The conversion was poorly conceived and lacked a long-term strategy which led to Verso selling linerboard into an export linerboard market that went from an NSP of $788 per ton when the investment by Verso was announced in February 2018 to an NSP of $470 per ton in October 2019.7 This decision and execution plan (or lack thereof) demonstrates a fundamental lack of knowledge of domestic and global packaging markets. Despite this experience, the incumbent Board is now threatening to pursue a similar conversion project in Duluth, which is likely to cost tens of millions of dollars. We are convinced that Verso needs oversight from new directors with extensive experience in its remaining coated paper businesses and companies undergoing operational turnaround. The election of the three Atlas director candidates will ensure that the Board has the relevant industry and operating experience to develop and execute a viable long-term strategy to operate the business at its full potential. Industry experts agree with our assessment of Verso, as Glass Lewis voiced their "outstanding concerns that the incumbent board appears to be conducting a perpetual strategic review in lieu of an actual strategy."8 Additionally, ERA Forest Products Research stated that based on their analysis of Verso, they "are of the opinion that Verso's existing management has worn out its welcome. As such, investors should return the BLUE proxy card in support of the slate of directors proposed by Atlas and Blue Wolf."9 Atlas Nominees Based on our twenty years of successfully investing in the paper industry, we are confident Verso is capable of delivering far better performance if certain sensible operational improvements are made the kind of improvements that the incumbent directors lacked either the ability or the inclination to deliver during the multi-year strategic review process. We believe experienced, independent and thoughtful voices with ownership perspectives on the Board like those of Tim Lowe, Sean Erwin and Jeffrey Kirt will reject the status quo at Verso and deliver value to stockholders. As previously stated, all three of these director candidates are independent and would be considered so under New York Stock Exchange rules and policies, as well as under the guidelines of both leading proxy advisory firms, ISS and Glass Lewis. We continue to struggle with Verso's defamatory attacks on Tim Lowe. We have nominated Mr. Lowe because of his vast operating experience in the paper and pulp industry spanning almost four decades, including the graphic paper and bleached-kraft pulp markets that are most relevant for Verso. The Company has spread a false and distracting narrative of his alleged conflict, disingenuously suggesting that Verso and Twin Rivers, a company at which Mr. Lowe serves as a non-executive director, have meaningful product overlap. Verso, if an informed market participant, should know well that any overlap in products sold by Verso and Twin Rivers is de minimis at best and would no longer exist once the sale of the Specialty Mills is completed. In addition, we note that Atlas's investments in Verso and Twin Rivers are held in different Atlas funds, each of which has separate fiduciary obligations. Further, there are safeguards in the limited partnership agreements of the funds managed by Atlas to protect against decisions or actions that may benefit one fund at the detriment of another Atlas fund and, if elected, we would expect Mr. Lowe to adhere to these safeguards and act as a director of Verso in accordance with his fiduciary obligations to Verso. At the end of the day, based on their experience and interactions with Mr. Lowe, Atlas and Blue Wolf have no doubt that Mr. Lowe would uphold his fiduciary duties on the Board of Verso and take actions consistent with such fiduciary duties - for the benefit of ALL Verso stockholders. Stockholders should strongly question the true motivation behind the incumbent Board's allegations about conflicts of interest relating to Mr. Lowe's director role with Twin Rivers. This is particularly the case given that the incumbent Board has already determined by selling the Specialty Mills that the products in question are no longer a critical part of Verso's current business and strategic plan. However, in order to achieve improved operating results on the scale that we envision for the benefit of ALL stockholders, Verso's board needs directors with the requisite operational and industry experience. Tim Lowe is one of those people. Tim Lowe, along with Sean Erwin and Jeffrey Kirt, would be only three of seven directors, representing a minority of the Board. If elected, they will be expressly bound by Verso's corporate governance guidelines and code of conduct applicable to all directors (the "Verso Policies"). We would also expect them to collaborate with the re-constituted Board to make fully informed decisions consistent with the Verso Policies regarding director independence and conflicts of interest assessments that arise from time-to-time, as is routinely the case in all boardrooms across Corporate America. Finally, the Company already has alluded to the possibility of diluting the input of any of our candidates that get elected at the Annual Meeting by expanding the Board to eight directors. For this reason, among many other governance shortcomings, Tim Lowe, Sean Erwin and Jeffrey Kirt must be elected. Three Independent Research Firms Urge Stockholders to Vote on the BLUE proxy! Three independent research firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), Glass Lewis, and ERA Forest Products Research have ALL concluded that change is warranted at Verso and that stockholders should vote on the Atlas/Blue Wolf BLUE proxy card to elect one to three Atlas nominees and bring needed fresh thinking and industry expertise to the Verso Board. FOLLOW ISS', GLASS LEWIS' AND ERA'S RECOMMENDATIONS AND VOTE ON THE BLUE PROXY CARD TODAY! Now is the time to vote your shares. Atlas and Blue Wolf encourage you to vote on the BLUE proxy card today FOR the election of all THREE (3) of its highly qualified independent nominees - Tim Lowe, Sean Erwin and Jeffrey Kirt . Atlas Holdings is an industrial holding company with a portfolio of 20 companies with aggregate annual revenues of approximately $5 billion, operating approximately 150 facilities and employing more than 18,000 people globally. Although we are engaged in a variety of industrial sectors, Atlas Holdings has been successfully investing in the pulp, paper and packaging industries since our formation in 1999, including specifically in the subsectors in which Verso participates specialty paper, graphic paper, packaging paper and pulp. We generate profits for our investors by investing in underperforming businesses and unlocking the full potential of those companies over the long term. Atlas Holdings has a total of approximately $3.0 billion of committed capital under management, including $1.7 billion in its third investment fund. Blue Wolf Capital Partners is a middle market private equity firm whose partners have decades of experience investing in and growing companies. Blue Wolf transforms companies strategically, operationally and collaboratively. Blue Wolf manages challenging situations and complex relationships between businesses, customers, employees, unions and regulators to build value for stakeholders. For over a decade Blue Wolf has been an active investor in pulp, paper and forest products companies with a highly successful track record. Blue Wolf has over $1.6 billion in committed capital. IMPORTANT INFORMATION On December 31, 2019, Lapetus Capital II LLC ("Lapetus"), together with the other participants in Lapetus' proxy solicitation (the "Participants"), filed a definitive proxy statement and accompanying BLUE proxy card with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") to be used to solicit proxies in connection with the 2019 annual meeting of stockholders of Verso Corporation (the "Company"). LAPETUS STRONGLY ADVISES ALL STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE SOLICITATION OF PROXIES FROM THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION, INCLUDING INFORMATION ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SOLICITATION AND A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR DIRECT OR INDIRECT INTERESTS THEREIN. The Definitive Proxy Statement and a form of proxy is available to stockholders of the Company at no charge on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov and is also available, without charge, on request by contacting Lapetus' proxy solicitor Harkins Kovler, LLC by telephone at the following numbers: 1 (212) 468-5380 (banks and brokers call collect) or toll-free at 1 (877) 339-3288. Media Contacts: Prosek Partners Andrew Merrill / Brian Schaffer / Josh Clarkson 646.818.9216 / 646.818.9229 / 646.818.9259 [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected] 1 Permission to quote ISS was neither sought nor obtained. 2 Permission to quote Glass Lewis was neither sought nor obtained. 3 Source: Capital IQ. Peer group: Domtar Corporation, International Paper, Neenah Paper, Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Ahlstrom-Munksjo, Packaging Corporation of America, Sappi Limited, UPM-Kumme Oyj, Stora Enso Oyj. 4 Permission to quote ERA was neither sought nor obtained. 5 Verso public filings. 6 RISI PaperTrader for Coated Freesheet consumption with industry statistics through October 2019. 7 RISI unbleached kraft linerboard 175 gsm for export to Southern Europe. 8 Permission to quote Glass Lewis was neither sought nor obtained. 9 Permission to quote ERA was neither sought nor obtained. Emphasis added. SOURCE Atlas Holdings LLC; Blue Wolf Capital Advisors IV, LLC The spray costs around 10,000 for one course of treatment. [Photo: Getty] A ketamine-like spray that reportedly boosts a depressives mood in just a few hours has not been given the green light for use in the NHS. The National Institute for Health and Care and Excellence (NICE), which issues guidelines for the health service, claims there are too many uncertainties regarding the drug esketamines price relative to its benefits. READ MORE: Adding 35 minutes to your workout 'slashes the risk of depression' According to NICE, esketamine is an isomer of ketamine (which means it has the same molecular formula). Ketamine is more commonly known as an illicit "party drug" and can make users high when used in elevated doses. It is also used as a painkiller by the NHS. Esketamine is thought to be more potent than ketamine at relieving symptoms of depression in patients, according to John Hopkins Medicine. As a regulated drug, esketamine is only given in controlled doses and is free of the contaminants that can make ketamine dangerous. It is said to boost mood by targeting the chemical glutamate, which is also linked to learning and memory. The spray, which gets absorbed into the bloodstream, costs around 10,000 ($12,994) for one course of treatment, the BBC reported. NICE argues there is a lack of evidence of esketamines effectiveness, particularly when compared to conventional treatments. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US approved the spray last year for treatment-resistant depression. A substantial number of individuals suffering from major depression fail to respond to two or more conventional antidepressants, Dr Paul Keedwell, from Cardiff University, said. Treatment-resistant depression is thought to affect up to 30% of people with major depressive disorder (MDD) in the UK, according to a paper in the journal BMC Psychiatry. MDD - defined as remitting and relapsing symptoms that may persist between episodes - affects between 5% and 10% of people in primary care settings in the UK, NICE reported. Story continues READ MORE: Yoga could combat depression in just one month Existing approaches to treatment resistance, including medication combinations, talking therapy or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) often fail or are unacceptable, Dr Keedwell said. New approaches are required to reduce the costs to society of protracted suffering, disability and chronic healthcare needs. The committee's objection to its use appears to be largely based on cost rather than lack of effectiveness. While it is an expensive treatment, the additional costs incurred with any promising new medication must be compared to the financial burden of persisting depression. Another consideration is the emerging evidence that ketamine rapidly quells suicidal thoughts - an effect that could not only reduce levels of self-harm but could also reduce dependence on costly emergency services and crisis admissions to hospital. Ketamine, which has also been used to treat depression, tends to act in hours, rather than the weeks or even months it takes traditional antidepressants, Dr Keedwell claims. It is not a permanent fix, however, with prolonged therapy required. Research at Oxford over the past 10 years has not revealed any evidence of drug-seeking or dose escalation during long term treatment, Dr Keedwell said. In someone whos life is transformed by this drug, the big ethical question is when do you stop it, if ever? Concerns raised by the committee about the potential harms of halting its prescribing need to countered by the observation that many individuals are dependent on drugs to keep them well - consider bipolar patients, diabetics, asthmatics and epilepsy sufferers. There is no evidence thus far of a ketamine withdrawal syndrome, only evidence of relapse of depression. READ MORE: Four in five Brits suffer a mental health symptom 300 days a year Dr Sameer Jauhar - from Kings College London - called esketamines efficacy data quite reasonable, noting many will not want ECT, regardless of how effective it may be. One expert, however, welcomed NICEs decision, calling it sensible. Many psychiatrists have been concerned at the lack of evidence that esketamine is really a helpful treatment for depression, Professor David Curits, from University College London, said. There are also unanswered questions about the extent to which it might cause unwanted effects and how it could be safely used in practice. On this occasion NICE is quite correct to wait for additional information, including the results from further research, rather than allowing esketamine to be used in routine clinical practice. Dr Jauhar added: There will be similar compounds, with novel modes of action, becoming available over the coming years, and this patient group badly needs access to effective treatments, which will - in time- be evaluated by NICE. NICE is advising patients in England and Wales who are already on esketamine, for example as part of a trial, continue taking it. Scotland is yet to issue guidance. The watchdogs draft guidance is open for consultation until February 18, the BBC reported. Editors note: This article was updated on January 29 Reliance Industries Ltd is quoting at Rs 1491.3, down 1.01% on the day as on 13:19 IST on the NSE. The stock jumped 23.18% in last one year as compared to a 13.89% rally in NIFTY and a 5.71% spurt in the Nifty Energy index. Reliance Industries Ltd is down for a fifth straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 1491.3, down 1.01% on the day as on 13:19 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 0.1% on the day, quoting at 12131.55. The Sensex is at 41204.83, up 0.12%.Reliance Industries Ltd has lost around 3.43% in last one month.Meanwhile, Nifty Energy index of which Reliance Industries Ltd is a constituent, has eased around 3.11% in last one month and is currently quoting at 15489.25, down 0.15% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 53.42 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 80.55 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark January futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 1491.25, down 1.01% on the day. Reliance Industries Ltd jumped 23.18% in last one year as compared to a 13.89% rally in NIFTY and a 5.71% spurt in the Nifty Energy index. The PE of the stock is 25.9 based on TTM earnings ending December 19. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China virus toll rises; foreign states trying to evacuate nationals from epicenter Wuhan Iran Press TV Monday, 27 January 2020 8:27 AM The death toll from the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China has surpassed 80, with authorities in Beijing warning that the mysterious virus is "getting stronger" despite unprecedented quarantine measures and travel lockdowns. Two dozen new deaths reported in Hubei Province the heart of the outbreak and another in the southern island province of Hainan on Sunday, bringing the overall death toll to 81. Confirmed infections also swelled to more than 2,700 across China. According to report from the 30 provinces, "the number of infected is 2,744, critically ill is 461," said the National Health Commission (NHC)'s spokesperson, Song Suli. "The number of people discharged from hospital and cured is 51, while there are 5,794 suspected cases and 32,799 people who were in close contact with the infected," the spokesperson added. The never-before-seen virus first reported in the central city of Wuhan, with a population of 11 million people is transmissible before symptoms even appear, according to the NHC's minister, Ma Xiaowei. "According to recent clinical information, the virus' ability to spread seems to be getting somewhat stronger," Ma said. Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Ma said the period between exposure to the virus and the appearance of first symptoms could range from one to 14 days. Ma said that "the rate of development of the epidemic is accelerating," warning that the outbreak "will continue for some time, and the number of cases may increase." Among the symptoms of the disease are nasal congestion, headache, cough, sore throat, and a fever, according to infectious disease expert and University of California San Francisco professor Charles Chiu. There are no tests designed to detect this exact coronavirus strain, according to Chiu, who said the virus belongs to the family of viruses that cause common colds. This is happening despite intensified efforts across China to contain the spread of the dangerous disease. Chinese authorities have put Wuhan under a lockdown, and impose sever curbs on movement in place in several other cities. In Shanghai, Chinese government have sprayed residential areas with disinfectants to curb the spread of the virus. The measures, however, have failed to prevent the fast-moving virus believed to have originated in a seafood and poultry market in Wuhan from crossing the Chinese border. China premier in virus epicenter On Monday, Premier Li Keqiang became the most senior Chinese leader to visit Wuhan since the city was struck by the epidemic. Wearing a mask and blue plastic scrubs, Li was in Wuhan to "investigate and guide" ongoing efforts to curb the virus in the city of 11 million people, said China's State Council said on its official social media account. The State Council, China's cabinet, said Li would meet with patients and medical staff on the frontline, he added. Beijing is scrambling two hospitals in Wuhan. The state-run People's Daily reported Saturday that a 1,300-bed makeshift hospital in Wuhan will be built in the next 15 days in addition to the first 1,000-bed hospital being built in the city. Outside China Many people have so far been diagnosed with the infection across the world, including in the South Asian nations Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Nepal and other countries including Canada, Australia, France and the United States. Australia confirmed on Monday its fifth case of the disease. According to health officials, the patient is a 21-year-old woman who was on the last flight out of Wuhan to Sydney before China imposed the travel ban. The other four cases were confirmed on Saturday, with one in Melbourne and three in Sydney. Australian officials are now working with Chinese authorities to evacuate about 100 Australian children and young people out of Wuhan. We are working on a number of fronts, firstly to make sure ... that there is support for those Australians and we are also working on, as are other countries, to try to secure their ability to return to Australia," said Health Minister Greg Hunt. The United States has also detected five cases as of Sunday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The US is arranging a flight to evacuate its diplomats and some citizens from Wuhan on Tuesday. The flight will leave Wuhan and take people to San Francisco, the State Department said in an email to Americans in China. "This capacity is extremely limited and if there is insufficient ability to transport everyone who expresses interest, priority will be given to individuals at greater risk from coronavirus," it added. France is also planning to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan and quarantine them, according to the French government. French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen that has a factory in Wuhan is also moving its foreign employees and their families by bus to be quarantined in another city. Global markets tumble The virus seems to be affecting global markets as concerns are growing among investors over the scope of the outbreak across the world. While gold prices rose on Monday, oil prices declined during Asian trading hours on Monday. "Media wins all you see is headlines about the coronavirus, giving investors a reason to sell the markets," said Takeo Kamai, head of executions services at CLSA in Tokyo. Meanwhile, China's currency yuan fell in offshore trade to its lowest level in three weeks on Monday. There are concerns that such asymptomatic transmissions could impact tourism and consumer spending as well. "There is a lot of uncertainty about how much further the virus will spread, and this is behind the moves in currencies," said Yukio Ishizuki, foreign exchange strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo. US S&P 500 mini futures were last down 1.0 percent, having fallen 1.3% in early Asian trade, The Associated Press reported. European shares were also expected to follow suit, with major European stock futures trading 1.2-1.4 percent lower. Traders, however, say the market moves could be exaggerated because financial markets in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia are already closed due to the Lunar New Year holidays. Singapore also said on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak will hurt its economy this year, as it announced new measures to tackle the disease. The Southeast Asian travel and tourism hub, which recorded its lowest growth rate in a decade last year at 0.7%, has reported four cases of the coronavirus. "We certainly expect there to be an impact on our economy, business and consumer confidence this year especially as the situation is expected to persist for some time," trade minister Chan Chun Sing said. China's cabinet announced it will extend the holidays to February 2 to strengthen the prevention and control of the viral outbreak. Meanwhile, some infectious disease experts warned that failure to stop the outbreak of could see the virus spread in a sustained way around the world and even perhaps join the ranks of respiratory viruses that regularly infect people. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday inaugurated the state's first virtual police station. Apart from the virtual police station, Patnaik at a function here also launched the Road Accident Case Documents Module and Medico-Legal Opinion System, said Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay. "My government is committed to providing citizen centric governance under 5T. These initiatives will effectively reduce the necessity of citizens to visit police stations," Patnaik said. Giving details of the virtual police station, an official release said that it is an online mechanism established at the State Crime Records Bureau in Bhubaneswar. "One can file FIR online in unknown motor vehicle theft case for now," it said, adding that there is no need for anyone to visit the police station. However, the complainant needs to create a user ID and password on https://citizenportal-op.gov.in/citizen/login.aspx to file an online FIR against vehicle theft. If a case remains undetected for 21 days, the final form will be auto generated which will help people for claiming insurance in motor vehicle theft case. They said jurisdiction will not be an issue as the nodal officer of the virtual police station will forward the complaint to the concerned police station. In regard to the Road Accident Case Documents Module, the statement said that this is a web-based application which can be assessed by visiting the site www.imsop.odisha.gov.in. This module will help insurance companies or the victims in downloading the required documents like FIR, final form, spot map, MVI report, inquest, post mortem report, driving license, registration certificate or any other documents as required. It will do away the role of middlemen and expedite the process of insurance claims. Insurance companies can approach Crime Record Bureau for creation of user IDs and passwords to access the site. Complainants can access the site by filling up requisite details and OTP will be sent to the mobile number mentioned in the FIR. Medico-Legal Opinion System is also a web-based system to help both the police and the medical professional. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) When it comes to big banks it is often said that loyalty doesn't pay. However, in an unusual case, 40 years of sticking with Lloyds Bank was the main reason behind a Hertfordshire man obtaining a 12,000 mis-sold PPI payout. But Richard Harvey's case also highlighted how the banking giant stung him for worthless insurance over all those years of loyalty since the age of 18. Four decades with the same bank, helped Lloyds uncover that a customer was owed 12,000 in PPI payouts and interest Richard, of Rickmansworth, Herts, decided to make a PPI claim on the deadline day last August, having heard about the time limit in a radio advert. He had taken out loans from the bank to pay for cars in the past, as well as having had Lloyd's credit cards, but could not remember specific details of any payment protection insurance. However, he suspected that the bank may have added on the insurance without him realising, as happened to many other customers of Britain's banks. Richard told This is Money that he was simply asked to give Lloyds his personal and account details through its own PPI claims portal, and the application process only took around 15 minutes. Having sent the application off on 29 August last year, he finally received a letter in early January, dated Christmas Eve. It said Richard had taken out eight historic loans over the course of banking with Lloyds, two of which had PPI attached. The PPI added, plus the higher cost of another loan, combined with interest he was owed delivered a total claim amount to be repaid of 12,200. Richard said he must have taken out the loans 'back in the eighties or nineties', and 'would never have remembered' had all his banking not been in one place with Lloyds. How the 12,000 PPI payout added up The cost of the PPI policies added to Richard's two loans were 816 and 3,145. As well as those two loans, on which Lloyds found he had been mis-sold PPI and was due refunds of 592 and 2,324, the bank said a third loan he had taken out was higher due to the previous PPI premiums he had paid. This meant he was due a payout on that loan too, despite the fact that he had not been mis-sold PPI on it. Lloyds said in its letter the extra amount he paid due to PPI on previous loans, and the amount they owed him, was 1,390. While the redress amount of 4,306 would already represent a substantial windfall given how Richard had taken a punt on the claims deadline with no idea whether he'd ever had PPI, the total sum he ended up receiving was even bigger given how Lloyds added compensatory interest of 7,902.42 to the total. Banks have added 8 per cent annual interest to the initial premiums, to reflect the fact those mis-sold PPI could have invested the money instead. After tax, the total amount he ended up with was 10,824.06. The Lloyds letter stated: 'The offer includes a refund for the extra amounts you paid when you refinanced your loans, plus additional compensatory interest. 'The outstanding balance on the loans you refinanced was higher because you had PPI. So, your next loan amount and the repayments for it were larger.' A separate letter on the subject of his credit cards enquiry asked for further information, so he's unsure whether he might be in line for even more money, though he can't remember some of the details he may need to send off. Richard said: 'My suspicion is my protection insurance gave me no more than what I would have got through my work already. 'One of the learnings I've taken from this is there are some benefits of staying with my bank all this time.' Buried treasure: Richard Harvey put in a PPI claim on the deadline last August, only to find out he was owed money from three loans taken out decades ago Could some PPI claimants get tax back? As in Richard's case, banks have tended to deduct 20 per cent income tax from the amounts they have paid out. However, since 2016 basic rate taxpayers have been able to earn 1,000 a year in interest without paying tax, thanks to the personal savings allowance. Higher rate taxpayers can earn 500. This could mean that those who have received compensatory interest for small PPI refunds should not have paid tax on their refunds at all, though higher rate taxpayers should have been taxed at a higher 40 per cent, so could end up with less. Richard Morley, tax partner at accountancy firm BDO, told The Times: 'People are really confused about the rules. 'If your bank has already deducted basic-rate tax at source on the interest element, you would have overpaid tax in the tax year in which you received the PPI payout. You can claim a repayment of this overpaid tax by completing form R40. 'You normally have four years from the end of the tax year in which the overpayment arose to claim a refund.' Meanwhile those who have underpaid need to declare this interest to the taxman, ideally as soon as possible. MIDDLETOWN Three unique performances are scheduled for this weekend through Wesleyan Universitys Center for the Arts, Memorial Chapel and the Russell House on the school campus. Full ticket information is available by calling 860-685-3355 or www.wesleyan.edu/cfa Golden Hornets The Sound of Science featuring Jeffrey Zeigler begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, in Memorial Chapel, 221 High St. Tickets are $28 general public; $26 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $6 Wesleyan students, youth under 18. Cellist Jeffrey Zeigler has performed as part of the Kronos Quartet, as well as with Laurie Anderson, Roomful of Teeth, and Vijay Iyer. Co-curated with Austin, Texas-based bandleader and composer Graham Reynolds, The Sound of Science (2018) features works by seven composers, who chose eight influential scientists and created pieces inspired by their life and research. The Connecticut premiere will feature Pastaza, which reflects on the work of Wesleyan's Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental Studies, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Biology, Chair of the Environmental Studies Program, and Director of the College of the Environment Barry Chernoff. His research focuses on freshwater fish of the Neotropical region. Listen to a conversation with Jeffrey Zeigler, Graham Reynolds, Barry Chernoff, and Wesleyan Professor of Music Ron Kuivila about Golden Hornets The Sound of Science on the Center for the Arts Radio Hour podcast on SoundCloud. Limited podcast series made possible by WESU Middletown. Some of the other remarkable composer-scientist pairs include Foday Musa Suso, an internationally recognized musician and Mandingo griot, who composed a piece about George Washington Carver; Yuka C. Honda of the band Cibo Matto, who was inspired by Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician who computed Apollo 11s route to the moon; and Graham Reynolds' piece inspired by Kristen Harris, Professor of Neuroscience at University of Texas, who studies the cell biology of learning and memory. Presented in partnership with Wesleyans College of the Environment. On Saturday at 6 p.m., following a lecture by adjunct assistant professor of music Jin Hi Kim discussing the compositional concept of Living Tones, she will present a performance on the electric komungo (Korean stringed instrument). adjunct assistant professor of music Nadya Potemkina (viola) and graduate student Aliya Ultan (cello) will also perform Kee Maek, one of the scores in the collection. The event will be held in the Smith Reading Room, Olin Library, 252 Church St. There is no admission charge. A two-part celebration of the Music Librarys recent acquisition of Kims scores for Living Tones will also explore the sonic recesses and performative possibilities within the stacks of Olin Library during Hidden Volumes from 12-6 p.m. Sunday at 3 p.m., the Fred Simmons Duo performs at the Russell House. There is no admission charge. Pianist and private lessons teacher Fred Simmons returns to the Russell House with professor of Music and African American Studies Jay Hoggard on vibraphone, for an afternoon of original compositions, as well as highlights by other jazz composers, from Duke Ellington and John Coltrane to Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Here are some stocks that are in the news today: Results: Maruti Suzuki, CG Power and Industrial Solutions, Century Textile and Industries, Central Bank of India, Cummins India, Chemo Pharma Laboratories, Infibeam Avenues, JK Lakshmi Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, Manappuram Finance, Mastek and Ramco Systems are among the companies that will release their December quarter numbers on January 28. HDFC: Q3 profit surged to Rs 8,372.5 cr versus Rs 2,113.8 cr, NII grew 9.8 percent to Rs 3,296.7 cr YoY. InterGlobe: Q3 consolidated profit jumped to Rs 496 cr versus Rs 185 cr, revenue grew 25.5 percent to Rs 9,932 cr YoY. Torrent Pharma: Q3 profit rose 2 percent to Rs 251 cr, revenue fell 4.1 percent to Rs 1,966 cr YoY. United Spirits: Q3 profit jumped 15.2 percent to Rs 232 cr, revenue increased 2.9 percent to Rs 2,587.6 cr YoY. JK Paper: Q3 profit rose 18.3 percent to Rs 131.8 cr, revenue dipped 5.6 percent to Rs 820.6 cr YoY. Music Broadcast: Q3 profit dipped 37.8 percent to Rs 10 cr, revenue declined 20 percent to Rs 69.6 cr YoY. Tata Steel Long: Consolidated net loss at Rs 112.2 cr against the profit of Rs 25.7 cr YoY in Q3. Consolidated revenue at Rs 999.3 cr against Rs 260.8 cr YoY. HG Infra: Q3 net profit fell 5.6 percent to Rs 33.5 cr against Rs 35.5 cr YoY. Revenue climbed 3.8 percent to Rs 571.5 cr against Rs 550.8 cr YoY. Shanthi Gears: Q3 net profit fell 38 percent to Rs 6.1 cr against Rs 9.8 cr (YoY). Revenue came at Rs 58 cr against Rs 61.5 cr (YoY). V2 Retail Q3: Net profit down 12% at Rs 21 crore versus Rs 23.6 crore, revenue down 9.1% at Rs 219 crore versus Rs 241.1 crore, YoY CCL Q3: Consolidated net profit up 44.1% at Rs 47 crore versus Rs 32.6 crore, revenue up 28.8% at Rs 302.7 crore versus Rs 235 crore, YoY IL&FS Transport: Unable to service obligations in respect of interest on NCDs due on January 27. Aurobindo Pharma: Promoter released pledge on 2 lakh shares on January 23. Andhra Bank: To consider raising capital up to Rs 200 cr. Shriram City Union: The company is to consider the establishment of dollar global medium-term notes for fundraising. Sadbhav Engineering: Promoter released a pledge on 9.53 lakh shares (0.56 percent of total shares) on January 20. Adani Gas board meeting on February 5 to consider and approve the results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2019 GHCL approves buyback of shares of Rs 60 crore Ramco Industries invested Rs 5 crore in the capital of Lynks Logistics by way of subscribing to 5 crores equity shares, through rights issue. Cholamandalam Investment - QIP Committee approved the opening of the issue on January 27, 2020 Music Broadcast recommended a bonus issue of 1 share for every 4 shares Karnataka Bank board recommended a bonus issue of 1 share for every 10 shares held Prakash industries has decided to participate in forthcoming auctions of coal blocks available under commercial mining policy and not to proceed further in case of Bhaskarpara coal block Torrent Pharma approves issuance of equity shares for an amount not exceeding Rs 5000 crore Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday, despised the Islamabad police for arresting protestors demanding the release of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen who was detained on Monday. The Commission said that the civil society activists & political workers were exercising their Constitutional rights by conducting peaceful protests. The Human Rights Commission further advised the authorities to refrain from high-handedness and respect citizens' rights. HRCP deplores the police crackdown on peaceful civil society activists & political workers in Islamabad, demanding the release of detained #PTM leader #ManzoorPashteen. The authorities must refrain from high-handedness and respect citizens' rights as enshrined in the Constitution Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) January 28, 2020 READ | MASSIVE: Protests Set To Rock Pakistan After Pashtun Leader's Arrest; PTM Goes Global Arrest of protestors demanding Pashteen's release Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Mohsin Dawar was taken into custody on Tuesday in Islamabad, Kohsar Police Station House Officer (SHO) told the local media. SHO said that 15 workers of PTM, including Dawar, had been arrested from the National Press Club in Islamabad, while they were demonstrating against the group's chief Manzoor Pashteen's arrest. The number of arrested demonstrators can be higher as many protesters were taken to police stations in Islamabad. A large number of supporters and PTM workers had attended the protest, including politicians Afrasiab Khattak and Bushra Gohar. READ | Pak Cautions Ghani Against 'interfering In Internal Matters' After Pashteen's Arrest Worldwide PTM protests The PTM announced protests across the world after its leader Manzoor Pashteen was arrested on Monday. According to the PTM, rallies are being organized in countries such as the US, Afghanistan, and Belgium. Besides this, major cities of Pakistan such as Karachi, Islamabad, Quetta, Mardan, Peshawar also witnessed protests. On Monday, a local court in Peshawar sent Manzoor to judicial custody for 14 days. He has been booked under stringent provisions such as sedition. Meanwhile, section 144 has been imposed in Balochistan ahead of the protests. READ | Pakistani Pashtun Minority Leader, Who Criticised Army, Arrested For 'sedition' READ | India Issues Pak Strong Demarche Over Abduction & Conversion Of Hindu Girl At Her Wedding (with inputs from agencies) Coronavirus continues to spread outside China by JASON BEAUBIEN January 28,2020 | Source: NPR Public health officials are still trying to figure out how the coronavirus is spreading. Human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed in every major Chinese city. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: Public health officials are not calling the coronavirus a pandemic - not yet. Human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed in every major city in China. And the government there is taking increasingly broad actions to try and prevent further spread. We've got NPR global health and development correspondent Jason Beaubien with us from Hong Kong. Hi, Jason. JASON BEAUBIEN, BYLINE: Hey. Good morning. MARTIN: So what is the latest you're hearing from public health officials there? BEAUBIEN: So they just had a press conference with Dr. Gabriel Leung. He's an expert on coronaviruses. He worked on SARS. He led Hong Kong's attack on the bird flu outbreak in 2009. And he's been doing some modeling, looking at what is happening with this current outbreak. And what he's finding is that it's accelerating, and it's accelerating rapidly. And in his predictions, it's only just getting started. He shared this report with the WHO, and then just right after that, he gave it over to the press. And it's fairly, fairly devastating. Basically, he's predicting that this pandemic is going to peak in late April, early May with about 150,000 cases a day happening in the city of Jiaxing alone, never mind the rest of China. He's up front, however, that this is a worst-case scenario he's laying out here. And it's based on the assumption that no new measures are put in place to get control of the outbreak that's currently going on. MARTIN: Right. So at the top, I said that they're not calling this a pandemic. So we should just reinforce the fact that, as you just said, that's worst-case scenario. Like, that is what a pandemic looks like, if it starts affecting that many people. What measures, I mean, can be taken? We've heard about these travel bans, trying to contain people. But what else is possible? BEAUBIEN: So, you know, again, Leung and his colleagues are very upfront that there's a lot that is still not known about this. But they say the key is containing things now. And Leung says they need to limit the spread of the virus. GABRIEL LEUNG: Substantial draconian measures may need to be taken. MARTIN: Whoa, draconian? BEAUBIEN: Yes. I mean, it was fairly powerful language - draconian measures to isolate the sick, quarantine people who may have been exposed, limit people from moving around, cancel large public gatherings. Hong Kong's already canceled schools through at least February 17. Shanghai has now announced that they're going to order businesses and government offices to stay closed until February 9. Every day, we're getting more buses and trains and planes that are getting cancelled in different parts of China. And, you know, at this point, nobody thinks there's going to be some magic pill or vaccine that's going to come in and stop this outbreak. Right now, again, it's all about containment. MARTIN: And so while their modeling is just about containing it in China, I mean, are they saying anything specific about the threat right now outside of China? BEAUBIEN: Yeah. So just to be clear, you know, these are Hong Kong researchers. To some degree, they were looking at, what is the threat to Hong Kong? However, these are people who have worked with China for a long time. They know this region well. They worked on SARS. They've worked on, you know, the bird flu. And so their main focus was what's happening in China right now. But they did say that, particularly, if this worst-case modeling plays out and you get hundreds of thousands of cases a day, this is not going to stay in China. 2020 npr Theme(s): Others. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Jan. 28 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Turkmenistan will hold an International Investment Forum in Ashgabat on March 17-18, 2020, Trend reports referring to the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan (UIET) on Jan. 28. A co-organizer of the forum will be TMT Consulting Group. During the forum sessions, public-private partnerships and prospects for the development of industry, agriculture, transport, logistics and tourism in the country will be discussed. On the sidelines, business negotiations with interested parties are scheduled. Within the framework of the forum, an exhibition-fair of achievements of local entrepreneurs will be organized. The UIET unites more than 20,000 businessmen. According to local regulations, businessmen are allowed to create joint ventures with foreign partners by attracting their investments. There are about 600 private enterprises in the Turkmen industry, including those producing building materials, textiles and carpets, chemicals, metal products, furniture, faience, glass products, as well as polyethylene and plastic products that are in demand in the domestic and foreign markets. According to the British Petroleum (BP) report, Turkmenistan ranks fourth in terms of natural gas reserves in the world and sells this type of fuel to China and Russia. Official Ashgabat has embarked on the diversification of the local economy; the textile and oil products industries have advanced; the oil and gas chemical industries; the building materials industry are actively developing. President Donald Trump's lawyers on Tuesday completed their oral arguments in the Senate impeachment trial, bringing to a quick end a defense that attempted to discredit the evidence gathered by House Democrats in their initial probe. The team used far fewer than its allotted 24 hours to make its case. Deputy White House Counsel Pat Philbin began the day attempting to refute the House Democrats' "abuse of power" charge by questioning whether the House could judge the president's motives. "How do we tell under the House managers' standard what an illicit motive is, when there's an illicit motive?" Philbin asked. "How are we supposed to get proof of what's inside the president's head?" Philbin also argued that House Democrats' reliance on the testimony of White House officials to frame their case was flawed. Those officials testified during the House probe that a July 25 call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which Trump pressed his counterpart to announce an investigation into his Democratic rivals while withholding congressionally approved military aid was inappropriate. Philbin said the president is ultimately not beholden to his subordinates' suggestions or opinions. Trump "has the authority to set policies and make determinations regardless of what the staffers recommend," Philbin said. The House voted last month to impeach Trump on articles of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in relation to his dealings with Ukraine. Trump's lawyer Jay Sekulow on Tuesday warned the Senate that "to lower the bar of impeachment" would weaken constitutional standards. He also said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to withhold the articles for a month after Trump's impeachment contradicted the sense of urgency around the issue Democrats hoped to establish. Getting the impeachment done in the House before Christmas "was so critical," he said, but "they never really answered the question on why they thought there was such a national emergency." The oral arguments come two days after a bombshell report that Trump told former National Security Advisor John Bolton that he wanted to withhold military aid to Ukraine in exchange for investigations into political rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. In Monday's arguments, Trump's lawyers ignored the news, based on an unpublished manuscript of Bolton's forthcoming memoir. But on Tuesday, Sekulow addressed the revelation on the Senate floor for the first time. Trump impeachment trial: Defense ignores Bolton bombshell about Ukraine aid for investigations "You cannot impeach a president on an unsourced allegation," he said, calling the report "inadmissible" as evidence, though he did not deny the allegation. In making his point, Sekulow relied heavily on Trump's reaction to the news and commentary from acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, whom Sekulow said was not a witness to any talk about investigations between Trump and Zelenskiy. Trump denied the reports on Monday tweeting that he "NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats." Trump tweet Following the Trump defense team's arguments, Republican senators planned to huddle in the Capitol to discuss the next steps in the trial and assess where members of the caucus stood on the question of calling witnesses. In light of the Bolton revelations, moderate Republicans such as Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine expressed more openness to calling for new testimony. The GOP holds a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Democrats need four Republicans to join with them in a vote to call new witnesses. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., after the proceedings on Tuesday said a preliminary vote count among senators indicated that the GOP does not have enough votes to block witnesses or additional documents. Lead impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., made the case for calling Bolton after the day's proceedings, telling reporters that the House tried to subpoena Bolton in its initial investigation but the president's lawyers in a separate court case argued that "the House may not sue in court to compel a witness to testify." "They come into the Senate, which they refer to as a court, and they say the House should have sued in court to enforce subpoenas on witnesses like John Bolton, and then they go to court and they say the House may not sue in court to compel a witness to testify," Schiff continued. "That is the legal duplicity of the president's team." But even if Bolton testifies, it remains unlikely that the Senate will vote to convict and remove the president from office. The Senate will have 16 hours beginning Wednesday to present written questions. Afterward, the Senate will vote on whether to call witnesses or produce additional documents. Photo: James Willamor/Flickr Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Durham. Gunman who crashed in chase robbed or tried to rob 3 Durham stores in 90 minutes, police say The Friday incident was reported around 2:50 p.m. as an armed robbery at Food Lion at 3609 Davis Drive, according to a news release from Morrisville police. Read the full story on WNCN. Durham health officials post signs reminding residents of cigarette, vape ban on city sidewalks Durham County Department of Public Health posted more than 100 signs reminding residents that they can't smoke on city or county property, including parks and sidewalks. Read the full story on ABC11 WTVD. 3 seriously injured as vehicle hits pole, causing power outages in Durham, police say Durham police are investigating after three people were injured in a single-vehicle crash along Cornwallis Road between Jan Court and Beechwood Drive Monday evening. Read the full story on WNCN. From backing up Aretha to 'Rent' in Durham: Actor talks first national tour When Shafiq Hicks was 18 years old, he had the honor of singing with one of the greats. Read the full story on WRAL Out & About. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. The Order of Australia recognises Australians who have demonstrated outstanding service or exceptional achievement. Except when it doesnt. The decision to appoint Bettina Arndt a member of the Order of Australia for "significant service to the community as a social commentator, and to gender equity through advocacy for men" demeans the awards and degrades the concept of rewarding those who work in the public interest. Worse, it makes clear these awards are not based on merit. The vote to give this recognition to Arndt was both close and hotly debated but there needs be only a majority of one on the committee to bestow the award, according to multiple sources. Usually, the committee tries for consensus. Sex therapist and men's advocate Bettina Arndt. Credit:Karleen Williams Arndts support of a convicted paedophile, maths teacher Nicolaas Bester, who sexually assaulted his student Grace Tame when she was 15, should have alarmed every single member of the Council for the Order of Australia. It certainly has alarmed a few other recipients. Ross Taylor, in 2013 appointed a member of the Order of Australia for his contribution to Indonesia-Australia relations, primary industry, transport and his cancer charity work, is horrified. His exact response? ST. PAUL State Rep. Bud Nornes, R-Fergus Falls, will not seek reelection to the Legislature this November. First elected in 1996, Nornes said in a release that he has "put students first" during numerous stints chairing House higher education committees. Nornes said it is time to focus on spending more time with his own family particularly his wife of 58 years, Joyce, and their three adult children with families of their own, including 10 grandchildren. "It has been a difficult decision but, the more we talked about it, we agreed it is the right time to step aside," Nornes said. "Our family is scattered all over the country, so Joyce and I are ready to gas up the RV and hit the road on our own schedule." Nornes spent three decades in the radio business before being elected to the House. His first foray into the public arena was a 12-year tenure with the Fergus Falls Board of Education. He also became a local community presence serving numerous civic organizations, the release said. ADVERTISEMENT "I am forever grateful for the opportunity to represent the people of our region at the Capitol and cherish the relationships I have developed through my legislative work," he said. "Its a humbling experience to serve in the House of Representatives and I cannot thank my constituents enough for the endless support theyve shown me over the years." Karnataka Police on Tuesday (January 28) filed a case of sedition against the management of a school in Bidar for staging a play against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC). The police said that the play against CAA and NRC was staged by some students of Shaheen School in Bidar on Republic Day (January 26). According to police, the play included derogatory words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The police claimed that the students who participated in the play said that if anyone asks for documents for NRC then they should be hit with slippers. The police have reportedly questioned some students, who are minors, in connection with this matter. Live TV The case of sedition has been filed against the president, management and another person of Shaheen school. The police took the action after Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), registered a complaint claiming the play staged at the school was derogatory. The police has also booked the management of Shaheen School for "promoting enmity between different groups" under Sections 124(A) and 153(A) of the Indian Penal Code. No one has been arrested so far. The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results A 22-year-old who killed a vulnerable Northern Ireland man with an "unprovoked and unexpected blow" following a drink and drugs binge was handed a three-year prison sentence on Tuesday. Telling Donach Rice that he displayed "a shocking indifference" to the plight of Padraig Fox in the aftermath of the killing, Mr Justice Colton noted that after administering the fatal blow, Rice created a "false self-defence scenario" then cashed in a betting slip for 7.60 which belonged to the deceased. Rice, a father of two from Kilkeel Road in Annalong, was informed he will spend three years in prison followed by the same period on licence when he is released from jail, after he admitted the manslaughter of Mr Fox. Senior investigation officer, Detective Inspector Michelle Griffin welcomed the sentence, saying that nobody should ever have to go through the torment Mr Fox's family were put through. "His family have been left devastated and whilst I know nothing will ever ease the pain and loss Padraigs death has caused, I hope the sentencing today will bring some kind of closure for them, she said. The 29-year old victim - who had mental health and addiction issues - was killed in the kitchen of his neighbour's flat in December 2018. Mr Justice Colton said Mr Fox's death has had "devastating consequences" for his family, and said he was a man who was "clearly loved by his close relatives, particularly because of his vulnerability." His loved ones attended today's sentencing, and left court clutching a cushion bearing his face. Mr Fox lived alone in a flat at Burrendale Road in Newcastle, and the day before he lost his life, he had been with neighbour Paul Magennis, who lived in the flat above, and cousins Donach and Nathan Rice (21). Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, heard all four men spent Friday December 7, 2018 drinking and talking drugs including acid in Magennis's flat. This went on into the following morning, and some time around 8am and 9am, Mr Fox lost his life. Expand Close Nathan Rice was in the flat when Padraig Fox was attacked Photopress Belfast / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nathan Rice was in the flat when Padraig Fox was attacked All three defendants were subsequently charged with perverting the course of justice, leaving police to piece together what occurred in the flat. Mr Fox's body was discovered at 1.45pm on Saturday 8 by a man seeking 28-year old Magennis, and when police arrived at the scene they observed a lifeless body in the kitchen. He was found lying on his back with a machete underneath his left hand, and his t-shirt pulled over his face with his chest exposed. A post mortem was conducted the following day, with the cause of death attributed to blunt force trauma. He suffered a bleed to the brain and a fractured skull, with the pathologist concluding his ability to breathe whilst on the ground would have been compromised due to a broken nose and consequent bleeding into his airways. Following the discovery, a solicitor for the Rice cousins contacted the PSNI on December 8 to say they had been in the flat with Mr Fox and they wanted to assist police. Both Donach and 21-year old Nathan Rice, from Saul Street in Downpatrick, provided statements claiming they saw Magennis throw the fatal punch - a claim the cousins later admitted was untrue. Following a detailed investigation, the true picture emerged of what occurred both before and after the fatal punch. During the course of the Friday night and early Saturday morning, Mr Fox sustained a facial injury after he was assaulted in the flat. After that, at around 5am, he walked to the Slieve Donard with the Rices. The two cousins broke into the hotel and stole three bottles of alcohol, and the trio returned to Magennis's flat where the drinking continued. At around 8am, the Rices and Magennis went to Tesco where a bottle of vodka was purchased. A short time after they returned there was an altercation between Donach Rice and Mr Fox, when the deceased was punched once and fell. Mr Fox showed no signs of life after this assault. Nathan Rice then left the flat, while Donach Rice and Magennis remained there for 13 minutes before leaving and involving themselves in further criminality. They accosted an elderly man at an ATM on the Dundrum Road at 9.25am, while at 9.50am Donach Rice cashed in a betting slip for 7.60 that belonged to the deceased Mr Fox. All three men were subsequently arrested and interviewed. Magennis was interviewed 12 times and claimed Donach Rice firstly assaulted Mr Fox causing an eye injury, and that the fatal punch was administered in a second assault by Rice after they got back from Tesco. He also admitted staying behind after the fatal punch, and said he and Rice "sliced" themselves with the machete before the weapon was placed under Mr Fox's hand to make it look like self-defence. Donach Rice was interviewed nine times, and admitted breaking into the Slieve Donard with cousin Nathan. Despite initial denials, he admitted punching Mr Fox in the face and subsequently later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other offences. Nathan Rice admitted proving a false statement and said this was to protect his cousin. He also admitted breaking into the Slieve Donard, and said he left the flat in a panic after the fatal punch. During Tuesday's sentencing, it was noted that all three men had criminal records. Also noted was the behaviour of the men after the killing. Addressing Donach Rice, Mr Justice Colton said: "In the immediate aftermath of this assault, your first reaction was to seek to set up a false self-defence scenario. This took considerable effort on your part, including the infliction of a wound to your arm and the placing of the machete under the deceased's hand." The Judge said that after taking into consideration Rice's "difficult and chaotic childhood", his expressions of remorse, his relative youth and his guilty plea, he was handing him a six-year sentence. Magennis - who admitted two counts of perverting the course of justice, and assaulting the pensioner at the cash machine - was handed a two-and-a-half year sentence which will be divided equally between custody and licence. Mr Justice Colton told Magennis he displayed a "callous disregard" for his neighbour's plight and said: "You made no effort to seek medical attention or assistance for him, but rather set about leaving a false trail with a view to protecting you and Mr Rice wrongly seeking to implicate Mr Fox in some wrongdoing." Nathan Rice was handed a combination order consisting of 40 hours community service and a year's probation, after he admitted breaking into the Slieve Donard, and perverting the course of justice by falsley claiming Magennis dealt the fatal blow. Described as a young man with a low IQ, ADHD and 'easily led by peers', the judge told him "it seems clear to me that your actions were motivated by a misguided loyalty to your cousin and desire to protect him". Detective Inspector Griffin said that Mr Fox's "so called friends" walked out on him and left him to die alone. However, their cold, cowardly acts did not stop there. All three alleged that Padraig had attacked Magennis with a knife and Donach had been injured trying to intervene," she said. This was totally fabricated. Donach Rice and Magennis had actually cut themselves with a knife and Magennis placed it under Padraigs hand to try and frame him. It also came to light that Donach Rice cashed in a betting slip belonging to Padraig which was removed from Padraigs wallet after he died. How much was it worth? A paltry 7.60." WASHINGTON Martin Shkreli, a former pharmaceutical executive serving a seven-year prison sentence for defrauding investors, was accused on Monday of trying to maintain a monopoly over the lifesaving drug Daraprim through anticompetitive tactics. The Federal Trade Commission and the office of the New York attorney general, Letitia James, jointly sued Vyera Pharmaceuticals and the companys owners, Mr. Shkreli and Kevin Mulleady, in a federal court in Manhattan. They say Vyera and its leaders had an elaborate and anticompetitive scheme that blocked generics from entering the market after the company jacked up prices of Daraprim. The drug is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a rare, potentially fatal parasitic infection. Mr. Shkreli became known as a pharma bro for his brash attitude when faced with criticisms for raising prices of Daraprim by 5,000 percent, making it prohibitively expensive. In 2018, he was sentenced to prison for defrauding investors in hedge funds he ran by lying about his performance and track record. In their suit, the F.T.C. and New York attorney general say that soon after Vyera bought the rights to Daraprim in August 2015, it raised the price per tablet to $750 from less than $20, knowing the increase would attract generic competition. Before Vyeras purchase of Daraprim, the drug had been accessible and affordable for decades. Daraprim is the only drug approved by the Federal Drug Administration to fight toxoplasmosis, which can kill people who have compromised immune systems, including babies and H.I.V. patients. Flash The death toll in a fire which destroyed a dock containing around 35 boats in the U.S. state of Alabama on Monday rose to eight, with more fatalities feared, local media reported. All eight people known to be missing were confirmed dead, said Scottsboro Fire Chief Gene Mecklaus, adding "that number could go up, because we don't know how many were on boats." Mecklaus said at least seven people were rescued on the scene and transferred to hospital for treatment of their injuries. About 35 boats were consumed in flames, some of them sinking and others floating away, as a result of the fire in Jackson County Park in Scottsboro, according to Mecklaus. "The dock is collapsed; we can't get to all the boats right now," said Jackson County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen. "We have a list of residents here and we are trying to confirm (the) whereabouts of everyone." The blaze was reported shortly after midnight, when people residing in the boats were sleeping. The fire consumed the wooden dock and an aluminum roof covering many of the vessels, cutting off escape routes for people and debris fell into the water. The Scottsboro Fire Department, Scottsboro Police Department, Jackson County Sheriff's Office, along with other agencies and volunteers, were on the scene responding to the incident. The cause of the fire was under investigation by the State of Alabama Fire Marshals Office and the Scottsboro Fire Department, according to Harnen. Information on Jackson County Park's website shows the park has a walking trail, boat ramps, and fishing and swimming docks on the Tennessee River. Afghanistan's national carrier has however dismissed the claim. A passenger plane from Afghanistan's Ariana Airlines crashed Monday in a Taleban-held area of Ghazni province, local officials said. Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the plane went down around 1:10 p.m. local time in Deh Yak district, which is held by the Taleban. Two provincial council members also confirmed the crash. The number of people on board and their fate was not immediately known, nor was the cause of the crash. Ariana Airlines, Afghanistan's national carrier, dismissed the claim that one of their planes had crashed in a statement on their website, saying all their aircraft were operational and safe. Without a care for the customer, this is the moment a delivery driver brazenly slings a fragile parcel from the road all the way up to the recipient's front porch - and breaks it. A homeowner in Williamsburg, New York, was gutted when the hardback religious book he had ordered arrived with deep indents in the covers. But his dismay turned to fury when CCTV revealed the USPS courier had not even bothered to come up the path, but instead decided to hurl the package from the sidewalk. The package did not even reach the door, but bounced back down the steps and on to the snow. A homeowner in Williamsburg, New York, was gutted when the religious book he had ordered arrived with deep indents in the cover A second video also shared by the Williamsburg news site purports to show the same uncaring deliveryman lobbing a package up the stairs of a second house a few doors down, resulting in the china product getting smashed. After expressing his severe 'disappointment' to see his package treated with such awful care, the recipient of the damaged religious book shared the video from January 18. It shows a frosty afternoon on Penn Street which is blanketed in snow, that continues to fall. The large white USPS van is stopped in the middle of the road and the driver wrapped up against the chill emerges clutching the white package. He walks a few steps forward on to the sidewalk before launching the rectangular package over the railing towards the door. He seems to watch as the parcel tumbles back down the steps and nestles in the snow, but does not return to pick it up and trudges back to his van. The deliveryman walks a few steps forward on to the sidewalk before launching the rectangular package over the railing towards the door of the home in Penn Street Cracked china inside a second parcel after a deliveryman threw it towards the front door of another house in the same street later that day - only for it to bounce off the top step Later that day, another CCTV camera on Penn Street captured a deliveryman, believed to be the same one, marching up to the foot of a home's front steps. He throws the parcel up towards the door, but again it does not have enough flight and it smacks the top step and rolls back down. The deliveryman tries again with a more forceful throw, and this time the package slams against the front door before coming to rest. Williamsburg News outlet shared a picture of the cracked china inside the parcel. USPS said: "The Postal Service has seen the video and we are equally disappointed to see the actions of our employee. `This is clearly unacceptable behavior that does not reflect the efforts of the thousands of professional, dedicated carriers in our workforce. `We apologise to our customers who have been affected by this action. The Postal Service is investigating the matter and will take appropriate steps to ensure this does not occur again. `In the unfortunate event an item arrives damaged, customers should file a claim immediately at our websiteUSPS.com. `Customers with any concerns about their mail service should contact their local Post Office or the USPS Customer Care Center at 1-800-ASK-USPS.' The shocking treatment of the parcels came after a damning investigation into the Brooklyn neighborhood's postal service. The Inspector General for the US Postal Service found four-year-old undelivered mail and disgusting working environments. Michael P. Doyle is one of the founders of the consortium that organizes the international symposium. JANUARY 28, 2020 The UTSA Department of Chemistry will host the third International Symposium on Carbene and Nitrene Chemistry from Feb. 5 to 7 at the historic Menger Hotel in San Antonios Alamo Plaza. This will mark the very first time the biennial symposium has been held in North America. The inaugural event took place at the University of Hong Kong in 2016 and the second symposium was hosted by Peking University in China in 2018. The symposium is the creation of the Metal-Carbene Consortium, which was established in 2015 to bring together world leaders versed in the rapidly evolving scientific applications of catalysis, drug design, materials development, and biological uses. The consortium and its flagship event encourage research, foster collaborations, and publicize new developments in metal carbene chemistry and related areas internationally. Dr. Doyle has organized this symposium to advance the global discussion of the progress and potential of this important type of chemistry. It is inspiring that UTSA is hosting it. WALDEMAR GORSKI, Chair of the Department of Chemistry This area of science has emerged as one of the most exciting scientific developments for the selective construction of molecules and the development of highly selective catalystsand UTSA is a center for these discoveries, said Michael P. Doyle, Rita and John Feik Distinguished University Chair in medicinal chemistry at UTSA and one of the founders of the Metal-Carbene Consortium. Doyle was recently awarded the 2020 International Precious Metals Institutes Henry J. Albert Award for his pioneering work with rhodium catalyst reactions. The San Antonio symposium will feature lectures by prolific carbene and nitrene chemistry researchers from universities around the world, as well as poster sessions for contributing presentations. Lecturers include members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Irish Academy of Sciences, and French Academie des Sciences, in addition to the president of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry, and Doug Frantz, UTSAs Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. Lecturers from nine U.S. states, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, and Poland will also give presentations during the three-day event. Dr. Doyle has organized this symposium to advance the global discussion of the progress and potential of this important type of chemistry, said Waldemar Gorski, chair of UTSAs Department of Chemistry. It is inspiring that UTSA is hosting it. Topics that will be covered at the symposium include catalytic reactions of metal carbenes and nitrenes and their applications, novel ways to generate carbenes and nitrenes, carbenes as catalysts, and theoretical implications for carbene and nitrene reactions. Attendees will also discuss applications in biology and medicine, materials development, mechanistic understanding, and late-stage functionalization. Visit the Metal-Carbene Consortium website to register for the event and learn more about the program. Strategic Investors Include Fonds Quebecor Innovation and La Capitale Assurances MONTREAL, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - CONTXTFUL, a Montreal-based technology start-up focused on developing products that provide insights on mobile users, improving how advertisers and insurers interact with their customers, today announced it has raised $2 million in seed financing. The seed round is led by Fonds Innovexport and includes strategic investors such as Fonds Quebecor Innovation inc., La Capitale Assureur de l'administration publique as well as Anges Quebec, private angels and founding partners. CONTXTFUL advances mobile interactions by measuring the human context. As a company generating new and unique data, CONTXTFUL goes far beyond traditional metrics to create actionable insights for a wide variety of applications within the advertising & insurance space. With their expertise in mobile sensor technology, the company leverages non-intrusive, non-private data, while complying to industry-wide privacy policies. This new technology has the potential to revolutionize how advertisers, publishers and insurers interact with their customers, creating more rewarding and win-win outcomes. The company is commercializing 2 initial products: Receptivity , aimed at advertisers and publishers, to help them increase ad campaign performance and ad inventory monetization. , aimed at advertisers and publishers, to help them increase ad campaign performance and ad inventory monetization. Rituals , aimed at insurers, to help them identify and promote better risk reducing habits for their customers. CONTXTFUL: The measure of moments "We believe that our solution has the potential to redefine how companies interact with their online consumers by adding the Human Context in the equation. Understanding real-time behaviors of users interacting with their mobile devices is paramount to better tailor ads, improve user experience, adapt any content and encourage healthier habits. We help companies maximize performance and overall customer lifetime value. That being said, we believe in a human-first world where data is leveraged to improve our wellness, not the other way around" said Guillaume Bouchard, CEO of CONTXTFUL. "With its unique technology and team expertise, we strongly believe CONTXTFUL will change the adtech and martech ecosystems" said Richard Bordeleau, president of the Fonds Innovexport. "This project is directly in line with Fonds Innovexport's mission to support promising and innovative start-ups". "We are constantly looking for innovative solutions to improve the monetization of our ad inventory while improving customer interaction and experience", said Jean Peladeau, Managing Director of data and ad performance at Quebecor. "CONTXFUL's innovative and transparent approach to non-private data collection can help the insurance industry develop a new approach to risk reduction and prevention that can ultimately improve our customers' quality of life" commented Eric Champagne, EVP of Marketing, Communications and Digital Strategy at La Capitale insurance and financial services. About CONTXTFUL CONTXTFUL is a Montreal-based technology start-up that helps media and insurance companies improve their customer interactions by leveraging non-private, sensor-based data from mobile devices. CONTXTFUL goes beyond traditional metrics to provide Human Context. The company is a graduate of TandemLaunch, a deep-tech incubator based in Montreal, Canada. https://www.contxtful.com SOURCE CONTXTFUL The scene after the blaze at the bungalow of Andy and Laura Whitelaw A Co Armagh couple whose dream house was destroyed in a fire have thanked people for their kindness as they continue their search for a new home. Twelve days ago Andy and Laura Whitelaw watched their rented bungalow on Castleraw Road in Loughgall go up in flames. The fire started in the attic of the detached house, where they had lived for only three months, on the night of January 16. Sparks from a fire they had lit found their way through a hatch in the chimney, setting a wooden truss alight which ultimately gutted their home. The couple had recently installed an all-night burner, which they had been using prior to the fire with no issues. After the fire they were left with just the clothes they were wearing and lost many precious family mementos. Andy (52) and Laura (38) are currently staying in a B&B in Portadown while their dogs Apollo and Heidi are being cared for in kennels as they try to sort out their insurance. Their landlord put them up in his own home just after the fire and released their deposit, which can go towards a new house. Andy, who is originally from Scotland, retired from the Army on medical grounds in recent years as he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Since then Laura, who is originally from Holywood, has been acting as his carer. The couple married in 2013. Andy burned his hands as he attempted to save his home and has been left retraumatised after the blaze. "I think we are still in shock to be honest and it feels like it only happened two days ago," said Laura. "Among the items we lost were Andy's medals and military paperwork so now it's as though he was never in the Army as all records of his time are gone. "He is the sort of person who prefers to be helping others rather than taking help himself so this has all been very difficult. "We still have to visit the house regularly to meet the loss adjusters, which is very upsetting as they try to identify items in the rubble." Earlier this week friends set up a GoFundMe page to help them get back on their feet again with enough money for a deposit and one month's rent on a new property. It has almost reached its 1,000 target. "People have been so generous with their donations and it will help us towards a new house," added Laura, who is grateful for the help from several local businesses. "When we get back on our feet again we plan to give back to the charities that have helped us. "The kind words that people have shared with us since this happened has been unreal." While the husband and wife along with their dogs, a Doberman and a Presa Canario, were unharmed in the devastating fire, they are heartbroken at being separated from them. "Once we get a house we can get our dogs back," Laura added. "We miss them so much but have been to see them even though we have been told that it's worse for them. "They think they're going home when we come to see them and then we leave again." To donate to the couple's GoFundMe page, visit: gf.me/v/c/v2k3/andy-amp-laura-whitelaw-xx. Part of the slough where the body of infant Nikko Lee Perez was discovered in Yolo County in 2007, near Woodland, Calif., on Jan. 27, 2020. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo) Father Arrested in Killings of 5 of His Infant Children A California father about to be freed from prison has been taken into custody in connection with the decades-old killings of five of his infant children in a case a sheriff said has haunted his agency for years. Paul Perez, 57, a convicted sex offender with a 20-year criminal history, was charged in the deaths of the children born between 1992 and 2001, authorities announced on Jan. 27, the same day he was supposed to be released from a state prison in Delano on unrelated charges. Yolo County Sheriff Tom Lopez said the case reflects an unspeakable evil, though a motive has not been determined. I cannot think of a case more disturbing than this one, he said. There can be no victim more vulnerable and innocent than an infant and unfortunately this case involves five of them. A homicide investigation was launched in the spring of 2007 after a fisherman found the badly decomposed remains of a 3-month-old boy recently identified as Nikko Lee Perez. A fisherman sits along the slough where the body of infant Nikko Lee Perez was discovered in Yolo County in 2007, near Woodland, Calif., on Jan. 27, 2020. (Rich Pedroncelli /AP Photo) The child was wrapped in a Winnie the Pooh blanket, then in a layer of plastic and placed inside a metal cooler which had been weighed down with metal objects before being submerged in an irrigation slough near Woodland, California, about 80 miles northeast of San Francisco. An autopsy determined the infant died of blunt force trauma. He had a fractured skull and before death had sustained rib and other fractures that had started to heal by the time he was killed. Investigators submitted the babys DNA to the U.S. Department of Justice in hopes of obtaining an identity. But it wasnt until October that they found the match. They were able to determine Nikkos identity and that he was born nine years earlier on Nov. 8, 1996, and about 170 miles away in Fresno, California. His remains were identified after authorities used an expanded DNA database for the first time in the case, though it had been used widely in other cases. The man who discovered Nikkos remains told The Associated Press he had never forgotten what he saw and was relieved to learn DNA technology helped solve the long mystery. When I opened that box, I was 99 percent sure it was a human body but I wanted to hold on to the belief that maybe it wasnt, Brian Roller said. When I saw one of the officers [at the scene] start to cry, I knew right then that what I was thinking was true. With the new information, investigators determined Nikko had siblings: one who is known to be dead and three others whose remains have not been found. Perez was charged with five counts of premeditated murder with special circumstances of lying in wait, torture, and multiple victims. He also faces charges of assault on a child under 8 and criminal enhancements for his prior convictions. A photo of Paul Perez, who has been arrested in the deaths of his five children, is displayed as Yolo County Sheriff Tom Lopez (L) and Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig (R) enter a news conference in Woodland, Calif., on Jan. 27, 2020. (Rich Pedroncelli/ AP Photo) District Attorney Jeff Reisig said Perez is eligible for the death penalty but he has not yet decided whether to pursue it. Perez is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday and authorities said it is unclear if he has an attorney. The investigation in this case uncovered a deeply disturbing and chilling case of infanticide, Reisig said. Authorities said Nikkos siblings include another child born in 1997 with the name Nikko Lee Perez. Oddly, two others shared the same name: Kato Allen Perez, born in Merced in 1992, and Kato Krow Perez, born in Fresno in 2001. Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig stands next to a photo of Kato Krow Perez, born in 2001, one of five infants believed to be killed by their father, during a news conference in Woodland, Calif., on Jan. 27, 2020. (Rich Pedroncelli/ AP Photo) A fifth child was named Mika Alena Perez, born in Merced in 1995. Perez was initially sentenced to two years in prison in 1990 for assault with intent to a commit sex offense, state corrections officials said. He also has served years in prison for vehicle theft, possessing a deadly weapon as an inmate, and fleeing while on parole. Officials declined to say whether Perez has other children or family members, or whether all the babies in the case have the same mother. They asked for witnesses who know Perez or the children to come forward. By Don Thompson Janata Dal United vice president Prashant Kishor hit back at his boss Nitish Kumar on Tuesday for suggesting that he was drafted into the party at the behest of former BJP president Amit Shah. @NitishKumar what a fall for you to lie about how and why you made me join JDU!! Poor attempt on your part to try and make my colour same as yours! And if you are telling the truth who would believe that you still have courage not to listen to someone recommended by @AmitShah? Kishor tweeted hours after Kumar said he was free to stay or leave the party. .@NitishKumar what a fall for you to lie about how and why you made me join JDU!! Poor attempt on your part to try and make my colour same as yours! And if you are telling the truth who would believe that you still have courage not to listen to someone recommended by @AmitShah? Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) January 28, 2020 Earlier Tuesday in Patna, the Bihar chief minister who faced a barrage of questions on Kishors caustic attacks on the BJP and Home Minister Amit Shah, shot back that the former BJP president had played a key role in his induction into the JD (U). Do you know how he (Prashant Kishor) joined the party?Amit Shah asked me to induct him, Nitish Kumar said. Kishor has been critical of the JD(U)s support for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which, the opposition say is unconstitutional because it makes religion a test of citizenship. The CAA fast tracks Indian citizenship for non-Muslims from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who had arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Kumar had so far been indulgent about Kishor and was seen as someone who shielded his partys outspoken vice president despite his attacks over the JD (U)s support to the CAA. Earlier this month, Kishor and former Rajya Sabha MP Pavan Varma, who also opposed the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), were not named in the list of star campaigners released by the JD (U) for the Delhi assembly polls where it is contesting two seats. Kishor is also the election strategist for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which is aiming to return to power in Delhi in the February 8 assembly elections. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Anastasia Savchenko Trend: The volume of oil production at Azerbaijans "Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab" onshore block of oil fields is forecasted to be 110,000 barrels, which is 9,000 barrels less than the forecast of 2019, Trend reports referring to the countrys State Oil Fund (SOFAZ). In 2018, the volume of oil production at the block amounted to 100,000 barrels, SOFAZ said. Azerbaijans State Oil Company SOCAR and Zenith Aran Oil Company signed a REDPSA (Rehabilitation, Exploration, Development and Production Sharing Agreement) in March 2016 for the "Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab" block. Zenith Energy Ltd established its subsidiary company Zenith Aran Oil Company Ltd for production operations in these three fields. Production under the agreement began in August 2016. The total area of the block is 642.2 square kilometers; according to the contract, it is divided into rehabilitation and exploration territories. The block is located in the Yevlakh-Agjabadi oil and gas region of Imishli district of Azerbaijan. The Muradkhanli field was discovered in 1971, Jafarli - in 1984, and Zardab - in 1981. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AnSav2105 28 January 2020 Acron Group Posts 2019 Output of 7.5 Million Tonnes Group's Consolidated Output (including operating results for Acron, Dorogobuzh and North-Western Phosphorous Company) Product, '000 t 2019 2018 YOY, % MINERAL FERTILISERS Ammonia 2,583 2,616 -1.3% Incl. in-house consumption* 2,291 2,178 Nitrogen fertilisers, including 4,933 4,235 16.5% Incl. in-house consumption 1,127 958 AN 1,951 1,798 8.5% Incl. in-house consumption 408 355 Urea 1,253 1,015 23.4% Incl. in-house consumption 719 602 UAN 1,729 1,422 21.6% Complex fertilisers, including 2,026 2,519 -19.6% Incl. in-house consumption 36 44 NPK 1,892 2,329 -18.8% Incl. in-house consumption 36 44 Bulk blends 133 190 -29.8% Total commercial output for Mineral Fertilisers 6,087 6,190 -1.7% INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS Organic synthesis products, including 485 475 2.1% Incl. in-house consumption 248 239 Methanol 106 108 -1.3% Incl. in-house consumption 91 87 Formalin 173 174 -0.8% Incl. in-house consumption 155 151 Urea-formaldehyde resins 206 193 6.7% Incl. in-house consumption 2 1 Non-organic compounds, including: 842 824 2.1% Low-density and technical-grade AN 189 170 11.3% Industrial urea 131 119 10.3% Calcium carbonate 466 473 -1.5% Liquid carbon dioxide 48 55 -13.1% Argon 7 7 -4.4% Total commercial output for Industrial Products 1,079 1,060 1.8% PHOSPHATE INPUTS Apatite concentrate 1,084 1,214 -10.6% Incl. in-house consumption 792 950 Total commercial output for Apatite Concentrate 292 264 10.9 TOTAL COMMERCIAL OUTPUT 7,458 7,514 -0.7% Note: Commercial output is output less in-house consumption. Comments from Chairman of Acron's Board of Directors Alexander Popov: "In 2019, Acron Group's total commercial output remained unchanged year-on-year at 7.5 million tonnes. The Group faced serious engineering challenges. We significantly upgraded the ammonia unit at our Dorogobuzh production facility, increasing its capacity by over 100,000 tonnes per annum. While implementing this project, we faced several technical complexities that delayed the unit's relaunch and resulted in lower commercial output year-on-year at the Dorogobuzh site. In December 2019, these issued were ironed out, the project was finalised, and now the daily output has increased to 2,030 tonnes from 1,700 tonnes. We expect to reach the design capacity of 2,100 tonnes per day shortly and will seek reserves to increase capacity while maintaining the sustainability of operations. "Unlike Dorogobuzh, our Acron (Veliky Novgorod) production facility increased its output with the commissioning of two new nitric acid units of 135,000 tonnes per annum each and higher output at the existing AN and NPK units (up 250,000 and 70,000 tonnes per annum, respectively). Now, we are finalising construction of another nitric acid unit that will be brought on stream in the short term. In 2020, we will continue implementing ongoing investment projects at Novgorod-based Acron. We plan to complete construction of a 700,000-tonne per annum urea granulation unit, finalise upgrades to the Ammonia-4 unit that will increase its capacity by 70,000 tonnes per annum, and expand the capacity of Urea-6 by 520,000 tonnes per annum. "The year 2019 was challenging for the Oleniy Ruchey mine, as they started extracting ore from the underground mine and the effectiveness of open-pit mining declined. In Q1 and Q2 2019, the mine's apatite concentrate output decreased temporarily, recovering to the normal level in Q3-Q4 2019. However, this factor caused a decrease in the Group's NPK output. "We are starting 2020 with confidence that our achievements and ongoing projects will help us set new operating records. Our plan is to produce 8 million tonnes of commercial products this year". Performance Analysis In 2019, Acron Group's consolidated commercial output was down 0.7% year-on-year to 7,458,000 tonnes. This decrease was due to a controlled shutdown of the ammonia unit at Dorogobuzh for upgrades in Q4 2019, which caused a decrease in output of ammonia and ammonia-based products. This project was completed in late 2019, and the unit was restarted with increased capacity. In 2019, Acron Group's nitrogen fertiliser output was up 16% to 4,933,000 tonnes. Agricultural-grade AN output increased 8% to 1,951,000 tonnes due to higher output of nitric acid feedstock. Agricultural-grade urea output was up 23% to 1,253,000, supported by the commissioning of a new urea unit in November 2018 and technical upgrades to existing capacity. Technical-grade urea production was up 10% to 131,000 tonnes, as well. With an increase in urea solution output, the output of UAN based on this solution was up 22% to 1,729,000 tonnes. In early 2020, the Group plans to complete the construction of a urea granulation unit, which will improve the Group's flexibility in the distribution of production volumes between AN, urea and UAN in response to the market environment, increasing the profitability of ammonia processing. In 2019, the Group's complex fertilisers output was down 20% to 2,026,000 tonnes, with a 30% decrease in bulk blends production to 133,000 tonnes as their output at Dorogobuzh declined in response to changes in regional demand. However, the Acron (Veliky Novgorod) production facility increased its production of bulk blends with the launch of a new unit producing brands that are popular on the international markets. NPK output at the Group's facilities was down 19% to 1,892,000 tonnes due to a temporary dip in supplies of apatite concentrate from the Oleniy Ruchey mine. The temporary decrease in apatite concentrate output in Q1 and Q2 2019 was caused by the large-scale overburden operations and low phosphate grade of the ore at this stage of the underground mine's development. As early as Q3 2019, apatite concentrate production volume recovered. Market Trends In Q4 2019, demand for urea was weak in several regions, pushing down prices. Buying activity was under pressure from unfavourable weather conditions. Additionally, several potential customers chose to postpone purchases in anticipation of a price drop. As a result, in early 2020 inventories on key markets were low. It is expected that this factor, along with high seasonal demand in the United States and Europe, will support a price recovery in Q1 2020. With the decrease in urea prices, average AN and UAN prices were down as well in Q4 2019. The price of NPK was under pressure from the individual prices for nitrogen, phosphate and potash fertilisers, but it declined less than those products, with the NPK premium over the basic product basket over 20%. Average Indicative Prices, USD/t, FOB Baltic/Black Sea Q4 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2018 Q4 2019 / Q3 2019 change Q4 2019 / Q4 2018 change NPK 16-16-16 270 295 316 -8.3% -14.4% AN 179 196 186 -8.7% -4.1% UAN 137 142 229 -3.1% -40.0% Urea 216 247 293 -12.6% -26.2% Ammonia 225 216 336 +4.3% -33.0% 2019 2018 YOY, % NPK 16-16-16 296 300 -1.1% AN 189 188 +0.3% UAN 149 179 -16.7% Urea 240 251 -4.4% Ammonia 235 288 -18.3% Media Contacts: Sergey Dorofeev Anastasia Gromova Tatiana Smirnova Public Relations Phone: +7 (495) 777-08-65 (ext. 5196) Investor Contacts: Ilya Popov Investor Relations Phone: +7 (495) 745-77-45 (ext. 5252) Background Information Acron Group is a leading vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally, with chemical production facilities in Veliky Novgorod (Acron) and the Smolensk region (Dorogobuzh). The Group owns and operates a phosphate mine in Murmansk region (North-Western Phosphorous Company, NWPC) and is implementing a potash development project in Perm Krai (Verkhnekamsk Potash Company, VPC). It owns transportation and logistics infrastructure, including three Baltic port terminals and distribution networks in Russia and China. Acron's subsidiary, North Atlantic Potash Inc. (NAP), holds mining licences for 11 parcels of the potassium salt deposit at Prairie Evaporite, Saskatchewan, Canada. Acron also holds a minority stake (19.8%) in Polish Grupa Azoty, one of the largest chemical producers in Europe. In 2018, the Group sold 7.3 million tonnes of various products to 67 countries, with Russia, Brazil, Europe and the United States as key markets. In 2018, the Group posted consolidated IFRS revenue of RUB 108,062 million (USD 1,723 million) and net profit of RUB 13,318 million (USD 212 million). Acron's shares are on the Level 1 quotation list of the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded at the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs approximately 11,000 people. For more information about Acron Group, please visit www.acron.ru/en. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iranian officials and satellite images suggest the Islamic Republic is preparing to a launch a satellite into space after three major failures last year, the latest for a program which the U.S. claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. Satellite images from San Francisco-based Planet Labs Inc. that have been annotated by experts at Middlebury Institute of International Studies show work at a launchpad at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Irans Semnan province. The photos also show more cars and activity at a facility at the spaceport, some 230 kilometres (145 miles) southeast of Irans capital, Tehran. Such activity in the past has signalled a launch looms. The increased activity corresponds to an uptick in reports in state and semiofficial media in Iran about launches coming amid celebrations marking the days before the nation celebrates the 41st anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran routinely unveils technological achievements for its armed forces, its space program and its nuclear efforts during this time. Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, Irans information and communications technology minister and a possible contender in the countrys 2021 presidential election, also increasingly has been tweeting about the countrys satellite program. He responded to a tweet late Monday night by the U.S.-based broadcaster NPR highlighting Planet Labs satellite photos acknowledging Iran planned to launch a satellite system called the Zafar. An earlier report by Irans state-run IRNA news agency quoted Jahromi as saying Tehran planned to launch six satellites into orbit this year, including the Zafar 1 and 2. IRNA described the Zafar 1 and 2 as communication satellites aimed at broadcasting a single message to all users, establishing one-way voice communication between two users and sending a message to 256 direct users. The apparent preparations for a rocket launch come after two failed launches of the Payam and Doosti satellites last year, as well as a launchpad rocket explosion in August. A separate fire at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time. The satellite failure in August drew even the attention of President Donald Trump, who later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure. The three failures in a row raised suspicion of outside interference in Irans program, something Trump touched on in his tweet. The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran, Trump wrote, identifying the rocket used. I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One. The U.S. alleges such satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, maintains its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. Tehran also says it hasnt violated the U.N. resolution as it only called upon Tehran not to conduct such tests. Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. The launch comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehrans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in May 2018. Iran since has begun breaking terms of the deal limiting its enrichment of uranium. Meanwhile, a series of attacks across the Persian Gulf culminated with a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killing Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani and a retaliatory ballistic missile strike by Iran on Iraqi bases housing American troops earlier this month. Iran also accidentally shot down a Ukrainian commercial airliner taking off from Tehran amid the tensions, killing all 176 people on board. ___ Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP. Heroic Catholic American Surgeon Dr. Tom Catena Earns Top Medical Missionary Award for Saving Lives in Africa's Forgotten War Zone Catena to receive annual prestigious AMH Gerson L'Chaim Prize for 'outstanding Christian medical missionary service' from African Mission Healthcare NEWS PROVIDED BY Jan. 28, 2020 DELAND, Fla., Jan. 28, 2020 / Standard Newswire / -- An American surgeon hailed as "the world's most important doctor"-- to more than a million patients--is being honored with a top international medical award. Today, Florida-based African Mission Healthcare (AMH) announced that Dr. Tom Catena is the recipient of the nonprofit's 2019 Gerson L'Chaim Prize for "Outstanding Christian Medical Missionary Service," sponsored by Jewish philanthropists Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson. Photo: Dr. Tom Catena, an American surgeon and medical missionary, who has voluntarily stayed in war-torn Nuba Mountains to save thousands of lives in conflict-torn Sudan, has been honored with a top medical missionary award, African Mission Healthcare ( AMH ) announced today. Catena will be presented with the Gerson L'Chaim Prize for Outstanding Christian Medical Missionary Service at an awards ceremony in New York City, April 14. "Perhaps the primary Jewish responsibility is to love the stranger, and to do so meaningfully -- in action, where real people materially experience this love," said Mark Gerson, co-founder of AMH and benefactor of the Gerson L'Chaim Prize. "We are so grateful to Tom for providing us with the opportunity to fulfill this Jewish obligation so effectively." Dr. Tom Catena Dr. Tom Catena, a 55-year-old Catholic medical missionary from upstate New York, has served in Africa for 20 years. He is the only surgeon for 1.3 million people in a region nearly twice the size of Massachusetts. As a medical missionary, he put his life on the line living in the middle of the war-torn and besieged Nuba Mountains, a territory fiercely contested by its inhabitants and the former government of Sudan. In 2011, when the capital started bombing its own people in this southernmost state in Sudan, most expatriate workers fled, but Dr. Catena insisted on staying and said, "The source of most of our conflicts is the idea that one person's life is more valuable than someone else's. We have forgotten that we are all children of God and therefore somewhat related." Since 2008, Catena, a graduate of Duke University Medical School and former U.S. Navy doctor, has been the Medical Director at Gidel Mother of Mercy Hospital. The 435-bed Catholic hospital is the only major medical facility in the Nuba Mountains. Catena is on call 24/7, and sometimes sees as many as 350 or more patients in a single day. The World's Most Important Doctor Dr. Peter Attia, host of the popular podcast The Drive, has called Dr. Catena "the world's most important doctor." Additionally, Time Magazine named Dr. Catena "One of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World," and he was the subject of a 2015 Nicholas Kristof New York Times opinion piece titled, " He's Jesus Christ ." "Dr. Tom Catena has given up everything that we in the U.S. take for granted in order to bring healthcare to more than a million people who, without him, would otherwise not have access to any medical care," added Mark Gerson. AMH Gerson L'Chaim Prize AMH has been supporting mission hospitals in Africa since 2010. It launched the L'Chaim (Hebrew for "to life") Prize in 2016, which comes with a $500,000 award, the world's largest annual award of its kind dedicated to direct patient care in Africa. The $500,000 award will go towards the Nuba 2020 campaign to raise $7.5 million to keep the only major hospital in Sudan's war-torn Nuba Mountains fully operational for the next two decades. Catena is leading the Nuba 2020 campaign. Mark Gerson commented on Dr. Catena's endless commitment. "The sheer amount of good he does -- as measured in clinic visits, surgeries, deliveries, community clinic patients treated, and children vaccinated -- with the amount of resources he has is completely stunning. It is simply incredible to even think about how many lives Tom and the team he has built can save and transform with the money that he is provided." "The people of the Nuba Mountains are the bravest and most resilient people I know," said Catena. "I am honored to receive this award that will help enormously with our plans to strengthen and expand the Gidel Mother of Mercy Hospital and our network of clinics in this largely forgotten region of the world." "It's an incredible honor for AMH to recognize Dr. Catena's unparalleled commitment," said Rabbi Erica Gerson, an AMH board member and prize co-sponsor, who will present the award with her philanthropist husband Mark Gerson. "For more than a decade, Tom has endured bombings, epidemics, rainy seasons and flooding, loss of power, lack of equipment and staff, and very little connection with the outside world, all because of his dedication to the Nuba people. He exemplifies what it means to 'walk in all God's ways and to love Him,' and we are honored to be his partner in his sacred work." The prestigious Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson L'Chaim prize will be presented to Catena April 14 at an awards dinner in New York City. About African Mission Healthcare African Mission Healthcare (AMH), a Florida-based nonprofit organization, strengthens African mission hospital to aid those in greatest need. AMH strategically partners with mission hospitals to support and advance their commitment to provide compassionate, quality medical care to the forgotten and hurting people of Africa, and to improve the health system in sub-Saharan Africa. AMH was co-founded in 2010 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark Gerson and medical missionary Dr. Jon Fielder, who were college roommates. SOURCE African Mission Healthcare (AMH) Related Links Technavio has been monitoring the IT market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 and it is poised to grow by USD 5.85 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 9% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005304/en/ Technavio announced its latest market research report titled IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire) Launch of the National Transformation Program (NTP) has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, increasing threat of cybercrime might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023: Segmentation IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 is segmented as below: End-User Government Telecommunications BFSI Oil gas Others Component Hardware Services Software Geographic segmentation Americas APAC EMEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30123 IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our IT market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 report covers the following areas: IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 size IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 trends IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023 industry analysis This study identifies increasing demand for e-governance as one of the prime reasons driving the growth of IT market in Saudi Arabia during the next few years. IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the it market in Saudi Arabia, including some of the vendors such as Accenture, Ejada, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the IT market in Saudi Arabia are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform IT Market in Saudi Arabia 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist the market growth during the next five years Estimation of the size of IT market in Saudi Arabia and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the IT market in Saudi Arabia Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of the vendors in IT market in Saudi Arabia About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005304/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: https://www.technavio.com/ The British Consulate has organised two events on the Costa del Sol for February as part of its Brexit outreach programme. Those with questions about Brexit and its possible effects can visit the Consulate's pop-up desk at the Association of Language Schools in Andalucia (ACEIA) Malaga's sixth Annual ELT Conference in Malaga on 1 February. The event will run between 9am and 2.30pm at the Hotel Eurostars Malaga (Calle Heroe de Sostoa, 17). A member of the British Consulate team will be on hand to give information. Registration for the conference can be done online (through the www.aceia.es website). Those who cannot make it to this pop-up will have another chance to have their queries answered at Coin's Casa de Cultura, (Plaza de Santa Maria s/n) on 19 February. At this meeting, organised in conjunction with the Coin branch of the Royal British Legion, members of the Consulate team will give a talk on how British nationals in Spain can register correctly with the Spanish authorities, so that their rights can to be protected by the Withdrawal Agreement. This will be followed by a Q&A session. The meeting, which takes place from 10am to 12pm, is open to all those who are interested. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry shocked the world when they announced their departure from the royal family a few weeks back, but was Meghan planning an exit strategy this entire time? New information has come to light that suggests the Duchess of Sussex has been setting up secret deals as far back as the fall of 2018. If this is true, then Meghan was planning Megxit around six months after tying the knot with Harry. Meghan Markle | Chris Jackson/Chris Jackson/Getty Images Meghan Markle starts new foundation In October of 2018, Meghan and Harry confirmed that they were expecting their first child. The announcement was met with excitement around the world, but behind the scenes, the former Suits stars was making deals of her own. According to Express, Meghan Markle registered two websites roughly a week after announcing her pregnancy. Meghan coupled the sites archefoundation.org and archefoundation.com with an official Instagram account called @archfoundation, which has remained private. "Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, who is involved in ensuring that commercial concerns do not make illegitimate use of royal symbols, said that it would not be 'satisfactory' if [Harry & Meghan] were able to use [Sussex Royal] for their website" https://t.co/eE6JXi4qAk Patricia Treble (@PatriciaTreble) January 21, 2020 She has not posted on the account, which only has one follower, Janina Gavanker. Meghan and Janina are good friends, and the actress even attended Meghan and Harrys wedding. Royal watchers also might recognize her as the person who took Harry and Meghans Christmas card this past December. Because the spelling is different, it is unclear if the websites are linked to Meghan Markles son, Archie Harrison. Archie was born in the spring of 2019, and Meghan has gone to great lengths to keep him out of the spotlight. What other secret projects is Meghan working on? Apart from the new websites, Meghan also recently renewed the trademark for her former blog, The Tig. Back in September, Meghans business manager and long-time associate, Andrew Mayer, applied for the renewal. As fans will recall, Meghan Markle shut down the website shortly after she started seeing Harry. The fact that Mayer renewed the trademark suggests that Meghan was keeping the project in her back pocket and has plans on revisiting it in the future. When it comes to the other websites, we still do not know what they mean or what Meghan has planned for them. The word arche means origin or beginning in Greek, a language Meghan has shown a fondness for in the past. There is no telling what Meghan Markle was thinking when she had her manager create the websites and social media accounts. It is possible that this was a secret project Meghan had in the works, though it is unclear if anyone else in the royal family knew about it. Whats next for the Sussexes? On January 8, Meghan and Harry announced their departure on social media. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed that they are stepping down as senior members of the royal family and are moving to Canada for part of the year. Harry met with Prince Charles, Prince William, and Queen Elizabeth following the announcement. After the meetings were over, the palace confirmed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are giving up their HRH titles. How locals on Vancouver Island are helping to protect Meghan and Harry's privacy https://t.co/Rwt5aiCrBH Red Magazine (@RedMagDaily) January 28, 2020 The couples exit is expected to become formalized this spring. In the meantime, the two are planning on paying back the money that was used to renovate their house, Frogmore Cottage. Meghan did not join Harry in the meetings and is currently in Canada. The former actress has not announced any plans for 2020, but there has been a lot of talk about her returning to acting. Will Meghan Markle bring back The Tig? While we wait for official word, there are a lot of royal watchers who are hoping the Meghan starts up her old blog, The Tig. Prior to dating Harry, The Tig was Meghans lifestyle blog and side hustle. She used the blog to share her thoughts on a variety of topics, including fashion, art, and cooking. Meghan has kept in contact with the team who created the website, which was not officially scrapped. In fact, The Tig is technically still active and would not take much to get up and running. The former Suits star also has a lot more freedom now that she is not a senior member of the royal family. We do not know if starting up her old blog is part of Meghan Markles plan, but it is certainly an option. At least 10 men have been killed in a jihadist massacre at a village in Burkina Faso, which is in the grip of a years-long Islamist insurgency, security and local sources told AFP on Tuesday. "We are talking of between 10 and 30 dead" in in the assault, which targeted the village of Silgadji in northern Soum province, said a security official. The attack was launched on Saturday and jihadists were still in the area on Monday, a resident in nearby Bourzanga town told AFP by phone, citing accounts from those who had fled. "The terrorists surrounded the people at the village market, before separating them into two groups. The men were executed and the women were ordered to leave the village," the source said. The security source said: "Security teams are trying to get to the site but access to the village has probably been booby-trapped with homemade mines, and they are having to proceed carefully." Jihadist groups have killed almost 800 people in Burkina Faso and displaced 600,000 more since the start of 2015, when extremist violence began to spread from neighbouring Mali. The attack comes on the heels of a massacre of 36 people at two villages in northern Sanmatenga province on January 20, prompting President Roch Marc Christian Kabore to declare two days of national mourning. Located in the heart of the vast Sahel region on the southern fringe of the Sahara, Burkina Faso is one of the most impoverished countries in the world. Its army is ill-equipped and poorly trained to deal with the threat although in recent months commanders claim to have killed roughly 100 jihadists. The assaults typically entail fast-moving jihadists who arrive on motorbikes, attacking the market place. There are 4,500 French troops deployed in the region, which are now backed by armed drones, as well as a 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali. They support the forces of the "G5 Sahel" anti-terror group -- Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. The day after the attacks in Sanmatenga, the Burkina parliament adopted unanimously a law allowing for the recruitment of local volunteers in the fight against jihadists. Volunteers aged over 18 will be given 14 days military training, after which they will be given small arms and other communication equipment. The recruits would be expected to conduct surveillance and provide information and protection for their communities in the event of an attack while waiting for security forces to deploy, according to Defence Minister Cheriff Sy. According to UN figures, jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger last year claimed around 4,000 lives. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes, sparking a humanitarian crisis. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A socio-cultural group in Akwa Ibom has asked a journalist in the state to reveal the source of the information in his article or be ready to face disciplinary action. The Oro Union, an influential ethnic-based union in Akwa Ibom, said the journalist, Joseph Atainyang, published a report on Facebook accusing its members of receiving bribe from unnamed Akwa Ibom government officials to scuttle a planned protest by the youth against the alleged neglect of the Oro ethnic nationality in the state. The Oro Union advocates for the economic and political interest of the Oro ethnic nationality. The journalist, Mr Atainyang, is a member of the ethnic nationality. The union said the journalist must come forward to name the giver and receiver of the alleged bribe. The Oron Union President General has summoned Comrade Joseph Atainyang to make himself available in the conference Hall of the Unions Secretariat on Wednesday 29th January, 2020 at 10 a.m. for necessary interrogation so as to vehemently substantiate his claim to the Oro people, the group said Tuesday in a statement from its spokesperson, Asuquo Esifa. Failure to adhere to this call will attract a disciplinary action which shall serve as deterrent to future rumour mongers who may wish to drag the good image of Oro nation in the mud. PREMIUM TIMES contacted the spokesperson of the group and asked him if he did not think they went too far by summoning a journalist to appear before the union for expressing his opinion. He is a member of the union, Mr Esifa said. PREMIUM TIMES told him that the journalist said he is not a member of the union. Let him forget about it then. If he says he is not a member, he doesnt owe us anything, he can go ahead and lie and write so many stupid things he likes about his people, Mr Esifa responded. We have taken note of this, he said. Everybody from Oro is a member by birth. If he says he is not a member of Oro Union, I will communicate this to the appropriate quarters. Mr Esifa said Mr Atainyang has been close to the President-General of Oro Union, Etim Ante, and meet regularly with him but did not care to call Mr Ante to verify his information before going public with it. Mr Atainyang said he was preparing a reply to the Oro Union but that he would not honour their summon. I am not a registered member of Oro Union. If I attend a meeting of Oro Union, I do so as a journalist just to cover their programme, he said. The journalist admitted being close to Mr Ante but said his article was not about the president-general of the group. If its about the president, I would have approached him. The information I had, had nothing to do with the president, the only thing is that the president is one of the people who went to the place (the venue of the meeting where the alleged bribe was given). To the best of my knowledge, the information I published is correct, he said. READ ALSO: David Augustine, a journalist and a lawyer in Uyo, said what was happening between Mr Atainyang and the Oro Union is subtle censorship. This one, they are just using the ethnic origin of the journalist to blackmail him into acquiescence. But the journalist owes his community, even his family, a duty to ensure that whatever is hidden is brought to the fore, said Mr Augustine who publishes Uyo-based Weekly Insight newspaper. The resort to intimidation is unfortunate. As a journalist, you owe the society, and not where you come from. The society looks up to you to reshape society. For me, the Oro Union has no reason to summon a journalist to come and tell them the source of a story. Any person that has been infringed in any way should resort to court, they dont have that powers to ask a journalist to come that they are going to sanction him because of the story he wrote, he said. Advertisements NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Europe warehouse management system market accounted for US$ 687.6 Mn in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.9% over the forecast period 2019-2027, to account for US$ 2,504.6 Mn in 2027. Factors including increasing developments in the e-commerce sector and rising acceptance of enhanced cloud based systems owing to various benefits offered are significantly driving the warehouse management system market. However, Decline in average selling price to solve the issues associated with WMS are impeding the warehouse management system market growth. Mounting demand of smarter warehouses is opportunistic for the growth of the warehouse management system market. Connected devices and sensors can help manage the right quantity of products, at the right price, time and place. Across Warehouse Management Systems, there is a need to allocate every square meter effectively to ensure easy retrieval of specific goods followed by processing, and speedy delivery. Integration of IoT with Warehouse Management System (WMS) leads to the true development of pull-based supply chains (rather than push-based). Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05764207/?utm_source=PRN The warehouse management system market is fragmented with the presence of several industries and the competitive dynamics in the market is expected to change during the upcoming years.In addition to this, various initiatives are undertaken by the governmental bodies to accelerate the warehouse management system market further. For instance, the consolidation of store networks and slowed growth in online retail for certain product groups in saturated western European warehouse management system market had a positive effect on sales area productivity for stationary retail as a whole. If Great Britain is excluded from consideration due to the aforementioned exchange rate disparity, sales area productivity increased by +0.9 percent in the EU-27. In many cases and in grocery retail in particular, this growth is also associated with proactive and ambitious attempts to attract consumers through improved offerings. As in previous years, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden had the highest sales area productivity. By contrast, last-ranked Ukraine had just around 27 percent of the sales area productivity of Luxembourg. This initiative provides multiple benefits to the companies present in this region and thus increasing the growth of warehouse management system market in the region. On the basis of components, the software segment is leading the warehouse management system market.However, the services segment are anticipated to grow at a highest CAGR. The WMS software provides the warehouses with the ability to stay in stock of the goods that they would require in future.Further the software also provides real-time update on the stocks, which allows the warehouses to efficiently analysis the inventory turnover ratio. Some of the processes accessed by the software includes traceability management, inventory management, and billing management.The software facilitate cross-docking, evaluation of vendor performance, and quality management. It supports the increasingly sophistication warehousing needs and are flexible to varying fulfilments such as omni channel/ multi tenanted. In addition the software segment is also expected to have noteworthy growth rate in 2019. Enterprise based WMS, are expected to contribute the most to the growth, while companies continue to use SaaS based WMS subscriptions. Currently, the warehouse management system market players are looking ahead to support warehouse management system industry by innovating advanced and smart warehouse systems. The overall warehouse management system market size has been derived using both primary and secondary source.The research process begins with an exhaustive secondary research using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the warehouse management system market. It also provides the overview and forecast for the warehouse management system market based on all the segmentation provided with respect to Europe region.Also, primary interviews were conducted with industry participants and commentators in order to validate data and analysis. The participants who typically take part in such a process include industry expert such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers and national sales managers, and external consultant such as valuation experts, research analysts and key opinion leaders specializing in the warehouse management system industry. Some of the players present in warehouse management system market are IBM Corporation, PSI Software AG, SAP SE, Epicor Software Corporation, Oracle Corporation, JDA Software Group, Inc., Infor Inc., Manhattan Associates, PTC Inc., and TECSYS among others. Reasons to Buy Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the Europe warehouse management system market Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Europe warehouse management system market, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long-term strategies Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets Scrutinize in-depth Europe market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05764207/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com President Donald Trump announced what he called a detailed plan for Middle East peace that provides a "win-win" solution to make Israel, the Palestinian people and the region safer, skirting complaints that Palestinians have already rejected the proposal and didn't take part in drafting the plan. Trump said on Tuesday that his plan presented a "contiguous" territory for a Palestinian state once conditions were met, including "rejection of terrorism." US President Donald Trump announced the plan alongside Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Credit:Bloomberg The proposal opens a "transition" to a two-state solution that leaves Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided capital," Trump said to applause from an audience that included casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. "Today Israel takes a big step towards peace," Trump said at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides." A 40-year-old man was stabbed to death in Agripada in Mumbai Central after he accused another of stalking his sister, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place on Monday at Dhobi ghat in Saat Rasta area, an official said. "Two brothers confronted a man they had accused of stalking their sister. During an altercation, the man stabbed to death one of the brothers. He has been identified as Vinod Mokhra. Further probe is underway," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) JERSEYVILLE In conjunction with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Jerseyville has been awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration through the Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Demonstration program. The AID Demonstration program provides funding for innovative construction techniques. The money will be used for Jerseyvilles Hollow Avenue Compacted Concrete Pavement Project. Seasoned diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu has been appointed as India's to the US, replacing Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday. Shringla is set to take over as the next foreign secretary on Wednesday. Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently posted as High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka. His appointment to the high-profile job comes at a critical time when the US-India strategic partnership is deepening and also tensions are simmering in the Gulf region after the US killed top Iranian commander General Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad. Also, Indian and US officials are engaged in talks to finalise dates for a possible visit by US President Donald Trump to India. Prior to his current assignment in Colombo, Sandhu was Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy of India in Washington D.C. from July 2013 to January 2017. He also served as the Consul General of India in Frankfurt from September 2011 to July 2013 and worked at the Ministry of External Affairs from March 2009 to August 2011 as Joint Secretary (United Nations) and later as Joint Secretary (Administration) heading the Human Resource Division. Sandhu was also posted at the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations, New York from July 2005 to February 2009. He was also a first secretary (Political) at Embassy of India, Washington, D.C. responsible for liaison with the United States Congress from 1997-2000. In a distinguished career spanning nearly thirty years, Sandhu has worked in the former Soviet Union (Russia) and following the breakup of USSR, he was sent to open a new Embassy in Ukraine. Earlier this month, Shringla had called on Donald Trump and thanked him for his "steadfast support" for strengthening the strategic bilateral ties. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday thanked outgoing Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale for his contributions to the Indian diplomacy. Shringla has been appointed as the new foreign secretary for a two-year fixed term. Muncie - Circa January 2018: A Sign at a Retailer - We Accept SNAP (Bloomberg Opinion) -- In some circles, the notion that theres no free lunch isnt just a metaphor for our economic reality -- its taken as a directive. Thats the idea behind the view that to qualify for government benefits, an able-bodied adult should either hold a job or be in school. West Virginia has been testing this theory by imposing such a requirement for eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program -- more commonly known as food stamps -- in certain counties since 2016. The state has hoped that introducing work requirements would increase employment among SNAP beneficiaries and reduce reliance on food stamps, which ballooned during the Great Recession. The results arent heartening: According to a report from the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy, work requirements did reduce SNAP participation in the affected counties, which saw a 13.6% decline in enrollment -- much higher than the 5.7% decline elsewhere in the state. But employment growth in those counties has, if anything, slowed compared with the rest of West Virginia. And reducing access to food stamps without growth in the job market has in turn put pressure on local food banks and food pantries. The idea that work requirements should promote employment seems intuitive at first glance. So what's wrong with the theory? First, it fails to account for the nature and insecurity of employment for low-income workers. These kinds of workers are much more likely than the rest of the population to work intermittently. They often hold part-time or seasonal jobs, with hours that can fluctuate. Plus, those at the bottom of the pay ladder are much more subject to unexpected shocks that might make it difficult or impossible to work: If your car breaks down, for example, you might not have the money to fix it and as a result, you may not be able to get to your job. Whatever the cause, if youre in and out of work, youll have a harder time satisfying eligibility rules that require continuous employment even if youre working as much as you can. Story continues There's also a broader conceptual problem with work requirements for food assistance: Taking away access to food benefits actually makes it harder to work both by reducing nutrition and forcing people to spend more time trying to find food. And as I argued in a previous column, much of the value of in-kind transfers comes from providing aid to people who lack other opportunities. In the case of food stamps, that means people who cant find steady employment or who cant work at all. Of course, West Virginia's work requirements have exceptions for people who care for dependents, such as young children or the elderly, as well as for people who are physically unable to work. But these carve-out exemptions mostly pertain to those whose circumstances are easily measurable and long-term. A temporary illness might be enough to knock you out of the labor pool for a month, but not enough to earn you an exemption and then by the time youve recovered, you would have lost food-stamp eligibility.(1) Far from encouraging widespread fraud, as some claim, most people receiving SNAP assistance really need it. Recent estimates place food-stamp fraud at about 0.9% of the program.(2) That low rate, which is well below that of many other major government programs, can be explained in part because SNAP isn't a huge benefit: For a family of four in West Virginia, for example, SNAP eligibility guidelines limit net monthly income to no more than $2,146, with a maximum monthly benefit of $646 or roughly $40 per family member per week. Thats not especially attractive if you have a better option. And as a recent paper of mine with Piotr Dworczak and Mohammad Akbarpour explains, this means the decision to enroll in SNAP is on its own indicative of real hardship. Thus, in essence, the structure of SNAP already serves as its own means test. Overlaying work requirements as a secondary screen is unnecessary and counterproductive because food aid tends to be most needed by those who have the hardest time finding steady work. (1) Plus exceptions arent always granted when they should be. (2) And when fraud does occur, it is often committed by program managers, rather than beneficiaries. To contact the author of this story: Scott Duke Kominers at skominers1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Greiff at jgreiff@bloomberg.net This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. Scott Duke Kominers is the MBA Class of 1960 Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and a faculty affiliate of the Harvard Department of Economics. Previously, he was a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows and the inaugural research scholar at the Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics at the University of Chicago. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. New Delhi, Jan 28 : Citing spiritual and moral guidance, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to 15 convicts in the post-Godhra Sardarpura riot case in Gujarat wherein 33 members of a particular community were burnt alive. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant has put them in two groups -- six of them will remain in Indore and the rest will go to Jabalpur. They will however not be allowed to enter Gujarat. The top court also asked them to carry out social work and practice spirituality during the bail period, to help reinforce moral guidance in them. The top court also asked the district legal authorities at Indore and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh to ensure that the convicts, as per the top court direction on granting bail, are engaged in spiritual and social work. The court asked the authorities to help them find work for a livelihood. Following this, the state legal authorities will file a compliance report, as also on their conduct. The convicts were represented by senior advocate P.S. Patwalia and advocate Astha Sharma whereas Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the state. The court directed the release of the convicts on furnishing bail bonds of Rs 25,000 each, with a surety of equal amount, subject to other conditions. The appeals of the convicts are pending in the Supreme Court. The Gujarat High Court had acquitted 14 but convicted 17 and awarded them life sentence in the 2002 Gujarat riots case. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said his JD(U) will urge the BJP government at the Centre to drop columns pertaining to birth places of parents in the National Population Register form, since it has led to "apprehensions" among many who were not aware of the details. Kumar, who is the JD(U)'s national president and has been running a coalition government in the state with the BJP, said leaders of his party "in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha" will make a request to the government to this effect "even though it is not mandatory to fill up these columns". The chief minister was talking to reporters at his official residence here after presiding over a meeting of JD (U) parliamentarians, legislators and office-bearers of the party's Bihar unit, even though disgruntled top leaders like national vice president Prashant Kishor and national general secretary Pavan Varma remained conspicuous by their absence. Kumar also acknowledged that the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act had led to "unrest" across the country but hoped the misgivings would be addressed by the Supreme Court, which is hearing petitions challenging the contentious legislation. He, however, voiced disapproval of the inflammatory comments made by Sharjeel Imam, who was arrested in Jehanabad in connection with a sedition case in Delhi, and pointed out "whoever transgresses law, will face action accordingly. Talks of disintegration of the country are never acceptable". "It is the job of the police to help law enforcement agencies elsewhere in their investigation. The local police (in Jehanabad) has therefore been helping the Delhi police. Whoever commits wrong in the eyes of the law will face arrest and tried before a court of law," Kumar insisted. He also stated that unrest over the contentious legislation had been going on for quite some time and there was now a need for "normalizing the situation". In an apparent reference to many state governments coming out with resolutions in respective legislatures against the CAA, Kumar - whose party had voted in favor of the Bill when it was tabled in Parliament - pointed out "the matter comes under the jurisdiction of the Centre. Only the Supreme Court can take any action to address the issues." Iterating his opposition to nationwide NRC, the Bihar CM noted with satisfaction "the prime minister, too, has clarified that such a move is not in the offing". "As regards NPR, it must be kept in mind that the exercise has been conducted previously. Of course, there are misgivings about columns asking people to disclose the places of birth of their parents since most citizens might not be aware of the same. "Our leaders in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will urge (the government) to drop these columns, if possible," he said. Kumar parried questions about disgruntled leaders like Varma, whom the CM has rebuffed after he went public with a letter sharing details of conversation they allegedly had "in private" about the BJP, and Prashant Kishor, who has been rankling the saffron party with his acerbic tweets against CAA-NPR-NRC. When asked if Kishor's collaboration with Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, where JD(U) is also contesting in alliance with the BJP, would affect the NDA, Kumar came out with a cryptic reply. "He has links with many people. I have said it earlier, we inducted him into the party at the instance of Amit Shah," Kumar said as a parting note at the press meet. Earlier, JD(U) state president Vashishtha Narayan Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, said that the party "does not attach any value" to those defying its policies when asked about their absence though he also clarified "it is a meeting of state leaders convened by the national president". At the press conference, Nitish Kumar also hinted that more such pep talks with grassroots-level workers of the party were likely in near future. Assembly polls in Bihar are due in less than a year. Kumar is expected to lead the NDA charge and make a bid for his fourth consecutive term as chief minister. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Washington Post suspended one of its reporters, Felicia Sonmez, after she posted tweets Sunday about Kobe Bryant in the hours after his death. More than 100 Post journalists criticized the papers decision Monday. Sonmez on Sunday posted a link on Twitter to a 2016 Daily Beast article that detailed an allegation of sexual assault made against Bryant in 2003. Her tweet appeared amid a flood of public tributes to the retired Los Angeles Lakers star, who died earlier that day in a helicopter crash at age 41. Sonmez received an email from The Posts executive editor, Martin Baron, at 5:38 p.m., before she was told that she would be placed on leave. The reporter shared the three-sentence email with The New York Times. Felicia, Baron wrote. A real lack of judgment to tweet this. Please stop. Youre hurting this institution by doing this. The text of Barons email was attached to a screen shot of Sonmezs tweet linking to the Daily Beast article. A spokeswoman for The Post and Baron did not reply to requests for comment on the email. Bryant was arrested in 2003 after a complaint by a hotel employee in Colorado. A charge of felony sexual assault was dropped in 2005, and Bryant settled with his accuser out of court, saying in a statement that he believed the encounter with the woman was consensual, although he had come to understand that she did not see it the same way. Sonmezs tweet drew a swift backlash from other Twitter users. She followed it with a post about the negative responses she had received. Well, THAT was eye-opening, she wrote. To the 10,000 people (literally) who have commented and emailed me with abuse and death threats, please take a moment and read the story which was written (more than three) years ago, and not by me. Sonmez also posted what appeared to be a screenshot of an email she had received that used offensive language, called her a lewd name and displayed the senders full name. She deleted the three tweets after being told to do so by Tracy Grant, the newspapers managing editor, but not before other journalists captured them in screen shots. The Post confirmed the paid suspension Monday, but didnt specify which of the tweets had prompted it to take action. National political reporter Felicia Sonmez was placed on administrative leave while The Post reviews whether tweets about the death of Kobe Bryant violated the Post newsrooms social media policy, Grant said in a statement. The tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues. After Sonmez deleted the tweets Sunday, she received an email from Grant acknowledging the threats she had received. Thank you for deleting the tweets, Grant wrote to her in an email that Sonmez shared with The Times. You might want to consider a hotel or a friends place for this evening. The reaction among Sonmezs colleagues started to emerge Monday with a post on Erik Wemple Blog, The Posts media criticism column, and in a letter that was organized by the NewsGuild, the union that represents Post journalists, and signed by more than 130 staff members, including the papers most prominent reporters. In his post, Wemple called the suspension misguided. The letter signed by Post journalists, which was addressed to Baron and Grant, criticized how the paper handled the matter. Felicia received an onslaught of violent messages, including threats that contained her home address, in the wake of a tweet Sunday regarding Kobe Bryant, the letter said. Instead of protecting and supporting a reporter in the face of abuse, The Post placed her on administrative leave while newsroom leaders review whether she violated the social media policy. While acknowledging the tragedy of Bryants death, the letter went on to note that we believe it is our responsibility as a news organization to tell the public the whole truth as we know it about figures and institutions both popular and unpopular, at moments timely and untimely. Sonmez said in an interview that she did not add any commentary of her own to the tweet that included a link to the Daily Beast article. Because The Post does have policies governing these things, all I did was tweet out a link to the story, she said. I didnt think it was my place to provide any further commentary. When others on social media started sending her messages that called her rude names and made death threats and rape threats, she followed The Posts security protocol by contacting Grant. Grant wrote back, telling her to delete the tweets on Bryant. By then, Sonmez said, someone had posted her home address online. In the many emails she received Sunday, Sonmez said she had missed the one from Baron, adding that she did not read it until the next afternoon. The debate over when it is appropriate to note the flaws and mistakes of prominent people in the immediate aftermath of their deaths is common on social media. The reaction against Sonmezs tweets seemed fueled by how the #MeToo movement has complicated the legacies of artists, actors, athletes and other popular figures who have been accused of sexual misconduct. Bryant reached a settlement with his accuser in 2005, more than a decade before powerful men including the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, the CBS anchor Charlie Rose and the CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves left their posts or were ousted from their roles after allegations were made against them. Sonmez said she was in The Posts newsroom at the time of her tweets. I expected to get some blowback, she said. I can understand that it would be difficult for people to read that, but its also difficult, I imagine, for all of the survivors in the country to see these allegations essentially be erased, which is how I felt in those couple of hours in the newsroom. Sonmez was one of two women who accused Jonathan Kaiman, a Beijing bureau chief of The Los Angeles Times, of sexual misconduct. After The Los Angeles Times conducted an investigation in 2018, Kaiman resigned. Journalist Emily Yoffe wrote an article last year on the accusations against Kaiman and their repercussions for Reason, a magazine published by the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank. Sonmez criticized the article for what she described as its omissions and basic factual errors. Reason updated the article and appended a note at the end of it to address what it called three minor matters of fact. Sonmez posted some of her criticisms on Twitter. The NewsGuild and The Posts journalists referred to the reporters personal history in their letter Monday. This is not the first time that The Post has sought to control how Felicia speaks on matters of sexual violence, the letter said. Felicia herself is a survivor of assault who bravely came forward with her story two years ago. After saying that The Post had shown an utter disregard for best practices in supporting survivors of sexual violence, the letter called the papers social media policy arbitrary and overbroad, adding, We have repeatedly seen colleagues including members of management share contentious opinions on social media platforms without sanction. But here a valued colleague is being censured for making a statement of fact. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. [January 28, 2020] Tetra Bio-Pharma Provides an Update on Its Veterinary Ophthalmic Clinical Study with PPP003 Tetras sterile cannabinoid manufacturing facility fully validated and operational Tetras subsidiary, Panag Pharma, ready to initiate the treatment phase of clinical trial of PPP003 for treatment of eye pain OTTAWA, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. (Tetra or the Company) (TSX-V:TBP) (OTCQB:TBPMF), a leader in cannabinoid-derived drug discovery and development, is pleased to provide an update on its veterinary clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability and potential efficacy of its PPP003 ophthalmic drug in the treatment of eye pain in companion animals with indolent corneal ulcers. Following the authorization from Health Canada in 2019, Tetra has invested in the setup of a sterile cannabinoid drug manufacturing suite at the facility in New Brunswick which has been used to manufacture validated batches of sterile PPP003 drug for use in its ophthalmic drug development program. The design of the sterile suite, implementation of cGMPs, and validation of the sterile process was performed by Tetras manufacturing and quality compliance staff. The validated batches of sterile drug will be used in the planned clinical trial in companion animals with indolent corneal ulcers, which is expected to begin in 2020. A similar manufacturing process is required for the clinical trials in human patients with eye diseases such as painful dry eye and uveitis. We are thrilled to have successfully created and validated a facility to manufacture batches of sterile drugs for our ophthalmic drug development program. In June 2019, the U.S. FDA validated our ophthalmic research program and with this significant milestone achieved, we are in an excellent position to bring PPP003 to human clinical trials later this year," said Dr. Guy Chamberland, CEO and Chief Regulatory Officer of Tetra Bio-Pharma. Along with our PPP011 and PPP001 drug development programs, this drug development program is one of Tetras corporate priorities, since there is a significant unmet medical need for ophthalmic drugs in both companion animals and humans. PPP003 was selected because it is a non-controlled cannabinoid and will favor global market penetration. According to a 2019 report by Market Research Reports report, the global companion animal healthcare market reached a value of approximately $46 billion USD in 2018 and is expected to reach an estimated $67 billion USD by the end of 2025. This market has an estimated growth at a CAGR of 5.56% over the period of 2019-2025. About Tetra Bio-Pharma Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSX-V:TBP) (OTCQB:TBPMF) is a biopharmaceutical leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and development with a Health Canada approved, and FDA reviewed, clinical program aimed at bringing novel prescription drugs and treatments to patients and their healthcare providers. The Company has several subsidiaries engaged in the development of an advanced and growing pipeline of Bio Pharmaceuticals, Natural Health and Veterinary Products containing cannabis and other medicinal plant-based elements. With patients at the core of what we do, Tetra Bio-Pharma is focused on providing rigorous scientific validation and safety data required for inclusion into the existing bio pharma industry by regulators, physicians and insurance companies. For more information visit: www.tetrabiopharma.com Source: Tetra Bio-Pharma 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 Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the inability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Company's business plan; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, the success of the Company's research and development strategies, including the success of this product or any other product, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion and uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the timing of clinical trials, the timing and outcomes of regulatory or intellectual property decisions and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation. For further information, please contact Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.: Investor Contact: Bruce Mackle LifeSci Advisors LLC 646-889-1200 [email protected] Media Contact: Andrew Mielach LifeSci Public Relations 646-876-5868 [email protected] Canada: Carol Levine Energi PR 514-288-8500 ext. 226 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Katy Police Department will be increasing its crime-fighting arsenal this spring by adding 22 license plate readers mostly in the business district and inside some neighborhoods. Katy City Council approved the departments request at its Jan. 27 meeting to sign a services agreement with Flock Safety of Dallas. The two-year contract costs $46,000, with readers at $2,000 apiece. Ward B Councilwoman Janet Corte observed that the department was willing to forego one of its budgeted officers to put the system into place. Since the cost of readers was not budgeted by the police department, Police Chief J. Noe Diaz said in his agenda request to City Council that one vacant position for a police officer at a cost of $55,000 will be eliminated from the department budget to cover the cost of the license plate readers. The department has 66 police officers, he said, and will add two officers on Monday, Feb. 3. Ward A Councilman Frank Carroll III asked Diaz for details about the proposal. License readers often get a bad rap as being a revenue source or revenue collection source, the councilman said. Can you explain a little bit about how its used to enhance our public safety? asked Carroll Diaz gave him an example of recent armed robbery suspect in the Greater Houston area. The department had a lead and one of its detectives starting rolling through the images from the one camera/reader installed on Katy Mills Drive. That information lead to solving a crime, said the chief. Diaz said, They (license plate readers) are just an added layer of security for an already public-safety minded community. The cameras just augment the already fantastic police department. Theyll be strategically placed based on with council approval, of course crime trends in the community. He said the license plate readers essentially are adding 20 police officers on duty for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Cameras, for example, will be around the area of Katy Mills Mall, he said. A map accompanied the department request showing where the readers will be placed. He said the readers capture the back of license plates and offer many options to the department. The readers using artificial intelligence can identify the color of a car, ie a red Toyota, use infrared to capture license plates at night, catch paper tags and distinguish that a plate is from out of state. Diaz said the information obtained by the readers is stored for 30 days in Cloud, not at the police department but at the contractors facility. Just over the weekend, the camera placed on Katy Mills Drive recorded that 15,906 cars had come into the city, said Diaz, who added that they could track traffic trends for future infrastructure growth. Later, Mayor Bill Hastings added, These are not to be confused with a revenue source. These are strictly intell. These are not for red light cameras. Council unanimously approved the cameras. Ward B Councilman Durran Dowdle was absent. Diaz said hes hopeful that the cameras approved by City Council are just the first phase. He talked of eventually having a perimeter of license plate readers. That way if someone called in a crime that occurred between 1 and 2 a.m. and reported a white truck was seen at the scene, the cameras would identify every white truck within that time frame, he said, and the department could act upon it quickly. He also talked of a second phase adding cameras as the community grows into its business district westward near Costco and Amazon. Katy at-large Councilman Chris Harris asked if individual home owners associations and neighborhoods would be able to sign into the system. Diaz said he has been in communication with a few HOA directors who hope to augment what the city establishes dependent upon what the HOA is able to afford. If they obtained license plate readers, they would be able to connect with the same system, said the chief. Were excited. Were optimistic and appreciative and grateful for the opportunity, said Diaz. License plate readers already are operating in Sugar Land, the Memorial Villages, Jersey Village and Fulshear, he said. La Marque and Dickinson are in the process of getting them, he added. The systems are interconnected, he continued, and someone in the Katy department will be assigned to handle the hot list of stolen vehicles within the system so that if the stolen vehicle comes into Katy, local officers will know. Policies and procedures will be in place to avoid conflicts, he said, and information will not be available to third parties. Doug Adolph, spokesman for the City of Sugar Land, said City Council in 2014 approved a $1.6 million contract for crime prevention cameras at 27 sites, mostly north of U.S. 90A. When that contract was awarded, the Sugar Land Police Department already had used license plate recognition cameras for about five years, Adolph said. The city had five mobile systems installed on police vehicles and three fixed systems at Sugar Land Town Square and near First Colony Mall. The city has a website www.sugarlandtx.gov/crimecameras which focuses on the license plate readers. In a summary of the program on the website, the city says: Cameras have long been an effective crime-fighting tool for Sugar Land neighborhoods and businesses. They have successfully served as a deterrent and also a forensic tool to solve crimes after they occur. Continued interest from business districts and neighborhood associations to expand the reach of their cameras resulted in funding for a network of similar crime prevention cameras along public roadways. The cameras planned along entrances to Sugar Land are identical to those which have been used by the City for years in patrol cars and several stationary locations in the Town Center area and city parks. At the end of the Katy City Council meeting during councilmember reports, Corte said she and her husband were at Katy Mills Mall when thieves robbed Jared Vault on Jan. 19. She praised the police department for its three-minute response time to the incident. Great job Katy Police Department. That was awesome, she said. karen.zurawski@chron.com Some party loyalists seeking to contest sitting Members of Parliament in the upcoming New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary primaries say they have not been able to pick up nomination forms because of their unavailability at some constituency offices. After the NPP opened nominations, the party's General Secretary, John Boadu, last week in Kumasi reiterated that no sitting MP would be protected to run unopposed. At the Suame Constituency, for instance, a legal practitioner, John Darko said all efforts to get forms at the constituency office to contest the sitting MP, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, have proven futile. But he said he plans to pursue his ambitions through all the means provided by the party structures. Some of us are not ready to give up. I am going to move to the next stage until I pick the nomination forms because I believe that contesting the election in Suame is very critical. The rules are very clear; if you come to the constituency and you dont get it then you go to the region and if you don't get it at the region then you go to the national level. So the next step for me is to go to the national headquarters, Mr. Darko noted. This situation is not different from Asokwa constituency in the Ashanti region where some supporters of a Medical Doctor; Nana Yaw Boakye were visibly angry when they accompanied their candidate to the NPP branch at Ahinsan to pick nomination forms only to meet the party offices locked up. The supporters who spoke to this reporter accused the party Chairman and the incumbent MP of colluding to prevent Dr. Nana Yaw Boakye from becoming MP of Asokwa. They insist the party office was opened earlier and quickly closed when they got the news that the Doctor and his supporters were on their way to pick forms. "This clearly reveals how scared they are of Dr. Nana Yaw Boakye. If they were not afraid, they would open up for a fair contest and her works if any would speak for her," Kwame Oduro said in an interview. Other interviewees questioned why the party Chairman who is a Pastor of the Assemblies of God Church would dabble in diabolic politicking. They insisted that any attempt to stop their preferred aspirant from contesting will have negative repercussions for the party in the Constituency. Dr. Nana Yaw Boakye, who remained composed refused to comment on happenings and encouraged everyone to be calm. This development though disappointing does not come as a surprise as attempts have been made to get the incumbent MP, Patricia Appiagyei to go unopposed. Speaking in an interview, the supporters blamed the constituency Secretary John Asare Bediako as they believe he is deliberately playing bias tactics to prevent Dr. Nana Yaw Boakye from contesting in the Asokwa constituency Parliamentary race. As at 12:30 pm, the Asokwa NPP constituency office was still locked. The supporters say until party leadership opens up the place for their candidate to pick his forms, they are not leaving the place. The vetting for the aspirants is set for April 20 ahead of the primaries on April 25. The NPP will also be holding its presidential primaries on the same day. The party pegged filing fees for its upcoming parliamentary primaries at GHS20,000 and an additional GHS2,000 for picking of forms. All aspiring parliamentary candidates other than the sitting Members of Parliament will pay a Party Development Fee of GHS30,000. The party has already held primaries for constituencies that do not have sitting Members of Parliament. ---with files from citinewsroom The first detachment of troops from the 21st Battalion "Black Vipers" Force Protection arrived in Afghanistan, the Ministry of National Defence (MApN) announced on Tuesday. ''The first 'Black Vipers' arrived in Afghanistan! The 21st Battalion 'Black Viper' Force Protection will participate in NATO's Resolute Support Mission, in the Kandahar province, the Afghanistan theatre of operations, from February to August 2020. Easy mission! '', the MApN's Facebook page informs.Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division "Getica", Major General Gheorghita Vlad, Air Fleet General Valerica Vrajescu, Deputy Chief of Joint Forces Command and Commander of 2nd Mountain Troops Brigade "Sarmizegetusa", Brigadier General Cristian Teglas were present at boarding on Romanian Air Force 90th Airlift Base, located at the Henri Coanda International Airport, near Bucharest. AGERPRES Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 20:50:51|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Criminal indictment charging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with corruption was filed in the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday, the Attorney-General's office said. The office of Attorney-General Avihai Mandelblit said in a statement that the indictment charges Netanyahu with three separate cases of corruption. The charges include bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. The office said the submission of the indictment, originally issued in November, has been postponed because Netanyahu said he wants to ask the Knesset (parliament) to grant him a parliamentary immunity to avoid prosecution at court. Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu announced on his official Facebook page that he has withdrawn the request, amidst apparent majority in the Knesset to reject his request. About an hour later, Madelblit's office submitted the indictment, "as required by law," the office said. The move marks the beginning of the prosecution of Israel's longest-serving prime minister. According to the indictment, a copy of which has been seen by Xinhua, in a corruption affair dubbed "Case 4000," Netanyahu has taken bribes from Shaul Elovitch, a former control-holder of Bezeq, Israel's largest telecom company, by giving Bezeq financial and regulatory benefits. During the alleged offenses, Netanyahu was the communication minister in addition to his capacity as prime minister. He had intervened with regulators to assist Bezeq. In exchange, Elovitch, a close friend of Netanyahu, allegedly required Walla, a news site controlled by Elovitch, to provide favorable coverage of Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu. In "Case 1000," Netanyahu and his family allegedly received expensive cigars, champagne, and jewelry worth about 1 million new shekels (about 268,200 dollars) from the Israeli businessman and Hollywood tycoon, Arnon Milchan, between 2007 and 2016. In "Case 2000," Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes, the publisher of Yedioth Ahronoth, one of Israel's largest newspapers, allegedly held talks over an "exchange deal," in which Netanyahu would receive favorable coverage in Yedioth Ahronoth. Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as "a political witch hunt." Netanyahu, 70, is struggling also for his political survival, with a tight race against the centrist Benny Gantz, Israel's former military chief, ahead of the March 2 national elections. The big news on Sunday was a leak claiming that John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, has a book coming out that says Trump told Bolton that he wanted to force Ukraine to investigate Biden before releasing security assistance money. Democrats went wild with delight; Republicans opted to ask questions rather than to come up with instant, wrong answers. They were wise to do so. Many people noticed that, despite the Democrats' immediate insistence that it's absolutely pivotal to their impeachment case that they question Bolton before the Senate, that wasn't what they were saying last year. Last year, they invited Bolton to testify, but he declined...only to add that he would appear if they subpoenaed him. That was a bridge too far. Fearing a fight in court with Trump (which is the usual way disputes between the Executive and Congress are resolved when it comes to subpoenas), the House went full Emily Litella and said, "Never mind." Apparently, Bolton wasn't that important after all. The announcement's timing also made people question its legitimacy. Coming as it did in the middle of the impeachment hearing, it reminded many people of the way in which Christine Blasey Ford's allegations suddenly popped up during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing. It let Democrats turn his hearing into a circus, so why not do the same to President Trump's impeachment? For Bolton and his publishers, too, the timing was perfect, because it offered the type of advertising money can't buy: Per the text of the statement, they didn't deny coordination with NYT on the book leak at all. The only thing they specifically denied in that statement was working with NYT to put up the Amazon pre-sale page yesterday, a charge nobody ever made. https://t.co/F9Wh3saqY7 Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 27, 2020 Even the New York Times' own Maggie Haberman noticed the coincidence: Bolton also has the ability to speak publicly in some way and has chosen not to so far - something White House officials have noted as they point to the fact that he got a book deal and say he wants to boost sales. Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 27, 2020 Scott Adams had an entirely different take, which is that Bolton's statement is actually a huge win for Trump: Bolton's book manuscript clears Trump of all impeachment allegations by demonstrating that the President believed Ukraine interfered in US elections. Given that belief, right or wrong, pressuring Zelensky was completely within the job description of the presidency. #GameOver Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) January 27, 2020 Adams's take makes a lot of sense because the NSC had to pre-clear the book for publication. (In one of life's amazing little coincidences, Lt. Col. Alex Vindman's twin brother was the person in charge of reviewing all NSC publications something that may explain the leak.) Putting aside the timing, though, the real problem with Bolton's purported revelations is that they don't matter. It's totally irrelevant whether Trump toyed with the idea of tying releasing the money to investigating corruption although it's worth noting that this corruption was once obvious even to the media. Speaking before the Senate today, Pam Bondi showed with devastating clarity that the real issue isn't Trump's casual request that Ukraine investigate Biden's corruption, but, instead, Biden's corruption itself: Pam Bondi is making the media very uncomfortable right now by pointing out that- even though they've lost interest in it- they do actually know about Biden-Ukraine corruption: pic.twitter.com/jwyeObRhMy Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) January 27, 2020 Democrats ignore that what's important here is what Trump actually did, as opposed to what he toyed with doing. And what he did was have a telephone call with Zelensky in which he told Zelensky that, when it came to aid, Europe was falling down on the job, even though it would be more affected by Russian aggression than America would be. Long after mentioning the aid, almost as an afterthought, Trump asked if Ukraine could check into the question of Biden's son, because it was becoming an issue in America. No quid. No pro. No quo. After releasing the funds, almost two weeks before the deadline Congress had set, Trump had a nice meeting with Zelensky. And that's it. That's the whole story. Bolton's reports about Trump's prior fulminations are completely superseded by Trump's actions. The best thing to come out of this whole affair is a poster (hat tip: Ace of Spades): A mentally ill California man pleaded guilty on Monday to four counts of murder in a deadly spree targeting sleeping homeless men, four of whom were stabbed to death with rail spikes and two were set on fire. Jon David Guerrero, 42, wore a surgical mask on his face due to an unspecified illness as he agreed to be sentenced May 1 to four consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole and an additional 143 years to life in prison. Guerrero, who was scheduled to go to trial in June, also pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted murder, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of arson for setting fire to two of four victims who died. The charges involved 12 men and one woman who were attacked over six months between February and July 2016, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Jon David Guerrero, who terrorized the homeless community in San Diego in 2016 when he drove railroad spikes into the heads of some of his victims, pleaded guilty on Monday to 15 charges, including four counts of murder. Guerrero wore a surgical mask due to an illness Police inspect the scene where Guerrero's fifth and final victim, Michael Papadelis, was attacked with rail spikes driven into his eyes on July 15, 2016 Court records show Guerrero is diagnosed with schizophrenia and has a history of arrests and mental competency hearings, including one judge's order that sent him to a state hospital for treatment. The only clue to a motive for the assaults came from Guerrero's first victim, who survived a knifing and asked his attacker, 'Why did you do this to me?' 'Because you're a bum,' Guerrero replied, according to the victim's statements cited by the Union-Tribune. One assault victim who survived, Michael Papadelis, attended the Monday hearing and afterward said of Guerrero's guilty plea, 'I think he did the right thing.' Guerrero was arrested just two hours after attacking his final victim on July 15, 2016 (pictured at the time of his arrest) Arresting officers found rail spikes and a mallet inside Guerrero's backpack 'I've been homeless. I know there are a lot of mentally ill on the streets. I don't hate Jon,' Papadelis, 58, who was left blind in one eye, told the newspaper. In 2018, Guerrero was declared mentally competent - meaning he could understand the charges filed against him and assist in his defense - and the criminal case against him went forward. 'Its a huge, huge relief to have finality to this,' Deputy District Attorney Makenzie Harvey said after the hearing Monday. 'I think its a very, very great thing to the victims and their families.' Guerrero, who is from San Diego's affluent Coronado district, began his spree on February 8, 2016, when he stabbed a man sleeping on a sidewalk. That victim survived. After a months-long hiatus, Guerrero resumed his attacks on the city's homeless population on July 3, when he doused Angelo DeNardo, 53, with gasoline and set him on fire, killing him. The next day, 41-year-old Shawn Mitchell Longley was found stabbed to death with a railroad spike at a park in Ocean Beach. A witness told the Daily Beast Longley's eyes and face had been spiked with a sharp object and his skull crushed by a heavy rock. Guerrero attacked Manuel Nunez Mason, 61, the same day. Mason survived but was rendered blind after a railroad spike was driven into his sinus cavity. On July 6, Dionicio Derek Vahidy, 23, was mortally injured when his attacker dropped a burning towel on his face while he slept in downtown San Diego. The victim died in a hospital four days later. Guerrero attacked 83-year-old Molly Simmons on July 16, 2016. The woman was struck on the head on her way to volunteer at a YMCA, and she died of her injuries three weeks later. Detectives said the woman was not homeless and lived with her husband. Guerrero attacked his fifth and final victim, Michael Papadelis, on July 15. Authorities discovered Papdelis with 'significant trauma' to his upper body and a railroad spike lying next to him as he called for help. Guerrero, pictured leaving court in 2017, was diagnosed with schizophrenia but was declared mentally fit to stand trial in 2018 Police found Guerrero riding his bike less than two hours later. Three railroad spikes, a mallet and two of the victims' identification were inside his backpack. More railroad spikes and ties, as well as a bucket that contained rocks, were later found in his apartment at a 'supportive housing' project for the formerly homeless and individuals with special needs. Guerrero was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 22 and at one point received monthly injections of an anti-psychotic drug. He has an extensive history of criminal cases in the city that date 10 years, from 1999 to 2009, as well as mental health cases filed in 2008, 2009 and 2011. Guerrero's mother illuminated his mental health issues after he pleaded guilty in 2004 to burglary, grand theft auto and marijuana possession. In letters to the court, Katherine Guerrero revealed her son didn't do well on probation because he lacked 'hearing and speaking ability'. She also said one of his symptoms in the past had been to 'insert foreign objects into his body orifices', according to the Los Angeles Times. Guerrero was ruled not mentally competent after he was arrested in 2009 and pleaded guilty to stealing a homeless woman's bike after repeatedly knocking her down. He was admitted to Patton State Hospital after violating his probation. Guerrero's attorney then argued for a lesser sentence, writing that his client heard voices when his medication wears off but that he could 'lead a normal, productive and crime-free life' with the right drugs. (Photo : NASA) Two Uncontrolled Satellites Might Hit US on Jan. 29 Says Space Debris Tracker (Photo : Leo Labs Inc. ) Two Uncontrolled Satellites Might Hit US on Jan. 29 Says Space Debris Tracker On Wednesday, Jan. 29, two uncontrolled space satellites will likely hit each other along their passage above Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, according to a space debris tracking team. Two reported satellites will collide soon and can be the most dangerous one The two said satellites were identified as the "IRAS (13777), the decommissioned space telescope launched in 1983, and GGSE-4 (2828), an experimental US payload launched in 1967." On Tuesday, Jan. 28, the space tracker team called Leo Labs Inc. tweeted an announcement of a 'close approach' between the two old space satellites. According to the tweet, the numbers were alarming as the predicted miss distance between the two is only 15 to 30 meters in the air. This means that anytime soon, they might badly hit each other. The weight of both satellites also became one of the concerning problems since the IRAS satellite has 1,083 kg or 2,388 pounds that can occupy a space of 3.6 by 3.24 by 2.05 meters (11.8 by 10.6 by 6.7 feet). Meanwhile, GGSE-4 is a much smaller satellite that only has 4.5 kilograms or equivalent to 10 pounds. Since the two satellites were launched for a very long time, both satellites do not have any communication with any space station, which makes them hard to maneuver to avoid its future collision. However, Leo Labs Inc. predicted that the two satellites might collide with each other on just nearly 1 to 100. Still, close monitoring of both satellites must be done, according to the team. "Events like this highlight the need for responsible, timely deorbiting of satellites for space sustainability moving forward. We will continue to monitor this event through the coming days and provide updates as available," tweeted Leo Labs Inc. How huge the impact can this collision might be? Though the space debris tracking team already said that only 1 to 100 could be the possibility of a big collision between the two satellites, space experts explained that this might be the most dangerous space collision in history. Space archaeologist Alice Gorman of Flinders University said on Science Alert that once the two old satellites collide to each other, a large amount of debris might be created. "Spacecraft have taken evasive maneuvers to avoid things that are only within 60 kilometers. So this is a really, really close encounter. And if this does actually come to pass, there's potentially a large amount of debris that will be created," said Gorman. Adding that, "this is one of one of the most dangerous possible collisions that we've seen for some time." Pittsburgh satellite collision will not harm people Importantly, Gorman also reiterated that the falling debris would no longer be seen on the ground. The crash-- if ever created-- will no longer have any possibilities of harming anyone in the Earth. "They're going to be colliding at an incredibly high speed. And at that speed, it's going to probably cause the smaller satellite to break up completely into smaller fragments. And each of those fragments becomes a piece of space debris in its own right," Gorman explained. ALSO READ: Space Race and Mission Mars 2020 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The freedom of creation is "very important" in countries like France and India that have "diverse" and "evolving cultures", French Culture Minister Franck Riester told reporters on Tuesday. Riester is currently on a state visit to India. "France and India are very similar in terms of the relation they have with culture. It is an old culture, but also a culture that evolves, thanks to new people coming into the country and the exchanges they have. We are convinced that diversity is very important and the freedom of creation is very important," the minister said. Riester, who was appointed the Minister for Culture in 2018, said the visit to India, his first, happened for him rather quickly because the French government wanted to "strengthen the relationship and friendship between India and France". "We are two countries of culture... we are two old countries with two old cultures and both our cultures are diverse. "It is very important to bring together people of our countries and enable them to know each other. So, I decided to come and meet many different people here," he said. During the course of this visit, Riester met producers from the Indian film industry to promote France as a film shooting destination and to explore the future of joint ventures in the field. He said he also met some students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai. The minister added that he also witnessed the Republic Day parade on Sunday. Earlier on Tuesday, he met a group of authors and publishers over lunch to discuss the importance of translations to promote French literature in India, and vice-versa. "We are convinced that translations are very important to increase exchanges between France and India, and to facilitate the knowledge of our authors," he said. The minister also talked about expanding residencies programmes, especially for younger artists, in the fields of both visual and performing arts. "We have decided to strengthen our policies in artist residencies. Major artists can always have exhibitions, but we forget young artists. (Through residencies) French artists could spend time in India, and Indian artists in France. So, we have to increase the time and number of the residencies in painting and perhaps also in the sector of music. "When an artist comes and stays in our country, he meets many of our artists and builds a network of artists for himself, and gets an opportunity to be seen by the public," Riester said. The minister is scheduled to unveil a retrospective of renowned French artist Gerard Garouste later on Tuesday evening at the National Gallery of Modern Art here. "Garouste is one the most popular living painters in France. It's important that a major painter could exhibit in India, like Indian artists have exhibitions in France," he said. He also said that the Pompidou Centre in Paris is set to host a show of late Indian modernist painter Syed Haider Raza's work soon. "We believe that we have to know each other's culture better, so that we can understand each other's countries better," Riester said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By PTI BEIJING: Indian and Chinese officials on Monday discussed plans to evacuate over 250 Indians from coronavirus-hit Wuhan city and Hubei province. The death toll in the coronavirus has climbed to 82 in China with 2,744 confirmed cases, mostly in Wuhan and other Chinese cities. According to the Indian Embassy here, its diplomats held a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China on Monday. "In the meeting, Chinese authorities briefed on the steps taken by them to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak. Various options for evacuating foreign nationals from Wuhan/Hubei province were also discussed," the embassy said in a note circulated on the social media. "We continue to engage with the Chinese authorities to ensure the safety and well-being of Indian nationals in Hubei province. We will update you when we have more information from the Chinese authorities," it said. The embassy said for any issues regarding food, water and other essential supplies, the Hubei Foreign Affairs Office has provided two helplines (027-87122256 and 87811173) on which the provincial authorities can be contacted round the clock. "You may approach them on issues that you may face there. However, please also let us know about your concern with specific details so that we are also able to take it up with the authorities in Hubei," it said. Wuhan has about 700 Indian students, majority of them studying medicine. There are also a number of Indian students pursuing their doctorate degrees from several universities in Wuhan and its surrounding areas. While the majority of the students have apparently left Wuhan the city a few weeks ago to avail the Chinese New Year holidays, over 250 to 300 Indian students are reportedly stuck in the city, triggering concerns over their well-being. Wuhan and 12 other cities have been completely sealed by the Chinese authorities to stop the virus from spreading. While India has earlier issued travel advisories to its citizens travelling to China in view of the coronavirus, the Indian Embassy here in the last few days has set up two hotlines for the students in Wuhan to extend assistance and took up it up with the local officials about proper supply of food and other necessities for them. The embassy also tweeted on Monday that in addition to the three hotlines (+8618610952903, +8618612083629, +8618612083617), it has also opened a dedicated email ID, helpdesk. beijing@mea. gov. in, to deal with the ongoing emergency. The embassy also requested some of the stranded Indians to furnish the details of their passports. A decision about their evacuation is expected to be made shortly, though officials have not mentioned any timeline. Over 2,000 Pakistani students too made a request to their government for their evacuation. They made a special video and circulated on media networks, appealing for help. Students from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and several African countries have also been making representations for evacuation. Expectations for early evacuation increased after the Chinese government permitted the US to airlift its Wuhan-based diplomats and Americans citizens. France, UK and South Korea are also trying to airlift their citizens stuck in Wuhan. No foreigner in China has been infected with the virus so far. The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to 17 convicts in the 2002 Sardarpura post-Godhra riots case in which 33 Muslims were burnt alive and asked them to relocate to Madhya Pradesh and do community service. A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant divided the convicts in two groups and said one group would move out of Gujarat and stay at Indore in Madhya Pradesh. The other group of convicts will have to relocate themselves to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, the bench said. The convicts, who were handed down life sentence in the Sardarpura riots case, have appealed against the Gujarat High Court order convicting them. The court said that all the convicts will have to undertake community services for six hours a week besides reporting to the local police station on a weekly basis as bail conditions. The Supreme Court has directed the District Legal Services Authorities at Indore and Jabalpur to ensure that the convicts observe bail conditions diligently. It has also directed DLSA to help the convicts in finding suitable employment for earning their livelihood. It has directed the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Service Authority to file a report after three months stating as to whether the convicts have complied with the conditions or not. Earlier the Gujarat High Court had acquitted 14 and convicted 17 in the Sardarpura post-Godhra riots case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As digital transformation continues to infiltrate the $10 trillion global healthcare industry , telehealth is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to traditional clinic visits. This trend is gaining momentum so quickly that experts predict the market growing at a CAGR of 22.74% over the next five years to reach $16 billion . Gone are the days of waiting hours at a doctor's office for a prescription refill or simple question. Now, thanks to company's like Telus Corporation (NYSE:TU) (TSX:T), WELL Health Technologies Corp. (TSX-V:WELL) (OTCPK:WLYYF), Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC), Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT), and Premier Health Group Inc. (CSE:PHGI) (OTCPK:PHGRF), patients can schedule appointments, review orders, check on prescriptions, and even consult with a medical professional right from their phone. While telehealth has existed for some time, it's become significantly more popular in recent years and will continue to do so thanks to advancements in technology and loosening Medicare telehealth regulations . Telehealth services not only provide ease and convenience to patients but also cut down costs and reduce the strain of medical labor shortages by minimizing in-person visits for non-emergency cases. Telehealth Companies Disrupting the Healthcare Industry US-based Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC) fueled the world's appetite for telehealth services when it launched in 2005 and quickly became the oldest and largest telehealth platform in the US. The telehealth giant now offers its services in 130 countries, providing millions of patients around the world access to affordable healthcare. Medical device company Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) is another industry vet that focuses on providing health practitioners with remote monitoring services. The company entered the telemedicine space when it acquired privately-held telehealth and patient remote-monitoring services provider Cardiocom in 2013. North of the border are Telus Corporation (NYSE:TU) (TSX:T), WELL Health Technologies Corp. (TSXV:WELL) (OTCMKTS:WLYYF) and Premier Health Group Inc. (CSE:PHGI) (OTC:PHGRF), all of which are focused on offering telehealth services to the Canadian healthcare industry, which is plagued by numerous shortcomings and in dire need of an alternative. Telecommunications giant Telus Corporation entered the telehealth space when it launched the Babylon app in the spring of 2019, which has netted over 2,500 patient visits. Meanwhile, WELL Health Technologies Corp. has built a roster that includes 180 doctors and 19 wholly-owned clinics that served 600,000 patients . WELL Health also provides SaaS-based software and support to a network of 946 clinics across Canada that serve over 6,000 physicians and includes more than 15 million registered patients. Premier Health Group Inc. (CSE:PHGI) (OTC:PHGRF) is the newest publicly-traded addition to Canada's telehealth industry, however, it is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the space and could follow in WELL's footsteps in 2020. The company entered the sector in August 2018 and hasn't slowed down since. On January 23, Premier reached 90,000 registered patients on its MyHealthAccess Telemedicine patient portal. Earlier this month, the company also completed the acquisition of Livecare Health Canada, an established leader in the Canadian digital health space that provides service to over 500 independent active health practitioner accounts and has served over 27,000 patients to date. The deal will give Premier Health Group inc. (PHGI.CN - PHGRF) access to Livecare's bluetooth technology, offering patients a higher-quality telemedicine visit than any of its competitors and KindredPHR, a healthcare software app that provides clients with a personal health record to store, manage and share health information among multiple healthcare providers. Prior to adding Livecare to its roster, Premier Health acquired medical software application company, Cloud Practice Inc., along with cloud-based EMR solution Juno EMR, medical billing software ClinicAid, and online patient portal MyHealthAccess. Juno EMR is used by 315 clinics, over 3,000 health practitioners and has nearly 3 million registered patients. Premier Health Group inc. (PHGI.CN - PHGRF) also added two cash flow positive pharmacies in Metro Vancouver to its roster in 2019, which had a combined annual revenue of roughly C$6 million for fiscal 2018. But, what really gives Premier Health Group inc. (PHGI.CN - PHGRF) a competitive edge in the telemedicine industry is its use of artificial intelligence (AI). Last fall, the company launched its healthcare app and kicked off an exciting collaboration with IBM (NYSE:IBM) to build and integrate Watson AI into the app as a virtual Medical Office Assistant (MOA) for Premier Health's 4,600 healthcare professionals and nearly 3 million patients. Growing Interest in Telehealth Industry Boosts Stocks WELL Health Technologies Corp has come a long way since joining the telehealth space and its share price and market cap are finally beginning to reflect this growth. In 2018, the company reported a considerable increase in revenue, bringing in C$1.9 million in Q4 2018 and C$5.89 million for the full year. But it wasn't until mid-2019 that the market really took notice of WELL, following aggressive M&A activity, ever-growing revenue and the announcement of a C$12 million bought deal private placement . WELL Health saw its share price reach a high of C$1.85 in August 2019, representing a 340.48% from the beginning of the year. Premier Health Group inc. (PHGI.CN - PHGRF) is already beginning to follow the same growth trajectory. The company's fiscal 2019 revenue is projected at C$11.5 million and is estimated to increase to C$55.9 million by 2022. The company's share price is hovering around US$0.45, which represents a 28.57% since the beginning of 2020, but it could go higher this year. According to Morningstar analysis , Premier Health Group inc. (PHGI.CN - PHGRF) is undervalued and trading at a 43% discount. What can Investors Expect from Telehealth Companies in 2020? The year 2019 saw some exciting advances in the telehealth industry, and 2020 is expected to be even bigger. Some of the growth drivers for this year include a shift in investments from private to public markets, corporate partnerships and acquisitions, regulatory acceleration, virtual clinic trials, and AI applications. WELL Health Technologies Corp. kicked off 2020 by graduating to the Toronto Stock Exchange on January 10, 2020. Moving forward, upcoming catalysts for WELL include the closing of its bought deal private placement, Q4 2019 and full year financial results, increased clinic automation resulting in reduced cost and organic revenue growth from recent acquisitions. Meanwhile, Teladoc Health is expected to further solidify its top spot in 2020 after recently announcing its plan to acquire InTouch Health, a company that sells telehealth software services to hospitals. It's unclear if Medtronic PLC or Telus Corporation have any big plans for its telehealth services in 2020, although it looks like Medtronic PLC plans to shift its attention back to developing innovative medical devices after receiving FDA approval to proceed with an investigational device exemption (IDE) trial for its tiny, minimally invasive wireless pacemaker. Premier Health Group inc. (PHGI.CN - PHGRF) has already started off 2020 strong by acquiring Livecare, but it also has several catalysts coming down the pipeline including partnerships with Indigenous communities, dedicated telemedicine doctors for its virtual clinics, additional pharmacy-based kiosks and overseas expansion through a strategic partnership in China. For a free research report on Premier Health Group inc. (CSE:PHGI) (OTC:PHGRF), visit www.microsmallcap.com Disclaimer: Microsmallcap.com (MSC) is the source of the Article and content set forth above. References to any issuer other than the profiled issuer are intended solely to identify industry participants and do not constitute an endorsement of any issuer and do not constitute a comparison to the profiled issuer. FN Media Group (FNM) is a third-party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated with MSC or any company mentioned herein. 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Media Contact: FN Media Group, LLC [email protected] +1(561)325-8757 SOURCE Microsmallcap.com CLEVELAND, Ohio Two Miami University students, who recently traveled to China, were tested for the coronavirus, Ohio health officials confirmed Tuesday morning. The two students are in isolation at their off-campus home, said Melanie Amato, press secretary for Ohio Department of Health. An international student went to the student health service with flu-like symptoms Monday, according to a release from Miami University. The international student, and another student who recently traveled with him to China, have been tested, the university said. Their respiratory symptoms made us do some testing, Amato said. The tests will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and results are expected by the end of the week. The CDC is the only agency that can test for coronavirus, she said. The students had been back in the country for a few days when symptoms arose, said Butler County General Health District commissioner Jennifer Bailer at a press conferenceTuesday. Testing for possible coronavirus involved a nasal and mouth swab, blood sample and lower respiratory sputum sample, Bailer said. While state and area health officials are concerned about coronavirus, they say its important to note that the influenza virus is currently more of a local concern with thousands of deaths in the U.S. and three so far this season in Cuyahoga County. Symptoms of both viruses are similar: fever, cough and shortness of breath, appearing between two days and two weeks after exposure, according to the CDC. Other early symptoms are chills, body aches, sore throat, headache, diarrhea, vomiting and runny nose. Local impact so far A few Cleveland-area Lunar New Year events were cancelled this past weekend in an abundance of caution regarding the coronavirus, said Lisa Wong, president of the OCA Greater Cleveland Asian-Pacific American Advocates, an advocacy group for Asian Americans. While Cleveland has a large population of international students, most Chinese students cant afford to travel to China for the holiday, Wong said. The risk (of getting coronavirus) is very, very low, Wong said. People are just taking precautions. We dont want people to worry and not go to the other celebrations. Coronavirus Coronavirus has caused a pneumonia outbreak in China and has been detected in other countries, including the United States. The virus was first detected in Wuhan, China. It was unknown whether the students had been to Wuhan, health officials said. As of Monday, the CDC had confirmed five cases of coronavirus in this country, with 110 potential cases in 26 states under investigation. The CDCs map showed no confirmed cases of the disease in Ohio, as of Monday evening. Researchers dont know yet how easily the coronavirus spreads between people. Some viruses, like measles, are highly contagious while other viruses are less contagious, the CDC said. People who have not traveled to China or been in contact with a person known or suspected to have the illness have no need for concern, health officials said. The death toll from coronavirus has risen to 106 in China, with more than 4,565 cases of infection, according to the Washington Post. Northeast Ohios three largest health systems are screening patients for the coronavirus. The Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and MetroHealth confirmed they are starting to screen patients who recently traveled to China, based on guidance from the CDC. None of those patients tested positive. The CDC sees the immediate health risk from coronavirus as low, while it estimates that so far this season there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses, 140,000 hospitalizations and 8,200 deaths from flu. Both influenza and coronavirus are airborne illnesses, but unlike the flu there is no vaccine for coronavirus, said Daniel Tisch, an epidemiologist and director of the Master of Public Health program at Case Western Reserve University. We dont have a full understanding of coronavirus yet, Tisch said. It will be important for epidemiologists to study raw data collected in China to learn about the incubation period and the time period during which a sick person can transmit the disease, he said. Efforts to create a coronavirus vaccine are under way, but it will be years before its ready for the public, he added. Influenza this season Two men a 75-year old from Cleveland and an 87-year-old from Euclid are the latest reported flu-related deaths in Cuyahoga County, health officials said. Due to federal privacy laws concerning health care information, health officials do not release whether flu victims had the flu vaccine or other personal data. This seasons influenza deaths in Cuyahoga County, through the week of Jan. 18, is slightly below the countys five-year average, health officials said. The number of reported hospitalizations, 535 through Jan. 18, is on par with the countys five-year median. This years strain, or harder hitting version, appears to be Strain B. A school system in Chillicothe canceled all classes and activities Monday after a high number of flu cases were reported, according to the Associated Press. Close to one in four students at Zane Trace Local schools in Ross County in southern Ohio was sick, and staff were also feeling ill, said superintendent Jerry Mowery. Precautions Steps for preventing the flu are the same for preventing the spread of coronavirus: Washing hands frequently and thoroughly Using alcohol-based hand sanitizer Coughing or sneezing into your elbow or sleeve If you have traveled to Wuhan or been in contact with someone who has coronavirus or is being evaluated for it, here are instructions from public health officials: Monitor your health for 14 days, staring for the first day you traveled or came into contact with someone ill with coronavirus. Watch for fever, coughing and shortness of breath. Call your doctor or a hospital before you go there. They will give you instructions. Stay away from other people until you receive instructions. Read more on coronavirus: 6.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Former national security adviser John Bolton shared his concerns with Attorney General William Barr that Trump was doing personal favors for dictators. The New York Times reported: John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, privately told Attorney General William P. Barr last year that he had concerns that President Trump was effectively granting personal favors to the autocratic leaders of Turkey and China, according to an unpublished manuscript by Mr. Bolton. . Mr. Boltons account underscores the fact that the unease about Mr. Trumps seeming embrace of authoritarian leaders, long expressed by experts and his opponents, also existed among some of the senior cabinet officers entrusted by the president to carry out his foreign policy and national security agendas. The concern that Trump is doing personal favors for dictators is bolstered by Trumps behavior. The president has lifted sanctions on Chinese company ZTE, and his withdrawal of US troops from Syria was done at the request of Turkeys Erdogan. Bolton has also expressed a belief that Trumps policy toward Turkey is being motivated by his business interests there. Trump holds phone calls with foreign leaders in the private residence on his cell phone where his staff are not around. The president also does not release details or accurate readouts of his phone calls with foreign leaders. Even people inside his administration believed that Donald Trump was doing favors for dictators. If Boltons suspicions prove to be true, the current articles of impeachment are only the beginning of Trumps problems. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook Governments, funders, and research bodies must take action to ensure that research is undertaken ethically during global health emergencies, says a new report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has today issued a Call for Action to research funders, governments, and others involved in health research systems for a more ethical and collaborative approach to conducting research during emergencies such as infectious disease outbreaks. The latest novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, illustrates how suddenly new threats can emerge, and the important role that research has to play in understanding the nature of the threat, and how to respond effectively. The pressures and distressing circumstances of such emergency situations can lead to uncertainty about what is ethically acceptable with regards to conducting research, which may mean valuable research is impeded, or that unethical practices could creep in undetected. Following a two-year inquiry, the Nuffield Council's Call for Action highlights a number of proposals including: More investment in community engagement so that local voices can be heard, and that everyone involved in research in global health emergencies is treated fairly and respectfully. Ensuring that, before proceeding with any research project, participants' basic health needs are being addressed. Funders will need to work in partnerships with humanitarian organisations and health ministries to achieve this. Better support for emergency planning, to secure robust health and health research systems - given the vital importance of properly resourced preparedness between emergencies. The Call for Action is supported by international research institutions and organisations including: International Rescue Committee The African Academy of Sciences Medecins Sans Frontieres UK London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Elrha - a global humanitarian research charity Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) Geneva Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action In its full report, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics makes 24 recommendations for changes to align the policies and practices of global health emergency research with three core values: fairness, equal respect, and helping reduce suffering. The report presents these values in the form of an 'ethical compass' to guide the conduct of the very wide range of people involved in research in global health emergencies. These emergencies are challenging environments in which to conduct research, involving much disruption, distress and uncertainty about how and when to proceed and who to involve. The ethical compass will support people in addressing these uncertainties, both on the ground, and at policy level. Professor Michael Parker, Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics working group on global health emergencies, said: "Research undertaken during global health emergencies involves real people, families, and communities. It asks a great deal of them, primarily in the interests of others, at a time of great distress, fear, and vulnerability. We are asking anyone involved in planning, funding, and conducting research to bear this at the forefront of their minds throughout all stages of research. Listening to communities, understanding their needs and designing research that will truly help to reduce people's suffering whilst demonstrating respect are the ideals that all research projects should be striving for. A key finding of this report is the vital importance of properly resourced preparedness between emergencies. Preparedness and emergency planning are essential for many reasons: they mean emergencies are less likely to happen and more manageable when they do occur. They also mean that the requirements for valuable, ethical research to be conducted are more likely to be in place." David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, said: "This report rightly points out that better evidence is needed to tackle global health emergencies. There is no excuse for ducking the challenges involved. And in our drive for this evidence, it is critical that we put the people and communities that we serve at the centre of our work. The populations affected by global health emergencies deserve our best efforts to produce evidence that brings real change to their lives and to engage with them with equal respect and fairness. I look forward to the further boost that this report provides." Professor Nelson Torto, Executive Director of the African Academy of Sciences, said: "This report is a timely reminder emphasising inclusivity, collaboration and ethical research processes that ensure the basic needs of communities, particularly during emergencies, are met. In Africa, absent or weak research regulations can leave communities vulnerable to exploitation. During an emergency, exploitation can also be easily elevated. That is why the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) supports this call to action to mobilize research stakeholders - governments, funders, researchers, communities, humanitarian agencies - to ensure the research process is humane and empathetic in as much as it endeavours to contribute valuable knowledge to respond to future emergencies." Professor Anne Mills, Deputy Director & Provost, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is pleased to support this important report and Call for Action by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, highlighting the essential role that ethically-conducted research plays in responding effectively to global health emergencies. The expertise of LSHTM staff, students, and international partners has made an important contribution to this work, in areas from strengthening research capacity in conflict zones to the embedding of community engagement in outbreak research. We look forward to working further with the Nuffield Council on these crucial issues." Jess Camburn, CEO of humanitarian research charity Elrha, said: "As a leading funder of public health research and innovation in some of the most challenging humanitarian settings, Elrha fully supports this critical Call for Action. There is an urgent need for greater investment in research and innovation to support humanitarian and global health emergencies, but we know that such activity will engage with people and communities at times of extreme vulnerability. It's therefore crucial that all funders champion the adoption of the highest possible ethical standards and approaches to safeguard vulnerable individuals, and advocate for fair and equitable collaborations. We applaud the Nuffield Council on Bioethics for spearheading this work." Dr Nisia Trindade Lima, President of Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Brazil, said: "During the Zika outbreak, we faced many challenges to respond to that global health emergency. It highlighted the need to ensure procedures are ethically acceptable before, during and after global emergencies, including research ethics. It is crucial that funders, health authorities, researchers, health professionals, international organisations and society guarantee respect for the local community and respond to their most pressing needs. The impact on low and middle-income countries can be devastating if we do not conduct the global health response ethically, focusing on the communities' needs, with their input. Fiocruz is ready to support this call for action aligned with its mission aimed in the reduction of social inequalities, and the defence of the right to health and full citizenship as central values." ### NOTES TO EDITORS 1. Contact To request an advance copy of the report or to arrange an interview please contact: Sarah Walker-Robson, Communications Manager swalker-robson@nuffieldbioethics.org Office: +44 (0)207 681 9619 Mobile: +44 (0)7821 449 725 The report and call for action will be published on http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org on Tuesday 28 January 2020. 2. About the Nuffield Council on Bioethics The Nuffield Council on Bioethics examines ethical issues raised by new developments in biology and medicine. Established by the Nuffield Foundation in 1991, the Nuffield Council is an independent body, funded jointly by the Nuffield Foundation, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. The Nuffield Council has an international reputation for addressing public concerns and providing independent advice to assist policy makers and stimulate debate in bioethics. 3. Call for Action The Nuffield Council on Bioethics' Call for Action full text is as follows: We want to maximise the contribution that scientifically robust, ethical research can make to improving the health of people affected by emergencies. We are issuing a call for action to research funders, governments and others to: Ensure that research is not supported unless the basic health needs of research participants are being addressed through the response effort. Research funders will need to work in partnerships with humanitarian organisations and ministries of health to ensure this. Invest in putting community engagement mechanisms into emergency research to make them a reality. In the longer term, engagement must be a central part of local healthcare systems to ensure sustainability and preparedness. Promote fair and equitable collaborations between research organisations, particularly between external research institutions and their local partners in high- and low-income settings. Support emergency planning - including securing robust health and health research systems - given the vital importance of properly resourced preparedness between emergencies. 4. About the working group This report and call for action follow a two-year in-depth inquiry run by an international working group. Many contributions from across the globe to this work were made through responses to an open call for evidence, participation in roundtable and one-to-one meetings, reviewing early drafts of the report, and involvement in numerous international workshops and events. Members of the working group were appointed for their personal knowledge and expertise, and do not necessarily represent the views of their organisations. Working group members: Michael Parker (Chair) Sanjoy Bhattacharya Karl Blanchet Simon Caney Emily Ying Yang Chan Beatriz da Costa Thome Philippe Guerin Julian Hughes Patricia Kingori Heidi Larson Soka Moses Sharifah Sekalala Julian Sheather Paulina Tindana Affiliations and biographies of working group members are available at: https://nuffieldbioethics.org/publications/research-in-global-health-emergencies/about-the-working-group. The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed as withdrawn an Income Tax department appeal against film star Rajinikanth in respect of assessment for three years from 2002-03 after the department cited a CBDT circular doing away with further legal challenge in matters involving amount less than Rs 1 crore. A bench of justices Vineet Kothari and R Suresh Kumar passed the order after the department submitted it was withdrawing the appeal against July 26, 2013 order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) which had allowed the actor's plea against the assessment orders levying penalty on income totalling over Rs 66 lakh. Counsel for the department said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had issued a circular on August 8, 2019 directing authorities not to go on appeal where the amount of tax was less than Rs 1 crore. In the present appeal filed by the Commissioner of Income Tax, Chennai, the amount claimed by the department for all the three assessment years was less than Rs. 1 crore, he said. The matter related to an order passed by the Assessment Officer levying penalty under section 271(1)(C ) of the Income Tax Act assessing an amount of Rs 6.20 lakh for the assessment year 2002-03, Rs.5.56 lakh for AY 2003-04 and Rs. 54.46 lakh for AY 2004-05. Aggrieved by it, Rajinikanth filed an appeal before the IT (Appeal) which dismissed it. He then approached the ITAT which had allowed his appeal, holding that the penalty was imposed without any material evidence or investigation. Challenging this, the IT department had filed the present appeal in the high court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Under federal law, foreigners in America may not receive green cards if they have used or will use social services. Of late, that law has been honored more in the breach than the observance. President Trump, however, announced that his administration will enforce the law as written, resulting in a leftist rush to various friendly federal district courts. Some of them issued injunctions affecting not just the claimants, but the whole nation. On Monday, the Supreme Court reversed the injunctions, allowing Trump's administration to enforce the law as written until such time as the courts have a chance to look at the substantive merits. In addition, in a separate concurrence, Justice Gorsuch strongly rebuked lower courts for issuing nationwide injunctions. The law at issue is clear. Under 8 USCA 1182(a)(4) (also known as 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act), a law in effect for over 100 years, the class of aliens ineligible for visas or admission includes: ... [a]ny alien who, in the opinion of the consular officer at the time of application for a visa, or in the opinion of the Attorney General at the time of application for admission or adjustment of status, is likely at any time to become a public charge is inadmissible. As soon as the Trump administration announced that it would enforce the law as written, immigrant rights groups promptly protested that doing so is unfair to foreign nationals in need of welfare and that reversing decades of ignoring the law would confuse people. Rather than petitioning Congress to change the law, they rushed to courts in New York, California, Illinois, Maryland, and Washington. When the Second Circuit affirmed the ruling out of New York, the Trump administration filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in the administration's favor along 5-4 lines, reversing the nationwide injunction. If Hillary had been president and appointed Merrick Garland and someone else, the ruling would have gone the other way. Amusingly, uber-left Slate titled its article about the decision, "The Supreme Court Lets Trump Punish Immigrants Who May Be a 'Public Charge.'" Slate and Mark Joseph Stern, who wrote the article, seem to have no concern whatsoever for the innocent taxpayers who are responsible for paying for that alien who is illegally a "public charge." But leftists never care about ordinary working Americans, do they? In his separately issued concurrence, Justice Gorsuch addressed the fact that the "plaintiffs ... urged courts to enjoin the rule's enforcement not only as it applies to them, or even to some definable group having something to do with their claimed injury, but as it applies to anyone." As to some courts, this petition was successful; as to others, it was not. These differences sound confusing, but Gorsuch sarcastically noted that there was no confusion: Despite the fluid state of things some interim wins for the government over here, some preliminary relief for plaintiffs over there we now have an injunction to rule them all: the one before us, in which a single judge in New York enjoined the government from applying the new definition to anyone, without regard to geography or participation in this or any other lawsuit. Even as he applauded the Court's decision to lift the injunction, Gorsuch decried the fact that it had to decide such an issue in the first place: The real problem here is the increasingly common practice of trial courts ordering relief that transcends the cases before them. Whether framed as injunctions of "nationwide," "universal," or "cosmic" scope, these orders share the same basic flaw they direct how the defendant must act toward persons who are not parties to the case. The problem is that equitable remedies are meant for the parties before the court, not for the world at large. Overreaching remedies aren't merely impractical; they have serious constitutional implications: But when a court goes further than that, ordering the government to take (or not take) some action with respect to those who are strangers to the suit, it is hard to see how the court could still be acting in the judicial role of resolving cases and controversies. Injunctions like these thus raise serious questions about the scope of courts' equitable powers under Article III. Unfortunately, Gorsuch did not (or could not) go so far as to issue consequences to the judges involved in the green card cases. All he could do was issue a warning: It has become increasingly apparent that this Court must, at some point, confront these important objections to this increasingly widespread practice. As the brief and furious history of the regulation before us illustrates, the routine issuance of universal injunctions is patently unworkable, sowing chaos for litigants, the government, courts, and all those affected by these conflicting decisions. *** This is not normal. Universal injunctions have little basis in traditional equitable practice. *** Their use has proliferated only in very recent years. And they hardly seem an innovation we should rush to embrace. By their nature, universal injunctions tend to force judges into making rushed, high-stakes, low-information decisions. It's to be hoped that, with Gorsuch having issued this warning, the Supreme Court issues a definitive opinion on the subject, one that clearly prevents lower courts from overreaching their Article III authority. Once upon a time, there was a lovely and fairly successful young stage actress named Kate Hamill. After earning her BFA in acting from Ithaca College and studying at Magnet Theater Improv and Circle in the Square Summer Theater Intensive, she found herself offered parts in independent films, and regional and New York plays. Anyone who can make a living, even a meager one, as an actress should feel proud of that accomplishment (just ask one of the thousands of aspiring thespians who work as waiters in Manhattan). But, alas, she was restless. I had been an actor for many years, she told Backstage in 2016, and was frustrated because oftentimes when youre a woman, youre competing with 400 other actresses to play someones wife . . . girlfriend . . . prostitute. All that changed on a drive up to Vermont with roommate and fellow actor Andrus Nichols. Hamill, who is a lifelong fan of Jane Austen, said she wished there was a stage adaptation of Sense and Sensibility that she could star in. Nichols asked why she didnt just write it herself. Hamill accepted the challenge, and to ensure shed follow through bet $100 that she would do it. Not only did Hamill win the bet (Which was good, she remembers, because I was poor), but her play became a sensation. Hamills Sense and Sensibility opened in 2014 and helped establish New York Citys avant-garde Bedlam Theatre Company (founded by Nichols and director Eric Tucker). Hamill herself played Marianne, the emotionally impetuous Dashwood sister. The play was revived in 2016 and ran for ten months off-Broadway. It was nominated for an award by the Drama League and received one from the Off-Broadway Alliance. The New York Times included it in its Top Ten Theater list, and The Huffington Post declared it to be the greatest stage adaptation of this novel in history. In 2017, Sense and Sensibility moved to the prestigious A.R.T., American Repertory Theater, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was produced by eight other theaters across the country. When American Theatre magazine published its annual list of the most-performed playwrights, Hamill tied with the late, great Tennessee Williams for tenth place. (Shes now been on the list for three consecutive years.) Hamills Sense and Sensibility is fun and free-wheeling. The set, which is in constant motion, is actually on wheels, with actors (all of whom play multiple parts) quickly transforming the Dashwood cottage into a moving carriage, a windswept moor, or the elegant dining room of a London mansion. Hamill tells the story of Marianne and her more level-headed sister Eleanor faithfully, but adds all sorts of stage business that highlight and comment on Austens subtext. For example, the fact that the Dashwood girls are subject to the speculation of society is underscored by near-constant whispered gossip and spying through windows. The prescribed roles of men and women in Austens day become more pronounced and silly as men take on womens roles and women mens. The entire play is a romp, starting and ending with an elaborate period dance set to decidedly contemporary music. Other Hamill adaptations soon followed, including Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, and Mansfield Park. Her original works include Love Poem, In the Mines, and Prostitute Play. Shes currently working with A.R.T. on an adaptation of The Odyssey. Another Hamill adaptation, of William Makepeace Thackerays Vanity Fair, is currently playing in Cambridge, produced by the Underground Railway Theater. This award-winning companys artistic director, Debra Wise (who plays several key roles in the play) welcomes local audiences with a bit of background about both the novels author and the playwright. Thackeray subtitled his masterpiece A Novel Without a Hero, and this resonated with playwright Kate Hamill, Wise explains. She told us she felt most stage and film adaptations of Vanity Fair make it the Beck Sharp story, but the novel is about both women Amelia and Becky each pursuing different paths and punished for both of them. Hamill says she allowed herself to go darker with Vanity Fair than either of her other most popular adaptations, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. She was in part inspired by overhearing a woman exclaim at a production of Hamlet, Hamlet is so terrible to his mother! It is so easy to judge people, Hamill thought. How can we invite ourselves to be less likely to judge others without also judging ourselves? From the moment the lights go down, Vanity Fair is unmistakably a Hamill production. As in her earlier works, the line between onstage and off are blurred, with seven individual dressing rooms glimpsed behind doors and unfinished walls. These serve as informal set pieces (one door might open to Amelias home; another to a German tavern), but keep the entire cast in at least partial view throughout. We are constantly reminded that we are watching a piece of theater, even as Vanity Fairs characters play-act their way through societys expectations. Wise, who plays the regal (and digestively challenged) Matilda Crawley and the rich and lecherous Lord Steyne, also serves as the fairs Manager, engaging one-on-one with audience members and narrating the activity we see. In this role, shes quick to point out that we all do what we have to do to survive, softening any prejudice we might have against recklessly ambitious Becky or her pitiable friend Amelia. The cast is first-rate and they need to be. Hamill and, in this production, director David R. Gammons, expect much from them. Josephine Moshiri Elwood and Malikah McHerrin-Cobb, as, respectively, Becky and Amelia, are the only actors who get to devote themselves to a single role. The other five, David Keohane, Paul Melendy, Stewart Evan Smith, Evan Turissini, and Wise, take on three or more, portraying men and women indiscriminately. At one point, when all of the actors are otherwise engaged, the part of Lady Crawleys dame de compagnie Briggs is played by an upside-down mop with a fur stole. As in other Hamill plays (Ive seen Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility twice), Leslie Helds costumes range from fairly detailed and accurate period ensembles to one or two accessories that convey the essence of a character. When Becky and Amelia leave Miss Pinkertons Academy for Young Ladies Amelia to take her place as a lady and an heiress, Becky to visit Amelia for a brief holiday before assuming the role of governess (a future so foul that the entire company gags whenever someone says the word) Becky has a sticker-covered guitar case and Amelia a set of pink luggage that would thrill a modern teenager. When the two women are pregnant, its conveyed by large round pillows (Beckys happens to be a smiley emoji) tied over their dresses, not under. Set pieces are similarly flexible. A period sofa rests at one end of the narrow stage area in front of the dressing room doors. But a formal dining table is represented by an ironing board with a kitsch electric candelabrum and ketchup and mustard bottles. The point, I suppose, is that Thackerays classic novel is being turned upside down and inside out. Its not a precious relic that must be presented literally or not at all. Its a morality play that can be held up to ridicule when appropriate, and interpreted and reinterpreted to suit modern sensibilities, a theatrical convention that Hamill has perfected. Drifting from the authors text, she gives both her heroines an opportunity to defend themselves. When Amelia agrees to give her son to his grandfather in exchange for a personal stipend as well as a more privileged upbringing for her boy, she turns directly to the audience and forbids people to judge her. Later in the play, the same convention allows Becky to break the fourth wall and justify her scandalous behavior. Both women, the bad Becky and the good Amelia, are doing what they must to survive. Hamill is pointing out how quick society is to label anyone who doesnt stay, as her Manager explains, in the safe and hypocritical middle. Although this paradox affects everyone, Vanity Fair makes it clear that the victims are most often women. In an interview with the Boston Globe, Hamill explained her position as a female playwright this way. I really felt like I wanted to create female-oriented classics for the stage. Im not a director, so I didnt want to direct some female Hamlet. What I wanted to do was create new works. About her success she says, Its truly humbling because I feel like its symptomatic of how hungry people are for this, which was the same hunger that made me write it. Its nice to know Im not alone and that people just want these stories. And Hamill sees a connection between her work and current events. The reason why it takes 40 women to take down a Harvey Weinstein is because we dont value womens stories as much as male stories. We cant just keep telling the exact same stories over and over again. Im someone who loves the classics, so I can watch Hamlet for the 99th time, but it cant be the only story were ever telling. Underground Railway Theaters Vanity Fair is at the Central Square Theater in Cambridge through February 23. Other opportunities to see Hamill plays include her feminist revenge fantasy, Dracula, at New Yorks Classic Stage Company through March 8; and The Scarlet Letter at Costa Mesa, Californias South Coast Rep, March 28-April 25. A quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport checks the temperature of passengers arriving from China, Tuesday, amid the spread of coronavirus. / Yonhap By Kang Seung-woo North Korea has stepped up efforts to contain the spread of a newly identified type of coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, according to its state-run newspaper, Tuesday. The virus has so far killed at least 106 people and infected 4,515 others in China alone. The Rodong Sinmun said in its article the health authorities have taken emergency measures to deal with the disease that has triggered fears and concerns over public health. "Quarantine efforts are underway ... to prevent the new coronavirus from ever entering our country," the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party said. Authorities have stepped up inspections at borders, ports and airports and are thoroughly monitoring those who recently traveled abroad to make sure they can be isolated when they are suspected of having the disease, the paper added. A program to help people identify and prevent human trafficking and stalking will be held Thursday on the Alabama State University campus. The event, called Free to Ride and Not Have to Hide, will be held in front of the Fred Shuttlesworth Dining Hall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is open to students and to the public. Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery that involves selling people for sex or underpaid labor. ASUs Violence Against Wo(men) Program works with law enforcement and service agencies in Alabama to help victims and survivors of violence, trafficking, stalking, according to a news release from ASU. There will be a drawing to give away two bicycles donated by Regions Bank at the event, with one going to a male student and one to a female student. Related: Alabama truck drivers enlisted in battle against human trafficking. The UK will leave the EU at 11pm on Friday night but that is not the end of Brexit, far from it. Boris Johnson is insistent that a trade deal can be negotiated with the EU during the next 11 months so that the divorce becomes final on December 31. That is an incredibly short period of time to hammer out a complex series of agreements. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned that the EU may well play hard ball during the negotiations and that the 27 member states hold the upper hand. None of that, of course, makes any difference to the Prime Minister who respectfully but determinedly begs to differ. Boris is nothing if not a man who likes to get things done - no matter how. And that is why unionists fear the forthcoming negotiations. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told an audience in Belfast last night that frictionless trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK is not possible because the province will follow EU rules on agricultural and manufactured goods, while the rest of the UK will not. The net result will have to be checks at Northern Ireland ports - the so-called border down the Irish Sea - a totem which makes unionists afraid that the Union is being weakened. Mr Barnier was quite blunt in his warning that Brexit would have some consequences which would have to be managed. Those consequences will not become clear until the trade negotiations have reached a fairly advanced stage, but it is clear that concessions on both sides will be demanded and that makes it imperative that relationships between the UK and EU do not deteriorate. The hope has been expressed that they will improve. There does seem a genuine sadness among EU states that the UK has decided to leave. That is partly because the EU exports more to the UK than the reverse trade but it is also because a major partner in trade, security and diplomacy is cutting itself adrift. The new Northern Ireland Executive has rejected the UK-EU deal but that is ritual rather than having any effect. Instead ministers will have to concentrate on how to make Brexit work as effectively as possible for the province. The all-Ireland economy has been safeguarded and guaranteeing free entry to the EU on certain goods is a bonus worth expanding on. We may have voted against Brexit but it might just work to our benefit in at least some respects. Green-card applicants now have a tougher standard of independence to meet. Photo: John Moore/Getty Images A new immigration-restricting regulatory initiative from the Justice Department that has been tied up in the federal courts got at least a temporary green light from the Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling putting aside a lower-court hold on its implementation pending full court review. SCOTUSs five conservative justices (Chief Justice Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh) voted for the ruling, while its liberal bloc (Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan) voted against it. The initiative in question expands the official definition of what makes applicants for immigration public charges, i.e., too dependent on public-assistance programs to support themselves. As I explained when it was first promulgated, its a big deal for Trumps broader nativist agenda: In a long-proposed and highly controversial policy change sure to attract a host of lawsuits, the Trump administration is moving ahead with a proposed new regulation expanding restrictions on federally funded cash benefits for large groups of legal immigrants to include non-cash benefits like food stamps, health-care benefits, and housing assistance. The new public charge rule (a reference to the empowerment of immigration officials to bar otherwise legal immigrants visas or green cards if they are likely to become a public charge dependent on government benefits) is apparently the apple of Trump policy adviser Stephen Millers eye, central to the administrations strategy of reducing legal as well as illegal immigration. As the New York Times reports, the rule was on hold pending an appeal being heard in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals: The Supreme Court considered two cases brought in New York, one by groups that provide services to immigrants and the other by New York, Connecticut, Vermont, and New York City. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Manhattan, denied the administrations request for a stay of two nationwide injunctions issued by a trial judge, and it scheduled arguments in the first week of March. Now SCOTUSs five conservative justices have jumped into the fray and killed the stays, even as the appeal moves on. This doesnt mean the administration wins the ultimate decision, but its a good sign that a majority of the Supreme Court thinks it is more likely than not. There is a potentially complicating issue, however: Accompanying the 5-4 decision was an opinion from Justice Gorsuch (joined by Justice Thomas) complaining about the growing tendency of federal district-court judges issuing nationwide injunctions as the New York judge did in this case: The real problem here is the increasingly common practice of trial courts ordering relief that transcends the concurring cases before them. Whether framed as injunctions of nationwide, universal, or cosmic scope, these orders share the same basic flaw they direct how the defendant must act toward persons who are not parties to the case It has become increasingly apparent that this Court must, at some point, confront these important objections to this increasingly widespread practice So its possible the full case would get a different disposition on review by the Supreme Court, if it ever arrives there, but it would not be wise to bet on it. So immediately, and perhaps for the long term, the administration will have a new tool to reduce legal immigration by exclusions and inhibit the use of perfectly legitimate public benefits by intimidation. As I noted earlier, the new rule is spicy red meat for Trumps MAGA electoral base. The deal struck between the Queen and Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, that sees them ceasing to be senior Royals does nothing to draw a line under the ongoing crisis of a critical institution of bourgeois rule. In what was described as the hardest possible Megxit from the Royal Family, the Queen tried to lay down the law to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following their announcement that they would step back from frontline duties to become financially independent. Harry and Meghan made the decision independently of any discussion with the Queen, with an eye on the millions to be made from exploiting their royal pedigree and celebrity status once free from the limitations of being members of The Firm. After five days of talks, the Queen decreed that the couple would not be allowed to use their Royal Highness titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family. They would also not be involved in promoting Her Majesty in any official capacity, will no longer receive public funds for any Royal duties under the Sovereign Grant and would repay the 2.4 million of public money already spent on refurbishing of Frogmore Cottagetheir property in the grounds of Windsor castle. The deal comes into effect this spring, with Harry stepping back from all official military patronages and royal duties. Security costs for the royals are paid by the state on top of the Sovereign Grant. The Telegraph reported that it is understood that Harry and Meghan will pay towards their own security if they are commercially successful, in a model echoing [former Labour Party leader] Tony Blairs own arrangements. Blair has coined in tens of millions of pounds since he left office as prime minister in 2007. According to reports, the annual security cost of the Sussexes while in Canada will be at least 1.8 million, which is currently being arranged by Londons Metropolitan Police. While retaining their titles of Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, the use of their proposed trademark brand, Sussex Royal, is still problematic because of the jealously guarded term royal. Telegraph Associate Editor Camilla Tominey commented, Since the monarchy isnt just a family but a business, what other option was there when two of its major shareholders had declared their intent to start a rival firm in North America? Whatever restrictions may be placed on their branding, a lucrative career now beckons for the Sussexes. For all the caveats placed, the couple have been able to secure the fundamentals they wanted. The Guardian wrote, Royals for rent: will Harry and Meghan become the worlds biggest influencers? It noted breathlessly that @SussexRoyal broke Instagrams record for the fastest one million followers (less than six hours). Now it has 11 million and is the couples platform of choice for personal announcementsincluding the one they made on 8 January, revealing their intention to step back from royal duties (1.85m likes). Harry and Meghan are expected to spend most of their time in North America. Meghan departed for Canada as soon as the crisis broke. She was joined by Harry, with the couple staying at a $14.1 million waterfront mansion on Vancouver Island owned by a friend. Harry is presently worth more than 30 million, after he and William inherited nearly 16 million from Princess Diana upon her death and then millions more in inheritance from the Queen mother. He will still receive income from his father during the transition, either via his private reserves or from his vast Duchy of Cornwall estate and financial portfolio worth over 1 billionfrom which Charles received an income of 21 million last year. Meghan is worth several millions from her acting career. But from the perspective of the super-rich billionaires with whom Harry and Meghan rub shoulders, this is small potatoes. It is estimated that Meghans position as Hollywood royalty and Harrys status will allow the couple to profit from deals worth tens of millions, if not billions. Even as they were finalising their break with the Royal Family, the couple were busy securing future lucrative deals with Hollywood moguls. In video footage from the London premiere of The Lion King last July, Harry and Meghan are seen speaking to Disney CEO Bob Iger. While Meghan was discussing with the music and product billionaires Beyonce and Jay-Z a few feet away, Harry points at Meghan and is heard telling Iger, You know she does voiceovers? Iger responds, Oh, really? Harry replies, Shes really interested. A few seconds later Harry tells Lion King director Jon Favreau, Next time, anyone needs any extra voiceover work. We can make ourselves available. Meghan then makes a joke, Thats really why were here, its the pitch. Jonathan Shalit, a leading celebrity agent, predicts that the Sussexes could become a billion-dollar brand: Never has a member of the British Royal family been available in the commercial marketplace. When asked if he would be open to offering Harry and Meghan deals, Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix, said, Who wouldnt be interested? There is speculation that Oprah Winfrey could open the way to an interview with one or both that will pay out up to $25 million. Winfrey attended the Sussexes wedding in 2018 and was a guest at Meghans baby shower in New York last year. Last September, it was revealed that Winfrey was working with Harry on a series of documentaries for Apple focusing on mental illness. The Times Clare Foges predicted, The Sussexes will be wintering in Aspen and summering in Tuscany; wining with Oprah and dining with Gates; enjoying the glamour of international summitry without the drudgery of hospice openings in Carlisle. The media was anxious to conclude that little damage had been done to the institution of the monarchy, with the Telegraph editorialising that the Queens acting in this swift yet compassionate way supposedly demonstrated the institutions remarkable ability to adjust and evolve. Such confidence is out of place. The departure of Harry and Meghan demonstrates the continued unravelling of an institution that has helped keep the British bourgeoisie in the saddle for centuries. Much effort has gone into recasting the Windsors as a thoroughly modern family, despite their continued respect for tradition and positions as chief representatives of hereditary privilege. This included the marriage of the second in line to the throne, William, to the commoner Kate Middleton and the reinvention of Harry from the rabble-rousing youthwho once wore a Nazi uniform at a fancy dress ballto a global charity ambassador and advocate of identity politics alongside his wife. Megxit, like Brexit itself, expresses the heightened contradiction between the nation state and its institutions and a globalised economy dominated by a fabulously rich oligarchy which the Sussexes want to plug into. For all the talk about the response of an astute Queen, what is taking place is a desperate rescue operation that is doomed to failure. Serious upheaval looms as the aging monarch, who will be 94 in a few months and who has seen 14 prime ministers serve under her, will soon depart the scene. Prince Charles himself is 71 years old and it is hoped by all concerned that his occupancy of the throne will be short, only keeping the seat warm for his son and heir, William. Harrys resignation has seen the already relentless promotion of William and Kate go into overdrive. This took on an obscene character when Britains slavish media shamelessly marked yesterdays 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by focusing on photos taken by Kate of Holocaust survivors and their relatives. The Daily Mail explained that she drew her inspiration from Dutch artist Vermeer. Moreover, the explosive material keeps building under the foundations of the House of Windsor. Even as Harry departed to join Meghan, the Queen decided not to let a good crisis go to waste. Stupidly, she tried to bring Prince Andrew back in from the cold, inviting him to attend a church service to be photographed alongside her and be described as acting as her rock. Andrew is accused of having sex with several underage women, procured for him by deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Within days of this PR stunt, the Daily Mirror reported statements of a former police protection officer that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epsteins lover and Madam, had visited Andrew at Buckingham Palace up to four times a day, where they had picnics together. A Nazi death camp commander's newly released photos appear to include images of John Demjanjuk, the retired US car worker who was tried in Germany for his alleged time as a Sobibor guard. The collection was unveiled on Tuesday at Berlin's Topography Of Terror museum and comprises 361 photos as well as written documents illustrating Johann Niemann's career. Niemann was the deputy commander of Sobibor from September 1942 until he was killed on Oct. 14, 1943 in an uprising by Jewish inmates. Historican Martin Cueppers points at a man thought to be John Demjanjuk John Demjanjuk leaves the court after his verdict in Munich, southern Germany, on May 12, 2011. He was convicted of helping to kill almost 30,000 people while a guard at the Sobibor death camp in World War II A journalist looks at a catalogue prior to a press conference to unveil newly discovered photos from Sobibor Nazi death camp today A staff member of the Topography of Terror archive points at a historical photograph allegedly showing John Demjanjuk during a press conference on newly discovered photos from Sobibor Nazi death camp today Sobibor death camp: The Nazi extermination centre where 200,000 were murdered in gas chambers before heroic escape saw it razed to the ground The Sobibor death camp was named after its closest train station in Nazi-occupied Poland. It was at this station that Jews disembarked from unbearably cramped trains, unsure of their fate. Jews from Poland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the Soviet Union were killed in three gas chambers fed by the deadly fumes of a large petrol engine taken from a tank. When they entered the camp, Jews were ordered to hand over their valuables, separated by gender and forced to undress. Women and young girls were met by Nazi commandos who chopped off their hair before leading them down the 300 feet long 'Road to Heaven' to the gas chambers - where they were killed with carbon monoxide An estimated 200,000 people were killed in the camp. Some estimations put the figure at 250,000. This would place Sobibor as the fourth worst extermination camp after Belzec, Treblinka and Auschwitz. It was part of Operation Reinhard - the deadliest phase of the Holocaust in German occupied Poland. The camp was located about 50 miles from the provincial Polish capital of Brest-on-the-Bug. Its official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor. Prisoners launched a heroic escape on October 14 1943 in which 600 men, women and children succeeded in crossing the camp's perimeter fence. Of those, only 50 managed to evade capture. It is unclear how many crossed into allied territory. In the wake of the escape the Germans closed the camp, bulldozing it to the ground. It its place they painted pine trees to conceal its location. Today the site if home to the Sobibor Museum, which displays a pyramid of ashes and crushed bones of the victims collected from the site's cremation pits. Advertisement Unlike in many other cases, the photos were not destroyed after the Second World War in fear of legal proceedings, and they remained in the possession of Niemann's family. The collection is being handed over to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Experts say the collection enhances historians' knowledge of what Sobibor looked like. So far, they knew of only two photos taken of the camp while it existed. The Niemann collection adds another 49. Anne Lepper, whose grandparents were murdered on arrival at Sobibor from the Netherlands in 1943, said it was 'very courageous' of Niemann's descendants to release the photos. She said it was 'a breathtaking experience' to see the images after frequently having seen the site. The collection may also shed more light on Demjanjuk, who was convicted in 2011 as an accessory to murder on allegations he served as a Sobibor guard. Demjanjuk always denied the accusations and died in 2012 before his appeal against the ruling by a Munich court could be heard, making the verdict not legally binding. Two photos in the collection may depict a young Iwan Demjanjuk, as he was known before anglicising his name to John, among other former prisoners of war who were trained at an SS camp and were deployed at Sobibor, according to historians. If they do, they would be the first to prove that he was at the camp. Martin Cueppers, a Holocaust historian at the University of Stuttgart, said researchers concluded that Demjanjuk is 'probably' depicted at least in one case in conjunction with the criminal police office in Germany's Baden-Wuerttemberg state, whose biometric department agreed to examine the historical photos. But Demjanjuk's son, John Demjanjuk Jr, said of the newly unveiled photos that 'it's a baseless theory to claim they prove anything at all regarding my father'. The collection as a whole is 'of significant historical value' regarding the Holocaust and Sobibor, he said in a statement. But 'the photos are not proof of my father being in Sobibor and may even exculpate him once forensically examined'. (CNN) There are at least five confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus in the US, a number the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts will continue to climb. The novel coronavirus, which has sickened thousands and killed more than 80 people in China, belongs to a large family of viruses that mostly sicken animals. But this coronavirus, like SARS and MERS, "jumped the species barrier" to infect people on a large scale, the CDC said. Despite its impact in China, the CDC maintains that the risk to Americans is low. But there's still a lot about the virus, its symptoms and how easily it spreads that health officials don't know. "We need to be preparing as if this is a pandemic, but I continue to hope that it is not," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The five patients who've been confirmed had all recently returned from Wuhan, the CDC said. Washington state The first confirmed coronavirus patient in the US, a man in his 30s, sought treatment at an urgent care center in the state after returning from Wuhan. The urgent care center sent his samples to the CDC, which confirmed he had the coronavirus. He entered isolated care at a hospital in Everett, about 30 miles north of Seattle, on January 23. He's receiving treatment in an isolated gurney designed for patients with highly contagious diseases, and a robot takes his vitals. He's in stable condition, said Dr. George Diaz, the man's physician and an infectious disease expert. He'll undergo additional testing until he's no longer contagious. Illinois A woman in her 60s in Chicago was diagnosed a few days after she returned from Wuhan on January 13. She's in stable condition and "doing well" after undergoing treatment, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwardy said. She'll stay in the hospital to control the infection. California There are two patients in California: One in Los Angeles County and another in Orange County. Details are sparse about the Los Angeles county patient. They're currently being treated at a local hospital, though the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health didn't disclose how long they sought treatment after exposure to the virus. The risk to Los Angeles County is low, the department said. An Orange County man in his 50s flew into Los Angeles International Airport in Wuhan earlier this month. The county found out January 23, and the CDC confirmed his results on Saturday. He's in a local hospital. Arizona The state health department confirmed the patient is an "adult member" of the Arizona State University community, though it didn't release the patient's age or gender. The patient called their healthcare provider when they began to experience mild respiratory symptoms. The CDC confirmed the coronavirus on Sunday. The patient isn't hospitalized, but is self-isolated at home, the department said. Who's still at risk The CDC is monitoring at least 100 people in 26 states for coronavirus. About 25 of them were found not to have it. Washington state health officials are monitoring 50 people who came in close contact with the state's patient. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is monitoring two potential cases of coronavirus. Two people in the state recently traveled to Wuhan City, China, and developed respiratory symptoms and are currently undergoing testing for the virus, according to a DHHS statement. Samples have been sent to the CDC for testing and the individuals will remain isolated until test results are available, the statement said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed the state, which hasn't seen any confirmed cases yet, sent seven possible cases to the CDC for testing. Of those, four people remain in isolation while their results are pending. The travelers had just returned to the US from Lunar New Year celebrations in China. The Georgia Department of Public Health is working with the CDC to evaluate patient information received from healthcare providers about potential coronavirus cases, said health department spokesperson Nancy Nydam. "To date, DPH has not confirmed any cases of coronavirus in Georgia, however the situation could change as additional patients are evaluated," Nydam said. A total of four people in Virginia, Oklahoma and Maryland are also being tested for coronavirus. Other coronavirus cases have been confirmed in several Asian countries, including Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. Patients have also been reported in France and Australia, and on Monday, Ontario public health officials confirmed two cases, a husband and wife, had the virus. What's being done The CDC is screening travelers from Wuhan at several US airports, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport began screenings last week. The CDC advises Americans to avoid unnecessary travel to Hubei Province. Three dozen US diplomats and their families in Wuhan will evacuate the region to return to the US early this week. The Canadian government has issued a travel advisory, urging citizens to avoid all travel to the Hubei Province of China. The advisory includes the cities of Wuhan, Huanggang and Ezhou. The northern Chinese city of Tangshan also suspended all local public transportation services to curb the spread of the virus. Otherwise, the CDC encourages people to follow flu season protocol: Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, avoid ill people and stay home and avoid public situations if they're ill. A coronavirus vaccine would take at least a year to reach the public. This story was first published on CNN.com 'What we know about the coronavirus cases in the US' Teachers reunite with mom whose baby they helped deliver at school originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Three teachers in Texas ended a school day last week not only having taught their students but also helping to deliver a student's new sister. Amberlynn Balli, Valentina Davalos and Erica Beverly were leaving an awards ceremony at IDEA Bluff Springs elementary school when they saw the father of one of their students standing at the door of the women's restroom. "When I saw him at the bathroom door and saw his face I just said, 'Oh no, the baby is here," Davalos, a second-grade math teacher, told "Good Morning America." "I had a conversation with the dad about 10 minutes before and he told me they were going to the hospital because [his wife] wasnt feeling well." MORE: Teacher gives birth to baby girl on sidewalk outside of school The dad at the bathroom door was Andres Soto-Rodriguez, the father of Luigiani, a second-grade student at IDEA Bluff Springs. Inside the bathroom was his wife and Luigiani's mom, Janet Karina Soto-Rodriguez. When the teachers walked into the bathroom they saw Janet Karina Soto-Rodriguez holding her newborn daughter and jumped into action. PHOTO: IDEA Bluff Springs school teachers visit Andrea, the newborn they helped deliver at the school. (IDEA Public Schools) "I felt a huge relief," Janet Karina Soto-Rodriguez told "GMA" of the moment the teachers walked in. "There was finally someone there to help me." Balli, a second-grade reading teacher, immediately got on the phone with the 911 operator so that she could translate for the couple, who speak Spanish. Davalos took over caring for the newborn baby, cleaning her mouth and nose and wrapping her in blankets. "I knew I had to clean her mouth and clean her nose and I rubbed her back and thats when she started crying," said Davalos. "It was a beautiful cry because then we knew she was okay." PHOTO: Teachers and staff from Idea Bluff Springs school in Austin, Texas, visit Carina Soto-Rodriguez, center, and her husband, Andres, back, at the hospital. (IDEA Public Schools) Beverly, a support teacher, took charge of caring for Soto-Rodriguez, following instructions from the 911 operator. Story continues MORE: Teacher celebrates becoming US citizen with her students by her side Right outside the bathroom was what the teachers called their "support team," a group of fellow teachers and staff who would run to get whatever supplies were needed, from blankets to gloves. The three teachers say they probably spent around 10 minutes with Soto-Rodriguez and her newborn in the bathroom until an ambulance arrived, though it felt "like forever." "There were a lot of things that needed to take place in a matter of split seconds," said Beverly. "It now seems like a huge thing that we did but at the time we didnt think of it like that." Balli, Davalos and Beverly said they were thinking the whole time of Soto-Rodriguez's comfort, including making sure she had privacy and time to take it all in. "We wanted to let her soak in the fact that she had just created life," said Balli. "And wanted to make the delivery as comfortable and beautiful and private as possible no matter the circumstances." PHOTO: Teachers and staff from Idea Bluff Springs school in Austin, Texas, visit Carina Soto-Rodriguez, center, and her husband, Andres, back, at the hospital. (IDEA Public Schools) After the emergency delivery, the three teachers went right back to their students in the classroom. "Teachers do everything, whatever it takes," said Davalos. The next day they visited Soto-Rodriguez and her daughter, whom she named Andrea, at the hospital, which provided a sense of relief, they said. "Our biggest focus over the next 24 hours was did we do everything right to make sure they were safe? We thought about that until we were able to see them the next day," said Beverly. "Once we knew they were safe and healthy, that was a moment of pride for us." Soto-Rodriguez said she will tell her daughter that she is a "hero and an extremely brave girl" who "came ready to tackle this world." The newborn will have some help doing that. IDEA Public Schools, a Texas-based network of pre-K to high school public charter schools, announced it will give Andrea a college scholarship when she graduates high school from an IDEA school. Tianguo Marching Band of Falun Gong group is performing at the Chinese New Year parade in Flushing, New York on Jan. 25, 2020. (Dai Bing/The Epoch Times) Locals Welcome Falun Gongs Presence at Flushing Lunar New Year Parade Thousands of New Yorkers gathered in Flushing, Queens, on Jan. 25 to ring in the first day of the 2020 Chinese New Year with one of Americas biggest Chinese New Year events. More than 80 local community groups participated in Flushings annual Lunar New Year parade, where spectators were dazzled by more than 30 decorated floats and live performances. Despite some rain, spectators still crowded the sides of Flushings Main Street. Flushings New Year parade is the most beautiful and the largest one [in New York]. I come here to watch every year, Michael Zhang told the Chinese-language Epoch Times. Rain cant stop us, said Zhao Litao and his mother, Marry Wu, adding that they had lived in the United States for 30 years and it was their family tradition to go out to watch the Flushing New Year parade. New York mayor Bill de Blasio, New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, and a dozen of officials from New York state and New York city are leading the parade and celebrate the Chinese New Year in Flushing, New York on Jan. 25, 2020. (Dai Bing/The Epoch Times) New York mayor Bill de Blasio, New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, and a dozen of officials from New York state and New York city led the parade to bring in the Year of the Mouse. Speaker of New York City Council Corey Johnson also attended the parade and spoke to media, wishing everybody a happy new year of the mouse. He added that the government is on alert for the new coronavirus, and asked New Yorkers not to discriminate against Chinese out of fear. Its really festive and cultural, New Yorker Christina Chen said of the atmosphere on the day, filled with live music, traditional Chinese costumes, and lion and dragon dancing. Dragon team of Falun Gong group is playing at the Chinese New Year parade in Flushing, New York on Jan. 25, 2020. (Dai Bing/The Epoch Times) Chen added that she thought the dance put together by the Chinese spiritual group Falun Gong, which was invited to perform at the parade, was very attractive. Its very pretty that they put the dance together [in the parade], she said. The dancers with Falun Gong were accompanied by the Celestial or Tianguo marching band, a dragon and a lion dancing team, waist drums, floats, and a section celebrating 350 million Chinese people having quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). We love Falun Gong people. They are telling you the truth in China and out of China, another onlooker Mrs. Cai told the Chinese-language Epoch Times. Their group in the parade is grand, and their words are the most powerful. A float of Falun Gong group is marching at the Chinese New Year parade in Flushing, New York on Jan. 25, 2020. (Dai Bing/The Epoch Times) On one of their big banners, people saw the message: Congrats the 350 million Chinese who have quit the CCP! CCP is spreading the philosophies of lying, being evil, and fighting with each other. Quitting the CCP is choosing to be kind and compassionate, Wang Yankun, a Falun Gong practitioner, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times of the significance of the quitting CCP movement. I think its great that they are encouraging Chinese citizens to quit the CCP, Paul Rathe, another New Yorker, told The Epoch Timess sister media NTD Television after he watched the message pass by. [The existence of communism] has been too long. CCP Flags Litter the Street In a repeat of ongoing attempts to harass the Falun Gong group, dozens of pro-Beijing people held large Chinese flags along the route of the parade, standing within the spectator crowd. The group was led by Li Huahong, leader of a local communist front group in Flushing called the Chinese Anti-Cult World Alliance. The group was denied from participating in the parade. Last year, reporters from The Epoch Times and NTD Television were told by several flag-bearers that they were being paid $30 to $200 by Li to hold the flags. In March 2019, an insider told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that Li was paid by the Tianjin City Political and Legal Affairs Committee, a Chinese government agency. Other sources have also suggested that Li receives funding from the Chinese authorities. Ubers goal of becoming fully electric by 2025 seems to be well underway, and Nissan is making sure they get there. The two companies have recently signed a deal to support the introduction of 2,000 fully electric Nissan LEAFs for Uber drivers. Nissan will provide a fleet of Nissan LEAFs equipped with a 40 kWh battery pack. This enables the car to travel up to 270 km (168 miles) on a single charge. The cars will be manufactured in Sunderland, England, and will be offered to drivers as a part of Ubers Clean Air Plan. Aside from this, Nissan will also provide Uber with a personalized EV education program, transaction price, and marketing plan. This will help Uber drive the uptake of the zero emission vehicles. Our bold vision for London is for every driver on the Uber app to use an all-electric vehicle by 2025. The partnership with Nissan is a hugely significant step towards meeting this goal, comments Jamie Heywood, Ubers Regional General Manager for Northern and Eastern Europe. The Mayor of London has shown strong leadership on measures relating to air quality and were proud to support him in delivering his vision. In addition, Andrew Humberstone, Nissan Motor (GB) Ltd.s managing director, commented: Through innovation and collaboration, companies like Nissan and Uber can tackle the challenges of advancing personal urban mobility, whilst also improving air quality in our major cities. As the UKs best-selling EV, the Nissan LEAF is the perfect vehicle to support Ubers ambition of a 100% electric fleet in London for 2025. Not only will passengers enjoy the quieter ride that comes from all-electric driving, but cyclists, pedestrians and other road users will also benefit from the zero-emissions powertrain. The Clean Air Plan was launched by Uber in January of 2019, as a means of addressing air pollution. The program helps drivers upgrade to an electric vehicle by adding a small Clean Air Fee of 15p (Php 10) every mile (1.6 km). This added fee helps drivers with the cost of adopting an EV. Story continues On average, every EV Uber driver will save about 4,500 (Php 300,000) all in all, depending on how many miles theyve driven. In the first year of Ubers Clean Air Plan, about 900,000 Uber journeys have taken place in electric vehicles, an increase of more than 350 per cent on the previous year. Over 500 drivers every week are now using zero emission electric vehicles. Here in the Philippines, more and more people are warming up to the concept of EVs, but still opt for traditional fuel-powered cars because they cost less. The Clean Air Plan is a great solution to air pollution, and we hope that the local government can integrate it somehow to our public transportation. Also Read: The post Uber Partners Up with Nissan for the Clean Air Plan appeared first on Carmudi Philippines. The German army is so short of armoured vehicles that soldiers have to jump out of cars and pretend they're driving tanks during training exercises. The defence ministry confirmed troops were deploying 'other vehicles to practise mounting and dismounting' because of the lack of Puma tanks. Instead the soldiers were using cars because only 20 per cent of the army's Pumas are in working order, according to Bild. The dire situation is reminiscent of German troops being required to use broomsticks painted to look like guns during a NATO exercise in Norway in 2014. Leopard 2 tanks (left and centre) and the Puma tank (right) at the Bundeswehr infantry training facility in Munster. Soldiers are using cars in their training because of the Puma shortage The ministry has said it is 'not satisfied' with the lack of infantry fighting vehicles. Over the summer the costs of the 350 new Pumas ordered and the upgrades on the existing models had doubled from an estimated 2.5 billion to 5 billion, public broadcaster MDR reported. The defence ministry blamed contractual issues and further unforeseen requirements to modernise its old tanks. Left wing politician Matthias Hohn had called it 'one of the largest planning errors by the Ministry of Defence.' The Pumas have been ordered to replace the ageing Marder tanks and to deploy with the NATO Response Force (NRF), the rapid reaction force created in 2002. Germany has been consistently in the firing line from its NATO allies for not spending enough on its military. Members of the alliance have pledged to spend at least two percent of their GDP on defence, but Germany still lags behind despite increasing its spend by more than 4.4billion in 2019. President Donald Trump consistently harangued Angela Merkel for Germany's contribution, claiming country's like the Chancellor's got a 'free ride.' German soldiers stand at attention in Berlin. The government has long been accused of neglecting its military The increased spend by the Germans only equates to 1.35 percent of GDP and it remains to be seen whether they will keep up with last year's commitment. The only country's meeting the NATO pledge are the US, Greece, the UK, Poland, Latvia and Estonia. Britain is the second largest spender in the alliance after the US. Two terrorists were arrested on Tuesday in north Pakistan, police said. Acting on a tip-off, a police team conducted a search operation in Ghnaid area of Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, District Police Officer Shahid Ahmad told reporters here. Two terrorists, identified as Jalauddin and Shahid Gul, were arrested during the search operation, he said. The duo were involved in several cases of murder, including that of a policeman, and bomb blasts, Ahmad said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Like Im Trapped: Africans in China Lockdown See No Escape JOHANNESBURGThe normally bustling supermarket in Wuhan was deserted, looking more foreign than ever. Khamis Hassan Bakari walked the aisles and saw just two other shoppers, and fear sank in. Everybody is scared. Scared of seeing anyone, the 39-year-old Tanzanian doctor said, as authorities around the world scramble to contain the new virus that began in the industrial Chinese city of 11 million. You dont even want the supermarket to touch the products you buy. Bakari spoke with The Associated Press this week from his university housing in Wuhan as Chinas astonishing lockdown of more than 50 million people continues. Transport links have been cut. Streets are largely empty. Lunar New Year festivities have fallen flat. With thousands of foreigners stranded in Wuhan, and with richer countries like the United States and Japan preparing to evacuate some citizens, the Ph.D. student has become a leader for hundreds of African peers with little chance of a similar escape. Im feeling like Im trapped here, said one Ethiopian student at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, who gave only his first name, Abel. He, like other students, cited worries that angering Chinese or their countrys authorities could lead to retaliation, like loss of scholarships. Beijings push to expand its influence on the youthful African continent means Africans now make up the second-largest population of foreign students in China, behind those from elsewhere in Asia, according to Chinas education ministry. In 2018 African students numbered more than 80,000. More than 4,000 are estimated to be in Wuhan alone. Dr. Khamis Hassan Bakari of Tanzania shows an empty street in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 27, 2020. (Khamis Hassan Bakari via AP) None of them expected this. No one knows how long the lockdown will last, or all the ways the virus can spread. The southern African nation of Botswana has openly worried about its students supplies of water and food. Kenyas government has had to defend itself against accusations it was not helping its students. So Bakari and a small committee of fellow doctors from his East African country regularly send updates on social media about the outbreak to the more than 400 Tanzanian students in Wuhan, as well as hundreds of countrymen elsewhere in China. They dont have a clue what is going on, Bakari said. And, because the updates are largely in Swahili, the common language of East Africa, many beyond his country can follow them, too. Together we are one family, the association tweeted Tuesday, encouraging fellow Africans to follow precautionary measures. The concerns are real. Even Africas most developed economy, South Africa, has signaled it will not evacuate citizens. On Sunday it told students in China to adhere to university instructions, warning that leaving without permission can have far-reaching consequences. Moroccos King Mohammed VI, however, has ordered his government to repatriate 100 nationals of the north African nation from Wuhan. Speaking by phone, Bakari sounded remarkably relaxed, even chuckling, as he described life under lockdown. For me as a doctor, I know how to cope with the stress, the specialist in nuclear medicine said. So we have initiated a way of going through this ordeal. To help keep people calm, the Tanzanian committee has recommended this: Exercise at least 20 minutes a dayand dont spend too much time online. The committee looked into an online video showing an ill Congolese student at a Chinese hospital that quickly led to fears he had the virus. But that guy, he actually had kidney stones, Bakari said. We dont have a foreign student here in Wuhan suffering from the virus, we havent heard of any case. A Ghanaian student said campus authorities at Wuhan University of Science and Technology had warned students against sharing videos, photos or messages about the virus on WeChat, the popular Chinese messaging app, threatening to cut their WiFi connections if they do. Students were only trying to learn about the situation, said the student, adding that he wants to leave China the moment transport links are restored. This is not the time to be adventurous, Ghanas ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, has warned. Lets not panic in the process. The African diplomatic corps in Beijing has been exploring options to help students, reaching out to the U.N. migration agency and others. Another Tanzanian on the grassroots committee, Dr. Hilal Kizwi, described a situation full of panic especially for newer African students who dont yet speak Chinese. The new virus started out like influenza, he said. Then authorities told him and others doing their residency at a local hospital to be careful and cover their mouths. Patients started dying, and the number of patients soared. Supplies of masks and other items ran low. Finally, students were told to no longer report to work. Its like Im locked up in a cell, Kizwi said shortly after his evening prayers. The only thing I have is to talk to my family: Im safe, Im doing fine. And he was, until he heard a local doctor had died of the virus. When he ventured outside after the death, he wore two face masks instead of one. A Chinese woman puts a protective mask on a young girl as they tour the grounds of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China, which remained open during the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival holiday on Jan. 27, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Students have reached out to Tanzanias embassy about leaving Wuhan and were told authorities were working on it, Kizwi said. But I dont expect it. There is little to do. Police are constantly monitoring people who are out and about, his countryman Bakari said. Most supermarkets and pharmacies are closed. The one shop at his and Kizwis school, Tongji Medical College, quickly sells out every day. Bakari said the Tanzanian committee has begun collecting phone numbers of international representatives for all universities in Wuhan so students can report on any shortages or which campuses are being especially helpful. Some students are given thermometers and visited every day for a temperature check, Bakari said. At his school, they are given face masks daily. Our university gave us supplies the day before yesterday, he said, including two boxes of chocolate, cookies, sugar, cooking oil and bottles of water. Today theres new information that if we want to go around the city, we have to ask the local community. They have provided us with a phone number and we call them to ask for transport or supplies, if possible. He complimented Chinese authorities on their response: We really appreciate what theyre doing. But Bakari said he has no plans to go out again. With his new stash from his supermarket visit of fruit, vegetables, legumes, and milk powderto help combat protein deficiency now that eating eggs, fish, or meat is not an option since the virus jumped from animals to humanshe has settled into his role as an investigator, semi-therapist and amateur media outlet. This new reality can be tiring. Actually, we dont sleep these days, he said. By Cara Anna and Elias Meseret By PTI ISLAMABAD: A group of Pakistani students stuck in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus, has requested Imran Khan government to make efforts to rescue them from the Hubei province of China, according to a media report. Wuhan has been under a virtual lockdown for days, with transport suspended and citizens told to stay home as the death toll from the viral epidemic that originated in the city soared to 106 and the confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak stand at 4,515. Hafsah Tayab, one of the students stuck in the city of Wuhan, spoke to Geo News and confirmed that other countries are planning to get their citizens out of the city through airplanes. "Embassies of other countries (excluding Pakistan) are rescuing their citizens. There are over 500 Pakistani students in Wuhan. If even one of them gets affected, the others will be in danger," she was quoted as saying by the report on Monday. "There is a shortage of essentials and if this situation persists, we will run out of food very soon," Tayab said in a video message uploaded on social media, adding that she and her fellow students have been confined to the city. New infections are being reported as many countries step up efforts to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan. The US, Germany and France are among several countries planning to take such measures. ALSO READ: First coronavirus case confirmed in Germany, says Bavarian health ministry "We plead that the authorities take notice of our situation on a humanitarian basis and do something about it. We will be grateful to you all our lives," another student can be heard saying in the video. According to a student from the Wuhan University of Science and Technology, there are about 200 Pakistani students in the institute, and a total of 2,000 in other universities of the city. "A few days ago, Pakistani students stuck in Wuhan were very scared. However, the Pakistani embassy in Beijing has made efforts to provide us with what we need," Tayab was quoted as saying by the Geo News. "The Pakistani authorities have assured us that they will get us out of the city like other countries," Tayab added. The Foreign Office (FO) has confirmed that efforts are being made to help out the students. "The officials are in constant touch with Chinese authorities in order to make necessary arrangements for Pakistanis struck in affected areas, and a special briefing for all the embassies in Beijing has been scheduled today," Foreign Office Spokesperson Aaisha Forooqui said. Northern Ireland is in the middle of an unprecedented MoT crisis, with tests suspended at every centre. Most tests for cars and light vehicles have been cancelled after defective lifts were discovered. An inspection detected signs of cracking in 48 of 55 lifts. The problem was first known about in November but was only made public in the past week. A whistleblower has claimed one lift collapsed at a centre. Read More Motorists are to be issued exemption certificates and those vehicles not eligible prioritised for tests. The Driver and Vehicle Agency warned repairs could take months and cost millions. Tests on heavy goods vehicles and buses are continuing. Read More Here's how the crisis unfolded: Tuesday January 21: Expand Close MOT's due to take place on Tuesday have been cancelled (John Stillwell/PA). / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp MOT's due to take place on Tuesday have been cancelled (John Stillwell/PA). Armagh MoT centre closed after faults were discovered in some lifts during a planned inspection. The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said other test centres would remain open but some appointments may be rescheduled. Thursday January 23: MoT appointments cancelled across Northern Ireland as further details of problems with vehicle lifts emerged. Inspections were to be carried out at 12 of the 15 centres, with reports 48 out of the 55 lifts were faulty. It was revealed that the previous week, the testing facility at Larne was closed for repairs, while car and light vehicles tests at the Mallusk centre were suspended on Wednesday and Thursday. The DfI said all inspections were due to be completed on Thursday with repairs carried out as soon as possible. That evening the department said some test centres would open on Sunday to make up for the cancelled appointments. Expand Close Minister: Nichola Mallon Kevin Scott / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Minister: Nichola Mallon Mallusk was the only MoT centre not carrying out car and light vehicle tests that day. Friday January 24: DfI said tests were being carried out at all centres but lifts where only fully operational at Belfast, Cookstown and Newbuildings in Derry. Two of the three lifts at the Coleraine centre were working and three out of four operating in Craigavon. DVA confirmed those who had an appointment cancelled would be refunded half of the test fee and given a free test. On Friday evening Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said drivers affected would be issued with temporary MoT certificates from Monday. Expand Close DVA chief executive Paul Duffy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp DVA chief executive Paul Duffy She said the exemptions would apply to customers with expired or soon-to-be expiring car and light vehicle MoT certificates, who have had appointments cancelled due to the lift fault inspections. Mrs Mallon said test centres would be opening extra hours over the weekend and in the weeks ahead, to ensure customers impacted are rescheduled as soon as possible. Sunday January 26: Confirmed affected drivers would be issued with four-month exemptions from Monday, and that they would be backdated to January 20. Minister Mallon encouraged drivers to book MoTs as normal when they received their reminder letter. Monday January 27: Infrastructure Minister refused to say whether compensation would be provided to those forced to hire cars due to cancelled tests. Ms Mallon said she was unable to give a time frame for when the situation would be resolved. Officials were instructed to carry out a review into how the situation arose, including a review of the inspection process. That evening all tests for cars and light vehicles were suspended with "immediate effect". DVA Chief Executive Paul Duffy said in a statement that following further inspections of lift faults at MoT centres, the contractor had not provided sufficient assurances on the effectiveness of the ongoing repairs. Anyone scheduled for a car or light vehicle test on Tuesday was told not to attend. The DVA said that all customers, except customers with four-year-old vehicles and taxis, will be automatically issued an MoT exemption certificate and therefore could continue to drive. Tuesday January 28: Mr Duffy admitted the lifts could take month to replace with costs rising to the millions. DVA contacting all owners of taxis and four-year-old cars to book them in for priority tests. Heavy goods vehicles and buses would continue to be processed. Drivers with exemption certificates were advised to make their insurance companies aware. Mr Duffy said it was for others to consider if he should keep his job. Around 7,000 tests were cancelled before the suspension. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 14:06:08|Editor: yhy Video Player Close SHANGHAI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- APP (China), a subsidiary of Indonesia-based Sinar Mars Group, donated 100 million yuan (14.4 million U.S. dollars) on Monday to help curb the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China. The funds were transferred to the Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation of China. Meanwhile, Gold Hong Ye Paper Group under APP (China) has started the emergency manufacturing of protective products for the epidemic and delivered 350,000 yuan worth of hygiene wipes directly to central China's Hubei Province. "We hope to contribute to the fight against the pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan and China at large," said Teguh Ganda Wijaya, chairman and president of Sinar Mas Group. By Elizabeth Maher Muoio Id like to say that Sue Livio and Kelly Heyboers recent story on the mistreatment of women in New Jerseys political world was an eye opener, but unfortunately it was not. As those of us who have been involved for decades know, almost every woman, regardless of age, background, profession or chosen path, has a story of discrimination, harassment or worse. For all of our many differences, we are a sisterhood with a sad common thread. Our challenge as we start this new decade is to work together to ensure that this thread is cut for those who follow after us. Where to start? Having worked in government and politics for decades, the experience and insights I have gained are predominantly in this field. I have served in elected office at the municipal, county and state level, and worked on the administrative side of government at both the county and state level. For six years I also served as one of the woefully small number of women county political chairs serving here in New Jersey. These experiences have taught me that until more women are provided with and seize the opportunity to serve in leadership roles, not much will change. As Patricia Teffenhart said in the recent article, sexual harassment is about control, [a]s long as the power brokers in the New Jersey political system continue to be predominantly men, women will continue to fear sharing their stories out of retribution or isolation. So first, we need to level the playing field. I count myself as one of the fortunate women to have cut my political teeth in Mercer County because the Mercer County Democratic Committee has an open convention process. This gives any interested candidate access to make her or his case directly to the committee people who each have a vote in the yearly open convention overcoming the first hurdle, which is simply getting in the door. The results are clear. First, for almost the entire past decade, the Mercer County Democratic Committee has been chaired by women. Second, the latest New Jersey County Report Card compiled by the Center for American Women in Politics listed Mercer County as the New Jersey leader in womens political participation, a ranking based on womens representation at the county, mayoral and city council levels of government. Two of our three State Senators and one of our Assembly members are women, and our former Assemblywoman is now in Congress. When it comes to government administration, we need to ensure that more women are in true leadership positions and that we do our part to raise other qualified women up. I am proud to currently serve as a member of a state cabinet in which women hold a majority of the seats for the first time ever. The women of Gov. Phil Murphys cabinet lead departments with thousands of employees, responsible for billions of dollars in expenditures. In turn, many of us in the cabinet have appointed women to leadership roles within our respective departments. In Treasury, every leadership position in my front office is held by a woman the deputy treasurer, two assistant treasurers, chief of staff, legislative affairs director and communications director. Leadership positions, whether elected or appointed, give women the opportunity to influence policy and management practices in a way that respects equal treatment and refuses to tolerate mistreatment. Equally important, it gives women the critical opportunity to serve as role models for both young women and, just as important, young men. Younger generations, regardless of gender, must see and hear from women in positions of leadership and influence in order to cement the mindset that women deserve equal opportunity, treatment and respect. As leaders, women must always strive to create a safe space for others to come to them with concerns related to sexual harassment or toxic work environments: put processes in place that protect those who have been violated; work together to determine the best means to protect proprietary information while enabling employees to protect themselves from a hostile work environment; and always provide those who have suffered sexual harassment or assault with a voice. We can pass all the laws we want, but unless theres a real commitment to a true cultural change - a change publicly and privately in attitudes, words, and outcomes - women will not feel safe to speak up. Finally, to the men - both the bad actors and the good: we are your partners - in life, in business, in government, and in your communities. We comprise more than half the population, more than half the electorate, and, as of last week, more than half the payroll work force. We deserve, expect, and demand better. Be aware of what is happening. Dont turn a blind eye or encourage behavior that demeans, or worse, violates the rights of women. As we start this new decade, be our partners in this fight. The girls who follow in our footsteps shouldnt have to assume that sexual harassment, or worse, is something they have to accept or endure in order to succeed in their life path. Lets work together to ensure they have that right and that future. Elizabeth Maher Muoio is the New Jersey Treasurer and a former Assemblywoman for the 15th Legislative District. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Los Angeles, Jan 29 : Actress Penelope Cruz says Meryl Streep and Billy Wilder inspired her to get into showbiz and try "something crazy". "Most of them (films which inspired her) were from Pedro, and then many movies from Meryl Streep or Billy Wilder, also Anna Magnani - the names that made me want to try something crazy because I didn't know anybody that had a job in this industry," said Cruz while talking about her inspirations which pushed her into the industry. "I didn't even have a movie theatre near where I lived so I was watching everything in a beta max that my father bought and that's how I became a big cinephile," she added. The actress will next be seen in Spanish drama "Pain & Glory", which will release in India on January 31. The film is being brought to India by PVR Pictures. "Pain & Glory", directed by Pedro AlmodAvar, follows the life of a film director who reflects upon his choices in the past whilst his reality comes crashing down around him. It also stars Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Julieta Serrano and Leonardo Sbaraglia amongst others. Talking about her relationship AlmodAvar, she said: "We know each other so well, we look at each other we know what the other one is thinking. It's very hard to lie to each other. We're very close, one of my best friends and my favourite director in the world. He is somebody that I really admire and love" In "Pain & Glory", the actress says she plays the role of Jacinta Mallo. "The character is based on his mother... That was really beautiful to me because I really care about him and I know how much he cared about this woman and even if it is a smaller character in the film, I felt like it was important for me to do it because it's her and I met her and she was really, really loving. She loved Pedro so much and I feel Pedro's personality comes a lot from the way she was. She was very peculiar, very interesting." NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was brought in to correct historical injustice and fulfil an old promise to religious minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Some political parties, he said, were indulging in vote bank politics over the new law. The PMs comments come even as protests against the law are continuing across the country. The amended citizenship law fast-tracks the citizenship process for non-Muslim minorities fleeing religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Addressing the Annual Prime Ministers National Cadet Corps (NCC) Rally 2020 here, Modi said: This was also the wish of Gandhiji and the spirit of the Nehru-Liaquat agreement in 1950In these countries, people were tortured because of their faith and it was the responsibility of India to give them asylum, give them citizenship. But the minorities were abandoned. It is Indias responsibility to give refuge to those people who have been oppressed due to their faith. These people have faced historical injustice... and to stop this and fulfil our old promise, we have brought the CAA, Modi said. In his 45-minute speech, the PM touched up on a host of issues including Triple Talaq, Enemy Property law, Ram Janmabhoomi, Delhis unauthorised colonies and the opening of the Kartarpur corridor (which allows Sikh pilgrims to access Guru Nanaks resting place). It is only due to their faith that daughters are victimised in Pakistan and atrocities are being committed against Dalits. Sometime back Pakistan army issued an advertisement for appointing safai karamcharis (cleaners). It said only non-Muslims could apply. This advertisement was for our Dalit brothers and sisters. Should we keep sitting quietly? Modi asked. While some people are pretending to be the voice of Dalits here, they refuse to see the atrocities on Dalits in Pakistan, the PM said. He said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has addressed several important issues which were put off for decades including initiating crucial reforms in defence, modernising the armed forces, setting up a national war memorial, bringing a law that criminalized Triple Talaq, constructing the Kartarpur corridor, clamping down on corruption and developing the countrys north-east. The PM said the creation of the post of chief of defence staff to increase the coordination and synergy among the three services had been in limbo for decades but his government implemented the proposal of the Kargil Review Committee. If 1 + 1 + 1 equals three, the appointment of the CDS will transform the combined power of the three services to 111. Talking about the Ram Janmabhoomi issue, the PM said the court could not announce its verdict on the matter for years as hearings kept getting postponed and all types of tools were used to cause delays. But today an important case has been decided. People giving it a communal angle have been exposed, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to furnish its contention on the petitions of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who had sought a relief from the High Court against the orders of the CBI special court, which declined his request to exempt him from personal appearance in the disproportionate assets case. On last Friday, the CBI special court made it clear to Mr Reddy that he should appear before it from next hearing onwards. With these directions, Mr Reddy filed 11 petitions before the Telangana High Court seeking a relief over the special court orders. While dealing with the petitions, Justice Gandikota Sridevi directed the CBI to file its counter by February 6 and posted the next hearing to that day. Earlier, Surendra, counsel representing the CBI, sought time from the court to file their counter on these petitions. Niranjan Reddy, senior counsel representing Mr Reddy, requested the court for interim relief. No interim relief for Jagan Senior counsel Niranjan Reddy sought an exemption for his client Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy from personal appearance for hearing at the CBI special court scheduled on January 31. As the High Court posted the case to February, the counsel sought interim relief for the Chief Minister till the day of next hearing. However, Justice Sridevi, refused to provide any such interim relief and told the counsel that they could seek exemption before the CBI special court by informing it of having filed criminal petitions before the High Court. [January 28, 2020] AuctionTime.com & Auction Flex to Host Auctioneer Forum February 5th in Alberta LINCOLN, Neb., Jan. 28, 2020 /CNW/ -- Sandhills Global will host a one-day auctioneer forum in Drayton Valley in central Alberta, Canada, on February 5th covering a range of proven best practices for auction management. Sandhills is the tech company behind Auction Flex, AuctionTime.com, HiBid.com, FleetEvaluator, and many other brands, all of which serve to help connect buyers and sellers across multiple industries. The forum will begin at 9 a.m. with a morning session dedicated to discussing the features and use of Auction Flex software. his session will cover cataloging, clerking, accounting, and related topics. After a break for lunch, attendees will learn about AuctionTime.com, the weekly online-only auction platform designed especially for construction equipment, farm machinery, trucks, and trailers; and HiBid.com, an internet bidding solution that is integrated with Auction Flex and supports webcast, internet-only, and absentee bidding. Following the seminar, a meet-and-greet reception from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. will provide attendees with an opportunity to network and share information about successful auction management strategies. Attendees will also receive hours that can be applied towards continuing education hours for the National Auctioneers Association. Interested in attending the upcoming auctioneer forum? Call 352-414-1947, email [email protected], or contact your AuctionTime.com sales representative to register. About AuctionTime.com Powered by Machinery Trader, CraneTrader, Truck Paper, TractorHouse, and MarketBook. AuctionTime.com is a product of Sandhills Globalan information processing company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. AuctionTime equipment listings appear both online and in print across Sandhills' trade publications and corresponding websites to reach buyers around the world in the trucking, agriculture, construction, and heavy equipment industries. About Auction Flex & HiBid Auction Flex is the market-leader in auction software for live auctions, with capabilities that include cataloging, clerking, cashiering, accounting, mailing list management, inventory management, multi-parcel, and more. Auction Flex also provides a seamless solution that enables auction houses to upload auction catalogs online and accept internet absentee bids, conduct internet-only auctions, or offer webcast live internet bidding through its integrated web service and internet bidding solutionHiBid (both a private-label solution and a portal). Auction Flex and HiBid were built from the ground up to function together seamlessly. Contact Auction Flex 352-414-1947 [email protected] SOURCE AuctionTime.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] MAYNARD, Mass., Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. (AQB) (AquaBounty or the Company), a land-based aquaculture company utilizing technology to enhance productivity and sustainability, today announced that it has commenced a proposed underwritten public offering of $10.0 million of common stock of the Company. In addition, the Company expects to grant the underwriter of the offering a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional $1.5 million of shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. All shares of common stock to be sold in the proposed offering will be sold by the Company. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the proposed offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the proposed offering. Lake Street Capital Markets, LLC is acting as the sole book-running manager for the proposed offering. The Company currently intends to use the net proceeds of the proposed offering, if completed, to continue construction and renovation activities of its existing facilities in Rollo Bay and Indiana, for working capital costs associated with growing its first batches of fish at its Indiana and Rollo Bay farm sites, and for other general corporate purposes. The proposed offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. A preliminary prospectus related to and describing the terms of the proposed offering has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). Copies of the preliminary prospectus relating to the proposed offering may be obtained, when available, from Lake Street Capital Markets, LLC, Attn: Syndicate Department, 920 Second Avenue South, Suite 700, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402; by calling 612-326-1305; or by emailing syndicate@lakestreetcm.com, or at the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov. A registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-235919) relating to the securities to be sold in the proposed offering has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. Story continues About AquaBounty AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. is a publicly traded aquaculture company focused on improving productivity and sustainability in commercial aquaculture. The Companys objective is the application of biotechnology to ensure the availability of high-quality seafood to meet global consumer demandaddressing critical production constraints in the most popular farmed species, including salmon, trout, and tilapia. The Companys AquAdvantage fish program is based upon a single, specific molecular modification in fish that results in more rapid growth in early development. With aquaculture facilities located in Prince Edward Island, Canada, and Indiana, USA, AquaBounty is raising its disease-free, antibiotic-free salmon in land-based recirculating aquaculture systems, offering a reduced carbon footprint and no risk of pollution of marine ecosystems as compared to traditional sea-cage farming. More information about AquaBounty is available at www.aquabounty.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, that involve significant risks and uncertainties about AquaBounty, including but not limited to statements with respect to the completion, timing, size, and use of proceeds of the proposed underwritten public offering of common stock. AquaBounty may use words such as expect, anticipate, project, intend, plan, aim, believe, seek, estimate, can, focus, will, and may and similar expressions to identify such forward-looking statements. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are risks relating to, among other things, whether or not AquaBounty will be able to raise capital; the final terms of the underwritten public offering of common stock; market and other conditions; the satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the underwritten public offering of common stock; AquaBountys business and financial condition; and the impact of general economic, industry, or political conditions in the United States or internationally. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by AquaBounty, see disclosures contained in AquaBountys public filings with the SEC, including the Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and preliminary prospectus for the proposed offering. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included in this press release and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and AquaBounty undertakes no obligation to update such statements as a result of new information, except as required by law. Contact AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. Dave Conley, Director of Communications +1 613 294 3078 [January 28, 2020] Investment Titan Mellody Hobson and Leading Investment Consultant NEPC Discuss Increasing Diversity in Finance Mellody Hobson, co-CEO and President of the $13 billion investment management firm Ariel Investments and one of the most prominent female leaders in corporate America, is engaging with investment consulting firm NEPC on a key issue: diversity in finance. The exclusive fireside chat with Ariel Investments' Mellody Hobson will take place on February 4 at 2:00 p.m. at NEPC's Boston headquarters. In a fireside chat titled, "Is the Investment Industry Ready to be Color Brave?", Hobson will address an audience of financial professionals alongside Chenae Edwards, a Senior Consultant on NEPC's Healthcare team and co-chair of NEPC's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Network. The talk will return to issues Hobson raises in her popular TED Talk on the importance of speaking openly about diversity in hiring to improve business and society at large. This exclusive event is a continuation of NEPC's commitment to shaping the Future Fundamentals of Investing and championing diversity as one of the core pillars that will define the investment industry. NEPC has a dedicated Diverse Manager Committee and recently unveiled a diverse manager policy with specific goals to increase NEPC's engagement with diverse managers. Cumulatively, $32.5 billion of client assets are invested with diverse firms across 182 strategies and more than 43 percent of NEPC's clients have exposure to diverse managers. The research-driven investment consultant firmly believes in the value of partnering and engaging with changemakers like Hobson to move the needle on diversity in the financial industry. During the conversation with NEPC, Hobson will share powerful insights from her successful 28-year-career and remarkable rise through the ranks at Ariel Investments, from intern to co-CEO and president. Hobson leads one of the largest minority-owned money management firms in the United States and is a nationally recognized champion of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Edwards and Hobson will also discuss the critical urgency of increasing diversity in finance, why a diverse investment staff is a competitive advantage, and steps key leaders in finance can take to bridge the diversity gap. Beyond Ariel Investments, Hobson holds leadership positions on the boards of several Fortune 500 companies, including serving as vice-chair of the Board of Starbucks Corporation and as a director of JPMorgan Chase. Previously, she was a long-standing board member of the Estee Lauder Companies and also held the position of Chairman of the Board of DreamWorks Animation until which time she facilitated its sale to Comcast (News - Alert). Those interested in attending should contact [email protected] to secure a spot. About NEPC, LLC NEPC is an independent investment consultant and private wealth advisor with more than 30 years' experience creating research-based, bespoke investment portfolios that align to the goals of its clients and their constituencies. Combining a proprietary research team dedicated to the long-term challenges facing institutional and high-net investors, with our unique client-centric model, NEPC builds the investment portfolios defining the future of finance. We service over 360 retained clients representing assets over $1 trillion from our offices in Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Portland and San Francisco with a forward-thinking approach to solving the most complex challenges facing the investment industry. To learn more about NEPC, please visit https://www.nepc.com/ About Ariel Investments Ariel Investments, LLC is a money management firm headquartered in Chicago, with offices in New York City and Sydney. Ariel Investments serves individual and institutional investors through its no-load mutual funds and separate accounts. As of July 31, 2019, Ariel Investments' firm-wide assets under management totaled approximately $13.0 billion. For more information about the firm, please visit Ariel's website at arielinvestments.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200128005161/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Court of Justice of the EU is set to clarify whether trademarks that are too broad contravene public policy, resolving a dispute between UK telecoms company Sky and cloud management business SkyKick. Sky argues that SkyKick has infringed four of its EU trademarks and one UK mark, while SkyKick says those marks lack clarity and were registered in bad faith. Generally it takes issue with Skys broad range of protected goods and services, most notably whips. In October last year advocate general (AG) Evgeni Tanchev issued his opinion. He advised the CJEU to rule that applying for a trademark without an intention to use it may constitute bad faith. However, he said a trademark cannot be invalidated on the sole ground that some specifications lack clarity and precision. At the time, lawyers speaking to Managing IP said a finding that overly broad marks may be contrary to public policy would create concern among brand owners particularly those with trademarks that have broad specifications. One lawyer predicted that the tactic of registering broadly and evergreening marks would probably be dead in the ground. Another said that if the CJEU adopts the AG's view it would be another nail in the coffin for broad specifications and defensive registrations. In-house counsel seemed less concerned than their private practice counterparts when we sought their reaction. But they did comment that Skys filing strategy had been surprising and that the company had gone overboard. The CJEU, which will issue its judgment at 9:30am CET, does not have to follow the AGs opinion but the consensus is that it will. The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs. Share this article President Trump unveiled his administrations plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace at a press conference on Tuesday that currently lacks Palestinian buy-in but nevertheless provides a path to Palestinian statehood and substantial territorial gains. Trump said that Israel would adopt the plan as a basis for negotiations with the Palestinians. All prior administrations from the [administration of] Lyndon Johnson have failed, Trump told assembled officials and reporters, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side. But I was not elected to do small things, or shy away from large problems. Netanyahu thanked Trump and adviser Jared Kushner for their development of the plan. The Jewish state owes [Jared Kushner], and it owes President Trump, an eternal debt of gratitude, Netanyahu said. The plan itself calls for more than doubling the area of the West Bank currently under Palestinian control, as well as a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. However, the President also insisted that Israel would retain undivided control over its capital of Jerusalem, and that no Israelis or Palestinians would be uprooted from their homes to make the deal. The Palestinians would be required to meet certain conditions for the plans implementation. These include the disarmament of terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the discontinuation of Palestinian Authority programs that pay salaries to terrorists or their families, and the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. In return, the Palestinians would receive a state covering most of the West Bank and an investment of $50 billion in the states economy, funded by other nations. The plan does not grant Palestinians the right of return, with the possible exception of a small number of refugees from Israels 1948 War of Independence. Israel would be required to implement a building freeze for a period of four years, covering territory in the West Bank to be included in a future Palestinian state. More from National Review The government is likely to restore 2 per cent additional duty incentive on mobile phones export with effect from January 1, a source said. This duty benefit, which will help boost exports, is expected to continue till March 31, 2020. A notification in this regard is likely to be issued soon. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on December 7 had reduced export incentive from 4 per cent to 2 per cent. "There is a proposal to give 2 per cent additional export incentive on mobile phones till March 31. It will be effective from January 1, 2020 onward. The order is likely to be issued in this regard within a week," a source aware of the development told PTI. The India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) had written to the government expressing disappointment on reduction of the incentive, saying it will lead to massive job losses. When contacted ICEA Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said that " exports have taken off. The growth from Rs 1,300 crore in 2017-18 to over Rs 25,000 crore this year is staggering to say the least. The reduction of Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) from 4 per cent to 2 per cent for such a deserving sector was a rude shock to the industry and extremely disruptive to supply chain. An immediate restoration is not only necessary but well deserved too." The Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT) has proposed incentive in the range of 8-10 per cent and also expressed concern on the reduction of export incentives. Reacting to the proposal, MAIT CEO George Paul said the government had been sensitised on the need for a support framework as "we do not expect MEIS to continue". "It is critical we do this as the industry waited till December 30, 2019 for a new framework. None came, now it awaits the budget to address this need. This new framework is very critical for India as if a reverse flow starts, it will not only see a reduction in exports, but also halt in new investments," Paul said. SANTA FE For the second consecutive statewide election cycle, New Mexico will have three major political parties. Thats because the state Libertarian Party was determined to have met the minimum requirements by the narrowest of margins to retain its major party status, along with the Democratic and Republican parties. Although the Libertarian Party did not run a candidate in the 2018 gubernatorial race the race at the top of that years general election ballot its candidates for land commissioner and secretary of state got slightly more than 5% of the total votes cast in those races. Those performances, along with the total number of registered Libertarian Party voters, were sufficient for the party to keep major party status for the 2020 election cycle, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver wrote in a Monday letter to the partys chairman, Chris Luchini. Although the Libertarian Party did not have a candidate in the 2018 New Mexico gubernatorial election, it met this requirement because it did have party candidates that met the 5% threshold of votes for a statewide position, Toulouse Oliver wrote in her letter. The major party designation became official with Toulouse Olivers signing of the 2020 election proclamation Monday. Major party status gives a party an easier path to get its candidates on the ballot, as minor parties face daunting signature requirements to land on the ballot. Like most states, New Mexico does its best to disadvantage anyone whos not on Team Red or Team Blue, Luchini told the Journal. He also said the Libertarian Party already has a candidate lined up for this years race for the open U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Tom Udall, who is not seeking reelection, and has two possible candidates for the state Supreme Court seats. The party is also trying to line up candidates for legislative and county-level races, Luchini said. In addition, the Libertarian Party will hold its pre-primary convention March 6-7, and will host a debate for Libertarian presidential candidates on April 26 in Albuquerque, Luchini said. Despite retaining major party status, the party still faces a daunting challenge in this years election cycle, as there were only 11,296 registered Libertarians statewide as of Monday or roughly 1% of the states total registered voters. Libertarians won major party status after the 2016 general election, due to the performance of former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson in that years presidential election. Johnson, a Republican-turned-Libertarian, surpassed 5% of the popular vote he actually got 9.3% of the vote in his home state. The death toll from the Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has increased to 41, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has disclosed. The NCDC, in its weekly situation update for week four (January 20 to 26), stated that the number of newly confirmed cases and deaths is gradually on the rise. Although NCDC has activated a National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to coordinate the response activities, the number of new confirmed cases increased from 81 cases in week three to 95 cases. Between January 1 and 26, a total of 689 suspected cases with 258 confirmed cases were reported with 41 deaths. These cases were reported from 19 states including Ondo, Edo, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kano, Borno, Nasarawa, Kogi, Rivers, Abia, Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Delta, Taraba, Plateau, Bauchi, Osun and Ogun. Five health workers were among the dead: Kano (3), Taraba (1) and Borno (1). Since the beginning of the outbreak this year, 19 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 60 local government areas. Although there has been a spike in the number of cases and deaths reported for the reported week, it is still lower than the numbers reported in the same period in 2019. However, there is very little difference in the number of deaths recorded: 41 so far in 2020 compared to 42 in the same period in 2019. The Nigerian health agency in a statement issued on Saturday, said the increase in the number of cases at this time of the year is not unusual, due to ecological factors. This means Nigerians should not yet expect respite from the outbreak because the Lassa fever season in the country peaks from November to May. The country has no effective measures to curb the spread of the killer disease and has so far focussed on curative measures. This is why health agencies embark on contact tracing of persons who have been suspected to be in contact with patients. This has become a yearly occurrence with hundreds of people infected and dozens of deaths recorded. At present, there is no known vaccine for the prevention of the disease. Three states, Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi are still the states with the highest prevalent cases among the 19 states with confirmed cases. Also, there has been no changes in the age group affected. NCDC said the predominant age-group affected is 11-40 years. The male to female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:1 Graph showing new status of states affected Expert concerned Experts have been raising concerns about yearly outbreak of the disease in the country. A Lassa fever expert and virologist, Oyewale Tomori, on Monday lamented that the government is not doing enough in finding a lasting solution to the yearly outbreak. He said Nigerian leaders seem to be less concerned about the disease because most of the people contacting the disease are the masses. Mr Tomori called on the government to take more responsibility in combating the disease and find a lasting solution to curbing it. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has described the recent outbreak of Lassa fever across the country as a reflection of the abysmally low level of preparedness in handling infectious diseases, especially viral hemorrhagic fever, at all levels of healthcare delivery. The NMA in the statement signed by its president, Francis Faduyile, said the frequency of the outbreaks also underscores the deplorable state of healthcare delivery in Nigeria. Advertisements He appealed to health authorities at all levels to prioritise capacity-building of healthcare professionals on standard infection prevention and control measures. Graph showing cummulative number reported per state Lassa Fever Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) caused by the Lassa virus. The natural carrier of the virus is the multimammate rat, but the disease is also spread through human to human transmission. Lassa fever is transmitted from the excreta or urine of the multimammate rat. Anyone who is suspected of being in contact with a Lassa patient needs to be presented to the health facilities within a period of 21 days. Lassa fever at early stages present symptoms similar to febrile illness such as malaria. Symptoms of the disease generally include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases, unexplainable bleeding from ears, eyes, nose, mouth, vagina, anus and other body orifices. It could also present persistent bleeding from sites of intravenous cannulation. Early diagnosis and treatment increase a patients chances of survival. If you were on WhatsApp in the months leading up to the 2019 general election in India, you likely came across a story claiming that cow urine cures cancer. Or perhaps you were forwarded a photo of electronic voting machines (EVMs), with a message stating they were being hacked. If you are a regular WhatsApp user, you have almost certainly borne witness to a seemingly unending barrage of misinformation. And this misinformation is abundant. India is now one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for digital consumers, with 560 million Internet subscribers in 2018, second only to China. However, the Internet and WhatsApp in particular are fruitful environments for the massive diffusion of unverified information and rumours. Survey data measured online with a sample of over 5,000 Facebook users shows that belief in misinformation and rumours can be fairly high. More than 75% of the sample said that polygamy is very common in the Muslim population (this is inaccurate). A similar proportion stated that they believed drinking gaumutra (cow urine) can help build ones immune system (also not true). Survey data measured in-person with a sample of 1,200 paints a similar picture. About 48% of the sample believed in the power of gaumutra to cure terminal illnesses, while about 45% of the sample believed India hasnt experienced a single terror attack since 2014 (you guessed it not true). To combat misinformation disseminated through the platform, WhatsApp has encouraged user-driven fact checking. WhatsApp bought full-page advertisements in multiple Indian dailies ahead of the 2019 elections, exhorting users to fact-check fake news. To what extent should we expect such a strategy so far the only known strategy to correct misinformation on encrypted discussion apps to be effective? In June 2019, we ran a study to test whether user-driven corrections work to counteract fake news on WhatsApp. Participants in our study saw different versions of a fictitious, but realistic, WhatsApp group chat screenshots. In it, a first user posts a rumour, which a second user subsequently corrects. The corrections in different versions varied in their level of sophistication. In some cases, the user cited a source and referred to an investigation by that source to correct the first user. In addition, these sources were varied too. The correcting user may, for instance, refer to an authoritative source, such as the Election Commission of India, to refute a claim about EVM hacking. Alternatively, they may have cited a fact checking service, such as Alt News. In other cases, the attempt to correct was extremely minimal, with the second user merely stating a phrase such as I dont think thats true, bro, and providing no evidence as to why. Importantly, everyone in the group that received a correction was compared to a group of people where the second user did not attempt to correct the first users information. Results from the study show that participants who were exposed to a correction of any kind were significantly less likely to believe the false information posted by the first user, relative to those who do not receive a correction. But interestingly, the results also demonstrate that the degree of sophistication of the correction made no difference. Simply put, unsourced corrections such as I dont think thats true, bro achieved an effect comparable to that of corrections based on fact-checking by credible sources. These findings have important implications. They suggest that corrective messages may need to be frequent rather than sourced or sophisticated, and that merely signalling a problem with the credibility of a claim (regardless of how detailed this signalling is) may go a long way in reducing overall rates of misinformation. For users, these results imply that expressing doubts in a group chat setting should be encouraged; for encrypted chat apps such as WhatsApp, they imply that creating a simple option to express doubt may be a complementary, cost-effective way to limit rates of belief in rumours. However, these results must be interpreted with caution. Given that any expression of incredulity about a false claim leads to a reduction in self-reported belief, expressing doubt may also reduce the credibility of a true story. The hyperpartisan, polarised world of misinformation that Indians now operate in suggests that malevolent political actors frequently have incentives to correct true information. The ease of use of platforms such as WhatsApp, coupled with cheap data rates and increased connectivity, have together led to an explosion in social media usage, especially among first-time users in India. Paradoxically, this leap in technological development has also meant that the novelty and unfamiliarity of the medium makes users more vulnerable to the information they receive online. Our study underscores the need for more empirical testing to understand the vulnerabilities of individuals, institutions, and society to manipulation by misinformation and rumours. It also suggests that the fake news problem is here to stay, and that evaluating the effectiveness of innovative solutions to combat misinformation is a pressing priority. Sumitra Badrinathan is a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, USA; Simon Chauchard is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Leiden University, in the Netherlands . The views expressed are personal Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 02:20:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close RAMALLAH, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement chief Ismail Haniyeh called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the U.S. announcement of its Middle East peace plan, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Tuesday. The two stressed the importance of confronting the U.S Middle East peace plan, calling for unity in order to topple the deal, the news agency said. "The Palestinian unity is essential for confronting and toppling the deal that aims at liquidating the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," Abbas was quoted as saying. Haniyeh told Abbas that his movement rejects the plan, highlighting that the Palestinians should be united to protect their national rights. Earlier, Hamas said in a statement that the Palestinian unity is essential at this stage and Hamas is ready to work with all factions to topple the U.S. plan. Abbas is currently chairing an urgent leadership meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, which gathers leaders of all Palestinian factions. The rival Hamas and Fatah movements have failed to end their division that began when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. Amid farmers fearing damage to their crops because of locust attacks in three districts of Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to raise the issue with Pakistan for taking effective steps to check the pests from breeding there. Singh warned that any failure to control the swarms of locusts could lead to serious implications and consequences for agricultural production in India, especially in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat, which will ultimately affect commodity prices and food security of the country. Locusts, popularly known as 'Tiddi Dal', were spotted in some villages of Punjab's Fazilka, Muktsar and Bathinda districts that had triggered fear among farmers as the destructive swarms of pests are known to devour the vegetation wherever they settle. Farmers have been beating empty steel utensils with sticks in their fields to scare the insects away. In a letter to the PM, Singh urged him to direct the Union Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to immediately take up the issue of locusts' attack with the government of Pakistan, from where the pests were emanating. The chief minister said there has recently been a sustained attack of locust swarms on crops in Rajasthan. A significant number of these pests have also entered the neighbouring areas of southern Punjab, he wrote. "Although Rajasthan has been taking the required action to control this locust attack, the best method of control is to manage the breeding ground itself, which incidentally falls in the adjoining desert area of Pakistan," Singh wrote. The CM thus emphasized the need to take up this issue directly with the government of Pakistan and press them to take effective steps to sanitize the breeding areas of these locusts. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, which is mandated to control locusts internationally, may also be asked to take effective steps in Pakistan to control breeding to ensure that these do not develop into dangerous swarms which can cause havoc to crops, wrote the CM. At the national level, a coordinated locust control mechanism should be made effective by the use of modern technology, helicopters and drones for spraying insecticides, etc. to control the spread of pestilence, a state government release, quoting Singh, said. The chief minister further suggested that the union ministry of agriculture should also coordinate with the FAO to ensure that the breeding grounds are sanitised and brought under control. The state's agriculture department has already pressed into service several special monitoring and survey teams in the vulnerable parts of southern Punjab to keep a close tab on the situation around the clock. These teams have been constantly surveying the districts of Bathinda, Muktsar and Fazilka in the vicinity of Rajasthan border, the release said. Earlier, surveillance by scientists of Punjab Agricultural University at Abohar had revealed the presence of locusts in small numbers or groups (5 to 20 hoppers) in these three districts and had said that these hoppers in small groups would not cause any economic damage to agricultural and horticultural crops. Locusts are short-horned grasshoppers with highly migratory habits and voracious feeding behaviour. Their appearance in the winter months is a new phenomenon. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Some years down the line you would not be able to enjoy wine like you do right now, because most of it would not exist. Global warming and climate change could be threatening the grapes, studies suggest that many of the world's famous wine-making regions could be lost if the world temperatures keep rising. Winery Sage For the same reason, winemakers are being advised to plant more heat-tolerant versions of the fruit to ensure connoisseurs carry on getting their fill of one of the world's oldest and favourite tipples, according to The Guardian report. Senior author Elizabeth Wolkovich, a professor of forest and conservation sciences at the University of British Columbia, has suggested vintners "substitute Grenache or Cabernet Sauvignon for Pinot Noir," or "plant Trebbiano where Riesling is grown." Unsplash "These aren't painless shifts to make, but they can ease winegrowers' transition to a new and warmer world, The Guardian quoted her as saying. According to researchers, if the world temperature increases by two degrees Celsius it could shrink wine-growing regions by as much as 56%. If temperatures increase by four degrees, then 85% of those regions would cease to produce good wines. Countries that might be hit the hardest by this transition are Australia, Italy and Spain. Legacy Restaurant However, the study also found that cooler wine-growing regions such as Germany, New Zealand and the US Pacific Northwest would not be bothered much in the two degrees Celsius scenario. Climate change is going to have a more active impact on our lives than we think. Fresh snowfall blocked the strategic Hindustan-Tibet road that connects Kaurik along the China border in Kinnaur district to the rest of Himachal Pradesh, while more than 300 passengers were rescued in Kufri near Shimla, police said on Tuesday. Soon after it started snowing at Kufri around 6pm on Monday, vehicles got stranded as the roads became slippery in the tourist town and in the Chini Bangla area. The Dhalli station house officer reached Kufri along with his team to rescue the passengers. Shimla superintendent of police Omapati Jamwal said, In another operation, three Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses, three trucks and 10 smaller vehicles coming from Theog got stranded at Kufri. Seventy passengers in the three buses were evacuated in police vehicles and brought to Hassan Valley. The rescue operation ended past midnight. Shimla deputy commissioner Amit Kashyap said Atleast 69 passengers travelling in three Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses were stuck amid heavy snowfall near Kufri on Monday night. Passengers were rescued with the collective efforts of the sub-divisional magistrate (rural), naib tehsildar (rural), SHO (Dhalli), and public works department officials. Its snowing heavily in the upper parts of Shimla. Three bulldozers and four JCBs have been deployed to clear the Dhalli-Fagu road of snow. People are advised to avoid travelling to the higher reaches and check the status before venturing out. In case of an emergency, call 1077, said Kashyap adding, Tourists have been advised to take blankets to stay warm in case they are stranded and also bring bottled-water and warm beverages to avoid dehydration. In case of emergency, people can call the district disaster management cell at 0177-2800880, 2800881, 2800882 and 2800883. MERCURY DIPS ACROSS STATE State meteorological department director Manmohan Singh said that the latest spell of snow and rain was due to a fresh western disturbance. The weather will be clear from Wednesday, he said. Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district was the coldest place in the state as it recorded a low of -9.2 degrees Celsius. Kalpa in Kinnaur shivered at -5.2 degrees and got 2cm of snow. Kharapathar in Shimla district got 7.6cm of snowfall, while light to moderate snowfall occurred at Narkanda, Baghi, Khadrala, Sungri and Tikkar. Shimla town got moderate rainfall and recorded a low of 1.9 degrees Celsius, while Kufri, 14km away, got 5cm of snowfall and recorded a minimum of -1.9 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperatures in Manali, Dharamshala and Dalhousie were -0.8, 4.2 and -0.8 degree Celsius, respectively. Solan was cold at 4 degrees, while the minimum temperatures in Bilaspur and Hamirpur were 10 and 10.2 degrees, respectively. Kasauli in Solan district got 20.5mm of rainfall, while Jhandutta in Bilaspur district received 15mm of rain and Sangrah in Sirmaur district received 7mm of rain. Mandi was the warmest in the state with a maximum temperature of 19.2 degrees Celsius. Routes to avoid Main roads are open in Shimla town, though the state capital experienced heavy snowfall. Five JCBs, two robots and one truck have been deployed to ensure they remain open. The road to Kufri was blocked at the time of filing this report and work was in progress on the Dhalli- Fagu stretch. Three bulldozers and JCBs each have been have been deployed to clear the road to Kufri.The Fagu-Theog road was also blocked JCBs have been deployed to clear the road. The Chopal-Shimla road was blocked and four link roads were blocked in Chopal sub-division. Four JCBs have been deployed for road clearance.The route to Khadapathar was also blocked while seven link roads were blocked in Rohru . In Rampur sub-division, the main roads remained open while two link roads were blocked. The road to Narkanda was also blocked along with five links roads at the time of filing this report. One JCB and two bulldozers have been deployed for road clearance. All main roads and four link roads have been blocked in the Dodra Kawar sub-division. Power and water supply Power supply has been regular in Shimla (Urban), Shimla (Rural), Kumarsain, and Theog , Rohru, Rampur Bushahr and Kumarsain. In Chopal sub-division, as many as 10 DTRs were down at Kupvi and six have been down in the Dodra Kawar sub-division. Water supply remained normal throughout the district and there is an adequate stock of essential commodities. Under the proposal, Trump said Jerusalem "will remain Israel's undivided capital," but that a future Palestinian state would also have a "capital in east Jerusalem." Trump did not address the question of Palestinian refugees and whether they will have a right of return to their former homes. Trump said neither Palestinians nor Israelis would be uprooted from their homes under the plan. The plan envisions a Palestinian capital in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem on the eastern side of the separation barrier, physically separated from the rest of the city. Those neighborhoods include Kafr Aqab, Abu Dis and Shuafat. The plan allows for the Palestinians to call their capital "al-Quds," using the Arabic term for Jerusalem, but includes no significant part of East Jerusalem and is well short of what the Palestinians would ever accept as their portion of the holy city. Beyond proposing a new framework for negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, the Trump plan gives Israel the green light to annex Israeli settlements regardless of Palestinian support for the plan, but mandates Israel freeze any further settlement expansion for four years. File image Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the Narendra Modi government of tarnishing India's image as a country where peace prevailed and urged the youth not to let their voice be suppressed. Targeting the youth, the former Congress president blamed the BJP-led government of creating an image for the country that deterred investors. He said the Modi government had failed to deliver on its promise to create jobs. He urged the youth to raise issues related to the country's future. The Jaipur public meeting was billed Yuva Aakrosh Rally, focusing on youth anger over unemployment. By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan is launching a large art project to mark the 28th anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre. As part of the project, works of national artists will be displayed at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Bilasuvar on February 2. The exhibition will also be presented in Guba and Ganja on February 1-15. Moreover, the exhibition will be also held in Georgia, Russia and Turkey on February 16-26. The project will end in Baku on February 28. The exhibition will be held as part of "Justice for Khojaly" International Awareness Campaign, launched in 2008, at the initiative of Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva. The campaign aims to raise international public awareness of the Khojaly Genocide, root causes and consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the need for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh region and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The campaigns activities are also directed towards honouring the victims and keeping their memories alive, particularly by constantly informing the younger generations and supporting the survivors and seeking ways to relieve their suffering. On the night of February 26, 1992, Armenian armed forces, directly supported by the 366th regiment of the former USSR, stationed at that time in the town of Khankendi in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan attacked, from five directions, the town of Khojaly. About 613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Turkmenistan will hold an International Investment Forum in Ashgabat on March 17-18, 2020, Trend reports referring to the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan (UIET) on Jan. 28. A co-organizer of the forum will be TMT Consulting Group. During the forum sessions, public-private partnerships and prospects for the development of industry, agriculture, transport, logistics and tourism in the country will be discussed. On the sidelines, business negotiations with interested parties are scheduled. Within the framework of the forum, an exhibition-fair of achievements of local entrepreneurs will be organized. The UIET unites more than 20,000 businessmen. According to local regulations, businessmen are allowed to create joint ventures with foreign partners by attracting their investments. There are about 600 private enterprises in the Turkmen industry, including those producing building materials, textiles and carpets, chemicals, metal products, furniture, faience, glass products, as well as polyethylene and plastic products that are in demand in the domestic and foreign markets. According to the British Petroleum (BP) report, Turkmenistan ranks fourth in terms of natural gas reserves in the world and sells this type of fuel to China and Russia. Official Ashgabat has embarked on the diversification of the local economy; the textile and oil products industries have advanced; the oil and gas chemical industries; the building materials industry are actively developing. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 09:14:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Agricultural Development Bank of China contributed to combating the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by providing loans to enterprises producing protective equipment such as masks and other medical appliances. The bank urged the expediting of the approval of companies' credit applications related to the prevention and control of the epidemic through emergency channels. The bank's Hubei branch has communicated financial demands with several medical enterprises and is ready to complete the payment of the loans as needed. A total of 8 million yuan (about 1.16 million U.S. dollars) has been donated by the bank to back up the battle against the viral epidemic. New Delhi [India], Jan 28 (ANI): A group of eight Indian students studying at Wuhan University of Science and Technology in China have appealed to Indian government to make all possible efforts to rescue them at the earliest as they were running short of food and water in their dormitory due to the continued shutdown in the city, which is the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The Indian Embassy in China has contacted the stranded students and promised possible assistance. The students continue to be anxious as the virus is spreading in the city. The stranded students belong to Assam, Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir. Gaurav Nath, a 22-year-old student from Assam who is pursuing Material Science and Engineering from the university, told ANI over the phone from Wuhan that they were facing problems due to lockdown as shops and transport systems were closed. "Due to the coronavirus outbreak in the city, we have been advised to stay indoors. Hence we are stuck in our dormitory (on the campus). We are being allowed to go out for only two hours a day to buy essentials but there is a lockdown in the city. All the shops and transport systems are closed. There is a shortage of essentials and we will soon run out of food and water," he said. "The Indian embassy in China is in constant touch with us for the rescue. We appeal to the Indian government to rescue us at the earliest," he added. Wuhan has been under lockdown for days with transport suspended and people being advised to stay inside their houses. Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday approved Air India flight to Wuhan for the evacuation of Indian citizens from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city. An Air Indian Boeing 747 has been kept on standby for the evacuation of Indian citizens from Wuhan. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told media persons in Vadodara on Tuesday that the embassy was in touch with the Chinese government and efforts are being made for the evacuation of stranded Indians. "Our Embassy is in contact with the Chinese government. We are trying to evacuate people, most of whom are students, from Wuhan city by sending a plane. Efforts are on. I can assure you that the central government is working on it and very soon, some solution will be found," he said. The death toll from the infectious virus has gone up to 106. Chinese health authorities on Tuesday announced that 4,515 confirmed cases of the disease have been reported in 30 provincial-level regions. The virus has also spread to some other countries including France, where three cases have been reported so far. Many countries including India are screening travellers from certain parts of China for symptoms of the virus at airports. Coronaviruses (nCoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Coronavirus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON - A former congressional staffer filed a defamation lawsuit against a journalist and conservative media powerhouses the Daily Caller and Regnery Publishing Inc., alleging that they have continued to falsely accuse him of crimes including hacking, espionage and theft even after the FBI and U.S. prosecutors debunked such allegations in 2018. Regnery in January 2019 published "Obstruction of Justice: How the Deep State Risked National Security to Protect the Democrats," a book by Daily Caller journalist Luke Rosiak about Imran Awan, who worked for the House of Representatives from 2004 to 2017. Awan, a technology staffer, and four associates, including family members, were accused in February 2017 of violating House security rules and later fired, and Awan eventually pleaded guilty to a relatively minor, unrelated offense of making a false statement on a bank loan application. But right-leaning media outlets led by the Daily Caller, the conservative news and opinion website co-founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, repeated allegations that Awan was a Pakistani operative who stole government secrets with cover from House Democrats. President Donald Trump on Twitter publicly called for the prosecution of Awan, whom he called the "Pakistani mystery man," and suggested that he might have been responsible for the campaign hacking of the Democratic National Committee which U.S. authorities attribute to Russia. Even after prosecutors announced that they found no evidence that Awan violated federal law with respect to the House computer systems, he has continued to come under attack, including online articles and videos, and cable and radio broadcasts, according to the suit. Awan and the others, who live in Washington's Virginia suburbs, have faced death threats and prolonged unemployment, and their children have been bullied, the suit claims. The lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses the named defendants, as well as a foundation associated with the Daily Caller, of defamation and unjust enrichment, seeking damages to be determined by a jury and "disgorgement" of unjust profits. It was filed by Awan; his wife, Hina Alvi; his brothers Amid and Jawal Awan; and friend Rao Abbas in Superior Court for the District of Columbia. "This lawsuit seeks accountability for a relentless, xenophobic campaign of defamatory attacks that have destroyed the reputations and ruined the livelihoods of a group of Pakistani-American Muslims," the 25-page complaint states, written by prominent progressive appellate lawyer Deepak Gupta. The lawsuit recites an alleged litany of "malicious" and defamatory claims by Rosiak, accusing him of falsely asserting that Imran was guilty of numerous crimes, including that he was "caught . . . stealing the identity of an intelligence specialist" and "sending electronic equipment to foreign officials"; that Imran "solicited a cash bribe"; and that he and others "hacked the House." "Imran Awan is basically an attempted murderer, an extortionist, a blackmail artist, [and] a con man," Rosiak allegedly said in a July 15 interview transcript and video posted by The Epoch Times and cited in the lawsuit. "This was a story of actual hacking, blackmail, collusion with foreign governments, threats, evidence tampering," Rosiak allegedly went on. Spokesmen for the Daily Caller and its foundation, Regnery, and Rosiak could not immediately be reached for comment. "This case shows that fact-free conspiracies don't just damage our politics - they can ruin real people's lives," Gupta said in a statement. Defamation cases are rare and raise complex issues of protected First Amendment speech. Defendants are likely to invoke the freedom of the press to report on public figures and controversies. Still, the Constitution does not protect demonstrably false, malicious statements of fact. The Awans and Abbas declined to comment, Gupta said, adding that they are not public figures. Depending on the media companies' response, the Awan case could also open a new front in society's response to politically motivated disinformation. In taking aim at Regnery and the Daily Caller, Gupta said he has consulted with attorneys for parents whose children were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 and who have brought a similar defamation lawsuits against Alex Jones, the Infowars online talk show host who has long claimed that the shooting was "completely fake" and a "giant hoax" perpetrated by gun-rights opponents. However unlike Jones, who is more or less a solo operator, the Daily Caller and Regnery are leading lights of the conservative media firmament, providing a platform for many right-leaning commentators and a stable of Republican authors, and claiming broader corporate ties and partnerships. Such prominence could be a double-edged factor, potentially bolstering the defendant's claims to First Amendment protections, or putting their credibility at risk. Regnery is a leading publisher of conservative books whose authors include commentator Ann Coulter, former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Vice President Mike Pence. Regnery was purchased in 2014 by the Salem Media Group, and its books since 2018 have been distributed by Simon & Schuster, the Awan lawsuit claims. It also asserts that Rosiak's book appeared on Amazon's "top 10" list for online sales, and that an audiobook version was released by Amazon subsidiary Audible. The Washington Post is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. A mother and her son were found dead at the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado on Jan. 24, according to the Larimer County Coroners office. Tristen Watson, 24, of Colorado Springs and her 17-month-old son, Christopher Watson, were found dead with gunshot wounds to their heads, the coroners office stated. Their bodies were found on Friday afternoon by park rangers, who had been notified of a suicidal subject in the park, the National Park Service said in a release. Rangers located Watsons vehicle near Upper Beaver Meadows Road. While searching for the occupants of the vehicle, park rangers temporarily held traffic at the Beaver Meadows Entrance and Fall River Entrance on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. This occurred from approximately 3:30 to 4:30 p.m, the release stated. After the bodies were found, park rangers conducted an on-site investigation and then the bodies were transferred to the Larimer County Coroners office. The office ruled the womans official cause of death a suicide, while her sons death was ruled a homicide. The Rocky Mountain National Park Law Enforcement was assisted by the Estes Park Police Department, Larimer County Sheriffs Office, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, as well as Loveland Police Department, the National Park Service said, adding that an investigation is still ongoing. According to an obituary, Watson was also expecting a daughter, Aspen Ann Watson, who, according to a Facebook post, was due in June 2020. Watson and her children are survived by her husband and their father, Derrick Watson. A talented DJ died by suicide after leaping from a building just days after returning to the UK from Dubai after splitting up with her ex, an inquest heard. Lucy Stone, 38, played at top clubs Ministry of Sound and HedKandi, flying hundreds of miles between her Abu Dhabi home and Dubai, working long hours and performing at high profile events. Ms Stone, originally from Chelmsford in Essex, died from multiple injuries after jumping from the balcony of a 14-storey building on September 4 in Hampstead, north west London. She had flown into Heathrow the day after splitting up with her boyfriend of one week, called JJ, on September 1. A few weeks before that she had ended a five-year relationship with another man, Andrey. The talented radio host spent her final evening catching up over dinner and collaborating with close friend and fellow DJ Katie Hopkins, known as Katie Smiles. Lucy Stone, 38, played at top clubs Ministry of Sound and HedKandi, flying hundreds of miles per day between her Abu Dhabi home and Dubai, working long hours and performing at high profile events Ms Stone, originally from Chelmsford in Essex, died from multiple injuries after jumping from the balcony of a 14-storey building on September 4 in Hampstead But she was reported missing the following day when she sent a WhatsApp message to her family revealing she was struggling with suicidal thoughts. Hours later, she took her own life. Katie, who lived with Ms Stone in Abu Dhabi before taking on another contract in Doha in Qatar, said Ms Stone had appeared exhausted but upbeat during their final evening together. She said the music industry could be a tough and lonely place and that she wished she had known how much it had affected Ms Stone. University friends attended the inquest at St Pancras Coroner's Court where Ms Stone was said to have died from multiple injuries as a result of suicide. In her statement, Katie said: 'She was amazing. She was a shining light in my life and an irreplaceable friend. Her sudden death has shocked me to the core. She is such a great loss to me and her family. A friend paid tribute to Lucy Stone (pictured right) on Instagram. Ms Stone was believed to have suffered from bipolar and depression and previously tried to take her own life in 2013 'Lucy's career was incredible. She was on top of her game, working for the top clubs and promoters in the business. 'I know she was physically exhausted when she came to see me. She was coming to London for a week. She had split up with a guy she was happy with before. 'She seemed quite upbeat as usual for Lucy and she told me he had booked a night at a hotel in Shoreditch and would come to me on September 3. 'I was blessed to spend the next 24 hours with her. We chatted and had dinner in my flat. We spent the evening together mixing on my decks at home.' Ms Stone told her employer in the UAE that she would be off sick for one week after her split from new boyfriend JJ, which ended after one week on September 1. The pair began dating following Lucy's amicable breakup with long-term boyfriend Andrey in mid-August, who she moved to the UAE with five years ago. Katie said: 'She seemed like she was happy to see me. She was upset about the break-ups she had had. 'She seemed fine. That was the last time I saw her. We told each other everything and the fact that she did not tell me how low she was feeling breaks my heart. 'I am still trying to come to terms that I have lost an incredible soul.' The morning after the suicide Katie switched on her phone to find messages from Ms Stone's sister Charlotte who was worried about her whereabouts. Katie said she contacted police and asked a member of staff at the convenience store who gasped and said 'is that the woman who jumped off the tower yesterday?' Police and the London Ambulance Service were called to an apartment block in Hampstead at around 5pm on September 4 to reports of a woman jumping from a building 'I was shocked and still am,' Katie added. 'Police came to my apartment late that day to say Lucy had died by suicide.' Sussex and Met Police launched an investigation and made enquiries at London Marriott Hotels, where Lucy had access to free accommodation due to her job. She was believed to have suffered from bipolar and depression and previously tried to take her own life in 2013. Police and the London Ambulance Service were called to an apartment block in Hampstead at around 5pm on September 4 to reports of a woman jumping from a building. Paramedics arrived within the minute and found Lucy with catastrophic injuries before an air ambulance arrived. She was identified by her tattoos and pronounced dead at the scene around half an hour later following CPR. Assistant coroner Jonathan Stevens expressed his sincere condolences to Lucy's family and confirmed the cause of death as suicide. He said: 'Lucy was a much loved, bright and talented lady. She had broken up from her long term boyfriend Andrey and then had been in another short relationship which had broken down. 'She had been working long hours commuting hundreds of miles between jobs in the Emirates. 'She was tired and exhausted although when she saw Katie, she had put on a brave face. Although Katie had known her for many years, there was no inclination Katie could get that anything was wrong. 'It was just another lovely evening that the two of them had spent together as friends and it was therefore an incredible shock for Katie to discover what had happened. 'Lucy was clearly upset and she had sent a WhatsApp message to her family that she was planning to take her life. Then followed desperate attempts by the family. 'Tragically and sadly no one was able to find her before it was too late and Lucy had taken her own life which she did by jumping off the balcony of the flats at Palgrave House.' Pathologist Dr Liina Palm confirmed Lucy died from multiple injuries. Mr Stevens confirmed the cause of death as suicide. COLUMBUS, Ohio Some Ohio lawmakers are pushing for increased oversight of the states public pension systems, amid recent moves by some of the systems to cut benefits for hundreds of thousands of current and future retirees. State Rep. Brigid Kelly, a Cincinnati Democrat, is preparing to introduce three separate bills requiring the states five public-pension systems to: - Broadcast their board meetings publicly - Not do business with funds run by former pension employees and - Disclose certain fee information for alternative investments State Rep. Diane Grendell, a Geauga County Republican, is circulating her own proposed bill that would cap investment adviser fees and pay increases for top pension-fund employees for two of Ohios largest pension funds, and set up a new legislative panel to review all pension system fees and employee salaries. Both sets of bills are co-sponsored by state Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, a Wood County Republican. Neither set has been introduced, although Kelly said she plans to introduce hers soon after her co-sponsor request deadline passes on Jan. 31. Grendell plans to seek co-sponsors until Feb. 17. I started a couple months ago, because there are a lot of people in the state of Ohio who have been promised pension and retirement benefits as a result of service to this state, Kelly said in an interview. We think there should be transparency for those folks, and accountability for the people who run the funds. Grendells proposed bill would cap adviser fees and annual staff pay raises at the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, the states largest public pension system, and the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, which represents retired police and firefighters, according to a memo shes distributed to fellow lawmakers seeking co-sponsors. Grendell, a former state lawmaker in the 1990s who was reappointed to a vacant House seat last year, said she has been studying issues with the state pension systems since her return to the legislature. She said shes concluded pension-system employees are too highly paid, and that their investment fees are too high. This is for people who have worked very hard for the state, at least many of them have, and to see constantly their benefits be dwindled away, while people are getting their golden parachutes, she said. Officials with both pension systems declined to comment for this story, since the bills have not yet been introduced. Both systems recently moved to eliminate group health-care coverage for pre-Medicare retirees, instead giving retirees younger than 65 a stipend to help them buy coverage on the open market. The police system changes took effect in 2020, while OPERS voted to do so earlier this month, with the changes taking effect in 2022. OPERS board earlier this month also voted to require retirees to pay a larger share of their health-care premiums. The move largely eliminates a projected $6.2 billion shortfall in the systems health-care fund. But a projected $24 billion unfunded liability remains in the OPERS main pension fund, despite years of higher-than-average returns in the broader investment market. OPERS officials have said they are concerned what will happen to the funds solvency when the world economy and the investment markets eventually enter a decline. Ohios pension systems long have faced funding issues, as their average retirees have lived longer and health-care costs have gone up. State lawmakers last passed major pension reforms in 2012, imposing a mix of increased employee contribution requirements and raised retirement ages. To try to address the shortfall, the OPERS board last year voted to cut cost-of-living increases in 2022 and 2023, and to raise the retirement age for future state employees while requiring them to set aside an additional 1% of their pay. But those changes require approval from state lawmakers, who have not yet acted on the request. Read other recent Ohio political news: Ohios road-safety laws rank among countrys worst in new survey Ohio secretary of state fills top elections security job Automatic voter registration measure could appear on November ballot in Ohio Ohio bill legalizing earplug use by motorcyclists sent to governors desk State lawmakers propose raising bar to pass future tax increases Frequently we hear gun-control advocates say, We have to do something. Unfortunately, the something they advance is often a policy placebo that, while advertised as effective in stopping gun violence, is no more effective in abating mass murder or other acts of savagery than an umbrella is in a hurricane. What should be advocated are policies focused on bad, dangerous and violent behavior, not inanimate firearms. Consider this. Threat assessment is a widely recognized process across government, education and the private sector employed to deter violent attacks. With input from the Secret Service, the FBI and the Department of Education, this methodology has been refined and used for more than 25 years and is currently protecting Congress, the executive and the judiciary at both national and state levels. Moreover, Virginia, Connecticut, Illinois, Texas, Maryland, Tennessee and many other states have moved to ensure schools are protected by implementing this approach. It works well because we now know individuals who carry out these vile attacks dont just simply snap. They formulate the idea, plan it and acquire the lethal means to execute their plan before they become active shooters. They also talk about their plans with others. Because each infectious disease behaves differently, theres a protocol put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and the Illinois Department of Health as to how each one is to be handled, she said. Although the bigger scarier disease is coronavirus, I would say I would be more worried about influenza, said Onwuta, adding that the most important thing we can do to prevent its spread is simply washing your hands." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Leo Ramirez (Agence France-Presse) Wuhan Tue, January 28, 2020 12:26 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20614cbe7 2 World #Wuhan,Wuhan-coronavirus,wuhan,outbreak,coronavirus,#coronavirus,#outbreak,China,#China Free The United States, Japan other nations raced Tuesday to get their citizens out of the locked-down Chinese city at ground zero of a virus epidemic, as the death toll surged to 106 and the number of confirmed infections doubled to over 4,500. The contagion, which experts believe emanated from a wild animal market in the city of Wuhan last month, has triggered a desperate Chinese containment effort after spreading nationwide and to more than a dozen other countries. The government has sealed off Wuhan and other cities in central Hubei province, effectively trapping more than 50 million people, including thousands of foreigners, in a bid to contain the virus as the high-travel Lunar New Year holiday unfolds. "It's deeply stressful," Joseph Pacey, a 31-year-old Briton who teaches English in Wuhan, told AFP. "The virus is scary, but the biggest fear for me is that this thing will go on for months, and it will get harder and harder to get supplies, and to live." Governments are scrambling to devise ways to safely get their citizens out of the city of 11 million. Japan announced it would send a chartered flight to Wuhan on Tuesday evening to evacuate about 200 of 650 Japanese nationals. "We will also bring with it aid supplies such as masks and protective suits for Chinese people as well as for Japanese nationals," Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in Tokyo. Motegi said the plane would leave Wuhan on Wednesday morning, and that efforts were being made to organize more flights. The United States was also trying to organize a rescue mission. A chartered California-bound flight with limited space had been scheduled to leave Wuhan on Tuesday with consular staff and some American citizens. But the State Department said it was postponed to Wednesday, without giving a reason. France has also said it intends to fly its citizens out of the city in the middle of this week. Several other countries also were working to repatriate their people, while Germany said it was considering doing so. Exposure to a sneeze or cough from an infected person appeared to be the main transmission mode, Chinese infectious disease experts told reporters on Tuesday. To prevent huge numbers of people coming into close contact with each other, China has imposed tight transport restrictions in other parts of the country. In the latest move, state-owned China Railway Group announced on Tuesday that it would suspend hundreds of train lines throughout the country. China already has extended the Lunar New Year national holiday into next week to keep people at home. And the education ministry on Tuesday said the spring semester for schools and universities would be postponed, giving no resumption date. Despite the unprecedented measures, the virus has showed little sign of slowing down. The National Health Commission on Tuesday announced 26 new deaths, bringing the nationwide total to 106. Confirmed infections also nearly doubled compared to Monday, to 4,515. Nearly 7,000 more cases are suspected and awaiting confirmation. On Monday, the first infections were confirmed in Germany, Canada and Sri Lanka. Colombo followed up by imposing new visa restrictions on Chinese visitors to the island. President Donald Trump said the United States has offered Beijing "any help that is necessary" in combating the virus. But the United States, Turkey and Germany were among nations urging their citizens to "reconsider" all travel to China. Landlocked Mongolia -- which is heavily dependent on trade with China -- took the drastic step of closing the border with its huge neighbor to cars, while banning large gatherings and suspending classes. Medical facilities have been overwhelmed in Wuhan, which has become a near ghost town. China has deployed hundreds of military medics to help and is building two field hospitals, aiming to finish them in just 10 days. Hundreds of masked workers toiled around the clock at one site, where a foundation was already taking shape and electrical switchboards were up. "We have to work fast to combat the epidemic," a worker in his 30s, told AFP. Pacey, the British teacher, said he and other foreign friends in Wuhan were in contact via chat groups "to keep each other's spirits up". He was rationing what food he had and hopes for a UK-organized evacuation, but complained that his government has been unresponsive. "Things here are going to get worse, and I feel that China should be able to deal with their own citizens and not have me needing extra help," he said. But Wuhan's people, who have a reputation in China for resilience, sought to project a fighting spirit. Quarantined residents shouted "Go Wuhan" from towering apartment blocks, according to videos posted online. A building lit up the night sky late on Monday with those words in red. The World Health Organization (WHO) last week stopped short of declaring the outbreak a global emergency, which could have prompted a more aggressive international response such as travel restrictions. But the WHO on Monday admitted making an error in originally assessing the virus' worldwide threat as "moderate", issuing an update late Sunday saying the risk was actually "high at the global level. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus traveled to Beijing this week for discussions with Chinese officials to coordinate on the crisis. MOREAU Saratoga Olive Oil Co. has moved its storage and distribution operations into a new warehouse at 1341 Saratoga Road, along the Route 9 corridor that will be serviced by the towns sewer project. The company bought the former Aquawood Pools property in spring of last year for $480,000 and, since then, has done major renovation work there. Since its founding in 2011 in Saratoga Springs, the company has also opened retail shops in Burlington, Vermont, and Lake Placid. The local warehouse will give the company easy access to the Northway it sits a mile north of Exit 17 to supply the retail outlets. It will also serve as the distribution center for online sales, which have been growing fast, according to Clint Braidwood, who owns the business with his wife, Barbara, and his brother, Chad. During the 2019 holiday season, the company shipped out more than 10,000 packages, and online sales grew 60 percent from 2018 to 2019, Braidwood said. The new site will include offices and serve as the companys headquarters and, eventually, will include a retail shop, he said. The long-delayed sewer project is scheduled to start work this year, and property prices along the Route 9 corridor have risen in anticipation. Saratoga Olive Oil began just with the three Braidwoods and now employs more than 30 people, Clint Braidwood said. The company sells olive oils in numerous varieties and flavors. Varietal oils come from different olive varieties, while infused oils are flavored. Our specialty is gifts, Braidwood said. In addition to selling individual gift packages for personal occasions, the company markets packages in larger orders for corporate clients. The company will be looking to add employees for the holiday season this year, Braidwood said. Will Doolittle is projects editor at The Post-Star. He may be reached at will@poststar.com and followed on his blog, I think not, and on Twitter at @trafficstatic. Love 38 Funny 11 Wow 27 Sad 0 Angry 2 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A group of nine students of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Uttar Pradeshs Varanasi have been served a notice by varsity authorities for protesting in support of their colleagues in Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The students associated with the Bhagat Singh Chhatra Morcha (BCM) had protested in November last year carrying a banner in Hindi saying Narendra Modi Siksha Virodhi (Narendra Modi, Anti-Education) to show their support to JNU students demanding a rollback in the fee hike and the police action against them. BHU administration has asked the students, in the notice served a week ago, not to indulge in any act of misconduct in the future failing which stern disciplinary action would be initiated against them. Authorities said philosophy research scholar Anupam Kumar, masters students Kumari Akansha and Vivek Kumar, under-graduates Ranjan Kumar Chandravanshi, Raj Abhishek, Shailey, Dipak Dhanraj and Ayushi Bhushan took out an unauthorised procession at Vishwanath Temple inside the BHU campus on November 19. BHUs spokesperson Rajesh Singh said the students must focus on their studies for which they are in the university. They must maintain discipline and follow all the rules of the university, Singh added. BHUs vice-chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar had referred the matter to the standing committee on disciplinary action in November last year. The unauthorised procession involving the students was considered as misconduct under provisions of BHU calendar Part-II. The committee had in December last year said the students took out the possession without any prior permission and that it affected peoples daily movement near the Vishwanath Temple. It recommended issuing a strict warning to the identified errant students to prevent them from repeating such acts in future, saying strict disciplinary action would be taken against them as per university rules. A student associated with the Bhagat Singh Chhatra Morcha said they will oppose the notice. On November 19, we protested against the lathi charge on JNU students who staged a demonstration against the fee hike there. Now, the BHU administration has served notice to us. This notice is unconstitutional. We oppose it, Vishwanath said. The United States officials negotiating in the Doha talks have reportedly asked the Taliban to agree to a long-term reduction in violence before inking a peace deal. According to reports, the extremist group Taliban had agreed to a short-term reduction on violence and they have now shared the demands of the US with their leaders to come to a conclusion. Hope for a positive outcome According to reports, a former member of the Taliban, Maulana Jalaluddin Shinwari said that United States envoy Zalmay Khalilzad had asked the Taliban that there should be a mutual agreement on reducing violence. Shinwari further added that the militant group is holding talks with its leaders and there is hope for a positive outcome. According to reports, the latest developments come at a time when a few Afghan politicians announce a National Reconciliation plan, which has been tabled to build a structure to represent Afghanistan in the intra-Afghan dialogues. Earlier, US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said that the United States has paused talks with extremist group Taliban after the group orchestrated an attack on an American base in Afghanistan that claimed the lives of two people. Khalilzad expressed his anger on the attack that took place in Bagram, adding that the talks between the US and Taliban will resume after the group consult their leaders on the concerned topic. Read: Taliban Claims American Plane 'crashed' In Eastern Afghanistan Read: Afghan Forces Launch Ground And Air Assaults, Taliban Pledges Retaliation Taliban should show their willingness Khalilzad posted a tweet in which he said that the extremist group should show that they are willing to establish a peaceful environment in Afghanistan. (1/2) When I met the Talibs today, I expressed outrage about yesterdays attack on Bagram, which recklessly killed two and wounded dozens of civilians. #Taliban must show they are willing & able to respond to Afghan desire for peace. U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) December 12, 2019 A Taliban orchestrated suicide attack on an under-construction medical facility located near Bagram, a major US base north of Kabul, claimed the lives of two people. According to reports, the suicide bomber struck the base by detonating his bomb-packed vehicle just outside a hospital. The attack came despite talks that had resumed between the US and Taliban. Read: Trump Wants 'significant' Drop In Taliban Violence For Afghan Talks Read: Afghan Officials Say Taliban Kill 6 Members Of Same Family (with inputs from agencies) The Coconino County Superintendent of Schools will be hosting the annual Spelling BEE Saturday, Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. in the Coconino High School mini-auditorium at 2801 N. Izabel St., Flagstaff. Spectators are welcome to attend. Twenty-two home, public, charter and private school-students from throughout the County who won their school or district spelling bee will be competing for prizes and advancement to the state bee. The Rotary Clubs from Flagstaff, Grand Canyon and Williams have donated monetary prizes for the top three spellers, as well as provided the judges for the bee. The winner of the County Spelling BEE will advance to compete with 26 other top spellers at the state level, and later, the winner of the state bee will represent Arizona at the 2020 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. For information please contact Betsey Williams at (928) 679-8070 or e-mail bwilliams@coconino.az.gov. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 British mining company Emmerson Plc has started its Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) study for its Khemisset potash project in Northern Morocco. Khemisset is a potentially world class potash development, with industry leading, low, capital cost to production and, as a result of its location, among the highest margins in the potash industry. Potash is a fertilizer used to increase crop yields and improve the quality of plants it plays a central role in helping feed the worlds growing population. The ESIA is a key component of all future permitting work streams, as outlined in the Emmersons permitting roadmap. The ESIA will be completed in partnership with Moroccan headquartered firm Phenixa. The ESIA will include multiple studies on the existing area, and the final report will conclude any forecast impacts from the project, and proposed mitigation measures. Hayden Locke, CEO of Emmerson, said: the start of the full ESIA is a vital step in our preparation for submitting applications for permits. Once we have a report detailing all environmental and social impact risks, alongside our forthcoming Feasibility Study, we will have all information required to commence discussions in earnest with Moroccan authorities. The ESIA is also a vital component of discussions with financiers, many of whom have already expressed approval for our commitment to complying with international best practice, he added. Earlier this month, Emmerson PLC said it has finalized the feasibility study components for the connection to road networks for the Khemisset potash project. The potash development company said it has completed a detailed options study to determine the optimal site location for the project installations, and associated connections to existing highways. The options study is a crucial part of the feasibility study to assess all potential solutions available for the various components of the project, Emmerson said. As a result, the company said it has considered proximity to existing infrastructure as a factor in site selection and will pave about 3.2 km of the main connection to the highway, along with the slip lanes at the connection point. Meanwhile, the design of the unpaved roads will allow significant heavy vehicle traffic, Emmerson noted. The company said the total budgeted capital cost required to connect the Khemisset site to existing highway infrastructure is $2.0 million. This is slightly higher than the $1.3 million previously expected, Emmerson said. We identified the location of the Khemisset project as one of its major strengths from the outset; the proximity to world class existing infrastructure is a key tangible benefit, Chief Executive Hayden Locke had then said. The ability to have such a simple and cost-effective end-to-end logistics solution will benefit the Project not only through financing and construction, but throughout its lifecycle, he added. Public sector banks have been asked to set up a committee of senior officers for monitoring the progress of pending disciplinary and internal vigilance cases, the government said on Tuesday. Procedural delays adversely affect the morale of employees and breed inefficiencies in the system. "Therefore, every bank must set up a committee of senior officers to review pending disciplinary and internal vigilance cases, and frame timelines to reduce delays in deciding such cases," according to an official statement. The government has also modified its 2015 framework on large-value frauds doing away with the personal responsibility of Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers of public sector banks for compliance with various prescribed timelines. Powers have been delegated by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) to the boards of public sector lenders to put in place a suitable mechanism for ensuring compliance of the various timelines laid down in Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) circulars. Similarly, the instructions of DFS of 2015 regarding the compulsory examination of fraud for all non-performing asset (NPA) accounts exceeding Rs 50 crore have been aligned with the CVC circular of January 15 where all such cases of suspected fraud are to be initially referred to the Advisory Board for Banking and Financial Frauds (ABBFF). The steps have been taken following Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's repeated assurances that that adequate measures will be taken to protect honest commercial decisions taken by the bankers and distinction will be made between genuine commercial failures and culpability. . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Andhra Pradesh government has reached out to four women hailing from the State who are stranded in Kuwait, and has been arranging for their early repatriation to India. As per a release by the office of the State Director General of Police (DGP), the matter came to light after one of the four women posted a video addressed to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on social media recently. In the video that went viral, 27-year-old Karem Vasundhara explained she has been staying in the Indian embassy's rehabilitation centre for almost a week and seeks early repatriation to India. Reddy responded to the video and asked DGP Gautam Sawang to ensure that all four stranded women are repatriated at the earliest. Followingly, the DGP asked AP Disha Special Officer Deepika Patil and West Godavari Superintendent of Police Navdeep Singh to follow up the case. The Andhra Pradesh government officials and State police have been making efforts to bring the four women back at the earliest, the release stated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sixty-six of Governor Cuomos pardons have protected immigrants from deportation, according to the nonprofit news outlet The City. These numbers are significant, and have a powerful impact on individuals and their families. But in the state prison system alone, more than 1,200 people are currently subject to federal deportation orders, according to public records obtained by Steve Zeidman, a CUNY law professor and an advocate for Mr. Abraham. Others face deportation proceedings well after their release. Almost all of Governor Cuomos pardons went to immigrants with minor convictions, often many years after they had completed their sentences, even though the majority of New York prisoners are incarcerated for violent crimes. In 2018, after issuing pardons to seven immigrants, Governor Cuomo said in a statement, At a time when President Trump and the federal government are waging a war on our immigrant communities, New York stands firm in our belief that our diversity is our greatest strength. Governor Cuomos clemency powers can shield immigrants who are targeted by federal immigration enforcement. But to wage an effective resistance against Mr. Trumps war on immigrants, he must find the courage to wield his pardon power in more than occasional, uncontroversial cases. Last weekend, during several hours on the phone, Mr. Abraham sounded weary and laughed only once when I asked him how his puppet George was doing. For the last three months, at a private immigration jail in Buffalo, Mr. Abraham has worn a red jumpsuit that marks him as high-security. Cut off from educational opportunities and several hours by car from his family, he worried about what comes next. Not only do I have to adjust to being outside, but I have to adjust to being in a new country, he told me. On Monday, Mr. Abraham was removed from his cell before dawn. In the evening, he called his lawyer from an airport in Louisiana. He told her that immigration officers had limited his access to essential medication, and had provided him only bologna sandwiches, carrots and an apple to eat. They let him shower, but did not provide a change of clothes or underwear. On Thursday morning, Mr. Abraham will likely be escorted onto a plane to Jamaica, in handcuffs. Governor Cuomo has the power to stop it. Daniel A. Gross (@readwriteradio) is a writer and an editor in New York. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. The name of Anne Hathaway's second child has been revealed. The Oscar winning actress and her husband of eight years Adam Shulman named their newborn son Jack, according to UsWeekly's sources. The gossip magazine revealed earlier this month that the star of The Dark Knight Rises gave birth 'sometime in late 2019'. Revealed: Anne Hathaway and her husband of eight years Adam Shulman named their newborn son Jack, according to UsWeekly's sources. Anne's seen here in October 2019 The couple also share three-year-old son Jonathan. Meanwhile, the acting couple stepped out at Sundance Film Festival on Monday, after claiming people should stop panicking about 'diversity' in Hollywood. The Oscar winner, 37, and her actor love, 38, who reportedly welcomed their second child in November, attended the premiere of her movie The Last Thing He Wanted. The lovebirds have two children: son Jonathan, three, and their newborn, who they welcomed late last year; The newborn's gender and name have not yet been revealed. Date night: Hathaway stepped out at Sundance Film Festival with husband Shulman on Monday, after claiming people should stop panicking about 'diversity' in Hollywood. The 37-year-old actress served Victorian vibes in a long-sleeved ankle-length dress with a ruffled collar and a black and white print. It was cinched at the waist with a thin black alligator belt, which featured a silver buckle. The ensemble was completed with black leather pilgrim booties with stockings featuring the same print as the dress. She carried a black leather clutch, adorned with diamond cutouts, accentuating her black and red jeweled ring. Victorian vibes: The 37-year-old served Victorian vibes in a long-sleeved ankle-length dress with a ruffled collar and a black and white print Alligator skin: It was cinched at the waist with a thin black alligator belt, which featured a silver buckle Black and white: The ensemble was completed with black leather pilgrim booties with stockings featuring the same print as the dress. She carried a black leather clutch, adorned with diamond cutouts, accentuating her black and red jeweled ring Corduroy chic: Co-star Rosie Perez also opted for corduroy jade pantsuit, paired with a ribbed black sweater Onscreen dad: Hathaway was joined on the red carpet by co-star Willem Dafoe, who donned a black turtleneck with grey slacks Squad goals: She posed for a photo with Perez, Dafoe and co-star Edi Gathegi before heading into the screening Shulman sported a charcoal corduroy suit with a grey Henley and a black houndstooth scarf, as he supported his wife on the red carpet. The movie premieres February 21 on Netflix, starring Hathaway as a journalist who ends up the subject of her own story when her father (Dafoe) enlists her help in brokering an arms deal. This comes as Anne said people should stop "panicking" about diversity in Hollywood. The 'Devil Wears Prada' star can see a huge shift in how the filming industry is incorporating more female lead roles, directors and screenwriters but thinks people shouldn't stress too much as it takes time for these changes to filter through. Hathaway told Variety: 'Arent you ready to stop having this conversation? That's where I'm at. People are walking the walk, people are doing it. Its happening. 'I think the nature of film is that there is a lag time built in between the time that the decision to change is made, and the time that the change is represented out there in the world. 'I think the key is not to get lost in those in-between moments, not to panic. Its happening. No, its not happening fast enough. Things are good. Things could get better. Lets keep going. Lets not panic and lets keep talking about it.' Leading lady: The movie stars Hathaway as a journalist who ends up the subject of her own story when her father (Dafoe) enlists her help in brokering an arms deal I guess I should say something. For five years my office at AEI was right next to John Bolton. Lately Ive been having fun with this photo suggesting I can do hearsay with the best of Adam Schiffs witnesses (that is, making stuff up). I cant say I got to know Bolton very well, but as early risers we were often the first people in the office before well before 7 am on many days, so Id sometimes stop to chat over coffee and wed joke about things. And he was helpful to me several times when I needed some inside information on how the UNs climate change circus worked, and also on my Reagan books. He was on the right side of a lot of important things going all the way back to the Buckley v. Valeo case in 1976. I often joked on those mornings when we arrived early that I wanted to know his Fox News schedule that day so I wouldnt get run over as he bolted (heh) out of the office for the elevator several times a day to race down to the Fox bureau on First Street for an appearance. Youd get hurt if you were in his path! I have a high opinion of Bolton. I may revise this later, but for the moment, Ill stand with my prior judgment. We should take the media reports just now with a large lump of salt. It is entirely possible that Bolton, if he testifies in the Senate, will say that Trump legitimately believed that Ukraine was a center of election interference in 2016, and that Biden was involved in it, which would turn the tables on the Democrats, as it would make the conditions of the aid wholly legitimate. Scott Adams thinks this might be the case. (Im hoping to do a separate post on how the Lin Manuel Miranda musical about the Trump impeachment might go, since the title of Boltons book borrows from one of the hit songs from HamiltonThe Room Where It Happened. Something like, The Senate Floor Where It Didnt Happen.) It is also true that Bolton is a very ambitious person. Political ambition is an ambiguous thing, so it is not necessarily a knock to say someone is ambitious. I discount heavily (though not entirely) that the leak of his forthcoming book is meant to juice sales. I respect and admire political ambition, though it is hard to draw the line between worthy ambition and selfish ambition. That line is in fact impossible to draw: see, e.g, Charles de Gaulle. I do not just now incline to believe that Bolton or his publisher are necessarily behind the leak to the NY Times. There are lots of possibilities here. The fact that the Times is the venue for the leak ought to make everyone suspicious. Im pretty sure Bolton hates the Times as much as every other decent person, though that doesnt preclude using them for your own purposes at the right moment. One old moment does come back to mind. I used to clash frequently with Arthur Brooks after he became president of AEI. In fact, it was the shouting match I had with Arthur after he dismissed Roger Scruton from AEI in 2012 (without asking anyones opinion about his decisionhow totally clueless do you have to be to fire ROGER SCRUTON!!!) that precipitated my unhappy departure from AEI that year. But its one of my earlier disputes with Arthur from the spring of 2011 that came back to mind today, when I apologized for being such a pain in the ass to Arthur amidst the stresses and strains of his job, and Arthur generously waved it off: Oh heck, your complaints are nothing compared to what I get from John Bolton! I didnt ask for details at the time, but it does make me wonder. Im withholding final judgment for the time being. I do note, however, that since leaving the White House Bolton hasnt returned to AEI. Meanwhile, Im having a much harder time retaining any residual respect for Mitt Romney. Isnt it more than a little bit conveeeenient that the Bolton book leak should occur exactly when it does the most damage to Trump in the Senate impeachment proceedings? This is not an accident, and Romney (and Collins, Murkowski, and Alexander) ought to understand this. It is a rerun of the Kavanaugh ambush. And the Clarence Thomas ambush in 1991. The Democrats playbook is more stale than a playbook from George Halas in 1965. If Romney really thought Bolton was a relevant witness, the time to say this was three or four weeks ago at least. Now he reveals himself to be the monkey to the NY Times organ grinder. This is a perfect moment for a character sketch in politics. Mitt Romney is a decent and good man, just like his equally decent but clueless father, whose politically weak character Nixon judged exactly right (that is, contemptuously). Id have Mitt babysit my kids, and structure a major business investment for me. Trump is a bit of a rogue; not sure Id want him babysitting my kids, and I wouldnt do business with him. But Trump gets it when it comes to politics. He knows who the bad guys are. Romney doesnt. Romney is the kind of person who looks to make nice with the cannibals after they have him trussed up in the pot and have the wood fire lit underneath. Of course Trumps behavior in the Ukraine matter is less than perfect (though you really do have to admire Trumps instinctually correct moxie in calling it a perfect phone call), but Romney and other weak-minded GOP senators cant recognize what is really going on. Let me restate this last paragraph: Romneys highest and best use is babysitting kids. Trumps best use is smashmouth rugby with Democrats. This is not a hard call. UPDATE: This is the most Mitt Romney story evercall it Peak Romney. Have you no shame, Sen. Romney? Is there no bottom to your recklessness? WASHINGTON The White House and Senate Republican leaders struggled Monday to salvage their plans to push toward a quick acquittal of President Donald Trump this week in his impeachment trial, after his former national security adviser corroborated a central piece of the charges against him, angering key Republicans and reinvigorating a bid to hear from witnesses. Three Republican moderates indicated they were inching closer to joining Democrats in a vote to subpoena John Bolton, the former adviser whose forthcoming book details how Trump conditioned military aid for Ukraine on the countrys willingness to furnish information on his political rivals. Feeling political pressure, other members of the presidents party privately expressed new openness to including witnesses in the trial, even as their leaders insisted that doing so would only delay the presidents inevitable acquittal. I think its increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told reporters. At a closed-door lunch with Republican senators Monday, Romney made a strong case for witnesses, arguing that calling them would be a wise choice for Republicans politically and substantively. As they opened the second day of their defense in the impeachment trial, Trumps lawyers ignored the revelations from Bolton, reported Sunday by The New York Times, which bolstered the case made by the Democratic prosecutors from the House that the president had sought to use his position to gain foreign help in his reelection campaign. Instead, the White House team doubled down with a defense that was directly contradicted by the account in Boltons book, due out in March. Trumps lawyers again told senators that no evidence existed tying the presidents decision to withhold security aid from Ukraine to his insistence on the investigations, which they have claimed were requested out of a concern for corruption. Anyone who spoke with the president said that the president made clear that there was no linkage between security assistance and investigations, said Michael Purpura, the deputy White House counsel. But behind closed doors, Republicans were singularly focused on the revelations from Bolton, which stoked turmoil in their ranks and opened new cracks in their so far near monolithic support for the White House strategy of denying witnesses and rushing toward a final verdict, almost certain to be an acquittal. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., sought to calm his colleagues at the private lunch, telling them to take a deep breath and not to leap to conclusions about how to proceed. But according to people familiar with McConnells thinking, he was also privately angry at having been blindsided by the White House about Boltons account, which aides there have had since late December. Inside the gathering near the Senate floor, just before the trial got underway, Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, R-Pa., told colleagues that he might be willing to support calling witnesses as long as the roster would include someone friendlier to Trumps case, according to people familiar with the gathering who were not authorized to discuss it. At least one other Republican senator who was previously opposed to the idea also spoke favorably about it. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and usually a reliable ally of the president, voiced new openness to calling witnesses, too, and said he would like to see a copy of Boltons manuscript. Graham, who was among those who privately complained to the White House about the out-of-the-blue disclosure, said the former national security adviser may be a relevant witness. At the White House, Trump raged throughout the morning at Bolton, accusing him of lying. Hosting Israeli leaders at the White House, the president told reporters that he had not seen the manuscript of the former advisers book but disputed its claims as false. In a series of early-morning tweets hours before the trial resumed, the president accused Bolton of telling stories only to sell a book and defended his actions toward Ukraine as perfectly appropriate. I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens, Trump wrote just after midnight. But Trump later complained to associates that the presentations from his defense team were boring. On the Senate floor, Trumps team followed the presidents lead, never mentioning Boltons claims and at one point appearing to suggest that they were immaterial. We deal with transcript evidence, we deal with publicly available information, Jay Sekulow, one of the presidents lawyers, said. We do not deal with speculation, allegations that are not based on evidentiary standards at all. In a somewhat improbable echo of the last presidential impeachment trial, Ken Starr, who had relentlessly pursued former President Bill Clinton for lying about an extramarital affair with a young aide, also appeared before the Senate to defend Trump. He argued that the president committed no impeachable offense and urged senators to restore our constitutional and historical traditions, in which impeachment was rare. Like war, impeachment is hell, Starr told senators, casting himself as a skeptic of the constitutional remedy he enthusiastically pursued 21 years ago. Or at least, presidential impeachment is hell. While it is not clear that Republicans will vote to call additional witnesses when they vote on the issue later this week, the revelations from Bolton appeared to shift the dynamic that had taken hold at the end of last weeks arguments, when it appeared unlikely that Democrats would win the support of the four Republicans they need to force the issue. On Monday, Democrats said they were newly optimistic that the momentum of the trial was pushing toward a vote for witnesses and documents, and they worked to increase the pressure on hesitant Republicans to embrace the moves. It boils down to one thing: We have a witness with firsthand evidence of the presidents actions for which he is on trial, said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate Democratic leader. He is ready and willing to testify. How can Senate Republicans not vote to call that witness and request his documents? Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who had previously indicated she would likely support additional witnesses, said the revelations about Boltons book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she was curious about what Bolton would say, but gave no hint of how she would vote on the matter. At lunch with his colleagues, McConnell urged them not to jump to conclusions before a vote on witnesses that will likely not occur until Friday, after the presidents legal team has finished its defense and senators have had time to ask questions of the House managers and the White House defense team. And before the trial resumed, McConnells leadership team fanned out across the Capitol to try to play down the significance of Boltons account. The best I can tell from whats reported in The New York Times, it is nothing different from what we have already heard, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said on Fox News. As I said, no crimes were ever alleged, and these events never actually occurred: the withholding of aid and the investigations. Privately, though, Republicans including McConnell were not pleased. The leader put out a rare statement saying that he did not have any advance notice of Boltons account. The slow start to the trial had some senators inside the chamber visibly struggling to remain engaged with Trumps lawyers. Sounding more like a college professor than a fierce legal advocate, Starr slowly walked senators through the history of impeachment, citing the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton and a discussion about how the nations constitutional DNA had changed since the independent counsel law lapsed Justice delayed is justice denied, Starr intoned. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., rubbed his eyes with his right hand and yawned. Across the aisle, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., grabbed a notebook, stood up from her desk and leaned against a railing in the back of the chamber. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands over his chest, looking mildly exasperated. Starrs academic review of impeachment history and legal standards left even Trumps most enthusiastic supporters cold. Ann Coulter, the conservative commentator, wrote on Twitter: Ken Starr litigation strategy: Torture the senate with such an excruciatingly boring presentation that they cannot take another minute of this trial. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and another vocal ally of Trump who was nevertheless left off his defense team, agreed in a reply to Coulter. More flash, he urged, less To Kill a Mockingbird. This defense needs a little less Atticus Finch and a little more Miss Universe, he wrote. Later, Jane Raskin, one of the presidents lawyers, used her time to mount a vigorous defense of Rudy Giuliani, the presidents personal lawyer who House Democrats have charged was a central player in Trumps bid to pressure the Ukrainians to conduct the investigations he sought. Raskin called Giuliani a colorful distraction in the case, pointing out that House impeachment investigators did not subpoena him to testify. Legal experts suggest that Giuliani would have refused to disclose any of his conversations with Trump on the basis of attorney-client privilege. And he would surely have been a difficult witness, given his often erratic performance in televised interviews. But Raskin argued that the investigators did not want to hear from Giuliani because he would not have backed up their claims that he was executing a shadow foreign policy toward Ukraine at Trumps request. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (27) US Lawmakers Slam UK Decision to Allow Huawei Into 5G Network U.S. lawmakers and experts have expressed concern over the United Kingdoms decision to allow Huawei a limited role in its 5G network, saying it endangers national security. The UK government granted the Chinese telecom giant a role in building non-sensitive parts of its next-generation wireless network on Jan. 28. Huawei, however, was classified as a high-risk vendor, meaning it would be excluded from the sensitive core, where data is processed, and barred from all critical networks and sensitive locations such as nuclear sites and military bases. As a high-risk company, its involvement would be capped at 35 percent. The decision came despite repeated warnings from the United States that Huaweis equipment could be used by the Chinese regime for spying or to disrupt communication networks. Such concerns stem from the companys close links with the military, and that Chinese law compels companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies when asked. Huawei, the worlds largest supplier of telecom gear, denies the allegations. U.S. officials had also previously said that such a decision would jeopardize intelligence sharing between the two nations. The UK and the United States are part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, which also includes Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Both Australia and New Zealand have banned Huawei from its 5G rollout, while Canada is currently still making its decision. However, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Jan. 28 that intelligence-sharing would not be impacted. How we construct our 5G and full fiber public telecoms networks has nothing to do with how we will share classified data, Raab told lawmakers after a meeting of the National Security Council chaired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Intelligence-sharing will not be put at risk. Johnson and President Donald Trump spoke by phone shortly after the British decision was made public. The Prime Minister underlined the importance of like-minded countries working together to diversify the market and break the dominance of a small number of companies, the British government said in a statement. Speaking before the call, a Trump administration official said: There is no safe option for untrusted vendors to control any part of a 5G network. We look forward to working with the UK on a way forward that results in the exclusion of untrusted vendor components from 5G networks. A British official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said excluding Huawei would have delayed 5G and cost consumers more, echoing warnings from the telecommunications industry. 5Gs much faster data speeds and increased capacity will make it the foundation stone of many industries and a driver of economic growth. Security Concerns U.S. lawmakers expressed disappointment with the UKs decision, with several calling for a review of intelligence-sharing with Britain. Allowing Huawei to build the U.K.s 5G networks today is like allowing the KGB to build its telephone network during the Cold War, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote in a statement. The Chinese Communist Party will now have a foothold to conduct pervasive espionage on British society and has increased economic and political leverage over the United Kingdom. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), in an email to The Epoch Times, said the misguided decision ignores the considerable expenditure required to mitigate the risk of Huaweis involvement. While Chinese subsidies lower the initial price tag of Huawei, the long-term costs to security and in allies trust are high, Rubio said, adding that the United States should reevaluate economic and intelligence cooperation with Britain. Rubio, Cotton, and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) sent a genuine plea to Johnson earlier this week, urging him to exclude Huawei from Britains 5G infrastructure. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that he was disappointed by the decision, adding that the United States remained committed to working with its allies such as the UK to build alternatives to Huawei. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), in a statement, said, Heres the sad truth: our special relationship is less special now that the UK has embraced the surveillance state commies at Huawei. During the Cold War, Margaret Thatcher never contracted with the KGB to save a few pennies. Political Decision Robert Spalding, a former senior official at the White House National Security Council and senior fellow at Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute, described the move as a political decision designed to accommodate domestic telecom providers. The UK is siding with a totalitarian regime, Spalding told The Epoch Times affiliate NTD. Not because they believe wholeheartedly that they have no concerns, but rather because one of their main companies British Telecom, is saying, we need the subsidy from China so that we can have cheap equipment. Spalding rejected the distinction between core and edge, saying the risk remains the same as both parts of the network are primarily software-based. The idea that any part of that [software-based ecosystem] can be considered a safe area for technology to be introduced, where you have a concern about whos introducing that technologyI think thats incorrect, he said. I think they [the UK] are willfully trying to stay ignorant of what the possibilities are [if Huawei is introduced] because its too hard to accept the fact that there is no security in data anymore. He warned that certain sectors, such as the tech and telecom industries, due to their desire for cheap products from China, are putting pressure on the governments of democracies to continue this behavior that is really counter to the national security interests, and the freedoms and liberties of the people in the societies in which they live. Epoch Times reporter Eva Fu and Reuters contributed to this report. Ofgem warned that a series of outages and delays to a 1.3 billion electricity cable could have a knock-on effect for customers as it kicked off a probe into the companies behind it. The energy regulator said it would investigate Scottish Power and National Grid for their role in the struggling sub-sea cable, which has gone down six times in just two years. It is currently out of action. The project, which connects Wales and Scotland, was originally meant to be up and running by March 2017. However, the full launch of the cable only happened last month. It first started transporting energy in December 2017. However, there were restrictions in place on how it could be used. We are working hard to repair the current cable fault and are certain we will overcome these difficultiesNational Grid and Scottish Power Even this limited link failed three times in 2018, twice last year, and has already shut down once in 2020, Ofgem said. One outage lasted for two months, while the shortest was four weeks. The regulator now hopes to find out why the cable has been so troubled, as it sets out on an investigation. It will probe whether the companies breached the delivery date that was part of their licence. It will also examine potential breaches around the operation of the cable. In 2012, when Ofgem first set aside money for the cable, it cited estimates that the project could save customers between 1 billion and 4 billion by avoiding so-called constraint payments. The payments are made to wind farms and other renewable generation to stop producing energy when there is not enough demand for it. This is done to balance the system and ensure it does not overload. National Grid and Scottish Power promised to cooperate with the regulators investigation. We are confident that our investment in the link has delivered benefits for consumers since entering service in 2017, and will continue to deliver benefits. We are committed to providing a reliable link that will transport cleaner, greener energy to our homes and businesses across Great Britain, a spokesman for the companies said. We are working hard to repair the current cable fault and are certain we will overcome these difficulties and establish a link that will continue to benefit consumers for many years to come. OSWIECIM, PolandThe presidents of Israel and Poland called for greater efforts on Jan. 27 to combat anti-Semitism as the world marked 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp amid concerns over a resurgence of anti-Jewish prejudice. More than 1.1 million people, most of them Jews, perished in the camps gas chambers or from starvation, cold, and disease. Our duty is to fight anti-Semitism, racism and fascist nostalgia, those sick evils that threaten to eat away at the foundations of our democracies, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said at a venue near the former camp, which is now a museum. Polish President Andrzej Duda, who didnt attend Israels national Holocaust Memorial on Jan. 23 because he wasnt allowed to speak, thanked Rivlin for his presence at Auschwitz. This presence is a sign of remembrance, it is a visible sign of opposition to inhuman treatment, hatred, against all forms of hate, especially racist hate, Duda said. Set up by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland in 1940, at first to house Polish political prisoners, Auschwitz became the largest of the extermination centers where Adolf Hitlers plan to kill all Jewsthe Final Solutionwas put into practice. It was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. Returning to the site where her relatives were murdered, 92-year-old Holocaust survivor Yvonne Engelman, who now lives in Australia, recalled the horrors of the camp. We could hear children coughing, crying, choking from the gas and also the smell of human flesh and the great fear we experienced that maybe you will be the next victim, she said. During a somber ceremony at the gate to the camp, Duda spoke of the chilling efficiency of the Nazis genocidal plan, which included vast crematoria to burn the bodies of victims. For years the factory of death operated at full capacity. Smoke was rising from the chimneys, the transports were rolling. People walked and walked in their thousands. To meet their death, Duda told a gathering that included several dozen survivors, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. Pernicious Attitudes Studies show that anti-Semitic sentiment persists, especially in Europe, despite the scale of the Nazi atrocities, the powerful testimony of survivors, and the number of films, books, and exhibitions chronicling the Holocaust. A 2019 survey by the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League showed that about 1 in 4 Europeans harbor pernicious and pervasive attitudes toward Jews, compared with 19 percent of North Americans. In Germany, 42 percent agreed that Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust, it stated. Two people were killed in a shooting near a synagogue in eastern Germany in October 2019, in what officials called an anti-Semitic attack. Despite the joint message on anti-Semitism, the Jan. 27 event highlighted tensions between Poland and Israel over Holocaust remembrance. Rivlin called on Poland not to politicize the history of the Holocaust, a reference to the insistence of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government that Poles had behaved entirely honorably during World War II. As part of a broader policy of historical revisionism, PiS seeks to highlight Polands own suffering in the war, when some 6 million Poles, including 3 million Polish Jews, were killed, and Warsaw was razed to the ground. While celebrating the thousands of Poles who risked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust, PiS ignores others who helped the Germans and killed Jews. We shall forever hold sacred and cherish the courage of the thousands of Poles, Rivlin said. We remember that during the war the Polish nation fought with great courage but we remember too that there were not a few in the Polish nation who stood by and even contributed to the murder of Jews. In addition to Jews, more than 70,000 Poles were deported to Auschwitz, as well as 21,000 Roma, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and several thousand other people. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the State Department would contribute an additional $2 million to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. Two years ago, its director, Piotr Cywinski, appealed to donor countries for more support. Germany was until now the only country to respond, although the United States and Poland had previously been donors. By Joanna Plucinska & Maayan Lubell GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- The Bahamian hutia, a large Caribbean rodent with a blissed-out disposition, presents a curious case study in how human food preferences can drive biodiversity, sometimes shaping it over 1,000 years. The hutia, which resembles a bristly beanbag, flourished in the Bahamas for millennia, the islands' only native terrestrial mammal. Today, only one population of Geocapromys ingrahami remains, divided among the scrubland and limestone cliffs of three small cays, and the species is considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Humans have played a prominent and paradoxical role in the hutia's boom-to-bust story, according to a new study led by Florida Museum of Natural History researchers. Hutias were a savory source of red meat for the Lucayans, the islands' earliest inhabitants, who arrived around AD 800-1000. Now, ancient DNA and radiocarbon dating suggest the Lucayans transported hutias from the Great Bahama Bank - where hutias landed during the last ice age, likely after rafting from Cuba - to Bahamian islands hutias had not inhabited previously, exploiting them as food. The findings illuminate how humans historically and actively shaped hutia diversity and distribution. "We're a funny, picky species with food," said Michelle LeFebvre, Florida Museum assistant curator of South Florida archaeology and ethnography. "Our preference for what we eat has probably had a much bigger impact on global biodiversity over time than we appreciate, and hutias provide one example of that." Under Lucayan care, hutia populations thrived. But when Europeans landed in the Bahamas, they introduced new predators, such as cats, and competitors like rats and mice. Development subsequently degraded hutia habitat, and the species may have vanished if conservationists had not moved hutias to protected areas. "We have not stopped messing with hutias over the past 1,000 years. We can't help ourselves," said the study's lead author Jessica Oswald, a postdoctoral researcher at the Florida Museum and the University of Nevada-Reno. "For better or worse, Bahamian hutias are only alive today because of humans. We moved them to tiny islands where they're protected, and probably the only way they are going to survive is if they live on cays devoid of people." Oswald and David Steadman, Florida Museum curator of ornithology, often found hutia fossils in the roosts of now-extinct giant owls on Great Bahama Bank, but hutias were notably absent from pre-human fossil sites on Bahamian islands beyond that bank. Meanwhile, LeFebvre was studying hutia bones excavated from ancient Lucayan trash heaps and found evidence that certain hutia populations were eating crops, such as corn. The researchers began comparing notes and decided to investigate the patterns they were uncovering by conducting the first ancient DNA study of the Bahamian hutia. "We knew we had a question to chase," LeFebvre said. "And then it turned out that there was a major human footprint." Traces of human influence in hutia DNA While G. ingrahami is the only hutia in the Bahamas, Cuba is the historical and modern center of hutia diversity and home to 10 of the 13 species living today. More than half of known hutia species have gone extinct over the past 12,000 years, but the group once boasted a range of habitats and sizes, from a 440-pound heavyweight in the Lesser Antilles to a pygmy-sized species found on Cuba. Their temperaments also vary. Observing G. ingrahami, biologist Garrett Clough described it as a "most peaceable rodent" - but not all hutia species are mellow. "On Cuba, there's one species people treat as a pet and other species that could scratch your eyes out," LeFebvre said. The researchers' findings supported previous evidence that the Bahamian hutia's closest living relative is G. brownii, a vulnerable species on Jamaica. But they hypothesize the Bahamian hutia is a descendant of a Cuban species that reached the Bahamas about 10,000 years ago when low sea levels closed the distance between the islands to about 12 miles. "Because so many hutias have recently gone extinct, we will need more ancient DNA from extinct species to test this hypothesis," Oswald said. Radiocarbon-dated fossils showed that hutias lived on the Great Bahama Bank before humans arrived - but none of the fossils outside of the bank were older than about AD 1300-1400, several centuries after human settlement. The researchers also found a striking genetic similarity between a population on Eleuthera, an island on the Great Bahama Bank, and a population on Abaco, part of the Little Bahama Bank. The two banks never connected, even when sea levels were at their lowest, suggesting people had ferried hutias across the channel. "We would expect those two populations to be genetically distinct because they're isolated, but instead, they look like they're from the same population," Oswald said. "You're unravelling a mystery with DNA from fossils and trying to figure out 'whodunnit.' That's what makes this so fun." A genetic split between hutias in the northern Bahamas and those south of Long Island is a puzzle the researchers intend to explore further. "Did some kind of human selection impact that? Could other hutias have been introduced or made it over from Cuba?" LeFebvre said. "Genetics sets you on the path to answer those kinds of questions." Taking the long view of hutia conservation The Bahamian hutia was believed to be extinct before Clough traveled to East Plana Cay, a small strip of uninhabited land, in 1966. The hutias he observed there were thought to be the last remaining examples of indigenous G. ingrahami. This study suggests, however, that hutias may have been introduced to the cay by the Lucayans, LeFebvre said. While the Bahamian hutia is a survivor, its existence is also delicate, susceptible to hurricanes, disease, invasive species and landscape changes. Its conservation needs place its future in the hands of humans. But the value in studies like this one is the millennia-long view it offers conservation decision-makers, LeFebvre said. "Considering truly long-term anthropogenic influences on biodiversity is a crucial step to building and planning conservation efforts," she said. For Oswald, a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist who is an expert in ancient DNA analysis, the project offered a unique opportunity to collaborate with archaeologists. "The combination of these fields is powerful. Michelle had evidence that humans were transporting hutias, and then we used data from an evolutionary field to help answer these questions. It speaks to what you can do when you bring together different fields." ### Other co-authors include Steadman, Robert Guralnick and Brian Stucky of the Florida Museum, Julie Allen of the University of Nevada-Reno and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Ryan Folk of the Florida Museum and Mississippi State University, Nancy Albury of the National Museum of the Bahamas and Gary Morgan of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History. NASA has a new mission on the horizon that will snap the first pictures of the sun's north and south poles. In collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), the team is launching the Solar Orbiter (owned by ESA) that will use Venus's and Earth's gravity to swing itself out of the ecliptic plane the area of space aligned with the sun's equator, where all planets orbit. From this position, the craft will feast its eyes on the first-ever look of the massive yellow dwarf star, which will provide scientists with better data to predict solar storms more accurately. Solar Orbiter is equipped with a custom-designed titanium heat shield coated with a specific phosphate that withstands temperatures over 900 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing it to get within 26 million miles of the blazing sun. Scroll down for video Solar Orbiter (artist impression) will feast its eyes on the first-ever look of the massive yellow dwarf star, which will provide scientists with better data to predict solar storms more accurately The space agencies are set to launch the craft on February 7, 2020 at 11.15pm EST from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Russell Howard, space scientist at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C. and principal investigator for one of Solar Orbiter's ten instruments, said: 'Up until Solar Orbiter, all solar imaging instruments have been within the ecliptic plane or very close to it.' 'Now, we'll be able to look down on the Sun from above.' The mission is set to last for seven years, in which Solar Orbiter will first reach 24 degrees above the Sun's equator, increasing to 33 degrees after three years and then finishing it off with pass-by within 26 million miles of the sun. Scientists study the sun's magnetic field in order to predict when solar storms will occur, which interfere with our GPS and communications satellites at their worst, they can even threaten astronauts. However, there has been gaps in the data because of the lack of information about the star's poles Scientists study the sun's magnetic field in order to predict when solar storms will occur, which interfere with our GPS and communications satellites at their worst, they can even threaten astronauts. However, there has been gaps in the data because of the lack of information about the star's poles. Holly Gilbert, NASA project scientist for the mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said: 'The poles are particularly important for us to be able to model more accurately.' Solar Orbiter (artist impression) will pass inside the orbit of Mercury and will bring along more advanced instruments. 'For forecasting space weather events, we need a pretty accurate model of the global magnetic field of the Sun.' NASA and the ESA previously joined forces to explore the sun in 1990. The launched the Ulysses that made three passes around the sun, but was unable to get closer than Earth-distance to the sun. It also only sported technology that measure just the environment immediately around the spacecraft. Solar Orbiter, on the other hand, will pass inside the orbit of Mercury and will bring along more advanced instruments. Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla, NASA deputy project scientist for the mission, said: 'We are going to be able to map what we 'touch' with the in situ instruments and what we 'see' with remote sensing.' Solar Orbiter is NASA's second craft to investigate the inner sun, it follows the Parker Solar Probe that launched in August 2018. The space agencies are set to launch the craft on February 7, 2020 at 11:15pm EST from Cape Canaveral, Florida In collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), the team is launching the Solar Orbiter (artist impression) that will use Venus's and Earth's gravity to swing itself out of the ecliptic plane the area of space aligned with the Sun's equator, where all planets orbit This mission completed four close solar passes and will fly within four million miles of the sun at closest approach. The two spacecraft will work together: As Parker samples solar particles up close, Solar Orbiter will capture imagery from farther away, contextualizing the observations. The two spacecraft will also occasionally align to measure the same magnetic field lines or streams of solar wind at different times. 'We are learning a lot with Parker, and adding Solar Orbiter to the equation will only bring even more knowledge,' said Nieves-Chinchilla. New Delhi, Jan 28 : The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is likely to finalise the list of qualified bidders for Air India in the current fiscal and is confident of participation of overseas and Indian companies in consortiums in the bidding process, DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said. "We are hopeful of bids from both domestic and overseas players. During our roadshows, we saw interest from many investors in Air India, which included other airlines. They may bid in consortium. That's why the consortium conditions have been made flexible and mergers allowed, which means we have given them the option of restructuring the airline," Pandey said in an exclusive interview with IANS. Pandey said that the government is very hopeful of Air India's successful sale due to its inherent strengths. "The airline can be managed very well. It is a big asset and has a lot of potential. It has got travel slots, bilaterals... India is a very fast-growing civil aviation market. Air India has very competent people -- technical staff, pilots, crew etc. The cost of manpower is just 11 per cent of the total revenue," the officer said, adding that this figure is 20 per cent for many global airlines. He said that Air India's disinvestment process had been set in motion and carried to its logical conclusion from the beginning of the next fiscal. "But I won't hazard a guess as to when it will be completed, as it depends on due diligence by investors. Once the qualified bidders list is out, they would have to undertake due diligence, then the finalisation of SPA (Share-Purchase Agreement) and financial bidding. That may take place sometime from April onwards. We have indicated in the EoI that by March 31, we will be intimating the qualified bidders," the Secretary added. On the airline's liabilities which can derail interest in its buyout, Pandey claimed that Air India assets matched its liabilities. Air India's net loss in 2018-19 is provisionally estimated at Rs 8,556.35 crore. "Current liabilities are part of ongoing concern. It also has assets and receivables. The important thing is that the liabilities match assets. Any excess liability than assets will be taken away and the net current liabilities will be brought down to nil," he said. As per the EoI for the airline, which is being put up for sale for the second time after no bidders showed interest in 2018, the bidding consortia will be saddled with only Rs 23,286 crore of the total Rs 60,000 crore debt. As for the eligibility, the lead member of a consortium can have 26 per cent shareholding as against the earlier criterion of 51 per cent. The minimum shareholding in a consortium has also been eased to 10 per cent, potentially enabling more entities to bid as part of a consortium. The net worth for eligible bidders has been relaxed to Rs 3,500 crore from Rs 5,000 crore earlier. On the issue of FDI, Pandey said: "As far as FDI is concerned, only the NRI element is the issue. DPIIT (Commerce Ministry) has to clarify on the FDI part. It is in the process. There is SOCE (Substantial Ownership and Effective Control) clause and DPIIT will soon come out with clarity to facilitate the bids." The SOEC clause bars foreign investors from taking complete control of the airline's operations and to run it through a board whose two third members are Indians. The DPIIT is in the process of clarifying the issue. (Anjana Das can be contacted at anjana.d@ians.in) Disha Patani, who has her next film Malang up for release, is excited about working with Salman Khan again in Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai. Disha will be seen romancing Aditya Roy Kapur in Malang.Disha was last seen with Salman in Bharat where the two sizzled on screen in their hit number, Slow Motion. The song was a huge hit and audiences loved the chemistry between the two . In an interview today, Disha shared her excitement about working with Bhaijaan, Considering the fact that Salman sir is such a huge star in Bollywood for years, never had I imagined that I will get another chance to work with him again, after Bharat'. When the film worked I was just happy with the fact that I had worked with Salman Khan. However, when the opportunity for Radhe' came, I was on cloud nine. I loved the story and working again with sir! I think along with my hard work, everything is happening also because of good fortune.Radhe will be releasing on Eid this year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson chaired the meeting of Britains National Security Council where the plan was approved. The British government will now seek to legislate the proposals through Parliament. It is possible that the House of Commons could amend Johnsons plan loosening or strengthening Huaweis hand. But after a landslide win in last months general election for Johnson and his Conservative Party, the government can count on parliamentary approval for most of its proposals. God Of Carnage Theatre Royal Bath Touring until February 15, 1hr 30mins Rating: Britain gets more mealy-mouthed, censorious and po-faced by the day. Which is why French playwright Yasmina Rezas comedy which gives sanctimonious, rich metropolitans a right kicking still feels so on the money more than a decade after it premiered. Elizabeth McGovern Lady Cora from Downton Abbey stars as Veronica, in whose London sitting room this is set. Shes smug, dead PC, and is writing a book about Sudan. Her husband, rather improbably, is a rough diamond, Michael (Nigel Lindsay), who sells household goods and glories in being uncouth. Their son, Henry, 11, has had two teeth knocked out by classmate Freddy, whose parents have come over to discuss what to do. Yasmina Rezas comedy still feels so on the money more than a decade after it premiered. Elizabeth McGovern leads the cast as the smug and dead PC Veronica (above) Does Freddy, Veronica asks, understand what he has done? What sort of apology is appropriate, etc? Smiles abound on the precariously thin ice. The tykes mum, Annette, is in wealth management, her concerned agreeableness concealing a disgust for her husband Alan, an insufferable lawyer whos constantly bossing clients on his mobile. After tots of rum, tongues loosen. Real views are vented. The boys punch-up soon becomes the cause of a full-on parental war. Marital cracks are exposed, the men attack the women, the fur flies. Beneath an overhead artwork made of ethnological spears, liberal civilisation does a bunk. Nigel Lindsay is her husband Michael (above) and civilisation vanishes as the couple go to war with another (Alan and Annette) whose son has knocked out their son's teeth in the playground Simon Paisley Day wonderfully obnoxious as Alan is in the role first played by Ralph Fiennes in London. Annette whose vomit we get graphically acquainted with is superbly sketched by Samantha Spiro. The drunken blurtings, gender warring and outright abuse all is directed with brio by Lindsay Posner in a translation by Christopher Hampton that relocates the play from Paris. If this is not in the class of the West End production, its because McGoverns performance is way too mannered. The couples dont have much inner dimension. This is really more an exercise in dramatic economy: it doesnt waste time. I chortled a lot, but some may find these characters too ghastly to be worthy of dissection. theatreroyal.org.uk Les Miserables Sondheim Theatre, London Until October 17, 2hrs 50mins Rating: For months last year, Les Mis ran at the theatre next door to this, while producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh blew almost 14 million refurbishing the Queens Theatre. It is now gleamingly revealed anew, renamed after Stephen Sondheim, the great American composer whose tunes few can hum. No fear of that with Schonberg and Boublils legendary musical. Directors Laurence Connor and James Powell have come up with a new-look Les Mis for its 35th year. Gone is the famous stage revolve in Matt Kinleys design concept, based on the author Victor Hugos own inky drawings. The result is a dark, atmospheric Paris, with starry nightscapes and luminous projections. Paule Constables thrilling lighting beams searchlights over the barricades to a 3D sound design (by Mick Potter) of zinging musket balls that had me ducking. Directors Laurence Connor and James Powell have come up with a new-look Les Mis for its 35th year which it celebrates in the revamped and renamed Sondheim theatre Do you hear the people sing? They never stop! Jon Robyns proves a mightily powerful Jean Valjean, whose self-sacrifice is at the novels core. Bradley Jaden is his weevil persecutor, Javert. I Dreamed A Dream is very prettily sung by Carrie Hope Fletchers delicate Fantine. Shan Akos Eponine has bags of character On My Own is melting and Ian Hughes (replacing Gerard Carey until the end of February) and Josefina Gabrielle get gales of laughs as the incorrigible, thieving Thenardiers. There are plenty of creative links with the original production such as Andreane Neofitous superb period costume designs that assure Les Mis is still what it was. But its clear from this major retread that it still has bags of mileage as does this gorgeously reborn Edwardian theatre. Cirque Du Soleil: Luzia Royal Albert Hall, London Until March 1, 2hrs 20mins Rating: After a run of slick but dud shows, Cirque Du Soleil has come up with something truly original. Described as a waking dream of Mexico, centre stage in the Albert Hall is a waterfall how it drains is a mystery in which birds and fish appear in the droplets. A terrific band matches the heat and exoticism in which the acts are wrapped. Treats include the twin swing boats acrobats lethally ping from one to the other in gravity-defying somersaults. Theres a huge-chested strongman doing muscly feats on tottering pairs of flimsy sticks. Luzia is a welcome return to flying form for this famous circus featuring acrobats, a Tarzan-like aerialist, a strongman and a contortionist (Alexey Golborodko, above) Two youngsters with astonishing ball skills inject a note of street reality into this surreal world, where a giant puppet jaguar shares a water hole with a twirling, Tarzan-like aerialist overhead and a metal horse chases a butterfly thats half-woman. The sole clown bangs on a bit and the contortionist lad folds himself into a dead end. But director Daniele Finzi Pascas truly beautiful production manages to be both mournful and joyous. A return to flying form for this famous circus. Webb County Commissioners Court on Monday voted 3-2 to allow the federal government onto their property to develop Customs and Border Protections preferred alignment for a border wall. READ MORE: Laredo City Council denies federal government access for border wall surveys This is only a small tract, 15 acres and only about 50 feet wide, used to buffer a pipeline that carries water from the Rio Grande to the countys water treatment plant. Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina said he was concerned about any disruption to the water line that could be caused by these surveys or the construction of a wall. He reiterated several times that he is against the border wall, and said its a hot potato issue that no government entity wants to get involved with. However, he voted to grant the government access to the property because he doesnt want to spend public money on what will be a losing proposition. My decision today is not really based on my opinion, to be quite honest with you, Tijerina said. When property owners do not grant the federal government access to their land, the case is taken up by the Department of Justice in federal court. The government has always won these cases, although it typically takes a couple of months until they come before a judge. Laredo City Council last week denied the governments request for the right of entry on the citys river vega land, which spans miles along the Rio Grande. This will delay the governments ability to build a wall here. As of Monday, a condemnation claim had not yet been filed. Tijerina said the citys case was different because it involves so much property. Commissioners John Galo and Cindy Liendo joined him in approving the right of entry. Commissioners Jesse Gonzalez and Wawi Tijerina voted against. I have a law enforcement background, and I understand the safety and precautionary measures that we have to obviously take into consideration for this. I strongly believe there are other measures, other ideas out there. My personal opinion is I am not in support of this, Gonzalez said. Jose Castillo, assistant chief agent for Laredo Sector Border Patrol, said in Webb and Zapata counties, 109 landowners have granted the government access to conduct surveys and 34 have not. Some of these landowners theyre having a difficult time finding, he said. Last week when the director of the Border Wall Management Program in Washington, D.C. told City Council that 40% of landowners had signed the right of entry, he was referring only to properties within the City of Laredo, Castillo said. After the commissioners vote Monday morning, a few Laredoans took to Facebook to express their disapproval. Tricia Cortez, executive director of the Rio Grande International Study Center and a leading force in opposition of the wall, said this was a disappointing vote by the Commissioners Court. This project is a waste of taxpayer money for an area thats not in a war zone, she said. READ MORE: Hundreds of locals march against border wall on MLK Day By forcing this project down our throats, suspending so many laws, studies and public input, and by undertaking such an extraordinary land grab, the federal government has basically told us that our lands our river, our wildlife, our lives dont matter, Cortez wrote. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com January 28 : Mission Mangal director Jagan Shetty diagnosed with a blood clot is now responding well. Director Jagan Shetty who was admitted to a city hospital for treatment on 25 January has been diagnosed with a clot in his brain and was said to be critical. But Balki who had co-produced Mission Mangal shared that Jagan is responding well to the treatment is out of danger now. The filmmaker was reportedly socializing with friends when he collapsed and was rushed to a hospital. His family immediately rushed to Mumbai to be with him. On the work front, Jagan has assisted R Balki on several films before marking his directorial debut last year with Mission Mangal. The film earned a lot of praise for August 2019 release, which featured an ensemble cast of Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, Nithya Menen, Kirti Kulhari and Sharman Joshi. The film narrated the story of Indias Mars Orbiter Mission and focused on the team which worked on the assignment. As per the reports it was also stated that Jagan Shakti was in talks with Akshay Kumar for a film titled 'Ikka' which was said to be a remake of 2014 Tamil blockbuster 'Kaththi'. Retired Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher has lashed out at the 'coward' members of his former platoon who testified against him at his war crimes trial, giving them disparaging nicknames and warning that the real truth is still coming. Gallagher, a former Special Operations Chief, took aim at members of his former Team 7 Alpha Platoon in a three-minute video he posted on Facebook and Instagram on Monday. The 40-year-old unleashed on his former team a month after previously unseen video emerged of the SEALs being interviewed by naval criminal investigators about Gallagher. The SEALs described their platoon leader as 'evil,' 'toxic' and 'perfectly okay with killing anybody that was moving' in the footage obtained by The New York Times. Retired Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher (pictured with wife Andrea) took aim at members of his former Team 7 Alpha Platoon in a three-minute video he posted on Facebook and Instagram on Monday He highlighted the names and ranks of the SEALs alongside their photos - giving some of his platoon members that testified against him nicknames One he refers to as 'Crying Craig Miller' and Joshua Vriens he dubs 'The Joker'. Elsewhere in the video he calls Thomas McNeil 'DJ Tom McNeil' The interviews were conducted before Gallagher was charged in September 2018 - and then later acquitted - of war crimes, including the murder of a wounded ISIS fighter in Iraq. But now Gallagher has used the same clips of his former platoon members being interviewed by investigators in a video he posted on social media on Monday. He highlighted the names and ranks of the SEALs alongside their photos - giving some of his platoon members that testified against him nicknames. One he refers to as 'Crying Craig Miller' and Joshua Vriens he dubs 'The Joker'. Elsewhere in the video he calls Thomas McNeil 'DJ Tom McNeil'. Ahead of naming the members of his team, he talks about his case. 'My entire adult life I've had the honor and privilege of fighting for this country,' Gallagher said in the video. 'Even though I went to trial, exposed all the lies about me by certain cowards in my platoon and found not guilty, there are those to this day who refuse to accept that fact. 'The fight to clear my name is not over. 'The truth has never been fully exposed about what really happened. You may think you know, but you have no idea. 'For those who continue to slander my name, the truth is coming.' Gallagher's war crimes case gained national attention after Donald Trump intervened on his behalf despite strong objections from Pentagon leaders who said the president's move could damage the integrity of the military judicial system. It comes about a month after previously unseen video emerged of the SEALs being interviewed by naval criminal investigators regarding Gallagher The SEALs described their platoon leader as 'evil,' 'toxic' and 'perfectly okay with killing anybody that was moving' in the footage obtained by The New York Times The footage of the SEALs' interviews was part of a trove of confidential Navy investigative materials that the NYT obtained about the prosecution of Gallagher. They were all part of the investigative files used in Gallagher's high-profile trial this summer. The interviews painted a picture of Gallagher, who was their platoon chief during a 2017 deployment to Iraq, being a reckless leader who had a hunger for violence. 'The guy is freaking evil,' Special Operator First Class Craig Miller told investigators during his interview. In a separate interview, Special Operator First Class Joshua Vriens said: 'The guy was toxic.' Special Operator First Class Corey Scott, who was a medic, was recorded saying: 'You could tell he was perfectly okay with killing anybody that was moving.' 'I think he just wants to kill anybody he can,' Scott added elsewhere in his interview. Some described him as 'getting crazier and crazier' and also that they'd heard rumors of Gallagher 'targeting civilians'. 'I saw Eddie take a shot at, probably, a 12-year-old,' one said in their interview. Three SEALS told investigators in their interviews that they saw Gallagher stab a wounded ISIS fighter in the neck during a 2017 deployment to Iraq. 'I saw it happen,' Petty Officer 2nd Class Ivan Villanueva said in his interview. It was these interviews that led to Gallagher being charged with murder. Following his trial, a military jury acquitted Gallagher of all charges except one, posing in photos with the dead ISIS captive. He is pictured above holding up the slain captive's head Gallagher has always maintained that the charges brought against him were made up by six members of his platoon who wanted to force him out Gallagher has always maintained that the charges brought against him were made up by six members of his platoon who wanted to force him out. Following the release of the videos, Gallagher - in a statement through his lawyer - said: 'My first reaction to seeing the videos was surprise and disgust that they would make up blatant lies about me, but I quickly realized that they were scared that the truth would come out of how cowardly they acted on deployment. 'I felt sorry for them that they thought it necessary to smear my name, but they never realized what the consequences of their lies would be. As upset as I was, the videos also gave me confidence because I knew that their lies would never hold up under real questioning and the jury would see through it. Their lies and N.C.I.S.'s refusal to ask hard questions or corroborate their stories strengthened my resolve to go to trial and clear my name.' Scott, one of the SEALS who was interviewed in the videos, later changed his story when he was called to testify during Gallagher's trial. He had told the investigators that he saw Gallagher stab the wounded ISIS fighter multiple times before he died. At the time, Scott and Gallagher were treating the fighter after he had been injured in an airstrike. During the trial, Scott changed his story and admitted to suffocating the fighter by covering his breathing tube after Gallagher only stabbed him once. Some of the SEALS who were interviewed by investigators were never called to testify during Gallagher's trial. Following the trial, a military jury acquitted Gallagher of all war crimes charges except one, posing in photos with the dead captive. Gallagher was demoted but was later allowed to keep his Trident Pin and retire a SEAL following Trump's intervention. Border Patrol agents from Detroit and Ohio along with the Drug Enforcement Agency arrested a MS-13 gang member, who has previously been deported to Mexico on five occasions. Juan Carlos Alvarez-Robles, a native of Mexico, was apprehended on a federal warrant for unlawfully being in the United States, for impersonating a US citizen and providing authorities with a false name last Wednesday in Toledo, Ohio . According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the 38-year-old has a criminal record that spans almost 30 years, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Alvarez-Robles, who once again was unlawfully living in the United States, 'is suspected of numerous nefarious activities in the Great Lakes region.' His past charges include: possession of a controlled substance, transporting and selling of narcotics, grand theft auto, as well as multiple accounts of theft and burglary. Mexican national Juan Carlos Alvarez-Robles was arrested last Thursday in Toledo, Ohio, by the Drug Enforcement Agency and Border Patrol agents from Detroit and Ohio. The 38-year-old is a MS-13 gang member and was previously deported five times from the United States According to the Detroit Free Press, Alvarez-Robles was questioned by the Toledo police near a storefront after his girlfriend dropped him off following a fight. While being questioned, he gave the cop a false name. Alvarez-Robles, whose arms and chest are covered in tattoos, then told the law enforcement agent he had joined the Vatos Locos, also known as the Varrio Locates 13 Watts, an affiliate of the MS-13, when he was questioned about the artwork on his body. The undocumented immigrant was busted by Ohio police in December for falsification. A police report indicated he was previously nabbed using the same Social Security number that was used by at least 14 other people. Federal authorities are accusing him of unlawful entry into the United States and impersonating a U.S. citizen. 'This was a perfectly executed warrant resulting in the removal of a hardened criminal from our community without incident,' said Acting Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Alan Booth. 'I applaud all of the law enforcement professionals that worked on this case, resulting in making the city of Toledo a safer place.' Update: Planners in Cork City Council have told a UK property firm that they must remove the top floor of their planned six-storey hostel development on Cork's Grand Parade. Westhill, through an Irish subsidiary Bluescape Limited, has secured permission to redevelop the former tourist office at 40-42 Grand Parade. The development was to provide 246 hostel bed spaces in 48 rooms over six floors. The development called Tourist House will also include a ground floor bar and a rooftop terrace. The decision adds to a significant number of hotels, hostels, and budget accommodation in the city that are already under construction or awaiting approval. The Dean Hotel by Clarendon and Bam is set to open this year while the Dalata Group opened a new Maldron hotel on the citys South Mall in December 2018. However, Westhill says Cork still lags behind other cities and regional towns for hotels and budget accommodation. Cork has significantly fewer hotels than Galway and only three more than Limerick. In terms of hostel accommodation specifically, the outlook is similar. The companys application for a hostel in Cork was met with some opposition. Caseys Furniture store said it welcomed the redevelopment of the site as a hostel but said it had serious concerns about the proposed ground-floor bar. It said there are nine bars within 200m of the site and if the hostel bar was to proceed, it would result in a serious over-predominance of bars within an area close to the primary retail area of the city. Another landowner said the height of the planned hostel would obliterate light to neighbouring properties. However, planners in Cork City Council have granted permission for the development. One of the planning conditions requires them to remove the top floor of the planned development in the interest of visual aesthetics and integration with the existing environment. Westhill must also install windows facing onto the narrow Rochford Lane running alongside the building where the bar will be located to improve vibrancy and surveillance of the area. Last year, Westhill secured planning permission from Dublin City Council to build on Ushers Quay developing 27 apartments alongside commercial space. The site was subsequently put for sale with agent Knight Frank guiding at 2.75m. FLINT, MI -- The Flint Board of Education is directing the districts administration to go back to the drawing board to come up with a plan to reduce the districts massive yearly structural deficit. A meeting originally scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan 30 has been postponed until further notice pending the gathering of additional information, according to a Tuesday, Jan. 28 statement released by the district. The meeting could have resulted in a final determination on the proposed consolidation plan, but Board President Casey Lester said the board could not agree to pass any of the plans it has been presented, all of which include the closure of school buildings. North side residents speak out as Flint schools consider consolidation options The board asked the administration in the statement to revisit the assumptions that were provided to the Michigan Department of Treasury" in its approved enhanced deficit elimination plan and to "provide the Board of Education with alternatives to meet the fiscal criteria set within the document, in keeping with recent public discussions. The deadline for the board to make a decision is looming. Superintendent Derrick Lopez has said that a decision must be made by February so the district can begin planning for the 2020-2021 academic year. School administrators have been in discussion with the Department of Treasury throughout the process, Lester said. He said he believes the state will continue to work with the district as it works for a plan that best serves its children. Were pushing back against that deadline because were talking about childrens lives and childrens education, Lester said. The board has conducted three community workshops this January. During those meeting, residents, students and parents have expressed a wish that all schools remain open. The board has expressed it would like keep open all remaining schools. However, Lopez believes school closures will be necessary to get finances in line with what the state wants. If no decision is made to meet a reduction of around $5 million of yearly operational expenses, the district could no longer be in a place of self-determination," Lopez has expressed multiple times. In plans presented to the board, Lopez outlined how building closures would cut back on administrative costs and adjust the size of the districts operations budget to reflect current enrollment, Lopez has said. Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet to repair this massive deficit," Lopez said in an editorial to MLive-The Flint Journal. "We must be clear about the fact that the cavalry isnt coming. We must make tough choices to reduce costs and keep our district strong. Those tough choices must begin immediately, as we can no longer delay the inevitable. Per state law, If a school district is subject to an enhanced deficit elimination plan"... and the state treasurer determines that the school district has failed to submit or comply with the requirements of the enhanced deficit elimination plan, the state treasurer may declare that a financial emergency exists within the school district and recommend that the governor appoint an emergency manager to address the financial emergency within the district," under section 141.1547a of the Local Financial Stability and Choice Act of 2012. Michigan Department of Treasury spokesperson Ron Leix could not say when the state might intervene. I cant make assumptions about what could happen, he said. Discussions are ongoing with the school district. Lopez has said a $5.7 million yearly deficit accumulated by the district over the past five years is due to two things: legacy debt (about $2.1 million per year) and inflated special education costs (about $3.6 million per year). The district encouraged members of the public to view all discussed documents and information regarding upcoming meetings on its website. While the meeting has been postponed, Lester encouraged residents and parents to continue to bring concerns to board members. Read more here: The cavalry isnt coming and Flint schools must make tough decisions, district leader says Flints Eisenhower Elementary School taken off possible closure list Flint school board votes to get bond proposals on March ballot Flint school board votes to send deficit elimination plan to the state Karachi, Jan 28 : Minister of Minority Affairs in Pakistan's Sindh province Hariram Kishori has called for action against perpetrators of attack on a Hindu temple in Tharparkar districts's Chachro under that country's blasphemy law. Officials of the Minority Affairs Ministry said Kishori told Mirpur Khas police officers that the case should be dealt with under the country's blasphemy law, Pakistani media reported. The Minister condemned the attack on Mata Rani Bhatiyani temple and called for investigating the crime. "Chachro is known for peace and communal harmony. Those who want to disturb it are responsible for the attack on the temple. Such incidents are shocking for the Hindu community," he said. Meanwhile, a 'Dawn' report citing a statement on Monday from the Senior Superintendent of Police office at Tharparkar said four teenagers have been arrested on charges of theft at a temple in Aliabad, near Chachro. The statement said the boys, aged 12 and 15 years, have confessed to have stolen money from the cash collection box of the temple located at village Premo Ji Vari in Chachro. The statement also referred to desecration of the temple. The police claim to have registered cases against four unidentified persons after receiving a complaint from a villager, the report added. Justice Moshud Abass of the Ibadan Division of the Oyo State High Court on Tuesday restrained the 68 elected chairpersons of the 33 local government areas and 35 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) of the state from forceful takeover of the council offices. Mr Abass also restrained the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar; Commissioner of Police, Oyo State, Shina Olukolu; and the state APC chairman, Akin Oke; from taking further steps in taking over of the council secretariats. The council bosses who were sacked last year by Governor Seyi Makinde returned to their various offices on Monday at the back of directives by federal authorities. The officials were elected in 2018 during the administration of former governor, Abiola Ajimobi. READ ALSO: But Mr Abass in his ruling granted the four reliefs sought by the lead counsel to the Oyo State Government, Akin Onigbinde, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), including an order of interim injunction restraining the chairpersons from forcefully taking over the Local Government Councils or taking steps capable of causing a breach of peace in the state. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the orders of interim injunction followed an ex-parte motion filed by the State Government in Suit No: I/78/2020. The parties and their agents were restrained from taking any step that could affect the pending hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice. The court restrained the chairpersons, as well as the four other defendants, their officers, agents, privies or otherwise, from embarking on self-help to give effect to a letter dated January 14 with reference number HAGF/OYO/2020/VOL.I/1 issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation to the chairpersons and the Inspector-General of Police, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice. (Alliance News) - German construction company Hochtief AG on Tuesday said a joint venture has won a EUR1.2 billion contract in the Netherlands. The contract will see Hochtief's GelreGroen joint venture work on the A12/A15 motorway project near the Dutch city of Arnhem. The GelreGroen joint venture includes Essen-based Hochtief with a 40% stake, the UK's John Laing Group PLC with 40%, and Dutch construction firm Dura Vermeer and Belgium's BESIX Group with 10% each. It will extend the A15 for a further 12 kilometre, and widen a 23 kilometres worth of both the A12 and A15 roads. Apart from design and construction, the contract also includes finance and maintenance until 2044. Work will start by the end of 2020, and Hochtief expects the new section of road and the extra lanes to be ready by 2024. Hochtief Chief Executive Marcelino Fernandez Verdes said: "Once again we are pleased to be awarded for a major infrastructure project in the Netherlands, following the success of our highway project SAAOne near Amsterdam." Hochtief shares were 0.9% lower in Frankfurt on Tuesday at EUR107.30, with John Laing 0.6% lower in London at 360.60 pence each. By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Alera Group has acquired Muench Financial Inc. in Seattle, Wash. Muench Financial joins Alera Group through Wilson Albers. The Muench Financial team will operate out of Alera Groups Seattle office. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Muench Financial works with small and medium-sized businesses throughout the Northwest in a variety of capacities, with service offerings including evaluating retirement plan features, plan participant education, monitoring and evaluating plan investments and implementing retirement programs. Alera Group is an independent insurance agency serving clients nationally in employee benefits, property/casualty, retirement services and wealth management. Topics Mergers Washington All three "Beverly Hills Cop" movies have been remastered and reissued in the "Beverly Hills Cop: 3 Movie Collection" Blu-ray box set, available for around $25. The first two movies are as great as ever, and the third one has aged better than the negative reviews it got at the time. 1994's "Beverly Hills Cop" marked one of the last times that R-rated Eddie Murphy appeared onscreen before he took a 25-year, family-friendly turn ("Shrek," "Nutty Professor," "Doctor Dolittle") before the foul-mouthed (and funnier) version returned in 2019's "Dolemite Is My Name." To review: Murphy plays Axel Foley, a Detroit cop who pursues a murder investigation lead to Los Angeles and gets tangled up with the Beverly Hills Police Department. That's the basic plot of all three movies, even though the reasons for getting him back to LA get harder to believe with each sequel. Foley is a talented cop who just can't do things by the book. He drives his supervisors crazy and pisses off authority figures everywhere he goes. That got us to thinking: Whatever his problems with following orders, Axel has a lot of qualities that make him an excellent guy to have in your unit. WARNING: Like many loyal and honorable military men, Foley and his fellow cops have a tendency to use colorful language. If such language upsets you, you'd be advised not to watch the video clips below. 1. He's an expert marksman. Axel learned his trade on the streets of Detroit, a city that had the reputation of being an American war zone back in the '80s. He shows up at a Beverly Hills gun club and shows the amateurs how it's done. 2. He knows how to handle an ass-chewing. After an undercover operation goes wrong, Foley's Inspector Todd (brilliantly played by real-life Detroit police detective Gilbert R. Hill) tears into Axel for his reckless behavior. Foley patiently takes his medicine, waiting for his boss to yell himself out. Who doesn't want to stand next to that guy? Hill made only three movies during his lifetime: "Beverly Hills Cop," "Beverly Hills Cop 2" and "Beverly Hills Cop 3." He used his movie fame to run for Detroit mayor in 2001, but the power of inspector didn't carry him to victory. Still, Gil Hill is the R. Lee Ermey of police detectives and deserves to be recognized for his exceptional skills with profanity. 3. He has the patience to communicate with foreign nationals. Back in Detroit, they sure don't have outrageous Eurotrash like Serge (Bronson Pinchot), but those guys are all over Beverly Hills. Axel has the patience and grace to listen to Serge and effectively communicate with a guy who even Hollywood types would find to be a real challenge. His performance as Serge led to Pinchot's signature role as Balki in the television comedy "Perfect Strangers." That kept Serge out of "Beverly Hills Cop 2," but he was back for "Beverly Hills Cop 3." 4. He can take a beating. As Foley investigates the murder of his childhood friend in "Beverly Hills Cop," he confronts the man he thinks is responsible for the death and gets roughed up by the bad guy's goon squad. Axel doesn't flinch, doesn't whine and doesn't complain (much). He's got both the mental and physical toughness you want from a guy who needs to have your six. 5. He knows how to pack for a trip. When Axel pulls up to a Beverly Hills hotel in his old beater of a Chevy Nova, the bellman asks if he can take his luggage. Foley directs him to the car's front seat and he pulls out a laundry bag that bears a striking resemblance to a duffel bag. The man travels light and he's ready for action. No matter what drama he creates, Axel Foley catches the bad guy and completes the mission. He even gets the Beverly Hills detectives (played by John Ashton and Judge Reinhold) to loosen up and learn that sometimes it's better not to do things by the book. Wouldn't you want to serve with a guy like that? A woman found a new use for the popular dating app Tinder after extreme weather caused her camper to get stuck on the side of a mountain in northern Norway. Lonia Hager was traveling to Lofoten after visiting the North Cape, the most northern point of Europe. But according to her Instagram post, while she and her friend, Phil, traveled down the mountainside, "it started raining...the street iced up that we even couldnt stay on one point!" Feeling "helpless against Mother Nature," the pair realized that they were stuck and were concerned that another vehicle could come down the mountain and crash into them or that their camper might slide off the mountainside into the ocean below. Phil had the weird but actually genius idea to create a tinder account with me and this fluffy cutie, Hager wrote in her follow up post. The two created a Tinder account for Hager and within five minutes she matched with Stian Lauluten, who lived nearby and had a bulldozer. Five minutes after they connected, Lauluten was on his way to rescue them. Lauluten "shaped lines in the ice" for the camper to travel through and then took them to a nearby parking lot. The next day, Lauluten helped them fix their tires with spikes to prevent future similar incidents. Hager calls him a hero. Lauluten responded to the Instagram saying: "I'm glad I could help you guys! Have a nice trip, And stay safe on the iceroads of Norway!" [January 28, 2020] Workplace By OS33 Announces New Cloud Security And Compliance Solution At FSI OneVoice 2020 SAN DIEGO, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Workplace by OS33, an Ambassador Sponsor of FSI, is proud to announce at FSI OneVoice 2020, its unveiling of Workplace Stronghold, the broker dealer and insurance industry's most advanced, purpose-built cloud security and compliance platform. Workplace Stronghold helps firms to meet FINRA, SEC and state regulatory and cybersecurity requirements by establishing a secure perimeter around firms' files, folders, and critical applications like CRM and financial planning tools being utilized by independent advisors. Workplace Stronghold is the only solution available for broker dealers to enable an all-in-one solution that addresses the unique regulatory and cybersecurity challenges faced by financial firms with independent agents, representatives and advisors while boosting productivity. "Investor data and sensitive personal identifiable information resides everywhere, including the devices used and owned by independent advisors. Industry regulators are correct to hold firms accountable for keeping the data safe, regarless of where it resides, but this has historically been a nearly insurmountable challenge. Stronghold was purposely designed to conquer this challenge and is now being used by thousands of advisors who affiliate with our enterprise clients," says Morley Ivers, President of Workplace by OS33. Ivers added, "It is no longer sufficient to merely ensure compliance of the endpoints. As an industry, financial services firms must be accountable to ensure that every investor interaction with data is safeguarded." Workplace Stronghold makes it possible for firms to deliver sensitive applications and share data with independent agents, reps and advisors, while satisfying fiduciary obligations to protect their clients' personal information. Workplace Stronghold is available for live demo at FSI OneVoice 2020. To learn more about Workplace Stronghold, visit www.os33.com/workplace-stronghold. About Workplace by OS33 Workplace by OS33 is the industry's leading cloud security and compliance platform for investment advisory firms, broker dealers, and insurance companies with independent agents, representatives, and advisors. Workplace solves the unique regulatory and cybersecurity challenges facing financial firms by enabling productivity, while helping to safeguard data and ensure regulatory compliance. Media contact John DeVincent VP, Marketing [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/workplace-by-os33-announces-new-cloud-security-and-compliance-solution-at-fsi-onevoice-2020-300993153.html SOURCE OS33 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Clark said his rift with Winters opened shortly after he appointed the chief last May and has persisted despite multiple attempts to rehabilitate the situation. The last straw, the mayor said, occurred Jan. 22 when the chief emailed him to inform him he was rescinding his directive to promote three officers to leadership roles. Winters said Tuesday that he did not feel the officers warranted the promotions. SENATOR Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday, January 28, said she was looking into the suspension of operations of Philippine offshore gambling operators (Pogo) because the sector has attracted criminals into the country and boosted prostitution. Hontiveros revealed in a Senate hearing Tuesday that a "menu" of sex services, including photos of trafficked Chinese women, is circulated through messaging apps Telegram and WeChat. "May menu of services, parang restaurant, 'yung mga babae, parang ino-order lang sa applications ng mga Chinese members ng chat group," she said as she presented the results of her investigation into sexual trafficking. She posted a screenshot of such a "menu" on social media Tuesday. The senator said there is a need to act on this problem while reviewing the economic impact and ensuring the protection of women and children. "We have to take action. We need to look into suspending POGO operations because they attract criminals into our country," Hontiveros said. She called on the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to conduct an immediate crackdown against Pogo-related prostitution in the Philippines. Hontiveros, who heads the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, condemned the involvement of Filipino and Chinese women in prostitution dens catering to Chinese nationals in the country. According to reports from the NBI, four Filipino women and 91 Chinese, who served as sex workers catering to Pogo employees, were rescued in a karaoke bar in Makati City in October. "Pati 'yung mga sarili nating kababaihan at kabataan, nabibiktima na--Hindi pwedeng nagiging pugad tayo ng Chinese prostitution dens," Hontiveros said. "Tatlo ang anak kong babae, ang isa menor de edad. 'Pag nakikita ko sa TV ang mga babaeng nahuhuli sa raid na punong puno ng hiya at takot, isa lang ang tumatakbo sa isip ko 'this girl is someone's daughter'. And we have failed her," she added. At the House of Representatives, Gabriela Party-list Representative Arlene Brosas filed House Resolution No. 604 which seeks to investigate prostitution rings often disguised as karaoke bars and wellness centers. (SunStar Philippines) The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 11 Indian fishermen belonging to Tamil Nadu for allegedly violating territorial waters while fishing near the Palk Strait area. "More than 600 mechanised boats went from Rameshwaram yesterday with the fishermen and ventured out into the sea. When they were doing fishing activities near the Palk Strait area, the Sri Lankan Navy, who was on rounds, arrested 11 fishermen along with one boat," CR Senthivel, Sea Workers Association State Secretary told ANI on Tuesday. "They have been taken to a prison in Sri Lanka. This has been a routine affair. Both state and central governments have failed to address the issue. The livelihood of fishermen has been continuously affected," he said. Last week, four fishermen were arrested and taken to Kankensanthurai Naval base by Sri Lankan Navy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) - Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Dr Badu Sarkodie has stated that Ghanaian students locked up in virus-struck Wuhan in China should not be allowed in the country - Additionally, he said health professionals are being trained to detect and handle any case with semblance to the virus Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Dr Badu Sarkodie has stated that Ghanaian students locked up in virus-struck Wuhan in China should not be allowed in the country for now. Speaking on the Morning Starr on Starr FM, he said the GHS has put adequate measures in place at the various entry points of the country to ensure that all individuals entering the country are fully screened before entry. Additionally, he said health professionals are being trained to detect and handle any case with semblance to the virus. READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Gov't should come to our aid; we want to come home - Ghanaian students in China If they are in the area where the virus has been detected, I will suggest we dont permit these students to move out because that area is on lockdown in China. But if they are not at those areas then lets use the various means including Immigration procedures and the various Health processes to deal with it so that it does not affect anyone, he told Morning Starr. According to reports, the death toll from the new coronavirus now stands at 106, as cases of new infections have almost doubled in a day, Chinese authorities said. The number of total confirmed cases in China rose to 4,515 as of 27 January, up from 2,835 a day earlier. Travel restrictions have been tightened and wearing masks in public is now mandatory in some cities. READ ALSO: Sammy Gyamfi speaks after bail by police Meanwhile, Ghanaian students in Wuhan in China, are calling on government to evacuate them from the country since there is an outbreak of coronavirus in the country. According to a JoyNews report, the Wuhan Chapter President of Ghanaian students, Samson Opoku, the city has been completely locked down for eight days and as a result, people have run out of food supplies. We are 151 students in the city now, and for us, we want evacuation back home to Ghana. When the outbreak subsides or ends then we return and continue our academic work," he stated. READ ALSO: New Coronavirus: First person in West Africa tested for deadly virus after showing symptoms Burna Boy's full performance at Manifestive 2019 | #Yencomgh Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh T erry Christian has ramped up his criticism of "gullible" Leave voters amid fallout from an explosive Brexit row on Good Morning Britain. The ITV programme invited TV presenter Mr Christian onto the panel to sit beside Conservative politician and staunch Brexiteer Mark Francois following backlash over a tweet in which he labelled Leave voters "pitiable saps". Much of the conversation on Tuesday morning was taken up with Mr Christian and host Piers Morgan shouting over each other, while co-host Susanna Reid attempted to calm the situation. She shouted at one point: "Terry, we've heard enough!" after Mr Christian launched into a furious rant. Following backlash over his appearance, Mr Christian tweeted: "Brexit is a con sold to the gullible by con men like Liar Johnson, Farage, Rees Moog. "As with all con men, they target the uneducated and Old Age Pensioner as they are the easiest to con." During the GMB show, Morgan had questioned Mr Christian on a tweet he published and later deleted in which he said people who voted to leave the EU "deserved" to lose their jobs after Brexit. The tweet read: "Brexiteers deserve all the job losses and hardship heading their and their familys way. All those tough Christmases ahead for their kids, all their short-term pain. "But I will get behind it in future by buying a Big Issue off the pitiable saps. Terry Christian made the comments during an appearance on GMB / GMB Asked about the tweet by Morgan, Mr Christian responded: "Do you know why I deleted it? Because people who sell the Big Issue aren't pitiable saps." He continued: "However people who - despite all the evidence - have voted to make their own lives and everybody's harder, are. "You'll see that. You're seeing it in Honda shutting down, you're seeing it in the 420,000 jobs that have already gone because of Brexit. "And also, we're not leaving on Friday, we're leaving next year - if they can sort something out." Mr Christian's comments were met with a shouting Morgan who, despite his attempts, was unable to get a word in edgeways. Mr Francois, who backed the failed bid to have Big Bong chime on Brexit day, said: "You are the living embodiment of why people voted to leave the EU. "They didn't want to have to spend their lives being lectured by people like you." While much of the backlash came from people outraged by Mr Christian's comments, a number of people hit out at GMB's decision to invite Mr Christian on to reflect the Remain viewpoint. One Twitter user accused show producers of only existing "as a kneejerk to twitter", adding ironically: "Because Everybody knows that Terry Christian is the official spokesman for all those in the UK who voted remain. US president unveiled his Middle East plan, which he has also referred to as the deal of the century. After more than two years of discussions and various delays, United States President Donald Trump has unveiled his long-awaited Middle East plan, which he has also referred to as the deal of the century. The Palestinian leadership rejected the proposal even before its release. Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser and craftsman of Trumps Middle East plan, said the US president termed the proposal a last chance for Palestinians to have a state and to find peace and prosperity. This is what the plan called Peace to Prosperity looks like: Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) A lawyer and his driver were killed in a shooting incident in Pampanga on Tuesday morning. According to the police report, the victims were identified as Atty. Carlos Anselmo and his driver Marcial Mendoza. The victims were traversing the provincial road in Barangay San Vicente in Santa Rita at 9:00 am, when three unidentified male suspects onboard their motorcycles shot the victims using a caliber .45 pistol. The suspects were able to escape the crime scene going to another direction. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Noemi Cassanelli (Agence France-Presse) Korzok, India Tue, January 28, 2020 10:02 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206143649 2 Art & Culture pashmina,Ladakh Free For centuries the Changpa have tended the shaggy goats that provide silky-soft, super-expensive pashmina wool. But now many are rethinking their way of life, in part because of climate change. Winters have become harsher and summers drier for the semi-nomadic people living 5,000 meters up in the Changtang region straddling northern India and Tibet. This and other factors have pushed many on the inhospitable plateau to abandon their traditions and migrate to villages and cities in the Ladakh region in search of alternative sources of income. Pashmina, a highly coveted cashmere wool, comes from the fine undercoat of a breed of Himalayan goat found in India, Nepal, Tibet and Central Asia. But the pashmina from Changtang is seen by purists as the best. For this exceptionally warm, light and fine fibre, the animals need the particular climatic conditions of the Changpa's homeland. "During the period June to September we live in the camp inside tents but during the winter we have to shift to Korzok village because the weather gets too cold," said Sonam Yangzom, 55. "We will have to build a house in the camp because living in the tents is getting too cold," she told AFP, her face weather-beaten after a lifetime in Changtang. Read also: As tourists flock to Indian Himalayas, women lead plastics clean-up Shopkeeper Irfan Goruu, 31, said there were sometimes shortages of pashmina because of the changing weather. "If the nomads of Ladakh do not produce it then nobody will... so this industry will finish," he told AFP. ActionAid International activist Harjeet Singh said northern India is at the forefront of the ravages of climate change, suffering more droughts, floods and cyclones. "These impacts are driving migration. People are leaving their homes. And we have seen that their livelihoods change, their patterns of life change," the 43-year-old told AFP. "Right now at the international level, we talk much more about the economic impacts of climate change. But gradually people are realizing that we need to look also at the social, cultural and environmental impacts such as the loss of culture, loss of language, loss of territory and loss of biodiversity." Topics : pashmina Ladakh Two more people filed on Friday, Jan. 24, to run for the Ward B seat on Katy City Council in the May 2 election. Incumbent Ward B Councilman Durran C. Dowdle is being challenged by Steve Pierson, Rory Robertson and Sam Pearson. Dowdle, a project manager, has represented Ward B since 2016. Pierson, who works in law enforcement and previously served 12 years on Katy City Council. Robertson is a registered investment adviser. Pearson is a minister and a retired peace officer. The May 2 ballot also includes a contest for Ward A. Incumbent Janet Corte, a retired IT consultant, is opposed by Diane R. Walker, a life insurance broker. Corte first won election in May 2018. Running unopposed is At-Large Councilman Chris Harris, an analyst, who also serves as mayor pro tem. He was elected to City Council in May 2018. A charter change approved by voters in May 2017 means that terms for members of council now are three years instead of two effective Jan. 1, 2020. The charter limits members to two consecutive three-year terms on council. The deadline to file to run for office is Friday, Feb. 14. In order to run for office, a candidate must be a U.S. citizen whos at least 21 years old and is a qualified voter living within the city at least 12 months prior to the election. Filing began Jan. 15. For information, contact City Secretary Becky L. McGrew at citysecretary@cityofkaty.com or at 281-391-4815. People also can go to https://www.cityofkaty.com/government/city-departments/city-secretary/elections for details. karen.zurawski@chron.com New Delhi/IBNS: In an yet another controversial remark passed by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in the ongoing campaign trail for the Delhi assembly elections, saffron party MP Parvesh Verma courted a row by saying the protestors at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh will enter into homes and rape women. Referring to the dark days of ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu and Kashmir, Verma told ANI, "These people had raped Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir... Now they have come to Delhi. They will enter the houses of Delhi and rape daughters, sisters. People of Delhi must keep all these things in mind because Narendra Modi and Amit Shah will not be there to save them at that time." This is not the first instance where Verma passed such a controversial remark. The Lok Sabha MP from West Delhi on Monday said all mosques in his constituencies will be demolished if the BJP comes to power in Delhi which will go to polls on Feb 8. All protestors from Shaheen Bagh will be removed within an hour if BJP comes to power, Verma had said. BJP goes foul-mouthed in Delhi polls In the run up to the Delhi polls, BJP candidate from Model Town constituency, Kapil Mishra, was barred by the Election Commission from campaigning for 48 hours after he had compared the upcoming assembly elections with a fight between India and Pakistan. Union Minister and prominent BJP leader, Anurag Thakur, on Monday courted a row by giving a call to "shoot the traitors" while lashing out at the Shaheen Bagh protestors. Thakur, the Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, during a rally in poll-bound Delhi a day ago was heard giving slogans, "Desh ke gaddaron ko (the traitors of the country)," to which people in the crowd responded saying, "goli maaro sa**o ko (shoot them down)". The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi on Tuesday sought a report from the returning officer in Rithala constituency over Thakur's remarks. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons WASHINGTON Former Rep. Claudia Tenney said Monday that she has picked up the designation of three county Republican committees as she seeks the GOP nomination in the 22nd Congressional District. Tenney won the backing of the Herkimer County Republican Committee on Monday over three GOP rivals George Phillips, Steve Cornwell and Franklin Sager. Tenney previously won the GOP designation in Madison and Oswego counties. The 22nd District covers eight counties from Lake Ontario to the Pennsylvania border. None of the other five counties has designated a candidate. Tenney, R-New Hartford, is seeking to reclaim the congressional seat she held for one term before losing in the 2018 election by about 1 percentage point to Rep. Anthony Brindisi. Brindisi, D-Utica, began the month with $1.8 million cash on hand for his re-election campaign, according to a report his campaign plans to file by Friday with the Federal Election Commission. Tenney and the other Republican candidates have not yet reported their end-of-year fundraising totals to the FEC. Brindisi, Tenney and independent political groups from outside of Upstate New York spent about $24 million combined on the 2018 election in the 22nd District, making it one of the most expensive House races in the nation. The 22nd Congressional District covers all of Madison, Oneida, Cortland and Chenango counties and portions of Oswego, Broome, Herkimer, and Tioga counties. If theres a Republican primary election in the district, it would be held June 23. Read more Anthony Brindisi targeted by $300K ad campaign during Trump impeachment trial Anthony Brindisi, John Katko vote against limiting Trumps war powers For Brindisi and Katko, Trump is a minefield like few in the House face Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. We came up with this idea of a class talking about race in modern terms, Leach said. We felt, even when we did try to tackle race at all in class, it was frustrating because our teachers didnt even know how to hold a conversation with it. It was very hard for our students of color and non-students of color to have a conversation when they were afraid to be disrespectful or be easily offended. Reliance Jio has become the largest telecom player by revenue and subscriber base, India Ratings said on Monday. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has remained aggressive in subscriber acquisition and has become the largest player in terms of wireless subscriber market share, broadband subscriber base and revenue, it said. The increase in RJio's subscriber base is largely at the cost of Vodafone Idea Ltd, whose subscriber market share has declined consistently in last two years. Revenue market share of RJio's also grew to 34.9 per cent in 2QFY20, which is the highest in the industry compared to other players, the agency said. India Ratings also said that the industry is showing signs of recovery. The average revenue per user (ARPU) reported by telecom companies has started showing signs of recovery in the last two to three quarters. Moreover, the recent tariff hikes by telcos in the range of 25 per cent to 35 per cent is likely to support the increase in ARPU over the next few quarters. Furthermore, the share of broadband subscribers in the overall subscriber base is on a continuous rise. "The rising share of data subscribers along with growing data traffic and stabilising data tariffs augurs well for revenue growth in our view," it said. It also said that the release of a consultation paper by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in December 2019 to evaluate setting a floor price for telecom tariffs is a positive move for the telecom industry in its view. Additionally, some sense of relief to the telcos was also provided by the extension of the implementation of zero interconnect usage charge regime by a year, the agency said. TRAI has extended levy of INR0.06/minute till December 2020 from December 2019 earlier. As a result, the effective date of implementation of the regime has been postponed to January 1, 2021. Indian Ratings has downgraded VIL's long-term issuer rating to 'IND BBB-' from 'IND BBB' while maintaining it on rating watch negative. The downgrade reflects the crystallisation of adjusted gross revenue related liabilities for VIL post the Supreme Court's adverse ruling on January 16, dismissing the review petition filed by telcos. The SC ruling provides clarity on the liabilities that are payable by VIL to the Department of Telecom, which was earlier contingent upon the outcome of the review petition, the agency said. Officials estimate up to 200 UK citizens will want to return to the UK (Steve Parsons/PA) UK citizens stranded in Wuhan due to the coronavirus are being urged to contact the British consulate as part of repatriation plans. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government is working on how to bring people home from the Chinese city. He told BBC Breakfast: For anybody who is there, one of the issues we have, working with our partners internationally on this, is actually identifying how many British citizens there are in Wuhan. One of the things were asking people to do is to contact the consulate there to make them aware. People have started to do that. We are working on arrangements as well. He added: If they actually contact the consulate where they are then that consulate is in fact gathering together all the information of the people who are there, in order to help repatriate where thats appropriate. We are working to make an option available for British nationals to leave Hubei Province. If you are a British national in Hubei Province and require assistance please contact our 24/7 number +86 (0) 10 8529 6600 or (+44) (0)207 008 1500.#CoronaVirushttps://t.co/n7OOjdKfL8 Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) January 27, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously insisted the Government is doing everything we can to get Britons out of Hubei province, which includes Wuhan. Officials estimate up to 200 UK citizens currently there will want to return to the UK. Hubei province has been on lockdown for several days as China seeks to contain the illness. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Hong Kong has also said it will temporarily close some of its borders with mainland China and stop issuing travel permits to mainland Chinese tourists. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has called for people who have returned to the UK from Wuhan to self-isolate even if they have no symptoms. He said officials could not be 100% certain the virus is not spread by people who are not displaying symptoms. NEW BLOG: Wuhan novel coronavirus: what you need to know https://t.co/9vOzpEOscA UK Health Security Agency (@UKHSA) January 24, 2020 The move means more than 1,400 people who have returned from Wuhan since January 10 should isolate themselves for 14 days from the date of leaving China. Some 1,561 people are now known to have entered the UK from Wuhan since January 10, including airline crew, although some have since left again. Just 10% of these people supplied an email address to the airline and have been contacted with advice on what to do if they feel ill. Mr Hancock said Public Health England officials are trying to trace the others. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) It comes as reports from Japan suggest the first case there of coronavirus in somebody with no history of travel to Wuhan. More than 100 people have now died in China, with confirmed infections surging to more than 4,500. The virus has spread across China and to at least 16 countries globally. Wearing face masks in public is now mandatory in some Chinese cities. On Monday, a 50-year-old man died from the virus in Beijing the first death in the Chinese capital from the virus. Former Married At First Sight star Telv Williams has spoken proudly about taking his two young children to their first 'Invasion Day' protest. Taking to Instagram on Monday, Telv posted a picture of himself and his two children, T.J. and Miah, holding up a sign which read: 'Always was, always will be.' Telv said he was proud to take his children to the protest because he used to protest with his own mother. Protest: Former Married At First Sight star Telv Williams took his two young children to their first 'Invasion Day' protest on Australia Day 'All politics aside, I had such a heart warming experience taking my babies to their first rally,' the former reality star wrote. 'I Remember as a young boy attending sooo many march's (sic) and rally's (sic) with mum. All different kinds, ones for Naidoc week, rally (sic) for gay rights, woman's rights.' Taking to Instagram on Monday, Telv posted a picture of himself and his two children, T.J. and Miah, holding up a sign which read: 'Always was, always will be' He went on to say that protesting was a special memory, and he was happy to be now making those memories with his own children. 'For me this was more than just a rally about a date change, this was a day I'll hold inside my heart for the rest of my life,' he wrote. 'The day I took my babies too their first rally, like mum used too do with me.' Family: Telv shares two children, T.J. and Micah, with ex-partner, Amy Gowers. The reality became a father again last year to son, Sage Telv shares two children, T.J. and Micah, with ex-partner, Amy Gowers. The reality became a father again last year to son, Sage. Earlier in the day, Telv made a more succinct point about how he feels about January 26, and why he won't celebrate Australia Day. 'Why don't I celebrate Australia Day? Pretty much the same reason Jewish people don't celebrate the holocaust. #changethedate #noprideingenocide.' Passionate: Over the weekend, Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth wrote: 'Not sure why we can't celebrate Australia on any of the other 364 days in the year?' The celebration of Australia Day on January 26 remains a polarising subject, with a number of celebrities speaking out on changing the date. Over the weekend, Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth wrote: 'Not sure why we can't celebrate Australia on any of the other 364 days in the year?' He went on to say that changing the date represents the first step in a commitment to reconciliation. Model Jesinta Campbell, who is married to AFL star Buddy Franklin, also publicly said she refuses to celebrate the date. Dr Badu Sarkodie, the director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has called on the authorities not to allow Ghanaian students locked up in virus-hit Wuhan in China move into the country for now. It comes as Ghanaians students on scholarship in the Wuhan area are calling on government to bring them back home as other nations have started picking up their nationals. If they are in the area where the virus has been detected, I will suggest we dont permit these students to move out because that area is on lockdown in China. But if they are not at those areas then lets use the various means including Immigration procedures and the various Health processes to deal with it so that it does not affect anyone, he told Morning Starr host Francis Abban Tuesday. He said the GHS has put adequate measures in place at the various entry points of the country to ensure that all individuals entering the country are fully screened before entry. Additionally, he said health professionals are being trained to detect and handle any case with semblance to the virus. The death toll from the new coronavirus now stands at 106, as cases of new infections have almost doubled in a day, Chinese authorities said. The number of total confirmed cases in China rose to 4,515 as of 27 January, up from 2,835 a day earlier. Travel restrictions have been tightened and wearing masks in public is now mandatory in some cities. The city of Wuhan is at the epicentre of the outbreak but it has spread across China and internationally. Wuhan, and the Hubei province it is located in, are already effectively in a lockdown with transport restrictions in and out of the area. On Monday, authorities in Beijing confirmed a 50-year-old man had died the first fatality in the Chinese capital from the virus. ---Starrfm.com.gh WASHINGTON The House on Monday overwhelmingly approved legislation aimed at improving Holocaust awareness among younger Americans. All Nebraska and Iowa House members supported the measure, which passed 393-5. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who worked to get the legislation passed. At a press conference ahead of the vote, Omahas congressman cited the need to combat rising anti-Semitism in the U.S. and around the world. This is an evil. Anti-Semitism is an evil. Its manifestations are evil, Bacon said. And the Holocaust was one of the worst crimes ever committed against mankind in the history of humanity. Bacon cited incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism in Nebraska, such as the recent painting of swastikas on a Lincoln synagogue. Cheyenne Regional Health System Gift of $250,000 Supports UW Nursing High school student Katelyn France, of Rawlins, checks out a patient simulator mannequin in UWs Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing during the Health Care Careers Summer Camp hosted by the UW College of Health Sciences last summer. A new partnership between the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing and the Cheyenne Regional Health System will create a nursing faculty position. (UW Photo) A gift of $250,000 from the Cheyenne Regional Health System will create a nursing faculty position in the University of Wyomings Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing. Cheyenne Regional is excited about the opportunity to partner with the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing to help enhance nursing education, not only in our community, but also across the entire region, says Cheyenne Regional Chief Nursing Officer Tracy Garcia. Nursing requires extensive and lifelong education to stay on top of all the advances in health care. This partnership will help ensure that nurses in our health system and region have an opportunity to continue to learn, a vital part of providing high-quality nursing care. In December, Cheyenne Regional, which includes Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and its affiliated medical group, partnered with the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing to create a shared faculty position. The position will be funded by both organizations over five years. Position responsibilities include teaching, student advising, research and creative activities, service to the university and community, and administrative responsibilities. The Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing has been proud to partner with Cheyenne Regional in the education of nurses in Wyoming, Dean Sherrill Smith says. This new partnership will allow us to continue to expand our growth of nurses in the state, especially in the area of evidence-based practice to promote safe patient care. This academic-practice partnership aims to further develop the UW student learning experience, recruit Cheyenne Regional staff into the UW nursing program and enhance patient care. The collaboration will help to develop UW student learning. Cheyenne Regional provides students with substantial clinical experience and hires UW graduates. In general, partnerships between the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing and other community health care facilities are vital to UW nursing students, as they improve the quality of students education. While other universities offer hundreds of hours of clinical experience, UW is able to provide more than 1,000 hours because of these alliances. The partnership will make higher education available to nurses at the center and in the Cheyenne area. It aims to increase the number of Cheyenne Regional staff members who have Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or higher degrees. Overall, the partnership will provide current nursing professionals with direct, flexible paths to earn their BSN degrees. Academic and career advising will be made available for nurses in the BSN completion program. Both Cheyenne Regional and the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing will have input in the hiring of the candidate, as well as performance appraisal. MIDDLETOWN Staging a Unified Theater musical from start to finish is a source of pride and great joy for students of all abilities who work for months honing their acting chops for a once-a-year production. The 9th annual entirely student-driven show, Dear Journal, which pairs special education and regular education students, plays this weekend at Middletown High School. It is set in an English class where the teacher tells students about the importance of journaling as a way to work through issues, explore their feelings and chronicle their lives. Co-director Avrie Langdon, 16, a Middletown High junior, has taken part in the program for the past three years. She recalled one particularly touching moment during rehearsals, when some special education students made drawings for their group leaders a token of their appreciation. They liked being with us so much, they went home and drew these pictures of us together, said Langdon. Unified actors also regularly assist leaders on their own initiative, she added. Were all there for each other, always helping each other no matter whats going on or the situation is: checking up on us, making our day better. Its like a little family, Langdon said. Every year, students choreograph, write scenes, they direct they do absolutely everything, said Middletown recreation supervisor and inclusion specialist Karen Nocera, founder of Middletowns Unified program. The children walk into a room, they dont know each other. We have kids of all abilities. How they work together to create the show is unbelievable, she added. Unified Theaters motto is, Let teens lead, let creativity rule, and put the spotlight on ability. A total of 50 students in grades 4-12 work in three groups. Each is tasked with writing two scenes. About two-thirds of Unified students return every year, said Anne DiPietro, a retired special ed teacher who has been involved in the citys Unified Theater productions since its inception. I love Unified Theater because their performances truly put the spotlight on ability. The actors work so incredibly hard to write the script, choreograph the dances and create all of the magic, said Kristen Jensen, whose daughter is in the show. She loves it, because she gets to share the stage with ... amazingly dedicated friends and have a great time, she added. The special education students dont feel at all insecure about getting up on stage, according to DiPietro. Langdon has been in a leadership role since 2017. It is a challenge juggling schoolwork with her responsibilities, she said. Seeing her classmates at rehearsal makes it all for me. Theyre always so happy and energetic, so, even when Im having a really [hard] day, I come in it makes it all worth it. Its so much fun, she said. The program began in 2002 at Conard High School in West Hartford, the brainchild of tenth-grader Micaela Connery, whose aunt is impaired, explained DiPietro. She thought, How can I do this stuff and she cant? One skit centers on a girl with Down syndrome who takes part in a fashion show, Nocera said. Its something shes dreamt about all the time, but she falls. Its not about the fall. Its about how you get up and you move on. It symbolizes what we do every day, she said. Students practice their dance numbers and lines once a week from October through December, then ramp up rehearsals in January to two days. Ani Zacharian, a 16-year-old MHS junior, most enjoys the process. In the beginning, were all over the place, but in the end, we never fail to come together and put on a really good show. The process of coming to practice, being together, and deciding what were going to do is one of my favorite parts, she said. Ive always been into theater and helping people out. Im super connected with the Unified community, Zacharian said. Langdon, who also has participated in Unified Sports, has been involved in Unified Theater since 2016. When she first learned of the project, it immediately hit home, as her uncle has Down syndrome. We like to think the kids as one big group that has all abilities, which makes all the actors be successful and accepted, DiPietro said. The journey, from the first day to showtime, is just incredible. I see how these regular ed students take on the special ed students. They care for them and help direct them, she added. The most exciting part of the production is the process, and watching the students progress as the weeks move along, Jensen said. All of the actors are met exactly where they are, their strengths are highlighted, and the entire cast learns and grows together. There is absolutely nothing else like it. Every year, the show is completely different and fantastic, Jensen added. You have strengths, I have strengths. I have weaknesses, you have weaknesses, but together we make it work. Everybody supports each other. This could be a rougher week for somebody else, but Im good this week and youre good next week, Nocera explained. Theres a true bond and collaboration amongst all of the kids, she added. One Unified student, Sky, a helper, is an audience favorite, Zacharian said. She couldnt wait to take part in the 6:30 p.m. fashion show that precedes Saturdays Dear Journal production. Shes always strutting down the runway during practice. She had to do a fashion scene by herself, Zacharian said. Zacharian remembers one particular incident that caused her to swell with pride. We couldnt get the music to work one day. She went with it. She kept doing what she does best showing everyone her skills and talent. A sense of community pervades the show, she added. Its one of the few places I know, without a doubt, everyone is going to have a good time, everyones going to be included. Tickets are $5 at the door. The show runs Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m. at the high school, 200 La Rosa Lane. The snow date is Saturday at 2 p.m. Suspects in the Erawan shrine bombing in Bangkok in August 2015, identified as Adem Karadag (center) and Yusufu Mieraili (front), are escorted by police at a military court in Bangkok, April 20, 2016. Two Uyghur men accused of carrying out a bombing that killed 20 people at a Hindu shrine in Bangkok in 2015 pleaded not guilty Monday, a defense lawyer said, as their trial resumed for the first time since 2017. Adem Karadag (alias Bilal Mohammed) and Yusufu Mieraili were arrested a few weeks after a bomb blast ripped through the Erawan Shrine, which is considered sacred by Buddhists and a major tourist attraction. The two defendants, who identified themselves as Uyghurs from Urumqi in the Xinjiang region of China, had earlier pled not guilty to charges under a military tribunal, but authorities referred their case to a civilian court late last year. They came to the court, pleaded not guilty and vowed to fight the case, Chuchart Gunpai, the defense attorney for Karadag, told BenarNews by phone Monday. The case was transferred to the South Bangkok Court after the Thai parliament elected junta leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha as prime minister, completing his transition from coup leader to head of a civilian government following an election in March 2019 that critics claim was engineered to keep him in power. Also Monday, officials scheduled a Feb. 18 court hearing for Wanna Suansan, a Thai Muslim woman accused of renting an apartment that the suspects allegedly used to build bombs. Karadag and Mieraili had been kept under detention since their arrests, Chuchart said, while Wanna was released on bail following her arrest in November 2017. If convicted, the two men could face the death penalty, lawyers said. Surveillance camera captured a fireball during the explosion that also injured 125 people on Aug. 17, 2015. The footage also caught a man leaving a backpack on a bench inside the shrine moments before the blast. Police later identified the man as Karadag. Authorities said a pipe bomb, packed with three kilos of explosives, was planted inside the shrine near a busy intersection. The next day, authorities said, a smaller pipe-bomb also exploded on a passenger pier in Bangkok, but caused no casualties. Karadag, then 31, was arrested on Aug. 29, 2015, after police said they had found bomb-making materials at an apartment he rented in Bangkoks suburban Nongjok district. He was charged with criminal offenses ranging from premeditated killing and bomb possession to illegal entry into Thailand. Mieraili, then 28, was arrested on Sept. 1, 2015, as he tried to flee to neighboring Cambodia, police said. Investigators claimed that he was attempting to acquire bomb-making materials. The trial had been delayed multiple times as a result of wrangling over courtroom interpreters and translators, Chuchart told BenarNews. Uyghurs are Turkic-speaking Muslims who mostly live in the Xinjiang region of China but are also spread across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey. Uyghurs have been leaving China in large numbers to escape alleged persecution and repression by Chinese authorities. The bombing happened weeks after Thai authorities forcibly sent almost 100 Uyghurs to China. Court documents obtained by BenarNews indicated that Karadag could not speak Mandarin or Chinese and would prefer a Uyghur-speaking translator, while Mieraili can communicate in English. On Monday, the court directed state agencies to arrange for a Uyghur translator for Karadag and an English translator for Mieraili, whose lawyer did not attend the hearing due to another appointment. After prosecutors presented the evidence, the court set the next hearing for March 2. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Centres leading counter-insurgency force, has carried out a massive internal audit to check if there were any attempts of subversion within the force after the arrest of J&K police officer, Davinder Singh, CRPF chief AP Maheshwari said on Tuesday. Davinder Singh, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the J&K Police, was arrested on January 11 on charges of colluding with terrorists. Singhs arrest had stunned the J&K police force but it had also underscored the possibility that there might be other officers as well who could be colluding with terrorists. Maheshwari, who had recently taken over as CRPF chief, said It was a grave incident....an area of extreme concern. No security grid should be allowed to be weakened by such episodes. So, all forces have to keep an internal watch. All forces should maintain vigilance so that there is no such type of subversion or some sort of intrusion within the force or somebody trying to collaborate with the adversaries. Its a serious matter, Maheshwari said. We are further strengthening our systems, which were already in place. Maheshwari said if something happens somewhere (such as the arrest of Davinder Singh), it is a case to revisit ourselves and thats what we have done and we have no doubt [after the audit about integrity of the personnel]. The central police force, the largest paramilitary force in the world, has a sanctioned strength of 3 lakh personnel and is the leading force to counter terrorists in J&K and the Maoists in the heartland. It has deployed about 70,000 personnel in Jammu and Kashmir for security and counterterror operations. We constantly carry out such audits because we know three security principles, which are anti-sabotage; access control; and anti-subversion. So, there is already an inbuilt system. We have a vigilance cell, we have an intelligence cell, It is their duty to keep checking [any subversion activities]. Maheshwari said the Davinder Singh case did not reflect on the entire J&K force and was an isolated incident. If in an isolated incident, somebody does this, it should not be taken as any type of aspersion on the dignity of the force and on the strength of the force This is, yes, a matter of concern, and all [forces] should see that these things dont occur, he said. The DG also said that the force has changed its tactics and bettered its security drills after the Pulwama terror attack on its convoy on February 14 last year. He said no one can guarantee that such incidents will not take place in the future owing to the dynamic nature of counterterror operations but his force can assure that terror elements will not have it easy if they have an engagement with the CRPF. We are a fighting force. We have bettered our security drills, we have bettered our capability for training, we have bettered in terms of equipment, tactics, mobility and navigation [after the Pulwama attack], Maheshwari told reporters at its academy in Gurugram. We have improved. We believe that we learn from setbacks and these should take us towards success. Whatever successes have been there, have emerged out of failure, he added. New Delhi, Jan 28 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said all the parties from across the country have joined hands against the Aam Aadmi Party and the people of Delhi, adding the city will give them a befitting reply on February 8. Addressing a roadshow at Gokalpuri, Kejriwal evoked the emotional tone again and said that the parties were here to defeat the "son of Delhi". He said, "parties including the BJP, RJD, Congress, JDU, LJP and others from across the country have come to defeat you and your son." The AAP chief, speaking about the subsidies, said that he paid the bills of each and every household, ensured quality education to all "just like an elder son. If anyone was sick, I ensured he gets treatment free of cost." "All parties have joined hands against us. To defeat us and to defeat your son. The BJP is bringing all the 200 MPs, 70 union ministers and 11 chief ministers (of other states) to defeat you, your work and your son. They are here to insult us. They will say the water is bad, school is bad. I want to ask if Delhi will tolerate the insult?" asked Kejriwal during the roadshow. He asked people to question the BJP leaders who are coming to campaign here. "If they come to your area, ask them about their state. Ask them what they know about Delhi. Question them how many hours people get electricity in their state... what is its cost.. How much a family have to pay for water in their state... and tell them you get all of these free of cost," said Kejriwal. He said offer them tea and ask them to go back. "We don't need your lecture." "What is my fault? They are all together to defeat me. This fight is against the 2 crore people of Delhi versus them. People of Delhi will not tolerate this insult," he added. Delhi ia going to polls on February 8. Goodbody Stockbrokers has today released its latest HealthnCheck report for the first quarter of 2020. Goodbody say the Irish economy is expected to benefit from a near-term bounce in business investment in 2020 as delayed plans are carried forward after a hard-Brexit was avoided. Along with a consumer that continues to benefit from solid growth in employment and earnings, Goodbody expect core domestic demand to grow by 3.6% in 2020, making it one of the fastest growing economies in the euro area once again. In this report, Goodbody warn of key issues that investors in the Irish economy should be aware of in 2020. These include a likely hung Dail following Election 2020, a return to concerns about a Brexit cliff-edge, the new normal for the Irish housing market and rising wage pressures in a tight labour market. According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "Ireland faces threats to its economic model over the coming years with impending changes to the international corporate tax environment. While the shape of the new rules is still up in the air, policymakers must focus on areas outside of tax to maintain Irelands attractiveness to FDI. This includes a rapid focus on both hard infrastructure (housing, transport etc) and human capital (third-level universities, digital skills)." Source: www.businessworld.ie ROCHESTER, N.Y., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pet Supplies Plus, known as America's favorite neighborhood pet store, will open seven new locations throughout the Rochester and Buffalo New York area by May 2020. Local Rochester entrepreneur Russell Herman, who has operated PetSaver Healthy Pet Superstores in the area for the past 26 years, is converting six of his stores to Pet Supplies Plus and will build one new store in Webster. Herman made his decision to re-brand as Pet Supplies Plus to provide pet parents with competitive pricing, more selection and unmatched customer service training for his team. Pet Supplies Plus offers a hassle-free way to find better products for pets, while saving pet parents money and celebrating the fun of pet ownership. The new stores will now offer amenities such as full-service grooming services, self-pet wash stations, knowledgeable pet care team members and carry-out service in which team members carry heavy items to neighbors' cars. The new Pet Supplies Plus stores opening in the area include: Webster, NY 980 Ridge Rd., Webster, NY , opened in January 980 Ridge Rd., , opened in January Brighton, NY 2947 Monroe Ave., Brighton, NY, opening in February 2947 Monroe Ave., Brighton, NY, opening in February Baytowne, NY 1900 Empire Blvd., Ste. 140, Webster, NY , opening in February 1900 Empire Blvd., Ste. 140, , opening in February Victor, NY 48 Square Dr., Victor, NY , opening in March 48 Square Dr., , opening in March Williamsville, NY 5397 Sheridan Dr., Williamsville, NY , opening in April 5397 Sheridan Dr., , opening in April Orchard Park, NY 3213 Southwestern Blvd., Orchard Park, NY , opening in May 3213 Southwestern Blvd., , opening in May Greece, NY 1596 Ridge Rd. W., Greece, NY , opening in May "Making the conversion to Pet Supplies Plus will allow me to help more needs of every neighbor and I'll be able to provide more products at a better price," said Herman. "Pet Supplies Plus provides a strong operational foundation and I'm confident the community will love the new stores and all the amenities we will offer throughout western New York, while still delivering the great services the community expects from my team members." Pet Supplies Plus will give pet parents a wide selection of natural pet foods, goods and pet services at low prices and focus on a unique, rich in-store experience for "neighbors" (the term Pet Supplies Plus uses for customers). The stores will also feature grooming and vet services, and knowledgeable and friendly staff. Pet parents are always welcome to shop with their dogs at the store, where knowledgeable team members are on-site to answer questions, offer tips or just get on their hands and knees to play with pets who enter the stores. Neighbors have access to an experienced and knowledgeable team help them find everything they need. Each team member is extensively trained in the areas of natural and holistic foods and are able to answer a broad range of questions about dogs, cats, birds, reptiles and fish. Shoppers can also take advantage of the free Preferred Pet Club, which offers members regular coupons for products they purchase frequently and monthly specials, resulting in big savings. Each Pet Supplies Plus store will be hosting a grand opening to celebrate the conversions and opening. Details can be found online at www.petsuppliesplus.com or by following each store's Facebook page. About Pet Supplies Plus Pet Supplies Plus is focused on making it easier to get better products for your pet. With over 460 locations in 33 states, the stores have a streamlined design making it easy to navigate a wide assortment of natural foods, hard goods and pet services. Headquartered in Livonia, MI., Pet Supplies Plus is ranked in Entrepreneur magazine's Annual Franchise 500 list as the Top Full-Service Pet Supplies Franchise for its exceptional performance in areas including financial strength, growth rate and system size. For more information visit www.petsuppliesplus.com. Media Contact: Marcus Durbin, Fishman Public Relations, (847) 945-1300, or [email protected] SOURCE Pet Supplies Plus Related Links http://www.petsuppliesplus.com The Global Thrombin Market is supported by the rising rate of thrombosis among individuals, all around. The fatal nature of thrombosis and use of thrombin to trump thrombosis is emphasized in Fortune Business Insights latest report, titled Thrombin Market: Global Analysis, Insights and Forecasts, 2019-2026. In the report, Fortune Business Insights has briefed that an increasing emphasis on clinical trials of thrombin has boosted the global market, and it is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 4.1%. As of 2018, The Global Thrombin Market has valued at US$ 535.0 Mn, and the forecasted CAGR means that this market will be valued at around US$ 738.7 Mn by the end of 2025. The report includes thorough compilation of the quantitative analysis of the industry for the period of 12 years in order to assist players to grow in the market. Insights on specific revenue figures generated are also given in the report, along with projected revenue at the end of the forecast period. This study includes a widespread analysis of the key segments of the industry. This analysis sheds light in the current trends and opportunities in the Thrombin Market. Key Points of the Thrombin Market Report: The report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications, and manufacturing technology. The report also explores the major international players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, and production value along with the market shares for each company. Through the statistical analysis, the study depicts the global market including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, and supply/demand from an international perspective. Considering segmentation, the market is divided in terms of product, end-use, company, region, and other important aspects. Each of these categories forms an important base point for the competitive landscape analysis. The report then estimates the market development and trends of the Thrombin Market. Widespread Applications of Thrombin to Boost Global Market The extent of blood losses in hemodialysis can lead to various disorders and may also prove fatal in some cases. Thus, bovine-derived thrombin is given huge emphasis and healthcare professionals have prioritized thrombin for treating hemorrhages. The thrombin market is therefore forecast to witness a high demand for bovine-derive thrombin in the coming years. Thrombin has come a long way from its conventional use to stop bleeding in small cuts on body parts. Now, thrombin plays a major role in most of the surgeries, worldwide. Top manufactures of Thrombin Market are: Pfizer Inc. Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. Baxter Shanghai RAAS blood products co. Ltd. Japan Blood Products Organization Mochida Pharmaceutical Co. Widespread Applications of Thrombin to Boost Global Market The extent of blood losses in hemodialysis can lead to various disorders and may also prove fatal in some cases. Thus, bovine-derived thrombin is given huge emphasis and healthcare professionals have prioritized thrombin for treating hemorrhages. The thrombin market is therefore forecast to witness a high demand for bovine-derive thrombin in the coming years. Thrombin has come a long way from its conventional use to stop bleeding in small cuts on body parts. Now, thrombin plays a major role in most of the surgeries, worldwide. The clinical efficiency of thrombin has led to its widespread use in the healthcare industry, a key factor enabling growth in the global thrombin market. Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts:https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/thrombin-market-100170 Major Table of Content for Thrombin Market: Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions andAssumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Brand Analysis Key IndustryDevelopments Mergers, Acquisitions and Partnerships Reimbursement Scenario Key PerformanceIndicators TOC Continued Reasons to Purchase this Report: Tracks the developments, such as new product launches, agreements, mergers and acquisitions, geographical expansions, and joint ventures. Comprehensive analysis of the Aesthetic Implants Market growth drivers, obstacles, opportunities, and other related challenges. Identifies market restraints and boosters. Identifies all the possible segments present in the market to aid organizations in strategic business planning. Order Full Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/100170 Related Reports: Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency Therapeutics Market Emerging Technologies, Key Players Analysis, Development Status, Opportunity Assessment Forecast to 2026 Germany Pneumococcal Vaccines Market Global Trends, Comprehensive Research Study, Development Status, Future Plans, Competitive Landscape by 2026 Autotransfusion Devices Market 2020: Size Overview by Industry Trends, Share, Growth Factor and Analysis to 2026 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data. At Fortune Business Insights we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We, therefore, offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US :+1 424 253 0390 UK : +44 2071 939123 APAC : +91 744 740 1245 Email:sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Fortune Business Insights Linkedin | Twitter | BLogs Prime Minister Ludovic Orban attended, on Monday, the 75th anniversary of liberation of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz. According to a Government's release, the commemorative event, held under the high patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, brought together over 30 heads of state and government and representatives of the Royal Houses of Europe."The event was attended by over one hundred former prisoners of the Auschwitz camp from several European states, the US, Canada, Israel, Australia," the release mentioned.The program of the commemorative event included addresses by the President of the Republic of Poland and the survivors of Auschwitz and the lighting of candles by the survivors' delegations, heads of state and government and representatives of the Royal Houses."Prime Minister Ludovic Orban lit a candle at the Victims Monument, paying tribute to the victims of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, including those of Romanian origin," the quoted source informs.Annually, on January 27 (the day of release of prisoners from Auschwitz-Birkenau camp) marks the International Holocaust Remembrance Day."The reminder of the dramatic episode of the Holocaust is all the more relevant in the current international context, marked by a worrying increase in intolerance, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. Romania has made significant efforts internally and internationally on assuming the past, condemning the Holocaust denial and combating anti-Semitism, and maintains its commitment to promoting and protecting diversity, human rights and fundamental freedoms," the Government's release underscores. AGERPRES But it looks like Kia is set to launch another funky crossover as the company is set to reveal a compact crossover concept at the Delhi Auto Expo 2020. To whet the appetite of the motoring public, Kia has released several teaser images of the soon-to-be-revealed crossover concept. Around two months ago, Kia Philippines officially launched its B-segment crossover fighter in the form of the all-new Seltos . Essentially Ayala's reply to the Hyundai Kona, the 2020 Seltos is also aimed at the likes of the Ford EcoSport, Honda HR-V, Suzuki Vitara, as well as the Nissan Juke. While its name has not yet been revealed, Kia described it of having a 'modern, dynamic, and bold design'. Moreover, the automaker also mentioned that it will have head-turning looks, as well as features that will embody Kia's 'Power to Surprise' slogan. Based on the photos Kia released, the upcoming concept does sport a futuristic design, and appears to be smaller than the Seltos. However, we cannot help but speculate that the concept Kia will reveal is a redesigned Hyundai Venue. Back in April 2019, Hyundai launched the Venue as its smallest crossover offering. It has a more squared-off design, while still borrowing several design cues from the slightly bigger Kona. Even the interior of the vehicle carries the familiar squared-off aesthetic. Sure some might say the Venue looks vastly different than the concept shown here. But just like the Kia Seltos and the Hyundai Kona, the two brands have very different design philosophies (and technologies) that make them have their own identities. With the Venue already out in the market since the middle of 2019, does this mean Kia is set to follow with their own small crossover? All we can do now is wait until Kia officially takes the covers off the concept come February 7, 2020. Sheikh Hasina asks return stranded Bangladesh citizens from China Dhaka, Jan 27 (UNI) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed her foreign ministry to initiate steps to bring back Bangladeshi citizens, who are stranded in China due to Coronavirus outbreak, state minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam said here on Monday. "Weve started discussions with the Chinese government in this regard in line with the premiers directives," Alam said in a Facebook post. "The foreign office plans to discuss the issue with the Chinese authorities especially in the regions affected by the Coronavirus to find out ways for the return of our citizens as the Chinese authorities have enforced travel lockdowns, barring the entry and exits of people," he added. Several fundraising efforts are underway to help a Birmingham police officer who was shot and critically wounded Sunday Narcotics Det. John Finke, 46, was shot at least twice while responding to a robbery in progress in Woodlawn. He was struck in the stomach area and has since undergone several surgeries. FOP President Lt. Richard Haluska said he has visited with Finke and said he is improving. He has been communicative and able to sit in a recliner. Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith also visited with Finke and said he still has a long road ahead but is recovering well. The shooting happened about 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Finke was working security at Church of the Highlands in Woodlawn, which meets at Woodlawn High School, when he responded to a nearby robbery of two people who were believed to have been walking to church. Shots were exchanged between Finke and the suspects. Jahmari Wright, 16, has been charged with attempted murder in the shooting. He and a 25-year-old man are expected to be charged with robbery in connection with the holdup that led to the shooting. The FOP has started a fund at BancorpSouth to help with Finkes medical costs and other needs. The organization has also started a GoFundMe. Donations can be made here. Birmingham police Det. John Finke has worked security at the Church of the Highlands for eight years. (GoFundMe) Finke has worked security at the church for eight years. Rob Slane, a former staff pastor at Church of the Highlands who helped to launch the Woodlawn campus, has also launched a GoFundMe for Finke. Slane, co-host of Your Security Guys Show that airs on Saturday mornings on Talk 99.5, is a former Ohio police officer who also was injured in the line of duty. He described Finke as a gentle giant who loves caring for and protecting the little ones, their families, and those who attend and serve at the Woodlawn Campus. Donations to the GoFundMe can be made here. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 22:42:04|Editor: yan Video Player Close GAZA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israel will allow a temporary shipment of cement and tires through the Israeli-controlled commercial crossing of Kerem Shalom to the Gaza Strip, a senior official said Tuesday. Jihad Isleem, spokesman of the private sector association in Gaza, said that shipment will be allowed from Tuesday evening until Wednesday morning. "We hope that this will be permanent and not temporary," said Isleem, adding that 6,000 tires will be shipped to Gaza later on Tuesday. Trucks working at Kerem Shalom crossing between southeast Gaza and Israel have loaded cement and tires and stored them at the commercial crossing stores. "We hope that there will be no obstacles. Tires have not been shipped to Gaza for more than a year and a half, which has badly affected the business of shipment and transportation companies and associations," said Isleem. Israel banned the shipment of tires to Gaza after Palestinian activists burned them during the weekly anti-Israel rallies and protests, better known as the Great March of Return, which started in late March 2018. Israel has been imposing a blockade on the Gaza Strip right after Islamic Hamas movement forcibly took control of the enclave. Israel banned the shipment of cement and other raw-materials to Gaza saying militants used it to manufacture weapons and build tunnels that go from eastern Gaza into Israel. Posted on: January 24, 2020 9:58 AM [ACNS, by Staff Writer] The former General Secretary of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA), Canon Grace Kaiso, has been appointed as Senior Advisor to the Anglican Alliance. The Alliance helps to connect and equip the missional work of Anglican Churches and agencies around the world in relief, development and advocacy. One of its current priorities is a major campaign against modern slavery. It has also recruited a new advocate to support this work, Amy Bishop, who has been seconded from the Church of Englands Clewer Initiative. I am delighted that Canon Grace Kaiso has agreed to join the Anglican Alliance team as our Senior Adviser, Executive Director Rachel Carnegie said. I greatly look forward to working with him. Canon Grace brings profound theological insight and practical experience to the role and will help guide the Anglican Alliance in supporting the holistic mission of the churches of the Communion. The appointment was also welcomed by Archbishop Albert Chama, Primate of the Church of the Province of Central Africa. Archbishop Albert is Chair of both CAPA and the Anglican Alliance. Canon Grace Kaiso brings a wealth of experience to the Anglican Alliance, he said. He is a great leader in team work, and networking with other Churches in the ecumenical fraternity and the parachurch organisations. . . He is also skilled in peace building ministry. We welcome Canon Grace and wish him Gods blessings in his new role in the Anglican Alliance team. Canon Kaiso told ACNS that one of the roles of the Alliance is to keep constant awareness of the realities around us and how those contradicts the desire of God for his people and his world, adding: Here we are, but look at the people who are suffering because of conflict, look at the people who are suffering because of poverty, look at the people who are suffering because of the impact of climate change: look at the hopelessness in the faces of men and women wherever you go. The second role, he said, was to find enabling mechanisms to engage with that reality, as we are called to be light and salt in the world. Canon Kaiso will be based in Uganda where he previously worked as General Secretary for the countrys ecumenical group, the Christian Council of Uganda. He is a recipient of the Rotary International Vocational Award for contributing Peace and Governance in Africa, and the Archbishop of Canterburys St Augustine Award for services to the Anglican Communion. Amy Bishop is being seconded half-time to the Alliance by the Church of Englands Clewer Initiative. The initiative is named after a community of Anglican nuns which was established in the 19th century to help women out of prostitution. The Clewer Sisters are putting their communitys financial resources behind the campaign against modern slavery. The Clewer Initiative has developed a range of resources including a much-lauded Safe Car Wash app to detect and report possible slave-gangs operating in the UK; and educational resources to help train school children to spot signs of abuse. As President Donald Trump faces mounting legal bills from his impeachment trial, he is drawing on national party coffers flush with donations from energized supporters unlike the last president to be impeached who left the White House dead broke. The Republican National Committee is picking up the tab for at least two of Trumps private attorneys in the ongoing trial, an arrangement that differs from the legal fund then-president Bill Clinton set up, only to see it fail to raise enough to cover his millions of dollars in bills before he left office. The law firms of Trumps lead lawyer, Jay Sekulow, and attorney Jane Raskin, have received a total of $225,000 from the RNC through November, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. The party will pay the duo for their work this month and likely into February as the trial continues, according to people familiar with the arrangement who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal financing. The presidents legal team also includes celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz, former independent counsel Kenneth Starr and former Florida attorney general-turned lobbyist Pam Bondi all of whom have raised their profiles and earnings potential with frequent media appearances defending Trump. Because Trump is on trial as a result of his status as an officeholder or candidate, election law allows him to dip into campaign or party funds for his legal bills. All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Show all 6 1 /6 All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Alan Dershowitz Dershowitz is a controversial American lawyer best known for the high-profile clients he has successfully defended. Those clients have included OJ Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. One longtime Harvard Law associated told the New Yorker Dershowitz "revels in taking positions that ultimately are not just controversial but pretty close to indefensible." Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Ken Starr Starr became a household name in the 1990s as the independent counsel who led the investigation that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment. That investigation began as a look into a real estate scandal known as Whitewater, and eventually led to impeachment after Mr Clinton lied under oath about having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. AP All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Jay Sekulow Sekulow is the president's longtime personal attorney, and, now, personal lawyer in the White House. He has been accused by former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas of being "in the loop" during the Ukraine scandal. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pam Bondi Bondi is the former attorney general in Florida, and a longtime backer of the president's. She made a name for herself in Florida for taking hyper partisan stances on issues, and her penchant for publicity. She is likely to be a prominent public-facing figure during the trial. AFP/Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pat Cipollone Cipollone is the White House counsel, and leading the president's defence team. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Rudy Giuliani While not officially named as one of the president's impeachment lawyers, it is hard to ignore Giuliani's outsized role in this process. The former mayor of New York has been making headlines for months as he defends his client, and for his apparent role in the effort to compel Ukraine to launch the investigation into Joe Biden. We'll see how he figures in the actual trial, which he has said he would like to be a part of. Reuters We are more than happy to cover some of the costs of defending the president from this partisan impeachment sham, said Mike Reed, RNC deputy chief of staff for communications. The president is benefiting from a measure in a 2014 law that dramatically increased how much national parties can raise by allowing them to collect large donations for separate accounts to finance presidential conventions, building renovations and legal proceedings. Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee of the Trump campaign and the RNC, transferred about $2.7 million into the RNCs legal account from September through November, as the impeachment inquiry escalated, according to campaign filings. Donors to the RNC and Trumps reelection campaign have already covered millions of dollars in attorney fees stemming from the presidents other legal travails: former special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, court battles over the presidents tax returns, and a now-withdrawn defamation lawsuit filed by a former campaign staffer. The House investigation, December impeachment vote and Senate trial, Reed said, have been a boon to fundraising efforts. Reed said there have been more than 600,000 new donors since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) formally announced the impeachment inquiry in late September. The Democrat impeachment charade is the gift that keeps on giving for our side, Reed said. Dershowitz, whose clients have included O.J. Simpson and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, said he will not accept payment for his work. For me, its a matter of principle, said Dershowitz, who argued Monday that the House charges of abuse of power and obstruction do not meet the constitutional standard of impeachment. If I am paid, it will go to charity. I will not keep any money I get from this case. Among the other private attorneys are Raskin, a Florida-based lawyer who since 2018 has worked for Trump navigating Muellers probe; Starr, whose investigation into former president Bill Clinton formed the basis of his impeachment; Robert A. Ray, Starrs successor in the independent counsel office; and Eric D. Herschmann from the law firm of Trumps longtime lawyer Marc Kasowitz. Starr declined to talk about his legal fees or to comment for this story. Ray, Herschmann and Raskin did not return messages seeking comment. Recommended Monica Lewinsky responds to Trump hiring Ken Starr Those lawyers work in tandem with a set of attorneys from the Office of the White House Counsel, led by Pat Cipollone, who represents the president in his official capacity. Seated around a cramped, arc-shaped table in front of the presidents jury of 100 senators, the government lawyers include Patrick F. Philbin, who worked with Cipollone at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, and Michael M. Purpura, a former federal prosecutor and top Justice Department official. They receive taxpayer-paid, annual salaries between $168,000 and $183,000, according to an annual report of White House personnel. Bondi joined the White House staff late last year after lobbying for clients such as the state of Qatar and General Motors. Bondi did not respond to requests for comment about her salary. House Democrats, who serve as prosecutors at the trial, also have enlisted outside legal help. In a brief filed before the impeachment trial, they acknowledged assistance from 16 lawyers who work for the House, in addition to five attorneys with the firm Debevoise & Plimpton. Those lawyers are not charging the House for their work, according to a spokesperson for Pelosi. The firm declined to comment. Trump's lawyer Eric Herschmann launches attack on Obama during impeachment trial As Clinton faced impeachment in 1998, supporters established a trust fund to raise money to cover the Clintons bills, which eventually exceeded $10 million because of the years-long Whitewater investigation into a real estate deal, the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit and the impeachment proceedings and trial. Fundraising would spike when anything significant happened in the investigation or trial, said Richard M. Lucas, who was counsel to the Clinton Legal Expense Trust. Average Americans wanted to express their view about what was happening. Clintons popularity surged after his acquittal by the Senate in early February 1999 and in quick order by late that month his legal defense fund had raised more than $4.5 million. Most of the trust money flowed to two Washington law firms: Williams & Connolly and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Yet even with the legal fund, Hillary Clinton said in a 2014 interview that the couple left the White House not only dead broke, but in debt as she defended the millions of dollars she and the former president earned giving paid speeches and writing books. The former secretary of state later said she regretted the remark. Unlike Clinton, who was in his second term during the impeachment trial, Lucas said Trump and the Republican Party have more leverage to solicit donations ahead of Trumps 2020 reelection bid. The party has become an extension of the administration, Lucas said. As Trump declared in one recent campaign fundraising email: The Senate Impeachment Trial is today and the only way we can win this war is if every patriot steps up and becomes a 2020 Sustaining Member . . . I want to raise TWO MILLION DOLLARS in the NEXT 24 HOURS and end this Impeachment Trial Scam once and for all. Trumps campaign committee is not directly paying impeachment-related legal bills, according to a campaign official, although the campaign does transfer money to the RNC from time to time. The 2014 measure that lifted some limits on national party fundraising means that along with a $35,500 check to the RNC, a donor also can spread $319,500 between the additional accounts for conventions, headquarters and legal proceedings. The provision was crafted by leaders of both parties with the help of leading campaign finance attorneys, including Marc Elias, former general counsel of Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign. That the well-known Democratic election lawyer had a hand in expanding the amount the RNC can raise for Trumps impeachment trial is not lost on some campaign finance reformers. It was horrible the way we blew up the limits on donations to national parties because it allows people to buy access and influence, said Paul S. Ryan, a vice president at Common Cause, a government watchdog group. Contrary to popular perception, the Democratic Party has long fought to loosen restrictions on money and politics, hand-in-hand with the Republicans. The public doesnt think that because Democrats on the stump talk about campaign finance reform. Elias defended the creation of the legal proceedings account, saying the Democratic Party has used that money to fund lawsuits challenging what it sees as voter suppression tactics around the country. So while Democrats are using the money to protect voting rights, Republicans are using the money to protect Trump from removal, Elias said. One donor who gave the maximum contribution to the RNC in recent months, thereby padding the account for legal proceedings, was New York billionaire John Catsimatidis. I want to defend the president, Catsimatidis said of his donation. He did not do high crimes and misdemeanors. In addition to the two sets of Trump lawyers in the Senate chamber this week, the presidents written legal brief lists another five private attorneys who work for a nonprofit Christian legal organization run by Sekulow. The group, the American Center for Law and Justice, employs and contracts with several of Sekulows relatives and companies they control, The Washington Post has reported. The ACLJ raises tens of millions of dollars each year from supporters of its antiabortion advocacy. Sekulows private law firm, the Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group, has received $120,000 from the RNC so far for impeachment work, according to public records. The firm was also paid $6.1 million by the ACLJ in the year ending April 2019, according to a tax return filed to the IRS last fall. Sekulow owns 50 percent of the law firm. During a break in the trial last week, Sekulow was asked about his role and compensation. I wouldnt say paid adviser, Im the presidents retained counsel, Sekulow told reporters. So I dont discuss my legal fees, but were paid for our legal skills. The Washington Posts Jon Swaine, Anu Narayanswamy and Mike DeBonis contributed to this report. The Washington Post Why it matters: Most people use antivirus software to make sure they get some much needed privacy and security protections while using their PCs online. However, free security suites can sometimes hoard your browsing data and other details and sell them to third parties. This is the case even with popular companies like Avast, which is putting the privacy of around 400 million people at risk. At a time when high-profile tech executives are calling on governments to impose more stringent privacy rules, there's nothing like another reminder that everyone is fighting to get a hold of your habits, preferences, and pretty much any other data that can be used by advertisers to target you more easily. Such is the case of Avast, which is known for its popular free antivirus solution that an estimated 400 million users around the world depend on for their online security. According to a joint investigation by Vice and PCMag that involves leaked contracts and other company documents, Avast along with its AVG subsidiary have been keeping track of what users did online while using the free software they distribute. The scheme involves Jumpshot, a company that "provides insights into consumers online journeys by measuring every search, click and buy across 1,600 categories from more than 150 sites, including Amazon, Google, Netflix, and Walmart." Installing Avast's free antivirus automatically adds in a browser extension that collects information on your internet activity and sends it to Jumpshot packed and tagged with a unique identifier. Apparently, the most interesting things for Avast's data collection are searches on Google and Google Maps, YouTube videos, LinkedIn searches and profile visits, and even what users view on PornHub. This gets sent to Jumpshot's customers which include Google, Microsoft, Pepsi, Sephora, Home Depot, Yelp, Intuit, and many others. Avast says it doesn't track any sensitive information like personal identification, phone numbers, or email. The company also insists that "as of July 2019, we had already begun implementing an explicit opt-in choice for all new downloads of our AV, and we are now also prompting our existing free users to make an opt-in or opt-out choice, a process which will be completed in February 2020." This would be a lot more palatable for users if Avast hadn't tried sneaking in its antivirus solution with every CCleaner installation. The company does contribute a lot to the online security industry, but its privacy practices seem to change whenever they are called into question. Facebook has started restricting employee travel to China, joining a growing list of U.S. companies that have done the same amid a growing outbreak of the coronavirus. "Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken steps to protect the health and safety of our employees," Facebook spokesperson Anthony Harrison told CNBC in a statement. The travel restrictions were announced on Monday. Facebook has banned all non-essential travel the country, but if employees must visit China, they have to receive approval first. The company has also told employees who work in China, or who have recently traveled there, to work from home, Facebook said. Facebook is the first major U.S. technology company to ban all non-essential travel to the country. Other companies including Disney, McDonald's, Starbucks and Ford Motor have either suspended operations or instituted travel restrictions there. Apple shares fell on Monday amid concerns that the company, which has high revenue exposure in China, would be hurt by any impact the coronavirus might have on consumer spending. More than 100 people have died from the disease, while total confirmed cases have risen to more than 4,600. The majority of cases have been reported in Wuhan, China, but within the last week, five cases have been confirmed in the U.S. -- CNBC's Sal Rodriguez contributed to this report. Follow @CNBCtech on Twitter for the latest tech industry news. GINV Information Filter by Category All Company Announcement - General Additional Listing AIM Admission AIM Notice Base Rate Change Block Listing Interim Review Capital Reorganisation Change of Name Conversion of Securities Drilling/Production Report Final Announcement Released Geographical Distribution Intention to Float Issue of Debt Issue of Equity Joint Venture Net Asset Value Portfolio Update Price Monitoring Extension Product Launch Publication of a Prospectus Publication of Final Terms Research Update Restoration Rights Issue Stabilisation Notice Statement Suspension Tender Offer Trading Statement Treasury Stock All Mergers, Acquisitions and Disposals Acquisition Merger Form 8 (DD) Form 8 (OPD) Form 8.3 Form 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI) Form 8.5 (EPT/RI) Form 8.6 Rule 2.9 Announcement Offer By Offer For Offer Update All Results and Trading Reports 1st Quarter Results 3rd Quarter Results AGM Statement Annual Report Final Results Half-year Report Notice of Results Result of AGM Result of EGM Result of Equity Issue Result of General Meeting Result of Tender Offer Syndicate Results All Dividends Dividend Declaration Dividend Currency Election All Executive Changes Directorate Change Change of Adviser Change of Registered Office All Directors' Dealings Director/PDMR Shareholding All Advance Notice of Results Notice of AGM Notice of GM Notice of EGM Notice of Results All Non-Regulatory News All Transaction in Own Shares All Holding(s) in Company Total Voting Rights Notification of Major Holdings France is to ban from the end of 2021 the hugely controversial but widespread poultry industry practice of systematically slaughtering male chicks, Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume said Tuesday. "The aim is to oblige firms... to do this by the end of 2021," he told BFM television, expressing hope that a method could be found that works on a large scale to determine the sex of an embryo in the egg rather than as now, after hatching. Guillaume also announced that within a similar time frame, France would ban the castration of piglets without anaesthetic, another measure long urged by animal rights activists. Egg production requires the hatching of millions of chicks every year, with the females sold to be raised and exploited by either individual farmers or commercial poultry farms. Adult roosters, however, produce no eggs and develop far less meat than the so-called "broilers" bred especially for eating. As a result, producers say the male chicks are not worth the cost of raising to adults and are usually killed, either by grinding up or gassing. Researchers have yet to come up with a way to effectively determine the sex of a chick still in the egg that works on an industrial scale. The top administrative court in Germany, where 45 million male chicks are slaughtered every year, ruled in June that the slaughtering of male chicks could continue in the poultry industry until a method is found to determine the sex of an embryo in the egg. France aims to ban the widespread but hugely controversial practice of slaughtering male chicks by the end of next year Police in the Pakistani capital have arrested a top leader of a civil rights movement campaigning against alleged military abuses in the countrys restive northwestern Pashtun tribal regions. Lawmaker Mohsin Dawar, a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), was arrested outside the press club in the Pakistani capital on January 28. He was protesting for the release of PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen, who was detained a day earlier. Nearly 20 more PTM supporters were also arrested during the clampdown. Such arrests will not prevent us from showing the true face of this state to the world, Dawar said in a brief video message from inside the police van that drove him and other PTM members from the protest site. This is state terrorism, former lawmaker Afrasiab Khattak, who took part in the protest, wrote on Twitter. The way they dragged people, including Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, the sitting members of parliament, to police vans, said it all. The arrests come amid protest rallies in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and around the globe calling for the release of Pashteen, who has been charged with sedition, criminal conspiracy, and inciting public disturbance. The government has not commented on the latest arrests. But Interior Minister Ijaz Shah said the police had arrested Pashteen because of a criminal complaint. We cannot compromise if there is a criminal activity punishable by the rules, regulations, and laws of the country, he told Radio Mashaal on January 28. Shah, however, acknowledged the government should resolve political problems through dialogue. There is no doubt that all problems have a political solution through dialogue, he said. The arrests have attracted strong condemnation. I condemn the arrest of my National Assembly [colleague] Moshin Dawar and others protesting the detention of Manzoor Pashteen, tweeted Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the leader of opposition Pakistan Peoples Party. The government would be well served by remembering its oath to uphold the constitution of Pakistan. Peaceful protest is not a crime. On January 28, PTM members and supporters from nearly a dozen other political parties and civic groups protested Pashteens detention at gatherings in Pakistans four provincial capitals and more than 20 other towns and cities across the country. In neighboring Afghanistan, demonstrations in the capital, Kabul, and other locations condemned Pashteens detention and called for his release. PTM supporters among the Pashtun diaspora held demonstrations in Europe, North America, and Australia. The 2-year-old PTM is campaigning for rights and security for Pakistans largest ethnic minority, the Pashtuns. Most of its demands and grievances are rooted in the conflict in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed and millions more displaced by militant attacks and military operations in the region starting in 2003. Noisy PTM protests calling for an end to forced disappearances, illegal killings, and other alleged abuses by the security forces have attracted tens of thousands in Pakistans northwestern Pashtun belt and in major cities across the country. The military has accused the PTM of undermining their gains by questioning its conduct in the tribal areas. Senior army generals have repeatedly accused the PTM of fomenting chaos and engaging in subversion by protesting against the security forces. A crackdown including arrests, killings of protesters, court cases, and blanket media bans, however, has not deterred the movements leaders from campaigning. Their message has resonated widely in an atmosphere of shrinking freedoms and increasing authoritarianism in Pakistan. Global human rights watchdogs have called on Islamabad to cease its persecution of the PTM and instead engage in dialogue with the movement. The Pakistan government should find ways of resolving political disagreements with dialogue rather than intimidation, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a January 27 statement. Peaceful dissent is the essence of democracy and should not be treated as sedition, he added. A devastated father has spoken of his grief after finding the bodies of his three children inside their family home in Dublin last week. Andrew McGinley told parents to 'cuddle your children whenever you can' and admitted 'every breath is a struggle' as he spoke publicly for the first time since the tragedy on Tuesday. Mr McGinley discovered the bodies of Conor, nine, Darragh, seven, and Carla, three, as he returned to their north Dublin home on Friday last week. A woman in her 40s, believed to be mother Deirdre Morley, was taken to hospital after being found 'disoriented' in the street and will be questioned by police. Andrew McGinley (right) has said 'every breath is a struggle' after finding children Conor, nine (front left), Darragh, seven (centre) and Carla, three, dead at their family home last week. Mother Deirdre Morley (far left) was found 'distraught' outside and is being treated in hospital Mr McGinley told parents to 'cuddle your children every chance you get' after returning to the property on Monday for the first time since the tragedy (pictured) The distraught father was comforted as he looked at floral tributes left outside the home by members of the close-knit community Mr McGinley said: 'There are no words. There is only devastation, grief and anguish. Every breath is a struggle. 'Conor, Darragh and Carla are adored. They all had beautiful, bright futures ahead of them with family, friends and a community who love them. 'To all parents, cuddle your children whenever you get a chance, tell them how much you love them as often as you can, spend every spare minute with them reading, playing and enjoying their wonderfulness. 'The future has now become our enemy but we will battle it every day to keep the memory of Conor, Darragh and Carla alive.' Mr McGinley spoke out as police prepared to question mother Deirdre Morley in hospital, where she is recovering from a suspected overdose. Mr McGinley is also understood to have attended Mass at his local church on Sunday, where prayers were offered Officers have been told she is expected to survive but is still too ill to face detectives, according to the Irish Independent. Detectives are thought to be probing whether the youngsters were sedated using injections before dying of suffocation or lethal overdose. Post-mortem examinations of the trio were completed on Sunday, but police are not releasing interim results for 'operational reasons'. Investigators said at the time that toxicology reports were still being prepared. Mrs Morley, who worked as a nurse at a hospital in Dublin, continues to receive treatment at Tallaght University Hospital. It is understood police are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident. No arrests have been made. Police believe the children were killed some time between Friday afternoon and 7pm. It is thought the children had been at school on Friday but that Conor was collected early, around lunchtime. A woman - believed to be the mother - was found 'wandering the streets' in a 'disoriented state' shortly before the bodies were found. A taxi driver stopped and took her home around 7pm. The taxi driver called an ambulance out of concern around the same time Mr McGinley arrived and went inside the house, Extra.ie reports. It is thought he discovered the body of one of the children downstairs and the other two upstairs. There was no sign of a break-in at the house, sources said. Security insiders stressed last night that the investigation into the tragic events was at a very 'early stage'. The estate where the young family lived, Parson's Court, is made up of both houses and apartments. Police investigating the deaths are thought to be preparing to speak with Mrs Morley, who is still too ill to be questioned (pictured, Mr McGinley and his three children) Police investigating the deaths completed post-mortem examinations on Sunday, but have not released the results and say they are still waiting for toxicology tests Officers are thought to be investigating the possibility that the children were sedated with injections, before either being suffocated or given a lethal overdose The family are not thought to have lived at the house for long, having moved in last year according to neighbours. Mr McGinley is also reported to have attended a special Mass at St Finian's Church, near the home, on Sunday where prayers were said for the family. 'We pray especially for all parents and children,' Father Kevin Doherty said. 'Darkness has come but the light is among us... each of us can be light to the other.' A Garda spokesperson said: 'At approximately 7.45pm Friday 24 January 2020 Gardai responded to a call at Parson's Court, Newcastle, County Dublin. 'Ambulance personnel and responding Gardai discovered the bodies of three children in the house: Brothers and sister Conor (nine), Darragh (seven) and Carla (three) McGinley. 'A female relative, aged in her 40's, was found at the scene and is currently receiving medical attention in Tallaght Hospital. 'The scene is currently being examined by members of the Garda Technical Bureau. Assistant State Pathologist Margot Bolster has attended the scene. 'The bodies of the three children have been removed to the City Morgue.' A woman believed to be the children's mother was found 'wandering the streets' in a 'disoriented state'. Pictured: Tributes at the scene Gardai found her on the street near her house. Pictured: An ambulance at the scene today There was no sign of a break-in at the house, sources said. Pictured: Police at the scene Autopsies were completed by Assistant State Pathologist Margot Bolster at the Dublin City Morgue on Saturday evening. Interim post-mortem results are not being published for operational reasons and further toxicology results are still awaited. The house at Parsons Court, Newcastle, in the south-west of the city, remains sealed off for examinations by the Garda Technical Bureau. Councillor for the area Emer Higgins described the events as an 'unimaginable tragedy'. 'My thoughts are with everybody impacted,' said the Fine Gael representative. 'This is a really tight-knit community, it's a small area, it's a quiet area, and it's just unthinkable that something like this could be happening on our doorstep. 'It's so tragic. It's unbelievable that three young people's lives could be cut short like that, in what seems to be a particularly tragic case.' Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc has entered a share sale and purchase agreement to divest 100 per cent of its equity stake in Union Bank UK Plc (UBUK). The bank said this in a statement by its Company Secretary, Somuyiwa Sonubi, posted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) website on Tuesday. It said the sale aligned with Union Banks strategy to geographically streamline its business operations to focus on growth opportunities in Nigeria. Following a competitive bid process, MBU BidCo Limited (MBU), an acquisition vehicle wholly owned by MBU Capital Limited (MBU Capital), was selected as the preferred bidder, the statement said. It noted that the completion of the sale was subject to regulatory approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Commenting on the planned divestment, Emeka Emuwa, the banks Chief Executive Officer, was quoted in the statement as saying that it would enable the bank to focus on long-term opportunities. As the banking landscape shifts towards digital and agency banking to drive financial inclusion, the Nigerian market presents robust long-term opportunities for Union Bank. This divestment allows us channel our focus and capital towards mining those opportunities fully. Through the sale, we are better positioned to deliver greater value to the organisation and its stakeholders as well as continue to build the future of banking in Nigeria. The terms of the sale of UBUK delivers substantial value to our shareholders, while also entrusting its customers and trading partners to a high-quality financial services institution who will work with existing management to deliver a stronger and more profitable entity, Mr Emuwa said. Also, Mohammed Iqbal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, MBU Capital, said the development was a delight. We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Union Bank UK, subject to regulatory approval. We see a huge opportunity to build on UBUKs strengths in international markets to create a new-style bank which is focused on the needs of UK and international SMEs and entrepreneurs. Many of these customers are seeking a bank which truly understands the needs of entrepreneurial, fast-growing businesses. We believe that our acquisition and vision for UBUK offers the potential for significant growth for the bank. We look forward to working with our new colleagues at UBUK to continue to service the needs of its clients. We also look forward to sustaining and deepening relationships with UBUKs existing trading partners, Mr Iqbal stated. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Limited acted as Financial Advisers, while White & Case LLP and Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie acted as UK Legal Advisers and Nigeria Legal Advisers respectively to UBN. Syndeo Capital Limited (led by Mandeep Ahluwalia) acted as Advisers to MBU Capital with Akin Gump LLP as Legal Advisers and PwC as Financial and Tax Advisers. (NAN) Advice: Former chancellor Philip Hammond has joined UK fintech firm Oaknorth Former chancellor Philip Hammond has joined UK fintech firm Oaknorth to aid its growth plans. Hammond, 64, will become a member of the Softbank-backed firm's advisory board as it looks to accelerate its overseas expansion. The ex-Treasury boss will join Oaknorth's board alongside Conservative grandee Francis Maude and former senior regulators Lord Turner and Martin Stewart. Oaknorth is the second company Hammond has joined since quitting politics last month, having joined the board of Irish glass and metal container business Ardagh Group. His appointment comes almost a year after Oaknorth was valued at 2.1billion in a bumper fundraiser led by Japanese conglomerate Softbank's vision fund. Hammond had been MP for Runnymede and Weybridge in Surrey for 22 years, having previously run a housebuilding business. Oaknorth co-founder, entrepreneur Rishi Khosla, said: 'He will spend time with global clients and policymakers, as well as advising us on the continued expansion of our UK loan book.' Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam, Riau Islands Tue, January 28, 2020 15:06 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206157902 1 News Batam,Riau-Islands,Museum,King-Ali-Haji-Museum,travel,tourism Free Based on recent findings that museums and galleries were among the places international tourists looked for the most when visiting Batam, the Batam administration will soon complete King Ali Haji Museum after three years of construction. The museum is situated at Engku Putri town square in Batam Center on 1,700 square meters of land, designed with a mixture of Malay and Middle Eastern touches. It is located in front of the Batam Center International Ferry Terminal and the Mega Mall Shopping Center, among the first buildings tourists from Singapore and Malaysia see upon arriving in Batam. Batam Tourism Agency head Ardiwinata said he was confident that the museum would improve the number of tourists visiting Batam. The museum is also designated to become a place where students can learn about history, he said. He said the museum, named after King Ali Haji, one of the national heroes from Riau Islands, was proposed by the Batam government to the Education and Culture Ministry on August 2, 2019. It was soon approved. In the past five months, we formulated the name, collections, personnel, alongside our vision and mission for the museum, said Ardi. He also shared that many had asked about the collections that would be displayed in the museum, as Batam owns a large number of cultural and historical objects. There are so many scattered items for us to gather. The tourism agency alone has acquired 593 jugs and bowls that, according to Bukit Tinggis [West Sumatra] cultural heritage hall, are believed to be from the Ming Dynasty of the 16th century. There are also ancient manuscripts about the history of Malay, Ardi said. [ra::Riau Islands province ranks second after Bali as most-visited destination for foreign tourists::https://www.thejakartapost.com/travel/2020/01/16/riau-islands-province-ranks-second-after-bali-as-most-visited-destination-for-foreign-tourists.html] The jugs and bowls were discovered in Sembulang on Galang Island and are considered cultural heritages. The Education and Culture Ministry plans to fund the museums revitalization, he said, adding that the museum will be managed by the technical implementation unit under the Batam Tourism Agency. The museum will bear a modern concept and illustrate the history of Batam from the Malay perspective and its development into a leading industrial city in Indonesia. Historian Aswandi Syahri said the museum would make use of infographics and digital monitor screens, making it the first modern museum in Riau Islands. The museum has to be built in a modern way to make it attractive. We must learn from how Singapore museums can appear interesting, said Aswandi. Data from Statistics Indonesia showed that Riau Islands ranked second after Bali as Indonesias most-visited destination for foreign tourists, with more than 2.5 million international visitors in 2019. (vel/wng) MINEOLA Protesters filled St. John Church Monday night to voice their concerns to raise a stink about a proposed chicken confinement facility that would be located on the Pottawattamie-Mills County line about a mile north of Mineola. Last week, the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors voted to deny approval of a request from Mike Clifton to build the eight-barn broiler raising confinement on a 60-acre tract on 253rd Street just north of Applewood Road. The confinement facility, which supervisors said would raise 200,000 or more broiler chickens every eight weeks, would be located on property owned by Cory and Amanda Leick, who have offered to sell the property to Clifton. Most of those who spoke in opposition to the proposal none who attended the meeting spoke in favor were angered by the fact that neighbors knew nothing of the plan until a Nonpareil story about the supervisors' vote. They were also concerned about the smell that would be created and the adverse impact on their property values. "We are not anti-farm, but we are against this type of an operation," said Molly George, who helped organize Monday's meeting. "There is no state law to deal with the odor that will be created. Our property values will go down by 15% to 40%. "The roads Applewood Road and 253rd Street are not good on a good day, and the increased traffic created by this proposal will make them worse," she said. "We want you to leave here knowing there is a way to stop this." Mark Hanwright, a Council Bluffs Realtor, said his home is three miles from the proposed facility, which would result in a "dangerous increase" in truck traffic. "This project would derail millions of dollars invested by developers in the area," he said. "The water table around the proposed site is very shallow, and pollution from the site could cause health problems. I'm not anti-agriculture, but there are industrial sites that are better suited to this type of operation." "This is industry," said Scott Belt, one of the four Pottawattamie County supervisors who voted to deny Clifton's request last week, "this isn't farming. I don't see this as a positive for Pottawattamie County. This is the largest public outcry I've seen in my 28 years in politics." Council Bluffs attorney Dean Jennings, who attended the meeting at the request of state Rep. Jon Jacobsen, R-22nd, told those objecting to the facility they would, at some point, need legal counsel to help in their effort to block the proposed development. "You're going to spend big dollars to win a case," Jennings said. "You should be prepared to spend $100,000." Jacobsen, who spoke to the group via Skype from the capitol in Des Moines, reminded those attending that while supervisors have recommended denial, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has neither denied nor approved the proposal, which has scored the required number of points for approval. The DNR requires a minimum score of 440 on the Master Matrix that rates various critical aspects of a proposal. Clifton's proposal scored 480 points, well above the required 440. Jacobson added that county officials can appeal DNR approval of the plan. Both Belt and Supervisor Tim Wichman, who also attended the meeting, said supervisors would appeal if DNR officials approve the facility. "This situation troubles me a great deal," said state Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Dist. 11, who joined Jacobsen on Skype from Des Moines. "I'm troubled by the fact that neighbors weren't involved. Surprises usually never end very well. I am very concerned about what this project involves and how it's been handled." Rebecca Castle, president of Southwest Iowa Nature Trails, which manages the Wabash Trace Nature Trail, said she is concerned by the fact the proposed confinement facility would be located within a few hundred yards of the Wabash Trace. Clifton, the proposed developer of the confinement facility, said he has been looking for a site for the facility for over three years, adding that he and his family would be living on the site. He said his partner in the operation his brother in law would also be living on the site. Responding to questions, Clifton, an electrician, said he has no experience running a chicken confinement facility. But he added that most of the operation is automated. "I was not invited to this meeting," he said. "I did everything by the book. I'm not sure why the board of supervisors recommended denial of my application. Cory Leick said he purchased the property, which is not currently in production, at auction in December 2018. Asked how long he's known about the possible confinement facility, he said he began negotiations with Clifton in April of 2019. Several attending the meeting criticized Leick for not sharing that information with neighbors. Responding, Leick suggested taking a 10-minute break after which he would be willing to auction the property to another buyer. As the meeting closed shortly after 9 p.m., Julie Campbell offered a closing comment to Leick: "Don't sell the ground to Mike (Clifton) and don't put a chicken farm on it. You'll be more respected." Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Chief operating officer at Irish drilling equipment maker Mincon, Peter Lynch, has stepped down from the company in order to "pursue other interests and to move closer to his family in Dublin". Mr Lynch will be retained by the Shannon-headquartered group as a consultant, and will continue to provide specialist services to Mincon when required, the business said in a statement. The role of chief operating officer will not be retained. The firm's regional leaders will continue to report to Mincon's chief executive, Joe Purcell, who is supported by Mark McNamara as chief financial officer. Colin Sheridan, analyst at Davy Stockbrokers, said Mr Lynch leaves the company "well-positioned after several strategically sound acquisitions in recent years". "These acquisitions have expanded the company's geographic and product range," he added. Mr Lynch initially joined the group as chairman in 2013, helping to guide Mincon through its initial public offering, before taking up a full-time role as chief operating officer in 2015. Yesterday, Mr Purcell thanked Mr Lynch for his contribution to the company. "I am very pleased that Peter will be maintaining his involvement in and association with the group as an adviser in a consulting capacity for the coming years," he said. Last week, Mincon acquired the Finnish firm Lehti Group for 8m. Mincon said the acquisition would "further enhance" its manufacturing capabilities in the geo-technical and construction markets. The move follows Mincon's 2017 acquisition of another Finnish drilling engineering firm, PPV. Lehti is already a significant manufacturing partner to Mincon. The Clare firm accounted for about 9m of Lehti's 13m turnover last year. Lehti has projected 2019 earnings of 2.2m. Mincon was established by Patrick Purcell back in 1977. The family still owns around 57pc of the business. Gouverneur police report they have arrested a man after he allegedly left two one-pot meth labs inside a Stewarts Shops bathroom at 242 E. Main St. According to NNY360, Stewarts manager put in a call to village police that a possible meth lab was in their restroom. Upon arrival, police evacuated the store and requested assistance from New York State Contaminated Crime Scene Evidence Recovery Team and Gouverneur Fire Department. NYSCCERT found two active meth labs in the restrooms sink and trash bin. A one-pot meth lab contains a plastic container like a soda bottle in which all ingredients to make meth are added and shaken to regulate the pressure inside. Too much pressure can cause the container to burst, and lithium can also burn through the thin plastic and ignite the contents. As reported by 7News WWNYTV, Eric J. Fuller, 35, of Gouverneur, was identified from the stores video surveillance and was found and confronted by state police. Seen in the video carrying a backpack, Fuller told police he had left it outside near a dumpster behind the Price Chopper grocery store on Main Street. Police located the backpack at the Price Chopper which contained two more meth labs, one spent, one active, said North County Now. Fuller has been charged with unlawful disposal of methamphetamine material, second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of unlawful manufacture of methamphetamine, all felonies. He was also wanted by state police on a bench warrant for failure to appear on a fourth-degree grand larceny charge in Fowler Town Court on December 17, 2019. He was arraigned in Gouverneur Town Court and sent to the St. Lawrence County Jail without bail for the drug-related charges and $250 bail for the bench warrant. BOSTON A Department of Veteran Affairs employee has been charged with stealing more than $69,000 in federal funds by pretending to purchase items and rerouting the money into his personal accounts. Michael Donaher, 41, of Lakeville, was arrested Tuesday and charged in federal court with embezzlement and theft of public money, property or records. He was released on conditions following an initial court appearance, said Christina DiLorio-Sterling, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. Donaher, an inventory management specialist for the Veterans Affairs Medical Facility in Brockton, is accused of fraud by using his government-issued purchase cards, she said. In a complicated scheme he allegedly routed money into the accounts of a company he created through Square Inc., a mobile payment company. To further conceal the suspected theft, he tried to make it appear as if the purchases were being made through FW Webb, a large plumbing company used by the VA for legitimate business, she said. When confronted by a special agent for the Office of Inspector General, Donaher admitted he did not make the purchases and rerouted money into his own account, court records said. If convicted, Donaher could face up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, DiLorio-Sterling said. The majority of business directors in the Republic believe Ireland needs to "actively address" improving relations with the UK ahead of Brexit. With the UK set to leave the European Union this Friday, 89% of the business leaders surveyed by the Institute of Directors said the Republic should create better dealings with its nearest neighbour in a post-Brexit scenario. Maura Quinn, chief executive of the Institute of Directors, said: "While it is encouraging that the Ireland-EU relationship has held firm during the Brexit process to date and is looked upon with some optimism by directors, it is Ireland's relationship with the UK that is a cause for some concern and needs to be addressed, after what has been an arduous and challenging Brexit process." Read More The latest quarterly 'Director Sentiment Monitor' took place at the end of last year. Despite ongoing concerns around the type of trading relationship that will exist between the UK and Ireland, six in 10 survey respondents believe that the financial performance of their organisation will improve this year. In addition, 30% of business leaders were more optimistic than they were in the third quarter of 2019, when the figure was just 9%. However, in the short-term a massive 88% of business leaders believe that Brexit's impact on the Irish economy will be negative. This falls to 47% when asked about the long-term. Trump's Lawyers Resume Defense in Impeachment Trial By Ken Bredemeier, Ken Schwartz January 27, 2020 Trump lawyer Kenneth Starr says "let the people decide" as he accused Democratic impeachment managers of seeking to overturn the 2016 election and remove Trump from the 2020 ballot. The president's defense team spent its first full day at the Trump impeachment trial accusing Democrats of improperly using impeachment as a weapon to get rid of a president they simply don't like. Starr was the independent counsel whose investigation led to President Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment for lying to a grand jury about a sex scandal. Starr called impeachment a political weapon that parties use against one another and said House Democrats impeached Trump without any bipartisan support. Starr described impeachment as "hell." "Those of who lived through the Clinton impeachment ... full well understand that a presidential impeachment is tantamount to domestic war. It is filled with acrimony and divides the country like nothing else," he said. Lawyer Patrick Philbin said the House impeachment inquiry was never about taking the time to find out the truth by issuing subpoenas through the courts. With the 2020 election approaching, he accused House Democrats of rushing to a predetermined outcome to meet a timetable. Another White House attorney, Jane Raskin, attacked the Democrats for focusing on Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who they say was at the center of the president's campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate Trump's political rival, Joe Biden. Raskin said Giuliani is a "colorful distraction" from what she says is the lack of evidence that Trump committed a crime. She said if Giuliani is such a central figure, why didn't the Democrats subpoena him to testify? House committees subpoenaed documents related to Giuliani's work in Ukraine, but he refused to comply. Defense attorney Pam Bondi spent her time attacking Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden's lucrative job with a Ukrainian gas company. She said questions about a conflict of interest go back as far as 2014, saying Hunter Biden was paid millions of dollars to sit on the board of Burisma while his father was U.S. vice president. Bondi said Trump had the right to ask Ukraine to investigate the pair even though no evidence of corruption by the Bidens has ever surfaced. Democrats impeached Trump on two articles abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He is accused of withholding nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine and putting off a White House meeting unless Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was publically committed to investigating the Bidens and a debunked allegation that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that meddled in the 2016 U.S. election. The 100 U.S. senators must decide his guilt or innocence. But a major line of Trump's defense could fall apart. Former national security advisor John Bolton has reportedly written in a yet-to-be-published book that Trump personally told him to withhold the aid to Ukraine. Trump denies there was any quid pro quo with Ukraine. Bolton has said he is willing to appear as a witness if he is subpoenaed and the Democrats say they would like to hear from him. A few Republicans are also expressing that desire. So far, minority Democrats in the Senate have been waging a futile battle to get at least four Republican senators to join them in a simple majority to subpoena Bolton and other Trump officials to testify about their recollections of behind-the-scenes meetings with Trump about Ukraine last year. Trump's lawyers contend there have been no firsthand accounts of officials who spoke with the president directly about his Ukraine actions. But Bolton often met with Trump until the U.S. leader ousted him last September from his national security post. Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, a Republican who supports calling White House witnesses whom Trump has blocked from testifying, said the Bolton book revelation makes it "increasingly likely" that more Republican senators will agree to hear testimony from Bolton and others. Maine Senator Susan Collins, another Republican who has signaled she is open to witnesses, said news reports about the Bolton book "strengthen the case for witnesses." But it was uncertain whether Senate Republicans supporting Trump, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have changed their minds. Calling witnesses could significantly extend the length of the trial. The president rejected Bolton's reported account in a series of early Monday tweets. "I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book," Trump said. A Bolton attorney said in a statement the text of the book had been sent to the National Security Council a month ago to undergo standard reviews for classified information ahead of its publication in mid-March. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Company directors in Ireland by a large margin approved the Governments handling of the Brexit negotiations, but were less impressed by its overall performance, according to the latest survey by the Institute of Directors in Ireland. The quarterly survey also showed most of Irelands top bosses continue to feel that the next Government will need to actively address damaged relations with the UK after Brexit. Despite the uncertainty thrown up by the negotiations, 70% of directors rated the Governments Brexit performance as good to excellent. Many directors, however, rated the Governments general performance in the last three months of 2019 as only fair. When asked to rate the Governments performance in Q4 2019, just 2% of business leaders rated it as excellent, 13% as very good, and 34% as good. "While 13% rated it as poor, the biggest group (38%) rated the Governments performance as fair, the IoD said. The IoD believes that the relationship with the UK is a cause for some concern and needs to be addressed. While it is encouraging that the Ireland-EU relationship has held firm during the Brexit process to date and is looked upon with some optimism by directors, it is Irelands relationship with the UK that is a cause for some concern and needs to be addressed, after what has been an arduous and challenging Brexit process, said IoD chief executive Maura Quinn. The survey showed that a majority of directors believe the finances of their companies will improve this year, and identified Ireland, the rest of the EU, the UK, the US, and China as among the most promising markets. On recruitment, most directors said the availability of skilled workers had lessened in the final quarter. Meanwhile, a leading consultancy has said that Brexit uncertainty will likely weigh on the outlook for the British economy. While the size of the governments majority in parliament has strengthened its hand in negotiations with Brussels, Brexit uncertainty is likely to hang over the economy for at least the next year, said Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics. Thirty-four years ago today, on Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger and its courageous crew were lost 73 seconds after liftoff. Astronauts Ellison Onizuka, Christina McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, Judith Resnik, Mike Smith, Dick Scobee and Ron McNair comprised the crew who tragically perished in the disaster. To honor the sacrifice of those brave astronauts, the American rock band The Rentals, fronted by Matt Sharp (best known for his work as a bassist in Weezer), released the song "Great Big Blue" and a corresponding lyric video inspired by the devastating events. "Today is the 34th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. To help honor to spirit and legacy of the seven fallen heroes, we are releasing GREAT BIG BLUE (a song inspired by the tragedy.)" a tweet from the band reads. Video: Challenger Explosion Recalled in PBS 'Retro Report' Related: Remembering Challenger: NASA's 1st Shuttle Tragedy in Photos Today is the 34th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. To help honor to spirit and legacy of the seven fallen heroes, we are releasing GREAT BIG BLUE (a song inspired by the tragedy.) You can watch the official lyric video, here: https://t.co/RSJGvzsTOvJanuary 28, 2020 See more The song features Sharp along with musicians Nick Zinner (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Ronnie Vannucci (Ronnie Vanucci), producer Dave Fridmann and The Gentle Assassins Choir. The lyric video showcases imagery of the sky alongside the lyrics themselves, which tell the story of the Challenger disaster from the perspective of the astronauts onboard. The lyrics include direct references to specific details of the day. "Outside the thermometer reads 31 degrees. Our families in the bleachers, bundled up so they dont freeze. Filled with pride to watch their children fly. Eleven Thirty, Eastern Standard Time," the song says. You can read the full lyrics here. The song's lyrics continue through the morning's events, up until the actual disaster itself. "Grey graffiti sprayed across the sky. Fall like streamers, eighteen miles high," Sharp sings. This is not The Rentals' first foray into space music. In 2019, the band released a song off of their upcoming record. The song, called "Forgotten Astronaut," a song inspired by the writing of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. The song is even written from the perspective of Collins as he traveled around the moon alone while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took humanity's first steps on the moon. "I started writing Forgotten Astronaut, while I was reading Flying To The Moon (1976, MacMillan). When friends would ask if I had read anything good recently, I would tell them I was reading about Michaels extraordinary life and whomever I was talking with would simply ask, Who is Michael Collins?" Sharp said about writing the song, according to the band's Bandcamp . He wanted to bring Collins' story back into the limelight. Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook . Chemists across Australian have sold out of face masks and hand sanitiser amid growing fears that coronavirus is spreading across the nation. Australia's largest pharmacy chain Chemist Warehouse has no face masks in stock in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, or Darwin. Other major chains such as Priceline, Amcal, Star Pharmacy, Blooms The Chemist and a number of independent vendors have either run out or have very few in stock. Coronavirus fears have seen the demand skyrocket for face masks and hand sanitiser as shoppers attempt to protect themselves against the disease. Now, experts are calling on the government to release its emergency stockpile of an estimated 10 million medical masks. Australia's largest pharmacy chain Chemist Warehouse has no face masks in stock in stores in major cities due to fears that coronavirus is spreading. Pictured: A Chemist Warehouse shelf in Sydney Why medical supplies are selling out Face masks have been in high demand over the bushfire season Now, face masks are seeing increased demand due to corona virus fears However, face masks are not 100% effective as they do not completely seal off the mouth and nose Face masks are more effective at quarantining an infected person Professionals say that washing your hands is the best protection as it can stop virus from spreading This is why hand sanitisers are selling out across Australia Advertisement Daily Mail Australia contacted a number of chemists and discovered that many did not know when they were going to get more stock because demand was so high. On Tuesday, Priceline in North Sydney was delivered 300 masks but ran out by 2pm. Two Chemist Warehouse stores in Sydney wrote messages to customers, in English and Chinese, informing them they were completely sold out. Another common problem was larger quantities of hand sanitiser were sold out, while only smaller bottles remained. In addition, Bunnings hardware stores were either sold out of P2 and N95 masks or quickly running out of stock. Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Queensland president Chris Campbell said the best way to stop disease spread is hygiene. 'It's (face masks) not necessarily the mask that's going to be the solution for them there's other things that they can do,' he told the ABC. 'Keep up that hand hygiene, and by that it's just making sure we're always washing our hands if we've been in areas with contact with other people.' Coronavirus fears have seen the demand skyrocket for face masks and hand sanitiser as shoppers attempt to protect themselves against the disease. Pictured: Masked passengers in Sydney Airport Two Chemist Warehouse stores in Sydney wrote messages to customers, in English and Chinese, informing them they were completely sold out. Pictured: A Chemist Warehouse store in Campsie However, now that hand sanitiser is also selling out, people may have to simply wash their hands with soap in the sink. Mr Campbell said that health agencies would intervene and provide masks, provided there was a serious enough outbreak. Dr Harry Nespolon, President of the Royal Australian College of GPs, said the government needs to release its emergency stockpile of masks. 'The thing we need most as GPs is some masks,' said Dr Harry Nespolon told The Sydney Morning Herald. 'They are not readily available. They are not easy to get. And I gather the Commonwealth has 10 million stored at the moment. This is the time they should be distributing some.' With chemists unable to keep up with demand, experts are calling on the Federal government to release its emergency stockpile of an estimated 10 million medical masks Bunnings hardware stores were either sold out of P2 and N95 masks or quickly running out of stock. Pictured: A Bunnings store in Sydney's west The increased demand for masks amid Coronavirus fears comes after the most recent bushfire season also saw Australians arm themselves with masks to protect themselves from smoke. So far, five people have contracted Coronavirus in Australia. Meanwhille, 80 people have died from the disease in China and there have been more than 2,700 confirmed cases globally. More than 200 obstetrician-gynecologists voiced support on Tuesday for the director of Armenias main maternity hospital charged with arranging illegal adoptions of Armenian children by foreigners. In an open letter to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other senior state officials, they described Razmik Abrahamian as an acclaimed and honest doctor and questioned the accusations brought against him. Abrahamian, his deputy Arshak Jerjerian, the director of a Yerevan-based state orphanage, Liana Karapetian, and two other persons were arrested in mid-December as part of a criminal investigation launched by the National Security Service earlier in 2019. They were charged with having forced over a dozen pregnant women to abandon their babies subsequently adopted by foreign nationals in 2016-2018 in return for bribes. District courts in Yerevan ordered virtually all of the suspects released from custody a few days later. Abrahamian was freed unconditionally while the others were granted bail. Prosecutors decided to appeal against the court decisions. In their open letter, Abrahamians colleagues and subordinates called for an objective and impartial investigation. They also demanded its quick completion, saying that the scandal is discrediting their profession and spreading distrust in maternity hospital personnel. The court must decide whether or not Razmik Abrahamian is guilty, said Georgi Poghosian, one of the obstetrician-gynecologists. This question must be solved, the sooner the better. If some people can violate [Abrahamians] presumption of innocence why cant we support our colleague? said another signatory, Nune Shahverdian. The letter also deplored emotional protests staged earlier this month by a group of women who had lost their newborn babies in disputed circumstances. The bereaved mothers were told by doctors years or even months ago that they gave birth to stillborn babies. They say that they were never shown the bodies of the newborns and believe the latter were born alive and sold to foreign adoptive parents. One of those women, Haykuhi Khachatrian, denounced the doctors who signed the letter. Before speaking out in support of Abrahamian, did they realize that they are defending a doctor who has admitted wrongdoing in a bribery case? Abrahamian, 76, was charged in April 2019 with giving a bribe to then Deputy Health Minister Arsen Davtian. Unlike Davtian, who was reportedly caught red-handed in his office, the veteran doctor was not arrested at the time. According to government data, a total of 54 Armenian children were adopted by foreign nationals, most of them Italians and Americans, from 2016-2018. There really is an awards show for everything these days. And on Monday night in New York, Town & Country hosted the 2020 T&C Jewelry Awards in conjunction with department store chain Saks Fifth Avenue. Headlining the event was Will & Grace star Debra Messing who put on a stylish show in a black Urban Zen dress and jewelry by Verdura. Headliner: Will & Grace star Debra Messing put on a stylish show in black Urban Zen dress and jewelry by Verdura at Town & Country's 2020 T&C Jewelry Awards in New York Monday night The actress, 51, looked lovely in the cold-shoulder full-length black dress. The long-sleeve outfit hugged Messing's curves as she posed for photos. The Brooklyn native wore her long hair styled back from her face in a sleek ponytail. She was bedecked with a statement necklace and matching earrings. Stylish: The actress, 51, looked lovely in the cold-shoulder full-length black dress. The long-sleeve outfit hugged Messing's curves as she posed for photos Gorgeous: The Brooklyn native wore her long hair styled back from her face in a sleek ponytail. She was bedecked with a statement necklace and matching earrings Sex And The City author Candace Bushnell also turned out for the cocktail event held at L'Avenue at Saks. Bushnell, 61, also opted for black, choosing a one-shoulder jumpsuit with flared trousers. She completed her look with a pendant diamond necklace and glossy red lip color. On trend: Author Candace Bushnell, 61, opted for a one-shoulder black jumpsuit with flared trousers. She completed her look with a pendant diamond necklace and glossy red lip color Sleek: British actress Ella Hunt, 21, flashed some leg in a black dress slit to the thigh on one side. The dress had long sleeves and a bateau neckline and she added strappy black heels British actress Ella Hunt flashed some leg in a black dress slit to the thigh on one side. The dress had long sleeves and a bateau neckline. Hunt, 21, who currently stars with Hailee Steinfeld in Apple TV+'s Dickinson, stepped out in strappy black heels and accessorized with large hoop earrings. On hand, too, was Sophia Anne Caruso who starred in Beetlejuice on Broadway last year. The 18-year-old wore a burnished copper velvet dress with short sleeves and a scoop collared neckline. She paired it with chunky heels and wore her platinum blonde hair in cute curls. Pretty: Sophia Anne Caruso, 18, who starred in Beetlejuice on Broadway last year, wore a burnished copper velvet dress with short sleeves and a scoop collared neckline Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil of Maharashtra continued his good form in the rifle/pistol national shooting trials, winning the men's 10m air rifle competition in the second trial here on Tuesday. In the process, he reversed the result of T1 (first trial) held last week when Indian Navy's Kiran Ankush Jadhav won. Rudrankksh shot 252.4 in the eight-man final to put it over Kiran who shot 250.6 to finish second this time around. Rudrankksh also surpassed the finals' world record score on the way to winning the Youth trials with a score of 253.4. And so did the junior winner Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar of Madhya Pradesh, shooting a 253.0 in the junior T2 final. Both the scores were higher than the current 252.8 being held by China's Haonan Yu. Kiran Jadhav had also surpassed the world record score while winning the men's T1 trial. He too had shot 253.4. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Axiom Space NASA has selected Houston-based Axiom Space to develop a commercial space station that could one day replace the government-run International Space Station. Axiom will initially rely on the International Space Station for construction, attaching its research and manufacturing facility, crew habitat and large-windowed Earth observatory to the existing space station. When the International Space Station is retired, the Axiom Station would be detached and operated as a commercial endeavor. Advertisement Australian scientists have grown the 'dangerous' coronavirus in a high-security lab, a major step towards finding a vaccine. Experts at Melbourne's Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity took a sample of the virus from the first patient diagnosed in Australia on Friday. They worked around the clock to grow the virus on a bed of cells and were successful by Tuesday night. The scientists will now share the virus with the World Health Organisation, which will distribute it to labs around the world amid hopes a vaccine can be developed in two months. The Doherty Institute is the second lab to grow the virus after one in China cultivated it last week. The Chinese lab, however, only released the genome sequence, meaning labs around the world still did not have a physical sample. Growing the virus is important for developing a vaccine because scientists can now test how it behaves. Scientists can also generate an antibody test, which can be used to detect the virus in patients without symptoms. Scroll down for video Doherty Institute lead scientist Julian Druce (right) with co-deputy director of the Doherty Institute Mike Catton (left) Doherty Institute lead scientist Julian Druce was part of the team who managed to grow the coronavirus When the Melbourne scientists had discovered they had grown the virus on Tuesday, co-deputy director of the Doherty Institute Mike Catton said: 'We got it. Fantastic.' He said the virus was 'dangerous' but not as deadly Ebola which killed 11,000 in west Africa from 2014 or SARS which spread from China and killed around 800 in 2003. 'SARS we know had a death rate of about 10 per cent. This coronavirus appears to be three per cent. My personal opinion is it will turn out to be lower than that,' Dr Catton told the ABC. In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Dr Catton said growing the virus was a major 'piece of the puzzle' towards finding a vaccine - but warned there is a long way to go before the virus is eradicated. The new coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China in early December and has since spread around world, killing more than 130 and infecting more than 6,000. There are five confirmed cases in Australia - all of whom had visited Wuhan recently. On Wednesday morning government website Smarttraveller issued a 'do not travel' warning, telling Australian citizens to avoid China at all costs. More than 11million people are stranded and unable to travel in or out of the region as China stepped up preventive measures to limit its spread. The virus, which belongs to the same family as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), has spread to 17 countries, with Sri Lanka and Cambodia the latest to announce cases on Tuesday. A second diagnosed case was also confirmed in Canada. No deaths have been reported outside of China so far. Five people are being treated in Australian hospitals for the virus but Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said they were all in a stable condition. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THE CORONAVIRUS? Once someone has caught the virus it may take between two and 14 days for them to show any symptoms. If and when they do, typical signs include: a runny nose a cough sore throat fever (high temperature) The vast majority of patients at least 97 per cent, based on available data will recover from these without any issues or medical help. In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people. Advertisement Health Minister Greg Hunt warned the disease is of 'pandemic potential' and the number of cases in the country is expected to rise as more are tested every day. 'There are a number of cases being considered in each of the states and territories, those numbers will literally change by the hour because some will be cleared and others will be tested,' he told Sky News. 'We do believe that there is a potential for further cases to be identified and therefore, to be announced. At this stage, the latest advice is that all five patients are being treated in isolation and all are stable and being well cared for. 'We have some of the strongest border protection measures in place around the world and we have biosecurity officials boarding all planes from China looking for symptoms. 'The Prime Minister has ordered all planes coming from China are boarded by security officials and that's an extremely important measure. 'Every passenger is met with by biosecurity officials and not only are they provided with information, but there is a review of their symptoms and the situation.' Foreign Minister Marise Payne issued a travel warning on Wednesday, advising Australians to stay away from Hubei. Minister Hunt said department officials are making 'significant progress' in finding a way for the Australians stuck in China to get home. A consular team in Shanghai has been dispatched to Wuhan to help negotiate their evacuation. 'They are being crosschecked to ensure there is no double-counting because sometimes you will have multiple family members report the same person, but at this stage, approximately 400 registrations have been placed with Foreign Affairs,' Mr Hunt said. On Tuesday, Western Australia was given the all-clear for the deadly coronavirus but public schools will take extra precautions to keep students safe. The state government on Tuesday confirmed four adult patients who were being closely monitored had tested negative to the virus. There are no further suspected cases. Emma Wei, from Melbourne, is trapped in Wuhan with her two children amid China's lockdown The family of two adults and two children were taken to Westmead Hospital in western Sydney on Monday afternoon after showing symptoms of the disease. The family was cleared Tuesday morning but six new cases are under investigation Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath In Queensland, paramedics were called to a suspected coronavirus case at a Gold Coast hotel resort after receiving reports a guest was showing symptoms of the virus. CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA NEW SOUTH WALES: 4 Four people in NSW have been diagnosed with coronavirus, including three men and one woman. January 25 Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China are confirmed to have contracted the disease. Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China. They are being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital and are in stable condition. January 27 A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW. The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms. She is being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital. VICTORIA: 4 January 25 A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia. The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19. He is now in quarantined isolation at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east. January 29 A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus. He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre. He was assessed as being well enough to stay at home. January 30 A woman in her 40s falls ill with the coronavirus. She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family. She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital. February 1 A Melbourne woman aged in her 20s is at home recovering. She returned from Wuhan on January 25 and fell ill two days later. She was not infectious on the flight, and has remained in isolation since being tested. QUEENSLAND: 2 January 29 Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national wass diagnosed with the virus. He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital. January 30 A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition. SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 2 February 1 A Chinese couple were placed in isolation in a public hospital. The man and a woman both aged 60, were from Wuhan and visiting relatives in South Australia. SA Health said the pair isolated themselves at home when they developed symptoms and awaited the results of the coronavirus test. Australia has raised the travel alert level to 'do not travel' for the city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak - and for the entire Hubei province. Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says unless people have contact with someone who is unwell and has come from that part of China, there is no need for current concern. Advertisement Paramedics clad from head-to-toe in decontamination suits were seen descending on Peppers Broadbeach, around 1.30pm on Tuesday. A Queensland Ambulance Services spokesman said paramedics attended a 'medical incident' on Elizabeth Street and a patient was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition. An ambulance source said the patient had recently returned to the Gold Coast from China and was displaying symptoms, The Gold Coast Bulletin reports. It is believed police were present to assist with crowd control and to establish a quarantine area if required. Two people wearing face masks were seen waiting for paramedics before escorting them into the building. Paramedics later emerged with a man who was pictured getting into the back of an ambulance. Queensland health tested a further six people across the state for the illness on Tuesday, all of which came back negative. The test takes up to six hours to complete and the results of the latest patient are yet to be confirmed. The Broadbeach division of the international hotel chain costs $911 a night for a penthouse suite with panoramic views of the ocean. The luxurious 4.5 star hotel is a hot-spot for celebrities, and is understood to have hosted popstar Taylor Swift and, then boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston in 2016. In NSW, a family of four and six others who were being tested for coronavirus were on Tuesday morning cleared but six new cases are under investigation. Parents and caregivers were asked to hold their children back from school if they had travelled to China in the past 14 days - the incubation period of the virus. Foreign Minister Marise Payne issued a travel warning on Wednesday, advising Australians to stay away from Hubei Medical staff are seen wearing protective clothing outside a hospital in Wuhan after the coronavirus outbreak The deadly Chinese coronavirus outbreak began at the Huanan Seafood Wholesales Market in Wuhan (pictured), tests confirm Members of the medical team of the Second Military Medical University pose for a group photo before entering the wards at Hankou Hospital in Wuhan Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the measure was voluntary and was taken to address worries expressed by the state's schools. He said the government would have liked to have made the decision sooner. There have been four confirmed cases of the potentially deadly virus in NSW. A 21-year-old UNSW student became the fourth case in NSW and fifth in Australia after she tested positive on Monday. The woman flew into Sydney Airport on Thursday on the last Australian-bound direct flight out of the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The student and three men who previously tested positive are being treated at Sydney's Westmead Hospital. All four people had either travelled to Wuhan or had contact with someone diagnosed with coronavirus in China. Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath. Aussie children who recently went to China are stopped from going to school Children who recently visited China are facing a delayed start to their school year as the NSW government moves to soothe classroom concerns over coronavirus infections. Parents in NSW have been asked to keep their kids at home when school returns if their children have been in China within the past 14 days. The federal education minister has chastised schools for suggesting students stay home, however NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the state was in a unique situation. The state government announced the decision on Tuesday evening as parents prepared for their children to return to school on Wednesday. 'Ideally we would have liked to have been in a position to have made this decision earlier. It is a very difficult decision,' Mr Hazzard said. Some schools had approached the state government to air concerns about the spread of coronavirus, Mr Hazzard said. NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the government was responding to these concerns by making the request to parents as a precaution. 'We know many in the community have wanted to see this and we are taking this step in line with community sentiment,' she said. 'We are doing everything we can, even though the risk is low, to ensure the safety of our children.' There have been four confirmed cases of the potentially-lethal coronavirus in NSW, and one further case confirmed in Victoria Advertisement The outbreak has evoked memories of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003, another coronavirus which broke out in China and killed nearly 800 people in a global pandemic. The deadly Chinese coronavirus outbreak began at a wholesale animal market in Wuhan city, experts confirmed. Scientists from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said tests proved humans caught it from animals at the Huanan Seafood Wholesales Market. It is not clear which animal was carrying the pneumonia-like illness but the market was home to stalls trading dozens of different species, including rats and wolf cubs. The outbreak has even impacted the economy with Australian (ASX) shares plummeting by 1.7 per cent, wiping $36billion off the market amid fears the outbreak will reduce the number of tourists visiting from China. The companies that suffered most were those that depend on tourism, travel and the Chinese economy. China has already extended the Lunar New Year holiday to February 2 nationally, and to February 9 for Shanghai. China yesterday expanded drastic travel restrictions to contain a viral contagion that has killed 56 people and infected nearly 2,000, as the United States and France prepared to evacuate their citizens from a quarantined city at the outbreaks epicentre. China has locked down the hard-hit province of Hubei in the countrys centre in an unprecedented operation affecting tens of millions of people to slow the spread of a respiratory illness that President Xi Jinping said posed a grave threat. Outside the epicentre, three cities, including Beijing, and an eastern province announced bans on long-distance buses from entering or leaving their borders. Originating in Hubeis capital of Wuhan, the virus has spread throughout China and around the world, with cases confirmed in around a dozen countries as distant as France, Australia and the United States. The State Department said on Sunday it was arranging a flight to repatriate staff at its Wuhan consulate and other American citizens trapped in the city. The flight departs Wuhan on Tuesday for San Francisco, it said in an email to Americans in China, while warning of extremely limited capacity for private citizens. Frances government and the French carmaker PSA -- which has a sizable presence in Wuhan -- also said they were formulating plans to evacuate staff and relatives, who would be taken to a city in a neighbouring province for a quarantine period. Sri Lanka said its Beijing embassy was considering action regarding its nationals in Wuhan. Travel bans China would normally be celebrating the Lunar New Year holiday this week, but Wuhans eery quarantine calm deepened on Sunday as new restrictions banned most road traffic in the metropolis of 11 million. Loudspeakers offered tips slathered with bravado. Do not believe in rumours. Do not spread rumours. If you feel unwell, go to the hospital in time, the message said. Wuhan is a city that dares to face difficulties and keeps overcoming them, the female voice added, mentioning the deadly 2002-03 SARS epidemic and 1998 Yangtze River flooding. Israt Zahan, a Bangladeshi doctoral candidate living in Wuhan said she and other students were staying in their homes as it was too risky to go outside. The bustling city looks like a ghost town from my window. The shops are all shut down. I am rationing the food at my home. It will last for two days. Then I dont know what I would do, she told AFP by phone. Despite anxious scenes at crowded hospitals in recent days, there were no signs of panic in the city. But defences were bolstered elsewhere in the country. Beijing suspended long-distance bus services into and out of the capital beginning Sunday. Similar suspensions are planned for the entire eastern province of Shandong -- home to 100 million people -- plus the northern cities of Tianjin and Xian. The southern city of Shantou had announced a ban on vehicles entering its jurisdiction after detecting two cases, but authorities later reversed the decision. Overseas Chinese tour groups will be suspended from Monday while domestic trips have already been halted since Friday. In the semi-autonomous southern city of Hong Kong, Disneyland announced Sunday it had closed as a precaution following the governments declaration of an emergency to combat the crisis. Shanghais Disneyland park had already closed Saturday. Virus spread accelerating The nationwide death toll rose to 56 after 15 new deaths, most of them in Hubei. Shanghai yesterday reported its first death -- an 88-yearold man who had pre-existing health problems. It was the first death reported in an internationally connected major Chinese city outside of Wuhan, where the outbreak is believed to have originated in a market where animals like rats, snakes and hedgehogs were sold as food. The government says most deaths involved the elderly or people already weakened by pre-existing health conditions. In Wuhan, Chinas military has dispatched 450 medics, many with experience combating infectious diseases, to help treat patients in the city, many of whom reported hours-long waits at overwhelmed hospitals. Wuhan is racing to build two makeshift virus-focused field hospitals within a fortnight to ease the pressure. The first could be ready in just over a week. One is to reflect and report on the fevered history of the debate about abortion in the United States over the last half a century while offering at least a modicum of fairness to both sides, even though few even acknowledge any place to meet. Another is to tell the particular story of the real Roe, the late Norma McCorvey (played in director Vanessa Stallings Goodman production by the moving Kate Middleton), a convenient yet unpredictably complex plaintiff who went on to disavow her iconic place in American history and lend her name, face and actions to the anti-abortion cause. Another is to explore the morality (or lack thereof) of the lawyer Sarah Weddington (Christina Hall), and ponder whether or not she sacrificed an individuals rights for what she saw as a greater cause while conveniently riding roughshod over that defenseless person. And yet another is to worry over the durability of the decision in the light of the changing composition of the United States Supreme Court and the stated intent of President Donald J. Trump to overturn Roe v. Wade as expeditiously as possible, by ensuring his Supreme Court nominees resist the landmark decision. One morning in January, about 270 people crammed into the basement of the Harris County administration building for jury duty. Another 1,130 people who were summoned didnt show. That days low turnout is the norm in Harris County, with just 22 percent of people called in 2019 appearing to serve, according to data from the district clerks office. While the attendance rates are stark on their own, experts say, they highlight a wider issue that translates to limited diversity on juries that possibly deprives criminal and civil defendants of their right to fair trial. The more people you include, the more equitable the outcome is, the more likely you are to get a jury of your peers, said Howard Henderson, founding director of the Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University. When you have a situation where there isnt fair representation on the jury, then you have unequal justice. Those concerns have prompted the Harris County District Clerks Office to pursue solutions that could make jury duty more accessible to residents, including a proposed e-Juror system that would allow people to register online and receive reminders in advance of their scheduled date. District Clerk Marilyn Burgess campaigned in 2018 on the issue. Harris Countys jury duty attendance has remained perennially low, with rates never rising above 26 percent in the past six years. Last years actual participation rate which includes those who eventually show up for duty was slightly higher, at 32 percent. That rate takes into consideration exemptions, summonses that werent deliverable and reset jury duty dates. Harris County jury duty in 2019 Summoned: 534,700 Appeared: 119,224 Exempted: 129,243 Undeliverable: 84,616 Net resets: -46,344 Failed to appear: 247,961 Harris County District Clerk's Office Appearance and participation rates Appearance rates are calculated by dividing the total number of people summoned to jury duty by the total number of people who appeared. Participation rates factor in the amount of people who filed for exemptions, didn't receive their notices, or rescheduled their court dates. Year Appearance rate Participation rate 2014 23 percent 40 percent 2015 26 percent 50 percent 2016 23 percent 41 percent 2017 20 percent 41 percent 2018 21 percent 41 percent 2019 22 percent 32 percent Harris County District Clerk's Office Diversity in Harris County jury pools County racial makeup Racial makeup among jury duty participants Caucasian 28 percent 54 percent Hispanic 43 percent 20 percent Black 19 percent 15 percent Asian 7 percent 10 percent Harris County District Clerk's Office and the U.S. Census Bureau See More Collapse In 2019, less than a quarter of summoned people submitted exemptions, and 15 percent of the summonses were returned because of incorrect addresses. But another 46 percent of people failed to appear. Although the county can technically fine $1,000 for a missed appearance, Burgess said there is no enforced penalty for missing jury duty. In many cases, trials have to be postponed because the selection pool isnt large enough, Burgess said. When jurors dont show up, that slows the judicial process down, she said. That means people may end up staying in jail longer because we cant fill the panel to have a jury trial. Socioeconomic factor The U.S. and Texas Constitution guarantee the right to a trial by jury, a practice officially rooted as far back as 1166 England. Like voting processes, the jury system was formed as a way for citizens to provide checks on the government, said Charles Rocky Rhodes, a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law. It is quite unfortunate that so few people do show up for something that was considered to be such an important aspect of our liberty, he said. But Rhodes, Burgess and others note that many of the reasons people fail to appear are socioeconomic, which tends to affect minority communities at a greater rate, research shows. No-show jurors might live paycheck-to-paycheck on salaried jobs and cant afford to miss a day of work if their employer doesnt pay for days of jury duty, or they might find serving to be inconvenient based on their geographical location and lack of transit options. And people with lower socioeconomic statuses tend to move more frequently, meaning their juror summonses might not reach the right location. Not coming to jury duty could also show a lack of confidence in the system, Henderson said. Burgess said she recognizes that lower appearance rates negatively affect the ethnic makeup of the jury pool. The people who serve on jury duty tend to be disproportionately white compared with the county population, she said, while blacks and Hispanics are underrepresented. About 43 percent of the county is Hispanic, but only 20 percent of people who come to jury duty are Hispanic, Burgess said. The highest participation rates are in the neighborhoods traditionally considered the wealthiest, including the Memorial villages, Cypress, the Heights, West University Place, River Oaks and Kingwood, according to the district clerks office. A jury of ones peers is usually considered to be a jury made up of people who predominantly look like the defendant, or people who proportionately represent the diversity of the county, Henderson said. Defendants might not get fair trials when their juries cant understand the nuances of their lives and upbringings and instead make assumptions regarding their race, said Juan Cartagena, president and general counsel of the national nonprofit LatinoJustice. The concept of being tried by a jury of your peers, although its a cliche, its really significant, he said. Judge Erica Hughes, who presides over Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 3 and sits on the countys jury committee, said the local jury pools dont reflect the current population. If I were or you were on trial, you would want a jury that reflects you, someone who has a better chance to relate to you, she said. If jury pools arent diverse, then the juries might not be either, Burgess said. Hughes described many of the juries as usually retired white males, and defense attorney Michael DeGeurin agreed they are mostly white. Judge Kristin Hawkins, the chair of the jury committee, said she feels the juries are incredibly diverse. Defense attorney Eddie Cortes who had a defendants Jan. 21 trial postponed to Feb. 3 because of a small jury pool said he tells his clients to expect some minority representation on the panel, but not much. Were going to get color on the jury; were going to get men on the jury, he said. But I tell them to try to imagine that the average juror is like the average Macys or Dillards shopper. Middle age, middle class, female, probably white. Avoiding the hostile juror Adding to the district clerks woes is the displacement of the jury system since Hurricane Harvey flooded the downtown jury plaza in 2017. The room could hold 1,000 people, making it possible to do one jury call per day. The current space is smaller, Burgess said, and requires multiple jury calls to be held per day in a crowded, unaccommodating space making jury duty increasingly unattractive to potential jurors. Construction will take at least 14 months, but FEMA has to first sign off on an agreement with the county. The current summonsing system is also outdated, the district clerk said. Jury pools are picked from an electronic wheel filled with peoples names and addresses all garnered from drivers licenses and voter registration cards. Using historical data, the district clerks office determines how many people might be needed for a jury and extrapolates how many people to call. The county then sends letters in the mail and waits to see how many people show up, Burgess said. On the first day, the county pays the prospective juror $6, an amount which state funds kick up to $40 on any following days of service. Burgess said her office wants to streamline the process and create an e-Juror system, which Travis County has used for years, boosting its own participation and diversity rates. The system encourages people to register online after theyre called for duty, and sends text and email reminders in advance of the date which isnt even assigned until the user notes their scheduling conflicts. After the Harris County jury committee approves and implements the program at no cost the district clerk hopes to ask judges to request a certain number of jurors in advance, making it possible to send participants straight to the courtroom and eliminate hours of sitting and waiting. Burgess said she also wants to increase the first day of pay, which would have to be approved by Harris County Commissioners Court. Its not where it needs to be and were very committed to changing that, Burgess said. But its a slow, tedious process. samantha.ketterer@chron.com Image credit: Sikh Youth UK@SikhYouthUK_Twitter Handle Lahore/IBNS: A top leader of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) has been gunned down in Pakistan's Lahore by a local gang over financial disputes related to drug smuggling, media reports said. Harmeet Singh, alias 'Happy PhD', was allegedly involved in the murders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders and followers of Dera Sacha Sauda in Punjab in 2016-2017. According to media reports, he was killed at the Dera Chahal gurdwara near Lahore on Monday afternoon. He was a wanted criminal in India especially for his involvement in the smuggling of weapons and drugs from Pakistan. Reports claimed that of late he had donned the role of chief of Khalistan Liberation Force after the outfits head, Harminder Mintoo, was arrested by the Punjab Police from Thailand in 2014. Mintoo later died of cardiac arrest in jail in April 2018 after attempting an escape from the Nabha jail with a group of gangsters. Singh, who hails from Chheharta in Amritsar, had been living in Punjab for two decades. He had a doctorate degree that earned him the alias PhD title. In an exclusive interview with The Tribune last year, Singh's Amritsar-based parents had asked him to surrender. In October, acting on Indias information, the Interpol had issued red notices against at least eight Khalistan-linked terrorists based in different countries, which featured Singh as well. According to intelligence reports in 2019, Singh was also believed to have planned to carry out an attack on the anniversary of the Operation Bluestar, which flushed out separatists from inside the Golden Temple in June 1984 during the regime of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. However, the plan was foiled. Besides, he was also a suspect in the grenade attack on a prayer congregation at the Nirankari Bhawan in Rajasansi which killed three persons and left several injured in 2018. Image credit: Sikh Youth UK@SikhYouthUK_Twitter Handle After establishing itself as one of the regions leading FinTech platforms and one that is widely acknowledged globally within two years, Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB) has announced changes to its leadership team. Khalid Dannish, Head of Business Development and Special Projects, will be appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective February 1. This appointment follows the departure of founding Chief Executive Officer Khalid Saad, who will be pursuing his own FinTech ventures that aim to further support the ecosystem, said a statement. Since its launch in February 2018, Bahrain FinTech Bay has brought together over 100 partners, whether public agencies, financial institutions, private businesses, technology companies, academic institutions, international associations or FinTechs, in a neutral platform. It is home to 42 Fintech residents and has successfully organised three of its flagship conferences, established a national FinTech talent programme, published 8 research reports, and most recently launched its first acceleration programme. Khalid Humaidan, Chairman of Bahrain Fintech Bay and Chief Executive of the Economic Development Board commented: I would like to thank Khalid Saad for leading Bahrain FinTech Bay since its inception and we wish him all the best in his endeavours. Furthermore, I look forward to working with Khalid Dannish to take this important national initiative forward and strengthen Bahrains leadership in Fintech. Prior to Bahrain Fintech Bay, Khalid Dannish was Vice President at J P Morgan in London where he was focused on firm-wide market risk, including strategic risk technology projects and leading one of the first pilot applications of the robotics and automation initiative. Prior to that he was with Barclays Capital in London. Dannish holds an MSc in Investment Management and a BSc in Investment & Financial Risk Management from Cass Business School, London. Dannish said: I have had the privilege of being a part of Bahrain FinTech Bay from its launch, and I am delighted to be given the opportunity to lead the next phase of growth and strengthen our value proposition to our partners, FinTechs and the region. I would like to thank and congratulate Khalid Saad for the tremendous contribution he has made to successfully realise Bahrain FinTech Bays vision. Together with the Economic Development Board and our founding partners we have built a truly impactful and innovation-led platform to position Bahrain for years to come. - TradeArabia News Service Armenias National Assembly has passed a law aiming to fight organized crime groups and their leaders, known in the region as thieves in law. Debate over the measure briefly turned the parliament chamber into an atmosphere where the thieves in law might have felt at home, with scuffles, screaming and swearing. As Eurasianet reports, the bill was passed January 22 on a party-line vote: the ruling My Step faction voted for it, while MPs the Prosperous Armenia party voted against it and those from Bright Armenia abstained. The law is modeled on similar efforts in the post-Soviet space, including in Georgia and Russia. Now, creating or leading a criminal subculture group in Armenia is a crime punishable by five to 10 years in prison and confiscation of assets. The definition of the group is broad, and allows members to be arrested even if they have not committed an actual crime. As elsewhere in the region, Armenia saw an explosion of organized crime in the chaotic 1990s. And while the situation has settled somewhat, organized crime leaders are still known and feared figures in Armenia. The murder of Andranik Harutyunyan, who went by the name of "Massivtsi Andik (referring to his Yerevan neighborhood), was one of 2019s most widely discussed crimes. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has spoken of the need to rein in the criminal groups. At a press conference last July he complained that thieves in law are popularly thought of as honorable people, but that people who order murders and thefts shouldnt be respected. This subculture has to be taken down, a lot of problems, including political phenomena, result from this, he said. In August, after the government approved a draft of the law, he expanded on his thoughts: People who belong to this subculture think of prison as their home, this law will send them home, he said. This is a serious issue and I have to admit that our law enforcement doesnt have the capacity to solve it. In November, the newspaper Past reported that a group of thieves in law were organizing a meeting in the mountain resort town of Tsakhkadzor and that one of the agenda items was going to be Pashinyans campaign against their culture. They had some political support, as well: one MP from Prosperous Armenia, Vardan Ghukasyan, said in November that he respected thieves in law and that they shouldnt be interfered with. When the law came up for discussion in parliament on January 21, Prosperous Armenia again opposed it. MP Gevorg Petrosyan complained that belonging to a group shouldnt be a crime and that the authorities should instead focus on fighting a three-letter word, an apparent reference to a vulgar word for sex worker. Another MP, independent Arman Babajanyan, objected and said that the party should apologize for the remark. That led to a verbal spat, which in turn led to some pushing between Prosperous Armenia and other MPs. Speaker of parliament Ararat Mirzoyan reproached the Prosperous Armenia MPs, asking them do you want a razborka? using a Russian word meaning something like a showdown, a gangster means of settling a dispute. He suspended parliamentary privileges for the day for four Prosperous Armenia members. The other opposition party in parliament, Bright Armenia, argued that the approach wouldnt work. This law is not capable of combating criminal subcultures because its going to cause legal problems in its application, said Edmon Marukyan, the partys leader, during the January 21 debate. Criminal subcultures should be fought by strengthening law enforcement. Russia passed a similar law in 2019. Georgia introduced a similar law in 2004, and it was strengthened in 2018. Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], Jan 28 (ANI): Scores of students of Jadavpur University blocked the car of West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday morning. The Governor had come to attend the convocation ceremony of the University. The students with placards were heard sloganeering 'Governor Go Back". Some of them also marked their protest against the National Register of Citizens (NRC), National Population Register (NPR) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Last month also, Dhankhar was forced to turn back from the University by protesters after he was shown black flags at the institution and was called a "BJP activist." (ANI) A new report released by a Boston-based energy services company is projecting no relief in energy costs across New England over the next decade, and the potential for Connecticut ratepayers to face even higher electric bills. The 61-page report, produced by officials at Enel X, said electricity prices in the region are the highest in the continental United States and are poised to remain elevated for years to come. Enel X officials also said in the report that the wind and nuclear power procurement authorized by the Connecticut legislature over the past two years transfers sigificant price risks to ratepayers. The wind power contracts Connecticut has agreed to are 20-year fixed power purchase agreements (PPA). The PPAs are structured as contracts-for-differences, such that utilities and subsequently ratepayers guarantee a fixed rate of return for each project, the report says in part. Thus, if revenues from the projects fall short of the PPA price, those costs will be recovered from consumers on their utility distribution bill. Vice versa, if the projects generate net revenue above the PPA price, ratepayers will see a credit applied to their distribution bill. The report also says the nuclear power agreements Connecticut made at the end of 2018 are structured as a contract for differences where Connecticut ratepayers will assume the risk, similar to offshore wind procurements. State officials accepted nuclear energy generation proposals from both the Millstone power plant in Waterford, which is owned by Virginia-based Dominion Energy, and the Seabrook power plant in New Hampshire. The Millstone power-producing contract is for 10 years while the Seabrook deal is for eight. Kristina Rozek, a spokeswoman for Connecticuts Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the risks associated with a guaranteed rate of return for power produced by Millstone have to be weighed against threats that Dominion Energy had made to close the nuclear plant. Before reaching the procurement deal with the state, Dominion Energy officials said they needed the long-term power contracts because Millstone no longer was competitive against low-priced natural gas-fueled electric generation plants in the region. The risk to ratepayers was that New England would see the shutdown of a facility thats essential for the reliability of our electric grid and meeting our clean energy goals in the midst of a climate crisis, Rozek said. Connecticut entered into contracts to purchase the energy and environmental attributes to meet our goals as we have for many zero carbon resources. Read the report: Joel Gordes, a West Hartford-based energy consultant, said one potential risk to ratepayers is what happens to the guaranteed payments if the power providers arent able to deliver the amount of electricity Connecticut officials have contracted for. Lets say, as an example, that high winds damage the off-shore turbines and they arent able to operate for several months while being repaired, Gordes said. The question is, What does that do to the ratepayer? The ratepayer should not be responsible for protecting the welfare of the company. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com A DUP MLA has called on the city of Londonderry to unite against dissident republican group Saoradh ahead of this year's annual Bloody Sunday March for Justice. Foyle MLA Gary Middleton made the comments after it emerged yesterday that the political wing of the New IRA would be attending the march on Sunday afternoon in the Creggan. The group's Facebook post confirmed they would be attending the event and called on people to "join with us as we stand with those who continue to fight British imperialism in occupied Ireland". A post last week by the group's leader Thomas Ashe Mellon boasted that the event will be "the first public march our band will be performing in" and claimed that they have ambitions to grow. Hitting back at the announcement, Mr Middleton said: "It is less than a year since dissident republicans murdered a young woman on the streets of Londonderry. "Having weathered the public outrage, those who seek to defend dissident terrorism appear determined to re-emerge and indoctrinate a new generation. "It is vital that everyone across the city stands united against those who want to bring violence onto our streets and we all make it clear there never can be any place or justification for the use of violence and terror to further a political cause." The Bloody Sunday March for Justice is just one of a number of events being held throughout this week by the relatives of Bloody Sunday victims. The event at 2.30pm on Sunday will also see a rally addressed by Stephen Travers, a survivor of the 1975 Miami Showband massacre. The chair of the Bloody Sunday March Committee, Kate Nash, is the sister of William Nash, one of those shot dead by the Army in 1972. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph yesterday, Ms Nash said that it is not the committee's place to dictate which groups take part in the march and confirmed that any group adhering to the rules was free to attend. "We decided at the beginning of the march that we would make it all-inclusive. "It is open to everybody across the board to attend," she said. "Obviously we wouldn't have some group armed or in military uniform, but yes, everybody is invited to that. "Nobody needs permission to attend. They know from previous years that there will be no military displays. We are a march for justice, they know that is not what we are about. Obviously everybody knows what our rules are." When asked if she thought the presence of the group would detract from the message of the march or offend any member of the community, Ms Nash believed this not to be the case. "We have always made it clear that it is an all-inclusive event. It is a commemoration of a terrible tragedy that happened 40 years ago. I wouldn't be worried and I wouldn't expect any trouble," she added. The announcement by Saoradh comes as this newspaper revealed yesterday that the group plans to put on a show of strength during its Easter commemorations in Derry, which happen just five days before the first anniversary of the murder of journalist Lyra McKee by the New IRA. Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - SinglePoint, Inc. (OTCQB: SING) is pleased to announce, subsidiary, Direct Solar America, has closed its initial set of sales through the partnership agreement with My Home Group Real Estate, LLC., the #1 fastest growing residential real estate brokerage in Arizona, the 2nd fastest in the nation, and has been named, "A fastest growing company" by Inc 500, five years in a row. See Original Release Here MY HOME GROUP LOGO To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5646/51888_a1ff755eb48b19bb_002.jpg "We see this partnership being a major force for new business and increased solar systems installed throughout the U.S. through Direct Solar America. It is exciting to see the results start to come through after ironing out the process and being able to train My Home Group agents. As we continue to collaborate we believe this could more than double the current output of Direct Solar Americas current residential operations," states Greg Lambrecht, CEO of SinglePoint. Direct Solar America manages the end-to-end solar process for the consumer from finding the best and most affordable solar option, simple financing options at competitive rates, and ensuring complete installation satisfaction. Direct Solar of America safeguards the entire process of installation, to deliver the easiest and most expedient experience of switching to solar energy for the consumer when they need it, where they need it, and at the best price. With this new partnership, over 2300 My Home Group Agents can provide alternative energy options for homeowners that are eco-conscious, searching for cleaner and alternative energy solutions, looking to reduce their reliance on the grid, and the search to reduce the burden of higher and higher utility bills. According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), in Q1 2019, the U.S. solar market surpassed 2 million installations - just three years after the market surpassed the 1 million installation milestone. The industry is expected to hit 3 million installations in 2021 and 4 million installations in 2023. This is a result of increased demand by consumers due to reduced installation costs as well as increasing environmental awareness which is driving the adoption of cost-efficient alternative and renewable forms of energy over conventional energy sources. To learn more about Direct Solar of America's residential and commercial solutions, visit https://www.directsolaramerica.com or call 844.850.5909. For more information about buying or selling a home or becoming a real estate agent visit https://directsolaramerica.com/mhg. About Direct Solar Direct Solar is a subsidiary of SinglePoint Inc, a technology and acquisition company. (OTCQB: SING). Direct Solar America is a solar energy brokerage with more than 3,500 home installations, which has enabled residential solar customers to shop for options in order to find the best option for the home. Like Rocket Mortgage or Lending Tree, Direct Solar representatives provide homeowners with a variety of financing and service providers; this has made the process of buying solar much easier for homeowners. Direct Solar is operational in eight states and continues to expand its residential solar footprint. Direct Solar Commercial serves customers that own and/or manage commercial properties. Along with Direct Solar Capital, an alternative energy financing solution, commercial projects have access to $50,000 to $3 million in funding for solar installations. About My Home Group My Home Group is in the business of building businesses. Founded in 2005 by Jereme Kleven and Mark Hutchins with humble beginnings, MHG has since given thousands of agents the platform to grow a real business through a culture of accountability and a collaborative environment. Today, MHG is the #1 fastest growing residential real estate brokerage in Arizona, the 2nd fastest in the nation, and has been named, "A fastest growing company" by Inc 500 five years in a row. With over 13,000 transactions closed each month and upwards of 3 billion dollars in commissions paid in the first quarter of 2018, MHG is slated to dramatically change the industry as a whole. MHG has been featured in Inc 500, Forbes, GQ Magazine, Business Journal, The Wall Street Journal, FOX News, Inman, Realtor Magazine, and more. For more information visit: http://www.directsolaramerica.com/ http://www.directsolaramerica.com/mhg http://www.directsolaramerica.com/commercial http://www.directsolarcapital.com/ https://www.facebook.com/directsolaramerica/ https://www.twitter.com/directsolaram https://www.linkedin.com/company/direct-solar-america Connect with My Home Group: https://www.facebook.com/myhomegroup/ https://www.instagram.com/myhomegroup https://www.linkedin.com/company/mhgrealestate/ https://myhomegroup.com/ About SinglePoint, Inc. SinglePoint, Inc. (OTCQB: SING) is a technology and investment company with a focus on acquiring companies that will benefit from the injection of growth capital and technology integration. The company portfolio includes mobile payments, ancillary cannabis services and blockchain solutions. Through acquisitions into horizontal markets, SinglePoint is building its portfolio by acquiring an interest in undervalued companies, thereby providing a rich, diversified holding base. Connect on social media at: https://www.facebook.com/SinglePointMobile https://twitter.com/_SinglePoint https://www.linkedin.com/company/singlepoint For more information visit: www.SinglePoint.com Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Technical complications, which may arise, could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The Company undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release. Corporate Communication SinglePoint Inc. 855-711-2009 investors@SinglePoint.com SinglePoint.com Direct Solar Media Relations Joe Hertzbach National Marketing Director 408.422.1257 joe@directsolaramerica.com www.directsolaramerica.com MADISON Vice President Mike Pence touted Wisconsins extraordinary record of school choice to advocates and students in Madison Tuesday and pledged the program is here to stay. In his remarks at the state Capitol, Pence also lauded the states three-decades-long history with school choice, which began under then-Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, saying this is where it all began. In Wisconsin and across America, its clear school choice is an idea whose time has come, he said at the National School Choice Week event. The former Indiana governor, who said he supported school choice before it was cool, also took shots at a Democratic bill to phase out school vouchers while drawing attention to Gov. Tony Evers absence from the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon. I know the governor couldnt be with us today so lets make sure he hears this: Were not going to let that happen, he said to cheers from the crowd. Evers, who told reporters Monday he wasnt scheduled to be in the building during the school choice program, had said on the gubernatorial campaign trail in 2018 he would seek to phase out the states voucher program though the effort wasnt included in the former state superintendents first budget proposal. Pence at Wisconsin Capitol Vice President Mike Pence addresses attendees in the Wisconsin Capitol rotunda on Tuesday during National School Choice Week. Voices from both sides The event also included an appearance Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who was interrupted by protesters on the buildings first floor holding signs and chanting shame as she spoke. DeVos highlighted a $5 billion tax credit program, called education freedom scholarships, that aim to help families pay for their childrens school costs. Ahead of the pairs remarks, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler slammed the visit as a way to celebrate the attack on public schools that Republicans have been waging here in Wisconsin for about a decade. Wikler, who said Wisconsin Republicans have systematically stripped funding from public schools and did irreparable harm to a generation of students, knocked President Donald Trumps administration for having amped up the fight against public schools. Trump and his cronies are sabotaging public education because its not their children who go to public school, he said. State Rep. Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, agreed. In a statement released after the event in the rotunda, Neubauer said, In Wisconsin, every child has a right to an education, and our public schools step up to educate every child. However, voucher school programs dont accept every child and result in reduced state aid to public schools in Racine and in districts across Wisconsin, even if children return to public schools in the same year. Unfortunately, we just cant afford to sustain two separate school systems competing for the same public money. In her statement, Neubauer pointed out that "The non-partisan Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau recently released a memo showing that vouchers reduced aid to public schools by $145 million. $18 million of that aid reduction comes from the Racine program, resulting in a 9% funding loss the largest proportional state aid reduction in Wisconsin. She supports a bill currently going through the state Assembly that would break down how schools money is being spent between public and voucher schools, rather than a single number. U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., whose 1st Congressional District includes all of Racine County, had an opposite opinion of Neubauer and Wikler. He pointed out that 9 in 10 students at St. Catherines in Racine use the school choice program. During this academic year, more than 43,000 students participate in Wisconsins Choice Programsmore than an 8% increase from last year, he said. In cities like Racine, participation rates increased by nearly 10%. Why? Because parents want the opportunity to choose a school that is best for their child. Wisconsin has three different private school choice programs under which certain students receive taxpayer-funded vouchers to attend participating private schools. The Milwaukee program, the states oldest, began accepting students in 1990-91, while the Racine program did so in 2011-12, followed by the statewide program in 2013-14. For now, student enrollment caps are only in place for the statewide program, which only allow a certain percentage of pupils in each district to participate. That ceiling gradually increases by 1 percentage point each year until 2026-27, when its lifted completely. A separate track, the special needs scholarship program that directs taxpayer dollars for students with disabilities to attend a private school, was first opened to students in 2016-17. The most recent expansions of the choice program occurred under former GOP Gov. Scott Walker and a Republican-controlled Legislature. Tuesdays stop was Pences second in Wisconsin this month. He most recently joined President Donald Trump in Milwaukee for a rally in mid-January, and before that he gave remarks at Marinette Marine in November. Journal Times Reporter Adam Rogan contributed to this report. Journal Times Reporter Adam Rogan contributed to this report. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aspera, a leading provider of solutions and services for Software Asset Management (SAM), today announced that a global human capital management platform company (The "Customer") has signed a $730k strategic agreement to use Aspera license management services and the Aspera SmartTrack license management technology. A key decision point was Aspera's ability to immediately deliver a current license position for a critical Microsoft renewal using their Rapid Vendor Analysis service. Senior leadership at The Customer recognized the time spent on manually managing their software licenses was debilitating from an efficiency perspective. Aspera had already provided a good sense of their current Microsoft compliance and a gap analysis in under 30 days, giving them a solid position for their contract negotiation. The Customer will use Aspera to facilitate an automated license management strategy that ensures compliance for all their major software vendors. "This agreement shows how Aspera delivers true value as a vertically integrated provider we give you great people, process and technology," said Mel Passarelli, Aspera's President and CEO. "We look forward to working together as our team wraps powerful SAM services and tools around the specific needs of this company." Aspera has offices in the USA, Canada, and Europe, and operates worldwide across a growing partner sales network. The Aspera product portfolio provides insights into all major software vendors and cloud applications. Aspera solutions support companies throughout their SAM journey, providing active control of license costs, cloud transition, and data center optimization. About Aspera At Aspera, we simplify the complexity of your software licenses. For nearly two decades, we have helped hundreds of enterprises and over 50 Fortune 500s to assess cost and risk within their IT environments. Our solutions for Software Asset Management track all the big vendors, such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP to cover every environment from servers and desktops to cloud and mobile. With the largest in-house consultant and service team in the industry, we provide the best strategy for data discovery, easy system integration, and a cost-effective way to purchase, use and optimize licenses. Contact Nicole Panas Marketing Director Email: [email protected] SOURCE Aspera Related Links https://www.aspera.com/en/ Wed like to be encouraged by the fact that the Legislature is poised to reopen filing for four seats on the utility-regulating S.C. Public Service Commission after a screening panel declined to nominate any of the candidates. Wed like to believe that means the panel wants better candidates candidates who know more or who arent so close to the regulated monopolies theyre supposed to oversee. SC lawmakers want to extend search for new state utility regulators A panel of state lawmakers held hearings this week to vet 17 people for the Public Service Commission. Part of the problem is that only six of the candidates were found to be "qualified" for a seat on the PSC. And that might be the case. After all, the reason we have a nominating commission is to prevent the Legislature from electing people who just barely meet the too-minimal legal qualifications for the job. Or it might be an attempt by the Public Utilities Review Committee to go out and recruit some candidates more to the utilities liking, or to make sure some of the candidates it found qualified dont actually get elected. Perhaps we shouldnt be so cynical; the panel is, after all, doing what state laws expect it to do if it isnt happy with the quality of the candidates. But the fact is that some of the regulated utilities best friends are members of that committee. The fact is that the law hasnt changed since the last time the panel nominated some of these same candidates. Goodness knows we need a better Public Service Commission. Its true that the Legislature left the PSC with little choice but to keep approving rate increase after rate increase as Dominion predecessor SCE&G poured billions of dollars into the nuclear reactors that it eventually abandoned mid-construction. And that the commissioners, who must grovel before lawmakers to win and keep their jobs, were reflecting the will of the Legislature. +2 Scoppe: Can SC PSC win our trust? Solar contract tests regulators' independence The SC Public Service Commission has always had a reputation for cozying up to the utilities its supposed to regulate. Now the PSC's decision to hire a consultant with close ties to electric utilities to help it set rates those utilities will have to pay to independent solar providers is raising new questions. But regulators never raised objections, or serious questions, even as environmentalists warned that the project was spiraling out of control. And as theyve demonstrated with their schizophrenic handling of solar energy rates, they still dont completely understand that their job is to protect ratepayers in return for the Legislature allowing utilities to operate as monopolies. When the House passed a bill in 2018 to improve the caliber and conduct of the commissioners, it felt a need to include a requirement that commissioners question the parties thoroughly during hearings of contested cases when appropriate before reaching decisions. Thats because the commission too often wasnt even going through the motions of applying rigorous standards to the utilities requests. That bill also barred the screening committee from ignoring professional qualifications, as it was allowed to do, and it sought to put some minor constraints on the too-cozy relationship between regulators and regulated. SC utility regulators reverse course in case between Dominion and solar developers South Carolina utility regulators have reversed course in a case involving Dominion Energy and solar developers, bowing to public pressure and But the Senate refused to pass the bill, so commissioners still arent expected to ask questions when utilities make their case (although some do), and the screening panel is still free to nominate candidates who dont meet any of the woefully minimal job requirements. More troubling: Even if that bill had become law, it wouldnt have addressed the larger problems with populating the PSC. The first problem is that commissioners can only be removed from office mid-term if theyre convicted of a financial crime or a crime of moral turpitude. Even members of the state Ethics and Election commissions and the Santee Cooper board, which serves as its own regulator can be removed, without a conviction, if they refuse to do their jobs or take other actions that could make them subject to criminal prosecution. The second problem is that the Legislature has given itself the job of both screening and electing the commissioners. Since we often end up with uncontested PSC elections, that means voters have little recourse when commissioners dont protect the public. When 170 people are in charge, nobodys in charge. Theres little choice but for the House to give final approval today to legislation to reopen filing. But if we want better commissioners, the Legislature needs to create more rigorous job criteria and remove the union-like job protections for commissioners. And it needs to divide the job of screening and selecting commissioners with the governor, so the two branches can check each others decisions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday called for a massive turnout in next month's parliamentary election, which look set to be challenging for the coalition government. "We hope that all our people will come to the polls and participate because these elections will have consequences for our regional and international policy," as well as in Iran, he said. Rouhani, a moderate conservative, made the appeal during a televised speech to mark the inauguration of water sanitation projects near Tehran. The alliance of moderates and reformers that propelled Rouhani to power in 2013 is scrambling to avoid losing its majority in the February 21 election. On Monday, Rouhani warned of threats to the Islamic republic's "democracy and national sovereignty", after a body dominated by ultra-conservatives disqualified thousands of candidates. The Guardian Council said it had barred about 9,500 potential candidates from standing -- almost two thirds of the 14,500 hopefuls. Moderates fear that widespread disqualifications could result in more people abstaining, which traditionally helps the ultra-conservatives. Candidates who are barred are allowed to appeal before the election. The polls come after a traumatic month for Iran, in which it came close to the brink of war with the United States and mistakenly shot down a passenger jet, killing all 176 people on board. Rouhani oversaw a landmark nuclear deal with major powers in 2015 that granted Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its atomic programme. But the accord has threatened to collapse since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States in 2018, before reimposing a series of intensifying economic sanctions on Iran. Rouhani on Tuesday called the Trump administration "the worst government" the United States has seen and pledged to continue working on Iran's development despite the sanctions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Willingham prefers to read tougher materials in print, but its not always convenient. On planes, hes usually stuck with his phone. For work, its most practical to stick with PDFs. But their highlighting and annotating tools dont compare with good old paper. Hell often find himself with a PDF and a Word document open at the same time, highlighting in one and noting down thoughts and page numbers in the other. My workaround is pretty clunky, he said. San Franciscos most esteemed French restaurant, La Folie, will close on March 14 after 32 years in business. Chef-owner Roland Passot announced the closure on Monday, adding that he and his wife, Jamie, will also close the more casual La Folie Lounge, which opened in 2009. Both restaurants are located on Polk Street in Russian Hill. Its bittersweet for me to let it go, but its time, Passot said. Im turning 65 this year. Its time to let the next generation do their thing. Passot informed the La Folie staff of the closure over the weekend. It was very emotional, he said. For me, theyre my family. He is looking for a buyer; ideally, someone would take over the restaurant and keep much of the team. At La Folie, Passot serves contemporary French cuisine while avoiding passing trends like molecular gastronomy. He won the James Beard Foundation award for Best Rising Star Chef in 1990, and La Folie was a frequent pick for the Chronicles Top 100 Restaurants over the years. Chronicle critic Soleil Ho praised the lounge in a review last year, calling out one of the best salads shes had in her life. Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle 2019 There were some ups and some downs at La Folie, Passot said, but two main factors drove his decision. First, La Folies lease was coming to an end soon. Second, a flood at La Folie Lounge last year which caused the space to close for four months reminded Passot of the operational challenges he wont miss when he retires. That said, Passot isnt fully retiring. Hes still a partner with Left Bank Brasserie, which has locations in Larkspur, San Jose and Menlo Park; Meso, which recently opened in San Jose; and LB Steak, which has one location in San Jose and another coming to San Ramon. Im going to be a lot more active with it really the face behind the brand, Passot said of the Left Bank restaurants. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. He also wants to write a memoir and start leading small tour groups on food-focused trips through France, Italy and Spain. I want to enjoy life a little, he said. Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker A day after the Bodo agreement was signed, Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that the government is willing to negotiate with the United Liberation Front of Assam ULFA (Independent) faction that has shunned the talks so far. "The Northeast has become the most peaceful region of our country. However, the ULFA(I) faction of Paresh Baruah and a few militant organisations of Manipur are still continuing with their arms struggle," Sarma told reporters here. "The Union government, the Assam government and the Manipur government are willing to negotiate with all these factions. I request all of them to come to negotiating table and to take advantage of the huge respect and affection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards the Northeast region," he said. Referring to the Bodo agreement, the minister said: "The agreement is historic because it has been signed by all the factions of NDFB. This is the final comprehensive solution of the Bodo problem recognising territorial integrity of Assam. Permanent peace has come in the Bodo region." The Central government on Monday signed a tripartite agreement with the representatives of all the factions of the banned organisation, Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). The peace accord was signed in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, which intends to fulfil the key political and economic demands of NDFB. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A $1 billion plan to outsource Australias visa processing system could be derailed by crossbench senators after the Department of Home Affairs warned the changes would likely need to be legislated. The official advice throws into doubt the future of the project to build and manage a new online system to process and provide visas for more than 9 million applicants a year. The Department of Home Affairs is determining the successful bidder for a project to manage a new online system to process visas. The department's incoming government brief to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, released under Freedom Of Information Laws, says the plan will likely require new supporting legislation. The contentious proposal could be dead on arrival with Labor, the Greens and Centre Alliance all vowing to vote against the move in the Senate. JPMorgan Chase is committing $22 million in low-interest loans and grants to boost Bay Area affordable housing as the bank deepens its connection to the region. The biggest U.S. bank by assets, JPMorgan is headquartered in New York but has done business in San Francisco for more than a century. The $22 million commitment is part of $75 million in planned Bay Area philanthropy over the next five years, the company told The Chronicle. The investments include a $15 million loan for Kaiser Permanentes Housing for Health Fund, which helps developers buy existing housing and keep it affordable, with a focus on Oakland. The bank is also issuing a low-interest loan of $6 million to San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund to support affordable housing and a $1 million grant for Oakland nonprofit East Bay Asian Local Development Corp. Part of our culture and ethos is this is a responsibility of business, to be forward leaning and to be part of the housing solution, said Janis Bowdler, president of JPMorgan Chase Foundation. The loans span roughly 10 years and arent designed to make JPMorgan a profit. Theyre structured as loans rather than grants, so the money can be returned to JPMorgan and reinvested in future philanthropic initiatives, Bowdler said. JPMorgan joins numerous large companies that have committed huge sums for housing in the past year. Google and Facebook each committed $1 billion in the Bay Area, and Apple committed $2.5 billion. Last June, San Franciscos biggest bank, Wells Fargo, committed $1 billion nationally to housing and other programs and has since allocated $66 million of that money nationwide, including $2.86 million in the Bay Area. That has bolstered efforts like the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund, which has raised $164 million for affordable housing, including JPMorgans $6 million contribution. Seven other banks are also investors or grantors. Theres so much more of a focus than even three or four years ago when we were setting up the fund. We were targeting corporations, employers and not getting a lot of traction, said Rebecca Foster, CEO of the accelerator fund. Previously, companies would tell her things like San Francisco has so much wealth. We should be solving our own problems, she said. Its very clear now, housing and the lack of affordable housing impacts everyone. JPMorgans contribution will help fund construction starting this month at 1535 Jackson St. in Polk Gulch, where nonprofit Chinatown Community Development Center will renovate 19 apartments for low-income seniors and build 11 additional affordable units. The project will cost $7.2 million. Amie Fishman, executive director of the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, said JPMorgan is working with reputable partners. I think its a model other banks and other businesses should follow, she said. Some of Google, Facebook and Apples massive commitments may take awhile to fully unfurl, as they are reliant on cities approving more housing, which will likely take years, or other proposals that dont have details. It is fantastic that tech companies have made these huge commitments, but we are concerned that these are going to take a long time, Fishman said. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Other aspects of tech initiatives are meant to be faster, such as Googles $50 million investment into a fund managed by Housing Trust Silicon Valley, which also funds affordable housing and preservation. JPMorgans commitment coincides with continued local growth for the bank, which has nearly 3,000 employees in the Bay Area. The company will open a new Palo Alto tech hub this year with space for more than 1,000 existing and new employees. Its retail branches in the region have grown substantially in the past decade. Earlier this month, JPMorgan hosted its long-running 9,000-person health care conference in Union Square and confirmed it would return to San Francisco next year. The bank is also the main sponsor for Chase Center, the new Golden State Warriors arena. The Bay Area is still a place where JPMorgan is going to focus, said Allen Fernandez Smith, JPMorgans head of West Region Global Philanthropy. We have a long history. Its where we want to be. Increasing housing supply doesnt just help the local community, but will help the banks own recruiting, said Fernandez Smith. This is truly a business imperative, he said. Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Mr. Dulos is on the edge of what he has the right to do. I would ask that you remove his permission to leave for work and do it in black and white so that he knows what he can do. It shouldnt be that hard, but apparently it is, Colangelo said to White. Pattis acknowledged it was not smart for Dulos to remove items from the memorial. But, he said, the memorial was set up near his home to taunt him. 65% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands they follow on social media. To get them to follow your company, make sure to connect with them on a personal level and treat social media as a two-way street. Boston Digital, a leading digital marketing agency, today announced results of a new survey, How Brands Social Media Impacts Consumers. It found that consumers are drawn to, and will purchase from, brands that entertain and inform them via social media. It also showed that 65% of respondents are more likely to buy from brands they follow, and that irrelevant, boring or overwhelming amounts of social content will push followers away. This survey is the first in a series of Boston Digital studies focused on digital marketing practices, trends, and impacts. Many brands that use social media treat it like a corporate billboard instead of the informed, two-way street it needs to be. They talk at, instead of with, their audiences, and overwhelm them with promotional information, said Peter Prodromou, president of Boston Digital. As the survey implies, in order for social media to dramatically impact consumer loyalty and purchasing, companies must connect with target consumers on a personal level, understand what drives their behavior, and be strategic about how they interact. They must deliver a great, high-value customer experience. Otherwise, consumers will unfollow and brands will leave money on the table. Key learnings from Boston Digitals social media survey, which was conducted with more than 500 consumers, include: Social Media Done Right Boosts Consumer Purchasing 65% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a company theyve followed for more than a month. 54% are very likely or extremely likely to look at a companys social presence while researching a product. Build Purchasing Incentives into Social Strategies Promotions (51%), exclusive deals (49%), and informational content (47%) posted on social media make consumers more likely to purchase. Hook Followers by Being Entertaining and Informative The top reason consumers follow a brand on social media is for helpful information related to a hobby (26%), followed closely by product information (25%) and funny or interesting content (21%). Retain Followers By Understanding Them 51% will unfollow a brand if its social media content isnt relevant to them personally and 34% will walk away if content is boring. Dont overwhelm consumers. 31% will unfollow if a company posts too much content. Perceptions count. 38% of consumers will unfollow a company if they dont agree with its values. Treat Social Media as a Two-Way Customer Service Channel Consumers rely on social for customer service. 59% use it to reach out when they have questions about a product or service; 52% when they have problems with it. A surprisingly high number of respondents 42% contact companies via social to provide positive feedback about their offerings. These consumers want to make a human connection with companies. 61% say it is very or extremely important to get a response from a brand after providing feedback on social media. To see more survey results, read this "How Brands Social Media Impacts Consumers" ebook. About Boston Digital Boston Digital has been delivering transformative digital marketing for 20 years. We believe digital excellence starts with a world-class website and catches fire with brilliant digital marketing services. Boston Digital helps clients across the US in industries from consumer products and life sciences to higher education, financial services and high tech, find their Digital Mojo, connect their brand to the people who need it most, and boost their competitive edge. http://www.bostondigital.com About 1.2 million Seattle area voters will be able to use their smartphone, laptop or a computer at their local library to vote in a current election this year. This will be the first time online voting is available to all eligible registered voters of a district, according to a foundation behind the initiative. The King Conservation District in Washington State is the third region in the U.S. to partner with the nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies on a national effort to expand mobile voting, and Washington is the fifth state to pilot mobile voting in general. The King Conservation District is a state environmental agency that includes Seattle and 33 other cities, but it is separate from the King County Elections agency and operates under a different budget. The King Conservation District has struggled to spur voter turnout in past elections. Last years Board of Supervisors election was among its highest ever with a turnout of just 0.2%, or 3,000 voters out of a possible 1.22 million registered to vote, according to Julie Wise, director of elections for King County. Seattles King Conservation District began accepting electronic ballots on Jan. 22 for three of five supervisor seats; it will continue to accept them through Feb. 11. For the past decade, Washington State has allowed all of its voters to access ballots electronically, but only for the purposes of printing out and then mailing them in. For the first time, the King Conservation District election is allowing voters to access ballots and submit their votes online via Amazons cloud service. Its not technology Ill be rolling out for King County in upcoming elections, Wise said. The Conservation District in Washington State has struggled to reach out to its voters. This district doesnt have the money to get a ballot into the mail for 1.22 million registered voters, so theyre trying to find a creative way to get voters access. General elections in King County have had no problems garnering voter turnout, according to Wise, whose office has a vastly larger budget than the Conservation Districts. In past presidential elections, King County saw 80% voter turnout. While Wise has no plans to roll out internet-based voting for Seattles general populace, she said she's watching the Conservation Districts election closely and has used the same technology for absentee voters living overseas though those voters emailed the ballots as attachments. The problem with online voting, Wise said, isnt that it's more or less secure; its more about public perception and how that may affect turnout. I dont think theyre ready for it," she said. "Critically important to running elections as an administrator is having voter confidence and trust in the electoral system. Theres understandable concern around election security and hacking of anything on the internet whatsoever. So, I think this is a great test that Im very interested in and will continue to watch, but part that test is about voter behavior. We see theres a lot of voters concerned about this method and I wouldnt implement any method that Id be concerned about taking [away voter turnout]. Democracy is always at its finest when all voices are heard. Voter trust is too important to risk in our King County elections at this time, Wise continued. I still applaud the [Conservation District] for getting creative with a small budget. Security concerns Critics of mobile or online voting, including security experts, believe it opens up the prospect of server penetration attacks, client-device malware, denial-of-service attacks and other disruptions all associated with infecting voters' computers with malware or infecting the computers in the elections office that handle and count ballots. Jeremy Epstein, vice chairman of the Association for Computing Machinery's U.S. Technology Policy Committee, said Seattles experiment is very ill-advised, and voters who use it are hoping that the software correctly records their vote, though there's no way to ensure that's the case. They're hoping the software doesn't disclose their vote to anyone else; there's no way to ensure that's the case either, Epsein said via email. They're hoping that the servers don't get hacked, which could change their votes yet again, no way to ensure that's the case. There's been no independent security assessment of the system just the vendor's assertions that their system is secure. And what we know from 20-plus years of web applications is that there is always a way to break in, and it's usually not hard. Adding to an innate insecurity of online and mobile voting systems is that compromises often arent discovered for months after they happen, long after the election results are finalized and it's too late to do anything. Democracy Live Democracy Live's OmniBallot mobile interface. If I were a betting man (which I'm not), I'd put my money on the nickel slots before I relied on the security of a system like this to record votes. At least with nickel slots you've got some chance of not losing everything, Epstein said. For now, mail-in paper ballots are the only safe choice. Michela Menting, digital security & blockchain research director at ABI Research, said mobile voting is becoming mature enough to be used in the general voting process, and there will be increasing opportunities to allow for tech-based voting, whether it is mobile or blockchain-based. The security concerns associated with voting can be alleviated through technology, there is no doubt, especially when this is properly implemented, Menting said. The technology behind the Conservation Districts supervisors election is funded by Tusk Philanthropies, a nonprofit focused on promoting mobile voting as a way to increase voter turnout. The technology for the online voting platform is being provided by vendor Democracy Live, a company founded in 2007. Democracy Live is among a small number of mobile voting platforms that includes Voatz, Votem, SecureVote and Scytl, all of which have piloted their technology in various public or private balloting that included company stockholder and college board elections. Its the biggest innovation in democracy in years, and we are extremely grateful to King Conservation District and King County Elections for making it happen, Bradley Tusk, CEO and founder of Tusk Philanthropies, said in a blog post. Tusk Philanthropies has also funded mobile voting efforts in Utah and Denver, both of which used technology from Voatz, whose platform uses blockchain as well as AWS and Microsofts Azure cloud services to record ballots. West Virginia has also piloted mobile voting using Voatzs platform. Voatz / blackdovfx / Getty Images Voatz's mobile voting user interface. Past mobile voting initiatives, however, have mainly been aimed at absentee voters, such as military and their families residing overseas. Seattles current mobile voting pilot is aimed squarely at the U.S.-based voter population. How it works Seattle area voters can log into Democracy Lives secure OmniBallot portal on their smart devices using their name and date of birth to access and mark their ballot. Once voters have made their selections, they have the opportunity to review the ballot to ensure it is marked correctly. Upon confirming their selections, voters will submit their signature to verify their submission before electronically returning their ballot. Voters will also have the option to print and return their marked ballots via local drop boxes throughout the county, or to mail in their ballot. Ballots will be verified and tabulated by King County Elections. Unlike some other mobile voting platforms, Democracy Lives does not use blockchain as the basis for collecting and securing electronic ballots. Instead, it uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) Object Lock, which is NIST compliant and has FedRamp certification, a government program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization and continuous monitoring for cloud services. Of course, this does not mean that the solution is 100% secure, but it provides one of the highest levels of security available today for protecting ballot information, Menting said via email. While it is not necessarily more (or less) secure than traditional paper-based voting, it is certainly more cost-effective and time efficient, and has the advantage of being able to reach those eligible to vote that are overseas or disabled. Democracy Live said it developed its OmniBallot platform to be a fully accessible, ADA-compliant secure balloting portal available to each of the 200 million voters in the U.S. The OmniBallot portal has been deployed in more than 1,000 elections across the U.S, serving some 15 million voters in hundreds of jurisdictions since 2008, according to the company. Security and accessibility are the key reason Democracy Live is excited to participate in this pilot. Outside of Washington State, most overseas and military voters email or fax ballots, which may be the least secure method of transmitting critical documents such as ballots, said Bryan Finney, CEO and Founder of Democracy Live. Voters with disabilities often cannot vote independently at home because they cannot see, mark or hold the ballot. This pilot is an effort to show how all voters, including voters with disabilities and remote voters. The voting technology behind Democracy Live is different from that of mobile voting vendors who use blockchain to store ballots submitted by voters. While blockchain provides de facto immutability, a cloud service like Amazons or Microsofts needs to go a step further to prove that it cannot be altered, according to Menting. But neither is inherently more secure than another; cloud just has an additional barrier to overcome security-wise, which Democracy Live seems to have successfully tackled, Menting said. I believe that such technologies, whether blockchain or mobile, will continue to emerge as highly capable and suitable technologies for voting going forward. H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Police arrested a 20-year-old Ridgefield man they said fled the scene after colliding with a stopped school bus on Tackora Trail. Christopher Varian was issued a misdemeanor summons Jan. 22 for evading responsibility and passing a school bus. New Delhi, Jan 28 : The counsel for the Nirbhaya case convict Mukesh Singh, who is set to be hanged on February 1, told the apex court on Tuesday that his client has been sexually abused inside the Tihar jail. Senior advocate Anjana Prakash said this to the Supreme Court during the hearing of Singh's plea seeking judicial review of the rejection of his mercy plea by the President. "I was sexually abused in Tihar jail. I was forced to have sexual intercourse with co-accused 31-year-old Akshay. I was also severely beaten up many times. "All these statements were given by me but these were not placed before the President," Prakash claimed in her submission before the court. A bench headed by Justice R. Banumathi was hearing Mukesh's plea. Levelling serious accusations against the Tihar Jail authorities, Mukesh's lawyer added that her 32-year-old client was forced to have sex in front of other prisoners. Mukesh and five other men, including a juvenile, had brutally gang raped and assaulted a Delhi girl on a moving bus leading to her death in over a month after the incident on December 16, 2012. Contending that her client has been sentenced to death, Anjana Prakash asked the court "but was he sentenced to be raped?" She also contended before the court that several supervening circumstances, which included his illegal solitary confinement, were ignored when the mercy petition was rejected by the President. The court will pronounce it's verdict on Wednesday. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text If your favourite part of sitting down with a tub of ice cream is to dig out the chunks of cookie dough, then your sweet tooth in in for a treat. Fans have gone wild after spotting Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough chunks in the aisles of Asda. The supermarket is selling 170g bags of the chunks for 3.99 across the UK, meaning fans of the much-loved ice cream can now tuck into the chewy cookie bites without having to dig around for them in tubs. Asda usually sell 465ml tubs of ice cream for 4.85-5.00 meaning the bags are pricier per 100ml. Sweet-toothed fans have gone wild after spotting Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough chunks in the aisles of Asda Taking to Facebook and Twitter fans were quick to share their excitement. One said: 'I bought these and ate the whole bag then couldn't function' Another wrote: 'These are so good! Taste just like real cookie dough! They're in the ice cream section' A third added: 'OMG we so need these. Get them in for the weekend. Taking to Facebook and Twitter fans were quick to share their excitement at the news The treats are ready to eat and don't need to be baked. There's 666 calories in a bag, which is more than a Big Mac, but a packet does contain six portions with 111 calories per 28g serving. Last year, the snack was released in the US and it's success lead to the launch of four flavours other flavours, including peanutbutter, chocolate chocolate chip, half baked and a vegan version. There's 666 calories in a bag, which is more than a Big Mac, but a bag does contain six portions with 111 calories per 28g serving Fans were excited to head to their local Asda to pick up a bag of the treats At the time, a Ben & Jerry's spokesperson said: 'We've freed the chunks! We know how it goes: sometimes when you're digging in to a pint of ice cream you're really just chasing those chunks with reckless abandon. 'Go straight for the good stuff with a bag of totally snackable Cookie Dough Chunks!' The snacks are available in store and online. IndiGo on Tuesday suspended stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra from flying with it for six months after he allegedly heckled journalist Arnab Goswami aboard its Mumbai-Lucknow flight. Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also took notice of the incident and "advised" other airlines in India to impose similar restriction on Kamra, stating "offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers". Kamra allegedly heckled Goswami, the editor of Republic TV, on IndiGo's Mumbai-Lucknow (6E5317) flight on Tuesday. "In light of the recent incident on board 6E 5317 from Mumbai to Lucknow, we wish to inform that we are suspending Mr Kunal Kamra from flying with IndiGo for a period of six months, as his conduct onboard was unacceptable behaviour," IndiGo said on Twitter on Tuesday evening. "Hereby, we wish to advise our passengers to refrain from indulging in personal slander whilst onboard, as this can potentially compromise the safety of fellow passengers," it added. In a video clip posted by Kamra on Twitter, the stand-up comedian is seen asking Goswami if he is a "coward or a journalist". While Goswami can be seen sitting in the plane and watching something on his laptop with his earphones plugged in, Kamra is heard as telling him: "Viewers want to know if Arnab today is a coward or a nationalist. Arnab, this is for national interest. I am part of the tukde-tukde narrative. You should deflate me. You should take the enemy of the states down. You should make sure that the country is in safe hands of Narendra Modi." "You should fight against dynasts like Rahul Gandhi, who I support, on 10 Tughlaq Lane. Arnab, you should have a reply, Arnab. Arnab, are you a coward or are you a journalist? Are you a coward or are you a journalist or a nationalist? Who are you, Arnab? Who are you?" Kamra can be heard as saying in the video clip. "You know, you do not deserve my politeness. This is not for you. This is for Rohith Vemula's mother whose caste you were discussing on your...show. I know this is not allowed. This is fine. It's fine if it is not allowed. I'd go to jail for this. "But this is for Rohit's mother. And go...find time and read that 10-page suicide letter that Rohit wrote so that you have some emotion or some heart or you just become human. Do that. Do that you in your free time. You nationalist." Kamra can be heard as saying. While IndiGo has barred Kamra from flying in its flights for a period of six months, other airlines have not stated if they will be doing the same. Queries sent by PTI to other Indian airlines - AirAsia India, SpiceJet, Air India, Vistara and GoAir - on whether they are taking similar action against Kamra remained unanswered till the time of press. On IndiGo's decision to suspend him for six months, Kamra said on Twitter, "Thank you IndiGo. A six month suspension is honestly very kind of you. Modiji might be suspending Air India forever." Rohith Vemula was a PhD scholar at University of Hyderabad. His suicide on the campus on January 17, 2016 sparked a wide outrage. Opposition parties had blamed Vemula's alleged harassment by groups affiliated to the BJP and the RSS for his suicide, and had launched protests against the saffron party. The BJP on its part had accused the Opposition of deceiving and exploiting the sentiments of Rohith Vemula's mother for petty political gains. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) File Photo A 35-year-old woman, Ganiat El-Hakeem, on Monday appeared in an Ikorodu Magistrates Court in Lagos, for allegedly pouring hot water on a 12 year-old girl. The police charged El-Hakeem, whose address was not provided, with causing grievous hurt. She pleaded not guilty. The Prosecution Counsel, Insp. John Iberedem, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on Jan.17 at about 10:pm at No 37 Agunfoye, Igbogbo in Ikorodu. Iberedem alleged that the defendant poured hot water on a 12-year-old, causing bodily injuries. The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of Section 245 of Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. If convicted under Section 245, she is liable to seven years imprisonment. Chief Magistrate F.A Azeez admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N100, 000 with one surety in like sum. She adjourned the matter untill March. 18 for mention. A 40-year-old man, Muhammad Bulala, has been electrocuted in Auyo Local Government area of Jigawa, the police have said. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Abdu Jinjiri, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday that the incident occurred in Gamsarka village at about 2:20 pm on Monday. Mr Jinjiri, a superintendent of police, said the deceased got electrocuted after climbing an electric pole to reconnect a cable earlier disconnected by the officials of Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO). On Jan. 27 at about 3 pm., the police received a report from Gamsarka in Auyo LGA that, at about 2:20 pm, Bulala, aged 40, deliberately climbed a KEDCO pole cable. He climbed the pole to reconnect a cable earlier disconnected by KEDCO officials due to non-payment of bill. Unfortunately, he got electrocuted, fell and died on the spot, he said. The police spokesperson said that the corpse was initially taken to Auyo Comprehensive Hospital and was later released to his relatives for burial. He said that investigation into the case was ongoing, adding, however, that no foul play was suspected. (NAN) French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, urging the world not to "give in to the intolerable rise of anti-Semitism." "The memory of the horror must never be forgotten," Macron told an audience of some 200 people, a quarter of them Holocaust survivors, at Paris' Shoah memorial museum on Monday. The French President was speaking after unveiling a new memorial wall of names commemorating the 76,000 French Jews who were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. More than 1.1 million people, primarily Jews, perished at the Nazi death camp in Poland, either in gas chambers or from starvation and disease. "The Holocaust must never be allowed to heal," Macron continued. "It should remain a gaping wound in humanity's side. Our vigilance must constantly be sharpened by our memory." The Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp was liberated on January 27, 1945, by Soviet troops, who discovered 7,000 survivors upon their arrival. Seventy five years on, a handful of ageing Holocaust survivors joined world leaders at the concentration camp in Poland on Monday to testify about the horror of the past and to tell the world not to forget, amid concerns over a global resurgence of anti-Semitism. New anti-Semitism Those concerns were echoed in France. "Who can fail to see the intolerable rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and in our own country?" Macron challenged. "Who can fail to see this evil development whether in its traditional form or under new masks of islamist hatred or anti-Zionism?" Veteran campaigner Shimon Samuels recognizes these masks all too well; director for International Relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Paris, he has spent years researching the Holocaust in society. He reckons that the weakness of Holocaust education may be to blame for anti-Semitism. "The Holocaust is 6 million Jews so it is Jewish but it isn't just a Jewish issue. There were also Slavs, Poles, Roma, gays," he said insisting on the tragedy's universal nature. "I'll never forget the evening I was seated in a circle of intergenerational survivors: native Americans, Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Bosnians, Tutsis in Kigali, a few months after the Rwandan genocide. And each one of us told stories and they melted into each other. There was no pecking order. It was only a communion of tears," he told RFI. Revolving door of justice While the French president has stressed the importance of Holocaust remembrance to combat all forms of racism, Samuels reckons commemoration is being used as a placebo instead of treating anti-Semitism. "You have all of these wonderful ceremonies with plaques on walls, but on the other hand, you also have a revolving door of justice" he said, referring to the case of Sarah Halimi, a Jewish woman who was killed by her Muslim neighbour in 2017. Last December, a court ruled that her killer was too high on marijuana to be responsible for his actions and the case was dropped, sparking outrage in the Jewish community. "That type of situation, certainly for the Jews of today, and certainly for the Jews of France and Paris is, is a tremendous pain." New York, Jan 29 : Former National Security Adviser John Bolton's allegations about President Donald Trump freezing aid to Ukraine loomed large in the Senate impeachment trial when Trump's defence cut short its arguments using up only about half the time allotted for it. Trump's lawyer Jay Sekulo concluded his arguments on Tuesday saying, "Danger, danger, danger. These articles must be rejected. The Constitution requires it. Justice demands it." To buttress his case, the defence team ran videos of leading Democrats like its Senate leader Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez saying at the 1998 trial of Bill Clinton that it was important for the Senate to acquit the president in the interests of the nation. Trump's lawyers appeared to shorten their arguments because they want to speed up the trial and also want to avoid turning them into long. repetitive monolgues as it happened with the prosecutors who took up almost all of the allotted 24 hours. The Senate agreed to hold 16 hours of questioning of the prosecutors and Trump's legal team over Wednesday and Thursday, and then it was expected to take up the question of calling more witnesses. Trump has been charged in the Democrat-controlled House of Representative impeachment with abuse of power over asking Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelentsky to probe the actions of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son in that country involving a gas company. A charge of obstruction of Congress was added because Trump did not allow some witnesses to testify during the impeachment process in the House and did not supply documents the investigators wanted. Democratic prosecutors representing the House have said that Trump withheld vital military aid worth nearly $400 million to US ally Ukraine in order to pressure it to investigate Biden, who is the leading candidate to challenge Trump in the November election. This, Adam Schiff, the leading prosecutor and the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said that it all amounted to getting foreign interference in US elections while endangering national security. Bolton has reportedly written in the manuscript for an unpublished book that Trump directly linked the aid to the probe, which would undercut Sekulow's argument that the president delayed aid because he wanted to be sure that Kyiv was opposed to corruption, and its legislature passed laws to set up a court for it. Trump is certain to be acquitted because the Democrats cannot muster the two-thirds majority to convict and oust him from power in the 100-member Senate where Republicans hold 53 seats. However, Democrats are trying to get four Republicans to defect and vote with them to call Bolton and other witnesses. That could prolong the trial beyond February 4 when Trump is scheduled to deliver the State of the Union Address and also embarrass him further ahead of the November election. Three Republican senators, including former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, appear open to calling Bolton as a witness and need only one more to join them. Schiff told reporters after the trial adjourned for the day that it was essential to hear Bolton because he had first-hand knowledge of what transpired. Referring to the Bolton manuscript, Sekulow said at the trial, "You cannot impeach a president on an unsourced allegation." Even if the Senate votes to call Bolton to testify, Trump could apply his executive privilege to stop. It would then depend on Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the Senate trial, issuing a binding ruling that is acceptedAby all or if it has to go through the courts. In concluding their arguments, Trump's lawyers brought up a second line of defence laid out earlier by constitutional law expert and Harvard University Professor Alan Dershowitz that even Trump had done what he had done it does not amount to the constitutional standards of "high crimes and misdemeanours" for removal from office. Republicans accuse the Democrats of using the impeachment to undo the 2016 election and to bar him from running for reelection instead of allowing the voters to decide Trump's future. Bolton, who is a foreign policy hawk, was dismissed by Trump last year. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) The first case of the deadly coronavirus has been confirmed in Germany as deaths in China rocketed past 100. The rising death toll came as the Chinese capital also announced its first death from the disease that has seen more than 4,000 people infected. China's capital today recorded its first fatality from the coronavirus as it struggles to contain a rapidly spreading disease that has sparked global alarm. Countries around the wold have been scrambling to evacuate their citizens from the epicentre of the epidemic in Wuhan. The first case in Germany was confirmed in the southern Bavaria region today as the total death toll in China reached 106. A spokesman for the Bavarian health ministry said: 'A man in the Starnberg region has been infected with the new coronavirus.' He is under surveillance in an isolation ward, the ministry added. The fatality in Beijing raises the death toll from the new virus to 82, with more than 2,700 people infected across the nation. Cases have been identified in more than a dozen other countries, including the first confirmed patients in Canada, the United States, Australia, Japan and Sri Lanka. Security personnel wearing protective clothing check the temperature of people with an advanced thermo camera (centre) at a subway station entrance in Beijing today A man using a thermographic camera to screen the heads of people at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, to screen passengers arriving in India from China and Hong Kong People wearing protective masks standing next to their suitcases at the Beijing railway station in Beijing. The Chinese capital suffered its first confirmed death from the disease today Authorities in China reported 24 deaths in Hubei province, where the virus first was detected in December, and one in Beijing. The German health ministry gave no further details on how the patient came to be infected but said he was in a 'medically good state'. France was the first European country to be affected by the outbreak, which has reported three known cases of the virus. All three had recently travelled to China and have been placed in isolation. Germany has recommended its citizens avoid 'unnecessary' trips to China as the virus spreads and is also considering the possible evacuation of its nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan. Today the French government said it would fly its citizens in Wuhan to France and quarantine them there. Japan also was preparing to fly its citizens out of Wuhan, and Germany was considering evacuating its estimated 90 citizens in Wuhan. The US urged its citizens to 'reconsider' all travel to China and told them not to go to central Hubei province, where the pneumonia-like virus emerged. Mongolia closed its vast border to vehicles from China. China on Tuesday postponed the start of the spring semester for schools and universities across the country over concerns about a deadly virus outbreak. Students are currently on holiday for the Lunar New Year and the education ministry did not provide a date for teaching to resume. Security staff wearing protective clothing talking with subway staff wearing a mask at a subway station entrance in Beijing today The above picture shared by China's National Microbiology Data Center shows the first-ever specimen of the novel coronavirus, known as '2019-nCov', extracted from a patient In a sign of mounting official concern, Premier Li Keqiang visited ground zero to oversee containment efforts in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the disease first appeared late last month. The government has sealed off Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, effectively trapping tens of millions of people including thousands of foreigners, in a bid to contain the virus as the Lunar New Year holiday unfolds. China decided to extend the holiday, initially due to end on January 30, for three days to limit population flows and control the epidemic. US President Donald Trump said the United States has offered Beijing 'any help that is necessary' in combatting the virus. The health commission in the capital said a 50 year-old-man who visited Wuhan died of respiratory failure on Monday, less than three weeks after visiting the city. More than 700 new infections were confirmed in the country, while the number of suspected cases nearly doubled over a 24-hour period to more than 4,400. The National Health Commission said 2,744 cases in mainland China were confirmed by midnight Sunday, but by Monday that figure had rocketed. The youngest infected patient was a nine-month-old baby being treated in Beijing. Pedestrians wearing protective masks as they walk in Toronto. Canada's first presumptive case of the coronavirus was officially confirmed today A multi language information sign advising passengers about the novel Coronavirus is displayed in the security area of the arrival terminal at Duesseldorf Airport, Germany, today In Wuhan, AFP reporters saw construction workers labouring on one of two field hospitals that China is racing to complete by next week to relieve overcrowded facilities swamped with people waiting for medical attention. On day five under quarantine, residents shouted 'Go Wuhan' from their windows, according to videos posted online, and a building lit up the night sky with the words in red. 'I'm getting more concerned every day,' Do Quang Duy, a 32-year-old Vietnamese masters student in Wuhan said. Chinese authorities today released first pictures of the new strain of coronavirus. The National Health Commission said that of the thousands of cases the youngest is a nine-month-old girl in Beijing. China's health minister, Ma Xiaowei, warned Sunday that the country was entering a 'crucial stage' as 'it seems like the ability of the virus to spread is getting stronger'. Wuhan is building two hospitals, one with 1,500 beds and another with 1,000, for the growing number of patients. The first is scheduled to be finished next week. The virus is from the coronavirus family that includes the common cold but also more severe illnesses like SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The new virus causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath and pneumonia. The virus is thought to have spread to people from wild animals sold at a market in Wuhan. On Sunday, authorities banned trade in wild animals and urged people to stop eating meat from them. Hyderabad: State BJP president Dr K. Laxman on Tuesday alleged that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his minister son K.T. Rama Rao had made mockery of democracy by grabbing coveted posts in the municipalities and corporations in an undemocratic manner. Addressing a press conference at the state party office here, Dr Laxman alleged that the ruling party leaders had adopted undemocratic and unconstitutional methods to grab the posts in the civic bodies where the BJP had a majority. He said 2020 would be the agitation year for the party against the anti-people policies of the TRS. The GHMC elections would be the semi-final for the party and the final would be the Assembly elections in 2023. Terming Mr Chandrasekhar Rao and Mr Rama Rao as political opportunists, Dr Laxman said the TRS had indulged in various tactics to win the elections including violation of norms, distribution of money to lure voters and misusing official machinery. He said the performance of the BJP was was very encouraging as it had contested these elections without an alliance for the first time. Dr Laxman said the party had increased its vote percentage and number of seats. Referring to the Thukkuguda municipality, where the TRS grabbed the council with ex-officio votes, he said the name of TRS Rajya Sabha member Dr K. Kesava Rao was originally listed for the Badangpet municipality. At the last minute, officials under pressure from the TRS changed it and allotted the vote to Thukkuguda. Dr Laxman questioned how Dr Kesava Rao could vote as an ex-officio member in Telangana state when he was allotted Andhra Pradesh as per the Parliament bulletin. He said that the party had lodged a complaint with the State Election Commission and would lodge a complaint with President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, who is also Rajya Sabha Chairman. He demanded the cancellation of the election of the chairman and vice-chairman posts of Thukkuguda municipality. Dr Laxman said that the party would continue its fight against the dictatorial, corrupt and family rule of Mr Chandrasekhar Rao. He alleged that the TRS usurped the Nizamabad Municipal Corporation mayors post by using the votes of ex-officio members and the MIM though the BJP was the single largest party with 28 seats. Karimnagar MP B. Sanjay Kumar, former DGP V. Dinesh Reddy and other leaders were present. GETTING READY FOR THE WORLD: Guam High Students, from left: Matthew Jack, Kaitlyn Wolfley, Jenna Treaster, Hannah Sambrano, and Chase Bailey. The students represented Guam at the 2020 Harvard Model Congress Asia conference, held on Tokyo University campus in Tokyo, Japan. Photo Courtesy of Azurdee Fernandez. What is the European Capital of Culture and why does it matter? How does the continent celebrate culture? Galway and Rejika start the new year as European Capitals of Culture, but what does the title actually mean? How will the cities benefit? We investigate further... What is a European Capital of Culture? A European Capital of Culture is a city chosen by the European Union to host events that celebrate the richness and diversity of cultures across the continent. Former ministers of culture for Greece and France started the initiative in 1985 to raise awareness of citizens' shared histories and common values. The title can be shared by multiple cities in a given year. How are they awarded? A panel of culture experts ask candidate cities to submit a proposal six years before the title-year. Bid books are submitted and judged according to a range of criteria that cover the cultural content, outreach and capacity to deliver outlined plans. After a Q&A session with potential culture capitals and a possible visit from European Commission members, the winning city or cities are announced. What are the European Capitals of Culture 2020? Galway in Ireland has been awarded European Capital of Culture status with the motto "Let the Magic In". The programme of events will explore language, landscape and migration. Events include 2,020 hours of tightrope river crossings and performed readings of Homer's epic poem, 'Odyssey'. The Croatian town of Rijeka is the second European Capital of Culture for 2020. The "Port of Diversity" theme sees the coastal city host Croatia's largest carnival and a 2km long zipwire from the Trsat castle to Kvarner Bay. There's even an opportunity to learn about the endangered Kastav Chavian dialect. How do cities benefit from Capital of Culture status? European Capitals of Culture tend to benefit notably from the emergence of a stronger sense of community. Donostia-San Sebastian in Spain, for example, saw 60% of 2016's projects involve local people. Marseille's stint as Capital of Culture in 2013 was part of a wider plan to regenerate the city; the purpose-built Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations has left a lasting legacy. Cities have also seen relationships with other nations strengthen Aarhus in Denmark collaborated with 1,200 artists across 80% of 2017's projects. The economic impact has also been huge for some cities Mons in Belgium, is estimated to have generated up to 6 euros for every euro spent across its 2015 celebrations. Which previous European Capitals of Culture should you visit? Here are a few of our recommendations for past Capitals of Culture that are well worth a visit. Guimaraes The Portuguese hub of 2012 is as charming as a city can get. Expect winding and cobbled streets filled with cosy bars and cute cafes. Leeuwarden The capital of the Netherlands' Friesland province held the title in 2018. The historic city is the start and finish to a 120-mile skating contest winding its way through 11 towns in the region via frozen canals. Pecs The Hungarian city went all out for 2010, adding a concert hall, library and cultural quarter. If that didn't prove enough of a draw, the region enjoys warm climates and is famed for its wines. Consider yourself a culture vulture? Make sure you're covered before you fly. At World First we offer Europe travel insurance that'll give you peace of mind while you immerse yourself in world-beating arts and culture. Rapper Drillminister has announced he is standing to be the next Mayor of London as he said he was inspired to enter the race by Donald Trump's unexpected electoral success. Drillminister, who wears a balaclava in public, will join the contest for City Hall as he looks to oust Labour's Sadiq Khan. Mr Khan is seeking re-election after securing power in 2016 and he is up against Tory Shaun Bailey and former Tory and now independent candidate Rory Stewart as well as a handful of other challengers. Drillminister said the US President had proved that an underdog could win a major election, telling the HuffPost website: 'People didnt take Donald Trump seriously when he was running. Hes the most powerful man in the entire world.' Rapper Drillminister has announced he is standing as a candidate in the London Mayor election Drillminister will be hoping to prevent Sadiq Khan from winning a second term at City Hall What is in Drillminister's London Mayor manifesto? Improve London transport and roll out cleaner buses to improve air quality Increase mental health support in the capital Improve London housing and reduce homelessness Diversify the Metropolitan Police to help curb crime Advertisement Drillminister has previously hit out at what he described as the hypocrisy of British politicians for deriding the hip hop genre of drill music while also using violent language themselves. The artist went viral in 2018 after releasing a cut-up track that uses quotes from MPs in which they talk of, among other things, stabbing each other in the back. Politicians and police linked the drill scene in the UK to a rise in gang violence, which resulted in multiple music videos being removed from YouTube. Drillminister said he planned to put politicians 'in their place' during the mayoral contest, with the capital set to go to the polls on May 7. He told HuffPost: 'They are going to see the power of the youth. They are going to see the power of the streets. They are going to see the power of every single, every day working class people.' He said he is planning to make 'serious, serious changes for London' if he is elected as he suggested that the other candidates in the race were not proper Londoners. Rory Stewart, a former Tory Cabinet minister, is also contesting the mayoral election. He is standing as an independent candidate He said: 'People are just trying to find their way through this maze we call London life and I think we need a mayor that kind of resembles what people recognise as a Londoner as opposed to somebody dictating to them what a Londoner is.' His manifesto will reportedly include pledges to improve mental health support and housing in the capital. He said he had also been inspired to stand by his great-grandfather who fought in the Second World War. He said: 'So if my grandfather's sacrifice to make sure that we can all be free today and I can have this opportunity to make people vote for me isn't good enough, then I don't know what people understand of democracy because that is what Drillminister stands for, democracy.' Pakistan: 400mn gallons of untreated sewage being dumped into Karachi sea January 28,2020 | Source: Geo TV Close to 400 million gallons of untreated sewage water is being dumped in sea daily, as the 12-year-old S-III project is yet to be completed, reported The News on Monday. Provincial Minister for Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah, when asked about the issue, claimed that the delay in the project was not only from the Sindh governments side. He added that the project would be completed in 2020. According to estimates, nearly 400 million gallons of untreated waste was being dumped into the sea which was posing a serious threat to the aqua life. It has been observed that various aquatic plants were also dying leading to a scarcity of food for the small species which ultimately threatened the life of big species. Meanwhile, importers have warned Pakistan that its exports could be banned if it continues dumping untreated industrial waste into the sea. Experts believe if the provincial government could not complete the S-III project soon then the fishing industry would be destroyed as the fish near Karachi could become uneatable. The S-III project, whose cost has reached Rs36 billion, was launched 12 years ago to treat sewage and sanitation waste before dumping it into the sea. Talking to the special transmission on marine pollution and its dangers, the provincial minister Nasir Shah claimed that the Sindh government was not liable for delaying the project because when the project was started, the PML-N was in the Centre. The minister alleged that the feasibility report was sent to the federal government but it did not approve the report. He added that work on the Korangi treatment plant would also be started on a priority basis. Shah claimed he has written letters to the contractors of the project and directed them to complete the work as soon as possible. He said the plant should be completed much earlier, adding that the government would try to complete the project within 2020. He said if the project was not completed within the time, then strict action would be taken against the contractors. Adviser to the CM Sindh on Environment Murtaza Wahab, told Geo News that everyone talked about issues but stakeholders were ignored. He said the sea line was controlled by the federal government and cantonment board, adding that earlier, the water commission was formed that had directed industries to build a treatment plant for industrial waste. A new Facebook tool will allow users to delete data that has been used to deliver targeted adverts based on their activity on other websites and apps. The social networking giant is making its 'Off-Facebook Activity' tool available to all users after an initial launch in Ireland, South Korea and Spain last August. The tool allows you to see what information Facebook holds on you based on other websites you've visited or apps used and then lets you either delete it or leave it. Facebook says the tool could have some impact on its businesses but giving people control over their data was more important. Off-Facebook Activity was first launched in a limited number of areas last August (Facebook/PA) When first announced in August 2019, the tech giant said the feature would allow users to disconnect future off-Facebook activity from their account. This is information from specific websites that may be gathered by Facebook and can be either removed in its entirety or just for specific apps and websites. Much of the advertising on the internet is served to users based on previous online viewing habits, with businesses paying for sites such as Facebook to use this activity information to place adverts in front of users it believes are relevant to them. 'Off-Facebook Activity marks a new level of transparency and control,' said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO. 'We've been working on this for a while because we had to rebuild some of our systems to make this possible.' The launch of Off-Facebook Activity to users around the world coincides with Global Data Privacy Day - aimed to highlight the need for data protection. Steve Hatch, vice president of northern Europe at Facebook, said: 'There are a number of ways you can control your information on Facebook and we're always looking at more ways for you to do this. 'That's why from today, our Off-Facebook Activity tool will make it easy to manage which apps and websites can access your information. 'We're also marking Global Data Privacy Day by reminding millions of UK users to check their privacy settings with our simple Privacy Checkup so you're in control of what you share, and who with.' When first announced, the tech giant said the feature allows users to disconnect future off-Facebook activity from their account Facebook said at the time the tool was launched that the aim was to 'shed light on advertising practices that are common yet not always well understood'. They said that the average user with a smartphone has more than 80 apps and uses about 40 of them every month, making it difficult to track who has what data. HOW TO USE OFF-FACEBOOK ACTIVITY Go to your settings in the Facebook app Select 'Off-Facebook Activity' Review the summary of the apps and websites that have shared your activity Manage your settings. Manage which apps and websites can access your off-Facebook activity Advertisement 'Off-Facebook Activity lets you see a summary of the apps and websites that send us information about your activity, and clear this information from your account if you want to,' Facebook said in a blog post about the tool. If you clear all of your data gathered from other websites that is held by Facebook then the company won't be able to use it to deliver specifically targeted adverts on Facebook, Instagram or Messenger. In other privacy moves Facebook will be prompting its nearly two billion users to review their privacy settings in a post on their newsfeed. 'You should be able to easily understand and manage your information, which is why strengthening your privacy controls is so important,' Zuckerberg said. Amtraks return to Mobile will run up against a Feb. 5 grant application deadline. The City Council opted Tuesday to wait one more week before deciding whether to commit future dollars to the project. The weeks breathing room will allow Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpsons administration time to gather information on two important elements about the project, according to Paul Wesch, the mayors chief of staff. He described the two elements as delicate and political. Despite the holdover, the council engaged in a lively debate about the merits of bringing Amtrak back to Mobile for the first time since 2005. It makes absolutely no economic sense for the city of Mobile, said Councilman Joel Daves, a vocal opponent of the project. Countered council President Levon Manzie, a proponent: This is something citizens have told me that they are very adamant in that they would like to see it happen. Contingencies A crowd of Amtrak supporters greet an Amtrak inspection train in Gulfport, Miss., as it travels from New Orleans, La., to Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. (file photo). The project calls for a twice-daily New Orleans-to-Mobile Amtrak connection that would stop in four coastal Mississippi cities: Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. The mayors of New Orleans and Biloxi, in recent days, have publicly encouraged Mobile to jump aboard. The resolution before the City Council requires Mobile to commit $3 million, starting in 2023, if the Southern Rail Commission receives a Restoration and Enhancement (R&E) grant from the Federal Railroad Administration. Mobiles commitment is part of a grant application that is due to the Federal Railroad Administration by next Wednesday. The Southern Rail Commission (SRC) a regional rail advocacy group -- is overseeing both the restoration of passenger rail along the Gulf Coast and the grant application process. The City Councils resolution would establish contingencies requiring the SRC to secure additional funding to construct a rail station in Mobile and to undertake capital improvements along the rail line. Also, the city would have wiggle room to assess the findings of a study about the impact of Amtraks revival on freight trains operated by CSX and Norfolk Southern. That study is expected to be completed within six months. Stephen McNair, a Mobile-based historic preservation consultant and a commissioner on the 21-member SRC, said that without a commitment, the city will miss the grant deadline. Thus the costs could potentially double, to $6 million per year, if the city did decide to join the Amtrak project later. McNair said the SRC has no intention of supporting a project that has a negative impact on the livelihood of the Alabama State Port Authority, which relies heavily on freight trains. He also said that the SRC plans to continue talking with both state officials and Mobile County commissioners on a plan to fund the capital improvement required along the rail line. The contingencies make perfect sense for this train to run because if we do receive funding for the operations, but we dont receive funding for the infrastructure, then the train wont run anyway, said McNair. We are perfectly content with the restrictions placed on this. Unknown, for now, is how much a future train station will cost Mobile. The city and SRC are backing the construction of a new train station at the Brookley Aeroplex adjacent to a new commercial airline terminal. In Pascagoula, city officials are preparing to enter into an intergovernmental arrangement to finance a $400,000 project to develop a rail platform to accommodate Amtrak. McNair said a similar platform can be built at Brookley. He said he doesnt foresee the job being overly expensive. We dont need a multimillion-dollar train station, but rather a raised platform, he said. At the end of the day, we want this train to run efficiently and safely. Daves said he doubts that a raised platform would be appropriate. He pointed out that the city spent over $100,000 to complete drawings for a train station that was supposed to be built at Cooper Riverside Park. That downtown station, however, appears to be out of the consideration following concerns raised by Port Authority CEO Jimmy Lyons about passenger rails interference with freight rail traffic into and out of the Port of Mobile. Varying viewpoints Daves said he opposes the project mostly for fear that it will fail to generate revenue, instead becoming a taxpayer burden after the first three years. Daves has been citing Amtrak estimates on ridership and fare prices to make his point. Amtraks estimates, labeled by the SRC as a worst-case scenario, pegs the rail lines operating costs at $7 million per year. This assumes an estimated ridership of 35,000 people each year spending $18.33 per trip, generating $700,000 in revenue. For the three states, the annual operating deficit would be $7.7 million per year, with each state on the hook for $2.3 million. The argument by the SRC is that its a conservative number, said Daves. But my argument would be that if we spend millions of public dollars, shouldnt we use conservative numbers? If Amtraks estimates are conservative, so be it. Those are the ones we should use. SRC members say that Amtraks numbers dont mesh with past ridership figures through Mobile. For 10 months from June 1996 to March 1997, when the Gulf Coast Limited operated one daily train from Mobile to New Orleans, ridership was 34,117, or around 4,200 more than the conservative projections for the new service that would operate twice daily. SRC members also believe that the typical rider will pay more than $18.33 per trip when considering both the fare and meals or beverages purchased on board. Council members who support the service said that Mobile shouldnt forgo a chance at bolstering tourism. According to an economic-impact report released in 2018 by the University of Southern Mississippis Trent Lott Center, every 1% growth in tourism in Mobile would generate spending of $11.9 million. This notion that we cannot draw visitors and tourists to Mobile and that it will be a one-sided proposition to benefit those in Mississippi and New Orleans I dont buy into that, said Manzie. If thats the attitude we have, then we ought not to do anything as it relates to tourism. If we throw up our hands and say, We will lose to the casinos and the good times in New Orleans, then what are we doing? But council members on the opposite side said Mobile shouldnt be shouldering the majority of the costs alone. Councilwoman Gina Gregory said that in Mississippi and Louisiana, the state government made financial pledges to the project. By contrast, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, for months, has been hesitant to support an Amtrak commitment, echoing concerns from Lyons about passenger rails potential to hurt the port. The state of Alabama has not stepped up to share the costs, said Gregory. No other communities have been asked to share the costs. I wouldnt have as much heartburn on this if Mobile wasnt asked to shoulder the entire (local share) of this project. McNair said hes hopeful that if Mobile endorses the resolution, the action will encourage Iveys office to sign on, too. The capital improvements along the rail line, which extend into coastal Alabama, are expected to cost around $2.2 million. We appreciate the Mobile City Council taking this seriously especially when taxpayer money is involved, said McNair. We hope that when the Mobile City Council does sign the (resolution) next week, we can then leverage local support by getting infrastructure from the state of Alabama and from the County Commission. Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were left in hysterics during Tuesday's episode of This Morning, as they spoke with a very forthcoming pensioner about her sex life. Despite having ten years' experience of hosting the daytime show together, the presenters were unable to control themselves during a conversation with 80-year-old Iris Jones. In a segment titled, My Egyptian Toyboy Isn't After My Money, Iris discussed her relationship with 35-year-old Cairo native Mohamed Ahmed Irbriham, who she fell in love with after meeting on Facebook. Raunchy: Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were left incredibly red-faced during Tuesday's show, as they spoke with a very forthcoming pensioner who discussed her sex life Quizzing the pensioner about her bedroom antics, the pair weren't prepared for how forthcoming Iris would be, immediately collapsing in giggles as the OAP exclaimed: 'The first night was pretty rough. 'Nobody had been near me for 35 years... I thought I was a virgin again!' As Phil, 57, held his head in his hands, Iris continued: 'Can I tell you what we used? A whole tube of KY jelly'. Collapsing in laughter, a flustered Holly, 38, couldn't control herself as Iris continued: 'The thing is I couldn't walk the next day... I felt like I was riding a horse! Saddle sore wasn't in it. Anyway, we got over it.' Iris went on to muse that although she is enjoying their sex life, that isn't the most important part of their relationship. Forthcoming: In a segment titled, My Egyptian toyboy isn't after my money, the hosts chatted to Iris Jones, 80 (pictured) who struck up a relationship with Mohamed Ahmed Irbriham, 35 Long distance lovers: Within a fortnight, Mohamed had professed his love and by November, Iris had arranged to fly over to Cairo to meet him in person Viewers were equally as entertained by the raunchy chat, taking to Twitter in their droves to praise the pensioner for her candour. Actress Sheridan Smith was among the fans, penning 'Make this woman a Dame immediately'. Other viewers added: 'Iris single-handedly saved 2020 #ThisMorning'; 'Iris on @thismorning. Funniest thing I've ever seen #ThisMorning'; 'Oh my goodness Iris that's the funniest live TV interview I've seen in recent years #Iris #ThisMorning #tellitlikeitis'; 'Iris what a brilliant interview. This is what we need on daytime tv some happy fun loving storys. Tv gold! #ThisMorning'. Not all viewers were impressed by the raunchy daytime chat, however, with one fan complaining to Ofcom about the discussion. They weren't expecting that! Quizzing the pensioner about her bedroom antics, the pair weren't prepared for how forthcoming Iris would be Make it happen! Sheridan Smith was among the fans of the pensioner, taking to Twitter to insist she be given a damehood Loving it! Viewers were equally as entertained by the raunchy chat, taking to Twitter in their droves to praise the pensioner for her candour Iris, from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, first struck up a conversation with Cairo native Mohamed, last summer on a Facebook group exploring atheism. Within a fortnight, Mohamed had professed his love and by November, Iris had arranged to fly over to Egypt to meet him in person. She was quickly smitten with the 6ft 2in quality inspector - who lost his job in order to take time off and meet Iris - and became intimate just hours after her arrival in the country. Wow: As Phil, 57, held his head in his hands, Iris continued: 'Can I tell you what we used? A whole tube of KY jelly'. Collapsing in laughter, a flustered Holly, 38, couldn't control herself Iris continued: 'The thing is I couldn't walk the next day... I felt like I was riding a horse!' with Phil unsure where to look during the steamy chat Despite only having just met, they decided to get married in Cairo, but the British Embassy told Iris she would need her divorce papers and also a certificate of no impediment proving she was free to wed again. Before returning to England, Iris met Mohamed's mother, 70, who has given the pair her blessing and said they 'got on like a house on fire'. Iris, who divorced her ex-husband more than 40 years ago, is now saving up to return to Egypt and marry Mohamed, who is from Giza. Unprepared: Daytime telly viewers were left shocked and hysterical by the surprisingly in depth chat about Iris' bedroom habits When asked about their first sexual encounter she replied: 'It was incredible. I felt like a virgin again. It wasn't easy but it was very loving and romantic. 'My ex-husband said I was frigid when we divorced 40 years ago but I now know I'm certainly not.' Her sons, Steve, 54 and Darren, 53, have expressed concerns over the relationship, but Iris insists Mohamed is not after her money or a British passport - and their love for one another is real. A panel of 12 people would have the power to set toll rates, according to the latest version of a bill that would implement trucks-only tolling on a dozen highway bridges across the state. The transportation commissioner would establish the initial base rate for tolls between $6 and $13 and have the ability to propose future changes, under a version of the bill released Monday night by Senate Democrats. A new Transportation Policy Council would then have the sole authority to change the rates on any tolled bridge. The new draft is a departure from previous proposals that would leave the rating structure in the hands of the legislature. The trucks-only scheme is projected to raise about $175 million a year, after expenses, for Gov. Ned Lamonts 10-year, $19.4-billion transportation infrastructure proposal. Charges would apply only to the largest trucks, mostly interstate carriers, not in-state delivery vehicles. The fees would be higher than those proposed for trucks in an earlier plan by Lamont that included all vehicles. A public hearing on the 32-page bill is scheduled for Friday, with a vote expected early next week ahead of the start of the General Assemblys regular session. Sources say Democrats have enough votes in the Senate to pass the plan. House leaders have said they had adequate support for earlier, more expansive versions of Gov. Ned Lamonts toll plans. No Republicans have said they would support tolling in any form. The council would comprise appointees by legislators who have expertise in various transportation areas, including commuter rail, transportation equity, bus transportation, municipal government, public safety, and construction or engineering. Also on the council would be the secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, the state Treasurer and commissioners of economic and community development, energy and environmental protection and housing. One appointee selected by the Governor would be required to have expertise in transit-oriented development, while another would represent the building trades. Nonvoting members of the council would include the transportation commissioner and the chairs and ranking members of the General Assemblys transportation committee and bonding subcommittee. The locations are the same as those that were in Lamonts proposal for 14 gantries in November, which included tolls for cars as well as trucks. Toll Locations Interstate 84 crossing the Housatonic River in Newtown and Southbury Interstate 84 and Connecticut Route 8 in Waterbury Connecticut Route 8, south of I-84 in Waterbury Interstate 84 over Berkshire Road in the town of West Hartford near exit 43. Interstate 91 and Connecticut Route 15 at the Charter Oak Bridge in Hartford, leading toward East Hartford Interstate 95 over the Metro-North Railroad in Stamford Interstate 95 over Connecticut Route 33 in Westport Interstate 95 spanning the Metro-North Railroad in West Haven Interstate 95 over Connecticut Route 161 in East Lyme Interstate 95 over the Thames River in New London and Groton, the Gold Star Bridge Interstate 395 over the Moosup River in Plainfield Interstate 684 over the Byram River in Greenwich, a location of almost entirely New York State traffic Ken Dixon contributed to this story. kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt A 23-year-old man has been sentenced to death by a court for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in 2018. The girl who was raped and murdered was his employers daughter. The girl, in Haryana's Palwal district, 79 km from Delhi, was kidnapped, raped and stabbed to death in June 2018 by Virender, who is also known as Bholu. The man had some conflict going on with his employer. They had a heated argument following which he raped and killed the minor girl. According to a report by India Today, he then stabbed her in the stomach and stuffed her body inside a wheat flour container. The mans mother also helped her in the crime and has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment. A local court has also fined her Rs 5,000, news agency quoted the complainant's lawyer Rajesh Singh Rawat. As many as 109 children were sexually abused every day in India in 2018, according to the data by the National Crime Record Bureau, which showed a 22 per cent jump in such cases from the previous year. According to the recently released NCRB data, 32,608 cases were reported in 2017 while 39,827 cases were reported in 2018 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). BCCL POCSO Act, 2012 is a comprehensive law to provide for the protection of children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography. It requires special treatment of cases relating to child sexual abuse such as setting-up of special courts, special prosecutors, and support persons for child victims. As many as 21,605 child rapes were recorded in 2018 which included 21,401 rapes of girls and 204 of boys, the data showed. The highest number of child rapes were recorded in Maharashtra at 2,832 followed by Uttar Pradesh at 2023 and Tamil Nadu at 1457, the data showed. Overall crimes against children has increased steeply over six times in the decade over 2008-2018, from 22,500 cases recorded in 2008 to 1,41,764 cases in 2018, according to the NCRB data from 2008 and 2018. - Lai Mohammed has said that the planned visa restriction against Nigerian travellers by the US is ill-conceived - Mohammed said if the reports on the restriction turns out to be true, the Nigerian government will respond comprehensively - According to Mohammed, the idea of a visa ban against Nigerians is not well thought out but based largely on negative narratives spread by naysayers The Nigerian government has reacted to the recent perceived plan by the United States of America to ban Nigerians from accessing its visa. Speaking in London during an interview session with Reuters on Monday, January 27, the minister of information, culture and tourism, Lai Mohammed, said the speculated ban by the US is ill-conceived. Mohammed said although the report is still a speculation, however, if it turns out to be true, the Nigerian government will respond comprehensively. On the issue of the travel ban, our position is that it is still speculative because we are yet to be communicated. When we are communicated we will respond comprehensively," Mohammed said. He added that the Federal Government believes that the idea of a visa ban against Nigerians is not well thought out but based largely on negative narratives spread by naysayers. Lai Mohammed has said that the FG will respond comprehensively should the US plan Nigeria on visa restriction. Source: Depositphotos I know that we are working very well with our neighbours to ensure that terrorism is addressed. We are working with the international community including the European Union, EU and the US," he said. He further advised the US government to have a rethink as a travel ban will affect growth and investment between the two countries and the most vulnerable in Nigeria will be highly affected. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a Wall Street Journal report suggests that the US government under the leadership of Donald Trump is considering a visa ban against some countries across the globe. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! The countries including Nigeria would allegedly have restrictions placed on specific types of visas, such as business or visitor visas. Other countries on the list are Tanzania, Eritrea, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Sudan. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Explained: 6 Reasons Why Donald Trump Might Be Impeached | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng Q. I want to save for my nephews college hes five years old but his parents are not good with money. I want to make sure they cant access whatever I save. How can I do this? Auntie A. Its very generous of you to want to help your nephew with future college costs. Its also smart to keep the money out of his parents hands, especially if youre not confident in their financial savvy. You can accomplish your goal by opening a 529 plan with you as the custodian and your nephew as the beneficiary, said Bill Connington of Connington Wealth Management in Fairfield. Want more personal finance news? Enter your email address to be the first to know: It would allow you to make contributions and then when your nephew went to college, you could make the payments for his tuition directly to them, he said. One of the primary benefits of a 529 plan is the large contribution limits, Connington said. There are other advantages. You can learn more here. Also see how such 529 plans are considered when it comes to financial aid. Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com. Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter. Delhi Police's Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested student Sharjeel Imam, booked in a sedition case, from Jehanabad area in Bihar, officials said. The PhD student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies has been booked in sedition cases lodged across several states for alleged "inflammatory" speeches made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. "We have arrested Sharjeel Imam from Jehanabad," said Rajesh Deo, deputy commissioner of police, Crime Branch. The force had deployed five teams to locate Imam, a resident of Bihar. Raids were conducted in Mumbai, Patna and Delhi. That record makes me nostalgic for some reason, the same way that [Bob Dylans] Nashville Skyline does. I also had an interview that day, so I wanted to be in a genuine, soul-bearing kind of mood, and there are a couple of records that I put on to encourage honesty. Because when I listen to music that I really relate to, it can almost inspire me to be the most authentic version of myself. Wednesday Afternoon: At the shoot, I was really inspired by a lot of the designers I was wearing. There was an amazing Versace dress that reminded me of 1960s Palm Springs, and then there was a Delpozo pantsuit with this very powerful silhouette, and a Thierry Mugler vintage-future look that was almost like Barbarella. I love fashion because I find it to be walking art. You put it on and it can inspire you to feel a certain way. When I was leaving someone sent me this video of Nikki Tutorials, an amazing woman who does makeup on YouTube. Ive been watching her stuff for years. In this video she came out as transgender. It was so brave and inspiring it gave me full-body chills and made me cry. Im always out there saying, Be yourself! but anytime I see someone else truly being themselves and seeming so free, it inspires me to continue being that way and to practice what I preach. Wednesday Night: That night I went to the premiere of Color Out of Space, the new Nicolas Cage movie. Its based on an H.P. Lovecraft short story. I loved it. Im obsessed with anything thats about space. Its the final frontier of magic. And there were also some wonderful themes in the movie about how the beautiful things or the things you chase in life can kill you if you dont watch out. For me, that was a metaphor for fame. If you chase fame or money or success or power without ever checking in on yourself, it can lead to your demise. [Laughs] So thats what I took away from the movie! I had also been wanting to meet Nicolas Cage. Weve been friendly for a while, but that was the first time we actually got to meet. Hes everything you imagine, and more. Hes just wildly funny, incredibly charismatic, super kind and so talented. Sometimes Ive had experiences where Ive been like, Do not meet your idols, but this was definitely the opposite of that. Ive always wanted to meet certain people that come across as strange, unique, interesting individuals, and I was not disappointed. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 20:44:50|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close LUSAKA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Stakeholders in Zambia on Tuesday expressed outrage following reports that drugs meant for people with HIV were now being abused by HIV negative people. The stakeholders have since accused the Zambia Medicine Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) of failing to control how drugs are distributed in the country. According to reports in local media, the antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) were fast becoming drugs of misuse among young people who were mixing them with other illicit drugs such as marijuana. Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC), an organization advocating for equitable access to treatment, care and support for people living with HIV said it was disturbing that the ARVs were being misused. TALC National Director Felix Mwanza asked the Ministry of Health to further investigate this issue, adding that the issue risk reversing the gains that have been made by the government and its partners in putting people on antiretroviral treatment. According to him, there were over a million people currently on antiretroviral treatment in Zambia and reports of the drugs being abused will likely reverse the gains made. His concerns have been shared by the Medical for Quality Healthcare in Zambia which said it was disheartening to hear of reports of ARV drugs being found in the hands of wrong people. Quince Mwabu, director of the organization said in a release that it was evident that the regulator was failing to regulate and control how medicines were being made available to the general public. "With various control measures to curb the abuse of ARVs, it is regrettable that there are allegations of HIV negative people accessing some types of ARVs, which they are reportedly abusing," he said. But Ludovic Mwape, spokesperson of the regulator told Xinhua that it was unfair for stakeholders to accuse the regulator of failing to regulate the pharmaceutical industry. He said according to the law it was not the mandate of the regulator to control how patients use their medicines once they are dispensed to them. He however said it was unfortunate that despite various control measures put in place, some ARV drugs were finding themselves in the hands of wrong people. MIAMI, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SOF-XI Legs Holdings Limited (Starwood), a controlled affiliate of the Starwood Capital Group, today announced it intends to make, itself or through an affiliate, an all-cash, off-market takeover offer (Offer) for all outstanding units in Australian Unity Office Fund (AOF) (ASX: AOF) for $2.98 per unit (Offer Price). Investors representing in aggregate 16.7% of the AOF units have indicated their support for the Offer by entering into pre-bid agreements with Starwood. Key attractions of the Offer for AOF unitholders The all-cash Offer represents an opportunity for AOF unitholders to access liquidity in AOF at a certain value and at an effective price (after distributions2) above the previously recommended scheme proposal in late 2019 from Charter Hall Group / Abacus Property Group (CHAB Scheme). Starwood believes its Offer represents an attractive opportunity for all unitholders to realise liquidity at a certain cash value. In addition, the Offer Price represents a premium of: 6.8% to AOF's net tangible assets ( NTA ) as at 30 June 2019 of $2.79 per unit and 4.6% to AOF's pro forma NTA of $2.85 after adjusting for the estimated revaluations 3 ) as at of per unit and 4.6% to AOF's pro forma NTA of after adjusting for the estimated revaluations 3.6% to the volume weighted average price (VWAP) of AOF units since the date of the CHAB Scheme vote4 Jeffrey Dishner, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Real Estate Acquisitions at the Starwood Capital Group said: "Starwood's offer to acquire AOF for $2.98 per unit provides unitholders with an opportunity to obtain liquidity at a certain price. The Offer Price also represents a premium to the current trading levels and NTA. We look forward to engaging with all stakeholders regarding the Offer as we work to successfully complete the transaction." Offer conditions The Offer will be subject to certain conditions, including FIRB approval and a 90% minimum acceptance condition. Full details of the conditions to the Offer are set out in the schedule to this announcement.5 The Offer is not subject to due diligence. Support of major investors Starwood has entered into pre-bid agreements with certain institutional investors6 pursuant to which, subject to certain conditions, they have collectively agreed to accept, or procure the acceptance of, 16.7% of AOF units, in aggregate, into the Offer and granted a call option to Starwood over these units. Full details of the pre-bid agreements are contained in the substantial holder notice to be lodged by Starwood. Financing Starwood intends to finance the Offer from committed funds managed by Starwood Capital Group. SOF XI Legs Holdings Limited is a subsidiary of Starwood Global Opportunity Fund XI, a discretionary fund with total committed capital of approximately US$7.55bn and sufficient undrawn capital to fund the Offer. Bidder's Statement More detailed information about the Offer will be contained in the Bidder's Statement to be sent to unitholders in due course. Advisors Rothschild & Co is acting as financial advisor and King & Wood Mallesons is acting as legal advisor to Starwood in relation to this Offer. For further enquiries, please contact: For Starwood Capital Group: James Strong Citadel-MAGNUS [email protected] +61 (0)448 881 174 Tom Johnson/Dan Scorpio Abernathy MacGregor (212) 371-5999 [email protected] / [email protected] About Starwood Capital Group Starwood Capital Group is a private investment firm with a core focus on global real estate, energy infrastructure and oil & gas. The Firm and its affiliates maintain 15 offices in six countries around the world, and currently have approximately 4,000 employees. Since its inception in 1991, Starwood Capital Group has raised over $45 billion of equity capital, and currently has in excess of $60 billion of assets under management. The Firm has invested in virtually every category of real estate on a global basis, opportunistically shifting asset classes, geographies and positions in the capital stack as it perceives risk/reward dynamics to be evolving. Over the past 28 years, Starwood Capital Group and its affiliates have successfully executed an investment strategy that involves building enterprises in both the private and public markets. Additional information can be found at starwoodcapital.com. Schedule 1 1 Conditions of the Offer The Offer will be subject to the following conditions, unless waived by Bidder: (a) (minimum ownership) during, or at the end of, the Offer Period, the number of Target Units in which Bidder and its associates together have relevant interests (disregarding any relevant interest that arise merely because of the operation of section 608(3) of the Corporations Act) is at least 90% of all the Target Units; (b) (FIRB Act) prior to the end of the Offer Period: (i) the Treasurer (or the Treasurer's delegate) has provided a written no objection notification to the proposed acquisition by Bidder of Target either without conditions or with conditions acceptable to Bidder; or (ii) following notice of the proposed acquisition by Bidder of Target having been given by Bidder to the Treasurer under the FIRB Act, the Treasurer has ceased to be empowered to make any order under Part 3 of the FIRB Act because the applicable time limit on making orders and decisions under the FIRB Act has expired; (c) (regulatory approvals) before the end of the Offer Period, all approvals, waivers, exemptions, declarations or consents that are required by law, or by or from any Public Authority, as are necessary to permit the Offer to be lawfully made to and accepted by Target Unitholders and to be completed are granted, given, made or obtained on an unconditional basis, remain in full force and effect in all respects, and do not become subject to any notice, intimation or indication of intention to revoke, suspend, restrict, modify or not renew the same; (d) (no restraining orders) during the period beginning on the Announcement Date and ending at the end of the Offer Period: (i) there is not in effect any preliminary or final decision, order or decree issued by a Public Authority; and (ii) no application is made to any Public Authority (other than by any member of the Bidder Group), or action or investigation is announced, threatened or commenced by a Public Authority, in consequence of, or in connection with, the Offer (other than a determination by ASIC or the Takeovers Panel in exercise of the powers and discretions conferred by the Corporations Act), which: (iii) restrains, prohibits or impedes (or if granted could restrain, prohibit or impede), or otherwise materially adversely impacts on, the making of the Offer or the completion of any transaction contemplated by the Offer (whether subject to conditions or not) or the rights of Bidder in respect of Target and the Target Units to be acquired under the Offer; or (iv) requires the divestiture by Bidder of any Target Units, or the divestiture of any assets of the Target Group, the Bidder Group or otherwise; (e) (no material adverse effect) that no specified event occurs that, whether individually or when aggregated with all such specified events, will or is reasonably likely to have: (i) a material adverse effect on the assets and liabilities, financial position and performance, profits and losses or prospects of the Target Group; or (ii) without limiting the generality of (i), the effect of: (A) a diminution in value of the consolidated net tangible assets of the Target Group by at least $23,000,000 against what it would reasonably have been expected to be but for the specified event; or (B) a diminution in recurring Funds from Operations of at least $1,400,000, including as a result of making the Offer or the acquisition of Target Units pursuant to the Offer. For these purposes, a "specified event" is: (iii) an event or occurrence that occurs during the Offer Period; (iv) an event or occurrence that occurs prior to the Offer Period but is only announced or publicly disclosed on or after the Announcement Date; or (v) an event or occurrence that will or is likely to occur following the Offer Period and which has not been publicly announced prior to the Announcement Date; (f) (distributions) during the period commencing on the Announcement Date and ending at the end of the Offer Period, Target does not make or declare, or announce an intention to make or declare, any distribution (whether by way of dividend, capital reduction or otherwise and whether in cash or in specie) except for: (i) any distribution which has been publicly announced by Target on the ASX before the Announcement Date; or (ii) any quarterly distribution made in the ordinary course of business and consistent with prior practice; (g) (no persons exercising rights under certain agreements or instruments) during the period commencing on the Announcement Date and ending at the end of the Offer Period, no person exercises or purports to exercise, or states an intention to exercise, any rights under any provision of any agreement or other instrument to which a Target Group Member is a party, or by or to which a Target Group Member or any of its assets may be bound or be subject, which results, or could result, to an extent which is material in the context of the Target Group taken as a whole, in: (i) any monies borrowed by a Target Group Member being or becoming repayable or being capable of being declared repayable immediately or earlier than the repayment date stated in such agreement or other instrument; (ii) any such agreement or other instrument being terminated or modified or any action being taken or arising thereunder; (iii) the interest of a Target Group Member in any firm, joint venture, trust, corporation or other entity (or any arrangements relating to such interest) being terminated or modified; or (iv) the business of a Target Group Member with any other person being adversely affected, as a result of the acquisition of Target Units by Bidder; (h) (Facilitation Agreement): (i) before the end of the Offer Period, Target obtains a report from an independent expert and, in that report, the independent expert opines (and does not alter, vary or amend that opinion before the end of the Offer Period) to the effect that no AUIREL Group Member will obtain a 'net benefit' (as that term is used in the Takeovers Panel Guidance Note 21: Collateral Benefits) as a result of any of the arrangements contained in any Facilitation Agreement; and (ii) before the end of the Offer Period, no Public Authority makes any preliminary or final decision, order or decree to the effect that a AUIREL Group Member will obtain a 'net benefit' (as that term is used in the Takeovers Panel Guidance Note 21: Collateral Benefits) as a result of any of the arrangements contained in any Facilitation Agreement; (i) (prescribed occurrences) during the period beginning on the Announcement Date and ending at the end of the Offer Period, none of the following events happen: (i) Target converts all or any of its units into a larger or smaller number of units; (ii) any Target Group Member resolves to reduce its capital in any way; (iii) any Target Group Member: (A) enters into a buy-back agreement; or (B) resolves to approve the terms of a buy-back agreement under section 257C(1) or section 257D(1) of the Corporations Act; (iv) any Target Group Member issues securities, or grants an option over its securities, or agrees to make such an issue or grant such an option; (v) any Target Group Member issues, or agrees to issue, convertible notes; (vi) any Target Group Member disposes, or agrees to dispose, of the whole, or a substantial part, of its business or property; (vii) any Target Group Member charges, or agrees to charge, the whole, or a substantial part, of its business or property; (viii) any Target Group Member resolves to be wound up; (ix) a liquidator or provisional liquidator of any Target Group Member is appointed; (x) a court makes an order for the winding up of any Target Group Member; (xi) an administrator of any Target Group Member is appointed under sections 436A, 436B or 436C of the Corporations Act; (xii) any Target Group Member executes a deed of company arrangement; or (xiii) a receiver or a receiver and manager is appointed in relation to the whole, or a substantial part, of the property of any Target Group Member; (j) (no material acquisitions, disposals, new commitments or Property transactions) except for any proposed transaction publicly announced by Target before the Announcement Date, none of the following events occurs during the period beginning on the Announcement Date and ending at the end of the Offer Period: (i) any Target Group Member acquires, offers to acquire or agrees to acquire one or more companies, businesses or assets (or any interest in one or more companies, businesses or assets) for an amount in aggregate greater than $1,000,000 or makes an announcement in relation to such an acquisition, offer or agreement; (ii) any Target Group Member disposes of, offers to dispose of or agrees to dispose of one or more companies, businesses or assets (or any interest in one or more companies, businesses or assets) for an amount, or in respect of which the book value (as recorded in Target's statement of financial position as at 30 June 2019) is, in aggregate, greater than $1,000,000 or makes an announcement in relation to such a disposition, offer or agreement; (iii) any Target Group Member enters into, or offers to enter into or agrees to enter into, any agreement, joint venture, partnership, management agreement or commitment which would require expenditure, or the foregoing of revenue, by any Target Group Member of an amount which is, in aggregate, more than $1,000,000, other than in the ordinary course of business, or makes an announcement in relation to such an entry, offer or agreement; or (iv) without limiting the generality of the foregoing: (A) any of the Properties (or any part of, or interest in, any of them) is disposed of, sold or transferred, or is agreed to be disposed of, sold or transferred, or any of the Properties otherwise cease to be owned by the Target Group; (B) any Security Interest is created or arises over any of the Properties; (C) any Target Group Member enters into any commitment (including a lease or agreement for lease) in relation to any development, redevelopment or refurbishment project for a new or existing the Target Group asset where the total project cost exceeds $1,000,000 (including incentives) whether or not previously contemplated; (D) any of the Properties are destroyed or there is any physical damage to any Property such that the amount or value of the destruction or damage exceeds or would reasonably be expected to exceed $1,000,000 after recovery of any insured amounts; (E) there is a material amendment or variation of any term in any Material Lease; (F) any tenant under a Material Lease gives notice that it intends to terminate, or will not renew, the relevant Material Lease; (G) any tenant under a Material Lease surrenders or threatens to surrender the relevant Material Lease; (H) any party to a Material Lease is in default or potential default under the relevant Material Lease, and: (aa) that default, which if remediable is not remedied within any applicable grace periods, would or would be likely to give rise to a right of termination by the non-defaulting party; or (ab) in the case of any such default or potential default by the tenant party to the relevant Material Lease: the default is waived where the financial impact on the Target Group will be in excess of $1,000,000 (individually or in aggregate); or (individually or in aggregate); or any member of the Target Group accepts as a compromise of such matter less than the full compensation due to the relevant member of the Target Group where the financial impact of the compromise on the Target Group is more than $1,000,000 (individually or in aggregate); (I) any tenant under a Material Lease fails to make any payment due under the applicable lease and such payment is outstanding for a period in excess of 30 days; (J) any tenant under a Material Lease becomes Insolvent; or (K) any Target Group Member incurring or agreeing to incur an amount of capital expenditure in excess of $1,000,000 (in aggregate across all the Properties), other than capital expenditure that has been fully and fairly announced by Target to ASX before the Announcement Date as intended to be incurred or committed or capital expenditure in the day to day operating activities of the business of the Target Group conducted in the same manner as before the Announcement Date; (k) (responsible entity) except for any proposed transaction publicly announced by Target before the Announcement Date, none of the following events occurs during the period beginning on the Announcement Date and ending at the end of the Offer Period: (i) AUIREL implements, or agrees or proposes to implement, any transaction or proposal under which the management of Target is 'internalised'; (ii) AUIREL is removed or replaced as responsible entity of Target or an agreement is entered into to remove or replace AUIREL as responsible entity of Target; (iii) a change of Control occurs or is agreed to occur in respect of AUIREL; (iv) the Target Unitholders resolve to remove or replace AUIREL as responsible entity of Target; (v) a meeting being convened to consider a resolution for the removal, retirement or replacement of AUIREL as responsible entity of Target; (vi) an order is made by any court, or any application being made in any court, for the appointment of a temporary responsible entity of Target in accordance with the Corporations Act; or (vii) Target effects or facilitates the resettlement of all of the rights, property and undertaking which are the subject of the trust constituted by the Target constitution of whatever kind and wherever situated and whether present or future; (l) (tax election) during the period beginning on the Announcement Date and ending at the end of the Offer Period, unless agreed with the Bidder, no Target Group Member makes any tax election inconsistent with the tax election in the financial year ended 30 June 2019 or adopts a taxation treatment that is different to that adopted in the financial year ended 30 June 2019; (m) (new financing) except for any proposed transaction publicly announced by Target before the Announcement Date, during the period beginning on the Announcement Date and ending at the end of the Offer Period, no Target Group Member raises any new debt (except under existing facilities), amends any existing debt arrangements (including to provide any additional indemnities or amend any existing indemnities), enters into any derivative contracts or issues or procures the issue of any new guarantees; (n) (no claim or litigation on foot or pending) during the period beginning on the Announcement Date and ending at the end of the Offer Period: (i) no claim or litigation against AUIREL or any Target Group Member where if successful, the financial impact on the Target Group will be $1,000,000 or more is made, commenced, threatened in writing to be made or commenced, is announced, or is made known to Bidder or AUIREL (whether or not becoming public), other than that which has been fully and fairly publicly disclosed to the ASX by Target prior to the Announcement Date; and (ii) neither: (A) the consideration under the Offer is required to be increased from the amount stipulated in the Bidder's Statement; nor (B) Bidder or any of its Associates is required or reasonably likely to be required to pay any amount to any one or more Target Unitholders in connection with the Offer, as a result of: (C) any litigation that is commenced, is threatened to be commenced, announced or is make known to Bidder (whether or not becoming public); or (D) any preliminary or final decision or order of any Public Authority, other than as a result of Bidder publicly undertaking to increase the consideration under the Offer or lodging a notice of variation under section 650D of the Corporations Act relating to an increase of the consideration under the Offer. 2 Glossary Announcement Date the date of announcement of the Offer. ASIC means Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Associate has the meaning given in section 12 of the Corporations Act. ASX means ASX Limited or the market operated by it, as the context requires. AUIREL means Australian Unity Investment Real Estate Limited (ABN 86 606 414 368) in its capacity as responsible entity of Target. AUIREL Group means AUIREL and each of its Related Bodies Corporate and AUIREL Group Member means any member of the AUIREL Group. Bidder means SOF-XI Legs Holdings Limited or its nominee which makes the Offer. Bidder Group means Bidder and each of its Related Bodies Corporate . Control has the meaning given in section 50AA of the Corporations Act. Corporations Act means the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Facilitation Agreement means any agreement entered into between the Bidder or its nominee and an AUIREL Group Member in connection with the role of that AUIREL Group Member in the management of the Target Group. Funds from Operations means, in respect of Target, "funds from operations" calculated in a manner that is consistent with the methodology for the calculation of underlying and recurring "funds from operations" in the financial statements for Target for the 12 month period ending 30 June 2019. For the avoidance of doubt, in respect of Target, "funds from operations" is calculated by reference to the Property Council of Australia's definition of "funds from operations" pursuant to which the statutory Australian Accounting Standards net profit is adjusted for non-cash changes in investment properties, non-cash impairment of goodwill, non-cash fair value adjustments to financial instruments, amortisation of incentives and leasing costs, rental straight-line adjustments and other unrealised or one-off items (including any costs incurred in connection with the Offer). Insolvent means, in relation to a person: (a) it is (or states that it is) an insolvent under administration or insolvent (each as defined in the Corporations Act); (b) it is in liquidation, in provisional liquidation, under administration or wound up or has had a Controller appointed to its property; (c) it is subject to any arrangement (including a deed of company arrangement or scheme of arrangement), assignment, moratorium, compromise or composition, protected from creditors under any statute or dissolved (in each case, other than to carry out a reconstruction or amalgamation while solvent on terms approved by the other parties to this document); (d) an application or order has been made (and in the case of an application which is disputed by the person, it is not stayed, withdrawn or dismissed within 14 days), resolution passed, proposal put forward, or any other action taken, in each case in connection with that person, which is preparatory to or could result in any of the things described in any of the above paragraphs; (e) it is taken (under section 459F(1) of the Corporations Act) to have failed to comply with a statutory demand; (f) it is the subject of an event described in section 459C(2)(b) or section 585 of the Corporations Act (or it makes a statement from which another party to this document reasonably deduces it is so subject); (g) it is otherwise unable to pay its debts when they fall due; or (h) something having a substantially similar effect to any of the things described in the above paragraphs happens in connection with that person under the law of any jurisdiction. Material Lease means any lease for premises on, or right to occupy, any Property under which the rent or occupancy fee or charge (as applicable) payable by the tenant or occupier (as applicable) is greater than $250,000 per annum. Offer means the offer by Bidder under an off-market takeover bid to acquire Target Units (and for the avoidance of doubt includes each such offer made to an individual Target Unitholder pursuant to that offer). Offer Period means the period during which the Offer is open for acceptance. Properties means: (a) 2 Eden Park Drive (and also referred to as 3 Eden Park Drive), Macquarie Park, New South Wales (Lot 3 on DP1020108); (b) 5 Eden Park Drive, Macquarie Park, New South Wales (Lot 15 on DP1148612); (c) 10 Valentine Avenue, Parramatta, New South Wales (Lot 2 on DP1119257); (d) 30 Pirie Street, Adelaide, South Australia (Volume 6177 Folio 723); (e) 150 Charlotte Street, Brisbane, Queensland (Lot 1 on Registered Plan 189266, title reference 50151983); (f) 32 Phillip Street, Parramatta, New South Wales (Lot 12 on DP790350); (g) 64 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (Block 6 Section 26 City, Volume 1538 Folio 99); (h) 241 Adelaide Street (and also referred to as 243 Adelaide Street), Brisbane, Queensland (Lot 1 on Registered Plan 948 title reference 17132167 and Lot 695 on CP SL12260, title reference 40006547 and tenure reference SL 0/207463); and (i) 468 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria (Volume 10460 Folio 746), and any land that is adjacent to any of the above properties that is owned by the Target Group, and Property means any one of them. Public Authority means any governmental, semi-governmental, administrative, fiscal, judicial or quasi-judicial body, department, commission, authority, tribunal, agency or entity. Related Body Corporate has the meaning given in section 50 of the Corporations Act but as if all references in that section to "subsidiary" were replaced with references to "Subsidiary" as defined in this Glossary. Security Interest has the meaning given in section 51A of the Corporations Act. Subsidiary of an entity means another entity which is a subsidiary of the first entity within the meaning of the Corporations Act but as if all references to "body corporate" and "body" were replaced with references to "entity" and, without limitation: (i) a trust may be a subsidiary of an entity, for the purposes of which a unit or other beneficial interest will be regarded as a share; (ii) an entity may be a subsidiary of a trust if it would have been a subsidiary if that trust were a body corporate; (iii) where a trust is a subsidiary of an entity, the trustee of that trust (acting in that capacity) will also be a subsidiary of that entity; and where the relevant entity is a trust, a reference to controlling the composition of the entity's board is taken to be a reference to controlling the appointment of the trustee or responsible entity of the trust. Target means Australian Unity Office Fund (ARSN 113 369 627) and includes where applicable the Australian Unity Office Fund acting through its responsible entity. Target Group means Target and each of its Subsidiaries and Target Group Member means any member of the Target Group. Target Units means ordinary units in the issued capital of Target. Target Unitholders means holders of Target Units. Treasurer means the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia. 1 AOF's market capitalisation at the Offer Price 2 Starwood's cash Offer Price of $2.98 per unit is of a higher value than the CHAB Scheme price of $3.04 per unit, after adjusting for distributions of $0.08 per unit which have been paid since the date of the scheme meeting 3 On 20 December 2019, AOF announced a provisional increase in NTA of $0.06 per unit resulting from the revaluations of certain properties 4 The CHAB Scheme vote took place on 18 November 2019. The VWAP between 19 November 2019 and 28 January 2020 was $2.88. VWAP is calculated based on cumulative value traded on the ASX and Chi-X divided by cumulative volume traded on the ASX and Chi-X. Source: IRESS 5 This includes a condition which will permit unitholders to receive ordinary course distributions but the consideration payable to unitholders will be reduced accordingly under customary offer terms 6 This includes unitholders holding relevant interests in aggregate in 11.22% of AOF units and other investors holding cash-settled equity swaps in aggregate in 5.44% of AOF units. SOURCE Starwood Capital Group Related Links http://starwoodcapital.com BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28 By Elnur Baghishov - Trend: Two foreign nationals one Chinese and one German citizen - have been hospitalized in Irans Yazd province, Irans Minister of Health Saeed Namaki said at a meeting with rectors of medical universities in Tehran, Trend reports via IRNA. However, there has been no confirmed case of coronavirus in Iran, the minister noted. The minister explained that the incubation period of the coronavirus is below five days, while the Chinese national hospitalized in Yazd had arrived in Iran 12 days ago. The Chinese patient in Yazd had a simple sore throat, and the tests indicate that the foreign patient is not infected with coronavirus at all, Namaki said, adding that the German citizen has also been kept in quarantine after he met with the Chinese citizen. An outbreak of previously unknown pneumonia later identified as a new type of coronavirus and denoted as 2019-nCoV was registered in China's Wuhan in late Dec.2019. As of Jan.27, 2020, the number of those infected amounted to 4,545 people, whereas the number of deceased amounted to 106 people. CPS Energy has chosen a buyer for its North Side customer service center, which was among the properties the utility put up for sale last year to help finance its new headquarters. The board of trustees on Monday authorized staff to start negotiations with the bidder. The property is located at 7000 San Pedro Ave. a 71,132-square-foot building about a mile south of North Star Mall. Most of the centers employees will move to CPS new headquarters at 500 McCullough Ave. downtown, and the rest will work from the utilitys other locations, depending on their job requirements, spokesperson Melissa Sorola said. She declined to disclose the bidder and said the name will be released when the sale is final. The sales price is also unclear. On ExpressNews.com: CPS Energy selling headquarters building in downtown San Antonio, Villita Assembly Building and other properties Last year, CPS put more than $50 million worth of its properties on the market, including its former headquarters downtown, the Villita Assembly Building, the customer service center and a 3.5-acre lot behind the San Antonio Museum of Art. CBRE, a commercial real estate firm, is handling the sale of the seven properties, several of which are located within a federally designated Opportunity Zone. The program, created by President Donald Trumps 2017 tax bill, is intended to spur investment in low-income communities by providing investors with tax breaks on capital gains if they reinvest the capital within the zones. Revenue from the sales will help offset the cost of the utilitys new $210 million headquarters, which is expected to be finished this summer. Construction crews are turning twin office buildings formerly occupied by AT&T and Valero Energy Corp. into the utilitys new corporate offices. madison.iszler@express-news.net OTTAWA - The federal prosecution service says a senior RCMP official faces three new charges for alleged secrecy breaches. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Cameron Ortis, a senior intelligence official at the RCMP, leaves the courthouse in Ottawa after being granted bail, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. The federal prosecution service says Ortis a senior RCMP official, faces three new charges for alleged secrecy breaches. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang OTTAWA - The federal prosecution service says a senior RCMP official faces three new charges for alleged secrecy breaches. Cameron Jay Ortis, director general of the RCMP's National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre, was arrested in September for allegedly handing secrets to an unnamed recipient and planning to give additional classified information to an unspecified foreign entity. The Public Prosecution Service of Canada says Ortis faces three new charges under the Security of Information Act, in addition to five earlier ones. These charges will proceed in Ontario Superior Court by way of direct indictment, meaning there will be no preliminary inquiry. Ortis also faces two Criminal Code charges, including breach of trust, in the Ontario Court of Justice. He is due back in court on Tuesday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 01:07:18|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- As tens of hundreds have been left homeless in southern Tanzania after their houses were demolished by ongoing heavy rains, the country's weather watchdog released its latest forecast on Tuesday warning that five-day consecutive rains were expected in 16 regions. The Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) said in its latest weather forecast that the rains expected on Tuesday were likely to hit in Mwanza, Simiyu, Shinyanga, Mara, Kagera, Geita, Tabora, Singida, Dodoma, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Manyara, Rukwa, Iringa, Mbeya and Njombe regions. The forecast said the rains were expected to disrupt transport, social services, businesses, damage infrastructure and submerge houses is some of the 16 regions. TMA warned people in the 16 regions to get prepared for any eventualities. On Monday, at least 4,500 people in six villages in Kilwa district in Tanzania's southern region of Lindi were reported to have been left homeless after their houses were demolished by ongoing torrential rains. "The victims from the six villages have been accommodated in schools and churches after their houses were swept away by flash floods caused by ongoing heavy rains this week," said Christopher Ngubiagai, Kilwa district commissioner. Apart from the washing away of the houses, the rains have also damaged road infrastructure, farms, and killed a good number of livestock, said Ngubiagai. He said a rescue team has been dispatched to villages affected by the rains to assess the damage, appealing to individuals and organizations to help donate relief supplies for the victims. VALPARAISO Even as candidates continue to file for the primary election, Porter County election officials are getting details for voting nailed down. Filings close at noon Feb. 7. The Election Board recently approved moving polling places that affect some voters in Center and Westchester townships. Porter County Clerk Jessica Bailey shared details. In Center Township, voters in precincts 15 and 21 will cast ballots May 5 at Cooks Corners Elementary School instead of First Presbyterian Church. Center 16 is shifted to Heavilin Elementary School from the county Emergency Management Agency building. Center 30 is moving from the Jamestown Apartments community building to Immanuel Lutheran Church. In Westchester Township, precinct 17s new polling place will be Ethel Jones Elementary School in Portage. The previous polling place, the Oak Tree Commons community building, is being razed. Early voting will take place at the North County Government Complex in Portage, the Porter County Administration Building in Valparaiso, Chesterton Town Hall and the Hebron Community Center, with Union Township Fire Departments station 2 likely to be added. Fifth Case of Coronavirus Confirmed in Australia - NSW Chief Health Officer Sputnik News 07:37 GMT 27.01.2020(updated 07:50 GMT 27.01.2020) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A fifth case of the deadly coronavirus virus has been confirmed in Australia, Chief Health Officer of New South Wales, Kerry Chant, said on Monday. "The patient was immediately put into isolation in a home isolation setting, and then once the diagnosis was confirmed, the patient has just been transported to Westmead Hospital", Chant said, as quoted by the news portal 9news.com.au. The 21-year-old woman arrived at Sydney International Airport on Thursday on flight MU749 from Wuhan, China where the virus outbreak started. She developed symptoms of the coronavirus 24 hours later. Australia's fourth case was confirmed in Sydney on Sunday. All four people have been transferred to a hospital and are being kept in isolation, media reported, citing health authorities. In the meantime, the death toll from the virus in China has climbed to 80, with over 2,700 coronavirus cases confirmed in the country. Cases of pneumonia caused by the new disease have been reported in other countries, including Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Macau, Nepal, France, Portugal, the United States, Canada, and Australia. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Scientists are about to get their first-ever good looks at the poles of the sun , which could be key to solving some long-standing solar mysteries. The $1.5 billion Solar Orbiter , a European Space Agency (ESA) mission with strong NASA participation, is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on the night of Feb. 7 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Once it's aloft, the 3,970-lb. (1,800 kilograms) spacecraft will use several flybys of Venus, and one of Earth, to get into an unusual orbit around the sun one that is significantly out of the ecliptic, the plane in which Earth and the other big planets circle. Related: Solar Quiz: How Well Do You Know Our Sun? "Up until Solar Orbiter, all solar imaging instruments have been within the ecliptic plane or very close to it," Russell Howard, a space scientist at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, said in a statement . "Now, we'll be able to look down on the sun from above," added Howard, who's principal investigator for Heliospheric Imager, one of Solar Orbiter's 10 science instruments. This unique vantage point will help fill knowledge gaps, providing prodigious scientific returns during Solar Orbiter's seven-year mission, team members said. "The poles are particularly important for us to be able to model more accurately," Holly Gilbert, NASA project scientist for the mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in the same statement. "For forecasting space weather events, we need a pretty accurate model of the global magnetic field of the sun." Solar Orbiter is launching just 18 months after another sun-studying mission, NASA's Parker Solar Probe (PSP), got off the ground. PSP has gotten much closer to the sun 15 million miles (24 million kilometers) than any other spacecraft to date, and it has traveled far faster as well. This probe will continue to break both of those records, by the way. The NASA spacecraft will continue sculpting its orbit, significantly shaving down its close solar approaches. By the end of its seven-year mission, PSP will get within a mere 3.83 million miles (6.16 million km) of the solar surface and reach top speeds of around 430,000 mph (700,000 km/h) relative to the sun. Solar Orbiter at the European Space Agency's IABG facility Ottobrunn, Germany, before it departed for the US for launch. (Image credit: ESAS. Corvaja) Solar Orbiter won't get nearly that close to our star; the probe's highly eccentric path takes it within 26 million miles (42 million km) of the solar surface on closest approach. But the more-distant viewing location provides important advantages, mission team members have said. For example, the different vantage points of Solar Orbiter and PSP will allow scientists to compare observations of solar plasma and magnetic fields at different locations in space, providing valuable context. And Solar Orbiter can look directly at the sun and take pictures, which PSP is not equipped to do. "You can't really get much closer than Solar Orbiter is going and still look at the sun," ESA Solar Orbiter project scientist Daniel Muller, of the European Space Research and Technology Center in the Netherlands, said in the same statement. PSP and Solar Orbiter will, therefore, work well together in helping scientists better understand how the sun ticks, members of both teams have said. And these researchers aim to answer some pretty big questions how the stream of charged particles known as the solar wind is accelerated to such tremendous speeds, for example, and how exactly the sun's internal dynamo works. "We are learning a lot with Parker, and adding Solar Orbiter to the equation will only bring even more knowledge," Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla, NASA deputy project scientist for Solar Orbiter at Goddard Space Flight Center, said in the same statement. The cooperation will start soon. Solar Orbiter is scheduled to begin making science measurements in May, mission team members said. (Full science operations won't commence until November 2021, however, when the probe's telescopic imagers will come fully online.) And given the length of both missions, the collaboration should continue through at least the mid-2020s, representative said. "It's definitely a golden age," Nicky Fox, Heliophysics Division director in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington, said during a news conference today (Jan. 27). "It's definitely the time to study solar physics." Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook . ESSEX Hundreds of people lined Main Street in Essex Sunday on a relatively balmy and sunny 45-degree winter day to bang on pots and pans, welcome larger-than-life town mascot Essex Ed back for another year, wear furry critter hats and beat back winter at the 42nd annual Essex Ed Groundhog Day Parade. As usual, the lovingly rag-tag Essex parade for more than four decades one of the nations more unique celebrations of smalltown Americana included seemingly every kid in town. They were joined by many of their parents and grandparents, some fife and drum players and a few classic cars, with all the people banging on carefully-chosen kitchen implements. Shortly after 2 p.m., as they do every year, they all marched out of the parking lot of Essex Boat Works, with Essex Ed dressed this year as a firefighter in commemoration of Essex Fire Department, a volunteer department that has served the community since 1833 riding through Essex Village in the back of a classic motorcar. They went just over one block on Ferry Street, hung a right opposite The Griswold Inn one of the oldest continuously run taverns in the United States proceeded onto Main Street and headed four or five blocks up the length of Main Street. There, at the corner of Main and North Main, eight-foot Essex Eds handlers marched him back to mount him on his specially-built platform so virtually everyone in the crowd could have their photos taken in front of him. The parade is sponsored each year by the Essex Board of Trade and other civic organizations. This years Essex Ed Parade came just 20 days after a Jan. 6 fire that temporarily shuttered the landmark Black Seal restaurant and bar, a popular Main Street seafood joint and grill that is along the parade route and would have been packed on Sunday had it been open on Parade Day. The 2020 parade was accompanied by an afternoon-long benefit at the Essex Corinthian Yacht Club to raise money for Black Seal workers who are jobless for the several months it will take to get the establishment back up and running. Anyone who missed the benefit but wants to help can do so at a GoFundMe page set up for the effort. The page is at http://bit.ly/2uEz7uo and as of Monday afternoon, had raised $9,384 of a $50,000 goal. While Essex Ed appears to have seen his shadow this year said to portend six more weeks of winter worry not. (Not that anyone in Essex seemed to be all that worried.) The actual Groundhog Day with its higher-profile, corresponding national hoopla and prediction by that other famous groundhog, Western Pennsylvanias Punxsutawney Phil falls on Feb. 2. mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com The Information Regulator has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare that the remaining provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) commence on 1 April 2020. Speaking in an interview with eNCA, Pansy Tlakula, the chairperson of the Information Regulator of South Africa, said that the act gives serious enforcement powers to the regulator including the ability to levy fines of over R10 million and the ability to pursue criminal prosecution. Law firm Webber Wentzel said that if the president acts on the regulators request, the remaining provisions in POPIA regulating the processing of personal information will become effective on 31 March 2021. While certain sections of POPIA are already effective, including those provisions concerning the establishment of the Information Regulator and the manner in which regulations may be promulgated, the remaining provisions of POPIA are yet to become fully operational. Once the remaining provisions of POPIA are in effect, they will regulate the way public and private bodies process personal information of both natural and juristic persons (such as companies and trusts) in South Africa. Given that non-compliance with POPIA may result in significant civil and criminal sanctions, it is important that all businesses ensure compliance with POPIA prior to its commencement, Webber Wentzel said. The end of marketers? Tlakula said that the act will provide protection from unwelcome marketers and spam callers, however, she warned that information posted online on social media will remain in the public domain. She added that the POPIA will ensure that companies have adequate security measures when dealing with your private information. According to Justine Krige, a director at law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, the POPIA is premised on an opt-in approach in terms of which consumers are deemed to have opted out of receiving communication via direct marketing unless they have expressly opted-in. Although certain provisions of POPIA are already in force (such as those mandating the establishment of the regulator), the primary provisions dealing with direct marketing have not yet been enacted, she said. Krige said there is currently a great deal of confusion about the rules of direct marketing. For example, it is unclear if cold-calling prospective customers will still be allowed, if and how consent must be requested, and what will generally be required when the remaining provisions of POPI (in particular those in respect of direct marketing) come into force. At the moment (while only the provisions of the CPA and not POPIA which regulate direct marketing are in force), provided that marketing campaigns clearly allow for consumers to opt-out or unsubscribe from any direct marketing, such communication is seemingly lawful. However, POPIA will change this. It will impact how the initial contact with a prospective consumer can take place, and will impose a significant administrative burden as regards the collection, storage and distribution of personal information. Krige said that POPIA regulates direct marketing by means of any form of electronic communication including automated calling machines, faxes, SMSes and email. She added that the POPIAs direct marketing provisions are going to make using contact details obtained from lead generation businesses for direct marketing a great deal trickier. Companies are also going to need to manage their customer databases a lot more effectively, and keep records of where, how and when was the personal information initially obtained; whether the person is an existing customer and, if so, in respect of what products or services; whether the person has consented to receiving direct marketing; and whether the person has unsubscribed from receiving direct marketing. By PTI KARACHI: A 24-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly abducted by armed assailants from her wedding venue in Pakistan's Sindh province and forcefully converted to Islam before being married off to a Muslim man, community members said, in the latest such incident in the country. Sindh Minister for Minorities Affairs, Hari Ram Kishori, on Tuesday took cognisance of the incident, which took place last week in Hala town of Matiari district in Sindh province, and asked for a police report. The All Pakistan Hindu Council (APHC) on Sunday said Bharti Bai was abducted from her wedding ceremony last week and then married off to a Muslim man, named Shahruk Gul, after forcibly converting her to Islam. Bharti is of 24 years, her father Kishore Das said. According to local media reports, the girl was abducted by armed men, some of whom were in police uniforms. Meanwhile, Gul has posted pictures of documents on social media showing that Bharti was converted to Islam in December 2019 and had taken the name Bushra. According to documents, her conversion took place at the Jamiat-ul-Uloom Islamia in Banori town. Police are investigating whether the girl travelled to Karachi around the dates mentioned in the certificate. Hindus, which comprised approximately 2 per cent of Pakistan's population, are mainly concentrated in Sindh province. There have been periodic reports of their forced conversion to Islam. Earlier this month, a 15-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly abducted from Jacobabad district in Sindh and forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man. The girl was later sent to a women protection centre following a court order. In a similar incident, two Hindu minor girls were reportedly abducted from a village in Sindh province on January 14. India has expressed its concern over the abduction of minor Hindu girls in Pakistan. A senior official of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi was summoned on January 17 to lodge a strong protest over the recent cases of abduction of minor girls belonging to the Hindu community in Pakistan. President Trump unveils Middle East peace plan embraced by Israel, rejected by Palestinians originally appeared on abcnews.go.com President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled his plan for Middle East peace, proposing a Palestinian state, but also allowing Israel to take control of a significant portion of the West Bank without any Palestinian input. Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said that Palestinians could achieve a state once they rejected terrorism and made major political and territorial concessions. Netanyahu said that he accepted the U.S. proposal and that "regardless of the Palestinian decision," Israel planned to carry out the plan's proposed division of land in the disputed West Bank. Over the next four years, Netanyahu said, Israel would apply its laws to Jewish settlements in the West Bank and to a hotly contested strip of land in the Jordan Valley, while maintaining the status quo in areas envisioned for a Palestinian state. Doing so would allow Israel to completely encircle Palestinians in the West Bank and, in its view, strengthen its security. PHOTO: President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for an announcement of Trump's Middle East peace plan in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C on Jan. 28, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Trump rolled out the proposal -- several years in the making and closely guarded -- at a politically precipitous time for both him and his ally Netanyahu. Following the announcement, Trump's lawyers continued their defense in his Senate impeachment trial and Netanyahu was formally indicted on Tuesday for fraud, bribery and breach of trust -- five weeks before Israeli parliamentary elections. Notably absent from the White House announcement were any Palestinian officials, who had cut off ties with the Trump administration in 2017 after the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. They had preemptively rejected the peace initiative, accusing Trump and his administration of decisions blatantly biased in favor of Israel. The president on Monday acknowledged that Palestinians would likely initially reject it, but he expressed hope they would eventually accept it. Story continues MORE: Timing of Mideast peace plan rollout appears designed to contrast with impeachment trial: ANALYSIS Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blasted the proposal late Tuesday. "After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand no's to the deal of the century, he said at a press conference in Ramallah. After regional news reports this week said that Abbas refused to speak with Trump on the phone, Trump addressed Abbas directly during his remarks at the White House, saying he had sent the Palestinian leader a letter that day. PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump take part in an announcement of Trump's Middle East peace plan in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 28, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) "President Abbas, I want you to know that if you choose the path to peace," Trump said, "America and many other countries will -- we will be there we will be there to help you in so many different ways and we will be there every step of the way." In Ramallah, Abbas spoke on the phone with the leader of Hamas's political wing, Ismail Haniyeh. It was a sign of rare Palestinian unity amid anger there. The Palestinian president also spoke on the phone with the leader of the political wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, who pledged his solidarity in rejecting the U.S. proposal, the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa,reported. It was a sign of rare Palestinian unity amid anger there. PHOTO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks after a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Jan. 22, 2020. (Majdi Mohammed/AP) Palestinian negotiators aligned with Abbas rejected the plan, too. "Achieving peace requires first and foremost respect and adherence to the fundamental (principles) of international law," the Palestine Liberation Organization wrote in a tweet. "The U.S. plan recognizes Israel's illegal colonization and annexation of occupied lands belonging to the State of Palestine." While ambassadors from Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates attended the White House event -- and received standing ovations when lauded by Trump and Netanyahu -- the plan was widely rejected across the Muslim world. Jordan told Israel not to annex territory. Its foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, "warned against the dangerous consequences of unilateral Israeli measures, such as annexation of Palestinian lands, the building and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian occupied lands and encroachments on the Holy Sites in Jerusalem, that aim at imposing new realities on the ground," the Jordanian embassy in Washington said in a statement. Safadi "stressed" that "Jordan condemns such measures as a violation of international law and provocative actions that will push the area towards more conflict and tension," the statement read. The Turkish foreign ministry, meanwhile, called the proposal "stillborn" and "an annexation plan aiming at usurping Palestinian lands and killing two-state solution," according to Turkey's official Anadolu Agency. Under the Trump administration's plan, which was posted on the White House's website, the Palestinians would agree to a number of political concessions over the next several years in order to gain autonomy and economic prosperity. A major point of contention remains the future of Jerusalem, which both Israel and Palestinians claim as their capital. Under the Trump administration plan, an existing security barrier -- built by Israel in territory disputed by the Palestinians -- would serve as the border between Israeli and Palestinian parts of the Jerusalem area. That vision clashes with previous proposals to make all of "East Jerusalem" -- the predominantly Arab eastern part of the city -- the capital of a Palestinian state, ceding more of Jerusalem to Israel. PHOTO: President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Jan. 27, 2020, in Washington. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) The plan included what it referred to as a "conceptual map" showing proposed borders of that Palestinian state -- and changes to Israel's contours. The White House said that while the plan avoided any forced population transfers, 3% of each population would end up in the other's territory, with the option to move or to gain citizenship to their respective nations. Under the plan, roads, tunnels and other transportation links would connect different parts of the Palestinian state physically split up by Israel. MORE: Trump to host Netanyahu, political rival at White House to discuss peace amid impeachment trial The Gaza Strip would expand to include industrial, residential and agricultural zones -- but Palestinian leadership would have to agree to the territory's demilitarization. The plan calls for Hamas, which controls Gaza, and other Palestinian militant groups to commit to nonviolence. While the plan had been three years in the making, only last week -- as Trump faced an impeachment trial in the Senate -- did the president announce that he would finally roll it out. One of the presidents lawyers, Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, attended the peace plan roll out, while at least one U.S. senator in attendance, Ted Cruz of Texas, departed early to catch the start of proceedings. On Monday, Trump hosted Netanyahu and his chief political rival, Benny Gantz, for separate meetings at the White House. Gantz did not attend the Tuesday announcement. The president's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner oversaw the formulation of the peace plan. The administration unveiled an economic component last summer but delayed sharing the rest amid political turmoil in Israel. Two parliamentary elections in under seven months there failed to result in a stable government, with another round scheduled for March 2. Netanyahu faces a tough re-election bid as Gantz mounts a strong challenge. The formal indictment in Jerusalem came Tuesday, a day after he dropped his bid for immunity from charges stemming from several corruption cases. Dubai, Jan 28 : A Dubai-based Indian expat was sentenced to three months in prison for groping a woman in a mall, it was reported on Tuesday. According to Dubai public prosecution, the 33-year-old Indian man groped the 35-year-old Syrian woman intentionally, reports the Khaleej Times. The defendant was found guilty of sexual harassment and will be deported after serving his time in jail. The incident took place on August 2, 2019. The complainant said she was with her children and mother at the mall when she spotted the accused looking at her. She was surprised when he walked very close to her while still staring at her from behind. "I shouted at him after he suddenly groped me," the woman added. CCTV footage showed the man groping the woman. Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Glenn R. Cline, 33, of 11-C River Side Apartments, Beardstown, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 7:57 a.m. Sunday on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. A 16-year-old boy was arrested at 10:35 a.m. Sunday on an aggravated battery charge in connection to a disturbance at Passavant Area Hospital, 1600 W. Walnut St. the day before. Christopher M. Femmer, 35, of 328 E. State St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 11:37 a.m. Sunday on a retail theft charge. OTHER REPORTS Someone damaged a vehicle between 6:30 p.m. Friday and 9:45 a.m. Sunday by scratching it, according to a report filed at 10:14 a.m. Monday. Pike County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Jacquline L. Sims, 38, of Joliet was arrested at 5:04 p.m. Friday on a possession of cannabis by a driver in a motor vehicle charge. Brenda H. Garnett, 50, of Vandalia, Missouri, was arrested at 11:44 p.m. Friday on charges of operating an uninsured motor vehicle, driving under the influence of drugs, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of cannabis by a driver in a motor vehicle and having a loud muffler. Ashley R. Fulmer, 24, of Barry was arrested at 6:56 p.m. Friday on a possession of cannabis by a passenger in a motor vehicle charge. Clinton M. McCoy, 27, of Barry was arrested at 2:28 a.m. Thursday on a battery charge. Ryan S. Smith, 33, of Pittsfield was arrested at7:38 p.m. Friday on charges of possession of methamphetamine-manufacturing products and domestic battery. Brandon L. Capps, 32, address unknown, was arrested at 3:36 p.m. Friday on a criminal trespass to a residence charge. Lloyd I. Hare, 51, of Murrayville was arrested at 5:38 p.m. Friday on a charge of operating an uninsured motor vehicle and on a Pike County warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court. Braden R. Barnes, 26, of Pittsfield was arrested at 4:04 p.m. Jan. 21 on a possession of cannabis charge. Shelley D. Evans, 47, of Pittsfield was arrested at 4:04 p.m. Jan. 21 on a possession of cannabis by a driver in a motor vehicle charge. Cameron L. Price, 21, of Louisiana, Missouri, was arrested at 9:33 a.m. Jan. 20 on a petition to revoke. Compiled by Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree, David C.L. Bauer Flipboard on Tuesday will announce a new "Local initiative" to gather regional sources and national stories of local interest to users in 23 North American metropolitan areas, including Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, Toronto and Dallas. Why it matters: Like other tech platforms, Flipboard is investing in local coverage because of audience demand. Where Flipboard thinks it can be useful is to provide local communities with a curated mix of not just news, but also lifestyle information about local sports, dining, weather, real estate, transportation and more. Details: Flipboard curators will leverage editorial judgement on top of machine learning to pull in news from each of its local collections from an array of local news sources, including newspapers, TV stations, radio stations, college news sites and blogs. Some local collections will feature collections of topics that are important to that particular jurisdiction, like Cuba in Miami and wildfires in San Francisco. Go deeper: A year of media upheaval PARIS - Airbus said Tuesday it has reached potential settlement deals with authorities in the U.S., Britain and France investigating alleged fraud and bribery. If the plea deals are approved by courts in all three countries, that would end four years of investigations that have damaged the European plane makers reputation and bottom line. The settlements would also mean executives wouldnt have to face trial. Airbus did not disclose details of how much it could pay to settle the cases, but it could reach billions of euros. British and French authorities are investigating alleged fraud and bribery related to Airbus use of outside consultants to sell planes. U.S. authorities are also investigating Airbus compliance with American arms trafficking regulations. Airbus said in a statement Tuesday it has reached agreement in principle with the investigating bodies, but released no details. It said the potential settlement agreements must be approved by courts in the three countries. Airbus, one of Europes leading manufacturers, has suffered financially because of the investigations, and has promised to cut out middlemen from its business dealings. The French financial prosecutors office and British Serious Fraud Office started investigating in 2016, and the U.S. Department of Justice joined in 2018. The Airbus investigation was one of the first and biggest cases led by the French financial prosecutors office, which has only reached five settlements since it was created in 2014. The largest plea deal was with Google, which agreed to pay 500 million euros to settle a tax fraud claim. If the French plea deal is confirmed, Airbus must pay out the settlement within eight days. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 20:47:50|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NICOSIA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus plans to change its strategy and procedures on handling immigration in order to deal with the increasing number of people arriving in the eastern Mediterranean island, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said on Tuesday. He told a private radio station that the planning, which will be submitted to the Council of Ministers soon for approval, mainly relates to economic unregulated immigrants, who under existing legislation are not entitled to asylum. Nouris said that the accumulated applications for asylum has reached 34,000, or 3.8 percent of the total population living in the government controlled part of Cyprus, which was estimated at 898,000 in January, 2020. This number includes over 100,000 foreign nationals, coming mostly from Britain and some other EU countries. The ratio of asylum seekers in relation to the population of other EU countries, including Greece and Italy, which also face a large influx of immigrants, is below 1 percent, the minister said. Nouris said that in a bid to deal with the increased numbers of asylum seekers, the government will create a "closed center" for immigrants where asylum seekers will be kept while their applications is being under consideration. "The aim is to have each application replied in no more than 28 days. Immigrants will be given all privileges provided for by European Union and United Nations rules. Those who will be found to be not entitled to asylum will be quickly returned to their countries," Nouris said. He added that the aim is to enable authorities to manage refugee and immigrant influxes so as to give social welfare services the possibility of giving the full range of protection facilities provided for those entitled to asylum and make easier their integration into the society. Latest data showed that the number of pending applications for asylum reached 13,000 in 2019. New asylum seekers in 2018 reached 7,761, with 26 percent of them coming from war-torn Syria. But during that year, a large influx of people described as economic immigrants arrived in Cyprus from countries which do not face war or internal strife, such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cameroon and Sri Lanka, with a ratio of 40 percent of total arrivals. In 2017, the ratio of immigrants from these five countries was only 25 percent, with those coming from Syria representing 39 percent of asylum seekers. Enditem Galaxy Fold successor is expected to be a 5G device powered by the Snapdragon 855 chipset. It is likely to feature an 8-inch display with ultra-thin glass that is expected to be seen on the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip. Samsung is reportedly readying a true Galaxy Fold successor despite its plans to launch another foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Flip alongside the Galaxy S20 series. The Galaxy Z Flip is likely to be a clamshell foldable phone like the Motorola Razr (2019). On the other hand, the Galaxy Fold successor is expected to be designed on the roots of the original Fold. The specifications of the upcoming Galaxy Fold have surfaced online. Max Weinbach from XDA Developers has shared speculated specs of the true successor for the Galaxy Fold, which could be launched in the second quarter of 2020. The Galaxy Fold successor is expected to be a 5G device powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC. It is likely to feature an 8-inch display with ultra-thin glass that is expected to be seen on the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip. The purported Galaxy Fold successor could come with a 108MP main camera. Moreover, it is tipped to be accompanied by an S Pen stylus, which would make it the first non-Note series Samsung phone to support the S Pen. For reference, Galaxy Z Flip is rumoured to feature an ultra-thin glass display with a plastic layer on top. The additional plastic layer is said to ensure the display is not scratched easily. Further, Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone is tipped to pack a 3300mAh battery. In contrast, the Galaxy Fold had a battery capacity of 4380mAh. But then, the Galaxy Z Flip is likely to be a clamshell device with a smaller display on the body. To compare, Motorola Razr (2019) packs a 2510mAh battery. Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Z Flip alongside the Galaxy S20 series in February. A Colorado man has filed a lawsuit against the city of Arvada and police who he claimed used excessive force he was beat bloodied during an arrest. Footage from the incident on February 11, 2018 shows Travis Cook being held down on the floor by cops at his parents' home after they responded to a domestic incident involving his girlfriend. On Monday, Cook filed a lawsuit claiming a cop punched him multiple times, used a taser on him and threw him to the ground. His lawyer told Denver 7: 'An Arvada Police Department officer beat the holy hell out of Travis Cook for absolutely no reason.' Travis Cook's lawyer said Monday as they filed a lawsuit again a city in Colorado: 'An Arvada Police Department officer beat the holy hell out of Travis Cook for absolutely no reason' In the clip filmed on a cell phone by Cook's mother after the beating has taken place, she asks: 'Why are you punching my son?' Officer Brandon Valdez explains: 'He elbowed me in the face!' In the clip filmed on a cell phone by Cook's mother after the beating has taken place, she asks: 'Why are you punching my son?' Arvada Police officers do not wear personal body cameras. Officer Brandon Valdez explains: 'He elbowed me in the face!' In a statement, Valdez claims Cook 'swung his right elbow at my face'. 'I recall stumbling two steps backward and my neck and head having whiplashed backward and to the left,' Valdez wrote. 'I recall seeing yellow stars and blackness around the yellow stars. I felt a crack of my jaw, and could hear a large crack as his elbow struck me.' Valdez claims that in response he 'delivered three straight punches at Travis' face, having connected with two of the strikes.' However Cook's attorney Adam Frank states in the lawsuit that his client was sitting in his mother's basement and was given contradictory instructions on whether to sit down or stand up. Two officers instructed him to stand up while Valdez said sit down. Valdez claims he 'delivered three straight punches at Travis' face after Cook 'swung his right elbow at my face'. They are pictured at the scene, Cook's mother's house, February 2018 'Mr. Cook was sitting in a chair, was told he was going to be arrested, and then gets punched in the face,' Frank told Denver 7. The lawsuit claims two other cops climbed on top of him to hold him down. The filing notes that while Cook received medical treatment for the injuries, officer Valdez spoke to emergency medical personnel but wasn't transported to hospital. Documents deny Cook elbowed Valdez, which other cops claimed they witnessed and used to justify the use of force. Two witnesses who saw the incident testified that they didn't see Cook strike the cop with his elbow before cops took a 'hands on' approach. Cook was ultimately found not guilty of assaulting his girlfriend. He was also found innocent of third and second degree assault, and resisting arrest charges against police. But was convicted for the obstruction of a police officer. Cook's attorney states in the lawsuit that his client was given contradictory instructions on whether to sit down or stand up. Two officers instructed him to stand up while Valdez said sit down 'The actual customer, policies, and practice of the City of Arvada converting the use of force was a proximate cause of substantial harm to Mr. Cook and a moving force behind the violation of Mr. Cook's constitutional rights,' the lawsuit states. The APD claimed Monday that Cook 'resisted officers when they attempted to place him under arrest'. 'Today we learned a lawsuit alleging excessive force was filed by attorneys for Travis Cook in the United States District Court. The lawsuit alleges three Arvada Police Officers used excessive force while effecting Mr. Cook's arrest following a domestic violence investigation in 2018,' the APD's statement said. 'Mr. Cook, who at the time of his arrest was 6'2' and 245lbs, was involved in a physical altercation with his girlfriend prior to officers' arrival on the scene. 'Following their investigation, officers determined there was probable cause to arrest Mr. Cook for Felony Assault. State law mandates arrest in this situation. Two other cops (left) are referred to in the lawsuit after they climbed on Cook to detain him. Two witnesses (one pictured right) at the scene testified that Cook did not elbow Valdez before he was beaten, tasered and pushed to the floor 'As detailed in the Police Report (No. 18-2233), Mr. Cook resisted officers when they attempted to place him under arrest, so officers were required to use force to protect the alleged victim and to take Mr. Cook into custody. 'Mr. Cook was eventually tried on charges related to this incident and was convicted of Obstruction of a Peace Officer. Mr. Cook's actions also resulted in a violation of his probation in an earlier vehicular assault case.' The lawsuit also notes Valdez's history. It argues Valdez returned to work too soon after an armed suspect died during an altercation with him. Erick DeLeon was killed after Valdez shot him but police claimed he also shot himself and died as a result of that injury. Cook's attorney told Denver 7: 'If Arvada claims that what defendant Valdez did was justified, that should make everyone seriously question Arvadas internal review process. Under no circumstances is what he did justified.' Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-29 05:00:40|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum announced on Tuesday the signing of two new agreements to explore for oil and natural gas in the Mediterranean, with a minimum investment of 332 million U.S. dollars. Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tariq Al-Mulla signed the two agreements with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and the U.S. ExxonMobil oil company, the ministry said in a statement. Under the first agreement, four wells will be drilled in the Northeastern Amiriya marine region in the Mediterranean, with a minimum investment of 220 million dollars and a signature grant of 10 million dollars, according to the statement. Three wells will be drilled in the northern Maracea marine region in the Mediterranean under the second deal, with a minimum investment of 112 million dollars, and a signature grant of 7 million dollars. These two agreements bring the number of petroleum deals Egypt has signed with investors since July 2014 to 82, with a minimum investment of about 16 billion dollars. Egypt aims to become a regional hub for the trade of oil and liquefied natural gas after major discoveries were made in recent years, including the Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean which holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas. U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Nov. 19, 2019. (Alex Edelman/Getty Images) Sen. Ernst Says Time to End Campaign Fund That Is Welfare for Politicians WASHINGTONIowa voters head to the states presidential caucus in less than a week, but none of the multiple Democratic candidates seeking their endorsement have tapped a federal program that offers millions of tax dollars to seekers of the nations highest office. Put simply, the Presidential Election Campaign Fund is a welfare program for politicians thats doing nothing else but ballooning our deficit, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told The Epoch Times on Jan. 28. Here we are kicking off a campaign year, very exciting; weve got all kinds of presidential candidates now in Iowa going through the caucus process, Ernst said. So it really seems fitting that we highlight this area of federal spending while the public is interested in presidential politics. A lot of folks dont even realize it exists, they may be checking off their box not really knowing what this campaign fund is or who uses it. Ernst noted that President George W. Bush in 2004 was the last winning presidential candidate to accept public funding for his campaign. Bush and his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) each received $75 million from the fund. Three presidential campaigns have since passed without any of the major party candidates accepting public funding. So, we have this more than $350 million just sitting there in this campaign fund. We can apply that immediately to our debt. Does it solve our debt problem? No, it scratches it, but its still helpful, Ernst said. Thats the pushback I get when I am focusing on Squeal. Its a couple hundred million dollars, whats the big deal? Well, its a big deal in Iowa; thats a lot of money to Iowans. Ernst succeeded former Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) as the Senates leading foe of wasteful government spending. The problem in the nations capital is that we have to start somewhere. If you cant make the decision to take a few hundred million dollars of savings, then how are you going to make the big decisions? she said. Iowa taxpayers shouldnt be footing the bill for failed presidential campaigns. Given the fact that not a single one of the candidates running for president this year have even asked for these funds, and no candidate that has taken the money has won in 16 years, I say we eliminate this unnecessary federal program and redirect these taxpayer dollars toward tackling our growing debt, she said in a statement. Ernst selected the fund as the recipient of her latest Squeal Awardgiven each month to outrageous examples of waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, discovered by her staff investigators. Her goal is to cut wasteful spending and make Washington squeal. She has introduced a billthe Eliminating Leftover Expenses for Campaigns from Taxpayers (ELECT) Act of 2020to abolish the program. The Iowa Republican says the $356 million presently sitting in the fund should be devoted to reducing the national debt. The program that was once the first bright hope of advocates for public funding of all federal campaigns has dwindled dramatically since its creation, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. Soon after its creation, more than a fourth of all federal tax filers checked the box to contribute $3 to the fund in 1976, and it reached its participation peak in 1980, when nearly 30 percent of filers devoted $68 million. But its been downhill ever since, with the last major party candidates to accept public funding being Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Sarah Palin, his vice-presidential running mate in the 2008 election. The $84 million for McCain and Palin was the largest funding ever awarded under the program. President Barack Obama declined to accept public funding in 2008 and 2012, and neither President Donald Trump nor Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton did so in 2016. Only 10 percent of tax filers were checking the box for the fund by 2008. While the fund was a major factor in campaigns for several decades, the big disincentive was the fact that candidates who accepted public funding had to decline all other contributions. Thanks to the internet making it easier and cheaper to reach potential donors, and the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision removing many of the federal restraints on political expression through contributions, White House seekers can typically raise far more from private donors than they would get from the fund. Contact Mark Tapscott at Mark.Tapscott@epochtimes.nyc (Bloomberg) -- PG&E Corp. and other electric utilities could face hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties for shutting off power to prevent wildfires under a bill passed by the California state senate. The measure approved 25 to 2 would also require power companies to compensate residents, businesses and local governments for costs resulting from intentional blackouts. It now faces a vote in the state assembly. The legislation is the latest backlash against PG&E over its decision to cut power from more than 2 million customers in October to prevent power lines from sparking wildfires during windstorms. The utility began resorting to blackouts after being forced into Chapter 11 last year facing $30 billion in liabilities from blazes blamed on its equipment. Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric have also used shutoffs to prevent blazes but on a more limited scale. California state Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said the measure is designed to encourage utilities to be more surgical in using blackouts to avoid widespread disruptions. The outages forced schools to close, businesses to shut and cost customers more than $10 billion, according to one estimate. The bill would allow the state to fine investor-owned utilities $250,000 an hour for every 50,000 customers impacted by a power shutoff if regulators determine they acted irresponsibly. PG&E opposes the bill, saying in a letter to lawmakers last week that it would put customers and communities in a very dangerous position by potentially penalizing utilities for using intentional shutoffs during dangerous fire conditions. The company decides to cut power based on one metric: will it keep customers safe, PG&Es chief of state government relations, DaVina Flemings, said in the letter. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Chediak in San Francisco at mchediak@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Ryan at jryan173@bloomberg.net, Michael B. Marois Story continues For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Rohingya children living in Bangladesh refugee camps will be allowed to receive a formal after a change of heart by Dhaka in a move welcomed by right activists. Nearly one million Rohingya, including more than half a million children, live in the squalid and crowded camps near the southeastern border with Myanmar, where many had fled from in 2017 after a brutal military crackdown. The children were previously barred from studying the curriculums used in Bangladesh and Myanmar, and instead received primary in temporary learning centres set up by the UN children's agency UNICEF. "We don't want a lost generation of Rohingya. We want them to have They will follow Myanmar curricula," Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen told AFP on Tuesday. The decision came after a meeting of a national taskforce set up by the government. Local media reported that a pilot programme involving more than 10,000 students would be launched soon, with UNICEF and Dhaka jointly designing the curriculum. The refugee children will be schooled in Myanmar history and culture up to age 14, and will also receive skills training so they can take up jobs back in Myanmar when they return home, the foreign ministry said. "I can't express my joy with words ... generations of Rohingya hardly had any education in their homeland in Myanmar as they were discriminated there and were robbed of their citizenship," Rohingya youth leader and human rights activist Rafique bin Habib said. "The decision will minimise the chances for a Rohingya kid to get radicalised (in the camps)," he added. UN representative in Bangladesh Mia Seppo told AFP the move would "make it easier for them to go back home to Myanmar when the time is right for returns". Some Rohingya children have used fake Bangladeshi identity cards and hidden their ethnic identities to enrol in local schools. Authorities last year expelled scores of them from schools in a drive condemned by rights groups. Tens of thousands of other Rohingya Muslim children were also educated in madrassas set up by Islamic groups in the camps. The decision came almost a week after UN's highest court ordered Myanmar to do everything in its power to prevent the genocide of Rohingya Muslims. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Panaji, Jan 28 : A person of European descent, who had travelled to China, has been quarantined at a government hospital after he showed symptoms similar to those of coronavirus, Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Tuesday. Rane said that the patient, the coastal state's first suspected coronavirus case, had landed at Goa airport via Delhi, following a visit to China. "We are taking all precautions as per the World Health Organisation. We are also in touch with the Civil Aviation ministry on taking precautions at all entry points," Rane told reporters here. The suspected coronavirus patient was admitted to the isolation ward at the Goa Medical College, after he complained of a sore throat, one of the symptoms of coronavirus. "The Medical College dean and other health experts will be a part of a special task force headed by the Chief Secretary to tackle suspected coronavirus cases," Rane said. The Medical College set up an isolation ward on Tuesday, hours before the first suspected case was reported. One Prince case dropped; one on A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Princes family members has been quietly dismissed in recent months, suggesting family members have reached settlements with defendants including the Minnesota doctor who saw Prince in the weeks before his death and the Illinois hospital that treated him for an opioid overdose seven days before he died. The dismissals largely close one legal chapter in the superstars legacy, even as efforts drag on to value and dispose of his estate once pegged at around $200 million. Prince was 57 when he died of an accidental fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016, without leaving a will. No one was criminally charged in his death and the source of the counterfeit pills that killed him remains unknown. Princes heirs filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a slew of defendants in April 2018, alleging they had the duty and opportunity to diagnose and treat Princes addiction and prevent his death, but failed to do so. But as early as last summer, plaintiffs began dismissing defendants. Meanwhile, Princes siblings are still waiting to learn how much his estate is worth. Court filings several months after Princes death suggested the estate was worth around $200 million before taxes. More recent filings suggest the estate and Internal Revenue Service have not yet agreed on its value. Swift shakes film festival The normally private Taylor Swift premiered an intimate documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in which the pop star discloses a past eating disorder, chronicles her inner battle over speaking forthrightly about politics and says her victorious 2017 sexual assault court case was a dramatic turning point in her life. Miss Americana, a Netflix documentary directed by Lana Wilson, was one the most feverishly awaited films in this years Sundance program, and the premiere at the Eccles Center in Park City on the festivals opening day was a predictably frenzied scene. Outside the theater, dozens of Swift fans sang in unison. The film, which will debut Friday on Netflix, plays like a coming-of-age drama for a performer who despite finding mega-fame as a teenager took some time to truly find her voice. In the film, she says she always strove to be a good girl and needed approving pats on the head for any sense of gratification. But Miss Americana captures an evolution in Swift. Its time to take the masking tape off my mouth, like, forever, she says in the documentary. Associated Press Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (21) Roughly a decade after Ralph Hunt built the first section of the Red Mill sometime around 1810, he admitted that the building had been doing very little for a number of years past. If Hunt were to approach the iconic site over two centuries later, he might be astonished to see how far from true his statement rings in the year 2020. According to Red Mill Museum Village Director Paul Muir, the historic Clinton establishment is visited by approximately 20,000 people each year, a 30% increase compared to the number who visited four years ago. Despite the villages growing appeal, Muir said he and and his staff are determined to not only retain their audience, but continue to grow it. They aim to accomplish this by hosting several events and initiatives throughout the coming year, for many of which they will introduce modern spins to long-held traditions as well as embrace new experiences and additions to the site. Heres whats happening at the Red Mill Museum Village in 2020, in chronological order: 1. The Smithsonians Water/Ways Traveling Exhibition: Through Feb. 23, 2020 16 The Smithsonians Water/Ways Traveling Exhibition Only six museums in the state were selected by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities to host a traveling Smithsonian exhibition between summer 2019 through to spring 2020, and the Red Mill Museum Village is one of them. From mid-January up until late February, the Red Mill will host the Water/Ways Traveling Exhibition from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and noon to 4 p.m. on weekends. According to Muir, the exhibitions emphasis of water parallels the elements significance to the history of Clinton, as the towns economy used to be powered by the Red Mill when it functioned as an industrial mill and quarry bordering the South Branch of the Raritan River. "The town is here because of the river, and usually whoever owned the mill ... was kind of the driving forcing of what the town was doing. So (Clinton) was very much powered by that river, Muir explained. Muir added that the exhibit offers something for everybody, including those interested in learning about the centrality of water from a more general perspective. It really encompasses any kind of interest you may have. Were respectful in honoring our history, because it talks a lot about history, but it focuses on the cultural impact of water and touches a little bit on the religious impacts of water, and even the ecological impacts of water," Muir said. 2. Restoration of the Red Mills iconic wheel: March 2020 Photo of the Red MillCaroline Fassett | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The Red Mills long inactive wheel is on track to be spinning again by the end of March of this year, according to Muir. The Red Mill Museum Village is just shy of hitting its fundraising goal of $60,000 for its Save the Wheel Campaign, first established in May 2017. High Bridge-based Custom Alloy Corporation, one of the campaigns biggest supporters, will be overseeing the new construction and instillation of the new wheel. As long as (Custom Alloy Corporations) production schedule holds and the weather holds, were hoping to have the wheel installed by the end of March," Muir said. 3. 2020 Census Kickoff Event: Wednesday, April 1 National Census Day, held throughout the U.S. on April 1 of the first year of each decade, will be celebrated in Hunterdon County with a kickoff event at the Red Mill Museum Village. U.S. Census Regional Coordinator Allison Jackson and a number of Clintons elected officials will be present at the event. The 2020 Census for Hunterdon and Somerset counties will influence the number of seats each state is allocated in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as affect the distribution of over $675 billion in federal funds annually. Individuals can respond to the questionnaire online, by phone, or on paper. (The Census) is what impacts funding for a lot of the local municipalities in the state and the counties, but (those behind it) also look for places of community gatherings to create awareness. And so well be hosting a kickoff event for Hunterdon County right here at the Red Mill, Muir said. 4. Military Heritage Day: Saturday, April 4 2020 Date: Saturday, April 4Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village 2020 Date: Saturday, April 4Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village 2020 Date: Saturday, April 4Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village For the fourth consecutive year, the Red Mill will celebrate its official opening day by commemorating Americas military history and honoring the nations veterans. Military Heritage Day, which Muir said typically draws close to 100, used to occur over the course of several weekends, but became consolidated as attendance began to decline. We wanted to find a way to reinvigorate it, and still have it be popular. So we combined (the weekends) into one day," Muir said. The Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War will all be memorialized throughout the day through re-enactments, displays, and military vehicles spread throughout the village. Moreover, the event will kick off with a Quilt of Valor ceremony, for which a local Quilts of Valor Foundation group presents a hand-sewn quilt to a veteran from the area. It recognizes the history and shares in the history, and kids actually really love the event. Especially because all of the re-enactors are really friendly, Muir said. 5. Bridal Show Open House: Sunday, April 5 2020 Date: Sunday, April 5Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village A bridal show organized by Culinary Creations will be held at the Red Mill in early spring for prospective bridges and grooms that are interested in being wed at the historic site. Culinary Creations, the exclusive caterer of the Red Mill Museum Village, will provide tenting and refreshments and answer any questions or concerns attendees of the event might have about the process of planning their future wedding. They make it very easy for if you want to plan a wedding. They have everything from very simple menus to very elaborate ones, so it can reach any taste or price point," Muir said. The Red Mill Museum Village hosts an average of 10 to 12 weddings per year. 6. The Red Mill Retro Ride & Picnic (& Race!): Sunday, April 19 2020 Date: Sunday, April 19Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village Since 2018, the Red Mill has hosted a family-friendly bicycle ride throughout which dozens of bicyclists glide across the Landsdown Trail in Clinton while donning their best vintage clothing. For its third year in existence, Muir announced that the ride will also include a race. It was just a ride and more of a bike show. It was relaxed. But I think weve found that bicyclists are more competitive, so we decided to add a competitive component to it," Muir explained. On April 19, cyclists will have the option to either ride casually or compete for a yet to be determined prize. The event was inspired by the historic London Tweed Run, a metropolitan bicycle ride for which cyclists wear Victorian era tweed suits and long dresses while coursing on bikes designed with a mid-19th century flair. 7. The Thompson Gallery: May 2020 to November 2021 In an effort to educate more individuals about the duties of museum scientists and archivists, in May Red Mill staff members and volunteers will erect the Thompson Gallery, an exhibition featuring a collections workshop and behind the scenes information about the inner workings of the Red Mill. As people wander through, they can see over 40,000 objects in our collection -- and were still processing a lot of those, whether theyre photos, maps, newspaper articles, or actual woodworking tools. You can see what goes into preserving, protecting, and recording those, Muir explained. The exhibition will be available to all visitors for a span of 18 months. 8. The Red Mill Derby: Sunday, May 2 2020 Date: Sunday, May 2Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village 2020 Date: Sunday, May 2Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village The Kentucky Derby will be broadcast on a 110-inch screen erected in the quarry during the Red Mills largest single-day fundraiser, which will also feature catered food, an open bar, live music, and a silent auction. Its a phenomenal event. Last year we had just over 200 people," Muir said. Long after the race is over, attendees can participate in a bourbon tasting in the museums blacksmith shop or compete for the Best Dressed and Best Hat awards. There will also be a variety of games featured at the event, including corn hole with custom-made Red Mill boards, a water gun competition, and Hobby Horse games -- the latter of which Muir explained were a little nod to history. On old cruise ships, they have these giant dye, and they would roll them and it was a contest. And you would ride the hobby horse bets and take bets on who would win. Were not betting, but you can win tickets, and the tickets go into the (silent auction) prizes," Muir said. 9. The Hunterdon Prep Music & Art Festival: Saturday, May 9 A new event being introduced at the Red Mill this year is a festival that will benefit both the historic site and Hunterdon Preparatory School, a private, not-for-profit day school serving students with disabilities between the ages of 12 and 21. While Muir said that details for the event are still in the process of being solidified, student bands and student-made art will be on display. Our nonprofit foundation is that we are an educational museum. So while we focus on history, the educational component is there, in addition to serving the community," Muir said. 10. Wheels for the Wheel Car Show: Sunday, May 17 2020 Date: Sunday, May 17Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village The annual Wheels for the Wheel Car Show will be held for the third consecutive year to benefit the Save the Wheel Campaign. The Car Show, typically featuring around 110 vehicles, is open to all kinds of models that will compete for the titles of best in class and best in show. The event will also be offering a 50/50 raffle, the winner of which will take home a cash prize. 11. Farm & Factory Day: Sunday, July 12 2020 Date: Sunday, July 12Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village 2020 Date: Sunday, July 12Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village Entering its 10th year at the site, the Red Mills Farm & Factory Day annually educates over 300 adults and children about the sites agriculture and industrial history. Muir explained that attendees receive punch cards that point them in the direction of interactive activities to participate in at the village, including grinding grain, wicking a stick of dynamite, making butter and ice cream, and shelling corn. If individuals master each activity to earn all the punches required by their cards, they receive a prize from the Red Mill. Its a hands-on kids activity day," Muir said. They have to go and learn what the skills are with the mill or quarry operator or a farmer. 12. Kids Day: Sunday, Aug. 2 2020 Date: Sunday, August 2Courtesy - Red Mill Museum Village Over 1,000 children from across the state and beyond gather at the Red Mill Museum Village for its annual Kids Day, the historic sites largest single-day event. While the festival has been held at the village for seven years in total, in 2020 the Red Mill will partner with NORWESCAP Child & Family Resources for the fourth consecutive year to bring the event to life. Its a fun take on history. Well have some of those traditional things like ice cream-making and butter-churning, but well also have a bounce house," Muir said. Amongst other sights and activities, children in attendance can enjoy vintage bicycle rides, face painting, blacksmith demos, and a petting zoo. Employees of the Hunterdon Art Museum and ExxonMobil will also represent their organizations through crafts and games stations. 13. The Haunted Red Mill: Friday, Oct. 9 - Saturday, Oct. 31 12 Setting of Haunted Red Mill, 2019 In 2019, it was experienced by approximately 6,000 people and raked in a gross amount of $150,000. In 2020, it will be even bigger. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Haunted Red Mill, a haunted attraction for which participants are transported to five elaborate haunted houses via tractor ride, a bonus seventh night on Oct. 30 has been added to the typically three-weekend long event. Following the added night of the attraction, a fully tented Halloween party will be held on Oct. 31, which falls on a Saturday this year. There will be food, refreshments, and dancing for all ghouls and gals in attendance. Every year it keeps growing, and its one of the oldest events at 30 years. And were one of the originators of the haunted attraction -- and I say the best, Muir said. 14. Festival of Trees and Winter Village: Friday, Nov. 21 - Sunday, Dec. 13 19 Red Mill Museum's Festival of Trees and Winter Village Market At the Red Mills annual Festival of Trees, spectators can enjoy a display of decorated trees, wreaths and centerpieces donated from members of the community. Hand-decorated items will be included in a silent auction that closes on Dec. 13, all proceeds for which will benefit the Red Mill Museum Village. The Festival of Trees will coincide with the Red Mills Winter Village, a German-style outdoor, tented and heated, winter craft market that features over 40 local craft artisans, vintage peddlers, and food trucks and is set to take place from Friday, Nov. 27 through to Sunday, Nov. 29. Presented by Marketspace Vendor Events, the event also coincides with downtown Clintons Dickens Days and Santa Claus visit. To learn more about the Red Mill Museum Village, visit https://theredmill.org/. Caroline Fassett can be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), combined with Western medicine, can play an active role in treating patients with pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a leading expert said Monday. "TCM is helpful in alleviating fever, containing the progression of the disease, lowering the dosage of corticosteroids and reducing complications," said Zhang Boli, one of the 14 members of the national research team to prevent and control the outbreak. The current treatment for infected patients includes life support and symptom alleviation, which makes the combination of TCM and Western medicine especially important, according to Zhang. TCM aims to enhance the ability of the human body to fight the virus, he said, adding that its efficacy has been proven as two patients in Beijing and several others in Wuhan recovered after such treatment in combination with Western medicine. He suggested medicinal herbs can be prescribed based on symptoms to treat patients who are not in critical condition. On Jan. 24, a national research team of 14 experts, headed by renowned respiratory scientist Zhong Nanshan, was set up to help prevent and control the outbreak. Experts are screening Chinese patent medicine and active components of medicinal herbs for clinical use, said Zhang. Edwina Iddles The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has appointed Edwina Iddles chief communications officer. Iddles was most recently chief press officer for the UK Home office, which is responsible for immigration, security and law and order. Before that, she was senior press officer at the department for exiting the European Union and began her career as parliamentary assistant to Conservative MP Caroline Dinenage. The Royal Foundation was formed by Princes William and Harry in 2009 to run their charitable campaigns and ventures and joined by Kate Middleton when she became Duchess of Cambridge in 2011. It became the principle charitable vehicle for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after October 1, following the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from the foundation. The idea of an "investment nanny" for investors includes signing agreements with the government of Ukraine on specific conditions in case of violation of which the Cabinet of Ministers will respond in international courts, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Tymofiy Mylovanov has said. "The idea of an "investment nanny" is that the government of Ukraine signs specific conditions with the investor and thus the government will responsible to the investor in international courts for violations, while the investor will also be responsible to the government of Ukraine this is a mirror agreement," he said on the air of the Freedom of Speech (Svoboda Slova) program on ICTV. The minister is confident that in this way the state shows foreign and Ukrainian investors that it is ready to ensure the rule of law. Mylovanov added that in parallel with this, the judicial and law enforcement systems should be reformed to build trust in them. "It's about the right to sign an agreement. Today the law does not allow the Cabinet of Ministers to sign a separate agreement. Are we signing international agreements? It's the same thing, because we sign them with international financial organizations, and this is a big investor. Is the one with the IMF an international agreement? It is an individual international deal with a large international investor. Do we sign agreements with the EBRD [the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development] and the World Bank? Yes, and now we say that any large investor, not only international financial organizations, will get the right to sign a contract with the government," the minister said. Mumbai: A copy of the Mumbai Police Calendar being presented to Bollywood superstar Salman Khan at the grand event Umang in Mumbai. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, veteran actor Dharmendra and photographer Pravin Talan at the launch of the Mumbai Police Calendar at the grand event Umang in Mumbai. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News Mumbai: A copy of the Mumbai Police Calendar being presented to Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan at the grand event Umang in Mumbai. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, Jan 28 : Bollywood superstars Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were spotted at the Mumbai Police Calendar launch. The calendar was launched in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, veteran actor Dharmendra, Commissioner of Police Sanjay Barve and photographer Pravin Talan at the grand event Umang that was attended by many Bollywood celebrities. A copy of the calendar was presented to Shah Rukh and Salman at the event, who showed it off with pride and love for the city police force. Barve said: "Mumbai Police loves, understands and cares for Mumbaikars, and draws its strength from the indomitable spirit of this city. Safeguarding and managing this maximum city is a colossal task. This calendar captures the motley moods of Mumbaikars along with the men and women from Mumbai Police that serve and secure them." Among mentions on the 2020 calendar are the new additions to the city police force including Belgian Malinois sniffer dogs and the Mounted Police Unit. The ceremonial uniform for the Mounted Police Unit has been designed by celebrated designer Manish Malhotra. Mumbai, Jan 29 : Bollywood star Katrina Kaif was spotted at an event hosted by Picture Pathshala, an organisation that produces content made by children and supports children's cinema for change. "I think it's really very special to be able to do something like this in a fun way, and in a way where you are allowing kids to interact and participate, and listen to what they want to talk about," said Katrina. She also expressed curiosity over how Picture Pathshala was started and what inspired the founders. Co-founded by Shweta Parekh and Ayaan Agnihotri, Picture Pathshala has produced 200 short films in the last five years, which have been screened across 47 International film festivals. Scenes from some of the short films were screened at the event. The organisers of the event also used the occasion to thank Salman Khan's Being Human Foundation and Book A Smile for supporting them over the years. Present at the event were also Salman's sister Alvira and her husband Atul Agnihotri, Salman's brothers Sohail and Arbaaz Khan, and Sunil Grover. Addressing the kids after a screening at the event, actor-comedian Sunil Grover said: "I loved the videos. You guys speak in such a mature way and give such nice expressions! You are lucky to get a chance to work like this at this age. All of you are very talented. I wish you all the best. Work hard and shine brighter." Picture Pathshala's initiative 'Cinema School In A Sandook' has reached out to Cherivali village in Raigadh, Pinguli Village in Sindhudurg, Raisar village in Bikaner, Dandi Village in Navsari, and the last village of India Turtuk in Ladakh. They are now planning to arrange similar workshops in Jaisalmer, Assam, West Bengal and Kanyakumari. Talking about the initiative, co-founder Ayaan Agnihotri said: "We had been on a road trip around India and got a chance to meet and interact with children of remote areas. We wanted to know what these children feel, what their problems are, what they have to say. These are places where you don't even find an original mineral water bottle. We feel kids from such places should be allowed to express themselves so that they feel they have the power to make a difference." Co-founder Shweta Parekh expressed: "All schools have a curriculum for media studies and community service. What we do is we combine these two and make it fun for the children. At the same time, they spend either time doing something which they don't see just as a subject but something by which they will be touching lives, something which they take back with them. That's the whole idea of Picture Pathshala." "We support children's cinema for change. We would request everyone to come forward and support us in this cause. We want to reach out to 717 districts across the country," she added. By Trend Crisis is observed in the Council of Europe, head of the parliamentary committee on international and interparliamentary relations, head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Samad Seyidov said. Seyidov made the remark during the PACE winter session in Strasbourg, France, Trend reports. It is necessary to think about the future of this organization, head of the Azerbaijani delegation said. This morning, for the first time, I have found out that the authority of the delegations of eight countries was disputed, Seyidov said. This is a vivid example that we are now in crisis. The main reason is that member states lack mutual respect, mutual understanding. A colleague from Armenia spoke about my country in an absolutely unacceptable way, head of the Azerbaijani delegation added. Such a statement made by a representative of the country that occupied the territory of other country that committed massacres, killed children, women, is absolutely unacceptable." Seyidov urged to refrain from such rhetoric. Speaking about the report on Azerbaijan, which was presented at the session, Seyidov stressed that the author of the report expressed her opinion in an absolutely unacceptable way for the organization. If you are unable to respect others, the crisis will only intensify, Seyidov added. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to refrain from such behavior. We must think about the future of the organization. We should abandon such rhetoric and only this way we will be able to ensure the future of PACE. A winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) kicked off on Jan. 27 and will last till Jan. 31. Azerbaijani delegation led by the head of the permanent delegation of the Azerbaijani parliament in PACE, chairman of the parliamentary committee on international relations and interparliamentary ties Samad Seyidov are taking part in the session. The commission included MPs Sevinj Fataliyeva, Sahiba Gafarova, Rafael Huseynov, Asim Mollazade, Sabir Hajiyev and Nagif Hamzayev. During the session, reports of the Bureau and the Standing Committee on the work done are being heard, the results of the parliamentary elections in Belarus, the activities of democratic institutions in Poland, the safety of journalists in Europe, media freedom and other issues are being discussed. Azerbaijani MPs are taking part in discussions and expressing their opinions. As part of the session, with the organizational support of the Azerbaijani delegation, an event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy is planned to be held on Jan. 28. A woman and her son, who recently returned from Wuhan in China, were admitted in hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain for possible exposure to novel Coronavirus, prompting the state government to step up vigil. According to officials of the Health department, the duo included the medical student who had returned to India from Wuhan, suspected to be the epicentre of the virus, and his mother who lives in Ujjain. "I have instructed all top officials of my department, including the Principal Secretary and Commissioner, Health Department, to monitor the situation in the entire state and step up the vigil after two persons with suspected Coronavirus infection are found in Ujjain," Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Tulsi Silawat said here on Tuesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Louis Johnson, 16 , suffered a fatal wound in a 40-second eruption of senseless violence inside East Croydon station just after 4.30pm yesterday. He was attacked on a footbridge over the platforms and staggered down stairs before collapsing near a ticket barrier, witnesses said. Despite the efforts of paramedics and the London Air Ambulance he was pronounced dead at the scene a short while later. His attacker was reportedly carrying a foot-long machete and fled into the crowds, possibly escaping on a train. The incident took place at East Croydon railway station / PA Witnesses said two women who apparently knew the victim were allowed through to see him as he lay dying. Barista Marie Jandova, 20, said: I had just got off the train when I heard lots of screaming it didnt sound human. I turned round and his face was full of blood, he tried to get away but he fell over. Everyone was panicking and running. First I thought he was just hit in the face in a fight, but then I saw cuts. It looked like his friends were there. They were running towards him and the security let them past. A younger girl was running up to him. Forensic officers at the scene after the attack / NIGEL HOWARD A Louis is the first teenager to be stabbed to death this year after 2019 saw 25 knife killings, an 11-year high in the capital. A witness wrote on Facebook: I was passed by someone with a machete when walking up to East Croydon station. As I reached the top of the stairs there was blood everywhere and a lad slumped in the ticket office by the barriers. Detective Chief Inspector Sam Blackburn, of British Transport Police, said: This was a senseless killing at an extremely busy time of the day, and my thoughts are with Louiss family. For such a young man to lose his life in these circumstances is truly devastating, and I would like to reassure everyone that a thorough investigation is well under way. We continue to appeal for anyone with information to get in touch as a matter of urgency. Police said the attack was over in 40 seconds / Twitter / @M_CPFC The incident was over within a matter of 40 seconds, but I know many other passengers or members of the public would have seen what happened. If you have not already spoken with police, please get in touch. The station was open today but the footbridge was sealed off as forensic science officers search for clues. Croydon Central MP Sarah Jones, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on knife crime, said: This brutal loss of a young life is another reminder that tackling violence must be our highest priority at every level of government and across our communities. "I will not stop campaigning on this until our children are safe on our streets. People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Thousands flock to the Jersey Shore in support of President Donald Trump as he continues his 2020 campaign push with a Keep America Great rally at the Wildwood Convention Center on Tuesday. Many fans sported some colorful and creative clothing exhibiting their support for Trump, while others carried flags or bundled in blankets. The early comers started arriving on Sunday afternoon, and the crowd quickly grew to the thousands over the next couple of days. The convention center will open at 3 p.m with the rally starting at 5 p.m., and President Trump will address the crowd at 7 p.m. Don't Edit People ride their bikes along on the boardwalk in support of President Donald Trump before his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People gather in Fox Park to listen to President Donald Trump speak during his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit A President Donald Trump lookalike works the crowd during the "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit Chris Hunt, of Toms River, dresses as Maga Man NJ as he waits in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit People wait in line to attend President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's '"Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit A woman poses with a President Donald Trump inflatable during the "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People gather in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot to listen to President Donald Trump speak during his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit People gather in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot to listen to President Donald Trump speak during his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People gather on the boardwalk during President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit People gather on the boardwalk in support of President Donald Trump before his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit People gather in Fox Park to listen to President Donald Trump speak during his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit Merchandise for sale during President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit People await the arrival of President Donald Trump's motorcade at the intersection of Atlantic and East Montgomery avenues during the "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit Jordan Pastro, of Virginia, waits in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit David Neild, of North Carolina, waits in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit President Donald Trump's motorcade drives down East Montgomery Avenue in Wildwood and into the Wildwoods Convention Center for the "Keep America Great Rally," Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Supporters of President Donald Trump smile as his motorcade drives down East Montgomery Avenue in Wildwood and into the Wildwoods Convention Center for the "Keep America Great Rally," Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit People gather near the Wildwoods sign during President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit A woman holds a sign in support of President Donald Trump during the "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit People protest President Donald Trump as his supporters stand on the boardwalk during the "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit Trump flags blow along the merchandise area on the boardwalk near the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit People gather in Wildwood for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally," Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit Don't Edit People file into the playground area of Fox Park to watch as President Donald Trump addresses the crowd during "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit People gather in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot to listen to President Donald Trump speak during his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People gather in Wildwood to support President Donald Trump before his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People gather in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot to listen to President Donald Trump speak during his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit Don't Edit People gather in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot to listen to President Donald Trump speak during his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People gather in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot to listen to President Donald Trump speak during his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit People wait in line to enter the Wildwoods Convention Center for President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Don't Edit People gather in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot to listen to President Donald Trump speak during his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Don't Edit People gather in the Wildwoods Convention Center parking lot to listen to President Donald Trump speak during his "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Don't Edit Buy photos here More Trump coverge here: Thousands in line for Trumps rally in Wildwood Trump often exaggerates crowds at his rallies. Heres what happened in the past. Roadwork could snarl traffic on bridges near Trumps rally in Wildwood Banned items, bathrooms, food. Everything to know about Trumps Wildwood rally. Don't Edit Tim Hawk may be reached at thawk@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Tim on Instagram@photog_hawk and Twitter @photogthawk. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Lori M. Nichols may be reached at lnichols@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Lori on Instagram at @photog_lori and Twitter @photoglori. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com's newsletters. Inspired by a Kerala mosque which recently hosted the wedding of a Hindu couple, a Christian charitable organisation on Tuesday conducted marriages for seven couples according to Hindu rites at Kodangipatti village near Pollachi town in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. Pollachi which had a brush with infamy following a sex scandal can now boasts of this good news. At Kodangipatti, the seven couples entered into wedlock at a huge decorated venue, where Deputy Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly, N Jayaraman was among the well wishers who turned up to bless the couples. Everything was held as per Hindu tradition and as the priests chanted the mantras, the grooms tied the mangalsutra to the brides. The Kerala-based NGO, Athens Charitable Trust, which organised the wedding free of cost, also presented the couples with household articles. People from the neighbourhood attended the event in large numbers. Blessing the newly-wed, Jayaraman said service to society was what Jesus Christ had preached and felicitated the charitable organisation. This would go a long way in promoting brotherhood and communal harmony, he added. Financial assistance and free bicycles were also distributed to the differently-abled on the occasion. Earlier this month a mosque in Keralas Kayamkulam hosted a Hindu wedding where the jamat presented the couple 10 sovereigns of gold and Rs two lakh cash besides a providing a sumptuous vegetarian feast to the entire village. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) Several Chinese schools in Manila City are suspending classes this week as a precautionary measure against the possible spread of novel coronavirus. The following schools have announced the suspension of classes: - Chiang Kai Shek College, Algue and Narra campuses (January 27 to February 8) - St. Stephen's High School (classes suspended indefinitely) - Hope Christian High School (classes suspended indefinitely) - Uno High School (classes suspended indefinitely) Uno High School said they are gathering more information on travel details of their students and staff during the Chinese New Year break. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday that there is no confirmed case of the novel coronavirus or 2019-nCov in the country. The suspension of classes is not in line with current DOH guidelines, he added. "Definitely no need as of now," he said on Monday. Education Secretary Leonor Briones said private schools who chose to suspend classes have to conduct make-up classes. On Monday, several other schools suspended classes, which have since resumed. They include Philippine Cultural College, Tiong Se Academy, St. Jude Catholic School, Lorenzo Ruiz Academy, Philippine Academy of Sakya, and Pace Academy. St. Jude Catholic School Director Fr. Emilio D. Lim on Tuesday said the school continues to be vigilant. It is requiring all students to come to school in face masks. Those who have been to countries with confirmed coronavirus cases but do not show flu-like symptoms are advised to skip school until they secure a medical clearance. The new coronavirus has left 82 people dead and more than 2,700 cases in mainland China. There are more than 50 confirmed cases in 13 other countries. People can spread the virus before symptoms show, China's health minister said Sunday, complicating efforts to contain the outbreak. DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian government forces captured one of the largest and most strategic rebel-held towns in the countrys northwest, the Syrian military and opposition activists said Wednesday, part of a Russian-backed military assault that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people fleeing to safer areas. The town of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, which had been in rebel hands since 2012, sits on the highway linking Damascus with Aleppo and is considered critical to President Bashar Assads forces. The town is now largely empty as a result of intense bombardment in recent weeks. Its capture is the latest in a series of military triumphs for Assad. His forces have retaken control of most of the country from rebel fighters, largely because of blanket air support from Russia, which helped turn the tide in the nearly nine-year civil war. Syrias nearly nine-year conflict has left more than 400,000 people dead and displaced half of Syrias population, including more than 5 million who are refugees, mostly in neighbouring countries. An exception to the Syrian governments success in retaking territory from rebel groups has been Idlib province in the northwestern corner of the country near the Turkish border, which is held by opposition fighters and is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants. The province is home to some 3 million people, many of them internally displaced. Syrian government forces have been on the offensive for more than a month in Idlib province, the last rebel stronghold in the country. But in recent days, the government captured more than a dozen villages in the area as the insurgents defences began to crumble. Our armed forces continued operations in southern parts of Idlib with the aim of putting an end to crimes committed by terrorist groups, said army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ali Mayhoub. He listed more than a dozen villages and towns captured, including Maaret al-Numan. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents withdrew from the town late Tuesday. Syrian troops had left a road west of the town opened apparently to give a chance for insurgents to pull out and to avoid street battles inside the town. Syrian state news agency SANA reported that a Syrian reporter working for Russia Today was wounded Wednesday near Maaret al-Numan, saying the woman and her team were subjected to fire by insurgents. SANA said the reporter was in stable condition without giving details about her injury. But the push appears to have angered Turkey, which backs the opposition and has for years co-ordinated with Russia, a main backer of Assad, during the conflict. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed frustration with Moscow over its failure to halt Syrian government attacks in Idlib. Erdogan said Russia is not loyal to agreements reached with Turkey over the situation in Idlib, including a cease-fire that collapsed earlier this month. He said he is in contact with the Russians to tell them to stop the bombing in Idlib or our patience will run out. Amid intense airstrikes and heavy bombardment, trucks loaded with displaced people from areas surrounding Maaret al-Numan, including Jabal al-Zawiya, headed toward areas near the Turkish border, already bursting with internally displaced people. Only God knows where our destination will be, where we will find a house. We do not know anything, maybe we will sleep in the car, said one woman who was among those fleeing with her family Tuesday. She declined to give her name, fearing for her safety. The Syrian Response Coordination Group, a relief group active in northwestern Syria, reported that until the end of December more than 216,000 people fled their homes in Idlib. In a new release, the group said 167,000 fled since the beginning of January, bringing the total number to more than 383,000 people. Farther north, government forces began an offensive on the western suburbs of Aleppo in an attempt to push insurgents away from Syrias largest city. Around noon Wednesday, Syrian troops captured a major suburb west of Aleppo, according to state media. Maaret al-Numan sits on the highway linking Damascus with Aleppo, once Syrias main commercial hub. With the towns fall, government forces are now closer to retaking the critical north-south highway. In August, Syrian troops captured another town along the highway, Khan Sheikhoun. Now that Syrian troops are in control of Maaret al-Numan, their next target is likely to be Saraqeb, which would become the last major town on the M5 highway that remains outside government control. ___ Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed to this report from Ankara, Turkey. Aerial spraying to beat back a plague of locusts swarming across Kenya will cost $70 million, the UN estimates. Millions of the insects have invaded the East African nation from Somalia and Ethiopia, devouring farmland and just about anything else in their path. The locust outbreak is the worst in 70 years for Kenya. Even cows are wondering what is happening, Ndunda Makanga, a local farmer told the Associated Press. Corn, sorghum, cowpeas, they have eaten everything. The scourge has been exacerbated by climate change, which has brought rising temperatures and more rain to the region. The price tag for the spraying comes from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, which leads international efforts to fight hunger. A single swarm up to 150 million insects can consume enough food to feed 35,000 people. Kenya has four planes now flying to spread pesticides but needs more spraying equipment as well as more chemicals, the nations agriculture officials said. The insects are now heading toward South Sudan and Uganda, which is already on alert. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Officials and diplomats marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day at Budapest's Holocaust Documentation Centre. Csaba Latorcai, state secretary of the human resources ministry, said the governments measures in the past 9 years helped create a milieu in which there is an unprecedented blossoming of Jewish culture and security. Israels ambassador Yakov Hadas-Handelsman warned that anti-Semitism was again on the rise across the world and xenophobia went hand in hand with Holocaust denial. Vladimir Sergeev, Russias ambassador, said he was proud of the soldiers of the Red Army who had liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Budapest ghetto. In a statement, the Socialist Party said people needed reminding of their shared responsibility not to allow a repeat of historys darkest period. LMP said the protection of human dignity did not encompass physical violence only, but written, verbal and political propaganda, too. The Liberal Party said: The anti-Jewish laws passed by the Hungarian Parliament paved the way for these brutal murders. DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsany said past Hungarian leaders had failed to protect the countrys citizens, instead sending them to their deaths like animals. MTI Photo: Mathe Zoltan West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Tuesday prevented by a section of students from attending the Calcutta University's annual convocation at Nazrul Mancha here, following which he left the premises. Dhankhar, who is also the chancellor of the university, said "those that compromised culture and decorum need to be in a reflective mode". Shortly after the governor arrived at the venue around 12.30 pm, the students, with 'No CAA' and 'No NRC' posters in hand, waved black flags at him and raised 'go back' slogans. Dhankhar headed straight towards the Nazrul Mancha green room, where he met Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee, who was on Tuesday conferred honorary D Litt (honoris causa) by the university. Minutes before the programme started, however, another group of students took to the stage and raised slogans against the governor, this time prompting him to leave the venue around 1.30 pm. The protesters claimed that Dhankhar was "the (BJP- led) Centre's representative, who doesn't deserve to be on the dais for CU's convocation ceremony". Vice-Chancellor Sonali Chakravarty Bandhopadhyay, on her part, was seen trying to convince the students to withdraw their agitation. She later announced that the governor had left the venue. Taking to Twitter, Dhankhar later shared pictures of his rendezvous with the Nobel laureate and said, "The actions of those who created or stage managed unseemly spectacle would resonate for long in the ears of the cultured people of WB (West Bengal)". "The uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta University without attending the Convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of the immense respect we have for Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on whom we are conferring honorary D Litt (honoris causa)," he tweeted. The governor also showered praises on Abhijit Banerjee and said he was a "man of sterling qualities and disarming grace... greatly touched by his modest approach and depth". Last month, Dhankhar had faced similar protests at Jadavpur University, also during the convocation ceremony. The West Bengal government, in December last year, trimmed the governor's powers as the chancellor of universities, notifying a set of new rules governing his interaction with vice chancellors. Under the new rule, the chancellor cannot intervene in the day-to-day affairs of universities, nor can he advise university officials directly. All communication between the chancellor and senior university officials will also have to be routed through the state's higher department, it mandated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Express News Service Art is indeed the best healer. Dance or Chaos by Souleymane Sanogo is one such act. Based on the choreography of Tidiani Ndiaye, from a story by Jean-Louis Sagot-Duvauroux and Souleymane Sanogo, the choreographic documentary is created by BlonBa/Harlequin Theater, with the company Copy-Paste. The production is brought to the capital city by Alliance Francaise. Jean-Francois Ramon, Director, Alliance Francaise de Delhi, Dance or Chaos represents the cultural spirit of the Francophonie world. Souleymane is an exceptional artist and human being whos risen from the streets of Bamako in Mali and made it to the world platform. Ramon says, His art is a product of spontaneous behaviour of a teenager in the street of a francophone African city and later a formal training from a couple of contemporary dance companies in France. Alliances Francaises, are continuously engaged in bringing forward the young and aspiring artists to the world stage and Dance or Chaos is such a brilliant project to manifest its motto. This Malian dancer Sanogo was born on October 24, 1988, in Somadougou, Central Mali. and all through his childhood was devoted to the tasks of the house and the work of the fields. At the age of 15, he fled to Bamako, where he shared the lives of street children. Eventually, he discovered dance in 2003 with the help of Haitian choreographer Kettly Noel, who creates interesting workshops for street children. Sanogos expressive art takes us into history, unrevealing the artists lifes struggles. On: January 31, 6:30pmAt: ML Bhartia Auditorium, 72, Lodi Estate, New Delhi South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday visited the National Medical Center in Seoul amidst deepening worries over the expanding outbreak of a new virus in China. Moon wore a mask and used a hand sanitiser as he inspected quarantine facilities at the centre. The medical centre is one of the hospitals designated for the treatment of patients with symptoms of the new virus. South Korea confirmed the country's fourth case of the new coronavirus on Monday. The country's benchmark stock index tumbled 3.4% as it reopened on Tuesday after holidays. Shares also fell in Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Jakarta and Singapore, as shares skidded across Asia. Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China remained closed Tuesday for Lunar New Year holidays. The World Health Organisation "does not recommend the evacuation" of foreign nationals from China's virus-hit Hubei province, the chief of the UN health body, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on January 28 as he called on the international community to remain calm. His remarks during his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi came as India, US and several other countries are finalising plans to evacuate their citizens from Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus outbreak. Over 250 Indians, mostly students, research scholars and professionals are working in Indian and international companies in Hubei province for which Wuhan is the capital where the deadly coronavirus first emerged last month. China on January 28 reported 24 more deaths from coronavirus epidemic, taking the number of fatalities to 106 as the confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak stand at 4,515. Crucially from China's point of view, Ghebreyesus said the WHO "does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact," according to state-run Xinhua news agency. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Thousands of foreign nationals from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh besides large number of people from African countries were reportedly held up in the virus-hit province. China has already permitted to evacuate US and various other countries which had Consulates in Wuhan. Ghebreyesus, who is visiting Beijing for talks with Chinese officials on the crisis, appreciated China's efforts in curbing the spread of pneumonia. During his meeting with Wang, Ghebreyesus said the WHO and the international community speak highly of and fully affirm the decisive measures the Chinese government has taken, Xinhua reported. "The WHO is confident in China's epidemic prevention and control ability," he said. After the virus outbreak, China identified the pathogens in record time, shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus with the WHO and other nations, and carried out a series of effective measures to curb the spread of the virus, he said, adding that the power of China's system and the effectiveness of its measures are "rarely seen in the world" and are "admirable." He said the WHO hopes to strengthen cooperation with China and is willing to provide all necessary help. Wang said China "appreciates the WHO's objective and just stance and its full recognition to China's anti-virus measures". "Your visit to China not only shows your support for China but also injects impetus into China's cooperation with the WHO," said Wang. "We have full capability, confidence and resources to overcome the epidemic at an early date," Wang said. China is willing to continuously deepen cooperation with the international community, especially the WHO, in an open and transparent manner to contribute to global public health, Wang said. In New Delhi, Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong also said the WHO "does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact." "The WHO is confident in China's epidemic prevention and control ability," Sun tweeted. On Sunday, the WHO admitted an error in its assessment of the global risk of a deadly virus in China, saying it was "high" and not "moderate", reports said. The Geneva-based health body said in its latest situation report that the risk was "very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level." Ahead of his visit to China, Ghebreyesus said on Thursday that "this is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency.'' Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Tue, January 28, 2020 17:43 715 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20615c9da 2 World US,trump,authoritarian-leadership Free Former national security advisor John Bolton privately told the US attorney general last year about concerns that President Donald Trump was essentially granting favors to autocrats, The New York Times reported Monday. It said the revelations, concerning the leaders of China and Turkey, come in an unpublished book manuscript by Bolton. The same manuscript says Trump told Bolton that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security aid to Ukraine until officials there helped to investigate his political rivals, the Times previously reported. Those allegations have roiled Trump's impeachment trial that is ongoing in the US Senate. According to the Times' latest report, Attorney General Bill Barr responded to Bolton's concerns by pointing to Justice Department investigations of companies in Turkey and China. Barr said he himself was worried it appeared Trump had undue influence over what would normally be independent inquiries, Bolton's manuscript said. Bolton wrote that Barr singled out the president's conversations with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping about the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE. Trump personally intervened in May 2018 to order his Commerce Department to ease penalties against ZTE that had pushed it to the verge of collapse. US officials had accused the company of violating sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Barr also cited remarks Trump made to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2018 about the US investigation of a Turkish bank, the Times report said. Trump has shown a preference for authoritarian leaders over Washington's traditional Western allies, a situation underscored by his warm welcomes for Erdogan and Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House. Pressure has mounted on Republicans to call Bolton as a witness at Trump's impeachment trial since the Times reported Sunday on his revelations about the Ukraine aid. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told Fox Business Network on Monday night that Bolton was "clearly... trying to sell a book." Trump fired the bushy-moustached Bolton last September. Bolton's strident opposition to Trump's negotiating with Iran, North Korea and the Taliban eventually forced his ouster -- though he insists he resigned. Panic and pollution drive the market for protective face masks, so business is booming in Asia, where fear of the virus from China is straining supplies and helping make mask-wearing the new normal. Demand for face masks and hand sanitising liquid has soared, as both local residents and visitors from China stock up on such products as a reassuring precaution. Factories are rushing to boost production as the number of infections and deaths from the new virus first found in the central Chinese city of Wuhan climbs. In some parts of Asia, wearing of surgical masks has become mandatory, for now. Sales of disinfectant products and hygiene masks have been rising since last week. First Chinese tourists came to our store to buy these products to bring back with them. They bought in bulk, like two or three boxes per person, said Varumporn Krataitohg, an employee of the NanBhesaj drugstore in central Bangkok. The outbreak began before the Chinese Lunar New Year, when tens of thousands of Chinese tourists visit Thailand, Japan and other parts of Asia. Demand has risen by 80% starting with this past weekends Chinese New Year, said Ms Varumporn. Now we are out of disinfectant gel for hands. The maker just sent just new lots this morning and by noon we were sold out, she said. People keep coming and asking for these products. Japanese often wear surgical masks to protect against colds, flu or hay fever. Shelves of some stores were scooped bare as Japanese health officials confirmed four confirmed cases of the virus. Christine Yuuki, a 25-year-old tourist from Hefei, west of Nanjing, was shopping in Tokyo for masks for friends and family back in China. In China, masks are very expensive, she said, adding that one little pack of masks costs more than 100 yuan (14 US dollars). They are cheaper here and easier to buy. Expand Close Passengers wearing face masks arrive at Tribhuwan International airport in Kathmandu, Nepal (Niranjan Shrestha/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Passengers wearing face masks arrive at Tribhuwan International airport in Kathmandu, Nepal (Niranjan Shrestha/AP) Iris Ohyama, a major maker of household goods and home appliances, said on Monday its mask sales last week had tripled from week before. It has asked some workers at one of its two factories in China to cut short their 10-day Lunar New Year holiday and get back to work, it said. Stocks of masks ran out quickly at outlets of South Koreas biggest 24-hour convenience store, CU, at airports, bus terminals and other transport hubs. Sales of soap, hand sanitisers and mouthwash more than doubled, said CUs parent company, BGF Retail. Overall, though, there were no immediate signs of major shortages in South Korea, which has reported four cases of the illness. In Taiwan, likewise, the government said that there were enough masks and that current daily production capacity of 1.88 million face masks could be boosted to 2.44 million to meet any spike in demand. Authorities have announced seven confirmed cases of the virus on the island, which nonetheless has imposed a month-long ban on exports of two types of surgical masks to ensure the availability of domestic supplies. Everyday use of surgical masks, once mainly confined to Japan and parts of China affected by major dust storms or smog, has expanded in recent years, largely in response to worsening air pollution. In the Philippines, which so far has reported no cases of the virus, the recent eruptions of the Taal volcano have prompted many to wear masks to protect against ash. Cambodia, which registered its first new virus case on Monday, launched a campaign to give away one million masks to people entering the country at Poipet, on its border with Thailand. In Bangkok, consumers are faced with choosing between N95 masks, which are best for filtering out tiny dust particles in smog, or plain surgical masks that can help block transmission of the virus and are more breathable. Expand Close People wear masks at a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People wear masks at a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP) Thailand, a favourite Chinese vacation destination, has 14 confirmed cases of the illness, the highest national total outside China. While some stores were temporarily sold out, especially in places frequented by Chinese tourists, there is no absolute shortage of masks, said Prayote Pensut, the deputy director general of the Thai Commerce Ministrys Internal Trade Department. Whether or not masks do much to prevent the virus from spreading, they seem to reassure many. Wuhan is pretty much contained, said Ian Zhao, a 30-year-old engineer from Shenzhen who was visiting Bangkoks ornate Grand Palace. So, you just dont worry about it too much, wash your hands, put on masks, just keep your personal hygiene every day. And its mostly fine. A drunken driver who narrowly missed six oncoming cars before crashing into a nurse on Christmas Eve, has been sent to jail after his fully suspended sentence was deemed too lenient. Alan Craughwell (35), with an address at Retreat Road, Athlone, Co Westmeath, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Michelle Fallon at Taghmaconnell, Co Roscommon on December 24, 2017. He was given a wholly suspended two-and-a-half year sentence by Judge Francis Comerford on May 8, 2019, and banned from driving for 10 years. Judge Comerford also directed that Craughwell pay 1,400 that day to the injured party, or a charity of her choice. The Court of Appeal found Craughwells sentence to have been unduly lenient today, and he was immediately jailed for 15 months. Giving judgment, President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said it was not a case of isolated ill-judgment such as taking a bend at excessive speed or overtaking at the wrong place. It was sustained, rank bad driving by Craughwell, against the background of a heavy drinking session in the Christmas period. Gardai who came upon the scene noticed a strong smell of alcohol coming from Craughwell and he was subsequently found to have 105 mgs of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, just over twice the legal limit. Before the collision, Mr Justice Birmingham said Craughwell narrowly missed six cars that were coming towards him. His behaviour caused another road user, a Ms Selena Harte, to pull in and call 999 to report the erratic and dangerous driving she had witnessed. A mile down the road, Ms Harte came upon the scene of the collision between Craughwells Toyota Avensis and Ms Fallons Toyota Corolla, which she had been driving with her husband and son as passengers. Ms Fallon suffered very significant injuries including fractures to both her ankles and was hospitalised for one week over the Christmas period. A nurse by profession, she had been a very active person, working full-time, raising a family and helping out on the family farm, Mr Justice Birmingham said. It took her a significant amount of time to return to work on a phased basis and the incident affected her quality of life very gravely indeed. Craughwell had been in contact with the probation service in 2003 for larceny, section 2 assault and public order offences, but the charges were dismissed under the Probation Act. In 2004 he was in contact again with the probation services for public order offences, and for further public order matters in 2008. It seemed alcohol was a factor in these court appearances, Mr Justice Birmingham said. More significantly, Craughwell was caught driving while under the influence of prescription medication in September 2017, which he linked to a back injury, prior to the present case, although the conviction was recorded after the present case. Mr Justice Birmingham said Craughwell had served as a member of the Defence Forces for 12 years. His service was just coming to an end when he appeared before the Circuit Court in relation to the present offence, and he had secured alternative employment as a sales representative, which continues to this day. He said Craughwells background was hardworking and challenging, according to a local priests testimonial, and there had been tragedy in his family. He had not driven a car since the date of the offence and he was actively addressing his problems with alcohol, attending AA meetings and a 12-week residential course in addiction treatment at Cuan Mhuire. Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cathal O Braonain BL, submitted that the headline sentence of three years was too low, and too much credit was given to Craughwell for the mitigating factors. Mr O Braonain said Craughwell made a deliberate decision to drive while having excessive alcohol in his system. It was a wet, unmarked, rural road and serious risk was caused to a large number of other road users. Mr Justice Birmingham said the sentencing judge fell into error in believing custody could be completely avoided. He said two-and-a-half years imprisonment with the final nine months suspended could not have been seen as severe. However, the Court of Appeal was conscious that sending Craughwell to prison now, having avoided custody in the Circuit Court, would be a deep disappointment to him. The court also considered his continued steps towards rehabilitation. Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, resentenced Craughwell to two-and-a-half years imprisonment with the final 15 months suspended. Craughwell was required to enter into a good behaviour bond for the suspended period, and he undertook to be so bound. His 10-year driving ban remained in place. In October 2019, Health Canada approved the sale of cannabis edibles, topicals and extracts for early 2020. Let us hope that one of Health Canadas New Years resolutions is to do a better job of regulating cannabis and protecting the public, and in particular youth, from harm. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/1/2020 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion In October 2019, Health Canada approved the sale of cannabis edibles, topicals and extracts for early 2020. Let us hope that one of Health Canadas New Years resolutions is to do a better job of regulating cannabis and protecting the public, and in particular youth, from harm. Cannabis edibles offer a lucrative opportunity for licensed cannabis producers and retailers in both the medical and recreational market. However, while governments and businesses move to meet public demand and their bottom lines, there is a need to acknowledge the inherent risks cannabis, and in particular edibles, can pose. While edibles may provide a delivery system that provides the intoxicating effects of cannabis while avoiding the risks of smoking, the delayed and variable absorption of cannabis edibles can result in over-consumption and unpredictable results. As both an addiction medicine and family physician, I have seen many adolescents whose cannabis use has negatively affected their mood, motivation, sleep and ability to simply function. Substantial harm to youth The intoxicating effects of cannabis when taken orally can be delayed up to 90 minutes, peaking a few hours later, and may last for several hours. Aside from the expected diminished concentration, decreased executive functioning and impaired memory, acute cannabis toxicity can present as severe anxiety, panic attacks, nausea, delirium or psychosis. In Colorado, where cannabis sales were legalized for people 21 and older in 2012, edible products are the major cause of cannabis intoxication. Emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to adverse reactions from cannabis edibles have increased in Colorado since legalization, and adolescent visits rose to 4.9 per 1,000 visits in 2015 from 1.8 per 1,000 visits in 2009. Its true that often these symptoms are temporary and that a cannabis overdose likely wont kill someone, but it can cause significant mental and physical disability. During the early phase of cannabis legalization in Oregon and Alaska, 253 overdoses some requiring stays in the intensive-care unit and including one death were reported to poison centres over a 16-month period: 71 individuals were under the age of 12, and 42 were between the ages of 12 and 17. The median age was only 20 years old. Beyond the risks of acute toxicity, cannabis use that starts in adolescence has been linked to a variety of harms including depression, suicidality, psychosis and schizophrenia. Considering that Canadian youth are the highest adolescent users in the world and that they believe, despite strong scientific evidence to the contrary, that cannabis will improve their mood, anxiety and sleep, there are significant challenges in protecting them from potential cannabis-related harms. Intoxicants arent candy Unfortunately, Health Canada has allowed troublingly high THC concentrations (up to 30 per cent in some cases) in dried cannabis products. While many edibles will be purchased directly from retailers, edibles made at home may have higher THC concentrations. Health Canada has also done little to rein in misleading advertising by the cannabis industry: it has allowed licensed producers to make unsubstantiated claims about the medicinal value of cannabis, which only further contributes to positive adolescent social attitudes towards cannabis. While Health Canada does not permit direct advertising of cannabis and requires plain packaging and warnings on all cannabis products, the cannabis industry is able to market through media stories and their websites. The Ontario Cannabis Store, a Crown corporation, has a picture of chocolate squares to advertise edibles on its website and is set to roll out more than 50 new edible and vape products this month. Canopy Growth is reportedly rolling out cannabis-infused flavoured sparkling waters and gourmet chocolate bars in three different flavours. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Health Canada needs to do better Public consumption of edibles is likely to increase. In Colorado, edibles accounted for 45 per cent of all sales by 2014. Health Canadas packaging guidelines and dose limits for edibles (10 milligrams per item) will only go so far in mitigating potential harms. Health Canada has vaguely stated that the products should not be appealing to youth but it is hard to imagine that chocolates and flavoured drinks with names like "Pineapple Orange Gummies" would not be enticing to that population. A more concerted public health campaign and detailed warnings on products are needed. Targeting successful cannabis education to youth is a challenging task but an imperative one. While the Supreme Court of Canada ruled to give Canadians legal access to cannabis, Health Canada now bears the regulatory and educational responsibility. In 2018, Health Canada committed a little over $100 million over six years for public cannabis education and surveillance. But $186 million tax dollars were collected in the first five months of legalization. Health Canada could and should invest so much more into oversight and education. The collective health of our youth depends upon it. Anita Srivastava is an associate professor in the department of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto. This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca. Daniel Taylor, a field organizer for the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was caught on hidden camera by Project Veritas Action. (Screenshot via Youtube/Project Veritas Action) 2 More Sanders Campaign Staffers Caught on Camera, Plan Militant Movement, Extreme Action Two field organizers with the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders were caught on camera in South Carolina discussing plans including extreme action, nationalization of large tech companies, violence toward property, and abolish[ing] landlords. One of them, Daniel Taylor, expressed a belief that Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, would be on board with more extreme actions akin to a revolution. The other, Mason Baird, expressed a hope that violence against people wouldnt be necessary, and destruction of property and intimidation by a show of force would suffice. The video recordings were released by Project Veritas Action (PVA), a nonprofit that specializes in undercover reporting. The videos were part of a PVA series called #Expose2020. Three previous videos featured two Sanders campaign field organizers who said things such as guillotine the rich, send Republicans to reeducation camps, and liberals get the [expletive] wall first. Baird was paid more than $1,800 by the Sanders campaign in September 2019. The fourth-quarter financials arent yet available on the Federal Election Commission website. According to Baird, the Sanders campaign attracts people with extreme leftist views. Ive canvassed with someone who is like an Anarchist, and Ive canvassed with someone whos more of a Marxist/Leninist, so we do attract radical, truly radical people to the campaign, but thats obviously not outward-facing, he said. Part of the agenda, in Bairds view, was to abolish landlords and nationalize large tech companies such as Google, Youtube, and Facebook. The undercover reporter repeatedly prompted Baird to explain how the socialist agenda could be implemented over the inevitable objections of many Americans, particularly supporters of President Donald Trump. We would need a federal government and labor union movement that is working together to strip power away from capitalists and preferably directing that violence toward property, Baird said. At the end of the day, this stuff is gonna come out through practice, through the work. He envisioned a coalition of people whose politics fall outside of the American norm. Their politics are Marxist-Leninist, theyre anarchists, so these types of folks, they have more of a mind for direct action for engaging in politics outside of the electoral system, Baird said. He said he wasnt excited about the prospect of armed struggle, and that killing the landlords would be damaging to the soul. A militant labor movement is kind of our last real chance before we try other means, he said. In Taylors view, extreme action would be necessary regardless of whether Sanders wins the presidency. We have all this momentum, where do we go after its over, regardless of the outcome? he said. Change is not gonna happen easily, regardless. Even if Bernie is elected, change will not come swiftly or easily, so the connections that were making now within the campaign, and with volunteers, and at events, its important that we retain that regardless of the outcome. It is unfortunate that we have to make plans for extreme action, but like I said, theyre not going to give it to us, even if Bernie is elected. You all look so mild-mannered, but boy youve got fire in your belly, dont you? the reporter told Taylor at one point. Well, I think, you know, we dont want to scare people off, so you kinda gotta feel it out first before you get into the crazy stuff, he replied. As an example, he referred to a previous conversation about more extreme organizations like Antifa and Yellow Vests. Were kind of keeping that on the back burner for right now, he said. When the reporter asked whether Sanders would endorse more extreme actions, such as a revolution, Taylor said: Oh yeah, he has a history of protest, and thats what makes him so attractive to a lot of the younger people who are fed up with bureaucracy. Bernie has been out there standing on the picket lines and doing the uncomfortable stuff. And [I] absolutely think he would endorse that kind of action because sometimes thats what you gotta do to get it done. Taylor said that at least some of his motivation for helping the campaign was to spread the cause of socialism. For me personally, I have no problem going all-in on the campaign stuff because you are planting a seed. The whole socialist thing four years ago was a lot more toxic than it is today, he said. The Sanders campaign and Baird didnt respond to requests for comment. An attempt to reach Taylor for comment was unsuccessful. GRAND RAPIDS, MI The former owner of medical-marijuana dispensaries in several Michigan cities was sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 28, to nearly 16 years in federal prison. Danny Trevino, 47, of Lansing, who had Hydroworld dispensaries in Grand Rapids, Flint, Jackson, Lansing and elsewhere, had avoided state criminal and civil penalties over the years but was convicted of multiple federal charges. States are changing marijuana laws across the country, certainly thats true, but federal law has not changed, U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney said. Trevino sought the statutory minimum sentence of five years in prison. Maloney instead sentenced Trevino to 15 years, eight months in prison - at the low end of advisory sentencing guidelines, which ranged from 188 to 235 months. The sentence upset several family members and pro-marijuana activists who attended the sentencing in Grand Rapids. What you saw is a travesty, Detroit resident Richard Clement said. His shirt read: #GETNORML, #WARONDRUGS and CANNACURES. He said it was difficult to reconcile what he called a harsh sentence in a state where marijuana is legal. He and others think Trevino was targeted because he is Hispanic. This was totally racist, a woman said, leaving the courthouse. None of the (other dispensaries) ever get raided. She was with Trevinos family but refused to give her name. Its just not fair, another supporter, Sydney Krey, said. Trevino, who has operated dispensaries since 2010, was convicted in an August jury trial of 10 felony charges, including conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess marijuana and maintaining a drug-involved premises. He was not allowed to use the states medical-marijuana law as a defense to the federal charges. Nonetheless, the government said, he acted outside of the boundaries of the state medical-marijuana law. Defense attorney Nicholas Bostic called that a fallacy. He said that Trevino was successful in challenging state complaints after he had been arrested and the subject of several search warrants. He was arrested in April 2014 in Grand Rapids for delivery or manufacture of marijuana and maintaining a drug house but charges were dropped a month later, court records showed. He fought forfeitures of funds seized by police that were ultimately returned by state courts. Trevinos businesses were raided 16 times between 2010 and 2016, the government said. He provided the state with store records and tax records that showed his businesses brought in nearly $3 million. He thought he was legal, Bostic told the judge. He said his client, whose previous drug convictions prevented him from being a caregiver, oversaw the operation. He said that every single sale of medical marijuana at his businesses would have been legal under laws in 33 states and the District of Columbia that allow medical or recreational marijuana. Trevino earlier told MLive: "How could I not have been in compliance if I was acquitted and found not guilty. We were winning and they didnt charge us, so we kept going. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel McGraw said Trevino knew he acted illegally under federal law. He called Trevino defiant, unrepentant and undeterred from committing the current federal crimes. After federal investigators used a search warrant at one of his locations in 2016, Trevino posted on Facebook: I guess Hydroworld is illegal. Lol OK. McGraw said Trevino acted as though marijuana legalized in 2018 for recreational use in Michigan was always legal. Trevino was told time and time again that it was illegal and your honor, he simply didnt care. He didnt care. He kept operating," the prosecutor said. The judge said his concern was Trevinos conduct under federal law. I fully recognize that the landscape has changed in many states in this country, Maloney said. The fact is, marijuana is a Schedule 1 controlled substance. He noted that Congress has eliminated the mandatory minimum prison sentence for crack cocaine but has not acted on marijuana. He said Trevino had to know he was on the radar screens of federal authorities. The judge ordered Trevino to serve four years on supervised release once his prison term ends. He also fined Trevino $11,000. Mother, child die in house fire Detroit police cracking down on illegal marijuana sales, purchases after spike in violence Hydro World owner says he will fight any charges from recent raid A fired up former Vice President Joe Biden likened his role in President Trump's impeachment scandal to that of 'Alice in Wonderland.' 'This is crazy, just think about it,' Biden marveled at a Monday night event at the University of Iowa, as he described Trump getting impeached 'for trying to get a foreign leader to say something against an opponent' - that opponent being him. 'This is like "Alice in Wonderland,"' Biden said. The 2020 contender's comments came in the hours following Trump attorney Pam Bondi putting Biden and his son Hunter front-and-center in the Senate impechment trial. Biden ignored questions from reporters about Bondi's presentation when he left an afternoon event in Marion, Iowa, but he addressed it, sort of, during the evening event. He used a line he had deployed during the Iowa debate, held earlier this month, explaining that presidents can't maintain a beef. Former Vice President Joe Biden described being a central character in President Trump's impeachment saga as being 'Alice in Wonderland' during an Iowa City campaign event Monday night Former Vice President Joe Biden brought up how presidents can't hold grudges when he alluded to Trump attorney Pam Bondi bringing up his son Hunter during Monday's impeachment trial Former Vice President Joe Biden hammered President Trump at two campaign stops on Monday At his event in Marion, Iowa, the former vice president ignored reporters' questions about Pam Bondi bringing up Hunter Biden during the impeachment trial Monday on the Senate floor 'Folks, look, president's can't hold grudges. These guys are attacking me and my family,' Biden said. 'The press corps with me, they're all good people following me, they keeping asking, "oh, they brought up your son Hunter and they're doing this and that and the other thing."' 'Well, guess what, I don't hold grudges because presidents can't hold grudges,' the former vice president said, adding that president's 'have to be healers.' At Monday events, Biden savaged Trump for not being up to the job. Biden, who served in the Senate for decades and was added to President Obama's ticket for his foreign policy prowess, pointed to the recent rocket attacks Iran launched onto U.S. bases in Iraq - retribution for Trump's decision to kill Iranian general Qassem Soleimani outside the Baghdad airport earlier this month. The ex-veep recalled how while in Davos, Switzerland, Trump had made light of the traumatic brain injuries suffered by Americans in the attack. 'What did he say? He said, "well, they just had headaches,"' Biden said at his Iowa City event Monday. 'What in God's name is going on in this country when youre commander-in-chief says that?' Biden also debuted new stump speech lines, that he deployed at both events. 'Do not believe we're the dark angry nation that Donald tweets about every morning,' Bidens aid. 'I do not believe we're a nation that puts kids in cages and supports it.' He also said the U.S. wasn't a nation that 'embraces white supremacy' or dismisses the free press. 'I don't believe we're the nation that bows down to Vladimir Putin, for God's sake,' Biden said in Marion. He added a, 'I sure as hell will not!' when he delivered the line in front of the University of Iowa crowd later that night. 'Let's get the heck up and take back this country now!' he urged the crowd. He later crashed another student event at the University of Iowa - for Dance Marathon, which raises money for cancer - and spoke to the young people about the important work they were doing. Biden is staying in the Hawkeye State through next Monday's first-in-the-nation caucuses, traveling on a big Biden bus. A week out, polling in Iowa has been all over the place. An Emerson poll had Sen. Bernie Sanders out in front with 30 per cent support, followed by Biden with 21 per cent. In a surprising third place came Sen. Amy Klobuchar, hop-scotching both Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who usually round out the top four. In the Emerson poll, Klobuchar had 13 per cent support, Warren had 11 and Buttigieg came in with 10 per cent. Warren came in fourth place in both the Emerson poll and the USA Today/Suffolk poll, which also came on Monday. Otherwise the top of the field was scrambled. A sign outside the event hall in Marion, Iowa where former Vice President Joe Biden appeared Monday afternoon Former Vice President Joe Biden takes a selfie using a supporter's iPhone Monday during a campaign stop in Marion, Iowa Vice President Joe Biden takes another selfie with a supporter as he concludes his Monday afternoon event in Marion Former Vice President Joe Biden hugs a supporter in Marion, Iowa, before heading to Iowa City for an event Monday night at the University of Iowa Earlier Monday, former Vice President Joe Biden appeared at a campaign stop in Cedar Falls, Iowa at the University of Northern Iowa Former Vice President Joe Biden will be in Iowa, on a bus tour, until the Iowa caucuses, which are a week away The USA Today survey showed Biden in front at 25 per cent support, Sanders in second at 19 per cent and then Buttigieg in third with 18 per cent. Warren has 13 per cent support in the USA Today poll, while Klobuchar is at 6 per cent, which is closer to what she's been polling for most of the primary so far. Candidates must amass 15 per cent of caucus-goers from a particular site in Iowa to be viable to pick up delegates, which is how they eventually win the nomination. That could put Warren, Buttigieg and Klobuchar in a precarious position as they're hovering right around the 15 per cent mark. Biden has felt the sting of the Iowa caucuses before. While he finished a respectable fifth place in the Iowa caucuses in January 2008, he only garnered 1 per cent of the counted vote - because he didn't meet the threshold at most caucus sites. Biden decided to throw in the towel instead of carrying on after his Iowa performance 12 years ago. Photo: AP A terrible mistake in cropping an African climate activist out of a photo sent to customers of The Associated Press prompted soul-searching and some tense staff conversations over issues of racism and inclusion Monday at the news organization. The AP acknowledged that it aggravated the error through its initial response on Friday, and that it will expand diversity training worldwide as a result. My hope is that we can learn from this and be a better news organization going forward, Sally Buzbee, the news service's executive editor and senior vice-president, said Monday. I realize I need to make clear from the very top, from me, that diversity and inclusion needs to be one of our highest priorities. An AP photographer at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland took a picture Friday of five activists, including the well-known Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg and Ugandan Vanessa Nakate, who were there to discuss climate change. Preparing to send the image, the photographer cropped out Nakate, leaving a picture of four white women before a scenic mountain backdrop. The initial explanation for the cropping was that it enabled a close-up of Thunberg, and that it removed a distraction a building behind where Nakate was standing. The image was sent to AP's customers worldwide by an editor who was unaware that someone had been cropped out. After seeing a critical tweet about it, editors at the AP said they realized it was insensitive and a journalistic error. Other photos were sent out that included Nakate. The AP waited more than a day to take the original cropped shot out of circulation. A tearful Nakate posted a video on social media saying that when she saw the photo online, it was the first time in my life that I understood the definition of the word racism. She said she felt like her story had been erased. I don't feel OK right now, she said in the video posted on Twitter. The world is so cruel. Thunberg supported her on social media, saying over the weekend that the picture was totally unacceptable in so many ways. Like Vanessa said herself: You didnt just erase a photo. You erased a continent.' After an initial response from AP that Buzbee acknowledged was wrong in tone, she issued a statement Friday evening expressing regret and saying that management had spoken with the AP's journalists about the error in judgment. On Sunday, she sent out a second statement on Twitter personally apologizing to Nakate. Wrote Buzbee: Vanessa, on behalf of the AP, I want to say how sorry I am that we cropped that photo and removed you from it. It was a mistake that we realize silenced your voice, and we apologize. We will all work hard to learn from this. Buzbee said that she emailed and tweeted to Nakate but has not been able to speak to her. Attorneys general from nine states urged a federal judge to toss out Googles $13 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit blaming its Street View mapping technology for a massive violation of consumer privacy. The proposed accord in a debacle that became known as Wi-Spy doesnt offer compensation for millions of people whose confidential data was captured off their Wi-Fi networks by Street View vehicles. Instead, the deal divvies up funds among a handful of privacy rights organizations, a small number of individual consumers who led the case and their lawyers, the state officials said in a court filing. The lawsuit, filed a decade ago, was once called the biggest U.S. wiretap case ever and threatened the internet giant with billions of dollars in damages. The settlement was reached in July and won preliminary approval in October from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco, who found it to be likely fair, reasonable, and adequate. Without receiving any of the $13 million cash fund or any meaningful injunctive relief, class members receive no direct benefit from the settlement, the attorneys general said. An attorney for the consumers and Googles press office didnt immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Arizona State Attorney General Mark Brnovich submitted the filing, joined by Alabama, Alaska, Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana and Louisiana. The states plan to urge Breyer to reject the deal at a Feb. 28 final approval hearing in San Francisco. Google agreed in the settlement to delete all collected data and educate people on how to set up encrypted wireless networks. But the company had already made those promises in a 2013 agreement with 39 attorneys general, according to Mark Brnovichs filing. Any injunctive relief is illusory, the attorneys general said. The Street View suit is a rare instance in privacy litigation where consumers gained the upper hand, notably when the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco in 2013 rejected Googles argument that it was legal to intercept open Wi-Fi networks because they were akin to AM/FM radio transmissions. The courts conclusion that the federal Wiretap Act applied meant that if Google went to trial to fight the allegations and lost, it could be hit with $10,000 in damages for every violation. But in July, the plaintiffs lawyers said the settlement was justified, in part, because there was a risk that they could still lose the case and end up with nothing. They also argued that the accord would deter privacy violations and that the funds designated for privacy-oriented groups will help teach future information technology workers to to become safeguards of internet privacy rather than exploiters of personal information communicated over the internet. The case is In re: Google Inc. Street View Electronic Communications, 3:10-md-02184, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco). Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics USA The countrys TB medication inventory will not run out in June 2020. The Eugene Bell Foundation will be the only provider of multidrug-resistant medication. Treatment may soon be available to all North Koreans who need it. Seoul (AsiaNews) After lengthy consultations, the North Korean government has reached an agreement with the Global Fund to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria (Global Fund) on a US$ 41.74 million funding grant. The successful conclusion of these negotiations may have averted a crisis, as there is no longer a threat that North Korea will exhaust its inventory of regular TB medications in June of 2020 as was feared when the previous grant was terminated in 2018, the Eugene Bell Foundation (EBF) announced today in a press release. The US-based Christian charity is involved in medical and humanitarian assistance that benefits thousands of TB patients in rural North Korea. The three-year agreement between North Korea, the Global Fund and implementing partners of will last until 30 September 2022. Thanks to its work over the years and the trust the authorities place in it, EBF will be the sole provider of assistance for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), whilst United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) will be responsible for providing assistance for malaria and drug-susceptible tuberculosis (regular TB). According to WHO, about 130,000 North Koreans suffered from tuberculosis in 2017, and more than 16,000 died from the disease that same year. In cooperation with EBF, the North Korean government operates 12 medical centres treating thousands of patients in four provinces: North Pyongan, South Pyongan, North Hwanghae and South Hwanghae. The EBF statement goes on to say that US$ 12.49 million earmarked for MDR-TB is intended to cover MDR-TB assistance for the entire country and will be made available to EBF for purchasing diagnostic equipment and medications for MDR-TB patients living in provinces where EBF's treatment program has been established. It is hoped that the program will soon be extended to provinces currently not covered by the program. The new Global Fund initiative is good news for everyone. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that the tuberculosis problem has been solved as much more support is needed for a comprehensive program. Nevertheless, with further encouragement and support, particularly from Koreans on the Korean peninsula, multidrug-resistant TB treatment could soon be available to all North Koreans suffering from multidrug-resistant TB. Report from Team Schulz To the editor: Happy New Year and what a year it will be! We already know that politics will dominate the media, our mailboxes and our phones with calls to think about our voting on Nov. 3. Here is our New Year's Resolution on Team Schulz: We resolve to know this district and the people in it and focus on what matters to all of us. We resolve to be an issue-based campaign. Things like promoting strong schools, good jobs and healthy communities will be our priority. We also resolve to speak the truth. Now, because Sarah nearly won in 2018, we know that more people will be interested in this campaign. They may even fill our mailboxes or our Facebook feeds with ads and some of them may not be issue-based. And some of them will probably be negative - about Sarah Schulz and about Annette Glenn. There's nothing we can do about these advertisements - it is actually illegal for me or Sarah or anyone on the campaign to even call them up and ask them to stop. We've already seen this with the anti-Annette term limits mailers that came out last month. So how can the average citizen know where a mailer or an ad is coming from? It takes some work on your part. You have to look at the mailers that come to your house and see who is sending them, because by law they have to include that information. If our team puts them out, it will say "Paid for by Friends of Sarah Schulz" somewhere on the mailer. If it doesn't say "Friends of Sarah Schulz," then it didn't come from us. This is an example of some of the problems with today's campaign finance laws - outside groups spending so much money on our local elections. Sarah hates those mailers/commercials as much as you do, and she will work on that when she is in Lansing. The other thing our team worked on over this past month is our new website: https://sarah4mi.org. Check it out! MOLLY MORRISSEY Midland Reader: Northwood should reconsider closing gallery To the editor: Spending a recent afternoon shopping at Northwood Gallery, it was obvious I wasn't the only one befuddled by the decision by the new president of Northwood University to close the gallery's doors after almost a half century of iconic inspiration and service to the community. This is the time when the gallery has the most to offer the university and our downtown community, an integral part of its revitalization, centrally relocated back to its familiar home. Instead, it appears to be a casualty of the downtown reconstruction and the gallery's multiple requisite relocations. Brilliant minds and gifted artists have been blessed to co-habitate, inspiring one another for generations. Delta College's Art professor Charles Breed, who became known nationally for his innovative work using plastic as an art medium, even ran for president of the United States and was highlighted in Time magazine. The alignment of arts and sciences has been integral to the innovative successes our community has enjoyed. Northwood Gallery was my first stop when I became engaged and wanted a distinctive ring, and it is the go-to place for inspired family Christmas gifts. Last year for my birthday, my mother stopped at Northwood Gallery and got something special for the new home we are building. It is clear our family isn't the only one with these traditions. It may well be that the president has decided to devalue the influence of the arts on their bottom line in Midland, but this is occurring at the same time that Delta College just dedicated an amazing mural to the Saginaw Art Museum and is moving its satellite campus into downtown Midland. Midlanders still appreciate the diverse and innovative art offerings at the gallery and have the resources to enjoy them. The president and his advisors need to ask themselves: "What will be a better investment for Northwood University in this prime downtown location?" Now is the time to give the gallery a chance to thrive with patrons drawn to browse and buy as part of their visit to the revitalized downtown. AUDREY STRYKER Midland By Trend Some 1,374 registered MP candidates continue to struggle to participate in parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan scheduled for February 9, Trend reports with reference to Central Election Commission (CEC) on Jan. 27. As reported, 263 people withdrew their candidacy. In total, 2,431 people applied for participation in the parliamentary elections, some of whom withdrew their candidacy at certain stages of the election process. According to CEC, 248 candidates are members of 19 political parties. Some 11 people are applying for one seat in the parliament, said the commission. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the permanent loss of capital. So it seems the smart money knows that debt - which is usually involved in bankruptcies - is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. As with many other companies China Shenhua Energy Company Limited (HKG:1088) makes use of debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky. Why Does Debt Bring Risk? Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. Of course, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together. See our latest analysis for China Shenhua Energy How Much Debt Does China Shenhua Energy Carry? The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at September 2019 China Shenhua Energy had debt of CN50.8b, up from CN73.1k in one year. However, it does have CN87.3b in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of CN36.5b. SEHK:1088 Historical Debt, January 28th 2020 A Look At China Shenhua Energy's Liabilities Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that China Shenhua Energy had liabilities of CN96.1b due within 12 months and liabilities of CN50.0b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had CN87.3b in cash and CN13.0b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total CN45.8b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables. Of course, China Shenhua Energy has a titanic market capitalization of CN329.6b, so these liabilities are probably manageable. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse. While it does have liabilities worth noting, China Shenhua Energy also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely. Story continues But the bad news is that China Shenhua Energy has seen its EBIT plunge 12% in the last twelve months. We think hat kind of performance, if repeated frequently, could well lead to difficulties for the stock. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if China Shenhua Energy can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts. Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. China Shenhua Energy may have net cash on the balance sheet, but it is still interesting to look at how well the business converts its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, because that will influence both its need for, and its capacity to manage debt. During the last three years, China Shenhua Energy generated free cash flow amounting to a very robust 88% of its EBIT, more than we'd expect. That positions it well to pay down debt if desirable to do so. Summing up Although China Shenhua Energy's balance sheet isn't particularly strong, due to the total liabilities, it is clearly positive to see that it has net cash of CN36.5b. And it impressed us with free cash flow of CN61b, being 88% of its EBIT. So we don't have any problem with China Shenhua Energy's use of debt. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with China Shenhua Energy (including 1 which is shouldn't be ignored) . At the end of the day, it's often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). It's free. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. With products ranging from Kosher meats, dairy, and seafood to dry-aged beef, an extensive beer and wine section to both Kosher and conventional bakeries, H-E-B Meyerland Market has options for everyone. The H-E-B Braeswood store opened 25 years ago but closed in October 2017 after flooding three separate times, the last during Hurricane Harvey. H-E-B made a promise they would return to the neighborhood. Now, the new H-E-B Meyerland Market opens at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29. The new multi-level store in the Meyerland Plaza shopping center at 4955 Beechnut boasts 95,000 square feet, five times the size of its predecessor. It has the largest total Kosher section in the greater Houston area, according to Hugh Sintic, the stores general manager, but also has a large selection of international products and conventional ones, too. Because the grocery store is located just off the West Loop, H-E-B aims to attract a wide range of customers from all around Houston. I think the point is while theres been a whole lot of focus, intention and effort around making sure that the store services and exceeds expectations for our Kosher customers, it really is a store for everyone, said Winell Herron, H-E-Bs group vice president of public affairs, diversity and environmental affairs. So that same attention to detail has been in place for most cultures across the Houston area. This really is a store for everyone, much like Houston is incredibly diverse. Related: Ashford Elementary in west Houston works to improve its TEA rating The Meyerland area has more synagogues in a four- to five-mile area than any part of the greater Houston area, Sintic said. So the store is stocked with around 1,400 Kosher options. As you walk in, you will smell the aroma coming from The Roastery, a Kosher coffee and sandwich shop. Further in, you will see Kosher sushi, cheeses, 24 feet of dairy, meats managed by a full-time mashgiach (a Kosher certified supervisor), wines, frozen foods and a bakery with bagels and tortillas. The bakery is pareve, which means it does not have meat or cheese. Colored utensils are used to make sure that the Kosher ones do not get mixed with the conventional ones. Kosher options are clearly labeled so that customers can distinguish them. The Houston Kashruth Association works with H-E-B to make sure proper Kosher standards are maintained. An extensive beer and wine section carries around 2,400 varieties of wine at all price points from $3 a bottle to a French Bordeaux at $1,700. Kosher customers also can shop 12 feet of wines for their needs. We actually have a really diverse clientele in this area, so we wanted to make sure that were serving everybody in the area, said Ryanne Robinson, the stores beer and wine steward. You know, there are going to be people who are in the market for a wine $500 and up, but we also want to make sure that were serving the people who are in the market for a Tuesday night drink. We also want to make sure were serving the people who like craft beer, local beer, international beer. An international aisle carries 72 feet of goods from all over the world, including Mexico, Central America, the Middle East, Europe and more. A full floral shop is prepared to arrange and sell stems for birthdays, holidays, weddings, bat and bar mitzvahs, quinceaneras and more. On HoustonChronicle.com: Houstons new City Orchard opening soon in Sawyer Heights The store has more than 700 parking spots between downstairs and upstairs. Escalators, stairs, elevators and conveyor belts allow customers and shopping carts to travel between the floors. Building up gave H-E-B the ability to have a larger store and have plenty of parking, Herron said. She also wanted to point out that H-E-B is not just about diversity in the Meyerland Market. Its also about value, she said, with great prices across the store. A large pharmacy with comfortable seating for waiting on prescriptions is on the first floor, as well as Curbside, where customers can order food online and have it brought out to their vehicles. Sintic thinks the store will help the other businesses in Meyerland Plaza at a time when stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond are closing. (The Meyerland location closed earlier this month.) I believe its going to attract a lot of customers from all of Houston, Sintic said. So, in collaboration with the plaza, just been here for many years, ... I think this is good for the community, and its good for all the merchants that are making a living here. And so, I think in collaboration, well do well. For more information, visit www.heb.com. Follow @HEBMeyerlandMkt on Twitter for store happenings and specials. Store hours are 6 a.m. to midnight every day. tracy.maness@hcnonline.com File image Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 28 said the Indian armed forces do not need more than 10-12 days to defeat 'our neighbouring country' that has 'lost three wars against us'. Alluding to Pakistan, PM Modi said, They have been fighting proxy wars against India since decades" which has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians, jawans. Speaking at a National Cadet Corps rally in New Delhi, PM Modi said: "For over 30 years not a single next generation fighter plane was added to IAF (Indian Air Force). Old aircraft used to meet with accidents, fighter pilots used to die...Work stalled for three decades was cleared by us. The country today has a next generation fighter plane Rafale." The prime minister said, Several speeches were given, but when our armed forces used to ask to take action, they used to be refused. Today, there is 'yuva soch', country is progressing with youthful thinking. So, it does surgical strike, airstrike and teaches terrorists a lesson by entering their house. Earlier, what was done for solving problems in Kashmir? Three-to-four families worked not towards solving the issues, but towards nurturing them. The result was that thousands of innocents died due to terrorism. People were forced to even migrate from there, PM Modi said. Highlighting the construction of the National War Memorial and the National Police Memorial in New Delhi, PM Modi told the cadets that the government did whatever your young ideas, your young mind wanted. He said those fear-mongering over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) refuse to see the persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan. Shouldn't we help the persecuted? PM Modi asked. He said Pakistan Army had come out with an advertisement some time back in which it was clearly written that only non-Muslims (can) apply for sanitation workers. Chinese tourists are cancelling their trips to Victoria as far away as mid-year, with tour operators fearing the impact of coronavirus will hit the industry already struggling in the wake of bushfires. Melbourne businesses reliant on Chinese tourists are already refunding tickets and contemplating laying off staff. Destinations including Apollo Bay and attractions such as Puffing Billy are expected to be among those hardest hit. Travel agents at Odyssey Travel on Swanston Street. Credit:Luis Ascui The outbreak of coronavirus prompted the Chinese government to ban overseas group travel, potentially for months ahead. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-28 23:29:08|Editor: yan Video Player Close TAIPEI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Two individuals were confirmed to be infected with pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus, raising the total confirmed cases in Taiwan to seven, the island's epidemic monitoring agency said Tuesday. Two women, both in their 70s and from Wuhan of central China, arrived in Taiwan as tourists on Jan. 22 and went to hospital with a fever on Jan. 25. Their infections were confirmed Tuesday, the agency said in a press release. They have received treatment in isolation wards and been in a stable condition, the agency said, adding that the authorities are trying to identify and monitor the health conditions of people who came into contact with the women. About 470 individuals had contact with the first five patients in Taiwan, 16 of whom have had suspected symptoms. Among the 16, 10 have been cleared in the second examinations, while the remaining six are still being examined. The U.S. Attorneys Office announced Tuesday cases against three individuals accused of concealing ties to the Peoples Republic of China while conducting research in Massachusetts. Charles Lieber, chairman of the department of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University, was arrested Tuesday on charges of making false statements. Authorities say he failed to disclose ties to a Chinese government-run program setup to entice scientists and researchers in the U.S. to share their expertise and research with China. Lieber will appear Tuesday afternoon before judge Marianne B. Bowler in federal court in Boston. He is on paid administrative leave from Harvard and will not have access to the campus nor will be be able to continue in his teaching and research roles. In a separate case, the Department of Justice said Yanqing Ye, a lieutenant in the Peoples Liberation Army had gained a non-immigrant visa to conduct studies at Boston University. According to court documents, Ye was conducting research in the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering at the Center of Polymer Studies at Boston University. Authorities say on Yes visa application she misrepresented her foreign military service to gain entry to the U.S. United States Attorney Andrew Lelling said in a press conference at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse Tuesday that Ye was working as an unregistered agent of the Peoples Republic of China and concealed her military connections while working as a researcher. A colonel in the Peoples Republic of China gave Ye numerous assignments while she was in the United States, such as assessing U.S. military websites, Lelling said. She lied about her involvement with Chinese military projects. Court documents also allege Ye sent U.S. documents and information to China. A third person, a 29-year-old Chinese national Zaosong Zheng, was charged with attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological materials out of the country in a sock. According to court documents, officers for Customs and Border Patrol stopped Zheng as he was boarding a flight to China from Boston Logan International Airport. Agents searched Zhengs luggage and found the vials in plastic bags and placed in a sock. Authorities allege after initially denying that he had any biological materials, then saying that they were given to him by a friend. Zheng later confessed to having stolen the vials from Beth Israel Hospital, according to authorities. This is not an accident or coincidence, Lelling said, of the three cases. This is a small sample of Chinas ongoing campaign to siphon off U.S. technology and research. Officials would not say if the three cases were connected other than involving attempts by China to conduct a massive, long-term campaign to steal U.S. technology. In Liebers case, officials say the Harvard professor was paid more than a million over the years to share research with China. Unlike the U.S., where private companies are not required to share research and information with the government, officials said in China sharing with Chinese entities does not carry the same relationship. That research and expertise is now at the disposal of the Chinese government, Lelling said. Ye is charged with visa fraud, making false statements and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government and conspiracy. Lieber is charged with making a false, fictitious and fraudulent statement. Zheng is charged with smuggling goods from the United States and making false, fictitious or fraudulent statements. _____ Related Content: Brazil antitrust regulator gives nod to Boeing-Embraer deal The Boeing logo is displayed on a screen, at the NYSE in New York BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian antitrust regulator Cade on Monday approved Boeing Co's purchase of Embraer SA's commercial aviation division without restrictions, according to a statement on the agency's website. Cade's top administrative council could still call for a reconsideration of the case, putting the matter to a vote. The companies welcomed the move on Monday, with Boeing saying it remained confident of getting approval from the European Commission, the last hurdle to the transaction. The European Union has set an April 30 deadline to decide on the deal. Boeing has offered to pay $4.2 billion for 80% of Embraer's commercial jet division, which builds passenger jets in the 70- to 150-seat segment. That puts it in direct competition with next-generation jets designed by Bombardier Inc and acquired by Europe's Airbus SE, which rebranded them the A220 program. (Reporting by Ricardo Brito; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh; Writing by Jake Spring; Editing by Sandra Maler, Marguerita Choy and Aditya Soni) SD-WAN Expo exhibitor Oracle has been a software leader for decades. In the 1980s they were known as a database company and competed with companies like Informix. They were instrumental in the evolution from SQL to 4GL programming languages which allowed a company to more rapidly develop database applications. Then Larry Ellison and the team had the vision to acquire companies in the CRM space and others eventually becoming worth $172 billion. It was amazing how they broke out of the mold of databases to selling virtually everything a company needs to run. Oracle eventually purchased Talari and become a leader in SD-WAN as well as many other spaces. The companys holistic solutions span from SBCs thanks to the purchase of Acme Packet to networking as well as myriad other solutions. This puts them in a unique position in the market. The company just released its SD-WAN predictions for 2020 and beyond. We hope you find them useful: App-Fluent : Today, next-generation applications integrate real-time interactions and reside in a multi-cloud and highly-distributed world. With the requirements to connect users, data, and applications more seamlessly to meet the user expectations, we will see SD-WAN move from application-aware to application-fluency. : Today, next-generation applications integrate real-time interactions and reside in a multi-cloud and highly-distributed world. With the requirements to connect users, data, and applications more seamlessly to meet the user expectations, we will see SD-WAN move from application-aware to application-fluency. Characteristics Drive Routing : To secure, route and manage application traffic with greater understanding to ensure the highest QoE, SD-WAN must break the applications route components based on multiple characteristics within each application, not just by the single application type. : To secure, route and manage application traffic with greater understanding to ensure the highest QoE, SD-WAN must break the applications route components based on multiple characteristics within each application, not just by the single application type. No Slowdowns: In 2019, SD-WAN started to gain some serious momentum and 2020 will be no different. Next-gen networks today are already requiring SD-WAN and the market is only expected to grow. In fact, research firm IDC predicts that the SD-WAN infrastructure market will grow to $4.5 billion by 2022. Admins Can Relax: Next-generation SD-WANs are self-driving, self-healing solutions that can make decisions to deliver traffic proactively and automatically over the network in the best possible way using less costly internet overlay. This takes the pressure off-network administrators, as they can be confident the SD-WAN will deliver the traffic to its destination reliably and with a high QoE, all on its own. Workforce Takes Trip to the Cloud or Workforce to the Cloud Digital transformation has caused a rash of new application deployments in the cloud including UCaaS, Contact Centers, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, and Branch Offices applications which all require reliable end-user access. And thats exactly why so many CIOs in 2020 will be lining up to implement SD-WAN in their businesses, to ensure that their workforce is able to benefit from technology when they need it the most, whenever and wherever that may be. See the only Tech and SD-WAN vendors that matter at the ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW. 36 companies make this the largest number of SD-WAN companies anywhere. Join others with $8.5B+ in IT buying power who plan 2020 budgets! Including 3,000+ resellers! A unique experience with a collocated SD-WAN Expo, AIOps Expo and MSP Expo Come to the Digital Transformation Event! Feb 12-14, 2020, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Register now. See these SD-WAN vendors and more including Exclusive Diamond Sponsor: Frontier Business. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his home state Gujarat has become a hub for production and export of potatoes in the last two decades. Addressing the third Global Potato Conclave via video conferencing, Modi said India became a leader in production of food grains and food products due to farmers' hard work and government policies. India's potato production increased by 20 per in the last decade while in Gujarat, it increased by 170 per cent, Modi said. Policy decisions and modern facilities for irrigation helped in this growth, Modi said. "While the country's potato production rose 20 per cent in the last 11-12 years, it went up 170 per cent in Gujarat, mainly due to policy initiatives and modern and sufficient facilities for irrigation," he said, adding schemes like 'Sujalan Sufalam' and 'SAUNI Yojana' brought irrigation facilities even to areas affected by drought. A wide canal network was created in a very small time, which is a big achievement, he said. "In the last five years, the Central government has taken all efforts to take the Gujarat experiment in potato (production) across the country," Modi said and appealed the delegates to form a new potato policy. Holding the Potato Conclave in Gujarat is important because this is the leading state in India as far as potato production is concerned, he said. Modi said a new record was created earlier this month by transferring Rs 12,000 crore to bank accounts of six crore farmers through direct transfer. At an event at Tumakuru in Karnataka earlier this month, Modi had electronically released Rs 12,000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Samman Yojana to six crore farmers in one go. The Yojana, also known as PM-Kisan, is a Central scheme with 100 per cent funding from the Government of India. Under the scheme an income support of Rs 6000 per year is given to farmers in three equal installments of Rs 2000 each every four months. The PM-Kisan scheme has helped address the needs of farmers, Modi said. "Several steps are being taken to double the income of farmers by 2022," Modi said. "As a result of the combined efforts of farmers and government policy India is now among the top three nations in production of grains and other food items," Modi said. "To make agriculture profitable, the government aims to create a modern and widespread network from farm to food processing to distribution. In the next five years, thousands of crores of rupees will be spent on irrigation and farm- related infrastructure," he said. "Farmer Producer Organisations are being promoted to make farmers access technology and markets. Our effort is to create 10,000 newFPOs in another five years," he said. Scientists around the world, potato farmers and other stakeholders have gathered here for the Conclave to discuss important aspects related to food and nutrition. "Our government has taken many steps to promote food processing sector, be it opening the sector to 100 per cent FDI or helping farmers develop value addition and value chain," he said. Many projects worth hundreds of crores of rupees have been completed across the country in a small time, he said. "Reducing the gap between farmers and consumers is our priority," Modi said. The government is also promoting farm-tech based start-ups so that farm database could be used for smart and precision agriculture, he said. "This will help farmers in ensuring the right use of water, fertilisers and pesticides, reduce input cost and make farmers more competitive in the global market," Modi said. The government's efforts will succeed only when scientists and researchers create affordable solutions, he said. "Looking at the challenges of the coming decades, we will have to work towards productivity, affordability and right price to farmers," he said. Modi also underlined the need to develop seeds that use less water, are more nutritious and have more life and productivity. "The cost of such seeds should be less and input cost should be the lowest possible," he added. Modi also called for a joint war against malnutrition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dont get me wrong. I am so grateful to Carter G. Woodson, the son of formerly enslaved parents who went on to become the second black man to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard. Working through his Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now African American Life and History), he set the nation firmly on a path of recognizing that black people were much more than a negligible factor. He is the father of what began as a week in 1926 and is now a month of (re)discovery. I am grateful as well to everyone from Coretta Scott King to Rep. John Conyers to Stevie Wonder to the nations schoolchildren around the country for convincing Congress to create the King holiday. San Francisco electronic health records company Practice Fusion has agreed to pay $145 million to resolve charges that it took kickbacks from an opioid maker that used the companys software to prod doctors to prescribe more opioid painkillers to patients, according to the Department of Justice. The department said the settlement, which followed from civil and criminal investigations, is the first criminal action against an electronic health vendor. Practice Fusion agreed to pay $118.6 million to the federal government and states and $26 million in criminal fines and forfeiture. Practice Fusion accepted sponsorship payments from an opioid maker and other drug companies and, in exchange, allowed the drug companies to influence the design and implementation of an alert system in its electronic health records software aimed at increasing sales of the companies drugs, according to the Justice Department. Between 2014 and 2019, health care providers using the software wrote many prescriptions after receiving the alerts that the opioid company and other drug firms helped design, the department said. Practice Fusion solicited and received $1 million from the opioid makers marketing department to create an alert that would cause doctors to provide more extended-release opioids, according to the department. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, which handled the criminal investigation and resolution, did not provide the name of the opioid company because prosecutors did not indict it. Practice Fusions conduct is abhorrent, said Christina E. Nolan, U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, in a statement. During the height of the opioid crisis, the company took a million-dollar kickback to allow an opioid company to inject itself in the sacred doctor-patient relationship so that it could peddle even more of its highly addictive and dangerous opioids. Prescription opioids are the leading cause of opioid overdose deaths, according to the California Department of Public Health. In 2018, nearly 45% of total opioid overdose deaths in the state 1,091 out of 2,428 were attributed to prescription opioids, which include oxycodone and hydrocodone. Practice Fusion was founded in 2005 and acquired by the Chicago company Allscripts in 2018 for $100 million, a fraction of its previous valuation of $1.5 billion. Allscripts in August recorded a $145 million charge related to the Justice Department investigations, saying at the time that an agreement had been reached in principle that, if finalized, would resolve civil and criminal liability in connection to the Practice Fusion investigations. We are pleased to complete the settlement of these legacy matters, Brian Farley, Allscripts executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement. As a company, we are committed to maintaining the highest levels of professionalism and integrity, and since learning of this matter we have further strengthened Practice Fusions compliance program. Allscripts recognizes the devastating impact that opioids have had on communities nationwide, and we are using our technology to fight this epidemic. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes An Allscripts spokesman did not respond to a question about whether the company admits to wrongdoing as part of the agreement, but the Justice Department said the settlement requires Practice Fusion to admit to its wrongs. Ryan Howard, a former CEO and founder of Practice Fusion, stepped down as chief executive in 2015. He said he was not contacted as part of the investigation and that the deal with the pharmaceutical company was executed in 2016, after he left the company. Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho The Ramsar Convention has declared 10 more wetlands in India as sites of international importance, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Tuesday, in a major recognition for the government's effort towards conservation and rejuvenation of its wetlands. With this, a total of 37 sites in the country have been recognised under the international treaty. Wetlands declared as Ramsar sites are protected under strict guidelines. The Convention, signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, is one of the oldest inter-governmental accord for preserving the ecological character of wetlands. Also known as the Convention on Wetlands, it aims to develop a global network of wetlands for conservation of biological diversity and for sustaining human life. Javadekar said in a tweet that the Ramsar declaration is an acknowledgement of the government's commitment to conservation of wetlands. "Happy to inform that Ramsar has declared 10 more wetland sites from India as sites of international importance for the conservation of global biological diversity. It is an acknowledgment of India's commitment towards conservation and sustainable use of its wetland. "The total number of Ramsar sites in India are now 37 and the surface area covered by these sites is 1,067,939 hectares. Conservation of wetlands would also go a long way in achieving our PM's dream of #NalseJal in each houseland," he tweeted. Among the 10 new Ramsar sites is Nandur Madhameshwar, a first in Maharashtra. Punjab, which has three Ramsar sites, added three Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve and Nangal. UP, which had one, has added six Ramsar sites Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and SarsaiNawar. The other Ramsar sites are in Rajasthan, Kerala, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. Wetlands provide a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services such as food, water, fibre, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, erosion control and climate regulation. "They are, in fact, a major source of water and our main supply of freshwater comes from an array of wetlands which help soak rainfall and recharge groundwater," the ministry said in a statement. "In the past six months, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has prepared a four pronged strategy for the restoration of wetlands which includes preparing a baseline data, wetland health cards, enlisting wetland mitras and preparing targeted Integrated Management Plans. "Conservation of wetlands would also go a long way in achieving our PM's dream of Nal se Jal' in each household. The Ministry would be working closely with the State Wetland Authorities to ensure wise use of these sites," it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) is likely to operate a flight service to Wuhan in Central to evacuate Indians stuck in the city due to the outbreak of Coronavirus, sources said on Tuesday. However, when contacted, the airline's CMD Ashwani Lohani said that the airline is prepared to operate the flight, but did not divulge the date of commencing the service. The airline is expected to operate a flight using Boeing 747. Earlier, India's civil aviation regulator DGCA gave its clearance to the airline to operate the Mumbai-Delhi-Wuhan flight. Highly-placed sources said that Civil Aviation Secretary P.S. Kharola had back-to-back consultation here on Tuesday with officials about operating the special flight. According to sources, the major worry with regards to evacuating Indians from Wuhan and other affected areas is about screening the people boarding the flight. Moreover, the passengers have to be constantly monitored during the flight and have to be quarantined after reaching Delhi. "Do we have the required infrastructure to deal with this? The aircraft, crew and the passengers from Wuhan have to be isolated and only after ruling out infection they are to be allowed to leave," a source said. He added that it is a complicated issue as India cannot shrug off its responsibility. "So, infected or not infected, they have to be brought back," the source said. The new virus, which is of the same genre as SARS which broke out in 2003, was first reported in the WHO Disease Outbreak on January 5, 2020. It has progressively spread across many countries from its epicentre in Wuhan. In a bid to curb the spread of the virus, Chinese authorities have closed transportation services across many parts of the country, including Wuhan. The new virus has spread at a much faster pace than the 2003 SARS epidemic. Wuhan is the hub of transport and industry in central Representative image Activist Saket Gokhale on January 28 sent a letter to the Delhi police, seeking permission to organise a peaceful protest on February 2 and raise the slogan "desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko" (which, when translated, means shoot the traitors of the nation) against communal forces. Sent a letter to @DelhiPolice asking permission for a peaceful protest chanting the slogan "Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko" against communal forces on Sunday 2nd Feb. Your call, Delhi Police - grant it or refuse it. Either way #HumDekhenge pic.twitter.com/WKmDQGHHqL Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) January 28, 2020 On his Twitter handle, Gokhale posted a copy of the letter that he sent to the police. In the letter, he requested permission to hold peaceful protest be granted by the police in order "to enable the applicant in exercising his fundamental right to free expression under Article 19 of the Constitution of India." Explaining the intent behind his move, he said: "This is the only way left for getting Delhi Police to answer whether this disgusting slogan is allowed under law." He added that if the police grants the requested permission, it would "have to do a lot of answering in court for allowing this slogan" and if his request is declined, the police would need to arrest Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP candidate Kapil Mishra for raising the same slogan at their rallies. Gokhale's move follows the recent controversy around the inflammatory comments made by Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Anurag Thakur. He was reportedly caught on camera chanting "desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko" while addressing a rally in the national capital ahead of February 8 polls. Read | MoS Anurag Thakur stokes controversy after 'Goli Maaro Saalon Ko slogans at Delhi rally As per reports, these slogans were also raised during Union Home Minister Amit Shah's rally on January 26, though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had at that time distanced itself from the chants. Nearly a year after he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a murder at an American Legion post in Carlisle, Robert Rocky Anderson Jr. has struck a deal for a much shorter jail term. Under agreement negotiated through his lawyer, Heidi Eakin, Anderson pleaded no contest to a third-degree murder charge this week and was immediately sentenced to 6 to 12 years in prison by Cumberland County President Judge Edward E. Guido. Andersons new plea and resentencing came four months after Guido overturned the first-degree murder conviction a county jury handed down last February for the June 2016 slaying of Daniel DJ Harris inside the Haines-Stackfield American Legion post. Harris was gunned down in front of multiple witnesses as he sat in a booth in the posts crowded bar. Police said Harris was shot eight times as close range. One prosecution witness testified that he saw Anderson inside the legion at the time of the shooting, but several others said they couldnt identify the gunman. Senior Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Metzger argued during Andersons 2019 trial that Anderson, 42, killed Harris amid a long-running and violent feud between their families. Eakin raised the alternative theory that Harris was the victim of a hit by a Philadelphia man during a turf war between local and out-of-county drug dealers. In overturning Andersons conviction in September, Guido agreed with Eakins argument that Andersons trial was tainted when the prosecution did not disclose to the defense that one of its key witnesses had a deal for leniency in a firearms case if he testified against Anderson. Andersons no contest plea to third-degree murder count came as both sides awaited a state Superior Court ruling on appeals of Guidos order overturning the jurys verdict and ordering a new trial. This was the best resolution so he could move on, Eakin said. District Attorney Skip Ebert said the plea deal was reached after his office consulted with the Carlisle police. He said that, given Guidos September ruling, it was 'highly unlikely" prosecutors could rely on the only supposed eyewitness who said Anderson was in the bar if the case was retried. The prison term, plus the 10 years of consecutive probation Guido imposed, guarantees Anderson will be under some sort of law enforcement supervision into his 60s, Ebert said. Court records show that in resentencing Anderson, Guido gave him credit for the more than three years he already has spent behind bars since his arrest. That means Anderson could become eligible for consideration for parole in late 2022 or early 2023. By Express News Service GUWAHATI: The Centre has offered an olive branch to the Paresh Baruah faction of the insurgent group United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). Making the offer on behalf of the central government, Assams Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday appealed to Baruah to join the peace talks. The Arabinda Rajkhowa faction of the ULFA has been engaged in a peace process for the past few years and the Centre favours an inclusive solution. Quoting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Sarma said, If Paresh Baruah is ready, then the Centre is more than willing to hold talks with them. He said as the Centre desired lasting peace in the whole of the Northeast, it wants all groups of the region wielding the gun to join peace talks. Baruah is considered a hardliner and had asserted many times in the past that his group would sit across the table only if the sovereignty of Assam is part of the agenda of the talks. He has been holed up in Myanmar for many years and the Assam Police claim he is left with a little over 100 armed cadres. ULFA was formed in 1979 to secure a sovereign Assam. Its leaders used to operate from Bangladesh, but in 2009, the government there had launched an offensive against militants from the Northeast. Most ULFA leaders were arrested but Baruah managed to flee to Myanmar. 'Dangerous' to crop African voices on climate: Uganda activist Kampala, Jan 28 (AFP) Jan 28, 2020 Africa is on the frontline of climate change, and it is crucial to listen to voices from the continent in global discussions about the crisis, Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate told AFP Tuesday. Nakate was at the heart of a viral debate that erupted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week after she was cropped out of a photo of a young activists, including Greta Thunberg, taken after a press conference. Nakate, a 23-year-old graduate in business administration, was the only black person and only African in the photo shoot and accused the Associated Press news agency of racism in cropping her out. The agency said the photographer had cropped the photo for composition purposes. However in an article on Monday AP said the incident had prompted "soul-searching" on the issues of racial sensitivity and inclusion. Famous activists such as Thunberg are from first-world countries which are often blamed for being behind global warming, whose effects are worst felt in poor nations, with countries in Africa at highest risk from climate extremes. "It wasn't just about the photo because I read the article first. They quoted the various activists but I wasn't there," Nakate told AFP in an interview in Kampala. Nakate found out about the Fridays for Future youth protests in early 2019 and was inspired, alongside her brother, to protest once a week at a neighbourhood market in Kampala. She was invited by activist group Arctic Basecamp to deliver hard truths to world leaders gathered at Davos. "There was no message that I had spoken at the conference ... It is dangerous (for African voices to be excluded from the debate) because many people are ignorant about the climate crisis in Africa and most of the activists feel unheard," said Nakate. "If their voices are silenced it means they won't be able to explain to the people that we are facing a climate crisis. It's important for every voice to be listened to no matter where they come from." - Africa 'most vulnerable' - Experts say Africa is the most vulnerable to climate shocks, with more frequent droughts and floods stretching people to their limits as farmers and herders get no time to recover. East Africa is currently facing its worst locust invasion in decades after one of the wettest seasons in 40 years came on the back of a drought -- a situation scientists say is becoming the new normal. "Uganda mainly depends on agriculture and we're really affected by climate change, for example by extreme weather conditions -- droughts in some places, floods in other places -- that means food prices are affected and only the more privileged can get something to eat and the less privileged are left with nothing," said Nakate. "They literally lose everything after these climate disasters." She said that messages of support after the scandal, including from others inspired to join climate activism, had "motivated me and encouraged me so I came out stronger." The show's fifth season returns to screens on February 16. And Starz has released four posters teasing the return of Outlander and showed stars Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe, Sophie Skelton and Richard Rankin, all in character. All the cast members stared intensely into the distance in the striking posters. Tease: Starz has released four posters teasing the return of Outlander and showed stars Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe, and Richard Rankin, all in character One of the posters shows husband and wife Jamie Fraser (Heughan) and Claire Fraser embracing, while an intense Heughan holds a flaming torch. Earlier this month, Starz released the first official trailer for Outlander's upcoming fifth season. It opens as Caitriona Balfe's Claire tells Sam Haughan's Jamie: 'Do you ever feel as if everythings pointing you towards something? Space. Time. History? I am grateful for everyday we have.' As Jamie heads off to war, Claire tells him: 'Promise Jamie, promise me youre coming back.' He responds: 'I swear it.' Steely: All the cast members stared intensely into the distance in the striking posters Star: Sophie Skelton is set to return to the romantic time-travel drama Great Scot! Scottish actor Richard Rankin is set to reprise his role as Roger Mackenzie Wakefield in the Starz drama Emotional: It opens as Caitriona Balfe's Claire tells Sam Haughan's Jamie: 'Do you ever feel as if everythings pointing you towards something? Space. Time. History? I am grateful for everyday we have' As the 12-episode season begins, we see the Frasers working to defend their home on Fraser's Ridge while the American Revolution fast approaches. It's up to Jamie to identify a means of protecting everything that matters to him in America. He does this all while keeping his personal relationship with Murtagh Fitzgibbons, the man whom Governor William Tryon (Tim Downey) has ordered him to hunt down and kill, under wraps. Action: As the 12-episode season begins, we see the Frasers working to defend their home on Fraser's Ridge while the American Revolution fast approaches And now that her family is reunited, it's up to Claire to use her modern medical prowess to keep them together. All the while, Brianna Fraser (Sophie Skelton) and Roger MacKenzie (Richard Rankin) are together again though the spirit of Stephen Bonnet still visits them. Moreover, Roger works to see where he fits in and how to win Jamie's respect as the war draws nearer. Determined: It's up to Jamie to identify a means of protecting everything that matters to him in America Reunited: All the while, Brianna Fraser and Roger MacKenzie are together again though the spirit of Stephen Bonnet still visits them Power: At the end of the day, the Frasers must join forces to steer through the impending danger that comes their way At the end of the day, the Frasers must join forces to steer through the impending danger that comes their way. The show is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore, Maril Davis, Matthew B. Roberts, Toni Graphia, Andy Harries and Jim Kohlberg. It is set to premiere at 8 p.m. Sunday, February 16, on Starz. The Irish Music Rights Organisation CLG (IMRO) has announced that Feile 19 has been nominated as Irelands Festival of the Year. The Festival which took place in Thurles last September saw iconic performances by Sinead OConnor, Sultans of Ping, EMF, The Fat Lady Sings and many more over a stellar weekend at Semple Stadium. The nominees shortlist was announced on Tuesday by IMRO Chief Executive Victor Finn. The annual awards, now in their twelfth year, celebrate the venues and individuals working in the live music industry, whose passion and determination brings the joy and inimitable experience of live music to the public across Ireland. More than 13,000 IMRO members were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite venues of 2019 for inclusion on the awards shortlist. IMRO members also voted on Irelands music festivals, tech crews and for the IMRO Outstanding Contribution to Live Music, the receiver of which shall be announced on the night of the awards. Music venues and festivals play a vital role in the music industry in Ireland, giving international and homegrown artists of all levels a platform to engage with existing fans and build new audiences. They also play a central role in urban and rural communities across the country, providing a social gathering space for a multitude of audience types, and contributing hugely to the domestic economy. Of the awards, Victor Finn, IMRO Chief Executive said: The important role that venues and festivals make nationally is all too often overlooked. They provide an essential platform and support network for Irish and international artists and bands of all levels, in addition to their vital contribution to communities both economically and socially. The IMRO Live Music Venue Awards have grown from their inception to become one of the most anticipated dates in the Irish music industry calendar. The awards are an opportunity to acknowledge venues big and small across the country and to celebrate the individuals whose hard work and commitment help our vibrant and eclectic music industry to flourish. Paul Boland of Festival promoters CWB said: Its a total honour particularly for a new festival be nominated in such exhalted company as Electric Picnic and others. It was a difficult second year for the Feile project but we produced two great nights of music in Tipp and hope to do it again. IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Awards 2019 will take place on Tuesday 11th February 2020. This year will see a change of location for the Awards, with the event taking place at club Twenty Two, South Anne Street in Dublin. Women in Scotland are campaigning to end the gender-biased practice of male-only participation in Up Helly Aa, the famous annual fire festival held in Lerwick in the Shetland Islands. The traditional Norse-inspired event sees around 1,000 men dress up as Viking warriors and march around the towns streets holding flaming torches in 47 squads, led by the Guizer Jarl who heads up the festival and dresses as a character from a Norse saga. The big finale is the burning of a replica Viking galley boat in a huge bonfire. Taking place in January (this year on 28 January), although its a community event organised by locals, it has become something of a quirky tourist draw over the years. However, behind the scenes, a battle is being fought over the Lerwick festivals future, with activists calling for the event to embrace equality and allow women and girls to participate. Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick Show all 7 1 /7 Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick Guizer Jarl Lyall Gair as "Sweyn 'Forkbeard' Haraldsson" Visit Scotland Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick Guizer Jarl Lyall Gair and his squad parade through the streets of Lerwick Visit Scotland Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick Visit Scotland Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick Viking pyramid with the galleon Visit Scotland Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick The torchlight parade begins Visit Scotland Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick Vikings storm the streets Visit Scotland Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick The galley Falcon is set ablaze by the guizers' flaming torches Visit Scotland In 2018, Up Helly Aa for aa (or Up Helly Aa for all) was set up. The group has around 130 members, a quarter of them men, and campaigns for the inclusion of females in the festival. The same year, a group of women went to register a squad to participate in the march, but were told to leave. Girls as young as 10 face the same treatment. We know some young girls who would have loved to be in the junior squad but were turned down and that was very hard for them to take, Debra Nicolson, a spokesperson for Up Helly Aa for aa, told The Independent. While Lerwick Up Helly Aa (LUHA) and Junior Up Helly Aa (JUHA) continue to promote gender inequality in the name of a historically brief tradition, South Mainland Up Helly Aa (SMUHA) and other areas have moved forward, maintaining all that is best about the Up Helly Aa tradition while making it a family friendly, gender equal event. As a private organisation that organises very public events, the committees of LUHA and JUHA are on questionable ground in maintaining that they can continue to promote their gender biased practice because of tradition, when other areas in Shetland are using the same traditions and evolving. Campaigners have argued that, since public spaces are used for the event and it is promoted in the areas schools, it is in breach of the UKs Equality Act 2010 by being discriminatory against women and girls. However, in May 2019 the Shetland Islands Council ruled there was no breach of equality law. The Convener of Shetland Islands Council, Malcolm Bell, told The Independent of the decision: Lerwick Up Helly Aa continues to be an event which draws large numbers of people to Shetland and is widely enjoyed and supported in the community. I recognise that there are some strongly held views on both sides of this debate. Lerwick Up Helly Aa is a privately run event, run by the community, and the format is therefore a matter for their organising committee. Ms Nicolson said on behalf of Up Helly Aa for aa: We can state that Shetland Islands Council did not seek any legal advice outside their own legal advisers within the council, and that we have advice that their actions do breach the equality law. Recommended My night with Vikings in the Shetland Isles The first LUHA festival dates back to 1881; other fire festivals that started later are more inclusive, with the SMUHA having made history in 2015 when it was led by a female Jarl. Ms Nicolson added that the group believes its fear that is stopping the festival from moving with the times. We feel they fear change or we hope it is just that they fear change, rather than they are being consciously sexist, she said. We feel they fear that they will be inundated with women wanting to be in squads when this is not the case. But if it is, they should embrace it and use the newly available talent. The LUHA committee has not responded to The Independents request for comment. US aerospace giant Boeing has identified India as one of its top markets and critical to its international growth plans, eyeing the country's plans to buy fighter jets worth billions of dollars. The statement of Dennis Swanson, vice president, International Sales, Boeing Global Sales and Marketing came ahead of his visit to India's mega defence exhibition to be held in Lucknow from February 5-9. In April, the Indian Air Force issued an initial tender to acquire 114 jets at a cost of around USD 18 billion, billed as one of the world's biggest military procurement in recent years. The top contenders for the deal include Lockheed's F-21, Boeing's F/A-18, Dassault Aviation's Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon, Russian aircraft Mig 35 and Saab's Gripen. "India is one of the top markets for Boeing and critical to our international growth plans. As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India offers growth and productivity opportunities, as well as talent and technology innovation advantages," Swanson told PTI on Monday. Boeing has established a growing defence installation base, invested in manufacturing, skill development and engineering in India, and contributed to developing the aerospace and defence ecosystem that is being built on technology advancement and innovation, said Swanson, who is co-leading a high-powered delegation of US India Business Council to 'DefExpo 2020' along with David Sutton, director for the Indo-Pacific, Lockheed Martin International. Over 1,000 companies from nearly 70 countries will take part in the biggest-ever DefExpo to be held in Lucknow from February 5-9, according to a Defence Ministry statement in New Delhi. Responding to a question on India's multi-billion fighter jet acquisition deal, Swanson said that Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet is the latest Block III configuration that offers India the latest technologies and capabilities. "Our F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III offers the Indian Navy a unique and differentiated capability in the form of an advanced, combat proven, multi-role naval fighter that is fully compatible with the Indian Navy carriers and would boost the growing maritime and defence relationship between the US and India," he said. Designed as a carrier-based fighter for high-loading, high stress operations with minimal support equipment required, the Super Hornet Block III is fully compliant with and ideally suited for the Indian Navy's carrier deck, and as demonstrated in flight trials, it can take off from Indian aircraft carriers via ski jump. It is also compatible with air refuelling tankers operated around the world, Swanson said. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in December visited Naval Air Station Oceana on the invitation of the US government and toured the F/A-18 squadron and sat in an aircraft. With the Super Hornet being the frontline fighter for the US Navy, cooperation between the two navies in naval aviation can result in the sharing of upgrades and knowledge, Swanson said. The F/A-18 can unlock the potential of cooperation in naval aviation, with the sharing of best practices in modern naval aviation systems, carrier integration know-how, services and training and weapon systems, he said. In addition, the F/A-18's integration with Indian carriers would demonstrate India's commitment as a 'Major Defence Partner' and the 'Asia Pacific Reassurance Initiative', serving as an important symbol of the new relationship between the US and India, he asserted. Boeing, he said, has a long standing partnership with the Indian armed forces, with the C-17, Apache, Chinook and P-8I aircraft playing an important role in mission-readiness for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy. With a supply chain of over 200 partners in India, and a joint venture with Tata that is manufacturing fuselages for Apache helicopters in Hyderabad, Boeing is partnering with Indian industry to grow the indigenous aerospace industry in the country, he said. According to Swanson, over USD 1 billion of products and services sourced from India go into the most advanced Boeing aircraft across its commercial and defence businesses. "While we have quadrupled sourcing from India in the last five years, we are also investing in talent, training and skill development now and for the future," he said. Boeing currently employs 3,500 people in India, and more than 7,000 people work with its supply chain partners, he said, noting that the company overall makes an impact on more than 1,50,000 lives. Swanson said Boeing's research and development (R&D) presence in India includes partnerships with research partners in academia, research laboratories and industry - including IITs, IISC, and the Department of Science and Technology. It supports aerospace research and co-development of technologies in India to address future technical challenges in aerospace. The US company has established a Boeing Research & Technology India (BIETC) center that conducts research in areas such as flight sciences, materials and processes, and structures and software with Indian research partners. BIETC in Bengaluru and Chennai growing rapidly and is expected to employ 4,000 engineers by this year, he said. "Our engineers undertaking complex aerospace work to support diverse areas across the local and international ecosystem. They also perform engineering activities in the areas of mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering for current and future aircraft," Swanson added. The Union government on Monday signed a peace accord with all four factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and two other influential regional outfits in an agreement aimed at ushering in political and economic stability in the Bodo-dominated regions of Assam by bringing an end to a decades-old armed movement for a separate state. The All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), which was once part of the movement for a separate Bodoloand, and the United Bodo Peoples Organisation (UBPO) were among the signatories of the accord, which did not accede to the demand for a new state but pledged more powers for the Bodo-dominated regions in the North-east state. The deal was signed in the presence of home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the home ministrys joint secretary, Satyendra Garg, and the top leadership of all four factions of the NDFB and the ABSU, among others, were present . The peace accord successfully brings together leading stakeholders under one framework, and those who were previously associated with armed resistance groups will now be entering the mainstream and contributing to the nations progress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted soon after the deal was inked. The Accord with Bodo groups will further protect and popularise the unique culture of the Bodo people. They will get access to a wide range of development oriented initiatives. We are committed to doing everything possible to help the Bodo people realise their aspirations, he wrote on the social media platform. Home minister Shah assured that all promises will be fulfilled in a timebound manner, adding that the historic agreement will facilitate the development of Bodo areas, their language and culture without compromising on the territorial integrity of Assam. Due to the violence perpetrated by Bodo militants, over 4,000 people lost their lives in the past few decades. No stone would be left unturned for the development of Assam and the North-eastern region, he added. With the signing of the peace accord, United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I), formed in 1979 with the aim of creating an independent Assam, remains the only major active militant outfit in the state. ULFA-I, which carried out four low-intensity blasts on Republic Day in parts of upper Assam, does not have influence in the Bodo-dominated areas of lower Assam. Chief minister Sonowal said different communities will be able to live in harmony and the accord will lay the foundation for a better future that will fulfil aspirations of the people. Outlining the details of the accord, Sarma said 1,550 NDFB militants will surrender their arms on January 30, and an economic programme of ~1,500 crore will be implemented in the next three years. The Centre and the state will have equal contribution of ~750 crore each. Sarma said the existing structure of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), comprising four districts, will be strengthened with more powers, and its seats will be expanded from 40 to 60. A commission will be set up for the inclusion of Bodo-dominated villages in BTC and the exclusion of those where Bodos are not in majority. BTC will be renamed as Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). Mondays deal was the third Bodo accord signed in the past 27 years since the movement for a separate Bodoland for the states largest tribe began over four decades ago. The first one signed with the ABSU in 1993 led to the creation of Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC). Ten years later, the second deal was signed with the Bodo Liberation Tigers, and led to the formation of BTC, which included Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang and Udalguri districts (collectively called Bodoland Territorial Area District). The violent movement has claimed hundreds of lives and affected peace in Assam. India Inks Historic Agreement with Northeastern Insurgent Group Demanding Separate State Sputnik News 14:11 GMT 27.01.2020(updated 15:30 GMT 27.01.2020) New Delhi (Sputnik): Bodos, who have a long history of armed rebellion demanding the formation of a separate state called Bodoland, comprise nearly 5-6 percent of India's northeastern Assam, recognised as the largest tribal community in the state. India's federal government on Monday reached an agreement with a banned militant group of the Bodo tribe of Assam, Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) a deal which would offer them political and economic leverage sans their prime demand for a state of their own dubbed "Bodoland". As a result, a tripartite agreement was signed between the federal government, the provincial Assam government, and the NDFB. The All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) which spearheaded the agitation for a separate state for Bodos, is also a signatory to the pact. India's federal Home Minister Amit Shah has assured representatives of NDFB that all promises stipulated in the pact would be fulfilled in a timely manner "Today Assam is united. 1,550 cadres along with 130 weapons will surrender on 30th January Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary", said Shah. "In three years, a $211 million (Rs 1,500 crore) financial package will be given for Bodo Territorial Council. Assam and the federal government is committed for rehabilitation of NDFB cadres. The families of those killed in the Bodo movement will get half-a-million (Rs 5 lakh) each", he added. Assam's Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the pact has affirmed the territorial integrity of the state. Meanwhile, Somnath, President United People's Party (Liberal), told Sputnik, "We believe this agreement would bring peace, harmony and inclusive development. This agreement is not only for Bodos but for every tribe in the region". Somnath further said although the demand for a separate Bodoland was not agreed upon, most of the demands have been accepted by the government of India. "The government of India has done a good job", he added. Bodos, the earliest settlers in Assam, are the largest ethnic group of northeast India with 1.3 million people. The Bodo insurgency began in 1947 with the demand for better social, political and economic conditions, as they claimed they were neglected by the non-tribal population of Assam. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! This report by Chris Stewart of Brightbeam is a blockbuster. It is titled: The Secret Shame: How Americas Most Progressive Cities Betray Their Commitment to Educational Opportunity For All. Stewart is a liberal activist from Minnesota who undertook to find out why the Twin Cities left-wing public schools have some of the countrys worst achievement gaps between white and minority (black and Indian) students. Stewart compared achievement by race in a number of cities that he classified as progressive or conservative. The results didnt surprise me, but they shocked Stewart. Conservative cities (as ranked by political scientists used as a reference for the study) consistently did a better job of closing student achievement gapssometimes, to zerothan progressive cities. This chart sums up the findings: Stewarts group looked at a number of variables that they thought might help to explain these findings. The result: Of all the factors we looked at, progressivism is the greatest predictor. The Brightbeam study does not attempt to explain the causation that its numbers clearly reveal, but calls on those who run progressive school districts to rethink their assumptions. Bacons Rebellion offers some obvious possibilities: * Agency. By blaming racism and discrimination for the woes afflicting minority communities, progressives deprive minority students of agency the sense that they control their own destinies and that their efforts will make a difference. If minority students see themselves as victims of systemic racism, why bother working hard and acting white? * Discipline. Progressives have implemented social justice approaches to school and classroom discipline on the grounds that suspensions and other punishments disproportionately affect minorities. The resulting breakdown in classroom discipline has the perverse effect of disproportionately harming the minority students whose classes are being disrupted. * Lower standards. As an offshoot of the self esteem movement, progressive educators dont want to damage the self-esteem of minority students. Accordingly, they have lower expectations and set lower standards for minorities to offset the advantages that white students have from white privilege. The most positive outcome of the Brightbeam study, so far, is this op-ed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune by local liberal activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, titled Research shows progressive places, like Minneapolis, have the worst achievement gaps. Armstrong describes the findings of the Brightbeam study: The brightbeam report shows that progressive cities like Minneapolis do worse and, surprisingly, conservative cities do better when it comes to educating students of color. According to the report, conservative cities have gaps in math and reading that are on average 15 and 13 percentage points smaller than those in progressive cities. *** Researchers also controlled for other factors that could potentially explain different educational outcomes, including poverty rates, population size, per-pupil spending and private school attendance rates. Surprisingly, none of these other variables made a difference in predicting the size of the opportunity gap. What mattered most was whether the city was conservative or progressive. In three of the most conservative cities Anaheim, Fort Worth and Virginia Beach, researchers found that leaders have either closed or eliminated opportunity gaps in either reading, math or high school graduation rates. Meanwhile, in our own progressive city of Minneapolis, the report showed that the shameful gap in math achievement between black and white students in K-12 is 53 percentage points, while the gap in math between brown and white students is 45 points. Similarly, in reading, the gap between black and white Minneapolis students is 53, while the gap between brown and white students is 47. Liberals are notorious for caring about good intentionsespecially when those supposedly good intentions fatten their own bank accountsrather than results. But Armstrongs conclusion seems sincere: The data should cause us to wonder how it is possible that cities like Minneapolis, known for prosperity and progressive values, could continue to fail our most vulnerable children so miserably within the public-school system. When progressive leaders fail to act with a sense of urgency in addressing these highly disturbing gaps, it sends the signal that the system and its leaders are comfortable with the status quo. Parents and concerned citizens must become empowered to place demands on our public education system to make the changes that are necessary to produce positive learning outcomes. We must use our outrage and frustration as fuel to be persistent in challenging the status quo and holding our elected officials accountable for addressing these disgraceful gaps within our public education system. The most obvious way to shake up the failing progressive establishment is meaningful school choice, i.e., choice that includes religious (usually Catholic) schools. I understand there is a case now pending the U.S. Supreme Court, arising out of Montana, where the Court may rule that the free exercise clause of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment invalidate state constitutional provisions or laws that prohibit government funds from going to students in religious institutions (the anti-Catholic Blaine amendments). If liberals are serious about wanting to improve prospects for African-American and Hispanic children, the first thing they should do is get behind school choice. Paul Coutts became the CEO of Singapore Post Limited (SGX:S08) in 2017. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO. Check out our latest analysis for Singapore Post How Does Paul Coutts's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? Our data indicates that Singapore Post Limited is worth S$2.1b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as S$2.1m for the year to March 2019. We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at S$1.0m. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of S$1.4b to S$4.3b. The median total CEO compensation was S$2.0m. That means Paul Coutts receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a company that size. This doesn't tell us a whole lot on its own, but looking at the performance of the actual business will give us useful context. You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Singapore Post has changed over time. SGX:S08 CEO Compensation, January 28th 2020 Is Singapore Post Limited Growing? Singapore Post Limited has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 46% a year, over the last three years (measured with a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 9.2%. Sadly for shareholders, earnings per share are actually down, over three years. The fairly low revenue growth fails to impress given that the earnings per share is down. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future. Has Singapore Post Limited Been A Good Investment? Since shareholders would have lost about 32% over three years, some Singapore Post Limited shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation. Story continues In Summary... Paul Coutts is paid around what is normal the leaders of comparable size companies. After looking at EPS and total shareholder returns, it's certainly hard to argue the company has performed well, since both metrics are down. Few would argue that it's wise for the company to pay any more, before returns improve. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at Singapore Post. If you want to buy a stock that is better than Singapore Post, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Now that were heading into the third week of the campaign, the temperature has been turned up, with the two biggest parties squabbling endlessly. At his briefing on insurance costs yesterday, Fianna Fails finance spokesman Michael McGrath lashed out at Fine Gaels decision to go so negative in their attacks on his party. For days, Fine Gael TD after Fine Gael TD has been lining up to demand accurate costings from McGrath and his party related to their manifesto promises. At the weekend, the party published a dummy Fianna Fail manifesto accusing the party of having no costings and no credibility. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said Fianna Fail had not provided adequate resources for a new public pay deal. At his briefing, McGrath accused Fine Gael of running a Trump-style operation fear campaign, saying such attacks were desperate. He said Donohoe, his opposite number, had erred in outlining how much funding he would make available for a renegotiated public pay deal. McGrath said the party stands over all aspects of its manifesto and the costings included. I think what we are seeing from Fine Gael now is project fear, they are becoming increasingly desperate that their message is not resonating with the Irish people, he said. What Paschal Donohoe has put forward will be seen as an opening offer from Fine Gael. "We have allowed adequate headroom in relation to our figures for a new public service pay deal. "What we have not done is factor in additional revenue from compliance and taxation measures on tobacco for example. These measures will of course, be options for Government in respect of the budgets to come in the next years. Behind the scenes, Fianna Fail said the decision by Fine Gael to go for Project Fear was predictable and smacks of desperation. They think scaring the shit out of people will win, it wont. People want change, that is clear, said one senior figure. While the Fine Gael attacks on a lack of numbers is not yet doing any tangible harm, it has the potential to become an issue. Party sources said they are also likely to highlight what one person called the game of footsie Leo Varadkar is playing with Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, a signal that a Fine Gael-Sinn Fein coalition could actually possible once the votes are counted. What has not gotten enough attention is just how poor Fine Gaels position is, if the four opinion polls are to be believed. If the Sunday Times poll, which had Fine Gael on 20%, the party would be decimated, akin to what happened in 2002, and you would see some of its heaviest hitters lose out. If the Business Posts Red C Poll predictions come true, predictions from the likes of Ivan Yates of the party winning 40 seats would begin to appear optimistic. Fine Gael bosses, for their part, are not giving up hope just yet, despite the danger of utter disaster looming large. For the next stage of the campaign, they plan on stressing the idea of who can be trusted to run the country, clearly believing they can gain some traction on that. Micheal Martin and Leo Varadkar argue while responding to a question from the audience on what they will do to ensure young people will be able to afford a house #cblive #GE2020 pic.twitter.com/IgAeYJHT62 RTE News (@rtenews) January 27, 2020 It is clear the party cannot win any ground in terms of housing and health, as a result of the numbers in both areas going the wrong way and two rookie ministers who have become lightning rods for government discontent. While they are not seeing much benefit yet from it, the Fine Gael strategy of continually highlighting Micheal Martins time in office is contributing to the Fianna Fail to open up a decent gap over Varadkars team. The big surprise of the first half of the campaign has been the surge in the Sinn Fein support, as reflected by all four polls published so far during the campaign. Following heavy defeats in the local and Europeans last year, it had been predicted that the party could lose up to half of its Dail seats, but if the poll predictions materialise, not only are those seats safe, they could actually gain. So what has changed? It is not clear, but what is apparent is that Sinn Fein are polling very strongly among young voters, 18- to 24-year-olds, and working-class people. Experience would suggest that support from these two groups is fickle and unreliable as they tend to fail to mobilise on polling day. Therefore the Sinn Fein surge may not be as great as suggested. There is also a sense that the party may have peaked too soon and could fall back as the campaign hots up The other big takeaway from the polls is that the Green resurgence has stagnated somewhat and while the party will make gains, talk of 15 seats for them is simply fanciful. The campaign, in truth, has failed to take hold properly and therefore the large number of undecided voters who have yet to make up their mind have not yet been given a reason to swing one way or the other yet. It will be that proportion of the 20% of voters who are not yet decided who turn up will decide the outcome of Election 2020. It is advantage Micheal, but plenty to play for still. The third case announced Tuesday was against Zaosong Zheng, who worked as a cancer researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston from 2018 to 2019. Zheng is accused of trying to smuggle 21 vials of biological research material back to China in a sock in his luggage. When he was stopped at the airport and questioned about the vials, he allegedly told investigators that he wanted to use them to conduct research in China. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.28 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: Direct flights from China to Georgia have been suspended due to the risk of coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze said, Trend reports via Georgian media. At the meeting to be held on January 28, 2020, the Ministry will discuss the issue of cancellation of next flights from China, Tikaradze stressed. The Minister noted that the recommendations are being given to all passengers at the Tbilisi International Airport. She added that the Ministry has not given any recommendations to government regarding the trade restriction with China. In order to prevent transmission and spread of coronavirus on the territory of Georgia, the import of any type of live animal from China to Georgia has been banned, said Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia. According to the ministry, the ban will be in effect until China is declared the free zone of coronavirus by World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). On December 31, 2019, Chinese authorities informed the WHO of an outbreak of the never-seen-before virus in Wuhan, a large trade and industrial center of China with a population of more than 11 million people. On January 7, 2020, Chinese specialists revealed the source of the disease - coronavirus 2019-nCoV. The Chinese government has clamped down on the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus that has claimed 106 lives so far and infected thousands. Several other countries, including Australia, Vietnam, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, the US, Thailand, France, and Japan, also reported cases of coronavirus infection. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 Trump regime unveiled the long-delayed US-Israeli plan to legalize occupation of Palestine By ICH & Agencies January 28, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - "Today Israel has taken a giant step towards peace," Trump said as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood by his side. "My vision presents a win-win solution for both sides," he said, adding that Israeli leaders have said they will endorse the proposal, which is referred to as the Middle East peace plan. Abbas: Trump is a dog and the son of a dog, I won't become a traitor Abbas further claimed that "I was told I'll pay a heavy price for my foolish behavior. I do not have much longer to live and I will not go down as a traitor. It's either dying like martyrs or flying the Palestinian flag on the walls of Jerusalem." Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Turning to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, Abbas said that whoever wants to help is welcome. "We invited the Hamas movement to attend the emergency meeting of the leadership and they will take part in the meeting," senior Palestinian official Azzam al-Ahmed said. The elected government of Gaza have been at odds with President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement for years, with Hamas representatives rarely taking part in meetings of the West Bank-based Palestinian leadership. The Palestinians meanwhile have urged world powers to reject Trump's plan. "We call on the international community to not be partners in this (plan) because it contravenes international law," Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said on Monday. The details of Trump's initiative, which has been in the works since 2017, are not yet public. The release of the plan comes as Trump faces impeachment hearings over abuse of office. Netanyahu is facing imminent trial proceedings, after dropping his request for parliamentary immunity from corruption charges in a surprise move Tuesday. "This is a plan to protect Trump from impeachment and protect Netanyahu from prison," Shtayyeh told a cabinet meeting Monday. "It is not a Middle East peace plan." With little global support for Trumps plan, its likely destined for the trash heap of diplomatic history. Before it goes there, though, you can read the full report here . Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== When scientists and researchers talk about ACEs, they can be accused of using jargon. And as a term, it has a bloodless, academic feel to it. Its an acronym, a technical term that masks the devastation ACEs can cause in the human experience. ACEs are the reason I wont even consider voting for any party that isnt willing to consider a constitutional referendum on housing. Maybe I should explain. The term ACE is short for adverse childhood experience. It is now well established scientifically that the more extreme an ACE, the more deep-rooted and long-lasting its damage can be. Its the reason why people who have been sexually abused as children often carry life-long and deeply damaging scars. Not all ACEs are profound in their effects. Loneliness in childhood may not be as damaging, for example, as abuse. But what the science shows is that an accumulation of ACEs, even if they dont include physical or sexual abuse, can result in traumatic injury for the child. ACEs can affect not just childhood, but the entire life of a child who grows up suffering their effects. ACEs can cause health breakdowns, physical, mental, and emotional. They can lead to anxiety, self-harm, depression. They can turn children who were abused into adults who abuse others sometimes their own children. So the effect of ACEs can carry over from one generation to the next. The best and easiest way for a child to accumulate ACEs, right now in Ireland, is to be without a home. To be homeless. When I talk about a home, Im not talking about a four-bedroom detached house in a leafy suburb. Im talking about the ability to come home to the same place every day after school. Im talking about stability, a sense of safety, reasonable security. Im talking about somewhere thats warm enough and dry enough so that a child wont be at risk of throat or bronchial conditions. Its not a lot, is it? Yet there are thousands of children in Ireland for whom that isnt happening right now. Thousands who have no idea when it might happen. Homeless children are often isolated from peers and friends. They are often inappropriately nourished. They often lack basic stability in their lives. They can witness or be caught up in drug abuse or domestic violence, or both. They can be surrounded by mental health challenges. They can depend for love and support on people who are themselves under intolerable stress. In other words, and sorry about the jargon again, children in homelessness are experiencing far more ACEs than any child should. And the consequences for those children ought to make them a national priority. If we knew right now that 4,000 Irish children were at imminent risk from the coronavirus that is seriously affecting China, we would move heaven and earth to protect them. But we know theyre in danger from a range of things that are every bit as bad, in terms of their health and wellbeing and development, and were doing nothing. Were not even promising them anything. Ive searched the 146 pages of the Fianna Fail manifesto. I can find no reference whatever to those 4,000 of our children. Ive done the same with the 108 pages of the Fine Gael manifesto. It makes occasional references to the unacceptability of children in homelessness and promises to continue to prioritise their needs. But the causes of their homelessness are, apparently, complicated. In addition, neither of the men who would be taoiseach has listed the ending of child homelessness as his first priority. Nor even, as far as I could search, among his first five or even 10 priorities. I dont how it is possible to even want to be taoiseach without being overwhelmed by the need to remove children from this situation. Maybe theyre afraid. Afraid of trying and failing. Maybe theyd tell you privately the best advice theyve had is not make a hostage to fortune out of homeless children. They are, though, both prepared to spend money on building houses (and Fine Gael, according to their manifesto, want to see a better class of homeless hub built). Eventually, after a lot of damage has been done, the problem will go away. And we wont have to worry about children quite so much. They hope. At least until the next housing crisis. Which is why its a complete mystery to me that neither Fine Gael nor Fianna Fail appear to be willing to change the Constitution. To declare an interest, Im part of a group called Home for Good that launched a campaign last week to do precisely that. Theres a simple reason. Our constitution contains very powerful property rights. Those rights are there to protect us from having our land and jewels and expensive cars taken away from us. We dont just have a right to own everything we have, the state has an obligation to vindicate that right. All well and good. It may seem like a bit of a cruel irony that the Constitution had such strong protections for wealth and property, but has nothing whatever to say to the mother who cannot give her children the safety and stability of a home. But property rights are important nevertheless, and its right they should be there. The only thing is. The Constitution also says that property rights can be delimited (thats the word the Constitution uses) by the common good. The only problem with that is, it doesnt say anywhere how the common good should be defined. So what we are looking for is that the powerful property rights in the Constitution should be left as they are. But they should be balanced by a provision that says, for example, that adequate, secure, and affordable housing are part of the common good. Not luxurious housing. Adequate. Not free housing. Housing ordinary people can afford. Twelve times in the last couple of years, efforts have been made in the Dail to change the law, to protect tenants, to limit rents, to penalise land hoarders. On each occasion, the government of the day has said the one-sided property rights in the Constitution made progress impossible. Picture: Maxwells If there was a proper balance between strong property rights on the hand, and a well-defined sense of the common good on the other, those arguments would not have been possible. Whatever government is elected in the next few weeks, and however well-intentioned they are, they will not be able to guarantee to end homelessness without changing the Constitution. The smaller parties recognise that, and many of them are committed to the holding of a referendum. But Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have managed to avoid mentioning it so far. I dont know why that is the case. And I know that changing the Constitution is only one of the things that needs to be done. But its vital. Homelessness among children is an unacceptable scandal, and a blight on our claim to be a republic. That above all is why the two big parties must be forced if necessary to commit to changing the Constitution. As part of the ending of a national scandal. Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, announces the resumption of its flight operations to and from Iraq starting from February 1 to both Baghdad and Najaf according to their original schedules. Gulf Air will also start flying to Erbil as its third point in Iraq starting from 02 February with three weekly flights further strengthening the airlines existing Iraqi routes. Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, earlier confirmed that it has completed its recovery flights from Najaf International Airport to Bahrain International Airport. The airline brought home a total of 1,164 passengers on nine recovery flights between 16 to 21 January 2020. Gulf Air has worked closely with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Republic of Iraq, and the Consulate of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Najaf to communicate with Gulf Air passengers, the airline said. Gulf Air continues to monitor the situation in Iraq very closely. The safety of passengers and crews remain the airlines utmost priority, it added. Bahraini parliamentarians last week said that citizens stranded in Iraq were struggling to come back. The lawmakers said that there were many Bahrainis caught in unsafe places in Iraq and are unable to return to the Kingdom. They urged the government to speed up efforts to send all Bahrainis home as Iraq is moving to more instability. The MPs who submitted the proposal include Ahmed Al Damistani, Zainab Amir, Fadhel Al Sawad, Ahmed Al Saloom and Hamad Al Kooheji. File image Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday stressed the need for a "good coordination" between the Centre and state governments to address several issues. He was speaking to reporters at the Swami Vivekanand Airport here in Chhattisgarh where he is attending the 22nd meeting of the Central Zonal Council. "The Central government talks about cooperative federalism, because without it the country cannot be run. There is a strong need for a better coordination between the Centre and states," he said. The Congress veteran said several issues have led to confrontation between the Centre and states, though he avoided any specific mention. "The confrontation not only causes harm to the country but also hampers its smooth functioning," he said. His remarks came against the backdrop of some states ruled by the Congress and other parties opposing implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Queried on the Madhya Pradesh government plans to build a grand temple of Sita in Sri Lanka, Nath said, "We have a proposal to build a temple of Sita ji in Sri Lanka. The design is being prepared so that the work begins soon". The meeting of the Central Zonal Council, a forum for the Centre and states to exchange ideas on multiple issues, including security and infrastructure, is being held at Mayfair Lake Resort in Nava Raipur, the upcoming capital city of Chhattisgarh. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who will chair the meeting, has arrived in the city. Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will attend the meeting. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel will be present in his capacity as the vice chairman at the meeting. THE SUN AND HER STARS Salka Viertel and Hitlers Exiles in the Golden Age of Hollywood By Donna Rifkind The Galician-born actress turned American screenwriter Salka Viertel was never famous, but she always made things possible for her friends who were. Still, her name usually hovers in the realm of the footnote or fleeting aside, bobbing up in Thomas Manns diaries, Charlie Chaplins autobiography, Bertolt Brechts journals and in a Grand Hotel-scaled heap of books about Greta Garbo. The role she played in both Golden Age Hollywood and transplanted Weimar high culture was crucial if vaporous. As a remarkable crew of European artists and intellectuals fled Nazism and streamed toward Southern California in the 1930s, Viertel worked in dozens of behind-the-scenes ways to help these desperate, gifted people first scrambling to arrange visas and raise money on their behalf; later offering introductions, companionship, housing, wedges of superior chocolate cake and much more. Her Sunday afternoon Santa Monica gatherings became the stuff of local legend, with Viertel supplying what one observer called the social glue that bound the emigres into a community. Or, as another of her intimates put it: The history of Hollywood is incomplete without an appreciation of Salka Viertels distinct talent for human relationships. Viertel is, in short, a terrific subject for a biography, and the veteran book reviewer Donna Rifkind has done well to focus her first full-length effort on this fascinating if little-known personality. Rifkind sees the worldly yet unassuming Viertel as at once an extraordinary character and a telling representative of something larger than herself. Shes right to.